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  • 雷日科夫《大国悲剧》

    中文版前言

    　　苏联的兴亡是20世纪人类历史上影响至巨的大事件，它直接改变了世界地缘政治和国际关系的大格局。如今，苏联的兴亡史、苏联解体的经验教训及其后果，已经成为世界各国的理论工作者研究社会主义前景和实践的重要课题。
    　　对苏联解体和苏共垮台，我们是感到十分惋惜和遗憾的。上世纪五六十年代，我曾经多次陪同毛泽东、刘少奇、周恩来和邓小平等同志赴苏联访问，苏联领导人赫鲁晓夫等来华访问，我也曾当过翻译。我结交了很多苏联朋友，同他们建立了深厚的友谊。随着苏共和苏联的逝去，这些都已成为如烟的往事。因为这层关系，我对苏联解体之谜格外关注，对新解密的苏联档案和有关当事人的回忆和反思格外留心。
    　　雷日科夫是苏联解体前的部长会议主席，亲历了苏联解体的全过程，对彼时的真实景况和内幕有非他人能比的了解和洞悉，雷日科夫的著述因而就多了更深一层的价值和意义。雷日科夫这些年写过不少书，但他对此书特别重视。他说：“这本书我写了十多年。”书的主题是苏联解体——这是对他震撼至烈的人生经历。书中除了叙述苏联发生在1989至1991年的各种重大事件外，更重要的是对经验教训的总结和后果的反思。起初作者只是备忘，把一些重要的事件记录下来。可是后来，随着戈尔巴乔夫改革造成的后果日益严重，他和整个俄罗斯思想界一样，开始了对一连串重大历史事件前因后果的深入思考。他把所有这些都写进了此书。他说：“我希望这本书在某种程度上能回答我心灵和理智的呼唤。”
    　　时间是最好的老师，拉开时间距离的观照可能更为客观、冷静、清明和超脱。痛定思痛之余，15年来，雷日科夫几乎没有一天放松过对这些问题的探讨研究。他曾同数以千计的本国和国外思想精英交换看法，促膝长谈；也曾无数次深入底层，倾听普通人的意见；他还曾阅读了大量的有关著作。此书基本按时间顺序，全面回顾了苏联解体过程中的所有重大事件，并清晰地梳理了它们的来龙去脉。对于苏联解体的原因，说法很多，以致许多资深的研究者也感到扑朔迷离，迷雾重重。但由于雷日科夫当时身处最高决策层，因此对于历史关节点的把握就非常准确，对于此起彼伏的各种事件错综复杂的因果关系，就叙述得更合乎逻辑，也更为清楚。这种系统、明晰、中肯、准确、全面并具有独特视角的叙述，对所有想要深入了解这段历史真相的人，都将是莫大的帮助。
    　　雷日科夫在叙述这些事件时主要围绕两条线索展开：一条是当时以叶利钦为代表的党内反对派和以所谓“民主派”为代表的社会上的反对派是如何同流合污，一步一步发展起来的；另一条则是苏共领导中以戈尔巴乔夫为首的苏共是如何一步步丧失领导权，而苏联又是如何一步一步解体垮台的。其间各种思潮的来龙去脉，各种社会力量的起伏动荡，各种国际力量的相互作用阐述十分深刻细致，值得深思，足以成为我们的借鉴。
    　　这本书虽属宏观叙事，但却始终保持了明白晓畅的语言叙事风格，结合了大量历史细节，以亲身经历的具体事实澄清了许多似是而非的传言和关于某些问题的悬案，可谓做到了有根有据，深入浅出。而且事事讲来心平气和，有睿智的长者之风，读起来引人入胜，发人警醒。
    　　无论如何，苏联解体都是一个“大国悲剧”。前苏联70年的历史已经成为蕴藏丰厚的研究资源。在当前我国思想舆论界掀起一轮“大国研究热”的当口，新华出版社翻译出版这样一部解剖曾经的超级大国苏联崩溃的著作，无疑很有意义。我相信，此书的翻译出版，定能引起专家学者和普通读者的广泛兴趣和关注，定能为我国的社会主义研究和苏联研究以及其他内容广泛的理论研究提供重要参考，并有助于我们进一步坚定社会主义信念，坚定我们走中国特色社会主义道路的信心和决心。
    　　是为序。
    　　2007年11月
    （前言作者曾任中共中央办公厅翻译组组长，中共中央书记处书记、中共中央统战部部长，第七届全国政协副主席，民政部副部长；中华慈善总会会长）

    　　瓦连京·拉斯普京：序言：真相与后果

    　　事情的真相如何，产生的后果又如何？——这就是本书的内容以及意义之所在。它详细讲述了发生于1989—1991年间导致一个强大国家解体的各种事件；它还讲述了各共和国分裂出去后，这些事件对千百万人民造成的后果。这本书读起来太沉重。特别是对于老一代：他们既是这些事件的见证者，又是参与者。他们不由自主会为所发生的一切感到痛苦和歉疚。

    　　自从1991年12月苏联彻底瓦解以来，15年过去了。15年来，出现了俄罗斯的新一代。对于他们，这些事件已经成为遥远的往事，遥远得就像1917年的革命，或者17世纪初波兰的入侵。

    　　看着他们，不由得想起“改革”高潮时期，叶利钦从莫斯科四郊的科学城搬来十多万支持者，拉到练马场①去搞大游行。那可都是些有教养的成年人啊，而且都不是普通人！他们把《真理报》上转载的一篇由意大利记者撰写的关于叶利钦在美国耍酒疯的文章撕烂了，扔在练马场的地上，使出吃奶的力气又是跺又是踩。那可是事关他们包装着民主之父外衣的偶像，是他们的旗帜，是被他们刚刚拥戴起来的领袖啊！那些人已经不可能接受任何别的形象，也不可能听得进任何别的道理了。几天之后，报纸的总编被解职了。直到现在，我的耳中依然回响着那些发言者的叫喊，回响着那充满火药味的、本能的、振振有词的宣泄和咆哮。

    　　我之所以回忆起这个场景，只是为了展示那些“可诅咒的”日子究竟有着什么样的环境和心理氛围。没错，上帝要惩罚谁，就一定要先把他变成个丧失理智的人。

    　　尼·伊·雷日科夫在《大国悲剧》里对那些年人民代表大会在事件中所起的负面作用说得很谨慎。作为一名“人民当政机构”的代表，历次代表大会，甚至每一次会议，我都从来没有缺席过，因此有权多说几句：那真是一种魔鬼的智慧啊！它所“创造”出来这个东西，把已经白热化的氛围炒作得更加炽热了。不过，这种白热化氛围当时仅存在于大城市和民族边疆地区，而1989年5—6月间对第一次代表大会所作的两个星期转播，却把仇恨的种子撒遍了每一个角落。“革命者”对此作了精心策划，并有精确分工。不排除大会开幕前一个半月发生的第比利斯事件也是经过精心策划的，它正好安排在这个时间。否则怎么会这么巧，恰好给肆无忌惮地向联盟政权展开进攻提供炮弹呢？这一来全国都可以看到当局有多么软弱，它正在退让。代表大会开幕前是第比利斯事件，而闭幕之后，就在6月份，又发生了血洗费尔干纳事件。1990年1月，巴库再次出现更恐怖的血腥屠杀。而且，紧随从“人民监狱”里跑出来的自发暴徒之后，维尔纽斯又发生了电视塔挑衅事件，还动用了武器，出了人命。俄罗斯发生的一系列血腥事件难道是偶然吗？如果……谁都知道，血总是越搅越腥的。

    　　代表大会各次会议上出现的野蛮行径简直难以名状。为了让非正义事业取得胜利，不仅要求不讲道德，不知羞耻，还要不顾一切。什么民主！什么文明讨论！那些家伙像划分战斗队似的按地区划分小组，在没有遭遇到任何有效抵抗的情况下，受到初战告捷的鼓舞，在国内外公开的和暗藏的敌人的支持下，经常用打冲锋的办法来抢话筒，对与会代表横加谩骂，而且讲的话常常根本不是冲着人去的，而是冲着电视镜头，更不许别人开口。只要见到谁对他们构成威胁，谁能阻挡他们的那种破坏的杀气，比如像雷日科夫、利加乔夫、罗季奥诺夫上将等，他们就会像一群疯狗似的扑上去，刻意罗织罪名，提供伪证，以最无耻的手段制造事端，布置心理攻势。

    　　而且，所有的一切立刻就会被各地所效仿，并以同样的方式传入政权机关。

    　　最后，政权终于被夺走了，那些人成了俄罗斯的主子。

    　　再后来到了1993年。在炮打白宫之后，这批新主子汇集到克里姆林宫，想再次庆祝选举胜利，但胜利却没有出现。其中的一个，作家卡里亚金，一个最疯狂的家伙，对着镜头喊：“俄罗斯呀，你疯了！”

    　　而一贫如洗、奄奄一息的俄罗斯只不过是从强加给它的全国规模的疯狂中刚刚开始有那么一点点苏醒。

    　　本书作者雷日科夫并不是旧制度、旧体制的卫道士。那些东西驾着已经破损的轮子，如今显然是难以前进了。他主张的是一种逐步的、没有痛苦的向现代经营管理的转变。如果能够接受雷日科夫政府制定的纲领，在6—8年期间，而不是像冒险分子所主张的那样在500天之内，把经济转到市场轨道，那么，巨大而沉重的国家大厦就不会垮塌，也不会在自己的废墟中埋进千百万条生命。

    　　雷日科夫最有权来写这部令人悲痛的回忆录。他不仅有权写，而且生活赋予他责任，一定要把这本书写好。对于发生的一切，他没有任何应该自责的地方。戈尔巴乔夫在难以调和的矛盾中装好人左右逢源；谢瓦尔德纳泽是暗地里，而雅科夫列夫则是公然地同情和帮助拆毁大厦的人；利加乔夫只能被迫对无耻的法西斯指控左推右挡，有一段时间还剥夺了他起积极作用的权利；只有雷日科夫一次又一次地登上讲坛，召唤理智，希望能够制止解体。

    　　每当民族之间发生冲突的时候，他总是出现在现场。在白热化的费尔干纳，他把成千上万的土耳其族梅斯赫蒂人从死神手中抢夺出来，用飞机把他们送往俄罗斯；他以最快的方式调派空运和陆运工具，从巴库运送抢救出来的亚美尼亚人和俄罗斯人。在本书中，20世纪80年代末、90年代初的悲惨事件以完整的逻辑展现出来。苏联解体，没有赢家，无论高加索，还是波罗的海沿岸，无论乌克兰，还是亚细亚“腹地”，哪里都没有和平，没有幸福。有些人妄自尊大，自我吹嘘，但伴之而来的必然是软弱无力；有些人在西方面前卑躬屈膝，自贬为无足轻重的臣属之国，前头的苦头还有得吃；还有一种人怎么也找不到自己合适的位置。除了白俄罗斯和吉尔吉斯斯坦的部分地区，到处都在清除俄语，就像是俄语也成了俄罗斯不讨人喜欢的代理人。这些人原本是在俄罗斯羽翼下成长起来的，但却说什么也消停不下来，说什么也舍不得停止吹胡子瞪眼睛：“哼！怎么会有股俄国味儿？”——而且，这股劲头在俄罗斯本土居然也非常盛行。

    　　于是，雷日科夫又像是一个中世纪的骑士，这回是冲过去保卫俄语，保卫由于肢解派的意愿而流落“异国他乡”的千百万我们的同胞。不过，有些人还是不愿接受真理。但是，愿意也罢，不愿也罢，该说的他照样要说。缩头缩脑躲进掩体的事他永远做不来。
    （序言作者为俄罗斯作家）

    历史不过是时代的“人质”

    　　具有划时代意义的重大历史事件，其诞生和发展常使我想起一条河。人类生活的变化就跟一条河一样，有它的起源，有它的主河道，还有先后流入主河道的各条支流。它们把这条河变得越来越宽，越来越深，但同时也带来了一些有害的杂质。生活之流也像这条河一样，它逐渐积蓄着力量，临到末了，则或是由于以前取得的成果得到革新和改善而为人们带来欢乐，或是由于引发彻底毁灭而为人们带来悲哀。

    　　苏联人民也曾有过类似的经验。自从统一国家毁灭以来，15年间发表了无数回忆录，出现了无数分析事件原委的著作。对于种种事件带来的后果、实现的手段、产生的原因以及未来生活的前景，每个人都有着自己的解释。

    　　 历史不过是时代的“人质”。人们往往只是简单地抄写历史，目的不外乎是再一次取媚于新一代统治者。但历史总有说出真相的一天。

    　　动笔之始，我还得提起一个现在说来已经是60年前的文件——那就是美国中央情报局局长艾伦·杜勒斯当着美国总统杜鲁门在国际关系委员会上发表的一篇演说。1945年，他就已经明确地提出了瓦解苏联的目的、任务和手段：

    　　战争将要结束，一切都会有办法弄妥，都会安排好。我们将倾其所有，拿出所有的黄金，全部物质力量，把人们塑造成我们需要的样子，让他们听我们的。

    　　人的脑子，人的意识，是会变的。只要把脑子弄乱，我们就能不知不觉改变人们的价值观念，并迫使他们相信一种经过偷换的价值观念。用什么办法来做？我们一定要在俄罗斯内部找到同意我们思想意识的人，找到我们的同盟军。

    　　一场就其规模而言无与伦比的悲剧——一个最不屈的人民遭到毁灭的悲剧——将会一幕接一幕地上演，他们的自我意识将无可挽回地走向消亡。比方说，我们将从文学和艺术中逐渐抹去他们的社会存在，我们将训练那些艺术家，打消他们想表现或者研究那些发生在人民群众深层的过程的兴趣。文学，戏剧，电影——一切都将表现和歌颂人类最卑劣的情感。我们将使用一切办法去支持和抬举一批所谓的艺术家，让他们往人类的意识中灌输性崇拜、暴力崇拜、暴虐狂崇拜、背叛行为崇拜，总之是对一切不道德行为的崇拜。在国家管理中，我们要制造混乱和无所适从……

    　　我们将不知不觉地，但积极地和经常不断地促进官员们的恣意妄为，让他们贪贿无度，丧失原则。官僚主义和拖沓推诿将被视为善举，而诚信和正派将被人耻笑，变成人人所不齿和不合时宜的东西。无赖和无耻、欺骗和谎言、酗酒和吸毒、人防人赛过惧怕野兽、羞耻之心的缺失、叛卖、民族主义和民族仇恨，首先是对俄罗斯人民的仇恨——我们将以高超的手法，在不知不觉间把这一切都神圣化，让它绽放出绚丽之花……只有少数人，极少数人，才能感觉到或者认识到究竟发生了什么。但是我们会把这些人置于孤立无援的境地，把他们变成众人耻笑的对象；我们会找到毁谤他们的办法，宣布他们是社会渣滓。我们要把布尔什维克主义的根挖出来，把精神道德的基础庸俗化并加以清除。我们将以这种方法一代接一代地动摇和破坏列宁主义的狂热。我们要从青少年抓起，要把主要的赌注押在青年身上，要让它变质、发霉、腐烂。我们要把他们变成无耻之徒、庸人和世界主义者。我们一定要做到。

    　　40年后，一切果然这样发生了。西方，特别是美国，消灭苏维埃国家的目标果然完全实现了。不过，我当然绝不会以为，这样一个大国的悲剧性解体能够仅仅发生在外部因素的影响之下。如果内部没有一个实际上完全奉行苏联的敌人所树立的目标的“第五纵队”，而只靠外部力量，谁也不能把我们国家怎么样。这只要回想一下俄罗斯千百年来的历史，包括卫国战争那悲惨的时光和最后的胜利结局，就可以一目了然。

    　　世界上最好的老师就是生活本身。生活告诉我们，所谓的民主变革实际上给我们带来了什么，特别是在千百万人民的社会经济地位方面。毫不奇怪，许多人都在越来越经常地问自己：难道真的需要这场改革吗？难道它真的是历史的必需和必然吗？而且，许多人很自然地怀着一种尊敬的心情回想起苏联时代——日子过得虽不富裕，但劳动、休息、教育、医疗服务、必要的社会福利等方面都能得到可靠的保障。

    　　人们终于明白，原来第一拨“民主派”是厚颜无耻地欺骗了他们。那些家伙曾许诺很快就会过上天堂般的日子，而这些玫瑰色的甜言蜜语现已犹如朝雾般消散。还有一些人，他们在人民中只占很小一部分，现在要什么有什么，而且全是过去连想都不敢想的东西。不过这些东西实际上是直接从绝大多数人手里抢过来的。所以，许多人对“改革”的态度绝对是负面的。这是一个不得不承认的事实，它的悲惨之处更在于，从根本上来说，它是一种内心深处的迷失，而大众传媒却用尽了浑身解数来支持这种迷失。

    　　问题在于，在许多人的眼里，戈尔巴乔夫的“改革”也好，盖达尔—丘拜斯—叶利钦的“激进改革”也好，它们都汇入了同一的过程，尽管就目的、社会经济内容和政治推动力而言，它们其实是相互对立的东西。他们之间的共同点只有一条，那就是“改革”的失败和垮台创造了消灭苏联和改变苏联社会政治制度的有利条件。

    　　任何一个社会制度，如果能全面发展，经常不断地回应时代的新要求，那它就是一个足够稳定的制度。停滞是制度老化、制度毁灭的前兆。所以，苏联社会根据新时代的要求进行改革，就成为历史的需要和必然。它无疑应该早在几十年之前就开始，如果当时就去完成这样一个复杂的过程，无论是经济条件、社会条件还是其他条件，显然都要有利得多。但正如大家所了解的那样，这一过程直到1985年才到来，而它的道路上铺满的已经不是玫瑰，而是荆棘。我想细述的正是这个问题，即关于“改革”和“改革者”的悲剧，关于我国人民的大悲剧——当时，我身处这些事件的旋涡之中。

    经济：“照着俄罗斯老妈的屁股踹了一脚”

    　　应当承认，我国在着手改革时，它的领导并没有以应有的方式深入评估进行改革应采取哪些相互联系的必要步骤，以及由此产生的长期后果。我想，说来也真是遗憾，那些指责20世纪80年代改革行动缺乏明确纲领的人是正确的。当然，他们没有考虑必须采取某种决定的具体政治环境，但这一点并不能否定，他们的指责在本质上是正确的。不过以我的观点来看，当时有一点倒是现实的，也是正确的，那就是决定改革从经济开始。其实，戈尔巴乔夫改革的初衷也是要对国家经济做一番改革。

    　　硬性计划经济体制是上世纪30年代建立的，它顺利完成了工业化任务，并对战胜希特勒德国起到保证作用，使得在难以想象的短时期内恢复国民经济成为可能，而在“冷战”年代，则建立了同西方的军事均势。但生活不会在原地踏步不前，逐渐开始有所感觉：苏联的国民经济还无法完全满足居民日益增长的社会经济需求，也无法解决国家发展所提出的一系列至为重要的任务。

    　　这就需要找到国民经济运行的更为有效的手段。上世纪60年代中期，苏联部长会议主席柯西金就搞过一次经济改革。但他并未触及社会主义体制的基础，仅仅是把一定的自由下放给企业。当时我是乌拉尔机械厂的总工程师，后来又当上了总经理，我们当时曾感到非常满意。

    　　总的来说，改革促使第八个五年计划（1966—1970）达到了最高的经济指标。遗憾的是1968年捷克事件之后，柯西金的改革逐渐自生自灭。后来到了勃列日涅夫时期，虽也曾在一定程度上试图对改革加以恢复和完善，却没有取得任何实际成绩。

    　　到了1983年，新任总书记安德罗波夫公开下达任务，要大家把现在究竟生活在什么社会的问题弄个明白。这是个十分严肃的问题：必须重新判定国内已有制度的本质，它在人类历史上所处的地位。与此同时，安德罗波夫又委托政治局委员戈尔巴乔夫、政治局候补委员多尔吉赫、中央委员会经济工作书记雷日科夫深入研究经济领域出现的局势，并就经济改革提出建议。在两年时间内，我们就这一问题开展的工作吸引了大批学者、专家、生产一线的工作者，并成为1985年戈尔巴乔夫在苏共中央4月全会上作报告的基础。再以后，在整个80年代后半期，苏联政府始终紧张地进行着制订经济改革具体途径和方法的工作。

    　　为了让经济取得“喘息”机会，需要解决一系列原则性问题。如果对问题的根本加以审视就会发现，首先需要克服的是人与生产手段和劳动成果越来越明显的相离异的现象。由此产生了劳动者对劳动负责、提高劳动效率和质量的动因明显不足。于是又出现了一个问题，就是我们这个社会的所有制及其发展前景的问题。正如所知，我国所有制的基本形式是国有，是全民所有。而且，集体农庄合作社所有制也逐渐具有了国有的特征。考虑到学者们的意见和国外经验，我们认为，在国家手中保持50%—60%的所有权比较合理——这主要是指在国民经济的基础部门以及国防工业部门的企业。其余的50%—40%可以是股份制形式或者个体形式，但不包括土地。宅旁地、别墅用地和菜园果园用地可以除外。在制订方案时，我们特别注意所谓“民营企业”对象，但其所有者只应是集体。

    　　与这种观点相对立的是自由主义经济学家以及以雅科夫列夫为首的一群政治家们的观点，他们一心为私有制唱赞歌，坚持认为只有私有制才能自然而然地解决国家的所有社会经济问题。

    　　要想逐步过渡到由国家进行必要调节、以社会为指向的市场经济，过渡纲领的制定者面前还存在着不少复杂的问题：要为我国实现深刻的、内容极其广泛的科技革命创造一切必要条件，要改革价格形成的体制，要改变生产资料生产和生活用品生产的比例关系，扩大生活用品的生产等等。

    　　总之，在回应时代呼唤的同时，苏联政府从现实的社会经济状况出发，于1989年制订了一个方案，把采取有力措施深化改革同在各个管理层面上审慎行动结合起来。我们在走向市场的同时首先力图稳定社会经济局势，然后再向前进，走向一个更加发达的商品—货币体系。

    　　有的人号召我们在没有准备的情况下立刻全面投入市场经济的旋涡，并且举历史为例说，欧洲和美国在第二次世界大战后实际实行的也是中央集权的计划经济，但他们却一往无前地勇敢地投入了市场经济。这倒是不错。不过他们具有长期搞市场经济的经验，只是由于战争，才在一定程度上中断了五六年而已。他们即使投身进去也不会被淹没。此外，我还要说，他们在战后根本就没有排斥国家计划因素，而且现在也不排斥，而我们那些刚刚冒出头来的主张市场经济的救世主们——实际上也就是目前我国经济的瞎眼指路人——却一听计划经济就躲得远远的，就像躲瘟疫似的。

    　　我们的关于过渡到由国家进行必要调节、以社会为指向的市场经济，把居民承受的困难降到最低的建议，遭到了自由派经济学家、政治活动家和其他社会活动家的坚决反对。他们最直接的目的，就是要彻底摧毁当时存在的经济制度。他们同当时相当一部分干部一道，十分顺利地达到了目的。在这群虚伪的家伙身上，有一个细节很说明问题：当时他们没有一个人提到过，“自由主义的改革”将把最严重的考验压到百姓的头上。到了上世纪90年代中期，当他们看到这种改革已不可逆转时，他们这才公开地大声宣扬，说他们再清楚不过，要是照他们的脚本演下去，会对大多数人民和国家带来什么后果。

    　　随着时间的推移，激进经济改革派行动的荒谬性和破坏性已经暴露无遗。在他们——用自由派一个头头的话来说——“照着俄罗斯老妈的屁股踹了一脚”之后，人民觉醒了。到了今天，所谓的“500天计划”就很难赢得掌声和欢呼了。

    　　但这个计划的制订者亚夫林斯基、布尔布利斯、费奥多罗夫、扎多尔诺夫等人还是会记得的。他们记得，但他们在想办法让人民忘记。亚夫林斯基在苏联解体后甚至成立了一个党，叫“亚布卢”党。他连续十年宣扬自己的思想，可是却从来没有敢提自己的这个产儿——500天。人们终于咬开了这个苹果，原来里头长了蛆！现在，盖达尔这个经济激进主义的跟屁虫及其同伙居然还有脸在他的研究所里教导我们如何生活。

    　　这些人干了坏事之后就躲到了一边，听凭国家和人民在艰难困苦中挣扎。

    国内政策：“把苏共闹个天翻地覆”

    　　1987年末，戈尔巴乔夫和他最亲密的战友们形成了一个坚定的信念：如果脱离政治改革，在经济领域就不可能出现进步的变革。他们的形象说法就是首先一定要“把苏共闹个天翻地覆”。

    　　客观地说，党内早就出现了变革的必要性。党的确起过伟大的历史作用。在紧张到极点的上世纪30年代，在第二次世界大战迫在眉睫的时刻，在伟大卫国战争岁月，在战后年代以及冷战时期，正是苏共在掌握着全国的命运。如果换了另外一种社会制度，那些年未必就能取得如此巨大的成就。

    　　可是时代变了，那么当然党的活动也应该出现重大的甚至方向性的变化。在国家的社会经济发展中，负责的主要是政府，所以我认为党应该从直接管理经济的工作中摆脱出来，把这些职能交给立法机关和行政机关。依我的看法，意识形态工作和制订发展战略的工作留给苏共来做比较合理。同时还应该让它从停滞了几十年的理论教条和党务工作实践中解放出来。

    　　而且，早先的戈尔巴乔夫也是持这种意见的。例如，在苏共中央1988年的2月全会上他就说过：“现在我们已经走到必须改造我们的政治体制的地步了。这当然不是说要取代现行制度，而是要向其中引入质量上全新的结构和成分，要向它提供新的内容和动力……政治体制改革的基本问题涉及党和国家机构功能的划分。在这个问题上还是应该以列宁主义为基础。党的指导和领导作用是社会主义社会发挥作用和发展的必不可少的条件。”

    　　但是，看看他后来离职后的所作所为，看看他那些公开否定党的言论，不由得要对他的真诚，对他的信念，还有他是否正派的问题，画一个大大的问号。

    　　1991年8月23日，当蒙羞的苏联总统在72小时软禁后由福罗斯送回来，跑到俄罗斯最高苏维埃的“耻辱讲坛”发表演说时，他还能说一些他信奉社会主义思想，他忠于改革后的党之类的话。可是时间仅仅过了一天，他却……放弃了苏共中央总书记的职责！再就这个问题发表宣言时，他竟然颠三倒四地说，他的责任是像保护国家公民那样保护每一个共产党员免受无根据的法律追究，同时还宣布党自行解散。

    　　圈圈终于圆上了。这种情况迟早总会发生。戈尔巴乔夫同党分道扬镳了。但为什么他对中央委员会提出的关于苏共自行解散的建议在许多人看来只不过是一个既定事实，这件事至今还是一个谜。我看是潜意识中几十年培养起来的东西起了作用，总相信党的领袖总书记的一切行动不会有错。

    　　那些日子可是胜利者趾高气扬的日子。趾高气扬的还有一帮立马就倒向他们，倒向权力的人，哪还管这权力究竟是什么权力！见风使舵的人从来就没有自己的信念。看来那些抢到了政权并自称国内唯一民主派的人们，如果他们真是民主派的话，就应该委托同样是“民主”的检察机关，对那些他们认为是70年来把国家搞到丧权辱国一贫如洗地步的人提起公诉才是。难道这些“民主派”不正是自诩为为把我国建成真正法制国家而奋斗的最高尚的战士吗？

    　　不过这样一来就会出现一个问题：有些人昨天也是共产党员，而且远不是什么党内的小角色，可他们又起过什么作用，该负什么责任呢？是否因此才退而想出了这么一个绝对违反法律，违反民主原则的解散苏共的法令呢？1500万共产党员被排除到了司法之外。看来，当时真没有几家报纸能忍得住不挖苦说，这个命令是叶利钦在过节的时候给倒台的共产党送的一份厚礼。不过他们“忘记”了，几十年来，这个日子可一直是整个国家的节日，是全民族的节日啊！

    　　苏联共产党曾经是国内改革的倡导者，可是过了5年，它却被赶下了政治舞台，而它的一千好几百万党员当中，竟没有一个人站出来捍卫它，这究竟是怎么搞的呢？

    　　原来，到了1989年，国内政治局势起了剧烈的变化。夏初召开的苏联第一届人民代表大会，是根据修改后的宪法召开的。在代表大会炽热的气氛中，与苏共的活动相关联的一切重大问题全被“遗忘”了，却提出了许多针对它的批判和严重指责，而且还号召进行报复。在有些发言中，可以感到发言人无论作为一个公民还是一个政治家，都还不够成熟。他们表示，希望能对摆脱了“苏共压迫”的这个国家有所帮助；他们自己还对自己开展公正的批评，揭露党在社会活动中实际存在的问题。不过还有一些则是完全自觉的、专为破坏党的威信而经过精心策划的行动。苏共是通过历史发展而成就为一个强大的政治组织的，它同国家组织已经水乳交融地连为一体。正因为如此，为解体势力的利益而破坏党的威信是一件极其危险的事。但那些导演这一切的人很清楚，为了改变政权和社会制度，必须切断党和国家之间的纽带，因为那是国家赖以存在的基础。

    　　苏共之所以能走到酿成悲剧的一步，是因为几十年来它把权力视为自己的专利，它已经丧失了现实的日常政治斗争的能力。结果当一个统一的机体丧失了自己最优良的品质——战斗性，自我牺牲精神，无私奉献精神……的时候，它衰退了。

    　　由于种种原因，苏共丧失了对人民群众的影响力，国内随之开始出现反对立场的社会运动。它们在苏联解体和社会制度解体的过程中起到了非常重要的作用。它们大致可以分为三类：持不同政见者、杂牌军和民主派。也可以把他们的活动看成三次浪潮。

    　　持不同政见者运动发端于上世纪60年代初，从事的基本是维权活动，他们不同当局合作，但也拒绝使用暴力。他们人数很少，而且分散，组织很差，但引起了西方的注意，并得到国内少部分知识分子的支持。对于这些人来说，要点在于苏联存在着反对派这一事实。在一定条件下，它们可能取得一定的政治分量。

    　　老一辈可能还记得对持不同政见者的审判。有关这些审判的消息曾为部分人所知晓。主要是通过境外的这个那个之声的无线电广播，其内容是真话假话都有。

    　　可是到了1986年12月，通过了一项政治议案，取消了对反对派的刑事诉讼。过去的持不同政见者开始走出劳改营和监狱。但他们的运动实际上并没有卷土重来。很多人已经厌倦了“为人权而斗争”，还有一些人则由于在西方有了名气，便跑到国外过起了太平日子。具有讽刺意味的是，实际上持不同政见运动的历史正是在1986年由于对他们停止迫害而画上了句号。

    　　就在这个时候，国内开始迅速出现各种社会团体，他们的成员被称为杂牌军。这些团体其实没有什么原则。他们当中有的是民主派，有的主张爱国，有的主张无政府主义，有的主张君主主义，有共产党，有社会民主党，还有保守自由派，等等。许多团体的形成不是根据意识形态原则，而是根据活动方向：有的从事环境保护，有的从事古迹保护等等。杂牌军同持不同政见者的不同之处在于它们同当局和平共处，不反对加入国家机构以及其他官方机构如工会、共青团等。但不久许多杂牌军的活动开始具有越来越浓的政治性质。参加杂牌军组织的人以一种特殊的方式“玩大政治”，他们先取得经验，然后就学会了把成千上万的群众带上街头。

    　　第1章乱自何来大国悲剧——苏联解体的前因后果内部的辩论磨炼了反对派活动家的技巧，培养了未来的政治家、记者、社会活动家。上世纪90年代他们中的一些人成为社会团体、新成立的政治机构、大众传媒的领导人。时至今日，我们也依然能在电视屏幕上和各种政治场合看到这些人的身影。现如今，他们还在“教导”人民在民主变革的条件下应该如何生活。

    　　这样一来，由于苏共不能按必要方向实现改革，在一个历史造成的极短时期内，酿成了反对派政治运动，而其中的一部分，又自觉或不自觉地促使苏联瓦解，促使当时存在的社会制度消灭。

    对外政策：西方找到了“可以与之打交道的人”

    　　戈尔巴乔夫与他的前任赫鲁晓夫、勃列日涅夫有所不同，后二者只是在他们在位的后期，才热心投入外交活动，而他却从一开始便乐此不疲。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫同西方的合作开始于1984年的秋天，当时他作为一个普通的政治局委员，会见了英国首相撒切尔夫人。正如所知，这次会见是由苏联驻加拿大大使雅科夫列夫组织的。未来的总书记在此之前不久认识了雅科夫列夫，由于志同道合，俩人一拍即合。值得注意的是，这次会见的地点不是通常的伦敦政府官邸（唐宁街10号），而是郊区的切克斯别墅，那是个专门用来接待正式访英的外国领导人，首相希望与之推心置腹进行特殊重要谈话的地方。

    　　实际上这是一次对未来总书记的摸底会见：西方领导人对契尔年科的健康状况了如指掌。会见后撒切尔夫人抛出了一句名言：“这是个可以与之打交道的人……他值得信赖。”这就是这位铁娘子对其他各国同事发出的信号。后来她不无自豪地说：“是我们把戈尔巴乔夫提拔起来当了总书记。”

    　　1986年10月，在两个月的沉寂之后，里根同意了戈尔巴乔夫的提议：在雷克雅未克同他会见。他们在当地举行了好多个小时的一对一秘密谈判。美国总统需要知道，戈尔巴乔夫是否已经作好牺牲苏联利益、对美国效忠的准备。后来，到了1993年，戈尔巴乔夫在法国撤掉了嘴巴上的岗哨，承认在雷克雅未克会见时“实际上已把苏联交付美国听凭处置”，他说：“雷克雅未克实际上是一场戏……一场重头大戏……我认为，如果没有里根这样强有力的人物，整个过程就不会开始……这次峰会上我们……走得已经那么远，根本就不可能再有回头路。”

    　　雷克雅未克之后又举行过无数次的会见和谈判。1989年末，当戈尔巴乔夫在马耳他同老布什总统会见的时候，整个移交苏联政治国防阵地的过程已经完成。当时有些快言快语的人和外交官都形象地说，冷战是在地中海暖洋洋的海水中埋葬的。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫在总书记的位子上坐了6年，同美国总统会见了11次。由于相当程度上绝对单方面的让步，柏林墙垮了，华沙条约、社会主义国家的盟友关系以及苏联本身都垮了。在醉醺醺的叶利钦指挥下奏响的军乐声中，部队满面蒙羞地开出了自己的军事基地。他们无处可去，只好在露天地里支上行军的帐篷栖身。这就是戈尔巴乔夫同他的朋友科尔在阿尔赫兹国家别墅签订协议所导致的可耻结果。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫—谢瓦尔德纳泽（后者是为他担任外交部长的小伙计）的对外政策使苏联的外交威望一落千丈。结果是几年之内苏联丧失了超级大国的地位，而世界则失去了整个20世纪下半叶赖以顺利维持地缘政治均势的两极体制。如今人类生活在单极世界，占有统治地位的是唯一的一个超级大国——美国，它除了拥有强大的军事和经济力量之外，还拥有为了一己之利企图按自己模式改造世界所有国家的疯狂愿望。

    　　所以，如果把总书记兼总统戈尔巴乔夫在国际舞台上的活动称之为错误，那实在是太荒谬了。不过他首先满足的是西方的利益，而且总是以牺牲苏联的利益为代价。这一政策不但削弱了他在国际舞台上的地位，而且还使得西方对苏联人民的影响日益加剧，使得苏联国内反苏、反社会主义的力量日趋活跃，最终导致这个国家从地图上消失。

    意识形态：总书记“梦想着要把共产主埋葬”

    　　“设计师”、“施工队”以及改革的其他意识形态专家们和组织者们都非常清楚地明白，只有大多数或相当一部分社会成员支持改革，我国根本性的经济和政治变革才有可能得以实施。然而到了上世纪80年代，党真正直接依靠工农，并与他们共同组成一支可以说是挟雷霆万钧之力的时代，早已成为遥远而光荣的英雄主义过去。联系逐渐变成形式上的和单方面的东西：总是从上到下、从党到群众，很少有自下而上、从群众到党的事情发生。此外，蓬勃发展的大众传媒开始给予社会精神生活的形成以强大的影响。首先是电视、广播，还有日报、周刊、各种大小杂志。那么，在这些机构工作，决定它们立场的又是些什么人呢？当然是从事脑力劳动的人。这样一来，知识分子就踏上了政治生活的前沿。人民精神生活的“气候”，广大人民群众的社会意识以及公民的政治行为在巨大的乃至后来是起决定作用的程度上，都由这些人来决定。

    　　要想取得知识分子对改革的支持，就必须保证在国内实行真正的言论自由。

    　　国家的领导层，包括本书笔者，都赞成社会生活的这种变化：应该向国内的公开性转变，向外部世界开放。我们当中许多人都明白，由于我国历史情况十分复杂，在实施这种变化时要多加小心，权衡利弊，以免国家航船颠覆。不论这只船是什么船，但它毕竟是我们自己的船。既然我们大家都载着自己的欢乐和苦难乘着这艘船航行，总不能让它遭到危险，即便是为了一个更美好的未来。让它连同乘客一道沉向海底总是不行的。

    　　公开性宣布了，书刊检查制度放松了，后来还完全取消了。“意见多元化”首先立即造成政治和意识形态出版物的大量出现。“大杂志”的印数直线上升。例如，《新世界》的销量竟达到150万份。值得一提的是，在官方书报检查制度已经完全放开的今天这个“民主”时代，该刊2005年的印量也不过8000份。

    　　我还记得那些年政府如何像发了疯似的想方设法为报纸杂志扩大纸张供应。不得不大量提高从芬兰等国进口纸张的数量。既然我们认为自由发表意见的路线对头，那就应该竭尽全力，保证出版部门有纸张来印刷自己的东西，其中也包括印反政府的文章。现在根据我得到的消息，这样的问题是不存在了。如果你有钱，那就去买纸，就去印刷，如果没有，那你就关门。

    　　1986年中央的两家刊物换了领导。他们的头头被换成了自由共产主义色彩的“60年代人”。在批评过去以及批评当时的“停滞不前的官僚”方面，以雅科夫列夫为首的《莫斯科新闻报》和以柯罗季奇为首的《星火杂志》表现尤为突出。

    　　我想起了把柯罗季奇任命为《星火杂志》主编的那段往事。在这之前，他工作和生活在乌克兰。讨论候选人的时候，有些同志由于对柯罗季奇很了解，反对把他调到莫斯科来。但利加乔夫作了最后的决定。他以特有的固执一心一意要提拔这个人，认为他肯定能成为一个优秀的改革者。利加乔夫可以理解。我的家庭藏书中有一本未来《星火杂志》主编的书——《仇恨的面孔》，是讲他的美国之行的，其中他鞭笞了美国的种族主义。后来，等到苏维埃政权解体后，他又跑到美国去工作和生活了许多年（其实是躲到那边去了）。可是，在他工作的那所学校，学生和老师又知不知道，这位教授过去是怎样写他们国家的呢？未必清楚！喏，利加乔夫和他的战友们却读过这么一部作品，而它无疑对总编的任命起了作用。这件事我也就是提一下，可以作为一个例证，说明我们的许多“知识分子”思想和良心变得有多快。

    　　我想，可能正好是公开性大行其道的时候吧。出现了好多“大胆”的电影、戏剧、书籍之类的东西。可以公开讨论的问题范围放得越来越开了。再有就是言论自由的发展——当时有个说法叫“格拉斯诺斯奇”（公开性，全世界几乎所有的字典对这个词都采取了音译的办法）。这些很快就变成了信息的大潮，其中也包括不可信的信息，纯粹是吮吸着手指头生造出来的信息。它们都越来越公开地指向现存的社会和国家制度。为了这一点，首先当然要利用我们生活中的阴暗面。遗憾的是阴暗面在斯大林时期还真不少。当然，从那时起，几十年都过去了，国内好多东西都变了，国家也成了另外一种样子。但过去的那些东西还是成了破坏国家现状的一个武器，而且正如后来所见，很快又成了破坏它未来的武器。

    　　在推行言论自由的那几年中，人们不是寻找建设性的办法来医治社会疾病，而是利用言论自由来毁灭这个社会。

    　　可是支持公开性以及其他民主过程的政策却一直没有变。1987年5月，停止了对美国之音以及其他反苏广播电台的干扰；6月，简化我国公民出国手续的决定开始生效。

    　　1987年11月2日，召开了隆重纪念十月革命70周年的大会。戈尔巴乔夫在会上作报告。他宣称：“苏共对共产主义运动的未来不会有所怀疑。它将取代资本主义……我们正在走向一个新世界——共产主义世界。我们一定把这条路走到底，永不回头！”这些引起暴风雨般欢呼的话语说过仅仅四年，苏联没有了，社会主义没有了，更不必提什么总书记号召的共产主义事业了。他那卑鄙无耻的嘴脸真叫人惊奇：几年之后，他居然又称，自他懂事以来，就一直梦想着要把共产主义埋葬……

    　　遗憾的是卑鄙无耻毫无原则的不仅是他这一个人。再来看发生得较晚的另外一例——1993年4月叶利钦同文艺界知识分子代表们在大剧院贝多芬厅会见的一幕吧。电视观众看到和听到的是一个怎样的场景啊！他们在高喊：“再加把劲！”“对他们再狠点！”“扭断他们的脖子！”这些喊声竟然成了陷入亢奋状态的“艺术大师中坚”们嘴里最心平气和的语言表现。一方面这说明了他们疯狂的仇恨，另一方面，又说明他们赤裸裸的奴颜婢膝，引得千百万电视观众直想作呕（这是我后来同各种各样的人物经过无数次会见才得知的结论）。那真是一个真实展现自我的好机会。他们果然这样做了！正如已故的老牌剧作家维克托·谢尔盖耶维奇·罗佐夫所言，这种丝毫不加掩饰的奴颜婢膝在我们这一代人当中是绝对见不到的。他们在精神上洗劫了那些对他们寄予信任的人。但在这之前他们早已把自己洗劫一空了。我不想一一列举那些一度曾为大众所尊敬和爱戴的名字，我只想说，他们中的许多人由于不仅在那一天，而且总之是在新环境下突然展现出自己丑陋的政治面貌和道德面貌，因而从人们的心上永远抹去了自己过去的艺术成就。

    　　总之，在意识形态领域，破坏性倾向战胜了实证主义倾向。这是因为苏共，准确地说，因为它的中央和几任总书记，在整个后斯大林时期一直没有能够对全党和全社会提出要求克服侵蚀党和社会血肉肌体的教条主义的任务（除了安德罗波夫，但他来得及做的只是指出这种必要性）。在这个发生了巨大变化的世界上，在我们国内，教条主义早已不能反映事物的真实状况，而他们却不懂得深入进行科学分析、认真发展建设新型社会的理论和实践的历史必要性。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫和中央政治局在宣布向公开性、言论自由、全面民主化过渡的同时，并没有把对于从斯大林时期起就在许多方面被《联共（布）党史简明教程》歪曲的党和国家的历史加以科学、客观、慎重地重新审视的主动权抓到自己手上，却把这一极为尖锐的、具有强大震撼力的信息工作交到了自己的潜在敌人手上。那些人后来果然成了公开的敌人，并以此为自己赢得了真理和正义斗士的美称，而且还因此赢得了如果不是带领社会大多数也是带领相当一部分人前进的可能。

    　　当戈尔巴乔夫陷入政治困境时，对于“民主派”针对领导了这个国家整整70年的苏共所大力展开的常常是诬蔑性的攻击，他们几乎没有做出任何回应。当敌人向苏联和社会主义发起实实在在的进攻时，党的意识形态“机器”竟完全丧失了行动的能力。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫在号召搞诚实的、公开的政治的同时却在施加各种影响，甚至公然贩卖谎言（例如所谓的《里宾特洛普—莫洛托夫秘密备忘录》、卡廷案件等等）。他所提出的大量口号和纲领都空洞无物，毫无根据，缺乏应有的组织工作。戈尔巴乔夫不懂得：无法兑现的政治许诺，只能是一股破坏力量。

    　　这一切决定了群众对改革、对党、对戈尔巴乔夫只能是失望，从而也加强了对手的地位。

    民族关系②：竟然成了摧毁苏联的攻城

    　　20世纪的大部分年月，整个世界都曾以惊奇和赞赏的心情观察着苏联如何解决民族关系问题。可以说，我们的多民族国家似乎已经成了各民族牢不可破友谊的典范。可是，忽然之间，在这块占世界六分之一的土地上，一会儿在波罗的海沿岸地区，一会儿在乌克兰，一会儿格鲁吉亚，一会儿阿塞拜疆，一会儿在中亚的某个加盟共和国，民族主义又再次兽性大发了。这种能够在某种程度上威胁国家安全的大规模现象，在一个强大的国家是无法存在的，可是只要苏联开始衰败，顷刻之间，它就能变成一只摧毁国家的攻城槌。

    　　在历史上，俄罗斯就是把一块块土地合并入政治经济联盟而形成的。加入的每一个民族，都有自己的文化。共同的国家利益把它们融合到了一起。它们在加入俄罗斯家园之后，共同的职责已不是相互竞争，而是在统一的国家中相互协作。巨大的领土面积、复杂的推动力和地缘政治条件、民族构成的多元化决定了共同的民族利益——必须采取一切手段巩固国家，巩固一切国家机构。它们的责任就在于保证我国领土完整和国家安全，制订可以为大家都接受的多样化的宗教民族文化特色共存的形式。

    　　在我们国家，俄罗斯人民作为数量最多的民族，为这个成长中的国家支撑着最主要的负担。它是建设和巩固这个国家的最主要的支柱。同时，却并不存在任何专属于俄罗斯族的特权。俄罗斯的任何一个民族，都既不是统治民族，也不是从属民族。

    　　可是，历史有时就爱这样，它跟我们开了个惊人的玩笑：当各加盟共和国准备退出苏联之时以及它们退出之后，有些国家的民族主义甚至是地方沙文主义的褐色之花就怒放起来了。众所周知，以波罗的海沿岸地区的几个共和国为例，那里的沙文主义者为了推行民族歧视政策，或者简直就是想要直接把居民中的俄罗斯族从当地排挤出去，都挖空心思使用了一些什么样的手段哪！而当那些国家存在于苏联内部的时候，这些俄罗斯人又为国家的发展作过多少贡献啊！

    　　同时，遗憾的是，在俄罗斯内部，当“自由民主派”当权之后，也先后出现了一个个沙文主义集团，更有甚者，还有大行法西斯之道的社会渣滓——他们用民族主义的口号，打着关怀俄罗斯人民利益的旗号，来掩饰自己内心的贫乏和野蛮。这在很大程度上是由于把政权抢夺到手的那些人往好里说都是西方的思想附庸，实际都是直接听命于西方的走狗，他们决心把俄罗斯交付西方听凭宰割。这样的心理以及相应的实践活动，一定会产生相反的一面——赤裸裸的、攻击性极强的民族主义。这是在本质上同真正的爱国主义完全相对立的东西。何况，在上世纪90年代，反爱国主义简直都已经成了叶利钦政权的招牌。时时刻刻都会有人把脏水往爱国主义和爱国主义者头上泼，有的人使出浑身解数，为的就是要把这些概念彻底消灭，尤其是在年轻一代的眼里。当局努力用他们的靴底，去践踏人民记忆中最神圣的事件、日期，甚至连伟大卫国战争胜利日也不放过。这一切在一定程度上造成了反弹，不过当然是畸形的反弹，那就是出现了民族主义的情绪和极端主义组织。

    　　在民族主义和沙文主义这样的概念同爱国主义的概念之间，人的意识中并不是任何时候都能很清楚地划出一条界线，更何况年轻人。

    　　什么是全民爱国主义？事实上伟大卫国战争对此已经作出了最令人信服的回答。难道说没有爱国主义人们能忍受那种可怕的损失，能克服那种生活的艰难困苦，直至胜利吗？不能的！

    　　最近几年来，我国这方面情况正在好转。在前线和后方参与过斗争的老战士又开始受到尊敬，人们对自己国家不寻常的历史开始比较尊重。不过，事情总是这样，在这种情况下，又是那些昨天还在践踏我们历史和伟大胜利的人开始搞起了爱国主义运动。真是——只有天知道了。

    　　还有一个概念在一定程度上也跟我们所说的这些人有关系，这就是所谓的“全人类价值”。我也想就此谈一点看法。1987年戈尔巴乔夫把这么个概念引入了思想武库，为的是想要“淡化”党传统的意识形态提法。起初，这个概念只是用来作为“对外使用”，因为这里边还包含维护和平、裁军、防止生态灾难等思想。后来，在“全人类价值”中又加入了法制国家的原则，即西方民主的基本要素。可以认为，也就是在这个时期，出现了党和国家的首脑向“西方价值”的转变。这种情况几乎对所有的方面都产生了影响——对外政策方面，意识形态方面，经济方面，等等。总书记思想观点的变化在中央和地方领导人中引起的反响是各不相同的。对于戈尔巴乔夫的这一转变，意识形态专家、改革“设计师”雅科夫列夫拿着到处鼓吹，说这是根本性的、“指标性的”转变，特别是跑到国外去吹。而党和经济工作的大部分骨干则对之充满了疑虑。

    　　国内生活中我们原来所固有的集体主义不见了，取而代之的是个人主义；生产资料公有制被私有制取代了；人民被分裂成互相敌对的两部分——富人攫取了大部分财富，却把大多数老百姓搞得一贫如洗；我们祖国的伟大文化，受到了不值一文的西方水货的排挤，文化变得只知道迎合把赚钱作为最高理想的人们的低俗口味，等等。这就是最近15年来为我们造成的境况。而这一切却美其名曰是向“世界文明”的回归。不过这个过程是戈尔巴乔夫时期开始的，如今我们这个一度在世界上为许多人充当过精神领袖的国家却变成了一名落后的学生。

    　　这种把“泛人类价值”向俄罗斯土壤不加考虑地、片面地、机械地移植的结果，无疑对实现在美国倡导下推行的全球化是有利的。在这种情况下，人民的民族价值和国家主权，以及由此而产生的政治、社会、经济和文化后果，就完全被置于次要地位去了。

    　　我们的悲剧就在于我们丢失了“苏维埃价值”，我们没有把过去的一切正面的东西带到新时期来。非但如此，许多对我们格格不入的、不为大多数人民所接受的教义，也被强加给我们这个社会。我们的国家缺少一种起核心作用的思想，有的只是起瓦解作用的、外来的思想和价值。

    苏联解体：审判何时开始

    　　戈尔巴乔夫“改革”时期的行为在好多地方都使人想起赫鲁晓夫统治时代：许多事情有始无终，没有改革的战略路线，搞得匆匆忙忙，缺少深思熟虑，几乎所有的事情都是即兴而为的产物。雕塑家涅依兹韦斯内在给赫鲁晓夫竖立的墓碑上天才地表现了赫鲁晓夫的行为和性格：他把墓碑清晰地分成两部分（由黑白两种大理石做成），以此来强调这个人思想行为的矛盾性。

    　　的确是这样，一方面，他放松了对文化活动家们创作的监控，另一方面，他又捣毁了练马场大厅的雕塑展，其中就有这个涅依兹韦斯内的作品。他批准了出版反斯大林的作品，同时又对俄罗斯东正教会给予重创，对苏军给予沉重打击。

    　　考虑到这种无法一以贯之的情况，就会出现一个问题：这个“解冻”究竟又是个什么东西呢？是伴随着融雪的温暖的天气呢，还是制造泥泞，制造污泥浊水，制造阴雨连绵或者制造雾气弥漫的天气呢？照我看回答也是不确定：一切都取决于究竟从什么立场来看这个现象。

    　　坐上国家的高位之后，戈尔巴乔夫起初对军人是很尊重的。他心里很明白，在整个俄罗斯历史上，军队始终是社会上受到尊重的一部分。可是事过不久，他就开始向军队发起攻击，甚至动用了一批“分析家”，他们对人民反复宣称，百姓之所以生活不好，是因为大量经费用到了军队身上。

    　　在这个问题上，戈尔巴乔夫的小伙计——外交部长谢瓦尔德纳泽——为他帮了不少忙。众所周知，这个人在苏联历史上留下了灾难性的痕迹。这位外交官居然宣称，我国的军事开支占国民总收入的19%。后来戈尔巴乔夫拿过来凑了个整数，于是又变成了20%。其实他们两个都非常清楚地知道，我国国防开支所占比例最多不超过12%，而且从来也没有超过这个数字。因此，戈尔巴乔夫在破坏苏军威望方面，是一步不差地走了赫鲁晓夫的老路。

    　　这样一来，在戈尔巴乔夫掌权的年代，我国军事政治阵地和国防阵地就目标明确地、坚定不移地、一步一步地解除了武装。读者可能会问，那么国家的其他领导成员又到哪里去了呢？为了回答这个问题，我可以请读者们也看看今天的情况。俄联邦政府的部长们是否了解总统外交谈判和外交决策的情况呢？显然并不了解。苏联那时的情况也是这样：国防部长、外交部长和克格勃的主席形式上虽然是内阁成员，但实际上所有的一切完全都是总书记和苏联总统一手操办的。

    　　从1945年起，战后年代世界上形成了两极政治体制：一极是苏联，而另一极则是美国。这种体制为维护和平，避免总体上的武装冲突，建立了很有分量的保证，尽管当时一直在搞所谓的“冷战”。由于世界上两个主导大国之间的军事力量大致均衡，相对地缘均势还能得到保持，这样才能在出现问题时求得最终的政治解决。越南的情况是这样，阿富汗的问题是这样，还有许多其他的问题也是这样。

    　　1991年苏联的解体，消除了所有抑制西方侵略首先是美国侵略的因素。两级世界垮台了。苏联解体后，一些国家的政治活动家也讲了不少建立多极世界的话，但至今也只不过是一种良好的愿望，因为这样的政治力量配置，对于仅余的唯一一个超级大国美国来说，是完全不能接受的。几十年来，他们一直都梦想着在世界上起领袖作用，如今目的终于达到，他们的手脚放开了。

    　　后果马上显现出来。第一个遭受打击的就是南斯拉夫。经过十年动乱，一个受到全世界承认的统一国家，被肢解成六个部分，现在又要分裂出来第七个“主权独立”国家——科索沃。

    　　不出所料，美国也找到了把联军开进阿富汗的借口，而在整个上世纪80年代的后半期，它却不断要求苏联部队从那里撤出来。

    　　后来，他甚至不顾联合国的反对，纠集了一些国家，入侵并占领了伊拉克，在当地建立了所谓的“民主”生活和“民主”统治。结果把这个国家搞得血流成河。接下来将会是黎巴嫩、伊朗、朝鲜和其他所有在某一点上不合乎美国标准的主权国家。

    　　今天发生的种种，实际上同1938年在欧洲出现的问题并无二致：当年的英法两国领导人签署了慕尼黑协定，说得确切些，就是同希特勒和墨索里尼搞了妥协。西方以这一行动为法西斯德国奴役欧洲各国、向苏联开战亮起了绿灯。今天，西欧以自己对美国侵略政策的支持，亲手为它统治世界扫清了道路。

    　　为了这个目的，正在向全世界灌输一种观念，似乎只存在一种文明，那就是美国和西欧的文明，唯有它才是世界上一切古老文明的继承人（不仅继承了欧洲的即希腊罗马的，而且还继承了东方的，包括中国的和印度的），似乎只有这种西方的价值观体系——有人把它叫做“大西洋价值观体系”——才是唯一真正人道和民主的价值观体系。

    　　不过这种唯一“大西洋”文明理论的炮制者，其虚伪无知也实在惊人。按照他们的意见，在这一基本的、“无可争议”的文明之中，竟全然没有中国、伊朗、印度、俄罗斯等国家的地位。甚至就连日本和中国以及今天的印度和东南亚国家所展示的科学、文化、经济方面的巨大飞跃，也无法动摇拥戴这一理论的许许多多西方政客。

    　　在当代这个瞬息万变的世界上，俄国虽自身的麻烦和问题不少，但也还是积极努力地在保持与自己伟大历史相称的地位。但遗憾的是这一复兴过程也包含着一定的危险——丧失自己精神世界的某些珍贵特色、生活方式和独特文化的危险。

    　　俄罗斯是横跨欧亚的伟大文明，它是在斯拉夫民族、突厥民族和无数其他民族无数个世纪以来友好合作基础上的产物。它的地缘政治地位非常具有特点，它是一条连接欧亚的陆地通道。

    　　俄罗斯广袤的疆土，它那多姿多彩的精神、文化和自然、气候，各具特色的民族和宗教长期相互作用——所有这些都要求社会一方面要有超前的思维，要善于同面临的危险作斗争；而另一方面，则要求把各族人民和各种力量都团结起来，以解决国家的问题。正因为如此，在精神和文化生活中它才既比较倾向于仁爱，又倾向于崇拜领导者的作用，信奉救世主。这些民族自觉意识中的特质不是外部强加的，而是历史形成的。它们同爱国主义、国家观念、大国地位意识等有机地结合在一起，没有这种东西，一个巨大的国家就不可能复兴，人民的统一就得不到保证。

    　　东正教是俄国文化的一个重要基础。在许多个世纪之前，正是它，作为一种建设强大国家的思想，促进了俄国社会分散力量的团结，促进了我国国家思想的形成。基督教中的天主教一支同东正教一支之间的思想冲突在历史上源远流长，它决定了东西方之间斗争的本质。天主教和新教之间的对立，是抑制西方思想扩张的形式之一，隐藏在这种东西背后的，首先是领土利益。本书在后面还要讲到波罗的海沿岸地区各国以及乌克兰的教会斗争的问题以及它的后果。

    　　我们国家在把这样或那样的政治决定付诸实施之前，一定要考虑到本国人民的思想情绪，它的深层的精神缘由。东正教是俄国人民的国教，唯有它才能比较全面地符合俄国人民的世界观。

    　　与此同时，在俄罗斯这样一个多民族国家，尽管教会同国家是分离的，但也要求国家对其他宗教信仰给予同样的重视和尊重。因为总有一部分人民信奉的是伊斯兰教、佛教或者犹太教。不过，在尊重我国的这些传统宗教的同时，我想在本章中谈谈东正教问题。

    　　今天，我们越来越经常听到有人说，东正教价值体系不太适合市场经济。暗地里针对东正教也正在开展一场攻击。这是通过西方传教士和形形色色的宗教团体、教派的大规模扩张活动进行的，简直就是又一场货真价实的十字军东征。从本质来讲，这是一种改变我国整个社会面貌的企图。经过这场可怕的战役之后，结果就是要在过去俄国的原址上，建立起一个新的国家，国名可能还是这个国名，但人民的心理已完全改变，传统的价值观在百姓心目中将不再占有地位。

    　　在消灭俄国文化的行动中，根除我们这个多民族国家千百年来独特传统的努力，将会起到主导作用。比方说，美国对这个目标就毫不掩饰。近年来，俄国实际上已经成为美国信息文化侵略的对象，其目的，就是要毁灭俄国的精神价值和社会道德。有相当一部分文学艺术界知识分子，他们利用公开性诅咒苏联的书刊检查制度——有的盲目，有的自觉，他们疯狂顶礼膜拜西方，特别是美国文化。

    　　在我们国家的那些“思想统治者”的支持下，这场进攻战的结果，就是由美国通过它在我国的代理人，实际掌控了俄国电视这一对百姓影响最大的信息媒体。传统价值观念遭到清洗，“美国生活方式”的原则和风格被强加到人民头上。头脑健全的人们和社会活动家力图抗御这种局面，但遭到俄国电视实际主子的激烈反对。

    　　行政和立法当局实际上是在同这种情况妥协。而且，我国文化就整体而言目前已被阴暗、迷信、反科学的观点所淹没。从电视屏幕和“黄色”报刊汹涌而来的蒙昧主义之流是那么的浓稠，以至星星点点的健康思想、端正行为和高尚道德很容易就被它淹没了。

    　　第二次世界大战之后，各文明之间的边界又回到了历史上原来应该有的老地方，划出了与我们同宗的斯拉夫民族波兰、捷克、斯洛伐克、南斯拉夫和保加利亚的西部边界。西方为了促使苏联垮台，树立了一个把欧洲文明分水岭向东推移的目标。然而，“世界新秩序”的建筑师们并没有打算就此止步不前。这里指的是他们再次力图消灭早已存在的西方世界战略老对手——俄国，首先是俄罗斯族——的独特文化的企图。

    　　遗憾的是这种状况终于发生了。实际上所有在苏联垮台后感到手足无措的斯拉夫民族，都无情地陷入了从属于西方的境况。他们通过北约以及其他政治、经济、军事机制，跟西方拴到了一起。唯有南斯拉夫是一个例外。之所以会选中它来作为侵略和破坏的对象，其原因就在于它竟敢保持自己的政治独立性，同时也爆出了自己就广义而言的文化特性。

    　　南斯拉夫发生的一切间接地证实了一种猜测，这就是文明的分裂将首先发生在西方—俄罗斯一线。今天人们已经看清，无论西方如何在我国内外竭尽全力，但依然难以淹没并同化俄罗斯的和俄国的文化。历史表明，我国在吸收西方技术文化成就的同时，从来就没有为西方文化所吞并过，反因此而增强了表现自我鲜明独特文化个性的条件。

    　　俄国在上世纪90年代向西方的急剧倾斜说明，如果对西方思想价值不采取批判态度，如果不考虑俄罗斯文化特点，而把西方的东西机械地向俄罗斯土壤移植，就不可能导致祖国文化的完善，而是导致它遭到破坏。更何况正如大家都明白的那样，西方文化也并不希望把俄罗斯拥入自己的怀抱。

    　　有些接近叶利钦的学者认为，是布尔什维克中止了我国文化的欧化，剥夺了它彻底变革自己的良机。这些学者还算不错，因为他们毕竟还讨论讨论俄国文化。可是另外还有一些人，他们则从根本上否定了俄国文化这个概念。

    　　毕竟，不是文明的对立，而是文明的对话，才能为人类赢得未来。联合国的活动保障了20世纪下半叶的和平，而其中有很多地方正是要归功于不同文明之间的思想交流。大家知道，创建联合国的倡议者是美国总统富兰克林·罗斯福。可是当今美国领导人的所作所为，对这位先驱者的理想是一种直接的背叛。

    　　遗憾的是上个世纪的最后十年间（苏联解体之后）某些以维护世界和平为己任的国际组织信任度遭到破坏。今天，在第三个千年开始之际，我们遇到了世界集体安全体系的深刻危机。

    　　素有民族和国家命运主宰之称的北约不顾一切地东移，该军政联盟各成员国脱离联合国监督的实际状况，联合国威望的灾难性丧失使人们有理由得出结论，以这些国际组织目前的状况，是再也不可能客观地解决世界性问题的。他们统统都处于美国的监管之下，程度不同地沦为美国的工具。他们已无力成为世界的保障。希望在世界性震撼的新威胁面前，人类能找到维护世界平衡机制基础现代化的有效途径。

    　　不过，在21世纪，对我们这个世界的安全而言，其基本威胁就是那些越积越多的全球文化问题。

    　　 “我想，”莫斯科大学校长、俄罗斯科学院院士萨多夫尼奇说，“拯救人类的一条主要路线，就是承认文化差异的事实，并安排好它们之间的对话。掀起人类仇恨的恶浪是不能解决任何问题的。我们的世界异常丰富多彩，它是一个复杂的系统，因此一定要在相互作用上下工夫——这才是我们的出发点。我相信，当这种对话的机制逐渐消亡的时候，当文化的相互渗透过程趋于结束的时候，过去的那些强大帝国定将不复存在。现在比任何时候都更需要宽容。应该找出一些线索，一些头绪，虽说十分复杂，也要力求作出一些决定来，解开这团问题的乱麻。要学会在不同的人、不同文明之间，在不同宗教信仰的代表之间开展对话——这就是当今的任务。”

    　　本书试图探讨降临到我们国家头上的种种灾难的原因。如果读者在其中能找到有关我们这个混乱时代的哪怕是部分令人惶惑不安的问题的回答，笔者也会感到莫大的欣慰。

    不妥当的任命

    　　1986年12月16日，哈萨克斯坦共产党中央全会在阿拉木图召开了创纪录的短会。与会者只用18分钟，便一致同意解除领导哈萨克斯坦几近30年的金姆哈梅塔·阿赫梅多维奇·库纳耶夫党中央第一书记的职务。又一致选举苏共中央提名的乌里扬诺夫斯克党组织领导人盖纳季·瓦西里耶维奇·科尔宾接替他的职务。

    　　当时正值戈尔巴乔夫宣布的改革实施第20个月。随着改革，有相当一部分干部也出现了变动：许多在勃列日涅夫手下工作多年的老领导理应把自己的位置让给那些对新思想和新活动形式更为敏感的新人。

    　　严格说来，明显的干部更换在安德罗波夫领导时便已开始。在契尔年科当政时范围继续扩大。到了戈尔巴乔夫，进入了决定性阶段。情况表明，从1983年开始，几年内有90%的州委书记和加盟共和国党中央书记被替换。市委和区委书记在80年代后期的轮换，把这一级别党的干部更新了2—3次。

    　　第一阶段——即戈尔巴乔夫之前——的干部更换，为他掌权扫清了道路。很明显，如果被勃列日涅夫的干部包围，戈尔巴乔夫就很难坐上苏共中央总书记的交椅。第二阶段即挑选干部来实现改革的阶段。值得注意的是，正是随着戈尔巴乔夫登上国内最高职位——苏共中央总书记，才得以首先针对党内高层领导着手“清洗”。

    　　在1985年7月党中央全会上，罗曼诺夫被解除中央书记和政治局委员职务，责令其退休。他在中央书记处的职位及相关职责——监管军事工业综合体的工作——由列宁格勒党组织领导人扎依科夫接替。

    　　又过了不多时，在同年的12月，首都党组织领导人格里申也被责令退休，此前不久任中央委员会建设部主任、而后成为苏共中央书记的叶利钦接替了他的职务。

    　　不过令人难以置信的是，这里起主要作用的人物却是利加乔夫。正是他把叶利钦这个他未来最凶恶的誓不两立的敌人召到了莫斯科。利加乔夫成为中央书记后，分管党的干部工作，在访问斯维尔德洛夫斯克时，喜欢上了这位精力充沛的苏共州委第一书记。归来后，他固执地、以他所特有的那种坚持不懈的精神开始证明，叶利钦这种类型的领导人正是改革所需要的。当然，利加乔夫首先是说服了契尔年科和戈尔巴乔夫。关于这个问题，没有人同我以及中央其他书记商量过。我常常问自己：为什么会发生这种事情，为什么恰恰是利加乔夫成了建议把叶利钦调进莫斯科的人，把他推上了影响全苏联的道路？我想，应该是他们的性格中有许多相似之处吧。但是，他们两个是同类电荷，所以迟早要互相排斥，事实果然如此。

    　　有两个加盟共和国——哈萨克斯坦和乌克兰——党的领导人进入了中央政治局的班子，他们是库纳耶夫和谢尔比茨基。他们是党内极有威信的人物，不仅进入了勃列日涅夫的“核心”，而且也是他的私人朋友。可是出现了一个情况：在因契尔年科逝世而召开的政治局会议上，既不见库纳耶夫，也不见谢尔比茨基。二人没有来得及参加会议，当时一个在阿拉木图，另一个在美国。考虑到他们的缺席，在第二天，也就是3月22日星期一全会召开前，又重开了一次政治局会议。补充一句，这次会议谢尔比茨基也没有赶上。随后几年，关于这件事曾有过不少议论。我不认为这是事先策划好的。在当时的环境下，即使谢尔比茨基参加了，公开表示反对，也不会改变局势。

    　　如上所述，哈萨克斯坦共产党领导人库纳耶夫进入了中央政治局。他不仅是一位加盟共和国的，而且也是全苏的著名政治活动家。

    　　库纳耶夫是哈萨克人，莫斯科有色金属和黄金学院毕业，当过钻床工、技师和车间主任，巴尔喀什炼铜厂所属科乌布拉达矿矿长和总工程师，里捷尔斯克矿矿长和列宁诺戈尔矿井管理处主任。作为一个生产的天才组织者和精通业务的专家，他被任命为哈萨克斯坦加盟共和国人民委员会副主席、部长会议副主席，后来又担任部长会议主席。论文答辩通过后，他成为技术科学博士、加盟共和国科学院院士，而后又成为该科学院院长。八枚列宁勋章和三次社会主义劳动英雄称号，表明他对加盟共和国、对全苏功勋卓著。他比任何人都了解哈萨克斯坦，在该共和国他的名字老幼皆知。

    　　上世纪80年代我同库纳耶夫交往甚密。我在苏联国家计委工作，担任苏共中央分管经济的书记时，以及在担任苏联部长会议主席期间，经常同他见面，一起研究过哈萨克斯坦的许多社会和经济问题。库纳耶夫是一位聪明、有教养的人，在他身上体现出他在生产、科研和政治活动中的修养。他所具有的那种沉静、坚定、朴实和交往中的随和，使他明显地优于国内党的某些高层领导人。

    　　这位受人尊敬的党和国家领导人于1986年12月14日飞到莫斯科，同往常一样下榻在哈萨克常设代表团的宾馆。早晨去了苏共中央，几分钟后得知他已不再是加盟共和国党中央第一书记，也知道了谁是他的接班人。

    　　库纳耶夫是一个头脑清醒的政治家，他很明白，是到了该离开这个岗位的时候了。他已经上了年纪，现在的领导方法完全是另外一套，再加上莫斯科新政权的歧视目光，这些都不能为他的工作和生活增添一丝信心和乐观情绪。

    　　后来在一次记者访问中他坦诚地说：“我不想为自己辩解，我作出的决定有正确的，也有不正确的；我有功也有过。但是我清楚地知道，一个人不能长期连续当‘头头’，否则会变得麻木，免不了会有过失，尤其是干部政策。包围自己的不应该是崇拜者，而应该是聪明人，能更新思想观念的聪明人。”

    　　苏共中央内部有些人认为，库纳耶夫曾是勃列日涅夫的私人朋友，戈尔巴乔夫和同他亲近的党内人士对库纳耶夫反感就是由此而来。可他们自己也在勃列日涅夫手下工作过。在他们看来，这位哈萨克斯坦的领导者是“停滞”时代的人，通过多年工作，他在共和国中造就了一个领导帮派，这个帮派具有典型的负面表现——信奉的原则就是“家丑不可外扬”。

    　　当然，在库纳耶夫周围也难免有一些品质不好的人，会卷入丑闻之中。有人也曾想方设法把腐败的罪名扣到他头上，但最后不了了之。他并不是一个清心寡欲的人，但他的无私精神值得许多人学习，而且不仅在哈萨克斯坦。尽管库纳耶夫工作中有这样那样的缺点，那些作出解除他职务决定的人也要考虑到，这个为共和国做了许多好事谋了不少利益的人，在共和国是享有良好声誉的。此事表明，在当时的情况下实施既定干部更换政策，要求具有十分审慎细致的态度，可是从种种迹象看来，苏共中央领导根本就没有很好考虑过。

    　　更糟糕的是，莫斯科又决定，在该共和国形势变得复杂的情况下，领导哈萨克斯坦共产党的人应该是一个原则性强的、铁面无私的人——对这一点倒不会有任何反对意见。可不知为什么，又规定必须是俄罗斯人。就这样，选择落到了科尔宾身上。

    　　我同科尔宾早就认识，对他的劳动生涯了解得很清楚。他的工人生活是从在下塔吉尔——就其规模和重要性而言是中乌拉尔的第二大城市——的一个工厂当制模学徒工开始的。他在那里一直干到副总工程师和厂党委书记，区委书记和下塔吉尔市委书记。在随后几年又升为苏共斯维尔德洛夫斯克州委第二书记，格鲁吉亚党中央第二书记，苏共乌里扬诺夫斯克州委第一书记，苏共哈萨克斯坦中央第一书记。他在苏联人民监督委员会主席任上结束了自己的劳动生涯，当之无愧地受到国家许多奖励和表彰。

    　　我们二人的生活道路在许多方面是相符和交叉的。把我和科尔宾联系在一起的是“老乡”的情谊，我们年龄相仿，都在乌拉尔工业部门工作过，那时我们经常在正式场合和私下见面。

    　　在他担任下塔吉尔市委第一书记期间，我正在乌拉尔机器厂任总工程师，我厂同实力雄厚的下塔吉尔冶金联合企业有密切合作，他们的设备基本上由我厂提供。

    　　这个城市里还有一家乌拉尔车辆机械厂。它的名字并没有反映它的全貌，它确实为国家铁路生产了大量车厢，但工厂的第二部分生产的却是坦克。伟大卫国战争期间便是这样，当时生产过传奇坦克T—34，战后阶段也没有停止。在战争期间，乌拉尔机器厂为乌拉尔车辆机械厂提供坦克炮和坦克外壳。战后则为生产各种类型的现代坦克提供坦克炮。有件事说起来很令人痛心：1993年炮打“白宫”，用的就是乌拉尔车辆机械厂和乌拉尔机器厂生产的坦克和大炮。

    　　科尔宾被任命为斯维尔德洛夫斯克州党委第二书记时候，我也被任命为乌拉尔机器总厂的厂长。大家知道，当时的党组织事实上管理着地区生活的各个方面，工业也不例外。所以，我同监管工业的科尔宾接触很频繁。说句公道话，他并没有“勒紧我们嘴里的嚼子”。他对生产业务很懂行，是一个讲原则的、要求严格的领导者，了解工业企业生活的细枝末节，因而受到厂内职工的尊敬。

    　　巧合的是，我和科尔宾几乎是同时离开乌拉尔，只差一个月。他被选为格鲁吉亚党中央第二书记，我则当上了重型机械和交通机械制造部的第一副部长。这之后我们的联系也没有中断过。科尔宾经常向我们提出一些有关我们部门在格鲁吉亚的企业工作的问题，并提出一些发展共和国机械制造业的建议。

    　　我在苏联计委工作和成为苏共中央书记时，他在国内各地区任职，在中央代表地区的利益。当时我们也经常来往。科尔宾清楚地看到了格鲁吉亚经济发展的某种片面性，并尽全力促进共和国全方位发展。他为此做了很多事情。由于他精通业务，有工作能力，精力充沛，同人们打交道作风民主，所以在格鲁吉亚享有极高的威信。

    　　我也忘不了他在乌里扬诺夫斯克的活动，包括创建现被称做“阿维阿斯塔尔”的规模宏大的航空综合体时所表现出的坚韧不拔的精神。这一综合体可说是生产高质量飞机的规模最宏大的现代化工厂。全国都为它的创建出过力。可惜的是，它现在的境况非常艰难。还有就是乌里扬诺夫斯克至今仍在建设中的横跨伏尔加的大桥。州委第一书记抓大桥建设抓得非常紧，逼得大家团团转，也多亏他，大桥工程才能上马。这个对该州、对全国都很重要的大工程至今没有竣工，可不是科尔宾的错。

    　　然后，就是哈萨克斯坦了……两年半过后，苏联最高苏维埃会议上讨论推选科尔宾担任苏联人民监督委员会主席时，戈尔巴乔夫还提到过科尔宾的政绩，而且说这个决定通过得非常及时，他说：“科尔宾做了很多有益的事。正因为如此，我们有理由根据他的生活经验和党的工作经验，考虑到他的政治、道德品质，推荐他担任哈萨克斯坦党中央第一书记职务。”

    　　可是，在最高苏维埃批准科尔宾担任苏联人民监督委员会主席时，有人却又提出了1986年12月的问题。反对科尔宾的谎言劈头盖脸袭来，开始对他目标明确地进行人身攻击，真是极尽诬蔑之能事！我不想摘引那些信口雌黄的言论。它们会不由得令人想到福音书中的话：“顽石也会喊叫。”福音书的这句话换成现在的话来说，就是愤怒到了不仅人，就连不会说话的石头也要发出愤怒呼喊的程度。

    　　讲完我对科尔宾的态度，我还想说，这个人是那个时代思想的体现者，他受的就是那样的教育，只能那样生活。这里没有他的任何过错。我们所有的人都是怀着党的理想信念接受教育的。当然，我们对党的某些行为也会抱有怀疑，但在战略方面我们还是忠于它的。科尔宾是那个时代的产儿，正是那些像他一样的人，开始着手实现根本性的变革，后来又使这些变革毁于一旦。这也正是那一代人的伟大和悲剧所在。

    　　尽管我对科尔宾个人和他的工作经历十分敬重，但过去和现在我都一直认为，戈尔巴乔夫、利哈乔夫和当时政治局对他的这次任命，显然没有经过深思熟虑。而且一反几十年的传统，派往加盟共和国任最高职务的竟是一位俄罗斯人，一位在哈萨克斯坦实际无人知晓的人。科尔宾和库纳耶夫不同，他只是在工作过的地区才有名气和威望，虽说他也是苏共中央委员和最高苏维埃代表。而在此前，作为苏联最大的共和国之一，哈萨克斯坦在苏共中央政治局的代表是共和国的党中央第一书记，这对于该党不仅具有道德心理意义，而且有极为重要的组织政治意义。很自然，这一措施不能不在哈萨克斯坦领导层中引发负面的反应。

    　　不过，戈尔巴乔夫及其一伙对党的领导，其主要的和非常严重的错误还在于另一方面：在他们所宣称的新条件下，工作中所采取的，却完全是干部政策的老套套，这套办法在当时不能不引起众怒，尤其是在民族共和国。

    　　事实上中央总书记向全国和全世界大肆宣扬自己的改革和公开性政策已将近两年，千方百计地鼓励意见的多元化等等，而自己用的却是非常官僚主义的陈旧的方法。他根本没同共和国的领导、共和国党组织的积极分子讨论过，更没有同人民商量过。

    　　大家是在哈萨克斯坦党中央全会上才知道，共和国要换新领导了：苏共中央书记拉祖莫夫斯基宣布库纳耶夫辞职——当然是“本人申请”，并代表党的领导人和党中央委员会推荐科尔宾任共和国党的第一书记。与会者当然也就遵守党的纪律，唯命是从地投票通过了推荐的人选。但是，正是我在这一章开头提到的完成这一程序的18分钟，破坏了哈萨克斯坦的安定局面，推动了类似事件后来在其他苏联加盟共和国的发生。

    　　阿拉木图事件的发生发展非常突然而迅速。请注意，全会召开的时间是1986年12月16日，而17日一早七八点钟，党中央大楼前的广场上便出现了第一批青年人，主要是首府高校的学生，约两三百人，打着反对中央全会决定的标语，对选举科尔宾表示不满。

    　　11时30分游行示威者离开广场，奔向城市各街道。13时30分青年队伍突破卡车筑成的路障，又回到原来的地方。这时游行队伍已增至5000人。没有参加环城游行的好奇的路人也开始在广场聚集，很快又出现了“援军”：一大队青年从和平街方向向广场涌来，从哈萨克大学也来了约600人。他们一字一顿地喊：“阿乌耶利别科夫，纳扎尔巴耶夫！”游行者举着标语牌：“列宁同党在一起！”“我们——为哈萨克斯坦！”许多人原以为这是支持改革的例行群众集会，但是另外的标语——比方说“库纳耶夫在哪里？”——推翻了最初的想法。游行者要求库纳耶夫出来见他们，就艰苦的生活条件、住房困难、使用本族语言范围受限等问题向他提出了要求。这些要求反映在用哈萨克语和俄语书写的口号中：“任何民族不得有任何特权”“要尊重列宁的民族政策原则！”“列宁思想万岁！”“共和国应有自己的领袖！”游行的人们手无寸铁，他们举着列宁像，唱着民歌。在事件发展的这个阶段并没有出现对其他民族的攻击；没有号召推翻国家制度，也没有出现流氓行为。

    　　但是却接到了封锁广场的命令，不准进出。新来的游行队伍企图冲破封锁，进入广场，于是发生了小冲突。广场内的人帮助新来的队伍冲破封锁，紧张的局势便出现了。内务部长沃拉索夫下令将全国八个城市的内务部特种部队派往阿拉木图。部队来到广场，装备是防弹背心、钢盔、盾牌、警棍。两辆专用车上还有专用装备——烟幕弹、信号弹、催泪瓦斯“稠李树”。同军人一起的还有一组执勤犬。从15时到17时，哈萨克斯坦党中央执行局的成员卡马利坚诺夫、缅恩德巴耶夫、穆卡舍夫，纳扎尔巴耶夫一直都站在广场观礼台上。他们呼吁集会群众解散，但回应的是一片嘘声和口哨声。雪球和冰块飞上观礼台。共和国最高苏维埃主席穆卡舍夫向集会群众讲话，他说游行群众提出的要求是没有道理的，号召大家解散。

    　　这一切都没有起作用：集会者侮辱保卫观礼台的士兵和军校学员，抢他们的帽子。民警从人群中抓了那些带头闹事的人，群众又企图把他们抢回去，于是便开始了肢体冲突。士兵接到命令把人群赶出广场，但群众向他们投掷石块、砖头、灰泥块。有人受伤了。

    　　此时，观礼台上的卡马利坚诺夫、叶利米索夫、巴萨罗夫一个接一个地呼吁集会者散去，警告说不然将使用武力。一些著名的文化活动家也发表了讲话。但这一切全没奏效。人群谁的话也不听，只坚持一点——赶走科尔宾。所有要求的实质归于一点——让哈萨克人取代俄国人做哈萨克斯坦共产党中央第一书记。有人呼吁让库纳耶夫回来，建议纳扎尔巴耶夫、卡马利坚诺夫进共和国领导班子。

    　　集会群众同护法机关的冲突渐渐地演变成残酷的恶斗。而后在广场上集会的群众大喊大叫地开始冲击党中央大楼，企图冲垮士兵、民警、边防战士的横队。殴斗愈演愈烈。木棒、钢筋、石块全派上了用场。士兵被迫使用皮带和警棍。疯狂的暴徒烧了几辆汽车，捣毁了两个商店的橱窗。打砸抢的人在增加。安抚人群的企图没有奏效。双方都有人受伤。也没能避免死人：纠察队员萨维茨基——地方电视台的工作人员被野蛮地殴打致死。16岁的俄罗斯男孩在远离广场的公共汽车上被刺。他对乘务员说了句粗鲁话，站在旁边的人就向他心脏捅了一刀。三天后一位在广场殴斗中受伤的哈萨克人死亡。

    　　关于在阿拉木图发生的事件，官方报告作了最好的说明：
    　　21时—22时，运载专用装备赶赴广场的军车遭到石块袭击，卫兵逃散，专用装备落到广场人群手中。
    　　22时，市内务局局长接到命令用消防车驱散游行群众，20辆消防车冲向人群，架起水炮向人群喷射。人群向消防车投掷石块，30辆消防车受损。
    　　23时30分—24时，发动了又一轮驱散游行示威的行动，这次动用了工兵铲、警棍和警犬。行动后仍留在柏油马路上的人被集中起来用车运走。广场肃清了。在附近街道、住宅楼的门洞、宿舍里继续搜捕从广场逃跑的人。

    　　根据戈尔巴乔夫的指示，由苏联国家安全委员会、内务部、检察院等机关领导人组成的小组急飞阿拉木图。组长是苏共中央政治局委员索洛缅采夫。国家安全委员会副主席博勃科夫是小组成员，他回忆道：
    　　我们飞抵前，广场骚乱已经结束。我们目睹了这一骚乱的后果。哈萨克斯坦首都给我们留下了令人不快的印象，尤其是坐落着哈萨克斯坦党中央大楼的勃列日涅夫中心广场。在广场和邻近的街道上，仍可见有几辆汽车火焰在燃烧，到处是成堆的玻璃碎片、石块、棍棒、铁条——发生在这里的流血斗殴的遗留物。一进党中央大楼，便感到了形势紧张。科尔宾、纳扎尔巴耶夫和其他领导人明显地焦躁不安。根据科尔宾的说明，发生这一切主要应归罪于共和国安全委员会主席米罗什尼克，他没有足够重视库纳耶夫追随者们的阴谋，是他们策划了这次挑衅行动。甚至有人怀疑，米罗什尼克有意对科尔宾隐瞒了大学生要搞动乱的情报。

    　　大家群起谴责库纳耶夫，因为他拒绝在群众大会上讲话，拒绝号召广场上的群众支持选科尔宾。此外，所有参加会见的人都一致认为，学生的行动是库纳耶夫及其追随者策划的。索洛缅采夫要求揭露群众骚乱的组织者。

    　　但是，事件过去三年后，库纳耶夫在记者采访时澄清了这个问题。长期以来，事件的某些参与者为了洗清自己，极力混淆问题。库纳耶夫说：
    　　12月17日11时左右，哈萨克斯坦党中央第二书记米罗什欣给我打电话，请我去中央委员会。我问：“这是怎么回事？我可是退休了！”他回答说：“广场上有一批青年人集会。他们要求解释昨晚中央全会的决定。最好是你向集会者解释一下问题的实质。”我表示同意，我问：“科尔宾同意吗？”米罗什欣作了肯定的回答。

    　　这之后我马上来到中央，进入中央第一书记办公室，在那里已经集合了全体中央局成员。他们在讨论如何应对广场集会的问题。科尔宾建议纳扎尔巴耶夫和卡马利坚诺夫向青年人讲话。并没有让我做什么。我在科尔宾办公室坐了两个多小时，根本没有谈到要我讲话的事。然后科尔宾开始同莫斯科通话，为了怕影响他，我和其他委员们，除了米罗什欣，全离开了办公室。

    　　过了一段时间，科尔宾召集全体中央局委员，也邀请了我。他对我说：“您没事了，可以休息了，我们自己采取措施，恢复秩序。”临走时，我问米罗什欣，为什么把我找来，却又没让我讲话。他回答说：“我们商量后，决定不让你去广场，也不用讲话了。”1987年6月在莫斯科苏共中央开会期间，米罗什欣又一次肯定说，当时没有允许我去广场讲话。

    　　……共和国领导者谁也没有向青年人解释全会决定的实质。相反却残酷镇压集会者。许多大学生和工人受难。据哈萨克斯坦共青团中央的材料，因参加广场事件或支持这些事件，有几千大学生被开除学籍，许多人被迫放弃学业。对一大批共产党员采取了具有迫害性质的惩罚措施。

    　　……我被定为“阿拉木图事件”的主要组织者之一，虽然我同它毫无关系。科尔宾不止一次说，我拒绝向广场青年讲话是事件扩大的原因之一。不仅这件事，而且共和国党组织生活中发生的所有消极现象，都同我的名字、我的活动联系上了。他们忘记了，长期以来党中央一直信任我，把大工业企业、科研所、党和苏维埃机关的工作委托给我。我总是努力履行党员的职责，忠实地做人。

    　　事件期间戈尔巴乔夫曾同库纳耶夫谈话。那时我正在总书记办公室。戈尔巴乔夫因受到来自阿拉木图片面情报的影响，他语调严厉地要求库纳耶夫制止混乱，毫不含糊地认为正是库纳耶夫要为这些事件负责。但是库纳耶夫坚决否认加给自己的罪名。他公开声称，他同发生的事件毫无关系。我想，他说的是真话。

    　　第二天，12月18日，党中央大楼前的广场上空荡荡，只有数量不多的好奇者。市内街道上偶尔还有为数不多的年轻人聚在一起，向巡逻车投掷石块。

    　　主要的骚乱已经过去，但人民没有安定下来。有议论说骚乱是在哈萨克斯坦独立的口号下进行的，要求共和国拥有主权，说这是一次成熟的民族自我意识的群众性公开表现。我认为，在当时这种说法并没有充分的根据。不过阿拉木图事件不论其内幕如何，都不可能不留下痕迹。果然，几年之后，卡拉巴赫和苏木加伊特、费尔干纳、第比利斯和巴库、波罗的海沿岸国家和乌克兰出事了。最后是苏联的瓦解。“催化剂”虽与哈萨克斯坦事件中的不一样，但它的破坏性更大，因为在大多数情况下，其中都含有作为国家、社会、人民统一之大敌的民族主义的意识形态和实践活动。

    失乐园

    　　哈萨克民族共同体的形成是一个长期的、复杂的过程，其成员有操突厥语和蒙古语的不同民族。哈萨克作为一个具有固定形态的民族，已有500多年历史，一直可以追溯到15世纪的后半叶。在此之前，存在着几个民族联合体，即哈萨克的三个玉兹——大玉兹、中玉兹、小玉兹。

    　　历史上哈萨克国家的第一个形态是汗国（15—17世纪）。大汗的权力之争、放牧地之争以及其他原因，严重阻碍了哈萨克斯坦土地上统一国家的建立。俄罗斯外交家巧妙地利用了这些统治者之间的争斗，运用了与其说是军事行动，不如说是外交手段，把它们纳入了俄罗斯版图。哈萨克玉兹并入俄罗斯是一个长期的过程——几乎用了100年，从1730年到1824年。在这一段时期内，三个玉兹的汗都相继向沙皇政权提出请求，接纳他们为俄罗斯臣民。这样看来，哈萨克人归附俄罗斯的历史，一部分已有两个世纪，另外一部分也已将近一个世纪。

    　　同俄罗斯合并之后，哈萨克族取得了抵御外国侵略的屏障，使自己这个历史形成的民族共同体得到维护。汗国之间经年不断的战事停止了。同俄罗斯文化的联系成了哈萨克社会相当重要的精神进步的重要因素。在社会发展和经济发展中，都发生了值得肯定的变化。

    　　同时，哈萨克土地中的一部分被收为国家资源，得以把其中的部分分给中央俄罗斯缺少耕地地区的来自乌克兰的移民。他们中的绝大部分之所以来到哈萨克斯坦，正是因为无地可种和生活困难。当然，这也伤害了哈萨克本土居民的利益。但是不要忽视，移民们在这片广阔土地上生息劳作，也使它成为了宜于居住的地方（通常这个目的也许要经过几百年才能达到），为游牧地区带来了农业文明和定居的生活方式。

    　　我的家族的命运也同这一东迁垦荒运动有联系。我爷爷和父亲都是矿工。曾祖父是农民，因为无地可种，于19世纪后半叶携家带口来到这广阔的东方土地。我不知道是什么原因让他们在一个名叫“乌拉尔军”的哥萨克屯安家定居了。

    　　这是俄罗斯帝国的一个特殊的边区。乌拉尔哥萨克不承认土地私有制。他们的全部土地归村社所有。科罗连科在自己的著名的随笔中写道：“……整片土地不知私有制为何物，甚至也不知道俄罗斯的村社土地分配制度……”

    　　乌拉尔（1775年前称做雅依克）哥萨克——是一批复杂的矛盾的人。他们的那种特殊性格多半是由于他们长时间生活在外来威胁的氛围中。

    　　在他们的深层关系中，并不是一切都很顺当。自然的经济问题中掺杂着民族问题：外来者是俄罗斯人和乌克兰人，而哈萨克人则又是哥萨克人生活环境中的“另类”。对于哥萨克来说，所有从俄罗斯迁来的人都是“俄罗斯人”……

    　　我的曾祖父一家就是生活在这种矛盾的条件下。多年过去了，他的孩子们，包括我的爷爷，娶了土生土长的哥萨克女人。我的民族属性也由此而生——是世居俄罗斯中部地带的俄罗斯人同热爱自由的乌拉尔军哥萨克人的融合。

    　　多年以后，我的爷爷奶奶由于各种原因又回到了顿巴斯。先是当农民，而后成了矿工。

    　　俄罗斯人、乌克兰人都愿意互做邻居。哈萨克斯坦有不少俄罗斯名称的村镇和城市。1837年建立了一个哥萨克军事要塞，叫做维尔诺耶（忠诚）。选用这个名称是把它作为一种坚定不移、对俄罗斯国籍忠贞不贰的象征。这之前那里是一个哈萨克居民点，叫阿拉马特。到苏维埃政权时代，城市改称阿拉木图。

    　　哈萨克斯坦成了俄国的一部分，对这一事实乃至它的后果，哈萨克斯坦各社会政治阶层的评价远远不同。一部分人——该地区的传统精英分子——常常把宗法制生活方式的破坏，商品—货币关系的发展，看做是对“祖辈神圣精神的”亵渎。另外一些人则期盼俄罗斯民主力量能促进哈萨克人民启蒙思想的发展。

    　　从苏维埃政权在哈萨克斯坦确立之日起，开始了国家建设的新阶段。1920年8月，俄罗斯苏维埃联邦共和国全俄中央执行委员会主席团通过决议，建立吉尔吉斯苏维埃社会主义自治共和国（哈萨克共和国最初的名称），其中包括若干由哈萨克族人居住的州。到了1924年，中亚地区按民族重新划界，所有的哈萨克族土地合并为一个统一的苏维埃民族国家，1925年又更改了国名，使之符合历史，开始称为哈萨克共和国。

    　　哈萨克人约占共和国居民的61%。当时便有人建议，把哈萨克苏维埃社会主义自治共和国改为加盟共和国，但这种改革1936年才得以实现。

    　　上世纪20年代推行了一系列旨在改善居民状况的措施。比如愿意从事农业生产的人分到了耕地和草场，建设了新的工厂，甚至出现了完整的工业部门。当时即便该地区也未能避免政治上的极端主义。那个因1918年在乌拉尔积极参与枪杀沙皇一家而出了名的戈洛谢金，从1925年起领导了俄共（布）哈萨克边区委员会整整8年，在共和国内也留下了关于他的血腥记忆。由于推行游牧民和半游牧民强制定居的极左的行动，共和国的居民消失了几乎1/5。

    　　上世纪30年代初开始，共和国经济迅速发展，先是工业，而后是农业。1937年在哈萨克斯坦大工业企业达到2000多家便是明证。1940—1975年间，从事工业生产人数的增长速度等于俄罗斯的2.7倍。当然，这种速度也是受到军事局势的影响，但起主要作用的还是苏联实行的关注民族共和国全面迅速发展的政策。发展首先涉及经济。经济的建立靠的是全国的资金，同时又靠动员地方资源，包括矿产资源。矿产正是哈萨克斯坦所富有的。比如，大家知道，仅煤矿就有400多处，铜矿、铁矿、铅锌矿、金铜矿、磷钙土矿、石油、天然气等几十处。在这个有着各种原料的基地，不仅采掘工业，而且冶金业、铝业、化学工业等部门都得到迅速发展。哈萨克斯坦生产50余种有色、稀有、贵金属、稀土及其他金属。遗憾的是金属加工业、重型机械和拖拉机制造业尚欠发达。好在各加盟共和国组成一个统一国家，同其他共和国的广泛合作联系，补偿了上述这一不足。

    　　哈萨克斯坦拥有巨大经济潜力。我在1987年曾访问该共和国，在埃基巴斯图兹走访了2号地区国营发电站，而后又参观了东方露天采煤场。两个工程规模大得惊人，更令人惊羡的是高端技术装备。乌斯季—卡缅诺戈尔斯克铅锌联合工厂给我留下了深刻印象。生产铝和锌这种国民经济急需的有色金属，又要在生产过程中避免污染，这需要具有多么尖端的技术啊！坐落在市郊的村镇中漂亮的个人住房星罗棋布，也引起了我的注意。看来，这是我国大城市中第一批真正由个人兴建的独门独院的住宅。

    　　在参观卡拉干达冶金联合工厂时，我一直觉得我是置身于故乡的乌拉尔重型机械制造厂。这里的许多车间，其装备都是由当初我所在的工厂生产的，那时我曾是工厂的总工程师和总厂长。是的，这是我们这个共同的伟大国家高效劳动分工和生产合作的有目共睹的成就。

    　　哈萨克斯坦大约有1/5有经济作为能力的居民从事农业生产。在这里，畜牧业的专业化是人们一直认真关注的。在各苏维埃共和国帮助下完成处女地垦荒任务后，哈萨克斯坦成了全国粮食的主要产地之一。如果说1940年全苏联粮食每38吨中只有一吨是哈萨克斯坦所生产，到了1986年，每7吨中就有一吨是来自哈萨克斯坦。

    　　总的说来，很明显，哈萨克斯坦需要加快发展加工工业，深加工工业，但是，可惜，进行这种重要的结构改造的时间已经没有了……

    　　哈萨克斯坦在精神发展方面也发生了巨大变化。居民中普遍的文盲现象已经消除，形成了一支科学的、艺术的、工程技术的知识分子队伍，建立了广泛的高等院校和科研机关网。正是在苏维埃政权时期，共和国发展成为文明的现代国家。它的发展在当时成为苏联实行的民族政策成效卓著的光辉范例。

    　　历史不容抹黑，也不容美化，尤其是当我们从制订和实现民族政策这一角度研究历史的时候。民族政策直接影响到非常敏感的、隶属不同民族的人们之间的复杂关系，需要审慎对待。就我的看法，不能说这里的一切在理论上和实践上都没有问题。过去时代遗留的东西，以及屡屡未能克服的不顾客观情况超前行动的愿望，都对事业造成了根本的伤害。比方说，认为我国民族问题已经完全解决，在这种背景下对民族发展和民族间的相互关系实际过程的研究，就常常被简单的口号代替。

    　　学者、文艺界知识分子的某些代表以及政治家们明显过早地强调了民族的融合。而那些谈到每个民族全面发展具有首要意义，应该小心谨慎对待民族传统和习俗的人，则被斥为民族主义。这也就是为什么我国各级管理机关在作出有关大民族和小民族经济、社会发展、文化领域的实际决定时，没有考虑到民族关系的复杂性和它们之间许许多多的细微差异。

    　　不愿抛弃陈规陋习，不善于更广泛、深入、慎重地思考多民族国家中的民族政策问题，必然会带来巨大的麻烦，甚至酿成悲剧。

    　　最近15年证明，不管是在俄罗斯国内，还是在国与国的关系中，民族问题的重要性在后苏联时期一点也不比苏联时期小。更何况现在这一问题有时还具有令人感到毛骨悚然的形式和特点。

    　　我想，大家还记得，早在1988年末，爱沙尼亚苏维埃共和国最高苏维埃就已通过了关于共和国主权的宣言。这种做法的特别危险之处还在于，它宣示了爱沙尼亚法律凌驾于苏联法律之上。部分竟然有权把自己的意志强加给整体——这种事情看似荒谬，但坏榜样却具有传染性。到了1990年，这种部分超越整体的论题具有了实际的毁灭性力量。

    　　问题在于，正是这一年，全国刮起了当时被称做“主权大展示”之风。争独立的不仅仅有加盟共和国，还有自治共和国、边疆区、民族区，甚至某些原来实际上并不存在的地区。在这一刮“主权风”的过程中，对国家统一打击最严重的是1990年俄罗斯联邦共和国最高苏维埃关于俄罗斯国家主权的宣言，它是由俄罗斯最高法律机关宣布的凌驾于联盟之上的法律。正是这次行动，意味着全苏权力和管理中心将不可避免地消亡。这样一来，也就为消灭统一国家创造了一切条件。

    　　各方传来的清醒的呼声，当时并没有引起注意。比方说，为了努力保存苏联，哈萨克斯坦议会曾呼吁那些并不高明的“改革者”要“表现出政治智慧、毅力和民主性，尽一切可能制止将要来临的灾难——我们伟大国家的解体”。他们的话是具有预见性的，也适合于哈萨克斯坦：“联盟的解体必将导致全面崩溃——共和国经济的崩溃，千百万人民生活的急剧下降，将会使我们倒退几十年，将给各加盟共和国之间的合作带来无法弥补的损害。除了在平等的主权共和国之间签订联盟条约，以此为基础革新联盟，别无他途……”

    　　1991年12月1日进行了哈萨克斯坦历史上第一个总统的全民选举，纳扎尔巴耶夫当选。

    　　纳扎尔巴耶夫上世纪80年代是苏联哈萨克苏维埃加盟共和国部长会议主席，就其职位，他也就是苏联部长会议主席团成员。我当时领导苏联政府，自然同他有密切的联系。那时在我的印象中，他就是一个具有非凡才能和分析头脑的人，性格坚定、目标明确，虽然作为一个国务活动家显得年轻些。在苏联政府的季度扩大会议上，他通常都要积极发言。当然，纳扎尔巴耶夫提出的问题主要是涉及哈萨克斯坦。他的视野、思维的范围也很广阔。后来他成了共和国党中央第一书记。应该说，哈萨克斯坦共和国国内事件的进一步发展，以至后来在苏联和独联体发生的一切，都让我更加确信，他是一位重要的国务活动家，不仅在哈萨克斯坦，而且远在哈萨克斯坦境外地区都拥有威信。

    　　1991年12月16日哈萨克斯坦共和国宣布独立。这之前，12月8日，在籍籍无名的坐落于离波兰边境30公里的别洛韦日森林的白俄罗斯村庄维斯库利，就已经发生了无可挽回的事件：苏联不复存在了。后来才知道，在有关这一骇人听闻事件的文件上签字的，有俄罗斯、乌克兰和白俄罗斯领导人——叶利钦、克拉夫丘克、舒什凯维奇。恕我直言，他们并不是祖国历史上的什么杰出的人物，却把毁灭伟大国家的罪责揽到了自己头上。是的，甚至他们亲身体验的那种掺和着酒劲儿的政治快感，也并没有妨碍他们明白，他们所干的事其实就是搞政变。对此，世界上并没有一个国家（看来只有我国）表示赞许。这些犯罪分子们宣称，似乎他们只是确认了苏联政治上的死亡。这种骗人的手法有点像一群医生蓄意把患者搞得病入膏肓，然后又弄出个“三人小组”来宣布这个活着的患者已经辞世，并把他送入太平间。相信总有一天，这些家伙的真正作用会得到公正的评价。

    　　纳扎尔巴耶夫没有参加这可耻的别洛韦日事件，政治远见使他没有堕入彀中。但是正如常言所说，生米已煮成熟饭，更因为12月8日已经宣布成立独联体取代苏联，其成员有俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、乌克兰，所以其他的各苏维埃加盟共和国只好自己决定未来的命运。结果是1991年12月21日在哈萨克斯坦签署了建立包括前苏联加盟共和国中11个独立国家的独联体的阿拉木图宣言。我想，当时这样的文件还是必要的，因为独联体的创立消除了苏联混乱无序崩溃的危险及由此而产生的各种可能的后果。但可惜15年前宣言规定的许多东西，只是停留在纸上。这在很大程度上是因为这些年来在独联体各国内部以及在其成员的相互关系中，民族问题和民族关系问题已变得日益尖锐的缘故。

    　　自然会有人问：为什么会发生这种事？我想，答案应该到1991年我国历史突变这一事实中寻找。在那之前，我们都生活在被称为多民族的，而我更愿意把它称之为国际主义的国家里，因为这个说法更准确地指明了苏维埃政权时期形成的不同民族之间关系的性质。事实也是如此，当乌兹别克斯坦和亚美尼亚发生了具有悲剧性后果的地震时，全国不是都伸出了援手吗？有些格鲁吉亚人、乌克兰人、波罗的海沿岸的人，他们把话剧、展览这些东西送到莫斯科来（也送到其他城市去），可是在这些各共和国代表的心目中，莫斯科不就是他们亲爱的家园吗？而那些科学、文化、艺术活动家们，不管他属于哪一个民族，他们所受到的，不也都是全国人民的承认和爱戴吗？我讲的这些，只不过是具有伟大历史意义的各民族真正统一过程中的一鳞半爪。在这一过程中，民族隶属问题在人们的日常生活中事实上已经退居次要地位，甚至可以说是完全消失了。

    　　可是当我们的共同家园被毁之后，一切就坍塌了。于是大家只好星散，各回各的民族老家。其间出现了政治投机分子、企图攫取政权的冒险家，他们又吹燃了本来已渐趋熄灭的民族主义炭火。什么手段都用上了：学者们开始连篇累牍地炮制与过去方向完全相悖的文章和课本，政治家们则立刻忘记了他们借以受教育的俄语，发疯似的学习怎样才能用本民族共和国的语言发音正确地喊出有关他们民族利益的新口号。新滋生的“实业人士”掌握了“美丽的”外来语词——“比兹涅斯”、“巴克瑟”、“马尼”等等。对这一切本可以一笑置之，然而这些新思潮东一处西一处很快都化成了反俄罗斯族的、反俄国的声明和行动。它们的性质显而易见：共和国的事业越糟，领导者越是无能克服困难摆脱危机环境，他们就越想讨好来自大洋彼岸的木偶操纵者，这些在本国人民心目中威信扫地的人，就越是想捡起民族主义这个破烂武器，找到妨碍他们实现国内外既定目标的敌人。当然，要想“发明”比俄罗斯更合适的敌人是不可能的：不但目标显著，而且就在身边。当然不可能把它打倒在地，但是却可以用它来装出一副为本国人民幸福竭尽全力搏斗的样子……

    　　这是一群投向根本就不存在的火焰的政治飞蛾（但他们迟早会烧毁自己的翅膀），遗憾的是各共和国都有部分居民被他们引入歧途。这些人的名字不值得一提：他们在空中飞不了多久，而且他们捞到的荣誉也实在太多。但是苏联解体后新成立的国家还有一大堆更严重的问题。对于俄罗斯来说，同时也是对这些国家来说，最尖锐的问题之一就是这些国家中俄罗斯居民、操俄语的居民的状况问题，就是他们如何迁回祖国母亲怀抱的问题。

    　　现在让我们简要回顾一下很大程度上（如果不是全部）由民族主义情绪，或者说得确切些，由那些在新国家内与之利害攸关的人煽动起来的局势。还是以哈萨克斯坦为例。

    复乐园的努力

    　　可以说，现在俄罗斯和哈萨克斯坦共和国的关系是良好的。共同的经济利益、对外政治任务、科学和文化联系，使我们在许多方面有共同语言。然而，苏联解体之后，尽管是在这样一个国家内，它的俄罗斯居民也不得不经受（现在也是）不少困难，许多人被迫从该共和国迁出。在苏联时代，俄国人对哈萨克斯坦的发展作出了巨大的贡献。俄罗斯人是该共和国工人阶级的主要成员，占70%，这一点就是明证。但是，到了1991—1992年，俄罗斯居民们却突然成了“大国沙文主义者”、“占领者”和“殖民者”。讲俄语的学校减少了，共和国用俄语讲授的课程也减少了。可以理解，在这种环境下，但凡有一点可能，俄国人都会想方设法到境外，最好是到俄罗斯，去找工作。人们纷纷抛弃一切，到新的地方安家落户。

    　　俄罗斯和哈萨克斯坦间的移民过程涉及大批群众，其规模堪与人类历史上最大的“民族迁移”相比。从哈萨克斯坦向俄罗斯迁移的结果，仅1990—1999年间哈萨克斯坦就流失了将近140万人。这一移民潮在90年代中期达到高峰——超过76万人。在俄罗斯移民总数中，哈萨克斯坦移民所占比重约为40%，约占最近十年间由独联体各国移居俄罗斯总人数的1/4。有一点很有意思，据1989年人口统计资料，俄罗斯居住着63.6万哈萨克族人，其中在十年过程中离开我们国家的只有6000人。当前哈萨克斯坦居民中大约只有40%是哈萨克族，俄罗斯族大约也占到40%，其他民族占20%。

    　　近年来各种事件的发展，令我们有某些理由对俄罗斯和哈萨克斯坦关系的历史前景持乐观态度。当前面临的局势对共和国本身产生了一系列负面影响，这就促使共和国领导对国家内外方针进行重新审视。首先是哈萨克斯坦总统发表正式声明，采取行动，同俄罗斯签署了一系列协议，在我国开设领事馆，等等。从一切迹象看来，比较露骨的、较大规模的民族主义表现在哈萨克斯坦已成为过去，民族政策基本踏上正常轨道。虽然这些还不足以提供俄罗斯居民在共和国稳定居住的充分保证，但总算是可以让俄罗斯人在一个长期阶段过上相对稳定的生活。他们可以利用这样一个时期去适应，并形成保卫自己未来利益的机制。

    　　不仅历史经验，而且俄罗斯同哈萨克斯坦相互关系的实践也证明，要想消除肆无忌惮的、其实质为破坏性的民族主义毒素，最好的药方就是国家间、人民间的全面合作，在共同利益基础上的一体化。可惜的是独联体各国未能就范围广泛的问题进行协作，至今仍令人颇感失望。这就提醒前苏联各加盟共和国的领导人，要寻求更有效的国与国之间的一体化形式。

    　　建立这种新联盟的倡议者之一是哈萨克斯坦总统纳扎尔巴耶夫。1994年正式访问莫斯科时，他在莫斯科国立大学的演讲中，公开提出成立欧亚大陆联盟的必要性。许多俄罗斯的以及一系列独联体国家的领导人和社会活动家对此设想表示赞同，因为他们明白，他们之间现有的合作，在很大程度上是徒具形式，双方国家之间的关系不能保证遗留的和新产生的问题得到解决。同年的9月，根据纳扎尔巴耶夫倡议，在阿拉木图召开了国际科学—实践大会《欧亚大陆：国际潜力及其开发》。

    　　苏联解体过去了3年。这期间有一个想法始终没有离开过我的脑海：这个伟大的国家究竟发生了什么事情？下一步是什么在等待着我们？还有没有办法把过去的加盟共和国、现今的主权国家重新团结成一个一体化的建构？

    　　得到哈萨克斯坦总统参加这次大会的邀请之后，对这个问题应持什么立场、观点，我想了许多。当然也是在准备自己在大会上的发言。这次机会对我来说非常重要——我已经3年没有机会就这一重要问题阐述我作为公民的观点了。正是因为对这个问题持有自己的见解，对经济政策有不同意见，我才辞去了苏联部长会议主席的职务。

    　　请允许我在这里摘录我在这次会议上的几段讲话：
    　　在这里，在哈萨克斯坦土地上召开这次大会的事实本身，几乎是具有象征性的。最近，正是从这里，发出了后苏维埃广阔土地一体化的倡议。欧亚大陆联盟的主张就是其中之一……
    　　哈萨克斯坦总统的立场有了越来越多的认同者。这种立场的吸引力、对这种立场的理解，在我看来，是因为它反映了客观现实，反映了苏联国家重组的过程和在这片领土上成立的新国家的改革过程。
    　　新的边境和海关，许多居民阶层的无权和贫困，分崩离析的经济联系，难民潮，雪崩一样的犯罪和贪腐，地区冲突，不断加深的互不信任——这些就是我们一度强大的国家崩溃的后果。

    　　今日在我们词汇里出现的许多说法，如“近邻外国和远邻外国”、“移民”、“签字国”、“难民”等等，成了这个时期独特的标志。

    　　中央对政治和国家权力的失控过程演变成为经济的分裂。在几十年漫长时光中一直由互代和互补这样的基本原则起作用的全苏劳动分工体系瓦解了。

    　　物质生产的经济条件，各共和国之间早已确立的经贸交流实质内容，尤其是合作关系，雪崩般地崩溃了。由于这个原因，独联体各国国内生产总值缩减了30%到50%……

    　　独联体国家把对外经济联系从独联体内部转向其他国家的趋势越来越明显。在他们之间互相供货减少的同时，燃料、金属及其他原料资源源源转向了世界市场。

    　　把现今独立国家一体化的必要性硬是同苏联解体联系在一起是不对的。一体化的主要原因首先在于国家的经济，在于利用昔日苏联积累起来的强大潜力。这种潜力一定可以起到稳定的作用，克服向市场过渡产生的休克现象……

    　　严格地讲，“国家一体化”这一概念不完全实用于我们的独联体。在世界实践中这一概念通常是用在那些从一开始就是独立的国家，它们拥有自己独特的、因而也是多样化的经济调整模式，有对结合条件（主要是国家政治体制，经济和国防能力）的广阔选择余地。（还是以欧共体为例……）

    　　我们这里所指的，是这些独立国家的又一次一体化。这些直接相邻的国家不仅位于欧亚大陆，而且从前苏联统一经济的存在中，继承了全面的依赖关系和相互关联的合作生产，往往具有垄断水平高而技术水平落后的特点。许多企业的产品由于竞争能力低下，应该承认基本上只能在相互贸易的市场上找到销路。这就是今天的现实。

    　　考虑到任何范围中的一体化，都要首先立足于独联体各国国民经济的相互联系，我又强调说：
    　　不管我们是否愿意，由于历史原因，我们不得不置身于早先已存在的经济关系轨道之上。问题只在于这些关系将是混乱无序的，还是应该让我们把它引入协调的经济体系轨道。正如有句名言所说：“……每一个个体，都只能置于共同关系中加以考察……”
    　　我一直是主张开放经济的，但一定要遵循伙伴关系和互利原则。如果不把我们当做地位平等的伙伴，在制定对外关系战略时，我们就应对此加以考虑。目前，类似的“游戏”还在继续。
    　　可以完全有把握地认定，即使将来有西方资本投入，主要也是投向原料部门和生态方面不利于西方的部门。首先是投向燃料能源综合体，这是他们今天和明天都需要的。看不到这一点，就等于促使我们更加依赖西方，促使我们己经严重扭曲的经济长期停滞，使许多经济部门落后于时代。（我想提请读者注意、这些话是我1994年说的！）。

    　　现在，世界上明显地划分出三个强大的经济发展中心：美国、欧盟和太平洋沿岸地区。这些中心之间的关系很不一般，它们有矛盾、甚至互相对立。但也有日益深化的合作。这是时代的要求。任务是要在这个“三角”中找到自己的平等地位，将之变成为自己谋取经济福利的源泉。

    　　这种事情只有在我们学会正确支配自己的巨大潜能，克服头脑中根深蒂固的自卑情结时，才能完成。我们具有一切条件，可以成为平等伙伴，而不是世界经济的附庸。为此首先要做的就是再结成一体，汇集我们所有的努力，为每个成员谋取幸福……

    　　在苏联这个框架内，俄罗斯的作用虽然显著，但并不是我们“死乞白赖”非起这种作用不可。它在同某些共和国打交道时，充当的是输血者，它在统一的国民经济综合体中，满足了这些国家不少需求。很遗憾，不知为什么这一点并没有被注意到……

    　　在新的组合结构中，像过去那种由俄罗斯输血的状况不会再有了。新国家以不少代价争取到的独立和主权，在客观上就决定了它们必须遵守伙伴关系和互利关系的原则……

    　　这就是我在12年前讲话的部分内容。

    　　从纳扎尔巴耶夫宣布建立欧亚大陆联盟的想法那一刻起，许多年过去了。当时许多国家的首脑没有接受这一建议。怕在某些方面失去主权的担心，促使他们不敢和任何有效的一体化沾边，即便这种一体化有利于巩固和发展自己的国家。但是生活本身坚持要求创建一个新的组合形式，所以也出现了一些地区性联盟。而欧亚大陆联盟的构想，不管怎样，并没有寿终正寝，只是在俄罗斯换了首脑后，这一构想才得到正式承认：2000年10月白俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦、俄罗斯、塔吉克斯坦和乌兹别克斯坦等5个国家的总统在阿斯坦市签署了关于建立欧亚大陆经济共同体的声明及相关条约，2001年5月得到了俄罗斯国家杜马和联邦会议批准。

    　　2003年2月在莫斯科召开了欧亚大陆经济共同体第一届经济论坛。这次大型活动的主要目的，是加深成员国之间经济一体化的进程。一体化本身以及一系列必要的民族机构的建立，使我们这些国家有可能比此前在独联体框架中更广泛地提高多方面合作的效率。正如预想的那样，共同体所带来的一个附带的、但非常重要的结果，恰恰就是民族间，首先是国家关系方面矛盾摩擦的明显缓和。实践证明，一体化是民族主义不可调和的敌人，也是同这种邪恶作斗争的有效工具。

    廓清12月事件的本源

    　　现在，当本章的叙述完成之时，我还想回顾一下早已成为往事的1986年阿拉木图事件，并就它的实质提出某些结论性看法。上面已经提到，关于12月事件和动乱，派到阿拉木图的莫斯科委员会不失时机地进行了跟踪调查。动乱期间委员会掌握了领导权，对有关动乱的种种说法都进行了分析研究，其中有一种说法认为，存在一个组织群众（请注意：基本是青年学生）搞示威游行的专门指挥部，走上街头的有吸毒者、酒鬼和无业游民。但委员会更倾向于认为这是一次有组织的民族主义动乱。

    　　然而仔细的调查表明，吸毒者和酒鬼作乱的说法是没有任何根据的。据共和国卫生部资料，经医学检测，被拘留者当中没有一个吸毒者，也没有一个酒鬼。根本就不存在什么指挥部，这一点也已搞清。还有一个说法：库纳耶夫身边的人有不少都同可疑事件有关联。他们利用了青年人的好冲动，是挑唆破坏法制的人。有个普通工人就说：“应该恢复共和国的秩序，大家在这里相处得就像兄弟，谁同谁都没有个人恩怨，这些暴行都是黑社会、刑事犯罪分子、贪污分子、受贿官员干的，他们害怕科尔宾上任后共和国形势会发生变化，那些藏在库纳耶夫背后的既得利益者，要为这一切负责。”

    　　可以说，在阿拉木图事件中，某些大学中具有民族主义情绪的代表确实起到很大的挑拨作用。但不管怎么说，当时的动乱并没有明显的民族主义色彩。哈萨克人和俄罗斯人几十年来朝夕相处在一个大家庭中，此时这种影响还是起到了明显的作用。

    　　关于这一点，纳扎尔巴耶夫是这样写的：“我认为，促使莫斯科的代表把我们完全排除在监控广场事件之外的主要原因，是怀疑我们会利用群众的情绪牟取私利。尤其使他们不安的是游行群众纷纷递上条子，建议推举阿乌耶利别科夫、杰米坚科、米罗什欣、莫罗佐夫、穆卡舍夫、纳扎尔巴耶夫等人为共产党中央第一书记的候选人。可以说，单就这一列出的名单，也明白无误地证明，青年人根本没有反对俄罗斯族的人当共和国领导的意思。虽然如此，臭名昭著的‘哈萨克民族主义’这张牌还是打出去了。在那些日子里，领导人都是用一种不容反驳的、有辱人自尊心的命令的腔调来同我谈话。”

    　　在我看来，正是莫斯科领导人同地方干部交往中的这种盛气凌人的作风，成为先是学潮、而后转为骚乱的主要原因。恕我直言，中央那种不仅对共和国领导人，而且对共和国居民说一不二的作风，负责党的干部政策的利加乔夫简直是粗暴生硬的工作，还有那位遇事完全听他指挥的总书记的愚蠢——正是所有这一切，激起了那些充满青春活力的相信国内社会关系体制真正改革的人们愤怒的浪潮。他们觉得这是往他们心灵上吐了一口浓痰！关于发生的事件，苏联人民代表、著名诗人奥尔扎斯·苏列依缅诺夫说得好：“国内政治环境的变化，业已开始的民主化进程，影响了这些事件的发生，此时的青年人相信了大多数人的意志将成为政府法令的这种宣言……说起话来满嘴新词，干起事来还是老一套，这种言行不一，尤其令相信改革的青年人、学生和年轻工人极度愤慨。”

    　　可是来到阿拉木图的那些中央代表，莫斯科那些提议和组织实施共和国第一书记任命工作的人，能承认自己智能上和政治上的失败吗？当然不能，因为强制和说一不二的作风在他们身上是根深蒂固的。于是他们就又犯了一个不亚于前一个错误的错误：搬出民族主义这顶大帽子来吓人。

    　　发布的第一批消息称，骚乱是“觉悟不高的青年人在民族主义分子的挑唆下”组织的。报纸连珠炮似的射出了一颗颗炮弹：“黑社会、被收买的三K党分子、地下民族主义组织……”首次出现了一个新词儿——“反改革势力”。最后，苏共中央通过决议，内中有几段谈到了“哈萨克民族主义”。

    　　阿拉木图事件证明，民族主义是一把双刃剑，会使双方受到伤害——不论哪一方，也不论使用这一武器是否出于美好的愿望。我有时甚至觉得，中央关于哈萨克斯坦事件性质的错误结论在某种程度上起到了煽动国内民族主义情绪的挑拨作用。这再明显不过地证明，借助错误结论也能激怒群众，促使他们走上街头，从而收到某种政治效果。

    　　当然，这在共和国引起了起初是没有声息的、而后便是公开的负面的反应。3年以后，哈萨克斯坦最高苏维埃第十五次会议一致谴责苏共中央决议没有客观地、合乎原则地评价十二月事件，却把它称之为“哈萨克民族主义的表现”。在共和国党中央例行全会上通过的声明说：“应该完全肯定地指出，青年人走上广场，目的不是反对其他民族。”

    　　阿拉木图12月事件——这是国内年轻民主的稚嫩幼芽同当时依然遵循陈规旧矩和老标准解决政治问题的那套制度之间发生的第一次冲突。公开性的宣布，人们接受它并实际运用它的决心，同旧思维以及党和国家机关工作习惯之间的矛盾这时便初步公开显露出来。

    　　在高调宣布“公开性”和“改革”的同时，倡导“改革”的戈尔巴乔夫并没有考虑过渡阶段的复杂性。然而社会生活的这两个内容却同几十年来根深蒂固的制度发生了冲突。戈尔巴乔夫固有的易冲动性和解决问题的浮躁和肤浅，成为80年代后期发生这些事件和许多其他事件的原因。

    　　1986年12月的阿拉木图事件，事实上是对“改革”的第一次考试，遗憾的是“改革”没有及格。更糟的是以戈尔巴乔夫为首的党和国家领导人并没有汲取内中深刻的教训。他们在彼时彼地看到的所谓民族主义表现，其实并不存在。而真正民族主义复活的危险和利用反社会主义、反苏维埃、反改革势力来消灭党、国家和我国社会政治制度的危险，他们却并没有看清楚。

    　　此后不久，我们便会遇到货真价实的民族主义了。

    历史罕见的罪行

    　　读者可以发现，前几章讲到了1986—1990年期间在某些加盟共和国发生的破坏事件，它们同地方的民族主义深深纠缠在一起，为后来的一些政治行动埋下了种子，最终导致我们共同的祖国——苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟的毁灭。正是民族主义同另外一些社会经济、政治等因素，甚至同某些完全个人的因素纠结在一起，构成了那根带来厄运的火柴，而一些利害攸关的势力则用它点燃了干柴堆。人们受到根本无法兑现的许诺的蛊惑，竟把他们的过去——在强大的统一国家中的生活——扔进了熊熊的火堆。过不多久，他们就以苦涩的心情认识到，原来这种努力，争取的竟是关于未来光辉“主权”的不切实际的幻想。

    　　当然，在消灭这个大国的过程中，一次次民族主义的突然爆发的确起到一定的作用，但破坏苏联的主要推动力，还是来自中央，从莫斯科发出的。

    　　同时，为了保持客观，应该指出，具有破坏性的离心过程在俄联邦开始得也要比其他加盟共和国晚得多。看来，这里显示出，俄罗斯在我国整个历史上所起的作用是特别的。因为在千百年过程中，唯有它始终是形成统一强大国家的核心。人民甚至在潜意识中也一直都记得这一点，而且为此感到骄傲。全世界的人也都是把苏联和俄罗斯这两个概念等同看待的。

    　　俄联邦未来的领导人叶利钦在苏联解体中的作用是极为巨大的。他的战友们为此也负有很大的责任。他们的行为将在当代世界史上留下长久的痕迹。

    　　好多个世纪以来，俄罗斯一直都在保卫自己免遭侵略者的侵犯——俄罗斯这块大馅饼实在是太美味了，土地那么辽阔，自然资源那么丰富，再加上人民又勤劳，有才能。我们祖国也曾经历过艰难困苦的年代，但在同侵略者斗争的过程中，每一次它都获得了胜利。

    　　20世纪我们曾两次亲手毁掉了统一国家——一次是1917年，一次是1991年。1917年革命之后，当时的政治家仅过了5年就找到了共同语言，建立了苏联。第二次解体后，遗憾的是直到现在在各主权国家中占上风的还是政治上的离心力，而不是向心力。

    　　这些无论就规模或后果而言，都称得上是历史罕见的罪行，是如何在俄罗斯首都发生，又为什么会在俄罗斯发生呢？俄罗斯是最大的共和国，又是个起缔造国家作用的共和国。因此，它本不该挑起任何行动，以牺牲国家其他地区及其人民为代价，来解决自己的问题。可是在改革的浪潮中，又出现了什么样的力量？这些力量的领导人为了达到目的，而且往往还是纯粹个人的目的（这些个人往往用人民利益的烟幕弹把自己的目的掩盖起来），又采用了一些什么手段呢？

    党内局势

    　　1987年10月，召开了一次苏共中央全会的例会。开会的地方在克里姆林宫，礼堂是专门为会议而修建的。现在，这个礼堂叫做克里姆林宫大理石厅。国家总统每年都在这里向俄联邦委员会发表咨文。

    　　这次全会是一次普通会议，是根据党章规定召开的，没有任何不符合议事规程的地方。跟往常一样，宣布全会开幕的是苏共中央总书记戈尔巴乔夫，由他提出议事日程。其实中央委员们全都早就接到这方面的通知，所以走的完全是一种仪式性质的程序。当戈尔巴乔夫按照惯例询问谁反对或者谁弃权时，叶利钦从第一排（政治局委员都坐在台上主席团，政治局候补委员坐在台下第一排）站了起来，建议审议把他从政治局候补委员提升为政治局委员，他原来是政治局候补委员。

    　　对于全体中央委员乃至政治局委员来说，这是一个完全的意外。我们很自然当时就问戈尔巴乔夫，这是怎么回事。从他那含糊其辞的回答中大家弄明白了，原来在南方休假时，他真的接到过叶利钦的这样一份申请报告。按照既定规则，他有责任把这件事通知政治局，以就此形成集体意见。如果叶利钦不愿撤回自己的申请，就要把问题提交全会讨论。只有苏共中央全会才有权选举或撤销政治局委员和候补委员以及中央书记。戈尔巴乔夫没有这样做，他向党内同志隐瞒了这样一份申请存在的事实，正如后来时间所示，这件事成了长长一串严重之极的事件的第一环，不仅影响到党内，而且影响到全国。

    　　叶利钦从1968年起就担任党的工作，起初是斯维尔德洛夫州委的一个部长，后来又当上了州委的第一书记。在这件事发生之前，他担任苏共莫斯科市委第一书记已经几乎两年，并当选为政治局候补委员。在首都人们对他的看法相当分歧。许多人注意到他的行动很激进，特别是在干部问题上，注意到他说的许多话都很彪悍豪放，自我标榜的意味十分明显，几乎在老远老远的地方就能嗅到，用现在的话来说，就是喜欢搞民粹主义，喜欢谈谈同特权作斗争的必要性等等。与此同时，他又显然没有搞日常普通工作的兴趣，情况堪忧。特别是在中央政府和党中央都支持他为解决莫斯科所面临的各种极其重要的问题而作出努力的情况下。

    　　叶利钦在全会的发言后来就简直变成了不值一提的神话。实际上那是一次颠三倒四不清不楚的发言，如果还能把它叫做发言的话。正如他后来在自己表示“忏悔”的检讨书中所说，那次发言虽很激烈，但却并不恰当。而戈尔巴乔夫本应该建议事先在政治局审议出现的问题，然后再拿到下次全会上去讨论，但却把这事搞成了一场争论。这样做也许非常民主，但却是极端地考虑不周。

    　　一个接一个的发言，确切些说，一个接一个的批判发言，在全会上就像开了闸的水似的奔流。我也不必再来重复它们。全会之后第二天，就公布了发言人的名单，过几年后，这些发言的速记稿也发表了。为什么党的高层——尽管这只是些莫斯科的和地方的领导人——反应会如此激烈呢？看来，大概是因为党正在通过它的领导人和政治局展现“公开性”，而且正处于“多元化”前夕的缘故吧。当时，几乎所有的人都对这个发言表现得非常病态，其实，那远不是什么纲领性的问题，只不过对自己的一个同事，对中央领导干部，特别是对书记利加乔夫的工作方法表示不满而已。

    　　激烈的讨论以及对“离经叛道之徒”绝对毫无意义的狂轰滥炸，导致适得其反的效果：俄罗斯的事就是这样，一个关于人民英雄，关于老百姓的“守护神”受到迫害的神话就这样诞生了。

    　　于是自然又出现了另一个问题：以叶利钦的这样一个肤浅的、显然具有个人目的的发言，又如何会引起如此这般的反应呢？

    　　以我的看法，把全会搞成一场大批判实在是一个大错，它昭示了我国最高领导的不成熟，首先是政治局委员们和中央书记们的不成熟。我很理解，当时各级党组织的多数领导，还没有能够摆脱党内生活的各种标准和关系的束缚。既然党的高层倡导变革，其中也包括苏共内部的变革，那怎么能允许搞这么个“大批判”呢？

    　　看来，党的领导并没有完全认识到，在党的各级领导人同普通党员基本群众之间出现的分裂有多么严重。到了1991年，当戈尔巴乔夫按照叶利钦的指示解散苏共之后，这种分裂就充分暴露出来——1900万党员中，竟没有一个人站出来保卫它。

    　　这样一来，由于党的领导应对无方，缺乏才干，一个俄国版的绿林好汉罗宾汉就这样诞生了。他只不过是个非常平庸的政客，早在斯维尔德洛夫斯克的那些年我就对他有所了解，现在却成了反对派破坏力量的旗帜。

    　　第二天政治局开会，按惯例对闭幕的全会进行总结。在戈尔巴乔夫介绍情况之后，葛罗米柯当时是苏联最高苏维埃主席团主席，向报告人提了个问题，请他说说对叶利钦打算怎么处理。总书记喋喋不休地说了一些模棱两可的话，意思是现在时候不同了，不是为这种事处罚谁的时候了，还得给他找个工作。

    　　葛罗米柯比我们都年长，生活经验，特别是政治经验，比与会的其他人员可要丰富多了。

    　　“米哈伊尔·谢尔盖耶维奇，你可得小心！”葛罗米柯说，“我觉得可以把他派远点，出国去当个大使什么的吧。”

    　　可惜谁也没有认真听取这位长者的声音，于是后来的灾难性事件的链条又添加了一个环节。

    　　过了差不多两年，在克里姆林宫的代表大会堂（现在叫做克里姆林宫国家大会堂）召开一个国家级纪念日的纪念大会。事有凑巧，我到场的时间稍微早了一点。上楼走进主席团的专用房间。戈尔巴乔夫和赖莎·马克西莫芙娜，还有中央委员会书记伊万·瓦西里耶维奇·卡皮塔诺夫已经坐在长桌旁，正在喝茶。有人也给我端来了茶。戈尔巴乔夫忽然问了我一个问题：

    　　“尼古拉·伊万诺维奇，你那位老乡叶利钦都在搞些什么名堂？”

    　　老实说，这个问题我要回答起来还真犯难。戈尔巴乔夫看出我为难的样子，就对他的夫人说：

    　　“赖莎，你可别责怪尼古拉。它是唯一一个提醒我跟叶戈尔（指利加乔夫），说无论如何都不能任命叶利钦为莫斯科市委第一书记的人。”

    　　戈尔巴乔夫虽然缺点不少，但记性很好，什么事都记得清清楚楚。我想，他一定会永远记得，而且现在也记得，早在1985年夏天发生在老广场苏共中央总书记办公室的那次谈话。

    　　那次事件已经很晚了，突然，直通总书记的电话铃声响了（我还在中央委员会工作）。他请我马上过去。几分钟后，我到了他那边。戈尔巴乔夫和利加乔夫正在办公室边踱着步边讨论什么问题。一听他们的话我就明白了，正在讨论谁可以成为格里申的继任。

    　　“你也知道，现在是该加强莫斯科领导的时候了。我跟叶戈尔正在研究莫斯科市委第一书记的人选，想听听你的意见。”戈尔巴乔夫这样说。

    　　“我想，你们已经有些眉目了吧？”

    　　“是的。我们需要派一个强有力的、有战斗性的同志到那边去。我跟叶戈尔·库兹米奇的意见，这个人应该是叶利钦。你了解他，你的意见呢？”

    　　说老实话，我不太考虑干部的问题，我自己的问题——经济问题——已经够我忙的了。不过这样的意见，我可不能表示同意。这样的意向使我非常惊讶。

    　　“是的，我了解叶利钦，而且认为他完全不适合这个角色。请不要忘记，现在研究的是首都这么个大的党组织，这可是个大量工厂工人、国家主要科技精英和文化精英聚集的地方。放在这里的领导人应该有智慧，善于机变，应该是知识分子型的。叶利钦却是另一种特质的人：虽说他是搞建筑出身，但究其本性而言却是个破坏者。你们准会看到，他会把整个林子都毁了的！他手里可不能掌大权。你们把他从斯维尔德洛夫斯克调进中央就已经犯了个错误，可不能再犯另一个错误，而且是致命的错误了。”

    　　我的意见没有被接受。实际上他们已经有了决定。我只好说：“我没法说服你们。走这一步你们一定会后悔的。到时候再吃后悔药可就晚了！”

    　　我们就这么分手了，谁也没能说服谁。我过去没有写过这次谈话的事，不过后来倒是戈尔巴乔夫自己说了公道话，他在电视上承认，想当年他在克里姆林宫对自己的夫人说过：唯一反对任命叶利钦当莫斯科市委书记的人是雷日科夫。不过我们没听他的话。

    　　有时历史喜欢跟人开玩笑。正如所说，坚持把自己最凶狠、最不肯调和的政敌调入莫斯科的恰恰是利加乔夫。现在，当我们回首往事，评估同叶利钦有关的种种决定，包括怎样把他调入莫斯科市委的时候，不由得就会想起古希腊人充满睿智的话语：上帝如果要惩罚谁，定会先让他丧失理智。

    　　社会大震荡和国家发生的破坏性巨变往往会促使许多人思考个人及偶发事件在历史上的作用，我们也因此而常常问自己和别人：如果是这样的话，那又该有个什么结果呢？如果说当上全党领导的不是戈尔巴乔夫，那改革会不会有如此毁灭性的后果呢？如果叶利钦还待在乌拉尔，那苏联又会是什么样子呢？有关个人在历史上的作用的理论著作还真不少，从古希腊哲学家到法国启蒙派，从马克思主义奠基人到无数知名不知名的作者。照我看来，整个20世纪，也许只是我国最后15—20年的历史，就能为这些哲学家们、社会学家们、历史学家们……进行分析和作出结论提供相当鲜明的资料。

    　　不过，还是让我们再回来谈谈具体事实吧。十月全会的8个月后，到了1988年的6月，19次党代表会议在克里姆林宫开幕了。列在议程上的一个议题是审议苏共27届代表大会各项决议执行情况和深化改革任务的执行情况。在克里姆林宫大会堂集合了5000名大会代表。

    　　作报告的是苏共中央总书记戈尔巴乔夫。他的报告分析了改革以来几年间取得的成绩，有一部分是讲激进经济改革的，还有许多其他的问题。不过，最主要的恐怕还是3年来第一次提出了政治体制改革的问题。代表大会按不同问题组织了几个委员会，其中也有一个以政治局委员雷日科夫为首的民族关系问题委员会。

    　　现在，当我翻阅会议速记时，我发现政权的各个分支，其中也包括党组织，都发出了批评与自我批评的强烈呼声。给人的印象似乎是闸门被冲毁了，自我鞭笞的洪流滚滚而来，不可阻挡。看来也没有什么奇怪的，多年来所有的发言都是严格程式化的，只能照本宣科，发言稿都是经过严格审查的，可现在却突然对你说：想讲什么就讲什么吧。多年来积攒下来的东西也就全浮到了表面。党代表会议上的发言很尖锐，丝毫不留情面，甚至有点自虐狂的味道。

    　　现在我要给自己提一个问题：最近15年来究竟出现了什么情况呢？那些竭尽全力发起攻击的人，当他们掌权之后，本应该想方设法让这些情况在我国政治生活和日常生活中永远不再重演。可是他们并没有采取任何措施来改善局势。难道叶利钦——下面我还要谈到他的发言——在成为俄罗斯总统之后，对他原来批评的东西有丝毫改进吗？相反，过去的成绩全被抛弃了，缺点毛病却全复活了，发展到了前所未有的程度。而且，国内形势越是恶劣，叶利钦及其一伙就越是对老百姓说形势大好。回想改革之前乃至改革年代，作报告的任何发言人都有一个不成文的规定：成绩要尽量少谈，问题和任务要尽量多谈。看来这和一党制有关。在没有反对党和反对运动的情况下，人们正是以这种方式来揭露缺点的。

    　　现在，一切都翻过来了。

    　　在苏联以后的15年议会工作——8年国家杜马、3年联邦院——中，我不止一次听取过我国政府成员的报告和发言。他们滔滔不绝谈论子虚乌有的“成就”，却对缺点错误缄口不言。这引起代表们极大的反感，但随着立法机构越来越公开地倒向政府，能听到他们讲真话的希望日趋渺茫，直到最后完全破灭……

    　　不过，在19次党代表会议上，以我之见再次犯下了一个对苏共、对国家来说都是致命的错误。正是在这次会议上，叶利钦被彻底推向了正在迅速形成的反对派阵营，不久，他就成了这一派的首领。为了能把当时面临的局势说得更明白，我想引几段叶利钦以及他主要的反对者——政治局委员、中央书记利加乔夫在大会上的发言。

    　　根据不成文的规定，主持中央书记处会议的中央委员会书记是党内非正式的二把手。当时的这个人就是利加乔夫。叶利钦在当时已从首都党组织第一书记的职位上被撤了下来，但还是中央委员，因为选举他的是党代表大会，只有党代表大会才能把中央委员撤下来。

    　　在党代表会议上，叶利钦得到了一个发言的机会。如果单就他的发言分析，抛开最后十来年对这个人形成的感情色彩和偏见不说，这个发言的确是极具批判性，也相当尖锐的。虽说发言的词句不是那么华丽，但这一次同上一次著名的全会不同，他谈的问题颇为言之有物。

    　　“代表会议的主要问题，”叶利钦宣称，“是党内的民主化问题。我的意思是说，它正在逐步变得越来越糟。当然，也要讨论当前的热点问题：改革的整体问题和社会的根本性革新的问题。会议的筹备阶段本身，就引起了非同寻常的兴趣，为共产党员们和全体苏联人民重新带来了希望。改革使人民感到振奋。而且，看来改革也正是应该由党内开始。然后，党才能像过去一样，带领人民前进。若要从改革的观点来看，恰恰是党落后了。也就是说，今天的这次会议，早就应该召开。”

    　　不能不承认，他讲的这些话有的地方很有道理，特别是关于党内问题的说法。可是不由得会产生一种印象，似乎他这个有20年党龄的党的活动家，对待党的重大缺点所抱的态度，却仿佛是一个路人。其实，多年来他不也正是处于产生和制造这些缺点的人之列吗？因此也就不由得会产生想法：这个人不真诚，他非常善于利用当前形势来谋取个人利益。

    　　实践证实了我所有的疑虑：要对一个人下断语，只能观其行。看看“后期”叶利钦的所作所为，就可以用一句圣经上的名言来说：“所有的东西都原形毕露了”。再看看他发言中的另外一段话，就更能得出结论。

    　　我碰巧就知道莫斯科市和斯维尔德洛夫州的党组织要把多少个百万卢布划拨到中央。可这些钱用到哪里去了，我可不知道。我只知道除了那些合理的开支之外，还建起了许多豪华住宅、别墅……疗养院的规模搞得那么大，当别的党的代表们到那边去访问的时候，叫人简直是不好意思。难道不应该用这笔钱来在物质上支持一下我们的基层党组织，其中也包括给基层干部发工资吗？然后我们又会对一些党的大干部陷于贪腐感到惊讶，惊讶于他们受贿，谎报成绩，行为不正派，道德败坏，不谦虚谨慎，破坏党内团结等等。

    　　勃列日涅夫时期的上层腐败波及许多地区，对这一点不应估计不足，简单对待。腐败的程度看来要比有些人估计的更深，根据我在莫斯科工作的经验，黑社会肯定也存在。

    　　还有个社会公正问题。当然，从大的方面来看，在社会主义原则方面，这个问题是解决了。但还遗留了一些问题，这些问题还没有解决，他们引起人们愤怒，降低党的威信，对改革的速度产生致命的影响。

    　　我的意见——应该这样办：在我们社会主义社会，如果有的东西短缺，那这种短缺就要让所有的人在同样程度上分担，不应有例外……

    　　发言人的最后这句话显然说过头了，陷入了煽动的狂热。也许他特别害怕成为一个“在社会主义社会”真正是好多东西都短缺的人，于是很快他就一头栽进了过去那些恣意妄为的敌人的怀抱，然后又领导了从整体上消灭我们的制度和国家的行动，开始放手复辟被人民推翻的资本主义，复辟一个由社会不公和人剥削人占统治地位的社会。

    　　这位“热爱真理”的为人类幸福而斗争的“战士”又达到了什么目的呢？他为自己和自己的一伙，争取到了应有尽有的一切，而所有这些，正是他在刚刚过去的昨天所愤怒地谴责的内容。而对于人民和国家来说，他所带来的则是工业和农业的毁灭，是在国际舞台上把俄罗斯搞成一个一贫如洗的乞丐，是把老百姓分化为畸形的社会经济阶层，是把他们逐步引向衰亡，是把科学和文化引向退化。

    　　难怪美国人说：赢得大选之后，首先要做的就是忘掉竞选时的承诺。看来，我们的这位令人难忘的叶利钦先生在他的“历史性”出访中也学会了这一招。

    　　上世纪90年代，恰恰是在叶利钦统治俄罗斯的时候，腐败、贪贿、刑事犯罪，其中包括有组织犯罪统统大行其道，其规模达到了空前的程度。他慷慨地为土匪强盗大开方便之门，创建温室条件。当局的亲信和当时同总统过从密切的人士大肆搜刮人民的财产。当叶利钦在最高层当权的时候，人民目睹了，聆听了，也领教了他究竟有多么正派，多么道德高尚，多么谦虚谨慎。

    　　不过，有些这方面的内容，为了那些容易消火的健忘之士，我还是想提上一笔。他早就把到区立医院治病和特意坐着哗啦哗啦作响的“莫斯科人”牌小汽车进克里姆林宫的事忘记了……

    　　在他那本“忏悔录”里，党的领导人生活中许多具体事件受到很大关注。说实话，对于当时那些制度规矩，我也有好多看不惯的地方，还不止一次地就这些问题讲过话，写过东西。可是，为什么当他成为俄国元首之后，却不仅把受批判的东西全部保留下来，而且还变本加厉，加以发展呢？而他对待普通百姓的态度，简直更是厚颜无耻，完全是挑衅式的，搞的那一套排场，既毫无品位，又极尽张扬。当老人们半年半年地领不到养老金——那可是他们活命的唯一来源啊——几乎要饿死的时候，他却大修克里姆林宫的厅堂和自家的官邸，搞得那么豪华，以至法美两国总统见了都惊讶得简直下巴都要掉下来。

    　　可以预料，总有一天，会把账目公布出来，为了装修这些厅堂，那座郊区的官邸，还有买那些昂贵的家具，修那些防备自己人民的坚固围墙，我们国家究竟得花多少钱。

    　　在全国，在那些“最最民主”的政府办公室里，贪贿成风，腐败盛行，一切都公然大行其道。共产党跟他们怎么能比！以前不管怎么说还有人怕党委，也畏惧自己的良心，可现在简直是为所欲为，连闸都刹不住了……

    　　在这位总统的面前出现的，有一座座宫殿般的别墅，有一排排属于“生活新主人们”的最昂贵的轿车，有多架专机和多艘专用游艇，这些都是遵照叶利钦本人的命令装备和修建起来的。直至今日，当他把一个强大国家彻底捣毁，转入“荣休”之后，还能乘着这些专机飞来飞去，飞到巴黎去出席网球公开赛……还能弄到钱（当然不是一笔小数目）在意大利的什么地方租一套私家别墅，等等。这就是“民主”的实际代价，而我们轻信的人民居然就上钩了。

    　　这些都是后来的事。可是在1988年的夏天，叶利钦还是想回到党和国家政权的上层，他向第19次党代表会议提出申请说：

    　　代表同志们：提一个不太得体的问题。我想提的要求，就是恢复我在中央十月全会后的政治上的名誉。（会场出现议论声）如果你们认为时间不够，那我就不说了。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫：叶利钦同志，说吧，大家请你说呢。（掌声）同志们，我看，关于叶利钦的问题用不着再保守秘密了。就请叶利钦同志把他想说的话都说一说吧。然后如果有必要的话，我们也可以说一说。请吧，叶利钦同志。

    　　叶利钦：代表同志们：过50年再恢复政治名誉现在简直成了一种习惯。这对于社会的康复当然有好处。不过我还是要请求生前恢复政治名誉。我认为，这是一个原则的要求，考虑到在报告中和大家的发言中都谈到的社会主义多元化、批评自由、对反对意见的宽容等等，我觉得这样提也是得体的。

    　　大家知道，我在苏共中央十月全会上的发言被认为是一个政治错误。可是全会上的问题被一而再、再而三地在报刊上提出，党员们也这样提出。这些天来，这些问题其实也在这个讲台上，在报告和发言中再次提起。我认为，我发言中唯一的错误在于我的发言不是时候——我不该在十月革命70周年前夕提出来。

    　　看来我们大家全都应该掌握政治辩论的规则，容忍对手的意见，就像列宁所做的那样。不要马上就给对手扣帽子，也不要马上就把它列为异端邪说。

    　　在代表会议的发言中以及我的发言中，我在苏共中央十月全会上（1987年）所谈的那些问题，得到了全面的反映。我对发生的一切感到无比痛心，请求代表会议撤销中央全会就此所作的决议。如果认为可以撤销，此举将可在共产党员心目中为我恢复名誉。这绝不仅仅是个人问题，这将符合改革精神，符合民主精神，而且，以我的感觉，这将对改革有所帮助，为人们增添信心。

    　　是的，社会的革新是很不容易的。但这毕竟是一种进步，哪怕进步不大，而且，生活本身迫使我们走的也只能是这条路。（掌声）

    　　不过，大多数后来发言的人，我想其中也免不了有总书记及其亲信的示意，还是以惯常的战斗激情，继续狠批叶利钦，最后他的恢复名誉问题也就不了了之。

    　　为了举个例子，我想引用一段利加乔夫在代表会议上的发言：

    　　也许，让我来谈同叶利钦同志发言有关的事情，要比领导班子里的其他人更难。这倒不是由于事情也牵扯到我。不过，也该是厘清事情真相的时候了……

    　　不应该沉默，因为共产党员叶利钦走上了一条错误的道路。看来，他所拥有的不是创造力，而是破坏力。他对改革过程，对党所认可的工作方式方法的评价是不对的，是错误的……

    　　叶利钦同志在中央全会上责备中央书记处的内容，也正是他本人在莫斯科市委的所作所为。我想指出一点，作为市委书记，他本人却从来不参加书记会议。我还要说，有一点让人很难相信，那就是他身为政治局成员，应该参加政治局的会议，这些会议一开就是八九个、十来个小时，而叶利钦却几乎总是从不参加讨论那些全国性的重大问题，从不参与那些全国人民等待着的决定。他在沉默，他在等待。真是咄咄怪事，可这是事实。难道这就意味着党内同志式的态度？中央书记的工作，中央机关活动的目的和意义，不就在于帮助地方做好工作吗？

    　　这次代表会议之后，叶利钦身上受迫害的人民英雄的光环变得更灿烂了。过了不多时间，尽管想方设法对他进行了愚蠢透顶的阻挠，但他还是以巨大差额胜出自己的选举对手，当选为人民代表。如果代表会议真的为他“恢复了名誉”，那也许就不会出现新一轮酝酿破坏事件的过程。由于我们的民族心理，“失宠”反倒帮他赢得了选举。

    　　我在这里并不想讨论“上层”的策略是对还是错。其实这里的回答只有一个，就是这种策略愚蠢到家。遗憾的是叶利钦本人同当时他的“敌人”之间并没有什么区别，而且他在自己的书里甚至还写道：“我是这个制度培育出来的。”当这一天终于到来的时候，他只不过是跟欺侮过自己的人算了一笔总账，把党给查禁了。他不过是个我们土生土长的罗宾汉，他的斗争对象就是党的高层，因为他当众受到了对方的鞭笞。他赢了。于是他怀着一种痛快的心情把对手侮辱了一番。至于他同时也把1900万共产党员推进了污泥塘，那就无所谓了！至于法律受到了践踏，那也只是小事一桩！然后，他成了俄罗斯的大老板，成了“沙皇鲍里斯”，他对此一点也不以为耻，反而不止一次地到处宣扬……

    　　20年一直待在党的机关——这会使性格产生严重扭曲。我还没见过一个机关干部，在权力机关里的经历对他不会产生某种程度的影响。这种扭曲常常会使人的灵魂变得丑陋，使信仰、理想、希望丧失。如果我还相信叶利钦是“真诚地入党”（这是他的话）的话，那么，1990年，在党的18次代表大会上他的那种故作姿态的退党，其真诚性就很引起我怀疑了。那么，从这个意义上来说，在治理我们这个分裂的国家的问题上，在党死亡之后，在以叶利钦为首的“民主派”掌权之后，情况又有多大的变化呢？要说好的变化，那可是绝对谈不上。

    　　19次党代表会议表明，在党内已经形成了一种明显的认识，虽说当时还不太成形，稍后不久，这种认识就以一句非常流行的话表述出来，那就是：再也不能这样继续下去了。在彻底进行经济改革的同时，政治体制必然也要求进行变革。这一点使我们在经济领域和生产领域工作的干部特别感到不安。

    　　我们心里非常明白，经济管理工作越是向前发展，就越是会集中到党的领导手里。但与此同时，以党的领导人为代表的最高当局，实际上对国家发生的一切却不负任何责任。在已经形成的政治体制中，立法机构——最高苏维埃以及各级苏维埃——在很大程度上只不过是把党的机构所制订的决议草案赋予法律法规的形式。选举机制也越来越形同虚设。这样一来，各级苏维埃的威望也越来越不显著，尽管就其本质和潜力而言，它们实际应该拥有对国家和社会实行有效民主管理的一切必要条件。

    　　今天，许多人，特别是所谓的民主派，已经完全“忘记”了，正是苏联共产党，在19次代表会议上最早宣布了进行政治改革的迫切性和必要性。

    　　在这次党代表会议上，就像过去那样，第一个提出的问题是纯经济方面的问题：对第15个五年计划的前半期进行总结，并对党组织今后在这方面的任务进行讨论。第二个问题则是党内和社会生活的进一步民主化的问题。就这两个问题作报告的都是戈尔巴乔夫。他当时讲的话很对：“今天应该有勇气承认，如果政治体制僵化，没有变革，那我们就无法完成改革的任务。”

    　　接着他就像在1987年1月的中央全会上提出七项原则一样，又列举了政治改革的七项原则。不过，在这次党代表会议上，他并没有提出一项对任何民主而言都是根本性的任务——国内三权即立法、行政、司法的最终相互制衡问题。天平明显地向立法倾斜。

    　　就在总书记到代表会议作报告之前，政治局按惯例进行了讨论。我又没有沉默：

    　　“我在这份报告中看出一个明显的倾向，就是对行政部门的削弱。这是不可以的！还是让我们按照经典的三权分立的办法来明确划分它们的功能吧。我们应该明明白白地规定每一种权力的作用范围。如果要把全部权力——我再说一遍：是全部！——都划归苏维埃的话，那依我的看法这样是不正确的。苏维埃能承担起这个责任吗？我怀疑。一旦无力承担，那国家就会失去控制……”

    　　你们觉得奇怪吗？我受到了责备。又是老一套：我总是护着部长会议啦，我不懂时代的要求啦。于是，我对自己的反对者说出了自己对这些听起来吓人的所谓“时代要求”的看法。它们完全是同基本的、经典的三权划分相矛盾，同最起码的有头脑的意见相左的。那一次的辩论进行得很激烈。不过，政治局中通常总是那样，遗憾的是我又成了少数。总书记明白，把苏维埃端出来起作用的想法，准会在老百姓当中获得难以想象的支持，至于细节问题嘛，可以在干起来以后再去考虑。

    　　现在我在这里谈自己对预定把全部权力交付苏维埃这一问题的立场时，我要强调一点：我绝不反对给予苏维埃以实际权力，但我那时认为，而且现在依然认为，这件事应该在明确的法律范围内进行。当我还在乌拉尔重型机械厂当厂长的时候，我就被选为苏联最高苏维埃代表了。当代表的那些年里，我非常清楚地理解到，议会所起的实际作用可要比苏联宪法中所宣布的小得多。下面的各级苏维埃情况也是相仿佛。

    　　这种局面的确应该彻底改变。但是，不能从一个极端走到另外一个极端。而我们的情况却往往正是如此。我不能忍受的是，当戈尔巴乔夫把党从就其本质而言并不适应的社会组织功能中解放出来时，考虑的显然不是如何使三权之间的关系恢复正常，也就是说，考虑的并不是如何提高国家管理效率，而是想简单地把自己的交椅从老广场搬进克里姆林宫，实际上是要保留所有原来的权力，换汤不换药。这就是他复活70年前列宁的口号——一切权力归苏维埃！——的主要目的（当然是完全改变了这个口号的历史意义）。

    　　在把全部权力移交苏维埃的同时，总书记在报告中讲到，党应该从管理职能中退出来，只充当政治力量，但同时又不肯削弱它的“先锋队”角色。相反，他还特别强调，“没有党的指导作用……就不可能完成改革的任务”。而且，他还确信，一定要把相应的党委第一书记放到苏维埃主席的位子上去。

    　　顺便说一句，恰好是这个观点，在代表会议上引起了不少反对意见。大家觉得，党如果要以这样的方式摆脱对生活各个方面的实际日常领导，包括经济工作领导，那其实只不过是走走形式而已。换言之，表面上虽不像过去那样，但实际上苏维埃依然处于党组织毫无限制的、绝对的、说一不二的管制之下。我无法确切地肯定，这种方案是否专为戈尔巴乔夫量身定制，让他将来既能领导最高苏维埃，又能继续当苏共中央总书记。我说不清楚，从来也没有人就此跟我讨论过。我觉得，从形式上来看，这项提案好像只是根据必须保留党对经济工作影响力的意见提出来的，而实际上主要目的却是要把总书记和新的最高苏维埃主席这两个职位合二而一，然后，如上所说，再把“全部政权”都交给他。

    　　问题的“理论面”已经考虑周全了。在实际做法上，未来的人民代表大会、苏联最高苏维埃体制以及代表选举制度，也都已经提交给代表会议，并对之做了讨论。会议之后接着还有好多事：1989年春天的时候，苏联最高苏维埃的任期还有不到一年了。

    　　本章我们还将对把全部权力交给苏维埃的问题进行讨论。我们将从问题的另一面来研究它。现在我不能不指出，代表会议的工作还有另一方面的内容：在许多夸夸其谈，对改革表示支持的发言，其中包括戈尔巴乔夫本人的发言中，也响起了一些惶恐不安的批评调子。其中比较鲜明的一个发言，表达了对局势的极大不安，就是前线老战士、杰出的作家尤里·邦达列夫的发言。我想，过一段时间，改革时期的历史学家也许会把这篇发言全文发表出来。现在，我想提纲挈领地复述一下，并引用其中的某些段落。发言出自作家笔下，所以非常形象。比如说，在谈到改革产生的破坏作用时，他将之与圣经中巴比伦塔的毁灭相比，说那是一个未能达成相互理解的人类的未能实现的友爱的象征：“我们不需要在毁灭自己过去的同时再搭上自己的未来。我们反对把我们的理智变成潜意识，而把疑虑变成狂热。”

    　　关于改革的目标模糊不清这一点，他也做了毫不含糊的评论：

    　　如果说4月这个充满等待的春天的月份让我们意识到必须采取行动，那么现在已经是对于无可抗拒的发展规律的历史逻辑进行深思的时候了。

    　　能不能把我们的改革比成一架飞机，当它起飞之后，竟不知道在它降落的终点是否有一个飞机场？尽管关于民主，关于扩大公开性，清理垃圾场的辩论和争论进行得沸沸扬扬，但我们要想立于不败之地，就只能有一个选择，那就是对于改革的道德目标要有一致的看法，那就是改革要为了全体人民的物质利益和精神团结。唯有团结一致，才能在目的地修建好一片降落的场地。团结一致是唯一的选择。

    　　他以极度的不安和痛苦，谈到了道德，谈到了作家、记者、媒体对社会精神生活所负的责任：

    　　缺乏道德的书刊不可能教育别人有道德。意识形态中的反道德主义会腐蚀人的精神。也许，并不是所有坐在报刊总编办公室里的人，都能完全认识到或者想认识，公开性和民主是高尚的精神道德方面的和公民的纪律约束，而不是恣意妄为；按照伊万·卡拉马佐夫（掌声）③的哲学，改革的革命情感产生于道德信仰，而不是产生于用以代替康复手段的毒药……

    　　那些把我们生活的过去，把我们民族的圣土，把各族人民在卫国战争中蒙受的牺牲，把文化传统统统倒进脏水坑，也就是把记忆、信仰和希望从人们意识中抹去的出版物，它们正在为我们一切的思想失误，为我们思想上的、纯粹感情的、良心上的赫罗斯特拉特④建造一座丑陋的纪念碑，意识形态史定会以羞愧的心情和诅咒来回忆这座纪念碑的诞生……

    　　遗憾的是邦达列夫的这种忧心忡忡后来被局势的发展，被1990—1991年改革的终结以及“独立自主”的俄罗斯现实所证实。这位艺术家和思想家对当时社会上发生的事件的理解，比政治家们早了许多，他能对未来看得很远很远。也许，他的发言是改革诞生三年后敲响的最令人不安的警钟。那是一个转折的关头，从那时起，破坏倾向以及其他的力量就日益压过了创造的力量。

    　　代表会议结束后，在党中央和最高苏维埃机关中，匆匆忙忙展开了起草选举法、修改苏联宪法的工作。法律的第一批修改方案都是同苏维埃制度有关的。可惜事情到此并未止步不前。篡改宪法的工作刚一登场，这个“满含创意”的过程就变得难以掌控了。宪法被看成比一张可以随意涂抹的废纸还不如。它受到任意践踏，最后终于寿终正寝。

    　　当然，对于具体的修改意见我是不会反对的，因为这是生活，是生活发展提出的要求，特别是当那些修改对国家有好处的时候。我反对的只是那种匆忙从事，草率成篇的做法，那就是当时的做法。我反对对基本大法的不尊重。毫不奇怪，对别的法律态度也会如此的。

    　　以美国宪法为例。众所周知，它是1787年通过的。200年来对它所作的修改只有26处！再说沙皇俄国，它倒是没有宪法，但却有个所谓的基本国家法。1905年的革命对它提出的修改也只有几条，都是资产阶级民主性质的。

    　　苏维埃政权存在的70年中，先后通过了四部宪法：1918年、1924年、1936年和1977年。它们都有着相应的名称：列宁宪法、斯大林宪法（这个名称广泛使用于官方宣传）和勃列日涅夫宪法。到了1988年，开始对最后一部宪法进行大刀阔斧式的极其粗野的修改。修改涉及一多半条文，但在我国只管了一年时间。到了1990年，宪法已经又改过了两次。最初是为了引入总统制和一些新的国家机构：总统委员会、联邦院；后来又为了要废除苏联部长会议这个主要的国家执行机关和指挥机关，为了废除总统委员会，设立副总统职位等等。1991年的宪法也有着类似的命运，而到了12月份，它竟然又被扔进了故纸堆。有一个并非不知名的人民代表，对这种对待国家根本大法的轻率态度好有一比，他说：我们对待宪法的态度，简直就像对待街头拉客的妓女。

    　　对待俄罗斯宪法的态度就更是肆无忌惮和不知羞耻。起初，是千方百计地操纵它，不久之后，对它就简直是肆意糟蹋。不过，一旦踏上欺诈和叛卖的道路，又怎能再停下来呢？这种思想方式和行为方式竟逐渐演变成为标准。1997年10月，叶利钦当上了俄联邦总统，他把手放在宪法上宣誓，要遵守俄国宪法和其他法律，可是后来又当着全国和全世界的面，对宪法和法律横加践踏，在1993年他炮轰议会，把按他的意志量身定做的宪法强加给社会。按急就篇搞出来的草案立即交付全民公决，直到现在人们还在争论：出来投票支持这部宪法的老百姓究竟占多大百分比？总之，严格地说，它究竟算不算通过？就连在斯大林时期宪法草案的讨论也要搞几乎将近半年，结果还出现了200万左右条的补充和修改意见。对1977年的宪法，全国人民也展开过热烈的讨论。

    　　我想，读者已经得出结论，我对叶利钦1993年的宪法并没有什么好感。但我却属于那些不支持在改变我国基本法问题上过于草率的人。不能一出现问题就喊：应该修改宪法！生活告诉我：自打1988年一动这个根本大法，就一发不可收拾了，后来，正如我在上面提到的那样，终于搞得宪法也没有了，国家也寿终正寝了。可是，想当年围绕着修改宪法和制订新选举法的事有过多少争论！部长会议对这些事虽都没有参加，但我作为政治局委员，一份不落地阅读了所有的文件，出席会议时也不能不就这样那样的问题发表意见。我不排除自己有些搞不懂的问题，乃至有些反驳意见提得匆忙草率，实在是对提案考虑得不够周全，未能同了解情况的人交换意见所致。那么当时的立法工作又是如何进行的呢？我们收到文件的时间一般都在晚上，也就是第二天上午政治局开会之前。有时候不仅找不到时间跟人商量，就连看一遍的时间都没有。记得曾产生过许多疑问，有时甚至是痛苦的疑问。

    　　首先，我不太明白，干嘛要设这么个人民代表大会？总书记在党代表会议的报告中解释得含糊不清。他说，这个新设立的机构之所以必要，是因为“它将强有力地、直接地表达社会意愿”。我真想跟他开个玩笑，问问他是什么意愿。不过，这里的问题不在于讲台上玩弄的文字游戏，而在于实质。戈尔巴乔夫只是简单地把列宁关于代表大会是“广泛的人民会议”的思想来了个文字转换。换句话说，那就是百姓讲坛——在那儿老百姓什么话都可以说。至于所有的具体事，还是得上最高苏维埃会上去解决。后来果然就是这么干的。

    　　我不太明白的还有一件事，就是为什么代表名额一定要2250人？这么一个奇怪的还带着零头的数是怎么来的？如果是“广泛的人民会议”，那5000人不是更合乎逻辑吗？很简单的道理，准备开会用的克里姆林宫的代表大会堂不就有5000个座位吗？……

    　　当第一届人民代表大会结束后，我发现事情竟搞得如此草率，而且也开始认识到这么一个大喊大叫、七嘴八舌的政权机构破坏作用极大，便问卢基扬诺夫和雅科夫列夫，在国内搞这么个有组织的群众大会是不是他们的主意？他们都面带羞涩地谢绝了这份首创专利的荣誉。那么，首创者究竟是谁呢？戈尔巴乔夫？他可未必能够一个人就想出这么个高招。

    　　那么，对于这么一个作为人民权力机构的代表大会，我是不是过于挑剔了？不过，话既然说到这儿，我要指出，这样的机构只是存在于苏联和俄联邦，而原苏联的其他加盟共和国却都理智地避免了建立这么一个尾大不掉、效率低下的机构的做法。不过它可是国家的最高权力机构。既然如此，为什么它却没有召开最后一次会议，以通过一个宪法决议，解散国名为苏联的国家呢？

    　　我虽对苏联和俄联邦人民代表大会存在的合理性抱怀疑态度，但对最高苏维埃却并非如此。这并不是因为我们互相喜欢，而且也不可能互相喜欢，因为议会和政府之间的关系就本性而言，就是建立在矛盾对立的基础上的。在我于1990年10月实际离开苏联部长会议主席这个岗位之前的一年半时间里，我同议会之间的交往相当密切，而那种状态则既不算十分和谐，架吵得也不算厉害。这就要看从哪个角度看了。不过在我看来，最高苏维埃和政府毕竟还能够互相尊重，他们逐渐也学会了如何在一起工作，虽说并不总是那么轻松，但还算是找到了共同解决问题的办法。

    　　与此同时，我对最高苏维埃的代表们也有一些看法，就是他们把讨论和决定所有问题的权力都抓到自己手里，有立法问题，也有经济管理问题，经常把行政权，有时甚至是司法权都抓了过去。我就是搞不明白，为什么最高苏维埃要把苏共中央的那套组织机构以及各个部门、各个分支机构都几乎照单全收，完全照搬过来，而它们的责任却要交由各委员会去承担？以前的工作不是远比党的机关干部做得更顺手吗？况且，他们也远非具有专业知识的人哪。

    　　春天日益临近，选举定在1989年3月26日。选举法的修改同宪法一样，也是提交全国人民讨论，然后通过。代表候选人为争取选票而开展的斗争搞得非同小可。但参选人的处境可是大不平等。照我来看，操弄出选举法来的那些人害怕了，他们害怕的正是他们奋斗了半天的东西，确切地说，就是……民主。他们从立法上就规定了未来代表构成的两重性：其中的一部分当选者——1500人——必须通过按地区原则选举的荆棘丛生的道路，而另一部分，750人，则可以很轻易地、毫不费力地进入代表大会，因为这些人都是由听命于当局的社会团体选出的。

    　　自然，所有这些组织，其中也包括各种文化艺术联合会，首先会把自己的领导人选出来，那些人几乎毫无例外地都成了代表。还有一件事也很自然，那就是那些在地方上经过一阵阵拼死拼活的厮杀才战胜对手当上代表的人，自然也会相当敌视那些不费吹灰之力就当上代表的同行。

    　　我不敢说立刻就发现了这种体制的错误所在。我从来也不相信有的人保证，说是这样一来，社会团体就可以获得直接对政权机构施加影响的补充管道——这只不过是在不大体面的辩论中又抓到手的一个论据罢了。起初我有点天真地认为，在没有多党制的情况下，这种社团代表制将会使得代表大会和最高苏维埃的议会代表构成变得更为多样，将扩大议会的社会基础。可是没过多久，我的天真就破灭了。

    　　早在拟订750人名单的阶段，所遵循的原则就已经不十分民主了。其中100名来自有1900万党员的苏联共产党，100名来自有2600万团员的共青团，而还有100名却来自几乎有两亿成员的工会！……谁又愿意挺身而出解释一下这种不公平的代表制的原因呢？而且还出现了一种现象：同样一批选民，竟选出了好几个代表。

    　　即以苏共中央委员为例，起初，他们选举党的代表，后来又选举工会的代表（尽管是间接地）——每个共产党员都是其中的什么成员。然后，再是按居住地选取。同样情况也发生在科学院院士、作家、艺术家、保卫和平人士……等人的身上。然而，新苏维埃国家的普通公民，却只能有一次选举权——按居住地投票。

    　　说到这儿我不能不指出，所有的民主派都谴责所谓的“红色百人团代表”，也就是苏共代表团。这个代表团完全是按老规矩构成的，依我看，那是党的好原则：其中既有党委书记，也有作家、学者、工人、农民……

    　　对选举进行过总结之后，立刻召开了政治局会议，会上我们在评价选举结果的问题上同总书记又发生了分歧。戈尔巴乔夫情绪欢快昂扬。他说，选举昭示了党在人民群众心目中的巨大威望：87%的人民代表是苏共党员……他一反常规，在会上竟然第一个发言，似乎是想以自己的威信来肯定胜利，因为他预感到了有人可能有不同意见。然而某些与会者的态度却有所不同。我说：党在选举中失败了。30名按地区提出的地方党组织领导人，全都在吵吵嚷嚷中蒙羞落选，而战胜他们的对手远不如他们那么头衔显赫、有名气，但却更有“说服力”。
    　　“但他们也是党员！”戈尔巴乔夫说。
    　　“他们当选的原因不在于是苏共党员，”我表示不同意，“相反，他们从来不张扬自己是党员。”
    　　我说：令人非常遗憾的是，这种情况远非个例。这是一个令人不安的迹象，说明党大大落后于它所发起的改革。给人一种印象，似乎苏共领导躺在改革发起人的功劳簿上，自以为威望过人，不想看到自己正是以一种过时的方法在工作。我提出问题：难道在这30个输掉选举的人当中，真的有谁是跟自己的幸运对手做过一番较量的吗？然后自己回答：没有。我看，他们恐怕还是以为一切就像过去那样，只要哪位党的负责人给基层下一道命令，叫大家给州委领导投上一票，那所有的人都会立刻乖乖地完成任务。可不是那时候了！选举恰恰表明，那种享有说一不二的威望的时代已经一去不复返了，现在要想建立威望，就得天天奋斗，每个人都得这样干才行，党也好，领导人也好，谁都不能例外。可不能以为这场选举只是30个人输掉了。是党输掉了这场选战，因为它相信了这些人，把自己交到了这些人手上。

    　　遗憾的是党的领导——从区委书记到政治局委员——看来都还没有意识到这个相当普通的道理。选战之后的乐观情绪很快就消失了：87%当中的大多数开始大张旗鼓、急急忙忙退出苏共。可以肯定地说，这种事发生在他们身上，决不是什么觉醒，而是彻头彻尾的叛变。不过这可是一个绝对令人不安的信号！它意味着做党员就得不到群众拥护。不过，从党内向党外的“移民”直到变得规模吓人时，苏共领导还在稳坐钓鱼船，他们安慰自己说：耗子从船上逃跑怕什么？方向还是正确的嘛，航线还是清楚的嘛，前进的步伐并没有改变嘛……他们不是健忘就是不懂：耗子弃船逃跑，那是因为遇到了灭顶之灾……一而再、再而三地宣称自己“正确”，宣称航线不会改变，毫无自我改革的愿望，过分自信，不善于聆听足够振聋发聩的报警信号，终于导致1991年8月共产党的毁灭。
    　　马上会有人问我：那么，你是不是早就看出这样的结局呢？
    　　我会回答：不是。因为我还缺乏这样的想像力。我只不过希望能有另外一种生活闯进党的权力通道，这种生活跟思想一样，它也是诞生于这些通道，然后再扩散到该范围之外的四面八方。

    　　不过，回想起我国历史上的首次民主选举时，我的心情还是非常满意。尽管在这个过程中出现了好多我所不喜欢的民粹主义的错误，好多荒唐事，斗争也不是那么公正，但重要的并不是这些！重要的在于每一个达到选举年龄的公民，他的生活中终于出现了选择政权的真正自由——其表现哪怕仅仅在于如果哪个候选人都不能令他满意，那他就可以谁都不选。而且那次选举就像一切新鲜事物一样，还伴有一点在当时几乎已经被人遗忘的兴奋心情，这样的心情对生活总是有好处的。

    　　我要承认，我是有意专门谈论1987—1988年间党内的几次会议以及后来的苏联宪法修订工作的。因为以我的看法，正是在这个时期，具有破坏性的反对运动开始迅速形成，它的领导人开始出现，并最终导致国家的瓦解和毁灭。

    　　读者有权问：作者是不是反对一切反对力量呢？绝对不是！我坚信，一个民主社会是不可能没有反对派的。这无疑也适用于国家议会、地区和地方政权机关。不过我反对这样的反对派：它仇恨自己的国家，仇恨本国人民，苏联的垮台使它欣喜若狂，而且，毫无疑问，它也会兴高采烈地按照布热津斯基的药方来把俄国整垮。我正是把这种反对派归结为破坏者，也就是说，客观地讲，也可以把它们归结为祖国的叛徒一伙。

    　　非常遗憾的是，社会的一些变化在这些负面现象中起了很大的作用。当代表会议开过之后，它的影响在苏联和俄联邦人民代表大会上变得特别明显起来。在第一届人民代表大会上，针对苏共提出了许多批评意见，包括严重指控，乃至号召“复仇”，号召要把国家从“苏共的压迫下”解放出来。发言中当然也包含着公正的批评，揭露出党的活动在社会上造成的某些实际问题。常常可以感觉到发言者流露出来的公民政治的不成熟性。但也的确有一些完全成熟的、精心策划的行动，其目的就是破坏党的威信。而党之所以能成为一个强大的政治组织，是历史发展的结果，它同国家早已深深地一体化，因此很自然，一切胜利属于它，一切缺点错误也属于它。惟其如此，破坏党的威信就是一件非常可怕的事。那些策划这一切的人知道，要想改变政权和社会制度，就必须首先部分或全部斩断党和国家之间的纽带，因为这是国家的生命线。卑鄙无耻的谎言到处泛滥，谎言把原苏联3亿百姓中的许多人骗成了傻瓜。不少人起初孩子般天真地以为，只要一取缔共产党，生活就会大变样，变得更好，更纯洁，更人道，更公正，当然也更富有……

    　　政治危机之所以日益发展，还有更深层的原因。19次党代表会议开过之后，苏联人民代表大会以及常设的最高苏维埃成了国家政权的新结构形式。党到了必须立刻进行改革、彻底改造的时候了。严格地说，这种事甚至本应该早点做，应该提前让它做好应对新条件下工作的准备——新的组织条件、理论条件、意识形态条件等等。

    　　所有这些主客观因素引起了许多党组织的惊惶不安，它们提出立即召开中央全会的建议，建议在全会上一定要讨论新条件下党的活动的性质问题，以及党自身要作出什么改变的问题。可以明显地看出，如果再不制定党活动的新战略路线及策略，那么对百姓来说，整个改革就会是一场空前的失败。

    　　我的这次发言没有被人揪住不放，就像对待叶利钦那样，也没有再搞什么名堂：时间不一样了。

    　　不过，党为什么就不能及时，或者哪怕是迟一点也行，进行一番变革，为新条件下的工作做好准备呢？这是谁的错？我可以引用“改革的教父”、已故的雅科夫列夫当年答记者问时说过的话作为回答。在一家著名的报纸上，他相当明确地表述了党内和苏联破坏分子的战略：“首先要通过专制的党来摧毁专制制度，绝没有别的道路可走……因为只有利用党那种既表现为组织性，又表现为纪律性，表现为听话的专制性质，才能把专制制度摧毁……”我想，只有这一点才能解释，为什么戈尔巴乔夫、雅科夫列夫及其一伙不希望在苏联发生暴风骤雨般政治动荡的条件下对党进行改革，因为他们是想要用党来作为改变我国社会政治制度的工具。真是卑鄙到了极点：这些朝三暮四、反复无常的小人，竟然想利用一个建立了强大国家并在战争中捍卫了苏联的党来毁灭这个国家。
    　　所谓的“民主派”掀起的反共浪潮越来越高，这浪潮在推进中没有遇到任何反抗。第三届人民代表特别大会选举了戈尔巴乔夫当国家总统，在一片喧嚣声和欣喜若狂的气氛中，废除了苏联宪法第六条——关于苏共在国家中的作用和地位的条款。

    　　正如某些口舌刻薄之徒所言，苏联人民在苏共领导下反对苏共的时刻来临了。在这个说法当中，如果“苏联人民”一说还大有不实，那么这“苏共”一说遗憾的是与事实倒颇为相近：党由于盲从，或者支持、放纵自己的最高领导，毁掉了它最积极的那部分成员。然后时过不久，在苏共的意识形态领袖作出榜样之后，成千上万的党员也离党而去。由于这种骇人听闻的叛卖，党终于垮台了。

    　　1990年7月初，苏共的最后一届——28届——代表大会开幕了。

    　　党内实际上出现了分裂，队伍的划分标准是政治色彩，甚至是民族色彩。以党中央、中央政治局、总书记为一方，以地方党组织为另一方，出现了党内的对立。这种情况逐月变得越来越严重。毫不奇怪，在28届代表大会召开前的一年到一年半时间里，党员人数减少了一百万。

    　　政治局内部也出现了分裂。这个苏共最高机构通过热烈争论找到必要的解决办法的时代已经一去不返了。现在政治局内出现了好几个小帮派，斗得不可开交。一帮是戈尔巴乔夫、雅科夫列夫、谢瓦尔德纳泽、麦德韦杰夫，另一帮是雷日科夫、沃罗特尼科夫、斯柳恩科夫、扎伊科夫。当然，还有“沼泽派”。在个别问题上，有时甚至是私人问题上的分歧，影响到相互关系，危害到共同事业。

    　　虽然从1990年开始政治局实际上已经停止了活动，但临到代表大会召开的前几天，它还是开了一次会。会议是在诺沃奥加廖沃举行的。戈尔巴乔夫正在那边为代表大会准备报告。我的战友、同事当中，没有一个人参与报告的起草工作。政治局也没有按惯例对这个文件进行认真审议。

    　　在讨论某些问题的时候，提出了新政治局和新书记处未来构成人选的问题。有与会者对已确定的候选人又提出补充，建议我和卢基扬诺夫进入政治局。我们俩都很明白，在当时的情况下，这种做法只能给党带来危害。国家总统是苏共总书记，部长会议主席和最高苏维埃主席又都是政治局委员，这可能为苏共的敌人提供加强攻击的借口，指控它大权独揽，把国家所有最高职位统统集中到一党手中。我跟卢基扬诺夫只好一再说服在场的人，采取这样的步骤是合理的。不过我们认为，继续担任中央委员还是必要的，只要代表大会还选我们。我之所以写这段文字，是因为后来有些出版物，特别是在纪念改革20周年的时候，居然说我跟卢基扬诺夫千方百计想钻进政治局，但未能得逞云云。

    　　苏共距离被查禁的日子还有不到两年时间了……

    　　我竟然成了最后一代共产党员中入党最早的党员。我的祖父和父亲都曾在顿巴斯矿上工作。后来我那已经过世的弟弟叶夫盖尼也在那个矿上工作，不过掌子面已经到了地下一公里的深处。他们在阴暗潮湿的地下劳动，并不是为了捞个什么党员的称号。这首先是因为他们的生活方式就是如此。

    　　矿山是一个劳动条件非常艰苦的地方，常常还非常危险，在那里工作的人性格都非常坚强。人到了地底下，身上的所有杂质就全被冲刷得干干净净了。矿工的劳动又好比是一种日常平凡的英雄行为，他们很知道自己的价值。也许正因为如此，有一回当我假期回家探亲的时候，弟弟见我的手提箱里有一本《星火》杂志，是以戴矿工头盔的赫鲁晓夫像为封面的，便很严肃地问：

    　　“这么一副嘴脸，怎么还戴上咱们矿工的头盔了？”

    　　也不知怎么搞的，全家人里头，只有我成了苏共党员。甚至我的夫人柳德米拉·谢尔盖耶芙娜，当有人提议要她入党时，她却这样回答：我家已经有一个党员，这就够了。

    党内局势(14)

    　　1982年11月22日安德罗波夫在中央全会作了一个有关组织问题的简短发言，他对中央委员们说，现在需要对经济给予特别关注，政治局以为有必要在中央设立一个管经济的书记的职位。接着，就提出了我的名字。全会赞同了安德罗波夫的意见。

    　　全会过后，我立刻被任命为中央经济部部长。我永远都不会忘记那次全会，它使我的生命之流进入了另一个完全不同的河道。没有那次全会，我还真不知道自己未来的命运将会如何。

    　　接下来我收到了许多口头和书面祝贺。我还保存着我父母发来的电报，两位老人家现在已经不在人世了：

    　　亲爱的尼古拉，祝贺你当选为苏共中央书记。孩子，你的肩头现在承担着重大的责任，你要不辜负人民的信任。祝你身体健康，工作上获得巨大成绩。亲吻你，拥抱你。

    　　矿区的普通劳动者距离高层领导和大政治非常遥远，他们表达的是人民的信任，因为他们就是人民，就是那些国家领导人应该为之活着和工作的人。

    　　这一生我始终努力不懈，以求不辜负人民和父母的信任。苏共被出卖了，因此我发誓再不加入其他任何政党。我一定信守自己的誓言。

    几次决定命运的人民代表大会

    　　正如所知，首次通过民主选举产生的第一届人民代表大会，于1989年5月25日上午10时在克里姆林宫大会堂开幕……而今天，苏联没有了，代表大会没有了，最高苏维埃也没有了。人民选出来的代表们把自己当代表的徽章收进了装那些手头用不着的东西的匣子——留给孙子们作纪念吧。不过所有的人都应该记住，解散代表大会和苏联最高苏维埃是1991年8月以后“民主派”破坏俄国政权的一系列行动的先声。这件事的执行者是俄联邦最高苏维埃，也就是那个仅仅过了两年就在坦克和大炮的攻击下解散的机构……

    　　关于代表大会有两个不算太愉快的回忆：第一个回忆——就是萨哈罗夫院士那完全合理、完全符合一般民主精神的建议——要听一听苏联最高苏维埃主席职位候选人对自己立场的表述——没有得到支持。虽然精神可嘉，但建议没有通过。因为，后来才知道，候选人总共只有一个，而这个人却认为他应该先当选，然后才作报告。尽管选举之前克里姆林宫会堂的讲坛上已经对这两个职位合二为一的合理性响起了质疑声，但代表们对这样的发言并不支持。不过有这样的发言也是可以理解的：在那些日子，除戈尔巴乔夫外别无选择。所以著名作家，深孚众望的人民代表成吉斯·艾特玛托夫，才提议他作为苏联最高苏维埃主席职位的候选人。

    　　选举他当主席肯定只是一种纯粹的形式，所以当奥波连斯基代表毛遂自荐地出来竞选时，才引起了满堂哄笑。阿帕提特市的一个名不见经传的居民，极地地质研究所试验室的一个工作人员，竟想跟改革的创始人来一番较量……不过，问题的实质其实在于，他不过是想用自己真诚的公民行动来加强刚刚诞生的民主。我想重复一下他说过的话：“其实我非常清楚，跟戈尔巴乔夫同志竞争，我是一点希望也没有。我只希望在我国历史上，在我们大家的实践中，终于出现了一次真正的选举。尽管这样做并没有什么选择的基础，但毕竟是一次选举。”

    　　他的名字甚至没有被列入选票。我们这些代表并不希望，或者更准确地说，还不善于理解，民主一旦诞生，一旦通过这件事宣布了自身的存在，自然就会每时每刻、每分每秒都在提出证实它自我存在的要求。甚至是这些细节。特别是这些细节！如果谈到出现了什么不愉快的事，那就是戈尔巴乔夫觉得最好还是对此事表示沉默。我不打算猜测他沉默的原因，不过我想，他也未必能正确评估奥波连斯基行动的意义。

    　　第二个回忆就是斯维尔德洛夫斯克市代表布尔布利斯为了讨好自己的同乡战友叶利钦，提议他作为苏联最高苏维埃主席职位的候选人。叶利钦对这个建议作了一个含糊不清的回答，倒也十分耐人寻味：

    　　“由于本人从昨天开始成了一个失业的人，我本来是可以同意这样一个提议，认真工作，承认改革的。不过现在我选择自动放弃候选人资格。”

    　　叶利钦取得政权后，没有忘记这位“忠诚到不肯谄媚”的人物的功绩，把他任命到一个至今人们也搞不大明白、根本不需要的职位上——当上了国务秘书。这真是投桃报李。

    　　看来还有个不愉快的回忆，那就是在那真正可称为是永志难忘的日子里，良心受到的钻心般的刺痛。那些日子对我特别难忘：6月7日上午，在苏联新一届的最高苏维埃会议上，后来又在人民代表大会的会议上，我被任命为并被批准为国家部长会议主席。这并不是一个形式上的任命。当天我在台上站了很久，报告以后政府活动的纲领，并回答了无数提问。

    　　我成了苏联由人民代表大会批准的第一任也是最后一任政府主席。别以为这是小事一桩，是一段依样画葫芦的历史。在那次代表大会上，一切都是破题儿第一遭。错误是从来没犯过的，快乐也是从来没尝到过的。还想说一句，后来，在最高苏维埃任命由我提名的政府成员时，代表们充分表现出了自己的脾气——犟得很，而且还不大讲理。

    　　随着代表大会的进行越来越清楚地看到，反对派组织正在会上形成。可以清楚地看出它的“干部队伍”、政治方向以及夺取国家政权的斗争手段，同时还看出社会制度正在改变。这个问题我要具体地谈，因为有好多事情在社会的记忆中已经蒙上了一层时间的薄雾，至于年轻人就更是毫不知情了。

    　　好了，代表大会的最重要的任务之一，就是成立苏联最高苏维埃。按照宪法规定，它仍同过去一样由两院组成，即联盟院和民族院。这个问题的讨论搞得非常冗长，简直催人欲睡：就拟订名单程序、各加盟共和国额度、提名办法、投票等内容发言的达数十人之多。最后等到所有的问题都讨论一遍，才把提出的名单提交无记名投票。俄联邦民族院的选票中列出了12名候选人，其中包括叶利钦。投他的票的代表当中，有1185人赞成，964人反对。其他各位候选人得到的反对票比他都要少得多。就俄联邦代表进行投票时还有一个特点：如果每个共和国出一个名额，应该是11个名额，但选票上的候选人却有12人。这样一来，叶利钦就没有能够进入最高苏维埃。

    　　在组成联盟院的过程中，许多事件也令人难忘。有些人民代表表现得蛮不讲理，破坏议事规程，占着讲坛不下台，抓住话筒不放，对什么问题都评头论足。对他们的投票情况就更是说明问题：比如扎斯拉夫斯卡亚院士，她是“农村无前途论”的提出者，同意她的仅为591票，而反对她的则达到了1558票。支持扎斯拉夫斯基的为829票，反对的为1320票。后来这个人在莫斯科的卡卢加镇由于做生意搞诈骗，大大地出过一回风头，然后就从政治舞台上消失了。这样在最高苏维埃选举中落选的有波波夫，后来在首都当上了不走运的市长，他的不走运的副手斯坦凯维奇，以及著名的农业问题评论家切尔尼琴科——这个人在批评我们的农民的同时，又在自己的口袋里揣着一枚由他创立的，说来惭愧，几乎没有党员的农业党的图章。

    　　总之，根据最高苏维埃选举的结果可以得出结论，就是大多数人民代表不支持当时正在出现的反对派，他们隐约地明白或者感到，这里存在着一种对国家的危险。

    　　几天之后，一个当选为民族院人民代表的鄂木斯克国立大学劳动法、环境法和农业法副教授卡赞尼克提出一项议案，建议在“不经过投票的情况下由叶利钦取代本人进入民族院……同志们，我担心如果再投一次票，叶利钦同志还是通不过，而这种情况绝对不该发生。”

    　　提议被通过了。叶利钦就以这种非常奇怪的方式当上了苏联最高苏维埃的委员乃至其中一个委员会的主席。为了感谢这一行动，叶利钦在当上俄罗斯总统后，随即任命卡赞尼克为国家总检察长。不过这位天真的，看来也正派的人，还是看清自己究竟落到了什么人堆里，于是很快又回到了自己的故乡鄂木斯克。

    　　代表大会开幕后的第三天，在否定国内现存一切事物的积极分子们为进入最高苏维埃而开展的选战遭遇一败涂地之后，阿法纳西耶夫和波波夫发言了。阿法纳西耶夫是国立莫斯科历史档案学院的院长，而波波夫则是《经济问题》杂志的主编。他们在发言中公开站在当局和大多数的对立面。假面具终于摘下来了！

    　　阿法纳西耶夫在发言中宣称，代表大会成立的是斯大林—勃列日涅夫式的最高苏维埃，选出来的代表都水平低下。他责难与会者“大多数都是听话的打手”，阻碍了代表大会任用进步人士。顺便说一句，这种提法后来就成为“民主派”在苏联人民代表大会各届会议工作期间挂在嘴边的一句话。

    　　波波夫是未来反对派的另一位领袖人物。他对代表大会开始的工作表示失望，把大多数代表说成是缺乏智慧的群氓，不懂得思想多元化，只知道秉承组织的旨意行事。不过闹不明白这组织究竟是什么意思——指国家组织呢，还是党组织或议会组织？根据这位波波夫的意见，代表大会上“缺乏智慧的群氓”，为的就是形成一个听话的机构——最高苏维埃，然后再以最高苏维埃的名义，继续对国家领导中的“进步一翼”施加压力。
    　　因此，用他的话来说，就是只好想一想怎样来变更立场了。首先，莫斯科地区代表中的科研机构和文艺团体小组认为有必要退出莫斯科代表团。他建议考虑成立一个跨地区的独立的代表小组，并号召代表中所有的志同道合者都参加这个小组。

    　　果然，1989年7月末，在莫斯科的电影之家召开了第一次跨地区组合代表会议。选出了组合的联合主席，他们是阿法纳西耶夫、叶利钦、帕尔姆、波波夫、萨哈罗夫⑤。跨地区代表会议得到了媒体，特别是电视的广泛介绍。还成立了协调委员会，其成员包括索布恰克、特拉夫金、斯坦凯维奇、波尔托拉宁、布尔布利斯这样一些人⑥。波罗的海沿岸几个共和国的代表表示，希望他们的组合成员身份不要正式登记。

    　　这样一来，我们国家合法的反对派组织就正式形成了。他把许多具有反对派思想的代表团结起来，形成了基本力量，它就是80年代末破坏活动的组织者，最后导致了国家的解体。组合及其协调委员会的领导人过了大约两年都进入了政权机构，开始领导俄罗斯、莫斯科和列宁格勒。

    　　起初，看来是出于策略上的考虑，组合的领导宣布的目标是有节制的，即对共和国和地方政权机构施加影响。他们的文件说：组合将准备对苏联最高苏维埃以及代表大会文件的修正案提出新问题，“不要把自己同最高苏维埃对立起来，而是相反，要使最高苏维埃激进化，要促使它更加迅速地彻底转变成表达人民要求的机构”。

    　　又过了不多久，情况变得明朗化了：跨地区代表组合虽说是一个议会党团，但却并没有打算把自己局限在议会活动上。它越来越觊觎国家政治生活中的特殊地位。从这个组合的头几次会议开始，就可以清楚地看出，它同人民代表大会、苏联最高苏维埃，同当局的地方机构，以及同政权机构的人民代表，都发生了对抗。可以清楚地看出，把少数人民代表团结起来的组合，它所追求的目标，就是要反映大多数人民的意见并成为与“尸位素餐的党内官僚”进行对抗的实际力量。在第二届人民代表大会上，跨地区组合成员宣布，他们同与会大多数代表之间存在着原则分歧。受跨地区代表组合的委托，阿法纳西耶夫在会上作了一个正式声明，指出了推动组合走向反对立场的具体分歧。

    　　其实，跨地区代表组合这时已经采取了反苏和反联盟的立场（它把苏联叫做“帝国”），并开始对民族分裂分子的领袖表示支持。从他们形形色色的要求当中，可以分析出两大主要要求，后来在摧毁伟大国家的过程中起到了可怕的作用，这就是废除苏联宪法第六条关于苏共领导地位的内容，以及罢工合法化的内容。组合提出了一个口号：“一切权力归苏维埃！”其目的就是要打破苏共的主宰地位，后来又宣布苏维埃是党内官僚的避难所，到了1993年1月则干脆消灭了苏维埃。

    　　不久，跨地区代表组合的领导人之间开始了争夺领导权的斗争。阿法纳西耶夫凌驾于组合之上的企图以失败告终。其中有一个不算不重要的原因，那就是他的日本之行。他在那里把被称为“北方领土”的我国的几个岛屿“奉送”给了日本。而就这个问题直到现在还在进行着复杂的谈判，在谈判桌上，俄罗斯当今的领导坚决不同意把这些岛屿移交给日本。可是在当时，阿法纳西耶夫的立场却引得右翼势力狂喜不已，也引得几乎全国都非常不满。

    　　阿法纳西耶夫最出风头的时间要数他在第一届大会上发言的时候。后来虽然他还是跨地区代表组合的联合主席之一，但他的社会活动却变得暗淡了，他热衷于出国访问，答记者问，在各种各样的政治集会上担任主席。而且，据我所知，对于自己的代表职责履行起来也是马马虎虎。总之，他已经不再工作，而是头顶着侥幸得来的光环睡大觉了。

    　　在发生这些事情之前，阿法纳西耶夫多年来一直领导着我国的一个少年先锋队性质的组织，以社会主义精神、热爱党和祖国来教育孩子们。正是这样一些双重道德的人物，在公开性和多元化的年代里，开创了叛卖行为的先河。

    　　在阿法纳西耶夫领导的学院里，有过许多党和国家领导人的子女在那里学习。但后来这些下一代竟欢天喜地地把他们的父辈通过斗争得来的一切踩到了脚下。再往后，在取得学院领导和教育部同意之后，学院又被金融寡头涅夫兹林出价一亿美元收购，涅夫兹林也就成了这所学院的头头，虽说跟学院并没有任何关系。不过他的“领导”倒也没能持续多久。现在他正从“神圣的”以色列土地眺望着我们祖国，而阿法纳西耶夫则在不久前离开了学院，临走还重重地摔响了身后的门。

    　　阿法纳西耶夫是否明白，在他的学院，事物肯定会这样发展，而且全国的情况也是一样？从最近的消息来看，他一定尝到了失望的苦涩。

    　　跨地区代表组合的领导人为了扩大自己面前的人物，就一定要建立一个有效的架构。他们本想创办一份自己的报纸，但没有得到支持，于是转而利用一家由库尔恰托夫原子能研究所出版的发行量很大的报纸《苏维埃物理学家》作为基地，出版以《人民代表》为名的专刊。报社设立了编辑部，又设立了人民代表首创基金。无数专家和助手小组实际上已成为跨地区人民代表组合的办事机构。

    　　跨地区人民代表组合由于内部矛盾而消磨了积极性，它没有为第一届代表大会的工作作出什么建设性的贡献，对第二届（1989年12月）也是同样，它也没能制订出现实的行动纲领。不过它却成为一个核心，把各种各样反对力量都团结起来，并于1990年1月正式组成了激进运动“民主俄罗斯”。它公开把极端反共定为自己意识形态和行动的基础。

    　　当时国外媒体对跨地区人民代表组合的建立和活动得出了有趣的结论。

    　　加拿大《多伦多之星》写道：“组合的成立表明，在改革过程中，共产党内部的危机已经达到了何等深刻的地步”。

    　　《印度时报》指出：跨地区人民代表组合“是一群无政府主义者、共产主义者、自由主义者、民族主义者和社会民主主义者的大杂烩……他们所说的一切，同任何实用主义态度都少有共同之处，看来这个组合相互联系太少，以至难以收到足够的效果”。

    　　英国《每日电讯》指出，组合的要求“远远超出了戈尔巴乔夫总统提出的改革。新组合的信心由于矿工罢工获得成功而有所增强，这次罢工迫使党和政府屈服。罢工行动明确地告诉激进派，他们的目标同工人相吻合。组合的建立证实了党内的两极分化”。

    　　不过，前面我曾保证过，要回到政权归苏维埃这个问题上来，并从另一个侧面，即从民主派的角度来分析这个问题，现在是该履行诺言的时候了。为了能把某些思想印象表达得比较完整，我先要请读者原谅可能出现的重复。前面说过，跨地区代表组合在最初阶段曾拾起过“全部政权归苏维埃！”的口号来武装自己。我想，这绝非偶然：因为在许许多多人心目中，“苏维埃”一词至今仍被看做是人民的政权。正因为如此，当那些过去的共产党员摇身一变成了反共分子之后，才会在将近20年的过程中，不断通过报刊、电视、广播把苏维埃政权骂得狗血喷头。

    　　遗憾的是各种事件演变的结果，逐渐把苏维埃的政权功能搞得越来越成为形式，这是因为这些功能都渐渐集中到了党的领导机构手上。所以当改革导致把真正的社会主义性质实实在在地归还给我国社会的任务出现时，解决这个任务的最重要的方向之一自然就成了国家的全面民主化，而且首先是把实实在在的权力归还给人民代表苏维埃。因此，在1988年的我国政治生活中又重新响起了“一切权力归苏维埃！”的口号。这个口号是戈尔巴乔夫在19次党代表会议上提出的。当时口号所表示的内容同20世纪初革命前的内容有所不同，意味着要把权力由苏共中央的手中转交给人民代表苏维埃。

    　　当然，“一切”这个词本身所表示的要求，在80年代的环境下是完全不能接受的，而且就总体而言，也是错误的。这个口号反映了一个主要之点，就是在苏维埃的面前正展现出一个新生命。从1989年开始，苏维埃逐渐摆脱了历史形成的弱点和缺点，克服了浴火再生和发展的困难，正在成为一种比较现实、比较有效率的政权。

    　　当时国内许多政治家都相信，站在新起点面前的苏维埃具有巨大的潜力。我也是这些人当中的一个。我经常会想起人民代表萨哈罗夫院士在代表大会上的发言。他的口才并不怎么样，口齿又不清，说起话来总是含含糊糊，但同时却又把苏维埃的作用讲得那么明白，他说苏维埃应该在各共和国、各州、区、村把权力掌握在自己手上。

    　　这位跨地区人民代表组合的联合主席萨哈罗夫在国家的社会生活中留下了深深的印痕。我认识他，但并没有什么私交，而且我们的政治观点在许多方面也并不一致。就是这位献身科学的人，氢弹制造者之一，作为一个人民代表，自打代表大会工作的第一天起就在会上起着显著的、重要的作用。他号称“民主之父”，正是把民主同苏维埃国家制度形式结合起来的第一人，他在自己提交的宪法草案中为这一点备了案。我还保存有这份文件的副本，上头有作者的批注。这位上了年纪的科学院院士，三次荣膺社会主义劳动英雄称号，得过诺贝尔奖金的人，就是他，在胸口挂了个好大好大的牌牌，上头大字写着：“一切权力归苏维埃！”那么，我们又该如何来理解那些一直以萨哈罗夫的名义发誓，而掉过头来又消灭苏维埃政权的人们呢？……

    　　我要提醒一句：苏维埃政权是在我们国家诞生，并成为我国具有标志性意义的政权组织的。它是从千百年来人民集体议事的传统中以再自然不过的形式发展起来的。在我们的意识中，“我们”是一直高于“我”的。正是苏维埃制度大大巩固了苏联和苏联这块领土上出现的大多数国家公民心理的这个特点。

    　　现在，统治阶层在我国强制推行资本主义。可是这种东西是违反我国传统的，它必然要把每一个人意识中的“我”摆放到首位，而且还要以怪异的方式将这个“我”放大，把它与“我们”对立起来，并把“我们”排斥到角落里去。所以，从这个角度来看，我们自然完全可以说，苏维埃已经成了我国野蛮资本主义狂热崇拜者最近阶段的一个牺牲品。

    　　我们所固有的集体主义传统无日无时不在经受着摧残，这究竟会把我们国家和人民引向何方？在这个问题上，不妨听听一个人说的话——那可是一个最难以归入共产主义信徒乃至对苏维埃心存好感之列的人物——索尔仁尼琴。他说：“我走遍了俄罗斯各地，收到四面八方成千上万封来信，形成了一种感觉，就是我国民众已成为茫然无助的一群。底层的百姓实际上已经没有活路。我国发生的一切，全同他们没有关系。他们几乎没有任何选择。或者俯首帖耳贫贱度日，或者另寻出路，比如说，从事非法行业；要不就欺骗国家，要不就互相欺骗。”

    　　萨哈罗夫在第二届代表大会期间——1989年12月15日——突然去世。我们政治局委员和中央书记处书记等几个人于12月18日参加了在科学院主席团大楼前举行的人民代表同这位科学家的遗体告别的仪式。我觉得，如果他还能活着，那在我们的国家生活中，许多情况将会改观。在他去世之后，反对派失去了精神和道德的领袖。构建正常运转的议会体制的机会丧失了。在跨地区议会代表组合中，极端倾向占了上风。不过组合毕竟还是需要一个哪怕是表面上的天授神权的领袖人物。无论是波波夫、索布恰克甚至还是阿法纳西耶夫，都无法担当这个角色，于是这份“殊荣”就落到了叶利钦头上。

    　　首先是以跨地区议员组合为代表的反对派接过了戈尔巴乔夫的“一切权力归苏维埃！”的口号，用以同党和国家进行斗争，改变社会制度。不过，当它把管理国家的控制阀一旦抓到手上时，议程上立刻就出现了一个新的、同前一个口号完全相反的口号：“打倒苏维埃政权！”

    　　……1993年9月和10月到来了。俄罗斯总统把手置于其上宣誓就职的那部宪法，竟被他自己踩到了脚下。代表政权的各级人民代表苏维埃被解散了。为“民主派”治理国家扫清道路的口号，如今被扔进了污水坑。

    　　我经常想：如果萨哈罗夫还活着，那反对派会怎样行动？国家究竟是会以渐进的方式还是激进的方式发生变化？是先“打得落花流水”，然后再……当我回顾国内由公开性和“多元化”搅动起来的局势时，得出了唯一的答案：大多数人民当时是不可能接受渐进的。这一点我从切身体验上就可以感觉到。我曾就把经济转为市场关系，同时为居民建立发达的社会保障系统，对市场实行国家调控多次提出建议，但却遭到坚决反对：一切马上就要实现，今天就要！要在500天之内，而不是6—8年才实现！
    　　看来，这是人们对望眼欲穿的人间福利的一种相当自然的反应。多少年来，在改革还没有开始之前，党就一直在宣扬这些福利。而且，总书记和总统戈尔巴乔夫又一再许愿，结果把人民对政权的信任搞得荡然无存。这也是老百姓欢迎和支持向他们推荐的那个既颇有拿破仑派头，又带着土烘烘的、但很起作用的民粹主义色彩的领袖叶利钦的原因之一。老百姓在他身上看到了新的救世主，而在1985年，他们也曾一度对戈尔巴乔夫抱有希望。

    　　说到叶利钦，我只想提几件所谓他那个时代的事情：大多数人还对他位居国家总统期间出尽丑态、所谓国家元首“家族”贪赃枉法，特别是最重要的一点——国民经济遭到破坏记忆犹新。偷盗抢劫横行，百姓一贫如洗，精神生活所有领域不断蜕化，犯罪现象泛滥，乃至百姓生活于恐怖之中，等等。要想让人民“分清良莠”，恐怕还真得有个几年。为了这件事，人民付出的代价实在太大了。
    　　1989年叶利钦完成了美国之行。
    　　既然千百万人经过痛苦的切身体验已经确信，他所有的“民主”活动，都不外乎是出于乡下草台班子一个无师自通、敝帚自珍的戏子所表演的往往由醉醺醺的扭捏作态构成的愚蠢透顶的粗野的杂耍洋相，或者是彻头彻尾的蛊惑宣传，或者是不知羞耻的谎话连篇、信口雌黄。我只想引用意大利记者祖科尼文章中的几小段不大为我国所知的文字。

    　　改革的美国之夜散发着威士忌和美元的气味，被聚光灯所照亮。莫斯科的人民英雄叶利钦，这个专给戈尔巴乔夫念倒霉咒，专给公开性揭老底的人物，正犹如旋风般在美国上空掠过。他说过的话语在旋转回荡。他在身后留下的痕迹是关于灾难的预言、疯狂的花销、答记者问和著名的黑标签杰克·达尼埃尔斯牌肯德基威士忌那股特别的气味。他应约翰·霍普金斯大学政治学系之邀来到巴尔的摩，住进酒店之后一晚上独自就喝光了半公升装的一瓶。一位教授大清早坐车来接他到大学的会场，不禁吓傻了。叶利钦送了他一个醉醺醺的沾满唾液的吻，又把喝了半瓶的威士忌递到他手上。“为自由干杯！”叶利钦在清晨六点半向他提出了建议，手里挥动着倒满了酒的玻璃杯——那是一只通常在浴室里放牙刷牙膏的杯子。只不过他是自己把酒干了……

    　　还有一件事就远不是大家都了解的了，那是为叶利钦的美国之行做协调工作的哈利逊在回忆录中写道的：

    　　飞机着陆了。叶利钦走下舷梯。不过他没有向迎候他的代表团致意，却沿着起降区走向飞机尾部，背转身去，开始冲着飞机后轮撒尿。我们大为震惊，站在那儿不知所措。叶利钦走回来后，一句话也没说，同官员们一一握手，从一名年轻妇女手上接过一束鲜花，坐进了等候他的高级轿车。

    　　说实在话，在引用报刊上这些段落的时候，我真是觉得不太舒服。这位在大洋彼岸解开裤带的我国同胞，他的事迹读起来实在叫人恶心：这是个受到生物本能驱动的人，可是两年之后，竟“经全民选举”，当选为俄罗斯联邦总统！

    　　在翻阅那些日子的国外出版物时，人们会注意到我们未来的总统讲到自己国家时的那种放肆和不可原谅。我想提醒一句，政治家是有一个不成文的规定的，那就是自己国内的问题应该回家去谈。

    　　还记得德国总理施密特在访问莫斯科的时候，有人问了他一个有关他政治对手科尔的问题。他回答得非常简短，而且斩钉截铁：“我到莫斯科不是来谈论科尔先生的。这件事我会到波恩去做。”
    　　古巴廖夫，当年的《真理报》副主编，在自己的《总统，或者俄国版水门事件》一书中相当鲜明地描述了读者和公众的反应：“这种事不可能，这是对一个好人的污蔑。”等等。电视台回放了叶利钦在美国期间的纪录片，掀起了一片叫喊声，都说那是卑劣的歪曲，是恶意造假，是通过合成的办法把单词拉长了等等。而且说，要把他在巴尔的摩大学发表演说的讲台拍摄得很正常，而把讲台旁边站着的那个人，说得好听点，拍得脚跟有点不大稳，那都是用上了合成技术。而且苏联最高苏维埃还组织了专门委员会，举行多次群众大会，愤怒声讨国家领导人，而所有这一切，都是为了支持亲爱的人民卫士鲍里斯·叶利钦。

    　　是的，当时很难说服人们。他们期待着叶利钦这样的正义斗士，而且转瞬之间不假思索就为自己树立了一个偶像。任何有关叶利钦的负面消息都会立刻被他们否定。套在麻袋里洗澡的事儿人们不相信——那是污蔑；在飞机上睡过了头没能跟爱尔兰总统在香农见面——那是撒谎；到别墅“批阅文件”——那是因为时时想着文件，想着国家。不过，当他在德国喝得醉醺醺地指挥乐队，而一切又通过电视播放出来时，许多人的幻想终于破灭了。

    　　然而这些事都是后来发生的，而1990年秋天正是群众大会浪潮席卷全国的时候。那些大会都是由“民主俄罗斯”的领导人组织的。顷刻之间，这个组织就把本身作为人民代表的性质抛到了九霄云外，得出结论说，通过议会斗争夺取政权的道路是一条漫长的道路，其结果难以预测。他们选取了一条夺取国内政权的比较激进的道路——把群众大会、罢工、破坏百姓生活保障系统等作为有效手段来运用。

    　　我怀着一颗颤抖的心回想起那年的秋天。商店的货架子全空了。海港和火车站停着装运食品和日用品的货柜，可是却有人把钱塞给那些想参加卸货的人，把他们打发回家去。铁路线上出现堵塞，国内的铁路大动脉实际上全被切断。粮食和蔬菜烂在地里，水果烂在果园里。各种商品短缺、刑事犯罪、民族关系恶化、罢工等各种情况一下子在全国各地都冒了出来。事实上国内已经出现了经济和政治生活的全面瓦解。最后，政权瘫痪了。

    　　这一切对谁有利呢？当然是对那些为了破坏国家政权威信而无所不用其极的人，对那些一心想夺取政权的人。自打那时起，在整整15年多的时间里，为了反过来证明“民主派”夺取政权有理，电视台一个劲地播放同样的画面：空荡荡的食品柜台。不过现在的那些“独立”媒体的大老板们却羞答答地不愿说出，为什么商店会变得空空荡荡。

    　　我的心里常常会出现一个问题：如果这些事发生在叶利钦当权的时候，甚至发生在当今政权之下，那会怎么样？为了让这些人的头脑清醒清醒，会把他们弄进去待上多少年？我说，年头不会少了！这么处理是对的——可不能拿国家人民的命运开玩笑！

    　　到处都在开群众大会，可实际上又做不出任何决定。庶民政治把国内的权力抓到了自己手中。是谁在早就极端复杂、极端严重的局势上再火上浇油？是谁组织大规模游行示威，以它作为破坏管理结构乃至整个国家的手段？请看名单吧——他们都是把人民命运拨弄于股掌之上的“玩家”。就比方有一份传单，上头宣布1990年9月16日在练马场开群众大会：“参加者有阿法纳西耶夫、扎斯拉夫斯基、格德良、穆拉舍夫、波波夫、索布恰克、斯坦凯维奇、雅库宁。叶利钦将应邀出席。”不过，当这些先生掌权之后，他们很快便把练马场翻修了，搞得丑陋不堪，说得好听点，是搞了个没有品味的商贸中心，目的则是让人没法在“民主时代”再在这里开群众大会。

    　　有些名字（以及他们本人）已经被人遗忘了，不过这不应该：正是他们构成了第一梯队，完成了连希特勒也无法完成的“伟业”——让这个国家遭受到历史上最严重的失败。我只想就其中的某些人物说几句。
    　　加夫里尔·哈里托诺维奇·波波夫有一次声称，消灭苏联共产党的人正是他。他总是喜欢高估自己的作用，但我们却不能否定他在这一毁灭国家的历史过程中所起的积极作用。后来他对自己竭力推举的叶利钦颇为失望，但在此之前他当过一段时间的莫斯科市长，最大限度地利用这一职位为自己捞好处：他征用了党和国家财产中的一块“大肥肉”，以此为基础建立了一座以他为首的私立学校——国际大学。我经常在中央一级的报纸上读到他的文章，发现他变得简直认不出来了：现在他成了个具有国家观念的活动家、捍卫俄国人民利益的斗士。不过，人的本性是迟早都会暴露的：前不久他出了一本小破书，里头利用各种资料，收集了红军在卫国战争期间的一切“恶行”，讲述了某些士兵和军官在德国的不良行为，但却对希特勒暴徒在我国犯下的滔天罪行缄口不言。

    　　在苏联最高苏维埃各次会议上，常有一个外表整洁相貌端正的年轻人参加辩论，他就是人民代表斯坦凯维奇。他跟他的同事索布恰克一样，自动宣布自己是新民主的“浪漫派”。斯坦凯维奇利用这一“高尚的形象”和莫斯科副市长的职位大肆中饱私囊。这位“民主浪漫派”有许多“本事”，比如同刑事犯罪组织有着动人的关系，贪贿成性，把前苏联部长帕托利切夫的住宅据为己有等等。所以并不奇怪，早在担任第一届国家杜马议员期间，执法机关就对他提出过收受贿赂的指控。只是代表们没有同意剥夺他的豁免权。不过，正如所知，这只馋猫也知道是偷吃了谁家的肉，于是这位“浪漫派”便在代表特权到期之前拿着外交护照偷偷地溜出了国。他先后在美国、德国混了一阵，最后又跑到波兰，国际刑警组织终于探听到他的踪迹。这时“自由派”媒体又是一阵叫嚣，说什么“黑暗势力”开始了对第一批民主浪漫派人士的迫害。

    　　凡是掌过权的“民主派”和“自由派”人士，几乎都有这么一些内容可供谈说。能够经得起权力诱惑的人，说来惭愧，真是少而又少。而且他们那所谓“民主”信仰本身，也只不过是一层政治外壳而已。眼前就有一个现成的例子：在所谓“专制”条件下，群众大会是可以随时随地找一个理由就举行的，甚至哪怕跑到卢日尼基去举行也可以。可是到了“民主政权”时期，却出现了形形色色的硬性限制和行政禁令，使用暴力，挑起护法机关工作人员同示威者之间的冲突。前不久法庭对39名年轻人开庭审判，他们一个个铐着双手被带上法庭。他们受到指控，在俄联邦总统办公厅公众接待室组织骚乱，其中8人被判处监禁1年半至3年半不等。大家可以比较一下当年“民主派”的行动规模和接待室骚乱之间的差别！

    　　1990年5月16日，俄罗斯联邦第一届人民代表大会在克里姆林宫大会堂开幕了。根据宪法规定，宣布大会开幕的是俄罗斯联邦人民代表中央选举委员会主席卡扎科夫。迄至代表大会开幕日止，当选代表数为1059人，有9个席位空缺。卡扎科夫宣布，出席大会的有戈尔巴乔夫、雷日科夫、卢基扬诺夫、总统委员会成员、苏共中央政治局委员和书记。

    　　围绕着代表大会日程、俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃主席的选举，展开了激烈的斗争。代表们公开分裂成极端敌对的两个阵营：一部分以苏共为导向，另一部分则以有文化有知识的“民主俄罗斯”运动力量集团为归属。这一届代表大会还有一个难以忘却的情况，就是俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃主席的选举成了一场马拉松。直到5月29日，在最少必须获得531票的情况下，叶利钦获得535票当选。4票，这仅仅是大会代表人数的大约0.5%，最终却决定了代表大会以后的政治命运，也决定了俄罗斯后来的命运！

    　　有关俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃领导的问题，早在代表大会筹备期间在政治局就讨论过多次。依我的看法，政治局，特别是戈尔巴乔夫领导的中央书记处，在这个至关重要的干部问题上犯下了严重错误。他们推荐的都是一些在极为错综复杂的环境下显然通不过的候选人——弗拉索夫、博罗兹科夫。在一次政治局会议上我一针见血地说：这些同志都不错，可是代表大会不会支持他们。我们将不得不把这个位置让给叶利钦，他一点也不想掩盖要成为共和国当时最高政权机关首脑的意图，而这个共和国则实际上决定着整个国家的生命。在发言中我说，我们可以推荐任何一个全苏领导人到俄罗斯最高岗位上——雷日科夫也行，利加乔夫也行，或者别的哪位政治局委员和中央书记都行。可是，就这个问题并没有能够形成什么决议。
    　　代表大会开幕后，立即出现了一个俄罗斯联邦主权的问题。讨论进行得很热烈，连续讨论了三天——1990年5月22日、23日、24日。现在，当我检视当时的讨论速记稿时，想要指出一点：代表们关注的问题，主要都是一些个别性质的问题或条文表述方式。然而却没有任何一位代表在原则问题上对这一步骤提出过一次反对意见。正是这样一个步骤，成了苏联历史上致命的一步，因为正是它为苏联的解体提供了土壤。参加讨论的有40个代表，后来又有一个编辑委员会工作了两周半。

    　　俄罗斯联邦国家主权宣言的各色各样方案和无数修正案，其中还包括该共和国法律高于其他加盟共和国法律的方案，于6月11日和12日两天提交讨论和表决。总表决是在6月12日举行的。同意宣言的票数为907，反对票为13，弃权为9票。共产党员们也都表现得政治上盲目短见，无能预见这个问题可能导致的严重后果。当时做总结的已经是当选为主席的叶利钦：
    　　“决议通过。”（暴风雨般经久不歇的掌声。响起了欢呼声：乌拉！乌拉！）
    　　“祝贺全体人民代表和俄联邦各族人民。”（掌声）
    　　就这样，俄国的第一届人民代表大会成了破坏伟大国家的主要力量，而1990年6月12日这个被“民主派”宣布为伟大节日的日子，则成了我们在全世界面前蒙羞的日子。

    　　俄国代表们又是出于什么想法才通过这项决议的呢？他们不可能不知道，主权就意味着一个国家完全独立于其他国家。也就是说，俄罗斯宣布自己独立于其他各加盟共和国，也就是说，它拒绝承担结构国家的作用。仅仅是这一条，就注定了苏联要垮台。不错，根据苏联宪法，俄罗斯联邦也好，其他任何一个加盟共和国也好，本来就都是主权国家。而在实际上，它们都把自己的部分功能交给了将它们团结起来的中央政权。宣言炮制者用表面看来完全“高尚”的理由掩盖了真实用意，说是要保障俄罗斯公民“能够体面地生活，享受自由发展，并使用本民族语言”，仿佛这些原则在全苏宪法中不存在，国家根本就不关心他们，不关心所有这些条件的实现似的。

    　　政治就是这样，话说得很一般，但话的背后却隐藏着现实的利益。利益是各种各样的，不过依我来看，其中有一个共同的目标，就是要不惜任何代价摆脱中央权力——其中既包括党，也包括国家——的“关照”。所有那些在精神上鼓舞了和行动上导演了这一事件的人，他们的任务就是把俄罗斯同全苏中央对立起来，把苏联“帝国”搞垮。刚刚成立了一个“新”党——俄罗斯共产党——的党员们，都害怕触犯主权思想，害怕失去情绪狂热但方向不明的选民的支持，他们可能不理解俄罗斯的独立，也没有采取反对独立的立场。此外，这个党的领导也并不反对实际上拥有“主权”地位，即使是为了不受到责难，不承担主动执行苏共中央决定和指示的恶名也好。

    　　在我的面前摆放着这几次会议的速记记录，还有记名投票结果的名册。许多我所熟悉的名字，他们都投了赞成票。后来，过了几年之后，我向其中有些人提问：为什么当时他们会支持俄罗斯主权宣言？唯一的回答是：我们连想都没想它会让苏联垮台。

    　　不过，要想使俄罗斯主权起到消灭苏联及其现行制度的作用，还得赋予这样一个思想以实际起作用的机制。它之所以能建立起来，得益于一个从正常逻辑来看有点像白痴的论点：俄罗斯法律高于全苏法律。换言之，“部分”被宣布高于“整体”。这意味着所有组织机构资源及其附属的物资资源、财经资源等，将统统脱离全国中央的管理，这样一来，中央的存在实际上已毫无意义。请想想，在表决之前、表决当时和表决之后，这样一点难道还搞不明白吗？

    　　1990年6月13日一大早，我送英国首相撒切尔夫人去机场。当时她正在莫斯科访问，准备乘飞机到毁于地震的列宁纳堪（在亚美尼亚）参加英国帮助建设的一所学校的落成典礼。
    　　一坐进汽车她就说：
    　　“雷日科夫先生，昨天晚上我从你们的电视上看到，俄罗斯议会通过有关主权的法律，其中最主要的一点就是俄罗斯的法律高于联邦法律。您了解情况吗？您怎么看这个问题？”
    　　“我当然了解，”我这样回答。“‘主权’这个概念本身是没有什么问题的，因为俄罗斯拥有的权利实际上少于苏联的其他加盟共和国。但若对主权再做其他补充，就无论如何也不对了，特别是共和国的法律高过全苏法律这一条。这将是统一国家瓦解的开始。在这样的条件下，国家将无法起作用，而且，紧随俄罗斯之后，其他共和国立刻也会照此办理。”

    　　这部法律通过后不到几个小时，就出现了这样一次谈话。就连她这个局外人也很清楚，对于一个统一国家来说，出现这种事情是不能容许的。她拿这个事件同自己国家做了比照，说了些我看是十分正确的想法。这里我想说一个小插曲，它更像一个政治笑话：三年之后，撒切尔夫人——当时她已经是政府首脑——又来到俄罗斯，为了加快改革，她所提出的建议不是别的，恰恰是……解散我们的议会。如果是我，比方说，跑到英国去——我俩的地位可是同样的，都是前首相——提出建议要立即解散他们的议会，有意思，会出现什么情况呢？

    　　这样，实际上直接统一国家的问题便画上了句号。我再说一遍，苏联的俄罗斯第一届人民代表大会成了瓦解伟大国家的罪魁祸首，俄罗斯的新领导在这里则起到了“特洛伊木马”的作用。伟大的国家由伟人所缔造，但却为卑劣的宵小所毁——这话真说得一点不错。

    “您当时为什么不说服我们？”

    　　有位上了年纪的妇女在街上认出了我，看来是不由自主地表达了许多人的想法：“尼古拉·伊万诺维奇，您当时为什么不说服我们？！”

    　　为了让蒙在人们眼睛上、心灵上、思想上的那层纱帘最终能揭下去，让人们本能地听到和意识到提请他们注意的、向他们提出过警示的那些东西，还真得需要经过几个困难苦涩的年头。想当年向人们提出呼唤的情况还历历在目，可那已是如此遥远的过去。

    　　在我多年来主要从事的国民经济领域和经济领域中，有过许多值得肯定的地方，但遗憾的是也有不少缺点。我曾不止一次说，逐年来，在许多方面，经济都越来越成为政治的人质。起初，当改革开始的头两三年，那时经济的运行还是照原来的样子，遵循指令计划模式，经济发展的速度非常快，也很平稳。但由于戈尔巴乔夫不断花样翻新的思想，国内经济生活变得忽冷忽热。他常到全国各地去东走西走，到处许愿。今天加速发展，明天科技进步，后天又是农村问题，冶金行业、电子工业……等等。

    　　我们也曾试图让他放郑重一些，提醒他如果所有的问题堆成堆，经济势必受到损害。可是不行：“你们不明白，这可是人民的期待！”人民的确有期待，他们渴望国内发生严肃的、根本性的变革——第一方面，第二方面，第三方面……不过经济这个东西是有惯性的。要想作必要的调整，就需要时间，不停地折腾它只会妨碍它的发展。过了三四年，老百姓对改革失望了，于是当局再也得不到人们的尊重。事情办糟了。

    　　我非常清楚地知道，过去的经济模式当年曾解决过许多全球性的、国家的和社会经济的问题，不过这种模式的潜力已经挖光了。然而说和做并不是一回事，问题的压力越来越大，可解决它们却需要时间。结果在相当一部分人心目中，政府逐渐由主张进步的类型“蜕化”成了保守类型。

    　　需要找出一种新模式，它既能刺激国民经济的发展，又不会引起激烈的震荡。经过好多个月的探讨和细致研究，我们这一届政府于1990年5月向最高苏维埃提出了经济在必要的国家调控机制下向社会导向的市场关系过渡的纲领。我们提出了三种可能的新经济模式。

    　　其中两种，是作为参考信息制订出来的，指出它们可以存在，但却不是我们所推荐的，因为他们过于激进，为此人民将付出高昂的代价。顺便提一句，其中最激进的一个模式，过了半年却被叶利钦和盖达尔拿去作为武器，并于1992年1月开始搞他们的激进经济改革。至于后果如何，老百姓至今犹然感受在身。

    　　我们向议会提出的方案，是逐步的，渐进式的，计划花费6年到8年时间向市场关系过渡。此外，我们感到非常不安的是当时国内出现的政治上的不稳定局面：苏联人民代表大会和苏联最高苏维埃的各种决议、俄罗斯联邦人民代表大会行使的权力——所有这些都在动摇对国家的治理。在弱势政权之下开展激进改革，照我看来是不会有前途的，也是非常危险的。苏联最高苏维埃基本同意了我们的纲领，并委托政府在秋季全会之前提出具体建议。

    　　在第一届俄罗斯联邦人民代表大会开会的日子里，我已经说过，为争夺俄罗斯最高苏维埃主席和共和国政府主席的位置，斗争是非常激烈的。共和国部长会议主席的位子有好几个候选人，而且其中的两位是出自我们的“队伍”。我指的是我的副手沃罗宁和西拉耶夫。跟过去一样，充当风向标的是俄罗斯原部长会议主席弗拉索夫。莫斯科郊区布托夫斯基砖厂厂长波恰罗夫是个在选举中为支持叶利钦当选代表出过大力的人，这会儿远远地跑到了前头。不过他也似乎明白，一个共和国的总理，说得不好听点，水平上总该比一个小砖厂的厂长要高一点才是，所以大家也并不急着让他尝到这个甜头。于是波恰罗夫给自己准备了一张重要的王牌——他宣称：他有一个自己的、在500天之内向市场过渡的纲领。

    　　波恰罗夫提请代表大会裁决的这种“超级革命”的新发明我早就领教过。早在1990年初春，阿巴尔金的小组就曾为苏联最高苏维埃全会制订过一份向社会导向的市场过渡的政府建议，与此同时我还研究过大量其他方案，要么是由一个单位或团体提出的，要么是由个别学者提出的。有两位年轻经济学家，一个叫扎多尔诺夫，一个叫米哈伊洛夫，他们搞了一份供讨论用的纲要，标题就叫《400天》。目的是为这年3月将选出的国家总统提出一个激进行动计划。

    　　有一天晚上，当对许多经济改革原则问题进行例行讨论之后，有人告诉我有这么一份文件存在。我对此并没有给予注意，建议不要对一些枝节问题浪费精力。可是不知怎么一来这份纲要落到了波恰罗夫手上。这个人又加进了他的“创造性贡献”：把“400天”改成了“500天”，在每一个阶段上各增加了几天，然后没有改动一个字，就把它作为自己的独创方案端了出来。他还把事情做得更绝，竟署上自己的名字，拿到一个西伯利亚的出版社印了出来。几乎是在同时，这份纲要也在莫斯科出版了，署的是那两位经济学家，还有亚夫林斯基的名字，只不过标题是《400天》。亚夫林斯基当时在苏联部长会议的一个委员会工作，他的上司是我的副手阿巴尔金院士。

    　　总之，剽窃行为昭然若揭。亚夫林斯基甚至不得不在《莫斯科新闻》上发表了一个声明：“波恰罗夫在俄罗斯最高苏维埃提出的“500天纲要”，从一开始就是作为一个全苏纲要策划的……”

    　　不过，政治文章方面的剽窃以及围在亚夫林斯基身边低声下气地奔走忙碌，并没有能帮得了波恰罗夫，最后他还是没能当上总理。亚夫林斯基后来反而在沙塔林院士、戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦的支持下，靠自己手下那批青年同事的根本不现实的、纯属空想的经济理论，赢得了好响亮的名声。正是在那次答记者问中，他把自己同那群有经验的学者区隔开来：“至于说到拥护“500天纲要”的人当中将会有一些反对者，其中包括某些著名经济学家，像阿巴尔金、沙塔林、亚辛等，我看是一桩好事。”不过亚夫林斯基可是把沙塔林和亚辛看错了，他们选择了倒向速战速决的“500天纲要”，而沙塔林居然还同他分享了原创者的荣誉：这个纲要被称做“沙塔林—亚夫林斯基纲要”，而沙塔林更坐上了俄罗斯联邦部长会议副主席的交椅。

    　　1991年，当时已经因自己的（抑或不是自己的？）“500天纲要”而闻名遐迩的亚夫林斯基前往美国访问。他从那边带回了一个苏联经济形势的分析报告，报告上白纸黑字写着，要想完成艰苦异常的向市场的冲击，至少需要6—8年的时间，而且提出了一个跟我们一致的期限——1997年。

    　　不过，报刊媒体就仿佛是听了统一指挥似的为这“500天”纲要猛吹不已，它们完全忘记了苏联最高苏维埃已经通过了政府的提案，并委托政府再把提案补充一下，做一些修订。我对我国的这个“第四权力机构”可以说深有了解，相信它要找的是一个代人受过之人，说得不好听一点，就是找个“替罪羊”，这样就可以把经济政策的所有错误都推到它头上。再说得清楚点，不是报刊媒体需要这么个替罪羊，而是戈尔巴乔夫需要，因为这个人当然不会承认自己有什么过错。

    　　对于我国科学界的总体而言，特别是对于经济学界而言，有一件事很不幸，就是其中混进了许多人，他们非常善于利用早已发现的、早已验证过的东西来为自己捞取学位和职称，甚至全靠这一手。搞阴谋诡计的本事得到的评价永远不会比发现新事物的本事来得低。我这一辈子当中，有许多年是跟生产一线和经济工作打交道的。我所了解的学者有好几百，我很看重他们，他们是事业的推进者。如果说他们有许多想法在好多方面都出现了不了了之的现象，那也不是他们的错。这是我国悲剧中不可分的一部分……

    　　戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦的对立简直就把国家分裂成了两个敌对阵营，这种情况使我们的工作变得没有意义，因为俄罗斯联邦第一届人民代表大会之后，在全苏法律和各加盟共和国的法律之间，便爆发了一场混战，它首先打击的是事业，是经济，是人。

    　　1990年7月末，在戈尔巴乔夫外出休假之前，他明确地表示了自己对把经济推向市场原则的这份政府纲要的立场，而在5月份的总统办公会上，他也早已表示过同意的态度。然而到了8月份却透露出来，原来在苏联和俄罗斯两位领导人之间背着我又达成了一项协议。什么协议呢？8月3日播出的叶利钦电视访谈回答了这个问题。从这次电视谈话的摘要中，可以得出一个无可置疑的结论，即国家总统早在当时就已经走上了不可饶恕的妥协之路，并在后来导致国家毁灭。

    　　现在我不加任何改动，一字不易地将这部分访谈内容引用如下：

    　　问：……您曾经在我们的访谈中提起过，您打算建议中央接受俄罗斯的纲领。您还提到，无论中央是否接受这一纲领，您也还是会坚持俄罗斯应该有自己的经济纲领。请告诉我，如果，比方说，中央不接受您的纲领，在这种情况下您会采取什么行动？

    　　答：今天我可以告诉你，中央是一定会接受的，因为今天《消息报》上登了，戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦两个人签订了一个专门的类似于协定的东西，打算以俄罗斯的纲要为思想基础，建立一个小组，而这个小组将以俄罗斯的纲要为基础，搞一个全苏的纲领。也就是说，不是政府搞的那个现在受到批评的全苏纲要。我想，要通过的当然不会是那个纲要，是吧？这将导致全苏政府退位，而纲要将会是以俄罗斯观点为基础的那个纲要，一定是以俄罗斯观点为基础的。我跟戈尔巴乔夫就是在那个时候签署这样一个文件的。那时候我也在这儿。（指叶利钦也在那儿休假。——作者）我们通过几次电话，然后就签署了这样一个文件。我搞了一个书面建议给他，指出这是唯一的出路。我们建议按俄罗斯纲要来搞，要避免让我们再搞一套俄罗斯的货币单位，因为如果苏联不接受，那我们就要在俄罗斯内部来实施这个纲要，我们将使用自己的货币单位。那我们将不得不走这一步。

    　　好多媒体，特别是《消息报》，立刻作出了大胆的猜测，说是出现了一个强势联盟——戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦，而“帝国的独裁中央”将淘汰出局，正在制订的纲要将成为联盟条约经济部分的核心，这一协议将促进各主权共和国的实际团结等等。字里行间透露出来的意思就是：要打倒雷日科夫政府，它妨碍国家政治经济生活的迅速改变。我跟我的战友们完全看得清清楚楚，政治上的和经济上的极端主义将毁掉这个国家，改变社会制度。我们无法同意这一点。我们明白，就实质而言，这事不仅关系到是否能为人民、为社会、为国家进行政治经济体制变革的问题，而且更关系到国家民族的存亡。

    　　这样一来，在制订向市场过渡的纲领的过程中，实际是存在着两个中心。我们准备在9月1日之前拿出自己的纲要来——这是苏联最高苏维埃给我们规定的日期。我们还是像过去一样，在“松树林”工作。而在另一处——莫斯科郊区的一家宾馆“小松林”，则集中了“沙塔林派”的人士。这里我想提一句，“松树林”和“小松林”，大概还没有一个新闻记者不拿这么有趣的名称上的巧合来打趣两句的。

    　　根据阿巴尔金的提议，8月21日我跟他来到“小松林”，希望能找到个妥协的办法，以求把两股力量团结起来完成共同的任务。俄罗斯的新总理西拉耶夫也到了那里。我们面对面地坐了下来，我把制订政府纲要的情况说了一下，希望找出两个纲要之间的共同点，并再次呼吁共同努力。可是谈何容易！我们进入了公然仇视我们的敌人的营垒，我们在那里出现，对于他们就是一次极其不愉快的事件。而且跟我们谈话的腔调简直就像是老师训斥预备班的学生，几乎就是咬牙切齿的那股劲，哪里还有一点点学界精英温文尔雅的派头！三个钟头毫无所获地过去了。我觉得如果要说服，只有说服那些能听你说也想听你说的人才有可能。我的谈话对象做不到这一点，也不想做到这一点。

    　　这次会见没有带来任何正面的结果。相反，它告诉我们，双方之间的鸿沟已无法填补。而且有一种非常清晰的感觉，他们的所有战术行动，哪怕是每一个细节，都是受到身在南方的戈尔巴乔夫及其幕僚们的指挥的。

    　　现在已经没有人还记得，后来的“激进”市场改革，其源头正出自当年这些跟我对话的人物。今天，当一个泱泱大国已经不复存在，当俄罗斯和其他那些原来的加盟共和国正经历着长达多年的社会经济危机的时候，沙塔林、亚夫林斯基和亚辛这些名字乃至他们本人都正在被人们忘记，而亚夫林斯基和亚辛也在矢口 否认他们的所作所为。也许，面对目前的这种满目疮痍，他们会比较适合于把一切都忘到脑后吧？不过我还是要提醒一句：这一切正是他们搞起来的。只是到后来，他们的思想才为新的激进市场派——盖达尔、丘拜斯、费奥多罗夫等人——接了过去。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫依然在黑海休息，实际上他几乎不给我打电话，对工作进展情况不感兴趣。其实他本是理应对此有生死攸关之感的。所有这一切再次证明，他有别的考虑，也有别的人可以依靠。1990年8月20日，总统忽然停止休假，返回莫斯科，会见了制订“500天纲要”的人们。从苏联政府的班子里他没有叫一个人过去参加会见。这时我们已经明白，拟订联邦条约时，已经不可能再提出任何经过协调的经济建议了，提交苏联最高苏维埃全会的将是两份完全不同的纲要。

    　　1991年眼看着就要到来，可摆在眼前的各种问题根本没有使任何人感到担忧。不过各加盟共和国、各地区、各企业的领导可就坐不住了，他们发电报、打电话，向部长会议发起了一通通狂轰滥炸：怎么开展工作？两种法律、两套规章制度在整个苏联的领土上斗来斗去，甚至展开激战，而且还牵扯到共和国的主权之争，在这种情况下，他们应该照哪个法律，那套规章制度办？

    　　叶利钦向许多企业领导提出建议，要他们不再服从苏联的指令，转而接受俄罗斯法律约束，并答应为此削减他们的税额。只要纲要一生效，下一年的经济完全可能泡汤。此外，“500天纲要”所建议的东西，跟最高苏维埃通过的法律也完全抵触。

    　　国家总统提前休假归来的第二天，我采纳了几个副手的建议，试图请戈尔巴乔夫近日内同苏联部长会议主席团成员见上一面。8月23日，这样的会见举行了。它延续了6个小时。第一个发言的是我，然后是所有的主席团成员。我现在还保留着我的发言提纲，它也许可以见证我们提出的问题有多尖锐，说明国内当时的一般局势：

    　　我们之所以提出这次会见的请求，是因为政府非常需要就一系列迫在眉睫的、十万火急的问题，同国家总统进行坦率的对话。

    　　头一个问题就是国内总体上的以及大部分加盟共和国的社会政治局势非常严重。国内正在形成一种非常困难的局面，其政治经济生活发展的前景很难预测。国家正陷入极端复杂的政经危机之中。

    　　第二个问题，我们需要决定我们的立场，这就是对1991年的经济我们应该怎么办？

    　　第三个问题：整个苏联的命运问题。

    　　这些问题如果得不到解决，将导致严重后果：经济混乱，严重政治危机。

    　　与此同时，国内发生这些问题的所有责任，实际将落到政府头上。一切的目的都是为了把政府从国家管理体制中清除出去。今天，政府已经成为抑制解构因素和不稳定因素日益增长的最后一股现实力量。一旦政府垮台，将改变国内政治力量布局的平衡。

    　　还有一个同样尖锐的问题，就是失控。这种情况非常可怕。它首先表现在政令不行，不把总统的命令当一回事，宣布加盟共和国的法律高于全苏法律，通过完全国家主权宣言，等等。如果说过去在这个问题上是波罗的海沿岸及各加盟共和国在带头，那么现在这种情况就具有了更为严重的规模——在这些行动中带头的是俄罗斯和乌克兰。然而所有的责任，甚至包括烟草问题，都会落到中央领导的头上。

    　　乍一看来，这些问题都带有自发性质，但它们破坏国家现行政治制度的作用越来越明显。实际上提出来的问题是苏联作为统一的国家是否还能够继续存在。围绕着这个问题展开了尖锐异常的政治斗争。问题提得非常明确：苏联是否能作为一个统一国家而存在？它在国际社会中是否还能成为一个法人？它是否将不再存在，而由俄罗斯来作为苏联法理上的继承人？（在别洛韦日森林协议一年前，就已经在这样说了。——雷日科夫）

    　　“人们试图作根本性改变的不仅是加盟共和国同苏联之间的经济关系，而且还有制度本身的性质。有人想要重新审议基本的政治经济原则，推翻现存的政治制度。

    　　在所有这一切的影响下，经济越来越失去了它的活力。不仅是生产规模日益萎缩，统一的国民经济共同体也遭到破坏。如果不采取紧急措施，这一过程将以灾难告终。许多共和国都采取了限制企业权利的措施，其后果就是企业之间的直接联系普遍中断，它们拒绝续签合同，供应产品。加之现行法律和税收政策遭到破坏，而地方的、共和国的和全苏这三个预算体系的形成将会在最短期间内使国民经济完全瘫痪。政治不稳定直接影响国民经济，国民经济不稳又影响政治的这种恶性循环开始了。

    　　尽管对政府的批评越来越激烈，它在最后几个月还是在两方面展开了紧张的工作：搞完了向可控制的市场经济转型的纲要的制订工作；制订了国家1991年经济社会发展基本指标。不过这项工作的效果今天看来是非常的低，因为政府的决定根本就不能被接受，离心力变得越来越严重。

    　　今天，所有的企业几乎都没有编制来年的计划。在安排他们的物质技术保障、外汇保障时，在价格问题和税收问题上，所有的问题都不清楚。由于这些原因，许多共和国编制地方预算的工作已经瘫痪。苏联最高苏维埃就这些问题通过的法律许多加盟共和国都不承认。宪法已不起作用。

    　　某些加盟共和国中出现了大量内部不经协调就通过形形色色决议和决定的情况，这实际上是在破坏我国已经形成的完整系统。这就是实际局面。不管政府在这个问题上要负多大责任，今天的主要任务还是要调动一切力量防止国民经济运行中出现混乱。

    　　经过对各加盟共和国在发展经济问题上对制订大家都可以接受的决定的态度的分析，又经在苏联最高苏维埃开展咨询，直接开展同各共和国代表制订市场过度纲要的工作，并召开有各共和国政府首脑参加的苏联部长会议扩大会议——上述种种使我们明确，如果不订立一个全苏条约，如果我们对今后将在怎样的国家体制条件下生活没有一个明确的概念，任何向市场经济过渡的纲领都只能是空话，都不能实现。不过，很难预期全苏条约能够得以在近期内订立。这是一个极为复杂的过程，也可能拖得很长。

    　　不过，我们却无法使国家的生活止步不前，使制订1991年国家发展计划的工作停顿下来，我们不能停止执行已经通过的重大社会纲要，为企业的实际经济活动踩紧刹车，让新条件下的经济运行从最初的实际步骤中再倒退回去。苏联部长会议主席团细致全面地研究局势后得出结论，认为目前形势下唯一现实的出路就是在新的全苏条约签订之前，由各加盟共和国和全苏先签订一份经济协议，并以此为基础，组织编制1991年计划的工作。这份协议应该包括经相互协商确定的企业计划组织原则，税收体制的实施，各加盟共和国都能接受的新价格政策，物质技术保障体制，企业、共和国和全苏外汇基金的构成，乃至其他许多原则问题的决定，只有解决了这些原则问题，来年每一个共和国的每一个经济环节才有可能存活。这就是政府主席团希望在这次会见时讨论的主要问题……

    　　部长会议主席团成员的发言涉及的大致也是这些问题，只不过列举了更多的细节，更加具体。

    　　这就是在那个极其复杂的时期我们对国家真实局势的看法。我们意识到在国家头上高悬着关乎生死的危险。我想，读者对于这种局势的深刻戏剧性会有所评价：明明看出国家正在被推向毁灭，而且也提出了挽救它的现实道路，但却遇到了无法逾越的障碍，那就是对祖国命运反应迟钝的无动于衷，或者说就是对祖国的直接叛卖。

    　　8月30日，根据我们同戈尔巴乔夫会见的结果，在苏联最高苏维埃会议厅召开了各加盟共和国代表、各部部长、人民代表和无数应邀出席者的会议。头一天接近深夜，总统办公厅完全出人意料地下发了一份18页的材料，要求会议审议。材料是由沙塔林小组准备的，是一个“500天”方案的压缩版之类的东西。那里头没有一句话讲到建议来年按什么原则生活。只讲了一些有关向市场关系过渡的最一般的意见，以及各加盟共和国的作用和地位。

    　　现在完全清楚了，采取这样的措施，是为了引导会议丢开具体问题不去解决，也根本不管几个月之后国家会发生什么变化，只想把各加盟共和国吸引到自己一边，并在它们的支持下走向“全苏舞台”。我常常问自己，今天已经作古的沙塔林，当年是否曾考虑过自己采取的步骤会产生什么后果呢？我想，他只不过是被更有经验的政客利用来作为达到目的的工具而已。无论我们之间的私交多么好，我还是要直截了当地说：他在毁灭国家的过程中还真起了不小的作用，尽管我相信他并不希望这样做。

    　　会开了两天。发言者一个接一个上台，他们全是按照指挥棒行事，谈的根本不是迫切需要解决的问题，而是要把这18页东西跟政府建议对立起来。叶利钦是最先发言的人之一：

    　　“雷日科夫的政府应该立刻辞职！”

    　　乌克兰部长会议第一副主席福明也毫不掩饰对全苏政府的敌视。这个人以乌克兰共和国的名义所作的发言，就其歇斯底里和卑鄙无耻的程度而言，至今我也没有发现能有人出其右者。为了将来能分一杯羹，他可以不计后果。经验丰富的总理马索尔已经无法让乌克兰的领导层满意了。

    　　就连以谢尔巴科夫为首的官方工会也没有在一旁袖手旁观：他往政府头上没有少泼脏水。有意思，现在，当物价像火箭似的往上飙涨，而老百姓，也就是工会会员们的贫苦日甚一日的时候，这个工会领袖上哪儿去了？他为什么一声不吭了？

    　　第二天的发言更加强硬。一夜功夫，反政府力量获得了聚集成团的机会。经济协议的问题被抛到了一边。很少有人再提起它。会议临了又把我弄到台上。这一回我没有准备什么提纲。斗争十分激烈。要求人们保持理智的呼吁简直像是对着荒原在呼喊。神经受到的刺激到了极限。我在台上像火山一样爆发了，对那些把国家拖向深渊的政客们发出了愤怒的声讨。

    　　“如果不是因为对人民负有责任，”最后我说，“在这样的局面下，我们一天也不想多干。只是为了这一点，我们才没有这么做。”

    　　从台上下来的时候，我的身子就好像在云里雾里。我带着副主席们离开了会议厅。大家都很压抑，我是更不用说：一方面也是因为我没能控制住自己。不过我们还是有足够的勇气和理智得出共同结论：现在还不能走。这不仅是一个我们失败的问题。应该斗争。

    　　1990年9月，代表们假期结束后，苏联最高苏维埃和俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃恢复了工作。联盟院就经济向市场关系过渡展开了激烈的交锋：我们不管三七二十一，还是像5月里决定的那样，在9月1日提交了必要的材料。“500天纲要”也是争论的焦点。戈尔巴乔夫在苏联最高苏维埃的一次会议上对前期讨论作总结时明确地说，正是这个纲要，给他留下了更深刻的印象。这是他第一次在公开场合就此表态。说心里话，也正是在这一时刻，我想到了自己辞职已不可避免，当天的新闻发布会上，我谈了这个意思：

    　　“如果通过的决定同政府的立场不一致，那政府就无法执行它……只有当心存信念，我才有可能完成自己的职责。如果缺乏信念，或者明知它会产生危害，这样的事情我是不会参与的。”

    　　不过当时最高苏维埃和总统都还没有作出决定。中间休息之后，布尔布利斯代表——读者还记得第一届代表大会上正是他推举叶利钦当苏联最高苏维埃主席——从“白宫”飞驰而来，两眼放光，欣喜若狂地宣布，俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃在下午两点通过了“500天纲要”。“俄罗斯联邦已经作出了决定，”他骄傲地宣布，以此表示：苏联最高苏维埃愿意怎么讨论就怎么讨论好了，反正俄罗斯会按自己的办法行事。底下是一阵吵嚷，一阵喊叫，大厅里人们又跑去抢话筒。最后通过了一个含糊不清的决议，说是会议“注意到”苏联部长会议的报告，认为审议这个问题的所有材料是“合理的”，并“发现”最高苏维埃主席团对这个问题“准备不足”——又把卢基扬诺夫狠狠地刺了一下……

    　　那些天克里姆林宫里也在进行着无尽无休的辩论、争论、斗争。我们也不得不一遍又一遍在新闻发布会上阐述政府的立场。下面引用一段在这种同记者会见场合的速记稿摘要：

    　　雷日科夫：我国在许多方面都还没有为强制向市场过渡做好准备，社会意识也没有做好准备。因此我们主张慎重的做法。政府之所以捍卫自身立场，采取如此强硬的态度，是有道理的。为了制订新建议，我们邀请了科学界非常有分量的人物。新建议考虑了议会的建议，以及各种可供选择的改革方案。然后，又对将要推行的改革作了模拟试验，对所有的优缺点都作了数学分析。在研究过程中，对向市场过渡的方案有两种考虑：一套是激进方案，不少著名的苏联经济学家都主张这个方案；另一套则是温和方案，政府建议的正是后者。

    　　头一套方案的模型（几乎是立即放开价格，实际上完全取消国家订货）表明，头几年生产规模、就业率、生活水平将会急剧下降……

    　　分析第二套方案表明，也会出现下降，但会是一种比较平稳，比较和缓的下降。从总体来看，全国人民的生活水平也会下降，但下降幅度比第一套方案要小。因而经济趋向健康的速度也会稍缓慢一些。

    　　风雨大作的1990年秋天到来了。苏联最高苏维埃喋喋不休的辩论令人生厌，要求“穷人政府”下台的群众大会不断举行，俄罗斯议会通过决议要求苏联部长会议下台（反对票1票，弃权票16票），媒体上的批评犹如狂风暴雨不断袭来。

    　　在向我国政府发起总攻的过程中，各加盟共和国和中央之间的关系变得越来越复杂。对抗，首先是俄罗斯同中央政权的对抗，变得越来越尖锐。全苏政权很快便成为一种可有可无的东西，处于风雨飘摇之中。

    　　政治上日益严重的分歧对经济产生了毁灭性的影响，而经济的恶化反过来又加强了国家的解体过程。我们陷入了一个罪恶的怪圈。但所有冲破怪圈的努力都遇到了疯狂的抵制。

    　　离开我退出舞台的日子也就是一个多月的时间了……

    　　为什么我非要拖到犯心梗之后才下台？为什么我没有在跟戈尔巴乔夫谈过之后，或者后来在那次令人感到无比沉痛的全会的新闻发布会上就宣布下台？为什么当周围所有的人，包括戈尔巴乔夫，当那些跟我并肩走过漫长道路的人，都在狠狠地扇我跟政府的大耳刮子时，我还在忍耐？难道我没有自尊心？难道总理的交椅对我就那么宝贵？

    　　不，我要回答，不是的。是普通的责任感支撑着我。最高苏维埃11月全会过后，我就已经作出了辞职的决定。而将它宣布则是在12月初，那是在第四届大会开幕之前。因此，病情只不过是使一切提前了一两个星期。

    　　有一次我翻出了一页答记者问的记录，已经记不清是回答谁的问题了。可能是回答一家外国报纸的提问。那里有这样一个问题：“近来政府常常受到批评，甚至要求它下台。您看来并不像是一个赖在位子上不肯辞职，只知道追逐官位和前程的人。那是什么迫使您要如此执着地推行自己的路线呢？”

    　　我是这样回答的：
    　　问题在于政府的路线使有些人感到不满意，这条路线之所以强硬，是由于它牵涉到我们的国家是否能继续存在，国民经济中是否会出现混乱，那些靠工资、养老金和助学金过日子的人是否能得到社会保障，而一旦去除了所有的或几乎所有的调节因素，人们是否能经受住市场自发势力的打击。有人以此作为赌注，竟说政府无法摆脱保守思维。不对！政府为了有助于摆脱危机，愿意敞开大门。不过，作为一届对人民负责的政府，它没有权力跟在那些想把一切都打得落花流水，根本不计后果的人后面跑。政府最重要的任务，就是保证人民如何能以最小的代价来完成向市场的过渡。如果有人责难政府忘记了这一点，那么，他要么是不了解情况，要么就是，说得客气点，不大正派……但如果人民，人民在最高苏维埃的代表，认为政府的行动有损于社会的利益，那就请他们来决定我们的命运好了。

    　　当时说过的每一句话，现在我还可以再说一遍。显然，我这一代人受到的教育就是这样：要把事业进行到底，决不投降，不被困难所折服，要尽一切可能，哪怕最后是下台的下场。我也要说一句，就是在我向记者们宣告有可能辞职的那些日子里，部长会议收到了无数电报，要求我们不要屈服。提出这种要求的不仅有我的同龄人，最使我感到高兴，并让人对光辉未来充满希望的，是还有许多非常年轻的人，他们说：等一等，不要走，不要半途而废……

    　　但我们还是不得不走。还是逼得我们非走不可。

    　　12月初，应我的请求，戈尔巴乔夫单独会见了我。会见时我告诉他，已经下了最后的决心，要辞去国家政府首脑的职务。他听到之后表现得相当平静，甚至有一点如释重负。他跟我一样，对这次不太轻松的谈话早有准备。他请我谈谈关于接任者的意见。我谈了自己的想法。

    　　会见临了，我对戈尔巴乔夫说：
    　　“请记住我的话。现在，有人强迫您拿掉政府。这只是许多牺牲品中的第一件。再往下就是苏联最高苏维埃，然后是您自己。请为国家的前途命运着想，现在还有点时间……”

    　　他从来就是不顺心的话不爱听，最善于对有些问题装聋作哑……

    　　今天，当我回过头来分析往事的时候，我毫不动摇地得出了结论：我们是正确的。我们被人称做保守分子，但我们都是正常的、思维健康的人，我们关心事业，关心人民，关心国家。

    　　我的政府在退出战斗时保持了尊严，它并没有被打倒，依然怀着对理想的信念。生活表明，我们是正确的。

    　　1991年6月12日（俄罗斯在1990年宣布主权独立的日子）宣布，将进行俄罗斯联邦总统大选。早在4月，各州、各共和国、各劳动集体和许多社会政治活动家就纷纷给我打来电话，请求我同意参选俄罗斯总统。同各地方各单位的代表会见，最后也会提出同样的请求。在道德上我完全有拒绝的权力，因为我有个理由，就是不久前才得过一场大病。不过，如果是这样，我一辈子都会因为自己甚至没有打算参加战斗而责备自己。

    　　那是一个对于全国来说都非常可怕的日子。我在注视着当天如暴风骤雨般发展着的事件的同时，清楚地认识到俄罗斯和苏联各权力部门之间对立的高潮正在到来。如果叶利钦在大选中胜出，那么国家的命运就注定了。如果另一个人胜出，其中也包括雷日科夫，那么灾难还有避免的可能，通过深思熟虑的改革，依靠中央和各加盟共和国之间正常的相互关系，国家将不会被破坏，局势将得到稳定。与此同时我还意识到，由于人民对戈尔巴乔夫及其政策没有好感，由于叶利钦的反对活动在全国范围都引起了极度混乱，要想胜出也不那么容易。人民将会不知所措。许多人心存幻想，期待着当第501天到来的时候能见到天堂，认为叶利钦才是祖国的大救星。我最大的希望就是人们能听到我警示的声音。

    　　我不想详述竞选活动中的一波三折。什么都有了：有诬蔑造谣，有脏水淋头，也有含血喷人。总之无所不用其极。而且，还常常把我的名字同戈尔巴乔夫连在一起。我做了很大努力向人们解释，说实情根本不是这样，我们早已分道扬镳，说他已背叛了改革的理想，背叛了那些曾跟他一同创业共事的人，但并非所有的人都能听得进去。人们投票不仅是为了选叶利钦，而且还是为了反戈尔巴乔夫。而且，我的反对者在把我跟他“捆在一起”这件事上也没有少下工夫。

    　　为了能对那个时代和当时出现的局势有一个概念，让我来引用一段《苏维埃俄罗斯报》在大选两星期前发表的访问记。我通过这份很有权威的出版物于国内旅行期间回答了该报记者别兰所提的一些比较尖锐的问题。采访的标题《我建议走另外一条路……》本身就很说明问题。

    　　“他怎么敢把自己放到俄罗斯总统的宝座上？大家都知道，人民将选举叶利钦。”“您是奉戈尔巴乔夫之命呢还是奉中央之命？”

    　　——我是自愿参选的。既不是奉中央之命，也不是奉戈尔巴乔夫之命。当了5年的国家部长会议主席，我亲身体验了什么叫掌权。我尝够了掌权的滋味，知道掌权有多辛苦，而且往往是吃力不讨好。

    　　但不论是在苏联还是在俄罗斯，情况都在日益恶化，危机四伏。我不相信叶利钦现在提出的这个纲领能使局面好转。情况将更为恶化。所以我不能袖手旁观，看着局势发展。这就是我的原因……

    　　现在再来谈谈向市场过渡的纲要问题。去年（1990）夏天，你们还记得，曾经有过两个纲要，一个是政府提出的，还有一个就是“500天”纲要。后者还有一个名称，叫做“休克疗法”纲要。我对这个纲要的态度非常明确。我坚信，经济必须转上新轨道，而且我还最早提出：硬性计划分配系统潜力已经到头，再按老办法将无法继续前进，需要转向比较有弹性的经济关系形式了。但我们提出的模式是可调控的市场，是逐步平稳过渡。当旧的东西倒下去的时候，当时就应该有新的东西建立起来，就应该仔细衡量，预测、而不是挥动板斧，速战速决。

    　　我坚决反对“休克疗法”这种办法。我过去认为，现在也还是认为，几个月之内就要过渡到新经济关系的做法，将会引发非常严重的后果。

    　　为了向自由市场过渡，就应该建立相应的结构。如果非要像现在这样说：好了，从新的年度开始就废止国家订货了，你们就自谋出路吧，那是一种不负责任的态度。眼下已经是困难重重了，但如果从新的一年开始干脆就不要调控，那大批企业将无法工作。特别是机械制造业，因为企业之间存在着紧密的合作关系。

    　　还有一条：我赞成所有制形式的多样化。应该找到一种形式，让人真正成为自己生产资料的所有者。至于说到小企业，什么手工作坊、快餐店、商业店铺等等，那我们这里还可能出现私有制。在这种情况下，我主张那些本身就在小企业工作的人有优先权，让他们首先能够得到这些企业。让他们自己来决定自己的命运，不必通过交易市场、拍卖市场，因为在那种地方，占便宜的都是赚大钱的人。

    　　至于说到大型企业，可以有股份制，有集体所有制，比方说，每一个工作的集体成员都可分得生产资料，也可分得自己的一份利润，这就叫全民企业。就应该走这样的道路。在农业中我坚决反对土地私有，反对把起商品生产作用的土地自由买卖。（我要说明：我说的是“起商品生产作用的土地”，当然不是指宅旁地，园田地和别墅用地。）

    　　每个人都应该有权在土地上劳动，他可以根据自己的心意选择：想当农庄主吗？请吧；想留在集体农庄吗？随便。我还主张租赁的土地可以作为遗产继承。不过是不是可以买卖呢？……

    　　“对于那些不盈利的企业，您怎么看待它们的私有化问题？”“您是个保守派，您反对住房改革。那就是说，您想把我们拖回停滞时期。”

    　　——我决不同意那些提出号召要在新年之前跟亏损企业“做个了断”和强行把它们私有化，也就是把它们拍卖的人。这样匆忙从事是非常危险的。

    　　就拿煤炭工业来说，它欠了国家230亿卢布的债。可是如果我们土生土长的或者是外国的商人们把这些矿山买下来，那又会出现什么情况呢？谁去为成千上万的失业工人着想呢？因此我理解，企业亏损的确是我们的不幸，这是我国经济脖子上的铅坠。但是要提出强制私有化的口号看来还早。今天，我们25%的农场都亏损，那怎么办，难道把集体化再做回去？也许，是否应该具体情况具体分析，帮助经济重新站起来？其中也包含引入新的所有制形式？

    　　再来谈谈住宅私有化的问题。一年前这个问题在总统顾问委员会上讨论过。有人建议建立住宅市场，允许自由买卖住宅。为了加速建立这样一个市场，有人建议大幅提高房租，特别是对超过标准的面积。听起来似乎很动人。但是我立刻表示坚决反对。不能不经深入研究和计算就这样轻率地对待这个问题。今天，比方说，我们苏联有6000万退休职工。根据我们掌握的资料，其中3000万人有超过标准的住宅，有的5平方，有的10平方，还有的更多。有的因为孩子走了，有的因为丈夫或者妻子去世了……于是便出现了这种情况。难道说要把这些老人从窝里起出去？一个家可不仅仅是四堵墙。这更多的是一个道德问题，是一个品德问题。同时也是个物质问题：想一想，如果为超标的住宅他们要付所说的那种高价，那什么养老金也剩不下。

    　　难道那些年轻人，那些困难家庭能买得起住宅吗？房子会跑到谁手里去，难道还不清楚吗？

    　　在这个问题上我就是个保守分子，过去是，现在还是。

    　　“雷日科夫主张提高价格。”“辞职的时候，他向巴甫洛夫建议要提高价格。”

    　　——是的，我们经常讲，价格组成问题上有落后的地方。应该调整价格，不过1988年就应该做。那时做损失会比现在小得多。

    　　根据计算，1990年提高价格需要付出的代价是1600亿卢布，而且其中有许多产品完全需要补贴，儿童用品还几乎没有涉及。可是由于“手段不普及”，我受够了攻击，尽管需要控制价格的事是国内几乎所有领导人、所有主要经济学家都同意的。（这里我想先说一句，我要提醒大家，从1992年1月2日起，若以我们的建议为基数，叶利钦和盖达尔实际上把价格提高了两倍，许多商品甚至提高了三倍。不久，这些价格就飞快地往上涨，从几百倍涨到几千倍，把千百万人民抛进了贫困的深渊。那些轰轰烈烈的声明呢？叶利钦不是说一旦涨价他就要卧轨吗？这些全都忘到脑后去了。而这一切给人民的打击是多么痛苦。）

    　　“您同戈尔巴乔夫的关系？”“您跟他有分歧吗？”“如果您当选为俄罗斯总统，您会在各方面同他保持一致吗？”“您干嘛要辞职？”

    　　——现在我同戈尔巴乔夫没有任何关系。我不参加任何会议，也不是顾问。

    　　从前，大概是在1987年以前，我跟他没有什么特别的分歧。你们可能还记得，改革当时进展很快，我国经济也正处于上升阶段。然而即使在当时，我也依然有自己独立的、独特的立场。我觉得，原则性的意见还是有可能表达的，即使我在政治局处于少数。你们可能还记得那次反酒精饮料运动。对于建议开展运动的一些方法，我是反对的。

    　　最近，特别是1988—1990年以来，我跟戈尔巴乔夫之间的分歧很大。我直截了当地谈论这些分歧，当面向他提——既在政治局，也在总统顾问委员会。比如关于住房私有化的问题就是。

    　　最值得一提的是向市场过渡的纲要。政府纲要曾两次提交总统委员会审议。我把它提交上去，遭遇到批评，然后又是补充，最后说：好吧，雷日科夫同志，把它提交苏联最高苏维埃吧。我知道批评会是激烈的。特别是在价格问题上。不过，1988年的每一个文件不是都说，进行零售价格改革时务必要听取人民的意见吗？我怎么还能有别的做法呢？所以我就走上台把我们怎么看这些问题老老实实都说了。让所有的火力都冲我来吧……

    　　在立场问题上我始终是表里如一的。唯一可以自责的就是应该把我去年（1990年）12月在第四届苏联人民代表大会上说的话提前一年说出来。改革已经不是原来1985年预想的那个样子了。

    　　至于说到我下台的问题，主要原因在于代表大会开幕的前几个星期我通知了戈尔巴乔夫，我不同意所推行的经济和政治改革，所以宣布辞职。

    　　但不管怎么样，我的立场还是没有变。我认为，今天发生的这种变化，是把我们国家引向“休克疗法”，这将对人民生活产生严重影响。

    　　比方说，根据波兰的情况，我们对此就可以有所了解。不错，现在那边柜台上倒是什么都有，可就是普通老百姓买不起。以降低需求的这种方式来保证市场的丰足，是无须乎什么太高的智慧的，我可以在一夜之间就做到：把价格一抬高，商店里不就什么都有了！但我赞成用别的办法：应该找到一种平衡，既有商品，老百姓又能买得起。

    　　“你先把国家的经济搞得一团糟，然后又打算当俄罗斯总统。”

    　　——让我们先来回顾一下近年来国内都发生了一些什么事。我觉得，头三年我们的发展还是正常的。然后就出现了一件件完全莫名其妙的事情：又是法律大战，又是罢工运动，又是条约关系遭到破坏……

    　　是的，从总体来说，国家的发展并不十分如愿，其中也包括不如我所愿。不过，正如所知，只有通过比较才能有所认识。一切都走着瞧吧，如果叶利钦胜出的话……

    　　“您怎么看叶利钦？”

    　　——我早就认识这个人，我跟他在斯维尔德洛夫斯克同过事。他在州委，我在工厂。

    　　我不同意他的俄罗斯社会经济发展纲要。这一点我已经说过。我也不理解他的行为和行动方式。他在苏共党内得到了提拔重用，当上了政治局候补委员，成了首都党组织的领导人，可后来却把自己受到的教育、自己20年来一直在党的纪律协助下宣传推广的一切，放到脚下践踏。这叫什么立场？他还掀起了一场反对中央的“战争”！无论什么时候他都觉得有人跟他作对。

    　　最后我要直言不讳地说：如果选举我为俄罗斯总统，我会为俄罗斯而斗争，捍卫它的利益。但同时我也要实行一条保全苏联的路线。

    　　这些都是在1991年5月30日说的。读者可以对我当时对叶利钦胜选后的预见性予以评说。有些东西我还是可能估计不足，但就总体而言我对人民和国家命运的担忧还是实现了。在总统竞选活动当中，我在6名候选人中赢得了第二的位置。对于未来总统的竞选班子而言，迅雷不及掩耳也是他们的战略考虑：可不能给时间让老百姓多思考。于是，任务就这样解决了……

    　　1991年的8月到来了。这个月份的特别之处在于它是苏联垮台过程中的转折点。分析当时的事件可以得出结论：“暴乱分子”并没有明确的纲领目标。在国家非常状态委员会的行动中，并没有任何有组织的政治力量介入。政治局没有采取任何行动，没有通过任何文件，这次“暴乱”对于党的总部而言是事起仓猝。8月20日大约有2/3的中央委员在莫斯科，但书记处却拒绝召集中央全会。8月以后曾立案对党的许多地区领导人和某些书记处成员进行侦查，但统统因为这些组织同莫斯科发生的事件毫无关系而宣告侦结。人民基本上都没有参加到这些事件中去，这说明他们相信，这只是小集团之间的政治冲突。

    　　但胜利的一方立即向苏共发起了致命的打击。叶利钦的最亲密战友布尔布利斯给戈尔巴乔夫写了个条子：

    　　“苏共中央内部正在加紧销毁文件。总书记应下达命令，立即停止苏共中央大楼内的行动。卢日科夫已经切断了电力供应。他手上拥有执行苏联总统和总书记命令的力量。布尔布利斯”字条上有一条8月23日写的批语：“同意。戈尔巴乔夫”。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫被叫到俄罗斯最高苏维埃全会上，受到叶利钦难以名状的羞辱。这位昔日的党内战友对待他的态度，就像是训斥一个淘气的学生。就在全会进行期间，在顷刻间全都变成了反共先锋的代表们的一片哄闹声中，叶利钦签署了解散苏联共产党的命令。

    　　电视和广播都对这幕闹剧进行了直播。从这一刻起，戈尔巴乔夫已不复存在，他只剩下了一具躯壳。他在这场对全国致命的赌博中大败亏输。六年前在进军号角声中拉开序幕的改革像肥皂泡一般破灭了。

    　　当天，苏共中央书记处通过决定：“苏共中央应该通过一个艰难的，但诚实的决议——自动解散。至于各加盟共和国共产党的命运，由各自自行决定。”

    　　第二天戈尔巴乔夫认可了对党下达的禁令，卸下了总书记的权力，号召党中央自动解散。这样他就埋葬了党——这是他青年时代就加入的党，党指引他走过了一生，引领他登上了国家最高职位。而党的垮台则为毫无障碍地消灭我们的国家扫清了道路。

    　　克里姆林宫的代表大会堂。1991年9月2日。上午10时，苏联人民代表大会第五届特别会议开幕。受苏联总统及10个加盟共和国最高领导人的委托，纳扎尔巴耶夫宣读了一份特殊的《宣言》。其中建议制订一份主权国家联盟条约，由各加盟共和国自愿签署，立即建立经济同盟，以利国民经济正常运转。

    　　根据各加盟共和国代表权平等的原则，筹建人民代表苏维埃以取代苏联最高苏维埃和人民代表大会，并成立国务委员会，吸收苏联总统和各加盟共和国最高领导人参加。为了协调国民经济管理，协商推进经济改革有关事宜，成立跨共和国经济委员会。

    　　为了保存统一的武装力量，预计还要在国防领域缔结集体安全协议。宣言还向人民代表大会提出请求，支持各加盟共和国要求联合国对这些国家的国际法主体地位予以承认，并审议它们在这个组织中的会员国地位问题。

    　　在这个时刻，代表们全都已经心知肚明，苏联的存在事实上已经结束。所有的人都非常清楚，它实际上是一个没有生命力的架构，之所以还被人提出来，是因为多少还希望能保存一点统一国家的基础。

    　　我跟不少代表都有一种确定不移的看法，就是觉得这次代表大会并非如那些堕落到只知追求轰动效应的媒体所言，是一届胜利者的代表大会，却反而应该是一届战败者的代表大会，他们终于明白了，国家正在加速走下坡路，而代表们正以自己的活动从各方面推动这一进程。大多数代表情绪都非常低沉，我甚至可以说他们非常压抑。看来我们好像是在出席一次集体葬礼。

    　　在这一届非同寻常的代表大会进行的过程中，也提出过一些有益的意见。例如，乌克兰社会主义加盟共和国最高苏维埃主席克拉夫丘克（后来在别洛韦日拆散苏联的三个人之一）实际上就支持了经济联盟的思想，他提出建议：为了防止经济混乱，应立即成立跨加盟共和国的跨国组织、理事会或委员会，授予全权，以保证国民经济各部门能继续发挥作用，满足民生需求。不过他似乎有点“不好意思”提起，正好在一年前，我在苏联最高苏维埃的讲台上，就号召过各加盟共和国签署这样一个1991年的经济协议，可是，如果读者们还记得的话，这个提议却遇到了激烈的反对……

    　　然而，在这短短的时间内，克拉夫丘克以及各加盟共和国的其他领导尝到了他们自己在1991年前夕所造成的经济混乱的破坏性苦果。

    　　会上还响起了一些其他的清醒的意见，比方像南乌拉尔的奥尔洛夫就说：作为一名工业区的代表，他支持建立跨共和国机构，以调节跨国经济关系。他说：“如果不这样做，如果代表大会不能通过此项建议，那就要请某一个共和国承担起这种调节任务来。否则各共和国将诉诸武力来解决问题，而这意味着什么，我想各位一定清楚。各共和国在最近的10—15年内是无法获得经济独立的。”

    　　就总体而言，代表大会的气氛还是处于对社会命运的担忧之中。国家正在受到民族灾难日益加剧的威胁，但又提不出任何现实的建议来维护国家的统一。我还记得，比方说，白俄罗斯的茹拉夫廖夫是这样说的：“从联盟条约草案所建议的框架来看，联盟国家是无法建立的。它将国非国，邦非邦……联盟条约草案中提出的所谓国家是没有的，也不可能存在。”

    　　顿涅茨州代表萨乌宁警告说：“公民们为苏联的解体、未来对它的瓜分、国境的设立、难民潮的涌现感到不安（报上就是这么说的）。他们认为，这些情况将伴随经济危机造成灾难，制造新的民族冲突，甚至可能产生更严重的后果。”

    　　我在准备这份材料的时候，再次仔细研究了该次代表大会的速记稿。我想提醒：超过80%的代表都是共产党员，但却只有一两个发言的人提到了苏共的问题。我想引用一段新西伯利亚工程建筑学院院长亚岑科说的话：

    　　戈尔巴乔夫不仅是国家领导人，而且还是党的总书记。他的领导居然搞得个别在他身边工作的领导人参加了暴乱……如果一个领导人对谁同你志同道合，谁支持你都既不了解也没有感觉，那还算个什么领导人！戈尔巴乔夫先生，您可是党的总书记，是它的“船长”，可是却在党最困难的时候逃离了“舰桥”，任凭党和普通党员听由命运摆布。

    　　苏联和俄联邦的最高领导人戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦千方百计想让大家相信，《宣言》中的建议都是时代潮流，它们表达了国家生活中不可避免的民主变革。

    　　叶利钦在这次非常党代会上的发言是一个胜利者的发言，他被胜利陶醉了。他宣布，作为俄罗斯总统，他一定会解决这些问题。究竟干得怎么样，现在每一个人都看得清清楚楚……

    　　戈尔巴乔夫的处境最为复杂。他还要想办法保全面子，为国家非常委员会、苏共和苏联的解体，为国内无政府主义等问题的出现而辩解。看得出来，对于苏联将要变成一个较为模糊不定因而也更为软弱无力的机构这一点，他是早就已经妥协了：
    　　“在结束我的发言时候，我要表示我最深刻的信念：我确信目前最中心、最首先要求立即明确的问题，就是关于我们国家体制的问题。这个问题得不到解决，别的问题——经济问题，政治问题，社会问题，科学问题，民族关系问题等也都无法解决。这一点我是确信的。全民公决时人们表达了保全苏联并予以彻底革新的意愿。在诺沃奥加廖沃谈判过程中我们找到了一个形式，就是主权国家联盟，现在我们需要对它进行再思考。就让我们再次来思考这个问题吧！”

    　　响应他的都是些应声虫，例如西拉耶夫，后来当上了俄罗斯政府首脑。8月事件和他担当的新角色使他失去了理智，竟提出了不经审判和侦查就枪毙国家非常委员会成员的建议。这个政坛新手在发言中颇为得意地宣称：“是的，过去那个统一的苏联死亡了。我们应该对那些为了‘泱泱大国’向隅而泣的人说一句：想要让帝国的僵尸复活么？这不等于是给死人做热敷吗？我们现在所依据的，完全是另外一种价值观，另外一种思想了！”

    　　价值观的确是大不一样了……值钱的东西从老百姓和国家的口袋里放进了当代布尔乔亚私人的保险柜里。旧思想的确也被新思想排挤掉了，这新思想就是：要不择手段地获取利润，金钱决定一切。

    　　莫斯科和全俄罗斯总主教阿列克谢的发言真是发人深省。我真想把他的整篇发言都引用在这里，但由于篇幅的缘故，只能引用几段：

    　　尊敬的兄弟姐妹们，人民代表们：我们这次非常代表大会的责任真是无比重大。我呼吁各位要深刻感受我们的责任——这不仅是对当代同胞的责任，也是对我们先辈的责任，还是对那些并非在随意空想的沙滩上，并非在蛊惑煽动、贪恋权势、自私自利、嫉妒横生的基础上，而是在信仰、忠诚、充满牺牲的爱的基础上建造了共同家园的人们的责任。我们的同胞正在等待我们这些代表说话，等待我们作出决定，希望能在众生迷茫的心灵中唤起乐观情绪，唤起公正解决我国面临各种问题的希望。正是我国各族人民的无数儿女用自己的功勋、生命、才华和能力，才造就了我们祖国的真正光荣。

    　　我们对子孙后代的责任也同样重大。他们未来的生活将是我们言行的评判。未来的基础是在过去奠定的。而过去，则是我们历史的共同。它是我们民族传统不可分割的一部分，这不是我们的意志所能否定的。如果对这些事物不屑一顾，如果想否定它，抛弃它，在面临混乱变革的今天，这就意味着把我们民族的未来置于危险之中。近几十年的历史向我们展示了无数因忘记历史而产生的悲惨事例，以及遗忘造成的悲惨后果。

    　　我想用我国东正教精神领袖的这番教导来结束我对非常人民代表大会的叙述。它竟然成了为一个统一大国的覆灭而敲响的丧钟。而为了建立这样一个大国，我们的祖先曾付出过数百年日复一日胼手胝足的的劳作。

    　　三个月后，这个大国就不复存在。虽然当代有许多伟人对此发出过警告。当我结束这一令人心情沉痛的章节时，我想援引我国一位同胞，一位著名的哲学家和思想家，一位俄罗斯大地上的爱国者——伊万·亚历山德罗维奇·伊林在几十年前说过的一段话。他的遗骸前不久才回到他的祖国俄罗斯。话是这样说的：

    　　俄罗斯是自然和精神的有机统一。谁要是想把它分开，谁就是个最可悲的人！……这种可悲之处在于这种盲目而荒谬的做法必将产生可怕的后果，这些后果将表现在经济上、战略上、国家体制上和民族精神上。而且，不仅我们的子孙后代，就连别的民族，也一定不会忘记统一的俄罗斯，将会在自己身上尝到蓄意肢解它的恶果的滋味。

    一个强大国家机体的消亡

    　　2006年12月8日，是苏联在世界地图上停止存在的15周年纪念。为了纪念这个日子，拍摄了一部关于别洛韦日森林的影片，里面记录了三个领导人——俄罗斯、乌克兰和白俄罗斯总统签署文件，破坏苏联的场面。三人中的一个——叶利钦——拒绝到场参加拍摄，但在《俄罗斯报》发表了一个长篇访谈。

    　　这篇《自白》，还是当年为自己行为辩解的那些老套子理由。

    　　一个正常的、有思维能力的人，就不能看不到我们国家和人民发生了什么变化。他所谓苏联解体不可避免，都是厚颜无耻的谎言和粗鄙无理的诽谤。对这15年里发生了什么，他根本也不想搞明白。

    　　就让这本书对我们伟大国家的主要破坏者蓄意不言的许多问题作一个回答吧。

    　　一个强大国家机体的消亡是很不容易的，因为它身上的创伤大多不是外部敌人造成的。那些不肖子孙对着我们国家的躯体去杀，去砍，毫不顾及它是自己的祖国，是我们共同的母亲。他们竟敢嘲弄自己的母亲，毫不在乎他们的罪孽将永生永世得不到宽恕。

    　　苏联的解体无疑有着各种外部的和内部的原因。无论哪种原因，实际上他们的目的只有一个，就是消灭苏联，消除在政治上、经济上、军事上和精神上同西方首先是同美国抗衡的力量，而后者正在为独霸世界作出不择手段的努力。正是那些力量，正是我们国家的那些具体的人，他们怀着对社会主义的仇恨，出于自己的民族主义观点和算计，更主要的是出于个人对权利的贪婪，促成了这样一次历史的大倒退，犯下了滔天罪行，毁灭了一个强大的国家，毁灭了它的社会制度，使绝大多数百姓陷入了极度贫困的境地。

    　　现在，让我们来总结回忆一下整个的过程。

    政权危机和政权瘫痪

    　　前面有一章我已经谈到1991年9月苏联人民代表大会第五届特别会议通过了改革国家政权的决议。正是这些决议，成为实际摧毁苏联作为统一国家的运作机制的开端，对中央的攻击开始具有公开的性质。各加盟共和国公然拒不执行承担着国家管理职能的联盟领导和机构的决定，实际上变得毫无作为能力。总统戈尔巴乔夫的威信日渐丧失，政权也处于同样境况。

    　　国内出现了最后两三年间瓦解国家的力量一直想要达致的局面。不能说这一切都是突然间自发出现的。特别是我在1990年末的去职，完全是当时出现的局势、是那种政治和经济改革路线的产物，而那条路线则最终选择了由时代所产生的戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦。

    　　我预见到国内局势发展的严重危害和悲惨后果，便于1990年12月19日，也就是离辞去苏联部长会议主席职务不到一个月的时间，在第四届苏联人民代表大会上作了发言，把为国家和人民的前途担忧的想法和盘托出。这是一个经过痛苦的思考而作的发言，它已成为我的政治遗嘱。

    　　由我领导的全苏政府清楚地见到国内出现的局势危害严重，我们的任务在于再次提出警示：灾难正日益临近。但给我的印象是，我这些话说了根本没人听。一部分代表收听的完全是另外一个“频道”，而大多数则已经被少数人的大喊大叫和好战精神吓得避让犹恐不及。

    　　听众席上传来了呼喊声：“你干嘛要吓唬我们？”“你要提高粮价！”等等。在这个充满火药味的，我甚至要说是相当邪恶的、充满敌意的代表大会上，我最后的话是：“今天你们向我叫喊，因为我建议在完全能够得到补偿的情况下把粮价提高几戈比，可是对于国家未来的命运，你们却不愿作任何的考量。”

    　　在离开讲台之前我向听众扔过一句：
    　　“你们还会想起这一届政府的！……”
    　　当人们尝够了叶利钦“天堂般生活”的苦难之后，的确又不止一次地回想起这次发言来。

    　　苏联人民代表大会第五届特别会议批准了某些加盟共和国总统联名声明，以及苏联最高苏维埃就国内发生颠覆国家活动而提出的建议。宣布了过渡时期——“符合各加盟共和国意愿及各族人民利益的国家关系新体制的形成时期”——的出现。

    　　通过了一项就当时局势而言十分典型的法律新标准——《拒绝加入新联盟的程序》。该程序要求必须举行全民公决，或由共和国议会通过决议。还要求一条：同苏联就实施这一国家行为有关的所有各项问题举行谈判。

    　　在苏联方面，过渡时期的最高权力机构被宣布为最高苏维埃，同原来的最高苏维埃有很大差别。它由两院组成：共和国院和联盟院。共和国院由各加盟共和国选出苏联人民代表和地方议会代表构成。为了保证参加该院的各加盟共和国权利平等，每个共和国只有一票。联盟院按现有名额经与各加盟共和国最高权力机关协商后由苏联人民代表组成。

    　　我国原来的最高国家权力机构——苏联人民代表大会——被第五届特别代表大会解散了。各加盟共和国的最高国家权力机关获得了在各自国家领土上中止由苏联最高苏维埃通过的各项法律效力的权力。该法规具有明显的全联邦性质。

    　　还成立了另一个新的联盟最高权力机构——国务委员会，它由苏联总统及各加盟共和国最高职务的人士构成。该机构的职权范围非常广泛，也非常不确定。因此，它几乎具有无限的权力，这就降低了最高代表机构——苏联最高苏维埃的作用。

    　　为了协调全国经济，协调开展经济改革，按均等原则成立了跨共和国经济委员会。委员会主席由苏联总统任命，并征得国务委员会同意。该委员会是苏联国民经济管理运作委员会的接续者，是根据总统戈尔巴乔夫于1991年8月24日发布的命令组建的。主席为西拉耶夫，副主席为沃利斯基，委员为卢日科夫和亚夫林斯基。

    　　代表大会闭幕后，戈尔巴乔夫又得以恢复了过去冻结的诺沃奥加廖沃谈判。但这次的讨论有别于过去，一切都变了：各共和国领导人把主动权抓到了自己手里，而苏联总统则被迫采取防御态势。正如叶利钦在他的《总统手记》中所说：“……他开始让步，而这在8月份之前是所有的人都不敢想的……在诺沃奥加廖沃谈判中，原来的加盟共和国一个接一个地离他而去，这对戈尔巴乔夫是一个打击。先是波罗的海三国……然后是格鲁吉亚、摩尔多瓦、亚美尼亚、阿塞拜疆……而且，在10月和11月的诺沃奥加廖沃会议上，气氛也跟暴乱之前完全不一样了。如果说过去绝大多数共和国领导人都不敢跟苏联总统争论，而且有时候还责备我‘过于极端’的话，那么现在他们都争相批驳戈尔巴乔夫，甚至连张嘴的机会都不给我了。”

    　　1991年11月25日，在诺沃奥加廖沃召开了新一轮加盟共和国首脑会议，准备草签条约。但乌克兰领导人克拉夫丘克和阿塞拜疆领导人穆塔利波夫由于不赞成而没有与会。

    　　叶利钦的《总统手记》写道：“关于草签条约的声明迫使各加盟共和国领导人对条约文本提出了根本性的修改。这主要涉及如何把中央剩余的权力移交给各加盟共和国的问题。苏联总统先是温和地说服，然后就开始生气、发火了。他说的那些根本不起作用，各加盟共和国领导人顽固地要求中央给予更多的独立。不管戈尔巴乔夫来软的还是硬的，也不管他如何坚持，都无法使各加盟共和国尝到了自由甜头的领导人改变主意。当戈尔巴乔夫再次试图坚持自己的表述方式时，我们大家就像一个人似的立刻都起来反对他，他实在忍不住了，竟从桌旁跳了起来，径直跑出了会议厅。就在这个时候，会议厅里出现了短暂而沉重得令人难以忍受的寂静，大家突然全明白了：这是我们最后一次在这里开会了。诺沃奥加廖沃史诗已经结束了。在这个方向上，已经再也不会有任何动作了。应该想出点什么新主意来才是。”

    　　两年之后，戈尔巴乔夫在一家俄罗斯报纸上是这样阐述当年的事件的：“在诺沃奥加廖沃，出现了联邦问题。我站起来说：在此之前，我跟你们一致；如果再往前走，走到反对联盟国家，那我就离开你们走人，由你们自己去决定想要个什么样的联盟，由你们自己负全部责任。于是我回到自己的办公室。他们讨价还价了一番，又跑来找我——来的是叶利钦和舒什凯维奇。这样，才出现了一个联邦制国家的方案，但毕竟还是一个国家——联盟国家被保存下来了。在这一点上我看到了保存国家的保证。”

    　　结果到了1991年的11月末，出现了一个更为和解的联盟条约草案稿——主权国家联盟条约。每一个加入联盟的共和国在该方案中都被称为主权国家。主权国家联盟应该成为一个“联邦民主国家，其权力仅限于该条约参加国自愿授予它的权力范围”。以下的文字就更荒谬了：主权国家联盟依然是国家，它拥有领土、国籍、立法、行政和司法机构，但主权的宣示仅为在国际关系场合。

    　　在这份草案中，还有许多荒唐的地方：比如草案说，主权国家联盟不具有自己的财产，它的权力是各加盟共和国授予的，联盟机关的拨款程序要经由特别协商，等等。有的还完全违背了逻辑：拟议中的国家竟然没有自己的宪法，没有自己的根本大法……

    　　现在很难想象，其实我国以及各加盟共和国的某些领导人当年十分清楚，他们在炮制条约的一个又一个方案时，早已心知肚明他们是在目标明确地为毁掉自己的国家而创造条件。这些只是掩盖他们真正目的的烟幕，而真正的目的就是不惜一切代价让苏联垮台，让自己完全独立。他们实在太希望在自己的共和国中成为握有全权的主宰了。为了这个目的他们已事实上走上了犯罪的道路。不过他们没有想到，类似的情况也会发生在他们未来国家的内部。说来也巧，这种情况正好就在俄罗斯也发生了，也就是在叶利钦说过“你们能吞下多少主权，就拿多少主权好了！”之后。为了能使地方“吞食主权”的胃口消减，真是耗费了不少年月，好不容易才使得俄罗斯免除了解体之危。时间已过了15年，可是至今仍然要从国家预算中划拨出大笔大笔经费来给某些俄联邦的共和国，以求摆脱被他们“吞食”主权。

    　　可是，为什么戈尔巴乔夫能够同意走这条对于国家来说致命的妥协之路呢？现在他到处讲，他曾为一切形式的国家统一而斗争过。我想，这是他在耍滑头。他绝不是这么一个天真的政客，以为只要建立一个虚幻的联盟，就可以把它看做是一个现实的存在了。而且，具有类似政权结构形式和各共和国间相互关系形式的南斯拉夫就是一个非常鲜明的例子。当时我国的这位领导人是受到什么力量的推动呢？是希望哪怕是名义上保留国家元首的地位？或者并不是为了什么个人目的，而是真的有什么政治动机和打算？找不到令人信服的答案。

    　　不管什么动机，最终结果是国家政权垮掉了。各级政治领导一齐动手摧毁了国家，他们在争夺自己大位的时候根本就不考虑老百姓。局势极度动荡，国家已完全失控。

    　　在这种局势下，戈尔巴乔夫于1991年12月3日向我国议会发出呼吁，要求同意主权国家联盟条约。他写道：

    　　这份文件是经过全面考虑和非常认真的分析，并有各主权共和国代表参加，进行长期谈判和认真修改后的产物。各主权共和国的领导人曾不止一次单独或共同讨论过这份文件。审议时也曾多次作出以扩大联邦特色和民主性为目的的彻底修改。

    　　我的立场很明确。我主张新的联盟，即主权国家联盟——这将是一个联邦制的主权国家。我希望在你们作出决定之前，大家都能很好地了解我的这个立场。不能再继续拖延了。丧失时间将可能造成灾难性的后果。

    　　但时间已经丧失了。当时，离别洛韦日森林会见只剩下了5天……

    酒气熏天之夜和雾影迷蒙之晨

    　　 1991年12月8日，在离波兰国境只有三公里，离白俄罗斯别洛韦日森林中的一个基本不知名的小村庄维斯库利不远的地方，俄罗斯联邦总统叶利钦、乌克兰总统克拉夫丘克、白俄罗斯共和国最高苏维埃主席舒什凯维奇在严格保密的情况下决定解散苏联，成立独立国家联合体。

    　　“我们，白俄罗斯共和国、俄罗斯联邦、乌克兰，作为苏联的创始国，1922年联盟条约的签字国（下称高层谈判方），”别洛韦日协议中这样说，“共同确认：苏联作为国际法主体和地缘政治实体已终止存在。”

    　　这是人类历史上的弥天大罪。那么，此前发生了什么？是谁干下了这件事？又是怎么干的？

    　　为了备足炸毁苏联的爆炸物，别洛韦日的阴谋家们跟恐怖分子一样，早就开始做工作了。其中起主要作用的无疑是叶利钦。他对戈尔巴乔夫恨之入骨，这种恨很快又演变为对整个苏联中央的仇恨。因为，要想解除他心头之恨，只有扳倒戈尔巴乔夫和整个苏联政权。为此，也就一定要搞垮国家本身。从叶利钦个人的政治品质和人品来讲，无论如何他也不会在这个问题上手软的。以叶利钦为首的由俄罗斯联邦人民代表大会成立的宪法委员会，在1990年的9—10月间提交了一份俄罗斯联邦新宪法草案，其中竟然没有提到一句苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟。这件事能发生在苏联被消灭之前的一年多，当然绝非偶然。

    　　提起这件事，我想起自己最后一次同叶利钦、哈斯布拉托夫以及我原来的副手西拉耶夫正式会见的情景。后来，生活把这次会见的参加者，其中包括戈尔巴乔夫，不仅分散到不同的方向，而且送进了彼此敌对的阵营。1990年11月11日，戈尔巴乔夫打电话给我，告诉我他下午约好要同俄罗斯的领导人见面，先是跟叶利钦单独谈话，然后再有其他人参加。当时从戈尔巴乔夫电话中感觉这种会见的组织方式，是一种为两个独立国家领导人接触作准备的外交程序。我不反对这样的会见，因为我觉得必须利用一切机会，想方设法同这些活动家找到共同语言。我还存有一线希望：他们总不至于为了个人政治目的而毁掉国家统一的经济，置必然会出现的最严重后果于不顾吧……

    　　会见预定在克里姆林宫政府大厦三楼国家总统办公室。这个办公室，还有政治局会议室和机关工作人员的几个房间，是专门为勃列日涅夫装修的。

    　　5点钟时我上到三楼。哈斯布拉托夫、西拉耶夫和布尔布利斯已经在总统接待室里等着了。我跟布尔布利斯其实并不熟悉。我只知道他也是从斯维尔德洛夫斯克来的，是叶利钦特别信任的人物。我曾在人民代表大会和苏联最高苏维埃全会上见过这个人。这一回是我头一次直接同他发生冲突，在我的眼中，他在国家生活中所起的作用简直是致命的。总会有一天，会出来一个好刨根问底的历史学家，他一定会给这个人画一幅肖像。现在，在我的面前站着的，不，准确地说是不停地旋转着的这个人，两只眼睛也在骨碌骨碌地翻动着。我不知道当时他为什么会在接待室里，在接受邀请参加会见的人员中并没有他。

    　　总统的同时也是苏共中央总书记的办公室，经过一夏天发生了很大的变化。那个时代的公务办公室里的传统家具被撤下去了，换了很时髦的新家具。墙上挂着一个很醒目的苏联国徽，办公桌后面的角落里插着国旗。在一张单独摆放在一旁的更适合于喝茶用的桌子旁，一边坐着叶利钦、哈斯布拉托夫、西拉耶夫，另一边坐着戈尔巴乔夫和我。卢基扬诺夫由于有急事，没有出席。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫向进来的人通报了他同叶利钦一同讨论如何保持国家完整、推进中央改革、自治共和国分裂行动带给俄罗斯的危险、加盟共和国如何参与中央政府工作等问题以及俄罗斯联邦经济问题的情况。这一系列问题我是按习惯在记事本中记录下来的。

    　　这次会议的气氛我也忘不了。与会者在解决国家任务方面的思想步调并不一致，他们是一些无论观点还是目标都无法取得一致的人。叶利钦说话的调门提得很高，满是一副胜利者同战败者谈话的派头。这位俄罗斯领导人的手势、表情和行为毋庸置疑地表明，他并没有想要利用这次会见，来寻求这个最大的加盟共和国同中央之间的共同语言的意思，而只是想把自己的条件强加给中央。哈斯布拉托夫的立场比较中立，看来作为一个经济学家，他很明白自己的领袖提出的要求有多么荒谬。西拉耶夫则以谄媚的眼光看着自己的新老板，只要老板说什么，就同意什么。

    　　讨论从联邦和加盟共和国的税收制度和税率开始。俄罗斯领导人开始坚持所谓的单渠道制，即全部税入都由各加盟共和国征收，然后再把一小部分上缴中央，以满足全苏财政需要。至于究竟是些什么需要，实际上谁也说不清楚。我在这里先提前说一句，后来，过了不长时间，俄罗斯下面的那些共和国也学着把这个对任何联邦都起破坏作用的原则拿过来当武器。叶利钦那伙人对此表示反对的时候，那可真是义愤填膺哪！可是在当时，他们追求的主要目标则是毁掉苏联。至于今后俄罗斯联邦该怎么办，他们还真的不太介意。

    　　我提出理由说，在现存的联盟和各加盟共和国之间的权力分配制度下，这样的财政关系根本不现实，而且还会引发国家管理中的混乱，所以不应被采纳。

    　　后来就更有意思了。提出要把所有外经活动收入全部留在各加盟共和国，而且还要由中央划拨50吨黄金交给俄罗斯支配，授予俄罗斯颁发出口原材料及其他产品许可证的权力，等等。对于像是否应该由中央统一为各加盟共和国采购食品、粮食、某些原料，特别是轻工业原料，由谁来偿付到期的外债等问题，则拿不出任何令人信服的回答。要求这些问题应该在签署新的联盟协议并重新界定中央与各加盟共和国功能时加以审议的建议也没有得到重视。

    　　我提出建议，要停止各银行之间的斗争，停止破坏国家的统一金融系统。但回答完全停留在口号水平：说什么俄罗斯已经宣布是主权国家了，各加盟共和国的法律具有至高无上的地位，现在提出的要求同它的新地位完全一致，等等。

    　　又讨论了几个比较次要的问题，最后正如通常在这种情况下所做的那样，成立了一个由苏联和俄罗斯部长会议联合组成的委员会，由该委员会负责分割财产，组织税务和银行系统，从事外经活动。

    　　这次会见给我留下了十分沉重的印象。在决定来年即1991年国家生活的许多主要问题上，依然存在着原则分歧。显然，我们的谈判对手目的是要在经济上引爆苏联，引发人民对中央政权的更大不满，并通过这个浪潮来加强自己的政治地位。俄罗斯同中央政权的对抗越来越尖锐。国家灾难性地飞速成为一个虚幻的、不稳定的存在。戈尔巴乔夫及其一伙也希望能稍稍稳定一下局面，但俄罗斯及其他加盟共和国的领导公然怠工，施加直接影响瓦解了这些努力。几乎整个1991年都在这种状况下度过。

    　　最后，戈尔巴乔夫又提出要同叶利钦、克拉夫丘克、纳扎尔巴耶夫、舒什凯维奇在1991年12月9日会见，签订新的联盟条约，并决定同希望加入联盟的其他各加盟共和国签约的日期和顺序。

    　　根据我的看法，这个关于成立主权国家联盟的条约草案，用列宁评价另一个条约——布勒斯特条约——的话来说，本身就是一个“卑鄙下流”之作。而签约的“威胁”则是最后为彻底解决苏联垮台问题抠动了扳机。起初看来一切还相当像模像样。舒什凯维奇在白俄罗斯政府首脑凯比奇的建议下，邀请俄罗斯总统正式访问该共和国（同时还非正式地到别洛韦日森林去打猎），目的是要说服叶利钦供给明斯克更多能源——天然气和石油，因为冬天快到了。

    　　根据戈尔巴乔夫回忆，他在叶利钦临行之前，同后者有过一次谈话：

    　　……我问叶利钦，到白俄罗斯打算谈什么？他回答说：“我跟白俄罗斯有些共同的问题。我想解决一下。顺便再跟乌克兰人谈谈。克拉夫丘克不愿意到这边来，我却同意到那边去。”

    　　我提醒他：“我们不是星期一要见面吗？把克拉夫丘克请过来就是了。”他回答说：“想跟白俄罗斯人谈谈，听听克拉夫丘克说什么。”于是我说：“那好，鲍里斯·尼古拉耶维奇，咱们先说好，到白俄罗斯您谈的东西可不能超越联盟条约的范围。”叶利钦回答说：“克拉夫丘克可不一定会同意这个条约，他现在可是独立的。”“那您可以建议他成为一个非正式成员，”我这样说。“那他也不一定同意。”“那就让我们星期一在莫斯科决定一切好了，”我最后说。

    　　当时的谈话就是充满了这种信任的气氛，就连叶利钦也没有拒绝。

    　　应该指出，当时起决定作用的人物是克拉夫丘克。我们伟大国家的命运正是系于此人之身。几个月后，在回答记者采访时他也证实了这一点：“如果我说，乌克兰将签署联盟条约，那叶利钦也会签。”不过在维斯库利，民族主义的气焰和虚荣的狂妄自大，以及以“独立”乌克兰首位总统载入史册的愿望还是占了上风。乌克兰总统和俄罗斯总统在破坏的意图方面一拍即合，对苏联的命运造成了致命的打击。

    　　别洛韦日森林的会见在严守秘密中进行，那里发生的许多事情直到后来才公诸于世。

    　　飞机载着一群苏联的破坏分子于12月7日17时40分向明斯克飞去。到达维斯库利时已经是晚上了。克拉夫丘克已先期抵达，不等叶利钦到，就带着随从打猎去了。叶利钦到达后，举行了一次小宴。三位领导被别洛韦日的酒精搞得眼酣耳热之余，联袂出猎。然后，阴谋家们向下属交代了任务：要在一夜之间“搞出”一个决定苏联命运的政治文件来。

    　　作为苏联政府首脑的我，可以说亲眼目睹了这些年代有意识消灭我国经济的事实。这帮家伙的首要目的，就在于迫使人民生活水平下降，以求达到唆使人民起来对中央造反的目的。一切都遵循一个原则——搞得越糟越好。因为只有这样，这些家伙才能为自己铺设一条道路，通往梦寐以求的政权。从这三个国贼的声明中可以得出一个结论，似乎各共和国的最高管理机构和领导人只是在一旁袖手旁观，并没有参加任何破坏活动。而他们所宣称的共和国法律凌驾于全苏法律之上的说法，禁止把货物运出各加盟共和国的禁令，以及对物价进行的分别调整等等，完全被人们“遗忘”了。其实，正是各加盟共和国领导人的这样一些分裂主义的决定，才把统一的经济空间分割得七零八落。不管怎么说，过去的加盟共和国，对比方说讲俄语的人口的权利，就根本未予顾及。国家的外债问题也被忽略了，当时的外债大约有700亿美元。叶利钦把这么个沉重的包袱加到了元气大伤的俄罗斯一个国家肩上，尽管借来的债款在使用时，所有的加盟共和国都沾了光。再说，关于克里米亚问题，若是对之视而不见，那要么是醉生梦死，要么就是脑子里缺了根弦。

    　　听听克拉夫丘克在苏联垮台8年之后，为了在别洛韦日“替乌克兰捍卫了克里米亚”而获得奖励时都说了些什么吧。他说，坚持把克里米亚留在乌克兰手中“并不难，因为叶利钦非常恨戈尔巴乔夫，为了把戈尔巴乔夫整垮，何止克里米亚，他简直可以把整个俄罗斯都拱手交出来”。现在清楚了，当乌克兰代表团起程去别洛韦日的时候，就已经胸有成竹，俄国人是不打算把塞瓦斯托波尔留在自己的版图内了。他们甚至都打算同意让克里米亚划归俄国了。不过，当叶利钦竟连提都没有提起“塞瓦斯托波尔”和“克里米亚”这两个字眼时，你说他们该有多惊讶！至于这个问题对俄罗斯和克里米亚的大多数居民会有多尖锐，现在和将来都是一个不言自明的问题。

    　　总之，在一个历经无数世纪而构成的国家，及其由各种政治经济关系和传统形成的特点趋于毁灭时，出现的问题真是无可胜数。

    　　这样，国家的覆灭终成事实。

    　　别洛韦日事件4天之后，1991年12月12日，苏联宪法监督委员会从文件合法性的角度，对三国元首解散苏联的声明作出了反应。指出，根据1922年的联盟条约，白俄罗斯、俄罗斯联邦、乌克兰都只是苏联创立国中的一分子，与其他成员国相比，并不具有任何特别的权力。从那时起，在苏联宪法中，一直是各加盟共和国权力一律平等的原则在起作用。因此，白俄罗斯、俄罗斯联邦、乌克兰三国没有权力决定涉及所有加盟苏联的共和国的权力和利益的问题，更何况其他各加盟共和国乃是绝对多数。委员会作出结论：这样的文件没有法律约束力。此外，委员会强调，别洛韦日协议所通过的条款可能导致法律遭到破坏，社会无法管理，产生无政府主义。根据委员会的意见，通过这种文件只能看成是对国内局势的政治评估，自然没有法律效力。

    　　不过，无论是这些理由，还是总统戈尔巴乔夫就此发出的多次声明，都没有收到任何效果。破坏统一国家的进程仍在继续发展，不久就“胜利”完成。

    　　别洛韦日协议的签署还不足以合法地把消灭苏联及其所有相应政治法理后果的事实确定下来。首先，要求俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、乌克兰三个国家权力中的最高立法机构批准成立独联体的协议。未经批准这些文件就不具有政治效力。在忙乱之中协议的炮制者和签字人甚至没有觉察有必要提交批准，也没有搞明白这批准程序究竟应该以什么形式进行。一切都要取决于别洛韦日协议的审议应该在什么层次上进行：是作为苏联三个缔约主体加盟共和国之间的条约来审议呢，还是作为已宣布“独立”的乌克兰和白俄罗斯为一方同联盟主体为另一方，其中当时还包括俄罗斯，签订的条约，或者是作为三个主权国家之间签订的国际条约来审议呢？

    　　乌克兰领导人首先发难，要求批准别洛韦日协议。1991年12月10日，该共和国最高苏维埃把批准协议一事提上了议事日程。从一大早开始，这个问题便一个一个小时地向后推迟，因为各委员会的常任代表都就文本提出了大量意见。这些问题必须要同白俄罗斯和俄罗斯的领导人商议才行。直到议会的晚间会议上，克拉夫丘克才得以把问题都协调清楚。

    　　他的发言讲了大约半个小时。他责难中央使国家解体，以达到把权力重新集中到自己手中的目的。“有人想要教训我们，”克拉夫丘克说，“以为对我们民族的关怀胜过我们自己。”

    　　乌克兰最高苏维埃未经讨论就在228票反对的情况下批准了协议，但有所保留。保留的地方有12条，对文件的许多条款都提出了修正。例如，“开放边境”一条就遭到异议，并决定放到以后再说。别洛韦日协议（也叫明斯克协议）被看成是“对外政策的协调活动”，而在基辅公布的文本则被看成只是“对外政策领域的一次咨询活动”。在有关武装力量的表述中出现了重要补充。乌克兰议会加上的词句是：“独联体各成员国对驻扎在它们领土上的原苏联武装力量各部进行改造，在他们的基础上建立自己的武装力量，共同合作，保证国际和平和安全……”这样一来，话题就转到了武装力量在各加盟共和国之间如何分割的问题上。克拉夫丘克利用这个机会，宣布自己是共和国武装力量的最高总司令，下辖三个军区和黑海舰队，留给中央的仅仅是一些直辖的战略武装力量。

    　　白俄罗斯在批准明斯克协议方面从法律地位上来讲稍微有些复杂。问题在于它同乌克兰不同，没有举行独立的全民公决，这样从法律角度来讲共和国的地位就远不是那么无懈可击。12月10日，白俄罗斯最高苏维埃召开全会。在最高苏维埃主席舒什凯维奇简短地介绍了3国首脑在别洛韦日森林工作的结果之后，议会里的“左派”和“右派”突然都对是否应该批准独联体协议表示怀疑，当然原因多种多样。左派害怕这是一个“狡猾的陷阱”，以他们的意见准会把独联体又引向原来的那种一元化的国家。而右派则完全相反，他们认为独联体将意味着苏联的彻底垮台，将会引起国内极度混乱。有些代表则认定舒什凯维奇签署文件是越权行为。不过，尽管起初的问题只不过是应不应该同意成立独联体，但许多代表还是要求立即批准明斯克协议。这个立场在263名代表的支持下取得了胜利，反对的只有1票，弃权的2票。

    　　共和国最高苏维埃也发表声明，废除1922年的联盟条约，通过了与此相关的程序处理法案。

    　　俄罗斯联邦在批准协议的问题上处于最复杂的法律地位。它的当局并不具备任何基础从立法层面上来批准由叶利钦和布尔布利斯在维斯库利签署的这份文件。唯一的一个拥有权力就协议和废除联盟条约作出合法决定的机构，就是俄罗斯联邦人民代表大会，它是国家权力最高机构。而且，为此还必须通过决议，对俄罗斯联邦宪法进行修改和补充。但这种方案对于想消灭苏联的一方是绝不可能被接受的，因为他们在俄罗斯联邦人民代表中，在具有专业素养人士中并不占有大多数。因此他们把别洛韦日协议作为俄罗斯联邦的“国际条约”提了出来，这样，根据宪法，废除它就属于该共和国最高苏维埃的权力范围了。他们也用同样的办法，把1922年的联盟条约也提了出来，并达到了宣布废除它的目的。所有这些都是在1991年12月12日的俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃会议上通过的。

    　　当天叶利钦作了个报告。他把白俄罗斯谈判说成是“近期来不断发展的各种过程的合乎规律的结果”。早在两年前他就说过，显然，“联盟制度没有能力进行根本性的自我更新。相反，指挥系统把自己最后一点活力都投向了维护自己的权力，以致成为改革的主要障碍”。叶利钦对草拟的联盟条约各稿都不断地挑鼻子挑眼。“在这些方案里，”他总是这样说，“搞出来的模式其实还是那种强势中央联盟。加盟共和国的主权原则仅仅被看做是一种装饰品……只有4月在诺沃奥加廖沃才终于迈出了具有实际意义的一步，各共和国才同意达成一致，签署联盟条约……8月以后，苏联解体进入最后阶段，开始了它的弥留期……这个阶段我们简直是陷入了无尽无休的谈判和协商、大大小小的讨论、交换意见……所有这一切似乎具有了一种恶劣的规律的性质……苏联的3个创始国制止了自发的、无政府主义的解体过程……找到了一种在新条件下共同生活的唯一可能的形式——独立国家联合体，而不是一个谁在其中也无法独立的国家。”

    　　叶利钦批评一种说法，就是3个共和国的领导人在别洛韦日森林“消灭了苏联”。他说：“苏联对自己过去的成员已经无法起到任何正面作用了。国际社会都认为他是个破产者……只有独立国家联合体才能保证千百年来形成的，而现在已几乎完全丧失殆尽的政治、法律和经济空间得以保全……达致这个目标的最大障碍——联盟中央——走向了终结，因为它没有能力从过去制度的传统中解脱出来，而其中最主要的一个传统，就是把向人民发号施令的大权抓在手中，就是束缚各加盟共和国的独立性。”

    　　在全会上很少能听见批评协议的声音。会场笼罩在一种似乎已经拥有了无限主权的喜悦之中。批准明斯克协议的记名投票的结果是：同意188票，反对6票，弃权为7票。当投票结果宣布后，大会速记稿中出现了这样的记录：“暴风雨般的掌声，全体起立”。这次颠覆国家的行动以及对一个伟大国家的破坏行动就这样得到了“合法化”。

    　　当然，对叶利钦的发言完全可以进行逐条批驳，但是，生活本身对他的言论，更主要的是对他的所作所为，以及对他的同案犯和帮凶们的所作所为，给出了最好的，也是最有说服力的评价。苏联被消灭后，各共和国无一例外地出现了政治和经济混乱。千百万人民为自己领导人的罪行，为自己政治上的盲从和轻信，付出了而且现在仍在付出骇人听闻的代价。

    　　1996年3月在俄罗斯国家杜马一次例会的议事日程上，出现了审议废除别洛韦日协议的提案。就这个问题提出议案的是俄联邦共产党，以及“人民政权党”和“农业党”这两个党的议会党团。

    　　在讨论议事日程的时候，正如所料，几年前支持叶利钦及其破坏行动的那些人都起来反对审议这个问题。其中有“亚布卢”议会党团的领导人亚夫林斯基，有亲政府的“我们的家园俄罗斯”议会党团领导人别洛夫、斯塔罗沃伊托夫和尤申科。而且，投票赞成把这个问题排除在议事日程之外的代表居然还占到代表总数的57%。

    　　废除别洛韦日协议的决议在1996年3月15日得到通过，赞成票为252票，占国家杜马代表总人数的56%。请记住，在1991年12月12日批准别洛韦日协议的时候，投赞成票的俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃代表占了90%以上。

    　　生活就是这样教育了人。他们是普通人，不是混进政权机构的祖国的叛徒。但是不出所料，以叶利钦为首的这批叛徒是根本不打算执行我国议会的这一决定的。

    　　议会为废除别洛韦日协议而斗争的历史，把我们的思绪一次又一次带到1991年12月的那些令人发指的日子。

    　　如果说发生了国家非常委员会事件，人民代表大会第五届特别会议闭幕之后国家政权机关已经完全被破坏，正如前面所说，出现了政权的瘫痪的话，那么到了12月，政权就已经进入了最后的弥留期。当我们回忆起这样的局面时，不由自主要寻找答案：为什么戈尔巴乔夫身为苏联总统，在别洛韦日以后的日子里不能采取战斗的原则立场呢？为什么他不能为自己国家的完整统一而战斗到底呢？

    　　要想看透一个人的内心，了解他的真实意图是很难的。但要说戈尔巴乔夫早就怀有消灭为他开拓了生活美好前景的共产党，消灭培养他成长的社会主义之心，那是绝不会有错的。在1991年以后，他自己就说过这样的话。

    　　当然，别洛韦日的阴谋家们使他陷入了一个很不寻常的状况。下面是他的话：

    　　叶利钦走了之后，过了一天，又过了一天。谁也不知道任何情况，谁也没有向我作过任何报告。我给部长们打电话，他们也是什么都不知道。这时我就给沙波什尼科夫打了个电话——他知道。原来那些人已经跟他谈过了。我想，到底发生了什么事情呢？看来，沙波什尼科夫立刻又往白俄罗斯挂了电话，说戈尔巴乔夫大发脾气了。于是舒什凯维奇给我打电话了：“米哈伊尔·谢尔盖耶维奇，我这是代表大家给你打电话。”我就问：“那为什么是你打电话？”他回答说：“是叶利钦和克拉夫丘克委托我打的。叶利钦跟布什通过话了：向布什汇报了，又让我给您打电话。”我说：“这实在太丢人了。你们给美国总统打电话，却绕过了苏联总统，背着我去达成协议。叶利钦在哪儿？把电话给他。”叶利钦拿起电话，开始支支吾吾，我看是在编……

    　　而且我要指出，他们头一个就给美国总统打电话，这不仅是奴才向自己真正的主子作报告，而且也是希望能抱住他的大腿。

    　　在这种局面下，苏联总统能够做什么，又应该做什么呢？

    　　在接获这样的情报之后，他应该立即利用他所拥有的一切手段。据苏联最高苏维埃原主席卢基扬诺夫说，别洛韦日会上的参加者——3个加盟共和国的领导人都在非常紧张地等待着戈尔巴乔夫会采取什么行动。“他还是最高统帅，只要下一道总统令，这几个签署文件的人以及他们的文件都将会灰飞烟灭。因为这可是关乎伟大国家前途的问题，关乎3亿人民命运的问题，关乎全球力量平衡的问题。然而，一个宣誓要维护和捍卫联盟的人，却没有能够下达这道坚定的命令。”

    　　我过去认为，现在也认为，危机时刻戈尔巴乔夫没有能够履行自己的法定职责。他应该立即把情况向联合国、安理会、苏联人民代表大会、最高苏维埃通报，并声讨别洛韦日协议。在代表大会面前，他应该以最断然的方式提出问题：请大家决定，是我们自行解散，还是保存苏联。可是他却并没有这样做。在1991年年末，所有的法律都已被破坏殆尽，无论是联邦法还是国际法，用有的人的话说，无论是上帝的法还是老百姓的法。

    　　作为一年半之前手放在苏联宪法上宣过誓，要维护国家神圣统一的一国总统，他有义务履行自己的誓言！即使在这种情况下他失败了，在历史上他依然是一个为自己国家的完整而斗争到底的领导人。遗憾的是这种情况没有出现。现在他遭到了自己人民的鄙视和诅咒。

    　　总之，戈尔巴乔夫没有采取任何具体措施，他走了另外一条路。发了许多声明，举行了许多新闻发布会。总统也发表了声明，但说得好听点，很平静。他甚至在别洛韦日协议中发现了某些值得肯定的地方。但苏联的这位国家元首也能料到，这份协议对我国人民和整个国际社会利益的触动会有多么深，这就要求对之作出全面的政治和法理评估。

    　　“我深深地确信，在现在的局势下，”戈尔巴乔夫认为，“各加盟共和国最高苏维埃和苏联最高苏维埃都必须既对主权国家联盟条约草案，也对明斯克签订的协议进行讨论。由于协议中提出的另一种国家体制形式问题属于苏联人民代表大会的职权范围，所以必须召开代表大会。此外，”声明在末尾又说，“我也不排除就这个问题举行全民公决。”

    　　看来戈尔巴乔夫是“忘记了”他跟各加盟共和国领导人一道，早在第五届特别人民代表大会上就已经亲手埋葬了苏联人民代表大会这一最高国务权力机构，并把这一权力转交到苏联最高苏维埃手上。苏联人民代表由于并不是最高苏维埃成员，只是有权出席最高苏维埃的会议而已。

    　　尽管如此，许多人民代表还是无法接受国家遭到毁灭的事实。12月9日我接到电话通知，代表们自发地组织了一个苏联人民代表大会召集小组。1991年12月10日，在新阿尔巴特大街的人民代表大厦20楼举行了为召开第六届苏联人民代表特别会议征集签名的活动。我也在这个文件上签了名。就在这时，戈尔巴乔夫给签名活动的组织者人民代表斯马林打了个电话。斯马林当我们的面告诉国家总统，已征集到足够的签名，可以召开大会。然后他匆匆忙忙收拾好签名册，跑去见戈尔巴乔夫。我知道，他把总数超过500人的签名和来电交到戈尔巴乔夫手上，并得到总统亲口许诺，召开代表大会。这次会见后的第二天，《消息报》以头版头条发表了一篇文章，醒目的标题是：《雷日科夫和切尔比科夫意图召开代表大会》。不仅是这份苏联最高苏维埃原来的机关报，而且还有苏共中央的其他一些出版物，都表示反对这一建议。而且，从总体上它们都采取了公开亲叶利钦的立场。

    　　究竟是什么原因影响到戈尔巴乔夫没有作出召开特别代表大会的决定，这一点我不清楚。很难说这里究竟是什么因素起了主要作用：也许是不愿意破釜沉舟，也许是想要加入到新的权力结构中去，也许就是很简单的胆怯，也许是想要把自己的叛卖进行到逻辑的终结……

    　　1991年12月12日，就在俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃批准别洛韦日协议的那一天，在阿什哈巴德举行了中亚和哈萨克斯坦各加盟共和国首脑会议。会议是在土库曼总统尼亚佐夫的建议下召开的。

    　　这几个加盟共和国的总统经过长时间争论，决定加入独联体，但不是作为协议的“附议者”，而是要作为“平等的创始国”。从阿什哈巴德声明可以得出结论，亚洲的几个加盟共和国并不认为独联体已经建立。文件直接指出，“必须协调建立独立国家联合体的努力”，而且“应该保证原苏联各主体国在制定有关独立国家联合体的决议和文件的过程中享有平等的参与权；所有组成独联体的国家都应该被认为具有创始国的地位”。由此可以得出一个现实的结论，即创建独联体的问题“应该提交到各主权国首脑会议上予以审议”。也就是说，别洛韦日谈判的结果只是被看成未来由范围更广泛的参加者展开创建独联体步骤的一个平台。

    　　阿什哈巴德会议决定“召开哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、土库曼斯坦和乌兹别克斯坦等国家元首会议，并邀请白俄罗斯、俄罗斯和乌克兰3国总统参加”。

    　　1991年12月21日，在阿拉木图召开了11个原苏联加盟共和国领导人会议（除了波罗的海沿岸三国和格鲁吉亚，其余全参加了）。在各国首脑会议上提出了建立联邦的建议。不过一提起这一点，就引起了克拉夫丘克的坚决抵制。他声称乌克兰是个主权国家，决不参加任何联邦联盟之类的凌驾于共和国之上的组织。看来，正是考虑到这一点，阿拉木图通过的声明中才写进了一条，说独立国家联合体“既不是一个国家，也不是凌驾于一个国家之上的组织”。

    　　这一立场为各独联体成员国处理相互关系不断带来巨大困难。

    　　会议的结果对明斯克协议进行了一定的修改。包括头一次的3国领导人在内，大家签署的文件，实质上已经变成了一个新的文件，这就是1991年12月21日签署的阿拉木图宣言，以及一系列补充协议和备忘录。

    　　有关苏联前途命运的表述变得更准确了：“从独立国家联合体成立之日起，苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟停止存在。”组成独立国家联合体的11个主权共和国领导人致信戈尔巴乔夫，告知他苏联以及苏联总统制度停止存在的事实。各独立国家首脑在信中对苏联总统戈尔巴乔夫值得肯定的重大贡献表示感谢……

    　　阿拉木图会议的结果没有给戈尔巴乔夫留下什么希望。1991年12月25日莫斯科时间17时，全国听到了他作为一个已不存在的国家的总统所作的最后一次讲话。

    　　就在他的讲话声中，一幅巨大的红旗——苏联国旗——在克里姆林宫的穹顶之上抖动了一下，然后缓缓下降。降下这面旗子的，是颠覆行动的主要鼓动者和组织者布尔布利斯，获此“殊荣”是为了奖赏他叛卖行动的彻底性。几分钟后，克里姆林宫的旗杆上升起了三色旗。

    　　一个永远载入人类史册的伟大时代——超级大国苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟的时代——就这样结束了。

    夜幕笼罩大地

    　　就这样，在世界1/6的土地上，一个统一的国家——苏联——变成了15个主权国家。阴暗的交易完成了——在一群向权力冲刺的“领袖们”的号角声中，在无数被愚弄的群众的欢呼声中。但欢乐并没有持续多久，便开始了痛苦的清醒过程。正如歌中唱道：“早晨我们醒来了……”

    　　在俄罗斯，整个这段时期的局势都显得异常复杂，难以逆料，对于大多数老百姓则尤为艰难。于是，在1998年经国家杜马的一群代表动议，共218名代表，其中也包括笔者，提议对俄联邦总统叶利钦提出指控（弹劾），准备把他赶下台。

    　　提出这一指控的法律根据就是俄罗斯联邦宪法第93条，其中说，国家总统可以由联邦委员会免去职务，不过一定要在国家杜马指控他犯有叛国罪或其他重罪的基础上。⑦

    　　国家杜马为了审查叶利钦的这些罪状，成立了一个专门委员会。讨论中形成了五点指控：

    　　第一：1991年12月俄罗斯总统叶利钦制定和签署了别洛韦日协议，最终消灭了苏联，犯下了叛国罪；

    　　第二：1993年9—10月期间，叶利钦总统组织并积极参与实施了颠覆国家的活动，违犯了俄联邦的刑法条款；

    　　第三：1994年11月30日，叶利钦总统颁布了2137号命令——《关于在车臣共和国领土上以及在奥塞梯—印古什冲突地区恢复行使宪法和法制的办法》，下令在车臣共和国开始军事行动，犯下罪行；

    　　第四：作为俄罗斯联邦武装部队最高统帅，叶利钦总统在履行职务期间给俄联邦国防力量和安全造成重大损失；

    　　第五：叶利钦及其同谋的政策基础是“改革”，它将俄罗斯引入社会经济危机，破坏了国民经济的主要部门，导致社会分化加剧，使国家安全丧失，人民生活水平急剧下降，居民人口萎缩。

    　　大批代表和专家参与了委员会的工作，听取了许多官员的证词。委员会的会议在十分民主的气氛中展开。辩论进行得非常激烈，不仅充分听取了弹劾方的意见，而且还听取了反对方的意见。可以说，委员会已掌握了完全客观阐明国内局势的与苏联解体相关的以及解体以后的基础资料。

    　　因此，在国家杜马的例会上讨论这个问题时，完全可以满怀信心地以所获得的材料为根据。

    　　我也要利用它们，以求足够翔实地把我国当代历史上这一并非不重要的的事件作一个具体叙述。⑧我只想强调一点，就是所有实际材料和对国内局势的分析都是锁定在1998年，我决不把它们说成是今天的事情，也决不把它们套到今天头上，因为它们就像是在给叶利钦的统治作一个总结。从这个意义上来讲，照我看，它们还真具有不小的历史价值。

    　　无疑，所有这五条指控都是对破坏国家罪的直接指控。

    　　好了，前面已经说过，在订立别洛韦日协议以及协议订立后的那段日子里，有形形色色的活动家都出来维护叶利钦。他们总是在说叶利钦和别洛韦日会议的其他参加者并没有去毁灭苏联，他们只不过记录了它的瓦解，而俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃既然批准了协议，那自然也就完全洗清了叶利钦身上的一切罪过。可是国家杜马特别委员会则根据这一指控内容的原则条款，非常明确地得出了完全不同的结论。

    　　第一点：认为1922年联盟条约失效，这一点是完全违法的。这个条约先是由6个加盟共和国，即俄罗斯、乌克兰、白俄罗斯以及高加索联邦的阿塞拜疆、亚美尼亚和格鲁吉亚签署，后来又有9个共和国加入，这样就组成了苏联。而且，条约的基本条款又成为苏联1924年宪法的一部分。后来，它的基本条款实际上完整地写进了苏联1936和1937年的宪法和所有加盟共和国的宪法（比如俄罗斯联邦1925、1937和1977年的宪法）。

    　　1922年的联盟条约以及与之相一致的宪法标准，根本就不可能有废除一说，因为这是一个具有创始性质的文件。它不是什么国际条约，而是创始性质的条约。创建的是一个新国家。条约中以及后来的宪法中保留了每一个组成苏联的加盟共和国自由退出的权力。退出的程序在1990年4月3日的苏联法律中有规定。只有履行了与这个法律相一致的全部程序之后，某个加盟共和国退出苏联的问题才能最终由苏联人民代表大会来决定。

    　　第二点：别洛韦日协议炮制者们犯下的罪行（我看是最大的重罪）实际上是取消全苏全民公决结果的罪。我要指出，苏联人民代表大会于1990年12月24日通过决议，就是否应该保存革新后的苏联的问题在全国举行全民公决。在1亿8560万有投票权的苏联公民中，实际参加投票人数为1亿4850万，占80%。其中有1亿1350万或76.4%的人投票赞成保留苏联。根据全民公决法，这个决定在整个苏联版图上具有强制力，要取消它只有再举行全民公决。法律责成所有国家机关、团体和所有官员都责无旁贷地要履行这一决定。

    　　第三点：叶利钦在签署别洛韦日协议的同时，也破坏了俄联邦所有公民的宪法权利。根据当时有效的苏联和俄罗斯联邦宪法，苏维埃俄罗斯的每一个公民都是全苏联的公民。有70%以上的俄联邦公民于3月17日再次表示，愿意做苏联公民。别洛韦日协议却破坏了个人法律地位的最主要基础之一——国籍制度。2500万在自己土地上的俄罗斯人，一夜之间竟变成了外国人。

    　　15年过去了，可是国籍问题、难民问题、如何在新居留地安置他们的问题依然还是那么尖锐。由于统一国家解体，各主权国家推行了一种剥夺俄罗斯人公民权的政策，给他们造成了难以忍受的生活条件，他们被迫又回到自己历史上的祖国来侨居。

    　　由独联体各国和波罗的海沿岸地区迁来的移民，在过去10年中的头5年，每年就达到100多万，而在整个90年代平均每年为38万。对于每个移民来说，这样的迁移其实就是生活中一次根本性的大变故，会带来无数异常复杂的问题，说得好听点，这些都是巨大的困难。

    　　不过在那酒气熏天的别洛韦日之夜，签署文件的那帮家伙才不管老百姓的死活呢。一定要达到主要目标——瓦解统一国家，夺取梦寐以求的权力。

    　　叶利钦和他的同案犯做到了许多国家在几个世纪的过程中一直想做的事：瓦解、消灭我们的国家。至于谁能够从中渔利，这一点不难猜测。例如，1991年12月25日美利坚合众国总统乔治·布什（老布什）在自己的声明中强调：“美国欢迎和支持新的独联体国家所作出的倾向于自由的历史性选择……这些事件虽有可能造成不稳定和混乱，但它们显然符合我们国家的利益。”

    　　早在别洛韦日协议签订之前，叶利钦身边的人就在大洋彼岸朋友们的授意下，制定出肢解苏联的计划。这些人经过长期工作，影响了叶利钦政策的形成，这些无疑对1991年12月8日通过的决定都产生了影响。例如，由波波夫提出，并经“民主俄罗斯党”同意的计划，包含以下内容：把俄罗斯联邦分成7个部分，把乌克兰分成3部分，总之，在苏联留下的废墟上，要建立起17个主权国家。这个哈里托诺夫竟超过了希特勒和罗森伯格，这两个家伙在1941年德国进攻苏联之前制定的计划，“总共”也只不过想要在我们国家成立10个辖下的帝国领地而已。

    　　还有一个计划则是涉及到当前的俄罗斯。美国的中央情报局建议把俄国分解成8个独立国家。为了让我国读者了解他们将有可能在哪个国家生活，我把它们连同首都全部引在下面：
    　　俄罗斯共和国（莫斯科）；
    　　西北共和国（圣彼得堡）；
    　　伏尔加共和国（萨拉托夫）；
    　　哥萨克共和国（斯塔夫罗波尔）；
    　　乌拉尔共和国（叶卡捷琳堡）；
    　　西西伯利亚共和国（克拉斯诺亚尔斯克）；
    　　萨哈民主共和国（雅库茨克）；
    　　远东共和国（符拉迪沃斯托克）；
    　　恶劣的榜样具有感染性，特别是当境外那些与我们势不两立的“朋友”们喜欢这样做，而且现在也想这样做的时候。每天媒体上都会出现一些材料，提出一些深刻的地缘政治学“科学”论证和号召：“俄罗斯干嘛需要高加索呢？”“我们的男孩干嘛要为高加索送命呢？”等等。根据叶利钦犯罪活动的某些同党、新自由主义改革派及其类似人物的意见，俄罗斯由于拥有无边无垠的广袤土地，是一个无法管理的国家，所以据说由于这个原因，一个国家就应该分解成无数独立的“公国”。那些“自由主义民主派”的活动家们，他们的理想和思考也不乏“爱国主义”情绪，他们希望把科利半岛北部的俄罗斯领土奉送给芬兰。我们这些家生家养的“爱国者”正在处心积虑地等待有一天条件成熟，允许俄罗斯把千岛群岛转让给日本，然后，如果不是在此之前的话，还要把加里宁格勒交给德国。他们思考的方式大致是：既然叶利钦把克里米亚连同塞瓦斯托波尔送给了乌克兰，戈尔巴乔夫匆匆忙忙把俄国领土连同纳尔瓦送给了爱沙尼亚，那么……

    　　我常常问自己：如果面对这样的情况，国外那些民主国家的领导人又会怎么办？让我们闭起眼睛想一想，假如小布什把阿拉斯加归还了俄罗斯，而在良心发现的时候又把得克萨斯还给了那片土地的旧主墨西哥，或者干脆把美国拆开，让大家散伙，让每个州都成为主权国家，那又会是一个什么光景？或者，比方说，法国总统突然决定要满足民族极端分子的要求，把主权交付给诺曼底，而大不列颠的首相则向阿根廷道歉，并归还福克兰群岛，最后又宣布爱尔兰独立。或者加拿大、西班牙的领导人也都争先恐后宣布魁北克和巴斯克人的居住地独立。那他们会闹个什么结果？于是，自然也就得出结论：所有在西方具有健康思维的人绝不允许的事，从这帮俄国帮闲的立场来看，则不仅是可能的，而且正是他们所希望的。这就是他们“爱国主义”的真正价值。

    　　1991年12月，叶利钦完成了针对苏联的重大叛国行动，给俄罗斯造成巨大损失。可以毫不夸大地说，这种情况涉及生活的方方面面——涉及我国在国际社会的威信和作用，涉及经济、国防能力、科学发展、生产和文化、居民生活水平等等。现从无数确凿的事实中，仅举国家杜马专门委员会弹劾俄罗斯总统叶利钦材料中的几例。再重复一遍，情况都是1998年发生的。

    　　在经济方面。

    　　起初，叶利钦的战友们所提出的、他们翻来覆去重复的目标和任务，在人民的眼里看来都相当高尚：原打算在国内经济政治生活民主化和自由化的基础上，提高居民的生活水准和质量。然而——现在这一点简直可以说是洞若观火——宣布的目标不仅未能实现，人们的生存条件反倒是恶化了好几倍。为了破坏原苏联的经济和社会政治制度，造成了史无前例的牺牲。千千万万的人被迫日日夜夜为了基本生存条件而挣扎。

    　　要知道俄罗斯可是世界上唯一一个完全可以自给自足的国家。它占有地球上10%的领土，但人口却只占总人口的2.4%。它拥有极为丰富极为多样化的原料储量，巨大的智力资源和社会、人力资源，就其居民的生存条件而言，它具有跻身于世界各国前列的一切先决条件。然而，在这些条件和居民生活的实际水平、生活质量之间，却存在着一条鸿沟，而且还在越变越深。

    　　在叶利钦统治的年代，俄国同美国相比，或者同离得比较近的其他经济比较发达的国家相比，许多国情指标都灾难性地恶化了。比方说，1998年俄国国家预算开支按居民人均计算要比美国少34倍，比芬兰少43倍。

    　　俄国在30年代曾经是欧洲的第二大强国，到了20世纪中叶，他同美国一道并肩成为世界超级大国，可是现在却跌进了工业发展边缘化的低谷。改革期间全国工业总产量缩小了一半以上。有些经济领域出现了雪崩式的灾难性的生产下滑。机械制造业产品产量缩小了60%多。轻工和纺织工业的生产下滑了80%多。许多部门企业的产品产量缩小了5倍。个别企业，其中包括那些构成城市骨干的企业，实际上已经停止了生产，而它们的工人和技术人员则丧失了生存的手段。

    　　有些经济部门整个地被消灭了，特别是机床制造业、建筑机械生产、农机生产、电子工业和工具制造行业，还有许多国防工业联合体的企业和科研院所。经过这样一番折腾之后，俄罗斯又怎能谈得上对西方的独立呢？

    　　苏维埃政权被摧毁后，没有新建过一个电站，没有建设过一个稍微像样点的大工厂。这段时间有成千上万的现代企业被关闭，被偷抢一空（我在这里还没有谈到学校、医疗机构、俱乐部、图书馆、少先队活动基地、幼儿园……这些后面我还要详谈），简直就是一场反工业化运动。说明这种情况的不仅有数量指标，还有质量指标：实际上整个国民经济中的现代生产容量已变得非常小，大多数经济行业根本不具备竞争力，技术领域中的储备能力已经变得无可挽回地老化，而它们的损耗也达到了60%—80%的程度。

    　　俄罗斯的出口以燃料和原料为主的结构一直没有改变。出口了国内铝业生产的78%，镍产量的82%，铜产量的71%，无机肥的78%，天然气的30%，石油的40%，大量稀土元素。与此同时，在俄罗斯没有探明一处甚至是中等规模的矿藏。地质工作陷于低谷，完全被摧毁了。整个国家全靠苏联时期的存底过日子。

    　　仅在不远的过去苏联还是世界科技进步的领袖国家之一，具有较大的科技潜力。20世纪1/3的重大科技发现都是原苏联的科学家们完成的。今天，我们国家迅速地衰退成殖民地性质的国家。它在高科技产品出口中所占份额仅有1%。这样就使得过去在科技发展方面所占优势荡然无存。与此同时，国内有80%以上的新科技成果无法得到应用。成千上万的科技工作者被迫改行。国家在丧失科技潜力的同时也失去未来，失去了为自己的人民建设应有生活的条件。俄罗斯对科学的拨款日趋萎缩，仅占国内生产总值的0.5%。而且，这点儿可怜的钱也到不了科学家的手上。

    　　农业也遭到了重创。农业各部门的总产量下降了35%还多。粮食产量下降了一半。肉类生产也下降了一半，奶类30%以上。大牲畜、羊只和家禽的饲养量缩减了两倍或两倍以上。为了让它们能恢复到1990年的水平，恐怕需要许多年才成。俄罗斯的耕地缩小了2000多万公顷，恢复起来也不会是一日之功。

    　　给人的印象是，为了讨好西方生产者，正在对我国农业进行有目的的破坏。应该指出，世界各国实践表明，30%的食品进口就已经公认是进入危机状态了，然后就要出现对供应国产生战略依赖的情况。俄罗斯本来一直都可以供应自己高质量的而且便宜的食品，现在却要采购几乎45%的食品以供消费，而且最大的几个城市依赖国外供应的程度竟然达到了70%—80%。

    　　苏联统一经济空间、国民经济和科学的破坏，产生了近千万的失业大军，他们丧失了最起码的生存保障。根据官方统计资料，这个数字波动在600万到700万之间，大约为具有经济活动能力人口的1/10。实际上如果说到精确数字，1998年的失业人口要超过2500万。其中只有一小部分有可能得到失业救济金，而且还不是经常。

    　　叶利钦和他的政府为了很少一部分人的利益，在俄罗斯推行了全民所有国家财产的私有化。结果1998年在相对来说比较幸运的20%的居民身上，集中了一半以上的国民总收入，而收入的主要部分，则为200—300个家庭据为己有，他们攫取了国家财富的绝大部分，同时也攫取了国家的权力。

    　　根据国家杜马特别委员会的看法，价格的自由化，公民收入和储蓄的严重缩水，完全都是总统和政府的蓄意所为，其目的非常明确。这样的做法对于一小撮人来说是非常有利的，他们从绝大多数百姓身上搜刮财富，达到暴富的目的。俄罗斯人在一夜之间损失了几乎250万亿卢布（按旧币值）的存款，而这些钱是构成他们生计的来源之一，是全家人在遭遇困境时的“保命钱”。困境来临了，可是千百万人却只能两手空空攥紧拳头来面对它。

    　　其实，百姓被金融金字塔的组织者掠夺，负有直接责任的是总统和政府：一个本不具备牢靠法律基础的政权，却批准了许多显然犯罪或者半犯罪的组织去行动，它们在这段时间从俄罗斯人手中又把国家劫余的一切来了个一扫而光。

    　　叶利钦和盖达尔从1992年1月2日起，彻底“放开了”物价。他们保证，物价仅仅“只会”上涨3倍，然后呢，就会稳定下来，再然后就要下降了。结果是什么，这我们都知道：对叶利钦、盖达尔神话故事里的情节我们都有过切身感受，而叶利钦、亚夫林斯基的“500天”狂想曲也都让我们遭过大罪。

    　　老百姓的支付能力大大打了折扣。总统和政府广泛利用这种害人的宏观经济政策机制，以同通货膨胀斗争为借口，有意识地缩减了生产领域的货币流通总量。这样就立刻引发了支付危机，使生产停摆，犯罪经济横行，工资急剧缩减，也引发了国家巨大的内外债务。然后政府又力图以从百姓身上搜刮来的储蓄款作为抵偿债务的手段，而且还拖欠老百姓的工资。发放债券和各种有价代用票证的机器都全速开动起来，用它们来代替流通货币，强加给人民。社会开支的不断紧缩，对老百姓又是一个重大打击，首先就是教育、医疗卫生、养老金等方面的支出和各种津贴。

    　　众所周知，工资是大部分居民的主要生活来源。尽管如此，但为了一小撮亲信集团和新生资产阶级，以及为他们服务的成为政权社会支柱的贪腐官员的进一步发家致富，总统有意识地长期不发工资和各种津贴，实际上是把自己千千万万的同胞送入了忍受饥饿和半饥饿煎熬的境地。好多部门的职工竟成年累月地领不到工资。由于吃不饱饭，人们忍饥挨饿，许多人，甚至上学的孩子，都有被饿昏过去的情况。

    　　为了彻底改变俄国的社会经济关系，形成一个新阶级——私有主，叶利钦蓄意使俄国公民的生活条件恶化，一方面死亡率大大提高，另一方面出生率下降，这就必然引起人口的巨大损失。结果导致国内人口数量急剧下降。

    　　与此同时，有人也提出了许多改变他所推行的社会经济路线的建议，但都遭到他一一否决。

    　　委员会的这一结论，遭到国家杜马两个代表的反对，这两个代表刚巧也是对所有指控统统表示反对的人。他们的道理还是老一套的鬼话。在这个问题上，他们所说的道理简直可以称得上是绝妙：一方面他们也承认由于生育率的急剧下降和死亡率的上升，俄国人口总数的确有了相当程度的的下降，但他们以为原因既不在于俄国公民生活条件的恶化，也不在于大规模的失业现象，或者工资和养老金过低造成的贫困；既不在于人们的日常开支入不敷出，也不在于大多数居民付不起医疗费。近年来我国居民人数的下降，按照他们的解释，其原因在于人民长期以来一直处于自我隔绝的条件之下（所谓“铁幕”），这就使“俄罗斯族群丧失了免疫功能，丧失了身处外族包围和具有攻击性环境下的活力”。不过作出这种“发现”的人，却在自己并不情愿的情况下肯定了一个事实，就是俄罗斯推行“经济改革”的结果，人民不仅陷入了一种格格不入的环境，而且陷入了一个对他们抱有敌意的环境！有意思的是叶利钦是否会因为自己的捍卫者帮了倒忙而对他们表示感谢呢？

    　　值得一提的是在委员会的会议上有人指出，俄国居民中，减少速度最快的部分是斯拉夫人。伊柳亨代表甚至发表声明说，国家总统实行的政策同德国纳粹扫清苏联经济区、灭绝斯拉夫人，以接纳雅利安“优等人种”的手法同出一辙。

    　　正是别洛韦日协议撕裂了一个完整的生活空间——政治的、经济的、文化语言的，破坏了千百年来的传统和生活方式，破坏了全体居民作为统一的社会共同体而每一个民族（种族）又保持着独立的人口再生产的休养生息的环境本身。因此不难理解，到了20世纪90年代，俄罗斯第一次强烈地感受到人口缩减、民族消亡的危机。有什么样的生命体能不衰亡呢？更何况这种繁衍是处于一种格格不入的、受到攻击的环境之下呢！近几年来，男人的平均寿命竟降到了57岁，而女人则不到70岁。⑨

    　　死亡率的确大大提高了，而且特别值得指出的是死者当中有1/3都是有劳动能力的年龄段的人。而且在这类居民中男子的死亡率高过女子4倍。这常常是因为意外事故、受伤、暴力、被杀、自杀、酗酒、吸毒等等。老年人死亡的速度加快了，也就是说，出现了最直接意义的生理上的断代现象。而这种传承性本应是社会财富、智慧知识和人类所累积的生活经验得以延续下去的基础。

    　　目前死亡人数高过出生人数1.5—1.7倍。在叶利钦、盖达尔推行激进改革政策的年代里，结婚人数降低了30%，出生率降低了37%。我国出生率是欧洲最低的，这个数字比保持一代一代简单更迭所必需的数字低了40%。这首先是艰苦的经济条件所产生的直接后果，它在许多方面同一个事实有着联系，就是每一千例正常分娩就伴随有200—215例堕胎。再有，有什么办法，到哪儿去养孩子呢？因为正如俗话所说，住宅问题卡住了千百万家庭的喉咙。要知道在建造供免费分配的住宅这个问题上，在叶利钦“在位”的这些年中，我们欠账实在太多了。再说一句，自打2005年通过一系列有关住宅的方案以来，免费分房就已经基本不存在了。建房的总体速度已经下降了2.4倍，房价变得很昂贵，根本不是普通老百姓能够买得起的。

    　　俄罗斯总体上的人口损失，加上死亡和由于极度恶劣的社会经济条件而没有出生的，这个数字已经超过了800万。也就是说，在叶利钦统治的七年间⑩，人口平均每年减少的数量几乎为100万。而且，这还是在这种可怕的损失部分得到由原苏联各加盟共和国迁入人口补充的情况下。这岂不就意味着在我们这个时代当局完全可以在不动枪炮，只用经济手段的条件下，“顺利地”发动一场反对自己人民的战争吗？

    　　负面人口变化有许多地方都是同居民健康状况的恶化分不开的。前面已经部分谈到了这方面的情况，这里要说的是，在1992年到1998年，局势简直就成了灾难性的。让我再来引用一些委员会的材料。

    　　居民健康状况的负面动向可以从各个年龄段和各个社会组合人群中显示出来，实际上各种疾病的统计资料无不如此。心血管疾病、肿瘤、内分泌疾病、代谢疾病的规模急剧增长。传染病的状况十分堪忧，特别是结核病、肝炎、肠道病、寄生虫病，还有性病、艾滋病。非常令人担忧的情况，比如说，梅毒的传播率扩大了64倍，而且性病的发展现在还波及到儿童和少年，实在不能不说是一个悲剧——既是社会的，也是人类的。

    　　托马斯·曼有一句说得很形象的话：“病就是穷人的路。”这句话对于每一个人来说现在具有了越来越具体的、戏剧性的含义。现在很多人都买不起那些每天每时都在涨价的药，付不起专家诊费或者手术费。普通百姓根本就去不起疗养院，因为他们的工资或者养老金还不够买一张单程的车票。

    　　70%的居民经常处于极度紧张之中，他们的神经和情绪由于经济的、社会的、生态的或者其他方面的原因而极度亢奋。因此功能性神经心理疾病患者的数量也在不断上升，越来越多的人从毒品和酒精中寻求解脱。不能不指出，正是这样一批社会病患者，现在成了社会上最流行的现象，他们由于陷入贫困，由于无法找到自己应有的位置，由于他们的所有生存条件都在恶化，看不到摆脱全面危机的明确而现实的道路，因而深陷堕落之中。

    　　所有的一切不能不在俄罗斯人生活的社会层面上对下一代有所影响。2005年6月的国际儿童节俄联邦内务部部长努尔加利耶夫声称，俄国有200万儿童没有父母，有600万居住在社会不良环境中，还有400万酗酒和吸毒。国内流浪儿总数达到87万。这还只是公开的数字，根据专家的意见，是大大被降低了的。可是有一个数字是没有被降低的：每个儿童的生活津贴每月只有70卢布！这还是在国内根本不缺钱的时候！

    　　国内贩卖儿童的罪行公然盛行。穿白大褂的男男女女把发育完全正常的儿童诊断成弱智儿童，为把他们销售，特别是销售到大洋彼岸赢利而创造条件。

    　　看来只有请捷尔任斯基复活，才能解决我们国家流浪儿童的问题了。想当年内战和卫国战争之后，这个社会问题一度那么严重，不是也解决了吗！

    　　这就是我国人民的可以说完全垮掉的、可怜的生活水平的大致情景，其中一个原因，就是我国医疗保健事业的濒死状况和商业化。在苏维埃时代，它曾是世界公认最优秀的制度。到了1998年，它却成了国家的整个社会服务体系完全垮掉的最有力的见证之一，这完全是由于1991年12月8日叶利钦及其一伙在别洛韦日森林中催出的恶果。

    　　除此之外，国家杜马特别委员会在研究了类似的材料之后，认为应该也必须控诉叶利钦对俄罗斯民族犯下的种族灭绝罪。

    　　在国际法中，“种族灭绝”概念最初是经1948年12月9日联合国大会通过的防止和惩处种族灭绝罪公约引入和确立的。苏联加入这个条约的时间是1954年，因此它也适用于作为苏联法权承继人的俄罗斯联邦。该公约第二条把种族灭绝界定为以完全或部分消灭某民族、种族、人种或宗教人群为目的的行动，其手段为：杀害该群体成员，对该群体成员实行严重身体伤害，蓄意伤害成员身体器官，蓄意为某个人群营造以完全或部分对其实施肉体消灭为目的的生活条件，在该人群中实施以防止生育为目的的手段，强制儿童由一个人群向另一个人群转移。无疑，叶利钦的所作所为就其本质而言在许多方面都符合这些条款。

    　　叶利钦的追随者如祖拉波夫、库德琳之流，对俄罗斯人生活的社会条件也带来了极大的危害。他们炮制的反人类的122号法令，把最后遗留的那点好处也都搜刮得一干二净。杜马兴高采烈地通过了这个法令，联邦委员会批准了它，国家总统也签署了它。干这桩事的代表们应该想想，上一届代表仅仅在7年前还曾经指控叶利钦对本国人民犯下了种族灭绝罪！

    　　在谈到俄罗斯儿童的处境时，不能不涉及另一个涉及儿童的问题，这就是学校伙食状况。大家都明白，儿童和青少年时代如果营养摄入不足，将会对身体发育、发病状况、学习成绩等产生不良影响，造成代谢障碍，形成慢性疾病。

    　　中小学学生——在我国这个数字是1700万——的大部分时间都是在普教机构中度过的。在这些地方，卫生条例规定要为他们准备热食——早餐，为全日制的孩子们准备两餐——早餐和午餐，而为在校时间更长的还要准备下午餐。根据俄罗斯卫生保健社会发展部的资料显示，在俄联邦各行政主体，校餐的价格每天是在0卢布至12—15卢布之间浮动。学生在校就食热餐的比例在俄罗斯是由小学到中学到中学高年级逐步递减，大约各占82%、64%和51%以下。至于说到校餐的质量，根据俄罗斯医学科学院饮食研究所的资料，学生在校所能摄取的饮食，充其量不过是每日饮食标准的30%—40%。

    　　农村学校状况的麻烦就更大了：仅一条就说明问题——近65%的学校没有合格的饮用水。

    　　当然，儿童问题在学校只不过是一个延续，而它的源头出现得要早得多。因为大约有70%的妇女健康上多少都有些问题。孕妇中能够正常分娩的不过40%。过半数的新生儿健康也有问题。大约15%—20%的学龄前儿童患有慢性病。到中学毕业时完全健康的青少年仅占10%。在儿童身体和心理发育方面越来越经常地发现出现障碍的情况，即出现晚熟现象，而不是像苏联时期出现早熟现象。结果年轻人中由于健康状况而不适合服兵役和从事有效的创造性活动的人数越来越多。

    　　例如，根据俄罗斯政府副总理、俄联邦国防部长伊万诺夫在国家杜马答询时的发言，2005年秋季应征的人员中，大约10%体重不足，因此这批青年本应在入伍后立刻进入军事训练，但却不得不送去“增肥”。而且，由于体重不达标，兵役局还免除了多达9万名17岁青年的兵役。

    　　总之，国家杜马特别委员会得出明确结论：在我国推行所谓“改革”，以及由此而产生的破坏性后果，主要责任应该由总统叶利钦来负，因为根据俄罗斯联邦宪法，他是国家元首，由他来组织政府，领导政府活动，决定国家内外政策的方向。他在某些情况下行使自己的职权，而在另一些情况下又选择不作为，以此造成对国家和俄国人民利益的损害；他实际上把国家杜马排除在一系列重大社会经济问题的决策之外。在对待国家杜马的态度上，他的行为常常同当年对待俄联邦最高苏维埃的态度一样。

    　　正是在叶利钦统治的年代，浓浓的黑雾笼罩了我国大地。自然会有人问：一个国家元首怎么会允许这样的情况出现？不错，他的确不是内行，这一点任何人都能看得出，可是他不是有一大群专家学者、生产第一线的第一流专家供他差遣吗？但他却根本不想利用这些人的潜力。作为一个了解他性格的人，我可以说，他就好像是在向自己的人民进行报复，只是说不清为了什么！对于这个人来说，俄罗斯人民，1991年怀着欣喜若狂的心情投票要他上台的人民，简直就是一堆粪土。他要的是权，眼睛里只有权，为了权他可以炮打俄罗斯联邦最高苏维埃，他可以消灭人民代表苏维埃。他权欲熏天，权力就是他生命的终极意义，对此他毫不讳言。

    　　无疑，叶利钦对他的西方“朋友”，是承担着一定的义务的。否则就无法解释一个事实，就是他置我国科学界的抗议于不顾，执意推行对俄国和俄国人民危害极深的经济改革路线，并拒绝对之进行任何修改。国外的一群经济学家——诺贝尔奖得主——也给他写过类似的论据充分的信，揭示出这种改革对俄罗斯有多深的危害。但结果也是一样。

    　　叶利钦改革俄罗斯的同时也是实现美国对外政策战略目标的一个步骤，这个目标就是进一步削弱俄罗斯这个苏联的继承者，进一步巩固在一个大国统治下的国际新秩序。正如比尔·克林顿在1995年10月25日的参谋长联席会议秘密会议上所说：“……最近10年来对苏联及其盟友的政策清楚表明，我们所采取的清除世界上最强大的国家之一以及最强大军事联盟的路线是多么正确。我们利用苏联外交的失误，戈尔巴乔夫及其一伙的非同寻常的自以为是，其中还包括利用那些公开站在亲美立场上的人，我们获得了杜鲁门总统想要通过原子弹从苏联获取的东西。不过，这里有一个非常重要的区别，就是我们还附带获得了原料供应，而不是原子弹毁掉的国家。如果是那样，恢复起来可就不容易了。”

    　　今天的领导人继承的俄罗斯，是一个被毁掉的俄罗斯，其中有许多可以想见和难以想见的灾难。虽然已经有了一些正面进展，但面临的还是百废待兴的局面，希望现在这段黑暗的日子过去后将会出现曙光，我国受苦受难的人民将享受盼望已久的灿烂光明！我们绝不该失去希望！

    　　50年前俄国杰出的哲学家伊万·亚历山德罗维奇·伊林，当时他身处流放之中，在《我们的任务》一书中就曾以预言家的敏锐写道：
    　　俄罗斯绝不是一块块领土、一个个民族偶然的集合和堆砌，也不是把一个个“州”人为地组合在一起形成的机制，它是一个活生生的、历史形成的、文化上有内在逻辑的机体。它是不能被随意肢解的。这个机体在地理学上是一个整体，它的各个部分在经济上互为营养；这个机体在精神、语言和文化上也是一个整体，历史地把俄罗斯民族同它的民族小兄弟团结在一起，在精神上也互为营养；这个机体在国家战略上也是一个整体，它向全世界证明了它自我防卫的意志和能力；它还是一座屹立于欧亚两洲的堡垒，因此也是世界均势的堡垒。对它的肢解将是一次史无前例的政治冒险，它的毁灭性的后果将给人类带来长久的影响。

    后记

    　　这本书写了足足有十多年。起初只是为了备忘，把发生在改革年代的那些零散的、比较重要的、后来又对瓦解这个强大统一国家苏联起着多方面作用的事件记录下来。但随着上个世纪80—90年代之交那些悲惨年头逐渐远去，我跟我的许多同龄人，由于曾经身处我国生活这一最艰苦年代各种事件的旋涡之中，便萌生了想要更深入探讨其前因后果的要求。但愿本书在一定程度上能够回答这种心灵和理智的呼唤。现在，当这项工作行将结束之际，笔者想对这些基本的看法，再作一个简短明确的表述，希望读者能够原谅我的烦言赘语，因为它们跟本书基本内容密切相关。

    　　其实，笔者并没有把分析我国解体的所有原因和事实列为本书的任务。我很清楚，要做到这一点，需要许多研究人员和研究机构花费巨大的劳动才能完成。本书中所涉及的，只是导致这一大悲剧发生的某些情况。本书的名称也清楚地说明了我本人对这一具有世界意义事件的态度。

    　　俄联邦总统普京在他的多次演说中，也对我国15年前发生的种种事件作出了评价，并把它称之为世纪悲剧和灾难。作为历史事实来说，这是正确的。但这一历史事件的后果非常深远，远远超出了时间的甚或领土的范围，具有全球性质，并将在几个世纪的过程中影响整个人类历史的进程。

    　　世界政治地图经过一定历史阶段总免不了要发生变化，因为它要反映新的地缘政治关系。二战以后的情况就是如此。三个战胜国领导人在克里米亚和波茨坦开会，后来又通过1975年的赫尔辛基协议，把它的结果固定下来。而这些结果的出发点，便是世界政治力量的相对平衡。这种平衡以及另一个并非不重要的因素——原子弹，使我们得以在没有大的全球冲突，没有世界大战的条件下，度过了半个多世纪。要知道，一战和二战之间相隔了只不过是短短的20年。可是现在，在苏联解体后的15年内，欧洲，其中也包括原来的苏联，竟出现了24个新国家。而且这个过程还未必就此会打住。现在，眼下就至少有科索沃、阿布哈兹、南奥塞梯、纳戈尔内—卡拉巴赫、德涅斯特沿岸地区共和国在等着。

    　　苏联垮掉之后，国际力量平衡也被破坏了，强烈的地区震荡的冲击波扩散到全世界。其中既包括南斯拉夫的覆灭，也包括阿富汗和伊拉克的战争。北朝鲜和伊朗也正在受到威胁。此外，不是还有近东各国之间由于多国利益而发生的多年流血冲突吗？

    　　关于这个强大的、具有崇高威望的国家在世界地图上的消失，关于出现这一历史悲剧的原因，近15年来发表过许多论著：既有各种各样的科学研究成果，也有些近乎科学的东西，还有某些对个别事件主观性极强的描述和回忆录等等。不过，每种著作所涉及的，也仅仅只能是事件的某些方面而已。看来，对历史进行全面的、不偏不倚的、没有争议的记述的时刻还没有到来。

    　　我想，最终一定会有人出来，我国领导人也会表现出政治魄力，把客观评价这一灾难的全部复杂原因，把对那股策划并实现了这一灾难的力量进行分析，确立为自己的任务，并完成该任务。做这件事的目的不应该是为了某一个帮派的利益，或是出于向苏联和苏联人民自1917至1991年走过的道路泼脏水的个人想法——现在的“民主派”就喜欢干这种事。为了我国的未来，为了我国人民的未来，这样的分析是必不可少的。

    　　导致1991年各种事件的原因相当多。起作用的有各种内部和外部因素。笔者在本书第一章谈到过外部对我国施加的影响，特别是引述了杜勒斯在1945年讲过的一些话。究其本质而言，这些话里包含了同我国进行长期斗争的全部指导思想。

    　　西方，特别是美国，许多地方都是根据这一指导思想来行动的。他们千方百计在我国特定的知识分子圈子中为自己寻找“朋友”。苏联克格勃主席安德罗波夫把这些人称之为“影响的代理人”。应该说，他们在完成任务过程中很卖力气。

    　　那场“冷战”的展开也不是偶然的。几十年中，它可把苏联拖苦了，把大量国家资源吸引到军备竞赛中去，而它们本来是可以用来解决国计民生问题的。这一点对苏联人的生活水平不能没有影响。苏联同社会主义联合体的盟友，在经济上较之于美国和它的欧洲仆从要弱一些，因此，为了保持基本军事均势而出现的国防开支，就对我国和我国人民产生了比对方更为容易感知的影响。此外，还有不少资源，苏联也作为援助给了自己的盟友，只是现在几乎所有这些盟友都跑到了西方的卵翼之下。

    　　苏联解体的主要原因无疑是在内部。其中有经济的、社会的、党和国家的，还有许多其他原因。我并不打算在本书中一一列举它们。不过，关于其中的一个原因，一个现在看来并没有最终彻底解决的、直接导致我国出现悲剧的原因，我在本书中倒是讲得相当详细和具体。这就是改革年代后期我国各地突然爆发并迅速发展的民族主义。正是这个东西，成了苏维埃国家内部破坏过程的强有力的催化剂。

    　　对于俄罗斯帝国和苏联而言，民族关系问题是一个自久远年代起即已存在的现实问题。

    　　基辅罗斯解体后，古俄罗斯民族分裂成为三支斯拉夫兄弟民族，这就是俄罗斯族、乌克兰族和白俄罗斯族。这几个族群具有同一个根，所以可以认为，15世纪中叶以前，罗斯国家实际上是一个多族群国家。不过随着第一个俄罗斯沙皇伊凡雷帝先是征服喀山汗国，然后又征服阿斯特拉罕汗国，加之西伯利亚、北高加索和中亚各族人民的归附，俄罗斯遂成就为一个巨大的多民族国家。

    　　俄罗斯帝国土地上的各个民族，他们的民族特点、传统和文化，产生了彼此在各方面极不相同的管理方法和管理体制。俄罗斯的中央地区有自己的管理架构和方法。波兰、芬兰、中亚地区也有自己的一套不同于中央的管理体制，有它们符合自己的传统和生活方式的特别的法制体系。国家机制在体制设置上的多样性以及工作的弹性，使得民族关系不可能碰撞出过大的火花。

    　　当1922年苏联成立的时候，建立统一多民族新国家的问题曾是一个非常尖锐的问题。列宁在这个问题上的立场是众所周知的，他同自己的战友们发生了激烈的争论。笔者在本书中对这个问题给予了特别关注。正如所知，列宁的意见占了上风：成立了由各加盟共和国组成的苏联，它们都享有直至可以退出统一国家的特权。应该看到，当时列宁没有别的选择，因为如果立即完成统一国家的架构，这个国家实际上就不可能建立。

    　　在苏联有过民族问题的纲领，而且也一直在实施之中。对中亚各发展缓慢的共和国以及其他“边远”地区的共和国的经济援助问题被提到国策的高度。实际上除了白俄罗斯之外，其他各加盟共和国都能享受主要是由俄罗斯联邦提供的补贴。结果就出现了这个主要的联邦制共和国在生活水平和其他社会指标上落后于其他共和国的现象。这一切为的都是巩固和发展各族人民的友谊。

    　　应该指出，苏共在民族问题领域内的活动是有利于这些问题的正面解决的。这些年来，在各加盟共和国以及俄联邦内部某些民族的社会经济发展和文化发展方面，做了大量工作。已经构建出一种各加盟共和国参加国家管理、参加议会、参加国家科学文化等方面生活的合理制度。

    　　民族关系的牢不可破曾经经受过伟大卫国战争的考验。各民族苏维埃联合体的生命力和威力是胜利的一大重要源泉。无疑，由多个民族组成的人民在最艰苦的考验年代之所以能团结一致，还有一个事实也起了作用，那就是我国当时正面临被最凶恶的敌人——法西斯德国及其仇恨人类的意识形态所奴役的危险。

    　　苏维埃联合体并不是一个神话，尽管在贯彻国家的民族政策时，有时也出现过严重的错误和失误，致使难以充分发挥这一政策的潜力。

    　　后来开始了“改革”，苏联领导有意识地把注意力贯注于各族人民生活中的缺点和负面现象，目的就是要动员力量，引导国内状况朝向好的方向改变。但由于苏共及其对苏联社会影响的日渐衰微，以及各种“运动”和“战线”的出现，在许多加盟共和国，民族问题都成了同中央权力进行斗争的一张牌。

    　　在这些究其本质基本是民族主义的运动中，它们的领袖人物动用了一切手段来证明，各共和国人民如果脱离苏联而生活，如果他们有了国家主权，日子会过得好得多。实际状况被有意歪曲了，这些地区不同程度都靠经常性的输血维持的事实被有意缄口不语。也就是说，其实全苏的资源再分配是对他们有利的。人们被导入了误区，而真正的那种妄自尊大的意图却被一些用以引发对中央不满的负面口号掩盖起来。逐渐，这些运动也好，党派也好，都撕下了假面，这才看出他们的活动已经导致了极端民族主义的遍地开花。糟糕的地方还在于，在许多人的眼里，它已经不再是什么不道德的，或是政治上极端有害的现象了。

    　　还有一个纯主观的因素，对我们国家的毁灭也起到了非常重大的作用，它特别清楚地表现在当时的两个领导人——戈尔巴乔夫和叶利钦——的个人品质和活动中。

    　　戈尔巴乔夫由于政治上的无能，把我国引到了深渊的边缘，等到苏联眼看就要寿终正寝的那年，他再去无头苍蝇似的忙忙碌碌，早已于事无补。能够保全并彻底革新统一国家的机会已经错失，当时我国已发生了根本性的变化，致使上千年历史积累起来的优秀成果废于一旦。现在戈尔巴乔夫实际上已经从政治舞台消失，可是却始终没有搞明白自己有意也好无意也好，在祖国面前犯下了多么可怕的罪过。

    　　第二个人物——“破坏英雄”叶利钦的命运却有所不同。为了攫取国家最高权力，他可以无所不用其极。他用自己的行动千方百计鼓动波罗的海沿岸地区的、乌克兰的以及其他共和国的民族主义行动，以此作为同国家中央政权斗争的政治杠杆。一旦作出最重要决定的关头来临，他就毫不犹豫地跑到别洛韦日森林去有意识地展开了搞垮国家的行动。

    　　当时依然在位的苏联总统戈尔巴乔夫怯懦地逃避了自己的直接职责——捍卫苏联宪法，而以许多国际机构——其中包括联合国——为代表的国际社会，也就把克里米亚会议、波茨坦会议和赫尔辛基协议抛到了一边，迫不及待地对以成立15个国家来取代一个国家表示欢迎。

    　　叶利钦在取得俄罗斯的最高权力之后，表现出了自己的治国“才干”。当时他也许是出于有意，也许是没有考虑周全，并没有注意有人对他提醒，他对苏联的政策也可能会在他的俄联邦政治中起作用。为了追求选票和俄罗斯各自治共和国、边疆区和各州的支持，他以民粹主义的手法宣称，这些单位想要多少主权，就可以拿多少主权。

    　　国家首脑的这些行动以及其他一些类似的行动，不能不对国内总的政治经济状况产生影响。此外，叶利钦的行为远不是那么前后一贯。最后，俄罗斯就成了一个无法管理的烂摊子，而他周围的那些人，说得客气点，远不是什么通常所说的国之栋梁。他们就像苍蝇围着粪堆飞来飞去似的，围在这位“主子”身边转来转去，每个人都在追求个人私利，或是自己公司的利益。

    　　地方看到联邦政权是如此的不堪，便也开始各自寻求自己的活路。有的急急忙忙开始修改本共和国、本边疆区、本州的宪法章程，而且修改后的文件往往跟俄联邦宪法相抵触；还有一些州则走得更远，他们开始准备提案，想要建立某些特殊的共和国，比如乌拉尔共和国。

    　　叶利钦身边的人见到国家管理上出现了这种灾难性的局面，便提出了一个办法：在联邦政权和联邦主体之间签订协议。于是各处一哄而上：几年之内，签订了大约50个左右的协议。而这一切竟是在当时国内宪法还在起作用的情况下发生的！为了废除这些协议，后来的俄罗斯总统普京真是费了好大的心力和周章，其中有两个共和国，即鞑靼斯坦和巴什科尔托斯坦，直到现在在国家预算中还列入了大笔“为他们失去的机会”而要求补偿的经费。

    　　叶利钦的国家被各种矛盾所撕裂，贪污受贿处处有肥沃的土壤，犯罪盛行，民族文化和传统遭到毁灭。八年过去，叶利钦身后留下了一个衰败、虚弱、管理不善的国家。国名还在，国土还在，人民还在，但国家却只不过虚有其表。新上任的总统要把一盘散沙整合成一个具有全部国家特征的真正国家，真是要花费不少心力。

    　　最后这5到7年时间，是一段“整合”俄罗斯的时期。每过一年，它就变得更接近于真正的，而不是虚拟的国家一点。采取的一些步骤，比如强化纵向权力和国防力量，比如在对外政策领域采取明确立场，比如在某些社会结构方面作出各种决定以确立基本法规……这些都不能不在某些社会人士中，特别是在所谓社会的自由主义一翼，引起愤怒的风暴。“警察国家”是那些西方应声虫和西方帮闲所给予今日俄罗斯的最温和的评语。

    　　而“自主民主”思想及其诠释文字在媒体上发表后，引起了多么强烈的批评风暴和多么难听的阵阵叫嚣啊。劈头盖脸的脏水也泼到了第10届世界俄罗斯全民大会的头上。大会的主报告人——斯摩棱斯克、加里宁格勒都主教基里尔说，世界上当然存在着某些放之四海而皆准的行为准则，但这决不意味着西方的社会制度、民主原则、人际关系标准同样适合于所有国家。每一种文明都有它自己的值得肯定的社会生活经验，它同样也有存在的权利。

    　　在我国历史上有几个阶段，国家曾处于极端艰难的状态，面临崩溃边缘。但历经种种考验之后，俄罗斯重又站立起来，不仅找到了复兴的勇气和力量，更找到了继续发展的勇气和力量。

    　　1613年大混乱时期之后的情况是这样。其后100年间，俄国的新土地开拓者走过了自乌拉尔至太平洋的遥远历程，甚至开发了部分美洲大陆。中亚和北高加索也被收入俄罗斯帝国版图。300年后，俄国成为了一个伟大的多民族强国。

    　　到了1917年，新的震荡出现了：两次革命，破坏，内战，失去了大面积的领土，国家的经济潜力也遭到破坏。看来，俄罗斯帝国残留的几个部分似乎永远也不可能再重新联合起来了，似乎它也再成不了什么大国。然而，建立苏联的政治决定，20年的巨大努力，在人民付出了忍受艰难困苦的代价、推行了工业化以及其他种种重大改革之后，我国又跻身于高度发达的国家之列了。建立起来的生产和科技潜力，我国人民面对受奴役的危险在伟大卫国战争中所表现出来的团结一致，终使我国得以战胜20世纪最强大的敌人——法西斯德国及其仆从。

    　　二战为我国人民带来了无法比拟的灾难。想当年那场无比惨烈的战争过后，我国处境之艰难现在真是难以名状。人民当中最有劳动能力的一部分牺牲了，我国欧洲领土直到伏尔加河的一大片，上头的国民经济全被摧毁了。外国专家们“给了”我们40年到100年的恢复期。可是，经济却在5到7年内全部恢复了。只不过上千万人的牺牲至今却依然有所感觉。

    　　伟大卫国战争之后，苏联成了超级大国。它实际上已经恢复了1917年革命后丢失的领土。苏联成为世界政治中一支决定性的力量。

    　　然后是1991年。统一国家被肢解成为15个部分，产生了严重的后果。这些，本书已经讲得很充分了。但我国正在一步步站立起来，尽管许多东西都被破坏，被掠夺，被践踏，但它正在恢复大国的地位。

    　　我相信，经过这次震荡，俄罗斯将重新奋起，占据自己在世界上应该占据的位置。需要政治家和人民的意志力，需要大家共同奋起创造，需要建立一个现代化的社会，但同时也更要保持并发展我国的历史和精神传统。

    　　我相信俄罗斯人民和俄罗斯国家的未来，正是怀着这样一种信念，我写下了这些对祖国艰难岁月以及它未来命运的叙述和思考的文字。

    　　尼·伊·雷日科夫　　2006年12月31日于莫斯科

    　　① 紧靠着克里姆林宫的一个广场，位于亚历山大花园和无名烈士墓旁边。现该广场地下又建有新的购物中心。——译者

    　　②本节参考了哲学博士M.C.朱努索夫教授的理论著作。

    　　③ 19世纪俄国作家陀思妥耶夫斯基的长篇小说《卡拉马佐夫兄弟》中的主人公。——译者

    　　④ 赫罗斯特拉特是古希腊的一个人，他为了在历史上留名，于公元前356年竟纵火焚烧了古代建筑艺术的珍品——阿泰密斯神庙。——译者

    　　⑤阿法纳西耶夫为历史学家，一度人莫斯科历史档案学院院长，曾任“民主俄罗斯”运动联合主席之一；帕尔姆不详；波波夫为经济学家，俄罗斯民主改革运动主席；萨哈罗夫，核物理学家，苏联时期著名的持不同政见者。——译者

    　　⑥索布恰克于1991-1996年间任列宁格勒市（后圣彼得堡市）市长；特拉夫金后创立俄国民主党，任该党政治委员会主席和议会党团主席，一度任俄联邦司法部部长；斯坦凯维奇不详；波尔托拉宁原为莫斯科真理报主编，先后任俄联邦出版信息部部长、联邦政府副总理、国家杜马信息政治通讯联络委员会主席；布尔布利斯先后任俄联邦国务秘书、俄联邦总统委员会国务秘书等职。——译者

    　　⑦为免除犯下重罪的俄罗斯联邦总统叶利钦的职务而提出的议案，有一个简短的法律结论，刊载在国家杜马专门委员会文件资料集中。

    　　⑧本章的这个部分就是以俄联邦国家杜马特别委员会对俄罗斯总统叶利钦提出指控的文件为基础写成的，其中有罗季奥诺夫、伊柳亨、维涅季克托夫等人的证词和发言，还有俄罗斯科学院院士奥希波夫和俄国科学院通讯院士库兹涅佐夫的研究资料。

    　　⑨这部分使用了医学科学院通讯院士维涅季克托夫向特别委员会提交的材料。

    　　⑩这是指到国家杜马特别委员会开会的日期为止。

  • 加亚·文斯《人类进化史：火、语言、美与时间如何创造了我们》

    Transcendence: How Humans Evolved through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time

    目录
    前言
    创世
    第一章 开端：孕育人类的地球
    第二章 诞生：成为文化的物种
    火
    第三章 环境改造：重新创造我们的生态系统
    第四章 大脑发展：学会用火让我们更加智慧
    第五章 文化杠杆：构建一个聪明的集体大脑
    语言
    第六章 故事：存储累积的思想
    第七章 语言：天生的交流欲望
    第八章 讲述：构建人类的信任
    美
    第九章 归属感：身份认同的塑造
    第十章 饰品和珍宝：被创造的价值
    第十一章 建造者：我们物种的纪念碑
    时间
    第十二章 计时器：创造时间认知
    第十三章 理性：发明科学的关键
    第十四章 全能人：人类的未来

    前言

    2004 年，内尔·哈比森准备更换他的英国护照，但是他提供的照片却出了问题。英国护照署规定，护照照片“不可包含申请人之外的其他人或物”“不可戴帽子，不可含奶嘴，不可戴有色眼镜”。
    但是没有任何一项规定提及天线。
    尽管如此，英国政府仍然要求哈比森摘掉他头上的“配件”，重新提交换证申请。哈比森解释，他头上的天线不是配件，而是他身体的一部分，是他大脑的延伸。而且，天线也摘不掉，因为天线已经通过手术被植入他的颅骨。最终，英国政府给哈比森签发了护照。
    哈比森也因此成为世界上首位被正式承认的电子人。
    哈比森则称自己为“跨物种”人。在科技的帮助下，他进化成了不一样的人，不同于生物学意义上的人，已经超出了自然的范畴。
    哈比森现在有了超感官认知能力，他可以通过头上的天线“听到”颜色。哈比森患有罕见的先天性全色盲症，他看不见颜色，眼中的世界全部笼罩在灰色的阴影下。21 岁时，这位艺术生同一名音乐家和几名程序员一起策划开发了一款电子设备，这款设备能够将色彩转化为音符与和弦，从而让他感知色彩。苦寻之下，在 2004 年，哈比森终于找到一位愿意帮助他将设备植入体内的匿名医生。
    哈比森头上有一根可弯曲的黑色天线。天线从他后脑的头发下伸出，向上绕过头顶，垂到额头前。哈比森把头发剪成锅盖形，看起来就好像一个头盔罩在头上。这样的造型进一步模糊了生物人和人造人之间的界限。天线的前端有一只电子眼，可以识别哈比森周围物体的颜色。这些颜色的光波频率会通过天线传送到哈比森头骨中的芯片中。这个芯片可以将传来的光波频率转换成相应的声音频率，帮助哈比森通过头骨“听到”世界的颜色。
    植入芯片和天线后，颜色信息如洪水般涌入哈比森的大脑。一开始，他非常不适应。他要十分费力地弄懂这些颜色信息，分辨出哪种声音对应哪种颜色。但是，15年过去了，现如今的他生活在“色彩丰富”的交响乐中，甚至连梦境都是彩色的了。哈比森脑内的电子传感器已与他的大脑完美结合，他可以把各种声音当成颜色来体验。后来，哈比森开始尝试将人们的声音和音乐作品绘制成画，从莫扎特的古典音乐到 Lady Gaga（美国歌手）的流行音乐都有涉猎。接着，他开始将自己的感知扩展到人类感知范围之外。现在，哈比森能够感知到紫外线、红外线，所以他可以“看见”暗处的东西，欣赏到那些正常人看不到的图案，甚至还能感知到残留在树干上的动物尿液中的紫外线荧光。哈比森还升级了芯片，使芯片可以接入互联网，因此他可以同卫星相连，通过外部设备感知色彩。哈比森说，这个芯片就是一个可以不断进化的器官。
    2018 年，哈比森将指南针组件嵌入膝盖中，这使他能够感知地球磁场。他的下一个植入物是他设计的一个冠状装置，他将这个装置称为“时间器官”。这个装置会覆盖他的整个大脑，创造出一个 24 小时围绕头骨不停旋转的热点，使他能够感知时间。换言之，感知地球自转。在他的大脑能够接受并融合这个新器官之后，哈比森希望能够通过改变热点运动的速度来拓展或加强他对时间的感知。比如说，如果想要拉长某个瞬间，他可以降低热点的旋转速度。通过这种方式，他甚至可以改变自己对衰老的感觉，操纵自己对时间的相对体验，活到170 岁。他解释道：“我们有视觉器官，所以可以制造视错觉，我认为如果我们有一个感知时间的器官，我们同样也可以制造时间错觉。”

    “电子人”这个说法最早出现在 20 世纪 60 年代，由美国科学家曼弗雷德·克莱因斯和内森·克莱恩提出。他们当时描述了一种设想，即增强的人类可以在外星环境中生存。现在，这种设想在哈比森的身上得以实现，在数以亿计的依靠隐形眼镜、人工耳蜗、人工心瓣膜以及其他仿生设备增强身体能力的人的身上得以实现。不管这些工具或者设备是否同人的身体融为一体，它们都帮助人们获得了额外的能力。比如，我们不用翅膀就能飞行，不用鱼鳃就能潜水，甚至还能“死而复生”，或者登陆月球。简单说，这些工具可以是增强牙齿咬碎能力和指甲撕碎食物能力的刀片，也可以是带底的鞋子，让我们在碎石路上跑得更快。实际上，我们每个人都是“电子人”，因为每个人的生活都离不开科技发明。
    但是，如果只把人类当成拥有高级工具的聪明猩猩，就不会明白人类因何而伟大，也无法理解人类在地球上的生存方式。人类发明了纷繁复杂的工具，同时也拥有语言文化、艺术作品、社会群体、基因遗传、风光景致、信仰体系等诸多工具以外的事物。我们创造出的是一个完整的人类社会，一个社会操作系统。没有它，哈比森的天线根本制造不出来，即便制造出来了，也毫无意义。正是人类赋予了科技存在的意义，推动着创新的发展。我们绝不仅仅是进化的电子人。
    我猜你不是光着身子坐在刚果的丛林中的一棵树上读这本书的，而是像我一样穿着衣服。我们衣服的原材料是来自千里之外的植物。这些植物先通过机器被纺成纱线，然后被织成布，之后被染色，再按照某地某人的设计被剪裁，由多人缝制成衣服。之后衣服会被运到别处，经由他人定价和营销，通过商店等各种渠道，最终成为我们身上的衣服，将我们的皮肤完美地保护起来，就如同动物的皮毛对动物的保护一样。或许你正坐在一把塑料椅子上，其原材料是沉积的海洋生物残骸。这些原材料由钢制工具开采矿石而得，历经爆破、精炼、组装等步骤。在造型方面，更有许多设计师团队独立设计，千年来在不断变换。
    无论你身在何处，你的脑海中都在浮现出我写的这些话，就像我在你身边对你讲述一样。这一刻，我们的思想直接相连，哪怕我在不同的时间，不同的地点，甚至是用不同的语言写下这一切，哪怕我已经不在这个世上了。

    即便聪明如你，孤单一人时，也会无以存续。可以说我们的生存完全依赖于身边无数的陌生人。正是有了这些人的辛勤工作和共同努力，才有了我们吃的午餐，穿的衣服，用的家具，住的房屋，走的道路，居住的城市、国家和更广阔的世界。而这些相互协调合作的陌生人也依赖着成千上万的其他人，无论是活着的人还是已经死去的人。但是，生活在地球上的 70 亿人之间并没有合同，也没有计划，甚至也没有共同的目标。
    几十亿人辛勤忙碌，过着看似独立实则互相依赖的生活，而这一切居然是在没有任何计划的情况下发生的。千万不要认为这太不可思议，因为还有更不可思议的事情，那就是我们的身体——从眼睛到脚趾甲，再到有意识的大脑，所有这些东西都源于一个小小的细胞，并且在几周内就可以长成。当受精卵开始生长和分裂，它可以形成大量多能干细胞。多能干细胞可分化成身体中任何类型的细胞，而分化的结果取决于细胞落脚的地点。如果一个细胞偶然到了囊胚的外胚层，那它有可能会成为脊髓中的神经细胞，而另一个细胞则可能会因为落到了其他位置，而成为一个心脏细胞。进化创造了一种机制，通过这种机制，一个简单的细胞就可以构建起一个由相互协作的细胞和器官组成的功能系统，这个系统就是人体。

    每个人都有自己的动机和欲望，然而人们的自主性在很大程度上只是一种幻觉。人类进化是一项没有方向和目标的社会工程，却创造出了地球上最成功的物种。

    今天的人类寿命更长，生活质量更高，而且是地球上数量最多的大型动物。而我们现存的近亲，也就是如今濒临灭绝的黑猩猩，仍然保持着数百万年不变的生活。人类不同于其他动物，但又与其他动物有着相同的进化过程。人类到底是什么？这个问题让我着迷，我开始着手了解人类到底为何与众不同，开始探索到底是什么样的自然力量让地球发生了改变，将猿转变成人。

    下面这个神奇的进化故事深深地吸引着我。故事的背景就是基因进化、环境进化和文化进化间的特殊关系，我将其称为人类进化的三位一体。它们互相强化，使人类与众不同——既能在不断变化的宇宙中生存，又能推动自身的变化。人类已经脱离了其他动物的进化轨迹，变得更加伟大、更加非凡。其实当我们改变了创造人类的环境时，我们就开始了最伟大的自我超越。
    让我来解释一下。
    人类是地球的产物，由地球孕育，在地球上出生。地球对人类的塑造作用经常被忽视。但不得不说，是地球使我们进化成今天的样子。为了适应地球环境，我们开始直立行走，讲有声调的语言，对流感病毒产生免疫力，并形成了文化。所以，我的故事就从“创世纪”的地理起源讲起。所有的生命都由宇宙中的物质构成，人类就是广袤宇宙的一个缩影。沿海岸线分布的石灰石悬崖里的钙，也存在于人类骨骼中，来自恒星。起源于彗星的水，在地球上形成了奔涌的河流，以及流淌在人类身体里的血液。

    人类同其他生命形式一样，都经过了生物进化的过程。随着时间的流逝，随机发生的遗传差异在族群中世世代代积累，最终带来物种演化。如果某些生命体携有更适合生存的基因，那么它们更有可能生存下来，并将这些基因传给后代。生物通过这种方式来适应环境的压力，也推动物种不断进化，开拓地球上每一处栖息地。

    我们的祖先聪慧机敏，社交能力强，适应了他们早期生活的热带雨林。而文化就是他们适应环境的方法之一。“文化”有很多含义，我在本书中所说的文化是指我们使用的工具、技术和行为中表现出来的通过学习得来的信息。人类的文化依赖于向他人学习，并把学到的东西表达出来。人类并非唯一进化出文化的物种，但人类文化比其他物种的文化要灵活许多，因为它会不断累积、不断进化。人类不断累积的文化经过一代又一代的传承，变得越来越复杂多样，能更有效地应对生活中的各种挑战。

    累积的文化进化改变了地球上生物的生存方式。人类的进化不再仅仅是因为环境和基因的变化，文化也成为影响因素。文化进化与生物进化有很多共通之处。基因进化依赖于变异、传递和生存差异，这三点也与文化进化有关。不过两者的主要差别在于，生物进化主要发生在个体层面，而对文化进化来说，群体选择要比个体选择更重要。同样，人类智慧更多地来源于集体智慧，而非个体智慧。

    我们并不是唯一一个沿着这条进化之路走下去的人类物种——后文还会谈到我们的表亲，但我们是唯一幸存下来的人种。几十万年前，人类在文化的帮助下，开始摆脱原始的生活环境，突破了物理和生物上的限制——正是这两个限制让其他物种无缘创造力。人类这种非比寻常的进化，由4个关键因素驱动，即火、语言、美和时间，我将在后面的章节中一一介绍。

    “火”部分描述我们如何为自身的能量消耗找到外部资源，突破生物极限，拓展身体能力。“语言”部分研究信息在人类成功进化中扮演的角色：语言帮助人们准确地传递并存储复杂的文化知识，进行思想交流。语言是一种社会黏合剂，用共通的故事将人类连接起来，帮助我们更好地预测未来，让我们依据社会声誉分辨出谁更值得信任。“美”部分则重点讲述人类活动的重要意义，即让我们通过共同的信仰和身份凝聚在一起。艺术表达不仅促进了文化物种形成，推动了社会之间和社会内部部落文化的形成，而且促进了资源、基因和思想之间的联结。这些联结在阻止遗传物种形成的过程中，让社会变得更加强大、联系更加紧密、技术更加先进。最后，“时间”部分讲述时间是人类客观、合理解释自然演化过程的基础。知识和好奇心的碰撞让人类比其他所有动物走得更远：我们利用科学来规范世界秩序和自己的位置，让人类遍布全球却又紧密相连。

    正是火、语言、美和时间 4 个因素的相互交织造就了人类的与众不同，解释了人类的各种行为：为什么生活在城市里的人更有创造力？为什么有宗教信仰的人不那么焦虑？为什么菲律宾说书人有更多的性生活？为什么移民患精神分裂症的风险更高？为什么欧美人和东亚人看脸的方式不同？这与人类进化相关的三种因素——基因、环境和文化相互影响。比如，你的任意两个朋友彼此可能也是朋友，这就是所谓的社交网传递性，它会影响你个人的命运和群体的表现。但是这种传递性会受环境的影响，比如与世隔绝的村庄具有更强的传递性，因为大家互相认识。更重要的是，你朋友的数量会受到你的基因的影响。这大部分归结于机缘巧合：你是谁、你出生的地点和时间可能比你将来做出的任何选择都重要。

    人类如何成了一个与众不同的物种是一个基础性的问题，而现在正是探讨这个问题的好时机。我们在群体遗传学、考古学、古生物学、人类学、心理学、生态学和社会学领域都取得了令人振奋的进展。这些进展使我们对人类历史有了新见解，从根本上改变了我们对人类物种进化过程的理解。例如，之前有人认为，通过某种认知或基因革命，所谓的行为学意义上的现代人首次出现于 2 万（或 4 万）年前，但现在这一观点面临着挑战。2007年，人类首个个体基因组排序完成。从那之后，成千上万的人解开了自己独特的基因编码。这样一来，我们能更加理解我们的集体历史，理解我们之间是如何联系的，以及我们与最亲密的人类近亲是如何联系的。考古学家使用新的年代测定技术，在最古老的艺术品和古老的技术上有了惊人的发现；古生物学家也向我们展示了人类的进化绝非教科书上描述的那样简单。

    我们正迈入一个新型合作时代：许多来自保护主义研究领域的人首次开始交流，推翻了既定的教条，公开了大量的数据、见解和经验。自然科学和社会科学的结合，帮助我们解决了一个核心悖论，即为什么我们在生物学上如此相似，在行为上却如此不同。我们以全新的眼光审视自己，认识到我们的生物、文化和环境之间存在的深层联系。
    我们会发现，文化进化让我们能解决许多与基因进化相同的适应性问题，而且解决的速度更快，不涉及物种形成。人类反复经历基因进化、环境进化和文化进化的三位一体，正在成长为一个能够决定自身命运的非凡物种。正是这一点让我们可以扩大人口规模和地理范围，从而加速我们的文化进化，使其更复杂。而文化进化又会让人类进一步扩大人口规模和地理范围。这是一个相互强化、循环往复的过程。
    今天，人类人口规模和连通性达到了前所未有的水平。与此同时，人类也使地球环境发生了巨大的变化，将创造我们的这个星球推入了全新的地质时代，即人类世。单单是物质变化的累积重量，包括道路、建筑和农田，目前就约有 30 万亿吨，这让我们生活在一个人与人的联系无限紧密的地球上。地球人口或将达到 90 亿甚至 100 亿。看看周围：人类是我们所看到的一切景象的智慧的设计师。地球上没有一块地方是不受我们影响的，我们甚至开始往太空里扔垃圾。
    我将带你们踏上一段旅程，向你们展示人类独特的属性是如何改变人类的，以及在这个过程中，这些属性是如何重构人类与自然之间的关系的。
    现在，所有人都处在一个非常特殊的临界点上。文化、生物和环境相互作用，正在高度合作的人类群体中创造一种新生物——人类正在成为一个超有机体。我们姑且称之为全能智人，简称全能人。
    这就是人类自我超越的故事。

    创世

    每种文化都有自己解释人类起源的创世神话。人类对自己的起源充满了好奇，于是编造了许多离奇的神话故事，解释类似猿如何学会说话等那些难以置信的事情。重要的是，事情的真相确实意义非凡。
    仰望星空，我们看见的并不是它们现在的样子，而是几百万年前的样子。人类正在用自己的眼睛观察过去的世界，接收人类诞生之前就有的光和图像，感知早已不复存在的美好。
    人类不仅要通过历史，也需要通过科学了解人类起源，毕竟现在的人类是由过去的人类发展而来的。这就好像一个人的酒窝可能遗传自他的曾祖母，一个国家的政治基础可能源自古时的某场战役，所以我们要回到过去，回到我们祖先的时代，才能找到驱动当今人类世界发展的各种结构、科学技术和行为的源头。
    探索到最后，我们发现，人类同太阳联系密切。我们的创世故事是一个关于物理学、化学和生物学的故事，这三者共同作用创造了某种物质，而这种物质又控制着这三者。从地球上的每一个人到地球上的一切，再到地球本身乃至宇宙中的每一个星系，都紧密地联系在一起。这种联系可以追溯到 137 亿年前的奇点上。

    第一章 开端：孕育人类的地球

    137 亿年前，宇宙大爆炸产生了足够的物质而非反物质，创造了我们今天看到的宇宙。
    宇宙大爆炸的奇点曾像量子点一样稳定。宇宙大爆炸后，它的产物以无序状态不断膨胀。在地球上，宇宙中唯一已知的生命体同熵进行斗争，试图在无序中创造有序，利用粒子能量形成复杂的物质结构。
    物质的产生需要能量。物质由原子构成，而原子是构成铁块、大象的耳朵还是热带雨林的气味，取决于质子数的不同。1 个氢原子只有 1 个核内质子，而 1 个铅原子则有 82 个核内质子。氢和铅的不同及对我们的用处主要由原子之间的能量转移方式决定。原子的能量转移方式又受到核外电子的影响。这些电子绕原子核运动，遵循量子力学的玄妙法则。
    原子间的电子运动伴随着能量的交换，这是地球上每一个化学反应的基础。这些反应可以是 DNA（脱氧核糖核酸）的复制，也可以是婴儿的咯咯笑声。我们早餐喝的粥中也含有电子，正是电子运动转换的生物能，才让我们中午有力气吃三明治。电子运动帮助原子形成化学键，构成分子。分子是所有活细胞的基本构成物质，也是构成人类的基础。
    宇宙中大约 90%的物质是氢，5%是氦（2 个质子组成的惰性元素）。氢和氦都是在宇宙大爆炸的瞬间产生的元素。恒星发光时，氢原子融合，产生人类世界中质量更大的元素，包括氧、碳和氮。这些元素在宇宙中十分罕见，却是构成人类身体的主要元素。剧烈的宇宙大爆炸带来了人类，也带来了我们珍视的元素。人们佩戴的黄金首饰，很可能是某次足以让整个宇宙随之震颤的恒星碰撞后的残骸。

    引力将星际间由氢、氦和宇宙尘构成的云（即星云）汇聚在一起，使这些物质的原子融合，释放出巨大的能量，创造出新一代恒星。太阳是人类创世故事中最重要的恒星。诞生于 46 亿年前的太阳是一个核反应堆，它在宇宙尘埃云中不断燃烧氢气。日冕层之外，大量矿物质碰撞融合，形成了不同的星球。其中，地球是太阳系由内到外的第三颗行星。地球形成之后，受到一颗巨大的小行星的撞击下，被削去很大一部分，削去的部分形成月球。受月球的影响，地球上出现潮汐变化。此外，撞击使地球的地轴倾斜，形成了四季和洋流。地球的位置、木星的引力和地球与太阳的相对位置为宇宙间最伟大的实验创造了一个坩埚。

    水分子仅占地球分子的三百万分之一，但有一点很关键，它们都集中在地表上。40 亿年前，彗星撞击地球，它带来的数种氨基酸是 DNA 的重要组成成分。它们与地球上的元素结合，促使海洋中孕育出生命，拉开了创世故事的序幕。因为纳米级别的原子质量过小，所受万有引力可忽略不计，所以占主导地位的是分子间作用力，比如静电荷的吸引与排斥。人们吃惊地发现，某些化学过程可以自我复制。单一的 DNA 分子可以进行自我复制，创造出新生命。这种奇迹是发生了一次还是多次？确切答案我们无从知晓，但可以确定的是，一个可以自我复制的细胞奇迹般地进化出了令人难以置信的多样性生命，这其中包括人类。而人类品尝了智慧果，现在能够创造自然了。

    生物的进化没有目的，也没有方向。视、走、飞的能力可能会出现在不同的生物上，也可能会消失。但复杂的生物进化需要时间。在与人类相似的生物产生之前，其他生物和环境的进化已经持续了几十亿年。最初，地球上的大气不能供生命呼吸，因为原始大气由氢气和水蒸气组成，不含氧气。20 亿年后，大气中才含有“生命之气”——氧气。这种改变要归功于蓝绿藻。它们吸收光能，进行二氧化碳同化，制造糖类有机物。在制糖的过程中，氧气作为副产物被释放到大气中。

    光合作用、呼吸作用、火山爆发、地质运动以及地球公转过程中与太阳距离的远近都会不断影响大气中的温室气体二氧化碳和“生命之气”氧气的平衡，改变地球气候，改变海洋的化学和生物结构。在地球形成伊始的 35 亿年间，地球经历了一次又一次强烈的冰川作用。最后一次冰川作用结束后，结构复杂的多细胞生命形式在地球上激增。

    生命的出现彻底改变了地球，将地球变成了一个能呼吸的、极具生命力的系统。植物进化时，其根茎加速了岩石的分解，侵蚀河道，拓宽河流。植物的光合作用产生化学能，为整个地球提供能量。动物吃掉植物，吸收化学能，释放二氧化碳。动物死后，它们的尸体形成原始岩石的沉积层。

    反过来，地球也制约着生物的繁衍，因为生物的进化受到地球地质条件、物理因素和化学因素的多重影响。在过去 5 亿年间，地球上有 5 次物种大灭绝，主要原因是火山喷发、地壳活动、行星撞击和重大气候变化事件。每一次大灭绝后的幸存者都会重整旗鼓、不断繁殖。繁殖过程中会产生基因随机突变，这些突变后的基因会传递给下一代，就像中国耳语游戏。环境迫使生物进化，生物也会选择性地适应环境带来的进化压力，这是一个双向的过程。以植物为例，随着基因的改变，植物逐渐适应了沙漠环境，又反过来把沙漠变成相对湿润的灌木丛林或旱地森林。而这种改变又会影响其他基因和物种在这里生存的可能。

    回顾历史，我们发现人类的进化似乎是必然的。但并非如此，我们人类的产生没有必然性，其他任何智慧生命的产生亦是如此。不过就是大量的大大小小的偶然事件累积在一起，经过漫长的岁月，这些偶然汇聚成了涓涓细流，带来了不可预料的结果。这也就可以解释为什么章鱼和人类这两个完全不同的物种可以共享时空。
    我们要感谢上天赐予我们最大的进化突破。6600万年前，6月下旬的某天，一颗令珠穆朗玛峰都相形见绌的巨大陨石以每秒14千米的速度（子弹速度的20倍）坠落在现在的墨西哥尤卡坦半岛。它来势汹汹、速度极快，落到地球表面时完好无损。这颗陨石对地球大气层造成了巨大压力，在它坠落到地表之前就已经压迫地面形成了巨坑。坑有约 32 千米深，直穿地幔。这次撞击形成的冲击波波及整个地球，引发了火山喷发、地震、滑坡和火灾。灾难后，即便有幸存下来的生命，它们大多也被随后天谴般的全球气候变化毁灭了。统治地球数百万年的恐龙消失了，随之产生的生物空缺由哺乳类动物的祖先填补。
    约1000 万年后，迅速的气候变化使世界变得湿润。热带雨林、棕榈树和红树林向北蔓延至英格兰和加拿大，向南至新西兰。当时的北冰洋水面平静、水流平缓，水温达到 20 多摄氏度。全球海平面上升，动植物大规模迁徙或灭绝。哺乳类动物逐渐多样，出现了许多今天常见物种的祖先，包括第一批真正的灵长类动物。约 2,000 万年前，印度洋板块和亚欧板块相互碰撞，板块交界处高高隆起，形成了雄伟的喜马拉雅山脉，青藏高原开始上升，这种上升态势一直持续到今天。板块碰撞形成的新地理情况让该处的生物和气候都发生了巨大变化。比如猿猴分化出新大陆猴和旧大陆猴，包括东南亚季风气候在内的多种新气候类型形成。同时，非洲之角下方的火山活动在非洲大陆东部撕开了一个南北大裂谷，裂谷两侧隆起高山，其间有一个海拔不断升高的山谷。这一过程破坏了地貌，改变了气候，孕育出大量进化的机会。
    人类突出的色觉或许可以追溯到这个时期，此时，已经学会觅食的人类祖先发生了基因突变，进化出额外的（第三种）视锥细胞，使它们可以分辨红色，而大多数猴子只能看见蓝色和绿色。依靠辨色能力，它们可以识别有毒植物和成熟果实。成熟果实含有更多的能量，而且消耗较少的能量便可将其消化吸收。良好的营养促进了大脑发育。有数据表明，吃果实的灵长类动物比吃植物的同类多 25%的大脑组织。
    人类进化过程中，另一个关键转折点是我们祖先的栖息地从森林转移到草原，其根源可追溯到300万年前的一次地质活动。当时，漂浮的南美大陆与北美大陆在今天的巴拿马附近冲撞在一起，这改变了洋流路线，分割了太平洋，形成了如今的大西洋和加勒比海。热带的温暖海水向北冰洋流动，到了那里水温下降，海水下沉，并向南回流，形成大洋传输带，主导了全球大部分地区的气候。这个环流形成了墨西哥湾暖流，为冰封的北极提供水分，多次带来全球冰期，甚至重置了全球降水分布。这使东非气候变得干旱，并在那里产生了全新的热带草原。
    在人类祖先逐步适应草原环境的几十万年中，气候变化也使以前的森林栖息地面积逐渐缩小。大多数时间里草原上没有果实，所以我们的祖先不得不花费大量精力咀嚼植物的根和鳞茎来获取蛋白质，而且越来越依赖群体的帮助。人类这种由可自我复制的细胞编排而成的物种，已准备好开始自我驯化。

    第二章 诞生：成为文化的物种

    直布罗陀巨岩屹立于欧洲南端，即便隔着地中海从非洲望去，这个荒凉的白色地质图腾依然清晰可见。巨岩底部有一个泪滴形裂口，里面便是戈勒姆岩洞，其内部巨大，宛如一座教堂。这里上演过怎样的故事？又是谁，在何时，在这古老的由海浪冲击形成的岩洞内出生、恋爱、工作、生活，直到死去？这个岩洞是我们祖先的近亲尼安德特人在地球上最后的家园，它们在此生活了数十万年。

    回溯到 35,000 年前：彼时的欧洲大陆还处于极寒的冰川时期，局部出现了物种灭绝，而本可以迁往气候温暖地区的一些动物却选择留了下来。因为在那样艰苦的时间里，戈勒姆岩洞着实是一个世外桃源。海平面比别处低上好几米，辽阔的狩猎平原一直延伸到海边。岩石高处会有人放哨，随时提醒下面的人注意猎物或是危险，比如狮子。岩洞前地势开阔，矮丘上碧草如茵，泉源湖波光粼粼。湖附近的湿地是鸟儿和鹿的天堂。半岛周围蛤蜊成群，燧石成丘。附近的洞穴是尼安德特人的聚居地。

    来看看尼安德特人的日常生活。岸边，孩子们在收集河中的浮木。平原上，两个女人刚刚伏击了一只漂亮的黑羽秃鹫，准备把它带回戈勒姆岩洞。岩洞的中庭有一个大壁炉，人们聚集于此，有的在聊天，有的在准备食物，有的在打磨工具、制作衣服。一个20多岁的小伙子皮肤黝黑，身材高大，正用石刀削着一根笔直的白杨树杈，削下的木屑卷被他踢进了壁炉的柴火堆中。小伙子身边一个红头发的矮胖女人正在剥蛤蜊，并把它们串在一根削尖的骨头上。弄好后，她先送给她虚弱的婶婶吃。婶婶的孩子夭折了，人们已经将孩子埋葬。
    这边在准备食物的时候，另一边，一个年长的男人，好像是个巫师，正在用打来的秃鹫制作漂亮的黑羽披肩和头饰。这些人有着丰富的精神生活，还有时间思考和创造艺术。洞穴深处是一间间小卧室，每间卧室都点着用来防御的火堆。一个特殊角落里有一块石雕，上边刻有交叉着的平行线，这种符号所代表的意义已经消失在了漫漫历史长河中。相比较来说，偏北部地区的尼安德特人创造的东西更容易理解，比如赭色的动物画、手印、鹰爪串成的项链和赭色蛤蜊壳制成的盒子。
    他们不知道，他们已经走出非洲，有着先进的文化和超强的生存本领，最后仍将走向灭亡。在短短一代人的时间里，干旱的气候将适合打猎的茂密森林变成了尼安德特人不了解的草原。幸存下来的少数人生育率也不高，婴儿总是生下来就夭折，大人们也更容易染上疾病。或许他们已经遇见了体型稍小的智人，这些人大规模地迁移，来到尼安德特人雄踞已久的地盘上建起他们的家园。这样一想，就觉得人类是如此脆弱。而又是怎样的偶然让今天坐在这里的是我们，而不是尼安德特人的子孙呢？

    要想回答“生而为人意味着什么”，我们或许首先要问，是什么让我们的生活方式，即我们的文化，有别于其他动物。人类文化其实是个特例。尽管动物有着越来越多令人着迷的行为，但没有任何一种动物的文化会像人类文化一样复杂和灵活。大多数动物都依赖天生的技能生存，而非相互学习。它们的文化不具有累积性。同人类日新月异的科技不同，几百万年来动物们使用的简单工具似乎没有任何显著的改良。

    不过，部分动物的文化确实可以在同类之间传播。这些物种必须要足够聪明，能够学习全新的行为，还要有足够的社交能力来传播文化。与人类血缘最近的黑猩猩使用的工具复杂程度最高。原本，人类与它们有共同的祖先，但是在 600 万年前二者出现了分化，走上了各自的进化道路。灵长类动物学家在非洲黑猩猩身上发现了 39 种不同的行为（大部分黑猩猩群体有 20 种），其中最复杂的是砸坚果。

    文化的累积性是指文化发展像棘轮一样，一环搭一环，根据自身情况不断进行调整，并代代累积下来。而一种文化想要具有累积性，需要达到很高的要求。一只黑猩猩可以用石头砸开坚果。另一只黑猩猩能学习这种行为（文化）。但是它不需要思考用什么样的石头砸、怎么砸，只知道拿石头砸，坚果基本能被砸开。但是，如果想要让砸坚果变得更有效率，就要考虑选择哪种类型、哪种形状的石头，甚至可能还需要自己磨石头。简言之，就是要增加步骤。黑猩猩要把每个步骤按顺序准确地记下来，然后向另一只黑猩猩展示，让对方学会正确的流程并能教会下一只黑猩猩。久而久之，随着新步骤不断增加，砸坚果的方法得到改良，坚果夹就被发明出来了。同基因进化一样，文化只能在足够精确的复制下才能进化。这就要求某一文化中成功的方法，比如选择合适的石头，必须要被长期保留下来，直到有更好的方法出现。黑猩猩们无法做到这一点，但是人类对此很在行。
    那么，一种拥有不断进化的文化的动物，它自身的进化是何时发生的呢？
    如果拿着儿时的照片站在镜子前，我们很难把照片中的自己和镜中的成年人对应起来。明明是同一个人，但是随着时间的流逝，我们的大脑和身体却发生了很多变化。
    要追溯过去，一探几万年前人类的生活，我们需要更加丰富的想象力和更强大的同理心。事实上那些人与我们也没有太大的区别。他们也需要食物、居所和友谊。面对人生的挑战，生活上的也好，技术上的也罢，他们同样需要思考解决方案。他们成功了——有些只是昙花一现，而有些，比如直立人，则延续了100多万年。我们少有机会接触到这些早已逝去的近亲祖先，但是每次接触都有实实在在的证据，比如支撑身体奔跑的股骨、容纳智慧大脑的头骨。比起这些身体化石，更让人感慨的是他们留下的遗产：亲手制造的工具和在墙上留下的标记。可见我们的祖先在很早以前就有装饰的想法了。
    其实，在大多数情况下，我们的祖先并没有留下存在的痕迹。他们用兽皮和纤维制作衣服和工具，但这些东西最后都腐烂成泥，就连他们自己的身体最后也都归还给了养育他们的大自然。但在我们的 DNA 中，在我们的性格中，在人与人之间的交往中，都有我们祖先的身影。我们对他们无比好奇，不仅因为他们跟我们有着不同的生活方式，更因为他们是我们文化的祖先。

    依据这些线索，包括古生物学家、人类学家、地质学家、气候学家在内的许多专家尝试还原地球上某个时期数十种古人类一起生活的场景。1965年，鲁道夫·扎林格绘制了著名的《进化进行曲》。从这幅画看，人类进化就是不同人科动物排队依次行进，远古人类朝着现代人的方向在进化。画中展现的是一个线性进化过程，从左到右，每一个角色都是其左侧角色的直系后代。这幅画将现代人类形象放在了进化过程的最前端，象征着我们在进化竞赛中取得了胜利。

    《进化进行曲》，鲁道夫·扎林格绘制

    这幅画将现代人类形象放在了进化过程的最前端，象征着我们在进化竞赛中取得了胜利。但是古生物学和遗传学的最新发现表明，《进化进行曲》不过是一幅卡通画，唯一接近事实的就是现代人类的诞生时间距今不太久远。《进化进行曲》中描绘的不同形象很多是生活在同一时期的不同人种，他们之间并不是继承—进化的关系，有的甚至还是混种繁衍而来。最近的发现表明，这种混种繁衍在以前很常见。在进化的某个阶段，一种特殊的文化出现了。追溯它的出现要从我们和古人类共同的过去中寻找线索。
    最早的候选人是现代人类的祖先直立人，他们出现的年代最早，大约在 180 万年前。当时，古代人种的大脑体积从 600 立方厘米增长到 1 300 立方厘米。他们有亲社会属性，极其聪慧，可以记忆多步骤的行为，使用的工具也越来越复杂，不像 300 万年前早期人科动物制造的工具那样简单。这些简单工具一人即可制作，不需要他人帮忙。直立人是非常成功的猎人，他们会生火，能够使用工具，还善于社交，足迹遍布亚非欧。他们很可能有自己的语言，甚至还会制作简易的船只横渡大海，去小岛探险。从基因上看，直立人非常多样，种群丰富，分布广泛。数十万年的时间里，他们与其他古人种混居在一起，繁衍出下一代。120 万年前，可能是气候变化的原因，直立人几乎全军覆没，全世界仅剩下18500人。在长达100多万年的时间中，我们祖先的濒危程度甚至比现在的黑猩猩和大猩猩还要严重。但也或许正是因为这种人口瓶颈，尽管人种的多样性有所减少，我们自身物种的进化反而得到了推动。

    我们不知道曾经有多少种不同的人类，换言之就是有多少“人种”。但是有证据表明，50 万年前，非洲海德堡人掌握了气候变化的规律，利用大地回春的时节，将自己的活动范围扩大到欧洲及更远的地区。但是到了 30 万年前，他们却停止进入欧洲。这可能是因为极寒的冰川时期在撒哈拉创造出了一片茫茫沙漠，隔绝了海德堡人和其他人种的交流。这种隔绝导致基因差异进一步发展，最后形成了不同的人种。也就是从那时起，非洲首次出现了解剖学意义上的现代人类，即智人。在非洲，智人发展自己的文化，同新近发现的纳莱迪人（现已灭绝）等其他人种混居在一起繁衍生息。而那些离开非洲的人种逐渐适应了欧洲北部较冷的环境，最终成为尼安德特人、丹尼索瓦人和其他只能通过遗传学才能被了解的人种。

    大约 8 万年前，第一批现代人类家庭成功走出非洲。当时，尼安德特人十分活跃，从西伯利亚到西班牙南部都有他们的活动范围。我们在人类现存的基因中还能感受到他们的存在。因为我们似乎无论在哪里遇到其他人种，都会与他们繁衍后代。包括我在内的每一位有欧洲血统的人，基因图谱中都有尼安德特人的DNA。其中有多达 20%的尼安德特人的基因组，或许曾因帮助过人类在欧洲生存下来，现在仍在代代相传。其他古人类也在现代人类的基因中留下了遗产。澳大利亚原住民携带着我们所知甚少的丹尼索瓦人的基因。还有那些还没能辨别出名字的古人类种族，也影响了世界各地其他人种的基因，包括距今两万年的非洲人种。可能是天性使然，我们的祖先总能从自己遇到的各类人种身上获得有用的适应性基因，这帮助我们的祖先将活动范围成功地扩大至全世界。

    想象一下，在那个时代，人们可以遇到那些真正不同种族的人。他们和我们一样，也在进行文化试验。我们当时都很脆弱。把生存的“鸡蛋”全都放在了文化一个“篮子”里，要与凶猛的野兽和残酷的天气斗争，人类的进化面临着巨大的风险。我们自身并没有做好应对的准备，因此，在人类历史的大部分时间里，我们的生存都岌岌可危。例如，74,000 年前，印度尼西亚托巴的火山大爆发导致全世界人类数量骤减至几千，濒临灭绝。今天，尽管世界上还有不同种类的类人猿，但存活下来的人类只有一种。

    在这场“赌博”里，人类文化赌赢了。人类的近亲全都灭绝了，仅有星星点点的记录表明他们曾在地球上生活过几十万年。因此，如果要把人类在地球上取得的成功归因于我们的文化，就要认识到，人类的辉煌不是一种必然。这一点，已经灭绝的尼安德特人就是最好的说明。他们有自己的文化。甚至跟我们相比，他们身体更壮，大脑更大，更能适应寒冷的环境，但到最后，他们还是灭绝了。为什么只有我们成功存活了下来呢？

    有运气的成分在。气候变化对草原猎人十分有利。我们或许携带了欧洲人没有免疫力的疾病。更重要的是，在尼安德特人遇上草原猎人之前，尼安德特人已经开始近亲繁衍，他们的人口总数仅是同时期智人的 1/10。据遗传学家估计，尼安德特人的进化适应度比同一时期的现代人低 40%。进化适应度是衡量一个物种生存和繁殖能力的指标。较低的进化适应度导致尼安德特人的相对人口和基因多样性水平较低。曾有人利用电脑模拟旧石器时代的人类与尼安德特人的互动情况，根据人口数量、迁徙模式和生态因素等资料，电脑演算出，尼安德特人应该是在人类到达后的12,000 年内灭绝或被完全同化的。

    进化的成功最终是通过数量来衡量的——进入欧洲的人类数量更多。但是为什么会这样？是像大家以为的那样，我们比我们的近亲更聪明吗？不排除这种可能性，但事实是，无论是大脑的大小，还是使用的工具，我们都和尼安德特人极其相似。尽管如此，我们的生理或文化中必定存在什么东西，使得人类的发展可以欣欣向荣，并使人类在异常恶劣的环境中具有更强的适应力，毕竟当时世界上多达 1/3 的土地都被冰层覆盖。

    基因库的规模和多样性为我们了解文化规模和多样性提供了一条线索。人类之间的联系越紧密，人口数量越多，就让人类整体拥有越多可利用的文化知识。相比其他人种，我们现代人的祖先可能更擅长社交和互相学习，对外部世界更加好奇。还有一点很能说明问题，那就是尽管尼安德特人已经生存了几十万年，但他们从来没有离开过他们的家园，而我们的祖先早已开始探索世界。化石记录证明，对于所有物种来说，遍及全球的分散性会让它们遇到灾难时最有可能存活下来。

    正如本书所讲，长期以来，人类之所以能够成功存活，同不断变化的生存环境、种群规模和社会结构密不可分。气候的急剧变化、人口扩张或减少都会带来人类的创新和文化活动的大爆发，当然也有可能是大幅下降。在这些经历中，我们试验、学习并教会彼此生存的技巧。我们分布在全球的各个角落，因此我们的基因有很强的适应能力。人类的生存和发展完全依赖于地球，但随着文化发展，人类开始改造地球家园，控制生育率，直到我们成为唯一能够决定自己命运的物种。
    让我们通过4个关键因素一探变化的究竟。首先，从推动文化进化的火开始。

    火

    所有生命都需要能量来维持，并从食物中获得能量。对植物而言，太阳能为其提供能量。人类也能够利用自然形式的能量，让一切变得不同。人类之所以成为现在的人类，是因为我们可以利用其他形式的能量，从而能够摆脱环境的限制，扩展我们的身体机能。那么，人类是如何在环境、生物和文化之间建立起一种新的关系的呢？

    第三章 环境改造：重新创造我们的生态系统

    12 月的澳大利亚昆士兰州酷暑当头。我沿太平洋高速公路一路驱车而下，经过甘蔗田，穿过空旷的原始森林。黏糊的轮胎在沥青路上转动，路上热气蒸腾，单调的蝉鸣声不绝于耳。热浪猛烈地吹过平地，稀释了甘蔗田甜得发腻的味道，取而代之的是绿色粗糠柴让人沉醉的气味和桉树的刺鼻气味。从车里望出去，低矮的灌木丛如同树林一般。蜥蜴、蛇和鸟（大部分都是尸体）从我眼前飞驰而过。道路笔直，偶尔有个转弯。我就这样以稳定的每小时 80 千米的速度沿着柏油路一路向南。
    过了一会儿，我回过神后才发现路两边的绿植变黑了。我顿觉新奇，也隐约感到了一种宁静。我继续向前开，前方烟雾四起，烟笼罩着烧焦的地面。道路上有许多鸟，黑色鸦科鸟类和猛禽在高速公路上盘旋，寻找从滚烫的树丛中逃出的猎物。黑鸦、黑烟和黑灰连成一片。再往前开，烟雾更浓，车外一片漆黑，我仿佛置身异界，燃烧产生的硫黄臭气很呛鼻。明亮的火光在黑暗中跳动，阴燃的火焰愈燃愈烈，直到路的尽头变成一条舞动的火河。我担心这里可能会很危险。躲在车里的我从挡风玻璃和后视镜里看到了同样的景象：火花飞溅，浓烟四起，让人不知所措。
    于是我放慢了车速。
    隔着车窗，我看见两边的火池越来越多，火势愈演愈烈，有连成一片之势。我甚至都能听到火的声音，像一条猛龙在咆哮怒吼。一时间，高高的火墙将我包围住，吞噬着车子周围的空气。高温令光线扭曲，火龙的吼声震耳欲聋，浓烟从紧闭的车窗渗了进来。我惊慌失措。
    时间仿佛停滞了，每一秒都令人十分煎熬，周围也安静了下来。我的视线变得模糊，我的双手紧握方向盘。我猛踩油门，终于在几分钟后穿越火区。在我身后，浓烟滚滚，直冲青天，而在我前面是一片色彩斑斓的世界。我降下车窗，呼吸着桉树散发的樟脑味道，享受着绿树蓝天的美景，聆听鸟儿的鸣叫声，我的心也不再怦怦猛跳了。

    在被人类驯服的人造世界里，多数情况下大自然不会给人类造成威胁，但是火仍然保持着可怕的威力。它破坏环境、毁坏财产，是一个主要杀手。困在大火中的那几分钟给我留下了深刻印象，我感觉自己到了地狱。火是一种原始产物。
    但世界上有一个时期是没有火的。那时，地球就像它在太阳系星云中形成时一样，由炽热的液体物质组成，无法维持火的燃烧。
    在最初 10 亿年左右的时间里，地球上没有火是因为没有东西可供燃烧，也没有氧气来帮助燃烧。但是随着地球进化出了可进行光合作用的细菌，以及过了很久之后最初的森林的出现，地球才具备了火燃烧的条件。所有生命都要为其自身毁灭创造环境。
    燃烧是一种可见化学反应：氧和燃料混合，散发出光和热能。这同我们从食物中获取能量、维持生命是一样的化学反应。但在活细胞中，这种反应被称为新陈代谢，是一个缓慢的过程，而火焰的燃烧快如闪电，释放大量的能量。我们的祖先学会了取火，并征服了这股原始力量，为自己所用。人类率先利用火改造养育自己的环境，从而扩充了自己的生态位，永久地改变了生态和不可抗力之间的动态关系。
    当人类开始有意识地获取体外能量资源时，我们就超越了生物生命的范围，开启了一种新的生存状态。丰富的体外能量使一种全新的选择性适应形式成为可能，即累积性的文化进化，这种进化决定了人类的未来。我们的祖先发展出能够利用外部能量的能力，这样一来，人类文化发展的认知和社会条件不断加强。由于大脑的发育，人类更善于社交、合作和互相学习。能源推动物种的发展，我们对能源使用效率的追求将加速文化进化，甚至能改变人类基因，让所有人都成为电子人。
    所有的一切，都始于数百万年前的一场野火。

    大火吞噬了森林，破坏了栖息地，切断了食物来源，但同时也为包括草在内的新植物的生长开辟了空间，改变了其他动植物在食物链上的等级。在广阔的大草原上，大型食草动物越来越多，捕猎它们的食肉动物也越来越多。

    火能够改变一个环境中食物的密度，我们的祖先显然也发现了这一点。在进化到某一阶段的时候，他们开始利用火。早期居住在森林里的人类祖先和鸟类都发现，火灾过后很容易找到食物。随着原始人渐渐可以直立行走，他们更容易到达广阔地带，这些本来主要吃素食的原始人对肉类越来越感兴趣。有证据表明，在340 万年以前的埃塞俄比亚，尽管南方古猿的牙齿和下巴还没进化到能够正常吃肉，但他们已经开始食用牛和山羊大小的动物了。

    他们用石器宰杀动物，吃生肉，并敲碎动物的骨头吸食骨髓。咀嚼和消化生肉很困难，而煮熟的肉类（和植物）更美味、食用起来更卫生，还能让人类更有效地获取热量。这是因为火能够让食物发生化学变化，变得更容易消化。吃熟食的人会更健康，存活的时间更长，从而把基因传给下一代，把获取食物的本领传授给其他人，因而生火煮食在我们的祖先的饮食中变得越来越重要。而且，丛林大火产生的烟雾可以吸引来自远方的种群。

    久而久之，我们的祖先学会了利用野火生火，让我们与火的关系又近了一步。在澳大利亚，包括黑鸢在内的一些猛禽也有传播火的文化。有一种被原住民称为“火鹰”的鸟会从野火中衔起燃烧的树枝，然后故意在其他地方点火，以便引出草丛中的猎物。不难想象，数百万年前，我们聪明的祖先也会做同样的事情，他们把燃烧的余烬从一个营地带到另一个营地。这些火种通过人手相传的方式保留下来，传递到不同的地方。因此，人类对火越来越依赖，人与人之间的关系也就变得更为亲密。

    火是人类的保护伞。人类的祖先最开始为了安全而在树上睡

    觉，而后来火能够保护他们的后代免受食肉动物的侵袭和寒冷的

    折磨，他们便可在广阔的草原上睡觉。换句话说，火改变了人类

    的生存方式，火让世界变得更加安全，于是人类开始改变周围的

    环境。当然，我们并不是第一种改变环境的动物，但其他大多数

    动物对环境的改变都是出于本能，也就是它们的基因促使它们以

    特定的方式改变环境。比如，海狸可以筑水坝，蚂蚁可以筑复杂

    的土丘，但海狸不能筑土丘，蚂蚁也不能筑水坝。相比之下，人

    类体内并没有哪类基因决定要对某种特定的环境进行改变，相反，

    人类创造力非凡。我们祖先的基因不断进化，从而适应了由文化

    主导的全新环境。后来，我们完全靠两足行走，适合攀爬的双足

    进化成更适合跑步的平足。这种进化只有在夜间足够安全的情况

    下才可行，而火正起到了保证安全的作用。

    接下来是生火。这是人类必须学习的技能，而且是人类赖以生存的技能。正是由于生火的技能如此重要，所以每种文化里都有精心设计的神话来描述火的起源。古希腊人说火是普罗米修斯从神那里偷来的最好的礼物。普罗米修斯因盗取天火而被永世缚在山崖上，每日遭神鹰啄食肝脏。北极的育空人说乌鸦从水中央的一座火山上偷走了火。尼日利亚的埃科伊人则说火是一个小男孩从创造之神奥巴斯·奥斯奥那里偷来的，这个小男孩教人们生火，但他因为偷窃行为而受到跛足的惩罚。

    我想象中的取火非常平淡无奇。两件石器相互摩擦肯定会产生火花。这样一想，我们的祖先能生火也不足以称为一大飞跃。然而，据目前所知，只有人类能生火。目前发现的最早的人类火种来自东非大裂谷颇有考古价值的图尔卡纳遗址。尽管火种保存得不是很好，但它距今已有150万年的历史。

    取火可以很简单，钻木就可以取火。我曾在坦桑尼亚与一群哈扎比部落的猎人有过难忘的狩猎经历，在那之后，他们教我如何取火。我坐在地上，把一块又宽又平的木头紧紧夹在两脚之间，这块木头被称为灶台木。他们先是向我展示了如何在木头上磨出一个凹槽，然后给了我一根类似铅笔一样的光滑笔直的木棍。我将木棍的尖端牢牢地插在凹槽里，用手掌来回搓动木棍，让木棍不断摩擦凹槽。几分钟以后就有烟冒出来。随后将油树皮的干木屑放在凹槽里引火。猎人们手捧灶台木，将木屑吹进火里。其实钻木取火并没有看起来那么简单。我怀疑，如果没有人告诉我怎么做，我自己很难摸索出这种方法。首先要确定哪里可以找到合适的木棍和灶台木，这一点看似不起眼，其实非常重要。其中一位哈扎比人把绳子绑在木棍上来回拉动，这就形成了一个钻头，很好地保护了人的手掌。他从别处学到这个方法，又把它传授给其他人。有证据表明，在法国几个尼安德特人的聚居地有一种特别复杂的点火方式，其中用到了燃点较低的软锰矿（二氧化锰）。考古学家发现了大量的黑色小方块，他们认为这些方块混合了引火菌粉末，需要时就可以随时生火，就像我们今天用火柴一样。但无论一个种群使用哪种方法，都会一代一代地把这个方法传递下去，这些方法和生火材料一样珍贵。

    小小的火苗是区分原始人与其他动物的关键。灵长类动物的文化行为很简单，而且对于聪明的个体来说，靠自己很容易实现创新。但对于它们来说生火的步骤烦琐，操作复杂。在 100 多万年前的直立人时代，从生火到制造工具，当时的人类已经有了复杂多样的技能，但是这些方法不可能是一个人在自己的有生之年创造的。相反，这些知识之所以能够积累起来，是人们互相学习，不断练习和记忆细节的结果。人类文化建立发展起来，我们祖先的大脑已经进化到可以学习了。

    那么究竟是因为我们的大脑变得更大、更聪明了，所以能生火，还是生火让我们拥有了更大、更聪明的大脑呢？答案是二者都有。这是一个相互促进的进化过程，进化的结果要到数十万年后才能看到，其间我们的基因、文化和所处的环境都发生了适应性变化。正如希腊人所说，火赋予了人类神一般的力量，让人类凌驾于自然。古人类成为环境的建造师，利用火改善他们喂养的食草动物的生存条件，创造适合他们需求的生态系统，从而提高了生存能力。

    换句话说，我们的祖先创造的环境条件有利于他们传播文化。他们越能控制和调节自己的生存环境（及他们子孙的生存环境），代代传递文化信息的优势就越明显。这就是我们创造自己的过程。改造环境后，人类迁徙到大草原。那里能更加容易地捕猎到更大的动物，这些动物有更多的脂肪和肉，能够产生更高的热量。我们发现的最早的人类狩猎的证据大约是在 200 万年前，这标志着人类文化的一大进步，改变了我们祖先的身体结构和行为方式。数百万年来，原始人主要是素食者，因文化和环境的变化，开始食用肉食，之后他们的身体也适应了肉食。到我们祖先的时候，人类已变成了有耐力的猎手，弹跳力强，脚背拱起，臀部和骨盆收窄，臀部肌肉发达，面部宽阔扁平，S 形脊柱支撑着身体。我们的躯干和手臂变长，确保走路平稳。我们还拥有了投掷的新能力。尽管一些灵长类动物偶尔会投掷物体，但只有人类能够在投掷石头或长矛时可以兼备速度和准头，这是因为人类的肩膀和躯干可以支撑投掷动作，解剖学家估计这种进化发生在 200 万年前。

    人类体毛减少，汗腺数量大大增加，这让我们在太阳下跑步

    时，可以出汗降温，从而保持稳定的体温。体毛减少的原因可能

    是某个基因的改变，这让人类在所有灵长类动物中汗腺密度最高，

    每天能够产生数升的汗液保持体温稳定。大约在同一时期，我们

    的祖先体内出现了一种深色皮肤的基因，保护我们免受紫外线的

    伤害。人类的基因随着人类的行为发生改变，我们比草原上的其

    他动物更长寿，奔跑的耐力比它们更强，还能用投掷的方式捕猎。

    伴随着这一系列身体上的变化，人类认知、文化和社会也发

    生了转变。饮食方式发生转变，人类适应环境的能力变得更强（换

    句话说，身体进化提高了人类在环境中的生存能力）。很明显，

    我们的基因进化已经改变了轨迹：与草原上其他的狩猎者不同，

    我们的身体条件一般，没有锋利的牙齿和爪子，但文化和身体结

    构的变化让我们成为最具杀伤力的生物。即使是在 200 万年前，

    人类的狩猎工具和武器也比其他动物的更多样化。驱赶猎物时黑

    猩猩只使用棍棒，海豚只使用海绵，而人类使用的工具和武器是

    自己制造的。与其他动物不同，人类祖先使用的是一系列的工具

    而不是一件工具，而且他们会对捕杀的猎物进行处理，骨头、角

    和毛皮都另有用处。在特定的工作中使用特定的工具比保持一身

    肌肉更有效。狩猎是后天形成的文化适应，步骤烦琐，经过数千

    代人的改进，演变成了今天的全球机械化肉类生产产业。

    反过来，狩猎从根本上改变了人类社会。它带来了猎人和采集者之间的劳动分工，并且让人们在一个地方居住的时间更长。与此同时，营火成为群体生活的一部分，人们需要经常关注营火是否还在燃烧，是否需要补充木柴。这意味着，人们在只能勉强糊口的情况下，为了寻找木柴，还要频繁长途奔波，而这必然会带来额外的消耗。为了解决额外劳动力成本消耗，提高狩猎效率，人类社会出现了更大的多代群体。

    换句话说，狩猎让人类变得社会化。一次狩猎可能需要三四个人合作，如果要猎杀大象这样的大型动物，就需要一个更大的团队集体作战。一个团队想要成功，每个团队成员都必须能通过想象他人的想法和观点，来预测其他猎人和其他掠食者可能采取的行动。这要求团队成员必须要有毅力，因为这个过程可能要持续几个小时，同时还要有精湛的技巧、细致的观察和灵活的策略。人类学会了识别和跟踪动物的足迹，看懂它们的行为。每一次狩猎都需要深思熟虑，并且制订出缜密的计划：人类会在脑海中想象一个未来的场景，比如几个小时后我们会非常口渴，并告诉自己同伴。于是人们在狩猎时会用袋囊或皮囊装水。人类之所以比更强壮的动物活得更久，就是因为汗液蒸发后，人类体内仍有充足的水分供给，也因为人类可通过训练提升耐力。我们有精神策略来鼓励彼此前进，让我们即使身体疲惫，也可继续前进。我们可超越生理局限和阻碍，冲破限制我们的那堵“墙”。在人体因体力消耗或饥饿而不堪重负时，血液优先流向大脑而不是肌肉，因为当我们进化到某个阶段，敏捷的思考能力比快速行动更重要。

    狩猎是一项复杂的社会和心理活动，对体力要求高，具有一定的风险，但是与狩猎带来的更多热量相比，它消耗的体力不值一提。这种相互促进的进化过程推动着人类前进。

    合作狩猎对智力有严格要求，所以需要更大的额叶皮层，额

    叶皮层是大脑中处理社会行为、进行决策和解决问题的区域。这

    就是狮子这种唯一成群狩猎的大型猫科动物拥有高度发达的额

    叶皮层的原因。母狮的额叶皮层最大，它们在群体中活动的时间

    更长，并承担了大多数的捕猎活动。研究还发现，在海豚与渔民

    合作狩猎时，那些与渔民合作最好的海豚彼此之间的交流能力最

    强。它们彼此之间的亲密关系增加了从同伴那里学习合作狩猎技

    能的概率。只有当动物有足够的社交能力，而且有机会互相模仿

    时，新的行为才可以传播。在驯养动物之前，人类利用动物的社

    交能力来更有效地获取热量。例如，在撒哈拉以南非洲的一些部

    落，人们会依赖与小蜂鸟的伙伴关系。这种小蜂鸟会回应人类的

    呼声，并指引他们去蜂巢。到了蜂巢之后，人类可以用烟把蜜蜂

    熏出来，这样人类和小蜂鸟都能采到蜂蜜，而消耗的热量只是一

    些狩猎采集群体所消耗的热量的15%。

    不过，人类最依赖的还是人类同伴。与其他灵长类动物不同的是，人类狩猎不是只为了自己，他们会把食物带回去，分给同伴。有证据表明，200 万年前人类就会将食物带回自己的居住地。专业化提高了狩猎效率，最好的矛匠可能不是最会用矛的猎人，但制矛和用矛都有利于群体的发展，可以让群体成员捕获更多的猎物。合作和食物分享让一个群体变得更强大，让成员拥有更复杂多样的技能。尽管猎人在20多岁时身体最好，但狩猎能力要到40岁才会达到顶峰，因为对人类来说，成功更多地取决于专业知识的积累和技能的熟练程度，这些都需要时间去学习。在以狩猎采集为生的社会中，大多数猎人在 18 岁之前，都找不到足够的食物来养活自己，更不用说养活其他人了。相比之下，同样以狩猎采集为生的黑猩猩大约 5 岁时就能养活自己。即便一个人并非完全依赖群体生存，但如果哪天被赶出群体，或是群体中没有足够的食物可供分享，他挨饿的风险也会增加。群体和彼此合作对群体和个人的生存都有很大的帮助，比自力更生更胜一筹。

    人类越是能更好地利用集体生活，如照看火种、有策略地用火和合作狩猎，个人能获得的食物就越多，生活就越好，人类的基因就越有可能遗传下去。社交活动要消耗精力和时间，但它能提高人类的生存能力，因此会激发有利于发展的生物进化机制。所有灵长类动物每天都要花几个小时为彼此梳理毛发。这种身体上的交流，可以建立和维护成员之间的紧密联系，确保它们在群体中的阶层地位。梳理毛发能在动物体内释放天然麻醉剂内啡肽，让它们产生很舒服的感觉，因此会引发更多的社交行为。我们也会从社会交往中获得快乐。有一种神经回路通过释放后叶催产素或多巴胺来“奖励”社交行为，因此人们通常会想要再次寻求这样的体验。在集体活动中，尤其是在同步进行的活动中，比如音乐创作或跳舞，我们的大脑会释放出同样的“药物”，让我们想要寻求下一次刺激。社会排斥会造成伤害，它在大脑中引起的反应就像身体疼痛一样。然而，我们的祖先并没有把宝贵的白天时间花在互相梳理毛发上，而是用火来延长一天的时间，保证在天黑后还能进行社交活动。大多数哺乳动物每天的清醒时间是大约8个小时，而成年人类每天的清醒时间要长得多，可以达到16个小时甚至更长。傍晚时分是世界各地文化“社交”的开始。

    经历文化进化的人类能使用火和工具狩猎，而且颇具策略，但这一切也给环境带来了巨大的影响。东非如今只有 6 种大型食肉动物：狮子、豹子、猎豹、斑鬣狗、条纹鬣狗和野狗。200 万年前，那里的食肉动物种类曾多达 18 种，包括熊、麝猫、剑齿虎以及和熊差不多大小的水獭。我们的祖先开始狩猎之后，大型食肉动物的种类急剧减少，不仅是东非，其他地区也有类似的情况。到了约 11,000 年前的更新世，近 500 万人捕杀了约 10 亿只大型动物。即使捕杀没有致它们完全灭绝，人类也会和它们直接竞争，争夺猎物，或者是当其狩猎成功后对其进行驱赶。与大型猫科动物不同，身为杂食动物的人类，在艰苦年代总是可以依靠觅食存活。如此多的顶级食肉动物的消亡改变了东非的生态系统，通过所谓的营养级联，使小型哺乳动物和食草动物的数量激增，降低了森林覆盖率。人类取代了大型食肉动物的位置，成为地球上迄今为止最成功的捕食者。如今，大多数大型动物都忌惮投掷物，这是对人类行为的本能反应。

    人类进化的三位一体对我们居住的生态系统造成了多重影响，改变了许多动植物的进化轨迹。这进而又改变了人类自己的进化过程。食草动物数量减少，而且它们惧怕人类，导致使用长矛狩猎变得更加困难。更擅长长矛狩猎的人有了选择优势，所以历经数代，无论是从生理角度看（优秀的猎人将他优秀的基因传给后代），还是从文化进化角度看，人类都更擅长使用长矛狩猎了。这是因为，在我们的文化环境中，每个人都在练习这种技能，久而久之，自然会越做越好。

    火是人类最重要的工具，它不仅让人类能够改变环境，还帮助人类离开了至今仍束缚着很多灵长类动物的热带地区。人类比它们自由多了，“食物群”走到哪里，我们就跟到哪里，可按照自己的意愿选择安营地点，还可改变不适合居住的生态系统。直立人是人种中走遍全球的先锋，从热带地区到严寒的高纬度地区，到处都有他们的足迹。几十万年后，智人部落也进行了类似的大迁徙，在罕见的潮湿时期，这些人依靠含水层的泉水补给，冒险离开非洲。这个过程很缓慢：根据考古研究和远古DNA证据显示的时间尺度，智人平均每年移动 1 千米，先进入中东，再继续向东迁移。

    一些智人从中东一路来到澳大利亚（当时与新几内亚相连）。大约 6 万年前，人类大胆地进行了第一次海上航行，那是一次跨越 100 千米的勇敢迁徙，而起因很可能是他们看到了丛林大火产生的浓烟。因为烟就意味着火，意味着那里有被植被覆盖的土地，意味着那里可能既富饶又和平（因为远离部落竞争），这是每个移民都梦寐以求的。人类的这次非凡航行得到了丰厚的回报：第一批人类到达澳大利亚后，发现了一片无人居住的广阔土地，那里只有巨大的有袋类动物、鸟类和爬行动物。

    久而久之，我们的生活环境已被火“驯化”，以至需要人类进行定期焚烧。在澳大利亚，“烧荒”的农业耕作方式极大地改变了这片大陆的生态环境，形成了干燥森林和大草原，增加了袋鼠和其他食草有袋类动物的数量，同时促进了可食用水果、花卉和包括马铃薯在内的其他植物的生长。这种管理土地的方式确保了耐火性植物的生存，减少了不必要的“燃料”负荷。因此，澳大利亚如今频繁的大火是相对得到控制的。在非洲，通常每年会烧掉相当于美国本土面积一半大小的稀树草原。这样做的目的是保持牧场肥沃，抑制灌木丛的生长。但随着生活在非洲、欧亚草原和南美洲的人的生活方式由游牧转变为农耕，烧荒就不断减少了。1998—2015 年，全球烧荒每年减少 24%，减少面积约 70 万平方千米，但同时也导致了一些濒危的食肉动物的栖息地面积的减少。自然创造了人类，人类征服和奴役着自然，现在自然的持续发展都要依赖人类。如今，世界上大部分与火有关的事情都与人类有关。

    第四章 大脑发展：学会用火让我们更加智慧

    2018 年 3 月 11 日，星期日，在美国肯塔基州的法兰克福地区医疗中心，一位经验丰富的助产士埃米莉·戴尔如往常一样洗手，为一台普通的剖宫产手术做准备。准备好之后，她和团队的其他成员一起戴好外科手套，在产房里进行术前讨论。然后，她爬上手术台，仰面躺好，掀起了自己的病号服。

    麻醉师先对戴尔进行了麻醉，然后同事们用手术刀划开了她的肚子，但是接生孩子的是她自己。

    医生拉着戴尔的手，放到切口处。这时整个产房鸦雀无声，只剩下医疗设备的滴滴声。她小心翼翼地摸着孩子渐渐露出的头，用手托住，接着把孩子滑溜溜的身体一点一点地从自己肚子里拉了出来，动作十分娴熟。当她把粉粉嫩嫩、皱皱巴巴的孩子抱在胸前时，孩子发出了响亮的哭声，产房里的所有人都为她欢呼鼓掌。就这样，这位助产士成功地给自己接生了。

    尽管为自己接生非常了不起，但有一点不容忽视，那就是人类都需要他人帮助才能分娩，这是因为与产道宽度相比，孩子的头实在太大。人类的头之所以大，是因为在进化过程中，大部分能量都优先提供给了大脑而非躯干，以应对不断变化的文化和环境。和黑猩猩相比，人类身体弱小，但是智慧远远超过它们。通过对火的使用，人类大脑的进化已经超越了生物学的障碍。虽然我们不能独立分娩，但我们拥有足够的智慧和社交能力让自己生存下来。

    我们已经了解了人类可以用火改变环境，以及这种改变对人类生理和文化的影响。现在，让我们来看看火是如何帮助我们的大脑实现进化的。人类作为一个物种的独特之处主要在于大脑的体积。大脑的进化就像是在文化、生物和永恒的物理法则之间跳着一支复杂的舞蹈。

    一般来说，随着动物的成长，它们的大脑也会发育。这种发育和智力、社会性以及文化的发展相关。比如说，海豚的一些行为和活动与人类相似。它们会一起玩耍，照顾彼此的孩子，合作捕猎，有自己的名字（代表名字的特征口哨声），还能互相学习。但是只有大脑体积更大的动物才会表现出这种高级的社会性和丰富的文化。动物的大脑和身体大小有一定的比例，当大脑的大小超出了这一比例，它们就成为更聪明的物种。黑猩猩的大脑体积是与其同体积动物的大脑体积的 2 倍。人类大脑与身体的比例是所有灵长类动物中最高的，是正常比例的 7 倍，比黑猩猩的大脑与身体的比例还要高 3 倍。

    更大的大脑能促进人类社会性的发展，而社会性的发展又可

    以推动大脑体积的变化。一代又一代，我们的祖先越来越依赖聪

    明才智，他们的大脑体积不断变大，社会性也在不断提升。因为

    只有这样的人才能活得更长久，才能繁衍后代。遗传学家近期发

    现了一种只存在于人类体内的基因有 3 个近乎一样的副本。专家

    们认为这种基因和大脑的发育有关，正是它促进了人类祖先大脑

    体积的增长。在 300 万—400 万年前，这种基因的第一个副本出

    现了，当时正是人类祖先开始制作石器工具的时代。后来，这个

    基因又复制了两次，形成了如今现代人类所携带的基因版本。在

    几乎所有哺乳动物的进化过程中，最关键的基因——和大脑相关

    的基因——变化最小。而人类是一个例外。过去的 200 万年里，

    人类大脑 90%的基因一直在有规律地进化，进化的效果也不断加

    强。

    人类的高智商并不仅仅归功于大脑的体积，大脑中所包含的神经元数量及其联系也至关重要。人类的感知、记忆、语言和意识等高级认知功能同人类的大脑皮层有关。大脑皮层是一个只有几毫米厚的褶皱神经组织，但它展开时有 4 张 A4 纸那么大。黑猩猩的大脑皮层只有一张 A4 纸大，猴子的大脑皮层只有一张明信片那么大，而老鼠的只有一张邮票大小。大脑皮层的厚度和关键部分的大小也很重要。大脑皮层比较薄的人智商就会相对较低，那些大脑前额皮层面积更大的人则可能会拥有更多的朋友。这样看来，人类祖先更喜欢聪明且善于社交的伙伴，而非强壮好斗的人。可以说，是人类自己驯化了自己。

    但是，人类大脑体积的增加也带来了巨大的风险。出于选择

    压力，人类的大脑实现了进化，身体随之也出现了变化：臀部变

    窄，骨盆变小，人类成为两足直立行走的物种，行走耗能少、效

    率高。雌性黑猩猩直立的时候只有人类女性一半高，但它们的产

    道和人类的差不多宽。然而，黑猩猩新生儿的脑容量（大概 155

    立方厘米）还不到人类新生儿的一半。大头颅要安全顺利地通过

    窄产道，还要保证母子（女）平安，这确实是一个挑战。

    对于任何一个物种来说，新生儿的死亡都是大家不愿见到的，

    而母亲的死亡却没有受到同样的重视。对许多动物来说，母亲在

    分娩之后会死亡、被吃掉或者很快消失。但是这种情况却不会发

    生在哺乳类动物身上，尤其是灵长类动物身上。这是因为拥有文

    化的物种更多依赖技术和行为的习得，而非本能，它们需要父母

    长时间的关怀和照顾。母亲的存活对于人类长期生存至关重要。

    要解决分娩的困境，需要进一步提升人类的社会性，同时身

    体结构也要有相应的变化，其中就包括暂时缩小胎儿头部的大小，

    这是通过胎儿头骨的延迟融合实现的。在母亲分娩的时候，胎儿

    的头骨仍然是 6 块独立的骨板，可以重叠和移动，这使头部变形，从而使胎儿通过产道。此时人类新生儿大脑的大小还不到成年时期大脑的 1/3（28%）。而黑猩猩新生儿的大脑有其成年大脑的 40%。人类胎儿在出生的时候还远远没有发育完全，所以产后的前 3 个

    月又被称为“第四孕期”。为了通过骨盆，人类胎儿还进化出了

    危险的旋转动作。猿类胎儿能很容易地穿过母亲相对宽的骨盆，

    不需要旋转。它们出生的时候脸朝上，头朝着母亲。这样一来，

    它们一出生就能被母亲抱着吃奶。阿法南方古猿露西是我们的能

    够两足直立行走的祖先，生活在距今 300 万年的时代。她分娩的

    时候，胎儿需要旋转一次（45 度），所以胎儿出生的时候会面向

    母亲的大腿侧面。而现代人类胎儿必须要在母体中转两次，这就

    引发了脐带绕颈的风险，胎儿出生时脸朝母亲的尾椎骨方向。

    在这种情况下，人类出生时大脑体积小且未发育成熟，头骨

    也未发育完全。虽然人体出现了这些适应性改变，但是地球上所

    有的人类依旧需要帮助才能实现顺利分娩。我们超高的社会性需

    要庞大的大脑，因此助产必不可少。由此，女性间的友谊和合作

    就成为顺利分娩的重中之重，也是整个群体得以生存的强大保障。

    时至今日，依然如此。

    即使是在分娩之后，人类母亲也依然需要他人帮助才能保证新生儿存活。在有孩子之前，我一直认为母乳喂养是一种本能。毕竟，母乳喂养作为哺乳类动物的关键特征，应该和呼吸一样平淡无奇。后来我惊讶地发现，吃母乳对孩子来说是一项全新技能，作为母亲的我对母乳喂养也是一头雾水。如何让孩子张嘴、孩子吃奶的位置和哺乳时间都需要学习，还要花时间练习。我花了一周多的时间才能像哺乳期的黑猩猩一样，自然熟练地进行母乳喂养。无论是在哪种文化里，母亲都会在分娩后学习母乳喂养。如果母亲不能进行母乳喂养，她们的孩子会由家族或族群中的其他女性来喂养。到了现代社会，则有模仿母乳营养成分的配方奶粉作为母乳替代品。

    人类基因传递和种族生存中最重要的事情就是分娩和哺乳。

    但是这两件事情都非常困难，需要学习才能掌握，无法独立完成，

    而且对母亲和孩子来说事关生死。而从进化角度看，这些都是值

    得的，因为人类拥有了更大的大脑、更多的社会性和文化知识。

    与人类进化中的其他变化相同，分娩和哺乳的出现伴随着人类对

    火的使用。如果没有火的保护，分娩这样困难的事情就无法进行。

    因为生活在平原地区就意味着暴露，而人类新生儿不可能像瞪羚

    或其他食草动物的幼崽一样，直接跳起来逃命。人类的大脑不断

    变大，这是人体结构进化发展的必然趋势，由此也就增加了分娩

    的难度。这一切都发生在人类学会用火之后。

    随着成功地适应了相互合作，人类开始将其应用在照顾后代方面。大部分哺乳类动物的幼崽在出生后很快就能站立和奔跑，但是人类新生儿甚至连翻身都不会。由于头骨融合的推迟，人出生两年以后头骨才能变得坚硬，因此，在这两年里，需要有人照顾和保护头骨还比较柔软的婴儿。在刚出生的几年里，人类大脑

    的发育比黑猩猩快得多。这主要是因为脑细胞之间的联系在这一

    时期迅速增强，即脑白质发育迅速。虽然大脑的绝对大小和智力

    水平密切相关，但是我们文化学习中的很多部分都是通过建立脑

    细胞之间的联系实现的，而不是产生新的脑细胞。人类大脑的生

    长和发育至少会持续到 30 岁（这成就了人类非凡的神经可塑性，

    扩展了人类的学习能力。神经可塑性是指大脑会终生重组并生长

    出新的神经连接来处理新信息、适应环境或是应对损伤），所以

    即使在孩子断奶和学会走路之后，父母和部落仍然要在孩子们身

    上投入时间，提供各类资源，让他们成为有社交能力的成年人，

    在部落中找到自己的位置。

    同猿类相比，人类的孕期更长；孩子出生后，人类要花更多

    时间和精力关心、照顾孩子。不过，人类兄弟姐妹之间的年龄差

    距比猿小。人类母亲可以每隔一年生育一次，但更常见的情况是

    每隔 2—4 年生育一次。相较之下，黑猩猩每 5 年生育一次。光

    是这种差异就说明人类可以繁衍得更快，社会群体扩张得更快、

    更复杂，文化也因此更进步。

    得益于食物分享以及其他社会支持，人类母亲才能同时照顾多个孩子。食物分享依旧普遍存在于狩猎采集社会中。在这样的社会里，一位母亲可以在照顾新生儿的时候依靠族人分享的食物存活，也可以在外出采集食物的时候，让别人帮忙照顾孩子。而母猿很少会放下自己的孩子，它们需要一直自己照顾幼崽。在非洲中部一个名叫埃菲的游牧部落中，平均每个新生儿有14个人照顾，我们称之为“替代母亲”。“替代母亲”一般是家庭的直系亲属，比如父亲、姐姐和兄长、姑妈和姨妈、祖父母，还有其他姻亲。能够辨别自己和父系家庭的关系是人类独有的特征。这一重要行为拓展了我们的社会网络，有利于儿童的抚育，增加了文化学习的机会，使知识和技能在社会中自由传播，同时也丰富了性伴侣的基因库。这样可以减少近亲繁殖，同时也可以为孩子提供更多的支持和资源，比如在十几岁时去做学徒。这对姻亲们也有利，尽管他们可能和孩子没有血缘关系，但他们也可以共享下一代生存发展带来的好处。

    合作对于人类生存至关重要。实验研究显示，早在孩子 3 个月大的时候，他们就会在众多玩偶中挑选出有用的玩偶，放弃无用的。几个月之后，他们还会“惩罚”无用的玩偶。对人类幼儿这种分辨物体的早期能力的解释之一就是，人类是唯一一种由不同人来照顾孩子的灵长类动物，因此孩子需要在小时候就能分辨出谁可以信任、从谁那里可以学到东西。

    在大多数狩猎采集社会和畜牧社会中，因为母亲不是只负责照料孩子，所以孩子出生之后，她们很快会回到采集食物的岗位上。数据显示，通过采集植物及其根茎和猎杀小动物，女性能比男性带回更多热量。在许多狩猎采集部落中，比如菲律宾的阿格

    塔部落和澳大利亚西部的马尔杜原始部落，女性也是猎人。年纪

    大了之后，女性还会继续照顾他人。在哺乳类动物中，人类是除

    虎鲸和短肢领航鲸之外唯一会经历更年期的动物。其他物种的雌

    性很少能活过生育年龄。这种变化的出现是因为祖母效应。祖母

    效应是指在狩猎采集社会中，家族中年长女性的存在能增加其子

    孙的存活概率。比如在哈扎比族群中，年长的女性会比年轻的女

    性花费更多的时间和精力为家人收集食物。

    在工业社会中，父母也会依靠外界帮助来照顾孩子，比如把

    孩子送到学校这样的正式教育机构；可以到医院生孩子，那里有

    经过专业训练的医生。人们寻求外界帮助的方式正在经历大变革，

    尤其是在我们大部分人生活的城市。社交平台上有本地父母交流

    群，群里会收集各位家长的帖子，为需要的人们提供分娩中的注

    意事项以及产后恢复的建议。向陌生人求助是最近才出现的现象。

    在整个人类历史中，怀孕的女性通常都是向家庭成员和朋友寻求

    帮助。

    社会联系在直接的母子和伴侣关系的基础上不断拓展和加强，成为更加广泛的亲属和社区关系，这对人类文化的发展来说是很重要的一步。这种社会联系的发展可能来源于母亲的社会依赖性、照看孩子的集中性，以及母系成员对合作网络的追求和维持。同时，这也是人类大脑体积增加带来的直接结果。合作能力的增强有助于提高群体在干旱等困难时期的适应力，从而让我们的祖先更容易生存下来。经历几百万年后，人类祖先已经变得十分聪明，具有极强的社会性，大脑也更加发达，能够结成强大的互助联盟。

    在聪明且具有社会性的动物中，人类祖先并不是唯一一个拥

    有文化技能和文化行为的动物。随着人类文化的发展，我们周围

    的环境和身体结构发生了改变，大脑也在不断发育，但是其他动

    物没有做到这一步。它们的大脑和文化几百万年如一日。为什么

    其他猿没有进化出更大的大脑呢？

    我个人认为，最有说服力的原因是它们没有足够的能量支持

    大脑的发展。大脑会消耗大量能量。神经元需要时刻保持敏捷的

    状态，为了保持这种状态就需要维持细胞膜上的电荷，清除脑中

    的神经碎片，并产生新的神经递质。从这个角度来说，脑细胞比

    身体其他部位的细胞需要消耗更多的能量，大脑越大，需要的能

    量就越多。人类大脑只占身体重量的 2%，却消耗了超过 20%的能

    量。猿无法给更多的神经元提供能量。因为如果有更多的神经元，

    它们就需要花费长得超乎想象的时间来觅食和进食。一项研究观

    察了 17 种灵长类动物的体重、饮食和觅食习惯，并且计算出了

    它们的神经元数量。研究结果显示，如果一只黑猩猩要有和人类

    一样的大脑，那它每天就要花 7 个小时来吃东西，还要把体重控制在 26 千克左右。根据黑猩猩的实际体重，再加上每天 7 小时的进食时间，一只黑猩猩最多可以支持 320 亿个神经元（而人类有 1,000 亿个神经元）。

    随着人类文化的发展，人类的认知需求也在不断增强，这带

    来了一系列的适应性进化，从而提高了身体的能量使用效率，保

    证关键神经元能够获得足够的能量。这其中就包括大脑中出现的

    新基因，它们能够调节葡萄糖和肌酸转运蛋白（肌酸是葡萄糖过

    低时的备用能量），而我们肌肉中的基因还和灵长类动物的一样，

    这说明进化优化的是大脑而非肌肉。

    尽管这些进化促进了人类大脑性能的提升，但是大脑还是因

    能量不足而受限。生活在冰川时代的人类祖先仅维持体温，每天

    就需要至少 3 500 千卡的热量。据估计，尼安德特人（体型略大）

    每天需要 3 360—4 480 千卡的热量来维持体温，以保证冬天能

    够出去觅食。古生物学家认为，尼安德特人标志性的宽鼻脸型是

    为了实现“涡轮式呼吸”，这样可以增加呼吸量、提高呼吸效率。

    这样的进化说明，当时的生活方式需要消耗大量能量，所以就需

    要高热量的饮食。但是除去蜂蜜、水果和偶尔能吃到的肥肉，灵

    长类动物的日常饮食并不能算是高热量饮食。这就是灵长类动物

    要花大量时间进食，以及它们的大脑和文化没有进一步进化的原

    因。

    最早的原始人类，比如露西，大脑中至多有 400 亿个神经元。它们的饮食与猿相似，但是要每天进食 7 个小时来维持神经元的活动。直立人（620 亿个神经元）每天则需要 8 个小时以上的饮食摄入。在此之后的古人类，比如尼安德特人和我们，需要每天进食不少于 9 个小时，这样就会大大削减觅食、打猎、社交和其他所有文化活动的时间。事实是我们都没有时间找到足够吃 9 个小时的食物，更不要说还要花时间来吃完了，这完全是不可能的。

    是火的使用让人类存活了下来。

    我们其实可以把生命看成一个简单的化学系统，它从环境和

    能源中获取能量。所有生命，如同无生命的物质一样，都围绕这

    种关系运转。事实上，自然选择就像一股可以改善生命世界中能

    量流动的力量，就像水往低处流一样。决定动物（和植物）在自

    然界中角色不变的正是它们的能量消耗。一只猎豹时速最快能达

    到 120 千米（短途冲刺跑），但这就是极限了，因为它的速度受

    限于肌肉的能量消耗。与之相反，“阿波罗 10 号”载人飞船的

    飞行速度为每小时 4 万千米，是迄今人类最快时速（美国国家航

    空航天局的“朱诺号”木星探测器是目前速度最快的人造飞行

    器，最快时速约为 26.5 万千米）。黑猩猩没有人类聪明，就是因

    为人类大脑消耗的能量更多。我们将消耗成本转移出去，这样就

    提高了我们的脑力。

    下面让我们暂时回到宇宙大爆炸时期。大爆炸之后，万物都处于不断膨胀的过程中，整个宇宙处于无序状态。为了实现有序的状态，所有的生命都需要能量。太阳每天都会释放出巨大的能量，植物通过太阳获得能量。这种能量的密度比较低，但足够让植物通过光合作用打破空气中的强化学键，刚够产生数量较少的新植物组织，保证自己的生存、生长和繁衍。细胞数量较少的生物，能依靠光合作用生存，同时，自身蒸腾作用会带来气孔的微弱运动。食草动物通过吃植物，可以获得密度大一点的能量；食肉动物能通过吃其他动物获得密度更大的能量。

    从本质上来说，人类作为一个物种的成功，归因于我们能比

    其他物种更好地利用能量，并且能够将能量的消耗成本转移出去。

    我们没有依靠身体通过生化途径消化分解食物，而是利用我们的

    文化：我们通过物理方式加工食物或是通过发酵或腌渍的方式让

    食物更好消化。但是最重要的还是因为我们能生火做饭。

    生火需要一个初始的能量爆发——火花——来打破氧气和燃料中的强化学键，将分子重组，释放出能量。人类身体也有类似的情况。食物给予我们能量，但是需要消耗能量打破食物中的分子，形成新的化学键，提供我们需要的能量和身体组织。一般情况下，要想获得同样的营养和能量，吃植物要比吃肉类消耗更多能量。牛会花几小时来咀嚼反刍的食物，切断食物中的纤维链，然后食物才会进入它的 4 个胃进行消化分解，最后成为脂肪储存起来。我们的大脑需要高热量、高蛋白的食物，肉类和脂肪正好可以提供这些。获取它们（清洗或捕猎）、处理它们（使用工具、手和牙齿撕碎食物）和打破它们的分子结构（咀嚼、消化和代谢）都存在能量消耗，但是这些能量消耗远低于吃树叶所消耗的能量。

    烹饪过的食物更易于消化，因为火已经完成了胃的大部分消化工作。吃熟肉的效率比吃生肉的效率高了 10 倍左右，而且每千克熟食提供的热量也更多。这是因为人体能从熟食中吸收更多的能量——肉类中 40%以上的蛋白质，谷类和根茎类蔬菜中 50%以上的碳水化合物。烹饪也能让我们更好地从肉类中摄取其他营养成分，比如铁、锌和维生素 B12。这些成分都是建立和维持大脑复杂构造的必要元素。

    烹饪的出现也改变了人类的食物种类。其他大型动物很少吃难以消化的块茎或草叶，所以我们可以比较轻松地获取这些植物。我们将草籽碾碎、脱粒，获取其中可食用的蛋白质和谷物。我们把富含淀粉但硬邦邦的根茎类蔬菜煮熟，使其变成高热量且易于消化的食物。人类的消化有别于其他动物。比如狮子会将大块生肉放在胃里花几个小时去消化，而我们将火作为身体外部的胃，从而可以更快地消化食物。因为火帮助人类完成了许多消化工作，所以我们的胃就慢慢缩小了。现在的人类没法再消化太多其他灵长类动物吃的生树叶或水果。这是一场进化的博弈。因为这样一来，我们能吃的食物变少了，更容易遭遇饥荒，也无法像其他灵长类动物那样应对植物中的毒素。然而，结肠变小，能让我们将更多宝贵的能量输送给不断变大的大脑。

    如今的狩猎采集部落可以从动物制品中获得一半以上所需的能量，剩余的能量则来自采集的蔬菜。所以说烹饪能够大幅减少我们祖先花费在采集、准备和咀嚼食物上的时间。黑猩猩每天花5个小时左右咀嚼食物，而我们每天只花1个小时左右，这就让人类拥有了更多的时间。对于我们的下颌来说，无论是从物理、化学还是能量分解的角度看，烹饪过的食物吃起来都更加简单，而且我们不再需要通过撕咬来捕猎了。这就意味着人类不用保留食肉动物的下颌了，所以我们的嘴巴、嘴唇、牙齿和牙齿间隙都有适量的缩小，现在大概和松鼠猴的尺寸一样。由于我们对烹饪的文化适应，人类的下颌不像以前那么强壮，而且没有那么突出了。短肌肉只延伸到耳朵下面（其他灵长类动物的短肌肉能延伸到头顶），这让我们发声变得更简单。（最后这一点对社交很重要，虽然人类的咀嚼能力有所减弱，但是这种适应性改变却有可能在人类中得到更广泛的传播。）到了直立人的时代，我们的祖先就已经进化出了缩小的下颌、牙齿和嘴巴，这使得咀嚼生肉更加困难。直立人已经有了体积更大、对能量需求更多的大脑，需要高质量的熟食，同时他们也足够聪明，可以烹饪出熟食。

    所以，烹饪文化是驱动人类大脑生物进化的一个主要因素。熟食的能量密度更大，这让人类祖先大脑的增大超越了自然的界限，而肠道得以收缩。这种进化带来的变化会很迅速地表现出来，因为饮食的变化对人类生存有着至关重要的影响。最近一项关于达尔文雀族的研究发现，干旱过后，它们可食用的食物只有一些坚硬的种子。所以只有那些鸟喙比较坚硬的个体得以存活，它们的基因也得以延续。在下一代中，只有15%的鸟有正常的鸟喙。

    这种改变发生在1年之内，而它的影响却持续了15年。烹饪的出现不仅可以改变物种的生存方式，在人口数量极少的情况下，也可以让物种发生改变。这种现象被称为遗传漂变。在这种变化中，基因差异可能会产生非常巨大的影响，平均寿命变短，比如黑猩猩的平均寿命大概是 30 岁。在饥荒等困难时期，个体数量可能会骤降，威胁到整个种群的生存。在这种情况下，没有摄入足够热量的雌性会停经从而无法生育。它们的孩子可能胎死腹中，或因为没有母乳喂养而早夭。只有那些能在困难环境中获得营养的雌性，才能将自己的基因传递下去。烹饪使得食物更加柔软，更易消化；烹饪还能够分解食物中的毒素，杀死细菌和寄生虫。这样的食物对于断奶的幼儿和儿童来说更加安全，也更有营养。因此，烹饪能大幅提高一个孩子长大成人的概率。

    我们知道，大约 200 万—175 万年前，快速且极端的气候变化造成了巨大的环境压力。在这种环境下，微小的基因变化对生存的影响会被放大，使得某些基因特征更有可能保留下来。如果一个种群所剩生物个体较少，可能就会和其他种群结合，产生新的基因，并且有选择地传播，从而导致种群越来越多样化。换句话说，进化和新物种的形成会加速。事实上，这一现象在牛科动物等很多哺乳类动物身上都可以得到印证。人类祖先会用火，进而学会了烹饪，这对于他们来说已经是一种彻底的变革。通过烹饪，人类获得的能量翻倍，同时减少了能量流失（火减少了夜间的热量流失，还无形中保护我们免受食肉动物的攻击）。由此，我们不仅成为一种新的灵长类动物，而且还成为一个完全不同的物种。我们不再只是调整自己去适应环境，还会主动改变环境来适应自己的需求。

    随着低成本获取高热量葡萄糖方法的出现，人类大脑的体积不再受到猿饮食的限制，开始快速发展。到了 20 万年前，我们的大脑发展到了我们骨盆所允许的最大体积，但是我们大脑内的神经连接仍然在不断进化。然而，近几十年来，安全剖宫产手术的出现又带来了新的进化。以前，有些女性因产道太窄无法自然分娩，母亲和孩子都有生命危险。但是现在这类母亲也可以诞下婴儿，从而让自己的基因传递下去。这样一来，窄产道的女性越来越普遍：因产道太窄而选择剖宫产的女性数量在过去的 60 年里从 3%增至 3.6%，增长率达到 20%。未来，我们可能会像依赖他人的帮助一样依赖剖宫产手术。另一方面，在过去的 1 万年中，我们大脑的体积缩减了 10%左右，相对于我们的身体体积来说缩小了 3%—4%。有一种理论认为，现在的人类社会太过复杂，导致智商不够高的个体也能生存下来，这些人在小型部落中就无法生存。然而，大脑体积缩小在驯养动物中非常常见，所以这可能是使人类拥有超强社交能力和合作能力的一系列基因变化的一部分。值得注意的是，越来越多的高智商人士倾向于少生孩子，这也许是因为智力因素在基因库中的作用有所下降。随着我们将积累的知识储存到文献或电子设备中而非大脑中，我们也许不再需要那么聪明的大脑帮助我们生存了。

    最近流行的生食饮食最能说明人体对烹饪的依赖程度。支持者认为生食更健康，因为人类（遥远的）祖先就这么吃。但是研究人员发现，每个吃生食的人都会迅速消瘦，然后很快就重新开始吃熟食，虽然现在的加工食品所含热量比几百年前的要高很多。生食的风靡并不新奇。古罗马人就曾经喜欢一种俄罗斯套娃式的生肉宴席。他们把老鼠放进鸡里面，再把鸡放进孔雀里，然后把孔雀放进野猪里……用餐者会用热水沐浴，这是为了用体外的蒸汽把体内的东西弄熟。不出所料，这种时尚引发了严重的疾病，甚至还有死亡事件。从尤维纳利斯到老普林尼等一众公共知识分子都对这一行为嗤之以鼻。

    事实上，我们对于在身体外部处理食物这件事非常熟练。我们甚至可以不吃动物食品，而是将需要的所有能量和营养浓缩出来。然而，虽然我们能轻易地放弃肉类，但是如果要让75亿人口中的每个人都以个人的形式获得所需食物以及烹饪所需的燃料，我们的生存将会变得非常困难。其他动物一生中大部分清醒的时间都在吃东西，而火将我们从这种禁锢中解放出来，给予我们时间去发展文化。同时，火也让我们在共同的社会文化群体中更紧密地联系在一起。

    这可能和我们的生理习性背道而驰。最新的证据显示，烹饪文化的进化在生理层面上改变了整个人类。20世纪60年代，冷冻快餐和其他创新饮食的出现帮助人们将每天准备食物和做相关家务的时间从平均 4 小时减至 45 分钟。食品工业化彻底改变了我们和食物的关系、食物的来源和口味。我们不再处理生的原材料，而是直接用微波炉加热方便食品。此类方便食品中充满了廉价的鲜味剂，比如糖、盐和脂肪。长期食用这些食品会对我们的健康造成灾难性的损害。事实上，现在很难找到低糖低盐的食物，所以自童年起，我们的味觉就适应了寻找没有添加鲜味剂的食物。人类祖先很少能吃到甜食，比如蜂蜜和枣，而生理反应也显示，对人类来说，更大的威胁是饥饿，而不是肥胖。

    给自己提供食物对于人类来说是事关生存的活动，而它和分娩一样需要依靠他人的帮助，因为烹饪是一种需要学习的文化技能。然而，它对我们是有用的。烹饪文化历经了几万年的进化，如今，人类享受着迄今为止最丰富的食物种类，人类的基因也已经适应了这种变化。农耕种群的后代和以非谷物为食的狩猎采集者的后代有着不同的唾液酶和肠道菌群，前者的身体更适合消化淀粉；后者的肠道精准地适应生存环境，他们体内的微生物组每年都会根据环境发生变化。同理，喝牛奶和饮酒的种群个体体内也就有能帮助他们更好地消化这些饮品的基因。

    第五章 文化杠杆：构建一个聪明的集体大脑

    1860 年，原陆军军官、警察督察罗伯特·伯克和测量员威廉·约翰·威尔斯率领一支由 19 个人、26 头骆驼、23 匹马和 6辆马车组成的探险队从澳大利亚南海岸的墨尔本出发，从南向北，穿越整个澳大利亚，前往其北端的卡奔塔利亚湾，全程 3 250 千米。此行的目的是探索出一条贯穿整个澳大利亚的最佳电报线路。

    探险队声势浩大地从皇家公园出发，引来 15,000 人驻足围观。

    其实，早就有迹象表明这次探险只不过是道旁之筑。探险队的 6 辆马车上装了够吃两年的食物、各式各样的家具，让人匪夷所思的是竟然还有一面重达 20 吨的中国铜锣。更让人想不到的是，有一辆马车还没离开皇家公园就坏了。探险队花了 3 天时间才到达市郊，此时又有两辆马车坏了。到达库珀溪时，探险队已经卸下了大部分装备，其中包括约 230 升朗姆酒，据说这些酒是为了防止骆驼患上坏血病而准备的。库珀溪是当时欧洲人探索澳大利亚到达的最远的地方，在这里，探险队分为两组，其中伯克、威尔斯、水手查尔斯·格雷和士兵约翰·金 4 个人，带着 3 个月的食物，冒着酷暑，向北部海岸继续进发。

    他们在路上遇到了原住民。伯克相当警惕，坚决不吃他们给

    的鱼，甚至朝原住民的头顶上开枪，还命令其他人把原住民赶走。

    就这样，行走了 59 天后，他们已是步履维艰。由于缺吃少喝，

    加上沼泽地挡住了去路，他们决定返回。没过多久，他们只能靠

    吃骆驼肉续命。格雷染上了痢疾，很快就去世了。不过值得庆幸

    的是，剩下的 3 个人最终回到了库珀溪。漂泊了这么久，他们只

    希望能和其他队员重聚，却发现营地在几小时前已经被遗弃，探

    险队的其他人早已不知所踪。

    灾难继续降临在这 3 个人身上，还好他们遇到了当地的延德

    鲁万达原住民部落，原住民把自己的鱼和豆子拿了出来，还给他

    们吃一种叫恩加度的种子做的面包。然而，伯克仍然觉得延德鲁

    万达人不怀好意，开枪打伤了一名原住民，最后把所有原住民都

    赶走了。这些倒霉的探险者继续上路。他们从一种半水生蕨类植

    物中找到了更多的恩加度。起初，这 3 个人试图煮这些种子，后

    来他们看见一些原住民能用石臼把种子磨成面粉，3 个人欣喜若

    狂，也学着做。他们一连吃了一个月的恩加度面包，每天能吃两

    三千克。但奇怪的是，吃得多反而让他们越来越虚弱，还要忍受

    着排便困难的痛苦。他们在日记本里写道：“正常来说，吃的那

    些面包也不至于拉出这么多，而且好像根本没有消化，吃进去时

    什么样拉出来时基本还是那个样子。”写完这篇日记后不到一周，

    威尔斯和伯克就相继去世。剩下的约翰·金走投无路，只能向延

    德鲁万达人求助，请求他们收留自己，这才活了下来。3 个月后，一支来自墨尔本的搜救队找到了金，把他带了回去。这 3 个月的时间里，金还让一名延德鲁万达女子怀了孕。

    和许多欧洲探险家一样，伯克和威尔斯也落入了文化知识陷

    阱中。如果他们能利用原住民积累的智慧，就能学会如何用恩加

    度为身体提供营养，而不是被恩加度取了性命。恩加度不能在新

    鲜发绿的时候采集，必须要等它成熟后采集。之后还必须把它磨

    碎，这样人体才能消化。磨碎之后还要用水彻底冲洗干净，过滤

    掉维生素 B1 分解酶——这种酶会破坏人体内的维生素 B1。这 3

    个人要是肯向原住民学习，他们还会知道要把恩加度面直接放在

    灰里烤，这样可以进一步分解酶。可是，这 3 个人根本没有这些

    知识，于是便在不知不觉中毒害了自己。

    人们往往会相信在紧要关头时我们完全有能力自己生产生活必需品，比如食物、衣服和工具。毕竟，我们是地球上最聪明的动物。然而，人类之所以能走到今天，并不是因为个人的聪明才智。

    我们利用其他形式的能量，比如火，降低自身能量消耗。这样的做法使环境改变，人类身体不断进化，大脑逐渐发达。现在，我们来看看文化杠杆是如何让我们借助外部力量开展日常活动的。我们利用工具提高了身体机能，同时，利用“三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮”的集体智慧，一起解决生活中的问题。通过累积性文化进化，人类用最有效的方式实现了人口数量的不断增加和对环境的利用，这一切都得益于文化杠杆。

    技术提高了人类开发地球的效率。我们的手指轻轻一点就可

    以调配大量能源。我们靠的是什么？是我们的思想吗？是，也不

    是。弱小的灵长类动物只靠体力就能夷平山顶。但是，从生火到

    做饭，人类掌握的工具和技能，以及做出的行为，光靠体力是不

    够的，还需要认知能力。只有集体智慧才能让体力与认知结合。

    毕竟，人类依靠体力就能生存下来，但要想进一步发展，就必须

    依靠集体智慧。

    为了不断地探索各种各样的文化，适应各类环境，人类没有

    选择仅仅在祖先的栖息地上生活，而是选择走出去，所以掌握所

    到之处的风土人情对人类的进化来说不可或缺。从生态位中解放

    出来也意味着我们不再能够完全自力更生：从生物学角度来讲，

    我们无法适应每一种环境，所以，我们必须依靠他人，从而获得

    生存知识。

    一个群体几代人积累下来的文化知识能够让这个群体收集信息、辨认环境、轻而易举地找到食物和住所。延德鲁万达人有能力发现身边的食物，而欧洲人却发现不了，这就好像一个欧洲人在城市里很容易就能找到咖啡馆一样。我们从婴儿时期就开始学习如何适应自己周围的环境，在这方面可谓驾轻就熟。正如相片显影液能生成独特的图像，我们的文化显影液是整个社会的行为、技术和其他文化实践，它塑造着我们个人的行为、认知、感知、个性、智力、体能等方面。

    我们的大脑确实是由文化塑造的，神经学能很好地解释这一点。最近一项研究观测了数百名人类和数百只黑猩猩大脑皮层中控制智力的褶皱。这些褶皱被称为脑沟，在个体出生后继续生长和变化，但人类和黑猩猩的脑沟有所不同。研究人员发现，黑猩猩大脑褶皱的形状和位置很大程度上由基因决定（兄弟姐妹的褶皱几乎相同），而对于人类的大脑来说，基因的作用则要小得多，环境和社会因素也发挥着重要作用。与人类相比，黑猩猩的基因很大程度上决定了它们的认知能力，所以它们的大脑发育以及学习新行为或技能的能力受到了限制。人类新生儿的大脑并没有黑猩猩的大脑发达，但人类大脑会继续发育，这样一来，外部世界的影响就更为重要。

    人类大脑非凡的可塑性推动了人类祖先智力和文化的发展，然而，这意味着如果人类要生存下去，几乎所有的东西都需要向他人学习。进行文化学习的条件有很多，首先要有一个特别大的大脑，其次要经历漫长的童年期和青春期，并在这期间认真学习，同时还要有一个强大的社会群体的支持。这些因素共同作用，最终才能成功完成文化学习。母亲是我们人生的第一位老师。我们天生就依恋母亲，从出生起就会不自觉地辨认和寻找她的声音、面孔，追随她的目光。随着我们不断长大，其他家庭成员、同龄人、长辈和值得信赖的人也会成为我们的老师。

    现在，我们习惯利用社会资源来解决生活中的问题。遇到问

    题时，我们很少尝试自己解决，而是迅速向他人寻求帮助，但黑

    猩猩却不会这样做。直接拿别人的方案来解决问题所消耗的体力

    和脑力通常比自己摸索着解决问题所消耗的要少得多。黑猩猩必

    须自己解决所有问题，也就是说，每次它们都要从零开始。而文

    化进化可以让人类做起事来不仅能采用最合适的方法，而且效率

    还更高。黑猩猩的大脑不仅小，而且不够聪明，要花费更多的精

    力解决同样的问题，这就造成了它们的认知能力很弱，无法将技

    能结合起来产生复杂的文化。

    当然，因为文化进化本身依赖有效的模仿机制，所以我们只

    能依靠集体的知识来解决我们的问题。就像基因序列的复制是生

    物进化的基础一样，模仿是文化进化的基础。如果我们模仿得不

    够精准、不够逼真，那么不同的文化实践在一个群体中留存的时

    间就不够长。无法供人模仿，也就不会有文化的积累。精准度高

    的文化传播大大延长了一个群体中不同文化变体的留存时间，这

    能让一个群体拥有更加丰富多样的文化。这是因为模仿的东西越

    精准，群体中实践的版本就越多，因而对实践进行微小修改和完

    善的机会就越多。这些变化会推动人类进化。

    通过模仿，我们创造了世界。令人难以置信的是，我们的文化解决方案、实践和我们使用的技术都不是特意设计的。我们习惯将发明与发明家联系在一起，例如闻名世界的爱迪生发明了灯泡，谷登堡发明了印刷机。但在现实中，没有任何东西是单独由一个天才发明出来的。创新和发明通常是出于偶然或是对现有技术反复改进和组合的结果，这就是达尔文提出的盲目变异和选择性保留。事实上，在累积性文化构建其复杂性的模型过程中，一个发明有多少新特性对创新的影响最小，影响最大的是能将多少现有特性组合在一起。精准的模仿确保一种实践有足够的时间在人群中传播，并和其他实践相融合，从而让文化在自然选择的过程中变得越来越复杂多样。

    然而，我们进化出这么大的大脑，主要只是为了互相模仿，这似乎有违常理。对许多专家来说，有一个一直困扰他们的问题，那就是解决问题的最佳方式到底是发明还是模仿。毕竟，如果像灵长类动物一样，直接在不断变化的环境中摸索解决问题的方法，能让我们获得第一手且最新的相关知识。

    2010 年，进化生物学家凯文·拉兰德开始通过实验来回答这个问题。他的团队设计了一场电脑竞赛。参赛者打造自己的虚拟人物，将他们放置在一个陌生的世界中，类似《虚拟人生》和《幸存者》等游戏中的世界。虚拟人物在这个世界里探索，寻求生机，胜者可以赢得 1 万英镑的奖金。100 多个团队参加了此次比赛，参赛人员包括神经科学家、计算生物学家和进化心理学家。他们为自己的虚拟人物编写了程序，使其能够在陌生的、不断变化的环境中生存。和大多数进化生物学家一样，拉兰德认为最好的生存策略是将创新和模仿相结合。

    不过，比赛的结果却让他们感到惊奇：在模拟出来的所有情形下，模仿轻而易举地打败了创新。拉兰德说：“这次竞赛的参赛者有的采用模仿的方法，有的采用创新的方法，却没有人把创新和模仿相结合。”赢得比赛的是由 2 名研究生、1 名数学家和1 名神经科学家组成的小队。他们设计的程序采用了一种模仿策略：当环境快速变化时，虚拟人物会优先模仿发生时间较近的行为，而不会模仿已经过时的行为。人类也是如此，会战略性地选择模仿他人。不同情况下，我们选择学习的对象也不同，这样我们可以一直获得最新的可靠消息。

    没有一个人能凭借个人的智慧设计出恩加度的七步处理方

    法。它需要几代人不断完善才能形成，每一次完善都被其他人频

    繁模仿传播，久而久之人们就摸索出了制作面包最好的方法，这

    种文化实践可以直接用于学习模仿。然而，即使一种文化实践经

    受住了考验，十分成功，能够代代相传，但它能在文化发展环境

    中传递给其他人，可能并不是因为这种文化实践能给人们带来一

    些实际好处，而是因为传统风俗。延德鲁万达人研磨和冲洗恩加

    度不是为了免于中毒，只是因为要遵循他们的传统。他们处理恩

    加度的时候必须使劲砸很长时间，这样的准备过程十分耗时费力，通常由勤劳的女性来完成。科学家们最近发现，文化进化产生的恩加度七步处理法大大降低了硫胺素酶引起中毒的风险。

    我们不需要理解为什么每一步实践都很重要，我们只需要学习这些步骤，这是区别人类和其他聪慧动物的关键。德国马克斯·普朗克研究所的进化心理学家迈克·托马塞洛做了一个很有说服力的实验。在这个实验中，迈克分别给一个人类幼儿和一只黑猩猩一个装有糖果的盒子，但两个实验对象都没能把糖果从盒子里拿出来。然后，他给实验对象演示了拿出糖果的步骤——一步步地推拉盒子的关卡，最后拿到糖果。在这些步骤中，他还做了一个看起来很荒谬的动作：在做最后一步之前拍了 3 次头。幼儿和黑猩猩都能模仿他的动作，最终拿到奖赏，但只有幼儿做了拍头的动作，而黑猩猩却忽略了这个动作，可能是因为它觉得这个动作和得到食物没有关系。蹒跚学步的孩子相信教她取糖果的那个人教她的每一步都有理由，所以她会全部模仿。事实上，目标越不明确，人类幼儿就越会仔细和精准地模仿，即使模仿的步骤与最终的结果毫不相关。

    模仿对人类来说意义重大。为了更好地完成模仿，我们的文化和生物机制不断进化，比如说更长的童年期、更广泛的社会群体和更好的记忆力。除了模仿，我们也会教导别人。人类母亲会教她刚出生的孩子如何做一件事。孩子模仿母亲时，母亲会在旁边悉心教导。每进行一步，她都会一遍遍示范，根据孩子的做法，再来调整自己的教法，直到孩子学会才会继续教授下一步。而其他动物不会主动教导幼崽。

    通过教学，知识能很准确地得以传播，学生学习的效率远远高于单纯模仿的效率，对于复杂的技能或有精细步骤的操作更是如此。在一项研究中，被试用不同的学习方法学习打磨石器的技术。通过比较，研究人员发现通过教学学习的效果是通过其他文

    化传播方法的效果的两倍。也许正是教学赋予了人类将知识精准

    传递下去的方法，才让累积性文化成为可能。这项打磨石器的研

    究可以解释早期的原始人类陷入 70 多万年的技术停滞，只能制

    造原始的奥杜威石器工具的原因。这是因为和奥杜威石器工具相

    比，阿舍利石器工具更为复杂，制作起来需要更多的步骤，单凭

    模仿无法进行，必须有人来教授制作的方法和步骤。所以直到大

    约 180 万年前，在直立人的大脑进化到可以通过学习制造工具时，

    阿舍利工具才出现。

    但是教学对老师来说代价很高，因此只有当学生学习宝贵知识的好处超过老师所消耗的能量时，教学才能逐渐发展。对于像黑猩猩这样聪明的动物来说，成年猩猩不值得在教学上投入，因为年轻猩猩很聪明，自己就能够学会一些生活所需的简单技能。教学是一种利他行为，蚂蚁和猫鼬等物种会放弃自己的繁殖机会，帮助其他个体繁殖，又称合作繁殖。复杂的文化内容依靠教学实现知识的准确传播，这也让教学成为一种更有效的文化传播方式。这是因为随着文化实践变得越来越复杂，知识也越来越有价值，仅仅依靠模仿来学习，不仅低效而且也不可靠。此外，在知识的复杂程度增加的同时，人们拥有的文化知识不断增多，教师的数量就慢慢增加了，所以更多的人拥有足够的知识来传授学生。在人类另一个进化反馈机制中，教学解释了文化复杂的原因，但教学同时又是复杂文化的产物。

    在我们的文化工具箱中积累起来的实践和技术，是几代人通

    过无数次模仿得来的结果。环境变化能促进生物进化，同样也会

    带来文化变异。例如，研究人员发现，在东非出现的一些复杂的

    文化特性，比如人们大规模生产锋利的黑曜石刀片，进行频繁的

    贸易往来，与大约 32 万年前发生的一系列大规模气候和环境变

    化有关。发明一个东西并不一定是因为需要，它能说明有新的选

    择压力作用于现有的技术和行为，这种新的选择压力能够改变技

    术和行为的传播速度。如果陆地上的猎物变得稀少，人们可能会

    广泛学习一种以前罕见的鱼钩制作技能，就像澳大利亚 6.5 万年

    前草原面积扩大时，磨种子的技能也随之传播开来。与其说进化

    是适者生存的结果，还不如说是淘汰劣者的过程。加工程序和操

    作技术纷繁复杂，经过几代人的实践，有些程序和技术会被渐渐

    遗忘或淘汰。剩下的那些会在社会群体中不断被模仿和使用，人

    们会慢慢熟悉和适应这些程序和技术。

    环境变化会影响人口规模，而人口规模对文化也有重要影响，因为它会改变集体智慧的发展程度。集体智慧就像一根杠杆，让个人学习变得不那么费力。所以文化杠杆越长，即包含的文化实践越多，集体的能量就能得到更高效地利用，并且加速文化进化。

    创新常常来自现有想法的结合，所以在集体智慧的基础上，再有

    几种新的想法，就可以结合产生更多的想法，从而产生巨大的影

    响。试想，3 个条目可以有 6 种不同的组合方式（如果每个条目

    只使用一次），4 个条目可以有 24 种不同的组合方式，而 10 个

    条目就有 350 多万个组合方式。大型群体拥有更高的集体智慧，

    同样，只有大型群体才拥有所需的物理能量并从中获益。因此，

    随着人口的增长，文化的多样性也会不断增加。增加到临界点时，

    文化多样性会全面爆发，形成文化大爆炸。

    最近的考古发现表明，这种爆发似乎发生在大约 4 万年前的欧洲。一些专家据此认为，现代人类文化，包括人类复杂的语言和工具都出现在那时。他们认为，大约在这个时期，人类远古祖先可能与尼安德特人交配，从而改变了基因，这迅速提高了人类祖先的认知能力，行为上的现代人由此出现。但至今也没有可以支持这种观点的有力证据。我们现在之所以能在欧洲看到大量当时的手工制品，并不是因为人类祖先与众不同。一部分原因是在过去的几个世纪中，人们对这些出土手工制品的遗址的研究要比其他地方更多，而且这些地方通常是凉爽干燥、隐蔽性强的洞穴，所以与热带地区相比，这里能更好地保存古代的物品。

    另一个原因是，4 万年前欧洲的人口、社会、环境和文化都

    发生了变革，这些变革带动了文化多样性的发展。最近，遗传学

    家发现，史前时期最大规模的人口激增发生在 4 万—5 万年前。

    与此同时，另一组遗传学家比较了 4.5 万年前欧洲和 9 万年前撒

    哈拉以南非洲的文化爆炸现象，发现这两个地区的人口密度十分

    相似。随着自然或社会环境的变化，人口数量越多、文化多样性

    越强的群体解决问题的方法就越多。这样他们适应文化实践的机

    会就越多，社会因此也会变得充满活力，他们的工具和手工制品

    及其制作方法才得以保存下来，种类也多种多样。人口越多，文

    化杠杆就越长。同理，一个群体与其他群体的联系越紧密，群体

    内部关系越和谐，群体中个体获得新的文化实践和技术的机会就

    越多。反之，小而孤立的群体也可以经历文化进化，只不过技术

    会变得更简单，种类会更少，最终他们的文化也就销声匿迹了。

    有时甚至基本的技术也会慢慢消失。由此可见，任何可以增加社

    会人口的文化实践——改善营养条件、提高生育率或降低婴儿死

    亡率，都有利于实践本身的发展。因此这些文化实践就会传播得

    更快、范围更广。这样一来，像生火这样的技术就会迅速普及。

    不论是文化技术的发展还是消失，整个社会都在传播一种思

    想，那就是群体之间的联系让技术成为可能。我现在正在电脑上

    打字，我不需要知道每一个按键是怎样用塑料制成、印上字母、

    最后装进键盘的，我也不需要知道字母是如何出现在屏幕上的。

    我只需要知道，只要我轻敲键盘，字母就会出现。但在这背后是由成千上万人组成的复杂网络，其中包括工程师、工匠、工厂工人、矿工等，没有他们，这一切都不可能实现。这就是生活在物质生活和文化生活丰富多彩的全球化社会中的意义，我不可能知道做每一件事的所有步骤，更不用说在日常生活中亲自动手了。不仅是我，其他人也做不到。一名矿工知道从什么角度击打凿子，也知道应该用凿子敲打什么样的岩石，但是他不知道他取出的石块会被加工成船体还是电子元件。正如我们从生物进化中看到如此多的生态多样性和生命复杂性一样，文化进化也建立了自己完整的系统，人类的日常实践一直在其中发挥作用。

    我把一块打火石放在手里，很难想象这块小小的石头经历了

    怎样的生命历程。事实上它是由微小海洋生物演变而来的。微小

    海洋生物把食物的能量转变成自己的骨骼，它们死去之后，骨骼

    变成了石英。数百万年后，板块运动产生了巨大的能量，把石英

    卷到悬崖之上，形成了火石。这块泪滴状的火石又经过人手的改

    造，变成了这把 4 万多年前制造出的斧头。在人类生存的自然环

    境中，人类靠自己的双手创造的东西虽原始粗劣，却能够用来工

    作。我的手和这把斧头的制造者的手差不多大小，所以我用起斧

    头很顺手。我感觉到它的重量和形状像是为人体量身打造一般，

    我自然而然地就把手指扣进凹槽里。如果有人教我如何使用斧头，

    我就能用它从刚宰杀的鹿身上挖肉，而这可能是它最后一项工作。

    手斧在当时就像现在的瑞士军刀一样，是一种必备的万能工

    具。斧头由石头打磨而成，用于砍伐、切片、钻孔、塑形、削片、

    雕刻木制工具，以及许多原本要花费更多时间的工作。换句话说，

    这是一种物质和文化的双杠杆。

    现今发现的手斧最早可以追溯到 150 多万年前。直到 20 世

    纪，狩猎采集部落中仍或多或少地用着斧头。从撒哈拉以南非洲

    到北极，斧头随处可见，要么在洞穴里，要么大量出现在悬崖下

    方工厂大小的生产基地里。人类想要生存，手斧必不可少。但是

    制作一把斧头的难度之大，有些出人意料。工匠们需要别人教他

    们怎样寻找石头，如何把石头敲下来，最后还要教他们怎样制作。

    别忘了，在这个时候，人类已普遍使用各种各样专门的石器、木

    制工具、绳子、带把手的材料、生火的火石和火绒，以及动物毛

    皮、内脏和其他动物制品了。“石器时代”这一术语通常指的是

    原始或落后的时代，但是在几十万年前，确切来说是人类出现之

    后，石器加工已经发展成为一项十分复杂的技术，需要掌握熟练

    的工艺，还要有地质学、断裂力学和岩石热性能等相关的知识。

    人类学家最近在南非发现了 50 万年前由海德堡人制造的精致的

    石矛尖。

    制作这样的组合工具需要熟悉不同的材料，而且包括木制的轴和用来固定石矛尖的绳子在内的材料还需要单独制作。如果想要固定得更加结实，还要把树脂胶（取自某些树皮）放在火中软化。制作组合工具需要很高的认知水平，其他动物很难达到这一水平，因为制作这样的工具需要调用大脑的“工作记忆”，同时回忆、处理和记忆好几部分信息。工作记忆用于处理多项任务和制定策略，早期的许多技术都需要这种脑力，例如设置捕捉动物的圈套和陷阱。设置陷阱十分消耗脑力，人们先是要想象如何才能捉到动物，然后按照想法创造出一种装置，过一会儿再来看一看有没有捉到，以此来检验这种方法是否可行。制作组合工具除了对认知能力有要求之外，还有生理上的要求。尽管人类已经学会如何制作工具并且有能力完成，但是长时间精神高度集中会让人十分劳累，搜集材料和制作工具也非常消耗体力。创新源于一次次的尝试和错误，耗费了数小时的精力之后，希望最终得到和预期一样的结果。包括人类在内的所有动物都是通过新陈代谢从食物中获得能量，所以要想得到更多的能量，就要吃更多的食物，然而寻找食物又要耗费时间和能量。但是人类一旦学会了一件事情，或者熟练掌握了一项技术，它就会成为我们的第二天性，这样人体所需的能量就会大大降低。

    制作工具时，精准的模仿能提高时间和能量使用效率。这样一来，很快就会出现各种各样复杂的技术，随即产生更多提高能量效率的装置和专业设备（如果你曾经用刀拧过螺丝，你就会知道选对工具能大幅提升工作效率）。要做到精准的模仿，不仅个人要消耗很多时间和能量，整个群体也一样。大规模群体能够抽出专门劳动力（物质杠杆），可以带来规模效益，这时消耗能量才有意义。实际上，在大规模群体中，只有拥有集体智慧（认知杠杆）的群体才有可能做到这一点。在群体规模扩大之前，通过与其他群体建立良好可靠的关系，也可以在一定程度上实现这种规模效应。通过这种方式，集体智慧汇集起来，资源和技能的交换可以降低每个群体的劳动力成本。这就是规模更大、联系更紧密的群体能发明出更先进的技术的原因所在。

    人类之所以能带来复杂技术的文化进化，是因为人类可以通

    过群体成员的认知处理能力、记忆力、知识储备和体力完成工作。

    文化进化带动的生产力远远超过人类本身能达到的。能量的使用

    效率是一种强大的选择压力，直接影响着文化进化和生物进化的

    进程。渐渐地，我们将个人的生理和生物能力与人类改造环境的

    能力分离开来。武器和食物处理工具的发明意味着我们可以抛弃

    食肉动物的大颚、牙齿和爪子，社交工具让我们可以做任何其他

    动物的生物能力无法企及的事情。从火到回形针，再到苹果手机，

    我们现在拥有的一切，都是人类能够日益熟练地高效处理能量的

    结果。

    随着科技的进步，我们的生理文化杠杆也在不断变化。人类每天摄入 2,000 千卡的食物，保证有足够的能量供身体进行 90瓦功率的活动（以人类的平均代谢率计算），然而我们所消耗的能量其实远远超过这个数字。说得更具体一些，我们每天从食物中获得的能量只能够点亮一盏 90 瓦的白炽灯。我现在正在写作，头顶有两盏这样的白炽灯，身后放着一盏台灯，前面是一台正在工作的电脑。除此之外，我的收音机开着，电暖气开着，洗衣机在洗衣服，我一天吃的大部分东西需要用烤箱烤。我的早餐粥提供的能量显然无法满足如此多的能量消耗需求。现在英国的人均家庭能量消耗是一个人代谢能力的 4 倍，美国则高达 12 倍。人类现在总共使用大约 17.5 太瓦功率的能量，这样来算的话，我们每个人都要承担 2 300 瓦的能量消耗，是我们“自然”能力的26 倍，靠我们自身的能力显然是达不到的。在做一些消耗体力还浪费时间的工作时，我们要利用其他形式的能量，从而减少自身的能量消耗。这样一来我们就会有剩余的能量、食物和时间，人

    口数量就会增多，由此产生的规模经济又会进一步提高能量和资

    源的利用效率。例如，劳动力分配可以让擅长不同领域的人发挥

    自己的价值，从而让每个人都有更多的时间和能量来加速文化实

    践的发展。我们的物质文化杠杆在效率和规模上不断进化，直到

    我们达到另一个临界点。这时，从食物采集到运输的劳动密集型

    工作，不但成本极低，还很容易完成，所以我们就能肆意地开发

    地球。人类现在使用着地球上 40%以上的原始产物，其中的能量

    都是由植物的光合作用提供的（因此也可供地球上其他生命使

    用）。

    促进能量产生或流动的新实践形式是驱动文化进化的主要动力之一。这种新形式会改善人类基因的存续情况。因为对所有动物来说，养育幼崽都需要耗费大量能量，而它们自身新陈代谢能够产生多少能量会决定它们生育能力的高低。然而最终，成功的文化进化将人类的文化存续和基因存续分离开来。有一个很有趣的现象是，一个工业化社会越富裕，人口出生率就越低。有的国家由于出生率太低，已经导致人口总数在不断下降，尽管这些国家可以提供最好的食品和医疗保障。通过文化进化，我们正在推翻生物进化的关键证据。

    我们可以利用能量改造环境、改变自身，也可以用能量将自然界的东西变成人类世界的物品。我们周围日常使用的所有东西几乎都是自己制造的，我们依靠人造的基础设施规划着社会生活中的能量流动和社交活动。我们之所以把一些东西称为人造的，是因为它们来自自然界，之后由人类二次加工，我们不也是自然界的一分子吗？人类的文化进化是生物特征的一部分，就像文化进化的产物是我们共同创造的新地球的一部分一样。

    鸟类筑巢，海狸筑坝，它们把自然界的东西重新组合，各得其所。但只有人类能利用世界的原始材料，生产出复杂多样的产品，引发物质的进化。技术通过组合而发展，社会和文化紧密相连，因此通过社交网络和技术保证，一种发现或做法可以广泛流传。人类依靠自己的智慧和灵活的头脑发现新事物，应用新事物。以泥土为例，用泥土可以做出几乎任何东西，这一点人类已经做到了。火让泥土变得持久耐用，让本身柔韧的分子层变成完全不同特性的立体物件，而且十分结实。烧制黏土不仅是人类文化的一场变革，也是材料行业的一大飞跃。

    陶器可以用来炖菜煮汤，能储存脂肪、海鲜和美酒，还能让人随身携带液体。在陶器出现之前，游牧民族只能用袋囊或皮囊来携带或储存水。所以能装血、牛奶、水、油和动物内脏的坚硬容器带来的改变是革命性的。陶器可以用来煮汤。喝汤能帮助婴儿断奶，而且汤羹营养丰富，易于消化，基本不含毒素。通过喝汤，婴儿逐渐接触到新的食品，也可能是有潜在危险的食品。比如，在锅里煮鱼汤可以防止鱼肉脂肪流失。鱼肉脂肪中含有有利于婴儿大脑发育和女性生育的 ω-3 脂肪酸。汤有利于儿童身体健康，有利于提高存活率，直接导致人口数量的增加。

    陶器的出现促进了农业发展。很难想象没有陶器的时候人们是如何储存、烹饪或发酵谷物的。有充分证据表明，世界各地陶器文化蓬勃发展的同时，农业水平也迅猛提高。储藏的食物可以被重新分配和拥有，这对奉行平等主义的狩猎采集社会的社会结构、领土和经济产生了持久的影响，为政治操纵创造了机会。

    陶器的诞生标志着人类第一次把自然材料转变成人造材料，揭示了社会和发明之间的反馈关系，因为每一种发明带来的变化都推动着社会进一步发展。在几千年的文化进化中，世界各地人民创造了纷繁复杂的陶器加工、烧制和装饰技艺，制作了各式各样的产品，包括牛奶罐、小雕像、砖块、瓦片、台灯、抽水马桶、陶瓷电子元件等。制作陶器最耗时耗力的环节是烧制，因为需要收集燃料，并让窑炉一直保持足够的温度，但好处是可以同时烧制多个罐子。这种大规模生产使其制作成本变低，所以制陶的技术很快取代了制作篮子或木箱这样的技术，因为后者很难做到大规模生产。

    随着人类群体能支配的能量越来越多，生产技术也随之发展，

    生产效率也在不断提高。随着制陶发展起来的窑炉技术，可以为

    上釉创造可控制的高温环境，冶金学很可能就是由此而来的。人

    们将岩石矿物碾碎后用于装饰，在这个过程中，可能会有小铜珠

    在火床上沉积，这些铜珠可以被打碎和熔化。发现可以从岩石中

    提炼出铜，这让人们兴奋不已。提炼的方法就是高温熔炼矿石，

    比如亮绿色的孔雀石、蓝铜矿石和硫化铜矿石。突然间，我们发

    现脚下土地里居然隐藏着新的物质，这些物质可以被制成任何东

    西，而这些被制成的东西还可以被制成其他东西，如此往复，实

    在是太不可思议了。

    为此，人们需要更多的能量：窑炉靠木炭燃烧供热、风箱供氧维持燃烧，以保证温度至少达到 1,000 摄氏度。人们制作出坚固的铜制刀片后，就可以切割骨头、木头甚至石头。伟大的埃及金字塔是奴隶们用铜凿一点点雕刻石块建成的。据估计，整个工程需要 30 万把凿子，为此开采了大约 1 万吨铜矿，在当时恶劣的条件下，矿工的寿命维持不到一年。

    公元前 3000 年，人们发现在铜中加入锡可以制成青铜，这

    是一种更坚硬的合金。青铜开辟了新的贸易路线，因为锡在地壳

    中比较稀有，所以需要从遥远的英国运输。这条贸易路线从锡的

    发源地英格兰西南端的康沃尔郡开始，沿着锡的开采路线一路到

    达阿富汗。这条路带来了商品，同时也传播了思想。这是第一个

    大规模的国际贸易网络，让新精英阶层变得非常富有。由于游牧

    民族的入侵，这条贸易路线在公元前 1200 年被迫中断，人们不

    得已开始寻找青铜的替代品。结果人们发现几乎到处都是——每

    一块岩石都含有铁，一种再普通不过的金属。从此人类进入了铁

    器时代，铁器自此再也没有离开过我们的生活。

    与冶炼铜相比，冶炼铁矿石需要的温度更高，消耗的能量更

    多。人们用古老的熔炉最多只能炼出一种多孔的海绵状物质，叫

    作熟铁，这种熟铁并不比铜强多少。熟铁经过反复捶打后可以提

    高强度，但仍然无法代替青铜。（尽管如此，到公元前 1500 年，

    铁在古埃及已经很常见了。）后来冶炼者发明了一种方法，突破

    了技术限制。他们通过在火中添加木炭来提高和控制热量，这样

    一来，一种铁和碳的合金就生成了，我们称之为钢，钢是当时最

    坚硬的金属。合金中碳的含量至关重要：1%的含碳量可以制成高

    强度的钢，4%的含碳量就会让钢变得脆弱易碎。遗憾的是，直到

    20 世纪，我们才明白这个道理，才知道为什么有些炼钢工艺行得

    通，有些却失败了。

    炼钢技术作为一种复杂而神秘的仪式代代相传下来。罗马人

    离开英国的时候，小心翼翼地把铁钉藏起来，也没有公开其他冶

    金技术，就是为了防止别人知道怎么制造不易折断的剑、渡槽和

    船只。后来，人们在苏格兰发现了一个深坑，里边埋藏着的铁钉

    和钢钉重达 7 吨，这是一个罗马军团撤退时埋下的。由于锻造钢

    铁关键技术失传，人们把钢铁神化为坚不可摧的武器，比如英国

    亚瑟王使用的神剑。

    高炉是一种冶炼设备，通过在冶炼矿石的过程中添加木炭，

    可以减少矿石中氧的含量，通过空气鼓风提供氧气支持燃烧，最

    终得到金属制品。世界各地发明的高炉多种多样，至今仍在广泛

    使用。正是因为加工出了铁这种特别又普通的金属，才让铁制工

    具创造了现代世界。铁犁耕种土地的效率更高，铁斧砍树比用石

    头更快，铁钉、铁质渡槽和桥梁让基础设施更加坚固。因为这些

    进步，城镇和城市人口的数量增加了。环境造就了人类，支撑着

    整个社会的运转。然而，为了控制更多的能量，我们改变了环境。

    冶金需要用到木炭，所以世界各地的森林被大规模砍伐，环境遭

    到破坏，给社会经济带来不良影响。

    一个人无论多么聪明，也不可能偶然间有这么一个重大发现或是自己发明出从岩石中变出钢铁的方法。每一种技术都包含诸多步骤，这些步骤是几代人学习和传承的结果。这种复杂的文化依赖一个重视教学和学习的社会，还要具有跨越地理区域的强大网络。这个社会规模要足够大，才能有劳动分工，才能有养活劳动者的食物和水源。今天的世界之所以存在，完全是因为经过了足够长的时间，让技术和社会得以进化得复杂多样，让人口和社会网络发展到足以支撑所有的能量消耗。

    生火和控制火种赋予了人类了不起的能力，可以将地球上的物质转化为人造世界的物质。掌控火种是人类历史的转折点，也是地球生命的转折点，因为它是让地球迈向新行星之路的第一步。我们永远地改变了生命体与环境之间的能量动态关系。我们之所以能做到这一点，几乎完全是因为我们有策略地互相模仿，从而共同构建了一个聪明的集体大脑。

    语言

    进化完全依赖于个体间的信息传播。这些信息被忠实地复制、储存和传播。在生物系统中，基因信息储存在 DNA 中。在人类文化进化中，必不可少的信息是文化知识，它储存在语言中。正如生物进化出了生存策略以改善其基因的繁殖过程一样，人类的文化也产生了适应性方法，帮助其传承发展。

    第六章 故事：存储累积的思想

    在海边的火光中，海浪轻轻拍打着海岸，有一个人在唱歌。

    他像是在为我歌唱，又好像不是。火光中，只看见那人来回走动

    着，时而蹲下，时而起身。他黝黑的皮肤已与黑夜融为一体，但

    是身上的油彩却熠熠生辉。当我看清跳舞之人的面貌时，不由得

    大吃一惊。他扮成神灵的样子，合着音乐的节奏，挥舞胳膊，跺

    着双脚。他眉目间神采飞扬，牙齿也闪闪发亮。他一边唱，一边

    敲击着彩绘的棍子。我们脚下的红土地，也随着他双脚的律动颤

    动了起来。另一位光彩夺目的年轻人用迪吉里杜管演奏着音乐。

    舞者的舞姿越发狂野，前后甩着头，手胡乱地抓着空气，却张弛

    有度。燃起的篝火还在噼啪作响。周围的人也都加入其中，敲打

    着木棍，手里摇晃着干豆荚。几个小时过去了，那位雍古族舞者

    还在跳着，唱着。他会一直唱下去，直到启明星在天边升起。

    歌中唱的是天地万物的故事。在梦幻时代，第一批人类遵循造物主的指引，翻山越岭，漂洋过海，来到澳大利亚。这个造物主就是我们熟知的维纳斯，也就是金星（又称启明星）。维纳斯在飞行时，唱了一首有关她一路见闻的歌曲，里边描述了她途经的地标和万物起源的创世故事。雍古族舞者的歌声余音绕梁，舞蹈活灵活现，配合着身上的彩绘，令人印象深刻。即便是闭上眼，我似乎也能看到舞者的身姿。舞者脚下律动不停，敲棍声和鼓声笃笃作响，迪吉里杜管乐声悠扬，沙滩之火闪烁不停，引人入胜的歌曲不绝于耳，给所有人都带来了难以忘怀又意义非凡的体验。事实上，这样的歌曲一直没有被人遗忘过。或许从 6 万年前人类到达澳大利亚开始，人们就开始学习、传唱这些歌曲，口口相传至今。它们就是歌径。

    歌径以口述故事的方式记载文化知识，利用共通的文化背景将人们联系在一起，以一种微妙的方式重新定义家庭或社会。澳大利亚每个原住民部落都有他们自己的歌径，包含各种各样的故事，详细记录了他们的法律条文、礼节仪式、权利义务、祖先神灵和山河风光。歌径也是澳大利亚的“活”地图，绘制了这里交错纵横的无形道路。原住民通过变化的旋律、艺术作品和舞蹈表演展现澳大利亚的地理标志、草木林海、高矮岩壑、天地生灵、气候类型和水源分布，而且这些对周遭世界的认知通常与天上的星座相关。因此，歌径可以跨越语言的障碍，在各个部落之间传唱。如果你了解歌径，就会发现，一曲终了，你可以轻易地转到下一曲上，因为歌径中的每一乐句都是歌径地图上的索引。此外，英国作家布鲁斯·查特文在他有关歌径的开创性研究中补充了另一个原因：“歌径中的乐句（还）是记忆库，指引我们找到自己与世界连接的道路。”

    这也解释了人类的故事为何如此重要，又为何能够广泛传播。因为这些口述的故事是人类集体的记忆库，它们以叙事的方式储存着人类世界的文化信息。它们还提供了一种可靠且节省力气的方法来广泛传播内容复杂、内涵丰富的文化信息。一则则故事帮助文化知识尽可能长时间地储存在人类集体记忆中，便于人类将其代代相传、不断更新。随着人类文化越来越复杂，讲故事已经不仅仅是一种重要的文化适应行为，我们的大脑在进化过程中还将其自发纳入认知环节。故事塑造了我们的思想、社会，甚至改变了我们和环境的互动。故事拯救了人类。

    6 万年前，一小队人来到了澳大利亚。他们颇具开创精神，在澳大利亚迅速繁衍生息，建立起欣欣向荣的部落，同时还学习如何与独特的自然环境相处，以便更好地生存。他们发展出烧荒农业，利用各类材料制造渔叉、猎矛等复杂的工具。旱季和雨季不断交替，各个部落为了获取水源和其他资源，迁徙十分频繁。而且每到一处，他们都详细绘制了当地的地图。故事帮助人们学习知识，回忆过去，并将自己的所学传授给他人。正如一位原住民长者解释的那样：“我们没有书本，我们的历史就刻在这片土地上。我们从祖辈身上学到了很多，他们带我们参观这些圣地，教授我们历史，通过歌曲和舞蹈给我们展示朱库尔帕信仰，也就是梦幻时代信仰。我们用舞蹈演绎故事，这些故事也融入了我们的记忆和身体中。我们也不断地丰富和发展朱库尔帕信仰。”通过歌径，朱库尔帕信仰在澳大利亚世代相传，人类在这里繁荣兴旺。

    从本质来说，讲故事更像是一种全社会参与的事业。它需要人们思想相通，愿意搁置现实，探索虚拟时空。虽然歌径让澳大利亚的原住民部落各有不同，但有一点很关键，那就是它们将这些部落连在了一起。这些关于故事、土地、人民和文化的口述地图之所以意义非凡，是因为它们不仅对保持原住民身份的独立性具有重要意义，而且还使原住民免于灭绝。

    约 2 万年前，来势凶猛的冰川时代摧毁了澳大利亚的自然环境。北半球的欧亚大陆冰盖绵延了 4 500 千米，海平面下降 20米。同时冰盖冻结了大量水分，导致全球各地雨水稀少。随着干旱越来越严重，对很多哺乳类动物来说，地球上的环境越来越不适合生存。以澳大利亚为例，在这个时期，大型有袋类动物全部灭绝，人口数量也骤降了 60%。那些设法坚持下来的原住民部落孤单地散落在广阔的澳大利亚大陆上。这种情况延续了上千年。人口数量少、种群孤立，再加上极端困苦的环境条件，使得人类基因库没有得到及时更新，甚至还有毁灭性的基因突变悄悄混入，导致人类身体素质下降。这些都给种群灭绝制造了充分的条件。

    某个种群与世界其他地区的种群隔绝了上万年，并且分化成了人数稀少的孤立群体。这些条件看似已经形成了进化的死胡同，却没有造成澳大利亚的原住民灭绝。在如此众多的大型动物都灭绝的情况下，他们是怎么存活下来的呢？

    是歌径拯救了原住民。面对极端险恶的环境，原住民不得不更加依赖专门的知识寻找所需资源，应对不同的气候条件以便生存。2 万年前冰川时代的石臼显示，当时的人们已经擅长加工处理恩加度。成年原住民臼齿化石上特殊的磨痕也表明，他们已经会加工纤维来制作渔网。这些步骤繁多、工序复杂的技艺必须要储存在集体记忆库中，代代相传。即便这些技艺不再有价值，比如当某个群体生活的地方不再有恩加度，它们仍然薪火相传。也许若干代之后，人们会在记忆中重新发现这些技艺，让它们得以存活下来。

    我们“自私的基因”只懂得拷贝自身，而歌径则从集体的角度出发，将其承载的整个族群的文化信息传递给每个人。在处境糟糕的冰川时期，歌径和其中描述的仪式帮助部落应对孤立无援的状态，而这种孤立也让歌径和那些仪式得以保存。如果一种文化中没有那么多持不同观点的人，那么文化变革的压力就会小很多。但是，因为歌径可以为所有人理解，所以部落与部落之间的联系也得以加强。部落之间进行必要的基因交换时，歌径在其中做纽带。这既可以保证基因的多样性，也可以避免种群灭绝的发生。歌径保证文化和基因库都十分健康，帮助冰川时期的原住民文化在孤立和联系之间达成平衡，这是其他大型哺乳类动物做不到的。随着气候逐渐变暖，澳大利亚越来越宜居，原住民数量激增。到 17 世纪，澳大利亚已经居住着约 100 万原住民，说着 300种语言。

    人类的活动范围逐渐扩大至全世界，经历着环境和社会带来

    的诸多挑战，正是故事将我们团结在一起，带领着我们共同面对

    挑战。随着社会变得越来越复杂，人类的故事也发生了相应的改

    变，讲述的内容从叙事者周围的环境扩大到了整个世界。在这个

    过程中，故事给予全人类精神力量，让我们坦然面对自然和社会

    环境的变革。家喻户晓的故事通常会浓缩成一句文化格言，比如，

    用“狼来了”的故事提醒大家不要撒谎，用“三思而后行”规劝

    他人谨言慎行。在过去，故事地图的应用十分广泛。有人指出荷

    马创作的《奥德赛》用诗歌的方式描绘了一幅便于记忆的地中海

    地图。同时还有证据表明，大象也可以使用故事地图。与人类相

    似，大象的大脑体积占身体体积的比例相当大。生物进化会青睐

    那些记忆力更好、更善于沟通与合作的个体。象群中的母象就像

    人类的祖母一样，即便在干旱结束很久之后，依然会记得那个能

    拯救集体的遥远水源位于何处。

    故事是一种强有力的适应生存的手段，因为它不仅帮我们跟随记忆回到过去，还让我们不耗费时间和精力就能在脑中想象未来。它就像精神世界的思想实验，可以让我们在头脑中模拟危险或困难的事件，并将得出的结论储存在脑中，供日后参考。其实，我们一直在下意识地做这些事情。我们可以想象前往两个不同水源地的路线，不需要真正走一遍，就能权衡出哪条路线才是更好的选择。

    如果有人告诉我们，“不要靠近巨石，危险”，我们或许记不真切，也很难因此幸存。但是如果有人这样告诉我们：“我表弟曾坐在巨石旁，结果被睡在那儿的狮子咬掉了脸。”我们或许就会记得更加真切，从而保住性命。故事是文化的记忆库，因为故事提供了语境这样的“基础设施”，有助于我们理解、组织、分享和储存真实的信息。

    研究表明，通过故事传递的信息比其他途径传递的信息更便于人们记忆，中间的差距有 22 倍。这是因为，在讲述故事时，大脑的多个部分都会被激活。单纯地陈述事实只能激活大脑的语言处理区域（布罗卡氏区和威尔尼克区，即赋予单词意义的区域）。但如果通过讲故事传递同样的信息，大脑中同叙事有关的区域就会被激活。假如一个故事中提到了跑或跳，大脑的运动皮质就会活跃起来。如果提到了某人的缎质上衣，大脑的感官部分就会被激活。叙事让我们的大脑产生了身临其境的感受。通过这种方式，故事讲述者可以将思想情感和价值观念灌输给听众，让他们感同身受。研究人员对讲故事的人和听众的脑部做过 CT（电子计算机断层扫描）。扫描结果显示，在讲故事的过程中，二者的大脑会产生同步反应。神经学家将这种现象描述为“听说神经耦合”。

    换句话说，随着大脑不断进化，人类可以通过故事来了解世

    界。故事因此成为一种强大的文化工具，加强了基因—文化的共

    同进化。人类的故事来源于生活。我们通过故事看清世界和自己

    的人生。许多人将人类的故事——这个不曾中断过的长篇故事—

    —归功于神的旨意。

    这其实是我们大脑复杂的预知系统为了人类的生存，在进化

    过程中产生的一桩怪事。大脑有很大一部分用于处理包括眼睛、

    耳朵、皮肤和内脏器官等身体其他部分的感官输入信息。大脑通

    过这些信息创造了我们对现实的感知、对自我的认知和对周围世

    界的了解。我们将其统称为意识。人体不断地感知信息，大脑也

    不断地更新它的预知工具，并利用预知指导我们和周围环境的互

    动，帮助我们趋利避害，繁衍生息。大脑的预知系统让我们意识

    到质量重的物体会下落，阴影中的物体看起来颜色更深，液体不

    需要咀嚼等。

    大脑将接收到的碎片信息收集起来，选择合适的故事模式，构想合适的故事情节，创造出以碎片信息为主角的故事，帮助我们理解周围发生的事情。我们看到被吃了一半的牛，再听到一声狮吼，可以轻易联想到狮子袭击了牛。有了前车之鉴，我们会修筑围栏保护牛群，以免遭受损失。如果因果关系没有那么明显，比如说牛的死亡原因不明，我们心中会有其他思量：可能是牛运气不好，可能是被村里老妇诅咒了，也可能是触怒了神灵。我们无法控制运气这种奇妙的东西，但是我们可以把下咒的老妇沉塘，或者向神灵献祭，平复他们的愤怒。做完这些之后，如果剩下的牛活了下来，那故事就可以改动了：牛能活下来是因为老妇不在了，是因为神灵对献祭的东西感到满意，是因为我们时来运转。这样，我们就向人类文化知识库里成功添加了一些信仰，这些信仰虽然有用，但也会带来不少的问题。

    人类也会无中生有，自己创作故事。因为故事让我们的生活

    变得有意义，用独特的方式回答了存在的问题。1944 年，在美国

    进行的一项研究中，34 名大学生观看了一段简短的动画。视频

    里，两个三角形和一个圆形来回滚动，一个长方形则在一边保持

    不动。当被问及他们看到了什么时，34 名学生中有 33 名都将视

    频中的图形拟人化，编了一个故事：圆形代表“焦虑和担忧”，

    小三角形代表“无辜稚子”，大三角形则代表“（人）被愤怒和

    挫折蒙蔽了双眼”。只有 1 名学生说，他看到的不过是屏幕上的

    几何图形。

    从本质上来说，我们的大脑让我们对周围的世界产生了“幻觉”。所以，只需对输入大脑的信息稍加调整，这种幻觉就会被改变。这种调整十分有效，不仅可以改变我们对外界的认知，像上文“牛之死”的故事一样，还可以影响我们的身体感受。后者是因为大脑用故事帮助我们理解和回应它从身体获得的感官体验。如果医生给了身体疼痛的病人一片药片，并告诉他，这个药片可以缓解疼痛，那么药片很可能就会有这样的效果。疼痛之所以得以缓解，可能是因为药片随着人体的新陈代谢，逐渐被人体吸收，抑制了体内的组胺分泌，还有可能是因为大脑希望药片可以起效，从而要求身体减少组胺分泌。我们给自己讲的“药和医生”的故事足以让药片产生生化反应，即使药片只是用糖做的安慰剂。

    其实，即便病人知道药是安慰剂，“药”这个字代表的强大治愈作用足以让病人相信“吃了药就可以康复”的美好故事，促使大脑产生被治愈的感觉。如果想要病人得到治疗的感觉更加强烈，可以让开“药”的人穿上白大褂、在“药”的包装中塞入用药医嘱、包装外列出药品成分（有的“药”会列出空气的化学成分）或让病人通过相关仪式求药。有时，注射安慰剂比直接服用安慰药片的效果更明显，因为人们相信，生病时打针比吃药好得快。

    安慰剂之所以有用，是因为药的故事深嵌在人们的文化“显影液”中。不过安慰剂发挥的作用因文化而异。相关实验数据可以支撑这种观点：在德国，安慰剂对溃疡的治疗效果比其邻国丹麦和荷兰高了一倍，而对降血压的效果远不如其他国家。大脑中的化学物质会受到信念的刺激，改变我们对炎症、压力等一系列致病因子的反应。有些人认为，人的生辰年同最终导致死亡的特定身体器官相关。对这个说法深信不疑的人，他们的平均死亡年龄会比不相信这种说法但患有该病的人提前四五年。这个发现令人震惊。随后，研究者又对比了同一年出生的部分美籍华裔人和美籍欧裔人的死亡率，结果证实了这个发现的真实性。部分美籍华人相信“生辰年和疾病”这个故事，所以他们将这个故事变成了现实——他们确实更容易死于相关疾病。这样一来，“生辰年和疾病”故事的可信度也随之提高。由此来看，长寿并不由基因决定，而是由相关文化故事的力量决定的。

    故事能够说服大脑来治愈疾病。这种力量在其他方面也有体

    现。历史上曾有多次报道，青少年和年轻女性会出现大规模流行

    性昏厥和癔症，且无明显病因。其中一例于 2012 年发生在阿富

    汗北部塔哈尔省省会塔卢坎市的比比哈耶尔高中。该校的女生和

    老师随后住院接受治疗。最开始人们以为病因是塔利班的毒气袭

    击，但是，上百人的血检和尿检结果都为正常。之后，世界卫生

    组织将此次事件看作一次“群体性心因性疾病”。约旦河西岸也

    曾发生过类似事件。最初，以色列和巴勒斯坦互相指责，都认为

    对方应对事件负责。但医生最后得出结论，该事件也只是一次心

    因性疾病。第三个例子发生在马萨诸塞州塞勒姆市。当地的歇斯

    底里感染（即流行性癔症）后来还引发了塞勒姆女巫审判案。以

    上事件中的受害者都处于十分恐怖的氛围中。对于她们即将面临的危险，她们的大脑用最真实的身体反应给出了回应。60%的病人在准备接受化疗时，会产生预期中的恶心，因为她们的大脑中已经有了“化疗会让人恶心”的思维定式。

    这种现象叫作“反安慰剂效应”。它与安慰剂效应相反，会

    对病人的身体情况产生负面影响。反安慰剂效应解释了诅咒和黑

    魔法为什么能够起效。有些人甚至会因诅咒而亡。据文件记载，

    大约 80 年前，在亚拉巴马州，一名男性因伏都教的诅咒而日渐

    消瘦。将死之时，他遇见了一位名叫德雷顿·多尔迪的医生。可

    他认定自己行将就木，不管多尔迪医生说什么都无法改变他的想

    法。最后，医生决定用另外一个故事破除伏都教的诅咒。多尔迪

    医生给他服下了一种很有用的催吐剂，并在其呕吐时娴熟地从自

    己的口袋中变出了一只活蜥蜴。多尔迪医生称伏都教的诅咒就是

    这只寄宿在人体内的蜥蜴，并向病人保证，既然现在蜥蜴已经吐

    出来了，那身体很快就可以恢复正常了。结果，病人真的恢复正

    常了。

    从进化的角度来看，我们的身体对内心的感受产生生理反应合情合理。如果我们处于危险之地，如果吃下了不干净的食物，呕吐和昏厥都是一种警告，让我们尽快逃走或采取相关措施。同样，如果处在安逸的环境中，我们的大脑会认为这里可以舒缓疼痛、减轻炎症。这点在儿童身上体现得很明显。对他们来说，父母的一个亲吻便可缓解他们摔破膝盖的疼痛。像这样将感官体验与现实（大脑相信的故事）结合起来，也是大脑影响现实体验的一种策略。

    为了理解世界、与世界互动，人类进化出了故事，将其作为认知世界的工具。我们做的梦是故事，我们清醒时的内心活动也是故事。我们用自己主演的故事理解世界。历史是我们的暖场表演，而广袤的宇宙是我们的舞台。很多人将人生看作“一场旅行”，我们的目标是“旅行的终点”。在人生旅行中，我们可能会“迷失”，也可能会“处于十字路口”。不论人类处于什么样的文化背景下，人们从小就会讲故事，这是人类的共性。在学会说话之前，我们用表情和手势讲故事：当我蹒跚学步的孩子给我看一只蝴蝶、兴高采烈地拍着手时，我知道，她正在给我讲故事。人在讲故事时将各种情绪带进了形形色色的故事中，这也是故事便于记忆的原因之一。

    从几十万年前山洞和岩壁上赭色的绘画便可得知，人类祖先十分喜欢讲故事。在贫瘠荒凉的地球上，人类特意留下手印和其他涂鸦。除了表示划分领地的意思，这些涂鸦还在努力传达着别的东西。它们向我诉说着，人类不但要讲自己的故事，还要让他人知道自己的故事。正如英籍日裔作家石黑一雄所言：“小说（故事）是一个人对另一个人的诉说。这是我对于小说（故事）的感受。你们也是这样想的吗？”从非洲南部到澳大利亚再到欧洲，赭色手印均有广泛分布。这是人类从历史早期甚至是语言产生之前就开始使用的讲故事手法，从未中断过。2017 年，为抗议澳大利亚新南威尔士州最高法院对杀害原住民男童罪犯的从轻判决，当地原住民在最高法院的玻璃门前印下了赭色的手印。鲜红的颜色表达着人们对正义的呼唤，也让人们回忆起最早居住在澳大利亚的人们将其用作文化工具的时代。

    坎塔布里亚位于西班牙北部巴斯克自治区的腹地，当地有一处名为萨尔瓦多卡斯蒂略的洞穴群。两条河流流经洞穴，河流之间坐落着三座山谷。这里是动物每年迁徙的必经之路，人类可以在这里狩猎。或许是这个原因，千百年来，尼安德特人都居住在萨尔瓦多卡斯蒂略洞穴中。后来，人类的祖先也住了进去。这里成了人类祖先在冰河时期的避难所。洞穴内部交错复杂，宛如迷宫。墙上到处都是非同一般的绘画作品。这些画由两个人种分别绘制而成，时间最早可追溯到 64,000 年前，但是科学家们直到最近才发现这些画，因为人们根本想不到洞穴深处的房间中还藏有这样的作品。当我参观萨尔瓦多卡斯蒂略时，我让导游把洞穴内的照明灯关掉，因为我想欣赏它最初的壮丽。

    我的眼睛在黑暗中恍惚了几秒。随后，在导游手电筒的幽幽光线中，我看见洞穴顶部出现了一头野兽的影子，形象立体，若隐若现。这影子说是野牛，但又像人，看着令人毛骨悚然。当手电筒的光照到洞穴内一根三米高的钟乳石柱时，天花板上半人半兽的影子突然变大，形状也更加扭曲，影子随着光移动，走过了整个天花板。一种混沌原始的感觉从我内心升起，这感觉中掺杂着敬畏、好奇和恐惧。这令人惊叹的画面便是史前的电影画面。

    至少在 15,000 年前，一位聪明的“动画师”就用这种画面成功

    地吸引了观众。他利用燃烧动物脂肪的石灯和石柱凸起，将光和

    影灵活地应用在岩壁的图像上。“动画师”通过移动石灯，让图

    像动了起来，赋予了它们生命。这样讲故事会将创作者的思维传

    递给观众，进而启发观众的想象力。讲故事为社会的凝聚提供了

    史无前例的机会。大家都默许了在讲故事中可以撒谎：我们愿意

    以观众的身份先进入连接现实和幻想的故事世界中，再向前走进

    幻想世界中。

    影院的多重感官体验增强了这种效果。一部分原因是影院的

    画面比例，即现代电影中使用的特写镜头对大脑认知面孔和人体

    的方式产生了巨大影响。（每秒 12 帧到 24 帧的画面让人目不暇

    接，我们根本不能理性地思考什么是真实的，什么不是，我们不

    确定自己是不是认识银幕上的人，所以通常会觉得电影中的人物

    与自己关系密切。）清晰的野牛人兽画像遍布石壁和石柱，造型

    各异，或许代表披着野牛皮的萨满巫师。通过这些画面，我们可

    以清楚地认识到，史前山洞影院的创造者十分清楚这些画面会带

    来怎样的感受。那么在这个神秘的黑暗洞穴中，他们到底创造出

    了什么样的世界？萨满教让人们产生了怎样的幻觉，能让人们为

    共同的事业和信仰联系在一起？

    我们利用想象出的神灵和魔力解释生活中难以解释的神秘

    现象。对很多人来说，现实世界和幻想世界的界线并不明确，甚

    至也没有必要区分两个世界。幻想世界中的故事会给我们带来慰

    藉。对于高度依赖社会的人类来说，神灵是我们面对险境时最后

    的依赖。比如，地震之后，信教人数就会增多。再比如，向一位

    普度众生的神灵祈祷可以减轻压力。祭祀这样的神灵也会让人安

    心，还能得到社会支持，这样的心理暗示可以说服大脑缓解身体

    的疼痛感。信教人士会更加平和地面对自己的错误，或许是因为

    各类宗教都有宿命论的影子，也有神灵负责事情的善后，这样就

    能让人们少些“事后诸葛亮”的行为，或许可以帮助我们在进化

    选择压力下生存下来。

    不过，那些依据故事产生的习俗虽然看起来不够合理，却可

    以广泛流传。这是因为这些习俗实际上于人有益。以打猎为例，

    世界各地的打猎都有仪式，包括模仿动物、只在规定区域打猎或

    者沿着看来不大可能打到猎物的方向打猎。除了仪式导向的打猎

    外，还有一种理性打猎。理性打猎是指总结成功的打猎经验，形

    成固定的打猎模式并应用到以后的打猎中。不过，研究人员在分

    析打猎的成功案例时发现，同理性打猎相比，仪式导向的打猎是

    一种更好的打猎策略。比如选择打猎地点时，理性打猎会回到以

    前捕到猎物的地方。但问题是猎物已经学会了避开这些地方。仪

    式导向的打猎则会随机挑选打猎区域，帮助猎人摆脱对某地的偏

    爱，而这种偏爱正是人类认知的致命缺点。就拿黑猩猩来说，它们没有这种偏爱，因此它们在打猎地点的选择上就更加随意。

    故事也为整个族群提供了一种保护和可持续使用自然资源的途径。所以难怪泛灵论早在狩猎采集社会就得以广泛传播，或许在语言产生之前的早期人类时代就已经出现了。泛灵论下的多数宗教故事都将自然和人类联系在一起（犹太派基督教徒凌驾于自然的观点为个例）。西伯利亚雅库特的原住民会猎杀驯鹿，但是他们相信驯鹿的体内存在灵魂，驯鹿主动放弃了自己的生命，自愿成为人的食物，等待人们捕杀。每一次猎杀驯鹿都有相应的仪式，表示人类会顺从驯鹿灵魂的旨意，并感激它给人类部落带来了礼物。

    人类的祖先在这些环境信仰体系中扮演着重要的角色。许多文化都认为祖先的灵魂栖息在动物身上或以自然界的其他形式存在。已故之人通常会继续在群体中发挥作用，维系代与代之间以及跨生命形式的联系。与死亡相关的习俗是文化故事的一部分，考古学家发现的诸多重要装饰品都用于装饰已故之人。只有文化不断传递下去，累积性的文化进化才有可能。也就是说，即便个体去世，他们曾坚持的文化实践也必须有人继续坚持，文化才能进化。如果把关于祖先的故事和过去使用的仪式归为群体故事的一部分，将会推动文化的延续，加强人与人之间的社会联系。或许这就是关于祖先的故事和过去的仪式如此广为人知的原因。从纪念碑到玛丽莲·梦露的海报，我们现在仍用实物创造文化记忆，讲述逝者的故事。

    编故事的人在世界各地都受到赞誉。阿格塔人生活在菲律宾，以狩猎采集为生。但是人类学家的调查显示，这个种群更看重讲故事的能力，看重程度是看重狩猎能力的两倍。故事讲得最好的人，家里人丁最为兴旺。

    故事将听众带入其中，让他们一起感受故事人物的喜怒哀乐，

    从而引发听众的共鸣，增进人与人之间的信任。火在人类的早期

    历史中扮演着重要的角色，它延长了一天的时间，让人们之间的

    对话充满想象力。人类学家分析了纳米比亚和博茨瓦纳现代狩猎

    采集者间的对话。他们发现猎人们白天的对话主要讨论经济、土

    地权益等世俗问题；但到了晚上，人们在篝火旁对话，80%的内

    容都是故事。我们将自己对世界的解读和自己创造的虚拟世界用

    故事、绘画、歌曲和舞蹈传递给他人，这是人们思想间的对话。

    大家共同进行的这种仪式对于加强人与人之间的联系、增进互信

    和团结起到了强有力的推动作用。从足球场上的呐喊助威到一起

    吟唱的宗教赞美诗，这些一起唱歌跳舞的活动绝不仅仅是几分钟

    的共同活动。这些活动让人与人之间的关系更加亲密，让人们好

    像成了一家人。实验证明，大家一起唱歌跳舞之后，个体之间的

    合作会更好，会向社会捐助更多的款项，打造对人人有益的社会。

    对大脑的预测系统来说，仅仅创作自己的故事是远远不够的，我们必须要确保每个人的故事同群体的故事相一致。故事能够用共同的信念将群体内部的人们凝聚在一起，同时还可以吸引外人加入群体。所以，尽管讲故事并没有给一个群体带来食物和其他有形资源，但讲故事的技能是一种人类适应进化的表现。它在逐渐促进群体的凝聚和合作，巩固社会规则，传授文化知识。人类学家发现，在阿格塔人中，故事讲得越好的群体，合作能力就越强，而且更乐于分享。阿格塔人流传的故事里，80%的内容都同合作、性别平等、平均主义、惩恶扬善等有利于群体生存的文化行为有关。如果一个群体有关合作的故事较少（相对应地，有关自然的故事可能较多），那这个群体的合作能力就会较差。

    因为故事，我们的社会更加团结，社会成员间更具有凝聚力。

    利用故事，我们传递自己的信息、他人的信息和整个世界的信息，

    并学习如何与人交往、如何共情、如何规矩行事。通过故事，我

    们可以探索世界，了解他人的想法。这可以让我们坚定信仰，坚

    持自己对事物的看法，同时也有勇气挑战这些信仰和看法。尽管

    人类讲的语言不尽相同，但当我们听到故事时，大脑会产生相似

    的反应，使人们产生更多的自我意识，更能换位思考。心理学家

    通过扫描大脑活动发现，当把同一个故事用英语、波斯语和汉语

    讲给人们听时，一旦听众明白了故事的深刻内涵，他们的脑部会

    产生相同的脑部活动激活模式。另有研究发现，阅读小说可以增

    强人们的同理心，即便大家来自不同的种族，信仰不同的宗教。

    读者越是把自己放在故事中，他们在现实生活中的同理心就越强。

    在某项研究中，如果研究人员“不小心”弄掉了笔，那些曾“高度沉浸于小说”中的人比其他人捡起笔的概率高了一倍。另一个研究则得出结论，文学小说“以自己的方式，参与了读者感受小说人物主观体验所需的心理过程”。在读小说的过程中，你会感

    受到不同的情感。这是人们在合作型社会中要掌握的重要技能。

    故事也是一种传播新观念或行为的有效途径，能让有抵触情

    绪的人更快接受，从而加快不同社会和制度的文化进化。故事具

    有集体性的特征，即分散在一个个小故事里的信息合在一起，才

    能完整地表达出集体故事里的信息。因此，故事及其包含的信息

    很难被操控和破坏。信息的分散让那些“反动”的信息得以保留，

    赋予弱势群体力量。兰代是阿富汗的一种诗歌体裁，由两行诗行

    构成。人们匿名作诗，主要讲述性爱和女性解放等在极端保守的

    阿富汗属于禁忌的故事。兰代在普什图女性之间口口相传，比如，

    “当姐妹们坐在一起，她们总是夸赞自己的兄弟/当兄弟们坐在

    一起，他们把自己的姐妹卖给他人”，或者“用你的炸弹背心拥

    抱我/但不要说我不想给你一个吻”。故事让人们可以涉足危险

    的政治或社会领域，比如会给世界带来变革的女性或奴隶解放。

    的确，书可以有非凡的影响力：乔治·奥威尔的《1984》和玛

    丽·雪莱的《弗兰肯斯坦》时至今日还在被人引用；托斯卡纳诗

    人但丁创作《神曲》（原名《喜剧》）时，选择用意大利语而非当

    时主流的拉丁语，这推动了意大利语成为民族统一语言；亚历山

    大大帝将荷马的《伊利亚特》看作自己征战的蓝图，据传大帝睡觉时也要枕着这本书。

    史诗故事帮助人们树立民族认同感。它会告诉人们他们从哪里来，到底是谁，以及如何看待邻邦。一个个故事创造了民族共同的历史，将整个社会凝聚在一起。在很多语言中，“故事”这个词的含义等同于“历史”。通过故事，我们发展出了关于民主、爱国等观念意识，并把这些观念传播了出去。人类想要将世界改变成自己心中的样子，并想让后人从中受益，童话故事便由此而诞生。文学人类学家发现，包括《美女与野兽》在内的部分欧洲童话故事，其创作时间可追溯到 6,000 年前的古印欧人时期。追溯这些故事的创作时期，可以揭示远古人类数量扩张和位置分布的特点，展现数千年来故事传播带来的非凡力量，比如“人不可貌相”就是一条永恒的真理。这也是为什么欧洲人现在仍在读希腊奴隶约 2,500 年前创作的《伊索寓言》。

    千年以来，我们好像一直在讲着同样的故事，只不过会根据听众和时代的不同更新故事的角色和细节。1872 年，当乔治·史密斯破译了古巴比伦石板上复杂的楔形文字后，世界上最早用文字记载的故事——《吉尔伽美什史诗》，便呈现在我们眼前。故事充满了浪漫主义色彩，体现了人们对冒险和永生的追求。尽管这篇史诗已有 4,000 年的历史，但里面的内容给人奇妙的似曾相识之感。在其所谓的“大洪水篇”中，苏美尔水神伊亚让一位名叫乌特纳比西丁的人放弃现世的财产，另建一艘船。伊亚还让乌特纳比西丁带上自己的妻儿、村子里的工匠、动物幼崽和食物。犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教中挪亚方舟的故事基本就是这个故事的翻版，而且肯定受到了这个故事的启发。

    事实上，当刻有《吉尔伽美什史诗》的石板还没有被人挖掘

    出来时，一位名叫安库的埃及抄写员就指出，现在大家说的东西

    都是前人说过的东西。他不无痛惜地感叹道：“如果我可以说出

    没有人说过的话就好了！如果我说的不是祖先们说过的陈词滥调

    就好了！”不过，故事的基本情节或许不多，但在情节有限的情

    况下，我们仍然编织出了无限的可能性。我们甚至不需要创作新

    故事，只需根据听众和时代的变化改编原来的故事就能得到新故

    事。我们总是可以用不同的方式、向不同的人讲述相同的故事。

    我们创作的都是我们需要的故事，这些故事反映着时代的文化背景，为我们了解文化变迁打开了窗口。最初，许多宗教故事与宣扬美好品德、规范行为无关。在最早有文字记载的多数宗教中，神灵拥有凌驾于我们的权力，过着电视剧般精彩的生活。我们通过仪式和献祭安抚他们，有时会因此得到神助。羞愧也是推动我们献祭的重要因素。在《伊利亚特》中，宙斯不在乎公平正义。当时的古希腊是以家庭为基础的父权制国家。父亲在世时，即便孩子们已经成年，他们仍无法保有自身权利。

    到了《奥德赛》时期，也就是大约 50 年后，情况有所改变。时局动荡，社会巨变，人人自危。战争和经济危机频发，阶级对立情况严重。宗族制度式微，要求个人权利和个人责任的呼声日益高涨，对强大的父权家长制形成了挑战。希腊人似乎将自己对社会公平的要求影射到了宇宙中。《奥德赛》中，宙斯的形象更具有审判性，他抱怨人类“用自己的恶行招来了不必要的麻烦”。宙斯拥有了道德观念，他就丧失了人这一属性，人们对古希腊众

    神的崇拜演变成了一种恐惧。在《伊利亚特》中并没有“敬畏神

    明”的说法，但是到了《奥德赛》中，敬畏神明是一种值得称颂

    的重要品德。人们之所以改变了对待神灵的态度，还有另外一个

    原因——空气。可能当时的人们都十分害怕空气污染（其实是瘴

    气），结果导致净化仪式盛行。在《伊利亚特》的故事中，人们只

    是象征性地进行净化仪式。仪式结束后，大家就能呼吸新鲜空气

    了。在后来的《奥德赛》中，魔鬼成为散播瘴气的罪魁祸首。俄

    狄浦斯染上了瘴气，开始四处流浪。一开始，人们觉得瘴气事不

    关己，任由它像细菌一样随机感染他人，只要不是自己就行。但

    如果不净化空气，人们就要世世代代都经历感染瘴气的痛苦。被

    感染的人也会因此感到羞愧难当，而这种情绪要到瘴气被彻底清

    除时才能释怀。从这里开始，瘴气成了罪恶的象征。罪是一种意

    念上的疾病，大家都害怕陷入其中。于是，净化仪式多了荡涤思

    想的环节，形式变得更加复杂。

    故事是一种异常强大的认知手段，因为通过故事，人类创造了诸如“罪恶”这样的观念，后来还让人类集体信服。这样的方法不断塑造人类的行为和社会，引起对死刑或堕胎等问题的讨论，从而影响人类的繁衍，决定人类的生存。由此，人类在文化上的发明推动着生物进化，比如它可以规定我们与谁共享基因是罪恶的。

    所以，讲故事其实是人类对进化的适应，它延长了我们的思

    想和发明的寿命，将文化信息完整封存起来，以便忠实地传递下

    去。但是，随着社会的不断发展，储存非故事型的资料也变得越

    来越重要，比如，谁欠了谁什么东西。从印加人的结绳记事到刮

    花的贝壳、刻痕的黏土，再到石板，非故事型资料通过这种物理

    可视的途径储存起来。上万年来，澳大利亚原住民用“信息棒”

    在广袤的大地上传递信息，内容涵盖邀请、贸易谈判和请求。这

    些约 33 厘米的木棍上刻有不同地区的人都可以理解的符号，同

    时也可作为穿越其他地区时的通行证。

    约 5,000 年前，人类发明出了一种出色、灵活的信息储存工具——文字。这是迄今为止，管理、储存和忠实传送大量信息最省时省力的方式，也是累积性文化进化的关键。

    但是，学会读写要耗费大量时间，而且要从孩子抓起。所以，只有能从中受益的社会才会接受读写。对于那些人数少、分布广、语言多样的狩猎采集族群来说，他们所面临的进化压力不足以让他们学会书写。土地、麦子、山羊和孩子的数量象征着“财产”，而财产的概念要在人类定居某地后才能发展起来。对很多农耕社会来说，作物的种类也是文化进化的关键。国家更容易对有固定收获季节的谷物征税，比如小麦和稻谷。收税可以推动一个国家的基础设施建设，使书写成为有利生存或生存必需的技能。即便是这样，只有一小部分农村人口有读写能力，而且一般是担任政府官员或宗教领袖的男性。

    使用和发展文字的社会通常是定居的部落（社会）。整个部落可以生产足量粮食来养活大量人口。在部落内部，大家开展贸易，还能控制诸多宗族，保证稳定，而避免打仗。大约在公元前3000 年，由于美索不达米亚平原上的农民种植了小麦，粮食充足下，世界上第一批人口密集的城邦出现。从宗族部落到匿名个体组成的大城邦，这种戏剧性的社会变革影响深远。文字在变革的过程中发挥着重要作用。

    人类说过的话、做过的事大多没有文字记载。一旦税收或贸易涉及的财产所有权，城市港口的货物进出情况，统治者的财富及他们多变的法则，胜利的战役等世俗之事被人们永久记录在石板上，“历史”就开始了。从早期苏美尔人的文字记录到如今的脸谱网账号，没有什么能够阻挡我们记录生活的心情。信息储存和传递方式的进化让社会规模不断变大、复杂程度不断提高，最终使社会变成文化知识的集中网络。

    文字可以传递更加复杂的数据（比如表示 4 头牛时，用符号表达取代图片表达），还可以实时传播真实的演讲内容。这两种传播不同内容的文字分别在不同的文化中发展。这一至关重要的步骤包括设立一套统一可见的符号代表语音，无数社会都已完成了这意义非凡的一步。大家还会相互借鉴彼此的符号，并最终形成自己社会的文字系统，比如古代汉字和精简版的字母表。书写系统中一个符号基本代表一个音。字母表只发明过一次，而且根据古希腊人的说法，它是普罗米修斯送给人类最伟大的礼物，其地位甚至超越了火的地位。字母表一词的英文是 alphabet，其词源是早期的闪米特语（即腓尼基语）。古希腊人在腓尼基字母的基础上创造了希腊语的字母。在希腊语字母表中，“Aα”（读作 alpha）、“Bβ”（读作 beta）和其后的字母没有任何意义，只是单纯的字母。但在腓尼基语中，第一个字母的写法是希腊语中的 A 转置到一边，该字母名为 aleph，在腓尼基语中是“公牛”的意思，该词从迦南语的“alp”演变而来。腓尼基语第二个字母的写法同希腊语中的 B 类似，象征着尖顶屋。该字母读作 beth，在腓尼基语中是“房子”的意思（如今，我们可以在巴勒斯坦的伯利恒看见这种尖顶屋子），该词则可能起源于埃及象形文字中表示“屋子”的图像。从阿拉伯语到拉丁语，腓尼基字母系统是今天使用的多种字母系统的起源。

    字母系统还在不断地进化中。英语在最近的几个世纪中已经丢失了 6 个字母，包括 ð（“eth”，发音类似 th 在单词 the 中的发音）、þ（“thorn”，发音类似 th 在单词 thing 中的发音）和 ȝ（“yogh”，发音类似 ch 在单词 loch 中的发音）。

    现在，我们的生活已经与文字密不可分，我们很难想象城镇化的大型社会没有文字会是怎样的情形。对代代生活在黑暗中的盲穴鱼来说，它们的视力逐渐成了多余的东西，最后会逐渐丧失。同理，有些文化也会失去它们的技术和实践，而且缺失的时间会持续上百年。这再次提醒我们，文化的进化没有方向，我们的发展并不一定是朝着好的方向“前进”。伴随着一系列毁灭性的侵略战争和自然灾害，古希腊进入了文化失明的“黑暗时代”。到公元前 1200 年，古希腊人生活在他们以前文明的虚墟中，不再具备读写能力。

    但我们要认识到，正是在全民多为文盲的黑暗时代，荷马或许是在仍然重要的港口城市伊兹密尔创作出了永垂不朽的诗篇。这一点非同凡响。如同音乐，诗歌创作的目的是表演。当人们表演诗歌时，诗歌中的文字、比喻、节奏和音乐性都变得生动起来。传奇的盲人诗人荷马凭记忆表演他的诗歌，听众会自行记下诗歌，然后再背给他人听。即便荷马和他同时代的大多数人目不识丁，但他们知道什么是文字。他们周围的寺庙和纪念碑废墟上刻满了文字，他们与腓尼基人等受过教育的群体通商往来。荷马本人在《伊利亚特》中也提到了文字这门艺术。诗中，一名信使带着一块折叠的青铜板，上边写着：“杀了送信人。”

    想象一下，你是一个讲故事的人，书写文字的能力在你生活的地方已经丢失，但是在其他地方仍然存在。此时，就是最合适盲人作家的时代。荷马和他同时代的人依赖另一种认知技巧——记忆力，因为没有读写能力的人记忆力更好。从他们的角度来看，他们对如今人类记忆能力下降的诧异不亚于我们对他们的时代书写能力丢失的诧异。像《奥德赛》这样的史诗遵循严格的格律，朗朗上口，便于人们背诵和即兴发挥；同时诗篇中还包含大量重复的内容，所以常见的短语能以合唱的形式穿插在史诗作品中。然而，当时的人们如果要像受过教育的人一样熟记上千诗行，需要一定的记忆技巧，就像现在伦敦出租车司机熟记各条街道名称和各种路线一样。记忆大量诗行对当时人们的大脑产生了显著的影响，使他们的大脑结构产生变化，比如海马体变大。

    希腊人发明了一套关于记忆的复杂艺术，名为“助记符号”。

    这是一种文化的习得技巧，其原理就如同澳大利亚原住民的歌径

    一样，将一个个故事用风景和星座的形式固定在人们的脑海中。

    传说，古希腊诗人西摩尼得斯受邀在一场宴会上朗诵自己的作品。

    他表演完之后便离开了会场，可他刚一离开，会场屋顶就塌了，

    里边的人无一幸存，他们的尸体也面目全非，无法识别。但是西

    摩尼得斯凭借记忆，回忆了会场大厅的情况，记起了每一位宾客

    的席位，从而确认了死者的身份以便安葬。据传，西摩尼得斯利

    用自己琢磨出的记忆技巧将记忆植入虚拟的“思维宫殿”。也就

    是说，记忆技巧利用我们在文化和生物层面共同进化出来的用故

    事记忆事物的能力，魔术般地创造出了一个空间，将需要记忆的

    内容都放了进去。之后，我们可以在这个思维宫殿里四处走动，再现某个故事。对背诵一篇公共演讲稿或一篇史诗等需要记忆大量信息的情况来说，这种方法十分适用。

    当然，这对认知能力的要求很高。读写能力可以减少我们在脑力记忆上的能量消耗，转而依赖人脑外部的集体记忆。这些集体记忆储存在图书馆中，最新的方式是储存在互联网上。

    同其他的文化习得技能一样，学习读写尽管没有改变我们的遗传规律，但改变了我们的生理结构。8 岁左右时，受过教育的人和没受过教育的人在大脑发育上就会有所不同，因为前者已为阅读“量身打造”了视觉处理系统。这些发生在大脑上的变化逐渐连通了大脑的不同区域，提升了人在物体识别和语言方面的能力，但是降低了在其他领域的认知能力，比如人脸识别能力。受教育程度高的人可以精准识别字词，就像狩猎采集者可以通过蛛丝马迹发现猎物的踪迹一样。阅读母语文字时，人类会一下子识别出文字组合，无意中就解读了文章的意思。

    即便文字或者字母的顺序不对，也不会对阅读造成太大的影响，因为脑大可自以动调顺整序。我们的大脑很擅长利用上下文语境重构写作（和演讲）文本。部分原因是熟练的成年读者不会显性阅读，即不会（像孩子们一样）读出声，他们通常高效迅速地直接从文字获取内容。就英语母语人士而言，成年人的平均阅读速度为每分钟 230 个单词，到 20 岁时，词汇量约为 42,000 个。20 岁后，一般每天学习一两个新单词。所以退休人士的词汇量要比刚毕业的大学生多得多。这样一来，依靠不断积累起来的知识，老年人可以丰富人类文化的重要资源库，使其内容多样化。

    书写这个动作本身也会调动大脑的不同区域，产生广泛的认知效果。把东西写下来不仅是将信息记了纸上，还将其存在了书写者的记忆中，因为这种行为会刺激大脑底部一组负责过滤信息和集中注意力的细胞。书写可以整理我们脑中的思绪，让朦朦胧胧的感情跃然纸上，使其可以为人理解，与人分享，让深不可测的事物也可为人所见。文本的英文“text”的词源是拉丁语的“texere”（编织），因为组织语言就像编织纺织品一样。

    受过教育的新兴市民和商人阶级将各类信息大众化，再加上印刷机的发明和廉价纸张的供应，推动了来自社会各界的作家和读者的产生。现在，从 11 岁的儿童开始，阅读已经是人类在读写社会中学习新知识的主要方法。由于文字可以得到广泛传播，所以它的影响力很大，我无须和我知道的作家一一见面，但他们的文字会出现在我的脑海中，就好像他们在我耳边喃喃低语一样。现在，人们没有必要再记那些可以快速搜索到的信息。人们需要学习的是在哪里可以获得信息，从浩如烟海的书籍中分辨出哪些有价值，就好像我们需要明白谁才是值得模仿的人一样。

    比起口头故事，书籍在保存文化信息上更加可靠，储存时间也更长，同时给累积性文化进化提供了新的机制。一方面，书籍的写作建立在作者本人的学识之上，另一方面，作者也会参考其他作家的著作。《死海古卷》中的故事可追溯到公元前 250 年，其内容同所谓的《列宁格勒抄本》中的故事基本相同。后者写于前者成书后的 1,000 年左右，由抄写员忠实地抄写前者而成。书中的故事是根据人们口头传唱了 1,000 多年的故事编写而成，时间最早可追溯到大卫王时期，当时希伯来语还没有形成文字。

    书写不仅改善了我们储存和传播信息的方式，还从根本上改

    变了我们因文化形成的集体思维模式，提升了人类处理信息的能

    力，减少了人类自身的能量消耗。这个大进步将人类社会和技术

    带向了更复杂的阶段。哲学观点、逻辑推理、抽象概念、高等数

    学的发展都得益于诸多思想家的努力。不过，思想家们需要将他

    们思考的过程写下来，最后得出相应的观点。这样，每一个观点

    都有据可循，还为新观点奠定了基础。同时，与言辞争论相比，

    人们可以用一种完全不同的方法理解、分析纸质记录的观点。因

    此，社会上的独立实体，比如政府、公共服务和以货币为基础的

    经济体，可以变得更加复杂。如此，书写的发展带来了人类组织

    体的发展。

    尽管很多人预期纸张会退出历史舞台，但目前来看，纸张的使用依然很广泛。现在，数字化的信息储存模式不再根据数字化的音素或字词发音进行分类，也不是根据用于我们书写的、数字化的字母表进行分类，而是根据二进制下 1 和 0 的排列组合，将信息储存在硅基芯片上。从这个意义上说，信息本身就像能量和物质一样有物理特性；操作、储存、传播信息需要消耗能量，而“忘记”信息——比如清空磁盘——的难度和代价都很大。在未来几十年中，我们将会利用生物进化意义上的终极信息储存系统来储存信息，那就是 DNA。现在，人们已经利用 DNA 的结构，解码了构成生命的蛋白质的遗传信息。正是这种生物系统创造出了有视觉、创造力和技术文化的人类，人类开始用自己的身体储存自己的思想。

    我们创作的故事为不断累积知识提供了一个集体记忆库，促进了文化的忠实传播，扩大了文化的传播范围，同时让社会更加紧密地团结在一起。故事减少了文化进化的能量消耗，帮助人类更好地生存下去。讲述故事和不断地使用故事成为人类意识进化的一部分。这种意识进化会塑造人类的思想、社会以及与环境的互动模式。语言宛如货币，是使用语言的人交换故事的桥梁。接下来，我们就来看看语言。

    第七章 语言：天生的交流欲望

    位于副热带地区的火山岛戈梅拉岛属于非洲的加那利群岛。这里山石耸立，怪石嶙峋，崎岖陡峭的悬崖间，是一条条深邃的山谷。岛屿上空，一首由口哨组成的优美二重唱穿云而来，方圆百里都清晰可闻。我安静地等待着。山谷中有动听的鸟鸣，还有羊群在山间行走时偶尔发出的咩咩叫声和用鼻子喷气的声音。不知过了多久，我在头顶的某处听到了一个悦耳的声音，在回复刚才的口哨声。

    以前，这里地形复杂，交通不便，所以人们就用一种古老的

    口哨语言——希尔博语交流。口哨语言帮助这里的人们克服地理

    障碍，将话语传过一座座山，传到遥远的田间地头，最远能传到

    8 千米以外的地方。就像一位老牧羊人所说，和打电话相比，使

    用希尔博语更便宜快捷，而且也不怕没有信号。现在，虽然很多

    孩子都把西班牙语作为母语，但是他们仍在戈梅拉岛上的学校学

    习希尔博语。这种语言需要含着指关节发声，或学习具体的卷舌

    技巧。它听起来很像鸟叫，所以模仿能力很强的乌鸫鸟已经能模

    仿希尔博语的对话了。

    交流是生物活着的基本特征之一。每一种生命都会通过某种

    形式的信号证明自己的存在。植物通过土壤中的真菌网络交流，

    头足类动物则依靠改变肤色交流。海豚、猿类和犬类等哺乳类动

    物能够非常熟练地和人类进行交流，以至我们一般认为它们拥有

    某种原始语言。然而，人类语言和动物语言的不同之处在于，无

    论以哪种形式呈现，要想理解人类语言都需要一定水平的理解能

    力，而这正是其他动物不具备的。黑猩猩可以学会吹口哨，但它

    们没有乐感，也没有语言表达能力。它们的交流能力和人类有着

    巨大差距。举例来说，黑猩猩只能发出 5 种基本的声音。而且和

    人类不一样的是，它们所有的叫声都依赖于语境。如果捕食者不

    出现，黑猩猩永远都不会发出“有捕食者”的警告叫声。而人类

    所发明的语言是一种真正的交流工具，规则众多又不失灵活。

    语言并不仅仅是传递信息的系统，更是人类之所以成为人类

    的根本。语言即思想。没有语言，我们就不会有内心的独白，想

    法也会杂乱无章。我们能体会到的感觉都是我们能用语言描述出

    的感觉。患有失语症（指失去语言能力，通常是中风或脑损伤的

    后遗症）的人无法跨越时间的桥梁，无法回忆过去，也无法预测

    未来。他们不能辨别事物之间的联系，更不能理解别人的观点。

    他们只能处理眼前的文字，同时还要费力应对人类最基础的思维

    过程。所以说，我言故我在。

    正如地球上的不同环境推动了基因进化一样，环境压力也引导着语言文化的进化。不同地方的人拥有不同的语言和方言，这些语言和方言受当地地理环境和声学的影响。

    在地势陡峭的地区，或在森林、海洋等环境中，远距离交流

    比较困难，所以就逐渐形成了口哨语言。与正常语言相比，口哨

    传得更远，而且也不容易吓到猎物。大约 7,000 年前，第一批从

    非洲北部的阿特拉斯山脉到达戈梅拉岛的人类将口哨语言也带

    到了这里。阿特拉斯山脉地区的柏柏尔人现在仍在使用一种名为

    塔马塞特语的口哨语言。历史上，在抵抗法国侵略时期，柏柏尔

    人利用这种语言传递秘密情报，成效显著。同样，在二战期间，

    澳大利亚军队雇用巴布亚新几内亚说沃姆语的原住民，在无线电

    中利用口哨传递消息，挫败了日军的窃听。目前，已知仍在使用

    口哨语言的族群有 70 个左右。其中包括亚马孙雨林中的狩猎采

    集族群、北极地区拥有捕鲸传统的因纽特人和希腊岛民。喜马拉

    雅山脉地区的苗族人会用口哨语在森林和耕地间交流。身处不同

    房间的苗族情侣悄悄说情话时，也会使用口哨语（因为口哨比其

    他语言更难辨别说话者的身份）。

    动物世界也存在类似情况。几十年前人们就发现，因为树木会使声音变低或失真，所以与生活在开阔地区的鸟类相比，生活在森林里的鸟类鸣叫频率更低，变化更少。生物学家最近发现，为了应对城市嘈杂的环境，城市中的一些鸟类会改变它们的叫声。和生活在安静环境中的同类相比，城市中的鸟类鸣叫频率更低，生理构造也更简单。现在，科学家们发现，人类语言中也有同样的适应性变化。一种语言中辅音的数量和辅音群在音节中的组合方法，似乎和这种语言发源地的年平均温度、降水量、植被面积、海拔高度和地表的崎岖程度等因素有关。

    东南亚等温暖湿润且植物茂密的地区的语言元音多，辅音少，

    词汇也大多由简单的音节构成。相比之下，像英语和格鲁吉亚语

    这些发源地不是雨林的语言，就会大量使用辅音。高海拔地区的

    语言中有更多词汇含有强爆破辅音。干旱的荒漠地区不容易产生

    类似汉语（普通话）和越南语这样的声调语言，其中的部分原因

    是干燥的环境会对声带运动产生不利影响，这是一种人体—环境

    —文化三位一体的适应。

    口头语言本质上是高频辅音（如 f、p 或 t）和低频元音（如

    e、o 和 u）等一系列声音的组合。密集的植物或空气中的热浪等

    环境障碍会使高频声音失真或消失，从而对语言形成选择压力。

    所以，语言差异在某种程度上就是文化适应不同环境的表现。

    人类进化的三位一体受到影响，因为这些声学上的变化也会

    导致人类基因的进化。有证据表明，非声调语言，比如欧洲的一

    些语言，在过去的 5 万多年中，一直影响着两种新型基因变异的

    传播，这两种变异与大脑的生长和发育相关。声调是指语言通过

    音高、音长和音强来传达语义。在英语这类非声调语言中，声调会改变词的音值，能帮助听众将长句子断成几部分，便于理解。而在声调语言中，声调会改变词汇或短语的真实意思。比如说，汉语（普通话）中的“/ma/”这个音，就可以指“妈”、“麻”、“马”或“骂”，具体含义根据声调而定。苗语有多达 8 个声调，分别表达不同的意义。如今，一些声调语言已经演变成了非声调语言。比如，荷马那个时代的希腊语是声调语言，然而现代希腊语却是非声调语言。

    对于声调语言来说，音素间（辅音和元音）的细微差别并不

    是很重要。所以用音乐（比如口哨）或鼓点传递信息会更加简单。

    撒哈拉以南非洲曾经聚集着众多用鼓点交流的村落，村落中的每

    名村民都懂一维的鼓点语言。利用鼓点语言，一条路上沿线的村

    庄可以接替传递消息、诗歌、通知、警告、笑话和祷告，而且传

    递范围很广。一个小时内，就可传递到 100 多千米以外，甚至更

    远的地方。在电报出现之前，其他任何地方都无法如此高效地传

    递消息。

    口哨和鼓点语言迫使说话者在大脑里把语言和旋律结合起

    来，这能帮助我们追寻语言起源的线索。大脑中处理音乐和语言

    的是同一块区域。除此之外，音乐和语言还存在其他方面的联系。

    研究发现，学习音乐能够提高读写能力。一些语言学家认为，人

    类的语言起源于一种音乐性的原始语言，比如口哨声，猿类也具

    备这种语言能力。苗族人经常用口琴复制口哨语言中的音调，形成了一种非常成熟的音乐语言。

    文化进步会影响语言使用，而语言使用又和人类的生理结构

    息息相关，因此，文化的进步可以引导人类生理结构的变化，反

    之亦然。几千年前，在人类开始发展农业之后（变软的食物使人

    类可以有较小的下颌和全新的牙齿咬合），人类的下颌发生了变

    化。语言学家认为，这意味着我们能发出“f”和“v”的音，同

    时，还推动了新语言中爆破音的出现。然而，人类最伟大的发明

    从来都不是发明出来的，而是进化出来的。文化进化促进语言产

    生的过程和它促进烹饪产生的过程如出一辙。就像每天都要做饭

    一样，我们的日常生活也离不开语言。每一个人类社会都有复杂

    的语言。使用语言是一种进化出的生物本能，虽然我们并不是天

    生就会使用语言，而是必须跟他人学习，但是说话的能力是与生

    俱来的。按照达尔文的话来说，语言是一个充满悖论的谜语——

    “一半是艺术，一半是本能”。

    语言的神经基础尚不清楚，因为人类大脑中没有“语言”中枢，不仅如此，这种能力也似乎非常模糊。从这个角度来看，语言遍布在我们大脑中，就像它遍布在文化中一样。人类出生几个月后就可以说话了。在此之前，他们并没有接受过正规的语言学习，只是听别人的对话而已。这种非凡的能力几乎每个人都具备，即便是智力比较低下的孩子。随着婴儿的成长，这种基因上的天赋也逐渐显现。出生之后，新生儿的身体又小又脆弱，尚未发育完全，需要他人长时间的细心照顾，他们体内的语言基因也需要精心地培养和开发。

    那么，人类的近亲猿类是如何开始说话的呢？一些学者认为，我们的口语是从灵长类的叫声进化而来的。另一种观点则认为口语是从猿类的手势发展而来的。不过最有可能的是，口语是这两者的结合体。直到最近，澳大利亚和北美洲的一些狩猎采集部落还在广泛使用复杂多样的符号语言。举个例子，欧洲殖民者踏上北美洲前，北美洲原住民使用平原手势符号在广袤的北美大陆上交流、讲故事、进行贸易往来。时至今日，全球的听力障碍人群依旧在使用手语。

    即使是人类发出的最无意义的声音也是口腔器官高度复杂

    的协作的结果，所以在说话之前，我们需要有意识地思考想说的

    话是否有必要，然后就会变得字字千金，睿智达意。为了发出更

    多的声音，我们的祖先在身体构造方面出现了一系列变化。首先

    是人类开始直立行走后，肋骨和横膈膜（之前用来支撑前肢）得

    到了解放，由此，我们能更好地控制呼吸，同时也打开了声道。

    另一个重要的变化是喉咙（喉头）降到了舌头后面。它降到舌头

    后面延伸出去的部分，舌头从蹄铁型的舌骨上垂下来。舌骨虽小，

    但很重要。这个变化意义非凡，让我们的声道能更好地发声，同

    时也在发声时给予舌头更多空间，舌头可以放在更多不同的位置，所以我们就能发出元音和辅音。但这种进化风险也很大，喉咙位置降低意味着我们不能再同时吞咽和呼吸，而且比其他灵长类动物更容易窒息，因为其他灵长类动物的喉咙位于鼻腔上方。人类新生儿出生时喉咙的位置比较高，就像潜水时的通气管，所以他们能一边吃奶，一边呼吸。但 3 个月左右大的时候，婴儿的喉咙位置就开始下移。喉咙的下移很有意义，猿类的高喉咙使它们无法像我们一样说话，哪怕经过训练也无法做到。

    每个声音都是气流在喉咙中成千上万次微小碰撞的结果。每

    次发声都依靠喉咙中一对薄薄的、芦苇状的肌肉——声带。在我

    们不说话时，声带会打开，辅助我们呼吸。当我们唱歌或是说话

    时，从肺部呼出的气流冲向声带，声带的边缘快速合拢，受气流

    冲击产生振动，从而发出声音。振动越剧烈，音高就越高。当女

    高音发出华丽的高音时，她的声带正以每秒 1,000 次的频率振动，

    将她肺部爆发出的一股气流转化为足以震碎玻璃的音乐。

    目前尚不清楚人类语言是何时出现的，但是我们的祖先可能和尼安德特人交流过。尼安德特人的喉头也为了说话而发生过适应性变化，他们也有所谓的语言基因，对应我们人类的 FOXP2 基因（控制语言能力发展的基因）。如果这一基因发生突变，那么人可能会在学习说话、发音、理解句子和造句方面存在障碍。

    FOXP2 基因由 740 个碱基组成，存在于许多动物体内。在进化的过程中，这个基因的人类版本和黑猩猩版本出现了两个差异碱基，这个微小的改变具有变革性的意义。我们已经了解到，和黑猩猩的基因相比，人类基因中的这个微小变化改变了其他 100 多个基因的表达。而这些被影响的基因主要与大脑的发育与机能以及软组织的形成与发育有关，因此，FOXP2 基因和人类的语言认知以及发音能力密切相关。研究人员曾经把人类的 FOXP2 基因植入老鼠体内，试验结果显示，植入这种基因的老鼠叫得比以前更频繁，叫声也更复杂，而且它们学习解谜的能力也更强。更好的交流和学习能力给人类带来了许多生存优势，所以有微小变异的 FOXP2基因很快就在整个人类种族中传播开来，人类发明的语言也随之进化。

    加拿大著名实验心理学家史蒂芬·平克提出了“语言本能”

    这一概念。具体是说，人类天生就拥有学习语法规则和上千词汇

    的能力，同时还具有强烈的交流欲望。直立行走解放了人类的双

    手，让我们用其他动物不能做的手势进行交流，其中之一就是指

    向。婴儿出生几个月后才能明白这个动作的含义。到了 12 个月

    大的时候，他们就能自己做这个动作了，由此开始了他们人生的

    第一次“对话”。指向是非常复杂、独特的人类行为，要求我们

    首先要有了解事物的好奇心，其次要对别人头脑中正在发生的事

    情有非常细致的理解。通过指东西，一个孩子可以就一些具体的

    事情进行交流。比如，想要某个东西——给我一个香蕉（命令指

    向），解释某件事或分享信息——你可以用这把椅子，又或是要

    分享某个经验——看那个气球（陈述指向）。最后一项是在思想碰撞中与他人分享观点。这起源于我们对于合作与生俱来的渴望，它是人类作为一个物种进行合作的根本方法。

    交流从眼睛开始。哪怕是对刚刚出生的婴儿来说，只要母亲

    移动眼睛就能影响他注视的方向。相比之下，猿类母亲必须要转

    动新生儿的头，才能让它们知道有要看的东西。为了更清楚地看

    到世界，人类进化出了面积很大的巩膜。我们可以在几米之外察

    觉到别人眼球哪怕 1 度的微小移动（相当于注意点周围 5 厘米范

    围内的移动，大概是从左眼到右眼的距离）。事实上，眼神交流

    是社交认知以及自我意识中非常重要的一部分，所以对于小孩子

    来说，他们很难理解，为什么看不见某人，不代表对方不在场。

    你或许曾经想过这样一个问题：为什么学龄前儿童玩捉迷藏的时

    候只蒙上眼睛？答案就是他们认为自己看不到别人，别人也就看

    不到自己。他们还认为自己听不见耳朵被遮住的人说的话，也没

    办法和嘴被捂住的人说话。

    小孩子能敏锐地察觉到人类交流的本质，同时，他们也天生就拥有通过联合注意力来学习知识的能力。这就意味着他们要经历一个发展期，在这一阶段，他们相信自我必须通过经历才能被感知到。2003 年美国有一项研究，将幼儿分成 3 组，以视频学习、音频学习和真人教学的方法分别教授普通话。结果显示只有那些真人教授的幼儿才真正学有所成。联合注意力是人类有意识学习的开始。所以幼儿无法通过视频、音频或偶尔听父母对话来学习语言，人类还没有进化到这个程度。我们需要互相交流来确认自己和他人的不同。当我们说话时，我们不像有声机器人或闹钟一样简单地发布消息，我们更期望和别人进行思想上的交流，并期望得到回应，哪怕别人只是简单示意他们听到了我们说的话。人类其他情绪性的表达，比如笑和哭，也有非常强烈的交流目的。事实上，笑声极具传染性，尤其是当我们认识的人笑的时候。

    语言作为人类进化出来的另一个重要生存技能，也依赖他人

    进行学习。在我们童年时期，有一小段学习语言的重要时期，如

    果在这一时期没有处在某种语言环境中，那么我们将永远无法像

    真正的母语者一样使用这门语言。语言学习的过程早在孩子出生

    之前就开始了：胎儿能够分辨母亲说话的声音和韵律，而且更喜

    欢母亲的声音。儿童要花费几年时间在不知不觉中掌握语法和词

    汇，还有复杂的肌肉控制和说话所需的运动。就像在文化学习的

    其他方面一样，文化环境在语言学习中也发挥着至关重要的作用：

    从一个孩子 3 岁时听到的词汇量就可以预测出他 9 岁时的学业

    成就。这种差异是由社会因素决定的，而且是显而易见的。一项

    研究显示，3 岁儿童听过的词汇量的差异最多可达 3,000 万个。

    然而，语言技能的差异并不仅仅由听过单词的多少决定。最近一项针对 4—6 岁儿童的研究显示，无论父母的收入水平和受教育程度如何，儿童听到的话轮数量可以很好地预测他们语言能力的发展。成年人主要通过模仿和重复婴儿的动作和咿咿呀呀的语言与婴儿交流，这就是幼儿父母普遍使用的妈妈语。这个看上去无关紧要的口语训练阶段却可能是人类语言发展非常重要的环节。在妈妈语中，有一种类似话轮的对话韵律：母亲以相同的

    顺序，用同样的音调和音高重复婴儿的话。婴儿 3 个月的时候，

    就可以和父母一来一往地交流了，而且只需 600 毫秒的反应时间。

    话轮比正式的语言出现得早，一些灵长类动物和鸟类也会用

    话轮交流。长臂猿就是轮流发出叫声，而类人猿只有动作上的

    “话轮”，没有语言上的话轮。存在话轮行为的物种通常都有极

    高的社会性，而且大多数都有固定配偶，它们彼此投入，去了解

    自己的配偶，了解它们的生存方式和喜好。从交配到合作，话轮

    行为在各种事情中都扮演着重要角色。对人类而言，话轮还增强

    了建立在人与人之间的对话协作本能。不管我们说什么语言，大

    多数人都会遵循话轮行为的潜在规则。除非是和孩子说话，否则

    我们很少会明确地指出某个人说得太多，占用了别人说话的时间。

    我们会用一些方法来让失衡的对话回归正轨，比如打断对话，或

    是让别人笑从而停下对话。

    如果从话轮在普通对话中的发生速度来看，嘴巴要比大脑反应快。说话者在对话时的平均反应速度为 200 毫秒，这可能是人类最快的回应速度，和眨一次眼睛的时间差不多。但是，声音从耳朵传到大脑，明白其中含义，考虑好如何回应，最后说出来，这一过程至少需要 600 毫秒。实时对话的进行依赖于人类大脑精密的预测系统。通过预测别人将要说的话，并同时准备好回应，人类最快反应速度能达到 200 毫秒。每一次话轮基本只会持续2—3 秒，所以，当一方说话的时候，另一方就必须判断出他将要说什么，以便及时做出回应。神经科学家仍然在研究人类是如何同时做到预测对方要说的话并考虑回应的，因为我们大脑的一大块区域同时参与了说话和倾听。据统计，我们每天要进行大约1,500 轮对话。

    在社交世界中遨游，意味着我们要磨炼自己的预测系统，不

    仅要探索物理世界，还要探索他人神秘莫测的思维世界。语言可

    能已经经历了很好的进化，因为它是一种无与伦比的机制，让我

    们能在更大、更复杂的社会环境中预测别人将要说的话。虽然语

    言不会取代其他感官输入，比如眼神和肢体语言的暗示会推翻我

    们对别人话语的理解，但是人与人之间的对话能增进互信，建立

    联盟，传播美誉，还能让人们更容易产生好感。话轮在这其中发

    挥着关键作用。

    在对话过程中，我们的预测系统通过一系列元素来判断加入

    对话的时机。这其中包括语法线索（比如，“如果”后面经常接

    “就”）、面部表情、音高、音调、音量、手势（把手放回膝盖）。

    把句子的重要部分放在对话的开头部分会让加入对话的时机提

    前，因为这样听者对于对话走向和内容的判断会更加自信。这就

    像接力棒的传递过程，其中会有一个临界点（持棒者抬起胳膊的时刻）。此时，听者就开始思考回应的话，等待插入对话的时机。在对话结束之后，说话者会有一个大约 500 毫秒的停顿。如果听者没有在停顿之后做出回应，那说话者就会意识到对话存在问题。

    举个例子，如果说话者说：“你想去喝杯咖啡吗？”但在之后的

    500 毫秒内没有得到回应（北欧人的反应速度会稍慢一些），那么

    说话者就会对问题进行补充或修改，从而推进对话：“或者我们

    可以这周晚些时候去？”如果是否定回答，那么之前的停顿时间

    更长。但是，在进化过程中，为了适应合作，我们更倾向于给出

    积极的回应，所以我们很难拒绝别人。影像学研究显示，我们的

    大脑会对“不”这个词产生抵触情绪。

    学习一门语言是非常复杂的事情，但婴儿很擅长。大部分儿

    童到 5 岁的时候，都可以流利地说话，掌握上万的词汇，并且能

    够非常自然地遵循母语的规则。我们说母语非常流利，不需要学

    习语法，不需要了解词源，更不需要别人教我们如何说话。这是

    一个普遍现象，以天生失聪的儿童为例，他们会自然而然地发展

    出一套手语，而且也有复杂的语法规则，和口语一样丰富多样，

    也和口语使用相同的神经通路。就像眼球不是一种发明而是一种

    进化的结果一样，语言也是文化进化无目的、无意识应对选择压

    力的结果，因此人类语言具有诸如发音简单、易学以及随环境变

    化等特点。

    语言这一极其灵活的交流系统源自事物间复杂的关系。其中

    最简单的关系就是：如果 A=B，且 A=C，那么 B=C。这看似很简

    单，但其实非常复杂，我们并非天生就能理解这些关系，必须经

    过学习。事物之间有 9 种关系，包括相对关系（上对下）、对等

    关系（一幅马的图片和一匹马对应），还有比较关系（大象比老

    鼠大）。生活中所有事情都可以套用这些关系。比如，我们学会

    了如何使用比较关系，那么在比较两个物体的大小时，就可以轻

    易判断出哪一个更大。而且还可以举一反三，将“比较”的方法

    应用于其他新的环境中。儿童 16 个月大的时候就能轻松掌握这

    项技能，虽然听起来很简单，但它是语言认知的核心内容。因为

    这些抽象化的关系可以帮助我们将其应用于其他事物上。所以，

    “球”这个字指球这个物体，虽然它的读音听上去一点也不

    “球”，而且现场也没有实物。最终，我们能够讨论抽象的概念，

    比如，踢足球和看别人踢足球哪个更好？这是人类独有的一种技

    能。许多其他物种只能理解这些关系的基本规则，但不能普遍应

    用这些规则，即使是受过大量语言训练的黑猩猩也做不到这一点。

    人类一旦学会了词语组合和关系的规则，就能用全新的方法

    组合这些文字符号，由此语言就能够像生物进化一样发展，最终

    变得多样且复杂，而字词则是语言的基因。

    我来讲个故事：
    女孩水果摘 转身 猛犸象看见女孩跑 树到达 爬 猛犸象树摇晃 女孩喊叫喊叫 爸爸跑 长矛投掷 猛犸象吼叫 倒下 爸爸石头拿起 肉切 女孩给女孩吃 吃饱 睡觉

    这是以色列历史语言学家盖伊·多伊彻创作的故事，原文没

    有英语语法（事实上是违反了英语语法规则），也没有涉及其他

    语言的语法，但是我们可以轻而易举地理解这个故事。事实上，

    无论用哪一种语言讲这个故事，结果都是一样的。多伊彻用了几

    个自然原则创作这个故事，这些原则深植于我们的认知当中。第

    一，如果某些东西出现在一起，那么就将表示这些东西的词语组

    合在一起（“女孩”和“水果”）；第二，根据事情发生的顺序

    对词语进行排序；第三，使用最普通的“主宾谓”语序（研究发

    现，人类会按照主语、宾语和动作的顺序思考。只有 10%左右的

    语言会把动词放在主语前面）。所以“女孩水果摘”要比“水果

    女孩摘”或“摘水果女孩”更好理解，尽管它们都没有遵循主谓

    宾的语法规则。

    不难想象，在语言出现前，人类就已经使用这些简单的组织规则，用手势来讲故事。抽象关系的应用，让我们不再需要在事情发生的地方、在所有人都在场的情况下讲故事，我们可以用语言再现所有的故事元素。我们不需要正式的语法组织语言，只需共同掌握部分词汇（上面的故事里有 24 个英文单词），就可以讲故事，而且别人也能听懂。话说回来，现在我们说话时，25 个单词就支撑起了人类 25%的话语表达。世界上超过 2/3 的语言，常用词汇的发音都相似。

    自此，文化进化稳步提升着人类原语言的复杂性，词汇体系

    和语法规则都在不断完善，语言更清晰易懂。最近有一项研究，

    目的是让人工智能机器人像人类一样，互相说话，内容不限。结

    果显示，人工智能机器人会收集所有的语法结构，进行概括总结，

    并在之后的对话中加以应用。在这一过程中，输出的句子结构往

    往比输入的多。最终，人工智能机器人的语言中出现了人类语言

    的结构，而这仅仅是通过反复的学习和信息传输实现的。

    文字的出现带动了语法上的创新。对英语来说，在过去的5000 年间，类似“之前”（before）、“之后”（after）和“因为”（because of）的连词，让句子结构更长、更复杂。没有这些连词之前，最早的苏美尔语和其他同时代的语言都差不多，读起来枯燥无味。有了这些连词之后，从句就能够顺畅地连接在一起，不至于因为冗长而失去读者。然而，也有一些现存的语言没有表示从属关系的词汇，比如澳大利亚和北极地区的一些语言。和所有积累文化进化的结果一样，只有规模最大、联系最紧密的社会才能创造更高级版本的语言。因此，某种语言的使用者越多，该语言的语音和词汇就越多，而且也会比使用者较少的语言更快地实现多样化。

    我们会发现语言的语法化现象。名词和动词也可以做形容词

    和副词。在这种情况下，随着时间的推移，它们可能会失去原本

    的用法，使用新的意义。比如，气温“火箭式暴涨”。通过在生

    活中的运用，词汇的含义会不断发生变化。“Nice”（美好的）

    这个词来源于拉丁文，原意为无知愚蠢。13 世纪时，这个词带有

    侮辱的含义，用来形容愚蠢。随后，其含义又经历了许多变化，

    到 18 世纪为止，nice 可以理解为荒唐的、夸张的、优雅的、奇

    怪的、谦逊的、稀薄的，以及害羞的或是腼腆的。而现在，这个

    词指讨人喜欢的或善良的。然而，语境决定词语真实的含义。在

    某些圈子中，这个词是“无聊”的委婉表达。隐喻使得语言具有

    歌唱性，在最普通的交流中起着重要的作用。对于一个物种而言，

    如果每个个体都认为所有文字只表示字面上的意义，那这个物种

    中就永远不会出现抽象的概念。

    基因可以在族群间传递，词汇和语言也可以。人类思维灵活，

    可以发明语言，比如世界语和供听力障碍者使用的手语。同时，

    我们也会偶尔重新使用一些古老的语言或已经灭绝的语言，比如

    希伯来语。希伯来语以前仅用于礼拜仪式，后来，它作为以色列

    的官方语言实现了复兴，以色列人每天都会使用。类似的创造和

    重塑十分罕见，但语言一直在稳定地发生变化。就像基因和生物体本身会经历自然选择一样，语法不规则的词语承受着“规则化”的巨大压力，这也是英语中的很多不规则动词都消失了的原因。比如，印欧语的原始语言中的“drove”进化成了日耳曼语中的“drived”。

    从全球来看，年轻女性是引领语言变化和创新的主力军。有时候，男性在这方面会落后一代人。这和社会性别歧视有关：女性通常不会身处高位，所以她们说话时无须字正腔圆。同时，年轻女性非常擅长社交，所以她们说的话会被传开。而当男性试图

    吸引女性的时候，他们就会使用女性创新的语言。举个例子，气

    泡音（或“嘶哑音”）是压缩喉咙发出的声音，美国演员梅·韦

    斯特在 20 世纪 30 年代就使用这种装腔作势的声音说话。现在又

    有很多名流重新使用这种说话方式，比如美国名媛金·卡戴珊。

    而社会价值观，比如性感，也会成为一种语言特征，所以很多人

    为了表现自己的性感，也会使用卡戴珊的语言表达方式。西方年

    轻女性还带来了其他的语言变化，比如把“像”（like）作为一

    种对话中的填充词，或使用升调话语（句子中的音调升高），这

    些语言变化在社会中广泛传播。

    新洋泾浜方言是从早先语言词汇和语法的混合体中一步步进化而来的。基茨德语最初起源于德国的土耳其移民群体，但是现在的年轻德国人，包括没有土耳其血统的人，除了能说一口流利的德语外，也普遍会说基茨德语。英国年轻人现在说的“加法伊腔”，是一种混合了牙买加方言、洛杉矶说唱和伦敦南部俚语的语言（被喜剧演员阿里·G 疯狂嘲讽）。基茨德语和这种语言一样，都和说话人的身份以及他们对自己在社会中的定位紧密相连。如果使用这种语言的群体魅力非凡或非常酷，那么无论年轻人属于哪一种族或有何种社会背景，他们都会使用这种语言。

    不过，与此同时，在英国，英语口音的多样性正在逐步消失。

    14 世纪的时候，英国东南部肯特郡的人甚至听不懂东部地区诺

    福克郡人说的话。如今，越来越多的人说英国东南地区的口音，

    可能是因为很多富人都是这种口音，这就是萧伯纳在《卖花女》

    中描述的那种语言偏见。我们总是会根据交谈对象和对话情景的

    不同，调整自己的语言和口音，比如在写信的时候，我们就会用

    书面语。无论有意还是无意，这种调整都是为了吸引你的对话对

    象。受过高等教育的政治家们在给贫穷阶层做演讲时，会刻意使

    用这类人群更熟悉的“河口英语”。与之相对，《卖花女》中的

    女主角伊丽莎·杜利特尔用发音标准的英语和上层阶级交谈，试

    图以此来提高自己的身份。即使是英国女王也没能避免这种情况，

    她放弃了她坚持了数十年的优雅，不再把 “very” 发 成“veddy”，把“poor”发成“poo-er”。如果英国女王自己都不能说一口标准的“女王英语”，那么又有谁能做到呢？

    语言同身份以及文化归属感紧紧交织在一起。在受到其他因素（如种族）影响之前，小孩子们会模仿说他们母语的人说话。通过和语言习惯相似的人组成团体，年轻女性知道社会上还有人支持她们，她们就能从这个小圈子中获得力量，这也是年轻女性创造新语言的原因之一。生活中，当听到有人和你操着同样的口音，说着同样的语言时，你会自信地认为你们来自同一个地方，有着共同的社会关系，你们可能都支持某种文化价值观，捍卫某些利益。语言是集体归属感的有力标志，同时也将不同的社会团体区分开来。

    世界上没有什么地方能比新几内亚岛更能体现语言的多样性了。这里有 800 多种不同的语言，是地球上语言种类最多的地区。各个群体之间的地理屏障，比如大山、沼泽和河流，都能促进语言在孤立的环境中发生变化。所以，现在在这座岛上，有1,000 多个不同的词汇可以表示“水”。岛民们也将语言视为一种强有力的部落身份证明。为了和临近的村落区分开，一个村落集体决定把表示“不”的词从“bia”变成“bune”。为了与邻居的语言相区别，岛上的另一个群落则故意调换了所有词语的阴阳性。

    全世界都在经历着相同的进程。目前全球一共有 7,000 多种

    语言，也就是说，一种哺乳动物的语言数比哺乳类动物的种类还

    要多。语言学家已经建立起了语言树，用以追溯众多分支语言的

    共同源头，比如印欧语系产生了从英语到梵文的众多语言（不包

    括巴斯克语）。而遗传学家、考古学家和古生物学家们正在利用这一信息追溯人类的分布和多样性。

    一旦可以说话，我们就不会止步于一种语言。地球上大多数

    人都至少会两种语言，而一个人掌握的每一种语言都潜移默化地

    改变着他的大脑、性格和行为。人类语言的文化进化改变着人类

    的生物状态。

    土耳其作家艾丽芙·沙法克说：“在使用不同的语言时，我

    们是不同的人。我们受语言支配，幽默会变，肢体语言也会变。

    就我自己而言，我喜欢用土耳其语描写悲伤，用英语撰写讽刺作

    品。”

    语言塑造着人类的思维方式。在记忆引发事件的人或物方面，

    英语使用者要比日语使用者表现更好。我们用打碎花瓶这个例子

    来说明。英语中会说：“吉米打破了花瓶。”而在日语中，则不

    常提到因果关系中的行为人，所以人们会说：“花瓶碎了。”语

    言中的固有结构对于塑造我们构建现实的方式发挥着深刻作用。

    事实证明，现实和人性会因我们使用的语言产生巨大的差异。我

    们的大脑会发生变化，认知会根据大脑接收的文化输入和做出的

    回应而发生变化。

    用颜色词汇的演变举例，人类群体通常从命名浅色和深色开始，比如黑色和白色，之后出现的通常是红色（大概因为血是红色的）。英语中“红色”这个词过去还指棕色、紫色、粉色、橙色和黄色。然后出现的颜色词通常是黄色或绿色。很多群体都意识不到蓝色的存在，学习了英语之后，他们才第一次了解到蓝色这个颜色种类。许多语言都会吸收其他语言中表示蓝色的词。德语中有很多词都表示蓝色，与英语使用者和纳米比亚的辛巴族人相比，德语使用者能更好地分辨蓝色。辛巴族的语言中没有表示蓝色的词，而且他们很难分辨绿色和蓝色。然而，辛巴族拥有更多描述色调深浅的词汇，辛巴族的儿童也比欧洲人更容易分辨颜色的明暗。

    换句话说，语言这一文化发明影响着我们的认知。在某种程度上，我们如何（以及是否）学习将大脑接收的感觉输入（光的波长）变成语言，实际上决定了我们是否能够有意识地体会到这些感觉。当我们有两样除了颜色之外完全相同的东西时，我们就会创造出一个表示颜色的词。工业化社会要比狩猎采集社会有更多外形相同的事物需要被描述和选择，所以我们就需要能够区分绿色的汽车和蓝色的汽车，还要有一个更丰富的颜色词汇库。在自然环境中，选择不同颜色的东西一般意味着选择不一样的属性，等同于一个标签。某些群体，比如马来半岛的嘉海族很擅长辨别不同的气味，他们的语言中关于颜色的词汇不多，但是有大量关于气味的词汇。

    色彩认知、面部表情的解读、时间观念或方向等都是通过语言习得的文化知识，我们认为这些是人类普遍拥有的概念，而其中却也蕴含着令人惊讶的微小差异。给事物命名打开了一扇通往新认知的心灵之门，是我们了解这个世界的新方法。希伯来语具有典型的性别化特征，而芬兰语则没有，所以说希伯来语的儿童要比说芬兰语的儿童早一年知道自己的性别。

    各种语言在描述方向方面也有很大不同。英语中经常使用左右来描述方向，比如“你的左腿”，但是大约 1/3 的语言都不会这样描述方向。在澳大利亚昆士兰州的北部地区，人们使用古古·伊米德希尔语，英文中的 kangaroo（袋鼠）这个词正是源自这种语言。在这种语言中，人们用东南西北来描述位置和方向：“站在玛丽北边的男孩是我兄弟。”因为每一次交流都需要报告方位，所以说话者必须一直在脑海中辨别方向，才能说出合乎语法的句子。这就要求说话者在组织语言的方式和空间意识方面发生认知变化。如果你打算用古古·伊米德希尔讲一个故事，为了把故事讲清楚，就必须记住故事里走近你的人是从东面来还是从西面来的。因为在类似的语言中，所有动作动词都包含方向。这是一种完全不同的概念框架，非方向型语言的使用者不具备这种能力，但是我们可以学习。

    美国人类学家莱拉·博罗迪茨基就去学习了古古·伊米德希尔：
    在那个社区的第一个月，我感觉自己非常愚蠢，因为这里的每个人都能熟练地使用方向动词，但我不会，大家都很同情我。大约一周后，我一个人散步时，发现脑海中出现了一个小窗口，就像电子游戏里的一样，我就是那个俯瞰图上的小红点，当我转身时，窗口就会调整方向，朝向我面对的风景。我不由自主地惊叹，这样就简单多了。发现这一点之后，我胆怯地告诉了其他人……他们看着我说，就是这样，要不然呢？在这样的社会压力下，为了在语言社群中自如地生活，大脑就会努力创造让我能正常使用其中语言的方法。

    一个多世纪以前，人们就已经确定左脑掌管语言，具体分为两个区域：布罗卡氏区（与言语的产生以及发音有关）和威尔尼克区（与理解能力有关）。这两个区域中的任何一个区域受损都会导致语言和言语方面的障碍，甚至是失语症。然而，在过去 10年中，神经学家们发现事情其实没有那么简单：语言并不仅限于上述两个区域，也不是只存在于大脑的一侧，大脑在我们学习新的语言时会继续发育。最近的研究发现，不同类型和含义的词汇会和大脑的不同区域产生关联。神经学家的研究表明，不同语言中相同含义的词汇对应大脑中的同一片区域。

    双语人士有不同的神经通路对应两种语言，而且，不管使用哪一种语言，两个神经通路都表现活跃。因此，双语者会持续地、下意识地压抑另一种语言的使用，以便能集中精力于正在使用的语言。这一结果首次出现在 1999 年的一项试验中。这一试验要求掌握英俄双语的被试按要求操纵桌子上的物体。主试者用俄语对他们说：“把邮票贴在十字架下面。”但是，在俄语中，邮票一词是“marka”，和英语中的“marker”（马克笔）一词听起来很像。眼动结果显示，被试在听到指令做出正确选择之前，眼睛会在马克笔和邮票之间来回看一看。即使我们在学会了一种语言后并不使用它，但这种语言带来的不同神经模式似乎也会永远印刻在大脑中。加拿大有一些从中国领养的儿童，他们被领养的时候还不会说话，几年之后，通过对他们的大脑进行扫描发现，虽然完全不会说中文，但他们的大脑还是会对汉语元音产生神经识别。

    具备多语能力已经在社会、心理和生活方式方面展现出了优

    势，而且对神经健康也有一定的好处。人类大脑的进化似乎是为

    了掌握多语言，人类的远古祖先可能就具备多语能力。现代的狩

    猎采集部落普遍是多语社会。很多部落都禁止部落或氏族内部的

    通婚，所以每个孩子的父母说的都是不同的语言。澳大利亚的原

    住民仍然使用着 130 多种不同的原住民语言，多语言已经成为当

    地的一种风情。当你和原住民在当地散步聊天时，可能只是跨过

    了一条小河，但你的同伴突然就开始说另一种语言，这是因为地

    区变了，语言也就变了。其他地方也有多语的情况。以比利时为

    例，在列日市乘坐火车时，列车广播使用的第一种语言是法语，

    然后，当火车经过勒芬市时，首先以荷兰语进行广播，等到了布

    鲁塞尔，就又先用法语广播了。

    多语能力对大脑和自我意识有惊人的影响。如果你用英语问我最喜欢吃什么，我就会想象自己在伦敦，并且选出我在那里最爱吃的食物。但如果你用法语问我，我就会想象自己身在巴黎，答案也会有所不同。所以，如果你用不同的语言问我同一个非常私人的问题，我会给出不同的答案。有观点认为，每当你学会一种新的语言，就会有一种新的性格，同时，使用不同的语言也会让人有不同的行为。这一观点意义深远。

    有一项试验是分别给说英语的人和说德语的人播放一些视频，视频里的人都在动，比如一位女士走向她的车。说英语的人将注意力集中在人的动作上，往往会做出“一位女士在走路”的描述。而说德语的人看待事物则更加全面，他们还会注意到动作的目的，所以会（用德语）说：“一位女士朝她的车走去。”出现这种结果的部分原因是两种语言使用了不同的语法系统。与德语不同，英语有——ing 这个后缀，即现在分词，用来描述正在进行的动作。这就使得说英语的人不太能像说德语的人一样，在一个目的不明确的场景里注意到动作的目的。然而，对于使用英德双语的人来说，他们关注的重点是动作还是动作目标，取决于在哪个国家接受测试。如果在德国接受测试，他们就会更关注动作的目的；如果在英国接受测试，就会更关注动作本身，而这些与他们使用哪种语言无关。这一研究表明，文化和语言紧密交织在一起，共同决定着一个人的世界观。

    20 世纪 60 年代，心理语言学先驱苏珊·欧文-特里普要求掌握日英双语的女性把一些句子补充完整。研究发现，造句的结果会因为使用的语言不同而产生很大的差异。举个例子，被试需要补全句子“当我的梦想和家庭产生冲突时……”，用日语补全时，被试会写“我觉得很苦恼”，而用英语则是“我要做我想做的”。通过这个试验，欧文-特里普得出结论，人类的思维是在语言思维中产生的，对于双语者来说，每一种语言都有不同的思维模式。这个想法非同寻常，在之后的研究中也得到了证实。许多双语使用者也表示，当他们说不同的语言时，感觉自己像变了一个人。

    然而，当双语者的大脑在决定使用哪一种语言时，两种语言

    带来的不同思维模式就会不停地产生矛盾。这种情况就与大脑中

    的前扣带皮层有关。前扣带皮层负责执行控制，即让人专注于一

    项任务，排除其他任务的干扰。脑成像研究显示，当双语者使用

    一种语言时，他们的前扣带皮层会持续压抑使用另一种语言的词

    汇和语法的欲望。事实上，仅仅通过观察大脑扫描结果，就可以

    将双语者和单语者区分开。双语人群的大脑前扣带皮层中有更多

    的灰质，因为他们前扣带皮层的使用频率更高。这使得他们在从

    语言和非语言测试到理解他人意思等一系列认知和社交任务中

    都表现得更好。双语能力似乎能让我们心理健康，这一能力在文

    化和生物学层面上被保留下来或许是因为我们学习新语言很容

    易，并且能够在语言间灵活转换，同时还因为在人类历史中，使用双语的情况很普遍。

    许多语言产生的关键就在于我们天生的交流欲望，这种欲望

    来自社会驱动型的大脑，我们希望不必独自在茫茫世界中寻求生

    存，而是可以组建强大的群体，建立合作，依赖整个群体的力量。

    交谈建立并加强了人与人之间的关系，哪怕这些人和我们并不是

    亲属关系，交谈拓宽了我们的社交支持网。但是，如今全球性社

    交网络的成功也正在以惊人的速度加速语言的灭绝，每 14 天就

    有一种语言消失，因为现在世界上 80%的人口只使用 1%的语言进

    行交流。

    我们现在正在研发人工智能回应我们口头指令的功能，甚至开发和我们交谈的功能。人工智能已经充分证明了自己的能力，但是语言绝不仅仅是简单的编码信息，而且机器人也只能是非常原始的交流者。原因在于信息和含义之间存在着微妙但又深刻的差异。信息是嵌在词汇和句子里的，最重要的含义都依赖于说话者和倾听者所处的语境，即文化显影液。这就是为什么不同的人会对同一个句子做出不同的解释，为什么人工智能还不能算人类。美国诗人艾米莉·狄金森把希望描述成“希望长着羽毛，栖息在灵魂深处”；英国诗人约翰·邓恩则把希望说成“她是所有的国度，我是一切的君主”；美国诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特看到森林中的两条小路，说：“我选择了人迹更少的一条，从此决定了我一生的道路。”这些诗句对于人类来说很好理解，但是人工智能无法像人类一样处理这些信息。顺便一提，这种情况也适用于基因信息，因为它的解码要依靠化学分子的“语境”。

    语言赋予人类无与伦比的能力，来传达无穷无尽的思想。我们用语言讲述自己的故事，这是后文要探讨的内容。

    第八章 讲述：构建人类的信任

    想象一下，如果一个孩子生于 20 世纪 70 年代，长在美国亚拉巴马州的农村，还在他妈妈和祖母开办的单班学校里度过了童年，那这个孩子的眼界可能会受限，见识不够广博。毕竟，这个孩子生活的环境是当时发展滞后的美国农村，身边能教导他的人屈指可数。

    但是年幼的吉米·威尔士却找到了摆脱这种限制的道路：读《世界百科全书》。在他 3 岁时，他的妈妈从一个旅行推销员那里买来了这套书。可以识字读书后，吉米就被这套书深深地吸引了。书中引人入胜的内容让他欲罢不能，不由自主地从一个条目转到下一个条目，就连参考文献他都读得津津有味。参考文献为他开辟了更多了解世界、获得知识的道路，吉米后来回忆称：“参考文献会让人迷失其中。”

    《世界百科全书》的内容每年都会更新，并随书附赠有关新内容的贴纸，吉米和他妈妈每年都会一起将贴纸贴在书中对应的位置。这些经历孕育了一个大胆的想法。

    40 年后，吉米·威尔士凭借期货交易，身家超过百万美元，但他没有忘记自己对百科全书的热爱。他将自己对编码的兴趣和最初的这份热爱结合了起来，准备投资建立一个网络百科全书，并召集相关学者撰写百科条目。一开始，他设计了同行审校程序层层把关，保证条目的质量，但这导致编撰过程缓慢枯燥，而且会耗费大量时间和精力。后来，威尔士新聘的哲学博士拉里·桑格提议，利用维基这种在网络上开放且可供多人协同创作的超文本系统编撰网络百科全书，这样一来，每个网络用户都可编辑条目内容。区别于自上而下的传统发布结构，维基可以利用每一位用户身上的创造力，迅速产出内容。

    2001 年，维基百科正式面世。截至本书写作时，维基百科有

    约 71,000 名活跃的条目贡献者，他们用 299 种语言撰写了 4 700

    多万个条目，以平均每秒 10 次编辑的速率更新着网站内容。维

    基百科英文版目前收纳了 560 多万个条目，大约是《大英百科全

    书》的 50 倍。不过，维基百科最为人称道的不是条目的数量，

    而是其内容的准确度。维基百科在科学报道领域的准确度和《大

    英百科全书》的准确度相差无几。《大英百科全书》聘请了包括

    诺贝尔奖得主在内的大量专家学者撰写书中的条目，维基百科则

    没有聘用任何的条目编撰者，也不要求他们有相关资质。我们大

    可不必为此感到惊讶，因为编撰维基百科的过程就是几十万年来

    社会不断积累、编辑和更新文化信息这个进程的缩影。

    维基百科让我们看到了累积性文化进化的过程。语言为这种进化提供了可能性。它能保证人类将翔实具体的文化信息忠实地传递下去，并能让信息同时传递给许多人，从而促进复杂多样的技术、社会、线上条目等其他事物的发展。除此之外，还有一点很重要，那就是语言极大地提高了教学水平。所以，语言的出现对人类先祖时代的文化进化产生了巨大的影响，或者说，语言其实就是当时文化进化的主要动力。

    从本质上来说，语言和其他所有的交流方式一样，都具有社会性。其他灵长类动物通过一对一的梳毛行为加强群体成员之间的联系，而语言的产生让人类在做其他事情的同时，还能与他人谈天说地、互相恭维，甚至可以彼此八卦，并迅速地将对话内容传播开来。语言以最高效省力的方式，帮助我们维系和加强社会成员之间的联系。语言有助于凝聚社会，帮助个人生存，并让我们同上百万人展开合作，而不是区区几十人。随着人类社会的规模越来越大，结构越来越复杂，与我们自身并无交集的人也越来越多，我们越来越依赖每个人的声誉信息，帮助我们在茫茫人海中找到值得投入精力、时间和资源与之交往的人。

    任何人都能编辑维基百科的条目，也可以创建新的条目，不过这也意味着，任何人都可以在条目中添加错误、虚假或带有偏见的信息。但是，维基人随时都做好了更正错误信息或反驳一面之词的准备，而且更正只需几秒钟。维基百科的成功完全依赖于它的声誉：首先，条目中陈述的内容都附有参考文献或信息来源，以便用户自行判断内容的可信度；其次，维基百科会根据条目编辑者的工作经验给他们排名。此外，维基百科的条目也会影响被收录人物的形象，因为条目内容一方面可以提高其知名度，另一方面则可能会曝光有损其形象的丑闻。出于对维基百科的信任，每月都有数亿人访问维基百科。通过在这个体现着集体智慧的网站上搜索，他们减少了个人记忆和研究需要消耗的能量。

    如果我们将重要和值得信任的内容传播给大众，那我们就用语言给人类的文化进化施加了极强的选择压力，因为这些声誉信息告诉了我们要模仿谁、要模仿什么、要信仰什么以及要如何行事。

    为什么要花费时间编撰维基百科条目？为什么要帮助一群

    素不相识的人？最令人信服的回答是，因为人类一直以来依靠社

    会群体生存，而包括上述做法在内的利他行为构建了社会的凝聚

    力。我们的群体越强大，在和其他群体的竞争中就能表现得越好，

    这样我们每个人的生存概率就越高。对人类基因存续十分重要的

    不是竞争，而是合作，它让我们形成了公平公正、与人为善的默

    认行为模式。而且为了促进人与人之间的合作，我们花费了大量

    精力，为这种积极的社会行为打造美誉。不同的群体有不同的道

    德准则，对人类来说则是不同的文化有不同的道德准则。尽管道德准则千差万别，但还是有共同之处。比如，我们尊重彼此的财产权，所以偷盗在任何一种文化中都是绝对不可触碰的红线。社会合作和利他行为是相互配合的两种社会工具，累积性文化进化依靠它们创造了复杂多样的社会，并利用它们管理社会。

    在过去的研究中，生物学家曾认为，人性向善的原因和影响

    其他动物进化的因素如出一辙，也就是说，人类和其他动物都相

    信，与人为善和乐于助人会直接或间接地帮助自己的亲属，从而

    保证自己基因的存续。蚂蚁等存在利他行为的动物个体之间联系

    十分紧密，由此可见，利他行为确实能够帮助动物们延续基因。

    对人类来说，无论是人口众多还是人口稀少的群体，这个道理也

    同样适用。但是，仅仅是“人与人之间存在亲属关系”这个原因，

    并不能解释为何大多数人类群体的行为本质上都是利他行为，因

    为人类群体的规模过于庞大，我们和陌生人之间的交集过多，尤

    其是人类体内还有自私的基因。在这种基因的影响下，我们很难

    相信人们会做出利他行为。

    人类之所以会进化成合作的群体或许还有一个解释，即人人

    为我，我为人人。就像在原始社会时期一样，你给我挠痒，我也

    给你挠痒。这种具有互惠性质的利他行为能很好地解释人与人之

    间为什么会有长久的联系，但没有解释为什么我们做了那么多好

    事却不留名，小到给陌生人扶门，大到无偿献血。我们也并不期

    望我们帮助过的陌生人哪天找到我们，回报我们。不过，他人会看见并模仿我们善意的举动。大脑进化出了镜像神经元，让我们能对他人的行为或经历产生共情反应，帮助大脑敏锐地接受社会暗示，促使我们从婴儿时期就能模仿他人的行为。我们可以模仿

    他人的社会行为，而且当模仿大家喜欢或尊敬的人所做的事和选

    择时，我们会收获很多快乐。换言之，随着更多的人模仿被交口

    称赞的人，这些好人实际上是在帮助整个社会变得更加美好。

    一项研究发现，当司机主动给十字路口等待通行的车让路后，

    那些被让路的司机在以后的生活中会更愿意给其他车让路，算是

    一种对当初给他们让路的司机的“回报”。善意总是会这样传递

    下去，激励每一个人成为更好的人。我们会在等待时排队，为陌

    生人扶门，咳嗽时捂嘴。这些善意的举动每天都会发生，虽然只

    是举手之劳，却能创造出一个互帮互助的社会。在这个社会里，

    不用担心门会拍到我们脸上。在数千代人的发展中，这些善意的

    行为已将我们驯化，让人类普遍学会了合作，让群体之间的凝聚

    力得以增强，最终增强了每个人的体质，从而能生存下去。会合

    作的人往往更容易成功，而自私的人家族不会兴旺，也不会家财

    万贯。

    不过，从进化的角度来看，一些利他主义的行为并没有什么意义。2018 年 3 月，在法国西南部的卡尔卡松市，一名“伊斯兰国”武装分子手持枪械，在当地超市里劫持了数名人质。警方成功说服该男子释放其他人质，只留下一位女性人质。男子威胁称，如果他的要求得不到满足，他就杀了这名女性。此时，一位名叫阿诺·贝尔特拉姆的警官做出了最高境界的利他行为，他要求用自己去替换那名女人质。最后，贝尔特拉姆警官被歹徒枪杀，那

    名女人质活了下来。贝尔特拉姆的利他行为对他基因的存续没有

    任何好处，因为女人质和他没有任何关系。但他舍生取义的伟大

    行为，鼓励着人们多做善事，使得警察机制建设得以加强。贝尔

    特拉姆的行为得到了举国上下的赞许，这不仅为他自己赢得了美

    誉，其家庭的社会地位也因此得到了提升。尽管这种极致的利他

    行为似乎和基因进化的规则相反，但从文化进化的角度来说，这

    种行为十分合理。在整个事件中，贝尔特拉姆扮演着两个角色，

    一个是社会角色——服务法国民众的警官，另一个是宗教角色—

    —天主教徒，天主教有舍己为人的教义。贝尔特拉姆的利他行为

    让他所在的群体（法国人民和天主教徒）更加强大，提升了群体

    成员的生存概率。

    随着进化过程的推进，合作逐渐成为人类的一种天赋。我们

    不再需要花费过多的时间和精力去思考与人为善的目的和做法，

    因为它慢慢变成了大家默认的行为模式。这是因为，在许多情况

    下，出于个人利益的行事对集体利益不利。数据统计显示，合作

    才能实现个人和集体的双赢，经典的思想实验“囚徒困境”可以

    对此进行解释。一个犯罪团伙的两名成员被捕，警察将他们关在

    不同的牢房里，两人无法交流。虽然知道他们有罪，但检察官在

    提审罪犯时，却因为证据不足而无法定罪。于是检察官和罪犯进行了一场交易：要么揭发对方，要么保持沉默。如果罪犯彼此背叛，即互相揭发了对方，那么他们每人各坐两年牢；但是如果只有一人揭发，另一人保持沉默，那么被揭发的一方坐三年牢，揭

    发的一方被释放；如果双方都保持沉默，那每人各坐一年牢。这

    样来看，背叛另一个人似乎是最理智的选择，但如果两个人都只

    考虑了自己的利益而选择背叛对方，那么两个人最后都会坐两年

    牢。如此一来，以个人利益行事的两人得到了最坏的结果，加起

    来总共 4 年的刑期。事实上，他们最好的选择是都保持沉默。现

    实世界中有很多这样的例子，所以合作就逐渐成为我们的默认行

    为模式。

    耶鲁大学人类合作实验室进行了一次公共物品博弈的实验

    研究。研究以游戏的形式进行，玩家（被试）被分成不同的小组，

    并且要给自己的小组捐钱，小组最终筹到的钱款将由所有组员平

    分。研究发现，如果要求玩家迅速决定捐多少钱，他们会下意识

    地捐出数量较多的钱。而且他们也知道，这类社会困境和所有合

    作一样，都是建立在相信小组中的其他人会和自己一样慷慨解囊

    的信任之上。可即便如此，他们还是会做出同样的选择。游戏中

    4 人成组，组里每个人拥有的钱数相同，小组最后收到的钱会在

    翻倍之后平分给 4 人。此时，如果大家将所有的钱都捐给小组，

    最后每个人分到的钱都会加倍。双赢！现实生活中有很多不能以

    一己之力支付的集体项目，比如建医院、挖沟渠，但是每个人都

    可以向这些项目贡献一点资金，让生活变得更好，只是每个人在贡献时都有一定的风险。从经济层面来说，人越自私，挣的钱就越多。回到游戏中来看，从个人捐款来说，如果一个玩家捐出1美元，按照游戏规则，1 美元会变成 2 美元，最后分成 4 份，这就意味着组里的人能从 1 美元中得到 50 美分的回报；但如果你捐得比他人少，自然就可以从小组的捐款中获得更多的回报。所以，一个人会尽可能少地捐款，然后从别人慷慨的捐款中受益，这是有经济原理的。如果给玩家时间思考自己要给小组捐多少钱，他们通常会否决本能驱使下做出的决定，不再慷慨大方。

    每当帮助陌生人时，我们都需要解决他们可能会借机利用我们的问题。对此，人类社会的解决办法是“胡萝卜加大棒”。从长远来看，与群体合作有利于人的生存和发展，所以对人类来说，待在群体中是符合自身利益的选择，尽管有时与他人合作会牺牲一定的个人利益。这就给了群体可以控制其成员行为的力量：是否能待在群体中并从中受益，取决于个人在合作中表现的好坏。像人类祖先生活的小规模群体，所有人的互动对象都是未来可能会相见或有交集的人，这样就产生了声誉威胁。因为不论是善举还是恶行，人们对彼此的行为都很熟悉，因此大家都十分爱惜自己的声誉，不想让声誉受损。这种爱惜让人不过激、不自私。

    群体中的合作会给所有人带来好处，从而推动大家进行更多的合作，带来更多的好处，由此形成一个良性循环。反之亦然，我们可以学坏。人想要合作的天性是由社会决定的。我们一生都在学习如何让自己更好地帮助别人和与他人合作。在公共物品博弈的游戏中，被要求快速决定的玩家大都十分慷慨，收到了可观的分红后，他们更加相信慷慨是值得的。但是，被要求思考后决定的玩家就会比较自私，捐的数额较少，导致整个小组收到的款项较少，最后的分红也不可观。如此，这类玩家就更加确信不能依赖小组。之后，研究人员进行了第二阶段的实验，他们在快速决定和思考后决定的实验小组中分别选了一些已经进行过几次博弈游戏的玩家，给了他们一笔钱，并问他们会给素昧平生之人捐多少钱。这一次，玩家的捐赠不会有任何金钱上的奖励，也就是说，他们的所作所为完全是出于善意。

    结果显示，玩家的慷慨程度存在很大差异。那些习惯合作的玩家捐赠的钱款数额是那些习惯自私的玩家的 2 倍。仅凭在合作中有或没有获利这一段短暂的经历，在没有任何奖励或惩罚机制的情况下，人们就能改变自己内在的行为准则和具体的行为。这表明，人类的思想具有极强的可塑性，文化环境对塑造人类的行为模式具有极大的影响力。所以，即便人类生来就具有做出某种行为的倾向，这种倾向也会受到影响。

    耶鲁大学人类合作实验室还测试了不同国家的人在公共物品博弈游戏中的表现，以期发现政府、家庭、教育体系和法律体系等对人类个体行为的影响。肯尼亚的公共部门腐败程度较高，美国的相对较低，所以肯尼亚玩家给小组的捐款比美国玩家的少。这表明，社会制度越公平，人们就越具有公共精神；社会制度的可靠性越低，人们就更倾向于保护自己。但是，在玩过了仅一轮合作版（快速决定）的公共物品博弈游戏之后，肯尼亚玩家再次捐出的钱数就和美国玩家的一样了。反过来也一样，美国玩家玩了一轮自私版（思考决定）的游戏之后，捐出的钱少了很多。所以，文化环境的确会影响人们的合作行为，但是我们的思想意识足够灵活，能够迅速适应其他社会环境。

    无论我们身处何种社会环境中，人类群体都不是同质个体的

    集合体，而是由复杂多样的个体组成的网络。网络的互联性会影

    响行为和信息在其中的传递。有的网络，比如一个人口稀少、位

    置偏僻的村落，其中的人紧密相连，村里的人可能认识聚会中的

    每个人；而有的网络，比如人口众多的城市，尽管其中的人们住

    得更近，但是他们不太可能认识聚会中的每个人。不同的人际网

    络，性质也有所不同，它们影响着群体整体的行为，还会影响其

    中个体的行为，这在城市和乡村中有明显的体现。社会心理学家

    正在通过调整人际网络的形态和有影响力的人在其中的位置，研

    究人际网络的作用。耶鲁大学人性实验室的尼古拉斯·克里斯塔

    基斯率领其团队进行了一项实验。该实验搭建临时的虚拟社会，

    邀请玩家进入其中体验，观察他们的互动方式以及他们会如何对

    待彼此。克里斯塔斯基会在游戏中操控人际网络，调整玩家之间

    的互动联系。“我可以让玩家对彼此十分友好，合作十分愉快。

    玩家在虚拟社会中身心健康，生活幸福，而且愿意合作，”他说，“但对同一批玩家，如果我用完全不同的方式操控他们的人际网络，他们会对彼此十分刻薄，表现得又蠢又坏，还不会合作，更别提共享信息了。”

    在虚拟社会中，克里斯塔斯基还会随机挑选彼此陌生的玩家

    组成小组，进行公共物品博弈游戏。他说：“一开始的时候，2/3

    的人都会选择合作（慷慨解囊），但一些人会利用他人的慷慨捐

    款。玩家面临的选择只有继续合作和背叛合作（自私），于是很

    多人到最后都会选择背叛合作，因为他们受够了别人一直占自己

    的便宜。”到了游戏的最后，他说：“每个人都是坏人。”后来，

    克里斯塔斯基稍微改动了一下虚拟社会游戏的规则，即每玩一轮

    公共物品博弈游戏之后，玩家可以自行选择接下来要与谁来往。

    “玩家需要进行两个选择：我是否要与邻居友善相处，我

    是否要和这个邻居待在一起。”克里斯塔斯基解释道。游戏会提

    示玩家，他们的邻居在上一轮公共物品博弈中选择了合作还是背

    叛。这个小小的改动帮他证明了人会切断自己和背叛者之间的联

    系，同合作者建立联系，这样一来，整个社会网络会自己变成一

    个亲社会型的结构，而不是不合作的结构。上述实验都揭示了人

    类如何在代代合作中形成了合作型社会。

    人类利用声誉维系社会运转。在这种机制下，行为卑劣的人会被惩罚，不与他人合作的人会被移出社交网络。而我们的意识中还会自带声誉警察，监督我们的行为。我们能对他人的行为产生共鸣，将心比心、换位思考。在最近一项实验中，被试需要选择自己或素昧平生之人接受痛苦（但无害）的电击，之后会得到一笔现金。被试拿到钱后，研究人员对其进行了脑部扫描。结果显示，同一个被试选择他人接受电击时，没有选择自己接受电击

    时开心，即便前一种情况拿到的钱更多。在我们的大脑看来，不

    义之财不如脚踏实地挣来的钱有价值。在童年时期，我们发展出

    了自我意识，它让我们可以清楚地认识自己，并根据他人对我们

    的认识和看法调整自己的行为。少数智商较高的群居动物也可以

    在一定程度上形成所谓的心智理论能力，不过它们的这种能力并

    没有人类的发展得好。但人类也不是天生就具备心智理论能力。

    在一项经典的实验中，研究人员向一位孩童展示了一个娃娃

    和两个有盖的盒子。一个成年人进入了实验室，将娃娃藏在了一

    个盒子里，随后离开了房间。第二个成年人也进来了，他将娃娃

    从原先的盒子中拿了出来，放入另一个盒子里。接着，第一个人

    回到房间，准备取出娃娃。当他向旁边一直观察着的孩童询问娃

    娃放在哪个盒子里时，孩童会指向装有娃娃的那个盒子。实验发

    现，只有当孩童到了 4 岁时，她才会意识到她对房间的认知不同

    于问她问题的成年人，也就是说，她和其他人对同一个事物有不

    同的看法。一旦孩童意识到了这种不同，她会获得巨大的社会力

    量，并借此操纵他人的想法，向其他人讲故事，这个故事可以被

    编成对她自己有利的内容。说谎需要很强的认知能力。一个人想要说谎，必须编一个虚拟的情况，然后向他人描述；同时他还要记清楚到底发生了什么事情，并能够区分谎言和现实。撒谎者首先要明白，听自己说话的人对事情的理解与自己并不相同；其次撒谎者要了解听众知道些什么，听众对事情有着怎样的理解，这会让人筋疲力尽。有理论认为，我们的大脑是从一场军备竞赛中培养出了这种说谎的能力，即马基雅维利主义式的智慧。灵长类动物专家发现，猿行骗可能性的高低与其大脑大小有关。

    对人类这样一个社会性很强的物种来说，能够操纵他人是我

    们的进化优势，也是我们这个物种独有的优势。人类逐渐成长为

    专业的操纵者，操纵能力构成人类社会中笑话、故事、政治和犯

    罪的基础。不过，整体来看，人类还是会互帮互助、与人为善，

    还是会多多体谅他人，还是会履行道德义务。在人类社会中，诚

    实守信、体谅他人和心地善良都是十分珍贵的品质，我们会将其

    转换为现实世界的经济利益。

    我们都从美好的社会中受益，因为在很多社会制度中，人们

    的利益起码有一部分是重合的。对人类祖先来说，随着群体越来

    越大，每个人需要同与自己非亲属关系的人，即对自己幸福生活

    投入较少的人，进行越来越多的合作。因此，社交技巧就越来越

    重要。处理好大量的社会关系可以让我们更有效率地生活，让我

    们合作开发、共同使用资源，在更大的基因库里找到自己的伴侣，

    从而帮助我们提高繁衍的成功率。同时，它还能扩大我们的文化资源库，帮助我们生存。

    但是，生活在大规模群体中的人，享受着大群体带来福利的

    同时，彼此间的竞争也更加激烈，承担的压力也更大，这让人们

    需要运用更高的认知水平来适应整个群体的社会环境。比如，人

    们需要缔结、保护和发展同盟，需要记得每个人的名声和他们在

    社会阶层中的地位，还需要花费时间和精力去了解哪些人值得信

    任，而这要以牺牲自我照顾、打猎和其他活动为代价。因此，在

    人类进化过程中，大脑体积的急剧增长主要发生在新皮质区绝不

    是巧合。新皮质区主要负责社会认知加工，该区的皮质皱起越多，

    语言所需的大脑连通性越强。大群体为语言的进化带来了选择压

    力，而语言的进化推动大群体进入下一阶段的进化。

    20 世纪 90 年代，英国进化人类学家罗宾·邓巴发现，在灵

    长类动物间，群体规模的大小和该物种的新皮质面积大小有着十

    分紧密的联系，也就是所谓的邓巴数。由于新皮质面积的限制，

    大多数猿的群体规模为 30 只左右，而脑容量较大的黑猩猩的社

    交圈则有 50—60 只黑猩猩。在人类进化的过程中，我们大脑的

    体积增长了 3 倍多，新皮质面积也随之扩大，帮助我们扩大了社

    交网络的规模。人类的有效社交网络规模约为 150 人，其中的社

    交关系包括信任和责任，这个数字就是邓巴数。不管是末日村庄

    和现代狩猎采集社会中每个人的平均朋友数量，还是现代社会中

    每个人圣诞贺卡的平均寄送数，抑或脸谱网用户的平均好友数，都同邓巴数十分吻合。不过，目前有迹象表明，互联网社群会将这一数字扩大至 200 以上（在我们见到的众多面孔中，大脑可以识别5000人左右）。

    对人类的近亲灵长类动物来说，梳毛极耗时间，而且在较大

    的群体中，梳毛会变得十分复杂、难以应对。人类的群体规模较

    大，社会生活复杂，为了应对这种情况，人类进化出了闲聊。确

    实，有关猩猩的研究表明，当猩猩在新环境中需要依赖另一只猩

    猩一起行动时（梳毛除外），它们仅仅放大了梳毛时所用的叫声

    进行交流。由此可见，这种“交流”在某种程度上等同于梳毛；

    同时我们还能得出结论，灵长类动物生活的群体越大，它们的叫

    声就越大。闲聊八卦对人类的作用和梳毛对猩猩的作用是一样的。

    而且人类的很多闲谈或者玩笑都是客套话，其中的内容本身并不

    重要，重要的是人们想借此寻求合作。我们谈论天气是为了建立

    和维持社会关系，让我们能够与原先没有关系的人展开合作。闲

    谈最终的目标是让我们的听众在闲谈的过程中感觉良好并喜欢

    上我们，但它是一种后天习得的技能。孩童在这方面总是做得不

    好，比如，他们会认真地回答“最近怎么样”这类寒暄性问题。

    通过闲聊，人们可以找到共同点，建立于共同点之上的聊天

    可以让人们彼此产生好感，进而分享自己的经历。如此一来，原

    本需要很多天才能完成的活动便能压缩进短暂的聊天时间里，减

    少了缔结重要社会关系所需的时间和精力。随着不断进化，人类逐渐爱上了这种聊天。与他人交流观点、分享信息会激活人类大脑的奖励中枢，让我们心情愉悦。与其他物种相比，人类的童年期很长，整体寿命也更长。在漫长的一生中，我们总会需要他人的帮助，所以，与直系亲属之外的可靠之人建立人际关系十分有用。

    在人类之间的对话中，至少 60%的内容都是关于不在场的第

    三方的八卦。我们会在聊天中了解第三方的声誉，甚至会给他们

    编排一些事情，影响他们的声誉。声誉由社会创造，既会给我们

    的行为带来深远影响，又让我们在与他人开始交往前，就能大概

    了解他人，帮助我们节省人际交往时所花的力气。一个人的行为

    往往一以贯之，他们过去的表现会是他们未来表现很好的写照。

    以贸易为例，进行贸易需要双方的高度信任。如果你准备用

    一捆精心制作的箭换取一件皮斗篷，你必须要相信得到自己箭的

    那个人能够履行他的承诺，给你带来皮斗篷（他用你的箭射中野

    牛，而这头牛的皮就是给你制作皮斗篷的原料）。在规模较小、

    联系紧密的群体中，这种以物换物相对容易实现，但随着群体规

    模逐渐扩大，它就不那么容易实现了。如果想要拥有一个好名声，

    人们必须要拥有良好的人际关系，而且自己所属的不同人际关系

    网络需要相互联通。人类的大家庭可以满足这个条件。人类是唯

    一一种通过婚姻将配偶及姻亲看作自己亲戚的灵长目动物，因此

    人类可以扩大人际关系网络。人类有语言，所以每个人有自己的名字，我们可以凭借自己或自己朋友的声誉，认识朋友的朋友、朋友的亲戚来层层扩展我们的社交网络，甚至扩展到其他群体中。邓巴数字理论提到的 150 人可以来自不同的群体，我们的社交网络也会涉及不同的群体和文化。这样一来，即使我们和朋友所属的部落或群体之间竞争激烈，我们和朋友还能以个人身份展开合作。

    我们的生存和我们基因的存续取决于我们在复杂社会中的

    地位，声誉在这样的世界中起到了非比寻常的重要作用。好的名

    声能够帮助我们在所有的人际交往中占据先机，即好的名声让我

    们更有可能得到别人的帮助，让我们的孩子更有可能得到他人的

    照料。相反，坏名声则会带来最严重的社会惩罚，被他人排斥，

    甚至导致死亡。但是，尽管我们自身在树立自己声誉的过程中起

    到很大的作用，我们却不能完全控制它，因为即便我们死了，我

    们的名声还会在众人口中流传。我们可能流芳百世，也可能遗臭

    万年。如果一个人已经听过关于某人的故事，且故事具有说服力，

    那么仅仅通过那个人的行为，很难判断此人的好坏，因为我们的

    社会学习绝大多数是基于模仿他人，而不是生成自己的新想法和

    新观点。实验表明，我们和陌生人一起玩信任游戏时，即便是玩

    了几轮之后，和他一起玩过的上一位玩家（上一位玩家和我们同

    这位陌生人玩家的游戏时长相近）的说法，依然会影响我们对这

    位陌生人的可信任程度的判断（基于游戏经验）。不过，如果我们能够亲眼看到陌生人在上一轮游戏中的表现，那么我们在下一轮和陌生人合作的概率约为 60%。如果我们同时听到了一些正面的小道消息，合作概率则会上升到 75%。但是，如果我们听到了一些不好的八卦流言，合作的概率会下降至 50%，即便这些传言同我们亲眼所见的事实相悖，即便传出八卦的人根本没玩几轮游戏，我们也依旧会选择相信这些传言。

    想要讨人喜欢的想法给我们带来了很大的压力，让我们在与

    他人意见相左时，不能大胆地表达自己的意见，让我们想被他人

    注意到并成为群体中受欢迎的一员。这就导致社交媒体上出现越

    来越多的极端观点，导致一个先前名声清白的人可能会因为一点

    小事毁了自己的声誉，甚至会导致极端狂热追随者的出现。对于

    生活在小群体中的人来说，成也八卦，败也八卦；对大群体中的

    人来说，八卦的风险会更高。古代有拉美西斯二世将每场战役都

    说成埃及的胜利，如今有很多新闻媒体和网站被屏蔽，可以说掌

    控声誉的战役已经从荒谬走向了极端。我们对通过八卦传递的社

    会信息有一种天然的依赖。对那些污蔑某人或某个群体，并想要

    借此引发社会变革的人来说，这种依赖让社会信息成为他们的武

    器。一个很经典的笑话反映了这个道理。20 世纪 30 年代，一位

    犹太人十分高兴地读着《冲锋队员》，要知道这份报纸可是反犹

    刊物，是纳粹分子的宣传阵地。他的朋友对此感到十分困惑，于

    是他向朋友解释道：“如果你读的是犹太人写的文章，那么整个

    世界看起来一片黑暗，没有希望。但你读《冲锋队员》时，就完

    全没有这种感觉！在《冲锋队员》的报道中，我们掌控了银行，掌控了国家，甚至还掌控了整个世界！”

    文化法令警告我们不要作伪证，不要说别人坏话，这被法国思想家罗兰·巴特称为“语言谋杀”。但是，对于人与人相互依存的社会而言，八卦是监管社会的必要工具。它能将做错事的人、自私自利的人和反社会的人带回正轨，保证社会中的每个人都能各司其职。八卦不好的一面体现在每个人都可能成为“施暴者”，但好的一面是每个人都可以传播八卦。一个人要想挑战他人，其身体不需要足够强壮，只需要利用八卦就可以挑战。这样一来，八卦就可以通过非暴力的方式纠正反社会行为。

    有人监管时，我们会更加注意自己的行为举止。窃贼都有一个习惯，他们在进入别人家里偷东西时，会把这家人的全家福倒扣在桌上，因为他们不想被人看见自己正在做坏事。同理，仅仅是在商店的墙上挂上一幅眼神犀利的照片，就能减少小偷入店行窃的情况发生。

    一神教中的神通常无所不知、无处不在，监视着我们的一举一动并进行终极审判，根据我们的行为决定我们是下地狱还是进天堂。犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教是一神教的三大教派，它们的祈祷书中都有一位可以看透我们思想和内心并对我们进行神圣审判的神灵。比起善行，大多数神灵对恶行更感兴趣。宗教在社会选择的压力下不断发展，其目的是管理规模不断扩大的社会。正如《荷马史诗》中描述的诸神一样，一个社会选择哪种宗教似乎在一定程度上取决于这个社会需要什么类型的监管。规模较大的社会通常会选择在人类事务和道德方面发挥积极作用的至高神，因为这类社会通常需要陌生人之间相互配合来创造财富，增加税收。事实上，信奉这类会干涉人类世界、惩罚人类的神灵可能是人类的一种适应手段，以此促进相隔较远的群体之间的大规模合作。近期，社会人类学家用一款网络游戏验证了这个想法。游戏要求有宗教信仰的个人玩家将钱在玩家自己、本地教友、远方教友和一些欧美人较少信奉的宗教的教徒之间进行分配。涉及的宗教包括佛教、基督教、印度教和包含万物有灵论及祖先崇拜等教义的宗教。研究人员发现，如果教徒信奉会惩罚恶行的神灵，那么这些教徒对相距较远的教友会更加慷慨（他们与其他人的共同点对他们本身的行为影响较小，比如彼此住得很近）。这种将神作为道德化身的做法能够帮助人们扩大合作。一个无所不知的神可帮助人们提高自己的声誉，这样或许可以弥补由于群体不断扩大带来的社会声誉较弱的缺陷。人们通常认为信教人士会比一般人心地更加善良，更乐意与他人合作，更值得信赖。不过，信教人士的这些优秀品质只在和他们价值观相同的人士的交往中才有所体现。

    羞耻和内疚是两种声誉化的情绪。随着人类的生活范围从规模较小的部落逐渐发展到较大的群体，人类文化在不断地利用这两种情绪。猿没有羞耻和内疚这两种情绪，羞耻和内疚是人类与生俱来、普遍拥有的情绪。通过羞辱他人来降低他人的自我评价，会对他人造成严重的生理和心理影响。因为人类身体对羞耻的反应和它对物理伤口的反应一样：压力荷尔蒙皮质醇飙升，炎症反应加重。如果持续时间过长，会对身体造成一定的伤害。

    许多社会将羞耻作为左右社会成员行为的主要因素，比如日本就是耻感文化的代表。在这类文化中，他人的看法比内疚感对个人行为的影响更大。而在美国等罪感文化中，人们不在乎他人的看法，不在乎是否羞耻，更多的是做到问心无愧，依靠良知规范自己的行为。社会道德水平的主要驱动因素究竟是羞耻还是内疚，主要取决于社会连接的紧密程度与八卦传播之间的关系。关系稳定且紧密的社会中，人与人之间非常熟悉，典型的代表是村民喜欢闲聊天的小村庄。在这样的村庄中，人们喜欢评价他人，常将社会差异归因于人们性格的优缺点。耻感是控制这种族群非常重要的手段，而避免耻感最好的办法就是与大多数人保持一致。但是，在城市这种个人主义色彩浓厚的社会中，人们更加注重隐私，彼此之间的联系也没有那么紧密。大家不再局限于单一的社交圈子，而是游走在多个但有重叠的圈子中。这种模式让生活在个人主义至上社会中的人不喜欢评判他人，因而耻感在保持社会道德水平方面发挥的作用会减弱很多，取而代之的是内疚感。

    当一个人被他人贬低时，他们自己也会贬低自己。大量研究已经证明，我们的自尊心取决于别人怎么看待我们。换句话说，自尊心取决于自己的声誉，而声誉本身驱动着我们的道德行为。同理，如果问心无愧，自尊心就会变强，其他人会认为我们强大的自尊心来自良好的声誉，这样一来我们的自尊心又会增强，如此形成一个良性循环。个人的道德品质推动我们采取行动，让别人对我们留下好印象，从而提升自尊心。这样的内省对认知能力要求较高，却能让我们在社交场合中操纵他人。

    几年前，一部英国纪录片讽刺了社会对艾滋病传播的态度。

    如果一位血友病患者因输血而染上了艾滋病，那么他得的就是

    “好艾滋”；而如果一个人是因为性爱或注射毒品染病，那他得

    的就是“坏艾滋”。同其他伟大的讽刺作品一样，这部纪录片深

    刻揭示了一个荒谬却现实的、有影响力的价值观体系。一项研究

    发现，如果携带艾滋病毒的男同性恋患者对社会排斥非常敏感，

    而且对感染艾滋病感到十分羞耻，那么他们的病毒载量就比其他

    艾滋病患者的要多，免疫细胞机能的下降速度也更快，最后导致

    他们的平均寿命比其他患者少两年。尴尬和羞耻这样的情绪让人

    痛苦，但是它们的存在是有原因的。它们证明人类有共情能力，

    这个能力在人进行高效的社会学习和合作中发挥着关键作用，它

    们还证明人十分重视自己所属族群中其他人的想法。如果我们想

    要在某个群体中获得归属感，那就必须要遵循这个群体的社会价

    值观。被整个社会排斥意味着死亡。因此，如果一个人不曾表现

    出羞耻和尴尬，不在意社会是否会接纳自己，那么这个人会十分

    危险，不值得信任和深交。

    正如我们所见，到目前为止，利用他人经验是获取信息的最佳方式。当我们决定要去哪家餐厅吃饭时，我们不需要尝遍所有餐厅，只需要看看大多数人的选择就行，即利用餐厅的人气（声誉）进行选择。选择一家座无虚席而非门可罗雀的餐厅吃饭肯定没问题。不过，这种想要模仿他人的强烈欲望有时会带来灾难性的后果，比如股市崩盘，但这只是个例。通常情况下，跟风会让某些无伤大雅的事物风靡一时。一般来说，社会信息（闲谈八卦）能够帮助我们找到可靠的文化信息。
    声誉告诉我们哪些人可以模仿。毕竟，如果模仿错了人，我们可能会生病或者营养不良。而且这种糟糕的行为还可能被我们的下一代模仿，导致人类的技术和文化在设计、复杂程度和多样性等层面得不到进一步的发展，变得越来越糟，最后甚至造成技术的退步和技能的失传。声誉会给文化进化施加选择压力，使其变得更有效率，因为它会帮助我们过滤掉无用的选项，突出可靠的选项。

    所有的群居动物都必须要决定自己的模仿对象，人类在这方面优势明显，而且全世界的人类似乎都在用同一个模仿模式。在婴儿期和幼儿期，我们先模仿父母，然后模仿哥哥姐姐。后来，我们开始模仿和自己相同性别、说相同语言和有相同文化背景的人。到了青少年时期，同龄人对我们的影响越来越大，我们的模仿对象逐渐变成了同龄人，而不再只是长辈。模仿对象的转变调整了我们通过模仿学习到的内容，使其与时俱进。但是，人类并不一定依据一个人在某项任务中的表现来决定是否模仿他。比如，有人曾研究学龄儿童如何选水果。结果显示，他们不会模仿比自己年龄小的孩子，而是选择模仿比自己年龄大的孩子。不过，如果要求孩子们解谜题，他们便会改变自己的模仿对象，选择和擅长解谜的孩子一样的答案，即便这个孩子年龄比自己小。这项研究在很大程度上解释了声望转移现象。

    声望是一种表现社会地位的特殊形式，只有人类才会辨别。绝大多数动物会注意到占据统治地位的优势，所以它们会想成为群体中力量最大、最有攻击性或者体格最壮硕的。当然这些特质对人类而言也很重要，比如强大的战士在哪里都受人欢迎。声望则完全是另一种情况。有声望的人是指值得其他人模仿的对象，如专家或长者。如果一个人在某一领域享有盛誉，他们的社会地位也会水涨船高，且影响力也不再只局限于自己的领域里。我们很可能会模仿他们所有的选择。声望俨然已经进化成了一种可以提升文化传播效益的方式。如果一个人在某一领域取得成功，那他可以成为意见领袖，引导大众的想法。我们想向成功人士学习，哪怕只是以某种方式和他们产生联系，觉得这样就能沾上成功人士的光，这就是人们心甘情愿买高尔夫球星的同款手表的原因。

    这可能源于人类文化技术的复杂性。比如，一名优秀的猎人需要以下几项技能：跑得快、会追踪、正确使用武器、与他人配合默契、能够击倒猛兽。模仿者可以分辨出谁是优秀的猎人，但是判断不出哪项技能让他如此优秀，所以最好的办法就是模仿他的全部行为。但是，如果我们因为一个人在某一领域的声望就去模仿他的所有行为，就可能给我们带来危险。比如，一个名人自杀了，有人可能就会模仿他的自杀行为。这样的事不是没有发生过，模仿者生前通常没有任何情绪低落或抑郁的表现，其自杀的手法和其他细节都和他们所模仿的名人一模一样。

    声望高的人影响力巨大。他们可以重塑社会关系网络，既可以让人们具有亲社会的属性，互相包容，也可以让人们不再合作，变得自私自利。戴安娜王妃拥抱艾滋病患者后，人们对艾滋病患者的态度有了极大的改变，对艾滋病毒的传播渠道有了进一步的了解。王妃一个小举动带来的影响远大于病毒学家十几年科普带来的影响。同理，如果一名政治家未能谴责种族仇恨，甚至纵容种族仇恨，其他人就会效仿他，特别是当他是国家总统时，这种行径甚至会颠覆一代人的社会道德准则，即文化显影液。
    自我价值取决于他人怎么看待我们，因此有声望的人通常相信自己不但能在某一领域成绩斐然，而且还能将这种优势延续至其他领域。许多名人的社交圈仅局限于其他名人和自己的忠实粉丝，这就导致很多名人过度自信，好像自己能成为任何一个领域的专家，一个很好的例子就是演员为资质可疑的医疗产品做代言。
    不同文化赋予人们声望的方式也不同。在狩猎采集社会中，最好的猎人拥有更多的话语权。向老人学习不无道理，不仅仅是因为他们寿命长，获得的信息更多，而且因为在狩猎采集时代，寿命长本身就是了不起的事。那时如果有人活到 65 岁，那么自然选择已经将大部分同代人淘汰了，所以活下来的长者进行的各项实践都更有价值。美国进化人类学家约瑟夫·亨里奇用人们食用红辣椒的例子清楚地解释了这个事实。想象一下，一个群体有100 人，年龄均为 20—30 岁，其中40%的人每次都会用红辣椒烹制肉类。由于辣椒可以杀菌，所以食用红辣椒可以降低食源性细菌致人死亡的概率。如果年复一年地食用辣椒可以将一个人活到65 岁的概率从 10%提升至 20%，那么该群体中寿命达到 65 岁的人中，有 57%的人是辣椒食用者。如果人们不喜欢学习年轻人做肉的方法，而是更喜欢学习年长者做肉的方法，那么他们有更大的概率习得加辣椒这个能够提高生存概率的方法。经过几代人的文化进化，做肉时加辣椒就会成为该群体准备肉类菜肴时的常规步骤。亨里奇解释道：“基于年龄进行的文化学习可以细化自然选择的步骤，不同的步骤会导致不同的死亡率。”

    在西方社会，或许是因为人们的寿命普遍偏长，再加上现代科技的飞速变化，年龄失去了原本的优势。文化变化的速度过快降低了社会学习的可信度。向他人学习可能会有风险，因为你学习的可能是已经过时的信息。尽管如此，在一些需要勤学苦练才能熟能生巧的领域，年龄依然是一个优势。对制陶高手来说，只需要几分钟就能将一件陶器拉制成坯，但是拉制的技巧则需要很长时间才能熟练掌握。
    但是对于所有文化来说，毫无意外，社会中最受人尊敬的人是那些掌握最先进知识、最乐于大方分享的人——教师。教学就是交流。为教学发明出的工具加强了人类合作型社会之间的联系，将我们通过共同的故事联系在一起。我们的群体身份都体现在了语言文字中，因此语言也成为弥合文化差异的关键工具。当我们用某个群体的特定语言与该群体中的人交流时，可以消除人与人之间的不信任，让我们融入群体中。人类作为一个物种的成功，一是因为不同亲社会族群之间的竞争，二是因为跨文化交流。我们将在后面的章节探讨这些内容。

    美

    人类对美的思考成就了自己。人们在生活中找寻意义，而美通过它的表达给了我们目标，甚至让我们不朽。美虽是主观创造，却促进了人类进化。美推动了人类最伟大的合作，它让我们互联互通、互相交流。美创造了人类世界，就像爱默生所说：“世界的存在于灵魂而言，是为了满足对美的渴望。”

    第九章 归属感：身份认同的塑造

    卧室的角落里有一个旧衣柜，我在上面安了两个陶瓷把手，

    用来挂项链。一串串打磨过的石头、贝壳和金属珠子在阳光的照

    射下熠熠生辉。一条条相扣的银环亮光闪闪，照射在上面的阳光

    似乎都变得柔和了。由半透明的珠子——如玻璃、塑料和切割过

    的石头——串成的项链更是自带魔力，它们把阳光打散成上千种

    颜色，透过小小的心形散发出五彩缤纷的光芒，把沉闷的衣柜变

    成了闪烁的彩虹瀑布。

    孩子们痴痴地看着这一切。他们小心翼翼地拿起项链，让它

    们像缎带一样从手中倾泻而下。他们仔细检查每一颗珠子，好奇

    它们的不同之处，惊讶于它们在阳光下竟能如此清澈。他们对我

    说：“求你了妈妈，让我戴一会儿吧，一会儿就好。”我给他们一

    个一个戴上项链。他们高兴极了，昂首挺胸，踮着脚尖朝镜子走

    去。

    我的项链大都物美价廉。只有一条可以称得上值钱，那是我祖母生前留给我的传家宝。一条镶嵌着一颗漂亮的黑珍珠吊坠的金项链，它虽和我的日常风格很不搭调，但我视它为珍宝，因为它意义非凡。这条项链是我亲爱的祖父送给祖母的，之后我的祖母又把它留给了我。它承载着记忆，是一条非同寻常、完美无瑕的项链。我偶尔会戴着这条项链参加一些令我紧张的活动，脖子

    上坚实的重量和它永恒的美让我感到安心。珍珠的形成象征着应

    对生活中的挑战：沙砾进入牡蛎的贝壳之后，牡蛎体内的外套膜

    受到刺激，便分泌珍珠质，将沙砾一层一层包裹起来，最后形成

    了珍珠。想要找到珍珠并不容易，人们经常需要在异国的深海中

    潜水寻找，尤其是我戴的这颗珍珠，它的尺寸更罕见，寻找起来

    可能更加危险。这条项链由不同材质组成，汇集了各个地方手艺

    人的智慧。设计项链的人一定想象力十足，才能构思出如何将各

    个部分组合在一起，构成一个美妙、珍贵的整体。

    我的其他项链是用玻璃、塑料、木头或陶瓷珠子、贝壳、纽

    扣和其他便宜的材质串成的，但它们对我来说价值连城。它们很

    漂亮，能把我衬托得更漂亮。有些项链是纪念品，看着它们就会

    让我想起过去的美好经历。我有一条由色彩斑斓的塑料珠子串成

    的项链，那是许多年前我在新奥尔良参加狂欢节时有人扔给我的。

    这串项链让我想起了自己在 20 岁出头时，第一次独自穿越美国

    的经历。透过珠子，我回想起那次激动人心的旅程，回想起街上

    喧嚣的人群、狂热的舞蹈和音乐，回想起一些刺激危险的时刻。

    扔项链是一种沿袭了上百年的传统，起源于法国殖民时期。一般

    都是男人向女人扔项链，女人们则以美味的啤酒、妖娆的舞姿和

    一闪而过的胴体作为回报。当年，一个赤裸着上身、在阳台上跳舞的帅气男人把这串项链扔给了我。我一把接住了项链，他朝我喊：“给我看看你的胸！”我吓坏了，沿着街道跑进了一个小酒吧。酒吧里，一支三人乐队狂热地弹奏着音乐，一群人配合着音乐有节奏地扭动着身体。我在那里站了一会儿，被眼前的景象深深地吸引住了。我抓着那串珠子，沉浸在狂热的氛围中，音乐流淌过我的心田，我感觉自己不再是个未经世事的小女孩。现在，这条廉价的塑料项链是我与那时那地的那个自己的唯一联系。握着它，就仿佛握着我的过去。

    我的项链是装饰品，只有我自己或与我非常亲近的人才懂得

    它们宝贵的象征意义，这才是它们的不寻常之处。珠宝通常还有

    另一种明显的象征意义——财富和身份。佩戴珠宝可以让人知道

    佩戴者很富有，也能让人了解佩戴者的身份，如佩戴十字架表示

    某人信奉基督教，戴在无名指上的戒指表明佩戴者已婚。对我而

    言，我佩戴的珠宝也传递着关于我的生活方式、年龄、背景、社

    会阶层、性别等微妙信息。

    美好的事物会吸引我们停下脚步去打量它们。人们对美有一

    种情感上的反应，这也是一种生物学上的反应，人类文化利用和

    发展了这一点，让我们能够赋予装饰品意义和价值。我们以这种

    主观赋予的意义为媒介，通过文化认同的象征符号、社会准则和

    各类仪式，形成了有凝聚力的部落社会。社会和环境压力带来了社会准则的进化，这些准则对生物学和基因产生了巨大的影响。

    它们重塑了人类和人类社会。

    在没有遗传关联的人组成的庞大社区里，我们用美来表达归属感。美让人类创造出一系列人造表现型特征，这些特征影响着人类的进化。

    人类对美的接受能力非常强。我们到处寻找美的足迹——人

    们的脸庞、完美对称的花朵、鸟儿清脆的叫声、自创的艺术作品

    ——我们通过认出美来获得快乐。美具有安抚人心的力量：它赋

    予生活意义与目标，可以增强同理心，让人拥有团体归属感。美

    的事物能带来更多的美，因此，以花装点或种有鲜花的社区，能

    促使人们让社区变得更美。我们可以欣赏我们发现的美，也有动

    力通过美术、音乐、建筑、文学和舞蹈，在物质世界中创造我们

    自己的美的表达。事实上，我们做的大部分事情或制作的大部分

    东西都是出于对美的追求，我们设计制作的物品都是为美而生。

    我们吃饭时，遵守餐桌礼仪；说话时，音量适中，避免使用“丑

    陋”的词语；出门前，精心装扮。

    人类花费了大量的时间和精力追求美，甚至可以为艺术献身。2015年，叙利亚考古学家哈立德·阿萨德因为拒绝透露巴尔米拉古代艺术品的位置而被武装分子斩首。对于这位81岁的老人来说，这个有着2000余年历史的寺庙群里的美丽石像和石柱，值得他用生命来捍卫。

    美是一种强大的社会工具，然而它来源于主观构想，而非客

    观存在。我们对美的创造很可能源于生物学的性选择。孔雀和其

    他许多鸟类一样，会利用华丽的外表来展示自己健康的体魄。出

    于这个原因，雌性孔雀逐渐进化到喜欢羽尾最华丽的雄性孔雀。

    如果一种动物能在华而不实的事物上浪费能量，比如色彩斑斓酷

    似“眼睛”的羽尾，那就表明它有大量的能量可以浪费。人类与

    孔雀不同，无论男性还是女性都可以自己选择性伴侣。所以我们

    可以推测，人类在男性和女性的脸上都寻找美的标准，就像孔雀

    的标准是漂亮的羽毛一样，人类的脸是健康的标志，很难伪装。

    漂亮的脸要有高度对称的面部和完美的肤色。其他灵长类动物也

    “以貌取人”，和人类一样，恒河猴也更喜欢面部对称的伴侣，

    因为这样可以让后代的质量更高。

    科研人员曾根据诸多人脸数据合成了一张人脸，相比单个人

    脸，这张合成人脸对大众更有吸引力。这种偏好的进化根源可能

    是优质的基因结合之后会提高对环境的适应能力。在调查中，人

    们普遍认为“混血儿”更有吸引力，而近亲繁殖生出的孩子吸引

    力较小。生育信号也是吸引人的特征：男性的睾丸素水平越高，

    女性的雌激素水平越高，这些信号的表达就越明显。

    因此，我们对美的感知不仅仅基于一时的审美冲动。人们更喜欢年轻、健康、生育能力强、没有疾病迹象的伴侣。这些特征组合在一起，会优先激发我们的求偶欲望，让我们认为有这些特征的人更漂亮。有些人擅长发现健康、生育能力强的伴侣，这样他们就可以把自己的基因遗传给后代。经过了数千年，人类对美的认识不断提高，人类也确实变得越来越漂亮了。

    然而，人类的许多审美偏好都具有主观性，和客观的生物学

    上的健康并无太大关系。事实上，很多审美好像受时尚引领，源

    于一时的冲动。动物世界也有有趣的相似之处。20 世纪 80 年代，

    研究斑胸草雀的进化生物学家南希·伯利用不同颜色的标志环

    区分实验室不同群组的斑胸草雀。让她感到惊奇的是，她发现佩

    戴特定颜色标志环的斑胸草雀更容易找到配偶，也会花费更多的

    精力养育后代。雌性斑胸草雀更喜欢戴红色标志环的雄雀，而雄

    性斑胸草雀更喜欢戴黑色和粉色标志环的雌雀。实验室中的斑胸

    草雀在短时间内就“进化”出一套新的能吸引异性的方式，伯利

    亲眼见证了整个过程。标志环和健康毫无关系，这说明动物对美

    的认知具有随机性。也许有些特征或颜色在它们的大脑中根深蒂

    固，当这些特征或颜色出现时，它们更倾向于选择新的变化。很

    多自然界中的多样性和美好事物都源于动物自身对美的欣赏。

    这些看似随机的偏好似乎也塑造了人类的外貌。几十万年来，人类生活在不同部落的小群体中，使文化和基因差异得以积累下来。数千年来，从亚洲的斯里兰卡到北欧的瑞典，人们的外貌出现了显著差异。在小群体中，外貌特征积累的速度正发生改变。因为群体中携带这些基因的人数不够，一些基因类型可能会完全消失；而因为某个群体碰巧有许多携带者，另一些基因可能会变得异常普遍。人类有不同的发色和眼形，而每一种颜色或形状一开始很可能只有一小部分人有。后来因为当地人喜欢这样的风格，他们按照这种喜好选择自己的性伴侣，从而让这种发色和眼形保留至今。

    东亚人头发浓密、汗腺发达、门齿独特、胸部小，所有这些

    都与大约 3.5 万年前发生的 EDAR（外异蛋白 A 受体）基因突变

    有关。专家们对这种基因迅速传播的原因的看法存在分歧：有人

    认为是炎热的气候让额外的汗腺变得十分有用，也有人认为是人

    们觉得这些特征更有吸引力。拥有白皙皮肤和蓝色眼睛的人曾被

    认为具有异国情调，极具吸引力，更容易找到性伴侣，这使得这

    些特征在北欧迅速传播。在过去的 2,000 年里，英国人变得个头

    更高、头发更加金黄，拥有蓝色眼睛的概率更大。

    漂亮的面孔会激活大脑视觉皮层各个独立的部分，这些部分

    专门负责处理面孔和物体。与此同时，即使我们不思考美，大脑

    的奖赏机制和愉快中枢也会被激活。在我们欣赏美的过程中，道

    德因素也起着作用，即使人们没有明确地思考美和“善”，对美

    和“善”进行审美判断的神经活动也会发生重叠。这种反射性关

    联可能在生物学层面上激发了美的社会效应。有魅力的人在生活

    中会得到各种各样的好处。例如，人们会认为他们更聪明、更值得信赖，他们得到的报酬更高，受到的惩罚也更轻。

    脑部扫描研究显示，与厌恶和疼痛有关的前脑岛对审美有重

    要作用。这个出人意料的结果或许能解释我们对美的感知是如何

    进化的：审美过程的关键是对客体价值的评估，判断这个东西对

    我们来说是“好”还是“坏”。这种评估是主观的，取决于个人

    当时的生理状态。俗话说，“饿了糠如蜜，饱了蜜不甜”。在人

    类进化过程中，大脑的审美系统可能是为了提高我们对生物层面

    上具有重要意义的客体（包含食物和配偶）的价值判断能力而进

    化的。经过文化进化，这套审美系统会扩展到具有社会价值的事

    物上，比如绘画和音乐。大脑扫描结果显示，事实上，喜欢一块

    蛋糕和喜欢一段音乐时，大脑的反应十分相似。

    审美能力也很有可能与我们寻求事物发展规律的神经冲动

    共同进化，作为指挥注意力的认知信号辅助大脑的预测系统工作，

    告诉大脑哪里有需要发现或破译的东西。美具有激励作用，推动

    我们产生想要进一步探索的情感反应，是一种非常有力、强烈的

    好奇心形式。艺术可以激发这种本能。比如我们在欣赏凡·高的

    作品时，大脑审美中枢欣赏到了画中的美，让我们觉得这幅画不

    只是色彩的旋涡，还有着深刻的内涵。科学家在一项大脑扫描研

    究中发现，人们听一段熟悉的贝多芬作品，在听到自己最喜欢的

    部分之前，尾状核（与好奇心有关的大脑区域）就开始活动了。

    研究人员说，这表示人们期待即将听到让人心情愉悦的音乐片段，“这可以让人期待兴奋等情绪的到来，产生一种想要满足自己和获得奖励的感觉”。在这个过程中，让人感觉愉快的荷尔蒙多巴胺会激增。美以一种有力的方式帮助大脑感知哪些感觉值得感受，哪些感觉可以忽略。

    所以，在生理上，人类对美有反应；在文化上，人类把美看

    作一种视觉语言。我们把美的东西变成有价值和意义的符号。人

    类随时随地都能发现美好的事物，而不仅仅只是具有性吸引力的

    异性身体。在审美中体验到的愉悦鼓励我们花费宝贵的时间专注

    于思考，关注那些没有实际效益或对生存没有益处的事物，并把

    时间、人力和资源投入我们自己对美的表达中。其他生物都做不

    到这一点，对于大型动物来说，任何对生存没有益处的活动代价

    都很大。就算我们把矛装饰得极其漂亮，它也不会帮助我们捕获

    到更多生存所需的食物。然而，所有人类群体都会在装饰上投入

    大量时间、精力和物质资源，这说明装饰对生存有着重要作用。

    正是通过美的象征意义和其自身的意义，我们才在群体中团结一

    致，用共同的价值观、信仰、同情心和其他情感构建了合作型社

    会。

    我们整个人类社会都是建立在思想和观念的符号化之上的，这是我们与其他动物的不同之处。我们使用视觉符号表达我们创造的观念，并借此在人与人之间传播，然后代代相传。货币系统、善恶、政府这种抽象的概念要通过身体装饰、艺术、音乐、建筑、园艺或其他技能等美的载体进行表达。

    与我们血缘关系最近的灵长类动物也使用象征符号。在乌干

    达的基巴莱国家公园，研究人员深入研究了一群野生黑猩猩，发

    现幼年黑猩猩赋予了捡来的木棍特殊的含义，它们经常把木棍当

    成“宝宝”，和它们一起玩耍。有记录显示，猩猩幼崽抱着木棍，

    并将其带入白天的巢穴，但是用木棍做其他活动时，它们就不会

    这样做。研究人员还发现，一只年轻的雄性猩猩会为它的“玩偶”

    另立巢穴，而一只雌猩猩在看到它的母亲照顾生病的其他小猩猩

    时，会像“拍打婴儿的背部”一样拍打木棍。

    大约 200 万年前，我们的祖先也会照料捡来的物品。在南非远古人遗迹中，考古学家曾发现一块红碧玉岩卵石，上面有明显的“脸”的形状，这是经环境风化形成的。这块所谓的“多面卵石”，很可能是从距离远古人住所几千米之外的地方带回来的，并被视为最早的艺术品。这块人脸石在很久之前之所以有价值，不是因为它有多大用处，而是因为它背后的含义。在直立人时代，人们会刻意美化自己的物品，考古学家在印度尼西亚的爪哇岛发现了装饰性的贝壳，其年代可以追溯到 70 万年前。

    当然，人们通过象征符号进行装饰和交流的欲望，始于我们的身体。任何一种当代文化都有身体彩绘的传统，例如给嘴唇涂上口红，或是其他更加夸张的传达方式，在许多史前遗迹中都发现了用于身体装饰的黄棕色矿物染料赭石。身体装饰是一种身份象征，是一种视觉语言，表达了个人对群体的忠诚。

    生活在尼日利亚东南部的埃科伊人，在装饰的基础上发展出

    一种极其复杂的群体组织形式。按照传统，埃科伊女性的脸上和

    身体上，都有复杂的符号文身，包括用纳斯碧迪神圣语言书写的

    神秘记号。这些文身记录了爱情、战争或是神圣的元素，虽然每

    个人都能看到暴露在外面的文身，但只有狩猎豹子的克皮族群成

    员才能看懂，他们是殖民时期前的统治精英。复杂的文身费时费

    力，但像这样清晰的视觉信息只是不同文化中的人们改变身体的

    众多方式之一，他们以此重新塑造自己的外貌，以超越自然的性

    选择。我们的外貌由基因决定，但是文化用这种方式重塑了人们

    的外貌。

    人类历史上最引人注目的文化实验之一就是发明了个人装

    饰品，这是向他人传递信息的一种方式。从远古时代开始，项链

    就具有很强的象征意义，项链一来可以彰显文化身份和社会地位，

    二来可以作为可穿戴的符号。装饰品虽小巧却影响巨大，它们可

    以激发人们的活力、生育能力和创造财富的能力。在西班牙发现

    的尼安德特人佩戴的彩色贝壳珠子，可以追溯到 11.5 万年前。

    目前发现的年代最久远的人类祖先项链是在南非南端的布隆伯

    斯洞穴中找到的。这条项链上至少有 65 个小泪滴状的扁虱贝壳，

    上面有人为的穿孔痕迹和赭色装饰图案。我们能看出，7.5 万年前这条项链最后的主人和我们有着共同的偏好。如果把布隆伯斯洞穴的贝珠和我柜子上的其他项链挂在一起，它不会显得格格不入。珠宝的设计者从对称性和美学角度精心挑选珠子，这种做法得到了项链佩戴者的认可。

    串珠饰品是装饰工艺的一类，通过穿戴者和其所在群体共有

    的视觉语言传达信息，通过广泛的社会网络，这些信息为更多的

    人所理解。象征文化依赖于集体信念。在我所处的文化中，人们

    理解并接受项链是用来装饰的这一概念，但是在其他文化中，对

    项链意义的解读可能会截然不同。有些文化认为珠子的颜色有自

    身的意义：肯尼亚北部的图尔卡纳游牧民将黄色的珠子赠予未来

    的结婚对象，当地的寡妇则佩戴白色珠子。人类学家将这些共同

    的信念定义为社会规范，它们会体现在一个群体对美的共同认知

    上，会体现在群体行为中，会体现在其他方方面面。

    考古学家分析了在布隆博斯洞穴出土的许多贝壳珠子，发现随着时间的推移，时尚已经发生了惊人的变化。在洞穴地层较深的地方发现的贝珠上的磨损痕迹表明，这些贝珠是随意地串在绳子上的，它们扁平、发亮的一面靠在一起。然而，在地层较浅的地方发现的贝珠则是两两打结，发亮的一侧朝上。这个看似微乎其微的变化却是社会规范转变的最早证明。这是一种文化进化，等同于化石中的解剖学差异或手斧的改良，只是这一次证明的是新的社会适应性。通过这样的行为转变，人类发展成为种类繁多、特色鲜明并且结构复杂的小社会。

    不过，布隆伯斯洞穴出土的项链的串珠方式发生变化，是因为洞穴的早期居民改变了时尚观念，还是因为他们被另一群喜欢其他串珠方式的早期人类所替代，我们不得而知。但是，无论做何解释，这些珠子都像今天的珠宝一样，具有象征意义，也代表了一个时代的社会规范。

    衣着也是如此。人类学家认为，由于人类是直立行走的动物，

    最初用无花果叶子遮挡性器官就是一种社会规范，否则性器官就

    会一直暴露在外面。就是这样一个简单的行为，却可以让很多毫

    无关联的人簇居一处，还能避免不断的冲突。我个人认为，无花

    果叶子这样的遮羞布最初是携带婴儿的吊兜或者妇女经期时使

    用的腰布。就像我们创造或使用的其他所有东西一样，遮羞布也

    会变得具有文化意义和一定的价值，具有装饰作用，被男女都接

    受并继续使用。有了具有象征意义的穿衣标准，人的地位、性别

    和其他重要的文化信息都会通过服饰衣着显示出来，例如忠于部

    落、忠于宗教信仰。这让“你”与“我”的差异变得明显，从而

    将不同的群体分开，也加剧了部落内部的社会分化。因此，衣着

    在推动文化发展和进化方面发挥着重要作用，让每一种文化不断

    进步，运用各自的技术和专长彼此竞争。总的来说，装饰反映了

    社会规范，并用同样的故事将部落成员团结在一起，这就是装饰在文化适应性进化中的作用。

    累积性文化具有模仿性，这意味着我们会复制自己的行为和

    偏好，因此，我们会制定和遵循社会规范。穿着风格的规范可以

    不切实际，可以荒诞不经，但是人们总会想方设法在规则之内巧

    妙地应付。例如日本曾禁止平民穿着装饰华丽的丝绸和服，为了

    避开这个规定，一些女性就将华丽的图案文在身上。装饰规范和

    其他社会规范相互交织，因此当女性权利得到保障，女性地位提

    高时，其服饰也变得更加实用。自行车的发明加速了女性解放，

    推动了女性穿的裤子的出现，这在以前是难以想象的事情。

    人类不仅美化自己，美化自己制造的物品，还美化社会，试

    图通过美让物质世界和我们赖以生存的社会变得井井有条，以满

    足人类的需求。社会规范不仅约束我们的服饰，也约束我们的行

    为，其目的是既要有视觉上的美感，又要风度翩翩。社会规范源

    自群体且由群体实施，这就能够解释为什么人类可以达到如此高

    的合作水平了。社会规范不断演变，统一人们的行为和价值观念，

    减少彼此之间的利益冲突。随着人类社会的逐渐发展，内部分化

    和等级制度开始出现，避免冲突的一个策略就是让社会规范来加

    强分化，消除其他选项。例如，按照“规矩”，猎人 14 岁的儿

    子“应该”成为猎人而不是去做陶工。如此一来，整个群体就会

    串通起来保持这种分化的明确性。在社会规范披上了毋庸置疑的

    超自然法则外衣时，这种情况尤甚。仪式通常将社会各行各业毫无关联的人联系在一起，并强化社会等级制度。人们共同经历艰苦且危险的入会仪式、测试和典礼，此后便紧密联系在一起。

    社会规范还有助于解决人们在共享资源上的冲突。比如，大

    部分群体都有关于肉类的规定，包括肉的准备仪式、相关禁忌以

    及不同部位的肉与不同人群的对应。也就是说，当一群猎人带回

    了捕杀的猎物，根据规范，上等的肉要留给制作箭头的人和哺乳

    期的母亲等。这意味着肉不一定会被平均分配，但是每个人都能

    得到一些，分配的原则是确保符合整个群体的利益，从而保持群

    体的凝聚力并维护社会规范。

    在宗族本位的狩猎采集部落中，“订单”和“交付”之间存

    在“延误”，通俗来讲就是生产食物付出的努力和最终得到的实

    际食物不一定等价，但严格的社会规范避免了两者之间的冲突。

    以巴拉圭的亚契部落为例，他们依靠森林养殖甲虫。首先，他们

    必须要通过砍树来准备育虫的场所，6 个月后，他们才能从这些

    砍倒的树中收获甲虫。由于部落对财产有着严格的规范，因此，

    砍树的人会给砍倒的树系上专门的带子表明此树的归属。因纽特

    人捕鲸（一项危险但有利可图的活动）时也遵循类似的规范。被

    刺的鲸鱼不会立即死亡，几天或数周后才会被冲到岸边或浮到水

    面上，这段时间，另一个群体可能会占有它。同样地，根据规范，

    鲸鱼上岸时身上插的是谁的矛，鲸鱼就属于谁。

    社会规范极其强大，不只规定我们在公共场合的行为表现，还对私人生活提出要求，甚至对我们独处时的行为也有所规定。这听起来不可思议，但是对自慰的大量规定证明了这一点。规范是一种约束，它阻止分歧，限制创新，还可能造成个人损失。尽管规范会带来不便，但我们通常都会遵守规范。因为背离社会规范不仅会玷污个人名誉，还会影响子孙后代，在许多社会群体中，后代会承担上一辈的社会惩罚和债务。

    正如服装的时尚，社会规范和仪式其实没有实际价值。我所

    在的文化认为吃昆虫很恶心，但是其他文化却认为昆虫很美味。

    然而，正如我们将善良与视觉吸引力联系在一起，我们也将道德

    水平与社会吸引力联系在一起。人们认为遵循规范是生来就有的

    好行为，所以可以说，遵循规范的人天性良好。这样，社会规范

    通过创造共同的道德基础来增强社会凝聚力，它帮助我们理解人

    们做出某种行为的原因，从而更容易预测他人的行为。

    社会规范约束着我们的生活，但它们并不作为世界的物理属性而存在。无论你认同与否，万有引力都永恒不变；在一种文化中，谋杀可能代表罪恶滔天，而在其他文化中，这也许是被推崇的行为。这看似显而易见，然而动机、策略和信仰约束着人类世界的大部分行为，这甚至让我们忽视了一个事实，那就是这三者均是被发明的社会规范。我们毫不犹豫地接受这些规范，将它们视作人类的特有属性。

    相比男性，女性在社会中扮演的角色十分有限。这并非因为

    男性和女性有巨大的认知差异，我们都知道女性的智力水平并不

    比男性低，出现这样的情形是因为社会规范阻止女性扮演有声望

    的角色。在男性主导的社会中，限制女性的条条框框无处不在，

    以至我们误认为这些条条框框自古以来就存在。而实际上，人类

    学和遗传学数据显示，在人类进化史的很长一段时间里，性别平

    等才是常态。的确，当人类从灵长类祖先中分离出来之后，性别

    平等和配偶制成为社会结构中最重要的两个进化演变。性别平等

    为人类提供了生存优势，因为我们可以利用父母双方的人际网络

    形成更广泛的社会网络，让无血缘关系的群体成员合作更为紧密，

    从而加速思想的交流和基因的传递。统治着原始族群的很有可能

    是母权社会规范。如今，性别平等在狩猎采集部落中依旧是常态，

    这虽然并不意味着男性和女性必须扮演相同的角色，但在这些部

    落中没有性别权力失衡现象，要知道这种现象在现代社会非常普

    遍。现代狩猎采集部落中，男性和女性对群体的贡献相同，并且

    都照看孩子。男性和女性也会对周围环境和身边的人产生相同的

    影响，这有助于与无血缘关系的个体加强合作。

    人的性别由生理决定，而人的社会性别则是文化的产物，在很多情况下源于某种社会倾向。大多数艺术作品的设计都是为了满足男性的审美。父权社会规范得到世界上主要宗教的支持和认可。大多数农耕社会都利用各种规范来控制和约束女性性行为，例如遮盖女性身体和杀掉让男性“蒙羞”的女性。宗教为这些做法授权，女性通常要为维护群体的荣誉而付出代价。这就不难解释为何在印加帝国山脉的寒冰墓穴（今天秘鲁的库斯科附近）发现了女性祭品，为何妻子必须跳进丈夫的火葬柴堆殉葬，为何女儿在雅典要成为祭祀的祭品。这种对女性的文化压迫和控制深深影响着社会规范，女性要表现得十分谦卑，男性却可以嚣张跋扈。这种影响体现在方方面面，从中国古代的女性裹足习俗，到两性在健康和财富方面机遇的失衡。

    这种文化熏陶从人一出生就开始发挥作用，人们按照规范行事，就能够被社会所接纳。事实上，社会规范甚至在人出生前就开始发挥作用。研究显示，当告知孕妇胎儿性别后，她们描述胎动的方式会有所不同。如果孕妇得知胎儿是女孩，那她往往把胎动形容为“安静”“非常温柔，在肚子里滚来滚去，很少用脚踢我”；若得知是男孩，则形容为“活力十足”“拳打脚踢”“动起来犹如天崩地裂”。但如果孕妇不知道胎儿性别，她们形容的胎动则没有区别。

    许多我们认为普遍存在的观点都只不过是文化中的社会规范。自由、平等、博爱（18 世纪法国资产阶级革命时期提出的政治口号）在某些文化中是需要誓死捍卫的价值观，然而对许多社会来说，个人自由并不重要，它们追求的是心灵纯洁。再来谈一下责任感。在我所处的文化中，蓄意伤害他人或损害其财产是比意外伤害更严重的犯罪行为。然而在其他文化中，因为人们的行为动机难以判断，所以人们不会根据动机对受惩罚的程度进行评判，而是根据他们的行为后果进行评判。

    有些人把我们的行为归因于生物基础，而且不承认社会规范

    的本质，即在文化层面进化的可改变的动机和行为。这种想法很

    危险，它会让个人和群体在生活中无法获得平等的机会，而且还

    会受到伤害。（当然，你是否认为人应该被赋予平等的机会，部

    分归结于你所处的文化环境。）社会规范衍生出奴隶制度、种姓

    制度、“荣誉”杀戮以及许多其他的害人行为。然而，许多这类

    行为曾一度被认为是生物法则或是由上帝规定的，但随着社会的

    发展，这种观点有所改变，而且有时改变还极其迅速。

    某些带有偏见的社会规范，随着时间的推移会变得越来越平

    等，反之亦然。在美国，禁止通过肤色或性别来评判一个人的社

    会规范已经发生了转变，甚至总统都开始用肤色或性别来评判人。

    除了社会通过规范对人产生的影响之外，没有任何科学依据表明

    人的肤色和性别会对其自身道德或智力产生影响。这点尤为重要，

    因为强加于个人或群体的社会规范能够改变他们的行为和生理

    机能。

    不同的文化信仰不同的真理，遵守不同的规范，那么社会规范是如何产生的呢？有一种常见的误解是某位领导者提出了社会规范，或者依靠一个集中控制的媒体来规范社会成员的行为。实际上，规范是在社会中自然产生的。以给新生儿起名字为例，在一项在线实验中，匿名玩家被随机配对，两位玩家就宝宝名字达成一致后，才可以再与其他玩家进行配对。最初，看起来根本不会有哪个名字胜出，因为与前一个搭档选好的名字很快就会被

    取代，因为玩家需要与新搭档达成一致，如此往复，想要达成共

    识实在困难重重。但仅仅几轮过后，所有玩家就对同一个名字达

    成了共识。通过随机配对，规范从无到有、自然而然地出现了，

    网络连通性的变化让一个名字脱颖而出，流行起来，这个概念在

    物理学中被称为对称性破缺。无论参与者是 24 人、48 人还是 96

    人，结果都不变。这表明这种对称性破缺可以无限扩大，并可以

    解释社会规范如何能够在一个类似国家的大型群体中自然形成。

    这个实验也表明，通过调整参与者间的交流方式，可以操纵达成

    共识的过程，这与前文公共物品博弈中合作者的行为类似。社交

    网络细微的改变会让人们更容易自发地就一种社会规范达成一

    致，因为人们都有从众心理。

    但是，那些坚持个性、不愿随波逐流的人，又该怎么办呢？

    他们可能是感觉自己与主流文化格格不入的青少年，或者是想要

    标新立异的 20 多岁的年轻人，但无论是哪种情况，他们的外貌

    打扮都与社会规范相悖，要么尝试夸张的妆容，要么做个花里胡

    哨的发型，甚至连胡子的造型都不放过。但在展示了与众不同之

    后，他们发现其实上百万的同龄人都和他们的做法一样，结果是

    他们看起来几乎一模一样。这就是所谓的潮人效应。数学模型显

    示这种同步性自发行为是多数人的属性。模型显示，大多数人都会遵循现有的规范，但是少数不从众的人对当下的流行趋势的反应会有一个延迟期，在此期间他们会创造新的潮流，在经历一段过渡期后，人们开始追随这一小部分人创造的潮流，新的潮流由

    此产生。2019 年 3 月，一本科技杂志报道了这项研究，选用了一

    张头戴无檐小便帽的“时髦”年轻人的照片。编辑之后收到了一

    位愤怒的读者的来信，这名读者指责杂志在未经他允许的情况下

    使用他的照片，而后来这名读者才发现照片中的人根本不是他，

    因为“潮人们看起来都很像，甚至他们本人都说不出自己和别人

    的不同之处”。

    在遵循同一社会规范的小圈子里，社会规范将我们联系在一

    起，即使成员之间毫无血缘关系，社会规范也能帮我们找到“家

    人”。群体之间会互相竞争，一旦个人的命运与所在群体的存亡

    息息相关，那么找到自己群体的成员就显得尤为重要。毕竟，服

    务那些与我们有共同利益的人，对我们最有好处。着装、装饰、

    行为、技能和实践等社会规范都成为展现群体归属感的重要途径，

    并确保我们能得到所需要的帮助和保护。这也可以帮助我们理解

    某些群体中的极端行为，例如非洲、欧洲和南美洲的某些部落曾

    盛行的扁头，当地人为了变成扁头，会将木板绑在婴儿头部数年。

    一个社会的规范越多，执行得越严格，成员之间就越可能识别彼

    此，排除异己。

    这是部落主义的起源。我们越了解某些人所遵守的社会规范，就越能预测他们的行为，也更容易判断他们是否可以信任，能否与我们一起创造利益，这降低了人与人之间交流和互动的成本。从出生起，我们就有意识或是下意识地学习自己“部落”的规范。生活环境和长辈的教导让我们能轻而易举地对“部落文化”产生“归属感”。

    为了掩盖身份而故意遵从另一种社会规范的人很容易就能

    够被发现，例如用工人阶级的“街头”口音隐藏自己特权背景的

    政治家，伪装成“暴发户”的趋炎附势者。语言与扁头这样的外

    貌特征一样，也是极好的部落标识，因为很难作假。我们的双耳

    能敏锐地察觉不同的口音、语法错误以及外来者在措辞上与我们

    的细小差异。即使精通某种外语的人可以流利地用这门语言进行

    交流，但是依旧瞒不过母语者。移民和那些跨越部落社会规范的

    人往往面临着巨大挑战，例如萧伯纳的《卖花女》和贾维斯·考

    克尔的歌曲《普通人》中描述的故事。在欧洲，当犹太人表现出

    自己与大部分人不同时，他们得不到社会的信任，而在他们试图

    接受和遵从主流文化规范时，更难获取信任。

    个人身份与群体紧密相连的另一个结果是，如果一个人从一个群体到了另一个群体，他可能失去身份认同感，并感觉两个群体都在疏远自己，他的心理健康因此会受到影响（例如，移民患精神分裂症的概率更高）。但是人们会继续尝试成为新群体中的一员，因为群体不仅能提供保护，而且会带来经济利益。

    部落主义意味着我们对待群体内部的人与外部的人会有所不同。这种情况在人类出现之前就存在。黑猩猩的群体观念强烈，它们敌视外来者，不同群体间冲突的死亡率高达 13%。与黑猩猩不同，人类生活在更大的群体中，各种群体交融在一起，并非所

    有人之间都有血缘关系，因此，我们必须通过文化符号来确定并

    维护自己的群体身份，对群体忠诚。我们对外部群体的偏见从幼

    儿时期就形成了。对外部群体的敌意尽管不体现在对个体的抵触

    上，但会表现在对文化差异的抵触上，实际上这些都是根深蒂固

    的认知模式。通过辨别群体外人员，我们会明确自己群体的标准，

    并且巩固自己在群体内的地位。人们可以感觉到自己与群体中其

    他成员之间的联系，例如，人们的大脑会对其他成员的痛苦产生

    同情反应。然而，人们要是知道对方是群体外的一员，例如，敌

    队的粉丝，他们便会停止产生这种反应。大脑扫描显示，在我们

    观察一个我们认为是外部群体的人时，大脑的神经放电模式类似

    于我们识别物体的模式，而不是识别人的模式，因为我们从认知

    上已经将那个人视为物体。其他研究显示，荷尔蒙催产素能促生

    利他主义行为，但仅仅是在与群体内成员的相互交流中才奏效；

    当与群体外成员交流时，就算是使用同样水平的荷尔蒙催产素，

    也没有这种推动作用。

    一个部落社会合作的前提是我们可以信任无亲缘关系的人为我们谋求利益，对于群体而言，没有什么比相信一个不做实事、只知瓜分共同利益的人，或相信一个居心叵测的人更具威胁性了。人的长相越相似，所处的文化环境越相近，群体的识别符号和社会规范就越重要。北爱尔兰的天主教徒和新教徒的样貌和声音都很相似，就像卢旺达的胡图族和图西族一样，因此他们便只能依据仪式、禁忌、宗教或食物等社会规范上细小的差别，来判断一个人和自己是否属于同一个群体。在与其他群体的竞争中，我们通过故事将自己塑造成正义的一方，如英雄或受到不公平对待的受害者，从而打造我们群体的身份。这些扣人心弦的故事情节是一种非常有效的方式，让看起来相似却属于敌对群体之间的人互相残杀。

    在群体受到威胁时，成员会联合起来护卫共同的利益，这个

    时候即使是 5 岁的孩子也会表现得更加团结和慷慨。一起作战的

    群体更可能生存下来，打过仗的人都知道，当部队中的每个士兵

    都做好了为彼此牺牲的准备时，每个士兵就更有可能活下来。这

    可以解释竞争法则中激进的“忠诚证明”仪式的由来。通过和其

    他群体的竞争与冲突，这一仪式强化了亲社会的规范和制度，增

    强了社会凝聚力。这有助于解释民族主义兴起的原因。这种仪式

    的出现表明群体受到了威胁，而这作为一个反馈循环，又让一个

    民族确信他们正在遭受外来移民或相邻国家的威胁。然而，一个

    国家面临的大部分威胁来源不在外部，因为我们所处的年代十分

    和平。真正的威胁通常来源于社会内部的分裂和不平等。

    群体间冲突一直是对生命的巨大威胁。大部分狩猎采集部落会发生反复不断的冲突，死亡率达到 15%左右，与黑猩猩的死亡率相当。如今，在工业化世界中，冲突带来的死亡率很低，而过去冲突带来的死亡率一度很高，而且大部分冲突都涉及领土争端。

    胜利的群体以失败者的牺牲为代价进行扩张，寻求更多的经济利

    益，失败者的土地被占领，人民或被奴役，或流离失所，或移居

    他地。群体之间的竞争可能推动许多亲社会的规范，但只有最具

    合作能力和凝聚力的群体才能在冲突中获胜。群体内部的选择压

    力促使外交家出现，这些人能用语言和魅力化解冲突，促进合作。

    每个群体所处的环境各不相同，为生存需要掌握的技能也不同，所以出现了践行不同社会规范的人类群体。践行的社会规范不同，人们的思维模式和身体构造也有很大的不同。文化学习改变人的大脑。任何技能的实践都离不开连通神经网络的硬性条件，包括对肌肉的控制和协调、平衡能力以及对速度和距离的判断等。发展到最后，我们对这些技能的掌握到了炉火纯青的地步，身体自动就能做出反应。一旦我们能够熟练做出某种行为、某个动作或是进行思考，大脑的工作量就会显著减少，为工作记忆腾出更多的空间。那些熟练程度最高的人会成为人类中最优秀的一群人，他们在熟练实践的基础上，会对行为或过程的细节进行创新，从而突破人类的极限。无论是学习走路，还是成为钢琴家或是玩杂耍，这些过程无不体现了这一点。从小玩《精灵宝可梦》游戏的人，大脑内会有一块专门识别游戏中人物的区域。我们所处的文化环境也会影响身体构造。例如职业网球运动员惯用手一侧的身体骨骼密度会增加 20%左右；居住在高海拔地区的人，为了应对氧气稀薄的生存环境，体内会产生更多的红细胞，肺也比一般人大。这里需要明确一点，上述情况中发生的不是基因变化，而是一个人一生中的生理变化。

    有些群体利用社会规范和科技改善身体素质，提高经济收入，

    这样的群体更可能生存下来，并将其文化实践传给子孙后代。许

    多情况下，这种文化上的进化能改变人类的生理构造。比如，泰

    国西海岸有一个名为莫肯的海洋游牧民族，部落中的人发展出一

    种独特的能力，能让他们像海豚一样在水下看清东西。莫肯族的

    孩子大部分时间都会潜水寻找食物，为了适应水下的环境，他们

    的视力变得很好，是欧洲孩子的 2倍。一般人在水下，视觉会很

    模糊，因为水对光线的折射率和眼角膜对光线的折射率相同，所

    以我们无法聚焦光线。而莫肯族的孩子拥有海豹和海豚一样的视

    觉，可以适应这种折射。他们的瞳孔缩小到了人类极限，因此增

    加了眼睛看到的景深，晶状体的形状也有所改变。这些改变可以

    被视为人类为了适应文化环境在生理层面做出的改变，但它们不

    是基因的变化。人们在后天无意间习得了这些能力，这意味着任

    何孩子都能拥有这项能力，科学家通过实验证明了这个结论。他

    们训练瑞典孩子潜入水下，观看卡片上的花纹，11 个训练期后，

    这些孩子拥有了与莫肯族孩子一样敏锐的水下视力。

    然而，对另一个海洋游牧民族——印度尼西亚的巴瑶人来说，

    他们的生活方式在文化环境的影响下发生了变化，这种变化让他

    们的基因也发生了改变。遗传学家在调查巴瑶人杰出的潜水技能

    时发现，巴瑶人的 DNA 中存在一些基因变体，这些变体让他们的

    血液和器官中存有更多氧气，能控制二氧化碳含量，并将含氧血

    液的储存器——脾脏——增大了 50%。这些基因似乎是从已经灭

    绝的人类近亲丹尼索瓦人处继承而来的，而后在文化进化的压力

    下，在诸多基因中得以保留。

    文化环境深刻地改变了我们思考、行动和看待世界的方式。

    一项研究比较了西方人和东亚人的神经处理过程，结果显示文化

    塑造了我们看人的方式（西方人主要打量对方的眼睛和嘴巴，观

    察的区域呈三角形，而东亚人则集中在一点），也塑造了我们在

    背景下看事物的方式（西方人擅长将人和物与其背景分开来看，

    不擅长将二者结合起来进行观察，但在其他大部分文化中，情况

    却恰恰相反）。如果要求从“公交车”“火车”“轨道”中选出

    两个有联系的词语，西方人可能将交通工具放在一起，选出公交

    车和火车，而东亚人更可能选火车和轨道，因为它们相互依存。

    研究者认为，东亚人和西方人处理信息的方式之所以不同，是因

    为他们有不同的社会规范。西方的社会规范主要为个人主义，擅

    长处理单个事物并将信息分类。相反，东亚的社会规范更倾向于

    集体主义，他们将自身视为整体的一部分，会优先将事物和其背

    景联系在一起。换句话说，文化环境造成了人类大脑通路的差异。不过，一个人在另一种文化中生存的时间越长，新旧两种文化的差异就会越小，最后变得可以忽略不计，到下一代时，这种差异会彻底消失。

    然而，社会规范可以对人类产生长期的遗传影响，因为它限定了人们与谁繁殖后代。例如，在泰国北部的多数群体中，新婚夫妇会搬去女方家居住，当然更常见的是住在男方家。遗传学家发现，居住方式会对基因的多样性产生影响。若婚后居住在男方家庭，则家庭中女性数量增多，因此儿子从父亲那里遗传来的 Y染色体几乎没有什么多样性。若婚后居住在女方家庭，虽然人们的 Y 染色体各不相同，但是从母亲那里遗传来的 DNA 线粒体几乎一样。

    另一个鲜明的例子也能解释文化环境是如何造成生理和行

    为差异的。在经典的实验“走廊”实验中，一组男学生需要填写

    一份调查问卷（这些学生一半来自美国北部，一半来自美国南部），

    然后将填好的问卷送到走廊尽头的一张桌子上。学生穿过狭窄走

    廊时，会经过一个在文件柜前工作的大块头男人，要想过去就需

    要大块头让路。他让路的时候，会故意撞到学生，然后低声骂学

    生“混蛋”。送问卷的学生要么怒气冲天，血皮质醇和睾丸素飙

    升，要么耸耸肩，一笑而过。学生反应的差异取决于他们来自哪

    个州：大部分北方学生会淡然一笑，而不是气愤万分；而 90%的

    南方学生会愤怒不已，压力荷尔蒙上升。如果南方学生随后遇到一个目睹了这场“羞辱”的陌生人，他们会表现得很跋扈，蛮横用力地与陌生人握手，因为他们觉得在这个陌生人的眼中自己缺乏男子气概。

    美国南部的荣誉文化要求并激励男性用暴力捍卫自己的财

    产、家庭或声誉。不是很严重的轻视行为，比如直呼一个人的名

    字，在美国南部都可能导致人们大打出手。在实验的第二个阶段，

    刚刚送问卷时受到侮辱的学生在返回狭窄的走廊时，会遇到迎面

    走来的另一个人，这些学生不得不让路。先前未受到侮辱的南方

    学生会表现得彬彬有礼，在两米开外停下，站到一侧，给陌生人

    让路；北方学生会在不到两米处停下。然而，在受到侮辱之后，

    北方学生会再多走一步；而南方学生则会在差一点就会撞上对方

    的地方（两人相距不到一米）才会让步。

    我们对某一群体的刻板印象有一定的合理性。在美国，南方人被认为比北方人更友好，更懂礼貌，而北方人经常表现得很唐突粗鲁。然而，南方人比北方人更容易惩罚别人，他们会体罚孩子，并且赞成警察开枪杀人。所以从表面上来看，美国人讲着相同的语言，生活在相同的环境下，感受着相似的文化，但是人与人之间还是存在差异。这是生物差异而并非基因差异。文化环境不同，人们的大脑发育也会产生差异。“走廊”实验可以解释地区犯罪的统计数据，美国联邦调查局的数据显示，美国南方人在因受到侮辱而导致的打斗中，更有可能杀死朋友或熟人；南方腹地的谋杀率是全美其他地区的两倍。换句话说，一个人所处的文化环境会影响他的生存。

    荣誉文化一般出现在资源匮乏和政府软弱的地方。这类地区对社会规范的选择压力来自权势而非威望。从世界范围来看，存在这种情况的都是一些地处偏隅的游牧群体，这些群体中偷牲畜的盗贼很多，人与人之间缺少合作，因而暴力的名声就成为保护自己财产的必要手段。攻击一个人引以为傲的东西，由此产生的羞耻或耻辱的感觉是大部分暴力行为出现的原因。相比之下，在农业社会中，人们定居相伴，必须要相互合作、分享土地、共建灌溉水渠等公共基础设施才可以生存，这就导致农业社会重视威望而非权势。偷农作物不如偷牛划算，农民可以依靠更强大的集体行动体系来惩罚违法者，不用出于自卫而使用暴力。阻止邻居攻击自己的办法不是用攻击性的行为来对抗他们（这种情况下自己可能会受伤），而是对邻居慷慨大方，并在必要时与之合作。

    美国南部多是苏格兰和爱尔兰移民，在荒野和山地里放牧，他们实行自治，看重荣誉。尽管他们在很多地方定居，并融入当地农业和城市文化，但在他们的家乡——美国南方腹地的乡村地区——“人人为己”的荣誉文化仍然存在。相比之下，美国北部的情况恰恰相反，这里多是德国和荷兰移民，他们种植农作物，社区力量很强大。社会规范很难改变，因为人们觉得社会规范并不是发明出来的，而是从父母那里继承来的。

    归根到底，经济因素驱动大部分社会变革。欧洲贵族推崇的

    决斗荣誉文化随着中产阶层的兴起而消亡。一些解决争端的明智

    方式由此出现，让为荣誉而战的做法看起来很荒谬。随着社会制

    度变得更加强大，决斗者更容易被指控谋杀，而不是因捍卫自己

    的荣誉而受到赞扬。雅兹迪部落曾严格遵守荣誉文化，但最近，

    在“伊斯兰国”武装分子对伊拉克雅兹迪部落女子实施暴行之

    后，这种文化发生了转变。数千名被绑架和强奸的幸存者不敢回

    到村子，因为当地社会排斥失去贞操的女性。然而，当地经济和

    社会的发展需要这些女性返回伤亡惨重的村庄，这样就带来了社

    会规范的变革。村里的人给这些女性举行了“净化”仪式后便重

    新接纳了她们，这意味着她们重获自由。暴行之后，这种方式不

    仅挽回了大家的面子，而且使村子重新走上正轨。纳迪娅·穆拉

    德就是被残害的女性之一，她在这场暴行中的勇气得到了全世界

    的认可，并让她获得了 2018 年诺贝尔和平奖。

    荣誉文化正在逐渐消亡。恐吓会阻碍社会凝聚力的形成，因此倡导荣誉文化的社会往往会解体，逐渐转变为亲社会群体。像美国北部各州那样，倡导威望的文化成为主流。与此同时，随着人口变得更加多样化，人们可以接触到不同的社会规范，比如在城市里，人们更能容忍越轨者，因此越来越多的人要表达自我。接触不同的社会规范让人的思想更加开放，如果从年纪较小的时候开始接触，这种效果会更显著。研究显示，当孩子所在的学校种族更加多元时，各种族之间会有更强的凝聚力。
    部落共同的信仰形成了社会规范，并通过各类装饰来传递这些规范，这些规范反过来又影响部落的文化信仰和身份认同。例如，在北非和中东，一个人如果按照西方国家的文化规范公开同性恋身份，就会受到强烈排斥。这并不是因为两种文化中的同性恋伴侣有什么不同，而是社会表达方式完全不同。大部分阿拉伯国家有同性性行为的男性不认为自己是同性恋者；而在西方，许多人都认为自己是同性恋者。有什么样的社会规范，就会有什么样的社会装饰，因为装饰是一种身份象征。
    我们通过美创造了一种视觉语言。群体再大，这种语言也能让大家像一个小部落一样紧密合作在一起，拥有共同的身份、社会规范和集体信仰体系。大规模合作带来的能量、经济和生存优势，让我们与其他部落竞争资源。然而，人类文化的巨大悖论就是，尽管我们支持部落主义，但我们还是依靠部落间的合作关系网来交流想法、资源以及传递基因，下一章将继续探讨这些问题。

    第十章 饰品和珍宝：被创造的价值

    1492 年 1 月，一名男子骑着骡子，独自离开了西班牙科尔多瓦。他身后的这座城市曾是欧洲最繁荣的地方，而如今，繁华已如过眼云烟，消失殆尽，正如他现在的境遇：壮年不再，希望渺茫。他将自己人生中最美好的 10 年拿来追求一个疯狂的梦想，却又一次碰了壁，未能筹集到资金，这个已经年至不惑的水手只好向命运低头。

    这个人就是克里斯托弗·哥伦布，他出生在意大利热那亚一

    个纺织工人家庭。热那亚是一个国际化港口城市，周围群山环绕，

    远处是一望无尽的大海。当时，前往远一些的葡萄牙首都里斯本，

    要比去近处的意大利米兰或瑞士日内瓦等地更加便捷。哥伦布成

    年后的大多数时间都是在船上度过的，穿梭于葡萄牙和西非地区

    之间的大西洋上，做些小生意。在他那个时代，最重要的商品就

    是香料。它们来自神秘的东方，价格高昂，供不应求，催生出利

    润丰厚的欧洲香料市场。但当时通向东方的道路都在奥斯曼帝国

    把控下，香料的价格和贸易的风险都越来越高。

    因此，人们开始寻求一条前往东方的海上航线。1488 年，一名葡萄牙水手首次成功绕过非洲的最南端，到达印度洋地区，但这条线路危机四伏。对此，哥伦布有另一个想法，那就是从欧洲向西航行，直达亚洲，这样就可以避开危险的好望角。在哥伦布

    小时候，欧洲就已经有了印刷机，他得以博览群书。通过阅读研

    究，他认为地球的周长要比人们普遍认为的长度短 20%左右。然

    而，哥伦布辗转多个国家，包括葡萄牙、热那亚、威尼斯、英国，

    最后到西班牙，这些国家的统治者都不相信他关于地球周长的观

    点，拒绝给他提供探险基金。几年后，似乎是一时的心血来潮，

    西班牙国王费尔南多二世和女王伊莎贝尔一世改变了主意，派遣

    了一支皇家卫队，三艘帆船，追随这个骑着骡子的人开始航行。

    女王给哥伦布发放年度津贴，并且许诺，如果事情成功的话，他

    还能得到许多其他的奖赏，不过要取得成功似乎不太可能。

    1492 年 10 月，哥伦布登上了新大陆，这意味着美洲人民结

    束了长达一万年的与世隔绝状态（在当时，美洲地区的人口占全

    世界人口的 1/3），也意味着全球化进程的开始。这种相互依存将

    改变我们的世界。哥伦布大交换把金、银、各种矿产、新的食材、

    烟草、梅毒和火鸡带到了欧洲，进而传播到亚洲和非洲地区。而

    对美洲来说，哥伦布的航行带来了疾病、奴役、灭绝、基督教、

    牲畜、枪支和人，带来的影响如疾风一般，迅速到达美洲的每一

    个角落。美洲曾经先进的文明在几十年内被迅速摧毁，90%的原

    住民死于麻疹、天花和流感。在哥伦布的残酷统治下，仅仅在伊

    斯帕尼奥拉岛，就有超过 300 万人死去。

    对于欧洲人来说，这次航行带来的资源交易和美非两洲的奴

    隶交易降低了创新的能源成本，并为创意、技术、建筑、艺术和

    贸易的文化爆炸提供了资金支持。仅玻利维亚的赛罗里科山就出

    产了 7 万吨白银，这一产量足够支持西班牙超过两个世纪的花销。

    欧洲的精英阶层利用从美洲涌入的新财富重塑并巩固了社会阶

    层，使得基督教取代了伊斯兰教在欧洲的位置，还在当时已知的

    世界范围内加快了探索，促进了贸易、殖民和私营企业的发展。

    这其中，荷兰和英国受益颇多。两国通过控制东印度群岛，特别

    是通过控制其中香料群岛的香料贸易谋取了大量利益，因为这里

    是肉豆蔻和丁香的唯一产地。自此，世界爆发了诸多战争，出现

    了大规模的殖民行为，但同时也创造了大量的财富。

    新大陆的发现产生了全球性的影响。西方经济的发达、工业

    的繁荣和前所未有的扩张，都以扼杀不发达地区的经济发展为代

    价。这些地区深陷贫困，资源匮乏，当地文化也因此被破坏或者

    说是被刻意破坏。随着人口结构的变化，几代人积累的文化知识

    消失了。部落或四分五裂，或迁移变动，或被迫停止进行自己的

    社会仪式。有的地方，新移民取代了原住民，新的文化和语言也

    取代了原来的文化和语言。有的地方，人们因为疾病、冲突或饥

    荒死亡。时至今日，西方殖民主义早已在一代人之前就分崩瓦解

    了，现代全球化经济也已发展了几十年，但殖民时代产生的文化

    和经济影响依然根深蒂固，让人无法忽视。

    哥伦布于 1506 年在西班牙去世。他因为掠夺来的黄金而腰缠万贯，但他永远都无从知晓自己到底发现了什么，因为他一直以为自己发现的只是亚洲的一些偏远地区。

    这种全球范围的文化、环境和基因交换的根源就在于人们对

    香料的渴望。正是这种渴望，帮助欧洲的殖民帝国仅凭一己之力

    创造了政治、军事和商业网络。然而，香料的价值完全是随意虚

    构的。香料一词在英语中是“spice”，词源是拉丁语的“spec”，

    意为“外表”。香料正是因其美丽的外表才受人们追捧。香料虽

    然不能提供营养，但它色彩缤纷，芳香诱人，滋味独特，充满异

    域风情。它作为防腐剂的任何所谓好处都会被一个事实抵消，那

    就是新鲜肉类比香料更便宜、更容易买到。换句话说，胡椒、丁

    香、肉桂和肉豆蔻之所以受欢迎，是因为我们赋予了它们文化价

    值。一旦这种价值被社会大众接受，购买香料就成为一种炫耀性

    的消费，香料就成为精英阶层的标配，并且开始在全球各地进行

    交易。因为人们对美的追求狂热至极，香料贸易在当时是一项非

    常重要的全球性活动。

    美不仅是部落归属感的象征，还在人类文化中扮演着另一个重要的角色——赋予事物意义，即社会价值，而不考虑它们的存在是否有意义。我们重视各种各样的美：香料味等稀有的味道，紫色等难以染出的颜色，丝绸、宝石和金属等有光泽的材料。虽然装饰无用，但我们以此为乐。早在哥伦布大交换之前，我们的祖先就利用人类天生对于美丽的渴望降低贸易成本，建立起了能够增加文化复杂性和改善生存条件的网络。贸易在过去是一种文化杠杆，它让人类这一物种通过合作进行竞争。这种模式在全球范围内通过资源、基因和技术的交换实现传播。可以说，美促进了贸易。

    最早的人类社群就像现在的小型社会一样，在以物易物的基

    础上进行交易。尽管每个群体的强大依靠的是对自己的群体的热

    爱和对外人的敌视，但其实群体与群体之间相互依存，就像群体

    内部人与人之间相互依存一样。部落与部落为资源而合作，为共

    同抵抗其他部落而合作，为交换技术和材料而合作。贸易确实十

    分重要，基于这一点，一些人类学家甚至认为可能正是贸易驱动

    了语言的产生，因为如果没有语言，哪怕最简单的物物交换也十

    分困难。人与人之间的贸易都是出于自愿，因为大家都认为他们

    在交换中获得的收益要多于全部自己投资生产的所得，事实上也

    确实如此。诚如 19 世纪英国经济学家大卫·李嘉图所言，正如

    专业化在一个部落中意义重大一样，一个部落自身实现专业化也

    具有经济意义。

    李嘉图提出过这样一个假设：有两个国家，一个国家擅长生产食品，更擅长生产服装；另一个国家则不太擅长生产食品，更不擅长生产服装。此时你可能会想，既然第一个国家两件事情都做得很好，那就应该让它既生产食品又生产服装，从而忽略了另一个国家。事实上，李嘉图运用数学方法进行研究，结果发现，对于这两个国家来说，最高效的方法是只生产各自最擅长的产品，然后通过和另一个国家进行交易来获得其他产品。比较优势比绝对优势更重要。我们进行交易是为了提高自己的生存概率。专业化是最节省自身能量的策略，所以从蚂蚁到人类的脑细胞，整个生物系统中随处可见这一策略。如制作矛头和捕杀鲸鱼这样的专业技能的提升依赖群体之间的以物易物，这也使得文化实践和技术种类更加繁多，内容更加复杂。

    如果一个群体不会捕杀鲸鱼，但可以制作矛头，那他们就可

    以和一个需要长矛的捕鲸族群进行交易。但是如果捕鲸群体在进

    行交易时还没有鲸鱼肉，需要先获得矛头才能捕获鲸鱼进行交易，

    这又如何是好呢？这种情况就是延迟的互惠，它需要贸易双方对

    彼此信任，制作矛头的群体在交付自己制作的矛头时，肯定希望

    最终能收到鲸鱼肉。虽然技术在专业化分工的影响下会发展得更

    加迅速，摆脱群体内部社会规范和声誉因素的影响，但是技术对

    彼此的依赖性会更强。交易的复杂化是显而易见的。如果制作矛

    头的群体附近不是捕鲸的群体，而是采集红薯的群体呢？采集红

    薯的人不需要长矛，但是制作矛头的人仍然需要吃饭，此时又该

    何去何从呢？

    以物易物需要交换双方在供应、技术、偏好和时间上的一致。

    在小规模群体中，这些条件容易满足，但在大规模群体中，以物

    易物就困难了。所以当群体的规模变大，各种网络变得更加复杂

    时，依赖陌生人彼此信任的多方交易就会出现，但是这样一来，

    不仅跟踪商品动态和推进后续服务很困难，还会产生十分高昂的

    成本。无论是大自然还是贸易伙伴“欠”下的货物，如果只靠声

    誉和社会规范进行约束，延期交货的风险都会很高。声誉可能会

    误导我们对他人行为的看法和评价，而且在交易过程中，我们会

    不停地计算交易成本和风险，随着时间推移，这种心理负担会成

    为一个很大的问题，会阻碍双方之间的交易，甚至可能导致冲突。

    以令人向往的事物的形式存在的美，解决了这个问题。人类

    有收集的欲望，就像园丁鸟和喜鹊一样，人类也有收集的本能。

    从孩提时代开始，人类就开始收集东西，原因不过就是我们觉得

    这些东西好看，而我们的文化进化操控着这种冲动。到 3 岁左右

    的时候，儿童就有了强烈的占有欲，他们会抗拒别人替换自己的

    物品，哪怕是拿一模一样的东西换也不可以。当社会发展到一定

    阶段时，物品私有化规范帮助人类从装饰自己的人变成拥有装饰

    品的人。收藏品的转让和交换取代了声誉，推动着部落之间的交

    易。贸易从此欣欣向荣，蓬勃发展。

    以非洲南部的布隆伯斯洞穴中的古代贝壳项链为例。它们为什么如此特别？其中一个原因就是它们是收藏品。当人类处于生存边缘时，制作项链需要大量时间和许多技巧。正是因为制作如此耗时费力，所以寻找贝壳和制作项链一定有一个重要的选择优

    势。一个令人信服的理论就是，这些漂亮的小饰品不仅能提升一

    个部落的地位，还可以用于交换和收藏，这就是最初的货币形式。

    从非洲北部的阿尔及利亚到非洲最南端，再到以色列的诸多

    遗址，都发现了布隆伯斯洞穴中的那种穿孔贝壳项链。其历史最

    早可追溯到 12 万年前，这说明制作和佩戴这种贝壳项链是数千

    年里诸多部落共有的一种文化现象。一些发现海洋贝壳的遗址位

    于大陆腹地，所以一定是有人把贝壳带到了这些地方。由此可以

    看出，早在那个时候，沿海和内陆地区间的贸易网络已经十分活

    跃和广泛，而贝壳项链很可能是创造这些网络的契机和维系网络

    运行的动力。这些贸易网络有益于基因和文化的交流，进而加速

    了人类的文化进化。人类个体的生存依靠部落，同理，一个部落

    的生存也需要依靠其他部落。贸易网络对人类的非洲祖先至关重

    要，同样，对离我们近一些的冰河时代的澳大利亚人也同样重要。

    （虽然在生物系统中存在群体选择，但群体选择对生物生存影响

    力的大小仍充满争议，然而在文化进化中，群体选择通过声誉和

    社会规范对社会进化产生驱动作用是毋庸置疑的，这就是文化进

    化和基因进化之间的一个重要差异。）

    收藏品不菲的价值推动了制造工艺和技术的发展，同时也推动了资源贸易和开发。美成为一种重要的可交易资源，满足了文化上的需求，同时也降低了资源（食物和领土）交易成本，从而填补了我们身体上的饥饿。贵重物品可以在存在延期补偿的交易中充当抵押品，可以作为彩礼，补偿给嫁女儿的一方，或是作为

    战利品安抚敌对部落。一些收藏品还赋予社会角色以权威，比如

    王冠是首领的象征，这类收藏品一般会传给下一任接班人，但是

    它们象征的权力不变，而且篡权者可以通过在冲突中夺取这些收

    藏品以获得它们所象征的权力。拥有者死后，其收藏品可以是分

    配给继承人的财富（人类是唯一有“财富”概念的动物），也可

    以是被赋予特权和责任的头衔。这意味着我们从父母那里继承的

    不仅有生物遗传基因，还有社会文化。这两者都会影响我们的基

    因（和文化知识）延续的概率。

    当有人刻意美化某样东西时，这样东西就会被赋予重要的意

    义，哪怕我们无法解释其中的深意，也依然会承认且重视它。在

    大英博物馆的收藏品中，有一枚镀金的凯尔特人十字架胸针，发

    掘于爱尔兰的贝利卡登沼泽地区。它的历史可以追溯到 8—9 世

    纪，其特别之处在于它中间镶嵌着一颗小小的玻璃一般的宝石，

    上面用阿拉伯语刻着“以真主的名义”。当时，爱尔兰西部附近

    的港口是重要的贸易中心，很可能是某位穆斯林在这里遗落了这

    颗宝石。12 个世纪前，发现它的人根本不可能识字，更别说读懂

    阿拉伯语了，但他下意识地认为这颗宝石象征着什么，有一定的

    意义，因而具有一定的收藏价值，所以就把它镶嵌在另一个具有

    象征意义的物品中。

    在人类历史的大部分时间里，我们都居无定所，四处打猎、采集或放牧，所以随身携带的生活必需品要尽可能地少。这些少数个人物品通常是珠宝或是地毯、衣服等装饰性纺织品，它们往往都有经济价值和收藏意义。如今，图尔卡纳牧民会珍藏他们的串珠项链，蒙古牧民可能会保留纺织品和精心装饰过的蒙古包的门，因为用这些物品进行交易可以帮助他们四处迁徙，在无法预测的生活中应对突发的变化，以备不时之需。我们在交易中用有价值的收藏品作保，是因为它们具有重要的经济意义，这反过来又促进了装饰物质文化的发展。

    在多瑙河畔的德国巴伐利亚州乌尔姆地区，坐落着一个小博

    物馆，那里收藏着一尊精美的小雕像，名为“史前狮子人”。它

    的原料是一块猛犸象牙，雕刻者于 4 万年前雕刻将其完成。这座

    雕像有着穴狮的头颅（穴狮是雕刻者最惧怕的食肉动物）和人类

    的身体，是已知最古老的超自然生物形象。狮子人雕像虽然只有

    30 厘米高，却使用了极为精湛的雕刻技艺。它的姿态和面孔栩栩

    如生、惟妙惟肖，眼睛炯炯有神、目光如炬。这样一个小小的物

    件散发着强大的力量，实在令人难以置信。试验表明，一个技术

    熟练的人要花 400 多个小时才能完成这件具有象征意义的作品。

    这尊雕像身上的磨损表明，在雕刻过程中，工匠曾反反复复进行

    修改。狮子人雕像是一件很漂亮的装饰品，所以在制造它的时代里，这尊雕像一定有着重要的精神意义，可能代表一位连通人类世界和动物世界的神明。

    这个冰河时代的作品之所以有价值，并不是因为它满足了生

    物需求，而是像那些串成项链的贝壳珠子一样，通过美化，也就

    是给装饰品赋予意义而获得了价值。制作这个小雕像的群体重视

    创造开发能力，并乐于投入时间和人力来学习和实践这些能力。

    他们还制作了许多其他的装饰品，比如穿成串的北极狐牙齿和驯

    鹿鹿角，这些物品和狮子人雕像一起，被小心地存放在洞穴群的

    一个房间里。狮子人雕像的嘴里有一些有机物残留，考古学家认

    为是血液。对关系复杂的远古社会来说，狮子人雕像这个人造符

    号在集体叙事中扮演着重要角色，它将人们团结在一起，组成强

    大的部落，让他们在冰河时代严酷的自然环境中，在穴狮和人类

    竞争者的威胁下，求得一线生机。这些第一批欧洲人留下的装饰

    品和引人回味的画作刻画了一个富有创意、足智多谋的民族。他

    们不仅在人类历史上最严酷的环境中存活下来，还利用强大的贸

    易网络，实现了不同文化之间知识、技术、资源和基因的交流，

    超越了他们的近亲尼安德特人，实现了繁荣兴盛。

    在现代人类取代尼安德特人后，地球上的人口密度至少增加了 10 倍。为了提高土地承载力，人们很可能进行了财富转移，而利用收藏品进行财富转移效率更高，成功率也更高。尼安德特人也制作过一些装饰品，但我们并不清楚他们是否利用这些装饰品进行过大规模的交易。我们的祖先跨越千里，收集、购买原材料，用这些材料制造乐器、雕像、珠宝和其他具有附加价值的装饰品，并利用它们开展贸易。贸易让我们建立起更广泛的社会网络，规模更大的团体，数量更多的文化机构，增强了我们对严酷环境的适应能力。这使得我们的祖先能够跨越大陆，占据大片土地，而尼安德特人却从未冒险走出过欧亚大陆。

    狩猎采集部落通常在狩猎季节分成几个团队打猎。他们会每

    年聚在一起举办几次盛大的庆祝活动，每次活动持续一周左右。

    在这些活动中，不同部落和文化的手工艺品制作者和专业猎人会

    相互交流，并借此机会交换肉类、分享故事和其他资源，还会交

    流想法，分享技术和各种工具，检验舞蹈、音乐和制作装饰品的

    成果，逐渐发展成贸易往来关系。在准备活动的过程中，如今的

    狩猎采集部落，比如西卡拉哈里沙漠的昆族，会花费大量时间来

    准备和制作可以交易的收藏品，比如鸵鸟蛋壳珠宝。这是对群体

    时间和精力的宝贵投资。昆族人用这些收藏品购买的东西之一就

    是进入另一个群体领地狩猎和采集食物的权利。收藏品就是昆族

    人的未雨绸缪之举，它们就像是昆族人为自己购买的一份保险，

    帮助他们度过困难时期，求得生存。

    非洲部落的祖先用收藏品来扩张领地或迁移。贸易推动远古部落进行迁移，因为它可以转移环境风险。如果一个部落领地内的水源干涸导致猎物匮乏，那该部落就有可能与另一个远一些的部落进行贸易以获取食物。迁移是一种适应手段，让人类在不断

    变化的环境和社会条件中得以生存。但是，在迁移过程中，贸然

    进入另一个部落的领地是很危险的事情。正是在这一点上，我们

    祖先的行为与其他灵长类动物有着天壤之别。例如，黑猩猩对自

    己群体之外的所有同类都怀有敌意，它们会攻击任何入侵自己领

    地的动物，并且主要通过攻击和杀戮邻居实现领地的扩张。人类

    也会武力抢夺领地，但是人类通常使用外交等手段，让整个部落

    安全地穿过其他部落，或者和别人共享领地，或通过贸易购得领

    地。当人类部落被武力征服时，失败的一方并不一定总是被屠杀，

    他们可能会被迫进贡，也可能沦为奴隶，被迫效忠于胜利方，遵

    循胜利者的规则，而胜利者则从中获得劳动力和资源。

    人类群体间的互动往往是合作而非敌对，其原因之一是人类

    之间的亲缘关系，这使得相邻群体之间更容易开展贸易或移民。

    我们包含姻亲的大家庭经常跨越群体界限。人类通常不会攻击和

    消灭邻居，主要是因为和邻居做生意可以获得很多好处。因此，

    我们制定了群体间互动交流的社会策略。通过友好的语言、提供

    代表通行权的收藏品和其他表示善意的信号，我们可以接近一个

    陌生的群体，而且不会受到伤害。大多数群体都有欢迎陌生人的

    社会规范。如果来访者受到热情款待，他们就会觉得这是一个慷

    慨大方、举止礼貌、富足的部落，这样就能确保部落拥有良好的

    声誉，部落领导者拥有一定的威望。这为往来贸易铺平了道路，

    也为思想传播打下了基础。这样做的好处在贸易集团中表现得最为明显，像欧盟这样的贸易集团就让竞争性冲突的成本与和平合作相比显得毫无吸引力。

    当其他灵长类动物的活动都还局限于热带森林时，人类的贸

    易网络却跨越了部落之间的障碍，使得人类自身和人类思想的流

    动不再受地理因素的限制，促进了文化多样性和复杂性的发展，

    也改变了环境和基因。通过绘制现代人类基因标记的出现和频率，

    我们能够绘制出古代人类走出非洲后在世界各地迁徙的时间和

    路线图。最可能的路径是从现在的吉布提穿越曼德海峡到达也门

    附近。其中一些人沿着海岸迅速到达印度，并在大约 65,000 年

    前到达了东南亚和澳大利亚。与此同时，另一群人从阿拉伯半岛

    出发，穿过中东，横跨亚洲中南部，向亚洲内陆迁移。从那里开

    始，人类各部落开始在北半球进行殖民活动，在大约 8 万年前到

    达中国，大约 4 万年前到达欧洲地区。最终，在末次冰盛期，也

    就是大约 2 万年前，当时海平面比现在低 90 米左右，一小群亚

    洲猎人走进了冰封的东亚北极区，通过一座冰川大陆桥来到了美

    洲。他们又花了 5,000 年到达了北美洲南部没有冰封的地区，不

    到 1,000 年之后，他们到达了南美洲的最南端。这样一来，原本

    居住在热带地区的类人猿就占领了地球上除南极洲以外的所有

    大陆。

    在人类漫长的进化史中，人类大部分时间都生活在更新世时期，恶劣的生存环境使得人类种群的数量一直维持在一个较低的水平，还限制了分散群体之间的贸易往来。群体规模较小的非洲探险者的后代之间存在的差异恰好说明了这一点。因此，当藏族

    人的祖先首次在高原上定居时，他们就已经克服了大多数胎盘哺

    乳动物基因中的海拔限制，他们体内有一种基因，能够帮助孕妇

    应对血氧较低的情况。在藏区，如果女性携有这一基因，那她们

    存活下来的孩子数量是没有这一基因的女性的孩子数量的两倍

    多，这表现出一种很强的自然选择性。在大约 11,000 年前，第

    一次有人定居在安第斯山脉的高海拔地区，这里的人们经历了不

    同的基因适应，血液中的血红蛋白浓度升高，改善了其浓缩氧气

    的方式。人类的皮肤颜色由几个不同的基因控制，通常随纬度的

    变化而变化（纬度越低，黑色素的流失越少），因为不同纬度的

    太阳光照强度不同。不同的皮肤颜色是人类祖先迁移行为的外在

    证据。黑色素可以抵御紫外线，但也限制了人体必需的维生素 D

    （可通过皮肤与阳光反应产生）的数量。不过，我们熟悉的浅肤

    色欧洲人出现的时间比较晚。根据对西班牙狩猎采集者基因的分

    析可知，7,000 年前的欧洲人还是深色皮肤和头发。

    欧洲人除了皮肤白皙、有诸多语言外，还拥有许多其他特质，这些都归功于一个非凡的民族，那就是颜那亚人。颜那亚人建立了世界上第一个横跨大陆的贸易网。大约 5500 年前，颜那亚人作为第一批牧民，沿着欧亚大草原上的黑海和里海向北迁徙，随行带着优质的商品，还有他们自己的商品运输系统。颜那亚人的转变始于由捕猎野马转向驯养野马，马可以帮助他们驮东西，还可以拉战车。随后，车轮的发明使他们在运送货物时走得更远、更快。当他们所生活的草原遭遇干旱时，他们就出发去寻找更好的牧场和新的贸易机会，其中一些人搭上马车前往中欧和北欧，另一些人则冒险向东进入亚洲。

    对于当时的欧洲农民来说，颜那亚人是一道不同寻常的风景

    线，因为他们从未见过这样的人：深色的瞳孔，白皙的皮肤，戴

    着青铜首饰，像战士一样骑着马，拉着轮式马车。颜那亚人所说

    的语言属于印欧语系，他们还拥有先进的金属加工技术，能够制

    作用于收藏和装饰的珠宝，以及图案复杂的钟形陶器，被称为比

    克陶器。这些艺术品因其时尚的造型而拥有广泛的市场，从斯堪

    的纳维亚半岛到摩纳哥，多地的考古发掘都出土过这类艺术品。

    根据最近的一项分析报告显示，颜那亚人会吸食大麻，并且完成

    了欧亚大陆上的第一桩大麻贸易。

    颜那亚人在畜牧业方面非常成功，他们会驯养一些野生动物，

    比如野牛、山羊和绵羊，让它们成为温顺的牲畜，为人类提供食

    物、皮革、血液和奶制品。许多牧民都会从动物身上采集血液，

    因为活体动物的血液能够有效提供热量和蛋白质，但是颜那亚人

    可能是第一个从牲畜身上挤奶的族群。许多比克陶器罐里都能检

    测到牛奶残留，这是当时人们制作酸奶、凝乳和奶酪的证据，草原上的游牧民族至今也有这种习惯。这种文化改变了他们的基因。

    虽然哺乳动物在婴儿时期依赖乳汁生存，但他们在断奶之后，

    身体就会停止产生能够消化乳制品中的乳糖的基因，所以在远祖

    时，哺乳动物成年之后就不能再喝乳制品了。酸奶和硬奶酪的乳

    糖含量很少，所以它们不难消化。但是颜那亚人用未经加工的牛

    奶进行了试验，他们的基因对此做出了反应。大约 9,000 年前，

    颜那亚人的基因出现了突变，自此，颜那亚年龄较大的儿童和成

    年人也能消化牛奶。那些遗传了乳糖耐受基因的人可以从牛奶里

    的糖分、蛋白质、脂肪和其他营养物质中受益，而没有这种基因

    的人则会因为喝牛奶而变得十分虚弱。像乳糖耐受基因这类可以

    改善人体营养状况的基因变化会在人群中快速传播。因为这些基

    因，一部分人的身体会更加健康，生育能力更强，他们的孩子更

    有可能存活。这样一来，这些变化后的有利基因更有可能传递下

    去。人们捕捉到一头野牛，引导它进化，最终将它驯化为家养的

    奶牛。人类开始喝牛奶，人体基因逐渐适应牛奶。这就是一种文

    化—环境—基因三位一体的进化。

    在短短几个世纪中，颜那亚人就彻底变革了欧洲的社会、文化和基因，带领农民迅速从石器时代进入青铜器时代。乳糖耐受能力对以往营养不良和发育不良的农民来说，是一个极大的生存优势。如今，欧洲西北部有大约 98%的成年人可以正常饮用牛奶。浅色的皮肤也是当时农民的优势之一，因为他们很难获取动物肝脏或其他能提供维生素 D 的食物，而浅色皮肤能促进身体产生维生素 D。在人口较少的群体中，无论多么微小的基因优势都能帮

    助基因不断扩散。同样，颜那亚这个先进部落的社会规范、制度

    和技术也会被其他群体模仿和采用。这就是先进部落的信仰体系、

    珠宝、艺术、技术和制度大范围传播的方式。每一个部落在这些

    方面都留下了自己的痕迹，最后融合成了一个皮肤白皙、乳糖耐

    受的民族。他们的语言是一种全新的原始日耳曼语（即包含农业

    用语的印欧语系语言）。他们会种植作物、驯养牲畜、生产奶制

    品，还发明了石器时代新的陶器工艺——绳纹陶器。这种陶器的

    风格让人们回想起颜那亚人装饰的木棺，多由女陶工制作，主要

    用来喝啤酒。

    颜那亚人之所以对人类社会具有如此巨大的变革意义，一方

    面是因为他们形成了一个由移动群体组成的网络，另一方面是因

    为他们拥有强大的贸易能力。颜那亚人利用这个网络在各个大陆

    之间进行交流，而且他们还用马车这种更快捷的交通工具运输食

    物和水。他们踏上欧洲大陆可谓是占尽了“天时”，当时瘟疫肆

    虐，生灵涂炭。这群带着狗牙和狼牙项链的颜那亚男性，纵马如

    暴风般横扫欧洲大陆，四处殖民。原住民中的男性被俘虏、屠杀

    或驱逐——DNA 证据显示，这些农民最后逃到了现在意大利的撒

    丁岛——而女性则或是被强奸，或是成为这些高大健壮的外来者

    的伴侣。最终，欧洲大陆原始基因库中大约 90%的部分被颜那亚

    人消灭，包括如今西班牙和葡萄牙地区的所有男性。

    颜那亚人作为青铜器时代的牧民，可以算是全球化的先驱。他们在广袤的欧亚大陆上交换食物，交流知识、金属加工技术和文化技能。其中一些物品具有实用价值，例如金属工具，但是更多的只是纯粹的装饰品。这些精美的装饰品流通广泛，推动了规模更大、效率更高的经济体系的产生。颜那亚人和他们临近的部落共同创造的贸易路线在贸易中发挥着重要作用，在诸如琥珀、丝绸和香料等价格不菲的收藏品的交换中更是如此。几千年后，这条贸易之路成为丝绸之路的一部分。

    在全球人口只有 500 万的时候，颜那亚人就实现了基因和文化的革命。在丝绸之路的鼎盛时期，全球共有 3.6 亿人口，人口越多，就越具有文化多样性和遗传多样性。各条贸易之路组成了一个复杂的网络，不再仅仅是简单地输出和引进文化，而是相互传播新思想、新技术和新信仰，从而加速了文化进化。

    可以说，丝绸之路的雏形早在欧亚大草原上的人发明捕捉和

    驯养野马的方法前就出现了。大约 7500 年前，中国的工匠们就

    开始饲养一种非常小的动物：桑蚕。几个世纪后，他们培育出了

    一种体积更大、繁殖更快、产卵更多、产丝量更高的桑蚕品种。

    人工培育的蚕蛾无法飞翔，它们完全依靠人类喂养桑叶进行繁殖。

    这种蚕蛾在幼虫和成虫阶段都是可食用的，但真正价值连城的是

    无比美丽的蚕丝，也就是成虫蜕变过程中形成的茧。蚕丝可以纺

    成丝绸，丝绸以光亮美丽、强韧耐用、质量上乘而著称，当然也价格不菲，曾经一度和货币地位相当。一匹丝绸可以是部落之间用于交换的和平礼物，也可以用来支付士兵和其他工人的工资。人类引导野生物种实现的进化是一种人为的生态变化，这种变化

    并没有产生直接的生物效益，但是我们赋予了它们一种文化价值。

    由一只不起眼的虫子“演变”而来的丝绸，是当时中国最有

    价值的商品。不仅如此，丝绸还改变了全世界。从埃及到罗马，

    人们都十分渴望这种精美的布料，于是他们派遣间谍，试图破解

    这种布料的制作秘密。到公元 2 世纪时，颜那亚人古老的贸易之

    路已经扩展成为连接太平洋和地中海的一个巨大网络，覆盖方圆

    6,000 多千米的地区，其影响延绵几个世纪。这条贸易之路连接

    着不同文化之间的经济和智慧，连接着曾经与世隔绝的人群，发

    挥着至关重要的作用。从佛教和伊斯兰教的传播到香料、宝石、

    金属和陶瓷的交易，都紧紧围绕着丝绸之路，但丝绸之路也传播

    了可怕的黑死病。由于干旱，中亚地区的旱獭和沙鼠四窜，它们

    身上的跳蚤带有鼠疫杆菌，沿途经过的商队感染了这种细菌。到

    1345 年，鼠疫已经蔓延到了黑海的港口，并从这里向君士坦丁

    堡、中东、埃及和地中海地区传播。当时的惨状简直无法想象，

    欧洲有将近 2/3 的人丧生，其中伦敦有一半的人口死亡，英国东

    安格利亚部分地区 7/10 的人口因此命丧黄泉，从诺维奇到佛罗

    伦萨，昔日繁华的城市陷入一片荒芜，宛如世界末日。

    这无疑是过往世界秩序的终结。传染病和战争会破坏交流网络，迫使人们摆脱“安全”的做事方式，建立新的联系。不同以往的人、思想和技术都会被优先考虑，从而形成新的网络。黑死病之后，社会的重组推动了奥斯曼帝国的崛起。这样一来，欧洲商人通过丝绸之路进行贸易的成本和风险都明显提高，但也正如前文所说，这催生了美洲大陆的发现。

    最终，丝绸的秘密还是被泄露了。但究竟是一位嫁给于阗国的中国公主把桑蚕和桑树种藏在头巾里偷带了出来，还是两个拜占庭僧侣用竹竿把蚕卵偷运了出来，我们就无从得知了。从此以后，虽然中国仍然保持着丝绸主要出口国的身份，但失去了丝绸生产的垄断地位。丝绸促进了相距千里、隔山望海的部落之间的文化和基因交流。

    如今，基因、人群、文化和技术都在进行规模巨大的融合，其多样性和复杂性在很大程度上归功于美，即人类为物品创造价值的偏好。这种价值并不是生活必需品的价值，而是我们内心渴望的价值。贸易带来的利益促使我们与拥有不同社会规范、基因和技术的部落进行合作。如此一来，贸易扩大了人们的交流网络，提升了集体智慧，鼓励人们探索自然环境以寻找有价值的原材料。一个部落选择和发展的技术和行为会受到其他群体带来的新选择压力的影响，所以贸易推动了文化进化。这是一个元选择的过程，它会增加文化的复杂性和多样性。有时候，新的思想和技术跟随资源和收藏品进行传播和交流。有时候，人类自身通过迁移或其他方式成为交流沟通过程的一分子，文化也由此产生变化。我们可以用种群遗传学来观察文化中的差异，但是无论如何，历史证明，增加群体和社会交流沟通网络的数量能增加文化的复杂性。

    社交网络带来了协同效应，使那些已经形成内部组织关系的

    群体能够做到临时聚集起来的群体无法做到的事情。哥伦布之所

    以能促成影响深远的文化交流，是因为他本身就处在一个有组织

    的国际贸易网络中。纵观人类历史，先进的技术往往出现在贸易

    网络强大且广泛，以及气候条件适宜的地方。而在不满足这一条

    件时，文化就会失去其复杂性，有时甚至会消失上千年。这就解

    释了为什么同一区域考古发现中会存在文化差异，而造成这些差

    异的原因并不在于物品保存得是否良好。

    在族群相互孤立的地区，文化（和基因）的复杂性会不断降低，最终导致整个族群濒临灭绝，或是在生存线上挣扎。澳大利亚的塔斯马尼亚原住民部落就是一个典型例子。当欧洲人到达塔斯马尼亚岛时，这里已经与澳大利亚大陆分离了至少一万年。岛上的族群规模较小，彼此孤立，生活十分困苦。他们掌握的技术已经非常简化，只有 24 种不同的工具，包括工艺粗糙、漏水严重的小船。他们不再捕鱼。而且，据说因为文化和经济的孤立，他们还失去了生火的能力。塔斯马尼亚人的工具甚至比 4 万年前欧洲人使用的还要粗糙，当然，更无法与他们离开澳大利亚大陆之前使用的工具相提并论。与之相比，生活在塔斯马尼亚岛对面巴斯海峡另一边的原住民就完全不同。他们说着帕马-恩永甘语系的语言，拥有数百种复杂且部件繁多的工具、船只、专业服装，还有各种各样用来捕鱼、捕鸟和捕捉其他动物的网和长矛。塔斯马尼亚人的孤立状态深刻影响了他们的集体智慧，也就是说，他们的文化“被”简化了。

    加拿大的爱斯基摩人也有过类似的经历。他们作为一个已经

    适应了北极环境的部落，足智多谋，拥有高超的捕猎驯鹿的技能，

    工具的专业程度令人惊叹。大约 6,000 年前，部落中的一小部分

    人克服了恶劣环境的影响，跨越冰雪和海洋，从西伯利亚来到了

    北美洲。之后的 4,000 年里，他们在加拿大南部避寒，气候温暖

    的时候就向更远的地方迁移，成功度过了导致人口大量减少的寒

    冷期，最终在北极的气候变化中幸存。这些古爱斯基摩人的部落

    规模小，整体人口可能从未超过 3,000 人。尽管他们和社会高度

    复杂的美洲印第安原住民一起生活在加拿大南部，但爱斯基摩人

    利用社会规范，刻意在文化和基因上自我孤立。所以，在美洲原

    住民中并没有发现古爱斯基摩人的 DNA。随着时间的推移，爱斯

    基摩人的生存遇到了危机。由于近亲繁殖，他们的身体日益虚弱，

    文化形式也趋于简单，社会和技术的复杂性已不复存在。可以说，

    生活在加拿大南部的爱斯基摩人已经退化了。后来新的一群爱斯基摩人——所谓的极北人，又名新爱斯基摩人，从西伯利亚来到加拿大南部。虽然从基因层面来说，他们和古爱斯基摩人是相同的人，但是文化之间的差异已经十分明显。会捕鲸的极北人生活

    在组织严密的大村庄里，并且为拥有狗拉的雪橇和带筋的弓这样

    先进的技术而自豪。但是，古爱斯基摩人则生活在规模为 20—30

    人左右的小村庄里，用不规整的石刀狩猎。没有证据表明这两个

    族群之间存在冲突，但是古爱斯基摩人很快就灭绝了。他们也许

    是在资源争夺中被淘汰，被迫退到了北极地区的边缘，又或许是

    因为疾病而灭绝。不管怎样，事实是因为缺乏与其他族群的贸易，

    古爱斯基摩人永远消失了。

    虽说生活在地理位置偏僻地区的人更加脆弱，但仅仅一个对

    外联系的网络就能够为当地文化的存续提供一线生机。19 世纪

    20 年代，生活在遥远的格陵兰岛极地地区的因纽特人（时间上离

    我们更近的族群）遭遇了一场传染病。疾病夺去了很多知识渊博

    的高龄猎人的生命，整个族群由此失去了制造重要且复杂工具的

    能力。没有专业的捕鱼长矛（鱼叉）、弓和箭，也不会制造冰屋和

    皮艇，这里的因纽特人被困在了格陵兰岛上，孤立无援，无法获

    取必需的食物。在这种情况下，格陵兰岛上因纽特人的人口持续

    减少。1862 年，一群从巴芬岛来的因纽特人到达格陵兰岛，解救

    了这里的因纽特人。双方在一次狩猎中相遇，巴芬岛因纽特人还

    教授格陵兰岛因纽特人基本的文化知识。格陵兰岛因纽特人学会

    了巴芬岛因纽特人的所有技术，重获狩猎和迁移的能力。从那时

    起，格陵兰岛因纽特人利用新学习的知识，制作船体更宽的巴芬岛风格皮艇。几十年之后，随着人口的不断增加，以及岛上其他因纽特族群之间联系频率的增加，他们制作的皮艇风格开始回归格陵兰岛因纽特人线条更流畅、造型更美观的风格。

    文化进化并不总是推动文化进步，这个观点可能有点奇怪，

    但是生物进化也是如此。比如，据达尔文观察，即使大部分藤壶

    都进化得越来越复杂，但一些藤壶还是在基因上进化出了相对简

    单的形式。对于人类的文化进化来说，人口规模和连通程度是重

    中之重。人类学家的调查显示，一个群体的人口越多，它拥有的

    技术种类就越多，技术也更复杂。一项研究比较了太平洋各个岛

    屿的人口规模、连通程度、捕鱼工具数量和工具精密程度。马勒

    库拉岛上约有 1,000 人，拥有 12 种不同的捕鱼工具；夏威夷岛

    上居住着超过 100 万相互联系的居民，有超过 70 种精密的捕鱼

    工具。

    放眼世界，存活下来的族群都拥有足够多样的基因，保证身

    体健康，同时还都有一个规模足够庞大的社会网络，保证文化学

    习的复杂性。一个族群的规模越大，就越有集体智慧，因为族群

    内会有更多思想的碰撞，“不经意间”就会形成更多的创新。以

    羽毛箭的发明为例，假设一个人只靠自己，要活 1,000 次才会有

    一次想出给箭装上羽毛的主意。那么，10 人小组中的一个人在一

    生中想出这个发明的概率是 1%。也就是说，一个 10 人小组要经

    历 100 代（2 500 年）才能想出这个主意。当小组里有 1,000 个人时，他们在一代人之内创造出这个发明的概率是 63%，平均花费 40 年时间。对于 10,000 人的小组来说，在一代人的时间里就会有人想出这个发明。更为重要的是，从文化学习角度来说，人口越多，意味着教师就越多。约瑟夫·亨里奇设计了一项试验，让一位学生向 5 位不同的教师学习图像编辑或打结，让另一些学生只向一位教师学习，然后让他们把学到的技能传授给下一位参与者，如此往复。在这两项任务中，和 5 位教师学习的人在总共10 代被试的试验过程中提高了他们的技能，然而，只和一位老师学习的学生在此过程中却失去了已学到的技能。通过观察群组的规模，其他科学家也发现了类似的结果，即小规模的群组无法长时间保留完成复杂任务或改进简单任务的能力，而大型群组却可以随着时间推移同时推动这两种能力的发展。

    除了群体规模的大小，影响资源可用性和群体流动性（人们

    是否可以轻松迁移到更好的环境）的环境因素对文化复杂程度的

    发展也发挥着重要作用。干旱歉收、火山爆发和海啸都会导致文

    化被破坏、人口减少，有时还会带来黑暗时代。但是这些情况也

    会改变人们的联系方式，推动人口流动和技术发展，从而引发社

    会变革，加速文化进化。现代人类是一个会模仿的物种，而不是

    从零开始创新的物种，所以，如果有一天我们失去了文化的复杂

    性，那我们只要接触拥有先进技术的人，就可以相对快速地恢复

    文化的复杂性（就像格陵兰岛的因纽特人）。通过技术交流，通

    过代代向其他部落学习，文化可以从中迅速受益。比如，美国原住民平原印第安人几乎在一夜之间就习得了驯马技术，由此改变了他们的水牛狩猎文明。

    贸易网络以及在其中传播的资源、基因和文化都受到运输技

    术发展的影响。颜那亚人的成功是因为他们驯养了马匹、建造了

    马车，就好像哥伦布拥有帆船一样。当罗马人在帝国内建立起四

    通八达的交通网络时，他们的贸易和创新立即实现了飞速发展，

    直至 2,000 年后的今天，交通网络产生的影响依然清晰可见，建

    在罗马道路沿线的城镇依旧富裕，当地人掌握着更加精密复杂的

    技术。在贸易集散地，文化总是更多样、更复杂。

    随着交际网络和社群规模不断扩大，而且越来越复杂，贸易

    也在不断发展，黄金、丝绸和贝壳等收藏品成为必不可少的东西，

    人们用这些东西记录债务。随着生意规模的扩大，人们需要跟别

    人借贷，这样一来债务就增加了。在北美地区，当地原住民的货

    币叫作贝壳串珠，就是串成项链的贝壳珠。当荷兰殖民者来到北

    美占领了新英格兰时，他们接受了这种贝壳货币，并从当地的英

    美银行里贷了一大笔贝壳珠串。1637—1661 年，贝壳串珠成为新

    英格兰的法定货币，贸易也因此蓬勃发展。欧洲商人还以不法手

    段获得贝壳货币，并操纵殖民地市场，比如，他们将数十亿货贝

    投入西非的贝宁共和国，以换取大量的奴隶劳工。随着时间的推

    移，中东和欧洲地区的国家制定了贝壳货币的制式规范，货币的标准尺寸比美观性更为重要，硬币的诞生也经历了同样的步骤。

    对于拥有国际化贸易网络的复杂经济体而言，这种货币形式存在一些问题。很多国家曾将黄金或其他贵金属作为货币，购买商品和服务时，需计算出与其价值相等的金属量用以支付。在这种情况下，人们必须随身携带真金白银和一些贵金属碎块。再考虑到金属的纯度问题，用贵金属作为货币就更不方便了。黄金在其自然状态下，经常和银子以及其他金属混在一起，很容易被看作有意为之的掺假。阿基米德著名的浮力原理，即计算物体的密度，成功解决了贵金属的纯度问题。但是如果将其应用于交易，则既耗时又复杂。所以，真正解决这个问题的方法就是铸造用作交易货币的硬币，国家以官方名义发行硬币，并保证硬币的价值。硬币的出现加速了贸易发展，简化了贸易过程。历史上的第一批硬币大约在同一时间出现在土耳其和中国。硬币一经发明，便大获成功，带来了大笔的财富。土耳其吕底亚王国的克洛伊索斯国王设定了世界上第一个黄金纯度标准。当时，炼金术师克服了难题，成功地把黄金中的银子分离出来。黄金被制成硬币，并且上面压印了一头狮子的形象。硬币不仅很快成为日常生活中最重要的批量生产的商品，并且给使用硬币的国家带来了转型。

    继硬币之后，货币的下一步发展确实具有革命意义。它将人类对金本位的信任延伸到了本来毫无价值的东西上。使用纸币需要人们的观念和信仰实现巨大飞跃，并且要接受一个事实，即虽然纸张本身没有价值，也不美观，但国家财政赋予了它相当于黄金的价值。这就要求举国上下不仅要对纸币的价值深信不疑，还要相信保持货币价值不变的相关执行机构具有稳定性。世界上第一张纸币由桑树皮制成，在中国发行。尽管它在中国及其附近地区传播迅速，但是在此之后的 1,000 年间，纸币都没有传到欧洲地区。纸币的问题之一是容易被伪造，更严重的问题是使用纸币带来的通货膨胀。在古代中国，官府承诺纸币可以在任何时候兑换成等价的硬币，即圆形方孔钱，也就是当时的“现金”，所以人们能够保持对纸币的信任。但是到 15 世纪时，明朝统治者发行过多纸币，导致纸币价值暴跌，通货膨胀极其严重。之后，纸币在中国被淘汰，几百年后才恢复使用。不过，纸币着实是好东西，不可能被永远抛弃，我们也无法想象没有纸币的现代经济会是什么样子。
    我有一只漂亮的玻璃碗，用来存放出国旅行剩下的各国货币。以前每次出国前，我都会翻看自己的收藏，看看有没有用得上的硬币。我的藏品里有法国的法郎、南斯拉夫的第纳尔、厄瓜多尔的苏克雷、德国的马克等。但目前来看，这些大部分硬币和纸币都已成为陈旧的纪念品，毫无用处和价值。当国家解体，政权更迭，货币就会消失或被替代。不过，在过去 15 年里，我没有再翻动那只布满灰尘的碗，主要原因是，在大多数西方国家，硬币和纸币已经被新兴技术所取代，货币完全丧失了民族性和物质性。信用卡、电子转账和加密数字货币的出现，使得人们仅仅按一个按钮或刷一张卡就能实现国际转账。贸易不再需要面对面交换漂亮的收藏品，而是要依靠通信和声誉。如今，我们可以通过互联网和从未谋面的大型跨国企业或是陌生人进行交易。

    1996 年，皮埃尔·奥米迪亚厌倦了自己解决拍卖网站Auction Web 上的买卖纠纷，所以他引入了一个公开的反馈评分系统——用户可以给出+1，–1 和 0（中立）的评价，还可以留下评论。这种在线信誉系统一经推出便取得成功。当年的这个拍卖网站就是如今每年收益超过 20 亿美元的 eBay（美国线上拍卖及购物网站）。在线信誉评分系统被各类经营者广泛使用，为陌生的交易者架起信任的桥梁。电子转账和信用卡交易可以追踪，且有担保和保险的支持，这些成为不同国家和文化间陌生人顺利交易的“润滑剂”。如今，我们能在世界范围内从几乎任何人手中买到需要的东西，但我们依然像自己远古的祖先一样，依赖声誉和我们赋予收藏品的价值来进行交易。
    “求合作、不争斗”的决定使得人类开始与亲友之外的群体进行合作。一开始，是以物易物的交换，后来演变成了通过有形的藏品交换债务。现在，我们已经把许多和金融债务相关的工作外包给了社会机构，让它们帮我们记录谁欠了谁什么东西，帮我们分辨谁是可以放心交易的对象。现如今，贸易简单了许多，但是交易使用的货币不再具有内在价值，我们需要一种新的集体信念来引导贸易往来。然而，用收藏品对生物上无用（即不能养活我们）的材料进行估价、完成交易，可能是人类在观念和信仰上实现的最大飞跃。

    第十一章 建造者：我们物种的纪念碑

    切尔卡瑟州位于乌克兰中部，两条河流在该州的一个村庄附近交汇。1965 年，村里的一位农民正在挖地下室。挖着挖着，他感觉自己的铁锹碰上了一个十分坚硬的东西，根本挖不动。定睛一看，原来这个障碍物是猛犸象巨大的下颚骨。农民试图把下颚骨挖出来，但却发现，它与另一具猛犸象的下颚骨交错在一起。不知如何是好的农民找来了有关专家。后来，专家们在这里挖掘出了 150 具猛犸象的骨头，它们相互交错，有规律地组合在一起，形成了 4 座宏伟的建筑。这些建筑大约在 20,000 年前建成，当时木材十分稀少，人们也很难找到可容身的洞穴。

    这 4 座建筑的建造者是一个吃苦耐劳的狩猎采集部落。生活在艰苦的北寒之地，他们在建造过程中克服了坚硬的冰层、暴风雪等险恶的自然条件，成功建造了这 4 座规模宏大的绝美建筑。如今，这些建筑历经沧海桑田，依然屹立不倒，成为人类世界最早出现建筑的证明。

    这 4 座建筑构造复杂，需要精良巧妙的设计和施工才能建设完成。每座建筑的地基宽约 4 米，由一个完整的猛犸象下颚骨倒置而成，十分坚实；门廊和屋顶则由大约 36 根巨大的象牙做支撑，有些象牙甚至还连着头骨；不同长度的象牙用一个象牙制成的空管连接在一起。如此一来，房屋会异常结实。框架建成后，人们在外边覆上一层兽皮。直到 19 世纪，西伯利亚沿海的猎人还在使用类似的方法建造棚屋，只不过他们用的是鲸鱼的皮和骨头。

    每一座这样的建筑都需要整个猛犸象群的骨头才能搭建完

    成，但这并不意味着人们猎杀了整个象群，因为一些象骨上明显

    有食肉动物啃咬过的痕迹。即便如此，要想将 100 多千克的头骨

    运送至任何一个地方，都需要一定规模的组织和人们之间的相互

    合作。显然，这几座建筑对它们所属的族群来说举足轻重，所以

    族群才会投入大量时间和资源进行细致规划，利用大批人力建造

    它。猛犸象骨本身就是一种价值连城的材料，不仅仅是因为它的

    尺寸巨大，而且有证据表明，它和现在的象牙一样具有珍贵的收

    藏价值。

    这些建筑内部宝藏颇多，令人着迷，有来自 500 千米之外的琥珀饰品和贝壳类化石，还有来自一面赭色鼓的碎片。这面鼓是世界上最早的打击乐器之一，鼓身由猛犸象的头骨做成，鼓槌由动物身上的长骨制成。从鼓的磨损情况能看出，它大概被用于仪式或者其他社交场合中。专家们还在这里挖掘出世界上最古老的地图，它刻在猛犸象的獠牙上。这张地图不仅从俯视的角度绘制了房屋本身的位置，还标注了附近河流的相对位置，房屋周围或许是一片森林。房屋对居住者来说意义非凡，因为它为人们在旷野中开辟了一处家园。

    人们用猛犸象骨建造房屋，起初是为了抵御寒冷和狂风。这

    些骨屋是文化适应的一种表现，让从热带进化而来的类人猿可以

    在严酷的极寒环境中生存下来。人们需要通力合作才能建造骨屋。

    建成之后，每个屋子至多可容纳 100 人。它们的外观、规模和设

    计给考古学家留下了深刻印象。考古学家指出，这些建筑还有一

    定的宗教或社会意义。现在，人们已经发现了大量类似的骨屋，

    它们往往四五个聚在一起，形成小“村落”。这些骨屋的建造者，

    要么是之前提到的那 4 座骨屋的建造者，要么是其他部落中学会

    了这种建造技术的人。再往西走，这种过分坚实的建筑就没有必

    要了，因为西边的山洞和周围凸起的岩石能为人类提供遮风避雨

    的场所。

    人类利用美来形成个人和族群的身份特征，随后赋予物体以

    价值和意义。人类也用美设计和定义环境。首先，我们寄情于自

    然界中的地理结构，比如一座山峰、一处洞穴，然后我们创造出

    纪念碑和固定居所，以托付我们的情感。人类既是建造者也是创

    造者，建造了各类象征性建筑、家宅和花园，给这些建筑赋予了

    全新的意义。我们从大自然中获得材料，重新打造这些材料，精心设计各类建筑，创造出一个全新的人类世界。由此，人类便改

    变了自己作为自然生态系统一部分的生存方式。我们还利用与其

    他物种全然不同的合作方式，在世界各地搭建起紧密的人际网络，

    交换彼此的基因、技术和行为方式，实现真正的人际网络全球化。

    建一个“家”的想法可以追溯到几十万年前。人们在法国西

    南部的布吕尼屈厄洞穴发现了尼安德特人在 17.6 万年前留下的

    建筑——环形矮墙。矮墙位于洞穴深处，由石笋碎片精心堆砌而

    成，是目前已知最早的、由人类全新设计的建筑物。它们可能是

    洞穴内部的隔断，以此在洞穴中打造舒适的居住环境。但根据洞

    穴里用火的痕迹判断，这些矮墙也可能用于举行仪式或有其他用

    处。建造住处的过程中，我们的祖先会对天然形成的洞穴及其内

    部的岩石进行一番装饰，还会利用手头的资源建造自己的住处。

    在洞穴遗迹中，考古学家发现了木制隔断和单坡棚顶建筑残骸，

    其作用很可能是隔绝寒冷和潮湿。他们还发现了人类祖先用穴狮

    的皮做棚顶的证据。

    我们通常认为狩猎采集部落四处流浪、居无定所，或者很大程度上是这样。但实际上，大部分的狩猎采集部落都有自己相对固定的居所，多则可能几代人都定居在一个地方，少则几个月居住在同一个地方。在此期间，他们的居住地还是举办节日宴会和宗教仪式的地方，同时也是贸易往来的中心。早期的住所都是营帐的样子，多由棕榈树、普通的木材或竹子等植物制成。在西欧，研究人员发现了越来越多的远古时期半固定式露天营地遗迹。这些营地似乎是规模较小的猎人族群在夏天时的歇脚地。这些猎人会在冬天时加入更大的族群，共同生活在洞穴中避寒。法国的塞纳河畔有一处名为潘色旺的营地遗址，其历史可追溯到约 15,000年前。研究人员对这个营地进行了极为细致的研究，成果颇丰。他们在这里发现了 5 顶用驯鹿鹿皮做的帐篷，小规模的猎人族群会在夏天使用这种帐篷。虽然帐篷的地基没有保留下来，但是工匠们在帐篷内敲砸的燧石却得以保留，根据燧石的外观可以推测出帐篷的部分外观形状。

    洞穴等固定式建筑曾是人类祖先上万年以来的家园，展现了

    人类丰富多彩的半定居式生活。洞穴中藏有丰富的艺术作品，包

    括尼安德特人于 65,000 年前留下的绘画作品和绘制图案时用到

    的模板，以及苏拉威西岛上的人类于 35,000 多年前绘制的栩栩

    如生的作品。这些作品数量之繁多、内容之详尽让人惊讶不已。

    从苏拉威西岛手印的大小判断，这些作品可能大多出自女性之手，

    它们让洞穴内部变得十分美丽。在把“房子”转化为“家”的过

    程中，人类采伐树木，围捕大型动物，不断地改造周围的环境，

    最后创造出各式各样的人工景观。人类会在心理和生理上对“家”

    这个环境产生反应。在家时，我们会感到安心舒适。从外面回家

    后，人体的肾上腺素水平、葡萄糖耐性、新陈代谢和呼吸都会发

    生显著的变化。家用微妙的方式，潜移默化地刺激和影响着人类

    的睡眠模式、脂肪沉积和其他方方面面的生理情况。

    我们的祖先曾围着篝火讲述了诸多故事，大家因故事而凝聚

    在一起，相互合作，共同面对生存挑战。其中一类故事是关于超

    自然力量的神秘故事。它们通常和祖先有关，给天空、岩石、湖

    泊和山川等自然界中的标志性景象赋予精神力量。直到现在，万

    物有灵论文化依旧崇拜自然界重要的地标，并从中汲取力量。长

    期信奉基督教或伊斯兰教的族群仍然追随着自古流传下来的信

    仰，他们相信形状奇怪的岩石、完美的锥形火山或者漂亮的动物

    （比如美洲豹）蕴藏的神秘力量。一旦这些物体被赋予的意义为

    族群接受，人们就会将它们作为装饰元素，用于各类仪式中，如

    澳大利亚原住民会在乌鲁鲁巨石（俗称艾尔斯岩石）一带的岩壁

    上作画或是穿上有美洲豹元素的衣服。

    后来，人类就开始建造自己的纪念碑。这一过程很大程度上

    将人（及其文化符号）与自然区分开来。哥贝可利山丘位于土耳

    其东南部，当地人称其为大腹山。大约 12,000 年前，曾有一个

    狩猎采集族群生活于此，并建造了可能是世界上最早的巨石建筑。

    数量众多、体积庞大的石柱排列为圆环形状，矗立在山丘之上。

    这些石柱高约 5 米，顶部呈长方形，远看像 T 字形。石柱大多经

    过精细的雕琢，刻着造型生动逼真的秃鹫、狐狸、狮子和蝎子等

    图案。石柱上雕刻的每一种动物都有重要的文化内涵，这些用于

    装饰的石雕有里程碑式的意义。在这里，美不再是私人拥有且可

    以交易的收藏品，而是变成了某个集体共同拥有、可以团结族群

    的人造地标，抑或某个埋葬已逝之人的地方。

    由于过度农垦和气候变化，现在哥贝可利山丘附近的土地已

    变成一片荒芜贫瘠的褐土。可这里曾经也是富庶的人间天堂，人

    们追随动物的脚步，不远万里从黎凡特和非洲迁徙到此。当时，

    这里绿意盈盈，种植着野生大麦和小麦，潺潺的河水吸引了大鹅

    和候鸟，水果树、坚果树比比皆是，食草动物成群结队聚集于此。

    山丘上平均每根都重达 7 吨的石柱绝不是由一群漫步于此

    的人临时起意信手开凿和建造的。它们是当地的狩猎采集者以前

    所未有的合作规模，努力了几个世纪的结果。石柱上的诸多装饰

    元素让这个工程充满象征意义。工程庞大的规模，意味着这个工

    程需要上百人一起完成，而这些人要由某个族群提供集体食宿。

    后来，随着石柱修建的规模逐渐扩大，声名远播之下，越来越多

    的游牧部落加入建设中。有的部落则将这里视为圣地，来这里朝

    圣。由此一来，哥贝可利山丘就成为朝圣者、商人和移居者寻找

    机会的目的地。山丘附近如雨后春笋般涌现出诸多村落，年复一

    年地为这里日益增长的人口提供食物和其他资源。

    大约一万年前，人们想要创造美的欲望，即创造一个巨大的象征集体意识的物体的欲望，促成了世界上第一批永久居所的出现。定居的生活改变了人类的文化进化，因为定居生活不但影响了人类族群内部和族群之间的互动（即人际网络的形态），而且影响了人类与生态系统其他部分的互动。

    人类一旦永久地定居在某地，就会对当地资源造成极大的压

    力，因为人们会不断消耗最容易获取的食物，待其消耗殆尽，就

    只能依赖不太容易获得的食物。人类要付出更多的努力、做更多

    的准备才能找到这样的食物。为了满足大量人口的食物需求，人

    类从游牧民转化为村民，开始圈养绵羊和山羊，开垦荒地，种植

    谷物和水果，同时剔除那些果实少、味道差的植物。科学家利用

    放射性碳测定年代技术，在距离哥贝可利山丘约 32 千米的史前

    村庄遗址中发现了世界上最早的农业活动痕迹和最古老的家用

    小麦品种。这个村庄建于哥贝可利石阵形成之后的 500 年。

    在此之后的数千年来，人们不断收集和播撒野生植物的种子，

    逐渐改变它们的进化方式，直到新的驯化物种产生。史前时期，

    人们培养出宜咀嚼、能发酵的谷物，开始酿酒，这让人类的基因

    得以进化——人类可以消化酒精了。酿出酒后，人们对谷物有了

    更多的了解，比如说，有的谷物可储存在定居的村子中。储存谷

    物这个想法本身就极具变革性，选择储存谷物则带来了更伟大的

    实验。人们开始有意识地种植那些脂肪含量高、易脱壳的作物。

    正如我们祖先的祖先将狼驯化成狗一样，我们的祖先也开始驯化

    草。他们改变了草的基因和进化方式，使它们从随风飘散、落地

    生根、自然生长的物种进化成可由人用镰刀收割的物种。新的作

    物品种个头大、蛋白质丰富的种子，可以被碾碎制成面粉，然后

    烤成面包供人食用。这一过程意义重大，在世界各地都得到了广

    泛传播。直到今天，我们仍然认为“和他人分享一块面包”是件大事。

    人类内心对美充满渴望，并希望利用有一定意义的实物，在

    视觉上直观地表达自我。对美的渴望带领着人类从蛮荒的部落文

    明走向原始的物物交换时代，进入稳定的农业文明时期。在人类

    经历的每个历史阶段，环境人口容量都有显著提升。到了农业文

    明时期，人类从土地中可获得的卡路里是狩猎采集时代的 5 倍。

    狩猎采集时代，人类族群的规模较小，当时，人们每消耗完一处

    资源，便会离开去寻找下一个住处。随着物物交换的兴起，人与

    人之间的联系日益密切，人们可以用其他地方的资源补充自己家

    园短缺的资源，这使得我们祖先的族群人口数量得以显著增加。

    人们在某地永久定居下来之后，很快便依赖农业生存，这让所在

    地的环境人口容量进一步提升。所以，尽管新石器时代早期人类

    数量并不多，但还是超过了他们定居之地的狩猎采集族群。农业

    在人类发展过程中意义重大。分布在全球的几大文明都独立进化

    出了农业文明，并迅速将其传播到其他地方。我们人为建造的世

    界根本离不开农业。

    我们的祖先或许在很早的时候就开始建立纪念碑了，只不过有的纪念碑还未被发掘，有的已被岁月埋没。博茨瓦纳有一处犀牛洞，距今已有 7 万年的历史。洞穴中有一块刻了几百个圆洞的大石板，人们会将自己精心制作的矛头在大石板前烧掉或砸烂。

    上文提到的哥贝可利石阵需要大量的人力在相当长的时间内才能完成，也就是说，如果当时的环境不适宜大量人口生存，那么类似石阵这样的大规模工程根本无法建成。但地球在上一个冰期时，空气中的二氧化碳含量非常少，仅有 0.018%，或许是有史以来的最低水平。这就导致地球上的光合作用效率很低，植物长势并不喜人，植被总量只有如今的一半多。稀薄的植被无法支撑牧群长久地在一个地方生存，2 万年前的游牧民族无法大规模地定居在某处，他们想从牧民发展到农民也就无从谈起。冰河时期根本无法发展农业，而只有农业才能支撑大量定居人口的发展，从而支撑哥贝可利石阵等大型建筑的建设。

    约 11,000 年前，地球上的环境发生了很大的变化。新的海

    水环流模式让空气中二氧化碳的浓度不断升高，生态系统也随之

    活跃起来。在此之后 3,000 年的时间里，大气中的二氧化碳浓度

    上升至 0.025%，植物的生产力得到显著提升，这有助于土壤储存

    氮和水，使土壤变得肥沃。野生谷物、水果和其他对人类生存有

    帮助的作物得以大量生长，狩猎采集族群中的人类无须再为了食

    物跋山涉水，牧群也能在一个地方停留更长时间，人们所需的各

    类资源都有了相对稳定的供给。如此一来，他们便可以合作完成

    大型纪念碑。就这样，人类一小步又一小步地前进，从居无定所

    的原始人变成城邦里的公民，变成帝国的建造者。美改变了人类

    和人类世界，但是美带来的文化变革只有在自然环境发生变化时

    才有可能发生。

    人类进入农业文明，开始居有定所的生活后，生活方式的转

    变带来了进一步的环境进化。人类驯化野外动物，使其成为新的

    家畜，驯化野生植物，使其成为栽培植物。5,000 年前，我们已

    经驯化了今天人类所需的各种家畜和作物。人体每天所需热量的

    60%仅来自 3 种作物：小麦、玉米和大米。这种环境——文化进

    化还带来了人类基因适应性的变化，我们的身体可以吸收谷物的

    营养，抵御因人口密集带来的疾病。5,000 年前的人类与尼安德

    特人的基因非常不同，现代人的基因与 5,000 年前的人类也有很

    大不同，而且不同程度远超前者。在这 5,000 年里，也就是 150

    代人的时间里，正向选择的发生率是人类以往任何一个进化阶段

    的 100 倍。人类进化之所以加速，一是因为饮食和流行病的改变，

    二是因为人口数量增加。现在人类体内约 7%的基因都在这一时

    期发生了改变。

    但农耕，尤其是早期的农耕，是一种不稳定的生活方式。许

    多人食不果腹，挣扎在生死线的边缘。野生动植物早晚会被定居

    下来的人类消耗殆尽，一旦作物收成不好，人类迁徙到新的牧场

    也会更加困难。土耳其的安纳托利亚半岛上有一处遗迹，其年代

    可追溯到 8,000 到 9 100 年前。考古发现表明，尽管当时当地人

    口出现显著增长（主要体现在人口出生率上升），但由于他们平

    时饮食以淀粉为主，蛋白质含量较低，越来越多的人出现骨感染

    和蛀牙。农业的扩张开始带来社会的崩塌。

    农业的兴起不仅导致了健康问题的发生，而且导致社会福利

    发生了变化，由此出现的许多不公平现象至今仍然存在。规模宏

    大的恰塔霍裕克遗址位于土耳其中部，这里曾是早期人类的定居

    点之一，8,000 年前就已经发展成一座城市。在这里，数百栋泥

    砖单人房鳞次栉比，人们从屋顶进入屋内。遗址中的种种遗迹表

    明，这里是一个非常平等的社会，社会控制力强，制度森严，禁

    止财富积累。不过到了 6,500 年前，这种情况似乎发生了改变。

    各家各户之间越发不平等，社会对离经叛道的成员的惩罚也越来

    越重。遗迹出土的头骨中，6,500 年前及以后的头骨上出现了殴

    打痕迹，虽已愈合，但仍清晰可辨。

    也就是在这个时候，性别等级开始出现。其中一个原因可能

    是，与女性相比，男性上半身的力气更大，犁起地来更方便，而

    这意味着男性掌握了食物的支配权。一旦男性可以支配如此关键

    的资源，他们就能控制很多其他资源。1970 年，丹麦经济学家埃

    斯特·博塞拉普在其著作中指出，因为各个社会的农业技术不尽

    相同，所以女性在不同社会中所处的地位也有所不同。有的社会

    是迁徙农业，多使用锄头和挖掘棒等手持工具，需要投入大量人

    力进行耕作，因此女性也能积极参与农耕；而有的社会则用犁翻

    土，这需要更多的资本投入，而且犁的使用或控制拉犁的动物都

    需要人有很强的上肢力量、握力和爆发力。再加上用犁耕地无法

    与照看孩子兼顾，因此，犁耕农业社会中的男性会专门从事田地

    间的农业劳作，而女性则专门在家中做家务。久而久之，这种劳动分工就形成了一种社会规范，好像女性“天生”就应该待在家中做家务一样。现在，经济发展早已超越了农耕时代，但是这种社会规范还在影响女性参与就业等家庭以外的活动。非洲地区的人原先多依赖锄头或轮耕生存，中东地区的人则更习惯于用犁。研究表明，非洲地区的男女平等程度要高于中东地区。撒哈拉以南非洲也发生了类似的变化，随着越来越多的人养牛，那里也从母系社会向父系社会转变，而母系社会仅存在于舌蝇严重阻碍牲畜耕种的地方。由此可见，环境压力会影响文化的发展。

    在中国开展的一项调查研究表明，耕种的作物类型会影响其他社会规范。种稻子需要构造复杂的灌溉系统，这个灌溉系统会涉及多个农场，要求人们展开通力合作；种小麦则不需要人们展开较强的合作，因为小麦的生长更多依赖降水。于是稻米种植者会更有集体意识，而小麦种植者更具有个体意识，即所谓的“西式思维”。

    不过，不论使用哪类耕种工具，随着我们的祖先逐渐择地定居，开始种植谷物（农田是每个地区生产热量最多的地方），社会规范也逐渐转向父权制。以前，女性的平均寿命不超过 28 岁，新生儿的死亡率高达 75%。那时，为了部落的发展，女性需要不停地生养哺育孩子。由于每次迁徙只能带一个新生儿，游牧部落的人们会控制生育孩子的间隔，而农业社会中女性则每年都会生育。由于儿童也可以耕地放牧，出于经济上的考虑，丈夫开始有意识地操纵妻子的生育。同时，丈夫也会监控妻子的性行为，以保证自己抚养的孩子确系己出，并在积累了一定资源后，确定他们的继承人。以往的部落还会互送女子进行联姻，这让送出去的年轻女子失去了家人的支持，同时也意味着和男性亲属建立联盟更有价值，因为他们一生都不会远离部落。居有定所的农业社会导致父系战士部落逐渐占据上风，而没有形成战士阶层的平等族群则日渐式微。一旦爆发战争，男性俘虏统统被杀，而女性和儿童则成为奴隶。总而言之，女性和儿童成了男性的财产。

    定居农业还带来了其他巨大的社会影响。首先，为了建设大

    型公共设施，如保护部落的城垛，定居农业社会更依赖非亲属间

    的合作。一旦人们在一片土地上种了庄稼，有了财产，他们就需

    要保护这片土地免遭其他部落侵害。规模化的农业发展支撑着城

    市和村庄的发展，而农业的发展需要挖掘灌溉渠道，修筑防御性

    堤坝和沟渠等大规模土木工程，此类工程的实施需要人们进行整

    体规划，有序组织和管理，并建立完善的等级结构和制度。如此

    一来，社交网络和人在其中的位置就会发生改变，从而影响人类

    的生活。

    狩猎采集时代，人们从自然环境中获得自己需要的东西。对

    当时的人们来说，生产有盈余并不是一件值得称颂的事，花时间

    找来的东西吃不完，不但浪费食物，而且还显得十分愚蠢。但到

    了定居农业时代，经济生活中诞生了全新的概念——税收。税收帮助人们更好地进行公共设施建设，促进人口增长；完善的公共设施和不断上升的人口数量又可以增加税收。对每块田地上的作物征收税款其实很简单，因为作物的成熟时间都有规律可循，而且农作物可用于储存和交易，有时甚至还会发挥货币的作用。如果一个族群出现了税收制度且人丁兴旺，该族群就会出现精英阶层，这个阶层会掌控国家，用作物盈余和税款收入资助基础设施、军队和城墙等的建设。

    以木薯等块茎类植物为主要作物的地区不易形成城邦或国

    家，因为木薯等作物通常埋在地下，且收获时间不定，对这类作

    物征税并不容易。农业是一种劳动力高度密集型产业，一旦国家

    的发展依赖农业，依赖生产力水平和税收时，劳动力就会像粮食

    一样重要，因此精英阶层会毫不留情地管理和控制劳动力资源。

    当人的寿命因疾病和营养不良而大幅降低时，精英阶层会选择发

    动战争，奴役其他部落的族人，或用“劳务抵债”的方式控制农

    民，以保证自己部落的劳动力充足。还有一些国家会用“关税”

    供养穷人，这样既能保证这部分人对国家的忠诚，又可以防止骚

    乱。比如，古罗马会向战败城邦征税。征收来的税款可以当作罗

    马贫穷市民的救济金，这样这部分市民就不用缴税。当时，罗马

    城有 200 万人，很多人都没有工作。为了避免暴徒等危险分子的

    出现，古罗马实施“面包与马戏”的政策，即市民可以领到免费

    的食物，进行免费的娱乐活动。

    农业给人类的社会经济生活带来了巨大变化。农业帮助人类在艰苦的环境中生存下去，人们开始在大型项目上投入时间和精力，相信丰收和回报都会到来，尽管这需要漫长的等待。美在其中发挥着举足轻重的作用。纪念碑是人们心中希望的具象表现，代表着一种可以让有缺点的普通人依赖的巨大力量。由此，我们逐渐形成了国家的概念，这个概念本身就是一座纪念碑。我们将自己的价值观嵌入国家中，一个个独立的个体在其中形成统一的族群身份。

    那些规模巨大、引人注目的纪念碑是由最无可救药的一群人

    建成的。从常识上看，如果这群人能把建造纪念碑的时间和精力

    用于养活自己，他们会过得更好，不过这种想法低估了建造纪念

    碑的意义和价值。纪念碑能让人们团结在一起，互相合作。复活

    节岛上的标志性雕像就是一个很好的例子。这座小岛位于遥远的

    南太平洋东部，当地人称其为拉帕努伊岛，岛上有人类早期用于

    纪念的雕像——摩艾石像，这些石像无声地诉说着一场悲剧。复

    活节岛距离智利本土 3,000 多千米，曾是地球上最后一片没有人

    类永久居住的荒地。但在 1 300 多年前，聪明的波利尼西亚人掌

    握了海洋的秘密（就像非洲中南部卡拉哈里沙漠中的布须曼人掌

    握了热带草原的秘密一样），乘坐双壳独木舟，漂洋过海来到了

    这里。波利尼西亚人利用自己文化中传承下来的一系列技能，如

    识别不同的海浪，分析海洋上漂浮的碎片、云层形状和天气的情

    况，往返于新西兰和斐济之间的贸易点，甚至还能到达更远的地方。

    但到了 16 世纪，拉帕努伊岛上的居民却失去了航海方面的技能，陷入了一片水深火热之中。再加上不断累积的环境压力降低了农业产量，绝望之下，岛上的居民雕刻了上百座摩艾石像。在他们看来，摩艾能够庇护自己，给予自己力量，让所有人团结一心。这一次，人类为了生存，主动选择了文化进化。摩艾石像最高可达 21 米，上面刻有花纹。要想将石像所用的巨石从采石场运回部落，需要人们大量砍伐岛上的森林，制成圆木，方便滚动运输。但是大量伐木导致水土流失、干旱加剧，最终引发了岛上的饥荒，人口也急剧减少。部落和部落之间爆发了战争，他们将敌对部落的石像推倒，杀死敌人并把他们吃掉充饥。我们可以象当时骂人的狠话很可能是“你妈的肉就在我的牙缝里”。也就在这时，波利尼西亚人不再崇拜摩艾石像，转而崇拜海鸟，并自称“鸟人”。这是一个很特别的例子，一个文化在没有外界影响下改变了宗教信仰。春天，崇拜海鸟的岛民会举行盛大的祭祀盛典，祈求获得岛上稀缺的自然资源。拉帕伊努岛的例子告诉我们，文化进化带来了环境变化，而环境变化又带来了进一步的文化进化。

    规模较大的族群要想继续发展，需要建立新的社会机制或完善原有的社会机制。声誉机制固然重要，但声誉机制的背后还有等级结构和大族群内部的小族群。族群的规模一旦扩大，等级结构和内部小族群就会自然而然地形成，依靠规模效应，更多的人就能够得到食物。与北美的农业社会相比，亚欧大陆上的农业社会更不平等，这可能是因为亚欧大陆的农业社会驯化了马和牛等型动物充当劳动力，促进了经济的迅速发展，让亚欧大陆在能源和资源上更占优势。不过，资源引发的竞争让亚欧大陆农业社会的不平等现象进一步加剧。族群中的等级制度已经深深融入用于凝聚人心的族群故事中，社会规范、装饰用的各类肖像又进一步巩固了等级制度，使得挑战当权者或正统派变得越来越困难。纪念碑和符号艺术都体现了这些社会规范。掌握大量财富的人经常被视作神或是与神十分接近的人，因为他们不仅拥有土地和食物，还掌控着普通人的生计。同理，穷人会被认为不够虔诚、不够善良、不够负责。贫穷是他们应得的下场，他们还要对慷慨施舍的富人表达感谢。

    现在，在几乎所有的社会中，一个人的社会地位在他出生时

    就已经确定了。一个举世闻名的例子就是印度的种姓制度。种姓

    制度下的印度社会规矩森严，通过印度人基因组中表现出来的近

    亲繁殖便可见一斑。虽然印度已经废除了种姓制度，但其影响在

    印度依然根深蒂固。英国也是类似的情况。父母的社会经济地位

    很大程度上决定了孩子未来的职业和收入。当父母将孩子送进精

    英学校时，他们支付的不只是高昂的学费，还有社会选择的成本。

    精英学校可以被视为精英网络中心，这些孩子中的很大一部分将

    来会担任政商界领袖或影响社会发展的意见领袖，他们会一直处于社会层级的顶端。社会层级的另一端就是底层阶级，他们地位低下、为人不齿。法国也存在这样的等级制度，卡果人处于社会的最低等级，上百年来，他们只能聚居在破败的贫民窟。

    人类天生想要公平，所以在规模较大的族群中，人们总觉得

    存在不平等。忙碌的工蜂并不渴望成为雄蜂或蜂后，而人类却总

    是渴望在生活中获得美丽、幸福、价值，最好还能有权力。人类

    群体中，个人自由和集体利益之间的关系总是十分紧张。百万年

    来，人类社会一直在努力防止社会中受到不公平对待的人们进行

    反抗。孔子通过研究个人价值和自我表达，想要创造一个更加公

    平、幸福的社会。他认为，管理社会就像管理一个大家族，每个

    人都应该在其位、谋其事。王的权力是由上天授予的，且要通过

    父系传承；社会治理无须用恐吓威胁的方式进行，而是为政以德，

    维系人与人之间的关系，互敬互信，互尊互爱。孔子还认为，人

    们要在日常生活中践行良好的品德，这样才能形成一个和谐的社

    会。以上这些理念可以总结为，社会中要存在一种组织，它可以

    控制每个人的行为和他们所属的小族群。这种实践哲学构成了世

    界上很多著名教育理念的基础，从苏格拉底到耶稣的观点中，我

    们都能看见它的影子。它还教育人们要维护和谐的人际关系，从

    而将失控的社会拉回正轨。从集体角度来看，维护人与人之间的

    关系就是让我们设身处地为他人着想，这种善良让我们获得了人

    性。而且历史已经证明，无论在哪个时代，这样的说法都成立。

    人类社会向农业社会的转变对自然环境产生了深远影响。狩

    猎采集时代转瞬即逝，随着漫长的农业社会的到来，人类先前与

    大自然的关系也发生了根本性的改变。定居下来的人们从河床中

    挖取泥土建造房屋，修建排水系统，改变河道，砍伐森林，过度

    放牧，最后导致水土流失。新石器时代，人们开创了大规模改变

    环境的先河，将大片的森林、湿地和草地变成我们如今熟悉的农

    业用地，种植单一的农作物，将自然景观变为人造景观。某块地

    一旦被开垦为农田，土壤中的硝酸盐和磷酸盐等营养物质很快就

    会被消耗殆尽，且很难再生。所以，为了耕作，人们要补充土壤

    中的营养物质。当时最有效的方法便是将树木和其他植被砍倒并

    焚烧，焚烧后形成的草木灰烬变成肥料，用于耕种。这种农业生

    产方式被称为刀耕火种，它很快就改变了欧洲的自然景观，后来

    人们还将自己和牲畜的粪便用作土地肥料。与此同时，人们还建

    造了第一个人工“洞穴”——面积巨大的长屋，可以同时容纳好

    几个家庭。“洞穴”如雨后春笋般在 8,000 年前的欧洲涌现。

    人类祖先对环境的改造从根本上改变了他们对大自然的看法，也改变了他们和自然界的关系。大部分的狩猎采集族群认为自己是生态系统的一部分，在这种文化下，他们进化出了对应的行为、技术和社会规范。比如，目前所知，狩猎采集族群在每年的某个时间段或在某个地区会限制人们打猎。这些社会规范出现可能就是为了避免不可持续的资源获取方式，从而保证自己的生存。但是，一旦人类开始驯化动植物，不再将自己和动植物摆在平等的位置，人与自然之间的关系就发生了转变。当人类不再用动物和自然构造代表神灵，而是选择用人类自己建造的纪念碑和人类形象来象征神灵时，我们也改变了自然与人类的等级地位。当我们建造坚固的建筑抵挡雨雪风霜，当我们改变河道调整水流方向，我们便建造了一个与自然界越发不同的人类世界。我们创造了一个没有寒冷、没有潮湿、没有泥泞、没有危险的环境，幸运地摆脱了自然环境带来的不便。同时，我们鼓励大家去自然界

    中获取所需的资源，如人工改良的作物品种、可以负重的动物和

    其他物质资源。最近一项研究对比了美国芝加哥城市里的孩子和

    美国原住民梅诺米尼人的孩子与动物玩具的互动方式，探索了人

    与自然关系的转变。实验中，梅诺米尼的一位长老说，让孩子们

    脱离生态环境只与动物玩具玩耍是毫无意义的。研究人员遂对研

    究进行了调整，将孩子们放置在了一个立体的，有真实树木、草

    坪和岩石的环境中。研究发现，城市里的孩子在玩耍过程中会赋

    予动物玩具以人的属性，而梅诺米尼人的孩子则将自己想象为动

    物。

    一旦我们开始建造自己的世界，我们就开始认为人是独立于自然的，并认为人类凌驾于自然，自然只有在为我们提供有价值的物品时才能体现它的价值。这对自然环境和无数动物的进化轨迹都产生了深远影响。

    我们知道农业技术传播广泛，但直到最近，我们还不清楚它

    的传播模式。它是像货物一样被交换到了世界各地，还是随着迁

    徙的人类到达了世界各地呢？中间经历了什么？现在，基因分析

    给了我们一个更加明确的答案，似乎这两种传播模式都曾发生过。

    在新月沃地，农业技术的传播似乎按照第一种模式进行，随着工

    具和黑曜石之类的收藏品在当地农民之间传播。而从 DNA 证据可

    知，在 7000—9000 年前，一小部分当地农民从安纳托利亚半

    岛移居到气候更加寒冷、环境更加恶劣的欧洲，将他们的线纹陶

    文化、全新的种子收集和播种技术、酿酒技术和畜牧业也一并带

    到了欧洲。当地另一部分农民从黎凡特出发，来到了东非。其中

    一个证据就是，目前 1/3 的索马里人的 DNA 来自以前在黎凡特地

    区生存的人类。

    到达了欧洲的安纳托利亚农民，开始与当地的狩猎采集族群融合。他们将大麦和黑麦等作物带到了欧洲北部，这绝对不是一件小事，因为大麦和黑麦在中东进化了几百万年，已经习惯了干湿季的变化，但被人类带到欧洲后，它们要生长在刚刚“解冻”没多久的欧洲北部地区。也正是这些经验丰富、乐于实践的农民建造了巨石阵等气势宏伟的建筑。当时的建筑工人食用的正是在这里生产的第一批农产品，还会时不时补充些野生食物，如野猪和野牛（家养牛的祖先，现已灭绝）。

    颜那亚人进入欧洲后，欧洲原先的农业文化和游牧文化逐渐被强有力的新社会规范和新观念同化。新的社会规范强调财产和土地所有权，新观念则指在个人和家庭之间转移财产。这些社会规范在一定程度上造成了欧洲各族群之间存在的微小的基因差异，甚至英国内部也存在这样的差异。一份精细的英国人 DNA 图谱显示了英国内部族群间的不同。有的族群祖祖辈辈定居一隅，在那里结婚生子、繁衍后代；有的族群祖先则可以追溯至移民英国的诸多外族人中。毫不意外，奥克尼群岛人与英国其他地方的人存在基因差异，前者身上有十分明显的挪威维京人的基因。在英国其他地方，看似随意划分的地界两边也存在着基因差异。以德文郡和康沃尔郡为例，936 年，英格兰国王阿瑟尔斯坦用泰玛河划分了两郡边界，而几个世纪之后，两郡的人口在基因上呈现了巨大差异。其他地方也有这样的例子，北威尔士地区的人类祖先可以追溯到第一批英国居民——凯尔特人，当地文化也主要受凯尔特文化影响，但是北威尔士人与同样受凯尔特文化影响的爱尔兰人和苏格兰人的基因之间并无联系。各种文化发展出来的实践技能，有时像货物一样在人们之间交换，有时被强加给他人，有时因人类的迁徙和融合而传播。人类基因学研究取得的新进展，再加上古 DNA、考古学、古生物学和语言学的研究，开始让我们能更全面地了解文化进化是怎样发生的。我们可以根据当地基因库的改变判断盎格鲁-撒克逊人进入英国后定居在了哪些村庄。罗马人、维京人、诺曼人曾入侵英国，改变了英国的文化，但他们在英国人的 DNA 中却没有留下任何痕迹。

    欧洲其他地方的人口遗传也显示出了类似的特征。遗传学家

    开展了一项涉及 3,000 人的调查研究，研究显示，“欧洲的地理

    地图从二维角度能很好地反映欧洲人的基因差异”。但有一点值

    得注意，那就是从全人类的角度来看，不论是康沃尔人还是德文

    郡人之间，斯里兰卡人还是瑞典人之间，不同族群的基因之间看

    得见或看不见的差异，都只是现代人类这一物种在基因遗传上的

    微小差异。现在，人类个体之间十分相似，至少比两只黑猩猩的

    相似程度高。这是因为在 20 多万年前，现代人类作为一个相对

    较小的族群出现在世界上，后来，由于建立了贸易网络，现代人

    类又经历了多次种群崩溃（或遗传瓶颈）和迁徙繁衍。现在，任

    意两个人类个体之间的 DNA 碱基对差异仅为 0.1%，这表明，与

    类人猿相比，人类的基因并没有太多多样性。

    如果我们把人类按照所处的大陆划分，那么不同大陆的人之

    间的基因差异可占全人类基因差异的 90%，而同一大陆的人之间

    的差异只占 10%。原因之一就是人类之间有血缘关系，不过这种

    血缘关系无须从远古祖先时期寻找，在最近几代人里就能找到。

    要想找到我们与他人的血缘关系，无须追溯双方的族谱，也无须

    追溯很久远的年代。想象一下，我们每个人有两位父母，4 位祖

    父祖母，8 位曾祖父曾祖母，16 位高祖父高祖母。这样推算下去，

    如果我们每个人都往前追溯 40 代，即大概 1,000 年的时间，那么我们的祖先数量就大概是 1 万亿，远远超过了当时的人口总数，这是因为我们将每个人族谱中共同的祖先也算了进去。如果往前数几代人，我们会发现自己的祖先扮演了越来越多的角色，我们父亲叔祖母的叔祖母也可能是某人的表亲的表亲，也有可能是我们爱人的表亲的表亲。统计学家约瑟夫·张发现，在几代人的范围内，人与人之间的族谱就会产生关联，这是一种时间层面的“六度分隔”。

    任何有欧洲血统的人都算得上是查理曼大帝的后裔。事实上，

    1,000 年前的欧洲人中 80%的人都是今天欧洲人的祖先，当然是

    有后代的那 80%。我们最晚只需回到 3,000 年前，就可以找到今

    天地球上所有人共同的祖先。所以，我们不仅是先知的后代，也

    是先哲孔子的后代，甚至还是古埃及纳芙蒂蒂王后的后代。同理

    可得，如果我的孩子一代代地繁衍下去，终有一天，我也会是地

    球上人类共同的祖先。

    人类家庭之间的紧密联系让我们的基因有了相似性，基因的

    相似性意味着我们每个人都是混血儿，也意味着人类不存在不同

    的种族。不同人之间确实会存在基因差异，但是与文化差异的影

    响比起来，它们对人类行为乃至生理的影响微乎其微。通常情况

    下，环境、文化和基因等条件的结合会带来新物种，还会影响新

    物种“新”在何处。太平洋岛国居民的祖先需要长时间在食物稀

    缺的海洋中航行，为了适应这种文化压力，他们身体的新陈代谢机制在基因上发生了变化。现在，尽管岛国居民的文化环境已经发生了变化，不再出海，不会面临食物稀缺的情况，但他们仍然保持着久坐不动的生活习惯，以高热量的进口食品为主要食物，加上他们体内的基因变体，太平洋岛国居民已成为世界上最胖的人群，糖尿病患病率极高。其实，人体内有多种基因负责新陈代谢，但生活方式才是导致肥胖问题的元凶。斐济和波利尼西亚的肥胖问题主要是因为文化的影响，基因发挥的作用很小。

    即便是身高这种 80%都靠遗传决定的身体特征，生活在贫困

    地区的营养不良的人和营养良好的人之间也存在很大差异。在战

    争和饥饿中长大的父母，身高通常不及他们营养良好的孩子。由

    于过去 200 年的经济增长，荷兰人的平均身高增长了 20 厘米。

    在印度，女孩和非长男的个头普遍较矮小，长男通常是一家孩子

    中最为高大的，这是因为受当地文化的影响，长男一般会获得最

    好的营养。

    但是，在南太平洋的平格拉普岛，基因对人类却有着巨大的

    影响。1780 年的一场火山爆发几乎消灭了岛上所有的人，只有 20

    人幸存了下来。这座岛屿相对封闭的地理位置，再加上不鼓励与

    外族人通婚的社会规范，使得基因突变在人口中不断累积。现在，

    由于近亲繁殖，平格拉普岛上 10%的人出现了基因突变，患有全

    色盲症，只能看见黑色和白色。白天，全色盲症确实是个问题，

    但是到了晚上，全色盲症者的夜视能力要比一般人强，这使得他们擅长夜间捕鱼，也解释了为什么这种基因能够保留并传递下去。

    在狩猎采集时代，族群规模小，相对孤立，族群与族群之间

    的基因和文化差异相对明显。一般来说，一旦发展了农业，先前

    形成的基因和文化差异就会减少，因为人们生活的村庄不断扩大，

    人口流动性不断增加。但巴布亚新几内亚却有些特殊，尽管当地

    已有农业，但是当地人之间的基因差异仍十分明显。欧洲、东亚

    和撒哈拉以南非洲则与巴布亚新几内亚十分不同，原因很可能是

    这些地区先后经历了青铜器时代和铁器时代。在炼铜和冶铁技术

    的带动下，贸易网络得以形成和扩张，人们开始四处经商，并改

    变了当地的文化。时间一长，一个基因更相似的地域得以形成。

    相比之下，巴布亚新几内亚的基因和语言的多样性程度仍保持了

    颜那亚人将印欧语系和金属加工技术带到欧洲之前的水平。现在，

    欧洲狩猎采集时代留下的语言遗产仅剩了一种——巴斯克语。

    地理条件和自然环境对人类之间的混居、经商和文化传播都有巨大的影响。亚欧大陆面积广阔，但海拔都不是很高，相同的纬度下气候条件相似，这就为同一种农业绵延数千千米打下了基础。当亚欧大陆的居民到达北美时，他们可以在北美大陆上栽种同样的作物，放养同样的牲畜，南非和澳大利亚也是同理。但是，在非洲南部和北部、拉丁美洲的热带地区和非热带地区之间就无法这样做，而是需要改良原先的农业技术，从而适应当地的农业发展。从运输方面来说，欧洲水系发达，文化传播也更加容易。而非洲内部和南美洲虽有河流，但这些河流不适合航行，再加上山脉等其他天然屏障，文化传播受到了严重阻碍。

    人体对疾病的抵抗力是影响人类基因混合的一个更加微妙

    但又十分重要的因素。它具有部分可遗传性，并极受环境的影响。

    随着定居农业的兴起，人口逐渐密集，与人或动物密切接触就会

    染上的一般传染病开始在各个社群之间传播，而幸存下来的人会

    将抗病基因传递下去。肆虐欧洲和亚洲的瘟疫改变了人类发展的

    历史进程，推翻了一个又一个帝国的统治，开启了人类文化的新

    篇章。灾难性的瘟疫和天花还留下了很有意思的“后遗症”：从

    这些疾病中存活下来的欧洲人后裔，体内可能携带了抵抗艾滋病

    毒的基因。长期的疾病肆虐还使欧洲人迅速征服了澳大利亚大陆

    和美洲大陆，因为当地的原住民对欧洲人带去的天花、麻疹和流

    感毫无抵抗力，这也改变了世界地缘政治和文化版图。

    与此同时，欧洲人还在试图征服非洲和亚洲雨林地区，寻找

    黄金、钻石和象牙等有价值的收藏品，但他们却被疟疾等当地的

    疾病打败了。这两个地方的人普遍能够抵抗疟疾，但他们也是遗

    传性镰刀型细胞贫血症的高发人群。镰刀型细胞贫血症患者的血

    红蛋白为奇怪的镰刀状，寄生虫无法在这种蛋白中生存，进而无

    法传播疟疾。但血红蛋白的镰刀形状也让体内的血液无法运输充

    足的氧气，导致当地人的体质较差。山药种植为可以传播疟疾的

    蚊子创造了一个完美的繁殖环境，对于有山药种植历史的非洲人来说，镰刀型细胞贫血症的发病率较高，疟疾的致死率较低。人类在改变环境的同时，也在改变人类自己的基因。

    人类族群之间的基因差异正在缩小，这并不是因为我们的基

    因不再进化，而是因为不同族群的融合程度比以往更甚。各族群

    过去“老死不相往来”的状态被族群之间的交往、通婚、迁徙和

    贸易打破。虽然各族群都严令禁止通婚，但基因证据表明，通婚

    一直都存在，而且马的驯化和轮式交通工具的出现加速了族群间

    的通婚。比如，直到 19 世纪，欧洲人仍然和近亲结婚，但自行

    车的出现让相距较远的人们有机会通婚，从而大幅减少了近亲结

    婚的情况。“一战”之前，法国自行车销量达 400 万辆，这对法

    国社会产生了巨大影响。法国人与血亲结婚的情况减少，全国人

    的平均身高也有了显著提升。英国也出现了同样的情况。

    人类纪念碑的终极形式是城市。它是由人类一手打造起来的

    景观，其设计和建造表达了当地文化和人民的愿望。城市重新定

    义了地球的美，即使在太空中也能看到人类创造的景观。城市的

    建造是为了展示美、传递价值，因而牺牲了它的部分功能。城市

    生动形象地代表着生活在其中的市民。2019 年 4 月，巴黎圣母

    院险些被一场大火付之一炬，这一事件立刻在世界各地引起了强

    烈反响。巴黎圣母院的大火让当地的基督教徒失去了礼拜的地方，

    让宽敞的避难所化为乌有，让当地的旅游业遭受重创，但这都不足以体现这场大火的悲剧性。人类的存在既是基因遗传的结果，也是文化传承的结果，历经百余年风雨的巴黎圣母院正是人类文化的见证。面对熊熊大火，悲痛的人类其实是在哀悼自己失去了

    组成人类这个物种不可或缺的一部分。大火发生后，人们在短短

    几天里已经募集了数十万欧元用于巴黎圣母院的修复工作。

    在将城市改造为自己居住地的过程中，我们也在加速人类的

    文化进化。就像丝绸之路和大西洋是思想、技术和基因交流的重

    要网络一样，城市在跨文化的商业往来中也发挥着类似的作用。

    城市宛如文化工厂，吸引着来自不同民族的人聚居到一起，推动

    着大家进行互动。贸易网络的逐渐形成和技术的不断发展吸引着

    越来越多的人聚集到城市中。人口的增长又进一步加速了技术和

    创新的发展，形成一个良性循环。自从罗马人离开英国，伦敦人

    就失去了建造木结构的技术。但是到了 13 世纪，伦敦人从欧洲

    其他地区的商人那里重新学习了这种技术，伦敦街头因此出现了

    众多多层建筑，人口密度也由此上升。13 世纪末期，伦敦齐普赛

    街出现了三层高外加小阁楼的联排别墅。

    同其他社会网络一样，城市间也需要合作，联合起来的城市

    比孤立的城市更具影响力。如果一个城市的人口增加一倍，那它

    的创造就会提升 115%。城市无法孤立地存在，城市中的商人、外

    交官和工匠搭建贸易网络，从其他地方带来全新的资源和思想观

    念，支撑着城市的发展。新思想在街道、咖啡厅、大学校园、城市机构中慢慢孕育出来，一步步走到今天。它们不但发展成了种

    类繁多的技术、艺术和文化实践，还利用自身强大的影响力，让

    人们在几个世纪后还能看见它们的影子。约 400 年前，夏阿

    姆·姆布尔·恩贡格担任西非库巴人的首领。这位极富魅力的领

    袖打造了和平的库巴王国（位于如今刚果民主共和国的中南部），

    将诸多民族部落联合在一起，形成了一个结构完善、规模巨大的

    城邦制国家。这里有非常现代化的政治制度，包括宪法、民选的

    政府部门、陪审团、公共设施、公共服务以及社会支持。库巴王

    国很快就成为创新之国，繁荣富庶，以艺术作品闻名天下。19 世

    纪末，第一批欧洲人到达这里时，他们难以相信库巴王国能自己

    形成这些欧洲人所熟知的政治制度。他们觉得，库巴人以前肯定

    和欧洲人有过接触。后来，库巴王国沦为比利时的殖民地，其民

    族多样性受到了毁灭性打击，但是库巴王国留下了自己的遗产，

    并顽强地传到了今天，活在库巴王国后裔的 DNA 中。同该地区的

    其他民族相比，库巴王国后裔的遗传基因更具有多样性，他们也

    有多个民族的特征。

    公民的相对匿名性减轻了人们遵循社会规范时的声誉压力，

    这种匿名性再加上小群体的力量，让公民更有能力创造全新的社

    会规范，包括从性别差异到音乐时尚等方方面面。装饰是重塑社

    会规范的关键。以随处可见的陶土瓦为例，数千年以来，陶土瓦

    一直被用来装饰地面、墙面和屋顶。从家庭装饰到田园风光再到

    宗教故事，装饰在不同领域有不同的表现形式，象征着一个社会在不同阶段的思想观念。由于装饰反映了社会规范，它们还可以代表（和塑造）群体身份。668 年，朝鲜半岛进入统一新罗时代。为了彰显国力，政府开始进行大规模的建设，在当时的首都金城，也就是如今的韩国庆州市，政府细致规划了 18 万间新屋的建设。新屋屋顶用昂贵的瓦片取代原先的茅草，抵抗恶劣天气和火灾。屋脊尽头的瓦片上绘有以龙为主题的各式图案，这很快成为统一新罗时代力量的象征，一直沿用至今。就这样，小小的瓦片成了国家的纪念碑。

    城市是人类创造美、征服自然的愿望的最好写照。人类在美

    化住所、利用建筑传递意义上花费了大量精力。从乌尔城的塔庙

    到冰岛首都雷克雅未克的哈尔帕音乐厅与会议中心，人类利用各

    类珍贵的材料以及宝贵的人力和时间，将摸索出来的生存经验用

    在建筑及其装饰上。建筑存在的时间往往会超越人类肉身存在的

    时间，甚至基因存在的时间。

    人类建造城市，形成易于生存的环境，又在文化的压力下，

    不断改变城市的形态和人类生存的环境。城市反过来也改变了人

    类的身体构造、文化进化和自然界的遗传进化。为了适应城市环

    境，鸟类进化出了更响亮的叫声，而且为了适应人类的喂食，它

    们还进化出了更长的鸟喙，就连全身的羽毛都有所变化。200 年

    前，洞穴蛾首次进入欧洲，现在它们已进化成衣蛾，其食物来源

    是城市家庭中的装潢陈设。人类自身也受到了城市生活的极大影响。在营养不良、人口密集的地区，疾病极易肆虐，基础设施不足也会让疾病带来的问题更加严峻。比如，无论是古罗马还是现代美国密歇根州弗林特市，疾病以及铅等有毒金属都可以通过排

    水管道进入人体。如今，城市中的大气污染导致心血管疾病和呼

    吸道疾病高发，每年造成约 900 万人死亡。这里有必要说明，即

    便文化进化产生了更先进的科技和社会制度，也使人口数量越来

    越多，但它并不一定能改善大部分人的生活，也不一定能延长大

    部分人的寿命。罗马帝国时代的文化进化十分伟大，却对其子民

    的健康造成了致命打击。罗马帝国占领英国期间，英国男性的平

    均股骨长度有所下降，而在罗马帝国撤离英国后，这一长度迅速

    增长。“罗马人取得的进步其实是一个茧，将自己束缚在其中，

    并造成了令人困惑的生态后果。”罗马帝国之所以会出现文化发

    展和健康水平成反比的情况，主要原因是越来越多的人生活在城

    市中，但城市的卫生条件较差，而且帝国形成的新网络传播了疾

    病。考古学家现在可以根据肠道蠕虫的传播路线来确认罗马帝国

    的扩张情况。

    在人群密集的地方，卫生一直是个大问题。城市生活会显著缩短市民的寿命，这种情况直到最近才有所好转。城市居民的死亡率奇高，只能依靠不断的外来移民才能维持城市的人口数量。1861 年，英国利物浦市出生的男性平均寿命为 26 岁，而德文郡奥克汉顿镇的男性平均寿命则为 56 岁。当时人们相信，保持干净最好的办法就是穿一件可以清洗的亚麻衬衫，因为人们觉得洗澡可能会染上瘟疫或其他会致死的疾病。从 15 世纪到 19 世纪末期，欧洲人在整整 5 个世纪里都尽量避免洗澡。但是，由于霍乱的肆虐和 1858 年夏天的伦敦大恶臭事件，人们开始愿意保持身体的洁净。再加上细菌理论的出现和政府在公共卫生上的投资，洗澡和保持身体洁净变得简单起来。于是，社会规范也随之发生改变，一个人是否具有魅力的标准多了“是否干净卫生”一项。保持干净卫生变得十分重要，人们发明了浴室、厕所、排污系统等一整套工业系统，用于去除人口密集地区会产生的味道，帮助人们打造干净卫生的环境。

    从狩猎采集的原始生活转向依赖农业的城市生活，人类实现了文化转向。这加剧了社会的阶级分化，使得整个社会的生活方式仅对一小部分精英有利，大部分人群的饮食结构和健康状况都受到了严重影响，也使生态系统发生了诸多变化。贸易给西欧带去了财富和思想，但也带去了黑死病。黑死病使西欧的人口数量锐减，自然环境随之发生了巨大的变化。人口减少后，人类的农业活动也随之减少，森林得以恢复，污染减少，平均温度也明显下降。（美洲也出现了同样的情况，大量原住民死于欧洲殖民者带去的传染病，人口锐减，当地的平均气温也有所下降。）在英格兰和威尔士地区，黑死病导致食物产量下跌，农业和社会都发生了巨大变革。原先开放的公共土地被人圈了起来，农民有了更多的权益，甚至拥有了土地的所有权，这激励着农民进行创新和投资。先前，耕地都会有一段休耕期，让土地能够恢复养分，此时牲畜会来耕地上吃草。而在土地被圈起来后，农民使用作物轮耕的方法，密集耕种土地。收割完小麦等浅根系作物后，人们会种下甘蓝等深根系块茎作物，最后种下三叶草等豆科类作物，恢复土壤中的氮含量。以前，人们几乎不会考虑种植根茎类蔬菜，因为种在公共土地里的这种蔬菜很可能会被别人家的牲畜吃掉。农业技术方面，荷兰出现了可调节式无轮犁车（类似中国发明的曲辕犁），有了这种工具，一两头牛就可以耕完原先 6 到 8 头牛才能耕完的松软潮湿的土地，排出沼泽和湿地中的水分。农业总产值激增，成为世界上产值最高的生产方式，多余的农业产品可以在庞大的贸易网络中进行交易。农业产值的飙升还促进了人口增长，形成了全新的劳动力，推动了工业革命的发生和现代世界的建造。

    现在，生活在城市的人类仍在不断进化。精神分裂症等精神疾病、问题行为、哮喘等免疫系统疾病的多发，都与人类不断增大的压力有关。城市中的人也有可能产生表观遗传，即基因序列无变化，但是基因功能发生了可遗传的变化。如果孕妇居住在生活压力大、污染严重的城市，胎儿的大脑、新陈代谢系统和免疫系统更容易受到负面影响，并可能会代代传递下去，这就是文化—基因—环境（人类进化三位一体）相互作用的结果。但是，除去健康风险，城市对人类还是具有十足的吸引力。城市象征着人类部落的扩大，代表着金钱和文化财富带来的诸多益处。

    互联网就像一座虚拟的城市，它会产生类似城市一样的文化影响，因为它能扩大人们的社交网络。史蒂夫·乔布斯曾经将电脑比作思想的自行车。现在，越来越多的人通过网络结识陌生人。一个数学模型估算出，线上人际网络大幅提升了不同种族之间的结婚率，大幅降低了离婚率（因为伴侣之间会更加契合）。在美国，自从在线约会网站出现，跨种族婚姻的发生率激增。人类大规模的迁徙、入侵、逃离、奋斗、探险、漂泊、殖民、奴隶贸易，为躲避战乱或为寻找工作和更好的未来而背井离乡，再加上现在的互联网，种种因素促成了近几个世纪，特别是最近 1,000 年的基因大融合。不过，这也带来了一些问题，比如北半球缺乏维生素 D 的黑人数量有所增加。但是我们正在向一个新的局面发展：人们肉眼可见的差别将不再影响族群内部或外部的偏见和吸引力。换句话说，基于所谓的“种族”区分人类的说法将成为无稽之谈。

    动物被寻找食物和伴侣的生理冲动所支配，人类被某种意义和目的所驱动。我们可以在探索美的过程中发现这些目的和意义，也可以在追求知识的道路上找到它们，下一章将会详细讲述这个问题。

    时间

    我们如何了解自己知道什么？我们现在的身体和文化都是我们祖先的身体和文化不断进化的产物，而我们质疑自己的存在，想知道自己是谁，处于空间和时间的何处。我们有自己的故事，这些故事让我们知晓过去、畅想未来。但我们被现实的想法——客观真理困扰着，于是我们追寻着真理。终其一生，我们都在试图抓住无形的时间，标记时间，甚至控制时间。我们观察、预测、估量、推理发生在人类身上的种种谜团，以此破解未来的奥秘。如此，我们重新创造了世界，也重新创造了身处其中的自己。

    第十二章 计时器：创造时间认知

    1962 年，一位年轻的法国地质学家米歇尔·西弗雷选择在阿尔卑斯山深处的一个洞穴里独自待了两个月。他想要研究人类身体是否需要外界的刺激（比如阳光）来维持自然节奏，或者说，人类身体中是否存在某种计时系统。西弗雷说：“我决定像动物一样生活，不戴手表，不知道时间。”

    西弗雷的实验是一场艰辛的耐力测验。他选择了一个满是冰雪的洞穴，这个洞穴和外界仅靠一条长 45 米的 S 形险峻通道连接，要想顺利通行，是很艰难的。西弗雷仅是带着所有的装备到达这个洞穴就历经风险，如果在这个过程中受伤，他基本不可能获救。但这位 23 岁的年轻人坚持要一个人进行这项实验。第一个月，他告诉大家，不管情况如何，都不要救他。在洞中漫长的9 个星期里，他一直仔细地记录着自己的生理体征、吃过的所有东西以及心理状态。在此期间，他的两位同伴一直驻扎在山体上方的洞穴入口处，并且和西弗雷保持单线电话联系。每当西弗雷起床，他就给两位同伴打电话，同伴们会记录下当时的时间。

    在对昼夜毫无概念的情况下，西弗雷的身体很快调整了睡眠

    时间。尽管西弗雷努力在精神上适应新的环境，但是他在这个潮

    湿冰冷的“家”里越发痛苦不适。后来，他回忆起这段经历时说

    道：“我的设备不够好，脚总是湿的，体温最低降到了 34 摄氏度。

    很多时候我都在思考自己的未来。”

    当时，西弗雷精神上十分孤独，肉体上饱受痛苦。他变得食

    欲不振，每天只吃些面包和奶酪。很快，他对自己带去的两张唱

    片也失去了兴趣。他唯一的乐趣就是自己的宠物——在洞里抓到

    的一只蜘蛛。那么他对时间的概念发生了什么变化呢？实验的第

    二天早上，西弗雷的时间已经比实际时间慢了两个小时。第十天

    的时候，他的时间已经昼夜颠倒。西弗雷在日记中记录了同伴令

    人愉快的问好，他觉得同伴接电话时是早上，而且他们已经醒来

    很长时间了。但实际上，西弗雷是在午夜时分打的电话，而且十

    分规律。每次和同伴打电话的时候，西弗雷会测量自己的脉搏，

    在两分钟内从 1 数到 120。然而，洞穴外的同伴发现，西弗雷的

    两分钟实际上持续了 5 分钟。

    西弗雷忍耐着孤独的生活，谨慎地分配自己带的奶酪（这是

    他最喜欢的食物），以便能坚持完成实验。可是按照他的计算，

    在距离实验结束还有 24 天的时候，外面的同伴突然告诉他实验

    结束了。两位同伴宣布两个月时间已到，他们要下去接西弗雷。

    这表明西弗雷在洞中对时间的估算和实际时间完全脱节。一共 63

    天的时间，他“丢失”了 1/3 左右。一些他自己记录的 10-15 分钟的小憩，其实是 8 个小时的睡眠。因为无从知晓昼夜更替，时间对西弗雷来说变慢了。但对他的身体来说，时间没有变慢。尽管西弗雷觉得很困惑，但是他体内的 DNA 让他的身体在漆黑的地下保持着和地面上一样的运行时间表。

    我们都是时间的产物。我们在一个空间和时间交织的宇宙中

    进化，我们的身体适应了地球的运转。人类所有的细胞中都含有

    时钟基因，它们就像机械表里的齿轮一样，是基因表达的振荡器。

    这些计时器调节着我们的基因、激素、心率、大脑活动、情绪和

    身体机能。上午 10 点左右，我们的肠道最活跃；下午 2 点，身

    体的协调性最好，对疼痛的忍耐度最高；下午 5 点，我们的身体

    处于最佳状态，肌肉力量最强，灵活性最好，心肺功能最佳；晚

    上 8 点，我们对酒精的耐受力最强；9 点，睡眠激素开始上升；

    凌晨两三点，我们会进入深度睡眠状态。凌晨四五点，我们的体

    温达到最低值。从月经期到妊娠期，女性的身体遵从着生物钟，

    极具规律性。

    虽然我们的身体进化出了计时能力，但我们的有意识的头脑却没有，而人类文化的发展依赖于有意识的决策。时间的流逝和太阳系的周期影响着我们文化的方方面面。因此，人类必须进化出能跨越时间的认知工具，还要发明出能追踪时间的文化工具。只有通过掌控时间，我们才能创造出精细复杂、顺序严谨的技术以及层级分明的社会结构和语言（词序和语句结构决定意义）。尽管时间是一个抽象虚构的概念，但我们的祖先学会了信仰它、操纵它，人类成了最高级的精神时空旅行者，既能回放过去的片段（即使是我们从未经历过的事件），又能设想未来。

    目前来看，人类是唯一明白性和生育之间关系的动物。我们

    清楚一次性行为会在 9 个月之后产生结果，因此，我们能够追溯

    自己的亲缘关系，从而扩大我们的人际网络。人类也明白死亡的

    必然性——人必有一死。也许正是因为感知到时间流逝的不可逆

    性，再加上我们对过去的认知和对未来的预知，人类有了追求生

    活目标的欲望。对人类来说，生活不仅仅是为了生存，我们渴望

    了解万事万物的客观真理。对于生育原因和死亡必然性的认识能

    够长期持续地推动人类文化进化。人类掌控了时间，这意味着人

    类拥有了历史，并且能够从一个全新的视角理解文化和环境长久

    不断的变迁。我们能够在这种广阔深远的背景下理解生命、文化

    工具和实践，我们拥有了更多有价值的集体文化知识可供借鉴。

    我们的身体能够进行有规律的进食和睡眠，这不仅让我们的

    生物循环和地球的转动联系在一起，还让大脑对时间的感知和宇

    宙的普遍时间始终相契合。为了将自己固定在身边的物理世界中，

    人类需要让自己由文化驱动的生活适应客观现实，所以我们从时

    间的校准开始，理性地研究时间，这让人类进入一个全新的轨道。

    西弗雷的试验表明，人类在清醒和睡眠之间存在一个周期性循环，其时长是 24 小时 31 分钟。自此，人类开启了生物钟领域的研究。我们的身体主要依靠大脑下丘脑内部持续振荡的神经元进行自动计时。神经元通常根据阳光来校对时间，让我们的生物钟循环周期保持在 24 个小时。

    另一方面，我们的大脑需要后天学习如何感知时间。婴儿没

    有时间的概念，所以他们完全生活在自己视线范围的世界里，而

    且需要几个月才能明白物体具有存续性，也就是说，即使某样东

    西不在自己的视线范围内，他们也知道这个东西依然存在，能够

    再次被看到。然而，我们确实天生就能感知时间的间隔，比如，

    婴儿可以分辨 20 秒和 40 秒的差别，他们甚至在出生前就能感知

    韵律，这能帮助他们学习语言。但是婴儿没有时间概念，所以他

    们无法把自己的经历和实际的事情联系起来，也无法回想过去、

    畅想未来。尽管刚出生的孩子有学习能力，但他们没有长期记忆，

    要到三四岁时才能“穿越时空”，在精神上逃避到另一个事件的

    情景中，想象自己遇到这件事情时的情绪。这意味着人类可以对

    未发生的事情进行预测或产生恐惧的情绪，有助于人类管理自己

    的情绪。在精神层面进行时间旅行让我们能够未雨绸缪，这一能

    力对于人类来说具有变革性的意义。

    人类用记忆“穿越时空”，正是这一点让我们拥有累积性文化，能够记录我们庞大社会族群的发展历史。面对问题时，我们回忆过去，想想以往在相似情景下的解决方法，无须创新，重复以前的方法就可以解决问题。还有一点也很重要，那就是记忆能让我们想象未来。要想象未来，我们大脑中的预测系统需要依赖

    一种复杂的记忆类型，即情景记忆，这种记忆可能只有人类拥有。

    大部分的记忆类型都是长时间地记忆某些东西，例如学习新技能

    和记忆常识，记住“法国首都是巴黎”。而情景记忆能让我们回

    溯过去、展望未来，进入某一个特定事件，还能让我们的记忆个

    性化，并将自己置身于事件的场景中，这样一来，我们就能以一

    种微妙的方式从过往的经历中学习经验，将不同的情绪线索纳入

    信息分析中，帮助我们在未来相似的情景中做出更好的选择。这

    种进化而来的认知能力赋予了人类一种重要的生存优势：我们能

    够快速适应多种环境变化，还能够预测未来的变化，比如季节性

    事件和食物的获得。

    和语言类似，情景记忆依靠的是大脑不同区域之间的认知联

    系。大脑扫描结果显示，当一个人创建或回忆一个情景记忆时，

    大脑中会出现一个独特的活跃网络。猿类不具备这种能力，但至

    少在 160 万年前，我们的祖先就拥有了这个能力。古人类学家发

    现，当时人类使用的石质工具会被带到距离工具生产地很远的地

    方，这说明制作工具的人类已经可以预见到未来可能要使用这些

    工具。其他灵长类动物没有提前计划的能力，因为它们无法模拟

    还未发生的情景，所以当食物有剩余时，即便过往的经验告诉它

    们自己之后会再度饥饿，它们还是会在吃饱后立即把食物丢掉。像松鼠这样会储存食物的动物依靠的是本能而非有意识的决策。

    我们对时间的体验是由思维、记忆、情绪，以及时间在某处与空间相连的想法主动创造出来的。这种对时间的生理感觉就是“思维时间”，它是我们对现实的体验的核心。对大多数人来说，时间如江河一般流逝：我们站在河流中间，身后是已经发生的事实，面前是模糊不定的未来。在过去几十年中，一系列有趣的试验已经表明，情绪、畏惧、年龄、孤独、体温、排斥心理和注意力都会影响我们对时间流逝速度的感知。

    我们需要根据客观的真实时间来校准自己的思维时间，以便

    理解这个世界以及我们在其中的位置。我们祖先的生存活动，包

    括寻找居住地、狩猎、农耕和旅行，都高度依赖时令和季节，人

    类的文化日历就此出现。仪式、典礼和盛宴的出现，一方面是为

    了纪念特别吉利的事件，另一方面是为了应对社会极度脆弱的时

    期，比如冬天白昼最短的时候。反过来说，为了将这些文化活动

    和自然时钟对应起来，时间记录就显得很重要了。

    我们祖先使用的最可靠的钟表是天空中的星体。他们绘制星图，在星体的运转中寻找规律。尽管天空中的天体彻夜旋转，并随着时节循环往复，但它们之间的相对位置保持不变（以地球为观测点），而且每年都以同样的顺序升起落下。人们在小石块、骨片或鹿角片上制作轻便的小月历，以便在持续数周的狩猎以及季节性的迁移等长途旅行中携带。法国多尔多涅地区的塔杜瓦尔河流域有一个洞穴，里面有很多壁画，人们在这里发现了一小块刻有图案的鹰骨，其历史可以追溯至 3 万年前。鹰骨上有刻痕和凹痕，表示的是月亮 14 天盈亏变化的周期，包括运行轨道、新月和月牙。在德国阿赫河谷的一个洞穴中，人们发现了一件历史更为久远的文物，它是一块 38,000 年前的猛犸象牙板，上面刻着一个动作像猫的人类形象，这个人双手举起，双腿开立，腰间别着一把剑。专家认为这个图像符合猎户座的样子，象牙板两侧和背面有 86 处清晰的刻痕，可能与生育有关。

    在法国拉斯科史前洞穴群中发现的规模宏大的天文地图令世人瞩目。其中包括一幅有 17,000 年历史的月面图，上面用圆点和正方形描绘了月球这颗地球卫星 29 天的完整周期变化。在这些圆点上面，还有一行圆点。这行圆点一共 13 个，代表弦月，也就是从昴星团在冬天升起的第 1 天往后算 13 天，这段时间通常是马的繁殖期，比较容易被人捕猎。此外，这座洞穴中记录其他重要自然现象的精美壁画中都穿插着星座图。绘制这些详尽的宇宙地图的是那个年代的科学家，他们通过观测自然客观现象来理解世界。拉斯科洞穴就是一座绘满星图的史前天文馆。
    考古学家们再次观察了史前洞穴中的壁画后发现，星体地图遍布欧洲，那时的人们对宇宙进行了数学和科学观测。狩猎采集族群发展出了一系列空间导航和时间记录技术，比如绘制夜空中的星体地图、用表示影子长度的折线图记录太阳的运行轨迹，从而制造出越来越精细的天文时钟。巨石阵过去可能也是一座追踪太阳、月亮和星星运动的天文台。每到夏至，巨石阵的主轴线都和日出的方向一致。建造巨石阵的人们一定是知识渊博的天文学家、数学家和建筑家，只有这样，才能解释巨石的位置为何如此精确。越过爱尔兰海，在博因河谷有一座历史更悠久的墓穴——纽格莱奇墓，它展现了当时人们对天文学的掌握程度。这座墓穴用了 2,000 块左右的石英石板材，这些板材是从 80 千米以外的地方开采然后运到墓穴这里的。大多数时候，位于地下深处的纽格莱奇墓及其 20 米长的通道都是漆黑一片。但每当到了冬至的日出时，一束阳光就会穿过墓穴主入口上方的一处小洞（类似于“车顶箱”），照亮墓室。这座墓穴堪称一座意义重大的纪念碑，它的设计师一定非常了解太阳在不同时间的角度、位置和运行情况。

    这样的大型建筑是群策群力的产物。修建它们需要花费相当多的时间和精力，还需要建造者能够敏锐地感知天文现象，拥有丰富的知识储备以及精准的预测能力，而这一切都需要几代人的努力才能做到。建造这些建筑的人认为，与他们希望获得的知识相比，这些投入都是值得的，因此从肯尼亚到澳大利亚，都可以见到这类建筑的踪影。

    掌握天文知识是人类适应文化和环境的表现。这类知识帮助我们的祖先应对变幻的季节，预测在何时何地获得食物。天文观测的结果蕴含在故事和歌曲中，比如代代相传的歌径。澳大利亚维多利亚州西部的维尔盖亚原住民中有这样一个传说。一次严重的旱灾过后，饿殍遍野，一位名叫玛宾克里克的女性离开部落，为大家寻找食物。很久之后，她发现了一个蚁穴，挖出了几千个富含营养的蚂蚁幼虫，她的族人因此熬过了冬季。玛宾克里克去世之后，化作了天空中的大角星。如今，每当大角星升起，就意味着到了可以大量捕食蚂蚁幼虫的时节。

    澳大利亚的其他原住民部落用故事描述日食、月食的过程，

    记录行星与恒星不同的运行方式，解释月亮与潮汐之间的关系。

    一些具体的星座，比如昴星团等，在世界各地的文化中都占有重

    要地位。昴星团地位如此之高，是因为它是一个独特的参照点：

    昴星团的 7 颗明星紧密相连，而且每年都在相同的时间升起。因

    此，7 在人们心中成为一个吉利的数字。因为昴星团每年都会在

    丰收季节出现，所以在美洲，玛雅人和印加人将丰收富足与昴星

    团联系起来，并且建造了天文台日夜观测昴星团的动向。美国新

    墨西哥州的祖尼人将昴星团视为“种子之星”，因为昴星团出现

    的时候正是播种的时节。北非的柏柏尔人认为昴星团的出现标志

    着季节的冷热交替。古希腊人则认为昴星团出现时，他们就可以

    出海，在地中海上安全地航行。

    天文学在航海领域也是不可或缺的文化工具。很多动物都进化出了生理机制，利用月光或磁场感应在大海中遨游而不迷失方向，而人类在海上的航行则几乎完全依靠我们在文化层面进化出的一种能力——在大脑中绘制地图的能力。这些地图根据地理景观的细节和天空中星体的运动轨迹绘制而成，可能会蕴藏在故事中，通过故事进行传播。波利尼西亚人进化出了一种独特的技能，他们的大脑中有一个“星星罗盘”，可以记忆大约 220 颗星星的运动轨迹。他们能记住星星的升降顺序，并且记录星星的运动速度、方向和时间。这种能力让波利尼西亚人成为专业的水手，他们在夜晚绘制出星路图，根据星路图在浩瀚的太平洋上乘风破浪、勇往直前。

    以自然周期和自然事件为基准，我们可以校准自己的神经时钟，还可以观测和预测事件模式。如此一来，我们就能够通过自己和他人的生活探索整个星球，进行短期旅行。时间给了我们祖先一个参考网格，一种标记自己在空间中位置的语言，这种语言切实有用：它允许我们相见，讨论过去，计划未来。这样一来，我们对时间的利用降低了生活中的熵值，即减轻了生活的混乱程度，降低了风险发生的可能性，还能减少生活中能量的消耗。例如，我们离开生物丰富的热带地区、进入有季节变化的高纬度地区，这时我们需要储备食物以度过食物短缺时期，从而保证自己能够存活下来。许多动物通过基因进化获得储备食物的能力，但对于人类来说，文化进化让我们能够更快地适应食物的季节性变化。

    我们的时间概念逐渐进化，帮助我们组织建设社会群体。我们对于时间概念的使用并不依赖主观意识，而是依赖各个部落间达成一致的客观规范，这些规范都有可衡量的标准。随着社群规模不断变大，复杂程度不断提升，人类需要越来越精确的日历，时间设定也成为一门重要的专业技术。在各种文化中，天文专家都享有极高的声望，受到高度追捧。人们称颂他们预测未来的能力，例如成功预测丰收的到来，类似的称颂后来也扩展到了其他领域。天文专家通常被视为魔法师一般的存在，不仅能预测未来，还能改变未来。

    与此同时，时间标准化的压力越来越大。千年以来，就一天

    何时开始、何时结束，一年有几个月，一天有几个小时这些问题，

    人们几乎从未达成一致。天体周期的问题在于，月运周期的天数

    和一年中月运周期的次数都不是漂亮的整数，甚至都不是整数。

    如果以月运周期计算，一个月有 29.5306 天，一个太阳年平均天

    数为 365.2422 天，两者相除就得到了一年有 12.3683 个月，显

    然这些数字并不令人满意。世界各地的天文学家竭尽所能解决时

    间的计算问题，希望能制作出一份方便普通大众、神职人员和政

    府员工使用的日历，而且这份日历要能精准地标注一年的时间。

    古罗马人把新年日期从 3 月移至 1 月，之后，其他历法也模仿了这一改动，比如英国在 1752 年将 1 月 1 日定为新年，但也仅使用了一年。在耶稣受难 4 个世纪之后，信仰基督教的古罗马帝国重置了历法。他们估算出耶稣生日的日期，并据此设定日历（因为当时还没有数字 0 的概念，所以公元 1 世纪紧跟在公元前1 世纪之后）。时间是相对的，却被视作一种可以量化的资源：1752 年 9 月 2 日，英格兰宣布，为了和欧洲大部分国家保持一致，英格兰将会更新历法。新历法中，即将到来的 9 月 3 日将变为 9 月 14 日。因为调整历法而“丢失”的日子，伦敦和英国西部的布里斯托尔曾经爆发过骚乱。现在，全球普遍使用格里高利历。然而，不同社会中，每个月包含的星期数也不尽相同，比如1792 年大革命后的法国就尝试过 1 星期 10 天的历法。

    在体验和精准测量同一客观天体时间的同时，人类也使用各

    种各样的方式解析社会时间，这是一件颇具启发性的事情。这说

    明，虽然我们的知识随着科学的发展而丰富，但我们阐释和使用

    信息的方式依旧取决于文化规范和社会政治需求。儒略历由数学

    家、天文学家和哲学家共同创立，罗马人自公元前 45 年就开始

    使用这一历法。它标志着欧洲人的时间观念从周期性转变为线性。

    这个转变意义深远，自此开始，时间的测量开始与天体周期分离

    开来，并且为数学等其他抽象思维的发展奠定了基础。

    第一个将时间概念应用于生活的是古罗马人，应用方式和现在西方工业社会一样。当时，日晷已经非常精密复杂，而且无论是在公共场所还是私人场合都能见到。大约公元前 3 世纪时，罗马著名喜剧作家普劳图斯曾经这样咒骂过：“天知道是谁在这里放了日晷，把我的日子分成一块一块！”而到了公元前 1 世纪时，罗马建筑家维特鲁威能列出 13 种不同的日晷。

    然而，因为日晷只在日升月起之间工作，所以日晷所指示的

    小时时长会因季节不同而不同。古罗马人继承了古巴比伦人 1 天

    24 小时的时间制度。古巴比伦人使用的是 60 进制，和如今使用

    的 10 进制相比，60 进制的数字可以被 2、3、4、5、6 和 12 整

    除。但是罗马人假设白天和夜晚各占 12 个小时，那就意味着在

    当时的罗马，夏天的 1 小时实际是 75 分钟，冬天的 1 小时则是

    45 分钟。重力时钟的出现可以在某些情况下解决这一问题，古罗

    马法庭使用滴漏控制每位律师发言的时间，正是这一举措引起了

    法庭和政治辩论的复兴。

    测量时间的技术不断发展，保证了整个社会与客观可测量的

    宇宙节奏同步运行。对过去的人类来说，计时还有益于生存，比

    如计时能提醒人们获取食物。不过现在，计时完全被主观的社会

    规范操控。以前，为了确定复活节的日期，基督教的神职人员在

    天文学领域投入了极大的精力，因为这一日期的计算非常复杂，

    需要先计算二至点和二分点的日期。基督教历法中包含政治元素，

    这些政治元素揭示了人类与时间的复杂关系，以及我们是如何通

    过阐释时间来建立人类的文化规范的。复活节是基督教一年中最

    重要的节日，由异教徒的春季庆典演变而来，人们自 2 世纪才开始庆祝这一节日。基督教徒认为，耶稣是在犹太教的逾越节（即耶稣受难日）3 天之后复活的。在犹太历中，逾越节是尼散月的第 15 天（即 4 月左右），这一天和春天的第一个满月日期相对应。但是因为犹太历中有一个闰月而非闰日，所以每年逾越节所在的月份都不一样。基督教徒希望把复活节设在基督教的圣日（星期日），还想确保自己的新宗教能和犹太教区别开来，保证基督教的复活节永远不会和逾越节重合。这听起来可能很奇怪，尤其考虑到逾越节是完整的复活节由来故事的一部分，但这就是宗教政治。最终，基督教徒决定将复活节定在春分后第一次满月之后的第一个星期日。如果满月的日期刚好是星期日，复活节日期就顺延到下一个星期日。要想确定每年春分的日期，需要一个复杂的天文学和数学运算系统模拟月球、太阳等星体的运动，所以基督教的神职人员才会几世纪如一日地领导并支持天文学的观测研究。基督教使用的历法仍与太阳和月球的运动有关，也就是与季节同步，但同时也会根据月相庆祝一些节日。

    精确的计时方法、历法和年历对伊斯兰教也意义重大，因为

    穆斯林每天要做 5 次礼拜，每一次都有具体的时间，而且必须朝

    向圣城麦加的方向。这推动了中世纪时期伊斯兰帝国天文学的发

    展，在这一时期，星盘是帝国最重要的科学仪器之一，需要不断

    改进。作为一种多功能仪器，星盘通过角度和梯度测量天空中星

    体的位置，除此之外，它还可以用于计算时间、测量土地、在航

    海时计算纬度。

    最终，擒纵装置于 14 世纪问世。从此，时间不再和天体的

    各种运动息息相关。擒纵装置是一种通过落锤拉动产生旋转，从

    而保持自身稳定运动的装置。该装置仅凭一个轮子便可控制一个

    齿轮组，并会在整点的时候敲钟（英语中“钟表”一词来源于法

    语中的“钟”）。对我来说，钟表里擒纵装置的滴答声就是时间

    流动的声音。机械表的发明意味着 1 个小时的长度不再由日晷测

    定，不再随季节变化。

    英国韦尔斯有一座修建于 14 世纪的美丽的机械钟。钟表上

    的装饰图案展现了当时人们以地球为中心的宇宙观，罗列了朔望

    月的周期以及月相变化，其中还特别突出了 3、6、9、12 这几个

    数字。随着大型公共时钟的修建，时间成为一种贵重的商品。人

    们可以听到时间的流逝，时间越是精确，我们对时间的掌控就越

    全面。时间实现了全新的量化发展，这种发展也扩展到了其他领

    域。比如，度量衡的精密度有所提高，新的货币标准出现，复式

    记账、透视画法和复调音乐也都变得更为精确。在当时的西欧，

    人类对于世界的态度已经发生了改变，开始用数字认识事物并进

    行分类，这逐渐成为一种社会规范，这种规范不仅流行开来，而

    且带有强迫性。从此，人们认为“浪费”时间的行为不仅愚蠢，更是一种罪过。

    规模更大、更复杂的社会帮助人类掌握时间，但也正是对时间的掌握使社会更大、更复杂，因为掌握时间让贸易变得简单，消除了人类互动中的不确定性（“浪费的”时间），从而降低了成本。随着国家变得越来越复杂，时间越来越全面地支配着人类生活的方方面面。

    人们对时间产生了新的认知，那就是时间可以以分钟为单位

    进行标记，甚至还可以以秒为单位。这种认知彻底改变了社会，

    将我们的世界变成了一个计划性更强的世界。时钟成为广场、工

    作场所和家庭中不可或缺的物品，人们也开始随身携带怀表。衡

    量业务时间的标准不再是一个人用了多长时间完成一项任务，而

    是用了多少工时。时钟出现之前，人们总是日出而作，日落而息，

    工作时间主要视自己的需求而定。后来，机器、工业作坊和织机

    决定了生产的速度，人们会给这些工具设定相同的开启和关闭时

    间，工人们打卡上班、打卡下班，时间由此成为金钱。人们不再

    是度过时间，而是花费时间。对时间的严格把控改变了人们的生

    活方式，了解时间也变得至关重要。时间本身不再与自然周期有

    太多的联系。就像浪漫主义者在他们的诗歌等艺术作品中抱怨的

    一样，人类已经将时间和自然分离，把它设置成了工作的节奏。

    人类发明出的时间改变了我们的生活环境，使之成为由时间决定的环境，而这也改变了人类的文化和生物构造。当自然世界给我们带来更多的外部线索和刺激时，我们很有可能可以再一次从更符合身体波动周期的角度出发，了解我们自己的自然韵律。普劳图斯两千年前的抱怨揭示出一个道理：一旦时间开始占有一个人，时间也就改变了他的生活方式。年幼的孩子像动物一样，在没有时间概念的世界里漫无目的地漂流。他们可能会在游戏中忘记时间，要想从游戏中出来，只能依靠他们自己生理上的饥饿和疲惫。当孩子们学习社会规范，了解了文化意义上的时间如何与真实客观的时间相对应时，他们的思维时间也会发生改变。在一些文化中，即使对成年人来说，时间也是相对轻松缓慢的；然而在工业化社会里，闲暇会让人产生负罪感。在一些英语国家，时间主宰人们的生活并被精确校准，“时间”一词比其他任何名词使用的频率都高；而亚马孙雨林的阿莫达瓦人使用的语言中则没有关于时间、月份或是年份的词。

    1972 年以来，人们遵循一个公认的时间标准，但文化时间还

    保持着多样性。20 世纪 90 年代，社会心理学家罗伯特·莱文就

    全球 31 个国家人们的生活节奏进行了比较研究，主要观察了人

    们的行走速度、时钟精准度以及办事效率（对比了人们在邮局买

    一张邮票花费的时间）。结果证实，世界不同地区在按照完全不

    同的生活节奏和时区运行。生活节奏最快的国家，经济也最强大；

    城市的生活节奏比农村的快；高纬度地区国家的生活节奏比热带

    地区国家的快。莱文注意到，生活在大洋洲新几内亚西部高地地

    区的卡保库人不会连续工作 2 天，非洲南部的昆族人每周只工作

    2.5 天，每天 6 小时左右。在世界上的许多地方，人们并不急着

    赶时间。公交车不会按时刻表运行，而是满员才发车。在印度，

    一个人可以选择放弃工作，进行一次苦旅，寻求精神的启迪和神秘的参悟，社会也认可这种行为，苦旅途中，人们会随身携带食物。但在西方社会中，这种人则可能因为流浪而被捕。西方人会怀疑和否定无法有效利用时间的人，工人们也会花很多精力让自己看起来很忙。欧洲文化中有很多骷髅头的形象，它们时刻提醒着人们时间的宝贵，因为人只能活一次。

    20 世纪 20 年代，美国贝尔实验室的无线电工程师们发现了

    一个现象：给石英晶体施加电流时，晶体膨胀和收缩的时间长短

    相同。石英器件和摆钟部件不同，不会受到大气湿度、温度或运

    动的影响，如果将石英器件应用在手表上，可以将手表计时的准

    确度提高好几个数量级。很快，计时精确、价格便宜的新型石英

    手表就占领了市场。石英表的精确度揭示出，由太阳、地球和月

    亮运行决定的天数并不像我们以前认为的那样精确，因为每天的

    时长会受到潮汐引力、地球熔核的运动，甚至风的类型的影响而

    发生波动。从 20 世纪 60 年代开始，随着原子钟的出现，每一天

    时长的差异变得更加明显。原子钟里面的电子以准确的节奏跳动，

    显示的时间可以精确到纳秒级，比石英表的微秒级还要精确1,000 倍。

    原子钟的使用让一天的时长不再是地球自转一周的时间，而是 86,400 原子秒。人类文化发明的时间依赖宇宙物理学，遵循地球生物学设定的时间：为了配合地球轨道的变化，全世界的原子钟时间每年都要重置，以保证原子时间和太阳系的时间相差无几。每年，国际地球自转和参考系服务中心都会决定是否要增加1“闰秒”，根据地球自转速度波动而损失的时间的多少而定。如果不增加闰秒，几十年后，人类以原子时间为基础的国际时间将与地球时间有明显的不同。

    我们将生物时间和文化时间分离开来，让我们的家庭和城市

    充满了人造光。人类彻底与自然界的晨昏周期分离，动物和植物

    也因此混淆了自然作息，动物在黄昏歌唱，植物则不分季节地开

    花。最终的结果就是我们的生物时间和卫星向智能手机发送的原

    子时间出现了匹配错位的情况。我们会工作到深夜，会在天不亮

    时起床。在高纬度地区生活和工作的人们，冬天里甚至可能有好

    几个星期都见不到太阳。许多人一直生活在“时差”中，这不仅

    影响我们的健康，比如罹患癌症和抑郁症的人数不断增加，还会

    影响我们与自然世界的关系。

    随着旅行时间和交流时间的大幅缩短，曾经分隔族群、阻碍

    进化的地理距离也急剧缩小。生活在这个速度更快的世界里，拥

    有一个精确运行的时钟，让我们得以从一个新的视角看待时间。

    人类开始将自己放在自宇宙大爆炸开始算起的宇宙时间中，并由

    此出发来理解人类自身。从推算地球形成的年代，到探索我们祖

    先与地球上所有生命的亲缘关系，每一次新的发现都在更新我们

    对自己的认知，动摇我们的社会身份和文化信仰。1837 年，达尔文在描述自己关于万世以来生命进化的理论时，在笔记本上写下“我认为……”，并在下面画出了进化树图。一个多世纪之后，生物学家弗朗西斯·克里克以物理化学家罗莎琳德·富兰克林的 X 射线衍射图为基础，用铅笔绘制出了 DNA 分子的双螺旋结构。这个结构是一种简单而美丽的“生命本质”，它在不同的生命形式之间传递基因信息。就像岩石中沉积层的条纹标志着地质年代一样，DNA 是人类生命本身的基因时钟。
    1895 年，英国小说家赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯出版了中篇小说《时间机器》，比爱因斯坦提出狭义相对论早了 10 年。这是人类第一次尝试在数学层面完全掌控时间。讽刺的是，尽管我们对时间有了诸多新的了解，但想象我们死后的世界并规划人类的未来，与以往一样困难。这也许是生物学认知的失败，当然也是文化的失败。

    第十三章 理性：发明科学的关键

    在希腊海岸帕纳索斯山脚下的岩石上，有一条神圣裂缝，这里供奉的德尔斐神庙至少有 3 500 年的历史了。按照宙斯的说法，这条裂缝通向地球的脐窝，即地球的中心。关于德尔斐地质裂缝众说纷纭，有一种说法称这里是太阳神阿波罗杀死巨蟒皮同的地方。巨蟒被扔入裂缝之后，腐烂的尸体散发出诱人的甜美气味。

    据说，有一天，一位名叫科雷塔斯的牧羊人发现他的一只山羊跌跌撞撞地走向德尔斐裂缝，动作十分奇怪。科雷塔斯很好奇，也跟着走过去。进入裂缝之后，他感觉自己被一种神圣的力量附了体，可以看到过去和未来。他感觉自己仿佛插上了时间的翅膀，可以自由地飞翔，从更广阔的视角审视世界。

    科雷塔斯的故事很快流传开来，德尔斐裂缝因此声名远扬，许多人慕名前来参观。他们想体验浑身抽搐、精神恍惚又十分兴奋的感觉，据说有些人太过疯狂，直接跳进裂缝，再也没有回来。德尔斐神庙曾是大地之神盖娅的神庙，当地村民会选出一名单身的年轻女子作为神使，获取神谕并将神谕告知众人。后来，太阳神阿波罗成为神庙的主人，神使代表所有神发布指令。神谕出现的时间会根据天文星座的运行提前确定。时间计算好之后，在接受神谕的现场，年轻的神使会深入裂缝，吸入神兽巨蟒散发出的甜蜜气味。然后她会进入一种恍惚状态，开始狂呼乱叫，而人们则会怀着敬畏和崇敬的心情记录下她说的话。
    神使能看到未来，并且具有超凡的预测能力，这一点吸引着那些别无选择只能活在当下的凡人。几个世纪以来，神使都有着巨大的影响力，帝王们会向她们请教各种事情，小到爱情，大到战争。她们的预言会改变命运，决定生死。可以说神使是无所不知的。

    神使是一股强有力的进化动力，推动人们对未来的预测。我

    们的预测的准确度越高，我们及后代的生存概率就越大。由于无

    法真正做到穿越时空，所以人类就运用其他手段预测未来，例如，

    我们利用声誉信息来引领社会生活。但是在自然环境中探索前进

    需要新的认知方式，想要更好地预测世界，就需要通过探索我们

    所生活的世界的运行方式，通过观察和测量来更好地理解它。好

    奇心让我们不受主观观念的束缚，理性地审视世界，在客观事实

    中寻求真理。好奇心还引导我们进行实验和创新，从这个意义上

    说，是好奇心使我们成为科学家、探险家和工程师。

    科学是建立在预测未来和检验理论之上的，由此衍生出的知识让我们能够做出更准确和多样的预测，并加速科技的进步。这样的文化进化往往与我们的观念相冲突。它利用人类特有的批判性思维、推理和理性思考的能力，给问题找到新的解决方案，而不是一味模仿别人的想法和做法。文化进化将人类的文化变得复杂，并主导供人学习的社会规范。现在，大部分人都相信，理性思维可以让他们做出更有利于未来发展的决定。但是，我们选择遵循的神谕却不可能总是理性的。

    知识是文化进化的实质，也是文化进化的单位。它在人与人

    之间代代相传和复制，在这个过程中会出现一些小小的变化，这

    些变化可能会带来生存优势，被社会中更多人接受。随着时间的

    推移，这些变化会推动适应能力的提升，这就是文化进化，过程

    类似于基因进化中的突变。然而，在人类进化过程中，充满智慧

    的精心设计也发挥了重要的作用，个人经过深思熟虑后的创新会

    显著地推动文化变革的速度。天才凭借一己之力突然创造出令人

    震撼的发明，这样的事情在很大程度上就是天方夜谭，人类其实

    是在文化的摇篮里进行创新，也就是说大部分的创新总是基于他

    人的见解，在现存事物中发现新的联系。这样的突破，并不是因

    为人们选择复制错误而实现的所谓创新，而是实实在在的原创发

    明的结果，文化创新因此实现了质的飞跃，而不仅仅是数量的增

    加。有目的的创新发明加速了文化复杂性的进程。

    动物普遍喜爱创新，这与它们不断增大的脑容积有关。很多

    生物学家尝试观察动物新的行为方式，这样的例子不计其数。例

    如，有生物学家发现英国的鸣禽知道啄碎奶瓶上的箔盖可以吃到

    奶油，还发现了能在屋顶上滑雪的乌鸦。与通过缓慢的进化来改

    变固有行为相比，创新能够帮助动物们更快地适应环境。一项研

    究发现，在人类将鸟类带到新环境之后，具有创新精神的鸟类存

    活下来的概率明显更大。我们的祖先频繁地迁徙到世界各地，所

    以他们必须拥有创新能力才能生存下来。

    主动开展反复试验可能是最原始的认识世界的方式。毕竟，

    我们与世界接触得越多，作为预测系统的大脑就有更好的预测能

    力，从而提高我们的存活概率。婴儿和小孩通过碰触、品尝和观

    察物体来探索周边的环境，他们会发现两个物体碰撞可以产生加

    速度，比如用脚去踢球，还会发现冰比水冷。但是人类经过文化

    进化的大脑会优先考虑模仿式的社会学习而不是创新，因为模仿

    已有的成功案例或者根据他人的经验来进行预测，要比局限于个

    人有限的思考更有效。创新是一种高风险策略，失败率极高，所

    以相对来说人们较少运用。曾有一项分析运用在线编程竞赛来研

    究文化是如何在现实环境中进化的。研究结果发现，绝大多数的

    文化进步是通过模仿最好的解决方案并进行不断调整实现的，只

    有极少数的文化进步是通过创新得到的。基于他人方案的调整与

    完全自主创新的比例为 16∶1。

    尽管文化创新发生的次数相对较少，但它至关重要，因为如

    果没有创新，只专注于模仿和改进现有的行之有效的解决方案，

    久而久之，文化多样性就会减少。这会让社会缺乏足够的适应性

    解决方案，在面对环境快速改变等危机时就会束手无策。创新和

    模仿两种文化进化过程为集体智慧注入了一系列可能性，拓展了

    集体智慧的功能。对现有事物的刻意改变是构成人类累积性文化

    的重要因素，这种改变也要面对同样的选择压力，通常最好的解

    决方法会被精准复制并在人群中广泛传播。

    虽然创新的步子比模仿大，但与通过模仿取得的进步一样，

    创新也是建立在集体知识基础之上的。发明了轮子之后，人们就

    更容易想象出陶工的轮盘、马车、战车、手推车、齿轮和水车。

    技术发明更是如此，因为它依赖于物理和生物学的规律，会随着

    科学知识的不断积累而加速发展。这表明，对世界的理性理解是

    基于实验和客观测量的。随着这种知识文化的发展，创新也在不

    断前行。在累积性文化进化的过程中，充满智慧的设计就像棘轮

    的工作原理一样，只有文化多样性达到一定程度，创新才可能发

    生。一旦知道了这一点，社会就会加速进步。

    以数学为例，零的发明推动了数学的发展。第一个有关书面数学的证据来自 5,000 年前美索不达米亚的苏美尔人，他们发展了数字和测量，以及乘法口诀和几何学，巴比伦人和希腊人在此基础上进行了扩展，并不断取得进步。7 世纪时人们发明了数字零，这之后开始使用零作为十进制占位符，用阿拉伯数字区分1,000 和 10,000 变得很容易。更复杂的数学变得可行，简单的财务会计等许多实践也都发展起来。零还允许小数点的存在，让数字无限精确，这让牛顿等善于思考的人发展出新的物理定律。（教条主义的基督徒认为，既然上帝代表一切，那么零就是撒旦，他们 1,000 年来一直试图将零驱逐出欧洲，但没有成功。）

    在过去的十几个世纪里，天文学家、哲学家、数学家和工程

    师用自己的方式，探索不同的认识和理解世界的方法，这让他们

    能够更加准确地预测未来。这些预测是经得住考验的，因为他们

    预测时不依靠权威的断言，也不人云亦云、盲从盲信，而是基于

    客观的测量与计算。

    这与其他领域的文化进化有所不同。对世界的主观认识没有

    所谓的逻辑等级，你说新娘应该穿白色婚纱，而我说白色是葬礼

    时穿的，新娘应该穿红色礼服，这纯粹是选择相信哪种观点的问

    题，只能说明不同文化中的民俗不同。不过，东西方提出的重力

    科学并没什么不同，没有所谓的“西方”科学，只有纯粹的科学。

    但这并不意味着以前我们在故事和其他文化事件中找到的象征

    意义失去作用了。现在，仍然有许多科学无法解答的问题，需要

    我们不断地通过故事和其他文化解读方式寻求解释，例如什么是

    生命的意义，以及什么是意识。一些人认为，科学不能回答这些

    问题；另一些人认为，科学终将有一天会从理性的角度回答这些问题。然而，大多数接受和使用科学论据的人仍然会从超自然的角度看待一些事情，并能轻松地将两种角度结合起来看问题。

    目前所知，人类第一个能与神使等超自然预言家相媲美的科学家是泰勒斯，他生活在2600年前的古希腊。泰勒斯年轻的时候在古埃及和古巴比伦学习，回国后，他改革了纯数学领域，提出数学定律必须得到证明才能被称为真的观点。泰勒斯还对尼罗河洪水和地震等自然现象做出了理性解释，这些解释让那些将自然现象归咎于愤怒神灵的故事站不住脚。正是泰勒斯基于客观事实对农业进行的预测让他变得富有。通过研究爱奥尼亚米利都地区的气象模式，泰勒斯能够准确预测下一季的收成。有一年冬天，他通过计算预测橄榄会大丰收，随即他就付了一小笔定金租下了米利都所有的橄榄压榨设备，为丰收季节做准备。等到来年夏天，种植橄榄的人意识到即将会迎来大丰收的时候，才发现泰勒斯已经租下了所有的压榨设备，泰勒斯通过租赁设备赚得盆满钵满。

    知识和创新在社会中的传播很大程度上会受到社会规范的影响，有的社会规范会压制调查研究，有的则鼓励调查研究。对古希腊人来说，哲学思维，探索和质疑，通过辩论和观察获取知识，这些已经融入他们的智识生活之中。宗教故事因新思想和新发现而充满活力，它们让文化变得包容和理性。不过，哲学和科学探究却成了基督教教义的牺牲品。

    耶稣去世后，理性的衰落始于圣保罗。保罗是一个狂热的犹太人，皈依基督教之前，他迫害基督教徒。皈依之后，他宣扬，希腊哲学家被他们自己的质疑蒙蔽了双眼，会直接下地狱。到了4 世纪时，在狄奥多西一世的统治下，《圣经》成为判定一切事物的最终标准，如果质疑《圣经》，那就是异教徒。罗马也从一个相对开放、包容和多元的文明社会，变成了等级森严、受规则束缚的集权社会。无论是《圣经》、盖伦、希波克拉底的医学著作还是托勒密的天文学，都能体现出这一点。西方世界从一个信仰多种宗教的哲学理性世界，变成了只有一种宗教贯彻始终的死板世界。在这个世界中，人们不仅会明确拒绝科学和理性思想，还信奉教条主义，经常残忍地惩罚那些不愿意服从的人，这是西方世界的一大标志性转变。

    希帕蒂亚是希腊杰出的数学家、天文学家和哲学家，是古亚

    历山大时期最后一批伟大的思想家之一。她是当时少有的女学者，

    却不幸遭到了迫害。希帕蒂亚积极传播柏拉图和亚里士多德的观

    点，教授数学和天文学课程，包括指导学生如何设计星盘。她是

    一位颇受尊敬的知识分子，虽与一位著名的基督徒有过一段关系，

    但她本人不是基督徒。415 年，希帕蒂亚和往常一样乘马车去讲

    学，读经人皮特带领基督教狂热分子把她从马车上拉下来，拖进

    了教堂。他们把希帕蒂亚剥得一丝不挂，然后用瓦片割她的皮肉，

    将她残忍杀害。希帕蒂亚死后，暴徒们仍不罢手，肢解了她的尸

    体，扔进火里焚烧。希帕蒂亚的死只是因为她孜孜不倦的求知精

    神。

    宗教的不包容程度越高，社会的创造力和技术创新力就越低。

    由于社会规范变得更倾向于忠实的复制而非创新思维，集体文化

    也随之萎缩。在更为包容的古典时期，人们重视学习，富裕的上

    层阶级和从事贸易的中产阶级都受过教育，这些人组成了一个庞

    大而活跃的网络。从 5 世纪起，西罗马帝国开始衰败。教会之外，

    人们的文化水平直线下降，中世纪早期的欧洲变成了一个封建社

    会。神职人员只靠古代手稿混沌度日，不再进行科学研究。由于

    缺乏科技创新，这一时代又被称为黑暗时代。各种交流的网络不

    复存在，文化在很多方面不再进化，逐渐失去了多样性。在这个

    如此黑暗的时代里，由于人口锐减，群体孤立，再加上限制信息

    流动的社会规范和制度，人们的思考方式受到了禁锢，导致文化

    进化的速度减缓。

    然而，在遥远的东方，社会规范却大不相同。无论男女都很

    重视读写能力，伊斯兰学者将古希腊和古罗马的教学方法运用于

    科学和医学方面，并引入了波斯和印度的传统。到 8 世纪，在阿

    拔斯王朝的统治下，巴格达成为全球的学习中心。当时的巴格达

    拥有 200 万人口，地处欧亚非三洲的交界处，受到各种文化、思

    想和经历的影响。正是这种地理上的连通性、对各种思想的开放

    包容以及对学习的重视，让这个历史上的伊斯兰黄金时代成为科

    学的堡垒。以至于在此后的 700 年间，国际上一直使用阿拉伯语

    作为科学语言。

    当人们意识到不同观点之间存在一定的联系时，创新通常就

    出现了，此外，标准化的广泛应用也推动了社会创新。比如，使

    用通用的阿拉伯语意味着知识可以更加广泛地传播，知识的传播

    带来了更多的“原来是这样”的顿悟与惊叹。在巴格达，阿拉伯

    人从中国战俘那里学会了如何造纸，这种纸比其他地方使用的纸

    草或羊皮纸更便宜，而且能够更快捷地传播信息。纸的出现，再

    加上更为简单的新书写系统，使信息逐渐变得大众化，人们仅靠

    写书和卖书就可以谋生。在波斯裔阿拉伯人哈里发艾卜·加法尔

    -马蒙的赞助下，人们启动了一个收集世界知识的宏大项目。这

    个项目欢迎其他文化的学者加入其中，同时资助阿拉伯使者前往

    世界各地收集文献和手稿。那个时候，给战败国提出的投降条件

    不是索要黄金，而是要求敌国把他们图书馆中的书交出来，从中

    可见知识和信息在当时的价值。随后，这些书被翻译成阿拉伯文，

    保存于智慧宫中，用于研究学习。智慧宫和 1,000 年前被破坏的

    古亚历山大图书馆的作用基本相同。这样的举措使得大量古代知

    识得以保留，否则这些知识将永远消失在历史长河中。全球性的

    传播可以保护物种，让其免于灭绝，让小种群恢复遗传多样性；

    同样，图书馆、修道院和实践社区的建立能够保护文化，不让其

    消失。

    欧洲用了 1000 年的时间才摆脱了狄奥多西王朝统治的影响。古代思想家的思想重获新生，很多先进的思想从伊斯兰国家传到了信奉基督教的欧洲国家，从此欧洲进入了科学和探索的复兴时代。教会领导并控制西方早期的科学探索，但这种情况在 15世纪中期发生了变化，约翰内斯·谷登堡发明了活字印刷，再加上欧洲开始使用纸，印刷术得以普及。印刷术的出现，让信息以标准文本的形式传播开来，欧洲各地的人们可以阅读相同的东西，可以更容易地进行比较和相互参照。后来，从事印刷和出版的威尼斯人阿图斯·曼纽修斯发明了更小、更便宜的 8 开大小的纸张，信息的传播范围由此变得更为广泛。文字印刷的普及开启了一系列对社会规范的全面改革，鼓励人们进行探索、实验和调查。“敢于求知”成为自然哲学家的座右铭，好奇心也从愚昧的象征变成了值得称赞的求知欲望。15 世纪后期，学者们纷纷怀疑旧书中的内容是否都是真理，并认为获得知识最可靠的方式来自直接经验：亲身实践。17 世纪 60 年代，人们开始广泛使用“事实”这个词。

    多运用理性思维会让人越来越擅长思考。在人类发展进程中，

    通过社会交往，我们不仅获得了关于世界的各种事实，知道如何

    看待它们，还逐渐建立起了让“事实继承”成为可能的认知过程。

    也就是说，文化学习本身就是一种文化传承。随着社会规范的发

    展，许多机构诞生了，从而创造出了一个更大的集体大脑，也让

    每个人变得更加聪明。决定文化产物先进程度的不是这个文化中

    的人天生有多聪明，而是要看他们是否会社交。这就是为什么把来自不同文化的人聚集在一起的大学可以促进思想交流和技术创新。

    科学逻辑推理是一种认知处理工具，是观察和理解世界的一

    种方式。在理性思维文化环境中成长起来的人所使用的认知工具，

    能引导他们科学地探索知识和寻求解释。这些行为可以看作他们

    大脑发生的生物变化，是文化发展的结果。在这个过程中，理性

    的想法被赋予了权威。这些人更有可能质疑现状，因此他们的文

    化会加速科技变革以及社会变革。

    读写能力和时间观念这样的认知工具也有助于技术进步。在

    能培养读写能力的社会里，孩子们可以更好地依据他人的观点或

    者通过改进他人的观点形成自己的观点。不同的思维方式会在生

    物学层面上塑造大脑的认知途径，这有时会涉及认知妥协。高等

    数学以更复杂的方式处理数字和符号，涉及许多方程式，因此用

    数学语言和格式把解题思路写下来的数学逐渐发展了起来，但这

    种计算方法在求和时比珠算要慢。珠算用于加减法运算已经近

    5,000 年了，进行连加运算时，经过珠算训练并使用算盘的人要

    比使用计算器的人快。在世界上一些经常使用算盘的地方，那些

    大脑中已经形成虚拟算盘的成年人的心算速度，比依赖语言认知

    （用词汇表达数字）的西方大学生快。

    我们经常忽视科学探索的物质条件，但人类是实实在在的存在，绝不是脱离肉体，存于知识领域的抽象思想。我们的身体给大脑传递信息，它们相互配合，共同进化。通过感官与大自然打交道是我们了解世界的第一步。众所周知，牛顿和达尔文等精英科学家引领人类文化向理性和科学进化，但这种进化依赖的基础却是这些科学家对于最基本的数据、仪器和测量的痴迷。过去 500年里，大量的科学发现不仅应归功于工匠、机械师和工程师，还应归功于哲学家和思想家。事实上，欧洲之所以能引领启蒙运动，其中一个原因就是许多欧洲思想家具有实用主义思维。许多推动英国科学和工业革命的重要人物并没有上过牛津或剑桥大学，他们只是普通的手艺人或工匠。例如，解决海上经度测定问题的约翰·哈里森是一位自学成才的木匠和钟表匠，而发明改良蒸汽机的詹姆斯·瓦特是一位仪器制造工人。

    科学、技术、金融和其他领域相互促进，共同发展，加快了

    人们对新知识的探索速度，但这些都离不开国家、机构和社会规

    范的支持。科学实际上可以看作一个长期的公共产品项目，需要

    赞助人的支持，这些赞助人包括希望获得二至点更准确数据的宗

    教机构，需要改进收成预测模式的企业以及需要计算税收的政府

    机构。虽然科学概念需要一段时间才能被本领域的科学家接受，

    然后再被大众接受，但在科学探索中出现的工具和技术会被人们

    更快地采用，并可能对其他领域产生变革性的影响。科学是需要

    协作的，时间及其他度量方式的标准化是建立共识的重要过程，

    它带来了技术系统的稳定性，让全球贸易和思想交流及零部件交

    换成为可能。因此，标准化是加速技术进化的文化杠杆。

    科学的原理就是推翻现有理论。托勒密为了让大家相信他的

    地球中心宇宙模型，尝试使用了各种复杂的几何手段，但都没有

    取得满意的结果。即使是这样，在有另一个理论能够成功挑战托

    勒密的理论之前，托勒密的模型依旧是当时科学家们拥有的最好

    的宇宙模型。然而，关于世界如何运转的客观探索和最新发现并

    没有突然照亮集体无知的黑暗。科学理论很难与主观解释区分开

    来，人们通过模仿别人来获得自己的信仰。大多数人不会盲目拒

    绝接受新事物，其实我们并不真正相信那些反科学的故事和宗教

    故事。当我们认识到地球是太阳系的中心时，这种宇宙模式就成

    了我们宗教和文化故事的一部分。当科学证明地球不是太阳系的

    中心，只是太阳系一颗普通的行星时，科学范式发生了转变，也

    从根本上动摇了我们的身份。地球是上帝创造出来，是放置在宇

    宙中心的一颗特殊星球，这个故事不得不重写。随着时间的推移，

    大多数人开始相信最新的发现，宗教故事也发生了变化，或者说

    信徒们直接无视了之前的故事。

    观念的改变可能需要几个世纪的时间，当新观念与我们的经验相悖时，需要的时间则更多。从我的角度来看，地球是静止不动的，太阳位于地球的东边，以弧线的轨迹绕着地球转，一天结束时就正好转到了西边。后来，我不得不承认这是个错误的观点。在理性层面，我相信日心说，但在感性层面，还是无法割舍之前的想法，因为人们直观的感觉就是太阳随着人们的生活移动。随着科学的解释逐渐变得更加复杂，感性的观点变得与理性的事实更加不符。我从数学的角度理解了量子力学、重力和磁力的基础内容，但直观上完全不能理解。这些都是生活中的基本概念，但是我对这些知识的理解和接受与我对其他形式的文化知识的理解和接受有很大不同。当然让人更加担忧的是，研究显示，大多数人通常都不能理解数值极大的数字之间的关系，例如不知道如何在一条数轴上让百万、十亿和万亿这些数字等距排列，而理解这些数字的关系对人们如何看待政府政策有着重要的影响。人们之所以不理解，原因之一就是我们日常生活中都不太会在数值如此大的领域里处理事情，所以我们对大数的直观理解不如我们对20 以下数字的理解。

    存在决定意识。人类大脑逐渐进化，构建了一个基于自身感知的现实世界，这种感知依赖人类的生理机能、文化经验和周边环境的综合作用。两个人感知现实的方式可以完全不同，大脑必须平衡我们的经验知识和客观知识，并做出相应的判断。

    视觉错觉说明大脑很容易误解眼睛接收到的感官信息，我们到的其实是一个改编版的现实。但即便知道是视觉错觉在作祟，我们依然坚信自己看到的才是事实。2015 年，美国新闻网站Buzzfeed 的一名记者在网上发了一张条纹连衣裙的照片，配文是：“朋友们快来帮帮我，这条连衣裙是白金色还是蓝黑色？我和朋友争论不下，我们快疯了。”几个小时之内，成千上万的人就裙子的颜色展开了激烈的讨论，社交网络充斥着愤怒的回复，因为他们不能接受别人对世界的认知与自己的不同。对人类来说，没有什么比现实更神圣的事情了，我们的内在想法、身处的外部世界和自己的身体三者之间的关系是个人意识的基础。只有把控好现实，我们才能远离疯狂。

    过去对视觉现象和其他奇怪现象没有科学解释，那时这些现

    象都是上帝存在于世间的证据。最近，科学家在德尔斐进行地质

    勘查时，发现了两条隐藏的断层线，正好穿过德尔斐的下方。这

    些地质裂缝中散发的神经性致幻气体，包括具有甜味的乙烯，只

    需轻微的剂量就能让人产生飘飘然的感觉（高剂量会产生麻醉的

    感觉），这些气体很有可能就是神使产生幻觉的原因。随着我们

    越来越了解大脑神经受体，越来越了解大脑是如何加工视觉数据

    “创造”现实的，我们能够越发清楚地理解不同的化学物质是如

    何改变人们对现实和宗教的理解与认知的。

    很多时候，我们对世界的认知并没有经过大脑的深思熟虑，而是大脑在下意识的状态下根据接收到的有限信息形成的对现实的认识。神经科学家安东尼奥·达马西奥描述了人们在决策过程中的“躯体加工”，即大脑的腹内侧前额叶皮质发出血压改变或心率增加等身体信号，来标记大脑产生的无意识决策（基于过去的经验），大脑会先处理这些信号，做出直觉决策，然后再进行有意识的推理。在分辨连衣裙颜色的那个案例中，有一些证据表明，如果一个人大部分时间待在室外的自然光环境下，那么他更偏向于白金色；而如果一个人经常待在室内，那么他就更有可能认为裙子是蓝黑色的。这就是知觉恒常性。婴儿要到大约 4 个月的时候才会发展出知觉恒常性，并且能看到对的颜色。然而，人类大脑现在学会了克服客观不同，达成主观一致。

    人类的生理机能在文化环境的影响下左右着人类对现实的

    认知，这会进一步影响我们的政治选择、信仰和行为。一个社会

    群体会通过阻止或谴责其他群体信仰的传播，或通过大力宣传本

    群体支持的观点，来进一步巩固自己群体的信仰系统。社交媒体

    就是这种所谓的泡沫效应的典型表现。我们究竟是相信基于经验

    的现实还是基于客观的现实呢？毕竟，一个群体认为百分之百正

    确的事情，对于另一个群体来说，可能会是疯狂和邪恶的，例如

    当今的持枪权、堕胎权、同性婚姻和几十年前的全职太太、国家

    兵役或者颅相学。我们通过常识了解世界，但是这些常识一次又

    一次地蒙蔽了我们寻找现实的双眼。我们错把直觉感知当成了事

    实，不相信我们无法触摸和感知的过程和现象，例如我们穷尽一

    生都不会看见的人类漫长进化过程，以及人类难以感知和想象的

    亚原子领域的量子力学。

    亚里士多德形容人类是“理性动物”，但我们经常表现出不理性的一面。最近，人们揭露出一些上市公司不使用卫星图像和地质知识等最新的科学技术，反而依赖水脉占卜探测的方法来检测漏水点。科学家们对此感到十分生气，他们难以想象，21 世纪的人类还在使用这种中世纪的愚昧技术，作为消费者的普通民众也无疑会因为给这种白痴公司花钱而感觉到耻辱。但是这也说明，在我们通过文化学习到的解决方案中，客观理性的方案和故事传说中的方案并非泾渭分明。

    批判性思维是人类在文化发展中形成的认知工具，帮助我们

    理性地分析形势，从而形成合理的信仰和判断。但问题是，理性

    的解释并不总是能够轻易得到，它需要进行复杂的计算和数据分

    析。所以，在面对复杂情况需要快速做出决定的时候，我们通常

    会根据直觉行事，部分原因是这样做对认知的要求较低，因此也

    就更省力。2002 年诺贝尔经济学奖获得者丹尼尔·卡尼曼描述

    了两种思考方式。一个是“快思考”，即无意识地、依靠直觉不

    费力地思考；另一个是“慢思考”，即有意识地、依靠分析费力

    地思考。他解释说，即使我们认为自己所做的大部分决定是理性

    的，但事实是，大多数时候我们的思考方式是“快思考”。

    从进化的角度来看，快思考和慢思考有一定意义。在许多生死存亡关头，人们需要快速做出决定（如果你遇到狮子，还得停下来想一想如何跑过它，那么你已经死了），这种直觉决策通常是无意识的，根据模式识别、环境线索以及其他有些实用价值的偏见做出的。集体存活也需要快思考，如果一个消防员或者战士在冲过去救援同伴之前还要考虑自身安全，他可能会因为风险大而放弃救援；但如果他选择冲过去救人并且成功了的话，那么更多人就能够存活下来。如果让熟练掌握运动技能的运动员或是熟练掌握其他技能的人在做每一个动作前，都有意识地进行思考和判断，那么他们的发挥就会受限。情绪是有用的，毕竟恐惧驱使我们快速应对风险，愤怒会促进我们交流，让威胁变得可信，内疚阻止我们做出有违社会规范和危害群体团结的事情等。在一项研究中，研究人员要求学生两人一组，商量如何分配他们的资金。一些学生被安排听一些让人生气的音乐，所以在进入实验室的时候他们身上带着更多的怒气，而结果是生气的学生最终带着更多的钱离开了。

    尽管文化进化产生的规范让人类可以进行理性思考并做出合理的决策，但生物进化没有跟上，所以人类的认知还是会受情感的牵动。但问题的关键不在于做决定的时候我们的情感凌驾于理性，而是人们头脑中的偏见。即使是专家也会有偏见，这意味着如果他们犯错误，代价就会更大。在一些组织中，成员们坚信自己不是种族主义者，也没有性别歧视思想，自己是凭借技能而非运气获得了如今的职位。而事实上，这样的组织里种族主义、性别歧视和撞大运的情况却无处不在。

    我们做出的决策会受到自身生理和周围社会环境的影响。以恐惧对心理和生理造成的影响为例，研究表明，投票时表现得越保守的人，其大脑恐惧中枢杏仁体就越大。在一项研究中，一个三四岁的孩子在实验室研究中表现得越恐惧，其 20 年后的政治

    态度就越保守。恐惧的影响立竿见影。在另一项研究中，自由派

    人士在遭受人身威胁时，他们的政治和社会态度会暂时变得保守。

    保守派政客和竞选团队就利用了这种心理，他们把移民比作细菌，

    直击人们内心深处抵御污染和疾病的本能，引发投票者对于移民

    问题的恐慌，从而为自己拉选票。这种比喻提出之后，在 H1N1 流

    感流行期间的一项研究中，研究人员提醒人们要注意流感病毒带

    来的危险，然后再询问他们对移民的态度，最后询问他们是否接

    种了流感疫苗。没有接种流感疫苗的人更有可能反对移民政策。

    但在一项后续研究中，研究人员在提醒人们流感有危险后，立即

    给人们提供了洗手液，移民偏见就消失了。让人们感到安全会让

    他们在投票时更加宽容。在研究人员要求人们想象自己百害不侵

    时，支持共和党的选民对堕胎和移民等社会问题的态度明显变得

    更加宽容，理性中充满了感情。这也暗示了文化的复杂性，从艺

    术作品到专利申请的几项研究中可以看出，一个社会越保守、规

    范越严格，它的创造力就越低，产生的创新就越少。社会越宽容

    开明，技术进步越快。

    有时候，凭感觉而不凭理性做决定可以产生更好的结果，因为通过排除大脑预测系统中的干扰，我们非理性的认知偏见通常能很有效地做出与情感有关的复杂决策。例如，统计模型很容易出错，因为它们是不完整的，且带有内在偏见，它们是建立在与复杂的现实世界相矛盾的完美数学情境下的。因此，许多金融模型未能预测到 2008 年金融危机。大多数决策带来的社会影响也是决策过程中要考虑的重要因素。比如，银行业内部人士虽然对即将到来的危机感到焦虑，但他们依然会选择保持沉默，不发表批判现实的理性观点，以避免造成社会恐慌。在支持者占大多数的情况下，违背多数人意见投反对票的人就会受到排斥，因为他们违背了社会常规。因此，在这种情况下，人们会明智地选择忽略理性的证据，而根据感性思维做决定，因为和寻求一个客观正确的答案比起来，社会凝聚力和维持现有的社会网络更能激发我们的积极性。

    部族文化比事实更能影响人们看待世界的方式。以人为的气

    候变化为例，全球科学界几乎在这一点上达成了共识，但美国人

    之间却对这一问题产生了让人意想不到的分歧。民主党人和共和

    党人受教育程度越高，在气候变化问题上的分歧就越大。有大约

    25%高中毕业的共和党人非常担心气候变化，但仅有 8%受过大学

    教育的共和党人有同样的担心。乍一听，这似乎不合常理，因为

    受教育程度高的人似乎更应该能意识到气候变化带来的影响。但

    在舆论界，气候变化不是一个科学问题，而是一个政治问题。气

    候变化是一门相对较新的科学，技术复杂，所以许多美国人采纳

    了他们的“部族首领”，也就是政治精英的观点。共和党的政治

    精英们缺乏科学头脑，虽然受过良好教育的共和党人可能会更多

    地接触有关气候变化的科学信息，但他们同样也更了解党派利益，而且研究表明后者更重要。正如乔纳森·斯威夫特在 1720 年指出的那样，“理性思考永远无法纠正错误的观点，因为它从来不曾让人们获得错误观点”。人类获取知识和巩固信仰的主要途径是精准地模仿他人，而不是利用现有的依据和自己的判断进行发明创造，因此我们很容易因为模仿对象的不可靠而受到影响。更糟糕的是，通过文化进化，我们已经学会了重视对科学问题的理性解释而不是主观解释，会不由自主地相信我们复制模仿的观点是合理的，因此要改变这些观点就非常困难了。

    通常，在实际决策时，理性思考的主要作用并不是做出决策，

    而是要证明这些决策是合理的。心理学家认为，人类主要还是依

    靠盲目的直觉做选择，理性仅仅是在做出决策之后证明决策无误。

    这可能是因为，尽管我们的潜意识会存在认知偏差，但是与逻辑

    思维相比，它更具理性。在做决策的过程中，几乎没人能够完全

    区分主观推断和客观推断，但人工智能却能做到。人工智能合乎

    逻辑，但是只能在算法规定好的范围内进行客观推理。很多决策

    都具有主观性，其背后有一定的原因。讲究证据的科学基于可测

    量的结果帮助我们进行决策，但是社会规范，即整个社会的价值

    观念，却决定着我们的最终行为。尽管从统计学来看，持枪权和

    枪击犯罪之间的联系是毫无争议的，然而在美国，每次发生大规

    模枪击事件后，少数有权势的人就会两手一摊，装腔作势地思考

    到底该如何避免这样的事件再次发生。

    生物学家认为，所有灵长类动物中，只有人类能够接受错误信息或与已有信息相悖的信息。这意味着，其他灵长类动物无法想象世界的状态与它们当前的现实不符，也无法想象其他个体以不同的方式思考世界。然而，人类却知道世界上存在着自己不知道的事情，也知道其他人会有不同的观点。仅依据这一点，我们往往断定自己是理智的，而与我们意见相左的人是不理智的。更为稳妥的做法是，我们应当认为即便是和我们意见不同的人，也同样理智，只是彼此之间有不同的目标、背景、信仰和偏好罢了。
    过去，人们普遍认为，科学告诉我们世界本来的面目，而我们的主观想法告诉我们要如何理解世界。但后来，科学也逐渐开始解释我们的主观反应，例如情绪是如何产生的，要如何控制它，记忆是怎么形成的，为何可以编造记忆等。随着我们越来越多地了解人类思维的运作方式，开发出越来越人性化的人工智能，我们能否通过揭开意识中主观部分的神秘面纱，最终达到纯理性选择的地步呢？或许有这个可能。
    目前，我们发明的最强大的超级计算机“顶峰”，能够在 1秒钟内完成 20 千万亿次计算，这一运算量需要人类大脑花费 630亿年的时间才能完成。现在，“顶峰”主要用于天气预测。

    第十四章 全能人：人类的未来

    公元 12019 年，美国得克萨斯州，你在黎明时分徒步进入深

    山，开始了朝圣之旅。走着走着，在一块岩石上发现了一处隐藏

    的入口。入口处有两道门，第一道由玉制成，门框为不锈钢材质，

    第二道则是铁门。这两道门组成了一个简易气阀，隔绝灰尘，同

    时防止野生动物闯入其中。你转动门上的圆把手，门开了。进去

    之后，你将身后的门牢牢锁上，进入了一条隧道中，眼前一片漆

    黑。你不断向前走，最后发现，地面上似乎有一些微弱的光。你

    四处寻找着光源，然后发现，在这条宽约 4 米、长约 150 米的垂

    直隧道的尽头，似乎有一个小光点。你登上旋转的楼梯，沿着隧

    道壁，朝着头顶的光点，一圈又一圈地向上爬。最后，在一片光

    明中，你登上了山顶，看到了这趟旅程的终点——由太阳提供动

    力的山顶之钟。钟响了，你是第一个听到钟声的人类，因为这座

    钟在一万年前建成后，就再也没有响过。

    时间一个是相对的概念。各个板块漂移的速度和我们指甲生长的速度差不多。我们用事物发生的速度来衡量时间的快慢，而人类累积性的文化进化正在加速时间的流逝。过去，几千万年才可被称作一个地质时期；现在，几十年就有可能产生新的地质年代。过去，从一座城市到另一座城市需要数天之久，现在只需几

    个小时就能结束旅程，人与人之间的联系甚至只需要 1 秒钟。物

    种灭绝的速度是“自然”灭绝的1000倍。全球人口翻了一番。

    在行星时间的心跳中，人类已经走了很远。5 万年前，1,000

    亿个生命之前，现代人类的祖先只是诸多人种中的一种。现在，

    我们是地球上唯一的人类。文化复杂性的进一步发展需要时间，

    将现有的技术与社会体系传承下去也需要时间，而在大部分时间

    里，人类都受到了更新世时期恶劣自然环境的限制。研究表明，

    在环境恶劣、食物匮乏的时期，一个族群在文化上就会更加保守，

    创新的频率有所下降；族群成员在逻辑判断、创造性思维等方面

    也表现逊色，在做选择时，更依赖情绪而非理性思考。人类 95%

    的时间都是在这样的生存条件下度过的。但是，就像我们现在看

    到的那样，即便是在上个冰川期最冷的时期，人类文化依旧具有

    惊人的复杂性。同一项研究还发现，当食物充裕时，族群成员的

    认知能力会显著提升。11,000 年前，自然环境变得十分宜居，地

    球进入了气候稳定温和的全新世时期。其他人种此时已无福消受，

    只有现代人类一路繁荣兴旺至今。在全新世时期，人类可利用的

    资源持续增加，我们祖先的人口因此得以增长，贸易网络得以扩

    张，这都促进了文化复杂性和多样性的发展。

    人类在与自然打交道的过程中使用的任何一种提高效率的

    方法，换句话说，任何能够提升能量流动效率的改进方法，都可

    以提高我们的生存概率，加速文化进化。以社会复杂性为例，社

    会复杂性受制于社会能利用多少资源。所以，当一个社会的可利

    用资源主要是人力和牲畜时，国家的活动要么是战争，要么与食

    物和安全有关。不过历史上也有一些著名的例外，比如罗马帝国，

    其 900 多年的繁荣主要依靠的是奴隶。随着水车等新型能源工具

    的出现，各个国家开始发展贸易，从贸易中获得的财富比从战争

    中获得的财富要多得多。煤炭的使用使官僚机构不断增多，政府

    随之变得更复杂。其他复杂的系统也逐渐出现，彼此相辅相成。

    由此一来，现代工业社会便在复杂的能源分配系统中诞生了。

    这是因为能源的可利用程度和它的成本成正比。如果利用能

    源实现的创新成本过高，这些新方法就无法继续发展进而形成一

    个更为复杂的体系。然而在人类历史大多数的时间里，能源都十

    分昂贵。以照明为例，1800 年时，每人每年平均使用 1,100 流明

    时；200 年后，这个数字上涨到 1 300 万，是原先的 11,800 倍。

    这一切要归功于成本的降低。1800 年，一位工人辛苦劳作 60 个

    小时产出的微弱烛光（蜡烛由羊脂制成），如果供一人每天使用

    2 小时 26 分钟，可以使用一整年。同样的劳动力能产出 54 分钟

    的白炽灯光亮。但看看成本的差异：2006 年，英国 100 万流明时

    人造光的成本仅为 2.67 英镑；而在 14 世纪，这一成本为 35,000

    英镑。

    随着经济规模的不断扩大、技术的不断革新和其他提高效率

    的方法的使用，能源变得越来越便宜，经济得以加速发展。在更

    新世时期，全球经济产值每 25 万年翻一番；在全新世时期，得

    益于农业的发展，全球经济产值每 900 年翻一番；自 1950 年开

    始，全球经济产值每 15 年翻一番。经济发展的同时，人口数量

    也从 150 年前的 10 亿飙升到 77 亿。那么，新增的庞大人类群体

    居住在哪里呢？答案是大部分人都聚集在高效的城市系统中，目

    前占地球陆地表面 3%的城市中居住着 75%的人类。城市化正在将

    人类网络的密集度提升到前所未有的程度，由此产生了新的社会

    特性，例如文化和基因的融合，精心设计的医疗保健系统，以及

    首次出现的人口增长放缓现象。增长放缓的原因可能是人类自愿

    限制家庭规模，但最主要的还是人们想要更多的资源。如今，在

    伦敦出生的婴儿存活到成年的概率比以往任何时候都要高，有的

    甚至能活到百岁。她可以在联系最密集、规模最大的人类族群中

    学习，可以读书认字，知晓车轮、弹簧、杠杆是何物，理解分数、

    进化、金钱、民主、感染控制、观察视角等概念。她还会接触到

    目前最伟大的认知和科技工具。这意味着今天的人类比以往任何

    时候都更能有效地解决问题。最近几十年，人类进入了“大加速

    发展期”。人类活动的加速发展带来了人口数量、全球化程度和

    科技创新日新月异的发展。

    在本书中，我向大家介绍了人类如何通过“基因—环境—文化”三位一体的发展获得了进化的成功，以及人类是如何成为一个能够主宰自己命运的非凡物种的。现在，我们所有人都处于一个非常特殊的时刻。人类正在变为一个超级有机体，我们姑且称之为全能智人，简称全能人。

    为了更好地了解全能人，我们先深入土壤，认识一种构造极

    其简单且十分古老的单细胞有机体——黏菌。它大概出现在 6 亿

    年前，遍布在全球各地的土壤中，和其他单细胞一样生存于世。

    有时，成千上万的黏菌会聚集在一起，它们的黏液会组成一个外

    壳，里边包裹着一个新形成的有机体。这个有机体可以蠕动爬行，

    有脉搏，会长出触须，甚至可以走出迷宫。科学家将这些黏菌的

    聚集形式描述为“社会”，因为每一个黏菌都在朝着同一个目标

    努力，有时甚至不惜牺牲自己的生命。如果黏菌所在的土壤缺少

    食物，黏菌会合成一根卷须，爬到阳光下。在那里，一部分黏菌

    会牺牲自己，将它们的身体转化为坚硬的纤维素，在地上形成茎。

    剩下的黏菌则会顺着茎向上爬，在茎的顶端等待路过的动物。有

    动物经过时，它们会附着在这些动物身上，到达新的土壤，继续

    生存下去。

    人类的大脑有点像黏菌，不过人类的大脑既不能独立存在，也不可以自己移动。独立的大脑细胞（即神经元）本身并没有感知能力。但当 1,000 亿个神经元同时联网共同感知时，大脑感知到的东西远远超过这 1,000 亿个神经元单独工作的效果。不过直到现在我们也没有弄清楚，思想、人格或行为是如何在神经网络中扎根生长的，我们也不清楚神经元在其中是如何发挥作用的。不过意识就是从这些最普通的“建筑材料”中诞生的。全能人大脑所拥有的智慧、创造性和社会性，可以和全体人类大脑通过相

    互连接和沟通建立起来的网络式积累相媲美，而全体人类大脑还

    包括给我们留下文化和智慧遗产的祖先的大脑及电脑程序等人

    造大脑。全能人的全球帝国由跨国公司控制。我们通过全球社交

    平台进行交流，用美元进行交易结算。我们用的是同一个互联网，

    在各个城市都能吃到意大利面、比萨和米饭，买牛仔裤，喝可乐，

    嚼口香糖，听流行音乐。全能人通过联合国发挥全球政治权威和

    司法系统的作用，通过世界贸易组织管理国家之间的商品贸易，

    通过世界卫生组织管理医疗卫生，虽然这些机构的办事效率很低。

    对很多人来说，当他们面对这样的全球网络时，家庭、部落和国

    家的概念都缩小了。人们逐渐将自己看作地球公民而不是某一国

    的公民。

    到目前为止，不同文化背景的人之间并没有显著的生理差异，

    但未来情况可能会有所变化。未来几十年里，那些不属于超个体

    的人可能会发现自己在文化、技术，甚至是身体和认知方面，都

    与社会格格不入。举例来说，描述一个人时，我们将越来越频繁

    地假定这个人寿命比较长，交流能力比较强，不满足这个条件的

    人将属于一个不同的人类种族，甚至有可能是一个亚种。如今，

    石器时代人类和现代都市人之间的文化差异类似于卡拉哈里野

    狗和巴黎贵宾犬之间的差异（不过人和狗不同，来自任何地方的人都可以成为“文化表型”）。但这并不意味着一种文化会比其他文化优越或“进化层级更高”。依赖复杂技术的生活不一定比狩猎采集社会的生活方式更快乐或更有意义（许多人会认为恰恰

    相反）。然而，像狩猎采集这样的社会被逐渐淘汰，取而代之的

    是人口密度极高的工业社会，因为这样的社会能源使用效率更高。

    随着全能人越来越同质化，我们应该牢记保持文化和生物多样性

    的重要性，因为这是一种生存适应。在过去，它能提供我们需要

    的东西，而当我们进入未知领域时，它可能会成为无价之宝。这

    意味着我们要保护所有人类的权利以及人类的居住地，使其不受

    自身掠夺成性的超个体的影响。

    全能人也表现出了强大的物理存在性。人类个体和社群未来

    会对居住地或周边环境产生影响，而我们的超个体对地球的改变

    之大已经超过了地球过去 46 亿年中经历的任何事情。地球正进

    入另一个地质时代，而这一次是我们改变了地球。地质学家将这

    个新时代称为人类世，他们认为人类已经成为一种地球物理力量，

    这种力量和撞击地球的小行星，或是体积庞大的火山不相上下。

    影响人类进化的自然环境已经被人类自己彻底改变了。

    只用了短短一代人的时间，人类就成为非凡的全球性力量，而且这一力量丝毫没有减弱的迹象。地球上 2/5 的土地用于农耕，3/4 的淡水资源掌控在人类手中，地球上不再有“无人之境”，我们甚至可以决定大气的温度。人类，已经从非洲稀树草原上一种濒临灭绝的弱小灵长类动物，成长为地球上数量最多的大型动物，数量位居第二的则是我们培育出的供我们食用、使用的其他动物。我们对自然世界贪婪的掠夺已经导致森林遭受了大规模的砍伐，大量物种惨遭灭绝，生态系统严重崩坏。其他哺乳类动物需要花数百万年（是人类存在时长的 10 倍以上），才能恢复被人类破坏的进化多样性。我们还制造了大量的垃圾，这些垃圾需要

    几个世纪才能被彻底降解。当我们从海洋中捕食野生鱼类时，我

    们也吃下了它们体内人类自己丢弃的塑料垃圾。地球上不再有无

    穷无尽的自然美景，所到之处，皆有人迹。未来的几代人将会直

    面人类世产生的后果，也就是说，人类已经殖民了自己的未来。

    文化进化让全能人能够极大地改变包括人类自己在内的所

    有物种的命运。然而，人类的个体生活更多地由人类在全能人

    “连接体”（即我们的集体智慧网络）中的位置决定，而不是由

    人类生理或基因决定。想象一下，现在有一位来自西方发达国家

    的白人男性，出身显赫，家庭富足；还有一位来自南半球发展中

    国家的深肤色难民，身无分文，无权无势。他们将会在同一座城

    市里过着截然不同的生活。他们的智商、身心健康程度、政治信

    仰、患病情况、子女数量、未来财富和预期寿命都和他们在“连

    接体”中的位置紧密相关。这些差异会通过文化传承“复制给”

    他们的后代，至少是下一代。当黏菌结合在一起组成新的有机体

    时，位于中心位置的黏菌会得到很好的保护，而位于外部的黏菌

    则很容易受到攻击。

    人类进化的三位一体，即基因—环境—文化，都与社会网络

    形成的方法有关，这也决定了人类社会的运作方式。全能人时代

    的来临，表明自由并非如想象般美好。然而我们依旧渴望自由，

    因为虽然全能人整体统治着我们，但每个人都可以通过社会网络

    影响他人，因此，也会对全能人整体产生影响。最值得注意的是，

    不同于黏菌的超个体，人类的超个体由数十亿个不相关的个体组

    成。全能人是自然进化过程中独一无二的产物。

    从进化角度来看，生命的意义在于基因的延续。我们的祖先

    利用文化发展出了一种成功传承基因的方式，得益于此，如今我

    们主宰着地球上所有的生命。然而，我们的文化目标——自我决

    定，已经超越了人类的生物学界限。我们有权选择自己的基因，

    决定别人的生死，甚至还能消灭整个物种。如果人类想生存下去，

    那么文化进化就必须迈出下一步，从群体存活走向全球人口存活，

    即全能人的存活。

    作为地球上的一个物种，人类的自我意识日益增强。也许人类世给我们最大的教训就是：文化进化的规则同样适用于自然环境的生物进化。也就是说，如果想看到生态的多样性和复杂性，我们就需要保持生物的种群数量和连通性。虽然全能人拥有的巨大网络在技术复杂性和文化多样性上带来了越来越多的回报，但这一切都是以破坏环境为代价的。地球资源并不是取之不竭的，全能人已经使用了地球原始净资源的 1/4。这种不可持续的资源使用方式会让我们得到的回报越来越少。然而，如果依靠个人力量减少淡水浪费或减少碳足迹，那么所产生的影响几乎可以忽略不计。虽然人类可以在一定程度上控制全能人，但目前看来，我们无法应对地球在人类世时期向人类发出的挑战，而且被人类改变的地球也一定会对全能人产生巨大的影响。

    人类世很可能和从更新世到全新世的地质转变一样，具有文

    化变革性。不过上一次的转变花费了数千年，而这一次会在几十

    年内就完成转变。在我们子女生活的时代，海平面会上升，这可

    能会毁灭人类世界，甚至会摧毁人类文明。过去，气温仅仅升高

    1 摄氏度左右就对古罗马文明和玛雅文明产生了巨大的影响。在

    人类世，气温也有一定幅度的升高，由此产生了战争、地区动荡

    和数百万难民。我们的文化需要以前所未有的方式适应我们正在

    创造的新世界。

    人类的生理机能已经发生了变化：西方男性的精子数量已经

    减少了一半以上；不仅超过 1/3 的成年人被肥胖困扰，而且出现

    了一些导致营养不良的新方式。令人诧异的是，现在人们致力于

    研究如何减少食物中的卡路里含量，但这与我们过去几十万年中

    孜孜不倦追求的进化正好相反。

    在科技和社会规范的推动下，人类不断进化，例如，我们的前额在变大，身高在变高，近视的发病率也在大幅上升。这些变化发生得很缓慢，因为生物层面的进化比文化层面的进化慢。然而，接种疫苗以及在试管授精的过程中使用直接破解 DNA 工具的做法，正在帮助人类加快基因进化。2012 年，人类发明了一种最新的基因编辑技术 CRISPR。它就像一把分子剪刀，能把特定的基因剪掉，然后插入其他的基因组片段。CRISPR 可以快速、简单、精准地编辑生命“蓝图”，拥有巨大的发展潜力。现在，人类有能力创造新的生命形式，从新的作物品种到新的人类，每一次转换一个基因。如今，我们已经有可能消除引发严重疾病的基因。总有一天，我们有可能战胜死神。与此同时，利用遗传和生物特性，再加上实验室培养的细胞、组织和器官，针对不同病人的个性化治疗正在逐步发展。

    随着我们不断用人造肢体提升身体能力，类似内尔·哈比森这样的电子人将越来越常见。未来，纳米机器人会监测人体血液和器官的情况，还会根据健康状况，为我们提供靶向药物。人类将越来越成为一件“设计品”。

    随着全能人的发展，机械组件在这个超个体中的占比将不断

    增加。如今，我们已经和 900 万机器人共享地球，同时，随着我

    们将大脑的能量需求，甚至大脑本身外包出去，我们的集体智慧

    中也包含了人工智能。人类严重依赖机械记忆和机械处理，人类

    每年的数据足迹已达 40 千兆字节，或约 5 泽字节，这是一个难

    以想象的二进制数字。随着文化进化，我们有了更多的“拐杖”

    帮助我们减轻认知活动的负担，但这些先进的信息处理技术和丰富的社会资源有可能让我们变得更笨。几千年前，苏格拉底曾担心书写技能会削弱年轻人的记忆能力。事实证明，苏格拉底是正确的。死记硬背没有多大必要，我们在其他方面有更好的表现，比如处理抽象信息，因为我们从小就浸泡在工业化世界中，所以从小就具备了归纳、用符号思考和分类的能力。在过去的 80 年里，人类的平均智商提高了 30（即弗林效应），但认路的技能退化了。

    人工智能可能是人类大脑不断渴求预测能力的最高表现形

    式。就预测能力而言，人为设计的计算程序难逢敌手。在许多重

    复性的任务中，计算机程序已经呈现出远远优于人类的特点。人

    类使用机器的目标是让其独立执行任务、做出决策，这让人工智

    能可以完美胜任涉及大量信息采集的工作，在这个过程中统计结

    果比主观判断更为重要。与人类相比，机器往往更快、更精确，

    因为人类需要较长时间来记忆或查找信息，而且容易产生偏见、

    疲劳和厌倦等情绪。

    但是人工智能出错时会发生什么呢？目前，人类社会规范允许人类犯错误，却期望机器决策始终百分之百正确。人工智能决策失误的例子已不在少数，由于出现编码错误或者数据偏差，人工智能也会像人类一样犯错误，却无须为此埋单。另一个则是隐私问题，为优化人工智能，我们需要提供最全面的数据集，而这些数据本质上来说就是我们的声誉信息。现在个人信息正逐渐被一些跨国公司控制，并可能会反过来被用来针对我们。基因组检测公司收集了大量的个人数据，家谱数据库已经可以识别 60%的美国人，即使有些人之前没有做过检测。大数据集让全能人成为一名非常高效的星球玩家，但如果我们的声誉得不到保障，就会面临个人悲剧和更大的社会不公等风险。如今国家可以前所未有的方式潜入公民的私人生活。有的国家开发出信用评分体系来监督人们的行为，通过行为和友好关系等数据来为个人的“社会信用”排序。分数低的人会被列入黑名单，从而影响买飞机票、找工作和贷款。

    这些都是人工智能正在面临的真实而重要的问题，但如果能

    有效管理，这些问题都可以控制。人工智能是一个希望与威胁共

    存的综合体，可以肯定的是，它并不会取代人类，因为即使是最

    先进的机器人也比不上人类的卓越、灵活多变和多才多艺。尽管

    人工智能在计算和模拟数据方面能力出众，令人印象深刻，但这

    并不意味着它已经达到人类智力的顶峰。实际上，如果一个人只

    拥有上述能力却缺乏常识或社会意识，他会被诊断为认知障碍。

    然而，人类做的工作会越来越多地被机器取代，这是毫无疑问的。

    因为机器效率更高，并且正如我们所见，能源使用效率是驱动文

    化进化的根本动力。问题是，人类与机器人不同，人类要从工作

    中获得使命感、认同感和价值感。如果没有社会规划，人类可能

    无法以稳定且人道的方式过渡到下一个经济时代。

    我着手写本书的时候，对人类进化的故事有一个模糊的理解，

    我认为从猿人进化到现代人，我们从最初的悲惨困苦的猿一步一

    步变成了享受现代世界的舒适便利的公民。令人吃惊的是，尽管

    科技发展了数千年，但直到最近几个世纪，人类福利才有了真正

    的改善。现在的情况比以往任何时候都要好：1500 年，英国伦敦

    人与印度德里人一样艰难度日；1950 年，葡萄牙的儿童死亡率为

    史上最高，至今都没有国家超越；19 世纪至今，普通民众的健康

    得到显著改善，这要归功于农业和医药方面的科技发展。放眼整

    个人类历史，如今，我们拥有人类历史上最安全、最充足、最实

    惠的食品供应。

    尽管世界上仍有战争，但死于战争的人口比例已经有所下降。（这未必是因为战争不再那么残暴，而是因为人口总数有所增长，其他灵长类动物也有过类似经历。）全能人降低了全球战争爆发的可能性，核威胁是一部分原因，但主要是因为人类在经济、贸易、家庭和文化实践中相互联系、相互依存。尽管对人类来说，全能人的世界是一个更安全、更美好的世界，但人类的持续发展是历史必然。

    我在新闻中看到，我们与之斗争了上千年的社会问题依然存在，例如部落主义以及个人利益和集体利益之间亘古不变的紧张关系。我看到英国试图进行历史上最伟大的和平合作，却因党派之争而分裂；我看到法西斯主义在自由民主国家的兴起；我看到美国总统对其他性别和种族的公民发表充满仇恨的言论；我看到数百万人因为战争和暴力逃离非洲、亚洲和中东；我看到全球在预防环境灾难方面的不作为。尽管我们取得了科技进步，但在社会生活的很多方面都有所倒退，让大型多元文化社会和谐共处的有效准则正在分崩离析。群体之间的不平等意味着利益不一致，他们认为彼此属于不同的阵营，这就导致合作时会产生冲突。尽管人类科技越来越精进，但我们似乎无法避免重蹈覆辙，让错误不再重演，这一切就仿佛人类的文化算法有缺陷一样。

    的确，悲观和绝望有很多缘由，但在很大程度上是视角问题。我们只能生活在自己的时代，因此社会和政治生活的细枝末节对我们来说却是史诗般的大戏。然而，从人类文化进化的角度看，渺小的人类只是变革海洋中的微波，也许还没来得及实现人权的改善，就又倒退回种族不平等的黑暗时代了。我想知道这些高峰和低谷是否是更伟大的进步的一部分。我们可能正奔向某个更宏伟、更美好的时代。在黑暗时代，要牢记人类的诸多善举和个人勇气，正是这样的勇气让我们在短时间内实现了社会的巨大变革。许多曾经难以想象的事情现在都变为现实，如废除奴隶制、尊重女性权利和建立全民医疗卫生体系等。在先驱者的引领下，数百万人的生活发生了改变。全能人是一股强大的力量，因为它集合了数十亿个卓越的人类个体。全球 1/4 以上的人口是儿童，他们仍需要获取文化知识来应对人类未来的重大挑战。他们将开发新的技术，制定新的社会规范，并以新的方式解读社会，与自然界互动。但是，这些孩子只有在善良、合作、包容的环境中成长，他们自身巨大的人类潜能才能被发掘出来，因为即使我们作为全能人的一部分在全球范围内运作，我们的实际生活范围仍然是只有数百人的社区。只有承认、接纳与我们在地球上共同生活的所有人，才能创造一个美好宜居的人类世。
    作为一个物种，人类在遗传、文化进化和环境适应与改造上都达到了史无前例的高度，几乎地球上所有人之间都存在联系。如今的我们是被困在短暂阶段的个体，但同时也是联通的数据流、记忆库和意见领袖，是更伟大的人类的一部分。我们当下做的每一个决定都注定影响深远，关乎我们能否成为未来人的好祖先。因此，做决定时我们要放眼未来，把未来数十亿人的福祉考虑在内，因为这些人将生活在我们亲手为他们创造的世界中。几个世纪前，北美原住民易洛魁族的首领创造了“七代管理”这一概念，要求人们考虑每个决定对自己的子孙后代，即未来 7 代人产生的影响。在地球属于我们的这宝贵的几十年里，我们在享受祖先开辟的花园时，也绝不能从后代那里偷走树荫。

    思绪至此，夜空中有一颗永恒的流星划过我的窗前，它就是国际空间站，我们永久占据的外太空家园，人类是地球上唯一能做到这一点的生命形式。人类通过几十万年的合作，实现了最不可思议的奇迹。我们是如此非同寻常，集体文化的迭代将我们带去未知的领域，这给我们带来了新的问题，但我们希望它也能带给我们解决方案。毕竟，除了我们自己，没有人可以拯救我们。

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》24-26

    CHAPTER XXIV.  THE TAIPING REBELLION

    The war, which was brought to an end by the treaty of JS anking, left the imperial government astonished and crippled, but not paralyzed or dejected. It had, moreover, the effect of arousing it from the old notions of absolutism and security; and though the actual heads of bureaus at Peking were unable, from their secluded position and imperfect education, to ascertain and appreciate the real nature of the contest, the maritime officials could see that its results were likely to be lasting and serious. A few thoughtful men among them, as Ilipu, Seu Kiyu, Iviying and his colleagues, understood better than their superiors at the capital that the advent of the ‘ Western Ocean people ‘ at the five open ports introduced a permanent influence upon the Black-haired race. They could not, of course, estimate what this influence would become, but a sense of its power and vitality had the effect of preventing them from petty opposition in carrying out the treaty stipulations. With the major part of the officials, on the other hand, life-long prejudice, joined to utter ignorance as to the numbers, position, and resources of foreign nations, led them to withdraw from even such a measure of intercourse with consular and diplomatic officials as they could easily have held. The tone of official society was opposed to having any personal relations with their foreign colleagues, and after the old Emperor Taukwang had passed off the stage in 1850, his son showed—even eight years after the peace—that promotion was incompatible with cultivating a closer acquaintance with them.

    It is not surprising that this reaction took on the form of doing as little as possible, and that its stringency was increased ill reality by the device of making the governor-general at Canton the only channel of correspondence with foreign ministers.

    This magnate was surrounded in that city by ^subordinates whose training had been inimical to extending intercourse with foreigners, because they had reaped the advantages of the old system in their monopoly of the trade. The intendants at the other open ports were directed to refer difficult (piestions relating to foreigners to this high functionary, but as they wero more disposed to let such disputes settle themselves, if possible, few cases were ever sent to him. The animus of the whole governing class gradually assumed a settled determination to keep aloof from those who had humbled them in the e^’es of their subjects, and yet give no handle to these potent outsiders to repeat their descent on the coast. It was a poor policy in every point of view, only serving to hasten the evils they dreaded.

    SIR JOHN DAVIS AND KITING, 577

    Sir John Davis was appointed governor of Hongkong in 1844, and during four years’ service so soon after the war saw much of this proud and foolish spirit. His two volumes, published in 1852 (China during the AVan and since the Peace), contain a digest of the official records and acts of the Chinese government which is highly instructive. It is remarkable that lie should show so much surprise at the mendacity, ill-will, and weakness of the officers in these reports to their master, or at the Emperor’s persistency in wreaking his wrath on those whose poltroonery had done him so much harm. A residence of nearly thirty years in the country should have developed, in his case, an intimate acquaintance with native ideas of honor and mercy, and shown him how little of either are practised in time of war.

    If he blames the Chinese leaders for their ignorance and silly mistakes in its conduct, one can readily see that they never had an opportunity to learn the truth about their enemies. Their struggle against the impossible was not altogether in vain, therefore, if it prepared them for accepting the inevitable. Had Sir John manifested a little sympathy for their plight in such an unequal contest, and shown more humanity for their sufferings under the evils which afflicted them, his opinion of the best remedies would have carried much weiirht. As an instance of the result of Ills own training in the East India Company’s school, he remarks respecting the imperial edicts against opium, that they fell into disuse, and that the subject had never been revived since the war ; adding, ” But at no time was the traffic deserving the full load of infamy with which many were disposed to heap it, for at most it only supplied the poison, which the Chinese were not obliged to take. The worst effect, perhaps, was the piracy it engendered, for this has told against the honest trade.” ‘ In his first interview with Kiying, in May, 1844, he proposed that the Chinese government should legalize the opium trade, for ” such a wise and salutary measure would remove all chances of unpleasant occurrences between the two governments; it might provide an ample revenue for the Emperor, and check to the same extent the consumption of a commodity which was at present absolutely untaxed.’” He, however, brought it more directly to his notice the next year in consequence of the revival of smuggling at Whampoa to as great a degree as in 1839, and the opium vessels all left the Reach.

    Kiying was entirely indisposed to move, or even aid, in this matter, which he knew would be distasteful to the Emperor, other than by a truly Chinese device—that the oflScials of both nations should let it go on by nnitual connivance. Sir John naively remarks on this : ” The only thing wanting was that the Emperor should publicly sanction what he had once publicly condemned. . . . The trade, however, was practically tolerated, and to us this made a great difference. The Chinese government was not sufficiently honest to make a public avowal of this change in its system, but the position in which Great Britain stood became materially altered. China had distinctly declined a conventional arrangement for the remedy of the evil, and expressed a desire that we should not bring the existing abuse to its notice.” ^ With two such men in command, of course nothing was ever done by either side to restrain the evils growing out of this contraband and demoralizing trade, until another war and new treaties changed the national relations.

    ‘ Chimi chning tits War, etc., Vol. I., p. 19.Ubid., Vol. li., p. 44.3/6j«., Vol. n., p. 303.

    At Canton the long-cherished dislike to foreigners was fomented by demagogues and idlers. These worked upon the fears of the people In- telling them that their lands were to be taken to build warehouses upon ; and this rumor was so far believed that it soon became unsafe for foreigners to venture far into the suburbs. In December, 1847, not long after the arrangement with Sir John Davis respecting an entrance into Canton city was made, six Englishmen were attacked by a mob at Hwang-chuh-ki while on a ramble, and all killed, some of them with reiined cruelty. Kiying took immediate measures—extremely creditable to his sense of what he owed to justice and maintenance of peace—to pnnisli these villagers. A mimber of men whom their fellows indicated as leaders in the outrage were arrested ; the prisoners were tried at Canton by the regular courts. Four were presently decapitated in the sight of a military deputation sent from Hongkong, and two others by orders from Peking. This well-timed justice secured the safety of foreigners peaceably going about the city and environs ; but it was creditjly stated afterward that there were numerous placards already posted in that region informing the people that foreigners would perhaps be coming thither to select sites for themselves. These unfortunate Englishmen, indeed, would perhaps have been allowed to return home, if they had been able to speak to the villagers and explain their object.

    DISPOSITION OF CHINESE TOWARD FOREIGNERS. ^70

    This incident makes it proper to notice a common misapprehension abroad in respect to the influence of the treaties which had been signed with China upon the people themselves. It was inferred that as soon as the three treaties with England, France, and America had been ratified, the great body of educated Chinese at least would inquire and learn what were their provisions, and a natural curiosity would be manifested to know something about the peoples of those lands. Nothing could be more likely—nothing was farther from the reality, No efforts were ever made by the imperial officers at the capital or in the provinces to promulgate these national compacts, whose original and ratified copies were never even transmitted to Peking. Consequently, the existence and nature of these Iiaoo yoh, or ‘peace contracts,’ had to be continually taught to the natives, who on their part did not usually feel themselves under much obligation to obey them. In China, as elsewhere, just laws never execute themselves, and it is hardly surprising that not an officer of the Emperor should go out of his way to enforce their distasteful stipulations.

    It was therefore uphill work to see that the treaties did not become a dead letter, and all the hardest part of this labor fell to the lot of the British consuls. They alone stood forth among foreign officials as invested with some power of their own ; and being generally able to use the Chinese language, they came into personal relations with the local officers, and thus began the only effectual mode through which the treaties could become agencies for breaking down the hoary wall of prejudice, ignorance, and contempt which had so long kept China out of the pale of progress. In doing this, no fixed course could be laid down ; though the constant tendency of the consuls was to encroach on the power of the mandarins, these latter were generally able to recur to the treaties, and thus learn the necessity and benefits of adherence to them. Their education was a colossal undertaking, and considering the enormous difficulties, its progress has been as rapid as was consistent with the welfare of themselves or their subjects. In this progress they bear the greatest share of the burden ; its responsibilities and costs, its risks and results, almost wholly come upon them, while foreign nations, with the immense undefined rights of exterritoriality on their side, are interested on-lookers, ready to take advantage of every fauxpas to compel them to conform to their interpretation of the treaties. Very little consideration is given to their ignorance of international law, to their full belief in the power of China, or to their consequent disinclination to accept the new order of things so suddenly forced on them. On the other hand, no one who knows all the features of this period will withhold the praise due to the British authorities in China for their conduct in relations with its functionaries ; it might fairly be added that the improved state of international intercourse is mostly due to them.

    The condition of the Empire at the close of the war was most discouraging to its rulers, who had not dreamed of receiving so crushing a defeat. It is creditable to them that they honorably paid up the $21,000,000 exacted of them by the British, who of course restored Chusan at the stipulated time.

    The name of II. Montgomery Martin, tlien treasurer of Hongkong colony, must be awarded due mention as being the only Queen’s official who endeavored to resist its surrender, on the plea of its great benefit to her eastern empire and influence.

    Sir John Davis speaks of the “political and military considerations” which gave importance to it ; but the proposal of Mr. Martin was promptly rejected by his superiors, and the whole archipelago has since been neglected. At the four northern ports opened by treaty, with the exception of Fuhchau, trade began without difficulty. This city having entirely escaped the ravages of the war, its proud gentry influenced the citizens against foreigners and their trade ; the first European residents there met with some ill-usage, but this bitter feeling gradually wore off as the parties became better known.

    At Canton the case was aggravated by the prejudices of race and the turbulence of the unemployed braves who had flocked into it on the invitation and inducements of Commissioner Lin to enlist against the English. They had been disbanded by Kiying, but had not returned to their homes ; their lawlessness increased till it threatened the supremacy of the provincial government, and required the strongest measures of repression.

    The disorders spread rather than diminished under an impoverished

    treasury and ill-paid soldiery, and prepared the way for

    the rebellion which during the next twenty years tasked the utmost

    resources’ of the nation. The ignorance of one part of its

    people of what was taking place in another province—which

    during the foreign war so greatly crippled the Emperor’s efforts

    to interest his subjects in this struggle—hete did much to preserve them from unitino; against him to his overthrow. It was

    plain to every candid observer that however weak, unprincipled,

    and tyrannical the Manchu rulers might be, they were as efficient

    sovereigns as the people could produce, and no substituted sway

    could possibly’ elevate and purify them until higher principles of

    social and political life had been adopted by the nation at large.

    CAUSES OF THE TAI-PIXG IXSURRECTIOIS”. 58T

    The protracted convulsion, known abroad as the Tai-ping Rebellion, owed much of its duration as well to the exposure of the government’s internal rottenness as to its weakness against foreign nations ; hut many other causes were at work. The body of the Chinese people are well aware that their rulers are no better than themselves in morals, honesty, or patriotism ; but they are all ready to ascribe the evils they suffer from robbers, taxation, exactions, and unjust sentences to those in authority.

    The rulers are conscious that their countrymen consider it honorable

    to evade taxes, defy the police when they can safely do so,

    and oppose rather than aid in the maintenance of law and order.

    There is no basis of what in Christian lands is regarded as the

    foundation of social order and just government—the power of

    conscience and amenableness to law ; nevertheless, from the

    habits of obedience taught in the family and in the schoolroom,

    the people have attained a good degree of security for themselves

    and show much regard to just rulers. The most serious

    evils and sufferings in Chinese society are caused by its disorderly

    members, not its rapacious rulers ; and both can only be

    removed and reformed by the reception of a higher code which

    raises the standard of action from expediency to obligation.

    In giving an account of the rise and overthrow of the Tai-pin Rebellion, it will be necessary to limit the narrative to the most important religious, political, and military events connected with it up to its suppression in ISGT. The phrase ” Tai-ping Rebellion ” is wholly of foreign manufacture ; at Peking and everywhere among those loyal to the government the insurgents were styled Changmaozei or ‘Long-haired rebels,’ while on their side, by a whimsical resemblance to English slang, the imperialists were dubbed imj)s. When the chiefs assumed to be aiming at independence in 1850, in order to identify their followers with their cause they took the term Ping Chao, or ‘Peace Dynasty,’ as the style of their sway, to distinguish it from the Qing Chao, or ‘ Pure Dynasty,’ of the Manchus. Each of them prefixed the adjective Da (or Tai, in Cantonese), ‘ Great,’ as is the Chinese custom with regard to dynasties and nations ; thus the name Tai-ping became known to foreigners. The leader took the style Tien-teh^ or ‘Heavenly Virtue,’ for his reign, thereby indicating his aim in seeking the throne, his own personal name, Hong Xiuquan, was regarded as too sacred to be used by his followers. The banners and edicts used at Nanjing and in his army bore the inscription, Tian-fu, Tian-xiong, Tian-wang Tai-ping Tian-guo, or ‘ Heavenly Father, Heavenly Elder Brother, Heavenly King of the Great Peace [Dynasty] of the Heavenly Kingdom ‘ (i.e., China).

    The incidents of this man’s early life and education were ascertained in 1854, from his relative Hung Jin, by the Rev. Theodore Hamberg, whose narrative’ bears the marks of a trustworthy recital. Hung Siu-tsuen was the youngest son of Hung Jang, a well-to-do farmer living in Plwa hien, a district situated on the North Eiver, about thirty miles from Canton city, in a small village of which he was the headman. The family was from Kiaying prefecture, on the borders of Kiangsi, and the whole village was regarded as belonging to the Hakkas, or Squatters, and had little intercourse with the Pun-tis, or Indigenes, on that account. Siu-tsuen was born in 1813, and at the usual age of seven entered school, where he showed remarkable aptitude for study. His family being too poor to spare his services long, he had to struggle and deny himself, as many a poor aspirant for fame in all lands has done, in order to fit himself to enter the regular examinations. In 1826 his name appeared on the list of candidates in Hwa hien, but Hung Jin says : ” Though his name was always among the first upon the board at the district examinations, yet he never succeeded in attaining the degree of Siu-tsai.” In 1833 he was at Canton at the triennial examination, when he met with the native evangelist Liang A-fah, who was distributing and selling a number of his own writings near the Kung yuen to the candidates as they went in and out of the hall. Attracted by the venerable aspect of this man, he accepted a set of his tracts called Quan Shi Liang Yan, or ‘ Good Words to Exhort the Age.’ He took them home with him, but threw them aside when he found that they advocated Christianity, then a proscribed doctrine.

    ‘ Visions of Hun(j Siu-tshuen and Orifjin. oftlie Kwang-si Insurrectioii, Hongkong, 1854. Mr. W. Sargent in the North American Review for July, 1854,Vol. LXXIX., p. 158.

    THE LIFE OF HONG XIU-QUAN 583

    In 1837 he was again in the provincial tripos, where his repeated disappointment and discontent aggravated an illness that seized him. On reaching his home he took to his bed and prepared for death, having had several visions foretokening his decease, he called his parents to his bedside and thus addressed them: “My days are counted and my life will soon be closed. O my parents ! how badly have I returned the favor of your love to me ; I shall never attain a name that shall reflect lustre on you.”

    After uttering these words he shut his eyes and lost all strength and command over his body, and became unconscious of what was going on around him. His outward senses were inactive, his body appeared as dead, but his soul was acted upon by a peculiar eneigy, seeing and remembering things of a very extraordinary nature.

    At first, when his eyes were closed he saw a dragon, a tiger,

    and a cock enter the room ; a great number of men placing

    upon instruments then approached, bearing a beautiful sedanchair

    in which they invited him to be seated. Kot knowing

    wdiat to make of this honor, he was carried away to a luminous

    and beautiful place wherein a multitude of fine men and women

    saluted him on arrival with expressions of joy. On leaving the

    sedan an old woman took him down to a river, saying : ” Thou

    dirty man, why hast thou kept company with yonder people and

    defiled thyself ? I must now wash thee clean.” After the

    washing was over he entered a large building in company with

    a crowd of old and virtuous men, some of whom were the ancient

    sages. Here they opened his body, took out the heart and other

    organs, and replaced them by new ones of a red color ; this

    done, the wound closed without leaving a scar. The whole

    assembly then went on to another larger hall, whose splendor

    was beyond description, in which an aged man, with a golden

    beard and dressed in black robes, sat on the liighest place. Seeing

    Siu-tsuen, he began to shed tears and said : ” All human

    beings in the world are produced and sustained by me ; they eat

    my food and wear my clothing, but not one among them has a

    heart to remember and venerate me ; what is worse, they take

    my gifts and therewith worship demons ; they purposely rebel

    against me and arouse my anger. Do thou not imitate them.”

    Hereupon he gave him a sword to destroy the demons, a seal to overcome the evil spirits, and a sweet yellow fruit to eat. Sintsueii

    received them, and straightway began to exhort his venerable

    companions to perform their duties to their master. After

    doing so even to tears, the high personage led him to a spot

    whence he could behold the world below, and discern theliorrible

    depravity and vice of its inhabitants. The sight was too awful to

    be endured, and words were inadequate to describe it. So he

    awoke from his trance, and had vigor enough to rise and dress

    himself and go to his father. Making a bow, Siu-tsuen said : “The venerable old man above has commanded that all men shall turn to me, and that all treasures shall ilow to me.” This sickness continued about forty days, and the visions were multiplied.

    ]Ie often met with a man in them whom he called his elder brother, who instructed him how to act and assisted him in going after and killing evil spirits. lie became more and more possessed with the idea, as his health returned, that he had been commissioned to be Emperor of China ; and one day his father found a slip on which was written ” The Heavenly King of Great Heason, the Sovereign King Tsuen.”” As time wore on, this lofty idea seems to have more and more developed his mind to a soberness and purity which overawed and attracted him. ]S’othing is said about his utterances while the war with England was progressing, but he must have known its progress and results. His cataleptic fits and visions seem not to have returned, and he pursued his avocation as a school teacher until about 1843, having meanwhile failed in another trial to obtain his degree at Canton. In that year his wife’s brother asked to take away the nine tracts of Liang A-fah to see what they contained ; when he returned them to Siu-tsuen he urged him to road them too.

    HIS HKLIEF IN HIS DIVINE CALLING. 585

    They consisted of sixty-eight short chapters upon common topics, selected from the Bible, and not exactly fitted to give him, in his excited state and total ignorance of western books and religion, a fair notion of Christianity. As he read them he saw, as he thought, the true meaning of his visions. The venerable old man was no other than God the Father, and his guide was Jesus Christ, who had assisted him in slaying the demons. “These books are certainly sent purposely by heaven to me to confirm the truth of my former experience. If I had received them without having gone through the sickness, I should not have dared to believe in them, and by myself to oppose the customs of the whole world. If I had merely been sick, but not also received the books, I should have had no further evidence as to the truth of my visions, which might also have been considered as mere products of a diseased imagination.”

    This sounds reasonable, and commends itself as wholly unlike the ravings of a madnuin. Nevertheless, while it would be unwise for us to closely criticise this narrative in its details, and assert that Siu-tsuen’s pretensions were all hypocritical, we must bear in mind the fact that he had certaiidy, neither at this time nor ever afterward, a clear conception of the true nature of Christianity, judging from his writings and edicts.

    The nature of sin, and the dominion of God’s law upon the sinner ; the need of atonement from the stain and effects of sin ; Christ’s mediatorial sacrifice ; were subjects on which he could not possibly have received full instruction from these fragmentary essays. In after days his conviction of his own divine calling to rule over China, seems to have blinded his understanding to the spiritual nature of the Christian church.

    His individual penchant was insufficient to resist or mould the

    subordinates who accepted his mission for their own ends. But

    lie was not a tool in their hands at any time, and his personal

    influence permeated the ignorant mass of reckless men around

    him to an extraordinary degree, while his skill in turning some

    of the doctrines and requirements of the Bible as the ground

    and proofs of his own authority indicated original genius, since

    the results were far beyond the reach of a cunning impostor.

    From first to last, beginning with poverty, obscurity, and weakness in II wa, continuing with distinction, power, and royalty at Nanking and throughout its five adjacent provinces, and ending with defeat, desertion, and death in his own palace, Hung never wavered or abated one jot of his claim to supreme rule on earth. When his end was reported at Peking in August, 1864, thirty-one years after his receiving Liang A-falTs tracts, the imperial rescript sadly said : ” Words cannot convey any idea of the misery and dedolation lio caused ; the measure of his iniquity was full, and the wrath of both gods and men was roused against him.”

    N^ A career so full of exceptional interest and notable incidents

    cannot, of course, be minutely described in this sketch. xVfter

    Hung’s examination of the tracts which had lain unnoticed in

    his hands for ten years, followed by his conviction of the real

    meaning of his visions in 1837, he began to proclaim his mission

    and exhort those around him to accept Christianity. Hung

    Jin (who furnished Mr. llamberg with his statements) and a

    fellow-student, Fung Vun-shan, were his first converts; they

    agreed to put away all idols and the Confucian tablet out of

    their schools, and then baptized or washed themselves in a

    brook near by, as a sign of their purification and faith in Jesus.

    As they had no portion of the Sacred Scriptures to guide them,

    they were at a loss to understand many things spoken of by

    Liang A-fah, but his expositions of the events and doctrines

    occurring in them were deeply pondered and accepted. The

    Mosaic account of creation and the flood, destruction of Sodom,

    sermon on the Mount, and nature of the final judgment, were

    given in them, as well as a full relation of Christ’s life and

    death ; and these prepared the neophytes to receive the Bible

    M’hen they got it. Jhit the same desire to find proof of his

    own calling led Siu-tsuen to fix on fanciful renderings of certain

    texts, and, after the maimer of commentators in other lands,

    to extract meanings never intended. A favorite conceit, among

    others, was to assume that wherever the character tsaen, ^,

    meaning ‘ whole,’ ‘ altogether,’ occurred in a verse, it meant

    himself, and as it forms a part of the Chinese phrase for al-

    Qiilghtij, he thus had strong reasons (as he thought) for his

    course. The phrase Tien kwoh, denoting the ‘ Kingdom of

    Heaven ‘ in (Jhrisfs preaching, they applied to China, With

    such preconceived views it is not w^onderful that the brethren

    were all able to fortify themselves in their opinions by the

    strongest arguments. All those discourses in the series relating

    to repentance, faith, and man’s depravity were apparently

    entirely overlooked by them.

    HIS C0:N VERSION AM) EARLY ADHERENTS. 587

    The strange notions, unaffected earnestness, moral conduct, and new ideas about God and happiness of these men soon began to attract people to them, some to dispute and cavil, others to accept and worship with them. Their scholars, one and all, deserted

    them as soon as the Confucian tablet was removed from

    the schoolroom, and they were left penniless and unemployed,

    sometimes subjected to beatings and obloc^uy for embracing an

    outlandish religion, and other times ridiculed for forsaking their

    ancestral halls. The nundjer of their adherents was too few to

    detain them at home, and in May, 1844, Siu-tsuen, Yun-shan,

    and two associates resolved to visit a distant relative who lived

    near the MiaoZu in Kwangsi, and get their living along the road by peddling ink-stones and pencils. They reached the adjoining district, Tsingj’uen, where they preached two months and baptized several persons ; some time after Hung Jin took a school there, and remained several years, baptizing over fifty converts. Siu-tsuen and Yun-shan came to the confines of the Miaotsz’ in Sinchau fu in three months, preaching the existence

    of the true God and of redemption by his Son, and after many

    vicissitudes reached their relative’s house in Kwei hien among

    the mountains. Here they tarried all summer, and their earnest

    zeal in spreading the doctrines which they evidently had found

    so cheering to their own hearts, arrested the attention of these

    I’ude mountaineers, and many of them professed their faith in

    Christ. Siu-tsuen returned home in the winter, and was disappointed

    in not finding his colleague Yun-shan there as well as the other two, nor could he give any account of his course.

    It appeared afterward that Yun-shan had met some acquaintances on his road, and became so much interested in preaching to them at Thistle-mount that he remained there two years, teaching school and gathering churches.

    Siu-tsuen continued to teach and preach the truth as he had

    learned it from the books in his hands. In 1846 he heard of I.

    J. Roberts, the American missionary, living at Canton, and the

    next spring received an invitation to come there and study. He

    and Hung Jin did so ; the former remained with Mr. Roberts about two months, giving him a narrative of his own visions, conversion, and preaching, at the same time learning the nature and extent of foreign mission work in that city. He made a visit home with two native Christians, who had been sent to llwa to learn more about him. They seem to have obtained good reports of his character; but others in Mr. Roberts’ employ were afraid of his influence if he should enter their church, and therefore intrigued to have him refused admission just then.

    IMr. Tl(A)erts appears to have acted discreetly according to the

    light he had respecting the applicant’s integrity, and would no

    doubt have baptized him had not the latter soon after left

    Canton, where he had no means of support. At this time

    the i^olitical distui-bances in Kwangtung seem to have greatly

    influenced Siu-tsuen’s course, and Mhen he reached home he

    made a second visit to his relative, and thence went to Thistlemoimt

    to rejoin Fung Ynn-shan. Hung Jin states that before

    this date he had expressed disloyal sentiments against the Manchus,

    but these are so common among the Cantonese that they

    attracted no notice. On secini; Yun-shan and meeting the two

    thousand converts he luid gathered, it is pretty certain that

    hopes of a successful resistance must have revived in his breast.

    A woman among them also began to relate some visions she had seen ten years before, foretelling the advent of a man who should teach them how to worship God. The number of converts rapidly increased in three prefectures adjacent to the liivcr ^ uh ill the eastern part of Kwangsi, and no serious hindrance was met with from the officials, though there were not wanting enemies, by one of whom Yun shan was accused and then thrown into prison. However, the prefect and district magistrate to whom the case was referred, fiiuling no sutlicient cause for punishment, liberated him; though the new sectaries had made themselves somewhat obnoxious to the idolaters by their iconoclasm —so hard is it to learn patience and toleration in any country. In very many villages in that region the ^-^Shaiigti hwui^ or ‘ Associations for worshipping God,’ began to be recognized, but they do not seem to have quoted the toleration edict obtained in 1844 in favor of Christianity, as that only spoke of the Tun-ehu kiao, or Catholics. The worship of Shangdi is a peculiar function of the Emperor, as has been already explained ; and it is not surprising to 1)C told by Hung Jin that tlic new sect was reiiarded as ti’casonable.

    ORGANIZATION OF THE SIIANGTI IIWUI. ^89

    111 1848 Sill tsueii’s father died trusting in the new faith and

    directing that no Buddhist services be lield at his funeral ; the

    whole family had l)y this time become its followers, and when

    the son and Yun-shan met them soon after, they began to discuss

    their future. The believers in Kwangsi were left to take

    care of themselves during the whole winter, and appear to liavo

    gone on witli their usual meetings without hindranceo In June,

    1849, the two leaders left Uwa for Kwangsi, assisted by tlio

    faitliful, and found much to encourage them in their secret

    plans in the general unit}’ which pervaded the association.

    Some members had been favored with visions, others had become exhorters, denouncing those who behaved contrary to the doctrines; others essayed to cure diseases. Siu-tsuen was immediately acknowledged by all as their leader; he set himself to introduce and maintain a rigid discipline, forbade the use of opium and spirits, introduced the observance of the Sabbath, and regulated the worship of God. No hint of calling in the aid of a foreign teacher to direct them in their new services appears to have been suggested by any member, nor even of sending to Canton to engage the services of a native convert, though Liang A-fah was still living then. The whole year was thus passed at Thistle-mount, and the nucleus of the future force thoroughly imbued with the ideas of their leader, who had, by June, 1850, gathered around him his own relatives and chosen his lieutenants.’

    ‘ The insurgents cut off the tail, allowed their hair to grow, and decided that all who joined the insurrectional movement should leave off the chinig and the Tartar tunic, and should wear the robe open in the front, which their ancestors had worn in the time of the Mings. —Callerv and Yvan, llixiory of the Jimarycctiou in China, translated by John Oxeuford, p. 61. London, 1853.

    The existence of such a large body of people, acting together under the orders of one man, whose aspirations and teachings had gradually filled their minds with new ideas, could not remain unnoticed by the authorities. The governor-general lived at Canton, and received his information through local magistrates and prefects, whose policy was rather to understate the truth. But Sii Kwang-tsin felt that he was not fitted for the coming struggle. His place was therefore filled by the appointment of Lin, then living in Fuhchau, who started to fulfil his new ehai’ge, but died in October, as he entered the province.

    Governor Sii Avas obliged to leave Canton on duty, but he never

    met the enemy nor returned to his post. The po})ulac’e of the

    city made themselves merry over his violent conduct toward a

    poor paper-image maker near the landing, who had just set out

    to di-y some effigies dressed in high ofiicial costume, each one

    lacking a head. Su chose to regard this proceeding as an intentional

    insult, as the artisan must have known that he was to

    pass by that way, and ordered him to be bambooed and his ettigies

    destroyed to neutralize the bad omen. The Peking government

    had just sent three Manchus to superintend operations in

    Kwangsi ; their predecessors, Li and Chau, with the provincial

    governor, Clung, were all degraded, but these new imperial

    officials did no better, nor did those on the spot expect that

    they would succeed. Tahungah was the ruffian who had executed

    one hundred and eighty British prisoners in Formosa

    nine years before ; and Saishangah was the prime minister of

    the young Emperor llienfung, as worthless as he was depraved.

    Cruntai, who had long been in command of the Manchu garrison

    at Canton, was also sent, in May, 1851, to check the growing

    power of the insurgents. They were well posted in Wusiuen

    hien, near the junction of two rivers, and this chieftain

    naively expresses his surprise in his report to the Emperor that

    the rebels should occupy an important })Ost which he had just

    decided to fortify. However, his official rei)oit ‘ explains the

    reasons for the imperial reverses better than anything wliich

    had hitherto appeared. Corruption, venality, idleness, opiumsmoking,

    and peculation had made the whole army a mass of

    rottenness ; no one can wonder that the Tai-pings marched

    without dan<»;er throufrh the land to their ij-oal at Xankiuii;.

    A year previous to this date, however, the conflict had been

    begun by the followers of Siu-tsuen. In tlieir zeal against idolatry

    they had destroyed tem])les and irritated the people, which

    ei-e long aroused a S])irit of distrust and emnity ; this was further

    increased by the long-standing feud and mutual hatred

    * Chinese Reposikn’y, Vol. XX. , p. 493.

    COMMENCEMENT OF THE IJEVOLT. 591

    between the j>un-iis and h<(kk-as (natives and squatters) wlileh

    j-an through society. 8iu-tsuen and his chiefs were mostly of

    the latter class, and whenever villages were attacked and the

    hakkas worsted, they moved over to Thistle-mount and professed

    to worship Shangti with Siu-tsuen. In this way the

    whole population had become more or less split up into parties.

    When a body of imperial soldiers sent to artest him and Yunshan

    were driven off, they availed themselves of the enthusiasm

    of their followers to gather them and occupy Lienchu, a lai-ge

    market-town in Kwei hien. This proceeding attracted to their

    banner all the needy and discontented spirits in that region, but

    their own partisans were now able to regulate and employ all

    who came, requiring a close adherence to their religious tenets

    and worship. This town of Lienchu w^s soon fortified, and the

    order of a camp began to appear among its possessors, wdio, however, spared the townspeople. The drilling of the force, now increased to many thousands, commenced ; its vitality was soon tested when it was deemed best to cross the river and advance on Taitsun in order to obtain more room. The imperialists were hoodwinked by a simple device, and when they found their enemy had marched off, their attack on the rear was repulsed

    with much loss. Like all their class, they turned their

    wrath on the peaceful inhabitants of Lienchu, killing and burning

    till almost nothing was left. This needless cruelty recoiled

    on themselves, and all the members of the Shangti /iwui, loyal

    and disaffected alike, felt that their very name carried sedition

    in it, and they must join Siu-tsuen’s standard or give up their

    faith. lie had induced some recent comers belonging to the

    Triad Society to put their money into the military chest and

    to submit to his rules. One of his religious teachers had been

    detected embezzling the funds while on their way to the commissariat, but the public trial and execution of the man had

    served both as a warning and an encouragement to the different

    classes who witnessed the affair. Most of the Triad chiefs, however,

    were afraid of such discipline, and drew off to the imperialists

    with the greater number of their followers. The defection

    furnished Siu-tsuen an opportunity to make known his settled

    opposition to this fraternity, and that every man joining his party must leave it. At this time the discipline and good order exhibited in the eneaiiipment at Taitsiin nnist have struck the people around it with surprise and admiration, if the meagre accounts we have received are at all trustworthy.

    About one jeai- elapsed between the contiict near Lienchu

    and the capture of Yung-ngaii chau, u city on the liiver j\Iei in

    Pingloh pi’efecture. During this period Siu-tsuen had become

    more and more possessed with the idea of liis divine mission

    from the Tieti-fu, or ‘ Heavenly Father,’ as God was now

    connnonly called, and the Tien-Jiiung, or ‘ Ileaveidy Elder

    Brother,’ as he termed Jesus Christ. He began to seclude

    himself from the gaze of his followers, and deliver to them

    such revelations as he received for the management of the force

    committed to him to clear the land of all idolatry and 0})pression,

    and cheer the hearts of those pledged to the gloiious

    cause. This course was destructive of all those peculiar tenets

    which Christianity teaches, and, so far as can be learned, neither

    lie nor Yun-shan any longer prominently set forth the doctrines

    of salvation by repentance and faith in Christ, as they had done

    in their first journey among the INIiaotsz’, but held their followers

    together by fanaticism and the hope of final triumph. In

    its main features, his course was copied from that of IMoses and

    Aaron when they withdrew into the tal)ernacle, and it was

    easy to impress upon his ujiinstructed followers the repetition

    in his person of the same mode of making known the will of

    Heaven. An adequate reason can also be found in this scheme

    why he never called in the aid of foreign missionaries to teach

    his followers the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, knowing full

    well that none of them w^onld lend any conntenance to such delusion.

    As early as April, 1849, when still in Kwei hien, he began to promulge his decrees in the form of revelations received from the Heavenly Father and Elder Brother, when one or the other came down into the world to tell him what course lie should pursue. In March, 1853, just before capturing Nanking, he issued a book of ” Celestial Decrees,” containing a series of these revelations, from which the I’eal nature of his character can be learned. Two extracts will be sufficient to

    (piote:

    CHAKACTEU OF THE TIEN-WANd’s ATJTHOKITY. 593

    The Heavenly Father addressed the multitude, saying, O my children ! Do

    you know your Heavenly Father and your Celestial Elder Brother ? To which

    they all replied, We know our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother.

    The Heavenly Father then said, Do you know your Lord, and truly ‘i To

    which they all replied, We know our Lord right well. The Heavenly Father

    said, I have sent your Lord down into the world to l)ecome the Celestial King

    (Tkn-icniuj) ; every word lie litters is a celestial command ; you must be obedient

    ; you must truly assist your Lord and regard your King ; you must not

    dare to act disorderly, nor to be disrespectful. If you do not regard your Lord and King, every one of you will be involved in difficulty.’

    It is only from these official documents that we can learn the real political and religions tenets of the revolutionists now intrenched at Yung-ngan, and soon to burst forth in fury upon their country. It was in vain to expect gospel ligs from such a bramble bush.

    Another extract exhibits their jugglery still more clearly. It is dated December 1), 1S51, and contains the proceedings and sentence in the case of Chan Sih-nang, mIio had been detected holdins intercourse with General Saishan^ah at Taitsun. Four of the kings were that day consulting upon some weighty matters, when suddenly the Heavenly Father came down among them and secretly told them to instantly arrest Chan and two others and bring them to Yang, the Eastern King, while he returned to heaven. They did so, and reported the matter to the Tian Wang, but none of them had any evidence to proceed upon.

    ” Happily, how^ever, the Heavenly Father gave himself the

    trouble to appear once more,” and ordered two of the royal cousins

    to go and inform the several princes of his presence. They

    all attended at court and entreated the Ileavenlv Kino; to

    accompany them. Hereupon, his Majesty, guarded by the

    princes and body-guards, together with a host of officials, advanced

    into the presence of the Heavenly Father. They all

    kneeled down and asked, ” Is the Heavenly Father come down ?

    ‘

    He replied, addressing the Tien-wang, ” Siu-tsuen, I am going

    to take this matter in hand to-day ; a mere mortal would find

    it a hard task. One Chan has been holdins; collusive commu-

    ‘ This decree bears the date April 19, 1851, at Tung-hiang, a village nea<

    Wusiuen.

    iiication with the enemy yesterday, and has returned to court,

    intending to carry into effect a very serious revolt. Go and

    bring him liere.” The culprit soon came, and the examination

    is reported in full. In answer to tlie question, ” Who is it that

    is now speaking to you ? ” he replied, ” The Heavenly Father,

    the Supreme Lord and Great God (Shangti) is addressing me.”

    He said soon after, ” I am aware that the Heavenly Father is

    omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent/’ By a series of

    questions his guilt was proved, and he and his accomplices, with

    his wife and son, were all put to death as a warning to traitors,

    in presence of a large concourse, to whom they confessed the

    justice of their fate.

    When in possession of Nanking, Hung Siu-tsuen was formally

    proclaimed by his army to be Emperor of China, and assumed

    the style and insignia of royalty. Five leading chiefs were

    appointed to their several corps as South, East, West, North,

    and Assistant Kings ; Fung Yun-shan w’as the Southern King.

    Who among them were the efficient disciplinarians and leading

    minds in carrying on their plan cannot be now ascertained, so

    complete was the secrecy which enveloped the whole movement

    from first to last as to the personnel of the force. Dr. Medhurst’s

    translations of their orders, tenets, laws, revelations, and textbooks

    furnish the most authentic sources for estimating its

    character, but they fail to describe its living agents. In so

    large an army, composed of the most heterogeneous elements,

    it cannot be expected that there would be at any time nnicli

    knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, on which its leaders based

    their assumed powers derived from the ‘ Heavenly Father and

    Elder Brother ;

    ‘ but there certainly was a remarkable degree

    of sobriety and discipline among them during the first few

    years of their existence. A most perplexing question, which

    increased in its urgency and difficulty as soon as opposition

    drove the rebel general to intrench himself at Liencliu, was

    temporarily arranged by forming a separate cMcaiu])inent for

    the women, and placing over them officers of their own sex to

    see that discipline was maintained. In doing this he allowed

    the married people as great facilities for the care of their children

    as was possible under the conditions of army life; but

    THE REBEL ADVANCE TO THE YANGTSZ\ 505

    diiriu*^ their progress through the land in 1852 and 1853, much

    suffering must have been endured.

    In 1852 the state and size of the army in Yung-ngan fully

    authorized the leaders of the I’evolt to march northward. Several

    engagements had given their men confidence in each other

    as thev saw the imperialists put to flight ; defeats had furthermore

    shown that their persevering enemy entertained no idea

    of sparing even one of them if captured. The want of provisions

    durino- their fiv^e months’ sieo;e within its walls further

    trained them to a certain degree of patient endurance ; when,

    therefore, they broke through the besieging force in three divisions

    on the night of April T, 1852, they were animated by

    success and hope to possess themselves of the Empire. Marching

    north they now attacked Kweilin, the provincial capital,

    May 15tli, but having no cannon fit to besiege a walled city of

    that size, crossed the border and captured Tau in Hunan, which

    gave them access to the Iliver Siang and means of transportation.

    Their course was thenceforth an easy conquest of the

    towns along its valley. Kweiyang chau, Chin chau, Tunghing,

    ISTganjin, and others were taken and evacuated, one after the

    other, until they reached the capital of this province, September

    18th. Chano-sha and Siangtan together form one immense city,

    and its defenders fully understood their peril, and the probability

    of entire destruction if they allowed it to be captured.

    For eighty days the Tai-pings exerted themselves in vain to

    obtain possession, losing, however, very few men, and doing no

    great harm to their enemy, who kept beyond reach. December

    1st they raised the siege, and by the 13tli reached Yohchau on

    the Yangtsz ‘, which was taken without a struggle. Ten days

    after, replenished and encouraged by the spoil found in Yohchau,

    they occupied Hanyang and Wuchang, the capital of

    Ilupeli province, lying on the other side of the river. Its garrison

    was unable to escape, and many eoldiers were destroyed.

    Hwangchau and Kiukiang, two prefect cities lower down, were

    captured January 12th and February 18th, while Nganking,

    the capital of i^ganhwui, fell a week later. Nothing seemed

    able to resist the advance of the insurgents, and on March

    8th they encamped before Nanking. It was garrisoned by Mancbus and Chinese, who, however, made no better defence than their comrades in other cities ; in ten days its walls were breached, and all the defenders found iii>i(lc put to death, including Luh, the governor-general of the province. Chiidciang and Yangchau soon were dragged to the same fate, thus depriving the imperialists of their control of the (irand Canal.

    This I’apid progress through the land since leaving Yung-ngan eleven months previously had spread consternation among the demoralized officers and soldiers of the Emperor, mIio, on his part, Avas as weak and ignorant as any of his subordinates.

    The march of the insurgents showed the ntter hollowness of the imperial troops, the incapacity of their most trusted leaders, and the little interest taken by the great body of the nation in the conflict. Many causes which might adequately c.\}»lain this extraordinary success cannot now be ascertained, but a national dislike of the Mancbus on the part of the Chinese lay at the bottom of their coldness. They felt, too, that a government wdiich could not protect them against a few thousand foreign troops might as well give place to a native one. The insurgents had perhaps not more than ten thousand adherents, including women and children, when they left Yung-ngan ;’but these went forth in the full conviction of the heavenly commission of their leader to destroy idolatry, set up the worship of the true God, and inaugurate the kingdom of heaven hi the person of the “Heavenly King.”‘ The term SJuDujti was known by every schoolboy to be the name of the God worshipped at Peking by the Emperor in his right as Son of Heaven, and the successor of the ancient sovereigns mentioned in the Ska King ,’ accordingly, when the insurgents set up the worship of the true God as they had been able to learn it from Gutzlaff’s revised version of the Bible, their countrymen immediately recognized the challenge. It was an attack on the religious as well as political position of Taukwang; whoever maintained his side in the gage of battle, with him were undoubtedly the powers above. The progress of the new banner from Yuiig-ngan to banking was like that of a fiery cross, and the sufferings of the people, except in a few large cities, were really more owing to the savage itnperialists than to the Taipings.

    ‘ Though one of their officers told Mr. Meadows, at Nanking, that the force was about three thousand.

    SOUIICKS OI- rilKHl STKENGTir. 597

    The latter grew in strength as they advanced, owing to indiscriminate slaughter on the part of their enemies of unoffending natives, and at last reached their goal with not much less than eighty thousand men.

    Their position was now accessible to foreigners—who had

    been watching their rise and progress under great disadvantages

    in arriving at the truth—and they were soon visited by them

    in steamers. The first to do so was Governor Bonham in

    II. M. S. Ilermes, accompanied by T. T. Meadows, one of the

    most competent linguists in China, who published the result of

    liis inquii-ies. The visitors were at first received with incredidity,

    but this soon gave way to eager curiosity to learn the real

    nature of their religious views and practices. The insurgents

    themselves were even inore ignorant of foreigners than were

    these of the rebels, so that the interest could not fail to be reciprocal,

    nor could either party desire to come into collision with the other.

    About two months after the cities of Nanjing, Chinkiang, and Yangzhou had been taken, garrisoned, and put in a state of defence by their inhabitants, working under the direction of Tai-ping officers, the leaders felt so much confidence in their cause, their troops, and their ability, that they despatched a division to capture Peking. Xo particulars of its size or composition are given, but its course and achievements are recorded in the Peking Gazette. The force landed not far from Kwacliau, where it defeated a body of Manchus, and then proceeded to Liuho and Fungyang fu without finding serious opposition.

    Crossing the province of Xganhwui, they entered that of Honan, and in one month from landing the troops laid siege to Kaifeng, the provincial capital, June 19th. Three days later they were repulsed, and their leaders crossed the Yellow River to Hwaiking fu, about a hundred miles west of Kaifung. For two months they were baffled by an unusual resistance on the part of the imperialists, and were compelled to leave it and go west into Shansi, where they took Pingyang fu and flanked the enemy by turning east and north-east till they crossed the Liiuniing pass and got into Chihli. It was their design to have gone down the River “Wei to Lintsing chau on the Grand Canal, but they were compelled to make a detour of some hundreds of miles to reacli this last place. In doing so they ascended the steep defiles leading from the basin of the Yellow River to the plateau in South Shansi. This march was accomplished in the month of September, and on October9th the prefect city of Shinchau in Chihlf, only two hundred

    miles from Peking, was taken. Their army remained at Shinchau

    for a fortnight, when they marched across the plain northeasterly

    to Tsinghai hien, on the Grand Canal. Here they

    intrenched themselves on October 2Sth, but twenty miles south

    of Tientsin. A detachment sent to attack that city was repulsed,

    and the whole body were blockaded on Xovember 3d by

    the Manchu force, wliicli had followed it from Ilwaiking, and

    other corps ordered from the north to intercept its progress

    toward the capital. In six months this insurgent force had

    traversed four provinces, taken twenty-six cities, subsisted themselves

    on the enemy, and defeated every body of impei’ialists

    sent against thenio The men who performed this remarkable

    march of fully one thousand five hundred miles in the face of

    such odds, would have accomplished even greater deeds under

    better training. Considering all things, it is quite equal to

    General Sherman’s march to the sea in 1861: ; yet so little is

    known of the details of this feat, that we are not even cei’tain

    of its leader’s name—whether Lin Fung-tsiang, spoken of by

    the Gazette as a ‘ Pretended Minister,’ or some other general,

    was in command.

    . It is rather hard to understand why the Tai-pings intrenched

    themselves so near to Tientsin, but the officials of that city, in

    1858, ascribed it to the fact that water covered the plain, preventing

    all operations against the town. Perhaps their want

    of siege guns, and the cavalry now brought from Mongolia, decided

    the leaders to intrench themselves at Tsinghai and send

    to Nanking for reinforcements. The Tai-ping Wang immediately

    despatched an auxiliary force, which also crossed Kganliwui

    to Funghien on the north bank of the Yellow lliver ; this

    THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PEKING. 599

    place was captured March IT, 1854, “after taking city after

    city,” as the Emperor llieiifung expressed it. The ice was gone

    when the army reached Liiitsiiig cliau, April 12th, and that

    city was taken by a tierce assault against the combined resistance

    of its garrison and the imperialists outside, after the insur’-‘

    ciit auxiliary was attacked in force. The other body had

    left Tsinghai in February, starved out rather than driven away,

    and gone to the district town of Ilien, which they left March

    KUh for Fauching, and probably rejoined their comrades somewhere

    between that and Lintsing. They were about a hundred

    miles apart, and the intervening region was no doubt forcibly

    drained of its supplies. This joint army remained in possession

    of their depots as long as they saw lit, and ti-eated the inhabitants

    reasonably well, among whom there were no Manchus,

    The inability to understand each other s speech kept the people

    of this district from mixing with the southerners, and, combined

    with the impossibility of keeping open the road to Nanking,

    decided the Tai-pings to return. This they did in March, 1855,

    by re-entering IS^ganhwui and rejoining the main body whereever

    ordered ; but no details are known of their movements for

    nearly a year before that date. Peking and the Great Pure

    dynasty were saved, however ; while the failure of Hung Siutsuen

    to risk all on such an enterprise proved his ignorance of

    the real point of this contest. lie never was able to undertake

    a second campaign, and his followers soon degenerated into

    banditti.

    The possession of Nanking, Chinkiang, and Kwachau, with

    the large flotilla along the Yangtsz’ River west to Ichang in

    Hupeh, a distance of over six hundred miles, had entirely sundered

    the Emperor’s authority over the seven south-eastern provinces.

    The country on each side for fifty or one hundred and

    fifty miles was visited by the insurgents’ troops merely for supplies.

    Their boats penetrated to Nanchang in Kiangsi, went

    up the Piver Siang even beyond Changsha in Ilunan, ravaged

    one town after another in quest of provisions and reinforcements,

    which were either taken to Nanking or used to support

    the crews ; but nowhere did the leaders set up anything like a

    government, nowhere did they secure those who submitted or pursued their avocations quietly any protection against imperialist

    or other foes. As a revohition involving a reorganizatioTi of the Chinese nation on Christian principles, and a well-defined assertion of the rights and duties of rulers and subjects, it had failed entirely within a year after the possession of Kanking.

    There was no hope that any of the leaders in the movement would develop the ability to initiate the establishment of a consistent and suitable control, since not one of them was endowed either with the experience necessaiy to introduce provisional government over concpiei’ed communities, or with that tact calculated to impress their inhabitants with enduring confidence in them. All their prisoners were compelled to work or fight in their service, and were willing to earn their food and clothes ; while in obeying such orders, and going through such religious ceremonies as were told them, they of course had not much to complain of ; but this conduct did not imply hatred of the mandarins or an abjuiation of Buddhism.

    During the three years after JS’anking had V)een occupied, the people in the Vangtsz* valley had suffered much from the conflict. Both armies lived on the land, and tlu; danger of resisting the demands for food, clothes, and animals was nearly equaled by that of j(,)ining the contending forces ; in either case beggary or loss of life was sure to be the end. As an instance of by no means unexamjilcd suffering, the populous mart of Hankow and its environs was taken by assault six different times during the thirty months ending in May, 1855, and finally was left literally a heap of ruins. In country places the imperialists were, of the two parties, perhaps the more terrible scourge, but as the region became impoverished each side vied with the other in exhausting the people. The Tai-pings were gradually circumscribed to the region around Kaiiking and Nganking by the slow approaches of the government troops, and in 1800 seemed to be near their end. The interest which had been aroused at Shanghai in 1853, upon hearing of their Christian tenets and organization, had been satisfied in the various visits of foreign functioiuiries to Xanking, the intercourse with the leaders and men, perusal of their books, and observation of their policy.

    FAILURE OF THE ENTERPRISE. 601

    One inherent defect in the enterprise, when viewed in its political bearing, ere long showed itself. Nothing could induce Iluiii”: Siu-tsuen to lead his men to the north and risk all ill an attack on Peking. His own conviction of his divine mission had been most cordially received by his generals and the entire b(xly of followers which left Yung-ngan in 1852; but their faith was not accepted by the enormous additit>ns made to the Tai-pings as they advanced to Nanking, and gradually the original force became so diluted that it was inade<juate to restrain and inspirit their auxiliaries. Moreover, the Tien-wang had never seriously worked out any conception of the radical changes in his system of government, which it would be absolutely necessary to inaugurate under a Christian code of laws.

    Having had no knowledge of any western kingdom, he probably regarded them all as conformed to the rules and examples given in the Bible ; perhaps, too, he trusted that the ” Heavenly Father and Elder Brother ” would reveal the proper course of action when the time came. The great body of literati would naturally be indisposed to even examine the claims of a western religion which placed Shangdi above all other gods, and allowed no images in worship, no ritual in temples, and no adoration to ancestors, to Confucius, or to the heavenly bodies. But if this patriotic call to throw off the Manchu yoke had been fortified by a well-devised system of public examinations for office—modified to suit the new order of things by introducing more practical subjects than those found in the classics—and had been put into practice, it is hard to suppose that the intellectual classes would not gradually have ranged themselves on the side of this rising power. The unnecessary cruelty and slaughter practised toward the Manchu garrisons and troops carried more dread into the hearts of the population than stimulus to co-operate with such ruthless revolutionists. The latter had weakened their prospects by destroying confidence in their moderation, justice, and ability to carry out their aim to establish a new sway. There was a large foundation of national aspirations and real dislike to the present dynasty, on which the Tien-wang could have safely reckoned for help and sympathy. But he was far from equal to the exigency of his opportunity. The doubts of his countrymen as to his coiiipeteney were proved by the ^iitisfaction and relief felt when his movement collapsed.

    When the remnants of the two corps which returned from the north in 1855 were incorporated into the forces holding the Grand Canal and the Liang Kiang province, their outposts hardly extended along the Great Eiver beyond Chinkiang on the east and Xganking on the west. In that year dissensions sprung up among the leaders themselves inside of Nanking, which ended in the execution of Yang, the Eastern King, the next year ; a tierce struggle maintained by Wei, the Northern King, on behalf of the Tien-wang, upheld his supremacy, but at a loss of his best general. Another man of note, Shi Dakai, the Assistant King, losing faith in the whole undertaking, managed to withdraw with a large following westward, and reached Sz’chuen. The early friend of Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan, known as the Southern King, disappeared about the same time. Humors of these conflicts reached Shanghai in such a contradictory form that it was impossible to learn all their causes.

    (3ne source of sti’ife arose by Yang assuming to be the Holy

    Ghost. Ileceiving communications from the Heavenly Father

    and Elder Brother, he thus placed himself above the Tien-wang, and, it is said by Wilson,’ ” required him to humble himself and receive forty lashes” for some misdemeanors complained of by the Comforter. The notices of this man which have reached us show that he early took a prominent part in the movement, and perhaps manipulated ”descents of the Heavenly Father,” like the one referred to above as mentioned in the ” Book of Declarations ” in the case of Chan Sih-nang.” Many proclamations were issued in his name (»n the progress to Naidving, which set forth the principles under which the Heavenly Dynasty were trying to conquer. Incentives addressed to the patriotic feelings of the Chinese were mixed up with their obligations to worship Shangdi, now made known to them as the Great God, our Heavenly Father, and security promised to all who submitted.

    ‘ Tfie, ** ?Jrer-Vict<>rums Army,”^ Lt.-Col. Gordon’s Chinrxr Citmpaiqn, p. 43.

    ‘.T. Milton Mackie, Life of Tni-pinfi-Wang, Chief of the Chinese Insurrection^Chap. XXXIV., New York, 1857.

    DISSENSIONS AMONG THE TAI-PING LEADERS. 603

    In one sent forth by liini when nearing Nanking, he thus summarizes the rules which guided the Tai-pings:

    I, the General, in obedience to the royal commands, have put in motion the troops for the punishment of the oppressor, and in everyplace to which I have come the enemy, at the first report, have dispersed like scattered rubbish. As soon as a city has been captured, I have put to death the rapacious mandarins and corrupt magistrates therein, but have not injured a single individual of the people, so that all of you may take care of your families and attend to your business without alarm and trei^idation. I have heard, however, that numbers or lawless vagabonds are in the villages, who previous to the arrival of our troops take advantage of the disturbed state of the country to defile mens’ wives and daughters, and burner plunder the property of honest people. . . .

    I have therefore especially sent a great officer, named Yiien, with some hundreds of soldiers, to go through the villages, and as soon as he finds these vagabonds he is commissioned forthwith to decapitate them ; while if the honest inhabitants stick up the word shun [‘ obedient ‘J over their doors, they will have nothing to fear.

    ‘Such manifestoes could not reassure the timid population of the valley of the Yangtsz’, and the carnage of the unresisting JVLanchus inXanking, Chinkiang, and elsewhere indicated a ruthless license among the followers of the Tien-wang, which made them feel that their success carried with it no promise of melioration.

    In addition, as the vast spoil obtained from these cities and towns up to 1S50 was consumed, the outlook of the rebels was most discouraging. Among their forces, the disheartened, the sick, and the wounded, with the captived and desperate, soon died, deserted, or skulked, and their places Avere filled by forced

    levies. Under these circumstances the dissensions within the

    court at Xanking imperilled the whole cause, and showed the

    incapacity of its leaders in face of their great aim. Yang had

    sunk into a sensual, unscrupulous faction leader who could no

    longer he endured ; by October, 1856, he and all his adherents,

    to the number of twenty thousand, were utterly cut off by Wei.

    But this latter king speedily met with a like fate. Shih, the

    Assistant King, was at this time in the province of Kiangsi. It

    had become a life struggle with Siu-tsuen, and his removal of the

    four kings resulted in leaving him without any real military

    chief on whose loyalty he could depend. The rumors which

    ‘Lindley, Tai-ping Tien-kwoh, \ol. I., p. 94. reached Shanghai in 1856 of the fierce conflict in the city were probably exaggerated by the desire prevalent in that region that the parties would go on, like the Midianites in Gideon’s time, beatinir down each other till they ended the matter.

    The success of the Tai-pings had encouraged discontented leaders in other parts of China to set up their standards of revolt. The progress of Shih Ta-kai in Sz’chuen and Kweichau engaged the utmost efforts of the provincial rulers to restore peace. In Kwangtung a powerful band invested the city, but the operations of Governor Yeh, after the departure of Sii Kwang-tsun in 185i, were well supported by the gentry. By the middle of 1855 the rising was quenched in blood. The destruction of Fatshan, Shauking, and other large towns, had shown that the sole object of the rebels was plunder, though it was thought at first that they were Tai-pings. The executions in Canton during fourteen months np to August, 1856, were nearly a hundred thousand men ; but the loss of life on both sides must be reckoned by millions. A band of Cantonese desperadoes seized the city of Shanghai in September, 1853, killing the district magistrate and some other officials. They retained possession till the Chinese New Year, January 27, 1854, leaving the city amid flames and carnage, when many of the leaders escaped in foreign vessels.’ None of these men were affiliated with the Tai-pings.

    Jn Formosa and Hainan, as well as in Yunnan and Kansuh, the provincial authorities had hard work with their local contingents to maintain the Emperor’s authority. This wretched prince was himself fast bound under the sway of Suhshun and his miserable coterie, devising moans to rej>lcnish his coffers by issuing iron and paper money, and proposing counters cut out of jade stone to take the place of bullion. The national history, however, had many notices of precisely such disastrous epochs in former times, and the nation’s faith in itself was not really weakened.

    THE REBEL SORTIE FROM NANKING. 605

    By 1857 the imperialists had begun to draw close lines about ‘No foreigners here or elsewhere in China were injured designedly during all this insurrection.

    the rebels, when they were nearly restricted to the river banks between Nganking and Nanking, both of which cities were blockaded. Two years later the insurgent capital was beleaguered,

    but in its siege the loyalists trusted almost wholly to

    the effects of want and disease, which at last reached such an

    extreme degree (up to 18G0) that it was said human flesh was

    sold on the butchers’ stalls of Xanking. Their ammunition was

    nearly expended, their numbers were reduced, and their men

    apparently desirous to disperse ; but the indomitable spirit of the

    leader never quailed. He had appointed eleven other ((‘(okj, or generals,

    called Chung TFan^ (‘ Loyal King ‘j, Ylng Wang (‘Heroic

    King’), Kan TH/vi^ (‘ Shield King’), Ting Wang (‘Listening

    King ‘), etc., whose abilities were cpiite equal to the old ones.

    As the siege progressed events assumed daily a more threatening

    aspect. Chang Kwo-liang and Ilo Chun, two imperialist generals,

    invested the city more and more closely, driving the insurgents

    to extremity in every direction. The efforts of these men

    were, however, not aggressive in conseqnence of the war then

    waging with the British and French on the Pei ho. This encouraged

    the beleaguered garrison to a desperate effort to free themselves,

    and on May G, 18G0, a well-concerted attack on the

    armies which had for years been intrenched behind outworks

    about the city scattered them in utter disorder. A small body

    of Tai-pings managed to get out toward the north of Kiangsu,

    near the Yellow Kiver. Another body had already (in March)

    carried Hangchau by assault by springing a mine ; as many as

    seventy thousand inhabitants, including the Manchu garrison,

    perished here during the week the city remained in possession of

    the rebels. On their return to Nanking the joint force carried all before it, and the needed guns and annnunition fell into their hands. The loyalist soldiers also turned against their old officers, but the larger part had been killed or dispei’sed. Chinkiang and Changchau were captured, and Ilo Kwei-tsing, the governor-general, fled in the most dastardly manner to Suchaii, without an effort to retrieve his overthrow. Some resistance was made at Wnsih on the Grand Canal, but Ilo Chnn was so paralyzed by the onslaught that he killed himself, and Sucliau fell into the hands of Chung Wang with no resistance whatever.

    It was, nevertheless, burned and pillaged by the cowardly imperialists before they left it, Ho Kwei-tsiug setting the large suburbs on tire to uncover the solid walls. This destruction was so unnecessary that the citizens welcomed the Tai-pings, for they would at least leave them their houses. AVith Suchau and Ilangchau in their hands, the Kan Wang and Chung Wang had control of the great watercourses in the two provinces, and their desire now was to obtain foreign steamers to use in regaining niasteiy of the Yangzi River. The loss of their first leaders was by this time admirably supplied to the insurgents by these two men, who had had a wider experience than the TianWang himself, while their extraordinary success in dispersing their enemies had been to them all an assurance of divine protection and approval.

    The populous and fertile region of Kiangnan and Chehkiang was wholly in their hands by June, 1800, so far as any organized Mancliu force could resist them. The destruction of life, property, and industry within the three months since their sally from Nanking had been unparalleled probably since the Conquest, more than two centuries before, and revived the stories told of the ruthless acts of Attila and Tamerlane. Shanghai was threatened in August by a force of less than twenty thousand men led by the Chung Wang, and it would have been captured if it had not been protected by British and French troops. Many villages in the district were destroyed, but the flotilla approaching from Sungkiang recoiled from a collision with foreigners, and the insurgents all retired before September. They, however,

    could now be supplied with nnmitions of war, and even began

    to enlist foreigners to help them drill and light. It was an

    anomalous condition of things, possible only in China, that

    while the allied force was marching upon Peking to extort a

    treaty, the same force was encircling the walls of Shanghai, burning its suburbs to destroy all cover, and aiding its rulers to preserve it to Ilienfung— all in order to conquer a trade. It was then the moment for the Tai-pings to have moved rapidly upon Chihli and tried the gage of battle before the metropolis, as soon as possible after Lord Elgin had withdrawn. But they had now very few left to them of the kind of troops which threatened the capital in 1853-54, and could not depend on recruits from Kiangnan in the hour of adversity.

    FOREKiN AID AGAINST THE REBELS. ”><)7

    At this juncture the imperialists began to look toward foreigners for aid in restoring their prestige and power by employing skill and weapons not to be found among themselves.

    An American adventurer, Frederick G. Ward, of Salem, Mass., proposed to the Intendant Wu to recapture Sungkiaiig from the Tai-pings ; he was repulsed on his first attempt at the head of about a hundred foreigners, but succeeded on the second, and the imperialists straightway occupied the city. This success, added to the high pay, stimulated many others to join him, and General Ward ere long was able to organize a larger body of soldiers, to which the name of Cliang-shing Mun, or ‘ Ever-victorious force,’ was given by the Chinese ; it ultimately proved to be well applied. Its composition was heterogeneous, but the energy, tact, and discipline of the leader, under the impulse of an actual struggle with a powerful foe, soon moulded it into something like a manageable corps, able to serve as a nucleus for training a native army. Foreigners generally looked down upon the undertaking, and many of the allied naval and military officers regarded it with doubt and dislike. It had to prove its character by works, but the successive defeats of the insurgents during the year 1862 in Kiangsu and Chehkiang, clearly demonstrated the might of its trained men over ten times their number of undisciplined braves.

    But we must retrace our steps somewhat. In 1860 the possession of the best parts of Kiangsu and Chehkiang led the Tian Wang to plan the relief of Nganking by advancing on Hankow with four separ’ate corps. They were under the leadership of the Chung Wang, and, so far as the details can be gathered, manifested a practical generalship hardly to be expected.

    The Ying Wang was to move through Ng-anhwui from Lucliau westerly to Ilwangchau ; the Attendant King (Shih) was to leave Kiangsi and co-operate with the Chung Wang by reaching the Yangtsz’ as near Hankow as possible, and a smaller force under the Tu AVang was to recover Ilukau at the mouth of Poyang Lake and ascend the Great River in boats. The area through which this campaign was to be carried on may be understood when we learn that the Chung Wang’s march of five hundred miles was over the two ranges of mountains on the frontiers of Kiangsi, and that of the Ying Wang two hundred miles through the plains of Xganhwui. This last king did actually take his force of about eighty thousand men two hundred miles to II wangchau (fifty miles below Hankow) in eleven days, but none of his colleagues came to his aid. The experience of eight years had quite changed the elements of the contest.

    The people now generally realized that neither life, property, nor government was secured under the Tai-pings ; the imperialists had learned how to obtain the co-operation of the patriotic gentry, and the rank and file of the Tai-pings were by this date mostly conquered natives of the same region, as no recruits had ever come from Kwangsi. Moreover, the region was impoverished, and this involved greater privations to all parties. Yet the Chung AVang went from AVuhu south-west to Kwangsin, crossed the water-shed into Kiangsi, defeated a force at Kienchang, crossed the River Kan near Linkiang, and marched north-west to AVuning hien on the River Siu. Here he heard of the defeat of Tu AVang, and the non-arrival of Shih’s force ; and, lest he should be hemmed in himself, as the failure of the campaign was evident, he led his army back across the province to Kwangsin by September, 1861. The particulars of this last great exploit of the Tai-pings are so imperfectly known, that it is impossible to judge of it as a military movement accomplished under enormous difficulties ; but the Loyal King must have been a strategist of no mean rank. In November, 1861, Nganking succumbed to the imperialists. Its defenders and the citizens endured untold sufferings at the last, while its victors had an empty shell ; but the river Avas theirs down to Nanking, On his return east, Chung AVang moved into Chehkiang and overran all the northern half of that province, his men inflicting untold horrors upon the inhabitants, whom they killed, burned, and robbed as they listed.

    THE ” EVER-VICTOKIOUS FORCE.” 609

    Ningpo was taken December 9th and held till May 10th, when it was recaptured by the allies; foreign trade had not been interrupted during this period, and the city suffered less than many others. In September the Tai-pings were driven out of the valley of the Yung River, but the death of General Ward at Tsz’ki deprived the imperialists of an able leader. The career of this man had been a strange one, but his success in training his men was endorsed by honorable dealing with the mandarins, who had reported well of him at Peking. He was buried at Sungkiang, where a shrine was erected to his memory, and incense is burned before him to this day.

    It was difficult to find a successor, but the command rather devolved on his second, an American named Bui-gevine, who was confirmed by the Chinese, but proved to be incapable. He was superseded by Holland and Cooke, Englishmen, and in April, 1863, the entire command was placed under Colonel Peter Gordon, of the British army. During the interval between May, 1860, wdien Ward took Sungkiang, and April 6, 1863, when Gordon took Fushau, the best manner of combining native and foreign troops M’as gradually developed as they became more and more acquainted with each other and learned to respect discipline as an earnest of success. Such a motley force has seldom if ever been seen, and the enormous preponderance of Chinese troops would have perhaps been an element of danger had they been left idle for a long time.

    The bravery of the Ever-victorious force in the presence of the enemy had gradually won the confidence of the allies, as well as the Chinese officials, in whose pay it was ; and when it operated in connection with the French and British contingent in driving the Tai-pings out of jS^ingpo prefecture, the real worth of Ward’s drill was made manifest. The recapture of that city by Captain Dew’s skilful and brave attack in reply to their unprovoked firing at H. M. S. Encounter, brought out the bravery of all nationalities, as well as restored the safety of the port. An extract from Captain Dew’s report will exhibit the dreadful results to the common people of this civil war:

    I had known Ningbo in its palmy days, when it boasted itself one of the first commercial cities of the Empire; but now, on this 11th of May, one might have fancied that an angel of destruction had been at work in the city as in the suburbs. All the latter, with their wealthy hongs and thousands of houses, lay levelled ; while in the city itself, once the home of half a million of people, no trace or vestige of an inhabitant could be seen. Truly it was a city of the dead. The rich and beautiful furniture of the houses had become firewood, or was removed to the walls for the use of soldiers. The canals were filled with dead bodies and stagnant filth. The stonework of bridges and pavements had been nplifted to strengthen walls and form barricades in the streets ; and in temples once the pride of their Buddhist priests, the chaotic remains of gorgeous idols and war gods lay strewn about—their lopped limbs showing that they had become the sport of those Christian Tai-pings whose chief, the Tien-wang. eight years before at Nanking, had asked Sii George Bonham if the Virgin Mary had a pretty sister for him, the King of Heaven, to marry ! It has been my good fortune since to assist at the wresting o; many cities from these Tai-pings, and in them all I found, as at Ningbo, that the same devilish hands had been at work—the people expelled from their houses and their cities ruined.’

    Yet so speedy was the revival from the ruins, that we are told that in one month houses had been refurnished and shops opened ; their owners had mostly fled across the river into the foreign settlement. A larger force was now organized

    —MM. Le Brethon and (iiquel behig in charge of a Franco-Chinese regiment—and an advance made on Yiiyau, which was retaken, and one thousand drilled Chinese left to defend it.

    Tsz’ki, Funghwa, and Sluuigyii were also cleared of rebels, and during the month of March they evacuated the prefect city of Shauhing, never again to return to this fertile valley. Their inroad had been an unmitigated scourge, for they had now given up all pretense of Christianity, and had not the least idea of instituting a regular government ; to plunder, kill, and destroy was their only business. Their sense of danger from the liatred of the people whom they had so grievously maltreated led them at this time to defend the walled cities with a reckless bravery that made their capture more difficult and dangerous. This was shown in the siege of Shauhing fu, within whose walls about forty thousand Tai-pings were well led by the Shi Wang. The possession of cannon enabled them to reply to the balls thrown by Captain Dew’s artillery, while despair lent energy to their resistance ; so that the attack turned into a regular siege of a montlrs duration, when, food and amnumition being exhausted, they retreated en mas.se to llangchau.

    > A. Wilson, The ” Ecer-Vidorious Armi/,” p. U)2, London, 18G8.

    SUCCESSES OF THE FORCE UNDER GOItDON. 611

    While this success relieved the greater part of Chehkiang from the scourge, the failure of the Ever-victorious force to retake Taitsang and Fuslian, under Holland and Brennan, had discouraged Governor Li, who had now come into power, he applied to General Stavely, who, with a full appreciation of the exigencies of the case, and concurrence of Sir Frederick Bruce, aided iti reorganizing Ward’s force and placing Colonel Gordon over it with adequate powers. There were live or six infantry regiments of about five hundred men each, and a battery of artillery; at times it numbered five thousand men. The commissioned officers were all foreigners, and their national rivalries were sometimes a source of trouble ; the non commissioned officers were Chinese, many of them repentant rebels or seafaring men from Canton and Fuhkien, promoted for good conduct. The uniform was a mixture of native and foreign dress, which at first led to the men being ridiculed as ‘ Imitation Foreign Devils ; ‘ after victory, however, had elevated their esprit du corps, they became quite proud of the costume.

    In respect to camp equipage, arms, commissariat and ordnance departments, and means of transport, the natives soon made themselves familiar with all details; while necessity helped their foreign officers rapidly to pick up their language. It is recorded, to the credit of this motle}^ force, that ” there was very little crime and consequently very little punishment; . . . as drunkenness was unknown, the services of the provost-marshal rarely came into use, except after a capture, when the desire for loot was a temptation to absence from the ranks.”‘

    In addition, the force had a fiotilla of four small steamers, aided by a variety of native boats to the number of fifty to seventy-five. The plain is so intersected by canals that the troops could be easier moved by water than land, and these boats enabled it to carry out surprises which disconcerted the rebels. Wilson well remarks concerning Gordon’s force : ” Its success was owing to its compactness, its completeness, the quickness of its movements, its possession of steamers and good artillery, the bravery of its officers, the confidence of its men, the inability of the rebels to move large bodies of troops with nqudity, tlio nature of the country^ the almost intuitive perception of the leader in adapting his operations to the nature of the country, and his untiring energy in carrying them out.*”

    ‘ Wilson, ibid, p. 133.

    The details of this singular troop are worth telling with more minuteness than spaee here allows, for its management will no doubt form a precedent in the future ; hut the good its remarkable chief effected in restoring peace to Kiangsu calls for that recognition which skill, tact, and high moral purpose ever deserve. Being formally put in command on March 24, 18G3, he promptly reinstated the foreign officers belonging to the force, paid their dues, and within a few days was in readiness to march upon Fnshan, a town on the Yangtsz’ above Panshan.

    The fall of this place on April Gth led to the ca}>tu]”e of (“hanzu,

    when preparations wei-e made for besieging Taitsang fu, where

    an army of ten thousand rebels, aided by foreign adventurers,

    presented a formidable imdertaking for his force of two thousand

    eight hundred men, although supported by a large body

    of imperialists. In its capture (May 2d) the killed and wounded

    numbered one hundred and sixty-two officers and men ; the

    boot}- obtained was so large that Colonel Gordon led his men

    back to Sungkiang, in order to reorganize them after this experience

    of their conduct. Finding that their former license

    in appropriating the loot thus obtained tended to demoralize

    them all, he accepted the resignations of some of the discontented

    officers, and adopted stringent measures to bring the

    others to render military obedience. Consequently, when he

    started for Iviunshan with about three thousand men, he had

    liis force in a much better condition. This city occupied an

    important position between Shanghai, Chanzu, Taitsang, and

    other large towns on the east, and Suchau on the Avest. The

    rebels had set up a cannon foundry within its M-alls, and from

    it obtained supplies for the last-named city, with which it -was

    connected by a causeway. By means of the armed steamer

    Ilyson, Colonel Gordon was able to bi-ing up through one of

    the canals a comj^any of three hundred and fifty men and field

    artillery, cutting the causeway and pursuing its defenders, some

    ‘ Ibul, p. 138.

    ENVIRONMENT OF SUCIIAU. 613

    into the town and some toward Sncliau, almost to its veiy

    gates. On the return of the steamer in the night, the commander

    found the imperialists engaged M’ith the garrison in a

    sharp contest, in which the foreigners then aided, and completely

    routed the rebel body of nearly eight thousand men.

    Fully four thousand of them were killed outright, and others were drowned or cut off by the exasperated peasantry before the day was over. This was on May 30th. The captured town was made headquarters by its victors, as a more eligible location than Sungkiang, though against the wishes of the native office’s, who desired to go back there with their booty. The loss of men, material, and position to the rebels was very great, and Colonel Gordon could now safely turn his whole thoughts to the capture of Suchau.

    This city is like Venice in its approaches by canals ; owing to its location it was deemed best, before attempting its capture, to reduce certain towns in the vicinity, from which it derived supplies, so that the Chung “Wang should not be able to co-operate with its garrison. The district towns of AVukiang and Kahpu were both taken in July with comparatively little loss. This rapid reduction of many strong stockades, stone forts, and walled towns, with the panic exhibited by the men, proved how useless to the rebels the foreigners in their service had been in rendering them really formidable enemies, and how incapable the wangs had been to appreciate the nature and need of discipline.

    After these places had been occupied. Colonel Gordon found his position beset with so many unexpected annoyances, both from his rather turbulent and incongruous troops as well as from the Chinese authorities, that he went to Shanghai on August 8th for the purpose of resigning the command. Arriving here, however, he ascertained that Burgevine had just gone over to the Tai-pings with about three hundred foreigners, and was then in Suchau. The power of moral principle, which guided the career of the one, was then seen in luminous contrast to its lack as shown in the other of these soldiers of fortune. To his lasting credit Colonel Gordon decided to return at once to Kiunshan, and, in face of the ingratitude of the Chinese and iealousy of his officers, to stand by the imperialist cause. he uraduallv restored his influence over officers ai\(l men. ascertained that Burgevine’s position in the Tai-ping army did not allow him freedom enough to render his presence dangerous to their foes, and began to act aggressively against ISuchau by taking Patachiau on its southern side in September, Emissaries from the foreigners in the city now reported considerable dissatisfaction with their position, and Colonel Gordon was able to arrange in a short time their withdrawal without much danger to themselves. It is said that Burgevine even then proposed to him to join their forces, seize Suchau, and as soon as possible march on Peking Avith a large army, and do to the Manchus what the Manchus had done, two hundred and twenty years before, to the Mings, (\jlonel Gordon’s own loyalty was somewhat suspected by the imperialist leaders, but his integrity carried him safely through all these temptations to swerve from his duty.

    As soon as these niercenaries among the rebels were out of the

    way, operations against Suchau were prosecuted with vigor, so

    that by Xovember 19th the entire city was invested and carefully

    cut off from comnnmication with the north. The city

    being now hard pushed, the besieging force prepared for anight

    attack upon a breach previously made in the stockade near the

    north-east gate. It was well planned, but the Muh Wang, /rtc^/Ai

    j)rince2)s among the Tai-ping chiefs in courage and devotion,

    liaving been informed of it, opened such a destructive fire that

    the Ever-victorious force was defeated with a loss of about two

    hundred officers and men killed and wounded. On the next

    morning, however (November 2Sth), it was reported that the

    cowardly leaders in the city were plotting against the Muh

    Wang—the only loyal one among their number—^and were talking

    of capitulating, using the British chief as their intermediary.

    This rumor proved, indeed, to be so far true, that after some

    further successful operations on the part of Gordon’s division,

    the Wangs made overtures to General Ghing, himself a foi-mcr

    rebel commander, but long since returned to the impei’ial cause

    and now the chief over its forces in Kiangsu. The Muh Wang

    was publicly assassinated on December 2d by his comrades,

    SURRENDER AXD EXECUTION OF ITS GENERALS. 615

    and on tlie 5th tlie negotiations liad proceeded so far that interviews

    were held. Colonel Gordon had withdrawn his troops a

    short distance to save the city from pillage, hut did not succeed

    in obtaining a donation of two months’ pay for their late bravery

    from the parsimonious Li. IJe therefore proposed to lay down

    his command at tliree o’clock i’.m., and meanwhile went into tlie

    city to interview the Na Wang, who told him that everything was

    proceeding in a satisfactory manner. Upon learning this he

    repaired to the house of the nun-dered Muh Wang in order to

    get his corpse decently buried, but failed, as no one in the place

    would lend him the smallest assistance. While he was thus occupied,

    the rebel wangs and officers had settled as to the terms

    they would accept ; and on reaching his own force, Gordon found

    General Ching there with a donation of one month’s pay, which

    his men refused.

    The next morning he returned into the city and was told by

    Ching that the rebel leaders had all been pardoned, and would

    deliver up the city at noon ; they were preparing then to go out.

    Colonel Gordon shortly after started to return to his own camp

    and met the imperialists coming into the east gate in a tumultuous

    manner, prepared for slaughter and pillage. He therefore

    went back to the Xa Wang’s house to guard it, but found

    the establishment already quite gutted ; he, however, met the

    Wang’s uncle and went with him to protect the females of the

    family at the latter’s residence. Here he was detained by

    several hundred armed rebels, who would neither let him go

    nor send a message by his interpreter till the next morning

    (December Ttli), when they permitted him to leave for his

    boat, then waiting at the south gate ; narrowly escaping, on his

    way thither, an attack from the imperialists, he reached his

    Ijodyguard at daybreak, and with them was able to pi-event

    any more soldiers entei’ing the city. His preservation amid such

    conflicting forces was providential, but his indignation was great

    M-hen he learned that Governor Li had beheaded the eight rebel leaders the day before. It seems that they had demanded conditions quite inadmissible in respect to the control of the thirty thousand men under their orders, and were cut off for their insolent contumacy. Another account, published a* Shanghai in 1871, states that nearly twenty chiefs were exe cuted, and about two thousand privates.

    As Colonel Gordon felttliat his good name was compromised

    by this cruelty, he threw up his command until he could confer

    with his superiors. On the 2*Jth a reply came to Li llungchang

    from Prince Kung, highly praising all who had been

    engaged in taking Suchau, and ordering him to send the leader

    of the Ever-victorious force a medal and ten thousand taels—

    both of w Inch he declined. The posture of affairs soon became

    embarrassing to all pai’tics. The rebellion was not suppressed ;

    the cities in rebel hands would soon gather the desperate men

    escaped from Suchau ; Colonel Gordon alone could lead his

    troops to victory ; and all his past bi-avery and skill might be

    lost. He therefore resumed his command, and presently recommenced operations by leading his men against Ihing hien, west of Suchau.

    Concerning this wretched business of the Suchau slaughter,

    much was said both in the foreign commimities in China and

    later in England. Mr. Wilson, in his book compiled largely

    from Colonel Gordon’s notes on this campaign, discusses the

    question with as great fairness as precision, and concludes—as

    must every well-wisher of China with him—that it was in every

    way fortunate, both for his reputation and the cause to which

    he had lent himself, that this heroic man returned to his thankless

    task. Summing up the arguments of the Chinese and the

    various attendant circumstances that brought about this execution,

    Mr. Wilson points to Li’s not nnnatural desire after revenge

    for his brother’s murder by the rebels before Taitsang;

    to the army still under control of the wangs ; to the almost

    absolute certainty of massacre of those imperialists who had

    already entered the city should he refuse compliance with their

    demands ; as also to the impossibility of arresting these chiefs

    without an alarm of treachery spreading among their troops

    within the walls, and thus giving them time to close the gates,

    cutting off the imperial soldiers inside the city from those who

    were without. ” Li was in a very ditficult and critical position,”

    he says, ” which imperatively demanded sudden, unprcmedilated

    action ; and though, no doubt, it would have been more

    COLONEL OORDON’S FURTHER OPERATIONS. 617

    honorable for liiin to have made the wangs prisoners, he cannot

    in tlie circumstances be with justice severely censui-ed for haviuij;

    ordered the Tai-ping chiefs who were in liis power, but who

    detied his authoi’ity, to be innuediately killed. It is also certain

    that Colonel Gordon need not liave been in a hui-ry to consider

    himself as at all responsible for this almost necessary act,

    because in a letter to him (among his correspondence relating

    to these affairs) from the Futai [Li], dated November 2, 18G3,

    I find the following noteworthy passage, wliich shows that the

    governor did not wish Gordon to interfere at all in regard to

    the capitulation of the Suchau chiefs :

    ‘ With respect to Moh Wang and other rebel leaders’ proposal, I am quite satisfied that you have determined in no way to interfere. Let Ching look after their treacherous and cunning management.’” ‘

    On reaching thing, the dreadful effects of the struggle going on around Gordon’s force were seen, and more than reconciled him to do all he could to bring it to an end. Utter destitution prevailed in and out of the town; people were feeding on dead bodies, and ready to perish from exposure while waiting for a comrade to die. The town of Liyang was surrendered on his approach, and its iidiabitants, twenty thousand in number, supplied with a little food. From this place to Kintan proved to be a slow and irksome march, owing to the shallow water in the canal and the bad weather. On March 21st an attack was made on this strong post by breaching the walls; but it resulted in a defeat, the loss of more than a hundred officers and men, and a severe wound which Colonel Gordon received in his leg— oddly enough the oidy injury he sustained, though frequently compelled to lead his men in person to a charge. Next day he retired, in order, to Liyang, but hearing that the son of the Chung Wang had retaken Fushan he started with a thousand men and some artillery for Wusih, which the rebels had left.

    ‘Wilson, The ” Eccr-Victorioiis Army,” p. 204.

    The operations in this region during the next few weeks conclusively proved the desperate condition of the rebels, but a hopeless cause seemed often but to increase their bravery in defending what strongholds were left them. At the same time a body of Franco-Chinese was operating, in connection with Gen^eral Ching on the south of Suchau, against Kiahing fn, a large city on the (4rand Canal, held by the Ting Wang. This position was taken and its defenders put to the sword on March 20th, but with the very serious loss of General Ching, one of the ablest generals in the Chinese army. Ilangchau, the capital of Chehkiang, capitulated the next day, and this was soon followed by the reduction of the entire province and dispersion of the rebels among the hills.

    Colonel Gordon had recovered from his wound so as to lead an attack on Waisu April Cth, which town fell on the 11th, when most of its defenders were killed by the peasantry as they attempted to escape. His force was also much weakened, and needed to be recruited. With about three thousand in all, he now went to aid Governor Li in reducing Chaiigchau fu, and invested it on the 25th. The entire besieging force numbered over ten thousand ; and as the rebels were twice as many, on the Mhole well provided, and knew that no mercy would be shown, their resistance was stubborn. Several attacks were repulsed with no small loss to Gordon’s force, so that slower methods of approach were resorted to till a general assault was planned on May 11th, when it succumbed. Only fifteen hundred rebels were slain, and the greater part of the prisoners were allowed to go home, the Xwangsi men alone being executed. With this capture ended the operations of the Evervictorious force and its brave leader. Nanking was now the only strong place held by the Tai-pings, and there was nothing for that army to do there, as Tsang Kwoh-fan, the generalissimo of the imperial armies, had ample means for its capture.

    THE EVHU-VICTOllIOns FOUCE DIS;BANDED. 619

    Colonel Gordon, therefore, in conjunction with Governor Li, dissolved this notable division ; the latter rewarded its officers and men with liberal gratuities, and sent the natives home. During its existence of about four years down to June 1, 1804, nearly fifty places had been taken (twenty-three of them by Gordon), and its higher discipline had served to elevate the morale of the imperialists who operated with them. It perhaps owed its greatest triumph to the high-toned uprightness of its Christian chief, which impressed all who served with him. The Emperor conferred on liinitlie bigliest iiiilitarj- rank of t’l-tuJi, or

    ‘ Captain-General,’ and a yellow jacket {ina-k(ca) and other uniforms,

    to indicate the sense of his achievements. Sir Fredei’ick

    Bruce admirably summed up his character in a letter to Earl

    Russell when sending the imperial rescript:

    Hongkong, July 12, 1864.

    My Lord,

    I enclose a translation of a despatch from Prince Kung containing the decree

    published by the Emperor, acknowledging the services of Lieutenant-

    Colonel Gordon, R. E., and requesting that her Majesty’s government be

    pleased to recognize them. This stej) has been spontaneously taken. Lieutenant-

    Colonel Gordon well deserves her Majesty’s favor ; for, independently

    of the skill and courage he has shown, his disinterestedness lias elevated our

    national character in the eyes of the Clnuese. Not only has he refused any

    pecuniary reward, but he has spent more than his pay in contributing to the

    comfort of the officers who served under him, and in assuaging the distress of

    the starving population whom he relieved from the yoke of their oppressors.

    Indeed, tlie feeling that impelled him to resume operations after the fall of

    Suchow was one of the purest humanity. He sought to save the people of

    the districts that had been recovered from a repetition of the misery entailed

    uijon them b/this cruel civil war. I have, etc.,

    F. W. A. Bruce.

    The foreign merchants at Shanghai expressed their sense of

    his conduct in a letter dated November 24th, written on the

    ev^e of liis retui-n to England, in which they truly remark : ” In

    a position of unecpialled difficulty, and surrounded by complications

    of every possible nature, you have succeeded in offering

    to the eyes of the Chinese nation, no less by your loyal and

    disinterested line of action than by your conspicuous gallantry

    and talent for organization and command, the example of a

    foreign officer serving the government of this country with

    honorable tidelity and undeviating self-respect/’ ‘

    ‘ ” The rapidity with which the long-descended hostility of the Chinese government became exchanged for relations of at least outward friendship, must be ascribed altogether to the existence of the Tai-ping Rebellion, without whose pressure as an auxiliary we might have crushed, but never conciliated the distrustful statesmen at Peking.”—Fraser^s Magazine, Vol. LXXL,p. 145,February, 18G5.

    Such men are not only the choice jewels of their own nation(and England may justly be proud to reckon this son among her worthies), but leave beliiiul them an example, as in the case of Colonel Gordon, which elevates (1n-istianity itself in theeyes of the Chinese, and will remain a legacy for good to them through coming years.’

    After the dissolution of the Ever-victorious force, its leader visited Nganking and Nanking to see the governor-general, Tsiing Kwoh-fan, and his brother, mIio were directing operations against the rebels, in order to propose some improvements in their future employment of foreign soldiers and military appliances. They listened with respect, and took notes of important suggestions—knowing at the same time that their subordinates were uiuible to comprehend or adojit many such innovations. The work before’ Ts’anking indicated the industry of its besiegers in the miles of walls connecting one hundred and forty mud forts in their circumvallations. and in various mines leading under the city walls. The Tai-pings at that

    date seldom appeared on the walls, and had recently sent out

    thi’ee thousand women and children to be fed by their enemies,

    proof enough of their distressed condition. The only general

    capable of relieving the Tien “Wang was the Chung Wang,

    whose army remained on the southern districts of Kiangsu,

    while he himself was in the city with the Ivan “Wang (Hung Jin), now the trusted agent of his half-brother. All egress from the doomed city was stopped by flune 1st, when the explosion of mines and bursting of shells forewarned its deluded defenders of their fate. Of the last days of their leader no

    authentic account has been given, and the declaration of the

    Chung Wang in his autobiography, that he poisoned himself

    on June 30th, ” owing to liis anxiety and troul)le of mind,” is

    probably true. His body was buried behind his palace by one

    of his wives, and afterward dug up by the imperialists.

    On Julv 19, 1804, the wall was breaclied hy the explosion of

    forty thousand pounds of powder in a mine, and the Chung

    Wang, faithful to the last, defended until midnight the Tien

    Wang’s family from the imperialists. lie and the Kan Wang

    ‘Compare further Col. C. C. Chesney’s Essays on Modern Military Biograpliy

    (from the Fjliithnnjh Rcdeir), pp. 1G3-213, London, 1874.

    FALL OF NANKING. 621

    then escorted Hung Fu-tien—a lad of sixteen, who had succeeded to the throne of Great Peace three weeks before—with a thousand followers, a short distance beyond the city. The three leaders now became separated, but all were ultimately captured and executed. The Chung AVang, during his captivity before death, wrote an account of his own life, which fully maintains the high estimate previously formed of his character from his public acts.’ lie was the solitary ornament of the whole movement during the fourteen years of its independent existence, and his enemies would have done well to have spared

    him. More than seven thousand Tai-pings were put to death

    in Xanking, the total number found there l)eing hardly over

    twenty thousand, of whom probably very few Mere southern

    Chinese —this element having gradually disappeared.

    After the recaptui-e of Xanking, two small bodies of rebels

    remained in Chehkiang. The largest of them, under the Tow

    Wang, held Iluchau fu, and made a despei’ate resistance until

    a large force, provided with artillery, compelled them to evacuate.

    During this siege the sanguinary conduct of the Taipings

    showed the natural result of their reckless course since

    their last escape from Xanking; the narrative of an escaped

    Irishman, who had been compelled to serve them in Iluchau

    for some months, is terrible enough : ” All offences received

    one puinshment—death. I saw one hundred and sixty men

    beheaded, as I understood, for absence from parade ; two boys

    were beheaded for smoking ; all prisoners of war were executed ;

    spies, or people accused as such, were tied with their hands behind

    their backs to a stake, brushwood put around them, and

    they burned to death.” The rebel force nundjered nearly a

    hundred thousand men, and tlieir vigorous defence was continued

    for a fortnight, till on August 14th their last stockade

    was carried by the imperialists, and about half their number

    made good tlieir escape to the neighboring hills, leavijig the

    usual scene of desolation behind them. This body undertook

    to march south through the hilly regions between Kiangsi and

    ‘ Tlie Autohiofp’dphy of tlie Chung- Wang, translated from the Chinese b^

    W. T. Lay, Shanghai, 1865.

    Clielikiaiig. The best disciplined portion was led by the Shi

    Wan*’, who had joined it witli his men from the former province,

    and arranged an attack on Kwangsin, near wliich they

    were defeated. The remainder managed to march across tlio

    intervening districts south-westerly to the city of Changchau,

    near Amoy, where they intrenched themselves till the next

    spring, subsisting on the supplies found in it and the neighborhood.

    The Shi Wang and Kan Wang then left it April 16th,

    in two bodies, unable to resist the disciplined force of eight

    thousand men brought from the north. Feeling that their

    days were numbered, the}’ seem to have scrupled at nothing to

    show their savagery—as, for example, when they slaughtered

    sixteen hundred imperialists who had surrendered on a promise

    of safe-conduct. No mercy was therefore shown them by the

    iidiabitants ; at Clumping in Kwangtung they even cut down

    their growing rice in order to prevent the rebels using it. The

    last straggling relics of the Tai-ping Heavenly King’s adherents

    were thus gradually destroyed, and his ill-advised enterprise

    brought to an end.

    Fifteen years had elapsed since he had set up his standard of

    revolt in Kwangsi, and now there was nothing to show as a return

    for the awful cariuige and misery that had ensued from his

    efforts. No new ideas concerning God or his redemption for

    mankind had been set forth or illustrated by the teachings or practices of the Tai-ping leader or any of his followers, nor did they ever take any practical measures to call in foreign aid to assist in developing even the Christianity they professed. True the Kan Wang called Mr. Roberts to Nanking, but instead of consulting with him as to the establishment of schools, opening chapels, preparing books, or organizing any kind of religious or benevolent work to further the welfare of his adherents, the Tien AVang did not even grant an interview to the missionary, who, on his part, was glad to escape with his life to Shanghai.

    If this rebellion practically exhibited no religious truth to the educated mind of China, it was not for lack of jniblications setting forth the beliefs its leaders had drawn from the Bible, or for laws sanctioned by severe peiuilties, both of which were scattered throuirh the land. Dj-. Medhurst’s careful translations

    END OF TIIK TAI-1’IN(J IlEBELLION. 6^^’

    of these tracts has preserved them, so that the entire disregard

    manifested hj the new sect of tlieir plainest injunctions may he

    at once seen.’ Tlie strong expectations of the friends of China

    for its regeneration through the success of Ilung Siu-tsuen,

    would not have heen indulged if they liad hetter known the

    inner workings of liis own mind and the flagitious conduct of

    liis lieutenants.

    In his political aspirations the Tien Wang entertained no new

    principle of govermnent, for he knew nothing of other lands,

    their jurispi’udence or their polity, and wisely enough held his

    followers to such legislation as they were familiar with. They

    all probably expected to alter affairs to their liking when they

    liad settled in Peking. But if this mysterious iconoclast had

    really any ideas above those of an enthusiast like Thomas Miinzer

    and the Anabaptists in the early days of the Reformation

    —

    whose course and end offers many parallels to his own—he

    must have lamented his folly as he reviewed its results to his

    country. The once peaceful and populous parts of the nine

    great provinces through which his hordes passed have hardly

    yet begun to be restored to their previous condition. Ruined

    cities, desolated towns, and heaps of rubbish still mark their

    course from Kwangsi to Tientsin, a distance of two thousand

    miles, the efforts at restoration only making the conti’ast more

    apparent. Their presence was an unmitigated scourge, attended

    by nothing but disaster from begimiing to end, without the

    least effort on their part to rebuild what had been destroyed, to

    protect what was left, or to repay what had been stolen. Wild

    beasts roamed at large over the land after their departure, and

    made their dens in the deserted towns ; the pheasant’s whirr resounded

    where the hum of busy populations had ceased, and

    weeds or jungle covered the ground once tilled with ])atient industry.

    Besides millions upon millions of taels irrecoverably

    lost and destroyed, and the misery, sickness, and starvation

    ‘ Pamphlets issued hy the Chinese Tnsnnients at JVan-Kinfj ; to whicJi is added

    a histwy of the Kwangsi liehellion, etc., etc., compiled by W. H. Medhurst,

    Senr., Shanghai, IS”):}. Coinjjare II. J. Forrest in Joirrntd iV. C Br. R. A.

    Soc, No. IV., December, 18G7, pp. 1«7 ff. The China Mail for February 2,1854. which were endured by the survivors, it has heon estimated by foreigners living at Shanghai that, during- the whole period from 1851 to 1905, fully twenty millions of human beings were destroyed in connection with the TaiPing Rebellion.’

    V ‘ The most complete authorities on this conflict are files of the North China lliruld (Slianghai) and the Vhina Mail (Hongkong) during the years from 1853 to 1869 ; a careful summary of these has been made by M. Cordier in his Bibliotheat Sinica, pp. 273-281, wliich will be useful alone to those who can gain access to these newspapers. The number of articles on various phases of the rebellion contained in English and American magazines is exceedingly numerous, and can be readily found by reference to Poole’s Index. Among these compare especially the London Qudrterly, Vol. 112, for October, 1862; Fmser^s Magnzine, Vol. 71, February, 1865 ; Blarktrood’s, Vol. 100, pp. 604 and 683 ; W.Sargent in the North Antcrican Revieir, Vol. 7v’), July, 1854, p. 158. See also the various Blue Books relating to China ; Capt. Fishbourne, Inijiremons of China and the Present Berohttion, London, 1855; Gallery and Yvan, LTnsnrrertion en Chine, Paris, 1853—translated into English, London, 1853; Charles Macfarlane, The Chinese Berohttion, London, 1853 ; T. T. Meadows, The Chinese and their Behellions, London, 1856 ; J. M. Mackie, Life of Tai-piny Wang,N. Y., 1857; Commander Lindesay Brine, Narrative of the Rise and Progress of the Taeping Rebellion in China, London, 1862; “Lin-le,” Ti-Ping Tienkifoh,the History of the Ti-Ping Berolution, London, 1866— a rather untrustworthy record ; Sir T. F. Wade in the Shanghai Miscellany^ No. I. ; Richthofan, Letter on the l^rotince of Shensi.

    CHAPTER XXV. THE SECOND WAR BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA

    The particulars given in the last chapter respecting the TaiPing Rebellion did not include those details coiniected with foreign intercourse during the same period which have had such important results on the Chinese people and government.

    It is a notable index of the vigor and self-poise of both, that

    during those thirteen terrible years, the mass of inhabitants in

    the ten eastern provinces never lost confidence in their own

    government or its ability to subdue the rebels ; while the leading

    officers at Peking and in all those provinces at no time expressed

    doubt as to the loyalty of their countrymen when left

    free to act. The narrative of foreign intercourse is now resumed

    from the year 1849, when the British authorities waived

    the right of insisting upon their admission into the city of

    Canton according to the terms of the convention with Iviying

    in 1847. The conduct of the Cantonese, in view of the forcible

    entrance of English troops into their city, is an interesting

    exhibition of their manner of arousino; enthusiasm and raisino’

    funds and volunteers to cope with an emergency. The series

    of papers found in Vol. XVIII. of the Chinese Re2)Ository well

    illustrates the curious mixture of a sense of wrong and deep concern

    in public affairs, combined with profound ignorance and

    inaptitude as to the best means for attaining their object.

    A candid examination of the real meaning of the Chinese

    texts of the four earlier treaties makes clear the fact that there

    were some grounds for their refusal ; but more attractive than

    this appears the study of an address from the gentry of Canton,

    sent upon the same occasion, to Governor Bonham at Hongkong,

    dissuading him from attempting the entry. Their conduct was naturally legarded by the British as seditious, and of these many urged their authorities to vindicate the national honor and force a way over the walls into the city. The practice of an unwonted approach toward self-government which this popular movement in defence of their metropolis gave the citizens, was of real service to them in the year 1855, when it was beleaguered by the rebels, since they had learned how to use

    their powers and resources. One result of their fancied victory

    over the British at this time was the erection of six stone j)ailau,

    or honorary portals, in various parts of the city and suburbs,

    on each of which was engraved the sentence, ” Reverently

    to commemorate glory conferred,” together with a copy of

    the edict ordering their establishment, and a list of the w^ards

    and villages which furnished soldiers during their time of need.’

    The outcome of the working of treaty provisions between

    foreigners and natives at the five opened ports during the ten

    years up to 1853, had been as satisfactory to both sides

    as could have been reasonably expected. The influx of foreigners

    had more than doubled their numbers ; and as almost

    none of them could talk the Chinese language, it happened that

    natives of Canton became their brokers and compradores

    —

    rather more by reason of speaking pl(/eon-Migllsh than by their

    wealth or capacity. The vicious plan of marking off a separate

    plat of land for the residence of foreigners at each port was

    adopted, and their development tended to build up concessions,

    or settlements, which were to be governed by the various nationalities.

    In doing this the local authorities vacated their

    rights over their own territory, and these settlements have since

    become the germs of foreign cities, if not colonies. The British

    and French consuls at Shanghai claimed territorial jurisdiction

    over all who settled within the limits of their allotted districts,

    and carried this assumption so far as to exercise authority

    over the natives against their own rulers. The British erelong

    gave up this pernicious system, which had no legal basis by

    treaty or conquest, and yielded the entire internal management

    ‘ The one placed near the southern gate became a target for the British gunners

    in October, 1856, its demolition, most unfortunately, involving the de

    Ptruction and burning of uiiilionii of Chinese books iu the shops on that street

    INFLUENCE OF TREATIES ON THE CHINESE. 627

    of all consular communities to those foreigners which composed

    them. There were not enougli residents elsewliere to raise this

    question of local government to any importance, but the progress

    of the Tai-piiigs and the rapid growth of Shangliai as a

    centre of trade for the Yangtsz’ basin, compelled the preparation

    and adoption of a set of land regulations in order to institute

    some means of governing the thousands of foreigners who

    had flocked thither. George Balfour, the first British consul

    in that port, had sanctioned a seiies of rules in 1845, which

    purported to be drawn up by the tautal, or intendant of circuit,

    and which worked well enough in peaceful times.

    In the year 1853, however, the civil war altered the conditions,

    when certain Cantonese rebels captured Shanghai and

    killed some of its magistrates, driving others into the British

    settlement, to which ground the custom-house was shortly afterward

    removed. The collector of the port, AVu Kien-chang, had

    formerly been a hong merchant at Canton, and he willingl}^

    entered into an arrangement for putting the collection of foreign

    duties into the hands of a commission until order was restored.

    The presence there of the British, American, and

    French ministers facilitated this arrangement. Their respective

    consuls, R. Alcock, R. C. Murphy, and B, Edan, accordingly

    met Wu on June 29, 1854, and agreed to a set of custom-

    house rules which in reality transferred the collection of

    duties into the hands of foreigners. The first rule contains the

    reason for this remarkable step in advance of all former positions,

    and has served to perpetuate the employment of foreigners

    at all the open ports, and maintain the foreign inspectorate

    :

    Rule I.—The chief difficulty experienced by the superintendent of customs

    having consisted in the impossibility of obtaining custom-house officials

    with the necessary qualifications as to probity, vigilance, and knowledge of

    foreign languages, required for the enforcement of a close observance of treaty

    and custom-house regulations, the only adequate remedy appears to be in the

    introduction of a foreign element into the custom-house establishment, in the

    persons of foreigners carefully selected and apjjointed by the tantai, who

    shall supply tlie deficiency complained of, and give him efficient and trustworthy

    instruments wherewith to work.’

    ‘ McLane’s Cornnpondcixr, 1858. Senate Ex. Doc, No. iJ8, p. 154.

    628 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    In. carrying out the new arrangement, each consul nominated

    one man to the intendant, viz., T. F. Wade for the British, L.

    Carr for the American, and Arthur Smith for the French

    member of the board of inspectoi-s, who togetlier were to talce

    charo-c of the new department. The chief responsibility for its

    oro-anization fell on Mi-. Wade, inasmuch as he alone of this

    number was familiar with the Chinese language, and possessed

    other qualifications fitting him for the post. He, however, resigned

    within a year, and the intendant appointed II. X. Lay,

    a clerk in the British consulate, who completed the service organization.

    This proceeding shows the readiness with which

    the Chinese will shirk their own duties and functions in government

    employ, and illustrates as well many peculiar traits in

    their character.

    The city of Shanghai had been in possession of a Cantonese

    chief, Liu Tsz’-tsai, and his rabble since September T, 1853, and

    the position of foreigners at that port in the presence of such a

    body of outlaws developed new points of international law. If

    the foreignei’s had all been of one nationalitv the consul would

    probably have assumed temporary control of the city and j^ort

    to assui’e their safety ; but in this case a naval force under each

    flag lying in the river guaranteed ample protection of life and

    property. As soon as the city was occupied the difficulty of

    restraining the disorderly elements, as well among foreigners

    as nativ^es, became painfully apparent to their rulers. Foreign

    rowdies eagerly purchased the plunder brought to them and

    supplied arms and other things in return—a line of conduct

    very naturally irritating to the officials in charge of the siege

    and inclining them at once toward coercive measures.

    The fact that the French settlement adjoined the moat on

    the north side of the city made its authorities desirous to dislodge

    the brigands, which they essayed to do January 6, 1855,

    b}’ joining the imperialists in breaking the walls ; they were

    repulsed, however, with a loss of fifteen men killed and thii’tyseven

    wounded, out of a rank and file numbering two hundred

    and fifty. Another joint attack, undertaken a month later, was

    likewise unsuccessful, though the attempt seems to have frightened

    the force within the walls, since on the night of February

    WORK or THE REBELS AT SirANGIIAI AND AMOY. 629

    JOtli tliej retired, leaving the })lace in ruins. A like cordiality

    was nevertheless not always maintained between native and foreign

    soldiers, for in the previous year (April 4, 1854) occurred a

    collision with the imperialists, in consequence of their near approach

    to the foreign quarter, in which over three hundred Chinese

    soldiers were killed by the foreigners who landed to resist

    them. This untoward rencontre did not, however, interrupt

    amicable relations with the intendant, and was followed by consular

    notifications that whoever entered the service of the combatants

    in or out of the city would forfeit all protection.

    These notices were nevertheless soon disrefrarded as the struggle

    went on, for the temptation to enjoy a lawless life was too

    strong for hundreds of sailors then found in that port. It was

    an anomalous state of affairs, and the exigency led to some acts

    of violence by consuls in control of men-of-war.

    The city of Anioy had been captured by insurgents on May

    IS, 1852, but no contravention occurred ; the number of foreigners

    residing at this port was small, while the opposite island

    of Kulang su afforded a refuge beyond the range of missiles.

    The city was regained by the imperialists before a jear had

    passed. The districts north of Canton, whence Hung Siu-tsuen

    and many of his adherents originated, began the same year to

    send forth their bands of robbers to pillage the province. These

    gangs had really no affinity with the Tai-pings, either in doctrine

    or plans, and none of them succeeded in gaining even a

    temporary success. When the booty was expended they usually

    quarrelled, and the impei-ialists destroyed them in detail. Every

    part of the province was at one time or another the scene of

    savage conflict between tliese contestants, and it was soon shown

    that no regenerating principle was involved on either side. The

    confidence of the educated and wealthy classes in the just cause

    and final success of their rulers was shown in raising men and

    money for the public service and organizing bodies of local

    police ; but the want of a sagacious leader to plan and execute,

    so that all this mateiial and action should not be frittered away,

    was painfully apparent.

    In the capture of banking by Tai-pings, the restless leaders

    of sedition in Kwangtung saw their opportunity, and gathered

    630 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    their bands of freebooters in tlic southern prefectures. In June,

    185-i, the district town of Tungkvvan neur the JJogue was taken,

    the ricli manufacturing mart of Fuhshan (or Fat-slian) near

    Canton fell a month later, followed by that of Shuntch, Sanf-

    hui, and other lesser places, throwing the southern part of the

    province into a state of anarchy. The theory of the Chinese

    govermnent, that if the capital is preserved the whole province

    is loyal, and its officers can use its revenue, enabled Governor-

    General Yell to concert measures to repress these disorders.

    The City of Hams was environed during August by large bttdies

    of insurgents, whose wants were supplied from Fuhshan. In

    this crisis about one thousand five hundred houses abutting

    outside the city walls Mere destroyed, and the ward police

    strengthened for the better protection of their neighborlioods

    against incendiaries. In all these proceedings the foreigners

    at Canton were ne\er consulted or referred to by the ofiicials,

    l)ut their merchant steamers kept the Pearl River open to the

    sea, while their men-of-war lying off the factories proved a

    safeguard to the crowded city. The rebels had occupied a post

    near Whampoa, and their gunboats prowled through every

    creek in the delta, burning, destroying, capturing, and murdering

    without resti-aint. They would be followed by a band of

    imperialists, whose excesses were sometimes even more dreadful

    than those of their enemies. So terrible was the plight of

    the ^\•retched countrymen that the headmen of ninety-six villages

    near Fuhshan formed a league and armed their people

    to keep soldiers from either side from entering their precincts.

    In September, at a general meeting of the gentry of Canton,

    a pi-oposal to save the city by asking foreign aid was approved

    by Yell, but liappily the project failed of fulfilment and only

    resulted in showing them how nmch better was a reliance upon

    their own resources. The news of this discussion led Chin Uienliang,

    the rebel leader near Whampoa,. to circulate proposals

    aniong the foreigners asking them to help him in capturing the

    city and promising as rewai’d a portion of the island of Ilonan.

    The condition of the peo])le at this time was sad and desperate

    indeed, and their only remedy was to arm in self-defence, in

    doing which they found out how small a ]>ro})ortion of the inTHE

    INSUKRECTION IN KWANGTUNG. 631

    habitants was disloyal. Ko quarter was given on either side.

    and the carnage was appalling Avhenever victory remained with

    the imperialists. During this year the emigration to California

    and Australia became larger than ever before, while the coolie

    trade waxed flonrishing, owing to the multitudes thi’own out of

    employment who wci-e eager in accepting the offers of the

    brokers to depart from the country and escape the evils they

    saw everj’where about them. The terrors of famine, fighting,

    and plundering paralyzed all industry and trade, and enal)led

    one to better understand similar scenes described by ancient historians

    as occurring in Western Asia.

    The exhaustion and desperation consequent on these events

    had almost demoralized society in and around Canton, which

    was overcrowded M’ith refugees, raising food to famine prices.

    It was creditable to these poor and sickly people that their influx

    produced no other fear than that of a higher rate of living—

    none of pestilence or plunder, even in the extremity of

    their sufferings. In Fuhshan, fifteen miles away, no one was

    safe. The rebels had depleted its resources, killed its gentry,

    and oppressed the townsfolk until a quarrel broke out in their

    camp, and they departed about the season of Christmas, leaving

    the whole a smoking ruin. One of the insurgent practices consisted

    in driving great numbers of people into squares and there

    shooting them down by cannon placed in the approaching streets,

    while the houses around them were burning. The flames could

    be seen for two or three days from Canton, and it was estimated

    that during this conflict fully two hundred thousand human

    beings perished. The town was the manufacturing centre for the

    foreign trade, where silks, satins, shawls, paper, fire-crackers,

    pottery, and other staples were made, and their workmen resided.

    After this dreadful act the insui-gents grew more and more desperate,

    feeling that they could not hold out much longer for

    want of booty and supplies to keep their men together. By

    March the force of fifteen thousand men inside the city was

    ready, and on the 6th it went quietly down to attack the fort

    below Whampoa. The onset and resistance were most determined

    ; before the position succumbed, some twenty-five thou-,

    sand men must have perished by battle or flood ; the rebel

    632 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    leader escaped toward lliangslmu. The insurrection was, however,

    scotched, and its victoi-s celebrated their triumph three

    days later in the city to a grateful and applauding concourse.

    When the city of Shanking, west of Canton, was retaken in

    May, its victors boasted that thirty thousand rebels were drowned

    or beheaded.

    Notwithstanding these reverses the insurgents did not yet disappear,

    but maintained themselves along the watercourses in

    lai’ge flotillas during many months. The Portuguese and British

    also fitted out expeditions to pursue the pirates, as the same men

    were now called, desti’oying them and their haunts at Kulan

    Lantao, and elsewhere. In rooting out these land and sea

    brigands, the merciless character of the people was made manifest

    ; every one convicted of rebellion was straightway executed

    by the authorities. At Canton, where prisoners were received

    from all such districts, the executions were on a terribly huge

    scale, as many as seven or eight hundred persons being beheaded

    in a single day. A count taken at the city gate whence they

    all issued on their way to the field of blood near the river, revealed

    the fact that fully eighty thousand were thus executed

    in the year 1855. This did not include thousands who connnitted

    suicide in places provided for them near their homes, from

    which their relatives could take their bodies to the family tomb.

    As might be expected, other thousands left the province for the

    north, or escaped into distant lands as coolies and emigrants.

    I’ublic attention abroad was at this time so engrossed with

    the greater rebellion going on along the Yangtsz’ Tliver that the

    liorrors of that in Kwangtung were overlooked. There were

    many foreigners at Whampoa and Hongkong who sided with

    the leading brigands, reported their successes in the newspapers,

    and supplied them with munitions of war. The inefiiciency of

    a foreign consul to restrain his countrymen thus flagrantly violating

    all their treaty obligations toward China, showed most

    conclusively how easy it is for the stronger party in such cases

    to demand their rights, and shirk their duties if it suits their

    convenience.

    During the year 1856 affaii’S between the Chinese government

    and foreign powers became more and more hampered, while

    flELATIUNS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CHINA. 633

    all attempts to ai’rangc difficulties as tliey arose wore defeated

    by the obstinate refusal of Yeh Ming-chin, the governor-general

    at Canton, to meet any foreign minister. He intrenched himself

    behind the city gates, and would do nothing. Sir John

    iiowring, the British plenipotentiary and governor of Jlongkong,

    had most reason to be dissatisfied with this conduct, inasmuch

    as there were many questions which could have been easily

    ari’anged in a personal interview. It was ascertained from some

    documents ‘ afterward found in Yeh’s office that this seclusion was

    a })art of the system devised at Peking to maintain a complete

    isolation and keep the dreaded foreigners at a distance. Ko

    coui’se could be more likely to bring upon tlie government the

    evils it feared, and at the same time show more conclusively the

    ignorant and inapt cliaracter of those who carried it on. This

    state of things could not long continue when such powerful

    agencies were at work along the coast to disorganize legal trade

    and thwart the utmost efforts of all officials to resti-ain the

    reckless conduct of their subjects. The ten years now elapsed

    since the opening of the five ports had involved the Chinese in

    more complications, miseries, and disasters than had been known

    since the Mancliu conquest ; nevertheless, neither rebellion nor

    foreign comjdications seem to have impi’essed their lessons upon

    the proud bureaucracy in Peking, which was as unwilling to

    remedy as unable to appreciate the real nature of the difficulties

    that beset the country.

    In the struggle between nations, as between individuals, the

    agony and weakness of one side becomes the opportunity of the

    other ; and these conditions were now open to the British, who

    speedily found their excuse for further demands. In order to

    develop the trade of the free port of Hongkong, its laws encouraged

    all classes of shipping to resort thither, by removing

    all charges on vessels and granting licenses, with but few and

    unimportant restrictions, to Chinese craft to cany on trade

    inider the British flag. This freedom had developed an enormous

    snuiggling trade, especially in opium, which the Chinese

    revenue service was unable to restrain or unwilling to legalize.

    ^ Blue Book, 1857.

    634 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    These boats cruised wlierever they might tiiid a trade to invite

    or reward them, wholly indifferent to their own government,

    which could exercise no adequate control over them, and kept

    from the last excesses only on account of the risk of losing

    their cargoes. To the evils of smuggling were added the worse

    acts and dangers of kidnapping natives to supply baracoons at

    Macao. The Poi’tuguese had many of these lorchas to carry on

    their commerce, and gradually a set of desperate men had so

    far engrossed them in acts of daring and pillage that honest

    native trade about any part of the coast south of Shanghai

    became almost impossible except undei” their con vo3\ The two

    free ports of Macao and Hongkong naturally became their resorts,

    where they all took on the aspect of legitimate traders,

    which, indeed, most of them were—save under great temptations.

    It was not surprising that Chinese rulers should confound

    these two classes of vessels, nor, from the traders’ side, was it a

    wonder that their crews should use the flag which gave them

    the greatest protection when beyond foreign inspection and

    jurisdiction. Few nations have ever been subjected to such

    continuous and prolonged irritation in respect to its connnercial

    regulations as was the Canton government from those two

    alien communities during the ten years ending with 1850 ; few

    nations, on the other hand, have acted more unwisely in exertions

    toward peace and the removal of such difficulties than

    did the unspeakable Governor-General Yeh. That the inevitable

    collision between the Chinese and British was now at hand,

    follows almost as a matter of course, when to our knowledge

    of the commissioner’s character we add Mr. Justin McCarthy’s

    very appropriate estimate of the two Englishmen in whose

    hands well-nigh all British affairs in China were vested : ” Mr.

    Consul Parkes,” says he, ” was fussy. Sir John Bowring was

    a man of considerable ability, but . . . full of self-conceit,

    and without any very clear idea of political principles on the

    large scale.”

    ‘

    Early in the morning of October 8th, two boat-loads of

    ‘ A Uintonj uf Our Own Times, Chap. XXX.

    THE CASE OF THE LOltCllA AKUOW. 635

    Chinese sailors, Avith their ofiicers, put off from a large war-junk,

    boarded the lorcha Arrow lying’ at anchor in the river before

    Canton, pinioned and carried away twelve of the fourteen natives

    who composed her crew, and added to this unexpected

    ” act of violence,” as Mr. Tarkes stated it, ” the significant insult

    of hauling down the Iji’itish ensign.” One Kennedy, a

    young Irishman who is described as a very respectable man of

    his class, was master of the lorcha, but chanced at the time to

    be on another boat lying in the innnediate neighborhood of his

    own, and could in consequence offer no resistance. It is probable,

    judging from testimony given at the British consulate, that

    the hauling down of the flag was a mere bit of wantonness on

    the part of the junk’s oflicer upon his finding that no foreigner

    was (ni board, and the offence might readily have been followed

    by an apology had the command of negotiations been in any

    other hands than those of Yeh. The Arrow was owned by a

    Chinese, Fong A-ming, her nominal master being engaged by

    Mr. Block, the Danish consul at Hongkong; his vessel was not,

    however, entitled to protection, inasmuch as her British register

    had expired by its own limitation eleven days before the

    episode in Canton lliver, and the lorcha was already forfeited

    to the crown.’ Her papers were then at the consulate, and it

    was contended by Mr. Parkes that under Clause X. of the

    ordinance she retained a right to protection ; a mere quibble,

    since the cause refers to the vessel when upon a voyage, and the

    Arrow had confessedly remained about the ports of Macao and

    Canton during a month.

    Consul Parkes, aftei’ ascertaining the facts connected with

    this high-handed outrage, pushed off to the war-junk—which

    remained the while quietly at anchor—to claim the captured

    sailors and ” explain to the officers, if it were possible that they

    had acted in error, the gi’oss insult and violation of national

    ‘ Sir John Bowring indeed conceded that ” the Arrow had no right to hoist

    the British flag,” but alleged that the Chinese had no knowledge of the expiry

    of the license, and that this ignorance deprived them of the legal value of

    the truth. He quoted, moreover. Article IX. of the Supplementary Treaty,

    requiring tliat ‘• all Chinese malfaisants in British ships shall be claimed

    throui’h the British authorities.”

    636 I’HE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    rights which tlicy had coininitted.” ‘ Tliis was in vain. ^Viiiuiig

    the men was a notorious pirate, he was told, and tlieir orders

    wei’e tliat the suspected crew should be sent to the governor

    for examination. Veh stoutly upheld the act of his subordinate,

    and affii’med that the lorcha had no right to fly the British

    flag, disclaiming, however, any intention of molesting lawful

    traders under the emblem. Katui-ally enough, he would

    not yield the right of jurisdiction over his own subjects, and in

    doing this was asserting precisely what Great Britain and every

    other nation on the globe knew to be the first privilege of an independent

    government. The case was not unlike that much-discussed

    affair of the American Commodore AVilkes, who boarded

    the Trent in 1863 and captured Mason and Slidell—performing

    a right-enough action, but in a wrong and hasty fashion.

    In his reply to Mr. Parkes, Yeh declares that he has held an

    examination of the sailors and finds that three of them M’ere

    implicated in a piracy of the preceding month on St. John’s

    Island, that the officei’s had good reasons for seizing these men,

    that the remaining nine shall ])e sent back to their vessel ; which

    he straightway does, but they are as promptly returned l)y the

    consul because the entire crew is not given up. Sir John Bowring

    now demands, through his representative at Canton (1), ” an

    apology for what has taken place, and an assurance that the

    British flag shall in future be respected ; ” (2) ” that all proceedings

    against Chinese offenders on board British vessels

    must take place according to the conditions of the treaty ; ” “

    in case of refusal the consul is to concert with the naval autliorities

    the measures necessary for enforcing redress. This

    threat extracted from the governor-general a promise that

    ” hereafter Chinese officers will on no account, without i-eason,

    seize and take into custody the people belonging to foreign

    lorchas;” adding very properly, “but when Chinese subjects

    build for themselves vessels, foreigners should not sell registers

    to them, for if this be done, it will occasion confusion between

    native and foreign ships, and render it difficult to distinguish

    ^ Blue Book: Papers relatinri to tlie Proceedings of her Majesty^s Naval Forces

    at Canton, p. 1.

    ‘Blue Book, Ibid., p. 13.

    OPENING or HOSTILITIES. 637

    between them.” ‘ Twelve days afterwuiU (Octoljer 22d) the

    entire crew were returned, but once more refused by Mr.

    Parkes, ostensibly because the apology was not sent with them

    —and this the connnissioner coukl not offer either in justice to

    his government or to the cause of truth.

    Ensconced behind, the walls of Canton city, Yeh resolved to

    stand firm on his rights as he understood them, even should the

    doing so involve the lives and property of thousands of his

    countrymen. To all foreigners in Chiua this affair was intinuitely

    connected with most important possibilities and consequences:

    the inviolability of national flags, protection to

    every one whom they covered, personal intercourse with Chinese

    officers, maintenance of treaty rights. In upholding these

    the British drew to their side the good wishes of all intelligent

    observers for their success in arms, however unhappy their excuse

    for a resort to such means might be. One more word

    from Mr. McCarthy before leaving the initial episode of this

    war. ” The truth is,” he sums up, ” that there has seldom been

    so flagrant and so inexcusable an example of high-handed lawlessness

    in the dealings of a strong with a weak nation,” ^ but

    like many another conflict where strength and justice have been

    ranged on opposite sides, the latter was speedily pushed to the

    wall. The incident of the Arrow” appeared a trifling one ; nevertheless

    on so slight a hinge turned the future welfare and

    progress of the Chinese people in their intercourse with other

    nations, a hinge which, opening outward, unclosed the door for

    all parties to learn the truth respecting the countries of each,

    and, in the end, agree upon the only grounds on which a beneficial

    and intelligent intercourse could be maintained.

    It is hardly necessary to recount in detail the steps by which

    Governor Bowring and Admiral Seymour vainly attempted to

    bring Yeh to their terms. ” Acknowledge that you are in the

    wrong,” was their ultimatum, ” by merely sending the three

    ‘Ibid.., p. 15.

    ‘^ Ifixtory of Our (hen Times, Vol. III., Chap. XXX. Lord Elgin in his journal

    refers frankly enough to ” that wretched question of the Arrow, which is

    a scandal to us, and is so considered, I have reason to know, hy all except the

    few who are personally compromised.”

    —

    Letters and Journcds of Lord EJlgin,

    edited by T. Walrond, p. 209.

    638 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    bUspects to the consulate, and ask that tliey be returned on

    cliarge of piracy.” The long-continued national policy of exclusion

    could not, however, be so easily ovei’thrown ; its reduction

    must be by force. The seizure of a military junk was the

    lirst act of the British, then the capture of the liarrier forts,

    followed by that of all others on the south of Canton, and lastly

    breaching the city wall opposite Yeh’s yamun. This was entered

    by Adnural Seymour with a snudl party of marines.

    Sir John Bowring had already nuide the demand that the city

    gates should be opened to them in accordance with the agreement

    entered into ten years before between Governor Davis

    and Kiying, and expresses his gratification to the consul that now

    one great object of hostile action had been satisfactorily accomplished—

    an object whicli Mi’. Parkes declares was clearly based

    on treaty rights. However, they did not see Yeh, who resorted

    to all manner of petty annoyances, the evils of which mostly fell

    on his own people, without in the least advancing his cause.

    On Xovember 15th, to the complications with the English

    was added a quarrel with the Americans, whose boats had

    been twice fired into and one man killed by the Chinese officers

    in command of the Barrier forts. Commodore J. Armstrong

    had under his connnand the San Jacinto, Poi-tsmouth, and Levant,

    then lying at Whampoa. He ordered the two latter to go

    as near to these forts as possible, and directed Captain A. H.

    Foote of the Portsmouth to destroy them all. Foote accordingly

    organized a large force and attacked them on the 16th,

    20th, and 21st, till they were reduced and occupied. The resistance

    of the Chinese on this occasion was unusually brave

    and ])rolonged, the admirable position of the forts enabling

    each of them to lend assistance to the others. On the part of

    the Americans, seven were killed and twenty-two wounded ;

    perhaps three hundred Cliinese were put hors de comhat ; the

    guns in the forts (one hundred and seventy-six in all) were destroyed,

    and the sea-walls demolished with powder found in

    the magazines.’ This skirmish is the only passage of arms ever

    ‘ One brass gun of eight-inch calibre was twenty-two feet five inches long ;

    the entire armament of these forts was superior in equipment to anything

    before seen in China.

    COLLISION WITH THE AMKltlCANS. 639

    engaged in by American and Chinese forces— one whieli ^cli

    seemed to ix-gard as of slight moment, and for wliich he cared

    neither to apologize nor sympathize, llis unexampled indifference

    in referring to the affair less than two days after the

    demolishment of his forts ‘ was met by an equal frankness on

    the part of Dr. Parker, who at once resumed correspondence

    •witli the commissioner, and, content with the practical lesson

    just administered, said no more about ” apologies and guarantees.”‘

    This episode is interesting chiefly as an example of the

    American course regarding an insult to the national flag, as contrasted

    with the English dealing with an injury not very different

    either in nature or degree.

    Relations between Great Britain and China continued in this

    constrained position until the opening of another year, the conflict

    now being almost wholly restiicted to unimportant collisions

    with village braves on land and voluminous discussions

    with the governor-general on paper. In Xovember the French

    minister withdrew his legation from Canton, there being by

    that time neither French citizens nor interests to watch over.

    Principal among the events during this interval was the burning

    of the foreign factories by order of Yeh, Decend^er 14th.

    They were fired in the night and were entirely consumed with

    all their contents, as well, too, as the contiguous poi’tion of the

    suburbs. The offer of thirty taels head-money for every Englishman

    killed or captured resulted in a few endeavors on the part

    of natives, whereby they kidnapped or slew two or three seamen

    when separated from their ships. These attempts at

    guerilla warfare were so promptly met and rewarded on the

    part of the English, by wholesale punishment of offending

    villages, as to cause little annoyance after the lesson of certain

    retribution had been taken to heart by the Chinese. More important

    than all these was a dastardly attempt, on January 11,

    ‘ ” There is no matter of strife between our respective nations. Henceforth

    let the fashion of the flag which American ships employ be ck^arly defined,

    and inform me what it is beforehand. This will be the verification of the

    friendly relations which exist between the two countries.”—Hoppin, Life of

    Admiral Foote, pp. 110-140. CorrcKpondenrc of McLdue and Parker, Senate

    Document No. 2^, December 20, 1858, pp. lOlo’ff. lUue Book, p. 137.

    640 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    1857, to poison the foreigners at Hongkong, by putting arsenic

    in the bread supplied from a Chinese baker. This, it was afterward

    asce]”tained, was at the instigation of certain officials on

    the mainland, but fortunately even here their villany was

    foiled, owing to the overdose Contained in the dough. It

    ought to be stated, in passing, that such acts are not common

    in China, and, in this case, that the baker’s employers were proven

    entirely innocent.

    Duriner much of this time Canton had been reminded of the

    presence of the British force by intermittent bombarding of the

    city from guns in Dutch Folly Fort. Sir John Bowring had

    demanded an interview wdth Yeh in Xovember, but received a

    prompt refusal, followed by a still more vigorous carrying on of

    the war in his peculiar fashion, and by raising the price on

    English heads. Admiral Seymour had now less reason for remaining

    within the Bogue, as all trade was at an end. Hundreds

    of foreigners had already been thrown out of employment,

    their property destroyed, their plans broken np, and in a

    few instances their lives lost in consequence of tliis quarrel.

    After holding an intrenched position around the church and

    ])arracks of the factories for the s])ace of a month, the uselessness

    of this effort when sustained by so paltry a force seems tf

    have moved the admiral (January 14, 1S5T) to retire from

    Canton, falling back npon Macao Fort nntil reinforcements

    should arrive from India. Before leaving the site of the factories,

    however, he burned down the warehouses of those native

    merchants in the vicinity, their inmates having previously

    beeu warned to leave them. These buildings and their contents

    were private pi’operty, and the intrenched position in the factory

    garden was not endangered by their reniaining. The

    leaders of the British operations had hitherto professed to spare

    private property ; and even if the performance was meant as a

    })arting menace to the governor-general—” to show him,” as

    ]Mr. Parkes remarked, ” that we can burn too “—it Avas one of

    the few acts, on their side, which has left a stigma npon the

    English name in China. The hostile proceedings of the Chinese

    authorities had been both petty and nseless, but as Admiral

    Seymour’s force was inadequate to take and hold Canton,

    PUBLIC SENTIMENT IN ENGLAND. 641

    a more serious cannonading of the imperial quarters might have

    been a more honorable method of taking retribution for outrages,

    and better calculated than this cuunter-incendiarism to increase

    respect for British arms and civilization.

    The news of these operations in China excited great interest

    and speculation in Europe, inasmuch as all its nations were more

    or less interested in the China trade. Parliament was the scene

    of animated argument as to the policy of Sir John Bowring and

    his colleagues ; the moral, commercial, and political features of

    British intercourse with China were discussed most thoroughly

    in all their bearings, the arguments of both parties in the debate

    being drawn from the same despatches. One remarkable

    series of papers was presented to the House of Lords in February,

    1857, entitled Coi’vespoiulence resjpecting Insults in China,

    “containing the particulars of twenty-eight outrages committed

    by the Chinese upon British and other foreigners between the

    years 1812 and 1856.” This publication M’as intended apparently

    to show how impracticable the Chinese authorities were

    in all their intercourse with foreigners, and its contents became

    to members of the House so many arguments for placing this

    intereourse on a better basis at the imperial court. To those

    who had watched since 1812 the results of treaty stipulations

    upon the people of China and their rulers, it was plain that no

    satisfactory political intercourse could be hoped for so long as

    the governor-general at Canton had the power of concealing

    and misrepresenting to his government everything that happened

    between foreign representatives and himself. Xevertheless

    such a series of papers was but one side of the insults

    endured. As long as the British government upheld the

    opium trade, and did nothing to restrain smuggling and the

    awful atrocities of the coolie traffic at MaccO, which were tilling

    the ears of all the world with their sho ‘king tales, these

    few ” outrages •’ seem very petty if put forward as a defence

    of Lord Palmerston’s going to war on account of the lorcha

    Arrow.

    In the vote upon the question of employing force in China,

    the better sense of Parliament protested against the policy

    which had directed recent events ; but the Premier knew his

    642 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    fouiitiynien, and in forty days from the dissolution (March

    21st) England returned him a House of Commons strongly

    in his favor. He now decided to complete what had been

    wanting in the treaty of Nanking, and obtain a residence for

    a l>ritish n)inister at Peking. The governments of France,

    liussia, and the United States wei’e invited to co-operate with

    England so far as they deemed proper, and their united interests

    were those of Christendom, Xo well-wisher to China

    could j)atiently look forward to a continuation of the past tantalizing

    senjblance of official intercourse at Canton, and the

    Aaried experience of twelve years at other ports proved that the

    Chinese people did not sympathize in this policy. The French

    Emperor had a special grievance against II. I. M. Ilienfung, on

    account of the judicial murder of Pere Chapdelaine, a missionary

    in Kwangsi province, who had been tortured and beheaded

    at Si-lin hien on February 20, 1856, by order of the

    district magistrate. This outrage was in direct violation of

    the rescript of ISII, and some atonement and apology were

    justly demanded. How totally unconscious of all these discussions

    and plans were Hienfung and his counsellors at Peking,

    may be guessed from their blind fright during subsequent

    events, Mdiile their inability to devise a course of action corresponded

    to their childish ignorance of their position and

    duties.

    A j^owerful though nnspoken reflection among these rulers

    }iiust not here be overlooked as a secret motive in deciding

    many of their short-sighted counsels. Pemembering the way

    in Avhich their ancestors had captured the Empire over two centuries

    before, they felt that great risk was run in admitting the

    barbarians to the capital now, since the same game would probably

    be ])layed over again. The visits of foreign ministers to

    the insurgents at Xanking, and their readiness at Canton to

    quarrel about so trifling a point as pulling down a flag and carrying

    off a few natives under its protection, all indicated, in

    their opinion, nothing shoi’t of conquest and spoliation. With

    such tremendous ])ower ari-ayed against so weak an adversary,

    they knew well enough what would ensue. Their miserable

    policy of isolation liad left them more helpless in their ignoBOMBARDMENT

    AND CAPTURE OF CANTON. 643

    ranee than diminislied in their resources, and thoy had to })ay

    dearly for their instruction.

    Tlie appointments of Lord Elgin and Baron Gros as plenipotentiaries

    for Great Britain and France were most foi’tunate

    as a selection of eminent diplomatists and clear-headed men.

    The two ambassadors entered into most cordial relations as

    soon as the land and sea forces placed at their disposal arrived

    on the Chinese coast. Lord Elgin reached Hongkong in July,

    but learning the state of affairs in that region, and that no advances

    had been made from Peking to settle the dispute, concluded

    to take the Shannon to Calcutta, to the assistance of Lord

    Canning against the mutineers ; from this place he proposed

    to proceed in the cold weather, when the force detailed for China

    would all be ready. Returning to Hongkong by September

    20th, he was obliged to tarry yet another mouth before the last

    of his reinforcements, or those of the French, had joined him.

    By the end of November the American minister, W. B. Reed,

    in the fi-igate Minr.esota, and the Russian admiral, Count

    Poutiatine, in the gunboat Amerika, had likewise come.

    Early in December, after a refusal on the part of Yeh of their

    ultimatum, the allied forces advanced up the Canton River. An

    extract from one of Lord Elgin’s private letters illustrates admirably

    the spirit in which he entered upon the work he had been

    chosen to do. ” December 22d.—On the afternoon of the 20th

    I got into a gunboat with Commodore Elliot, and went a short

    way up toward the Barrier forts, w^iicli were last winter destroyed

    by the Americans. When we reached this point, all

    was so quiet that we determined to go on, and we actually

    steamed past the city of Canton, along the whole front, within

    pistol-shot of the town. A line of English men-of-war are now

    anchored there in front of the town. I never felt so ashamed

    of mj’self in my life, and Elliot remarked that the trip seemed

    to have made me sad. There we were, accumulating the means

    of destruction under the very eyes and \vithin the reach of a

    population of about one million people, against whom these

    means of destruction were to be employed !

    ‘ Yes,’ I said to

    Elliot, ‘ I am sad, because, when I look at that town, I feel that

    I am earning for myself a place in the Litany, immediately

    644 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    after “plague, pestilence, and famine.”‘ I believe, however,

    that, as far as 1 am concerned, it Mas impossible for me to do

    otherwise than as I have done. . . . AVhen we steamed up

    to Canton and saw the rich alluvial banks covered with the luxurious

    evidences of nnrivalled industry and natural fertility

    combined—beyond them barren uplands sprinkled Avith a soil

    of reddish tint which gave them the appearance of heather

    slopes in the Highlands, and beyond these again the White

    Cloud mountain range standing out bold and blue in the clear

    sunshine—I thought bitterly of those who, for the most selfish

    objects, are trampling under foot this ancient civilization.”

    ‘

    On the 2Ttli the British and French, about six thousand in

    all, landed on the east bank a short distance below the walls.

    During the whole of the following day a furious bombardment

    was opened upon the city from tlie ships, driving thousands of

    the frightened natives into the western sul)ur])S and destroying

    considerable portions of the town. By three o’clock of the 20th

    the city was in the hands of the foreigners—almost exactly the

    two hundred and seventh anniversary of its capture and entire

    reduction by the Manclnis (November, 1()50). The A’ictory was

    not a brilliant one, since scarcely any one could be found witli

    whom to fight ; tln-ee or four forts to l)e entei’ed, the wall scaled,

    a loss of one hundred and ten in killed and wounded to the victors,

    perhaps five times as numy to the vanquished—this was alL

    Immediately upon their entry within the hitherto forbidden

    city the chiefs were forced to turn their energy upon their own

    troops and prevent them fi-om bullying and looting the helpless

    Chinese.

    Governor-General Yeh was, after some little search, found

    and captured while attempting an escape from his yamun,° and

    within twenty-four hours the lieutenant-governor, Tartar general,

    and all others in high authority came into possession of the

    invaders. Yeh was carried forthwith on board II. B. M. S.

    Inflexible, a wise step which deprived him of further power of

    ‘ Letters and JoitrnaU, p. 212.

    ‘ Some very cnrions documents were found among his archives ilhistrating

    the character both of tlie man and his government. See Oliphant, Elr/i>i\>t Mis’

    mn to China, Vol. I., Chap. VIII. Reed’s Correspondence, 1858, pp. 443-488.

    TUE CITY OF CANTON AND ADJACENT ISLANDS.

    646 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    resistance and misrepresentation, and left the plenipotentiaries

    free to arrange some method of temporary government for the

    city. This was a difficult problem, ciiietiy owing to the lack of

    competent interpreters, but rendered mure so by the natural irritation

    of the conquered people at the losses they had sustained,

    the flight of the local officers, and the alarming extent of robbery

    by natives, somewhat countenanced by foreign soldiers.

    The skill and tact of Lord Elgin were never better shown than

    in the construction out of such incongruous materials of a mixed

    government whose subsequent easy working abundantly proved

    the master mind of the builder.’ The two Manchus, Governor

    Pihkwei and the connnandant of the garrison-—called also the

    Tartar general—were now brought forward to assist in saving

    tlieir capital from destruction and to form with the allies a joint

    tribunal. Pihkwei became legally (by Yeh’s capture) the governor-

    general of the Liang Kwang, and his functions in that

    capacity were not interfered with ; those of his colleague had

    always been restricted within the city walls. On January 9tli

    they were installed by Lord Elgin and Baron Gros with all possible

    ceremony as rulers of the city, under the surveillance of

    three foreigners. Colonel Ilolloway and Consul Harry Parkes

    for the British, and Captain Martineau for the French. This

    commission had its headquarters in the same extensive yanmn

    with Pihkwei, in whom happily were combined some estimable

    qualities for managing the difficult post he filled. The orderly

    habits of the literati and traders in and around Canton afforded

    a guaranty that no seditious proceedings would be countenanced

    against this joint authority if it gave them the security they had

    asked from the allies. A force of marines and the Fifty-ninth

    Regiment were quartered on Pagoda Hill, on the north side of

    the city, and ere long the commandant’s yaniun was cleared of

    its rubbish and put in order for the commission, leaving the

    other for Pihkwei. The allied chiefs deemed it wisest to attempt

    to govern as little in detail as possible, and their commissioners

    found enough to do in adjusting complaints brought by

    ‘ “You may imagine,” he writes, “what it Is to undertake to govern seme

    millions of people when we have in nil two or three people who understand

    the language ! I never had so difficult a matter to arrange.

    “

    JOINT GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 647

    the Chinese against their own men. The Cantonese did not fail

    to contrast the considerate treatment they received irunx their

    foreign captors with the carnage and utter ruin which would

    have followed the occupation of the city by the Tai-pings or

    other insurgents, and during the whole period quietly submitted.

    The greater part of the responsible labor came upon Mr. Parkes,

    because of liis ability to talk Chinese, but before many mouths

    he had taught many natives how to assist in carrying out the

    necessary details. He showed much skill in circumventing the

    designs of the discontented officials at Fuhshan, giving Pihkwei

    all the native criminals to judge, restraining the thievery or

    cruelty of the foreign police, and sending out proclamations for

    the guidance and admonition of the people.’

    The kindness shown by Lord Elgin after the capture of Canton

    infused itself into the minds of those working with and

    under him, and the newly installed governor soon recovered his

    composure as he found himself in possession of his own dignities

    and power. The local and provincial officers under liim

    kept themselves at Fuhshan, now recovering from its destruction

    of three years before. By the end of January affairs were

    put in order, the blockade was taken off the port, foreign merchants

    returned and settled in the warehouses still unharmed

    on llonam, while the native dealers reopened their shops in the

    vicinity.^ Sixteen months had elapsed since the affair of the

    Arrow, and every one felt that a new day had begun to dawn

    on the relations of China with other lands.” Among the papers

    ‘ Blue Book: Lord Elginls Correspondence, July 15, 1859, Despatches Nos. 88,

    94, 108, and 128. Oliphant, ^^//w/’.v ^fimon to China, Vol. I., p. 170.

    ” Oddly enough, among the most earnest appeals for the restoration of commerce

    came one from Fihkwei himself, who wrote to Lord Elgin : “The

    eagerness with which merchants will devote themselves to gain, ii: the trade

    be now thrown well open, will increase manifold the good understanding between

    our nations, and the step will thus, at the same time, enhance your

    excellency’s reputation.”

    —

    Bine Bonk, January 24, 1858.

    ^ The letters of G. W. Cooke, the Times’ correspondent (London, Routledge,

    1858), contain a fairly complete accoiint of the proceedings of the allies at

    Canton ; his conversations with Governor-General Yeh on the way to Calcutta

    are less valuable Compare an article in the Revue des Devr Monde;’. {V JTiillet.

    1859), by C. Lavallee, Un Historiograplie de la Presse anglaise dans la guerre d«

    Chiiui.

    648 THK MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    taken in Yeh’s yamuu were the ratilied copies of the treaties

    between Cliiua and Great Uritriu, France, and the United kStatt l^

    carefully preserved there, it was said, by directions from Peking,

    m order to serve for reference in case of dispute as to the text.

    It was, however, one of the indexes proving the desire of the

    Emperor to keep liiniself aloof from pergonal contact with

    foreigners.

    The allied chiefs, early in the month of February, proposed

    to their American and llussian coadjutors to join them in

    laying their demands before the Peking Court, and affording

    it one more opportunity to amicably settle the pending difficulties

    by sending an officer to Shanghai with full powers

    for that end. Both Russians and Americans were cordially in

    miison with the allies, and their several despatches addressed

    to Yii, the first member of the J^ul JC/i, or “Inner Council,’

    at Peking, were taken up to Shanghai and thence to Suchau,

    where Ho Ivwei-tsing received and forwarded them before the

    end of February. These four letters simultaneously sent to

    the secluded court at Peking contained nothing which could

    alarm its members ; but such was the ignorance of the highest

    officers there, that they knew not M’hat to do—ostrich-like,

    hiding their heads from the approaching danger, simply declining

    to answer any tmpleasant communication, hoping

    thereby to put far off the evil day. Their isolation would remain

    if left to themselves, and to have sent Kiying again to

    the south would only have cherished their stupid pride and

    worked their subjects ultimate injury. Their old-time policy

    of absolute non-intercourse lay like some great frigate sunk

    athwart the mouth of a river ; the obstacle once removed,

    nothing remained to prevent the vast and populous regions

    beyond the barrier from an active and profitable communion

    with the whole world. They could no longer be left in statu

    quo, and few can find fault with the plan proposed to solve their

    difficulties—a })lan which brought the four most powerful nations

    of Christendom in joint consent to set themselves on a

    fair and advantageous footing with the most ancient and populous

    nation of Asia. To those who admit the direct government

    of tiie Almighty lluler in ordering the policy of nations in accord

    ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES TOWARD PEKING. 640

    with His wise plans, this simultaneous approach to Peking will

    always be deemed as one of the waymarks f human progress.

    The letfc”; o presented to tlie Emperor ‘ form in their topics

    and toie a pleasant . >ntrast to the connnunications in past

    years. That of the ll’issian minister was peculiar in bringing

    forwaid the desH’ableness of llowing he profession of (Christianity

    to all natives desirous of embracing it ; but this point

    was made the subject of an address by the British missionaries

    at Xingpo and Shanghai to Lord Elgin, Avliose reply was a

    happy exposition of the dangers and difficulties connected with

    the toleration of Christianity by a government ignorant of its

    precepts. The imperial replies to these advances were, as

    everyone expected, in the strain of non 2)0ssumus. Lord Elgin

    returned his copy to Ho Kwei-tsing at Suchau, and enclosed

    therewith another despatch to Yii, in which he announced his

    intention to proceed to Taku, Mhere he would aw^ait the arrival

    of a commissioner qualified to treat upon the points in dispute.

    The force designed to accompany the allied chiefs was gathering

    at Sha glial, and by t.^.e miv, die vi April most of the ships

    and transports had anchored off the Pci ho, together with the

    American frigates Minnesota and Mississippi and the Russian

    gunboat Amerika, having the legations of those nations on

    board. Xothing could be more dreary than the aspect of the

    rendezvous at this season. The ships were obliged to anchor

    about eight miles from shore, which M’as level, and would have

    been invisible if it had not been for the forts at the entrance of

    the river. The dim, hazy horizon was lurid with the rays of

    the sun shiniiii; throu<:;h the dust that came in clouds from the

    plains of Mongolia and Chihli. Th^ turbid waters were often

    lashed into foam by the conflicting forces of tides and winds

    which acted on it from every quarter, and kept the gulf in a

    turmoil. Xo native boats ventured out to traffic, as would have

    been the case in the south, and the only signs of life were the

    gunboats and launches running in and out of the river, or the

    barges passing from ship to ship. Added to other discommodi-

    ‘ These are all given in the correspondence of IVlr. Reed, printed hy the

    Senate—Despatch No. 9, Ex. Dociuiteitt No. 30, March 13, IbGU, pp. 122-183.

    650 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    ties, were occasional blasts of hut air which swept over the

    water, charged with fine dust that settled on the decks and rigffin’^

    and insinuated itself into the dress and faces in an uncomfortable

    manner.

    As usual the Chinese had done nothing. The increasing

    number and size of the ships which were anchored off the Pei ho

    luid, however, been duly reported at Peking, and the llussian

    admiral had received a reply to his announcement of arrival.

    On April 23d communications were addressed by the four

    ministers to Yu-ching at Peking, and on the 20th replies came

    from Tan Ting-siang, governor-general of Chihli, informing

    them that he, with Tsunglun and Wu, had been deputed to

    ” receive their complaints and investigate and manage.”‘ The

    governor-general was not empowered to settle upon the terras

    of a treaty, but he desired to have a personal conference to

    learn what was demanded. Upon the day appointed the Russian

    and American ministers met Tan at the Taku forts (April

    30th) at separate hours, when they learned that he had not

    been invested with ” full powers,”‘ like those granted to Kiying

    and tlipu in 18-12, but had authority to discuss all matters preparatory

    to signing a ti-eaty. The truth was that they were

    (juitc ignorant of the important questions raised at Canton ; but

    while willing to discuss them, they were equally set on keeping

    the foreigners away from the capital. Here the allied chiefs

    and their two colleagues took issue. The former held out for

    commissioners to be sent with full powers ; but the latter deeming

    that the governor-general had adequate authority, accordingly

    presented him with the main points of their demands and

    afterward with the drafts of their treaties. The negotiations

    were delayed by the difficulties of the entrance, but they afforded

    a needed instruction to these conceited and ignorant

    men, who were thus enabled at their leisure to prepare for the

    struggle. Not only were the officers themselves brought face

    to face with their dreaded visitors, and made to perceive the

    folly of resisting the armaments at their connuand, but with

    the democratic habits usual in Chinese courts, the hundreds of

    attendants present at the conferences heard all that passed.

    Ere the non-belligerent powers had completed their negoCAPTURE

    OF THE TAKU FORTS. 651

    tiations, tlie allies turned over theirs into the liands of the

    two admirals, MM. Seymour and liigault de Genouilly. These

    advanced up the river on May 20th, forcing the slight boom

    across the stream, and capturing all the forts on both banks,

    with all their stores. Comparatively few Chinese were killed,

    and their defence of the forts was creditable to their courage

    and skill. All the troops fled or w^ere driven from their

    intrenched camps as far as Taku town, and the other defences,

    stockades, and fire-rafts having been destroyed, the

    gunboats proceeded to Tientsin. The losses by shot on the

    part of the Allies were unhappily doubled bj^ the explosion

    of a powder magazine in a fort as a party of Frenchmen entered.

    The news that the foreigners had forced the defences

    at the mouth of the Pel ho was soon spread thi-ough the towns

    along its banks, and myriads of unarmed people flocked to the

    shore to see the gun-boats, whose smoke and masts towering

    above the low land indicated their presence to the amazed inliabitants.

    A house having been prepared at Tientsin for the allied

    chiefs, Lord Elgin and Baron Gros reached the city at daylight

    on May 30th, followed by the other two ministers, all of them

    having come np during the night without mishap or oppo

    siti(m. The inhabitants of the city were highly excited at

    the presence of the vessels and those of whom they had lieard

    fiuch dreadful stories, but their curiosity and fear kept them

    quiet and civil, and they wei-e content with lining the shores in

    dense crowds, to gaze and talk. The general ignorance of each

    other’s lanOsuaOse did not prevent a constant intercourse with IT

    the citizens, all the more agreeable after the confinement on

    board ship. One old man was found managing a ferry-boat,

    who remembered Lord Amherst’s visit in 1816. After his inquiries

    as to the meaning of the flags on board the ships had

    been answered, he exclaimed, “How easily you and we could

    get along if you but understood our language “—to which the

    crowd around reechoed their hearty assent.

    Two higher commissioners now appeared on the scene of action,

    Kweiliang and llwashana, who superseded the discomfited

    Tan, Tsunglun, and Wu, and presented their cards as

    652 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    having been invested with full powers to treat. Negotiations

    were opened witli them, and thus, after months of delay, tlie

    plan which Yeli had so foolishly adhered to at Canton in October,

    to refuse all personal discussion, was accomplished at

    Tientsin under far more promising circumstances. The Chinese

    were obliged to accept almost any terms offered them, for

    negotiations carried on under such conditions were hardly those

    of free agents. The high commissioners were ignorant beyond

    conception of the gravity of their position and the results

    which were to flow from these treaties, whose provisions, linked

    into one compact by the favored nation clause, were, in fact, to

    form the future magna charta between almost the two halves

    of the human race. It was true that the Chinese commissioners

    were not altogether their own masters in making them, but

    owing to their perverse seclusion, they had foolishly shut themselves

    out from the opportunity of learning their rights. They

    had, of course, no desire to learn what they knew nothing

    about, and there was no alternative other than the display of

    force to break down the barriers which pride alone made

    strong. They had some grounds for fear, from their recent

    occupation of Canton, that the British wished for more territory

    than Hongkong ; and the frequent visits of the national vessels

    of Great Britain, the United States, and France to the insur-

    “•ents at Xankini;; indicated serious results in the future, for the

    latter owed all their religious fanaticism to foreign inspiration.

    To the persistent smuggling of opium along the whole coast

    shice the treaties negotiated by Kiying sixteen years before,

    and the many social and financial evils entailed thereby, were

    now added the atrocities of the coolie trade in Kwangtung province.

    Yet the reserve of the officials upon these and other

    topics on which they might be expected to have expressed their

    views or remonstrances, was only equalled by the politeness and

    freedom with which they met their enemies in consultation.

    Never again in the history of nations can functionaries to

    whom were confided the settlement of questions of so great

    moment, be brought together in such honest ignorance of the

    other’s intentions, fears, and wishes. It was high time for

    each of the five powers, now face to face, to have the way

    THE ALLIES AT TIENTSIN—APPEARANCE OF KIYING. t53

    opened for the removal of this ignorance and a better understanding

    substituted.

    Tlie despatches of Lord Elgin and Mr. Reed contain translations

    of many reports and memorials which were found in

    Yeh’s yamun at Canton, and give one a good idea of the sort

    of information furnished to the Emperor by his highest officers.

    It is a wrong view of these papers to regard their extraordinary

    misstatements as altogether designed to deceive the court and

    screen the ill-success of the writers, for they had had no more

    facilities to investigate the real condition of foreign lands and

    the policy of their rulers than had the poor boy Caspar Ilauser

    to learn about his neighbors.

    One untoward event occurred durino; the negotiations. Tliis

    was the sudden arrival of Kiying (June 8th) and his effort to

    force himself into the company of the plenipotentiaries. Since

    his departure from Canton in IS-iT he had filled the premiership

    before the death of the late Emperor Taukwang, after

    which he had been deprived of all power and most of his

    honors. He seemed to have tried to recover them by making

    large promises at court respecting his influence over the harhariatis

    / but when he reached Tientsin he was without credentials

    enabling him to participate, and acted as if his misfortunes

    had in a measure unsettled his reason. The British minister

    was suspicious of his designs, and sent his two secretaries,

    on the 9th, to learn what they could of or from him. These

    gentletnen plainly pointed out to the old man the difficulties in

    the way of settling the present troubles in any other manner

    than by acceding to the demands of Lord Elgin. Kiying had,

    however, put himself in a serious dilemma. Finding very soon

    that he was powerless to change the course of events and get the

    steamers away from Tientsin (as he no doubt had promised to

    do, and thus prove his influence), he returned to Peking on the

    12th, though he had announced the reception of his full powers

    only the day before. His colleagues were not sorry to have

    him depart, but nothing definite was learned of his fate until

    at the end of three weeks, when the Emperor’s rescript ordering

    him to connnit suicide was received. His case was deemed

    of sufficient importance to call for a summation of the principal features in order to prove the righteousness of Iiis sentence, and manifest the Emperor’s extreme desire to be at once just and gracious in his decree. Kiying’s case is rather an unusual one auiung Chinese officials, but the real reasons for his fall are probably not all stated; his prominence abroad, arising from his connection with the ]Sanking treaty, was no criterion of his influence at home or of the loss to the government by his death.’

    Soon after his departure the impertinence of a native crowd

    to a party of British officers while walking through the city,

    lent some strength to the belief that Kiying’s counsel had been

    warlike, and that a coup^ similar to the one made at Canton in

    1841 by Yihshan, had been suggested, and the destruction of

    all the foreigners in Tientsin was hoped for as its result. Their

    relations with the citizens thus far had been amicable on the

    whole, and the interruption in this desirable state of things was

    very brief. Negotiations continued, therefore, but with an

    undercurrent of doubt as to details on some important points

    among the foreign envoys. Lord Elgin had the greatest responsibility,

    indeed, and the task before him was difficult and delicate,

    but he failed in drawing to himself his colleagues and

    learning their views. They hardly knew w^iat to do, for none

    of them wished to thwart his desires for complete and honorable

    intercourse with the central government, though the

    manner of reaching this end might admit of discussion. This

    he never invited. The position of the American and Russian

    envoys, pledged to their instructions not to fight, and having

    the feeling that their nations were to obtain the atlvantages resulting

    from the hostilities of the allies, was not a pleasant one; but it could have been made so, and he himself relieved of his main anxiety as to the result, by an interview. In contrast

    ‘ Oliphant’s Mission of Lord Elgin to China and Japan, pp. 2B8-253 (American edition), N. Y., 1860. It is interesting to note, before leaving this episode,

    u Frenchman’s opinion of the character of this statesman: ” Kiying a

    ote de 1842 a. 1844 le grand nugociateur de la Chine. Les ministres ctrangers ont vautu son habilete, sa finesse, ses fa(^ons aimables et courtoises.

    Son nom sjmbolisait line politiqne nonvelle, bienveillante ponr les ctrangers, tolerante, liberale ; il representait nne sorto de ‘eune Chine.”—M. C. Lavalleo

    in the Eenie des Deux Mondrs, If) Dc’c. IHni), p. (502. The same article contains an interesting account of the first e.\])edilion up the Pei ho and its results.

    iSai ijilii -“eN -r- IMPE^RIS’-. CCN1MIS3I0NER .

    LORD Elgin’s perplexities. 65^

    with Lord Elgin’s general bearing toward those around him, as detailed in his correspondence, his biographer gives an extract from a private letter written the day after signing his treat^, which describes his perplexities:
    June 29th.—1 have not written for some days, but they have been busy ones. We went on lighting and bullying, and getting the poor commissioners to concede one point after another, till Friday the 2″)th, when we had reason to believe that all was settled, and that the signature was to take place the following day. On Friday afternoon, however, Baron Gros came to me with a message from the Russian and American ministers to induce me to recede from two of my demands—1, a resident minister at Feking, and, 2, permission to our people to trade in the interior of China ; because, as they said, the Chinese plenipotentiaries had told them that they had received a decree from the Emperor stating that they should infallibly lose their heads if they gave way on these points.

    The resident minister at Peking I consider far the most important matter gained by the treaty ; the power to trade in the interior hardly less so. I had at stake not only these important points in my treaty, for which I had fought so hard, but I know not what behind. For the Chinese are such fools that it was impossible to tell, if we gave way on one point, whether they would not raise difficulties on every other. I sent for the admiral; gave him a hint that there was a great opportunity for England ; that all the powers were deserting me on a point which they had aH, in their original applications to Peking, demanded, and which they all intended to claim if I got it ; that, therefore, we had it in our power to claim our place of priority in the East by obtaining this when others would not insist on it. Would he back me V This was the forenoon of Saturday, 2Gth, and the treaty was to be signed in the evening.

    I may mention, as a proof of the state of people’s minds, that Admiral Seynour told me that the French admiral had urged him to dine with him, assuring him that no treaty would be signed that day ! I sent Frederick to the imperial commissioners to tell them that I was indignant beyond all expression at their having attempted to communicate with me through third parties ; that I was ready to sign at once the treaty as it stood ; but that if they delayed or retreated, I should consider negotiations at an end, go to Peking and demand a great deal more, etc. Frederick executed this most difficult task admirably, and at six r.M. I signed the treaty of Tientsin. I am now anxiously awaiting some communication from Peking. Till the Emperor accepts the treaty I shall hardly feel safe. Please God he may ratify without delay ! I am sure that I express the wish just as much in the interest of China as in our own. Though I have been forced to act almost brutally, I am China’s friend in all this.’

    ‘ Walrond’s Life and Letters of Lord EUjin , p. 252.

    The importance of these two provisos was not exaggerated in his mind, but lie might have seen that the difficulties with his colleagues were increased by his own reticence.

    However much a different course might have liariuouized these discordant views, the pressure on the city of Tientsin was too near and severe upon the Chinese, and they yielded from fear of worse consequences when no other arguments coukl have induced them. It was not Lord Elgin alone who felt very sensibly, on that occasion, ” the painfulness of the position of a negotiator who has to treat with persons who yield nothing tu reason and everything to fear, and who are at the same time profoundly ignorant of the subjects under discussion and of their own real interests.” Looked at in any point of view, this period of negotiation at Tientsin in 1858 was a remarkable

    epoch. The sole great power of paganism was being bound by

    the obligations of a treaty extorted from its monarch by a

    handful of men in possession of the entrance to its capital. As

    one of the British officers pithily stated it, two powers had China

    by the throat, while the other two stood by to egg them on, so

    that all could share the spoil. Yet the past sixteen years had

    proven most conclusively that, unless this pressure was exerted,

    the imperial government would make no advance, admit no

    opening for learning its real position among the nations of the

    world, but mulishly cherish its ignorance, its isolation, its conceit,

    and its folly, until these causes had worked out the ruin so

    fondly hoped to be avoided. Even the necessity of coming

    into personal official relations with the foreign consuls to promote

    the maintenance of good order between their subjects had

    been hampered or neutralized by the Chinese authorities at all

    the ports ; and there was no hope of introducing a better state

    of things until foreign ministers were received at Peking. Happily, Lord Elgin then saw the question in all its bearings, and no one ever proved to be a truer friend to China than did he in forcing it upon her. He had little idea, probably, of one^’.iOtive for their resistance, namely, the fear of the ManZu rulers, already referred to, that in admitting the enemy to the capital they would be as summarily ejected as had been their predecessors in 1644.

    TIIK TREATIES SIGNED AND RATIFIED. 60?

    However, by the first week in July the four treaties had been signed and ratified by Hienfung, and all the vessels had left the Pei ho, which itself was no doubt the greatest proof to his Majesty that they were valid compacts ; for if the tables had been turned he would not have let them oif so easily, and perhaps wondered that Tientsin had not been ransomed at the same rate that Elliot had spared Canton in 1841. It is difficult to fully appreciate the crass ignorance and singular perversity of the men in whose hands the sway of the Chinese people were now lodc-ed. lie who is unwillinci: to acknowledge the overruling hand of God in this remarkable meeting of nations, would find it very difficult to acknowledge it anywhere in human history.

    The revision of the tariff had been deferred for a future discussion among those qualified for the work. Five Chinese commissioners reached Shanghai early in October for this and other purposes, of whom Kweiliang and Ilwashana were two. In this part of the negotiations the controlling power was properly left in the hands of the British, for their trade was worth more than all others combined. They used this power most selfishly, and fastened on the weak and distracted Empire a veritable remora, which has gone on sucking its resources without compunction or cessation. By making the tariff an integral part of the treaty, they theoretically made every infraction a casus Ijelli, and as no provision was left for revision, it was virtually rendered impossible, since the original four powers could not again be brought to unite on its readjustment with a view to the rights of China. While particular provision was made in it for preventing the importation of salt and the implements and munitions of war, the trade in opium was legalized at a lower rate than was paid on tea and silk entering England, and the brand of itmnorality and smuggling was removed from its diffusion throughout China. The weakness and isnoranee of the Chinese were such as laid them open to the power and craft of other nations, but the inherent wrong of the principle of ex-territorial ity was never more unjustly applied than in breaking down the moral sense of a people by forcing them to legalize this druc;. The evils of smug-o-lino: it were insufferable, but a heavy duty was desirable as a check and stigma upon the traffic. The solution to a statesman in Lord Elgin’s position was exceedingly difficult in relation to this point, and he perhaps took the safest course under the existing circumstances, but it has proved to be fraught with evils to the Chinese.

    One who now reads his biography and learns his nice sense of right and equity in national affairs, will not be surprised to see his doubts as to the best course to take where all were so many moves in the dark.

    The war which arose about the Arrow was now virtually closed, but many things remained to be enforced in can-ying out the treaty stipulations or restraining the irritation they produced. The vastness of the Empire sundered its inhabitants so widely that each felt the troubles it endured only when they came near; but to all of them the obligations of treaty were of the most shadowy nature. It would require years of patient instruction to educate the mass of natives up to the idea that these obligations affected them as individuals. One means of this instruction, which subsequent years have shown to be both practical and profitable, was the extension and reorganization of the administration of the customs under foreign supervision. Its short service at Shanghai had proved it to be easy and safe of operation, and the increased fidelity everywhere in collecting the duties gratified the central and provincial governments exceedingly.

    It was a startling proof of the degrading effects of the opium and smuggling trade upon the honor of the foreign merchants that they generally resisted the transfer of collecting duties from native to foreign hands, and endeavored in a thousand ways to thwart and ridicule the altered system. This feeling, however, disappeared with the incoming of a new set of merchants, and the Chinese government has, since the first, found no difficulty in utilizing the skill, knowledge, and power of their employes, not only in fiscal departments, but where ever they felt the need of such qualifications. Beginning at Shanghai, when the local officers were helpless against their own subjects, mandarins and people alike desired the advantages of an honestly collected tariff to be extended to every port opened for foreign trade.

    CLOSING INCIDENTS OF THE WAR, 659

    The changes formulated in the treaties of Tientsin could receive their accomplishment only after patient efforts on the part of ministers, consuls, and collectors to carry them into effect with due regard to the position of the native rulers. In order to open the way into the country, Lord Elgin visited Hankow in four ships in November, after he had signed the tariff. The rebels in possession of Naidving and other towns, being unapprised of his character, fired at him from some of their forts, for which “they were pounded pretty severely in return.” But a few words afterward proved more effectual than many shots, and no further altercation occurred. The voyage to and return from Hankow occupied seven weeks, and inaugurated a commerce and intercourse which has resulted in much good to the natives by making them rapidly acquainted with foreigners. The right of China to the exclusive navigation of her internal waters was summarily set aside by making Hankow a seaport; on the other hand, the government derived many advantages in the moral assistance given her at the time against the rebels by having them restrained, and, up to the present day, in the stimulus given to internal trade and rapid intercourse between the peoples of remote districts.

    The year 1858 was fraught with great events, involving the welfare of the people of China and Japan and their future position and progress. Much against their will they had been forced into political relations with Europe and America, and in a measure deprived of their independence under the guise of treaties which erected an {77vperiiim in iinpeiHO in their borders.

    Their rulers, ignorant of the real meaning of these principles of ex-territoriality, were tied down to observe them, and found themselves within a few years humbled before those of their own subjects who had begun to look to foreigners for protection.

    The perplexity of the Chinese commissioners at Shanghai in this new position was exhibited in a despatch addressed on November 1, 1858, to the three envoys. In it they discuss the right of foreigners who have no treaties to go into the interior, and insist upon the absolute necessity of restraining them, which their own mercantile consuls could not and would not do. ” Being unacquainted,” they wrote, ” with the usages of foreign nations in this respect, and unwilling of ourselves to lav down preventive regulations respecting issuing passports, \\g desire first to receive the result of your deliberations before we act ill the premises/’ They then proceed tu show how necessary it will be for the future peace between contiicting interests and nationalities that consuls should not be merchants, for” some of those of your respective nations have formerly and often acted in a manner calculated to impede and mar the harmony that existed between their nations and our own; wilfully disregarding everything but their own opinions, they have carried out their own high-handed measures to the ruin of all cordial feeling.”” The writers had no idea how this despatch was an argument and a proof of the need of strong measures to drag them out of their stupid ignorance and childish desires for isolation, and compel them to understand their duties.

    The education then begun was the only means through which to raise the Chinese rulers and people to a higher plane of civilization and liberty. One document like this carries in itself enouo;li to show how ignorant were its writers and their coleso leagues of their own duties, and how hopeless was the prospect of their emergiiiii; voluntarilv from their seclusion. The treaties bound them down to keep the peace, while they opened the channels through which the people could learn whatever was true and useful, without fear of punishment or reproach. The toleration of Christianity, the residence of foreign ministers at Peking, and the freedom to travel through the land were three avenues heretofore closed against the welfare and progress of China which the treaties opened, and through which she has already made more real advances than ever before in her history.’

    ‘ For full details on these important negotiations, see the Blue Book presented to Parliament July 15, IS”)!), containing Lord Elgin’s correspondence; f’. <?. Senate Krerutice Document No. 30, read March i;}, IHGO, containing correspondence of Messrs. Reed, Williams, and Ward, from June, 1857, to September 17, 1859; Oliphant’s Mmioii of Lord Elrjin to China and Japan, London and New York, ISfiO ; Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Pers<onal Narrative of Three Years’ Serrire in (lldna, London, 1S(>:}; le Marquis de Moges, liaron. Groups EndxtHny to China and Japan, 1800; Walrond’s Letterx and JoiirnaU of James, Earl of Elfjin, London, 1872; Lieut. J. D. Johnston, China and Japan, Philadelphia, 18C0 ; North American Reriew, Vol. XC, p. 125; BlackwoocPii Magazine. Vols. LXXXVL, p. G47, LXXXVIL, pp. 430, 535, audLXXXIX., p. 37a

    SENTIMENT OF CHINESE TOWARD THE ALLIES. 661

    By the end of December, 1858, the four envoys had left China, as well as most of the small force under their control. Koneof them had reached Peking, so that the Emperor was relieved of his fear that he would be carried off as was his commissioner, Yeh, from Canton; he had, moreover, another year of grace to learn what he ought to do to carry out the treaties. lie was also relieved by the refusal of the allies to join their quarrel with the efforts of the Tai-pings and march together to the conquest of the Empire. In Canton the presence of the allies had been an irritation chiefly to the provincial officers, who busied themselves in stimulating large bodies of braves in its vicinity to assassinate and rob individual foreigners near or in the city, keeping up in this manner a lasting feeling of discontent. Several skirmishes took place, and a large district within the city near the British quarters on Kwanyin Shan Avas burned over to insure protection against sudden attacks.

    The new governor-general, Hwang, had formed a league of the gentry and braves, which chiefly exhibited their power in harassing their own countrymen. He was removed in disgrace at Lord Elgin’s request, and all these puny and useless attacks brought to an end.

    An incident which occurred near Canton about fifteen months after the city had been captured, strikingly shows the character of the people: ” February 11th.—On the 8th a body of troops about one thousand strong started on an expedition which was to take three days. I accompanied, or rather preceded them on the first day’s march, about twelve miles from Canton. We rode through a very pretty country, passing by the village of Shek-tsing, where there was a fight a fortnight ago. The people were very respectful, and apparently not alarmed by our visit. At the place where the troops were to encamp for the night a cattle fair was in progress, and our arrival did not seem to interrupt the proceedings. February 13th.—The military expedition was entirely successful. The troops were everywhere received as friends. Considering what has been of yore the state of feeling in this province toward us, I think this almost the most remarkable thing which has happened since I came here. Would it have happened if I had given way to those uiio wished me to carry tire and swoni through all the country villages ? ” ‘

    These same villages furnished thousands of volunteers in May, 1841, to attack Sir Hugh Gough’s army, and had been engaged in a desperate struggle with their countrymen only three years before, so that this change was owing neither to cowardice nor Bulkiness. It had been brought about chiefly through considerate treatment of the people by the British gari-ison in Canton, by honest payment for supplies, and by regard for the traffic and local government of the city ; the citizens consequently had no complaint to make or revenge to satisfy. Those who from infancy had been brought up to call every foreigner ^fan-lm^ei^ or ‘ foreign devil,’ now slowly appreciated the fact that they had been mistaken—nor were the misconceptions all on their side. During the three years the city was occupied, public opinion there underwent an entire change ; and the Cantonese are now as courteous as they before were ill-mannered.

    At this season of rebellion and foreign war under which China was now suffering, the province of Kwangtung had a special cause for just irritation against all foreigners in the coolie trade. The headquarters of this trade were at Macao, and by 1860 it had become nearly the only business carried on there.

    ‘ Walrond’s Letters and Joxi,rnals of Lord Elgin, p. 308.

    ATROCITIES OF THE COOLIE TRADE. 663

    The population of the colony is perhaps seventy-odd thousand, of whom less than five thousand wear a foreign dress. Traffic and industry are mostly carried on by Chinese, who do all the work. When the trade of hiring Chinese as contract laborers to go to Cuba, Peru, and elsewhere began, there was no difficulty in obtaining men willing to try their fortunes abroad. As rumors of gold diggings open to their labors in California were spread abri)ad and confirmed by returning miners, the coolie ships were readily filled by men whose ignorance of outer lands made them easily believe that they were bound to El Dorado, whatever country they shipped for. The inducement for hiring them was the low rate of wages ($4 a month) at which they were willing to sell their labor, and the profits derived from introducing them into westeirn tropical regions. The temptations of this business became so great that within ten years the demand had far exceeded the supply. Seldom has the unscrupulous character of trade, where its operations are left free from the restraints either of competent authority or of morality, been more sadly exhibited than in the conduct of the agents who filled these coolie ships. The details of the manner in which natives of all classes, scholars, travelers, laborers, peddlers, and artisans, were kidnapped in town and country and sent to Macao, were seldom known, because the victims were unable to make themselves heard. When the rebels at Fuhshan were defeated in 1855, thousands of their followers were glad to save their lives by shipping as coolies, but this lasted only a short time.

    The allied commissioners in charge of Canton took cognizance of these outrages, and upon the representations of Governor-General Lao took vigorous measures for breaking up the trade at Wham]x»a.’ The United States minister, lion. J. E. “Ward, lent his aid in February, 1860, by allowing the Chinese authorities to take three hundred and seventeen men out of the American ship Messenger in order to ascertain whether any of them were detained on board against their will. Every one of them declined to go back to the ship, but it was not proved how many had been beguiled away on false pretences—the usual mode of kidnapping. The report of the commission sent to Cuba a dozen ^-ears later asserts, as the result of careful inquiries, that the majority of the coolies in Cuba ” were decoyed abroad, not legitimately induced to emigrate.”

    The Portuguese rulers of Macao “were unwilling to make thorough investigation into the facts about this business until after the return of the commission sent to Cuba in 1873, whose report disclosed the inevitable evils and wrongs inherent in the traffic. Urged by the British government, they finally (in 1875) closed the barracoons, and thus put an end to it. During the twenty-five years of its existence about five hundred thousand coolies were taken away.

    ‘ Compare Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Pfrsomd Nan-ative of Three Years^ Serrke in China, pp. 260-342, where the matter is pretty thoroughly discussed and Lao’s proclamations given in detail.

    To return to the war : throughout the winter no event of note occurred in any part of China, but the imperial government was busily employed in fortifying the mouth of the Pei ho to prevent the entrance of the allies. They demolished the old forts to rebuild new ones of materials gathered on the spot, and constructed somewhat after the manner laid down in foreign authorities on fortification. These books had been translated for them by natives trained in mission schools. Notwithstanding all that Kweiliang and llwashana may have assured them to the contrary, the Emperor and his officers could not divest

    themselves of their fears of serious reprisals, if not of conquest,

    should they pennit the allied gunboats to anchor a second

    time at Tientsin and their embassies to enter the capital. The

    two commissioners awaited at Shanghai the arrival of the British,

    French, and American plenipotentiaries, for the purpose of

    urging them to exchange the ratifications in that city. Nevertheless,

    since Peking was expressly appointed in the first two

    treaties as the place for signing them, Mr. Bruce and M. Bourboulon,

    the English and French ministers, determined to insist

    upon this detail. The poor commissioners, on the other hand,

    knowing more than they dared to tell of the hostile preparations

    going on, steadily declined the offer of a passage to Taku.

    KEPULSE OF THE ALLIES BEFORE TAKU. 665

    Mr. Ward was not tied down to any place or time for exchanging the American treaty, but decided to do so at the same place with his colleagues. The three ministers remained in the south to exchange views and allow the British gunboats to collect off Taku before their arrival, when they all joined them on June 20th. The appearance of the forts was entirely different from last year, and confirmed the reports of the great efforts making to prevent foreigners reaching the capital in large numbers. The river was found to be barred by an elaborate boom of timber and chains; but though no soldiers were in sight on the battlements, it was evident that a collision was intended. The reconnoissance had been carefully made from the ITth to the 2tl:th, and the riiiuese gcnierul, S;nig-k()-lin-siii, felt confident of his ability to hold his own against the shi])s inside of the bar. All official intercourse was refused with Admiral Hope, though he had stated his purpose clearly, because, as was alleged, these forts and men were merely gathered by the conniion people to defend themselves against pirates.

    In order to discover the real state of feeling toward a neutral, Commodore Tatnall took Mr. AVard, in the United States chartered steamer Toeywan, into the river on the 24th, and proceeded toward a jetty near the fort. The steamer ran aground when about half a mile short of it; the minister then sent his interpreters to the jetty, where they were met by a dozen or more miserably dressed fellows who had come from the fort for that purpose. On learning the errand of the foreigners, one or two of the men spoke up in a way which showed that they were officers—probably disguised as coolies—telling the deputation

    that the passage to Tientsin by the Pei ho had been barred, but

    that the governor-general, Ilangfuh, was then at Pehtang, a

    place about ten miles up the coast, where he was ready to receive

    the American minister. They added that they had no

    authority to take any letter or card for him ; that they knew

    very well the nationality of the Toeywan, which would not be

    harmed if she did not attempt to break through the boom laid

    just above the jetty ; and, lastly, that they were not at all empowered

    to aid or advise the Americans in getting up to Pehtang.

    The whole episode was a ridiculous ruse on the part of the Chinese to hide their design of forcibly preventing the ministers from ascending the river; but by so undignified a behavior the general commandino; the works forfeited whatever moral advantage might otherwise have remained on his side. After Admiral Hope had commenced his operations against the barriers, Ilangfuh did indeed send a letter to the British minister—then lying nine miles off the shore—informing him of the arrangements made at Pehtang to take the allied envoys from thence to the capital. These arrangements certainly violated no article of the treaties, nor any promise made to the foreigners, though they neutralized entirely the journey to Peking upon which the British government had determined to send its plenipotentiary.

    One may learn from the letters of Mr. Bruce to Lord Malmesbury(of July 5th and 13th) many details of the impertinent reception accorded to Admiral Hope’s messengers by the rabble and soldiers near the Taku forts, all proving plainly enough their hostile intentions. But the minister overlooks what we, in retracing the history of these years, cannot too attentively keep in mind, namely, the ever-present fear of trickery and foul play with their unknown engines of war which the Emperors counsellors momentarily dreaded from their foreign adversaries.

    On the other hand, what could be done with a government which would never condescend to appreciate its own weakness, would never speak or act the truth, would never treat any other nation as an equal ? These and other despatches from the Blue Book afford a key to the policies of both parties in this remarkable contest, and convince the impartial student of the necessity of personal contact and acquaintance before it was possible to reach a lasting understanding between the holders of so widely separated views.

    During the night of the 23d, after the Toeywan had floated at high water, the British advanced and blew up the first boom, leaving, however, the second and stronger obstruction untouched.

    The attempt to ascend the river in force was commenced by the allies in the following afternoon, when the forts opened fire upon them and by evening had sunk or silenced almost every vessel. In this Hect thirteen small ii’unboats were enji-ased, one of the largest among them, a French craft, carrying six hundred men ; besides these were some six hundred nuirines and engineers

    designed to serve as an escort upon the journey to the

    capital. This guard was now landed in the mud before the

    forts and an attempt made to carry the works by escalade, but

    the effort failed, and by daylight the men were all once more

    afloat. From the gunboats twenty-five men were killed and

    ninety-thi-ee wounded ; the loss among tlie marines was naturally

    heavier—sixty-four killed and two hundred and fifty-two

    wounded, while of the boats four were sunk.’

    Throughout this action the American vessel Toeywan remained inside of the Ijar, being a non-combatant. The gallant energy of Commodore Tatnall, who in the thick of the fight passed through the fleet to visit the British admiral lying

    ‘ One of these afterward lloated of itself and was preserved.

    Upper North Fort

    PLAN OF THE MOUTH OF THE PEI-HO.

    Sheicing the Defences

    and illustrative of the Attack o/25!» June, 1859

    wounded in the Plover, well-nigh cost him his life; a shot from the Chinese guns tore into the stern of his harge, killing the coxswain, and narrowly missed sinking the boat with all on board. Tatnall’s declaration, in extenuation of his technical violation of international law by towing boat-loads of British marines into action, that ” blood is thicker than water,” has indissolubly associated his name with this battle of the Pei ho.’

    The American minister was present as a spectator at this repulse before the Taku forts, but this could not be properly considered as a reason for not making further attempts to reach Peking. He accordingly, though not without some difficulty, notified the governor-general at Pehtang of his arrival, and four days later a pilot was sent off and the Toeywan taken up to Pehtang. Mr. Ward, in his report to Washington, expresses his belief that he would not be allowed to reach Peking, while the Chinese had no other intenti(jn than to escort him there and bring him safely back. On July Sth boats were sent to conduct his party to the place of meeting, which they reached through a line of soldiers in uniform placed along the sides of the streets, and were ushered into a large hall amid a crowd of officials. The recent encounter at Taku was discussed in a sensible manner, without apparent anxiety or bravado, and then the arrangements for taking the whole party of twenty to Peking were made known. Among other topics of inquiry brought forward was the cost of such vessels as had been sunk in the Pei ho by their guns—as if the officials had been estimating the probable expense of their victory when the English brought in their usual bill of damages. But the offer of Commodore Tatnall to place his surgeons at the disposal of the Chinese, to aid in treating the wounded men at the forts, was declined.

    ‘ Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher’s Personal Nmrative of Three Tears” Service in China, Chaps. XIII. and XIV.

    MIJ. WAKD’s visit to PEKING. 660

    Everything being made ready by July 20th, the American minister set out under the escort of Chunghow, now first brought into contact with foreigners. About forty miles of flat, saltish plain was crossed, until the party reached Pelitsang, on the Pei ho, where were lying the boats prepared for their reception. As they proceeded up the river the inhabitants flocked to the banks to behold the dreaded foreigners, but no expressions of vaunting or hostility were heard among the myriads who now gazed for the first time upon them. The

    vast crowd at Tungchau, when the twenty Americans landed,

    comprised apparently the whole population of that city ; clad in

    white summer garments, and preserving a most remarkable

    stillness and decorum as they lined the river banks and highway,

    this silent, gazing multitude produced upon the strangers

    an effect incomparably weird. The day was oppressively hot,

    and many preferred the carts to the mules provided for the

    trip to Peking, where they all arrived on the 2Ttli. A ridiculous

    rumor, illustrated by appropriate pictures, respecting this

    journey was circulated in Paris about a fortnight afterward,

    stating that Mr. Ward and his party were conducted from the

    coast in an innriense ” box or travelling chamber, drawn overland

    by oxen,” and then put ” on a raft to be towed up the river and

    Imperial Canal as far as the gate of the capital. They were

    well treated, and were taken back to the coast in the same

    manner.” This jeux (Tesjyi’it ju-obably expressed the popular

    sentiment in France of what was expected from the Chinese,

    and has ever since been associated with it.

    On announcing his arrival, a meeting was arranged for the 30th between Mr. Ward and Kweiliang and Ilwashana, at which all the time was occupied in discussing the question of the manner of audience. The minister had the advantage in this interesting colloquy, for he had come up at the invitation of the governor-general, had no directions from the President upon the matter, was quite indifferent as to the result of the conference, and had no presents to be rejected as Lord Amherst’s were in 181G. The nature of the hotow and the reasons for requiring it of all who had audience of the Emperor were fully discussed at several interviews in the most amicable and courteous manner. The Chinese were anxious to bring about an audience, and went so far as to waive the ketou or knocking head, from the first, and proposed instead that the envoy should bend one knee as he approached the sovereign. This was even less of an obeisance than English courtiers paid their Queen, and might have been accepted without difficulty—if any eouiproinise were possible—had not one of the party previously declared the religious nature of the ceremony by saying, ” If we do not kneel before the Emperor, we do not show him any respect; it is that or nothing, and is the same reverence which we pay the gods.” Kweiliang further said that he himself would willingly burn incense before the President of the United States if asked to do so.’

    During their whole national history the Chinese rulers and

    people had accepted this ceremony as the inseparable prerogative

    of the Son of Heaven ; and as this discussion in their capital

    was in the hearing of a great crowd of officials, who, doubtless,

    were prompt enough in circulating among the populace a

    report of the disagreement, one may appreciate the feelings of

    the latter when the American embassy was allowed quietly to

    leave the city without enterhig into the “Great Interior” to

    behold the Dragon’s Face. Foreigners have been so ready in

    China to ridicule or depi’eciate whatever partakes of resistance

    to their notions (unless it be backed up by force to make it respected),

    that this remarkable discussion on a vital point in Chinese

    etiquette and theology was generally regarded as silly verbiage

    on their part or ascribed to the effect of fear on the part

    of the Americans. As the time and phice for exchanging ratifications

    were not mentioned in the treaty, there was no insuperable

    difficulty in adjourning the ceremony to another place; yet it seemed a grotesque ending to the four days’ discussion for Kweiliang to seriously ask the minister for what purpose he had come to Peking, he himself being quite at a loss to understand the reason. Mr. Ward replied that it was to deliver the letter from the President, and to exchange the ratifications. It would have been better if he had held him to the promise made by the governor-general at Pehtang to do so in Peking. However, the return trip was concluded by the exchange of ratifications on August 15th at Pehtang, and the departure of the frigate for Shanghai soon after.

    ‘ See Ward’s despatches, pp. 594-617, U. 8. Senate Executue Document No. 30, read Marcli 1;5, 1800; American Eclectic Magazine, New York, Vol. 51, April and May, 18G1 •, North China Br. Ji. A. Society, Vol. I., No. 3, 1859.

    LORD ELGIX AND BARON GROS RETURN TO CHINA 671

    The mortification of having been repulsed at Taku was not concealed by the British public or press, when they ascribed it to the too hasty landing at sunset on a mud flat over which there was no pathway or footing. There certainly was no treachery on the part of the Chinese, as Mr. Swinhoe declares in his JVorf/i China Ca//tj>ai^n, for they plaiidy told what they would do if the passage were attempted.’ Yet it was a grievous disappointment to find that the exchange of ratifications had been interrupted from any cause; and though it will probably always be a debatable point whether it was right for the allied envoys to refuse the offered means of reaching Peking by way of Pehtang, there was no debate now as to the necessity of hastening to the capital at once.

    ‘ Though they told many lies as well. These charges against the Chinese were reiterated until they were believed by all the world; but in the effort to find a good reason for proceeding to Peking in order to exchange the ratifications, it was not needful to say that the forts fired upon the British ships without notice. Mr. Bruce’s despatches to Lord Malmesbury (of Jul}’ i;]th), together with the eufilosures and translations of native documents, discuss this question with much good sense.

    The British and French governments moved immediately in the matter, and M’isely decided to place the settlement of the question in the same hands that had carried it thus far. In April, 1860, Earl Kussell wrote to Lord Elgin that ” Her Majesty resolved to employ every means calculated to establish peace with the Emperor of China, and had determined to call upon him again to give his valuable services to promote this important object.” The indispensable conditions were three, viz., an apology for the attack on the allied forces at the Pei ho ; the ratification and execution of the treaty ; and payment for the expenses incurred by the allies. Lord Elgin’s colleague was Baron Gros, and the two were ready to leave Europe in April. They were supported in making their demands by an army of about ten thousand British troops of all arms, gathered from England, Cape Colony, and Lidia, and nearly seven thousand French sent from France. Their respective naval forces were not largely added to, but the requisite transports increased the fleets to more than two hundred vessels in all, of which thirty-three

    were French. The latter had small iron gunboats, fitted to carry one gun, brought from home hi fifteen pieces each; when screwed together each boat had three compartments, made water-tight with layers of vulcanized rubber at the joinings^

    The British forces gathered at Talien-wan Bay on the southeastern side of Prince llegent’s Sword, and the French at Chifu on the coast of Shantung. The plenipotentiaries had arrived iu July of this year and found the imperial government maintaining its old attitude of conciliation and undue assumption.

    On March 8th the foreigners^ terms had been made known by Mr. Bruce, and a reply shortly afterward transmitted to him through Ho Kwei-tsing at Shanghai. In it the lurking fear of reprisals, so largely actuating its conduct, appears from the conclusion, when the council says : ” If Mr. Bruce will come north without vessels of war and with but a moderate retinue, and will wait at Pehtang to exchange the treaties, China will not take him to task for what has gone by. But if he be resolved to bring up a number of war-vessels, and if he persist in proceeding by way of Taku, this will show that his true purpose is not the exchange of treaties.” ‘ After such a declaration there was but one way left by which to prove to the Emperor how thoroughly in earnest were the allies in their intention of exchanging the treaties. The last bulwark of Chinese seclusion was now to be broken down—never more, we may hope, to be erected against the advancing influences of a more enlightened civilization.

    ‘ Wolseley’s Narrative, p. 14. Fislier’s C/nmi, Chap. XXIII.

    LANDING OF THE ALLIES AT PEIITANG. 673

    After the usual delays incident to moving large bodies of troops with their various equipages, the combined forces left their anchorages on July 26th, presenting with their long lines of ships a grand sight as they went up the smooth waters of the Gulf of Pechele toward the mouth of the Pehtang River. This assemblage was many times larger than the armaments sent to the same region in the two previous years, and the experiences of those years had prepared both parties to regard this third attempt to reach the Court of Cambaluc as decisive of their future relations. The forces found much inconvenience in effecting a landing at Pehtang, where the beach at low tide extends over miles of ooze and sticky mud, but met no forcible opposition. The towns in this region are among the most repulsive-looking on the whole Chinese coast. In consequence of

    the saline soil no trees or grass are to be seen on the wide

    plain ; the only green things being a few fruit trees near the

    Jiouses, or scattering patches of salsola and similar plants. The

    houses are built of mud and chopped straw ; their walls rest on

    layers of sorghum stalks spread on the foundation to intercept

    the saline influences, while the thatched roofs also contain

    much mud. These soon present a scanty covering of grass,

    which, speedily withering in the hot sun, imparts to the dwelling a still more forlorn aspect. Cheerless enough on a bright day, the appearance of one of these hamlets in wet weather—with mud streaming from the roofs, the streets reeking with noisome filth, through which loaded carts and half-naked men wend dolefully their way—is certainly melancholy beyond any description.

    The allies were on shore by the evening of August 2d, and

    in a most pitiable plight in their own eyes. The men had been

    obliged to wade through the mud left by the retiring tide to

    reach solid ground, and then cross a moat that received the

    drainings of the town, a reeking mass much worse, of course,

    than the other. Xo fresh water was to be had, and the time

    which elapsed before the men could be supplied from the boats

    Avas spent in putting themselves up for the night, Avet, dirty,

    and hungry as they were. In the morning it was found that

    the few forts which they were to attack were merely for show,

    and soon the town was occupied by the ti’oops, their generals

    taking the temples for quarters. In less than three days every

    house in it had been pillaged, and whatever was worthless for

    plunder was destroyed as useless, ” the few natives that still

    lingered by their uinisurped domiciles,” adds Mr. Swinhoe,

    ” quietly watching with the eye of despair the destruction of

    all the property they possessed in the world, and the ruin of

    their hopes perhaps forever.” Even the poor wretches who

    were trying to cany off their goods in packs were stopped and

    stripped by the prowling soldiers.

    Ill less than a fortnight the entire force had been brought

    ashore without accident or opposition. There were men, tents,

    guns, horses, provisions, animals, stores, ammunition, baggage, —everything, in short, which an army now needs and which

    steam easily brings to it. Besides these, two thousand live

    hundred Cantonese coolies, each of whom is estimated by

    Colonel Wolseley, with supreme candoi’, to have been of more

    general value than any three baggage animals. They were

    working constantly for ten days, carrying water, landing stores,

    and performing the toil devolving on camp followers, for which

    this author magnanimously praises them by saying: “They

    were easily fed, and when properly treated most manageable.”

    On August 12th the forces were ready to move on the Taku

    forts lying about five miles distant across the plain, now rendered

    miry by the constant rains. A single causeway three

    miles long, flanked by deep ditches, traversed it, and along this

    progress, especially for the heavy artillery, was exceedingly

    slow. Upon their passage of this road the Chinese general,

    Sangkolinsin, yielded the only vantage-ground where he could

    have encountered his enemy with hope of success. This ignorant

    blunder on the part of so energetic a commander seems all

    the more unaccountatle, since a week previously the Chinese

    cavalry had been nnich emboldened by some slight successes

    over a reconnoitring party of the allies, and ” approached our

    outposts with wonderful courage, a few even advancing to within

    a few hundred yards, brandishing the swords and making grotesque

    gesticulations.”

    At last the allies were ready to advance to the attack of the

    Chinese. The Mongol horsemen commenced the engagement

    by rushing fearlessly forward in several irregular lines of

    skirmishers, and bravely received the shot from the Armstrong

    guns, until they charged with a loud, M’ild yell the Sikh cavalry,

    with whom they engaged in close conflict. But ” in less than

    a minute the Tartai’s had turned and were flying for their lives

    before our well-armed irregulars supported b}^ two squadrons

    of the finest dragoons in the British army ; the ])ursuit lasted

    for five miles, and was then only ended by our horses being

    pumped out. Had they been in good working order the vq

    CAPTURE OF SINIIO AXD THE TAKU FOKTS. 675

    suits would have been far more satisfactory, and the worthy tax-payers at home would have had the pleasure of gloating over the account of an immense Mst of slain enemies.”‘

    TliQ allied infantry had already reached the intrenched canjp, near the village of Sinho, and the ” beautifully precise practice” of the Armstrongs, together with the accurate rifled guns of the French, were brilliantly successful in knocking over the Chinese who served their gingalls at the ranges of fourteen hundred or a thousand yards.

    The reader cannot desire further particulars of this unequal

    contest as described by Colonel (now Lord) Garnet “Wolsele^-.

    The various forces of the Chinese M-ere entirely routed by the

    allies ; the plain was speckled for miles l)y native corpses, while

    the care of wounded men called out the sympathies and skill of

    their conquerors. The village of Sirdio was plundered, and its

    inhabitants fled, glad to escape with their lives.^ The next

    morning an advance was made by the entire force upon the five

    forts and intrenched camps at Tangku, three miles ofF, from

    which the imperialists were dislodged with considerable loss on

    their part, the rest retreating across the Pei ho toward Taku.

    Tangku town was occupied by the foreigners, who took under

    their care everybody left in it, and relieved the wounded and

    starving while preparing for the intended attack on the forts.

    This kindness, and the consequent increased acquaintance arising

    between the contending parties in obtaining supplies, did much

    to remove their ignorance and contempt of each other—a result

    far more desirable and useful than the capture of forts and

    prisoners.

    ‘Wolseley, NniTatiir, p. 108.

    ‘ A great collection of official documents disclosing the views of the court upon the struggle was found iu the yamun.

    ” Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Personal Narrative, pp. 404-409.

    The French having already- encamped on the further bank of the Pei ho, each army commenced the building of a bridge ^ across the stream, completing the structure so speedily that by the morning of August 21st the whole attackingforce was in position. The twenty-three pieces of artillery now began to fire upon the north fort, from which the Chinese replied with all the alacrity they could, although taken thus in rear. About six o’clock, when the fire waxed hotter and hotter, and the troops were anxiously looking for the signal to advance, ” a tall black pillar, as if by magic, shot up from the midst of the nearest fort, and then bursting like a rocket after it had obtained

    a great height, was soon lost in the vast shower of earth and

    wood into which it resolved itself—a loud, bursting, booming

    sound marking the moment of its short existence.” But the

    fire from the fort only ceased for a minute or two, and the

    gunners served their pieces most manfully, though sometimes

    unprotected in any way from the crushing shell fire opposed to

    them. The attack Ijegan about seven o’clock, nearly four thousand

    men all told forming the advance. A gallant defence was

    made to a still bi-aver onset, but the victoiy naturally fell to

    the disciplined forces of the allies, who had j^ossessed themselves

    of all the defences before noon. A few guns taken from

    the ships destroyed June 25, 1850, were now recovered l)y the

    British, but otherwise the fort contained nothing of Aalue. The

    loss of life on both sides was coni]):iratively slight. The Jh-itish

    had seventeen killed and one hundred and eighty-three wounded ; the French, one hundred and thirty casualties in all; the Chinese lay dead in heaps in the fort, and their total loss probably exceeded two thousand. The interior testified in every part the noble manner in which it had been defended, even after the disastrous explosion had crippled the resources and discouraged the enthusiasm of its garrison. From this position the allies moved on the other n(n-thern fort with their artillery, under a continual fire from its Avails ; but before the guns could open upon it, many white; flags appeared on the parapets; messengei’S were ere long seen to leave the gi’cat southern fort. They were all given up before sunset, and the famous Taku foi’ts, Avhieh had last year witnessed the discomfiture of the allies, now saw them enter as conquerors’—” the tarnished honor of our arms was <i;loriouslv vindicated.”

    ‘ When tlio allied generals came to carefully examine the construction of the walls, casemates, and internal arrangements, with the preparation made outside to hinder the enemy, they declared them to be absolutely impregnabW from seaward if defended as well as the north fort had been.

    THE ADVANCE TO TIENTSIN. 077

    Lord Elgin M-as quietly resting in Tangkn, and refused to jeceive their surrender, or even to hold intercourse with Hangfnh, the governor-general of Chihli, then in command, but turned him over to the commander of the forces. The path heing now open for the troops to march upon Tientsin, the gunboats were sent forward to see that the river was clear. On the ^.^th the two ])loiiipotentiaries wei-e again housed at Tientsin,

    accompanied by naval and land forces amply strong to take

    them to Peking. Xo opposition M’as, howevei”, experienced in

    i-eaching that city, while the pleasing contrast in the surface of

    this country with that of the dreary flats near Pehtang and

    Taku refreshed the men as much as the abundant supplies and

    })eacefulness of the people aided them. Such remarkable contrasts

    in China illustrate the inert character of this extraordinary

    people; and further, also lead one to incpiire what is the

    reason for their loyalty to a government which fails so completely

    in protecting them from their enemies. Mr. Swihhoe

    records’ a conversation held with a M’ell-to-do Chinese, in which

    this inquiry receives a partial answer in the peaceful education

    of a race M’hicli lias no alternative.

    ‘ North China Campairjn, pp. 158-161.

    His intrenchments at Sinho and Tangku being demolished, his vaunted defences upon the liver razed, his enemies’ ships in possession of Tientsin, nothing now remained for Sangkolinsiii save to move his entire army nearer Peking, and there again meeting the invaders, endeavor to preserve the capital from capture. He would not there be able to shift the odium of defeat on the difficulties of the river defences, while the moral effect would be incomparably greater if he were vanquislied near the palace. The aged Jvweiliang, the father-in-law of Prince Kung, was again directed to repair to Tientsin, where he arrived about August 2Sth. He and two others (all of them Manchus) endeavored to negotiate a peace so as to prevent the allies from advancing on Peking with their armies. Finding that they were trifling, Lord Elgin stopped the palaver, and started for Tungchau on September Stli, the British taking the left bank and the French keeping the southern. jS^ear Yangtsun a new cummission of higher rank reported itself, but it was rejected, and the army continued on its M’ay. Further on, at Ilosi-wu and Matau, signs of serious strife began to appear, but the commissioners assured their negotiators, Messrs. Wade and Parkes, that

    everything was or would be ready at Tungchau to conclude the

    convention. Affairs were becoming critical in the matter of

    supplies and transport, for Sangkolinsin’s army prevented the

    people from safely bringing animals and making sales. The commissariat,

    therefore, was obliged to seize what could be found

    to feed the advancing force, and this involved ransacking most

    of the towns and handets lying near the river between Hosi-wu

    and Tungchau. The progress of the force was, therefore, much

    slower than below Tientsin, though the possession of sixty or

    eighty small boats helped to bring on the amnumition and

    other supplies.

    On September 1ith the interpreters, Messrs.AYade and Parkes,

    reached Tungchau, in order to meet Prince I and his colleague

    to discuss the terms for stoj^ping the army and exchanging

    the ratifications. This interview was marked with apparent

    sincerity, and resulted in an order for the army to move forward

    to a place designated near the town of Changkia-wan,

    about three leagues from Tungchau, \vhere the troops were to

    encamp. The camp broke up from IIosi-wu early on the 17th

    to carry this arrangement into effect. Mr. Parkes was again sent

    forward to Tungchau (twentj^ -five miles), accompanied by an escort

    of twenty-six Sikh and other soldiers, to inform the imperial

    connnissioners, and finally arrange terms. The ground pointed

    out was reached, and seemed to be well suited for the j^ui-pose.

    At Changkia-wan the party met an ofiicer at the head of some

    cavalry, who challenged them, but allowed all to go on to Tungchau.

    Mr. Parkes soon met another high official in charge of a

    guard, who treated them with marked courtesy, informing

    them that he had been the general at Sinlio, and let them proceed.

    They were received at Tungchau and conducted through

    the town to a temple by a messenger sent from the prince. At

    one o’clock the discussions began, but instead of entering into

    the details of carrying out the agreement, difficulties were made

    OCCUKRENCES AT TUNGCIIAU. 679

    about Lord Elgin’s delivering his letter of credence to the Emperor.

    The whole afternoon was consumed in this debate,

    which probably was grounded not a little on the recent decision

    of Ilienfung to leave the capital for his summer palace at

    Jeh-ho while the way was yet clear. At eventide the commissioners

    waived the settlement of the audience, and soon agreed

    to all the other points relating to the encampment near Changkia-

    wan. In the morning Mr. Parkes, Colonel Walker, and

    eleven others, leaving the rest of their party in the temple to

    await the arrival of the plenipotentiaries the next day, departed

    to view the designated encampment. Their journey was somewhat

    eventful. As they reached Changkia-wan they met bodies

    of Chinese infantry going south, but no notice was taken of

    them, and the foreigners rode on to reach the appointed spot.

    In doing so they came across a body of a thousand dismounted

    liorsemen concealed in a dry watercourse, or nullah, evidently

    placed there in ambush ; while riding along in front no interruption

    was made to their progress. Further on, in a small

    village, they detected a large force hidden behind the houses

    and in gardens, but still no hindrance to their advance was interposed

    by these men. A short distance ahead they came upon

    a masked battery of twelve guns just placed in position, from

    which they were driven away. It was now phiin that Sangkolinsin

    Avas preparing an ainbushment for the allied forces to

    enter, feeling confident, no doubt, of his success.

    Mr. Loch, who accompained Mr. Parkes thus far, was now

    designated to force his way through the Chinese troops, so as to

    meet the allied generals and tell them the state of things. Sir

    Hope Grant had already noticed some bodies of men on his

    flanks, and was preparing for them when he learned the truth ;

    but in order to give Mr. Parkes and the others a chance to escape

    from Tungchau, he agreed to delay two hours before opening

    upon the enemy. Mr. Loch accordingly started, in company

    with Captain Brabazon and two horsemeu,to return to Tungchau.

    They reached it in a few hours and found their friends, unconscious

    of the danger, wandering through the town. Mr. Parkes

    had learned something of it, and called on Prince I at his

    quarters to claim protection ; this dignitary was in a state of much excitement, and said that ” mitil the question of delivering the letter of credence was settled there coiikl \)c no peace ; there must be war.” On returning to their temple the foreigners immediately started off in a body, but some of their horses were jaded, and the country was filled with moving bodies of troops.

    When about five miles wei”e gone over they came on a brigade

    of matchlock men, and ere long an officer of rank stopped them

    from going further, but offered to accompany two of them to

    obtain from the general a pass allowing the whole party to ride

    around the Chinese army on their way back. Mr. Parkes and

    Mr. Loch and a Sikh accordingly M’ent with him, and he bravely

    looked after their safety. Meanwhile the battle had alreadybcgun,

    as the booming cannon intimated. They had advanced only a

    few rods when the trio found themselves in the midst of a large

    body of infantry, some of whom seized their bridles, but their

    guide rushed in, striking i-ight and left, and thus cleared the

    way. Ten rods in the rear they met the Chinese general, to

    whom Mr. Parkes addressed himself, pointing to the flag of

    truce and asking for a pass for the whole party to return to the

    P>ritish armv. 8aii<rkolinsin ” irave a derisive lau<2;h, and broke

    out into a torrent of abuse, lie accused Parkes of being the

    cause of all the troubles and difficulties that had arisen. Not

    content with attempting to impose conditions which would have

    been derogatory to the dignity of the Empei’or to accept, he

    had now brought the allied armies down to attack the imperial

    forces.” This is only a part of his excited conversation with Mi”.

    Parkes, as reported by Mr. Loch. They were now imprisoned,

    and ordered to l)e taken in an open cart with two French prisoners

    to Tungehau, and delivered over to Prince I. The others,

    twenty-three in all, had also been made prisoners where they

    were waiting, and ere long conducted to Tungehau in charge

    of a guard.

    The five in the cart reached Tungehau after Prince I had

    left his temple, and were therefore hurried on to Peking after

    him, but on the way were turned off near Pa-li-kiau {i.e.,

    ‘ Eight Lt Bridge’) and taken to the quai’ters of Jinlin, a general

    then in command of the Peking gendarmerie, fie ques’

    IMPKISONMENT OF PARKES AND LOCH. 681

    tioned Mr. Parkes upon the strength of the allied foi’ces, until

    the latter ended this catechising under the torture of kneeling

    with the arms twisted behind him, by pretending to faint.

    In the aftei-noon, MJiile again undergoing examination by some

    officials formerly with Prince 1, they were suddenly interru})

    ted b}’ a commotion, and everybody ran off, leaving them

    alone. Soon a number of soldiers rushed in and bound their

    arms, while they were led away to be beheaded in an outer

    court. But just as they crossed the yard a mandarin hurried

    forward, and seizing liold of the soldier, then waving his

    sword over Mr. Loch, rescued them both and hurried them into a cart, where the other three prisoners lay, upon which they immediately started for Peking by the great stone road. The torture and jolting of this ride over the rough causeway were increased by their weariness, hunger, and cramped position, and when they got out of the cart at the Iling Pu, in Peking, they were utterly prostrated. Kevertheless, their misery during the ride of ten miles was transient and light compared with what awaited them inside of the Board of Punishments.

    They were there separated, heavily pinioned, and put with the native prisoners. Mr. Loch justly commends these wretched men for their sympathy, and mentions many little acts of kindness to him in dividing their cakes and giving him a special bench to sit on during the ten days he was quartered with them. Tie was then tai:en to the room with Mr. Parkes, and they were soon driven away to a temple in the northern part of the city, whore rooms had been fitted up for them. As to the party of twenty-three English and thirteen Frenchmen left by Parkes at his capture, they had been taken to Yuan-ming Yuan under a strong guard.

    Meanwhile the allied army had come up to the Chinese

    forces. These, about twenty thousand men in all, had been

    posted with considerable skill betvreen Changkia-wan and the

    Pei ho, showing a front of nearly four miles, nuich of which

    w^as intrenched and presenting a succession of batteries. The

    battle on the 18th died away as the allies reached that town, having driven Sangkolinsin’s troops toward Peking, captured eighty guns, and burned all his camps. The loss of life was much less among his men than at the Taku fort, for here none of them were chained to their guns, and were able to escape when their position was untenable. Changkia-wan was thoroughly pillaged that night by those who could get at it, especially the poor natives who followed the army.

    On the 21st the Chinese forces made another stand near the

    Eight Li Bridge over the Canal, from which the French dislodged

    them without much difficulty. The British came up on

    their flanks and drove them in upon their centre, which of

    course soon resulted in a general dispersion. The artillery

    opened up at long range ; the cavalry riding in upon the

    Chinese horsemen, easily scattered them, often burning the

    separate camps before returning. The contest at the bridge

    was the most serious, and their loss here was estimated at three

    hundred ; on the whole field it probably did not exceed five

    hundred, for neither their cavalry nor infantry often presented

    a solid front. The entire losses of the allies were less than

    fifty killed and wounded. Nothing intei’posed now between

    them and Peking, but they delayed to move until October

    3d, when their entire force had come up, siege guns and

    commissary stoi-es included. Full knowledge had been obtained

    of the environs of Peking, and iiegotiations had been

    going on respecting the return of the prisoners as a preliminary

    to the close of hostilities. These were now conducted with

    Prince Ivung, the next youiiger brother of the Emperor, who

    was himself by this time safe at Jeh-ho.

    TILLAGE OF YUEN-MINU YUEN. G88

    On October Gtli Lord Elgin and the generals M-ere settled in the spacious quarters of the Hwang s//, a lamasaiy near the northwest gate of Peking, and their army occupied much of the open spaces between it and the city. On that day, the outposts of the French army and some of the British cavalry reached the great cantonment of Hai-tien (where the Manchu garrison of Peking was quartered) and the palace of Yuan-ming Yuan near by. This was soon pillaged under circumstances and in a barbarously wasteful manner which will reflect lasting obloquy upon General Montaubon, who, more than any other person, could have interposed to save the hnniense and precious collection of objects illustrating Chinese art, architecture, and literature. Lord Elgin’s journal gives his view of this act in a few words:
    October 7th, 5 o’clock r. M. —I have just returned from the Summer Palace.

    It is really a line thing, like an English park—numberless buildings

    with handsome rooms, filled with Chinese curios, handsome clocks, bronzes,

    etc. But alas ! such a scene of desolation. The French general came up,

    full of protestations. He had prevented looting in order that all the plunder

    might be divided between the armies, etc. There was not a room that I saw

    m which half the things had not been taken away or broken to pieces. I

    tried to get a regiment of ours sent to guard the place, and then sell the things

    by auction ; but it is difficult to get things done by system in such a case, so

    some of the officers are left [there], who are to fill two or three carts with

    treasures, which are to be sold. Plundering and devastating a place like this

    is bad enough, but the waste and breakage are much worse. Out of a million

    pounds’ worth of property, I daresay fifty thousand pounds will not be realized.

    French soldiers were destroying in every way the most beautiful silks,

    breaking the jade ornaments and porcelain, etc. War is a hateful business.

    The more one sees of it the more one detests it.

    ‘

    Mr. Swinhoe’s account of one room in this palace has now a historical interest—but his description must be condensed:
    Facing the gate (he says) stood the grand reception hall, well adorned outside, and netted with copper wire under the fretted eaves to keep off the birds.

    Entering it we found ourselves on a marble floor in front of the Emperor’s

    ebony throne ; tliis was adorned with carved dragons in various attitudes ; its

    floor was covered with light red cloth, and three low series of steps led up to

    it, on the central and widest of which his subjects made the kotow. The left

    side of the hall was adorned with a picture representing the grounds of the

    palace, and the side tables contained books in yellow binding and ornaments.

    There was somehow an air of reverence throughout this simple but neat hall.

    On an audience day the Emperor here seated himself attired in a yellow robe

    wrought with dragons in gold thread, his head surmounted with a spherical

    crown of gold and precious stones with pearl drops suspended around b}’ light

    gold chains. Eunuchs and ministers in court costume kneel on each side in

    long lines, and the guard and musicians are arranged in the outer court. The

    name of the person to be introduced is called out, and as he approaches the

    band strikes up. He draws near the ” Dragon’s Seat” and kneels before the

    central steji, removes his hat, placing it on the throne floor with the peacock’s

    feather toward the imperial donor. His Ma’esty moves his hand and down

    goes the head, striking on the step three times three. The head is then raised,

    but with downcast eyes the man hears the behests of his great master. Wheii

    ‘ Elgin’s Letters^ p. 361.

    the voice ceases, again the hciul niukes t\w nine knocks, thus acknowledging the sovereign right, and the man withdraws. How different the scene now, adds Mr. Swinhoe. The hall filled with crowds of a foreign soldiery, and the throne floor covered with the Celestial Emperor’s choicest curios, destined as gifts for two far more worthy monarchs. ” See here,” said General Montaubon, pointing to them, ” I have had a few of the most brilliant things selected to be divided between the Queen of Great Britain and the Emperor of the French.” ‘

    On the following day—October Sth—the coniuiaiulers were

    greatly relieved by the return of Parkes, Loch, d’Escayrac de

    Lauture, and five soldiers ; the first two of these gentlemen had

    been comparatively well treated after their terrible experiences

    within the lling Pu. A few days later botli armies were horrified

    by the appearance in camp of eleven wretched men—all who

    had survived from the party of French and English made prisoners

    near Tungchau ; Anderson, Bowlby, de Xornian, and

    others had succumbed to the dreadful tortures caused by the

    cords which bound them. The coffined bodies were all brought

    to camp within a few days, hardly recognizable from the effects

    of lime thrown upon them. On the 16th occurred the impressive

    ceremony of theii* interment in the Russian cemetery near

    Peking, Lord Elgin, Sir Hope (Jrant, Parkes, and Loch being

    chief mourners, while a deputation from every regiment in the

    allied armies followed in the train.

    Two days after this Lord Elgin ordered the destruction of the

    palace of Yuen-ming Yuen ; a sudden though deliberate act.

    Feeling prul)ably that such a decision would be closely criticised

    by those wlio were far removed in time and place from the exciting

    scenes around him, he took occasion to review his position

    in a long despatch. It was impossible in his situation to learn

    whether the responsibility for the capture and savage treatment

    of these men rested with the same Chinese officials.’ This

    ‘ Swinhoe, JVorth China Campairin, pp. 294 fF. —the most detailed and interesting

    account of this palace and its destruction. Compare M. C. Lavalloe in

    the Reciie den Deux MowUs for August 1, 18(io. Other French writers on this

    war are Lieutenant de vaisseau Pallu, lirhitioit (U I’expeditMn de Cliiiic, Paris,

    1803; le Cornte d’Escayrac de Lauture, Memoirex sur hi Ch/’nc, Paris, 18(54;

    Sinnebaldo de Mas, Iai Ghiiie et les ptmsances chretiennes, 18()1.

    •’ I’robably not. The prisoners were in the hands of lictors wliosc habit it

    was to torture in the hope of extorting money on their own account. The

    DESTRUCTION OF THE SUMMER PALACE. 685

    much, nevcrtlieless, was })laiii—that the Chinese were full^

    aware of the obligations of a tlag of truce, inasmuch as they

    had ah’eady often av’ailed themselves of its privileges. Lord

    Elgin makes the Emperor personallj responsible for the crimes

    which had been committed, but specifies Sungkolinsin as the

    real culprit, lie then says

    :

    I had reason to bolieve that it was an act which was calcnlated to produce a

    greater effect in China and on the Emperor than persons who look on from

    a distance may suppose. It was the Emperor’s favorite residence, and its

    destruction could not fail to be a blow to his pride as well as to his feelings.

    To this place he brought our hapless countrymen, in order that they might

    undergo their severest tortures within its precincts. Here have been found

    the horses and accoutrements of the troopers seized, the decorations torn from

    the breast of a gallant French officer, and other effects belonging to the

    prisoners. As almost all the valuables had ah-eady been taken from the

    palace, the army would go there, not to pillage, but to mark, by a solemn act

    of retribution, the horror and indignation with which we were inspired by the

    perpetration of a great crime. Tlie punishment was one which would fall,

    not on the people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the

    Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed is establislied,

    not only by the treatment of the prisoners at Ynen-ming Yuen,

    but also by the edict in which he offered a pecuniary reward for the

    heads of the foreigners.

    ‘The work of destruction left hardly a trace of the palace of the ” Round-bright Garden ;” indeed, the provocation for this act was great. The despatch refers only to the palace where Hienfung spent most of his time, and it is probable that Lord Elgin intended to burn that alone. He gave no orders for the destruction of the buildings on Wan-shao shan, Yuh-tsien shau, the Imperial Park near Pih-yun sz’, and other places five to ten miles distant. All of these residences or villas had been erected or enlarged by former Emperors of the present dynasty ; none have since been rebuilt. It is, nevertheless, easy to gather from Colonel Wolseley’s record that his lordship’s satisfaction in this candid spirit of Loch’s narrative is wanting in the more colored accounts of Wolseley and Swinlioe, written in the flush of victory. The charges they make against Prince I of treachery toward Mr. Parkes are not borne out ; the deaths of Captain Brabazon and the Abb; de Luc seem to have been by order of Pao, and not from SSngkolinsin. Compare an article in the Rente den Deux Mondcn (If) juillet, 18G5) by C. Lavallue, UExpedition anglo-francaise en Chine ‘ Elyin”s Letters and Journals, p. 300. ” retribution”‘ was not greatly impaired by its over-zealous performance on the part of the troops. In addition to the loss of the palaces, the Chinese had to pay £100,000 as indemnity to be given to the prisoners and their families, before the victors would consent to sign the convocation.

    On the 13tli the ultimatum had been accepted by Prince

    Kung, who about two hours before noon opened the An-ting or

    northeast gate of Peking, wdiich commanded the whole city.

    Arrangements were gradually completed for the grand entry of

    the plenipotentiaries into Peking. The L’l Pu, or Board of

    Rites, was selected as the place for exchanging the ratifications

    of the treaty of Tientsin and signing the convention, while the

    fa^ or palace of Prince I, had been chosen for Lord Elgin’s residence

    in the city. On October 24th the latter was escorted to

    both these places by many officers, together with a body of four

    hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry, while in all the streets

    leading to them were guards placed. The wdiole city was out to

    witness the unusual parade. The procession passed slowly through

    the wide avenues, the music of the band heralding i’ts approach to

    the dignitaries anxiously awaiting the arrival. The utmost care

    had been taken that no excuse should be ever after brought ft»rward

    that the Emperor had not assented to tlie two documents

    signed that day ; but much besides Mas done to show Prince

    Kung and liis officers that they were in the presence of their

    conquerors.’

    The following day Baron Gros signed his convention and exchanged

    the ratifications of the French treaty under similar

    fornuilities. The principal points in the l>ritish convention of

    nine articles were—the payment of eight million taels ; the permission

    given by imperial sanction for the emigration at will of

    Ciiinese subjects as contract laborers or otherwise ; the cession

    of Kowlung to the crown as part of the colony of Hongkong.

    Without delaying for additional connnent, the insertion here

    of a poi’tion of Lord John Uusseirs despatch to Eord Elgin will

    ‘ The frontispiece of this volume is intended to represent this ceremony.

    Its interest lies chielly iu the fact that it is from the work of one of the ablest

    painters in the capital, and represents from a native’s staud-poiut one of the most remarkable and important events in the history of modern China.

    THE TREATIES SIGNED AT PEKING. 687

    not be uninteresting in connection witli these treaties. His

    lordship’s document reads like the balance-sheet of a London

    merchant at the termination of some successful adventure:

    “The Convention is entirely satisfactory to Her Majesty’s

    Government, it records the reparation made by the Emperor

    of China for his disregard in the previous year of his treaty

    engagements ; it sets Her Majesty’s government free from an

    implied engagement not to insist m all particulars on the fulfilment

    of those engagements ; it imposes upon China a fine

    in the shape of an augmented rate of indemnity ; it affords an

    additional opening for British trade ; it places on a recognized

    footing the emigration of Chinese coolies, whose services are so

    important to Her Majesty’s colonial possessions ; it relieves Her

    Majesty’s colony of Hongkong from a source of previous

    annoyance.”

    ‘The French convention of ten articles contained like demands

    and rewards, but instead of a slice of territor}^, the sixth

    provided that Koman Catholic Christians should be indemnified

    for ” all such churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings

    as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians,

    and the money handed to the French representative at Peking

    for transmission to the Christians in the localities concerned.”

    The fulfilment of this article required over ten years ; and as

    the injuries had been done in some cases as far back as the reign

    of Louis XHL, great irritation was aroused in the minds of the

    natives who had for generations been quietly in possession of

    lands which they had purchased.^

    ‘”The practical result was not very great,” concludes Mr. McCarthy.

    •’ Perhaps the most important gain to Europe was the knowledge that Peking

    was by no means so large a city as we had all imagined it to be. . . . There

    is some comfort in knowing that so much blood was not spilt wholly in vain.”

    —A History of Our (km Times, Chap. XLII., Vol. III.

    ^’An instance is mentioned in No. IV. of the Journal of the N. C. Br. R. A.Soc, 18G7, pp. 21-33, where a Roman Catholic church at Hangchau, which had been confiscated by the Emperor Yungcliing (about 1730), was changed into a temple dedicated to 7Y(7i JLto, the Queen of Heaven, “to serve th« double purpose of extirpating a religion of false gossip and obduracy, and of making an offering to a spirit who really has a beneficial influence over humaa destinies.”

    The i:;reat objects of tlie expedition wei’e now attnined, and

    foi-ei*;n nations conld congi-atulate tl)eniselves n)M»n liaving settled

    their representatives in tlie Chinese caj)ital on terms of

    equality. Two /^«, or palaces, were immediately occupied by

    those from Great Britain and France. Subsecjuently, the niiii’

    isters from other countries have grouped themselves around

    these, and a foreign (piarter has gradually grown up in the

    south-eastern part of the city. The chief agents in this im])ortant

    opening, Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, were well fitted by

    their urbanity, phiUiuthropy, and moderation for the delicate

    task assigned them. Tlie terrified officials and citizens in

    Peking had expected the worst consequences on the capture of

    their city, but besides the destruction of Yuen-ming Yuen, their

    capital and national unity escaped uninjured.

    It was probably a great aid to the policy adopted by Prince

    Kung and his colleagues that the Emperor and his court had

    fied to Jeh-ho, for their influence, as the sequel proved, would

    have opposed any pacification. It was still more important for

    all future co-operation that he never came back at all, and thus

    the real guidance of affaii’s fell into better hands.

    The 24:th day of October saw the ending of the seclusion of

    the Chinese from their fellow-men ; the contest honestly enough

    begun in 1839 by Lin, to rescue his country from the curse of

    opium, was in a manner completed on that day by the admission

    of those regenerating influences which could alone effectually remove that evil. The intermediate twenty years had done much to prepare the Chinese for this concluding act ; and the honorable manner in which they fulfilled their promises and payments will stand as a lasting monument to, their national credit.

    The retirement of the allies from Peking was accomplished

    without impediment from the Chinese army under Sangkolinsin

    ; the money disbursed for boats, carts, supplies, fuel, etc.,

    as the troops went down the river, compensating many natives

    for their losses. By the end of November all had embarked

    except the garrisons left at Tientsin and Taku, which latter

    were removed as soon as the portion of the indemnity involving

    their occupation was paid up. The effectual and salutary work

    OBJECTS OF tup: WAR AC(‘0Mri>I8IIEU. 689

    ing of tlio treaty stipulations for the niutual welfare of all parties

    deiieiided on the di})loiiiatic and consular oflEicers left in the

    capital and open ports. The British fijoverninent alone was

    adequately supplied in this respect, and their consulates hecaine

    the expositors to the local rulers of the manner in wliieli tlie

    treaties were to be interpreted and enforced. The great mass

    of natives knew almost nothing of their provisions, and looked

    upon the struggle chiefly as one between their sovereign and

    the foreigners. The defeat of the latter was in remoter districts

    declared proven by their retirement from Peking ; but

    along the coasts and up the Yangtsz’ the actual sight of steamers

    and contact with foreigners who could talk with them and

    explain the new state of things, really did more than anything

    else to show them that these strangers were by no means overcome.

    What was thus achieved to enlighten the people near

    the trading marts only required time and contact to spread into

    distant regions of the interior. As for the citizens of Peking,

    they met only those foreigners who could talk with them, for

    that city was not open to trade ; and thus one prolific source of

    misunderstanding was removed. The death of the Emperor

    Ilienfung (August 17, 1861) relieved them, too, from any attempt

    he might have made, in his irritation on returning to the Forbidden

    City and seeing his ruined palaces, to vent his wrath on the

    few foreigners then living near him. Christian missionaries

    also began their work in 1861, and thus thousands, who had had

    only vague ideas about the ” barbarians,” could easily learn the

    truth concerning them. Most fortunately, then, circumstances

    were from the first favorable for forming an intelligent public

    opinion in the capital.

    CHAPTER XXVI. NARRATIVES OF RECENT EVENTS IN CHINA

    Twelve months elapsed before the political atmosphere of China was disturbed by any break or change in its condition—a period of qniet which the government sorely needed for an appreciation of its relations with the foreigners who had forced their way into the capital. His Majesty Ilienfung having ascended the Dragon Throne on high, left the Empire in the

    hands of his only son, a child six years old ; whether thixxigh

    incapacity or disease, the debauched sovereign had long before

    his death allowed his courtiers to engross the reins of goveriv

    ment, and these now formed a cotei’ie which at Jeh-lio was ajipowerful.

    At his death the administration i-csted in the hands

    of a council of eight, whose nominal head was Tsai-yuen, Prince

    1, a member of the imj)erial family belonging to the same generation

    with the infant Emperor. The design of this cabal was to

    at once assume the absolute power of a regency, to retain possession

    of the young Emperor’s person at Jeh-ho, to make way

    in secret with his mother and the Empress-dowager, and lastly

    to arrest and destroy his father’s three brothers ; these initiatory

    steps to sovereignty being accomplished, nothing would

    interrupt their complete mastery of the government.

    But in Prince Kung,’ the Emperor’s oldest surviving brother.

    ‘ Kung Tsin-waiig, ‘Prince Respect’—called by the people Wu-ako, ‘Fifth

    Elder Rrother ‘—is the sixth son of Tauk’.vang, and was born about 1S;!1.

    ‘Ihree older brothers died young ; Ilienfung, the fourth, succeeded his father,

    wliile the fifth, being adopted into a branch of the Emperor Kiaking’s faujily,

    was dropped out of Tankwang’s household, leaving Princa Kung. in 18G1 ‘«>

    be the first prince during the minority of Tungchi. His persona’, name, Tih-hii.

    is never employed by those outside his immediate family. He has : roni

    mendable record for an Asiatic statesman trained in habits Ol autocratic .1151.

    mand The background in the i)ortrait ou the opposite page is a bit of ”oxm

    work in the Foreign Office at Peking.

    PRINCE KUNG. THE COUP D’ETAT OF PKINCE KUNG. 691

    the conspirators found an opponent of no ordinary ability, to

    whose astuteness in outwitting their machinations (as may he

    safely affirmed in view of events which followed) is doubtless

    owing the continuance of the present reigning family. The

    prince was in concealment during the autumn of 1860, when

    his brother fled to Jeh-ho, but appearing when the capital was

    surrendered to the allies, he bore the brunt of that impleasant

    task, signing the treaties, and undertook almost alone the management

    of affairs with foreigners while the government was

    recovering from its paralysis of defeat. It was a happy augury

    for the continuance of peace and friendly intercourse that to a

    man so well fitted by temperament for liis difficult position

    should be joined the able and experienced statesman Kweiliang

    ;

    though too old to take an active part in the settlement of the

    succession, this skilful diplomatist lent the greatest aid to his

    son-in-law by giving advice and a much needed support to the

    Empresses-dowager at this critical period.

    Hastily quitting Jeh-ho with the boy—who had been proclaimed

    Emperor under the reign-name of Ki-tsiang, ‘ Lucky

    Omen ‘—the two Empresses availed themselves of their right to

    join the first prince, and repaired to Peking. Once settled in

    the Forbidden City they were able to impart to Prince Kung

    the magnitude of the plot against them, and concert measures

    witli leading members of the impei’ial clan for the general

    safety. The arrest and trial of the traitors was promptly carried

    out ; by a decree of December 2, 1861, Prince 1 and his

    principal coadjutor, Prince Chin, were allowed to commit

    suicide, while their powerful and clever colleague, Suhshun, was

    executed in the market-place, to the unfeigned delight of the

    populace. This conspirator in his machinations and gross assumptions

    had acted like a veritable Tigellinus, and earned for

    himself a hatred and contempt which even members of the war

    party could not conceal. Others of this unsuccessful clique

    were disgraced or banished, but the punishments were not

    numerous or barbarous. The reign-name was now changed

    from Ki-tsiang to Timg-chi, or ‘ Union Rule,’ to mark the successful

    demolition of this conspiracy, while Prince Kung (now

    but thirty years old), the shrewd perpetrator of the couj? cPetat,

    692 THE CUDDLE KINGDOM.

    was \)roc]’dimed T-e/ung-ivamj, or ‘licgeiit I’liiicc,’ mid with the

    Empresses constituted the regency during the iniiK^rity.’

    Considerini>- all the circumstances of this ijalace intriijue, the

    rank of its leading members, and its successful suppression hy

    tlie operation of legal methods alone, it may well deserve the

    attention of those interested in the political and historical

    development of China as an admirable instance of both the

    strength and weakness of her paternal government. To the

    ordinary outlays of the Empire were superadded the innuense

    burdens of a foreign invasion just concluded and a terrible

    struggle with domestic enemies; yet neither the Regent nor his

    colleagues appear during this period of stress to have lost a

    particle of their contidence in the loyalty of the people ; through

    loss and gain, failure of material or resource, treachery in palace

    or camp, abuse or assistance frozn foreigners, this faith in one

    another failed not. The face of China in 1865 was perhaps as

    wi-etchcd as that of Central Europe after the peace of AVest»

    phalia; indeed a more general desolation could hardly be imagined.

    Xevertheless the rapidity with which its iidiabitants not

    only resumed their occupations as best they could but rebuilt

    dwellings and reorganized trade, startled even their habitual

    disparagers into praise and testified to the marvellous recuperative

    powers of this much-despised civilization.

    Pleased with the excellent results of the introduction of

    western drill and ai-ms into their military service, as against

    the Tai-pings, certain of the mandarins at the south proposed

    utilizing foreign war-vessels to the same end. To this scheme

    as at first suggested there was not, perhaps, much to say either

    in its behalf or otherwise. Their purpose was to purchase three

    or four gun and despatch boats, man them with as many scores

    of native seamen, and impart to these the necessary instruction

    by placing them under foreign ofiicers. Mr. Horatio X. Lay

    liad in 1850 proposed the use of armed revenue vessels in the

    customs service, a very similar suggestion. But innocent as

    were these conce])ti()ns, they assumed the gravest proportions

    Wounud N. C. Br. R. A. S., December, 1864, pp. 110-114. Dr. Rennie,

    J’ekiitr/ (iiul the Pekinfjese, Vol. II., passim—an interesting contemporary recorcj

    of this event.

    THE LAY-OSBORNE FLOTILLA. 693

    when in 1861 Mr. Lay was allowed to visit England and there contract

    for the construction of a steam fleet and secure a number

    of British naval officers for three years” service.’ The Peking

    authorities were still laboring under the disadvantages of their

    ignorance, and nothing can illustrate better than this remarkable

    enterprise the good influence which Sir Frederick Bruce had

    acquired in their counsels, and their willingness to follow his

    sufforestions. Their secluded life in Pekinii; had pi’evented thera

    from learning many things in respect to the conduct of affairs

    in their new relations, but they could hardly have had a better

    counsellor than he. The instructions from Prince Ivung sent to

    Mr. Lay in England described the kind of officers and hands

    which the vessels were to carry ; they were to be men able and

    willing to teach ignorant sailors the practice of navigation, the

    management of machinery, and the use of guns of every kind.

    Instead of these he contracted for ei<:;ht gunboats of different

    sizes, one or two of them powerful vessels, able to carry two

    hundred and more men ; they arrived in China early in 1863

    under the command of Capt. Sherard Osborne, H. X. Mr.

    Lay’s disappointment was great and undisguised when, on reachinn;

    Pekingr in June, he found that Prince Kung and his advisers

    were totally unprepared for such a fleet, and unwilling to

    endorse the engagements he had entered into with the Queen’s

    officers ; nor were the funds for their current expenses provided.

    His ideas of his own position were soon modified, for he found

    that the vessels must necessarily be placed under the direction

    of the provincial authorities in operations against the rebels.

    One of the articles in the agreement with Captain Osborne stipulated

    that he should receive all his orders on those matters from

    the Foreign Office through Mr. Lay, and would follow his own

    choice in obeying others. Mr. Lay says himself that he was

    “ambitious of obtaining the position of middle-man between

    China and the foreign powers, because I thought I saw a way of

    solving the problem of placing pacific relations with China upon

    a sure footing. . . . My position was that of a foreigner engaged

    by the Chinese government to perform certain work for

    • Blue Bool; China, No. 2 (1864), p. 7.

    694 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    them, not under them. I need scarcely observe, in passing,

    that the notion of a gentleman acting under aw Asiatic barbarian

    is preposterous.” ‘ Ideas like these quite unfitted him for working

    with the Chinese, either under orfor them, lie could not

    understand that the former days of coercion and bullying had

    passed awa}’, and that time must be allowed for them to graduallv

    learn in their own way how to rise in the scale of nations,

    and adopt such improvements as they pleased.

    In his perplexity and chagrin, he began to blame the British

    minister for lukewarmness in supporting his schemes, and to

    weary the members of the Tsung-li Yamun by his demands.

    The controversy continued to grow warmer after Captain

    Osborne’s arrival at Peking in September, where he first learned

    its real nature. Finally, in October, Prince Kung refused to

    ratify Mr. Lay’s agreement made in England, very properly

    remarking upon the obnoxious article which required the commander

    of the flotilla to act only under orders from Peking.

    Happily for China, the dissolution of the force was decided on.

    The ships were to be sent back, for it was impossible to prevent

    the native officials from selling them after they had full

    control, and persons were already looking at them for their own

    lawless designs. At this juncture Sir F. Bruce came to the relief

    of the Chinese, and took the ships off their hands on

    account of the British government, paying back from the indemnity

    fund due to England all claims for wages, salary, and

    other expenses to officers and men till their arrival in London.

    This settlement involved an outlay of about $525,000, but the

    total cost of the vessels, crews, and outfit from first to last was

    not nnu’h less than a million sterling. The Peking government

    had, therefore, by this arrangement escaped a serious

    imbroglicj with the provincial governors and generals—one

    which would have soon neutralized all responsibility, and perchance,

    even at that late date, entailed the success of the

    Tai-pings.

    Mr. Lay, blinded by his own egotism and ambition, ascribes

    his failure to the negligence, treachery, ignorance, and ill-will

    ‘ Our Interests in China : A Letter to Earl Russell, p. 19.

    COLLAPSE OF THE SCHEME. 695

    of Sir F. Bruce, whose performances in these lines are fully

    detailed in his Letter to Earl RusselV of November 26, 1864.

    This statement of wliat occurred in relation to the Lay-Osborne

    flotilla exhibits the difficulties in the progress of Asiatic nations

    in the path of what we call civilization^ and the ideas which

    such men have as to the way in which they are to be forced

    into this desirable condition. This extraordinary paper is an

    instructive exhibition of British interference in tlie administration

    of Asiatic countries, and how totally alien ” the spirit of

    trade and progress” is to the independence and elevation of a

    pagan people when it alone is the chief agency depended on.

    In no case, nor under the best control, could Mr. Lay’s plan

    liave worked real benefit to China ; but carried out under the

    domineering leadership of such a man, the scheme would have

    not only been humiliating in the last degree to those whom it

    was designed to assist, but would have inevitably resulted in

    the restoration of the conservative party to power and another

    profitless struggle with the foreigners.

    Upon the dismissal of Mr. Lay the management of the Lnperial

    Maritime Customs was placed in the hands of Robert Hart,

    Esq., who for a period of two years had given proof of his discretion

    in this position, and (in the words of Mr. Burlingame)

    had ” by his tact and ability w^on the regard of every one.”

    Already the imperial officers began to appreciate the immense

    material advantages of a regular income from the open ports,

    especially in the practical help it furnished toward the expenses

    of the dviui’ i-ebellion. The contact of native and foreisrn

    rule in the same territory necessarily involved much assumption

    of power and friction of authority growing out of the undefined

    limits of the laws of ex-territorial ity ; but the legitimate working

    of treaty provisions—the prompt reference of grievances

    from complainant to consul, from the consul to his minister at

    Peking—served to enlighten court and country as to the gen-

    ^ Our Interests in China, by H. X. Lay, C.B., London, 1864, pp. 66. See

    also correspondence in Blue Gjok, and letter of Sir F. Bruce, of November 19,

    1863. U. S. Diplomatic Coi^respond^iwe for 1864, Part III., pp. 348-378 ; and

    for 1865, Part I., p. 670. A. Wilson, The ” Erer- Victorious Army,” pp. 260-

    266. Fraser’s Magazine, February, 1865, p. 147.

    696 TIIIO MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    eral honesty of their quoiulaiii enemies, in a fashion whicli

    neither preaching nor fighting conld ever have accomplished.’

    In the year 1866 the arsenals at Fnhchau, Nanking, and Shangliai

    were reorganized and made to inclnde schools for naval and

    military instruction as well as engine and gun works ; the value

    of such works was promptly nndei’stood by the Chinese, and

    has been already the source of a creditable navy.”

    The retirement of the Hon. Anson Bnrlingame from the position

    of United States minister in November, 1867, furnished to

    the Chinese government both an admirable agent and opportunitv

    for an initial step in establishing diplomatic intercourse

    M-ith the treaty powers. Into the hands of this gentleman was

    placed the charge of a general mission to those governments,

    there being added two co-ordinate Chinese ministers, an English

    and French secretary, and six students from the Tung-wiin

    Kwan at Peking. The three ministers were appointed Imperial

    Envoys and furnished with a letter of credence to eleven

    governments. The party left Shanghai February- 25, 1868,

    for San Francisco, which ])ort they reached about a month

    later. Few persons can now appreciate the excitement and

    discussion in China and elsewhere caused by this first diplomatic

    effort of the imperial government to take its place among

    the family of nations. Mr. Bnrlingame, naturally hopeful and

    enthusiastic, described his mission as an earnest of future peaceful

    relations with the Middle Kingdom. AVherever he went he

    elevated the estimate held of that ancient land by his hearers,

    and urged the European courts to l)ut wait in patience until its

    backward people might be pi-epared for the changes it wished

    to adopt. Those changes and improvements were only to be

    ‘ The trial and condemnation of an American, who was hung at Shanghai in

    1804 for the murder of two Chinese, tended to repress lawlessness on the part

    of foreigners and assure the native rulers of theirearnest co-operation in bringing

    tlic guilty to punishment. Tlie enlightened and friendly action of Prince

    Kiing in issuing a proclamation, at re(iuest of Mr. Burlinganie, against allowing

    any American Confederate cruisers to enter Chinese waters, was warmly appreciated

    by this and the other treaty powers as an interesting testimonial of

    tlie genuine friendsliip which was already disarming fear.

    ‘Compare Captain Bridge, 77w; Warlike Power of China, iu Franer^s Magazine,

    Vol. 90, pp. 778 ir.

    THE BI^RLINGAME MISSION. 697

    adopted when China liad become convinced of their need and

    practicability ; but many of Mr. Bnrlingame’s hearers were

    botli more eager and more ambitions than he, regarding the

    introduction of raih’oads, telegraphs, and steamers as opening

    an enormous field for their own innnediate activity and gain.

    The consequent indignation among foreign merchants in China and at hojue upon learning the extent of his exaggeration was universal ; the British merchants especially representing in strong terms the evil consequences of such ” baseless expectations.”

    The different points of view of the two parties will account for their opposite opinions. On the one side, the merchants were vexed that their hopes of a general trade arising all over China, as a result of the treaties of Tientsin, were likely to be disappointed, owing to the increasing attention of native traders in their own internal and external commerce to the exclusion of foreigners ; while on the other, Mr. Burlingame laid great stress on those things which the Chinese government desired

    and intended to do as they became more and more qualified

    to act for themselves, through the agencies and institutions

    which they were inaugm-ating. The merchants seemed to

    think that nothing had as yet been accomplished in the direction

    of ” progress,” inasmuch as their personal expectations of an

    instant and lucrative trade were not realized ; in reply to Mr.

    Burlingame’s ” enthusiastic fictions,” they called for “tangible

    evidence of the existence of this spirit M’hich he celebrates so

    loudly—some tittle of proof to support his sweeping theory.” ‘

    Without dw^elling further upon these discussions, it pertains

    to the present narrative to briefly point out the two salient

    features of China’s initial attempt to knock at the doors of

    ‘ See the letters to the Daily News of J. Barr Robertson, of Shanghai, which have been taken as a fairly characteristic specimen of the mercantile and political view. An article by the same gentleman in the Wedminster Revkic for January, 1870, is rather calmer in language. Other data and opinions may be gathered from a work filling 890 pages, by the late J. von Gumpach, entitled The Biirlinf/ir/ne Miaxion : A Political Disrlostire, etc., 1872. Compare also the English newspapers issued in Shanghai and Hongkong in 1867-70; Bntish ParUamentay Papers ; U. S. Ex. Doc., Foreign IMitions, 1868-71; Harper’s Monthly Maaazine, Vol. XXXVII., p. 592; The Galaxy, Vol. VI., p. 613-

    Other nations. Of these the first may be described as wholly

    sentimental ; but it was the healthy sentiment of justice and

    good feeling towai’d a distant and unknown community, which

    Mr. Burlingame’s tact and ability called forth in behalf of his

    clients’ cause from their recent conquerors. Dui’ing the years

    1SG8 and 1869 he spoke for the right and privilege of the

    Chinese to manage their om’ii affairs, and in America, England,

    France, Prussia, and other countries had already created a more

    healthy feeling of forbearance toward them, when his sudden

    death at St. Petei-sburg (February, 1870) cut short the complete

    achievement of his mission.’

    ‘ His colleagues, Chi-kaiig and Sun Kia-kii, afterward visited Italy, Spain, and other countries, returning to China within the same year. Neither of them was, however, brought forward at the capital as an adviser in relation to foreign ailairs.

    ITS TKEATY BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA. 699

    In the United States the passage of this embassy might have made but a transient impression had it not negotiated a treaty of eight articles (July 28, 1868), regarded as an integral part of the Reed, treaty of ten years previous. This, the second feature of the mission, has been attended with consequences whose influence does not yet appear to have ceased. Owing to the surprise of the Chinese government, which had given no express instructions as to treaty-making, the Foreign Office was somewhat tardy in ratifying this compact. This was, however, done in the following year. Its fifth article provides that the contracting powers “cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance, and also the nuitual advantage of the free migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from the one country to the other for the purposes of curiosity, or trade, or as permanent residents. The high contracting parties therefore join in reprobating any other than an entirely voluntary emigration for these purposes.” At this time the British and French ministers had recently agreed to a convention with Prince Kung respecting the conduct of the coolie trade in accordance with the stipulations made at Peking in October, 1860. The draft of those regulations had been submitted to the American as well as all other foreign legations, but only the Spanish treaty contained an article allowing the engagement of Chinese laborej’s in their own country for service abroad. This traffic had become so infamous

    from the cruelties and wrongs perpetrated on the coolies,

    both in China before they embarked and in Cuba and Peru

    after they had landed, that the American Congress had already

    passed laws against it ; and this article was drawn up almost

    wholly with reference to that trade, and to show the abhorrence

    with which it was regarded. Chinese immigrants had come

    to San Francisco to the number of Hfty-three thousand since

    1855, and had been harshly treated by the miners and others in their common struggle for gold ; the Burlingame treaty simply acknowledged their right to immigrate like other foreigners.’

    Meantime at Peking the foreign ambassadors were in the way

    of learniny; that in their relations with the government to which

    they were accredited they had to deal with men of acute minds,

    whose prejudices and conservatism only needed enlightening to

    bring them quite upon a level with any other body of intelligent

    diplomatists. It was indeed a crucial period with Prince

    Kung and his coadjutors of the Tsung-li Yamun—Wansiang,

    Tung Sinn, Tan Ting-siang, llung-ki—who were placed between

    the two great pressures of a warped and bigoted nuiltitude of

    literati wedded to the old regime and the ministers of the outside

    powers, themselves dwelling complacently in the imperial

    city and representing armies and navies which had been found

    invincible. Tlie pride of the ” Celestial ” was necessarily

    brought low, but the situation was accepted, on the whole,

    both wisely and cautiously ; the good fortune of having men of

    the kindness and honor of Bruce, Ylangali, P>erthemy, and Burlingame as heads of the four chief legations, can hardly be exaggerated in its encouraging and healthful effects upon the impression taking root in the minds of Chinese officers.

    At this juncture occurred the massacre at Tientsin of twenty

    ‘ But notwithstanding its acceptance of their “inalienable right ” to freely change their residence, the clamor against this admission was afterward so great among the people on the Pacific coast that a special embassy of three commissioners was sent to Peking in 1880, which relegated the right of admitting Chinese as immigrants into American territory entirely to Congress.

    French and Eussiaus and destruction ui’ the French consuhite

    L’Uthedral, and uj’phanage, by a niub on June 21, l:?i7U, attended

    by circumstances of great atrocity. The event was a severe

    blow as well to the anxious mandarins at the capital as to

    every honest friend of the new order of things thioughout the

    Empire. The Peking authorities were slow at lirst in opening

    an investigation, but testified to their earnestness and righteous

    indignation at the enormity in disposing troops about the capital

    and summarily examining the criminals, so that by the end

    of a month every fear of a general emeute had vanished.

    The causes which led to this outbreak appear to have been

    almost wholly local, taking their rise in the year 1861, w’hen

    the French occupied as their consvdate a temple in Tientsin,

    where in former times the citizens nsed to promenade ; this and

    other unpopular acts kept the natives at enmity with them.

    A more especial account of the most important of these is contained in Mr. Low’s despatch of June 27th: ”At many of the principal places in China open to foreign residence, the Sisters of Charity have established institutions, each of which appears to combine in itself a foundling lu)spital and orphan asylum. Finding that the Chinese were averse to placing children in their charge, the managers of these institutions offered a certain sum per head for all the children })l;iced under their control given to them, it being understood that a child once in their asylum no parent, relative, or guardian could claim or exercise

    any control over it. It has been for some time asserted

    by the Chinese, and believed by most of the non-Catholic foreigners

    residing here, that the system of paying bounties induced

    the kidnapping of children for these institutions for the

    sake of the reward. It is also asserted that the priests or Sisters,

    or both, have been in the habit of holding out inducements

    to have children brought to them in the last staii^es of illness,

    for the purpose of being baptized in aiilealo /jwrtis. In

    this way many children have been taken to these establishments

    in the last stages of disease, baptized there, and soon

    after taken away dead. All these acts, together M’ith the

    secrecy and seclusion which ap]’)ear to be a part and parcel of

    the regulations which govern institutions of this character

    THE TIENTSIN MASSACRE. 701

    everywhere, have created suspicions in the minds of tlie Chinese,

    and these suspicions have engendered an intense hatred

    agahist tlie Sisters on tlie pai-t of all the common ])e(»ple who

    live anywhere near a mission ; and any rumor concei’ning tlie

    Sisters or their acts, however improbable or absuixl, found thousands

    of willing and honest believers among the ignorant and

    superstitious people. Some time about the end of May or be«

    ginning of June an epidemic prevailed at the Sisters’ institution

    at Tientsin, and a considerable number of the children died.

    In some way the report got abroad that the Sisters were killing

    the children to get their eyes and hearts for the purpose of

    manufacturing some sort of a medical specific much sought

    after in Europe and connnanding a fabulous price. This report

    spread from one to another, and soon the belief became

    general. Crowds of people assembled from time to time near

    the mission buildings, demanding the liberation of the children,

    and on one occasion they became so noisy that the Sisters, fearing

    violence from the mob, consented that an examination

    should be made by a connnittee of five. The consul, hearing

    of the disturbance, made his appearance about this time, and

    although the connnittee had been selected and were then in the

    building, he stopped the whole proceeding and drove away the

    committee Nvith angry w^ords. Subsequently the district magistrate

    took a man who had been industriously spreading the reports,

    who said he could ])oint out the persons who were guilty

    of acts of sorcery and o^her crimes, to question him in the presence

    of the Sisters, and when confronted by them admitted that

    all his stories were without foundation and false. The day

    prior to the outbreak the district magistrate {ch’iJilen) called

    upon the French consul, and stated that unless permission be

    given for a thorough examination of the Sisters’ establishment,

    it was difficult to foretell the result. The consul, construing

    the language into a threat, replied that the magistrate being inferior

    in rank to the consul, no negotiation could take place

    between them for the purpose indicated or any other.”’

    ‘ Foreign Relations of the United States, 1870, p. 355. A private letter quoted in the Westminster Review for April, 1871, says : ” Even then (on the I9th) I think the riot could have been prevented if the consul had earnestly joined

    This very unwise answer turned the popuLir rage against the

    French consuLate as well as the cathedi-al and orphanage, and

    the 21st saw a surging multitude assembled in their vicinity

    ready for any violence. M. Foutanier, the Frent-h ct)nsul, now

    thoroughly alarmed, hurried off to the yannm of Chuughow (the

    superintendent of customs), while stones Hew about the building

    he was quitting. For the rest, this poor man’s fate is involved

    in uncertainty. Eeaching Chunghow’s office in a ” state of excitement

    bordering upon insanity,” he failed, either by persuasion

    or menace, in getting that dignitary to promise the impossible—

    to quell at once the angry }nob. The officials, indeed, by this

    time were as helpless as he, and coidd only urge his renuiining

    in the compound until the streets were clear. But the Frenchman

    and his clerk heeded nothing ; how they were cut down in

    the way, after firing into the angry mob, hoM* the rampant populace

    now attacked and pillaged the three or four French l)uildino-

    s, how the defenceless Sisters were butchered in their orphanaire

    after sufferini^; nameless barbarities, and how the frenzied

    host left the burning ruins to glut their passions upon the

    neighboring houses, has come to the wt)rld solely on Chinese

    authoi-ity, and nnist renuiin always in the obscurity resulting

    from greatly contiicting testimony. The children of the orphanage,

    however, were taken off, and tht)ugh attenq^ts upon

    some of the Protestant buildings were made, nothing serious

    resulted. Among the saddest casualties of this bloody day was

    the death of a Russian, his young bride, and a friend, who in

    esca|)ing toward the foreign settlement of Tsz’-chuh-lin, two

    miles away, were mistaken for Frenchmen and pronq^tly hacked

    to pieces on the road. The total number of victims in the

    massacre amounted to twenty foreigners and as many more

    Chinese servants, acolytes, and others.

    To the joint note of the seven foreign ministers in ‘Peking, calling* for immediate and vigorous measures in the face of this terrible news, Prince Kung replied (on the 25th) that in vindication of the honor and justice of the inq3erial government toward with the local authorities in raakinq a full inquiry, with a number of the gentry, inside of the infirmary and church, to show them again that the rumors of foul deeds therein were groundless.”

    ACTION OF THE PEKING GOVEllNMENT. 703

    foreigners, Tsang Ivvvoli-faii (governor-general of the province)

    and Cliunghow luiJ already been directed to do everything

    in their power to suppress tlie spirit of riot and arrest lawless

    men. An imperial edict was issued for the appiehension

    of Chau, Chang, and Lin, the intendant, prefect, and magistrate

    of Tientsin, for their remissness and complicity in the riot.

    The fact that no foreign armed vessel was there on the 21st

    doubtless had its weight with these officials in carrying ont

    their plans at the moment. They now saw that they had pursued

    their ill-will too far, and that retribution was sure to follow

    for their atrocities. Exaggerated reports of their doings had

    rapidly gone over the world, and as the extent and strength of

    the disaffection in other provinces could not be ascertained, the

    inference was made that all foreigners in China were in tmminent

    jeopardy, and that the people had at last risen in their streno;th to aid their sovereii^n to drive them out of the land.

    When the storm had passed over, and those in authority had examined the criminals and given such justice as they could, the opinions of the best informed observers as to the immediate causes were found to be sustained.

    In a few weeks the naval forces of the leading powers had assembled at Tientsin. The French charge d’affairs, Count E-ochechouart, took the lead and demanded the execution of the prefect and magistrate for having instigated the riot. The Chinese refused to do this until a trial had proved their guilt

    —

    liaving, perhaps, in some measure recovered their composure

    upon learning of the commencement of hostilities between

    France and Germany, The imperial government was unable

    itself to coerce the turbulent populace of Tientsin, for it had no

    troops who could be depended on to punish the rioters, with

    whom the soldiers sympathized. The extravagant statements

    and demands continually put forth in the Shanghai and Hongkong

    newspapers tended to irritate and disconcert those high

    officials, who w^ere already at their wits’ end and were anxious

    to prevent a worse disaster. The foreigners seemed to think

    that they could utter hard charges indiscriminately against the

    Chinese rulers and people, who on their part were not to say a

    word. Minister Low, in his despatch of August 24th, when

    speaking of tlie thousands of fans sold at Tientsin containing

    luc-turco of the riot and murdering of foreigners, sajs : ”These

    fans are made to suit the taste of the people, and the fact that

    such engravings Mill cause a better sale for the fans is a conclusive

    argument that there is no sentiment of regret or sorrow

    among the people over the result of the riot. There is, undoubtedly,

    greater unanimity of opinion in Tientsin in favor of

    the rioters than in Ireland among the peasantry in favor of one

    of their number who shoots his landlord. If this feelinij in

    Ireland is strong enough to baffle all attempts of the English

    government to bring to justice by the ordinary forms of laM’ a

    peasant accused of injuring the person or property of his landlord,

    is it surprising that this feeble central government should

    find it difficult to ascertain and punish the rioters in a city of

    four hundred thousand inhabitants, all of whom either aided

    in the massacre or sympathized with the rioters?”‘

    The judicial investigations in Tientsin were conducted in a

    dilatory manner, but the above indicates some of the difficulties

    in the way of the presiding judges. However, on October 5th

    and 10th II. I. Majesty’s decrees were made known to the foreign

    ministers, stating that the prefect and magistrate had been

    banished to Manchuria, twenty criminals who had killed the

    foreigners sentenced to death, and twenty-one others actively

    aiding in the riot banished. On the morning of October I8th

    sixteen were decapitated in the presence of the foreign consuls

    and others assembled as witnesses. This closing act of the

    tragedy, as a condign punishment of guilt, was, however, unfortunate

    ; it was made rather an occasion of showinic to the

    people that the sufferers had the sympathy of their rulers, while

    many foreigners looked upon the execution as a ghastly farce

    —

    ” a cold-blooded nuu’der.” Many believed that the sixteen men

    M-ere purchased victims; the proofs were ample, however, of

    the complicity of all ; indeed, some of them gloried in what they

    Iiad done, and were escorted by admiring friends to the block.”

    ^Foreifin Jirlntiov!^ of the UnHed StatcK- China, 1871, p. 380.

    ‘ As an instance of some of the bitter sentiment rampant upon this occasion,

    may he quoted tlie open proposition of a British missionary, who insisted that

    one-half of the city of Tieutsiu be razed by a detachment of foreign troops of

    PUNISHMENT OF THE RIOTERS. 705

    It is a pal})al)le exaggeration of the power or desires of a

    Chinese official to affirm that he is capable of buying up candidates

    for ini mediate execution.

    As to the remaining four condemned culprits, M. Ylangali, the

    Tvussian minister, judiciously refused to accept their deaths as a

    proper satisfaction foi- the murder of the three Ilussians until satisfied

    personally of their direct complicity in the deed. A careful

    examination of their case having been made before the consulgeneral

    of the Czar at Tientsin, revealed the fact that only two

    were guilt v of the actual crime ; the minister consented then

    that the punishment of the other two should be commuted to

    banishment. The sum of Tls. 400,000 was paid to the French

    for loss of life and property ; in addition to this the loss done

    to Protestant mission premises was also made good. Chunghow

    was appointed imperial commissioner to proceed to France

    and present to that government a formal apology for the affair.

    This mission left Peking early in 1871 and returned the following

    year. The American missionaries who had in August been

    frightened away from their post in Tangchau’ by the warnings

    and threats of certain evil disposed persons, were taken back from

    their asylum in Chifu two months later in the U. S. S. Benicia,

    and publicly received by the prefect. This was the only instance

    throughout the Empire, connected with the riot of June,

    in which foreigners were interfered with, and here grave doubts

    exist as to the i-eality of danger and need of flight from Tangchau.

    In estimating the conduct of the Chinese in dealing with this

    eruption, the foreign press habitually spoke of them as if they

    were unwilling to grant any redress or take any measures for

    the future safety of those living among their sul)jects. Little

    consideration was made for the enormous difficulties of their

    position. They had been reared in ignorance of the multiplied

    questions and responsibilities involved in the recent treaties

    with other nations ; and though the foreign ministers were

    various nationalities, and that a pillar be erected upon the open space thus

    made, with a suitable inscription as to the occasion and authors of the monument.

    ‘ On the promontory of Shantung.

    really acting most kindly toward them in forcing them to can-v

    out every plain treaty obligation, the fair-minded observer can

    find small excuse for the harsh criticism, not to add abuse,

    which was hurled at everything said or done by Prince Kung

    and his colleagues in their peril and perplexity. The writers in

    newspapers seemed to look upon China as an appanage of

    Europe—one Englishman even going so far as to urge the most

    reckless employment of force to compel her rulers to give up

    the three odious officials to be dealt with and publicly executed.

    Another says that the execution of the sixteen criminals could

    “hardly be viewed as other than cold-blooded murder while

    those men are shielded from the demands of justice.” Yet

    these writers forgot that all the treaties required that ” Chinese

    subjects guilty of criminal acts toward foreigners shall be arrested

    and punished by the Chinese authorities according to

    the laws of China ;” and each nation obliged itself to try and

    punish its own criminals. Chunghow was the object of much

    abuse because he had not prevented or put down the mob,

    though he was merely a revenue officer and had neither territorial

    nor military jurisdiction at Tientsin. Even the members

    of the Tsung-li Yamun were freely charged with complicity

    in the tragedy, if not knowledge or approval. In short, the

    whole history of the riot—its causes, growth, culmination, results,

    and repression—combine as many of the serious obstacles

    in the way of harmonizing Chinese and European civilizations

    as anything which ever occurred.’

    ‘ The records of this event are widely scattered in the local papers published in China and in diplomatic correspondence. See the ^fi’ssio^l(l)•l/ Recorder November, 1870, and January, 1871 ; Jouriuil of N. C. Bnntch of li. A. Soc, No. VI., pp. 18()-1!)0; Eiliiihiir(]h Iier/nr, Jannary, 1871; ]\'(!<tiitiii!itcr Reriew, April, 1871, Art. VI. ; T/te Tiod^in Massacre, kc, by Geo. Thin, M.D., Edinburgh, 1870; Foreitpi Relations of the United States for 1870 and 1871 ; Ij^gation to China ; ParUamentanj Elite Book, 1871 ; H. Blerzy, Les affaires de Chine en 1871, Revue des Deu.r Mondes, 1 juillet, 1871 ; North China Daily News and North China lTer(dd for 1870. One of the most carefully prepared and interesting accounts of the massacre is contained in Baron Iliibner’s Rani’hie Jionnd the World, translated by Lady Herbert, New York, 1875, pp. 526-573.

    KULES SUGGESTED FOR CONTROL OF MISSIONARIES. 707

    As a natural sequence to the judicial proceedings which terminated the Tientsin tragedy, came the inquiry of the imperial counsel into what was briefly summed upas the “missionary question.” More than ten years had now elapsed since the general repeal of all pre-existing edicts against Christianity in the Empire, and the officials were already concerned as to the movements and rumors respecting the new sect which had come to their ears since that time. Accordingly in February, 1871, after an earnest study of the matter from their stand-point, the Foreign Office sent to the various legations the following note and memorandum:

    TuNGCiii, 9th year, 12th moon, 24th day.

    Sir : In relation to the missionary question, the members of the Foreign

    Office are apprehensive lest in their efforts to manage the various points connected

    with it they .shall interrupt the good relations existing between this

    and other governments, and have therefore drawn up several rules upon the

    subject. These arc now enclosed, witli an explanatory minute, for your examination,

    and we hope that you will take them into careful consideration.

    With compliments, cards of Wansiang.

    Shan Kwei-fan.

    The rules proposed (1) that only the children of native Christians be received into Komish asylums ; (2) that ” in order to exhibit the reserve and strict propriety of Christianity,” no Chinese females should enter the chapels nor foreign women propagate the doctrines ; (3) that missionaries should confine themselves to their proper calling, and that they ” ought not to be permitted to set up an independent style and authority ;” (4) that they should not interfere in trials of their native converts when brought into criminal courts ; (5) that passports given to missionaries should not be transferred, but returned to the Chinese authorities when no longer required, “nor should they avail themselves of the passport to secretly go elsewhere,” as the French ofttimes did ; (6) that the missionaries should never receive men of bad character into the church, nor retain

    those of notoriously evil characters ; moreover that quarterly reports

    of the converts be handed in to the provincial officers, as

    did the Buddhist and Taoist houses ; (7) that missionaries

    should not use official seals, nor write official despatches to the

    local authorities, nor otherwise act as if they were officials

    instead of commoners. The last rule complained of the unreasonable demands of the Rouiisli missionaries for lands and houses to be restored to them in accordance with the Peking convention ; it proposed that no more be restored, and that lantis bought for erecting churches be held in the name of the native church members.

    This state paper was remarkable as being the first in which

    the Chinese government had expressed its desire for a satisfactory

    discussion and decision of the difficult questions involved

    in Christian missions, and the quasi independence allowed their

    foreign agents by the treaties. The public sentiment among

    foreigners in China was that these good people had a right to

    do everything not expressly prohibited by treaty until their

    own consular officers notified them to the contrary. The un

    authorized conduct of Romish missionaries in two western

    provinces had already given rise to riots, in which Frenchmen

    had been killed. In such judicial proceedings as that described

    by Abbe Hue in his interesting travels are seen the high-handed

    perversion of justice denounced in the seventh section of this

    paper.’ The writers of these rules were hardly aware of the

    serious import of the questions they had grappled, still less of

    the ignorance they exhibited in their handling of them. All

    the strictures referred exclusively to the Roman Catholics, for

    Protestant missionaries were hardly known to the Chinese

    magistrates, no complaints having been entered against them.

    Most of the foreign ministers long delayed their answers to this

    minute, so that no personal discussion ever took place between

    the parties most interested. The straightforward and eai’iiest reply of Mr. Low, the United States envoy (dated March 20th), carefully went over all the main points, and gave Wansiang

    and Shan Kwei-fan a clear idea of what they might expect from

    other ministers, together Avith manv “‘ood sut^y-estions as to their

    own duties. Nothing practical ever came of the paper, but the

    discussions it caused throughout the country showed the interest

    felt in the whole matter.” A few Protestant missionaries

    themselves indulged in harsh sti-ictures on the native officials,

    ‘ Travels in tJie Chinese Empire, Vol. I., Chap. VI.

    ‘ Forciyn Relations of the United States, 1871, pp. 99-111 ; also for 1872, pp 118-130 and 137-138. Missionary Recorder, Vols. III. and IV. passim.

    THEIR RECEPTION BY FOREIGNERS. 709

    one going the length of saving tliat he “looked upon the document

    rather as an excuse offered beforehand for premeditated

    outrages than as an indication of measures being taken to prevent

    them.” However, no evil results ever came to the converts

    or their teachers from the discussion of the minute, and

    its diffusion gave many i-eaders their first information on the

    whole subject. Differences of opinion led to a comparison of

    facts, and the small number of grievances reported upheld the

    conclusion that the Chinese officials and literati had been, on the

    whole, extremely moderate, considering their limited opportunities

    to examine the question and the irritation aroused by the

    demands and hauteur of the Romish missionaries. The unjust

    manner in which they possessed themselves of the ground

    within the city of Canton on which the governor-general’s yamun

    once stood had made a deep impression on the citizens;

    and when their cathedral, towering above all the temples and

    ofiices of the metropolis, was located upon this site, their indignation

    knew no bounds.

    The year 1873 saw the conclusion of the Mohammedan insurrection

    in the north-western provinces, the exact extent of

    which has never been perfectly made known. The capture of

    Suhchau (near the Kiayii Pass in Kansuh) by the imperial

    troops under General Tso Tsung-tang brought to an end all organized

    rebellion in China Proper.’ As is customary, the central

    government threw the responsibility of promoting the

    peace of the provinces upon their governors, and the welldisposed

    among the people were usually sure of protection.

    The foreign administration of the import customs turned a

    large and certain revenue into the hands of the Peking officials,

    and their development of the defences of the coast in buildingforts,

    launching war steamers, and making war material at the

    new arsenals, indicated their fears of foreign reprisals and

    their unwisdom in deeming such outlays effectual. The same

    money spent in making good wagon roads, working iron, coal,

    and other mines, deepening navigable watercourses, and intro-

    ‘ Foreign Relations of the United States., 1874^ p. 350. Peking Gazette, December 28, 1873. ciuc’ing fimall steamers on them, would have brought more substantial returns. But these were achievements which the future alone coukl accomplish, and the people must be somewhat taught and prepared for them before any permanent advances would ensue.’

    On October 16, 1872, occurred the marriage of the Emperor Tungchi to Aluteli, a Manchu lady. The ceremonies attending her selection, betrothal, and espousal were elaborate and complete in every particular. Such an event had only once before taken place during the Manchu dynasty—when Kanghi was a minor, in 1674—all the other emperors having been

    married during their fathers’ reigns. The occasion, therefore,

    excited great attention, while the attendant expenses were

    enormous ; but all passed off without the least disturbance and

    apparently to general satisfaction. The two Empresses-dowager

    controlled the details, the most important of which were announced

    to the Empire in a series of edicts prepared by members

    of the Li P\i^ or Board of Bites, containing directions for

    every motion of the two principal actors, as well as for those

    who joined the ceremonies during the occasion till the 21st of

    the montli.^

    The young Emperor entered into the spirit of the preparations

    with great interest, and on the day before sending the

    bride her phoenix robes and diadem he ordered three princes to

    offer sacrifice and burn incense on the altar to heaven, ” these

    informing heaven that he was about to marry Aluteh, the wise,

    virtuous, and accomplished daughter of Chung, duke and

    member of the llanlin.” Another prince informed mother

    earth, and a third announced it to the imperial ancestors, in

    their special temple. During the weeks preceding and following

    the happy day, all courts throughout the land were closed

    and a general jail delivery promulgated.

    ‘ Compare a rather enthnsiastic article by Captain A. G. Bridge, The Bciiral vf the Warhke Poirer of China, Fmnrfs Mitfiozinp ior imw, 1879, p. 778.

    * A translation of these papers was made at Shanghai, not long after, by Miss L. M. Fay, an American lady, and furnishes an interesting and authentic account of the whole wedding.

    MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR TUNOCIII, 711

    Many of the ceremonies and processions in Peking were not public, for considerations of state and security deuianded great care.’ On the 19tli the wedding was thus announced to the foreign ministers by II. I. Majesty, through Prince Kung : “We having with pious veneration succeeded to the vast dominion founded by Our ancestors, and enjoying in its fuhiess the glorious lot to which We have been destined, have chosen one

    virtuous and modest to be the mistress of Our imperial home.

    Upon October 15th, We, by patent, installed Aluteh, daughter

    of Chung Chi, a sJu-tslany in the Ilanliu College, as Empress.

    This from the Emperor.” The court had not as yet outgrown

    its exclusiveness further than this step of announcing the marriage

    and its completion ; and to those best acquainted with the

    etiquette observed for centuries, even this seemed to be a good

    deal in advance of former times. The great counsellors of

    state soon arranged for closing the regency which had existed

    since 1861. The Emperor Tungchi, though born on April 27,

    1856, was called seventeen at his marriage. The Empressesdowager

    accordingly announced on October 22d that he

    would attain his majority at the next Chinese new year, and be

    inaugurated with all the usual ceremonies. One of his special

    imperial functions, that of offering sacrifices to heaven at the

    winter solstice, would be performed by him in person—a ceremony

    which had been intermitted since December, 1859.

    ‘ For a report of what could be watched of this ceremony, see William Simpson, Meeting (lie Sun, Chap. XV. The bridal procession came off during the night, when a bright moonlight enabled him to see it pass, without molestation, from the shop where he was hidden. This chiaroscuro sort of panorama rather suited the ideas of the people, and was submitted to by the Pekingese crowd without a murmur. Compare K. Bismark in the Galaxy, Vol. XIX., p. 182; CornMl Magazine, Vol. XXVII., p. 83.

    Accordingly, on February 23, 1873, he issued a decree through the Board of Rites, as follows : ” A¥e are the humble recipient of a decree from their Majesties the two Empresses, declaring it to be their pleasure that We, being now of full age, should in person assume the superintendence of business, and in concert with Our officers in the capital and in the provinces, attend to the work of good government. In respectful obedience to the commands of their Majesties, We do in person enter upon the important duty assigned to L s on the 26th day of the 1st moon of the 12th year of the reign Tungclii.”

    This announceineTit was on the same day connnunicated to the

    ministers of Itussia, Germany, tlie United States, Great Britain,

    and France. They returned a collective note the following

    morning, and asked Prince Ivnng to ” take his Imperial Majesty’s

    orders with reference to their reception.”” This intimation

    could not have been nnexpected to him and his colleagues, but

    with their nsual habit of putting off the inevitaljle, they began

    to make excuses. .Vfter deferring the consultation with the envoi’s

    a fortnight on the plea of AVansiang’s illness, they met

    at the Russian legation on March 11th. The question of

    the I’ofoir was the crucial point, as it had Ijeen in 1859 between

    1\ weiliang and Mr. Ward. Then the conrt was willing to accept

    a sort of curtsey instead of a prostration when the American

    minister apjjroached the throne. Xow the court had put the

    strongest argument into the hands of foreign ministers by

    sending the Burlini^-ame mission to their courts, and the ritjhts

    of independent nations could not be waived or implicated by

    the least sign of inferiority. The conference was amicable and

    the matter fully ventilated. The demands n])on the Chinese

    were summarized by the ministers : That a pei-sonal audience

    with the Emperor was proper and needful ; that it should not

    be unnecessarily delayed ; and that they would not kneel before

    him, nor perform any other ceremony derogatory to their

    own dignity or that of their nationalities. These points were

    maintained as their united decision in the weary series of conferences,

    correspondence, and delays which ensued during the

    next four months in Peking. The prince and his colleagues,

    by their discussion of the point, had aroused the resistance of

    the great body of literati and conservative officials in the Empire,

    who had grown u]^ in the belief that its unity and prosperity

    were involved in the [)erf()rnuince of the kotow. The

    discussion in July, 185!), when the Emjieror Ilienfung could

    safely decline to admit Mr. Ward to an audience without it, had

    exhausted their ai’gunu’iits ; but his son had come to the throne

    under the new influences, which were rapidly breaking down

    all those old ideas and safeguards. The prince had, moreover,

    DISCUSSION OF THE AUDIENCE QUESTION. 7J3

    ieariied tiiat the foreign ministers were not very strongly sup^

    ported by tlieir own governments, none of whom intended to

    make the audience question a casus helli, or even a reason for

    withdrawing their legations from Peking. Perhaps the Yannni

    thought that the departure of the Ilussian and German ministers

    would leave the other three less inclined to persist in their

    demand, if serious consequences were likely to result.

    The American minister clearly states the pith of the matter

    in his despatch of March S-ith in his closing words : ” I attach

    importance to the proper settlement of the audience question

    at the earliest time possible. To demand it, and urge compliance

    with the demand, is a duty every western nation owes

    to its own dignity and to the welfare of its citizens and subjects

    residing here ; it is also a kindness to this government to try

    through this moans to improve relations, and thus prevent, or

    at least postpone, what are now likely at any time to occur—hostile collisions, with their dreadful consequences.” ‘ This

    alternative was not a fanciful one, and this canse of chronic

    dispute and irritation between China and other nations during

    many centuries was removed chiefly through the patient pereistance

    of Mr. Low in this discussion. His despatches contain

    every fact and argument of importance in perhaps the most

    serious controversy ever brought before China. One cannot

    but sympathize with Prince Ivung and his colleagues in their

    dilennna, and to this embarrassment Mr. Low gives due weight.

    The Chinese ofhcials took a month to discuss the points

    among themselves, and signs of yielding were apparent both

    in the note of Prince Kung of April IGth and the memorandum

    of the 29th brought forward at an interview with the

    legations. Much of the same ground was gone over again ; a

    vacation ensued, then another protocol on May 15tli appeared,

    followed by notes on the 20th and 29th from both sides,

    all tending to the desired conclusion. At last the audience

    question was settled on June 29th by the Emperor first

    ‘ Forenjn EelatioriH nfllip United Sfiitrs, 1873, p. 160. See also the despatches

    of that year, and compare Pauthier’s ITixUrfrc flea TiiiatioiiH Politique (fe la Cliine, Paris, 1858. Narrative of the American Embassy’s visit to Peking, N. a Br. R. As. Sv., Vol. I, 1859.

    receiving Soyeshima, the ambassador from Japan, by himself; and immediately afterward the five ministers of Russia, the United States, (ireat Britain, J”ranee, and Holland, accompanied only by Mr. Carl Bismarck, the German secretary, who interpreted for them.’ Mr, Low’s despatch of July 10th, giving the details of the ceremonies and the previous discussion in settling them, with the difficulty the prince and others had in swallowing

    the bitter pill, is very valuable as a description of the finale

    of this last struggle of Chinese seclusion to resist the incoming

    wave of w’estern power. The wall of their separation was at

    last broken down. They were really stronger and wiser than

    ever, and every nation interested felt a relief that the days of

    proud assumption were ended. The young Emperor held only

    three more audiences during his short reign of nineteen months ;

    and in all these discussions he seems to have taken no active

    part, nor did he oppose the conclusion. His ignorance of the

    whole question made his opinion a matter of small moment.

    Among other advantages resulting to all parties by the settlement

    of this question was the right adjustment of the Chinese

    government in its relations with other courts. This acknowledgment

    of their equality as independent nations did not in anywise

    interfere with the obeisance of native ofiicials when approaching

    their sovereign ; but it smoothed the way for future

    diplomatic relations. Xo western power could maintain an

    envoy near the TTtrmvjt’i at Peking with the least self-respect

    if he were not allowed to see this potentate unless by prostrating

    himself. While none of the great nations would deem a mere

    matter of ceremony a sufficient pretext for resorting to war

    —

    since war itself often fails to convince—a long, continuance of

    this state of affairs must inevitably have led to complications

    the more unpleasant to diplomatists because sure to be oft-recurring.

    It was probably owing to the personal influence of Prince Kung and Wansiang, the two most enlightened statesmen of this period, that a further insistance upon the kotow was not made, and preparations thus arranged for reciprocal courtesies when Chinese ambassadors appeared at foreign courts.

    ‘ Compare the lUustrated London News for June 23, 1873.

    THE AUDIENCE GRANTED—COOLIE TKADE STOPPED. 715

    But against what tremendous odds of superstition and national

    prejudice these two otiicials were pitted in this curious contest

    those who liave never lived in the Empire can liardly appreciate.’

    The years 1873 and IST-i were marked by the abolition of

    the coolie trade at Macao, which since its rise in IS-iS had been

    attended with many atrocities on land and sea. During these

    twenty-five years attempts had been made to conduct the trade

    with some regard for the rights of the laborers, but experience

    had shown that to do this was practically impossible if the

    business were to be made remunerative. Driven from Hongkong

    and Whampoa, the agents of this traffic had long found

    shelter in the Portuguese harbor of Macao, from which semiindependent

    port they could despatch Chinese crimps on kidnapping

    excursions for their nefarious trade. When at last the

    governor closed this haven to its continuance, the Spaniards and

    Peruvians were the only nationalities whom the action affected ;

    but Spain, falling back on her treaty of 1864, insisted that the

    coolie trade be allowed. The Yanmn was advised not to admit

    this privilege until the harsh treatment of the laborers in Cuba

    had been inquired into. This was done in 1873, by means of a

    commission composed of three foreigners and two Chinese, who

    made as thorough an inquiry as the Cuban authorities would

    permit and reported the results in 1874. Since the dreadful

    disclosures which transpired in their report the trade has never

    revived. Peru, indeed, sent M. Garcia as its envoy to Peking to negotiate a treaty and obtain the right of engaging laborers,

    but tills o-entleinan met with no success whatever. The Chinese iieirotiations on this occasion showed the <rood resulti? of their freer intercourse with foreigners in the improved character of their arguments for maintaining their rights.” Tlic Lamentable condition of Chinese laborers in Peru was fully enough proved, inasmuch as their appeal for relief to their home government had been before the Yannm since 18GS, but it could do nothing effectual to help them.

    ‘ Of Wansiang’s personal history little is known. He was a Mancliu, and a man of uncommonly prepossessing manner, being perhaps most highly esteemed of all the officials who came in contact with the foreign legations. At the termination of hostilities and the organization of the Tsung-li Yamun in 1861, he came prominently forward as a most efficient and sagacious adviser of the government. We have already in this narrative had occasion to note the influence of his name in the settlement of the Lay-Osborne flotilla and in the missionary question, the satisfactory conclusion of which was a meet tribute to his talents and judgment. He died at an advanced age in 1875, at the head of the administration. In his death the Chinese government lost an unselfish patriot and a keen observer of those things which were for the best interests of his country.

    The Japanese government undertook in this year to try the

    issue of war with the Chinese in order to settle its demand of

    redress for the murder, in 18T1, of some fifty-four Lewchewan

    sailors by savages on the eastern coast of Formosa. Japan

    had recently deposed the native authorities in Shudi, and being

    hard pressed for some employment of the feudal retainers of

    the retired daimios, undertook to redress Lewchewan grievances

    by occupying the southern part of Formosa, asserting that

    it did not belong to Cliina because she either -vvould not or

    could not govern its savage inhabitants. This view of the divided

    ownership of the island was promptly rejected by the foreign

    ministers resident at Tokio, but the officials were persuaded

    that all they had to do was to occupy the whole southern

    district, and the Chinese could not drive them out when once

    their intrenchments were completed.

    The Mikado accordingly gathered his forces in Kiusiu during

    the years 18T3-T-4-, placing them under the command of (ieneral

    Saigo, and engaging (qualified foreign military men to assist.

    The expedition was called a High Commission, accompanied by

    a force sufficient for its protection, sent to aboriginal Formosa to

    inquii-e into the murder of fifty-four Japanese subjects, and

    take steps to prevent the recurrence of such ati’ocities. A pi-oclamation

    was issued April IT, 1874, and another May 19th,

    stating that General Saigo was directed to call to an account

    the persons guilty of outrages on Japanese subjects. As he

    knew that Chiiui was not prepared to resist his landing at

    Liang-kiao, his chief business was to provide means to house

    ‘ Foreign Relations of tJie United Stntcn, 1874, pp. 198-232. Westminster

    lievietr, Vol. lUO, p. 75. Customs Hqjort on Cabau Coolie Trade, 1870.

    JAPANESE EXPEDITION TO FORMOSA. 717

    and feed tlie soldiers under his command. Tlie Japanese authorities

    do not appear very creditably in this affair. JSo sooner

    did they discover the wild and barren nature of this unknown

    region than they seemed fain to beat an incontinent and hasty

    retreat, nor did the troops landed there stand upon the order of

    their going. They had in some measure been misled by the fallacious

    arguments of Gen. Charles Le Gendre, formerly United

    States consul at Amoy, who had travelled through these districts

    in 18G5 ; the enormous cost which they had already incurred

    made them hesitate about proceeding further, though they had

    announced their intention of retaining possession of the territorj’.

    The aborigines having tied south after the first rencontre, the

    Japanese leader employed his men as best he could in opening

    roads through the jungle and erecting houses.

    Meanwhile the Peking authorities were making ^^reparations

    for the coming struggle, and though they moved slowly they

    were much in earnest to protect their territory. General Shin

    Paochin having been invested with full powers to direct operations

    against the Japanese forces, began at once to draw together

    men and vessels in Fuhchau and Amoy. The Japanese consuls

    at Amoy and Shanghai were allowed to remain at their posts;

    and during the year two envoys arrived at Peking to treat

    with the Court. Their discussions soon narrowed down to a

    demand on the Japanese ministers, Yanagiwara and Okubo, to

    withdraw from Formosa before treating with them upon the

    outrages there ; which was met by a refusal on the ground that

    the Emperor had voided his sovereignty by having for three

    years taken no steps to punish his subjects, notwithstanding the

    repeated requests made to this end. The Chinese proved that

    the Japanese had violated their ti-eaty, and acted in an underhand

    manner in certain negotiations w^ith their envoy, Soyeshima,

    the preceding year ; but this continued sparring was mere

    child’s play. The probabilities were strong against any settlement,

    when the parties were induced to arrange their quarrel

    by the intervention and wise counsel of Sir T. F. Wade, the

    British minister. The Japanese accepted five hundred thousand

    taels for their outlays in Formosa for roads, hotises, and

    defences ; agreeing thereupon to retire and leave the further punishment of the aborigines to the Chinese authorities. The two envoys left Peking, and this attempt at war was happily frustrated.’

    The history of this affair was exceedingly instructive to those who saw the risks to their best interests which both these nations were running in an unnecessary appeal to force. Never, perhaps, has the resort to arbitration been more happy, when to the difficulty of keeping out of a quarrel which so many fortune seekers were ready to encourage was added the fact that both nations had been eagerly developing their land and marine forces by adopting foreign arms, drill, ships, and defences; every friend felt the uselessness of a disastrous conflict at this

    time and willingly strove to prevent any such result. The civilization

    of all parts of Foi-mosa has since rapidly advanced by

    the extension of tea and sugar culture, the establishment of

    Christian missions, and the better treatment of the native

    tribes. A single incident at this time illustrated the undefined

    position of the parties in this dispute. This was the arrival

    in Peking, after Okubo’s departure, of a large embassy of Lewcliewans

    to make their homage to the Emperor Tungchi. The

    Japanese charge d’affaires was denied admittance to the Lewchewan

    hotel, and the Yamun refused to dismiss the embassy,

    but gave it an audience, as was the usage in former days—probably

    the last in their history. The experience acquired by these

    three natioTis in their quarrel concerning Formosa has not prevented

    considerable bitterness aljout their rights to Lewchew.

    No sooner had the Chinese government escaped from the

    Japanese imbroglio by the payment of half a million taels than

    it foiuid itself involved in another and more troublesome question

    with the British. This arose from the persistent attempts

    of the latter to open a trade through Burmah, along the Irrawadi

    River, with Yunnan and other south-western parts of

    China. The Indian government had sent or encouraged explorers

    to go through the little known regions lying between

    ‘ h Ahorif/inal Formosa a part of tJie Chinese Empire? with eight maps,

    folio, Shangliai, 1874, pp. 20. Foirign Relations of the United States for 1873

    and 1.S74—( liina and Japan, passim. 71ie Japan Herald aud North China

    Herald for those years record all the leading events.

    MAJOR SLADEN’S MISSION TO YUNNAN. 719

    tlie Brahmaputra and Lantsang rivers, but no ti-ade could be

    developed in so wild and thinly settled a region. During the

    Tai-ping Rebellion the Emperor’s authority in Yunnan had

    been practically in abeyance, and over the western half of the

    province it had been superseded by a revolt of the Panthays, a

    Mohammedan tribe long settled in that region. These sectaries

    date their origin from the Tang dynasty, and had been generally

    unmolested by the Chinese so long as they obeyed the

    laws. During the Mongol sway their numbers increased so that

    they began to participate in the government, while ever since

    they have enjoyed more or less the control of affairs.’ The

    differences in faith and practice, however, aided in keeping them

    distinct ; and in Yunnan their numbers were recruited by settlers

    from Ivansuh and Koko-nor, so tliat they were led to

    throw off the Chinese rule altogether.

    They began about the year 1855 to defend themselves against

    the imperialists, captured Tali in 1857, pushing their arms

    as far eastward as the provincial capital Yunnan fu, which was

    seized and held for a brief period ; but in 1867 they proclaimed

    Tu Win-siu as their Imam, and located their capital in Tali.

    With affairs in this condition law and order speedily vanished,

    life and property were sacrificed, and general misrule furnished

    the lawless with an opportunity to burn, kill, and destroy until

    the land became a desert. The Panthays, as the Burmese

    called the insurrectionists, turned their hopes westward for

    succor, and to this end endeavored to keep open the trade with

    Burmah and India, but under the circumstances it could not

    flourish. The British in those countries were, however, quite

    ready to countenance, if not aid, the new ruler at Tali, as soon

    as his power was sufficiently consolidated to keep open the roads

    and protect traders.

    In 1868 a party was ordered to proceed to this city and ” discover

    the cause of the cessation of trade formerly existing by

    these routes, the exact position held by the Kakhyens, Shans, and

    Panthays Avith reference to that traflic, and their disposition or

    ‘ Compare Dr. Anderson, From Mandalay to Momien, p. 323. Du Halde,

    Hutoire, Tome I., p. 199. Grosier, China, Vol. IV., p. 270. Gamier, Voyaye

    d’Explaration, Tome I. Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce.

    otherwise to resuscitate it.” This party, iininberiiii;- a hnmlred

    in all, was in charge of Major Sladen, assisted by live qualitied

    men, and guarded by an escort of fifty armed police ; its object

    embraced diplomacy, engineering, natural science, and commerce.

    Their steamer reached IJliamo January 22, ISOS, and

    the party began their travels early in March, arriving after nuicli

    delay at Momcin (or Tuiig-yueh chau), a town on the Taping

    River, one hundred and thirty-five miles from Bhanio and about

    five thousand feet above the sea. Another forced delaj- of near] ,•

    two months convinced them of the impossibility of their getting

    to Tali (nearly as far again) ; in face of the determined opposition,

    therefore, both of the hill tribes and Chinese traders. Major

    Sladen was fain to retire in safety to Bhamo. The retreat of

    this anomalous expedition could be officially ascribed to the

    weakness of the Panthay rulers, the wild region traversed, and

    its yet wilder inhabitants. But to what principles of justice or

    equity can we attribute the action of the British in retaining

    their minister at the capital of an Empire Avhile sending a

    peaceful mission to a rebel in arms at its boundaries ? This

    impertinence seems thinly veiled by dubbing the expedition one

    of inquiry concerning trade ; no trade did or could exist with

    an ill-assorted rabble of wild mountaineers; when these had

    been duly subjected an expedition for purposes of science would

    meet with as ready assistance from the authorities as did that

    of the Frenchman, Lieutenant Garnier, then exploring eastern

    Yunnan. This disregard of the courtesies and i-ights of independent

    nations refiects as little credit upon the powerful luition

    which used her strength thus unfairly as does her similar attempt

    of negotiating with another rebel, Yakub Beg in Ili.

    Major Sladen’s mission, owing to the admirable qualities of

    its leader, made so fair an impression upon the natives along

    his route that upon his return in 1873 his progress was materially

    assisted, instead of retarded, by them as far as Momcin.

    In the years intervening the Imam at Tali, with about forty

    thousand of his followers, had been hemmed in by the Chinese

    forces under the leadership of Li Sieh-tai, or Brigadier Li. The

    Mohannnedans felt their weakness against such odds, and the

    80-called Sultan Suleiman sent his son Hassan to London to

    SECOND BRITISH MISSION TO YUNNAX. 721

    implore recognition and aid from tlie British government ; but

    before lie returned his father had killed himself and the victorious

    Chinese had massacred most of their opponents and regained

    possession of the whole province in 1873. Its western

    half had been virtually inde])endent since 1855, during which

    period the wretchedness of the inhabitants had greatly reduced

    their numbers and resources.

    Trade soon revived. The British appointed an agent to reside

    at Bhamo and learn its amount and character. In 1874 an ex

    pedition—this time provided with Chinese passports—was

    planned to make the trip across China from Burmah to Hankow,

    as Lieutenant Garnierhad done from Saigon. The Chinese

    traders in Burmah set themselves to circumvent it, for its success

    boded disaster to them, as they better knew the resources

    of their competitors. The British plan was to send an accredited

    agent across the country from Hankow to Bhamo, there to

    meet a party under charge of Col. Horace Browne, which was

    to “thoroughly examine the capabilities of the country beyond

    Momein.” As only six years had passed since Sladen’s party

    had reached that town on its way to the Panthays at Tali, there

    had perhaps been hardly time to remove all suspicion among

    the local officials about the objects of this new move. One

    of the consular clerks, Augustus R. Margary, was furnished

    with necessary passports and instructions from her Majesty’s

    legation to go to Bhamo and act as Colonel Browne’s guide and

    interpreter. His journals testify that no better choice could have

    been made, and all who knew him were hopeful of the success

    of this young man.” He left Hankow September 2d and reached

    Bhamo January 17th without molestation or accident, having

    been received with respect by all Chinese officials, whom the

    governor-general of Yunnan had required thus to act. While

    the party in Bhamo prepared the equipment for its journey, Dr.

    Anderson observes that the Chinese ” watched its movements

    with a secret feeling that the objects contemplated were somewhat

    beyond the peaceful pursuits of commerce and scientific inquiry.’”

    ‘ Journals of A. R. Margary, edited by Sir R. Alcock, London, 1877.

    – The report was also circulated that the party was going to lay down a rail road.

    Mr. Margary intimated that lie thought there were intrigues

    going on at Manwyne adverse to the advance of the mission ; but

    Brigadier Li, who treated liim there with great honor, did every

    thing to promote his journey to Bhamo.

    The arrangements as to routes and escorts were at last completed

    so far as to allow the party iinally to leave Bhamo

    February 3, 1875 ; it numbered nearly fifty persons in all, together

    with a Burmese guard of one hundred and iifty. The rivalries and

    deceptions of the Ivakhyen tribes proved to be worse than in 1868,

    and progress was slower from the difficulty of providing animals

    for transport. By the 18th it had crossed the frontier, and the

    next morning Mr, Margary left, with five Chinese, for Manwyne,

    to arrange there for its reception by Brigadier Li. Increased

    dissensions among the tribes as to escort, transport, and pay

    led Colonel Browne to push on after him with a guard so as to

    reach that town and find some competent authority to aid his

    expedition. Many signs of serious opposition had by this time

    manifested themselves ; and when he was preparing to start

    from Seray on the 23d, large bodies of armed men were seen

    on the opposite hills coming to attack the British. A Burmese

    messenger also arrived from Manwyne with letters giving an

    account of the horrid murder of Mr. Margary and his attendants

    by the treacherous officials there on the 20th, The Chinese

    soldiers or robbers were in a manner repulsed by the

    bravery of Browne’s escort and by firing the jungle, but the expedition

    was in face of too powerful an opposition to contemplate

    advancing after such disasters. The return to Bhamo was

    soon made, and the earnest efforts of the Burmese officers there

    to recover everything beloi^ging to the British proved their

    lionesty.

    The disappointment at this rebuff was exceeded by the general

    indignation at tlie treachery which marked the murder. It

    was soon known’ that J^i Sieh-tai was not at Manwyne at tlie

    time, though the real actors in tlie tragedy l)el()nged to his ainiy,

    and must have made him cognizant of the (IcmhI.’

    ‘ MiDiihild]! to Momien : A Narratm’ of Tiro Krjmh’t/ous toWfufcrii (‘fii)ia,

    by T)i .lolm Anderson, contains a most satisfactory narrative of tlu’se attempts;

    the writer’s ojjinion is of the highest value.

    MURDER OF MARGARY AT MANWYNE. 7:^3

    When news of this disaster reached London and Peking, the

    British minister was directed to deinand an investigation of tlie

    facts connected with the outrage in presence of a British

    officer in Yunnan, the issue by the Yaniun of fresh passports

    for a new mission, and an indemnity. After montlis of dehiy

    and correspondence with the Yamun Sir Thomas Wade, the

    British minister, was able to make np his commission and despatcli

    it from Hankow, November 5th, for Yunnan fu. It consisted

    of the Hon. T. G. Grosvenor, second secretary of the

    legation, and Messrs. Davenport and Baber of the consular

    ser\”ice, all of them well fitted by previous training for attaining

    the objects of their expedition. The journey was performed

    in company with a Chinese escort, without danger or

    interference, the city of Yunnan being reached in March. The

    gentlemen found the provinces through which they travelled

    perfectly at peace, and the Emperor’s authority everywhere

    acknowledged—a fact extremely creditable to the Chinese after

    more than twenty years of civil war.

    The Chinese appointed to condnct the inquiry into the

    murder, in connection with Mr. Grosvenor, was Li Han-chang,

    governor-general at Wuchang and brother of Li Ilung-chang.

    He Avas long in making the journey, but the two began their

    proceedings, having Sieh IIwan, an old member of the Yamun

    in 1864, as aid. Those who had any experience or acquaintance

    with similar joint commissions in China anticipated but

    one result from it—an entire failure in proving or punishing

    the guilty parties ; while those who wish to see their character

    should read Mr. Grosvenor’s various reports ‘ to learn how slow

    are the advances of the Chinese in truth-telling. Nevertheless,

    such an investigation had some prospective benefit in that the

    trouble which the British made on account of the taking of one

    life warned the officials to exercise the greatest caution in

    future. In this preventive aspect, the mission doubtless accomplished

    more than can be estimated. Mr. Baber is sure that

    Margary was killed (and his opinion is entitled to great respect)

    by the discontented Chinese trainbands then around Manwyne—

    ‘ Rue Book—China, No. 1 (1876) and No. 3 (1877).

    a lawless set, who were afterward hunted to death.’ Tlie

    weight of evidence obtained at Yunnan fu went to prove that

    the repulse of the British party was countenanced, if not

    planned, by the governor-general, and carried into effect w^ith

    the cognizance of Brigadier Li. Amid so much ii-reconcilable

    evidence, the inference that the officers, ch icily by so doing, intended

    to prevent the extension of trade by the British, offers

    the niost adequate explanation. When the impoverished condition

    of Southwestern China is remembered, the question

    arises, Why should the Indian government strive to open a trade

    where industry and population have been so destroyed ? But

    the expectation that thereby a greater market would be found

    for its opium in all Western China is a sufficient reason, perhaps,

    for undertaking so costly an experiment.

    Xo sooner had Sir Thomas Wade learned of Margary’s

    death than he impressed upon the Chinese government the

    necessity for unremitting and vigorous measures toward the

    arrest and punishment of the guilty. In addition to what has

    been already stated concerning this reparation, he brought forward

    some other matters affecting the intercoui-se between the

    two countries. They were long and painfully debated, and

    those agreed on were embodied in a convention wdiich was

    signed l)y himself and Li Ilung-chang, on the part of Great

    Britain and China, September 13, 1870. The correspondence

    relating to this convention is given, with its text, in the Parliamentary

    Bhie Books,” and is worth perusal by all Avho M-ish to

    learn the workings of the Chinese government.

    The Yunnan case was settled by inmiediate payment of two

    hundred thousand taels (.^280,000), which included all claims

    of British merchants on the Chinese government; by posting

    an imperial proclamation in the cities and towns throughout

    the Empire ; by sending an envoy bearing a letter of regret to

    Queen Victoria for what had occurred in Yunnan ; and by

    ‘ Blue Book—CMna, No. 3, 1878. Beport of Mr. Baher on the route follovxd

    Inj Mr. (rrosveno7’^s luvmion between Tali fit, and Moinein. Reprinted, with his

    other interesting travels and researches in Western Cliina, in Supplementary

    Papers, Vol. I., Part 1, 1882, of Roi/. fM)f/. Sor., London.

    ^Bluc Book— China, No. 1 (1876) and No. 3 (1877).

    THE CTIIFTT CONVENTION. 725

    stationing Untisli officers at Tali or elsewhere in that province

    to “observe the conditions of trade.” The proclamation’ was

    posted very widely (three thonsand copies in Kiangsu province

    alone), and through it the people learned that the safety of all

    foreigners travelling through their countrj^ was guaranteed by the

    Emperor. Other matters agreed upon in this convention were

    the manner of official intercourse between native and foreign

    officers at Peking and the ports, so that perfect equality might

    be shown ; the better administration of justice in criminal cases between their respective subjects, every such case being tried by the official of the defendant’s nationality, while the plaintiffs official could always be present to watch proceedings; the extension of trade by opening four new ports as consular stations, and six on the Yangtsz’ River for landing goods, with other regulations as to opium, transit, and U-km taxes on goods; and lastly, the appointment of a joint commission to establish some system that should enable the Chinese government to protect its revenue without prejudice to the junk trade of Hongkong.

    This final article might well have been omitted. The concessions

    and advantages in it accrued to the British, and through

    them also measurably to other nationalities. But while the

    Chinese under the circumstances had no right to complain

    of paying heavily for Margary’s life, it was manifestly unfair

    to cripple their commerce by sheltering Hongkong smugglers

    under promise of a commission which could never honestly

    agree. In order to better understand the British minister’s

    views regarding the political and commercial bearing of his

    convention, the reader is referred to his labored minute of July

    ‘ Blue R)ok—Chm<i, No. 3 (1877). “^ Ihid , pp. 111-147.

    1-1, 1877,’ in which the fruits of thirty-five years of official experience in China impart much value to his opinions. The singular mixture of advice, patronizing decisions, and varied knowledge running through the M^hole i-ender the paper extremely interesting. The Chinese historian of the next century will read with wonder the implied responsibility of the British minister for the conduct of the Empire in its foreign management, and the enormous development of the principle of ex-ter ritorialitv so as to cover almost every action of every British subject. He may also be instructed by this proof of the ignorance and fears of the former rulers, as well as their conceit

    and hesitation in view of their wants and backwardness to cope

    with the advancing age. lie must acknowledge, too, that the

    sharj) and prolonged discussion of eighteen months between Sir

    Thomas and the Yamun was one of the most protitable exercises

    in political science the high officers of Peking ever had allowed

    them.

    Since the convention of Chifu the progress of China at home

    and abroad has been the best evidence of an improved administration.

    The reign of Hienfung ended in 1861, with the prestige,

    resources, and peace of the realm he had so miserably

    governed reduced to their lowest ebb. During the twelve years

    of his son’s nominal regime, the face of affairs had quite changed

    for the better. Peace and regular government had been for the

    most part resumed throughout the Eighteen Provinces, and even

    to the extreme western frontier of Ivashgar and Kuldja. The

    people were returning to their desolated villages, while their

    rulers did what they could to promote agriculture and trade.

    The young Emperor gave small promise of beconung a wise or

    efficient ruler ; and when he died (January 12, 1875) it was felt

    that an effigy only had passed away, and no change would ensue

    in the administration. In the question of selecting his inheritor

    were involved some curious features of Chinese customs. It

    is a rule that the succession to the Lung-wei, or ‘ Dragon’s

    Seat,’ cannot pass to the preceding generation, since this would

    involve the worship of a lower or younger generation by an

    older one. The line of Jlienfung died out in his childless son ;

    the eldest of his brothers had, as we have seen, been made posthumous

    heir of an uncle in 1854, consequently his son, Pu-lun,

    was ineligible. The elevation of Prince Kung’s son Tsai-ching

    to be Emperor was in the highest degree inexpedient, as this

    would necessitate the retirement of his father from active participation

    in the govermnent, arising from their relationship of

    father and s(mi. The next eligible candidate, Tsai-tien, a child

    of Prince Chun—the seventh son of Taukwang—born August 15j

    ACCESSION OF THE EMPEROR K^\’ANGS^j. 727

    1871, was unanimously chosen by the Empresses dowager and assembled princes of the Manchu Imperial Clan. His parents were brother and sister of those of his predecessors, while the same regency had been reappointed, so that his tender age involved neither difficulty nor alteration during the minority.

    He took the reign-name of Kwang-sl’i., or ‘ Illustrious Succession,’

    having reference to the disturbance in the regular descent.

    By this arrangement the same general set of officials

    was continued on the government, and the risk to its peaceful

    working from the freaks of Tungchi avoided.’

    A most notable event during the last decade has been the recovery of the vast regions of the Tarim Valley to the imperial sway. Their loss took place during the early part of the Tai-ping Rebellion, beginning in Kansuh, where the discontented Moslem population, aided by the reckless and seditious of all clans, arose and drove out the governmental minions even to the eastern side of Shensi. Of this extended revolt little is known in the west save the name of its figure-head and leading character under whose mastery it culminated and succumbed.

    The famous Yakub Beg, whom the jealous attentions of both

    England and Russia had united in raising to the rank of a hero,

    commenced his militarv career as lieutenant of Buzuro; khan,

    a son of the notable Jehangir, kojeh of Ivokand. By the

    year 1866 the energetic lieutenant had made way with his licentious

    and cowardly chief, and possessed himself of a large part

    of Western Kashgaria ; then, turning his attention to the rebellious

    Dunganis north of him, a series of vigorous campaigns

    ended in leaving him undisputed ruler of all Tien- Shan Nan

    Lu. These conquests over, hordes of neighboring rebels nmst

    now be recognized as fatal errors in the policy of Yakub. The

    Atalik Gliazi, or ‘ Champion Father’ as he was now called,

    had not only attracted the distrust of Russia—manifested in

    their taking of Kuldja from the Dunganis before his approach

    was possible—but in annihilating other Moslem insurrectionists,

    ‘ The Eastern Empress-dowager, the legal widow of Hienfung, whose only

    child, a daughter, died early in 1875, followed her to the grave in 1881, leaving

    the regency with her coadjutor, the Empress An, aided by Prince Kung had constituted himself an avenger of Chinese wrongs, and prepared the way of his own enemies whenever the terrible day of reckoning should come.

    The attempt on the part of China to restore its prestige in a

    territory where every hand was tm-ned against her seemed

    indeed liopeless. Her exhausted resources, her constant fear

    of tlie foreigners within lier gates, her suspicions of Russia,

    the immense distances to be traversed, seemed to unite every

    factor against her success. Nevertlieless, by 1871 symptoms of

    disorganization began ah-eady to appear among tlie rebels, wliile

    in the wishes of the common people for a strong power to insure

    order and encourage trade Tso Tsung-tang, the Chinese

    general, found both assistance and men.

    A moment’s attention to the relations l)etwecn the Chinese

    and Mohammedans of this region will throw much light on

    their contest. Since their conquest by Kienlung, the inhabitants

    of Eastern Turkestan had enjoyed an unexampled period of

    tranquillity and prosperous trade. The Chinese, known as

    Kitai, settled in their cities and brought a degree of wealth

    and civilization far ahead of anything previously known, wliile

    the rulers, or ambans, joined to their duties as administrators of

    justice a fostering care of trade routes and methods for developing

    the country. They have at all times been celebrated for

    irrigating their provinces, and now reproduced their wonderful

    canals (says Boulger) ” even in this outlying dependency.

    Eastern Turkestan is one of the worst-watered regions in the

    world. In fact there is only a belt of fertile country around

    the Yarkand lliver, stretching away eastward along the slopes

    of the Tien Shan as far as Ilanii. The few snudl rivers which

    are traced here and there across the map are during many

    months of the year dried up, and even the Yai’kand then

    becomes an insignificant stream. To remedy this, and to

    husband the supply as much as possible, the Chinese sunk dikes

    in all directions. By this means the cultivated country was

    slowly but sui-ely spi’cad over a great extent of territory, and

    the vicinity of the three cities of Kashgar, Yangi llissar, and

    Yarkand ])e(‘ame known as the garden of Asia. Corn and fruit

    grew in abundance, and from Yarkand to the south of the Tien

    TAKUB BEG AND THE REVOLT IX TURKESTAN. 729

    Shan the traveller could pass through one endless orchard. On all sides he saw nothing but plenty and content, peaceful hamlets and smiling inhabitants. These were the outcome of a Chinese domination.” ‘

    In addition to the fields and rivers, mines were worked, mountain passes cut and kept in repair, and the internal government of tribes placed on an equable basis. As to the precise manner in which discontent and rebellion crept into this apparently happy territory, it must always remain a matter of conjecture. The customs of its inhabitants have for ages been based on the tribal principle to such an extent that they found it impossible to assimilate with the Chinese and their methodical government, even though for their advantage to do so. The repeated failures of the United States to introduce a certain degree of civilization among the Indians present an analogous case. Uneasiness among the natives caused by agents from Kokand and Tashkend was speedily followed by larger demands from turbulent Mussulmans, who saw in Chinese moderation an evidence of weakness and decline. Jehangir’s rebellion not unjustly incensed a government which had devoted more than half a century to the building up of a shattered State, and was punished with merciless rigor. Oppression from the Chinese met by resistance, equitable rule alternating with weakness and injustice, trade impeded by illegal imports, ambitious Usbeck chiefs exciting their tribes to rise against their conquerors—these and similar causes had been at work to prevent all permanent progress in Turkestan.

    ‘ Life of Yakoob Beg, London, 1878, p. 59. See also R. B. Shaw, Visiti to High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar, London, 1871, Chaps. II. and III.

    During the lowest ebb of JSIanchu authority in the Empire, when foreigners and Tai-pings were straining the utmost resources of the government in the East, a small village of Kansuh was the scene of a sudden riot. When after two days couriers brought word that the disturbance was quelled with some loss of life, the authorities began to suppose that the affair had already been forgotten; but it proved to be the fuse that lighted an outbreak scarcely smaller than the other civil war within the provinces.’ The Dunganis had arisen and spreaa the infection of revolt wherever they existed—over hirge districts «^tf Slieiisi, but principally toward the west, to Turfan, Ivuche. and Aksu—continuing the weary story of surprise, slaughter,

    and barbarity even to the city of Knldja.’ Allying with

    themselves the Tarantchi, a sort of fellah class which the Chinese

    had imported into the regions from Kashgar, the victorious

    rebels established one of those ephemeral governments over the

    Tien Shan and its adjoining valleys that have so frequently

    arisen in the history of Central Asia. Under their rule ti’avel

    beyond the Kia^’ii Pass was of course impossible, while trade

    diminished throughout the conntry, and Russia, as we have seen,

    wrested Knldja from Abul Oghlan in order to secnre her own

    borders. The first sei’ious check received by this confederation

    Avas its virtnal overthrow, when Yakub advanced npon Aksu

    and from thence cleared the great road eastward to Tnrfan.

    Tso’s first labor, then, was to clear Shensi and Kansuh of the

    rebels, in which his progress was marked by admirable foresight

    and energy in disposition of men, arrangement of conrier

    service, and use of modern arms. Establishing himself by 1876

    in Barknl and Ilami as headcpiarters, by the following spring

    he was prepared for a concerted movement from the north

    (Gutchen and Urumtsi) and east (Pidshan) npon ‘^’akub l>eg at

    Turfan. The redoubtable chieftain was finally caught by the

    tardy but certain power which he had long despised with impunity,

    and driven backward through the towns of Toksnn and llarashar to Tvorla, where he died or was murdered, May, 1877.

    ‘ *’ It is impossible not to connect this event in some degree with that unaccountable revival among Mohammedans, which has produced so many important events during the last thirty years, and of which we are now witnessing some of the most striking results. “—Boulger. Life of Yakooh li’f/, p. 95.

    “^ Which fell in January, 18C0, after the Chinese governor had destroyed himself and his citadel by gunpowder.

    THE REBELLION SUPPUESSED. 731

    During this and the following years the governor-general succeeded in reinstating the authority which had been in abeyance nearly a score of years. His army under two able generals advanced along the parallel roads north and south of the Tien Shan, punishing the rebels without mercy, while ” the Moham-niedaiis who submitted themselves were perm’.lfc<\ to revert to their peaceful avocations.” ‘ When upon the desert the troops were provisioned from Russian territory, but during the early years of the campaign it appears that the soldiers were made to till the ground as well as construct fortifications. The history of the advance of this ” agricultural army ” would, if thoroughly known, constitute one of the most remarkable military achievements in the annals of any modern country.^

    With the fall of Kashgar (December 17, 1877) the reconquest was practically completed, though Yarkand and the neighboring towns held out some months longer, at the end of which the chiefs of the Moslem movement had either fled to Ferghana or succumbed in the light. The Chinese now turned their attention to the occupation of Kuldja, and sent Chunghow in December, 1878, to St. Petersburg upon a mission relating to its restoration. The envoy needed, indeed, but to remind the Czar of Russian promises made in Peking in 1871 concerning the prompt retrocession of the occupied territory when China should have reasserted her authority in those regions; but neither European nor Oriental diplomats seemed to regard the city “held in trust for China by the Russian government” as in the least likely to return to the dominion of the Huangdi, while many were persuaded that Russia would resort to arras before surrendering one of the most prosperous of her possessions in order to keep a rash promise.^

    ‘ Peking Gazette.

    « The Spectator, April 13, 1878, Pall Mall Gazette, June, 1878, and London Times, November, 1878. Boiilger, Life of Yalvol) Bn/, Chaps. XII. -XIV.

    ^ For an excellent illustration of the prevailing sentiment on this question, even after Chunghow’s embassy, see Mr. D. C. Boulger in tVaner’s Magazine fcr August, 1680, p. 104.

    Chunghow—whose capacity had been in some degree tested in the Tientsin riot—was hardly the best choice for envoy even among the still ignorant officers at Peking, inasmuch as to the seemingly apparent defect of an unusually Boeotian temperament was added a profound ignorance of any European language, of modern methods of diplomacy, and of the topography of the territory in question. It is almost needless to add that such an enil)assy was ill-prepared to cope with the astute diplo niatists of an eager court, or that it speedily fell a prey to the designs upon it. A treaty of eighteen articles was signed at Livadia yielding a portion of the Kuldja district to China, Russia retaining, however, the fruitful valley of the Tekes river, all the more important strategic strongholds and passes in the Tian Shan, and the city of Yarkand ; China, moreover, to pay as indenmity five million rubles for the cost of occupying Kuldja.

    Other important concessions, such as a trade route from Hankow through Suhchau to Kuldja and Siberia, the opening to Russian caravans of thirty-six frontier stations, the modification of the Kashgarian frontier, the arming of Muscovite merchants, and the navigation of the Songari River, were apparently added to this compact according as the Russians increased their experience of the “gullability” of these remarkable ambassadors.

    Even officers of the Czar’s army, in referring afterward to this treaty, were prone to add to their remarks some measure of apology. When in January, 1880, Chunghow returned home with the unwise and humiliating document in his possession, he could not have felt wholly certain of a triumphant reception. Nevertheless it is not likely that the luckless ambassador contemplated being at once deprived by imperial edict of all his offices and turned over to a board for trial and punishment. Statesmen of both parties joined in denouncing him, Li Hongzhang and Tso alike presenting memorials to the same effect, while a flood of petitions more or less fierce poured upon the

    govei’ument from mandarins of all ranks. On the 2Sth the

    returned envoy was cashiered for having signed away territory

    and promised indemnity without special authorization, and in

    punisliment was sentenced to decapitation. The actoi’s in this

    movement, which upon the manifestation of such prompt and

    furious measures assumed the phase of an intrigue of the war

    party, were Tso and Prince Chung, who seized upon the popular

    wrath as an opportune moment for a master stroke against

    Prince Kung.

    NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING THE CESSION OF KULDJA. 733

    With the appearance of danger such as this the party in power recoiled at once from its angry position, depreciated the highly bellicose tone of court officials, and accepted the good offices of the foreign ministers who j(»ine(l in protesting against the unworthy treatment of Chunghow and the monstrous barbarity of his sentence. Possibly the temperance (»f Russia’s attitude in demanding the uncoiuiitiunal pardon of ( liunghow before consenting to receive a second ambassador—the Marquis Tsang, minister to Enghmd, aheady appointed—materially aided in quieting the storm. Fortunately, tuo, amid the rumors of a resort to arms and manifest preparations of the palace discontents to force an issue, Colonel Gordon visited the capital, and in a communication to Governor Li pointed out the folly of attempting a foreign conflict and the peculiar dangers in overwhelming, by courting a certain defeat, the great benefits which nnist come to the Chinese army by its gradual reorganization

    upon modern methods. “Potentially,” said this unpalatable

    but honest critic, “you are perhaps invincible, but the outcome

    of this premature war will show you to be vulnerable at a thousand

    points.” Counsels such as these carried unusual weight

    as coming from a man whom all parties in China respected and

    admired ; there can be little doubt that it sensibly decreased

    the war feeling, and possibly proN^ented the country from rushing

    to certain disaster.

    Chunghow was accordingly reprieved, and in June of this

    year set free. The intelligence and experience of Tsang’

    proved an acceptable contrast to his ^predecessor’s unguarded

    conduct, and resulted in an agreement (May 15th) on the part of

    the Czar’s negotiators to recede nearly the whole of the contested

    district, excepting a narrow strip upon its western edge

    for purposes of colonization or retreat for those inhabitants of

    III who preferred to remain under Russian control.’ In return

    ‘ Upon his return to China the marquis published his diary, some portions of which have found their way into the China Review (Vol. XI., p. 135) and are extremely interesting as the outspoken opinion of an appreciative and enlightened Chinese gentleman.

    ‘-‘ Precisely the extent of this strip depends upon the exact definition of the boundary here under Taukwang. The present line is laid down in that portion of the new treaty quoted in Volume I., p. 218 ; the territory forms approximately a wedge whose a])ex is in the Ala Tau Mountains, and whose base, about three degrees south of this point, lies against the crest of the Tian Shan.

    It meets the old boundary at the Muzart (or Muz-daban) Pass. Since the treaty

    “for military expenses incurred by Ilnssia in lu>](Iing and pro

    teeting Ili on belialf of China since the year 1871, and in satisfaction

    of all claims by Russian merchants for losses previonsiy

    suffered by pillage within Chinese territory, and by Russians

    who have suffered outrage,” the Chinese agreed to pay nine

    million roubles. This appears to have been less repugnant to

    oriental diplomacy than live millions in acknowledgment of

    getting back their borrowed property. As for the other points,

    the treaty does not seem to have been greatly altered, save in

    the Songari River and other more vexatious clauses. This treaty

    was ratified August 19, 1881.

    From domestic wars and political complications, the influences

    of which have hai’dly as yet disappeared fi’om our morning

    newspapers, our attention must be turned to the yet sadder

    spectacle of famine and pestilence. The occasional notices of a

    great scarcity of food in Xorthwestern China which drifted into

    the news items of western countries may still remain within the

    memory of many; those, however, who live under the ascendancy

    of occidental institutions can with difficulty appreciate,from

    any mere description of this scourge, its immense influence as a

    factor in removing somewhat the suspicions of the ignorant and

    apathetic Chinese against their fellow-men in other lands. The

    sympathies and chai’ities of the Chi-istian world, as called forth

    by this terrible visitation, were more effectual in making acceptable

    the distasteful presence of foreigners within their cities

    than had been the miited influence of two wars and a halfcentury

    of trade, diplonuicy, and social intercourse.

    The Great Famine of 1878 was in some measure foretold

    over Sliansi and Shensi by the decreasinir rainfall of the four

    ])revious years. The peculiar nature of this loess-covered

    region, and its absolute dependence for fertility upon a sufficient

    supply of moisture, has been pointed out in another chapter

    of this woj-k. Here, then, and in Shantung the missionaries

    of all denomiiuitions were called upon to organize methods

    strenuous efforts have been made by the officers of both nationalities stationed

    tliere to entice the U.sbeck, Kirghis, and Diinganis of the region to settle per

    manently on their side of the boundary.

    THE GEEAT FAMINE OF 1878. 735

    of relief as early as the summer of 1877. By the opening of

    the following spring a central committee in Shanghai and their

    agents in Chifu and Tientsin—all Protestant and Roman Catholic

    missionaries—had put forth so great energy in their Avelldirected

    efforts as to gain the zealous co-operation of Li Iluugchang,

    governor-general of Cliihli, and active countenance of

    the rulers and gentry in otlier provinces. “At the beginning

    of their labors,” writes the secretary of the committee, ” the

    distributors were received with a degree of prejudice and suspicion

    which utterly frustrated any attempt to prosecute the

    work. They were supposed to have sinister objects in view,

    and not only was their charity refused, but they were even in

    innninent danger of their lives. It required the utmost carefulness

    on their part to carry on their operations with any degree

    of success. They were urged to act in a way that contemplated

    the speedy exhaustion of their funds and their evacuation of

    the pla-ce. So far as we can ascertain, however, the distributors

    conducted themselves in a most connnendable manner,

    and after a time at least bore dow^n the ill-will and aspersions

    of all classes, changing their sentiments and feelings of doubt

    and distrust into those of the deepest gratitude and respect, so

    that they are now regarded as the very saviours of the people.” ‘

    After the experience of some weeks in the destitute regions,

    it was found that only the strictest adherence to a business system

    of distribution could be attended with any mitigation of the

    evil. Tickets representing certain amounts of money were given

    to the houses of each community which appeared on the catalogues

    of needy families furnished by village elders. Food being

    plenty in the south, the means of transportation and storage

    during distribution constituted the chief labor of those concerned

    in this work. When brought to the starving settlements,

    grain was promptly doled out in exchange for the tickets, and

    to the lasting credit of the Chinese character it must here be noticed

    that not a single raid upon the provisions or resort to force

    in any way has been recorded of these famished multitudes.

    ‘ Rev. W. Muirliead, in Report of the China Famine Relief Fund, Shanghai, 1879, p. 4.

    That good-will, affection, an] gratitude should take the place

    of the old mistrust under these conditions was niOst natural.’

    Xevertheless the terrors of their experiences in this awful time

    were hardly lightened by this cheering aspect of the curse.

    Misery and desolation such as this overwhehned every other

    sentiment save that of compassion. The visitor was often met

    hy the solitary remnant of a large household, to hear from him

    a harrowing recital of suffering and death, fitted to shock the

    most callous of humanity. Again, he would come upon the

    corpse of one recently fallen in the vain effort to walk to a

    neighboring town, and about it a lazy pack of wolves squatting

    —gorged and stupid from the fulness of many ghastly meals.

    At other times a silent dwelling might be found giving shelter

    only to the cadaverous bodies of its former inmates ; or anon a

    ruined house would tell M’here the timbers had been plucked

    out and sold for a little bread. Of the last extreme of famine,

    caimibalism, which cropped out here and there, but which in

    most cases met with instant punishment when discovered, it is

    hardly necessary to add notice or description. The remarkable

    patience under suffering exhibited by the people made their

    relief compai’utively easy, though the despair which had rendered

    them insensible to excitement or violence often prevented their

    recuperation from the fever and plague which laid hold upon their

    weakened bodies even after plenty had returned to the land.

    In their report the connnittee at Shanghai acknowledge

    Tls. 204,560 as having passed through their hands, while about

    as much more may safely be said to have been otherwise expended

    by foreigners for the relief of the sufferers.” The

    Chinese government furnished food and supplies amounting to

    ‘ A notable exception to this universal sentiment of kindliness was exhibited

    among the officials and gentry of Kaifung, the capital of Honan, in which city

    foreigners were to the last forbidden to remain, or even to carry on their work in the environs.

    FOREIGlSr EFFOETS TOWARD ITS RELIEF. 737

    ‘•’ About $22,070 were subscribed in the United States—which does not include, however, the donation from the Pacific slope. An effort was made to Induce Congress to return on this occasion the surplus of the Chinese indemnity fund, amounting to nearly $()()(),()()(), but upon this the Committee on Foreign Affairs rcportiul adversely, alleging among other reasons that all the starving people would be dead before the machinery of both nations would admit of this money being exchanged for food I

    more than Tls. 2,000,000, while rich natives contributed very

    lai-gely in their own districts. Sixty-nine foreigners were personally

    engaged upon the work of (listributi(jn in the four

    afflicted provinces, of whom Messrs. Ilall, Hodge, Barradale,

    and AVhiting died in consequence of exposure and overwork.’

    Upon the mortality connected with this frightful visitation

    there exist hut the vaguest figures. ” The destruction as a

    whole is stated to be from nine and a half to thirteen millions,”

    observes the JA^mH^ alreiidy quoted, and its proofs in support

    of this statement are as trustworthy as any that can be compiled.

    Xo famine is recorded in the history of any land which equalled

    this in death-rate. The area at the base of the Tibetan and

    Mongolian highlands will always be subject to great vicissitudes

    of heat and moisture,’ and the future, like the past, cannot but

    suffer from these frightful droughts unless a careful attention

    to the climatic influence of trees and irrigation mitigate in some

    degree the dreadful comings of these plagues.

    The Chinese plenipotentiary in London, T\ woh Sung-tao, gave

    utterance to the sincere sentiments of his government in saying:

    The noble philanthropy wliich heard, In a far-distant country, the cry of

    suffering and hastened to its assistance, is too signal a recognition of the common

    brotherhood of humanity ever to be forgotten, and is all the more worthy

    to be remembered because it is not a passing response to a generous emotion,

    but a continued effort, persevered in until, in sending the welcome rain.

    Heaven gave the assuring promise of returning plenty, and the sign that the

    brotherly succor was no longer required. Coming from Englishmen residing

    in all parts of the world, this spontaneous act of generosity made a deep impression

    on the government and people of China, which cannot but have the

    effect of more closely cementing the friendly relations which now so happily

    exist between China and Great Britain. But the hands that gave also assumed

    the arduous duty of administering the relief ; and here I would not forget to

    offer my grateful thanks and condolence to the families of those, and they are

    not a few, who nobly fell in distributing the fund.’*

    Mr. Whiting was honored by the governor of Shansi with a public funeral

    in Taiyuen, the provincial oaiiital.

    » P. 7.

    ^ Mr. A. Hosi.i in the X 0. Br. E. A. P!. JoHvniil, Vol. XIII., 1878, has

    translated the native lists of more than eight hundred famines and droughts

    occurring in the Yangtsz’ basin and northward on the Plateau during a thousand

    years ending a.d. 1643.

    * Letter of October 14, 1878, to Lord Salisbury.

    One who has been acquainted with Chinese affairs for the last

    fifty years can better than younger persons appreciate from this

    letter the vast stride wliieh has been made by (^hina since the

    withdrawal of the East India Company’s factory in 1834. The

    Empire had then been closed for more than a century, and its

    inhal)itants liad been taught to believe that all mankind outside of

    its b()un(hiries were little better than i<!;norant savaijes. Their

    rulers had maintained that ” barbarians could only be ruled by

    misrule,” and in their honest efforts to keep them fi-om entering

    the gates of the Celestial Empire in order that the people might

    not become contaminated, had faithfully though ineffectually

    endeavored to fulfil the first duty of every government. We

    have seen how small was their success when dealing with the

    iniquitous opium traffic ; no amount of moral or ethical principle

    in the cause which he represented could make up to Connnissioner

    Lin for his ignorance and stiff-neckedness in pushing his

    injudicious methods of reforming this abuse. Had he succeeded

    as he and his imperial master had ])lamied, they would have

    sealed their country against the only possible remedies for those

    evils they were striving to remove—free intercourse, commercial,

    intellectual, and political, with their fellow-men.

    The story of Cliina’s rapid progress from semi-barbarism

    toward her appropriate position among nations is now fully

    known to any whose interests have directed their attention

    thither. It cannot be denied that the advance has been hampered

    by the mass of superstitions, assumptions, and weaknesses

    through which every such stride to reformation nnist push forward

    ; nor is it strange that interested foreigners from their vantage-

    ground of a more perfect civilization should at times bemoan

    the wearisome course and manifold errors of this regeneration.

    Nevertheless, liopeful signs abound on every side ; against a

    few errors may be balanced a multitude of genuine successes,

    and the fact that these latter have come about deliberately

    assures us that they are permanent. In the hands of statesmen

    as far-sighted and ])atriotic as those who now control the government,

    there is little cause to apprehend retrograde steps or a return

    to the exclusive policy of (yonnnissioners Lin and Yeh. As

    for the conservative spirit which yet characterizes the present

    THE CHINESE EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION. 739

    regime, in this will be found the safeguard against extravagant

    and premature adoption of western machines, institutions,

    nietliods, dress, and the thousand adjuncts of modern European

    life which, if too rapidly applied to an effete and backward

    civilization, push it rather into bankruptcy and overthrow than

    out into a new existence.

    Before closing these volumes, and as an illustration of these

    observations, it remains to notice the so-called Chinese Education

    Commission—a highly lauded project which is still fresh

    in the minds of many Americans. Soon after the Tientsin

    riot and Chunghow’s mission of apology, Yung Wing, a

    Chinese graduate of Yale College, proposed to Li Ilung-chang

    and others in authority a plan of utilizing certain surplus

    moneys remaining from the fund for military stores, to defray

    the expenses of educating a number of Chinese boys in the

    United States. The scheme found such favor with the governor-

    general and members of the Foreign Office, that early in

    the year 1872 thirty boys were selected by competitive examination

    at Shanghai, and took passage for San Francisco July

    12th, Yung Wing having preceded them to make the necessary

    arrangements. This gentleman’s acquaintance w^ith the

    social life and educational methods in IS^ew England was so

    complete as to enable him readily to place the students—usually

    in pairs—in comfortable households, where they might learn

    English and become initiated into the manner of life among

    western peoples as agreeably as possible.

    The commission established its headquarters in Hartford and

    easily disposed their boys in adjoining towns of Connecticut

    and Massachusetts, where numbers of families welcomed them

    with open arms. Prince Kung’s satisfaction upon learning of

    this friendly reception was expressed in a personal note of

    thanks to Mr. Low at Peking, while the fair prospects of the

    scheme now tended to hasten other parties of students to these

    shores until their number was swelled to one hundred and

    twenty.’ These lads proved themselves almost without excep-

    ‘ The original plan included the sending of one hundred and fifty boys, but the fund laid aside for the purpose was found to be insufficient to cover the cost of the full number.

    tion capable and active in tlie studies set before them, and a8

    their hold upon the language increased, began to outrank all

    but the brightest of their American classmates. As they advanced

    into the higher scientific schools or colleges, greater

    liberty was allowed them, each boy pursuing his inclination as

    to a special course or institution. With the appointment of

    Yung “Wing to the Chinese legation at Washington and the

    arrival of one Wu Tsz’-tang (who knew no English) as commissioner

    in his place at Hartford, the complexion of this enterprise

    seems to have changed. In the spring of 1881 a formal

    memorial, endorsed by Chin Lan-pin, the minister at Washington,

    was addressed to the home government, complaining of

    the course of study pursued by these youths as including Latin

    and Greek and other unnecessary subjects ; of the disrespectful

    behavior of the l)oys when brought before their chiefs ; of

    their deplorable luck of patriotism ; of their forgetting their

    mother tongue, and other sins of omission and commission.

    The memorial seems to have fallen in with the desires of those

    momentarily in power at Peking ; the commission and students

    were all recalled by the return mail, and arrived at Shanghai

    in the fall of the same year.

    Although this action may have been in some degree

    prompted by a spirit of conservatism and distrust, the leading

    motive of the Chinese government cannot be far to seek.

    Had these boys of a dozen years each received his fifteen years’

    instruction in our common-school, classical, and })r(>fessional

    courses, it is impossil)le to believe that the}’ would not at the

    end of this time have been more American than Chinese.

    Their speedy recall was a matter of regret to the many friends

    these interesting lads had made in New England, but from a

    truly Chinese stand-point this foreign popularity would become

    as the flesh-pots of Egypt to them after their return to

    the arid intellectual life in China—and the event in one or two

    instances appears to have proved the shrewdness of this surmise.

    However, this expei’iment can in no wise be considered

    a failure, even if we consider only the knowledge of English

    and elements of a western education obtained by each student; how considerable has been its success will be seen when the

    PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 741-

    young incii—now engaged by their government in telegraph

    posts, arsenals, schools, etc.—shall have achieved sufficient distinction

    in their vai-ious professions to prove their fitness for

    the pains bestowed upon them. The organization of scliools

    for other than Chinese methods of education is already begun

    in China—as, for example, tlie Tung-wan Kwan, under charge

    of Dr. Martin, at Peking—and from these a much more

    rational advance to their proper position in scientific knowledge

    may be expected, than by hazardous schemes of foreign

    tuition.

    The pages of this brief compendium of our present knowledge

    of the Chinese Empire were not written in the first place,

    nor have they been revised, with any intent to laud that people

    beyond their just deserts. What there is of weakness, vice,

    narrowness, bigotry, in the national character has been pointed

    out with great frankness, while their blindness and folly after

    the lessons of two warlike visitations from foreign nations

    have not passed unnoticed. The experiences of the last three

    decades will probably prove more momentous for the Chinese

    than those of any previous century in their history, and these

    have not come about without much bitterness and the surly

    traces of misunderstanding and misrepresentation. But the

    great fact must have become apparent, even to the cursory

    reader, that in the Chinese character are elements which in due

    time must lift her out of the terribly backward position into

    which she had fallen and raise her to a rank among the foremost

    of nations. There is a basis of encouragement when we

    keep in mind the literary institutions of tho country and their

    early attention to obtaining a corps of scientific men of their

    own nationality, as in the effort just mentioned.’

    ‘ The reserved force in the Chinese character was very strikingly brought

    out in a new-year’s call at Peking, which the writer remembers, in 1870.

    The topic came up as to how to diminish the expense of getting coal from the

    mines to the city (which up to that time was carried on camels and mules , so

    a.i to put it within the reach ol the poor people. I suggested a tram road

    as the best plan for the fifty miles distance from the mines, and involving

    trifling expense. After listening to the plan, Tan Ting-siang, one of the

    members of the Board of Revenue, and Prince Kung, together exclaimed,

    ” Tieh-lu lai liao! Tkh-la lai Uao!” (‘ Railroads are coming in time’}, Tke ex

    Another ground of hope—and tliese words are as pertinent

    today as when written thirty-five years ago—lies in the matterof-

    fact habits of the Chinese, tlieir want of enthusiasm and dislike

    of cliange, which are rather favorable than otherwise to

    their development as a great community. The presentation

    and reception of the highest truths and motives the human

    mind can realize always excites thought and action ; the chiefest

    fear must be that of going too fast in schemes of reform

    and correction, and demolishing the fabric before its elements

    are ready for reconstruction. The non-existence of caste, the

    weakness of a priesthood which cannot nerve its persecuting

    arm with the power of the State, the scanty influence religion

    has over the ])opular mind, the simplicity of ancestral worship,

    the absence of the allurements of gorgeous temples, splendid

    ritual, seductive music, gay processions, and above all, sanctified

    licentiousness, to uphold and render it enticing to depraved

    human nature, the popular origin of all government holidays,

    and lastly, the degree of industry, loyalty, and respect for life

    and property—these are characteristics which furnish some

    grounds for trusting that the regeneration of China will be accomplished,

    like the operation of leaven in meal, without shivering

    the vessel.

    istence of the treaty principle of ex-territoriality and its consequences is constantly

    before the Chinese high officers, though they appreciate as well the

    fact that their country is preparing and will be the better for such improve*

    ments.

    INDEX.

    ABACUS, or Sioanpan, principle of,

    ii. 60.

    Abeel, Rev. D., i. 134, 835, ii. 240 ; arrives

    in China, ii. 325, 327, 338, 348; memoir,

    ii. 368.

    Abel, Clarke, i. 363, ii. 458.

    Aboriculture, curiosities of, ii. 13.

    Aboriginal races, of China, i. 41 ; of Formosa,

    i. 137 ; in Hunan, i. 148.

    Abulgasi (History of the Tartars), i. 202-

    203.

    Abu Zaid, his work on China, ii. 168

    ;

    generally trustworthy, ii. 414, 425.

    Acupuncture, ii. 123.

    Adams, Hon. John Quincy, his mistaken

    notions of Chinese war, ii. 469.

    Agar-agar, a glue made from seaweed, ii.

    397.

    Agnosticism, Chinese, ii. 201.

    Agriculture, Temple of, Peking, i. 78 ; in

    loess fields, i. 302 ; Chinese works upon,

    i. 686 ; consideration of, ii. 1 ; utensils,

    ii. 3.

    Aksa, town and river of fli, i. 225 ; Yakub

    Bey captures, ii. 730.

    Alabaster’s Wheel ofthe Law, ii. 229.

    Alak. See Tien Siian.

    Alcock. Sir R. , ii. 637.

    Almanac, rectified by Jesuits, ii. 68, 298

    ;

    its importance, ii. 79.

    Altai, i.e., ‘Golden Mountains,’ or Kin

    Shan, i. 9.

    Altars, to Heaven, Agriculture, and Earth,

    Peking, i. 70-78 ; fashion of Romish, in

    China, ii. 31.-).

    Altchuku, or A-shi-ho, town in Kirin, i.

    197.

    Alum, found in Sz’chuen, i. 308 ; an article

    of export, ii. 392.

    Amber, brought to China, ii. 398.

    Amherst, Lord, rebuff of his embassy at

    Ynen-niing Yuen, i. 80 ; his mission to

    the capital, ii. 4.58.

    American, missionaries and the Hangchau

    settlement, ii. 351 ; treaty with China

    respecting toleration of Christianity, ii.

    360 ; trade with China, ii. 460 ; residents

    at Canton and Governor Lin, ii. 514

    1

    embassy to China concludes treaty oi

    VVaiighia, ii. .567 ; homicide of Chinese

    by, in Canton, ii. 568 ; Chinese favorably

    disposed toward, ii. 570 ; fleet destroy

    the Barrier forts, ii. 638 ; government

    asked to co-operate with England,

    ii. 642 ; minister. Sir. Reed, arrives in

    China, ii. 643 ; minister, Mr. Ward, cooperates

    in preventing coolie trade, ii.

    663 ; negotiations with the Chinese

    ofiicials at Taku forts, ii. 665 ; embassy

    escorted to Peking via Pehtang, ii. 669

    ;

    minister refuses to kotow and returns,

    ii. 670 ; sailor hung for murder at Shanghai,

    ii. 696 ; treaty with China negotiated

    )jy Burhngame, ii. 6US ; missionaries

    frightened away from TSugchau, iL 705.

    Amiot, Pere i. 598, ii. 96, 149, SOU.

    Ampere, J. J., i. 715.

    Amoy, climate of, i. 53 ; island, i. 129

    ;

    city, i. 183; its environs, i. 134; lexicon,

    the Shili-wrt Yin, i. 590; dialect,

    i. 611, 612,615; New Year usages at,

    i. 814; infanticide at, ii. 239; sentiment

    toward foreigners, ii. oS8 ; Protestant

    mission at, ii. 348; Chinese and Dutch

    take, ii. 438 ; East India Company trade

    at, ii, 445, 448 ; taken by the English,

    ii. .524, .528 ; not hostile to foreigners, ii.

    573 ; during Tai-ping Rebellion, ii. 629.

    Amulets and charms, to ward off evil, iL

    25.5-257.

    Amusements, at dinner, i. SOS ; out-door,

    i. 825 ; peaceful character of Chinese, i.

    829.

    Amur River (called also Sas^alien, Kwantung,

    Helung kiang), i. 189.

    Analects of Confucius, the Lun Yu, i.

    656.

    Ancestral worship, compatible with

    Buddhism, ii. 223; its antiquity, ii. 236;

    its forms, etc., ii. 250-2.55; allowed by

    Ricci, ii. 292, 299; and Christianity, ii.

    355.

    Anderson, Dr. John, i. 79, 181, 184, 337,

    ii. 719, 721, 732.

    (44 INDEX.

    Anglo-Chinese College <at Malacca, ii. 324.

    Animals, of China, quadiumanous, i. 814-

    317, carnivoious, SlV-^iriO, ruminants.

    320-323, dome stic, 323-320, rodents and

    smaller animals, 32G-o2′.>, cetaceous,

    329-330, four fabulous, 342-34r) ; in the

    Herbal, i. 374-377 ; used as iood, i. 772,

    77() ; pack, ii. 7 ; of the calendar and

    zodiac, ii. fi’.t, 71 ; sculptured, ii. 115.

    Ant-eater, or pangolin, Chinese ideas of,

    i. 328.

    Antelope, hwangyang, or clzcren, of Mongolia,

    i. 321.

    An-ting man, in Peking wall, 1. 63

    ;

    opened to the allied troops, ii. 680.

    Ants, studied by Chinese, i. 354.

    Apple, or haw. of Manchuria, i. 300.

    Arab, merchants introduce the name

    Chhia into Europe, i. 3; travellers in

    China, li. l’;S, 414, 421; name for opium,

    ii, 373.

    Arabdan, khan of the ^ongares, i. 233.

    Architecture, Chinese, compared with Indian,

    i. 72(i, domestic, ‘i28, military,

    758 ; its needs and limitations, ii. 11(1.

    Area of the Eighteen Provinces, i. 272,

    £70.

    Argali, mountain sheep, in China, i. 321.

    Arithiuctic, Chinese knowledge of, ii. GO.

    Arms used in warfare, ii. 88.

    Army of China, pay of, i. 2′.)3 ; laws concerning,

    i. 388 ; memorial as to its condition

    in 1838, i. 494 ; examination

    system in, i. 560 ; in theory and practice,

    ii. SS-93 ; its condition on outbreak

    of Tai-ping Rebellion, ii. 590.

    Arnold’s Light of AfIu, ii. 220.

    Arrow, case of the lorcha, ii. 359,

    035-038.

    Art, Chinese, in book illustrations, i. 080 ;

    in aboriculture, ii. 13 ; in bronze, ii. 31 ;

    porcelain decorations, ii. 25 ; carving,

    etc., li. 59 ; illustrative, iL 105-111

    ;

    symbolic, ii. Ill, 112; caricatures, ii.

    115 ; export of objects of, ii. 393 ; example

    of, ii. 080, note.

    Assam, tea native of, iL 51.

    Ass, wild, of the steppes, i. 212, 323.

    Assembly balls, or club-houses, in Chinese

    cities,!. 70, 122,107,739.

    Astrology and divination, ii. 09, 74.

    Astronomy, Chinese study of, ii, 68, 72

    romance of, ii, 70 ; and Jesuits, ii. 298.

    Atkinson, T, W., i. 331.

    Atlas of China, the Tien Chii, or ‘Heaven’s

    Pillar Mountains,’ i. 13.

    Auber, Peter, on foreign trade with

    China, ii. 4.50. 45;).

    Audience, of officials before Emperor of

    China, i. 801 ; of the Dutch ambassadors

    Goyer and Keyzer,. ii. 435 ; of

    Lord Macartney, ii. 4.55 ; question not

    raised by Gushing, ii. 570 ; question discussed

    by Ward’s embassy at Peking,

    ii. 009 ; Rwinhoe’s descriptin -^f an, at

    Yuen-ming Yuen, ii. 083; _, .uted to

    all foreign ministers, ii. 714.

    Azaleas about Ningpo, i. 370.

    Azure Sea (see Koko-nor), i. 210.

    BABER, E. C, i. 181 ; sent on Gro*.

    venor mission, ii. 723, 724.

    Baldwin, C. C, i. 015.

    Balfour, F. H., li. 212.

    Ball, Samuel, ii. .5.5, 373.

    Ballads, specimens of Chinese, i. 705-714.

    Balls, hollow, how carved, ii. 59.

    Bamboo, beauty and uses of, i. 3.58-.’;00;

    articles exported, ii. 393.

    Bamboo books, the, i. 681 ; their authenticity,

    ii. 149, 15.5.

    Banditti numerous in China, i. 480,

    495, 497.

    Banks and banking system in China,

    ii. 85.

    Baptism, of moribund infants by Catholics,

    ii. 310; discussion among missionaries

    concerning Mord for, ii. 363.

    Baptist Missionary Society in Hong Kong,

    ii. 347.

    Barbers’ establishments in China, i. 7(50;

    their traitment of tlie eye.s, ii. 129.

    Barkul (or Chinsi fu), town and lake of

    Kansuh, i. 214.

    Barkut, or golden eagle, hunting with,

    i. 331.

    Barrier forts, near Canton, destroyed by

    Americans, li. 038.

    Barrow, J., i. 22, 105, 117, 175, 287, 290,

    741, 7.55, 772; ii. 5, 9.5, 97, 104, 240, 455.

    Batang, in Sz’chuen, i. 20.

    Bats, Chinese, i. 316 ; symbol of happiness,

    ii. Ill

    .

    Bayan-kara in the Kwanlun system, i. 11,

    211.

    Bazin, i. 84.5, 714, ii. 213, 217.

    Beal, Samuel, ii. 229.

    Bcal, T., aviary of, at Macao, i. 341.

    Bears, Chinese, i. 317.

    Beggars, on the Tai-shan, i. 91 ; in Canton,

    i. 730 ; how controlled, i. 742 ; condition

    of, i. 835 ; and Buddhist priests,

    ii. 220; alms for, ii. 203.

    Bell, great, of Peking, i. 74 ; temple of, at

    Puking, i. 79.

    Bell, John, his residence at Peking,

    ii. 442.

    Belles-lettres, character and variety of

    Chinese, i. 074.

    Bellew, Dr. II. W., i. 234, 227.

    Bells, rich in tone, ii, 20.

    Belur-tag, Tartash ling, Tstmg ling,

    ‘ Onion ‘ or ‘ Blue Mountains,’ i. 9.

    Benevolent institutions, Chinese, ii. 208-

    20() ; foreign : Morrison’s and Parker’s

    hospitals, ii. 333 ; Society for Diffusion

    of Useful Knowledge, ii. 340 ; Morrison

    Education Society, ii. 341.

    INDEX. 745

    Bentham, Gro., i. 9,<}C>, 355.

    lietel-nut, a masticatory, how used, ii.397.

    Jittiothment, cereniotiies relative to, i.

    785 ; ‘spilling the tea,’ i. T’Jo ; evils attending

    earl J’, i. 7135.

    Bible, translated by Nestorians, ii. 280 ;

    Montecorvino ordered to illustrate the,

    ii. 288 ; withheld from Chinese by

    Ricci, ii. 292 ; Ur. Morrison’s translation,

    ii. lil’.l, o20; revi.sion, ii. SOo, o04 ;

    contains the earliest notice of China,

    ii. 408 ; revision and J. R. Morrison,

    ii. 5(i0.

    Biohe-de-mer, or sea-slug, how eaten,

    i. 780 ; imported, ii. ;)U7.

    Bickmore, A. S., i. 29(>.

    Biographies, numerous in Chinese literature,

    i. (581.

    Biot, Edouard, i. 259, 263, 271, 413, 421,

    482, 521, 543, 554, 559, 590, G3S, 644,

    081, ii. 34. 87, 203.

    Birds, of Tibet, I 243 ; of China, i. 330-

    341 ; under one radical, i. 374.

    Birds’-nest soup, its preparation, i. 780

    ;

    and sharks’ fins imported, ii. 397.

    Birthday fete at Ningpo, i. 814.

    Black-haired race. Li Alin, common term

    for Chinese, i. 5.

    Blacksmith, his shop and tools, ii. 57.

    Blakiston, T. W., i. 21-22, 145, 30.^.

    Blodget, Dr. H., ii. 304.

    Blood of animals used for food, medicines,

    etc., i. 778.

    Boards, Six, in government, i. 415 ; Civil

    Office, i. 421 ; Revenue, i. 422 ; Rites,

    1. 423; War, i. 424 ; Punishments, i. 426;

    Works, i. 427 ; iiresidents of, i. 436

    ;

    subordinate offices in the, i. 559.

    Boats, bridge of, at Ningpo, i. 121 ; variety

    and number of, in China, i. 749-753 ;

    decorated at New Year, 1. 813 ; and internal

    navigation of China, ii. 390.

    Bogue, or Bocca Tigris, near Canton, i.

    100; negotiations v/ith Kishen at, ii.

    517 ; forts taken, ii. 520 ; destroyed

    again, ii. .528 ; supplementary treaty

    signed at, ii. .501 ; Governor Davis retakes

    the forts, li. .573.

    Bonham, Governor, visits the Tai-pings

    at Nanking, ii. .577; advised by gentrv

    of Canton not to enter the city, ii.

    025.

    Bwk of Rites {Li Ki), i. 424, 520, 643-

    047, 805, ii. 33.

    Book of Odes {Shi King), i. 636-643, ii.

    236, 321.

    Book of Records {Shu Kijig), i. 633-636,

    808, ii. 32, 30, 08, 146 ff., 169, 372.

    Book of Chanfies ( Yih Kiiir/), i. 027-033.

    Books, used in schools, i. .520-.541, .574 ;

    manufacture and price of, i. 600-0( 2

    burned by Tsin. B.C. 200, ii. 101 ; Nestorian,

    destroyed, ii. 286 ; circulated in

    the opium traffic, ii. 379 ; destroyed at

    Canton, ii. 026 ; by Protestants, ii. 328»

    331, 340.

    Boone, W. J., ii..^38, 348.

    Bore, or Eagre, of the Tsientang, i. 114,

    ii. 415.

    Borget, A., i. 128, 320, 771.

    Bostang-nor, or Lake Bagarash, i. 24,

    223, 224.

    Botany, of China, i. b’SS-SIO ; of the

    /’lilt tsito, i. 372-374.

    Boulgcr, D. C, i. 237, ii. 137; notice of

    Turkestan, ii. ‘i28 ; of Mohammedan

    revolt, ii. 730, 731.

    Boundaries, of the Chinese Empire, i. 6 ;

    of tlu! Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; made

    under Kienlung. i. .59; of 111, i. 215 ;

    of Tibet, i. 237 ; disputes concerning

    the Amur, ii. 441 ; of the Empire near

    Kuldja, ii. 733.

    Bowring, Sir John, i. 459 ; his relations

    with Yeh, ii. 033 ; his character, ii.

    634; action in the Arrow case, ii.

    635 ; opens hostilities with China, ii.

    ‘ 637 ; his conduct discussed in Parliament,

    ii. 041.

    Braam, Andreas van, Dutch ambassador

    to Kienlung, i. 324, ii. 489.

    Bremer, Sir Gordon, attacks Tinghai

    with the fleet, ii. 514; takes the Bogue

    forts, ii. 517, 520 ; sails for Calcutta,

    ii. 521.

    Breton, i. 314, 771.

    Bretschneider, Dr. E., i 84, 345, 651,

    ii. 413.

    Bribes, nature and extent of, among officials,

    i. 474 ; at examinations, i. 569.

    Bricks, Chinese, their shapes and uses,

    i. 728.

    Bridges, construction and variety of, in

    China, i. 7.53-756.

    Bridgman, Dr. E. C, i. .530, 537. ii. 277;

    arrives in China, ii. 327, 333, 335,

    342, 346.

    Bridgman, J. G., i. 43, 209, 316.

    Bronze, beauty and excellence of, ii. 20.

    Bros.set, jeniic, i. 643.

    Brown, Rev. S. R., ii. 342, .344.

    Bruce, Sir Frederick A., and reorganization

    of Ever-Victoiious force, ii. 611 ;

    commendation of (Gordon’s conduct,

    ii. 619 ; sent by Elgin to commissioners

    at Tientsin, ii. 655 ; repairs to Taku

    with the allies, ii. 064, 065, 071, 672 ;

    his good offices in Lay-Oslxime flotilla

    affair, ii. 093, 694 ; his influence in

    China, ii. (i99.

    Buddha, temple and statue of, in Peking,

    i. 71 ; near Si-ngan, i. 151 ; his life,

    ii. 218 ; Chinese expedition to buy

    relics of, ii. 414.

    Buddhism, of the Mougol.s, i. 305,

    ii. 234 ; in Khoten, i. 231 ; the lion and,

    i. 317; ridiculed in the ‘Sacred Commands,’!.

    689; and pagodas in China,

    746 INDEX.

    i. 744; introduced a.b. 05, under

    Ming ti, ii. 163 ; in fourtli century A. d.,

    ii. 165; and the Emperor Wu ti, ii.

    166 ; its growth in China, ii. 217-229

    and Koniaiiism compared, ii. 281,

    315; bibliography, ii. 22′.t, 232, 234;

    and J’uii(/-s/iui, ii. 246.

    Buddhist, name for China, Chin-tan, i 3,

    5; Olympus, i. 12; temples in

    Peking, i. 73-79 ; manufactories at

    Dolon-nor, i. 87; temples in Hangchau,

    i. lis ; on Puto Island, i. 124; at

    Canton, i. I(i4-1()() ; books translateil into

    Mongolian, i. 206 ; temples at Kuldja,

    i. 218; at H’lassa, i. 245; priests

    and snakes, i. 346 ; images in clamshells,

    i. 350 ; c7iaA’*v<»’ar^^i audCliinese

    hwamjt’i^ i. 395 ; arrangement of Chinese

    characters, i. 589 ; tractatG, i. 708 ;

    chanting, ii. 96 ; pilgrims between

    India and China, ii. 413 ; notions of cosmogony,

    ii. 139 ; charm cut in Kiiyung

    kwan gateway, ii. 176; missionaries

    in China, ii. 189 ; priest as rain-maker,

    ii. 203 ; priests oppose Nestorians, ii.

    280, 28(5.

    Buffalo {^hui ni/i), used more than the

    ox. i. 274, 320 ; in rice-fields, ii. 3

    ;

    worshipped, ii. 14.

    Bukur, a town of 111, i. 225.

    Bunge, Alex, von, i. 296, 355.

    Ikirdon, Bishop J., ii. 364.

    Burgevine, succeeds Ward in command

    of the Ever-Victorious force, ii. 609;

    goes over to Tai-pings, ii. 613 ; his proposal

    to (Jordoii, ii. 614.

    Burial, of lamas in Tibet, i. 250 ; places

    in china, i. 275 ; ceremonies attending,

    ii. 243-2.55 ; ceremonies and Christians,

    ii. 3] 3.

    Burkhan-buddha in the Kwanlun system,

    i. 11, 211.

    liiirlingame, Hon. Anson, ii. ()95 ; enters

    upon Ills mission to foreign powers, ii.

    696 ; his death, ii. 698 ; influence in

    China, ii. 699.

    Bushell, Dr. S. W., i. 88, ii. 160, 174.

    (CABINET, or Imperial Chancery, i.

    ; 415-417.

    Callery, J. M., i. 589, 643, 644, 672, 627.

    Cambaluc (Peking), i. 61, 63, 6.5.

    Camellia, a favorite flower, i. 367; akin

    to tea, ii. 40.

    Camels, wild, of Lob-nor, i. 223 ; usefulness

    of, i. 325 ; hair rugs, ii. 39.

    Camphor on Formosa, i. 140; its preparation,

    ii. 55.

    Canals (se<! (Irand Canal, i. 31), i. 37.

    Candida, a Roman Catholic convert,

    establishes hospitals, ii. 265; baptized,

    ii. 292 ; her good works, ii. 294.

    Cangue {Icia), its use as a punishment, i.

    509.

    Canfu (or Kanpu), i. 127, ii. 414 ; Abu

    Zaid concerning, ii. 415.

    Cannon, imitating English, found, ii. 62 ;

    cast b}’ Jesuit missionaries, ii. 298;

    found at Tinghai, ii. 525 ; at Shanghai,

    ii. .536 ; at Barrier forts, ii. 638.

    Canton, climate of, i. 53 ; rainfall, i. 56 ;

    description, i. 160-169 ; environs, i.

    169-170 ; granaries in, i. 295 ; the tankia,

    i. 412, 751 ; location of magistrates

    in, i. 445 ; Gov. Chu’s departure

    from, i. 462 ;

    ‘ Free Discussion Hall

    ‘

    at, i. 488 ; executions at, in 18.54, i. 513 ;

    prisons, i. 514 ; examinations, i. 550

    ;

    words in dialect, i. 611, 614; shops,

    i. 736; street scenes, i. 740; fire control

    in, i. 743 ; the river craft of, i. 749 ;

    dog-mear, restaurants, i. 778 ; at New

    Year, i.813; at Feast of Lanterns, 1.819 ;

    porcelain painting, ii. 26 ; a cotton

    –

    factory experiment at, ii. 63 ; taken by

    Manchus in 1650, ii. 179; the prefect

    and governor of, pray for rain, ii. 203-

    205 ; infanticide rare in, ii. 239,

    242 ; disposal of the dead at, ii 254 ;

    worship at street shrines, ii. 263 ; Moslems

    in, ii. 268; excitement in, about

    Portuguese, ii. 292 ; Morrison arrives in,

    ii. 318; dies there, ii. 327 ; unpromising

    field for missionarit’s, ii. 34() ; Marcus

    Aurelius’s eiiiliassy enters, ii. 410 ; the

    East India (“onipany established at, ii.

    446 ; homicides among foreigners in, ii.

    451; Lord Napier at, ii. 467-473; foreigners

    detained Ijy Lin at, ii. 498 ; Elliot

    leaves, ii. 503 ; fortified, ii. 513, 521 ;

    Elliot accepts a ransom for, ii. 523 ; dislike

    of foreigners at close of war, ii. 555 ;

    Kiyiiig sent to. ii. 557 ; troubles at, with

    foreigners, ii. .5(i8

    ; question of admittance

    to the city, ii. 573; lawlessness

    at, ii. 580 ; sentiment in. ii. 625 ; rebels

    about, ii. 630 ; their wholesale execution,

    ii. 632 ; Admiral Seymour enters,

    ii. 638 ; French legation withdraws

    from, ii. 639 ; taken by Franco-English

    forces, ii. 644 ; influence of Elgin’s tact

    at, ii. 647, 661 ; coolies with British

    at Taku, ii. 674 ; French missionary

    aggressions at, ii. 709.

    Cantor, Dr. T. E., i. 350, 351.

    Caps, various official, i. 414.

    Cards, visiting, i. 802.

    Caricature in Chinese art, ii. 11.5.

    Carving, delicacy of Chinese, ii. 59 ; exj)

    ort of, ii. :!94 ; horn and ivory, ii. 400.

    Cassia, and cinnamon, ii. .55 ; and cassia

    oil as exports, ii. 392 ; the inalaOatliriDii

    of the Periplus, ii. 412.

    Catalogue, Imperial, i. 626; of ancient

    Chinese books recovered, ii. 149.

    Cathay, a modern Persian name for

    China, i. 4 ; its signification in the Middle

    Ages, ii. 408.

    INDEX. 747

    Cats (kia-li), in China, i. 318 ; eaten, 1.

    777.

    Celestial Empire, derived from 2^ie7i

    C/iiix, ‘Heavenly Dynasty.’ i. 5.

    Celestial Mountains. .See Tien Shan.

    Censorate, its duties and influence, i. 430-

    483.

    Censors, report.s from, i. 4G4, 480, .5(]().

    Censuses of China, i. 2.58-2(54 ; considered

    and compared, i. 2U5-272 ; method of

    taking, i. 2S()-282 ; probable accuracy,

    i. 283-288.

    ‘Century of Surnames ‘ {Pi/i Kia Sing),

    a school-book, i. S^’IO.

    Ceremonies, importance of, in government,

    i. 424 ; (jourt of, i. 43.5 ; the iSiao Ilioh

    upon, i. .540 ; in broader sense mean /t,

    i. G45 ; marriage, i. 787-701 ; of obeisance

    at court, i. 801 ; funeral, ii. 243-

    250.

    Ceylon, Yungloh’s expedition against, ii.

    414.

    Chahar. See Tsakhar, i. 87.

    Chalmers, John, ii. 72, 207, 211.

    Chang-an, in Shensi. See Si-ngan.

    Changchau, in Puhkien, i. 13.5-13G ; bridge

    at, i. 7.55 ; infanticide in, ii. 240

    ;

    taken by Tai-pings, ii. 605.

    Chang-peh Shan, ‘ Long White Mountains,’

    their position, i. 10 ; called Kolmin-

    shanguin alin by Manchus, i. 13,

    188.

    Changsha, capital of Hunan, i. 147

    stormed by Tai-pings, ii. 595.

    Chapu, i. I2(i, ii. 414; captured by the

    British, ii. .533.

    Characters, Chinese, for bee, ant, etc. , i.

    354 ; botanical, i. 372 ; zoological, i.

    874; method of memorizing, at school,

    i. 5-11 ; origin of, i. 580; six classes, i.

    583 ; their number, i. 580 ; classification,

    i. .590-.508.

    Chan, ‘department’ or ‘district,’ term

    explained, i. .58; prefect of, i. 441.

    Chan dynasty, term ‘ Middle Kingdom ‘

    dates from, i. 4 ; and the Kvi-oh-tsz’

    Kien, i. .543 ; King Wan of the, i. 020;

    Duke, i.C37, 643, 808, ii. 157-1(50 ; After

    Chan, ii. 172.

    Chau hu, ‘Nest Lake,’ in Nganhwui, i.

    109.

    Chau-ll, or ‘ Ritual of Chau,’ i. 483; its

    character, i. (543.

    Chau-sm, Emperor of the Shang, ii. 1.56.

    Chehkiang province, climate of, i. 55 •,

    position and water ways, i. 114; trees

    and productions, i. 11.5; the mulberry

    in, ii. 11; silk, ii.34 ; missions in, ii. .)51.

    Chess, the Chinese games of, i. 827-829.

    Chih-li, ‘ Direct rule,’ term explained,

    i. 58.

    Chihli province, position, i. 60; lakes

    and rivers of, i. 88 ; productions, i. 89.

    Children, course of study for, i. 521-541 ;

    how regarded in ancient time.s, i. 640;

    ari’angement of their hair, i. 765

    ;

    names, i. 797 ; how sj)oken of, i. 804 ;

    infanticide, ii. 239ff.; foundling hospitals

    for, ii. 264 ; baptism of, by Catholics,

    ii. 310 ; in the Tientsin Romanist

    orphan asylum, ii. 700.

    Chifu, in Shantung, i. 90, 9.3 ; gold near,

    i. 311 ; French at, ii. 6’i2 ; convention,

    ii. 724.

    Chin dynasty, its trade and intercourse,

    ii. 166.

    Vhi)\ sub-district or department, term

    explained, i. .59.

    Chin Hwa-ching, Chinese general, at

    Wusung, ii. 534 ; his bravery, ii. .53.5.

    China, origin of name uncertain, probably

    from Tuin, i. 2, ii. 161 ; name

    introduced into Europe by Arab traders,

    i. 3 ; native names of, i. 4 ; Buddhist

    and Mohammedan terms for, i. 5 ;

    dimensions of the Empire, i. 5 ; of the

    Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; boundaries,

    i. 6 ; its three grand divisions, i. 7 ;

    its mountain systems, i. 9 ; deserts, i.

    15-17; rivers, i. 18; lakes, i. 23 ; coast,

    i. 25; Great Wall of, i. 29; Grand

    Canal, i, 31 ; roads, i. 37; general aspect,

    i. 40 ; aboriginal races of, i. 42 ;

    climate on coast of, compared with

    America, i. .55 ; colonies, i. 185-257

    ;

    population, i. 264; science in, i. 297,

    377; education in, i. .521 ft’.; popular

    ideas concerning, i. 724 ; methods of

    cultivation in, ii. 7 ; its early history

    not without foundation, ii. 135; Christianity

    in, ii. 275 ; surve}^ of, by the

    Jesuits, ii. 308 ; prospects of Christian

    missions in, ii. 354 ; ancient and modern

    commerce of, ii. 372. 390 ft’. ; earliest

    notices of, ii. 408 ; general condition of,

    after first war, ii. .573 ; forcibly opened,

    ii. 656 ; condition in 1865, ii. 6′.)3 ; hopeful

    prospects for the country, ii. 738,

    743.

    Chinchew, or Tsiuenchau, the ancient

    Zayton, i. 129, 136; bridge at, i. 755;

    Portuguese traders at, ii. 428.

    Chin-chin, origin of the word, i. 805.

    Chinese, race types, i. 41 ; women, 1. 42

    ;

    industry and civilization of, i. 46 ; works

    on geography, i. 49 ; people of Shantung,

    i. 93; policy in I’ll, i. 314 ft’.;

    Herbal, i. 370-377 ; political education

    of, i. 384; divisions of society, i. 411;

    advancement aft’ected by their language,

    i. 579 ; philosophy mixed with divination,

    i. 629, 632, ii. 74 ; care of their

    early records, i. 651 ; their notions of

    foreign countries, i. 725 ; popular ideas

    respecting their food, i. 777 ; their social

    customs, i. 782 ; regulations regarding

    marriage, i. 792; names, how written,

    i. 798 ; ceremony and etiquette, i.

    748 IXDEX.

    800 ; a temperate people, i. 808 ; commendable

    traits of the, i. H’d’d ; gardeners

    rather than farmers, ii. o ; societj’,

    industry of, ii. C3 ; their tendency to

    co-operate, ii. 88 ; chronology and cosmogony,

    ii. 13G-144; their origin, it

    144 ; adopt the queue, ii. 17′.) ; causes

    of their remarkable duration, ii. 188 ft”.;

    influence of ancestral worship on, ii.

    ‘2o7 ft”. ; benevolence, ii. SG:! fT. ; Christian

    missions among the, ii. 27.^ ; character

    of, emigrants in the Archipelago, ii.

    3’2:^ ; future influence of newspapers

    among, ii. o41 ; generally irreligious, ii.

    355 ; tluir early isolation and suspicion,

    iL 40t) ; subse<iuent estimate of foreigners

    influenced by early Portuguese traders,

    ii. 4:27 ; maltreated by Spaniards in

    Manila, ii . 432 ; terms for ‘ foreigner,

    ‘

    ii. 461 ; view of first war with England,

    iL 508 ; national confidence during Taiping

    Rebellion, ii. 604, 625 ; foreigners’

    abuse of, ii. 706 ; character as exhibited

    during the great famine, ii. 735,

    736 ; Education Commission to the

    United States, iL 7’39, 740.

    Chinese Rcj)ository, its origin and object,

    ii. 332 ; on first war with England, ii.

    .550.

    Chinhai, in Chehkiang, L 123 ; capture of,

    ii. 520.

    Ching-hwang miao, of Peking, i. 69 ; in

    Canton, i. 165 ; in Shanghai, i. 107, ii.

    202, 535.

    Chingtih. See Jeh-ho, L 88.

    Chingtu, in Sz’chuen, L 149, 156-157.

    Chinkiang, in Kiangsu, i. 104 ; Nestorians

    in, ii. 285 ; capture by British, ii.

    .540; by Tai-pings, ii. 590; recaptured

    by rebels, ii . 605.

    Cholera and small-pox common, ii. 132.

    Chop (//'(“), meaning of the term, i. 800 ;

    in tea trade, ii. 48.

    Chop-sticks (Av/vji tsz’), how used, L 807.

    Christianity, and the Sabbath in China,

    i. 810; its introduction into China l)y

    Nestorian.s, ii. 275 ; l)y Roman (‘atholics,

    ii. 287 ; confounded with Triad

    Sect, iL 312 ; Protestants commence

    their labors, ii. 318 ; prospects for toleration

    in China, ii. 354 ; jjreached in

    Formosa by the Dutch, ii. 434 ; Hung

    Siu-tsuen accepts, ii. 58(i ; he studies at

    Canton, ii. 588 ; absence of its principles

    in Tai-ping movement, ii. 600- Lord

    Elgin’s reply to missionaries concerning,

    ii. 649 ; and missions in China,

    problem discussed by the officials, ii.

    707.

    Chronology, Chinese, ii. 135 ; its claims

    to belief, ii. 143.

    Chu, (Jovernor, valedictory ode of, i. 462.

    Chu Hi, commentator of Confucius, his

    home in Kiangsi.i. 113 ; his Siau IHolt^

    i. .540 ; commentaries of, i. 652, 654,

    677 ; his philosophy, i. 683 ; on cosmogony,

    ii. 141; on Tablet of Yu, iL

    150, 174, 200.

    Chukiang. See Pearl River, L 22, 159,

    etc.

    Chung-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Central Peace,’

    Palace at Peking, i. 68.

    Chunghow, escorts American embassy to

    Peking, ii. 668 ; in the Tientsin riot, ii.

    702, 703 ; sent to France on a mission

    of apology, ii. 7C.5 ; abused by the

    foreign press, ii. 706 ; sent to Russia,

    ii. 731 ; jjunishmcnt for negotiating

    treaty of Livadia, ii. 732.

    Chungking, in S/.’cliueii, L 155, 158.

    Vhuriij Kiuoh, or ‘ Middle Kingdom,’ name

    for China since B.C. 1150, i. 4, 98.

    Chusan Archipelago, i. 123-126; British

    fleet arrives at, ii. 515 ; restored, ii. 580.

    Chun 2’xiu, or ‘ Spring and Autumn Record,’

    i. 647-651, 663.

    Chu Tsun, a censor, i. 432.

    Cibot, Pere, i. 537, iL 14.

    Cicadas, tricks with, i. 3.52.

    Cities in China, aspect of, i. 40 ; arrangement

    of streets in, i. 738 ; their dull

    appearance, i. 746.

    Civilization, of the Chinese, L 46, 380-

    383 ; the wife in, i. 792.

    Club-houses, in Peking, i. 76 ; Ningpo, i.

    122; Canton, i. 167, 739.

    Clans, in south China, i. 482 ; their customs,

    i. 484 ; secret societies, i. 492 ; in

    the Archipelago, ii. 323.

    Classics, or Chinese canonical books,

    characters in, i. 589 ; the minor, as

    school-books, i. 526-541 ; price of the

    nine, i. 602 ; the five cliief, described, i.

    627-651 •, the ‘Four Books,’ or minor,

    L 652-672 ; Hall of the, i. 74, 730.

    Clientclage in Chinese official ranks, i. 461.

    Climate, of Eighteen Provinces, i. 50 ; of

    Mongolia, i. 201 ; of lli, L 223 ; of Tibet,

    i. 241.

    Cloisonni’, its manufacture, ii. 60.

    Coal, in Chilili, i. 89 ; in Shantung, i. 93 ;

    in Shansi, i. 94-95 ; in Formosa, i. 139;

    in Hunan, i. 147; Kwangtung, i. 174;

    Yunnan, i. 184 ; modeo.f working, i. 305.

    Coast, length of Chinese, i. 7 ; granitic

    mountains of, i. 14; character of, i.

    26 ; climate of, i. 55 ; trade along the,

    ii. 389.

    Cobblers, itinerant, ii. 39.

    Cobdo province, i. 208 ; Tourgouths in,

    i. 220.

    Coffin, C. C, i. 781.

    Coffins, stored in temples, i. 275 ; form

    and value of, ii. 244 ; in larariums, ii.

    2.54.

    Cole, R., i. 604, ii. 325, 350.

    Colledge, Dr. T. R., his hospital at Ma.

    cao, ii. 333, 335.

    INDEX. (49

    Colleges, in Canton, i. 542, 545 ; Anglo-

    Chinese, at Malacca, ii. 324.

    Collie Kev. David, i. 054, ii. o24, 368.

    Colonial Office, Peking, i. 72, 426.

    Colonial Possessions oi Cliina, i. 7 ; genoral

    table of, i. KSi» ; population, i. 284 ;

    governed by the Li Fan Yuen, i. 428.

    Commerce, Chinese, ii. 373^05. See also

    nnder Trade

    Concessions, or foreign settlements at

    trade i)orts, ii. 020.

    Concubines, their position in the household,

    i. 791.

    Confucius, worship of, in ‘ Hall of Intense

    Thought,’ Peking, i. (>’.); temple to, at

    Peking, i. 73. ii. 15!) ; l)irthplace, i.

    90; ‘ bird of,’ the pjacock, i. 337 ; influence

    of, on permanence of Chinese institutions,

    i. 3SL ; family of, ennobled,

    i. 387, 406. 52;), 525 ; and Hiang Toll, i.

    534, 530, 538, (;3t), 637 ; and the Li Ki, i.

    644 ; his Ckiui Tsiii, i. 047 ; Ana ects of,

    i. 6.5() ; his life, i. 058 ; character of his

    philosophy, i. 003 ; worship of, i. 004 ;

    influence in government j)olity, ii. 92;

    on music, ii. 94 ; and early emperors, ii.

    146 ; writings burned, ii. 101 ; worshipped,

    ii. 195 ; on religion, ii. 199 ; tsmples

    to, ii. 203 ; as an example, ii. 206 ; his

    meeting with Lau-tsz’, ii. 212, 218, 237.

    Contrarieties in Chinese and Western

    usages, i. 829-833.

    Cooking among the Chinese, i. 781.

    Cool.e trade, and Kwangting rebellion, ii.

    631 ; its atrocities, and efforts toward its

    suppression, li. 0tj2 ; labor employed by

    the British at Taku, ii. 084 ; convention

    signed respecting, ii. 098 ; is finally

    abolislied, ii. 715.

    Cooper, T. T., i. 43, ii. 719.

    Copper, m Yunnan, i. 184 ; uses and localities

    of, i. 311 ; manufacture, ii. 19.

    Cordier, Henri, i. 034, 781, ii. 318, 024.

    Corea. frontier of, i. 190 ; trade at Ki-iu

    wan fair, i. 194 ; Chinese attempts to

    conquer, ii. 92 ; conquest of, by the

    Tang, ii 109; language, ii. 190.

    Cormorant, fishing with the, ii. 10 ; noticed

    by Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Cosmogonj’-, Chinese, ii. 137 ; Chu Hi’s,

    li. 141, 200.

    Cotton cultivati m, ii. 9 ; and manufacture,

    ii. 36, 02.

    Cottrell, C. H., i. 207.

    Council of State, or General Council, i.

    415, 418.

    Couriers, government and post, i. 389, 425.

    Court, of Controllers, Peking, i. 69 ; arrangemont-^

    of imperial, i. 407 ; of Colonial

    Government, i. 428 ; Censorate, i.

    430 , Transmission and Judicature, i.

    433 ; minor court.s, i. 4:!5 ; criminal, i.

    503 ; dialect, i. 013 ; ceremony otkotoii\

    i. 801.

    Creation, Chinese ideas concerning, u

    137.

    Crickets used for gambling, i. 352, 886.

    Crime, laws respecting, in the code, i

    389.

    Crow, the, on Desert of Sha-moh, i. 17

    ;

    about Peking, i. 334.

    Cashing, Hon. Caleb, appointed U. S.

    minister to China, ii. 505 ; concludes

    treaty of Wanghia with Kiying, ii. 567 ;

    correspondence in case of homicide, ii.

    568.

    Customs, management of, i. 444, ii. 402 ;

    internal transit, ii. 391 ; revenue, ii.

    404 ; put into hands of foreigners at

    Shanghai, ii. 027, 658 ; under Mr. Hart,

    ii. 095.

    Cutch, or terra japonica, a dve, imported,

    ii. 398.

    Cuvier, Baron G., i. 343.

    Cycle adopted by Hwangti, ii. 69, 146.

    Cyclopedias in Chinese literature, i. 693.

    DALAI-LAMA of Tibet, i. 245, 256 ;

    the Pope of Shamanism, ii. 3:!3.

    Dancing, or posture-making, ii. 104.

    Daourian Mountains, on north frontier of

    China, i. 9.

    Darwin, Charles R., i. 3.”34.

    Darwin, Erasmus, i. 357.

    Dates, so-called, of China, the jujube

    plum, i. 305, 775.

    D’Avezac, ii. 416, 418.

    David, P.re, i. 157, 343, 290, 314, 317,

    331, 3.52, 355.

    Davis, Sir J., notice of Grand Canal, L

    32 ; of Yuen-mir.g Yuen, i. 80 ; on

    Canal, i. 92 ; Nanking, i. 101 ; Nganking,

    i. HO; tSketches, i. 114, 101,

    290, 297, 434, 5(51, 055 ; Vhinc.ae Poetry,

    i. 703, 714, 715, 719, 722, 745, ii. 19,

    22, 27, 28, .5.5, 05, 79, 118, 137, 1.52,

    179, 200, 214, 220, 233, 349, 3.52, 382,

    400, 42(), 440, 4i9, 454, 458, 404 ; Kiying

    introduced to, ii. 567 ; takes the Bogue

    forts, ii. .573, 574; his China during

    the. W<u\ ii. 570.

    Day, its divisions, ii. 79.

    Debts and debtors, laws and practice concerning,

    i. 515 ; at New Year, i. 811.

    Deer, varieties of, in China, i. 321.

    Degrees, four literary, in China, i. 547-

    500 ; sale of, i. 549, 500 ; value of, i.

    571.

    De Guignes, i. 37, 119, 200, 271, 280, 289,

    291, 292, 081, 724, 735, 794, 800, 812,

    ii. 30, 32, 33, 73, 96, 307, 250, 271, 410,

    439.

    D’Herbelot, on origin of name China, L

    3 ; on Tartar, i. 302.

    Deluge of Yao, probably an inundation,

    ii. 147.

    Dennys, N. B., i. 84, 130, 170.

    ‘ Density of population in China, i. 373.

    750 l^•l)EX.

    Dent, invited to meet liin in Canton, ii.

    4’M ; conducted to consulate by Captain

    Elliot, ii. 5UU ; Liu probably wislies

    him as a liostage, ii. 5U8.

    D’Entiecolks, ii. ^0.

    DeQuincey, Tiiomas, i. 234.

    Desert of Gobi, or Sha-moh, i. 15. See

    Gobi.

    Deshauterayes, Le Roux, i. l’)”)!.

    Dew, Captain, captures Ningpo, ii. GOO

    ;

    before Shauhing, ii. 010.

    Dialects, of the Chinese language, i. 611;

    the Mandarin, i. Gil! ; Canton and Amoy,

    i. ()14-Gia

    Dictionary, of Kanghi, i. 588, 591, 592,

    G02, (u’i ; Dr. Morrison’s, i. 611 ; its

    compilation, ii. o20.

    Dictionaries, used by the Chinese, i. 589-

    591 ; words in various, i. 611 ; of dialects,

    i. 015 ; in the Imperial Catalogue,

    i. 672.

    Dikes, along Yellow River, i. 19 ; the

    Grand Canal, i. o5 ; at Kaifung, i. 99,

    100.

    Dinners, formal Chinese, described, i.

    806.

    Dish-mending by travelling tinkers, ii. 58.

    Diseases prevalent in China, ii. 12U.

    Divination, by the figures of the Yifi

    Jung, i. 632 ; by the horary characters,

    ii. 69 ; at graves, ii. 240 ; Chinese, compared

    with Roman, ii. 201.

    Divisions, of China, i. 7 ; of Mongolia, i.

    202 ; of Tibet, i. 244 ; of society, i. 412 ;

    b}- Yang Kien into chau, hieii, etc.,

    ii. 167.

    Divorce, laws respecting, i. 794.

    Dogs, in China, i. 318 ; eaten, i. 777.

    Dolon-iior, or Lania-miao, i. 87.

    Dominican friars in China, ii. 297; rivalry

    and quarrels with .Jesuits, ii. 299, 300 ;

    persecuted in Macao, ii. 302.

    Doolittle, Justus, i. 480, .550, .5.59, 719,

    7.52, 781, 788, 797, 817, 821, 827, ii.

    14, 7(), 87, 104, 119, 212, 2-Jl, 242, 248,

    255, 2(;i.

    Douc, or Cochinchinese monkey, i. 314.

    Douglas, Dr. C, i. 61.5.

    Douglas, R. K., i. 663, ii. 217, 261.

    Dragon, or funr/, of the Chinese, i. .344

    ;

    imperial enil^lcm, i. 395 ; on Emperor’s

    used as symbol, ii. 112 ; and grave geomancv,

    ii. 246.

    Dragon-boat Festival, i. 148. 696, 816.

    Dramas and plays in China, i. 714 ; resume

    of a plot, i. 822.

    Dress, style and variety of Chinese, i.

    7.59 ; of Chinese women, i. 763 ; at theatrical

    representations, i. 822 ; felts and

    skins as, ii. 39 ; of Tai-pings, ii. .589.

    Drought, action of officials during, ii.

    203-205.

    Drum Tower, Peking, i. 74 ; stone drums

    in Confucian Temple, ii. 159.

    Ducks, numerous, i. 339 ; the mandarin,

    i. 340 ; hatching establishments, i. 77a.

    Dudgeon, Dr. J., i. 770, li. 134, 240, 241,

    44a.

    Dufresse, Romish missionary to China,

    ii. 30(j, 307 ; on infant baptism, ii. 311

    his letters, ii. 317.

    Du Halde, i. 02, 196, 523, ii. 137, 294,

    443, 719.

    Duuganis, Mohammedan tribe of, L 210,

    and Yakub lieg, ii. 727 ; their revolt,

    ii. 730.

    Du Ponceau, P. S., i. 586.

    Dutch, bring tea into Europe, ii. 51

    ;

    tlriven from Formosa by Ko.\inga, ii.

    180; in the Pescadores, i. 141, ii.

    433 ; and missionaries in the Archipelago,

    ii. 320 ; Chinese notice of, ii. 427

    ;

    trade and embassies to China, ii. 434.

    Dutch Folly Fort, at Canton, i. 163,

    170 ; British bombard Canton from, iL

    640.

    Dwellings, in loess, i. 301 ; in cities,

    construction and arrangement, i. 727-

    733 ; boats used as, i. 750.

    Dyer, Samuel, i. (iC»4, ii. 325, 368.

    Dynasties, table of the Chinese, ii. 186.

    Dzaring Lake, in Koko-nor, i. 18.

    EAGLE, or Barkut, in Mongolia, i.

    331.

    East India Company, appoint Morrison as

    translator, ii. 319: oppose his son’s

    press at Macao, ii. 345 ; and the opium

    trade with China, ii. 376, 377 ; its influence

    and character in China, ii. 443,

    4.59, 403 ; attempt to start a trade at

    Fuhchau, ii. 445 ; control the British in

    China, ii. 453; its responsibility, ii.

    458 ; its close, ii. 4.V.), 738.

    Eclip.se.s, of moon at (^antou, i. SI 9 ; Chinese

    observations of, ii. 73 ; noticed in

    the tShii, ii. 149.

    Edicts, style of, and modes of publishing,

    i. 409.

    Edkins, Dr. Joseph, i. 3, 752, ii. 197,212,

    217, 229, 247, 271, 364.

    Education, in China, Chap. IX. ; probable

    extent of, i. 545 ; female, i. 572-

    577 ; character of Chinese, ii. 370 ; of

    Chinese by missionaries, ii. 310, 341 ;

    of Chinese boys in the United States,

    ii. 739-741.

    Egypt, Chinese snuff-bottles found in, ii

    27,

    Eighteen Provinces (or China Proper),

    called Shih-jxih Sing and C’him(\

    Kwoh in Chinese, i. 8; its mountaiu

    system, i. 14 ; boundaries, i. 25 ; coast,

    i. 26; climate, i. .50; topographical

    divisions, i. .58 ; area and population’

    density of. i. 272 ; their government, i

    437-443.

    INDEX. 761

    Eitel, Ernest, ii. 233, 247.

    Elders of villages, their position, i. 483,

    500.

    Elephants at Peking, i. 323.

    Eleuths, tribe uf Mongols, i. 213, 219.

    Elgin, Loid, his opinion of the Arrow

    case, li. 037; arrival in China, ii. (143;

    before Canton city, ii. (144 ; construction

    of municipal control at its capture,

    ii. (;4G ; replies to Shanghai missionaries

    on toleration of Christianity, ii. 049

    ;

    reaches Tientsin, li. Ool ; bearing toward

    the allies in Tientsin, ii. 054 ; and

    the opium question, ii. 057 ; visits the

    rebels at Hankow, ii. 059 ; among native.”?

    near Canton, ii. 001 ; reappointed

    plenipotentiary to ( liina, ii. 071 ; refuses

    surrender of Takii forts and advances

    to Peking, ii. 0’i7; view of the

    pillage of Yuen-miiig Yuen, ii. 683 ; he

    orders its destruction, ii. 684 ; signs

    the treaty of Peking, ii. OsO \ his character,

    ii. 688.

    Elliot, Admiral G., arrives at Chusan,

    ii. 515.

    Elliot, Captain Charles, made superintendent

    of trade, ii. 481 ; his opinion of

    the opium trade, ii. 482 ; . ordered to

    drive away opium ships, ii. 491 ; his

    exertions to stop smuggling, ii. 496 ; returns

    to Canton and oilers co-operation

    with Lin, ii. 499 ; his circular upon surrendering

    the opium, ii. 502 ; leaves

    Canton with the prescribed Englishmen,

    ii. 503 ; retires with them on board

    ship, ii. 506 ; effect upon Lin of his

    protecting Dent, ii. 509 ; arrival off

    Chusan as plenipotentiary, ii. 515 ; interview

    with Kishen at Taku, ii. 510

    ;

    at the Bogue, ii. 518; his humane

    policy, ii. 519 ; reward offered for, ii.

    520; accepts a ransom for Canton, ii.

    523 ; superseded by Sir H. Pottinger, ii.

    524.

    Ellis,’Henry, i. 85, 174, 5(il, ii. 458.

    Embassy, received by Kienlung, ii. 182;

    to China : of Marcus Aurelius, ii. 410 ;

    Ibn Batuta, ii. 423 ; character of an,

    during the Ming, ii. 42() ; the Portuguese

    send four, ii. 438 ; Spanish, ii.

    432 ; Dutch, ii. 438, 439 ; Macartney’s,

    ii. 454 ; Lord Amherst’s, ii. 458 ; Pottinger’s

    question concerning reception

    of an, ii. 5.53 ; the Burlingame, to

    foreign countries, ii. 097.

    Embroidery, on official costume, i. 703

    ;

    on ladies’ dresses, i. 7(55 ; Chinese skill

    in, ii. 36.

    Emigration, restrictions to, from China,

    i. 378, 411 ; character of, to the

    Archipelago, ii. 323 ; of Chinese to

    Amei’ica, treaties respecting, ii. 699.

    Emperor of China, his residence at Peking,

    i. ()6-69 ; country place at Jeh-ho,

    i. 88 ; revenue of, i. 289 ; position, titles,

    etc., i. 393-399; inaugural proclamation,

    i. 399 ; coronation, i. 401 ; authority, i.

    403; family of, i. 404; his escort, i. 410 ;

    relations with ministers, i. 420, 437 ;

    his dress, i. 703 ; worship, i. 801 ; his

    ceremony of ploughing, ii. i;> ; in Chine.

    se annals, ii. 15^ ; tables of Ming and

    Tsing, ii. 1!?6; worships Heaven as

    ‘Tiv)i.-tsz\ ii. 194-199; prays lor rain,

    ii. 305 ; and ancestral worship, ii. 2;.’S ;

    funeral of, ii. 250; worshipped in

    mosques, ii. 370 ; peculiarities about

    succession of the present, ii. 726.

    Empress-dowager, position of, i. 409; death

    of the Eastern, ii. 727.

    Empress-regent, two during Tungchi, ii.

    184 ; their critical position at death of

    Hienfung, ii. 091 ; and marriage ceremonies

    of Tungchi, ii. 710.

    England, compared with China as to population-

    density, i. 273 ; consumption of

    tea in, ii. 51 ; attitude of, at commencement

    of opium war, ii. 510 ; observations

    upon, ii. 572.

    English, manifesto against, at Canton,

    i. 488; caricature of, ii. 116; outrage

    the dead at Canton, ii. 354 ; toleration

    clause in, treaty, ii. 360 ; introduce

    opium into China, ii. 377 ; commerce

    attempted in 1635 and 1664, ii. 444 ; and

    French sailors’ quarrels, ii. 451 ; troops

    at Macao, ii. 456 ; and Chinese expectations

    at Napier’s arrival, ii. 400 ; at

    Canton petition the king regarding

    trade, ii. 470 ; losses during the hrst

    war, ii. 550 ; murder of, near Canton,

    ii. 578 ; consuls at Chinese ports, ii.

    579 ; waive right of entering Canton,

    ii. 573, 025 ; attack pirates, ii. 032

    ;

    insult to flag, ii. 035 ; open hostilities

    at Canton, ii. 638 ; sustain Palmerstoii’s

    war policy at home, ii. 041 ; influ.

    ence of, consular body, ii. 0S9 ; expeditions

    “of trade and exploration” into

    Yunnan, ii. 718-723 ; responsibility foi

    China, ii. 725.

    Erman, A., i. 306.

    Escayrac-de-Lauture, Comte de, ii. 215;

    his return from imprisonment at Peking,

    ii. 684.

    Etiquette, at a court levee, i. 800; of a

    formal call, i. 803.

    Eunuchs in imperial household, i. 407.

    ” Ever-Victorious Force” {Cha)ip-sfn)iff

    Kiuii), its organization under Ward, ii.

    007 ; under Col. Gordon, ii. 009; uniform

    and character, ii. Oil ; takes

    Fushan and other towns, ii. Oil 2 ; before

    Suchau, ii. 013 ; last operations, ii. 617;

    dissolved June 1. 1864, ii. (»18.

    Examinations, Hall of, at Canton, i.

    106 ; riot, i. 498 ; system of, founded, i.

    521 ; mode of conducting, i. 547 ; ar752

    IXDEX.

    rangements, i. 551 ; example of an es-

    Si.j , i. 554 ; statistics of, i. 55S ; army,

    i. 560 ; practical merits and demerits of

    system, i. 5t»2-573.

    Execution, of criminals, i. 511 ; attempted,

    in front of factories, ii. 405 ; of rebels

    in Canton, ii. 632 ; of Shushun, ii. 691

    ;

    of Tientsin rioters, ii. 704.

    Exports, of silk from China, ii. ‘SH ; items

    of, from China, ii. 373, 3112 ; table of,

    ii. 405 ; duties on, in eighteenth century,

    ii. 447.

    Ex-territoriality, its inherent wrong, ii

    657 ; Chinese officials inquire concerning,

    ii. 659; its indirect influence, ii.

    695 ; assumption of, by British minister,

    ii. 72(; ; anecdote illustrating Chinese

    dislike of, ii. 741.

    Extortions practised by officials, i. 475.

    Eyelet-hole ware, called ‘ rice-China,’ how

    made, ii. 25.

    FABER, Ernst, i. 603, ii. 25.5.

    Fabulous animals of the Chinese, i.

    342.

    Factories, the, at Canton, i. 107 ; Chinese

    troops placed over, ii 474 ; mob attack

    the, ii. 495 ; Lin confines foreigners in,

    ii. .500 ; occupied by British troops, ii.

    521 ; brawl and fire at, ii. 556 ; burned

    by Yeh, ii. 639.

    Fairs, on frontiers of Corea, i. 194 ; at

    Peking, i 817.

    Falcons in Peking, i. 332.

    Families, cluster together in China, i.

    277 ; Confucian, ennobled, i. 387 ; in

    tea cultivation, ii. 41 ; and ancestral

    worship, ii. 2:>6 ff’.

    P’amine of 1878, Chinese benevolence

    during, ii 266 ; its extent and terrors,

    ii. 734 ; efforts of foreigners toward its

    relief, ii. 73 5.

    fan River, in .Shansi, i. 94.

    J<^au kuiei, ‘ foreign devils.’ reason for

    name, i. 42 ; use at Canton, ii. 346,

    347 ; influence of the term, ii. 461

    gradual disappearance, ii. (i(i2.

    Farce, a Chinese, i. 715.

    Farms in Cldna, generally small, i. 276,

    278.

    Feet, compressed, origiti and extent of

    practice, i. 776 ; its appearance and effects

    ujjon women, i. 768 ; noticed by

    Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Pelt, poorly m;ide, ii. 39.

    Female, education in China, i. .57:2-577

    ;

    dress, i. 763 ; position in society, i. 784

    privileges and misfortunes, i. 794-796

    ;

    parts in theatres, i. 821 ; missionaries,

    ii. 36i.

    Fergusson, James, i. 726, 727, 745, 758,

    ii. 176, 232.

    Festivals, of Dragon-boats, i. 696, 816

    numerous and popular, i.809; New Year,

    i. 810-816 ; of lanterns, i. 817, 818 ; of

    ploughing and the first of spring, iL 13.

    Fiction (see also Novels), character of

    Chinese, i 694.

    Field. Dr. H. M., on Chinese justice,

    i. .510.

    Fi-fi, Chinese monkey, i. 31.5.

    Filial Duty, the ‘ Canons of,’ or Ifiao

    King^ i. 536 ; notable examples of, i

    .

    .538 ; taught in the JJoolc of liitvs, i.

    646.

    Finn, James, ii. 271, 274.

    Fires, how controlled in cities, i. 743 ; in

    pawnshops, ii. 87.

    Fire-wells in Sz’chuen, i. 312.

    Fire-works, in Peking, i. 817; a- id gunpowder,

    ii. 90.

    Fischer, Heinr., i. 309.

    Fisher, Lieut. -Col, ii. 600, 663, 667, 608,

    675.

    Fishes, immense supply of, in China, i.

    276 ; of the Empire, i. 340-350 ; shellfish,

    i. 350-351 ; in (“Janton m.arkets, i.

    780; models of, carried in procession, i.

    818; and fishermen, ii. 14; fins and

    maws eaten, ii. 397.

    Fishing, various methods of, i. 779, ii.

    14.

    Five Sovereigns, the, of Chinese legendary

    history, ii. 142-148.

    Flag, Chinese national and private, i. 7.52.

    Flint, his efforts to establish a trade, ii.

    448 ; imprisoned, ii. 449.

    Flogging, a common punishment, i. .509.

    Flowers, much esteemed, i. 368 ; worn

    upon the head, i. 704 ; at New Year, i.

    811 ; culture of, ii. 12 ; used in scenting

    tea, ii. 48.

    Food, of Tibetans, i. 241 ; in use in China,

    i. 274 ; supplies of palace, i. 408 ; Chinese,

    i. 771-778.

    Foreigners, how classified, i. 429; ideas

    of Cliiuese society, i. 782 ; thought to

    have no surnames, i. 798; tricks playi’d

    on, i. 799 ; establish free hospitals, ii.

    333 fi”. ; Morrison Education Society, ii.

    340; Chinese contempt for, ii. 450-4.5-1 ;

    Chinese terms for, ii. 401 ; in Canton

    kept like animals, ii. 477; imprisoiu’il liy

    Lin in the factories,’ ii. 500 ; how looked

    uj)on by the Chinese, ii. 538 ; in general

    included in terras of English treaty of

    Nanking, ii. oCd ; continued hatred of,

    at Canton, ii. .578,-580; and the Taipings

    at Nanking, ii. 597 ; none injured

    by Tai-pings, ii. 604 ; enlisted by

    the rebels, ii.OOO ; by imperialists under

    Ward, ii. 007; and the Ever-Victorious

    force, ii. (ill ; and collection of duties

    at Shanghai, ii. 627 ; Chinese opinjpn

    of, after the war of ISliO, ii. <iS9 ; phm

    of employing, on war vessels, ii. 692 ;

    their abuse of China, ii. 70() ; admitted

    to audience of Emperor, ii. 714 ; efforts

    INDEX. 753

    toward relief of the famine of 1878, ii.

    735.

    Formosa Island, or Taiwan, i. 27, 44

    ;

    position, character, and products of, i.

    137-141 ; hog found in, i. 324 ; pheasant

    of, i. 337 ; camplior on, ii. .55 ; Dutch

    driven from, ii. 180 ; missions in, ii.

    349 ; history of the Dutch occupation of,

    ii. 433^38 ; massacre of shipwrecked

    crews on, ii. 554 ; during the Tai-ping

    Rebellion, ii. (i()4 ; Japanese descent

    upon, ii. 710 ; its recent growth and

    improvement, ii. 71S.

    Ports, their construction in China, i. 758 ;

    at the Bogue. ii. 520; at Taku, ii. 676.

    Fortune, R., i. 107, 136, 29e”., 370, 733, ii.

    10, 12, 29, 38, 55, 2.53.

    Fortune-tellers, and the cabala of the Yih,

    i. 632 ; and astrology, ii. 74 ; their

    methods, ii. 260.

    Fox, localities of, ideas concerning, i. 320.

    French, studies in Chinese silk-culture,

    ii. 32, 34 ; toleration clauses in, treaty,

    ii. 361 ; relations with China, ii. 441 ;

    and English sailors, their quarrels at

    Canton, ii. 451 ; treaty of Whampoa

    with China, ii. 571 ; attack on rebels at

    Shanghai, ii. 028 ; legation withdraws

    from Canton, ii. 639 ; grievance against

    China, ii. 642 ; convention of Peking,

    ii. 087 ; massacre of consul and Sisters

    of Charity at Tientsin, ii. 700 ; action

    of the, charge’, ii 703.

    Fritsche, H., i. 52, 57.

    Frogs, how caught, i. 778.

    Fruits, of China, i. 366 ; common table,

    i. 774 ; at dinner, i. 807.

    I^’u, ‘ department ‘ or ‘ prefecture, ‘ term

    explained, i. 58 ; government, i. 441.

    Fuhchau (Hokchiu), description of, i.

    130-133 ; its dialect, i. 611 ; bridge at,

    i. 754 ; nunneries abolished in, ii. 230 ;

    missions at, ii. 349 ; van Hoorn lands

    at, ii. 438 ; East India Company commence

    trade at, ii. 44.5 ; treatment of

    foreigners at, ii. 580 ; arsenal established

    at, ii. 61)6.

    Fuh-hi, the inventor of writing, i. 580 ;

    and the Yih King, i. 627-628 ; the first

    monarch, ii. 142 ; confounded with Fuh

    (Buddha), ii. 217.

    Fuhkien province, temperature of, i. .55 ,

    description of, i. 127-13’t; dialect, i.

    614-616 ; marriage customs of, i. 78.5,

    7S7; experiment in coinage, ii. 84;

    Taoist priests in, ii. 215_; infanticide

    in, ii. 240 ; funeral customs, ii. 243 ;

    missions in, ii. 348.

    Fuh-niu shan, in Honan, i. 98.

    Fuhshan (or Fat-shan), a mart near Canton,

    i. .59 ; taken by rebels, ii. 630 ; their

    brutalities in, ii. 631.

    Funerals, ceremonies attending, ii. 343-

    255.

    Vol. II.—48

    Fung-hmang, or phoenix, i. 343 ; as an

    emblem, ii. 111.

    Fuiig-shui, founded on the Yih King^ i.

    628 ; a system of geomancy, ii. 246.

    Fung Sien tien, temple in Emperor’s

    Palace, Peking, i. 09.

    Fung Yun-shan, an early follower of

    Hung Siu-tsuen, ii. 586 ; made the

    ‘ Southern King,’ii. 594 ; he disappears,

    ii. 602.

    Furniture, in country houses, i. 733

    materials, i. 734.

    Furs used for winter garments, i. 763.

    Futai^ orfuyen^ governor of a province,

    i. 438.

    Fuyin, or mayor of Peking, i. 82.

    GABEL, or Salt Department, its im^

    portance, i. 443.

    Gambier, an import, ii. 400.

    Gamble, VV., i. 604, ii. 325.

    Gambling, modes and extent of, i. 825.

    Games, morra {cliai rnri)^ at dinner, L

    808 ; out-door, i. 825 ; chess, i. 827.

    Gang-<lis-ri, Zang, or Kailasa Mountains,

    i. 13.

    Gardens, style of private, in China, i. 734;

    in Shanghai, ii 202.

    ” Gates of China,” perhaps Straits of Luichau,

    i. 26 ; probably at Canfu, i. 127,

    ii. 415.

    Gaubil, Pore, i. 63.3, 634,0.36, 809.

    Gegen, at Wu-tai shan, in Shan si, i. 96.

    Geography, Chinese knowledge of foreign,

    i. 49 ; native topographies, i. 50, 185

    ;

    popular ideas of, in China, ii. 80,

    Geology of China, i. 297-312.

    Gerbillon, Pere, i. 88, ii. 181, 441.

    German representative sent to China in

    1843, ii. .565.

    Genghis khan, i. 726 ; takes Peking, iL

    175 ; and Pres^r John, ii. 286.

    Gill, Capt. \V., r21.

    Ginseng, localities of, i. 367.

    Glass, manufacture of, ii. 21.

    Gobi, or Sha-moh, Great Desert of, the

    Olympus of Buddhist and Taoist myths,

    i. 12 ; its position and area, i. 15; sandhills,

    i. 16 ; called Peh hai and Hah hai,

    i. 2.5, 201, 216 ; grasses of, i. 357 ; its influence

    on Chinese civilization, ii. 189.

    God, word for, in Chinese, ii. 154; discussion

    concerning, among Romanists, ii.

    297 ; among Protestants, ii. 304.

    Goddard, Josiah, i. 015.

    Goes, Benedict, i. 310 ; his journey to

    Cathay, ii. 424.

    Gold, found in Shensi, i. 151 ; in Khoten,

    i. 230 ; in Tibet, i. 244 ; uses of, i. 311,

    ii. 19 ; never coined, ii. 83, 84.

    Golden Island (Kin Shan), in Kiangsu, i

    10.5.

    Gold-fish, methods of rearing, i. 348.

    Gon9alves, J. A., i. 591.

    IND1′:X.

    Gongs, how made, ii. 20 ; their use, ii.

    103.

    Gordon, Colonel Peter, ii. 91 ; takes command

    of the ‘ Ever-Victorious force,’

    ii. 609, i’Al ; captures Fushan, ii. 012;

    before Suchau, ii. Clo ; efforts to protect

    life after its surrender, ii. CIS;

    indignation, ii. (510; wounded before

    Kintan, ii. 017 ; dissolves the ‘ Ever-

    Victorious force,’ ii. 018; his honorable

    conduct appreciated, ii. 019 ; visits

    the works before Nanking, ii. 020; his

    advice to Peking officials as to a war

    with Russia, ii 7c!3.

    Gough, Sir Hugh, arrives to command

    English land force, ii. 521 ; invests Canton,

    ii. 522 ; at Ningpo, ii. 529 ; his

    foroe at taking of Chapu, ii. 5:>) ; at the

    capture of Chinkiang, ii. 542; before

    Nanking, ii. 545 ; his rewards after the

    war, ii. 556.

    Gould, Dr., ii. 340.

    Gould, John, i. 330.

    Government, of Peking, i. 82-83 ; of Mongolia,

    i. 199 ; of Ili, i. 231-233 ; of Tibet,

    i. 255-;357 ; revenue of imperial, i. 289-

    292 ; Chinese, its theory patriarchal, i.

    380 ; laws and departments of, i. 381-

    384; cabinet and boards of, i. 415; provincial,

    i. 437-447 ; influence upon literature,

    i. 719.

    Grain, Commissioner of, i. 443.

    Grains, in the Herbal, i. 372 ; eaten by

    the Chinese, i. 772; how sown, ii. 5.

    Grammar of the Chinese language, i.

    617-021 ; MoiTison’s, ii. 321.

    Grand Canal, Chah ho, or Yun ho, i. 31 ;

    Davis’s description of, i. 32; present

    condition, i. 35, .52, 89, 92, 108, 119;

    deepened by Kublai, ii. 17() ; Tai-pings

    control, ii. 590.

    Grasshoppers, edict for destruction of, i.

    409.

    Graves, in China, i. 275 ; legend concerning

    the false, ii. 107; geomancy in selecting,

    ii. 240 ; pai shan at, ii. 252

    ;

    prayers before, ii. 262.

    Gray, Archdeacon J. H., i. 413, 573, 715,

    778, 788, 790, 821, ii. 14, 231, 355, 201,

    271.

    Gray, Mrs., i. 752, 788.

    Great Plain of China, i. 14 ; extent, i. 27 ;

    pojjulation of, i. 28 ; climate, i. 52.

    Great Wall. Waii-li Chang Ching, i. 29;

    construction, i. 30; aspect, i. 31, 152,

    203; built by Tsin, ii. 100; Arch of

    Mongol dynasty in, ii. 170.

    Greece, and China, infanticide in, ii. 242 ;

    China known as Q\v in, ii. 408 ; communication

    with China in the dark ages,

    ii. 412.

    Griffis, W. E., ii. 78.

    Gros, Baron, arrives in China, ii. 043 ; at

    capture of Canton, ii. 646 ; arrives at

    Tientsin, ii. 6.51 ; leaves China, ii. 661 ;

    reappointed envoy with Lord Elgin, ii.

    671 ; signs the treaty of Peking, ii. 686

    ;

    well fitted tor his task in China, ii, 688.

    Grosier, Abbe, ii. 38, 5(), 90, 104, 719.

    Grosvenor, Hon. T. (I., sent as commissioner

    to Yunnan, ii. 723.

    Gully, Robert, his shipwreck and murder

    on Formosa, ii. .554.

    (iunpowder, invention and use of, ii. 89.

    Gutzlaff, Rev. Charles, i. 100, 193, ii. 137,

    180, 325 ; his three voyages, ii. 328, 350,

    303 ; at Chusan during the war, ii. 515

    at Shiinghai, li. 530, 542, 548, 556.

    Gypsum, uses of, i. 306.

    HAAS, Joseph, i. 033.

    Hailing, General, at Chinkiang, ii.

    2.’)5 ; his devotion, ii. 540 ; posthumous

    honors to, ii. .557.

    Hainan Island, aborigines on, i. 44 ; notice

    of the island, i 175.

    Hair, how dressed and worn, i. 701 ; of

    women, i. 704.

    Hai-tien, near Peking, i. 80 ; British and

    French troops at, ii. 083.

    JIai-tuh, or khi-doc, a Chinese monkey,

    i. 31.5.

    Hakkas, in Formosa, i. 138 ; in Kvvangtung,

    i. 486 ; and the Tai-pings, ii. 582,

    591.

    Hales, Dr., chronology of, ii. 143, 145.

    Hanbury, Daniel, i. 3.53, 3.55, ii. 134.

    Hamberg, Rev. Theodore, his Life of

    Ilnnq SUi-Uncn, ii. ,582.

    Hami, or Kamil, in Kansuh, i. 213, 224.

    Han dynasty, Latin name of .SVjv.s originated

    during, i. 4; Hau (or ‘After’ Han)

    at Chingtu, i. 1.54 ; censuses under, i.

    260 ; its historians, ii. 159 ; its founder

    Kautsu, ii. 162; and Eastern Han, ii.

    164 ; After Han, XXth dynasty, ii. 172.

    Hance, Dr. H. F., i. 3.”)5, 305.

    Hangchau, capital of Chehkiang, i. 115;

    its temples and manufactures, i. 117-

    119 ; pagoda at, i. 744 ; Moslems in, ii.

    268, 270 ; Nestorians in, ii. 285 ; missions

    in, ii. 251 ; Abu Zaid on, ii. 415;

    retaken by imperialists, ii. 618; Romanist

    church confiscated at, ii. 087.

    Hanchuug, in iShensi, i. 151.

    Han hai, ‘ Mirage Sea,’ or Desert of Lobnor,

    i. 16.

    llan-jin^ JIa7i-tiiz\ ‘Men,’ or ‘Sons of

    Han,’ terms used by Chinese for themselves,

    i. 4. ii. 102.

    Hankow, in Hupeh, i. 144; its fortune

    during the reljellion, ii. 000, 007 ; visited

    by Lord Elgin, ii. 0.59.

    Hanlin Yuen, National Academy, Peking,

    i. 72 ; its character, i. 434 ; membership

    a degree of literary rank, i. 559.

    Han River, in Hupeh, i. ]4’2.

    Han-sing Pass, in Shansi, i. 97.

    INDEX. 755

    Hao-king, ancient name of Si-ngan, i. 3.

    Harashar (or Karashar), town and district

    of I’ll, i. 234

    Hardy, R. S., i. 395, 413, ii. 217, 218, 2:30,

    224, 2J6, 232.

    Hare, alpine and others, i. 327.

    Harem, imperial, i. 407 ; and Board of

    Revenue, i. 422 ; Sung’s daughter in, i.

    45().

    Harland, Dr., ii. 123.

    Hart, Sir Robert, takes management of

    customs service, ii. G95.

    Hats, official, i. 414 ; laborers’ and other,

    i. 762.

    Hayton, king of Armenia, vists Mangu

    khan. ii. 420.

    Heaven, Altar to, Peking, i. 76; ideas

    concerning the creation of, ii. 138

    ;

    worship of, ii. 194-198 ; and the term

    tifii, ii. 300.

    Hedde, Isidore, ii. 34.

    Heeren, A. H. L., i. 196, 238, 343, 398, 413,

    44(i, 482, 503, ii. 410, 412.

    Hemp, four kinds of, ii. 10.

    Henderson, Dr. James, ii. 127.

    Hepburn, Dr., ii. 131.

    Jferbnl, Chinese (see Pii?i tsao)^ i. 370,

    etc.

    Herdsman and weaver-girl, fable of the,

    ii. 76.

    Hereditary local officers of «.?’ districts,

    i. 59.

    Hervey-Saint-Denys, Marquis d’, i 703,

    701, ii. 14.

    Hia dynasty, founded by Yu, ii. 148 ; its

    early annals, ii. 152 ; its period, ii. 158.

    Hia, Tartar tribe, ii. 173, 174.

    Hiao, Emperor, B.C. 909. confers Tsinchau

    on Prince Feitsz’, i. 2.

    Hiao Kinf], or ‘Canons of Filial Duty,’

    a school-book, i. 536.

    Hieii, ‘district,’ term explained, i. 58;

    its fAi, or ‘ district magistrate,’ i. 441.

    Hienfung, Emperor, his reign, ii. 184;

    attitude toward foreigners, ii 575 ; imbecilifcv

    during Tai-ping revolt, ii. 604 ;

    childish ignorance during war with

    England, ii. 642 ; signs treaty of Tientsin,

    ii. ()5() ; escapes to Jeh-ho, ii 679 ;

    his death, ii. 689.

    Hieroglyphics, Chinese and Assyrian, L

    581 ; early Chinese, i. 583-586 ; erroneous

    ideas concerning Chinese, i. 605,

    606.

    Himalaya Mountains, i. 10 ; the fourth

    mountain system of China, i. 13.

    Hindu name for China, ‘ Ma-chin,’ i. 3.

    Hing-an mountain system, i. 13.

    Hingking (Yenden), in Shingking, i. 193.

    Hinkai-nor, in Kirin, i. 24.

    History, of ili, i. 233-237; of Tibet, i.

    254-255 ; in Chinese literature, i. 675

    ;

    and chronoloj^y of China, ii 136 ; period

    of fable, ii. 1 37 ; of legend, ii. 143 ; of

    the twenty-six dynasties, il. 148-187″

    worth of Chinese, ii. 413.

    iriston/ of the Tlirie States, a Chinese

    historical novel, i. 603, 677-680, ii. 164.

    H’lassa, capital of Tibet, i. 245-247.

    Ho, Duke, i. 80 ; career of, i. 452.

    Hobson, Dr., i. 776, ii. 125, 137, 337.

    Hohson, B. H. E., ii. 180, 346.

    Hodgson, B. H., i. 243, 254.

    Hog, a[)i)earance and usefulness of, i. 334

    ;

    much eaten, i. 777 ; for sacrifices, i. 781.

    Ho Kwei-tsing, governor-general of Kiangsn,

    his cowardice at fall of Chinkiang

    and Suchau, ii. 605; receives letters

    of the allies, ii. 648 ; sends reply

    to Mr. Bruce at Shanghai, ii. 672.

    Homicides, foreign, at Canton, ii. 451-454,

    460 ; of Lin Wei-hi at Hongkong, ii.

    505 ; of Sii A-mun at Canton, ii. 568 ; of

    Englishmen near Canton, ii. .578.

    Honam, or Honan Island, opposite Canton,

    i. ir)4-165, 169.

    Honan province, its position and people,

    i. 97-99.

    Hong, explanation of term, i. 167 ; merchants

    : their garden.s, i. 736 ; their integrity,

    i. 834 ; monopoly established,

    ii. 447 ; relations with foreign traders,

    ii. 450 ; their position between Governor

    Lu and Napier, ii. 469, 473 ; and

    Chinese shopkeepers, ii. 477 ; expostulate

    with foreigners concerning opium

    smuggling, ii. 493, 494 ; a last attempt

    to squeeze, ii. 559.

    Hongkong, climate of, i. 54 ; description

    of city, i. 171-173 ; botany of, i. 355 ;

    Triad Society prohibited in, i. 493 ;

    missions remove to, ii. 347 ; homicide

    of Lin Wei-hi at, ii. 50.”) ; taken possession

    of b}’^ British, ii. 557 ; influence as

    a free port on smuggling, ii. 633 ; attempt

    to poison foreigners at, ii. 640 ;

    British encouragement to smuggling at,

    ii. 725.

    Honorary Portals, or Pai-lati, i. 83, 756.

    Hoorn, Van, Dutch ambassador to Peking,

    ii. 438.

    Hoppiu, Prof. J. M., ii. 639.

    Horse, new wild, found by Prejevalsky

    in Khoten, i. 231 ; little used, i. 274,

    320 ; appearance, i. 323 ; notices of, in

    the Herbal, i. 375 ; shoeing, ii. 4.

    Hospitals, native foundling, at Shanghai,

    ii. 2(i4 ; established by Candida, ii. 295 ;

    by Dr. Parker at Canton, ii. 333, 334

    fF.; versus itinerary practice, ii. 340; at

    Tinghai and Shanghai, ii. 351.

    Howqua, a Canton merchant, his son.

    created kn-Jin, i. 567; and Parker’s

    hospital, ii. 334 ; his death, ii. 559.

    Hue, Pere Evariste Re’gis, i. 88, 144, 156,

    195, 210, 313, 246. 257, 336, 343, 644, ii.

    50, 331, 332, 277, 386, 390, 293, 299, 42:3,

    708.

    7.”iG INDEX.

    Hiimlioldt.’s theory of hills in Mongolia,

    i. 11; Sx’chucn springs, i. 81o; on the

    plantain, i. 362.

    Hume, David, on infanticide in Rome, ii.

    242.

    Himan province, i. 140-14S; inscription

    of Yu in, ii. 149.

    Hung Jin, brother of the Tien Wang, ii.

    58:i ; is converted, ii. 58G ; teaches and

    baptizes, ii. 587 ; at the capture of Nanking,

    ii . 620 ; subsequent efforts, ii.

    Hung Siu-tsuen, the Tim Wang, leader

    of the Tai-jnng revolt, ii. .582 ; his

    vision, ii. 58o ; belief in his divine calling,

    ii. .58.5 ; goes to Mr. Roberts, ii.

    .588 ; commencement of military movement,

    ii. 5′.t0 ; his opposition to the

    Triad Society, ii. .501 ; his ‘ Celestial

    Decrees,’ ii. 5y:3 ; proclaimed Emperor

    at Nanking, ii. 594 ; failure to reach

    Peking the death of his movement, ii.

    .500 ; dissensions among his generals, ii.

    602 ; his indomital)le sfiirit, ii. 605 ;

    his death at Nanking, ii. 620 ; character

    of his political aspirations, ii.

    623.

    Hungtsih Lake, in Kiangsu, i. 24, 100, 100.

    Hungwu, Emperor, tomb of, at Nanking,

    i. 101, ii. 115 ; inaugural proclamation

    in 1644, i. 395 ; founds the Ming, ii.

    177.

    Huns, driven back by Tsin, ii. 161 ; inroads

    during third century A.D., ii.

    165 ; their kingdom of Wei in fifth and

    sixth centuries a.d., ii. 166; go West

    instead of East, ii. 169.

    Hunter, W. C, ii. 560.

    Hupeh ]n-ovince, i. 142-140.

    Hurun Lake, in Manchuria, i. 24.

    Hwaiking, in Shansi, i. 01.

    Ilira Hill, ‘ Glorious Hia,’ an ancient

    term for China, i. 5.

    Ilwai-ngan, in Kiangsu, i. 108.

    Hwang Ching, ‘ Imperial Citj-,’ Peking,

    i. 60.

    Hwang ho. See Yellow River.

    Hwangti’, an appellation of the Emperor,

    i. 303 ; a jjrimeval monarch, tlie pos.sibleinventor

    of writing, i . 580 ; of clothing,

    ii. 32; of the si ^tj -year cycle, ii.

    60, 146; importance of audience before

    the, ii. 714.

    JIuHUKj gang (AnlrJnpc gnlluroaa), i. 321.

    Hwang sz’, monument to Teshu Lama,

    Peking, i. 70 ; Lord I’^lgin at, ii. 682.

    Hwashana, Commissioner, at Tientsin, ii.

    651 ; at Shangliai, on tai ill’ revision, ii.

    657, 664 ; discusses audience question

    with Ward at Peking, ii. 660.

    Hwuichau, in Nganhwui, i. 110.

    Hwui, kwan, cluh-houses at Peking, i. 76 ;

    ‘clubs,’ variety and extent of, ii. 87.

    Hyacinthe, Pere, i, 63.

    I

    ‘BARBARIAN,’ a term for foreign

    ^ ers, ii. 461.

    I, Prince, and the British interpretei-s at

    Tungchau, ii. 67!-!, (i70 ; the ])risoners

    sent to, ii. 680 ; Elgin located in palace

    of, ii. 686 ; his conspiracy, ii. 600

    ;

    death, ii. 691.

    Ibn Batuta, ii. 271, 373 ; his travels iu

    Cathay, ii. 421.

    Ibn Wahab, an Arab traveller, ii. 414, 425.

    Ice in Peking, i. 52 ; the coast towns, i.

    .53.

    Tchang, in Hupeh, i. 145.

    Iching, on the Yangtsz’, reception of the

    English at, ii. 544.

    Ides, E. Ysbrandt, envoy of Russia to

    Peking, ii. 442.

    Idols, how carved, ii. 115; iu Buddhist

    temples, ii. 235 ; ])atronage of, general,

    ii. 2.59 ; allowed by Ricci, ii. 202.

    Ifung hien, in Ilonan, waste-wier at, i.

    Tlchi, capital of Khotcn, i. 230.

    lli province, i. 21.5 ; its recent boundaries,

    i. 215; physical features, i. 216; its

    two circuits — Songaria, i. 218-220;

    Eastern Turkestan, i. 221-231 ; its government,

    i. 231-233 ; historical notice

    of, i. 233-237 ; Mohammedans of, ii.

    271

    .

    Ilipu, Governor-General and Commissioner,

    i. 464 ; truce with Elliot at

    Chusan, ii. 517 ; his banishment, ii.

    529 ; thanks the English for care of

    prisoners, ii. 534 ; associate commissioner

    with Kiying, ii. 537; concludes

    and signs treaty, ii. 547, 553 ; death, ii.

    557.

    Imitation a Chinese national trait, ii. 6.3.

    Imperial, City, Ibi’ang Ching, I’eking, i.

    69 ; clan and its government, i. 40.5

    family, i. 407 ; Academy, or Hanlin

    Yuen, i. 434.

    Imports, of opium into China, ii. 388

    ;

    from the Archipelago, ii. 306.

    Infanticide, female, in Fuhkien, i. 136

    prevalence of the practice in China, ii.

    239-241 ; comparison with Greece and

    Rome, ii. 242.

    Ink, materials of India, i. 500.

    Inner Council, or Cabinet, i. 41.5.

    Inscription, of Yu, in Kau-lau shan,

    Hunan, ii. 140; in gateway at Kii-yung

    kwan, ii. 176; on Nestorlan Tablet of

    Si-ngan, ii. 277.

    Insects of China, i. 351-3.54.

    Intercourse, social, among the Chinese, i.

    800; between China and Western Asia,

    ii. ICiC) ; ancient, with foreign nations,

    ii. 408; mediaeval, ii. 414. See also

    under Trade.

    Iron, in Shantung, i. 93 ; in Shansi,

    al)undant, i. 95-‘J6 ; its manufacture,

    ii. i’J,

    INDEX. 757

    Irrigation, various morlos of, ii. 6.

    Islaniisni. Sec Moliaiiinietlan.

    Issik-kul, or Lnkr ‘rciniiitu, i. 24, 217.

    Isolation of the (“hinesi’, its influence on

    their character, i. 5^3, Soo ; its causes

    and results, ii. lSS-100, 642, 648, 660.

    Isothermal lines of China, L 51.

    Ivory imported from Africa, ii. 400.

    JADE, or yuhs found in Khoten, i.

    22.3, 220 ; description of, i. 309 ; feU

    txui, or jadeite, i. 312.

    Janiho, food used in Tibet, i. 241.

    Japan, tea shrub.s, ii. 41 ; character symbols

    and sounds in, ii. 190 ; expedition

    to Formosa, ii. 716.

    Jauchau, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Jehangi’r, kojeh of Kashgar, i. 235, 454

    ;

    his end, ii. 184, 727, 729.

    Jeb-ho, or Chingtih, Emperor’s summer

    retreat, i. 88, 312; thermal springs at,

    i. 313 ; Sung at, i. 455 ; expense of, L

    566 ; Hienfung retires to, ii, 682 ; palace

    conspiracy at, ii. 690.

    Jenkins, Dr. B., i. 530, ii. 90.

    Jesuit missionaries, correct the Chinese

    calendar, ii. 68 ; their map-making, ii.

    80; enter China in 1.580, ii. 177; and

    ancestral rites, ii. 2.52, 293, 299 ; and

    other Catholics, ii. 294, 297 ; obnoxious

    to Yungching, ii. 443.

    Jewels, of China, i. 310 ; imported, ii. 400.

    Jews in China, ii. 271 ; visited by Dr.

    Martin, ii. 272.

    Jones, Owen, ii. 107.

    Johnson, Samuel, his Oriental Religions,

    i. 691, ii. 211, 217,255.

    Johnson, Rev. Stephen, ii. 349.

    Judicial proceedings, character of, i. .500-

    508 ; cruelty and mercy of, i. 510 ; in

    cases of foreign homicides, ii. 451 flF.,

    460.

    Julien, Stanislas, i. 345, 590, 674, 714, iL

    22, 32, 33, 62, 207, 212, 229.

    Junks, Chinese, 1. 7.5.3; coast trade in,

    decreasing, ii. 389.

    ‘Just Medium,’ the, Vliunfj Yung, i. 053.

    KAIFUNG (Pien-liang), capital of

    Honan, i. 99 ; Jews in, ii. 271 ff.;

    stormed by Tai-pings, ii. 597 ; surly

    spirit in, during the famine, ii. 736.

    Kailasa, mountain in Tibet, i 239.

    Kalgan, town in Northern Chihli, i. 203.

    Kalkas, Mongol tribc’S. i. 20.5, 206, 209.

    _ Kan River, tributary of the Yangtsz’, L

    21, 112; boats upon, i. 751.

    Kanchau, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Kane, Dr. H. H,, ii. 388.

    Kang. or brick bed. i. 53, 306.

    Kanghi, Emperor, singular festival of, i.

    08 ; abolishes capitation tax, i. 266

    ;

    dictionary of, i. 588-591, 602, 672, etc.;

    orders copper types, i. 603 ; his ‘ Sacred

    Commands,’ i. 687; tries to suppress

    fashion of compressed feet, i. 770 ; and

    the calendar, ii. 68 ; introduces foreign

    music, ii. 103; and Koxinga, ii. 180;

    against strange religions, ii. 227; prevents

    immolation of women, ii. 250

    ;

    and Father Schaal, ii. 297, 298 ; memorialized

    by Jesuits, ii. 299 ; counter decree

    agaiiist the Pope, ii. 302 ; Portuguese

    embassy to, ii. 429 ; letter of

    Louis XIV. to, ii. 441 ; sends Tulishen

    to the Czar, ii. 442 ; his prophecy

    quoted, ii. 484.

    Kanpu, or Canfu, i. 127.

    _

    Kansuh province, climate, i. 55 ; description

    of, i. 152-154 ; Mohammedan insurrection

    in. ii. 269, 7;>0.

    Kaolin, a constituent of jjorcelain, ii. C3.

    Kara-korum, Mountains, their position,

    i. 13 ; town, Carpini’s mission to Kuyuk

    at, ii. 416.

    Kashgar, government and town, i. 227-

    228, ii. 728 ; its reconquest, ii. 731

    .

    Katshe, or Korkache, a district of Tibet,

    i 238.

    Kantsu. or Lin Pang, founder of the Han,

    ii. 162.

    Kautsung, Emperor of Tang dynasty, iL

    170.

    Kerr, Dr. J. G., i. 164, ii. 337, 339, 340.

    Khoten, district of 111, i. 230-231.

    Kiakhta, trading post on Russian frontier,

    i. 207 ; apples of, i. 366, ii. 443.

    Kiaking, the Emperor, i. 431, 453, 465,

    466 ; his reign, ii. 182 ; prohibits import

    of opium, ii. 378.

    Kiang, ‘river.’ See Yangtsz’.

    Kialing River, in Sz’chuen, i. 1.55.

    Kiangnan—the two Kiang, fertility of

    the region, L 100.

    Kiangning (see Nanking), i. 100.

    Kiangsi province, its surface, i. 111.

    Kiangsu province, i. 99 ; watercourses, i.

    100 ; its towns, etc., i. 101-108. _

    Kiao, ‘sect,’ meaning of term, ii. 193,

    194; its vagueness, ii. 358.

    Kiayii kwan. on Great ^V’aU in Kansuh, L

    1.52, 211, ii. 14.5, 189.

    Kieh Kwei, last Emperor of the Hia, ii.

    1.53.

    Kienlung, Emperor, festival of, i. 67-68

    ;

    effusion on Mukden, i. 193, 5V»8 ; revives

    census, i. 260, 285, 291 ; upon naming

    his successor, i. 404 ; casts lead types,

    i. 603 ; bronzes made under, ii. 20 ; his

    reign, ii. 181 ; treatment of Catholics,

    ii. 305 ; Van Braam’s embassy to, ii.

    439, 447, 449.

    Kicn Tsing Kung, ‘ Palace of Heavenly

    Purity,’ Peking, i. 68.

    Kihngan, in Kiangsi, i. 112.

    Ei-lin, or unicorn, i. 342 ; Sz’ma Kwang

    and the pretended, i. 676.

    758 INDEX.

    Kilung, on Formosa Island, i. 1 “7.

    Kin, or Niu-chih (or Nu-chih), Tartars, i.

    202; established in Pi’king, ii. 174;

    inscription at Kii-yung kwan, ii. 176 ;

    overthrow tlie Mings, ii. 178.

    Kinchau, in Shingking, i. I!t3, 195.

    King, Kiiig-tu, Ki>i(/-s.z\ Chinese terms

    for the capital, i. CO, (il.

    King Shan. Prospector Coal Hill, Peking,

    i. 70.

    Kingsmill, T. W., i. 296, 298, 299, 304,

    ii. 159, 40().

    Kingteh chin (Kiangsi), porcelain works

    at, i. lis, ii. 22, 394.

    Kin-sha. ‘ River of Golden Sand,’ a name

    of the Yangtsz’, i. 20, 155.

    Kin Shan, or Altai Mountains, i. 9.

    Kircher. i. 79, 257, ii. 277, 284, 286.

    Kirghis, and Prutli Kirghis, tribes of Ili,

    i. 22() ; in Kashgar, etc., i. 2o(‘), “31.

    Kirin. province of M.anchuria, i. 19()-198;

    town, called Chiien Chwang, i. 197.

    Kishen. governor-general of Cliihli’, interview

    with Captain Elliot at Taku, ii.

    .516 ; apologizes for attack on flag of

    truce, ii. 517 ; negotiation with Captain

    Elliot at the Bogue, ii. 518 ; ordered to

    Peking, ii. 521 ; reprieved and associated

    with Yihlcing, ii. 529.

    Kitai, a Russian form of Ca/Iiai/, i. 4;

    term for (‘hinese in 111, i. 224.

    Kitan, or Liautiing Tartars, oppress the

    After Tsin, ii. 172.

    Kites, flying, a favorite amusement, i.

    820.

    Kiukiang, on the Yangtsz’, captured by

    Tai-pings, ii. .595.

    Kiu-tiao shan, in Shensi, i. 151

    .

    Kiying, Commissioner, his life, i. 459,

    570 ; obtains toleiation for Christians,

    ii 356, 358 ; grants privileges to Macao,

    ii. 430; joint commissioner with llifiu,

    ii. 537; writes to Pottinger, ii. 546;

    signs Nanking treaty, ii. 549; exchanges

    ratifications, ii. .557 ; his proclamation,

    ii. 558 ; includes all foreigners

    under terms of Nanking treaty, ii.

    561 ; interviews with representatives of

    other foreign power.s, ii. 5(15 ; reappointed

    commi.^sioner to meet Mr.

    Gushing, ii. 566; his correspond 3nce on

    case of homicide, ii. 56^ ; concludes a

    treaty with M. de Lagrene’, ii. 571 ; interview

    with Governor Davis on opium

    question, ii. 577 ; action regarding murder

    of l]nglislim(!ii near Canton, ii. 57S;

    disbands companies of braves about

    Canton, ii. 58() ; his sudden apjiearance

    at Tientsin, ii. 6.53 ; his untimely end,

    ii. 654.

    Klaproth, .[., derives name of Tsung ling

    from onions found there, i. 9 ; on (irand

    Canal, i. 3(>-37 ; Peking, i. 62 ; Afemoircs^

    12<.», 141, 188, 193, 204, 213, 226; on

    Tibet, i. 245, 2.54, 285 ; deluge of Yao

    ii. 147; on Tsin, ii. 160, 163, 20.5, 232,

    233,411, 421, 442.

    Koeppen, C. F., on IJuddhism, i. 249, 250,

    ^ii. 229, 259.

    Koko-nor, Tsing hai, or ‘ Azure Sea,’ i.

    35, 209-213.

    Kopi. See Gobi.

    Koro-s, Cosma de. Hungarian author o*

    Tibet, i. 244, 353.

    Kotow, or prostration, Ceremonial Court

    and the, i. 435 ; described, i. 801 ; at

    funerals, ii. 245 ; performed by Dutch

    ambassadors, ii. 435 ; by Ides, ii. 442

    ;

    discussed before Ward’s embassy at

    Peking, ii. 669 ; its importance in audience

    of the Emperor, ii. 712; the ceremony

    yielded in case of foreign minister.

    s, il. 714.

    Ko-tsing shan, in Western Nganhwui, i.

    12.

    Koulkun. See Kwanlun.

    Kowlung, opposite Hongkong Island, i.

    172 ; allVay at, in 1839, ii. 506; ceded to

    the British, ii. 558, ()86.

    Koxinga, his descendants ennobled, i. 406;

    takes Formosa, ii. 180, 435.

    Kreitner, Lieutenant G.,i. 151, 1.58, 213,

    214, 357, 300, 715.

    Kublai khan, i. 176, 181, 281, 318, 3-30;

    his pai)er money, ii. 85; his reign, ii.

    175; receives Montccorvino, ii. 3S7;

    and the Polos, ii^ 420.

    Kuche, a town of Ili, i. 225, ii. 730.

    Kil-jhi, ‘promoted men,’ second degree of

    literary rank, i. 550 ; their number, i.

    5.58 ; military, i. 560, 5()().

    Kuldja (Goul(lja), Kuren, or Hwuiyuen

    ching, capital of Ili, i. 218 ; it^ capture,

    i. 219; occupation by Russia, i. 236,

    ii. 727, 730 ; Friar Pascal at, ii. 289

    ;

    negotiations respecting its cession, ii.

    731-734.

    Kung. Princp, Kunr/ tshi-waiir/ his proper

    title, i. 405; appointed a regent, ii. 184;

    rewards Colonel Gordon, ii. 616; conducts

    negotiations with Elgin at Peking,

    ii. 682 ; signs the treaty, ii. 686 ; iiis coup

    cCttat, ii. 691 ; refuses to ratify Lay’s

    agreement, ii. 694; signs convention respecting

    coolie trade; ii. 698.699; inTicntsin

    riot correspondence, ii. 702, 705

    discusses audience question, ii. 712, 715;

    his son and the succession, ii. 726, 739.

    Ku-peh kau Pass, in Great VV’all, i. 39, 89.

    Kuren (see Urga). i. 204.

    Kur-kara usu (Kingsni ching), town and

    district of Ili, i. 2.iO.

    Kuro-siwo, ocean current, i. 55.

    Kutuktu, lama high-priest in Urga, i. 204.

    Kuyiik khan, Piano Carpiiii’s embassy to,

    ii. 415.

    Kuzupchi, sand-hills on Desert of Gobi, i

    16.

    INDEX. 759

    Kii-V’ing Kwan, gateway at,, ii. ITfi.

    Kwangsi, an unhealthy province, i. 55 ;

    its position and proilucts, i. 17(5; rise of

    Tai-ping Rebellion in, ii. 5′.’0-595.

    Kwangsii, his succession to the throne, i.

    398, 404 ; his reign, ii. 185, 186 ; his accession,

    ii. 7′.iC.

    Kwaiigtung, considered unhealthj’, i. 5.^ ;

    description and towns of, i. 158-1 Tfi;

    revenue of, i. 290 ; resists the Manchu

    conquest, ii. 179; missions in, ii. o48 ;

    rebels in, ii. (i04, C;JO.

    Kwanlun, or Koulkun Mountains, position

    and extent, i. 11 ; mineral treasures,

    i. 12 ; source of Yangtsz’, i. 20.

    Kwanyin, (Joddess of Mercy, temple to,

    in Kwangtung, i. 175.

    Kweichau province, 1. 55 ; description of,

    i. 1 78-180.

    Kweiliang, Commissioner, meets allies at

    Tientsin, ii. (iSl ; sent to Shanghai to

    revise tariff, ii. 057 ; refuses to accompany

    the allies to Taku, ii. Wi ; discusses

    the audience question with Minister

    Ward, ii. (i()9; sent to intercept-

    Elgin at Tientsin, ii. 677 ; his support

    to Prince Kung, ii. (>91.

    Kweilin, capital of Kv/angsi, i. 177; attacked

    by Tai-pings. ii. 595.

    Kn’oh hao, national designation, period,

    or reign name of Emperor, i. 398.

    LACHARME, Pere, 1. 643.

    Lacquered-ware, Hwuichau, i. 110;

    its manufacture, ii. 30 ; export, ii. 394.

    Ladak not a Chinese possession, i. 13.

    Lagrene, French envoy to China, ii. 309 ;

    obtains toleration for Christians through

    Kiying, li. 355, 357 ; his mission in

    1844, ii. 441 ; concludes treaty of

    Whampoa with Kiying, ii. 571.

    Lakes, of China, i. 23 ; of Hupeh, i. 143 ;

    of ill’, i. 216-317 ; of Tibet, i. 240.

    Lama, mausoleum to a, Peking, i. 79.

    Lamasary ( Yumj-lio Kung) at Peking, i.

    to.

    Lanchau, capital of Kansuh, i. 154.

    Land, how held, ii. 1-3.

    Landscape, appearance of, in China, i. 40.

    Land tax in China, i. 294, 739.

    Language, of Tibet, i. 253 ; proportion of

    readers in China, i. .544 ; Chinese, its

    groups of natural objects, i. 372 ; labor

    of learnin;,^ its characters, i. .541 ; an obstacle

    to progress, i. 568 ; its influence

    upon people and literature, i. 579, ii. 190;

    origin of, i. 581 ; misaj>prehciision regarding,

    i. 605 ; dialects, Mandarin and

    local, i. 611-616 ; its grammar, i. 617 ; defects,

    i. 621 ; methods of studying, i. 623 ;

    an obstacle to missions, ii. 370 ; ignorance

    of, by earlj’ traders, ii. 450, 453.

    Lange, Laurent, his residence at Peking,

    IL 442.

    Lanterns, feast and variety of, i. 817.

    Lantsan River, in Yunnan, L 181.

    Larks as song birds, i. 333.

    Lau-tsz’, founder of Taoism, i. 684 ; hifl

    life, ii. 2U6 ; and teaching.s, ii. 207-214.

    Lavallc’e, C, ii. 647, 654, 684, 685.

    Laws, of China, i. 384 ; reports pf, 385 ;

    Penal Code, 3S5-393 ; their administration.

    Chap. VIII.; as a profession, i.

    ‘(83 ; controlling marriage, i. 793.

    Lav, C. T., i. 60.5, 606, 715, 822, ii. 102,

    103, 117, 330.

    Lay, H. N., appointed intendant of customs,

    ii. 62.S ; his tiotilla fiasco, ii. 692.

    Lay, W. T., ii. 621.

    Leather, quality and uses of, ii. 39.

    Le Comte, i. 289, 509, ii. 285, 295.

    Le (iendre, C. W., i. 140, ii. 717.

    Legge, Dr. James, i. 398, 537, 627, 639,

    633, 634, 635, 636, 638 ff., 648, 603, 671,

    674, 681, 703, 809, ii. 73, 143, 144, 147,

    198, 213, 237, 347. 372.

    Legislation, general features of, i. 391-

    394.

    Li Hung-Chang, Governor-General, concurrence

    in reorganizing the ‘ Ever-Victorious

    force,’ ii. 611 ; executes surrendered

    wangs at Suchau, ii. 615 ; his

    position there, ii. 616 ; dis.solves the

    ‘ Ever- Victorious force,’ ii. 618; and

    Sir T. Wade in the Chifu convention,

    ii. 734 ; denounces the treaty of Livadia,

    ii. 733 ; co-operates with foreigners

    in relief of Great Famine, ii. 735.

    Li Tai-peh, a poet of the Tang dynasty,

    story of, i. 696-703 ; extent of his collected

    poems, i. 704.

    Liang dynasty, the Xlllth, ii. 166 ; After

    Liang, XVIIth dynasty, ii. 171.

    Liang A-fah, Morrison’s first convert, ii.

    321 ; his labors and persecution, ii. 328,

    347, 371 ; his tracts fall into the hands

    of Hung Siu-tsuen, ii. .582, 589.

    Liau River (?>ira-muren), in Manchuria,

    i. 190.

    Liau, Tartar tribe, ii. 173, 174.

    Library at Peking, i. 69 ; its catalogue, i.

    62().

    Li E . or ‘ Book of Rites,’ i. 643-647, 805,

    ii. 196.

    Li-kilt., or ‘ cash a catty’ tax, i. 444.

    Lilies, varieties of, i. 361 ; eaten, i. 773.

    Li Miu, ‘ Black-haired Race,’ common

    name for Chinese, i. 5 ; a tribe on Hainan

    Island, i. 176.

    Lime, made from shells, i. 307 ; use in

    building, i. 729 ; how burned, ii. 56.

    Li-mn, aboriginal tribe, i. 41 ; iu Hainan,

    i. 44 ; mountains, i. 1.59.

    Li shui River, in Hunan, i. 147.

    Lin Tseh-si), Commissioner, geography of,

    i. 50 ; and the rhubarb trade, i. 365

    ;

    career of, i. 457, 4()4, 473, ii. 184 ; ar*

    rives at Canton, ii. 497 ; demands sur«

    760 IlS^DEX.

    render of opirnn, ii. 40S; imprisons

    foreigners in factories, ii. 50() ; an example

    of his i)nl)lic writings, ii. 501 ;

    visits Macao, ii. oO(i ; his reason for demanding

    Mr. Dent, ii. 508 ; reply to

    American request, ii. 514 ; offers rewards

    for British, ii. 510 ; his recall, ii.

    510; memorializes the P^mpcror against

    peaceful measures, ii. 518; recalled from

    hanishmcnt, ii. 5rJ9 ; his death, ii. S’JO.

    Lindsay, H. H., i. 481.

    Lintin, Sir G. Robiuson among opium

    smugglers at, ii. 479 ; Captain Elliot ordered

    to send opium smugglers away

    from, ii. 491.

    Lin-tsing-chau, in Shantung, i. 93.

    Lion, tlie, in China, i. ol7.

    Liquor little used in China, i. 808.

    Literati, or literary class, the gentry of

    China, its influence, i. 520, 5()”2 ; and

    religious sects, i. (391 ; persecuted by

    Tsin, ii. 1()2 ; their opposition to Buddhism,

    ii. 2;2o, 237 ; to Christianity, ;J69.

    Literature, Chinese geographical, i. 50

    ;

    classical, size and importance, i. 020

    five greater, i. 027-052, and four lesser

    classics, i. 052-072 ; works on history, i.

    075; historical novels, etc., i. 077; fiction,

    i. 094, ballads and impromptu

    verses, L 705; dramas, i. 714; its limits

    and deficiencies, i. 718; of Chinese

    music, ii. 98; flourishes under the

    Hans, ii. 164; foreign missionary, ii.

    367.

    Ljilngstedt, Sir A., i. 171, ii. o33, 428;

    his liistory of Macao, ii. 4o().

    Lob-nor, Desert of, i. 16 ; Lake, 1. • 24,

    222-223.

    Lobscheid, Rev. W., i. 271, 615.

    Loch, Captain G. G., i. 105, ii. 302, .53(),

    541, 543, .547, .5.50.

    Loch, Henry, experiences at Tungchau,

    ii. 678 ; capture and imprisonment at

    Peking, ii. ()80, CSl ; is returned to the

    English, ii. 084, 085.

    Lockhart, Dr. Wm., ii. 123, 139, 134,300,

    336, 339, 350, 354.

    Locusts, occasional ravages of, i. 351

    edict against, i. 460 ; character for, i.

    587 ; Father Faber’s miracle of the, ii.

    290.

    Loess, roads in, i. .38, 97; of Shanst, i.

    95; of Shensi, i. 149; extent of, in

    China, i. 297; its nature, i. 298-300;

    dwellings in, i. 301 ; Richthofen’s theory

    of origin, i. 303; terraces, ii. 0;

    great famine in the region, ii. 734.

    Loll (or Fo Loll) River, in Sz’chuen, i. 15,5.

    Lohyang, made the capital by Siangkwan,

    i.’S, ii. 159, 102, 104, 108, 174; and

    Buddhism, ii. 218, 411.

    Lolos race, in Sz’chuen, i. 43, 158 ; in

    Yunnan, i. 183.

    Longevity, Temple of, at Canton, i. 104.

    Loomis, Rev. A. W., i. 703, ii. 350.

    Lotus, highly esteemed, i. 308.

    Low, Hon. P. F., United States Ministef

    to China, ii. 700 ; concerning sentiment

    toward foreigners at Tientsin, ii. 704

    ;

    his reply to Wansiang’s note, ii. 708 ; on

    audience question, ii. 713, 714 ; thanked

    bv Prince Kuiig, ii. 739.

    Lowrie, \V. M., i. 7.55, ii. 287, 350, 368.

    Lu, governor of Kwangt>ung, opposes Napier’s

    coming to Canton, ii. 464 ; rejects

    iiis letter, ii. 467 ; stops the trade, ii.

    471, 473 ; his succes.sor Tang, ii. 481.

    Luhchau, on female education, i. .574 ; instance

    of reproving a mother-in-law, i.

    795.

    Lukan Gorge, on Yangt-sz’, i. 146.

    Ltinfi, or dragon of the Chinese, i. 344;

    carried in procession, i. 818.

    Lung River, in Fuhkien, i. 129.

    Lung-tsiien, in Shansi, i. 95.

    Lute, or kln^ a favorite instrument, ii. 99.

    “\ r A TSUPU, marine goddess, temple

    ItL to, at Ningpo, i. 123; and the Virgin,

    ii. 316.

    MaTwan-lin, his Antiquarian Rcsearclies,

    i. 259-205, 081 ; list of comets, ii. 73.

    Macao, climate of, i. 54 ; description of,

    i. 170; governor of Canton retires to,

    from pirates, ii. 183; Ricci in, ii. 390;

    Tournon imprisoned in, ii. .302 ; Mrs.

    Gutzlaft”s school at, ii. 345 ; smuggling

    trade in opium at, ii. 378 ; origin of the

    settlement and name, ii. 438 ; recent

    history, ii. 4oO ; the Dutch repulsed before,

    ii. 433 ; English man-of-war at, ii.

    448 ; their troops occupy, ii. 4.5(i ; Lord

    Napier reaches, ii. 404; Elliot and the

    English retire to, ii. .500 ; Lin’s soldiers

    repiiLsed at, iL 51(j ; Kiying goes to, ii.

    507 ; becomes a resort of smugglers, ii.

    034 ; of coolie traders, ii . 002 ; finally

    closed to the coolie trade, ii. 715.

    Macartney, Lord, i. 402, 431, 452, 454;

    his embassy to Peking, ii. 4.54.

    Macgowan, Dr. D. J., ii. 3.50, 388.

    Ma-chin, from Mah<i-china, ‘ Great

    China,’ its Hindu name, i. 3.

    Mackie, J. Milton, ii. 002, 624.

    Macy, Wm. A., ii. 344.

    Magaillans (Magalhaens), Pere Gabriel, i.

    04, 289, 473, 589, 817, ii. 297; his embassy,

    ii. 429.

    Mahdbhdrata, name China occurs in the,

    i. 2.

    Mail I a, J-A-M. de M., ii 34. 7.3, 137, 152,

    309, 413.

    Maimai chin, of Urga, i. 204 ; of Kiakhta,

    i. 207, ii. 443.

    Malacca, Protestant missions in, ii. 323i

    324.

    Malte Brun, estimate of Eighteen Prov

    inces, i. 8, 296.

    INDEX. r6i

    Manchu, physical traits, i. 44 ; Empprors

    pul>lish the I’eiial Code, i. 385 ; nobility,

    i. 3S7; and education system, i. 521,

    5()0 ; and Chinese poem, i. 598 ; alter

    the Chinese head-dress, i. 761 ; names,

    how written, i. 79S ; military endeavors

    of their Emperors, ii. 9:3 ; peculiar dread

    of foreign invasion, ii. 6-1;*.

    Manchuria, one of the three grand divisions,

    i. 7 ; extent of, i. LS7 ; watercourses

    and mountains, i. 188-191

    ;

    three provinces, i. 191-‘2O0; climate, i.

    195; adndnistration of government, i.

    199; by native nobles, i. 40().

    Manchus, their ancestors the Kins, ii.

    174 ; overthrow the Mings, ii. 178 ; their

    government better than the Mings, ii.

    185; and the Triad Society, ii. 2(57;

    close China to foreign trade, ii. 420

    ;

    terrible destruction of, at Chinldang,

    ii. 542 ; as rulers of China, ii. 580 ; national

    dislike of, and Tai-ping revolt,

    ii. 596.

    Mandarin ducks, fidelity of, i. 340 ; as an

    emblem, ii. 112.

    Mandarin, derivation of word, i. 417.

    Mandarin (or court) dialect, the kwan

    hwa, i. 613; the Bible in, ii. 364.

    Mangu khan, successor of Kuyuk, mission

    of Rubruquis to, ii. 418 ; of King

    Hayton to, ii. 420.

    Manji, tribes in Yunnan, i. 4.

    Manning, T., mission of, to Tiljet in

    1811, i. 246.

    Mausoleum, of Grand Lama at Peking, i.

    79 ; at Teshu Lumbo, i. 252 ; of Chinese

    Emperors, ii. 248.

    Munu, Laws of] mention of China in, i.3.

    Manures, preparation of, ii. 8.

    Marble, uses of, i. 307; slabs, etc., exported,

    ii. 394.

    Marco Polo. See Polo.

    Margary, A. R., i. 184; sent from Hankow

    to Bhamo, ii. 721 ; his murder, ii.

    722 ; its subsequent investigation, ii.

    723, 734.

    Marriage, customs in Tibet, i. 251 ; in

    Puhkien, i. 785-791 ; good sense of the

    laws controlling, i. 793 ; and ancestral

    worship, ii. 239 ; of Emperor Tungchi,

    ii. 710.

    Marshall, Thos., ii. 287, 307, 318.

    Marshman, J., i. 657, ii. 320; his term

    for baptism, ii. 363.

    Martin, R. M., i. 120, 285, ii. 406, 443,

    562 ; his proposition regarding Chusan,

    ii. 580.

    Martin, Dr. W. A. P., i. 20, 435, 550, 551,

    559, ii. 217, 372, 741.

    Match-makers employed in marriages, i.

    785, ‘586.

    Matting, grass grown for, i. 357 ; manufacture

    and uses of, ii. 61 ; export of,

    ii. 395.

    Mavers, W. F., i. 438, 753, ii. 90, 185,

    217, 348.

    Maximo witch. CarlJ., i. 296, 355.

    McCarthy, Justin, ii. 565; estimate of

    Bowring and Parkes, ii. 6:34, 637 ; on

    results of the w.ar, ii. 687.

    McCarty, Dr. D. B., ii. 350.

    McClatchie, Rev. Canon T., i. 633, 633;

    ii. 142, 200.

    McCulloch’s area of China, i. 5 ; of the

    Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; population on

    Plain, i. 28 ; Mongols, i. 45 ; popula-»

    tion, i. 285.

    Meadows, T. T., i. 192, 494, ii. 3, 596.

    597. 624.

    Measures of length, weight, etc., ii. 81.

    Meats seen upon Chinese tables, i. 776.

    Mechanical arts, and implements, ii. 18;

    attainments in, ii. 117.

    Medhurst, W. H., i. 12.5, 2(15, 271, 278,

    290, 530, 615, 634, 636, 685, 755, 809.

    ii. 28, 151, 214, 258, 295, 321, 336, 329,

    330, 352, .354, 3(i3, 369; his Tai-ping

    translations, ii. 594, 623.

    Medicine, practice better than theories

    of, i. 377 ; its profession in Chinese

    society, i. 783 ; attainments in, ii. 118-

    134.

    Mei ling, in Kwangtung, i. 12.

    ]VIoi Shan, or ‘ Coal Hill,’ Peking, i. 70.

    Mencius, birthplace of, i. 90 ; praises the

    Chiui Tsiu, i. 649 ; life of, i. 666 ; his

    doctrines, i. 66S-672 ; and early Emperors,

    ii. 146; writings burned, ii. 161 ;

    a saint, ii. 201, 237.

    Mendacity of the Chinese, i. 834.

    Metals and metallurgy, ii. 1 S ; knowledge

    of, ii. lis.

    Metaphysics of Chu Hi and tendency of

    Chinese thought, i. 6S3-(i85.

    Meteorology of China, i. 51-.55.

    ATi’ao hao, or ancestral name of Emperor,

    i. 399.

    Miaotsz’, i. 41 ; sa?:.ff and sliuh, i. 43, lli},

    177, 179-180; tankla descendants of, at

    Canton, i. 412 ; songs, ii. 95 ; Hung

    Siu-tsuen among, ii. 587.

    Michie, A., i. 20.5.

    Middle Kingdom, Chung Kwoh, a name

    for China since B.C. 11.50, i. 4.

    Military, control of, in provinces, i. 444 ;

    examinations among the, i. 560 ; architecture

    in China, i. 758 ; science, ii. 88.

    Milk little used, i. 77(5.

    Millet, Italian {Setaria”, in Shingking, L

    191 ; much eaten in the North, i. 772.

    Milne, Rev. Wm. C, i. 121, 494, .508, 686,

    744, 745, 746, il 132, 339, 231, 265, 369,

    350.

    Milne, Dr. W.. ii. 325 ; arrives in China,

    ii. 319; at Malacca, ii. 323, 368.

    Min River, in Fuhkien, i. 128; in Sz’chuen,

    i. 154, 155.

    Minerals, probably abundant in Kwan’

    r62 INDEX.

    lun, i. 12; of Shantung, i. 93; of

    Yunnan, i. 183 ; of the Empire, i. 304-

    310.

    Ming dynasty, its period, ii. 177-179; table

    of Emperors, ii. 1S6 ; trade during,

    ii. 373.

    Ming ti, Emperor, ii. 163 ; introduces

    Buddhism, ii. 21 S, 229.

    Mint, its management, i. 428 ; one in

    every province, ii. 83.

    Mirrors, Chinese magic, ii. 20; to cure

    maniacs, ii. 2.50.

    Missionaries, letter from Romish, concerning

    Chinese boat life, i. 751 ; they teach

    mathematics at Peking, ii. 07 ; under

    Kanghi, ii. 181 ; Buddhist, their influence,

    ii. 189 ; Mcsiem, ii. 268 ; Nestorian,

    ii. 275, 2Sr) ; Roman Catholic, ii.

    287 ; their conduct in China, ii. 305

    ;

    the first Protestant, ii. 318 ; female,

    their influence, ii. 304 ; information derived

    from French, ii. 440 ; French, beheaded

    ia Kwangsi, ii. 642 ; British,

    address to Lord Elgin, ii. 649 ; their

    influence in Peking, ii. 689 ; massacre

    of French, at Tientsin, ii. 700 ; American,

    frightened away from Tangchau,

    ii. 705 ; Chinese grievances against, ii.

    701) ; their devotion during the great

    famine, ii. 736.

    Missions, earliest Christian, to China, the

    Nestorians, ii. 275-286 ; Roman Catholic

    : first period, ii. 287-289 ; second period,

    ii. 289-304 ; decrease after edict of

    Yuiigching, ii. 394 ; statistics of Catholic,

    ii. :)07 ; their literary and educational

    labors, ii, 309 ; Protestant, introduced

    by MorrLson, ii. 318; among

    Chinese emigrants in the Archipelago,

    ii. 323 ; their hospital practice, ii.

    333-340 ; condition of Protestant, at

    Morrison’s death, ii. 340 ; conference

    of, in 1877, ii. 3(;5 ; ob.stacles and encouragements

    to, ii. 3fi8 ; Russian, established

    at Peking, ii. 443 ; problem

    of foreign, in China, rules suggested, ii.

    707.

    Mobs, fear of, in Peking, i. 84; attack

    British troops before Canton, ii.

    523 ; attack tiie factories, ii. 495, 556,

    50S.

    Mohammedan, name for China, Timg

    Tu, i. 5 ; mosque in Peking, i. 74

    in Hangchau, i. 119; rebellion in 1865-

    73, i. 149, 154, 2(i9 ; sect in China, ii.

    268-271 ; insurrection in Kansuh suppressed,

    ii. 709; uprising in Yunnan

    province, ii. 719 ; rebellion in Eastern

    Turkestan, ii. 727-731.

    Mohammedans, in Kuldja, i. 219; in

    B ikur, i. 225 ; first come to China, ii.

    268; the sect in tlie Empire, 270; found

    by Ibn Batuta, ii. 422 ; universal uprising

    of, ii. 730.

    Monetary system of the Chinese, ii. 83,

    Mongol, race characteristics, i. 144;

    derivation of name, i. 202 ; dynasty

    (Yuen) and paper money, ii. 8.5, 177;

    regime, ii. 175; Buddhists, ii. 229,

    233.

    Mongolia, position and climate, i. 200-

    202 ; divisions—Inner Mongolia, i. 202-

    204 ; Outer Mongolia, i. 204-209 ; Kokonor,

    i. 209-213 ; outljing towns, i.

    213-21.5.

    Mongols, their number, i. 45; religion.

    Shamanism, ii. 233 ; tolerate the Nestorians,

    ii. 280 ; and first period of

    Catholic missions, ii. 288 ; their conquests

    in Europe, and the embassies to,

    ii. 415.

    Monkeys of China, i. 314-316.

    Monsoons on coast, i. .53-54.

    Moutecorvino, John of, ii. 271 ; goes to

    Cathay, ii. 287, 421 ; found in Peking

    by Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Moon, an eclipse at Canton, i. 819; symbols

    of, ii. 73, 74.

    Morals of the Chinese stage, i. 824.

    Morrison, J. R., ii. 332, 342, 345, 363 ; revi’ard

    offered for, ii. 520 ; services as an

    interpreter, ii. 547, 548, 556 ; his death,

    ii. 560

    Morrison, Dr. Robert, i. 230, 265-269,

    282, 284, 523, 524, 5:^0. 559, 603, 622,

    624, 074, 801, 817, ii. 227; his life, ii.

    318; and-Ricci compared, ii. 322,333,

    333, 303, 453, 458, 459.

    Morrison Education Society, ii. 341.

    Mosques, at Kuldja, i. 218 ; near Moslem

    pagoda in C;inton, i. 745 ; notice of, at

    Ningpo, ii. 269.

    Mountains, of China, its frontier, i. 9

    ;

    its four great ranges, i. 10; Pnmpelly’s

    ” Sinian Sy.stem,” i. 14 ; passes

    in, i. 39 ; of Manchuria, i. 188.

    Mourning, cards, i. 802 ; customs in

    China, ii. 249, 250.

    Mukden, capital of Shingking, i. 87

    desci-iption of, i. 192 ; money remitted

    to, i. 295 ; Kienlung’s elegy on, i.

    598.

    Mulberry and silk worms, ii. 10.

    Mules, fine, in China, i. 323.

    2TuH-pai, or ‘ door-tablet ‘ for the census,

    i. 283, 388.

    Murray, Hugh, i. 309, ii. 137, 1.52, 400,

    410.

    Murui-ussu, ‘Tortuous River,’ i. 20.

    Music, in Tibet, i. 25:1; Board of, i. 424 A

    works on, in the ratalogue, i. 072; style

    j and principles of Chinese, ii. 93-98 ; m-j

    • strumcnts of, ii. 99-104. /

    Musk, and mu.sk-deer in China, i. 332 ;

    exporte<l, ii. 395.

    Myths and legends, of the Chinese, ii.

    70; of the creation, ii. 138-142 ;TaoiBt,

    ii. 210 ; Buddhist, ii. 222.

    llSTDEX. 763

    NAILS worn long on fingers, i. TOO.

    Names, for China, i. 2-5, ii. 408 ; ancestral,

    of Emperor, i. ;!99; how inilicated

    in books, i. fJ’il ; changed at marriage,

    i. 788 ; several, during life, i. T’.IT

    ; periphrases

    in use for. i. )S0o ; for jiorcelain,

    ii. ‘2’i ; for tea, ii. 45 ; for opium, ii. 87o.

    Nanchang, cajjital of Kiaugsi, i. 113;

    Ricci in, ii. 2W.

    Nanhiung, in Kwangtimg, i. 174.

    Nan-kan, ‘South Gate,’ in Great Wall,

    i. 14, 81.

    Nankeen, a cotton cloth, ii. 37 ; decrease

    in export of, ii. o95.

    Nanking, climate of, i. 52 ; description of,

    i. 100; Porcelain Tower of, i. 102; its

    iKiiikce/i cloth, ii. 37 ; stone animals at,

    ii. 115; capital of one of the ‘Three

    States,’ A.D. 211, ii. 1(54; pillaged by

    the Kin, ii. 175; capital of the Ming,

    ii. 177 ; Ricci in, ii. ~90 ; the English

    before, ii. 545 ; treaty of, ii. 549

    ;

    Hung Siu-tsuen proclaimed Emperor

    (Tien-teh) at, ii. 584 ; rebel capture of,

    ii. 59*’) ; their stress in, ii. (505 ; taken by

    imperialists, ii. 020.

    Nan ling, ‘Southern Mountains,’ a continuation

    of the Yun ling, i. 12.

    Nan shall, in Kwangtuiig, i. 159; in

    Koko-nor, i. 211.

    Napier, John, mentioned in a Chinese treati.

    se, ii. 07.

    Napier, Lord, superintendent of trade,

    his arrival, ii. 4(54; letter to (Governor

    Lu rejected, ii. 407; contest with the

    governor, ii. 471 ; retires from Canton

    and dies suddenh-, ii. 474.

    Nari ( A-li), a division of Tibet, i. 244, 2.56.

    Navarette, a Dominican friar, and the

    Jesuits, ii. 300.

    Natural history, study of, in China, i.

    290 ; geology, i. ‘297-313 ; zoology, i.

    313-340 ; ichthyology, i. 340-351 ; insects,

    i. 351-354; botany, i. 355-370;

    the Pun-tsao, or Herbal, i. 371-376

    ;

    condition of the science in China, i.

    377-379.

    Niu-chih, or Kin Tartars, i. 202 ; ancestors

    of Manchus, ii. 174.

    Navy, control of, interchanged with army,

    i. 445, 496, 502 ; Lay’s flotilla fiasco, ii.

    ()92.

    Nestor’an, monument at Si-ngan, i. 151,

    ii 27(i ; missionaries at court of Taitsung,

    ii. 1(J9 ; during the Yuen, ii. 280 ;

    oppose Corvino, ii. 287 ; missionaries

    come with traders, ii. 411 ; priest and

    Rubruquis, ii. 418.

    Nevius, J. L., i. 810, ii. 217.

    Newspapers (see also I’ck’uKj Gazette) and

    chea]) type.s, i. 005 ; edited by Protestant

    missionaries, ii. 341.

    New Year, festival and ceremonies, i. 810-

    810 ; its date, ii. 70,

    Nganhwui province, i. 108.

    Nganking, or Anking, in Nganhwui, i.

    110; taken by Tai-pings, ii. .595 ; their

    march to relief of, ii. 007 ; captured by

    imperialists, ii. 008.

    N)ng[)o, tempeiature at, i. 53; description

    of, i. 120-123; the to niin of, 1.

    412; l)irthday fete at, i. 814; spring

    festival, ii. 14 ; cannon found at, ii.

    02; the cholera at, ii. 132; nunneries

    at, ii. 231 ; foundling hospital, ii. 205 ;

    its mosque, ii. 269 ; missions at, ii. 350 ;

    Portuguese at, ii. 428 ; its capture by

    the British, ii. 527 ; attemi)t at recapture,

    ii. 531, ii. 573; during Tai-ping

    Rebellion, ii. 008, 009.

    Nieuwhof (or Nieuhoff), J., ii. 3, 428;

    account of the fall oi Fort Zealandia,

    ii. 436.

    Nitre common in China, i. 308.

    Niu Kien, Governor-General, conduct at

    Wusung, ii. 535, 537 ; British offer, opj)

    ortanity of ransoming Nanking, ii.

    544 ; joint letter to Pottinger, ii. 546.

    Niuchwang (Yingtsz’), in Shingking, L

    194, 751.

    Nobility, Manchu and Chinese, i. 387

    ;

    orders of, i. 406.

    Notation, Chinese arithmetical, ii. 66

    musical, ii. 94.

    Novels, Tibetan, i. 251 ; and tales in Chinese

    literature, i. 692; character of

    Chinese fiction, i. 095.

    Nui Hing-an ling, or Sialkoi Mountains,

    west of the Amur, i. 1 3.

    Numerals, Chinese, i. 619 ; limitations to

    use of, ii. 60.

    Nuns, Buddhist, at Canton, i. 105 ; and

    nunneries, ii. 230.

    Nii-rh Yu, ‘ Words for Women and

    Girls,’ a school-book, L 577.

    OBEISANCE, sundry degrees of, i.

    801.

    Observatory at Peking, i. 72; and the

    Jesuit missionaries, ii. 298.

    Odes, the Book of (see Shi Kinrj, i. 686,

    etc.), ‘for children,’ the Yin Hioh Shitlrh,

    i. 533 ; in Nestorian inscription at

    Si-ngan, ii. 282.

    Odoric, Friar, i. 302 ; on casting out

    devils, ii. 314; his journey to Cathay,

    ii. 422.

    Officers, in China, their extortions, i. 278 ;

    nine ranks, i. 413-415 ; and Board of

    Civil Office, i. 421 ; provincial, i. 438-

    448; checks upon, i. 449; their character

    and position, i. 451 ; their establishments,

    i. 503 ; compelled to e.xtortion,

    i. 510 ; of education, i. 548 ; dresses, i.

    703 ; formalities of meeting, i. 805

    ;

    their religious duties, ii. 201-205 ; instance

    of their functions, ii. ‘230 ; of

    their corruption, ii. 378 ; of theil

    764 INDEX.

    methods, ii. 557; attitude toward foreigners

    at close of the opium war,

    ii. 575.

    Oling Lake, in Koko-nor, i. 18.

    Oliphant, Lawrence, i. 400, ii. 644, 647,

    654, 0()0.

    Olives (the Pimela), so-called, of China,

    i. o()5, 775.

    Olyphant & Co., their assistance to missionaries,

    ii. o2S, hiSO, 342.

    Oineto Fiih, Buddhist prayer, i. 125.

    Om maiu padiiii hum, its meaning, i.

    349.

    Opium, smuggling incident, i. 477 ; its

    increase under Taukwang, ii. 184; introduction

    and names of, ii. 37y ; cultivation

    in India, ii. o74 ; preparation

    and sale, ii. o76 ; manner of smoking,

    ii. 381 ; its effects, li. 384 ; value of the

    trade, ii. 3S7, 430 ; Robinson’s paper

    on smuggling, ii. 479 ; proposal to

    legalize, ii. 48’3 ; the matter referred to

    Canton, ii. 480 ; prohibitory laws severely

    enforced, ii. 490 ; increase of smuggling,

    ii. 492 ; demanded by Lin, ii.

    498 ; surrendered, ii. 502 ; and destroyed,

    ii. 504 ; sales recommence, ii. 506 , Pottinger’s

    position regarding, ii. 538 ; his

    discussions on, with commissioners, ii.

    5.50 ; smuggling and the port of Hongkong,

    ii. 558 ; laissez fairc policy of

    British and Chinese after first war. ii.

    501, 577 ; increase of smuggling, ii. 033 ;

    legalized in revised tariff, ii. 0.57.

    Oranges, many varieties of, at Canton, i.

    774.

    Osbeck, Peter, his voyage to China, ii.

    461.

    Onchterlony, Lieutenant J., his Chinese

    \Vio\n. .551, 574.

    Oysters common along the coast, i. 350

    ;

    their quality, i. 780.

    PAGODA, Porcelain, at Nankin* i.

    1 02 ; and dagoba in China, i. 743 ;

    purpose and construction, i. 745 ; plain,

    at Canton, ii. 209.

    J’ai-laii, in Peking, i. 83 ; their purpose

    and construction, i. 7.50-7.58 ; to commemorate

    British retreat from Canton,

    ii. 620.

    Painting, as a fine art in China, ii. 105

    examples of illustrations, ii. 100-116

    on pith paper, ii. 113. For reproductions

    of Chinese, see the two frontispieces

    of these volumes.

    Pakhoi, port in Kwanj^tung, i. 175.

    Palace, of Emijcror, at Peking, i. 65-69 ; of

    Yuen mitig Yuen, i. 80; life and arrangements

    of, i. 407.

    Palafox, Bishop, i. 162.

    Palisade boundary between Chihli and

    Shingking, i. 25, 187.

    PalladiuB, Archimandrite, ii. 277, 285.

    Palms, fan, cocoanut, etc., i. 300.

    Palti, or Yamorouk Lake, in Tibet, i. 25.

    Panthay insurrection in Yunnan province,

    ii. 719.

    Pao-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Secure Peace,’ in

    Peking, i. 68.

    Pao-tch, on Yellow River, and chief anticlinal

    axes of Sinian system, i. 14.

    Paper, in China, history and varieties of,

    i. 599 ; used for window glass, i. 732

    ;

    collected by priests, ii. 257 ; burned for

    spirits, ii. 257.

    Paper monej’, in Fulichan, i. 132 ; Polo’s

    delight over, ii. 85 ; and Yuen dynasty,

    ii. 177; mentioned by Ibn Batuta, ii.

    422.

    Parker, Admiral Sir William, arrives

    from England, ii. 524.

    Parker, Dr. P., i. 706, ii. 124, 325; his

    hospital at Canton, ii. 333-337, 567,

    639.

    Parkes. Sir Harry, ii. 29 ; McCarthy’s

    estimate of, ii. 634 ; action in the Arrow

    case, ii. 635-637, 040; one of

    commission to govern C.mton, ii. 046 ;

    his ability, ii. 047; experiences _ at

    Tungchau, ii. 078 ; his capture and imprisonment,

    ii. 080.

    Pascal, a Spanish friar, missionary to

    Kuldja, ii. 289, 424.

    Patriarchal feature of government, i. 381.

    Panting, in Chihli, i. 85.

    Pauthier, G., i. 05, 84, 043, 003, 674, iL

    34, 85, 87, 137, 149, 150, 101, 307, 210,

    212, 280, 413, 419, 713.

    Pauying Lake, in Kiangsu, i. 100.

    Pavif. T., i. 096.

    Pavilion, prominent feature of Chinese

    architecture, i. 730.

    Pawnbrokers’ establishments, ii. 86.

    Peacocks reared throughout China, i. 337.

    Pearl River, in Kwangtung, i. 22, 1.59;

    duck-hatching on, i. 778 ; pirates on,

    during this century, ii. 183 ; kept open

    by foreigners, ii. 630.

    Pearls, genuine and artificial, i. 350.

    Pechele (for Pch-rhihli), sometimes used

    for Chihli, i. 00.

    Peepnl, or 7J?<-^i tree {Ficus religiosa),

    worshipped, ii. 259. .

    Pell ling, ‘ Northern Mountains,’ in

    Kwanlun system, i. 12.

    Peh-ta -sz’, ‘ White Pagoda Temple,’ Peking,

    i. 75.

    Pehtang, Americans urged to go to. ii.

    ()(J5 ; they repair to Peking, via, ii. (i08

    ;

    Ho asks Englisli to exchange treaties

    at, 072 ; allies land and capture, ii. 073.

    Pei iio, and towns on its banks, i. 85-86;

    allied fleet reach, ii. 649 ; repulse at

    battle of, ii. 0()6.

    Peking, climate of, i. 51 ; situation, area,

    and history, i. ()0-64 ; walls, i. (i4

    ;

    ‘ Prohibited City,’ i. 05 ; plan of, i. 66,*

    INDEX. 765

    palaces, i. 07-60; ‘Imporial City,’ i.

    G9 ; parks, public buildings, temples, i.

    69-T!>; Altar to Heaven, i. 7<); otlier

    temples, i. 78 ; summer palace, i. 80 ;

    streets, city government, life, i. 81-84 ;

    dogs of, i. yi9 ; crows about, i. 3H4

    State school at, i. 543 ; examinations

    for isin-sz’ degree, i. 558 ; Pih-yung

    Kung, i. 73, 730 ; street scenes in, i.

    741 ; carts used by royalty in, i. 747 ;

    compressed feet in, i. 770 ; marriage

    processions at, i. 7S9 ; fireworks in, i.

    817; ploughing ceremony at, ii. 13; its

    medical college {T’ai-i Yucit), ii. 121 ;

    taken by the Mongols, ii. 175; by the

    Mings, ii. 177, 178; Barrow on infanticide

    in, ii. 240 ; funerals in, ii. 345,

    2.50; Moslems in, ii. 2(59; Catholics first

    established in, ii. 287 ; Ricci goes to,

    ii. 291 ; medical instruction at, ii. 33′.)

    Friar Odoric visits, ii. 423 ; Van

    Hoorn’s embassy to, ii. 438 ; Russian

    mission at, ii. 443 ; Tai-ping expedition

    against, ii. 597 ; Ward’s visit to,

    ii. 6′)9 ; allied troops at, ii. (382, 686 ; a

    foreign quarter in, ii. 088.

    Pekinq Gazette {Kiiirj Pao), on revenue,

    i. 293 ; notice of, i! 420.

    Paial Code, of China, i. 279, 282, 287 ;

    examination of, i. 384-392 ; regulating

    trials and punishments, i. 50(3 ; number

    of characters in, i. 589 ; laws on

    land, ii. 2 ; on physicians, ii. 133

    ;

    framed by Yungloh, ii. 177.

    People of China, their clans, i. 483 ; general

    education, i. 519.

    Pepys, Ramtiel, mentions tea, ii. 51.

    Ferny, P., i 719, ii. 90.

    Pescadores, or Panghu Islands, i. 27, 141 ;

    the Dutch in, ii. 433.

    Petitions presented by the poor to high

    magistrates, i. 505.

    Petroleum in Formosa, i. 139.

    Pheasants, gold, silver, Reeves, and

    others, i. 336.

    Philosophy, Chinese, of the Yih Kinq, i.

    028-033 ; of Confucius, i. 062 ; of Chu

    Hi, i. (183 ; ideas concerning the ‘ action

    and reaction of the elements,’ ii.

    74 ; of the creation, ii. 137-144 ; Bazin’s

    view of growth of Chinese, ii. 213.

    Phoenix, or Fniifj-Zitrnng, i. 343.

    Physical traits of Chinese, i. 41.

    Physicians, their position in society, i.

    783 ; their practice, ii. 124-127; foreigners

    educate Chinese as, ii. 339.

    Pigeon-English, an unwritten patois, i.

    624 ; examples of, i. 832, ii. 340, 402,

    62().

    Pigeons, abundant in Peking, 1. 335

    ;

    raised and eaten, i. 779.

    Pihkwei, made governor of Canton after

    Yeh’s capture, ii. 64(! ; asks Lord Elgin

    to reopen trade, ii. 647.

    Pih-ynngKung, or ‘ Classic Hall,’ Confu«

    cian Temple, Peking, i. 73, 730, 757.

    Pilgrims, to Tai Shan, i. 90 ; Chinese, ta

    Mecca, ii. 370 ; travels of Buddhist, iL

    413.

    Pines, the white, etc., i. 302.

    Pirates, infest Kwangtung, ii. 183 ; pursued

    by British and Portuguese, ii. 032.

    Piry, A. Theophile, i. 080.

    Pi-shan, a doubtful volcano in 111, i. 11.

    Plain. See Great Plain, i. 14, 27, etc.

    Piano Carpini, John of, missionary to

    China, ii. 287 ; his mission to Kuyuk, ii.

    417.

    Plantain, productiveness of, i. 301 ; how

    eaten, i. 774.

    Plough, its construction, ii. 3; drillplough,

    ii. 5; foreifjn, introduced, ii. 63.

    Ploughing, annual ceremony of,at Peking,

    i. 78, ii. 1, 13.

    Poetry of the Sh I King, i. 038-043 ; characteristics

    of Chinese, i. 7(3 ; examples

    of their odes and liallads, i. 70,5-714.

    Po-lai-tsz’, a name of the Yangtsz’ kiang,

    i. 20.

    Police, of Peking, i. 83; tyranny and

    venality of, i. 475—480; memorial to

    Emperor concerning, i. 495.

    Policy of Cliinese government, in Ili, i.

    214 ; its theory, i. 3S0-3S4 ; toward foreign

    traders since the Mings, ii. 426 ; at

    close of opium war, ii. 575.

    Polo, Marco, i. 32, 110, 118, 127, 130, 157,

    181, 213, 242, 281, 304, 330, 330, 337,

    343, 345, 350, 300, 304, ii. 51, 85, 176,

    271, 285, 415 ; his journeys in China,

    ii. 420, 425.

    Polyandry in Tibet, i. 350.

    Polygamy, its extent in China, i. 792.

    Poor, troublesome element of Peking

    population, i. 84 ; petitions forced upon

    magistrates, i. .505 ; dwellings of the, i.

    733 ; disposal of their dead, ii. 2,54.

    Pope of Rome, appoints Corvino archbishop,

    ii. 287 ; sends other missionaries

    to China, ii. 288 ; Ming claimants write

    to, ii. 29(5 ; and question of rites, ii. 299,

    301, 302 ; supports Tournon and the

    Dominicans, ii. 303 ; sends Carpini to

    Kuyuk khan, ii. 415.

    Population, of Great Plain, i. 28 ; of Peking,

    i. (i3, 84; of Canton, i. 101; of

    Shingking, i. 193 ; of the Empire, i.

    2.58-288 ; of Tibet, unknown, i. 284 ; of

    China during the Tang, ii. 171 ; of Peking

    at last determined, ii. 087.

    Porcelain, i. Ill ; works, i. 113 ; materials

    and manufacture, ii. 22 ; export of, ii.

    394.

    Porcupine in China, i. 328.

    Portuguese, church in Peking, i. 75 ; in

    Ningpo, i. 120; settlers in Formosa, i,

    137; in Macao, i. 170; name porcelain,

    ii. 22 ; during the Mings, ii. 177 ; and

    766 INDEX.

    pirate fleets, ii. IS” ; oppose introducing

    Christianity, ii. 281) ; excitement iu Canton

    against, ii. ‘.i’.U ; conduct of early,

    traders with China, ii. 42t; ; misrepre-

    Bent the English, ii. 444 ; keep tFiem

    out of Canton, ii. 44() ; homicide of a, at

    Canton, ii. 451 ; attack the pirates, ii.

    632 ; smuggling lorchas, ii. K’A ; abolish

    coolie trade at Macao, ii. (163.

    Pottinger, Sir Henry, arrives irom England,

    ii. r)”24 ; takes Chinhai and Ningpo,

    ii. 527 ; his proclamation before

    Chinkiang, ii. 5;i7 ; his position regarding

    the opium trade, ii. Oo’J ; Kiying

    writes to, ii. 546; exchanges civilities

    with commissioners, ii. 547; discusses

    opium problem with them, ii. 550

    ;

    ^igns Nanlcing treat}’, ii. 5.53 ; action

    on hearing of Formosa massacres, ii.

    5.55 ; exchanges ratifications with Kiying,

    ii. 557 ; on J. R. Morrison, ii. 501 ;

    action against opium smuggling, ii. 502.

    Poutiatine, Admiral Count, his arrival in

    China, ii. 043.

    Poyang Luke, in Kiangsi, i. 33, 111.

    Players, Buddhist, ii. 225, 226 ; machines

    for, ii. 334 ; at ancestral tomb, ii. 253;

    ‘Girdle Classics,’ ii. 257.

    Prejevalsky, Colonel N., observations on

    Gobi, i. 10; on source of Yangtsz’, i.

    20 ; Lob-nor, i. 24 ; Kansuh, i. 153

    Mongolia, i. 205, 210, 212, 222, 231, 243,

    290, 338, 355, 304.

    Pre’mare. Pere, i. 581), 714, ii. 232.

    Prester John, Prince of the Kara Kitai,

    ii. 385, 280.

    Priests, in Canton, i. 104, 165; and

    snakes, i. 340 , harbor thieves, i. 498

    in society, i. 783 ; and theatres, i. 830 ;

    grow tea, ii. 42 ; no hierarchy of, in

    China, ii. 101, 199; Taoist, ii. 214, 215;

    Buddhist, ii. 220, 224, 250 ; Nestorian,

    ii. 285, 380.

    Primitives in the Chinese language, i.

    591-593.

    Printing, in China, i. 600 ; missionary, ii.

    307.

    Processions, marriage, i. 787-791 ; style

    of, i. 819 ; funeral, ii. 345, 348.

    Professions, the liberal, in Chinese society,

    i. 783.

    Prisons in (>anton, i. 167, 514.

    Pronunciation, varieties in local Chinese,

    i. 61.5-017.

    ‘Prohibited City’ of Peking, i. 65.

    Pro.spect, or ‘Coal’ Hill, Peking, i. 70.

    Protestants, first, missionaries to (!hina,

    ii. 31S ; niethods compared with Catholics,

    ii. ;?22 ; toleration granted to, ii.

    357 ; statistics of, in China, ii. oOtJ.

    Proverbs, Chinese, i. 110,442, 019; collections

    of, and specimen, i. 719-733,

    792, ii. 244.

    Provincial governments, character of the

    system, i. 437; higher, i. 438, and lowei

    officers, i. 441 ; law courts, i. 504.

    Prussian blue, \i8ed in coloring teas, ii.

    47 ; introduced, ii. 62.

    P.salmanazar, George, his Ilintory of Forinoaa,

    i. 141.

    Ptolemy, the geographer, his mention of

    China, ii. 408 ; his “Stone Tower,” ii.

    409.

    Pulses, their importance in medical practice,

    ii. 122, 12.5.

    Pumpellyj R., his “Sinian System” of

    mountains, i. 14; remarks on Gobi, i.

    17; quoted, i. 145, 205, 207, 296, 304,

    305.

    Punishments, Board of, i 426; five kinds,

    i. 508 ; Parkes and Loch at Board of,

    ii. 681.

    Pan t.iao, or ‘Chinese Herbal,’ i. 316;

    concerning the sphex. i. 354 ; its author

    and scope, i. 370 ; divisions of : geology,

    i. 371 ; botany, i. 372 ; zoology, i. 374 ;

    notices of the horse, i. 375, 691, iL

    373.

    Pushtikhur, mountain knot in Turkestan,

    i. 10.

    Puto Island, i. 124.

    Puyur, or Pir Lake, in Manchuria, i. 24.

    Pwanku, the first man, ii. 138-141.

    UAILS, fighting, i. 826.

    ^ Queues, how worn, i. 761 ; false ohair in, i. 765 ; imposed upon Chinese

    by the Tartars, ii. 179 ; mourning,

    ii. 249 ; cut ofT by Tai-pings, ii. 589.

    Quicksilver mines in Kweichau, i. 178,

    311 ; experiments in, ii. 118.

    I)

    ACES (see under Aboriginal), abor-

    \) iginal and colonial, of China, i. 43.

    Radicals in the Chinese language, i. 591-

    593.

    Raffles, SirT. S., i. 482.

    Rain, in North China, i. 51 ; in the south,

    i. 53; contrast in. between coasts of

    China and America, i. 55 ; Taukwang’s

    prayer for, i. 407 ; eflbrts after, by

    officers, ii. 203-205.

    Ranking, J., i. 330.

    Ranks, titular, of noblemen, i. 405 ; of

    the people, i. 411 ; insignia of, i. 414.

    Rationalists, or Taoists, considered as

    magicians, i. ()94 ; ideas of the creation,

    ii. 138; creed, ii. 207 0″.

    Rats, how and when eaten, i. 778.

    lied Book, of officials, its character, i

    452.

    Reed, William B.^ United States Minister,

    i. 400; arrives in China, ii. 643,

    649.

    Regis, Pere J. B., i. 633.

    Reinaud, J. T., i. 127, u. 168, 271, 414,

    425. 426.

    Religion, sects in Tibet, i. 248 ; ridicuU

    INDEX. 7G7

    of, by the literati, i. 601 ; none in early

    mythology, ii. 14)3; only external modifying

    intlaence in China, ii. 18′.); two

    negative features of Chinese, ii. 192

    ;

    the tliree ki<w, or sects : State, ii. 194 ;

    Tao. or Rationalist, ii. 207 ; Fuh, or

    Buddhist, ii. 217; toleration of, in

    Cliiua, ii. 221 ; eft’eto among the people,

    ii. 2G0.

    Be’musat, Abel, his derivation of word

    Tsunfj ling, i. 9 ; myths of the Great

    Deseit, i. 12 ; river basins of China, i.

    27, 2i:!, 214, 2:50, 2:11, 2>!:;, 2:J4, 237, 28t<,

    2.’)0, 2.”)1, 254, 308, 353 ; observations on

    natural sciences, i. 377, 500, .^97, ()0.5

    ;

    on Chinese grammar, i. 617 ; Mencius,

    i. (iOtJ, 674, 675, 681, 682, 694, 696. ii.

    123, 139, 167, 176, 180, 224, 232, 233,

    293, 309, 441.

    Rennie, Dr. D. F., i. 05, ii. 602.

    Researches of Ma Twan-lin, i. 2.59-265.

    Responsibility, a main feature of government,

    i. 382-383 ; its operation, i. 436 ;

    of Emperor for natural calamities, i.

    465; results of, i. 481.

    Revenue, of Chinese Empire, i. 289-292

    ;

    Board of, i. 422 ; Department of, i. 443 ;

    and transit duties, ii. 391.

    Rhubarb from Kansuh, i. 864.

    Ricci, Father Matteo, comes to China, ii.

    289 ; travels northward, ii. 290 ; his

    death, ii. 2,12 ; his character, ii. 293 ; decision

    as to the rites, ii. 292, 299 ; compared

    witli Morrison, ii. 322 ; compiles

    account of Goes’ journey, ii. 425.

    Rice, its importance, i. 772 ; its cultivation,

    ii. 5-7; paper, painting on, ii.

    113; an import, ii. 396.

    RichanlsL.!!, Sir John, i. 296, 347, 348.

    Richthofen, Biron F. von, remarks on

    conformation of Central Asia, i. 18

    roads in loess, i. 39, 97, 120, 150, 1.5S,

    184. :^12, 221, 222, 257, 296, 297, 303,

    305. 636, ii. 137 ; on early knowledge of

    China, ii. 407. 411, 624.

    Ripa, Pere M., ii. 124; arrives in China,

    ii. 302; observations on Catholic missionaries,

    ii. 305.

    Rites, five kinds of, i. 423; Book of, i.

    643-f)47 ; question of the, Ricci’s precedent,

    ii. 292 ; Catholic quarrels concerning,

    ii. 297-303.

    Ritter, Carl, i. 208, 234, 237, 257.

    Rivers, of China, i. 18; of Shansi, i. 94;

    boat life on, i. 751.

    Roberts, Rev. I. J., his connection with

    Hung Siu-tsnen, ii. 587, 622.

    Roads, public, i. 37 ; mountain, i. 39 ; of

    Shansi, i. 91″!

    ; of Sz’chiien, i. 156; safety

    of, in the Empire, i. 212 ; in loess region,

    i. 300.

    Robinson, Sir G. B., associated with Napier,

    ii. 464 ; succeeds him as superintendent,

    ii. 479.

    Rome, Chinese knowledge cf, during the

    Han dynasty, ii. 163; the country ‘i’u

    Tsin, ii. 207 ; and Ciiiiia, infanticide in,

    ii. 242 ; divination in China and, ii.

    261 ; intercourse with Cliiua, ii. 410.

    Roman Catholics’, and Huddliists’ rituals

    compared, ii. 231, 315 ; they suggest

    the founding of hospitals, ii. 205 ; missi

    jns first established in China, ii. 286

    ;

    second period of their missions, ii. 289

    diseussions concerning the rites, ii. 253,

    292, 299 ; expelled from China by Yungciiing,

    ii. 304 ; character of their la})or3

    in China, ii. 316 ; they move to Hongkong,

    ii. 347 ; restitution of their confiscated

    property, ii. 361 , 362 ; indemnified

    in treaty of Peking, ii. 687.

    Rondot, Natalis, Chinese commerce, ii.

    19, 31, 38, 83.

    Roofs, how constructed in China, i. 726,

    729.

    Rubruquis, Friar William, sent by Louis

    XI. to Mangu khan, ii. 418, 425.

    _

    Russia, treaty^ between, and China on

    frontier of II i, i. 215, .594; and toleration

    of Christianity in China, ii. 360

    ;

    boundary disputes, trade, and treaties

    of, with China, ii. 441 ; takes possession

    of Kuldja, ii. 727.

    Russian, ‘pigeon,’ spoken in Vierny, ii.

    402 ; Admiral Poutiatine arrives in

    China, ii. 643 ; and American ministers

    at Tientsin, ii. 6 4 ; diplomacy and the

    Kuldja question, ii. 732.

    SABBATH not known in China, i. 809.

    SacharofF, T., i. 271.

    Sacred Edict (or Commands) of Kanghi,

    the Shing Ym, i. .548; a politico-moral

    treatise, i. 686-601 ; its observations on

    mulberry culture, ii. ; 3 ; illus-trations

    from, ii. 107-111, 227,_ 267.

    Sacrifices, no human, in China, ii. 192;

    three grades, ii. 105; of women at funeral

    of Empress, ii. 250.

    Sagalicn, River (see Amur), i. 180; town

    of (Igoon),i. 108.

    Sa,int-Martin, Didier, Romish missionary

    to China, ii. 3C6, 312 ; on casting out

    demons, ii. 314.

    Salaries, of Chinese officers, i. 204 ; of

    Mongol princes, i. 430.

    Sale of office practised continually by

    Emperor, i. 475.

    Salisbury, Prof. E. E., ii. 232.

    _

    Salt, produced in Shansi, i. 95 ; in

    Sz’chuen, i. 158, 308 ; Yunnan, i. 184

    ;

    Department, or Gabel, i. 443.

    Salve tat, ii. 23, 24.

    ‘Sand,’ a malady at Nanking, i. 52.

    Sand-storms on the Plains, i. .52 ; dunes

    or moving hills in Kashgar, i. 227.

    Sangkolinsin, Tartar general, at Takii

    forts, ii. 664 ; drives back the allies, il

    7G8 INDEX.

    606 ; blunder in operations against allies

    before Taku, ii. 074 ; retires toward Peking,

    ii. (577 ; his deception, ii. 079

    ;

    conversation with Parkes, ii. (i80 ; his

    connection with treatment of English

    pi isoners, ii. 085 ; allows the return of

    allied troops, ii. 088.

    San-Ux’ Kim], or ‘ Trimetrical Classic,’ a

    school-book, i. 526-530.

    Sayce, Prof. A. H., on hieroglyphics, i.

    581.

    iSchaal, Father Adam, recommended to

    the Emperor, ii. ;i94 ; and Shunchi’, ii.

    2y0 ; j)roscribed, and dies, ii. ;i’J7

    ;

    makes cannon, ii. ~98.

    Scarborough, W., i. 720.

    tSchereschewsky, Bishop, S. I. J., ii. 873,

    304.

    Science, study of, in China, i. 297; foreign

    terms of, introduced, i. 021 ; abstract,

    not pursued, ii. 65 ; attainments

    in and ideas upon, ii. 06-86.

    B.adegel, Dr. Gustave, i. 48, 494, 633.

    (School name, shu mltit/, i. 525; when

    conferred, i. 797.

    Schools, boys’, how conducted, i. 525

    books studied, i. 527-541 ; high, i. 542

    Romish mission, ii. 310 ; Morrison

    Education Society, ii. 341-345.

    Rchuhmacher, M. Job. H. , i. 033.

    Schuyler, Eugene, i. 217, 219, 233, ii. 402.

    Sculpture as a fine art, ii. 105, 114.

    Secret societies in China, i. 492 ; their

    character, ii. 2()7.

    Sedan chairs of magistrates, i. 50;! ; their

    kinds and uses, i. 748.

    Senamand, J., i. 003.

    Seres, Latin designation for China, i. 4 ;

    distinguished from Sinw, ii. 408.

    Sen Ki-yu, Governor, compend of geography

    by, i. 50; and Dr. Abeel, ii. 348,

    409, 575.

    Sevres and Chinese porcelains compared,

    ii. 23.

    Seymour, Admiral, ii. 037 ; enters Canton

    city, ii. 038 ; withdraws from the river

    to Macao Fort, ii. (J40 ; takes Taku

    forts, ii. i’>T>\.

    Sexes, separation of in Chines&^ociety, i.

    784. _

    -^

    Shamanism, the Buddhism of Tibet and

    Mongolia, ii. 233-235.

    Shameen, foreign settlement at Canton,

    i. 168.

    Sha-moh (see Gobi), i. 15 ; its character,

    i. 17.

    Shang dynasty, its annals, ii. 154-157, 158.

    Shangchuen, Sancian, or St. John’s Island,

    Kwangtung, i. 173, ii. 289, 437.

    Blianghai, climate, i. 53 ; rainfall, i. 50 ;

    description of, i. 100; its dialect, i.

    01 1 ; Ching-hwang miao at, ii. 202

    ;

    foundling hospital at, ii. 264 ; missions

    aBtablished at, ii. 351, 357 ; conference,

    ii. 305 ; taken and ransomed by th«

    British, ii. 530 ; at close of lirst war, ii

    573 ; captured by rebels, ii. 004 ; protected

    from Tai-pings by foreigners, ii.

    000 ; foreigners at, thank Gordon, ii.

    019; customs duties entrusted to foreigners

    at, ii. 027 ; troubles with Cantonese

    rebels at, ii. 628 ; arsenal estab

    lished at, ii. 690.

    Shangti’, worship of. as God, ii. 154, 157

    ;

    the Taoist, ii. 215 ; and Tien, the term

    question among Catholics, ii. 297

    among Protestants, ii. 364 ; Hung Siutsuen

    and the worship of, ii. 588, 590.

    Shangtu, or Xanadu, i. 87.

    Shan-hai kwan, a town on the Gulf of

    Pechele, i. 25.

    Shansi province, description of, i. 94;

    productions, i. 95 ; mountain passes, i.

    97 ; loess regions of, i. 398-303.

    Shantung province, i. 89 ; productions, L

    92 ; people of, i. 93.

    Shark, mode of catching, i. 347 ; fins

    eaten, ii. 397.

    Shasi, in Hupeh, i. 14.5.

    Shauchau, in Kwangtung, i. 173.

    Shanking, a town in Kwangtung, i. 173;

    Ricci establislied there, ii. 290, 431

    ;

    rebel slaughter at, ii. 632.

    Shaw, R. B., ii. 729.

    Shaw, Samuel, his voyage to China, ii. 460.

    Sheep, domestic and mountain, i. 321

    .

    Shensi province, i. 148-152 ; loess in, L

    298 ; the Huns in, ii. 10.5.

    Shigatsc’, capital of Ulterior Tibet, i. 247.

    Shih, a grain measure, its value, i. 290.

    Shih-pah Sang, or ‘ Eighteen Provinces,’

    called t’liHHij Kii’oh. i. 8.

    Slii Kin(/, the ‘ Book of Odes,’ its poetry,

    i. 03(5-043, 703 ; allusion to silk, ii. 32

    and ancestral worship, ii. 230.

    Shingking colony, i. 25 ; a province of

    Manchuria, i. 191-19(5.

    Shinnung, inventor of agriculture, temple

    to, at Peking, i. 78.

    Shoeing animals, manner of, ii. 4.

    Shoes, how made and worn, i. 701 ; women’s,

    i. 769 ; given at New Year, i. 811.

    Shops, in Peking, i. 82 ; arrangement of

    Chinese, i. 73(5 ; their names, i. 799

    ;

    decorated at New Yeai’, i. 811-813.

    Shiiga Mountains, in the Kwanlun system,

    i. 11.

    SJinKing, the ‘Book of Records,’ i. 90;

    its character and value, i. 633-630 ; on

    temperance, i. 808 ; notice of silk culture,

    ii. 32 ; of cotton, ii. 3(5 ; of early

    attention to astronomy, ii. OS, (59 ; the

    deluge of Yao, ii. 147 ft’.; its credibility,

    ii. 152, 155 ; and House of Chau, u.

    157, 159; and religion, ii. 190; on ancient

    commerce, ii. 372, 59(5.

    Shun, an early Emperor, ii. 145, 146-148.

    Shunchi, Emperor, i. 385 ; orders women

    INDEX. (GO

    immolated, ii. 250 ; and Schaal, ii. 290,

    -,

    ^*^-

    Shuntien, a department of Chihli, i. (iO.

    Sialkoi Mountains, in Manchuria, L 13,

    1S».

    Slang River, in Hunan, i. 14fi.

    eiangkwan, King of Tsinchau, changes

    his ca[)it;il to Lohyang, i. o.

    Siao lUiih, or •Juvenile Instructor,’ a

    text-book, i. 5:22, 540.

    _

    Sign-boards of Poking, i. 8o. 738.

    Sihota, or Sili-hih-teh Mountains, in

    Manchuria, i. 10, 188.

    Si Hu, ‘West Lake,’ near Hangchau, i.

    117; near Fuhchan, i. 131.

    Silk. Hangchau. i. 119; of Sz’chuen, i.

    157 ; worm reared, i. 351 ; manufacture,

    ii. 33-35 ; export of. ii. 395.

    Siik-worm, discovered by Yuenfi, i. 71

    ;

    its culture, ii. 33.

    Silver, localities of, i. 311 ;

    ‘ shoes ‘ of

    si/crr. ii. 84.

    Silver Island (Siung Shan), near Chinkiang.

    i. 100.

    Simon, Eug. , ii. 88.

    Simpson, William, i. 737.

    Si-ugan (Hao-king and Chang-an), abandoned

    in 770 1?. c. by Siangkwan, i. 3;

    description of the city, i. 1 50 ; capital of

    the Chau, ii. l.-)2. 1.58, 102. 105; during

    the Tang, ii. 108 ; temple to Lautsz’ in,

    ii. 215 ; Nestorian tablet of, ii. 270, 408.

    Sining, in Kansuh, i. 154, 210, 213. 2.52.

    ijiu fsui. or ‘Bachelor of Arts,’ first degree

    in examination system, i. .547;

    military, i. 500 ; Hung Siu-tsuen tries

    for, ii. ‘582.

    Siuenhwa, in Chihli, i. 86.

    Six Boards, bureaus of, Peking, i. 72, 415,

    421-428.

    Si Yuen, ‘Western Park,’ Peking, i. 70.

    ” Skinning papers ” used in examinations,

    i. 551.

    Slaves, few in China, i. 413, 564.

    Smith, Rev. Arthur, i. 97.

    Smith, Bishop George, i. 498, ii. 242, 272.

    Smith, F. Porter, ii. 134, 241.

    Smuggling, desperate case of opium, L

    447 ; at Macao and Whampoa, ii. 378 ;

    increase of, about Hongkong, ii. 633

    British encouragement of, ii. 725.

    Snakes in China, i. 34′>.

    Snow, in Peking, i. 51 ; in Shanghai, i.

    .53 ; in Canton, i. .”4.

    Snuff, how taken, i. 771 ; bottles found

    in Egypt, ii. 27.

    Social life, in China, i. 782-830 ; and government

    in reform movements, ii. 581.

    Society, Medical Missionary, ii. ;)34 ; for

    the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in

    China, ii. 340 ; Morrison Education, ii.

    341.

    Songari River, in Manchuria, i. 190 ; in

    treaty of Livadia, ii. 732.

    Vol. II.—49

    Songaria (see Tien-shan Peh Lu), or

    Dzungaria, i. 215 ; its productions, i.

    218; chief cities, i. 219; history, i.

    233-230.

    Sorghum (kaoliaiuj), on Teungming Island,

    i. 108 ; not used for sugar, i. 776.

    Sounds, of the Chinese language indicated

    by symbols, i. 580; mistaken

    ideas regardmg, i. 005 ; still unwritten,

    i. 608 ; dialectic, of Canton and Amoy,

    i. 615; and sense in Chinese rhymes, i

    704.

    Soy, how made, i. 365, 773 ; an export, ii.

    390.

    Soyorti Mountain.s. See Sialkoi.

    Spanish, trade and relations with China,

    ii. 431 ; Don S. de Mas appointed, minister,

    ii. 505 ; government and the

    coolie trade, ii. 715.

    Spectacles, fashion of Chinese, ii. 22.

    Sphex, or solitary wasp, Chinese ideas respecting,

    i. 354.

    Spirits, ardent, temperance in use of, L

    808 ; dread of wandering, ii. 258.

    Squirrels, varieties of, i. 327.

    Stanlev, Dean A. P., on Confucius and

    Buddha, ii. 220.

    Stanovoi, or Wai Hing-an Mountains,

    their position, i. 9.

    Stars, arrangement of the, ii. 76.

    Staunton, Sir G. L.. i. 89, 118, 269, 353,

    362, 403, 453, ii. 444, 454.

    Staunton, Sir G. T., i. 279, 384, 589, 674,

    080, ii. 318, 4.52, 458. 400.

    Steel everywhere made, ii. 19.

    Stent, Geo. C, i. 703, 7C6, 770.

    Stevens, Rev. Edwin, i. 93, 129, 764, ii.

    329, 352, 308.

    Stimpson, i. 290.

    Strass, made in Tsinan, i. 91 ; uses of,

    ii. 21.

    Strauss, Victor von, i. 643, ii. 207, 212.

    Streets, of Peking, i. 82 ; of Canton, L

    168 ; scenes in, i. 740 ; at New Year,

    812, 815; at Emperor’s funeral, ii. 250.

    Sturgeon, or ijin yii, in Yaugtsz’, i. 347.

    Sii, a censor, his punishment, i. 432.

    Su-Hwui, a poetess of the fourth century,

    i. 708.

    Sii Kwang-hi, or Paul Sii, his Encyclopedia

    of Aqricnlture, i. 686, ii. 10, 51

    ;

    converted by Ricci, ii. 291, 292, 294,

    354.

    Sii Kwang-tsin, Governor-General, keepp

    foreigners out of Canton, ii. 573 ; his

    folly, ii. .590, 604.

    Suchau, in Kiangsu, i. 103 ; captured by

    Tai-pings, ii. OUG ; recapture of, ii. 013-

    616.

    Sugar, on Formosa, i. 139; largely grown,

    i. 776; how made, ii. 11.

    Suhshun, favorite of Hienfung, ii. 604;

    his conspiracy and death, ii. 691.

    Sui dynasty, ii. 167.

    770 INDEX.

    Suicides carofiilly drcssod, i. 513.

    Sulphur found in Formosa, i. 139.

    Sun symbolized by a raven, ii. 74.

    Sung dynasty, cotton introduced during

    the, ii. ;>7 ; the Xlth dynasty or Northern

    Sung, ii. 10.5 ; the XXIId, its period,

    ii. 173 ; the Southern Sung, ii. 174.

    Sung, a censor, his rectitude, i. 431 ; his

    career, i. 4.54.

    Sunijkiaug, in Kiangsu, recaptured by

    Ward, ii, (507 ; Gordon retires to, ii.

    (iia.

    Suuglo hills, in Nganhwui, i. lO’J ; in

    ‘ Tea-Picker.s’ Ballad,’ i. 710 fF.

    Sunnite tribe of Mongols, i. ^06.

    Superstitions, of the Chinese, respecting

    divination, 1. tilJO ; in marriages, i. 785

    ff.; Taoist priests and, i. 694, ii. 214;

    m funerals, fung s?iui, ii. 24.5, 24()

    ;

    various, ii. 255-‘3()o ; Chinese and

    Romish, ii. 314, 316; of mediaeval travellers

    in the East, ii. 423.

    Supremacy, Governor Lu’s ideas of Chinese,

    ii. 472 ; Chinese principles of, ii.

    475, 476 ; illustrated in case of Lin’s

    homicide, ii. 506, 510; Chinese, and

    Pottinger’s proclamation, ii. 538.

    Swallows about Peking, i. 332.

    Swinlioe, Robert, i. 206, 318, 328, 329,

    331, 337, 342, ii. 671, 673, 677, 683, 684,

    685.

    Symbolism, Chinese, ii. 74, 111.

    Syle, B. W., ii. 96.

    Sz\ a ‘township’ or ‘commune,’ i. 59;

    government of, i. 441.

    /Sz’ (‘Silk’), origin of the Latin Seres,

    China, i. 4 ; of silk, ii. 35.

    Sz’chuen province, climate, i. .55 ; description

    of, i. 1.54-158; alum found in,

    i. SOS ; wax-worm of, i. 353 ; tea of,

    ii. 50,

    Sz’ Hai, ‘ All within the Four Seas,’ ancient

    Chinese terra for the land, i. 4.

    Sz’ma Kwang, a historian, i. 676, ii. 174.

    Sz’ma Tsicn, a Chinese historian, i. 675,

    ii. 140, 149, 212.

    TABLES : Area and population of

    Eurojjean States, i. 272 ; Censuses

    of the Eiglite(-n Provinces since 1710, i,

    264; Colonies of China, their government

    and sulidivisions, i, 186 ; Dynasti:;

    s of China, ii. 18(;; Expenditure

    of Chinese government, i. 293 ; Exports

    from China during 1880 iind 1881, ii,

    405 ;

    ” Five Sovereigns ” of Chinese

    legendary annahs, ii. 148; Ming and

    Tsing Emperors, ii. 18(i; Missionaries

    (Protestant) in China, 1877, ii. 366;

    Nature, ywwers, and functions of elementary,

    ii, 75 ; Numerals, (‘iiinese, in

    three dialects, i. 619; Opium import

    to Hongkong, ii, 388 ; /’«// Kirn of Puhlii’,

    in the )’//’ Kiii’i. i. O’.’B ; Population

    of China, comparatirc estimates of, i

    263 ; Provinces, government and divisions

    of the Eighteen, i, 01 j Provincial

    officer.?, i. 444 ; Pulse and its corresponding

    organs in the human body, u. i22 ;

    Revenue of the Eighteen Provinces

    :

    Cu.stoms report, ii. 4U4 ; De Guifines’a

    estimate, i. 291 ; Medhurst’s estimate,

    i. 299 ; Radicals of the Chinese language,

    i. 592 ; Rice tribute sent to Peking,

    ii. 5 ; Tea exj)()rt during ten

    years, ii. 404 ; Trade, value of Chinese

    foreign, ii. 4():>; Zodiac, divisions of

    the Chinese, ii. 71

    .

    Ta-chungsz’, ‘Bell Temple,’ Peking, i. 79.

    Ta Hioli, or ‘Superior Learning,’ i. 052,

    Ta hu, or Tai hu, ‘(ireat Lake,’ near the

    Yangtsz’, i. 2:!, 100, 103.

    Tai-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Highest Peace,’

    imperial palace, Peking, i. 67.

    Tai Miao, ‘Great Temple,’ Peking, i. 70.

    Taintor, E. C, i. 141, 176, 433.

    _ Tai-ping, ‘ Tri-netrieal Clas-sic ‘ of, i.

    .530 ; loyalty of imperial officials during

    the rebellion, i, 5C3, ii. 184, 3.59

    ;

    origin of the t3rm, ii. 581 ; commencement

    of insurryctiaii, ii. 589 ; first military

    success, ii. 591 ; character of its

    control, ii. 59 J ; arrangement of camp,

    ii. 594 ; advance to Nanking, ii. .595

    ;

    expedition against Peking, ii. 597

    rapid degeneration of the movement

    after this failure, ii. 599 ; dissensions

    among the leaders, ii. 602 ; eleven new

    wangs appointsd—the sortie from Nanking

    of May, 1 800, ii. 005 ; they fail in

    not following Elgi.i to Peking, ii. 600 ;

    operations to relieve Nganking, ii. 607

    ;

    resistance at Suchau, ii. 613 ; execution

    of leaders at its surrender, ii. 61 5 ; desperate

    condition of the rebels, ii. 617

    end of rebellion in the fall of Nanking,

    ii. 620 ; subsequent movements of the

    refugees, ii. 621 ; their final collapse,

    ii. 622; authorities on the rebellion, ii.

    624 ; army at Hankow visited bv Elgin,

    ii. 0.59.

    Tai shan, in Shantung, i. 90.

    Taitsung, Emperor, of t!ie Tang dynasty,

    institutes examination system, i. .521

    ;

    his reign and acts, ii. 168-170.

    Taiwan, on b’ormosa, i. l-;0.

    Taiyuen, cai>ital of Shansi, i. 96.

    Taku, on the Pei ho, i. 86; interview between

    Elliot and Kishen at, ii. 515 ; the

    allied licet at, ii. 049 ; Russian and

    American interviiw with Tan at, ii. 6.50;

    forts taken by l^nglish and French, ii.

    651 ; the four forci>;n ministers repair

    to, ii, t)64; negotiations of Americans

    at, ii. 065 ; repulse of the allies at, ii.

    600 ; attack upon .and capture of, ii. 676.

    Tallow and the tallow-tree, ii, 11.

    Tang dynasty, the best period of Chinese

    INDEX. 771

    poetry, i. 704; drama originates dnring,

    1. 714; its brilliant period, ii. Ui7-17l ;

    the After Taug, ii. 17^.’; Mo.slems in

    Ciiina during the, ii. 268 ; Arabs, ii. 41 o ;

    travelling regulations under, ii. 4~5.

    Tnii</Jin, Tail’/ Shan, local terms for the

    Chinese and China, i. 4, ii. 1G8.

    Tangnu Mountains’, in Mongolia, i. 0.

    Tang Ting-ching, governor at Canton, ii.

    481 ; his son in the opium trade, ii. 4′.)3

    ;

    his helpless position toward foreigners,

    ii. 4′.)5 ; foolish answer to Elliot, ii. 4’JG

    ;

    visit.s Macao, ii. 506.

    TangTsz’, Temple to Imperial Ancestors,

    Peking, i. 73.

    Tangnts, tribe of, i. 210, 212.

    Tankia boats at Canton, i. 412, 751.

    Tan Ting-siang, governor-general of

    Chihli, meets American and Russian

    minist^ns at Taku, ii. (JiiO ; superseded

    by Kwciliang at Tientsin, ii. 651.

    Taoism, or Rationalism, priests regarded

    as magicians, i. 694 ; its founder, ii.

    206 ; its classic, the Tao Teh King, ii.

    297-214; 3.ndfu)!g s/nii, ii. 246.

    Tarbagatai, district of Songaria, i. 220.

    Tariff and commercial regulations after

    the first war, ii. 558 ; after the second,

    ii. 657.

    Tarim, or Ergu River, i. 16 ; its course and

    basin, i. 221-223 ; reconquest of the

    valley, ii. 727.

    Tartars, or Tatars, i, 44; ” Fish-skin,” i.

    1U6 ; derivation of name, i. 2U2 ; Kitaii

    of Liautung and the After Tsin, ii. 172 ;

    and the Kin, ii. 174.

    Tartary, country formerly called, i. 202.

    Tatnali, Commodore, at Taku, ii. 665 ; his

    conduct during the action, and bon mot,

    ii. ()68.

    Ta Tshu/ Kwoh, ‘Great Pure Kingdom,’

    present official name of China, i. .5.

    Tati, Tau-tui, ‘Circuit’ and ‘ Intendant

    of Circuit,’ i. .59, 440.

    Taukwang, the Emperor, coronation address,

    i. ;J99 ; honors the Empress-dowager,

    i. 409 ; rescript of, i. 449 ; prayer

    for rain i. 466 ; his reign, ii. 18o ; his

    efforts to stop the opiam trade, ii. 492,

    497; rejects Bogne treaty, ii. 519; his

    spirit in pushitig the war, ii. 527 ; proclamation

    concerning th”? causes of the

    war, ii. 539 ; his death, ii. .575.

    Taxes, in China, i. 294 ; difficulty of collecting,

    i. 498; ‘Sacred Edict’ upon,

    i. 688 ; on building lots, i. 739 ; land,

    ii. 2; how paid, ii. 84.

    Taye, son of Emperor Chuen-hii, founder

    of the Tsin family, i. 2.

    Taylor, Dr. C, i. 1(>2.

    Tea, in Ngauhwni, i. 109 ; Kiakhta trade

    in. i. 207; its preparation in Tibet, i.

    ‘241 ; ballad on picking, i. 710 ; culture,

    ii. 39; manufacture, etc., ii. 40-55; as

    an export, ii. 373, 404; duty on, in

    1689, ii. 446.

    Teachers in boys’ schools, i. .524 ff.

    ;

    qualitications, i. .526 ; severity required,

    i. 546.

    Temperance, address of Duke Chau i”

    the Shu King, i. 808, ii. 157 ; of th^.

    Chinese, ii. .54.

    ‘J’emples, in Peking (q.v. ) i. 73-80; in

    Canton, i. 164-166 ; in Tibet, i. 245

    ;

    pillars of Chinese, i. 730 ; public resorts,

    i. 738, ii. 202 ; to Confucius, li.

    203 ; proportion of Buddhist, ii. 224 ;

    worship in, ii. 232, 263.

    Temperature, of Peking, i. 51 ; of coast

    towns, i. .53.

    Tengkiri-nor, in Tibet, i. 25, 240. •

    Tennent, Sir E., ii. 413.

    Terrace cultivation, in loess, i. 300; extent

    of, ii. 6.

    Terranova, an American sailor, case of,

    ii. 453 ; his judicial murder, ii. 460.

    Teshu-lama, monument to a, Peking, i.

    79 ; palace of the, at Teshu-Lumbo,

    Tibet, i. 247, 2.52, 2.56.

    Theatres, management of, i. 820 ; style of

    plays, i. 714, b22 ; morals of Chinese, i.

    824.

    Thom, Robert, interpreter to Pottinger,

    ii. 548, 556. 557.

    Thompson, James, i. 771.

    Tlioms, P. P., i. 392 ; fonts of Chinese

    type of, i. 603 ; Chinese Courtshij:), i.

    704, ii. 320.

    ‘ Thousand Character,’ or ‘ Millenary

    Classic’ {Tsien Txz’ IV’ds;*), a schoolbook,

    i. 531, 598.

    Thrashing-floors, how made, ii. 9,

    Thrushes, trained, i. 333.

    Tibet, physical characteristics of people,

    L 45; names and boundaries, i. 237;

    natural features, i. ‘238-240 ; climate,

    productions, and animals, i. 241-244

    ;

    H’lassa and Shigatse, i. 245-247 ; manners

    and customs, i. 248-2.54 ; language,

    i. 2.53 ; history, i. 2.54 ; government, i.

    255 ; population not numbered, i. ‘284

    ;

    manner of concocting tea in, ii. 50 ; annexed

    by Kienlung, ii. 182 ; Shamanism

    in, ii. 2.33.

    Tick kii, ‘ Iron whirlwind,’ term for typhoon,

    i. 57.

    Tien, ‘ Heaven.’ worshipped, ii. 194, 195,

    198; and Shanr/ti, as terms for Grod, ii.

    297, 300.

    Tien chu, ‘Heaven’s Pillar,’ or Atlas of

    China, a name for the Kwanlun. i. 13.

    Tifn Ilia, ‘ Beneath the Sky,’ a term for

    China, i. 4.

    Tien shan, Tengkiri, or Celestial Mountains,

    in Cobdo, i. 9 ; erroneously called

    Alak, i. 10; one of the four great

    chains of China, i. 11.

    Tien-shan Nan Lu, or Southern Circuit

    772 INDEX.

    (Eastern Turkestan), i. 231 ; its position

    and topography, i. :221-2:i3 ; population,

    i. ;224 ; towns, i. 324-231 ; history, i.

    233-237.

    Tieu-shan Peh Lu, or Northern Circuit

    (Songaria), i. 218; its towns and districts,

    i. 218-221.

    Tien Tan, ‘Altar to Heaven,’ Peking, i.

    70; Emperor’s worship at, ii. 195-198.

    Tientsin, description, i. S~) ; riot and missions,

    ii. 313 ; Mr. Gutzlaff’s visit to,

    ii. 328 ; Flint at, ii. 449 ; Tai-pings repulsed

    at, ii. 598 ; allies reach, ii. 051 ;

    negotiations of the allies at, ii. 654 ; the

    armies again reach, ii. 677 ; riot and

    massacre of foreigners at, ii. 700 ; feeling

    in the city, ii. 703.

    Tiger, the, in China, i. 318 ; in geoniancy,

    ii. 246.

    Timur, or Ching-tsung, Kublai khan’s

    successor, ii. 176.

    Ti’iy, ‘department’ or ‘district,’ term

    explained, i. .58; prefect of, i. 441.

    Tiughai, capital of Chusan Archipelago,

    i. 123; Lockhait’s hospital at, ii. S.^O;

    capture of, by British in 1841, ii. 514

    ;

    second cajjture, ii. 525.

    Tinikow.ski, i. SO, 207, 2.50, ii. 442, 44.3.

    Ti Tan, ‘Altar to Earth,’ Peking, i. 78.

    Titles, of Emperor, i. 397-399 ; of nol)ility,

    i. 405, 40(i ; and Board of Civil

    Office, i. 422 ; assumed on taking office,

    i. 799 ; of the Tien Wang, ii 582.

    Ti Wang Miao, the Walhalla of China, i.

    75.

    Tobacco, introduced into China, i. 309

    how used, i. 776; exported, ii. 394.

    Tonil)s, of the Chinese, ii. 246; worship

    at, ii. 252.

    Tones {sfii7ig’), in the Chinese language, 1.

    609.

    Topographical, terms, i. 58 ; divisions of

    China, i. 61.

    Tortoise, or kiccl, fabulous animal, i. 345.

    Torture, its infliction upon criminals, i.

    .507.

    Tourgouths, tribe of, in Northern fli, i.

    2’20; flight of, from Knssia, i. 234

    ;

    Tulishen’s embassy, concerning, ii. 442.

    Trade, restrictions of, with Corea, i.

    194 ; tl:rouL;h Kiakhta, i. 206 ; revenue

    from, etc., i. 291 ; ancient, of China, ii.

    372 ; value of opium, ii. 388 ; general

    export, ii. 391 ; import, ii. 397 ; present

    management of, ii. 402 ; ancient, with

    Roman Empire, ii. 411, 414 ; limited to

    Canton by the Manchns, ii. 426 ; Portuguese,

    ii. 430 ; Sj)anish, ii. 431 ; Dutch,

    ii. 433 ; Russian, ii. 141 ; history of the

    English, ii. 443-4.59 ; peculiarities of

    early Chinese, ii. -1.50 ; American, ii.

    4t)0 ; Napier appointed suiiernitcndent

    of British, ii. 464 ; mutations of, during

    Napier’s embroglio, ii. 473-477 ; Lin

    finally stops the British, ii. 507 ; carried

    on during the war, ii. 517, 521, 524;

    settlement of, regulations after the first

    war, ii. .557.

    TransformatiLns, Chinese notions about,

    I. 345, 378.

    Travelling, modes of, in China, i. 747

    ;

    rognhitions under the Tangs, ii. 425.

    Treaties, Husso-Chinese, concerning frontier

    of Hi, i. 215; clauses of toleration

    in, of June, 1858, ii. 360 ; Russian, ii.

    441 ; failure of the negotiations at the

    Bogue, iL 518 ; of Nanking, ii. 549 ; its

    ratification, ii. 557 ; British supplementary,

    signed at Bogue, ii. 5(;i ; of

    Wanghia l>etween China and the United

    States, ii. 567 ; French, of Whampoa,

    ii. 571 ; how regarded by the Chinese,

    ii. 578 ; of Tientsin signed, ii. 656 ; difficulty

    of enforcing, in CJhina, ii. 658 ;

    American, ratified at Pehtang, ii. 670;

    English and French, signed at Peking,

    iL 686; the Burlingame, ii. 698; of

    1880, ii. 699 ; of Chunghow at Livadia,

    iL 732 ; of MarquLs Tsfing in settlement

    of Kuldja question, iL 734.

    Triad Society, or Water-lily Sect, i. 493 ;

    its character, ii. 267 ; and Christians,

    iL 812, 323 ; opposition of Hung Siutsuen

    to, ii. .591.

    Trials, criminal, how conducted, i. 504.

    Trigautius (or Trigault), French missionary,

    i. 265, 289, ii. 293, 309, 425, 428.

    ‘ Trimetritxil Classic,’ Saii-tsz’ King, a

    school-book, L 52()-.530.

    Trinity of the Tao-teh -King, Pauthier’a

    fancy, ii. 210.

    Tsaidam, plain of, L 210.

    Tsakhar, or Chahar, territory in Chihli,

    i. 60, 87 ; tribes, i. ‘203.

    Tsang Kwoh-fan, generalissimo of imperial

    forces against the Tai-pings, ii.

    618 ; is visited by Gordon, li. 620 ; investigates

    Tientsin massacre, ii. 703

    his son sent to England and Russia, iL

    733.

    Tsau hu, in Nganhwui, i. 23 ; its goldfish,

    i. 348.

    Tsau-ti, or Gras.sland of Gobi, i. 17.

    Tsetsen khanate, i. 204.

    Tsi dynasty, A. i). 479-502, ii. 166.

    Tsientang River, in Chehkiang, L 114.

    Tsin, the IXth dynastv in Cliina, ii. 165;

    After Tsin, XIXth,’ii. 172.

    Tsin, name t’hin.a. derived from family

    of, i. 2, ii. 101 ; tbey establisli the custom

    of giving tlie Empire the dynastic

    name, i. 4; dynasty ends witli Chwaiigsiang,

    ii. 1()3 ; Tit-tsii).. an ancient name

    for Rome, ii. 410.

    Tsin Chi Hwangti, ‘Emperor First,’

    alters taxes, i. 2C0 ; first universal

    monarch, ii. 160 ; subjugates feudal

    States, iL 188.

    INDEX. 773

    Tei’nan, capital of Shantung, i. 91

    .

    Tsinchau awarded to Feitsz’, a prince of

    Tsin, i. 3.

    Tsing, present dynasty of China, ii. 179-

    186.

    Tsing hai (see Koko-nor), i. 209.

    Tsining chau, in Shantung, i. 92.

    TzinistiP, a term for China, i. 4 ; used by

    the Greek monk Cosmas, ii. 412.

    Tsin-sz’, third literary degree, i. 558, 566.

    Tsitsihar province (Helung kiang), i.

    198-21)0 ; town of, i. 199,

    Tsiuenchau (Chinchew), the ancient Zayton,

    i. 129, lo6, ii. 431.

    Tso Churn, a commentary on the Chun

    Tsiu. i. 649.

    Tso Tsung-tang, commences operations

    against Mohammedan rebels, ii. 709,

    728 ; his successful campaign, ii. 730 ;

    leader of the war faction, ii. 732.

    Tsungming Island, mouth of Yangtsz’

    River, i. 108.

    Tsungling, ‘Onion,’ or ‘ Blue Mountains,’

    also Belur-tag and Tartash ling, its

    position, i. 9.

    Tsiingttih, Governor-General, or Viceroy,

    i. 438.

    Tsz’ki, near Ningpo, visited by British

    troops, ii. 530 ; camp near, ii. 531 ;

    Ward’s death at, ii. 609 ; taken from

    the rebels, ii. 610.

    Tuchetu (Tusietu) khanate, i. 204.

    Tumors common among tke Chinese, ii.

    131.

    Tunes, examples of Chinese, ii. 97.

    Tungchau, the port of Peking, i. 86

    Ward’s embassy at, ii. 669 ; Parkes’s

    experiences in, ii. 678-681.

    Tungchi, the Emperor, i. 411 ; his reign,

    ii. 184 ; palace intrigue upon his accession,

    i. 404, ii. 691 ; Peking in mourning

    for, ii. 250, 276 ; his marriage, ii.

    710 ; audience before, iL 714 ; his death

    and successor, ii. 726.

    Tungting Lake, in Hunan, i. 23, 147.

    Tung Til, ‘Land of the East,’ Mohammedan

    name for China, i. 2.

    Tung-wan Kwan, at Peking, i. 436, ii.

    339, 696, 741.

    Turkestan, Eastern (see Tien-shan Nan

    Lu), i. 221-337; the region, ii. 728.

    Turkoman races of Mongolia, i. 44.

    Til sz\ commune divisions in South

    China, i. .59.

    Types, movable printing, in China, i.

    603-605 ; Dyer’s work on, ii. 32.5, 367.

    Tyfoons, phenomena described, i. 56.

    ULIASUTAI, in Sainnoin khanate, i.

    208, 209.

    Unicorn, or ki-lin, i. 343.

    United States, trade relations with China

    up to 1843, ii. 460 ; first minister to China,

    ii. 565 ; treaty of Wanghia, ii. 567

    ;

    Minister Ward visits Peking, ii. 660

    ;

    the Burlingame treaty with China, i.

    698 ; action of Congress as to indemnity

    surplus, ii. 736 ; Chinese boys sent

    to, for education, ii. 739.

    Urga, or Kuren, i. 17, 204.

    Urumtsi, or Tih-hwa, western department

    of Kansuh, i. 214.

    Ushi, or Ush-turfan, a towTi of 111, i. 225,

    226.

    VACCINATION, its adoption in China,

    ii. 132.

    Van Braam, A. E. (see Braam), i. 324.

    Varnishes, manufacture and use of, ii. 32.

    Vegetables used in Chinese cooking, i. 773.

    Verbiest, a Jesuit priest, ii. 297 ; appointed

    astronomer at Peking, ii. 298.

    Vermilion, its preparation, ii. 61.

    Vice, never deified in China, ii. 192 ; absence

    of, in their mythology, ii. 232,

    and in theic funerals, ii. 254 ; the opium,

    ii. 386.

    Victoria (see Hongkong), i. 171.

    Villages (hiang), usual aspect of Chinese,

    i. 40 ; about Canton, i. 280 ; their

    elders, i. 483, 500.

    Visdelou, Bishop Claude, i. 3, 202, 633,

    681, ii. 277, 309.

    Visiting, the etiquette of formal, i. 802

    ;

    at New Year, i. 815; cards, how adorned,

    ii. Ill, 249.

    Vissering, W., ii. 87.

    Vlangali, Russian minister at Peking, ii.

    699 ; his temperate action in trial of

    Tientsin rioters, ii. 705.

    Vocabularies (see also Dictionaries), native

    Chinese, i. 590.

    Volcanoes, so-called, in Formosa, i. 140

    in Central Asia, i. 319.

    Voltaire, founds a drama on the ” Orphan

    of China,” i. 714.

    Vrooman, Daniel, i. 169.

    WADE, Sir T. F., i. 398, 420, 460,

    611, ii. 624 ; nominated intendant

    of customs at Shanghai, ii. 628

    experiences at Tungchau, ii. 678 ; his

    good offices between China and Japan,

    iL 717 ; action upon murder of Margary,

    ii. 734 ; his minute on the Chifu

    convention, ii. 725.

    Wai Hing-an, or Stanovoi Mountains, i. 9.

    Wall (see also Great Wall) of Peking, i.

    63.

    Wallace, A. R., i. 360.

    Walls, construction of house, i. 738.

    I Walrond, T., ii. 637, 6.55, 660, (502.

    Wanghia, treaty of, between the United

    States and China, ii. .507 ; taken as basis

    for French treaty of Whampoa, ii.

    .571.

    Wanleih, Emperor, receives Ricci, ii. 293,

    294.

    774 INDEX.

    Wan Miao, ‘Literary Temple,’ Peking, i.

    73.

    Wansiang, a minister of the Foreign Office,

    his superstition, ii. 304, 691); letter

    to foreign ministers at Peking, ii.

    707; Low’s reply to, ii. 708, 712, 714;

    his character and influence, ii. 715.

    Wan-yuen koh, or library, Peking, i. 69.

    War, I3oard of, i. 425 ; theory of. studied,

    ii. SS.

    War, with England, features of the first

    Chinese, ii. 4Kj ; Lord John Russell’s

    reasons for declaring, ii. 510; debate

    upon, in Parliament, ii. 512 ; opened

    by capture of Tinghai, ii. 514 ; resumed

    after negotiations at the Bogue, ii. 521

    ;

    thouglit by Chinese to be an opium

    war, ii. 539 ; concluded with treaty of

    Nanking, ii. 547, 550 ; a wholesome infliction

    upon Cliina, ii. 572 ; authorities

    upon, ii. 574 ; Tai-ping Rebellion, ii.

    575-624 ; second, with England and

    France—the Arrow case, ii. 635 ; hostilities

    opened by Admiral Seymour,

    ii. 637 ; discussed in Parliament, ii.

    641 ; a’rival of Elgin and Gros and

    capture of Canton, ii. 643 ; Taku forts

    taken, ii. 651 ; treaties signed at Tientsin,

    ii. 656 ; closing incidents, 6.59 ; repulse

    of allied envoys at Taku forts, ii.

    666 ; allies land at Pelitang and recommence

    the, ii. 673 ; capture of Taku

    forts, ii. 676 ; operations on tlie way to

    Peking, ii. 679-682 ; autljorities on the,

    of 1860, ii. 684 ; objects attained, ii.

    687, 688.

    Ward, Frederick G. , organizes the ‘ Ever-

    Victorious force,’ ii. 607; his deatli at

    Tsz’ki, ii. 6t9.

    Ward, Hon J. E., ii. 660; co-operates in

    suppressing coolie trade, ii. 6(53 ; repairs

    with tho allies to Taku, ii. 661

    ;

    interview with natives, ii. 665 ; goes

    to Peking, ii. 6(58 ; refuses to kotow

    before the Emperor, and returns, ii.

    670.

    Watters, T, ii. 212, 229.

    Wa.x-worm of Sz’chuen, i. 3.53.

    Wei River, in Shensi, i. 148.

    Whales, and mode of catching them, 1.

    339.

    Whampoa, a town on the Pearl River, i.

    170 ; opium lirst shir)ped to, ii. 378 ;

    case of lioniicide at, ii. 453 ; treaty of,

    between France and Ciiina, ii. .571.

    Wheelbarrows used for travelling, i. 747,

    ii. 7.

    White Deer Vale, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Whitney, Prof. Wm. D., ii. 73, 234.

    Wife, her jjosition in Chinese society, i.

    792 ; controlled liy the mother-in-law,

    i. 795 ; is given a new name, i. 797,

    799 ; elevated in ancestral worship, ii.238.

    Willow, in poetry, etc., i. 363.
    Williams, John, on comets, ii. 73.
    WilUam.son, Rev. Ale.x., i. 65, 87, 190,200, ii. 277.
    Wilson, Andrew, i. 250, ii. 92, 602, 610,611, 616, 617, 69.5.
    Wolseley, Colonel Garnet, ii. 672 ; observations on Canton coolies, ii. 674, 675 ;character of his narrative, ii. 685.
    Women, physical traits of Chinese, i. 43;in Tibet, i. 248 ; laws resbricting, i. 388of imperial palace, i. 408 ; illiteracy of mothers, i. 521 ; their education, i. 572;

    position, i. 646 ; consideration of literary,

    i. 681 ; kidnapped at fires, i. 743

    their dress, i. 763 ; shoes, i. 769 ; toilet,

    i. 770 ; their milk sold, i. 776 ; separation

    from men, i. 784 ; conduct toward

    young brides, i. 789; never appear at

    feasts, i. 806 ; well treated in crowded

    fairs, i. 817 ; their skill in embroidery,

    ii. .36 ; they practise obstetrics, ii. 123;Chinee historians on Empress Wu, ii.171 ; not admitted to worship, ii. 196 ;Yungching against, at Buddhist temples,ii. 228 ; as nuns, ii. 230 ; their tablets honored in tlie ancestral hall,

    ii. 338, 350 ; Kanghi forbids immolation

    of, ii. 250 ; old, employed as baptists

    by Catholics, ii. 311; as missionaries

    among the Chinese, ii. 364;

    how disposed of in Tai-ping camp, ii 594.

    Wolves in China, i. 320.
    Wood, Lieutenant J., i. 321, 230, 341,310.
    Wordsworth, W., ii. 233.
    Worship, of Shangti in Shang dynasty,ii. 154; by the Emperor, ii. 197; of Heaven, the ceremony and its meaning,i. 76, ii. 194-198; various objects of, ii. 202; Buddhist and Catholic, compared,

    ii. 3-!2 ; ancestral, ii. 236-255

    disputes respecting ancestral, by Romanists,

    ii. 297-1303.

    Writing, how taught in schools, i. 541 ;six styles of, L 597-598 ; materials, i..599.
    Wu River, in Kweicliau, i. 31.
    Wu Tsih-tien, the Empress
    Wu of the Tang, her reign, ii. 170, 280.
    Wuchang, in Hupch, i. 144; taken by the Tai-pings, ii. .595.
    Wuchau fu, in Kwangsi, i. 177.
    Wuhu hien, on the Yangtsz’, i. 110.
    Wusung, near Shanghai, j. 106; captured by the English, ii. 534.
    Wylie, A. , i. 494, 523, 68(), ii. 67, 72, 73,119, 176, 213, 214, 377, 286, 321.

    XANADU, or Shangtu, ancient palace of Kublai, i. 87.
    Xavier, tomb of, on Shaiigchuen Island, i.

    173 ; his mission to China, ii. 289, 428.

    a reward of i?200 for such evidence as would lead to the eonvic*

    tioii of the offenders ; and advanced in all S2,00U to the friends of

    the deceased as some compensation for their lieavy loss, and to

    the villagers for injuries done to them in the riot. Having

    formed the court, he politely invited the provincial officers to attend

    the trial ; and when it was over, informed them that he had

    been unable to ascertain the perpetrator of the deed. Five sailors

    were convicted and punished for riotous conduct hy fine and imprisonment,

    and sent to England under arrest, but to everybody’s

    surprise were all liberated on their arrival. The proceedings in

    this matter were perfectly fair, and the commissioner should have

    been satisfied ; but his subsequent violent conduct really placed

    the dispute on an entirely new ground, though he regarded his

    action as simply exercising the same prerogative of control over

    foreigners in both cases. Finding his demand for the murderer

    disregarded, he took measures against the English then in INfacao

    which were calculated to bring serious loss upon the Portuguese

    population. His course was prompted by anger at losing the

    trade, and only injured liis own cause. In order to relieve the

    unoffending and helpless people in Macao, Captain Elliot and

    all British subjects who could do so left the settlement August

    26th, and M’ent on board ship for a time. During this interval

    Lin and Governor Tang visited Macao under an escort of Portuguese

    troops, but retired the same day. This move placed the

    English beyond his reach, but did not advance his efforts to

    drive the opium ships from the coast, or induce the regular

    traders to enter the port. The sales of opium had begun again

    even before the destruction of the drug, and ra])idly increased

    when it M^as knoM’n that that immense quantity had really been

    destroyed. Lin now began to see that his plan of proceedings

    might not ultimately prove so successful as he had anticipated^

    for he was bound to remain at Canton until he could report the

    complete suppression of the contraband and safe continuance of

    the legal trade.

    Finding that the British fleet at Hongkong was too strong to

    drive away, he forbade the iidial)itants supplying the ships with

    ])rovisions. This led to a collision between the British and three

    junks near Ivowlung, which resulted, however, in no serious

    FURTIIEK TROUBLES BETWEEN EiNCJLlSII AND CHINESE. 507

    damage. On Septcinber lltli, Captain Elliot, luiving oixlered

    all British vessels engaged in the opium trade to leave the

    harbor and coast, thej mostly proceeded to Tsamoh. TJie

    Chinese burned the next day a Spanish vessel, the IJilbaino, in

    Macao waters, under the impression that she was English.

    In unison with all the strange features of this struggle, while

    hostilities were going on, negotiations for continuing trade M-ere

    entered into in October, when the connnissioner signed the agreement,

    and Captain Elliot furnished security for its being conducted

    fairly. But the unauthorized entrance of the English

    ship Thomas Coutts, whose captain signed the bond, led to a

    rupture and the renewed demand for the murderer of Lin

    Wei-hi. Captain Elliot ordered all British ships to reassemble

    at Tungku under the protection of the ships of w^ar Yolage

    and Hyacinth. He also proceeded to the Bogue to request a

    withdrawal of the threats against the British until the two

    governments could arrange the difficulties, when an engagement

    ensued between Admiral Kwan, with a fleet of sixteen

    junhs, and the two ships of war ; three junks w^ere sunk, one

    blown up, and the rest scattered. The commissioner had been

    foiled in all his efforts to destroy the opium trade and continue

    the legal commerce. As a last effort against the Bi-itish,

    he declared their trade at an end after December G, 1839, and

    issued an edict like that of Xapoleon at Berlin, Kovember 19,

    1806, forbidding their goods to be imported in any vessels. An

    enormous amount of property now lay at Canton and on board

    ship waiting to be exchanged in the course of regular trade, but

    only the opium traffic flourished.

    The close of the year 1839 saw the two nations involved

    in serious difficulties, and as the events here briefly recounted

    were the cause of the war, it will be proper to compare the

    opinions of the two parties, in order to arrive at a better judgment

    upon the character of that contest. The degree of

    authority to be exercised over persons Mdio visit their shores is

    acknowledged by Christian nations among themselves to be

    nearly the same as that over their o\vn subjects ; but none of

    these nations have conceded this authority to unchristian

    powers, as Turkey, Persia, or China, mainly because of the little security and justice to be expected. The Chinese luive looked upon foi-eigners resortino; to their ports as dinng so by sufferance ; they entered into no treaty to settle the conditions of authority on either side, for the latter considered themselves as sojourners and aliens, and the natives were unaware of their rights in the matter. Their right to prohibit the introduction of any particular articles was acknowledged, and the propriety of making regulations as to duties allowed. But traders from western nations often set light by the fiscal regulations of such countries as China, Siam, etc., if they can do so without personal detriment or loss of character ; and where there is a want of power in the government, joined to a lack of moral sense in the people, all laws are imperfectly executed.

    No one acquainted with these countries is surprised at frequent and flagrant violations of law, order, justice or courtesy, both among rulers and ruled ; yet the obligation of foreigners to obey just laws made known to them surely is not to be measured solely by the degree of obedience paid by a portion of the people themselves.

    The Chinese government discussed the measure of legalizing

    a trade it could not suppress, but before constructing a law to

    that effect, it determined to nudce a final and more vigorous

    effort to stamp it out. Might nuikes right, or at least enforces

    it ; had the Chinese possessed the power to destroy every ship

    found violating their laws, although the loss of life M-ould have

    been dreadful, no voice would have been raised against the proceeding.

    “Her Majesty’s government,” said Lord Palmerston,

    “cannot interfere for the purpose of enabling Bi’itisli sul)jects

    to violate the laws of the country to which they trade.” But in

    that case this power would not have been dared; the known

    weakness of the government end)oldened both sellers and

    buyers, until Captain Elliot told the Foreign Secretai-y that ” it

    was a confusion of terms to call the opium trade a snuiggling

    trade.”

    Lin probably wished to get Mr. Dent as a hostage for the

    delivery of the opium in the hands of his countrymen, not to

    punish him for disobedience to previous oi’dei’s ; expecting no

    opposition to this denuiud, he seems to have been unwilling to

    MOTIVE.S AND POSITION OP COMMISSIONEIl LIN. 509

    seize him iuimediately, preferring tu try persuasion and command

    longer, and detain him and other foreigners niitil he was

    obeyed ; Captain Elliot he viewed as a mere head merchant.

    When, therefore, the attempt was made, as he supposed, to take

    Mr. Dent out of his hands, lie was ap[)rehensive of a sti’uggle,

    and instantly took the strongest precautionary measui-es to prevent

    the prey escaping. Considei-ate allowance should he granted

    for the serious mistake lie made of imprisoning the innocent

    M’ith the guilty ; hut when Captain Elliot took Mr. Dent thus

    under his protection, the connnissioner felt that his pui-pose

    would be defeated, and no opium ol>tained, if he began to draw

    a distinction. I)esides, conscious that lie possessed unlimited

    power over a few defenceless foreigners, nearly all oi whom

    were in his eyes guilty, he cared vfry little M’here Ids acts felL

    There is no s’ood evidence to show that he seriouslv meditated

    anything which would liazard their lives. “When lie had received

    this vast amount of property, success evidently made him

    careless as to his conduct, and judging the probity and good

    faith of foreigners by his own standard, he deemed it safest to

    detain them until the opium was actually in his possession.

    Concluding that Captain Elliot did attempt to abscond with Mr,

    Dent, it is less surprising, therefore, that lie should have looked

    upon his offers to ” carry out the will of the great Emperor,”

    when set at liberty, as a hire rather than a sincere proposition.

    In imprisoning him he had no more idea he was imprisoning,

    insulting, threatening, and coercing the representative of a

    power like Great Britain, or violating rules western powers call

    jus gentium, than if he had been the envoy from Siam or Lewcliew.

    Wliether he should not have known this is another

    question, and had he candidly set liimself, on his arrival at

    Canton, to ascertain the power, position, and commerce of west

    em countries, he would have found Captain Elliot sincerely

    desirous of meeting him in his endeavors to fulfil his high commission.

    Let us deal fairly by the Chinese rulers in their desire

    to restrain a traffic of which they knew and felt vastly more of

    its evil than we have ever done, and give Lin his due, though

    his endeavors failed so signally.

    The opium was now obtained ; no lives had been lost, nor any one endangered ; but the Uritisli government felt bound to pay its own subjects for their cliests. The only source Captain Eiliut suggested was to make the Chinese refund. The Emperor ordered it to be destroyed, and the conunissioner, after executing that order, next endeavored to separate the legal from the contraband trade by demanding bonds ; they liad been taken in vain from the hong merchants, but there was more hope if taken directly from foreigners. The bonds were not

    made a pretext for war by the English ministry ; that, on the

    part of England, according to Lord John llussell, was “set

    afoot to obtain reparation for insults and injuries offered her

    Majesty’s superintendent and subjects; to obtain indenniitieatiou

    for the losses the merchants had sustained under threats of

    violence ; and, lastly, to get security that persons and property

    trading with China should in future be protected from insult

    and injury, and trade maintained upon a proper footing.”

    Looking at the war, therefore, as growing out of this trade, and

    waged to recover the losses sustained by the surrendry to the

    British superintendent, it was an unjust one. It was, moreover,

    an imnioral contest, when the standing of the two nations was

    examined, and the fact could 7iot be concealed tluit Great Britain,

    the first Cliristian ])Ower, I’eally waged this war against the

    pagan monarch who had vainly endeavored to put down a vice

    hurtful to his people. The war was looked upon in this light

    by the Chinese ; it will always be so looked upon by the candid

    historian, and known as the Opium War.

    On the other hand, the war was felt by every well-wisher to

    China to involve far higher princi})lcs than the mere recovery of

    the opium ; and had it been really held to be so by the English

    ministry, they would have done well to have alluded to them.

    Lin’s reiterated denumds for the murderer of Lin AVei-hi,

    though told that he could not be found, was only one form of

    the supremacy the Chinese arrogantly assumed over other nations.

    Li all their intercourse with their fellow-men the}’ maintained

    a patronizing, unfair, and contemptuous position, which

    left no alternative but withdrawal from their shores or a humiliating

    submission that no one feeling the least inde])endence

    could endure. ‘SoX. unjustly prt)ud of their country in compariCHAKACTER

    OF THE DEBATE UPON THE WAU. 511

    son with those near it, her Emperor, her nileivs, and her people

    all believed her to be inipregnably strong, portentously awful,

    and ininienselj rich in learning, power, wealth, and territory,

    Konc of them imagined that aught could be learned or gained

    from other nations ; for the ” outside barbarians ” were dependent

    for their health and food upon the rhubarb, tea, and

    silks of the Inner Land. They had seen, indeed, bad specimens

    of western power and people, but there were equal opportunities

    for them to have learned the truth on these points. The i-eception

    of the religion of the Bible, the varied useful branches

    of science, and the many mechanical arts known in western

    lands, with the free passage of their own people abroad, M’ere

    all forbidden to the millions of China by their supercilious

    rulers ; they thereby preferred to remain the slaves of debasing

    superstitions, ignorant of common science, and deprived of

    everything which Christian benevolence, philanthropy, and

    knowledge could and wished to impart to them. This assumption

    of supremacy, and a -real impression of its propriety, was a

    higher wall around them than the long pile of stones north of

    Peking. Force seemed to be the only effectual destroyer of

    such a barrier, and in this view the war may be said to have

    been necessary to compel the Chinese government to receive

    western powers as its equals, or at least make it treat their subjects

    as well as it did its own people. There was little hope of

    an adjustment of difficulties until the Chinese were compelled

    to abandon this erroneous assumption ; the conviction that it

    was unjust, unfounded, and foolish in itself could safely be left

    to the gradual influences of true religion, profitable commerce,

    and sound knowledge.

    The report of the debate in the British Parliament on this

    momentous question hardly contains a single reference to this

    feature of the Chinese government. It turned almost wholly

    upon the opium trade, and w^hether the hostilities had not proceeded

    from the want of foresight and precaution on the part

    of her Majesty’s ministers. The speeches all showed ignorance

    of both principles and facts : Sir James Graham asserted that

    the governors of Canton had sanctioned the trade ; Sir George

    Staunton that it woidd not be safe for British power in India if these insults were not cheeked, and that the Chinese had far exceeded in their recent efforts the previous acknowledged laws of the land ! Dr. Lushington maintained that the connivance of the local rulers accjuitted the smugglers ; Sir John llohhouse truly stated that the reason why the government had done nothing to stop the opium trade was that it was profitable; and Lord Melbourne, with still more fairness, said : ” We possess immense territories peculiarly fitted for raising opium, and though I would wisli that the government were not so directly concerned in the traffic, I am not prepared to pledge

    myself to relinquish it.” The Duke of AWllington thought

    the Chinese government was insincere in its efforts, and therefore

    deserved little sympathy ; while Lord Ellenborough spoke

    of the million and a half sterling revenue ” derived from foreigners,”

    which, if the opium monopoly was given up and its eultivatio7i abandoned, they must seek elsewhere, 2\”o one advocated war on the groimd that the opium had been seized, but

    the majority were in favor of letting it go on because it was

    begun. This debate was, in fact, a remarkable instance of the

    way in which a moral question is blinked even by conscientious

    persons whenever politics or interest come athwart its course.

    Xo declaration of war was ever published by Queen Victoria,

    further than an order in coimcil to the admiralty, in which it

    was recited that ” satisfaction and reparation for the late injurious

    proceedings of certain officers of the Emperor of China

    against certain of our officers and subjects shall be demanded

    from the Chinese government ; ” the object of this order was,

    chiefly, to direct concerning the disposal of such ships, vessels,

    and cargoes belonging to the Chinese as might be seized. Perhaps

    the formality of a declaration of war against a nation

    which knew nothing of the law of nations was not necessary,

    but if a minister plenipotentiary from Peking had been present

    at the debate in Parliament in April, 1S40, he would have

    declared the motives and proceedings of his government

    strangely misrepresented. It was time that better ideas of

    one another should find ]>lace in their councils, and tliat means

    enould l)e afforded tlie rulers of each nation to learn the truth.

    The Chinese apparently foresaw the coming struggle, and

    PREPARATION FOR HOSTILITIES. 513

    began to collect troops and repair their forts ; Lin, now governor-

    general of Kwangtnng, purchased the Chesapeake, a large

    ship, and appointed an intendant of circuit near Macao, to

    guard the coasts. The English carried on their trade under

    neutral flags, and Lin made; no further efforts to annoy them.

    He, however, wrote two official letters to Queen Victoria, desiring

    her assistance in putting down the opium trade, in which

    the peculiar ideas of his countrymen respecting their own importance and their position among the nations of the earth

    were singularly exhibited.’ Ts otwithstanding the causes of complaint

    he had against the English, he behaved kindly to the

    surviving crew of the Sunda, an English vessel wrecked on

    Hainan, and sent them, on their arrival at Canton, to their

    •countrymen, ‘ Chimse Bejwsitory, Vol. VIII., pp. 9-12, 497-503 ; Vol. IX., pp. S41-257.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》19-23

    CHAPTER XIX. CHBISTIAN MISSIONS AMONG THE CHINESE

    The earliest recorded attempt to impart the knowledge of the true God to the Chinese ascribes it to the Nestorian church in the seventh century; though the voice of tradition, and detached notices in ecclesiastical writers of the Eastern Empire collated by Fabricius, lead to the belief that not many years elapsed after the times of the apostles before the sound of the gospel was heard in China and Chin-India. If the tradition contained in the breviary used among the Malabar Christians, that by Saint Thomas himself the Chinese were converted to the truth, be not received, Mosheim well remarks that ” we may believe that at an early period the Christian religion extended to the Chinese, Seres, and Tartars. There are various arguments collected from learned men to show that the Christian faith was carried to China, if not by the apostle Thomas, by the first teachers of Christianity.” Arnobius, a.d. 300, speaks of the Christian deeds done in India, and among the Seres, Persians, and Medes. The Nestorian monks who brought the eggs of the silk-worm to Constantinople(a.d. 551) had resided long in China, where it is reasonable to suppose they were not the first nor the only ones who went thither to preach the gospel. The extent of their success must be left to conjecture, but ” if such beams have travelled down to us through the darkness of so many ages, it is reasonable to believe they emanated from a brighter source.”

    The time of the arrival of the Kestorians in China cannot be specified certainly, but there are grounds for placing it as early as a.d. 505. Ebedjesus Sobiensis remarks that ” the Catholicos Salibazacha created the metropolitan sees of Sina and Samarcand, though so e say they were constituted by Acbseus and Silas.” Silas was patriarch of the Xcstorians fi-oni a.d. 505 to 520 ; and Achneus was archbishop at Scleucia in 415. The metropolitan bishop of Sina is also mentioned in a list of those subject to this patriarch, published by Amro, and it is placed in the list after that of India, accordmg to the priority of foundation.

    NESTOKIATs^ MISSION IN CHINA. 277

    The only record yet found in China itself of the labors of the Nestorians is the celebrated monument which w’as discovered at Si-ngan fu in Shensi, in 1625 ; and though the discussion regarding its authenticity has been rather warm between the Jesuits and their opponents, the weight of evidence, both interiml and external, leaves no doubt regarding its vei’ity. It has been found quite recently to be in good preservation, and i-ubbings taken from it are nearly perfect. The Syi-iac characters composing the signatures of Olopun and his associates have made it an object of much interest to the natives; these, as Avell as the singular cross on its top (seen in the illustration), have doubtless contributed to its preservation. It was set up in 1850 by a Chinese who liad so much regard for it as to rebuild it in tlic brick wall where it had once stood outside of the city. The stone seems to be a coarse marble.

    It has been often translated since the first attempt by Boime, published with the original by Kircher in Holland. In 1845 Dr. E. C. Bridgman published Kircher’s Latin translation with the French version of Dalquie, and another of his own, which brought it more into notice. The style is very terse, and the exact meaning not easily perceived even by learned natives. As Dr. Bridgman says, ” Were a hundred Chinese students employed on the document they would probably each give a different view of the meaning in some parts of the inscription.” This is apparent when four or five of them are compared. The last one, by A.Wylie, of the London Mission at Shanghai, goes over the whole subject with a fullness and care which leaves little to be desired.’

    ‘ Visdelou in Bthliotheque Oriental, Vol. IV. Kircher’s China Illustrata, Part I., Antwerp, 1667. Chinese Eejwsitory, XIV., pp. 201-329. Hue, Christianity in Chinti, I., pp. 49-58. Wylie, North China Herald, 1855, reprinted in Journal of Am. Oriental 8oc., Vol. V., p. 277. Archimandrite Palladius published a Russian version. Williamson, Journeys in North China, I., p. 382.Le (‘(itholicimne en Chine au VIIl” Sierle de notreere arec nne nourelle traduction de ^inscription de Sif-nr/a/ifoK, par P. D. de Thiersant, Paris, 1877.

    TABLET EULOGIZING THE PROPAGATION OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS RELIGION IN CHINA, WITH A PREFACE; COMPOSED BY KINGTSING, A PRIEST OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH.

    Behold the unchangeably true and invisible, who existed through all eternity without origin; the far-seeing perfect intelligence, whose mysterious existence is everlasting; operating on primordial substance he created the universe, being more excellent than all holy intelligences, inasmuch as he is the source of all that is honorable. This is our eternal true lord God, triune and mysterious in substance. He appointed the cross as the means for determining the four cardinal points, he moved the original spirit, and produced the two principles of nature; the sombre void was changed, and heaven and earth were opened out; the sun and moon revolved, and day and night commenced; having perfected all inferior objects, he then made the first man; upon him he bestowed an excellent disposition, giving him in charge the government of all created beings; man, acting out the original principles of his nature, was pure and iinostentatious ; his unsullied and expansive mind was free from the least inordinate desire ; until Satan introduced the seeds of falsehood, to deteriorate his purity of principle ; the opening thus commenced in his virtue gradually enlarged, and by this crevice in his nature was obscured and rendered vicious ; hence three hundred and sixty-five sects followed each other in continuous track, inventing every species of doctrinal complexity; while soYne pointed to material objects as the source of their faith, others reduced all to vacancy, even to the annihilation of the two primeval principles; some sought to call down blessings by prayers and supplications, while others by an assumption of excellence held themselves up as superior to their fellows ; their intellects and thoughts continually wavering, their minds and affections incessantly on the move, they never obtained their vast desires, but being exhausted and distressed they revolved in their own heated atmosphere ; till by an accumulation of obscurity they lost their path, and after long groping in darkness they were unable to return. Thereupon, our Trinity being divided in nature, the illustrious and honorable Messiah, veiling his true dignity, appeared in the world as a man; angelic powers promulgated the glad tidings, a virgin gave birth to the Holy One in Syria ; a bright star announced the felicitous event, and Persians’ observing the splendor came to present tribute; the ancient dispensation, as declared by the twenty-four holy men,’- was then fulfilled, and lie laid down great principles for the government of families and kingdoms; he established the new religion of the silent operation of the pure spirit of the Triune ; he rendered virtue subservient to direct faith ; he fixed the extent of the eight boundaries,”‘ thus completing the truth and freeing it from dross ; he opened the gate of the three constant principles, introducing life and destroying death ; he suspended the bright sun to invade the chambers of darkness, and the falsehoods of the devil were thereupon defeated ; he set in motion the vessel of mercy by which to ascend to the bright mansions, whereupon rational beings were then released; having thus completed the manifestation of his power, in clear day he ascended to his true station.

    ‘ Po-sz\ ‘ Persians.’ This name was well known to the Chinese at that time, being the designation of an extensive sect then located in the Empire, and the name of a nation with which they had held commercial and political intercourse for several centuries. The statement here is in admirable harmony with the general tradition of the early church, that the Magi or wise men mentioned in Matthew’s gospel were no other than philosophers of the Parsee sect.

    ‘ The ” holy men ” denote the writers of the books of the Old Testament.
    ”The “eight boundaries” are inexplicable; some refer them to the beatitudes
    •The “three constant iiiiiiciplfs” may perhaps mean faith, hope, and charity.
    ‘ Exactly the number we have in the New Testament.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FIT. 279

    Twenty-seven sacred books have been left, which disseminate intelligence by unfolding the original transforming principles. By the rule for admission, it is the custom to apply the water of baptism, to wash away all superficial show and to cleanse and purify the neophytes. As a seal, they hold the cross, whose influence is reflected in every direction, uniting all without distinction. As they strike the wood, the fame of their benevolence is diffused abroad; worshipping toward the east, they hasten on the way to life and glory; they preserve the bea^d to symbolize their outward actions, they shave the crown to indicate the absence of inward affections ; they do not keep slaves, but put noble and mean all on an equality ; they do not amass wealth, but cast all their property into the common stock ; they fast, in order to perfect themselves by self-inspection ; they submit to restraints, in order to strengthen themselves by silent watchfulness ; seven times a day they have worship and praise, for the benefit of the liring and the dead; once in seven days they sacrifice, to cleanse the heart and return to purity.

    It is difficult to find a name to express the excellence of the true and unchangeable doctrine; but as its meritorious operations are manifestly displayed, by accommodation it is named the Illustrious Religion. Now without holy men, principles cannot become expanded ; without principles, holy men cannot become magnified ; but with holy men and right principles, united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized and enlightened.

    In the time of the accomplished Emperor Taitsung, the illustrious and magnificent founder of the dynasty, among the enlightened and holy men who arrived was the Most-virtuous Olopun, from the country of Syria. Observing the azure clouds, he bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers. In the year A.D. G35 he arrived at Chang-an; the Emperor sent his Prime Minister, Duke Fang Hiuenling ; who, carrying the official staff to the west border, conducted his guest into the interior; the sacred books were translated in the imperial library, the sovereign investigated the subject in his private apartments; when becoming deeply impressed with the rectitude and truth of the religion, he gave special orders for its dissemination. In the seventh month of the year A. D. G38 the following imperial proclamation was issued: “Right principles have no invariable name, holy men have no invariable station; instruction is established in accordance with the locality, with the object of benefiting the people at large. The Greatly-virtuous Olopun, of the kingdom of Syria, has brought his sacred books and images from that distant part, and has presented them at our chief capital. Having examined the principles of this religion, we find them to be purely excellent and natural; investigating its originating source, we find it has taken its rise from the establishment of important truths ; its ritual is free from perplexing expressions, its principles will survive when the framework is forgot ; it is beneficial to all creatures ; it is advantageous to mankind. Let it be published throughout the Empire, and let the proper authority build a Syrian church in the capital in the l-ning Way, which shall be governed by twenty-one priests. When the virtue of the Cliau dynasty declined, the rider on the azure ox ascended to the west ; the principles of the great Tang becoming resplendent, the Illustrious breezes have come to fan the East.”

    Orders were then issued to the authorities to have a true portrait of the Emperor taken ; when it was transferred to the wall of the church, the dazzling splendor of the celestial visage irradiated the Illustrious portals. The sacred traces emitted a felicitous influence, and shed a perpetual splendor over the holy precincts. According to the Illustrated Memoir of the Western Regions, and the historical books of the Han and Wei dynasties, the kingdom ii Syria reaches south to the Coral Sea ; on the north it joins the Gem Mountains ; on the west it extends toward the borders of the immortals and the flowery forests; on the east it lies open to the violent winds and tideless waters. The country produces fire-proof cloth, life-restoring incense, bright moon-pearls, and night-lustre gems. Brigands and robbers are unknown, but the people enjoy happiness and peace. None but Illustrious laws prevail; none but the virtuous are raised to sovereign power. The land is broad and

    ample, and its literary productions are perspicuous and clear.

    The Emperor Kautsung respectfully succeeded his ancestor, and was still

    more beneficent toward the institution of truth. In every province ho

    caused Illustrious churches to be erected, and ratified the honor conferred

    npon Olopun, making him the great conservator of doctrine for the preservation

    of the State. While this doctrine pervaded every channel, the State

    became enriched and tranquillity abounded. Every city was full of churches,

    and the royal family enjoyed lustre and happiness. In the year A.D. (iD!) the Buddhists, gaining power, raised their voices in the eastern metropolis;

    ‘ in the year a.d. 713, some low fellows excited ridicule and spread slanders in the western capital. At that time there was the chief priest Lo-han, the Greatly virtuous Kie-leih, and others of noble estate from the golden regions, lofty minded priests, having abandoned all worldly interests; who unitedly maintained the grand princii)les and preserved them entire to the end.

    The high-principled Emperor Iliuentsung caused the Prince of Ning and others, five princes in all, personally to visit the felicitous edifice; he established the place of worship ; .he restored the consecrated timbers which had been temporarily thrown down ; and re-erected the sacred stones which for a time had been desecrated.

    In 742 orders were given to the great general Kau Lih-sz’, to send the five sacred portraits and have them placed in the church, and a gift of a hundred pieces of silk accompanied these pictures of intelligence. Although the dragon’s beard was then remote, their bows and swords were still within reach; while the solar horns sent forth their rays, and celestial visages seemed close at hand.’

    ‘ “Eastern metropolis” is Tiiiu/ Chan, literally ‘Eastern Chau.’ The Empire was at this time under the government of the Empress Wu Ze-tian, who had removed lu!r residence from Chang-an to Luoyang in Honan.

    ‘These personages are the first five Emperors of the Tang dynasty, Hiuentsung’s predecessors. Their portraits were so admirably painted that they seemed to be present, their arms could almost be handled, and their foreheads, or ” horns of the sun,” radiated their intelligence.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAX FU. 281

    In 744 the priest Kih-ho, in the kingdom of Syria, looking toward the star(of China), was attracted by its transforming influen, e, and observing the sun(i.e., Emperor), came to pay court to the most honorable. The Emperor commanded the priest Lo-han, the priest Pu-lun, and others, seven in all, together with the Greatly-virtuous Kih-ho, to perform a service of merit in the Hing-king palace. Thereupon the Emperor composed mottoes for the sides of the church, and the tablets were graced with the royal inscriptions ; the accumulated gems emitted their effulgence, while their sparkling brightness vied with the ruby clouds ; the transcripts of intelligence suspended in the void shot fortli their rays as reflected by the sun ; the bountiful gifts exceeded the height of the southern hills ; the bedewing favors were deep as the eastern Bea. Nothing is beyond the range of ri’rht principle, and what is permissible may be identified; nothing is beyiunl tin^ power of the holy man, and that which is practicable may be related.

    The accomplished and enlightened Emperor Suhtsung rebuilt the Illustrious churches in Ling-wu and four other places ; great benefits were conferred, and felicity began to increase ; great munificence was displayed, and the imperial State became established.

    The accomplished and military Emperor Taitsung magnified the sacred succession, and honored the latent principle of nature ; always, on the incarnation-day, he bestowed celestial incense, and ordered the performance of a service of merit ; he distributed of the imperial viands, in order to shed a glory on the Illustrious Congregation. Heaven is munificent in the dissemination of blessings, whereby the benefits of life are extended ; the holy man embodies the original principle of virtue, whence he is able to counteract noxious influences.

    Our sacred and sage-like, accomplished and military Emperor Kienchung appointed the eight branches of government, according to which he advanced or degraded the intelligent and dull ; he opened up the nine categories, by means of which he renovated the illustrious decrees ; his transforming influence pervaded the most abstruse principles, while openness of heart distinguished his devotions. Thus, by correct and enlarged purity of principle, and undeviating consistency in sympathy with others; by extended commiseration rescuing multitudes from misery, while disseminating blessings on all around, the cultivation of our doctrine gained a grand basis, and by gradual advances its influence was diffused. If the winds and rains are seasonable, the world will be at rest; men will be guided by principle, inferior objects will be pure ; the living will be at ease, and the dead will rejoice ; the thoughts will produce their appropriate response, the affections will be free, and the eyes will be sincere ; such is the laudable condition which we of the Illustrious Religion are laboring to attain.

    Our great benefactor, the Imperially-conferred-purple-gown priest,’ I-sz’, titular Great Statesman of the Banqueting-hou.se, Associated Secondary Military Commissioner for the Northern Region, and Examination-palace Overseer, was naturally mild and graciously disposed, his mind susceptible of sound doctrine, he was diligent in the performance ; from the distant city of Rajagriha,^ he came to visit China; his principles more lofty than those of the

    ‘ It was no rare occurrence for priests to occupy civil and military offices in the State during the Tang and preceding dynasties. Of the three titles here given, the first is merely an indication of rank, by which the bearer is entitled to a certain emolument from the State ; the second is his title as an officer actively engaged in the imperial service ; and the third is an honorary title, which gives to the possessor a certain status in the capital, without any duties or emolument connected therewith.

    – WaiHj-s/ii’?!, literally ‘Royal residence,’ which is also the translation of the Sanskrit word Rajagriha, is the name of a city on the banks of the Ganges, thret:’ dynasties, his practice was perfect in every department; it first he applied himself to duties pertaining to the palace, eventually his name was inscribed on the military roll. When the Duke Koh Tsz’-i, Secondary Minister of State and Prince of Fan-yang, at first conducted the military in the northern region, the Emperor Suhtsung made him (1-sz’) his attendant on his travels; although he was a private chamberlain, he assumed no distinction on the march •, he was as claws and teeth to the duke, and in rousing the military he was as ears and eyes ; he distributed the wealth conferred upon him, not accumulating treasure for his private use ; he made offerings of the jewelry which had been given by imperial favor, he spread out a golden carpet for devotion; now he repaired the old churches, anon he increased the number of religious establishments; he honored and decorated the various edifices, till they resembled the plumage of the pheasant in its Hight ; moreover, practising the discipline of the Illustrious Religion, he distributed his riches in deeds of benevolence ; every year he assembled those in the sacred oflice from four churches, and respectfully engaged them for fifty days in purification and preparation ; the naked came and were clothed ; the sick were attended to and restored ; the dead were buried in repose ; even among the most pure and selfdenying of the Buddhists, such excellence was never heard of ; the white-clad members of the Illustrious Congregation, now considering these men, have desired to engrave a broad tablet, in order to set forth a eulogy of their magnanimous deeds.

    ODE.
    The true Lord is without origin,
    Profoiand, invisible, and unchangeable ;
    With power and capacity to perfect and transform,
    He raised up the earth and established the heavens.
    Divided in nature, he entered the world,
    To save and to help without bounds ;
    The sun arose, and darkness was dispelled,
    All bearing witness to his true original.
    The glorious and resplendent, accomplished Emperor,
    Whose principles embraced those of i)receding monarchs,
    Taking advantage of the occasion, suppressed turbulence ;
    Heaven was spread out and the earth was enlarged.
    When the pure, bright Illustrious Religion
    Was introduced to our Tang dynasty,
    The Scriptures were translated, and churches built,
    And the vessel set in motion for the living and the dead;
    Every kind of blessing was then obtained,
    And all the kingdoms enjoyed a state of peace.

    which occurs in several Buddhist works. As this was one of the most important of the Buddhist cities in India, it is natural to suppose that 1-sz’ was a Buddhist priest.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAJS Fl’. 283

    When Kautsung succeeded to his ancestral estate,
    He rebuilt the edifices of purity ;
    Palaces of concord, largo and light,
    Covered the length and breadth of the land.
    The true doctrine was clearly announced.
    Overseers of the church wore appointed in due form;
    The people enjoyed liappiness and peace,
    While all creatures were exempt from calamity and distress.
    When Hiuentsung commenced his sacred career,
    He applied himself to the cultivation of truth and rectitude ;
    His imperial tablets shot forth their effulgence,

    And the celestial writings mutually reflected their splendors.

    The imperial domain was rich and luxuriant.

    While the whole land rendered exalted homage ;

    Every business was flourishing throughout,

    And the people all enjoyed prosperity.

    Then came Suhtsung, who commenced anew,

    And celestial dignity marked the imperial movements;
    Sacred as the moon’s unsullied expanse,
    While felicity was wafted like nocturnal gales.

    Happiness reverted to the imperial household.

    The autumnal influences were long removed;

    Ebullitions were allayed, and risings suppressed.

    And thus our dynasty was firmly built up.
    Taitsung the filial and just
    Combined in virtue with heaven and earth ;
    By his liberal bequests the living were satisfied,

    And property formed the channel of imparting succor.

    By fragrant mementoes he rewarded the meritorious.

    With benevolence he dispensed his donations ;

    The solar concave appeared in dignity,

    And the lunar reti-eat was decorated to extreme.

    When Kienchung succeeded to the throne,

    He began by the cultivation of intelligent virtue;

    His military vigilance extended to the four seas.
    And his accomplished purity influenced all lands.

    His light penetrated the secresies of men,
    And to him the diversities of objects were seen as in a mirror;
    He shed a vivifying influence through the whole realm of nature,
    And all outer nations took him for example.
    The true doctrine how expansive I
    Its responses are minute ;
    How difficult to name it!
    To elucidate the three in one.
    The sovereign has the power to act f
    While the ministers record ;
    We raise this noble monument 1
    To the praise of great felicity.

    This was erected in the 2d year of Kienchung, of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 781), on the 7th day of 1st month, being Sunday.

    Written by Lu Siu-yen, Secretary to Council, formerly Military Superintendent for Taichau ; while the Bishop Ning-shu had the charge of the congregations of the Illustrious in the East.

    The two lines of Syriac, of which the following is a transcript, are in the Estrangelo character, and run down the right and left sides of the Chinese respectively :
    Adam Kasiso Vicur-apiskupo in Papasi de Zinstun.

    Beyumi aba dahaliotha Mar liana Jemia katholihi patriarcJds.

    Kircher translates this as follows :

    “Adam, Beacon, Vicar-episcopal and Pope of China.

    In the time of the Father of Fathers, the Lord John Joshua, the

    Universal Patriarch.”

    The transcript of the Sjriac at the foot of the stone is given

    here on the authority of Kircher :

    Bemnatli alf utisaain vtarten diaranoie. Mor Jihuznd Kasiso Vcurapt’skupo de Cnmdan mediiialt malcutho bur niJih napso Militi Kama dincn Balehh medintho Tahhurstan Akim Luclio 7iono Papa dictabon bch medabarniitho dphirwkan Vcm’uzutJion dabhain didnat malclte dizinio.

    ” In the year of the Greeks one thousand and ninety-two, the Lord Jazedbuzid.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FU. 285

    Priest and Vicar-episcopal of Cumdan the royal city, son of the enlightened Mailas, Priest of Balach a city of Turkestan, set up this tablet, whereon is inscribed the Dispensation of our Redeemer, and the preaching of the apostolic missionaries to the King of China.”

    After this, in Chinese characters, is ” The Priest Lingpau.”

    Then follows:

    Adam mesclmmschdno Bar Jiclbuzad Ciirapishupo.

    Mar Snnju Kasiso, Vcurapiskiqyo.

    8abar Jchiui Kasiso.

    Oabriel Kasiso Varcodiakun, VriscJi medintho de Cumdan vdasrag.

    * Adam the Deacon, sou of Jazeclbiizid, Vicar-episcopal.

    The Lord Sergius, Priest and Vicar-episcopal.

    Sabar Jesus, Priest. .

    Gabriel, Priest, Archdeacon, and Ecclesiarch of Cumdan and Sarag.”

    The following subscription is appended in Chinese:
    ” Assistant Examiner : the High Statesman of the Sacred rites, the Imperijilly-conferred-purple-gown Chief Presbyter and Priest Yi-li.”

    On the left hand edge are the Sjriac names of sixty-seven

    priests, and sixty-one are given in Chinese.

    This trnly oriental writing is the most ancient Christian inscription

    yet found in Asia, and shows plainly that Christianity

    had made great progress among the Chinese. Kircher and Le

    Comte claimed it as a record of the success of the Itomisli

    church in China, but no one now doubts that it commemorates

    the exertions of the Nestorians.

    Timothy, a patriarch, sent Subchal-Jesus in 780, who labored in Tartary and China for many years, and lost his life on his return, when his place was supplied by Davidis, who was consecrated metropolitan. In the year 845 an edict of Wu-tsung commanded the priests that belonged to the sect that came from Ta Tsin, amounting to no less than three thousand persons, to retire to private life. The two Arabian travellers in the ninth century report that many Christians perished in the siege of Canfu. Marco Polo’s frequent allusions lead us to conclude that the Kestorians were both numerous and respected.

    He mentions the existence of a church at Ilangchau, and two at Chinkiang, built by the prefect Marsarchis, who was himself a member of that church, and alludes to their residence in most of the towns and countries of Central Asia.

    The existence of a Christian prince called Prester John, in Central Asia, is spoken of by Marco Polo and Montecorvino.

    The exact position of his dominions, and the extent of his intluence in favor of that faith, have been examined by Col. Yule and M. Paiithier in their editions of the Venetian, and the glamour which once surounded him has been found to have arisen mostly from hearsay I’eports, and from eonfounding different persons under one name. When the conquests of (Tenghis khan and his descendants threw all Asia into commotion, this Prester John, ruler of the Kara Kitai Tartars in northern China, fell before him, a.d. 1203. The Xestorians suffered much, but maintained a precarious footing in China during the time of the Yuen dynasty, having been cut off from all help and intercourse with the mother church since the rise of the Moslems.

    They had ceased long before this period to maintain the purity of the faith, however, and had apparently done nothing to teach and diffuse the Bible, which the tal)let intimates was in part or in whole translated by Olopun, under the Emperor’s auspices.

    At the present time no works composed by their priests,

    or remains of any churches belonging to them or buildings

    erected by them, are known to exist in the Empire, though perhaps

    some books may yet be found. The buildings erected by

    the Nestorians for churches and dwellings were, of course, no

    better built than other Chinese edifices, and would not long

    remain when deserted ; while, to account still further for the

    absence of books, the Buddhists and other opposers may have

    sought out and destroyed such as existed, which even if carefully

    kept would not last many generations. The notices of the

    tablet in Chinese authors, which Mr. Wylie has brought together,

    prove that those writers had confounded the King h’lao with Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, and such a confusion is not surprising. The records of futurity alone will disclose to us the names and labors of the devoted disciples and teachers of true Christianity in the Xestorian church, who lived and died for the gospel among the Chinese.’

    The efforts of the Roman Catholics in China have been great, but not greater than the importance of the field demanded.

    ‘ Yvxle’s ‘Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 275, passim. N. 0. Ai^. Soc. Jonrnnl, Arch.

    Palladius’ notes on it, Vol. X., pp. 20-2:5. Hue, (Un-isiiHuHy in Chiiiu, Chaj)

    II. Pauthi.T’s )r,irro Polo, Chaps. XLVIII.-L. Yule, Cothuy and the Way

    7 hither, \o\. I.,i)p. 174-1»:5.

    TRACES OF THE NESTORlAN MISSIONARIES. 287

    They have met with varied success, and their prudence in the choice of measures and zeal in the work of evangelizing have reflected the highest credit upon them, and would probably, if their object had simply been that of preaching the gospel, have gradually made the entire mass of the population acquainted with the leading doctrines of Christianity. The history of their missions is voluminous, and the principles on which they have been conducted can be learned from their own writings, especially the Lettres Edijiantes^ the Annales de la Foi, and in the elaborate works of Hue and Marshall in later times. The present sketch need embrace only the principal points, for which we shall depend chiefly upon those writers who have already examined these sources.

    The first epoch of their missions in China is the thirteenth

    century. Subsequent to the mission of John of Piano Carpini

    to Kuyuk khan in 1246-47, there were several envoys sent by

    one party to the other whose intercourse resulted in nothing

    permanent. The first attempt which can be called a settled

    mission was that of John of Montecorvino, from Nicholas T\.,

    in 1288. Corvino arrived in India in 1291, and after preaching

    there a twelvemonth, during which time he baptized a hundred

    persons, he joined a caravan going to Catha}^ and was kindly

    received by Kublai khan. The Nestorians opposed his progress,

    and for eleven years he carried on the work alone, but not till

    the latter part of this period with much success. He built a

    church at Cambaluc, ” which had a steeple and belfry with

    three bells that were rung every hour to summon the new eonverts

    to prayer.” He baptized nearly six thousand persons

    during that time, “and bought one hundred and fifty children,

    whom he instructed in Greek and Latin and composed for them

    several devotional books.”

    ‘Clement V., hearing of Corvino’s success, appointed him archbishop in 1307 and sent him seven suffragan bishops as. assistants. Two letters of his are extant in which he gives a pleasing account of his efforts to preach the gospel, but of the
    ‘ Chinese Bepositoi’y, Vol. III., p. 112; Vol. XIII., passim. Lowrie, Land of Sinim.

    subsequent success of the endeavors made by him and his coadjutors to propagate the faith there are only imperfect records.

    Corvino was ordei’ed to have tlie mysteries of tlie Bible represented

    by pictures in all his churches, for the purpose of captivating

    the eyes of the barbarians. He died in 1328, when about

    eighty years of age, ” after having converted more than thirty

    thousand iniidels.” One of the accounts relates that at his

    funeral ” all the inhabitants of__Cambaluc, \vithout distinction,

    mourned for the man of God, and both Christians and pagans

    were present at the funeral ceremony, the latter rending their

    garments in token of grief, . . . and the place of his

    burial became a pilgrimage to which the inhabitants of Cambaluc

    resorted with pious eagerness.” It is not easy to estimate

    the real value of the labors of this priest and his successors, nor

    to decide how much better they were than those of the Xestorians

    in making known the Cross of Christ among the Mongols. The

    short record preserved of Corvino speaks well of his character

    and favorably of the toleration granted by the Mongols to his

    efforts to instruct them. It is affec^ting to hear him say, ” It is

    now twelve years since I. have heard any news from the West.

    I am become old and grayheaded, but it is rather through labors

    and tribulations than through age, for I am onlv lifty-eight

    years old. I have learned tlie Tartar language and literature,

    into which I have translated the whole New Testament and the

    Psalms of David, and liave caused them to be transcribed with

    the utmost care. I write and read and preach openly and freely

    the testimony of the law of Christ.”

    The Pope sent Nicholas to succeed Montecorvino at Peking,

    and a company of twenty-six Franciscans with him, but no authentic

    record of their arrival there has been preserved. In 1336

    the last Mongol Emperoi-, Shunti, whose reign was then called

    Chiyuen, sent Andre, a Frank, as his ambassador to the Pope,

    to whom was also addressed a letter from the Alain Christians

    asking for a bishop to take Corvino’s place, Nicholas not having

    then reached his see. Benedict XII. sent four nuncios, one of

    whom, John of Florence, returned to Europe in 1353, after

    residing and travelling in China twelve years, bringing friendly

    letters from the Emperor ^hunti. At this period there was

    EOMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS—MONTECORVINO. 289

    another bishopric among tlie Mongols at Ih’, or Kuldja, and a

    letter from Pascal, a Spanish friar, dated from that city in 1338,

    lias been preserved. It would seem that during the sway of the

    Mongol princes these missionaries carried on their work chiefly

    among their tribes. It is, if such was the case, less surprising,

    therefore, that we hear nothing of them and their converts after

    the Chinese troops had expelled Kublai’s weak descendants from

    the country in 1368, since they would naturally follow them

    into Central Asia. After the final establishment of the Ming

    dynasty almost nothing is known concerning either them or the

    Nestorians, and it is probable that during the wanderings of the

    defeated Mongols the adherents of both sects gradually lapsed

    into ignorance and thence easily into Mohammedanism and

    Buddhism. There is no reasonable doubt, however, that during

    the three centuries ending with the accession of Hungwu, the

    greater part of Central Asia and Northern China was the scene

    of many flourishing Christian communities.

    The second period in the history of Romish missions in China

    includes a space of one hundred and fifty years, extending from

    the time when Matteo Ricci first established himself at Shanking

    in 1582 to the death of the Emperor Ynngching in 1736.

    Before Ricci entered the country there had been some efforts

    made to revive the long-deferred work among the Chinese, but

    the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were opposed to the extension

    of a faith which their flagitious conduct so outrageously

    belied. The Chinese government was still more strongly opposed

    to the residence of the foreign missionaries. Francis

    Xavier started from Goa in 1552 in company with an ambassador

    to China, but the embassy was hindered by the Governor of

    Malacca, who detained Pereyra and his ship, and Xavier was

    obliged to go alone. He died, however, at Shangchnen, Sancian,

    or St. John’s, an island about thirty miles south-west of Macao,

    disappointed in his expectations and thwarted in his plans by

    the untoward opposition of his countrymen. Other attempts

    were made to accomplish this design, but it was reserved for

    the Jesuits to carry it into effect. Valignani, the Superior of

    their missions in the East, selected Michael Ruggiero, or Roger,

    for this enterprise. He arrived at Macao in 1580 and com-

    VoL. II.—19

    290 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    menced the study of the language. Soon after he was joined

    by Matthew Ricci, and aftgr a series of efforts and disappointments

    they succeeded, in 1582, in obtaining lodgment at IShauking,

    then the residence of the Governor of Kwangtung. He

    granted them permission to build a house there, as they had

    told him that ” they had at last ascertained with their own eyes

    that the Celestial Empire was even superior to its brilliant

    renown. They therefore desired to end their days in it, and

    wished to obtain a little land to construct a house and a church

    where they might pass their time in prayer and study, in

    solitude and meditation, which they could not do at Macao on

    account of the tumult and bustle which the perpetual activity

    of commerce occasioned.” A beginning like this indicated the

    policy which has marked the progress of their work during the

    thi’ee centuries now passed. Xothing is said of making known

    Christ and him crucified as the great theme of their preaching.

    Hue tells us, too, that they took down the picture of the Virgin,

    because ” the report had been spread that the strangers

    worshipped a woman,” and replaced it by an image of the

    Saviour; and in this also they set the example, which successive

    ages have strengthened, of upholding the native idolatry. In

    their intercourse with the people of all classes they won good

    opinions by their courtesy, presents, and scientific attainments,

    and Hue sums up their principles in his approving remark,

    “they thought justly that the philosopher would make more

    impression than the priest upon minds so sceptic and so imbued

    with literary conceit.” The appointed means given by the

    Founder of Christianity for its propagation are never mentioned

    as their guide and authority, and the building corresponds to

    the foundations laid.

    In 151)-i Yalignani advised Ricci and his associates to exchange

    their garb of Buddhist priests for the nu)re respected

    dress of the literati ; and soon after he set out from Shauchau, in

    the north of Kwangtung, for Tsanchang, the capital of Kiangsi,

    and thence made his way to Nanking, still a place of great

    importance, althougli not the capital of the Empire. He was

    directed to depart, and returned to Nanchang, where he was

    permitted to lay the foundation of a religious institution and

    FATTTEK MATTEO RICCI. 291

    establish his associates, lie tlien left again for ^Nanking, but

    finding many obstacles proceeded to Suchau, the capital of

    Kiangnan, and there, too, established a school. The times becoming

    favorable, he appeared a third time at Xanking, in 1598,

    where he was received with amity, frankness, and good breeding,

    and his lectures on the exact sciences listened to with rapture. The

    progress of the mission had been so considerable that Valignani

    had appointed Ricci its Su])erior-General, which gave him power

    to regulate its internal concerns, for which he was well fitted.

    An officer whom he had known in Shauchau, and who had been

    appointed President of the Board of Civil Office, was induced to

    take him to Peking on his return there from a mission to Hainan

    ; but opposition arising this friend, Kwang, advised him

    to return M’ith him to Nanking, as tlie officials at the capital

    were much disappointed to find that he knew nothing about

    making silver and gold, which w^as wanted to pay for the expedition

    to Japan. After Kwang’s departure he and his colleague,

    Cataneo, found themselves nearly penniless, and he decided

    to return south, although it was wintei*. lie reached

    Suchau in a very weak condition, but, having recovered, went

    to Xanking in 1599, where the high provincial authorities visited

    and aided him, heard his discourses on astronomy, and

    enabled him to get a house.

    Everything progressed favorably, and Cataneo had returned

    from Macao with funds and presents. Eicci availed himself

    of a timely proposal from a eunuch to go with him to Peking,

    and started in a junk with his presents. The eunuch, however,

    wished to keep the latter, and by misrepresentations contrived

    to detain Ricci and his companion, Pantoja, at Tientsin for six

    months, at the end of which the villany was exposed, and the

    foreigners invited to court by imperial orders. They reached

    Peking January 4, 1601, twenty-one years after Ricci landed

    in Macao. The pleasing manners and extensive acquirements

    of Picci, joined to a distribution of presents, gained him the

    favor of men in authority. He soon numbered some of them

    among his adherents, among whom Sii, baptized Paul, was one

    of his earliest and most efficient co-operators, and assisted him

    in translating Euclid.

    292 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    Tlie Emperor AVanleih received liini with kinJnos?, and allowed

    him and Pantoja to be accommodated at the phvce where

    foreign envoys usually remained ; he subsequently permitted

    them to hire a house, and assigned them a stipend. In the

    meantime other Jesuits joined him at Peking, and were also

    settled in all the intermediate stations, where they carried on

    the work of their missions under his direction with success and

    favor. Paul Sii and his widowed daughter, M’ho took the baptismal

    name of Candida, proved efficient supporters of the new

    faith. The new religion encountered many obstacles, and the

    officers who saw its progress felt the necessity of checking its

    growth before it got strength to set at naught the commands

    of government. Much excitement arose in 1005 between the

    Portuguese and the officials at Canton in consequence of a

    rumor of the former going to attack the city ; and it was carried

    to such a height that the latter seized a convert named

    Martinez and punished him so severely that he died. A decree

    in 1617 ordered the missionaries to dejiart from court to

    Canton, there to embark for Euro2)e, but, like many others of

    the same import subsequently issued, it received just as much

    v_5>bedience as they thought expedient to give it—and properly

    too ; for if they were not disturbers of the peace or seditious,

    they ought not to be sent out of the country. This edict hindered

    their work only partially, and such Avas their diligence

    • that by the year 163(3 they had published no fewer than three

    hundred and forty treatises, some of them religious, but mostly

    on natural philosophy and mathematics. Ilicci formulated a set

    of rules for their guidance, in Avhicli he allowed the converts to

    practise the rites of ancestral worship, because he considered

    them purely civil in their luiture. The matter subsequently

    became a bone of contention between the Jesuits and Franciscans.

    The talented founder of these missions died in 1G1(», at the

    age of tifty-eight, and for skill, perseverance, learning, and

    tact, his name deservedly stands highest among their missionaries.

    His withholding the l)ible fi’om the Chinese, and substitution

    of image worship, ritualism, and ])riestly ordinances

    for the pure truths of the gospel, have been maintained by his

    M\S LI IF, AND ClIAHACTKR. 293

    successors, for tliey are essential features of the churcli which

    sent them forth. He lias been extolled by the Jesuits as a man

    possessed of every virtue. Another writer of the same church

    gives liim the following character : ” Ricci was active, skilful,

    full of schemes, and endowed with all the talents necessary to

    render him agreeal)le to the great or to gain the favor of

    princes ; but at the same time so little versed in matters of

    faith that, as the Bishop of Conon said, it was sufficient to read

    his work on the time religion to be satistied that he was ignorant

    of the first principles of theology. Eeiiig more a politician

    than a theologian, he discovered the secret of remaining

    peacefully in China. The kings found in him a man full of

    complaisance ; the pagans a minister who accommodated himself

    to their superstitions ; the mandarins a polite courtier

    skilled in all the trickery of courts ; and the devil a faithful

    servant, who, far from destroying, established his reign among

    the heathen, and even extended it to the Christians. lie

    preached in China the religion of Christ according to his own

    fancy ; that is to say, he disfigured it by a faithful mixture of

    pagan superstitions, adopting the sacrifices offered to Confucius

    and ancestors, and teaching the Christians to assist and cooperate

    at the worship of idols, provided they only addressed

    their devotions to a cross covered with flowers, or secretly attached

    to one of the candles which were lighted in the temples

    of the false gods.” ‘ His work was described by Trigault in

    1616, w’hen full materials were accessible, so that his actions

    and motives are known more fully than many who have come

    after him.

    After his death his place was filled by Longobardi, whose

    experience, learning, and judgment well fitted him for the

    post. The efforts of many enemies caused a reaction in 1616,

    and an edict was issued ordering all missionaries to leave the

    country ; but they w’ere sheltered b}^ their converts, especially

    through the exertions of Sii, who in 1622 obtained the reversal

    of the edict of expulsion, and thereby caused the persecution

    ‘ Anecdotes de la Chine, Tome I., Pref. vi, vii. Hue, Christianity in China^

    Vol. II., Chaps. II. toV. Remusat, Kouceaux MelaiKjcs, Tome II., p. 207.

    204 THE MIDDLE KITfGDOM.

    to cease.’ The talents and learning of Schaal, a German

    Jesuit, who was recommended by Sii to the Emperor’s regard

    in 162S, soon placed him at the head of all his brethren and

    ranked him among the most distinguished men in the Empire.

    The Dominicans and Franciscans also flocked to the land

    which had thus been opened by the Jesuits, but they were not

    welcomed by those who wished to build up their own power.

    After the death of Wanleih, in 1620, and those converts

    within the palace who had favored the cause, new influences

    against it arose, and during the short reign of his young grandson,

    Tienlii, troubles increased. Amid the breaking up of

    the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the present family

    on the throne (1630-1660), the missions suffered much, their

    spiritual guides retired to places of safety from the molestations

    of soldiers and banditti, and converts were necessarily left

    without instruction. The missionaries in the north sided with

    the Manchus, and Schaal became a favorite with the new monarch

    and his advisers, by whom he was appointed to reform

    the calendar. lie succeeded in showing the incompetency of

    the persons who had the supervision of it, and after its revision

    was appointed president of the Kin Tien Kien, an astronomical

    board established for this object, and invested with the insignia

    and emoluments of a grandee of the first class. He employed

    his influence and means in securing the admission of other

    missionaries, and to build two churches in the capital and

    repair many of those which had fallen to decay in the

    provinces.

    The exertions of the native converts did nuich to advance

    the cause of religion, and the baptismal names of Leon, Michel,

    etc., have been preserved among these early confessors ; but

    none are more famous than Sii and his daughter, Candida. He

    gave his influence in its favor and his property to assist in

    building churches, while his revision of their Avritings made

    them acceptable to fastidious scholars. His daughter also spent

    her life in good works. According to Du TIalde, she exhibited

    the sincerity of her profession by building thirty-nine churches

    ‘Sii’s Apology is given in full in the CMnese Repository^ Vol. XIX., p. 118.

    LABORS OF MISSIONARIES AND CONVERTS. 295

    in different provinces, and printing one liundred and thirty

    Christian books for tlie instruction of her countrymen. Having

    hearcl that the pagans in several of the provinces were

    accustomed to abandon their cliildren as soon as born, she established

    a foundling hospital ; and seeing many blind people

    telling idle stories in the streets for the sake of gain, she got

    them instructed and sent fortli to relate the different events of

    the gospel history. A few years before her death the Emperor

    conferred on her the title of shojin, or ‘virtuous woman,’

    and sent her a magnificent habit and head-dress adorned with

    pearls, which it is said she gradually sold, expending the proceeds

    in benevolent works. She received the last sacrament

    with a lively faith of being united to that God whom she .had so

    zealously loved and served. She and her father have since

    been deified by the people, and are worshipped now at Shanghai

    for their good deeds. The large mission establishment at

    Sikawe (properly Su ITia-wei, or the ‘ Sii Family Hamlet ‘), situated

    near that city, under the care of the Roman Catholics, now

    covers the same ground once owned by this eminent man. Candida’s

    example was emulated by another lady of high connections,

    named Agatha, who was zealous in carrying on the same

    works. We can but hope that although the worship of these

    converts was mixed with much error, and Mary, Ignatius, and

    others received their homage as well as Christ, their faith was

    genuine and their works done by an actuating spirit of humble

    love.’

    The Romish missionaries had friends among the high families

    in the land during the first hundred years of their labors,

    besides converts of both sexes. Few missions in pagan countries

    have been more favored with zealous converts, or tlieir missionaries

    more aided and countenanced hy rich and noble supporters,

    than the early papal missions to China. Le Comte speaks

    of the high favor enjoyed by all the laborers in this work

    through the reputation and influence of Scliaal at court. One

    of those who obtained celebrity was Faber, whose efforts in

    Shensi were attended with great success, and who wrought many

    ‘ Medhurst’s China, p. 188. Du Halde’s China, Vol. II., p. 8.

    296 TiiK :^[ir)DLK kixgdom.

    miracles during liis ministry in tliat province. Among otliera

    lie mentions that ” the town of Hang ching was at a certain

    time overrun with a prodigious multitude of locusts, which ate

    up all the leaves of the trees and gnawed the grass to the very

    I’oots, The inhabitants, after exhausting all the resources of

    their own superstitions and charms, applied to Faber, who

    promised to deliver them from the 2)lague provided they would

    become Christians. When they consented he marched in ceremony

    into the highways in his stole and surplice, and sprinkled

    up and down the holy water, accompanying this action with the

    prayers of the church, but especially with a lively faith. God

    heard the voice of his servant, and the next day all the insects

    disappeared. But the people refused to perform their promise,

    and the plague grew worse than before. AVitli much contrition

    they came to the father, confessing their fault and entreating

    his renewed interposition ; again he sprinkled the holy water,

    and the insects a second time disappeared. Then the Avhole

    borough was converted, and many years afterward was reckoned

    one of the devoutest missions in China. His biographer mentions

    that Falser was carried over rivers through the air ; he

    foretold his own death, and did several other such wonders

    ;

    but the greatest mii-acle of all was his life, which he spent in

    the continual exercise of all the apostolical virtues and a tender

    devotion to the mother of God.”

    The increase of churches and converts in the northern provinces

    was rapid during the reign of Shunchi, but the southern

    parts of the Empire not being completely subdued, the claimant

    to the throne of Ming w^as favored by the missionaries there,

    and his troops led on by two Christian Chinese otRcers, called

    Thomas Kiu and Luke Chin. His mother, wife, and son were

    baptized with the names of Helena, Maria, and Constantine,

    and the former wrote a letter to Pope Alexander VH., expressing

    her attachment to the cause of Christianity, and wishing

    to put the country through him under the protection of God.

    He kindly answered her, but the expectations of the llomanists

    were disappointed by the death of Tunglieh, the Emperor.

    During the reign of Shunchi Schaal and his coadjutors stood

    high at Peking, and missions prospered in the provinces ; but

    THE JESUIT FATHER ADAM SOHAAL. 297

    on the Emperor’s deatli tlie administration fell into the hands

    of four regents, and as they were known to be opposed to the

    new sect, a memorial was sent to court setting forth the evils

    likely to arise if it was not repressed. It should be mentioned

    that several monks of the Dominican and Franciscan orders,

    especially of Fuhkien province, where Capellas, a Spaniard, had

    been martyred in 1648, had i-esumed the labors of Archbishop

    John of Montecorvino at Peking, more than thirty years

    before this date. ” Their presence had been resisted by the

    Jesuits [so ran the memorial], and the strifes between these orders

    about the meaning and worship of tien and shanfjti (words

    used for the Supreme Being) revealed the important secret that

    the principles of the new doctrine were made to subserve the purposes

    of those who were aspiring to influence. It was remembered

    also that while the Catholics continued in Japan, nothing

    but intrigue, schism, and civil war was heard of, calamities that

    might sooner or later befal China if the criminal eagerness of

    the missionaries in enlisting people of all classes was not checked.

    The members of the different orders wore distinctive badges of

    medals, rosaries, crosses, etc., and were always ready to obey the

    calls of their chiefs, who could have no scruple to lead them on

    to action the moment a probability of success in subverting the

    existing political order and the ancient worship of China should

    offer.” The regents took the memorial into consideration, and

    in 1665 the tribunals under their direction decreed that ” Schaal

    and his associates merited tlie punishment of seducers, who announce

    to the people a.false and pernicious doctrine.”

    Notwithstanding the honora])le position Schaal held as tutor

    of the young Emperor Kanghi, he was proscril)ed and degraded

    with several high officers who had been baptized. Some of them

    perished, Schaal himself dying of grief and suffering August

    16th of the same year, at the age of seventy-eight, having been

    thirty-seven years in imperial employ, under five monai-chs.

    Verbiest and others were imprisoned, one of whom died ; and

    twenty-one Jesuits, with some of other sects, were sent out of the

    country. Magaillans says he himself was ” loaden for four whole

    months together with nine chains, three about his neck, his arms^

    and his legs ; he was also condenmed to have foi-ty lashes, and

    298 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    to be banished out of Tartaiy as long as he lived. But a great

    earthquake that happened at that time at Peking delivered both

    him and the rest of his companions.’” ‘ Their relief, however,

    was probably owing more to the favor of Kanghi on taking the

    reins of government in 1671 than to the earthquake ; he soon

    released Verbiest to appoint him astronomer, and allowed the

    missionaries to return to their stations, though he forbade his

    subjects embracing Christianity. This favorable change is partly

    ascribed, too, to the errors Verbiest pointed out in the calendar,

    which showed an utter ignorance of the commonest principles

    of astronomy On the part of those who prepared it. An intercalary

    month had been erroneously introduced, and the unfortunate

    astronomers wei’e made to exchange places with the

    imprisoned missionaries, while their intercalary month was

    discarded and the year shortened, to the astonishment of the

    common people. It may reasonably be doubted whether the

    priest acted with sagacity and prudence in thus exasperating

    those in high places by this public ridicule of their incompetency.

    Verbiest also prepared an astronomical work entitled ” The

    Perpetual Astronomy of the Emperor Kanghi,” which he graciously

    received and conferred the title of tajln, or ‘ magnate,’ on

    him, and ennobled all his kindred. ” He had no relatives in China,

    but as the Jesuits called each other brother, they did not hesitate

    to use the same title. Tiio gi-eatest part of the religious caused

    it to be inscribed on the doors of their houses.*”‘

    The favor of the Empei-or continued, and the missionaries re-

    (piited his kindness with many signal services, besides those of

    a literaiy and ustron(Mnicul nature, among which was casting

    camion for his army. In 1636 Scliaal had made a mimber for

    Tsungching, and Verbiest, his successor, cast several hundreds in

    all for the Emperor Kanghi. On one occasion, in 1680, the })ieces,

    three hundred and twenty of all sizes, were to be tested in the

    presence of the coui’t; but before doing so Verbiest ” had an altar

    prepared on which he placed a cross. Then, clothed in his surplice

    and stole, he worshipped the true (Jod, prostrating himself nine

    times, and striking the earth nine times with his forehead, in

    ‘ Magaillans’ C’hiinf, p. 147. Chinese Itepository, Vol. I., p. 434.

    QUESTION OF THE KITES. 299

    the Chinese manner of expressing adoration ; and after that he

    read the prayers of the church and sprinkled the cannon with

    holy water, having bestowed on each of them the name of a female

    saint, which he had himself drawn on the breech.” ‘ Some

    of the high othcers were still opposed to the toleration of

    foreign priests, and the Governor of Chehkiang undertook to

    cany into effect the laws against their admission into the country

    and their proselyting labors ; but Verbicst, on informing the Emperor

    of their character as excellent mathematicians and scholars,

    obtained their liberation. Ko foreigner has ever enjoyed so

    great favor and confidenee from the inilers of China as this able

    priest. lie seems indeed to have deserved this for his diligence,

    knowledge, and purity of conduct in devoting all his energies

    and opportunities to their good. His residence of thirty years

    at Peking (1G5S-1G8S) was passed under the eyes of suspicious

    observers ; but his modesty in the end won their confidence as

    his writings and devotions called forth their approval.

    During all this time—or at least since the other sects came to

    assist in the work—there had been constant disputes, as has already

    been intimated, between the disciples of Loyola, Dominic,

    and Francis, excited probably by rivalry, but ostensibly relating

    to the rites paid to deceased ancestors and to Confucius. Ricci

    had drawn up rules for the regulation of the Jesuits, in which

    he considered these customs to be merely civil and secular, and

    such as might l)e tolerated in their converts. Morales, a Spanish

    Dominican, however, opposed this view, declaring them to be

    idolatrous and sinful, and they were condemned as such by the

    Propaganda, which sentence was confirmed by Innocent X. in

    1645. This decree of the see at Home gave the Jesuits some

    annoyance, and they set themselves at work to procure its revision.

    Martinez was sent to Home as their principal agent in

    this, and by nuiny explanations and testimonials proved to the

    satisfaction of the tril)unal of inquisitors their civil nature, and

    Alexander Yll., in 1050, approved this opinion. There were

    thus two infallible decrees nearly opposed to each other, for

    Alexander took care not to directly contradict the bull of Inno-

    ‘Hue, Christianity in Cliina, Vol. III., p, 81.

    SOO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    cent, and worded his decision so that botli claimed it. When

    all the missionaries were imprisoned or sent to Canton, a good

    opportunity offered for mutual consultation and decision upon

    these and other points. Twenty-three priests met in the Jesuit

    seminary at Canton in 1665, and drew up forty-two articles to

    serve hereafter for rules of conduct, all of which were unanimously

    adopted. The one relating to the ceremonies was as

    follows

    :

    In respect to the customs by whicli the Chinese worship Confucius and

    the deceased, the answer of the congregation of tlie universal Inquisition,

    sanctioned in 1(556 by his Holiness Alexander VII., shall be invariably followed

    : for it is founded upon the most probable opinion, without any evident

    proof to the contrary ; and this probability being admitted, the door of salvation

    must not be shut against innumerable Chinese, who would abandon our

    Christian religion were they forbidden to attend to those things that they may

    lawfully and without injury to their faith attend to, and forced to give up

    what cannot be abandoned without serious consequences.

    One member of this meeting, the Dominican Navarette, soon

    expressed his dissent, and the dispute was renewed as virulently

    as ever. The opponents of the Jesuits complained that they

    taught their converts that there was but little difference generallj^

    between Christianity and their own belief, and allowed

    them to retain their old superstitions ; they were chai’ged, moreover,

    with luxurj^ and ambition, and neglecting the duties of

    their ministry that they might meddle in the affaii’s of State.

    These allegations were rebutted l)y the Jesuits, though it appears

    from Mosheim that some of them partially acknowledged

    their ti’uth. In 1098 Maigrot, a bishoj) and apostolic vicar living

    in China, issued a mandate on his own authority diametrically

    opposed to the decision of the Inquisition and the Pope,

    in which he declared that tten signified nothing niore than the

    material heavens, and that the Chinese customs and I’ites were

    idolatrous. In 1699 the Jesuits l)r()ught the matter before the

    Empei’or in the folhnving memorial :

    We, your faithful subjects, although originally from distant countries, respectfully

    supi)licate your Majesty to give us clear instructions on the following

    points. The scholars of Euro])e have understood that the Chinese practise

    certain ceremonies in honor of Confucius, that they o!Ter sacrifices to heaven,

    and that tlicy oliserve peculiar rites toward their ancestors ; but persuaded

    POPE CLEMENT XI. AXD KANGHI. 301

    that these ceremonies, sacrifices, and rites are founded in reason, though ignorant

    of their true intention, earnestly desire us to inform them. We have

    always supposed that Confucius was honored in China as a legislator, and that

    it was in this character alone, and with this view solely, tliat th(j ceremonies

    established in his honor were practised. We believe that the ancestral rites

    are only observed in order to exhibit tlie love felt for them, and to hallow tlie

    remembrance of the good receive<l from them during their life. We believe

    that the sacririces offered to heaven are not tendered to the visible heavens

    which are seen above us, but to the Supreme Master, Author, and Preserver of

    heaven and earth, and of all they contain. Such are the interpretation and

    the sense which we liave always given to these Chinese ceremonies ; but as

    strangers cannot be considered competent to pronounce on these ‘mportant

    points with the same certainty as the Chinese themselves, we presume to request

    your Majesty not to refuse to give us the explanations which we desire

    concerning them. We wait for them with respect and submission.’

    The Emperor’s reply in 1700 to this petition, and another

    one presented to him, was sent to the Pope ; in it he decLared

    that ” tien means the true God, and that tlie customs of China

    are political.” The enemies of the Jesuits say that they ” confirmed

    the sentiments expressed in the imperial rescript by the

    oaths which they exacted from a multitude of Chinese, among

    whom were many from the lowest classes, not only entirely

    ignoi-ant of the meaning of many characters in their own

    language, but even of Christian doctrine.” The strongest efforts

    were made by both parties to influence the decision of the Pope,

    but the Jesuits failed. In 1701: a decree of Clement XI. confirmed

    the decision of Bishop Maigrot. It had been reached

    after careful and candid “examination, and was substantially as

    follows: ” As the true God cannot conveniently be named in

    the Chinese language with European words, we must employ the

    words Tien Chu, i.e., ‘ Lord of Heaven,’ in use for a long time

    in China, and approved by both missionaries and their converts.

    AVe must, on the contrary, absolutely reject the aj^pellation of

    Tien (Heaven) and Shangtl (August Emperor) ; and for this

    reason it must on no accoimt be permitted that tablets shall be

    suspended in churches with the inscription King Tien (Adore

    Heaven).” The court of the Vatican had already dispatched a

    legate d latere and apostolic visitor to China in the person of

    ‘ Life of Saint-Manin, p. 292.

    302 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Tounion, who was consecrated Patriarch of Antioch in order to

    give him a title of sufficient dignity in the distant regions to

    which he was bound.

    The legate landed at Macao in April, 17(>5, and was received

    with a show of honor by the governor and bishop. He arrived at

    Peking in December, but the Jesuits had already prejudiced the

    Emperor against him, and at an audience accorded to him in

    June, 1706, the former brought forward the subject to learn the

    legate’s views. After some delay, however, the patriarch issued

    the Pope’s mandate, which was contrary to the monarch’s decision.

    Kanghi was not the num who would transfer to a pope

    the right of legislating over his own subjects, and in December,

    1706, he decreed that he would countenance those missionaries

    who preached the doctrines of Ricci, but persecute those who

    followed the opinion of Maigrot. Examiners were a])pointed

    for ascertaining their sentiments, but Tournon, who had been

    banished to Macao, forbade the missionaries, under ])ain of excommunication,

    holding any discussion on these points with the

    examiners. The Bishop of Macao conlined the legate in a private

    house, and M-hen he used his ecclesiastical authority and

    powers against his enemies, stuck up a monitory on the very

    door of his residence, exhorting him to revoke his censures

    within tliree days midcr pain of excommunication, and exhibit

    proofs of his legation to his diocesan. This was re-echoed from

    Tournon by a still severer sentence against the bishop. Three

    new missionaries reached Macao at this jun(;ture in January,

    1710, and one of them, l*cre Ilipa, gives an account of a nocturnal

    visit they paid the legate in his })rison after eluding the

    vigilance of his guards. Ripa renuirks that about forty missionaries

    of different religious orders were confined with Tournon,

    who had lately been nuide a cardinal, but he himself and

    his companions were left at liberty. Ills eminence sent a remonstrance

    to the Governor of Canton against his imprisonment,

    and also a memorial to the Emperor stating that six

    missionaries had arrived from Europe, three of whom were

    acquainted with mathematics, music, and painting. Kipa, who

    was to be the painter, says that he knew only the rudiments of

    the art, and records his dissatisfaction at this change in his voQUARRELS

    OF THE JESUITS AND DOMINICANS. 303

    cation, Lut soon resigned himself to obedience. Touruon died

    in his coniinenient in July of the same year.

    The proceedings of Tournon were mainly confirmed by the

    Pope, and in 1715 he dispatched Mezzabarba, another legate, by

    way of Lisbon, who was favorably received at Peking, lie

    ” was instructed to express the Pope’s sincere gratitude to

    Kanghi for his magnanimous kindness toward the missionaries,

    to beg leave to remain in China as their head or as superior of

    the whole mission, and to obtain from Kanghi his consent that

    the Christians in China might submit to tlie decision of his

    Holiness concerning the rites.” The Emperor evaded all reference

    to the rites, and the legate, soon perceiving that his Majesty

    would not surrender any part of his inherent authoiity,

    solicited and obtained permission at his last audience to return

    to Europe, which he did March 3, 1721. The first fifteen

    years of the eighteenth century was the period of the greatest

    prosperity to the Pomish missions in China. It is stated

    that in the governor-generalship of Kiangnan and Kiangsi alone

    there were one hundred churches and a hundred thousand converts.

    The survey of the Empire was carried on by the Emperor’s

    connnand from 1708 to 171S, under the direction of

    ten Jesuits, of whom Pegis, Bouvet, and Jartoux were the most

    prominent.’ It was a great work for that day, and considering

    the instruments they had, the vast area they traversed, and tlic

    imperfect education of their assistants, its accuracy and completeness

    form the best index of the ability of the surveyors.

    The disputes between the various orders of missionaries and

    the resistance of some converts to the Emperor’s commands

    respecting the ancestral rites, together with the representations

    of his own ofiicers upon the tendency of the new religion to

    undermine his own authority, gradually opened his eyes to the

    true character of the propagandists. In 1718 he forbade any

    missionary remaining in the country without permission from

    himself, given only after their promise to follow tlie rules of

    Picci. Yet no European missionary could repair to China

    ‘ An additional re-survey was made and presented to the Emperor Kienlung

    in ITGl by Beuoit and AUerstein.

    304 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    without subscribing a funnuhi in which he proniised fully and

    entirely to obey the orders of Cleiiieut XI. upon these ceremonies,

    and observe those injunctions without any tergiversation.

    Kan^^hi was made acquainted with all these nuitters and took

    his measures, gradually i-estraining the missionaries in their

    work and keeping them about him at court, while he allowed

    persecuting measures to be carried on in the provinces. Tho

    work of Ripa affords evidence of this plan, and it was characteristic

    of Chinese policy.

    After the death of Kanghi in 1723 the designs of the govern

    ment under his son Yungching were still more evident. In

    172-i an order was promulgated in which every effort to propagate

    the Tien C/m klao, or ‘ Religion of the Lord of Heaven,’

    as it was then and has ever since been called, was strictly prohibited.

    All missionaries not required at Peking for scientitic

    purposes were ordered to leave the country, by which more than

    three hundred thousand converts were deprived of teachers.

    Many of the missionaries secreted themselves, and the converts

    exhibited the greatest fidelity in adhering to them even at the

    risk of death. AVhen the missionaries reached Canton, where

    tliey were allowed to remain, they devised measures to return

    to their flocks, and frequently succeeded. The influence of

    those remaining at Peking was exerted to regain their former

    toleration, but wdth partial success. Their enemies in the

    provinces harassed the converts in order to extort money, and

    found plenty of assistants who knew the names and condition

    of all the leading adherents of the proscribed faith, and aided

    in compelling them to violate their consciences or lose their

    property.

    The edict of Yungching forms an epoch in the Uoniish missions

    in China. Since that time they have experienced various

    degrees of quiet and storm, but on the whole decreasing in

    number and influence until the new era inaugurated by the

    treaties of 1S58. The troubles in France and Europe toward

    the latter part of the eighteenth centui-y withdi-ew the a»ttention

    of the supporters of missions from those in China, while in the

    country itself the maintenance of the laws against the ])ropagation

    of Christianity, and an occasional seizure of })i-iests and

    THE CATHOLICS EXPELLED FUOM CHIXA. 30.”i

    converts by a zealous officer, caused a still further diminution.

    Tlie edicts of Kienluiig, soon after his accession in 1T3(), showed

    that no countenance was to be expected from court ; the rulers

    were thoroughly dissatisfied with the foreigners, and ready to

    take almost any measures to relieve the country of them. Perhaps

    their personal conduct had something to do with this

    course of procedure, for Ripa, wlio cannot be accused of partiality,

    says, when speaking of the number of converts, that

    “if our European missionaries in China would conduct themselves

    with less ostentation, and accommodate their manners to

    persons of all ranks and conditions, the number of converts

    would be immensely increased. Their garments are made of

    the richest materials ; they go nowhere on foot, but always in

    sedans, on horseback, or in boats, and with numerous attendants

    following them. AVith a few honorable exceptions, all the missionaries

    live in this manner ; and thus, as they never mix with

    the people, they make but few converts. The diifusion of our

    holy religion in these parts has been almost entirely owing to

    the catechists who are in their service, to other Christians, or

    to the distribution of Christian books in the Chinese language.

    Thus there is scarcely a single missionary who can boast of having

    made a convert by his own preaching, for they merely baptize

    those who have been already converted by others.” ‘ But

    this missionary himself afterward assigns a nnich better reason

    for their not preaching, when he adds that, up to his time in

    ITl-i, “none of the missionaries had been able to surmount the

    language so as to make himself understood by the people at

    large.” This remark must, however, be taken with some explanations.

    There had l)een al^out five hundred missionaries sent

    from Europe between 1580 and 172-1:, wliich was less than an

    annual average of four individuals during a centurv and a half.

    When the intentions of the new Emperor were known, there

    Avould not lono; be wantino; occasions to harass the Christians.

    In 1747 a persecution extended over all the provinces, and

    Bishop Sanz and five Dominican priests in Fuhkien lost their

    lives. All the foreign priests who could be found elsewhere were

    ‘ Residence at PeMnr/, p. 43.

    Vol. II.—20

    306 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    sent away—a mark of leiiiency tlie more striking wlien it was

    supposed by the Chinese that some of them had ah’eady once

    returned from banishment. The missions in Sz’cliuen and

    Shansi suffered most, but througli the zeal of their pastors

    maintained themselves better than elsewhere ; their bishops,

    Mullener, and after him Pottier, contrived to remain in the

    country most of the time between 1712 and 1792. The missions

    in Yunnan and Kweichau were not so flourishing as that

    in Sz’chuen. In this province M. Gleyo was apprehended in

    1767, and endured nuich suffering for the faith he came to

    preach ; he remained in prison ten years, when he was liberated

    through the efforts of a Jesuit in the employ of government.

    For several years after this the order enjoyed comparative

    quiet, but in 1784 greater efforts than ever were made to discover

    a*nd apprehend all foreign priests aiid their abettors,

    owing to the detection of four Europeans in Ilukwang while they

    were going to their mission. M. de la Tour, the procureur of

    the mission at Canton, through whose instrumentality they were

    sent tlirough the country, was apprehended and carried to Peking

    ; and the hong merchant who had been his security was

    glad to purchase his own safety by the sacrifice of one hundred

    and twenty thousand taels of silver.

    Didier Saint-Martin, who was then in Sz’chuen, gives a long

    account of his own capture, trial, and imprisonment, and many

    particulars of the sufferings of his fellow missionaries. Eighteen

    Europeans were taken away from the missions by it, but

    none of them were actually executed ; twelve w-ere sentenced to

    perpetual imprisonment, six having died, but for some reason

    the Emperor revoked the decree soon after it was made, and

    gave them all the choice to enter his service or leave the country

    ; nine of the twelve preferred to depart, the other three

    joining the priests at the capital. This search was so close that

    few of the foreigners escaped. Pottier was not taken, though

    he was obliged at one time to conceal liimself for a month in a

    small house, and in so confined a place that he hardly dared

    either to cough or to spit for fear of being discovered. Saint-

    Martin and Dufresse retired to Manila, where they were received

    with great honors, and were enabled to return after a

    PERSECUTION OF THE MISSIONARIES. ^ 307

    time to Sz’cliuen. The former died in 1801 in peace, but Dufresse

    was beheaded in 1814 ;

    ‘ in 1816 M. Triora was strangled

    in Hupeh, and M. Clet three years after ; in the interval,

    Schoeffler, Bounard, and Diaz perished, and Chapdelaine in

    1856. But no data are available to show the number of native

    priests and converts who suffered death, toiture, imprisonment,

    and banishment in these storms. The records of constancy and

    cheerful fortitude exhibited under tortures and cruel mockings,

    given in the writings of the time, show their faith in Christ.

    The details are summarized in Marshall’s work, and probably

    the number may reasonably be estimated by hundreds.

    The period which elapsed after the pronmlgation of the

    edicts of 1767 up to 1820 contains less to interest the reader

    than since the last date. At that time restored quiet in Europe

    urged a resumption of the work ; and the Annalcs ds la Foi

    henceforth continue the narratives of the missions, formerly

    recorded in the Lettres Kdifiantes, with the approval of the

    directors and bishops. It is not easy at any period to learn

    their condition and number, for only vague estimates of hundreds

    of churches, hundreds of thousands of converts, scores

    of missionaries, schools, catechists, priests, and stations, comprise

    the data given in the flourishing days of Verbiest and

    Parennin. Perhaps many of the early statistics have perished,

    yet it has never been easy to obtain accurate data, and

    often they have been withheld from public knowledge. There

    is no responsibility or reckoning required from the managers

    of the missions by the body of the church as to wdiat is done

    with the funds, as among Protestant missions. In 1820 an

    estimate gives 6 bishops, 2 coadjutors, 23 foreign missionaries,

    80 native priests, and 215,000 converts. In 1839 a table in

    the Annales gives for that year, 8 bishops, 57 foreigners, ll-t

    native priests, and 303,000 converts. In 1846 the record shows

    12 bishops, 7 or 8 coadjutors, 80 foreign missionaries, 90 natives,

    and 400,000 converts; 54 boys’ and 114 girls’ schools

    are put down for Sz’chuen. In 1866 they report 20 bishops,

    ‘ Annales de la Foi, Tome I., pp. 25, 53, 68. Dufresse was afterward

    canonized.

    308 Tin; MIDDLE KINGDO^r.

    233 foreign missionaries, 237 native priests, 12 colleges, 331

    students in seven of them, and 363,000 converts ; these figures

    include only those in the Eighteen Provinces. In 1870 the tahles

    show 254 foreigners, bishops and missionaries, 13S native

    priests in nine provinces, and 404,530 converts.

    Lastly, from the Hong Kong Catholic liegister we learn that

    the statistics in 1881 were : Bishops, 41 ; European priests,

    664; native priests, 559 ; converts in toto^ 1,092,818 ; colleges,

    34 ; convents, 34. The paper which publishes this summary,

    ” from a most reliable source,” gives no information as to where

    the missions or colleges are located, or what numbers are found

    in the different provinces. It is, moreover, somewhat difficult

    to learn what constitutes a college, or whether the grade in

    these institutions is uniform throughout the land. In addition

    to the education imparted at home, a number of Chinese are

    yearly sent to Tiome to be educated at the College of the Propaganda.

    The total number of converts includes all the members

    of the various families who give an outward adherence to

    the rites of the church. In the persecutions which these adherents

    have endured at various times, some have left the faith,

    but a large number of the descendants of these early converts

    have remained faithful, generation after generation, to the religion

    which their ancestors had embraced under more favorable

    auspices. Hence this estimate represents the number now

    adhering to them, many of them being the descendants of early

    converts ; and this number of followers has become so numerous

    largely by natural increase. AVe have no information as

    to the number of converts year by year. In one village of

    South China, where there are some Poman Catholics resident,

    it has been noted that the increase is almost entirely by natural

    generation. The girls of Catholic families are only permitted

    co-religionists. The men inarry heathen wives on the promise

    that they will become Pomanists. One man and his wife of

    this village first became converts. The number of adherents now

    hei-e is over one hundred, all descendants of this first pair; and

    this increase is entirely by natural descent and by marriage.

    With the increased openings since the treaties of 1858 the

    regulation of the missions has devolved on different societies,

    STATISTICS OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CITIXA. 309

    which liavc apportioned their hiborers in the provinces. The

    Lazarists have Cliihh’, Iviangsi, and Chehkiang ; the Franciscans,

    Sliantung, Shansi, Shensi, and llnkwang; the Jesuits,

    Kiangnan and eastern Chihh ; tlie Dominicans, Fnhkien ; the

    Gallic church, all the western and south-western rcirions, with

    Manchuria; one society in Milan has charge of Ilonan, and

    another in Belgium labors in Mongolia. The successful efforts

    of M. Lagrend, the French envoy to China in 1844, to obtain

    formal recognition of the Christian religion and protection to

    its professors from their own rulers, entitle him to the thanks

    of every well-Avisher of missions. The intention of the Chinese

    authorities in tolerating such efforts was to limit them to the

    newly opened ports, where alone churches could be erected, for

    the missionaries are disallowed free entrance into the country.

    This partial permission of 1844 prepared the way for the

    toleration articles in the treaties of 1858, when the four

    Powers present at Tientsin obtained a more explicit acknowledgment

    from the Emperor of the rights of Christian laborers

    and professors among the Chinese. Those articles have been

    in force during the past twenty years, and have proved a safeguard

    and a warrant for the faith of Christ and its adherents

    even beyond the hopes of those who first proposed them.

    The exclusive labors of the Roman Catholics among the

    Chinese comprise a period of about two hundred and fifty years

    from the date of Ricci’s reception at Peking. The various

    works written l)y them during this period contained not only

    the details of their labors, but nearly everything that was then

    known relating to the Chinese. The essays, translations, histories,

    travels, etc., of Visdelou, Mailla, Trigault, Semido,

    Amiot, Le Comte, and scores of others, still remain to inform

    those wdio seek to learn their acts.” Every reader must honor

    the men who thus suffered and labored, prospered and died, in

    the prosecution of their work. It is \vorthy of consideration,

    as to the self-supporting character of this work, that their constant

    experience has shown that, however numerous and zealous

    the converts, the presence of European pastors and overseers is

    Kemusat, Nouveaux Melanges, pp. 207 ff.

    310 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    indispensable to their spiritual prosperity.’ “Whether this is

    owing to the character of the Chinese mind, or to the little

    Christian instruction and principle these converts really have,

    cannot in most cases be easily decided. It can hardly be expected

    that pagans should perceive much difference immediately

    between their old worship and the cei’emonies of the new fait)-

    in the presence of pictures, images, and crosses, before which

    they were taught to prostrate themselves. The native priests

    and catechists were not instructed to maintain the authority

    of the law and word of God above all human teachings in this

    respect, for the second commandment had been early expunged

    from the Decalogue, and thus the connnand of God made

    void, which prohibits man to make, to servo, or to bow down

    to such things. It may be this defect in their religious training

    which keeps these native priests in tutelage under the foreigners,

    and prevents the maintenance of self-supporting, indigenous

    churches under their oversight.

    In former days the entrance of missionaries into the interior

    of China was attended with considerable hazard, delay, and

    uncertainty, arising from the weakness or ignorance of those

    guides to whose care they were entrusted, and the risks they

    ran if detected. This has now all passed awa}’^, and access to

    all parts of the Empire is even more free than it was in the

    days of the Emperor Kanglii. In those early times the development

    of missionary work was not as well understood as it

    is now after long experience, and less attention was paid to

    education and self-support. Those points were not appreciated

    even in Europe, and we should not look for stronger growth in

    the branches of the tree than in its trunk. Within the last

    twent}^ years, not only have the theological schools of the Romish

    missions increa’Sed so that eighteen were open in 1859,

    but with the introduction of the Sisters of Cliarity many thousands

    of young children are taught needlework, reading, and

    various handicrafts to prepare them for useful lives. These

    schools and oi-phanages exert a widespread and lasting influence.

    The baptism of children and adults has ever been a very

    ^Lettrea Mifiantes, Tome IV., p. 77.

    THE BAPTISM OF DYING INFANTS. 3J 1

    important work witli the Roman Catholic missionaries, and

    especially (if its fre(nient mention is an evidence) the baptism

    of uioribumh, or dying children of heathens. The agents in

    this work are usually elderly women, says Yerolles, ” who have

    experience in the treatment of infantile diseases. Furnished

    with innocent pills and a bottle of holy water whose virtues

    they extol, they introduce themselves into the houses where

    there are sick infants, and discover whether they are in danger

    of death ; in this case they inform the parents, and tell them

    that before administering other remedies they must wash their

    hands with the purifying waters of their bottle. The parents,

    not suspecting this j}ieuse ruse, readily consent, and by these

    innocent frauds we procure in our mission the baptism of seven

    or eight thousand infants every year.*’ Another missionary,

    Dufresse, one of the most distinguished of late years, says :

    ” The women who baptize the infants of heathen parents announce

    themselves as consecrated to the healing of infants, and

    to give remedies gratis, that they may satisfy the vow of their

    father who has commanded this as an act of charity.” The

    number of baptized children thus saved from perdition is carefully

    detailed in the annual reports, and calculations are made

    by the missionaries for the consideration of their pati-ons in

    France and elsewhere as to the expense incun-ed for this branch

    of labor, and the cost of each soul thus saved ; and appeals for

    aid in sending out these female baptists are based upon the

    tabular reports. It may, however, be a question, even with a

    candid Romanist who believes that unbaptized infants perish

    eternally, whether baptism performed by women and unconsecrated

    laymen is valid ; and still more so, whether it is ritual

    when done by stealth and under false pretences. The number

    thus annually baptized in all the missions cannot be placed

    much under fifty thousand, and some years it exceeds a hundred

    thousand. Xo attention seems to be given to the child in ordinary

    cases if it happen to live after this surreptitious baptism.

    The degree of instruction given to the converts is trifling,

    partly owing to the great extent of a single diocese and partly to

    imperfect knowledge of the language on the part of missionaries.

    The vexations constantly experienced urge them to be

    812 THE MIDDLE KIXODOM.

    cautious ; and truly if a missionai-y believes that baptism, confirmation,

    confession, and absolution, are all the evidences of faith

    that ai-e required in a convert to entitle him to salvation, it

    cannot be supposed he will deem it necessary to give them longcontinued

    instruction. The canses which usually bring the converts

    into trouble with their CDuntrymen or the officials were

    thus described many years ago by the Bishop of Caradre in

    Sz’chuen ; they are still partly applicable.

    First. Christians are frequently confounded with tlie members

    of the Triad Society, or of the AVhite Lily sect, both by

    their enemies and by persons belonging to those associations.

    Second. The Christians refuse to contribute to the erection

    or repair of temples, or subscribe to idolatrous feasts and superstitious

    rites ; though, according to the A)i7iales, they sometimes

    defray the charges of the theati’ical exhibitions which

    follow, in order to avoid the malice of their adversaries.

    Third. ” Espousals are ahnost indissoluble in China, and

    whenever the Christians refuse to ratify them by proceeding

    to a marriage already commenced, they are regarded as lawbreakers

    and treated as such.” ‘ This is the most common

    source of trouble, especially when the parents of the girl have

    become converts since the beti-othment, and the other party

    is anxious to fulfil the contract. These engagements are sometimes

    broken in a sufficiently unscrupulous manner, and nothing

    draws so much odium upon Christians as their refusal to

    adhere to these conti-acts. On one occasion this bishop assisted

    in breaking up such an engagment, when the parents, on the

    death of a sister of the girl, asserted that the deceased was the

    one who had been betrothed. He adds : ” I thirdc the faith of

    the parents and the purity of their motives will readily excuse

    them before God for the sin of lying.” On other occasions

    the missionaries endeavor to dissolve these engagements by exhorting

    the believing party to take voavs of celibacy.

    Fourth. All connnunication with Europeans being interdicted,

    the magistrates seek diligently for every evidence of their exist-

    Lettres Edifiantes, Tome III., p. 37, wliere there appear two or three cases

    wf this and Saint-Martin’s reasonini,’ on thu point.

    GRIEVANCES AGAINST CATHOLIC CONVERTS. 313

    eiicc in the country, by searching for the objects used in worship,

    as crosses, breviaries, etc.

    Fifth. The little respect the converts have for their ancestors

    is always an offence in the eyes of the pagans, and leads

    to recrimination and vexatious annoyances.

    Sixth. As the converts are obliged to take down the ancesti-al

    tablets in order to put u]> those of their own religion, they are

    seldom forgiven in this change, and occasion is taken therefrom

    to persecute.

    Seventh. The indiscreet zeal of the neophytes leading them

    to break the idols or insult the objects of public worship is

    one of the most common causes of persecution.

    Eightli. The disputes between the missionaries themselves,

    regarding the ceremonies, have frequently excited troubles.

    In addition to these causes, some of ‘which are now removed,

    there are others which have grown up since the toleration

    granted to Christianit}^ by the treaties, and which may develop

    still more. They are discussed in the minute drawn up by the

    Chinese government in 1871, after the Tientsin riot, in which

    eight rules for their regulation are proposed. The grievances

    refer to the seclusion of children in orphanages ; to the pi-esence

    of w^omen in religious assemblies ; to missionaries interfering

    in legal cases so as to screen criminals, and their interchanging

    passports ; to the neophytes rescuing criminals from

    justice ; to the missionaries affecting the style of native officials

    ;

    and, lastly, to their demand for land alleged to have once belonged

    to them, whatever ma\’ have been its ownership meanwhile.

    This has since ceased, and the others have been somewhat

    restrained.

    Christians sometimes refuse to have their deceased friends

    buried with the idolatrous ceremonies required by their relatives,

    upon which the latter occasionally carry the matter

    before the officers, or resort to petty annoyances. In order to

    keep up the spirit of devotion among the neophytes, crucifixes,

    reliquaries, and other articles were given them, and ‘” God

    wrought several miracles among them to authorize the practice.”

    These articles, in the estimation of both priest and people,

    probably have no little influence over the demons which vex and

    314 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    harass tlie pagans, l)nt wliicli never trouble Christians. Saint-

    Martin, writing to liis father from the capital of Sz’chnen in

    1774, says: “The most sensible proof for the pagans, and one

    always in force, is the power the Christians have over demons.’

    It is astonisliing how these poor infidels are tormented, and

    they can find remedy onl}” in the prayers of Christians, by

    whose help they are delivered and then converted. Seven or

    eight leagues from this spot is a house which has been infested

    with demons for a month ; they maltreat all who come near

    them, and have set the dwelling on fire at different times. Tliey

    have had recourse to all kinds of superstitious ceremonies,

    calling in the native priests, but all to no effect ; and the master

    of the family where I am staying has now gone to assist

    them. He is a man of lively faith, and has already performed

    many miraculous cures.”

    “

    It is interesting to compare with this the account of Friar

    Odoric, ” How the friars deal with devils in Tartary.” In his

    Travels we read that ” God Almighty hath bestowed such grace

    upon the Minor friars that in Great Tartary they think it a

    mere nothing to expel devils from the possessed, no more, indeed,

    than to drive a dog out of the house. For there be many

    in those parts possessed of the devil, both men and women,

    and these they bind and bring to our friars from as far as ten

    days’ journey off. The friars bid the demons depart forth

    instantly from the bodies of the possessed, in the name of

    Jesus Christ, and they do depart immediately in obedience to

    this command. Then those who have been delivered from

    the demon straightway cause themselves to be baptized ; and

    the friars take their idols, which are made of felt, and carry

    them to the fire, while all the people of the country round

    assemble to see their neighbor’s gods burnt. The friars accordingly

    cast the idols into the fire, but they leap out again. And

    so the friars take holy water and sprinkle it upon the fire, and

    that straightway drives away the demon from the fire ; so the

    friars again casting the idols into the fire, they are consumed.

    ‘ retires ^diJian(£S, Tomes I., pp. 39 and 151, passim, and IV., p. 27.

    ^ TAfe of Didier Saint-Martin, p. 35.

    CARTIISrG OUT DEVILS. 315

    And then the devil in the air raises a shout, saying :

    ‘ See

    then ! see then ! how I am expelled from my dwelling place !

    ‘

    And in this way our friars baptize great numbers in that

    country.”

    ‘

    When persons educated in a country like France allow their

    converts to entertain such ideas, even if they do not favor them

    :>Ss^

    Roman Catholic Altar near Shanghai.

    themselves, and countenance their endeavors to exorcise the

    possessed, we cannot look for a very high degree of knowledge

    or piety. If they are l)rouglit out of pagan darkness, it is but

    little if any better than into light hardly bright enough to enable

    them even to distinguish trees from men.

    The points of similarity between Buddhism and Romanism

    have already been noticed, and the converts from one to the

    » Yule, Cathay and tlie Way TJiitlier, Vol. I., p. 155.

    31G THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    other see but little more change than they do when going from

    Buddhism to the metaphysical speculations of the learned ju

    Mao. If Romisli ])riests have allowed their converts to worship

    before pagan images, provided a cross is put into the

    candles, it would not be difficult for the latter to put the names

    of their departed parents behind the ” tablets of religion,” and

    worship them together. Similar to such a permission is the

    combination of the cross and dragon carved on a Romish altar

    near Shanghai, given on the preceding page, and at which both

    pagans and Christians could alike worship.

    Agnuses, crosses, etc., are easily substituted for coins and

    charms, and it does not surely require much faith to believe the

    former as effectual as the latter. The neophyte takes away the

    tablet in his house or shop having shin, ‘aeon’ or ‘ spirit,’ written

    on it,’ and puts up another, on which is written shin, chin

    chu, tsaotien ti jin-wuh, or ‘ God, true Lord, Creator of heaven,

    earth, man, and all things,’ and burns the same incense befoi-e

    this as before that. Chinese demigods are changed for foreign

    saints, with this difference, tha’^ now they worship they know

    not what, while before they knew something of the name and

    character of the ancient hero from popular accounts and historical

    legends. They cease, indeed, to venerate the queen of

    Heaven, holy mother ISFa tsupu, but Mhat advance in true religion

    has been made by falling down before the Queen of

    Heaven, holy mother Mary ? The people call the Buddhist

    idols and the Romish images by the same name, and apply

    nmch the same terms to their ceremonies. Such converts can

    easily be numbered by thousands ; and it is a wonder, indeed,

    when one considers the nature of the case, that the whole population

    of China have not long since become ” devout confessors

    ” of this faith. Conversions depend, in such cases, on

    almost every other kind of influence than that of the Holy

    Spirit blessing his own word in an intelligent mind and a

    quickened conscience. The missionaries write that ‘• being

    forced in three or four months after their arrival to preach

    ‘ Converts in Sz’chuen sometimes steal tlie idols from the roadside. J.ettres

    ^difiantes, Tome I., p. 219.

    CHARACTER OF CATHOLIC MISSIONARY WORK. 317

    when they do not know tlie language sufficiently either to be

    understood or to understand theniselves, they have seen tlieir

    auditors inunediately embrace Christianity.”

    We pass no decision upon these converts, except what is

    given or drawn from the writings of their teachers. Human

    nature is everywhere the same in its great lineaments, and the

    effect of living godly lives in Christ Jesus will everywhere excite

    opposition, calumny, persecution, and death, accordiug to

    the liberty granted the enemies of the truth. There may have

    been true converts among the adherents to Romanism ; but what

    salutary effects has this large body of Chi-istians wrought in the

    vast population of China during the three hundred years since

    Ricci established himself at banking ? T^one, absolutely none,

    that attract attention. The letters of some of the missionaries

    written to their friends breathe a spirit of pious ardor and true

    Christian principle worthy of all imitation. Among the best

    letters contained in the Annales is one from Dufresse to his

    pupils then at Penang. It is a long epistle, and contains

    nothing (with one exception) which the most scrupulous Protestant

    would not approve. The same may be paid of most of

    the letters contained in the same collection written in prison

    by Gagelin, a missionary who was strangled in Annam in

    1833. It is hardly possible to doubt, when reading the letters

    of these two men, both of whom were mai’tyred for the

    faith they preached, that they sincerely loved and trusted in

    the Saviour they proclaimed. Many of their converts also exhibit

    the greatest constancy in their profession, preferring to

    suffer persecution, torture, imprisonment, banishment, and

    death rather than to deny their faith, though every inducement

    of prevarication and mental reservation was held out to

    them by the magistrates in order to avoid the necessity of proceeding

    to extreme measures. If undergoing the loss of all

    things is an evidence of piety, many of them have abundantly

    proved their title to this virtue. But until there shall be a

    complete separation from idolatry and superstitioTi ; until the

    confessional shall be abolished, and the worship of the A^irgin,

    wearing crosses and rosaries, and reliance on ceremonies and

    penances be stopped ; until the entire Scriptures and Decalogue

    318 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    be tauglit to tlie converts; until, in sliort, the essential doctrine

    of justitication by faitli alone be substituted for the many

    forms of justification l)y works, tlie mass of converts to liomanism

    in China can liai’dly be considered as much better than

    baptized pagans.’

    Turn we now to a brief survey of tlie efforts of Protestants

    among the Chinese, and the results which have attended their

    labors. Hardly forty years have passed since the treaty of Nan^

    king opened the five ports to their direct work in the Empire,

    and the results thus far necessarily partake of the incompleteness

    of new enterprises. The radical distinction between their

    modes of operation and those of their predecessors is indicated

    in the names ‘ Tvclioion of Heaven’s Lord ‘ and ‘ lteli»j;ion of

    Jesus ;

    ‘ the Romanists depend much on their teachings and cere-

    / monies to convert men, the Protestants on the preaching of the

    ‘ word of God and a blessing on its vital truths.

    The first Protestant missionary to China was Rev. Robert

    Morrison, of Morpeth, England, who was sent out by the London

    Missionary Society, lie arrived at Canton, by way of Xew

    York, in Se])teniber, 1807, and lived there for a year, in a quiet

    manner, in the factory of Messrs. Milner and Bull, of Xew York.

    He early made the acquaintance of Sir George T. Staunton,

    one of his firmest friends, and already well versed in Chinese

    studies; Mr. Robarts, the chief of the British factory, advised

    hijii to avow his intention to the Chinese of translating the Scriptures

    into their language, on the ground that it was a divine

    book which Christians highly esteemed and which the Chinese

    should have the opportunity of examining. In consequence of

    difficulties connected with the trade, he was obliged to leave

    Canton in 1S08 with all British subjects and repair to Macao,

    where he deemed it prudent to maintain a careful retirement in

    ‘ An exhaustive collection of the titles of every work of importance upon

    Catholic missions in China, as well as a rhuine of their jieriodical publications,

    may be found in M. Cordier’s Diction ihiirc hibii(H/riij)/iiqiU’ t/iK oiirrKijfK ChinotK,

    Tome I., pp. IJ^O-.ITH, and following these pages are the works concerning

    Protestant missions, pp. .ITH-G’J;}. Compare also Thos. Marshall, (Viristitui

    Mmioun: their Afieittx it lul their lienidtn, London, IHO;^, and Chr. H. Kalkar,

    Oetchichte der christlichen Mission uiit<:r den J/eiih n, (iiitiTsloh, 1879-80.

    THE PROTESTANTS IN CHINA—DR. MORRISON. 319

    order not to attract nndue notice from the Portuguese priests.

    His associate, Dr. Milne, observed, with reference to these traits

    in his character, that ” the patience that refuses to be conqnered,

    the diligence that never tires, the caution that always trembles,

    and the studious habit that spontaneously seeks retirement were

    best adapted for the tirst Protestant missionary to China.”

    He married Miss Mary Morton in 1809, and accepted the appointment

    of translator under the East India Company, in whose

    service he continued until 1834. His position was now a wellunderstood

    one, and his official connexion obtained for him all

    necessary security so that he could prosecute his work with diligence

    and confidence. He no doubt did wisely in the circumstances

    in wdiicli he was placed, for his dictionary could hardly

    have been printed, or his translation of the Scriptures and other

    works been so successfully carried on, without the countenance

    and assistance of that powerful body. The entire Xew Testament

    was published in 181-1:, about half of it having been translated

    by Morrison and the remainder revised from a mamiscript

    which had been deposited in 1739 in the British Museum.

    Rev. W. Milne arrived in July, 1813, as his associate, and resided

    in Canton, leaving his wife at Macao. In 1814 he sailed

    for the Indian Archipelago, provided with about seventeen

    thousand copies of Testaments and tracts for distribution among

    the Chinese there. He stopped at Banca on his route, and then

    proceeded to Java, where he was received by Sir Stamford

    Raffles, a man far in advance of the times in his suppoi-t and

    patronage of missions. Milne was enabled to travel over the

    island and distribute such books as he had. From Java he

    went to Malacca, then a Dutch settlement, afterward returning

    to Canton, where he remained undisturbed, though a severe

    persecution, in which Dufresse lost his life, was waging against

    the Christians throughout the Empire. Milne, finding it difficult

    to prosecute his labors in China (for the East India Company

    would not countenance him), embarked for Malacca in 1815, accompanied

    by a teacher and workmen for printing Chinese

    books ; here he resided till his death in 1822.

    The leading objects in sending Morrison to Canton, namely,

    the translation of the Bible and preparation of a dictionary,

    320 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    occupied the greater portion of his time. He soon commenced

    a Sabbath service with his domestics and acquaintances in his

    own apartments, which lie never relinquished, though it did not

    expand into a regular public congregation dui-ing his lifetime.

    He considered this as one of the most important parts of his

    work, and was much encouraged when in 1814 one of his

    audience, Tsai A-ko, made a profession of his faith and was

    baptized. He was the first convert, and it is reasonably to be

    hoped, judging from his after-life, that he sincerely believed to

    salvation.

    The compilation of the dictionary progressed so well that in

    1814 a few members of the Company’s establishment, among

    whom Mr. Elphinstone and Sir George Staujiton were prominent,

    interested themselves in getting it printed. The Court of

    Directors responded to the application on the most liberal scale,

    sending out as printer P. P. Tlioms, together with a printing

    office. The first volume was issued in 1817, and the whole was

    completed in six quarto volumes, containing four thousand five

    hundred and ninety-five pages, in 1823, at an expense of about

    twelve thousand pounds sterling. It consisted of three parts,

    viz., characters arranged according to their radicals, according to

    their pronunciation, and an English and Chhiese part. This

    work contributed much to the advancement of a knowledge of

    Chinese literature, and its aid in missions has been manifold

    greater. The plan was rather too comprehensive for one man

    to fill up, and also involved much repetition ; a reprint of the

    second part was issued in a smaller volume, in 1854, without

    material addition.

    While the dictionary was going through the press, the ti-anslation

    of the Old Testament was progressing by the joint labors

    of Morrison and Milne, and in November, 1818, the entire

    Bible was published. Another version, by Dr. Marshman at

    Serampore, was completed and printed with movable types in

    1822. A second edition of the Baptist version was never struck

    off, and comparatively few copies have ever been circulated

    among the Chinese. Both these versions are such that a sincere

    inquirer after the truth cannot fail to comprehend the

    meaning, though both are open to criticisms and contain mistakes

    LABORS OF MORKISOX AX I) MILNE. 321

    incident to first translations. Tliev are now numbered anionosuperseded

    versions like those of AViclif and Tyndal, the Italic

    and I’liilas in other languages, but will ever be regarded Nvith

    gratitude.’

    During the years he was thus engaged Morrison published a

    tract on Redemption, a translation of the Assembly’s Catechism,

    church of England liturgy, a synopsis of Old Testament history,

    a hymn book, and a Tour of the World ; altogether, nearly thirty

    thousand copies were printed and distributed. He prepared a

    Chinese grammar on the model of a common English grammar,

    which was printed at Serampore in 1815 ; also a volume

    of miscellaneous information on the chronolog}’, festivals,

    geography, and other subjects relating to China, under the

    title of View of China for Philological P>irj>oses. The list

    of his writings comprises thirty-one titles, of which nineteen are

    in English ; each work bears witness to his learning and piety.

    In 1821 Mrs. Morrison died, and about eight months after he

    visited Malacca and kSingapore, where he was nnich delighted

    by what he saw. The Anglo-Chinese College was then under

    the care of Collie, and this visit from its founder encouraged

    both principal and students. In 1824 he returned to England

    and was honorably received by his Majesty George IV., and

    obtained the approbation of all wdio took an interest in the

    promotion of religion and learning. He published a volume of

    sermons and a miscellany called Ilorce Sinicw while in England ;

    and having formed a second matrimonial connection, left his native

    land again in May, 1826, under different circumstances from

    the lirst time. During his absence the mission at Canton was

    left in charge of the first native preachei-, Liang Kung-fah, or

    Liang x\-fah, whom Morrison had ordained as an evangelist. This

    worthy man carried on his useful labors in preaching and writing

    until his death in 1855 at that city, from whence, in 1834,

    he had been forced to flee for his life. He takes a deservedly

    high position at the head of the native Pi-otestant Christian min-

    ‘ Medhurst’s CMnn, p. 217. Chinese Reposit/)ry, VoL IV., p. 249. Life of

    Morrison, by his widow, passim, 2 Vols , London, 1839. Wylie in Chinese Recorder,

    VoL I., pp. 121, 145. Lives of the I^eaders of our Church Universal.

    p. 819, Phila., 1879.

    Vol.. II.—21

    322 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    istiy among the Chinese in respect to time, and his writings

    have been highly. successful and beneficiah

    During the years whicli elapsed between the return and

    death of Morrison, he was principally occupied by his duties as

    translator to the Coinpany and in literary labors. Uh Metnoirs

    furnish all the particulars of their contents, as well as the details

    of his useful and uneventful life. His last years were

    dieered by the arrival of five fellow-laborers from the United

    States, the first who had come to his assistance since Milne left

    him in 1814. On the dissolution of the East India Company’s

    establishment, in April, 1834, he was appointed interpreter to

    the King’s Commission, but his death took place August 1,

    1834, at the age of fift3′-two, even then nnich worn out with

    his unaided labors of twenty-seven years.

    Perhaps no two persons were ever less alike than the founders

    of the Romish and Protestant missions to China, but no

    plans of opei’ations could be more dissimilar than those adopted

    by Ricci and Morrison. We have already sketched the lifework

    of the former, obtained from friendly sources. When

    Morrison was sent out the directors of the London Missionary

    Society thus expressed their views of his labors : ” AVe trust

    that no objection will be made to yoiw continuing in Canton

    till you have accomplished your great object of acquiring the

    language ; when this is done, you may pi’obably soon afterward

    begin to turn this attainment into a direction which may be of

    extensive use to the world ; ])erhaps you may have the honor of

    forming a Chinese dictionary, more comprehensive and correct

    than any preceding one, or the still greater honor of translating

    the sacred Scriptures into a language spoken by a third pai’t of

    the human race.” The enterprise thus connuitted to the hands

    of a single individual was only part of a system which neither

    the pi’ojectors nor their collaborator supposed would end there.

    They knew that the great work of evangelizing and elevating a

    mass of mind like that using the Chinese language reqnired

    large preparatory labors, of whi(di those here mentioned were

    among, the most important. China was a sealed country when

    Morrison landed on its shores, and he could not have forced his

    way into it if he had ti-ied, with any prospect of ultimate sueTHE

    MISSIONARIES RICCI AND MORRISON. 323

    cess, even by adopting the same plans which Ilicci did. It is

    doubtful if he could have lived there at all had it not been for

    the protection of the East India Company. After all his toil,

    and faith, and prayer, he only saw three or four converts, no

    churches, schools, or congregations publicly assembled ; but his

    last letter breathes the same desires as when he first went out:

    ” I wait patiently the events to be developed in the course of

    Divine Providence. The Lord reigneth. If the kingdom of

    God our Saviour prosper in China, all will be M’ell; other matters

    are comparatively of small importance.” He died just as the

    day of change and progress was dawning in Eastern Asia, but

    liis life was very far from being a failure in its results or influence.

    The principles of these two missionaries have been followed

    out by their successors, and we are quite willing to let their results

    be the test of their foundation upon the Chief Corner

    Stone.

    Protestant missions among the Chinese emigrants in Malacca,

    Penang, Singapore, Tihio, Borneo, and Batavia have never taken

    much hold upon them, and they are at present all suspended or

    abandoned. The first named was established in 1815 by Milne,

    and was conducted longest and with the most efficiency, though

    the labors at the other points have been carried on with zeal and

    a degree of success. The comparatively small results which have

    attended all these missions may be ascribed to two or three reasons,

    besides the fewness of the laborers. The Chinese residing

    in these settlements consist chiefly of emigrants who have fled

    or left their native countries, in all cases without their families,

    some to avoid the injustice or oppression of their rulers, but

    more to gain a livelihood they cannot find so well at home. Consequently

    they lead a roving life ; few of them marry or settle

    down to become valuable citizens, and fewer still are sufficiently

    educated to relish or cai’e for instruction or books. These communities

    are much troubled by branches of the Triad Society,

    and the restless habits of the Malays are congenial to most of

    the emigrants who enter among them. The Chinese, coming as

    they do from different parts of their own land, speak different

    dialects, and soon learn the Malay language as a lingua franca

    ;

    their children also learn it still more thoroughly from their

    324 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    mothers, notwithstanding the education their fathers give them

    in Chinese. The want of fixedness in the Cliinese population

    therefoi’e pai’tly accounts for tlie little permanent impression

    made on it in these settlements by missionary efforts.

    It was at Malacca that the Anglo-Chinese College was established

    in 1818 by Dr. Morrison, assisted by other friends of

    religion. Its objects were to afford Europeans tlie means of acquiring

    the Chinese language and enable Chinese to become

    acquainted with the religion and science of the West. It was

    productive of good up to the time of its removal to Hongkong

    in 18M. About seventy persons were baptized while the mission

    remained at Malacca, and about fifty students finished their education,

    part of whom were sincere Christians and all of them respectable

    members of society. Three or four of the converts have

    become preachers. There is little hesitation, however, in saying

    that the name and array of a college were too far in advance of

    the people among whom it w’as situated. The efforts made in

    it would probably have been more profitably expended in establishing

    common schools among the people, in wdiich Christianity

    and knowledge went hand in hand. It is far better among an

    igiiorant pagan people that a hundred persons should know one

    thing than that one man should know a hundred ; the M’idest

    diffusion of the first elements of religion and science is most desirable.

    The mission was not, however, large enough at any

    one time for its members to superintend many common schools.

    Among the books issued besides Bibles and tracts were a periodical

    called the Indo-Chinese Gleaner, edited by Dr. Mihie ; a

    translation of the Four Books, by Mr. Collie ; an edition of Premare’s

    Not’dla IJngxm Srnicep^ a life of ]\Iilno, and a volume of

    sermons by Morrison. The number of volumes printed in Chinese

    was about half a million.

    The mission at (reorgctown, in tlie island of Pcnang. like that

    at Malacca, was established in 1810 by the Ldndon Missionary

    Society, and continued till 1843, at which time it was suspended.

    The mission at 8inga])(>i’e was commenced in Isl!) by INfr. Milton

    ; the colonial govei’ument granted a lot, and a chapel and

    other buildings wei-e erected in the course of a few years.

    Messrs. Smith and Tonilin came to the settlement in 1827, but

    MISSIONS TO CHINESE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 325

    did not remain long. Gutzlaff came over from the Dutch settlement

    at lihio, but did not remain long enough to effect anything

    : nor did Abeel, who came fi-om China in 1831 and left soon

    after for Siam. The German missionary at this station, Thomsen,

    when about to leave in 1834, sold his printing apparatus to

    the mission newly established there under the American Board

    by Tracy. The prospects in China appearing unpromising at

    this time, it was designed by the directors of the American

    society to establish a well-regulated school for both Chinese and

    Malays, which was by degrees to become a seminary, and as

    many primary schools as there were means to support ; besides

    the usual labors in preaching and visiting, a type foundry and

    printing office for manufacturing books in Chinese, Malay,

    Bugis, and Siamese were also contemplated. In December,

    1834, Tracy was joined by the Kev. P. Parker, M.D., who

    opened a hospital in the Chinese part of the town for the

    gratuitous i-elief of the sick ; in 1835 Wolfe arrived from

    England, and tvVo years afterward Rev. Messrs. Dickinson,

    Hope, and Travelli, and T^orth from the United States, to take

    charge of the schools and printing office. The school established

    by the American mission was carried on until 1844, when

    the mission was removed to China and the Malay portion of it

    given up.

    The English mission, after the death of Wolfe in 1837, was

    under the care of Messrs. Dyer and Stronach, the former of

    whom had removed there from Penang and Malacca. Dyer

    had been for many years engaged in preparing steel punches for

    a font of movable Chinese type, and his patient labors had already

    overcome the principal difficulties in the way when the

    work was arrested by his death in 1843. He had, however,

    finished matrices for so many characters of two fonts that the

    enterprise needed only to be carried on by a practised mechanic

    to assure its success. This was afterward done by Messrs. Cole

    and Gamble of the American Presbyterian Board. Tn their

    superior styles and the different sizes now in use wo must

    not forget Dyer’s initiatory steps. .This gentleman labored

    nearly seventeen years with a consecration of energy and singleness

    of purpose seldom exceeded, and won the affectionate re326

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    spect of the natives wlierever lie lived. The mission was continued

    until 1845, when the printing office was removed to

    Hongkong, and nearly all pi’oselyting efforts in the colony by

    British Christians suspended. This point of intiuence has peculiar

    claims on them as a radiating centre for the various nations and

    tribes which trade in Singapore.

    The mission to the Chinese in Java was commenced by Slater

    in 1819 and reinforced in 1822 by Medhurst, who continued in

    charge of it, with some interruptions, until 1843, when he removed

    to Shanghai. The Dutch churches have carried on

    evangelizing work in all their colonies, aided and guided somewhat

    by the government officials, but have done almost nothing

    for the Chinese, except as they have been addressed in Malay.

    Such labors in the Dutch colonies have been left to them, and

    foreign societies have now withdrawn from the Archipelago in

    a great measure. The efforts of the American missionaries

    were confined to Borneo and Singapore up to 1844, when they

    all removed to China. The suspicious and restrictive bearing

    of the Dutch authorities toward such efforts had its influence

    in making this change.

    A summary of labors at the stations was given by Medhurst

    in 1837, who refers in it almost exclusively to the English missionaries,

    as the Americans had at that time only recently commenced

    operations. ” Protestant missionaries, considering themselves

    excluded from the interior of the Empire of China, and

    findiuir a host of emic-rants in the various countries in the

    Malayan Archipelago, aimed first to enlighten these, with the

    hope that if properly instructed and influenced they would, on

    their return to their native land, carry with them the gospel

    they had learned and spread it among their countrymen. With

    this view they established themselves in the various colonies

    around China, studied the language, set up schools and seminaries,

    wrote and printed books, conversed extensively with the

    people, and tried to collect congregations to whom they might

    preach the word of life. Since the commencement of their

    missions they have translated the Holy Scriptures and printed

    two thousand complete Bibles in two sizes, ten thousand Testaments

    and thirty thousand separate books, and ujiward of half

    THE MISSIONS WITHDRAWN. 327

    a million of tracts in Chinese ; besides four thousand Testaments

    and one hundred and fifty thousand tracts in the languages

    of the archipelago, making about twenty millions of

    printed pages. About ten thousand children have passed

    through the mission schools, nearly one hundred persons have

    been baptized, and several native preachers raised up, one of

    whom has proclaimed the gospel to his countrymen and endured

    persecution for Jesus’ sake.”

    Since this was written the number of pages printed and circulated

    has more than doubled, the number of scholars taught

    has increased many thousands, and preaching proportionably

    extended ; while a few more have professed the gospel

    by baptism and a generally consistent life. All these missions,

    so far as the Chinese are concerned, are now suspended,

    and, unless the Dutch resume them, are not likely to be soon

    revived. The greater openings in China itself, and the small

    number of cpialified men ready to enter them, invited all the

    laborers away from the outskirts and colonies to the borders,

    and into the mother country itself. The idea entertained, that

    the colonists would react upon their countrymen at home,

    proved illusive ; for the converts, when they returned to dwell

    among their heathen countrymen, were lost in the crowd, and

    though they may not have adopted or sanctioned their old

    heathen customs, were too few to work in concert and too

    ignorant and unskilled to carry on such labors.’

    When Robert Morrison died at Canton in 1S3-I-, the prospect

    of the extension of evangelistic work among the people was

    nearly as dark as when he landed ; in China itself during that

    time only three assistants had come to his help, for there were

    few encouragements for them to stay. Bridgman, the first missionary

    from the American churches to China, in company with

    D. Abeel, seaman’s chaplain at Whampoa, arrived in February,

    1830. Abeel remained nearly a year, when he went to Singapore,

    and subsequently to Siam. They were received in Canton

    ‘ Besides the regular publications of the societies engaged in this brancli of

    missions wliich give authentic details, see the memoirs of Abeel, Dyer, Milne,

    and Morrison, Tomlin’s Missionary Letters, and Abeel’s Residence in China and

    the neighboring countries.

    328 TIIK MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    by the house of Olypliaiit ik Co., in wliose establishment ono

    or both were maintained during the first three years, and wliose

    partners remained tlic friends and supporters of all efforts for

    the evangelization of the Chinese till its close, fifty years afterward.

    Bridgman took four or five boys as scholars, but his

    limited accommodations prevented the enlargement of the school,

    and in 183-i it was disbanded by the departure of its pupils,

    whose friends feared to be involved in trouble.

    During the summer of 1833 Liang A-fah distributed a large

    number of books in and about Canton, a work which well suited

    his inclinations. Many copies of the Scriptures and his own

    tracts had reached the students assembled at the literary examinations,

    when the ofiicers interfered to prevent him. In

    1834 the authoriti,es ordered a search for those natives who

    had ” traitorously” assisted Lord Xapier in publishing an appeal

    to the Chinese, and Liang A-fah and his assistants were immediately

    suspected. Two of the latter were seized, one of

    whom was beaten with forty blows upon his face for refusing

    to divulge ; the other made a full disclosure, and the police next

    day repaired to his shop and seized three printers, with four

    hundi’ed volumes and l)locks ; the men were subsequently released

    by paying about eight hundred dollars. Liang A-fah

    fled, and a body of police arrived at his native village to arrest

    him, l)ut not finding him or his family they seized three of his

    kindred and sealed up his house, lie finally nuide his way to

    Macao and sailed to Singapore.

    Few books were distributed after this at Canton until ten

    years later, but numerous copies were circulated along the coast

    as far noi’th as Tientsin, accompanied with such explanations as

    could be given. The first and most interesting of these voyages

    was made by Gutzlaff, on board a junk proceeding from Bangkok

    to Tientsin, June 9, 1831, in which the sociable character

    of the Chinese and their readiness to receive and entertain

    foreignc’rs when they could do so without fear of their rulers

    was plainly seen.’ After his an-ival at Macao, December 13th,

    ‘ For an account of a trip much like it, see Annates de la Foi, Tome VII^

    p. 356.

    gutzlaff’s voyages along the coast. 329

    he was engaged by the enlightened chief of the English factory,

    Charles Marjoribanks, as interpreter to accompany Lindsay in

    the ship Lord Amherst, on an experimental commercial voyage

    which occnpied about seven months (February 20 to September

    5, 1832), and presented further opportunities for learning the

    feelings of the Chinese officers regarding foreign intercoui’se.

    Many religious and scientific books were distributed, among

    which was one giving a general account of the English nation

    that was eagerly received by all classes. Within a few weeks

    after his return Gutzlaff started a third time, October 20tli, in

    the Sylph, an opium vessel in the employ of a leading English

    firm at (Janton, and went as far as Manchuria while the winds

    were favorable. She returned to Macao April 29, 1833, visiting

    many places on the downward trip. The interest aroused

    in England and America among political, commercial, and religious

    people, fifty years ago, by the reports of these three

    voyages can now hardly be appreciated. They opened the prospect

    of new relations with one-half of mankind, and the other

    half who had long felt debarred from entering upon their rightful

    fields in all these diversified interests prepared for great

    efforts.

    Great Ihitain took the lead in breaking down the barriers,

    and the religious world urged on the work of missions. Contributions

    were sent to Gutzlaff from England and America, encouraging

    him to proceed, and grants were made to aid in

    printing Bibles and tracts. Li 1835 he gave up his connection

    with the opium trade and took the office of interpreter to the

    English consular authorities on a salary of eight hundred pounds

    sterling, which he retained till his death, August 9, 1851, aged

    fortj’-eight. lie was a man of great industry and knowledge

    of Chinese, and carried on a missionary organization at Hongkong

    by means of native Christians for several years. His

    publications in the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, German, English,

    Siamese, C/Ochinchinese, and Latin languages number eightyfive

    in all ; they are now seldom seen.

    Li 1835 Medhurst visited China, and, assisted by the house of

    Olyphant & Co., embarked in the brig Huron, accompanied by

    the American missionary Stevens and furnished with a supply

    530 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    of books. During tlie three months of the voyage, tliey ” went

    through various parts of four provinces and many villages, giving

    away about eighteeTi thousand volumes, of which six thousand

    were portions of the Scriptures, among a cheerful and

    willing people, without meeting with the least aggression or injury

    ; having been always received by the people with a cheerful

    smile, and most genei-ally by the officers with politeness and

    respect.”‘ Medhurst’s ability to sj)eak the Amoy dialect introduced

    him to the peo})le in the junks at all the ports on the

    coast. Years after this voyage the Methodist missionaries at

    Fuhchau found that some of the books given away on Ilaitan

    Island had been read and rememl)ered, and thus j^repared the

    people there for listening to further preaching.

    The most expensive enterprise for this object was set on foot

    in 1830, and few efforts to advance the cause of religion among

    the Chinese have been planned on a scale of greater liberality.

    The brig Himmaleh was purchased in ISTew York by the firm of

    Talbot, Olyphant & Co., principally for the pui-pose of aiding

    missionaries in circulating religious books on the coasts of

    China and the neighboring countries, and arrived in August,

    183G. Gutzlaff, who was then engaged as interpreter to the

    English authorities, declined going in her, because in that case

    he must resign his commission, and there was no other missionary

    in China acquainted with the dialects spoken on the coast.

    The brig remained unemployed, therefore, until December,

    when she was dispatched on a cruise among the islands of the

    archipelago under the direction of Mr. Stevens, accompanied

    by G. T. Lay, agent of the Ih-itish and Foreign Bible Society,

    recently arrived. This decision of Gutzlaif, who had again and

    again urged such a measure, and had himself ceased his voyages

    on the coast because of his implied connection thereby with the

    opium trade, was quite unexpected. The death of Mr. Stevens

    at Singapore, in January, threw the chief responsibility and direction

    of the undertaking upon Capt. Fi’azer, who seems to

    have been poorly qualified for any other than the maritime

    part. Kev. Messrs. Dickinson and Wolfe went in Stevens’

    place, but as none of these gentlemen understood the Malayan

    language, less direct intercourse was had with the people at the

    THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS. 331

    places where they stopped than was anticipated. The Himiiialeh

    reached China in July, 183T, and as there was no one

    qualiiied to go in her, she returned to the Ignited States. An

    account of the voyage was written by Lay and published

    in Xew York, in connection M’ith that of the ship Morrison to

    Japan in August, 1837, by C. W. King, of the tirni of Olyphant

    & Co., under whose direction the trip of the latter was

    taken for the purpose of restoring seven shipwrecked Japanese

    to their native land. Gutzlaff accompanied this vessel as interpreter,

    for three of the men were under the orders of the

    English superintendent ; the expedition failed in its object, and

    all the men were brought back. Probably fifty thousaud books

    in all were scattered on the coast in these and other voyages,

    and more than double that number about Canton, Macao, and

    their vicinity.

    This promiscuous distribution of books has been criticised by

    some as injudicious and little calculated to advance the objects

    of a Christian mission. The funds expended in printing and

    circulating books, it was said by these critics, who have never undertaken

    aught themselves, could have been nnich better employed

    in establishing schools. To scatter books broadcast

    among a people whose ability to read them was not ascertained,

    and under circumstances which prevented any explanation of

    the design in giving them or inquiries as to the effects produced,

    was not, at first view, a very wdse or promising course.

    But it must be remembered that prior to the treaty of Nanking

    this was the only means of appi’oaching the people of the

    country. The Emperor forbade foreigners residing in his borders

    except at Canton, and Protestant missionaries did not believe

    that it was the best means of recommending their teachings

    to come before his subjects as persistent violators of his laws

    ;

    God’s providence would open the way when the laborers M’ere

    ready, Xo one supposed that the desire to receive books was

    an index of the ability of the people to understand them or

    love of the doctrines contained in them. If the plan offered a

    reasonable probability of effecting some good, it certainly could

    do almost no harm, for the respect for printed books assured

    us that they would not be wantonly destroyed, but rather, in

    332 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    most cases, carefully preserved. The business of tract distribution

    and colportage may, however, be carried too far in advance

    of other parts of missionary work. It is much easier

    to write, print, and give away religious treatises, than it is

    to sit down with the people and explain the leading truths

    of the Bible ; but the two go well together among those who

    can read, and in no nation is it more desirable that they should

    be combined. If the books be given away without explanation,

    the people do not understand the object and feel too little

    interest in them to take the trouble to find out ; if the preacher

    deliver an intelligible discourse, his audience will probably

    remember its general purjwrt, but they will be likely to read

    the book with more attention and understand the sermon

    better when the two are combined ; the voice explains the

    book and the book recalls the ideas and teachings of the

    preacher.

    It is not surprising that the fate of these books cannot be

    traced, for that is true of such labors in other lands. On the

    one hand, they have been seen on the counters of shops cut in

    two for wra})})ing up medicines and fruit—which the shopman

    would not do with the worst of his own Ijooks ; on llie other, a

    copy of a gospel containing remarks was found on board the

    adniirars junk at Tinghai, when that town was taken by the

    English in 1840. Tliey certainly have not all been lost or contemptuously

    destroyed, though perhaps most have been like

    seed sown by the wayside. In missions, as in other things, it

    is impossil)le to predict the result of several courses of action

    before trying them ; and if it was believed that many of those

    who receive books can read them, there was a strong inducement

    to press this branch of labor, when, too, it was the only

    one which could be brought to bear upon large portions of the

    people.

    In 1832 the Chinese Itepository was commenced by Bridgman

    and encouraged by Morrison, who, with his son, continued

    to furnish valual)le papers and translations as long as they lived.

    Its object was to diffuse correct information concerning China,

    while it foi-med a convenient rcjiertoiy of the essays, travels,

    translations, and papers uf contriljutors. It was issued monthly

    A MISSION HOSPITAL AT CANTON. 333

    for twenty years under the editorship of Messrs. Bridgnian and

    AVillianis, and contains a history of foreign intercourse and missions

    during its existence. Tlie Chinese Recorder lias since

    chronicled the latter cause and the China Review taken the

    literary branch.

    In 1834 Dr. Parker joined the mission at Canton, and opened

    a hospital, in October, 1835, for the gratuitous relief of such

    diseases among the Chinese as his time and means would allow,

    devoting his attention chiefly to ophthalmic cases and surgical

    operations. This branch of Christian benevolence was already

    not unknown in China. Morrison in 1820 had, in connection

    with Dr. Livingstone, commenced dispensing medicines at

    Macao, while T. R. Colledge, also of the East India Company,

    opened a dispensary at his own expense, in 1827, and finding

    the number of patients rapidly increasing, he rented two small

    houses at Macao, where in four years more than four thousand

    patients were cured or relieved. The benevolent design was

    encouraged by the foreign community, and about six thousand

    five hundred dollars were contributed, so that it was, after the

    first year, no other expense to the founder than giving his time

    and strength. It was unavoidably closed in 1832, and a philanthropic

    Swede, Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, prepared a short account

    of its operations, and inserted several letters written to Dr. Colledge,

    one of which is here quoted :

    To knock head and tliank the great Englisli (hiotor. Venerahle gentleman :

    May your groves of almond trees be abundant, and the orange trees make tlie

    water of your well fragrant. As lieretofore, may you be made known to tlie

    world as illustrious and brilliant, and as a most profound and skilful doctor.

    I last year arrived in Macao blind in both eyes ; I liave to tliank you, venerable

    sir, for having by your excellent methods cured me perfectly. Your

    goodness is as lofty as a hill, your virtue deep as the sea; therefore all my

    family will express their gratitude for your now-creating goodness. Now I

    am desirous of returning home. Your profound kindness it is impossible for

    me to requite ; I feel extremely ashamed of myself for it. I am grateful for

    your favors, and shall think of them without ceasing. Moreover, I am certain

    that since you have been a benefactor to the world and your good government

    is spread abroad, heaven must surely grant you a long life, and you will enjoy

    every happiness. I return to my mean province. Your illustrious name,

    venerable sir, will extend to all time ; during a thousand ages it will not decay.

    I return thanks for your great kindness. Impotent are my words to sound

    your fame and to express my thanks. I wish you i!verlasting tranquillity.

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Presented to the great Englisli doctor and noble gentleman ia the lltli year ol

    Taukwang, by Ho Shuh, of the district of Chau-ngan, in the department of

    Changchau in Fuhkien, who knocks head and presents thanks.

    Another patient, in true Chinese style, returned thanks for

    the aid he had received in a poetical effusion :

    This I address to the English physician : condescend, sir, to look upon it.

    Diseased in my eyes, I had almost lost my sight, when happily, sir, I met witli

    you. You gave me medicine ; you applied the knife ; and, as when the clouds

    are swept away, now again I behold the azure heavens. My joys know no

    bounds. As a faint token of my feelings, I have composed a stanza in heptameter,

    which, with a few trifling presents, I beg you will be pleased to accept.

    Then happy, happy shall I be

    !

    He lavishes his blessings, but seeks for no return

    ;

    Such medicine, such physician, since Tsin were never known

    :

    The medicine—how many kinds most excellent has he !

    The surgeon’s knife— it pierced the eye. and spring once more I see.

    If Tung has not been born again to bless the present age,

    Then sure ’tis Sii reanimate again upon the stage.

    Whenever called away from far, to see your native land,

    A living monument I’ll wait upon the ocean’s strand.

    When Dr. Parker\s scheme was made known to Howqna, the

    hono; merchant, he readily fell in with it and let his huilding

    for the purpose, and after the first year gave it rent free till its

    destruction in 1856. It was opened for the admission of patients

    Xovend)er 4, 1835. The peculiar circumstances nnder

    which this enterprise was started imposed some caution on its

    superintendent, and the hong merchants themselves seem to

    have had a hu’king suspicion that so ])ui’ely a henevolent object,

    involving so mnch expense of timt\ laboi’, and moiiev, must

    have some latent object which it l)ehooved them to watch. A

    linguist’s clei’k was often in attendance, partly for this purpose,

    for three or fonr years, and made liimself very useful. The

    patients, who numbered about a hundred daily, were often i-estless,

    and hindered their own relief by not patienth’ awaiting

    their turn ; but the habits of order in which they are trained

    made even such a company amenable to rules. The surgical

    operations attracted nnicli notice, and successful cui-es were

    spoken of abroad and served to advertise and recommend the

    institution to the hi<i;her ranks of native societv. It is difficult

    SUCCESS OF Parker’s medical scheme. 33^5

    at this date to full}- appreciate the extraordinary ignorance and

    prejudice respectin<^ foreigners wliicli tlie Chinese tlien entertained,

    and which could be best removed by some such form of

    benevolence. On the other hand, the repeated instances of

    kind feeling between friends and relatives exhibited among the

    patients, tender solicitude of j)arents for the relief of children,

    and the fortitude shown in bearing the severest operations, or

    faith in taking unknown medicines from the foreigners’ hands,

    all tended to elevate the character of the Chinese in the opinion

    of every beholder, as their unfeigned gratitude for restored

    health increased his esteem.

    The reports of this hospital in Sin-tau-lan Street gave the

    requisite information as to its operations, and means were taken

    to place the whole system upon a surer footing by forming a

    society in China. Suggestions for this object were circulated

    in October, 1836, signed by Messrs. Colledge, Parker, and

    Bridgman, in which the motives for such a step and the good

    effects likely to result from it were thus explained

    :

    We cannot close these siiggestions without adverting to one idea, thougli

    this is not the place to enlarge upon it. It is affecting to contemplate this

    Empire, embracing three hundred and sixty millions of souls, where almost

    all the light of true science is unknown, where Christianity has ncdredy shed

    one genial ray, and where the theories concerning matter and mind, creation

    and providence, are wofully destitute of truth ; it is deeply affecting to see the

    multitudes who are here suffering under maladies from which the hand of

    (diarity is able to relieve them. Now we know, indeed, that it is the glorious

    gospel of the l)lessed God onl}’ that can set free the human mind, and that it

    is only when enlightened in the true knowledge of God that man is rendered

    capable of rising to his true intellectual elevation ; but while we take care to

    give this truth the high place which it ought ever to hold, we should beware

    of depreciating other truth. In the vast conflict which is to i-evolutionize the

    intellectual and moral world, we may not underrate the value of any weai^on.

    As a means, then, to waken the dormant mind of China, may we not place a

    high value upon medical truth, and seek its introduction with good hope of

    its becoming the liandmaid of religious truth ? If an inquiry after truth upon

    any subject is elicited, is there not a great point gained ‘? And that inquiry

    after medical truth may be provoked, there is good reason to expect ; for, exclusive

    as China is in all her systems, she cannot exclude disease nor shut her

    people up from the desire of relief. Does not, then, the finger of Providence

    point clearly to one way that we should take with the people of China, directing

    us to seek the introduction of the remedies for sin itself by the same door

    througli which we convey those which are designed to mitigate or remove its

    336 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    evils ? Although medical truths cauuot restore the sick and afflicted to the

    favor of God, yet perchance the spirit of inquiry about it once awakened

    will not sleep till it inquires about the source of truth ; and he who comes

    with the blessings of health may prove an angel of mercy to point to the Lamb

    of God. At any rate, this seems the only open door ; let us enter it. A faith

    that worketh not may wait for other doors. Xcfne can deny that tlii.-i is a way

    of charity that worketh no ill, and our duty to walk in it seems plain and

    imperative.’

    This paper was favorably received, and in Februarj’, 1838, a

    public meeting was convened at Canton for the purpose of

    forming a society, ” tlie object of which shall be to encourage

    gentlemen of the medical profession to come and practise gratuitously

    among the Chinese by aifording the usual aid of hospitals,

    medicines, and attendants ; but that the support or remuneration

    of such medical gentlemen be not at present within

    its contemplation.” Some other rules were laid down, but the

    principle here stated has been since adhered to in all the similar

    establishments opened in other places. It has served, moreover,

    to retain them under the oversight and their resident physicians

    in the employ of missionary societies. Xo directions were

    given by the framers of the first society concerning the mode

    of imparting religious instruction, distributing tracts, or doing

    missionary work as they had opportunity. The signers of the

    original paper of suggestions also issued an address, further

    setting forth their views and expectations:

    To restore health, to ease pain, or in any way to diminish the sum of

    human misery, forms an object worthy of the philanthrojiist. But in the

    prosecution of our views we look forward to far higher results than the mere

    relief of human suffering. We hope that our endeavors will tend to break

    down the walls of prejudice and long-cherished nationality of feeling, and to

    teach the Chinese that those whom they affect to despise are both able and

    willing to become their benefactors. They shut the door against the teachers

    of the gospel ; they find our books often written in idioms which they cannot

    readily understand ; and they have laid such restrictions upon commerce that

    it does not awaken among thein that love of science, that spirit of invention,

    and that love of thought which it uniformly excites and fosters whenever it

    is allowed to take its own cour.se without limit or interference. In the way of

    doing them good our opportunities are few ; but among these that of practis-

    ‘ Chinese Repositoi’y, Vol. V., p. 372; Vol. VII., pp. 33-40. Lockhart’s Med’

    iciU Missionary in China, 18G1, p. 134.

    FORMATION OF MEDICAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 337

    ing medicine and surgery stands pre-eminent. Favorable results have hitherto

    followed it, and will still continue to do so. It is a department of benevolence

    peculiarly adai)ti’d to China.

    In the depaitnieut of benevolence to which our attention is now turned,

    purity and disinterestedness of motive are more clearly evinced than in any

    other. They appear unmasked ; they attract the gaze and excite the admiration

    and gratitude of thousands, llcul the nirk is our motto, constituting alike

    the injunction under which we act and tlie object at which we aim ; and

    which, with the blessing of God, we hope to accomplish by means of scientific

    practice in the exercise of an unbought and untiring kindness. We have

    called ours a missionary society because we trust it will advance the cause of

    missions, and because we want men to fill our institutions wlio to requisite

    skill and experience add the self-denial and liigh moral qualities which are

    looked for in a missionary.

    The undertaking so auspiciously begun at Canton, in 1835,

    has been carried on ever since, and was the pattern of many

    similar hospitals at the stations afterward occupied. The

    greatest part of the funds needed for carrying tliem on has

    been contributed in China itself by foreigners, wlio certainly

    would not have done so had they not felt that it was a wise and

    useful charity, and known something of the way their funds

    were employed. The hospital at Canton has exceeded even the

    hopes of its founders, and its many buildings and wards attest

    the liberality of the community which presented them to the

    society. The native rulers, gentry, and merchants are now

    well acquainted with the institution, and contribute to carry it

    on. During the forty-five years of its existence it has been

    conducted by Drs. Parker and Kerr nearly all the time, who

    have relieved about seven hundred and fifty thousand patients

    entered on the books ; tlie outlay has been over one hundred

    and twenty-five thousand dollars. Several dispensaries in the

    country have also been carried on with the society’s grants in

    aid. A separate hospital was conducted in Canton from 1846

    to 1856 by B. Ilobson, F.R.C.S., who iias left an enduring

    record of his labors in eighteen medical works in Chinese,

    many of them illustrated. J. G. Kerr, M.D., has also issued

    several small treatises, and the publications of this kind in

    Chinese suitable for the people, issued by them and other missionary

    physicians, already number nearly fifty.

    In these details of the inception of the plan of combining

    Vol. II.—22

    338 THE MIDDLE KINGDO^F.

    medical labors witli the work of Cliristian missions in China,

    it will be seen how the confined position of foreigners at Canton

    proved to be an incentive and an aid to its prosecution for

    some years—lo7ig enough to show its place and fitness. On

    the cessation of hostilities between China and tireat Britain in

    1842, other fields were opened, wliere its benefits were even

    more strongly shown. The war had left the people amazed

    and irritated at what they deemed to be a causeless and unjust

    attack by superior power. This was the case at Amoy, where no

    foreigners had lived until the British army took possession in

    August, 1841. In February, 1842, Eevs. D. x\beel and W. J.

    Boone went there and made the acquaintance of the people on

    Kulang su, who were much pleased to meet with those who

    could converse with them and answer their inquiries. Di-.

    Gumming was able, by their assistance, as soon as he opened

    his dispensary, to inform the people of his designs ; and the

    missionaries, on their part, preached the gospel to the patients,

    distributing in addition suitable books. The people were so

    ready to accept tlic proffenid relief that it was soon impossible

    for one man to do more than wait upon the blind, lame, diseased,

    and injured who thi-onged his doors. A few months

    more equally proved that while the phj^sician was attending

    to the patients in one room, the preacher could not ask for a

    better audience than those who were waiting in the adjoining

    one. An invitation to attend more formal services on the

    Sabbath was soon accepted by a few, whose curiosity led them

    to come and hear more of foreigners and their teachings. The

    reputation of the hospital was seen when taking short excursions

    in the vicinity, for persons M’ho had been relieved constantly

    came forward to express their heartfelt thanks. Thus

    suspicion gave way to gratitude, enemies were converted to

    friends, and those who had enjoyed no opportnnity of learning

    the character of foreigners, and had been taught to regard

    them as barbarians and demons, were disabused of tlicir (M-ior.

    The favorable impression thus made at Amoy, forty years ago,

    has never been suspended, and numerous native chnrchos have

    been gathered in all that region. Just the same uuicn of

    pi’eaching and practice was begun at iShaughai by Dr. W.

    POPULARITY AND INCREASE OF HOSPITAL WORK. 339

    Lockliart after the capture of that city in 1844, and has been

    continued to this time. Ningpo and Fuhcliau received similar

    benefits soon after ; tliese and many others have received aid

    fi’om foreigners residing in the Empire. Several thousand

    dollars were sent from Great Britain and the United States to

    further the object, and one society was formed in Edinburgh

    in 1S56 to develop this branch of missionary work.

    The proposition in the original scheme of educating Chinese

    youth as physicians and surgeons has not been carried out to a

    great extent. The practising missionary has hardl}^ the time

    to do his students justice, and unless they show great aptitude

    for operations, the assistants get M^eary of the I’outine of attending

    to the patients and go away. Dr. Lockhart speaks of

    his own disappointments in this I’espect. Dr. Parker had only

    one pupil, Kwan A-to, who took up the profession among his

    countrymen. Dr. Wong A-fun received a complete medical

    education in Edinburgh, and rendered efficient help for many

    years in the hospital at Canton till his death. The college at

    Peking has now a chair of anatomy and physiology, which will

    aid in introducing better practice. Dr. Kerr gives some other

    reasons for the small number of skilled physicians educated

    in the missionary hospitals, yet some of his pupils had obtained

    lucrative practice. Others had imposed themselves in

    remote places on the people as such, who had only been employed

    as students a few months—a gratifying index of progress.

    It is not likely, however, that the Chinese generally

    will immediately discard their own mode of practice and adopt

    another from their countrymen so far as to support them in

    their new system. They have not enough knowledge of medicine

    to appreciate the difference between science and charlatanism

    ; and a native physician himself might reasonably

    have fears of the legal or personal results of an unsuccessful or

    doubtful surgical case among his ignorant patients, so far as

    often to prevent him trying it.

    The successive annual reports issued from the various missionary hospitals in China furnish the amplest information concerning their management, and numerous particulars respecting the people who resort to them. At the Missionary Conference in Shanghai (1877) Drs. KeiT and (iould presented papers relating to this branch of labor in all its various aspects. The latter discussed the advantages of hospital versus itinerary practice ; the modes of bringing the patients under religious instruction: how to limit their number so as to not wear out the physician; oversight of assistants and education of pupils; how far this gratuitous relief should be extended; what was the best mode of getting a fee from those natives who were able to pay something; and, finally, the reasons for not uniting the ministerial functions with the medical. These various points show clearly how the experience of past years had manifested the wisdom and foresight of those who originated the work, and the manner it has developed in connection with other branches. If kept as an auxiliary agency, there seems to be no reason for reducing the efforts now made by foreign societies until native physicians and surgeons are able to take up this work, just as native preachers are to oversee their own churches.

    Another benevolent society, whose name and object was the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China, was established in December, 1834. The designs of the association were ” by all means in its power to prepare and publish, in a cheap form, plain and easy treatises in the Chinese language, on such branches of useful knowledge as are suited to the existing state and condition of the Chinese Empire.” It published six or eight works and a magazine during the few years of its existence, and their number would have been larger if there had been more persons capable of writing treatises. Since then this kind of mission work has been taken up by various agencies better fitted to develop its several departments, and, excepting newspapers, the preparation of suitable histories,

    geographies, and scientific books has been done by Protestant

    missionaries. The Chinese government has directed its employes

    in the ai’senal schools to translate such works as will

    fm-nish the scholars with good elementary books.

    Their usefulness as aids and precursors of the introduction

    of the gospel is very great. Among a less intelligent population

    they are not so important until the people get a taste for

    knowledge in schools ; but where the conceit of false learning

    SOCIETY FOR DIFFUSION OF USEFML KNOWLEDGE. 341

    and pride of literary uttaininents cause such a contempt for all

    other than their own l)ooks, as is the case in Chinese society,

    entertaining narratives and notices of otlier people and lands,

    got up in an attractive form, tend to disabuse them of these

    ideas (the offspring of arrogant ignorance rather than deliberate

    rejection) and incite them to learn and read more. The

    influence of newspapers and other periodical literature will be

    very great among the Chinese when they begin to think for

    themselves on the great truths and principles which are now

    being introduced among them. They have already begun to

    discuss political topics, and the great advantage of movable

    tj’pes over the old blocks tends to hasten the adoption of

    foreign modes of printing. It may, by some, be considered as

    not the business of a missionary to edit a newspaper ; but those

    who are ac(|uainted with the debased hiertness of heathen

    minds know that any means which will convey truth and

    arouse the people tends to advance religion. The influence

    of the Dnyanodya in Bombay, and other kindred publications

    in various places hi India, is great and good ; hundreds of the

    people read them and then talk about the subjects treated in

    them, who would neither attend religious meetings, look at the

    Scriptures, nor have a tract in their possession. The same will

    be the case in China, and it is not irrelevant to the work of a

    missionary to adopt such a mode of imparting truths, if it be

    the most likely way of reaching the prejudiced, proud, and

    ignorant people around him. When the native religious community

    has begun to take form, this mode of instruction and

    disputation will be left to its most intelligent members.

    In January, 1835, the foreign community in China established a third association, which originated entirely with a few of its leading members. Soon after the death of Dr. Morrison, a paper was circulated containing suggestions for the formation of an association to be called the Morrison Education Society, intended both as a testimonial of the worth and labors of that excellent man, more enduring than marble or brass, and a means of continuing his efforts for the good of China. A provisional committee was formed from among the subscribers to this paper, consisting of Sir G. 13. Robinson, Bart., Messrs. W. Jardine, D. W. C. Olypliant, Lancelot Dent, J. 11. Morrison, and Rev. E. C. Bridgnian ; live thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars were immediately subscribed, and about one thousand five hundred volumes of books presented to its library. This liberal spirit for the welfare of the people among whom they sojourned reflected the highest credit on the gentlemen interested in it, as well as upon the whole foreign community, inasmuch as, with only four or five exceptions, none of them were united to the ‘jountry by other than temporary business relations.

    The main objects of the Morrison Education Society were ^’ the establishment and improvement of schools in which Chinese youth shall be taught to read and write the English language in connection with their own, by which means shall be brought within their reach all the instruction rc(piisite for their becoming wise, industrious, sober, and virtuous members of society, fitted in their respective stations of life to discharge well the duties which they owe to themselves, their kindred, their country, and their (iod.” The means of accomplishing this end by gathering a library, employing competent teachers, and encouraging native schools were all pointed out in this programme of labors, whose comprehensiveness was ecpialled only by its phi-]anthroj)y. Applications were made for teachers both in England and America ; from the former, an answer was received that

    there was no likelihood of obtaining one ; a person was selected

    in the latter, the Tlev. S. II. Brown, who with his wife arrived

    at Macao in February, 1839. In the interval between the formation

    of the Society and the time when its operations assumed

    a definite shape in its own schools, something was done in collecting

    information concerning native education and in supporting

    a few boys, or assisting Mrs. Gutzlaff’s school at Macao.

    THE MOKRISOlsr EDUCATION SOCIETY. 343

    The Society’s school was opened at Macao in November, 1839, with six scholars ; four years afterward it removed to INforrison Hill in Hongkong, into the connnodious quarters erected by its president, Lancelot Dent, on a site granted by the colonial government for the purpose. In 181-5 Brown had thirty pupils, who filled all the room there was in the house. He stated in his report of that year, as a gratifying evidence of confidence on their part, that no parent had asked to have his child leave during the year. ” When the school was coMiinenced,” observes Mr. Brown, ” few offered their sons as pupils, and even they, as some of them have since told me, did it with a good deal of apprehension as to the consequences. ‘ We could not understand,’ says one who first brought a boy to the school, ‘ why a

    foreigner should wish to feed and instruct our children for nothing.

    We thought there must be some sinister motive at the bottom

    of it. Perhaps it was to entice them away from their parents

    and country, and transport them by and by to some foreign

    land.’ At all events, it was a mystery. ‘ But now,’ said the

    same father to me a few weeks ago, ‘ I understand it. I have

    had my three sons in your school steadily since they entered it,

    and no harm has happened to them. The eldest has been qualified

    for service as an interpreter. The other two have learned

    nothing bad. The religion you have taught them, and of which

    1 was so much afraid, has made them better, I myself believe

    its truth, though the customs of my country forbid my embracing

    it. I have no longer any fear ; you labor for others’ good, not

    your own. I understand it now.’ “

    This suspicion was not surprising, considering the connnon

    estimate of foreigners among the people, and indicates that it

    was high time to attempt something Avorthy of the Christianity

    which they professed. The scliool was conducted as it would

    have been if removed to a town in Xew England ; and when its

    pupils left they were fitted for taking a high rank in their own

    country. Their attachment to their teacher was great. One

    instance is taken from the fourth report : ” Last spring the

    father of one in the older class came to the house and told his

    son that he could not let him remain here any longer but that

    he must put him out to service and make him earn something.

    His father is a poor miserable man, besotted by the use of opium,

    and has sold his two daughter into slavery to raise money. The

    boy ran away to his instructor and told him what his father

    liad said, adding, ‘I cannot go.’ Willing to ascertain the sincerity

    of the boy and the strength of his attachment to his

    friends, his teacher coolly replied, ‘ Perhaps it will be well for

    yon to go, for probably you could be a table-boy in some gentleman’s house and so get two dollars a month, which is two more than jou get here, where only your food is given yon.’ The little fellow looked at him steadily while he made these remarks, as if amazed at the strange language he used, and when he had done, turned hastily about and burst into tears, exclaiming, ‘ 1 cannot go ; if I go away from this school I shall be lost.’ He did not leave, for his father did not wish to force him away.”

    Another case shows the contidence of a parent on the occasion

    of the death of one of the pupils, his only child : ” He heard

    of his son’s illness too late to arrive before he died, and when he

    caiue it was to bury his remains. He was naturally overwhelmed

    with grief at the affliction that had come upon him, and his apprehensions

    of the effect of the tidings upon the boy’s mother

    were gloomy enough. After the funeral was over, I conversed

    with him. To my surprise he made not the least complaint as

    to what had been done for the sick lad, either in the “way of

    medical treatment or otherwise, but expressed many thanks for

    the kind and assiduous attentions that liad been l)estowcd upon

    him. He said he had entertained great hope of his son’s future

    usefulness, and in order to promote it had placed him here at

    school. But now his family would end in liimself. I showed

    him some specimens of his son’s drawing, an annisement of

    which he was particularly fond. The tears gushed faster as his

    eyes rested on these evidences of his son’s skill. ‘Do not show

    them tome,’ said he; ‘it is too much. I cannot speak now. I

    know you have done well to my son. I pity yon, for all your

    labor is lost.’ I assured him I did not think so. He had been

    a very diligent and obedient learner, and had won the esteem of

    his teachers and companions. He had been taught concerning

    the true drod and the way of salvation, and it might have done

    him everlastin<; ijood. As the old man was leavinc; me, he

    turned and asked if, in case he should adopt another boy, I

    would receive him as a pupil, to which I replied in the affirmative.”

    An assistant teacher, Wm. A. Macy, joined Mr. Brown in

    184G; the latter returned to America in 1847, and the school

    was closed in 184J>, owing chiei^y to the departure of its early

    patrons from China and the opening of new ])orts of trade,

    scattering the foreign comnnmity so that funds could not be

    ITS SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. 345

    obtained. Mission societies began to enlarge their work at

    tliese ports and occupy the same department of education as

    tlie Morrison School. It, however, did a good work in its education

    of half a score of men who now fill high places in their

    country’s service, or occupy posts of usefulness most honorably

    to themselves. The boy mentioned in a previous paragraph

    afterward went through a medical course at Edinbui-gh, became

    a practising surgeon and physician at Canton, and died there in

    1878, honored by foreigners and natives during a life of usefulness

    and benevolence. In that year Mr. Brown visited

    China for his health, and M’as received hy this Dr. Wong and

    others of his old pupils with marks of regard honorable and

    gratifying to both ; they fitted up a house there for him, presented

    him Avith a beautiful piece of silver plate, and paid his

    passage up to Peking and back to Shanghai.

    The efforts of Protestants for the evangelization of China

    were largely of a preparatory nature until the j-ear 1842. Most

    of the laborers were stationed out of China, and those in the

    Empire itself were unable to pursue their designs without many

    embarrassments. Mrs. Gutzlaff experienced many obstacles in

    her endeavors to collect a school at Macao, partly from the

    fears of the parents and the harassing inquiries of the police,

    the latter of which naturally increased the former ; partly again

    from the short period the parents were M’illing to allow

    their children to remain. The Portuguese clergy and government

    of Macao have done nothing themselves to impede Protestant

    missionaries in their labors in the colony since 1833,

    when the governor ordered the Albion press, belonging to Dr.

    Morrison’s son, to be stopped, on account of his publishing a

    religious newspaper called the Miscellanea /Sinicw / and this he

    was encouraged to do from knowing that the East India Company

    was opposed to its continuance. The governor intimated

    to one of the American missionaries in 1839 that no tracts

    nnist be distributed or public congregations gathered in the colony,

    but no objection would be made to audiences collected in

    his own house for instruction. Xo obstacle was put in the way

    of printing, and the press that was interdicted in 1833 was carried

    back to Macao in 1835, after the dissolution of the East India Company, under the diiection of the American mission. Several aids in the study of the Chinese language were issued from it during the nine years it was there under the author’s charge.

    The city of Canton was long in China one of the most unpromising

    fields for missionai-y labors, not alone when it was

    the only one in the Empire, but until recently. This was owins

    to several causes. The pui-suits of foreigners were limited

    to trade. Their residence was confined to an area of a few

    acres held by the guild of hong merchants allowed to trade with

    them, and all intercourse was carried on in the jargon known as

    Pi(Jeon-English. They were systematically degraded by the

    native rulers in the eyes of the people, who knew no other appellation

    for the strangers than fan-kicei^ or ‘ foreign devil.’

    The opium war of 1839-42 had aroused the worst passions of

    the Cantonese, and their conceit had been increased by the unsuccessful

    attempts to take the city in 1841 and 1847 by the

    English forces. Since 1858 the citizens have been accessible to

    other infiuences, and learned that their isolation and ignorance

    brought calamity on themselves.

    When Morrison died, Dr. Bridgman and the writer of these

    pages were the oidy fellow-laborers belonging to any missionary

    society then in China; the Christian church formed in 1835

    contained only three members. It was indeed a day of small

    things, but from henceforth grew more and more bright. The

    contrast even in twelve years is thus described in Dr. llobson’s

    report of his hospital ; the extract shows the little freedom then

    enjoj^ed in comparison with what it now is, nearly forty years

    after:

    MISSIOX AT CANTON. 347

    The average attendance of Chinese has been over a hundred, and nono have been more respectful and cordial in their attention than those in whom aneurism has been cured or sight restored, from whom the tumor has been extirpated or the stone extracted. These services must be witnessed to understand fully their interest. Deep emotions have been awakened when contrasting the restrictions of the first years of Protestant missions in China with the present freedom. Then, not permitted to avow our missionary character and object lest it might eject us from the country; nor could a Chinese receive a Christian book but at the peril of his safety, or embrace that religion without hazarding his life. Now he may receive and practise the doctrines of Christ, and transgress no law of the Empire. Onr interest may he more easily conceived than expressed as we have declared the truths of the gospel, or when looking upon the evangelist Liang A-fah, and thought of him fleeing for his life and long banished from his native land, and now ruturned to declare boldly the truths of the gospel in the city from which he had fled. Well did he call upon his audience to worship and give thanks to the God of heaven and earth for what he had done for them. With happy effect he dwelt upon the Saviour’s life and example, and pointing to the paintings suspended on the walls of the room, informed his auditors that these were performed by his blessing and in conformity to his precepts and example. Portions of the Scriptures and religious tracts are given to all the hearers on the Sabbath, and likewise to all the patients during the week, so that thousands of volumes have been sent forth from the hospital to scores of villages and to distant provinces.

    Before the capture of the city the people had become quite friendly to all missionary labors, through the ameliorating influences of the hospitals. While the city was beleaguered by the insin-gents in 1S55, the wounded soldiers were attended to by Dr. Hobson, who sometimes had his house full. After Canton was occupied by the allies in 1858 there was an enlargement of mission work in the city and envh-ons, which has been growing in depth and extent till the changes draw the attention of the most casual observer. Foreigners are now seldom addressed £LS yan-hvei, and their excursions into the country and along the streams are made in safety. The Germans have established

    stations in many places between Canton and Hongkong,

    and easterly along the river up to I\ia-ying, where the

    people are more turbulent than around the city or toward the

    west.

    The occupation of Hongkong in 1841 induced the American

    Baptists to make it a station immediately, and Messrs. Roberts

    and Shuck began the mission work, followed by the London

    Mission two years after, when Dr. Legge removed there from

    Malacca. The Roman Catholic missionaries also moved over

    from Macao at the earliest date. The colonial authorities in

    time began a system of common schools for all their subjects, so

    that mission schools have been less necessary since that date,

    but are still opened to some extent. The benevolent labors by

    German, British, and American missionaries in Plongkong and

    its vicinity have been zealously carried on in harmony, and there are fully fifty separate stations on the mainland northerly from the island which are worked from this colony. The number in the whole province of Kwangtung amounts to more than seventy-five, all of them efficiently established since 1858.

    The mission at Amoy was commenced in 1842 by Messrs.

    Abeel and Boone under the most favorable auspices. Tlie

    English expedition took that city in August, 1841, and on leaving

    it stationed a small naval and military force on the island

    of Kulang su. The people of Anio}’ and its environs cared perhaps

    little for the merits of the war then raging, but they knew

    that they had suffered much from it, and no intei-j^reters were

    available to carry on communication between the two parties.

    Both these gentlemen could converse in the local dialect, and

    were soon applied to by many desirous of learning something of

    the foreigners or who had business with them. The Chinese

    authorities were also pleased to obtain the aid of competent interpreters, and the good opinion of these dignitai-ies exercised considerable influence in inducing the people to attend upon the ministrations of the missionaries. Both officers and ]n-ivate gentlemen invited them to their residences, where they had opportunity to answer their reasonable inquiries concerning foreign

    lands and customs, and convey an outline of the Christian

    faith. One of these officers was Sen Ki-yu, afterward governor

    of the province and author of the Jlmj Ilwan CIn Lioh, in

    which he mentions Abeel’s name and speaks of his indebtedness

    to him in preparing that work. The number of books given

    away was not great, but part of every day was spent in talking

    with the people; when the hospital was opened by Dr. Cumming,

    greater facilities were afforded for intercourse. The iri’itation

    caused by what the people naturally looked upon as an unprovoked

    outrage was gradually allayed. There had been no long

    education of intercommunication between natives and foreigners

    in Amoy as at Canton. The work so pleasantly begun in 1842 in

    Kulang su lias extended over most parts of the province of

    Fuhkien, and westward into the prefecture of Chauchau in

    Kwangtung. There are more converts, native pastors, and

    schools in this province than any other in China.

    MISSIONS IlSr AMOY AND FUHCHAU. o49

    Its capital was never visited by a foreign enemy, nor did it siiflFer from the Tai-ping rebels, so that the gentry of Fuhchau have never been scattered nor their influence broken, like those of many other provincial centres. The mission work was commenced there in 1847 by Kev. Stephen Johnson, from Bangkok, who was soon joined by other American and English colleagues. He speaks of the great prejudices against all foreigners among the citizens in consequence of the evil effects of opium-smoking, which destroyed the people who would not cease to buy it. An experience of thirty years has not altogether removed this dislike, which even lately found an opportunity to exhibit itself in removing the Church Missionary Society’s mission from the Wu-shih Hill, where it had rented buildings for that period and ” injured the good luck of the city.” These prejudices will gradually give way with a new generation of scholars and merchants, and we can afford to be patient with them when we reflect on their slow progress in other things.

    The American Board, American Methodist, and Church Missionary

    Societies have each extended their stations beyond the

    city into the country almost to the borders of Chehkiang and

    Kiangsf, occupying in all nearly two hundred localities with

    their assistants. Besides these agencies, the China Inland mission

    has occupied three cities on the eastern coast and about

    sixteen other stations. The whole number of places in the

    province of Fuhkien where Protestants have opened their woi k

    in one form and another is now over two hundred and fifty,

    under seven separate societies. In most of these towns the

    good will of the people has remained with them when their objects

    have been fully imderstood ; and the contrasts of destroying

    their chapels or book-shops, as at Ivien-ning, have been found tt)

    be mixed up with other causes. Since the year 18G3 the island

    of Formosa has been occupied by two or three British societies,

    and the work of their missionaries in the cliief towns has been

    greatly prospered. Dr. Maxwell has carried on his hospital at

    Taiwan with eminent success as a means of winning the good

    opinion of suspicious natives and aborigines and inclining them

    to listen to the gospel. Native churches have been gathered in

    various parts remote from the coast, and thirty-five stations are

    now worked by the two British societies which have taken up this field. This progress has not been without opposition, for two of the converts were martyred a few years ago by their countrymen.

    The first missionary efforts north of Canton of a permanent nature were made in ISiO by Dr. Lockhart, in the establishment of a hospital at Tinghai in Chusan. They were resumed by Milne in 1842, and while the island was under the control of British troops. Gutzlaff occupied the office of Chinese jnagistrate of Tinghai in 1S42, and endeavored to hold meetings.

    Milne left Xingpo in June, 1843, and came to Hongkong overland

    dressed in a native costume. After his departure, some

    time elapsed before his place was supplied. The journal of his

    residence in that city indicated a great willingness on the part of

    people of all ranks to cultivate intercourse with such foreigners

    as could converse with them. Drs. Macgowan and McCarty

    went there in 1S43 and 1844 to open a hospital, and were followed

    by Messrs. Lowrie, Culbertson, Loomis, and Cole, the latter

    in charge of a printing office of English and Chinese type and a type foundry. Keligious services are held at the hospitals in that city, and Dr. IMacgowan says: “Each patient is exhorted to renounce all idolatiy and wickedness and to enibruce the religion of the Saviour. They are aduiitted by lens into the prescribing room, and before being dismissed are addressed by the physician and the native Christian assistant on the subject of religion.

    Tracts are given to all who are able to read.” The more such labors are carried on the better will the prospect of peace and a profitable intercourse between China and western nations become ; the more the people learn of the science and resources, the character and designs, and partake of the religion and benevolence of western nations, the icss chance will there be of collisions, and the more each party will respect the other. The fear is, however, that the disruptive and disorganizing influences will preponderate over the peaceful, and precipitate new outbreaks before these influences obtain much hold upon the Chinese.

    MISSIONS IN CHEHKIANG PROVINCE. 351

    The occupation of Ningbo in 1841 by the British troops, and their excursions into the country, had the effect of preparing the people of Zhejiang province to listen to foreigners. The mission work begun at Ningbo by three or four societies in 1842-4S has been carried on with marked success and completeness in its agencies. The various missions have taken different parts of the province for their particular fields, and by means of chapels, hospitals, schools, printing offices, itinerating and preaching excursions, and the sale of religious books, have made known the truth. A large part of the province was ravaged by the Tai-ping rebels, and after their dispersion in 18G7 Hangzhou and Shanking were occupied. These two cities were well high destroyed, but their inhabitants are learning that no force or governmental influence accompanies the preaching of the doctrines of Jesus. This idea has considerable strength among all the Chinese, and no disclaimer or explanations have much effect at first. The people of Zhejiang province have less energy and individuality than their countrymen in the southern provinces, but they have received the faith in simplicity, maintaining its ordinances and bearing its expenses in many cases without foreign aid. In the seventy stations now occupied by six societies from England and America, the advance is seen to be great since the capture of Ningbo and Tinghai forty years ago, even by the confession of those who still hold aloof. The good reputation of the missionaries was shown in the amicable settlement of an irritating question in Ilangchau city in 1874. It arose

    from the occupation of the hillside by the Americans, who had

    bought the spot when it was bare of houses and erected their

    own dwellings. These were deemed to be detrimental to its

    prosperity, and a riot arose which was quelled by the authorities.

    A proposal was then made l)y the gentry to remove them by getting

    another site in the lower city, and this harmonized all parties

    while establishing a good precedent for future observance.

    The great city of Shanghai was almost unknown to foreign

    nations until the treaty of Nanking opened it to their trade in

    1842. Its inhabitants suffered greatly at its capture, but the

    growing commerce ere long brought prosperity. As soon as arrangements could be made the London Mission moved its hospital from Chusan Island to Shanghai (in 1844), and Dr. Lockhart immediately commenced his work. Ilis rooms were thronged, and it is stated that ten thousand nine hundred and seventy eight patients were attended to between May, 1844, and June, 1845. The knowledge of this charity spread over the province of Kiangsu, and removed much of the ill-will and ignorance of the people toward foreigners. One effect in the city was to incite the inhabitants to open a dispensary during four summer months, for the gratuitous relief of the sick. It was called iS/d I Kuiig-kluJi, or ‘ Public Establishment for Dispensing Healing.’

    ” It was attended by eight or nine iiative practitioners, who saw

    the patients once in five da\’S ; this attendance was gratuitous

    on the part of some of them, and was paid for in the case of

    others. The medicines are supplied from the different apothecary

    shops, one furnishing all that is wanted during one day,

    which is paid for by subscriptions to the dispensary. The patients

    vary from three hundred to five hundred. The reason

    given for the recent establishment of this dispensary for relieving

    the sick is that it has been done by a foreigner who came

    to reside at the place, and therefore some of the wealthy natives

    wished to show their benevolence in the same way.” Such a

    spirit speaks well for the inhabitants of Shanghai, for nothing

    like competition in doing good has ever been started elsewhere,

    nor even a public acknowledgment made of the benefits conferred

    by the hospitals.

    During the voyage along the coast of China made by Messrs. Medhurst and Stevens, in 18l>5, they visited Shanghai ; and an abstract of Medhurst’s interview with the officers on that occasion is taken from his journal. lie had already been invited by them to enter a temple hard by the landing-place, to the end that they might learn the object of the visit, and was conversing with them.

    The party was now joined by another officer named Chin, a hearty, rough-looking man, with a keen eye and a voluble tongue. He immediately took the lead in the conversation, and asked whether we had not been in Sliantung and had communication with some great officers there ? He inquired after

    Messrs. Lindsay and GutzlafF, and wished to know whither we inttjnded to

    proceed. I told him these gentlemen were well ; but we could hardly tell

    where we should go, quoting a Chinese proverb, “We know not to day what

    will take place to-morrow.” But, I continued, as your native conjurors are

    reckoned very clever, they may perhaps be able to tell you. ” I am conjuror

    enough for that,” said Chin ; ” but what is your profession V ” I told him that I

    ENTRY OF MISSIONS INTO SnANGHAI. 35J?

    was a toachor of religion. . . . AfttT a little time a great noise was heard outside, and the arrival of the chief magistrati; of the city was announced, when several officers came in and requested me to go and see his worship.

    He appeared to be a middle-aged man, but assumed a stern aspect as I entered, though I paid him the usual compliments and took my seat in a chair placed opposite. This disconcerted him much, and as soon as he could recover himself from the surprise at seeing a barbarian seated in his presence, he ordered me to come near and stand before him, while all the officers called out, ” Rise ! Rise! ” I arose accordingly, and asked whether I could not be allowed to sit at the conference, and as he refused, I bowed and left the room. I was soon followed by Chin and Wang, who tried every effort to persuade me to return ; this, however, I steadfastly refused to do unless I could be allowed to sit, as others of my countrymen had done in like circumstances. . .

    Having been joined by Mr. Stevens (who had been distributing books

    among the crowd without), we proceeded to converse more familiarly and to

    deliver out books to the officers and their attendants, as well as to some

    strangers that were present, till they were all gone. A list of such provisions

    as were wanted had been given to Wang, whom we requested to purchase them

    for us, and we would pay for them. By this time tlie articles were brought

    in, which they offered to give us as a present, and seeing that there was no

    other way of settling the question, we resolved to accept of the articles and

    send them something in return. The rain having moderated, we aro.se to take

    a walk and proceeded toward the boat, where the sailors were busy eating

    their dinner. Wishing to enter the city we turned o3E in that direction, but

    were stopped by the officers and their attendants, and reluctantly returned to

    the temple. After another hour’s conversation, and partaking of refreshments

    with the officers, they departed. On the steps near the boat we observed

    a basket nearly full of straw, and on the top about half a dozen books

    torn in pieces and about to be burnt. On inquiry, they told us that these

    were a few that had been torn in the scuffle, and in order to prevent their

    being trodden under foot they were about to burn them. Recollecting, however,

    that Chin had told his servant to do something with the books he had

    received, it now occurred to us that he had directed them to be burned in our

    presence. On the torch being applied, therefore, we took the presents which

    were lying by and threw them on the fire, which put it out. The policeman, taking off the articles, applied the torch again, while we repeated the former operation ; to show them that if they despised our presents, we also disregarded theirs. Finally the basket was thrown into the river and we left, much displeased at this insulting conduct.’

    ‘ China: Its State and Prospects, pp. 371-377. Chinese Repository, Vol. IV.,pp. 330, 331.

    This extract might be thouffht to refer to an event which took place in the days of Hicci instead of one within the memory of the living. The progress and changes since it occurred in that city typify what has been going on throughout the whole land. Medhurst came back to Shanghai to live, within nine years after this incident, and when his failing health compelled his retirement in 1856, he closed an honorable service of thirty-nine years in the mission field. His dictionaries, translations, and writings in Chinese and English (ninety -three in all) indicate his industry ; and through them he, being dead, yet speaketh to the Chinese upon his favorite themes of redemption.

    The work which he began was reinforced by colleagues from Groat Britain and America until the whole population was reached, and towns lying south of the Yangzi river were all visited. After the rebellion was quelled in 1867 other cities were occupied, until about forty-five localities in all parts of Kiangsu are now held as preaching stations. People are returning to their deserted homes, and lands that lay fallow for years are retilled ; thither foreign and native preachers and colportors bring the living word without hindrance.’

    The consequences of the introduction of the gospel into China are likely to be the same that they have been elsewhere, in stirring up private and public antagonism to what is so opposed to the depravity of the human heart. There are some grounds for hoping that there will not be much systematic opposition from the imperial government when once the chiefs of

    the nation learn the popular sentiments and will. The principal

    reasons for this are found in the character of the people,

    who are not cruel or disposed to take life for opinions when

    those opinions are held l)y numbers of respectable and intelligent

    men. The fact that the officers of government all spring from

    the body of the people, and that these dignitaries are neither

    governed nor influenced by any State hierarch}’—by any body

    of pi’iestly men, who, feeling that the progress of the new faith

    will cause the loss of their influence and position, are determined

    to use the power of the State to put it down—leads us to

    hope that such officers as may adopt the new faith will not, on

    account of their profession, be banished (»r disgraced. Such

    was the case with Sii, who assisted and countenanced Ricci.

    ‘ In this connection the work of Dr. Lockhart {.}f<‘(h’riil 3fmionnry in China, London, IHCil) may prolitably be read for the details and results of mission labors in Shanghai.

    PROSPECTS FOR CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA. 355

    The general character of the Chinese is irreligious, and they

    care much more for money and power than they do for religions

    ceremonies of any kind ; they would never lose a battle as

    the Egyptians did because the Persians placed cats between the

    annies. There are no ceremonies which they consider so binding

    as to be willing to tight for them, and persecute others for

    omitting, except those pertaining to ancestral worship ;—these

    are of so domestic a nature that thousands of converts miirht

    discard them before much would be known or done by the people

    in relation to the matter. The conscientious Christian

    magistrate would be somewhat obnoxious to his master, and

    liable to be removed for refusing to perform his functions at

    the ching-hivang iniao before the tutelar gods of the Empire.

    These and other reasons, growing out of the character of the people

    and the nature of their political and religious institutions, lead

    to the hope that the leaven of truth will permeate the mass of

    society and renovate, purify, and strengthen it without weakening,

    disorganizing, or destroying the government. There

    are, also, some causes to fear that such will not be the case,

    arising from the ignorance of the people of the proper results

    of Christian doctrines; from a dread of the government respecting

    its own stability from foreign aggression ; from the

    evil consequences of the use of opium, and the drainage of the

    precious metals ; and from the disturbing effects of the intercourse

    with unscrupulous foreigners and irritated nati^’es often

    leading to riots and the interference of government authorities.

    The toleration of the Christian religion had been allowed throughout the Empire by imperial edicts issued in the reign of Shunchi and his son ; and often and often discountenanced and persecuted after those dates. The governmental policy had been long settled to disallow its profession by its subjects or the residence of the Koman Catholic missionaries in its borders.

    In 1844 the French envoy, M. de Lagrene, brought their disabilities to the notice of Kiying, who memorialized the throne and received the following rescript, which reversed the bloody decrees of 1722 and later years. For his efforts in this matter he deserves the thanks and remembrance of every friend of Christianity and the Chinese.

    Kiying, imperial fonimissioner, minister of State, and governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, respectfully addresses the throne by memorial.

    On examination it appears that the religion of the Lord of Heaven is that professed by all the nations of the West ; that its main object is to encourage the good and suppress the wicked ; that since its introduction to China during

    the Ming dynasty it has never been interdicted ; that subsequently, when

    Chinese, practising tliis religion, often made it a covert for wickedness, even

    to the seducing of wives and daughters, and to the deceitful extraction of the

    pupils from the eyes of the sick,’ government made investigation and inflicted

    punishment, as is on record ; and that in the reign of Kiaking special clauees

    were first laid down for the punishment of the guilty. The prohibition, therefore,

    was directed against evil-doing under the covert of religion, and not

    against the religion professed by the western foreign nations.

    Now the request of the French ambassador, Lagrene, that those Chinese

    who, doing well, practiise this religion, be exempt from criminality, seems

    feasible. It is right therefore to make the request, and earnestly to crave

    celestial favor to grant that, henceforth, all natives and foreigners without

    distinction, who learn and practise the religion of the Lord of Heaven, and do

    not excite trouble by improper conduct, be exempted from criminality. If

    there be any who seduce wives and daughters, or deceitfully take the pupils

    from the eyes of the sick, walking in their former paths, or are otherwise

    guilty of criminal acts, let them be dealt with according to the old laws. As

    to those of the French and other foreign nations who practise the religion, let

    them only be permitted to build churches at the five ports opened for commercial intercourse. They must not presume to enter the country to propagate religion.

    Should any act in opposition, turn their backs upon the treaties, and rashly overstep the boundaries, the local officers will at once seize and deliver them to their respective consuls for restraint and correction. Capital punishment is not to be rashly inflicted, in order that the exercise of gentleness may be displayed. Thus, peradventure, the good and the profligate will not be blended, while the equity of mild laws will be exhibited.

    This request, that well-doers practising the religion may be exempt from criminality, I (the commissioner), in accordance with reason and bounden duty, respectfully lay before the throne, earnestly praying the august Emperor graciously to grant that it may be carried into effect. A respectful memorial. DaoGuang, 24th year, 11th month, 19th day (December 28, 1844), was received the vermilion reply : ” Let it be according to the counsel [of Kiying].”

    This is from the Emperor.’-‘
    ‘ Tills is thus explained by a Chinese : ” It is a custom with the priests who teach this religion, when a man is about to die, to take a handful of cotton, having concealed within it a sharp needle, and then, while rubbing the individual’s eyes with the cotton, to introduce the needle into the eye and puncturi! the pupil with it ; the humors of the pupil saturate the cotton and are afterward used as a medicine.” This foolish idea has its origin in the extreme unction administered by Catholic i)riw5ts to the dying. See, moreover, th«

    Lettrca FjIiJitiiittK, Tome IV., p. 44.

    ‘^ Chiiieite lifj)Oiiitorij, Vol. XIV., p. 195.

    TOLKKATIOli OBTAINED THKOUGII KITING. 357

    This rescript <2,rniito(l toleration to the Christians already in the country, known only by the term Tien Cha k!ao, or ‘ Keligion of the Lord of Heaven/ and referring only to those persons who profess Catholicism. Subsequently the French minister was asked to state whether, in making this request of the Chinese officers, he intended to include Christians of all sects, as there had been some doubts on that point, he therefore brought the subject again before Qiying, who issued an explanatory notice, without making a second appeal to his sovereign. It is not necessary to quote the entire reply, which granted as conq:)lete toleration to all Christian sects as its writer was able to do from his knowledge of their differences. The term Vesii, kiao, since adopted for Protestants, was not then current. After quoting the purport of M. de Lagj’enc’s communication, Qiying thus sums up his conclusions :

    Now I find that, in the first place, when the regulations for free trade were agreed upon, there was an article allowing the erection of churches at the five ports. This same privilege was to extend to all nations ; there were to be no distinctions. Subsequently the commissioner Lagrene requested that the Chinese who, acting well, practised this religion, should equally be held blameless. Accordingly, I made a representation of the case to the throne, by memorial, and received the imperial consent thereto. After this, however, local magistrates having made improper seizures, taking and destroying crosses, pictures, and images, further deliberations were held, and it was agreed that these [crosses, etc.] might be reverenced. Originally I did not know that there were, among the nations, these differences in their religious practices. Now with regard to the religion of the Lord of Heaven—no matter whether the crosses, pictures, and images be reverenced or be not reverenced—all who, acting well, practise it, ought to be held blameless. All the great western nations being placed on an equal footing, only let them by acting well practise their religion, and China will in no way prohibit or impede their so doing Whether their customs be alike or unlike, certainly it is right that there should be no distinction and no obstruction.—December 22, 1845.

    The sentence in this document which speaks of local magistrates making improper seizures probably refers to something which had occurred in the country. At Shanghai the intondant of circuit issued a proclamation in November, lS-i5. based upon the Emperor’s rescript, in which he defines the Tien Chu Mao ” to consist in periodically assembling for unitedly worshipping the Lord of Heaven, in respecting and venerating the cross, with pictures and images, as well as in reading aloud the works of the said religion ; these are customs of the said relio-ion in question, and practices not in accordance with these cannot be considered as the religion of the Lord of Pleaven.”

    The varions associations and sects found throughout China are all included under the vague name of klao, or ‘ doctrine ;

    ‘ they are an annoyance to the government and well disposed people, and are referred to and excepted against in this proclamation.

    In a decree received by Qiying at Canton, February 20, 1846, relating to the restoration of the houses belonging to Romanists, the views of the Chinese government respecting the foreign missionaries were further nuxde known.

    On a former occasion Qiying and others laid before Us a memorial, requesting immunity from punishment for those who doing well profess the religion of Heaven’s Lord; and that those who erect churches, assemble together for worship, venerate the cross and pictures and images, read and explain sacred books, be not prohibited from so doing. This was granted. The religion of the Lord of Heaven, instructing and guiding men in well-doing, differs widely from the heterodox and illicit . ects ; and the toleration thereof has already been allowed. That which has been requested on a subsequent occasion, it is right in like manner to grant.

    Let all the ancient houses throughout the provinces, which were built in the reign of Kanghi, and have been preserved to the present time, and which, on personal examination by proper authorities, are clearly found to be their bona fide, possessions, be restored to the professors of this religion in their respective places, excepting only those churches which have been converted into temples and dwelling-houses for the people.

    If, after the promulgation of this decree throughout the provinces, the local officers irregularly prosecute and seize any of the professors of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, who are not bandits, upon all such the just penalties of the law shall be meted out.

    If any, under a profession of this religion, do evil, or congregate people from distant towns, seducing and binding them together; or if any other sect or bandits, borrowing the name of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, create disturbances, transgress the laws, or excite rebellion, they shall be punished according to their respective crimes, each being dealt with as the existing statutes of the Empire direct.

    Also, in order to make apparent the proper distinctions, foreigners of every nation are, in accordance with existing regulations, prohibited from going into the country to propagate religion.

    GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD MISSIONARIES. 359

    For these purposes this decree is given. Cause it to be made known.
    From the Emperor.'(‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 155, where the original is given.)

    The directors of Protestant missions did not think it right to violate the Last paragraph in this rescript, and confined their efforts to the open ports, where their agents had much preliminary work to do. This went on quietly, and on the whole peaceably, as the inhabitants found that the missionaries were their friends. Chapels^ schools, hospitals, printing offices, and dwellings were erected at all the ports, bo that by the year 1858 about one hundred Protestants were carrying them on. The number of converts was few, and there was not much result to show in tabular lists. It was a time of seed-sowing.

    In 1849 the adherents of Hong Xiu-quan began to make trouble in the west of Kwangtung, and to be called the Shangdihui / and the Peking authorities were unable to distinguish them from Protestants, who had thus rendered the name for God in the version of the Bible used by these misguided men. Their rapid successes against the imperial troops soon roused the utmost energies of the government to suppress them and retake Nanking. In 1856 a more dangerous struggle was precipitated by the impolitic action of Yeh Ming-chin, the governor-general at Canton, in respect to the Arrow, a snniggling lorcha carrying the British flag, which ended in a declaration of war against China. When hostilities ceased in 1858 by signing treaties of peace at Tientsin with envoys of the four nations there assembled, it was deemed to be a favorable time to introduce some definite stipulations respecting the toleration of Christianity in China. The rescripts of the Emperor DaoGuang in 1844 had never carried any real weight among rulers or people, nor had the Romanists ever been able to re-possess their old churches and other real estate taken from them. The largest part had long been occupied or destroyed.

    Any opposition to such a proposal was not likely to be very persistent on the part of the Chinese plenipotentiarie^s in face of the force at the call of those who had just captured the forts at Taku and held the city of Tientsin under their guns. The four nations. Great Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, were, as representatives of Christendom, in the providence of God brought face to face with China, the representative of paganism. They came to demand an arrangement of commercial, diplomatic, civil, and ex-territorial rights, and the introduction of religious privileges did not enter into their plans.

    The war on the part of the two first-named powers had no reference to religion, and their two colleagues wuuld doubtless have omitted the articles on toleration if the Chinese had held out on those alone. At this singular and most unexpected correlation of moral and physical forces among the nations of the world, involving the greater part of its inhabitants, the freedom of the rising church of Christ in China was quietly secured by the four following articles of toleration inserted in the treaties signed in June, 1858. They are here given in the order of their dates:

    Russian. Art. YIII.—The Chinese government having recognized the fact that the Christian doctrine promotes the establishment of order and peace among men, promises not to persecute its Christian subjects for the exercise of the duties of their religion; they shall enjoy the protection of all those who profess other creeds tolerated in the Empire. The Chinese government, considering the Christian missionaries as worthy men who do not seek worldly advantages, will permit them to propagate Christianity among its subjects, and will not hinder them from moving about in the interior of the Empire. A certain number of missionaries setting out from the open ports, or cities, shall be provided with passports signed by Russian authorities.

    American. Art. XXIX.—The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, are recognized as teaching men to do good, and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Hereafter, those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether, citizen of the United States or Chinese convert, who according to these tenets peaceably teaches and practises the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or molested.

    TREATY STIPULATIONS RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY. 361

    British. Art. VTTI.—The Christian religion, as professed by Protestants or Roman Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man to do as he would be done by. Persons teaching it or professing it, therefore, shall alike be entitled to the protection of the (‘liinose authorities ; nor sliull any siicli, peaceably pursuing their calling, and not offending against the laws, be persecuted or interfered with.

    French. Art. XIII.—La religion Chretienne, ayant pour objet essentiel, de porter les honinies a la vertu, les niembres de toutes communions Ohretiennes jouiront d’une entiere securite pour leurs personnes, leurs proprietes, et le libre exercice de leurs pratiques religieuses ; et une protection efficace seia donnee aux missionnaires qui se rendront pacifiquement dans I’interieur du pays, munis des passeports reguliers dont il est parle dans TArticIe VIII. Aucune entrave ne sera apportee par les autorites de TEmpire Cliinois au droit qui est reconnu a tout individu en Chine d’einbrasser, s’il le vent, le Christianisme et d’en suivre les pratiques, sans etre passible d’aucune peine intiigee pour ce fait. Tout ce qui a etc precedemment ccrit, proclame, ou public en Chine par ordre du gouvernement centre le culte Chretien, est compK’tement abroge, et reste sans valeur dans toutes les pi’ovinces de I’Empire.

    An article similar to these in its general import has been

    inserted in nearly all the treaties subsequently signed with the

    Chinese. They contain as nmch freedom of faith and practice

    by converts as could be desired by any reasonable man ; but

    many missionaries were disappointed that their provisions were

    violated or disregarded by native officials. These sanguine persons

    often forgot that forbearance and time were both needed

    to bring the people and their rulers up to an appreciation of tlie

    new liberties and obligations contained in the treaties, and that

    their ignorance would be best and thoroughly removed by the

    living evidences of the purity and power of Christianity among

    its converts. These have already begun to show their faith by

    their works.

    The only additional action of the Chinese government in this direction that needs to be noticed is Article YI., agreed upon with the French envoy and contained in the convention signed at Peking in October, 1860, in relation to the restoration of property once o^^^^ed by the Romanists. The translation is as follows :

    Art. VI.—It shall be promulgated throughout the length and breadth of the land, in the terms of the imperial edict of February 20, 1846, that it is permitted to all people in all parts of China to propagate and practise the teachings of the Lord of Heaven, to meet together for preaching the doctrines, to build churches and to worship; further, all such as indiscriminately arrest [Christians] shall be duly punished, and such churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians shall be paid for, and the money handed to the French representative at Peking for transmission to the Christians in the locality concerned.

    It is in addition permitted to French missionaries to rent and purchase land in all the jyovinces, and to erect buildings thereon at jpleasure^

    In carrying out the details of this article, so much injustice and violence were exhibited by native Ilomanists, supported by the missionaries in claiming lands alleged to have belonged to them as far back as the days of Ilicci and in the Ming dynasty, and forcing their owners and occupants to yield them without any or sufficient compensation, that riots and hatreds arose in many parts of China. Temples, houses, and shops which had been in the legal possession of natives for one or two centuries were claimed under this stipulation, and they forcibly resisted the surrender. The discontent became so great that the French minister at last issued a notice, about 1872, that no more claims of this kind would be received from the missionaries, and further complaints ceased. The imbroglio was heightened by the murder of two or three missionaries in Kweichau and Sz’chnen during the previous years, and the escape of the guilty parties into other provinces.

    ‘ This sentence in italics is not contained in the French text of the convention; hut as that Language is made, in Art. Ill of the Treaty of Tientsin, the oiiUi authoritative text, the surreptitious insertion of this important stipulation in the Chinese text makes it void. The procediu-e was unworthy ofa great nation like France, whose army environed Peking when the convention was signed.

    REVISION OF THE BIBLE IN CHINESE. 363

    The feelings of all the llomish missionaries at the removal of the many disabilities under which they had long lived and bravely suffered were expressed by the Bishop of Shantung in an encyclical letter to his people, in which he exhorts them to “maintain and diligently learn the holy religion. . . . Let them also pray that the holy religion may he greatly promoted, remembering that the kind consideration of the Emperor toward our holy religion springs entirely from the favor of the Lord of Heaven. After the reception of this order, let thanks be oifered up to God for his mercies in the churches, for three Lord’s days in succession. While the faithful rejoice in this extraordinary favor, let Ave Marias be recited to display grateful feelings.”

    The subject of the thorough revision of the Chinese Bible had long occupied the thoughts of those best acquainted with the need of such a work; and when the English missionaries met at Hongkong in 1843, a general conference of all Protestant missionaries was called to take measures for the preparation of so desirable a work. The version of Morrison and Milne was acknowledged by themselves to be imperfect, and the former had begun some corrections in it before his death. Messrs. Medhurst, Gutzlaff, Bridgman, and J. R. Morrison had united their labors in revising the New Testament, and published it in 1836.

    The greatest harmony existed at this meeting, and the books

    of the New Testament were distributed among the missionaries

    at the several stations without regard to denomination. Some

    discussion arose as to the best word for haptt’sm, for all agieed

    that it could not well be transliterated. The question was referred

    to a committee, which, finding itself unable to agree upon

    a term, recommended that in the proposed version this word

    should be left for each party to adopt which it liked. The

    term si I’l, wdiich had been in use to denote this rite since the

    days of Ricci, by Romanists of all opinions, had been taken by

    Morrison and Medhurst, and by those associated with them.

    Marshman preferred another word, tsan^ which was so unusual

    that it would almost always require explanation ; and in fact

    could only be fully explained by the ceremony itself. Some of

    the American Baptist missionaries have taken Marshman’s term,

    and others have proposed a third one, yuh. Their joint action

    with their brethren in regard to a common version was after* ward repudiated by the societies in the United States, which directed them to prepare separate translations.

    The question of the proper word for God in Chinese was also referred to a committee at this mooting in Hongkong, which reported its inability to agree; and this point, like the word for baptism, was therefore left to the decisiuns of the respective missions, after the version itself was finished. The delegates on the projected translation were chosen by the body of missionaries at each station, and met at Shanghai in June, 1847. They consisted of Eev. Messrs. Medhurst, J. Stronach, and Milne from the London Missionaiy Society, and Rev. Messrs. Bridgman, Boone, Shuck, Lowrie, and Culbei’tson from American societies ; of the last five, Culbertson took Lowrie’s place after his death, and Bp. Boone was never able to take an active share in the work, The New Testament was finished July 25, 1850, and was published soon after with different terms for God and Spirit.

    The Old Testament was translated by the three first named in 1853 ; while another, more adapted to common readers, was completed in 1862 by Messrs. Bridgman and Culbertson.

    (jiitzlaff also issued two or three revisions by himself. In 1805

    a committee was formed in Peking for the purpose of making

    a version of the SS. in the Mandarin dialect, especially that

    prevalent in the northern provinces. It was done by Rev.

    Messrs. Blodget, Edkins, Burdon, and Schereschewsky ; the New Testament was completed by them jointly in 1872, and the Old Testament in 1874 by the last named alone. It made the sixth complete translation of the Bible into Chinese during this century. Other translations have been made into the five southern patois of several books of the liible—and at ]S’ingpo and Amoy they are issued in the Romanized letters, and not in the Chinese character. These last, of course, are unintelligible to all natives not taught in mission schools.

    PROGRESS IN EVANGELIZING THE CHINESE. 365

    The influence and labors of female missionaries in China is, from the constitution of society in that country, likely to be the only, or principal means of reaching their sex for a long time to come, and it is desirable, therefore, that they should engage in the work by learning the language and making the acquaintance of the families jirouiid them. No nation can be elevated, <)!• (In’istian institutions placed upon a pci’nianent basis, until fenuiles are taught their rightful place as the companions of men, and can teach their children the duties they owe to their God, themselves, and their country. Fenuile schools arc the necessary complement of boys’, and a heathen wife soon carries a man back to idolatry if he is only intellectually convinced of the truths of Christianity. The comparatively high estimation the Chinese place upon female education is an encouragement to nniltiply girls’ schools. The formation of mission boards in western lands, conducted entirely by women, has made these schools and medical work among women in China both practical and necessary. No large mission is now regarded as complete without one or more women to carry on such parts of the work as belong to them ; and this is true of the Komish missions as well as Protestants.

    The advance in the work of evangelization since the opening of the Empire in 1842 by the Treaty of Nanking has been in the highest degree encouraging. It was soon ascertained that the hatred and contempt of foreigners which were supposed to dwell in the minds of all Chinese, needed only to be met with kindness and patient teachings to give place to respect and confidence.

    The sufferings from the war with England, and the evils resulting from the snuiggling and use of opium among the people, had embittered the minds of dwellers along the coast ; but as most of this was local, the enlargement of mission work did nuich to remove the ignorance which nursed the dislike. The free relief of disease and pain in the hospitals aided greatly to improve intercourse, so that at this day the natives in and around the open ports have become entirely changed in their feelings.

    This outline of Protestant mission work in China may be closed by a notice of the conference held at Shanghai in May, 1877, at which one hundi-ed and twenty-six men and women, connected wath twenty different bodies, assembled to discuss their common work in its various departments. The report of their proceedings gives fuller statistics of the work then going on than is to be found elsewhere, and the twenty-seven papers read and discussed in the three -days’ sessions contain the ripened views of competent thinkers upon the most serious questions connected with the welfare of China. The following table has been taken from this report, and exhibits a remarkable development in education and preaching, considering that most of the stations have been opened since 1860.

    STATISTICS or PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA FOR THE YEAR 1877.

    Branches of Mission Work.

    Stations where missionaries reside

    Out-stations

    Organized churches

    {i<) Wholly self-supporting

    (b) Partially self-supporting

    Communicants,

    -j g^^es ‘.’.’.’.’.’.[[‘.’.][‘.’.

    Pupils in 31 boj’s’ boarding-schools

    ” 177 boys’ day-schools

    ” 39 girls’ boarding-schools

    ” 82 girls’ day-schools

    ” 21 theological schools

    ” 115 Sunday-schools

    Pastors and preachers ordained

    Assistant preachers

    Colportors

    Bible women

    Church buildings for worship

    Chapels and preaching places

    In-patients / .^^^^ i.ospitals, 187G …\

    Out-puticnts, \ f f^

    Patients treated in 24 dispensaries, 1876.

    Medical students

    Contributions of native Christians, 1876..

    American British

    Missions. Missions.

    41 215 150 11

    115

    3,117

    2,183

    347

    1,255

    464

    957

    94

    2,110

    42

    212

    28

    62

    113

    183

    1,390

    47,635

    25,107

    19

    $4,482

    43

    290

    156

    7

    149

    4,504

    2,440

    154

    1,470

    206

    335

    120

    495

    28

    273

    46

    28

    118

    249

    3,905

    41,170

    16,174

    13

    $5,089

    Continental Missions.

    8

    27

    12

    687

    584

    146

    265

    124

    15

    22

    “”*3

    34

    3

    2

    15

    Total,

    92

    532

    318

    18

    264

    8,308

    5,207

    647

    2,991

    794

    1,307

    236

    2,605

    73

    519

    77

    92

    246

    457

    5,295

    88,805

    41,281

    33

    $9,571

    STATISTICS OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA. 367

    The total number of men who have joined the Protestant missions to the Chinese up to 1876, as nearly as can be ascertained, has been 484. Of these 41 were laymen, chiefly physicians, and no women or natives are included. Twelve American societies had sent out 212 ordained missionaries, and the same number of British societies had sent 196 ; all the agents of the 8 or 10 continental societies amounted to 35. The number in 1847 was 112 of all nations; in 1858, this figure had increased to 214 ; and a table made out in 1877 by the Shanghai Conference gives 473 as the total number of persons then engaged in active missionary work in China, including 15 not employed by any of the 25 societies enumerated. Of these 210 belonged to 10 American, 242 to 13 British, and 26 to 2 German societies; 172 of the whole number being wives of missionaries, and 63 unmarried females.

    No one acquainted with the practical evangelical work in

    China needs to be told that these statistics give no idea of the

    cliaracter and attainments of the fourteen thousand converts

    which have joined native churches, or the extent and thoroughness

    of the education given the five thousand seven hundred

    children counted in. Those who look for more than the

    merest beginnings of faith and culture in the minds of natives

    just brought out of the ignorance, sottishness, and impurity of

    heathenism into tlie brightness of Christianity, or those who

    .harshly criticise these results of mission work, will do well to

    examine for themselves more fully the limitations and nature

    of all its branches.

    ‘No mention is made in these items of the amount of printing

    done at mission presses, for those particulars are scattered

    over hundreds of reports issued during the last score or two

    years. The presses formerly conducted by Williams, Wylie,

    and Cole at Canton, Slianghai, and Hongkong during an aggregate

    of nearly forty years, have been superseded by more and

    larger establishments ; moreover, the facilities for transporting

    books render their issues more available at the remotest parts

    of the country. The manufacture of Chinese and Japanese

    types by the Presbyterian Mission press and foundiy furnishes

    native workmen with the means of printing newspapers and

    books, which otherwise could never have been done (so as to

    become self-supporting) by means of blocks. At this establishment

    over thirty millions of pages are annually sent forth,

    and this amount is more than doubled by all the other mission

    presses. The effects of this literature upon the native mind,

    which these agencies are scattering wider every year, will be

    apparent in the near future.

    The worth and labors of many men comprised in this number of missionaries have long been known to the Christian publie. Milne and Collie ardently longed and labored diligentlv for the comino; and extension of the kingdom of Christ in China, though not allowed to live in its borders. Few men in the missionary corps have exceeded Edwin Stevens in sound judgment and steady pursuit of a well-formed purpose, which in his case was to aid in perfecting the version of the Bible, he was employed nearly three years as seamen’s chaplain at Whampoa before entering the service among the Chinese, and his labors in that department were highly acceptable to those who frequented the port.

    The warm-hearted, humble piety and singleness of purpose

    of Samuel Dyer were also well known to every one engaged

    with him. His long and assiduous labors to complete a fount

    of Chinese metallic type, amid many obstacles and hindrances,

    were prompted by the hope that, when once finished, books

    could be printed M’itli more elegance, cheapness, and rapidity

    than in any other way. He lived to see it brought into partial

    use, and to satisfy himself concerning the feasibility of this

    plan. If the impulses of private friendship and the esteem

    generally entertained for David Abeel should prompt a notice

    of his character and labors, it would soon extend to many

    pages ; they have been well worthy the fuller notice which is

    given in his memoir. Among other biographies may be mentioned

    those of Walter M. Lowrie, William C. Burns, D. Sandeman,

    J. Henderson, Samuel Dyer, E. C. Bridgman, and W. Aitcheson, which will furnish information upon the details of their labors. Female missionaries have also done much, and will do more, in this work, which recpiires minds and labors in large variety. Mrs. Maiy Morrison, Mrs. Sarah Boone, Mrs. Theodosia Dean, Mrs. L\icy J]all, IVIrs. Henrietta Shuck, Mrs. Doty, and Mrs. Pohlman, all died in China before 184G—the first of scores of honorable women who have since thus ended their lives.

    JTOTICES OF FORMER PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES. 369

    Before closing this brief sketch of Christian missions among the Chinese, it may be well to mention some of the peculiar facilities and difficulties which attend the work. The business of transforming heathen society and reconstructing it on diristian principles is a great and proti’;u*tt'(l undertaking, and is to be commenced in all communities by working on individuals. The opposition of the iinregenerate heart can be overcome only by the transforming influences of the Spirit, but the intellect must be enlightened, and the moral sense instructed by a system of means, before the truths of the Bible can be intelligently received or rejected. This opposition is not peculiar to China, but it will probably assume a more polemic and argumentative cast there than in some other countries. The proud literati are not disposed to abase Confucius below the Saviour, but rather inclined to despise the reiteration of his name and atonement as a seesaw about “one Jesus who was dead, whom we affirm to be alive”. Medhurst notices a tract written against him by

    a Chinese, in which it is argued that ” it was monstrous in barbarians

    to attempt to improve the inhabitants of the Celestial

    Empire when they were so miserably deficient themselves.

    Thus, introducing among the Chinese a poisonous drug, for

    their own benefit to the injury of others, they were deficient in

    benevolence ; sending their fleets and armies to rob other nations

    of their possessions, they could make no pretentions to

    rectitude ; allowing men and women to mix in society and walk

    arm in arm through the streets, they showed that they had not

    the least sense of propriety ; and in rejecting the doctrines of

    the ancient kings they were far from displaying wisdom ; in

    deed, truth was the only good quality to which they could lay

    the least claim. Deficient, therefore, in four out of the five

    cardinal virtues, how could they expect to renovate others ?

    Then, while foreigners lavished money in circulating books for

    the renovation of the age, they made no scruple of trampling

    printed paper under foot, by which they showed their disrespect

    for the inventors of letters. Further, these would-be exhorters

    of the world were themselves deficient in filial piety, forgetting

    their parents as soon as dead, putting them off with deal coffins

    only an inch thick, and never so much as once sacrificing to

    their manes, or burning the smallest trifle of gilt paper for their

    support in the future world. Lastly, they allowed the rich and

    noble to enter office without passing through any literary examinations, and did not throw open the road to advancement to the poorest and meanest in the land. From ^JJ these, it appeared that foreigners were inferior to Chinese, and therefore most unfit to instruct them.”

    To these arguments, which commend themselves to a Chinese with a force that can hardly be understood by a foreigner, they often add the intemperate, immoral lives and reckless cupidity of professed Christians who visit their shores, and ask what good it will do them to change their long-tried precepts for the new-fangled teachings of the Bible? The pride of learning is a great obstacle to the reception of the humiliating truths of the Gospel everywhere, but perhaps especially in China, where letters are so highly honored and patronized. The language is another difficulty in the way of the diffusion of the Gospel, both on the part of the native and the missionary. The mode of education among the Chinese is admirably fitted for the ends they propose, viz., of forming the mind to implicit belief and reverence for the precepts of Confucius, and obedience

    to the government which makes those precepts the outlines of

    its actions, but it rather weakens the intellect for independent

    thought on other subjects. The language itself, as we have

    had opportunity to observe, is an unwieldy vehicle for imparting

    new truths, either by writing or speaking, chiefl}’ because of

    the additional burden every new character or term imposes upon

    the memory. The immense number, who read and speak this

    language, reconciles one, however, to extra labor and patience

    to become familiar with its forms of speech, and ascertain the

    best modes of conveying truth.

    When the five ports were opened in 1845 to practical missionary

    work among the two or three millions of people living

    in and around them, it was soon found that they were tolerably

    well-disposed to foreigners when they understood what was said

    to them. Fifteen years of constant labor changed the ignorance

    and suspicion with which they regarded the first missionaries,

    into respectful regard if not acceptance of their message. At

    the end of this period, the capture of Peking and the ratification

    of the treaties of Tientsin completed the opening of China

    to such labors as far as diplomatic agency could go. Congregations

    are now collected, and truth explained to them with a

    good degree of acceptance every Sabbath, and all that is wanted

    CHECKS AND PROMOTIONS IN CHINESE MISSIONS. 371

    to get more congregations is more preachers ; long before missionary labors are accomplished in all the ports, the whole land will afford every choice of climate and position. Facilities for learning the language are constantly increasing. Dictionaries, vocabularies, phrase books, grammars, and chrestomathies in all the dialects will soon be prepared ; and the list now is not small. They have all, with few exceptions, been made and printed by Protestant missionaries.

    Churches have increased since the first one was formed in Canton in 1835, and some of them are served by native evangelists, two of whom, Liang A-fali and Tsin Slien, of the London Mission, deserve mention as among the first of their countrymen who became educated, earnest preachers of the gospel. The future is full of promise, and the efforts of the church with regard to China will not cease until every son and daughter of the race of Ilan has been taught the truths of the Bible, and has had them fairly propounded for reception or rejection. They will progress until all the cities, towns, villages, and hamlets of that vast Empire have the teacher and professor of religion living in them; until their children are educated, their civil liberties understood, and political rights guaranteed; their poor cared for, their literature purified, their condition bettered in this world by the full revelation of another made known to them. The work of missions will go on until the government is modified, and religious and civil liberty granted to all, and China takes her rank among the Christian nations of the earth, reciprocating all the courtesies due fi-om people professing the same faith.

    CHAPTER XX.  COMMERCE OF THE CHINESE

    It is probable that the applications made in remote times to the rulers of China for liberty to trade with their subjects, partook in their opinion very much of the nature of an acknowledgment of their power; the presents accompanying the request were termed I’ung, and regarded as tribute, while the traders themselves also looked upon the intercourse in somewhat the same light. The chapter of the Book of Records, called the ” Tribute of Vu,’” is one of the most ancient documents in existence relating to the products of a country, and indicates a trade in them of no small extent. Silk, lacquer, furs, grass-cloth, salt, gems, gold, silver, and other metals, ivory and manufactured goods are enumerated ; they are mostly identified with articles still produced, as Legge has shown in his translation. The records of the origin and early course of this trade are lost to a great extent, but the Chinese annals furnish proof of similar traffic for two thousand years after the days of Yu. It had the effect of extending the influence of Chinese institutions among less civilized neighbors, and of making foreign commerce a means of benefit to all parties. The restrictions and charges upon all trade were of small amount at this early period ; as it extended, the cupidity of local officers led them to burden it with numerous illegal fees, which gradually reduced its value, and finally, in some instances, drove it away altogether.

    TIIADE WTTIT nillSrA. 373

    The materials in Chinese literature for investigating this subject after the period of the Han dynasty are abundant, and they will reward the careful analysis of foreign scholars. Mairo Polo, the two Arab travelers in a.d. 850 and 878, and Ibn BaAXCIENT tuta, in 1330, have each contributed their narratives, hinting therein more than they could carefully investigate of the wide ransre and value of the Chinese forei2;u commerce. During; the Ming dynasty this trade fell off, owing to the impoverishment of the land by the Mongols ; but when (about 1000) the stimulus of European ships along the coast began to develop and reward native manufactures, foreign nations and merchants appreciated the fact that it was more profitable to trade with China than attack her.

    The principal items of export and import have not materially changed during the last century ; the splendid fabrics of Chinese looms, their tea, lacquered ware, and products of their kilns, being still bartered for the cottons, metals, furs, and woolens of the west. Such articles as possess peculiar interest, and have not been already described, together with a few notices respecting the present extent and mode of conducting the trade, will suffice to explain its general features.’ The history of the cultin-e and trade in tea by Samuel Ball of Canton in 1835, may yet be considered as an authority upon the subject.

    The growth in the use of tea is instructive, too, rising from an importation of about eighty pounds into England in 1670, till it had so well vindicated its virtues and enlarged its use among that people, that in ISSO one hundred and eighty million pounds were required to supply them ; and more than that was exported elsewhere from China.

    The first item which attracts attention in the table of trade with China is opium, whose growth and momentous consequences require a detailed account. The use of opium as a medicine has not long been known to Chinese doctors, though, from the way the poppy is mentioned in the Hcrhal, there is reason to suppose it to be indigenous. The drug is called apien, in imitation of the word ojnum, while the plant is called qfuipinjj, a transliteration of the Arabic name Afi/un, from which country it was brought about the ninth century. It has many

    ‘Ample materials are now provided in the full reports of the Custom’s .service and the Exhibition Catalogues of Vienna, Paris, Philadelphia, etc. ; the reports of Rondot, Iledde, and other members of the French Legation in 1844 are still valuable.

    names, as great smoke, ‘black commodity black earthy foreign medicine; the last is the term used in the tarifP. The compiler of the llerhal^ who wrote two centuries ago, speaks of the plant and its inspissated juice, saying that both were formerly but little known ; he then concisely describes the mode of collecting it, which leads to the inference that it was then used in medicine. None was imported coastwise for scores of years after that date, but the poppy is now grown in every province and in Manchuria, and no real restraint is anywhere put on its cultivation. The juice is collected and prepared by the people for their own consumption in much the same manner as in India; as long ago as 1S30 we find one official observing in respect to the cultivation, which was extending, that it was ” not only bringing injury on the good, but greatly retarding the work of the husbandmen.”

    The mode of raising the poppy in the Patna district in India

    is thus described : The ryot or cultivator havhig selected a

    piece of ground, always preferring {cceter’is paribus) that which

    is nearest his house, fences it in. He then, by repeated ploughings

    and manuring, makes it rich and fine, and removes all

    the weeds and grass. Xext. he divides the field into two or

    more beds by small dikes of mould, running lengthwise and

    crosswise according to the slope and nature of the ground, and

    again into smaller squares by other dikes leading from the

    principal ones. A tank is dug about ten feet deep at one end

    of the field, from which by a leathern bucket, water is raised

    into one of the principal dikes and carried to every part as

    required ; this irrigation is necessary because the cultivation is

    carried on in the dry weather. The seed is sown in November,

    and the juice collected in February and March, during a period, usually, of about six weeks ; weeding and watering commence as soon as the plants spring up, and are continued till the poppies come to maturity. Cuts are then made in the capsule with a niishtur or notched iron instrument made of three or four sharp laiicet-likc plates; this is done at sunrise, and the exudation is scraped off next morning by a scoop or slttuJia, and deposited in the dish hanging at the ryot’s side. He takes it home and after draining it dry in a large shallow dish, turns

    OPIUM CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 375

    it over and over in the air for a month till the mass is equally dried, and it is lit to carry to the godown. Here it is thrown into a great tank, and kneaded to a uniform consistence; when ready it is rolled into balls according to the size of a brass bowl; these balls are covered with a coating of popp}’ petals, and stored in a drying-house till ready for jjacking. The quality of the article depends very much upon the care taken in the drying and covering with Ikoa or opium paste when the ball is prepared.

    The cultivator must deliver a certain quantity at the stipulated

    price to the collector, the amount being fixed by a survey

    of the field when in bloom ; he receives about one dollar and

    sixty-five cents for a seer (one pound thirteen ounces) of the

    poppy juice, which must be of a certain consistence. The ryot

    has, in most cases, already received the advance money, and if

    he sell this crude opium to any other than the collector, or if

    he fail to deliver the estimated quantity, and there is reason for

    supposing he has embezzled it, he is liable to punishment. In

    all parts of India, the cultivation of the poppy, the preparation

    of the drus, and the traffic in it until it is sold at auction for

    exportation, are under a strict monopoly. Should an individual

    undertake the cultivation without having entered into

    engagements with the government to deliver the produce at the

    fixed rate, his property would be immediately attached, and he

    compelled either to destroy the poppies, or give security for

    the faithful delivery of the product. The cultivation of the

    plant is compulsory, for if the ryot refuse the advance for the

    year’s crop, the simple plan of throwing the rupees into his

    house is adopted ; should he attempt to abscond, the agents

    seize him, tie the advance up in his clothes, and push him into

    his house. There being then no remedy, he applies himself as

    he may to the fulfilment of his contract. The chief opium district is on the Ganges valley, occupying the best land in Benares and Behar, to the extent of about a thousand square miles. The northern and central parts of India are now covered with poppies, while other plants used for food or clothing have nearly been driven out. In Turkey, Persia, India, and China many myriads of acres and millions of people are employed in the cultivation of poppies.’ The growth has extended so much in Persia that opium has lately come from thence to China.

    The preparation of the opium is superintended by official examiners, and is a business of some difficulty, from the many substances put into the juice to adulterate or increase its weight.

    Wetting it so that the mass shall be more fluid than it naturally is, mixing sand, soft clayey mud, sugar, coarse molasses, cowdung, pounded poppy-seeds, and the juice of stramony, quinces, and other plants, are all resorted to, though with the almost certain result of detection and loss. When the juice has been dried properly, to about seventy per cent, spissitude, it appears coppery brown in the mass, and when spread tliin on a \vhito plate, shows considerable translucency, with a gallstone yellow color and a slightly granular texture. When cut with a knife it exhibits sharp edges without drawing out into threads ; and is tremulous like strawberry-jam, to which it has been aptly compared. It has considerable adhesiveness, a handful of it not dropping from the inverted hand for some seconds.

    ‘ Chinese Eepository, Vol V. , p. 472.

    PREPARATIOiSr AND SALE OF OPIUM. 377

    All the opium grown is brought to Calcutta and stored in government warehouses, until it is exposed for sale at auction, at an upset price, graduated according to the market price in China. It is supposed not to cost much more than seven hundred rupees a chest, and is sold at as high an advance as it will bear. Great care is taken to suit the taste of the Chinese ; on one occasion, the East India Company refunded part of the price on a lot which had been differently prepared, to try whether that people would prefer it. There are several sorts of opium : Turkey and Persian, which sell cheapest, and reach China from Aden ; Patna and Benares which are sold at Calcutta ; and Malwa, which is cultivated out of British jurisdiction. In order to equalize its competition, an export duty was until 1812 put on each chest of one hundred and twenty-five rupees, which has been increased to six hundred rupees. The drug is rolled in balls, and then packed in strong boxes, weighing from one hundred and sixteen pounds for Patna, to one hundred and thirty-four pounds or one hundred and forty pounds for Malwa. .Mahva opium is grown and prepared by natives, and is often extensively adulterated ; between four hundred and five hundred cakes are in a chest, and the cultivator there receives double the wages of the ryot in Bengal.

    Opium chests are made of mango wood in Patna and Benares and consist of two parts, in each of which there are twenty partitions; the balls are carefully rolled in dry poppy leaves.

    The chest is covered with hides or gunny bags, and the seams closed so as to render it as impervious to the air as possible. After the drug is sold at auction, there is no further tax on it. The revenue from this monopoly has become so great and important, that its continuance is described by a leading editor in India as a matter of life and death to the Government. In 1840, the income was somewhat over two millions sterling; it has since steadily increased, till in 1872 it amounted to £7,657,000; the average annual sum between the years 1869 to 1876 was £6,524,000, and it has been over five millions ever since the peace of Tientsin. The purity and flavor of the drug has been carefully maintained by competent scientists, and by this date the prejudice in its favor has become so strong among the Chinese, as to induce them to pay an enormous premium for the Indian article over any native product.

    The use of opium among the Chinese two centuries ago must

    have been very little,^ or tjie writings of Bomish missionaries,

    from 1580 down to the beginning of the nineteenth century,

    would certainly have contained some account of it. It was not

    tdl the year 1767 that the importation reached a thousand chests,

    and continued at that rate for some years, most of the trade

    being in the hands of the Portuguese. The East India Company

    made a small adventure in 1773 ; and seven years after, a depot

    of two small vessels was established by the English in Lark’s Bay, south of Macao ; the price was then about $550 a chest.

    In 1781 the company freighted a vessel to Canton, but were obliged to sell the lot of 1,600 chests at 8200 a chest, to Sinqua, one of the hong-merchants, who, not being able to dispose of it to advantage, reshipped it to the Archipelago. The price in 1791 was about ,$370 a chest, and was imported under the head of medicine at a dutv of about seven dollars a hundredweight, including charges. The authorities at Canton began to complain of the two ships in Lark’s Bay in 1793, and their owners being much annoyed by the pirates and revenue boats, and inconvenienced by the distance from Canton, loaded the opium on board a single vessel, and brought her to AVhampoa, where she lay unmolested for more than a year. She was then loaded and sent out of the river, and the drug introduced in another ship ; this practice continued until 1820, when the governor-general and collector of customs issued an edict, forbidding any vessel to enter the port in which opium was stored, and making the pilots and Hang-merchants responsible for its being on board. The Portuguese were also forbidden to introduce it into Macao, and every officer in the Chinese custom-house there was likewise made responsible for preventing it, under the heaviest penalties. “Be careful,” says his excellency in conclusion, ” and do not view this document as mere matter of form, and so tread within the net of the law, for you will find your escape as impracticable as it is for a man to bite his own navel.”

    The importation had been prohibited by the Emperor JiaQing in 1800, under heavy penalties, on account of its use wasting the time and destroying the property of the people of the Inner Land, and exchanging their silver and commodities for the ” vile dirt ” of foreign countries. The supercargoes of the Company therefore recommended the Directors to prohibit its shipment to China from England and India, but this could not be done ; and they contented themselves by forbidding their own ships bringing it to China. The Hang-merchants were required to give bonds, in 1809, that no ship which discharged her cargo at Whampoa had opium on board ; but they contrived to evade the restriction. The traffic was carried on at Whampoa and Macao by the connivance of local officers, some of whom watched the delivery of every chest and received a fee; while their superiors, i-emote from the scene of smuggling, pocketed an annual bi’ibe for overlooking the violation of the imperial orders.

    SMUGGLIiS”G TRADE IN OPIUM. 379

    The system of bribery and condoning malpractices, so common

    in China, Is well illustrated bj a case which occurred in connection

    with this business. In September, 1S21, a Chinese inhabitant

    of Macao, who had been the niediuni of receiving from

    the Portuguese, and paying to the Chinese officers the several

    bribes annually given for the introduction of opium, was arrested

    by government for hiring banditti to assault one of his personal

    opponents. Having got the man in their power, quicksilver was

    poured into his ears, to injure his head without killing him;

    they also forced him to drink a horril)le potion of scalding tea

    mixed with the short hairs shaved from his head. The vile

    wretch who originated this cruel idea and paid the perpetrators

    of it, was a pettifogging notary, who brought gain to tlie officials

    by intimidating the people, until he was the pest and terror of

    the neighborhood. An official enemy at last laid his character

    and doings before the governor, who had him seized and thrown

    into prison, when he turned his wrath on his former employers,

    and confessed that he held the place of bribe-collector, and that

    all the authorities received so much per chest, even up to the

    admiral of the station. The governor, though doubtless aware

    of these practices, was now obliged to notice them ; but instead

    of punishing those who were directly guilty, he accused the senior Hang-merchant, a rich man, nicknamed the ” timid young lady,” and charged him with neglecting his suretyship in not pointing out every foreign ship which contained opium. It was in vain for him to plead that he had never dealt in opium, nor had any connection with those who did deal in it; nor could lie search the ships to ascertain what was in them, or control the authorities who encouraged and protected the smuggling of opium: notwithstanding all his pleas, the governor was determined to hold him responsible. He was accordingly disgraced, and a paper, combining admonition, with exhortation and entreaty, was addressed by his excellency to the foreigners, Portuguese, English, and Americans. The gods, he said, would conduct the fair dealers in safety over the ocean, but over the contraband smugglers of a pernicious poison, the terrors of the royal law on earth, and the wrath of the infernal gods in hades were suspended. The Americans brought opium, he observed, “because they had no king to rule them.” The opium ships thus being driven from Wkanipoa, and the Portuguese unwilling or afraid to admit it into Macao unless at a high duty, the merchants established a floating depot of receiving-ships at Lintin, an island between Macao and the Bogue. In summer, the ships moved to Kumsing moon, Kapshui moon, Hongkong, and other anchorages off the river, to be more secure against the tyfoons ; remaining near Lintin during the north-east monsoon, until 1S39.’

    The mode of introducing opium into the country, when the prohibitions against its use were upheld by the moral approval of the best portion of the native society, has hardly any interest now, except as a matter of history. It is a sad exhibition of power, habit, skill, and money all combining to weaken and overpower the feeble, desultory resistance of a pagan and ignorant people against the progress of what they knew was destroying them. The finality of such a struggle could hardly be doubted, and when the tariff of 1858 allowed opium to enter by the payment of a duty, the already enfeebled moral resistance seemed to die out with the extinction of the smuggling trade in opium, now raised to a licensed commerce. The rise and course of the trade up to that year can be learned from the volumes of the Chinese Repository and newspapers issued in China.

    ‘ CMnetse RejMisitonjj Vol. \., ]ip. 546-553.

    PREPAEING THE DllFCi FOR SMOKING. 381

    The utensils used in preparing the opium for smoking, consist chiefly of three hemispherical brass pans, two bamboo filters, two portable furnaces, earthen pots, ladles, straining-cloths, and sprinklers. The ball being cut in two, the interior is taken out, and the opium adhering to or contained in the leafy covering is previously sinnnered three several times, each time using a pint of spring water, and straining it into an earthen pot; some cold water is poured over the dregs after the third boiling, and from half a cake (weighing at first about twenty-eight pounds, and with which this process is supposed to be conducted), there will be about five pints of liquid. The interior of the cake is then boiled with this liquid for about an hour, until the whole is reduced to a paste, which is spread out with a spatula in two pans, and exposed to the fire for two or three minutes at a time, till the water is driven off; during this operation it is often broken up and re-spread, and at the last drying cut across with a knife. It is all then spread out in one cake, and covered with six pints of water, being allowed to remain several hours or over night for digestion. When sufficiently soaked, a rag filter is placed on the edge of the pan, and the whole of the valuable part drips slowly through the rag into a basket lined with coarse bamboo paper, from which it falls into the other brass pan, about as much liquid going through as there was water poured over the cake. The dregs are again soaked and immediately filtered till found to be nearly tasteless ; this weaker part usually makes about six pints of liquid.

    The first six pints are then briskly boiled, being sprinkled

    with cold water to allay the heat so as not to boil over, and removing

    the scum by a feather into a separate vessel. After

    boiling twenty minutes, five pints of the weak liquid are poured

    in and boiled with it, until the whole is evaporated to about

    three pints, when it is strained through paper into another pan,

    and the remaining pint thrown into the pan just emptied, to

    wash away any portion that may remain in it, and also boiled

    a little while, when it is also strained into the three pints. The

    wliole is then placed over a slow fire in the small furnace, and

    boiled down to a pi-oper consistency for smoking ; while it is

    evaporating a ring forms around the edge, and the pan is taken

    off the fire at intervals to prolong the process, the mass being

    the while rapidly stirred with sticks, and fanned until it becomes

    like thick treacle, when it is taken out and put into small

    pots for smoking. The boxes in which it is retailed are made

    of buffalo’s horn, of such a size as easily to be carried about the

    person. The dregs containing the vegetable residuum, together

    with the scum and washings of the pans, are lastly strained and

    boiled with water, producing about six pints of thin, brownish

    licpiid, which is evaporated to a proper consistence for selling to

    the poor. The process of seething the crude opium is exceedingly

    unpleasant to those unaccustomed to it, from the overpowering narcotic fumes which arise, and this odor marks every shop where it is prepared and every person who smokes it.

    The loss in weight by this mode of preparation is about one half. The Malays prepare it in much the same manner. The custom in Penang is to reduce the dry cake made on the first evaporation to a powder, and when it is digested and again strained and evaporated, reducing it to a consistence resembling shoemaker’s wax.

    The opium pipe consists of a tube of heavy wood furnished at the head with a cup which serves to collect the residuum or ashes left after combustion; this cup is usually a small cavity in the end of the pipe, and serves to elevate the bowl to a level with the lamp. The bowl of the pipe is made of earthenware, of an ellipsoid shape, and sets down upon the hole, itself having a small rimmed orifice on the fiat side. The opium-smoker always lies down, and the impossible picture given by Davis of a ” Mandarin smoking an opium-pipe,” dressed in his official

    robe.s and sitting up at a table, becomes still more singular if the

    author ever saw a smoker at his pipe. Tying along the couch,

    lie holds the pipe, aptly called yen tsiang, i.e., ‘ smoking-pistol,’

    60 near the lamp that the bowl can be brought close up to the

    flame. A pellet of the size of a pea being taken on the end of

    a spoon-headed needle, is put upon the hole of the l)owl and set

    on fire at the lamp, and inhaled at one whiff so that none of the

    smoke shall be lost. Old smokers will retain the breath a long

    time, filling the lungs and exhaling the fumes through the nose.

    The taste of the half-lluid extract is sweetish and oily, somewhat

    like rich cream, but the smell of the burning drug is rather

    sickening. When the pipe has burned out, the smoker lies listless

    for a moment while the fumes are dissipating, and then

    repeats the process until he has spent all his purchase, or taken

    his prescribed dose. When the smoking commences, the man

    becomes loquacious, and breaks out into boisterous, silly merriment,

    which gradually changes to a vacant paleness and shrinking

    of the features, as the quantity increases and the narcotic

    acts. A deep sleep supervenes fi’om half an hour to

    three or four hours’ duration, during which tlie pulse becomes

    slower, softer, and smaller than before the debauch. No refreshment

    is felt from this sleep, when the person has become

    a victim to the habir, but a universal sinking of the .powers

    of the body and mind is experienced, and complete reckless ness of all consequences, if only the craving for more can be appeased.

    MANNER OF SMOKING OPIUM. 383

    A novice is content with one or two wliiffs, which produce vertigo, nausea, and headache, though practice enables him to gradually increase the quantity; “temperate smokers,”‘ warned by the sad example of the numerous victims around them, endeavor to keep within bounds, and walk as near the precipice as they can without falling over into hopeless ruin. In order to do this, they limit themselves to a certain quantity daily, and take it at, or soon after meals, so that the stomach may not be so much weakened. A ” temperate smoker”(though this term is like that of a tenvperate robber, who only takes sliillings from his employer’s till, or a tenvperate bloodletter, who only takes a spoonful daily from his veins) can seldom exceed a mace weight, or about as much of prepared opium as will balance a pistareen or a franc piece ; this quantity Mill fill twelve pipes. Two mace weight taken daily is

    considered an innnoderate dose, which few^ can bear fur any

    length of time ; and those who are afraid of the effects of the

    drug upon themselves endeavor not to exceed a mace. Some

    persons, who have strong constitutions and stronger resolution,

    continue the use of the drug within these limits for many

    years without disastrous effects upon their health and spirits

    though most of even these moderate smokers are so nmch the

    slaves to the habit that they feel too wretched, nerveless, and

    imbecile to go on with their business without the stimulus.

    The testimony regarding the evil effects of the use of this pernicious drug, which deserves better to be called an ” article of destruction ” than an ” article of luxury,” are so unanimous that few can be found to stand up strongly in its favor. Dr. Smith, a physician in charge of the hospital at Penang, says: “The baneful effects of this habit on the human constitution are particularly displayed by stupor, forgetfulness, general deterioration of all the mental faculties, emaciation, debility, sallow complexion, lividness of lips and eyelids, languor and lacklustre of eye, and appetite either destroyed or depraved, sweetmeats or sugar beino; the articles that are most reiished.’*

    These synq)toms appear when the habit has weakened the physical powers, but the niiliappy man soon begins to feel the power cf the drug in a general languoi- and sinking, which disables him, mentally more than bodily, from carrying on his ordinary pursuits. A dose of opium does not produce the intoxication of ardent spirits, and so far as the peace of the community and his family are concerned, the smoker is less troublesome than the drunkard; the former never throws the chairs and tables about the room, or drives his wife out of

    doors in his furious rage ; he never goes reeling through the

    streets or takes lodgings in the gutter ; but contrariwise, he is

    quiet or pleasant, and fretful only when the effects of the pipe

    are gone. It is in the insupportable languor throughout the

    whole frame, the gnawing at the stomach, pulling at the shoulders,

    and failing of the spirits that the tremendous power of

    this vice lies, compelling the *’ victimized ” slave “to seek it yet

    again.” There has not yet been opportunity to make those

    minute investigations respecting the extent opium is used

    among the Chinese, what classes of people use it, their daily

    dose, the proportion of reprobate smokers, and many other

    points which have been narrowly examined into in regai’d

    to the use of alcohol ; so that it is impossible to decide the

    (question as to which of the two is the more dreadful habit.

    These statistics have, heretofore, been impossible to obtain in

    (“hina, and it will be very difficult to obtain them, even when

    a person who may have the leisure and abilities shall undertake

    the task.

    Various means have been tried by benevolent natives to dissuade their countrymen from using it, such as distributing tracts showing its ruinous effects, compounding medicines for the smoker to take to aid him in breaking off the habit, and denouncing the smoking-shops to government. A painter at Canton made a series of admonitory pictures, showing the several steps in the downward course of the opium-smoker, until beggary and death ended the scene; one of them, showing the young debauchee at his revels, is here introduced.

    DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE HABIT. 385

    Manner of Smoking Opium.

    A Chinese scholar thus sums up the bad effects of opium, which, ‘le says, us taken at first to raise the animal spirits and prevent lassitude i ” It exhausts the aninuil spirits, impedes the regular performance of business, wastes the flesh and blood, dissipates every kind of property, renders the person ill-favored, promotes obscenity, discloses secrets, violates the laws, attacks the vitals, and destroys life.” Under each of these heads he lucidly shows the mode of the process, or gives examples to uphold his assertions: “In comparison with arsenic, I pronounce it tenfold the greater poison ; one swallows arsenic because he has lost his reputation, and is so involved that he cannot extricate himself. Thus driven to desperation, he takes

    the dose and is destroyed at once ; but those who smoke the

    drug are injured in many ways. It may be compared to raising

    the Avick of a lamp, which, while it increases the blaze,

    hastens the exhaustion of the oil and the extinction of the light.

    Hence, the youth who smoke will shorten their own days and

    cut off all hopes of posterity, leaving their parents and wives

    without any one on whom to depend. From the robust who

    smoke the ‘flesh is gradually consumed and worn away, and the

    skin hangs like a bag. Their faces become cadaverous and

    black, and their bones naked as billets of wood. The habitual smokers doze for days over their pipes, without appetite ; when the desire for opium comes on, they cannot resist its impulse. Mucus flows from their nostrils and tears from their eyes; their

    very bodies are rotten and putrid. From careless observers the

    sight of such objects is enough to excite loud peals of laughter.

    The poor smoker, who has pawned every article in his possession,

    still remains idle ; and when the periodical thirst comes

    on, will even pawn his wives and sell his daughters. In the

    province of Xganhwui I once saw a man named Chin, who, being

    childless, purchased a concubine and got her with child; afterward, when his money was expended and other means all failed him, being unable to resist the desire for the pipe, he sold her in her pregnancy for several tens of dollars. This money being expended, he went and hung himself. Alas, how painful was his end ! “‘

    The thirst and burning sensation in the throat which the wretched sufferer feels, only to be removed by a repetition of the dose, proves one of the strongest links in the chain which drags him to his ruin. At this stage of the habit his case is almost hopeless; if the pipe be delayed too long, vertigo, complete prostration, and discharge of M’ater from the eyes ensue; if entirely withheld, coldness and aching pains are felt over the body, an obstinate diarrhoea supervenes, and death closes the scene.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 108.

    MISERABLE CONDITION OF TTIE SMOKER. 387

    The disastrous effects di the drug are somewhat delayed or modified by the quantity of nourishing food the person can procure, and consequently it is among the poor who can least afford the pipe, and still less the injury done to their energies, that the destruction of life is the greatest. The evils suffered and crimes committed by the desperate victims of the opium pipe are dreadful and multiplied. Theft, arson, muder, and suicide are perpetrated in order to obtain it or escape its effects. Some try to break off the fatal habit by taking a tincture of the opium dirt in spirits, gradually diminishing its strength until it is left off entirely; others mix opium with tobacco and smoke the compound in a less and less proportion, until tobacco alone remains. The general belief is that the vice can be overcome without fatal results, if the person firmly resolve to forsake it and keep away from sight and smell of the pipe, laboring as much as his strength will allow in the open air until he recovers his spirits and no longer feels a longing for it. Few, very few, however, emancipate themselves from the tyrannous habit which enslaves them; they are able to resist its insidious effects until the habit has become strong, and the resolution to break it off is generally delayed until their chains are forged and deliverance felt to be hopeless.

    Swallowing opium is commonly resorted to as a means of suicide; the papers published in China constantly report cases where physi(;ians have tried to save the patient by injections of atrophine before life is gone, and the number of these applications painfully show how lightly the Chinese esteem life. A comparison is sometimes drawn between the opium-smoker and drunkard, and the former averred to be less injured by the habit; but the balance is struck between two terrible evils, both of which end in the loss of health, property, mind, influence, and life. Opium imparts no benefit to the smoker, impairs his bodily vigor, beclouds his mind, and unfits him for his station in society ; he is miserable without it, and at last dies by what he lives upon.

    The import having been legalized in 1858, under the pressure

    of war, it was useless fo.v the imperial government longer to

    prevent the cultivation of the poppy, and the growth has rapidly

    extended throughout the provinces. Since all the opium brought,

    to China reaches it through Hongkong, and the consumption upon

    that island must be comparatively insignificant, the table on the

    following page, taken from the Chinese Customs Reports, will

    convey a very fair idea of the amount and value of the import

    during the past six years.

    Although it is difficult to make a general statement regarding an import of such varying quantity and value, the average total may be safely enough put at between twelve and thirteen million pounds, the approximate value of which is something over sixty million dollars, per annum. The prices range from $540 to $580 per pecul for Benares, $740 for Malwa, $560 for Patna, $540 for Persian, and nearly $1,500 for the prepared drug. The imports of Persian and Tnrkisli, though steadily increasing, amount as yet to hardly one-fiftieth of the total. But the merest guesses can be made at the production of native opium.

    TOTAL IMPORT OF OPIUM AT HONGKONG.

    Year.

    VALUE OF THE OPIUM TRADE. 389

    do without now,” said a British minister once in a soiTOwing

    mood, as he acknowledged its evils ; l)ut there are many other

    commodities, and a survey of the native and foreign conmierce

    will exhibit the extent and variety of the resources of the Empire.

    The Chinese trade with foreign ports in native vessels is

    at present nearly extinct, in consequence of the increase of foreign

    shipping and advantages of insurance enabling the native

    trader to send and receive commodities with less risk and more

    speed than by junks. The facilities and security of commerce

    in a country are atnong the best indices of its government being

    administered, on the whole, in a tolerably just manner, and on

    those principles which give the mechanic, farmer, and merchant

    a good prospect of reaping the fruits of their industry. This

    security is afforded in China to a considerable degree—far more

    than in Western Asia—and is one of the most satisfactory proofs,

    amid all the extortions and depravity seen in their courts and

    in society at large, that the people, generally speaking, enjoy the

    rewards of industry. Tranquillity may often be owing to the

    strong arm of power, but trade, manufactures, voyages, and

    large commercial enterprises must remunerate those Mdio undertake

    them, or they cease. The Chinese are eminently a trading

    people ; their merchants are acute, methodical, sagacious, and

    enterprising, not over-scrnpulous as to their mercantile honesty

    in small transactions, but in large dealings exhibiting that regard

    for character in the fulfilment of their obligations which

    extensive commercial engagements usually produce. The roguery

    and injustice which an officer of government may commit Nvithout

    disgrace would blast a merchant’s reputation, and he undertakes

    the largest transactions with confidence, being guaranteed

    in his engagements by a combination of mercantile security and

    responsibility, which is more effectual than legal sanctions.

    These are like the rings and. guilds, the corporations, patents,

    co-operative societies, etc., which are fonn<l in Europe and America,

    and enter into nil branches of industry.

    The coasting trade is disproportionately small compared with the inland commerce ; large junks cross the seas, but smaller ones proceed crAitionsly along the coast from one headland to another, and sail chiefly by day. Their cargoes consist of rice, stockfish, vegetables, timber, poles, coal, stones, and other bulky articles. Between the unopened ports the native trade still employs thousands of small craft, whose crews know no other homes; but the progress of steam and sailing ships has gradually turned the coasting trade into foreign bottoms.

    The foreign ports now visited by Chinese junks are Singapore,

    Labuan, Borneo, IJangkok and elsewhere in Siam, Manila, Corea,

    and Japan. The cargoes carried to these places comprise

    coarse crockery, fruits, cottons, cheap silks, and metallic articles

    of great vai’iety. European goods are not brought to any great

    amount by junks, but the variety of articles of food or domestic

    use and raw materials for manufactures, known under the general

    denomination of Straits2yrodtice, is large. Rice is the chief

    import from Bangkok and Manila ; i-attans, pepper, and betelnut

    from Singapore and Borneo; biclK’-de-mer from the Sulu

    Sea. Of the amount of capital embarked iji this commerce, the

    number of vessels, the mode in which it is carried on, and the

    degree of risk attending it, little is known. It is gradually decreasing,

    and all the valuable portions are already transferred to foreign bottoms.

    The natural facilities for inland navigation in China are, as the first chapters of this work have pointed out, unusually great, and have been, moreover, improved by art for travel and transportation.

    INTERNAL TRADE AND TRANSIT DUTIES. 391

    It will be a hazardous experiment for the peace of the country to hastily supplant the swarms of boats on its rivers and canals by shallow-draught steamers and launches, and throw most of their poor and ignorant crews out of employment. The sugar, oil, and rice of the southern provinces, the tea, silk, cotton, and crockery of the eastern, the furs, grain, and medicines of the northern, and the metals and minerals of the western, are constantly going to and fro and demand myriads of boats; add thereto the immense number of governmental boats required for the transportation of salt and the taxes paid in kind, the passage-boats plying in great numbers between contiguous towns, the pleasure and cfflcial barges and revenue cutters, and lastly, the far greater number used for family residences, and the total of the inland shipping, it will be seen, imist be enormous. It is, however, impossible to state the amount in any satisfactory

    manner, or give an idea of the proportion between the different

    kinds of boats. The transit duties levied on the produce carried

    in these vessels partake of the nature of an excise duty, and

    afford a very considerable revenue to the government, the greatest

    so, probably, next to the land tax. It was estimated that

    the additional charges for transit duty and transportation on

    only those teas brought to Canton overland for exportation

    amounted to about a million of dollars. Whenever a boat loaded

    with produce passes the custom-house, the suj^ercargo presents

    his manifest, stating his name and residence, the name of the

    boat and its ci’ew, and the description of the cargo, and when

    the charges are paid proceeds on his voj-age. The tariff on

    goods at these places is light, but their number in a journey of

    any length, and the liability to imforeseen detention and exaction

    by the tidewaiters, greatly increase the expense and delay.

    Since the treaties of 1842 and 1858, the Chinese and British

    authorities have been in constant dispute about the right and

    mode of levying transit dues on foreign and native produce

    going through the country—a dispute which involves and disturbs

    the whole revenue system of the country.

    The mode of conducting the foreign trade with China now

    presents few of those peculiarities which formerl}” distinguished

    it, for the monopoly of the hong merchants and of the East India

    Company- both being abolished, native and foreign traders

    are free to choose with whom they will deal. The introduction

    of regular printed permits, clearances, and other customs blanks

    to facilitate trade, followed the treaty of 18-12, and their acceptance

    has now extended to every port. The employment of

    foreigners to conduct the details of the trade in connection with

    native officers and clerks has worked easily, and its extension

    to all commerce is gradually perfecting.

    The articles of trade are likely to increase in variety and amount, and a brief account of the principal ones, taken from the Chinese Commercial Guide, may be interesting to those unacquainted with the character of this commerce. The foreign export and import trade divides itself into two branches, that between India and the Archipelago and China, and that beyond the Isthmus of Suez ; the former comprises the greatest variety, but its total value is much less. Alum of an inferior quality is sent to India to use in dyeing, making glass, and purifying water. Aniseed stars, seeds of many sorts of anioniaiii, euhehs, and tarrtieric are all sought after for their aromatic properties. The first is the small five-rayed pod of the lUicium anisatum / the pods and seeds are both prized for their aromatic qualities, and a volatile oil, used in perfumery and medicine in Europe, is obtained from them; the Asiatics employ them in cooking, Ciihths^ the produce of a vine (d/hcha ofic/’/tah’s), are externally distinguished from black pepper chiefly by their lighter color, and a short process where the seed is attached to the stalk.

    The taste is warm or pungent and slightly bitter, with a pleasant

    aromatic smell ; the Chinese article goes to India, the consumption

    of Europe being supplied from Java. Turmeric is

    the root of the CiircuDui longa^ and is used over the Archipelago

    and India for its coloring and aromatic properties, and for

    food. The roots are uneven and knotty, of a yellowish-saffron

    color ; the smell resembles ginger, with a bitterish taste; and the

    two are usually combined in the composition of curry-powders.

    Its color is too fugacious for a dye, no mordant having yet been

    found to set it.

    Cassia and cassia oil are sent abroad in amounts far exceeding

    the whole of the preceding; cassia buds also form an article

    of commerce. Cassia oil is used for confectionery and perfumery,

    and the demand is usually much greater than the supply.

    Arsenic is exported to India for medicinal purposes, and the

    native sulphuret or orpiment is sometimes shipped under the

    Hindustani name of harfalL as a A^ellow colorinii; druij;.

    Wrist and ankle rings, known by the Hindu name of Ijangles,

    ai’e exported largely, with false pearlsj coral, and beads ; the

    Chinese imitate jade and chalcedony in their mamifacture, iu

    which the Hindus do not succeed so well. The universal use

    and brittle nature of these ornaments render their consumption

    enormous in Eastern Asia. Ilrans foil., or tinsd, is made into

    the kin hwa, or ‘golden flowers,’ M-hich are placed before

    shrines and adorn the rooms of houses, imitating bouquets and

    tableaux with cuiming art ; it is also used for coatings of toys.

    Bones and horiis are manufactured into buttons, opium-boxes,

    PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 393

    hair-pins, etc., some of which go abroad. Many kinds of use^

    fill and fancy articles are made from bamboo and rattan, and

    their export forms an item of some importance. Chairs, baskets,

    canes and umbrella handles, fishing-rods, furniture, and

    similar articles are still made in vast variety. The same may

    be said of the great assortment of articles comprised under the

    head of cui-‘tosities, as vases, pots, jars, cups, images, boxes, plates,

    screens, statuettes, etc., made of copper, iron, bronze, porcelain,

    stone, wood, clay, or lacquered-ware. During tlie last twenty

    years the native shops have been nearly cleared of the choicer

    specimens of Chinese art and skill in these various departments.

    Caj)oo)’ cutchefy, corrupted from the Hindu name Aafur.

    Jcuchri, or camphor root, is the aromatic root of the Iledychiwn,

    and also of the K(jemj)ferla ; it goes to Bombay for perfumery,

    plasters, and other medicinal ends, as well as preserving clotlies

    from insects. It is about half an inch in diameter, and cut up

    when brought to market ; it has a pungent, bitterish taste.

    Galangal is another aromatic root exported for perfumery and

    medicine. The name is probably a corruption of Kaoliang, or

    Ko-loiig, meaning ‘ mild ginger,’ from Ivauchau, in the southwest

    of Kwangtung, where the best is found. It is the dried

    root of the Alplnia qfficinarurii (liance) and other species, and

    thousands of peculs reach Europe and America, wdiere it is

    used as a cordial and tonic. There are two or three sorts ; the

    smaller is a reddish-colored root, light and firm in texture, with

    an acrid, peppery taste.

    The larger is from a different plant (Kmmpferia galanga), and inferior in every respect. Both are used as spicery, and the powder is mixed in tea among the Tartars, and to flavor a liquor called nastoihi drank in Russia. All the plants whose roots have the aromatic sliai’p taste of ginger are prized by the Chinese. China-7’oot is a commercial name applied to two different products, for which the native namefuh-ling rather misleads.

    One is the root of Smilax China, a vine-like dodder in appearance ; it is a knotty and jointed brown tuber, white and starchy when cut, and sweetish. The other is a curious fungus(Pachyma) produced by fir roots apparently as it is found under that tree. The article is whitish and reddish when cut, ])itter isli and sharp to the taste, and eaten hot as a stomachic in rice-cakes where it is cheap. It is similar to the Indian bread, oi tuck-ahoo, of the Carolinas.

    The exportation of porcelain and ch’uiaware, which was so

    great last century, dimiiushed as European skill produced finer

    sorts at cheaper rates, and ceased altogether about twenty-five

    years ago, when the Tai-ping rebellion dispersed the workmen

    in Kingteh chin. Since the peace, those kilns have resumed

    work, and the demand for their finest pieces has arisen once

    more from western lands, so that China bids fair to regain her

    original reputation. She still supplies most parts of Asia with

    coarse stoneware and crockery for domestic use. Glue of a

    tolerabl}’ good quality, made from ox-hides, supplies the Chinese

    and furnishes an article for export to India. IsinglasSy or

    fisli-ii;lue, is nuide from the sounds and noses of sturo;eons and

    other sorts of fish, as the bynni carp, or l^oli/neniiis ^ it is used

    in sizing silk and in cookery, as well as in manufacturing of

    India-ink, water-colors, and false pearls.

    A kind of parasol, made of oiled paper, or silk called /i/'(tt/^ol {i.e., (juitte sol), is exported to India ; the article is durable, considering its material, and its cheapness induces a large consumption.

    Tobacco, one of the most widely cultivated plants in China (for men, women, and children smoke), is also sent to the Indian Islands in considerable quantity, for use among the natives. Ware made from ivory, tortoise-shell, mother-o’-pearl, and gold and silver constitutes altoo-ether a considerable item in the trade, for the beautiful c;irving of the Chinese always commands a market. The workmen easily imitate new patterns for boxes, combs, and buttons of mother-o’-pearl or tortoiseshell, while the cheapness and beauty with which silver table furniture is made cause a large demand. Lacqtiered-icare is not so much sent abroad now as fornuM-ly, the foreign imitations of the trays and tables having nearly superseded the demand, for the Chinese ware. Marhle dahn of a clouded lilue limestone are wrought out in Kwangtung province for floors, and some go abroad ; square tiles are used everywhere for pavements, roofing, brick stoves, and drains. In the southern provinces they are well biii-iied and make serviceable floors.

    PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 395

    2Iats of rattan for table furniture, and of grass for floors, are

    all made by liand. The latter is manufactured of two or three

    sorts of grass in different widths and patterns, and though the

    amount annually sent to the United States and elsewhere exceeds

    five million yards, it forms a very small proportion to the home

    consumption. Floor matting is put up in rolls containing

    twenty mats, or forty yards. Musi; though still in demand, is

    often and much adulterated, or its quality impaired by disease.

    It comes in bags about as large as a walnut; when good, it is of a dark purplish color, dry and light, and generally in concrete, smooth, and unctuous grains; its taste is bitter and smell strong; when rubbed on paper the trace is of a bright yellow color, and the feel free from grittiness. A brown unctuous earth is sometimes mixed with it, and the bags are frequently artificial; the

    price is about forty-five dollars a pound for the best quality.

    Nanl’eeii is a foreign name given to a kind of reddish cotton

    cloth manufactured near Xanking and Tsungming Island ; it was

    once largely exported, but the product has now nearly ceased.

    It is the most durable kind of cotton cloth known, and its excellence

    always repays the cultivator. The opening of the country

    to foreigners, and the disorders ensuent on the Tai-ping rebellion,

    altered the character of the silh trade. The loss of capital

    and dispersion of workmen in the vicinity of Canton nearly

    destroj’ed the export of raw silk and piece-goods formerly made

    at Fatshan, and the pongees once woven there are seldom seen.

    The elegant crape shawls and scarfs, gauzes and checked lustrings, satins and lining silks, which were sent abroad from Canton, have all dwindled away. Raw silk makes the bulk of the export, amounting to over a hundred thousand bales, of which nearly two-thirds goes to Great Britain. The annual average for the six years ending 1860 was seventy-eight thousand five hundred bales ; in 1836 it was twenty-one thousand the price of the best sorts was about five hundred and fifty dollars a pecul. Silk goods are exported to the annual value of about two million taels ; they consist chiefly of gauzes, pongees, handkerchiefs, scarfs, sarsnet, senshaws, levantines, and satins; ribbons, sewing-thread, and organzine, or thrown silk, are not much shipped. The silk trade is more likely to increase than any other branch of the commerce, after tea, and the Chinese can furnish ahnost any amount of raw and manufactured silks, according to the demand for them. Soij is a name derived from the Japanese sho-ya • it is made by boiling the beans of the Dol’ichos soja, adding an equal quantity of wheat or barley, and leaving the mass to ferment; a laj^er of salt and three times as much water as beans are afterward put in, and the whole compound stirred daily for two months, when the liquid is pressed and strained. Another method of making the condiment has already been mentioned in Volume I., p. 365.

    Besides the articles above-mentioned, there are many others which singly form very trifling items in the trade, but their total exportation annually amounts to man}^ lacs of dollars. Among them fire-crackers, and straw braid Moven in Shantung from a variety of wheat, are both sent to the United States. Among other sundries, vermilion, gold leaf, amber, sea-shells, preserved insects, fans, ginger, sweetmeats and jellies, rhubarb, gamboge, camphor, grass-cloth, artificial flowers, insect wax, fishing-lines, joss-sticks, spangles, window-blinds, vegetable tallow, and pictures arc the most deserving of mention. Some of them may perhaps become important articles of commerce, and all of them, except vermilion, gamboge, and i-attans, are the produce of the countiy.

    The inq)orts make a much longer list than the exports, for almost everything that should or might sell there is from time to time offered in the market ; and if the Chinese at Canton had had any inclination or curiosity to obtain the productions or manufactures of other lands, they have had no want of specimens. It will only be necessary to mention articles of import whose names are not of themselves a sufficient description. ()})ium, rice, raw cotton, long cloths, domestics and sheetings among manufactured cottons, ginseng, tin, lead, bar, rod, and hoop iron, and woolen goods, constitute the great bulk of the import trade. Rice is brought from southern islands, and a bounty used to be paid on its importation into Canton by taking oft” the tonnage dues on shi})s laden with this alone—a bonus of about three thousand dollars on a large vessel.

    IMPORTS FROM THP] ARCHIPELAGO. 397

    The importations from the Indian Aix’liipelago comprise a large variety of articles, though their total amount and value

    are not very great. Ayar-ayar, or ayal-agal, is the Malay name

    for the Plocarla tena,i\ Gnicillarla^ and other sorts of seaweed ;

    it is boiled and clarified to make a vegetable glue which is

    largely employed in lantern and silk manufacture instead of

    isinglass ; it is also made into a jelly, but the seaweed {Lalnihiarla)

    from Japan has supplanted it. Betel-nut is the fruit of

    the areca palm, and is called hetel-nat because it is chewed with

    the leaf of the betel pepper [Chavlca) as a masticatory. The nut

    is the only part brouglit to China, the leaf being raised along

    the southern coast ; it resembles a nutmeg in shape and color,

    is a little larger, and the whole of the nut is chewed. They

    are boiled or eaten raw, the former being cut into slices and

    boiled with a small quantity of cutcli and then dried. Those

    brought to China are simply deprived of the husk and dried.

    AVhen chewed, a slice of the nut is wrapped in the fresh leaf

    smeared with a mixture of gambler or shell-lime colored red,

    and the whole masticated to a pulp before spitting it out. The

    teeth become dark red from using it, but the Chinese are careful

    to remove this stain. The taste of the fresh pepper leaf is

    herbaceous and aromatic with a little pungency, and those who

    chew have it seldom out of their mouths ; the habit is not

    general where the fresh leaf cannot be obtained.

    Birlie-(h-iiiei\ i.e., slug of the sea, or tripang, is a marine gasteropod {Ilolothui’la) resembling, when alive, a crawling sausage more than anything else ; it is sometimes over a foot long and two or three inches through ; it inhabits the shallow waters around the islands of the Pacific and Indian Archipelago, and is obtained by diving or spearing, and prepared by cleansing and smokirjg it. In the market it appears hard and rigid, of a dirty brown color ; when soaked in water it resembles porkrind, and when stewed is not unlike it in taste. The Chinese distinguish nearly thirty sorts of hal sung—’sea ginseng;’ in commerce, however, all are known as white or black, the prices ranging from two dollars up to eighty dollars a pecul.

    Birds’ nests., sJiarks\ti)is, and JisJi-uKUrs are three other articles of food prized by Chinese epicures for their supposed stimidating quality, and they readily fetch high prices. The tii’st is the nest of a species of swallow {Collocalia)^ which makes the gelatinous fibres from its own crop out of the seaweed (Gelidlum) it feeds on. These nests resemble those of the chinmey swallow in shape, and are collected in most dangerous places along the cliffs and caves in the Indian Islands.

    The article varies from thirty dollars to three dollars a pound, and its total import is hardly five hundred peculs a year. The taste of the Chinese for the gelatinous fins and stomachs of the shark aids in clearing the seas of that ferocious fish even as far as the Persian Gulf. The soup nuide from the fins resembles that from isinglass, and is worthy of acceptance on other tables. Amhe?’ is found on various eastern shores, along the Mozambique coast, in the Indian Islands, and localities in Annam and Yunnan. The consumption for court beads and other ornaments is great, and shows that the supply is permanent, for none is brought from Prussia. The Chinese use the powder of amber in their high-priced medicines. Their artists have also learned to imitate it admirably in a variety of articles made of copal, shell-lac, and colophony.

    The hezoars, or biliary calculi from ruminating and other animals, always find a ready market in China for drugs ; that from the cow is most prized, and is often imitated with pipeclay and ox-gall mixed with hair, or adulterated by the camel bezoar. The Mongols prize these substances very highly ; the pure goat and cow bezoars are ground for paints by the Cantonese.

    Outeh, or terra japonica, is a gummy resin, obtained from a species of areca palm and the Acacia catechu, and was for a long time supposed to be a sort of earth found in Japan ; it is called aotc/i from the Ilunn of Cutch, near which the tree grows. The best is fi-iable between the fingers, is of a reddish-brown color, and used in China as a dye. There are two kinds, black andjf>«Zd y the former is made by boiling the heartwood of the acacia and putting the resin into snutll cakes ; it is now brought in small quantities, as gambler has supplanted it.

    IMPORTS FROM THE ARCHIPELAGO, 399

    Rose-maloes, corruj)ted from rasaiiiala, the Javanese name of the Altingia excelsa^ is a liquid storax obhined from the Styrax ; it is a scented gummous oil (tf the consistency of tar, and is 1)ronglit from Bombay to China for medicine. Guruhemoin, or henjamin, is one of the gnm-resiiis brouglit from abroad, and highly prized by Chinese doctors; its Chinese name indicates that it came from Partliia ; but it is collected from the Styrax henzoin in Snmatra and Borneo by making incisions in the bark in much the same manner as opium, until the plant withers and dies. It comes to market in cakes, which in some parts of those islands formerly served as standards of value.

    Good benzoin is full of clear light-colored spots, marbled on the broken surface, and giving off an agreeable odor when heated or rubbed ; ‘it is the frankincense of the far East, and has been employed by many nations in their religious ceremonies; for what was so acceptable to the worshippers was soon inferred to be equally grateful to the gods, and sought after by all devotees as a delightful perfume. The quantity of benzoin imported is, however, small, and the Arabian frankincense, or olihanion, is more commonly seen in the market, and is employed for the same purposes. This gum-resin exudes from the Boswellia thurifera cultivated in Coromandel; the drops have a pale reddish color, a strong and somewhat unpleasant smell, a pungent and bitterish taste, and when chewed give the saliva a milky color ; it burns with a pleasant fragrance and slight residuum. Dragon”s hlood is probably an equivalent of the Chinese name lung-yen hiang, given to this resin from its coming to market in lumps formed from the agglutinated tears.

    It is the gummy covering of the seeds of a rattan palm (D(jemonoroj)S draco) common in Sumatra, which is separated by shaking them in a basket or bag ; an inferior sort is made by boiling the nuts. It is used in varnishing, painting, and medical preparations. ‘

    Cloves are consumed but little by the Chinese, and mostly in expressing an oil which forms an ingredient in condiments and medicines, like the oil of peppermint made by themselves. Pepper is much more used than cloves, the tea being considered beneficial in fevers ; the good effects as a febrifuge seem to be doubted lately, for the importation is only twenty thousand peculs, not one-half what it was fifty years ago.

    Barooa camj^hor is still imported from Borneo, the people supposing that the drops and lumps found in the fissures of the tree (Dryohalanops) in that island are more powerful than their own gum; the proportion between the two, both in price and quantity, is about eighteen to one.

    Gamhier is obtained from the gambier vine {Uncar’ai) by boiling the leaves and inspissating the decoction ; a soapy substance of a brownish-yellow color remains, which is both chewed with betel-nut and forms a good and cheap material for tanning and dyeing. Putchuch is the root of a kind of thistle {Aio’I.-landla) cultivated in Cashmere ; it comes in dry, brown, broken pieces, resembling rhubarb in color and smell, and affording an agreeable perfume when burned ; the powder is employed in making; incense-sticks and the thin shaviiiics mixed in medicines.

    Cornelians, agates, and other stones of greater or less value are purchased by the Chinese for manufacturing into official insignia, rings, beads, and other articles of ornament; they are brought chiefly from India or Central Asia. 8eed jpearls^ to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars, are annually brought from Bombay to Canton, where they are run on strings to be worn in ladies’ head-dresses ; coral is also a part of cargoes from the Archipelago. Mother-of-pearl shells and tortoise-shell are brought from the same region and the Pacific islands, Muscat, and Bombay, a large part of which is re-exported in the shape of buttons, combs, and other productions of Chinese skill.

    ‘ The elegant plumage of the tiirquois kingfisher and some other birds is aiso worked into ornaments and head-dresses.

    GEMS, IVORY, AND WOODS IMPORTED. 401

    Jvorij still comes from Africa via Bombay, and ^Nfalaysia, mostly from Bangkok ; the fossil ivory of Siberia has furnished the material for the inlaid tables of Ningbo ; but the cost of fine ivory has prevented the manufacture of many articles once common at Canton. Rhinoceros’ horns are all brought to China to be carved into ornaments, or served in remedies and tonics.’ But the principal use of these horns is in medicine and for amulets, for only one good cup can be carved from the end of each horn ; the parings and fragments are carefully preserved to serve for the other purposes. The teeth of the sperm whale, walrus, lamantine, and other phocine animals, form an article of import in limited quantities under the designation of ” sea-horse teeth; ” these tusks weigh from sixteen to forty ounces, their ivory being nearly as compact though not so white as that of the elephant.

    Several kinds of wood are brought for cabinet and inlaid work, medical preparations, and dyeing. Among these are ebomj and cainagon {^inao tsz’), both obtained from species of Diosjr//ros growing in India and Luzon ; they are often very cleverly imitated by covering teak and other hard woods with a black stain.

    Galiru icood—also called eagle oragila wood (Aquilaria)—furnishes the calambak timber, highly prized for its perfume ; the diseased heart-Avood of this tree is the precious aloes wood, the lign aloes of the Bible.’ Among dye-stuffs the laka wood (^Tanarius) from Sumatra, mangrove bark, sapan wood {Coesal2>ini(i), and redwood are important articles; the imports of sandal wood for incense, rosewood, satin wood, amboyna or knot wood, camphor and hranjee are employed in various ways for junks, buildings, and furniture.

    The greater facilities of trade with foreign countries since 1860 have vastly enlarged the list of imports and exports, and brought many new and useful articles within reach of the natives living far from the ports. In their fear and ignorance the Chinese associated everything dreadful with the name and coming of those whom they called devils and barbarians, and knew chiefly in connection, with war and opium. By degrees,

    however, they are learning the benefits of a wider commercial

    as well as intellectual intercourse. One of the ]nost notable

    among the imports, which carries with it something of this

    broadening influence, is kerosene; the traveller in China, as well

    as in Algeria, Greece, and Egypt, can hardly fail to note with

    interest the multitude of benefits arising from the introduction

    of a cheap and brilliant lamp into a house whose only light

    before has been a water-lamp or tallow candle. Electric lighting

    is now employed in certain of the foreign settlements, and will

    doubtless become as popular in the far East as among Western

    nations. It is needless, however, to enumerate the novelties in

    which the Chinese are constantly urged and tempted to invest.

    The mode of conducting the trade is described in the author’s

    ‘ Chinese Commercial Guides Fifth Edition, p. 106.

    Chinese Ccmimercial Guide (fifth edition, Ilonglcong, 1863), which contains the treaties, tariffs, regulations, etc., of other nations as well as of China. A peculiar feature of this trade is the fact that the natives have always conducted it in English,—that is, they do business in the jargon called jrlyeon-English, whose curious formation has already received some attention in a previous chapter. The Chinaman using it deems no sentence complete until it contains the same number of words and in thensame idiom as its equivalent phrase in his own language. A sample of this hybrid lingo, with its melange of Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words and grammatical constructions, may

    not be out of place here. We will suppose a shopkeeper is

    soliciting custom from a foreigner : ” My chin-chin you,” he

    says, “one good fleen [friend], tahe care for \ny [patronize me];

    ‘spose you wanchee any first chop ting, my can catch ee for you

    [obtain]. I secure sell ’em plum cash [prime cost], alia same

    cumsha [present] ; can do ?” The foreigner, with great gravity,

    replies : ” Just now my no wanchee anyting ; any teem [time]

    ‘spose you got vel}’^ number one good ting, p’rhaps I come you

    shop look see.” After hearing for a few days such sentences,

    the foreigner begins to imitate them, soon learning to adapt his

    speech to his interlocutor’s, and thus perpetuating the jargon.

    Other nationalities are also obliged to learn it, and the whole

    trade is conducted in this meagre gibberish, which the natives

    suppose, however, to be correct English, but which hardly enables

    the two parties to exchange ideas upon even household

    subjects. Much of the misunderstanding and trouble experienced

    in daily intercourse with the Chinese is doubtless owing

    to this iniperfect medium.’

    The trade at the five ports opened by the treaty of Nanking

    in 1842 was conducted by native custom-house officers,

    as it had been previously at Canton, but under regulations

    which insured more honesty and efficiency. In lSr>;>, however,

    the capture of Shanghai by insurgents throw tlic whole trade

    into such confusion that the collector, who had been formerly

    ‘ Mr. Scluiyler mentions hearing some Chinese residents at Vierny speaking” pigeon-Kiissian.” Tiirkt)it(tii,\o\. If., p. 147.

    PRESENT MANAGEMENT OF TRADE IN CHINA. 403

    A mongrel with the Russian officers ol the post, which might be called a Hang merchant at Canton, called in the aid of foreigners to carry on his duties. A trio of inspectors was nominated for this purpose by tlie British, American, and French ministers from their nationalities ; and so well did it work in honestly collecting the revenue for the imperial coffers, that when the city was recaptured the system was made permanent for that port. In the negotiations growing out of the treaties of Tientsin in 1858, the Chinese government felt so much confidence in the feasibility of the plan, that it was extended to all the ports and placed under the entire control of an inspector-general.

    By thus utilizing the experience and integrity of foreign employes in carrying on this important branch of its administration, the rulers broke through their long seclusion and isolation, and opened the way for removing the impediments to their own progress in every branch of polity.

    The following tables, compiled or abridged from the so-called

    ” Yellow Books,” or Trade Reports, issued by the Imperial

    Maritime Customs, will furnish a general idea of the foreign

    trade with China and some statistics concerning its domestic

    commerce. It is hardly necessary to add, however, that concerning

    the latter when unconnected with foreigners, there are

    almost no figures of value attainable. The Ilaihwan tael^ it

    may be well to repeat, is valued at $1.36|^, or 5s. Qh,d. The

    jpecul weighs 133| pounds.

    ANNUAL VALUE OF THE FOREIGN TRADE OF CHINA. 1871 TO 1881.

    Ybab.

    CUSTOMS REVENUE, 1871 TO 1881.

    Year.

    1871

    1872

    1873

    1874

    1875

    1876

    1877

    1878

    1879

    1880

    1881

    Duties on Native Produce

    Exported to—

    Foreign Countries.

    Ilk. Tls.

    5,246,467

    5,840,261

    4,978,179

    5,535,041

    5,640,062

    5,772,709

    5,703,321

    5,803,485

    5,958,176

    6,696,290

    6,869,486

    Chinese Ports.

    Ilk. Th.

    138,116

    099,724

    158,938

    147,686

    291,923

    222,860

    140,442

    306,118

    426,894

    572,392

    460,182

    Total Revenue fkom—

    Foreign Trade. Home Trade. TotaL

    Ilk. Tls.

    9,508,972

    10,029,050

    9,238,675

    9,775,743

    10,030,226

    10,318,631

    10,356,415

    10,.524,811

    11,391,329

    11,899,995

    12,494,889

    Ilk. Tls.

    1,707,174

    1,649,-586

    1,738,407

    1,721,529

    1,937,S83

    1,834,290

    l,710,()ti3

    1,956,177

    2,140,341

    2,3.58,588

    2,190,273

    Ilk. Tls.

    11,216,146

    11,()7S,636

    10,977,083

    11,497,273

    11,968,109

    12,152,921

    12,067,078

    12,483,988

    13,.53 1,670

    14,2.58,583

    14,685,163

    EXPORT OF TEA FROIM CHINA DURING TEN YEARS.

    Ybar.

    TRADE STATISTICS. 405

    EXPORT OF NATIVE CHINESE GOODS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES,

    1880 AND 1881.

    Description of Goods.

    Silk, all kinds
    Tea, all kinds
    Bags, all kinds
    Bamboo, all kinds
    Beans and beancake
    Cassia lignea\ Camphor \ Chinaware and pottery\ Coal\ Clothing, boots, and shoes\Cotton, raw and waste\Cnrios
    Dyes, colors, and paints
    Fans, all kinds\Fish, provisions, and vegetables\Fire-crackers\Flour, grain, and pulse\Fruits, all kinds
    Grasscloth
    Hemp

    Hides and hoops

    Indigo

    Lung-ngans

    Mats and matting

    Medicines

    Metals, manufactured

    Metals, unmanufactured

    Nankeens and wool

    Nutgalls and preserves

    Oil, all kinds

    Paper, books, tin, and brass foil

    Rattans and rattanware

    Rhubarb

    Skins, all kinds

    Straw braid

    Sugar, white, brown, candy…

    Tobacco

    Vermicelli and macaroni

    Sundries, unenumerated ClasKifier of Quantity.

    1880. 1881.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Total value.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Quantity 114,831 3,097,119 749, S83 154,645 38,785 12,337 75,143

    161 30,315 Value. Quantity.676 6,387,989 68,940 37,051 149,394 73,720 1,1S5 19,548 30,786 3,847 8,080 384,680 S8,676i 14,284 217

    6,511 47,690 3,692

    43,581

    2,085

    6,153

    344.193

    48,970

    1,138,196 19,077 26,991 Bk. Tls. 1 29,831,444 35,728,169 *20,555 74,597 159,996 225,692 100,679 379,574 34 337, .548

    182.918 44,948

    3,196 38,881

    165,922 260,010

    139,653 92,913

    104,719 160,602

    2.53,.548 13,768;

    34,669′ 533,027 i

    194,451

    147,405 i

    8751

    122,815

    432,774

    70,295

    .512,720 8.975 212,.537 152,486 1,227,670 3,263,889 167,931 13.5,432 2,366,290 Vahie. 77,883,587

    CHAPTER XXI.  FOREIGN INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA

    The most important notices which the research of authors had collected respecting the intercourse between China and the West, and the principal facts of interest of a political and commercial nature down to the year 1834, are carefully arranged in the first three chapters of Sir John Davis’ work.’ In truth, the terms intercourse and ambassies, so often used with reference to the nations of Eastern Asia, indicate a peculiar state of relations with them ; for while other courts send and receive resident ministers, those of China, Japan, Corea, and Cochinchina liav^e until very recently kept themselves aloof from this national interchange of civilities, neither understanding its principles nor appreciating its advantages. Embassies have been sent by most European nations to the two first, which have tended rather to strengthen their assumptions of supremacy than to enlighten them as to the real objects and wishes of the courts proposing such courtesies. The commercial intercourse has, like the political, either been forced upon or begged of these governments, constantly subject to those vexatious restrictions and interruptions which might be expected from such ill-defined arrangements; and though mutually advantageous, has never been conducted on those principles of reciprocity and equality which characterize commerce at the West. As yet, the rulers and merchants of oriental nations are hardly well enough acquainted with their own and others’ rights to be able or willing

    ^ The Chinese, 2 Vols., Harper’s Family Library, 1837. See also Murray’s China, Vol. I., 1848. Montgomery Martin’s Chiu(t, passim, 1847. Memoires conr. les Chino/K, Tome V., pp. 1-23. T. W. Kingsmill in iV’. C. Br. M. A.Soc. Jourml, N. S., No. XIV., 1879.

    ISOLATION AND SUSPICION OF THE CIIIXESE. 407

    to enter into close relations with European powers. Both magistrates

    and people are ignorant and afraid of the resources, power,

    and designs of Christian nations, and consequently disinclined

    to admit them or their subjects to unrestrained intercourse.

    When western adventurers, as Pinto, Andrade, Wcddell, and

    others came to the shores of China and Japan in the sixteenth

    and seventeenth centuries, they found the governments disposed

    to traffic, but the conquests subsequently made by Europeans in the neighboring regions of Lu9onia, Java, and India, and their cruel treatment of the natives, led these two powers to apprehend like results for themselves if they did not soon take precautionary measures of exclusion and restriction.

    Nor can there be much doubt that this policy was the safest measure, in order to preserve their independence and maintain their authority over even their own subjects. Might made right more generally among nations then than it does now, and the belief entertained by most Europeans at that period, that all pagan lands belonged justly to the Pope, only wanted men and means to be everywhere carried into effect. Had the Chinese and Japanese governments allowed Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English colonists to settle and increase within their borders, they would, probably, long since have crumbled to pieces and their territories have been possessed by others.

    The data brought together by Davis in 1838 on this subject has since been enlarged and illustrated by Col. Yule in his admirable ” Preliminary Essay ” of 18GG, prefixed to ddJiay and the Way Thither, and by Richthofen, the latter half of whose first volume on China is devoted to an exhaustive treatise upon the ” Development of the Knowledge of China.” ‘ A digest of these elaborate works would be too long for our purpose here,

    ‘ China, Ergehnisse eigener Beisen und darnvf gegriindeter Studien, Berlin,1877. This author’s arrangement of the subject into ” Periods ” is as follows :

    I.—Legendary notices of intercourse before the year 1122 B.C.
    II.—From the accession of the Chans to the building of the Great Wall (1122-213 B.C.).
    III.—From the building of the Great Wall to the accession of the Tangs (212B.C.-619 A.D.).
    IV.—From the Tangs to the Mongols (619-1205).
    V.—From the rise of the Mongol power to the arrival of the Portuguese in China (1205-1517).
    VI. —From the arrival of the Portuguese to the present time.

    where only the most interesting points can be noticed. The first recorded knowledge of China among the nations of the West does not date further hack than the geographer Ptolemy, a.d. 150, who seems himself to have Ijeeii indebted to the Tyrian author Marinus. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, however, refers to the same land under the name ©Iv, or 77iin, at perhaps an earlier date. Previous to this time, moreover, accounts of the existence of the land of Confucius, and an appreciation and demand for the splendid silks made there, had reached Persia, judging from the legends found in its writers alluding to ancient w^ars and embassies with China, in which the country, the government, people, and fabrics are invested with a halo of power and wealth which has not yet entirely vanished. These legends strengthen the conclusion that the Prophet Isaiah has the first mention now extant of the FloMcry Land under theimmeSinujK

    The interchange of the initial in China, Thina or Tina, and Sitia ought to give no trouble in identifying the land, for such changes in pronunciation are still common in it ; e.g., Chun-cha^b fu into Tlt-chiu hu.

    The Periphis of Ari-ian places the city of Thina perhaps as far east as Si-ngan, but too vaguely to be relied on ; that great city must certainly have then been known, however, among the trader’s of Central Asia, who probably were better acquainted with its geography than the authors who have survived them. Under the term Seres the Chinese are more clearly referred to at even an earlier date than Sina, and among the Latin writers it was about the only term used, its association with the silks brought thence keeping it before them. The two names were used for different regions,’ the Seres being understood as lying to the north. Mela places them between the Lidians and Scythians; Ptolemy calls the country Seriee and the capital Sera, but regarded them as distinct from the Slna>, precisely as a Chinese geograplier might confuse Britain and England. He says there

    ‘ The diflFerent appellations soeiu to have been employed according as it was

    regarded as the terminus of a southern sea route for a journey across the continent.

    In the former aspect the name has nearly always beim some form of

    Sin, (Jhiii, Hinjc, Cliina ; in the latter, to the ancients as the land of the Seres,

    to the middle ages as the Empire of Catlxnj.—Yule.

    EARLIEST NOTICES OF CHINA. 409

    was a long and dangerous land route leading to Sera through

    Persia to Bactria, over mountain deiiles and perilous patlis,

    wliicli occupied the largest part of a year. Besides Ptolemy,

    there are notices by Pliny of the Seres, and these two authors

    furnished their successors with most of their knowledge down

    to the reign of Justinian. Col. Yule concisely summarizes the

    knowledge of China down to that date among the Romans:” The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the ocean and the limits of the habitable world; and extending west nearly to Imaus and the confines of Bactria.

    The people are civilized men, of mild, just, and frugal temper; eschewing collisions with their neighbors, and even shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of

    which raw silk is the staple, but which include also silk stuffs,

    furs, and iron of remarkable quality.” lie further explains how

    authors writing at Pome and Constantinople were quite unable

    to traverse and rectify what was said of the marts and nations

    spoken of in the farthest East, and place them with any precision.

    They wei”e, in truth, in the same difficulty in coming to an accurate

    conclusion that the Chinese geographer Sen Ki-yu was when writing at Fulichau in 1847 ; he could not explain the discrepancies he found between llhodes and its colossus and Rhode Island in the United States.

    Among the marts mentioned in the various authors, Greek,

    Roman, and Persian, only a few can be identified with even fair

    ])robability. The ” Stone Tower ” of Ptolemy seems to have

    denoted Tashl-eiul, a name of the same meaning, and a town

    still resorted to for trade. His port of Cattigara may have

    l)een a mart at the mouth of the Meinani, the Meikon, the Chu

    Kiang, or some other large stream in that region, where seafaring

    people could exchange their wares with the natives, then

    quite independent of the Chinese in Shensf, who were known

    to him as Seres. Cattigara is more probably to be looked for

    near Canton, for its annals state that in the reign of 11wan ti

    (a.d. 147-168) ” Tienchuh (India), Ta-tsin (Rome, Egypt or

    Arabia), and other nations came by the southern sea with

    tribute, and from this time trade was carried on at Canton with

    foreigners.” During the same dynasty (the Eastern Han), foreigners came from Cantoo, Lu-li\vaiig-clii, and other nations in the south. The nearest was about ten days’ journey, and the farthest about iive months’.’

    On the hind frontier, the Chinese annals of the Ilan dynasty

    record the efforts of Wu ti (b.c. 140-86) to open a communication

    with the Yuehchi, or Getji?, who liad driven out the Greek

    rulers in Bactria and settled themselves north of the lliver Oxns,

    in order to get their help against his enemies the Huns. He

    sent an envoy, Chang Kiang, in 135, who was captured by the

    Iluns and kept prisoner for ten j^ears, when he escaped with

    some of his attendants and got to Ta-wan, or Ferghana, and

    thence reached the Yuehchi further south. He was unsuccessful

    in his mission, and attempted to return home through

    Tibet, but was re-taken by the Huns, and did not succeed in

    reporting himself at Chang-an till thirteen years had elapsed.

    The introduction of the vine into China is rather doubtfully

    ascribed to this brave envoy.

    De Guignes concludes that this notice about trade at Canton

    refers to the embassy sent in a.d. IGG by the Emperor Marcus

    Aurelius (whom the Chinese call An-tun), which entered China

    by the south at Tongking, or Canton. The Latin author Florus,

    who lived in Trajan’s reign, about fifty years before, has a passage

    showing, as proof of the universal awe and veneration in

    which the power of Rome was held under Augustus, that ambassadors

    fi-om the remotest nations, the Seres and the Indians,

    came with presents of elephants, gems, and pearls—a rhetorical

    exaggeration quite on a par with tlie Chinese account of the

    tribute sent from An-tun, and not so well authenticated.

    AVhether, indeed, the Ta-tsin kwoh mentioned by Chinese writers

    meant Judea, Home, or Persia, cannot now be exactly ascertained,

    though Yule concludes that this name almost certainly

    means the Roman Empire, otherwise called the Kingdom

    of the Western Sea. The title was given to these regions be

    cause of the analogy of its people to those of the Middle King-

    ‘ Chinese Eeiiository, I., p. 365. Heeren, Addtir Ri’HeairhcH, IT., pp. 285-295.

    Murray’s China, I., p. 141. Yulo’s Cathay, Vol. I., pp. xli-xlv. Smith,

    Claaskal Dictionary, Art. SicuES.

    INTERCOUIlSK RKTWKEX MOMV. AXD CHINA. 411

    dom.’ The envoys sent to tliut coiintiT repoi-ted that ” beyond

    the territoi-y of the Tuu-slii (perhaps tlie Persians) there was

    a great sea, by wliicli, sailing; (hie west, one might arrive at tlie

    country where tlie sun sets.” like most attempts of the kind

    in subsequent days, the mission of Antoninus appears to liave

    been a faihn-e, and to have returned without accomplishing

    any practical benefit to intercourse or trade between the two

    greatest empires in the world. It was received, no doubt, at

    Lohyang, then the capital, with ostentatious show and patronizing

    kmdness, and its occurrence inscribed in the national i-ecords

    as another evidence of the glory and fame of the Son of

    Heaven. That a direct trade between Home and China did

    not result at this period may have been largely due to the

    jealousy of the Parthian merchants, who reaped great profits

    as middle-men in the traffic, and disposed of their own woven

    and colored stuffs to the Romans, all of which gain they knew

    would have passed over their heads had the extreme East and

    West come into more intimate relations.

    It is worthy of observation how, even from the earliest times,

    the traffic in the rich natural and artificial productions of India

    and China has been the great stimulus to urge adventurers to

    come from Europe, who on their part offered little in exchange

    besides precious metals. The Scrk-a ‘vestls, whether it was a

    silken or cotton fabric, and other rarities found in those regions,

    bore such a high price at Pome as to tempt the merchants to

    undertake the longest journeys and undergo the greatest hardships

    to procure them ; and such was the case likewise during

    the long period before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope.

    The existence of this trade early enabled the Xestorian missionai’ies

    to penetrate into those remote regions, and keep up a

    communication with their patrons at home ; the more extended

    ‘ Cathay and iJie Way Thilher, p. Ivi. Klaproth, Tahleanx IIistoriqne>i de

    VAsie (Paris, 182G), p. 68. So Richtliofen {China, Bd. I., p. 470), who adds : ” It

    is accepted now, by almost all those who have written on the subject, that the

    Chinese by Ta-tsin meant to denote ‘Great-China,’ and through this, on the

    other hand, we have a proof that the Chinese called their own country Ti^in.

    It will hardly do, however, to suppose that so prejudiced a people as they would recognize another folk as greater. The; appellation Ta (great) is given, to every nation whoso power the Chinese feel to be considerable.” voyages of modern comniorce likewise assist benevolent poisons in reaching the remotest tribes and carrying on their labors, through their patrons on the other side of the world, probably with less danger and delay than a mission at Cadiz could have been directed from Jerusalem in the days of the apostles.

    The notices in Cosmas (a Greek monk who had been a merchant,

    and wrote his ” Universal Christian Topography” between

    530 and 550 a.d.) of China and its products refer to the

    maritime trade under the Byzantine emperors. This country

    he locates very correctly as occupying the extreme east of Asia,

    and calls Tzinista^ a name probably picked up from the Persians

    or old Hindus, and nearly similar to the Tsinisthan of the

    tablet at Si-ngan. Another Greek, Theophylact, in the next

    century describes the internal intercourse in Central Asia, and

    a great Turkish people, the Taugas, whom he was unaware were

    the Chinese. It may be that he miswrote Taiig in a grecized form

    for the dynasty just about that time settling its power. The

    indirect commerce between China and the Greek Empire increased

    by sea and land until the i-ise of the Moslem power.

    The same indifference on the part of the Chinese respecting

    the power, resources, and position of other lands is seen through

    all their notices of those western kingdoms. The products carried

    west were silk in various forms, but the demand for this

    article diminished after the worms had been successfully taken

    to Greece about a.d. 550. Cotton fabrics, medicines, and spices

    went westward as well as silk, but it is impossible to distinguish

    the trade with China from that with India. The leaf

    called raalcibathrum in the Periplus was not a Chinese plant,

    but the tamalapatra, a kind of cassia {Cinnamonutm liitidum,

    whose leaves were purchased in Rome for three hundred denarii

    per pound), and now called Malabar leaf ; it was probably mixed

    or confounded with tlie Indian nard and with camphor. The

    people called SesaUe in the Periplus are probably to be looked

    for in Assam or Sikkim, where wild cassia grows, and where

    the real tea plant is native ; but neither tea nor betel-leaf can

    be regarded as the ancient malabathrum.’

    ‘Heeren’s Asiatic Researches, II., p. 294; Yule’s Cathciy, pp. xlvi, cxliv.

    co:\rMrNiCATiox wnii tiik greek empire. 413

    Witliin the last few years the translations of the travels of

    Buddhist ])ilgrinis hetweon China and India have furnished

    more satisfactory details of the peoples iidiahiting the central

    and western parts of Asia than all the Greek and Latin authors.

    Those of Fahian (309-414), of Iliucn-tsang (628-645), and of

    Ilwui-sing (518), are the most extensive. Further researches into

    conventual libraries in China and Tibet are encouraged by

    what has been found on their shelves, and from them enough

    has already been gained to .reward the labor. Of greater worth

    than these, perhaps, are the official histories of the Han, Tsin,

    and Tang dynasties, reaching from b.c. 200 to a.d. 900, only

    portions of which have yet been made accessible in full. Their

    trivialties are so numerous that their entii-e translation intoEng;-

    lish would hardly repay the printing, as the experiment by

    Mailla, in 1785, oitheTang Klen. Kang-mnh, in thirteen volumes

    quarto, shows. These histories, on the whole, supply more accurate

    information about Syria, Pei-sia, Greece, and Parthia,

    than the Avriters of those countries give about China ;—for

    example, the notices of FuUn, or Constantinople, are more

    minute than any account of Chang-an in western writers. But

    as Yule well remarks, there is much analogy between the fragmentary

    views each party had, the same uncertainty as to exact

    position, and the same application of facts belonging to the

    nearer skirts of a half-seen empire to the whole land. It can

    M^ell be paralleled by reading some of our own travellers who

    applied all that they saw and heard at Canton to the Eighteen

    Pi-ovinces. Only a few emljassies from Ta-tsin and Falln are

    enumerated by Pauthier in his Chine as coming down to the year

    1091 ; but the tractate by Dr. E. Bretschneider, of the Russian

    Legation at Peking,’ shows how constant were the visits of the

    Arabs down to the Sung (a.d. 1086), and especially during the

    Tang dynasty. During the Tsin and Wei dynasties the visits

    of envoys from Ceylon were frequent, all of them an outgrowth

    of Buddhism, but repaid in more ways than one by the trade

    and its results—as shown by Sir E. Tennent in his H’lMory of

    Ceylon. In 1266 the King of Ceylon had Chinese soldiers in

    ‘ On the Knmdedge of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies possessed by the Ancient Chinese, London, 1871.

    his service, and envoys came to liiiii to \n\\ Iluddlia’s sacred

    alms-disli. In 14(»5 tlie Emperor Ynngloh of the Ming dynasty,

    taking underage at the indiginties offered to liis re[)resenlative

    by Wijayabahu IV., despatclied Ching IIo with a Heet of sixtytwo

    ships and a hind force to cruise along the coasts of Cambodia,

    Siam, and other places, demanding ti-ihnte and conferring

    gifts as the successor of the throne held by the great

    Kublai. Going again the next year as far as Ceylon, Ching

    IIo evaded a snare set by the king, and captured him and his

    whole familv and officials, carrvini>; them all to Pekinj;. In

    1411 the latter were set free, but a new king was appointed

    to the vacant throne, who reigned fifty jears and sent tribute

    till 1459 ; this was only thirty-eight years before Gama arrived

    at Calicut. It was the last attempt of the Chinese to assert their sway beyond the limits of the Middle Kingdom seaward.’

    ‘Tennent’s Ccijlov, I., pp. 607-62G. Yule’s Cathay, pp. Ixvi-lxxvi.

    – Relation des Voyar/es faitit par l(‘« Anihes ct Ics JVi-nans (hum Vlnde et dla Chine dans le IX”” Siede de Ver’ Chretienitc, 2 Vols., Paris, 1845.

    NOTICES OF ARAB TRAVELLERS. 41fi

    One intimation of a continuance of the intercourse with China from the time of Justinian to that of the Arab travelers Wahab and Abu Zaid, is the Xestorian inscription (page 277). The narratives of the Arabs (a.d. 850 and 877) are trustworthy in their general statements as to the course pursued in the voyage, the port to which they sailed in China, the customs of the people there, and the nature and mode of conducting the trade; they form, in fact, the first authentic accounts we have of the Chinese from western writers, and make us dinibt a little whether others like them have not been lost, rather than suppose that such were never written. These interesting relics were translated by Reinaud in 1845, with the text and notes.” The second traveler speaks of the sack of the city of Canfu, then the port of all the Arabian merchants, in which one hundred and twenty thousand Mohannnedans, Jews, Christians, and Magians, or Parsees, engaged in traffic, were destroyed. This shows the extent and value of the trade. Canfu was Kanpu, a fine port near the modern town of the same name, twenty-five miles from HangZhou, and near Chapu on the Bay of Hangzhou ; the Gates of China were probably in the Chusan Arcliipelago and its nmnerons channels. Much of the statement made 1)V >\bn Zaid respecting the wealth, extent, and splendor <»f Canfu really refers to the city of Hangzhou. The bore in the Qiantang river makes it impossible for ships to lie off that place, and this had its effect in developing Kanpn. The destruction of the capital in 877 contributed to direct part of the trade to Canton, which even then and long after was comparatively a small place, and the people of that part of the country but little removed from gross barbarism. In Marco Polo’s time Ganpu was frequented by all the ships that bring merchandise from India.’

    Prior to the date when he reached the confines of the Pacific,

    the ravages of the Mongols, under Genghis and his successors, in

    the regions between the Mediterranean and Caspian, and their

    great victory near Lignitz, April 12, 1241, had aroused the fears

    of the Pope and other potentates for their own safety. After

    the sudden recall of the hosts of Okkodai, in the same year, at

    his death, and their retreat from Bohemia and Poland to the

    Dneiper, the Pope determined to send two missions to the Tartars

    to urge them to greater humanity. One was a Franciscan

    monk, John of Piano Carpini, wdio carried the following letter

    to Batu klian on the Wolga:

    INNOCENT, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, TO THE KING AND PEOPLE OF THE TARTARS.

    ‘ Chinese ReposiUrry, Vol. I., pp. G, 42, 2.’)2 ; Vol. III., p. 115. Yule’s ilfarctf Pdo, Vol. II., pp. 149, 1.50. Catltiiy^ p. uxciii.

    Since not only men, but also irrational animals, and even the mechanical mundane elements, are united by some kind of alliance, after the example of superior spirits, whose liosts the Author of the universe has established in a perpetual and peaceful order, we are compelled to wonder, not without reason, how you, as we have heard, having entered many lands of Christians and others, have wasted them with horrible desolation, and still, with continued fury, not ceasing to extend further your destroying hands, dissolving every natural tie, neither sparing sex nor age, direct indifferently against all the fury of the sword. We therefore, after the example of the Prince of Peace, desiring to unite all mankind in unity and the fear of God, warn, beseech, and exhort you henceforth to desist wholly from such outrages, and especially from the persecution of Christians ; and since, by so many and so great offences, you have doubtless grievously provoked the wrath of the Divine majesty, that you make satisfaction to him by suitable penitence ; and that you be not so daring as to carry your rage further, because the omnipotent God has hitherto permitted the nations to be lai<l prostrate before your face. He sometimes thus passes by the proud men of the age; but if they do not humble themselves, he will not fail to inflict the severest temporal punishment on their guilt.

    And now, behold, we send our beloved brother John, and his companions, bearers of these presents, men conspicuous for religion and honesty, and endued with a knowledge of sacred Scripture, whom we hope you will kindly receive and honorably treat as if they were ourselves, placing confidence in what they may say from us, and specially treat with them on what relates to peace, and fully intimate what has moved you to this extermination of other nations, and what you further intend, providing them in going and returning with a safe conductor, and other things needful for returning to our presence.

    We have chosen to send to you the said friars, on account of their exemplary eonduct and knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and because they would be more useful to you as imitating the humility of our Saviour, and if we had thought they would be more grateful and useful to you, we would have sent ither prelates or powerful men.’

    M. D’Avezac’s essay contains a full account of the travels

    and proceedings of Carpini and his companion, Benedict, in

    their hazardous journey of a hundred days from Kiev, across

    the plains of Russia and Bokhara, to the court of Kuyuk, who

    had succeeded Okkodai. They were first sent forward by the

    commanding ofiicers of the several posts to Batu’s camp, where

    the Pope’s letter was translated ; from hence they were again

    despatched at the most rapid rate, on horseback, to Kara-korum,

    M’here they arrived July 22, 124G, almost exhausted. After

    they had been there a few days the election was decided, and

    all ambassadors were introduced to an audience to the khan,

    when the Pope’s envoys alone werf^ without a present. The

    letter was read, and an answer ret’:<i-ned in a few weeks in the

    same style. These two potentates, so singularly introduced to

    each other in tlieir mutual ignorance by the letters carried by

    John, had much more in common in their pretensions to universal

    dominion by the command of God than they suspected.

    ‘ Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 49. Yule’s CatJuty, p. cxxiii ff. D’Avezac’s essay in the liecueU de Voyages, IV. , p. 399,

    MISSION OF THE POPE TO BATU KUAN. 417

    LETTER OF THE KING OF THE TARTARS TO THE LORD POPE.

    The khan’s letter was as follows :
    The strength of God, Kuyiik kliiui, the ruler of all men, to the great Pope. You and all the Christian people who dwell in tlie West have sent by your messengers sure and certain letters for the purpose of making peace with us. This we have heard from them, and it is contained in your letter. Therefore, if you desire to have peace with us, you Pope, emperors, all kings, all men powerful in cities, by no means delay to come to us for the purpose of concluding peace, and you will hear our answer and our will. The series of your letters contained that we ought to be baptized and to become Christians ; we briefly reply, that we do not understand why we ought to do so. As to what is mentioned in your letters, that you wonder at the slaughter of men, and chiefly of Christians, especially Hungarians, Poles, and Moravians, we shortly answer, that this too we do not understand. Nevertheless, lest we should seem to pass it over in silence, we think proper to reply as follows: It is because they have not obeyed the precept of God and of Genghis khan, and, holding bad counsel, have slain our messengers;’ wherefore God has ordered them to be destroyed, and delivered them into our hands. But if God had not done it, what could man have done to man V But you, inhabitants of the West, believe that you only are Christians, and despise others ; but how do you know on whom he may choose to bestow his favor ? We adore God, and, in his strength, will overwhelm the whole earth from the east to the west. But if we men were not strengthened by God, what could we do ?”

    ‘ Allusion is here made to Tartar ambassadors, whom the Russians murdered before the battle of Kalka.

    ”Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 59.

    The khan took the precaution, which the Pope did not, of putting his reply into an intelligible language, and when it yvaa written in Tartar he had it carefully explained to the friars, who translated it into Latin, and were soon after dismissed.

    They left the court on November 13, 1246, and ” travelled all winter through a wide open country, being commonly obliged to sleep on the ground after clearing away the snow, with which in the morning they often found themselves covered.” They reached Kiev the next June, and Carpini was rewarded for his hardships by being appointed Archbishop of Antivari in Dalmatia. As Yule remarks, “they were the first to bring to western Europe the revived knowledge of a great and civilized nation lying in the extreme East upon the shores of the ocean.”

    Louis XL of France having heard that Sartach, the son of Batu, then commanding on the w^estern frontier, was a Christian, sent z mission to liini, consistin<5 of the friar AVilliani Rubrnquis ‘ and three companions. They left Constantinople May 7, 1253, and proceeded to the Crimea, from wlience they set ont with a present of wines, frnits, and biscuits intended for the khan. In three days they met the Tartars, who conducted them first to Scacatai, a chieftain by whom, after considerable delay and vexation, they were furnished with everything necessary for a journey across the plains of southei-n Russia to the Wolga and the camp of Sartach. The monks attempted to convert the rude nomads, but igno.ance of the language and

    suspicions of their intentions interposed great obstacles on

    both sides. On arriving at the end of their journey, they were

    disappointed at finding the ruler of these warriors a besotted

    infidel, who expected all persons admitted into his presence to

    bring him costly presents. A Nestorian named Cojat, whom

    Rubruquis regarded as. no better than a heretic, was high in

    authority, and the only medium of counmmication with the

    khan. He told the friar to bring his books and vestments

    and make himself ready to appear before the khan on the

    mori’ow ; their elegance was such that at the close of the audience

    Cojat seized most of them under an idle pretext that it

    was improper to appear in them a second time before Batu

    khan, to whom Rubruquis and his companions were to be sent.

    Their journey was soon after prosecuted by following up the

    Wolga some distance, and when they arrived at the encampment

    of Batu khan, he made many inquiries about the resources and

    power of the French king and the war he was waging with the

    Saracens. On his introduction, ” the friar bent one knee, but

    finding this unsatisfactory did not choose to contend, and dropped

    on both. Misled by his position, instead of answering questions

    he began a prayer for the conversion of the khan, with

    warning of the dreadful consequences of unbelief. The prince

    merely smiled ; but the derision which was loudly expressed by

    the surrounding chiefs threw him into a good deal of confusion.”

    ‘ Or, more correctly, Rubruk, as D’Avezac lias pointed out {Bull. <1e hi Soc. de Geof/i:, 18G8), and in whose conclusions Yule joins {Marco Polo, second edition, p. 536).

    EMBASSY OF KUBRUQUIS TO MANGU KlIAI^. 419

    The interview was followed by an order to proceed to the court of Mangu, who had succeeded Kuyuk as Grand khan. This long journey occupied four months, through the high hind of Central Asia (farther eastward than where Carpini found Kuyuk’s court), and subjected them to severe hardships. Mangu received the mission hardly with civility, but having been examined by some Xestorian priests, they were admitted to an audience. The same ceremonies were required as at Batu’s court, and inquiries made as to the possessions of the French king, especially the number of rams, horses, and oxen he owned, which, the friar was amazed to learn, were soon to be attacked by the Tartars. Xo permission to remain could be obtained, but he was furnished with a house and allowed to tarry till the cold mitigated. In this remote region he found a European architect, William Bourchier, and his wife, from Mentz, besides many Armenians, Saracens, and Xestorians, all of whom the khan received, he accompanied the coin-t to Kara-korum, where he nearly became involved in dangei’ous religious disputes, and on the approach of milder weather was conqjelled to return to Batu khan, by whom he was sent on, in a south-westerly direction, until he entei’ed Armenia, and thence found his way to Iconium, having been absent nearly two years.

    These ambassadors had not the aid of printing to diffuse their narratives, and it was perhaps chiefly owing to the high standing of those who sent them that their relations have been preserved. In the case of many travellers of humbler origin or pretensions, there Avas no inducement to write what they had seen ; these therefore only told their stories, which were lost with the narrators.

    Even the travels of Marco Polo would perhaps never have been given to the world if the leisure of captivity had not induced him to adopt this method of relieving its tedium. Every examination of his record has added to its reputation for accuracy, both in the position of the cities he mentions or visited and in the events he details ; and when it is considered that he dictated it several years after his return to a fellow-prisoner, Rusticiano of Pisa, who wrote it in French, his accuracy is wonderful.

    The edition by Marsden in 1818 remained for fifty years the chief authority, but the recent editions by Pauthier and Yule, with their full notes, have made the traveller’s record vastly better understood, while adding iiiiich to our knowledge of mediaeval Asia.

    Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, was the son of ]Sieolo Polo, who with his brother Matteo, nobles and merchants of Venice, first left that city about 125-i, and Constantinople in 1260, on a mercantile voyage to the Crimea, from which point a series of events led them eastward as far as China, then lately conquered by Kublai, the Grand Khan and successor of Mangu khan, whom Rubruquis visited. They were favorably received, and when they left Kublai it was under a promise to return, which they did about December, 1274, bearing letters from

    Gregory X., and accompanied by young Marco, then about sixteen

    years old. He soon became a favorite with the Emperor,

    and was able to travel to many parts of the country, spending in

    all about twenty-one years in the East ; the three Polos reached

    Venice again in 1295. Marco was prefect at Yangchau on the

    Grand Canal for three years, and this involves a knowledge of

    Mongolian and Chinese speech and writing, without which he

    could hardly have administered its ofHcial duties. His possession

    of these accomplishments was nearly indispensable to the

    post, though Col. Yule infers, from an easily explained mistake

    in Chapter LXXV., that he did not have them. On reaching

    Venice, by way of India and Persia, the long-lost travellers appeared

    so completely altered that their friends and countrymen

    did not recognize them. Their wealth and entertainini>- recitals,

    however, soon restored them to the highest ranks of society.

    The industry of recent editors has probably brought togethei- all

    that can be learned of their subsequent history, which is now so

    well known as to require no further words here.

    NARRATIVES OF POLO AND OF KING TTAYTON. -t21

    In the year 1254, Ilethum, or Hayton, king of Little Armenia, undertook a journey to Mangu khan, to petition for an abatement of the tribute which he had been obliged to pay the Mongols. Having first sent forth his brother, Senipad, or Sinibald (in 1240), to Kuyuk khan, Hayton himself set out upon the accession to the throne of his successor. Passing through Kars and Armenia Proper to the Wolga, he was there received by Patu and foi-warded by a route to the north of that traversed by Carpini to Kara-korum and the Grand khan. At the end of a six weeks’ sojourn with the court, during which time he appears to have been kindly received, Ilayton commenced his homeward journey via Bishbalig and Song-aria to Samarkand, Bokhara, Khorasan, and thence to Tabriz. The accounts of these two embassies, wherein are described many wonderful things concerning the heathens of the East and barbarians upon the route, made up, doubtless, a large part of the ” History ”(written in 1307) by the king’s relative, Ilayton of Gorigos.’

    The different positions held by these men and the Polos naturally led each of them to look upon the same people and events with vastly different feelings. The efforts of John of Montecorvino to propagate Christianity in China were undertaken just as the Polos returned, but no detailed accounts of his labors(beyond what Col.Yule has gathered in his Cathay) have been preserved.

    Among the most important mediaeval travelers in Asia was the Moor, Ibn Batuta, who at the age of twenty-one set out(in 1325) upon his journeys, from which he did not return until thirty years later.” Abu-Abdullah Mahomed (nicknamed Ibn Batuta, ” The Traveller “) commenced his wanderings, which were contemporaneous with those of the more doubtful Englishman, Sir John Mandeville, by a series of pilgrimages to the sacred places of his religion ; among other excursions, he found time at one period to continue three years in Mecca. Going from one city to another, along the shores of the Mediterranean, and in the countries between it and the Caspian, he at length reached Delhi, where he resided eight years, enjoying—until the latter end of his stay—high favor from the Sultan Mahomed.

    ‘ The chapter concerning Cathay appears in Yule’s Cathay, p. cxcv. A translation of the elder Hayton’s narrative is given by Klaprotli in the Journal Asiatique, IV” Scries, Tome XII., pp. 273 ff.

    ‘ His work has been very ably edited and translated into French by M. Defremery and Dr. Sanguinetti (four volumes, Paris, 1858-5!)), under the patronage of the Asiatic Society of Paris. Several partial translations of the journal have appeared from time to time within the present century.

    The versatile Moor occupied the position of judge, though there is good reason to doubt his serious attention to any business while at this magnificent court, other than that of spending his master’s money. In the spring of 1342, having recovered tVoin a temporary disgrace, he was despatched on an ambassy to

    China hy tlie Sultan. It seems that a (“liincse envoy had arrived

    at Delhi to request permission for the natives to rebuild

    a temple in Butan, as they were poor and dependent upon the

    inhabitants of the plain, and had besought the Chinese government

    to intercede for them. Ibn Batuta was sent with lavish

    presents to the Emperor, but a refusal to assist in the building

    project uidess that sovereign would go through the form of

    paying a poll-tax to the Sultan. This embassy was attacked by

    a body of Hindus when scarcely out of Delhi, and obliged to

    return. Again it was sent out, going to Calicut on the Malabar

    coast, where were found fifteen Chinese vessels or galleys at

    anchor, whose crews and guard amounted to a thousand men

    each. The envoy embarked his attendants on one of these

    ships, but while he remained on shore to pray for a prosperous

    voyage, a storm sunk the vessel and all on board. After this

    second mishap the luckless Moor was afraid to return to Ids

    master, and went to Sumatra, from whence he found his way

    to China, landing at Zayton, the present Chinchew, in Fuhkien.

    Though it is doubtful if Ibn Batuta, notwithstanding his description

    of the place, ever reached Peking, his spirited accounts

    of Zayton, Sinkalan (Canton), Khansa (Hangchau), Kanjanfu,

    and other centres of trade in the soutli, are both entertaining

    and important. Spite of exaggerations, confusion of names

    and dates, and certain cases of positive fiction, one can hardly

    fail to put faith in the generality of his statements and conclude

    in favor of his veracity and genuine character. He mentions

    that tlie circulation of paper money, wliich Marco Polo thought

    so excellent a device for a king to raise funds, had entirely

    driven out the use of metallic currency. In every large town

    lie found Mohammedans, ruled by officers of their own persuasion.

    TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA AND FRIAR ODORIC. 423

    The journal of Friar Odoric (1286-1331) contains much of interest in connection with China of the middle ages. This worthy priest landed at ” Censcalan ” (Canton), after a long and tedious trip from Bagdad round by Sumatra and thence northeast by land to Zayton. Here, says he, ” we friars minor have two houses, and there I deposited the bones of our friars who suffered martyrdom for the faith of Jesus Christ.” He had brought these relics from Tana, near Bombay. Thence he journeyed to Fnlichau, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, going on northward to Peking, where the aged archbishop, (Jorvino, was still living, and remained there three years. His return journey as far as H’lassa was not very different from that of Hue and Gabet in 184-3 ; from the Tibetan capital he probably continued on a westerly course to Cabul and Tabriz, reaching Venice in 1330, after an absence of thirteen years. His itinerary was taken down the following year by William of Solagna, a brother of the order, at Padua.

    In this narrative there is mention of a number of characterise tics of the Chinese, well known to all the world of to-day, but left wholly unnoticed by other travellers of his age. “His notices of the custom of fishing with cormorants, of the habits of letting the finger-nails grow long, and of compressing the women’s feet, as well as of the divisions of the khan’s Empire into twelve provinces, with four chief vizirs, are peculiar to him, I believe, among all the European travellers of the age.

    Polo mentions none of them. The names which he assigns to the Chinese post-stations, and to the provincial Boards of Administration, the technical Turki term which he uses for a sack of rice, etc., are all tokens of the reality of his experience.’”

    • Yule, Catlmy and the Way Tliither, p. 31.

    On the other hand, the influence of superstition upon their own minds rendered most of the religious travellers into Central Asia—Odoric as well as the others—less trustworthy and observant than they would perhaps have been either centuries before or after that period. Everything of a religious sort they regarded as done under the direct agency of the powers of darkness, into whose dominions they were venturing. Too fearful, moreover, to examine candidly or record accurately’ what they beheld, these pious adventurers were constantly misled by endeavors to explain any uncommon experience by referi-ing the same to their own imperfect or erroneous conceptions. This is true as well of the Bomish priests connected with the Peking mission, a few of whose letters have been preserved and recently made known to the public by Col. Yule; among tlieso are Friar Jordanus, Bishop Andrew of Zayton, Pascal of Vittoria, together with the Ai-chbisliop of Soltania, author of the “Book of the Estate and Governance of the (Ireat Caan of Cathay.” ‘

    But much fairer than these missionaries, in his reputation

    for veracity, was tlie Jesuit Benedict Goes, wlio in the centui-

    y preceding what nva,y be termed the modern period of our

    knowledge of China, undertook a journey across the desert,

    to die on the threshold of the Empire. Born in one of the

    islands of the Azore group. Goes spent his youth in the profession

    of a soldier on board of the Portuguese fleet. Becoming

    suddenly converted, he entered the service of the Jesuits as a

    lay brother—which humble i-ank he i-esolutely held during the

    rest of his career—and was sent to the court of Akbar, His

    residence in India gained hijn a high reputation for courage,

    judgment, and skill in the Persian tongue, the linguafranca

    of Asia at that date. He was selected, therefore, to undertake

    a journey to the Cathay of Marco Polo, in the capital of which

    Jerome Xavier thought he had hopes of finding the Christian

    ruler and descendant of Prester John. Goes set out from

    Agra in 1602, joined a company of merchants, and with them

    took a route passing through Cabul, the Hindu kush, along

    the River Oxus to its head-waters on the Pamir table-land,

    and so to Yangi Hissar, Yarkand, Aksu, and Suh-chau, where

    he was detained seventeen months, and finally died, shortly

    after assistance had been sent him from the mission at Peking.

    ‘ About 13:30. See ibid., pp. 238-250.

    JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 425

    De Christiana Ej’pedit’wne apiul /Sinas.’ To Benedict Goes

    His journey was full of terrible hardships, and it was to these as well as to the careless treatment he suffered in Suhchau that he owed his untimely end. Could we have Goes’ own narrative of his experience, the information concerning the unknown regions of Central Asia over which he toiled would be of priceless worth. His journals, however, were either lost or destroyed during his miserable detention at the frontier town, and nothing remained save a few meagre notes

    and his faithful Armenian servant Isaac, whose language no one at Peking could understand. Such as it was, an account was compiled from these soun-es by Ilicci himself, and published soon after that missionary’s death in the work of Trigautius, we may give the credit of the discovery that Cathay and China(Sina) were in reality one and the same land. It is a curious illustration of the condition of intercommunication between distant parts of the world in those days, that this fact must have been known to the earliest Jesuit missionaries in Peking, though the friars of the same order stationed in India held to a belief in Cambaluc and its Christian prince until far into the seventeenth century.

    In many particulars the practical descriptions of Abu Zaid, Masudi,” Ibn Wahab, and Marco Polo stand in decided contrast to the details noted down by such as Rubruquis and Odoric. The accounts of all these writers convey the impression that China was in their time free to all travellers. Ibn Wahab, speaking of the regulations practised under the Tang dynasty, observes:

    If a man would travel from one province to another, he must take two passes with him, one from the governor, the other from the eunuch [or lieutenant]. The governor’s pass permits him to set out on his journey and contains the names of the traveller and those also of his company, also the ages of the one and the other and the clan to which he helongs. For every traveller in China, whether a native or an Arab, or other foreigner, cannot avoid carrying a paper with him containing everything by which he can be verified.

    ‘ A translation of this notice appears in Col. Yule’s oft-quoted CatJuiy and the Wiiy Thither, pp. 529-591. Trigautins’ work appeared in 1615, and was subsequently translated into all the continental languages. Compare Purchas, His PiUjriiites, Vol. III., pp. 380, ff.—A Ducourse of the Kingdonte of Ghimi, tnken ont of Eiecivs and I’rif/avfivii, rontayning the Conntrey, People, Gotiernmevt, etc., etc. ° Reinaud, Relation des Voyaf/e,i, etc. MM. Barbier de Meynard and Favet de Courteille, Les Prariex d’Or, Paris, 1801-OG.

    The eunuch’s pass specifies the quantities of money or goods wliich the traveller and those with him take along ; this is done for the information of officers at the frontier places where these two passes are examined. Whenever a traveller arrives at any of them, it is registered that ” .Such a one, son of such a one, of such a calling, passed here on such a day, month, and year, having sufii things with him.” The governmpnt resorts to this means to prevent danger to travellers in their money or goods ; for should one suifer loss or die, everything about him is immediately known and lie himself or his heirs after his death receive whatever is his. ‘

    The same writer speaks of the Mabed, a nation dwelling in Yunnan, on the south-west, who sent ambassadors every year with presents to the Emperor; and in return he sent presents annually to them. These embassies, indeed, were simply trading companies in disguise, who came from the Persians, Arabs, and other nations, with every protestation of respect and humility, bearing presents to the Son of Heaven. The dignity of the Emperor denumded that these should be returned with gifts three or four times the value of this ” tribute,” and that the ambassadors should be royally entertained during their sojourn at the capital. It is needless to add that such missions were repeated by the merchants as often as circumstances would permit. Entrance into the country overland otherwise than by some such ruse seems to have been withheld after the fall of the Mongol dynasty.

    It was, however, not until the subjugation of the Empire by

    the Manchus that foreign trade was limited to Canton, the

    jealous conduct of the present rulers being to a certain extent

    actuated by a fear of similar reprisals from some quarter, which

    the Mongols experienced. The outrageous behavior of foreign

    traders theujselves must, moreover, be regarded as a chief

    cause of the watchful seclusion with which they were treated.

    ” Their early conduct,” says Sir John Davis, referring to the

    Portuguese, ” was not calculated to impress the Chinese witli

    any favorable idea of Europeans ; and when in course of time

    they came to be com])etitors with the Dutch and the English,

    the contests of mert;antile avarice tended to place them

    all in a still worse point of view. To tliis day the character of

    the Europeans is represented as that of a race of men intent

    alone on the gains of commercial traffic, and regardless altogether

    of the means of attainment. Struck by the perpetual hostilities which existed among these foreign adventurers, aslleinaud, siiiiilated in other respects by a close resemblance in their costumes and manners, the government of the country became disposed to treat them with a degree of jealousy and exclusion which it had not deemed necessary to be exercised toward the more peaceable and well ordered Arabs, their predecessors.” ‘

    IkUition, Tome I., p. 41.

    THE empire: closed to foreigners. 427

    These characteristics of avarice, lawlessness, and power have been the leading traits in the Chinese estimate of foreigners from their first acquaintance with them, and the latter have done little to effectually disabuse orientals upon these points.

    The following record of their first arrival, taken from a Chinese work, is still good authority in the general opinion of the natives:

    During the reign of Cliingtili [1506], foreigners from the West, called Fahlan-ki [Franks], who said that they had tribute, abruptly entered the Bogue, and by their tremendously loud guns, shook the place far and near. This was reported at court, and an order returned to drive them away immediately and stop their trade. At about this time also the Hollanders, who in ancient times inhabited a wild territory and had no intercourse with China, came to Macao in two or three large ships. Their clothes and their hair were red; their bodies tall; they had blue eyes, sunk deep in their heads. Their feet were one cubit and two-tenths long; and they frightened the people by their strange appearance. “‘

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. I., p. 20.- The term hong-mao, or * red-haired,’ then applied to the Dutch, has sLuc« been transferred to the English.

    The Portuguese Hafael Perestrello sailed in a junk for China in 1516, five 3’ears after the conquest of IVIalacca, and was the first person who ever conducted a vessel to China under a European flag. Ferdinand Andrade came in the next year, in fcjur Portuguese and four Malay ships, and gave great satisfaction to the authorities at Canton by his fair dealings; his galleons were allowed to anchor at Shangchuen, or St. John’s Island. His brother Simon came the following year, and by his atrocious conduct entirely reversed the good opinion formed of his countrymen; the Chinese besieged him in port and drove him away in 1521. Others of his countrymen followed him, and one of the earliest ships accompanied some Chinese junks along the coast, and succeeded in establishing a factory at 2singpo; trade was also coiicliicted at Amoy. In 1537 there were three Portuguese settlements near Canton, one at St.

    John’s, one at a smaller island called Lanipa9ao (Lang-peh-kau), lying north-west of the Grand Ladroncs, and the third just l)eirun on Macao.’ In 1542 traders had left St. John’s for

    Lainpa9ao, and ten years afterward, at the time of Xavier’s

    death, trade was concentrated at the latter, where five or six

    hundred Portuguese constantly resided in 1500. Macao was

    connnenced under the pretext of erecting sheds for drying goods

    introduced under the appellation of trihute, and alleged to have

    been damaged in a storm. In 1573 the Chinese government

    erected a barrier wall across the isthmus joining Macao to the

    island of liiangshan, and in 1587 established a civil magistracy

    to rule the Chinese. By their ill conduct at Ningbo the Portuguese

    drew upon them the vengeance of the people, who rose

    upon them and ” destroyed twelve thousand Christians, including

    eight hundred Portuguese, and burned thirty-five ships and

    two junks.” One of their provocative acts is stated to have

    been going out in large parties into the neighboring villages

    and seizing the women and virgins, by which they justly lost

    their privileges in one of the provinces and ports best adapted

    to European trade. Four years later, in 15-19, they were also

    driven from their newly formed settlement at Chinchew.

    ‘ There stood originally on tlio site of tins town an idol known as Avia. Amau-gau, or Ama-kdu, then, meant the ‘Harbor of Ama,’ which in Portuguese was written Amiicuo, and afterward shortened to Marao. Conip. Trigautius, Be OJiristiana E.vjmHtione apvd S/iiks, Hiir). Nieuwhof, Niivirhriiru;e Bes’-Jiryrivf/e nivH Gosandarhitp, etc., Amsterdam, ^CtGA. Sir A. Ljungstedt, Historical Sketch of the Portii (pi cue Settlements in China, Boston, 18^(5. Chinese Commercial Guide, lifth edition, i^. 22’J.

    PORTUGUESE RELATIONS WITH CHINA. 429

    The Portuguese have sent four embassies to the Emperor of China. The first envoy, Thome Pires, was appointed by the Governor at Goa, and accompanied Ferdinand Andi-adc lo Canton, in 1517, where he was received and treated in the usual style of foreign ambassadors. When his mission was reported at Peking the Emperor Chingtih was infiuenced against it by a subject of the Sultan of Malacca, and detahied Pires at Canton three years; the flagitious conduct of Andrade’s brother

    and the character of the Portuguese induced the Emperor to

    appoint a court to examine whether the embassy was legitiujate

    or spurious, and Pires and his companions were adjudged to be

    spies and sent back to Canton to be detained till Malacca was

    restored. This not being done, he and others suffered death in

    September, 1523 ; other accounts lead to the inference that he

    died in 2)rison. Thus the innocent were made to suffer for the

    guilty. The next embassy was undertaken in 155’2, at the suggestion

    of Xavier, by the Viceroy of Goa, but the mission proceeded

    no farther than Malacca, the governor of that towTi

    refusing to allow it to leave the place—a significant intimation

    of the degree of subordination and order maintained by the

    Portuguese in the administration of their new colonies. The

    third was also sent from Goa in 1667, in the name of Alfonso

    YL, on occasion of the suspension of the trade of Macao by

    Kanghi ; the expense was defrayed by that colony (about

    forty thousand dollars), and ” the result of it so little answered

    their expectations that the Senate solicited his Majesty not to

    intercede in behalf of his vassals at Macao with the government

    of China, Avere it not in an imperious and cogent case.”

    A good opportunity and necessity for this, it was thought, presented itself in 1723, when Magaillans returned to China carrying the answer of the Pope to Kangxi, to send an envoy, Alexander Metello, along with him to Peking, lie arrived at court in May, 1727, and had his audience of leave in July, receiving in exchange for the thirty chests of presents which he offered, and which Yungching received with pleasure ” as evidences of the affection of the King of Portugal,” as many for his master, besides a cup of wine and some porcelain dishes, sent from the Emperor’s table, and other presents for himself and his retinue, which were ” valuable solely because they were the gifts of a monarch.” No more advantage resulted from this than the embassy sent a century previous, though it cost the inhabitants of Macao a like heavy sum. Another and last Portuguese embassy reached Peking in 1753, conducted and ending in much the same maimer as its predecessors ; all of them exhibiting, in a greater or less degree, the spectacle of humiliating submission of independent nations through their envoys to a I’oiirt which took pleasure in arrogantly exalting itself on the homage it received, and studiously avoided all reference to the real business of the embassy, that it might neither give nor deny anything. But in estimating its conduct in these respects, it must not be overlooked that the imperial court never associated commercial equality and regulations with embassies and tribute.

    The influence and wealth of the Portuguese in China for the last century and a half have gradual decreased. A Swedish knight. Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, published a historical sketch of their doings down to 1833, including an account of the colony, which is still the fullest book on the subject. In 1820 the opium trade was removed to Lintin, and that being the principal source of income, the commerce of the place for many years was at a low ebb. The imperial commissioner Iviying granted some additional privileges to the settlement in 1844, among others, permitting the inhabitants to build and repair new houses, churches, and ship’s without a license, and to trade at the five ports open to foreign commerce on the same terms as other nations ; it was just three centuries before this that the Portuguese were driven away from Ningbo. The anchorage of the Typa was included in the jurisdiction of Macao, but the application of the Portuguese commissioner to surcease payment of the anmial ground-rent of five hundred taels to the Chinese met with a decided refusal. Its advantages as a summer resort and its accessibility to a densely peopled region M^est invite visitors and traders to some extent, but the proximity and wealth of Hongkong make it secondary to that. Its short-lived prosperity in 1839-50, during the opium war and curly days of Hongkong, was followed b}’ the enlargement of the coolie trade, which for twenty-five years was the only real business.

    EMBASSIES AND TRADE. 431

    The Chinese have never ceded the peninsula to the Portuguese crown, although they were powerless to prevent the export of coolies; the relations now between the two countries are not distinctly defined. In 1862 a treaty was negotiated at Peking by Governor Guimaraes, in which the supremacy of the Portuguese authority over the ten-itory within the Barrier was implied rather than declared in Article IX., wherein the ecpial apTHEIR pointment of consular officers was mutually agreed to. The Chinese found out, however, that this virtually acknowledged the independence of the colony, and refused to i-atify the treaty without an express stipulation asserting their right of domain to the peninsula. It has never been ratified, therefore, but trade is unfettered, and the Chinese inhabitants continue to increase; no rental has been paid for the ground-tax since 1849. The cessation of the coolie trade in 1873 has reduced Macao lower than ever, and it now hardly pays its own officials; all the thrifty or wealthy foreign citizens have removed elsewhere.

    The trade between the Spaniards and Chinese has been

    smaller, and their relations less important than most other

    European nations. The Spanish admiral Legaspi conquered

    the Philippines in 1543, and Chinese merchants soon began to

    trade with Manila ; but the first attempt of the Spaniards to

    enter China was not made until 1575, when two Augustine

    friars accompanied a Chinese naval officer on his return home

    from the pursuit of a famous pirate named Li-ma-lion, whom

    the Spaniards had driven away from their new colony. The

    missionaries landed at Tansuso, a place on the coast of Kwangtung,

    and went up to Canton, where they were courteously received.

    The prefect sent them to the governor at Shanking,

    by whom they were examined ; they stated that their chief object

    was to form a close alliance between the two nations for

    their mutual benefit, adding at the same time what their countrymen

    had done against Li-ma-hon ; a second object was their

    wish to learn the language of China and teach its inhabitants their religion. The governor kept them in a sort of honorable bondage several weeks, and at last sent them back to Manila, doubtless by orders from court, though he alleged as a reason that the pirate Li-ma-hon was still at large. After the return of this mission the governor of the Philippines deemed it advisable to let the trade take its own course, and therefore refused the proposal of a body of Franciscans to enter the country.

    They, however, made the attempt in a small native vessel, and passed up the river to Tsiuenchau, where they were seized and examined as to their designs. Not being acquainted with the language, they were both themselves deluded and misrepresented to the prefect by a |)r()fes.se(l native friend who understood Portuguese; after many months’ delay they were mortified to learn that no permission to remain would be given, and in 1580 they returned to Manila, not at all disposed to renew the enterprise.

    Philip II,, however, having received the suggestion made by

    the Chinese admiral that he should send an embassy to Peking,

    had already ordered the governor to undertake such an enterprise.

    He fitted out a mission, therefore, in 1580, at the head

    of which was Martin Ignatius. It gives one a low idea of the

    skill of navigators at that day to learn that in this short trip,

    the vessel being carried np the coast northward of Canton, the

    party thought it better to land than to try to beat back to their

    destination. The envoy and all with him were brought before

    the Chinese officers, who, probably entirely misunderstanding

    their object, imprisoned them ; after considerable delay they

    were brought before a hio;her officer and sent on to Canton,

    where they were again imprisoned ; the Portuguese governor of

    Macao subsequently obtained their liberation. This unlucky

    attempt, if Mendoza is right in calling it an embassy, was the

    only one ever made by the Spanish government to communicate

    with the court of Peking nntil the mission of Don Sinibaido de

    Mas in 1847 and his treaty of 18G4. The pecular feature of that treaty was the piivilege, first granted to Spanish merchants, of engaging coolies as contract lal)orcrs for Cuba. The harsh treatment they received there led the Chinese to send a commission of inquiry in 1873, aiul to suspend the validity of this article until the truth could be ascertained. This procedure has resulted in a cessation of imported Chinese laborers at Havana.

    INTERCOUKSE BETWEEN HOLLAND AND THE EAST. 43.J

    The Chinese have carried on a valuable trade at Manila, but the Spaniards have treated them with peculiar severity. They are burdened Avith special taxes, and their immigration is rather restrained than encouraged. The harsh treatment of Chinese settlers there excited the attention and indignation of one of their countrymen many years ago, and on his return to Canton he exercised all his inHuence with officers of his own government, making what he had seen the model and the mative to induce them to treat all foreigners at Canton in the same way. It ended in perfecting the principal features of the system of espionage and restriction of the co-hong which existed for nearly a century, until the treaty of 1842;—another instance of the treatment requited upon foreigners for their own acts.

    The Dutch commerce with the East commenced after their successful struggle against the Spanish yoke, and soon after completing their independence they turned their arms against the oriental possessions of their enemies, capturing Malacca, the Spice Islands, and other places. They appeared before Macao in 1622 with a squadron of seventeen vessels, but being repulsed with the loss of their admiral and about three hundred men, they retired and established themselves on the Pescadores in 1624. Their occupation of this position was a source of great annoyance both to the Spaniards and to the Chinese authorities in Fuhkien. According to the custom of those days, they began to build a fort, and forced the native Chinese to do their work, treating them with great severity. Many of the laborers were prisoners, whom the Dutch had taken in their attacks.

    Alternate hostilities and parleys succeeded, the Chinese declaring that the Dutch must send an envoy to the authorities on the mainland ; they accord higly despatched Yon Mildert to Amoy, and the sub-prefect forwarded him to Fuhchau to the governor. He decided to send a messenger to the Dutch to state to them that trade would be allowed if they would remove to Formosa, but this proposition was refused. However, after a series of attacks and negotiations, the Chinese constantly increasing their forces and the Dutch diminishing in their supplies, the latter acceded to the proposition, and removed to Formosa, where they erected Fort Zealandia in 1G24. It is recorded that the Chinese landed five thousand troops on one of the Pescadore Islands ; and their determined efforts in repelling the aggressions or occupation of their soil by the Dutch probably raised their reputation for courage, and prevented the repetition of similar acts by others. It was doubtless a good stroke of policy on their part to propose the occupation of Formosa to the Dutch in exchange for the Pescadores, for they had not the least title to it themselves, aiul hardly knew its exact size at the character of the inhabitants. The Dutch endeavored ta extend their power over it, but with only partial success; in the villages around Fort Zealandia they introduced new laws among the inhabitants, and instead of their councils of elders, constituted one of their chief men supervisor in every village, to administer justice and report his acts to the governor of the island.

    The moral interests of the natives were not neglected, and in 162G George (Jandidius, a Protestant minister, Avas appointed to labor among them, and took great pains to introduce Christianity. The natives were ignorant of letters, their superstitions resting only on traditions or customs which were of recent origin; the prospects, therefore, of teaching them a better religion were favorable. In sixteen months he had instructed over a hundred in the leading truths of (,’hristianity. The work was progressing favorably, churches and schools were multiplying, the interniarria£o:es of the colonists and natives M-ere brinfofufiitr them into closer relationship with each other, and many thousands of the islanders had been baptized, when the Dutch governors in India, fearful of offending the Japanese, who were then persecuting the Christians in Japan—in which the Dutch helped them, to their lasting disgrace—restricted these benevolent labors, and discouraged the further conversion of the islanders. Thus, as often elsewhere in Asia, the interests of true religion were sacrificed upon the altar of mammon, and the trade thus bought died from inanition.

    During the struggles ensuent upon the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, many thousands of families emigrated to Formosa, some of whom settled under the Dutch, while others planted separate colonies ; their industry soon changed the desolate island into a cultivated country, and increased the produce of rice and sugar for exportation. The immigration went on so rapidly as to alarm the Dutch, who, instead of taking wise measures to conciliate and instruct the colonists, tried to prevent their landing, and thereby did much to irritate them and lead them to join in any likely attempt to expel the foreigners.

    DUTCH OCCUPATION OF FORMOSA. 435

    Meanwhile, their trade with China itself was trifling compared with that of their rivals, the Portuguese, and when the undoubted ascendancy of the Manchus was evident, the government of Batavia resolved to despatch a deputation to Canton to petition for trade. In January, 1653, Schedel was sent in a richly freighted ship, but the Portuguese succeeded in preventing any further traffic, even after the envoy had spent considerable sums in presents to the authorities, and obtained the governor’s promise to allow his countrymen to build a factory.

    Schedel was informed, however, that his masters would do well to send an embassy to Peking, a suggestion favorably entertained by the Company, which, in 1055, appointed Goyer and Keyzer as its envoys. The narrative of this embassy by Nieuwhof, the steward of the mission, made Europeans better acquainted with the country than they had before been—almost the only practical benefit it produced, for as a mercantile speculation it proved nearly a total loss. Their presents were received and others given in return ; they prostrated themselves not only before the Emperor in person, but made the kotow to his name, his letters, and his throne, doing everything in the way of humiliation and homage likely to please the new rulers. The only privilege their subserviency obtained was permission to send an embassy once in eight 3’ears, at which time they might come in four ships to trade.

    This mission left China in 1657, and very soon after, the Chinese chieftain, Ching Ching-kung (Koshinga, or Koxinga as his name is written by the Portuguese), began to prepare an attack upon Formosa. The Dutch had foreseen the probability of this onset, and had been strengthening the garrison of Zealandia since 1G50 while they were negotiating for trade ; Koxinga, too, had confined himself to sending emissaries among his countrymen in Formosa, to inform them of his designs. He set about preparing an armament at Amoy, ostensibly to strengthen himself against the Manchus, meanwhile carrying oil his ordinary traffic with the colony to lull all apprehensions until the council had sent away the admiral and force despatched from Java to protect them, when in June, 1661, he landed a force of twenty-five thousand troops, and took up a stroll”” position. The coinmniiicatinn hctweoii tlic forts being cnt off, the governor sent t\v<> ImiKbvd ami forty nien to dislodiTc the enemy, only luilf of whom retiirneil alive ; one (»f the four ships in the luirbor was burned by the Chinese, and another hastened to Batavia for reinforcements. Koxinga fol-\o\voa\ u\> these successes by cutting off all communication between the garrison and the surrounding country, and compelling the surrender of the garrison and cannon in the small fort.

    Fort Zealandia was now closely invested, but finding himself severely galled, he turned the siege into a blockade, and vented his rage against the Dutch living in the surrounding country, and such Chinese as abetted them. Some of the ministers and schoolmasters were seized and crucified, under the pretext that they encouraged their parishioners to resist ; others were used as ao-ents to treat concerninG; the surrender of the fort. Yalentyn has given a clear history of the occupation of Formosa by his countrymen in his great work, and especially of their defeat at Zealandia. He narrates an incident of Rev. A. Ilambroek, as does also ^^ieuwhof, from whose travels it is quoted.

    Among the Dutch prisoners taken in the country, was one Mr. Hambroek, a minister. This man was sent by Koxinga to the governor, to propose terms for surrendering the fort ; and that in case of refusal, vengeance would be taken on the Dutch prisoners. Mr. Hambroek came into the castle, being forced to leave his wife and children behind him as hostages, which sufficiently proved that if he failed in his negotiation, they had nothing but death to expect from the chieftain. Yet was he so far from persuading the garrison to surrender, that he encouraged them to a brave defence by hopes of relief, assuring them that Koxinga had lost many o” his best ships and soldiers, and began to be weary of the siege. When ho had ended, the council of war left it to his choice to stay with them or return to the camp, where he could expect nothing but present death; every one entreated him to stay. He had two daughters within the castle, who hung upon his nock, overwhelmed’ with grief and tears to see their father ready to go where they knew he must be sacrificed by the merciless enemy. But he represented to them that having left his wife and two other children as hostages, nothing but death could attend them if he returned not: so unlocking himself from his daughters’ arms, and exhorting everybody to a resolute defence, he returned to the camp, telling them at parting that he hoped he might prove serviceable to his poor fellow-prisoners, fvoxinga received his answer sternly ; then causing it to be rumored that the prisoners excited the Formosans to rebel, he ordered all the Dutch male prisoners to be slain ; some being beheaded, others killed in a more barbarous manner, to the number of five hundred, th ir b di .> .sviijipcd quite naked and buried; nor were the women and children spared, many of them. likewise being slain, though some of the best were preserved for the use of the commanders, and the rest sold to the common soldiers. Among the slain were Messrs. Hambruik, Mus, Wiiisam, Ampzingius, and Campius, clergymen, and many schoolmasters.

    KOXIXCiA DRIVES THEM FROM TIIK ISLAND. 4’17

    A force of ten ships and seven hundred men arriving from Batavia, the besieged began to act on the offensive, but were nnal)le to drive Koxinga from the town, though they checked his operations and brought down the garrisons from Kihmg and Tamsui to their aid. A letter from the governor of Fuhkien to Coyet, the Dutch governor, came soon after, suggesting a junction of their forces to drive Koxinga away from the coast, after which both could, easily conquer him in Formosa. This proposal was followed, but no sooner had the five vessels gone than Koxinga made his advances so vigorously that the garrison was forced to surrender, after a siege of nine months and the loss of one thousand six hundred men. Thus ended the Dutch rule in Formosa, after twenty-eight years’ duration.’

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vols. I., p. 414, and XX., p. 543. Journal N. C. Br.R. As. Soc, Vol. XI. (1876), Art. I. Moreau de St.-Mery, Vot/iu/e de VArnbassade de la ComjMignie des Iiuks orientales Ilolldnduises vers V Einpereur de la Chine, tire dujoiirtnd d^Andre Evcnird van, Branm Houckc/eest, translated and published in London, 2 Vols., 1798. J. Nieuwhof, JVamrkenrir/c Beachryrincie ran’t Oesandschap der NederlandtscJie Oost-Lidische Compagnie van Batavia nar Peking in Sina, door de Ileeren Pieter de Ooyer en Jacob de Keyser, Amsterdam,1G64.

    This loss induced the council at Batavia to prosecute their former enterprise against Anioy, where Koxinga still had a garrison. Twelve vessels were fitted out under Bort, who arrived, in 1662, at the mouth of the River Min, where he was visited by deputies from the governor, and induced to send two of his officers to arrange with him concerning operations. The governor was in the country, and the two officers, on reaching his camp, soon saw that there could be no cordiality between their leaders ; this proposal of a foreign power to assist them against the Chinese was too much like that of Wn San-kwei to their chieftains in 1644 for the Manchus to entertain it. Bort, desirous of doing something, commenced a series of attacks on the fleet and garrisons of Koxinga, burning and destroying them in a piratical manner, that was nut less ineffectual toward regaining Formosa and obtaining privilege of trade at Canton than harassing to the Chinese on the coast. lie returned to Batavia in 1663, and was despatched to Fnhkien in a few months with a stronger force, and ordered to make reprisals on both Manchus and Chinese, if necessary, in order to get satisfaction for the loss of Formosa. The governor received him favorably, and after a number of skirmishes against the rebellious Chinese, Amoy was taken and its troops destroyed, which completed the subjugation of the province to the Manchus. As a reward for this assistance, the real value of which cannot, however, be easily ascertained, the governor lent two junks to the Dutch to retake Formosa, but Koxinga laughed at the pitiful force sent against him, and Bort sailed for Batavia.

    These results so cliagrined the council that they fitted out no more expeditions, preferring to despatch an embassy, under Van lloorn, to Peking, to petition for trade and permission to erect factories, lie landed at Fulichau in 1664, where he was received in a polite manner. The imperial sanction had been already received, but he unwisely delayed his journey to the capital until his cargo was sold. While discussing this matter the Dutch seized a Chinese vessel bringing bullion from Java contrary to their colonial regulations, and the governor very properly intimated that until restitution was made no amicable arrangement could be completed ; consequently Van lloorn, in order to save his dignity and not contravene the orders of his own o;overnment, was obliged to allow the bullion to be carried ofp, as if by force, by a police officer.

    EMBASSIES OF VAN IIOORN AND VAN BRAA:\r. 439

    These preliminary disputes were not settled till nearly a year had elapsed, wdien A^an lloorn and his suite left Fulichau, and after a tedious journey up the River Min and across the mountains to llangchau, they reached the canal and Peking, having been six months on the way, ” during which they saw thirty seven cities and three hundred and thirty-five villages.” The same succession of prostrations before an empty throne, followed by state banquets, and accompanied by the presentation and conferring of presents, characterized the reception of this embassy as it had all its predecessors. It ended with a similar farce, alike pleasing to the haughty court which received it, and unworthy the Christian nation which gave it; and the “only result of this grand expedition was a sealed letter, of the contents^ of which they were wholly ignorant, but which did not, in fact, grant any of the privileges they so anxiously solicited.” They had, by their performance of the act of prostration, caused their nation to be enrolled among the tributaries of the Grand khan, and then were dismissed as loyal subjects should be, at the will of their liege lord, with what he chose to give them. It was a fitting end to a career begun in rapine and aggression toward the Chinese, who had never provoked them.

    The Dutch sent no more embassies to Peking for one hundred and thirty years, but carried on trade at Canton on the same footing as other nations. The ill success of Macartney’s embassy in 1793 induced Van Braam, the consular agent at Canton, to propose a mission of salutation and respect from the government of Batavia, on the occasion of Kienlung reaching the sixtieth year of his reign. He hoped, by conforming to Chinese ceremonies, to obtain some privileges which would place Dutch trade on a better footing, but one would have supposed that the miscarriage of former attempts might have convinced him that nothing was to be gained by new humiliations before a court which had just dismissed a well-appointed 3mbassy. The Company appointed Isaac Titsingh, late from lapan, as chief commissioner, giving Van Braam the second place, and making up their cortege with a number of clerks and interpreters, one of whom, De Guignes, wrote the results of his researches during a long residence in Canton, and his travels with the embassy to Peking, under the title of Vo;/-arjen d Peking. It is needless to detail the annoyances, humiliations, and contemptuous treatment experienced by the embassy on its overland journey in midwinter, and the degrading manner in which the Emperor received the envoys : his hauteur was a befitting foil to their servility, at once exhibiting both his pride and their ignorance of their true position and rights.

    They were brought to the capital like malefactors, treated when there like beggars, and then sent back to Canton like mountebanks to perform the three-times-three prostration at all times and before everything their conductors saw fit; avIio on their part stood by and hiughed at their embarrassment in mailing these evolutions in their tight clothes. They were not allowed a single opportunity to speak about business, which the Chinese never associate with an embassy, but were entertained with banquets and theatrical shows, and performed many skillful evolutions themselves upon their skates, greatly to the Emperors gratification, and received, moreover, a present of broken victuals from him, which had not only been honored by coming from his Majesty’s own table, but bore marks of his teeth and good appetite;” they were upon a dirty plate, and appeared rather destined to feed a dog than form the repast of a human creature.” Van Braanrs account of this embassy is one of the most humiliating records of ill-requited obsequiousness before insolent government lackeys which any European was ever called upon to pen. The mission returned to Canton in April, 1706, having attained no more noble end than that of saluting the Emperor, and this, indeed, was all the Chinese meant should be done when themselves suggesting the entire performance; for in order to understand much of their conduct toward their guests, the feelings they entertained toward them must not be lost sight of.

    In 1843 the governor-general at Batavia sent T. Modderman to Canton to make inquiries respecting trade at the newly opened ports and establish consulates. The council there had, in 1839, forbidden Chinese to settle in any of their Indian colonies, owing to their skill in engrossing the native trade; but when this prohibition was removed about 1875, the Chinese showed no disposition to emigrate to Java. In 1803 a treaty was negotiated by M. Van der Ilooven at Tientsin, which placed the trade on the same footing as other nations.

    RELATIONS OF FRANCE AND KTTSSIA WITH CHIXA. 441

    The French Government has never sent a formal mission to the capital to petition for trade and make obeisance, though thnjugii their missionaries that nation has made Europeans better acquainted with China and given the Chinese more knowledge of western countries than all other Christian nations together. In the year 12S!) Pliilij) the Fair received a letter from Argun khan in Persia, and in 1305 another from Oljaitu, both of them proposing joint action against their enemies the Saracens. The originals are still to be seen in Paris. In 1G88 Louis XIV. addressed a letter to Ivanghi, whom he called “Most high, most excellent, most puissant, and most magnaniuious prince, dearly beloved good friend ; ” and signed himself “Your most dear and good friend, Louis.” Li 1844 diplomatic relations were resumed by the appointment of a large mission, at the head of which was M. Lagrenc, by whom a treaty was formed between France and China.’

    The Russians have sent several embassies to Peking, and

    compelled the Chinese to treat them as equals. The first recorded

    visit of Russian agents at Peking is that of two Cossacks,

    Petroff and Yallysheff, in 1567, who, however, did not

    see the Emperor Lungking, who succeeded to the throne that

    year, because they had brought no presents. In 1619 Evashko

    Pettlin i-eached that city, having come across the desert from

    Tomsk ; but he and his companion, having no presents, could

    not see the ” dragon’s face,” and were dismissed with a letter,

    which all the learning at Tobolsk and Moscow could not decipher.

    Thirty-four years after, the Czar Alexis (1653) sent his

    envoy Baikoff, who refused to prostrate himself before the

    Erapei-or Shunchl, and was promptly dismissed. This repulse

    did not interfere with trade, for in the years 1658, 1672, and

    1677 three several trading embassies reached Peking. During

    j»ll this time Russian and Chinese subjects and soldiers frequently

    quarrelled, especially along the banks of the Amur, and

    the necessity of settling these disturbances and pretexts for

    trouble by fixing the boundary line being evident to both nations,

    commissioners were appointed and met at Xipchu, where,

    on August 27, 1689, they signed the first treaty ever agreed

    upon by the court of Peking. The principal points in it were

    the retirement of the Russians from Albazin and Manchuria,

    where they had held their own for thirty-eight years, the fj-eedom

    of trade, and defining the frontier along the Daourian

    Mountains. The missionary Gerbillon was mainly instrumental

    ‘ CMnese Repository, Vol. XIX., pp. 526-535. Yule’s CatJiay, p. cxxx. Re*muriut in Mem. de I’AacJ. Ins., Vol. VII., pp. 367, 391 ff.

    ill settling these disputes, and neitlier party would probably

    have lowered its ari-ogaut claims if it had not been through his

    influence ; the Chinese were far the most difficult to please.’

    Peter sent Ysbrandt Ides in 1G92 as his envoy to Peking to

    exchange the ratitications. llis journey across the wilds and

    wastes of Central Asia took up more time than a voj^age by

    sea, for it was not till a year and eight months that “he could

    return thanks to the great God, who had conducted them all

    safe and well to their desired place.” Ides’ own account of his

    mission contains very slight notices regarding its object or how

    he was received ; but it is now credibly believed that he performed

    the kotoio before the Emperor. About twenty years

    after iiis departure, Kanghi sent a Manchu envoy, Tulishen,

    through Russia to confei” with the khan of the Tourgouth Tartars

    about their return to China, which a portion of them accomplished

    some years after. Tulishen executed his mission so

    well that he was sent again as envoy to the Czar about 1730,

    and reached Petersburg in the reign of Peter II. In 1719 Peter the Great despatched another embassy, under Ismailoif, to arrange the trade then conducted on a precarious footing—an account of which was drawn up by John Bell in 17G3. Ismailoff refused to prostrate himself until it was agreed that a Chinese minister, whenever sent to Petersburg, should conform to the usages of the Russians ; a safe stipulation, certainly, to a court which never demeans itself to send missions. The evident desii-ableness of keeping on good terms with the Russians led the Chinese to treat their envoys with unusual respect and attend to the business they came to settle. One of the most instructive books on the kind of intercourse carried on during this period is the Journal of Lange, who went first in 1716, and thrice afterward, and has left an account of his residence at Kangxi’s capital.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VIII., pp. 417, 500. Du Halde, Description geo’gi’fiphiqiie, historiqne, chronologique, ]iulitique el phyHique iJe V Empire tie la Chine”t deht, T(trf(irie chinoiHC, 4 vols., Paris, 1735. G. Timkowski, Travels of the liiisKian Mission through Mongolia to China, etc., 2 vols., London, 1827. Klaproth, Memoires stir I’ A.sie, Tome I., pp. 1-81.

    ” Published in one volume with Bell: Joitritcy froni St. Petersburgh in Ruatin to Ispahan in Persia, etc., London, 1715.

    RUSSIAN MISSIONS TO PKKIXG. 443

    In 1727 a fifth mission was sent by the Empress Catherine under Count Vladishivitcli, which succeeded in establishing the intercourse on a still better basis, viz., that a mission, consisting of six ecclesiastical and four lay members, should remain at Peking to study the Chinese and Manchu languagea, so that in terpreters could be prepared and communications carried on satisfactorily; the members were to be changed decennially. The caravans, which had been the vehicles of trade, were regulated about 1730 by the establishment, at Kiakhta and Maimaichin, of two marts on the frontier, where it could be brought under regulations; the last reached Peking in 1755. This embassy was the most successful of all, and partly owing to the Emperor Yungcliing”s desire to counterbalance Jesuit intrigues by raising up other interpreters. This treaty, signed August 27, 1727, remained in force till June, 1858—the longest lived treaty on record.

    The narrative of George Timkowski, who conducted the relief sent in 1821, gives an account of his trip from Kiakhta across the desert, together with considerable information relating to the Kalkas and other Mongol tribes subject to China. The archimandrite.

    Hyacinth Batchourin, has given a description of Poking, but such works as the members of the Russian college have written are for the most part still in that language. Up to the present date there have been sixteen archiniandrites (1736 to 1880) and many monks attached to the ecclesiastical mission in Peking.’

    The intercourse of the English with Chiria, though it commenced

    later than other maritime nations of Europe, has been

    far more important in its consequences, and their trade greater

    in amount than all other foreign nations combined. This intercourse

    has not been such as was calculated to impress the Chinese

    with a just idea of the character of the British nation as a

    leading Christian people ; for the East India Company, which

    had the monopoly of the trade between the two countries for

    nearly two centuries, systematically opposed every effort to diffuse

    Christian doctrine and general knowledge among them down to the end of their control in 1834.

    ‘ Dudgeon’s monograph on Russian Intercourse with China contains notices of all events of any importance between the two nations, digested with great care, pp. 80, Peking, 1872. Also, Martin’s China, Vol. I., p. 386.

    The liri^t English vessels anc-liored oft Macao in July, 1G35

    under the coiumand of AVeddell, who was sent to China in ac

    o’ordance witli a “truce and free trade” which liad been entered

    into between the Enghsh merchants and the viceroy of Goa, wlio

    gave letters to the governor of Macao. The iieet was coldlj

    received and AVeddell deluded with vain promises until the

    Portuguese fleet had sailed for Japan, when he was denied permission

    to trade. Two or three of his officers having visited

    Canton, he was very desirous to participate in the traffic, and

    proceeded wi’di his whole fleet up to the Bogue forts, where

    this desire was made known to the commanders of the forts,

    who promised to return an answer in a week. Meanwhile the

    Portuguese so misrepresented them to the Chinese that the

    commander of the forts concluded to end the matter by driving

    them away. Having made every preparation during the j^eriod

    the fleet M’as waiting, an attack was first made upon a wateringboat

    by firing shot at it when passing near the forts.

    ” Herewith the whole fleet, being instantly incensed, did, on

    the sudden, display their bloody ensigns ; and, weighing their

    anchors, fell up with the flood, and berthed themselves before

    the castle, from whence came many shot, yet not any that

    touched so much as ludl or rope ; wdierenpon, not being able to

    endure their bravadoes any longer, each ship began to play

    furiously upon them with their broadsides ; and after two or

    three hours, perceiving their cowardly fainting, the boats were

    landed with about one hundred men : which sight occasioned

    them, w’ith great distractions, instantly to abandon the castle and

    fly ; the boats’ crews, in the meantime, without let, entering the

    same and displaying his Majesty’s colors of Great Britain upon

    the walls, having the same night put aboard all their ordnance,

    fired the council-house and demolished wdiat they could. The

    boats of the fieet also seized a juidv laden with boards and timber,

    and another wuth salt. Another vessel of small moment

    was surprised, by whose boat a letter was sent to the chief

    mandarins at Canton, expostulating their breach of truce, excusing

    the assailing of the castle, and withal in fair terms r&

    i[uiring the liberty of trade.” ‘ This letter was shortly answered,

    ‘ Staunton’s E^mbassy^ Vol. I.

    , y\>. 5-12.

    COMMENCEMENT OF J5KIT1SII INTEKCOUKSE. 44^

    and after a little explanatory negotiation, hastened to a favorable

    conclusion on the part of the Chinese by what they had

    seen, trade was allowed after the captured guns and vessels

    were restored and the ships supplied with cargoes.

    No other attempt to open a trade was made till 1G64, and

    during the change of dynasty which took place in the interim,

    the trade of all nations with China suffered. The East India

    Company had a factory at ijantam in Java, and one at Madras,

    but their trade with the East was seriously inconnnoded by tlie

    war with the Dutch ; when it was renewed in 1664, only one

    ship was sent to Macao, but such v/ere the exactions imposed

    upon the trade by the Chinese, and the effect of the misrepresentations of the Portuguese, that the ship returned without

    effecting sale. This did not discourage the Company, however,

    who ordered their agents at Bantam to make inquiries respecting

    the most favorable port and what commodities were most

    in demand. They mentioned ” Fuhchau as a place of great

    resort, affording all China commodities, as raw and wrought

    silk, tutenague, gold, china-root, tea, etc.” A trade had been

    opened with Koxinga’s son in Formosa and at Amoy, but this

    rude chieftain had little other idea of traffic than a means of

    helping himself to every curious commodity the ships brought,

    and levying heavy imposts upon their cargoes. A treaty was

    indeed entered into with him, in which the supercargoes, as

    was the case subsequently in 1842, stipulated for far greater

    privileges and lighter duties than Chinese goods and vessels

    would have had in English ports. Besides freedom to

    go where they pleased without any one attending them, access

    at all times to the king, liberty to choose their own clerks

    and trade with whom they pleased, it was also agreed ” that

    what goods the king buys shall pay no custom ; that rice

    imported pay no custom ; that all goods imported pay three

    per cent, after sale, and all goods exported be custom free.”

    The trade at Amoy was more successful than at Zealandia, and a small vessel was sent there in 16TT, which brought back a favorable report. In 1078 the investments for these two places were $30,000 in bullion and $20,000 in goods ; the returns were chiefly in silk goods, tutenague, rhubarb, etc.; the trade was continued fur several years, ajiparently with considerable profit, though the Manchus continually increased the restrictions under which it labored. In 16S1 the Company ordered their factories at Anioy and Formosa to be withdrawn, and one established at Canton or Fuhchau, but in 1685 the trade was renewed at Amoy.

    The Portuguese managed to prevent the English obtaining a footing at Canton until about 10S4 ; and, as Davis remarks, the stupid pertinacity with which they endeavored to exclude them from this port and trade is one of the most striking circumstances connected with these trials and rivalries. It is the more inexplicable in the case of the rortuguese, for they could carry nothing to England, nor could they force the English to trade with them at second hand ; theirs M’as truly the ” dog in the manger” policy, and they have subsequently starved upon it.

    In 10S9 a duty of five shillings per pound was laid upon tea imported into England ; and the principal articles of export are stated to have been wrought silks of every kind, porcelain, lacquered-ware, a good quantity of fine tea, some fans and screens.

    Ten years after, the court of directors sent out a consul’s commission to the chief supercargo, Mr. Catchpoolo, which constituted him king’s minister or consul for the whole Empire of China and the adjacent islands. In ITOl an attempt was made by him to open a trade, and he obtained permission to send ships to Chusan or Ningbo; an investment in three vessels, worth £101,300, was accordingly made, but he found the exactions of the government so grievous, and the monopoly of the merchants so oppressive, that the adventure proved a great loss, and the traders were compelled to withdraw. The Company’s hopes of trade at that port nuist, however, have been great, for their investment to Amoy that year was only ,£34,400, and to Canton £40,800. In 1702 Catchpoole also established a factory at Pulo Condore, an island near the coast of Cochin China which had been taken by the English. The whole concern, however, experienced a tragical end in 1705, when the Malays rose upon the English, murdered them all, and burned the factory. The Cochin Chinese are said to have instigated this treacherous at tack to regain the island, which was claimed by them.

    EARLY EFFORTS IX ESTABLISHING A TRADE. 447

    The extortions and grievances suffered by the traders at Canton were increased in 1T02 by the appointment of an individual who alone had the right of trading with them and of farming it out to those who had the means of doing so. The trade seems hardly, even at this time, to have taken a regular form, but by 1720 the number and value of the annual commodities had so much increased that the Chinese established a uniform duty of four per cent, on all goods, and appointed a body of native merchants, who, for the privilege of trading with foreigners, became security for their payment of duties and good behavior. The duty on imports was also increased to about sixteen per cent, and an enormous fee demanded of purveyors before they could supply ships with provisions, besides a heavy measurement duty and cumshaw to the collector of customs.

    These exactions seemed likely to increase unless a stand was taken against them. This was done by a united appeal to the governor in person in 1728 ; yet the relief was only temporary, for the plan was so effectual and convenient for the government that the co-hona; was ei-e lono- re-established as the only medium through which the foreign trade could be conducted. An additional duty of ten per cent, was laid upon all exports, which no efforts were effectual in removing until the accession of Kienlung in 1736. This apparently suicidal practice of levying export duties is, in China, really a continuation of the internal excise or transit duties paid upon goods exported in native vessels as well as foreign.

    The Emperor, in taking off the newly imposed duty of ten per cent, required that the merchants should hear the act of grace read upon their knees ; but the foreigners all met in a bodv, and each one ao;i’eed on his honor not to submit to this slavish posture, nor make any concession or proposal of accommodation without acquainting the I’est. The Emperor also required the delivery of all the arms on board ship, a demand afterward waived on the payment of about ten thousand dollars.

    The Hang merchants shortly became the only medium of communication with the government, themselves being the exactors of the duties and contrivers of the grievances, and when complaints were made, the judges of the equity of their own acta

    In 1734 only one English ship came to Canton, and one waa sent to Anioy, but the extortions there were greater than at the other port, whereupon the latter vessel withdrew. In 1736 the number of ships at Canton was four English, two French, two Dutch, one Danish, and one Swedish vessel ; the Portuguese ships had been restricted to Macao before this date.

    Commodore Anson arrived at Macao in 1742, and as the Centurion was the first British man-of-war which had visited China, his decided conduct in refusing to leave the river until provisions were furnished, and his determination in seeking an interview with the governor, no doubt had a good effect. A mixture of decision and kindness, such as that exhibited by Anson when demanding only what was in itself right, and backed by an array of force not lightly to be trifled with or incensed, has always proved the most successful way of dealing with the Chinese, who on their part need instruction as well as intimidation. The constant presence of a ship of war on the coast of China would perhaps have saved foreigners nnich of the personal vexations, and prevented many of the imposts upon trade which the history of foreign intercourse exhibits, making it in fact little better than a recital of annoyances on the part of a government too ignorant and proud to understand its own true interests, and recriminations on the part of traders unable to do more than protest against them.

    EXERTIONS AND PUNISHMENT OF MR. FLINT. 449

    In consequence of the exactions of the government and the success of the co-hong in preventing all direct intercourse with the local authorities, the attempt was again made to trade at .Vmoy and jSingpo. The llardwicke was sent to Amoy in 1744, and obliged to return without a cargo. Messrs. Flint and Harrison were despatched to Tsingpo in 1755, and were well received ; but when the Ilolderness subsequently came to trade, it was with difficulty that she procured a cargo, and an iuq)erial edict was promulgated soon after restricting all foreign ships to Canton. In 175i> the factor}- at IS’ingpo was demulished, so that Mr. Flint, who repaired there that year, was imable to do anything toward restoring the trade. This gentleman was a person of uncommon perseverance and talents, and had mastered the difficulties of the Chinese language so as to act as interpreter at Canton twelve years before lie was sent on his mission, ” The ungrateful return which his energy and exertions in their service met with from his employers,” justly observes Sir erolin Davis, ” was such as tended in all probability, more than any other cause, to discourage his successors from undertaking so laborious, unprofitable, and even hazardous a work of supererogation.”

    On his arrival at Ningpo, Mr. Flint, finding it useless to attempt anything there, proceeded in a native vessel to Tientsin, from whence he succeeded in making his case known to the Emperor Kienlung. A commissioner was deputed to accompany him overland to Canton ; Mr. Flint proceeded to the English factory soon after his arrival, and the foreigners of all nations assembled before the commissioner, who informed them that the hoppo had been superseded, and all duties remitted over six per cent, on goods and the cumshaw and tonnage dues on ships. The sequel of Mr. Flint’s enterprise was unfortunate, and the mode the Chinese took to bring it about thoroughly characteristic.

    It proved, however, that these fair appearances were destined only to be the prelude to a storm. Some days afterward the governor desired to see Mr. Flint for the purpose of communicating the Emperor’s orders, and was accompanied by the council of his countrymen. When the party had reached the palace, the Hang merchants proposed their going in one at a time, but they insisted on proceeding together ; and on Mr. Flint being called for, they were received at the first gate and ushered through two courts with seeming complaisance by the officers in waiting ; but on arriving at the gate of the inner court they were hurried, and even forced into the governor’s presence, where a struggle ensued with their brutal conductors to force them to do homage after the Chinese fashion until they were overpowered and thrown down. Seeing their determination not to submit to these base humiliations, the governor ordered the people to desist ; and then telling Mr. Flint to advance, he pointed to an order, which he called the Emperor’s edict, for his banishment to Macao, and subsequent departure for England, on account of his endeavoring to open a trade at Ningpo contrary to orders from Peking He added that the native who had written the petition in Chinese was to b^ beheaded that day for traitorously encouraging foreigners, which was performed on a man quite innocent of what these officers were pleased to call a crime. Mr. Flint was soon after conveyed to Tsienshan, a place near Macao, called Casa Branca by the Portuguese, where he was imprisoned two years and a half and then sent to England. ‘

    ‘Davis, Chinese, Vol. I., p. 58.

    Mr. Flint stated to the Company that a fee of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to the governor would set him at liberty, but they contented themselves Avith a petition. The punishment he received from the Chinese for this attempt to break their laws would not have been considered as unmerited or unjust in any other country, but the neglect of the Company to procure the liberation of one who had suffered so much to serve them reflects the greatest reproach upon that body.

    The whole history of the foreign trade, as related by Auber

    In his chronological narrative, during the one hundred and fifty years up to 1842 is a melancholy and curious chapter in national intercourse. The grievances complained of were delay in loading ships and plunder of goods on their transit to Canton; the injurious proclamations annually put up by the government accusing foreigners of horrible crimes ; the extortions of the underlings of office ; and the difficulty of access to the high authorities. The Hang merchants, from their position as traders and interpreters between the two parties, were able to delude both to a considerable extent, though their responsibility for the acts and payments of foreigners, over whom they could exercise no real restraint, rendered their .situation by no means pleasant. The rule on which the Chinese government proceeded in its dealings with foreigners was this :

    *’ The barbarians are like beasts, and not to be ruled on the same principles as citizens. AYere any one to attempt controlling them by the great maxims of reason, it would tend to nothing but confusion. The ancient kings well understood this, and accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule ; therefore, to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and best way of ruling them.”

    The same rule in regard to foreign traders was vii-tuallj^ acted on in England during the reign of Henry A”II., and the ideas among the Chinese of their power over those who visit their shores are not unlike those which prevailed in Europe before the Reformation.

    ANOMALOUS POSITION OF FOREIGNERS IX CHINA. 451

    The entire ignorance of foreign traders of the spoken and written language of China brought them into contempt with all classes, and where all intercourse was carried on in a jargon which each party despised, the results were often misunderstanding, dislike, and hatred. Another fruitful source oi difficulty was the turbulent conduct of sailors. The French and English seamen at Whanipoa, in 1754, carried their national hatred to such a degree that they could not pursue their trade without quarrelling; and a Frenchman having killed an English sailor, the Chinese stopped the trade of the former nation

    until the guilty person was given np, though he was subsequently

    liberated. The Chinese allotted two different islands

    in the river at Whampoa for the recreation of the seamen of each

    nation, in order that such troubles might be avoided in future,

    A similar case occurred at Canton in 17S0, when a Frenchman

    killed a Portuguese sailor at night in one of the merchants’

    houses and fled to the consul’s for refuge. The Chinese demanded

    the criminal, and after some days he was given up to

    them and publicly strangled ; this punishment he no doubt merited,

    although it was the fii’st case in which they had interfered

    where the matter was altogether among foreigners. In 1784

    a native was killed by a ball left in a gun when firing a salute,

    and the Chinese, on the principle of requiring life for life, demanded

    the man who had fired the gun. Knowing that the

    English were not likely to give him up, the police seized Mr. Smith, the supercargo of the vessel, and carried him a prisoner into the city. On the seizure of this gentleman the ships’ boats were ordered up from Whampoa with armed crews to defend the factories, A messenger from the Chinese, however, declared that their purpose in seizing Smith was simply to examine him on the affair, to which statement the captive himself added a request that the gunner should be sent up to the authorities and submit to their questions. Trusting too much to their promises, the man was allowed to go alone before the officials within the city walls, when Mr. Smith was immediately liberated and the unhappy gunner strangled, after some six weeks’ confinement, by direct orders of the Emperor. The man, probably, underwent no form of trial intelligible to himself, and his condemiuition was the more unjust, as by Section CCXCII. of the Chinese code he was allowed to ransom himself by a fine of about twenty dollars. As a counterpart of this

    tragedy, the Chinese stated (and there was reason for believing

    tliein) tliat a native who had accidentally killed a British sea

    man about the same time was executed for the casualty.

    The Chinese mode of operations, when it was inipracticablo

    to get possession of the guilty or accused party, was well exhibited

    in the ease of a homicide occurring in 1807. A party

    of sailors had been drinking at Canton, when a scuffle ensued,

    and the sailors put the populace to flight, killing one of the

    natives in tlie onset. The trade was promptly stopped, and the

    liong merchant M’ho liad sccxred the .ship lield responsible for

    the delivery of the offender. Eleven men were arrested and a

    court instituted in the Company’s hall before Chinese judges,

    Captain Rolles, of II. B. M. ship Lion, being present with the

    committee. The actual homicide could not be found, but one

    Edward Sheen \vas detained in custody, which satisfied the

    Chinese M’hile he remained in Canton ; but when the committee

    wished to take him to Macao with them they resisted, imtil

    Captain Holies declai’cd that otherwise he should take the ])risoner

    on board his own ship, which he did. Being now beyond

    their reach, the authorities were fain to account for the affair

    to the supreme triljunul at the capital by inventing a tale, stating

    that the prisoner had caused the death of a native by raising

    an upj)er window and accidentally dropping a stick npon

    liis head as he was passing in the street below. This statement

    was reported to his Majesty as having been concurred in by the

    English after a full examination of witnesses who attested to

    the circumstances ; the imperial rescript affirmed the sentence

    of the Board of Punishments, which ordered that the prisoner

    should be set at liberty after paying the nsual fine of twenty

    dollars provided by law to defray the funeral expenses. The

    trade was thereupon resumed.’

    ‘ Sir G. T. Staunton, Penal Code of Chiiut^ p. 516.

    CIIIXKSK ACTION IN CASP:S OF nOMIClDE. 453

    Another case of homicide occurred at AVhampoa in 1820, when the authorities reported that the butcher of another ship, who had committed suicide the day of the inquest, was the guilty person. The court of directors very properly blamed their agents at Canton for their complicity in this subterfuge, and spoke of ” the paramount advantages which must invariably be derived from a strict and inflexible adherence to truth as the foundation of all moral obligations.” ‘

    Other cases of murder and homicide have since occurred between foreigners and natives. In the instance of the British frigate Topaze at Lin tin Island in 1822, whose crew had been attacked on shore, her captain successfully resisted the surrender of a British subject for the death of two natives in the affray.

    The dignified and united action of the British authorities on this occasion was a striking contrast to the weakness of the Americans the year before in the case of Terrariova. It proved the beneficial results of a stand for the I’ight, for no foreigner has since been executed by the Chinese. It also proved the necessity and advantages of competent interpreters and translators, inasmuch as the case owed much of its success to Dr. Morrison’s aid, which had been rejected by the Hang merchants the previous year.”

    These cases are brought together to illustrate the anomalous

    position which foreigners once held in China. They constituted

    a community by themselves, sui)ject chiefly to their own

    sense of honor in their mutual dealings, but their relations wdth

    the Chinese were like what lawyers call a ” state of nature.”

    The change of a governor-general, of a collector of customs, or

    senior hong merchant, involved a new couree of policy according

    to the personal character of these functionaries. The committee

    of the East India Company had considerable power over

    British subjects, especially those living in Canton, and could

    deport them if they pleased ; but the consuls of other nations

    had little or no authority over their countrymen. Trade was

    left at the same loose ends that politics were, and the want of

    an acknowledged tariff encouraged sniuggling and kept up a

    constant spirit of resistance and dissatisfaction between the native

    and foreign merchants, each party endeavoring to get along

    as advantageously to itself as practicable. IS or was there any

    acknowlediied medium of communication between them, for the

    ‘ Auber, Chirm: An Outline of its Oovernment, Tmws, Policy, etc., p. 286,London, 18;M.

    – ChhuHi’ Repository, Vol. II., pp. 513-515. Moriison’s Memoirs, Vol. XL.App., p. 10- Auber, China, its Government, etc., pp ~88-309.

    (•(.iit^iils, not being credited by the Chinese Government, came

    and went, hoisted or lowered their flags, without the slightest

    notice fi’oni the authorities. Trade conld proceed, perhaps,

    without involving the nations in war, since if it was unprofitable

    it would cease ; but while it continued on such a precarious

    footing national character suffered, and tlic misrepresentations

    produced thereby rendered explanations dilficult, inasmuch as

    neither party understood or believed the other.

    The death of the unfortunate gunner in 1784, and the large

    debts owed to the English by the hong merchants, Avhich there

    seemed no probability of recovering, induced the British Government

    to tnrn its attention to the situation of the king’s subjects in

    China with the purpose of placing their relations on a better

    footing. The flagitious conduct of a Captain M’Clary, who seized

    a Dutch vessel at Whampoa in 1781, which Davis narrates,”

    and the inability of the Company to restrain such proceedings,

    also had its weight in deciding the crown to send an embassy to

    Peking. Colonel Cathcart was appointed envoy in 1788, but his

    death in the Straits of Sunda temporarily deferred the mission,

    which was resumed on a larger scale in 1792, when the Earl of

    Macartney was sent as ambassador, with a large suite of able

    men, to place the relations between the two nations, if possible,

    on a well-understood and secure footing. Two ships were appointed

    as tenders to accompany his Majesty’s ship Lion (04),

    and nothing was omitted, either in the composition of the mission

    or the presents to the Emperor, to insure its success. Little

    is known regarding its real impression upon the Chinese ;

    they treated it with great consideration while it remained in

    the country, although at an estimated cost of $850,000, and probably dismissed it with the feeling that it was one of the most splendid testimonials of respect that a tributary nation had ever paid their court. The English were henceforth registered among the nations who had sent tribute-bearers, and were consequently only the more bound to obey the injunctions of their master.”

    ‘ The Cfiitirsr, Vol. I., p. 03.

    ‘Sir G. L. Staunton, Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 3 vols., London, 1798.

    EMBASSY OF LOIID MACA KINKY, 45.0

    To the European world, as well as to the British nation, however, this expedition may be said to have opened China, so great was the interest taken in it and so well calculated were the narratives of Staunton and Barrow to convey better ideas of that remote country. ” Much of the lasting impression which the relations of Lord Macartney’s embassy leave on the mind of his reader,” to quote from a review of it, ” must be ascribed, exclusive of the natural effect of clear, elegant, and able composition, to the number of persons engaged in that business, the variety of their characters, the reputation they already enjoyed or afterward acquired ; the bustle and stir of a sea voyage; the placidity and success which finally characterized the intercourse of the English with the Chinese ; the splendor of the reception the latter gave to their European guests ; the walks in the magnificent gardens of the ‘ Son of Heaven ; ‘ the picturesque and almost romantic navigation upon the imperial canal; and perhaps, not less for the interest we feel for every grand enterprise, skillfully prepared, and which proves successful, partly in consequence of the happy choice of the persons and the means by which it was to be carried into effect.” This impression of the grandeur and extent of the Chinese Empire has ever since more or less remained upon the minds of all readers of Staunton’s narrative ; but truer views were imparted than had before been entertained concerning its real civilization and its low rank among the nations.

    That the embassy produced some good effect is undeniable, though it failed in most of the principal points.. It also afforded the Chinese an opportunity of making arrangements concerning that future intercourse which they could not avoid, even if they would not negotiate, and of acquiring information concerning foreign nations which would have proved of great advantage to them. Their contemptuous i-ejection, ignorant though they decided to remain of the real character of these courtesies, of peaceful missions like those of Macartney, Titsingh, and others, takes away much of our sympathy for the calamities which subsequently came upon them. With characteristic shortsightedness they looked upon the very means taken to arrange existing ill-understood relations as a reason for considering those relations as settled to their liking, and a motive to ^\\\\ further exactions.

    For many years subsequent to this endjassy the trade went on without interruption, though the demands and duties were rather increased than diminished, and the personal liberty of foreigners more and more restricted. The government generally, down to the lowest underling, systematically endeavored to degrade and insult foreigners in the eyes of the populace and citizens of Canton, in order, in case of any disturbance, to have their co-operation and sympathy against the ” barbarian devils,” The dissolute and violent conduct of many foreigners toward the Chinese gave them, alas, too many arguments for their aspersions and exactions, and both parties too frequently considered the other fair subjects for imposition.

    In 1S02 the English troops occupied Macao by order of the governor-general of India, lest it should be attacked by the French, but the news of the treaty of peace arriving soon after, they re-embarked almost as soon as the Chinese remonstrated.

    The discussion was revived, however, in 1808, when the French again threatened the settlement ; and the English, under Admiral Drury, landed a detachment to assist the Portuguese in defending it. The Chinese, who had previously asserted their complete jurisdiction over this territory, and which a little examination would have plainly shown, now protested against the armed occupation of their soil, and immediately stopped the trade and denied provisions to the ships. The English traders were ordered by the Committee to go aboard ship, and the governor refused to have the least communication with the admiral until the troops were withdrawn. He attempted to proceed to Canton in armed boats, but was repulsed, and finally, in order not to implicate the trade any further (a step not at all apprehended in protecting the Portuguese), he wisely withdrew his troops and sailed for India. The success of the native authorities greatly rejoiced them ; a temple was built on the river’s bank to commemorate their victory, and a fort, called ” Ilowqua’s Folly ” by foreignerb(since washed away), erected toguai’d the river at that point.

    ATTITUDE OF CHINESE TUWAKD FOREIGN TKAUEKS. 457

    The Chinese, ignorant of the principles on which international intercourse is regulated among western powers, regarded every hostile deinoiistratiuii between them in their waters as directed toward themselves, and demanding their interference. Though often powerless to defend themselves against their own piratical subjects, as has been manifested again and again—for example, in 1810, and also in 1(500, when Koxinga ravaged the coast—they still assume that they are able to protect all foreigners who ” range themselves under their sway.” This was exhibited in 1814, when the British frigate Doris, against all the acknowledged rights of a nation over its own waters, and simply because it could be done with impunity, cruised off the port of C’anton to seize American vessels. The provincial authorities ordered the Committee to send her away, saying that if the English and Americans had any petty squabbles they must settle them between themselves and not bring them to China.

    The Committee stated their inability to control the proceedings of men-of-war, whereupon the Chinese began a series of annoyances against the merchants and shipping, prohibiting the employment of native servants, entering their houses to seize natives, molesting and stopping ships’ boats proceeding up and down the river on business, hindering the loading of the ships, and other like harassing acts so characteristic of Asiatic governments when they feel themselves powerless to cope with the real object of their fear or anger. These measures proceeded at last to such a length that the Committee determined to stop the British trade until the governor would allow it to go on, as before, without molestation, and they had actually left Canton for Whampoa, and proceeded down the river some distance, before he showed a sincere wish to arrange matters amicably. A deputation from each party accordingly met in Canton, and the principal points in dispute were at last gained. In this affair the Chinese would be adjudged to have been altogether in the right according to international law. At this time the governor general conceded three important points to the Committee, viz., the right of corresponding with the government, under seal, in the Chinese language, the unmolested employment of native servants, and the assurance that the houses of foreigners should not be entered without permission ; iior were these stipulations evei retracted or violated.

    The proceedings in this affair were conducted with no little apprehension on both sides, for the value of the traffic was of such importance that neither party could really think of stepping it. Besides the revenue accruing to government from duties and presents, the preparation and shipment of the articles in demand fur foreign countries give employment to millions of natives in different parts of the Empire, and had caused Canton to become one of the greatest marts in the world. The governor and his colleagues were responsible for the revenue and peaceful continuance of the trade; but through their ignorance of the true principles of a prosperous commerce, their fear of the consequences ]’esidting from any innovation or change, or the least extension of privileges to the few half-imprisoned foreigners, they thought their security la}’ rather in restriction than in freedom, in a haughty bearing to intimidate, and not in conciliation to please their customers. On the other hand, the existence of the East India Company’s charter depended in a good degree upon keeping a regular supply of tea in England, and therefore the success of the Committee’s bold measure of stopping the trade depended not a little upon the ignorance of the Chinese of the great power a passive course of action would give them.

    The government at home, on learning these proceedings, resolved to despatch another ambassy to Peking in order to stato the facts of the case at court, and if possible agree upon somo understood mode of conducting trade and communicating with, the heads of government. Lord Amherst, who like Lord Macartney had been governor-general of Lidia, was appointed ambassador to Peking, and Henry Ellis and Sir George T. Staunton associated with him as second and third commissioners.

    A large suite of able men, with Dr. Morrison as principal interpreter, accompanied the ambassy, and the usual quantity and variety of presents.’ The mission reached the capital August 28, 1816, but was summarily dismissed without an audience, because the ambassador would not perform the kotow

    ‘ Ellis, Embassy to China, London, 1840. Sir J. F. Davis, Sketclies of China, 2 Vols., London, 1841. Clarke Abel, Ndrrative of a Journey in the Interioi of Chiiiii (111(1 a Voyaae to (iiid from that Country in 1816 and 1817, London,1»18. II. Morrison, A View of China, etc., Macao, 1817. LOKI> AMHEKST’s embassy TO I’KKING. 459

    or appear before his Majesty as soon as he un-ived ; tlie intrigues

    of the authorities at Canton with the high officers about

    the Emperor to defeat the ambassy by deceiving their master

    have also been adduced as reasons for its faihire. Its real failure,

    as we can now see, was owing to the utter misconception

    of their true position by the Emperor and his officials, arising

    from their ignorance, pride, isolation, and mendacity, all combining

    to keep them so until resistless force should open them

    to meliorating influences. It was the last attempt of the kind,

    and three alternatives only remained : the resort to force to

    compel them to enter into soine equitable arrangement, entire

    submission to wdiatever they ordered, or the withdrawal of all

    trade until they proposed its resumption. The course of events

    continued the second until the flrst was resorted to, and eventuated

    in laying open the whole coast to the enterprise of western

    nations.

    At the close of the East India Company’s exclusive rights in China, the prospect for the continuance of a peaceful trade was rather dubious. The enterprising Mr. Marjoribanks despatched a vessel to ascertain how far trade could be carried on along the coast, which resulted in satisfactorily proving that the authorities were able and determined to stop all traffic, however desirous the people might be for it. The contraband trade in opium was conducted in a manner that threatened ere long to

    involve the two nations, but the Company nominally kept itself

    aloof from it by bringing none in its ships: the sajne Company,

    however, did everything in India to encourage the

    growth and saleof the drug, and received from it at the time of

    its dissolution an annual revenue of nearly two millions sterling.

    During its whole existence in China the East India Company stood forward as the defenders of the rights of foreigners and humanity, in a manner which no community of isolated merchants could have done, and to some extent compelled the Chinese to treat all more civilly. As a body it did little for the encouragement of Chinese literature or the diffusion of Christian truth or of science among the Chinese, except the printing of Morrison’s Dictionary and an annual grant to the Anglo-Chinese College; and although Dr. Morrison was their official translator for twenty-five years, the directors never gavb liiiii the empty compliment of enrolling him in the list of tlieii servants, nor contributed one penny for carrying- on his great work of translating and printing the Bible in Chinese. They set themselves against all such efforts, and during a long existence the natives of that country had no means put into their hands, by their agency, of learning that there was any great difference in the religion, science, or civilization of European nations and their own.

    The trade of the Americans to China commenced in 1784, the first vessel having left New York February 22d of that year, and returned May 11, 1785 ; it was commanded by Captain Green, and the supercargo, Samuel Shaw, on his return, gave a lucid narrative of his voyage to Chief Justice Jay. His journal, published in 1847, contains the only lecord of this voyage, and furnishes many curious facts about the political and social relations existing between foreigners then in China. Our trade with China steadily increased after this date, and has been the second in amount for many years. The only political event in the American intercourse up to 1842 was the suspension of trade in October, 1821, in consequence of the homicide of a Chinese by a sailor at Whampoa. The American merchants were really helpless to carry the trial of Terranova to a just conclusion against the Chinese law, which peremptorily required life for life wherever foreigners were concerned, and gave him up on the assurance that his life was in no danger.

    They are stated, in a narrative published in the North American lieview, to have told llowtpia at the trial on board the Emily at Whampcja, “We are bound to submit to yowY laws while we are in your waters; be they ever so unjust, we will not lesist them.” The poor man was taken out of the ship by force, while all the Americans present protested against the unfair trial he had had ; he was then promptly carried to Canton and strangled at tlif public execution ground (October 25) ; his body was given up next day, and the trade reopened.’

    ‘Shaw’s Jonrnal, Boston, 1847. North Anirrtrm) Ifrvicir, Jannary, IS’^iry. ChiiirKP /iVyw.v/Vo/v/, So])t(‘ml)(‘r, 18:50 Kir Geo. T. Staiiutou’s iVWi’aa <>/ Ohiiuif Becond editiuii, pp. 4()’J—lo2, 1850.

    AMERICAN TKADE WITH CHINA. 461

    The American Government neither took notice of this affair nor made remonstrance against its injustice, but still left the commerce, lives, and property of its citizens wholly unprotected, and at the mercy of (Chinese laws and rulers. The consuls at Canton were merely merchants, having no salary from their government, no funds to employ interpreters when necessary, or any power over their countrymen, and came and went without the least notice or acknowledgment from the Chinese.

    The trade and intercourse of the Swedes, Danes, Russians, Italians, Austrians, Peruvians, Mexicans, or Chilians, at Canton, have been attended with no peculiarities or events of any moment. None of these nations ever sent ” tribute ” to the court of the Son of Heaven, and their ships traded at Canton on the same footing with the English. The voyage of Peter Osbeck, chaplain to a Swedish East Indiaman, in 1753, contains considerable information relating to the mode of conducting the trade and the position of foreigners, who then enjoyed more liberty and suffered fewer extortions than in later years.’

    The termfaii-l’wel, by which they were all alike called by the Cantonese, indicated the popular estimation, and this epithet of foreign deviV did much, in the course of years, to increase the contempt and ill will which it expressed, not only there but throughout the Empire, for they were thereby maligned before they were known. Another term, /’, has been raised into notice by its condenmation in the British Treaty as an epithet for British subjects or countries. This word, there rendered ‘ harharian,” conveys to a native but little more than the idea that the people thus called do not understand the Chinese language and usages, and are consequently less civilized. This epithet harharian meant to the Greeks those who could not speak Greek, as it did to Shakespeare those who were not English; likewise among the Chinese, under ^were included great masses of their own subjects. By translating icai i as ‘ outside harhai’imis,” foreigners have been misrepresented in the status they held among educated natives, which was not that of savages but of the illiteracy growing out of their ignorance of the language and writings of Confucius.

    ‘ A Voyage to China and the East Indies, translated from the Germun b^Joliu R. Forster, 2 vols. , London, 1771.

    The ancient Chinese hooks speak of four wild nations on the four sides of the country, viz., the fan, i, tih, man / the first two seem to have been applied to traders from the south and west, and grew into more distinct expressions because these traders often acted so outrageously. Other terms, as ” western ocean men,” ” far-travelled strangers,” and ” men from afar,” have occasionally been substituted when i was objected to. When used as a general term, without an opprobrious addition, i is as well adapted as any to denote all foreigners ; but the most recent usage gives prominence to the terms ical hwok and yangjdn (‘outside country’ and ‘ocean man’). Among educated natives the national names are becoming more and more common, as Ying A-wo/i, Fah l-woh, Jlei hoohy Teh kwoh^ for England, France, Americaj Germany, etc.

    CHAPTER XXII.  ORIGIN OF THE FIRST WAR WITH ENGLAND

    The East India Company’s commercial privileges ceased in 1834, and it is worthy of note that an association should have been continued in the providence of God as the principal representative of Christendom among the Chinese, which by its character, its pecuniary interests, and general inclination was bound in a manner to maintain peaceful relations with them, while every other important Asiatic kingdom and island, from Arabia to Japan, was at one time or another during that period the scene of collision, war, or conquest between the nations and their visitors. Its monopoly ceased when western nations no longer looked upon these regions as objects of desire, nor went to Rome to get a privilege to seize or claim such pagan lands as they might discover, and when, too. Christians began to learn and act upon their duty to evangelize these ignorant races.

    China and Japan were once open to such agencies as well as trade, but no effective measures were taken to translate or distribute the pure word of God in them.

    Believing that the affairs of the kingdoms of this world are ordered by their Almighty Governor with regard to the fulfilment of his promises and the promulgation of his truth, the first war between England and China is not only one of great historical interest, but one whose future consequences cannot fail to exercise increasing influence upon many millions of mankind.

    This war was extraordinary in its origin as growing chiefly out of a commercial misunderstanding ; remarkable in its course as being waged between strength and weakness, conscious superiority and ignorant pride ; melancholy in its end as forcing the weaker to pay for the opium within its borders against all its laws, thus paralyzing the little moral pcrsi its feeble government could exert to protect its subjects ; and momentous in its results as introducing, on a basis of acknowledged obligations, one-half of the world to the other, without any arrogant demands from the victors or humiliating concessions from the vanquished. It was a turning-point in the national life of the Chinese race, but the compulsory payment of six million dollars for the opium destroyed has left a stignui upon the English name.

    In 1834 the select Committee of the East India Company repeated its notice given in 1831 to the authorities at Canton, that its ships would no longer come to China, and that a king’s officer would be sent out as chief to manage the affairs of the British trade. The only ” chief ” whom the Chinese expected to receive was a commercial headman, qualified to communicate with their officers by petition, through the usual and legal medium of the Hang merchants. The English Government justly deemed the change one of considerable importance, and concluded that the oversight of their subjects and the great trade they conducted required a commission of experienced men.

    The Tit. Hon. Lord Xapier was consequently appointed as chief

    superintendent of British trade, and ari’ived at Macao July 15,

    1834, where were associated with him in the commission John

    F. Davis and Sir G. B. Bobinson, formerly servants of the

    Company, and a number of secretaries, surgeons, chaplains, interpreters,

    etc., whose miited salaries amounted to $91,000.

    On arriving at Canton the tide-waiters officially repoi’ted that

    three ” foreign devils ” had landed. As soon as Governor Lu

    had learned that Lord Xapier had ]-eached Macao, he ordered

    the hong merchants to go down and intimate to him that he

    nuist remain there until he obtained legal permission to come

    to Canton ; for, having received no orders from couit as to the

    manner in which he should treat the English su[)erintendent,

    lie thought it the safest plan to adhere to the old regulations.

    Lord Napier had been ordered to report himself to the governor

    at Canton 7j>/ lette/’. A short extract from his instructions

    will show the intentions of the English (iovei’iiment in constituting

    the connnission, and the entirely wrong views it had of

    lORD NAriKK Sri’EllINTENDENT OK HKI’ilSII I’KADK. 465

    the notions of the Chinese respecting foreign intercourse, and the character they gave to the English authorities. Lord Palmerston says: In addition to the duty of protecting and fostering the trade of his Majesty’s subjects with the port of Canton, it will be one of your principal objects to ascertain whether it may not be practicable to extend that trade to other parts of the Chinese dominions. . . . It is obvious that, with a view to the attainment of this object, the establishment of direct communications with the jiort of Peking would be desirable ; and you will accordingly diiect your attention to discover the best means of preparing the way for such communications, bearing constantly in mind, however, that j)ecnliar caution and circumspection will be indispensable on this point, lest you should awaken the fears or offend the prejudices of the Chinese Government, and thus put to hazard even the existing opportunities of intercourse by a precipitate attempt

    to extend them In conformity with this caution you will abstain from entering

    into any new relations or negotiations with the Chinese authorities, except

    under very urgent and unforeseen circumstances. But if any opportunity for

    such negotiations should appear to you to present itself, you will lose no time

    in reporting the circumstance to his Majesty’s government, and in asking

    for instructions ; but previously to the receipt of such instructions you will

    adopt no proceedings but such as may have a general tendency to convince the

    Chinese authorities of the sincere desire of the king to cultivate the most

    friendly relations with the Emperor of China, and to join with him in any

    measures likely to promote the happiness and prosperity of their respective Bubjects.

    (jrovernor Lu’s messengers arrived too late to detain the

    British superintendent at Macao, and a military officer despatched

    to intercept liun passed him on the way ; so that the

    first intimation the latter received of the governor’s disposition

    was in an edict addressed to tlie hong merchants, from which

    two paragraphs are extracted :

    On this occasion the barbarian eye, Lord Napier, has come to Canton

    witliout having at all resided at Macao to wait for orders ; nor has he requested

    or received a permit from the superintendent of customs, but has hastily come

    up to Canton— a great infringement of the established laws! The customhouse

    waiters and others who presumed to admit liim to enter are sent with a

    communication requiring their trial. But in tender consideration for the said

    barbarian eye being a new-comer, and unacquainted with the statutes and laws

    of the Celestial Empire, I will not strictly investigate. . . . As to liis object

    in coming to Canton, it is for commercial business. The Celestial Empire appoints

    officers, civil ones to rule the people, military ones to intimidate the

    -nicked. The petty affairs of commerce are to be directed by the merclianta

    themselves : the officers have nothing to hear on the subject. … If any

    affair is to be newly commenced, it is necessary to wait till a respectful memorial be made, clearly reporting it to the great Emperor, and hi? mandate h?

    received ; the great ministers of the Celestial Empire are not permitted to have intercourse by letters with outside barbarians. If the said barbarian eye throws in private letters, I, the governor, will not at all receive or look at them. With regard to the foreign factory of the Company without the walls of the city, it is a place of temporary residence for foreigners coming to Canton to trade ; they are permitted only to eat, sleep, buy and sell in the factories; they are not allowed to go out to ramble about.’

    How unlike were these two docunients and the expectations

    of their writers ! The governor felt that it was safest to wait

    for an imperial mandate before commencing a new affair, and

    refused to receive a letter from a foreign officer. Had he done

    so he would have laid himself open to reprimand and perhaps

    punishment from his superiors ; and in saying that the superintendent

    should report himself and apply for a permit before

    coming to Canton, he only required what the members of the

    Company had always done when they returned from their sum

    mer vacation at Macao. Lord Xapier thought he had tlie same

    liberty to come to Canton without announcing himself that

    other and private foreigners exercised ; but an officer of his

    rank would have pleased the Chinese authorities better by observino;

    their regulations. He had thought of this contingencv

    before leaving England, aiid had requested ” that in case of

    necessity he might have authority to treat with the government

    at Peking ;

    ” this request being denied, he desired that his appointment

    to Canton might be announced at the capital ; this

    not being granted, he wished that a connnunication from the

    home authorities might be addressed to the governor of Canton

    ; but this was deemed inexpedient, and he was directed to

    ” go to Canton and report himself by letter.” These reasonable

    requests involved no loss of dignity, but the court of St. James

    chose to send out a superintendent of trade, an officer partaking

    of both ministerial and consular powers, and ordered him to

    act in a certain manner, involving a violation of the regulations

    of the country where he was going, without providing for tlic

    alternative of his rejection.

    ‘ (Jorrcspondenee relatimj to China (Blue Book), p. 4. Chinese Bepository, Vol. III., p. 188 ; Vol. XL, p. 188.

    HIS LETTER REJECTED I5Y GOVERNOR LU. 467

    To Canton, therefore, he came, and the next day reported himself by letter to the governor, sending it to the city gates. His lordship was directed to have nothing to do with the Hang merchants ; and therefore when they waited upon him the morning of his arrival, with the edict they had been sent down to Macao to ” enjoin upon him,” he courteously dismissed them, with an intimation that “he would communicate immediately with the viceroy in the manner befitting his Majesty’s commission and the honor of the British nation.” The account of the reception of his communication is taken from his correspondence: On the arrival of the party at the city gates, the soldier on guard was despatched to report the circumstance to his superior. In less than a quarter of an hour an officer of inferior rank appeared, whereupon Mr. Astell offered my letter for transmission to the viceroy, which duty this officer declined, addiner that his superior was on his way to the spot. In the course of an hour several officers of nearly equal rank arrived in succession, each refusing to deliver the letter on the plea that higher officers would shortly attend. After an hour’s

    delay, during which time the party were treated with much indignity, not

    unusual on such occasions, the linguists and hong merchants arrived, who entreated

    to become the bearers of the letter to the viceroy. About this time

    an officer of rank higher than any of those who had preceded him joined the

    party, to whom the letter was in due form offered, and as formally refused.

    The officer having seen the superscrijition on the letter, argued, that “as it

    came from the superintendent of trade, the hong merchants were the proper

    channels of communication : ” but this obstacle appeared of minor importance in their eyes, upon ascertaining that the document was styled a letter, and not & petition. The linguists requested to be allowed a copy of the address, which was of course refused.

    About this time the kicang-hielt, a military officer of the rank of colonel, accompanied by an officer a little inferior to himself, arrived on the spot, to whom the letter was offered three several times and as often refused. The senior hong merchant, Howqua, after a private conversation with the colonel, requested to be allowed to carry the letter in company with him and ascertain

    whether it would be received. This being considered as an insidious attempt

    to circumvent the directions of the superintendents, a negative was made to

    this and other overtures of a similar tendency. Suddenly all the officers took

    their departure for the purpose, as it was afterward ascertained, of consulting

    with the viceroy. Nearly three hours having been thus lost within the city,

    Mr. Astell determined to wait a reasonable time for the return of the officers, who shortly afterward reassembled ; whereupon Mr. Astell respectfully offered the letter in question three separate times to the colonel and afterward to the other officers, all of whom distinctly refused even to touch it; upon which the party returned to the factory.’

    * Chinese Bepositori/, Vol. XI. , p. 27.

    The goveriKir ]e})orted this oecurreiu’e at court in a meinorial, in which, after stating that his predecessor had instructed the Company’s supercargoes to malce arrangements tluit “a ?’«//7<;ni[or supercargo, the word. being applied to all foreign consuls] acquainted with affairs should still be appointed to come to Canton to control and direct the trade,” he states what had occurred, and adds:
    The said Larbarian eye would not receive the Hang merchants, but after-M’ard repaired to the outside of the city to present a letter to me, your Majesty’s minister, Lu. On the face of the envelope the forms and style of equality were used, and there were absurdly written the characters Ta Thuj kiroh [‘Great English nation’]. Now it is plain on the least reflection, that in keeping the central and outside [people] apart, it is of the highest importance to maintain dignity and sovereignty. Whether the said barbarian eye has or has not official rank there are no means of thoroughly ascertaining. But though he be really an officor of the said nation, he yet cannot write letters on equality with the frontier officers of the Celestial Empire. As the thing concerned the national dignity, it was inexpedi’^nt in the least to allow a tendency to any approach or advance by which lightness of esteem might be occasioned.

    Accordingly orders Mere given to Ilan Shau-king, the colonel in command of the military forces of this department, to tell him authoritatively that, by the statutes and enactments of the Celestial Empire, there has never been intercourse by letters with outside barbarians ; that, respecting commercial matters, petitions must be

    made through the medium of the hong merchants, and that it is not permitted

    to offer or present letters. . . . On humble examination it appears that

    the commerce of the English barbarians has hitherto been managed by the

    hong merchants and taipans ; there has never been a barbarian e^-e to form a

    precedent. Now it is suddenly desired to appoint an officer, a superintendent,

    which is not in accordance with old regulations. Besides, if the said nation

    has formed this decision, it still should have stated in a petition the affairs

    which, and the way how, such superintendent is to manage, so that a memorial

    miglit be presented requesting yovir Majesty’s mandate and pleasure as to what

    should be refused, in order that obedience might be paid to it and the same be

    acted on accordingly. But tlie said barbarian eye, Lord Napier, wjthout having

    made any plain nqiort, suddenly came to the barbarian factories outside the

    city to reside, and presumed to desire intercourse to and fro by official documents and letters with the officers of the Central Flowery Land; this was, indeed, far out of the bounds of reason.’

    ‘^ Chinese Bepouionji Vol. III., p. 327.

    CONTEST BETWEEN THE COVEIINOR AXD NAPIER. 460

    The governor here intimates that the intention of his government in requesting a taijpan to come to Canton was only to have a responsible officer with whom to communicate. In refusing to receive an ‘eye,” or superintendent, therefore, he did not, in his own view of the case, suppose that he was refusing, nor did he or the court of Peking intend to refuse, the residence of a supercargo, for they were desirous to have responsible heads appointed over the connnerce and subjects of every ration trading at Canton. These occurrences were discussed by the Hon. John Quincy Adams in his lecture upon the war with China, delivered in 1841, in which he alleged that the rejection of Lord JSTapier’s letter and mission was a sufficient reason for the subsequent contest, he showed the impolicy of allowing the Chinese ideas of supremacy over other nations, and exhibited their natural results in the degraded position of foreigners. He had, however, only an imperfect conception of the strength of this assumption,

    but it was not debated in this contest between Governor Lu and

    Lord Napier. The former was not blameworthy for endeavoring

    to carry the laws of his own country into execution, while

    the latter was doing his best to obey the instructions of his own

    sovereign. The question of the propriety of those laws, involving

    as they did the supremacy of the Emperor over the English,

    or the feasibility of those instructions, could only he discussed

    and settled by their principals. Whether this assumption was

    a proper ground of hostilities is altogether another question.

    When Lord Napier’s letter was rejected he would probably have

    referred home to his government for further instructions if it

    had intended to settle the question of supremacy, but he did not

    do so, nor did the ministry refer to it or remonstrate against the

    unhandsome treatment their representative received.

    The refusal of Lord Napier to confer with the hong merchants,

    and of the governor to receive any communication except

    a petition, placed the two parties in an awkward position.

    In his letter the former stated the object of his coming to Canton,

    and requested that his excellency Avould aecoi-d him an interview

    in order that their future intercoui’se might be arranged ;

    and considering the desirableness of giving him accurate views,

    the party at the gate would have acted M’isely in permitting the

    hong merchants to take it to him. The governor was irritated

    and alarmed, and vented his anger upon the unfortunate hong

    merchants. These had two or three interviews with Lord Na’pier after the rejection of the letter, but as they now said it

    Mould not be received unless superscribed _^??’;i, or ‘ petition.’

    they were dismissed. Having heard that there was a party

    among the British residents in Canton who disapproved of the

    proceedings of the superintendent, they vainly endeavored to

    call a meeting of the disaffected on the 10th of August, while his

    lordship assembled all of his countrymen next day, and found

    that they generally approved of his conduct. On the 14th he

    reviews his position in consequence of the rejection of his letter

    ivad the subsecpient conduct of the governor. After recommending

    the renewal of the effort to open better understood relations with the court of Peking by a demand upon the Emperor to allow the same privileges to all foreigners residing in China which Chinese received in foreign countries, he goes on to say:

    My present position is, in one point of view, <a delicate one, because the trade is put in jeopardy on account of the difference existing between the viceroy and myself. I am ordered by his Majesty to ” go to Canton and there report myself by letter to the viceroy.” I use my best endeavors to do so ; but the viceroy is a presumptuous savage, and will not grant the same privileges to me that have been exercised constantly by the chiefs of the committee.

    He rakes up obsolete orders, or perhaps makes them for the occasion ; but

    the fact is, the chiefs used formerly to wait on the viceroy on their return

    from Macao, and continued to do it nntil the viceroy gave them an order to

    wait upon him, whereupon they gave the practice iip. Had I even degraded

    the king’s commission so far as to petition through the liong merchants for an

    interview, it is quite clear by the tenor of the edicts that it would have been

    refused. Were he to send an armed force and order me to the boat, I could

    then retreat with honor, and he would implicate himself; but they are afraid

    to attempt such a measure. What then remains but the stoppage of the trade

    or my retirement ? If the trade is stopped for any length of time the consequences to the merchants are most serious, as they are also to the unoffending

    Chinese. But the viceroy cares no more for commerce, or for the comfort

    and happiness of the people as long as he receives his pay and plunder, than

    if he did not live among them. My situation is different ; I cannot hazard

    millions of property for any length of time on the mere score of etiquette. If

    the trade shall be stopped, which is probable enough in the absence of the frigate, it is possible I may be obliged to retire to Macao to let it loose again.

    Then has the viceroy gained his point and the commission is degraded. Now, my lord, I argue that whether the commission retires by force of arms or by the injustice practised on the merchants, the viceroy has committed an outrage on the Britisli crown which should be equally chastised. The whole system of government here is that of subterfuge and shifting the blame from tlia

    oppositp: vikus of the two parties, 471

    shoulders of the one to the other. … I shall not go, however, without jiublishini; in Chinese and disseminating far and wide the base conduct of the viceroy in oppressing the merchants, native as well as foreign, and of my having taken the step out of pure compassion to them. I can only once more implore your lordship to force them to acknowledge my authority and the king’s commission, and if you can do that you will have no difficulty in opening the ports at the same time.’

    Such were the sentiments and desires which filled the mind of the English superintendent. He is in error in saying that the governor would not grant him the same privileges as had been accorded to the chiefs of the Company. The present question was not about having an interview, but regarding the superscription of his letter ; for the chiefs of the Company sent their sealed communications through the Hang merchants as petitions. The governor stopped the English trade on the 16th, and two days after issued an explanatory paper in reply to the report that his orders on that subject had been carried into effect. This document sets forth his determination to uphold the old regulations, and a few sentences from it are here introduced as a contrast with the preceding despatch. The conviction of the governor in the supremacy of his Emperor over all foreign nations which had sent embassies to his court, and his own official position making him responsible for successfully maintaining the laws over foreigners, must be borne in mind :

    To refer to England : slrould an official personage from a foreign country proceed to the said nation for the arrangement of any business, how could he neglect to have the object of his coming announced in a memorial to the said nation’s king, or how could he act contrary to the requirements of the said nation’s dignity, doing his own will and pleasure? Since the said barbarian eye states that he is an official -personage, he ought to be more thoroughly acquainted with these principles. Before, when he offered a letter, I, the governor, saw it inexpedient to receive it, because the established laws of the Celestial Empire do not permit ministers and those under authority to have private intercourse by letter with outside barbarians, but have, hitherto, in commercial affairs, held the merchants responsible; and if perchance any barbarian merchant should have any petition to make requesting the investigation of any affair, [the laws require] that by the said ttiipiiu a duly prepared petition should be in form presented, and an answer by proclamation awaited.

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 68.

    There has never been such a thing as outside barbarians sending in a letter.

    He then says that there had iic’ver been any official correspondence to and fro between the native officers and the barbarian merchants ; by this he means a correspondence ol equality, which the Chinese Government had indeed never yielded. The idea of supremacy never leaves him—witness, for example, the following strain, peculiarly Chinese :

    The Hang merchants, because the said barbarian eye will not adhere to the old regulations, have requested that a stop should be put to the said nation’s commerce. This manifests a profound knowledge of the great principles of dignity. It is most highly praiseworthy. Lord Napier’s perverse opposition necessarily demands such a mode of procedure, and it would be most right immediately to put a stop to buying and selling. But considering that the said nation’s king has hitherto been in the highest degree reverently obedient,

    he cannot in sending Lord Napier at this time have desired him thus obstinately

    to resist. The some hundreds of thousands of commercial duties yearly

    coming from the said country concern not the Celestial Empire the extent of

    a hair or a feather’s down. The possession or absence of them is utterly unworthy

    of one careful thought. Their broadcloths and camlets are still more

    unimportant, and of no regard. But the tea, the rhubarb, the raw silk of the

    Inner Land, are the sources by which the said nation’s people live and nuiiutain

    life. For the fault of one man, Lord Napier, must the livelihood of the

    whole nation be precipitately cut off? I, the governor, looking up and embodying

    the great Emperor’s most sacred, most divine wish, to nurse and tenderly

    cherish as one all that are without, feel that I cannot bring my mind to

    bear it ! Besides, all the merchants of the said nation dare dangers, crossing

    the seas myriads of miles to come from far. Their hopes rest wholly in the

    attainment of gain by buying and selling. That they did not attend when

    summoned by the hong merchants to a meeting for consultation, was because

    they were under the direction of Lord Napier ; it assuredly did not proceed

    from the several merchants’ own free will. Sliould the trade be wholly cut

    off in one morning, it would cause great distress to many persons, who, having

    travelled hither by land and sea, would by one man, Lord Napier, be

    ruined. They cannot in such case but be utterly depressed with grief. . . .

    I hear the said eye is a man of very solid ai\d expansive mind and placid speech. If he consider, he can himself doubtless distinguish right and wrong: let him on no account permit himself to be deluded by men around him. . . . Hereafter, when the said nation’s king liears respecting these repeated orders and official replies, [he will know] that the whole wrong lies on the barbarian eye ; it is in nowise owing to any want on the part of the Celestial Empire of extreme consideration for the virtue of reverential obedience exercised by the said nation’s king.’

    ‘ Chinese Bejwsitori/, Vol. III., p. 235.

    CHINESE IDEAS OV SUPREMACY. 473

    He consequently sent a deputation of officials to Lord Napier to inquire ‘why he had come to Canton, what business he was appointed to perform, and when he would retire to Macao. The letter was again handed them, but the superscription still remained, and they refused to touch it. They, however, leariuKl enough to be able to inform their master what he wished to know : the real point of dispute between the two could only be settled between their sovereigns. The governor by this deputation showed a desire to make some arrangement, and the trade would probably have been shortly reopened had not Lord Kapier carried out his idea, two days after, of appealing to the people in order to explain the reasons why the governor had stopped the trade and brought distress on them. The paper simply detailed the principal events which had occurred since his arrival, laying the blame upon the*” ignorance and obstinacy “of the governor in refusing to receive his letter, and closino; with—” The merchants of Great Britain wish to trade with all China on principles of mutual benefit ; they will never relax in their exertions till they gain a point of equal importance to both countries; and the viceroy will find it as easy to stop the current of the Canton River as to carry into effect the insane determination of the hong.”

    In many of the former proceedings between the Chinese and foreigners, based as they were upon incorrect ideas, the rules of diplomacy elsewhere observed formed no guide ; but the publication of this statement was unwise and dangerous. Not only did it jeopardize the lives and property of British subjects, but of all other foreigners residing at Canton, to whose safety and interests, as involved with his own dispute. Lord Napier makes no reference in his despatches. Happily, Governor Lu did not appease his irritation by letting loose the populace of Canton, which was highly excited, but by imprisoning members of the co-hong for allowing the superintendent to come to the city.

    The governor and his colleagues stopped the English trade on September 2d, in a proclamation containing many inaccurate statements and absurd reasonings, in which he forbade either natives or foreigners to give aid or comfort to Lord Xapier. Communication with the shipping at AV^hampoa was also interdicted, so that, in reality, the entire foreign trade was interrupted. A guard of Chinese troops was placed near tlio (\)nipany’s factoiy, but no personal distress was felt on account of the interdict. 11. B. M. frigates Andromache and Imogene were ordered up to protect the shipping and persons of British subjects, and the two vessels anchored at Whanipoa on the 11th.

    In their passage through the Bogue they returned the fire from the forts, with little damage to either ; and on anchoring, a lieutenant and boat’s crew were despatched to Canton to protect the English factory. These decisive proceedings troubled the native authorities not a little, who, on their part, prepared for stronger measures by blocking up the river and stationing troops about Whampoa, but were relieved when they found that the ships remained* at their anchorage.

    Lord Xapier sent a protest against the proceedings of the

    governor in stopping the trade, through the Chamber of Commerce

    and hong merchants ; but at this juncture his health gave

    way so rapidly that three days after the frigates had anchored

    he decided to return to Macao and wait for insti’uctions. Tlie

    Chinese detained him on his passage down until the ships were

    out of the river; but he sank and died October 11th, a fortnight

    after reaching that city. As soon as he left Canton the

    trade was reopened. On hearing that the ships had reached

    AVhampoa, the Emperor degraded or suspended all the officials

    who had been in any way responsible ; but when he learned

    that ” Lord Xapier had been driven out, and the two ships of

    war dragged over the shallows and expelled,” he restored most

    of those whom he had thus punished. The governor also vented

    his indignation upon ten of his subordinates, by subjecting them

    to torture in order to “ascertain if they were guilty of illicit

    connection with foreigners.” The drama was closed on the part

    of the Chinese by an imperial mandate : ” The English barbarians

    have an open market in the Inner Land, but there has

    hitherto been no interchange of official communications. Yet

    it is absoluteh’ requisite that there should be a person possessing

    general control, to have the special direction of affairs; wherefore let the governor immediately order the Hang merchants to command the said separate merchants, that they send a letter back to their country calling for the appoint ineiit of luiotlier person as taqxin^ to come for the couti’ol and direction of conunercial affairs, in accordance with the old regulations.”

    STOPPING OF THE TP.ADK AND IJKA’III OF XAI’IKK. 475

    The principles on which the Chinese acted in this affair are

    plainly seen. To have granted official intercourse bv letter

    would have been to give up the whole question, to consider the

    king of England as no longer a tributary, and so release him

    and his subjects from their allegiance. To do so would not only

    permit them to come into their borders as equals, subject to no

    laws or customs, but would fui’ther open the door for resistance

    to their authority, armed opposition to their control, and ultimate

    in possession of their territory. The governor hints at

    this when speaking of the necessity of restraining the barbarian

    eye: “AVith regard to territory, it would also have its consequences.”

    These would be the probable results of allowing

    such a mode of address from the Kalkas, or Tibetans, and the

    Emperor felt the importance of irs concession in a way that

    Lord Xapier himself could not appreciate. Xcvertheless, with

    the inconsistency of children, the Son of Heaven and his courtiers,

    in the mandate just quoted, yi(;ld their obligations to justly

    govern the far-travelled strangers, by requiring them to get a

    countryman ” to exercise general control ” and live among them

    —thus establishing the principle of ex-territoriality within their

    borders which they now find so irksome.

    It is pitiable, and natural too, that the Chinese should have had notions so incorrect and dangerous, for it led them to misinterpret every act of foreigners. Their entire intercourse with Europeans, since the Portuguese first came to their shores, had conspired to strengthen the opinion that all traders were crafty, domineering, avaricious, and contumacious, and must be kept down in every possible way to insure safety to the Chinese natives. The indignation of the Emperor on hearing of the entrance of the ships of war was mixed with great apprehension,

    ” lest there were yet other ships staying at a distance ready to bring in aid to him ” [Lord Xapier]. Ignorant as he was of the true character of the embassies which had been received at Peking, he was still more likely to take alarm at any attempt to open an equal intercourse, and disposed to resist it as he would a forcible occupation of his territory, of which it was, in his view, only the precursor.

    That these were the feelings of the rulers at Peking cannot be doubted; and we must know what views and fears actuated them in order to understand their proceedings. If the position of England in the eyes of the Chinese had been fully known in London, the unequal contest imposed upon Lord Xapier would either have been avoided or directed against the imperial government.

    The offer of an amicable intercourse was given to the Chinese, but through the inapplicable instructions which his lordship received this offer was not made to the weaker and ignorant party in such a way as not to excite its fears, while it fully explained the real position and intentions of England, and through her all Christendom, in seeking intercourse with China. Yet so long as the court of Peking, in virtue of the Emperor’s vicegerency over mankind, claimed supremacy’ over other nations, the struggle to maintain that assumption was sure to come. This false notion did, however, really continue among them for about forty years, till five foreign ministers had their first audience with the Emperor Tungchl, June, 1873, and stood before his throne as they presented their credentials.

    The Pritish residents at Canton saw the point of difficulty clearly, and in a petition to the king in council, dated December 4, 1834, recommended that a commissioner be sent to one of the northern ports with a small fleet to arrange the matter of future intercourse. In this petition they ” trace the disabilities and restrictions under which Pritish connnerce now labors to a long acquiescence in the arrogant assumption of supremacy over the monarchs and people of other countries claimed by the Emperor of China for himself and his subjects,” and conclude that ” no essentially beneficial result can be expected to arise out of negotiations in which such pretensions are not decidedly repelled.”

    PETITION OF BRITISH MERCHANTS TO TIIK KING. 477

    The recommendations of the petitioners were disregarded in England. The cabinet disapproved of the spirit of Lord Napier’s despatches, and intimated to him that it was “not by force and violence that his Majesty intended to establish a commercial intercourse between his subjects and China, but by conciliatory measures.” After the events of 1834 if a commissioner, backed by a small fleet, had Leen iininediatelj appointed to Peking to arrange the terms of future intercourse, the subsequent wai might have been averted, though it is more likely that the imperial court would have rejected all overtures until compelled to treat by force.

    As things were situated at Canton, it was really impossible for

    the Chinese Government to carry on a line of policy with respect

    to foreign intercourse wdiich would at once maintain its assumptions,

    avoid the risk of a rupture, squeeze all the money possible

    out of the trade, and repress the complaints of the Bi-ilish

    merchants. The cessation of the Company’s monopoly, as well

    as its control over all British subjects, had weakened the leverage

    of the local authorities to manage them, to a greater degree

    than they were aware.

    The trade was conducted during the next season to the satisfaction

    of all parties. That of other nations had been practically

    stopped with that of the English, but the suspension was at a

    dull season of the 3’ear. Their consuls took no official part in

    the dispute, though they had some ground for complaint in the

    suspension of their trade and the imprisonment of their countrymen.

    The Chinese shopkeepers known as “outside merchants”

    having been interdicted trading at all with foreignei’s, went to

    the governor’s palace in a laige body and soon obtained a removal

    of the restriction. The hong mei’chants themselves instigated

    this decree, for these shopkeepers, while deriving large

    profits from their business, were almost free from the extortions

    which the monopolists suffered. All the extraordinary expenses

    incurred by the provincial exchequer in the late affair were i”equired

    of these unfortunate men ; and the}^ 7)iifst get it out of

    the trade in the best way they could. Amelioration could not

    be expected from such a system ; for as soon as the foreigners

    began to complain, the hong merchants were impelled by every

    motive to misrepresent their complaints to the governor and

    quash every effort to obtain redress. The situation of foreigners

    there was aptly likened by a wi’iter on the subject to the inmates

    of the Zoological Garden in Regent’s Park : ” They [the animals]

    have been free to play what pranks they pleased, so that

    they made no uproar nor escaped from confinement. The keepers looked sharply after them and tried to keep them (Hiiet, because annoyed by the noise tliey made and responsible for the mischief they miglit commit if they got at Hberty. They might do what was right in their own eyes with each other. The authorities of China do not expect from wild and restless barbarians the decorum and conduct exemplified in their own great family.”

    The peculiar position of the relations with the Chinese and the

    value of the trade, present and prospective, was so great that

    these events called out many pamphleteers both in England and

    the East. The servants of the Company naturally recommended

    a continuance of the peaceable system, nrging that foreigners

    should obey the laws of tlie Empire where they lived and not

    interfere with the restrictions put upon them. Others counselled

    the occupation of an island on the coast, to which Chinese

    “traders would immediately resort, and which was to be held

    only so long as the Emperor refused to open liis ports and allow

    a fair traffic with his people. Othei’S deprecated resort to force

    until a commissioner to Peking had explained the designs and

    wishes of his government, demanded the same privileges for

    foreigners in China that the Chinese enjoyed abi’oad, and then,

    in the event of a refusal, compel acquiescence. Some advised

    lettiuii: thing’s take their own course and conducting trade

    as it could be at Canton until circumstances compelled the

    Chinese to act. ” That which we now require is not to lose the

    enjoyment of what w^e have got,” said the Duke of Wellington,

    and his advice was followed in most respects. A few thought it

    would be the wiser way to disseminate juster ideas of the position,

    power, and wishes of England and all foreign nations among the

    Chinese in their own language. They argued very properly that

    ignorance on these points would neutralize every attempt to

    bring about a better state of things ; that although the Chinese

    were to blame for their uncompromising arrogance, it was also

    their great misfortune that they really had had little opportunity

    to learn the truth respecting their visitors. All these suggestions

    looked forward to no long continuance of the present undefined,

    anomalous relations, and all of them contained much pertinent

    advice and many valuable items of information ; but ii

    CONTINUATION OF THE TRADE. 479

    was a question not more difficult than important what course of

    procedure was the best. AVliile the point of supremacy seemed

    to be settled in favor of the Son of Heaven, the virus of the

    contraband opium trade was working out its evil effects among

    his subjects and hastening on a new era.

    The British superintendents now lived in Macao pending the

    action of their government, merely keeping a clerk at Canton

    to sign manifests. The foreign residents established the Society

    for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and other benevolent

    projects mentioned in a previous chapter ; they also sent two

    or three vessels along the coast to see what openings existed for

    entering the countrj’, preaching the gospel, or living on shore.

    The results of the voyages fully proved the impossibility of entering

    the country in an open manner without the permission

    of the rulers, and the limited intercourse with the people also

    showed that the character of foreigners was generally associated

    with the opium trade. The dwellers immediately on the coast

    were eager for an extension of the traffic, because it brought

    them large gains, and the officers at the principal ports were

    desirous of participating in the emoluments of their fellows

    at Canton ; but those who had the good of the countiy at

    heart (and there are many such in China) thought that the extension

    of foreign trade would bring with it unmitigated evil

    from the increased use of opium.

    Sir G. B. Robinson, the superintendent, remained at Lintin

    on board a cutter among opium ships anchored there during the

    season of 1835-30, and was so well satisfied with his position

    that he recommended his government to purchase a small ship

    for the permanent acconunodation of the commission there beyond

    the reach of the Chinese officers, and to vest its powers in

    a single individual. He also expressed his conviction that there

    was little hope of establishing a proper understanding with the

    Chinese Government, except by a resort to force and the occupation

    of an island off the mouth of the river:

    I see no grounds to apprehend the occurrence of any fearful events on the north-east coast, nor can I h\arn what new danger exists. I am assured from the best authority that the scuffles between different parties of smugglers and mandarins, alike engaged and competing in the traffic, are not more serious or frequont than in this province. In no case have Europeans been engaged in any kind of conflict or affray : and while this increasing and lucrative trade is in the hands of the parties whose vital interests are so totally dependent ou its safety and continuance, and by whose prudence and integrity it has been brought into its present increasing and flourishing condition, I think little apprehension may be entertained of dangers emanating from imprudence on their part. Should any unfortunate catastrophe take place, what would our

    position at Canton entail upon us but responsibility and jeopardy, from which

    we are now free ? On the question of smuggling opium I will not enter in

    this place, though, indeed, smuggling carried on actively in the government

    boats can hardly be termed such. Whenever his Majesty’s government directs

    us to prevent British vessels engaging in the traffic, we can enforce any order

    to that effect, but a more certain method would be to prohibit the growth of

    the poppy and the manufacture of opium in British India ; and if British

    ships are in the habit of committing irregularities and crimes, it seems doubly

    necessary to exercise a salutary control over them by the presence of au authority

    at Lintin.

    Taking all things into consideration, this is a remarkable despatch

    to be sent by the representative of a Cliristian government

    writing from the midst of a fleet of smugglers on the

    shores of a pagan country. ” The scuilles caused by the introduction

    of opium are,” he remarks, ^’not more serious or frequent

    on the coast than about Canton ; ” though even there,

    l)i-obably, not one-half which did occur were known ; but Europeans

    never personally engaged in any of them. They only

    brought the cause and object of these collisions where the people

    could get it, and then quietly looked on to see them fight

    about it. Tlie ” prudence and integrity ” of the merchants were

    engaged in cherishing it to a high degree of prosperity, and

    they were not likely to act imprudently. The orders of the

    supreme government for its officers on the coast to stop the

    traffic were utterly powerless, through the cupidity and venality

    of tho.se officers and their underlings ; yet their almost complete

    failure to execute them does not impugn the sincerity of

    the court in issuing them. There is not the least evidence to

    show that the couii of Peking was not sincere in its desire to

    suppress the trade, from the first edict in 1800 till the war broke

    out in 1840. The excuse that the government smuggled because its revenue cruisers engaged in it and the helpless provincial authorities winked at it, is no more satisfactory than to make the successful bribery of custoui-liousc officers in Enghiiul or elsewhere a proof of the corruption of the treasury department.

    SIR GEORGE ROBINSON ON OPHT^r-SM (tggF.IXG. 481

    The temptation of an ” increasing and lucrative ” trade was as strong to the unenlightened pagan Chinese smuggler as it was to the Christian merchants and monopolists who placed the poisonous drug constantly within his reach. It would have been far more frank on the part of the British superintendent to have openly defended a traffic affording a revenue of more than two millions sterling to his own government, and suggested that such an ‘” increasing and lucrative ” business should not be impeded, than to say that he could stop British ships enji:ao;iiio: in it as soon as he received orders to that effect.

    The existence of tlie commission at the outer anchoi-ages was

    fully known to the authorities at Canton, but no movement

    toward reopening tlie intercourse was made by either party.

    Lord Palmerston instructed the superintendent not to comnmnicate

    with the governor-general through the hong merchants,

    nor to give his written connnnnications the name of

    petitions. Captain Elliot succeeded Sir George in 183G, and

    innnediately set about reopening the connnunication with the

    Chinese officei’s in the same way that the supercargoes of the

    Company had conducted it. lie defended this course upon

    the grounds that he had no right to direct official communication with the governor, and that the remarkable movements of the Chinese and the state of uncertainty in respect to the whole foreign trade rendered it desirable to be at Canton. The successor of Lu, Tang Ting-ching, M’illingly responded to this proposition by sendiug a deputation of three officers to Macao with the hong merchants to make some inquiries before memorializing the Emperor. In his report the governor avoided all reference to Lord Napier, and requested his Majesty’s sanction to the present request as being in accordance with the orders that the English merchants should send home to have a supercargo come out to manage them. It was of course granted; and the British connnission, having received a ” red permit “

    from the collector of customs, returned to Canton April 12,

    1837, after an absence of about thirty months. In his note to

    the governor upon receiving the imperial sanction, Captain Eliot says: “The undersigned respectfully assures his excellencj’ that it is at once his duty and his anxious desire to conform in all things to the imperial pleasure ; and he will therefore heedfully

    attend to the points adverted to in the papers now before

    him.” This language was decided, and his excellency after-

    Mard called upon the superintendent to do as he had promised.

    The remarkable movements of tlie supi’eme government here

    referred to grew out of a memorial from IIu Xai-tsi, formerly

    salt commissioner and judge at Canton, proposing the legalization

    of the opium trade. In this paper he acknowledges tliat

    it is impossible to stop the traffic or use of the drug ; if the

    foreign vessels be driven from the coast, they will go to some

    island near by, where the native craft will go off to them ; and

    if the laws be made too severe upon those who smoke the drug

    they will be disregarded. By legalizing it, he says, the drain of

    specie will be stopped, the regular trade rendered more profitable

    and manageable, and the consumption of the drug regulated.

    He proposes instant dismissal from office as the penalty for all

    functionaries convicted of smoking, while their present ineffectual

    attempts to suppress the trade, which i-esulted in general

    contempt for all law, would cease, and consequently the dignity

    of government be better maintained. The ti-ade on the coast

    would be concenti’ated at Canton, and the fleet at Lintin broken

    up, thereby bringing all foreigners more completely under

    control.

    This unexpected movement at the capital caused no little stir

    at Canton, and the hong merchants presently advertised the foreigners

    that soon there would no longer be any use for the receiving-

    ships at Lintin. Captain Elliot wrote that he thought

    legalization had come too late to stop the trade on the coast, and,

    with a prescient eye, adds that the “feeling of independence

    created among British subjects from the peculiar mode of conducting

    this bi’anch of the trade,” would ere long lead to graver

    difficulties and acts of violence requiring the armed interference

    of his govennncnt. The impression Avas general at Canton

    that the trade would be legalized, and increased preparations

    were accordingly made in India to extend the cultivation. The

    governor and his colleagues reconnnended its legalization on the

    PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE TFIE OPIUM TRADE. 483

    grounds that ” the tens (»f millions of precious money which

    now annually ooze out of the Empire will be saved,” the duties

    be inei’eased, the evil practices of transporting contraband goods

    by deceit and violence suppi-essed, numberless quarrels and litigations

    arising therefrom and the crimes of wortliless vagrants

    diminished. They also deluded themselves with the idea that if

    the officers were dismissed as soon as convicted, the intellif^ent

    part of society would not indulge their depraved appetites, but

    let the ” victims of their own self-sacrificing folly,” the poor

    opium-smokers, be found only among the lower classes. In connection

    with this report, the hong merchants replied to various

    inquiries respecting the best mode of carrying on the opium

    trade in case it should be legalized, and their mode of conducting

    commerce generally ; adding that it was bej-ond their power to

    control thesnniggling traffic or restrain the exportation of sycee,

    and showed that the balance of trade would naturally leave the

    country in bullion. These papers are fairly drawn up, and their

    perusal cannot fail to elevate the character of the Chinese for

    consideration, carefulness, and business-like procedure.’

    There were other statesmen, however, who regarded Ilii Xaitsi’s

    memoi’ial as a dangerous step in the downward path, and

    sounded the alarm. Among these the foremost was Chu Tsun,

    a cabinet minister, who sent in a counter-memorial couched

    in the strongest terms. He advised that the laws be more

    strictly maintained, and cited instances to show that when the

    provincial authorities earnestly set about it they could put the

    trade down ; that the people would soon learn to despise all laws

    if those against opium-smoking were suspended ; and that recreant

    officers should be superseded and punished. His indignation

    warms as he goes on : ” It has been represented that

    advantage is taken of the laws against opium by extortionate

    underlings and worthless vagrants, to benefit themselves. Is it

    not known, then, that when government enacts a law, there is

    necessarily an infi-action of that law ? And though tlie law

    should sometimes be relaxed and become ineffectual, yet surely

    it should not on that account be abolished ; any more than we

    ‘ Chinese Eepositoi-y, Vol. V., pp. 139, 259, 385 fiE.

    eliould altogether cease to eat because of stoppage of the throat

    The laws which forbid the people to do wrong may be likened

    to the dikes which prevent the overflowing of water. If any

    one urging, then, that the dikes are veiy old and therefore useless,

    we should have them thrown down, w hat words could ex-

    ]u-ess the consequences of the impetuous lush and all-destroying

    overflow! Yet the provincials, when discussing the subject of

    opium, being perplexed and bewildered by it, think that a prohibition

    which does not iiUerhj prohibit is better than one which

    does not effectually prevent the importation of the drug. . . .

    If we can l)ut prevent the importation of o])ium, the exportation

    of dollars will then cease of itself, and the two offences will both

    at once be stopped. Moreover, is it not better, by continuing the

    old enactments, to find even a partial remedy for the evil, than by

    a change of the laws to increase the importation still further? “

    lie then proceeds to show that the native article could not

    compete with the foreign, for it would not bo as well luainifactured,

    and moreover ” all men prize what is strange and undervalue

    whatever is in ordinary use.” Its cultivation would occupy

    rich and fertile land now used for nutritive grains : ” To draw

    off in this way the waters of the great fountain requisite for the

    production of food and raiment, and to lavish them upon the

    root whence calamity and disaster spring forth, is an eri-or like

    that of the physician who, when treating a mere external disease,

    drives it inward to the heart and centre of the body. Shall

    the fine fields of Kwangtnng, ^vhich produce their three crops

    every year, be given up for the cultivation of this noxious Meed ‘i”

    He says the question does not concern property and duties, but the welfare and vigor of the people ; and quotes from the 7//,vtory of Formosa a passage showing the way in which the natives there were enervated by using it, and adds that the purpose of the English in introducing opium into the country has been to weaken and enfeeble it. Kanghi long ago (1717) remarked, he observes, ” There is cause for apprehension, lest in the centuries or millenniums to come China may be endangered by collisions with the various nations of the AYest who come hither from beyond the seas.” And now, in less than two centuries, “weseo the commencement of that danger which he apprehended.”

    CIIU T8UN OPPOSES THE PROPOSITION. 485

    The suggestion of II ii Nai-tsi, to allow it to the people ami interdict the officers, is called bad casuistry, ” like shutting a woman’s ears before you steal her earrings/’ He shows that thi& distinction will be vain, for it will be impossible to say who is of the people and who are officers, for all the latter are taken from the body of the former. The permission will induce people to use it who now refrain from fear of the laws ; for even the proposal has caused ” thieves and villains on all hands to raise their heads and open their eyes, gazing about and pointing the finger under the notion that wheu’once these prohibitions

    are repealed, thenceforth and forever they may regard themselves

    far from every restraint and cause of fear.” He asserts

    that nothing l)ut strong laws rigidly carried into effect will restrain

    them from their evil ways, and concludes by recommending

    increased stringency in their execution as the only hope of

    reformation.

    This spirited paper was supported by another fvom a sub-censor,

    Hii Kiu, on the necessity of checking the exportation of

    silver, and reconnnending that a determined officer be sent to

    punish severely the native traitors, which would add dignity to

    the laws ; and then the barbarians would be awed and consequently

    reform and be entirely defeated in their designs of conquering

    the country. He cites several instances of their outrageous

    A’iolation of the laws, such as levelling graves in Macao

    for the purpose of making a road over them, landing goods

    there for entering them at Canton in order to evade the duties

    and port charges, and even riding in sedans with four bearers,

    like Chinese officers. Force needed only to be put foi’th a little

    and they would again be humbled to subjection ; but if they

    still brought the pernicious drug, then inflict capital punishment

    upon them as well as upon natives. The sub-censor agrees with Chu Tsun regarding the designs of foreigners in doing so, that they wished first to debilitate and impoverish the land as a pi-cparatory measure, for they never smoked the drug in their own country, but brought it all to China. This prevailing impression was derived mainly from the abstinence of foreign merchants and seamen.

    Both these papers were transmitted to Canton for deliberation, although the local officers had already sent a memorial to the cabinet approving the suggestions of Hii Nai-tsi. At this time, however, it was properly remarked that ” there had been a diversity of opinion in regard to it, some requesting a change in the policy hitherto adopted, and others recommending the continuance of the severe prohibitions. It is highly important to consider the subject carefully in all its bearings, surveying at once the whole field of action so that such measures may be adopted as shall continue forever in force, free from all failure.”

    This subject, the most important, it cannot be doubted, which had ever been deliberated upon by the Emperor of China and his council, was now fairly brought before the whole nation ; and if all the circumstances be taken into consideration, it was one of the most remarkable consultations of any age or country.

    A long experience of the baneful effects of opium-smoking upon the health, minds, and property of those who used it, had produced a deep conviction in the minds of well-wdshers of their country of the necessity of some legal restraint over the people; while the annual drainage of specie at the rate of three or four million sterling for what brought misery and poverty in its train, alarmed those who cared only for the stability and prosperity of the country. The settlement or management of the question was one of equal difficulty and importance, and the

    result proved that it was quite beyond the reach of both their

    power and wisdom. Fully conscious of the weak moral principle

    in themselves and in their countrymen, they considered it

    right to restrain and deter the people by legislative enactments

    and severe penalties. Ignorant of the nature of commercial

    <lealings, they thought it both practicable and necessary to limit

    the exportation of specie; for not having any substitute for

    coin or any system of national credit, there was serious hazard,

    otherwise, that the government would ultimately be bankrupted.

    It is unjust to the Chinese to say, as was argued b}’ those who

    had never felt these sufferings, that all parties were insincere in

    their efforts to put down this trade, that it was a mere affectation

    of morality, and that no one would be more chagrined to see it

    stop than those apparently so strenuous against it. This assertion

    was made bv Lord Palmerston in Parliament and re-echoed

    THE MATTER REFERRED TO CANTON”. 487

    by the Indian officials ; but those who have candidly examined

    the proceedings of the Chinese, or have lived among the people

    in a way to learn their real feelings, need not be told how incorrect

    is the remark. The highest statesman and the debilitated,

    victimized smoker alike agreed in their opinion of its bad effects,

    and both were pretty nnich in the position of a miserable lamb

    in the coil of a hungry anaconda.

    The debate among the Chinese excited a discussion among

    foreigners, most of whom were engaged in the traffic. Here

    the gist of the question turned upon the points whether opium

    was really a noxious stinnilant 2^^^ ^^1 ^.nd whether the Chinese

    government was sincere in its prohibitions in the face of the

    notorious connivance of the officers along the coast from Hainan

    to Tientsin. One writer conclusively proved its baneful effects

    upon the system when taken constantly, and that its habitual

    use in the smallest degree almost certainly led to intemperate or

    uncontrollable use ; he then charges the crime of nuirder upon

    those who traffic in it, and asserts that ” the perpetuating and

    encouraging and engaging in a trade which promotes disease, misery, crime, madness, despair, and death, is to be an accomplice

    with the guilty principals in that tremendous pursuit.” He

    exposes the fallacy, liypocrisy, and guilt of the question whether

    it be less criminal for a man to engage in a pursuit which he

    knows to be injurious to his fellow-men, because if he does not

    do so some one else will. The Court of Directors, even, whom

    all the world knows to be chief managers of the cultivation,

    manufacture, and sale of the drug, says in one of its despatches

    that ” so repugnant are their feelings to the opium trade, they

    would gladly, in compassion to mankind, put a total end to the

    consumption of opium if they could. But they cannot do this,

    and as opium will be grown somewhere or other, and will l)e

    largely consumed in spite of all their benevolent wishes, they

    can only do as they do ” !

    Another Englishman engaged in the traffic defended it on the ground that what is bad now was always bad ; and the Emperor and his ministers had doubtless other grounds for their sudden opposition. He asserts that opium is ” a useful soother, a harmless luxury, and a precious medicine, except to those wli “abuse it,” and that while a few destroy themselves, the prudent many enjoy a pleasing solace, to get which tends to produce the persevering economy and the never-ceasing industry of the Chinese. He estimates that at a daily allowance of one and onethird ounce not more than one person in three hundred and twenty-six touches the pipe, and that there were not inore than nine hundred and twelve thousand victimized smokers in the Empire. He also remarked that the present mode of conducting the trade by large capitalists kept it respectable, and that if their characters were held up to odium and infamy it would get into the hands of desperadoes, pirates, and marauders. He looked upon the efforts to put it down as utterly futile as the proclamations of Elizabeth were to put down hops, or the Counterl) laste of James to stop tobacco.

    This rejoinder was responded to by two M’riters, who clearhcxhil)

    ited its nnsoundness and ridiculed the plea that the trade

    should be kept in the hands of gentlemen and under the direction

    of a monopol}’. The smuggler brought his vessel on the

    coast, and there waited till the people came oif for his merchandise,

    disposing of it without the least risk to himself, ” coolly

    commenting on the injustice of the Chinese government in refusing

    the practice of international law and reciprocity to countries

    whose subjects it only knows as engaged in constant and

    gross infraction of laws, the breaking of M’hich affects the basis

    of all good government, the morals of the country.” The true

    character of the smu”-“;lini»; trade is well set forth :

    Reverse the picture. Suppose, by any cliaucc, that Cliinese junks were to

    import into England, as a foreign and fashionable luxury, so harmless a thing

    as arsenic or corrosive sublimate ; that after a few years it became a rage ; that

    thousands, yea, hundreds of thousands used it, and that its use was, in consequence

    of its bad effects, prohibited. Suppose that, in opposition to the prohibition,

    junks were stationed in St. George’s Channel with a constant supply,

    taking occasional trips to the Isle of Wight and the mouth of the Thames when

    the officers were sufficiently attentive to their duty at the former station to prevent

    its introduction there. Suppose the consumption to increase annually,

    and to arouse the attention of the government and of those sound-thinking

    men who foresaw misery and destruction from the rapid spread of an insidious,

    unprofitable, and dangerous habit. Suppose, in fact, that, muUiUy vomive, all

    which has been achieved here had been practised there. Suppose some con-

    Beivators of the public morals to be aroused at last, and to remonstrate againsJ

    DISCUSSION AMONG THE FOREIGNERS. 489

    its use and increase ; and that among the nation sending forth this destroyer to prey on private happiness and pnhlic virtue, one or two pious and wellmeaning bonzes were to r’jiuonstrato with their countrymen on the enormity of their conduct : —how wonderfully consolatory to one party, and unanswerable to the other, must be the remark of Ihe well-dressed and well-educated Chinese merchant: ” Hai ya ! my friend, do not you see my silk dress and the crystal knob on my cap; don’t you know that I have read and can quote Confucius, Mencius, and all the Five Books ; do you not see that the barbarians are passionately

    fond of arsenic, that they will have it, and even go so far as to pay for

    it ; and can you, for one moment, doubt that it would not be much worse for

    tliem if, instead of my bringing it, it were left to the cliance, needy, and uncertain

    supply which low men of no capital could afford to bring V ” ‘

    Tlie writer sliows that instead of only one person in every

    three hiindi-ed and twenty-six using the pipe, it was far more

    probable that at least one out of every one hundred and fifty

    (or about two million five hundred thousand in all) of the population

    was a victimized smoker. The assertion of its being a

    harmless luxury to the many, like wine or beer, is disputed, and

    the sophisticated argument of its use as a means of hospitality

    exploded. ” What would a benevolent and sober-minded

    Chinese think,” he asks, ” were the sophistry of the defendei’s

    of this trade translated for him ? Where would he find the

    high-principled and high-minded inhabitants of the far-off

    coimtry ? How could he be made to comprehend that the believers

    in and practisers of Christian morality advocated a trade

    so ruinous to his country ? That the government of India compelled

    the growth of it by unwilling ryots; and that, instead of

    its being brought to China by ‘ desperadoes, pirates, and marauders,’

    it was purveyed by a body of capitalists, not participating

    certainly in what they carry, but supplying the Indian revenue

    safely and peaceably ; that the British government and others

    encouraged it ; and that the agents in the traffic M-ere constantly

    residing at Canton, protected by the government whose

    laws they outraged, but monstrously indignant, and appealing to

    their governments, if No. 2 longcloths are classed as No. 1 through the desperate villany of some paltry custom-house servant ?”

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol V., p. 409.

    The other writer exposes the sinful fallacy of the argument of expediency, and then proceeds to show how great an obstacle it is in the way of diffusing the gospel among the Chinese. We nnist refer to their own remarks’ for the fuller development of the arguments, but this one showed the earnestness of his convictions by offering a premium of £100 for the best essay ” showing the effects of the opium trade on the commercial, political, and moral interests of the nations and individuals connected therewith, and pointing out the course they ought to pursue in regard to it.” There was, however, so little interest in the subject that this premium was neverawarded, though the proposal was extensively advertised both in China and England.

    The governor of Canton and his colleagues soon learned that

    the feeling at court was rather against legalizing the drug,

    though they were directed to report concerning the amount of

    duty proper to be levied on it ; and to show their zeal, arrested

    several brokers and dealers. A-ming, one of the linguists, M’as

    severely tortured and exposed in the cangue for exporting

    sycee ; others escaped similar treatment by absconding. The

    chief superintendent naively expressed his opinion that ” the

    legalization of the trade in 0})ium would afford his ]\[ajesty’s

    government great satisfaction,” but suggested that the gradual

    diversion of British capital into other channels would be attended

    with advantageous conse(piences. To one situated between

    his own government, which promoted the preparation

    and importation of opium, and the Chinese government, which

    was now making extraordinary efforts to regulate it, and

    deeply sensible of the injury resulting from its use to the

    people around him, and to the reputation of his own and all

    foreign nations from the constant infraction of the laws, the proposed

    step of legalization offei-cd a timely relief. Xo one was

    more desirous of putting a stop to this destructive traffic than

    Captain Elliot, but knowing the impossibility of cheeking it by

    laws, he naturally wished to see the nniltitude of political and

    commercial evils growing out of snuiggling done away with.

    There were, indeed, many things to urge in favor of this

    ‘ Chinese liepository, Vol. V., pp. 407, 41o, uud passim.

    TUE PKOHIBITOKY LAWS ENFORCED. 491

    course ; but the fact ought never to be lost sight of, and be

    mentioned to the lasting credit of the Emperor Taukwang and

    his advisers, in the midst of their perplexity and weakness, that

    he would not admit opium because it was detrimental to his people.

    The conflict was now fairly begun ; its issue between the

    parties, so unequally matched—one having almost nothing but

    the right on its side, the other assisted by every material and

    physical advantage—could easily be foreseen. Captain Elliot,

    as the recognized head of the British trade, received an order

    through the Iiong merchants from the provincial authorities to

    drive away the i-eceiving-ships from Lintin, and send the Emperor’s

    commands to his king, that lieneeforth they be prohibited

    coming. He replied that he could not transmit any orders

    to his own sovereign which did not come to him direct from

    the government, and quoted the recent instance of the governor-

    general of Fuhkien communicating directly M’ith the captain

    of a British ship of w^ar. The governor was therefore

    forced to send his orders to the prefect and colonel of the

    department to be enjoined on Captain Elliot. He replied by

    promising to send it to his country, and adds, in true diplomatic

    style, unworthy of himself and his nation : ” He has already

    signified to your excellency, with truth and plainness, that his

    commission extends only to the regular trade with this Empire ;

    and further, that the existence of any other than this trade has

    nev’eryet been suljmitted to the knowledge of his own gracious

    sovereign.” Captain Elliot transmitted with these “orders” a

    minute account of the condition of the opium trade, and a

    memorandum respecting the desirableness of opening comnnmication

    with the court. Lord Palmerston, in reply, intimates

    that “her Majesty’s government do not see their way in such a

    measure with sufficient clearness to justify them in adopting it

    at the present moment.” He adds that no protection can be

    afforded to ” enable British subjects to violate the laws of the

    country to which they trade. Any loss, therefore, which such

    persons may suffer in consequence of the more effectual execution

    of the Chinese laws on this subject, must be borne by the parties who have brought that loss on themselves by their own acts.” A most paradoxical but funvonient position for this ‘• honorable ” officer of the Englisli goveriiuieiit to assiiiiie, and worthy to be recorded in contrast to the utterances from J-‘eking.

    ^’ear the close of 1837 the British flag was again hauled

    down at Canton, and the superintendent returned to Macao because

    he refused to superscribe tlie word p/’/iyOr ‘petition,’ upon

    his communications, according to his instructions, and the governor

    declined to receive them without it. In July, 1838, Sir

    Frederick Maitland arrived in the Wellesley (T-l), and was

    brought into correspondence with the Chinese Admiral Kwan,

    in consequence of the forts firing upon an English schooner

    passing the Bogue and stopping her to inquire Nvhether he or

    any of his crew or women were on board. The Wellesley and

    her two consorts were anchored near the forts, and the Chinese

    admiral made a full apology for the mistake ; his conduct in

    the affair was very creditable both to liis judgment and temper.

    As soon as Sir Fj-ederick arrived, Captain Elliot vainly

    endeavored to reopen correspondence with the governor by

    sending an open letter to the city gates, which was received

    and taken to him, but returned in the evening because it had

    not the requii’cd superscription.

    INCREASE OF SMl’GGLIXG AND AFFRAYS. 493

    Having now fully taken the sense of the Empire in the replies received from all its highest officials, the Emperor DaoGuang increased his efforts to suppress the trade. In April, 1838, a native named Kwoh Si-ping was publicly strangled at Macao by express command of the Emperor, as a warning to others not to engage in exporting sycee or introducing opium. The execution was conducted by the district magistrate and subprefect with dignity and order in the presence of a crowd of natives and foreigners. More than fifty small craft under the English or American flag were constantly plying off the port of Canton, most of them engaged in smuggling. Sometimes the government exerted its power ; boats were destroyed, smugglers seized and tortured, and the sales checked ; then it M-enton again as briskly as ever. These boats were easily caught, for the government could exercise entire control over its own subjects; but when the foreign schooners, heavily urmcd and manned, sailed up and down the river delivering the drug, the revenue

    cruisers vvei’e afraid to attack them. The hong merchants addressed

    a note to all foreign residents concerning them, the close

    of which vividly exhibits their unlucky position as the ” responsible

    advisers’” of the barbarians : “Lately we have repeatedly

    received edicts from the governor and lioppo severely reprimanding

    us ; and we have also written to you, gentlemen of the different

    nations, several times, giving you full information of the

    orders and regulations, that you might perfectly obey them and

    manage accordingly ; but you, gentlemen, continue wholly regardless.”

    Collisions became more and more frequent between the Chinese

    and their rulers, in consequence of the increased stringency of

    the orders from court. In September, in an affray near Whampoa

    between the militarj’ and villagers, several persons were

    killed and scores arrested. The retailers at Canton were imprisoned,

    and those found in other places brought there in

    chains. In Ilupeh it was reported that the officers had punished

    arrested smokers by cutting out a portion of the upper lip

    to incapacitate them from using the pipe. Still, such was the

    venality of the officers that even at this time the son of Governor

    Tang himself was engaged in the traffic, and many of the

    underlings only seized the drug from the smuggling-boats to retail

    it themselves. The memorial of Hwang Tsioh-tsz”, advising

    the penalty of death, was promulgated in Canton ; and the

    Empd’or’s rescript urged to stronger measures. In a rapid survey

    of the ill effects from the use of the drug, Hwang aeknoMdedges

    that it had extended to Manchuria, and pervaded all ranks

    of official and humble life. The efflux of silver “into the insatiate

    depths of transmarine regions ” had caused the rate of

    exchange for cash to rise until it was difficult to carry on the

    business of government. lie then reviews the different plans

    proposed for checking the cause of all this evil, such as guarding

    the ports, stopping the entire foreign trade, arresting the smugglers,

    shutting up the shops, and, lastly, encouraging the home

    growth. lie confesses that the bribes paid the coast-guard service

    and the maritime officei-s are so great as entirely to prevent

    their vigilance; and that the home-prepared drug does not yield the same stimulus as the foreign article. As a last resort, he proposes to increase the penalties upon the consumers, laying all the blame upon them, and advises death to be awarded all who smoke opium after a year”s warning has been given them. The well-known subdivision of responsibility was to be made doubly strong by requiring bonds of every tithing and hundred that there were no smokers within their limits. Officers found guilty were not only to be executed, but their children deprived of the privilege of competing at the public examination. One cannot withhold a degree of sympathy for the helpless condition of the officers and statesmen of a great Empire sincerely desirous of doing their country service, and yet so sadly ignorant of their false position by their assumption of supremacy over the very nation whom they could not restrain, and whose officials they rejected for a formality. They might as well have tried to concert a measure to stop the YangZi Jiang river in its impetuous flow, as to check the opium trade by laws and penalties.

    TRADE STOPPED AT CANTON”. 495

    On December 3, 1SB8, about two peculs of opium were seized while landing at the factories, and the coolies carried into the city. They declared that they had been sent to Whampoa by Mr. Lines, a British merchant, to obtain the opium from an American ship consigned to Mr. Talbot. The governor ordered the Hang merchants to expel these two gentlemen and the ship within three days, on the garbled testimony of the two coolies. Mr. Talbot sent in a communication, stating that neither the ship nor himself had anything to do with the opium, and obtained a reversal of the order to leave. The Hang merchants were justly irritated, and informed the Chamber of Commerce that they would not rent their houses to any who would not give a bond to abstain from such proceedings, and refusing to open the trade until such bonds were given; they furthermore declared their intention to pull Mr. Innes’ house down if he refused to depart. The Chamber protested that ” the inviolability of their personal dwellings was a point imperatively necessary ” for their security ; the Hang merchants then )-esorted to entreaty, stating their difficult position between their own rulers on one side, who held them responsible for executing their orders, and the foreigners on the other, over whom they had little or no power. The Chamber could only express its regret at the unjust punishment inflicted on a Hang merchant, Punhoyqua, for this, and reassert its inability to control the acts of any foreigner.

    The governor had put himself in this helpless condition by

    refusing Captain Elliot’s letters ; and it is remarkable that he

    hesitated to arrest Mr. Innes, when one word would have set

    the populace on the factories and their tenants, and destroyed

    them all. As an alternative, he now resolved to show foreigners

    what consequences befel natives who dealt in opium ; and

    while Mv. Innes still remained in Canton, he sent an otRcer

    with fifteen soldiers to execute Ilo Lau-kin, a convicted dealer,

    in front of the factories. The officer was proceeding to carry

    his orders into effect near the American flag-stafP, when the

    foreigners sallied out, pushed down the tent he was raising, and

    told him in loud tones not to execute the man there. Quite

    unprepared for this opposition, he hastily gathered up his implements

    and went into a neighboring street, where the man

    was strangled. Meanwhile a crowd collected to see these extraordinary

    proceedings, whom the foreigners endeavored to

    drive away, supposing that a little determination would soon

    scatter them. Blows, however, were returned, the foreigners

    driven into their factories, and the gates shut ; the crowd had

    now become a mob, and under the impression that two natives

    had been seized, they began to batter the fronts and break the

    windows with stones and brickbats. They had had possession

    of the square about three hours, and the danger was becoming

    imminent, when the Pwanyu hien, or ‘ district magistrate,’ came

    up, with three or four other officers, attended by a small body

    of police. Stepping out of his sedan he waved his hand over

    the crowd, the lictors pouncing upon three or four of the most

    active, whom they began to chastise upon the spot, and the

    storm was quelled. About twenty soldiers, armed with swords

    and spears, took their stand in a conspicuous quarter ; the magistrate

    and his retinue seated themselves, leaving the hong

    merchants and the police to disperse the crowd. The foreigners

    were also assured that all should be kept quiet during the

    night, but not a word was said to them regarding their conduct in interfering with the execution or their lolly in bringing this danger upon themselves. This occurrence tended to impress both the government and people with contempt and hatred for foreigners and their characters, fear of their designs, and the necessity of restraining them. The majority of them Avere engaged in the opium trade, and all stood before the Empire as violators of the laws, while the people themselves suffered the dreadful penalty.

    There is no room for the details and correspondence connected with this remarkable incident.’ Captain Elliot now reappeared in Canton, and at a general meeting expressed his conviction of the cause of these untoward events in the snniggling traffic on the

    river, declaring his intention of ordering all the British-owned

    vessels to leave it within three days ; he moreover expressed tlie

    hope that the further step of opening connnunication with the

    provincial authorities to obtain their co-operation to drive them

    out would be prevented by their speedy departure. Injunctions

    and entreaties to his countrymen were, however, alike unavailing,

    and he accordingly addressed the governor, stating liis wish to

    co-operate in driving them out. In a public notice he remarked

    that ” this course of traffic was rapidly staining the British

    character with deep disgrace ” and exposing the regular commerce

    to innninent jeopardy, and that he meant to shrink from

    no responsibility in drawing it to a conclusion. The governor,

    as was expected, praised the superintendent for his offer, but

    left him to do the whole work; lenuirking, in that peculiar

    strain of Chinese conceit which so effectually forestalls our

    sympathy for their difficulties, that ” it may well be conceived

    that these boats trouble me not one iota :”—as if all he had to

    do was to arise in his majesty, and they were gone. The boats,

    hoM’ever, gradually left the river. Mr. Innes retired, and the

    regular trade was j-esumed in January.

    Chinese Jtepositai’y, Vol. VII. , pp. 437-456.

    ArPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER LIN. 497

    No British consular officer has been placed in a more difficult and humiliating dilemma, and Captain Elliot did himself honor in his efforts. The English newspapers ridiculed him as a tidewaiter of the Chinese custom-house, a man who aided the cowardly authorities to carry their orders into effect, thereby staining the honor of her Majesty’s commission. Although ho did not intend to draw a line between the heinousness of the opium trade inside of the I’ogue and its harmlessness beyond that limit, still there were good reasons, under his peculiar position, for some action to show the Chinese government that British power would not protect British subjects in violating the laws of China.

    At this period the Peking govermnent had taken its course

    of action. Reports had been received from the provincial authorities

    almost unanimously recommending increased stringency

    to abolish the traffic. History, so far as we know, does

    not record a similar example of an arbitrary, despotic, pagan government taking the public sentiment of its own people before

    adopting a doubtful line of conduct. It was a far more momentous

    and difficult question than eyen the cabinet deemed it to

    be, while their conceit and ignorance incapacitated them from

    dealing with it prudently or successfully. There can be no reasonable

    doubt that the best part of his people and the moral

    power of the nation were with their sovereign in this attempt.

    Hii Xai-tsi was dismissed for proposing legalization, and three

    princes of the blood degraded for smoking opium ; arrests, fines,

    tortures, imprisonments, and executions were frequent in the

    provinces on the same grounds, all showing the determination

    to eradicate it. The governor of llukwang, Lin Tseh-sii, was

    ordered to proceed to Canton, with unlimited powers to stop the

    traffic. The trade thei’e was at this time almost suspended, the

    deliveries being small and at losing pi-ices. Many underlings

    were convicted and summarily punished, and on February

    2Gth Fung A-ngan was strangled in front of the factoi-ies

    for his connection with opium and participation in the affray

    at Whampoa. The foreign flags, English, American, Dutch,

    and French, were all hauled down in consequence. The entire

    stoppage of all ti-ade ^yas thi-eatened, and the governor urged

    foreigners to send all opium ships from Chinese waters.

    Commissioner Lin arriyed in Canton March lOth. The Emperor sent him to inquire and act so as thoroughly to remove the source of the evil, foi-, says he, ” if the source of the evil lie not clearly ascertained, how can we hope that the stream of pernicious consequences shall be stayed? It is our full hope that the long-indulged habit will be forever laid aside, and every root and o-erni of it entirely eradicated : we would fain think that our ministers will be enabled to substantiate our wishes, and so remove from China the dire calamity/’ It was reported in Canton that the monarch, when recounting the evils which had long afflicted his people by means of opium, paused and wept, and turning to Lin, said : ” How, alas ! can I die and go to the shades of my imperial father and ancestors, until these direful evils are removed ! ” Such was the chief purpose of this movement on the part of the Chinese government, and Lin was invested with the fullest powers ever conferred on a subject. Although long experience of the ineffectiveness of Chinese edicts generally lead those residing in the country to regard them as mere verbiage, still, to say that they are all insincere and formal because they are ineffectual, is to misjudge and pervert the emotions of common humanity. Lin appears to have been well fitted for the mission , and if he had been half as enlightened as he was sincere, he would perhaps have averted the war which followed, and been convinced that legalization was the most judicious step he could recommend.

    The connnissioner spent a week making inquiries, during

    which time nothing was publicly heard from him; while natives

    and foreigners alike anxiously speculated as to his plans. It was

    not until March 18th that his first proclanuitions were issued to

    the hong merchants and foreigners ; that to the latter required

    them to deliver up all the opium in the storeships, and to give

    bonds that they would bring no more, on penalty of death.

    The poor hong merchants were, as usual, instructed regarding

    their responsibility to admonish the foreigners, and strictly

    charged to procure these bonds, or they would be made examples

    of. Three days were allowed for compliance with these demands.

    Thehoppo had already issued orders detaining all foreigners

    in Canton—in fact, making them prisoners in their own

    houses; comnnmication with the shipping was suspended, troops

    were assembled about the factories, and armed cruisers stationed

    on the river. The Chamber of Commerce wrote to the hong

    LIN DEMANDS A SURRENDER OF OPII’M. 499

    merchants on the 20th^ through their chamiian,W. S, Wetniore,

    an American, stating that they would send a definite reply in

    four days, and adding that ” there is an almost unanimous feeling

    in the community of the absolute necessity of the foreign

    residents of Canton having no connection with the opium traffic/’

    This paper was taken to the commissioner, and ahout ten

    o’clock P.M. the hong merchants again met the Chaniber, and

    told them that if some opium was not given up two of their

    number would be beheaded in the morning. The merchants

    present, including British, Parsees, Americans, and others, acting

    as individuals, then subscribed one thousand and thirtyseven

    chests, to be tendered to the commissioner ; but the hong

    merchants reported next morning that this amount was insufficient.

    In the afternoon Lin sent an invitation to Mr. Dent, a

    leading English merchant, to meet him at the city gates, who

    expressed his willingness to go if the commissioner would give

    him a safe-warrant guaranteeing his return within a day. The

    hong merchants returned without Inm ; and the next morning

    two of them, Howqua and Mowqua, came again to his house

    with chains upon their necks, having been sent with an express

    order for him to appear. They repaired to the Chamber of

    Commerce then assembled, but all soon returned to Mr. Dent’s

    house, where an animated debate took place, which resulted in

    the unanimous decision on the part of the foreign residents

    that he should not go into the city without the safe-warrant.

    This unexpected demand caused much discussion among foreigners, as it was doubtless a contrivance to secure a hostage; and the refusal of the former to give a written safe-warrant would probably have ended in seizing Mr. Dent and imprisoning him, if Ilowqua, the senior hong merchant, had not allowed everything to wait over one day till Monday. Mr. Dent’s partner had that day seen i\\e a7i-chah sz\ or ‘provincial judge,’ in the city to explain why he hesitated to go to Lin.

    On the 22d Captain Elliot sent a note to the governor expressing his readiness to meet the Chinese officers, and use ” his sincere efforts to fulfil the pleasure of the great Emperor as soon as it was made known to him.” The Chinese could hardly draw any other conclusion from this admission than that he had the power, as well as the inclination to put down the opium trade, which he certainly could not do ; it tended therefore to deceive them. This note was followed by a letter to Captain Blake, of the Larne, requesting his assistance in defending British property and life, and by a circular ordering all British ships, opium and others, to proceed to Hongkong and prepare themselves to resist every act of aggression. A second circular to British subjects detailed the reasons which compelled him to withdraw all conlidencc in the “justice and moderation of the provincial government,”‘ and demand passports for all his countrymen who wished to leave Canton, while counselling every one to make preparations to remove on board ship. Elliot

    now proceeded to Canton, which he safely reached about sunset

    Sunday evening, dressed in naval uniform and closely attended

    by cruisers watching his movements. The British flag was

    then hoisted, and Captain Elliot, conducting Mr. Dent to the

    consulate in the most conspicuous manner, summoned a public

    meeting, read his notice of the previous day, and told the hong

    merchants to inform the commissioner that he was willing to

    let Mr. Dent go into the city if he could accompany him.

    His coming up the river had excited the apprehensions of

    the Chinese that he meant to force his way out again, and

    oi’ders were issued to close every pass around the factories. By

    nine o’clock that evening the foreigners, about two hundred

    and Feventy-fi\e in number, Avere the only inmates of their

    houses. Patrols, sentinels, and officers, hastening hither and

    thither, with the blowing of trumpets and beating of gongs,

    added confusion to the darkness of the night.

    THE FOKEIGNEKS IMPRISONED IN THE FACTORIES. 501

    On the 25th most of the foreign merchants of all nations signed a paper pledging themselves ” not to deal in opium, nor to attempt to introduce it into the Chinese Empire : ” how many of the individuals subsequently broke this pledge on the ground that it Avas forced from them cannot be stated, but part of the firms which signed it afterward actively engaged in the trade. Captain Elliot applied for passports for himself and countrymen, and requested the return of the servants, avoiding all reference to his promise of three days before, or mention of the cause of these stringent proceedings. His requests were refused ; no native was allowed to bring food or water to the factories; letters could not be sent to AVlianipoa or Macao, except at ininiiucnt risk ; the continciiient was complete, and had been effected without the least personal harm. The heavy punishment which had fallen on Kwoh Si-ping, Ho Lau-kin, and Fung A-ngan had now come near to the foreign agents of the traihc ; but not an individual had been touched.

    The commissioner next issued an exhortation to all foreigners,

    urging them to deliver the drug on four grounds, viz., because

    they were men and had reason ; becanse the laws forbade its

    use, nnder severe penalties ; because they should have feelings

    for those who suffered from using it ; and because of their

    present duress, from which they would then be released. This

    paper, as were all those issued by Lin, was characterized by an

    uimsual vigor of expression and cogency of reasoning, but betrayed the same arrogance and ignorance which had misled his predecessors. One extract will suffice. Under the first reason why the opium should be delivered up, lie says that otherwise the retribution of heaven will follow them, and cites some cases to prove this: Now, our great Emperor, being actuated by the exatted virtue of heaven itself, wishes to cut off this deluge of opium, which is the jilainest proof that such is the intention of high heaven! It is then a traffic on which heaven looks with disgust, and who is he that may oppose its will ? Thus in the instance

    of the English chief Robarts, who violated our laws ; he endeavored to

    get possession of Macao by force, and at Macao he died! Again, in 1834, Lord

    Napier bolted through the Bocca Tigris, but being overwhelmed with grief and

    fear he almost immediately died : and Morrison, who had been darkly deceiving

    him, died that very year also! Besides these, every one of those who have

    not observed our laws have either been overtaken with the jiidgments of heaven

    on returning to their country, or silently cut off ere they could return

    thither. Thus then it is manifest that the heavenly dynasty may not be opposed I Two communications to Captain Elliot, from Lin through the prefect and district magistrates, accompanied this exhortation,

    stating his view of the superintendent’s conduct in contumaciously

    resisting his commands and requiring him to give np the

    opium. For once in the history of foreign intercourse with

    China, these commands were obeyed, and after intimating his readiness to comply, Captain Elliot issued a circular on Marcb

    27th, which from its important results is quoted entire :

    I, Charles Elliot, chief superintendent of the trade of British subjects in

    China, presently forcibly detained by the provincial government, together with

    all the merchants of my own and the other foreign nations settled liere, without

    supplies of food, deprived of our servants, and cut off from all iutercoui’se

    with our respective countries (notwithstanding my own official demand to be

    set at liberty that I might act without restraint), have now received the commands

    of the high commissioner, issued directly to me under the seals of the

    honorable officers, to deliver into his hand all the opium held by the people

    of my own country. Now I, the said chief superintendent, thus constrained by

    paramount motives affecting the safety of the lives and liberty of all the foreigiu’rs

    here present in Canton, and by other very weighty causes, do hereby,

    in the name and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, enjoin

    and require all her Majesty’s subjects now present in Canton, forthwith to

    make a surrender to me for the service of her said Majesty’s government, to be delivered over to the government of China, of all the opium under their respective control : and to hold the British ships and vessels engaged in the opium trade subject to my immediate direction : and to forward me without delay a sealed list of all the British-owned opium in their respective possession.

    And I, the said chief superintendent, du now, in the most full and unreserved manner, hold myself responsible for, and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, to all and each of her Majesty’s subjects surrendering the said British-owned opium into my hands, to be delivered over to the Chinese government. And I, the said chief superintendent, do further especially caution all her Majesty’s subjects here present in Canton, owners of or charged with the management of opium the property of British subjects, that failing the surrender of the said opium into my hands at or before six o’clock this day, I, the said superintendent, hereby declare her Majesty’s government wholly free of all manner of responsibility in respect of the said British-owned opium.

    And it is specially to be understood that proof of British property and value of all British-owned opium surrendered to mo agreeable to this iu)tic(>, shall bedetermined upon principles, and in a manner liereafter to be defined by her Majesty’s government.

    ‘The guarantee offered in this notice was deemed sufficient by

    the merchants, thoui2;h Captain Elliot had no authority to take

    such a responsibility, and exceeded his powers in giving it ; being

    the authorized agent of the crown, however, his government

    was responsible for his acts, though the notice did not, nor

    could it, set any price npon the sui-rendercd property.

    At the time it was given it could not l)e honestly said that

    ‘ Cliinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 633.

    CAPTAIN ELLIOT S CIRCULAR. 503

    tlic lives of foreigners were in jeopardy, and Lin liad promised

    to reopen the trade as soon as the opium was delivered and the

    bonds given. What the other ” very weighty causes ” were

    nnist be guessed ; but the requisition was promptly answered,

    and before night twenty thousand two hundred and eighty-three

    chests of opium had been surrendered, which Captain Elliot the

    next day tendered to the connnissioner. Their market value at

    tlie time was not far from nine millions of dollars, and the cost

    price nearly eleven millions. Directions were sent to twentytwo

    vessels to anchor near the Bogue, to await orders for its

    delivery, the commissioner and the governor themselves going

    down forty miles to superintend the transfer. On April 2d the arrangements for delivering the opium were completed, and on May 21st it was all housed near the Bogue.

    When the guard M-as placed about the factories, no native

    came near them for three days, but on the 21>tli a supply of

    sheep, pigs, poultry’, and other provisions was “graciously bestowed

    ” upon their inmates, most of whom refused them as

    gifts, which impressed Lin with the belief that they were not

    actually suffering for food. On May 5th the guards and boats

    M-ere removed, and communication resumed with the shipping.

    Sixteen persons, English, Americans, and Parsees, named as

    principal agents in the opium trade, were ordered to leave the

    country and never return. On the 24th Captain Elliot left

    Canton, accompanied by the ten British subjects mentioned

    among the sixteen outlawed persons. In order still further to

    involve her Majesty’s ministers in his acts, he forbade British

    ships entering the port, or any British subject living in Canton,

    on the ground that both life and property were insecure; there were, however, no serious apprehensions felt by other foreigners remaining there ; and the propriety of the order was questioned by those who were serious sufferers from its action.

    This success in getting the opium encouraged Lin to demand the bond, but although the captains of most of the ships signed it when the port was first opened, it was not required long after. The British merchants at Canton prepared a memorial to the foreign secretary of their government, recapitulating the aggressive acts of the Chinese government in stopping the legal trade, detaining all foreigners in Canton until the opium was surrendered, and requiring them to sign a hund not to bring it again, which involved their responsibility over those whom they could not control; but nothing was said in it of their own unlawful acts, no reference to their promises of a few months before, no allusion to the causes of these acts of aggression. Its burden was, however, to urge the government to issue a notice of its intentions respecting the pledge given them by the superintendent in his demand for the opium.

    Lin referred to Peking for orders concerning the disposal of

    the opium, and his Majesty commanded the Mhole to be destroyed

    by him and his colleagues in the presence of the civil

    and military officers, the inhabitants of the coast, and the foreigners,

    ” that they may know and tremble thereat.” Captain

    Elliot, on the other hand, before it had all been delivered, wrote

    to his government, April 22d, his belief that the Chinese intended

    to sell it at a high price, remunerating the owners and

    pocketing the difference, ])reparatory to legalizing the traffic,

    and making some arrangements to limit the annual importation

    to a certain number of chests ; consequently he recommended

    an ” innnediate and strong declaration to exact complete indemnity

    for all manner of loss ” from the Chinese. lie calls Lin “false and perfidious,” though it is difficult to see why he applies these epithets to one who seems to have sincerely endeavored to carry out instructions, while his own communicfttions certainly tended to mislead him. The sense of the responsibility he had assumed, and the irritating confinement under which it was written, account, in a measure, for this despatch, so different in its tenor from his previous declarations.

    THE OPIU.>r YIELDED AND DESTROYED. 505

    The opium was destroyed in the most thorough manner, by Hiixiiig it in parcels of two hundred chests, in trenches, with lime and salt water, and then drawing off the contents into the adjacent creek at low tide. Overseers were stationed to prevent the workmeunor villagers from ])urloining the opium, and one man was summarily executed for attempting to carry away a small quantity. No doubt remained in the minds of persons who visited the place and examined the operation, that the entire quantity of twenty thousand two hundred and ninety-one eliests received from the English(eiglit nioi-e having been sent from Macao) was completely destroyed:—a solitary instance in the history of the world of a pagan monarch preferring to destroy what would injure his subjects, rather than to fill hisown pockets with its sale. The whole transaction M’ill ever remain one of the most remarkable incidents in human history for its contrasts, and the great changes it introduced into China.’

    The course of events during the remainder of the year 1839 presents a strange mixture of traffic and hostility. The British merchants were obliged to send their goods to Canton in ships sailing under other Hags, which led the commissioner to issue placards exhorting British captains to bring their ships into port. This procedure brought out a rejoinder from Captain Elliot, giving the reasons why he had forbidden them to do so, and complaining of his own unjust imprisonment as unbecoming treatment to the “officer of a friendly nation, recognized by the Emperoi*, who had always performed his duty peacefully and irreproachably.” Captain Elliot’s own correspondence shows, however, that this is an unfair statement of the political relations between them.

    While this matter of trade was pending, a drunken affray occurred at Hongkong with some English sailors, in which an inoffensive native named Lin Wei-lii lost his life. The commissioner ordered an inquest to be held, and demanded the nnn–derer, according to Chinese law. The superintendent empanelled a regular court of criminal and admiralty jurisdiction at Ilongicong, to try the seamen who had been arrested. He also offered’ Sir Robert Peel declared that this property was obtained by her Majesty’s agent without any authority ; but when the six millions of dollars were received from the Chinese as indemnity, the British government made its subjects receive their money in London, charged them with all expenses insteal of paying it in China, and priced the opium at scarcely half what the East India Company had received from it, by taking the market rates when the trade at Canton was nominal. The merchants lost, with accruing interest, about two millions sterling, and “Sir R. Peel transferred a million sterling from their pockets to the public treasury.”—Chinese liepositon/, Vol. XIIL, p. 54 (from London paper).

    CHAPTER XXIII. PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CHINA

    On June 22, 1840, before the advance part of the British force reached China, Sir Goi’don Bremer published a notice oi the blockade of the port of Canton. The Americans living There had requested Lin to let all their ships arriving before it was laid on come directly up the river, lie granted the application, but declared it ” to be an egregious mistake, analogous to an audacious falsehood, that the English contemplated putting on a hlo’^kade.”” Captain Elliot also issued a manifesto to the people, which was widely dispersed, setting forth the grievances which had been suffered by the English at the hands of Lin, and assuring them that noliarm would come while they pursued their peaceful occupations—for the quarrel was entirely between the two governments, and the Queen had deputed high officers to make known the truth to the Emperor.

    Sir Gordon Bremer’s force of live ships of war, three steamers,

    and twenty-one transports reached Tingliai harbor July 1th. In

    reply to a summons to surrender, the Chinese officers declared

    their determination to resist as far as their means allowed ; but

    complained of the hardship of being made answerable for

    wrongs done at Canton, upon which place the blow should properly

    fall. The attack was made on Sunday, July 5th, when the

    Wellesley (74) opened her guns on the town, which were

    answered by the juidcs and batteries. A few minutes sufficed

    to silence the latter, and three thousand men landed and

    menaced Tinghai, whose walls were lined with soldiers. The

    town was. evacuated dm-ing the night, most of the respectable

    inhabitants going to NingBo ; many of the Chinese high officials were killed, which, with the experience of the terrible foreign force brought against them, disheartened their troops beyond measure.

    AERIVAL OF THE J5KITISH—FALL OF TINGIIAI, 515

    Two days after this attack tiie joint plenipotentiaries, Admiral G. Elliot and Captain Elliot, arrived in the Melville (74) at Cliusan. To the authorities at Amoy and Ningbo they sent copies of Lord Palmerston’s letter to the Emperor, with a request to forward them to Peking ; the officials declined, however, undertaking any such responsibility.

    The prefect of Ningbo took measures to prevent the people of Chusan from ” aiding and comforting” their conquerors by sending police-runners to mark those who supplied them ; a purveyor from Canton was seized and brought back. An idea that the Chinese people wished to throw off the Manchu yoke, and a desire to conciliate the islanders, led the British to take less decided measures for supplying themselves with provisions than they otherwise would. A small party was sent to recapture the puwvyor, but its unsuccessful trip over the island showed the unwillingness of the people to have anything to do with their invaders, while their dread was increased by the arrest of several village elders. Mr. Gutzlaff was stationed at Chusan, doing his best to reassure the people ; and as he went around exhorting them to act peaceably, some of them asked him, ” If you are so desirous of peace, why did you come here at all ?”

    After arranging the government of the island, the stations of

    the troops, and blockading of Amoy, Ningpo, and the mouths

    of the Min and Yangtsz’ Rivers, the two plenipotentiaries left

    Tinghai and anchored off the Pei ho August 11th, Captain Elliot

    went ashore, and finding that Kislien, the governor-general of

    Chilli], was at Taku, delivered the letter to his messenger, who

    returned with a request for ten days’ delay in which to lay it

    before the Emperor. During this interval the ships visited the

    coast of Liautung to procure provisions, which they obtained

    with some difficulty. No message coming ofp, a strong boat force was sent ashore on the 28th, with a menacing letter to Kishen, wdien it was ascertained that the reply had in reality been awaiting the return of the ships during several days. Arrangements were now made for a personal interview at Taku between Kisheu and Captain Elliot, on Sunday, August 30th, in a large tent. Kislien argued his side of the question with great tact and ability, sincerely urging the argument that his master had the most unquestionable right to treat the English

    as he had done, for they were and had em-olled themselves his

    tributary subjects. He could not treat definitely on all the

    points in dispute, and obtained a further delay of six days in

    order to refer again to Peking. The conclusion was the reasonable

    arrangement that Kishen should meet the English

    plenipotentiaries at Canton, where the truth could be better

    ascertained ; and on September 15th the squadron returned to Chusan.

    While these things were taking place at Taku, there had occurred a few skirmishes elsewhere. A shipwrecked crew had fallen into Chinese hands and been carried to 3s’ingpo, and some foraging parties were roughly handled. Lin tried to inspirit his troops by offering large rewards for British ships and subjects, and a force of about one thousand two hundred men was stationed in and around the Barrier at Macao. Captain Smith, however, moved two sloops and a steamer near their position, and soon drove the soldiers away, destroying their guns and barracks.

    Lin was busy enlisting volunteers and preparing the defences

    of Canton, but in the sunnner he was ordered to return ” with

    the speed of flames ” to Peking. His Majesty was uimeccssarily

    severe upon his servant : ” You have not only proved

    yourself unable to cut off their trade,” he says, ” but you have

    also proved yourself unable to seize perverse natives. You

    have but dissembled with empty words, and so far fi’om having

    been any help in the affair, you have caused the waves of confusion

    to arise, and a thousand interminable disorders are

    sprouting ; in fact, you have been as if your arms wei’c tied,

    without knowing what to do : it appears, then, you are no bettor

    than a wooden image. When I meditate on all these things,

    J am lilled with anger and melancholy.” Trade was carried on

    notwithstanding the blockade, by sending tea and g(Kxls thi’ough

    Macao ; and many ships loaded for England and the United

    States.

    INTERVIEW BETWEEN ELLIOT AND KISIIEN. 517

    Admiral Elliot entered into a truce with Tlipu, governorgeneral

    of (“lielikian*;, by wliicli each party agreed to observe

    certain boundaries. ISickness and deatli had made sad inroads

    into the health and numbers of the troops at Tinghai, owing to

    their bad location, malaria, and iiii]>ro{)er food ; more than four

    hundred out of the four thousand landed in July having died,

    and three times that number being in the hospitals. The

    people dared not reopen their shops until after the truce ; the

    visits paid to various parts of the island better informed the

    inhabitants of the personal character of their temporary rulers,

    and a profitable trade in provisions encouraged them to farther

    acquaintance.

    The two plenipotentiaries returned November 20th, and immediately sent a steamer bearing a despatch from Ilipu to Kishen; the vessel was fired upon by an officer unacquainted with the meaning of a white flag—the intent and privileges of which were after this understood; Kishen made an ample apology for this mishap. Negotiations were resumed during the month of December, but the determination of the Chinese to resist rather than grant full indemnity for the opium was more and more apparent.

    Kishen probably found more zeal among the people for a fight than he had supposed, but his own desires were to settle the matter ” more soon, more better.’” What demands were made as a last alternative are not known, but one of them,

    the cession of the island of Hongkong, he refused to grant, and

    broke off the discussion. Commodore Bremer thereupon attacked

    and took the forts at Chuenpi and Taikok-tau on January

    7th, when the furthei- progress of his forces was stayed bv

    Kishen, who was present and saw enough to convince him of

    the folly of resistance.

    On January 20th the suspended negotiations had proceeded so far that Captain Elliot announced the conclusion of preliminary arrangements upon four points, viz., the cession of the island and harbor of Hongkong to the British crown, an indemnity of six millions of dollars in annual instalments, direct official intercourse upon an equal footing, and the immediate resumption of English trade at Canton. By these arrangements Chusan and Chuenpi were to be immediately restored to the Chinese, the prisoners at Ningbo released, and the English allowed to occupy Hongkong. One evidence of Kishen’s

    ” scrupulous good faith,” mentioned in Captain Elliot’s notice,

    is the edict he put up on Hongkong, telling the inhabitants

    they were now under English authority. Two interviews took

    place after this, at the last of which it was plain that two of the

    four stipulations, viz., the first instalment of a million of dollars,

    and opening of trade by February 1st, would not be fulfilled.

    The intimations of the designs of the court were so

    evident that the treaty was probably never even presented to

    the Emperor for ratification.

    Kishen carried his negotiations thus far, with the hope perhaps

    that an adjustment of the ditficulties on such terms would

    be accepted by his imperial master. On the other hand, Lin

    and his colleagues memorialized him as soon as Kishen came to

    Canton against peaceful measures, and their reconnnendations

    as to the necessity of resistance were strongly backed by the

    mortifying loss of Cliusan. The approach of a large force to

    the Pei ho alarmed his Majesty, and conciliatory measures were

    taken, and a reference to Canton proposed before settling the

    dispute ; when the men-of-war left, he was inclined for peace,

    and issued orders not to attack the ships while the discussions

    were going on. But the memorials had already changed iiis

    mind, and war was determined on at the date of signing the

    treaty. It is probable if, instead of seizing Chusan, which had

    given no cause of provocation, the English had gone up the

    Yangtsz’ kiang and Pei ho, and stationed themselves there until

    their demands were granted, peace would have been soon made.

    But, in that case, would the vain notion of their supremacy have

    left the Chinese ?

    Looking back forty years, one can recognize the benefit to

    both parties whicli resulted from the failure of this treaty. The

    great desire of Chi’istian people, who believed that China was

    finally to receive the gospel, was that it might be opened to

    their benevolent effoi’ts, l)ut this treat)’ left the country as closed

    as ever to all good influences, commercial, political, social, and

    religious, while the evils of smuggling, law-breaking, and opium-

    Bmoking remained unmolested. The crisis which had brought

    FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS AT THE BOGUE. 519

    out this expedition was not likely soon to recur, and if this

    failed to break down its seclusiveness, no other nation Mould

    attempt the task. Every well-wisher of China cherished the

    hope that, since this unfortunate conflict nnist needs be, its outcome

    would leave the entire land fully accessible to the regenci–

    ating, as well as shielded from the evil influences of Christian

    nations.

    Captain Elliot appreciated the dilemma into which the Emperor

    had been brought by the acts of Lin, and knew that

    ignorance was much more the misfortune than the fault of

    both ; he acted humanely, therefore, in pui’suing a mild course

    at first, until the points at issue had been fairly brought before

    the people as well as the cabinet. However justly some parts

    of his conduct may have merited criticism, this praiseworthy

    feature of his policy by no means earned the torrent of abuse

    he received for consistently pursuing such a course. His countrymen

    would have had him burn, kill, and destroy, as soon as

    the expedition reached the coast, before even stating his

    demands at court ; and during his negotiations with Ivishen,

    and when Chusan was restored, a smile of contempt at his supposed

    gullibility was everywhere seen. The treaty of the Bogue, though formed in good faith by both commissioners, was rejected by both sovereigns, though for opposite reasons; by Victoria, because it did not grant enough, by Taukwang, because it granted too much.

    The Emperor issued orders to resume the war, collect troops

    from the provinces upon Canton and Tinghai, in order to ” destroy

    and wipe clean away, to exterminate and root out the

    rebellious barbarians,” and urged the people to regard them

    with the same bitterness they did their personal enemies. His

    mandate is couched in strong terms, saying that his enemies

    have been rebellious against heaven, opposing reason, one in

    spirit with the brute beasts, ” beings that the overshadowing

    vault, and all-containing earth can hardly suffer to live,” obnoxious

    to angels and men, and that he must discharge his

    heaven-conferred trust by sweeping them from the face of the

    earth. This decree exhibited the true principles of action of

    this proud government, which deliberately rejected the offer of peace, and determined to npliold its fancied supremacy to the utmost. China nnist now win or hi’eak.

    Ilostih} intentions had become so evident that Captain Elliot

    announced that Commodoi’e l>i-emer would return to the Bogue

    with tlie force ; the boats of the Nemesis were fired upon while

    sounding, and the battery near Anunghoy was attacked the

    same day that Clnisan was evacuated. Rewards of $50,000

    were ofPered for Elliot, Bremei-, Morrison, and other ringleaders,

    and all the defences put in the best condition. On Februarv

    20th the Bogue foi’ts were all taken. Admiral Kwan falling

    at his post. The British had nine ships, assisted by less than

    five Inmdred troops, and two steamers. The Chinese force was

    prol)ably over three thousand, but it made no resistance after

    tlie batteries were taken ; the total loss Avas supposed to be not

    far from a thousand. The forts were built so solidly that few

    were kihed by tlie broadsides of tlie ships, and their magazines

    so well protected that no explosions took- place; the powdeifound

    in them was nsed to demolish the walls. There were in

    all eight large forts on the sides of the river and AVangtong

    Island, forming altogether a line of batteries which would have

    been impregnable in the hands of European troops, and was not

    without reason deemed to be so by the Chinese themselves.

    The next day the small ships moved up to the First Bar, where

    a long fortification on the river bank, and an intrenched camp

    of two thousand troops, defended by upward of a hundred

    cannon, with a strong raft thrown across the river, showed a

    resolution to make a stand. The ships and steamers opened a

    hot tire upon the batteries and camp, which returned it as well

    as they could, but the loss of life was greatest when the English

    landed. Many instances of personal bravery showed that the

    Chinese were not all destitute of courage, but without discipline

    and better weapons it was of no avail. Nearly one-fourth

    were killed, their camp burned, the Chesapeake and all her

    stores blown up, and most of the crew killed. The raft was

    easily removed b}^ the steamers, to the mortification of the

    Chinese, who had trusted that this might prove a permanent

    barrier to the approach of ships to the city. From this point

    the way was open to within five miles of Canton, and when the forts at that place were taken, the prefect met Captain Elliot on March od with a Hag of truce proposing a suspension of hostilities for three days.

    CAPTURE OF THE APPKOACIIES TO CANTON”. 621

    Kishen had already been ordered to return to Peking to

    await his trial; his nieniorial’ on hearing of his degradation

    does him credit. Iliang was left in command of the province

    until four general officers, leading large bodies of troops, should

    arrive. The highest of these was Yihshan, a nephew of the

    Emperor, assisted by “i’ang Fang, Lungwan, and Tsishin. On

    the part of the English, Major-dreneral Sir Hugh Gougli arrived

    fi’om India to take command of the land forces, and Sir Gordon

    Bremer sailed for Calcutta to procure recruits. Bodies of troops

    were gathering in and around Canton to the amount of five

    or six thousand, most of whom had come from the North-West Provinces, and were not less strange and formidable to the citizens than were their foreign” enemies.

    After the truce, had expired the English moved toward Canton

    by both the channels leading to the city, the iron steamer

    Nemesis proceeding up the Irmer Passage, subduing all obstacles

    in her way until every fort, raft, battery, camp, and stockade

    between the ocean and Canton had been taken or destroyed,

    and the city lay at their mercy. The factories had been kept

    safely, and were occupied by British troops just two years

    after Lin had imprisoned the foreigners there. A second truce

    was agreed upon March 20th, by which trade was allowed to

    proceed on the old mode ; merchant ships accordingly advanced

    up the river, and for about six weeks trade went on uninterruptedly—one party getting their tea and the other their duties.

    The new governor, Ki Kung, together with the “rebel-quelling general ” Yihshan, then arrived, and the people, thinking that a slight cause would disturb the truce, took advantage of it to remove their effects, well aware how much they would suffer from their own army in case of trouble.

    ^Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 335.

    Toward the middle of May the hostile intentions of the Chinese were manifest, though cloaked under professions of amity; and on the 21st Captain Elliot notilied all foreigners to go

    aboard ship. The secret prepai-ations for attack were very extensive. Large fire-boats and rafts were prepared, masked batteries erected along the river, troops quartered in the temples, and large camion placed in the streets. The day before the notice of Captain Elliot was issued, the prefect had the impudence to publish a proclamation assuring all classes of the

    peaceful intentions of the commissioners. Finding their prey

    gone, a night attack was made by land and water on the ships,

    but none were seriously injured. As daylight advanced the

    Xemesis went in pursuit of the fire-boats and junks, and burned

    upward of sixty, while three men-of-war silenced the batteries

    along shore. Meantime the Chinese troops searched the factory

    buildings for arms and pillaged three of the hongs, to the

    consternation of the prefect, who told the commissioner that he

    would be forced to pay for losses thus sustained. On the 24th

    the land and naval forces under Sir Hugh Gongh and Sir Fleming

    Senhouse arrived from Hongkong and prepared to invest

    the city. Most of the troops debarked above it, at Xeishing,

    under the personal directions of Sir Fleming, M’ho had provided

    many boats in which the force of two thousand six hundred

    men, besides followers, guns, and stores, were toM’ed about

    twelve miles. A detachment landed and took possession of the

    factories. Sir Hugh Gough remained near the place of debarkation

    till the next morning, when the whole body moved

    onward to attack the forts and camps behind the city. As the

    English advanced the Chinese found that their shot did not

    reach them, so that after an hour”s firing they began to collect

    outside of the forts, preparatory to retiring. The advance

    puslied on, and sent them scampering down the hills toward

    the city ; the intrenched camp was cai’ried with considei’able

    loss to its defenders, who everywhere ran as soon as the fight

    came to close quarters ; but in the forts there were many furious

    struo;o;:les.

    THE CITY RANSOMED. 523

    On the 20th a driving rain stopped all operations ; and a ])arley was also requested from the now deserted city walls by two officers, who agreed to send a deputation to make arrangements for surrender. Night came on before any heralds appeared, so that it was not till morning that the troops were in position, the guns loaded and primed, port-fires lighted, and

    everything in readiness to open lire, when a messenger arrived

    from captain Elliot, desiring fm-ther operations to be

    delayed until he had concluded his negotiations. The terms

    were : that the forces should remain in position until a ransom

    of $(),000,000 was paid ; that the three imperial commissioners

    and all their troops should march sixty miles from the city; that compensation for the loss of property in the factories and

    burning the Spanish brig Bilbaino should be at once handed

    over or secured ; and that the Chinese troops, nearly fifty thousand

    in number, should evacuate the city. Captain Elliot ought

    indeed to have demanded a personal apology from Yihshan and

    his colleagues for their infamous treachery before letting them

    go. His acceptance of this ransom and sparing the city from

    capture were sharply criticised at the time, and the contemptuous

    bearing of the citizens during the sixteen ensuing years

    of their possession proved that it was an ill-timed mercy. How

    nuich influence the ordeis from home to be careful of the teatrade

    had in this course cannot be learned.

    While the English forces were occupying the heights the

    lawless soldiers from Kweichau and Kwangsi began to plunder

    the citizens, who retaliated till blood was shed and more than a

    thousand persons were killed in the streets ; a patriot mob of

    v^illagers, numbering about fifteen thousand, attacked the few

    British troops left on the hills north of the city, but a prompt

    advance on the part of Sir Hugh drove this rabble a rout of

    some three miles. Upon their reappearance next day, the prefect

    was told that if they were not instantly dispersed the city

    would, be bombarded ; the threats and persuasions of the commissioners,

    aided by a British officer, finally induced the mob to

    retire. The superiority of discipline over mere numbers was

    probably never more remarkably exhibited ; though the Chinese

    outnumbered the English more than forty to one, not a single

    foreigner was killed.

    On the 31st the prefect furnished five hundred coolies to assist in transporting the guns and stores to the river side^ and ten days after Captain Elliot’s first notice everything was restored to the Chinese. The casualties among the British forces were fourteen killed and one hundred and twelve wounded, but about three hundred died from sickness. The losses of the Chinese from first to last could hardly have been much under five thousand men, besides thousands of cannon, ginjals, and

    matchlocks. In posting their forces, placing their masked batteries,

    and equipping their troops and forts, the Chinese showed

    considerable strategy and skill, ])ut lack of discipline and confidence

    rendered every defence unavailing. Yihshan and his associates

    memorialized the Emperor, detailing their reasons for

    ransoming the city and requesting an inquiry into their conduct.^

    The sickness of the troops compelled the British force to

    remain at Hongkong to recruit and wait for reinforcements.

    Commodore 13remer returned as joint plenipotentiary, bringing

    additional forces from Calcutta, and the expedition was on the

    point of sailing northward when both he and Captain Elliot

    were wrecked in a tyfoon, and this detained the ships a few

    days longer. Before they sailed Sir Henry Pottinger and ^Vdmiral

    Sir William Parker arrived direct from England to supersede

    them both. Sir Henry announced his appointment and

    duties, and also sent a communication to the governor of Canton,

    assuring him that the existing truce would be observed as

    long as the Chinese did not arm their forts, impede the regular

    trade, which had been lately reopened to British ships by imperial

    command, or trouble the merchants residing in the factories.

    The trade went on at Canton, after this, without any

    serious interruption during the M-ar, the usual duties and

    charges being paid as if no hostilities existed.

    The expedition moved northward, August t^lst, under the

    joint conniiand of Sii” Hugh Gough and Admiral Parker, consisting

    of two seventy fours and seven other ships of war, four

    steamers, twenty-three transports, and a surveying vessel, carrying

    in. all about three thousand five hundred troops. Six ships

    and four or five liundicd Indian troops remained off (‘anton

    and at Hongkong, to compel the observance of the tmice. The

    force reached Amoy, and after a hasty reconnoissance attacked

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X. (p. 402), in which, and in Vols. “VIII., IX., and XI., most of the official papor.s issued from the Chinese and English authorties during the war are contained.

    FALI OF AMOY AND TINGHAI. 5*25

    all its defences, which were carried without inuch loss of life on

    either side. The city was taken on the 27t]i, and all the arms

    and public stores, wall-pieces, ginjals, matchloc-ks, shields, uniforms,

    bows, arrows, spears, and quantities of powder were destroyed

    ; five hundred cannon were found in the forts. AVlien

    II. M. S. Blonde came into this harbor, fourteen months previous,

    to deliver the letter for Peking, the fortifications consisted

    only of two or three forts near the city, but every island and pro

    tecting headland overlooking the harbor had since been occupied

    and arn.ed, while a line of stone wall more than a mile long, with

    embrasures roofed by large slabs covered with earth to protect

    the guns, had been built, and batteries and bastions erected al

    well-chosen points. The broadsides of the ships had little effect

    liere, and it was not until the troops landed and drove out tha

    garrisons, who “stood right manfully to their guns,’” that the

    fire slackened, and the Chinese retreated. The city was completely

    pillaged by native robbers, who ran riot during several

    weeks until the craven authorities came back and resumed tliei.v

    functions. The island of Kulang su was garrisoned by a detachment

    of five hundred and fifty troops, and three ships left

    to protect them. The British found one two-decker among the

    war junks, built on a foreign model, launched and i-eady for

    sea, canying twenty guns; all were bui-ned.

    The English fieet again entered the harbor of Tinghai, September

    29th, and found the beach much altered since February.

    Stone walls and fortifications extended two miles in front of the

    suburbs, besides sand-bags and redoubts thrown up q}\ well-selected

    positions. They were taken after a defence marked with

    unusual courage ; the general connnanding the battery and all his

    suite were killed at their posts, and many hand-to-hand confiicts

    took place. But bravery and numbers were alike unavailing,

    and in two hours their defences were cleared, the walls of the

    town escaladed, the whole force scattered, and the island subdued,

    with the estimated loss to the Chinese of a thousand men.

    Great quantities of oitlnance, among which were forty brass guns made in imitation of foreign howitzers, with military stores and provisions in abundance, were seized. A detachment was sent throughout the island to drive oft’ the enemy’s troops, and announce to the inhabitants that they were now under English authority. They evinced none of the alarm they had done the year before; provisions came in, shops were opened, and confidence in these proclamations generally exhibited. A military government was appointed, and a garrison of four hundred men left to protect the island.

    The military operations in Chehkiang were conducted by

    Yukien and Yu Pu-yun ; l)<)th these men had urged war, and

    had done all they could to fortify Tinghai and Chinhai, whose

    batteries and magazines showed the vigor of their operations.

    The English fleet proceeded to Chinhai October 9th, and a force

    of about two thousand two hundred men, with twelve field

    pieces and mortars, landed next morning to attack the citadel

    and intrenched camp. There were nearly five thousand men in

    this position, who formed in good order as the English advanced,

    opening a well-directed fire upon the front column, but (piite

    neglecting two detachments on their flanks ; as the three opened

    upon them nearly simultaneously, their force was completely

    bewildered, and all soon broke and fled. Knowing nothing of

    the mode of asking for quarter, while some fled into the country,

    the greater part retreated toward the watei’, pursued by the

    three colunms, hundreds being shot and hundreds drowned. Sir

    Hugh (lough sent out a flag with Chinese written upon it, to

    inform them that their lives >vould be spared if they yielded, but

    not more than five hundred either could or would throw down

    their arms. The water was soon covered with bodies, and fully

    fifteen hundred soldiers lost their lives. The town and its

    defences Avere bombarded, and the troops driven out. Yukien

    endeavored to drown himself on seeing the day was lost,

    but being ])revented he retreated to Yiiyau, whiere he comnntted

    suicide, as was said, by swallowing gold leaf. lie was a

    Manchu, and could not brook his master’s displeasure; but his

    atrocious crueltv to two Englishmen who fell into his hands,

    one of whom was flayed and tlien burnt to death, had aroused

    general detestation against him. About one hundred and flfty

    pieces of brass ordnance, with great quantities of gunpowder

    and other military stores, were destroyed. Tlie guns and carriages

    in the fort and batteries were so well made and phiced

    CAPTURE OF CIIINIIAI AND NINGPO. 527

    that ill some cases the victors on eutering turned tlieni against

    the flying Chinese. The frame of a wlieel vessel, intended to

    he moved hy human power, was found near Chinhai, sliowing,

    as did the brass guns, traversing carriages, and frigate at Amoy,

    that the Chinese were ah-eady imitating tlie machinery of war

    from their foes.

    Niiigpo was taken without resistance on the 13th. Many of

    the people left the city, and those who remained shut themselves

    in their houses, writing ,sA?^H nihi, ‘submissive people,’

    on the doors. Captain Anstruther took possession of his old

    prison—where he found the identical cage he had been carried

    in—and released all the inmates to make way for his detachment

    of artillery. About !5lOO,000 in sycee were found in this building,

    upward of $70,000 in the treasury’, many tons of copper

    cash in the mint, and rice, silk, and porcelain in the public

    stores, forming altogether the most valuable prizes yet secured.

    Sir Henry Pottinger intended at first to burn the city, but, happily

    for his reputation, he decided to occupy it as winter quarters.

    Leaving a garrison at Chinhai, he returned to Hongkong

    in February, 1842, Sir Hugh and the admiral remaining at the

    north.

    The fall of Anioy, Tinghai, Chinhai, and Xingpo, instead of

    disheartening the Emperor, served rather to inspirit him. His

    commissioners, generals, and high officers generally did the best

    their knowledge and means enabled them to do, and when defeated,

    endeavored to palliate the discomfiture they could not

    entirely conceal by misrepresenting the force brought against

    them, and laying the blame upon the common people, the elements,

    the native traitors who aided the British, or the inefficiency

    of the naval armaments. The troops sent home Avith

    tokens of victory from Canton stimulated the war spirit in the

    western provinces. After they had gone Yihshan concocted

    measures of defence, one of wliich was to enlist two or

    three thousand volunteers, or “village braves,” near the city.

    and place them under their own officers. The people having

    been taught to despise foreigners were easily incensed against

    them, and several cases of insult and wantonness were repeated

    and magnified in order to stir up a spirit of revenge. These patriots supposed, nioi-eover, tliat it” the great Emperoi had failed on Mt-y/’, instead of entrusting the conduct of the (piarrel to truckling traitorous polti’oons like Kishen and the prefect, they could li ve av ^ -^ l»iin of his enemies.

    Consequently the truce was soon broken in an underhand

    manner by sinking hundreds of tons of stones in the river.

    II. M. S. lloyalist levelled ;;:he fortifications at the Bogue, and

    Captain Is ias destroyed a number of boats at Whampoa. After

    the destruction of these forts and his retirement from the rivci\

    Yihshan directed his attention to erect in o- forts near the citv,

    casting guns, and drilling the volunteers, v.-ho numbered nearly

    thirty thousand at the new year. He also gave a public dinner

    to the rich men of the city, in order to learn their willingness

    to contribute to the expenses of these measures. However,

    since no serious obstacles were placed in the way of shipping

    teas by the provincial officers, from the duties on which they

    chiefly derived the funds for these undertakings, the Britisli

    officers deemed it advisable to let them alone.

    The case was different at other ))oints. The imperial government

    had supposed that Amoy would be attacked, because the

    visit of the Blonde showed that the barbarians, “sneaking in

    and out like rats,” knew of its existence ; but the people of that

    province, except near Amoy, took no particular interest in the

    dispute, and probably knew far less of it than was known in

    most parts of England and the United States; no newspapei\s,

    with “own correspondents” to write the “latest accounts from

    the seat of war,” narrated the progress of this struggle, which to

    them was like the silent reflection of distant lightning in their

    own quiet firmament. The sack of Amoy was a heavy blow to

    its citizens, but the plunderers were mostly their countiymen; and when Captain Smith of the Druid had been there a short

    time in command, and his character became known, they returned

    to their houses and shops, supplied the garrison with provisions,

    and even brought back a desei’ter, and assisted in chasing

    some ])irates. Rumors of attack were always bi’ought to

    him, and his decthwations allayed their fears, so that after the

    sulj pi’efect resumed his authority no distui’bance occurred. The

    p.xplanations of the missionaries on Kulang su, in diffusing a

    better understanding of the object in occupying that island, also contributed to this result.

    DETERMINED MEASURES OF DP:FKN(n:. 529

    The loss of Chinhai and Xingpo threw the eastern parts of

    Chehkiaug open to the invaders, and alarmed the couit far more

    tlian the destruction of Canton would have done. The Emperor

    appointed his nephew, Yihking, to be ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,” and with him Tih-i-shun and Wunwei, all Manchus, to

    command the grand army and arouse the dwellers on the seacoast

    to arm and defend themselves. ” Ministers and people !

    Inhabitants of our dominions ! Ye are all the children of our

    dynasty ! For two centuries ye have trod our earth and eaten

    our food. Whoever among you has heavenly goodness nnist

    needs detest these rebellious and disordei-ly barbarians even as

    ye do your personal foes. On no account allow yourselves to be

    deceived by their wiles, and act or live abroad with them.”

    Such was the closing exhortation of an imperial proclamation

    issued to encourage them. In order to raise funds for its operations,

    the government resorted to the sale of office and titles

    of nobility, and levied benevolences from rich individuals and

    contributions from the people ; which, when large in amount,

    were noticed and rewarded. Kishen, who had been tried at

    Peking and sentenced to lose his life, was for some reason reprieved

    to be associated with Yihking as an adviser, but never

    proceeded beyond Chihli. Lin was also recalled from Ili, if

    indeed he ever went be^’ond the Great “Wall, and Ih’pu, whose

    treatment and release of the prisoners at Xingpo had gained

    him the good-will of the English, was also sentenced to banishment,

    but neither did he go beyond the Desert,

    Defences were thrown up at Tientsin and Taku to guard the

    passage to the capital, but the bar at the mouth of the Pei ho

    was its sufficient protection. Fearing tliat the English would

    advance upon the city of Ilangchau, the troops of the province

    and all its available means were put into requisition. Sir Hugh

    Gough could only approach it by a land march from Kingpo,

    and deemed it advisable to wait for reinforcements, his available

    force being reduced to six hundred men on entering that city.

    The rewards given to the families of those who had fallen in

    battle, and the posthumous honors conferred by the Emperor, stimnfated others to deeds of valor and a determination to accomplish their master’s vengeance. Yukien, ” who gave his

    life for his country, casting himself into the water,” received

    high titular honors in the hall of worthies, and his brother was

    permitted to bring his corpse within the city of Peking. The

    names of humbler servants were not forgotten in the impei-ial

    rescripts, and a place was granted them among those whom the

    “king delighteth to honor.” Thus did the Chinese endeavor

    to reassert their supremacy, though their counsels and efforts

    to chastise the rebellious barbarians were not unlike the deliberations of the rats upon ” how to bell the cat.”

    The occupation of Ningpo was an eyesore to the Chinese

    generals, but the citizens had learned their best interests and

    generally kept quiet. They showed their genius in various contrivances

    to carry off plunder, such as putting valuable articles

    in coffins and ash-baskets, wrapping them around corpses, packing

    them under vegetables or rubbish. One party overtook two

    persons near Ningpo running off with a basket between them; on overtaking and recovering it, a well-dressed lady was found

    coiled up, who, however, did not scream when detected. Another

    was found in a locker on board a junk, and as the captain was

    desirous of examining the mode of bandaging her feet, he told

    his men to lift the body out of the closet, when a scream explained

    the trick ; she was dismissed, and the money she had

    endeavored to hide put into her hands. Opium M^as found in

    most of the official residences ; its sale received no serious check

    from the war, and no reference was made to it by either party.

    Toward the end of the year 1841, information was received

    of the collection of a large force at Yiiyau. Two iron steamei’S

    soon landed seven hundred men, who took up a position for the

    night, intending to escalade the walls in the morning ; but their

    defenders evacuated the ])lace. The marines and seamen took

    the circuit of the walls, and found the troops, about a thousand

    strong, drawn up in array ; and the two, after exchanging their

    fire, started on the run. The ])ublic stores wore destroyed, and

    the town left to the care of its citizens, without inncli loss of life

    on either side. On his return the general visited Tsz’ki, l)Ht

    the troops and the authorities had decani])eth The rice found in

    CHINESE ATTEMPT TO RECAPTURE NINGPO. 581

    Hie granaries was distributed to the townsmen, and the detachment

    returned to Ningpo December 31st. On u simiUir visit to

    Fimghwa it was found that the authorities and troops liad fled,

    so that to destroy the government stores and distribute the rice

    to the people was all that remained to be done. These two

    expeditions so terrified tlie ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,”

    Yihking, and his colleagues, that they fled to Suchau, in

    Kiano-su. With such leaders it is not strano;e that the villagers

    near Ningpo wished to enrol themselves under British rule;

    and the effect of the moderation of the English troops was seen

    in the people giving them little or no molestation after the first

    alarm was over, and supplying their wants as far as possible.

    The force had fairly settled in its quarters at Kingpo, when

    the Chinese opened the campaign, March 10th, by a well-concerted

    night attack on the city. During the preceding day,

    many troops entered the city in citizen’s clothes, and stationed

    themselves near the gates ; and about three o’clock in the morning

    the western and southern gates were attacked and driven

    in. Colonel Morris ordered a party to retake the south gate,

    which was done, wnth considerable loss to the enemy ; as usually

    happened, the moment the Chinese were opposed their main

    object was forgotten, and every man sought his own safety,

    thereby exposing himself more fully to destruction. On the

    approach of daylight the garrison assembled at the western

    gate, and dragging two or three howitzers through it, came

    upon the main force of the enemy drawn up in compact form,

    headed by an officer on horseback. The volleys poured into

    this dense mass mowed them down so that the street was choked

    with dead bodies, and the horse of the leader actually covered

    with corpses, from which he was seen vainly endeavoring to

    release himself. Those who escaped the fire in front were

    attacked in rear ; at last about six hundred were killed, and the

    whole force of five thousand scattered by less than two hundred

    Europeans, with the loss of one man killed and six wounded.

    The British then prepared to attack an intrenched camp of

    eight thousand troops near Tsz’ki, and about twelve hundred

    w^ere embarked in the steamers. The Chinese had chosen their

    ground vs^ell, on the acclivity of two hills behind the town, and ill Older to confound and dispei’se their enenij completely, tlia attacking force was divided so as to fall upon them on three

    sides siniultane(»usly, which was done with great slaughter. The Chinese did not run until they began to close in with their opponents, when they soon found that their intimidating gesticulations and cheers, their tiger-faced shields and two-edged swords, were of no avail in terrifying the barlnirians or resisting their pistols, bayonets, and furious onset. In these cases,

    emulation among the different parties of English troops to

    distinguish themselves occasionally degenerated into unmanly

    slaughter of their flying enemy, who were looked u})(>n i-ather

    as good game than fellow-men, and pursued in some instances

    several miles. INIost of the Chinese troops in this engagement

    and in the attack on Ningbo were from the western proviriCes, and

    superior in size and bodily strength to those hitherto met. They

    had been encouraged to attack Ningbo by a bounty to each man

    of four or five dollars, and pieces of sycee were found on their

    bodies. The Chinese lost a thousand slain on the field, many by

    their own act ; the English casualties were six killed and thirty seven wounded.

    The conquerors set fire to the Chinese camp in the morning,

    consuming all the houses used as arsenals, with arms and amnninition

    of ever}’ kind. The force then proceeded to the Changki

    pass, a defile in the mountains, but the imperialists had abandoned

    their camp, leaving only ” a considerable (juantity of

    good bread.” In his despatch Sir Hugh speaks of the forbearance

    shown by his men toward the inhabitants ; and efforts

    were taken by the English, throughout the war, to spare the

    people and respect their property. The English thus dispersed

    that part of the Grand Army which had been called out by the

    Emperor and his ” majesty-beariiig generalissimo” to annihilate

    tlie rebels. The fugitives spread such dismay among their

    comrades near Ilangchau that the troops began to desert and

    exhibit symptoms of disbanding altogether; the spirit of dissatisfaction

    was, moreover, increased by the people, who very

    naturally grumbled at being obliged to support their unsuccessful

    defenders, as well as submit to their tyrannous exactions.

    The Chinese near Isingpo and Chinhai had so nmch confi

    CAPTUKE OF TSZ’kI AXD CIIAPl’, , 533

    deuce in the Englitli, luid were so greatly profited by tlieir

    presence, that no disturbances took place. The rewards offered

    by the Cliinese generals for prisoners induced the people to lay

    in wait for stragglers. One, Sergeant Campbell, was seized

    near Tinghai, put into a bag to be carried to the coast, where he

    was shipped in a junk and landed at Chapu, before being relieved

    of his hood. One of his ears was cut off with a pair of

    scissors, but after reaching ilaugchau he was well treated.

    During his captivity there he was often questioned by the Chinese

    ofiicers as to the movements, forces, and arms of his countrymen,

    and received a high idea of their intelligence from the

    character of their inquiries.

    The entire strength with Sir Hugh Gough, in May, consisted

    of parts of four English regiments, a naval brigade of two hundred

    and fifty, and a few Indian troops, in all about two

    thousand five hundred men ; the fleet comprised seven ships of

    war and four steamers. On the ITth the whole anchored in

    the harbor of Chapu, about forty miles above Chinhai. About

    six thousand three hundred Chinese troops and one thousand

    seven hundred Manchus were posted herein forts and intrenched

    camps. The English landed in three columns, as usual without

    opposition, and promptly turned the orderly arranged army and

    garrisons of their opponents into a mass of fugitives, each man

    throwing away his arms and uniform and flying upas de geant.

    A body of three hundred Manchus, seeing their retreat cut

    off, retired into an enclosed temple, whose entrance was both

    narrow and dark. Every one who attempted to enter it was

    either killed or wounded, one of whom was Lieutenant-Colonel

    Tomlinson. At length a part of the wall was blown in, which

    exposed the inmates to the rifles of tlieir foes, and a rocket or

    two set the building on fire, by which the inmates were driven

    from their position to the rooms below ; when resistance ceased

    only fifty were taken prisoners, the others having been burned

    to death or suffocated. The total loss of the invaders was thirteen

    killed and fifty-two wounded.

    The defences of Chapu being carried, with a loss to the

    enemy of about one thousand five hundred, the English moved

    on the city. This was the first time the Manchus had really come in contact with the English ; and either fearing that indiscriminate slaughter would ensue on defeat, as it would have

    done had they been the victors, or else unable to brook their

    disgrace, tliej destroyed themselves in great numbers, first immolating

    their wives and children, and then cutting their own

    throats. Scores of bodies were found in their quarters, some

    not entirely dead ; others were prevented from self-destruction,

    and in many instances, young children were found attending

    upon their aged or infirm parents, awaiting in dread suspense

    the visit of the conquerors, from whom they expected little less

    than instant destruction. The English sui-geons endeavoi-ed to

    bind up the wounds of such Chinese as fell in their waj-, and

    these attentions had a good effect upon the high Chinese officers,

    Ilipu himself sending a letter in which he thanked the

    general and admiral for their kindness in giving the hungry

    rice to eat and caring for the wounded. The old man endeavored

    to requite it by making the condition of his prisoners as

    easy as he could, and paid them money on their release. When

    the English generals, having destroyed all the government

    stores, re-embarked, the prisoners were released with a small

    present, and on their retui-n to Hangchau loudly proclaimed

    their praises of the foreigners.

    The expedition proceeded northward to the mouth of the

    Yangtsz’ kiang, and reached the embouchure of the AVusung,

    where the ships took their allotted positions, June 16th, before

    the well-built stone batteries, extending full three miles along

    the western banks of the river. One of these works enclosed

    the town of Paushan and mounted one hundred and thirty-four

    guns ; the others counted altogether one hundred and sevent}’–

    five guns, forty-two of which were brass. These defences wei-e

    manned by a Avell-selected force, under the command of Chin

    Hw^a-ching. The ships had scarcely taken their stations when

    the battei-ies opened, and both sides kept up a caimonading for

    about two hours, the Chinese w^orking their guns with nnich

    skill and effect. When the marines landed and entered, they

    bravely nieasui-ed weapons with them, and died at their posts.

    Among the war junks were several new wheel-boats, having two

    wooden paddle-wheels turned by a capstan, which interlocked

    FALL OF THE WUSUNG BATTERIES. 535

    its cogs into those upon the shaft, and was worked by men on

    the gun-deck. These were paddling out of danger, when the

    steamers overtook and silenced them. The number of Chinese

    killed was about one hundred, out of not less than live thousand

    men composing the garrison and army. The governor-general,

    Kiu Kien. who was present, in reporting the loss of the forts

    and dispersion of the troops, says he braved the hottest of the

    light, ” where cannon-balls innumerable, ilying in awful confusion

    through the expanse of heaven, fell before, behind, and

    on either side of him ; while in the distance he saw the ships

    of the rebels standing erect, lofty as the mountains. The fierce

    daring of the rebels was inconceivable ; officers and men fell at

    their posts. Every efPort to resist and check the onset was in

    vain, and a retreat became inevitable.”

    Among the killed was General Chin, who had taken unwearied

    pains to drill his troops, appoint them to their places, and

    inspirit them with his own courageous self-devotion. In a

    memoir of him, it is said that on the mcyningof the attack “he

    arrayed himself in his robes of state, and having prayed to

    heaven and earth, ordered all his ofiicers and soldiers to get

    their arms and ammunition ready.” JS^iii Kien^s conduct was

    not such as to cheer them on, and most of the officers ” came

    forward and begged to retire ” when they saw the dilapidated

    state of the batteries. Chin’s second suggested a retreat when

    the marines entered the battery, but he drew his sword upon

    him, saying, ” My confidence in you has been misplaced.” He

    again inspirited his men, himself loading and firing the ginjals,

    and fell pierced with wounds on the walls of the fort, bowing

    his head as he died in the direction of the Emperor’s palace.

    His Majesty paid him high honors, by erecting shrines to him

    in his native village and at the place where he fell ; in the

    Ching-hwang miao at Shanghai there is a sitting image of him

    in his robes of state, before which incense is burned. A reward

    of a thousand taels was given his family, and his son was made

    a k’d-jin by special patent. In this notice it is stated as a current

    rumor in Shanghai, that about a fortnight after his death

    Chin sent down the news through the divining altar at Sungkiang,

    that he had been promoted by the Supreme Kuler of

    536 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Heaven to the rank of second general-in-eliief of the Board of

    Thunder, so tliat although he coukl not, while alive, repay the

    imperial favor by exterminating the rebels, he could still afford

    some aid to his country.

    The stores of every kind ‘.vere destroyed, except the brass

    pieces, among which were one Spanish gun of old date, and

    a Chinese piece more than three centuries old, both of them

    of singular shape, the latter being like a small-mouthed jar.

    The British landed on the 19th, two thousand in all, and proceeded

    to Shanghai by land. After the capture of “Wusung,

    Mr. Gutzlaff, who accompanied the admiral as interpreter, succeeded

    in reassuring the people and inducing them to stay in

    their dwellings ; he was also employed in procuring provisions.

    The ships silenced two small batteries near the city with a

    single broadside, and the troops entered it without resistance.

    The good effects of previous kindness shown the people in

    respecting their property were here seen. Captain Loch says

    that on the march along the banks he passed through two villages

    where the shops were open, with their owners in them,

    and that groups of people Avere assembled on the right and left

    to see them pass. The troops occupied the arsenals, the pawnbrokers’

    shops, and the temples, destroying all the government

    stores and distributin<; the rice in the granaries among the

    people. The total number of caimon taken was three lumdred

    and eighty-eight, of which seventy-six M’ere of brass ; some of

    the latter were named ” tamer and subduer of the barbarians ;”

    others, “the robbers’ judgment,” and one piece twelve feet long

    was called the ” Barbarian.” The citizens voluntarily came

    forward to supply provisions, and stated that there had been a

    serious affray in the city a few days befoi’c between them and

    their officers, who wished to levy a subsidy for the defence of

    the city, which even then they w’ere on the point of abandoning.

    The boats before the walls were crowded with inhabitants ffying

    with their property, many of whom returned in a few days.

    The troops retired from Shanghai June 23d, leaving it less

    injured than any city yet taken, owing chiefly to tlie efforts

    made by the people themselves to protect their property. The

    eight hundred junks and upward lying off the town were unSHANGHAI

    TAKEN. 631

    lianiied, but their owners no doubt were made to contribute

    toward the 8300,000 exacted as a ransom. Sir Henry Pottiiiger

    now rejoined the expedition, accompanied by Lord Saltoun,

    with hii-ge reinforcements for both arras, and immediate preparations

    were made for proceeding up the Yangtsz’, to interrupt

    the con^nnmication by the Grand Canal across tliat river.

    Tiie Chinese officers, unable to read any European language,

    learned the designs of their enemy chiefly by rumors, which

    natives in the employ of the English brought them, and consequently

    not unfrequently misled his Majesty—unwittingly, in

    mentioning the wrong places likely to be attacked, but wilfully

    as to their numbers and conduct in the hour of victory. The

    fall of Shanghai and the probable march upon Sungkiang and

    Suchau greatly alarmed him, and he now began to think that

    the rebels really intended to proceed up to Kanking and the

    Grand Canal, which he had been assured was not their purpose.

    He accordingly concentrated his troops at Chinkiang, Nanking,

    Suchau, and Tientsin, four places which he feared were

    in danger, and associated Kiying and llipu as commissioners

    M-ith the governor-general, Xiu Ivien, to superintend civil affairs;

    military matters were still left under the management of the

    imbecile Yihking. Only a few places on the Yangtsz’ kiang

    offered eligible positions for forts, and Xiu Kien wisely declined

    to stake the Great River at Chinkiang, lest it should alarm the

    inhabitants. Fire-rafts and boats were, however, ordered for

    the defence of that city, and reinforcements of troops collected

    there and at XaiAing, some of whom were encamped witliuot

    the city, and part incorporated with the garrison. The

    tone of the documents which fell into the hands of the English

    showed the anxiety felt at court regarding the result of this

    movement up the river.

    The British plenipotentiary published and circulated a manifesto

    at this date for ” the information of the people of the

    country.” In this paper he enumerated, in much the same

    manner as Captain Elliot had done, the grievances the English

    l)ad suffered at Canton from the spoliations, insults, and imprisonment

    inflicted upon them by Lin in order to extort opium,

    which was given up by the English superintendent to rescue

    538 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    himself and Ins countiTnien from deatli. . The tluplicity of the

    Chinese government in sending down Kislien as a commissioner

    to Canton to arrange matters, and then, while he was negotiating,

    to break off the treaty and treacherously resort to war, was

    another “gi-and instance of oifence against England.” The bad

    treatment of kidnapped prisoners, tlie mendacious reports of

    victories gained over the English, wliicli misled the Emperor

    and retarded the settlement of the war, was another cause of

    offence. The restriction of the trade to Canton, establishment

    of the monopoly of tlie hong merchants, the oppressive and unjust

    exactions imposed upon it tlirongh their scheming, and

    many other minor grievances which need not be enumerated,

    formed the last count in this indictment. Three things must

    be granted before peace could be made, viz., tlie cession of an

    island for commerce and the residence of merchants ; compensation

    for losses and expenses ; and allowing a friendly and

    becoming intercourse between the officers of the two countries

    on terms of equality. This proclamation, however, nnide no

    mention of the real cause of the war, the opium trade, and in

    that respect was far from being an ingenuous, fair statement of

    the question. It was much more like one of Xapoleon’s bulletins

    in the Moniteur, and considering the moral and intellectual

    condition of Great Britain and China, failed to uphold the high

    standing of the former.

    While Sir Henry Pottinger knew that the use of this drug

    was one of the greatest evils which afflicted the people, he

    should have, in a document of this natui’e, left no room for the

    supposition, on the part of either ruler or subject, that the war

    was undertaken to uphold and countenance the opium trade.

    He could not have been ignorant that the Emperor and his

    ministers supposed the unequal contest they were waging was

    caused b\’ their unsuccessful efforts to supjiress the traffic ; and

    that if they were defeated the opium trade must goon unchecked.

    The question of supremacy was set at rest in this proclamation ;

    it must be given up ; but no encouragement was held out to

    reassure the (vhinese government in their lawful desire to restrain

    the tremendous scourge. Wh}^ should he ? If he encouraged

    any action against the trade, he could expect little promotion or

    PROCLAMATIONS ISSUED BY BOTH PARTIES. 539

    .•eward from liis superiors in Indiii or England, who looked to

    it for all the revenue it could be made to bring ; or consideration

    from the merchants, who would not thank him for telling

    the Chinese they might attack the opium clippers wherever the}’

    found them, and seize all the opium they could, and English

    •power would not interfere.

    The Emperor issued a proclamation about the same time,

    recapitulating his conduct and efforts to put a stop to the war,

    stating what he had done to ward off calamity and repress the

    rebels. The opium ti-ade, and his efforts for a long time to

    repress it, and especially the measures of Lin, are in this papei

    regarded as the causes of the war, which concludes by expressing

    his regrets for the sufferings and losses occasioned his subjectl

    by the attacks of the English at Amoy, Chusan, Xingpo, and

    elsewhere, and exhorting them to renewed efforts. It is a mat

    ter of lasting regret that the impression has been left upon the

    minds of the Chinese people that the war was an opium war,

    and waged chiefly to uphold it. But nations, like individuals,

    must usually trust to might more than right to maintain their

    standing ; and when conscious weakness leads them to adopt

    underhand measures to regain their rights, the temptation which

    led to these acts is rarely thought of in the da}’ of retribution.

    The money demands of England were not deemed at the tijiie

    to be exacting, but she should, and could at this time in an

    effectual manner, through her plenipotentiary, have cleared herself

    from all sanction of this traffic. If Lord jVIelbourne could

    wish it were a less objectionable traffic. Sir Henry Pottinger

    might surely have intimated, in as public a manner, his regret at

    its existence. He probably did not deem the use of opium very

    deleterious.

    The number of ships, steamers, transports, and all in the

    expedition, when it left Wusung, July Otli, was seventy-two,

    most of them large vessels. They were arranged in five divisions,

    with an advance squadron of five small steamers and tenders to

    survey the river, each division having a frigate or seventy-four

    at its head. The woild has seldom seen a more conspicuous

    instance of the superiority of a small body possessing science,

    skill, and discipline, over immense nmltitudes of undisciplined.

    540 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    ignorant, and distrustful soldiers, than was exhibited in this bold

    manoeuvre. ]^ot to speak alone of the great disparity in numbers,

    the distant quarters of the globe whence the ships were

    collected, the many languages and tribes found in the invading

    force, the magnitude of their ships, abundance of their supplies,

    and superiority of their weapons of war, the moral energy and

    confidence of power in this small troop over its ineffective adversary

    was not less conspicuous. The sight of such a fleet sailing

    up their Great River struck the inhabitants with mingled astonishment

    and dread.

    Chinkiang lies half a mile from the southern bank of tha

    Yangtsz’, surrounded by a high wall four miles in circuit, and

    liaving hills of considerable elevation in its rear. The canal

    conies in from the south, close to the walls on its western side,

    and along the shores of both river and canal are extensive suburbs—

    at this time completely under the command of the guns

    of the ships, which could also bombard the city itself from some

    positions. A bluff hill on the north partly concealed the town

    from the ships, and it was not till this hill- top had been gained

    that the three Chinese encampments behind the city could be

    seen. The general divided his small foi-co of seven thousand

    men into three brigades, under the connnand of ]\rajor-Generals

    Lord Saltoun, Schoedde, and Bartlcy, besides an artillery brigade

    of live hundred and seventy rank and file, under Lieutenant-

    Colonel Montgomerie. The Chinese encampments contaiiR'(l

    moi-e than three thousand men, most of them soldiers from

    IJupeh and Chehkiang provinces. The Manchu garrison within

    the city consisted of one thousand tw^o hundred regular troops

    and eight hundred Mongols from Ivoko-nor, together/ with eight

    hundred and thirty -five Chinese troops, making altogether from

    two thousand six hundred to two thousand eiglit hundred fighting

    men ; the entire force was under the command of Hailing,

    who had made such a disposition of his troops and strengthened

    his means of defence as well as the time allowed. lie closes his

    last communication to the Emperor with the assurance that “he

    cannot do otherwise than exert his whole heart and sti-ength in

    endeavors to repay a small fraction of the favors he has enjoyed

    from his ijcovernment.”

    ATTACK UPON CHINKIANG. 541

    The right brigade, under Lord Saltoun, .sdou drove tlie imperialists

    out of their camp, who did not Avait for his near

    approach, but brolve and dispersed after firing tliree or four distant

    volleys. Captain Loch says that while the i)arty of volunteers

    were approaching the camp, they passed through a small

    hamlet on the liills; “the village had not been deserted; some

    of the houses were closed, while the iidiabitants of others were

    standing in the streets staring at us in stu})id wonder ; and

    although they were viewing a contest Ijetween foreigners and

    their fellow-countrymen, and in danger themselves of being

    shot, were coolly eating their meals.”‘

    The centre brigade, under ]\Lijor-General Schoedde, landed

    on the northern corner of the city, to escalade the walls on that

    side and prevent the troops from the camp entering the gates.

    He was received by a w^ell-sustained iii-e, his men placing their

    ladders and mounting in the face of a determined resistance ; as

    soon as they gained the parapet they drove the Tartars before

    them, though their passage was bravely disputed. While they

    were mounting the walls a fire was kept up on the city on the

    northern and eastern sides, under cover of which, after clearing

    the ramparts, they proceeded to the western gate, conquering

    fill opposition in the northern part (tf the city, and driving the

    Tartars to the southern quarter.

    The left brigade, under Major-Genei-al Bartley, did not i-each

    the western side as soon as was expected, being delayed by the

    canal, here between seventy and eighty feet broad, which formed

    a deep ditch on this side. The western gate was blown in, the

    blast carrying before it a high pile of sand-l)ags heaped against

    the inside to strengthen the bars. While this work was going

    on, seven boats carrying artillerymen entered the canal to proceed

    up to the gate ; but when nearly opposite they were repulsed

    by a severe lire from the walls, and the men compelled to abandon

    the three leading boats and take refuge in the houses along

    the banks ; the others halted under cover of some houses until

    their comrades rejoined them, when all j-eturned to the ships.

    Two hundred marines now landed, and with three iiundred

    sepoys soon recovered the boats and carried back the M^ounded

    men. The party then planted their ladders in the face of a

    f)42 THK MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    spirited fire from the walls, and succeeded in carrying them

    against all opj)Ositioii.

    All resistance at the three gateways having been overcome, it

    was supposed that the city was nearly subdued. Sir Hugh consequently

    ordered a halt for his men on account of the heat, and

    despatched a small force to proceed along the western ramparts

    to occupy the southern gate. This squad had proceeded about

    half a mile when it met a body of eight hundred or one tliousand

    Taitars regularly drawn up in an open space. They fired

    with steadiness and regularity, but their bi-avery was of no

    avail, for the party, giving them one volley, charged down the

    bank and scattered them immediately, though not without some

    resistance. The dispersed Tartars, however, kept up a scattering

    fire along the streets and from the houses, wliicli served

    chiefly to irritate their enemies and increase their own loss.

    The heat of the day having passed, the commander-in-chief,

    guided by Mr. Gutzlaff and some Chinese, marched with two

    regiments into the southern quarter of the city. The scenes of

    desolation and woe which he met seem to have sickened the

    gray-haired warrior, for lie says in his despatches, “finding dead

    bodies of Tartars in every house we entoi-ed, principally women

    and children, thrown into M’ells or otherwise murdered by their

    own peo]>le, I was glud to withdraw the ti’oops from this frightful

    scene of destruction, and place them in the northern quarter.”

    It was indeed a terrific scene. Captain Loch, who accompanied

    Sir Hugh, says they went to a large building thought to be the

    prefect’s house, which was forced open and found entirely

    deserted, thougli completely furnished and of great extent

    ;

    ” we set fire to it and marched on.” What the object or advantage

    of this barbarous act was he does not say. Leaving the

    general, he turned down a street and burst open tlie door of a

    large mansion ; the objects which met his view were shocking.

    After we had forced our way over piles of furniture placed to barricade

    the door, we entered an open court strewed with rich stuffs and covered with

    clotted blood; and upon the steps leading to the hall of ancestors there were

    two bodies of youthful Tartars, cold and stiff, who seemed to be brothers.

    Having gained the threshold of their abode, they had died where they had

    fallen from loss of blood. Stepping over those bodies we entered the hall, and

    TRAGIC SCENES IN THE CITY. 5-J3

    met face to face three women seated, a motlier and two daughters, and at their

    feet lay two hodies of elderly men, with their tliroats cut from car to ear, their

    senseless heads resting upon the feet of their relations. To the right were two

    young girls, heautiful and delicate, crouching over and endeavoring to conceal

    a living soldier. In the heat of action, when the blood is up and the struggle

    is for life between man and man, the anguish of the wounded and the .sight of

    misery and pain is unheeded ; humanity is partially obscured by danger ; hut

    when excitement subsides with victory, a heart would be hardly human that

    could feel unaffected by the retrospection. And the hardest heart of the oldest

    man who ever lived a life of rapine and slaughter could not have gazed on

    this scene of woe unmoved. I stopped, horror-stricken at what I saw. The

    expression of cold, unutterable despair depicted on the mother’s face changed

    to the violent workings of scorn and hate, which at last burst forth in a paroxysm

    of invective, afterward in floods of tears, which apparently, if anything

    could, relieved her. She came close to me and seized me by the arm, and

    with clenched teeth and deadly frown pointed to the bodies, to her daughters,

    to her yet splendid house, and to herself ; then stepped back a pace, and with

    firmly closed hands and in a husky voice, I could see by her gestures, spoke of

    lier misery, her hate, and, I doubt not, her revenge. I attempted by signs to

    explain, offered her my services, but was spurned. I endeavored to make her

    comprehend that, however great her present misery, it might be in her unprotected

    state a hundredfold increased ; that if she would place herself under

    my guidance, I would pass her through the city gates in safety into the open

    country ; but the poor woman would not listen to me, and the whole family

    was by this time in loud lamentation. All that remained for me to do was to

    prevent the soldiers bayoneting the man, who, since our entrance, had attempted

    to escape.’

    The destruction of life was appalling. Some of tlie Manchus

    slmt the doors of their houses, while through the crevices persons

    could be seen deliberately cutting the throats of their

    women, and destroying their children by throwing them into

    wells. In one house a man was shot while sawing his wife’s

    throat as he held her over a well into which he had already

    thrown his children ; her wound was sewed up and the lives of

    the children saved. In another house no less than fourteen

    dead bodies, principally women, were discovered ; while such

    was their terror and hatred of the invadei’s, that every JManchu

    preferred resistance, death, suicide, or flight, to surrender. Out

    of a Manchu population of foui thousand, it was estimated that

    not more than five hundred survived, the greater part having

    perished by their own hands.

    ‘ Capt. G. G. Loch, Narrative of Events in China, p. 109.

    544 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    The public offices were ransacked and all anus and stores

    destroyed ; oulj §60,000 iu sjcee were fouud iu the treasury

    The populace began to pillage, and in one instance, fearing a

    stop might be put to their rapacity, tliey set fire to the buildings

    at each end of a street in order to plunder a pawnbroker’s

    shop without interference. The streets and lanes were strewed

    with silken, fur, and other rich dresses Avhich the robbers had

    thrown awa}^ when they saw something more valuable, and the

    sepoys and camp-followers took what they could find. Parties

    were accordingly stationed at the gates to take everything

    from the natives as they went out, or which they threw over the

    walls, and in this way the thieves M’ere in tlieir turn stripped.

    Within twenty-four hours after the troops landed, the city and

    suburbs of Chinkiang were a mass of ruin and destruction;

    part of the eastern wall was subsequently blown iu and all the

    gates dismantled to prevent any treachery. The total loss of

    the English was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and thirtyone

    wounded.

    A cui’ious contrast to the terrible scenes i-‘oin*:; on at Chinkiang

    was seen at Iching hien, on the northei’u side of the river.

    Four days before, the approach of the steamer Nemesis had

    caused no little consternation, and iu the evening a Chinese

    gentleman came off to her with a few presents to learn if thei-e

    was any intention of attacking the town, lie was told that if he

    would send supplies of meat and provisions no huiin would be

    done, and all he brought should be paid for. In the morning

    ])rovisi(>ns were furnished, and he remained on board to see the

    steamer chase and bring junks to; being nnich amazed at these

    novel operations, which gave him a new idea of the energy of

    the invaders. In the evening connnands were given him to

    bi-ing provisions in larger quantities, and three boats went up to

    the town to procure them. The people showed no hostility,

    and through his assistance the English opened a market in the

    courtyard of a temple, at which supplies were purchased, put

    aboard snudl junks, and conveyed to the fleet. On the 21st the

    same person came, according to agi’cement, to accompany a large

    ])arty of English from the ships to his house, where he had

    prepared an entertaimnent for them. Through the medium of

    RECEPTION OF THE ENGLISH AT ICHING. 545

    a Chinese boj commniiicatiou was easily carried on, and tlie

    alarms of the townspeople quieted ; a proclamation was also

    issued stating that every peaceable person would be unharmed.

    This gentleman had invited a large company of his relatives and

    friends, and served up a collation for his guests ; all this time

    the firing was heard from Chinkiang, where the countrymen of

    those so agreeably occupied were engaged in hostile encounter.

    On returning to their boats an additional mark of I’espect was

    shown by placing a M’ell-dressed man each side of every officer

    to fan him as he walked. At the market-temple another entertainment

    was also served up. Xo injury was done by either

    side, and the forbearance of the English was not without good

    effect. Such queer contrasts as this have frequently characterized

    the contests between the Chinese and British,

    Some of the large ships were towed up to Nanking, and the

    whole fleet reached it August 9th, at which time preparation

    had been made for the assault ; but desirous of avoiding a repetition

    of the sad scenes of Chinkiang, the British leaders had

    also sent a communication to Kiu Kien, oifering to ransom the

    city for iB3,00(»,000.

    This celebrated city lies about three miles south of the river,

    but the north-east corner of an outer wall reaches within seven

    hundred paces of the water ; the western face runs along the

    base of w^ooded hills for part of its distance, and is then continued

    through flat grounds around the southern side, both being

    defended b}- a deep ditch. The suburbs are on this low ground,

    M-here Sir Hugh Gough intended to bombard the place and

    make an entrance on the eastern side, M’liile diversions at other

    points perplexed the garrison. Ills force consisted of only four

    thousand five hundred effective men ; there were, as nearly as

    could be learned, six thousand Manchu and nine thousand Chinese

    troops within the city. On the 11th Lord Saltoun’s brigade

    landed at a village from whence a j)aved road led to one of the

    eastern gates, and other detachments were stationed in the

    neighborhood. Everything was in readiness for the assault by

    daylight of August loth, and the governor-general was told

    that it would assuredly be made unless the commissioners produced

    their authority for treating.

    546 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    In the interval between the downfall of Chinkian”; and in^

    vestment of Nanking, several eonnnnnications were received

    from the Chinese officers, and one from Kiying, couched in

    conciliatory language, and evincing a desire for peace. Sir

    Henry Pottinger replied in the same strain, deploi’ing tlie war

    and calamities caused by its continuance, but stating that he

    could have no interview with any individual, however exalted,

    M’ho was not properly connnissioned to treat for peace. It is

    probable that the Emperor did not receive any suggestion from

    his ministers in regard to making peace until after the fall of

    Chinkiang, and it was a matter of some importance, therefore,

    for Ilipu and his colleague to delay the attack on Nanking until

    an answer could be received from the capital. The usual doubts

    in the minds of the English as to their sincerity led them to

    look npon the whole as a scheme to perfect the defences, and

    gain time for the people to retire ; consequently the pi-eparations

    for taking the city went on, in order to deepen the conviction

    that if one party was practising any deception, the other

    certainly was in earnest.

    On the night of the l-4th, scarcely three hours before the

    artillery was to open, Ilipu, Kiying, and Niu Ivien addressed a

    joint letter to Sir Henry Pottinger requesting an interview in

    the morning, Mhen they M’ould produce their credentials and

    arrange for furtlier proceedings. This request was granted with

    some reluctance, for the day before the jyuehing .sz’ and Tartar

    commandant had behaved very unsatisfactorih’, refusing to exhibit

    the credentials or discuss the terms of peace or ransom.

    The distress ensuent upon the blockade was becoming greater

    and greater ; more than seven hundred vessels coming from the

    south had been stopped at Chiidciang, and a large fleet lay in

    the northern branch of the canal, so that some possibility

    existed of the whole province falling into anarchy if the pressure

    were not removed. The authorities of the city of Yangchau,

    on the canal, had already sent half a million dollars as

    the )-ansom of that place, while Niu Kien would only offer a

    third of a million to ransom the capital.

    The Eni])eror*’s authority to treat with the English was, however,

    exhibited at this meeting, and in return Sir Henry’s was

    ARRANGEMENTS EOIl CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 547

    fully explained to them. The delegates on the part of the

    conmiistiioners were Hwang ^S’gun-tiing, secretary to Kiying,

    and Chin, the Manchii commandant, while Major Malconi,

    secretary of legation, and Mr. J. 11. Morrison acted on the part

    of the plenipotentiary. Captain Loch, who was present, humorously

    describes the solemn manner in which the Emperor’s

    commission was brought out from the box in wdiich it was deposited,

    and the dismay of the lower attendants at seeing the

    foreigners irreverently handle it and examine its authenticity

    with so little awe. The skeleton of the treaty was immediately

    drafted for Hwang to take to his superiors. General Chin

    laughingly remarked that though the conditions were hard,

    they were no more so than the Chinese would have demanded

    if they had been the victors. The bearing of these officers

    was courteous, and Hwang especially found favor with all who

    were thrown into his company.

    The utmost care being requisite in drawing up the articles,

    most of the work falling upon Mr. Morrison, it was not till late

    at night on the 17th that the final draft was sent to the

    Chinese. The plenipotentiary, on the 18th, desired the general

    and admiral to suspend hostilities, at which time arrangements

    were also made for an interview the next day between the representatives

    on both sides. The English officers meantime explored

    the vicinity of the city, and the demand for provisions

    to supply the force caused a brisk trade highlj’ beneficial to the

    Chinese, and well calculated to please them.

    On the 19th Kiying, tlipu, and jS^iu Kien, accompanied by a

    large suite, paid their first visit to the English. The steamer

    Medusa brought them alongside the Cornwallis, and Sir Henry

    Pottinger, supported by the admiral and general, received them

    on the quarter-deck. The ship was decked with flags, and the

    crowd of gayly dressed officers in blue and scarlet contrasted

    well with the bright crapes and robes of the Chinese. This

    visit was one of ceremon\’, and after partaking of refreshments

    and examining the ship the commissioners retired, expressing

    their gratification at what they saw. They conducted themselves

    with decorum in their novel position, and Kiying and

    llipu, though both brought up in the full persuasion of the

    54:8 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Bupremacj of their sovereign over the rulers of all other nations,

    and particularly over the English, manifested no ill-concealed

    chagrin. They liad previously sent up a report of the prugj’uss

    of the expedition after the capture of Chinkiang, rec[uesting

    in it that the demands of the invaders might be conceded ; the

    inefficiency of their troops is acknowledged, and a candid statement

    of the impossibility of effectual resistance laid before his

    Majesty, with cogent reasons for acceding to the demands of the

    Englisli as the wisest course of procedure. The further disasters

    which will ensue if the war is not brought to a close

    are hinted at, and the concession of the points at issue considered

    in a manner least humbling to imperial vanity. The sum

    of $21,000,000 to be paid is regarded by them as a present

    to the soldiers and sailors before sending them home

    ;

    partly as the liquidation of just debts due from the hong merchants,

    whose insolvency made them chargeable to the government,

    and partly as indemnification for the opium. Trade at

    the five ports was to be allowed, because fonr of them had already

    been seized, and this was the only w’ay to induce the

    invaders to withdraw, while Hongkong could be ceded inasnnich

    as they had already built houses there. The memorial is a

    curious effort to render the bitter pill somewhat palatable to

    themselves and their master.

    The English plenipotentiary, accompanied by a large concourse

    of officers, returned the visit on shore in a few days, and were

    met at the entrance of a temple by the commissioners, who led

    them through a guard of newly uniformed and unarmed soldiers

    into the building, the bands of both nations striking up their

    music at the same time. This visit continued tlie good understanding

    which prevailed ; the room had been carpeted and ornamented

    with lanterns and sci-olls for the occasion, while the

    adjacent grounds accommodated a crowd of natives. On the 20tli

    Sir Henry Pottinger and his suite, consisting of his secretary,

    ]\[ajor Malcom, Messi-s. Morrison, Thorn, and Gutzlaff, the three

    interpreters, and three other gentlemen, proceeded about four

    miles to the landing-place on the canal, where they were met by

    a brigadier and two colonels; the banks of the canal wei’c lined

    with troops. The party then took their horses, and, preceded

    AKTICLES OF THE TIJEATY OF NANKING. 549

    by a mounted escort, were received at tlie city gate by the secretaries

    of llipu ; the procession advanced to the place of meeting,

    guarded by a detachment of Manchu cavahy, whose shaggy

    ponies and llowing dresses presented a singular contiast to the

    envoy’s escort and their beautiful Arabs, lie himself was conducted

    through the outer gate, up the court and through the

    second gateway, ascending the steps into the third entrance,

    where he dismounted and entered the building with the commissioners

    and governor-general. The room had been elegantly

    fitted up, and a crowd of official attendants dressed in their ceremonial

    robes stood around. Sir Henry occupied the chief seat

    between Kiying and Ili’pu, their respective attendants being

    seated in proper oi’der, with small tables between every two

    persons, while dinner was served up in usual Chinese style.

    These formalities being over, the thirteen articles of this most

    important treaty were discussed :

    I.—Lasting peace between the two nations.

    II.—The ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuhchau, Kingpo, and

    Shanghai to be opened to British trade and residence, and trade

    conducted according to a well-understood tariff.

    III.—” It being obviously necessary and desirable that British

    subjects should have some port whereat they may careen and

    refit their ships when required,” the island of Hongkong to be

    ceded to her Majesty.

    lY.—Six millions of dollars to be paid as the value of the

    opium which was delivered up ” as a ransom for the lives of

    II. B. M. Superintendent and subjects,” in March, 1839.

    Y.—Three millions of dollars to be paid for the debts due to

    British merchants.

    YI.—Twelve millions to be paid for the expenses incurred in

    the expedition sent out ” to obtain redress for the violent and

    unjust proceedings of the Chinese high authorities.”

    YIL—The entire amount of $21,000,000 to be paid before

    December 31, 1845.

    YIII.—All prisoners of war to be immediately released by

    the Chinese.

    IX.—The Emperor to grant full and entire amnesty to those

    of his subjects who had aided the British.

    J^O THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

    X. —A regular and fair tariff of export and import customs

    and other dues to be established at the open ports, and a transit

    duty to be levied in addition whicli will give goods a free conveyance

    to all places in China.

    XI.—Official correspondence to be hereafter conducted on

    terms of equality according to the standing of the parties.

    XIl.—Conditions for restoring the places held by British

    troops to be according to the payments of money.

    XIII.—Time of exchanging ratifications and carrying the

    treaty into effect.

    The official English and Chinese texts of this compact and a

    literal translation of the Chinese text are given in the (JJunese

    Repodtoi’ij^ Vols. XIII. and XIV.; in that serial is also to be

    found a full account of the struggle which was thus brought to

    a close. Looked at in any point of view, political, commercial,

    moral, or intellectual, it will always be considered as one of the

    turning points in the history of mankind, involving the welfare

    of all nations in its wide-reaching consequences.

    When matters connected with the treaty had been arranged,

    Sir Henry proposed to say a few words upon ” the great cause

    that produced the disturbances which led to the war, viz., the

    trade in opium.” But upon hearing this (Captain Loch says)

    they unanimously declined entering upon the subject, until they

    were assured that he had introduced it merely as a topic for

    private conversation.

    The}’ then evinced much interest, and eagerly requested to know why wB

    would not act fairly toward them by prohi1)iting the growth of tlie poppy in

    our dominions, and thus effectually stop a traffic so pernicious to the human

    race. This, he said, in consistency with our constitutional laws could not he

    done ; and he added that even if England chose to exercise so arbitrary a

    power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check the evil, so far as the

    Chinese were concerned, while the cancer remained uneradicated among themselves,

    but that it would merely throw the market into other hands. It, in

    fact, he said, rests entirely with yourselves. If your people are virtuous, they

    will desist from the evil practice ; and if your officers are incorruptible and

    obey your orders, no opium can enter your country. The discouragement of

    the growth of the poppy in our territories rests principally with you, for nearly

    the entire produce cultivated in India travels east to China ; if, however, the

    habit has become a confirmed vice, and you feel that your power is at present

    inadequate to stay its indulgence, you may rest assured your people will pro*

    DISCUSSION OF THE OPIUM t^UESTION. 551

    cure the drug in spite of every enactment. Would it not, therefore, he better at

    once to legalize its importation, and by thus securing the co-operation of the

    rich and of your authorities, from whom it would thus be no longer debarred,

    thereby greatly limit tlie facilities which now exist for smuggling ? They

    owned the plausibility of the argument, but expressed tliemselves persuaded

    that their imperial master would never listen to a word upon the subject.

    To convince them that what he said was not introduced from any sinister

    wish to gain an end more advantageous for ourselves, he drew a rapid sketch

    of England’s rise and progress from a barbarous state to a degree of wealth and

    civilization unpai’alleled in the history of the world ; which rajiid rise was

    principally attributable to benign and liberal laws, aided by commerce, which

    conferred power and consequence. He then casually mentioned instances of

    governments having failed to attain their ends by endeavoring to exclude any

    particular objects of popular desire ; tobacco was one of those he alluded to,

    and now that it was legalized, not only did it produce a large revenue to the

    crown, but it was more moderately indulged in in Britain than elsewhere.’

    To the well-wisher of his fellow-iueu this narrative suggests

    many melancholy reflections. On the one hand were fonr or

    five high Chinese officers, who, although pagans and unacquainted

    with the prhiciples of true virtue, had evidently sympathized with

    and upheld their sovereign in his fruitless, misdirected endeavors

    to save his people from a vicious habit. ” Why will you not

    act fairly toward us by prohibiting the growth of the poppy ?

    “

    is their anxious inquiry ; for they knew that there was no moi’al

    principle among themselves strong enough to resist the opium

    pipe. ” Your people must become virtuous and your officers

    incorruptible, and then you can stop the opium coming into your

    borders,” is the reply ; precisely the words that the callous

    rumseller gives the broken-hearted wife of the besotted drunkard

    when she beseeches him not to sell liquor to her enslaved

    husband. ” Other people will bring it to you if Ave should stop

    the cultivation of the poppy ; if England chose to exercise so

    arbitrary a power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check

    the evil,” adds the envoy; “you cannot do better than legalize

    it.” Although nations are somewhat different from individuals

    in respect to their power of resisting and suppressing a vice,

    ‘ Loch’s Events in China, p. 173, London, 1843. This same point is slightly

    referred to by Lieutenant Ouchterlony, on page 448 of his Chinese War, where

    he states that Sir Henry had prepared a paper for the information of the Chinese

    officials, proposing to them to permit the traffic in opium to be by barter

    552 Tin-: MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    and Sir Henry did riglit to speak of the legal difficnlty in the

    way of restraining labor, yet how heartless was the excnse,” if we

    do not bring it to you others will.”” Xo suggestion was made

    to them as to the most judicious mode of restraining what they

    were told they could not prohibit; no hint of the farming

    system, which would have held out to them a medinm path between

    absolute freedom and prohibition, and probably been

    seriously considered by the court ; no frank explanation as to

    the real position the English government itself held in respect

    to the forced growth of this pernicious article in its Indian territories.

    How much nobler would that govermnent have stood

    in the eyes of mankind if its head and ministers had instructed

    their plenipotentiary, that when their other demands were all

    paid and conceded no indemnity should have been asked for

    smuggled opium entirely destroyed by those who had seized it

    within their borders under threats of worse consequences. That

    government and ministry which had paid a liundred millions for

    the emancipation of slaves could surely aiford to release a pagan

    nation from such an imposed obligation, instead of sending their

    armies to exact a few millions which the revenue of one year,

    derived from this very article alone, M’ould amply discliarge to

    their ONvn subjects. For this pitiful sum nnist the great moral

    lesson to the Emperor of China and his subjects, which could

    have been taught them at this time, be lost.

    Sir Henry inquired if an envoy would be received at Peking,

    should one be sent from England, which Kiying assured him

    Mould no doubt be a gratification to his master, though what

    ideas the latter connected with such a suggestion can only be

    inferred. The conference lasted thi-ee or four hours, and when

    the procession returned to the barges, through an immense

    crowd of people, nothing was heard from them to indicate dislike

    or dread ; all other tlioughts were merged in overpowering

    curiosity. It was remarkable that this was the anniversary of

    the day when English subjects, among Avhom were the three

    interpreters here present, left Macao in 1831), by order of Lin;

    on August 26, 1840, the plenipotentiaries entered the Pei ho to

    seek an interview with Kishen ; that day, the next year, Amoy

    and its extensive batteries fell ; and now the three years’ game

    THE TREATY SIGNED AND RATIFIED. 653

    is won and China is obliged to bend, her magnates come down

    from tlieir eminences, and her wall of supremacy, isolation, and

    conceit is shattered beyond the possibility of restoration. Iler

    rulers apparently submitted with good grace to the hard lesson,

    which seemed to be the only effectual means of compelling

    them to abandon their ridiculous pretensions ; though it cannot

    be too often repeated that the effect of kindness, honorable

    dealing, and peaceful missions had not been fairly tried. ‘

    Arrangements were made on the 29tli to sign the treaty on

    board the Corn wall is. After it was signed all sat down to

    table, and the admiral, as the host in his flagship, gave the

    healths of their Majesties, the Queen of England and the Emperor

    of China, which was announced to the fleet and army by

    a salute of twenty-one guns and hoisting the Union Jack and a

    yellow flag at the main and mizzen. The treaty was forwarded

    to Peking that evening. The embargo on the rivers and ports

    was at once taken off, the troops re-embarked, and preparations

    made to return to Wusung. The six millions were paid without

    much delay, and on September 15th the Emperor’s ratification

    was received. The secretary of legation, Major Malcom,

    immediately left to obtain the Queen’s ratification, going by

    steam the entire distance (except eighty miles in Egypt) from

    Kanking to London—an extraordinary feat in those days.

    The imperial assent was also published in a rescript addressed

    to Kiying, in reply to his account of the settlement of affairs, in

    which he gives directions for disbanding the troops, rebuilding

    such forts as had been destroyed, and cultivating peace as Avell

    as providing for the fulfilment of the articles. It is, on the

    whole, a dignified approval of the treaty, and breathes nothing

    of a spirit of revenge or intention to prepare for future resistance.

    The fleet of ships and transports returned down the river and

    reassembled at Tinghai, at the end of October, not a vessel

    having been lost. Even before leaving Xanking, and in the passage

    down the river, the troops and sailors, especially the Indian

    regiments, were reduced by cholera, fever, and other diseases,

    some of the transports being nearly disabled ; the deaths

    amounted to more than a thousand before reachini; Ilono-kons.

    554 THE .MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    On arriving at Anioy tlio plenipotentiary was highly ineented

    on hearing of the melancholy fate of the captive crews of the

    Xerbudda and Ann, wrecked on Formosa. The first, a transport,

    contained two hundred and seventy-four souls, and when she

    went ashore all the Europeans abandoned two hundred and

    forty Hindus to their fate, most of whom fell into the liands of

    the Chinese. The Ann was an opium vessel, and lier crew of

    fifty-seven souls were taken prisoners and carried to Taiwan fu.

    The prisoners were divided into small parties and had little

    conmumieation with each other during their captivity, M’hich

    was aggravated by Mant of food and clothing, filthy lodgings,

    and other hardships of a Chinese jail, so that many of the Indians

    died. The survivors, on August loth, with the exception

    of ten persons, were carried out to a plain near the city, one of

    whom, ]Mr. Xewman, a seacunnie on board the Ann and the

    last in the procession, gave the following account

    :

    On being taken ont of his sedcan, to have his hands shackled beliind his back,

    he saw two of the prisoners with their irons otf and refusing to have them

    put on. They had both been drinking and were making a great noise, crying

    out to him that tliey were all to have their heads cut off. He advised them to

    submit quietly, but they still refusing, he first wrenched off his own and then

    j)ut them into theirs, to the great pleasure of the soldiers, but when the soldiers

    wished to replace liis he declined. As they were on the point of securing

    him he accidentally saw the chief officer seated close to him. Going befoi’e

    him he threw himself on his head and commenced singing a few Chinese

    words which he had fretjiiently hoard repeated in a temple. The officer was

    HO pleased with this procedure that he turned round to the soldiers and ordered

    them to carry him back to the city. All the rest, one hundred and ninetyseven

    in number, were i)laced at small distances from each other on their

    knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting

    for the executioners, who went round and with a kind of two-handed

    sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block. .Afterward their

    bodies were thrown into one grave and their heads stuck up in cages on the

    seashore.’

    A journal was kept by Mr. Gully to within tliree days of his

    death, and another by Captain Denham of the Ann, one of the

    prisoners saved to send to Peking.* Both contain full accounts

    Chinese Reponit^yry, Vol. XII., p. 248.

    ” Journah of Mr. GvUi/ and CapUiin Denlutni during a Cajdivity in China in

    1842. London : Chapman & Hall, 1844.

    MASSACRE OF SIIIIMV P.ECKIJD CREWS ON FORMOSA. 555

    of the treatment of the luihuppy captives, and diminish the

    synipathy felt for tlie defeat of the government whicli allowed

    such shuighter. It was said to have been done by orders from

    court, grounded on a lying report sent up by the Mancliu commandant,

    Tahuiigah. When their sad fate was learned Sir

    Henry l*ottinger published two proclamations in Chinese, in

    which the principal facts were detailed, so that all might know

    the truth of the matter; a demand nuide fur the degradation and

    punishment of the lying officers who had superintended it, and

    the confiscation of their property for the use of the families of the

    sufferers, lliang, the governor-general, expressed his sincere regret

    to the English envoy at what had taken place, and examined

    into the facts himself, which led to the degradation and

    banishment of the conmuuidant and intendant. While the prisoners

    were still at Taiwan fu, II. M. S. Serpent was sent over

    from Anioy to reclaim them, by which expedition the truth of

    the barbarous execution was first learned ; this vessel afterward

    went tiiere to receive the shipwrecked crew of the Ilerculaneum

    transport.

    The citizens of Amoy, jSiingpo, and Shanghai hailed the cessation

    of the war and the opening of their ports to foreign

    trade ; but not so at Canton. The discharged volunteers still

    remained about the city, notwithstanding orders to return home

    and resume their usual employments, most of whom probably

    had neither. Scheming demagogues took advantage of a rumor

    that the English army intended to form a settlement opposite

    the city, and issued a paper in the name of the gentry, calling

    upon all to combine and resist the aggression. The enthusiasm

    it caused was worked up to a higher pitch b}^ an inflannnatory

    manifesto, in which desperate measures were plainly intinuited ;

    but the district magistrates took no steps against them. An

    invitation was circulated for the citizens and gentlemen from

    other provinces to meet at the public assembly hall to consult

    upon public affairs. A counter but less spirited manifesto was

    pasted up in the hall, which had the effect of inducing about

    half the people to disperse. The writers of this paper dissuaded

    their countrymen from hasty measures, by telling them’ that no

    556 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    land could be taken or dwellings occupied without periuission

    from the provincial authorities, and urged upon them to live at

    peace with tlie English, in accordance Avith the injunctions of

    their wise sovereign.

    A brawl occurred in Hog Lane on December Gth, between

    some hucksters and lascars, who -were pursued into the Square,

    where the mob rapidly increased, and about two o’clock began

    pulling down a brick wall around the Company’s garden and

    forcing open one of the factories, which was speedily pillaged,

    the inmates escaping through the back doors. The British flagstaff

    was fired by a party which kept guard around it, and the

    flames connnunicating to the verandah, other parts soon caught,

    and by midnight the three hongs east of Ilog Lane were burning

    furiously. The ringleaders, satisfied with firing the British

    consulate, endeavored to prevent thieves carrying away the

    plunder ; but they were forced to escape about midnight. These

    wretches soon began to quan-el among themsch’es for the dollars

    found in the ruins, and it was not till noon that the police

    and soldiers ventured to attack the knotted groups of struggling

    despei’adoes and arrest the most conspicuous, and with the aid

    of boats’ crews from the shipping recapture some of the specie.

    Full compensation was subsequently made to the foreigners for

    the losses sustained, amounting to $67,397, and some of the

    ringleaders were executed.

    A. large part of the officers in the army and navy engaged in

    the war received promotion or honorary titles. Sir Hugh was

    made a baronet, and, after more service in India, elevated to

    the peerage, with the title of Lord Gough, Baron of Chinkiang

    fu ; the plenipotentiary and the admiral obtained Grand Crosses

    of the liath. The three interpreters, Messrs. Morrison, Thorn,

    and Gutzlaff, whose services had been arduous and important,

    received no distinctive reward from their government. The

    amount of prize money distributed among the soldiers and

    sailors was small. The losses of the English from shipwreck,

    sickness, and casualties dm-ing tlie war amounted to more than

    three thousand ; the mortality was greatest among the Indian

    regiments and the European recruits, especially after the opei”

    ations behind Canton and the capture of Chinkiang.

    SETTLEMENT OF COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. 557

    While the English goveniiiieiit lewarded its officers, the Emperor

    expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the major

    part of his surviving generals, but distributed posthumous

    honors to those who had died at their posts. Hailing, with liis

    wife and grandson, were honored with a fane, and his sons promoted.

    Kiying was appointed governor-general at ]^anking.

    Tliougli many civil and military officers were condemned to

    death, none actually lost their lives, except Yu Pu-yun, the

    governor of Chehkiang, who fled from JS^ingpo in October,

    1841.

    The settlement of the duties and regulations for carrying

    on foreign commerce immediately engaged the attention of the

    plenipotentiary. He called on the British mei’chants for information,

    but so utterly desultory was the manner in which the

    duties had been formerly levied, that they could give him little

    or no reliable information as to what was really done with the

    money. The whole matter was placed by both parties in the

    hands of Mr. Tliom, who had been engaged in business at Canton,

    and Hwang Ngan-tung, secretary to Kiying. To settle these

    multifarious affairs and restore quiet, Ilipu was sent to Canton

    as commissioner. On his arrival, he set about allaying the popular

    discontent at the treaty, and his edict ‘ is a good instance of

    the mixture of flattery and instruction, coaxing and connnanding,

    which Chinese officers frequently adopt when they are not

    sure of gaining their end by power alone, and do not wish to irritate.

    In this instance it did much to remove misapprehension

    and allay excitement, but its author had not long been engaged

    in these arduous duties before he ” made a vacancy,”

    aged seventy-two, having been more than half his life engaged

    in high employments in his country’s service ; his conduct and

    foresight in the last two years did credit to himself and elevated

    his nation. Ilis associate, Kiying, took his place and exchanged

    the ratifications of the treaty of Nanking at Hongkong with Sir

    Henry Pottinger, ten months after it had been signed by the

    same persons. The island was then taken possession of on behalf

    • Chinese Repository, Vol. XXL, p. lOG.

    of the Queen by proclamation, and the warrant read appointing Sir Henry governor of the colony. Its influence on +he well-being of China since that period has been less than was anticipated by those who looked to the higher welfare and progress of a British colony so near to it as likely to be an example for good. A free port has encouraged smuggling to a degree that constantly irritates and baffles the native authorities on the mainland, and leads to armed resistance to their efforts toward collecting lawful revenue, especially on opium ; while the influx of Chinese traders, attracted by its greater security, is gradually converting the island into a Chinese settlement protected by British rule. The peninsula of Kowhmg, on the north side of the harbor, was added in 1860, to furnish ground for the

    commissary departments of the forces. The influence of a wellordered

    Christian government exercising a beneficent rule over

    a less civilized race under its sway, is soon neutralized by licensing

    the opium farms and gambling saloons and lending its moral

    sanction to smuggling.

    The tariff and commercial regulations were published July 22d.

    In this tariff, all emoluments and illegal exactions superimposed

    upon the imperial duties were prohibited, and a fixed duty

    put on each article, which seldom exceeded five per cent, on

    the cost ; all kinds of breadstuffs were free. ( ‘ommercial dealings

    were placed on a well -understood basis, instead of the

    former loose way of conducting business ; the monopoly of the

    hong merchants was ended, the fees exacted on ships were abolished,

    and a tonnage duty of five mace per ton substituted ; the

    charge for pilotage was reduced so much that the pilots were

    nearly stripped of all they received after paying the usual fees

    to the tidewaiters along the river. Disputes between English

    and Chinese were to be settled by the consuls, and in serious

    cases by a mixed court, when, upon conviction, each party was

    to punish its own criminals.

    The proclamation giving effect to these i-egulations was one

    of the most important documents ever issued by the Chinese

    government ; as an initiation of the new order of things, it

    was creditable to the people whose rulers were of themselves

    and could utter such words to them. After referring to the war

    and treaty of peace, Kiying goes on to say, respecting the tariff,

    THE NEW TARIFF PROCLAIMED. 559

    that as soon as replies shall be received from tlie Buai-d of Tlev^

    enue, “it will then take effect witli refei-ence to the commerce

    with China of all countries, as well as of England. Henceforth,

    then, the weapons of war shall forever be laid aside,

    and joy and profit shall be the perpetual lot of all ; neither sli<i;ht

    nor few will be the advantages reaped by the merchants alike

    of China and of foreign countries. From this time foi-ward,

    all must free themselves frou] prejudice and suspicions, pursuing

    each his proper avocation, and careful always to retain no inimical

    feelings from the recollection of the hostilities that have

    before taken place. For such feelings and i-ecollections can luive

    no other effect than to hinder the growth of a good understanding

    between the two peoples.” It should be moreover added, as

    due praise to the imperial government, that none of the many

    liundreds who served the English on ship and shore against

    their country were afterward molested in any way for so doing.

    Many were apprehended, but the commissioner says he ” has

    obtained from the good favor of his august sovereign, vast and

    boundless as that of heaven itself, the remission of their punishment

    for all past deeds ; » . . they need entertain no appi-

    ehension of being hereafter dragged forward, nor yield in

    consequence to any fears or suspicions.”

    ‘These new arrangements pleased the leading Chinese merchants

    better than they did the hoppo and others who had lined

    their pockets and fed their friends with illegal exactions. The

    never-failing sponge of the co hong could no longer be sucked,

    but for a last squeeze the authorities called upon the merchants

    for five millions of dollars, which they refused to pay, and

    withdrew from business with so much determination and union

    that the hoppo and his friends were foiled ; they finally contributed

    among themselves about one million seven hundred

    thousand dollars, which was nearly or quite their last benevolence

    to their rulers. Ilowqua, the leading member of the body during

    thirty years, died about this time, aged seventy-five ; he was,

    altogether, the most remarkable native known to foreigners, and

    while he filled the difficult station of senior merchant, exhibited

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XII., p. 443.

    great shrewdness and ability in jiumaging the deHcate and difficult

    affairs constantly thrown upon him. lie came fi-oni Amoy

    when a voung man, and his property, probably over estimated

    at four millions sterling, passed quietly into the hands of his

    children.’

    Tlie foreign community also suffered a great loss at this time

    in the death of John Ilobert Morrison, at the age of twentynine,

    lie was born in China, and had identified himself with

    the best interests of her people and their advancement in

    knowledjre and Christianity. At the age of twenty, on his

    father’s decease, he was appointed Chinese secretary to the

    British superintendents, and filled that responsible situation

    with credit and efficiency during all the disputes with the proyincial

    authorities and commissioner Lin, and of the war, until

    peace was declared. His intimate acquaintance with the policy

    of the Chinese government and the habits of thought of its officers

    eminently fitted him for successfully treating with them,

    and enlightening them upon the intentions and wishes of foreign

    powers ; while his unaffected kindness to all natives assured

    them of the sincerity of his professions. The successful conduct

    of the negotiations at Xanking depended very much upon him,

    and the manner in which he performed the many translations

    to and from Chinese, connected with that event, was such as to

    secure the confidence of the imperial connnissioners, in their

    ignorance of all foreign languages, that they were fairly dealt

    with.

    He was eminently a Christian man, and whenever opportunity

    allowed, failed not to speak of the doctrines of the Bible to his

    native friends. The projected revision of the Chinese version

    of the Scriptures by the Protestant missionaries engaged his

    attention, and it was expected would receive his assistance.

    With his influence, his pen, his property, and his prayers, he

    contributed to the welfare of the people, and the confidence felt

    in him by natives who knew him was often strikingly exhibited

    ‘ Compare The Fan Kwae at Canton before Treaty Days, by an Old Residejit

    (Mr. W. C. Hunter), London, 1882; a little volume which, besides many personal

    reminiscences of the characters mentioned in this narrative, furnishes an interesting picture of life in Canton a half century ago.

    DEATH OF JOHN K. MOKKISON. 561

    at Canton durin*^ tlio coniinotions of 1841 and the negotiations

    of 1843. lie died at Macao August 29th, a jear after the treaty

    of i^anking was signed, and was l)nried by the side of liis

    parents in the Pi’otestant burying-gronnd. Sir lleiny Pottinger

    announced his death as a “positive national calamity,” and it was so received ‘by the government at home, he also justly added that ” Mr. Morrison was so well known to every one, and so beloved, respected, and esteemed by all wdio had the pleasure and happiness of his acquaintance or friendship, that to attempt to pass any panegyric upon his private character would be a mere waste of words ;” while his own sorrow was but a type of the universal feeling in which his memory and merit are embalmed. As a testimony of their sense of his worth, the foreign community, learning that he had died poor,

    leaving a maiden sister who had been dependent upon him, and

    that his official accounts were in some confusion, immediately

    came forward and contributed nearlj’ fourteen thousand dollars

    to relieve his estate and relatives from all embarrassment.

    The negotiations were concluded by the English and Chinese

    plenipotentiaries signing a supplementary treaty on October 8th

    (the day was a lucky one in the Chinese calendar), at the Bogue.

    This treaty provided, among other things, for the admission of

    all foreigners to the iive open ports on the same terms as English

    subjects ; it was inserted at the request of Kiying, that all

    might appreciate the intentions of his government ; for neither

    he nor his master knew anything of that favorite phrase, ” the

    most favored nation,” and expected and wished to avoid all controversy by putting every ship and flag on the same footing.

    It might have been expected that the Chinese government

    would have now taken some action upon the opium trade, which

    was still going on unchecked and unlicensed. Opium schooners

    were passing in and out of Hongkong liarbor, though the drug

    sold by the Indian government at Calcutta was not allowed by

    the colonial British government at Hongkong to be stored on

    shore. Yet no edicts wei-e issued, few or no seizui-es made, no

    notice taken of it ; no proposition to repress, legalize, or inanage

    it came from the imperial commissioner. The old laws denouncing

    its use, purchase, or sale under the penalty of deati* still remained on the statute book, but no one feared or cared for them. This conduct is fully explained by the supposition that, having undergone so much, the Emperor and his ministers thought safety from future trouble with the British lay in enduring what was past curing ; they had already suffered greatly

    in attempting to suppress it, and another war might be caused

    by meddling with the dangerous subject, since too it M^as now

    guarded by well-armed British vessels. Public opinion was still

    too strong against it, or else consistency obliged the monarch to

    forbid legalization.’

    Sir Henry Pottingcr, hearing that persons were about sending

    opium to Canton under the pretense that unenumerated articles

    were admissible by the new tariff at a duty of five per

    cent., issued a proclamation in English and Chinese, to the intent

    that such proceedings were illegal. lie also forbade British

    vessels going bej-ond lat. 32° X., and intimated to the Chinese

    that they might seize all persons and confiscate all vessels found

    above that line, or anywhei*e else on the coast besides the five

    ports ; and, moreover, published an order in council wdiich

    restricted, under penalty of $500 for each offence, all British

    vessels violating the stipulations of the treaty in this respect.

    All this was done chiefly to throw dust in their eyes, and put

    the onus of the contraband traffic on the Chinese government

    and the violation of law on those who came off to the smuggling

    vessels, and these proclamations and orders, like their edicts,

    were to be put ” on record.” This was shoAvn when Captain

    Hope, of II.M.S. Thalia, for stopping two or three of the opium

    vessels proceeding above Shanghai, was recalled from his station

    and ordered to India, where he could not “interfere in such a manner

    with the undertakings of British subjects “—to quote Lord

    Palmerston’s despatch to Captain Elliot. This effectually deterred

    other British officers from meddling with it.

    Yet the commercial bearings of this trade were clearly seen

    in England, and a memorial to Sir Bobert Peel, signed by two

    hundred and thirty-five merchants and manufacturers, was drawn

    ‘ Montgomery Martin, China ; Political, Commercial, and Social, Vol. II.,

    Chap. IV. (London, 1847)—a chapter containing some most suggestive reflections

    on this subject by a member of her Majesty’s government at Hongkong.

    RENEWAL OF THE OPIUM DISCUSSION. 563

    np, in which they proved that tlie ” commerce with China cannot^r

    be conducted on a permanently safe and satisfactory basis so long

    as the contraband trade in opium is permitted. Even if legalized,

    the trade would inevitably undermine the commerce of Great

    Britain with China, and prevent its being, as it otherwise might

    be, an advantageous market for our manufactures. It would operate

    for evil in a double way: first, by enervating and impoverishing

    the consumers of the drug, it would disable them from becoming

    purchasers of our productions ; and second, as the Chinese

    would then be paid for their produce chiefly as now in opium, the

    quantity of that article imported by them having of late years

    exceeded in value the tea and silk we receive from them, our

    own manufactures would consequently be to a great extent precluded.”

    The memorial shows that between 1803-08 the annual

    demand for M’oollens alone was nearly $750,000 more than

    it was for «Z^ products of British industry between 1834—39 ; while

    in that interval the opium trade had risen from three thousand to

    thirty thousand chests annually. Nothing in the annals of commerce

    ever showed more conclusively how heartless a thing trade

    is when it comes in contact with morality or humanity, than

    the discussions respecting the opium traffic. These memorialists

    plead for their manufactures, but the East India Company

    would have been soi-ry to have had their market spoiled : what

    could Sir Robert Peel, or even Wilberforce, if he had been

    premier, do against them in this matter ? The question was

    which party of manufacturers should be patronized. But none

    of these “merchants and manufacturers of the highest standing

    and respectability ” refer to the destruction of life, distress of

    families, waste of mind, body, and property, and the many other

    evils connected with the growth and use of opium, except as connected

    with the sale of their goods. One paper, in order

    to compound the matter, recommended the manufacture of

    morphine to tempt the Chinese, in order that, if they would

    smoke it, they might have a delicate preparation for fashionable

    smokers.

    The conduct of the ministry in remunerating the merchants

    who had surrendered their property to Captain Elliot was appropriate

    to the character of the trade. The $6,000,000, instead of being divided in Cliina aiijOiig those m’Iio were to receive it —as could have been done without expense—was cariied to England to be coined, which, with the freight, reduced it considerably. Then by the manner of ascertaining the market value at the time it was given up, and the holders of the opium script got their pay, they received scarcely one-half of what was originally paid to the East India Company, either directly or indirectly, thereby reducing it nearly a million sterling. Furthermore, by the form of payment they lost nearly one-fifth even of the promised sum, or about one million two hundred thousand dollars. Then they lost four years” interest on their whole capital, or about four million dollars more. What the merchants lost, the government profited. The Company gained during these four years at least a million sterling by the increased price of the drug, while Sir Eobert Peel also transferred that amount from the pockets of the merchants to the public treasury. It was an imdignified and pitiful haggling with the merchants and owners of the opium, whom that ministry had encouraged for many years in their trade along the Chinese coast, and then forced to take wdiat was doled out.

    Public opinion will ever characterize the contest thus brought

    to an end as an oj/ium war, entered into and cai’ried on to

    obtain indemnity for opium seized, and—setting aside the niceties

    of western international law, M’liich the Chinese government

    knew nothing of—most justly seized. The British and American

    merchants who voluntarily subscribed one thousand and

    thirty-seven chests to Commissioner Lin, acknowledged themselves

    to be transgressors by tliis very act. Yet war seemed to

    be the only way to break down the intolerable assumptions of

    the court of Peking ; that a Avar M’ould do it was quite plain

    to every one acquainted with the character of that court and the

    genius of the j^eople, and the result has shown the expectation

    to have been M’cU based. Members of Parliament expi’cssed

    their gratification at being at last out of a bad busines^s ; their

    desire, frequently nttered, that the light of the gos])(‘l and the

    blessings of C’hristian civilization might now be introduced

    among the millions of China, was a cheap peace-offering of good

    wishes, some^\llat in tin- manner t)f the old Hebrews sacrificing

    treatip:.s mith otiieu powers. 565

    a kid when tbej liad eoniniitted a trespass. Tlie short but pithy

    digest of the whole war by Justin McCarthy, in Chapter X. of

    the Ilisturij of Our Ocn Times, brings out its leading features

    in a fairly candid manner.

    The announcement of the treaty of Xanking caused considerable

    sensation in Europe and America, cliictly in commercial

    circles. M. Augusto Moxhet, the Belgian consul at kSingapore,

    was sent on to China to make such inquiries for transmission to

    his government as would direct it in its efforts to open a trade.

    The Xetherlands government sent orders to the authorities at

    Batavia, who despatched M. Tonco Modderman for the same

    purpose. The king of Prussia appointed ]\I. Grube to proceed

    to China to prosecute researches as to the prospect of finding

    a market for German mamifactnres. The Spanish ministry,

    through the authorities at Manila, designated Don Sinibaldo de

    Mas in this new sphere. The governor of Macao, M. Pinto,

    before returning home, was appointed commissioner on behalf

    of II. M. F. Majesty, to treat respecting the rights and privileges

    of Macao under the new order of things, and succeeded in

    obtaining some stipulations favorable to the trade of the place,

    but could not get the Chinese to cede it to Portugal. These

    gentlemen arrived in China during the latter part of 1S43, and

    most of them had interviews or communication with Kiying before

    he returned to court in December.

    The governments of the United States and France early appointed

    ministers extraordinary to the court of Peking. Caleb Cushing, commissioner on behalf of the United States, brought a letter from the President to the Emperor, which is inserted in full as an instance of the singular mixture of patronizing and deprecatory address then deemed suitable for the Grand Khan by western nations :

    LETTER TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

    I, John Tyler. President of the United States of America -which States are: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, ^Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan—send you this letter of peace and friendship, signed by my own hand.

    I hope your healtli is good. China is a great Empire, extending over a great

    part of the world. The Chinese are numerous. You have millions and millions

    of subjects. The twenty-six United States are as large as China, though

    our people are not so numerous. The rising sun looks upon the great mountains

    and great rivers of China. When lie sets, he looks iipon rivers and

    mountains equally large in the United States. Our territories extend from

    one great ocean to the other ; and on the west we are divided from your dominions

    only by the sea. Leaving the mouth of one of our great rivers, and

    going constantly toward tlie setting sun, we sail to Japan and to the Yellow

    Pea.

    Now, my words are that the governments of two such great countries should

    be at peace. It is proper, and according to tlie will of lieaven, that they should

    respect each other, and act wisely. 1 therefore send to your court Caleb Cushing,

    one of tlie wise and learned men of this country. On his first arrival in

    China, he will iiujuire for your health. He has strict orders to go to your

    great city of Peking, and there to deliver this letter. He will have with him

    secretaries <tnd interpreters.

    The Chinese love to trade with our jteople, and to sell them tea and silk, for

    which our people pay silver, and sometimes other articles. But if the Chinese

    and the Americans will trade, tliere shall be rules, so that they shall not break

    your laws or our laws. Our minister, Caleb Gushing, is authorized to make a

    treaty to regulate trade. Let it be just. Let there be no unfair advantage on

    either side. Let the people trade not only at Canton, but also at Anioy, Ningpo,

    Shanghai, Fuhchau, and all such other places as may o.Ter profitable exchanges

    both to China and the United States, provided they do not break your

    laws nor our laws. We shall not take the part of evil-doers. We shall not

    uphold them that break your laws. Therefore, we doubt not that you will be

    pleased that our messenger of peace, with this letter in his hand, shall come

    to Peking, and there deliver it ; and that your great officers will, by your order,

    make a treaty with liim to regulate a.fairs of trade—so that nothing may

    happen to disturb the pea(;e between China and America. Let the treaty be

    signed by your own imperial hand. It shall be signed by mine, by the authority

    of our great council, the Senate.

    And so may your health be good, and may peace reign.

    Written at Washington, this twelfth day of July, in the. year of our Lord

    one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. Your good friend.

    Mr. Gushing arrived in Cliiiia in the frigate Brandy wine,

    Commodore Parker, February 24^, 1844. The announcement

    of tlie general objects of lii.s mission, and the directions he had

    to proceed to Peking, was made to Governor Cliing, who instantly

    informed the com-t of his arrival ; and with a promptitude

    indicative of the desii-e of the Emperor to give no cause

    of offence, Kiying was reappointed commissioner, with highei

    EMBASSY FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CHINA. 567

    powers than before. The frigate had brought out a flagstaff

    and vane for the consulate at Canton ; the vane was in the

    form of an arrow, and as it turned its barb to tlie four points of

    the compass, the superstitious people tliought it conveyed destructive

    influences around, transfixing all the benign operations

    of heaven and earth, and thereby causing disease and calamitv

    among them. An unusual degree of sickness prevailed at tliis

    time in the city and its environs, which the geomancers and

    doctors declared would not cease until the deadly arrow was removed.

    The people accordingly w^aited on the consul, Mr. Forbes, to request the removal of the arrow, which he acceded to, and substituted a vane of another shape. The gentry issued a placard the next day, connuending its removal, and requesting the people to harbor no ill-will toward the Americans as the cause of the sickness.

    Kiying having announced his appointment and jxnvers to the

    people, proceeded to the Bogue to meet Sir Henry Pottinger,

    and be introduced to Governor Davis, from whence he went to

    Macao and took up his residence in the village of Wanghia, in

    the suburl)S of that city. lie had associated three assistants

    with himself, viz., Hwang Ngan-tung, Pwan Sz’-shing, one of

    the late hong merchants, and Chau Chang-ling, a prefect. II.

    E. Hon. Caleb Cushing was sole commissioner and envoy extraordinary; Fletcher AVebster, Esq., was secretary ; Rev. E.

    C. Bridgman, D.D., and Pev. Peter Parker, M.D., were joint

    Chinese secretaries, and Dr. Bridgman, chaplain ; Messrs. J. H.

    O’Donnell, R. Mcintosh, S. Hernisz, T. R. AVest, and John R.

    Peters, Jr., were attached to the legation.

    Mr. Cushing had already prepared the general outline of the

    treaty, which greatly abridged the negotiations, and the few

    disputed or doubtful points in the draft having been modified

    and settled, it was signed at AVanghia on July 3, 1844, by the

    two plenipotentiaries, Commodore Parker, and a few other

    Americans, a large company of Chinese being present. Its fulness

    of details and clear exhibition of the rights conceded by

    the Chinese government to foreigners dwelling within its borders,

    made it the leading authority in settling disputes among

    them until 1860.

    Soon after Ki’ying left Canton the populace began to show

    signs of disturbance. A party of gentlenieu wei’e walking in

    the Company’s garden, when the gate was burst open by a mob

    and they were obliged to escape by boats. On the next evening

    the mob again collected, with the intention of getting possession

    of the large garden, but were driven out of the passage without

    much opposition. Two or three Americans, in escorting one of

    their countrymen to his house, were attacked by missiles on

    their return ; whereupon one of them fired low to drive the

    people back, but unhappily killed a native, named Sil A-mun.

    The case was investigated by the district magistrate, and a

    report made by the governor to Kiying; but Cliing took no

    pains to send a sufficient force to repress the populace. In a

    communication to the American consul he says, after ordering

    him to deliver up the murderer : ” It has been ascertained that

    the man who was killed was from the district of Tsingyuen,

    having no relatives in Canton. But if he had been a citizen, it

    would have become at the moment an occasion for attack, for it

    would have been told to the populace, and they would have revenged

    it by again setting fire to the factories and plundering

    their contents, or something of that sort. The people are highly

    irritated against the offender, and it is impossible but that they

    have constant debates among themselves until they are revenged.”

    A party of marines from the corvette St. Louis came up to

    Canton the next day, and qiiiet was restored. Kiying brought

    the case before Mr. Cushing, stating it to be his conviction that

    “the murderer ought to forfeit his life,” and begging him to

    give orders for a speedy examination of the ease. In his reply

    Mr. Cushing expressed his regret at what had occurred, his

    willingness to institute an inquiry, and added a few remarks

    upon the necessity of better protecting foreigners at Canton,

    in order to prevent the recurrence of such scenes, and embroiling

    the two counti’ics. Kiying replied in a considerate maimer,

    still upholding the authority of his government and laws: “It

    seems from this that, regarding our nations and their subjects,

    the people of our land may be peaceful, and the citizens of the

    United States may be peaceful, and yet, after their governments

    CASES OF RIOT AND HOMICIDE IN CANTON. 569

    luive become amicable, that tlien tlieir people may become inim

    ical ; and albeit the authorities of the two governments may

    day after day deliberate upon friendship, it is all nothing but

    empty M-ords. Thus, while we are deliberating and settling a

    treaty of peace, all at once the people of our two countries are

    at odds and taking lives.” lie also speaks of the overbearing

    and violent character of the people of Canton :

    Since the period when the English brought in sohiiers, these ladrones have been banding together and forming societies ; and while some, taking advantage of their strength, have plundered and robbed, others have called upon the able-bodied and valiant to get their living. Therefore, employing troop&, which is the endangering of the authorities and [peaceable] people, is the profit of these miscreants ; peace and good order which traders, both native and foreign, desire, is what these bad men do not at all wish. … I have heard that usually the citizens of Canton have respected and liked the officers and people of the United States, as they were peaceable and reasonable ; that they would, even when there was a cause of difference, endeavor to settle it, which is very unlike the English. But unexpectedly, on the 16th instant, a cause for animosity was given in the shooting of Sii A-mun. I have heard different accounts of this affair ; I judge reasonably in thinking that the merchants oi your country causelessly and rashly took life. But the populace are determined to seek a quarrel, and I very much fear lest they will avail of this to raise commotion, perhaps under the pretence of avenging his death, but doubtless with other ideas too.

    The American minister referred in a subsequent commnnication

    to the death of the boy Sherry, in May, 1841, when the

    boat’s crew from the ship Morrison was captured. This affair

    had been already bronght to the notice of the Chinese government

    by Commodore Kearny, and a sum of $7,800 paid for

    losses and damages sustained ; but the present was a fitting

    opportunity for reviving it, since it and the case of Sii A-mun

    furnished a mutual commentary npon the necessity of securing

    better protection for foreigners. Kiying made an investigation

    of the case, and reported the successive actions of his predecessor,

    Ki Knng ; so thoroughly indeed was his reply divested of all

    the rhodomontade usnally seen in Chinese state papers, that one

    could hardly believe it was written by a governor-general of

    Canton. The exciting circumstances of the first casualty did

    indeed go far to extenuate it; though now both Kiying and his

    superiors could not but see that the time for demanding life foi life had passed away. The commissioner was, however, in a

    dilemma. He could only appease the populace by stating in his

    proclamations that he was making every effort to ascertain who

    was the murderer and bring him to justice, and they must leave

    the management of the case in the hands of the regular authorities.

    On the other hand, the arguments of Mr. Cushing and

    the stipulations in the English treaty, both convinced him that

    foreign nations would not give up their treaty right of judging

    their own countrymen. He finally escaped the trouble by deferring

    the petitioners and relatives of the deceased awhile, and

    then appeasing them by a small donation.

    In conducting these negotiations, and settling this treaty “between

    the youngest and oldest empires in the world,” Mr. Cushing

    exhibited both ability and knowledge of his subject. In his

    instructions he was directed to deliv^er the President’s letter to

    the Emperor in person, or to an officer of rank in his presence; and, therefore, on his arrival he informed the governor that he had been sent to the imperial court, and being under the necessity of remaining a few weeks at Macao, he improved the first opportunity to inquire after the health of his Majesty. Whether

    he regarded the mere going to court as important camiot be inferred

    from his correspondence, but if so, he should have gone

    directly to the mouth of the Pei ho and waited there for a commissioner to be sent to meet him. Vet the real advantages of

    such a proceeding at this time would have been trifiing, and its

    risks and contingencies very serious; as the Emperor was not

    dis])osed to forego that homage required of all who appeared

    before him, however willing he might be to grant commercial privileges, it was undesirable to excite discussions on this point.

    ^Moreover, the appointment of Kiying with such unusual powers

    indicated a favorable disposition toward the Americans. It was

    fortunate that the two plenipotentiaries wei-e at hand when the

    riot and homicide occurred, while the discussion which grew out

    of those events was no snuill benefit to the local government.

    The secret of nmch of the ])ower of the Emperor of China consists

    in the acknowledgment by his subjects of his sacred character

    as the Son of Heaven ; and although that lofty assumption

    uuist come down before the advance of western civilization, and

    CONCLUSION OF THE FKKNCIl TKEATV. 571

    will ere long criiinble of itself, to have asked for an audience

    when tliis formalitj was known to be inadmissible would have

    irritated him, and put the foreign minister in an indefensible

    position. The subsequent discussions proved how deeply rooted

    in the Chinese mind was this attribute ; the peaceful settlement

    of the question in 1873 could not have been anticipated

    hi 1844.

    The French ambassador, II. E. Th. de Lagrene, arrived in

    China August 14th. In addition to the two secretaries, MM. le

    Marquis de Ferriere le Yoyer and le Comte d’liarcourt, five

    other gentlemen were sent out to make investio-ations into the

    commerce, arts, and industrial resources of the Chinese. M. de

    Lagrene took possession of the lodgings prepared for him at

    Macao, in the same building which Mr. Gushing had occupied.

    Kiying immediately made arrangements for opening the negotiations

    by sending his three associates to congratulate the French minister on his arrival; he himself reached Macao September 29th. The gratification of the Chinese statesmen at finding that the missions from the American and French governments were not sent, like the English expedition, to demand indemnity and the cession of an island, was great. Their arrival had been foreshadowed among the people of Canton, the number of ships of war had been exaggerated, and the design of the

    ambassadors strangely misrepresented as including the seizure

    of an island. These reports could hardly fail to reach and have

    some effect upon the highest officers in the land. The time,

    therefore, was favorable, not merely to obtain the same political

    and commercial advantages which had been granted to England,

    but further to explain to the Chinese officers something of the

    relations their nation should enter into with the other powers of

    the earth. The first interviews between Kiying and M. de Lagrene

    were held in October, and the treaty of Wanghia taken as

    the basis of agreement. The negotiations were amicably settled

    by the signing of the treaty at Whampoa on October 23d.

    This act may be said to have concluded the opening of China,

    so far as its government was prepared for the extension of this

    intercourse.

    The instalments due according to the treaty of NanJing were not yet all paid, but the Chinese had shown their desire to fulfil their engagements, and the $.21,000,000 were received by the English within a short period of the specified time. This was a minor consideration, however, in comparison with the great

    advantages gained by England for herself and all Christendom

    over the seclusive and exclusive system of former days, which

    had now received such a shock that it could not only never

    recover from it, but was not likely even to maintain itself where

    the treaties had defined it. The intercourse begun by these

    treaties went on as fast as the two parties found it for tlieir

    benefit. The war, though eminently nnjust in its cause as an

    opium war—and even English officers and authors do not try to

    disguise that the seizure of the opium was tlie real reason for an

    appeal to arms, though the imprisonment of Captain Elliot and

    other acts was the pretext—was still, so far as human sagacity

    can perceive, a wholesome infliction upon a government which haughtily refused all equal intercourse with other nations, or explanations regarding its conduct, and forbade its subjects having free dealings with their fellow-men.

    ‘ If in entering upon the conflict England had published to the

    world her declaration of the reasons for engaging in it, the

    merits of the case would have been better understood. If she

    had said at the outset that she commenced the struggle with the

    Emperor because he would not treat her subjects resorting to

    his shores by his permission with common humanity, allowing

    them no intercourse with his subjects, nor access to his officers;

    because he contemptuously discarded her ambassadors and consular agents, sent with friendly design ; because he made foolish

    regulations (which his own subjects did not observe) an occasion

    of offence against others when it suited him, and had despoiled

    them of their property by strange and arbitrary pi-occcdings,

    weakening all confidence in his equity ; lastly, because he kept

    liimself aloof from other sovereigns, and shut out his people

    from that intercourse with their fellow-men which was their

    privilege and right ; her character in this war would have appeared

    far better. But it is the prerogative of the Governor of

    nations to educe good out of evil, and make the wrath, the

    avarice, and the ambition of men to serve his purposes and advanco his own designs, although their intentions may be far otherwise.

    CONDITION OF CIIIXA AFTER THE WAR. 573

    The external and internal relations of the Chinese Empire at

    the close of the year 1844 were in a far better state than one

    M’onld have snpposed they conld have become in so short a time

    after such a convulsion. The cities and provinces where the

    storm of war had beat most violently were i-eviving, the authority

    of the officers was becoming re-established, the bands of

    lawless desperadoes were gradually dispei’sing, and the people

    resuming their peaceful pursuits. No ill-will was manifested in

    Amoy on account of the losses its citizens had sustained, nor at

    Ningpo or Shanghai for their occupation by Englisli troops.

    The English consuls at the five ports had all been received, and

    trade was connnencing under favorable auspices. The opium

    trade—for this dark feature everywhere forces itself into the

    prospect—was also extending, and opium schooners plying up

    and down the coast, and anchoring on the outside limits of

    eveiy port to deliver the drug.

    The citizens of Canton, however, maintained their hereditary

    ill-will toward foreigners, and proceeded to such lengths that

    the local government became powerless to carry the stipulation

    of the British treaty, to enter its city gates, into effect. Governor

    Davis proceeded to Canton in May, 1847, with several

    vessels of war, capturing all the guns at the Bogue in his progress

    up the river, and compelled the authorities to grant a

    larger space for residences and wai-ehouses on the south side of

    the Pearl River, to be occupied as soon as arrangements could

    be made. It was also agreed that the gates should be unconditionally

    opened within two years, so that foreigners might have

    the same access to this city as to the other four ports. When

    the time came for this to be carried out, the Emperor ordered

    Governor-General Sli to mind the voice of the people and disregard

    this engagement, which had probably never received his

    sanction. A careful examination of the Chinese text of all the

    treaties showed that an explicit permission to enter the citadel

    {c/iin(/), or walled portion of the marts opened to foreign commerce,

    was not given. In consequence of this vagueness the

    Hongkong authorities, acting under instructions from London,

    did not press the point, and the gates of Canton remained inviolate

    till January, 1858.”

    • C/iinese Repositoiy, Vols. XVIII. , pp. 216,275; XV., p. 40 ff. Davis,Cfiina durinff the War (tiul mice the Peace, 1852. Vol. II., Chaps. V. and VI ,passim. Among other authorities on the war may be mentioned Lord Jocelyin,Six Months with ilte Chinese Expedition, London, 1841 ; K. Stewart Mackenzie,Narrative of the Second Campaign in China, London, 1842; Col. Aithur Cunynghame,liecoUections of Service in China, 1853 ; Lieut. John Ouchterlony,The Chinese War, 1844 ; The Last Tear in China to the Peace of Xaiding, by a Field Officer, London and Philadelphia, 1848 ; Auguste Haussmann, L<iChine, resume historiqiie, etc., Paris, 1858 • Ad. Barrot in the Revue des DeuxMondes for February 15, March 1, June 1, and July 1, 1842.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》15-18

    CHAPTER XV.  INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF THE CHINESE

    The superiority of the Chinese over their immediate neighbors in the enjoyments of life and in the degree of security for which individuals can look under the protection of law have their bases chiefly in the industiy of the people. Agriculture holds the first place among the branches of labor, and the honors paid to it by the annual ploughing ceremony are given from a deep sense of its importance to the public welfare ; not alone to provide a regular supply of food and labor for the population, but also to meet the wants of government by moderate taxes, and long experience of the greater ease of governing an agricultural than a mercantile or warlike community. Notwithstanding the encouragement given to tillage, many tracts of land still lie waste, some of it the most fertile in the country; partly because the people have not the skill and capital to drain and lender it productive, partly because they have not sufficient prospect of remuneration to encourage them to make the necessary outlay, and sometimes from the outrages of local banditti making it unsafe to live in secluded districts.

    Landed property is held in clans or families as much as possible, and is not entailed, nor are overgrown estates frequent.

    The land is all held directly from the crown, no allodial property being acknowledged ; if mesne lords existed in feudal times they are now unknown. The conditions of common tenure are the payment of an annual tax, the fee for alienation, with a money composition for personal service to the government, a charge generally incorporated into the direct tax as a kind of scutage. The proprietors of land record their names in the district and take out a hung ki, or ‘ red deed,’ which secures them in possession as long as the ground tax is paid. This sum varies according to the fertility, location, and use of the land, from $1.50 per acre for the best, down to twenty or thirty cents for unproductive or hilly fields. As the exactions for alienation oi sale of lands are high, amounting to as much as one-third of the sale price sometimes, the people accept white deeds from each other as proofs of ownership and responsibility for taxes. As many as twenty or thirty such deeds of sale occasionally accompany the original hung Ai, without which they are suspicious if not valueless. In order to keep the knowledge of the alienations of land in government offices, so that the taxes can be assured, it is customary to furnish a kl-wei, or ‘ deed-end,’ containing a note of the terms of sale and amount of tax liable on the property.

    There is no other proof of ownership required ; and the simplicity and efficiency of this mode of transfer offer a striking contrast to the cumbrous rules enforced in western kingdoms. Revised codes of land laws are issued by the provincial authorities when necessary, as was done in 1846 at Canton.’

    The paternal estate and houses thereon descend to the eldest son, but his brothers can remain upon it with their families, and devise their portion inperpetuo to their children, or an amicable composition can be made ; daughters never inherit, nor can an adopted son of another clan succeed. A mortgagee must enter into possession of the property and make himself responsible for the payment of the taxes ; unless explicitly stated, the land can be redeemed any time within thirty years on payment of the original sum. Sections XC. to C. of the Code contain the laws relating to this subject, some of which bear a resemblance to those established among the Hebrews, and intended to secure a similar result of retaining the land in the same clan or tribe.

    » T. T. Meadows in N. C. Br. R. A. S. Transactions, Hongkong, 1848, Vol. 1

    TENURE AND CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 3

    The enclosure of recent alluvial deposits cainiot be made without the cognizance of the authorities, but the terms are not onerous; for waste hillsides and poor spots ample time is allowed for a return of the capital expended in reclaiming them before assessment is made.

    The Chinese are rather gardeners than farmers, if regard be had to the small size of their grounds. They are ignorant, too, of many of those operations whereby soils naturally unfruitful are made fertile and the natural fertility sustained at the cheapest rate by proper manuring and rotation of crops ; but they make up for the disadvantages of poor implements by hard work. Their agricultural utensils are few and simple, and are probably now made similar to those used centuries ago. The broad hoe is used in soft land more than any other tool ; the weight of its large wooden blade, which is edged with iron, adds impetus to the blow. Spades, rakes, and mattocks are employed in kitchen gardening, and the plough and harrow in rice cultivation. The plough is made of wood, except the iron-edged share, which lies flat and penetrates the soil about five inches. The whole implement is so simple and rude that one would think the inventor of it was a laborer, mIio, tired of the toil of spading, called the ox to his aid and tied his shovel to a rail ;—fastening the animal at one end and guiding the other, he was so pleased with the relief that he never thought of improving it much further than to sharpen the spade to a coulter and bend the rail to a beam and handle. The harrow is a heavy stick armed with a single row of stout wooden teeth, and furnished with a framework to guide it ; or a triangular machine, with rows of iron teeth, on which the driver rides to sink it in the ooze.

    The buffalo is used in rice cultivation, and the ox and ass in dry ploughing ; horses, mules, cows, and goats likewise render service to the farmer in various ways, and are often yoked in most ludicrous combinations. The team which Nieuhoff depicts of a man driving his wiie and his ass yoked to the same plough is too bad for CluTia often to present, though it has been so frequently repeated and used to point a comparison that one almost expects on landing to see half the women in the harness. It may be doubted, however, if this country can vie with some portions of Germany and Holland in the matter of mongrel teams employed on farms.

    The arrangements of farriers’ shops in China are very similar to those of European countries, saving that the tools are of the simplest character. The manner of trussing up the poor beast which is to be shod would seem, however, an unnecessary exercise of caution in the case of a majority of the over-worked horses and nuiles. The animal is fastened to a frame and lifted almost entirely off the ground, while a rope twisted al>out his nose and tightened at will with a turn-stick controls the least attempt at unruliness. Iron shoes are employed in the north: in the south, where horses are little used, they are usually left nnsliod^ though the fore feet are often covered with leather shoes which lit the lioof.

    METHOD OF PLANTING RICE. 5

    An early rain is necessary to the preparation of rice-fields, except where water can be turned upon them. The grain is first soaked, and when it begins to swell is sown very thickly in a small plat containing licpiid manure. “When about six inches high the shoots are planted into the fields, which, from being an unsightly marsh, are in a few days transformed to fields clothed with living green. Holding the seedlings in one hand, the laborer wades through the nnid, at every step sticking into it five or six sprouts, which take root without further care ; six men can transplant two acres a day, one or two of whom are engaged in supplying the others with shoots. The amount of grahir£(j|IU2£d to sow a Chinese mao in this way is thirty-seven and one-half catties, or three hundred and thirty pounds-Wbout^two and one-halTUushels to an Jiinglish acre. The produce is on an average tenfokh Rent ofTaiid is usually paid according to the amount of the crop, the landlord paying the taxes and the tenant stocking the farm ; leases are for three, four, or seven years ; the terms vary according to the position and goodness of the soil.’

    Grain is not sown broadcast, and this facilitates hoeing and weeding the fields as they require. Two crops are planted, one of which ripens after the other; maize and pulse, millet and sesamnm, or sorghum and squash are thus grown together. The plough is an efficient tool in soft soil, but a wide hoe, the blade set almost at a right angle, is the common implement in the north. Barrow describes a drill-plough in common use in the north which remarkably economizes time and seed. ” It con-Eisted of two parallel poles of wood shod at the lower extremity

    ‘ The amount of tribute rice sent to Peking from Kiangsu Province is 01)0,000 tons of 640 catties, or 974,400 peculs Chelikiang ” 44r),000 ” ” ” 633,000 ” Kiangsi ” 80,000 ” ” ” 112,000 ” Hupeh ” 50,000 ” ” ” 70,000 “1,789,400 “Of this the Chinese Company carried in 1875 to Tientsin. . 626,900 “Went by junks 1,162,500 «

    with iron to open the furrows ; these poles were placed upon wheels; a small hopper was attached to each pole to drop the seeds into the furrow, which were covered with earth by a transverse piece of wood fixed behind, that just swept the face of the ground.”‘

    The extent to which terrace cultivation has been described as common is a good instance of the way in which erroneous impressions concerning China obtain currency from accounts not exactly incorrect, perhaps, but made to convey- wrong notions by the mode of their description. The hills are terraced chiefly for rice cultivation or to retain soil which would otherwise be washed away ; and this restricts their gradation, generally speaking, to the southern and eastern provinces. Most of the hills in Kwangtung and Fuhkien are unfit for the plough except near their bases, while in the north it is unnecessary to go to great expense in terracing for a crop of cotton, wheat, or millet. Much labor has been expended in terracing, and many hillsides other -M’ise useless are thus rendered productive; but this does not mean that every hill is cut into plats, nor that the entire face of the country is one vast garden. Terracing was probably a more important feature of agriculture in Palestine in former days than it is in China. The natural terraces of the loess districts, and their extraordinary convenience as well as fertility, have already been noticed in a former chapter. These, it should however be remembered, do not occur south of the Yangzi River.

    The ingenuity of the farmer is well exhiluted in the various modes he employs to insure a supply of water for his rice. In some places pools are made in level fields as reservoirs of rain, from which the water is lifted as occasion requires by well sweeps.

    ‘ Travels in China, London, 1804.

    TERRACE CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION. 7

    It is also expeditiously raised by two men holding a pail between them by ropes, and with a swinging motion rapidly dipping the water out of the tank into little furrows. A favorite plan is to use a natural brooklet and conduct it from one plat to another till it has irrigated the whole hillside. It is where such water privileges offer that the terrace cultivation is best developed, especially in the neighborhood of large cities, where the demand for provisions promises the cultivator a sure reward for his labor. The appearance of the slopes thus graduated into small ledges is beautiful; each plat is divided by a bank serving the triple purpose of fence, path, and dyke, and near which the • rills glide with refreshing lapse, turning whithersoever the master willeth. This primitive method of upland irrigation is carried out far more perfectly in China than in Switzerland, where it is better known to the generality of travelers. Water is not often wasted upon grass meadows in the former country. The food these marshy plats furnish to insects, mollusks, snakes, and birds is surprising to one who examines them for the first time.

    Wheels of various sorts are also contrived to assist in this labor, some worked by cattle, some by human toil, and others carried round by the stream whose waters they elevate.j The last are very common on the banks of the rivers Siang, Ivan, Min, and their affluents, wherever the banks are convenient for this purpose.

    High wheels of bamboo, firmly fixed on an axle in the bank, or on pillars driven into the bed, and furnished with buckets, pursue their stately round, and pour their earnings of two hundred and fifty or three hundred tons a day into troughs fixed at an elevation of twenty or thirty feet above the stream. The box-trough, containing an axle to be turned by two men treading the pedals, is rather a more clumsy contrivance, used for slight elevations ; the chain of paddles runs around two axles and in the trough as closely as possible, and raises the water ten or twelve feet in an equable current.

    Few carts or wagons are used with animals in the southern and eastern provinces where boats are at all available, human strength supplying the means of transportation ; the implements of husbandry and the grain taken from the fields both being carried on the back of the laborer. It is not an uncommon sight about Canton to see a ploughman, when he has done his work, turn his buffalo loose and shoulder his plough, harrow, and hoe, with the harness, and carry them all home. It is when one crosses the Yangtsz’ on his way north that pack animals are met transporting goods and food in great droves ; here, too, people on carts and wheelbarrows fill the roads. On the Great Flain a sail is raised on the latter when a fair wind will heln the man to trundle it over a level way.

    The Chinese manure the plant rather than the ground, both

    in the seed and growing grain. The preparation of manure

    from night soil, by mixing it with earth and drying it into cakes,

    furnishes employment to multitudes who transport at all hours

    their noisome loads through the narrow city streets. Tanks

    are dug by the wayside, paila are placed in the streets and retiring

    stalls opened among the dwellings, whose contents are

    carried away in boats and buckets ; but it is a small compensation

    for this constant pollution of the sweet breath of heaven

    to know that the avails are to be by and by brought to market.

    Science may yet ascertain how the benefits of this necessai-y

    work can be obtained without its disgusting exposure among

    the Chinese. Besides this principal ingredient of manure vats,

    MANUFACTURE AND USE OF MANURES. 9

    other substances are diligently collected, as liair from the bar ber’s shop, exploded tire-ci”ackers and sweepings from the streets, lime and plaster from kitchens and old buildings, soot, bones, tish and animal remains, the mud from the bottom of canals and tanks, and dung of every kind. In Kiangsu a small leaf clover {^Medleago satlva) is grown through the winter upon ridges raised in the rice-fields, and the plants pulled up in the spring and scattered over the fields to be ploughed and harrowed into the wet soil with the stubble, their decomposition furnishing large quantities of ammonia to the seedlings. Vegetable rubbish is also collected and covered with turf, and then slowly burned; the residue is a rich black earth, which is laid upon the seeds themselves when planted. The refuse left after expressing the oil from ground-nuts, beans, vegetable tallow, tea, and cabbage seeds, etc., is mixed with earth and made into cakes, to be sold to farmers. The bean-cake made in Liautung thus aids the cotton and sugar planter in Swatow with a rich compost.

    The ripe grain is cut with bill-hooks and sickles, or pulled up by the roots; scythes, mowing-machines, and cradles are unknown where human arms are so plenty. Rice-straw is made into brooms and besoms; the rice is thrashed out against the side of a tub having a curtain on one side, or bound into sheaves and carried away to be stacked. The thrashing-floors about Canton are made of a mixture of sand and lime, well pounded upon an inclined surface enclosed by a curb; a little cement added in the last coat makes it impervious to the rain; with proper care it lasts many years, and is used by all the villagers for thrashing rice, peas, mustard, turnips, and other seeds, either with unshod oxen or flails. Where frost and snow come the ground requires to be repaired every season ; and each farmer usually has his own.

    The cultivation of food plants forms so large a proportion of those demanding the attention of the Chinese, that excepting hemp, indigo, cotton, silk, and tea, those raised for manufacture are quite unimportant. The great cotton region is the basin of the Yangzi Jiang, where the white and yellow varieties grow side hy side. The manure used is nnul taken from the canals and spread with ashes over the ploughed fields, in which seeds are sown about the 20th of April. The seeds are planted, after sprouting, five or six in a hole, being rubbed with ashes as they are put in, and weeded out if necessary. After the winter crops have been gathered cotton-fields are easily made ready for the shoots, which, while growing, are carefully tended, thinned, hoed,

    and weeded, until the flowers begin to appear about August. As

    the pods begin to ripen and burst the cultivator collects them

    before they fall, to clean the cotton of seeds and husks. The

    weather is carefully watched, for a dry summer or a wet autumn

    are alike unpropitious, and as the pods are ripening from August

    to October, it is not uncommon for the crop to be partially lost.

    The seeds are separated by a wheel turning two rollers, and the

    cotton sold by each farmer to merchants in the towns. Some

    he keeps for weaving at home ; spinning-wheels and looms

    being common articles of furniture in the houses of the peasantry.

    Cotton is cultivated in every province, and most of it is used where it grows. Around Peking the plant is hardly a foot high ; the bolls are cleaned for wadding to a great extent, while the woody stalks supply fuel to the poor. Minute directions are given in Sii’s EneyelojKedia of Agriculture respecting the cultivation of this plant, whose total crop clothes the millions of the Empire without depending on any other land.’

    ‘Fortune’s Wanderings, Cliap. XIV.; Chinese Itejjository, Vol. XVIIT., pp. 449-409.

    COTTOX, HEMP, MULBEKKY, AND SUGAR. 11

    Hemp is largely cultivated north of the Mei ling, and also grows in Fuhkien ; grass-cloth made from the iJulicltos htilhosus is used for sunuuer dresses. There are four plants which produce a fibre made into cloth known under this name, viz.: the Cannahis sativa, or connnon hemp, at Canton; the Bn’Jnncfia nivea, a species of nettle ; the S’ula tillarfoHay or abutilon hemp, in Chihli ; and the Hibiscus cannahinus. The coloring matter used for dyeing blue is derived from two plants, the Pohjgonuin tinctoriurii at the south, and the tlen tshig {Isatls indujotlcci) cultivated at Shanghai and Chusan. The mulberry is raised as a sluide and fruit tree in the northern provinces, where it forms a beautiful plant fifty feet high ; elsewhere the consumption of the leaves renders its culture an important branch of labor in the silk-pr(xliicing provinces. Some growers allow it to attain its natural height, others cut it down to increase the branched

    and the produce of leaves. In Chelikiang it is cut in January

    and deprived of its useless brandies, leaving only the outer ones,

    which are trinnned into two or three points in order to force

    the plant to extend itself. The trees are set out in rows twelve

    feet or more apart, each tree being half that distance from its

    neighbor and opposite the intervals in the parallel rows; the

    interspaces are occupied with legumes or greens. The trees are

    propagated by seed and by suckers, but soon losing their vigor

    from being constantly sti’ipped of leaves, are then rooted up

    and replaced by fresh nurslings.

    Sugar is only a southern and southeastern crop. The name che^ by which it is known, is an original character, which favors the opinion that the plant is indigenous in China, and the same argument is applicable to wheat, hemp, mulberry, tea, and some of the common fruits, as the plum, pear, and orange. The canes are pressed in machines, and the juice boiled to sugar or boiled and hawked about the streets for consumption by the people. The sugar-mill consists merely of two upright cylinders, between which the cane is introduced as they turn, and the juice received into reservoirs; it is then boiled down and sent to the refiners to inidergo the necessary processes to fit it for market ; much is lost by this slovenly manufacture.

    Many plants are cultivated for their oil, used in the arts or in

    cooking. The seeds of two or three species of Elcococea belonging

    to the Euphorbiaceous family, and the Cu/raspu/yans,

    are gathered, and by pressure furnish an oil to mix with lacker

    and paints, or to smear boats as a preservative against teredoes

    and other insects. It is deleterious when taken into the system,

    but does not appear to injure those who use or express it.

    The tallow-tree {StlUiiKjia schtfera) grows over the eastern provinces ; it is a beautiful tree, resembling the aspen in its shape and foliage, and would form a valuable addition to the list of shade-trees in any country. Mr. Denny, the United States Consul at Shanghai, has recently sent a quantity of these seeds to California, where efforts are being made to grow them.

    The tree has been introduced into India for its timber. The seeds grow in clusters like ivy berries, and are collected in November; when ripe the capsule divides, and falling off discovers two or three kernels covered with the pure, hard white tallow. When the tallow is to be prepared, these are picked from the stalks and put into an open wooden cylinder with a perforated bottom, in which they are well steamed over boiling water. In ten or fifteen minutes the tallow covering; the seeds becomes soft, and they are thrown into a stone mortar and gently beaten with mallets to detach it. The whole is then

    sifted on a hot sieve, by which the tallow is separated from the

    kernels, though containing the brown skin which envelops the

    latter and presenting a dirty appearance. The tallow in this

    state is enclosed in a straw cylindei”, or laid upon layers of straw

    held together by iron hoops, and subjected to pressure in a rude

    press, from which it runs clear in a semifluid state and soon

    hardens into cakes. The candles made from it become soft in

    liot weather, and are sometimes coated by dipping them in colored

    wax.’ From one hundred and thirty-three pounds of nuts

    is obtained some forty or fifty pounds of tallow.

    The departments of floriculture and arboriculture have received

    great attention, but the efforts of their promoters are directed

    to producing something curious or bizarre, rather than

    improving the quality of their fruits or enlarging the number

    of their flowers. A common mode of multiplying specimens is

    to slit the stem and insert half of it in damp earth tied around

    the stalk until it has rooted, and then cutting off the whole.

    Dwarfing trees or forcing them to grow in grotesque shapes

    employs much time and patience. The juniper, cypress, pine,

    elm, bamboo, peach, plum, and flowering-almond are selected

    for this purpose ; the former is trained into the shapes of deer

    or other animals, pagodas, etc., with extraordinary fidelit}’, the

    eyes, tongue, or other parts being added to complete the resemblance.

    ‘ Fortune’ii ]\'(iii(k’ri’ii(j.s, ^. 78.

    CEKKMONY OF PLOUGHING AND SPUING FESTIVAL. 13

    The principle of the operation depends upon retarding the circulation of the sap by stinting the supply of water, confinino; the roots, and bendino; the branches into the desired form when young and pliable, afterwards retaining them in clieir forced position in pots, and clipping off all the vigorous shoots, until, as is the case of the cramped fee.t of women, nature gives up the contest and yields to art. Thesq^Uike the similar exhibitions in sculpture and painting, indicate the uncultivated taste of the people, who admire the fantastic and monstrous more than the natural. Some of the clumps placed in large earthen vases, consisting of bamboos, Howers, and

    dwarf trees growing closely together upon a piece of rock-work,

    and overshadowing the water in the vase, in which gold-fish

    swim through the crevices of the stone, are beautiful specimens

    of Chinese art. Without understanding the principles of an

    aquarium, the people have succeeded in combining animal and

    vegetable life in these elegant ornaments of their houses.

    The annual ceremony of ploughing is of very ancient origin. At Peking it consists in ploughing the sacred field in the Temple of Agriculture with a highly ornamented plough kept for the purpose, the Emperor holding it while turning over three furrows, the princes five, and the high ministers nine. These furrows were, however, so short that the monarchs of the present dynasty altered the ancient rule, ploughing four furrows and returning again over the ground. The ceremony finished, the Emperor and his ministers repair to the terrace adjoining the plat, and remain till it has all been ploughed. The crop of wheat is used in idolatrous services. The rank of the actors renders the ceremony more imposing at Peking, but the people of the capital oidy know that such a performance takes place, as they are not admitted inside of the enclosure when it is observed by the Emperor and his suite. This ceremony is also required of all high officers throughout the Empire, and is attended with more or less parade in April.

    In the provinces its celebration varies, and as there are two festivals coming near together connected with agriculture, one or the other of them is apt to predominate. The annual ploughing ritual is one, and the //// chan, or ‘ Eirst day of spring,’ is the other and prior in date. The prefect of every city and his subordinates on that day repair to the appointed spot outside of the walls, accompanied by music and a great procession of the citizens, carrying through the streets a paper image of the buffalo or ox, which, with the idol image worshipped at the same time, are at some places taken into his yamun. Here the whole is placed on an altar, and the officials present walk around and whip the effigy with rods before it is set on fire

    and scrambled for by the people present. Besides the paper

    ox, a clay one is also made and taken beyond the eastern gate,

    sometimes accompanied by or holding hundreds of little images

    inside ; after the ceremonies are over it is broken up, and

    the pieces and small images are carried off by the crowd to

    scatter the powder on their own fields, in the hope of thereby

    insuring a good crop.

    In Ningbo the principal features of the ceremony consist of

    a solemn worship by all the local officers of a clay image of a

    buffalo and an idol of a cow-herd. The prefect then ploughs a

    small piece of ground, and he and his associates disperse till the

    morrow, when they come together in another temple at dawn.

    Here a series of prostrations and recitals of pra^’ers are performed

    by the “fathers of the people” in their presence, some

    of whom have no respect for the worship, Mhile others, perhaps,

    evince deep reverence. As soon as it is over the clay ox is

    brought out, and a procession consisting of all the officers pass

    around it repeatedly, striking the body at a given signal, and

    concluding the ceremony by a heavy blow on the head. The

    crowd then rush in and tear the effigy to pieces, each one carrying

    off a portion to strew on his fields.’

    The various modes of catching and rearing fish exhibit the contrivance and skill of the Chinese quite as much as their agricultural operations. Some persons reckon that at least one tenth of the population in the prefecture of Kwangehau derive their food from the water, and necessity leads them to invent and try many ingenious ways of securing the finny tribes.

    ‘ PereCibot in Mem. cone, les Chinois, Tome III., p. 499. Penal Code, pp.94-106, 520. Chinese nepository, Vol. II., p. :}50 ; Vol. III., pp. 121, 231; Vol. v., p. 485. La Chine Ouverte, p 340. Foreign Mixnionari/ Chronide, Vol. XIII., p. 290. Gray’s China, Vol. II., pp. 115-117. Doolittle’s Social Life, Vol. TI., pp. 18-23. Revue de V Orient, Tome V. (1844), p. 297. Baron d’Hervey Saint-Denys, Recherchea stir VAc/ricnUure et VHorticuUitre des Ohi mis, Paris, 1850. Journal iV: C Br. R. A. Soc, No. IV., pp. 209 fif.

    FISHING ANL> FISHERMEN ALONG THE COAST. 15

    Xets woven of hempen thread are boiled hi a solution of gambier to preserve them from i-otting. The smacks which swarm along the coast go out in pairs, partly that the crews may afford mutual relief and protection, but chiefly to join in dragging the net. In the sliallows of rivers rows of heavy posts are driven down and nets secured to them, which are examined and changed at every tide. Those who attend these nets, more-over, attach scoops or drag-nets to their boats, so loaded that they will sink and gather the sole, ray, and other fish feeding near the bottom. Lifting-nets, twenty feet square, are suspended from poles elevated and depressed by a hawser worked by a windlass on shore ; the nets are baited with the whites of eggs spread on the meshes.

    Group and Residence of Fishermen near Canton.

    ‘ The fishermen along the coast form an industrious, though rather turbulent community, by no means confining their enterprises to their professed business when piraty, dakoity, or marauding on shore hold out greater prospects of gain. When their boats become unseaworthy they are still considered landworthy, and are transformed into houses by setting them bodily upon a stone foundation above the reach of the tide, or breaking them up to construct rude huts.

    The Fishing Cormorant.

    Cormorants are trained in great numbers to capture fish in the rivers and lakes ; they will disperse at a given signal and return with their prey, but not often without the precaution of a neck-ring. A single boatman can easily oversee twelve or fifteen of these birds, and although hundreds may be out upon the water each one knows its own nuister. If one seize a fish too heavy for him alone, another comes to his assistance, and the two carry it aboard ; but such cases are very rare compared with others where the w^eak or young bird is unceremonioaisly robl)ed of its capture. When several hundreds of them fish together the scene becomes animated and noisy in the extreme. The birds themselves are fed on bean-curd and eels or fish. They lay eggs when three years old, which are often hatched under barnyard liens, and the chickens fed with eel’s blood and hash. They do not fish during the summer months. The price of a pair varies from five to eight dollars.

    METHODS OF CATCHING FIRII. 17

    Mussels are caught in cylindrical basket-traps attached to a single rope and drifted with the tide near the bottom. Similar traps fur catching laiul-crabs are laid along the edges of rice fields, baited with dried fish. When the receding tide leaves the river banks dry the boat peo^Tje get overboard and wade in the mud, or push themselves along on a board with one foot, in search of such things as harbor in the ooze.

    In moonlight nights low, narrow shallops, provided with a wide white board fastened to the wale and floating upon the water, are anchored in still water; as the moon shines on the board the deceived fish leap out upon it or into the boat; twenty or thirty of these decoy boats can . be seen near Macao engaged in this fishery on moonlight evenings. Sometimes a boat furnished with a treadle goes up and down near the shores striking boards against its bottom and sides ; the startled fish are caught in the net dragging astern. The crews of many small boats combine to drive the fish into their nets by splashing and striking the water, or into a pool on the margin of the river at high tide, in which they are easily retained by wattles, and scooped out when the water has fallen. Divers clap sticks together under water to drive their prey into the nets set for

    them, or catch them with their toes when, terrified at the noise,

    they hide in the mud. Xeither fly-fishing nor angling with hook

    and line is much practised ; its tedium and small returns would

    be poor amends to a Chinese for the elegance of the tackle or

    the science displayed in adapting the fly to the fish’s taste.

    By these and other contrivances the Chinese capture the

    finny tribes, and it is no surprise to hear that China contains as

    many millions of people as there are days in the 3’ear when one

    sees upon what a large proportion of them feed and how they

    live. Their expenditure of human labor appears enormous to

    those who are accustomed to the manufactories and engines of

    western lands, but perhaps nothing would cause so much distress

    in China as the prematui’o and inconsiderate introduction of labor-saving machines. Population is so close upon the means of production, not seldom overpassing them, that those who would be thrown out of employment would, owing to their ignorance as to the best resources and want of means to do anything by themselves, suffer and cause incalculable distress before relief and labor could be furnished them. Therere, for instance, six or seven 3’ards near Canton where logs are sawed by hand, but all of them together hardly turn out as many feet of boards as one water-wheel turning three or four saws would do. Yet the two hundred men employed in these yards would perhaps be half-starved if turned off in their present condition, even if they did not destroy their competitor; though there is every reason for believing that improvements will be introduced as soon as those wdio see their superiority are assured they can be made profitable.

    The mechanical arts and implements of the Chinese partake of the same simplicity which has been remarked in their agricultural,—as if the faculty of invention or the notion of altering a thing had died with the discoverer, and he had had the best guarantee for the patent of his contrivance in the deprivation of all desire in his successors to alter it. This servility of imitation marks them in many things, but in machinery and metallurgy is chiefly owing to ignorance of the real nature of the ma*”erials they use, a knowledge which has only recently become familiar to ourselves. In the absence of superior models, it produces a degree of apathy to all improvement which strangely contrasts with their general industry and literary tastes. Simplicity of design pervades all operations, and when a machine directs in the best known manner the power of the hand which M’ields it, or aids in executing tiresome operations, its purpose is considered to be fully answered, for it was intended to assist and not to supplant human labor. Yet with all their simplicity some of them are both effectual and ingenious, and not a few are made to answer two or three ends. For example, the bellows, an oblong’ box divided into two compartments, and worked by a piston and two valves in the upper, which forces the wind into the lower part and out of the nozzle, is used by the travelling tinker as a seat when at work and a chest for his tools when his work is done ; though it does not, indeed, serve all these purposes with efliciency.

    CONDITION OF THE MECHANICAL ARTS. 19

    In the arts of metallurgy the Chinese have attained only to mediocrity, and on the whole do not equal the Japanese. To this deficiency may perhaps be ascribed their little progress in some other branchet^ which could not be executed without tools of peculiar size or nicety. Mines of iron, lead, copper, and zinc are worked, though the modes employed in digging the ore, preparing and smelting it, and purifying the metals have not yet been fully examined. Gold is used sparingly for ornaments, but is consumed in vast quantities for gilding; gold thread is commonly imported, and the ingots are known only as bullion. Mr. Gordon found the people in the country parts of Fuhkien quite ignorant of its value, for he could only pass doubloons for a dollar apiece, the natives having never seen them before.

    The Chinese workmanship in chased, repousse, and carved work of gold and silver—baskets, card-cases, teapots, combs, etc.—is almost unequalled. Their jewelry, too, admirably exhibits the delicate filigree work which agrees so well with their genius. Flower-baskets wnth chased flowers and figures of various sorts enamelled on the outside of the open work of wire, and set with precious stones, may perhaps be regarded as the masterpiece of native art in the working of metals.

    • Davis’ Chinese, Vol. II. , p. 235. Penny Cydopcedia, Art. Coppeb. Natalia Rondot, Commerce de la Chine, 1849, p. 142.

    Steel is everywhere manufactured in a rude way, but the foreign importation is gradually supplying a better article. The quality of this metal made is best shown by the carvings in the hardest stones for ornaments, which have never been exceeded elsewhere. Iron is cast into thin plates and various machines of considerable size, but the largest pieces they make, viz., bells and cannon, are small compared with the shafts and steamhammers turned out abroad. Wrought iron is chiefly worked up into nails, screws, hinges, and small articles needed in daily life, though its quality is remarkably good. The jWi tung, argentan or ‘ white copper’ of the Chinese, is an alloy of copper 40.4, zinc 25.4, nickel 81.6, and iron 2.6, and occasionally a little silver; these proportions are nearly the same as German-silver. ” When in a state of ore, it is said to be powdered, mixed with charcoal dust, and placed in jars over a slow fire, the metal rising in the form of vapor in a distilling apparatus, and afterward condensed in water.” ‘ When new, this alloy appears as lustrous as silver, and is uuiTiufactured into incensejars, flower-stands for temple service, boxes, a vast variety of fancy articles, and a few household utensils not intended to be used near the fire. Puzzling specimens of work are made of it, such as teapots enclosed in chinaware and ornamented with a handle and a spout of stone, and having characters on the sides. The white copper varies a good deal in its appearance and malleability, owing probably to mixtures added after distillation.

    Copper is less used than iron for culinary vessels, but will

    probably increase as rapid importation diminishes the cost, for

    iron rusts quickly in the southern parts. The manufactures of

    gongs, cymbals and trumpets, lamps, brass-leaf for working

    into the hin kwa, or tinsel-flowers used in worship, and the

    copper coin of the country, consume probably four fifths of all

    the copper used. The gong is employed on all occasions,

    and its piercing clamor can be heard at any time of day and

    night, especially if one lives near the water. It is an alloy of

    twenty parts of tin with eighty of copper, and is made b}””

    melting one hundred catties of hung tung, or ‘ red copper,’

    with twenty-five catties of tin. The alloy is run into thin plates,

    and the gongs are made by long and expert hammering until

    the requisite sonorousness is obtained.

    Bells and tripods are frequently cast of a large size. The

    bells at Peking (mentioned in Volume I., p. 79) are peculiarly

    rich in quality of tone ; they are almost invariably made without

    tongues, being sounded with a mallet. The tripods for

    receiving the ashes of papers consumed in worship also bear

    inscriptions of a religious character ; the priests of temples containing

    them take great pride in showing their ancient bells,

    tripods, and other like rarities. The pieces of bronze formerly

    produced under the patronage of the Emperor Ivienlung, as

    incense tripods, lions, astronomical instruments, and the infinite

    variety of ornaments, probably represent their highest attainments

    in this branch of metallurgy for beauty and excellence.

    CHINESE ATTAINMENTS IN METALLURGY. 21

    The metallic mirrors, once the oidy reflectors the Chinese manufactured, are now nearly supei-seded by glass ; the alloy is like that of gongs with a little silver added. These mirrors have long been remarkable for a singular property which some of them possess of reflecting the raised characters or device on the back when held in the sun ; this is caused by their outline being traced upon the polished surface in very shallow lines, the whole plate being afterward rubbed until the lines are equally

    bi;ight with the other parts, and only rendered visible by the

    strongest sunlight.’ Besides the metallic articles already mentioned,

    the ornamental and antique bronze and copper figures,

    noticeable fur their curious forms and fine polishing and tracery,

    afford the best specimens of Chinese art in imitating the human

    figure. They are mostly statuettes, representing men,

    gods, birds, monsters, etc., in grotesque shapes and attitudes ;

    some of them are beautifully ornamented with delicate scrolls

    and flowers in niello work of silver or gold wire inserted into

    grooves cut in the metal.

    The manufacture of glass is carried on chiefly at Canton, and its increasing use for windows, tumblers, lamps, mirrors, and other articles of household furniture, shows that the Chinese are quite ready to adopt such things from foreign countries as they find to be advantageous. The importation of broken glass for remelting has entirely ceased, but flints are carried from England for the use of glass-blowers. The furnaces are small, and from the ignorance, on the part of the workmen, of the constituents of good glass, their products are not uniform.

    ‘ Other and perhaps more correct explanations of this peculiarity have been given.

    Foreign window glass is now brought so cheaply that the native inferior article, which distorts objects seen through it, is disappearing; colored articles and chandeliers are still made. The most finished articles which the Chinese have yet produced are ground shades for Argand lamps. Beautiful ornaments are made of the liao-ll, the old native name for a vitreous composition like strass, between glass and porcelain. Ear-rings, wristlets, snuff-bottles, jars, cups, etc., are made of it, plain, colored, and variegated, in vast variety. Some of these articles exhibit different tints in layers, each layer being ground away where it is not wanted, as in cameo carving; blue, red, and yellow are the prevailing colors. The art of producing it has been known longer than glass-making, but was invented later than that of porcelain.

    The cutting and setting of hard and precious stones is carried on to some extent. Spectacles are cut and ground in lathes from crystal, smoky quartz, and a variety of rose quartz resembling the cairngorm-stone, which the Chinese call cha-tsing^ or ‘tea-stone,’ from its color. Their spectacles are not always true, and the wearer is obliged to have tliem ground away until his eyes are suited. The pebble is cut in a lathe, by a wire-saw working in its own dust, into a round shape Avitli plane edges.

    When worn, the rim rests upon the cheek-bones; the frame has a hinge between the glasses, and the machine is sometimes kept on the ears by loops or weights. Foreign-shaped spectacles are supplanting these primitive optics, but the prejudice is still in favor of crystal. The cutting of diamonds is sometimes attempted, but it is not a favorite gem among the Chinese.

    Diamonds and corundums are both employed to drill holes in clamping and mending broken glass and porcelain ; tumblers, jars, etc., are joined so securely in this way without cement as to hold fluids. Both these gems are used to cut glass, but another mode, not unconnnon, is to grease the place to be fractured, and slowly follow the line along by a lighted jossstick until it breaks.

    Sir John Davis condensed all the important information known half a century ago concerning the materials and manufacture of porcelain in his valuable work, but great advance has since been made in a better understanding of this branch of Chinese industry. The wordj)o?’ccla/’}i is derived h’on\ p<»\’ellana, which was given to the ware by the Portuguese under the belief that it was made from the fusion of egg-shells and fish’s glue and scales to resemble the nacre of sea-shells (Cypr?ea) or porcellana. This instance of oft-hand nomenclature is like that of the Chinese calling ca,outchouc elephmifs skin horn its appearance.

    MATERIALS AXD M ANrKACTUIlE OF I’OIICKLAIX. 23

    M. Julien’s translation of the Klmj-teh chin Tun Luh (Paris, 1856) furnishes the native accounts of the porcelain manufactures at Kingteh chin, in Kiangsi, and adds so nmch from other sources that his work is a veritable classic in its special branch. He places the invention of porcelain between b.c. 185 and A.D, 85, and opening the first kiln, at Sinping (not far from the present centre of llonan province), under the reign of Changti of the Eastern Han dynasty. From this the manufacture gradually extended as raw materials were found in other localities, especially in Fauliang, on the eastern shores of the Poyang Lake, where the best ware is still made. A second

    preface to this work, written by M. Salvetat, of the manufactory

    at Sevres, gives the details of the introduction of the art

    into Europe about 1722, and the subsequent improvement to

    the time when European Avares far exceeded the Chinese or

    Japanese for beauty. During the dreadful ravages of the Taiping

    rebellion the manufactories at Kingteh were all stopped.

    A very brief epitome of M. Salvetat’s paper will indicate the

    ingredients of porcelain and their manipulation : Two substances

    enter into all kinds of this ware ; one a strong, infusible

    material which endures great heat, and the other, fusible at a

    low temperature, which communicates its transparency to the

    other as they together pass through the furnace. The first

    of these is called Ixiolin, fi-om the name of a range of hills east

    of Kingteh chin, known as Kao Lituj or ‘ High Ridge,’ a word that has been adopted in Europe as a term for all varieties of the argillaceous or feldspathic components of porcelain. The other is known as jx’h-tun-tss”, a Chinese term properly applied to the bricks of prepared silex, called tun, but now generally adopted to denote the fusible element. The discovery near Taochau fu of both of these in great purity led to the establishment of the kilns there in a.d. 583 ; and Chinese artists discriminate many varieties of each. It is apparently only since A.D. 1000, or thereabouts, that these kilns have produced the choice pieces now so highly prized.

    The kaolin comes from decomposed granite, and is reduced by trituration and several washings to an impalpable powder; this last precipitate is put on cloths, one above another, and dried under slight pressure to a uniform paste ready for the furnace. The a^ka?- oi j>eh-Ui n-Uz’ are prepared in a similar manner; other workmen mix the clay and the quartz—the bones and the flesh, as they are aptly called bv the Chinese — in such proportions as the ware requires. In general, Chinese porcelain is more silicious than European, containing 70 parts of silex, 22 of alumine, G of potash and soda, with traces of lime, manganese, magnesia, and iron. Sevres ware has 58 silex, 34^ alumine, 3 alkali, and 4^ lime ; as the feldspar decreases the beauty of the ware diminishes, but its durability and usefulness increase.

    To make ready the paste for the furnace, the Ijricks of both

    ingredients are trodden in a large basin by buffaloes or men till

    they are well mixed into a watery mass, which is then worked

    and kneaded again on slate slabs in small pieces till it is delivered

    into the hands of workmen to be fashioned on lathes and

    frames into the desired forms and sizes. These craftsmen work

    with very simple machinery, as is apparent from the rude drawings

    of their operations. M. Salvetat gives high praise to their

    skill in producing large jars without the aid of the machinery

    used in Europe, and indicates the great use they make of their

    feet in these operations — a feature of all Asiatic artisans which

    attracts the traveller’s notice wherever he goes. Some of their

    procedures are inferior and ruder than the Japanese potters exhibit,

    but space does not allow them to be described in this

    sketch.

    The glazing on Chinese ware contains silex mixed with lime

    and the ashes of burnt ferns, in such proportions as are found

    suitable for the diiferent varieties. During the mixing of these

    ingredients the ashes are mostly eliminated, and the glazing

    really consists of quartz flexed by carbonate of lime. The liquid

    glaze is applied to the biscuit by dipping, by aspersion, and by

    washing, according to the nature of the ware ; sometimes it is

    blown through a tube in a dewy shower oft repeated.

    STYLES AND MATERIALS OF PORCELAIN DECORATION. 2.1

    When ready for the furnace, the pieces are carried to work, men specially skilled in properly firing them, where the different sizes are placed in ovens particularly fitted to bake each kind. Large jars require a separate oven so as to adapt the fire to their size and thickness, continuing it at a uniform blast for several days. Cups and small pieces are baked one on top of another in smaller ovens, some of which are open and others closed. Coal and wood are both used for fuel. The pieces are taken from the furnaces when successfully baked, to be decorated and colored in all the various hues and pictures which have made Chinese porcelain so much sought after. Some of their ground colors of red, yellow, and green have not been equaled elsewhere ; a careful analysis indicates the presence of the

    oxides of copper, cobalt, iron, lead, antimony, and manganese.

    Some of the rarest and most beautiful tints seem to have been

    the result of happy experiment, the knowledge of which died

    with its manufacture. It is not often that the Chinese artist

    adorns his plaque or jar with mythological or religious characters,

    preferring to let his fancy run riot in grotesque combinations

    of natural scenes, amid which, however, the unerring

    instinct or tlie accumulated experience of many successive generations

    seldom permit him to wander from a truly artistic

    conception. The amount of labor devoted to some minute

    treasure of porcelain decoration is little short of fabulous. Mr.

    Matthew x\rnold”s picture of the “cunning workman” who

    Pricks with vermilion some clear porcelain vase,
    An emperor’s gift—at early morn lie paints,
    And all day long, and when night comes, the lamp
    Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands, could probably be seen scores of times in the humbler quarters of great cities in China.

    Their ignorance of analytical chemistry compels them to follow a rule of thumb in the composition of their colors ; but generally they use oxide of copper for green and bluish greens, gold for reds, oxide of cobalt for blues, of antimony for yellows, and of arsenic and tin for whites. The preparation and application of these materials admit of less scope and beauty than are found on the finest European ware, and their result is more like enamelling than painting. M. Salvetat admits that the Chinese potter has excelled in producing craqii^ele ware, and certain hues, as sea-green, deep rosedon reds, and brilliant blues, which have not been equalled in Europe.

    One elegant mode of ornament peculiar to them is seen in the tao-mhi(j ts3′-Vi, lit., ‘clear, bright porcelain,’ called eyelet-hole ware or grains of rice, made in the reign Kienlung. The paste is cut through by a kind of stamp which takes out enough to form the figure, in which the glaze is inserted before the piece is finally joined and ready for the kihi. When tired the glaze becomes transparent ; different patterns are frequently painted on the two surfaces, in which advantage is taken of the eyeletholes to adapt them to two sets of figures. An instance of mechanical skill is occasionally seen in their articulated vases, in which one jar is baked inside of another, the outer one being perforated so as to show off the object within; the baking of such pieces must be very difficult and uncertain.

    The ware sold at Canton for foreign use is painted in that city to suit the caprice of purchasers, and during the present century has become identified abroad with Chinese art, wdiile it is really a combination of two or three styles. Its peculiarity consists in covering the dish with medallions and vignettes in bright colors, containing figures of heroes, arms, birds, etc., or scenes oti a colored or white ground. Such ware is not commonly used by the Chinese, but its manufacture is unhappily beginning to affect their national taste. This style is quite different from the well-known blue willow pattern which has long been regarded as the real CdeHtlal ware. This color does mark the common pottery and stoneware used all over the Empire by the poor, but the pattern is not so common.

    It is not possible to enter here into all the niceties of this

    subject, which is now attracting great attention, and has been

    examined by Jacqnemart, Prime, Young, and many others.

    Further researches into native and foreign books and collections

    will bring out new facts, legends, and specimens, while we may

    look for rare old pieces, as has been the case with the discovery

    of the small perfume bottles in Egypt, as soon as full liberty is

    given over all Asia to seek and dig.

    Besides table furniture, porcelain statuettes and idols are common, and vases often bring extravagant prices, owing to some quality of fineness, coloring, antiquity, or shape, which native connoisseurs can only appreciate. The god of porcelain himself is usually made of this material. D’Entrecolles, in his account of the manufacture of the ware, says that this deity owes his divinity to his self-innnolation in one of the furnaces.

    CHINESE BOTTLES DISCOV EKED IN EGYPT. 27

    in utter despair at being able to accomplish the Emperor’s orders for the production of some vases of peculiar fineness ; the pieces which came out of the furnace after the wretch was burned pleased his Majesty so much that he deified him. Cheap stoneware is made at Shaukinii;, in Kwangtung, and many other places, some of it very pure and white.

    The exportation of })orcelain has formed a very ancient branch of commerce westward, and it is not strange that specimens should occasionally be met with even at a great distance from China. The discovery of Chinese bottles in Egypt and Asia Minor, containing quotations from Chinese poets, shows that intercourse existed between the extremes of Asia in the tenth or eleventh centuries. Rosellini seems to have been the earliest to notice these relics of an ancient trade, during his researches in Egypt in 1828, when he obtained two or three. In a letter written in reply to one from Sir J. F. Davis, he states that he found one of these little bottles in a ” petit panier tissn de feuilles de palmier,” with other objects of Egyptian manufacture, in a tomb, whose date he places between b.c. 1800 and 1100. His words are, ” Ayant penetre dans un de ces trois tombeaux j’y ai trouve,” etc., which is as explicit as possible. He also adds, that many fragments of similar bottles had been offered to him by the peasants, which he had looked upon as quite modern till this discovery showed that they were real antiques.

    Since then, several more have been picked up ; Dr. Abbott’s Egyptian collection in Kew York contains seventeen, all of which came from Egypt, but none, besides llosellini’s, out of a tomb directly into the hands of an Egyptologist. Layard and Cesnola bought similar bottles in Cyprus and Arban. However, one well-authenticated fact, like that of llosellini’s discovery, gives some evidence of a similar ancient origin to others precisely like it in shape, coloring, and inscriptions, for the trade between Arabia and Egypt to China has long since ceased ; but as fifty years have passed without another bottle occurring in any of the numerous tombs opened by careful and competent persons, one is inclined to think that Ttosellini’s tomb may have been twice used to bury mummies in, or that he mistook its age.

    The inscriptions ;inJ style of writing of five different kinds have been engraved, and Sir Walter H. Medhnrst gives a translation of each, tracing the lines to their original authors. One of them is from AV’ ang Wai (a.d. 702-745), and reads, JSLlng

    yueh sung chung chao, ‘ The bright moon shines amidst the

    firs.’ A second i-eads, Chlh isai Uz’ shan chung, ‘ Only in the

    midst of these mountains,’ and it dates a.d. 831-837. A third

    is contracted from a line by Wei Ying-wuh (a.d. 702-795),

    being part of a stanza of eight lines, as follows: IIivo lal ijta

    yih nien, ‘ The flowers open, and lo, another year !

    ‘ A fourth

    dates from a.d. 1068-1085, and is from the famous poet Su

    Tung-po : Hang hioa hung sJiih 11, ‘The apricot flowers bloom

    for miles around ;

    ‘ this is abridged from a distich in pentameter as follows:

    One mass of color, the apricot flowers bloom for miles around ;

    The successful graduate urges on his steed as if flying. .

    Sir John Davis ascribes this inscription to a Chinese song written prior to the Christian eia, but gives no proof of so early a date, and he is probably in error. The fifth inscription is of the same date as the last ; it forms part of a quatrain by Chao Yung, and reads, Liao teh shaojhi eld, ‘ Which few, I ween, can comprehend.’

    In Prime’s work on pottery he has given fac-similes of five bottles whose inscriptions are the same as those explained by Medhnrst ; his No. 142 and No. 14G is the second in this list ; his No. 143 is the first ; his 144 is the third ; and his 145 is the fifth and is different in shape from the others. The characters on the one found at Arban by Layard are written in a very cursive style.’

    ‘ Davis’ Sketches, Vol. II., pp. 72-84. Medhurst’s Ohinn, p. 135. Julien’s Histoire de la Porcelain Ohinow’, pp. xi-xxii. Prime’s Pottery and Porcelain^ p. 232. N. G. Br. R. A. S. Tranmctions, 1852, pp. 34-40 ; 1854, p. 93.

    INSCRIPTIONS UPON THE BOTTLES. 2l3

    The age and origin of these bottles has excited much inquiry, but the weight of evidence points to their having been taken to Egypt and Arabia by the Arabs who traded at Canton and Hang Zhou down to the end of the Sung dynasty in 1278. They were, as AVilkinson suggests in his Ancient Kgijpthin^, probably used by the purchasers to hold Void, to paint the eyes and eyelids of women ; their original use was probably to liokl peppermint and other oils, bandoline and tooth-powders, though

    snuff is now generally carried in them, as glass bottles contain

    the essences and oils seen in shops. The uniformity in size, shape,

    coloring, and decoration in these bottles indicates that the

    trade was rather confined to one port in China, for at present a

    vast variety in all these particulars would be seen, as I ascertained

    some years ago at Canton when unsuccessfully looking

    in the shops for some having inscriptions like those discovered

    in Egypt. Mr. Fortune found one having the same inscription

    as Xo. 2, and Sir Harry Pai-kes came across three others, but

    their rarity now proves the change ; and these were probably

    real antiques. The latter found two other inscriptions on similar

    bottles in China, whose authors lived a.d. 584 and later; and

    argues against their high antiquity from the metre having been

    introduced in later times. The strongest proof of their modern

    origin is the material and the date of the style of writing, neither

    of which could have been prior to the Han dynasty if Chinese

    records are Avorth anything ; such simple lines as these five

    could indeed have been handed down and adopted by later poets from lost authors, but this possibility weighs nothing against the others. The more antiquarian researches extend in Asia, however, the more shall we find that the books and inscriptions now extant do not contain the earliest dates of inventions and travels.

    The cheap pottery of the Chinese resembles the Egyptian

    ware in color and brittleness, but is less porous when unglazed.

    Tea-kettles, pans, plates, teapots, and articles of household use,

    bathing-tubs, immense jars, comparable to hogsheads, for liolding

    water, fancy images, statuettes, figurines, toys, flower-pot >,

    and a thousand other articles are everywhere burned from clay

    and sold at extremely low prices. The jars are used in shops

    to contain liquids, powders, etc. ; in gardens to keep fish, collect

    rain, and receive manure and offal ; and in boats and houses for

    the same purposes that barrels, ])ails, and pans are put to elsewhere.

    “Water will boil sooner and a dish of vegetables be

    cooked more expeditiously in one of these earthen pots than in

    metal ; the caloric seems to permeate the clay almost as soon as

    it is over the fire. Druni-shaped stools and garden seats, vitruvian

    ornaments for balustrades, fanciful llower-pots in the shape

    of buffaloes, representing the animal feeding under the shade of

    a tree growing out of its body, lishes, dragons, phoinixes, and

    other objects for decorating the ridges and for gargoyles are

    manufactured of this ware. Flat ligures of the human form

    are set into frames to represent groups of persons, or elegantly

    shaped characters are arranged into sentences, both of them to

    put on the walls of rooms, making altogether a great variety of

    purposes to which this material is applied.

    The lacquered-ware peculiar to China and Japan owes its

    histre to the prepared sap of a kind of sumach {IlJius vernieifera)

    cultivated in both countries for this purpose. AVood oils

    are obtained from other plants, such as the C’urcas, Augia,

    J^Jleococcus, and lihus semi-alatus^ and the different qualities of

    lacquered-ware are owing to the use of these inferior ingredients.

    The real varnish-tree is described bv De Guiiiiies as resemblini»;

    the ash in its foliage and bark ; it is about tifteen feet in height,

    and when seven j-ears old furnishes the sap, which is carefully

    collected in the summer nights from incisions cut in the truidv.

    It comes to market in tubs holding the cakes, and those who

    collect it are careful to cover their faces and hands from contact

    with this irritating juice as they prepare it for market. A good

    yield of a thousand ti-ees in one night would be twenty pounds

    avoirdupois weight of sap. The best sort is tawny rather than

    white in its inspissated state, and is kept well protected from the

    air by tarred paper. The body of lacquered-ware is usually seasoned

    pine, well smoothed, and the grooves covered with hempen lint

    or paper. A sizing of pig’s gall, often mixed with very fine

    sand, makes a priming. The prepared lacquer is composed of the

    sap dissolved in spring-water, adding ground-nut oil, pig’s gall,

    and rice vinegar in the sunshine with broad flat brushes till it

    is thoroughly mixed.

    The principal object in preparing the wood is to cover it with a priming that wall receive the lac(]uer and remain impervious to changes in temperature. This preparation varies a good deal according to the quality of the ware ; it is laid on evenly, coat after coat, allowing each to dry before the next is spread.

    UlANUFACTUKE OF LACQUEKED-WARE. 81

    The last coating is rubbed with puiuice or the finest sandstone, finishing this priming with ;i .smooth piece of slate. When ready the piece is taken into a close room having paper lattices and shut out from any air, where it receives a coating of clear lacquer. It is then put into a dark room to dry. The operation is repeated ten or fifteen times for the best kinds. Some workmen are so sensitive to the liquid lacquer that they cannot safely do this part of the manufacture ; others go through all the processes without annoyance. Coloring matter to give the lacquer a brown hue, or to make an imitation of venturuia(or aventui’lne^ a brownish glass spangled throughout with copper filings) by mixing gold leaf, is added during these operations.

    The gilding is performed by another set of workmen in a

    large workshop. The figures of the design are drawn on thick

    paper, which is then pricked all over to allow the powdered

    chalk to fall on the table and form the outline. Anotlier

    workman completes the picture by cutting the lines with a burin

    or needle, and filling them with vermilion mixed in lacquer, as

    tliick as needed. This afterward is covered by means of a hairpencil

    with gold in leaf, or in powder laid on with a dossil ; the

    gold is often mixed with fine lampblack. The proper lacquer

    is seldom used otherwise than in making this ware. The Chinese

    term for UiU includes this and all kinds of oils and paints,

    so that some confusion arises in describing their materials.’ A beautiful fabric of lacquered-ware is made by inlaying the nacre of fresh and salt-water shells in a rough mosaic of fiowers, animals, etc., into the composition, and then varnishing it. Another highly prized kind is made by covering the wood with a coating of fine powdered cinnabar and varnish three or four lines in thickness, and then carving figures upon it in relief. The great labor necessary to produce this ware renders it expensive, and it is not now produced.

    ‘ N. Rondot, Commerce (le la Chine, p. 120 ; Journal Asuttique, IV. Series,Tome XI., 184y, pp. 34-05 ; Clduene Commercial Cruidc, 5th Ed., p. 134.

    The oils obtained from the nuts of other trees by simple pressure and by refining them afterward are quite numerous. The details of their manufacture and application may yet furnish many new hints and processes to western arts. The oil of the Eleococcus, after pressing (according to De Guignes), is boiled with Spanish white in the proportion of one ounce to half

    a pound of oil ; as it begins to thicken it is taken off and poured

    into close vessels. It dissolves in turpentine and is used as a

    varnish, either clear or mixed with different colors ; it defends

    woodwork from injury for a long time, and forms a good painter’s

    oil. Boiled with iron rust it forms a reddish brown varnish.

    In order to prevent its penetrating into the wood when

    used clear, and to increase the lustre, a priming of lime and

    hog’s blood simmered together into a paste is previously laid on.

    The manufacture of silk is original among the Chinese, as

    well as those of porcelain and lacquered-ware, and in none of

    these have foreigners yet succeeded in fully equalling the native

    products. The notices of the cultivation of the nmlberry

    and the rearing of silk-worms found in Chinese works have

    been industriously collected and published by M. Julien by

    order of the French government—another instance of the

    intelligent care of this nation to aid one of its great industries.

    The introduction by M. Beauvais indicates certain })oints

    worthy of the notice of cultivators ; it has been remarked that

    the hints thus obtained from Julien’s translation have been of

    more value to the peoj)le employed in silk culture in France

    than all that has been paid by the govei-nment for the promotion

    of Chinese literature from their first outlay in tlie last century.

    The earliest notice in the SJuo Kimj of silk culture occurs in the Yu Kiing. It is said the mulberry grounds were made fit for silk-worms, when speaking of the draining of Yen Chau (parts of Shantung and Cliihli), as if it was an usual culture ; other references to silk in the same book show it to have been a well-known fabric at that date (b.c. 2204). The allusion, therefore, in the Book of Odes to silks of many sorts also strengthen the notice in the Wei li’i^ which says :

    Slling shi, the Empress of Hwangtl, began to rear silk-worms:

    At this period Hwangti invented the art of making clotliing.

    ORIGIN AND IMPOUTANCE OP^ THE SILK INDUSTRY. 33

    This legend carries tlie art back to u.r. 2600, or perhaps five

    centuries after the Deluge. Siling is said to have been her

    birthplace, and Lui Tsu her right name ; she was deified and is

    still worshipped as the goddess of silk under the name of Yuenfi.

    In this act, as De Guignes observes, the Chinese resemble other

    ancient nations in ascribing the invention of spinning to women,

    and deifying them ; thus the Egyptian Isis, the Ljdian Arachne,

    and the Gi-ecian Athene also handled the distaff. A temple

    called the Sten-tsaii Tao exists in the palace grounds dedicated

    to Yuenfi, wherein she is worshipped annually in April by the

    Empress. The altar, grounds, sacrifices, ritual, and buildings

    are all in imitation of those in the Temple of Agriculture, of

    which they are a counterpart. The Book of Rites contains a

    notice of the festival held in honor of weaving, which corresponds

    to that of ploughing by the Emperor. ” In the last month

    of spring the young Empress purified herself and offered a sacrifice to the o:oddess of silk-worms. She went into the eastern fields and collected mulberry leaves. She forbade noble dames and the ladies of statesmen adorning themselves, and excused her attendants from their sewing and embroidery, in order that they might give all their care to the rearing of silkworms.”

    The present enclosure was put up by Yungching in 17-12, but its buildings are now much dilapidated. The attention of the Chinese government to this important branch of industry has been unremitted, and at this day it supplies perhaps one-half of all the gai’tnents worn by the people. In the paraphrase to the fourth maxim of the Shing Yu, it is remarked : ” In ancient times emperors ploughed the lands and empresses cultivated the mulberiy. Though the most honorable, they did not disdain to toil and labor, as examples to the whole Empire, in order to induce all the people to seek these essential supports.” One-half of the lllastrations of Agriculture and Weaving are devoted to delineating the various processes attending this manufacture ; and Julien quotes more than twenty works and authors on this subject. Among other uses to which this material is put, may be remembered, in the second chapter of this work, the burning of many thousand pieces of plain, coarse silk as part of the offerings to the gods at Peking, and in the annual sacrifices before the tablets of Confucius.

    ‘While the worms are growing, care is taken to keep them

    undisturbed bj either noise or bright light; they are often

    changed from one hurdle to another that they may have roomy

    and cleanly places ; the utmost attention is paid to their condition

    and feeding, and noting the right time for preparing them for

    spinning cocoons. Three days are required for this, and in six

    it is time to stifle the larvae and reel the silk from the cocoons; but this being usually done by other workmen, those who rear the worms enclose the cocoons in a jar buried in the ground and

    lined with mats and leaves, interlaying them with salt, which

    kills the pnpfe but keeps the silk supple, strong, and lustrous ;

    preserved in this manner, they can be transported to any distance,

    or the reeling of the silk can be delayed until convenient.

    Another mode of destroying the cocoons is to spread them on

    trays and expose them by twos to the steam of boiling water,

    putting the upper in the place of the lower one according to

    the degree of heat they are in, taking care that the chrysalides

    are killed and the silk not injured. After exposure to steam the

    silk can be reeled off immediately, but if placed in the jars they

    must be put into warm water to dissolve the glue before the

    floss can be unwound.

    ‘ Julien, Culturer des Muriers, 1837 ; Pauthier, Chine Moderne, p. 21; Hedde, Cat(tlo(pu’ (JcH Prodvits Serigenes, 1848, pp. 100-287; Chinese Fepos/ton/, Vol.XVIII,, pp. :K)8-;314 ; Commercial Guide, 5th Ed., p. 136 ; Mailla, Ilistoire de la Chine, Tome I., p. 24 ; Biot, Tcheon-li, passim, 1851.

    REARING AND TltKATMENT OF SILK- WORMS. 85

    The commission sent from France to China in 1844 to make inquiries into its industries consisted of skilled men, and their reports embody a great amount of details nowhere else to be found. The digested catalogue of the exhibits of M. Iledde at St. Etienne in 1848 contains four hundred and fifty-three articles relating to silk and mulberry alone. The amount of silk goods exported has never regained its value previous to 1854, in consequence of the destruction of skilled workmen and manufactories during the Tai-ping rebellion, and raw silk still forms the bulk of the export. The finest silk comes from Chehkiang province, and is known as tsatli,, tay-saam, and yuenhwa in commerce ; the centre of the culture is at Ilii-chau, a prefecture in the northwest of that province. The mulberry grows everywhere, and none of the provinces are without some silk, but Kwangtung, Sz’chuen, and Chehkiang furnish the best and most.

    Great attention is paid in Shantung, Sz’chuen, and Kweichau

    to collecting wild silk from the cocoons of worms which

    feed on the ailantus, oak, and xanthoxylum. The insect is the

    Attacus ei/nthia, and its food the tender leaves of the ailantus

    and Quercus mongholica in Shantung, where great quantities of

    durable silk is woven. It is not so lustrous as that produced by

    the bombyx-worm, which feeds on the mulberry leaf, and comparatively

    little is exported. The proportion of manufactured

    silks sent abroad is less now than it was fifty years ago, but the

    home consumption is so enormous that an annual export to

    the value of nearly ninety millions of dollars has little effect

    on the prices. In 1854 the price of the best raw silk was

    about $330 a bale, and the expoi-t over fifty-one thousand bales ;

    in 1860, the sanie sort was $550, and the export nearly eighty

    thousand bales ; this increase in price was owing chiefly to disease

    in the trees in Europe, though the ravages of war in both

    Chehkiang and Kwangtung had destroyed much property in

    this branch.

    The loom in China is worked by two hands, one of whom sits on the top of the frame, where he pulls the treadles and assists in changing the various parts of the machine. The workmen imitate almost any pattern, excelling particularly in crapes, and flowered satins and damasks for oflficial dresses.

    The common people wear pongee and senshaw, which they frequently dye in gambler to a dust or black color ; these fabrics

    constitute most durable garments. Many of the delicate silk

    tissues known in Europe are not manufactured by the Chinese,

    most of their fabrics being heavy. The lo, or law, is a beautiful

    article like grenadine and seldom sent abroad ; it is used

    for summer robes, muscpiito curtains, festoons, and other purposes.

    The English words .satin, .senshaw, and sill’ are probably

    derived from the Chinese terms sz’-twan, sien-sha, and sz\

    intermediately through other languages.

    The skill of the Chinese in embroidery is well known, and

    the demand for such work to adorn the dresses of officers

    and ladies of every rank, for ornamenting purses, shoes, caps,

    fans, and other appendages of the dress of both sexes, and in

    working shawls, table covers, etc., for exportation, furnishes

    employment to myriads of men and women. The fj’ame is

    placed on pivots and the pattern marked out upon the plain

    surface. There are many styles, with thread, braid, or floss,

    and an infinite variety in the quality, pattern, and beauty of the

    work ; it is the art of Chinese women, and every young lady is

    expected to know how to do it. (3n fire screens the design appears

    the same on both sides, the ends of the threads being

    neatly concealed. This mode of embroidery seems also to have

    been known among the Hebrews, from the expression in Deborah’s

    song (Judges V. 30), “Of divers colors of needle-work

    on both sides,” which Sisera’s mother vainly looked for him to

    bring home as spoil for her. Books are prepared for emljroiderers

    containing patterns for their imitation or combination.

    The silk used is of the finest kind and colqr, gold and silver

    thread being introduced to impart a lusti’e to the figures on

    caps, purses, and shoes. Tassels and twisted cords for sedans

    or lanterns, knobs or buttons worn on the winter caps, and elegant

    fan and pipe-cases, purses or fobs, constitute only a few

    of the products of their needles. Spangles are made from

    brass leaves by cutting out a small ring by means of a doubleedged

    stamp, which at one drive detaches from the sheet a

    wheel-shaped circle ; these are flattened by a single stroke of

    the hammer upon an anvil, leaving a minute hole in the centre.

    Another way of making them is to bend a copper wire into a

    circle and flatten it. Their own needles are very slender, and

    are rapidl}’ giving way to the foreign article ; in sewing the

    tailor holds it between the forefinger and thumb, pressing

    against the thimble on the thumb as he pushes it into the cloth.

    Our ascertaining the date of the introdnctioii of cotton as a

    textile plant into China depends very nmch on the meaning of

    certain words rendered eofton. by some amiotators in the Slia

    King. The weight of proof is, however, strongly adverse to

    this view ; but a historical notice dated about a.d. 500 plainly

    COTTON-GROWING AND MANUFACTURE. 37

    refers to cotton robes ; in a.d. G70 it was called by a foreign

    name kih-pei, a contracted foi”m of the Sanscrit name harjya-n.

    The present name of nuen-hwa^ or ‘ cotton Hower,’ was naturally

    given to it from the resemblance of its seed envelope to

    the silky covering of the seeds of the muh-iriien shu^ or tree

    cotton {Boniba.i’), common in Southern China. It was, however,

    one thing to admire cotton cloth brought as tribute, and

    quite another to introduce cotton-growing into China, which

    does not seem to have been attempted until the Sung dynasty.

    Early in the eleventh century the plant was brought over and

    cultivated in the northwestern provinces by persons from

    Khoten, where it M’as grown. If this tardy adoption seems

    difficult to explain, the still slower introduction of silk-growing

    (in A.D. 550) into Asia Minor from Cliina, twelve centuries

    after her fabrics had been seen there, is more surprising. The

    opposition to cotton cultivation on the part of silk and hemp

    growers was so persistent that the plant had not fairly won its

    way into favor until the Yuen dynasty ; and this was owing to

    a public-spirited woman, Lady Hwang, who distributed seeds

    throughout Kiangnan, now the great cotton region.

    The duvable cotton cloth made in the central provinces, called nankeen by foreigners, because Kanking is famous for its manufacture, is the chief produce of Chinese looms. It is now seldom sent out of the country, and the natives are even taking to the foreign fabric in its stead. Cotton seed in that part of China is sown early in June, about eighty pounds to an acre ; in a good year the produce is about two thousand pounds, diminishing to one-half in poor seasons. It is manured with liquid bean-cake, often hoed, and the bolls gathered in October, usually by each family in its own plot. The seeds are separated by passing the pods between an iron and wooden roller on a frame, which presses out the seeds and does not break them. The cleaned cotton is then bowed ready for spinning,

    and the cloth is woven in sinq^le looms by the people who are

    to wear it after it is dyed blue. The looms used in weaving

    cotton vary from twelve to sixteen inches in M’idth ; they are simple

    in their construction ; no figures are woven in cotton fabrics,

    nor have the Chinese learned to print them as chintz or calico. Whether the varied articles from the west now brought into close competition with this primitive Chinese manufacture will finally captivate the consumer’s choice, and neutralize its production, depends chiefly on what can be substituted therefor. At present, such is the extent of the native crop that prices would not probably advance ten per cent, if the whole foreign importation of raw and manufactured cotton should suddenly stop. The only attempt to estimate the product has been in Kiangnan, at The Cobbler and his Movable Workshop.

    twenty-eight thousand five hundred tons, a figure below rather

    than above the truth.”

    Leather is used to protect the felt soles of shoes and make saddles, bridles, quivers, harness, etc., but the entire consumption is small, and the leather extremely poor. Buffalo and horse-hides are tanned for sole leather, and calf-skin for upper leather to supply shoes for foreigners at the ports. Alum, saltpetre, gandjicr, and urine are the tanning materials employed, and the rapid manner in which the process is completed renders the leather both porous and tender.

    ‘ Journal N. G. Dr. li. A. 8. (1859); Ghinese Repository, XVIII., pp. 449-469; N. Rondot, Counnnre de In Oliiiie, 1849, p. 72; Fortune, WanderiiKja,Chap. XIV. (18.47) ; Grosier, Ilidolrc dc la Chine, Toiiiu 111., pp. 193-204.

    LKATIIEK AND WOOLLEN FABRICS. 39

    Cobblers go about the streets plying their trade, provided with a few bits of nankeen, silk, and yellowish sole leather with which to patch their customers’ shoes. It is no small convenience to a man, as he passes along the street, to give his old shoe to a cobbler and his ragged jacket to a seamstress, while he calls the barber to shave him as he waits for them ; and such a trio at work for a man is not an unconnnon sight.

    The chief woollen fabrics produced are felts of different qualities

    and rngs or carpets woven from coarse camel’s-hair yarn.

    Tanned sheep-skins furnish the laboring poor in the northern

    provinces with clothing, and elsewhere felt supplies them with

    material for shoes, hats, and carpets. The fulling process is

    not very thoroughly done, and the fabric soon disintegrates

    unless protected by matting or cotton. The consumption of the

    good qualities for hats is large among out-door workmen, who

    prefer the doubled kind made in the shape of a hollow cycloid,

    so that it can be turned inside out. Camel’s-hair rugs supply

    a durable and cheap covering for the brick divans and tiled

    floors in the colder districts, but the thick soles of Chinese shoes

    obviate the need of additional protection to the feet. Some of

    these rugs are fine specimens of art in their arrangement of patterns

    and figures in colored woollen yarns, though far inferior

    to the Persian. Pretty rugs are also made of dog, deer, and foxskins

    sewed together in a kind of mosaic. Knitting and ornamental

    works in wool are unknown, since the far more elegant

    and durable embroidery in silk takes the place of these as fancy

    work amoneo; dames of hioC*-h and low deiOiiee.

    The subject of tea culture and the preparation of its leaf

    have engaged the attention of writers among the Chinese and

    Japanese ; while its effects on the human system as a beverage

    have been discussed most carefully by eminent western chemists

    and pathologists. Its virtue in restoring the energies of the

    body and furnishing a drink of the gentlest and most salubrious

    nature has been fully tested in its native land for many centuries,

    and is rapidly becoming known the world over. The

    following are some of the leading facts relating to the plant and

    the preparation and nature of the leaf, derived from pei’sonal

    observation in the country or from the writings of competent

    observers.

    Tea does not grow in the northern provinces of China and Japan ; its range lies between the twenty-third and thirty-fifth degrees of latitude, and reaching in longitude from Yedo to Assam. No accounts have come to us of the tea shrub being cultivated for its infusion till a.d. 350. The people in different

    parts of China gave different names to the successive pickings

    of the leaves, which have now become disused. Our word tea

    is derived from the common sound of the character for the

    pla!it at the city of Anioy, where it is tay ; at Canton and Peking

    it is clta, at Shanghai dzo, at Fuhchau ta. The Russians and

    Portuguese have retained the word cha, the Spanish is te or tay,

    and the Italians have both te and cha. Tea is so nearly akin to

    the various species of camellia that the Chinese have only one

    name for alL The principal difference to the common observer

    is in the thin leaf of the tea and the leathery glabrous leaf of

    the beautiful Camellia Japonica. When allowed to grow they

    both become high trees. The tea flower is small, single, and

    y white, has no smell, and soon falls; its petals are less erect than

    the camellia. The seeds are three small nuts, like filberts in

    color, enclosed in a triangular shell which splits open when ripe,

    with valves between the seeds. Its taste is oily and bitter. Two

    species of camellia are cultivated for their oily seeds, the oil

    being known as tea-oil among the natives ; it is used for lamps

    and cooking. There is probably only one species of the tea

    plant, and all the varieties have resulted from culture ; but the

    Thea vh’idls is most cultivated. The nuts are ripe in October.

    They are put in a mixture of sand and earth, dampened to keep

    them fresh till spring ; they generate heat and spoil if not thus

    separated. In March they are sown in a nursery, and the

    thrifty shoots transplanted the next year in rows about four feet

    apart. Leaves are collected when the plant is three years old,

    and this process is continued annually to a greater or less extent,

    according to the demand and strength, until the whole

    bush becomes so weak and diseased that it is j)ulled up for firewood

    to give place to a new shoot. On the average this is about

    the eighth year. The plants seldom exceed three feet; most

    of them ai’C half that height, straggling and full of twigs, often

    covered with lichens, but well hoed and clean around their roots.

    TEA CULTURE. 4J

    All tea plantations are merely patches of the shrnbs cared for by small fanners, who cultivate the plants and sell the leaves to middle-men, or more often pick the crop themselves if they can afford to do so. The great plantation or farm, with its landlord and the needy laborer, each class trying to get as nmch as possible out of the other, are unknown in China ; the farmer has not there learned to employ skill, machinery, and capital all for his own advantage, but each farmstead is worked by the family, who rather emulate each other in the reputation of their tea. Tea is cultivated on the slopes or bases of hills, where the drainage is quick and the moisture unfailing. This

    is of more consequence than the ingredients of the soil, but

    plants so continually depauperated and stripped require rich

    manure to supply their waste. In Japan the tea shrubs are

    sometimes grown as a hedge around a garden lot, but such

    plants are not stripped in this way. In gathering the earliest

    leaves, the pickers are careful to leave enough foliage at the end

    of the twigs ; and the spring rains are depended on to stimulate

    the second and full crop of leaves. When these are scant or

    fail the tea harvest diminishes, and the regularity of the rains

    is so essential to a profitable cultivation that it will be one of

    the causes of failure whei-e everything else in soil, climate, manuring,

    and manufacture may be favorable.

    The first gathering is the most carefully done, for it goes to make the best sorts of black and green tea ; and as the greatest part of the leaves are still undeveloped, the price must necessarily be very much higher. Such tea has a whitish down, like that on young birch leaves, and is called ijecoe, or ‘ white hair,’ and is most of it sent to England and Russia. In the last century, the green tea known as Young Ilyson was made of these

    half-opened leaves picked in April and named from two words

    meaning ‘ rains before.’ The second gathering varies somewhat

    according to the latitude—May 15th to June, when the foliage

    is fullest. This season is looked forward to by women and

    children in the tea districts as their working time ; they run in

    crowds to the middle-men, who have bargained for the leaves on

    the plants, or apply to farmers who have not hands. The average

    produce is from sixteen to twenty-two ounces of green leaves for the healthiest plants, down to ten and eight ounces. The tea when cured is about one-fifth of its first weight, and one thousand square yards will contain about three hundred and fifty plants, each two feet across. They strip the twigs in the most summary manner, and fill their baskets with healthy leaves as they pick out the sticks and yellow leaves, for they are paid

    in this manner. Fifteen pounds is a good day’s work, and six to

    eight cents is a day’s wages. The time for picking lasts only

    ten or twelve days. There are curing houses, where families

    who grow and pick their own leaves bring them for sale at the

    market rate. The sorting emploj’S many hands, for it is an important

    point in connection with the purity of the various descriptions,

    and much care is taken by dealers, in maintaining the

    quality of their lots, to have them cured carefully as well as

    sorted properly.

    The management of this great branch of industry exhibits some of the best features of Chinese country life. It is only over a portion of each farm that the plant is grown, and its cultivation requires but little attention compared with rice and vegetables. The most delicate kinds are looked after and cnred by priests in their secluded temples among the hills; these often have many acolytes who aid in preparing small lots to be sold at a high price.

    When the leaves are brought in to the curers they are thinly spread on shallow trays to dry off all moisture by two or three hours’ exposure. Meanwhile the roasting pans are heating, and W’hen properly warmed some handfuls of leaves are thrown on them, and rapidly moved and shaken up for four or five minutes.

    The leaves make a slight crackling noise, become moist and flaccid as the juice is expelled, and give off even a sensible vapor. The whole is then poured out upon the rolling table, where each workman takes up a handful and makes it into a manageable ball, which he rolls back and forth on the rattan table to get rid of the sap and moisture as the leaves are twisted. This operation chafes the hands even with great precaution.

    THE MANUFACTUKE OF TEA. 43

    The balls are opened and shaken out and then passed on to other workmen, who go through the same operation till they reach the headnum, who examines the leaves to see if they have become curled. When properly done, and cooled, they are returned to the iron pans, under which a low cliarcoal fire is burning in the brickwork which supports them, and there kept in motion by the hand. If they need another rolling on the table it is now given them ; an hour or more is spent in this manipung Tea.

    lation, when they are dried to a dull green color, and can be

    put away for sifting and sorting. This color becomes brighter

    after the exposure in sifting the cured leaves through sieves of

    various sizes ; they are also winnowed to separate the dust,

    and afterward sorted into the various descriptions of green tea.

    Finally, the finer kinds are again fired three or four times, and the coarse kinds, as Twankay, Hyson, and Hj’son Skin, once. The others furnish the Young Hyson, Gunpowder, Imperial, etc. Tea cured in this way is called luh cha^ or ‘green tea,’ by the Chinese, while the other, or black tea, is termed hung cha, or ‘red tea,’ each name being taken from the tint of the infusion.

    After the fresh leaves are allowed to lie exposed to the air

    on the bamboo trays over night or several hours, they are

    thrown into the air and tossed about and patted till they become

    soft ; a heap is made of these wilted leaves and left to

    lie for an hour or more, when they have become moist and

    dark in color. They are then thrown on the hot pans for

    five minutes and rolled on the i-attan table, previous to exposure

    out-of-doors for three or four hours on sieves, during which

    time they are turned over and opened out. After this they get

    a second roasting and rolling to give them their final curl. When

    the charcoal fire is ready, a basket shaped something like an

    hour-glass is placed endwise over it, having a sieve in the

    middle on which the leaves are thinly spread. AYlien dried

    five minutes in this way they undergo another rolling, and are

    then thrown into a heap, nntil all the lot has passed over the

    fire. When this firing is finished, the leaves are opened out

    and are again tliinly spread on the sieve in the basket for a few

    minutes, which finishes the drying and rolling for most of the

    heap, and nuxkes the leaves a uniform black. They are now

    replaced in the basket in greater mass, and pushed against its

    sides by the hands in order to allow the heat to come up

    through the sieve and the vapor to escape ; a basket over all

    retains the heat, but the contents are turned over until perfectly

    dry and the leaves become uniformly dark.

    GREEN AND BLACK TEAS. 45

    It will be seen frojn this that green tea retains far more of the peculiar oil and sap in tlie leaves than the black, which undergo a partial fermentation and emit a sensibly warm vapor as they lie in heaps after the first roasting. They thus become oxidized by longer contact in a warm moist state with the atmosphere, and a delicate analysis will detect lants, as hemlock, belladonna, etc., for the

    apothecary’s shop.

    Green teas are mostly produced in the region south of the

    Yangtsz’ River and west of Kingpo among the hills as one goes

    toward the Poyang Lake in Chehkiang and Xganhwui. The

    black tea comes from Fuhkien in the southeast and llupeh and

    Hunan in the central region ; Kwangtung and Sz’chuen provinces

    produce black, green, and brick teas. While the leaves of each

    species of the shrub can be cured into either green or black tea,

    the workmen in one district are able, by practice, to produce

    one kind in a superior style and quality ; those in another region

    will do better with another kind. Soil, too, has a great influence,

    as it has in grape culture, in modifying the produce. Though

    the natives distinguish onl}^ these three kinds, their varieties are

    far too numerous to remember, and the names are mostly unknown

    in commerce.

    Of black teas, the great mass is called Congou^ or the ‘ wellworked,’

    a name which took the place of the Bohea of one hundred

    and fifty years ago, and is now itself giving way to the term

    English Breakfast tea. The finest sorts are either named from

    the place of their growth, or jnore frequently have fancy appellations

    in allusion to their color or form. Orange Pekoe is

    named ” superior perfume ;” pure Pekoe is ” Lau-tsz’ eyebrows ;”

    “carnation hair,” “red plum blossom,”” “lotus kernel,” “sparrow’s

    tongue,” ” dragon’s pellet,” ” dragon’s whiskei-s,” ” autumn

    dew,” ” pearl flower,” or Chilian, are other names ; Souchong

    and Pouidiong refer to the modes of packing.

    In the trade, teas are more commonly classified by their locality

    than their names, as it is found that well-marked differences in

    the style of the produce continue year after year, all ecpially

    well-cured tea. These arise from diversities in soil, climate,

    age, and manufacturing, and furnish materials for still further

    nuiltiplying the sorts by skilfully mixing them. Thus in black

    teas we have Ilunan and llupeh from two provinces, just as

    Georgia uplands and Sea Island indicate two sorts of cotton ;

    Ningyong, Kai-sau, Ho-hau, Sing-chune-ki, etc., and many

    others, which are unknown out of Ohina, are all names of places.

    One gentleman has given a list of localities, each furnishing its quota and peculiar product, amounting in all to forty-five for black and nine for green. The area of these regions is about four hundred and seventy thousand square miles.

    It will have been seen already that the color of green tea, as

    well as its quality, depends very much on rapid and expert drying.

    When this kind is intended for home consumption soon

    after it is made, the color is of little consequence ; but when the

    hue influences the sale, then it is not to be overlooked by the

    manufactui’er or the broker. The first tea brought to Europe

    was from Fuhkien and all black ; but as the trade extended probably

    some of the delicate Hyson sorts were now and then seen

    at Canton, and their appearance in England and Holland appreciated

    as more and more was sent. It was found, however,

    to be very difficult to maintain a uniform tint. If cured too

    slightly, the leaf was liable to fermentation during the voyage ;

    if cured too much, it was unmarketable, which for the manufacturer

    was worse yet. Chinese ingenuity was equal to the call.

    Though no patent office was at hand to register the date when

    coloring green tea commenced, it is probably more than one

    hundred j-ears since. The three hundred and forty-two chests and

    half chests wdiich were so summarily opened on board the Dartmouth,

    the Eleanor, and the Beavei”, when their contents were

    thrown overboard in Boston harbor, on December 16, 1773,

    furnishes probably no index of the consumption of tea in New

    England at that time. It was all called Bohea by John Adams,

    who speaks of three cargoes, as if the vessels had nothing

    else of note in their holds.

    Dr. Holmes, in his ballad on the Boston Tea Party at its

    centennial celebration, says in the last verse:
    The waters in the rebel bay
    Have kept the tea-leaf savor—
    Our old North Enders in their spray
    Still taste a Hyson flavor ;
    And Freedom’s teacup still o’erflows
    With ever fresh libations,
    To cheat of slumber all her foes
    And cheer the wakening nations.

    COLORING GREEN TEAS, 47

    It has been noticed that emigrants to Au^^tralia, who had seldom tasted green tea before leaving England, usually prefer it in their new homes, as new settlers do in tins country. The prevailing notion that green tea is cured on copper arose, no doubt, from the conclusion that real verdigris was the only source of a verdigris color, and the astringent taste confirmed the wrong idea. A more difficult question to answer is the inquiry, Why is it still believed ?

    The operation of giving green tea its color is a simple one.

    A quantity of Prussian blue is pulverized to a very fine powder,

    and kept ready at the last roasting. Pure gypsum is

    burned in the charcoal fire till it is soft and fit foi easily triturating.

    Four parts are then thoroughly mixed with three parts

    of Prussian blue, making a light blue powder. About five

    minutes before finally taking off the dried leaves this powder

    is sprinkled on them, and instantly the whole panful of two or

    three pounds is turned over by the workman’s hands till a

    uniform color is obtained, llis hands come out quite blue, but

    the compound gives the green leaves a brighter green hue. The

    quantity is not great, say about half a pound in a hundred of

    tea ; and as gypsum is not a dangerous or irritating substance,,

    being constantly. eaten by the Chinese, the other ingredient remains

    in an almost infinitesimal degree. If foreigners preferred

    yellow teas no doubt they coiild be favored, for the Chinese

    are much perplexed to account for this strange predilection, as

    they never drink this colored or faced tea. Turmeric root has

    been detected, too, in a very few analj’ses, but probably these

    were lots that needed to be refined at Canton to cover up mildew

    or supply a demand. The reasons for not drinking this

    tea are, however, owing more to the nature than the color of

    the leaf. The kinds of green tea are fewer than the black, and

    the regions producing it are less in area. Gunpowder and Imperial

    are foreign-made terms ; the teas are known as siau elm

    and ta chu by native dealers. The first is rolled to resemble shot

    or coarse gunpowder; the other is named “sore crab’s eyes,”

    “sesamura seeds,” and “pearls.” Ilyson is a corruption of yutsieny

    ‘ before the rains,’ and of Ili-chun, meaning ‘ flourishing

    spring.’ The last is alleged to be the name of a maiden who suggested

    to her father as long ago as 1700, or thereabouts, a better

    mode of sorting tea, and his business increased so much as his fine Hyson became known that he gave it her name. Members of this same family are still engaged in making this same tea, and the chop, known as the Ut Yih-hing, or ‘ Li’s Extra Perfume,’ is now in market, and has maintained its reputation for nearly two hundred years. Oolong is obtained in Fuhkien—a black tea

    with a green tea flavor, named Black Dragon from a story

    tliat Su was struck with the fragrance of the leaf from a plant

    Mdiere a black snake was found coiled. The great mart for

    green tea is Twankay, in Chehkiang province.

    A chop is a well-known term in the tea trade ; it is derived

    from the Chinese word ehoj), or ‘ stamp’, such as an ofiicial uses,

    and in the tea trade denotes a certain number of packages from

    the same place, and all of the same quality. In the course of years

    the uniform excellence of a certain chop, like that of a certain

    vineyard, gives it a marketable value. A laAvsuit arose in 1873

    between two American houses at Canton in regard to the right to

    a certain chop of tea, among two brokers, each of whom claimed

    to sell the genuine lot. Such chops range from fifty to one thousand

    two hundred chests, averaging six hundred. English teatasters

    have learned that an admixture of scented teas in common

    sorts of Congou adds much to the flavor and sale. This is

    not often done for native-drank tea, and is chiefly practised at

    Canton. The flowers used are roses, Olea fragrans, tuberose,

    orange, jasmine, gardenia, and azalea. The stems, calyx, and

    other parts are carefully sorted out, so that only the petals remain.

    When the tea is ready for packing, dry and warm, tlie

    fresh flowers are mixed with it (forty pounds to one liundred

    pounds for the orange), and left thus in a mass for twenty-four

    hours ; it is then sifted and winnowed in a fanning mill till

    the petals are separated. If the odor is insuflicient, the operation

    may be repeated with the jasmine or orange. The proportion

    of jasmine is a little more than orange ; of the azalea,

    nearly half and half. The length of time required to obtain

    the proper smell from these flowei-s difi’ers, and among them all

    tea scented with the azalea is said to keep its perfume the longest.

    The mode of scenting tea diifei-s somewhat according to the

    flower itself, for the small blossom of the Qloa cannot be

    separated by sifting as rose or jasmine leaves can. Tea thus

    SCENTED AND ADULTERATED TEAS. 49

    perfumed is sent to England as Orange Pekoe and Scented Caper.

    It is mixed witli fiiu; teas ; and there is much to commend

    in thus increasing tlie aroma and taste of this healthy beverage.

    The Scented Caper comes in the form of round pellets, which

    are made of black tea softened by sprinkling water on it until

    it is pliable ; it is then tied in canvas bags and rolled with the

    feet by treading on it for a good while till most of the quantity

    takes this form ; as soon as perfumed it is packed for shipment.

    When rolled and dried, such tea needs only a facing to make it

    into Impei-ial and Gunpowder among the green teas.

    The Chinese have been charo;ed with adulteratino; their tea

    by mixing in other leaves with the true tea-leaf, and adding

    other ingredients far vvoi-se than rose, jujube, and fern leaves,

    and the cases which have been proved of lie-tea being sent off

    have been applied to the entire export. The stimulus for some

    of this adulteration has come from the foreigner, who desires

    to get good pure tea at half its cost of manufacture. The foregoing

    details will plainly show that an article which has to go

    through so many hands before its infusion is poured out of the

    teapot on the other side of the world, and where the only machinery

    used is a fanning mill and a roasting pan, cannot be furnished

    at much under twenty-five cents a pound for the common

    sorts. The villanous mixture known at Shanghai as ma-hi cha^

    or ‘ race-course tea,’ was the answer on the part of the native

    manufacturer to the demand for cheap tea, mitil the consumers

    in Great Britain protested at the deception put on them, and

    its importation was prohibited. Which of the parties was most

    blameworthy may be left for them to settle, but in our own

    papers, of course, most of the blame rested on the tempted party.

    It is not to be inferred, however, that all cheap tea is adulterated.

    The process of manufacture leaves a large percentage of broken

    material, which can be worked into passable tea ; the produce

    of many regions has not the flavor of the finest sorts, and, as it

    is with wines, will not bear so much cost in curing. The tea

    brokers know this, and things equalize themselves. The dust,

    the leaf ribs, and the siftings are all consumed by the poor natives,

    who mix other leaves, too, with the real leaf. Tea can perhaps bear comparison with any other great staple of food in this respect ; and when we can fairly estimate the consumption of tea sent out of China and Japan at more than three hundred millions of pounds, it must be conceded that it is a very pure article—not as much, probably, as even five per cent, of false leaf.

    One mode of using tea known among Tibetans and Mongols

    remains to be noticed. The rich province of Sz’chuen, in the

    w-estern part of China, furnishes an abundance of good tea’; much

    of which is exported to Ilussia by way of Si-ngan fu and Kansuh,

    to supply the inhabitants of Siberia. This brick tea is cured

    by pressing the damp leaves into the form of a brick or tile,

    varj’ing in size and weight, eight to twelve inches long and one

    thick ; in this form it is far more easily carried than in the leaf.

    In Tibet, as we have seen, it appears more as a soup than an infusion.

    The brick tea is composed of coarse leaves, or of stalks moistened

    by steaming over boiling water, and then pressed till dry

    and hard. When used, a piece is broken off and simmered with

    milk and butter and water, with a touch of vinegar or pepper.

    The dish is not inviting at first, but Abbe Hue endorses its

    refreshing qualities in restoring the failing energies. The pressing

    and drying is assisted by sprinkling the mass with ricewater

    as it is forced into the moulds. The Chinese mix other

    leaves with real tea to eke it out, in districts where it is not

    commonly grown, but they do not regard this as adulteration.

    Willow leaves are common in such mixtures. Large caravans

    cross the plateau laden with brick tea.

    Packing tea is mostly done in the interior, where it is cured.

    The large dry leaves frequently found inside are usually furnished

    by a peculiar species of bamboo ; the lead is made into

    thin sheets by pouring the melted metal on to a large square

    brick, covered with several thicknesses of paper, and letting

    another brick drop down instantly on it. In order to test the

    honesty of the packing, the foreign merchant often walks over

    the three hundred to six hundred chests which make a chop,

    and selects any foui* or five he may choose for examination. If

    they stand the inspection the whole is taken on their guaranty,

    and are then -weighed, papered, labelled, and mottoed ready for

    shipping. In all these matters the Chinese are very expert. It

    INTRODUCTION OF TEA INTO EUROPE. 61

    is impossible to calculate the number of persons to whom the

    tea trade furnishes employment ; nor could machinery well

    come into use to displace human labor.

    The introduction of tea among western nations was slow at

    first. Marco Polo has no notice of its use. The Dutch brought

    it to Europe in 1591 according to some accounts ; but a sample

    or two did not make a trade, and there would have been reference

    to it if it had been used. In 1G60 Samuel Pepys writes,

    September 28th : “I did send for a cup of tea (a China drink),

    of which I had never drank before.” Nearly seven ^-ears after

    he says : ” Home, and thei-e find my wife making of tea, a drink

    which Mr. Pellin, the pothicai-y, tells her is good for her cold

    and defluxions.” In 1670 the importation into England was 79

    pounds ; in 1685 it was 12,070 pounds ; most of it came from

    Batavia and sold for a long time between £10 and £5 a pound

    weight. In 1657 Mr. Garney opened a shop in London to sell

    the infusion, and paid an excise of 8d. per gallon ; the present

    duty is 2s. Id. per pound, or 4^ pounds to each person in a year,

    nearly all of which, as it is in Europe and elsewhere, is black

    tea. In 1725 only 375,000 pounds were consumed in Great

    Britain. The actual quantity now in the United Kingdom is

    126,000,000 pounds, besides much on the way. The importation

    into the United States is worth $18,000,000 to $19,000,000,

    say 60,000,000 pounds. Russia takes more good tea than any

    other nation and pays more for it, because the former overland

    trade to Siberia could not afford to transport pooi- tea. The export

    from Assam is now 20,000,000 pounds, but those sorts are

    too strong for the public taste when used alone, and are consumed

    in mixtures. Tea is a native of Assam, but its discovery

    only dates from 1836 or thereabouts. It is cultivated in Java

    and Brazil, but there is not much to encoui’age the manufacturer

    in any country where coffee supplies a similar beverage,

    and the price of labor makes it equal to the imported article.

    The remarkable work on agriculture of Paul Sii, a convert to

    Christianity in 1620, contains a brief account and directions for

    cultivating tea. In concluding the chapter he urges the greater

    use of tea as against spirits. ” Tea is of a cooling nature, and if

    drunk too freely will produce exhaustion and lassitude. Country people before drinking it add ginger and salt to eoiniteract this cooling property. It is an exceedingly useful plant ; cultivate it and the benefit will be widely spread ; drink it and the animal spirits will be lively and clean. The chief rulers, lords, and

    great men esteem it ; the lower people, the poor and beggarly,

    will not be destitute of it ; all use it daily and like it.”

    The chemical analyses which have made known to us the

    components of the four or five substances used as warm beverages,

    viz., tea, coffee, mate, cocoa, guarana, and kola, indicate

    three constituents found in them, to which, no doubt, their virtues

    are owing.

    A volatile oil is observed when tea is distilled with water; about one pound conies from one hundred pounds of dried tea, possessing its peculiar aroma and flavor to a high degree. Much of it is pressed from the leaves when rolled and cured, but little as still remains, its effects upon the human system are noticeable

    and sometimes powerful. Tea-tasters who continually taste the

    rpiality of the various lots submitted by sample for their approval,

    do so by breathing upon a handful of leaves and instantly

    covering the nose, so as to get this volatile aroma as one important

    test. They also examine the infusion in several diffei’ent

    ways, by its taste, color, and strength. Long practice in this

    business is alleged to have deleterious influence upon their nervous

    systems. The other beverages we drink, as well as tea,

    derive their peculiar and esteemed flavor and aroma from

    chemical substances produced in them during the process of

    drying and roasting; at least nothing of them can be perceived

    in their natural state. Another substance in tea regarded as

    the chief inducement and reward in its effect on the system is

    the peculiar pi’inciple called theine. If a few finely powdered

    leaves are placed on a watch-glass, covered with a paper cap

    and placed on a hot plate, a white vapor slowly rises and

    condenses in the cap in the form of colorless crystals. They

    exist in different proportions in the different kinds of tea, from

    one and one-half to five or six per cent, in green tea. Theine

    lias no smell and a slightly bitter taste, and does not therefore

    attract us to drink the infusion ; but the chemists tell us that

    it contains nearly thirty per cent, of nitrogen. The salts in

    CONSTITUENTS AM) EFFECTS OF TEA. 53

    other beverages, as coffee and cocoa, likewise contain nnicli nitrogen,

    and all tend to repair the waste going on in the human

    system, reduce the amount of solid food necessary, diminish too

    the wear and tear of the body and consequent lassitude of the

    mind, and maintain the vigor of both upon a smaller amount

    of food. Tea does this more pleasantly, perhaps, than any of

    the others ; but it does more than they do for old people in

    supplementing the impaired powers of digestion, and helping

    them to maintain their flesh and uphold the system in health

    longer than they otherwise would. It is no wonder, therefore,

    that tea has become one of the necessaries of life ; and the

    sexagenarian invalid, too poor to buy a bit of meat for her

    meal, takes her pot of tea with M’liat she has, and knows that

    she feels lighter, happier, and better fitted for her toil, and enjoys

    life more than if she had no tea. Unconsciously she

    echoes what the Chinese said centuries ago, ” Drink it, and the

    animal spirits will be lively and clear.”

    The third substance (which is contained in tea more than in the

    other beverages mentioned) forms also an important ingredient

    in l)etel-nut and gaml)ier, so extensively chewed in Southern

    Asia, viz., tannin or tannic acid. This gives the astringent

    taste to tea-leaves and their infusion, and is found to amount

    to seventeen per cent, in well-dried l)lack tea, and much more

    than that in green tea, especially the Japan leaf. The effects

    of taimin are not clearly ascertained as apart from the oil

    and the tlieine, but Johnston considei-s them as conducing

    to the exhilarating, satisfying, and narcotic action of the beverage.

    A remaining ingredient worthy of notice in tea, in common

    with other food-plants, is gluten. This fornjs one-fourth of the

    weight of the leaves, but in oi’der to derive the greatest good

    from it which proper methods of cooking might bring out, we

    must contrive a mode (»f eating the leaves. The nutritious

    property of the gluten accounts for the general use of brick tea

    throughout the Asiatic plateau. Hue says he drank the dish

    in default of something better, for he was unaccustomed to

    it, but his cameleers would often take twenty to forty cups

    a day.

    If the sanitary effects of tea upon the system are so great and

    wholesome, its inliuence since its general introduction among

    occidentals cannot be overlooked. The domestic, quiet life and

    habits of the Chinese owe much of their strength to the constant

    use of this beverage, for the weak infusion which they sip

    allows them to spend all the time they choose at the tea-table.

    If they were in the habit of sipping even their weak whiskey

    in the same way, misery, poverty, quarrels, and sickness would

    take the place of thrift, quiet, and industry. The general temperance

    seen among them is owing to the tea nmch more than any

    other cause. It has, moreover, won its way with us, till in the

    present generation the associations that cluster around the teatable

    form an integral part of the social life among Englishspeaking

    peoples. One of the most likely means to restrict the

    use of spirits among them is to substitute the use of warm

    beverages of all kinds by those whose s^-stem has not become

    vitiated. Tea is one of the greatest benefits to the Chinese,

    Japanese, and Mongols, and its universal use, for at least fifteen

    centuries, throughout their territories has proven its satisfaction

    as a nervine, a stimulant, and a beverage. If one passing

    through the streets of Peking, Canton, or Ohosaka, and seeing

    the good-natured hilarity of the groups of laborers and loiterers

    around the cha-hwan and the cha-ya of those cities, doubts

    the value of tea as a harmonizer and satisfier of hmnan wants

    and passions, it must be taken as a proof of his own unsatisfied

    cravings.

    It is a necessary of life to all classes of natives, and that its

    use is not injurious is abundant!}^ evident from its general acceptance

    and increasing adoption ; the pi-ejudice against the

    beverage out of China may be attributed chiefly to the use of

    strong green tea, which is no doubt prejudicial. If those who

    have given it up on this account will adopt a weaker infusion

    of black tea, general experience is proof that it will do them no

    harm, and they may be sure that they will not be so likely to

    be deceived by a colored article. iS’either the Chinese nor

    Japanese use milk or sugar in their tea, and the peculiar taste

    and aroma of the infusion is much better perceived without

    those additions. Tea, when clear, cannot be drunk so strong

    PREPARATION OF CASSIA AND CAMPHOR. 55

    without tasting an unpleasant bitterness, which tliese diluents

    partly hide.’

    Among other vegetable productions whose preparation affords

    employment are cassia and camphor. The cassia ti-ee

    {Cinnamomuvi cassia) grows connnonly in Ivwangsi, Yunnan,

    and further south ; the leading mart for all the varieties of this

    spice in China is Ping-nan, in the former of tliese provinces.

    The kind known as l”wei-jA, or ‘ skhiny cassia,’ affords the principal

    part of that spice nsed at the west. The bark is stripped

    from the twigs by running a knife along the branch and gradually

    loosening it ; after it is taken off it lies a day in the sun,

    when the epidermis is easily scraped off, and it is dried into the

    quilled shape in which it comes to market. The immatm-e

    flowers of this and two other species of Cinnamonnnn are

    also collected and dried nnder the name of cassia IjiuIk^ and often

    packed with the bark ; they re<|uire little or no other preparation

    than simple drying. The leaves and bark of the tree

    are also distilled, and furnish oil of cassia, a powerful and

    pleasant oil employed by perfumers and cooks. • Few genera of

    plants are more useful to man than those included under the

    old name of Laurus, to which these fragrant spices of cassia

    and cinnamon belong; their wood, bark, buds, seeds, flowers,

    leaves, and oil are all used by the Chinese in carpentry, medicine,

    perfumery, and cookery. The confusion arising from

    using the term cassia for the spice instead of confining it to the

    medicine {Cassia senna) has been a constant source of error.

    The camphor tree {Cam])1ioi’a ojjicinarum) is another species

    of Laurus, found along the southern maritime regions and Formosa,

    and affords both timber and gum for exportation and domestic

    use. The tree itself is large, and furnishes excellent

    planks, beams, and boards. The gum is procui’ed from the

    branches, roots, leaves, and chips by soaking them in water until

    the liquid becomes saturated ; a gentle heat is then applied

    to this solution, and the sublimed camphor received in inverted

    cones made of rice-straw, from which it is detached in impure

    ‘Fortune’s Tea DistricU (1852); Chinme Ticpositwy, Vol. VIII., pp. 182-164, Vol. XVIII., pp. 13-18; Davis’ ChiiicHC, Vol. II., pp. 336-449; Chineim Cominercial Guide (1863), pp. 141-148 ; Ball’s Tea Vulture and Manufacture.

    grains, resembling unrefined sugar in colore Grosier describes

    another mode of getting it by Taking out the coagulum inspissated

    from the solution into an iron dish and covering M’ith

    powdered earth ; two or three layers are thus placed in the dish,

    when a cover is luted on, and by a slow heat the camphor sublimes

    into it in a cake. It comes to market in a crude state,

    and is refined after reaching Europe. The preparation of the

    gum, sawing the timber for trunks, articles of furniture, and

    vessels in whole or in part, occupies great numbers of carpenters,

    Bhipwrights, and boat-buildci*s. The increasing demand for

    the gum and boards has caused the rapid destruction of so

    many trees in Formosa that there is some ground for fear lest

    they ere long be all cut off.

    Many of the common ni;uii])ulations of Chinese ^vorkmen afford

    good examples of their ingenious modes of attaining th©

    same end which is elsewhere reached by complex machinery.

    For instance, the l)aker places his fire on’ a large iron plate

    worked by a crane, and swings it over a shallow pan embedded

    in masonry, in* which the cakes and pastry are laid and

    soon baked. The price of fuel compels its economical use

    wherever it is em}>loyed ; in the forge, the kitchen, the kiln, or

    the dwelling, no waste of wood or coal is seen. As an instance

    in point, the mode of burning shells to lime affords a good example.

    A low wall encloses a space ten or twelve feet across,

    in the middle of which a hole connnunicates underneath the

    wall through a passage to the pit, where the fire is urged by a fan

    turned by the feet. The wood is loosely laid over tlie bottom

    of the area, and the fire kindled at the orifice in the centre and

    fanned into a blaze as the shells are rapidly thrown in until the

    wall is filled up ; in twelve hours the shells are calcined.

    Toward evening scores of villagers collect around the burning

    pile, bringing their kettles of rice or vegetables to cook. The

    good-humor manifested by these gi’oups of old and young is a

    pleasing instance of the sociability and equality witnessed

    among the lower classes of Chinese. The lime is taken out

    next morning and sifted for the mason.

    Handicraftsmen of every name are content with coarse-looking

    tools compared with those turned out at Sheflield, but the

    APPLIANCES OF CHINESK WORKMEN. 67

    work prodnced by some of tliem is far from conteiriptible.

    The bench of a carpenter is a low, narrow, inclined form, like a

    urawing-knife fi’ame, upon which he sits to plane, groove, and

    work his boards, using his feet and toes to steady them. His

    augurs, bits, and gimlets are worked with a bow, but most of

    the edge-tools employed by him and the blacksmith, though

    similar in shape, are less convenient than our own. They are

    sharpened with hones or grindstones, and also with a cold steel

    like a spoke-shave, with which the edge is scraped thin. The

    aptitude of Chinese workmen has often been noticed, and

    Travelling Blacksmith and Equipment.

    among tliem all the travelling blacksmith takes the palm for his

    compendious establishment. ” T saw- a blacksmith a few days

    since,” writes one observer, ” mending a pan, the arrangement

    of w’hose tools was singularly compact. His fire was held in an

    iron basin not unlike a coal-scuttle in shape, in the back corner

    of which the mouthpiece of the bellows entered. The anvil

    was a small scpiare mass of iron, not very unlike our own, placed

    on a block, and a partition basket close by held the charcoal

    and tools, with the old iron and other rubbish he carried. The

    water to temper his iron was in an earthen pot, which just at

    this time was most usefully employed iii boiling his dinner

    over the forge fire After he had done the job he took off his dinner, threw the water on the fire, picked out the coals and put

    them back into the basket, threw away the ashes, set the anvil

    astride of the bellows, and laying the tire-pan on the basket,

    slung tlie bellows on one end of his pole and the basket on the

    other, and walked off.” ‘ The mode of mending holes in castiron

    pans here noticed is a peculiar operation. The smith first

    files the lips of the hole clean, and after heating the dish firmly

    * C,

    I 11 111

    Itinerant Dish-nnender

    places it on a tile covered with wet felt. He then pours the

    liquid iron, fused in a crucible by the assistance of a flux, upon

    the hole, and immediately patters it down with a dossil of felt

    until it covers the edges of the pan above and below, and is

    then, while cooling, hannnered until firndy fixed in its ]>lace.

    Another ingenious and effectual method of mending porcelain

    and all manner of crockery ware is performed by itinerant

    workmen, who travel about with their workshop on their

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. X., j). 473.

    WOOD AND IVORY CARVING. 59

    shoulders, as seen in tlio cut. By means of minute copper

    clamps, even the most delicate article of China-ware may be repaired

    and made to answer the purpose of a new piece ; since

    no cement is used in this style of mending, it has the additional

    advantage of standing innnei’sioiv in water.

    The great number of craftsmen who ply their vocations in

    the street, as well as the more mmierous class of hucksters

    who supply food as they go from house to house, furnish mucli

    to annise and interest. Each of them has a peculiar call. The

    barber twangs a sort of tweezers like a long tuning-fork, the

    peddler twirls a hand-drum with clappers strung on each side,

    the refuse-buyer strikes a little gong, the fruiterer claps two bamboo

    sticks, and the fortune-teller tinkles a gong-bell ; these, with

    the varied calls and cries of beggars, cadgers, chapmen, etc., fill

    the streets with a concert of strange sounds.

    The delicate carving of Chinese workmen has often been described; many specimens of it are annually sent abroad. Few products of their skill are more rcnuxrkable than the balls containing ten or twelve separate spheres one within another. The manner of cutting them is ingenious. A piece of ivory or wood is first made perfectly globular, and then several conical holes are bored into it in such a manner that their apices all meet at the centre, which becomes hollow as the holes are bored into it. The sides of each having been marked with

    lines to indicate the number of globes to be cut out, the w^orkman

    inserts a chisel or burin with a semicircular blade, bent so

    that the edge cuts the ivory, as the shaft is worked on the

    pivot, at the same depth in each hole. By successively cutting

    a little on the inside of each conical hole, the incisures meet,

    and a sphericle is at last detached, which is now turned over

    and its faces one after another brought opposite the largest

    hole, and firmly secured by wedges in the other a})ertures, while

    its surfaces are smoothed and carved. When the central sphere

    is done, a similar tool, somewhat larger, is again introduced

    into the holes, and another sphere detached and smoothed in

    the same way, and then another, until the whole is completed,

    each being polished and carved before the next outer one is

    connnenced. It takes three or four months to complete a ball with fifteen inner globes, the price of which ranges from twenty to thirty dollars, according to the delicacy of the carving. Some writers have asserted that these curious toys were made of semi spheres nicely luted together, and they have been boiled in oil for hours in order to separate them and solve the mystery of their construction.

    Fans and card-cases are carved of wood, ivory, and mother-of-pearl in alto-relievo, with an elaborateness which shows the great skill and patience of the workman, and at the same time his crude conception of drawing, the figures, houses, trees, and other objects being grouped in violation of all propriety and perspective. Beautiful ornaments are made by carving roots of plants, branches, gnarled knots, etc., into fantastic groups of birds or animals, the artist taking advantage of the natural form of his material in the arrangement of his figures. Models of pagodas, boats, and houses are entirely constructed of ivory, even to representing the ornamental roofs, the men working at the oar, and women looking from the balconies. Baskets of elegant shape are woven from ivoiy splinths; and the shopmen at Canton exhibit a variety of seals, paper-knives, chessmen, counters, combs, etc., exceeding in finish and delicacy the same kind of work found anywhere else in the world. The most

    elaborate coat of arms, or complicated cypher, will also be imitated

    by these skilful carvers. The national taste prefers this

    style of carving on plane surfaces ; it is seen on the walls of

    houses and granite slabs of fences, the woodwork of boats and

    shops, and on articles of furniture. Most of it is pretty, but the

    disproportion and cramped position of the figures detract from

    its beauty when judged by strict rules of western art.

    The manufacture of enamels and cloisonne wares has lately

    received a great stimulus from their foi’eign demand. A copper

    vase is formed of the desired shape by hammering and soldering,

    on whose clean surface the figures to be enamelled are

    etched to show where the strips of copper are to be soldered

    before their interspaces are enamelled. This solder is made of

    borax and silver, and melts at a higher temperature than the

    enamel, which is reduced to a paste and filled into each cell of

    the pattern by brushes and styles, until the whole design is

    MANUFACTURE OF CLOlSONNfi, MATS, ETC. 61

    gone over. Tlie various colored liao, or ingredients, are prepared

    in cakes by artists who keep their composition secret, but

    all the substances occur in China. The (piality of the ware

    depends on the skill in mixing these cakes and fusing the colors

    in a charcoal fire, into which the piece is placed ; imperfection^

    and holes are covered and tilled up when it is cooled, and the

    piece is again and again exposed to the fire. After the third ordeal it is ground smooth and polished on a lathe, and the brass work gilt. The specimens now made show very fine work, but their coloring hardly equals those of Kienlungs reign or still earlier in the Ming dynasty.

    Fancy Carved Work.

    Much inferior work has also been palmed off for that of the golden period of this art. The manufacture of mats for sails of junks and boats, floors, bedding, etc., employs thousands. A sail containing nearly four hundred square feet can be obtained for ten dollars. The rolls are largely exported, and still more extensively used in the country for covering packages for shipment. A stouter kind made of bamboo splinths serves as a material for huts, and fulfils many other purposes that are elsewhere attained by boards or canvas. Rattans are largely worked into mats, chairs, baskets, and other articles of domestic service. Several branches of manufacture have entirely grown up, or been much encouraged by the foreign trade, among which the preparation of vermilion, beating gold-leaf, cutting pearl buttons, dyeing and trimming pith-paper for artificial flowers, weaving and painting fancy window-blinds, and the preparation of sweetmeats are the principal. The beautiful vermilion exported from Canton is prepared by triturating one part of quicksilver with two of sulphur until they form a blackish powder, which is put into a crucible having an iron lid closely luted down. When the fire acts on the mixture the lid is cooled to effect the sublimation ; the deposit on the top is cinnabar and that on the sides is vermilion, according

    to the Chinese ; all of them are powdered, levigated, decanted,

    and dried on tiles for use in painting and pharmacy, coloring

    candles and paper, and making red ink. The excellence of Chinese vermilion depends on the thoroughness of the grinding.’

    ‘ Compare an article by Julien in the Nouv. Journ. Asiatique, Tome V., 1830,pp. 208 ff.

    PHASES OF CHINESE INDUSTRIAL LIFE. 63

    It has often been said that the Chinese are so averse to change and improvement that they will obstinately adhere to their own modes, but, though slow to alter well-tried methods, such is not the case. Three new manufactures have been introduced during the present century, viz., that of glass, bronze-work, and Prussian blue. A Chinese sailor brought home the manufacture of the latter, which he had learned thoroughly in London, and the people now supply themselves. Works in bronze and brass have of late been set up, and watches and clocks are both extensively manufactured, with the exception of the springs. Fire-engines in imitation of foreign hand-engines are gradually eomino; into use. Brass cannon were made durins; the war with England in imitation of pieces taken from a wreck, and the frames of one or two vessels to be worked with wheels by men at a crank, in imitation of steamers, were found on the stocks at Ningpo Mdien the English took the place. Since then the establishment of government arsenals at Fuhchau, Shanghai, Xanking, and Tientsin has stimulated and suggested as well as taught the people many applications of machinery. Yet until they can see their Avay clear to be remunerated for their outlay, it is unwise to urge or start doubtful experiments. This was shown at Canton ten years ago when a native company was formed to spin cotton yarn by steam machinery, and when the apparatus was all ready for work the cotton flowers were quite unwilling to trust their raw cotton out of their hands. Moreover, it should be observed that few have taken the trouble to explain or show them the improvements they are supposed to be so disinclined to adopt. Ploughs have been given the farmers near Shanghai, but they would not use them, which, however, may have been as much owing to the want of a proper harness, or a little instruction regarding their use, as to a dislike to take a new article.

    The general aspect of Chinese society, in an industrial point

    of view, is one of its most pleasing features. The great body of

    the people are obliged to engage in manual labor in order to

    subsist, yet only a trifling proportion of them can be called

    beggars, while still fewer possess such a degree of wealth that

    they can live on its income. Property is safe enough to afford

    assurance to honest toil that it shall generally reap the reward

    of its labors, but if that toil prosper beyond the usual limits,

    the avarice of officials and the envy of neighbors easily find a

    multitude of contrivances to harass and impoverish the fortunate

    man, and the laws are not executed with such strictness as to

    deter them. The mechanical arts supply their wants, but having

    no better models before them, nor any scientific acquaintance

    with elementary principles and powers applicable to a great

    number of purposes, these arts have remained stationary. The

    abundance of labor must be employed, and its cheapness obviates

    the necessity of finding substitutes in machinery. The adoption

    of even a few things from abroad might involve so many

    changes, that even those intelligent natives who saw their

    advantages would hesitate in view of the momentous contingencies

    of a failure. The conflict between capital and labor in its various phases and struggles is becoming more and more marked the world over as civilization advances, and the Chinese polity is destined to endure its greatest strain in adjusting their forces among its industrious millions.

    Imitation is a remarkable trait in the Chinese mind, though invention is not altogether wanting; the former leads the people to rest content with what they can get along with, even at some expense of time and waste of labor, where, too, an exhibition of ingenuity and science would perhaps be accompanied with suspicion, expense, or hindrances from both neighbors and rulers.

    The existence of the germ of arts and discoveries, whose development would liave brought witli them so many advantages

    and pointed to still further discoveries, leads one to inquire the

    reason why they were not carried out. Setting aside the view,

    which may properly be taken, that the wonderful discoveries

    now made in the arts by Europeans form part of God’s great

    plan for the redemption of the race, the want of mutual confidence,

    insecurity of property, and debasing effects of heathenism

    upon the intellect will explain much of the apathy shown

    toward improvement. Invention among them has rather lacked

    encouragement than ceased to exist :—more than that, it has

    been checked by a suspicious, despotic sway, while no stimulus

    of necessity has existed to counterbalance and urge it forward,

    and has been stunted by the mode and materials of education.

    It was not till religious liberty and discussion arose in Europe that the inhabitants began to improve in science and arts as well as morals and good government ; and when the ennobling and expanding principles of an enlarged civilization find their way into Chinese society and mind, it may reasonably be expected that rapid advances will be made in the comforts of this life, as well as in adopting the principles and exhibiting the conduct which prove a fitness for the enjoyments of the next.

    CHAPTER XVI. SCIENCE AMONG THE CHINESE

    That enlargement of the mind which results from the collection and investigation of facts, or from extensive reading of books on whose statements reliance can be placed, and which leads to the cultivation of knowledge for its own sake, has no existence in China. Sir John Davis justly observes that the Chinese ” set no value on abstract science, apart from some obvious and immediate end of utility;” and he properly compares the actual state of the sciences among them with their condition in Europe previous to the adoption of the inductive mode of investigation. Even their few theories in explanation of the mysteries of nature are devoid of all fancy to make amends for want of fact and experiment, so that in reading them we are neither amused by their imagination nor instructed by their research. Perhaps the rapid advances made by Europeans, during the two past centuries, in the investigation of nature in all her departments and powers, has made us somewhat impatient of such a parade of nonsense as Chinese books exhibit.

    In addition to the general inferiority of Chinese mind to European in genius and imagination, it has moreover been hampered by a language the most tedious and meagre of all tongues, and wearied with a literature abounding in tiresome repetitions and unsatisfactory theories. Under these conditions, science, whether mathematical, physical, or natural, has made few advances during the last few centuries, and is now awaiting a new impulse from abroad in all its departments.

    Murray’s China (Vol. III., Chap. IV.) contains a fair account of the attainments of the Chinese in mathematics and astronomy.

    The notation of the Chinese is based on the decimal principle, but as their figures are not changed in vahie by position, it is difficult to write out clearly the several steps in solving a problem.

    Experiments have shown that it is easy encmgh to perform them with Chinese figures used in our way, omitting the characters for 100, 1,000, and 10,000 {2)ch, tslcn, and wan) ; but it will be long before the change will become general, even if it be desirable. Arithmetical calculations are performed with the assistance of an abacus, called a stranjxin, or ‘counting board’, which is simply a shallow case divided longitudinally by a bar and crossed by several wires ; on one side of this bar the wires bear five balls, on the other two. The five balls stand for nnits, the two balls behig each worth five units. When the

    balls on any wire are taken for nnits, those next to the right

    stand for tens, the thii’d for hundreds, and so on ; while those

    on the left denote tenths, hundredths, etc. Simple calculations

    are done on this machine with accuracy and rapidity, but as it

    is only a convenient index for the progress and result of a calculation

    performed in the head, if an error be made the whole

    must be performed again, since the result only appears when

    the sura is finished. There are three sorts of figures, partly answering

    to the English, Itoman, and Arabic forms—as Seven,

    VII., and T—the most connnon of which are given on page 619

    of Yol. I. ; the complicated form is used for securit}- in drafts

    and bills, and the abbreviated in common operations, accounts,

    etc., and in setting down large amounts in a more compact form

    than can be done by the other characters. This mode of notation

    is employed by the Japanese and Cochinchinese, and possesses

    some advantages over the method of using letters practised

    by the Greeks and Romans, as well as over the counters

    once employed in England, but falls far behind the Arabic system

    now in general use in the west.

    CHINESE MATHEMATICS. G7

    Treatises on arithmetic are common, in which the simple rules are explained and illustrated by examples and questions. One of the best is the Sinan-fdh Tung T,Httng, or ‘ General Gomprehensive Arithmetic,’ in five volumes, octavo, the author of which, Cliing Yu-sz’, lived in the Ming dynasty. The Tsu-wei-shan Fang Sho ITioh, or ‘Mathematics of the Lagerstra’mia Hill Institution,’ in thirty-eight books, octavo, 182S, contains a complete course of mathematical instruction in geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, etc., together with a table of natural sines and tangents, and one of logarithmic sines, tangents, secants, etc., for every degree and minute. Both these compilations derive most of their value from the mathematical writings of the Roman Catholic missionaries ; it is stated in the latter work that “• the western scholar, John Kapier, made logarithms.”

    The study of arithmetic has attracted attention among the Chinese from very early times, and the notices found in historical works indicate some treatises even extant in the Han dynasty, followed by a great number of general and particular works down to the Sung dynasty. One author of the Tang dynasty, in his problems on solid mensuration, offered one thousand taels of silver to whoever found a single word of error in the book. The Hindu processes in algebra were known to Chinese mathematicians, and are still studied, though all intellectual intercourse between the countries has long ceased. Down to the end of the Ming dynasty, these branches made slow progress.

    Since foreigners have begun to apply western science, the development has been rapid. Mr. Wylie has given, in his Notes 0)1 Chinese Literature (pp. 86-104), a digested account of the most valuable native works on astronomy and mathematics. One very comprehensive work on them is the Thesaurus of Mathematics and Chronology, published by imperial order about 1750.

    The knowledge of mathematics, even among learned men, is

    very small, and the common people study it only as far as their

    business requires ; the cumbersome notation and the little aid

    such studies giv^e in the examinations doubtless discourage men

    from pursuing what they seem to have no taste for as a people.’

    A curious fact regarding the existence of six errors in these

    tables, discovered by Bal)bage to have been perpetuated in most

    of the European logarithmic tables since the publication of the

    Trigonometria Artijicialis of Vlacq in 1633, proves the source

    whence the Chinese derived them, and their imitative fidelity

    in copying them. Chinese authors readily acknowledge the superiority of western inatlieinaticians, and generally ascribe their advances in the exact sciences to them.

    ‘ See Notes and Queries on C. and /., Vol. I., p. 166, and Vol. III., p. 153.

    The attaiinnents made by the ancient Chinese in astronomy

    are not easily understood from their scanty records, for the

    mere notice of an eclipse is a very different thing from its calculation

    or description. They have been examined recently

    with renewed interest and care in view of the discoveries at

    ]S”ineveh, which have furnished so many reliable notices in

    “Western Asia of early days, and may lend some rays of light

    to illustrate the history and condition of Eastern Asia when

    more fully studied. The Booh of liecords contains some notices

    of instructions given by Yao to his astronomers Hi and IIo to

    ascertain the solstices and e(|uinoxcs, to employ intercalary

    months, and to tix the four seasons, in order that the husbandman might know when to commit his seed to the ground. If the time of the deluge be reckoned, according to Hales, at b.c.3155, there will be an interval of about eight centuries to the days of Yao, ];.<•. 2357 ; this would be ample time for the observation that the primitive sacred year of three hundred and sixty days in Noah’s time was wrong; also that the lunar year of about three hundred and fifty-four days was (piite as incorrect, and required additional correction, which this ancient monarch is said to have made by an intercalation of seven lunar months in nineteen years. It is remarkable, too, that the time given as the date of the commencement of the astronomical observations sent to Aristotle from Babylon by command of Alexander should be b.c. 2233, or only a few years after the death of Yao ; at that time the five additional days to complete the solar year were intercalated by the Chaldeans, and celebrated as days of festivity. Dr. Hales, who mentions this, says that many ancient nations, and also the Mexicans, had the same custom, but there are no traces of any particular observance of them by the Chinese, who, indeed, could not notice them in a lunar year.

    DIVISIONS OF THE YEAR. 60

    The intercalation made by Yao has continued with little variation to this day. The Romish missionaries rectified the calendar during; the i-eio;n of Kan2;hi, and have contimied its preparation since that time. The adoption of the Julian solar year of three hundred and sixty-five and one-fourth days at this remote period is far fioni certain, though the fact of its existence among nations in the west is’ mentioned hy the commentator upon the Iloolx of liecordH, who tlonrislied a.d. 1200. The attention the Chinese paid to the hniar year, and the very small difference their seven intercahitions left between the true haimonizing of the lunar and solar years (only Ih. 27m. 32s.), would not derange the calculations to a degree to attract their notice. The period of the adoption of the cycle of sixty years, called In/i-sJiiJt hwa hiah-tsz\ cannot be ascertained even with any close approach to probability. Though negative evidence is always the poorest basis on which to found a theory in any branch of knowledge, it still bears great influence in early Chinese history and science, and in no department more than astronomy. This sexagenary cycle, the Chinese assert, was contrived nearly three centuries before the time of Yao (b.c. 2637), and seems to have been perfectly arbitrary, for no explanation now exists of the reasons which induced its inventor, HuangDi, or his minister, Kao the Great, to select this number. The years have each of them a separate name, formed by taking ten characters, called shih Jicuu or ‘ ten stems,’ and joining to them twelve other characters, called the shih-‘ih c7ii, or ‘twelve branches,’ five times repeated.

    These two sets of horary characters are also applied to

    minutes and seconds, honrs, days, and months, signs of the

    zodiac, points of the compass, etc. By giving the twelve

    branches the names of as many animals and apportioning the

    ten stems in couplets among the five elements, they are also

    made to play an important part in divination and astrology.

    The present year (1882) is the eighteenth year of the seventysixth

    cycle, or the four thousand five hundred and eighteenth

    since its institution ; but no trace of a serial nnmbering of the

    sexagenary periods has yet been found in Chinese writings. The

    application of the characters to hours and days dates from about

    B.C. 1752, according to the Shu Klmj, pei’haps even before they

    were combined in a cyclic arrangement. This sexagenary division

    existed in India in early times, too, and is still followed

    there, where it is named the Cycle of Jupiter, ” because the length of its years is measured by the passage of that phiiict, by its mean motion, through one sign of the zodiac.” liev. E. Ihirgess, in his translation of “the Surija jSuld/ianta, says that the length of Jupiter’s years is reckoned in that book at 361d.

    Oh. 38m., and adds : ” It was doubtless on account of the near

    coincidence of this period with the true solar year that it was

    adopted as a measure of time ; but it has not been satisfactorily

    ascertained, as far as we are aware, “where the cycle originated,

    or what is its age, or why it was made to consist of sixty

    years, including five whole revolutions of the planet.” It is

    not improbable, therefore, that the cycle, the two sets of characters,

    the twenty-four solar terms, witli the twelve and twentyeight

    lunar mansions or zodiacal asterisms, all of which play

    such an important part in Chinese astrology and astronomy,

    will be found to have been derived from the Chaldeans, and not

    from the Hindus, as has been confidently asserted. Though

    confessedly ancient in both India and China, their adoption was

    slow in its growth, while some striking similarities indicate a

    common origin, and so remote that its genesis is all a mystery.

    The year is lunar, but its commencement is regulated by the sun. New Year falls on the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius, which makes it come not before January 21st nor after February lOtli. Besides the division into lunar months, the year is apportioned into twenty-four jieqi, or ‘ terms,’ of about fifteen days each, depending upon the position of the sun; these are continued on from year to year, irrespective of the intercalations, the first one commencing about February 6th, when the sun is 15° in Aquarius. Their names have reference to the season of the year and obvious changes in nature at the time they come round, as rain-vxtter, vernal-eqitifiox, spikedgrain, little-heat, etc.

    The Chinese divide the zodiac(huang dao, or ‘yellow road’) into twenty-eight siu or I’ung, ‘ constellations’ or ‘lunar mansions’, but instead of an equable allotment, the signs occupy from 1° up to 31°; the Hindus arrange them nearly in spaces of 13° each. Their names and corresponding animals, with the principal stars answering to each asterism, are given in the table.

    DIVISIONS OF THE ZODIAC. 71

    •of one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions is given to every day in the year in perpetual rotation, consequently the same day of our week in every fourth week has the same character applied ro it. The days are numbered from the first to the last day of the month, and the months from one to twelve through the year, except the intercalaiy month, called jun yueJi y and there is also a trine division of the month into decades.’

    The astronomical ideas of the common Chinese are vague and

    inaccurate. Tlie knowledge contained in their own scientific

    hooks has not been taught, and they still believe the earth to be

    a plain surface, measuring each way about one tliousand five

    hundred miles; around it the sun, moon, and stars revolve, the

    first at a distance of four tliousand miles. This figure comes so

    near the earth’s radius that it is reasonable to infer, with Chalmers,

    that it was calculated from the different elevation of the sun

    in dift’erent latitudes. The distance of the heavens from the earth

    was ascertained by one observer to be 81,304 //’, and by another

    subsequent to him to be 216,781 li, or about 73,000 miles; all of which indicates the lack of careful observation. The constellation of the Peh Tao, or Dipper, plays an important part in popular astronomy; the common saying is:

    ‘ When the handle of the Northern Peck points east at nightfall, it is spring over the land ; when it points south, it is summer ; and when west or north, it is respectively autumn and winter.’ The Dipper

    has become a kind of natm-al clock from this circumstance, and

    as its handle always points to the bright stars in Scorpio, these

    two constellations are among the most familiar. These popular

    notions must not, however, be taken as a test of what was known

    in early times; it is quite as just to their scientific attainments

    in this branch to give them credit (as Wjdie does) for having

    known more than has come down to our days; as to deny belief

    in the little that remains, because it presents some insoluble

    difificulties, as Chalmers is disposed to do.

    ‘ Chinese Eepositorii, Vol. IX., pp. 573-584. De Giiignes’ V»i/iif/rs, Vol. II., p. 414. Chinese ChrcHtoriutthy. Legge’s Shoo Kinn, passim. Chalmers, On the Astronomy of the Ancient Chinese. Journal of the Am. Oriental Society, Vol. VI., Art. III., and Vol. VIII., Arts. I. and VII. Whitney’s Orientaland Linfjuisiie Studies, Art. XII. North China Br. R. A. S. Journal, Nos. III. and IV.

    CHINESE NOTIONS OF ASTRONOMY. 73

    Astronomy has been studied by the Chinese for astrological

    and state pur{)oses, and their recordetl oI)servatioMS of eclipses,

    comets, etc., have no small value to European astronomers and

    chronologists. Mailla has collected the notices of 460 solar

    eclipses, extending from n.c. 2151) to a.d. 1699, and Wylie furnishes

    a careful list of 925 solar and 574 lunar eclipses, extracted

    from Chinese works, observed between 2150 and a.d. 1785.

    Comets have been carefully noted whenever their brilliancy has enabled them to be seen, for they are regarded as portents by the people, and their course among the stars somewhat determines their influence. A list of 373 comets mentioned in Chinese records has been published by John Williams,’ mostly extracted from Ma Twan-lin’s Antiquarian Researches, and the Shi K’i. They extend from b.c. 611 to a.d. 1621 ; the general value of these records is estimated by the learned author as entitling them to credence. The curious and intimate connection between geomancy, horoscopy, and astrology, which the Chinese suppose exists, has a powerful influence in maintaining their errors, because of its bearing on every man’s luck. Even with all the aid they have derived from Europeans, the Chinese

    seem to be unable to advance in the science of astronomy, when

    left to themselves, and to cling to their superstitions against

    every evidence. Some clouds having on one occasion covered

    the sky, so that an eclipse could not be seen, the courtiers joyfully

    repaired to the Emperor to felicitate him, that Heaven,

    touched by his virtues, had spared him the pain of witnessing

    the “eating of the sun.” A native writer on astronomy, called

    Tsinglai, who published several works under the patronage of

    Yuen Yuen, the liberal-minded governor of Kwangtungin 1820,

    even at that late day, ” makes the heavens to consist of ten concentric hollow spheres or envelopes; the first contains the moon’s orbit ; the second that of Mercury ; those of Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the twenty-eight constellations, follow; the ninth envelops and binds together the eight interior ones, and revolves daily ; while the tenth is the abode of the Observations of Comef.,% from b.c. Gil to a.d. 1640. Extracted from the Chinese Annuls. Loudon, 1871.

    Celestial tSovereit’n, the Great Ruler, with all the ii^ods and sao’es where they enjoy eternal tranquility.” lie further says, “there are two north and two south poles, those of the equator and those of the ecliptic. The poles of the ecliptic regulate the varied machinery of the heavenly revolutions, and turn round unceasingly. The poles of the equator are the pivots of the primitive celestial body, and remain permanently unmoved.

    What are called the two poles, therefore, are really not stars, but two immovable points in the north and in the south.*’ ‘ The author of this astute cosmogony studied under Europeans, and published these remarks as the fruit of his researches.

    The action and reaction of the elements furnish a satisfactory

    explanation to Chinese philosophers of the changes going on in

    the visible universe, for no possible contingencj’ can arise which

    they are not prepared to solve by their analysis of the evolution

    of its powers. Through their speculations by this curious system

    they have been led away from carefully recording facts and

    processes, and have gone on, like a squirrel in a cage, making

    no progress tow^ard the real knowledge of the elements they

    treat of. The following table contains the leading elementary

    correspondences which they use, but a full explanation would be out of place here.

    This fanciful system is more or less received by their most intelligent mcTi ; and forms a sort of abracadabra in the hands of geomancers and future-tellers, by which, with a show of great learning, they impose on the people. The sun, moon, and planets influence sublunary events, especially the life and death of human beings, and changes in their color menace approaching calamities. Alterations in the appearance of the sun announce misfortunes to the state or its head, as revolts, famines, or the death of the Emperor; when the moon waxes red, or turns pale, men should be in awe at the unlucky times thus fore-omened.

    Chinese ChrcHtoiiuitlii/, p. 391

    ACTION AND UEACTIOX OF THE ELEMENTS. 75

    O 5H I-:; < H P3 O a: o I— (HO !^ P P^ Q ;?;

    The sun is symbolized by the figure of a raven in a circle, and the moon by a rabbit on his hind legs pounding rice in a mortar, or by a three-legged toad. The last refers to the

    legend of an ancient beauty, Cliang-ngo, who drank the liquor

    of imniortality and straightway ascended to the moon, where

    she was transformed into a toad, still to be traced in its face.

    It is a special object of worship in autumn, and moon-cakes

    dedicated to it are sold at this season. All the stars are i-anged

    into constellations, and an emperor is installed over them, who

    resides at the north pole ; five monarchs, also, Yivc in the five

    stars in Leo, where is a palace, called Wu Tl tao^ or ‘Throne of

    the Five Emperors.’ In this celestial government there is also

    an heir-apparent, empresses, sons and daughters, tribunals, and

    the constellations receive the names of men, animals, and other

    terrestrial objects. The Dipper is worshipped as the residence

    of the fates, where the duration of life, and other events relating

    to mankind, are measured and meted out. Doolittle’s Social

    Life contains other popular notions connected with the stars,

    showing the ignorance still existing, and the fears excited by

    unusual phenomena among the heavenly bodies. Both heaven

    and the sun are worshipped by the government in appropriate

    temples on the west and east sides of Peking. The rainbow is

    the product of the impure vapors ascending from the earth

    meetino; those descendino; from the sun.

    If their knowledge of astronomy can be criticised as being

    anything but an exact science, the Chinese should not be denied

    credit for a certain amount of beauty in what may be called the

    romantic side of this study. In the myths and legends which

    have clustered about and doubtless in many cases perverted

    their observations of the stars, there are the sources of fetes

    and subjects for pictorial illustration Mithout number. One of

    these stories, forming the motive of a bowl decoration given

    upon the opposite page, is the fable of Aquila (;^/’i’/.) and Vega,

    known in Chinese and Japanese mytliX)logy as the Herdsman

    and Weaver-girl. The latter, the daughter of the sun-god, was

    so continually busied with her loom that her father became wor-

    I’ied at her close habits and thought that by marrying her to a

    neighbor, who herded cattle on the banks of the Silver Stream

    of Heaven (the Milky Way), she might awake to a brighter

    manner of living.

    FABLE OF THE HERDSMAN AND WKAVEIt-GIRL. 77

    ” No sooner did the maiden become wife than her habits and character utterly changed for the worse. She became not only very merry and lively, but quite forsook loom and needle, giving up her nights and days to play and idleness; no silly lover could have been more foolish than she. The sun-king, in great wrath at all this, concluded that the husband was the cause of it and determined to separate the couple. So he ordered him to remove to the other side of the river of stars, and told him that hereafter they should meet only once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month. To make a brids-e over the flood of stars, the sun-king called myriads of magpies, which thereupon flew together, and, making a bridge, supported the poor lover on their wnngs and backs as if it were a roadway of solid land. So bidding his weeping wife farewell, the lover husband sorrowfully crossed the River of Heaven, and all the magpies instantly flew away. But the two were separated, the one to lead his ox, the other to ply her shuttle during the long hours of the day wdth diligent toil, and the sun-king again rejoiced in his daughter’s industry.

    “At last the time for their reunion drew near, and only one

    fear possessed the loving wife. AVhat if it should rain ? For

    the River of Heaven is always full to the brim, and one extra

    di’op causes a flood which sweeps away even the bird l)ridge.

    But not a drop fell ; all the heavens were clear. The magpies

    flew joyfully in myriads, making a way for the tiny feet of the

    httle lady. Trembling with joy, and with heart fluttering more

    than the bridge of wings, she crossed the River of Heaven and

    was in the arms of her husband. This she did every year.

    The husband staid on his side of the river, and the wife came

    to him on the magpie bridge, save on the sad occasion when it

    rained. So every year the people hope for clear weather, and

    the happy festival is celebrated alike by old and young.” ‘

    ‘ Somewhat abridged from Mr. W. E. Griffis’ Japdneae Fairy Worhl, a book which has given us the cream of a great variety of stories from Eastern won’ der-lore.

    DIVISIONS OF THE DAY—THE ALMANAC. 79

    These two constellations are worshipped principally by women, that they may gain cumiing in the arts of needlework and making of fancy flowers. Watermelons, fruits, vegetables, cakes, etc., are placed with incense in the reception-room, and before these offerings are performed the kneelings and knoekings in the usual wav.

    The entire day is divided into twelve two-hour periods called shin., coumiencing at eleven o’clock, p.m.; each hour is further subdivided into kik, or eighths, equal to fifteen of our minutes, and receives the same characters. There are various means employed to measure time, but the people are rapidly learning to reckon its progress by watches and clocks, and follow our divisions in preference to their own. A common substitute for watches are tl/ne-sticks, long round pieces of a composition of clay and sawdust, well mixed and wound in a spiral manner; the lapse of time is indicated by its equable slow combustion from one hour mark to another, until the whole is consumed, which in the longest is not less than a week. Dials are in

    common use, and frequently attached to the mariner’s compass,

    by making the string which retains the cover in its place cast a

    shadow on the face of it. This lesson in dialing, Davis supposes

    they learned from the Jesuits. Clepsydras of various forms

    were anciently employed, some of which, from their description,

    were so disproportionately elegant and costly for such a

    clumsy mode of noting time, that their beauty more than their

    use was perhaps the principal object in preparing them.

    The almanac holds an important place, its preparation having

    been early taken under the special cal-e of the government,

    which looks upon a present of this important publication as one

    of the highest favors which it can confer on tributary vassals

    or friendly nations. It is annually prepared at Peking, under

    the direction of a bureau attached to the Board of Rites, and,

    by making it a penal offence to issue a counterfeit or pirated

    edition the governmental astrologers have monopolized the

    management of the superstitions of the people in regard to the

    fortunate or unlucky conjunctions of each day and hour. Besides

    the cabalistic part of it, the ephemeris also contains tables

    of the rising of the sun according to the latitudes of the principal

    places, times of the new and full moon, the beginning

    and length of the twenty -four terms, eclipses, application of the

    horary characters, conjunction of the planets, etc. Two or three editions are published for the convenience of the people, the prices of which vary from three to ten cents a copy. No one ventures to be without an ahuanac, lest he be liable to the greatest misfortunes, and run the imminent hazard of undertaking important events on black-balled days. The Europeans who were employed for many years in compiling the calendar were not allowed to interfere in the astrological part ; it is to the discredit of the Chinese to aid thus in perpetuating folly and ignorance among the people, when they know that the whole system is false and absurd. Such governments as that of China, however, deem it necessary to uphold ancient superstitions, if they can thereby influence their security, or strengthen the reverence due them.

    If their astronomical notions are vague, their geographical

    knowledge is ridiculous. The maps of their own territories are

    tolerably good, being originally drawn from actual survej’s by

    nine of the Jesuits, between the years 1708-1718, and since

    that time have been filled up and changed to conform to the

    alterations and divisions. Their full survey’s were engraved on

    copper at Paris, by order of Louis XIV., on sheets, measuring

    in all over a hundred square feet, and have formed the basis of

    all subsequent maps. The Chinese do not teach geography in

    their schools, even of their own empire. The conimon people

    have no knowledge, therefore, of the form and divisions of the

    globe, and the size and position of the kingdoms of the earth.

    Their common maps delineate them very erroneously, not even

    excepting their own possessions in Mongolia and tli—scattering

    islands, kingdoms, and continents, as they have heard of their

    existence, at haphazard in various corners beyond the frontiers.

    The two Americas and Africa are entirely omitted on most of

    them, and England, Holland, Portugal, Goa, Lugonia, Bokhara,

    Germany, France, and India, are arranged along the western

    side, from north to south, in a series of islands and headlands.

    The southern and eastern sides are similarly garnished by islands, as Japan, Lewchew, Formosa, Siam, Pirmah, Java, the Sulu Islands, and others, while Russia occupies the whole of the northern frontier of their Middle Kingdom.

    GE0(4KAnTICAL KNOWLEDGK OF THE CHINESE. 8\

    The geographical works of Tsinglai are not (juite so erroneous as his astronomical, but the uneducated peoj^lc, notwithstanding Ills efforts to teach them better, still generally suppose the earth to be an inniiense extended stationary plain. Their notions of its inhabitants are equally whimsical, and would grace the pages of Sir fJohn Mandeville. In some parts of its surface they imagine the inhabitants to he all dwarfs, who tie themselves together in bunches for fear of being carried away by the eagles; in others they are all women, who conceive by looking at their shadows ; and in a third kingdom, all the people have holes in their breasts, through which they thrust a pole, when carrying one another from place to place. Charts for the guidance of the navigator, or instruments to aid him in determining his position at sea, the Chinese are nearly or quite destitute of; they have retrograded rather than advanced in navigation, judging from the accounts of Fa-hian, Ibn Batuta, and other travellers, when their vessels frequented the ports in the Persian Gulf and on the Malabar coast, and carried on a large trade with the Archipelago. Itineraries are published, containing the distances between places on the principal thoroughfares throughout the provinces, and also lists of the ports, harbors, and islands on the coast, but nothing like sailing directions accompany the latter, nor do maps of the routes illustrate the former. Such knowledge as they have on these points is hidden away in their libraries, as the Latin and Greek classics were in European convents and castles a thousand years ago.

    In the various branches of mensuration and formulae used to describe the dimensions and weight of bodies, they have reached only a practical medioci’ity. With a partial knowledge of trigonometry, and no instruments for ascertaining the heights of

    objects or their distances fi’om the observer, still their lands are

    well measured, and the area of lots in towns and cities accurately

    ascertained. The cht/i or foot is the integer of length, but its

    standard value cannot be easily ascertained. In the Chinese

    Commercial Ouide^ p. 285, is a table of eighty-four observations

    on this point, taken at different times and places in China, whose

    extremes differ more than six inches. It is fixed by the Board

    of Works at 13^ in. English, but tradesmen at Canton employ

    foot measures varying from 14.625 to 14.81 in. ; according

    to the tariff, it is reckoned at 14.1 in. English, and the ehang of ten chih at Z\\ yds. During the past thirty years, the tariff weights and measures have gradually obtained acceptance as the standards, and this will probably result in securing uniformity in course of time. The chih is subdivided into ten tsun or puntos, and each tsun into teny^n. The I’l is used for distances, and is usually reckoned at 1,825.55 ft. English, which gives 2.89 I’l to an English mile ; this is based on the estimate of 200 I’l to a degree, but there were only 180 li to a degree before Europeans came, which increases its length to 2,028.39 ft. or 2.6 Vi to a mile, which is nearer the common estimate. The French missionaries divided the degree into 250 li (each being then exactly 1,460.44 ft. English, or one-tenth of a French astronomical league), and also into sixty minutes and sixty seconds, to make it correspond to western notation ; this measure has not been adopted in common use. The present rulers have established

    post-houses very generally, at intervals of ten li^ or about a

    league. The land measures are the mao and l:’in<j ; the former

    measures 6,000 square <?/«’A, or 808.6 square yaixls, and a hundred

    of them make a king. Taxes are collected, land is leased,

    and crops are estimated by the mao and its decimal parts ; but

    examination has shown that the actual area of a inao grows less

    as one goes north ; in Canton, it is about 4.76 ‘tnao to an acre,

    and at Peking it is six, and even smaller.

    The weights and measures of the Chinese are twenty-four in

    all, and vary in their value even more than those of long measure.

    The common weights are called tael^ catty^ 2i\\^^ecul by

    foreigners ; their values are respectively \\ oz. av., 1|^ lb. av.,

    and 1331^ lbs. av., and thus roughly correspond to the English

    ounce, pound, and hundredweight. The Chinese deal in many

    articles l)y weight which among western nations are sold according

    to their quality—such as M’ood, silk, oil, whiskey, cloth, grain,

    poultry, etc.—so that it has been humorously observed that the

    Chinese sell everything by -weight, except eggs and children.

    Their common measures correspond nearly to our gill, half-pint,

    pint, and peck, and are used to retail rice, beans, etc. The smaller

    ones are not very accurately constructed from bamboo-joints,

    but the peck measure, or tec, shaped like tlie frustum of a

    pyramid, must be olRcially examined and sealed before it can

    MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. SIl

    be used; at Canton it contains 6^ catties weiglit, or about 1.13

    gallon. The decimals of the tael, called riiace^ eamlareen, and

    cash {tsitn, /an, and li), are employed in reckoning bullion,

    pearls, gems, drugs, etc.; ten cash making one candareen, ten

    candareens one mace, etc. The proportions between the Chinese

    and American moneys and weights is such that so many

    taels per pecul, or candareens per catty, is the same as so many

    dollars per hundredweight, or cents per pound.’

    The monetary system is arranged on the principle of weight,

    and the divisions have the same names, fael, mace, candareen,

    and cash. The only native coin is a copper piece called tsien,

    because it originally weighed a mace ; it is thin and circular,

    rather more than an inch in diameter, with a square hole in the

    middle for the convenience of stringing. The obverse bears

    the word ])ao, or ‘ current,’ and the name of the province in

    Manchu, on each side of the square hole ; the reverse has four

    words, Taulnran’j, tun’j^pno, i.e., ‘money current [during the

    reign of] Taukwang.’ Mints for casting cash are established

    in each provincial capital under the direction of the Board of

    lievenue. The coin should consist of an alloy of copper, 50 ;

    zinc, ^\\ ; lead, 6^ ; and tin, 2 ; or of equal parts of copper

    and zinc ; but it has been so debased by iron and reduced in

    size during the last fifty years that it does not pay to counterfeit

    it. Each piece should weigh 58 grains troy, or 3.78

    grammes, but most of those now in circulation are under 30

    grains, and the rate of exchange varies in different parts of the

    land from 900 to 1,800 for a silver dollar.

    The workmen in the mint are required to remain within the

    building except wdien leave of absence is obtained, but in spite

    of all the efforts of government, private coinage is issued to a

    great amount, and sometimes with the connivance of the mintmaster.

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. X.,p. 050; Chinese Chrestomathy ; Chinese Commercml Guide, Fifth Ed., pp. 2G5-288 ; Rondot, Commerce de la Chine, 1819.

    Neither silver nor gold has ever been coined to any extent in China. In seeking for the cause of this difference from all other Asiatic nations, it seems to lie in the commercial freedom which has done so much to elevate them. The government on the one hand is not strone; enono;]i to restrain counterfeiters, and not honest enough, on the other hand, to issue pieces of uniform standard for a series of years till it has obtained the (ioniidence of its subjects. It will not receive base metal for taxes, and cannot force merchants to accept adulterated coins. As its foreign relations extend it will no doubt be

    obliged to issue a better national currency in the three metals.

    Attempts have been made to introduce a silver piece of the size

    of a tael, and specimens were made at Shanghai in 1856. A

    large coinage of native dollars was attempted in Fuhkien and

    Formosa, about 1835, to pay the troops on that island. One of

    them indicated that the piece was ” pure silver for current use

    from the Chang-chau Commissariat ; [weight] seven mace two

    candareeiis^” The other was of the same weight and purity

    (417.4 grains troy), and besides the inscription in Chinese on

    the obverse, and in Mancliu on the reverse, it had an etfigy of

    the god of Longevity on the head and a tripod on the tail, to

    authenticate its official origin. These pieces were either melted

    or counterfeited to such an extent on their appearance, that they

    soon disappeared.

    Foreign dollars are imported in great quantities from Mexico

    and San Francisco, and form the medium of trade at the open

    ports. They are often stamped by the person who pays them

    out, which soon destroys thein as a coin, and they are then

    melted and refined to be cast into ingots of bullion, called shoes

    of sijcee, from sl-s.z’ or ‘fine floss’ ; these weigh from five mace

    to fifty taels, the larger pieces being stamped with the district

    magistrate’s title and the date, to verify them. They are from

    ninety-seven to ninety-nine per cent, pure silver, but small ingots

    of ten or fifteen taels weight are less pure than the large

    shoes, as they are called from their shape. Gold bullion is cast

    into “bars like cakes of India-ink in shape, weighing about ten

    taels, or hammered into thick leaves which can be examined but

    not separated by di-iving a punch through a pile of a hundred

    or more—a precaution against cheating. Large quantities are

    sent abroad in this shape.

    Taxes and duties are paid in sycee of ninety-eight per cent,

    fineness, and licensed bankers are connected with the revenue

    BANKING SYSTEM AND TAPER MONEY. 85

    department to wlioni tlie proceeds are paid, and who are allowed

    a small percentage for relining and becoming resjjonsible for its

    purity. Dollars and ingots are counterfeited, and all classes

    have them inspected by shrofs, who, by practice, are able to

    decide by the sight alone npon tiie degree of alloy in a piece of

    silver, though usually they employ touchstone needles to assist

    them, different degrees of fineness imparting a different color to

    the needle. Books are prepared as aids to the detection of counterfeit

    dollars ; in these the process of manufacture is carefully

    described ; some of the pieces are marvels of skill in forgery.

    Chartered banking companies are unknown, for a government

    warrant or charter would carry no weight with it, but

    private bankers are found in all large towns. Paper money

    was issued in immense quantities under the Mongol dynasty,

    and its convenience is highly praised by Marco Polo, who

    looked upon its emission by the Grand Khan as the highest

    secret of alchemy. Polo’s ideas of this operation would please

    the ‘* greenbackers ” in the United States. He says, when describing

    Kublai’s purchases : ” So he buys such a quantity of

    those precious things every year that his treasure is endless,

    while all the while the money he pays away costs him nothing

    at all. If any of those pieces of paper are spoilt the

    owner cariies them to the mint, and by paying three per cent,

    on the value he gets new pieces in exchange.” The total issues

    of this highest secret of alchemy during Kublai’s reign of tliirtyfour

    years are reckoned by Pauthier, the Yueji Annals, at equal

    to $624,135,500. The Khan’s successors, however, overdid the

    mamifacture, and when the people found out that they had

    nothing but paper to show for all the valuables they had parted

    with to the Mongols, it added strength to the rebellion of Ilungwu

    (a.d. 1359), which ended in their expulsion nine years afterward.

    The new dynasty was, nevertheless, obliged to issue its

    notes at tirst, but the mercantile instincts of the people soon

    asserted their power, and as industry revived they were superseded

    about 1455. The Manchus did not issue any Governmental

    paper till 1S5S, during the Tai-ping rebellion, and its circulation

    was limited to the capital from the first ; seeing that even then it was known to have no basis of credit or funds.

    A bank can be opened by any person or company, subject to certain laws and payments to Government, on reporting its organization. The number of these offices of deposit and emission is large in proportion to the business of a town, but their capital averages only two or three thousand taels; the number in Tientsin is stated at three hundred, at Peking it is less than four hundred, of which scores in each are mere branches. The check on over-issue of notes lies in the

    control exercised by the cleai’ing-house of every city, where the

    standing of each bank is known by its operations. The circulation

    of the notes is limited in some cases to the street or neighborhood

    wherein the establishment is situated ; often the

    payee has a claim on the payer of a bill for a full day if it be

    found to be counterfeit or worthless—a custom which involves

    a good deal of scribbling on the back of the bill to certify the

    names. Proportionally few counterfeit notes are met with, owing

    nioi’e to the limited range of the bills, making it easy to ask

    the bank, which recognizes its own paper by the check-tallies,

    of which the register contains two or three halves printed across

    the check-book. When silver is presented for exchange, the

    bills are usually, in Peking, iilled up and dated as the customer

    wishes while he waits for them. Their face value ranges from

    one to a hundred tiao, or strings of cash, but their worth depends

    on the exchange between silver and cash, and as this

    fluctuates daily, the bills soon And their way home. These

    notes are unknown in the southern provinces, where dollars

    have long circulated; but their convenience is so great that

    people are willing to run slight risks on this account. Hongkong

    bills circulate on the mainland to very remote districts.

    PAWNSHOPS AND POPULAR ASSOCIATIONS. 87

    Banks issue circular letters of credit to travel through the Empire, and the system of remittance by drafts is as complete as in Europe ; the rates charged are high, however, and vast sums of silver are constantly on the move. The habit of pawning goods is very general, and carries its disastrous results among all classes. There are three kinds of pawnshops, and the laws regulating them are strict and equitable ; the chief evil arising from their number is the facility they give to thieves. Pawn tickets are exposed for sale in the streets, and form a curious branch of traffic. These establishments are generally very extensive, and the vast amount of goods stored in them, especially garments and jewelry, shows their universal patronage.

    One pawnbroker’s warehouse at Tinghai was used by the English forces as a hospital, and accommodated between two and three hundred patients. The insecurity of commercial operations involves, of course, a high rate of interest, sometimes up to three per cent, a month, lowering according to circumstances to twelve or ten per cent, per annum. The legal pawnshops(tang ])iC) are allowed three years to redeem, and give three years’ notice of dissolution. The restrictions on selling pawned articles works injuriously to the shops, in consequence of rapid depreciation or risks to the articles. If a fire occurs on the premises the pawner claims the full amount of his pledge ; only one-half is paid if it communicates from a neighbors house.’

    One characteristic feature of Chinese society cannot be omitted

    in this connection, namely, its tendency to associate. It

    is a fertile principle ap[)lied to every branch of life, but especially

    conspicuous in all industrial operations. The people

    crystallize into associations ; in the town and in the country, in

    buying and in selling, in studies, in tights, and in politics, everybody

    must co-operate with somebody else—women as well as

    men. To belong to one or more hioui, and be identified with

    its fortunes, and enlisted in its struggles, seems to be the

    stimulus to activity, resulting from the democratic element in

    the Chinese polity, to M’hicli we are to refer the continuity as

    well as many singular features of the national character. In

    trade capitalists associate to found great banks, to sell favorite

    medicines, or engross leading staples ; little farmers club together

    to buy an ox, pedlers to get the custom of a street, porters

    to monopolize the loads in a ward, or chair-bearers to furnish

    all the sedans for a town. Beggars are allotted to one or two streets by their hicul, and driven off another’s beat if they encroach. Each guild of carpenters, silknien, masons, or even of physicians and teachers, works to advance its own interests, keep its own nienibei’S in order, and defend itself against its opponents. Villagers form themselves into organizations against the wiles of powerful clans ; and unscrupulous officials are met and balked by popular unions when they least expect it. Women and mothers get up a couipany to procure a trousseau, to buy an article of dress or furniture, to pay for a son’s wedding.

    ‘ Ed. Biot in Journcd Asiatiqw, 1837, Tome III., p. 422, and Tome IV., pp.97, 209; Cfatime CommercM Gnklf, 1863, pp. 264-275; N. C As. Journal,No. VI , pp. 52-71 ; Yule’s Marco Polo, 1871, Vol. I., p. 378-^85; Pauthier Le Litre de M. Polo, Cap. XCV., p. 319 ; Vissering On Chinese Currency, 1877,-Chinese Reipository, Vol. XX., p. 289 ; Doolittle’s Social Life, Vol. II., pp. 138-247; Notes and Queries on C- and J., Vol. II., p. 108.

    Associations are limited to a year, to a month, to a decade, according to their design. These various forms of co-operation teach the people to know each other, while they also furnish agencies for unscrupulous men to oppress and crush out their enemies, gratify their revenge, and intimidate enterprise. Nevertheless, until the people learn higher principles of morality, these habits of combining themselves bring more benefits to the whole body than evils, at the same time quickening the vitality of the mass, without which it would die out in brigandage and despair.’

    ‘ For an account of the money hwiii and details of their system, see M. Eug. Simon, Les Petites Societes d’Argent en Chine, N. C. Br. B. As. Soe. Journal No. v., Art. I. (1868).

    MILITARY SCIENCE AND IMPLEMENTS OF WAR. 89

    The theory of war has received more attention among the Chinese than its practice, and their reputation as an unwarlike people is as ancient and general among their neighbors as that of their seclusion and ingenuity. The Mongols and Manchus, Huns and Tartars, all despised the effeminate braggadocio of Chinese troops, and easily overcame them in war, but were themselves in turn conquered in times of peace. Minute directions are given in books with regard to the drilling of troops, which are seldom reduced to practice. The puerile nature of the examinations which candidates for promotion in the army pass through, proves the remains of the ancient hand-to-hand encounter, and evinces the low standard still entertained of what an officer should be. Personal courage and brawn are highly esteemed, and the prowess of ancient heroes in the battle-field is lauded in songs, and embellished in novels. The arms of the Chinese still consist of bows and arrows.

    spears, matchlocks, swords, and cannon of various sizes and

    lengths. The bow is used more for show in the military examinations,

    than for service in battle. Rattan shields, painted

    with tigers’ heads, are used on board the revenue cutters to turn

    the thrust of spears, and on ceremonial occasions, when the

    companies are paraded in full uniforms and equipments. The

    imiform of the difterent regiments of the luh-tjin<j or ‘ native

    army,’ consists of a jacket of brown, yellow, or blue, bordered

    with a wide edging of another color ; the trowsers are usually

    blue. The cuirass is made of quilted and doubled cotton cloth,

    and covered with iron plates or brass knobs connected by copper

    bands ; the helmet is iron or polished steel, sometimes inlaid,

    weighing two and one-fourth pounds, and has neck and ear lappets

    to protect those parts. The back of the jacket bears the

    word yung, ‘ courage,’ and on the breast is painted the service

    to which the corps is attached, whether to the governor, commandant,

    or Emperor. The exhibition of courage among Chinese

    troops is not, however, always deferred to the time when

    they run away, spite of the disparaging reputation they have

    obtained in this i-espect from their British conquerors—who

    have, nevertheless, on more than one occasion, been led to adujire

    the cool pluck of the same men when led by competent

    officers.

    The matchlock is of wrought iron and plain bore ; it has a

    longer barrel than a musket, so long that a rest is sometimes

    attached to the stock for greater ease in firing ; the match is

    a cord of hemp or coir, and the pan must be uncovered with the

    hand before it can be fired, which necessarily interferes with,

    and almosts prevents its use in wet or windy weather. The

    cannon are cast, and although not of very uniform calibre from

    the mode of manufacture, are serviceable for salutes. The

    ginjal ic a kind of swivel from six to fourteen feet long, resting

    on a tripod ; being less liable to burst than the cannon, it is the

    most effective gun the Chinese possess.

    Gunpowder was probably known to the Chinese in the latter

    part of the II an dynasty (a.d. 250), but its application in firearms

    at that time is not so plain. The exploits of Kung-ming

    in that period owe their interest to his use of gunpowder in modes like the Greek fire of the Byzantines, though the animated narratives of Lo Kwan-chung (a.d. 1300) in his History of the Three States, are not reliable history in this particular.

    Grosier (Vol. VIL, pp. 176-200) has adduced the evidences proving the use of powder at or before the Christian era. The inferences that Europe obtained it from India rather than China have, however, a good deal of weight. Early Arab historians refer to it as Chinese snow and Chinese salt—a fact which only shows its eastern origin—while the Chinese comx^und term of hioo-yioh, or ‘ fire drug,’ rather indicates a foreign source than otherwise.

    Mr. W. F. Mayers has searched out and collated a considerable

    mass of evidence from Chinese sources bearing upon the

    introduction of explosives in native warfare and ordinary life.

    The conclusions of this writer point both to a foreign origin of

    gunpowder in China, and a nnicli later use of the compound

    among their warriors than has generally been supposed. Coming,

    probably, from India or Central Asia about the fifth century

    A.D. the invention, he says, ” perhaps found its way into

    China in connection with the manufacture of fireworks for purposes

    of diversion ; and supplanting at some unascertained

    period the jiractice of producing a crepitating noise by burning

    bamboos as a charm against evil spirits.” No evidence exists

    of the use of gunpowder as an agent of warfare until the middle

    of the twelfth century, nor did a knowledge of its propulsive

    effects come to the Chinese until the reign of Yungloh, in the

    fifteenth century—a thousand years after its first employment

    in fire-crackers.’

    Fire-arms of large size were introduced toward the end of the

    Ming dynasty by foreign instructors ; ginjals and matchlocks

    were known four centuries earlier in all the eastern and central

    regions of Asia, but none of those people could forge or cast

    large artillery, owing to their imperfect machinery. The gunpowder

    is badly mixed and ti’itui-ated, though the proportions

    are nearly the sauje as our own. The native arms are now

    ‘ JVm’th CJiina Br. Royal Aniutic iSoc. JouriMl, 1870, No. VI., Art. V. Com

    pare Notes and Queries on G. and J.

    INVENTION AND USE OF GUNP0\YDER. 91

    rapidly giving place to foreign in the imperial army, and the

    establishment of four or live arsenals under the numagement of

    competent instructors, where implements of warfare of every

    kind are manufactured, will, ere long, make an entire change in

    Chinese weapons and tactics. Some of their brass guns were of

    • enormous size and great strength, but were of little use for

    practical warfare, owing to the bad carriages and rude means of

    working them.

    The uniforms of Chinese troops are not even calculated to

    give them a iine appearance when drawn up for parade, and

    no one, looking at them, can believe that men dressed in loose

    jackets and trousers, with heavy shoes and bamboo caps, could

    be trained to cope with western soldiers. Fans or umbrellas

    are often made use of on parade to assuage the heat or protect

    from the i-ain, while the chief object of these reviews is to

    salute and knock head before some high officer. In order to

    repress insurrection, the government has been frequently compelled

    to buy off turbulent leaders with office and rewards, and

    thus disorganize and scatter the enemy it could not vanquish.

    But however ridiculous the army and navy of the Chinese

    were half a century ago, in the isolation and ignorance which

    then held them, it cannot be alleged of what has been attempted

    within twenty 3’ears, and the promise of wdiat may be

    done in as numy more. The following resume of the qualities

    of the Chinese soldier, from experience with Col. Gordon^s

    “Ever Victorious Force” during the Tai-ping insurrection will

    be a, 2}roj)os of this subject to which this work cannot devote

    further space. ” The old notion is pretty well got rid of, that

    they are at all a cowardly people when properly paid and efticiently

    led ; while the regularity and order of their habits,

    whicli dispose them to peace in ordinary times, give place to a

    daring bordering upon recklessness in time of war. Their intelligence

    and capacity for remembering facts make them well

    fitted for use in modern warfare, as do also the coolness and

    calmness of their disposition. Physically they are on the

    average not so strong as Europeans, but considerably more

    30 than most of the other races of the East ; and on a cheap

    diet of rice, vegetables, salt fish, and pork, they can go through a vast amount of fatigue, whether in a temperate climate or a tropical one, where Europeans are ill-fitted for exertion. Their wants are few; they have no caste prejudices, and hardly any appetite for intoxicating liquors. Being of a lymphatic or lymphatic-bilious temperament, they enjoy a remarkable immunity from inflannnatory disease, and the tubercular diathesis is little known amongst them.””

    Their progress in real civilization is not to be fairly measured

    by their attainments in war, although it has been said that the

    two best general criteria of civilization among any people are

    superior skill in destroying their fellow men, and the degree of

    respect they pay to women. China falls far behind her place

    among the nations if judged by these tests alone, and in reality

    owes her present advance in numbers, industry, and wealth

    mainly to her peaceful character and policy. She would have

    probably presented a spectacle similar to the disunited hoi’des

    of Central Asia, had her people been actuated by a warlike

    spirit, for when divided into fifty or more feudal states, as was

    the case in the days of Confucius, she made no progress in the

    arts of life. The Manchu Emperors have endeavored to conquer

    their neighbors, the Birmans and Coreans, but in both

    cases had to be satisfied with the outward homage of a ]votou\

    and a few articles of tribute, when a formal embassy presented

    itself in Peking. The Siamese, Cochinchinese, Coreans, Tibetans,

    Lewchewans, and some of the tribes of Turkestan, are

    nominally vassals of the Son of Heaven, and their names remain

    on the roll of feifs. The first two have ceased to tsin

    hung, or send tribute, since about 1860 ; and the Lewchewans

    are not likely to revisit their old quarters at Peking in any capacity

    ; while the others derive advantage from the facilities of

    traffic which they are unwilling to give up.

    ‘Andrew Wilson, The ”Ever Victorious Army.” A RiHtory of the Chinese Vu»ip(.ii(/n under Lieut. -Vol.- (Jordou. London, lb08, p. 2G9.

    CHINESE POLICY AND PKACTICE IN WARFARE. 93

    The precepts of Confucius taught the rulers of China to conquer their neighbors by showing the excellence of a good government, for then their enemies would come and voluntarily range themselves vmder their sway; and although the kindness of the rulers of China to those fully in their power is as hypocritical as their rule is unjust, those nations who pay them this homage do it voluntarily, and experience no interference in their internal affairs. The maxims of Confucian polity, aided by the temper of the people, have had some effect, in the lapse of years, upon the nature of this quasi feudality. The weaker nations looked up to China, since they could look no higher, and their advances in just government, industry, and arts, is not a

    little owing to their political intercourse during past centuries.

    The Chinese Empire is a notable example of the admirable

    results of a peaceful policy ; and the sincere desire of every

    well-wnsher of his race doubtless is that this mighty mass of

    human beings may be Christianized and elevated from their

    present ignorance and weakness by a like peaceful infusion of

    the true principles of good order and liberty.

    Many treatises upon the art and practice of war exist, one of

    which, called the Soldier’s Manual^ in eighteen chaptei’s, contains

    some good directions. The lirst chapter treats of the

    mode of marching, necessity of having plans of the country

    through which the army is to pass, and cautions the troops

    against harassing tlie people unnecessarily—not a useless admonition,

    fur a body of Chinese soldiers is too often like a

    swarm of locusts upon the land. The second chaj)ter teaches

    the mode of buildino- bridges, the need there is of cautious explorations

    in marching, and of sending out scouts ; this subject

    is also continued in the next section, and directions given about

    castrametation, placing sentries, and keeping the troops on the

    alert, as well as under strict discipline in camp. The rest of

    the book is chiefly devoted to directions for the management of

    an actual battle, sending out spies beforehand, choosing positions,

    and bringing the various parts of the army into action at

    the best time. The hope of reward is held out to induce the

    soldier to be brave, and the threats of punishment and death if

    he desert or turn his back in time of battle.

    ‘ Chinese Eepositoi-y, Vol. XI., p. 487.

    The utility of music in encouraging the soldiers and exciting them to the charge is fully appreciated, but to our notions it no more deserves the name of music tliaii the collection ol half-drilled louts in petticoats does that of an arnn’, when compared with a European force. Still, its antiquity, if nothing else, renders it a subject of great interest to the musical student, while its power over the people seems to be none the less because it is unscientific. However small their attainments in the theory and practice of music, no nation gives to this art a higher place. It was regarded by Confucius as an essential part in the government of a state, harmonizing and softening the relations between the different ranks of society, and causing them all to move on in consentaneous accord. It is remarked of the sage himself that having heard a tune in one of his ramblings, he did not know the taste of food for three weeks after—but, with all deference to the feelings of so distinguished a man, we cannot help thinking his food might have been quite as palatable without music, if it was no better then than it is at the present day. The Chinese never had anything like the musical contests among the Greeks, and their efforts have been directed to develop instrumental rather than vocal music.

    The names and characters used for notes in vocal music are here given, though their real tone cannot be accurately represented by our staff. The second octave is denoted by affixing the sign jin, ‘a man,’ to the simple notes, or as shown in the second c7te, by a peculiar hooked bottom.

    -^ ng Tj j: K i fL 7*; ^ fL ji: J^i^h

    CHINESE MUSICAL NOTATION. 93

    Barrow says that the Chinese learned this mode of writing music from Pereira, a llomaii Catholic missionary, in 1670, but its existence in Japan and Corea invalidates this statement.

    There are two kinds of nmsic, known as the Southern and Northern, which differ in their character, and are readily recognized by the people. The octave in the former seems to have had only six notes, and the songs of the Miaotu and rural people in that portion of China are referable to such a gamut, while the eight-tone scale generally prevails in all theatres and more cultivated circles. Further examination by competent observers who can jot down on such a gamut the airs they hear in various regions of China, is necessary to ascertain these interesting points, which now seem to carry us back to remote antiquity, and have been noticed in other countries than China.

    In writing instrumental music, marks, meaning io jmsh^Jilli^p, hool; etc., are added to denote the mode of playing the string; the two are united into very complicated combinations. For instance, in writing a tune for the lute or kin, ” each note is a chister of characters ; one denotes the string, another the stud, a third informs you in what manner the lingers of the right hand are to be used, a fourth does the same in reference to the left, a fifth tells the performer in what way he must slide the hand before or after the appropriate sound has been given, and a sixth says, perhaps, that two notes are to be struck at the same time.” These complex notes are difficult to learn and remember, therefore the Chinese usually play by the ear. This mode of notation, in addition to its complexity, must be varied by nearly every kind of instrument, inasmuch as the combinations fitted for one instrument are inapplicable to another; but music is written for only a few instruments, such as the lute and the guitar.

    These notes, when simply written without directions condiined with them as described above, indicate only their pitch in a certain scale, and do not denote either the length or the absolute pitch ; they are written perpendicularly, and various marks of direction are given on the side of the column regarding the proportionate length of time in which certain notes are to be played, others to be trilled or repeated once, twice, or more times, and when the performer is to pause. Beats occur at regular intervals in some of the written tunes ; all muisic is in common time and no triple measures are used, yet time is pretty well observed in orchestras. Of harmony and counterpoint they know nothing ; the swell, diminish, flat, sharp, appogiatura, tie, and other marks which assist in giving expression to our written music, are for the most part unknown, nor are tunes set to any key. The neatness and adaptation of the European notation is better appreciated after studying the clumsy, imperfect mode which is here briefly described.’

    No description can convey a true idea of Chinese vocal music, and few persons are able to imitate it when they have heard it. De Guignes says, ” It is possible to sing a Chinese song, but I think it would be very difficult to give it the proper tone without having heard it by a native, and I rather believe that no one can perfectly imitate their notes.” They seem, in some cases, to issue from the larynx and nose, the tongue, teeth, and lips having little to do with them, the modulation being made mostly with the muscles of the bronchia ; at other times, the

    enunciation of the words requires a little more use of the lips

    and teeth. Singing is generall}’ on a falsetto key ; and this

    feature prevails throughout. Whether in the theatre or in the

    street, about the house or holding the guitar or lute, both men

    and women sing in this artificial tone somewhere between a

    squeal and a scream, and which no western musical instrument

    is able to imitate. Its character is plaintive and soft, not full

    or exhibiting much compass, though when two or three females

    sing together in recitative, not destitute of sweetness. Bass and

    tenor are not sung by men, nor a second treble by females, and

    the two performers are seldom heard together among the thousands

    of street musicians who get a precarious living by their

    skill in this line, as they accompany the guitar or rebeck. The

    chanting in Buddhist services resembles the Ambrosian and early

    Gregorian tones, and is accompanied only by striking a block

    ‘ Compare Dr. Jenkins in the Jmimal N. C. Br. R. A. S., Vol. V., 1868, pp.30 ff., and Rev. E. W. Syle in ib. Vol. II., 1859, p. 17G ; Pere Amiot in Mem.mnc. les CMnois, Vol. VI., pp. 1 ff.; Notes <ind Queries on C. and «/., Vol. IV.,Arts. 2 and ;}. Pt-rny Did., app. No. XIV., p. 443.

    CHINESE TUNES. 97

    and marking the time; the tenor voices of boys make a strong contrast to the gruff bass voices of the men in this service; some of the latter will carry their part as low as an octave below C or D in the bass, sounding most sepulchrally, like a trombone.

    Three of the tunes insei’ted in Barrow’s Travels are here quoted as specimens of Chinese airs The first is the most popular, the second, conmion at Shanghai, is called Liih ixvn^ or ‘ Six Boards,’ it has a strain at the beginning and end additional to the usual form.

    MOH-Ll HWA ; OR, THE JASMINE FLOWER.

    ^^^^xjimt^-

    Hao ye to sien hva, Yu chao yu jih

    How sweet this branch of fresh flower?, On the morn of the day

    I W=^

    e.^EiE^EfeiEi^^±^2

    loh tsai ICO kia,

    ’twas dropped in my house ;

    IVo pun tai puh chu mun,

    I’ll wear it myself, yet not out of doors,

    ^ ^^^P 3^ W

    Tui choh sien hira, ^rh loh.

    But will match it with others, and make myself glad.

    Hao ye to Moh-l’i hica,

    Miran yuen hwa kai sho puh kwei la,

    Wo pun tai tsz^ ye ta,

    Tai yu kung kan hira jin ma.

    How sweet this sprig of the jasmine flower!

    Through the whole plat there’s none to equal it;

    I myself will wear this new plucked sprig,

    Though I fear all who sec it will envy me.

    LUH PAN ; OK, THE SIX BOAKDS.

    ^

    ^^^^m^

    ^^^i^S^^^^^

    ^^^^^

    -^-

    aij=a- ^^^^^^^^

    ^=^ ^^^^^^s

    ^^^^^^^1^

    STRINGED INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC. 99

    The literature on the art of music is large. One treatise on heating drums scientilically dates from ahom tne year 860 A D , and contains a list of about one hundred and twenty-nine symphonies, nuxny of which are of Indian origin Among the seventy-two instruments hriefly described in the C7unese Chrestoraathj, there are seventeen kinds of drums, from the large ones suspended in temples to assist in worship to others of lesser size and diverse shape used in war, in theatres, and in bands.

    Gongs, cjnibak, tambourines, and musical vases are also described

    in considerable variety ; the last consisting of a curious

    arrangement of twelve cups, more or less filled with water, and

    struck with rods. The Chinese are fond of the tinkling of

    small pieces of sonorous glass, caused by the wind striking them

    against each other as they are suspended from a frame or lamp.

    The simple succession of sounds arising from striking upon a

    liarmonicon, jingling these glasses together, or touching different

    sized cymbals suspended in a frame, is a favorite species of

    music.

    The stringed instruments to be played by thrumming are not as numerous as those of percussion, but they display more science. Nothing resembling the harp or Apollo’s lyre has been observed among them. The Z///, or ‘scholar’s lute,’ is considered as the most finished, and has received more attention than any other orchestral implement ; to excel in playing it is regarded as a scholarly accomplishment. A work entitled The Lute-l*laijcr”s Easy Lesmns, in two volumes, contains explanations of one hundred and nine terms and is illustrated by twenty nine pictures of the position of the hands to aid in a full understanding of the twenty-three sets of tunes given in the second volume. This lute, it may be added, is of very ancient origin and derives its name from the word Jcin, ‘ to prohibit,’ ” because it restrains and checks evil passions and corrects the human heart.” It is a board about four feet in length and eighteen inches wide, convex above and flat beneath, where are

    two holes opening into hollows. There are seven strings of silk,

    which pass over a bridge near the wide end through the board,

    and are tightened by nuts beneath ; they are secured on two

    pegs at the smaller end. The sounding-board is divided by

    thirteen studs, ” so placed that the length of the strings is

    divided first into two equal parts, then into three, etc., up to

    eight, with the omission of the seventh. The seven sti-ings inclose

    the compass of a ninth or two-fifths, the middle one being

    treated like A upon the violin, viz., as a middle string, and each

    of the outer ones is tuned a fifth from it. This interval is treated like our octave in the violin, for the compass of the Idn is made up of fifths. Each of the outer strings is tuned a fourth from the alternate string within the system, so that there is a major tone, an interval tone less than a minor third, and a major tone in the fifth. The Chinese leave the interval entire, and skip the half tone, while we divide it into two unequal parts. It will therefore readily appear that the mood or character of the music of the hln must be very different from that of western instruments, so that none of them can exactly do justice to the Chinese airs. One of the peculiarities in performing on the lute is sliding the left hand fingers along the string, and the trilling and other evolutions they are made to execute.”

    There are other instruments similar to the hin^ one with thirty, and another with thirteen strings, played with plectrums. The number of instruments resembling the guitar, lute, cithern, spinet, etc., is cousiderable, some with silken, others with wire strings, but none of catgut. The balloon-shaped guitar, or 2nj>c(-, has four strings arranged and secured like those of a violin; it is about three feet lung, and the unvarnished upper table has twelve frets to guide the performer. The strings are tuned at the intervals of a fourth, a major tone, and a fourth, so that the outer strings are octaves to each other; but the player generally avoids the semitones. The j’U”^ frequently accompanies the songs of strolling musicians and ballad singers. The san hlen, or ‘three-stringed guitar’, resembles a rebeck in its contour, but the neck and head is three feet long, and the body is cylindrical and hollow, usually covered with snake’s skin, upon

    which the bridjire is set. The strini:;s are tuned as fourths to

    each othei’, and in this respect it seems to be the counterpart of

    the Grecian mercurian ; their sound is low and dull, and the

    instrument is sometimes played in company with the 2n2>a.

    Another kind of guitar, called yueh kin, or ‘ full moon guitar,’

    has a large round belly and short neck, resembling the theorbo

    or arch lute of Europe, but with only four strings, while that

    had ten or more. These four strings stand in pairs that are

    unisons with each other, having an interval of a fifth interposed

    between the pairs. Tiie sound is smarter than that from the

    pij[)a or Jiin, and it is used in lively tunes, the strings being

    WIND INSTRUMENTS. 101

    struck briskly witli the iniil or .a plectriiin. Similar in its construction

    to the san hien is the rebeck, or two-stringed fiddle,

    tlie rude appearance of which corresponds to the thin grating

    sounds which issue from it. This instrument is merely a

    bamboo stick thrust into a cylinder of the same material, and

    having two strings fastened at one end of the stick on pegs, and

    passing over a bridge on the cylinder to the other end ; they

    are tuned at intervals of a fifth. The bow passes between the

    two sti-ings, and as they are near each other, much of the skill

    required to play it is exhibited in wielding the bow so as not to

    make discord by scraping it against the wrong string while tvying

    to produce a given sound. Europeans wonder how the Chinese

    can be delighted with the harsh gratings of this wretched

    machine, but none of their musical instruments are more popular,

    and the skill they exhibit in playing it deserves a better

    reward in the melody of the notes. A modification of it, called

    ti kin, or ‘crowing lute,’ is made by employing a cocoanut for

    the belly ; its sounds are, if anything, more dissonant.

    The 1/ang hin is a kind of dulcimer, consisting of a greater or

    less number of brass wires of different lengths, tuned at proper

    intervals, and fastened upon a sounding-board ; it is played with

    light hammers, and forms a rudimentary piano-forte, but the

    sounds are very attenuated. The samj is in like manner the

    embryo of the organ ; it is a hollow conical-shaped box, which

    corresponds to a wind -chest, having a mouthpiece on one side,

    and communicating with thirteen reeds of different lengths inserted

    in the top ; some of the tubes are provided with valves,

    part of them opening upward and part downward, so that some

    of them sound when the breath fills the wind-box, and others

    are only heard when it is sucked out and the air rushes down

    the tubes to refill it. The tubes stand in groups of four, four,

    three, two, around the top, and those having ventiges are placed

    so that the performer can open or close them at pleasure as he

    holds it. By covering the first set of holes and gently breathing

    in the mouthpiece, a sweet concert of sounds is produced,

    augmented to the octave and twelfth as the force of the breath

    is increased. By stopping certain groups, other notes, shriller

    and louder, are emitted ; and any single tube can be sounded by inhaling the wind from the wind-box and stopping the other holes. It is a simple thing and no doubt among the most ancient of musical instruments, but it possesses no scope nor means of varying the tone of the tubes. Mr. Lay thinks it to be identical in principle and form with the organ invented by Jubal ; the Chinese regard it more as a curious instrument than one possessing claims to adnuration or attention.

    Their wind instruments are numerous, but most of them are

    remarkable rather for clamor than sweetness or compass. The’

    h icang tih^ or flute, is about twice the length of our fife, and made

    of a bamboo tube neatly prepared and pierced with ten holes,

    two of which ai’e placed near the end and unused, and one midway

    between the enibouchuro and the six equidistant ones for the

    fingers. This additional hole is covered with a thin film ; the

    mouth-hole is bored about one-third of the way from the top.

    Tliei’e are no keys, and the performers generally blow upon the

    embouchure so violently that the sounds are shrill and harsh, but

    when several of them play together the concert is more agreeable.

    The congener of the flute is the iiliii tlh, or clarinet, which takes

    the lead in all musical performances, as it does in western bands.

    It has seven effective lioles, one of which is stopped by the thumb,

    but no kej-s; the bell is of coppor and sits loose upon the end,

    and the copper mouthpiece is ornamented Mith rings, and blown

    through a reed. The tones produced by it are shrill and deafening,

    and none of their instruments better characterize Chinese

    musical taste. A smaller one, of a sweeter tone, like a flageolet,

    is sometimes fitted with a singular shaped reed, so that it can be

    played upon by the nose. Street musicians sometimes endeavor

    to transform themselves into a travelling orchestra. One of

    these peripatetic Orpheuses will fit a flageolet to his nose, sling

    a small drum under one shoulder, and suspend a framework of

    four small cymbals upon the breast; the man, thus accoutred,

    aided by a couple of monkeys running after him, or sitting on

    his head and shoulders, goes from street to street singing a ])liiintive

    ditty, and accompanying his voice with his instruments,

    and drawing a crowd with his moidceys.

    The horn i-csenibles a trombone in principle, for the shaft is

    retractible within the cylindrical copper bell, and can be lengthtup:

    horn, gong, etc. 103

    ened at pleasure. The sound is very grave, and in processions

    its hollow booming forms a great contrast to the shrill clarinets

    and cymbals. Another kind of horn, less grave, is made of a

    crooked stem expanding into a small l)ell at tlie end ; the shaft

    is of two parts, one drawing into the other, so that the depth of

    tone can be modified. A long straight horn, resembling the

    funeral pipe of the Jews, is sometimes heard on funeral occasions,

    but this and the clarion, ti-umpet, and other kinds of pipes of

    ancient and modern make are not common.

    The Zo, or gong, is the type of Chinese music : a crashing harangue of rapid blows upon this sonorous plate, with a rattling accompaniment on small drums, and a crackling symphony of shrill notes from the clarinet and cymbal, constitute the chief features of their musical performances. The Emperor Kanghi endeavored to introduce foreign tunes and instruments among his courtiers, and the natives at Macao have heard good music from the Portuguese bands and choirs in that city from childhood, but not an instrument or a tune has been adopted by them.

    It seems to be a rule in Chinese music that the gong should only vary in rapidity of strokes, while the alternations of time into agreeable intervals are left to the drums. ” This want of perception as to what is pleasing in i-hythmical succession of sounds,” Lay well observes, ” is connected with another fact—the total absence of metrical effect in national poetry. The verses contain a particular number of words and set pauses in each line, but there is nothing like an interchange of long and short sounds. Among the Greeks the fall of the smith’s hammer, the stroke of the oar, and the tread of the soldier in armor suggested some poetic measure, and their music exhibits a world of curious metres. But nothing of the sort can be heard in China, amid all the sounds and noises that salute the ear in a noisy country.” It is probable that the impracticable, monosyllabic nature of the language has contributed to this result; though the genius and temperament of the people are the chief reasons.

    A Chinese orchestra or band, when in full note, strikes upon the ear of a European as a collection of the most discordant sounds, and he immediately thinks of Hogarth’s picture of the Enraged Musician, as the best likeness of its dissonance. It seems, when hearing them, as if each performer had his own tune, and was trying to distinguish himself above his competitors by his zeal and force ; but on listening carefully he will observe, amid the clangoi’, that they keep good time, one taking the octave, and the different instruments striking in with some regaj’d to parts, only, however, to confound the confusion still more because they are not tuned on the same key. Bands and orchestras are employed on occasions of marriages and funerals, theatrical exhibitions, religions or civic processions, and reception of officers, but not to a very great extent in temples or ancestral worship ; no nation makes more use of such music as they have than the Chinese. The people have an ear for music, and young men form clubs to learn and practise on various instruments and fit themselves for playing at weddings or birthday festivals. In respect to adopting foreign harmonies, which youths soon learn to appreciate when taught in mission schools, there is likely to be no competition, owing to the great differences between them. ‘

    From this account of Chinese mnsic, it may be readily inferred

    that it is not of such a character as to start the hearers off in a

    lively dance. A sort of nnimmer or posture-making is practised

    by persons attached to theatrical companies, and pantomimic

    art seems to have been understood in ancient times, but the

    exhibitions of it were probably as jejune as the caperings of

    puppets. As acrobats the Chinese are equal to any nation, and

    companies have performed in many western capitals within a

    few years past. Some of their performances are highly exciting,

    as throwing sharp cleavers at a man fastened to a post, till he

    cannot stir without cuttinji; himself afirainst their blades, is a

    common exhibition. To go through the tragedy of trying, con-

    ‘ Chinese as Ihey Are, Chap. VIII. Chinese Repository, Vol. VIII., pp. 30-54. Chinese Chrestouyithy, pp. 85G–3G5. Journal N. C. Br. R. A. Soc, No. II., 1859,p. 176 ; No. v., 1808, p. 30. Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Japan, 1877, Vol.v., pp. 170-179. German Asiatic Soc. of Japan, 1876. Grosier, Description fjenerale (U la Chine, Tome VI., p. 258. Doolittle, Soricd TAfe, Vol. II., p. 216. Barrow’s Travels, pp. 313-323. Memoires cone, les Chinois, Tomes I., III.,VI., etc.; for ancient musical knowledge, the last still furnishes the best analysis yet made.

    DANCING AND THE FINK ARTS. 105

    delnning, and killing a boy by stabbing him in the belly is not

    so connnon ; the imitation of the gasping chest and pallid death

    hue are wotiderfnlly natural. Ventriloquism, writing answers

    to questions asked of the spirits by means of rods moving over

    a dusted table, and other black art or magical tricks have long

    been known. In dancing and other forms of graceful motion

    they are entirely wanting, and one would almost as soon think

    of associating music and medicine as that Chinese music should

    be accompanied by quadrilles and cotillons, or that men witli

    shoes like pattens could lead off women with feet like hoofs

    through the turns and mazes of a waltz or fandango.

    Their deficiencies in music will not lead us to expect much from them in painting or sculpture, for all flow so much from the same general perception of the beautiful in sound, form, and color, that where one is deficient all are likely to be unappreciated.

    This want in Chinese mind (for we are hardly at liberty to call it a defect) is, to a greater or less degree, observable in all the races of Eastern Asia, none of whom exhibit a high appreciation of the beautiful or sublime in nature or art, or have produced much which proves that their true principles were ever understood. Painting is rather behind sculpture, but neither can be said to have advanced beyond rude imitations of nature.

    Even the best painters have no proper idea of perspective or

    of blending light and shade, but the objects are exhibited as

    much as possible on a flat surface, as if the painter drew his

    picture from a balloon, and looked at the country with a vertical

    sun shining above him. As might be inferred from their

    deficiencies in linear drawing and landscapes, they eminently

    fail in delineating the human figui-e in its right proportions,

    position, and expressions, and of grouping the persons introduced

    into a piece in natural attitudes. The study of the human

    figure in all its proportions lias not been attended to by

    painters any more than its anatomy has by surgeons. Shadows

    upon portraits are considered a great defect, and in order to

    avoid them a front view is usually taken. Landscapes are also

    painted without shading, the remote objects being as minutely

    depicted as those in the foreground, and the point of view in pieces of any size is changed for the nearer and remote pavts. There is no vanishing point to their pictures, as might be inferred from their ignorance of perspective and the true elements of art.

    Representation of a Man Dreaming.

    Outline drawing is a favorite style of the art, and the wealthy adorn their houses with rough sketches in ink of figures and landscapes; but the humblest of such compositions as are common in the galleries and studios of western countries have never been produced by Chinese artists. Some of their representations of abstract ideas are at least singular to us, and, like many other things brought from their country, attract notice from their oddity.

    ATTAINMENTS IN DRAWING AND COLORING. 107

    Their coloring is executed with great skill and accuracy—too much, indeed, in many cases, so that the painting loses something of the effect it would otherwise have from the scrupulous minuteness of the detail, though it looks well in paintings of flowers, animals, costumes, ornaments, and other single objects where this filling up is necessary to a true idea of the original. The tints of the Innnan countenance are no better done, however.

    than its liueaiiieiits, aiul the lifeless opacity suggests the idea

    that the artist was not called in until his patron was about to

    be entombed from the sight of his soi-rowing family. The

    paintings obtained at Canton may, some of them, seem to disprove

    these opinions of the mediocrity attained by the artists

    in that country, but the productions of the copyists in that city

    are not the proper criteria of native uneducated art. Some of

    them have had so nnich practice in copying foreign productions

    that it has begun to cori-ect their own notions of designing.

    These constitute, however, a very small proportion of

    the whole, and have had no effect on national taste. The designs

    to 1)0 seen on plates and bowls are, although not the best,

    fairer specimens of art than the pieces sometimes procured at

    Canton. The beautiful fidelity with which engravings are

    copied at Canton is well seen in the paintings on ivory, especially

    miniatures and figures, some of which fully equal similar

    productions made elsewhere.’

    As samples of Chinese illustrative art, the two adjoining

    wood-cuts may be considered as quite up to the average of

    their fairest achievements. The story of the first in bi-ief is as

    follows: In the district of Tsungngan lived a crafty plebeian,

    who, envying the good fortune of all about him, became especially

    covetous of the burial ground of his district magistrate

    Chu. Hoping to gain a surreptitious benefit from the

    felicitous luck of the plat, he secretly buried his own tombstone

    there, and at the end of several years brought suit for its

    recovery. Unable to comprehend the affair, Chu repaired to

    the burial spot, where indeed the geomancy of the grave was

    found to be entirely in accord with the rules, but upon removing

    the earth the stone of his enemy’s remote ancestry was disclosed.

    ‘ Compare Owen Jones, Grammnr of Ornament, Chap. XIV. , and Examples of CMiieHe Ornament (London, 18()7). Gazette des Beaux-Artu for October and November, 187:5, and January, 1874.

    The Vengeance of Heaven upon the False Grave.

    EXAMPLES OF CHINESE ILLUSTRATIVE ART. 109

    The suit was in consequence declared against him, Chu removed his residence to the black tea country, and his envious neighbor entered in triumph upon possession of the graveyard. Not so readily, however, did the powers above condone this iniquity. One night there arose a tempest of unheard-of violence, when the thunder iuul lightning were indescribable, the hideons roar and Hash of which terrified the countiy far and near, boding no good to its wretched inhabitants. The following morning the grave was discovered in ruins, stone and epitaph uprooted, even the corpse and coffin missing. The vengeance of liea\eu had repaired tlu; injustice of man.

    The illustration which depicts the tempest personified in its

    full terror shows us the Lai Kttiuj, or God of Thunder, almost

    the only Chinese mythological deity who is drawn with wings.

    The cock’s head and claws, the hammer and chisel, representing

    the splitting peal attending a flash, the circlet of fire encompassing

    a number of drums to typify the reverberating thunder

    and the ravages of the irresistible lightning, present a grotesque

    ensemble which is quite unique even among the Vizarrerie of

    oriental figures ; the somewhat juvenile attempts of the artist

    to sketch the destruction and rifling of the grave are much less

    notable.

    Concerning the subject of the second illustration (taken, with the other, from the Sacred Edict of Kangxi), we are told that one Yuen, having conceived a violent hatred against an acquaintance, set out one morning, knife in hand, with the purpose of killing him. A venerable man sitting in a convent saw him pass, and was amazed to observe several scores of spirits closely following him, some of whom clutched his weapon, while others seemed endeavoring to delay his progress. “About A would-be Assassin followed by Spirits.

    SYMBOLISM OF THE CHINESE. Ill

    the space of a meal-time” the patriarch noticed Yueirs return, accompanied this time by more than a hundred spirits wearing golden caps and bearing banners raised on high. Yuen himself appeared with so happy a face, in place of his gloomy countenance of the early morning, that the old man sadly concluded that his enemy must be dead and his revenge gratified. ” When you passed this way at daybreak,” he asked, ” where were you going, and how do you return so soon ? ” ” It was owing to my quarrel with Miu,” said Y^ien, ” that made me wish to kill him. But in passing this convent door better thoughts came to me as I pondered upon the stress his wife and children would come to, and of his aged mother, none of whom had done me wrong. I determined then not to kill him, and return thus promptly

    from my evil purpose.” It hardly needed the sage’s commendations

    to increase the reformed murderer’s inner contentment,

    imparted by the train of ghostly helpers ; he continued on his

    way rejoicing. The reader may notice a pictoi-ial idea as well

    as a moral not unlike those of more western countries.

    The syml)olisni of the Chinese has not attracted the notice of

    foreign writers as much as it deserves. It meets us everywhere—

    on plates and crockery, on carpets, rugs, vases, wall

    pictures, shop signs, and visiting cards. Certain animals stand

    for well-understood characters in the language, and convey

    their sense to the native without any confusion. Owing to the

    similarity of sound, fuh denotes hat and ha_i>p\nem, and luh

    stands for deer and official emolument. The cliaracter shao,

    mtaning ‘longevit}’,’ is represented in many ways—an old man

    leaning on his staff; a pine tree cut into the form of the character;

    a tortoise, which is among the longest-lived reptiles; a

    stork, supposed to be a bird which attains a great age, and a

    fabulous peach which is a thousand years ripening. A dragon

    and a phoenix, c^x fung-iokang, are emblems of a newly wedded

    pail*, and various modes of combination are adopted to represent

    marriage relations.

    A rug w’ill sometimes tell a story very neatly to the eye. In the centre is the Raxtstica, or ‘hammer of Thor,’ which denotes all., and symbolizes all happiness that humanity desires. On the right is the luh, or ‘deer,’ which denotes honor and success in study, carrying the yii-‘i, or Buddhist scepter, in its mouth, meaning success in literary labors. On the left is pictured a goose, indicating domestic felicity, and two bats complete the rug, with its good wishes.

    In the plate represented in the picture the central figure is clad in the ancient costume of officials bearing the insignia or baton of a minister of State. The old man, with his gourd and peach, indicates an extreme and happy old age; and the figure with the basket corresponds to the cornucopia of western emblems. The five bats symbolize the wufu, or ‘five happinesses,’ which all mankind desires— riches, longevity, sound body, love of virtue, and a peaceful end.

    Symbols of Happiness and Old Age. (From a plaque.)

    The visiting card and note paper often indicate in their adornments a good wish and a motto which does credit to the taste and heart of the designer. A most graceful and not nncommon way of wishing a guest good luck is to depict some happy emblem or a sentence of the language with a fortunate meaning on the bottom of his tea-cup. The characters ” May your happiness know no bounds ” frequently occur in this position, and the oft-recurring five bats or three peaches can be employed with like signification. The mandarin duck is a well understood emblem for conjugal affection ; again, a cock and hen standing on an artificial i”ock-work symbolize the pleasures of a country life. Sometimes the eight symbols peculiar to the Buddhist sect, or the pah s/’en (‘ eight genii’) indicative of their protection, are seen in the border of a plaque amid a device of running arabesques. The favorite dragon, in an infinite diversity of shapes, adorns the fiiici- qualities of cups, plates, bowls, and vases, to represent imperial grandeur, but common people are not wont to use such patterns.

    PAINTING ON PITir-I’ArER AND LEAVES. 113

    The brilliant paintings on pith-paper, or rice-paper as it is commonly but incorrectly called, deserve special mention for their singular delicacy and spirit. This substance, whose velvety surface contrasts so admirably with bright colors, is a delicate vegetable film, consisting of long hexagonal cells, whose length is parallel to the surface of the film, and which are filled with air when the film is in its usual state ; the peculiar softness

    which so well adapts it for receiving colors is owing to tliis

    structure. It is obtained from the pith of a species of Fatsia, a

    plant allied to the Aralia, growing in Formosa and Yunnan, in

    nuirshy districts. It is cultivated to some extent, but mostly

    gathered \i\ cutting the branches of the wild plants, which resemble

    the elder. This pitli forms a large item in the internal

    trade of China, and is worked up into toys as well as cut into

    sheets. The fragments are used to stuff pillows or fill up the

    soles of shoes, or wherever a light, dry material is needed. The

    largest and best sheets (ten l)y fifteen inches) are selected for

    the painters at Hongkong and Canton, where many hundreds

    of workmen are employed in making them. Under the direction

    of foreign ladies at Amoy and elsewhere, most accurate

    imitations of flowers and bouquets are now made I)y natives out

    of pith-paper. The pieces are cut nearly a foot long, and the

    pith is forced out by driving a stick into one end ; it is then wet

    and put into bamboos, where it swells and dries straight. If

    too short to furnish the i-equired breadth, several bits are pressed

    together until they adhere and make one long straight piece.

    The paring knife reseml)lcs a butcher’s cleaver, a thin find

    sharp l)]ade, which is touched u]) on a block of iron-wood at the

    last moment. The pith is pared on a square tile, having its

    ends guarded by a thin strip of ])rass, on which the knife rests.

    The pith is rolled over against its edge with the left hand ; the

    right firmly holds it, slowly moving it leftward, as the workman

    pulls and rolls the pith in the same direction, as far as the tile

    allows. The pared sheet runs under the knife, and the paring

    goes on until only a center three or four lines thick is left ; and this remnant the thirifty workmen use or sell for an aperient The paring resembles the operation of cutting out corks, and

    produces a smooth slieet about four feet long, the first half foot

    being too much grooved to be of use. The fresh sheets are

    pressed in a pile, smoothed by ironing and their fractures

    mended with mica. Most of the paper is trimmed into square

    sheets for the makers of artificial fiowers, and sold in Formosa

    at about eight cents for five hundred sheets. An India-ink outline

    is first transferred l)y dampening and pressing it upon the

    paper, when the ink strikes off sufliciently to enable the workman

    to fill up the sketch ; one outline will serve for limning

    several copies, and in large establishments the separate colors

    are laid on by different workmen. The manufacture of these

    paintings at Canton employs between two and three thousand

    hands.

    Another tissue sometimes used by the Chinese for painting,

    more remarkable for its singularity than elegance, is the reticulated

    nerve-work of leaves, the parenchyma of the leaf having

    been removed by maceration, and the membrane filled with

    isinglass. The appearance of a painting on this transparent

    substance is pretty, but the colors do not retain their brilliancy.

    The Chinese admire paintings on glass, and some of the moonlight

    scenes or thunderstorms are good specimens of their art.

    The clouds and dark parts are done with India-ink, and a dark

    shade well befitting the subject is imparted to the whole scene

    by underlaying it with a piece of blackish paper. Portraits and

    other subjects are also done on glass, but the indifferent execution

    is rendered still more conspicuous by the transparency of

    the ground ; the Hindus purchase large quantities of such glass

    pictures of their gods and goddesses. Looking-glasses are also

    painted on the back with singular eifect by removing the quicksilver

    with a steel point according to a design previously sketched, and then painting the denuded portion.

    CHINESE SCULPTURE AND CARICATURE. 115

    Statuary is confined (thiefiy to molding idols out of clay or cutting them from wood, and carving animals to adorn balus’ trades and temples. Idols are generally made in a sitting posture and dressed, the face and hands being the only parts of the body seen, so that no opportunity is afforded for imitating the muscles and contour of tlie figure. The hideous monsters which

    guard the entrance of temples often exhibit more artistic skill

    than the unmeaning images enshrined within, and some even

    display much knowledge of character and proportion. Among

    their best performances in statuettes are the accurate baked and

    painted models of different classes of people ; Canton and Tientsin

    artists excel in this branch.

    Animals are sculptured in granite and cast in bronze, showing

    great skill and patience in the detail work ; deformity in the

    model has resulted in the production of such animals, indeed, as

    were probably never beheld in any world. Images of lions,

    tigers, tortoises, elephants, rams, and other animals ornament

    bridges, temples, and tombs. The elephants in the long avenue

    of warriors, horses, lions, etc., leading up to the tomb of the

    Emperor Ilungwu at Xanking are the only tolerable representations

    of their originals ; the gigantic images guarding the

    tomb of Yungloh, his son, at Changping, near Peking, are

    noticeable for size alone. The united effect of the elaborate

    carving and grotesque ornaments seen upon the roofs, woodwork,

    and pillars of buildings is not devoid of beauty, though in their

    details there is a great violation of the true principles of art,

    just as the expression of a face may please which still has not a

    handsome feature in it. Short columns of stone or wood, surmounted by a lion, and a dragon twining around the shaft, the whole cut out of one block ; or a lion sejant with half a dozen cubs crawling over his body, are among the ornaments of temples and graves which show the taste of the people.

    The Chinese have a sense of the ridiculous, and exhibit it

    both in their sculpture and drawing in many ways. Lampoons,

    pasquinades, and caricatures are common, nor is any pei’son

    below the dragon’s throne spared by their pens or pencils, though

    they prefer subjects not likely to involve the authors—as in the

    one here selected from the many elicited during the war of 1840.

    By far the best specimens of sculpture are their imitations of

    fruits, flowers, animals, etc., cut out of many kinds of stone,

    from gnarled roots of bamboo, wood, and other materials ; but

    in these we admire the unwearied patience and cunning of the

    workmen in making gi’otesque combinations and figures out of apparently intractable materials, and do not seek for any indications of a pni’e taste or embodiment of an exalted conception.

    Inscriptions of a religions or geomantic cliai’acter are often cntnpon the faces of rocks, as was tlie case in India and Arabia,* and tlie pictnrescpie characters of the language make a pretty appearance in such situations.

    Caricature of an English Foraging Party.

    The small advances made in architecture have already been noticed in Chapter XIII.—a deficiency exhibited in the Iluns and other nations of the Mongolian stock long after they had settled in Europe and Western Asia ; nor was it imtil their amalgamation with the imaginative nations of Southern Europe

    had changed their original character that grand performances

    in architecture appeared among the latter. If the Chinese had

    a model of the Parthenon or the Pantheon in their own

    country, belike they would measurably imitate it in every part,

    but they would erect dozens in the same fashion. Perhaps

    an infusion of elegance and taste would liave been imparted to

    them if the people had had frequent intercourse witii more im-

    ‘ Compare Job XXX., 24.

    LIMITATIONS OF TIIKIll AlinilTKOTURE. 117

    ainiiative nations, 1)ut wlicn tlici’c wei-c no models of this superior

    kind to follow there was no likelihood of their originatihg

    them. In lightei’ edifices, as ])avilions, rest-houses, kiosks,

    and arbors, there is, however, a degree of taste and adaptation

    that is umisual in other buildings, and (juite in keeping with

    their fondness for tinsel and gilding rather than solidity and

    grandeur. On this point Lay’s remark on the characteristics of

    the Attic, Egyptian, Gothic, and Chinese styles is apposite.

    ” If we would see beauty, size, and proportion in all their excellence,

    we should look for it among the models of Greece ; if

    we desire something that was wild and stupendous, we should

    find it in Egypt ; if grandeur with a never-sated minuteness of

    decoration please us, we need look no further than to a cathedral

    ; and lastly, if the romantic and the old-fashioned attract

    our fancy, the Chinese can point us to an exhaustless store in

    the recesses of their vast Empire. A lack of science and of conception

    is seen in all their luiildings, but fancy seems to have

    had free license to gambol at pleasure ; and wdiat the architect

    wanted in developing a scheme he made up in a redundancy of

    imagination.”

    The Chinese have made but little progress in investigating the principles and forces of mechanics, but have practically understood most of the common powers in the various applications of which they are capable. The lever, wheel and axle, wedge and pinion, are all known in some form or other, but the modification of the wedge in the screw is not frequent. The sheave blocks on board their vessels have only one pulley, but they understand the advantages of the windlass, and have adopted the capstain in working vessels, driving piles, raising timber, etc. They have long understood the mode of raising weights by a hooked pulley running on a rope, attached at each end to a cylinder of unequal diameters; by this contrivance, as the rope wound around the larger diameter it ran off the snuiller one, raising the weight to the amount of the difference between the circumference of the two cylinders at a very small expense of strength. The graduations of the weighing-beam indicate their acquaintance with the relations between the balance and the weight on the long and short arm of the lever, and this mode of weighing is preferred for gold, pearls, and other valuable things. The overshot water-wheel is used to turn stones for grinding wheat and set in motion pestles to hull rice and press oil from seeds, i’,nd the undershot power for raising water.

    There is a great expenditure of human strength in most of their contrivances; in many, indeed, the object seems to have been rather to give a direction to this strength than to abridge it. For instance, they put a number of slings under a heavy stone and carry it off bodily on poles, in preference to making a low car to roll it away at half the expense of human power.

    In other departments of science the attainments of the people are few and imperfect. Chemistry and metallui’gy are unknown as sciences, but many operations in them are performed with a considerable degree of success. Sir J, Davis gives the detail of some experiments in oxidizing quicksilver and preparation of mercurial medicines which were performed by a native in the presence and at the request of Dr. Pearson at Canton, and ” afforded a curious proof of similar results obtained by the most different and distant nations possessing very unequal scientific attainments, and bore no unfavorable testimony to Chinese shrewdness and ingenuity in the existing state of their knowledge.” ‘ The same opinion might be safely predicated of their metallurgic manipulations; the character of the work is the only index of the efficacy of the process. In bronzes they take a high place, and the delicacy of their niello work in gold and silver, upon wood as well as metal, caimot be surpassed.

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 260-270, 28G.

    IDEAS ON Till-: STKUt’TUIlE OF TIIK IIFMAN HODY. 119

    This compendious review of the science of the Chinese can be brought to a close by a brief account of their theory and practice of medicine and surgery. Although they are almost as superstitious as the Hindus or North American Indians, they do not depend upon inc^antations and charms for relief in case of sickness, but resort to the prescriptions of the physician as the most reasonable and likely way to recover; mixed up, indeed, with many strange practices to assist the efficacy of the doses. These vary in every part of the Empire, and show the power of ignorance to perpetuate and strengthen the strangest superstitions where health and life are involved. Doolittle has collected many instances, and the experience of medical missionaries is uniform in this matter.

    The dissection of the human hody is never attempted, though

    some notions of its internal structure are taught in medical

    works, which are published in many forms. Mr. Wylie notices

    fifty-nine treatises of a medical and physiological character in

    his Notes on Chinese Literature. They contain references to

    a far greater number of authors, some of whom flourished in

    the earliest days of China, and many of whose writings exhibit

    good sense and sound advice amid the strangest theories. Dr.

    Harland has deseril)ed the Chinese ideas of the organization of

    the body and the functions of the chief viscera in a lucid manner,

    and the diagram shown on p. 120 presents the popular

    opinions on this subject, for whatever foreigners may have imparted

    to them has not yet become generally known.

    The Chinese seem to have no idea of the distinction between venous and arterial blood, nor between muscles and nerves, applying the word hin to both tendons and nerves. According to these physiologists, the brain (A) is the abode of the yln principle in its perfection, and at its base (B), where there is a reservoir of the marrow, communicates through the spine with the whole body. The larynx (C) goes through the lungs directly to the heart, expanding a little in its course, while the pharynx(D) passes over them to the stomach. The lungs («, «, r/, a^ a, a) are white, and placed in the thorax; they consist of six lobes or leaves suspended from the spine, four on one side and two on the other; sound proceeds from holes in them, and they rule the various parts of the body. The centre of the thorax (or pit of the stomach) is the seat of the breath; joy and delight emanate from it, and it cannot be injured without danger. The heart {h) lies underneath the lungs, and is the prince of the body ; thoughts proceed from it. The pericardium {<) comes from and envelops the heart and extends to the kidneys.

    There are three tubes communicating from the heart to the spleen, liver, and kidneys, but no clear ideas are held as to their office. Like the pharynx, they pass through the diaphragm, which is itself connected with the spine, ribs, and bowels. The Chinese Notions of the Internal Structure of the Human Body.

    /I,/?—The brain. C—Larynx. D—Pharynx. a,a,«,«,rt,

    a—Lungs. 6—Heart, c—Pericardium. U—Bond of connection

    with tho spleen, e—The (Esophagus. /—Boiidnf

    connection with the liver, (j—Bond of connection with

    the kidneys, h—The diaphragm, i—Cardiac extremity.

    ;—The spleen, i—The stomach. /—Omentum. »«—The

    pylorus. n,n,n,n,n.v—The liver, o—The gall-blndder.

    ;>—The kidneys, q—The small intestines, r—The largo

    intestines, s—Caput coli. i—Thc navel, m—The blad

    tier. ?’—The “gate of life.”‘ sometimes iiUu-ed in the

    right kidney, zo—The rectum, x, y—The urinal and

    foecal passages.

    liver (??, ;?, ??, 71, v, 71) io

    on the right side and has

    seven lobes ; the soul resides

    in it, and schemes

    emanate from it ; tlie

    gall-bladder (0) is below

    and projects npward into

    it, and when the person

    is angry it ascends ; courage

    dwells in it ; hence

    the Chinese sometimes

    procure the gall-bladder

    of animals, as tigers and

    bears, and even of men,

    especially notorious bandits

    executed for their

    crimes, and eat the bile

    contained in them, under

    the idea that it will impart

    courage. The spleen

    {J) lies between the stomach

    and diaphragm and

    assists in digestion, and

    the food passes from it

    into the stomach {k), aud

    hence through the pylorus

    {m) into the large intestines.

    The omentum [l) overlies the stomach, but its office is unknown, and the mesentery and pancreas are entirely omitted.

    TIIEOKIES REGARDING OSTEOLOGY AND CIRCULATION. 121

    The small intestines {(j) are connected with the heart, and the urine passes through them into the bladder, separating from the food or fseces at the caput coli iV), where they divide from the larger intestines.

    The large intestines (/) are connected with the lungs and

    lie in the loins, having sixteen convolutions. The kidneys {j))

    are attached to the spinal marrow, and resemble an egg in shape,

    and the subtle genei-ative fluid is eliminated by them above to the

    brain and belo\v to the spermatic cord and sacral extremity ; the

    testes, called wal shin, or ‘outside kidneys,’ communicate with

    them. The right kidney, or the passage from it (v), is called

    the ” gate of life,” and sends forth the subtle fluid to the spermatic

    vessels. The bladder (u) lies below the kidneys, and receives

    the urine from the small intestines at the iliac valve.

    The osteology of the frame is briefly despatched : the pelvis, skull, forearm, and leg are considered as single bones, the processes of the joints being quite dispensed with, and the whole considered merely as a kind of internal framework, on and in which the necessary fleshy parts are upheld, but with which they have not much more connection by muscles and ligaments than the post has with the pile of mud it upholds. The TaiYiYuan, or Medical College at Peking, contains a copper model of a man, about six feet high, on which are given the names of the pulses in different places ; it is pierced with many small holes. In a.d. 1027 the Emperor had two anatomical figures made to illustrate the art of acupuncture, which is still practised. The irrigation of the body with blood is rather complicated, and authors vary greatly as to the manner in which it is accomplished. Some pictures represent tubes issuing from the fingers and toes, and running up the limbs into the trunk, where the}’ are lost, or reach the heart, lungs, or some other organ as well as they can, wandering over most parts of the body in their course.

    Theories are furnished in great variety to account for the nourishment of the body and the functions of the viscera, and upon their harmonious connection with each other and the five metals, colors, tastes, and planets is founded the well-being of the system; with all they hold an intimate relation, and their actions are alike built on the all-pervading functions of the yin and yang—those universal solvents in Chinese philosophy. The pulse is very carefully studied, and its condition regarded as the

    Bar,

    mp:dical puactice of the Chinese. 123

    The practice of the Chinese is far in advance of their theory, and some of their treatises on dietetics and medical practice contain good advice, the result of experience. Dr. W. Lockhart has translated n native treatise on midwifery, in which the author, conlining himself principally to the best modes of treatment in all the stages of parturition, and dwelling brieii}’ on the reasons of things, has greatly improved upon the physiologists.

    This branch of the profession is almost entirely in the hands of

    women. Sui-gical operations are chietly confined to removing a

    tooth, puncturing sores and tumors with needles, or trying to

    reduce dislocations and reunite fractures by pressure or bandaging.

    Sometimes they successfully execute more difficult

    cases, as the amputation of a finger, operation for a harelip,

    and insertion of false teeth. In one case of dentistry four incisor

    teeth made of ivory were strung upon a piece of catgut

    and secured in their place b}- tying the string to the eye-teeth ;

    they were renewed quarterly, and served their purpose tolerably

    M’ell. The practice of acupuncture has some good results among

    the bad ones.* That of applying cauteries and caustics of various

    degrees of power is more general, and sometiuies entails

    shocking distress upon the patient. Cases have presented themselves

    at the hosj)itals, where small sores, by the application of

    escharotics, have extended until a large part of the tissue, and

    even important organs, have been destroyed, the charlatan

    amusing his suffering patient by promises of ultimate cure.

    The moxa, or burning the fiovvers of the amaranthus upon the

    skin, is attended with less injury.

    ‘Compare Ri’mnsat {Xoiiveau.r Melangen Asiatiqves, Tome I., pp. 358-380),

    Tui-ning in of the eyelashes is a common ailment, and native practitioners attempt to cure it by everting the lid and fastening it in its place by two slips of bamboo tightly bound on, or by a pair of tweezers, until the loose fold on the edge sloughs off: the eye is, however, more frequently disfigured by this clumsy process than is the trouble remedied. Poultices made of many strange or disgusting substances are applied to injured parts, who says that the first notion of acupuncture as practised in China was brought into Europe by one Ten-Rhyue, a Dutch surgeon, at the end of the seventeenth century.

    Dr. Parker mentions the case of a man who, having injured

    tlie iris by a fall, was ordered by his native physician to cut a

    chicken in halves, laying one portion on the eye as a cataplasm

    and eating the other as an internal cure. Venesection is rarely

    attempted, but leeches and cupping are employed to remove the

    blood from a particular spot. Blood-letting is disapproved in

    fevers, ” for,” says the Chinese reasoner, ” a fever is like a pot

    boiling ; it is requisite to reduce the fire and not diminish the

    liquid in the vessel if we wish to cure the patient.”

    Many of the operations in cases of fracture present a strange

    mixture of folly and sense, proceeding from their ideas of the

    internal structure of the human body conliicting with those

    which common sense and experience teach. Pere Ripa’s description

    of the treatment he underwent to prevent the ill effects

    of a fall will serve as an illustration. Having been thrown

    from his horse and left fainting in the street, he was carried

    into a house, wdiere a surgeon soon visited him. ” He made

    me sit up in bed, placing near me a large basin filled with

    water, in which he put a thick piece of ice to i-educe it to a

    freezing point. Then stripping me to the waist, he made me

    stretch my neck over the basin, while he continued for a good

    while to pour the water on my neck with a cup. The pain

    caused by this operation upon those nerves which take their

    rise from the pia mater was so great and insufferable that it seemed to me unequalled, but he said it would stanch the blood and restore me to my senses, which was actually the case, for in a short time my sight became clear and my mind resumed its powers. He next bound my head with a band drawn tight by two men who held the ends, while he struck the intermediate parts vigorously with a piece of wood, which shook my head violently, and gave me dreadful pain. This, he said, was to set the brain, which he supposed had been displaced, and it is true that after the second operation my head felt more free.

    THE PKACTICK OF CHINESE PHYSICIANS. 125

    A third operation was now performed, during which he made me, still stripped to the waist, walk in the open air supported by two persons; and while thus walking he unexpectedly threw a basin of freezing cold water over my breast. As this caused me to draw my breath with great vehemence, and as my chest had been injured b)- the fall, it may easily be imagined what were my sufteriiigs under this inlliction ; but I was eonsoled by the information that if any i-ib had been dislocated,

    this sudden and hard breathing would restoie it to its natui-al

    position. The next ])roceeding was not less painful and extravagant.

    The operator made me sit on the ground, and, assisted

    by two men, held a cloth upon my mouth and nose till I was

    almost suffocated. ‘ This,’ said the Chinese Esculapius, ‘ by

    causing a violent heaving of the chest, will force back any rib

    that may have been dislocated.’ The wound in my head not

    being deep, he healed it by stuffing it with burnt cotton. He

    then ordered that I should continue to walk much, supported

    by two persons ; that I should not sit long, nor be allowed to

    sleep till ten o’clock at night, at which time I should eat a little

    thin rice soup, lie assured me that these walks in the open

    air while fasting would prevent the blood from settling upon

    the chest, where it might corrupt. These remedies, though

    barbarous and excruciating, cured me so completely that in

    seven days I was able to resume my journey.” ‘

    The active daily practice of a popular Chinese doctor may be

    very well illustrated from Dr. Ilobson’s description of one Ta

    wang siensang, or ‘ Dr. Hhubarb,’ a medical practitioner in

    Canton. This man, after prescribing for the sick at his office

    until the hour of ten in the morning, would commence his rounds

    ” in the sedan chair carried in great haste by three or four men.

    Those patients were visited first who had their names and

    residences first placed in the entry book, and as the streets were

    narrow and crowded, to avoid trouble in finding the house, a

    copy of the doctor’s sign-board would be posted up outside the

    patient’s door, so that the chairmen should be able at once to

    recognize the house without delay.”

    ‘ Pere Ripa, Memoirs and Residence ai Peking^ translated by F. Prandi, Loudon,1844, p. G7.

    The doctor being ushered into the hall, or principal room, is met with bows and salutations by the father or elder brother of the family. Tea and pipes are offered in due form, and he is requested to feel his patient’s pulse’; if a male, he sits opposite to him; if a female, afcreeii of bamboo intervenes, which is only removed in case it is requisite to see the tongue. The right hand is placed upon a book t»^ steady it, and the doctor, with much gravity and a learned look, places his three fingers upon the pulsating vessel, pressing it alternately with each finger on the inner and outer side, and then making with three fingers a steady pressure for several minutes, not with watch in hand, to note the frequency of its beats, but with a thoughtful and calculating mind, to diagnose the disease and prognosticate its issue. The fingers being removed the patient immediately stretches out the other hand, which is felt in the same manner.

    Perhaps certain cpiestions are asked of the father or mother concerning the sick person, but these are usually few, as it is presumed the pulse reveals everything needful to know. Ink and paper are produced and a prescription is written out, which consists of numerous ingredients, but there are one or two of only prime importance —the rest are servants or adjuvants. They are all taken from the vegetable kingdom, and are mostly simples of little efficacy. The prescription is taken to a di-nggist to be dispensed; the prescriber seldom makes up the medicine himself, and as large doses are popular (a quid j»;yv’ J^^^), so the decoction made from the whole amounts to pints or even quarts, which are swallowed in large portions with the greatest ease; powders, boluses, pills, and electuaries are also use(). If the patient is an officer of the government or a wealthy person, the nature of the disease, prognosis, and treatment are written down for the inspection of the family ; for this the doctor’s fee is a dollar. But generally speaking, both the doctor and the patient’s friends are quite satisfied with a verbal communication; and if the man has a gift for speaking and has brass enough to use it to his advantage (both of which are seldom wanting in timeserving men), he will describe with a learned, self-satisfied air the ailment of the patient, and the number of days it will take to cure him. The fee is wrapped up in red paper, and called “golden thanks,” varying, in amount from fifteen to seventy cents or more, according to the means of the patient; the chair bearers being paid extra. The doctor returns to make another visit if invited, but not otherwise. It is more common, if the patient is not at once benefited by the prescription, to pall in another, then a third, then a fourth, and even more, until tired of physicians (for the Chinese patience is soon exhausted, and their faith by no means strong in all their doctors’ asseverations) they have, as a last resort, application made to one of the genii, or a god possessing wonderful healing powers. The result is that the patient dies or lives, not according to the treatment received, for that must be generally inefficacious, but according as his natural strength is equal to surmount the difficulties by which he is surrounded.’

    ‘ Dr. James Henderson in Journal of the N. C. Br. of Royal Asiatic Society,1864, No. r, p. 54.

    Dr. Hobson has given an analysis of 442 medicinal agents enumerated in one of the popular dispensatories; of the whole number, 314 are vegetable, 50 mineral, and 78 animal. The author gives the name of each one, the organ it affects, its properties, and lastly the mode of its exhibition. Medicines are arranged under six heads—tonics, astringents, resolvents, purgatives, alteratives of poisonous humors, and of the blood. Among the agents employed are many strange and repulsive substances, as snake-skins, fossil bones, rhinoceros or hart’s horn shavings, silk-worm and liuinan secretions, asbestos, moths, oyster-shells, etc. Calomel, vermilion, red precipitate, minium, arsenic, plumbago, and sulphate of copper are among the metallic medicines used by physicians ; Dr. Henderson enumerates thirty three distitu’t mineral medicines. The number of apothecary shops in towns indicates the great consumption of medicine; their arrangement is like the druggist shops in the west, though instead of huge glass jars at the windows filled with bright colored liquids, and long rows of vials and decanters in glass cases, three or four branching deer’s horns are suspended from the walls, and lines of white and black gallipots cover the shelv’es. Hartshorn is reduced to a dust by filing, for exhibition in consumption. Many roots, as rhubarb, gentian, etc., are prepared by paring them into thin laminae; others are powdered in a mortar with a pestle, or triturated in a narrow iron trough in which a close-fitting wheel is worked. The use of acids and reagents is unknown, for they imply more knowledge of ciiemistry than the Chinese possess. Vegetable substances, as camphor, myrrh, ginseng, rhubarb, gentian, and a great variety of roots, leaves, seeds, and barks, are generally taken as pills or decoctions. Many valuable I’ecipes will probably be discovered in their books as soon as the terms used are accurately ascertained, and a better acquaintance with the botany and mineralogy enables the foreign student to test them intelligently.

    The people sometimes cast lots as to which one of a dozen doctors they shall employ, and then scrupulously follow his directions, whatever they may be, as a departure therefrom would vitiate the sortilege. Sometimes an invalid will go to a doctor and ask for how much he will cure him, and how soon the cure can be performed. He states the diagnosis of his case, the pulse is examined, and every other symptom investigated, when the bargain is struck and a portion of the price paid. The patient then receives the suitable medicines, in quantity and variety better fitted for a horse than a man, for the doctor reasons that out of a great number it is more likely that some will prove efficacious, and the more he gets paid for the more he ought to administer. A decoction of a kettleful of simples is drunk down by the sick man, and he gives up both working and eating; if, however, at the expiration of the time specified he is not cured, he scolds his physician for an ignorant charlatan who cheats him out of his money, and seeks another, with whom he makes a similar bargain, and probably with similar results. Sagacious observance of cause and effect, symptoms and pains, gradually give a shrewd physician great power over his ignorant patients, and some of them become both rich and influential; a skillful physician is termed the “nation’s hand.”

    DISEASES PREVALENT IN CHINA. 129

    A regular system of fees exists among the profession, but the remuneration is as often left to tiie generosity of the patient. New medicines, pills, powders, and salves are advertised and pufPed by flaunting placards on the walls of the streets, some of them most disgustingly obscene; but the Chinese do not puff new nostrums by publishing a long list of recommendations from patients. The various ways devised by persons to dispose of their inediciiies exhibit much ingenuity. Sometimes a man, having spread a mat at the side of the street, and marshalled his gallipots and salves, will commence a hai-angne npf>n the goodness and efficacy of his preparations in loud and eloquent tones, until he has collected a crowd of hearers, some of whom he manages to persuade will he the better for taking some of his potions. He will exhibit their efficacy by first pounding his naked breast with a brick till it is livid, and then immediately healing the contusion by a lotion, having previously fortified the inner parts with a remedy; or he will cut open his tiesh and heal the wound in a few moments by a wonderful elixir, which he alone can sell. Others, more learned or more professional, erect a pavilion or awning, fluttering with signs and streamers, and quietly seat themselves under it to wait for customers; or content themselves with a flag perched on a pole setting forth the potency of their pills. Dentists make a necklace of the rotten teeth they have obtained from the jaws of their customers, and perambulate the streets with these trophies of their skill hanging around their necks like a rosary. In general, however, the Chinese enjoy good health, and when ill from colds or fevers, lie abed and suspend working and eating, which in most cases allows nature to work her own cure, whatever doses they may take. They are perhaps as long-lived as most nations, though sanatory statistics are wanting to enable us to form any indisputable conclusions t)n this head.

    The classes of diseases which most prevail in China are ophthalmic,

    cutaneous, and digestive ; intermittent fevers are also

    connnon. The great disproportion of affections of the eye has

    often attracted observation. Dr. Lockhart ascribes it partly to

    the inflammation which often comes on at the commencement

    of winter, and which is allowed to run its course, leaving the

    organ in an ujiliealthy condition and very obnoxious to other

    diseases. This inflammation is beyond the skill of the native

    practitioners, and sometimes destroys the sight in a few days.

    Another fruitful source of disease is the practice of the barbers

    of turning the lids over and clearing their surfaces of the mucus

    which may be lodged there, lie adds: ”If the person’s eyes be

    examined after this process, they will be found to be very red

    and irritated, and in process of time chronic conjunctivitis supervenes,

    wliicli being considered proof of insutiicient cleansing,

    the practice is persisted in, and the inner surface of the lid becomes

    covered with granulations. In other cases it becomes

    indurated like thin parchment, and the tarsal cartilages contract

    and induce entropium.” Dense opacity of the cornea itself is

    frequently caused by this harherous practice, or constant pain

    and weeping ensues, both of which materially injure the sight,

    if the patient does not lose it. The practice of cleansing the

    ears in a similar way frequently results in their serious injury,

    and sometimes destruction. When the ill effects of such treatment

    of these delicate organs must be plain to eveiy obser\ing

    person in his own case, it is strange that he should still allow the

    operation to be repeated.

    The physicians in charge of the missionary hospitals successfully

    established at so many cities in Eastern China have

    attended more to tumors, dislocations, wounds, and surgical

    cases, ophthalmic and cutaneous diseases, than to common clinical

    ailments. The hospitals here spoken of are little more than

    dispensaries, with a room or two for extreme or peculiarly interesting

    cases ; there is little visiting the natives at their own houses.

    Asthma, even in boys, is common at Amoy, and consumption

    at Canton and Chusan. Intermittent fevers prevail more

    or less wlierever the cultivation of rice is carried on near villages

    and towns. Elephantiasis is known between Shanghai and

    Canton, but in the southern provinces leprosy seems to exist as

    its equivalent. This loathsoma disease is regarded by the

    Chinese as incurable and contagious. Lazar-houses are provided

    for the residence of the infected, but as the allowance of poor

    patients is insuthcient for their support, they go from street to

    street soliciting alms, to the great annoyance of every one. As

    soon as it appears in an individual, he is immediately separated

    from liis family and driven forth an outcast, to herd with others

    similarly afPected, and get his living from precarious charity.

    The institution of lazarettoes is ])raisewortliy, hut they fail of

    affording relief on account of the mismaiiagonient and peculation

    of those who have their supervision ; and those who cannot get

    DISEASES PREVALENT IN CHINA. 131

    in are obliged to live in a village set apart for tliein north of

    the city. Lepers can intermarry among themselves, but on

    account of })overty and other causes they do not often do so,

    and the hardships of their lot soon end their days. This disease

    will probably exist among the Chinese until houses are

    built more above the ground, better ventilation of cities and

    improvement in diet are adopted, when it will disappear as it

    has in Southern Europe.

    Diseases of an inilammatoiy nature are not so fatal or rapid

    among the Chinese as Europeans, nor do consumptions carry

    off so large a proportion of the inhabitants as in the United

    States. Dyspepsia has been frequently treated ; it is ascribed

    by Dr. Hepburn to the abundant use of salt provisions, pickled

    vegetables, and fish, irregularity in eating, opium smoking, and

    immoderate use of tea ; though it nuiy be questioned whether

    the two last reasons are more general and powerful at Amoy

    than Canton, where dyspepsia is comparatively rare. The surgeons

    at the latter place have successfully treated hundreds of

    cases of stone, losing less than fifteen per cent, of all. Some of

    the patients were under ten years, and a few of the calculi

    weighed nearly half a pound. This malady is almost md^nown

    in Xorthern China. The diseases which result from intemperate

    and licentious habits are not as violent in their effects as

    in countries where a greater use of animal food and higher living

    render the system more susceptible to the noxious consequences

    of the virus.

    The existence of tumors and unnatural growths in great abundance and variety is satisfactorily accounted for by the inability of the native practitioners to remove them. Those which had a healthy growth increased until a moi-bid action supervened, and consequently sometimes grew to an enormous size. A peasant named IIu Lu went to England in 1831 to have an abdominal tumor extirpated weighing about seventy pounds; he died under the operation. No patients bear operations with more fortitude than the Chinese, and, owing to their hnnphatic temperament, they are followed with less inflammation than Is usual in European practice. CToitre is very common in the mountainous regions of the northern provinces ; Dr. Gillan estiniatcd that nearly one-sixth of the inhahitants met In the villages on the high land between Peking and Jeh ho were atflicted witli this deformity, which, however, is said not to be so considered by the vilLigers themselves.

    The Asiatic cholera has been a great scourge in China, but does not often become an epidemic anywhere, though sporadic cases constantly occur. It raged at Ningpo in May, 1S20, and an intelligent native doctor informed Mr. Milne ‘ that it was computed that ten thousand persons were carried off by it in the city and department of Kingpo during the summers of 1820-23. In 1842 it prevailed at Amoy and Changchau and their vicinity ; more than a hundred deaths daily occun-ed at the former place for six or seven weeks. It raged violently at Hangchau in Chehkiang during the years 1821 and 1 822, persons dropping down dead in the streets, or dying within an hour or two after the attack ; many myriads were computed to have

    fallen victims, and the native doctoi’s, finding their remedies

    useless, gave up all treatment. It carried off multitudes in

    Shantung and Iviangsu during the same years, and was as titful

    in its progress in China as in Europe, going from one city to

    another, passing by towns apparently as obnoxious as those

    visited. The plague is said to have existed in KSouthern China

    about the beginning of the sixteenth centui-y, but it has not

    been heard of lately.

    ‘ Chinese llepository, Vol. XII., p. 487.

    XATIVE TREATISES 0\ MKDICINE. 133

    Small-pox is a terrible scath, and although the practice and utility of vaccination have been known for fifty years past at Canton, its adoption is still limited even in that city. It was introduced in 1820 by Dr. Pearson, of the East India Company’s establishment, and native assistants were fully instructed by him in the practice. Vaccination has now extended over all the Eighteen Provinces, and the government has given its sanction and assistance; it is chiefly owing to the heedlessness of the people in not availing themselves of it in time that it has, done no more to lessen the ravages of the disease. Where children were gratuitously vaccinated it was found almost impossible to induce parents to bring them ; and Mdien the children had been va(!cinated it was increasingly difficult to get them to return to allow the physician to see the result of the operation. Inoculation has long been practised by inserting a pledget in the nostrils containing the virjs; this mode is occasionally adopted in vaccination. The slovenly habits of the people, as well as insufficient protection and unwholesome food, give rise to many diseases of the skin, some of them incurable.

    The science of medicine attracted very early attention, and there are numerous treatises on its various branches. But the search for the liquor of immortality and the philosopher’s stone, with careful observations on the pulse as the leading tests of diseases, have led them astray from accurate diagnosis age after affe. The common classification of diseases is under nine heads, viz., those which affect the pulse violently or feebly, those arising from cold, female and cutaneous diseases, those needing acupunetui-e, and diseases of the eyes, the mouth and its parts, and the bones. A professor of each of these classes is attached to the imperial family, who is taken from the Medical College at Peking; but he has no. greater advantages there than he could get in his own reading and practice. Xo museums of morbid or comparative anatomy exist in the country, nor are there any lectures or dissections ; and the routine which old custom has sanctioned will go on until modern practice, now rapidly taking its place, wins its way. Section CCXCYII. of the code orders that ” whenever an unskillful practitioner, in administering medicine or using the puncturing needle, proceeds contrary to the established forms, and thereby causes the death of a patient, the magistrate shall call in oilier practitioners to examine the medicine or the wound, and if it appear that the injury done was unintentional, the practitioner shall then be treated according to the statute for accidental homicides, and shall not be any longer allowed to practise medicine.

    But if designedly he depart from the established forms, and deceives in his attempt to cure the malady in order to obtain property, then, according to its amount, he shall be treated as a thief; and if death ensue fmiu his malpractice, then, for having thus used medicine with intent to kill, he shall be beheaded.” ‘ This statute is seldom carried into execution, however, and the doctors are allowed to kill and cure, secundum, artem., as their patients give them the opportunity, Natural history, in its various branches of geologj, botany, zoology, etc., has received some attention, because the objects which come under it could not escape the notice of all the writers in Chinese literature. As sciences, however, none of them have an existence, and they are studied chiefly for their assistance in furnishing articles for the materia medica of the native physician. To these persons nothing comes amiss, and, like the ingredients of the bubbling, bubbling caldron of Macbetli’s witches, the stranger it is the more potent they think a dose will be ; in this particular they now act very much as the faculty did in England two centuries ago. It is to be regretted that their investigation should have taken such a direction, but the man of commanding influence has not yet arisen to direct their researches into nature and divert them from the marvelous and theoretical. On the whole, it may be said that in all departments of learning the Chinese are unscientific ; and that while they have collected a great variety of facts, invented many arts, and brought a few to a high degree of excellence, they have never pursued a single subject in a way calculated to lead them to a right understanding of it, or reached a proper classification of the information they possessed relating to it.
    ‘ Chinese CJirestomnthy, Chap. XVI., pp. 497-532. Asiatic Soc. Transactions, Hongkong, Art. III., 1847; No. III., 1852, Art. III. Jour. iV. C Br. R. A. Soc, No. I., 1864, and No. VI., 1809. W. Lockhart, Medical Missionary in China, 1861. Chinese Repository, passim. Porter Smitli’s Contributions to Chinese Materia Medira, Shanghai, 1871. Fliickiger & Hanbnry,Pharmacofiraphia, London, 1874. China Retieir, Vol. I., p. 176; Vol. III.,p. 224. J. Dudgoon, The Diseases of China, Glasgow, 1877; id. iu the Chinese Recorder, Vols. U., III., and IV., passim.

    CHAPTER XVII. HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF CHINA

    The history of the Chinese people has excited less attention among western scholars than it deserves, though in some respects no nation offers more claims to have its chronicles carefully and fairly examined. The belief is generally entertained that their pretensions to antiquity are extravagant and ridiculous, and incompatible with the Mosaic chronology ; that they not only make the world to have existed myriads of years, but reckon the succession of their monarchs far beyond the creation, and ascribe to them a longevity that carries its own confutation on its face. In consequence of this opinion, some have denied the credibility of native historians altogether, and the whole subject of the settlement and early progress of this ancient race has been considered beyond the reach, and almost unworthy the attempt, of sober investigation. This erroneous and hasty conclusion is gradually giving way to a careful inquiry into those histories which show that the early records of the sons of Han contain much which is worthy of credence, and much more that is highly probable. A wide field is here opened for the researches of a Gibbon or a Kiebuhr; for as long as we are destitute of a good history of China and its connections with other Asiatic nations, we shall not only be unable to form a correct opinion respecting the people, but shall lack many important data for a full illustration of the early history of the human race. It is easy to laud the early records of the Chinese to the skies, as French writers have done ; and it is quite as easy to cry them down as worthless—manufactured in after ages to please the variety of their writers. The reputation both people and records have received is owing, in some measure, to this wulue laudation and depreciation, as well as to the intrinsic merits and defects of their histories. These, however, still mostly remain in their originals, and will require the united labors of many scholars to be full}’ brought to light and made a part of the world’s library.

    The enormous difficulties arising from the extent and tedious minuteness of native historians, coupled with the scarcity of translators competent or willing to undertake the labor of even such a resume of these works as will satisfy rational curiosity, are now being slowly overcome, both by Chinese and foreign students. These researches, it is to be earnestly hoped, will be rewarded by promoting a juster estimate in the minds of both classes of their relative positions among the nations of the earth.

    China, like other countries, has her mythological history, and it should be separated from the more recent and received, as her own historians regard it, as the fabrication of subsequent times. She also has her ancient history, whose earliest dates and events blend confusedly with the mythological, but gradually grow more credible and distinct as they come down the stream of time to the beginning of modern history. The early accounts of every nation whose founding was anterior to the practice of making and preserving authentic records nnist necessarily be obscure and doubtful. What is applicable to the Chinese has been true of other ancient people : ” national vanity and a love of the marvelous have intiuenced them all, and furnished materials for many tales, as soon as the spirit of investigation has supplanted that appetite for wonders which marks the infancy of nations as well as of individuals.”‘ The ignorance of the ” art preservative of all arts ” will greatly explain the subsequent record of the wonderful, without supposing that the infancy of nations partook of the same traits of weakness and credulity as that of individuals. There is neither space nor time in this work to give the details concerning the history and succession of dynasties that have swayed the Middle Kingdom, for to one not specially engaged in their examination their recital is proverbially dry ; the array of uncouth names destitute of lasting interest, and the absence of the charm of association with western nations render them nnin\ iting to the general reader. Some account of the leading events and changes is all that is necessary to explain what has been elsewhere incidentally referred to.’

    THE STUDY OF EARLY CHINESE HISTORY. 137

    Chinese historians have endeavored to explain the creation and origin of the world around them ; but, ignorant of the sublime fact that there is one C^reator who upholds his works by the word of his power, they have invented various modes to account for it, and wearied themselves in theorizing and disputing with each other. One of them, Yangtsz’, remarks, in view of these conflicting suppositions: “Who knows the affairs of remote antiquity, since no authentic records have come down to us? He who examines these stories will find it difficult to believe them, and careful scrutiny will convince him that they are without foundation. In the primeval ages no historical records were kept. Why then, since the ancient books that described those times were burnt by Tsin, should we misrepresent those remote ages, and satisfy ourselves with vague fables? However, as everything except heaven and earth must have a cause, it is clear that they have always existed, and that cause produced all sorts of men and beings, and endowed them with their various qualities. But it must have been man who in the beginning produced all things on earth, and who may therefore be viewed as the lord, and from whom rulers derive their dignities.”

    This extract is not a bad example of Chinese writers and historians ; a mixture of sense and nonsense, partially laying the foundation of a just argument, and ending with a tremendous non-se(putur, apparently satisfactory to themselves, but showing pretty conclusisely how little pains they take to gather facts and discuss their bearings. Some of these writers imagine that the world owes its existence to the retroactive agency of the dual powers yhi and yang, which first formed the outline of the universe, and were themselves influenced by

    ‘ Among the works which will repay perusal on this topic are Mailla’s //?’.’»’tfdre (le l<i Chwe and Pauthier’s Cliinr, in Frendi, and Du Halde’s Jl/sfnry.

    translated into English ; besides the briefer compilations of Murray, (irosier,Chitzluff, Davis, and more recently of Boulger and llichthofeii, Band I.

    their own creations. One of the most sensible of their aatliors says: Heaven was formless, an utter chaos ; the whole mass was nothing but confusion. Order was first produced in the pure ether, and out of it the universe came forth ; the universe produced air, and air the milky-way. When the pure male principle yang had been diluted, it formed the heavens ; the heavy and thick parts coagulated, and formed the earth. The refined particles united very soon, but the union of the thick and heavy went on slowly; therefore the heavens came into existence first, and the earth afterward.

    From the subtle essence of heaven and earth, the dual principles yia and yang were formed ; from their joint operation came the four seasons, and these putting forth their energies gave birth to all the products of the earth. The warm effluence of the yang being condensed, produced fire ; and the finest parts of fire formed the sun. The cold exhalations of the yin being likewise condensed, produced water ; and the finest parts of the watery substance formed the moon. By the seminal influence of the sun and moon, came the stars.

    Thus heaven was adorned with the sun, moon, and stars ; the earth also received rain, rivers, and dust.’ But this acute explanation, like the notions of Ilesiod among the Greeks, was too subtle for the common people ; they also

    wanted to personify and deify these powers and operations, but

    lacking the imaginative genius and fine taste of the Greeks,

    their divine personages are outrageous and their ideal beings

    shapeless monsters. No creator is known or imagined who,

    like Brahm, lives in space, ineffable, formless ; but the first

    being, Pwanku, had the herculean task to mould the chaos

    which produced him and chisel out the earth that was to contain

    him. One legend is that ” the dual powers were fi.xed

    when the primeval chaos separated. C’haos is bubbling turbia

    water, which enclosed and mingled with the dual powers, like

    a chick in ovo, but when their offspring Pwanku appeared their

    distinctiveness and operations were apparent. Pwdn means a

    ‘ basin,’ referring to the shell of the egg ; lu means ‘ solid,’ ‘ to

    secure,’ intending to show how the first man Pwanku was

    hatched from the chaos by the dual powers, and then settled

    and exhibited the arrangement of the causes which produced

    him.”

    Chinese Repositoin/, Vol. III., p. 55.

    CHINESE COSMOGONY. 139

    The Pationalists have penetrated furthest into the Daedalian mystery of this cosniogoiiy,’ and they go on to show what Pvvanku did and how he did it. They picture him holding a chisel and niahet in his hands, splitting and fashioning vast Pwanku Chiselling Out the Universe.

    ‘ For the Buddhist notions of cosmography and creation, see Remusat,Melattges PoHthmneii, pp. G5-131.

    masses of gvanite lioating confusedly in space. Behind the openings his powerful hand has made are seen the sun, moon, and stars, monuments of his stupendous labors; at his right hand, inseparable companions of his toils, but whose generation is left in obscurity, stand the dragon, the phoenix, and the tortoise, and sometimes the unicorn, divine types and progenitors with himself of the animal creation. His efforts were continued eighteen thousand years, and by small degrees he and his work

    increased ; the heavens rose, the earth spread out and thickened,

    and Pwanku grew in stature, six feet evevy day, till, his labors

    done, he died for the benefit of his handiwork. His head

    became mountains, his breath wind and clouds, and his voice

    thunder ; his limbs were changed into the four poles, his veins

    into rivers, his sinews into the undulations of the earth’s surface,

    and his flesh into fields ; his beard, like Berenice’s hair,

    was turned into stars, his skin and hair into herbs and trees,

    and his teeth, bones, and marrow into metal?, rocks, and precious stones ; his dropping sweat increased to rain, and lastly (nascltur ridiculus mus) the insects which stuck to his body were transformed into people!

    Such was Pwanku, and these Mere his works. But these grotesque myths afford none of the pleasing images and personifications of Greek fable or Egyptian symbols ; they fatigue without entertaining, and only illustrate the children imagination of their authors. Pwanku was succeeded by three rulers of monstrous forms called the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Human sovereigns, impersonations of a trinity of powers, whose traces and influences run through Chinese philosophy, religion, and politics ; their acts and characters are detailed with the utmost gravity, and more than Methusalean longevity allowed them to complete their plans. Their reigns continued eighteen thousand years (more or less according to the author quoted), during which time good government commenced, men learned to eat and drink, the sexes united, sleep was invented, and other improvements adopted. One would think, if the subjects of these wonderful beings were as long-lived, great perfection might have been attained in these and other useful arts; but the mysterious tortoise, conq)anion of Pangu, on whose carapace was written, in ta<l])olo-headed characters, the history of the anterior world, did not survive, and their record has not come doM’u. After them flourished two other niouai’chs, one of them called

    MYTHS OF THE CREATION. Hi

    Youchao, which means ‘having a nest’, and the other Suiren, or ‘match-man’. Whether the former invented nests for the abodes of his subjects, such as the Indians on the ()i’iuo(;o have, is not stated ; but the hitter brought down tire from heaven for them to cook with, and became a second, or rather the first, Prometheus.

    These fancies are gathered from a popuhir summary of knowledge, called the Coral Forest of Ancient Matters and from the opening chapters of history Made Easy. A higher style of philosophizing is found in C’liu Ill’s disquisition, from which an extract has been given in Chapter XII. Another on Cosmogony will show that he comes no nearer to the great fact of creation than ancient western writers.

    In the beginning heaven and earth were just the light and dark air. This one air revolved, grinding round and round. When it ground quickly much sediment was compressed, which, having no means of exit, coagulated and formed the earth in the center. The subtle portion of the air then became heaven and the sun, moon, and stars, which unceasingly revolve on the outside. The earth is in the center and motionless ; it is not below the center.

    Heaven revolving without ceasing, day and night also revolve, and hence the earth is exactly in the centre. If heaven should stand still for one moment, then the earth must fall down ; but heaven revolves quickly, and hence much sediment is coagulated in the centre. The earth is the sediment of the air; and hence it is said, the light, piu-e air became heaven, the heavy, muddy air became earth.

    At the beginning of heaven and earth, before chaos was divided, I think there were only two things—fire and water; and the sediment of the water formed the earth. When one ascends a height and looks down, the crowd of hills resemble the waves of the sea in appearance : the water just flowed like this. I know not at what period it coagulated. At first it was very soft, but afterward it coagulated and became hard. One asked whether it resembled sand thrown up by the tide ? He replied. Just so ; the coarsest sediment of the water became earth, and the purest portion of the fire became wind, thunder, lightning, sun, and stars.

    Before chaos was divided, the Yin-Yang, or light-dark air, was mixed up and dark, and when it divided the centre formed an enormous and most brilliant opening, and the two ‘c or principles were established. Shao Kang-tsieh considers one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years to be a yyn, or kalpa; then, before this period of one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years there was another opening and spreading out of the world ; and before that again, there was another like the present ; so that motion and rest, light and darkness, have no beginning. As little things sha<l”>w forth great things, this may be illustrated by the revohitions of day and night.

    Kang-tsieh says, Heaven rests upon form, and earth reclines upon air.

    The reason why he repeats this frequently, and does not deviate from the idea, is lest people should seek some other place beyond heaven and earth. There is nothing outside heaven and earth, and hence their form has limits, while their air has no limit. Because the air is extremely condensed, therefore it can support the earth ; if it were not so the earth would fall down.’

    A third belief respecting the position of the earth in the centre of the universe derives great strength in the opinion of intelligent natives from these speculations of Chn III. His theory considers the world to be a plane surface, straight, square, and large, measuring each way about 1500 miles (5600 Li), and bounded on the four sides by the four seas. The sun is estimated to be about 4,000 miles from the earth. Another calculation made it 81,394 Zi, and a third 216,T81| li.

    One thing is observable in these fictions, characteristic of the Chinese at the present day : there is no hierarchy of gods brought in to rule and inhabit the world they made, no conclave on Mt. Olympus, nor judgment of the mortal soul by Osiris ; no transfer of human love and hate, passions and hopes, to the powers above ; all here is ascribed to disembodied agencies or principles, and their works are represented as moving on in quiet order. There is no religion, no imagination ; all is impassible, passionless, uninteresting. It may perhaps, be considered of itself as sensible as the Greek or Egyptian mythology, if one looks for nense in such figments ; but it has not, as in the latter countries, been explained in sublime poetry, shadowed forth in gorgeous ritual and magnificent festivals, represented in exquisite sculptures, nor preserved in faultless, inqjosing fanes and temples, filled with ideal creations. P^or this reason it appears more in its true colors, and, when compared with theirs, ” loses discountenanced and like folly shows “—at least to us, who can examine both and compare them with the truth.

    Canon McClatchie’s Confucian CoKiumjoiiy, pp. 5:5-59.

    CHINESE AND WESTERN CHRONOLOGY. 143

    Their pure mythological history ends with the appearance of Fuh-hi, and their chronology has nothing to do with the long periods antecedent, varying from forty-five to five hundred thousand years. These periods are, however, a mere twinkling compared with the kulpas of the Hindus, whose highest era, called the Unspeakably Inexpressible, requires four million four hundred and fifty-six thousand four hundred and forty-eight cyphers following a unit to represent it. If the epoch of Fuh-hi could be ascertained with any probability by comparison with the history of other nations, or with existing remains, it would tend not a little to settle some disputed chronological points in other countries ; but the isolation of the Chinese throughout their whole existence makes it nearly impossible to weave in the events of their history with those of other nations, by comparing and verifying them with biblical, Egyptian, or Persian annals. Perhaps further investigations in the vast regions of Eastern and Central Asia may bring to light corroborative testimony as striking and unexpected as the explorations in Mosul, Persepolis, and Thebes.

    The accession of Fuh- hi is placed in the Chinese annals b.c.2852,’ and with him commences the period known among them as the ” highest antiquity.” The weight of evidence which the later chronological examinations of Hales and Jackson have brought to bear against the common period of four thousand and four years prior to the Advent, is such as to cast great doubt over its authenticity, and lead to the adoption of a longer period in order to afford time for many occurrences, which otherwise would be crowded into too narrow a space. Chinese chronology, if it be allowed the least credit, strongly corroborates the results of Dr. Hales’ researches, and particularly so in the date of Fuh-hi’s accession. This is not the place to discuss the respective claims of the two eras, but by reckoning, as he does, the creation to be live thousand four hundred and eleven years, and the deluge three thousand one hundred and fifty-five years, before the Advent, we bring the commencement of ancient Chinese history three hundred and three years subsequent to the deluge, forty seven before the death of Xoah, and about three centuries before the confusion of tongues. If we suppose that the ante-

    ‘ Or 3322, according to Dr. Legge, whose date has been used elsewhere in this work, and has probably quite as much authority as the one above.

    diliivians possessed a knowledge of the geography of the world,

    and that ^’oah, regarding himself as the monarch of the whole,

    divided it among his descendants before his death, there is

    nothing improbable in the further supposition that the progenitors

    of the black-haired race, and t)thers of the house and

    lineage of Sliem, found their way from the valley of the

    Euphrates across the defiles and steppes of Central Asia, to the

    fertile plains of China before the end of the third diluvian century.

    Whether the surface of the world was the same after the cataclysm as before does not aifect this point ; there was ample time for the multiplication of the species with the blessing promised by God, sufficient to form colonies, if there was time enough to increase to such a multitude as conspired to build the tower of Babel.

    The views of Dr. Legge, that the present Chinese descend from settlers who came through Central Asia along the Tarim Valley and across the Desert into Kansuh, about b.c. 2200, and settled around the elbow of the Yellow River, under the leadership of Yao, Shun, Yu, and others, are very reasonable.

    These settlers found the land at that time occupied with tribes, whom they partly merged with themselves or drove into mountain recesses in Kweichau, where some of their descendants perhaps still remain. These earlier tribes may have furnished the names and reigns prior to Yao, and the later Chinese annalists incorporated them into their own histories, taking everything in early times as of course belonging to the U imn, or ‘ ])lackliaired race.’ The lapse of a millennium between the Deluge and Yao allows plenty of time for several successive emigrations from Western and Central Asia into the inviting plains of China, which, through the want of a written language o>* the destruction of records, have come down to us in misty, doubtful legends.

    THE EIGHT EARLY MONARCHS. 145

    Fuli-hi and his seven successors are stated to have reigned seven hundred and forty-seven years, averaging ninety-three each. Those who follow Usher consider these monarchs to be Chinese travesties of the eight antediluvian patriarchs; and Marquis d’TTrban has gone so far as to write what he calls the Antediluvian History ^y CV/Y’/ic/, collecting all the notices history affords of their acts. The common chronology brings the delude about thirteen years after the accession of Yao and the death of Shmi (the last of the eight), b.c. 2205, or twenty-live years after the confusion of tongues. According to Hales, the last epoch is one hundred and twelve years before the call of Abraham, and these eight Chinese monarchs are therefore contemporaries of the patriai’chs who lived between Shem and Abraham, commencing with Salah and ending with Xahor.

    The duration of their reigns, moreover, is such as would bear the same proportion to ages of five hundred years, which their contemporaries lived, as the present average of twenty and twenty -five years does to a life of sixty. The Assyrian tablets, deciphered by George Smith, contain a reference to the twenty eighth century b.c, as the founding of that monarchy ; which is a notice of more value as a chronological epoch than anything in Chinese annals, indeed, and may help to countenance a date that had before been regarded as mythological.

    Supposing that the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, knowing from their fathers and grandfather, that the void world was before them, began to colonize almost as soon as they began to form families, three centuries would not be too long a time for some of them to settle in China, perhaps offsetting from Elam and Asshur, and other descendants of Shem in Persia. The capital of Fuh-hi slightly indicates, it may be thought, their route through Central Asia across the Desert to Kiayli kwan in Kansuh, and then down the Yellow River to the Great Plain near Kaifung. But these suppositions are only by the way, as is also the suggestion that teaching of fishing and grazing, the regulation of times and seasons, cultivation of music, and establishment of government, etc., compare well enough with the duties that might reasonably be supposed to belong to the founder of a colony and his successors, and subsequently ascribed to them as their own inventions. The long period allotted to human life at that date would allow these arts and sciences to take root and their memory to remain in popular legends until subsequent historians incorporated them into their writings. The Chinese annalists fill up the reigns of these chief?, down to the time of Yao, with a series of inventions and improvements in the arts of life and good government, sufficient to bring society to that degree of comfort and order they suppose consonant with the character of the monarchs. The earliest records of the Chinese correspond much too closely with their present character to receive full belief ; but they present an appearance of probability and naturalness not possessed by the early annals of Greece. No one contends for their credibility as history, but they are better than the Arabian Nights.

    The commencement of the sexagenary cycle’ in the sixty first year of Ilwangtfs reign (or b.c. 2037), five hundred and eighteen years after the deluge, eighty-two years after the death of Arphaxad, and about that time before the confusion of tongues, is worthy of notice. The use of the ten horary characters applied to days in order to denote their chronological sequence dates from the reign of Yu in the twentieth century b.c, and there are other passages in the Shu KIikj showing similar application.

    Sz’ma Tsien’s history now contains the first attempt to arrange the years in cycles of sixty; but he cannot fairly be claimed as the inventor of this system. he might almost as well be regarded as the inventor of his whole annals, for all the materials out of which he compiled them have now perished except the canonical books. The mention of the individual Xao the Great, who invented it, and the odd date of its adoption in the middle of a reign, do not weaken the alleged date of its origin in the minds of those who are inclined to take a statement of this kind on its own basis.

    Three reigns, averaging eighty years’ duration, intervened between that of Huangdi and Yao, whose occupants were elected by the people, much as were Shemgar, Jephthah, and cttlier judges in Israel, and probably exercised a similar sway. The reigns and characters of Yao and Shun have been immortalized by Confucius and Mencius; whatever was their real history, those sages showed g]-eat sagacity in going back to those remote times for models and fixing upon a period neither fabulous nor certain, one which preventel alike the cavils of scepticism and the appearance of complete fabrication,

    ^ Journal Asiatique, Avril, 183G, p. 394.

    THE DELUGE OF YAO. 147

    A tremendous deluge occurred during the reign of Yao, b.c. 2293, caused, it is said, by the overflowing of the rivers in the north of China. Those who place the Xoachic dehige b.c.2348 regard this as only a different version of that event; Klaproth, who favors the Septuagint chronology, says that it is nearly synchronous with the deluge of Xisutlirus, b.c. 2297, a name derived, as is reasonably inferred by George Smith, from the Assyrian name Ilasisadra, the ancient hero who survived the deluge. The record of this catastrophe in the Shu King is hardly applicable to an overwhelming flood : ” The Emperor said. Oh! chief of the four mountains, destructive in their overthrow are the waters of the inundation. In their vast extent they embrace the mountains and overtop the hills, threatening the heavens with their floods, so that the inferior people groan and murmur. Is there a capable man to whom I can assign the correction of this calamity? ” ‘ They presented Kwan as a proper man, but he showed his inefficiency in laboring nine years without success to drain off the waters. Yao was then advised to employ Shun, who called in Yu, a son of Kwan, to his aid, and the floods were assuaged by deepening the beds of the rivers and opening new channels. These slight notices hardly comport with a flood like the Xoachic deluge, and are with much greater probability referred to an overflow or a change in the bed of the Yellow River from its present course into the Gulf of Pechele through Chihli northeast, to its recent one along the lowlands of Kiangsu. The weight of topographical evidence, combined with the strong chronological argument, the discussions in council said to have taken place regarding the disaster, and the time which elapsed before the region was drained, all pre-suppose and indicate a partial inundation, and strengthen the assumption that no traces of the Deluge exist in the histories of the Chinese. In our view of the chronology of the Bible, as compared with the Chinese, it requires a far greater constraint upon these records to bring them to refer to that event, than to suppose they allude to a local disaster not beyond the power of remedy.

    ‘ Legge’s Shu King^ p. 24, Hongkong, 1867.

    THE RECORDS OF YAO AXD YU. 149

    The series of chieftains down to the accession of Yu may here be recapitulated. The entirely fabulous period ends with Sui-jin, and legendary history commences with Fuh-ln’, who with four of his successors (Nos. 2, 3, 7, and 8) are commonly known as the Five Sovereigns, follows:

    Their names and reigns are as Buflficient to have deepened the channel of a river or raised dikes to restrain it. The glorious reigns and spotless characters of these three sovereigns are looked upon by the Chinese with much the same feelings of veneration that the Jews regard their three patriarchs ; and to have had, or to have imagined, such progenitors and heroes is, to say the least, as much to their credit as the Achilles, Ulysses, and llomulus of the Greeks and Romans, A curious analogy can also be traced between the scheming Ulysses, warlike liomulus, and methodical Yao, and the

    subsequent character of the three great nations they represent.

    Chinese historians supply many details regarding the conduct

    of Yu and Kieh Kwei, the first and last princes of the house of

    Ilia, all the credible particulars of which are taken from the

    Book of Records and the Bauihoo Annah. Dr. Legge candidly

    weighs the arguments in respect to the eclipse mentioned in the

    Y^uli C/ilng, and gives his opinion as to its authenticity, even

    if it cannot yet be certainly referred to the year b.c. 2154. One

    such authentic notice lends strer.gth to the reception of many

    vague statements, which are more likely to be the relics of fuller

    documents long since lost than the fabrications of later writers,

    such as were the Decretals of Isidore in the Middle Ages. In

    giving a full translation of the Bamhoo Books in the prolegomena

    of the Sh u Klng^ Dr. Legge has shown one of the sources

    of ancient Chinese liistory outside of that work. There were

    many other works accessible to Sz’ma Tsien, nearly four centuries

    before they were discovered (a.d. 279), when he wrote

    his Annals. Pan Ku gives a list of the various books recovered

    after the death of Tsin Chi Ilwangti, amounting in all to thirteen

    thousand two hundred and nineteen volumes or chapters

    contained in six huudi-ed and twenty different works. Well

    does Pauthier speak of the inestimable value which a similar

    catalogue of the extant literature of Greece and Pome at that

    epoch (b.(\ 100) would now be.

    One of the alleged records of the reign of Yu is an inscription traced on the rocks of Ivau-lau shaii, one of the peaks of Mount llano; in Ilunan, relatinjij to the inundation. It contfiins seventy-seven characters only, and Amiot, who regarded it as genuine, has given its sense as follows: The venerable Emperor said, Oli I aid and councillor! Who will help me in administiM-ing my affairs V The great and little islets (the inhabited places) even to their summits, the abodes of the beasts and birds, and all beings are widely inundated. Advise, send back the waters, and raise the dikes. For a long time, J have quite forgotten my family ; I repose on the top of the mountain Yoh-lu. By prudence and my labors, I have moved the spirits ; I know not the hours, but repose myself only in my incessant labors. The mountains Hwa, Yoh, Tai, and Ilang, have been the beginning and end of my enterprise; when my labors were completed, I offered a thanksgiving sacrifice at the solstice. My affliction has ceased ; the confusion in nature has disappeared; the deep currents coming from the south flow into the sea ; clothes can now be made, food can be prepared, all kingdoms will be at peace, and we can give ourselves to continual joy.’

    Since Amiot’s time, however, further opportunities have offered

    for more tliorongh inquiry into this relic by foreigners,

    and the results of their researches throw much doubt upon its

    authenticity, though they do not altogether destroy it. In the

    Introduction to the S/iu King, Dr. Legge discusses the value

    of this tablet among other early records of that reign, and

    comes to the conclusipn that it is a fabrication of the Han

    dynasty, if not later. The poet Han Yu (a.d. 800) gave it

    wide notoriety by his verses about its location and nature ; but

    when he was there he could not iind it on the peak, and cited

    only a Taoist priest as having seen it. More than three centuries

    afterward Chu Hi M^as equally unsuccessful, and his opinion

    that it was made by the priests of that sect has had nnich

    weight with his countrymen. It was not till one Ho Chi wont

    to Mount Hang, about a.d. 1210, and took a copy of the inscription

    from the stone then in a Taoist temple, that it was

    actually seen ; and not till about 1510, that Chang Ki-wrm,

    another antiquary of Hunan province, published his copy in

    the form now generally accepted. In 1660 one Mao Tsangkien

    again found the tablet on the summit of Kau-lau, but

    reached it with nnich difficulty by the help of ladders and

    hooks, and found it so broken that the inscription could not

    be made out. A reduced fae-siitnle of Mao’s copy is given by

    ‘ Pauthier, Lit Chine, p. 53; J. Hager’s Inscription of Yv, Paris, 1802;

    Legge’s Sim Kinr/, pp. G7-74 ; TrdiisdctimiH of flic X. C. Br: Ji. A. Soc, No.

    v., 1809, pp. 78-84; Journal Aniaiiqiu’, 18G7, Tome X., jjp. 197-337.

    THE TABLET OF YU. 161

    Dr. Legge, whose translation differs from Amiot’s in some particulars.

    I received the irords of i\\9 Emperor, saying, ” Ah \ Associate helper, aiding noble! The islands and islets ma/ now be aseended, thut were doors for the birds and beasts. Tou devoted your person to the great overflowings, and with the daybreak yon rose up. Long were you abroad, forgetting your family ; you lodged at the mountain’s foot as in a hall ; your wisdom schemed; your body was broken ; your heart was all in a tremble. You went and sought to produce order and settlement. At Hwa, Yoh, Tai, and Hang, by adopting the principle of dividing the tcaters, your undertakings were completed.

    With the remains of a taper, you offered your pure sacrifice. There were entanglement and obstruction, being swamped, and removals. The southern river flows on its course ; for ever is the provision of food made sure ; the myriad States enjoy repose ; the beasts and birds are for ever fled away.”

    The characters in which this tablet is written are of an ancient tadpole form, and so difficult to read that grave doubts exist as to their proper meaning—^and even as to which of two or three forms is the correct one. Since the copy of Mao was taken, the Manchu scholar Ivwan-wan, when Governor-General of Liang Hu in 1868, erected a stone tablet at Wu-chang, in the Pavilion of the Yellow Stork, upon the eminence overlooking the Yangtsz’. This he regarded as a true copy of the authentic Yu Pal, or ‘ Tablet of Yu.’ A fac-slmile of this tablet, and of another rubbing from a stone now existing at the foot of Mount Hang (which is alleged to be an exact reproduction of the original on its top), was published by W. H. Medhurst in the A^. C. Asiatic Society Journal for 1869. A comparison of these three will give the reader an idea of the difficulties and doubts attending the settlement of the credibility of this inscription. A living native writer quoted by Mr. Medhurst says that the earliest notice of the tablet is by Tsin Yung of the Tang dynasty, about a.d. TOO, from which he infers that the people of the time of Tung must have seen the rock and its inscription. lie regards the latter as consisting of fairy characters, utterly unreadable, and therefore all attempts to decipher them as valueless and misleading.

    Amid so many conflicting opinions among native scholars, the verdict of foreigners may safely await further discoveries. and the day when competent observers can examine these localities and tablets for themselves. Without exaggerating the importance and credibility of the S/tu, K’nvj and other ancient Chinese records, they can be received as the writings of a very remote period ; and while their claims to trustworthiness would be fortified if more intimations had been given of the manner in which they were kept dniing the long period antecedent to the era of Confucius, they still deserve a more respectful consideration than some modern writers are disposed to allow them.

    For instance, Davis remarks: ” Yu is described as nine cubits in height, and it is stated that the skies rained gold in those days, which certainly (as Dr. Morrison observes) lessens the credit of the history of this period.” Now, without laying too much stress upon the record, or the objections against it, this height is but little more than that of Og of Bashan, even if we adopt the present length of the cubit fourteen and one-tenth inches, English ; and if Zv’w, here called <j<)ld, be translated metal (which it can just as well be), it may be a notice of a meteoric shower of extraordinary duration. Let these venerable ‘writings be investigated in a candid, cautious manner, weighing their internal evidence, and comparing their notices of those remote periods as much as they can be with those of other nations, and they will illustrate ancient history and customs in no slight degree.

    Mr. Murray has given a synopsis from Mailla of what is recorded of the Ilia dynasty, which will fairly exhibit the matter of Chinese history. It is here introduced somewhat abridged, with dates inserted.

    The accession of Yu (B.C. 2205) forms a romarkable era in Chinese history.

    EARLY HISTORY OF TUi: TIIA DYNASTY. 153

    The throne, which hitherto liad been more or less ek’ctive, became from this period hereditary in the eldest son, with only those occasional and violent interrujitions to which every despotic government is liable. The national annals, too, assume a more regular and authentic shape, the reigns of the sovereigns being at the same time reduced to a probable duration. Yu justly acquired a lasting veneration, but it was chiefly by his labors under his two predecessors. When he himself ascended the throne, age had already overtaken him ; still the lustre of his government was supported by able councillors, till it closed with bis life at the end of seven years. Many of the grandees wished, according to former practice, to raise to the throne Pi-yih, his first minister, and a person of distinguished merit; but regard for the father, in this case, was strengthened by the excellent ijualities of his son Ki, or Ti Kf (/.<?., the Emperor Ki), and even Pi-yih insisted that the prince should be preferred (2197). Hi.s reign of nine years was only disturbed by the rebellion of a turbulent subject, and he was succeeded (2188) by his son, Tai Kang. But this youth was devoted to pleasure; music, wine, and hunting entirely engrossed his attention. The Chinese, after enduring him for twenty nine years, dethroned him (2159), and his brother, Chung Kaug, was nominated to succeed, and lield th:> reins of government for thirteen years with a vigorous liand. He was followed l / his son, Siang (2140), who, destitute of the energy his situation required, gave himself up to the advice of his minister Yeh, and was by him, in connection with his accomplice, Ilantsu, declared incapable of reigning. The usurper ruled for seven years, when he was Idlled ; and the rightful monarch collected his adherents and gave battle to Ilantsu and the son of Yeh in the endeavor to regain his throne. Siang was completely defeated, and lost both his crown and life ; the victors immediately marched to the capital, and made so general a massacre of the family that they believed the name and race of Yu to be for ever extinguished.

    ‘J’he Empress Min, however, managed to escape, and tied to a remote city, where she brought forth a son, called Shau Kang ; and th better to conceal his origin, she employed him as a shepherd boy to tend flocks. Reports of the existence of such a youth, and his occupation, at length reached the ears of Hantsu, who sent orders to bring him, dead or alive. The royal widow then

    placed her son as under-cook in the liousehold of a neighboring governor,

    where the lad soon distinguished himself by a spirit and temper so superior to

    this humble station, that the master’s suspicions were roused, and obliged him

    to disclose his name and birth. The officer, being devotedly attached to the

    house of Yu, not only kept the secret, but watched for an opportunity to reinstate

    him, and meanwhile gave him a small government in a secluded situation,

    which he prudently administered. Yet he was more than thirty years

    old before the governor, by engaging other chiefs in his interest, could assemble

    such a force as might justify the attempt to make head against tlie usurper.

    The latter hastily assembled his troops and led them to the attack, but was defeated and taken prisoner by the young prince Chu himself ; and Shau Kang, with his mother, returned with acclamations to the capital. His reign is reckoned to have been sixty-one years’ duration in the chronology of the time, which includes the usurpation of forty years of Hantsu.

    The country was ably governed by Shau Kang, and also by his son, Chu(2057), who ruled for seventeen yearr: ; but the succeeding sovereigns, in many instances, abandoned themselves to indolence and pleasure, and brought the kingly name into contempt. From Hwai to Kieh Kwei, a space of two hundred and twenty-two years, between B.C. 2040 and 1818, few records remain of the nine sovereigns, whose bare names succeed each other in the annals. At length the throne was occupied by Kieh Kwei (1G18), .. prince who is represented as having, in connexion with his consort, Mei-hi, practised ‘,’very kind of violence and extortion, in order to accumulate treasure, which they spent in unbridled voluptuousness. They formed a large pond of wine, deep enough to float a boat, at which three thousand men drank at once. It was surrounded, too, by pyramids of delicate viands, which no one, however, was allowed to taste, till he had first intoxicated himself out of the lake. The drunken quarrels which ensued wer« their favorite amusempiit. In the intrrior o” the jialaci’ Die vilest orgies were celebrated, and the venerable ministers, wlio attempted to remonstrate against these excesses, were either put to deatlx or exiled. The people were at once indignant and grieved at such crimes, which threatened the downfall of the dynasty ; and the discarded statesmen put themselves under the direction of the wise I Yin, and advised Chingtang, the ablest of their number, and a descendant of Huangdi, to assume the reins of government, assuring him of their support. He with reluctance yielded to their solicitations, and assembling a force marched against Kieh Kwei, who came out to meet him at the head of a numerous army, but fled from the contest on seeing the defection of his troops, and ended his days in despicable obscurity, after occupying the throne fifty two years.’

    Chinese annals are generally occupied in this way ; the Emperor and his ministers fill the whole field of historic vision; little is recorded of the condition, habits, arts, or occupations of the people, who are merely considered as attendants of the monarch, which is, in truth, a feature of the ancient records of nearly all countries and people, Monarchs controlled the chronicles of their reigns, and their own vanity, as well as their ideas of government and authority led them to represent the people as a mere background to their own stately dignity and acts.

    The Shang dynasty began b.c. 1760, or about one hundred and

    twenty years before the Exodus, and maintained an unequal sway

    over the feudal States composing the Empire for a period of six

    hundred and forty-four years. Its first monarch, Chingtang, or

    Tang the Successful, is described as having paid religious worship

    to Shangti, under which name, perhaps, the true God was

    intended. On account of a severe drought of seven years’

    duration, this monarch is reported to have prayed, saying,

    ” 1 the child Li presume to use a dark colored victim, and

    announce to thee, O Shang-tien Ilao (‘High Heaven’s Ruler’).

    I«[ow there is a great drought, and it is right I should be held

    responsible for it. I do not know but that I have offended

    the powers above and below.” AVith regard to his own conduct,

    he blamed himself in six particulars, and his words

    were not ended when the rain descended copiously.

    The fragmentary records of this dynasty contained in the

    Shu King are not so valuable to the student who wishes merely

    ‘Hugh Murray, China, Vol. I., pp. 51-55 (edition of 1843),

    TIIK SIIAXa DYNASTY. 155

    to learn the succession of luoiiarclis in tliose (l:ijs, as to one who

    inquires what were the principles on which they ruled, wliat

    were the polity, the religion, the jurisdiction, and the checks of

    the Chinese government in those remote times. The regular

    records of those days will never he recovered, hut the preservation

    of the hist two parts of the Shic Kiiuj indicates their

    existence by fair inference, and encourages those who try to reconstruct

    the early annals of China to give full value even to

    slight fragments. But these parts have been of great service to

    the people since they were written, in teaching them by precept

    and example on what the prosperity of a State was founded, and

    how theii- rnlers could bring it to ruin. In these respects there

    are no ancient works outside of the Bible w^ith which they can

    at all be compared. The later system of examination has given

    them an unparalleled intluonce in molding the national character

    of the Chinese. Of the eleven chapters now remaining all are

    occupied more or less with the relative duties of the prince and

    rulers, enforcing on each that the w-elfare of all was bound up

    with their faithfulness. One quotation will give an idea of

    their instructions. ” Order your affairs by righteousness, order

    your heart by propriety, so shall you transmit a grand example

    to posterit3\ I have heard the saying. He who finds instructors

    for himself comes to the supreme dominion ; he wlft> says that

    others are not equal to himself comes to ruin. He who likes to

    ask becomes enlarged ; he who uses only himself becomes small.

    Oh ! he who would take care for his end must be attentive to

    his beginning. There is establishment for the observers of propriety,

    and overthrow for the blinded and wantonly indifPerent.

    To revere and honor the way of Heaven is the way ever to

    preserve the favoring regard of Heaven.” ‘

    ‘Part IV., Book II., Chap. IV., 8-9. •

    The chronicles of the Shang dynasty, as gathered from the Bamboo Books and other later records, resemble those of the Hia in being little more than a mere succession of the names of the sovereigns, interspersed here and there with notices of some remarkable events in the natural and political world. Luxurious and despised princes alternate with vigorous and warlike ones who coiiiinaiuled respect, :uul the coiiditiunof the State measura.’ bly C’ori’espoiid.s with the character of the monarchs, the feudal barons soinetiines increasing in power and territory by encroacliiug on their neighbors, and then snitering a reduction from some new State. The names of twenty-eight princes are given, the accounts of whose reigns are indeed fuller than those of the dukes of Edom in Genesis, but their slight notices would be more interesting if the same confidence could be reposed in them.

    The bad sovereigns occupy more room in these^fasti than the

    good ones, the palm of wickedness being given to Chau-sin, with

    whom the dynasty ended. The wars which broke out during

    this dynasty were numerous, but other events also find a place,

    though hardly anything which throws light on society or civilization.

    Droughts, famines, and other calamities were frequent

    and attended by dreadful omens and fearful sights ; this fancied

    correlation between natural casualties and political convulsions

    is a feature running through Chinese history, and grows out of

    the peculiar position of the monarch as the vicegerent of heaven.

    The people seem to have looked for control and protection

    more to their local masters than to their lord paramount,

    ranging themselves under their separate banners as they weve

    bidden. The History Made Easy speaks of the twenty-fifth

    monarch, Wu-yih (e.g. 1198), as the most wicked of them all.

    ” Having made his images of clay in the shape of human beings,

    dignified them with the name of gods, overcome them at gambling,

    and set them aside in disgrace, he then, in order to complete

    his folly, made leathern bags and filled them with blood,

    and sent them up into the air, exclaiming, when his arrows hit

    them and the blood poured down, ‘ I have shot heaven,’ meaning,

    I have killed the gods.”

    The names of Chau-sin and Tan-ki are coupled w’ith those

    of Kieh and Mi-hi of the Ilia dynasty, all of them synonymous

    in the Chinese annals for tlie acme of cruelty and licentiousness

    —as are those of Xero and Messalina in Koman history. Chausin

    is said one winter’s morning to have seen a few women

    walking barelegged on the banks of a stream collecting shellfish,

    and ordered their legs to be cut off, that he might see the

    CHAU-SIN—RISE OF TIFE ClIAU DYNASTY. 157

    marrow of persons who could resist cold so fearlessly. The

    heart of one of his reprovers was also hrought him, in order to

    see wherein it differed from that of cowardly ministers. The

    last Booh of Shang contains the vain i-emonstrance of another

    of them, who tells his sovereign that his dynasty is in the condition

    of one crossing a large stream who can iind neither ford

    nor bank. Many acts of this natnre alienated the hearts of the

    people, nntil Wan wang, the leader of a State in the northwest

    of China, nnited the principal men against his misrule ; hut

    dying, bequeathed his crown and power to his son, Wu wang.

    He gradually gathered his forces and met Chau-sin at the head

    of a great army at Muli, near the junction of the rivers Ki and

    Wei, north of the Yellow River in llonan, where the defeat of

    the tyrant was complete. Feeling the contempt he was held in,

    and the hopeless struggle before him, he lied to his palace and

    burned himself with all his treasures, like another Sardanapalus,

    though his immolation (in b.o. 1122) preceded the Assyrian’s by

    five centuries.

    Wu wang, the martial king, the founder of the Chan dynasty,

    his father. Wan wang, and his brother, Duke Chan, are among

    the most distinguished men of antiquity- for their erudition,

    integrity, patriotism, and inventions. AViln wang. Prince of

    Chan, was prime minister to Tai-ting, the grandfather of Chausin,

    but was imprisoned for his fidelity. His son obtained his

    liberation, and the sayings and acts of both occupy al)()ut twenty

    books in Part V. of the Shu King. Duke Chan survived his

    brother to become the director and support of his nephew ; his

    counsels, occupying a large part of the history, are full of wisdom

    and equity. Book X. contains his warning advice about drunkenness,

    which has been remarkably influential among his counti-vmen

    ever since. Ko period of ancient Chinese history is mora

    celebrated than that of the founding of this dynastv, chieflv

    because of the high chai’acter of its leading men, who Avere

    regarded by Confucius as the impersonations of everything wise

    and noble. Wu wang is represented as having invoked the

    assistance of Shangti in his designs, and, when he was successful,

    returned thanks and offered prayers and sacrifices. He

    removed the capital from the province of Honan to the present Si-ngan, in Shensi, where it remained for a long period. This prince committed a great political blnnder in dividing the Empire

    into petty states, thus destroying the ancient pure monarchy,

    and leaving himself only a small portion of territory and power,

    which were (piite insufficient, in the hands of a weak prince, to

    maintain either the state or authority due the ruling sovereign.

    The number of States at one time was one hundred and twentyfive,

    at another forty-one, and, in the time of Confucius, about

    six hundred years after the establishment of the dynasty, fiftytwo,

    some of them large kingdoms. From about b.c. 7U0 the

    imperial name and power lost the allegiance and respect of the

    feudal princes, and gradually became contemptible. Its nominal

    sway extended over the country lying north of the ITangtsz

    kiang, the regions on the south being occupied by tribes of whonj

    no intelligible record has been preserved.

    The duration of the three dynasties, the Ilia, Shang, and

    Chau, comprises a long and obscure period in the history of the

    world, extending from b.c. 2205 to 249, from the time when

    Terah dwelt in (Jharran, and the sixteenth dynasty of Theban

    kings ruled in Egypt, down to the reigns of Antiochus Soter

    and Ptolemy Philadelphus and the ti-anslation of the Septuagint.

    I.—The IliA dynasty, founded by Yu the Great, existed four

    Inmdred and thirty-nine years, down to n.o. lT<!r>, under seventeen

    monarchs, the records of whose reigns are veiy brief.

    Among contemporary events of importance are the call of

    Abraham, in the year b.c. 2003, Jacob’s flight to Mesopotamia

    in 1016, Joseph’s elevation in Egypt in 1885, and his father’s

    arrival in 1863.

    II.—The SuANG dynasty began with Tang the Successful, and continued six hundred and forty-four years, under twenty eight sovereigns, down to b.c. 1122. This period was characterized by wars among I’ival princes, and the power of the sovereign depended chiefly upon his personal character. The principal contemporary events were the Exodus of the Israelites in 1648, their settlement in Palestine in 1608, judgeship of Othniel, 1564 ; of Deborah, 1406 ; of Gideon, 1350 ; of Sam son, 1202 ; and death of Samuel in 1122.

    CREDIBILITY OF THESE EAULV RECORDS. 159

    III.—The CuAU dynasty began with Wu wang, and continued for eight hundred and seventy-three years, under thirty five monarchs, down to b.c. 249, the longest of any recorded in history. The sway of many of these was little more than nominal, and the feudal States increased or diminished, according to the vigor of the monarch or the ambition of the princes.

    In B.C. 770 the capital was removed from Kao, near the River Wei in Shensi, to Luoyang, in the western part of Honan; this divides the house into the Western and Eastern Chan. The contemporary events of these eight centuries are too numerous to particularize. The accession of Saul in 1110; of David, 1070 ; of Rehoboam, 990 ; taking of Troy, 1084; of Samaria, 719 ; of Jerusalem, 586 ; death of Nebuchadnezzar, 501 ; accession of Cyrus and return of the Jews, 551 ; battle of Marathon, 490 ; accession of Alexander, 235 ; etc. The conquest of Egypt by Alexander in 322 brought the thirty-first and last dynasty of her native kings to an end, the first of which had begun under Menes about b.c. 2715, or twenty-two years after the supposed accession of Shinnung.

    The absence of any great remains of human labor or art

    previous to the Great Wall, like the Pj’i-amids, the Temple of

    Solomon, or the ruins and mounds in Syria, has led many to

    doubt the credibility of these early Chinese records. They ascribe

    them to the invention of the historians of the llan dynasty,

    working up the scattered relics of their ancient books into a

    readable nari-ative, and therefore try to bring every statement

    to a critical test for which there are few facts. The analogies

    between the records in the Shu King and the Aryan myths

    are skilfully explained by Mr. Kingsmill by reference to the

    meanings of the names of persons and places and titles, and a

    connection shown which has the merit at least of ingenuity and

    beauty. Almost the only actual known relic of these three

    dynasties is the series of ten stone drums [sMh ktt) now in the

    Confucian temple at Peking. They were discovered about a.d.

    600, in the environs of the ancient capital of the Chau dynasty,

    and have been kept in Peking since the year 1126. They are

    irregularly shaped pillars, from eighteen to thirty-five inches

    high and about twentj^-eight inches across ; the inscriptions are

    much worn, but enough remains to show that they commemo rate a great hunt of Siien wang (b.c. 827) in the region where they were found.’

    AmohiT the feudal States under the house of Chau, that of

    Tsin, on the northwest, had long been the most powerful, occupying

    nearly a iifth of the country, and its inhabitants forming

    a tenth of the whole population. One of the princes, called

    Chausiang wang, carried his encroachments into the acknowledged

    imperial possessions, and compelled its master, Tungchau

    kiun, the last monarch, to humble himself at his feet. Although,

    in fact, master of the whole Empire, he did not take the title,

    but left it to his son, Chwangsiang wang, who exterminated the

    blood royal and ended the Chau dynasty, yet lived only three

    years in possession of the supreme power.

    The son carried on his father’s successes until he had reduced

    all the petty States to his sway. lie then took the name of Chi

    Hwangti (‘ Emperor First’) of the Tsin dynasty, and set himself

    to regulate his conquests and establish his authority by securing

    to his subjects a better government than had been experienced

    during the feudal times. He divided the country into

    thirty-six provinces, over which he placed governors, and went

    throughout them all to see that no injustice was practised.

    This monarch, who has been called the Napoleon of China,

    was one of those extraordinary men who turn the course of

    events and give an impress to subsequent ages; Ivlaproth gives

    him a high ciuiracter as a prince of energy and skill, but native

    historians detest his name and acts. It is recorded that at his

    new capital, Ilienyang, on the banks of the Ilwai, he constructed

    a palace exactly like those of all the kings who had submitted

    to him, and ordered that all the precious furniture of each and

    those persons who had inhabited them should be transported to it, and everything rearranged. The whole occupied an immense space, and the various parts communicated with each other by a magnificent colonnade and gallery. He made progresses through his dominions with a splendor hitherto unknown, accompanied by officials and troops from all parts, thus making

    ‘ Journrd of the N. C. Branch of II. A. Society, Vols. VII., p. 137 ; VIII., pp.23, 133. In the last paper, by Dr. Bnshell, translations and fac-similes of the inscriptions are givoii, with many historical uotictjs.

    TSIX nil IIWANGTI, THE ‘ EMPEROK FIRST.’ IGl

    the people interested in each otlier and consenting to liis sway.

    He also built public edifices, opened roads and canals to facilitate

    intercourse and trade between the various provinces, and

    repressed the incursions of the Iluns, driving them into the wilds

    of Mongolia. In order to keep them out effectually, he conceived

    the idea of extending and uniting the short walls which

    the princes of some of the Xortherii States had erected on their

    frontier into one grand wall, stretching across the Empire from

    the sea to the Desert. This gigantic undertaking was completed

    in ten years (b.c. 20-i), at a vast expense in men and material,

    and not until the family of its builder had been destroyed.

    This mode of protecting the country, when once well begun,

    probably commended itself to the nation. It is impossible, indeed,

    to imagine otherwise how it could have been done, for

    the people were required to supply a quota of men from each

    place, feed and clothe them while at work, and continue this

    expense until their portion was built. Xo monarch could have

    maintained an army which could force his sul)jects against their

    \vill to do such a work or carry it on to completion after his

    death. It is one of the incidental proofs of a great population

    that so many laborers were found. However ineffectual it was

    to preserve his frontiers, it has made his name celebrated

    throughout the world, and his dynasty Tsin has given its name

    to China for all ages and nations.’

    The vanity of the new monarch led him to endeavor to destroy

    all records written anterior to his own reign, that he might

    be by posterity regarded as the first Emperor of the Chinese

    race. Orders were issued that every book should be burned,

    and especially the writings of Confucius and Mencius, explanatory

    of the /Shu King upon the feudal States of Chau, whose

    remembrance he wished to blot out. This strange command

    was executed to such an extent that many of the Chinese literati

    believe that not a perfect copy of the classical works escaped

    destruction, and the texts were only recovered by rewriting

    them from the memories of old scholars, a mode of reproduction

    ‘ Pautliier, La Chine, pp. 30, 221 ; Mem. cone, les Chinois, Tome III., p.183.

    that does not appear so singular to a Chinese as it does to ua

    If the same literary tragedy should be re-enacted to-day, thousands

    of persons might easily be found in China M’ho could rewrite

    from memory the text and commentary of their nine

    classical works. ” Nevertheless,” as Ivlaproth remarks, ” they

    were not in fact all lost : for in a country where writin”: is so

    connnon it was almost impossible that all the copies of works

    universally respected should be destroyed, especially at a time

    when the material on which they were written was very durable,

    being engraved with a stylet on bamboo tablets, or traced upon

    them with dark-colored varnish.” The destruction was no doubt

    as neai’ly complete as possible, and not only were many works

    entirely destroyed, but a shade of doubt thereby thrown over

    the accuracy of others, and the records of the ancient dynasties

    rendered suspicious as well as incomplete. Not only were books

    sought after to be destroyed, but nearly live hundred literati

    were buried alive, in order that no one might remain to reproach,

    in their writings, the Emperor First with having committed

    so barbarous and insane an act.

    The dynasty of Qin, set up in such cruelty and blood, did not long survive the death of its founder; his son was unable to maintain his rule over the half-subdued feudal chieftains, ftnd after a nominal reign of seven years he was overcome by Liu Bang, a soldier of fortune, who, having been employed by one of the chiefs as commander of his forces, used them to support his own authority when he had taken possession of the capital. Under the name of Kautsu he became the founder of the Han dynasty, and his accession is regarded as the commencement of modern Chinese history. The number and character of its heroes and literati are superior to most other periods, and to this day the term IIa)i-ts2\ or ‘ Sons of Han,’ is one of the favorite names by which the Chinese call themselves.

    THE HOUSE OF TTAN. 163

    The first fourteen princes of this dynasty reigned in Shensi, but Jvwangwu removed the capital from (^hang-an to Lohyang, as was done in the Chau dynasty seven centuries b f :re, the old one being ruined. During the reign of Ping i {or ‘he ‘Emperor ]*eacc’) the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, was boiii in Judea, a renuirkable coincidence which has often attracted notice. During the reign of Ming ti, a.d. 65, a deputation was sent to India to obtain the sacred books and authorized teachers of Buddhism, which the Emperor intended to publicly introduce into China. This faith had already widely spread among his subjects, but henceforth it became the popular belief of the Chinese and extended eastward into Japan. This

    monarch and his successor, Chang ti, penetrated with their armies

    as far westward as the Caspian Sea, dividing and overcoming the

    various tribes on the confines of the Desert and at the foot of the

    Tien shan, and extending the limits of the monarchy in that direction

    farther than they are at present. The Chinese sway was

    maintained with varied success until toward the third century,

    and seems to have had a mollifying effect upon the nomads of

    those regions. In these distant expeditions the Chinese heard of

    the Romans, of whom their authors speak in the highest terms :

    ” Everything precious and adnnrable in all other countries,” say

    they, “comes from this land. Gold and silver money is coined

    there; ten of silver are worth one of gold. Their merchants

    trade by sea with. Persia and India, and gain ten for one in their

    traffic. They are simple and upright, and never have two prices

    for their goods ; grain is sold among them very cheap, and large

    sums are embarked in trade. Whenever ambassadors come to the

    frontiers they are provided with carriages to travel to the capital,

    and after their arrival a certain number of pieces of gold are furnished

    them for their expenses.” This description, so characteristic

    of the shop-keeping Chinese, may be compared to many

    accounts given of the Chinese themselves by western authors.

    Continuing the resume of dynasties in order

    —

    lY.—The TsiN dynasty is computed to end with Chwangsiang by the authors of the Illstonj Made Easy, and to have existed only three years, from b.c. 249 to 246.

    Y.—The After Tsin dynasty is sometimes joined to the preceding, but Chi riwangti regarded himself as the first monarch, and began a new house, which, however, lasted only forty-four years, from b.c. 246 to 202. The connnotions in the farthest East during this period were not less destructive of life than the wars in Europe between the Carthaginians and Romans, andthe Syrians, Greeks, and Egyptians.

    VL, YII. The Han and Eastern Han dynasties.—Liu Bang took the title of Han for his dynasty, after the name of his principality, and his family swayed the Middle Kingdom from B.C. 2U2 to A.D. 221, under twenty-six monarchs. The Han dynasty was the formative period of Chinese polity and institutions, and an instructive parallel can be drawn between the character and acts of the Emperors who reigned four hundred years in China, and the numerous consuls, dictators, and emperors

    who governed the Roman Empire for the same period

    from the time of Scipio Africanus to Ileliogabalus. The founder

    of the Han is honored for having begun the system of competitive

    examinations for office, and his successors. Wan ti,

    Wu ti, and Ivwang-wu, developed literature, commerce, arts,

    and good government to a degree unknown before anywhere in

    Asia. In the West the Ilomans became tlie great vrorld power,

    and the advent of Christ and establishment of His church within

    its borders only, render this period the turning epoch of progress

    among niankind.

    The period between the overthrow of the Han dynasty, a.d.

    190, and the establishment of the Eastei-n Tsin, a.d. 317, is

    one of the most interesting in Chinese historj^, from the variety

    of characters which the troubles of the times developed. The

    distractions of this period are described in the Histori/ of the

    Tliree States, but this entertaining work cannot be regarded as

    much better than a historical novel. It has, however, like

    Scott’s stories, impressed the events and actors of those days

    upon the popular mind more than any history in the language.

    VIII.—The Aftkk IIan dynasty began a.d. 211, and continned

    forty-four years, under two princes, to a.d. 205. The

    country was divided into three principalities, called Wei, Wu,

    and Shuh. The first, under the son of Tsao Tsao, ruled the

    whole northern counti’y at Lohyang. and was the most powerful

    of them for about forty years. The second, under Sinn Kien,

    occupied the eastern provinces, from Shantung and the Yellow River down to the mountains of Fuhkien, holding his court at Nanking. The third, under Liu Pi, is regarded as the legitimate dynasty from his affinity with the Han ; he had his capital at Chingtu fii, in Sz’chuen.

    r:6sume of the dynasties. 165

    IX.—The TsiN dynasty was foimded by Sz’ma Chao, a general

    in the employ of llau of tlie last house, who seated himself on

    the throne of his master a.d. 265, the year of the latter’s death.

    His son, Sz’ma Yen, took his place and extended his power over

    the whole Empire by 280. The inroads of the Huns and internal

    commotions were fast ]-educing the people to barbai’ism. Four

    Emperors of this house held their sway at Lohyang during iiftytwo

    years, till a.d. 317. The Iluns maintained their sway in

    Shensi until a.d. 352, under the designations of the Ilan and

    Chau dynasties. It is related of Liu Tsung, one of this barbaric

    race, that he built a great palace at Chang-an, where he gathered

    a myriad of the lirst subjects of his kingdom and lived in

    luxury and magnificence quite unknown before in China. Among

    his attendants was a body-guard of elegantly dressed women, many of whom were good musicians, which accompanied liirn on his progresses.

    X.—The Eastern Tsin is the same house as the last, but Yuen ti having moved his capital in 317 from Luoyang to Xanking, his successors are distinguished as the Eastern Tsin. Eleven princes reigned during a period of one hundred and three years, down to a.d. 420. Buddhism was the chief religion at this time, and the doctrines of Confucius were highly esteemed; “children of concubines, priests, old women, and nurses administered the government,” says the indignant annalist. At this period twelve independent and opposing kings struggled for the ascendency in China, and held their ephemeral courts in the north and west. It was at this time that Constantino moved the capital of the Roman Empire in 328, and the nations of northern Europe under Attila invaded Italy in 410.

    XL—The ScNG, or Northern Song dynasty, as it is often called to distinguish it from the XXIId dynasty (a.d. 970), is the first of the four dynasties known as the JVan-peh C/iao, or ‘ South-north dynasties,’ which preceded the Sui. It was founded by Liu Yu, who commanded the armies of Tsin, and gradually subdued all the opposing States. Displeased at the weakness of his master, Xgan ti, he caused him to be strangled, and placed his brother, Kung ti, upon the throne, who, fearing a like fate, abdicated the empty crown, and Liu Yu became monarch under the name of Kaiitsu, A.n. 420. Eight princes held the throne till a.d. 479, many of them monsters of ernelty, and soon cut off, when Sian Tau-cliing, Duke of Tsi, the prime minister, recompensed them as their ancestor had those of Tsin.

    XII. Qi dynasty.—The new monarch took the name of Kan ti, or ‘ High Emperor,’ bnt enjoyed his dignity only four years. Four princes succeeded him at iS’anking, the last of wdiom, Ilo ti, was besieged in his capital by a faithless minister, assisted by the pi’ince of Liang, who overthrew the dynasty a.d. 502, after a duration of twenty-three years.

    XIII. Liang dynasty.—The first Emperor, Wu ti, reigned forty-eight years, and reduced most of his opponents ; his dominions are described as being mostly south of the Yangtsz’ River, the Wei ruling the regions north of it. Wu ti did much to restore literature and the study of Confucius ; envoys from India and Persia also came to his court, and his just sway allowed the land to recruit. In his latter days he was so great a devotee of Buddhism that he retired to a monastery, like Charles Y., but being persuaded to resume his crown, employed his time in teaching those doctrines to his assembled courtiers. Three successors occupied the throne, the last of whom, King ti, was killed A.D. 557, after surrendering himself, by the general of the troops, wdio then seized the crown.

    XIY. Chen dynasty.—Three brothers reigned most of the time this house held its sway. During this period and that of the three preceding families, the Ilunnish kingdom of Wei ruled the northern parts of China from a.d. 380 to 534, under eleven monarchs, when it was violently separated into the Eastern and Western Wei, and a third one called Chau, which ere long destro\’ed the last AVci at (‘hang-an and occupied northwest China. It is probable that the intercoui-se between China and

    other parts of Asia was more extensive and complete during

    the Wei dynasty than at any other period. Its sovereigns had

    preserved peaceful rehitions with their ancestral seats, and with

    tlie ti-ibes beyond Lake Baikal and the Obi River to the North

    Sea. Trade seems to have flourished throughout the regions

    lying between the Caspian Sea and Corea, and tlie records of

    this period present accounts of the State in this vast tract to be

    found nowhere else. One of these works referred to by Rcnriiisat is the report of officers sent by Tai-wii during his reign to travel through his dominions (424-451) and give full accounts of them.

    One of the sovereigns of Chan, Wu ti (a.d. 561-572), had given his daughter in marriage to Yang Kien, the Prince of Sui, one of his ministers, who, gradually extending his influence, took possession of the throne of his master Tsiiig ti in 580. In a few years he restored order to a distracted land by bringing the several States under his sway and reuniting all China under his hand a.d. 589, after it had been divided nearly four centuries.

    THE SUI AND TANO DYNASTIES. I67

    XV. Sui dynasty.—The founder of this house has left an enduring name in Chinese annals by a survey of his dominions and division of them into interdependent vhau^ klun, and hleii^ with corresponding officers, an arrangement which has ever since existed. lie patronized letters and commerce, and tried to introduce the system of caste from India. After a vigorous reign of twenty-four years he was killed by his son Yang ti, who carried on his father’s plans, and during the fourteen years of his reign extended the frontiers through the Tarim Yalley and down to the Southern Ocean. His murder by one of his generals was the signal for several ambitious men to rise, but the Prince of Tang aided the son to rule for a year or two till he was removed, thus bringing the Sui dynasty to an end after thirty-nine years, but not before its two sovereigns had taught their subjects the benefits of an undivided sway.

    XYI. Tang dynasty.—This celebrated line of princes began

    its sway in peace, and during the two hundred and eightj’-sevcn

    years (018 to 90S) they held the throne China was probably the

    most civilized country on earth ; the darkest days of the West,

    when Europe was wrapped in the ignorance and degradation of

    the Middle Ages, formed the brightest era of the East. They

    exercised a humanizing effect on all the surrounding countries,

    and led their inhabitants to see the benefits and understand the

    management of a government where the laws were above the

    officers. The people along the southern coast were completely

    civilized and incorporated into the Chinese race, and mark the change by always calling themselves Tang Jin, or ‘ Men of

    Tang/ An interesting work on the trade and condition of

    China at this time is the AMihar-al-Syn oual-Hind, or ‘ Observations

    on China and India,’ by two Arab travellers to those

    lands in the years 851 and 878, compiled by Abu Zaid and

    translated by lieinaud in 1845.’ Li Shi-mii], the son of Li Ynen

    the founder of this dynasty, may be regarded as the most accomplished monarch in the Chinese annals—famed alike for his

    wisdom and nobleness, his conquests and good government, his

    temperance, cultivated tastes, and patronage of literary inen.

    AVhile still Prince of Tang he contributed greatly to his father’s

    elevation and to the extension of his sway over the regions of

    Central Asia. When the house of Tang was fully acknowledged,

    and the eleven rival States which had started up on the

    close of the house of Sui had been overcome, the capital was

    removed from Lohyang back to Chang-an, and everything done

    to compose the disordered country and reunite the distracted

    State under a reo-ular and vigorous administration. Feeline:

    himself unequal to all the cares of his great office, Li Yuen,

    known as Kau-tsu Shin Yao ti (lit. ‘ High Progenitor, the Divine Yao Emperor ‘), resigned the j^ellow in favor of his son, who took the style of Chlng hioan {‘ Pure Observer ‘) for his reign, though his posthumous title is Tai-tsung Wan-w^i ti (‘ Our Exalted Ancestor, the Literary-Martial Emperor ‘), a.d. 627, and still further extended his victorious arms. One of his first acts was to establish schools and institute a s^’^stem of literary examinations ; he ordered a complete and accurate edition of all the classics to be published under the supervision of the most learned men in the Empire, and honored the memory of Confucius with special ceremonies of respect. Extraordinary pains were taken to prepare and preserve the historical records of former days and draw up full annals of the recent dynasties; these still await the examination of western scholars.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 6; Reinaud, Relations des Voyages, 2 Vols..Paris, 1845. Yule, CatJiay and the Way Thithtr, Introd., p. cii.

    TAI-TSLTN(J, FOUNDER OF THE HOUSE OF TAXG. 169

    lie constructed a code of laws for the direction of his high officers in their judicial functions, and made progresses through

    lii.s doiniiiions to inspect the condition of the people. During

    liis reign the limits of the Enipii-e were extended over all the

    Turkisli tribes lying west of Kiinsuh and south of the Tien

    shan as far as the Caspian Sea, which were placed nnder four

    satrapies or residences, those of Kuche, Pisha or Khoten, Ilarashar,

    and Kashgar, as their names are at present. West of the

    last many smaller tribes submitted and rendered a partial subjection

    to the Emperor, who arranged them into sixteen governments

    under the management of a governor-general over theiiown

    chieftains. His frontiers reached from the borders of

    Persia, the Caspian Sea, and the Altai of the Kirghis steppe,

    along those mountains to the north side of Gobi eastward to

    the Inner Iling-an. Sogdiana and part of Khorassan, and the

    regions around the llindu-kush, also obeyed him. The rulers

    of Xipal and Magadha or Bahar in India sent their salutations

    by their ambassadors, and the Greek Emperor Theodosius sent

    an envoy to Si-ngan in 643 carrying presents of rubies and

    emeralds, as did also the Persians. The IS^estorian missionaries

    also presented themselves at court. Tai-tsung received them

    with respect, and heard them rehearse the leading tenets of

    their doctrine ; he ordered a temple to be erected at his capital,

    and had some of their sacred books translated for his examination,

    though there is no evidence now remaining that any portion

    of the Bible was done into Chinese at this time.

    Near the close of his life Tai-tsung undertook an expedition against Corea, but the conquest of that country was completed by his son after his death. A sentiment has been preserved at this time of his life which he uttered to his sons while sailing t)n the River Wei :

    “‘ See, my children, the waves which lloat our fragile bark are able to submerge it in an instant ; know assuredly that the people are like the waves, and the Emperor like this fragile bark.” During his reign his life was attempted several times, once by his own son, but he was preserved from these attacks, and died after a reign of twenty-three years, deeply lamented by a grateful people. The Chinese accounts state that the foreign envoys resident at his court cut off their hair, some of them disfigured their faces, bled themselves, and sprinkled the blood around the bier in testimony of their grief.

    Whatever may have been the truth in this respect, many proofs exist of the distinguished character of this monarch, and that the high reputation he enjoyed during his lifetime was a just tribute to his excellences, he will favorably compare with Akbar, Marcus Aurelius, and Kanghi, or with Charlemagne and llarun Al Ilaschid, who came to their thrones in the next century.^

    Tai-tsung was succeeded by his son Kau-tsung, whose indolent imbecility appeared the more despicable after his father’s vigor, but his reign fills a large place in Chinese history, from the extraordinary career of his Empress, Wu Tsih-tien, or Wu hao(‘ Empress “Wu ‘) as she is called, who by her blandishments obtained entire control over him. The character of this woman has, no doubt, suifered much from the bad reputation native historians have given her, but enough can be gathered from their accounts to show that with all her cruelty she understood how to maintain the authority of the crown, repress foreign invasions, quell domestic sedition, and provide for the wants of the people. Introduced to the harem of Tai-tsung at the age of

    fourteen, she was sent at his death to the retreat where all his

    women were condemned for the rest of their days to honorable

    imprisonment. While a member of the palace Kau-tsung had

    been charmed with her appearance, and, having seen her atone

    of the state ceremonies connected with the ancestral worship,

    bi’ought her back to the palace. His queen, Wang-shi, also

    favored his attentions in order to draw them off from another

    rival, but Wu Tsih-tien soon (obtaining entire sway over the

    moiuirch, united both women against her ; she managed to

    fill the principal offices with her friends, and by a series of

    manonivres supplanted each in turn and became Empress. One

    means she took to excite suspicion against Wang-shi was, on

    occasion of the birth of her first child, after the Empress had

    visited it and before Kau-tsung came in to see his offspring, to

    strangle it and charge the crime upon her Majesty, which led

    to her trial, degradation, and impi-isonment, and ere long to her

    death.

    THE EMPRESS WU TSIH-TIEN. 171

    As soon as she became Empress (in O,”),”)), Wu began gradually to assume more and more authority, until, long before the Emperor’s death in 684, she engrossed the whole management of affairs, and at his demise opeidy assumed the reins of government, which she wielded for twenty-one years with no weak hand. Her generals extended the limits of the Empire, and her officers carried into effect her orders to alleviate the miseries of the people. Her cruelty vented itself in the nnirder of all who opposed her will, even to her own sons and relatives; and her pride was rather exhibited than gratified by her assuming the titles of Queen of Heaven, Holy and Divine Ttuler, Holy Mother, and Divine Sovereign. When she was disabled by age her son, Chung-sung, supported by some of the first men of the land, asserted his claim to the throne, and by a palace conspiracy succeeded in removing her to her own apartments, where she died aged eighty-one years. Her character has been blackened in native histories and popular tales, and her conduct held up as an additional evidence of the evil of allowing women to meddle with governments.’

    A race of twenty monarchs swayed the sceptre of the house

    of Tang, but after the demise of the Empress Wu Tsih-tien

    none of them equalled Tai-tsung, and the Tang dynasty at last

    succumbed to ambitious ministers lording over its imbecile

    sovereigns. In the reign of IHuen-tsung, about the year 722,

    the population of the Fifteen Provinces is said to have been

    52,884,818. The last three or four Em])erors exhibited the usual

    marks of a declining house—eunuchs or favorites promoted by

    them swayed the realm and dissipated its resources. At last,

    Li TsQen-chung, a general of Chau-tsung, whom he had aided

    in quelling the eunuchs in 904, rose against his master, destroyed

    him, and compelled his son, Chau-siuen ti, to abdicate, a.d. 907.

    XYH. After Liang dynasty.—The destruction of the famous

    dynasty loosened the bonds of all government, and nine separate

    kings struggled for its provinces, some of whom, as Apki

    over the Kitan in the north-east, succeeded in founding kingdoms.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. III., p. 543 ; Canton MisceUany, No. 4, 1831, pp24Gfif.

    The Prince of Liang, the new Emperor, was unable to extend his sway beyond the provinces of Honan and Shantung. After a short reign of six years lie was killed by his brother, Liang Chn-tien, who, on his part, fell under the attack of a Turkish general, and ended this dynasty, a.d. 923, after a duration of sixteen years.

    XVIII. Aftek Tang dynasty.—The conqueror called himself

    (Jhwang-tsung, and his dynasty Tang, as if in continuation of

    that line of princes, but this mode of securing popularity was

    unsuccessful. Like Pertinax, Aurelian, and others of the Roman

    emperors, he was killed by his troops, who chose a successor,

    and his grandson, unable to resist his enemies, burned himself

    in his palace, a.d. 930, thus ending the weak dynasty after

    thirteen years of struggle.

    XIX. After Tsin dynasty.—The Kitan or Tartars of Liautimg, who had assisted in the overthrow of the hist dynasty, compelled the new monarch to subsidize them at his accession, A.D. 93G, by ceding to them sixteen cities in Chihli, and promising an annual tiibute of three hundred thousand pieces of silk. This disgraceful submission has ever since stigmatized Tien-fuh(‘ Heavenly Happiness’) in the eyes of native historians. IBs nephew who succeeded him is known as Chuh ti (the ‘Carried away Emperor’), and was removed in 9J:7 by those who put him on the throne, thus ending the meanest house which ever swayed the black-haired people.

    XX. AFrKu Hax dynasty.—The Tartars now endeavored to subdne the whole country, but were repulsed by Liu Clii-yuen, a loyal general who assumed the yellow in 947, and called his dynasty after the renowned house of Han; he and his son held sway four years, till a.d. 951, and then were cut olf.

    THE WU TAI, on FIVE DYNASTIES. 173

    XXI. Afti:u Chau dynasty.—Ko Wei, the successful aspirant to the throne, maintained his seat, but died in three years, leaving his power to an adopted son, Shi-tsung, whose vigorous rule consolidated his still unsettled sway. His early death and the youth of his son decided his generals to bestow the sceptic upon the lately appointed tutor to the monarch, which closed the After Chau dynasty a.d. 900, after a brief duiation of nine years. He was honored with a title, and, like Richard ( h’omwell, allowed to live in quiet till his death in 973, a fact creditable to the new monarch. These short-lived houses between a.d. 907-9G0 are known in Chinese history as the WuDai, or ‘ Five Dynasties.’ While they stiiiggled for supremacy in the valley of the Yellow River, the regions south and west were portioned among seven houses, who ruled them in a good degree of security.

    Fuhkien was held l)y the King of Min, and Kiaiignan by the King of Wu ; the regions of Sz’chuen, Xganhwui, and Kansuh were held by generals of note in the service of Tang ; another general held Kwangtung at Canton through two or three reigns; and another exercised sway at Kingchau on the Yangzi River. It is needless to mention them all. During this period Europe was distracted by the wars of the Normans and Saracens, and learning there was at a low ebb.

    XXIL—SrxG dynasty began A.D. 9TU, and maintained its power

    over the whole Empire for one hundred and fifty-seven years, till

    A.D. 1127. The mode in which its founder, Chan Kwang-yun, was

    made head of the State, reminds one of the way in which the

    Pmetorian guards sometimes elevated their chiefs to the throne of

    the Caisars. After the military leaders had decided upon their

    future sovereign they sent messengers to announce to him his new

    honor, who found him drunk, and “before he had time to reply

    the yellow robe was already thrown over his person.” At the

    close of his reign of seventeen years the provinces had mostly submitted to his power at Kaifnng, but the two Tartar kingdoms of

    Liau and Jlia remained independent. This return to a centralized government proves the unity of the Chinese people at this time in their own limits, as well as their inability to induce their

    neighbors to adopt the same system of government. The successors

    of Tai-tsu of Sling had a constant struggle for existence

    with their adversaries on the north and west, the Liau and Ilia,

    whose recent taste of power under the last two dynasties had

    shown them their opportunity. On the return of prosperity under

    his brother’s reign of twenty-two years, the former institutions

    and political divisions were restored throughout the southern half

    of the Empire ; good government was secured, aided by able

    generals and loyal ministers, and the rebels everywhere quelled.

    Chin-tsung was the third sovereign, and his reign of forty-one

    years is the brightest portion of the house of Sung. The kings

    of Ilia in Kansuh acknowledged themselves to be his tributaries, but he bought a cowardly peace with the Liau on the north-east.

    During his reign and that of his son, Tin-tsung, a violent controversy arose among the literati and officials as to the best mode of conducting the government. Some of them, as Sz’ma Kwang the historian, contended for the maintenance of the old principles of the sages. Others, of whom Wang i^gan-shi was the distinguished leader, advocated reform and change to the entire overthrow of existing institutions. For the first time in the history of China, two political parties peacefully struggled for supremacy, each content to depend on argument and truth for the victory. The contest soon grew too bitter, however, and the accession of a new monarch, Shin-tsung, enabled AVang to dispossess his opponents and manage State affairs as he pleased.

    After a trial of eight or ten years the voice of the nation restored the conservatives to power, and the radicals were banished beyond the frontier. A discussion like this, involving all the cherished ideas of the Chinese, brought out deep and acute inquiry into the nature and uses of things generally, and the Avriters of this dynasty, at the head of Avhom was Cliu Hi, made a lasting impression on the national mind.

    The two sons of Shin-tsung were unable to oppose the northern

    hordes of Liau and Ilia, except by setting a third aspirant against

    both. These were the Niu-chih or Kin,’ the ancestors of the

    present Man’chus, who carried away llwui-tsung as a captive in

    1125, and his son too the next year, pillaging Lohyang and

    possessing themselves of the region north of the Yellow Kiver.

    This closed the Northern Sung. The Kin established themselves

    at Peking in 1118, whence they were driven in 1235 by Genghis

    Khan, and fled back to the ancestral haunts on the Songari and

    Liau Itivers,

    XXIII.

    —

    Southern Song dynasty forms part of the preceding, for Kao-tsung, the brother of the last and ninth monarch of the weakened house of Northern Song, seeing his capital in ruins, fled to Nanking, and soon after to the beautiful city of Hangzhou on the eastern coast at the mouth of the Qiantang River.

    ‘ Two graves of the Kin monarchs exist on a hill west of Fangshan hien, fifty miles south-west of Peking; they were repaired by Kanghi. Dr. Busliell visited them in 1870.

    THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SUNG. 175

    Nanking was pillaged by the Kin, but Ilangeliau was too far for

    tliem. It gradually grew in size and strength, and became a

    famous capital. Kao-tsung resigned in liG2, after a reign of

    tliirty-SiX years, and survived his abdication twenty-four years.

    The next Emperor was Iliao-tsung, who also resigned the yellow

    to Kwang-tsung, his son, and he again yielded it to his son Ningtsung.

    This last, in his distress, called the rising Mongols into his

    service in 1228 to help against the Kin. The distance from the

    northern frontier, wdiere the Mongols were flushed with their

    successes over the Tangouth of Ilia at Kinghia in 1226, was too

    far for them to aid Xing-tsung at this time. He was, however,

    relieved from danger to himself, and the Mongols deferred their

    intentions for a few years. From this date for about fifty years

    the Sung grew weaker and weaker under the next five sovereigns,

    until the last scion, Ti Ping, was drowned with some of

    his courtiers, one of whom, clasping him in his arms, jumped

    from the vessel, and ended their life, dignity, and dynasty together.

    It had lasted one hundred and fifty-two years under nine monarchs, who showed less ability than those of Northern Song, and were all much inferior as a whole to the house of Tang. Their patronage of letters and the arts of peace was unaccompanied by the vigor of their predecessors, for they were unwilling to leave the capital and risk all at the head of their troops. It is the genius and philosophy of its scholars that has made the Sung one of the great dynasties of the Middle Kingdom.

    XXIV.—The Yuan dynasty was the first foreign sway to which the Sons of IJan had submitted; their resistance to the army, which gradually overran the country, was weakened, however, by treachery and desultory tactics until the national spirit was frittered away. During the interval between the capture of Peking by Genghis and the final extinction of the Sung dynasty, the whole population had become somewhat accustomed to Mongol rule. Having no organized government of their own, these khans were content to allow the Chinese the full exercise of their own laws, if peace and taxation were duly upheld.

    Kublai had had ample opportunity to learn the character of his new subjects, and after the death of Mangu khan in 1260 and his own establishment at Peking in 1261, he in fifteen years brought his vast dominions under a nietliodical sway and developed their resources more than ever. Though faihng in his attempt to eon(pier Japan, ho enlarged elsewhere his vanishing frontiei’S (hiring his life till they could neither be dehned nor governed. His patronage of merit and scholarship proves the good results of his tu*:elage in China, while the short-lived glory of his administration in other hands chielly proved what good material he

    had to work with in China in comparison with his own race.’

    He was a vigorous and magnificent prince, and had, moreover,

    the advantage of having his acts and splendor related by Marco

    Polo—a chronicler worthy of his subject. The Grand Canal,

    which was deepened and lengthened during his reign, is a lasting

    token of his sagacity and eidightened policy. An interesting

    monument of this dynasty, erected in 1315, is the gat^

    way in the Kii-yung kwan (pass) of the Great Wall north of

    Peking. Upon the interior of this arch is cnt a Buddhist charm

    in six different kinds of character—Mongolian, Chinese, Oigour,

    antifjue Devanagari, Niu-chih, and Tibet m.”

    After the Grand Khan’s death the ]^[ongols retained their power under the reign of Ching-tsung, or T’imur khan, a grandson of Kublai, and Wu-tsung, or Genesek khan,’ a nephew of the former, but their successors met with opj^osition, or were destroyed by treachery. The offices were also filled with Mongols, without any regard to the former mode of conferring rank according to literary qualifications, and the native Chinese began to be thoroughly dissatisfied with a sway in which they had no part.

    The last and eleventh, named Ching-tsung, or Tohan-Timur, came to the throne at the age of thirteen, iind gave himself up to pleasure, his eunuchs and ministers dividing the possessions and offices of the Chinese among themselves and their adherents.

    ‘See ‘Remusa.t,’ JVbuvemix Melanges, Tomes I., p. 437; TI., pp. 64, 88, and SOOT, for a series of notices concerning the Mongol generalii and history.

    ‘Compare Wylie in the R. A. Sor. Join;, Vol. V. (N.S ), i>. 14; Fergusson, Hint. Ind. iind Kitxt. Airhittrtiirc, p. 708 ; YuU^^’s Polo, I., pp. ’28, 400.

    ^ This should be Kaishaii-kuUuk klian, caUed Kdi-mnrj in (Jhinese. Remusat, Nouveaux MelanycH, Tome II., pp. 1-4.

    <iATEWAY OF THE YUEN UYNASTV, KL-YUNti KWAN, OKEAT WALL THE Sin’REMACY OF THE MONGOLS. 177

    This conduct aroused his subjects, and Chu Vuen-cluing, a plebeian by birth, and formerly a i)riest, raised the standard of revolt, and finally expelled the Mongols, a.d. 136S, after a duration of eighty-nine years.’

    Like most of the preceding dynasties, the new one established

    itself on’ the misrule, luxury, and weakness of its predecessors;

    the people submitted to a vigorous rule, as one which exhibited

    the true exposition of the decrees of Heaven, and npheld its

    laws and the harmony of the universe ; while a weak sovereign

    plainly evinced his usurpation of the ” divine utensil ” and unfitness

    for the post by tlie disorders, famines, piracies, and

    insurrections which afflicted the mismanaged State, and which

    were all taken by ambitious leaders as evidences of a change in

    the choice of Heaven, and reasons for their carrying out the new

    selection which had fallen on them. Amid all the revolutions

    in China, none have been founded on principle ; they were mere

    mutations of masters, attended with more or less destruction of

    life, and no better appreciation of the rights of the subject or

    the powers of the rulers, Xor without some knowledge of the

    high obligations man owes his Maker and himself is it easy to

    see whence the sustaining motive of free religious and political

    institutions can be derived.

    XXY. The Ming, i.e., ‘ Bright dynasty.’—The character of Hongwu, as Zhu Yuan-zhang called his reign on his accession, has been well drawn by Remusat, who accords him a high rank for the vigor and talents manifested in overcoming his enemies and cementing his power. He established his capital at banking, or the ‘ Southern Capital,’ and after a reign of thirty years transmitted the sceptre to his grandson, Kienwtin, a youth of sixteen. Yungloh, his son, dissatisfied with this arrangement, overcame his nephew and seized the crown after five years, and moved the capital back to Peking in 1403. This prince is distinguished for the code of laws framed under his auspices, which has, with some modifications and additions,

    ever since remained as the basis of the administi-ation. During

    the reign of Kiahtsing the Portuguese came to China, and in that

    of Wanleih, about 1580, the Jesuits gai-ned an entrance into the

    ‘ One of the causes of their easy overthrow is stated to have been the enormous robbery of the people by the lavish issue of paper money, which at last became worthless.

    country. In his time, too, the Niu-cliih, or Kin, whom Gen*

    ghis liad driven away in 1235, again became numerous and

    troublesome, and took possession of the northern frontiers.

    The first chieftain of the Manchus who attained celebrity was

    Tienming, who in 1618 published a manifesto of his designs

    against the house of Ming, in which he announced to Heaven

    the seven things he was bound to revenge. These consisted of

    petty oppressions upon persons passing the frontiers, assisting

    his enemies, violating the oath and treaty of peace entered intc

    between the two rulers, and killing his envoys. The fierce nomad

    had already assumed the title of Emperor, and ” vowed to celebrate the funeral of his father with the slaughter of two hundred thousand Chinese.” Tienming overran the north-eastern parts of China, and committed unsparing cruelties upon the

    people of Liautung, but died in 1627, before he had satisfied

    his revenge, leaving it and his army to his son Tientsung.

    The Chinese army fought bravely, though unsuccessfully,

    against the warlike Manchus, whose chief not only strove to

    subdue, but endeavored, by promises and largesses, to win the

    troops from their allegiance. The apparently audacious attempt

    of this small force to subdue the Chinese was assisted by numerous

    bodies of rebels, who, like wasps, sprung up in various

    parts of the country, the leaders of each asserting his claims to

    the throne, and all of them i-endering their common country an

    easier prey to the invader. One of them, called Li Zhi-cheng, attacked Peking, and the last Emperor Hwai-tsung, feeling that he had little to hope for after the loss of his capital, and had already estranged the affections of his subjects by his ill conduct, first stabbed his daughter and then hung himself, in 1643, and ended the house of Ming, after two hundred and seventy six years. The usurper received the submission of most of the eastern provinces, but the Chinese general. Wu San-gui, in command of the army on the north, refused to acknowledge him, and, making peace with the Manchus, invoked the aid of Tsungteh in asserting the cause of the rightful claimant to the throne. This was willingly agreed to, and the united army marched to Peking and speedily entei-cd the capital, which the rebel chief had left a heap of ruins when he took away his booty. The Manchus now declared themselves the rulers of the Empire, but their chief dying, his son Shunzhi, who at the age of six succeeded his father in 16-1-t, is regarded as the Urst Emperor; his uncle, Aina-wang, ruled and reorganized the administration in his name.

    TTIE :\IINrr DYNASTY. ^79

    XXVI. The Qing,’ i.e. ‘ Pure dynasty.’—During the eighteen

    years he sat upon the throne Shunchi and his officers subdued

    most of the northern and central provinces, but the maritime

    regions of the south held out against the invaders, and

    one of the leaders, by means of his fleets, carried devastation

    along the whole coast. The spirit of resistance was in some

    parts crushed, and in others exasperated by an order for all

    Chinese to adopt as a sign of submission the Tartar mode of

    shaving the front of the head and braiding the hair in a long

    queue. Those M’ho gave this order, as Davis remarks, must

    have felt themselves very strong before venturing so far upon

    the spirit of the conquered, and imposing an outward universal

    badge of surrender upon all classes of the people. ” Mar.y are

    the changes which may be made in despotic countries, without

    the notice or even the knowledge of the larger portion of the

    community ; but an entire alteration in the national costume

    affects every individual equally, from the highest to the lowest,

    and is perhaps of all others the most open and degrading mark

    of conquest.” This order M’as resisted by many, who chose to

    lose their heads rather than part with their hair, but the mandate

    was gradually enforced, aud has now for about two centuries

    been one of the distinguishing marks of a Chinese, though

    to this day the natives of Fuhkien near the seaboard wear a

    kerchief around their head to conceal it. The inhabitants of

    this province and of Kwangtung held out the longest against

    the invaders, and a vivid account of their capture of Canton,

    Kovember 20, 1650, where the adherents of the late dynasty had

    intrenched themselves, has been left us by Martini, an eyewitness.

    Some time after its subjugation a brave man, Ching Chi-hmg, harassed them by his fleet ; and his son, Ching

    ‘ For the origin of the Manchus see Klaproth, Memoires sur VAsie, Tome I.,p. 441.

    (“]iirio:-kniiir, or Koxiiiiia, molested the coast to fiicli a dcijiee

    that the Emperor Kanghi, in 1665, ordered all the people to retire

    three leagues inland, in order to prevent this heroic man

    from reaching them. This command was generally obeyed,

    and affords an instance of the singular nnxture of power and

    weakness seen in many parts of Chinese legislation ; for it

    might be supposed that a government which could compel its

    maritime subjects to leave their houses and towns and go into

    the country at great loss, might have easily armed and equipped

    a fleet to have defended those towns and homes. Koxinga,

    finding himself unable to make any serious impression upon

    the stability of the new government, went to Formosa, drove

    the Dutch out of Zealandia, and made himself master of tho

    island.’

    Shunchi died in 1661 and was succeeded by his son Kanghi/

    who was eight years old at his accession, and remained under

    guardians till he was fourteen, when he assumed the reins of

    government, and swayed the power vested in his liands with a

    prudence, vigor, and success that have rendered him more celebrated

    than almost any other Asiatic monarch. It was in 1661

    that Louis XIY. had assumed the sovereignty of France at al)out

    the same age, and for fifty -four years the reigns of these two

    monarchs ran paralleL During Kanghi’s unusually long reign

    of sixty-one years (the longest in Chinese annals, except Taimao

    of the Shang dynasty, b.c. 1637-1562), he extended his dominions

    to the borders of Kokand and Badakshan on the west, and to the confines of Tibet on the south-west, simplifying the administration and consolidating his power in every part of his vast dominions. To his regulations, perhaps, are mainly owing the unity and peace which the Empire has exhibited for more than a century, and which has produced the impression abroad of the unchangeableness of Chinese institutions and character.

    ‘ Compare tho interesting translation from a Chinese record of the capture of Fort Zealandia, by H. E. Ilobson, Journal of JV. C. Br. /?. A. Society, Xo. XL, Art. L, 1876.

    – Rimusat, Nouveaiu Mehinges, Tome II., pp. 21-44 : Bouvet, FAfe of Kany hi; Gutzlaff, Life of Kanghi.

    THE MANCIIUS—THE EMPEROP. KAXOIlf. 181

    This may be ascribed, chiefly, to his indefatigable application to all affairs of State, to his judgment and penetration in the choice of officers, his economy in regard to himself and liberal magnificence in everything that tended to the good of his dominions, and his sincere desire to promote the happiness of his people by a steady and vigorous execution of the laws and a continual watchfulness over the conduct of his hiirh officers. These qualities have perhaps been unduly extolled hy his foreign friends and biographers, the liomish missionaries, and if their expressions arc taken in their strictest sense, as we understand them, they do elevate him too high. lie is to be

    compared not with Alfred or AVilliam III. of England, Louis IX.

    or Henry TV. of France, and other European kings, hut with

    other Chinese and Asiatic princes, few of whom equal him.

    The principal events of his long reign are the conquest of the

    Eleuths. and subjugation of several tribes lying on the north and

    south of the Tien shan ; an embassy across the Kussian Possessions

    in 1713 to the khan of the Tourgouth Tartars, preparatory

    to their return to the Chinese territory ; the settlement of

    the northern frontier between himself and the czar, of which

    Gerbillon has given a full account ; the survey of the Empire by

    the Romish missionaries ; and the publication of a great thesaurus

    of the language. In many things he showed himself liberal toward foreigners, and the country was thrown open to their commerce for many years.

    His son Yungching succeeded in 1T22, and is regarded by many natives as superior to his father. He endeavored to suppress Christianity and restore the ancient usages, which had somewhat fallen into desuetude during his father’s sway, ami generally seems to have held the sceptre to the benefit of his subjects. Yungching is regarded as an usurper, and is sr.id to have changed the figure four to fourteen on the billet of nomination, himself being the fourteenth son, and the fourth being absent in Mongolia, where he was soon after arrested and imprisoned, and subsequently died in a palace near Peking; whether he was put to death or not is uncertain. Kienlung succeeded Yungching in 1736, and proved himself no unworthy descendant of his grandfather Ivanghi ; like him he had the singular fortune to reign sixty years, and for most of that period in peace’ Some local insurrections disturbed the general trauquilliry, principally among the al)(»rigiiies in I-‘ormosa and Tvweiclian, and in an nnprovolved attack upon IJirmali his armies sustained a signal defeat and were obliged to retreat. The incursions of the Xipalese into Tibet induced the Dalai Lama to apply to him for assistance, and in doing so he contrived to establish a guardianship over the whole country, and place bodies of troops in all the important positions, so that in effect lie annexed that vast region to his Empire, but continued the lamas in the internal administration.

    During his long reign Xieidnng exhausted the resources of

    his Empire by building useless edifices and keeping up large

    armies. lie received embassies from the liussians, Dutch, and

    English, bv which the character of the (“hinese and the nature of

    their country became better known to western nations. These

    end)assies greatly strengthened the im|)ression on the side of the

    Chinese of their superiority to all other nations, for they looked

    upon them as a(;knowledgments on the })art of the governments

    Avho sent them of their allegiance to the court of Peking. The

    presents were regarded as tribute, the ambassadors as deputies

    from their masters to acknowledge the su]’)reniacy of the Emperor,

    and the requests they made for trade as rather another form

    of receiving presents in return than a mutual arrangement for a

    trade equally beneficial to both. Ivienlung abdicated the throne

    in favor of his fifth son and retired with the title of S’fjwe/Jie

    Km/peroi\ while liis son, Kiaking, had that of Enq)eror.

    The character of this prince was dissolute and superstitious, and his reign of twenty- five years was much disturbed by secret combinations against the government and by insurrections* and

    ‘ His character and enthusiasm for literary pursuits merit, on the whole, the lines inscribed by the Roman Catholic missionaries beneath his portrait in the Memoircs cone, leu Ghinois:

    Occup sans relache a touts les soins divers

    D’lin gouvcrncment qu’on admire,

    Le i)lus gran<l potentat qui soit dans I’univors

    Et le mcillcur l(>ttr6 qui soit dans son Empire.

    ‘ Among the most serious of these was the revolt oP the Peh lien kiao. Zr<-tres EfHpirdcx, Tome III., pp. 201-29S, ;55;5, 879, etc. In 1789 the ladronea infested the southern coasts. //>., Tome II., p. 493.

    THE llEIGNS OF KIEXLUNG AND TAUKWANG. ]83

    pirates in and about the Empire. A conspiracy’ against him

    broke out in tlie pahice in 1813, where he was for a time in

    some danger, but was rescued by the courage of his guard and

    family ; one of liis sons, Mien-ning, was designated as his successor

    for liis bravery on this occasion. A fleet of about sixhundred

    piratical junks, under Ching Yih and Chang Pan, infested

    the coasts of Kwangtung for several years, and were at

    last put down in ISIO by the provincial government taking

    advantage of internal dissensions between the leaders. The

    principal scene of the exploits of this fleet was the estuary of

    the Pearl lliver, whose numerous harbors and chaimels afforded

    shelter and escape to their vessels when pursued by the imperialists,

    while the towns upon the islands were plundered and

    the inhabitants killed if they resisted. The internal government

    of this audacious band was ascertained by two Englishmen,

    Mr. Turner and Mr. Glasspoole, who at different times fell into

    their hands and were obliged to accompany them in their marauding

    expeditions. To so great a height did they proceed

    that the governor of Canton went to Macao to reside, and entered

    into some arrangements with the Portuguese for assistance

    in suppressing them. The piratical fleet was attacked and blockaded

    for ten days by the combined forces, but without much

    damage ; there was little prospect of overcoming them had not

    rivalry between the two leaders gone so far as to result in a

    severe engagement and loss on both sides. The conquered pirate

    soon after made his peace with the government, and the

    victor shortly afterward followed the same course. The story

    of those disturbed times to this day affords a fj-equent subject

    for the tales of old people in that region, and the same waters

    are still infested by the ” foam of the sea,” as the Chinese term

    these freebooters.

    The reign of Kiaking ended in 1820; by the Emperor’s will his second son was appointed to succeed him, and took the style Taukwang. lie exhibited more energy and justice than his father, and his efl^orts purified the administration by the personal supervision taken of their leading members. His reign was marked by many local insurrections and disasters in one quarter or another of his vast dominions. A rebellion in Turkestan in 1S28 was attended with great cruelty and treachery on the part of the Chinese, and its leader, Jehangir, was murdered, in v^iolation of the most solenm promises. An insurrection in Formosa and a rising among the mountaineers of Kwangtung, in 1830-32, were put down more by money than by force, but as peace is both the end and evidence of good government in China, the authorities are not very particular how it is brought about.

    The rapid increase of opium-smoking among his people led

    to many efforts to restrain this vice by prohibitions, penalties,

    executions, and other means, but all in vain. The Emperors

    earnestness was stimulated by the death of his three eldest sons

    from its use, and the falling off of the revenue by smuggling

    the pernicious drug. In 1837-38 the collective opinion of the

    highest officials was taken after hearing their arguments for

    legalizing its importation ; it was resolved to seize the dealers in

    it. The acts of Commissioner Lin resulted in the war with

    Great Britain and the opening of China to an extended intercourse

    with other nations. Defeated in his honest efforts to

    protect his people against their bane, the Emperor still fulfilled

    Ids treaty obligations, and died in 1850, just as the Tai-ping rebellion

    broke out.

    His fourth son succeeded him under the style of Hienfung,

    but without his father’s earnestness or vigor when the State

    required the highest qualities in its leader. The devastations

    of the rebels laid waste the southern half of the Empire, and

    their approach to Peking in 1853 was paralyzed by tioods and

    want of supplies more than by the imperial troops. A second

    war with Great Britain, in 1858-60, completely broke down the

    seclusion of China, and at its conclusion an inglorious reign of

    eleven years ended at Jeh-ho in August, 1860. His only son

    succeeded to the throne at the age of five years, under the style

    of Tungchi ; the government being under the control of two

    Empress-regents and Prince Kung, his uncle. During his reign

    of twelve years the vigor of the new authoi’ities succeeded in

    completely quelling the Tai-ping rebellion, destroying the Mohammedan

    rising in Yunnan and Kansidi, and opening up

    diplomatic intercourse with the Treaty Powers. Just as the

    IIEIGNS AND EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS. 185

    Emperor l)e<;un to exercise his authoi’ity, lie died in JamuuT,

    1875, without issue. The vacant “utensil” has been filled by

    the appointment of his cousin, a boy of four yeai’s, whose reii^n

    was styled Kwangsii. Affairs continue to be conducted by

    the same regency as before, now still more conversant with the

    new relations opening up with other lands. The real Enipressilowager, or Tioig Kung^ died April IS, 1881.

    So far as can be judged from the imperfect data of native

    historians of former days, compai’ed with the observations of

    foreigners at present, there is little doubt that this enormous

    population has been better governed by the Manchus than under

    the princes of the Ming dynasty; there has been more vigor in

    the administration of government and less palace favoritism

    and intrigue in the appointment of officers, more security of

    life and property from the exactions of local authorities, bands

    of robbers, or processes of law ; in a word, the Manchu sway

    has well developed the industry and resources of the country,

    of which the population, loyalty, and content of the people are

    the best evidences.

    The sovereigns of the Ming and Tsing dynasties, being more

    frequently mentioned in history than those of former princes,

    are here given, with the length of their reigns. For convenience

    of reference a table of the dynasties is appended, taken

    from the author’s SijllabiG Dlctionanj of the Chinese Language.

    In this list, compiled from a Chinese work (the Digest of the

    Reigns of Emperors and Kings\ the Tsin and After Tsin dynasties

    are joined in one (No. 4), making a total of twenty-six dynasties.’

    The whole number of acknowledged sovereigns in the twentysix

    dynasties, according to the recei\ned Chinese chronology,

    from Yu the Great to Kwangsii, is 238, or 246 commencing with

    Fuh-hi ; by including the names of some ursurpers and moribund

    claimants, the first number is increased to 250. From Yu

    the Great lo th-^ accession of Kwangsii (b.c. 2205 to a.d. 1875)

    is 4,080 years, which gives to each dynasty a duration of 157

    ‘ Compare the Chinese Chronological Tables by W. P. Mayers in N. C Br. R. A. S. Journal, No. IV., Art. VIII. , 1867.

    Kwoh Hiao, or Reigiiing Title.

    Miao Hiao, or Temple Title.

    Began ‘Length

    I

    to I of

    I

    Reign. Reign.

    Contemporary Monarchs.

    1. Hungwu

    2. Kieiiwan. . ..

    3. Yungloh . . ..

    4. Hunglii

    5. Siuentih

    6. Chingtung .

    7. Kingtai

    8. Chinghwa. ..
    9. Hungchi
    10. Chingtih….
    11. Kiahtsing. .
    12. Lungking…
    13. Wanleih ….
    14. Taichang ..
    15. Tienki
    16. Tsungching
    1. Shunchi’ …

    .’. Kanghi

    “. Yimgching .

    . Kienlung . .

    i. Kiaking

    6. Taukwaiig..

    7. Hienfuiig . .

    S. Tungchi

    .). Kwangsii – .

    Taitsu

    Kienwan ti . .

    ,

    Taitsnng

    Jintsung

    Siuentsung. . .

    .

    Yingtsung . . .

    ,

    Kingti ,

    Hientsung . . .

    ,

    Hiaut.suiig . . .

    VVutsung

    Shi’tsung

    Muhtsung. …

    Shintsung

    Kwangtsung .

    Hitsung ,

    Hwaitsung. .

    .

    Chang hwaiigti.

    Jin hwangti . .

    Hien hwangti .

    .

    8hun hwangti.

    Jui hwangti . . .

    Ching hwangti .

    Hien hwangti .

    1368

    1398

    1403

    1425

    1426

    1436

    1457

    1465

    1488

    1506

    1522

    1567

    1573

    1620

    1621

    1638

    1644

    1()62

    1723

    1736

    1796

    1821

    1851

    1862

    1875

    30

    5

    22

    1

    10

    21

    8

    23

    18

    16

    45

    6

    47

    1

    7

    16

    18

    61

    13

    60

    25

    30

    11

    12

    Tamerlane, Richard II., Robert II.

    Manuel-Paleologus, Henrj’ IV. of Eng.

    Jame.s I., Henry V., Martin V.

    \ Amuratli II., Henry VI., Charles VII.

    ‘( Albert II., Cosmo de Medicis.

    James II., Fred. III. of Aus., Nich. V.

    Mahomet II , Edward IV., SixtuslV.

    JamesIII. ,Ferd. and Isabella, Lonis XI.

    Bajazet II., James IV., Henry VII.

    James V., Henry VIII., Charles V.

    Solyman II.,^lary, Philip II., Henry IL

    yelim II., Klizabeth, Cregory 111.

    James I., Henry IV., Louis XIII.

    Othman II., Philip IV., Gregory XV.

    Amurath IV., Charles I., Urban VIII

    Innocent X., Frederick the Great.

    Mahomet IV., Cromwell. Louis XIV.

    Charles II., Clement IX.. Sobioskv.

    Mahomet V., George II.. Lonis XV.

    Osman III., George III., Clement XIV

    Seiim III., Napoleon, Fred. Wm. II.

    Mahmoud, George IV., Louis XVIII.

    Mahmond, Victoria, Louis XVIII.

    I Napoleon III., Alexander II.

    Dynasty.

    1. Hla

    2. Shang

    3. Chau

    4. Tsin

    r). Han

    6. East Han . .,

    7. After Han.

    8. T.sin ,

    9. East Tsin .

    10. Sung

    11. Tsi

    12. Liang

    13 Chin

    14. Sui

    15. Tang

    16. After Liang

    17. After Tang

    18. After T.sin.

    19. After Han.

    20. After Chau

    21. Sung

    22. South Sung

    23. Yuen

    24. Ming

    25. Tsing

    Number of Sovereigns. Began. Ended. Duration

    Seventeen, averaging 26 years to each monarch’s reign

    Twenty-eight, averaging 23 years

    Thirtj’- four, averaging 253.j years

    Two, one reigning 37 years, the second 3 years.

    Fourteen, averaging 163,., years

    Twelve, averaging 16’^ years

    Two, one reigning 2, the other 41 years

    Four, averaging 1 4}{ years

    Eleven, averaging about 9J^ years

    Eight, averaging 7}£ years

    Five, averaging 4% years

    Four, one 48 years, and thiee together 7 years.

    Five, averaging about 6 ‘ ., years

    Three, one reigning 16, another 12, and another 2 years . . . :

    Twenty, averaging 1 43^ years

    Two. one 8 and one 7 years

    Four, averaging 33^ years

    Two, one 7 ami one 3 years

    Two, one 3 years, another 1 year

    Three, averaging 3 years

    Nine, averaging 183^2 years

    Nine, averaging 17 years

    Nine, averaging \)% years

    Sixteen, averaging 1 7 years

    Eight up to 1875, averaging nearly 30 years .

    .B.C.;3205 1766 1122 255 206 221 265 323 420 4791 5021 557 589 I

    620 i 907 923 936 947

    951 960

    1127

    1280

    1368

    1644

    n.c.

    1766

    1122

    255

    206

    .D. 25

    231

    264

    322

    419

    478

    502

    556

    589

    619

    907

    923

    936

    946

    951

    960

    1127

    1280

    1368

    1644

    439

    644

    807

    40

    231

    196

    43

    57

    106

    58

    23

    54

    32

    30

    287 16 13 10 4 9 167 153 88 276

    ‘ ShuiK^hi and the four fiiUowinpr monarchs are namwd in Manchu, Chidzuoldimbiikh6, Elkhetaitin, ivhowaligiisDMii tob, Abkai wekhiyekhu, and Siiichunga fungchuii, respectively.
    ‘^ Kwangsu was born August 14, 1871.

    TABLES OF M0NARCTI3 AND DYNASTIES. ]y7

    years, and to eacli moiiarcli an average of 17] years. From Wu wang’s accession to Kwangsii is 2,1>UT years, giving an avei-age of 125 years to a dynasty and 151 toeacli sovereign. From the days of Menes in Egypt, n.c. 2710 to 331, Manetlio reckons 31 dynasties and 378 kings, which is about 77 years to each family and G^ to each reign. In England the 34 sovereigns from William I. to Victoria (a.d. lOGO to 1837) averaged 22| years each; in Israel, the 23 kings from Saul to Zedekiah averaged 22 years during a monarchy of 50 7 years.

    CHAPTER XVIII.  RELIGION OF THE CHINESE

    As results must have their proportionate causes, one wishes to know what are the reasons for the remarkable duration of the Chinese people. Why have not their institutions fallen into decrepitude, and this race given place to others during the forty centuries it claims to have existed? Is it owing to the geographical isolation of the land, which has prevented other nations easily reaching it? Or have the language and literature unified and upheld the people whom they have taught? Or, lastly, is it a religious belief and the power of a ruling class working together which has brought about the security and freedom now seen in this thrifty, industi-ions, and practical people? Probably all these causes have conduced to this end, and our present object is to outline what seems to have been their mode of operation.

    The position of their country has tended to separate them from other Asiatic races, even from very early times. It compelled them to work out their own institutions without any hints or modifying interference from abroad. They seem, in fact, to have had no neighbors of any importance until about the Christian era, up to which time they occupied chiefly the basin of the Yellow River, or the nine northern provinces as the Empire is now divided. Till about b.c.220 feudal States covered this region, and their quarrels only ended by their subjection to Tsin Chi Ilwangti, or the ‘Emperor First,’ whose strong hand molded the people as he led them to value security and yield to just laws. He thus prepared the way for the Emperors Wan ti (B.C. 179-1.50) and Wu ti (b.c. 140-86), of the Han dynasty, to consolidate, during their long reigns of twenty-nine and fifty four years, their schemes of good government.

    ISOLATION OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 189

    The four northern provinces all lie on the south-eastern slope of the vast plateau of Central Asia, the ascent to which is confined to a few passes, leading nj) live or six thousand feet through mountain defiles to the sterile, bleak plains of Gobi. This desolate region has always given subsistence to wandering nomads, and enough to enable traders to cross its o;i’assv M’astes. When their numbers increased they burst their borders in periodical raids, ravaging and weakening those M’hom they were too few to conquer and too ignorant to govern. The Chinese were too unwarlike to keep these tribes in subjection for long, and never themselves colonized the region, though the attempt to ward off its perpetual menace to their safety, by building the Great Wall to bar out their enemies, proves how they had learned to dread them. Yet this desert waste has proved a better defense for China against armies coming from the basin of the Tarini River than the lofty mountains on its west did to ancient Persia and modern Russia. It was easier and more inviting for the Scythians, Iluns, Mongols, and Turks successively to push their arms westward, and China thereby remained intact, even when driven within her own borders.

    The western frontiers, between the Kiayil Pass in Kansuh, at the extreme end of the Great Wall, leading across the country south to the island of Hainan, are too wild and rough to be densely inhabited or easily crossed, so that the Chinese have always been unmolested in that direction. To invade the eastern sides, now so exposed, the ancients had no fleets powerful enough to attack the Middle Kingdom ; and it is only within the present century that armies carried by steam have threatened her seaboard.

    The Chinese have, therefore, been shut out by their natural defenses from both the assaults and the trade of the dwellers in India, Tibet, and Central Asia, to that degree which would have materially modified their civilization. The external influences which have molded them have^ been wholly religious, acting through the persistent labors of Buddhist missionaries from India. These zealous men came and went in a ceaseless stream for ten centuries, joining the caravans entering the northwestern marts and ships trading at southern ports.

    In addition to this geographical isolation, the language of the Chinese has tended still more to separate them intellectually from their fellow-men. It is not strange, indeed, that a symbolic form of writing should have arisen among them, for the Egyptians and Mexicans exhibit other fashions of ideographic writing, as well as its caprices and the difficulty of extending it. But its long-continued use by the Chinese is hardly less remarkablethan the proof it gives of their independence of other people in mental and political relations. Outside nations did not care to study Chinese books through such a medium, and its possessors had, without intending it, shut themselves out of easy interchange of thought. This shows that they could not have had much acquaintance in early times with any alphabetic writing like Sanscrit or Assyrian, for it is almost certain that, in that case, they would soon have begun to alter their ideographs into syllables and letters as the Egyptians did ; while the manifest advantages of the phonetic over the symbolic principle would have gradually insured it:j triumph. In that case, howevei”, the rivah’ies of feudal States would have resulted, as in Europe, in the formation of different languages, and perhaps prevented the growth of a great Chinese race. In Jajmi: and Corea the struggle between symbols and sounds has long existed, and two written languages, the Chinese and a derivel demotic, are now used side by side in each of those kingdoms.

    Tills isolation has had its disadvantageous effects on the people thus cut off from their fellows, but the results now seen could not otherwise have been attained. Their literary teiulencies could never have attained the strength of an institution if they had been surrounded by more intelligent nations ; nor would they have tilled the land to such a degree if they had been forced to constantly defend themselves, or had imbibed the lust of conquest. Either of these conditions would probably have brought their own national life to a premature close.

    ITS PEOPLE UNAFFECTED BY FOREIGN THOUGHT. 101

    Isolation, however, is merely a potential factor in this question. It does not by itself account for that life nor furnish the reasons for its uniformity and endurance. These must be sought for in the moral and social teachino:s of their sages and great rulers, who have been leaders and counsellors, and in the character of the political institutions which have grown out of those teachings. A comparison of their national characteristics with those of other ancient and modern people shows four striking contrasts and deductions. The Chinese may be regarded “^ “^Xj as the only pagan nation which has maintained democratic “•^’^ -‘^- habits under a purely despotic theoiy of government. This government has respected the rights of its subjects by placing

    them under the protection of law, with its sanctions and tribu- ~”-^-^-a,^;_

    iials, and nuxking the sovereign amenable in the popular mind -^i-^T-,^.,.^

    for the continuance of his sway to the approval of a higher ^^

    Power able to punish him. Lastly, it has prevented the doniina- ^f*

    tion of all feudal, hereditary, and priestly classes and interests by

    making the tenure of officers of government below the throne

    chiefly depend on their literary attainments. Kot a trace of

    Judaistic, Assyrian, or Persian customs or dogmas appears in

    Chinese books in such definite form as to suggest a western

    origin. All is the indio-enous outcome of native ideas and habits.

    The real religious belief and practices of a heathen people are

    hard to describe intelligibly to those who have not lived among

    them. Men naturally exercise much freedom of thought in such

    matters, and feel the authority of their fellow-men over their

    minds irksome to bear ; and though it is comparatively easy to

    depict their religious ceremonies and festivals, their real belief

    —that which constitutes their religion, their trust in danger and

    guide in doubt, their support in sorrow and hope for future I’c

    ward—is not rpiickly examined nor easily described. The want

    of a well understood and acknowledged standard of doctrine,

    and the degree of latitude each one allows himself in his observance

    of rites or belief in dogmas, tends to confuse the inquirer

    ; while his own diverse views, liis imperfect knowledge,

    and misapprehension of the eifect which this tenet or that ceremony

    has upon the heart of the worshipper, contribute still

    further to embarrass the subject. This, at least, is the case with

    the Chinese, and notwithstanding what has been -written upon

    their religion, no one has very satisfactorily elucidated the true

    nature of their belief and the intent of their ritual. The reason

    is owing partly to the indefinite ideas of the people themselves

    upon the character of their ceremonies, and their consequent inability to give a clear notion of them ; partly also to the

    variety of observances found in distant parts of the country, and

    the discordant opinions entertained by those belonging to the

    same sect ; so that what is seen in one district is sometimes

    utterly unknown in the next province, and the opinions of one

    man are laughed at by another.

    Before proceeding with the present outline two negative featni’es of Chinese religion deserve to be noticed, which distinguish it from the faith of most other heathen nations. These are the absence of human sacrifices and the non- deification of vice. The prevalence of human offerings in almost all ages of the world, and among nations of different degrees of civilization, not only widely separated in respect of situation and power, but flourishing in ages remote from each other, and having little or no mutual influence, has often been noticed. Human sacrifices are offered to this day in some parts of Asia, Africa, and Polynesia, which the extension of Christian instruction and power has, it is to be hoped, greatly reduced and almost accomplished the extinction of; but no clear record of the sacrificial innnolation of man by his fellow, “offering the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul,” has been found in Chinese annals in such a shape as to carry the conviction that it formed part of the belief or practice of the people—although the Scythian custom of burying the servants and horses of a deceased prince or chieftain

    with him was perhaps observed before the days of Confucius,

    and may have been occasionally done since his time. This feature,

    negative though it be, stands in strong contrast with the

    appalling destruction of human life for religious reasons, still

    existing among the tribes of Western and Central Africa, and

    recorded as having been sanctioned among Aztecs and Egyptians,

    Hindus and Carthaginians, and other ancient nations, not

    excepting Syrians and Jews, Greeks and Romans.

    The other, and still more remarkable trait of Chinese idolatry,

    is that there is no deification of sensuality, which, in the name

    of religion, could shield and countenance those licentious rites

    and orgies that enervated the minds of worshippers and polluted

    their hearts in so many other pagan countries. No Aphrodite

    or Lakshmi occurs in the list of Chinese goddesses ; no weeping

    VICE NEYEE SAXCTIFTED. 193

    for Thaiiinmz, no exposure in the temple of Mylitta or obscene rites of tlie Durga-puja, have ever been required or sanctioned by Chinese priests ; no nautch girls as in Indian temples, or courtesans as at Corinth, are kept in their sacred buildings. Their speculations upon the dual powers of the yln and yang have never degenerated into the vile worship of the linya and yonl of the Hindus, or of Amun-kem, as pictured on the ruins of Thebes.

    Although they are a licentious people in word and deed, the

    Chinese have not endeavored to lead the votaries of pleasure,

    falsely so called, further down the road of ruin, by making its

    path lie through a temple and trying to sanctify its acts by pntting

    them under the protection of a goddess. Nor does their

    mythology teem with disgusting relations of the amours of

    their deities ; on the contrary, like the Romanists, they exalt and

    deify chastity and seclusion as a means of bringing the soul and

    body nearer to the highest excellence. Vice is, in a great

    degree, kept out of sight, as well as out of religion, and it may

    be safely said tluit no such significant sign as has been uncovered

    at Pompeii, with the inscription IIlc habitat felioitas, was ever

    exhibited in a Chinese city.

    To these traits of Cliinese character may be added the preservative features of their regard for parents and superiors and their general peaceful industry. If there be any connection between the former of these virtues and the promise attached to the fifth commandment, ” That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,” then the long duration of the Chinese people and Empire is a stupendous monument of the good effects of even a partial obedience to the law of God, by those who only had it inscribed on their hearts and not written in their hands.

    The last point in the Chinese polity which has had great nifluence in preserving it is the religious beliefs recognized by the people and rulers. There are three sects (san jiao), which are usually called Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, or Rationalism; the first is a foreign term, and vaguely denotes the belief of the literati generally, including the State religion. These three sects do not interfere with each other, however, and a man may worship at a Buddhist shrine or join in a Taoist festival while he accepts all the tenets of Confucius and worships him on State occasions ; much as a lawyer in England may attend a Quaker meeting or the Governor of a State in America may be a Methodist minister. In China there is no generic term for

    religion in its usual sense. The word I’kio, which means ‘ to

    teach,’ or ‘doctrines taught,’ is applied to all sects and associations

    having a creed or ritual ; the ancestral worship is never

    called a Mao, for everybody observes that at home just as much

    as he obeys his parents ; it is a duty, not a sect.

    Xo religious system has been found among the Chinese which

    taught the doctrine of atonement by the shedding of blood ; an

    argument in favor of their antiquity. The State religion of

    China has had a remarkable history and antiquity, and, though

    modified somewhat during successive dynasties, has retained its

    main features during the past three thousand years. The simplicity’

    and purity of this w^orship have attracted the notice of

    irjany foreigners, who have disagreed on various points as to its

    nature and origin. Their discussions have brought out sundry

    most interesting details respecting it ; and whoever has visited

    the great Altar and Temple of Heaven at Peking, where the

    Emperor and his courtiers worship, must have been impressed

    with its simple grandeur. What \vas the precise idea connected

    svith the words tien, ‘heaven,’ and hirang tien, ‘imperial

    heaven,’ as they were used in ancient times, is a very difficult

    point to determine ; the worship rendered to them was probably

    of a mixed sort, the material heavens being taken as the most

    sublime manifestation of the power of their Maker, whose

    character was then less obscured and unknown than in after

    times, when it degenerated to Sabianism.

    These discussions are not material to the present subject, and

    it is only needful to indicate the main results. The prime idea

    in this worship is that the Emperor is Tien-tsz\ or ‘ Son of

    Heaven,’ the coordinate with Heaven and Earth, from whom he

    directly derives his right and power to rule on earth among\

    mankind, the One Man who is their vicegerent and the third of

    the trinity {san tsai) of Heaven, Earth, and Man. With these

    ideas of his exalted position, he claims the homage of all his

    fellow-men. He cannot properly devolve on any other mortal

    THE 8TATK KKLKilOX OF CIIIXA. 195

    his functions of their high priest to offer the oblations on the

    altars of Heaven and Earth at Peking at the two solstices, lie

    is not, therefore, a despot bj mere power, as other rulers are,

    but is so in the ordinance of nature, and the basis of his authority

    is divine. lie is accountable personally to his two superordinate

    powers for its record and result. If the people suffer from

    pestilence or famine he is at fault, and must atone by prayer, sacrifice, and reformation as a disobedient son. One defect in all human governments—a sense of responsibility on the part of rulers to the God who ordains the powers that be—has thus been partly met and supplied in China. It has really been a check, too, on their tyranny and extortion; for the very books which contain this State ritual intimate the amenability of the sovereign to the Powers who appointed him to rule, and hint that the people will rise to vindicate themselves. The officials, too, all springing from the people, and knowing their feelings, hesitate to provoke a wrath which has swept away thousands of their number.

    The objects of State worship are chiefly things, although persons

    are also included. There are three grades of sacrifices, the

    great, medlinn, and inferior, the last collectively called klun sz\

    or ‘ the crowd of sacrifices.’ The objects to which the great

    sacrifices are offered are only four, viz.: t’ten, the heavens or sky,

    called the imperial concave expanse ; t’l, the earth, likewise

    dignified with the appellation imperial ; tai Triiao, or the great

    temple of ancestors, wherein the tablets of deceased monarchs

    of this dynasty are placed ; and, lastly, the t^hii t-n/i, or gods of

    the land and grain, the special patrons of each dynasty. The

    tablets representing these four great objects are placed on an

    equality by the present monarchs, which is strong presumptive

    proof that by tien is now meant the material heavens.

    The medium sacrifices are offered to nine objects: The sun,

    or ” great light,” the moon, or ” night light,” the manes of the

    emperors and kings of former dynasties, Confucius, the ancient

    patrons of agriculture and silk, the gods of heaven, earth, and

    the cyclic year. The first six have separate temples erected for

    their worship in Peking. The inferior herd of sacrifices are

    offered to the ancient patron of the healing art and the innumerable spirits of deceased pliilanthropists, eminent statesmen, martyrs to virtue, etc.; clouds, rain, wind, and tlnnider; the five celebrated mountains, four seas, and four rivers; famous hills, great watercourses, flags, triviaj, gods of cannon, gates, queen goddess of earth, the north pole, and many other things.

    The State religion has been so far corrupted from its ancient simplicity, as given in the Shic King and Li K’i, as to include gods terrestrial and stellar, ghosts infernal, flags, and cannon, as well as idols and tablets, the efiigies and mementoes of deified persons.

    The personages who assist the Emperor in his worship of the four superior objects, and perform most of the ceremonies, belong to the Imperial Clan and the Board of Rites; but while they go through with the ceremony, he, as pontifex maxinnis^ refuses to pay the same homage that he demands of all who approach him, and puts off these superior Powers with three kneelings and nine profound bows. When he is ill, or in his minority, these services are all forborne, for they cannot properly be done by a substitute. When he worships Heaven he wears robes of a blue color, in allusion to the sky; and when he worships earth he puts on yellow to represent the clay of this earthly clod ; so, likewise, he wears red for the sun and pale

    white for the moon. The princes, nobles, and officers who assist

    are clad in their usual court dresses, but no priests or women

    are admitted. The worship of Yuenfi, the goddess of silk, is

    alone, as we have seen, conducted by the Empress and her court.

    The temple of the sun is east, and that of the moon west of the

    city, and at the eqninoxes a regulus, or prince of the Impei’ial

    Clan, is commissioned to perform the requisite ceremonies and

    oft’er the appointed sacrifices.

    The winter solstice is the great day of this State worship.

    The Emperoi- goes from his palace the evening before, draM-n

    by an elephant in his state car and escorted by about two thousand

    grandees, princes, musicians, and attendants, down to the

    Tem})le of Tlcaveii. The cortege passes out by the southern

    road, reaching the Ching Yang Gate, opened only for his Majesty’s

    use, and through it goes on two miles to the Tien Tan.

    ile first repairs to the Chai Ktmg, or ‘ Palace of Fasting,’

    WORSHIP OF IIKAVEX BY THE KMFEKOR. 197

    where he prepares himself by lonely meditation for his duty;” for the idea is that if there be not pious thoughts in his mind the spirits of the unseen will not come to the sacrifice.”

    To assist him he looks at a copper statue, arraj-ed like a Taoist priest, whose mouth is covered by three fingers, denoting silence, while the other hand bears a tablet inscribed with ‘ Fast three days.’ When the worship commences, and all the officiating attendants are in their places, the animals are killed, and as the odor of their burning flesh ascends to convey the sacrifice to the gods, the Emperor begins the rite, and is directed at every step by the masters of ceremonies. The worship to Heaven is at midnight, and the numerous poles around the great altar, and the fires in the furnaces shedding their glare over the marble terraces and richly dressed assembly, render this solemnity most striking.’

    The hierophants in this worship of nature, so lauded by some

    infidels, are required to prepare themselves for the occasion by

    fasting, ablutions, change of garments, separation from their

    wives and pleasurable scenes, and from the dead ; “for sickness

    and death defile, while banqueting dissipates the mind and unfits

    it for holding communion with the gods.” The sacrifices

    consist of calves, hares, deer, sheep, or pigs, and the offerings

    of silks, grain, jade, etc. Xo garlands are placed on the victim

    when its life is taken, nor is the blood sprinkled on any particular

    spot or article. ” The idea is that of a banquet ; and when

    a sacrifice is performed to the supreme spirit of Heaven, the

    honor paid is believed by the Chinese to be increased by inviting

    other guests. The Emperors invite their ancestors to sit at

    the banquet with Shangti. A father is to be honored as heaven,

    and a mother as earth. In no way could more perfect revei’-

    ence be shown than in placing a father’s tablet on the altar with

    that of Shangti.” To these remarks of Dr. Edkins explanatory

    of this union of the objects worshipped, it may be added that the

    Emperors regard their predecessors of every dynasty as still invested

    with power in Hades, and therefore invoke their blessing

    and presence by sacrifice and prayers.

    ‘ Compare the frontispiece of Volume I. ; also ibid. , p. 76.

    The statutes annex penalties of fines or blows in various degrees of punishment in case of informality or neglect, but “in these penalties there is not the least allusion to any displeasure of the things or beings worshipped ; there is nothing to be feared but man’s wrath—nothing but a forfeiture or a fine.”

    Heavier chastisement, however, awaits any of the common people or the unauthorized who should presume to state their wants to high Heaven or worship these objects of imperial adoration; strangulation or banishment, according to the demerits of the case, would be their retribution. The ignob’de vulyus may worship stocks and stones in almost any form they please, but death awaits them if they attempt to join the Son of Heaven, the Vicegerent of Heaven and Earth, in his adorations to the supposed sources of his power.’

    In his capacity of Vicegerent, High Priest, and Mediator between his subjects and the higher Powers, there are many points of similarity between the assumptions of the Emperor and of the Pope at Rome. The idea the Chinese have of heaven seems to be pantheistic, and in worshipping heaven, earth, and terrestrial gods they mean to include and propitiate all superior powers. If, as seems probable, the original idea of Shangti, as it can be imperfectly gleaned from early records, was that of a supreme Intelligence, it has since been lost. Of this worship, the effects in China upon the nation have been both positive and negative. One of the nearative influences has been to dwarf the State hierarchy to a complete nullity—to prevent the growth of a class which could or did use the power of the monarchy to strengthen its own hold upon the people as their religious advisers, and on the government as a necessary aid to its efiiciency.

    ^ Chinese ‘Repomtory, Vol. III., pp. 49-5:?. Dr. J. Edkins, Rcl/’r/innfi of China, Chap. II. ; this chapter, on Imperial Worship, gives a good account of these ceremonies.

    NO STATE IIIEKARCIIY IN CHINA. 199

    The High Priests of China love power and adulation too well to share this worship with their subjects, and in engrossing it entirely they have escaped the political evils of a powerful hierarchy and the people the combined oppressions of a church

    Legge’s NotioriH of the Chinese concerning God and Spirits, pp. 23-36»41-43, for the forms of pra_)er used

    and State. We have seen that the popular rights which are so plainly taught in the classics have been inculcated and perpetuated by the common school education ; we shall soon see, moreover, that the ancestral worship could not admit the interference of priest, altar, or sacrifice outside of the door-posts. Yet it is probable that all combined would have been too weak to resist

    the seductive influence of a hierarchy in some form, if it had not

    been that the Emperor himself would yield his own unapproachable

    grandeur to no man. Being everything in his own person,

    it is too much to expect that he is going to vacate or reduce his

    prerogative, surrender his right to make or degrade gods of every

    kind for his subjects to M’orship, weaken his own prestige, or mortify

    the pride of his fellow-worshippers, the high ministers of

    State. The chains of caste woven in India, the fetters of the Inquisition

    forged in Spain, the silly rites practised by the augurs

    in old Rome, or the horrid cruelties and vile worship once seen

    in Egypt and Syria—in each case done under the sanction of the

    State—have all been wanting along the Yellow River, and

    spread none of their evils to hamper the rule of law in China.

    This State religion is, therefore, a splendid and wonderful

    pageant ; but it can no more be called the religion of the Chinese

    than the teachings of Socrates could be termed the faith

    of the Greeks. It is, however, intimately connected with the

    Ju klao, or ‘ Sect of the Learned,’ commonly called Confucianists

    by foreigners, because all its members and priests are

    learned men who venerate the classical writings. It is somewhat

    inappropriate to designate the Ju Mao a religious sect, or

    regard it otherwise than as a comprehensive term for those who

    adopt the writings of Confucius and Chu Hi and their disciples.

    The word jtt denotes one of the literati, and was first adopted a.d. 1150, as an appellation for those who followed the speculations of Chu Hi regarding the tal I’ih, or ‘ Great Extreme.’ This author’s comments on the classics and his metaphysical writings have had greater influence on his countrymen than those of any other person except Confucius and Mencius; whose works, indeed, are received according to his explanations.

    The remarks of Confucius upon religious subjects were very few ; he never taught the duty of man to any higher power than the head of the State or family, though he supposed himself commissioned by heaven to restore the doctrine and usages of the ancient kings. lie admitted that he did not understand much about the gods ; that they were beyond and above the comprehension of man ; and that the obligations of man lay I’ather in doing his duty to his relatives and society than in worshipping spirits unknown, “Not knowing even life,” said he, “how can we know death ? ” and when his disciples asked him in his last illness whom he would sacrifice to, he said he had already worshipped. Chu Hi resolved the few and obscure references to Shangti in the S/m Ivlng into pure materialism; making nature to begin with the tal I’lh, cidlcd pre7)iierjjrlnci2)e v/afe/’ui by the French, which operating upon itself resolved itself into the dual powers, the i/ln. and yM>(/.

    Sir John Davis compares this production of the yin and yan^ to the masculo-feminine principle in the development of the mundane egg in the Egyptian cosmogony, and quotes an extract showing that the idea was entertained among the Hindus, and that the androgyn of Plato was only another form of this myth. The Chinese have also the notion of an egg, and that the iai k’lh was evolved from it, or acted like the process of hatching going on in it, though it may be that with them the introduction of the egg is more for the sake of illustration than as the form of the cause. Some of Chu Hi’s philosophical notions have already been quoted in Volume I.’ His system of materialism captivates his countrymen, for it is far nioi’c thoroughly worked out than any other, and allows scope for the vagaries of every individual who thinks he understands and can apply it to explain whatever phenomena come in his M-ay. Heat and cold, light and darkness, fire and water, mind and matter, every agent, power, and substance, known or supposed, are regarded as endued with these principles, which thus form a simple solution for every question.

    ‘ Pp. 68? ff. CaiioD McClatrhic lias made a careful iraiif^lation of Chapter XLIX. of his works, giving hi^ views on cosmogony.

    THE JU KIAO, OR SECT OF THE LEARNED. 201

    The infinite changes in the universe, the multiform actions and reactions in nature, and all the varied consequences seen and unseen are alike easily explained by this form of cause and effect, this ingenious theory of evolution. With regard to the existence of gods and spirits, Chu Hi affirmed that sufficient knowledge was not jiossessed to say positively that they existed, and he saw no difficulty in omitting the subject altogether—a species of agnosticism or indifferentism, therefore, which has become the creed of nearly the entire body of educated men in the Empire.

    His system is also silent respecting the immortality of the soul, as well as future rewards and punishments. Virtue is rewarded and vice is punished in the individual or in his posterity on earth ; but of a separate state of existence he or his disciples do not speak.

    Tn thus disposing of the existence of superior powers, the philosophers do not shut out all intelligent agencies, but have instituted a class of sages or pure-minded men of exalted intellects and simple hearts, wdio have been raised up from time to time by Heaven, Shangti, or some other power, as instructors and examples to mankind, and who therefore deserve the reverence of their fellows. The office of these shing jin, ‘perfect men’ or saints, is to expound the will of heaven and earth ; they did not so much speak their own thoughts as illustrate and settle the principles on which the world should be governed ; they were men intuitively wise without instruction, while common people must learn to be wise. Of all the saints in the calendar of the f/w Jciao Confucius is the chief ; with him are reckoned the early kings, Yao and Shun, with King Wan and his two sons Kuig AVu and Duke Chau; but China has produced no one since the “most holy teacher of ancient times” whom his proud

    disciples are willing to regard his equal—Mencius being only a “number two saint.” The deceased Emperors of the reigning dynasty are canonized as its efficient and divine patrons, but a new line of monarchs would serve them as they did their predecessors, by reducing them to mere spirits. The demonolatry of the learned has gradually become so incorporated with popular superstitions that there is now little practical distinction; every one is willing to worship whatever can promise relief or afford assistance.

    A student of the classical works naturally adopts theit views on these points, without supposing that they militate against worshipping his ancestors, joining the villagers in adoring the goddess of Mercy or any other Buddhistic idol, or calling in a Rationalist to write a charm. He also, on coming into office, expects to perform all the ex-officio religious ceremonies required of him, and add the worship of the Emperor to the rest.

    Every magistrate is officially required to perform various idolatrous

    ceremonies at the temples. The objects of worship arc

    numerous, including many others besides those forming tlio

    ” herd of inferior sacrifices/’ and new deities are frequently made

    by the Emperor, on the same principle that new saints are canonized

    by the Pope. The worship of certain hills and rivers, and

    of spirits supposed to preside over particular cities and districts,

    has prevailed among the Chinese from ancient times, long before

    the rise of Rationalism or introduction of Buddhism, and is no

    doubt the origin of this official worship. In every city the

    Chiny-hivcmg miao, i.e., ‘ City and Moat Temple,’ contains the

    tutelar divinity of the city called Ching-hwang, with other gods,

    and here on the solstices, equinoxes, new and full moons, etc.,

    officers repair to sacrifice to it and to the gods of the land and

    grain. Over the door of the one in Canton is written, “Right*

    and wrong, truth and falsehood are blended on eai’th, but all are

    most clearly distiiiguished in heaven.” C^apt. Loch thus describes

    the Ching-hwang miao at Shanghai, as it stood in’ 1842: In the centre of a serpentine sheet of water there is a rocky island, and on it a large temple of two stories, litted up for the accommodation of the wealthy puhlic Pillars of carved wood support the roof, fretted groups of uncouth figures fill up the narrow spaces, while movable lattices screen the occupants from the warmth of the noonday sun. Nothing can surpass the beauty and truth to nature of the most minutely carved flowers and insects prodigally scattered over every screen and cornice. This is the central and largest temple. A number of other light aerial-looking structures of the same form are perched upon the corners of artificial rocky precipices and upon odd little islands. Light and fanciful wooden bridges connect most of these islands, and are thrown across the arms of the serpentine water, so that each secjuestered spot can be visited in turn. At a certain passage of the sun the main temple is shaded in front by a rocky eminence, tht^ large masses of which are connected with great art and propriety of taste, but in shape and adjustment most studiously grotesque.

    RELKilors DCTIKS OF MAGISTRATES. 203

    Trees and flowers and tufts of grass are planted where art must have been taxed to the utmost to procure them a lodgment. In another part of the garden there is a miniature wood of dwarf trees, with a dell and waterfall; the leaves, fruit, and blo.ssoms of the trees are proportionate to their size. Tortuous pathways lead to tlu> toj) of tlic artificial mountain, each turn formed with studied art to surprise and charm by offering at every point fresh views and objects. Flowers and creepers sprout out from crevices, trees hang over the jutting crags, small pavilions are seen I’roni almost every vista, while grottoes and rocky recesses, shady bowers and labyrinths, are placed to entrap the unwary, each with an appropriate motto, one inviting the wanderer to repose, another offering a secluded retreat to the philosopher.’

    Official Chinese records euunierate 1560 temples dedicated to Confucius attached to the examination halls, the offerings presented in which are all eaten or used by the worshippers; there are, it is said, 02,006 pigs, rabbits, sheep, and deer, and 27,000 pieces of silk, annually offered upon their altars.^ The municipal temple is not the only one where officers worship, but, like the connnon people, they bow before whatever they think can aid them in their business or estates. It has already been stated that the duty of Chinese officers extends to the securing of genial seasons by their good administration, and consequently if bad harvests ensue or epidemics rage the fault and removal of the calamity belong to them. The expedients they resort to are both ludicrous and melancholy. In 1835 the prefect of Canton, on occasion of a distressing drousi-ht of eio;ht months, issued the following invitation, which would have better befitted a chieftain of the Sechuanas:

    Pan, acting prefect of Kwangchau, issues this inviting summons. Since for a long time there has been no rain, and the prospects of drought continue, and supplications are unanswered, my heart is scorched with grief. In the whole province of Kwangtung, are there no extraordinary persons who can force the dragon to send rain V Be it known to you, all ye soldiers and people, that if there be any one, whether of this or any other province, priest or such like, who can by any craft or arts bring down abundance of rain, I respectfully request him to ascend the altar [of the dragon], and sincerely and reverently pray. And after the rain has fallen, I will liberally reward him with money and tablets to make known his merits.

    ‘ Events in China, p. 47. London, 1843.

    – During the Han dynasty (a.d. 59) wine was drunk and sacrifices made to Confucius in the study halls. The victim offered was a dog. Biot, Eumi»ur VTmtructiou eii Chine, p. 168.

    This invitation called forth a Buddhist priest as a “rain maker,” and the prefect erected an altar for him before his own office, upon which the man, armed with cymbal and wand, for three days vainly repeated his incantations from morning to night, exposed bareheaded to the hot sun, the butt of the jeering crowd. The prefect himself was lampooned by the people for his folly, the following quatrain being pasted under a copy of his invitation :

    Kwangchaii’s grecat protector, the magnate Pan,
    Always acting without regard to reason ;
    Now prays for rain, and getting no reply,
    Forthwith seeks for aid to force the dragon.

    The unsuccessful eiforts of the priest did not render the calamity less grievous, and their urgent necessities led the people to resort to every expedient to force their gods to send rain. The authorities forbade the slaughter of animals, or in other words a fast was proclaimed, to keep the hot winds out of the city, the southern gate was shut, and all classes flocked to the temples. It was estimated that on one day twenty thousand persons went to a celebrated shrine of the goddess of Mercy, among whom were the Governor and Prefect and their suites, who all left their sedans and walked with the multitude. The Governor, as a last expedient, the day before rain came, intimated his intention of liberating all prisoners not charged with capital offences. As soon as the rain fell the people presented thank-offerings, and the southern gate of the city was opened, accompanied by an odd ceremony of burning off the tail of a live sow^ while the animal was held in a basket.

    The officers and literati, though acknowledging the folly of

    these observances, and even ridiculing the worship of senseless

    blocks, still join in it. As an example of this : In 18G7 a

    severe drought near Peking called forth a suggestion from a

    censor that if a white tiger were sacrificed by the Emperor to

    the dragon the rain would be libei-ated ; for ” it was his powerful

    enemies which kept the rain-god fi’oni acting.’” Wrmsiang

    was deputed to perform the rite ; rain came not many days

    later. The offieci- laughed, indeed, at the fancy, yet could not

    disenthrall himself from some degi-ee of belief in its efficacy.

    Devotees sometimes become ii-ritated against theii- gods, and

    resort to sunnnary means to force them to hear their petitions.

    STATE KELIGION AND THE CLASSICS. 205

    It is said that the Governor in Canton, having I’epeatedly ascended

    in a time of drouglit to the temple of the god of Ilaia

    dressed in his burdensome robes, through the heat of a tropical

    sun, on one of his visits said : ” The god supposes I am

    lying when I beseech his aid ; for how can he know, seated in

    his cool niche in the temple, that the ground is parched and the

    sky hot V Whereupon he ordered his attendants to put a rope

    around his neck and haul his godship out of doors, that he

    might see and feel the state of the weather for himself. After

    his excellency had become cooled in the temple the idol was

    reinstated in its shrine, and the good effects of this treatment

    were deemed to be fully proved by the copious showers which

    soon after fell. The Emperor himself on such occasions resorts

    to unusual sacrifices, and sends his relatives and courtiers almost

    daily to various temples to pray and burn incense. Imperial

    patronage of the popular superstitions is sought after by the

    officers in one way and another to please the people, but it does

    not involve much outlay of funds.’ One connnon mode is to

    solicit his Majesty for an inscription to be placed over the doorway

    of a temple, or memorialize him to confer a higher title upon the god. On occasion of a victory over the rebels in Kwangtung in 1822, the shrine of a neighboring deity, supposed to have assisted in obtaining it, received a new title commemorative of the event, and a temple was built for him at the expense of government.

    The combined effect of the State religion and classical writings, notwithstanding their atheism and coldness, has had some effect in keeping the people out of the swinish ditch of pollution. It is one of their prime tenets that human nature is originally virtuous, and becomes corrupt entirely by bad precept and example.

    ‘Klaproth cites (among many) an instance of the manner in which favorable angnries are regarded and made use of by officials. Memoiren siir l*Asu’, Tome T., p. 459.

    This is taught children from their earliest years, and officers refer repeatedly to it in their exhortations to obedience; its necessary results of happiness, if carried out, are illustrated by trite comparisons drawn from common life and general experience. The Chinese seldom refer to the vengeance of tha gods or future punishment as motives for reform, but to the well-being of individuals and good order of society in this world.

    Examples of this type of human perfection, fully developed, are constantly set before the people in Confucius and the ancient kings he delineates. The classical tenets require duties that carry their own arguments in their obedience, as well as afford matter of thought, while the standard books of Buddhists and Rationalists, where they do not reiterate the same obligations, are mostly filled with unprofitable speculations or solemn nonsense.

    Consequently the priests of those sects had only the superstitious fear of the people to work wpon where reason was at fault, and so could not take the whole man captive ; for his reason accorded with the teaching of the classics as far as they went, and only took up with divination and supplication of higher powers where their instructions ceased. The government, therefore, being composed chiefly of such people, educated to venerate pure reason, could not be induced to take the initiatory step of patronizing a religion of such an uncertain character, and confessedly inferior in its moral sanctions to what they already possessed. The current has, more or less, always set this way, and the two other sects have been tolerated when they did not interfere with government. It is too true that the instructions of Confucius and his school are imperfect and erroneous when measured by the standard of revelation, and the people can never emerge from selfish atheism and silly superstition as long as they have nothing better; but the vagaries of the Buddhists neither satisfy the reason nor reprove vice, nor does their celibate idleness benefit society. If the former be bad, the latter is worse.

    SECT OF RATIONALISTS, OR TAO KIA. 207

    The sect of the nationalists, or Tao I’la^ is derived from Lautsz’, or Lau-kiun. According to the legends he was born bTc.004, in Ku, a hamlet in the kingdom of Tsu, supposed to lie in Luh-yeh hien, in the provin(!e of Ilonan. His birth was fiftyfour years before Confucius. The story is that he had white hair and eyebrows at his birth, and was carried in the womb eighty years, whence he was called Lau-tsz\ the “old boy,’ and Lau-kiun, the ‘venerable prince.’ Nothing reliable about hia early life has come down to us, but, as was the case with Hesiod, his disciples have enveloped his actions and cliaracter in a nimbus of wonders. M. Julien has given a translation of their history, dated about a.d. 350, in liis version of the Tao Teh King.

    Pauthier says he was appointed librarian by the Emperor, and diligently applied himself to the study of the ancient books, becoming acquainted with all the rites and histories of former times. During his life he is repoi’ted to have journeyed west-ward, but the extent and duration of his travel are not recorded, and even its occurrence is reasonably doubted. De Guignes says he went to Ta Tsin, a country under the rule of the Romans, but he forgets that the Romans had not then even concpiered Italy ; some suppose Ta Tsin to be Judea. His only extant work, the Tao Teh King, or ‘ Canons of Reason and Virtue,’ ‘ was written in Ling-pao, in Honan, before his travels, but whether the teachings contained in it are entirely his own or were derived from hints imported from India or Persia cannot be decided. It contains only five thousand three hundred and twenty characters, divided into eighty one short chapters; the text of one edition is said to have been found in a tomb A.D. 574. It has been translated by Julien, Chalmei’s, and von Strauss. A parallel has been suggested between the sects of the Rationalists of China, the Zoroastrians of Persia, Essenes of Judea, Gnostics of the primitive church, and the eremites of the Thebaid, but a common source for their similarity—the desire of their members, after the sect had become recognized, to live without labor on the credulity of their fellowmen—explains most of the likeness, without supposing thafc their tenets were derived from each other.

    ‘ Perhaps this may be rendered as the Logos of Plato, as near as any dogma can be compared to it.

    The teachings of Lao-zi are not unlike those of Zeno; botji recommend retirement and contemplation as the most effectual means of purifying the spiritual part of our nature, annihilating the passions, and finally returning to the bosom of Dao. His teachings on the highest subjects of human thought have furnished his countrymen ample materials for the most diverse views on these same themes according to their various fancies.

    In his striving after the infinite he can only describe Dao by what it is not and delineate 71A as an ideal virtue which no man can attain to. In Chapter XXI. they are thus blended: “The visible forms of the highest Teh only proceed from Tao^ and Tao is a thing impalpable, indefinite. How indefinite! How impalpable ! And [yet] therein are forms indefinite, impalpable! and [yet] therein are things (or entities). Profound and indistinct too, and [yet] therein are essences. These essence; are profoundly real, and therein faith is found. From of old till now its name has never passed away. It gives issue to all existences at their beginnings. How [then] can I know the manner of the beginning of all existences ? I know it by this

    lTa6\P

    Such teachings are susceptible of almost any explanation, and Julien’s extracts from the commentaries give one some idea of their diversity, though probably much well worth reading still lies buried in their pages. The names of sixty-four commentators are known, of whom three were reigning emperors ; and their explanations have given their countrymen veiy doubtful guidance through this mystic book. To those who can compare its aspirations and dogmas with the speculations of Greek and Roman writers, the teachings of the Zendavesta, and the declarations of the Bible, the work of Lao-Zi becomes of immense interest.

    His countrymen, however, to whom these great writers were all unknown, have looked upon this system of philosophy rather as the reveries of a wise man than the instructions of a practical thinker.

    In Wiapter I. he tries to define tao. It is reaching after the

    imknown. ” The too which can be expressed is not the eternal

    tao- the name which can be named is not the etei’nal name. The

    Nameless [being] is before heaven and earth ; when named it

    is the mother of all things. Therefore, to be constantly passionless

    is to be able to see its spiritual essence; and to be constantly

    passionate is to see the forms (or limits) [of tao’\. These two

    conditions are alike but have different names ; they can both be

    called a mystery. The more it is examined into the moi’O

    mysterious it is seen to be. It is the gate of all spiritual

    things.” By the phrases “constantly passionless” and “constantly passionate ‘ are denoted non-existence and existence, according to the commentators.

    THE TAO-TKir KING OF LAU-TSZ’. 209

    In Chapter LXV. there is a similar striving to describe teh.

    ” In olden times those who practised tdo did not do so to enlighten

    the people, but rather to render them simple-minded.

    When the people have too mnch worldly wisdom it makes them

    hard to govern. lie who encourages this worldly wisdom in

    the government of a State is its misfortune ; as he who governs

    without it is its blessino-. To know ario;lit these two things is to have a model State; and the constant exhibition of this ideal is what I call sublime tc/t. This sublime virtue [teh] is profound, is incommensurable, is opposed to time-serving plans. If followed it will bring about a state of general accord.”

    In Chapter XX. the lonely cynic seems to utter his sad cry at

    the little progress of his teachings. “All men are full of ambitious

    desires, like those greedy for the stalled ox, or the high

    delights of spring time. 1 alone am calm ; my affections have

    not yet germinated ; I am as a new-born babe which has not yet

    smiled on its mother. I am forlorn as one who has no home.

    All others have and to spare, I alone am like one who has lost

    all. In mind I am like a fool ; I am all in a maze. Common

    people are bright enough ; I am enveloped in darkness. Common

    people are sagacious enough ; I am in gloom and confusion.

    I toss about as if on the sea ; I float to and fro as if I was never

    to rest. Others have something they can do ; I alone am good

    for nothing, and just like a lout. I am entirely solitary, differing from other men in that I glory in my Mother who nurses [all beings].”

    The main object kept in view throughout this work is the inculcation of personal virtue, and Lao-zi founds his argument for its practice in the fitness of things, as he tries to prove by referring all the manifestations and laws of mind and matter to the unknown factor Dao. In Chapter IV. he attempts to embody lus struggling thoughts in these few words describing Dao:

    ” Tao is a void ; still if one uses it, it seems to be inexhaustible.

    How profound it is ! It seems like the patriarch of all things.

    It softens sharp things, loosens tangled things, harmonizes bril

    liant things, and assimilates itself to worldly things of the dust.

    How tranquil it is ! It seems to endure perpetually. I know

    not whose son it is. It seems so have existed before T’l [or

    Shangti].”

    Such utterances as these carry neither comfort nor repentance to the sorrowing, sinful heart of man ; he cannot go to such an abnegation for guidance or relief in his troubles, and therefore the maxims of Lau-tsz’ have fallen on callous hearts. Another extract. Chapter XLIX., is, however, more practical ; it is not the only one which furnishes instruction of the highest character.

    ” The perfect man [.s/iui(/Ju)’] has no immutable sentiments of

    his own, [for] he makes the mind of mankind his own. He who

    is good, I would meet with goodness ; and he who is not good,

    I would still also meet with goodness ; [for] teh is goodness.

    He who is sincere I would meet with sincerity ; and he who is

    insincere, I would still also meet with sincerity ; [for] teh is

    sincerity. The perfect man dwells in the world calm and reserved,

    his soul preserving the same I’cgard for all mankind.

    The people all turn their eyes and ears toward him, and he regards them alike as his children.”

    In order to better understand these aphorisms, they need to be read with the help of the various commentaries ; these furnish us with a better estimate of their value than any other guides. Foreign writers necessarily judge such a work by their own higher standard; as does M. Pauthier when he remarks upon the last extract : ” La sagesse humaine ne pent ctre jamais exprime des paroles plus saintes et plus profondes.” He compares Lau-tsz’ to his own countryman Rousseau—and these two had a good deal in common in their sad reflections upon the evils of the times. In another place the French author goes

    even farther, and regards the vague expressions in Chapter XLH.,

    “which show their derivation from the Yi/i K’in<i—viz. : ” Tao

    produced one, one produced two, two produced thiee, and three

    produced all things “—as the Asiatic form of the docti-ine and

    procession of the Holy Trinity and the biblical idea of the reunion

    of good men with their Maker I

    ITS SPECULATIONS AND APHORISMS. 211

    One more extract from the Tao teh K’ukj will till the space at command ; but sententious apothegms like these in Chapter XXXIII. are scattered throughout the book : ” He who knows men is wise ; [while] he who knows himself is perspicacious. He who conquers men is strong ; [while] he who conquers himself is mighty. lie who knows when he has enough is rich. He who acts energetically has a fixed purpose in view. He who does not miss his nature endures ; [while] he who deceases and still is not extinct has immortality “—referring, as the commentators agree, to the life of the soul after it leaves the body.

    Such a work can hardly be accurately translated into a European language ; a perusal of all the translations enables one to appreciate this point. Some translators have missed the point of Lau-tsz’s teachings by not attending to the parallelisms running through them, where one limb of the couplet illustrates and defines the other. In conclusion, it is still true that the absence of clear exposition on the duties of men in their marital, parental, and fraternal relations ; the want of all instruction upon their obligations and rights as members of the family, the village, and the State ; and lastly, his silence upon the voice of conscience and the effects of sin upon the soul of man, show that Lau-tsz’ was more an ascetic than a philanthropist, more of a metaphysician than a humanitarian.

    Mr. Samuel Johnson has indicated the high position this ancient relic holds in his examination of its tenets. ” Nothing like this book exists in Chinese literature ; nothing, so far as yet known, so lofty, so vital, so restful at the roots of strength; in structure as wonderful as in spirit ; the fixed syllabic characters, formed for visible and definite meaning, here compacted into terse aphorisms of a mystical and universal wisdom, so subtly translated out of their ordinary spheres to meet a demand for spiritual expression that it is confessedly almost impossible to render them with certainty into another tongue. … It is a book of wonderful ethical and spiritual simplicity, and deals neither in speculative cosmogony nor in popular superstitions.

    It is not the speculations of an old philosopher, as Chalmers calls it. It is in practical earnest, and speaks from the heart and to the heart. Its religion resembles that of Fenelon or Thomas a ICeinpis, combined with a perceptive rationalism of which they were iu)t masters.” ‘

    The historian Sima Qian relates an interview which Confucius had with LaoZi when, at the age of thirty-four (u.c. 517), he visited the capital to study the ritual of ^tate worship, at which time the latter would be eighty-seven years old. Dr. Legge gives an account of this meeting, which it is to be wished could be better known, for the account is not very certain. The legendary history amplifies it largely, but in no extravagant style, and quite consonant to their diiferent characters. Si’ma Qian makes the elder lecture the younger philosopher in the following style: “Those whom you talk about are dead, and their bones mouldered to dust ; only their words remain. When the superior man gets his time, he mounts aloft; but when the

    time is against him, he moves as if his feet were entangled. I

    have heard that a good merchant, though he has rich treasures

    deeply stored, appears as if he were poor ; and that the superior

    man whose virtue is complete is yet to outward seeming stupid.

    Put away your proud air and many desires, your insinuating

    habit and wild will. They are of no advantage to you. This

    is all which I have to tell you.” To the reply of Confucius,

    that he liad sought to get tao for twenty years, and had sought

    in vain, Lau-tsz’ rejoined in a strain worthy of Diogenes, which

    Chwang-tsz’ thus reports : ” If tao could be offered to men,

    thei’e is no one who would not willingly offer it to his prince;

    if it could be presented to men, everybody would like to present

    it to his parents; if it could be announced to men, each man

    woul^l gladly announce it to his brothers; if it could be handed

    down to men, who would not wish to transmit it to his children ? Why theii can you not obtain it ? This is the reason. You are incapable of giving it an asyhnn in your heart.”‘

    ‘ Johnson, Oriental Relujions : China, pp. 862-8G5. Pautliier, La Chine, pp. 110-120. Chahuers, Speculations of the Old Plnkisopher. Julien, J^a, JAvrcde la Vote et de la Vertu, Paris, 1859 ; this last is the most scholarly work on tliia classic which has yet appeared. R. von Reinhold, Dcr TlVr/ zur Tagend, Leipzig, 1870. Victor von Strauss, Lao-TsVs Tao Te King, Ans deni ChineS’ imhen ins Deutsche ilhersetzt, Leipzig, 1870. See also Doolittle’s Vocalndanj, Vol. II., Part III. T. Watters, Lao-Tzu, A Study in Chinese Philosophy, Hongkong, 1870. Dr. Edkins in Transactions of N. C. Br. R A. S. for 1H.’)5, Art. IV. F. H. Balfour, Chiianfj 7’sze’s Divine Cktssic of Nan-hi/ d, i^ha.uii\ia.\, 1881.

    INTEP.VIEW 75ETAVKEN LAU-TSZ’ AND CONFUCIUS. 213

    Such speculative teachings and waiting till the times were

    good were not adapted to entertain or benefit, and Confucius

    understood his countrymen and his own duty nmch better than

    Lau-tsz\ in doing all he could by precept and practice to show

    them the excellence of what he believed to be right. The divergence

    of these two great men sprung from the diiferences in

    human minds in all climes and ages. The teachings of the

    Tao-teh King, however, are no more responsible for the subsequent

    organization and vagaries of the sect of Taoists down to

    the present time than the New Testament is for the legends of

    monkery or the absurdities of mystics. M. Bazin has endeavored

    to show that in China there has been, from early times,

    a progression from magic to mythology, from mythology to

    philosophy ; and when philosophy began to crystallize into parties

    and take on an organized discipline of sects, during and

    after the Ilan dynasty down to the Tang, they took up the old

    native mj’thology against the newly arrived Buddhists, and imitated

    them by adopting Lau-tsz’ as their god and his book as the

    foundation of their tenets. Previous to this period he was one

    among the philosophers of the Flowery Land ; in time he has

    been taken as the founder of a system of religion. If the Gnostics

    had deified Lucretius and taken his poem as their text-book

    the cases would have been similar.

    The earliest writers on Taoism are Chwang-tsz’ and Lih-tsz’ in

    the fourth century, Avho have been amplified by their followers.

    It is, as Wylie well observes, diflficult to educe a well-ordered

    system out of the motley chaos of modern Taoism, Mdiere the

    pursuit of immortality, the conquest of the passions, a search

    after the philosopher’s stone, the use of amulets, and the observance

    of fasts and sacrifices before gods, are mixed with the

    profound speculations of recluses upon abstruse questions of

    theology and philosophy. Some of the later writers of the

    Taoists discourse upon Reason in a way that would please

    Brownson and befit the pages of the Dial. The teachings of

    the ancient and modern transcendentalists are alike destitute of common sense and unproductive of good to their fellow-men.

    ‘ Legge, CMnese Classics, I. Proleg., p. C5. Julieii, Tno-te King, Int., p. xxvii.

    Dr. Medlmrst quotes one of the Chinese nationalists, who praises reason in a marvelous rhapsody :
    What is there superior to heaven, and from which heaven and earth sprang ? Nay, what is there superior to space and which moves in space ?

    The great Tao is the parent of space, and space is the parent of heaven and

    earth, and heaven and earth produced men and things. . . . The venerable

    prince -(Reason) arose prior to the great original, standing at the commencement

    of the mighty wonderful, and floating in the ocean of deep obscurity.

    He is spontaneous and self-existing, produced before the beginning of emptiness,

    commencing prior to uncaused existences, pervading all heaven and

    earth, whose beginning and end no years can circumscribe.

    The sectarians suppose their founder was merely an impersonation

    of this power, and that he whom they call ” the venerable

    prince, the origin of primary matter, the root of heaven

    and earth, the occupier of infinite space, the commencement of

    all things, farther back than the utmost stretch of numbers can

    reach,” created the universe. They notice three incarnations

    of him during the present epoch, one during the Shang dynasty,

    B.C. 1407, one at the time of Confucius, and a third about A.n.

    623, when a man of Shansi reported having seen an old man

    who called himself Lau-kiun. Only the priests of this sect are

    regarded as its members; they live in temples and small communities

    with their families, cultivating the grotmd attached to the

    establishment, and thus perpetuate their body ; many lead a

    wandering life, and derive a pi-ecarious livelihood from the sale

    of chariris and medical nostrums. They shave the sides of the

    head and coil the rest of the hair in a tuft upon the crown,

    thrusting a pin through it, and are I’cadily recognized by their

    slate-colored robes. They study astrology and profess to have

    dealhigs with spirits, their books containing a gi-eat variety of

    stories of priests who have done wonderful acts by their help.

    The Pastimes of the Study^ already noticed, is one of these books,

    and Davis introduces a pleasant story of (^hwang and his wife

    from another work.’ They long endeavored to find a beverage

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 118-128. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p173. Giles, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, 1880.

    RITES AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE TAOISTS. 210

    which would insure immortality, and during the Tang dynasty

    the Emperor and highest officers were carried away with their

    delusions. The title of ‘ Heavenly Doctors ‘ was conferred on

    them, and a superb temple erected to Lau-tsz’ in Chang-an, containing his statue ; examinations were ordered in a.d. 674, to

    be held in the Tao-teh JClng, and some of the priests reached

    the highest honors in the State, Since that time they have

    degenerated, and are now looked upon as ignorant cheats and

    designing jugglers, who are quite as willing to use their magical

    powers to injure their enemies as to help those who seek their aid.

    In some places the votaries of Tao, on the third day of the third month, go barefoot over ignited charcoal ; and on the anniversary of the birthday of the High Emperor of the Sombre Heavens, ” they assemble together before the temple of this imaginary being, and having made a great fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot, preceded by the

    priests, and bearing the gods in their arms. The previous ceremonies

    consist in chanting prayers, ringing bells, sprinkling holy

    water, blowing horns, and brandishing swords in and over the

    flames in order to subdue the demon, after which they dart

    through the devouring element. They firmly assert that if they

    possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire, but

    both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions.’

    Yet such is the delusion, and the idea the people entertain of

    the benefit of these services, that they willingly contribute large

    sums to provide the sacrifices and pay the performers.” “^

    This ceremony is practised in Fuhkien and at Batavia, but

    is not very general, for the Chinese are the antipodes of the

    Hindus in their endurance and relish for sufferingsand austerities

    in the hope of obtaining future happiness. The Rationalists

    worship a great variety of idols, among which ITuh-liioang

    Shangtl is one of the highest ; their pantheon also includes

    genii, devils, inferior spirits, and numberless other objects of worship. The Siu. Shin JTi, or ‘ Records of Researches concerning the Gods,’ contains an account of the birth of the deitj whose anniversary is celebrated as above described.

    ‘ Compare Escayrac de Lauture, Memoire sur la Chine, Religion, pp. 87, 102.Yule’s Mdiro Polo, Vol. I., p. 286. Also Bode’s Bokhara, p. 271, for a similai practice among the Moslems.
    “^ Medliurst’s China, its Shite and Prospects, p. 168.

    There was once a childless emperor called Tsingtili (‘ Pure Virtue’), who snmmoiied a large company of Tao priests to perform their rites in his behalf, and continued their worship half a year. The Empress Pao Yueh-kwang(‘ Gemmeous Moonlight’) on a night dreamed that she saw the great and eminent Lau-kiun, together with a large number of superior deities, riding in parti-colored carriages with vast resplendent banners and shaded by bright variegated umbrellas. Here was the great founder Lau-kiun sitting in a dragon carriage, and holding in his arms a young infant, whose body was entirely covered with pores, from which unbounded splendors issued, illuminating the hall of the palace with ever}’ precious color. Banners and canopies preceded Lau-kiun as he came floating along. Then was the heart of the Empress elated with joy, and reverently kneeling before him, said: “At present our monarch has no male descendants, and I wishfully beseech you for this child that he may become the sovereign of our hearts and altars. Prostrate I look up to your merciful kindness, earnestly imploring thee to commiserate and grant my request.”

    He at once ausw(n’ed, ” It is my special desire to present the boy to

    you ; ” whereupon she thankfully received him, and immediately returned from

    the pursuit of the dream, and found herself advanced a year in pregnancy. ,

    When the birth took place a resplendent light poured forth from the child’s

    body, which filled the whole country with brilliant glares His entire countenance

    was super-eminently beautiful, so that none became weary in beholding

    him. When in childhood he possessed the clearest intelligence and compassion,

    and taking the possessions of the country and the funds of the treasury,

    he distributed them to the poor and afflicted, the widowers and widows, orphans

    and childless, the houseless and sick, halt, deaf, blind, and lame.

    Not long after this the demise of his father took place, and he succeeded to the

    government ; but reflecting on the instability of life, he resigned his throne

    and its cares to his ministers, and repaired to the hills of Fuming, where he gave

    himself up to meditation, and being perfected in merit ascended to heaven to

    enjoy eternal life. He however descended to earth again eight hundred times,

    and became the companion of the common people to instruct them in his doctrines.

    After that he made eight hundred more journeys, ejigaging in medical

    practice and successfully curing the people ; and then another similar series,

    in which he exercised universal benevolence in hades and earth, expounded

    all aljstract doctrines, elucidated the spiritual literature, magnanimously promulged

    tlie renovating ethics, gave glory to the widely spread merits of the

    gods, assisted the nation, and saved the people. During another eight hundred

    descents he exhibited ])atient suffering; though men took his life, yet he parted with his fU^sh and blood. After this he became the first of the verified golden genii, and was denominated the pure and immaculate one, self-existing, of highest intelligence.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 306.

    THE SECT OF FUII, OR BUDDHISTS. 217

    These figments are evidently a reprotl notion of the vagaries

    of llindn theosophists, and not the teachings of Ldu-tsz’, bnt they

    annise his followers, to whom his own abstruse utterances are

    (juite unintelligible. The learned Confucianists laugh at their

    fables, but are still so much the prey of fears as to be often

    duped by them, and follow even when sure of being deceived.

    The organization of the Rationalists is a regular hierarchy. It

    is under the supervision of the government, which holds the

    chiefs responsible for the general conduct and teachings of the

    members. The head resides at Lung-hu Shan in Kiangsi, where

    is a large establishment, resorted to by many votaries, and

    gathering in a large ]-evenue from their offerings. When he

    dies a piece of iron is cast into a well near by, and when it floats

    the name of his successor is found to be written on it. By their

    extravagant professions and pretences the priests of this sect

    maintain their influence over a laity as ignorant and credulous

    as themselves ; their power to delude will only wane with the progress of truth and Christianity. The full history of the authors, divinities, vagaries, and varied fortunes of the Nationalists has yet to be written ; when this is done it will illustrate the question King David asked six centuries before Lau-tsz’ lived: Who will show us any good ? And when his followers are able to say. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, they will know why he failed to find La Yoie et la Yertu.’^

    The most popular religious sect is that of the followers of

    Full, Fo, Fat, Hwut, or Fuh-tu, as it is called in different dialects

    in imitation of the Hindu word Bodh, or Truth ;” this name is

    sometimes confounded with that of Fuh-hi, one of the early

    rulers in Chinese history. Their tenets had been promulged in

    ( ‘entral Asia for centuries, and were known in Western China,

    but during the long period of disorders previous to the Han dynasty they found little favor. In a.d. 65 the Emperor Mingti sent an embassy to India, in consequence—as the Chinese historians say—of having dreamed that he saw the image of a foreign god. The embassy returned in a.d. 67, bringing with it some teachers of the faith to Lohyang. One cannot tell whether it was sent at first at the suggestion of the nationalists, to seek for a wise man said to liave appeared there^ or whether, according to others, it arose from the i-emarkable expression of Confucius, already quoted, ” The people of the west have sages[or a sage].” It may have been that this mission was excited by some indistinct tidings of the advent and death of Christ, though there is no trace of such a rumor havino- reached the land of Sinim. At that epoch they might have heard of or met the Apostles in their first tours through the Roman Empire and Syria.

    ‘ Douglas, Taouism, London, 1879 ; this is by far the most readable account of it. Edkius, Journal of Shaiif/hai Scien. and Lit. Sor. , No. III. , 1859, pp. 309-314. Slayers, No. Ch. Br. Roij. As. Soc.,\o\. VI., 1870, pp. 31-44. Bazin, Recherrhes stir Vorifjinr, Vhistoire, et la conditutioii des ordres reli(jieu.v dans Vemjnre Chinots, Paris, 1856, p. 70. Johnson, Oriental Eelirjions : China, Part V-, pp.859-904. Nevius, C’?iina and tlie Chinese, Chap. IX., New York, 1869. Dr. W. A. P. Martin, The Chinese, p. 97, etc.
    ‘ Hardy enumerates fifty-six modes of writing the name. Manual, p. 354

    The incidents in the life of Buddha have been enveloped in so much legendary narrative by his followers in India that the Chinese have placed his birth much too early—b.v. 1027—while the true date is n.o. 623 according to the best authorities; but when his actual mortal life is regarded as one in a series of incarnations, no surprise need be felt at these discre})ancies. He was the son of Suddhodana, king of Ivapilavastu, a city and country near Nipal, subject to the king of Magadha, now a part of Bahar. His mother, TMaj’a, or Maha-maya deva, died ten days after his birth, which, according to the legends, was accomplished without pain and acconq^anied by amazing wonders. His name was ISiddhai’ta, or the ‘ Establisher,’ until he became a Buddha, i.e.,h’nn In’ whom truth is known. The name Gotama, or Samona-Godam, is a patronymic better known in Siam than China, where another family or clan name, Sakya-muni, is more common. At the age of fifteen he was nuide heir-apparent ; at seventeen he was married to Yashodara, a Brahmin maiden of the Sakya clan, and his son Bahula was born the next year. At twenty-five he determined to become a recluse, and left his prospects and his father’s court for an abode in the forest beyond Kapilavastu, in solitary spots ” trying various methods to attain mental satisfaction, but in vain.” After five years of this ascetic life ” he came to the perception of the true condition and wants of mankind,” and began his ministry of forty-nine years. He was now a Buddha^ which is described as ” entering into a state of reverie, emitting a bright light and retieeting on the four modes of truth.”

    LIFE OF GOTAMA BUDDHA. ^19

    He began his preaching at Benares by discourses on the four truths, which was termed the revolving of the wheel of the law. He formed his first disciples into a connnunity, to whom he gave their rules, and when the number increased to fifty-six be sent them over the land to give instruction in \\\qfour miseries^ and carry out the system by which all his disciples were taught they could attain final happiness in nirvana. This system, which exists in full strength to this day, is founded on

    monastic vows for the individual, living in spiritual communities

    for the disciples, voluntary poverty and universal preaching,

    Sakya-numi infused such energy into his followers that in a

    few years India was covered with their communities ; and he

    developed rules for instruction, employment, punishment, and

    promotion, which have served ever since. His own life, after

    his visit to his father in the year 586, when thirty-seven years

    old, was passed mostly in delivering the sidras, or laws, thirtyfive

    discourses in all ; these are reverenced by all Buddhists, and

    copies are held to have moral and hygienic effects on those who

    do so, and bring good luck to the family and the State. As

    Sakya-muni lived long enough to see and correct the dangers of

    his system, at his death, in the year 543, he was able to confer

    much of his authority on his two chief disciples, Ananda and

    Kashiapa, and thus hand down the organization to posterity.

    The few facts here stated respecting this remarkable man are

    selected from Hardy’s Manual of Buddhistn, where is given a

    good digest of the Hindu writers respecting their sage. One

    thing impresses the readei- of this work as a peculiarity of Sakyamuni’s

    teaching, and standing in strong contrast to the Brahminic

    system that followed it: it is the manner in which he has

    weakened and almost destroyed the power of the unseen world

    and of spiritual beings as agencies of restraint upon the heart

    of man, and of assistance in seeking after good. By his system of

    good works and self-denials, his followers are brought into such

    close relationship with the whole creation of invisible beings, into whose presence and fellowship they can enter by their own efforts and mediation, that the moral sanctions of a Supreme Ruler and God over all are neutralized, and the sense of sin in the human conscience done away with. Its removal is put under

    the control of the soul, and the degree of happiness and power

    attained in the future world depends on the individual—so

    many prayers, alms, austerities, and obediences result in so much

    honor, power, and enjoyment in the coming infinite. The past

    infinite is also made part of the conscious present, and moral

    fate worked like physical attraction, innumerable causes producing

    retributive results for rewards or for punishments. In such

    a theology, salvation by faith is rendered impossible, and sacrifice

    for sin by way of atonement useless. In this feature the

    ancient worship of China and the teachings of Confucius rise

    superior to Buddhism, and leave the soul of man more open to

    rnoral law.

    The personal life and character of Buddha presents a wonderful

    exhibition of virtues, and one is not disposed to weigh the testimony

    of their reality as di’awn out in Hardy’s 2LtnH((l so carefully

    as to neutralize the effect; but the glowing picture oi his

    good actions for his fellow-nicn given in the fervid lines of

    Arnold’s JJyJd ofAsia, takes one quite into the realm of fable,

    engendering the wish that the ( onfiician Analects and their matter-

    of-fact details could have been imitated by the disciples of

    Siddharta. In regard to both these great teachers, Confucius

    and Buddha, however, one may gladly adopt Dean Stanley’s remark,

    ” that it is difficult for those who believe the permanent

    elements of the Jewish and Christian religion to be universal

    and divine, not to hail these corresponding forms of truth or

    goodness elsewhere, or to recognize that the mere appearance of

    such saintlike or godlike characters in other parts of the earth,

    if not preparing the way for a greater manifestation, illustrates

    that manifestation by showing how mighty has been the witness

    borne to it even mider circumstances of such discouragement,

    and even with effects inadequate to their grandeur.”‘

    INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM AMONG THE PEOPLE. 221

    Buddhist priests are more numerous in China than the Tao sz’, and they obtained influence more rapidly over the people. Their demonolatry allows the incorporation of the deities and spirits of

    Other religions, and goes even further, in permitting the priests

    to worship the gods of other pantheons, so that they could adapt

    themselves to the popular superstitions of the countries they went

    to, and ingraft all the foreign divinities into their calendar they

    safw fit. The Emperors at various times have, moreover, shown

    great devotion to their ceremonies and doctrines, and have built

    costly temples, and supported more priests than ever Jezebel

    did ; but the teachings of Confucius and Mencius were too well

    understood among the people to be uprooted or overridden. The

    complete separation of the State religion from the worship of the

    common people accounts for the remarkable freedom of belief

    on religious topics. Mohammedanism and Buddhism, Taoist

    ceremonies and Lama temples, are all tolerated in a certain way,

    but none of them have in the least interfered with the State religion

    and the autocraay of the monarch as the Son of Heaven.

    They are, as every one knows, all essentially idolatrous, and the

    coming struggle between these various manifestations of error

    and the revealed truths and requirements of the Bible has only

    begun to cast its shadow over the land. The more subtile conflict,

    too, between the preaching of the Cross and faith alone in

    its sacrifice for salvation, and reliance on good works, and pi-iestly

    interference in every fonn, has not yet begun at all.

    The power of Buddhism in China has been owing chieily to

    its ability and offer to supply the lack of certainty in the popular

    notions respecting a future state, and the nature of the gods

    who govern man and creation. Confucius uttered no speculations

    about those unseen things, and ancestral worship confined

    itself to a belief in the presence of the loved ones, who were

    ready to accept the homage of their children. That longing of

    the soul to know something of the life beyond the grave was

    measurably supplied by the teachings of Sakya-muni and his

    disciples, and, as was the case with Confucius, was illustrated

    and enforced by the earnest, virtuous life of their founder.

    Though the sect did not receive the imperial sanction till about

    A.D. 65, these teachings must have gradually grown familiar

    during the previous age. The conflict of opinions which ere long

    arose between the definite practical maxims of the Confucian

    moralists, and the vague speculations, well-defined good works and hopeful tliongli unproved promises of future well-being, set

    forth by the Hindu missionaries, has continued ever since. It

    is an instructive chapter in human experience, and affords another

    illustration of the impossibility of man’s answering Job’s

    great question, ” But how shall num be just with God?” The

    early sages opened no outlook into the blank future, offered no

    hopes of life, love, happiness, or reunion of the friends gone before,

    and their disciples necessarily fell back into helpless fatalism.

    Buddhism said. Keep my ten connnandnients, live a life

    of celibacy and contem{)lation, pray, fast, and give alms, and according

    to your works you will become pure, and be rewarded

    in the serene nirvana to which all life tends. But the Buddhist

    priesthood had no system of schools to teach their peculiar tenets,

    and, as there is only one set of books taught in the common

    schools, the elevating precepts of the sages brought forth their

    proper fruit in the tender mind. Poverty, idleness, and vows

    made by parents in the day of adversity to dedicate a son or a

    daughter to the life-long service of Buddha, still supply that

    priesthood with most of its members. The majority are unable

    to nnderstand their own theological literature, and far more is

    known about its jieculiar tenets in Europe than among the mass

    of the Chinese. Tiie CVjufucianist, in his pride of office and learning, may lidicule their mummeries, but in his hour of weakness, pain, and death he turns to them for help, for he has nowhere else to o;o. Both are ii»;norant of the life and liojht revealed in the gospels, and cry out, ” Who will show us any good ?”

    If the mythology of Buddhism M’as trivial and jejune, as we

    judge it after comparing it with the beautiful imagerj- and art

    of Greece and Egypt, it brought in nothing that was licentious in

    its rites or cruel in its sacrifices. Coming from India, where

    M’orship of the gods involved the prostitution of Avomen, the

    adoration of the lingam, and the sacrifice of human beings.

    Buddhism was remarkably free from all revolting features. If

    it had nothing to offer the Chinese higher in morals or more

    exalted or true in its conception of the universe or its Maker, it

    did not sanction impurity or murder, or elevate such atrocities

    above the reach of law by making them sacred to the gods.

    IT ENTERS INTO THEIR RELIGHOUS LIFE. 223

    This last outrage of the Prince of Darkness on tlie soul of man,

    so common in Western Asia, has never been known or accepted

    to any great extent in the Middle Kingdom.

    But, while it is true that Buddhism gave them a system of

    precepts and observances that set before them just laws and high

    motives for right actions, and proportionate rewards for the good

    works it enjoined, it could not furnish the highest standards,

    sanctions, and inducements for holy living. On becoming a

    part of the people, the Buddhists soon entered into their religious

    life as acknowledged teachers. They adapted their own

    tenets to the national mythology, took its gods and gave it theirs,

    acted as mediators and interpreters between men and gods, the

    living and the dead, and shaped popular belief on all these

    mysteries. The well-organized hierarchy numbered its members

    by myriads, and yet history records no successful attempts on its

    part to usurp political power, or place the priest above the laws.

    This tendency was always checked by the literati, who really

    had in the classics a higher standard of ethical philosophy than

    the Buddhists, and would not be driven from their position

    by imperial orders, nor coaxed by specious arguments to yield

    their ground. Constant discussions on these points have served

    to keep alive a spirit of inquiry and rivalry, and preserve butli

    from stagnation. Though Buddhism, in its vagaries and willworship,

    gave them nothing better than husks, put hypocrisy

    in place of devotion, taught its own dogmas instead of truth,

    and left its devotees with no sense of sin against any law, yet

    its salutary inJiuence on the national life of China cannot be

    denied.

    The worship of ancestors and of good and bad spirits supposed

    to pervade and rule this world was perfectly compatible with

    the reception of Buddhism ; thus its priests gradually became the

    high priests of the popular superstition, and have since remained

    so. They first ingratiated themselves by making their services

    useful in the indigenous ritual, and were afterwards looked upon

    as necessary for its execution. They propagated their doctrines

    principally by books and tracts, rather than by collecting schools

    or disciples in their temples ; the quiet, indolent life they led,

    apparently absorbed in books and worship, and yet not altogether estranged from the world, likewise held out charms to some people.

    China is full of temples, in most of which Buddhist priests are found, hut it is not quite the true inference to suppose that all the buildings were erected or the priests hired, because the people wish to do reverence to Buddha. It is impossible to state the proportion in which Buddhist temples are found ; there are one hundred and twenty-four in Canton alone, containing idols of every name and attribute, in most of which they live and act as the assistants of whoever comes to worship.

    The tenets of Buddhism require a renunciation of the world

    and the observance of austerities to overcome evil passions and

    fit its disciples for future happiness.’ A vow of celibacy is

    taken, the priests dwelling together for mutual assistance in

    attaining perfection by worship of Buddha and calling upon his

    name. They shave the entire head as a token of purity, but not

    the whole body, as the ancient Egyptian priests did ; they profess

    to eat no animal food, wear no skin or woollen garments,

    and get their living by begging, by the alms of worshippers, and

    the cultivation of the grounds of the temple. Much of their

    supj)ort is derived from the sale of incense sticks, gilt paper, and

    candles, and from fees for services at funerals. In the great

    monasteries, like the ilai-chwang sz’ at Canton, the priests perform

    the whole service ; but in other temples they contrive to

    gain a livelihood, and many of those better situated derive a large

    })ortion of their income from entertaining strangers of wealth

    and disthiction. The sale of charms, the profits of theatrical

    exhibitions, the fees paid by neighborhoods for feeding hungry

    ghosts on All-Souls’ day, and other incidental services performed

    for the living or the dead, also furnish resources. Their largest

    monasteries contain extensive libraries, and a portion of the

    fraternity are well acquainted with letters, though most of them

    are ignorant even of their own books. Their moral character,

    as a class, is on a par with their countrymen, and nuiny of them

    are respectable, intelligent, and sober-minded persons, who seem

    ‘ Remusat terms these tenets not inaptly “a mixture of pantheism, rationalism, and idolatry.” In Hardy {Mitinud, p. 212) we find that the Wh-Uikj xz^ to five hundred Lo-h;in is to honor five hundred rahats. In India this number seems to stand for all.

    TENETS AND LITURGY OF THE BUDDHISTS. 225

    to be sincerely desirous of making themselves better, if possible, by their religious observances.

    The liturgy is in Sanscrit transliterated in Chinese characters with which priest and people are alike unacquainted, nor are there now any bilingual glossaries or dictionaries to explain the words. Dr. Milne, speaking of the use of unknown tongues in liturgies, remarks : ” There is something to be said in favor of those Christians who believe in the magic powers of foreign words, and who think a prayer either more acceptable to the Deity, or more suited to common edification, because the people do not generally understand it. They are not singular in this belief. Some of the Jom’s had the same opinion ; the followers of Buddha and Mohammed all cherish the same sentiment. From the chair of his holiness at Rome, and eastward through all Asia to the mountain retreats of the Yama-bus in Japan, this opinion is espoused. The bloody Druids of ancient Europe, the gymnosophists of India, the Mohammedan hatib, the Buddhists of China, the talapoins of Siam, and the bonzes of Japan, the Tlomish clerg}’, the vartabeds of the Armenian church, and the

    priests of the Abyssinian and Greek communions, all entertain

    the notion that the mysteries of religion will be the more revered

    the less they are understood, and the devotions of the

    people (performed by proxy) the more welcome in heaven for

    being dressed in the garb of a foreign tongue. Thus the synagogue

    and mosque, the pagan temple and Christian church, seem all to agree in ascribing marvellous efiicacy to the sounds of an unknown language ; and, as they have Jews and Mohammedans,

    Abyssinians and pagans, on their side, those Christians

    who plead for the use of an unknown tongue in the services of

    religion have certainly the majority. That Scripture, reason,

    and common sense should happen to be on the other side is indeed

    a misfortune for them, but there is no help for it.”

    ‘

    The following canon for exterminating misfortune is extracted

    from the Buddhist liturgy, but it is as unintelligible to the Chinese

    as it will be to the English reader. While repeating it

    ‘ Encyclopcedin Britannim, Art. Buddhism. TndocMnese Gleaner, Vol. III., p. 141. Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 640. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p200, and passim.

    the priest strikes upon a sounding board called mu yu, or ‘wooden fish,’ sliaped somewhat like a skull, in order to mark the time of his monotonous chant: Nan-mo O-mi’-to po-ye, to-ta-kia to-ye, to-ti-ye-ta 0-mi-li-to po-kwilii, 0-mili-to, sieli-tan-po-kwaii, O-iiii-li-to, kwan-kia-lan-ti 0-mi-li-to, kwan-kia-lan-ti; kia-mi-ni kia-kia-na, chih-to-kia-li i)o-po-ho.

    Similar invocations, with the name O-iivi-to’^ Full (Amida Baddha), are repeated thousands and myriads of times to attain perfection, affording a good illustration of the propriety of our Saviour’s direction, ” When ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do; for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking.” A plate in one Buddhistic work contains five thousand and forty-eight open dots, arranged in the shape of a pear ; each dot to be filled up when the name of Buddha has been repeated a hundred or a thousand times, and then the paper to be burned to pass into the other world to the credit of the devotee.

    The Buddhists have a system of merits and demerits, of which Sir John Davis remarks that ” this method of Ixeejumj a score with heaven is as foolish and dangerous a system of morality as that of penances and indulgences in the Romish church.”

    ‘ 0-im-to is derived from aniiiitr, or ‘deathless.’ Hardy, Manual, p. 355.

    OrPOSITIOX OF THE LITEPvATI TO BUDDHISM. 227

    In this Buddhist scale of actions, to repair a road, make a bridge, or dig a well, ranks as ten ; to cure a disease, or give enough ground for a grave, as thirty ; to set on foot some useful scheme ranks still higher. On the other hand, to reprove another unjustly counts as three on the debtor side ; to level a tomb, as fifty ; to dig up a corpse, as one hundred ; to cut off a man’s male heirs, as two hundred, and so on. This notion of keeping accounts with heaven prevails among all classes of the Chinese, and the score is usually settled about the end of the year by fasting and doing chai”ital)l(‘ acts, such as making a piece of road, repairing a temple, or distributing food, to prove their repentance and benefit tlie world. Festival days are chosen by devout people to distribute alms to the poor, and on such occasions troops of beggars cluster about their doors, holding clap-dishes in their outstretched hands, while the donor stands behind the luilf-opened door dealing out rice to the chunorous crowd which he dares not trust inside.

    Considerhig how few restraints this religion imposes on the

    evil propensities of tlie human lieart, and how easily it provides

    for the expiation of crimes, it is surprising that it has not had

    as great success among the Chinese as among the Tibetans, Birmese,

    and Siamese. The thorough education in the reasonable

    teachings of the classics, and the want of filial duty shown by

    celibates to their parents in leaving them to take care of themselves,

    have had their effects in maintaining the purer but

    heartless moralities of the Confucianists. The priests have

    always had the better judgment of the people against them,

    and being shut out by their profession from entering into society

    as companions or equals, and regarded as servants to be sent for

    when their services were M’anted, they can neither get nor maintain

    that influence over their countrymen which would enable

    them to form a party or a powerful sect. One of the officers

    in the reign of Chingtih of the Ming dynasty, Wang Yang-ning,

    who addressed a remonstrance to his sovereign against sending

    an embassy to India to fetch thence Buddhist books and priests,

    relies for his chief argument on a comparison between the precepts

    and tendency of that faith and the higher doctrines of the

    classics, proving to his own satisfaction that the latter contained

    all the good there was in the former, without its nonsense and

    evil. The opposition to Buddhism on the part of the literati has

    been in fact a controversy between common sense (imperfectly

    enlightened indeed) and superstitious fear; the first inclines the

    person to look at the subject with reference to the principles

    and practical results of the system, as exhibited in the writings

    and lives of its followers, while, not having themselves anything

    to look forward to beyond the grave, they are still led to entertain

    some of its dogmas, because there may be something in

    them after all, and they have themselves nothing better. The

    result is, as Dr. Morrison has observed, ” Buddhism in China is

    decried by the learned, laughed at by the profligate, yet followed

    by all.”

    The paraphrase and commentary on the seventh of Kanghi’s maxims against strange religions present a singular anomaly; for while the Emperor Yungching in the paraphrase decries Buddhism and Rationalism, and exalts the “orthodox doctrine,” as he terms the teachings of the classics, he was himself a daily worshipper of Buddhist idols served by the lamas.

    He inveighs against selling poor children to the priests in no

    measured terms, and shows the inutility and folly of repeating

    the books or reciting the unintelligible charms written by the

    priests, where the person never thought of performing what

    was good. lie speaks against the promiscuous assemblage of

    men and women at the temples, which leads to unseemly acts,

    and joins in with another of his own class, who remarked, in

    reference to a festival, that ” most of the worshippers are women,

    who like these worshipping days, because it gives them an opportunity

    to see and l)e seen in their fine clothes; and most of

    the men who go there, go to amuse themselves and look at the

    M’omen.’” “The sum of the whole is, these dissolute priests of

    Buddha are lazy ; they will neither labor in the fields nor traffic

    in the markets, and being without food and clothing, they set

    to work and invent means of deceiving people.” But though

    this upholder of the good old way well exhibits the follies of

    these idolatrous sects, he has nothing better to present his countrymen

    than ” the two living divinities placed in the family,*’

    nothing to lead their thoughts beyond this world. His best

    advice and consolation for their troubled and wearied souls is,

    ” Seek not for happiness beyond your own sphere ; perfoi-m not

    an action beyond the bounds of reason ; attend solely to your

    own duty ; then you will receive the protection of the gods.”

    ‘

    The instructions of Sakya-muni himself have noM^ become so

    interwoven in the additions, ritualism, and errors of his followers

    during the ages since he died, that he is charged with many

    things which he probably never taught. T^nlike the founders

    of Islamism and Zoroastrianism, his personlil influence and identity

    have been lost amid the fables which have enveloped his

    acts, and the diversities of worship and doctrine baffle all explanation.

    “When the patriarchs and missionaries of the sect

    ‘ Milne’s Sacred Edict, pp. 133-143. Chinese Bepository, Vol. I. , p. 207 ; Vol.II., p. 265.

    LIMITATIONS TO ITS POWEll IN CHINA. 220

    began to increase in Central Asia and Cliina after the embassy

    of Ming tt, they were obliged to defend, exphiin, and develop

    their tenets against the Chinese literati, and also commend them

    to the observance of the i)eople. In the former region their

    coiupiests were complete, and the Alotigols stdl hold to the Bnddhist

    faith as completely as the Knropean nations did to popery

    until the Reformation. The histoiy of Chinese Buddhism down

    to the present day has not yet been folly examined, but much

    has been done within the past few years by Julien, Beal, Edkins,

    Watters, Neumann, Koeppen, and others to make it known.

    Translations from Chinese Buddhistic travellers and moralists

    liave brought out nuiny obscure opinions and unexpected events

    in this branch of religious thought and missionary work, during

    a period of the world’s history hitherto quite unknown to Europeans.’

    The mutual forbearance exhibited by the different sects in

    China is owing a good deal to apathy, for where there is nothing

    to reach thei’e is little to stimulate to effort. The government

    tolerates no denomination suspected of interfering with its

    own inlluence, and as none of the sects have any State patronage,

    none of them liokl any power to wield for persecution, and the

    people soon tire of petty annoyances and unavailing invectives.

    The Buddhist priesthood is perpetuated mostly by the children

    given by parents who have vowed to do so in their distress, and

    by others purchased for serving in large monasteries. Persons

    occasionally enter late in life, weary with the vexations of thi3

    world ; Mr. Milne was accpuiinted with one who had two sons

    when he took the vows upon him, but gave himself no care as

    to what had become of them. The only education which most

    of the acolytes receive consists in memorizing the prayers in the

    liturgy and reading the canonical works. A few fraternities

    have tutors from whom they receive instruction.

    ‘See Alabaster’s Wheel of the Lair, pp. 228-241, for a well-digested Life of Buddha, from the Siamese. Beal’s Romantic History of Buddha, and Caten(( (f Buddhist Scriptures. Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, Chaps. I to VI., gives a good resume of the early progress of the faith. G. Biihler, Three Neic Edicts of A’ioka, London (Triibner).

    Nunneries also exist, most of them under the patronage of the IIolj Mother, Queen of Heaven. The priests advocate their establishment as a good means of working upon the feelings of the more susceptible part of society, to whom they themselves cannot get admittance. The succession among the “sisters “is kept up by purchase and by self-consecration ; the feet of children bought young are not bandaged. The novice is not admitted to full orders till she is sixteen, though previous to this she adopts the garb of the sisterhood ; the only difference consists in the front part of the head being shaved and the hair plaited in a queue, while nuns shave the whole. It is not easy to distinguish monks from nuns as they walk the streets, for both have natural feet, wear clumsy shoes, long stockings drawn over full trousers, short jackets, and bald pates. Like her sister

    in Romish countries, the Chinese nun, when her head has been

    shaved—the opposite of taking the veil, though the hair of both

    is sacrificed—is required to live a life of devotion and mortification,

    eat vegetables, care nothing for the world, and think only

    of her eternal canonization, keeping herself busy with the service

    of the temple. ” Daily exercises are to be conducted by her ;

    the furniture of the small sanctuary that forms a part of the

    convent must be looked after and kept clean and orderly ; those

    women or men who come to worship at the altars, and seek

    guidance and comfort, must be cared for and assisted. “When

    there is leisure the sick and the poor are to be visited ; and all

    who have placed themselves nnder her special direction and

    spiritual instruction have a strong claim upon her regard. That

    she may live the life of seclusion and self-denial, she must vow

    perpetual virginity. The thought of marriage should never

    enter her head, and the society of men must be shunned. On

    her death she will be swallowed up in nihility ! ” In Fuhchau

    the nunneries were all summarily abolished nearly fifty years

    ago by an officer who learned the dissolute lives of their inmates.

    They have not since been reopened for their residence, though

    this official provided husbands for most of their nuns. Such a

    proceeding would have been impossible in almost any other

    country, and shows the functions of Chinese officials for the

    welfare of society.

    BUDDHIST NUNS AND NUNNERIES. 231

    Most of them are tauo-ht to read the classics as well as their

    own liturgies, and a few of the sisterhood are said to be well

    read in the loi*e of the country. Each nun has her own disciples

    among the laity, and cultivates and extends her acquaintances as

    much as she can, inasmuch as upon them her support principally

    depends. Each of her patrons, whether male or female,

    receives a new name from her, as she herself also did when her

    head was shaven. Contributors’ names are written or engraved

    in conspicuous places in the building ; casual fees or donations

    go to the general expenses. Each nun also receives ten cents

    when public masses are recited for those who have engaged

    them. Their moral character is uniformly represented as dissolute,

    but while despised for their profligacy they are dreaded for the supposed power they can exert by means of their connection with spirits. The number of nunneries in the department of Ningbo is stated to be thirty, and the sisterhood in them all to amount to upward of three hundred persons.”

    The numerous points of similarity between the rites of the Buddhists and those of the Romish church early attracted attention. Abbe Hue enumerates many of them : ” The cross, the mitre, the dalmatica, the cope which the lamas wear on their journeys, or when performing some ceremony out of the temple; the service with double choirs, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the censer suspended from five chains, which you can open or close at pleasure ; the benedictions given by extending the right hand over the heads of the faithful ; the rosary, ecclesiastical celibacy, spiritual retirement, worship of the saints; the fasts, processions, litanies, and holy water—all these are analogies

    between ourselves and the Buddhists.” In addition to these, the

    institution of nuns, worship of relics, masses for the dead, and

    burning of candles and incense, with ringing of bells during

    worship, are prominent usages common to both. Their priests

    alike teach a purgatory from which the soul can be released by

    their prayers ; they also conduct service in a dead language, and

    pretend to miracles. Lastly, the doctrine of the perpetual virginity

    of Maya, the mother of Sakya-nmni, is an article taught

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. XIII., pp. 93-98. Doolittle’s Social Life, I., p. 253 WAn^^i Life in Chimi, pp. 134-146. Gray’s China, I., pp. 105, 131-135.

    by the Mongol Buddhists, who also practise a form of infant

    baptism, in which the lama dips the child three times imder the

    water as he pronounces its name and j^ives it a blessing.

    These mimerous and striking resemblances led the Roman

    Catholic missionaries to conclude that some of them had been

    derived from the papal or Syrian priests who entered China

    before Xublai khan. M. Hue brings forward his hypotliesis

    that Tseng Kaba, the teacher of the Buddhist reformer in Mongolia

    about that time, had adopted them from some of the J2uropeans

    who taught him the Christian doctrines.’ Others refer

    them to St. Thomas, but Premare ascribes them to the devil,

    who had thus imitated holy mother church in order to scandalize

    and oppose its rites. But as Davis observes, ” To those

    who admit that most of the Romish ceremonies are borrowed

    directly from paganism, there is less difficulty in accounting for

    the resemblance.”’ On this point it will be impossible to reach

    certainty. There have probably been some tilings borrowed by

    each from the other at various ages, without either knowing

    from whence they came or what were their tendencies. Fergusson

    shows the great probability that the monastic S3-stem,

    celibacy, and ascetic good works wei’e adopted in the Eastern

    church from India ; but the want of reliable records on either

    side hitherto has left much to inference and conjecture.

    Tlie worship is similar and equally imposing. One eye-witness

    describes the scene he saw in a Buddhist temple: “There

    stood foui’teen priests, seven on each side of the altar, erect,

    motionless, witii clasped hands and downcast eyes, their shaven

    heads and flowing gray robes adding to their solemn appearance.

    The low and measured tones of the slowdy moving chant they

    ‘ Hue’s Trarels in Tartnry, II., p. 50. Hardy’s Mantial, p. 142. Missionary Recorder, III., pp. 142, 181. Eitel, Lectures on BnMlmm, and HnvrVmok for the Btmleut of Chinese Buddhism, Hongkong, 1870. James Fergusson, Hist. Indian and Eastern Arc7iit£ci>ire, Introduction. Remusat, Melamjei Posthumes, p. 44. Klaproth in Journal Asiatique, Tome VII. (18:51), p. 190; also Tome XT. (IV– Ser.), 1848, p. 535. Prof. E. E. Salisbiu-y in Jonrnal Am. Or. ,S<jc., Vol. I., No. II., 1844. Jour, of tlie R. As. Soc, passim. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 406; also CatJuty and the Way Thithrr, II., p. 551. W. Wordsworth, The Church of Thibet and the Historical Analoyies of Buddhism and Christianity, London, 1877.

    THE ROMANIST AND BUDDHIST RITUALS. 233

    were singing might have awakened solemn emotions, too, and

    called away the thonghts from worldly objects. Three priests

    kept time with the mnsic, one beating an immense drum, another

    a large iron vessel, and a thiid a wooden ball. After chanting,

    they kneeled upon low stools and bowed before the colossal

    image of Buddha, at the same time striking their heads upon the

    ground. Then rising and facing each other, they began slowly

    chanting some sentences, and rapidly increasing the music and

    their utterance until both were at the climax of rapidity, they

    diminished in the same way imtil they had returned to the

    original measure. In the meantime, some of the number could

    not restrain their curiosity, and, even M’hile chanting and counting

    their beads, left their places to ask for books. The whole

    service forcibly renunded me of scenes in Romish chapels ; the

    shaven heads of the priests, their long robes, mock solemnity,

    frequent prostrations, chantings, beads—yea, and their idol, too,

    all suggested their types, or their antitypes, in the apostate

    church.”‘

    The expulsion of Buddhism from India, after its triumphs in the reign of Asoka, King of Majadha, was so complete that it hence forth divided into the northern and southern schools, the first taking Sanscrit and the other Pali as its sacred language. In the course of time the divergencies became fixed, and thus, without any actual schism, the Buddhists of Ceylon and Ultra Gane-es have come to differ from those of Central Asia and China. The form of Buddhism prev-ailing among the Mongols and Tibetans differs more in its state and powder than in its doctrines; it is called Shamanism, or IhiMng Jiao (‘Yellow Sect’) in Chinese, from the color of the priestly robes—a Shaman being one who has overcome all his passions ; it is a Hindu word.

    ‘ Foreifjn Missionary Clironide, Vol. XIV., p. 300.

    – I’or his origin see Klaprotli, Memoircs stir PAsie, Tome II., p. 90. Also Remusat, 3fel((/iges Posfhi/i/irs, pp. 1-04, for some observations on this faith in a review of De Guigues’ Huns. E. Schhigintweit. BudiUiiint in Tlbi’i, with folio atlas of plates, Leipzig, 180:3. J. Summers in llie Phceniv, I., 1870, pp 9-11,

    The Dalai-Lama at Il’lassa, in the great monastery of the Butala, is the pope of the religion, the abode of deity.* Mongolia swarms with lamas, and the government at Peking aids in supporting them in order to maintain its sway more easily over the tribes, though the Manclius have endeavored to supplant* the civil authority of the Dalai-Lama and banehin-erdeni, by partially aiding and gradually subdividing their power. The ritual of the Shamans, in which the leading tenets taught by the lamas are exhibited, contains their ten principal precepts, or decalogue, viz. : 1. Do not kill. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not connnit fornication. 4. Speak not falsely. 5. Drink no wine nor eat tlesh. 6. Look not on gay silks or necklaces, use no perfumed ointment, and paint not the body. 7. Neither sing nor dance, and do no sleight of hand tricks or gymnastic acts, and go not to see or

    hear them. 8. Sit not on a high large couch. 9. Do not eat out

    of time. 10. Do not grasp hold of living images, gold, silver,

    money, or any valuable thing.’ The book contains also twentyfour

    sections of directions as to the conduct to be observed in

    various places, and before different persons. When using the

    sacred books the devotee must consider himself to be in the

    presence of Buddha, and he is forbidden to study books of

    divination, physiognomy, medicine, drawing lots, astronomy,

    geography, alchemy, charms, magic, or poetry. Xo wonder the

    priests are ignorant when almost every source of instruction is

    thus debarred them. The number of temples scattered over

    Mongolia and Tibet and the proportion of priests are far greater

    than in China, and the literature is not less enormous for bulk

    than are the contents of the volumes tedious and uninstructive.’

    A good device for a religion of formality to economize time and

    accommodate ignoi-ance is adopted by the lamas, which is to

    write the pi-ayers on a piece of ])aper and fasten them to a wheel

    carried round by the wind or twirled by tlie liand ; chests are

    also set up in temples having prayers engraved on the outside

    in large letters, and the prayer is repeated as often as the wind or the hand revolves the wheel or ohest.

    ‘ Annnles He la Foi, Tome IX., p. 400.

    ^”The dreariest literature, perhaps,” says Professor Whitney, “that was ever painfully scored down, and patiently studied, and religiously preserved “(Oriental and lyhujuixtir Stiidifn, Second Series, p. i)8). For foreign bibliographies of Buddhism the reader may be referred to L^Il/’ntoire de (Jakya-Mount, par Foucaux (ad fin ), and Otto Kistner, Buddha and Ids Doctrines : A Bdjliographical Emuiy, London, 18G’J. See also Triibuer’s Record for 1869, p513.

    SHAMANISM, THE BUDDHISM OF TIBET. 235

    The Buddhist temples present nuich nniformity in their arrant »-enient, and some of the monastic establishments are amono; the finest buildings in China. No cave temples are known, but caves have been turned into temples in many places, and miserable places they are for worship. On entering a Buddhist temple, one sees four colossal statnes of the Four Great Kings who are supposed to govern the continents on each side of Mount Sumeru and guard or reward the devotees who honor their Lord ; they have black, blue, red, and white faces, and usually hold a sword, guitar, nmbrella, and snake in their hands. Opposite the door is a shrine containing an image of Maitreya Buddha, or the Merciful One, a very fat, jolly personage, who is to have an avatar three thousand years hence ; images of Kwanti, the God of War, and of Wei-to, a general nnder the Four Kings, clad in armor, are often seen near the shrine. Going behind a screen, the next great hall contains a high gilded image of Sakya-muni sitting on a lotns flower, with smaller statues of Ananda and

    Kashiapa on his sides ; their shrine often has standing images

    of attendants. In this hall are other images or pictures of the

    Eighteen Arhans, deified missionaries who propagated their

    faith early in China. In the rear of these is represented some

    form of Kwanyiu, the Goddess of Mercy, the popular idol of the

    sects. In large temples the live hundred Arhans, placed on as

    many seats, each having some distinguishing attribute, fill a large

    hall. Besides these occur the disciples of Buddha listening to

    his teachings, the horrible punishments of hell, and various

    honored deities, sages, or local gods, so that few temples are

    alike in all respects. In all of them are guest-chambers of

    various sizes, refectories, study rooms, and cloisters, according to

    the wants and resources of the fraternity.

    The hold of the Buddhist priesthood upon the mass of Chinese

    consists far more in the position they occupy in relation to the

    rites performed in honor of the dead than in their tenets. This

    brings us to the consideration of the real relio-ion of the Chinese,

    that in which more than anything else they trust, and to which

    they look for consolation and reward— the worship of deceased ancestors. The doctrines of Confucius and the ceremonial of the State religion, exhibit the speculative, intellectual dogmas of the educated literati and thinkers, who have early been taught the high ideal of tlie Princely Man set forth by their sages.

    The tenets of Lau-tsz’ and the sorcery and incantations of his

    followers show the mystic and marvellous part of the popular

    belief. Buddhism takes hold of the connnon life of man, offers

    relief in times of distress, escape from a future hell at a cheap

    rate, and employment in a round of prayers, study, or work,

    ending in the nirvana. But the heart of the nation reposes

    more upon the rites offered at the family shiine to the two

    “living divinities” who preside in the hall of ancestors than to

    all the rest. This sort of family worship has been popular in

    other countries, but in no part of the world has it reached the

    consequence it has received in Eastern Asia ; every natural

    feeling serves, indeed, to strengthen its simple cultus.

    In the Shh King, whose existence, as we have already pointed

    out, is coeval with Samuel or earlier, are many references to this

    worship, and to certain rites connected with its royal observance.

    At some festivals the dead were personated by a younger relative,

    who was supposed to be taken possession of by their spirits,

    and thereby became their visible image. He was placed on

    higli, and the sacrificer, on appearing in the temple, asked him

    to be seated at his ease, and urged him to eat, thereby to prepare

    himself to receive the liomage given to the dead. When he had

    done so he gave the response in their name ; the defied spirits

    returned to heaven, and their personator came down from his

    seat. \\\ one ode the response of the ancestors through their

    personator is thus given:

    What said the message from your sires ?
    *’ VoGKols r.nd gifts are cleans
    And all your friends, assisting you,
    Bchav) with reverent mien.
    ‘ Most reverently you did your part,
    And reverent by your side
    Your son appeared. On you henceforth
    Shall ceaseless blessings bide.
    ” What shall the ceaseless blessings be ?
    That in your palace high,
    For myriad years you dwell in peace,
    Rich in posterity.” ‘

    ANCESTRAL WORSHIP THE RELIGION OF THE FAMILY. 237

    The teachings of this ancient book intimate that the protecting favor of the departed could be lost by the vile, cruel, or unjust conduct of their descendants—thus connecting ancestral worship and reward with personal character. Another ode sums up this idea in the expression, ” The mysterious empyrean is able to strengthen anything ; do not disgrace your imperial ancestors,

    and it will save your posterity.” Many stories occur in

    the native literature exemplifying this idea by actual experiences

    of blessing and cursing, all flowing from the observance or

    neglect of the required duties.

    The great sages Confucius and Mencius, with the earlier rulers,

    King Wan and Duke Chan, and their millions of followers, have

    all upheld these sentiments, and those teachings and examples

    are still as powerful as ever. In every household, a shrine, a

    tablet, an oratory, or a domestic temple, according to the position

    of the family, contains the simple legend of the two ancestral

    names written on a slip of paper or carved on a board. Incense

    is burned before it, daily or on the new and full moons ; and in

    April the people everywhere gather at the family graves to

    sweep them, and worship the departed around a festive sacrifice.

    To the children it has all the pleasant associations of our Christmas

    or Thanksgiving; and all the elder members of the family

    who can do so come toorether around the tomb or in the ancestral

    hall at the annual rite. Parents and children meet and bow before

    the tablet, and in their simple cheer contract no associations

    with temples or idols, monasteries or priests, processions, or flags

    and nuisic. It is the family, and a stranger intermeddleth not

    with it ; he has his own tablet to look to, and can get no good

    by worshipping before that bearing the names of another family.

    As the children grow up the worship of the ancestors, whom

    they never saw, is exchanged for that of nearer ones who bore

    and nurtured, clothed, taught, and cheered them in helpless

    ‘ Legge’s She Kiruj, p. 309, London, 1876.

    childhood and hopeful youth, and the whole is thus rendered more

    personal, vivid, and endearing. There is nothing revolting or

    cruel connected with it, but everything is orderly, kind, and

    simple, calculated to strengthen the family relationship, cement

    the affection between brothers and sisters, and uphold habits of

    filial reverence and obedience. Though the strongest motive

    for this worship arises out of the belief that success in worldly

    affairs depends on the support given to parental spirits in hades,

    who will resent continued neglect by withholding their blessing,

    yet, in the course of ages, it has intluenced Chinese character, in

    promoting industry and cultivating habits of domestic care and

    thrift, beyond all estimation.

    It has, moreover, done much to preserve that feature of the government which grows out of the oversight of heaven as manifested to the people through their Emperor, the Son of Heaven, whom they regard as its vicegerent. The parental authority is also itself honored by that peculiar position of the monarch, and the child grows up with the habit of yielding to its injunctions, for to him the family tablet is a reality, the abode of a personal Being who exerts an influence over him that cannot be evaded, and is far more to him as an individual than any of the popular gods. Those gods are to be feared and their wrath deprecated, but the ” illustrious ones who have completed their probation ” represent love, care, and interest to the worshippers if they do not fail in their duties.

    Another indirect result has been to define and elevate the position of the wife and mother. All the laws which could be framed for the protection of women would lack their force if she were not honored in the household. As there can be only one ” illustrious consort ” {liien p’l) named on the tablet, there is of course only one wife {Ul) acknowledged in the family.

    There are concubines (tsieh), whose legal rights are defined and secured, and who form an integral part of the family ; but they are not admitted into the ancestral hall, and their children are reckoned with the others as Dan and Asher were in Jacob’s household.

    ITS EFFECTS UPON CHINESE SOCIETY. 239

    Polygamous families in China form a small proportion of the whole; and this acknowledged parity of the mother with the father, in the most sacred position she can be placed, has done much to maintain the purity and right influence of woman amid all the degradations, pollutions, and moral weakness of heathenism. It is one of the most powerful supports of good order. It may even be confidently stated that woman’s legal, social, and domestic position is as high in China as it has ever been outside of Christian culture, and as safe as it can be without the restraints of Christianity. Another benefit to the people, that of early marriages, deriv^es much of its prevalence and obligation from the fear that, if neglected, there may be no heirs left to carry on the worship at the family tomb.

    The three leading results here noticed, viz., the prevention of

    a priestly caste, the confirmation of parental authority in its own

    sphere, and the elevation of the woman and wife to a parity

    with the man and husband, do much to explain the perpetuity

    of Chinese institutions. The fact that filial piety in this system

    has overpassed the limit set by God in his Word, and that deceased

    parents are worshipped as gods by their children, is both

    true and sad. That the worship rendered to their ancestors by

    the Chinese is idolatrous cannot be doubted ; and it forms one

    of the subtlest phases of idolatry—essentially evil with the guisf

    of goodness—ever established among men.

    The prevalence of infanticide and the indifference with which

    the crime is regarded may seem to militate against this view of

    Chinese social character, and throw discredit on the degree of

    respect and reverence paid to parents ; for how, some will ask,

    can a man thus worship and venerate parents who once imbrued

    their hands in his sister’s blood ? Such anomalies may be found

    in the distorted minds and depraved hearts educated under the

    superstitions of heathenism in every country, and the Chinese

    are no exception. It is exceedingly difiicult, however, to ascertain

    the extent of infanticide in China, and all the reasons which

    prompt to the horrid act. Investigations have been made about

    Canton, and evidence obtained to show tiiat it is comparatively

    rare, and strongly discountenanced by public opinion ; though by

    no means unknown, nor punished by law when done. Similar

    investigations at Amoy have disclosed a fearful extent of murders

    of this nature ; yet while the latter are believed, the assertions

    of the former are regarded as evasions of the truth from the fear of being reproached for it or a sense of shame. The whole nation has been branded as systematic murderers of their children from the practice of the inhabitants of a portion of two provinces, who are generally regarded by their countrymen as among the most violent and poorest fraction of the whole. Sir John Barrow heard that the carts went about the streets of Peking daily to pick up dead and dying infants thrown out by their unnatural parents, but he does not mention ever having seen a single corpse in all his walks or rides about the capital.

    It has now been ascertained tliat this cart contains so many dead

    bodies of both sexes, that the inference by Dr. Dudgeon that

    not one in a hundred was killed seems to be sustained. The

    bodies of children are not as often seen in the lanes and creeks

    of Canton as those of adults, and’the former are as likely to have

    died natural deaths as the latter.

    In Fuhkien province, especially in the departments of Tsiuenchau

    and Changchau, infanticide prevails to a greater extent

    than in any other part of the Empire yet examined. Mr. Abeel

    extended his inquiries to forty different towns and villages lying

    in the first, and found that the percentage was between seventy

    and eighty down to ten, giving an average of about forty per

    cent, of all girls born in those places as being murdered. In

    Changchau, out of seventeen towns, the proportion lies between

    one-fourth and three-tenths in some places, occasionally rising

    to one-third, and in others sinking to one-fifth, making an average

    of one-fourth put to death. In other departments of the

    province the practice is confessed, but the pi-oportion tliought

    by intelligent natives to be less, since there is less poverty and

    fewer people than formerly. The examination was conducted

    in as fair a inanner as ]K>ssiblo, and {K’rsoiis of all classes were

    questioned as to the number of children they had killed themselves,

    or knew had been killed by their relatives or neighbors.

    One of eight brothers told him that only three girls were left’

    among all their children, sixteen having been killed. On one

    occasion he visited a small village on Anioy Island, called Bo-au,

    where the whole population turned out to see him and Dr. Cnmming, the latter of whom had recently cut out a large tumor from a fellow villager, he says:

    PKEVALENOE -OF INFATs’q’lCIDE IN CHINA. 241

    From till’ immljor of women in tlic crowd which turned out to greet; is. we were pretty well persuaded that they were under as little restraint as the men Irom indulging their curiosity ; and upon inquiry, found it to be so. We were conducted to a small temple, when 1 had the opportunity of conversing with many who came around us. On a second visit, while addressing them, one man held up a child, and publicly acknowledged that he bad killed five c,2 the helpless beings, having pre.served but two. I thought he was jesting, but as no surprise or dissent was expressed by his neighbors, and as there was an air of simplicity and regret in the individual, there was no reason to doubt its truth. After repeating his confession he added with affecting simplicity, “It was before I heard you speak on this subject ; I did not know it was wrong; I would not do so now.” Wishing to obtain the testimony of the assembled

    villagers, I put the question publicly, ” What number of female infants in this

    village are destroyed at birth V ” The reply was, “More than one-half.” As

    there was no discussion among them, which is not tlie case when they differ in

    opinion, and as we were fully convinced from our own observation of the numerical

    inequality of tlie sexes, the proportion of deatlis they gave did not

    strike us as extravagant.

    The reasons assigned for committing the unnatural deed are

    various. Poverty is the leading cause ; the alternative being, as

    the parents think, a life of infamy or slaverj”, since if they cannot

    rear their offspring themselves they must sell them. The

    fact of the great numbers of men who emigrate to the Archipelago

    from the coast districts has no doubt also had its effect in

    inducing parents to destroy daughters for v/hom they had little

    expectation of finding husbands if they did rear thein. Many

    who are able to support their daughters prefer to destroy them

    rather than incur the expenses of their marriage, but the investigation

    showed that the crime was rather less among the educated

    than the ignorant, and that they had done something to dissuade

    their poor neighbors from putting their girls to death. In the

    adjoining departments of Chauchau and Kiaying in Kwangtung,

    the people admit the practice, and, as their circumstances are

    similar, it is probable that it is not much less than around Amoj’

    Dr. Dudgeon, of Peking, has had very favorable opportunities

    for prosecuting inquiries in that region, and has shown that the

    stories formerly credited are wrong, and that most of the children

    thus disposed of are born of nuns. Inquiries instituted at

    Hankow by Dr. F. P. Smith, of the hospital, showed a wide

    prevalence of the crime among the poor and rural population, for which he ascribes several reasons ; the proportion of the sexes is ten men to seven women.

    While one of the worst features of the crime is the little degree of detestation everywhere expressed at it, vet the actual proportion is an important inquiry, and this, taking the whole nation, has been much exaggerated, chiefly from applying such facts and estimates as the preceding to the whole country. The governor of Canton once issued a dissuasive exhortation on this subject to the people, telling them that if they destroyed all their daughters they would soon have no mothers. Until investigations have been made elsewhere, it is not fair to charge all the Chinese with the atrocities of a small portion, nor to disbelieve the affirmations of the inhabitants of Canton, Ningbo, and Shanghai, and elsewhere, that they do not usually put their daughters to death, until we have overwhelming testimony that they deny and conceal what they are ashamed to confess.’

    Comparing their lamentable practice with those of other and

    European nations, we find, according to Hume, that “the exposure

    of new-born infants was an allowed practice in almost all

    the States of Greece and Rome ; even among the polite and civilized

    xVthenians, the abandoning of one’s child to hunger or wild

    beasts was regarded M-ithout blame or censure. This practice

    was very common ; and it is not spoken of by any author of

    those times with the horror it deserves, or scarcely even with

    disapprobation. Plutarch, the humane, good-natured Plutarch,

    mentions it as a merit in Attains, king of Pergannis, that he

    murdered, or, if you will, exposed all his own children, in order

    to leave his crown to the son of his brother Eumenes. It was

    Solon, the most celebrated of the sages of Greece, that gave

    parents permission by law to kill their children.” Aristotle

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XVII., p. 11, for a native essay against it; Vol.XVI., p. 513; Vol. XII., pp. 540-548.; Vol. XL, p. 508 ; Vol. VII., p. 54.

    Bishop Smith’s China, p. 443. Report of Pekiny Ilospital, 1865. Dr. F. P.

    Smith’s Fire Annual Reports of ITankow Hoapit/d, 1870, pp. 45-52. Doolittle,

    Social Life, 11. , pp. 203-209. Notes and Queries on C. amlJ., Vol. III., pp.

    156, 172. Ij infanticAde et VOeuvre de la Ste.-Enfance en Chine, par Pere G.

    Palatre, Changhai. Autof/raphie. de la Mission Catholique a Vorphelinat de Tou^

    se-tce, 1878. M. E. Martin, Etade Medico-Legale sur I’Infanticide et VAtorte’

    ment dans VEmpire Chinois, Paris, 1872.

    COMPARISON^ WITH GREECE AND ROME. 243

    thought it should be encouraged by the magistrates, and Plato maintained the same inhuman doctrine. It was complained of as a great singularity that the laws of Thebes forbade the practice. In all the provinces, and especially in Italy, the crime was daily perpetrated.’

    The ceremonies attendant upon the decease of a person vary

    in different parts of the country, though they are not necessarily

    elaborate or expensive anywhere, and all the important ones can

    be performed by the poorest mourner. The inhabitants of

    Fuhkien put a piece of silver in the mouth of the dying person,

    and carefully cover his nose and ears. Scarcely is he dead when

    they make a hole in the roof to facilitate the exit of the spirits

    proceeding from his body, of which they imagine each person possesses

    seven animal senses which die with him, and three souls,

    one of which enters elysium and receives judgment, another abides

    M’ith the tablet, and a third dwells in the tomb. In some places,

    as a man approaches his last hour, the relatives come into the

    room to array him in his best garments and carry him into the

    main hall to breathe his life away while dressed in the costume

    with which he is to appear in Hades. The popular ideas regarding

    their fate vary so much that it is difficult to describe the national

    faith in this respect; transmigration is more or less believed

    in, but the detail of the changes the good or evil spirit undergoes

    before it is absorbed in Buddha varies almost according to the

    fancy of the worshipper. Those who are sent to hell pass through

    every form of suffering inflicted upon them by hideous monsters,

    and are at last released to wander about as houseless demons to

    torment mankind, or vex themselves in the bodies of animals

    and reptiles.

    When the priests come the corpse is laid out upon the floor

    in the principal room, and a tablet set up by its side ; a table is

    near, on which are placed meats, lamps, and incense. While

    the priests are reciting prayers to deliver the soul from purgatory

    and hell, they occasionally call on all present to weep and

    lament, and on these occasions the females of the household are

    particularly clamorous in their grief, alternately uttering the

    ‘ Mcllvaine, Evidences of Christianity, p. 291.

    most dolefiii accents, nnd then tittei’injx with some of the new

    coiners. Papers having figni-es on tliein and Peter’s pence in

    the form of paper money are hnrned ; white lanterns, instead of

    tlie common red ones, and a slip of paper containing the name,

    titles, age, etc., of the dead arc lumg at the door; a mat [)orch

    is pnt np for tlie musicians and the priests.” The sonl, liaving

    crossed the l)ridge leading out of hell with the aid of the priests,

    gets a letter of recommendation from them to he admitted into

    the western heavens.

    Previous to burial a lucky place for interment, if the family

    have moved away from its paternal sepulchre, must be found.

    The body is coffined soon after death, arrayed in the most splendid

    habiliments the family can afford ; a fan is put in one liand

    and a prayer on a piece of paper in the other. The form of a

    Chinese coffin resembles the trunk of a tree ; the boards are

    three or four inches thick and rounded on top (from Avhence a

    coffin is called ” longevity boards “), making a very substantial

    case. When the corpse is put in it is laid in a bed of lime or

    cotton, or covered with quicklime, and the edges of the lid are

    closed with mortar in the groove so that no smell escapes; the

    coffin is varnished if it is to remain in the house before burial.

    The Chinese often expend large sums in the purchase and preparation of a coffin during their lifetime; the cheapest are from five to ten dollars, and upward to five hundred and even two thousand dollars, according to the materials and ornamenting. Bodies are sometimes kept in or about the house for many years and incense burned morning and evening. They are placed either on trestles near the doorway and protected by a covering in the principal hall, or in the ancestral chamber, where they remain until the fortunes of the family improve so as to enable them to bury the remains, or a lucky place is found, or until opportunity and means allow the survivors to lay them in their patrimonial sepulchre.

    The lineal relatives of the deceased are informed of his death,

    ‘ Ball says that money is put into the month of the dead by rich people to buy favor and passage into heaven ; others affirm that the money is to make the spirit ready o? speech. The phrase “no silver to hit the mouth ” has r^ference to this custom.

    FUXKIiAL CUSTO^rs AXI) (^EMEMONIES. 245

    and as many as can do so repair to the liouse to condole with

    and assist tlie family. The eldest son or the nearest descendant

    repairs to an adjoining river or well with a bowl in his hand, and

    accompanied by two relatives, to ” buy water ” with money

    M’hich he carries and throws into it. Upon the way to the well

    it is customary to carry lanterns—even at noon—and to make a

    great wailing: with the water thus obtained he washes the

    corpse before it is dressed. After the body is laid in the coffin

    and before interment the sons of the deceased among the poor

    are frequently sent around to the relatives and friends of the

    family to solicit subscriptions to buy a grave, hire mourners, or

    provide a suitable sacrifice, and it is considered a good act to

    assist in such cases ; perhaps fear of the ill-will of the displeased

    spirit prompts to the charity. The coffin is sometimes seized

    or attached by creditors to compel the relatives to collect a sum

    to release it, and instances of filial sons are mentioned who have

    sold themselves into temporary or perpetual slavery in order to

    raise money to bury their parents. In other cases a defaulting

    tenant will retain a cofiin in the house to forestall an ejectment

    for the back rent. On the day of burial an offering of cooked

    provisions is laid out near the coffin. The chief mourners,

    clothed in coarse white sackcloth, then approach and kneel

    before it, knocking their heads up.on the ground and going

    through with the full kotow ; two persons dressed in mourning

    hand them incense-sticks, w^liieh are placed in jars. After the

    male mourners have made their parting prostrations the females

    perform the same ceremonies, and then such friends and relations

    as are present ; during these observances a band of nuisic

    plays. The funeral procession is formed of all these persons

    —

    the band, the tablets, priests, etc. In Peking, where religious

    processions are prohibited, great display is made in funerals

    according to the means and raidc of the deceased. The coffin

    is borne on an nnwieldy bier carried by sixty-four men or moi-e

    and covered by a richly embroidered catafalque, attended by

    musicians, mourners, priests, etc. Sometimes the carts are covered

    with white cloth and the mules wear white harness.

    Burial-places are selected by geomancers, and their location

    has important results on the prosperity of the living. The supposed connection between these two things has influenced the science, religion, and cnstoms of the Chinese from very early days, and nnder the name oi feng-shui, or ‘ wind and water’ rules, still contains most of their science and explains most of their superstitions. As true science extends this travestie of natural philosophy will fade away and form a subject of fascination among the people as it now does a source of terror. Every strange event is interpreted hy fung-shid, and its professors employ the doctrines of Buddhists and Taoists to enforce their

    dicta, as they do their little knowledge of astronomy, medicine,

    and natural science to explain them. The whole has gradually

    grown into a system of geomancy, involving, however, their cosmogony,

    natural philosophy, spiritualism, and biology so far as

    they have these sciences. It was in the twelfth century that it

    became systematized, and its influence has spread ever since.

    Were it only a picturesque kaleidoscope of facts and fancies it

    would be a harndess pastime ; but it now enters into every act

    of life, since the human soul and body, Mdiether in this M’orld

    or the next, are regarded as constantly influenced by their actions,

    their relatives, and their locations. Thus the choice of a

    burial-place is supposed to affect the past, present, and future,

    and the fung-shui sicnsdng^ or ‘ wind and water doctors,’ know

    therein how to benefit their customers and themselves.

    Hcgarding all nature as a living organism and each person surrounded

    by invisible beings, the Chinese try to propitiate these

    essences through their departed relatives. They consider them

    as restrained by their animal nature to the tomb where their

    bodies lie, while the spiritual nature seeks to hover about its

    old scenes and children. If a tomb is placed so that the spirit

    dwelling therein is comfortable, the inference is that the deceased

    will grant those who supply its wants all that the spirit

    world can grant. A tomb located where no star on high or

    dragon below, no breath of nature oi- malign configuration of

    hills, can disturb the repose of the dead, must therefore be

    lucky, and M’orth great effoi-t to secure.

    The principles of geonuuicy depend nuich on two supposed

    currents running through the earth, known as the dragon and

    the tiger ; a propitious site has these on its left and right. A

    INFLUENCE OF FUN(i-SIIUI. 247

    skilful observer can detect and describe them, with the help of

    the compass, direction of the watercourses, shapes of the male

    and female ground, and their proportions, color of the soil, and

    the permutations of the elements. The common people know

    nothing of the basis on which tliis conclusion is founded, but

    give their money as their faith in the priest or charlatan increases.’

    At the south, uncultivated liills are selected because they are

    dry and the white ants will not attack the coffin ; and a hillside

    in view of water, a copse, or a ravine near a hill-top, arc all

    lucky spots. At the north, where ants are unknown, the dead are

    buried in fields ; but nowhere collected in graveyards in cities or

    temples. The form of the grave is sometimes a simple tumulus

    with a tonibstone at the head ; in the southern provinces oftener

    in the shape of the Greek letter fi, or that of a huge arm-chair.

    Tiie back of the supposed chair is the place for the tombstone,

    while the body is interred in the seat, the sides of which are

    built around with masonry and approach each other in front.

    A tomb is occasionally built of stone in a substantial manner,

    and carved pillars are placed at the corners, the whole often

    costing thousands of dollars. The case of one necromancer

    is recorded, who, after having selected a grave for a family, was

    attacked with ophthalmia, and in revenge for their giving him

    poisonous food which he supposed had caused the malad^^, hired

    men to remove a large mass of rock near the grave, whereby its

    efficacy was completely spoiled. The position is thought to be

    the better if it command a good view. Some of the graves occupy

    many hundred square feet, the corners being defined by

    low stones bearing two characters, importing whose chih, or

    ‘ house,’ it is. The shapes of graves vary more at the north ;

    some are conical mounds planted with shrubs or flowers, others

    made of mason-work shaped like little houses, others mere

    square tombs or earthly tunuili ; not a few coffins are simply left

    upon the ground. It is seldom the Chinese hew graves out of

    ‘ Compare Dr. Edkins in the Chineie Recorder, Vol. IV., 1871-72. Fengshui; or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China, by Ernest J. Eitel, London, 1878. The CornhiU Magazine for March, 1874 Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. II., p. 69.

    the rock or dig large vaults; their care is to make a showv

    grave, and at the same time a convenient one for performing

    the prescribed rites. The mausolea of emperors and grandees

    occnpv vast enclosures laid out as parks and adorned with ornamental

    buildings to which lead avenues of stone guardians.”

    The tomb of Yungloh (a.d, 1403-1425) is reached through a

    dwmos of gigantic statues nearly a mile long—two pairs each of

    lions, unicoi’ns, elephants, camels, and horses, one erect, the

    other couchant, and six pairs of civil and military officers; each

    fio;ure is a monolith. The orii2;in of this custom can be traced

    back nearly to the tenth century, but was probably known in the

    Tang dynasty. Officials are allowed to erect a few statues to

    become their guardians.’

    AYhen the day of interment arrives, which is usually the

    nearest lucky day to the third seventh after death, the friends

    assemble at the house. A band of musicians accompanies the

    procession, in which is also carried the ancestral tablet of the

    deceased in a separate sedan, accompanied sometimes by a sacrifice

    and the red tablets of the offices held by the family. The

    mourners are dressed entirely in white, or wear a white fillet

    ai’ound the head ; the sons of the deceased nnist put on the expression

    and habiliments of woe, and the eldest one is at times

    supported along the street to the grave in all the eloquence and

    attitude of grief, although it may have been years since liis

    father went to ” wander among the genii.” The women and

    children of the family follow, and at intervals cry and wail. A

    man goes ahead and scatters paper money to purchase the goodwill

    of such stray spirits as are prowling about. Diiferent

    figures and banners are carried according to the means and rank

    of the family, which, M’ith the friends and crowd attracted by

    the show, sometimes swell the train to a great length. The

    grave is deep, and lime is freely mixed with the earth thrown

    ‘ In the Yih cliin the custodian n>i)orte(i in the Peking Oazette of January

    3, 1871, that there were !)’J, (>!)() trees, mostly lir, pine, elm, etc. The people in

    chart,’e of such grounds are used to girdling the timber, in order afterward to

    get tlie dead trees as firewood for themselves.

    -‘ Mayens in North (Jltina Jh’. Royal Asiatic Society Journal, No. XII., 1878

    Doolittle, Social Life, II., p. 3;37.

    CUSTOMS OF INTERMENT AND MOURNING. 249

    in ; a body is never pnt into an old grave while anything remains

    of the former occupant ; crackers are fired, libations

    poured out, prayers recited, and finally paper models of houses,

    clothes, horses, money, and everything he can possibly want in

    the land of shadows (which Davis calls a loise economy) are

    burned. The tablet and sacrifice are then carried back ; the

    family feast on the latter or distribute it among the poor around

    the door, while the former is placed in the ancestral hall. The

    married daughters of the dead are not considered part of the

    famil}’, and wear no mourning ; nor are they invited to their

    father’s funeral.

    The period of mourning for a father is nominally three years,

    but actually reduced to twenty-seven months ; the persons required

    to observe this are enumerated in the Code, and Sections

    CLXXIX.-CLXXXI. contain the penalties for concealing

    the death of a parent, or misrepresenting it, and of omitting the

    proper formalities. Burning the corpse, or casting it into the

    water, unfeelingly exposing it in the house longer than a year,

    and making the funeral ceremony and feast an occasion of

    merrymaking and indecorous meeting of males and females,

    are also prohibited. For thirty days after the demise the

    nearest kindred must not shave their heads nor change their

    dress, but rather exhibit a slovenly, slipshod appearance, as if

    grief had taken away both appetite and decorum. In the

    southern districts half-mourning is bine, usually exhibited in a

    pair of blue shoes and a blue silken cord woven in the queue,

    instead of a red one ; grass shoes neatly made are now and then

    worn. In the northern provinces white is the only mourning

    color seen. The visiting cards also indicate that the time of

    mourning has not passed. The expenses incurred by the rich

    are great, and the priests receive large sums for masses, ten

    thousand dollars being often spent. In the north still greater

    expenses are incurred in buying a piece of land for a burial plot

    and its glebe. Here they erect a lodge, where the keeper of the

    grave lives, cultivating the land and keeping the tomb in order.’

    When the Empress dies ofiicers put on mourning, take the

    » Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 352; Vol. II., p. 499.

    buttons and fringes from their caps, stamp their seals with bhie

    ink, and go through a prescribed set of ceremonies ; they must

    not shave their lieads for a hundred days, nor the people for a

    month. Full details of the ceremonies ordered on the occasion

    of the decease of the Empress, or ” interior assistant, who for

    thirteen years had held the situation of earth to lieaven,” were

    published in 1833, in both Manchu and Chinese. When the

    Emperor dies all his subjects let their hair grow for a hundred

    days, marriages are postponed, theatres and sports disallowed,

    and a ceremonial gloom and dishabille pervades the Empire.

    On the morning after the death of the Emperor Tungchi, January

    12, 1875, the streets of Peking presented a surprising contrast

    to their usual gaiety in the removal of everything red. In

    early times human beings were immolated at the obsequies of

    rulers, and voluntary deaths of their attendants and women are

    occasionally mentioned. De Guignes says that the Emperor

    Shunchi ordered thirty persons to be immolated at the funeral

    of his consort ; but Kanghi, his son, forbade four women from

    sacrificing themselves on the death of his Empress.’

    The hall of ancestors is found in the house of almost every

    member of the family, but always in that of the eldest son. In

    rich families it is a separate building ; in others a room set apart

    for the purpose, and in many a mere shelf or shrine. The tablet,

    or shlii chu, is a boai’d about twelve inches long and three wide,

    placed upright in a block. The inscriptions on two are like the

    following: “The tablet of Hwang Yung-fuh (late (1iiiig-teh),

    the head of the family, who finished his probation with honor

    during the Imperial Tsing dynasty, reaching a sub-magistracy.”

    His wife’s reads : ” The tablet of Madame, originally of the

    noble family Chin, who would have received the title of lady,

    and in the Imperial Tsing dynasty became his illustrious consort.”

    A receptacle is often cut in the back, containing pieces

    of paper bearing the names of the higher ancestors, or other

    members of the family. Incense and papers are daily burned

    before them, accompanied by a bow or act of homage, forming

    ‘iV. C. Br. R. As. Soc. Journal, No. II., 18C5, pp. 173 ff. De Guignes’Voyages, Tome II., p. 304. ^fe)lloires cone, les Cliinois, Tome \^., pp. 346 ff Chinese and Japanese llepository for May, 1864.

    THE WORSHIP OF ANCESTRAL TABLETS. 251

    in fact a sort of family prayer. The tablets are ranged in

    chronological order, those of the same generation being placed

    in a line. When the hall is large, and the family rich, no pains

    are spared to adorn it with banners and insignia of wealth and

    rank, and on festival days it serves as. a convenient place for

    friends to meet, or for any extraordinary famil}^ occasion. A

    person residing near Macao spent aljout one thousand live hnn-

    Ancestral Hall and Mode of worshipping the Tablets.

    dred dollars in the erection of a hall, and on the dedication day

    the female members of his family assembled with his sons and

    descendants to assist in the ceremonies. The portraits of the

    deceased are also suspended in the hall, but effigies or images

    are not now made.

    In the wood-cut adjoining, the tablets are arranged on the same level, and the sacrifice laid uu the altar before them ; the character shao, ‘longevity,’ is drawn on the wall behind. During the ceremonies fire-crackers are let off and papers burned; after it the feast is spread.

    In the first part of April, one hundred and six days after the

    winter solstice, during the term called Uing-ming, a general

    worship of ancestors is observed. In Kwangtung this is commonly

    called j?a?^’ shan, or ‘ worshipping on the hills,’ but the

    general term is slu fan ti, or ‘ sweeping the tombs.’ The whole

    population, men, women, and children, repair to their family

    tombs, carrying a tray containing the sacrifice, libations for

    offering, and candles, paper, and incense for burning, and there

    go through a variety of ceremonies and prayers. The grave is

    at this season repaired and swept, and at the close of the service

    three pieces of turf are placed at the back and front of the

    grave to retain long strips of red and white paper ; this indicates

    that the accustomed rites have been performed, and these fugitive

    testimonials remain fluttering in the wind long enough to

    announce it to all the friends as well as enemies of the family ;

    for when a grave has been neglected three 3’ears it is sometimes

    dug over and the land resold. The enormous amount of litio’ation

    connected with sepulchral boundaries, transfer of grave

    glebes or sale of the ancient plats, injury, robberj^ and repairs

    of tombs, all indicate the high importance of this kind of

    property.

    ” Such are the harmless, if not meritorious, forms of respect

    for the dead,” says Davis, ” which the Jesuits wisely tolerated

    in their converts, knowing the consequences of outraging their

    most cherished prejudices ; but the crowds of ignorant monks

    who flocked to the breach which those scientific and able men

    had opened, jealous, perhaps, of their success, brought this as a

    charge against them until the point became one of sei-ious controversy

    and reference to the Pope. His Holiness espoused the

    bigoted and unwiser part, which led to the expulsion of the

    monks of all varieties.” And elseAvhere he says the worship

    paid to ancestoi-s is ” not exactly idolatrous, for they sacrifice

    to the invisible spirit and not to any representation of it in the

    fijijure of an idol.” This distinction is much the same as that

    IDOLATRY OF THE RITES. 253

    alleged by the Greek clmrcli, mIucIi disallows images but permits

    gold and silver pictures having the face and hands only painted,

    for Sir John Davis, himself being a Protestant, probably admits

    that worship paid to any other object besides the true God is

    idolatry ; and that the Chinese do trnly worship their ancestors

    is evident from a prayer, such as the following, offered at the

    tombs: Taukwang, 12th year, 8d moon, 1st day. I, Lin Kwang, the second son of the third generation, presnme to come before the grave of my ancestor, Lin

    Kung. Revolving years have brouglit again the season of spring. Clierisliing

    sentiments of veneration, I look up and sweep your tomb. Prostrate I pray

    that you will come and be present, and that you will grant to your posterity

    that they may be prosperous and illustrious. At this season of genial sliowers

    and gentle breezes I desire to recompense the root of my existence and exert

    myself sincerely. Alwaj-s grant your safe protection. My trust is in your

    divine spirit. Reverently I present the five-fold sacrifice of a pig, a fowl, a

    duck, a goose, and a fish ; also an offering of five plates of fruit, with libatnns

    of spirituous liquors, earnestly entreating that you will come and view them.

    With the most attentive respect this annunciation is presented on higli.

    It is not easy to perceive, perhaps, why the Pope and the

    Dominicans were so much opposed to the worship of ancestral

    penates among the Chinese when they pei-formed much the

    same services themselves before the images of Mary, Joseph,

    Cecilia, Ignatius, and hundreds of other deified mortals; but it

    is somewhat surprising that a Protestant should describe this

    worship as consisting of ” harmless, if not meritorious, forms of

    respect for the dead.” Mr. Fortune, too, thinlcs ” a considerable

    portion of this worship springs from a higher and purer source

    than a mere matter of form, and that when the Chinese periodically

    visit the tombs of their fathers to worship and pay respect

    to their memory, they indulge in the pleasing reflection that

    when they themselves are no more their graves will not be neglected

    or forgotten,” This feeling does actuate them, but there

    can be no dispute, one would think, about its idolatrous character.

    The Chinese who have embraced the doctrines of the Xew

    Testament, and who may be supposed qualified to judge of their

    own acts and feelings, regard the rites as superstitious and sinful.

    It is a form of worship, indeed, which presents fewer revolting features than most systems of false religion—consisting merely of pouring out libations and burning paper and candles at the grave, and tlien a family meeting at a social feast, with a few simple prostrations and petitions. No bacchanalian companies of men and women run riot over the hills, as in the Eleusinian mysteries, nor are obscene rites practised in the house ; all is pleasant, decorous, and harmonious. The junior members of the family come from a distance, sometimes two or three hundred miles, to observe it, and the family meeting on this occasion is looked forward to by all with much the same feelings that Christmas is in Old England or Thanksgiving in New England.

    Brothers and sisters, cousins and other relatives join in the worship and feast, and it is this pleasant reunion of dear ones, perhaps the most favorable to the cementing of family affection to be found in heathen society, which constitutes nnich of its power and will present such an obstacle to the reception of the Gospel and removal of the “two divinities” from the house.

    The funeral ceremonies here described are performed by sons

    for their parents, especially for the father ; but there are few or

    no ceremonies aiul little expense for infants, unmarried children,

    concubines, or slaves. These are coffined and buried without

    parade in the family sepulchre ; the poor sometimes tie them up

    in mats and boards and lay them in the fields to shock the eyes

    and noses of all who pass. The nnmici{)al authorities of Canton

    issued orders to the people in 1S82 to bring such bodies as had

    no place of burial to the potter’s field, where they M’ould l)e

    interred at public expense; societies, moreover, exist in all the

    large cities whose object is to bury poor people. In some pai’ts

    the body is wrapped in cloth or coffined and laid in graveyards

    on the surface of the ground. When one dies far away from

    home the coffin is often lodged in lamrmnis, or public depositories

    maintained by societies, where they remain many years.

    Few acts during the war of 1841 irritated the people about

    Canton against the English more than forcing open the coffins

    found in these mausolea and mutilating the corpses. One building

    contained hundreds of coffins ffom which, when ojiened, a

    pimgent aromatic smell was perceptible, while the features of

    the corpses presented a dried appearance. One traveller tells a

    story of his guide, when he was condncthig him over the hills

    DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 255

    in Hupeb, ordering him to conceal his blue e^^es by putting on

    green spectacles as they were approaching some houses, and

    describes his surprise at finding them all filled with coflins

    arranged in an orderly manner. Graves are not enclosed ; cattle

    pasture among them and paths lead over and through them.

    Tombstones are usually made of granite and their inscriptions

    soon become defaced. Epitaphs are short, giving the name of

    the dynasty, his place of birth, number of his generation in the

    family, and his temple name. Laudatory expressions are rare,

    and quotations from the classics or stanzas of poetry to convey

    a sentiment entirely unknown. The corpses of ofiiceis who die

    at their stations are carried to their paternal tombs, sometimes

    at public expense. Tlie Emperor, in some instances, orders the

    funeral rites of distinguished statesmen to be defi-ayed. This

    was done during the war with England in the cases of Commissioner

    Yukien and General Hailing, who burned himself at

    Chinkiang fu.’

    Besides these funeral rites and religious ceremonies to their

    departed ancestors the Chinese have an almost infinite variety

    of superstitious practices, most of which are of a deprecatorv

    character, growing out of their belief in demons and genii who

    trouble or help people. It may be said that most of their religious

    acts performed in temples are intended to avert misfortune

    i-ather than supplicate blessings. In oi-der to ward off malignant

    influences amulets are worn and charms hung up, such as moneyswords

    made of coins of different monarchs strung together in

    the form of a dagger; leaves of the sweet-flag {Aco/-us) and Artemisia

    tied in a bundle, or a sprig of peach-blossoms ; the first

    is placed near beds, the latter over the lintel, to drive aM’ay demons.

    A man also collects a cash or two from each of his

    friends and gets a lock made which he hangs to his son’s neck

    in order to lock him to life and make the subscribers surety for

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XVIII., pp. 363-384. Doolittle, Socinl Life, II., pp. 45-48. M. T. Yates, Ancestral Worship, Mism»ini-y Conference (of 1867), p. 367 Johnson, Oi-ienUd Bclif/ions : China, pp. 693-708. Gray’s China, I.,pp. 320-328. China Reiiew,Yo\. IV., p. 296. P. D. de Thiersant, La Piete Filiule en ChinCf Paris, 1877. E. Faber in the Chinese Recorder, Vol. IX., pp.’J29, 401.

    his safety ; adult females also wear a neck lock for the same

    purpose. Charms are common. One bears the inscription,

    ” May you get the three viamjs and the nine Jik’es; ” another,

    ” To obtain long eyebrowed longevity.” The three manijn are

    man}’^ years of happiness and life and many sons. Old brass

    mirrors to cure mad people are hung up by the rich in their

    halls, and figures or representations of the unicorn, of gourds,

    Buddhist Priests.

    tigers’ claws, or the eight diagrams, are worn to insure good

    fortune or ward off sickness, fire, or fright. Stones or pieces

    of metal with short sentences cut upon them are almost always

    found suspended or tied al)out the persons of children and

    M’omen, which are supposed to have great efficacy in preventing

    evil. The rich pay large sums for rare objects to promote thifl

    end.

    CHARMS AND AMULETS. 257

    In addition to their employment in tlic worship and burial of

    the dead and cultivation of glebe lands (some of which are very

    extensive’), priests resort to many expedients to increase their

    incomes, few of which have the improvement of their countrymen

    as a ruling motive. Some go around the streets collecting

    printed or written paper in baskets, to burn them lest the venerable

    names of Confucius or Buddha be defiled ; others obtain a

    few pennies by writing inscriptions and charms on doors ; and

    many in rural places get a good living off the lands owned by

    their temples. The priests of both sects are under the control

    of officials recognized by and amenable to the authorities, so that

    the vicious and unprincipled among them are soon restrained.

    The Buddhists issue small books, called Girdle Classics, containing

    prayers addressed to the deity under whose protection

    the person has phiced himself. Spells are made in great variety,

    some of them to be worn or pasted up in the house, while others

    are written on leaves, paper, or cloth, and burned, and their

    ashes thrown into a liquid for the patient or child to drink.

    These spells are sold by Rationalists, and consist of characters,

    like /^/A (‘ happiness ”) or shao (‘ longevity ‘), fancifully combined.

    The god of doors, of the North Pole, Pwanku, the heavenly astronomer,

    the god of thunder and lightning, or typhoons, the god

    of medicine, demigods and genii of almost every name and

    power, are all invoked, and some of them by all persons. In

    shops the word shin is put up in a shrine and incense placed

    before it, all objects of fear and worship being included under

    this general term. The threshold is peculiarly sacred, and incense-

    sticks are lighted morning and evening at its side.”*

    The Chinese dread wandering and hungry ghosts of wicked

    men, and the priests are hired to celebrate a mass called ta tsiao,

    to appease these disturbers of human happiness, which, in its

    general purport, corresponds to All Souls’ Day, and from its

    splendor and the general interest taken in its success is very popular.

    The streets at Canton are covered with awnings, and

    ^Lettres EclififinUs, Tome ITT., p. 33.

    ‘^LettreH E’l/fmiti’s, Tome IV., p. 310—where other ceremonies of the TaoistS; to ward o’H pestilence, are described.

    festoons of cheap silk, of brilliant colors, are hung across and

    along the streets. Chandeliers of glass are suspended at short

    intervals, alternating with small trays, on which j^aper figures in

    various attitudes, intended to illustrate some well-known scene

    in history, amuse the spectators. At night the glare of a thousand

    lamps shining through niyriads of lustres lights up the

    whole scene in a gorgeous manner. The priests erect a staging

    somewhere in the vicinit}’^, for the rehearsal of prayers to Yen

    iiHouj (Yama or Pluto), and display tables covered with eatables

    for the hungry ghosts to feed on. Their acolytes mark the time

    when the half-starved ghosts, who have no childi-en or friends

    to care for them, rush in and shoulder the viands, which they

    carry off for their year’s supply. Bands of music chime in from

    tiuie to time, to refresh these hungry spirits with the dulcet

    tones they once heard ; for the Chinese, judging their gods by

    themselves, provide what is pleasing to those who pay for the

    entertainment, as well as to those who are supposed to be benefited

    by it. After the services are performed the crowd carry

    off what is left, but when this is permitted the priests sometimes

    cheat them with merely a cover of food on the tops of the

    baskets, the bottoms being filled with shavings.

    Another festival in August is connected with this, called .shau

    i, or ‘ burning clothes,’ at which pieces of paper folded in the

    form of garments are burned for the use of the suffering ghosts,

    with a large quantity of what maybe properly caWcdJiat money,

    paper ingots which become valuable chiefly when they are

    burned. Paper houses with proper furniture, and puppets to

    represent household servants, are likewise made. IMedhurst adds

    that ” writings are drawn up and signed in the presence of witnesses

    to certify the conveyance of the property, stipulating

    that on its arrival in hades it sliall be duly made over to the individuals

    specified in the bond ; the houses, servants, clothes,

    money and all are then burned with the bond, the worshippers

    feeling confident that their friends obtain the benefit of what

    they have sent them.” Thus ” they make a covenant with the

    grave, and with hell they are at agreement.” This festival, like

    all others, is attended with feasting and nmsic. In order still

    further to provide for childless ghosts, their ancestral tablets are

    FESTIVALS FOR WANDERING GHOSTS. 259

    collected in temples and placed together in a room set apart for

    the purpose, called irio sz’ tan, or ‘orbate temple,’ and a man

    hired to attend and burn incense before them. The sensationa

    which arise on going into a room of this sort, and seeing one or

    two hundred small wooden tablets standing in regular array, and

    knowing that each one, or each pair, is like the silent tombstone

    of an extinct family, are such as no hall full of staring idols can

    ever inspire. The tablets look old, discolored, and broken, covered

    with dust and black with smoke, so that the gilded characters

    are obscured, and one cannot behold them long in their

    silence and forgetfulness without almost feeling as if spirits still

    hovered around them. All these ghosts are supposed to be propitiated by the sacrifices on All Souls’ Day.

    The patronage given to idolatry and superstition is constant

    and general among all classes, and thousands of persons get their

    livelihood by shrewdly availing themselves of the fears of their

    countrymen. The peepul, j)^^-^’^ {Fimi.s rdigiosa) at the south

    and the Sophora at the north, w’itli perhaps other aged trees,

    are worshipped for long life.’ Special efforts are made from

    time to time to build or repair a temple or pagoda, in order to

    insure or recall prosperity to a place, and large sums are subscribed

    by the devout. A case occurred in 1843, which illustrates

    this spirit. One of the English officers brought an image

    of Wa-kvxing, the god of fire, from Chinkiang fu, which he

    presented as a curiosity to a lady in Macao. It remained in her

    house several months, and on the breaking up of the establishment,

    previous to a return to India, it was exposed for sale at

    auction with the furniturb. A large crowd collected, and the

    attention of the Chinese was attracted to this image, wdiich they

    examined carefully to see if it had the genuine marks of its ordination

    upon it ; for no image is supposed to be properly an

    object of worship until the spirit has been inaugurated into it

    by the prescribed ceremonies. Having satisfied themselves, the

    idol was purchased for thirty dollars by two or three zealous

    ‘ Compare C. F. Koeppen, Die Relujwn des Buddha, Berlin, 1857, who describes the peepul (Bodhi) tree—the “symbol of the spread and growth of the Buddhist church “—in India. E. Bernouf, Introduction a Vhistoire du Buddhisme Indien, Paris, 1844. Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. III., p. 100.

    persons, and carried off in trininpli to a shop and respectfully

    installed in a room cleared for the purpose. A public meeting

    was shortly after called, and resolutions passed to improve the

    propitious opportunity to obtain and preserve the protecting

    power of so potent a deity, by erecting a pavilion where he

    would have a respectable lodgment and receive due worship.

    A subsci’iption was thereupon started, some of its advocates putting

    down fifty and others thirty dollars, until about one thousand

    two hundred dollars were raised, with which a small lot was

    purchased on the island west of Macao, and a pavilion or tenr

    pie erected where Wa-hwang was enshrined with pompous

    parade amid theatrical exhibitions, and a man hired to keep

    him and his domicile in good order.

    No people are more enslaved by fear of the unknown than the Chinese, and none resort more frequently to sortilege to ascertain whether an enterprise will be successful or a proposed remedy avail to cure. This desire actuates all classes, and thousands and myriads of persons take advantage of it to their own profit. The tables of fortune-tellers and the shops of geomancers are met at street corners, and a strong inducement to repair to the temples is to cast lots as to the success of the prayers offered. One way of divining is to hold a bamboo root cut in

    halves, resembling in size and color a common potato, and let it

    drop as the petition is put up. Sometimes the worshipper drops

    it many times, in order to see if a majority of trials will not be

    favorable, and when disappointed the first time not unfrequently

    tries again, if mayhap he can force the gods to be more propitious.

    The devotee may determine himself what position of the blocks

    shall be deemed auspicious, but usually one face up and one doAvn

    is regarded as pi-omising. The countenances of worshippers as

    they leave the shrines, some beaming with hope and resolutioii

    to succeed, and others, notwithstanding their repeated knocking^

    and divinings, going away Avith vexation and gloom written on

    their faces at the ol)duracy of the gods and sadness of tlieir prospects,

    offer a study not less melancholy than instructive. ” Such

    is the weakness of mortals : they dread, even aftei- mature reflection,

    to undertake a project, and then entei- blindly upon it

    at a chance after consultin<r chance itself as blind.”’

    SORTILEGE AND FOHTrXK-TELLING, 2G1

    The fortune-tellers also consult fate by means of bamboo slips bearing certain characters, as the sixty-four diagrams, titles of poetical responses, or lists of names, etc. The applicant* comes up to the table and states his desire ; he wishes to know whether it will be fair weather, which of a dozen doctors shall be selected to cure his child, what sex an unborn infant will be, where his stolen property is, or any other matter. Selecting a slip, the diviner dissects the character into its component parts, or in some other way, and writes the parts upon a board lying before him, joining to them the time, the names of the person, live planets, colors, viscera, and other heterogeneous things, and from them all, putting on a most cabalistic, sapient look, educes a sentence which contains the required answer.

    Consulting a Fortune-teller.

    The man receives it as confidently as if he had entered the

    sybil’s cave and heard her voice, pays his fee, and goes away.

    Others, less shrewd, refer to books in which the required answ^er

    is contained in a sort of equivocal delphian distich. The Chinese

    method of sortilege is not far different from that practised by the

    ancient Romans. ” The lots preserved at Preneste were slips

    of oak with ancient characters engraved on them. They were

    shaken up together by a boy, and one of them was drawn for the

    person who consulted the oracle. They remind us of the Runic

    staves. Similar divining lots Avere found in other places.” *

    ‘ Niebuhr, History of Rome, Vol. I., p. 246. See, further, Doolitlle’s Sncia).

    Life, Vol. II., Chap. IV. Gray’s China, Chap. XII. Prof. Douglas, China,

    Chap. XV.

    The purchase of a building lot, and especially the selection

    of a grave, involve much expense, sortilege, and inquiry.

    When a succession of misfortunes comes upon a family, they

    will sometimes disinter all their relatives and bury them in a

    new place to remov’e the ill luck. I’efore a house is built a

    written prayer is tied to a pole stuck in the ground, petitioning

    for good luck, that no evil spirits may arise from beneath ;

    when the ridge-pole is laid another prayer is pasted on and

    charms hunc; to it to insure the building against fire ; and

    lastly, when the house is done it is dedicated to some patron,

    and petitions offered for its safety. Prayers are sometimes offered

    according to forms, at others the suppliant himself speaks.

    Two middle-aged women, attended by a maid-servant, were once

    found opposite (^anton in the fields among the graves. They

    had placed a small paper shrine upon a tomb near the pathway,

    and one of them was kneeling before it, her lips moving in

    prayer ; there was nothing in the shrine, but over it M’as written

    the most common petition known in China, “Ask and ye

    shall receive.”

    Answers are looked for in various \vays. A man was once

    met at dusk repairing a lonely grave before which candles were

    burning and plates of rice and cups of spirits arranged. lie

    knelt, and knocking his head began to repeat some words in a

    half audible manner, when he M-as asked if the spirits of his

    ancestors heard his supplications. At the instant a slight puff

    of air blew the candles, when he replied, ” Yes; see, they have

    come; don’t interrupt me.” Contingent vows are often made,

    and useful acts performed in case the answer be favorable. A

    sick man in Macao once made a vow that if he recovered he

    would repave a bad piece of road—which he actually performed,

    aided a little by his neighboi-s ; but it Mas deemed eminently

    unlucky that a toper who was somewhat flustered, passing soon

    after, should fall into the public well. Persons sometimes insult

    the gods, spit at them or whip them, or even break the

    ancestral tablets, in their vexation at having been deluded

    into foolish deeds or misled by divination. Legends are told

    of the vengeance which has followed such impiety, as well r$

    the rewards attending a different course; and tlio Kanyinc

    WORSHIPPEIJS AT W AYSIDK SIIlilNKS, 263

    Pien^ or ‘ Tlook of Rewards and Punishments,’ has strengtliened

    tliese :«entiinents by its stories of the results of human

    acts.

    The worship of street divinities is not altogether municipal

    ;

    some of the shrines in Canton are resorted to so much by

    women as to obstruct the patli. The unsocial character of

    heathenism is observable at such places and in temples ; however

    great the crowd may be, each one worships b}’ himself as

    much as if no one else were present. Altars are erected in

    fields, on which a smooth stone is placed, where offerings are

    presented and libations poured out to secure a good crop. Few

    farmers omit all worship in the spring to the gods of the land

    and grain ; and some go further and present a thanksgiving

    after harvest. Temples are open night and da}’, and in towns

    are the resort of crowds of idle fellows. Worshippers go on

    with their devotions amid all the hubbub, strike the druin

    and bell to arouse the god, burn paper prayers, and knock their

    heads upon the ground to implore his blessing, and then retire.

    The Chinese collectively spend enormous sums in their idolatry,

    though they are more economical of time and money than

    the Hindus. Rich families give much for the services of

    priests, papers, candles, etc., at the interment of their friends,

    but when a large sacrifice is provided none goes to the priests,

    who are prohibited meat. The aggregate outlay to the whole

    people is very large, made up of repairs of temples, purchasing

    idols, petty costs, such as incense-sticks, candles, paper, etc.,

    charms and larger sacrifices prepared from time to time. The

    sum cannot of course be ascertained, but if the daily expenditure

    of each person be estimated at one-third of a cent, or four

    cash, the total will exceed four hundred millions of dollars per

    annum, and this estimate is more likely to be under than over

    the mark, owing to the universality and constancy of the daily

    service,

    This brief sketch of Chinese religious character will be incomplete without some notice of the benevolent institutions found among them. Good acts are required as proofs of sincerity; the classics teach benevolence, and the religious books

    of the Buddhists JTiculcate coiiipassioii to the poor and relief of

    tlie sick. I’rivate alms of rice or clothes are fre(|uently given,

    and tlie modes of collecting the poor-tax are very direct and

    economical, bringing the lionseholders into some intercourse

    with the beggars in their neighborhoods, but offering no rewards

    to tramps and idlers. A retreat for poor aged and infirni

    or blind people is situated near the east side of Canton, the expenses

    of which are stated at about seven thousand dollars, but

    the number of persons relieved is not mentioned. The pecuhition

    and bad faith of the managci-s vitiate many of these institutions,

    and indispose the charitable to ]iatronize them. La.-

    zarettos are established in all large towns in Southern China,

    where a large entrance fee will secure a comfortable living for

    these outcasts to the end of their days ; the prevalence of the

    disease leads everybody to aid the measures taken to restrict its

    ravages. A full account of the report issued by the directors

    of a long-established foundling hospital in Shanghai is given

    in the Ckinese Repository (Vol. XIY.), and shows the methodical

    character of the people, and that no pi-iests ai-e joined in

    its management. In the report full credit is given to the benefactors,

    and an appeal made for funds to cany it on, as it is

    nearly out of supplies. A^arious modes of raising money are

    proposed, and arguments are brought forward to induce people

    to give, all in the same manner as is common with charitable

    institutions in western lands, as its closing paragraph shows: If, for the extension of kindness to our fellow creatures, and to those poor .ind destitute who have no father and mother, all the good and benevolent would daily give one cash (n^rn of a<l()llai), it would V)e sufficient for the maintenance of the foundlings one day. Let no one consider a.small good unmeritorious, nor a small subscription as of no avail. Either you may induce others to subscribe by the vernal breeze from your month, or you may nourish the blade of benevolence in the field of happiness, or cherish the already sprouting bud. Thus by taking advantage of opportunities as they present tliemfielves, and using your endeavors to accomplish your object, you may immeas’ urably benefit and extend the institution.

    The deaths are reported as being nearly one-half of the admissions,

    and the number of inmates about one hmidred and thirty

    in all. The details of the receipts and expenditures are given

    BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS IN CHINA. 265

    at the end of the report in a business-like manner. The annual

    disbursement was about one thousand live hundred and fifty dollar:^,

    and the receipts from all sources more than that, so that a

    balance of five thousand dollars is reported on hand, four-fifths

    of whicli was derived fi-om interest on subscriptions invested

    and on wares from pawnbrokers.

    Similar establishments are found in all large towns, some of

    them partly supported by the government. That in Canton

    was founded in 1698, and contains accommodations for three

    liundred children, wliose annual support was reckoned at three

    thousand five hundred dollars in 1833, at which date the money

    was filched from foreigners by a tax on their ships. These hospitals

    seem to be of modei’u origin, less than two centuries old,

    and may have been imitated from or suggested by the Roman

    Catholics. Candida, a distinguished convert about 1710, did

    much to establish them and show the excellence of the religion

    she professed. Mr. Milne, who visited one at IS^ingpo, says,

    after entering the court : ” A number of coarse-looking women

    were peeping through the lattice at us, with squallababies at

    their breasts and squalid boys and girls at their heels ; these

    Nvomen are the nurses, and these children are the foundlings,

    each woman having two or three to look after. But I have

    rarely beheld such a collection of filthy, nnwashen, ragged

    brats. There are at present between sixty and seventy children,

    the boys on one side, the girls on the other. Boys remain here

    till the age of fourteen, when they are hired out or adopted ;

    girls stay till sixteen, when they are betrothed as wives or taken

    as concubines or servants. It is supported by the rental of lands

    and houses, and by an annual tax of thirty-six stone or shiJi

    (about five hundred pounds) of rice from each district in the department.”

    In large towns other voluntary societies are found, having

    for their object the relief of suffering, which ought to be mentioned,

    as the Chinese have not been fairly credited with what

    they do in this line. Humane societies for restoring life to persons

    rescued from the water, and providing coflins if they are

    dead, exist along the riverine towns. Associations to give decent

    interment to the poor in a public potter’s field are found in large cities, where gi-atiiitons vaccination is often given to all who apply. Soup-kitchens are constantly opened as cold weather comes on, and houses prepared for vagrants and outcasts who have been suddenly reduced. Societies for the relief of indigent and virtuous widows are of long standing, and a kind of savings bank for the purpose of aiding a man to get married or to bury his parent exists among the people.’

    Charity is a virtue which thrives poorly in the selfish soil of

    heathenism, but even badly managed establishments like these

    are praiseworthy, and promise something better when higher

    teachings shall have been engrafted into the public mind. The

    government is obliged to expend large sums almost every year

    for relieving the necessities of the starving and the distressed,

    and strong calls are made on the rich to give to these objects.

    During the great famine in 1877-78 in the north-eastern provinces,

    the common hal)its of industry, thrift, and order were

    united with these practices of voluntary benevolence among the

    people, and aided greatly in enabling those who distributed

    food and money to reach the greatest number possible with the

    means. The sufferers had already learned that violence and

    robbery would only increase their miseries and liasten their

    end.

    The general condition of religion among the Chinese is effete;

    and the stately formalities of im])eri:d worship, the doctrines of

    Confucius, the ceremonies of the Buddhists, the sorceries of the

    Rationalists, alike fail to comfort and instruct. But the fear of

    evil spirits and the worship of ancestoi’s, the two beliefs which

    hold all ranks and abilities in their thrall, are still strong ; and

    the principal sway the two sects exert is owing to the connection

    of their priests M’ith the ceremonies of burial. Each

    has exerted its greatest possible power over the })eople, but

    all have failed to impart present happiness or assure future

    joy to their votaries. Confucianism is cold and unsatisfactoiy

    to the affectionate, the anguished, or the in(]uiring mind, and

    the transcendentalism of Rationalism or the vagaries of Bud’

    ^Chineae Reponitary, Vol. XTV., pp. 177-195. Lockhart, Medical Missionary

    in China, Cliapter II., Lundoii, 18()1.

    SECRET SOCIETIES. 267

    dhisin are a little worse. All classes are the prey of unfounded

    fears and superstitions, and dwell in a mist of ignorance and

    error which the light of true religion and knowledge alone can

    dissipate.

    Besides the two leading idolatrous sects, there are also many

    comhinations existing among the people, partly religious and

    partly political, one of which, the Plh-lien Mao, or the Triad

    Society, has already been mentioned in Chapter VIII. The

    Wan klang, or ‘ Incense-burning sect,’ is also denounced in the

    Sacred Commands, but has not been mentioned in late times.

    The Triad Society is comparativelj’ peaceful throughout China

    Proper in overt acts, the members of the auxiliai’y societies contenting

    themselves with keeping alive the spirit of resistance to

    the Manchus, getting new members, and countenancing one

    another in their opposition ; but in Siam, Singapore, Malacca,

    and the Archipelago, it has become a powerful body, and great

    cruelties are committed on those who refuse to join. The members

    are admitted with formalities bearing strong resemblance to

    those of the Freemasons, and the professed objects of the society

    are the same. The novice swears before an idol to maintain

    inviolate secrecy, and stands under naked swords while

    taking the oath, which is then read to him ; he afterward cuts

    off a cock’s head, the usual form of swearing among all Chinese,

    intimating that a like fate awaits him if treacherous. There

    are countersigns known among the members, consisting of grips

    and motions of the fingers. Such is the secrecy of their operations

    in Cliina, however, that very little is known of their numbers,

    internal organization, or character ; the dislike of their

    machinations is the best security against their ultimate success.

    Local delusions, caused by some sharp-witted fellow, now and

    then arise in one part and another of the country, but they are

    speedily put down or dissipate of themselves. There has transpired

    not an item of news concerning any of these seditious

    organizations since the suppression of the Tai-ping rebellion in

    1868. None of them are allowed to erect temples or make a

    public exhibition or procession, and exhortations are from time

    to time issued by the magistrates against them ; while the penalties

    annexed to the statute against all illegal associations give the rulers great power to crush whatever they may deem suspicious or treasonable.’

    The introduction of Islamism into China was so gradual that

    it is not easy to state the date or manner. The trade between

    China and ports lying on the Arabian Sea early attracted its

    adherents (called Ilwai-hwul I’lao) to the Middle Kingdom,

    and as long ago as the Tang dynasty its missionaries came to

    the seaports, especially of Canton and Hangchau. They likewise

    formed a large portion of the caravans which went to and

    fro through Central Asia, and seem to have been received without

    resistance, if not with favor, until they grew by natural

    increase to be a large and an integral })art of the population.

    Mosques were built, schools taught, pilgi’iuuiges made, books

    printed, and converts allowed to exercise their rites without

    serious hindrance almost from the first. The two great features

    of the faith—the existence of one only true God and the M-ickedness

    of idolatry—have not been kept hidden ; but, though

    promulgated, the}’ have not been accepted outside of the sect

    and have not made the least impression upon the State religion.

    The reasons for this are not far to seek. The jigid rule that

    the Koran must not be translated has kept this book out of

    reach of the literati, and the faithful could not even appeal to

    it in support of their belief, for not one in thousands know how

    to read it. The Chinese naturally neither could nor would

    learn Arabic, and there was no sword hanging over them, as

    was the case in Persia, to force them into Moslem ranks. The

    simplicity of the State religion and ancestral worship gave very

    little handle to icronoclasts to declaim against polytheism and

    idolatry. The })rohibition of pork to all true believers seemed

    a senseless injunction among a frugal people which depended

    largely on swine for meat and had never felt any the worse,

    bodily or mentall}’, from its use. The inhibition of wine, moreover,

    was needless among so temperate a race as the Chinese.

    Those who liked to keep Fridays or other days as fasts, ])ractisG

    circumcision as a symbol of faith, and worship in a temple with<

    ‘ Compare the Chinese ‘Repository, Vol. XVIII., p. 281.

    MOHAMMEDANISM IN CHINA. 269

    out images, could do so if tliey chose ; but they must obey the

    laws of the laud and honor the Eni})ei-or as good subjects. They

    luive done so, and, generally speaking, have never been molested

    on account of their beliefs. Their chief strength lies in the

    northern part. The recent struggle in the north-western provinces,

    which cost so many lives, began almost wholly at the instigation

    of Turk or Tartar sectaries, and was a simple trial of

    strength as to who should rule. While cities and towns in

    Kansuh occupied by them were destroyed (in lSGO-73), the two

    liundred thousand Moslems in Peking remained perfectly quiet

    and were unmolested by the authorities.

    Some hold office, and pass through the examinations to obtain

    it, most of them being military men. In their mosques they exliibit

    a tablet with the customary ascription of reverence to the

    Emperor, but place the Prophet’s name behind. They have no

    images or other tablets in the mosques, but suspend scrolls referring

    to the tenets of the faith. The Plain Pagoda in Canton

    was built during the Tang dynasty and called ‘ Remember-the-

    Iloly Temple ; ‘ it is one hundred and sixty-five cubits high ; it

    was built by foreigners, who used to go to the top during the

    fifth and sixth moons at dawn and pray to a golden weathercock

    there, crying out in a loud voice. These notices are taken from

    the native Tojxxjraphij, where also is reference to the tomb of

    a maternal uncle of IMohammed buried north of the city. The

    mosques throughout China are similar in their arrangement and

    resemble temples in many respects, the large arches and inscriptions

    in Arabic on the walls forming the chief peculiarities.

    Arabic is studied under great difficulties by the mollahs, and

    few of the faithful can read or speak it, contenting themselves

    with observing its ritual relating to circumcision, abstinence

    from pork, and idolatry. So fai- as can be seen, their worship

    of the true God under the name of Chu^ or Lord, has not had

    the least influence on the polytheism of the nation or in elevating

    the tone of morals. A well-digested summaiy of their

    tenets has been published at Canton by an unknown author

    under the title of True Coinineids on the Correct Doctrine, in

    two volumes, pp. 240, 1801. Ko restrictions have been laid on

    this sect by the government during the present dynasty; the struggle which continued during the last twenty years between them was simply a question of dominion, not of religion.

    Mr. Milne visited the mosque in Ningbo and made the acquaintance

    of the mollah. “lie is a man about forty-five years

    of age, of a remarkably benign and intelligent countenance and

    {gentlemanly bearing. His native place is Shantung, but his

    ancestors came from Medina, lie readily reads the Arabic

    scriptures and talks that language fluently, but can neither read

    nor write Chinese, which is somewhat surprising considering he

    can talk it well, was liorn in China, and is a minister of religion

    among the Chinese. His supporters number between twenty

    and thirty families, and one or two of his adherents are officers.

    He took me into the place of worship which adjoins his apartments.

    A flight of steps leads into a room, covered with a plain

    roof, on either side of which lay a mass of dusty furniture and

    agricultural implements ; the pillars are ornamented with sentences

    out of the Koran. Facing you is an ornamented pair of

    small doors hung upon the wall, within which the sacred seat is

    supposed to lie, and on one side is a convenient bookcase containing

    their scriptures. He showed me his usual officiating

    dress—a white robe with a painted tui-ban—but he never wears

    this costume except at service, appearing hi the Chinese habit at

    other times. They have a weekly day of rest, which falls on

    our Thursday. On asking if I might be permitted to attend any

    of their services, he replied that if their adherents had business

    on that day they did not trouble themselves to attend. The

    stronghold of his religion is in Ilangchau fu, where are several

    mosques, but the low state of Moluunmedanism seemed to

    dampen liis spirits. Happening to see near the entrance a

    tablet similar to that found in every other temple, with the

    inscription, ‘The Enq)eror, ever-living, maybe live forever!’

    I asked him how he could allow such a blasphemous monument

    to stand in a spot which he regarded as consecrated to the worship

    of Aloha, as he styles the true God. He protested he did

    not and never could worship it, and pointed to the low })lace

    given it as evidence of this, and added that it was only for the

    sake of expediency it was allowed lodgment in the building, for

    if they wei-e ever charged with disloyalty by the enemies of

    JEWS IN CHINA. 271

    their faith they could appeal to it ! His reigning desire was to

    make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and he inquired particularly respecting

    the price of a passage.” ‘

    Since the introduction of steamers great numbers of pilgrims

    visit Mecca, who cannot fail to extend the knowledge of western

    lands as they return among their people. The Mohammedan

    inhabitants of Turkestan and 111 are distinguished into three

    classes by the color and shape of their turbans ; one has red and

    another white sugar-loaf, tlie third the common iirab turban.

    The number throughout the region north of the Yangtsz’ liiver

    cannot be stated, but it probably exceeds ten millions. In

    some places they form a third of the population ; a missionary

    in Sz’chuen reckons eighty thousand living in one of its

    cities.”

    The existence of Jews in China has long been known, but

    the information possessed relative to their past number, condition,

    and residences is very imperfect. They were once numbered

    by thousands, and are supposed by Mr. Finn to have

    belonged to the restoration from Chaldea, as they had portions

    of Malachi and Zechariah, adopted the era of Seleucus, and

    had many rabbinical customs. They probably entered China

    through the north-western route, and there is no good reason

    for rejecting their own date, during the llan dynasty. Witliin

    the last three centuries all have lived in Kaifung, the capital

    of Honan, wherever they may have lived in earlier days. Marco

    Polo just mentions their existence at (^and)aluc, as do John of

    Montecorvino and Marignolli about the same time, and Ibn

    Batuta at an earlier date. In the Chinese annals of the Mongol

    dynasty the Jews are first referred to in 1329, and again

    in 135-1, when they were invited to Peking in the decline of

    its power to join the army of the Imperialists, They are styled

    Shic-htvuh, or Jehudi, and must have been numerous enough

    ‘ Compare Milne’s Life in China, p. 96, London, 1857.

    ‘ Chtnem Repository, Vols. XIII., p. ;i’2 ; XX., pp. 77-84; II., p. 250. De

    Guignes, Voyar/ex d Pekinf/, Tome II., p. 08. Gray, China, I., pp. 137-142.

    Edkins, IMirjion.H in China, Chap. XV. Annules de la Foi, II., p. 245. Ret

    uaud, Relation des Voyages d la Chine.«

    to make them worth noticing with Aloluunmedans, and their help in men and means implored ; hut no hint is given of their places of ahode. Further research into Chinese histories may disclose other notices of their existence.

    The Jews were early known hy the term of Tiao-Jcin hiaOj

    or the ‘ sect which pulls out the sinew.’ Do Guignes says they

    are also called Laa-niao Iltoul-tsz\ or ‘ Mohammedans with

    Blue Caps,’ because they wore a blue cap in the synagogue ; but

    this latter must be a local name. The first description of this

    colony was written by the Jesuit Gozani, about the year 1700,

    and shows that the Tsing-cMn sz\ or ‘ Pure and True Temple,’

    Avas then a large establisliment consisting of four separate

    courts, various buildings enclosed for residence, worship, and

    work. The Li-jpai ss\ or Synagogue, measured about sixty

    by forty feet, having a portico with a double row of four columns

    before it. In the centre of the room, between the I’ows of pillars,

    is the throne of Moses, a magnificent and elevated chair

    with an embroidered cushion, upon which they place the book

    of the law while it is read.

    This account of Gozani remained as the latest information

    until Bishop Smith sent two native Christians from Shanghai

    to Kaifung to learn the present condition of the Jews. They

    were ignorant of llebi-ew, but had been instructed hoM^ to copy

    the letters, and did their work very creditably, bringing away

    with them some portions of the Old Testament wi-itten on

    vellum-like paper of an old date. The synagogue had suffered

    during the great inundation of 18-fi>, and the colony of two

    hundred individuals was found in abject poverty, ignorance, and

    dejection. Not on6 of them knew a word of Hebrew, and

    many of their buildings had been sold for the matei’ials to support

    their lives.

    In February, ISGG, Rev. W. A. P. Mai’tin, President of the

    Tung-wun Kwan at Peking, visited Kaifung, and learned that

    during the interval of fifteen years they had become still more

    imj)overished. Having learned from the mollah of a mosque

    where they lived, he ” passed through streets crowded Mith curious

    spectators to an open square, in the centre of wliich there

    stood a solitary stone. On one side was an inscription connnemTHEIR

    MISEUAHLK CONDITION. 273

    orating the erection of the synagogue in a.d. 11S3, and on the

    other of its rebuilding in 14SS. . . . ‘Are there among

    you any of tlie family of Israel ‘(‘ J inquired. ‘ I am one,’ responded

    a young man, whose face corroborated his assertion ; and

    then another and another stepped forth, until I saw before me

    representatives of six of the seven families into which the

    colony is divided. There, on that melancholy spot where

    the very foundations of the synagogue had been torn from

    tlie ground, and there no longer I’emained one stone upon

    another, they confessed, with shame and grief, that their lioly

    and beautiful house had been demolished by their own hands.

    It had long been, they said, in a ruinous condition ; they had

    no money to make repairs. They liad lost all knowledge of

    the sacred tongue ; the traditions of the fathers were no longer

    handed down, and their ritual worship had ceased to be observed.

    They had at last yielded to the pressure of necessity,

    and disposed of the timbers and stones of the venerable edifice

    to obtain relief for their bodily wants.”

    They estimated their number at between thi-ee hundred

    and four hundred persons, all of them poor, and, now that

    the centre of attraction had disappeared, likely to become dispersed

    and lost. The entrance tablet in gilt characters, stating

    that the building was “Israel’s Possession,” had been

    placed in a mosque, and some of the colony had entered its

    worship.

    Since that date one of their own race, now Bishop Schereschewsky,

    of Shanghai, has also visited them, but the literati

    of the city refused to allow him to remain among them. A

    company of the colony came up to Peking about twelve

    years ago, but, finding that no money was to be obtained

    for their support, ere long went back. It is probable that in

    a few years their unity will be so desti-oyed in the removal

    of their synagogue that they will be quite mingled with their

    countrymen. One or two are now Buddhist priests, others

    are literary graduates, and all of them are ignorant of their

    peculiar rites and festivals. Like the Mohammedans, they

    have never translated their sacred books into Chinese ; but

    during their long existence in China they have remained indeed, as Dr. Martin says, like “a rock rent from the sidea of Mount Zion by some great national catastrophe, and projected into the central Plain of China, which has stood there while the centm-ies rolled by, sublime in its antiquity and solitude.”

    ‘> CUnese liepository, Vol. XX., pp. 4:^6-466. Yule’s Marco Polo, 1871, Vol.I., p. 809. Cathay, pp. 225, 341, 497. James Finn, Jews in Cliina, 1843. Bp.Smith, Mission of Inquiry to Jeics at Kai-funy, 1851. Dr. Martin, The Chinese,N. Y., 1881. Journal of Royal Geog. Soc, London, Vol. XXVII., p. 297.Versuch einer Geschkhtc der JiuJen in Sina, nelisf P. J. Kof/ler^s Rschreibung ihrer ?ieiligen Bucher, herausg. von C. G. von Murr, Halle, 180G. Milne,Life in China, p. 403.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》10-14

    CHAPTER X. STRUCTURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE

    It might reasonably be inferred, judging from the attention paid to learning, and the honors conferred upon its successful votaries, that the literature of the Chinese would contain much to repay investigation. Such is not the case, however, to one already acquainted with the treasures of Western science, and, in fairness, such a comparison is not quite just. Yet it has claims to the regard of the general student, from its being the literature of so vast a portion of the human species, and the result of the labors of its wisest and worthiest minds during many successive ages. The fact that it has been developed under a peculiar civilization, and breathes a spirit so totally different from the writings of Western sages and philosophers, perhaps increases the curiosity to learn what are its excellences and defects, and obtain some criteria by which to compare it with the’ literature of other Asiatic or even European nations. The language in which it is written—one peculiarly mystical and diverse from all other media of thought—has also added to its singular reputation, for it has been surmised that what is ” wrapped up ” in such complex characters must be pre-eminently valuable for matter or elegant for manner, and not less curious than profound. Although a candid examination of this literature will disclose its real mediocrity in points of research, learning, and genius, there yet remains enough to render it worthy the attention of the oriental or general student.

    Some of its peculiarities are owing to the nature of the language, and the mode of instruction, both of which have affected the style and thoughts of writers : for, having, when young, been taught to fonii their sentences upon the models of anti(juity, their efforts to do so have nioiikled their thoughts in the same channoL Imitation, from beiiii;- a chity, soon became a necessity.

    INFLUEXCJ’; OF THE LANGUAGE UPON LITERATURE. 579

    The Chinese scholar, forsaking the leadings of his own genius, soon learned to regard his models as not only being all truth themselves, but as containing the sum total of all things valuable. The intractable nature of the language, making it impossible to study other tongues through the medium of his own, moreover tended to repress all desire in the scholar to become acquainted with foreign books ; and as he knew nothing of them or their authors, it was easy to conclude that there was nothing worth knowing in them, nothing to repay the toil of study, or make amends for the condescension of ascertaining.

    The neighbors of the Chinese have unquestionably been their inferiors in civilization, good government, learning, and wealth; and this fact has nourished their conceit, and repressed the wish to travel, and ascertain what there was in remoter regions. In judging of the character of Chinese literature, therefore, these circumstances among others under which it has risen to its present bulk, must not be overlooked; we shall conclude that the uniformity running through it is perhaps owing as much to the isolation of the people and servile imitation of their models, as to their genius: each has, in fact, mutually acted upon and influenced the other.

    The ” homoglot ” character of the Chinese people has arisen more from the high standard of their literature, and the political institutions growing out of its canonical books (which have impelled and rewarded the efforts of students to master the language), than from any one other cause. This feature offers a great contrast to the polyglot character which the Romans possessed even to the last, and suggests the cause and results as interesting topics of inquiry. The Egyptian, Jewish, Syriac, Greek, and Latin languages had each its own national literature, and its power was enough to retain these several nations attached to their own mother tongue, while the Clauls, Iberians, and other subject peoples, having no books, took the language and literature of their rulers and conquerors. Thus the kingdom, “part iron and part clay,” fell apart as soon as the grasp of Rome was weakened ; while the tendency in China always has been to reunite and homologate.

    In this short account of the Chinese tongue, it will be sufficient to give such notices of the origin and construction of the characters, and of the idioms and soimds of the written and spoken language, as shall convey a general notion of all its pai’ts, and to show the distinction between the spoken and written media, and their mutual action. They are both archaic, because the symbols prevented all inHexion and agglutination in the sounds, and all signs to indicate what part of speech each belonged to. They are like the ten digits, containing no vocable and imparting their meaning more to the eye than the ear.

    Chinese writers, unable to trace the gradual formation of their characters (for, of course, there could be no intelligible historical data until long after their formation), have ascribed them to llwangti, one of their primeval monarchs, or even earlier, to Fuli-hi, some thirty centuries before Christ ; as if they deemed writing to be as needful to man as clothes or marriage, all of which came from Fuli-hi. A mythical personage, Tsangkieh, who flourished about b.c. 2700, is credited with the invention of symbols to represent ideas, from noticing the marking on tortoise shell, and thence imitating common objects in nature.

    The Japanese have tried to attach their Txana to the Chinese characters to indicate the qase or tense, but the combination looks incongruous to an educated Chinese. We might express, though somewhat crudely, analogous combinations in English by endeavoring to wa*ite l-^5y, l-;^(“6′-s’, \-ted^ for unity, oneness, united, or 3-1 God for triune God.

    ORIGIN OF THE LANGUAGE. 581

    At this crisis, when a medium for conveying and giving permanency to ideas was formed, Chinese historians say : ” The heavens, the earth, and the gods, were all agitated. The inhabitants of hades wept at night ; and the heavens, as an expression of joy, rained down ripe grain. From the invention of writing, the machinations of the human heart began to operate; stories false and erroneous daily increased, litigations and imprisonments sprang up ; hence, also, specious and artful language, which causes so much confusion in the world. It was for these reasons that the shades of the departed wept at iiiglit.

    But from the invention of writing, polite intercourse and music proceeded; reason and insticc were made manifest; the rehations of social life were ilhistiated. and laws became fixed.

    Governors had laws to which they might refer; scholars had authorities to venerate; and hence, the heavens, delighted, rained down ripe grain. The classical scholar, the historian, the mathematician, and the astronomer can none of them do without wn-iting ; were there no written language to afford proof of passing events, the shades might weep at noonday, and the heavens rain down blood.” ‘ This singular myth may, perhaps, cover a genuine fact worthy of more than passing notice—indicatiuii; a consentaneous effort of the early settlers on the Yellow River to substitute for the purpose of recording laws and events something more intelligible than the knotted cords previously in use. Its form presents a curious contrast to the personality of the fable of Cadmus and his invention of the Greek letters.

    The date of the origin of this language, like that of the letters of western alphabets, is lost in the earliest periods of postdihivian history, but there can be no doubt that it is the most ancient language now spoken, and along with the Egyptian and cuneiform, among the oldest written languages used by man. The Ethiopic and Coptic, the Sanscrit and Pali, the Syriac, Aramaic, and Pehlvic, have all become dead languages; and the Greek, Latin, and Persian, now spoken, differ so much

    ‘ Professor H. A. Sayce, o: Oxford, in reference to a suggested possible connection between the Chinese and primitive Accadian population of Chaldea, says in a letter to the London Timcts : ” I would mention one fact which niay certainly be considered to favor it. The cuneiform characters o. Eabylonia and Assyria are, as is well known, degenerated hieroglyphics, Hive the modern Chinese characters. The original hieroglyphics were invented by the Accadians before they descended into Babylonia from the mountains of Elam, and I have long been convinced that they were originally written in vertical columns. In no other way can I explain the fact that most of the pictures to which the cuneiform characters can be traced back stand upon their sides.

    There is evidence to show that the inventors of the liieroslyphics iised papyrus, or some similar vegetable substance, for writing purposes before the alluvial plain of Babylonia furnished them with clay, and the use of such a writing material will easily account for the vertical direction in which the characters were made to run.” from the ancient style, as to require special study to understand the books in them: while during successive eras, the written and spoken language of the Chinese has undergone few alterations, and done nnieh to deepen the broad line of demarkation between them and other branches of the hunuin race. The fact, then, that this is the only living language which has survived the lapse of ages is, doubtless, owing to its ideographic character and its entire absence of sound as an integral factor of any symbol. Their form and meaning were, therefore, only the more strongly united because each reader was at liberty to sound them as he pleased or had been taught by local instructors, lie was not hindered, on account of his local Itrogue^

    from counmmicating ideas with those who employed the same

    signs in writing. Upon the subsequent rise t)f a great and valuable

    literature, the maintenance of the written language was

    the chief element of national life and integrity among those

    peoples who read and admired the books. Nor has this language,

    like those of the Hebrews, the Assyrians, and others

    already mentioned, ever fallen into disuse and been supplanted

    by the sudden rise and physical or intellectual vigor of some

    neighboring community speaking a jKitois. For we find that

    alphabetic languages, whose words represent at once meaning

    and sound, are as dependent upon local dialects as is the

    Chinese tongue upon its symbols ; consequently, when in the

    former case the sounds had so altered that the meanings were

    obscured, the mode of writing was likely to be changed. The

    extent of its literature and uses made of it were then the only

    safeguard of the written forms ; while as men learned to read

    books they became more and more prone to associate sense and

    form, regarding the sound as traditionary. AVe have, in illustration

    of this, to look no further than to our own language,

    whose cumbersome spelling is in a great measure resulting from

    a dislike of changing old associations of sense and form which

    would be involved in the adoption of a phonetic sj’stem.

    The Chinese have had no inducement, at any stage of their

    existence, to alter the forms of their symbols, inasmuch as no

    nation in Asia contiguous to their own has ever achieved a literature

    which could rival theirs ; no conqueror came to impose

    IDEOGRAPHIC NATURE OF THE SYMBOLS. 583

    his tongue upon them ; tlieir language completely isolated them

    from intellectual intercourse with others. This isolation, fraught

    with many disadvantages in the contracted nature of their literature,

    and the reflux, narrowing influence on their minds, has

    not been without its compensations. A national life of a

    unique sort has resulted, and to this self- nurtured language

    may be traced the origin of much of the peace, industry, population,

    and healthy pride of the Chinese people.

    The Chinese have paid great and praiseworthy attention to their language, and furnished us with all needed books to its study. Premising that the original symbols were ideographic, the necessities of the case compelled their contraction as much as possible, and soon resulted in arbitrary signs for all common uses. Their symbols varied, indeed, at different times and in different States ; it was not until a genuine literature appeared and its readers multiplied that the varients were dropped and uniformity sought. The original characters of this language are derived from natural or artificial objects, of which they were at first the rude outlines. Most of the forms are preserved in the treatises of native philologists, where the changes they have gradually undergone are shown. The number of objects chosen at first was not great ; among them were symbols for the sun, moon, hills, animals, parts of the body, etc. ; and in drawing them the limners seem to have proposed nothing further than an outline sketch, which, by the aid of a little explanation, would be intelligible. Thus the picture ^ would probably be recognized by all who saw it as representing the moon ; that of ^ as a fish / and so of others. It is apparent that the number of pictures which could be made in this manner would beai” no proportion to the w’ants and uses of a language, and therefore recourse must soon be had to more complicated symbols, to combining those already understood, or to the adoption of arbitrary or phonetic signs. All these modes have been more or less employed.

    Chinese philologists arrange all the characters in their language into six classes, called Liushu, or ‘six writings’. The first, called slang king, morphographs. or ‘ imitative symbols,’ are those in which a plain resemblance can be traced between the original form and the object represented ; they are among the first characters invented, although the six hundred and eight placed in this class do not include all the original symbols, These pristine forms have since been nioditied so much that the resemblance has disappeared in most of them, caused chiefly by the use of paper, ink, and pencils, instead of the iron style

    and bamboo tablets formerly in use for writing ; circular strokes

    being more distinctlj^ made with an iron point upon the hard

    wood than with a hair ])encil upon thin paper ; angular strokes

    and square forms, therefore, gradually took the place of round

    or curved ones, and contracted characters came into use in place

    of the oi’iginal imitative symbols. In this class such characters

    as the followin<r are ijiven :

    ^^A^-^t^^ tortoise,

    altered to chariot. child, elephant, deer, vase, hill, eye.

    kwei, chi,

    The second class, only one hundred and seven in number, is

    called chi S3\ i.e., ‘ symbols indicating thought.’ They differ

    from the preceding chiefly in that the characters are formed by

    combining previously formed symbols in such a way as to indi«

    cate some idea easily deducible from their position or combination,

    and pointing out some property or relative circumstance

    belonging to them. Chinese philologists consider these two

    classes as comprising all the symbols in the language, which

    depict objects either in whole or in part, and whose meaning is

    apparent from the resemblance to the object, or from the posi-

    Moii of the ])ai’ts. Among those; placed in this class are,

    ^ moon half appearing, signili(;s e\ening ; now written ^

    O sun above the horizon, denotes nn)rning ; now written J9.

    y something in the mouth, meaning sweet ; now written ^

    SIX CLASSES OF CHARACTERS. 585

    The third class, amounting to seven Iiundred and forty characters,

    is called hioid i, i.e., ‘ combined ideas,” or ideographs, and

    comprises characters made up of two or three symbols to foi-m a

    single idea, whose meanings are dcdiieible either from their position,

    or supposed relative intiuence upon each other. Thus the

    union of the sun and moon, ^ luuttj, expresses brightness; ^

    lien, a piece of wood in a doorway, denotes obstruction ; two

    trees stand for a forest, as ^^ lin ; and three for a thicket, as ^^-^

    mil ; two men upon the ground conveys the idea of sitting ; a

    ‘mouth in a doof signifies to ask ; man and words means truth

    and to believe ; heart and death imports forgetfulness ; dog and iiioidh means to bark ; woman and hfoom denotes a wife, referring to her household duties ; i)encil and to speah is a book, or to write. But in none of these compounded characters is there anything like that perfection of picture writing stated by some writers to belong to the language, which will enable one unacquainted with the meaning of the separate symbols to decide upon the signification of the combined group. On the contrary

    it is in most cases certain that the third idea made by combining

    two already known symbols, usually required more or less

    explanation to fix its precise meaning, and remove the doubt

    which would otherwise arise. For instance, the combination of

    the sun and moon might as readily mean a solar or lunar eclipse,

    or denote the idea of time, as brightness. A piece of wood in a doorway would almost as naturally suggest a thre-shold as an ohstr actioIt / and so of others, A straight line in a doorway would more readily suggest a closed or bolted door, which is the signification of p^ shan, anciently written f\^ ; but the idea intended to be conveyed by these combinations would need prior explanation as much as the primitive symbol, though it would thenceforth readily recur to mind when noticing the construction.

    It is somewhat singular that the opinion should have obtained so much credence, that their meanings were easily deducible from their shape and construction. It might almost be said, that not a single character can be accurately defined from a mere inspection of its parts ; and the meanings now given of some of those which come under this class are so arbitrary and far-fetclied, as to show that Chinese characters have not been formed by rule and plummet more than words in other languages. The mistake which Du Ponceau so learnedly combats arose, probably, from confounding sound with construction and inferring that, because persons of different nations, who used this as their written language, could understand it when written, though mutually unintelligible when speaking, that it addressed itself so entirely to the eye, as to need no previous explanation.

    The fourth class, called chuen chu, ‘ inverted significations,’

    includes three hundi-ed and seventy-two characters, being such

    as b}^ some inversion, contraction, or alteration of their parts,

    acquire different meanings. This class is not large, but these

    and other modifications of the original symbols to express abstract

    and new ideas show that those who used the language

    either saw at once how cumbrous it would become if they went

    on forming imitative signs, or else that their invention failed,

    and they resorted to changes more or less arbitrary in characters

    already known to furnish distinctive signs for different

    ideas. Thus yu j^ the hand, turning toward the right means

    the right; inclined in the other direction, as tso ‘\ it means

    the left. The heart placed beneath slave, i^ signifies anger;

    threads obstructed, as || , means to sunder ; but turned the

    other way, as H , signifies continuous.

    The fifth class, called hml shing, i.e., ‘ uniting sound symbols,’

    or phonogram, contains twenty-one thousand eight hundred

    and ten characters, or nearly all in the language. They

    are formed of an imitative symbol united to one which merely

    imparts its sound to the compound ; the former usually partakes

    more or less of the new idea, while the latter loses its

    own meaning, and gives only its name. In this respect, Chinese

    cliaracters are superior to the Arabic numerals, inasmuch

    as combinations like 25, 101, etc., although conveying the same

    meaning to all nations using them, can neiier indicate sound.

    This plan of forming new conjbinations by the union of symbols

    expressing idea and sound, enables the Chinese to increase

    the mnnber of charactei’s without multiplying the original symbolcj;

    but these compoundfe, or lcx’i<jraj_>hs^ us \j\\. I’ouceau callji

    METHOD OF FORMING PHONETIC CHARACTERS. 587

    tlieni, do nut increase very rapidly. In Annum they liave become

    so numerous in the course of years that the Chinese

    books made in that country are hard to i-ead. The probable

    mode in wliich this arose can best be explained by a case which

    occurred at Canton in 1832. Innnature locusts were to be described

    in a proclamation, l)ut the word nan, by which they

    were called, was not contained in any dictionary. It would be

    sufficient to designate this insect to all persons living where it

    was found by selecting a well-understood character, like ^

    south, having the exact sound nan, by which the insect itself

    was called, and joining it to the determinative symbol clmnfj

    ^ insect. It woidd then signify, to every one who knew the

    sound and meaning of the component parts, the insect nan ^

    and be read nan, ^ meaning this very insect to the people in

    Kwangtung. If this new combination was carried to a distant

    part of the country, where the insect itself was unknown, it

    would convey no more information to the Chinese who sav:) the

    united symbol, than the sounds insect nan would to an Englishman

    who heard them ; to both persons a meaning must be

    given by describing the insect. If, however, the people living

    in this distant region called the phonetic part of the new character

    by another sound, as oiam, nein, or lam, they would attach

    another name to the new compound, but the people on the

    spot would, perhaps, not understand them when they spoke it

    by tliat name. If they wrote it, however, both would give it

    the same signification, but a different sound.

    In this way, the thousands of characters under this class have probably originated. But this rule of sounding them according to the phonetic part is not in all cases certain; for in the lapse of time, the sounds of many characters have changed, while those of the parts themselves have not altered ; in other cases, the parts have altered, and the sounds remained ; so that now only a great degree of probability as to the correct sound can be obtained by inspecting the component parts. The similarity in sound between most of the characters having the same phonetic part is a great assistance in reading Chinese, though very little in understanding it, and has had much influence in keeping the sounds unchanged.

    There are a few instances of an almost inadvertent arrival at a true syllabic system, Ijy which the initial consonant of one part, Avhen joined to the final vowel of the other, gives the sound of the character; as ina andy?’, in the character j|l, when united in this way, make ml. The meanings of the components are hemp and not, that of the compound is extradayant, ‘wasteful, etc., showing no relation to the primary signification.

    The number of such characters is veiy small, and the syllabic composition here noticed is probably fortuitous, and not intentional. The sixth class, called hla tsle, i.e., ‘borrowed uses’, includes metaphoric symbols and combinations, m which the meaning is deduced by a somewhat fanciful accommodation ; their number is five hundred and ninety-eight. They differ but little from the second class of indicative symbols. For instance, the symbol ‘”f^ or j^, meaning a written character, is composed of a child under a shelter—characters being considered as the well-nurtured offspring of hieroglyphics. The character for hall means also mother, because she constantly abides there. The word for ‘//dnd or heart is sin ^, originally intended to represent that organ, but now used chiefly in a metaphorical sense. Chinese grammarians find abundant scope for the display of their fancy in explaining the etymology and origin of the characters, but the aid which their researches give toward understanding the language as at present used is small. This classification under six lieads is modern, and was devised as a means of arranging what existed already, for they confess that their characters were not formed according to fixed rules, and have gradually undergone many changes.

    MODES OF AKHANGING CIIAKACTERS. 589

    The total number in the six classes is twenty-four thousand two hundred and thirty-five, being many less than are found in KangXi’s Dictionary, which amount to forty-four thousand four hundred and forty-nine ; but in the larger sum are included the obsolete and synonymous characters, which, if deducted, would reduce it to nearly the same number. It is probable that the total of really different characters in tlie language sanctioned by good usage, does not vary greatly from twenty-five thousand, though luithors have stated them at from fifty-four thousand four hundred and nine, as Magaillaus does, up to two hundred and sixty thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, as Montueci.

    The Chinese editor of the hirge lexicon on which Dr. Morrison founded his Dictionary, gives it as his opinion that there are fifty thousand characters, including synonyms and different forms; and taking in every variety of tones given to the words, and sounds for which no characters exist, that there are five thousand different words. But even the sum of twenty-five thousand different characters contains thousands of miusual ones which are seldom met with, and which, as is the case with old words in English, are not often learned.

    The burden of remembering so many complicated symbols,

    whose form, sound, and meanings are all necessary to enable the

    student to read and write intelligibly, is so great that the result

    has been to diminish those in connnon nse, and increase their

    meanings. This course of procedure really occurs in most languages,

    and in the Chinese greatly reduces the labor of acquiring

    it. It may be safely said, that a good knowledge of ten

    thousand characters will enable one to read any work in Chinese,

    and write intelligibly on any subject ; and Premare says a

    good knowledi2;e of four or five thousand characters is sulficient

    for all connnon purposes, while two-thirds of that number might

    in fact suffice. The troublesome ones are either proper names

    or technics peculiar to a particular science. The nine canonical

    works coi^.tain altogether oidy four thousand six hundred and

    one dljfevent characters, while in the Five Classics alone there

    are over two hundred thousand words. The entire number of

    different characters in the code of laws ti-anslated by Staunton is

    under two thousand.

    The invention of printing and the compilation of dictionaries

    have given to the form of modern characters a greater degree

    of certainty than they had in ancient times. The vai-iants of

    some of the most common ones were exceedingly numerous before

    this period ; Callery gives forty-two different modes of

    writing pao^ ‘ precious ; ‘ and forty-one for writing tsun, ‘honorable

    ; ‘ showing the absence of an acknowledged standard, and the

    slii»:ht intercourse between learned men. The best mode of arranging: the characters so as to find them easily, has been a subject of considerable trouble to Chinese lexicographers, and the various methods they have adopted renders it difficult to consult their dictionaries without considerable previous knowledge of the language. In some, those having the same sound are grouped together, so that it is necessary to know what a character is called before it can be found ; and this arrangement has been followed in vocabularies designed principally for the use of the common people. One well-known vocabulary used at Canton, called the Fan Yan^ or ‘ Divider of Sounds,’ is arranged on this plan, the words being placed under thirty-three orders, according to their terminations. Each order is subdivided into three or four classes according to the tones, and all the characters having the same tone and termination are placed together, as kam^ lam^ tarn, nam, etc. As might be supposed, it requires considerable time to find a character whose tone is not exactly known ; and even with the tone once mastered, the uncertainty is equally troublesome if the termination is not familiar: for singular as it may seem to those who are acquainted only with phonetic languages, a Chinese can, if anything, more readily distinguish between two words %ning and fining, whose tones are unlike, than he can between *^mmg and ^nieng, fining or thing, where the initial or final differs a little, and the tones are the same.

    An improvement on this plan of arrangement was made by adopting a mode of expressing the sounds of Chinese characters introduced by the Buddhists, in the Yah Plen, published a.d. 5-43, and ever since used in all dictionaries. This takes the initial of the sound of one character and the final of another, and combines them to indicate the sound of the given character ; as from U-qw and y-ing to form ling. There are thirty-six characters chosen for the initial consonants, and thirty-eight for the final sounds, but the student is perplexed by the different characters chosen in different works to represent them.’ The inhabitants of Amoy use a small lexicon called the Shih-‘wu

    Yin, or ‘ Fifteen Sounds,’ in which the characters are classified

    ‘ Biot has a brief note upon the metliods emplo^’ed by native scholars fd

    studying pronunciation. Esaai sur Vinstruction en Chine, p. 597.

    CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO COMPOSITION. 591

    on this principle, by first arranging them all nnder fifty finals,

    and then placing all those having the same termination in a

    regular series under fifteen initials. Su])posing a new character,

    chien, is seen, whose sound is given, or the word is heard in

    conversation and its meanings are wanted, the person turns to

    the part of the hook containing the final ien, which is designated

    perhaps by the character I’un, and looks along the initials

    until he comes to cA, which is indicated by the character chany.

    In this column, all the words in the book I’ead or spoken chien^

    OS whatever tone they may be, are placed together according to

    their tones ; and a little practice readily enables a person speaking

    the dialect to use this manual. It is, however, of little or no

    avail to persons speaking other dialects, or to those whose vernacular

    differs much from that of the compiler, whose own ear

    was his only guide. Complete dictionaries have been published

    on the phonetic plan, the largest of which, the ^Vu Che Tun

    Fu^ is arranged with so much minuteness of intonation as to

    puzzle even the best educated natives, and consequently abridge

    its usefulness as an expounder of words.

    The unfitness of either of these modes of arrangement to find an unkno\\Ti character, led to another classification according to their composition, by selecting the most prominent parts of each character as its key, or radical, and grouping those together in which the same key occurred. This plan was adopted subsequently to that of arranging the characters according to the sounds, about a.d. S-IS, when their number was put at

    five hundred and forty-two ; they were afterward reduced to

    tlii-ee hundred and sixty, and toward the close of the Ming dynasty

    finally fixed at two hundred and fourteen in the Tsz* Lui.

    It is now in general use from the adoption of the abridged dictionary, the Kanghi Ts^ Tien / though this number could have been advantageously reduced, as has been shown by Gon^alves, its universal adoption, more than anything else, renders it the best system. All characters found under the same radical are placed consecutively, according to the number of strokes necessary to write them, but no regularity is observed in placing those having the same number of strokes. The term j)rrmitiv6 has been technically applied to the remaining part of the character, which, though perhaps no older than the radical, is conveniently denoted by this word. The characters selected for the radicals are all common ones, and among the most ancient in the language ; they are here grouped according to their meanings in order to show something of the leading ideas followed in combination.

    Corporal.—Body, corpse, head, hair, down, whiskers, face, eye, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, tusk, tongue, hand, heart, foot, hide, leather, skin, wings, feathers, blood, flesh, talons, horn, bones.

    Biological.—Man, woman, child ; horse, sheep, tiger, dog, ox, hog, liog’a head, deer ; tortoise, dragon, reptile, mouse, toad ; bird, gallinaceous fowls; fish ; insect.

    Botanicul. — Herb, grain, rice, wheat, millet, hemp, leeks, melon, pulse, bamboo, sacrificial herb ; wood, branch, sprout, petal.

    Mineral.—Metal, stone, gems, salt, earth.

    Meteorological.—Rain, wind, fire, water, icicle, vapor, sound ; sun, moon, evening •, time.

    Utewtils.—A chest, a measure, a mortar, spoon, knife, bench, couch, crockery, clothes, tiles, dishes, napkin, net, plough, vase, tripod, boat, carriage, pencil ; bow, halberd, arrow, dart, ax, musical reed, drum, seal.

    Descriptives.—Black, white, yellow, azure, carnation, sombre ; color ; high, long, sweet, square, large, small, strong, lame, slender, old, fragrant, acrid, perverse, base, opposed.

    Actions.—To enter, to follow, to walk slowly, to arrive at, to stride, to walk, to run, to reach to, to touch, to stop, to fly, to overspread, to envelop, to encircle, to establish, to overshadow, to adjust, to distinguish, to divine, to see, to eat, to speak, to kill, to fight, to oppose, to stop, to embroider, to owe, to compare, to imitate, to bring forth, to use, to promulge.

    Miscellaneous.—A desert, cave, field, den, mound, hill, valley, rivulet, cliff, retreat. A city ; roof, gate, door, portico. One, two, eight, ten. Demon ; an inch, mile ; without, not, false ; a scholar, statesman, letters ; art, wealth; motion ; self, myself, father ; a point ; again ; wine ; silk ; joined hands ; a long journey ; print of a bear’s foot ; a surname ; classifier of cloth.

    The number of characters found under each of these radicals

    in Kanghi’s Dictionary varies from five up to one thousand three

    hundred and fifty-four. The radical is not uniformly placed,

    but its usual position is on the left of the primitive. Some occur

    on the top, others on the bottom ; son)e inclose the primitive,

    and many have no fixed place, making it evident that no uniform

    plan was adopted in the original construction. They must be

    thoroughly learned before the dictionary can be readily used.

    RADICALS AND PRIMITIVES. 593

    and some practice had before a cliaracter can be qnickly found.’

    Tlie groups occurring under a niajoi-ity of tlie radicals are more

    or less natural in their general meaning, a feature of the language

    wbich has already been noticed (page 375), Some of

    the radicals are interchanged, and characters having the same

    meaning sometimes occur under two or three different ones—

    variations which seem to have arisen from the little importance

    of a choice out of two or three similar radicals. Thus the same

    word tsien. ‘a small cup,’ is written under the three radicals

    gein^ jmreelain^ and liorn^ originally, no doubt, referring to the

    material for making it. This interchange of radicals adds

    greatly to the number of duplicate forms, which are still further

    increased by a similar interchange of primitives having the

    same sound. These two changes very seldom occur in the same

    character, but there are numerous instances of synonymous

    forms under almost every radical, arising from an intei”change

    of primitives, and also under analogous radicals caused by their

    reciprocal use. Thus, from both these causes, there are, under

    the radical riia^ ‘ a horse,’ one hundred and eighteen duplicate

    forms, leaving two hundred and ninety-three different words ;

    of the two hundred and four characters under nm, ‘an ox,’

    thirty-nine are synonymous forms ; and so under other radicals.

    These characters do not difFer in meaning more thanfavor and

    favour, or lady and larhje ; they are mere variations in the

    form of writing, and though apparently adding greatly to the

    number of characters, do not seriously increase the difficulty of

    learning; the language.

    Variants of other descriptions frequently occur in books,

    which needlessly add to the labor of learning the language.

    Ancient forms are sometimes adopted by pedantic writers to

    show their learning, while ignorant and careless writers use

    abridged or vulgar forms, because they either do not know the

    correct form, or are heedless in using it. AVhen such is the

    case, and the character cannot be found in the dictionary, the

    reader is entirely at fault, especially if he be a foreigner^

    though in China itself he would not experience much difficulty

    ‘ Easy Lessons in Chinese, pp. 8-29 ; Chinese Repository, Vol. III. , pp. 1-37Vol. I.—38

    where the natives were at liaiid to refer to. Vulgar forms are

    very commori in cheap books and letters, which are as unsanctioned

    by the dictionaries and good nsage, as cockney

    Dhrases or miner’s slang are in pure English. They arise,

    either from a desire on the part of the writer to save time by

    makinsr a contracted form of few strokes instead of the correct

    character of many strokes ; or he uses common words to express

    an energetic vulgar phrase, for which there are no authorized

    characters, but which will be easily understood phonetically by

    his readers. These characters would perchance not be understood

    at all outside of the range of the author’s dialect, because

    the phrase itself was new ; their individual meaning, indeed,

    has nothing to do with the interpretation of the sentence, for in

    this case they are merely signs of sound, like words in other languages, and lose their lexigraphic character. For instance,

    the words Ma-fi for coffee, hajMan for captain, ml-sz” for Mr ,

    etc., however they were written, would be intelligible to a

    native of Canton if they expressed those sounds, because he was

    familiar with the words themselves ; but a native of Shensi

    would not understood them, because, not knowing the things

    intended, he would naturally refer to the characters themselves

    for the meaning of the phrase, and thus be wholly misled.

    In such cases, the characters become mere syllables of a phonetic

    word. Foreign names are often transliterated by writers

    on geography or history, and their recognition is no easy task

    to their readers.’

    In addition to the variations in the forms of characters, there

    are six different styles of writing them, which correspond to

    black-letter, script, italic, roman, etc., in English. The first is

    called Chuen shu (from the name of the person who invented it),

    which foreigners have styled the seal cliaractet^ from its use in

    seals and ornamental inscriptions. It is next to the picture hieroglyphics,

    the most ancient fashion of writing, and has undergone

    many changes in the course of ages. It is studied by those who

    cut seals or inscriptions, but no books are ever printed in it.

    ‘ One may gain some idea of this difficulty by referring to the geographical names contained in the Russo-Chinese Treaty, quoted on page 215.

    EI Bm 13 HI EJ 5t EI J3H 5? Q Q B a nB[$1

    SIX STYLES OF ClIINESK CIIAIJACTEKS. 597

    The second is the 11 shi, or style of official attendants, which

    was introduced about the (-hristian era, as an elegant style to be

    employed in engrossing docuinonts. It is now seen in prefaces

    and formal inscriptions, and re(|uires no special study to read it,

    as it differs but sliglitly from the following.

    The third is the Jiial ^s/^ //, or pattern style, and has been gradually

    formed by the improvements in good writing. It is the

    usual form of Chinese characters, and no man can claim a literary

    name among his countrymen if he cannot write neatly and

    correctly in this style.

    The fourth is called king shu, or running hand, and is the common hand of a neat writer. It is frequently used in prefaces and inscriptions, scrolls and tablets, and there are books prepared in parallel columns having this and the pattern style arranged for school-boys to learn to write both at the same time. The running hand cannot be read without a special study ; and although this labor is not very serious when the language of books is familiar, still to become well acquainted with l^oth of them withdraws many days and months of the pupil from progress in acquiring knowledge to learning two modes of writing the same word.

    The fifth style is called t.’^ao tsz\ or plant character, and is a

    fi-eer description of running hand than the preceding, being full

    of abbreviations, and the pencil runs from character to character,

    without taking it from the paper, almost at the writer’s fancy.

    It is more difficult to read than the preceding, but as the abbreviations

    are somewhat optional, the tsao tsz’ varies considerably,

    and more or less resembles the running hand according to the

    will of the writer. The fancy of the Chinese for a ” flowing

    pencil,’” and a mode of writing where the elegance and freedom of

    the caligraphy can be admired as much or more than the style or

    sentiment of the writing, as well as the desire to contract their

    nuiltangular characters as much as possible, has contributed to introduce

    and perpetuate these two styles of writing. How much

    all these varieties of form superadd to the difficulty of learning

    the mere apparatus of knowledge need hardly be stated.

    The sixth style is called Sung shu, and was introduced under

    the Sung dynasty in the tenth century, soon after printing on wooden blocks was invented. It differs from the third style, merely in a certain squareness and angularity of stroke, which transcribers for the press only are obliged to learn. Of these six forms of writing, the pattern style and running hand are the only two which the people learn to any great extent, although many acquire the knowledge of some words in the seal character, and the running hand of every person, especially those engaged in business, approaches more or less to the plant character. But foreigners will seldom find time or inclination to learn to write more than one form, to be able to read and communicate on all occasions.

    Besides these styles, there are fanciful ones, called * tadpole charactei’s,’ in imitation of various objects ; ‘ the Emperor Kienhmg brought together thirty-two of them in an edition of his poem, the Elegy ujwn the City of Mukden.^

    All the strokes in the characters are reduced to eight elementarv

    ones, which are contained in the single character ^yung, ‘eternal.’

    A dot, a line, a perpendicular, u hook, a siiikc, ;i sweep, ii sroke, a dash-line.

    Each of these is subdivided into many forms in copy-books,

    having particular names, with directions how to write them,

    and numerous examples introduced under each stroke/

    ‘ The writer has an edition of the Thouftdnd Chnradcv Clitsxtr, containing each couplet or eight words in a different form of character, making one hundred and twenty-five styles of type—too grotesque to be imitated, and probably never actually in use.

    •’ See page TJ3. In order that the Manchu portion of this famous poem might not appear inferior to the Chinese, the Emperor ordered thirty-two varieties of Manchu characters to be invented and published in like manner with the others. Remusat, Melanges, Tome II., p. 59. Pere Amiot, El/)ge de la ViUe de Moiikden. Trad, eii frant^oin. Paris, 1770.

    • Chinese Chrestomatlii/, Chap. I., Sees. 5 and 6, where the rules for writing

    Chinese are given in full with numerous examples; Easy Lessons in Chinese,

    ‘a 59; Chinese liepositvrj/, Vol. III., p. 37.

    ELEMENTARY STROKES OF THE CHARACTERS, 599

    The Chinese regard their characters as highly elegant, and

    take unwearied pains to learn to write them in a beautiful,

    uniform, well-proportioned manner. Students are provided

    with a painted board upon which to practise with a brush

    dipped in blackened water. The articles used in writing, collectively

    called wan fang sz’ jpao^ or ‘ four precious things of

    the library,’ are the pencil, ink, paper, and ink stone. The

    best pencils ai’e made of the bristly hair of the sable and fox,

    and cheaper ones from the deer, cat, wolf and rabbit ; camel’s

    hair is not used. K combination of softness and elasticity is

    required, and those who are skilled in their use discern a difference

    and an excellence altogether imperceptible to a novice.

    The hairs are laid in a regular manner, and when tied up are

    brought to a delicate tip ; the handle is made of the twigs of

    a bamboo cultivated for the purpose. The ink, nsually known

    as India ink, is made fi-om the soot of burning oil, pine, fir,

    and other substances, mixed with glue or isinglass, and scented.

    It is formed into oblong cakes or cylinders, inscribed with the

    maker’s name, the best kinds being put up in a very tasteful

    manner. A singular error formerlv obtained credence”regarding

    this Ink, that it was inspissated from the fluid found in the

    cuttle-fish. When used, the ink is rubbed with water upon

    argillite, marble, or other stones, some of which are cut and

    ground in a beautiful manner. Chinese paper is made from

    bamboo, by triturating the woody fibre to a pulp in mortars

    after the pieces have been soaked in ooze, and then taking it

    up in moulds ; the pulp is sometimes mixed with a little cotton fiber. Inferior sorts are made entirely from cotton refuse; and in the North, where the bamboo does not grow, the bark of the Brotissonetia, or paper mulberry, furnishes material for a tough paper used for windows, wrappings, and account

    books, etc. Bamboo paper has no sizing in it, and is a frail

    material for preserving valuable writings, as it is easily destroyed

    by insects, mildew, or handling.’

    ‘ Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Vol. III. (Sept., 1834), p. 477. S. Julien in the Revue de I’ Orient et de VAlyerie, XX., p. 74, 1856.

    In the days of Confucius, pieces of bamboo pared thin, palm leaves, and reeds, were all used for writing upon with a sharp stick or stile. About the third century before Christ, silk and cloth were employed, and hair pencils made for writing. Paper was invented about the first century, and cotton-paper may have been brought from India, where it was in use more than a hundred years before. India ink was manufactured by the seventh century ; and the present mode of printing upon blocks was adopted from the discovery of Fungtau in the tenth century, of taking impressions from engraved stones. In the style of their notes and letters, the Chinese show both neatness and elegance; narrow slips of tinted paper are employed, on which various eml)leniatic designs are stamped in water lines, and enclosed in fanciful envelopes. It is common to affix a cipher instead of the name, or to close with a periphrasis or sentence well understood by the parties, and thereby avoid any signature; this, which originated, no doubt, in a fear of interception and unpleasant consequences, has gradually become a common mode of subscribing friendly epistles.

    The mode of printing is so well litted for the language that

    few improvements have been made in its manipulations, while

    the cheapness of books brings them within reach of tfie poorest.

    Cutting the blocks, and writing the characters, form two distinct

    branches of the business : printing the sheets, binding the

    volumes, and publishing the books, also furnish employment to

    other craftsmen. The first step is to write the characters upon

    thin paper, properly ruled with lines, two pages being cut upon

    one block, and a heavy double line surrounding them. The

    title of the work, chapter, and paging are all cut in a central

    column, and wdien the leaf is printed it is folded through this

    column so as to bring the characters on the edge and partly on

    both pages. Marginal notes are placed on the top of the page ;

    comments, when greatly extended, occupy the upper part, separated

    from the text by a heavy line, or when mci-e scholia, are

    interlined in the same column in characters of half the size.

    Sometimes two works are printed togethei-, one running through

    the volume on the upper half of the leaves, and separated from

    that occupying the lower half by a heavy line. Illustrations

    usually occupy separate pages at the connnencement of the

    PAPER AND PRINTING. 60l

    Look, but there are a few works with woodcuts of a wretched

    description, inserted in tlie body of the page. In books printed

    by government, each page is sometimes surrounded with dragons,

    or the title page is adorned in red by this emblem of imperial

    authority.

    When the leaf has been written out as it is to be printed, it

    is turned over and pasted upon the block, face downward.

    The wood usually used by blockcutters is pear or plum ; the

    boards are half or three-fourths of an inch thick, and planed

    fur cutting on both sides. The paper, when dried upon the

    board, is carefully rubbed off with the wetted finger, leaving

    every character and stroke plainly delineated. The cutter then,

    with his chisels, cuts away all the blank spots in and around

    the characters, to the depth of a line or more, after which the

    block is ready for the printer, whose machinery is very simple.

    Seated before a bench, he lays the block on a bed of paper so

    that it will not move nor chafe. The pile of paper lies on

    one side, the pot of ink before him, and the pressing brush on

    the other. Taking the ink brush, he slightly rubs it across the

    block twice in such a way as to lay the ink e(juably over the

    surface ; he then places a sheet of paper upon it, and over that

    another, which serves as a tympanum. The impi-ession is

    taken with the fibrous bark of the gonuiti palm ; one or two

    sweeps across the block complete the impression, for only one

    side of the paper is printed. Another and cheaper method in

    common use for publishing slips of news, court circulars, etc.,

    consists in cutting the characters in blocks of hard wax, from

    which as many as two hundred impi-essions can often be taken

    before they become entirely illegible. The ink is manufactured

    from lampblack mixed with vegetable oil ; the printers

    grind it for themselves.

    The sheets are taken by the binder, who folds them through

    the middle by the line around the pages, so that the columns

    shall register with each other, he then collates them into volumes,

    placing the leaves evenly by their folded edge, when the

    whole are arranged, and the covers ])asted on each side. Two

    pieces of paper stitch it through the back, the book is triinmed,

    and sent to the bookseller. If required, it is stitched firmly with thread, but this part, as well as writing the title on the bottom edges of the volume, and making the pasteboard wrapper, are usually deferred till the taste of a purchaser is ascertained.

    Books made of such materials are not as dm-able as European

    volumes, and those who can afford the expense frequent!}’ have

    valuable works inclosed in wooden boxes. They are printed of

    all sizes between small sleeve editions (as the Chinese call 2-i

    and 32 mos) up to quartos, twelve or fourteen inches square,

    larger than which it is difficult to get blocks.

    The price varies from one cent—for a brochure of twentyfive

    or thirty pages—to a dollar and a half a volume. It is

    seldom higher save for illustrated works. A volume rarely

    contains more than a hundred leaves, and in fine books their

    thickness is increased by inserting an extra sheet inside of each

    leaf. At Canton or Fuhchau, the ITlstopy of the Three States^

    bound in twenty-one volumes 12mo, printed on white paper, is

    usually sold for seventy-five cents or a dollar per set.

    Kanghfs Dictionary, in twenty-one volumes 8vo, on yellow

    paper, sells for four dollars ; and all the nine classics can be

    purchased for less than two. Books are hawked about the

    streets, circulating libraries are carried from house to house

    upon movable stands, and booksellers’ shops are frequent in

    large towns. No censorship, other than a prohibition to write

    about the present dynasty, is exercised upon the pi-ess ; nor are

    authors protected by a copyright law. Men of wealth sometimes

    show their literary taste by defraying the expense of getting

    the blocks of extensive works cut, and publishing them

    Pwan Sz’-ching, a wealthy merchant at Canton, published, in

    1846, an edition of the Pei Wan Yun Fu, in one hundred and

    thirty thick octavo volumes, the blocks for which nnist have

    cost him more than ten thousand dollars. The number of good

    impressions which can be obtained from a set of blocks is about

    sixteen thousand, and by retouching the characters, ten thousand

    more can be struck off.

    The disadvantages of this mode of printing are that other

    languages cannot easily be introduced into the page with the

    Chinese characters; tlie blocks occupy mudi room, are easily

    spoiled (jr lost ; and are incapable of correction without much

    THE MANUFACTUKE OF CHINESE BOOKS. 603

    expense. It possesses some compensatory adv^antages peculiar

    to the Chinese and its cognate languages, Manchu, Corean, Japanese, etc., all of which are written with a brush and have few or no circular strokes. Its convenience and cheapness, coupled with the low rate of wages, will no doubt make it the common mode of printing Chinese among the people for a long time.

    The honor of being the first inventor of movable tj^pes undoubtedly

    belongs to a Chinese blacksmith named Pi Shing, who

    lived about a.d. 1000, and printed books with them nearly five

    hundred years before Gutenberg cut his matrices at Mainz.

    They were made of plastic clay, hardened by fire after the

    characters had been cut on the soft surface of a plate of clay in

    which they were moulded. The porcelain types were then set

    up in a frame of iron partitioned off l)y strips, and inserted in a

    cement of wax, resin, and lime to fasten them down. The printing

    was done by rubbing, and when completed the types were

    loosened by melting the cement, and made clean for another impression.

    This invention seems never to have been developed to any

    practical application in superseding block-printing. The Emperor

    Kanghi ordered about two hundi-ed and fifty thousand

    copper types to be engraved for pi-inting publications of the government,

    and these works are now highly prized for their beauty.

    The cupidity of his successors led to melting these types into

    cash, but his grandson Kienlung directed the casting of a large

    font of lead types for government use.

    The attention of foreigners was early called to the preparation

    of Chinese movable types, especially for the rapid manufacture

    of religious books, in connection with missionary work. The

    first fonts were made by P. P. Thoms, for the E, I. Company’s

    office at Macao in 1S15, for the purpose of printing Morrison’s

    Dictionary. The characters were cut with chisels on blocks of

    type metal or tin, and though it was slow work to cut a full

    font, they gradually grew in numbers and variety till they served

    to print over twenty dictionaries and other works, designed

    to aid in learning Chinese, befoi-e they were destroyed by fire

    in 1856. A small font had been cast at Serampore in 1815, and in 1838, the Rojal Printing Office at Paris had obtained a set of blocks engraved in China, fi-om which thick castings were made and the separate types obtained by sawing the plates.

    M. Le Grand, a type-founder in Paris, about the year 1836, prepared an extensive font of type with comparatively few matrices, by casting the radical and primitive on separate bodies; and the plan has been found, within certain limits, to save so much expense and room that it has been adopted in other fonts.

    These experiments in Europe showed the feasibility of making

    and using Chinese type to any extent, but their results as to elegance

    and accuracy of form were not satisfactory^, and proved

    that native workmen alone could meet the native taste. Pev.

    Samuel Dyer of the London Mission at Singapore began in

    1838, under serious disadvantages, for he was not a practical

    printer, to cut the matrices for tM’O complete fonts. He continued

    at his self-appointed task until his death in 18-±4r, having

    completed only one thousand eight hundred and forty-five

    punches. His work was continued by P. Cole, of the American

    Presbyterian Missions, a skilful mechanic in his line, and in

    1851 he was able to furnish fonts of two sizes with four thousand

    seven hundred characters each. Their form and style met every

    requirement of the most fastidious taste, and they are now in

    constant use.

    While Mr. Dyer’s fonts were suspended by his death, an attempt

    was made by a benevolent printer, Ilerr Peyerhaus of

    Berlin, to make one of an intermediate size on the Le Grand

    principle of divisible types ; his proposal was taken up by the

    Presbyterian Board of Missions in New York, and after many

    delays a beautiful font was completed and in use about 1859.

    At this time, Mr. W. Gamble of that Mission in Shanghai, carried

    out his plan of making matrices by the electrotype process,

    and completed a large font of small pica type in about as many

    months as Dyer and Beyerhaus had taken years. By means of

    these various fonts books are now printed in many parts of

    China, in almost any style, and type foundries cast in whatever

    quantities are needed. The government has opened an extensive

    printing office in Peking, and its example will encourage

    native booksellers to unite typography with xylographic print*

    MOVABLE CHINESE TYPES MADE BY FOREIGNERS. 6(>R

    ing. More than this as conducing to the diffusion of knowledge

    among the people is the stimulus these cheap fonts of type have

    given to the circulation of newspapers in all the ports ; but for

    their convenient and economical use (Hiinese newsjia}»ers could

    not have been printed at all. It will be quite within the reach

    of native workmen, who are skilled in electrotjping, stereotjp

    ing, and casting type, to make types of all sizes and styles for

    their own books, as the growing intelligence of the people creates

    a demand for illustrated and scientific publications, as well as cheap ones.’

    Nothing has conduced more to a misapprehension of the nature of the Chinese language than the way in which its phonetic character has been spoken of by different authors. Some, describing the primitive symbols, and the modifications they have undergone, have conveyed the impression that the whole language consisted of hieroglyphic or ideographic signs, which depicted ideas, and conveyed their meaning entirely to the eye, irrespective of the sound. For instance, Ilemusat says, ” The character is not the delineation of the sound, nor the sound the expression of the character ; ” forgetting to ask himself how or when a character in any language ever delineated a sound. Yet every Chinese character is sounded as much ;is the words in alphabetic languages, and some have more than one to express their different meanings ; so that, although the character could not delineate the sound of the thing it denoted, the sound is the expression of the character. Others, as Mr. Lay,* have dissected the characters, and endeavored to trace back some analogy in the meanings of all those in which the same primitive is found, and by a sort of analysis, to find out how much of the signification of the radical w^as infused into the primitive to form the present meaning. His plan, in general terms, is to take all the characters containing a certain primitive, and find out how much of the meaning of that primitive is contained in each one ; then he reconstructs the series by defining the primitive, incidentally showing the intention of the fraaners of the characters in choosing tliat particular one, and apportioning so much of its aggregate meaning to each character as is needed, and adding the meaning of the radical to form its whole signification. If we understand his plan, he wishes to construct a formula for each group containing the same primitive, in which the signification of the primitive is a certain function in that of all the characters containing it ; to add up the total of their meanings, and divide the amount among the characters, allotting a quotient to each one. Languages are not so formed, however, and the Chinese is no exception. Some of Mr. Lay’s statements are correct, but his theory is fanciful. It is impossible to decide what proportion was made by combining a radical and a primitive with any reference to their meanings, according to IVIr. Lay’s theory, and how many of them Mere simply phonetic combinations ; probably nine-tenths of the compound characters have been constructed on the latter principle.

    1 Chinese RepoHilorij, Vol. III., pp. 246-253, 528 ; Vol. XIV., p. 124; Mi*sionary Rerarder, Jamiiiry, 1875.•^ Cidnetie an They .l;-, ,”ciiap. XXXIV.

    The fifth class of syllabic symbols were formed by combining

    the symbolic and syllabic systems, so as to represent sound

    chiefly, but bearing in the construction of each one some reference

    to its general signification. The original hieroglyphics contained

    no sound, i.e., were not formed of phonetic constituents;

    the object depicted had a name, but there was no clue to it. It

    was impossible to do both—depict the object, and give its name

    in the same chai-acter. At first, the number of people using

    these ideographic symbols being probably small, every one

    called them by the same name, as soon as he knew what they

    represented, and began to read them. But when the ideas attempted

    to be \vritten far exceeded in number the symbols, or,

    what is more likely, the invention of the limmers, recourse was

    had to the combination of the symbols already understood to express

    the new idea. This was done in several modes, as noticed

    above, but the syllabic system needs further explanation, from

    the extent to which it has been carried. The character ^^ nan,

    to denote the young of the locust, has been adduced. The

    same principle would be applied in reading every new character,

    of which the phonetic primitive merely was recognized, although

    its mtaniny; mioht not 1)0 known. Probablv all the characters

    in the fifth class were sounded in strict accordance with their

    PHONETIC CHARACTER OF THE LANGUAGE. 607

    phonetic primitives when constructed, but usage has changed

    some of their sounds, and many characters belonging to other

    classes, apparently containing the same primitive, are sounded

    quite differentl}- ; this tends to mislead those who infer the

    sound from the primitive. This mode of constructing and

    naming the characters also explains the reason why there are S6

    few sounds compared with the number of characters ; the phonetic

    primitive perpetuated its name in all its progeny.

    More than seven-eighths of the characters have been formed from less than two thousand symbols, and it is ditScult to imagine how it could have been used so long and widely without some such method to relieve the memory of the burden of retaining thousands of arbitrary marks. But, until the names and meanings of the original symbols are learned, neither the sound nor sense of the compound characters will be more apparent to a Chinese than they are to any one else ; until those are known, their combinations cannot be understood, nor even then the meaning wholly deduced ; each character must be learned by itself, just as words in other languages. The sounds given the original symbols doubtless began to vary early after coming into use. Intercommunication between different parts of the country was not so frequent as to prevent local dialects from arising ; but however strong the tendency of the spoken monosyllables to coalesce into polysyllables, the intractable symbols

    kept them apart. It is surprising, too, what a tendency the

    mind has to trust to the eye rather than to the ear, in getting

    and retaining the sense of a book ; it is shown in many ways,

    and arises from habit more than any real difficulty in catching

    the idea viva voce. If the characters could have coalesced,

    their names would soon have run together, and been modified

    as they are in other languages. The classics, dictionaries, and

    unlimited uses of a written language, maintained the same meaning; but as their sounds must be learned traditionally, endless variations and patois arose. Moreover, as new circumstances and increasing knowledge give rise to new words in all countries, so in China, new scenes and expressions arise requiring to be incorporated into the written language. Originally they were unwritten though well understood sounds ; and when first writ;-ten must be explained, as is the case with foreign words like tahu, ukdse, visie?’, etc., ad injin., when introduced into English. Different writers might, however, employ different primitives to express the sound, not aware that it had already been written, and hence woidd arise synonyms ; the\’ might use dissimilar radicals, and this as well would increase the modes of writing the sound. But the inconvenience of thus nndtiplyhig characters would be soon perceived in the obscurity of the sentence, for if the new character was not in the dictionary, its sound and composition were not enough to explain the meaning. When the language had attained a certain copiousness, the mode of education and the style of literary works compelled scholars to employ such characters only as were sanctioned by good use, or else run the risk of not being understood.

    The unwritten sounds, however, could not wait for this slow mode of adoption, but the risk of being misunderstood by using characters phonetically led to descriptive terms, conveying the idea and not the sound. Where alphabetic languages adopt a technic for a new thing, the Chinese make a new phrase. This is illustrated by the terms Iluny-rnao jin, or ‘ lied Bristled men,’ for Englishmen ; llwa-Vi^ or ‘ Flowery Flag,’ for Americans; Sl-yany^ or ‘ Western Ocean,’ for Portuguese, etc., used at Canton, instead of the proper names of those countries. Cause and effect act reciprocally upon each other in this instance ; the effect of using unsanctioned characters to express unwritten sounds, is to render a composition obscure, while the restriction to a set of characters compels their meaning to be sufficiently comprehensive to include all occasions. Local, unwritten phrases, and unauthorized characters, are so common, however, owing to the partial communication between distant parts of so great a country and mass of people, that it is evident, if this bond of union were removed by the substitution of an alphabetical language, the Chinese would soon be split into many small nations. However desirable, therefore, might be the introduction of a written language less difficult of acquisition, and more flexible, there are some reasons for w-ishing it to be dela^’ed until more intelligence is diffused and juster principles of government obtain. When the people themselves feel the need of it, they M’ill contriv^e some better mediuni for the promotion of knowledge.

    MODES OF INCORPORATING NEW WORDS. 609

    The nionosjllabic sound of the primitive once imparted to the ideophonous compound, explains the existence of so many characters having the same sound. When these various characters were presented to the eye of the scholar, no trouble wf s felt in recognizing their sense and sound, but confusion was experienced in speaking. This has been obviated in two wavs.

    One is by repeating a word, or joining two of similar meanings

    but of different sounds, to convey a single idea ; or else by adding

    a classifying word to express its nature. Both these modes

    do in fact form a real dissyllable, and it would appear so in an

    alphabetical language. The first sort of these Jden-hioh sz\ or

    ‘ clam-shell words,’ as they are called, are not unfrequent in books,

    far more common in conversation and render the spoken more

    diffuse than tlie written language—more so, perhaps, than is the

    case in other tongues. Similar combinations of three, four, and

    more characters occur, especially where a foreign article or term

    is translated, but the genius of the language is against the use

    of polysyllables. Such combinations in English as household^

    house- tcarinin’j, JiouseirJfe, house-room, houseleeks, hot-house,

    icood-house, household-stuff, etc., illustrate these dissyllables in

    Chinese ; but they are not so easily understood. Such terms as

    uiulerstand, eourtshij), withdraw, iqyright, etc., present better

    analogies to the Chinese compounds. In some the real meaning

    is totally unlike either of the terms, as tunghia (lit. ‘ east liouse’),

    for master; tungsl {\\t. ‘east wesf), for thing; Txungchu (lit. ‘ lord ruler ‘), for princess, etc. The classifiers partake of the nature of adjectives, and serve not only to sort different words, but the same word when nsed in different senses. They correspond to such words in English as herd, feet, troop, etc. To say a fleet of cows, a troop of ships, or a herd of soldiers, would be ridiculous only in English, but a similar misapplication would confuse the sense in Chinese.

    The other M-ay of avoiding the confusion of homophonons monosyllables, which, notwithstanding the “clam-shell words,” and the extensive use of classifiei’s, are still liable to misapprehension, is by accurately marking its right shing or tone, but as nothing analogous to them is found in European languages, it is rather difficult to describe them. At Canton there are eight arranged in an upper and lower series of four each ; at Peking there are only four, at Nanking five, and at Swatow seven. The Chinese printers sometimes mark the shing on certain ambiguous characters, by a semicircle put on one corner; but this is rarely done, as every one who can read is supposed to know how to speak, and consequently to be familiar with the right tone.

    These four tones are called 2^’^^”J-> ^^””*^? ^’h ^n<3 j’^h meaning, respectively, the even^ asccnduiy, dejyarthuj^ and cnterhig tone. They are applied to every word, and have nothing to do either with accent or emphasis; in asking or answering, entreating or refusing, railing or flattering, soothing or recriminating, they remain ever the same. The unlettered natives, ev^en children and females, who know almost nothing of the distinctions into four, five, seven, or eight shiny, observe them closely in their speech, and detect a mispronunciation as soon as the learned man. A single illustration of them will suffice. The i:ven tone is the natural expression of the voice, and native writers consider it the most important. In the sentence, ” When I asked him, ‘ Will you let me see it ? ‘ he said, ‘ No, I’ll do no such thing, ‘” the different cadence of the question and reply illustrate the upper and lower even tone. The ascending tone is heard in exclamatory words as ah! indeed ! It is a little like the crescendo in music, while the departing tone corresponds in the same degree to the diminuendo. The drawling tone of repressed discontent, grumbling and eking out a reply, is not uidike the departing tone. The entering tone is nearly eliminated in the northern provinces, but gives a marked feature to speech in the southern ; it is an abrupt ending, in the same modulation that the even tone is, but as if broken off ; a man about to say hc1i\ and taken with a hiccup in the middle so that he leaves off the last two letters, or the final consonant, pronounces ihejuh shing.

    A few characters have two tones, which give them different meanings; the ^>/yi//.s’A7’r?^ often denotes the substantive, and the hil shing, the verb, but there is no regularity in this respect.

    “clam-shell words” and tones. 611

    The tones are observed by natives of all ranks, speaking all patois and dialects, and on all occasions. They present a serious difficulty to the adult foreigner of preaching or speaking acceptably to the natives, for although by a proper use of classifiers, observance of idioms, and multiplication of synonyms, he may be understood, his speech will be rude and his words distasteful, if he does not learn the tones accurate!}’. In Amoy and Fuhchau, he will also run a risk of being misunderstood. If the reader, in perusing the following sentence, will accent the italicized syllables, he will have an imperfect illustration of the confusion a wrong intonation produces : ” The ipresent of that object occasioned such a tvunsjwrt as to rtJstract my mind from all around.” In Chinese, however, it is not accent upon one of two syllables which must be learned, but the integral tone of a single sound, as much as in the musical octave.

    It is unnecessary here to enter into any detailed description or enumeration of the words in the Chinese language. One remarkable feature is the frequency of the termination mj preceded by all the vowels, which imparts a peculiar singing character to Chinese speech, as Kwangtung^ Yangtsz’ kiang^ etc. In a list of sounds in the court dialect, about one-sixth of the syllables have this termination, but a larger proportion of characters are found under those syllables, than the mere list indicates.

    In Morrison’s Dictionary the number of separate words in the court dialect is 411, but if the aspirated syllables be distinguished, there are 533. In the author’s Sgllahic Dictionary the number is 532 ; Wade reduces the Peking dialect to 397 syllables in one list, and increases it to 420 in another. In the Cantonese there are 707 ; in the dialect of Swatow, 674 ; at Amoy, about 900 ; at Fuhchau, 928 ; and 660 at Shanghai. All these lists distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated words, as ting and tHng^ jm and p’a, which to an English ear are nearly identical. The largest part of the sounds ai-e common to the dialects, but the distinctions are such as to render it easy to detect each when spoken ; the court dialect is the most mellifluous of the whole and easiest to acquire. All the consonants in English are found in one or another of the dialects, besides many not occurring in that language, as hii\ chit\ gw^ jw, Iw, mw^ nw, etc. There are also several imperfect vowel sounds not known in any European language, as hni or ‘in, hn or ‘/c, “^’a high nasal sound), s.i’, ‘/7^, cJi\ etc. The phrase ‘m ”ng tdk in the Canton dialect, meaning cannot hejmshed, or cliah^^ mai” lany^’ a blind man,’ in the x\moy, cannot be so accurately expressed by these or any other letters that one can learn the sound from them. If it is difficult for us to express their sounds by Roman letters, it is still stranger for the Chinese to write English words.

    For instance, ha2)tlze in the Canton dialect hecou\QB jKi-j/i-tai-sz’; flannel becomesfat-Ian-j/in ^’ stairs hecomes, sz’-ta-sz’ / imjypegnable becomes iin-pi-lak-na-jpu-Vi / etc. Such words as AVasliington, nihlslirpnian, tongue, etc., can be written nearer their true sound, but the indivisible Chinese monosyllables offer a serious obstacle in the way of introducing foreign words and knowledge into the language.

    The preceding observations explain how the numerous local variations from the general language found in all parts of China have arisen. Difficult as the spoken language is for a foreigner to acquire, from the brevity of the words and nicety of their tones, the variety of the local pronunciations given to the same character adds not a little to the labor, especially if he be situated where he is likely to come in contact with persons from different places. Amid such a diversity of pronunciation, and where one sound is really as correct as another, it is not easy to define what should constitute a dialect, a patois, or a corruption.

    COURT, OR MANDARIN DIALECT. 613

    A dialect in other languages is usually described as a local variation in pronunciation, or the use of peculiar words and expressions, not affecting the idiom or grammar of the tongue; but in the Chinese, where the written character unites the mass of people in one language, a dialect has been usually regarded by those who have written on the subject, as extending to variations in the idiom, and not restricted to differences in pronunciation and local expressions. According to this definition, there are only four or five dialects (which would in fact be as many languages if they were not united by the written character), but an endless variety of patois or local pronunciations. The Chinese have published books to illustrate the court, Changchau or Amoy, the Canton and Fuhchau dialects. The differences in the idiTHE oms and proiinnciatioii tire such as to render persons speaking them nnitnally nnintelligible, but do not affect the style of writing, wliose idioms are founded upon tlie usage of the best writers, and remain unchanged.

    The court language, the kivan hira, or mandarin dialect, is rather the proper language of the country—the Chinese language—than a dialect. It is studied and spoken by all educated men, and no one can make any pretence to learning or accomplishments who cannot converse in it in whatever part of the Empire he may be boni. It is the common language throughout the northeastern provinces, especially Honan, Shantung, and Xganhwui, though presetiting more or less variations even in them from the standard of the court and capital.

    This speech is characterized by its soft and mellifluous tones, the absence of all harsh, consonantal endings, and the prevalence of li(j[uids and labials. In parts of the provinces where it is spoken, as the eastern portions of Chehkiang and Kiangsu, gutturals are common, and the initials softened or changed.

    This tongue is the most ancient speech now spoken, for

    stanzas of poetry written twenty-five centuries ago, in the times

    previous to Confucius, are now i-ead with the same rhymes as

    when peimed. The expressions of the kwan hica, although resembling

    the written language more than the other dialects, are

    still unlike it, being moi’e diffuse, and containing many synonyms

    and particles not required to make the sense clear when

    it is addressed to the eye. The difference is such in this respect

    that two well-educated Chinese speaking in the terse style

    of books would hardly understand each other, and be ol)liged

    to use more words to convey their meaning when speaking than

    they would consider elegant or necessary in an essay. This is.

    to be sure, more or less the case in all languages, but from the

    small variety of sounds and their monosyllabic brevity, it is unavoidable in Chinese, though it must not be inferred that the

    language cannot be written so as to he understood when read

    off ; it call be written as diffusely as it is spoken, but such a

    style is not considered very elegant. There are books written

    in the colloquial, however, from which it is not difficult to learn the style of conversation, and such books are amons: the best to put into the hands of a foreigner when beginning the study.

    The local patois of a place is called tu tan, or hiang tan, i.e..,

    local or village brogue, and there is an interpreter of it attached

    to almost every officer’s court for the purpose of translating the

    peculiar phrases of witnesses and others brought before him.

    The term dialect cannot, strictly, in its previous definition, be

    applied to the tu tan, though it is usually so called; it is a

    patois or brogue. The Canton dialect is called by its citizens

    pak vm, ‘the plain speech,’ because it is more intelligible

    than the court dialect. It is comparatively easy of acquisition,

    and differs less from the kwan /tuca, in its pronunciation and

    idioms, than that of Amoy and its vicinity ; but the diversity

    is still enough to render it unintelligible to people from the

    north. A very few books have been written in it, but none

    which can afford assistance in learning it. A native scholar

    would consider his character for literary attainments almost degraded if he should write books in the provincial dialects, and

    forsake the style of the immortal classics. The principal feature

    in the pronunciation of the Canton dialect which distinguishes

    it from the general language, is the change of the abrupt

    vowel terminations, as lok, kiah, pih, into the well-defined

    consonants l;p, and t, as lok, kaj>, pit, a change that considerably

    facilitates the discrimination of the syllables. The idioms

    of the two cannot well be illustrated without the help of the

    written character, but the differences between the sounds of

    two or three sentences may be exhibited : The phrase, / do not

    understand what he says, is in the

    Court dialect : Wo minjmh tung teh ta kiang shim mo.

    Canton dialect : Ngo -m km k’d kong mat ye.

    The rice contains sand in it.

    Court dialect : JSTa, ko mi yu sha ts2\

    Canton dialect : Ko tlk mai yau sha tsoi noi.

    Kone of the provincial patois differ so much from the kwan

    hwa, and affoi-d so many pcculiai’ities, as those spoken in the

    province of Fuhkicn and eastern portions of Kwangtung. All

    of them are nasal, and, compared with those spoken elsewhere,

    harsh and rougli. They have a large number of unwritten

    DIALECTS OF CAT^TOTST ATVD AMOY. G15

    sounds, and so supply the lack ; the same cliaructcr often has

    one sound when read and another when spoken ; all of them

    are in common use. This cni’ioiis feature obli<ji;es the foreiirner

    to learn two parallel languages when studying this dialect, so

    intimate and yet so distinct are the two. The difference between

    them will be more apparent by quoting a sentence : ” He

    first performed that which was difficult, and afterward imitated

    what was easier.” The corresponding words of the colloquial

    are placed underneath the reading sounds.

    Sien kH su chi se Ian, ji ho fc’i hau chi se te.k.

    Tai seng cho i e su e se oh, ji tui ate k’w”ai e hau (jiciii e se iit lioh.

    The changes from one into the other are exceedingly various

    both in sound and idiom. Thus, Men chien, ‘ before one’s face,’

    becomes hm chan when spoken ; while in the phrase eheng jit,

    ‘ a former day,’ the same word chien becomes cheng and not

    chan ; hoe chu^ ‘ pupil of the eye,’ becomes ang a ; sit hioan.,

    ‘ to eat rice,’ becomes ehiah j>ui^. Their dialect, not less than

    their trafficking spirit, point out the Amoy people wherever

    they are met, and as they are usually found along the whole

    coast and in the Archipelago, and are not understood except by

    their provincial compatriots, they everywhere clan together and

    form separate communities. Dr. Medhurst published a dictionary

    of the Changchau dialect, in which the sounds of the characters

    are given as they are read. Dr. C. Douglas has gathered a

    great vocabulary of words and phrases used in the Amoy colloquial,

    in which he has attempted to reduce everything to the

    liomanized system of writing, and omitted all the characters.

    The dialects of Fuhchau, Swatow, and Canton have been similarly

    investigated by Protestant missionaries. Messrs. Mac! ay

    and Baldwin have taken the former in hand, and their work

    leaves very little to be desired for the elucidation of that speech.

    Goddard’s vocabulary of the Swatow has no examples ; and

    Williams’ Tonic Dictionary of the Canton dialect gave no characters

    with the examples. This deficiency was made up in

    Lobscheid’s rearrangement of it under the radicals.

    The extent to which the dialects are used has not been ascertained, nor the degree of modification each undergoes in those parts where it is spoken ; for villagers within a few miles, althono’h able to understand each other perfectly, still give different sounds to a few characters, and have a few local phrases, enough to distinguish their several inhabitants, while towns one or two hundred miles apart are still more unlike. For instance, the citizen of Canton always says shut for water, and tss’ for child, but the native of Macao says sal and cJd for these two words ; and if his life depended upon his utterhig them as they are spoken in Canton, they would prove a shibboleth which he could not possibly enunciate. Strong peculiarities of speech also exist in the villages between Canton and Macao which are found in neither of those places. Yet whatever sound they give to a character it has the same tone, and a Chinese would be much less surprised to hear water called ttchiimi^ than he would to hear it called \yshui in the lower even tone, instead of its proper ascending tone. The tones really approach vowels in their nature more than mere musical inflections ; and it is by their nice discrimination, that the people are able to understand each other with less difficulty than we might suppose amidst such a jargon of vocables.

    This accurate discrimination in the vowel sounds, and comparative

    indifference to consonants, which characterize the Chinese

    spoken languages, has arisen, no doubt, from the monosyllabic

    nature, and the constant though slight variations the names of

    characters undergo from the traditionary mode in which they

    must be learned. There being no integral sound in any character,

    each and all of them are, of course, equally coi-rect, ^<;^r se /

    but the various general and local dictionaries have each tended

    somewhat to fix the pronunciation, just as books and education

    have fixed the spelling of English words. Nor do the Chinese

    more than other people learn to pronounce their mother tongue

    from dictionaries, and the variations are consequently but partially

    restrained by them. It may truly be said, that no two

    Chinese speak all words alike, while yet, through means of the

    universally understood character, the greatest mass of human

    beings ever collected under one government are enabled to express

    themselves without difficulty, and carry on all the business

    and concerns of life.

    PRONUNCIATION AND GRAMMAR. 617

    The grammar of the Chinese language is unique, but those

    writers who say it has no grammar at all must have overlooked

    the prime signification of the word. There are in all languages words which denote things, and others which signify (jualities; words which express actions done by one or many, already done, doing or to be done ; actions absolute, conditional, or ordered.

    The circumstances of the doer and the subject of the action,

    make prepositions necessary, as well as other connecting words.

    Thus the principles of grammar exist in all intelligible speech,

    though each may require different rules. These rules the Chinese

    language possesses, and their right application, the proper

    collocation of words, and use of particles, which supply the

    place of inflection, constitute a difficult part in its acquisition.

    It has no etymology, properly speaking, for neither the characters

    nor their names undergo any change ; whether used as

    verbs or nouns, adjectives or particles, they remain the same.

    The same word may be a noun, a verb, an adverb, or any part

    of speech, nor can its character be certainly known till it is

    placed in a sentence, when its meaning becomes definite. Its

    grammar, therefore, is confined chiefly to its syntax and prosody.

    This feature of the Chinese language is paralleled in English by

    such words as lights used as a noun, adjective, and verb ; I’lke^

    used as a verb, adjective, and adverb ; she^jj and deei\ used both

    in the singular and plural ; /v«//, used in the past, present, and

    future tenses ; and in all cases without undergoing any change.

    But what is occasional and the exception in that tongue, becomes

    the rule in Chinese ; nor is there any more confusion in the last than in the first.

    A good summary of the principles of Chinese grammar is given by Kemusat, who says that generally, ” In every Chinese sentence, in which nothing is understood, the elements of which it is composed are arranged in the following order : the subject, the verb, the complement direct, and the complement indirect.

    ” Modifying expressions precede those to which they belong : thus, the adjective is placed before the substantive, sub’ect, or complement ; the substantive governed before the verb that governs it ; the adverb before the verb, the proposition incidental, circumstantial, or liypothctical, before the principal proposition, to which it attaches itself by a conjunction expressed or understood.

    ” The relative position of words and phrases thus determined, supplies the place often of every other mark intended to denote their mutual dependence! their character whether adjective or adverhial, positive, conditional, or circumstantial.

    “If the subject be understood, it is because it is a personal pronoun, or that it is expressed above, and that the same substantive that is omitted is found in the preceding sentence, and in the same quality of subject, and not in any other.’

    ‘ If the verb be wanting, it is because it is the substantive verb, or some other easily supplied, or one which has already found place in the preceding sentences, with a subject or complement not the same.’

    ‘ If several substantives follow each other, either they are in construction with each other, or they form an enumeration, or they are synonyms which explain and determine each other.

    ” If several verbs succeed each other, which are not synonyms and are not employed as auxiliaries, the first ones should be taken as adverbs or verbal nouns, the subjects of those which follow; or these latter as verbal nouns, the complements of those which precede.”

    Chinese grammarians divide all words into sMh iss’ and hie tsz\ i.e., essential words and particles. The former are subdivided into 83^ tsz^ and hwoh tsz\ i.e., nouns and verbs; the latter into initials or introductory words, conjunctions, exclamations, finals, transitive particles, etc. They furnish examples under each, and assist the student, with model books, in which the principles of tlie language and all rhetorical terms are explained.

    The number and variety of grammatical and philological works prove that they have not neglected the elucidation and arrangement of their mother tongue. The rules above cited are applicable to the written language, and these treatises refer entirely to that ; the changes in the phraseology of the colloquial do not affect its grammar, however, which is formed upon the same rules.

    PARTS OF SPEECH. 619

    Although the characters are, when isolated, somewhat indefinite, there are many ways of limiting their meaning in sentences. Nouns are often made by suflixing formative particles, diBmtJci, ‘ angry spirit,’ merely means anger ; i M, ‘ righteous spirit,’ is rectitude ; chin ”rh, ‘ needle child,’ is a needle, etc. ; the suffix, in these cases, simply materializing the word. Gender is formed by distinctive particles, prefixed or suffixed by appropriate words for each gender, or by denoting one gender always by a dissyllabic compound ; as inalehem^ji, for the masculine ; \\OY&e-sire, or \iov&Q-‘niother, foi- stallion or dam ; hero, heroine; emperor, empress, etc. ; and lastly as wany-Jatu, /’.c, ]<.mg-quee)t, for queen, while icany alone means Mikj. Xuniher is formed by prefixing a numeral, as ITiduj, Tsin, tioo men ; by suffixing a formative, rnun, tdtuj, and others, us Jt/)-td/uj, man-.w/’/, or men; tamun, he-.s’or they ; by repeating the word, •Asjin-jln, man-man or inen y ehu-cha, place-place, or places, i.e., everywhere ; and jastly, by the scope of the passage. The nominative, accusative, and vocative cases are commonly known by their position; the genitive, dative, and ablative are formed by appropriate prepositions, expressed or understood. The vocative is common in liii’ht reading and historical studies.

    Adjectives precede nouns, by which position they are usually determined. Comparisons are nuide iu many ways. JIau is good, Txdng hau is better, and chl Imu is best / sJiihfun hau lian is very good ; hau hau tih \s j^rettij good, eta. The position of an adjective determines its comparison, as chang yih chlh means

    longer by one cuhit • yih chih chang is a caJjit long. The comparison

    of ideas is made by placing the two sentences parallel to

    each other ; for instance, ” Entering the hills and seizing a tiger

    is easy, opening the mouth and getting men to lean to is difficult,”

    is the way of expressing the comparison, ” It is easier to

    seize a tiger in the hills, than to obtain the good offices of men.”

    The proper use of antithesis and parallelism is considered one of

    the highest attainments in composition. The numerals are thirteen

    in number, with the additioii of the character ^ ling to

    denote a cipher. All amounts are written just as they are to

    be read, as yih, pelt, sz’ nhih. mn, ~^ ^ IJI)-)-‘^ i.e., *one hundred

    four tens three.’ They are here introduced, with their

    pronunciation in three dialects.

    12 3 4 .5 6 7 8 9 10 100 1,000 10,000

    Dialect, y^^^ ‘*’^^ •”^” -^-‘ ‘^’^ ^”^i ^^^^^ l^(ih kill siiih peh tsien ivan.

    Dialect. .V«^ * -sa^i •’52’ ‘ng luk tsat pal kaii. i>hap pa/c Mn man.

    Dialect” *^ P ^um sii Hgou liok chif pat kill sip pek chien ban.

    The Chinese, like the ancient Greeks, enumerate only up to

    a myriad, expressing sums higher than that by stating how many

    myriads there are ; the notation of 362,447,180 is three myriads,

    six thousand, two hundred and forty -four myj’iads, seven tliousand,

    one hundred, and eighty. Pronouns are few in number,

    and their use is avoided wlienever the sense is clear witliout

    them. The personal pronoims are three, wo^ lu, and ta, but

    other pronouns can all be readily expressed by adjectives, by

    collocation, and by participial phrases. The classifiers sometimes

    partake of the nature of adjective pronouns, but usually are mere

    distributive or numerical adjectives.

    Verbs, or “living characters,” constitute the most important part of speech in the estimation of Chinese grannnarians, and the shun tu/t, or easy flow of expression, in their use, is carefully studied. The dissyllabic compounds, called dam-sliell words, are usually verbs, and are made in many ways ; by uniting two similar ^Yords, as kwei-Men (lit. peep-look), ‘to spy ;’ by doubling the verb, as h’ten-hien, meaning to look earnestly ; by prefixing a formative denoting action, as ta shioui (lit. strike sleep), ‘ to sleep ;’ by suffixing a modifying word, as grasp-halt, to grasp firmly; tJdnh-arise, to cogitate, etc. Xo part of the study requires more attention tban the right selection of these formatives in both nouns and verbs ; perfection in the shun tnh and use of antitheses is the result oidy of years of study.

    The various accidents of voice, mood, tense, number, and person,

    can all be expressed by corresponding particles, but the

    genius of the language disfavors their frequent use. The passive

    voice is formed by prefixing particles indicative of agency

    before the active verb, as “The villain ‘received my sword’s

    cutting^” for ” The villain was wounded by my sword.” The imperative,

    potential, and subjvmctive moods are formed by particles

    or adjuncts, but the indicative and infinitive are not designated,

    nor are the number and person of verbs usually distinguished.

    The number of auxiliaries, particles, adjuncts, and

    suffixes of various kinds, employed to express what in other

    languages is denoted by inflections, is really very moderate ; and

    a nice discrimination exhibited in their use indicates the finished

    scholar.’Chinese Tiepoaitory, Vol. VIII., p. Wil.

    DEFECTS IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. 621

    The greatest defect in the Chinese language is the indistinct manner in which time is expressed ; not that there is any want of terms to denote its varieties, but the terseness of expression admired by Chinese writers leads them to discard every unessential word, and especially those relating to time. This defect is more noticed by the foreigner than the native, who has no knowledge of the precision of time expressed by inflection in other languages. Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections are not distinguished by native grammarians ; the former are classed with adjectives, and the others are collectively called hu tss’—’empty words.’

    No distinction is made between proper and common names, and as every word can be employed as a name it becomes a source of confusion to the translator ; in some books a single line drawn on the side of characters denotes the names of persons, and a double line the names of places ; important words are denoted by commencing a new line with them, raised one or two characters above the other columns, which answers to capitalizing them. In most books an entire absence of all marks of punctuation, and divisions into sentences and paragraphs, causes needless doubt in the mind of the reader. The great convenience experienced in European languages from the use of capital letters, marks of punctuation, separation into sentences and paragraphs, and the distinction of time, is more plainly seen when a translation is to be made from languages like the Chinese and Japanese, in which they are disregarded. A false taste prevents them from using them ; they admire a page of plain characters so much that a student who should punctuate his essay would I’un a risk of l>einof ridiculed.

    It is not easy 3’et to decide on the best way to adapt the

    technical words in western science to the genius of this language.

    The vast terminology in natural history, with the still greater

    arraj’of scientific names, need not be introduced into it, but can

    remain in their original Latin and Greek, where Chinese scientists

    can consult them. Xew compounds have already been

    proposed for gases, metals, earths, acids, and other elementary

    substances, in which the radical and primitive ai’e chosen with

    reference to their meanings, the latter being more complicated than usual for this purpose. These will gradually get into use as the sciences are studied, and their number will not be troublesomely large.

    There are several distinct styles of composition recognized.

    The hu wdn^ or the terse antithetic style of the ancient classics,

    is considered as inimitable and unimprovable, and really possesses

    the qualities of energy, vivacity, and brevity in a superior degree

    ; the wan. chamj, or style of elevated composition, adopted

    in essays, histories, and grave works ; and the siao shwoh, or

    colloquial style, used in stories.

    If there are serious defects, this language also possesses some

    striking beauties. The expressive nature of the characters, after

    their component parts have become familiar, causes nuich of the

    meaning of a sentence to pass instantly before the eye, while

    the energy arising from the brevity attainable by the absence of

    all inflections and partial use of particles, add a vigor to the

    style that is hardly reached by any alphabetic language. Dr.

    Morrison observes that ” Chinese fine writing darts upon the

    mind with a vivid flash, a force and a beauty, of which alphabetic

    language is incapable.” It is also better fitted than any

    other for becoming a universal medium of comnnmication, and

    has actually become so to a much greater extent than any other ;

    but the history of its diffusion, and the modifications it has undergone among the five nations who use it, though presenting a curious topic for philological inquiry, is one far too extensive to

    be discussed here. So general a use of one wi-itten language,

    however, affords some peculiar facilities for the diffusion of

    knowledge by means of books as introductory to the general

    elevation of the people using it, and their preparation for substituting an alphabetic language for so laborious and unwieldy a vehicle of thought, which it seems impossible to avoid as Christian civilization and knowledge extend.

    METHOD OF STUDYIXG CHINESE. 0:23

    It is often asked, is the Chinese language hard to learn? The preceding account of it shows that to become familiar with its numerous characters, to be able to speak the delicately marked tones of its short monosyllables, and to compose in it with perspicuity and elegance, is the labor of years of close application.

    To do so in Greek, Latin, English, or any settled tongue, is also a toilsome task, and excepting the barren labor of renienibering so many different characters, it is not more so in Chinese than in others. But knowledge sufficient to talk intelligibly, to write perspicuously, and read with considerable ease, is not so herculean a task as some suppose, though this degree is not to be attained without much hard study. Moreover, dictionaries, manuals, and translations are now available which materially diminish the labor, and their number is constantly increasing.

    The rules for studying it cannot be laid down so that they

    will answer equally well for all persons. Some readily catch

    the most delicate inflections of the voice, and imitate and remember

    the words they hear ; such persons soon learn to speak,

    and can make themselves understood on common subjects with

    merely the help of a vocabulary. Others prefer to sit down

    with a teacher and learn to read, and for most persons this is

    the best way to begin. At first, the principal labor should be

    directed to the characters, reading them over with a teacher and

    learning: their form. Commence with the two hundred and

    fourteen radicals, and commit them to memory, so that they

    can be repeated and written in their order ; then learn the primitives,

    or at least become familiar with the names and meaning

    of all the common ones. The aid this preliminary study gives

    in remembering the formation of characters is worth all the

    time it takes. Students make a mistake if they begin with the

    Testament or a tract ; they can learn more characters in the

    same period, and lay a better foundation for acquiring others,

    by conunencing with the i-adicals and primitives. Meanwhile,

    they will also be learning sounds and becoming familiar with

    the tones, which should be carefully attended to as a particular

    study from the living voice.

    When these characters are learned, short sentences or reading lessons selected from good Chinese authors, with a translation attached, should be taken up and committed to memory. Phrases may also be learned at the same time, for use in conversation; an excellent way is to memorize one or two hundred common words, and then practise putting them together in sentences. The study of reading lessons and phrases, with practice in speaking and writing them, will prepare the way for commencing the study of the classics or other native authors. By the time the student has readied this point he needs no further directions; the path he wishes thenceforth to pursue can easily be marked out by himself. It is not amiss here to remark that many persons ardently desirous of fitting themselves soon for preaching or talking to the people, weary their minds and hinder their ultimate progress by too hard study at first upon the dry characters; others come to look upon the written language as less important so long as they can talk rapidly and well, but in the end find that in this, as in every other living tongue, there is no royal road which does not lead them through the grammar and literature.’

    PIGEOX-ENGLISII. 625

    This sketch of the Chinese language would be incomplete without a notice of the singular jargon which has grown up between the natives and foreigners along the coast, called j/Z^^o^i-J^nyUsh. It has been so long in use as the medium of traffic and household talk that it now bids fair to become an unwritten patois, of which neither the Chinese nor the English will own the parentage. The term jngeon^ a corruption from business, shows, in its transformation, some of the influences “which our words must undergo as they pass through the Chinese characters. The foreigners who first settled at Canton had no time nor facilities for learning the dialect, and the traders with whom they bargained soon picked up more foreign words than the former did native. The shopmen ere longformed vocabularies of foreign words obtained from their customers, and wrote the sounds as nearly as possible ; these were committed to memory and formed into sentences according to the idioms of their own language, and disregarding all our inflections, in which they had no instruction. Thus the two parties gradually came to understand each other enough for all practical ends ; the foreigners were rather pleased to talk’ Many aids in learning the general language and all the leading dialects have been prepared in English, French, German, and Portuguese, but several of the early ones, as Morrison, Gon(;alves, Medhurst, and Bridgman, are already out of print. The names of all of these may be found most easily in the first volume of M. Cordier’s exhaustive Diction uaire Bihlioijrnpldque den ouvrujjet relatifn d VEmpire chiiioiK, pp. 725-804. Paris, 1881.

    “broken China,”‘ as it was not iiia})tly called, and habit soon made it natural to a new-comer to talk it to the natives, and it obviated all necessity for studying Chinese. The body of the jargon is English, the few Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words therein imparting a raciness which, with the novelty of the expressions, has of late attracted much attention to this new language. Though apparently without any rules, the natives are very liable to misapprehend what is said to them by their masters or customers, because these rules are not followed, and constant difficulty arises fi-om mutual misunderstanding of this sort. The widening study of Chinese is not likely to do away with this droll lingo at the trade ports, and several attempts have been made to render English pieces into it. On the other hand, in California and elsewhere, the Chinese generally succeed in learning the languages of their adopted countries better than in talking jngeon-English, or the similar mongrel vernacular spoken at Macao by the native-born Chinese.

    A knowledge of the Chinese language is a passport to the

    confidence of the people, and when foreigners generally learn it

    the natives \\\\\ begin to divest themselves of their prejndices

    and contempt. As an inducement to study, the scholar and

    the philanthropist have the prospect of benefiting and informing

    through it vast numbers of their fellow-men, of imparting

    to them what will elevate their minds, purify their hearts, instruct

    their understandings, and strengthen their desire for

    more knowledge ; the\’ have an opportunity of doing much to

    counteract the tremendous evils of the opium trade by teaching

    the Chinese the only sure grounds on which they can be restrained,

    and at the same time of making them acquainted with the discoveries in science, medicine, and arts among western nations.

    CHAPTER XI.  CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE

    The literature contained in the language now briefly described

    is very ample and discursive, but wanting in accuracy

    and unenlivened by much variety or humor. The books of the

    Chinese have formed and coiiiirmed their national taste, which

    consequently exhibits a tedious uniformity. The unbounded

    admii’ation felt for the classics and their immaculate authors,

    fostered by the examinations, has further tended to this result,

    and caused these writings to become still more famous from

    the unequalled influence they have exerted. It may be veiy

    readily seen, then, with what especial interest the student of Chinese sociology turns to an investigation of their letters, the immense accumulation of forty centuries. AVere its amount

    and prominence the only features of their literature, these would suffice to make necessary some study thereof ; but in addition,

    continued research may reveal some further qualities of

    ” eloquence and poetry, enriched by the beauty of a picturesque

    language, preserving to imagination all its colors,” which will

    substantiate the hearty expressions used by Rdmusat when first

    he entered upon a critical examination of its treasures.

    THE YITI KTXC, OK BOOK OF CTIAXGES. 027

    In taking a survey of this literature, the -6V ITu Tsiuen Shu Tsumj-muh^ or ‘ Catalogue of all Books in the Four Libraries,’ will be the best guide, since it embraces the wdiole range of letters, and affords a complete and succinct synopsis of the contents of the best books in the language. It is comprised in one hundred and twelve octavo volumes, and is of itself a valuable work, especially to the foreigner. The books are arranged into four divisions, viz., Classical, Historical, and Professional writings, and Belles-lettres. This Catalogue contains about 3440 separate titles, comprising upward of 78000 books; besides these, G,T64 other works, rminl)ering 93242 books, have been described in other catalogues of the imperial collections. These lists comprise the bulk of Chinese literature, except novels, Buddhist translations, and recent publications.

    The works in the first division are ranged under nine sections; one is devoted to each of the five Classics (with a subsidiary section upon these as a whole), one to the memoir on Filial Duty, one to the P^our Books, one to musical works, and the ninth to treatises on education, dictionaries, etc.

    At the head of the ‘ Five Classics ‘

    ( Wu Kin(j) is placed the

    Yih King, or ‘ Book of Changes,’ a work which if not—as it

    has been repeatedly called—

    Antiquisshnus Sinaruin libey\ can

    be traced with tolerable accuracy to an origin three thousand

    years ago. It ranks, according to Dr. Legge, third in aiitiquity

    among the Chinese classics, or after the Shu and portions of

    the SKi King ; but if an unbounded veneration for enigmatical

    wisdom supposed to lie concealed under mystic lines be any

    just claim for importance, to this wondrous monument of literature

    may easily be conceded the first place in the estimation of

    Chinese scholars.

    While following Dr. Legge in his recent exposition of this

    classic,” a clearer idea of its subject-matter can hardly be given

    than by quoting his words stating that ” the text may be briefly

    represented as consisting of sixty -four short essays, enigmatically

    and symbolically expressed, on important themes, mostly

    of a moral, social, and political character, and based on the

    same number of lineal figures, each made up of six lines, some

    of which are whole and the others divided.” The evolution of

    the eight diagrams from two original principles is ascribed to

    Fuh-hi (B.C. 3322), who is regarded as the founder of the nation,

    though his history is, naturally enough, largely fabulous. From

    the Liang T, or ‘Two Principles’ (—) (- -), were fashioned the

    /&’ Siaruj, or ‘ Four Figures,’ by placing these over themselves

    and each of them over the other, thus :

    ‘ The Saered Books of China. The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James Legge. Part II. The Ti King. Oxford, 1882.

    The same pairs placed in succession under the original lines formed eight trigranis called the PAH KWA of FUH-HI.

    ITS PIIILOSOl’IIICAL SYSTE:\r. 629

    is derived and on wliose changes it is founded.. This substance

    M answers sufticiently ch)sely to tlic animated air of the Grecian

    pliilosopher Anaximenes ; its divisions are a subtle and a coarse

    principle which, acting and reacting upon each other, produce

    four slang^ or ‘forms,’ and these again combine into eight Jiica^

    or trigrams. Fuh-hi is thus said to have arranged the iirst four

    of the Pah Kica under the Yaiuj (strong or hard) principle,

    and the last four under the Yhi (weak or soft) principle ; the

    former indicate vigor or authority, and it is their part to command,

    while of the latter, representing feebleness or submission,

    it is the part to obey.

    It was probably AVan Wang, King Wan, chief of the principality

    of Chan in 11S5 b.c, who when thro^vn into prison by his

    jealous suzerain Shau, the tyrant of Sliang, arranged and multiplied

    the trigrams—long before his time used for purposes

    of divination—into the sixty-four hexagrams as they now occur

    in tlie T7A King. His was a wholly different disposition, both

    of names, attributes, and the compass points, from the original

    trigrams of Fuh-hi ; again, he added to them certain social relations

    of father, mother, three sons, and three daughters, which

    has ever since been found a convenient addition to the conjuring

    apparatus of the M^ork. ” I like to think,” says Dr. Legge,

    ” of the lord of Chau, when incarcerated in Yii-li, with the

    sixty-four figures arranged befoi-e him. Each hexagram assumed

    a mystic meaning and glowed with a deep significance.

    He made it to tell him of the qualities of various objects of

    nature, or of the principles of human society, or of the condition,

    actual and possible, of the kingdom. He named the

    figures each by a term descriptive of the idea with which he

    had connected it in his mind, and then he proceeded to set that

    idea forth, now with a note of exhortation, now Avith a note of

    warning. It was an attempt to restrict the follies of divination

    within the l)ounds of reason. . . . But all the work of

    King Wan in the Ylli thus amounts to no more than sixty-four

    short paragraphs. We do not know what led his son Tan to

    ei\ter into his \vork and complete it as he did. Tan was a

    patriot, a hero, a legisla-tor, and a philosopher. Perhaps he

    took the lineal figures in hand as a tribute of filial duty. What liad been done for the whole hexagram he M-oiild do for each line, and make it clear that all the six lines ‘ bent oneway their precious inflnence,’ and blended their ravs in the globe of light

    which his father had made each figure give forth. 13ut his

    method strikes us as singular. Each line seemed to become

    living, and suggested some ])henomenon in nature, or some case

    of human experience, from which the wisdom or folly, the

    luckiness or unluckiness, indicated by it could be inferred. It

    cannot be said that the duke carried out his plan in a way likely

    to interest any one but a Men shung who is a votary of divination

    and admires the style of its oracles. According to our

    notions, a framer of emblems should be a good deal of a poet;

    but those of the Yih only make us think of a dryasdust. Out of more than three hundi-ed and fifty, the greater mmiber are only grotesque. We do not recover from the feeling of disappointment

    till M’C remember that both father and son had to

    M’rite ‘ according to the trick,’ after the uianner of diviners, as

    if this lineal augury had been their profession.”

    Such is the text of the Yih. The \vords of King Wan and

    his son are followed by commentaries called the SJtih Yi/t, or

    ‘ Ten Wings.’ These are of a much later period than the text,

    and are commonly ascribed to Confucius, though it is extremely doubtful if the sage was author of more than the sentences introduced by the oft-repeated formula, “The Master said,” occurring

    in or concluding many chapters of the ‘Wings.’ Without

    lingering over the varied contents of these appendices,

    more than to point out that the fifth and sixth Wings (‘Appended

    Sentences ‘), known as the ‘ Great Treatise,’ contains for

    the first time the character Y!//, or ‘Change,’ it will be necessary,

    before leaving this classic, to illustrate its curious nature by means of a single quotation.

    EXTKACT.S FUOM ‘I’HK YIII KIXG. 031

    Ilien indicates that [on the i’lillilniont of the conditions implied in it] there will he free course and success. Its advantageousness will depend on the being firm and correct, [as] in marrying a young lady. There will hi good fortune.
    1. The first line, divided, shows one moving his great toes.
    2. The second line, divided, shows one moving the calves of his leg. There will be evil. If he abide [quiet in his place] there will be good fortune.
    3. The third line, undivided, shows one moving his thighs, and keeping close hold of those whom he follows. Going forward [in this way] will cause regret.
    4. The fourth line, undivided, shows that firm correctness which will lead to good fortune and prevent all occasion for repentance. If its subject be unsettled in his movements, [only] his friends will follow his purpose.
    5. The fifth line, undivided, shows one moving the flesh along the spine above the heart. There will be no occasion for repentance.
    6. The sixth line, divided, shows one moving his jaws and tongue.

    An idea of the several commentaries, or ‘ Wings,’ upon sueli a

    passage may be gained from the following e.xcerpts. First

    comes the ‘ Treatise on the Twan,’ or King Wan’s paragraphs ;

    then the ‘ Treatise on the Symbols,’ consisting of observations

    on Duke Chan’s exposition.

    From the Second Wi»g.—
    1. Ilk’ii is here used in the sense of Kan, meaning [mutually] influencing.
    2. The weak [trigram] above, and the strong one below; their two influences moving and responding to each other, and thereby forming a union; the repression [of the one] and the satisfaction [of the other] ; [with their relative position] where the male is placed below the female — all these things convey the notion of ‘ a free and successful course [on t e fulfilment of the conditions], while the advantage will depend on being firm and correct, as in marrying a young lady, and there will be good fortune.’ . . . etc., etc.

    Fourth Wuiij.—[The trigram representing] a mountain and above it that for [the waters of] a marsh form Ilu’ii. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his mind free from preoccupation, and open to receive [the influences of] others.

    1. ‘ He moves his great toe ‘—his mind is set on what is beyond [himself].
    2. Though ‘ there would be evil, yet if he abide [quiet] in his place there will be good fortune ‘—through compliance [with the circumstances of his condition and place] there will be no injury.

    3. ‘He moves his thighs’—he still does not [want to] rest in his place. His will is .set on ‘ following others ;’ what he holds in his grasp is low.

    4. ‘ Firm correctness will lead to good fortune, and prevent all occasion for repentance ‘—there has not yet been any harm from [a selfish wish to] influence. ‘He is unsettled in his movements’—[his power to influence] is not yet either brilliant or great.

    5. ‘ He [tries to] move the flesh along the spine above the heart ‘—his aim is trivial.

    6. ‘ He moves his jaws and tongue ‘—he [only] talks with loquacious mouth.

    Sixth Wing (‘Appended Sentences’). —Chapter I.—
    1. The eight trigrams having been completed in their proper order, there were in each the [three] emblematic lines. They were then multiplied by a process of addition till the [six] component lines appeared.

    2. The strong line and the weak push themselves each into the place of the other, and hence the changes [of the diagrams] take place. The appended explanations attach to every form of them its character [of good or ill], and hence the movements [suggested by divination] are determined accordingly.

    3. Good fortune and ill, occasion for repentance or regret, all arise from these movements . . . etc., etc.

    The hundreds of fortune-tellers seen in the streets of Chinese

    towns, whose answers to their perplexed customers are

    more or less founded on these cabala, indicate their influence

    among the illiterate ; while among scholars, who have long

    since conceded all divination to be vain, it is surprising to remark

    the profound estimation in which these inane lines are

    held as the consummation of all w-isdom—the germ, even, of

    all the truths which western science has brought to light!

    Each hexagram is supposed to i-epresent, at any given time, six

    different phases of the primordial V>. ” As all the good and

    evil in the world,^’ observes McClatchie, ” is attributed by the

    Chinese philosophers to the purity or impurity of the animated

    air from which the two-fold soul in man is formed, a certain

    moral value attaches to each stroke, and the diviner prognosticates

    accordingly that good or evil luck, as the case may be,

    will result to the consulter of the oracle with reo-ard to the matter

    on which he seeks it. Xine is the number of Heaven, or

    the undivided stroke, and six is the number of Earth, or the

    divided stroke, and hence each stroke has a double designatiovi.

    The first stroke, if undivided, is designated ‘ First-T\ ine,’ but if

    divided it is designated ‘ First-Six,’ and so on. The second

    and fifth strokes in each diagram are important, being the centre

    or medium strokes of their respective lesser diagrams. The

    fifth stroke, however, is the most important in divination, as it

    represents that portion of the air which is the especial throne

    of the imperial power, and is the ‘ undeflected due medium.’

    Nothing but good luck can follow if the person divining with

    the straws obtains this stroke. Tao, or the Divine Heason,

    ITS CIIAKACTElt AND INFLUENCE. 633

    which is the supreme soul of tlie wliole Kosnios, animates the

    air, pervading its six phases, and thus giving power to the diagrams

    to make known future events to mankind.”

    Of course anything and everything could be deduced from

    such a fanciful groundwork, but the Chinese have taken up the

    discussion in the most serious manner, and endeavored to find

    the hidden meanino; and evolutions of the universe from this

    curious system. The diagrams have, moreover, supplied the

    basis for many species of divination by shells, letters, etc., by

    which means the mass of the people are deluded into the belief

    of penetrating futurity, and still more wedded to their superstitions.

    The continued influence of such a work as the Yih illustrates

    the national jjenchant for law^s and method, while

    equally indicating the general indifPerence to empiiical research

    and the facts deduced from study of natural history. If, from

    a philosophical standpoint, we consider the barrenness of its results,

    there is little, indeed, to say for tlie Yih King, save concurrence

    in Dr. Gustave Schlegel’s epithet, ” a mechanical play

    (jf idle abstractions ; ” nevertheless, this classic contains in its

    whimsical dress of inscrutable strokes nnich of practical wisdom,

    giving heed to which it is not hard to agree with Dr.

    Leo-oe in concludino; that ” the inculcation of such lessons cannot

    have been without good effect in China during the long

    course of its history.” ‘

    The second section of the Imperial Catalogue contains treatises

    upon the SJiio King, or ‘ Book of Records.’ This classic,

    ‘ Some fourteen hundred and fifty treatises on the I7A— consisting of memoirs,

    digests, expositions, etc. —are enumerated in the Catalogue. The foreign

    literature upon it has heretofore been scant. The only other translations of

    the classic in extenso, besides Dr. Legge’s, already quoted, are the Y-Kiiuj;

    Antiquissimus Sinarum liber quern e.v hiUn/i iiih’rpn’tadoiie ; P. Regis, (dicrrumqueex

    Soc. Jesu P.P., edidit SnWws Mohl, 2 vols., Stuttgart, 1834-39; and

    A Iranslation of the Confrman Yih King, or the Chissic of Chuncje, by the

    Rev. Canon McClatchie, Shanghai, 1876 (with Chinese text). Compare further

    Notice du livre chinois nomme Y-kiiu/, aver des notes, pdr M Claude Visdelou,

    contained in Pere Gaubil’s Clwn kinq, Paris, 1843 ; Die verbogenen Alterthumerder

    Chiiieser ana deni undfen Burlte Yeking iinterfiHchet, von M. Joh. Heinrich

    Schuhmacher, Wolfenbiittel, 1763 ; Joseph Haas, in Notes and Queries on Vhinu and Japitn, Vol. III., 1869; China Revieip, Vols. I., p. 151; IV., p.257; and v., p. 132.

    first ill importance as it is in age among the live King, consists

    of a series of documents relating to the history of China from

    the times of Yao down to King Iliang, of the Chan dynasty

    (b.c. 2357-627). Its earlier chapters were composed at periods

    following the events of which they relate, but after the twentysecond

    century b.c. the SJiu comes to us, though in a mutilated

    condition, as the contemporary chronicle of proclamations, addresses,

    and principles of the early sovereigns. Internal evidence

    leads to the conclusion that Confucius acted chielly as

    editor of documents existing in his day ; he probably wrote the

    preface, but what alterations it received at his hand cannot now

    be ascertained. A¥hen it left his care it contained eighty -one

    documents in one hundred books, arranged under the five

    dynasties of Yao, Shun, Ilia, Shang, and Chan, the last one

    coming down to within two hundred and twenty-one years of

    his own birth. . Most of these are lost, and others are doubted

    by Chinese critics, so that now only forty-eight documents remain,

    thirty of them belonging to tlie CUiau, with the preface

    ascribed to Confucius. lie showed his estimate of their value

    by calling the whole Shang Shu, or the ‘ Highest Book,’ and we

    may class their loss witli that of other ancient works in Hebrew

    or Greek literature. The Shu King now contains six different

    kinds of state papers, viz., imperial ordinances, plans drawn up

    by statesmen as guides for their sovereign, instructions prepared

    for the guidance of the prince, imperial proclamations

    and charges to the people, vows taken before Sliangtl by the

    monarch when going out to battle, and, lastly, mandates, announcements, speeches, and canons issued to the ministers of state.’

    ‘ Several translations have been made by missionaries. One by P. Gaubil was edited by De Guignes in 1770; a second by Rov. W. H. Medhurst, in 1846; but the most complete by J. Legge, D.D., in 18G5, with its notes and text, has brought this lieconl better than ever before to the knowledge of western scholars.

    THE SIIU KING, OK HOOK OF UECORDS. 635

    The morality of the Shu King-, for a pagan work, is extremely good ; the principles of administration laid down in it, founded on a regard to the welfare of the people, would, if carried out, insure universal prosperity. The answer of Kaoyao to the monarch Yu is expressive of a mild spirit : ” Your virtue, O Emperor, is faultless. You condescend to your ministers with

    a liberal ease ; you rule the multitude with a generous forbearance.

    Your punishments do not extend to the criminal’s heirs,

    but your rewards reach to after-generations. Y’ou pardon inadvertent

    faults, however great, and punish deliberate crime,

    however small. In cases of doubtful crimes you deal with them

    lightly ; of doubtful merit, you prefer the highest estimate.

    Ilather than put to death the guiltless, you will run the risk of

    irregularity and laxity. This life-loving virtue has penetrated

    tlie minds of the people, and this is why they do not render

    themselves liable to be punished by your officers.” ‘

    In the counsels of Yu to Shun are many of the best maxims

    of good government, both for rulers and ruled, which antiquity

    has handed down in any country. The following are among

    them : ” Y’ih said, Alas ! Be cautious. Admonish yourself to

    caution when there seems to be no reason for anxiety. Do

    not fail in due attention to laws and ordinances. Do not find

    enjoyment in indulgent ease. Do not go to excess in pleasure.

    Employ men of worth without intermediaries. Put away evil

    advisers, nor try to carry out doubtful plans. Study that all

    your purposes may be according to reas(jn. Do not seek the

    people’s praises by going against reason, nor oppose the people

    to follow your own desires. Be neither idle nor wayward, and

    even foreign tribes will come nnder your sway.”

    The Shu King contains the seeds of all things that are valuable

    in the estimation of the Chinese ; it is at once the foundation

    of their political system, their history, and their religious

    rites, the basis of their tactics, music, and astronomy. Some

    have thought that the knowledge of the true God under the

    appellation of Shangti is not obscurely intimated in it, and the

    precepts for governing a country, scattered through its dialogues

    and proclamations, do their writers credit, however little they

    may have been followed in practice. Its astronomy has attracted

    much investigation, but whether the remarks of the

    commentators are to be ascribed to the times in which they

    ‘ Legge, The Chinese Claasks, Vol. III. Slioo King, p. 59.

    themselves iiourished, or to the knowledge they had of the ancient

    state of tlie science, is douhtfuL The careful and candid

    discussions by Legge in the introduction to his translation furnish

    most satisfactory conclusions as to the origin, value, and

    condition of this venerable relic of ancient China. For his

    scholarly edition of the Classics he has already earned the

    hearty thanks of every student of Chinese literature.’

    The third of the classics, the Shi King, or ‘ Book of Odes,’

    is ranked together with the two preceding, while its influence

    upon the national mind has been equally great ; a list of commentators

    upon this work fills the third section of the Catalogue.

    These poetical relics are arranged into four parts : The Ktvoh

    Fimy, or ‘ National Airs,’ numbering one hundred and fifty-nine,

    from fifteen feudal States ; the Siao Ya, or ‘ Lesser Eulogiums,’

    numbering eighty, and arranged under eight decades ; the Ta

    Ya, or ‘ Greater Eulogiums,’ numbering thirty-one, under three

    decades (both of these were designed to be sung on solemn occasions

    at the royal court) ; and the Sung, or ‘ Sacrificial Odes,’

    numbering foi’ty-one chants connected with the ancestral worship

    of the rulers of Chan, Lu, and Sliang. Out of a total number

    of three hundred and eleven now extant, six have only their

    titles preserved, while to a major part of the others native

    scholars give many various readings.

    In the preface to his careful translation Dr. Legge has collected

    all the important information concerning the age, origin,

    and purpose of these odes, as furnished by native connnentators,

    whose theory is that ” it was the duty of the kings to make

    themselves acquainted with all the odes and songs current in

    ‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. VIII., p. 385 ; Vol. IX., p. 573. Le Clum-king,

    un des Livres Sarrh (frs Olilixm, qui renfcrme leu Fondementsde leur ancienne

    Ilistoirey etc. Traduit par Feu le P. Gaubil. Paris, 1770, in-4. La Morale

    du Chou-kiiKj on le Livre Sacredela Chine. (The same), Paris, 1851. Ancient

    China. The Shoo King, or tlie Ilistariced Cla.mr. : being the vnM ancient authentic

    Record of the AnnaU of the Chinese Empire, translated by W. H. Medliurst.

    Sen., Shanghae, 184G. Nouveem Journal Asiatique, Tomes V. (1830), p.

    401; VI., p. 401, and XIV. (1842), p. 153. China Beoiew, Vol. IV., p. 13.

    Dr. Legge’s translation has recently (1879) appeared, without the Chinese text,

    in Max Miiller’s series of Sacred Rwks of tlie East, Vol. III. Richthofen,

    China, Bd. I., ])p. 277-305, an exhaustive treatise on the early geography of

    ULiua, with valuable historical maps.

    THE SlII KING, OU BOOK OF ODES. 0:37

    the different States, and to judge from them of the cliaracter of

    the rule exercised by tlieir several princes, so that they might

    minister praise or blame, reward or punishment accordingly.”

    These odes and songs seem to hav^e been gathered by Wan

    Wang and Duke Chau at the beginning of the Chau dynasty

    (b.c. 1120), some of them at the capital, others from the feudal

    rulers in the course of royal progresses through the land, the

    royal music-master getting copies from the music-masters of the

    princes. The whole were then arranged, set to nnisic, too, it

    may be, and deposited for use and reference in the national

    archives, as well as distributed among the feudatories. Their

    ages are uncertain, but probably do not antedate b.c. 1719

    nor come after 585, or about thirty years before Confucius.

    Their number was not improbably at first fully up to the thi-ee

    thousand mentioned by the biographers of Confucius, but long

    before the sage appeared disasters of one kind and another had

    reduced them to nearly their present condition. What we have

    is, therefore, but a fragment of various collections made in the

    early reigns of the Chau sovereigns, which received, perhaps,

    larger subsequent additions than were preserved to the time of

    Confucius. He probably took them as they existed in his day,

    and feeling, possibly, like George Herbert, that

    ” A verse may finde liim, who a sermon flies,

    And turn delight into a sacrifice,”

    did everything he could to extend their adoption among his

    countrymen. It is difficult to estimate the power they have

    exerted over the subsequent generations of Chinese scholars

    —

    nor has their influence ever tended to debase their morals, if it

    has not exalted their imagination. They have escaped the

    looseness of Moschus, Ovid, or Juvenal, if they have not attained

    the grandeur of Homer or the sweetness of Yirgil and

    Pindar. There is nothing of an epic character in them—nor

    even a lengthened narrative—and little of human passions in

    their strong development. The metaphors and illustrations are

    often quaint, sometimes puerile, and occasionally ridiculous.

    Their ackjiowledged antiquity, their religious character, and

    their illustration of early Chinese customs and feelings form

    638 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    their priiicipal claiius to our notice and appreciative study.

    M. Ed. JJiot, of Paris, was the first European scholar who studied

    them carefully in this aspect, and his articles in the Joarnal

    Asiatlque for 1S43 are models of analytic criticism and synthetic

    compilation, enabling one, as he says, ” to contemplate

    at his ease the spectacle of the primitive manners of society in

    the early age of China, so different from what was then found

    in Europe and “Western Asia.”

    An ode referred to the time of Wan Wang (a contemporary

    of Saul) contains a sentiment reminding us of Morris’ lines

    beginning ” Woodman, spare that tree. ” It is in Part I., Book

    II., and is called Kan-tawj, or the ‘ Sweet pear-tree.’

    1. O fell not that sweet pear-tree!

    See how its branches spread.

    Spoil not its shade,

    For Shao’s chief laid ^

    Beneath it his weary head.

    2. O clip not that sweet i)ear-tree I

    Each twig and leaflet spare

    —

    ‘Tis sacred now,

    Since the lord of Shao,

    When weary, rested him there.

    3. O touch not that sweet pear-tree I

    Bend not a twig of it now ;

    There long ago,

    As the stories show,

    Oft halted tlie chief of Shao.’

    The eighth ode in Book III., called IRung CJu^ or ‘ Cock

    Pheasant,’ contains a wife’s lament on her husband’s absence.

    1. Away the startled pheasant flies.

    With lazy movement of his wings ;

    Borne was my heart’s lord from my eyes

    —

    What pain the separation brings !

    2. The pheasant, though no more in view,

    Ilis cry below, above, forth sends.

    Alas! my princely lord, ’tis yon,

    —

    Your absence, that my bosom rends.

    Dr. Legge, The She King, trduddted into Enylinh verse, p. 70. London, 1876.

    ii:xamplks of its lykic poetry. 63tJ

    3. At sun uiul moon I sit and gaze,

    In converse with my troubled heart.

    Far, far from me my husband stays !

    When will he come to heal its smart ?

    4, Ye princely men, who with him mate,

    Say, mark ye not his virtuous way ?

    His rule is, covet nought, none hate :

    How can Ins steps from goodness stray ? ‘

    From tlie same book we translate somewliat freely an example

    (Xo. IT) of love-song, or serenade, not uncommon among

    these odes.

    Maiden fair, so sweet, retiring,

    At tlie tryst I wait for thee ;

    Still I pause in doubt, inquiring

    Why thou triflest thus with me.

    Ah ! the maid so coy, so handsome,

    Pledged she with a rosy reed ;

    Than the reed is she more winsome.

    Love with beauty liard must plead

    !

    In the meadows sought we flowers.

    These she gave me—beauteous, rare

    :

    Far above the gift there towers

    The dear giver— lovelier, fair !

    Among the ‘ Lesser Eulogiums ‘ (Book IV., Ode 5) is one

    more ambitions in its scope, relating to the completion of a

    palace of King Sinen, about b.c. 800.

    1. On yonder banks a palace, lo ! upshoots.

    The tender blue of southern hill behind,

    Time-founded, like the bamboo’s clasping roots

    ;

    Its roof, made pine-like, to a point defined.

    Fraternal love here bears its precious fruits,

    And unfraternal schemes be ne’er designed 1

    2. Ancestral sway is his. The walls they rear

    Five thousand cubits long, and south and west

    The doors are placed. Here will the king appear,

    Here laugh, here talk, here sit him down and rest.

    <«”- — ——

    ‘/6.,p. 83.

    G40 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    3. To mould the walls, the frames they firmly tie ;

    The toiling builders beat the earth and lime

    ;

    The walls shall vermin, storm, and bird defy

    —

    Fit dwelling is it for his lordly prime.

    4. Grand is the hall the noble lord ascends ;

    In height, like human form, most reverent, grand ;

    And straight, as flies the shaft when bow unbends

    ;

    Its tints like hiaes when pheasant’s wings expand.

    5. High pillars rise the level court around ;

    The pleasant light the open chamber steeps,

    And deep recesses, wide alcoves are found,

    Where our good king in perfect quiet sleeps.

    6. Laid is the bamboo mat on rush mat square ;

    Here shall he sleep ; and waking say, ‘

    ‘ Divine

    What dreams are good ? For bear and piebald bear,

    And snakes and cobras haunt this couch of mine.”

    7. Then shall the chief diviner glad reply,

    *’ The bears foreshow their signs of promised sons.

    The snakes and cobras daughters prophesy

    :

    These auguries are all auspicious ones.”

    8. Sons shall be liis— on couches lulled to rest

    ;

    The little ones enrobed, with sceptres play

    ;

    Their infant cries are loud as stern behest,

    Their knees the vermeil covers shall display.

    As king liereafter one shall be addressed ;

    The rest, our princes, all the States shall sway.

    9. And daughters also to him shall be born.

    They shall be placed upon the ground to sleep

    ;

    Their playthings tiles, their dress the simplest worn;

    Their part alike from good and ill to keep,

    And ne’er their parents’ hearts to cause to mourn

    ;

    To cook the food, and spirit-malt to steep.

    ‘

    The last two stanzas indicate tlie comparative estimate, in

    ancient days, of boys and girls born into a family ; and this estimate,

    still maintained, has been in a great degree upheld by

    this authority.. Another ode in the ‘ Greater Eulogies ‘ (Book

    III., Ode 10) deplores the misery that prevailed about b.c. 780,

    owing to the interference of women and eunuchs in the govern-

    >/(/., Tlie She KliKj, p. 332.

    VERSIFICATION OF THE Sill KIN(i. 641

    nieiit. Two stanzas only are quoted, which are supposed to

    have been specially directed against Pao Sz’, a mischief-maker

    in the court of King Yu, like Agrippina and Pulcheria in

    Koman and Byzantine annals.

    8. A wise man builds the city wall,

    But a wise woman throws it down.

    Wise is she ? Good you may her call

    ;

    She is an owl we should disown !

    To woman’s tongue let scope be given

    And step by step to harm it leads.

    Disorder does not come from Heaven ;

    ‘Tis woman’s tongue disorder breeds.

    Women and eunuchs 1 Never came

    Lesson or warning words from them !

    4. Hurtful and false, their spite they wreak

    ;

    And when exposed their falsehood lies—

    The wrong they do not own, but sneak

    And say, ” Xo harm did we devise.”

    *’ Thrice cent, per cent. ! ” Why, that is trade!

    Yet ‘twould the princely man disgrace.

    So public things to wife and maid

    Must not silkworms and looms displace.

    ‘

    There are, however, numerous stanzas among the odes in tho

    ‘ National Airs ‘ which show their fairer side and go far to neutralize

    these, giving the same contrasts in female character

    which were portrayed by King Solomon during the same age.

    The versification in a monosyllabic language appears very

    tame to those who are only familiar with the lively and varied

    rhythms of western tongues ; but the Chinese express more

    vivacity and cadence in their ballads and ditties when sung than

    one would infer from these ancient relics when transliterated

    in our letters. As the young lad has usually committed all the

    three hundred and five odes to memory before he enters the

    Examination Hall, their influence on the matter and manner of

    his own future poetical attempts can hardly be exaggerated. It

    is shown throughout the thousands of volumes enumerated in

    the fourth division of the Imperial Catalogue. Most of the

    ‘ Id., The She King, p. 347.

    Vol. I.—41

    ^42 THE 3IIDDLE KINGDOM.

    >S/u King is written in tetrametres, and nothing can be more

    simple. They have been most unfortunately likened to the

    Hebrew Psalms by some of the early missionaries, but neither

    in manner nor matter is the comparison a happy one. One point

    of verbal resemblance is noticed by Dr. Legge between the first

    ode in Part III. and the one hundred and twenty-first psalm,

    where the last line of a stanza is generally repeated in the first

    line of the next, a feature something like the repetitions in Hiawatha.

    The rhymes and tones both form an essential part of

    Chinese poetry, one which can only be imperfectly represented

    in our language. The following furnishes an example of the

    general style, to which a literal rendering is subjoined

    :

    1. Nan yin kUw muh,

    Puh Wo Mu sill

    ;

    Han yin yin nu,

    Puh Wo kiu sz\

    Han clii kii^ang i,

    Puh Wo y11,11(1 sz’;

    Kianrj chi yung i

    Puh Wofang sz\

    2. Kiao kia,o Uo sin,

    Yen i ki chii,

    ;

    Chi tsz’ yii kwei

    Yen moh kl ma ;

    Han chi kwang i, etc.

    8. Kiao kiao tso sin,

    Yen i ki lao ;

    Chi tsz^ yiX kwei

    Yen moh ki kii.

    Han ch’i kwang i, etc.

    South has stately trees,

    Not can shelter indeed ;

    Han has rambling women,

    Not can solicit indeed.

    Han’s breadth l)e sure,

    Not can be dived indeed

    ;

    Kiang’s length be sure.

    Not can be rafted indeed.

    Many many mixed faggots,

    Willingly I cut the brambles ;

    Those girls going home.

    Willingly I would feed their horses

    ;

    Han’s breadth be sure, etc.

    Many many mixed faggots,

    Willingly I cut the artemisia

    ;

    Those girls going home,

    Willingly I would feed their colts

    ;

    Han’s breadth be sure, etc.

    The highest range of thought in the odes is contained in

    Part TY., but the whole collection is worthy of perusal, and

    thi-ough the labors of Dr. Legge has been made more accessible

    than it was ever before. The amount of native literature extant,

    illustrative, critical, and philological, referring to the

    Book of Odes ‘ is not so large as that on the Tik King ; but the

    ‘ A recent German translation of these odes has combined, with mucli accuracy

    and a smooth versification, the peculiar adaptability of that tongue to the

    THE THREE IIITUALS. 643

    fifty-five works quoted in his preface ‘ contain enough to indicate

    their industry and acumen. Tliese works will elevate the

    character of Chinese scholarsliip in the opinion of those foreigners

    who remember the disadvantaijces of its isolation from

    the literature of other lands, and the difficulties of a language

    which rendered that literature inaccessible.”

    The fourth section in the Catalogue contains the Tlituals and

    a list of their editions and commentators, but only one of the

    three is numbered among the Jvlng and used as a text-l»ook at

    the public examinations. Tliis is the lA Ki, or ‘ Book of Rites,’

    the Memorial des Jiitct^, as M. Callery calls it in his translation,^

    and one of the works which has done so much to mold

    and maintain Chinese character and institutions. It is not superior

    in any respect to the Chau Li and the /Z/’, but owes its

    influence to its position. They were all the particular objects

    of Tsin Chi IIwangti\s ire in his efforts to destroy every ancient

    literary production in his kingdom; the present texts

    were recovered from their hiding-places about b.c. 135. The

    Chmt LI, or ‘Ttitual of Chan,’ is regarded as the work of Duke

    Chau (b.c. 1130), who gives the detail of the various offices established

    under the new dynasty, in which he bore so prominent

    a part. The sections containing the divisions of the administrative

    part of the Chinese government of that day have

    furnished the types for the six boards of the present day and

    their subdivisions. So far as we now know, no nation then existing

    could show so methodical and effective a system of national

    polity.

    reproduction (in some degree) of sounds so foreign to tlie language as Chinese.

    Shi KiiKj. JJiiH iMuonisclis Liederbuch tier Gldiunen. Uehersctzt voii Victor

    von Strauss. Heidelberg, 1880.

    ‘ Ih” GJiiiifx:’. Glassies, Vol. IV., pp. 172-180. Hongkong, 1871.

    – Compare Confucii Ghi-l’ing site TAher Gartninum, ex latina P. Lacharme

    iiiU’vpretatiom edicUt J. Mohl, Stuttgart, 1830 ; Essai sur le GM-kiny, it sur

    Pancieiine poesir rlunoise, p(ir M. Brosset jeune, Paris, 1828 ; BihUotlteque oricnt(

    de, Vol.11., p. 247 (1872). Ghi-khni, on. TArre des Vns, Traduction de M. G.

    Pauthier; Gkina Rfvi>ir,Vo\. VI., pp. 1 ff. and Ififi ff. .Innud X. G. Br. R.

    As. &r., Vol. XII., pp. 97 ff.

    •” Li-ki on Memorial des BiU’s, tntduit pour la premiere fois du cJiinois, et (u>

    compagne de notes, de commentuires et du texte orifjinal, par J. M. Callery.

    Turin et Paris, 1853.

    644 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    The / L’l is a smaller work, treating of family affairs, and

    as its name, ‘Decorum Hitual,”‘ indicates, contains di)-ections

    for domestic life, as the other does for state matters. That is

    in forty-four sections and this is in seven, and both are now

    accepted as among the most ancient works extant. The former

    was translated by Ed. Biot,’ and remains a monument of his

    scholarship and research.

    The Li K’% owes its posititai among the classics to the belief

    that Confucius here gives his views on government and manners,

    although these chapters are not regarded as the same in

    their integrity as those said to have been found in the M-alls of his

    house, and brought to light in the second century p..r. by Ivao

    Tang of Lu, under the name of ^^^ L’l, or the ‘ Scholar’s Ritual.’

    In the next century Tai Teh collected all the existing

    docimients relating to the ancient rituals in two hundred and

    fourteen sections, oidy a portion of which M-ere then held to

    have emanated from the sage and recorded by his pupils. His

    work, in eighty-five sections, is called Ta Tai Li, or the

    ‘Senior Tai’s Hitual,’ to distinguish it from the Siiao Tai

    Ij^ or the ‘Junior Tai’s Tiitual,’ a work in forty-nine sections,

    by his nephew, Tai Sliing. This is the work now known as

    the Li Ki, M. Gallery’s translation of which contains the

    authorized text of Ivanghi according to Fan Tsz’-tang, in

    thirty-six sections, with many notes. His translation is wearisome

    reading from the multitude of parentheses interjected

    into the text, distracting the attention and Aveakening its contiruiity.

    Those who have read iVbbc Hue’s entertaining remarks on

    the Rites in China will find in these three works the reason and

    application of their details. In explanation of their importance,

    M. Callery shows in a few words what a wide field they

    cover : ” Ceremony epitomizes the entire Chinese mind ; and,

    in my opinion, the Li L\^l i&jyer se the most exact and complete

    monograph that China lias been able to give of itself to other

    nations. Its affections, if it has anv, are satisfied bv cere-

    ‘ Le TcJw/ni-Li on. Ritfs d^n Tcheou, trndvit pour la premiere foia du chinot8»

    par Feu fidouard Biot. 2 Tomes. Paris, 1851.

    THE Li Kl, OR 1500K OF IJITES. 645

    monj ; its duties are fulfilled by ceremony ; its virtues and

    vices are refen-ed to ceremony ; the natural relations of created

    beings essentially link themselves in ceremonial—in a word,

    to that people ceremonial is man as a moral, political, and religious

    being in his multiplied relations with family, country,

    society, morality, and religion.” This explanation shows, too,

    how meagre a rendering eereiiiony is for the Chinese idea of li,

    for it includes not only the extcriud conduct, but involves the

    right principles from which all true etiquette and politeness

    spring. The state religion, the government of a family, and

    the rules of society are all founded on the true li, or relations

    of things. Reference has already been made to this profoundly

    esteemed work (p. 520), and one or two more extracts will suffice

    to exhibit its spirit and style, singular in its object and

    scope among all the bequests of antiquity.

    Affection bet ipceii father and son.

    In the Domestic Rules it is said, “Men in serving their parents, at the first

    cock-crowing, must all wash their hands ; rinse their mouth ; comb their

    hair ; bind it together with a net ; fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a

    tuft ; brush off the dust ; put on the hat, tying the strings, ornamented with

    tassels ; also the waistcoat, frock, and girdle, with the note-sticks placed in it,

    and the indispensables attached on the right and lelt ; bind on the greaves;

    and put on the shoes, tying up the strings. Wives must serve their husband’s

    father and mother as their own; at the first cock-crowing, they must wash

    their hands ; rinse their mouth ; comb their hair ; bind it together with a net

    ;

    fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a tu-t ; put on their frocks and girdles,

    with the indispensables attached on the right and left; fasten on their bags of

    perfumery ; put on and tie up their shoes. Then go to the chamber of their

    father and mother, and father-in-law and mother-in-law, and having entered,

    in a low and placid tone they must in(pure wliether their dress is too warm or

    too cool ; if the parents have pain or itching, themselves must respect ully

    press or rub [the part aTected] ; and i: they enter or leave the room, themselves

    either going before or following, must respect “nlly support them. In

    bringing the apparatus for washing, the younger must present the bowl ; tlie

    elder the water, begging them to pour it and wash ; and alter they have

    washed, hand them the towel. In asking and respectl’uUy jjresenting what

    they wish to eat, they must cheer them by their mild manner ; and must wait

    till their father and mother, and father-in-law and mother-in-law have eaten,

    and then retire. Boys and girls, who have not arrived at the age of manhood

    and womanhood, at the first cock-crowing must wash their hands; rinse their

    mouth ; comb their hair ; bind it together with a net ; and form it into a tuft

    0’46 TIIK MIDDLK KINGDOM.

    I)rusli oPF the dust ; tie on their hags, having them well snpplied with perfumery

    ; then hasten at early dawn to see their parents, and inquire if they have

    eaten and drunk ; if they have, they must immediately retire ; but if not,

    they must assist their superiors in seeing that everything is duly made ready.”

    Of rejirociiKj jMreiits.

    ” When his parents are in error, the son with a liumble spirit, pleasing

    countenance, and gentle tone, must point it out to them. If they do not receive

    liis reproof, he must strive more <ind more to be dutiful and respectful

    toward them till they <ire pleased, and then he must again point out their

    error. But if lie does not succeed in pleasing them, it is better that he should

    continue to reiterate reproof, than permit them to do injury to the whole

    department, district, village, or neighborhood. And if the parents, irritated

    and displeased, chastise their son till the blood flows from him, even then he

    must not dare to harbor the least resentment ; hut, on the contrary, should

    treat them with increased respect and dutifulness.

    “

    Respect to be paid jxirents in one^s conduct.

    ‘• Although your father and mother are dead, if you propose to yourself any

    good work, only reflect how it will make their names illustrious, and your

    purpose will be fixed. So if you propose to do Avhat is not good, only consider

    how it will disgrace the names of your father and mother, and you will desist

    from your purpose.” ‘

    These extracts sliow soinetlniig of tlie molding principles

    which operate on Chinese yontli from earliest years, and the

    scope given in his education to filial piety. From conning such

    precepts the lad is imbued with a respect for his parents that

    finally becomes intensified into a religious sentiment, and forms,

    as he increases in age, his only creed—the worship of ancestors.

    His seniors, on the other hand, have but to point to the textbooks

    before him as authority for all things they e.xact, and as

    being the only possible source of those virtues that conduct to

    happiness. The position of females, too, has remained, under

    these dogmas, much the same for hundreds of years. ISTor is it

    difticult to account for the influence whieli they have had.

    Those who were most aware of their excellence, and had had

    some experience in the tortuous dealings of the human heart,

    as husbands, fathers, mothers, officers, and seniors, were those

    who had the power to enforce obedience upon wives, children,

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. V., pp. 306-312.

    THE CHUX TSIU, OR SPRI^STG AND AUTUMX KECOKD. 647

    daughters, subjects, and juniors, as well as teach it to them.

    These must wait till increasing years brought about their turn

    to fill the upper rank in the social system, by wliich time habit

    would lead them to exercise their sway over the rising generation

    in the same manner. Thus it would be perpetuated, for

    the man could not depart from the way his childhood was

    trained ; had the results been more disastrous, it would have

    been easy for us to explain why, amid the ignorance, craft, ambition,

    and discontent found in a populous, nneducated, pagan

    country, such formal rules had failed of benefiting societ}^ to

    any lasting extent. We must look higher for this result, and

    acknowledge the degree of wholesome restraint upon the passions

    of the Chinese which the Author of whatever is good in

    these tenets has seen fit to confer upon them in order to the preservation

    of society.

    The fifth section contains the Chan Tslu, or ‘ Spring and

    Autumn Record,’ and its literature. This is the only one of

    the King attributed to Confucius, though whether we have in

    the Becord, as it now exists, a genuine compilation of the sage,

    does not appear to be beyond doubt. His object being to construct

    a narrative of events in continuation of the Shu King,

    he, with assistance from his pupils, drew np a history of his

    own country, extending from the reign of Ping AVang to about

    the period of his bii-th (b.c. T22 to 480). Inasmuch as the

    author of this chronicle confined himself to the relation of such

    facts as he deemed Avorthy to be recorded, and was not al)t)ve

    altering or concealing such details as in his private judgment

    appeared unworthy of the princes of his dynasty, this history

    cannot be regarded as exactly in conformity with modern notions

    of what is desirable in -works of this class. That Confucius

    wished to leave behind him a lasting monument to his own

    name, as well as a narration of events, we gather from mor.*

    than one of his utterances : ” The superior man is distressed

    lest his name slioulil not be honorably mentioned after death

    My principles do not make way in the world ; how shall T make

    myself known to future ages ? ” In order, therefore, to insure

    the preservation of his chef cVoeuvre to all time, he combines

    with the annals certain censures and rig-hteous decisions which

    648 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    should render it at once a liistoiy and a text-book of moral lessons

    ; and in giving tiie book to bis disciples, “It is bj the

    Chan. Tsiu,’” be said, ”that after-ages will know me, and also

    by it that thej will condemn me.”

    The title, ” Spring and Autumn,” is understood by many Chinese

    scholars to be a term for chronological annals ; in this case

    the name being explained “because their commendations are

    life-giving like spring, and their censures life-withering like

    autumn,”‘ or, as we find in the Trlnietricul Classic, ” which by

    praise and blame separates the good and bad.” ‘ A closer inspection

    of the CJiaii Tsin is sure to prove disappointing; spite

    of the glowing accounts of Mencius and its great reputation,

    this history is simply a bald record of incidents whose entire

    contents afford barely an hour’s reading. “Instead of a history

    of events,” writes Dr. Legge, ” woven artistically together,

    we find a congeries of the briefest possible intimations of matters

    in which the court and State of Lu were more or less concerned,

    extending over two hundred and forty-two years, without

    the slightest tincture of literary ability in the composition,

    or the slightest indication of judicial opinion on the part of the

    writer. The paragraphs are always brief. Each one is designed

    to conmiemorate a fact ; l>nt whether that fact be a display of

    virtue calculated to command our admiration, or a deed of

    atrocity fitted to awaken our disgust, it can hardly be said that

    there is anything in the language to convey to us the shadow of

    an idea of the author’s feelings about it. The notices—for we

    cannot call them narratives—are absolutely unimpassioned. A

    base murder and a shining act of heroism are chronicled just

    as the eclipses of the sun are chronicled. So and so took

    ‘ This somewhat fanciful explanation of. the title is from the Han commentators.

    Dr. Legge {(Jlassim, Vol. V., Prolegomena, p. 7) observes that “not

    even in the work do we find such ‘ censures ‘ and ‘ commendations ; ‘ and much

    less are they trumpeted in the title of it.” His interpretation that Spring and

    Autumn are put by synechdoche for all four seasons, i.e., the entire record of

    the year, appears to he a more natiu’al account. The same writer declines that

    ” the whole hook is a collection of riddles, to which there are as many answers

    as there are gnessers ” Tlie interesting chapters of his pmlejioniena to this

    translation, and his judicious criticisms on these early records, should tempt all

    sinologues to read them throughout.

    place; that is all. Xo details are given; no judgment is expressed.”

    So imperturbable a recital could hardly have been saved from

    extinction even by the great reputation of the sage, had it not

    been for the amplification of Tso, a younger contemporary or

    follower of Confucius, who lillel up the meagre sentences and

    added both flesh and life to the skeleton. It ‘n possible that

    the enthusiastic praises of Mencius are due to the fact that he

    associated the text and commentary as one work. The Chuen

    of Tso has indeed always been regarded as foremost among the

    secondary classics ; uor is it too much, considering his terse yet

    vivid and pictorial style, to call its author, as does Dr. Legge,

    ” the Froissart of China.” ‘ In addition to his purpose of explaining

    the text of the Chun Tuia, Tso’s secondary object was

    to give a general view of the history of China during the period

    embraced by that record ; unless he had put his living tableaiix

    into the framework of his uuister, there is grave reason to fear

    that many most important details relating to the sixth and seventh

    centuries b.c. would have been forever lost. Two other

    early commentaries, those of Kung Yang and Kidi Liang, dating

    from about the second century b.c, occupy a high position

    in the estimation of Chinese scholars as illustrative of the original

    chronicle. They do not compare with the Tf<o Chuen

    either in interest or in authority, though it may be said that a

    study of the Chun T^’iu can hardly be made unless attended

    with a careful perusal of their contents. It will not be without

    interest to give an example of the Record^ followed with elucidations

    of the text by these three aimotators. The second year

    of Duke Hi of Lu (b.c. G57) runs as follows

    :

    1. In thvi [duke’s] second year, in spring, in the king’s first month, we

    [aided in the] walling of Tsu-kin.

    2. In summer, in the fifth month, on Sin-sz’, we buried our duchess, Gai

    Kiang.

    3. An army of Yu and an army of Tsin extinguished Kia-yang.

    ‘ The same writer adds, in summing up the merits of tlie T,^o (lliuen : ” It

    is, in my opinion, tlie most precious literary treasure which has come down to

    posterity from the Chow dynasty.”

    —

    (Jlaam’s, Vol. V., Proleg., p. 35.

    650 THE 3IIDDLE KIXGDO:\r.

    4. Ill autuiun, in the ninth month, the Marquis of Tsz’, tlie Duke of Sung

    an officer of Kiang, and an officer of Hwang, made a covenant in Kwan.

    5. Ill winter, in the tenth month, there was no rain.

    G. A body of men from Tsu made an incursion into Ching.

    Upon the tliird entry for tliis year tlie T.so Chuen enlarges

    :

    Seiin Seih, of Tsin, requested leave from the marquis to take his team of

    Kiuh horses and his J5e«7t of Chui-keih jade, and with tlieni borrow a way from

    Yu to march through it and attack Kwoh. “Tliey are the things I hold most

    precious,” said the marquis. Seih replied, “But if you get a way through

    Yu, it is but like placing them in a treasury outside the State for a time.”

    ” There is Kung Che-kl in Yu,” objected the duke. ” Kuug Clie-kl,” returned

    the other, ” is a weak man, and incapable of remonstrating vigorously. And,

    moreover, from his youth up he has always been with the Duke of Yu. who is

    so familiar with him that though he should remonstrate the duke will not

    listen to him.” The marquis accordingly sent Seun Seih to borrow a way

    through Yu with this message: “Formerly Ki, against right and reason, entered

    your State from Tien-ling, and attacked the three gates of Ming. It

    suffered for so doing, all through your grace. Now Kwoh, against right and

    reason, has been keeping guards about the travellers’ lodges, to make incursions

    from them into my southern l)orders, and I venture to beg a right of way

    from you to ask an account of its offence.” The Duke of Yu granted the request,

    and even asked to take the lead in invading Kwoh. Kung Clie-ki

    remonstrated with him, but in vain ; and he raised his army for the enterprise.

    In summer, Li Kill and Seun Seih brought on the army of Tsin, made

    a junction with that of Yu, and invaded Kwoh, when they extinguished Hiayang.

    The army of Yu is mentioned first, because of the bribes which the

    duke accepted.

    The coniiuentar}^ of Knng Yang says on tlie same paragraph :

    Yu was a small State ; why is it that it is here made to take precedence of

    a great one ‘? To make Yu take tlie lead in the wickedness.

    Why is Yu made to take the lead in the wickedness V Yu received the

    bribes with whicli those [wlio were going to] extinguish the State [of Kwoh]

    borrowed a way through it, and thus brought on its own ruin.

    IIow did it receive [those] bribes ‘i Duke Hieii [of Tsin] gave audience to

    his great officers, and asked them why it was that he had lain all night without

    sleeping One of them advanced and said, “Was it because you did not feel

    at ease [in your mind] ? or was it because your [proper] bedfellow was not by

    your side “‘. ” The duke gave no answer, and then Seun Seih came forward

    and said, “Was it because Yu and Kwoh were appearing to you ? ” The duke

    motioned to him to come [more] forward, and then went with him into an inner

    apartment to take counsel. ” I wish,” said he, ” to attack Kwoh, but Yu

    will go to its velief. and if I attack Yu Kwoh will succor it ; what is to be

    done ? I wish to consider the case with you.” Seun Seih replied, “If you

    will use my counsel, you shall take Kwoh to-day and Yu to-morrow ; why

    EXTRACTS FROM IJIK i’UUN TSIU. ‘ 651

    should your lordship he trouhled y ” ” IIow is this to he accomplished’:”‘

    asked the duke. ” Please let [me go toj Yu,” said the other, ‘” with your team

    01 Kiuh horses and your white peth or Chui-keih, and you are sure to get

    [what you wautj. It will only be taking your valuable {jai/t] Ironi your inner

    treasury and depositing it in an outer one ; your lor(l^^hip will lose nothing

    by it.” The duke said, “Yes; but Kung Che-ki is there. What are

    we to do with him ? ” Seun Seih replied, ” Kung Che-ki is indeed knowing ;

    but the Duke of Yu is covetous, and fond of valuable curios ; he is sure

    not to follow his minister’s advice. I beg you, considering everything, to let

    nie go.” . . . etc., etc.

    The following, as a l)rief sample of the Kiih Liang conmientaiy,

    takes up the narrative M’here we have broken off. There

    is so ninch that is similar in these two latter exegeses as to lead

    to the belief that they “were composed with reference to each

    other.

    On this Duke Hien soirght [in the way proposed] for a passage [through

    Yu] to invade Kwoh. Kung Che-ki remonstrated, saying, “The words of the

    envoy of Tsin are humble, but his oSFerings are great ; the matter is sure not

    to be advantageous to Yu.” The Duke of Yu, however, would not listen to

    him, but received the offerings and granted the passage through the State.

    Kung Che-ki remonstrated [again], suggesting that the case was like that in

    the saying about the lips being gone and the teeth becoming cold ; alter wliicli

    he fled with his wi^e and children to Tsao.

    Duke Hien then destroyed Kwoh, and in the fifth year [of our Duke Hi] he

    dealt in the same way with Yu. Seun Seih then had the horses led forward,

    while he carried the peih in his hand, and said : “The peih is just as it was,

    but the horses’ teeth are grown longer ! ” ‘

    Meagre as are the items <»f the text, they sliow, together with

    its copious commentaries, the methodical care of the early Chinese

    in preserving their ancient records. The hints which these

    and other books give of their intellectual activity during the

    eight centuries before C/hrist, naturally compel a higher estimate

    of their culture than we have hitherto allowed them.”

    The sixth section of the Catalogue has already been noticed

    as comprising the literature of the JTiao King.

    ‘ To this the Kung Yang commentator adds: “This he said in joke.”

    * Compare Tchun Tsieov, Jje Prinfemps cf- PAutomne, mi Anri/iles de la Pnneipaute

    (Je Loii, depuis 122 jusqu” en 481, etc. Traduites en fran^ow, purLQ

    Roux Deshauterayes. 1750. Dr. E. Bretschneider, in the Chinese BecordeVf

    Vol. IV., pp. 51-52, 1871.

    652 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Tlie seventh section contains a list of works written to eluci^

    date tlie Five Classics as a whole, and if their character for

    orio-inality of thought, variety of research, extent of illustration,

    and explanation of obscurities was comparable to their size and

    numbers, no books in any language could boast of the aids possessed

    by the Wu Khvj for their right comprehension. Of

    these commentators, Chu Hi of Kiangsi, M’ho lived during the

    Sun<‘- dvnasty, has so greatly exceeded all others in illustrating

    and expounding them, that his explanations are now considered

    of almost equal authority with the text, and are always given

    to the beginner to assist him in ascertaining its true meaning.

    The eighth section of the Catalogue comprises memoirs and

    comments upon the &’ Shu^ or ‘ Four Books,’ which have been

    nearly as influential in forming Chinese mind as the Wu King.

    They are by different authors, and since their publication have

    perhaps undergone a few alterations and interpolations, but the

    changes either in these or the Five Classics cannot be very

    numerous or great, since the large body of disciples who followed

    Confucius, and had copies of his writings, would carefully

    preserve uncorrupt those which he edited, and hand do\\’n

    unimpaired those which contained his sayings. Xone of the

    Four Books were actually written by Confucius himself, but

    three of them are considered to be a digest of his sentiments ;

    they were arranged in their present form by the brothers Ching,

    who flourished about eight centuries ago.

    The first of the Four Books is the Ta Illoh, i.e., ‘ Superior’

    or ‘ Great Learning,’ which originally formed one chapter of

    the Book of Rites. It is now divided into eleven chapters,

    only the first of which is ascribed to the sage, the remainder

    forming the comment upon them ; the whole does not contain

    two thousand words. The argument of the Ta Ilioh is briefly

    summed up in four heads, ” the improvement of one’s self, the

    regulation of a family, the government of a state, and the rule

    of an empire.” In the first chapter this idea is thus developed in a circle peculiarly Chinese:

    The ancients, who wished to illustrate renovating virtue throughout the

    Empire, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their

    states, they first regulated their lamilies. Wishing to regulate their families,

    THE GREAT LEARNING AND JUST MEDIUM. 653

    they first cultivated tlieir persons. Wishing to cultivate their person!’, they

    first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to

    be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their tlioughts, they

    first extended their knowledge to the utmost. Such extension oi.’ knowledge

    lay in the investigation of things. Things being investigated, knowledge became-

    complete : knowledge being comi)lete, their thoughts were sincere : their

    thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified : their hearts being

    rectified, their persons were cultivated : their persons being cultivated, their

    families were regulated : families being regulated, states were rightly governed

    ; and states being rightly governed, the Empire was made tran(iuil.

    From the Son of Heaven to the man of the people, all must consider the

    cultivation of the person to be the foundation.

    The subsequent c]i;q)ters mainly consist of the terse sayings

    of ancient kings and authors gathered and arranged by Tsang

    and aftei’ward hy CJliu Hi, designed to ilhistrate and enforce

    the teachings of Confucius contained in the first. One quotation

    only can be given from Chapter X.

    In the Declaration of [tlio Duke of] Tsin, it is said : ” Let me have but one

    minister plain and sincere, not pretending to other abilities, but with a simple

    upright mind ; and possessed of generosity, regarding the talents of others as

    though he possessed them himself, and where he fintls accomplished and perspicacious

    men, loving them in his lieart more than his mouth expresses, and

    really sliowing himself able to avail himself of them ; such a minister will be

    able to preserve my descendants and the Black-haired people, and benefits to

    the kingdom might well be looked for. But if it be, when lie finds men of

    ability, he is jealous and hateful to them ; and when he meets accomplished

    and perspicacious men, he opposes theni and will not allow their advancement,

    showing that he is really not able to avail liimself of them ; such a

    minister will not be able to protect my descendants and the Black-haired

    people. May he not even be pronounced dangerous V

    “

    Tt will be willingly allowed, ^^hen reading these extracts,

    that, destitute as they were of the higli sanctions and animating

    hopes and promises of the Word of God, these Chinese

    moralists began at the right place in tlieir endeavors to reform

    and benefit their countrymen, and that they did not fnlly succeed

    was owing to causes beyond their reforming power.

    The second of the Four Books is called CJnin’j Ynny, or the

    ‘ Just Medium,’ and is, in some respects, the most elaborate

    treatise in the series. Tt was composed by Kung Kih, the

    grandson of Confucius (better known hy his style Tsz’-sz’),

    about ninety years after tlie sage’s death. It once also formed part of the Vi Ki., from wliicli it, as well as the Ta Hioh.,

    Avere taken out by Chii Hi to make two of the Sz’ Shu. It

    lias thirty-three chapters, and has been the subject of numei’ous

    comments. The great purpose of the author is to illustrate the

    nature of human virtue, and to exhibit its conduct in the

    actions of an ideal Jiiun fs2\ or ‘princely man ‘ of immaculate

    propriety, who always demeans himself correctly, without going

    to extremes. He carries out the advice of Hesiod

    :

    ” Let every action prove a mean confess’d;

    A moderation is, in all, the best.”

    True virtue consists in never going to extremes, though it does

    not appear that by this the sage meant to repress acti\e benevolence

    on the one hand, or encourage selfish stolidity on the

    other. C/d/Kj, or uprightness, is said to be the basis of all

    things; and /to, harmony, the all-pervading principle of the

    universe ; ” extend uprightness and harmony to the utmost,

    and heaven and earth will be at rest, and all things be produced

    and nourished according to their nature.” The general character

    of the work is monotonous, but relieved with some animated

    passages, among which the description of the Mun tsz\ or

    princely man, is one. ” The princely man, in dealing with others, does not descend to anything low or improper. How unbending his valor ! He stands in the middle, and leans not to either side. The princely man enters into no situation where he is not himself. If he holds a high situation, he does not treat with contempt those below him ; if he occupies an inferior station, he uses no mean arts to gain the favor of his superiors. He corrects himself and blames not othei’S ; he feels no dissatisfaction.

    On the one hand, he nun-miirs not at Heaven ; nor, on the other, does he feel resentment toward man. Hence, the superior man dwells at ease, entirely waiting the will of Heaven.”‘

    ‘ Collie’s Foicr linakx, pp. 0-10.

    THE SAGE, OR PRINCELY MAN. 655

    Chinese moralists divide maidcind into three classes, on these principles : ” Men of the highest order, as sages, worthies, philanthropists, and lieroes, are good without instruction ; men of the middling classes are so after instruction, such as x^usbandnien, pliysicians, astrologers, soldiers, etc., while those of the lowest are bad in spite of instruction, as play-actors, pettifoggers, slaves, swindlers, etc.” The first are shing^ or sages; the second are Men, or worthies ; the last are yu, or worthless. Sir John Davis notices the similarity of this triplicate classification with that of Ilesiod. The Just Med’turii thus describes the first character:

    It is only the sage who is possessed of that clear discrimination and profound intelligence which fit him for filling a high station ; who possesses that enlarged liberality and mild benignity which lit him for bearing with others; who manifests that firmness and magnanimity that enable him to hold fast good principles ; who is actuated by that benevolence, justice, propriety, and

    knowledge which command reverence ; and who is so deeply learned in

    polite learning and good principles as to qualify him rightly to discriminate.

    Vast and extensive are the effects of his virtue ; it is like the deep and living

    stream which flows unceasingly ; it is substantial and extensive as Heaven,

    and profound as the great abyss. Wlierever ships sail or chariots run ; wherever

    the heavens overshadow and the earth sustains ; wherever the sun and

    moon shine, or frosts and dews fall, among all who have blood and breath,

    there is not one who does not honor and love him.

    ‘

    Sincerity or conscientiousness holds a high place among the

    attributes of the superior or princely man ; but in translating

    the Chinese terms into English, it is sometimes puzzling enough

    to find those which will exhibit the exact idea of the original.

    For instance, sincerity is described as “the origin or consummation

    of all things ; without it, there would be nothing. It is

    benevolence by which a man’s self is perfected, and knowledge

    by which he perfects others.” In another place we read that

    ” one sincere w^ish would move heaven and earth.” The Ixlun tsz’

    is supposed to possess these qualities. The standard of excellence

    is placed so high as to be absolutely unattainable by unaided

    human nature ; and though Kih probably intended to

    elevate the character of his grandfather to this height, and thus

    hand him down to future ages as a sMng Jin, or ‘ perfect and

    holy man,’ he has, in the providence of God, done his countrymen

    great service in setting before them such a character as is

    ‘lb., p. 28.

    here given in the Chung Yung. Bj being made a text-book in the schools it has been constantly studied and memorized by generations of students, to their great benefit.

    The third of the Four Books, called the Lun Yu, or ‘ Analects of Confucius,’ is divided into twenty chapters, in which the collective body of his disciples recorded his woi’ds and actions, much in the same way that Boswell did those of Johnson.

    It has not, however, the merit of chronological arrangement,

    and parts of it are so sententious as to be obscure, if not

    almost unintelligible. This work discloses the sage’s shrewd

    insight into the character of his conntiymen, and knowledge of

    the manner in which they could best be approached and influenced.

    Upon the commencement of his career as reformer and

    teacher, he contented himself with reviving the doctrines of

    the ” Ancients ; ” but finding his influence increasing as he

    continued these instructions, he then—yet always as under their

    authority—engrafted original ideas and tenets upon the minds

    of his generation. Had even his loftiest sentiments been propounded

    as his own, they would hardly have been received in

    his day, and, perhaps, through the contempt felt for him by

    his contemporaries, have been lost entirely.

    Among the most remarkable passages of the Four Books are

    the following : Replying to the question of Tsz’-kung, ” Is there

    one word wliicli may serve as a rule of practice for all of one’s

    life?” Confucius said: “Is not .^ihu (‘reciprocity’) such a

    word ? What you do not want done to youi-self, do not do to

    others.” In a previous place Tsz’-kung had said : ” What I do

    not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men.” Confucius

    replied : ” Tsz’, you have not attained to that.” The

    same principle is repeated in the C/t ung Yung, where it is said

    that the man who does so is not far from the path. Another

    is quoted in the Imperial Dictionary, under the word Fuh: ” The people of the west have sages,” or ” There is a sage (or holy man) among the people of the west,” where the object is to show that he did not mean Buddha. As Confucius was contemporary M’ith Ezra, it is not impossible that he had heard something of the history of the Israelites scattered throughout

    the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the Persian

    THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS, 657

    monarchy, or of the writings of their prophets, though there is not the least historical evidence that he knew anything of the countries in Western Asia, or of the books extant in their languages. Some idea of the character of the Lun Yu may be gathered from a few detached sentences, selected from Marshman’s translation.’

    Grieve uot that men know jou not, but be grieved that you are ignorant of men.

    Governing with equity resembles the north star, which is fixed, and all the stars surround it.

    Have no friends unlike yourself.

    Learning without reflection will profit nothing ; reflection without learningwill leave the mind uneasy and miserable.

    Knowledge produces pleasure clear as water ; complete virtue brings happiness solid as a mountain ; knowledge pervades all things ; virtue is tranquil and happy ; knowledge is delight ; virtue is long life.

    Without virtue, both riches and honor seem to me like the passing cloud.

    The sage’s conduct is affection and benevolence in operation.

    The man who possesses complete virtue wishes to fix his own mind therein, and also to fix the minds of others ; he wishes to be wise himself, and would fain render others equally wise.

    Those who, searching for virtue, refuse to stay among the virtuous, how can they obtain knowledge ? The rich and honorable are those with whom men desire to associate ; not obtaining their company in the paths of virtue, however, do not remain in it.

    In your appearance, to fall below decency would be to resemble a savage rustic, to exceed it would be to resemble a fop ; let your appearance be decent and moderate, then you will resemble the honorable man.

    When I first began with men, I heard words and gave credit for conduct; now I hear words and observe conduct.

    I have found no man who esteems virtue as men esteem pleasure.

    The perfect man loves all men ; he is not governed by private affection or interest, but only regards the public good or right reason. The wicked man, on the contrary, loves if you give, and likes if you commend him.

    The perfect man is never satisfied with himself. He that is satisfied with himself is not perfect.

    He that is sedulous and desires to improve in his studies is not ashamed to stoop to ask of others.

    Sin in a virtuous man is like an eclipse of the sun and moon ; all men

    gaze at it, and it passes away ; the virtuous man mends, and the world standsin admiration of his fall.

    ‘ The TFbrA’.* of Confucius ; containing the oi’i(jiiud text, %cith a Translation,by J. Marshman. Vol. I. Serampore, 1807.Vol. I.–43

    Patience is the most necessary thing to have in this world. A few facts respecting the life, and observations on the character, of the great sage of Chinese letters, may here be added, though the extracts already made from his writings are sufficient to show his style. Confucius was born b.c.551, in the twentieth year of the Emperor Ling (about the date at which Cyrus became king of Persia), in the kingdom of Lu, now included in Yenchau, in the south of IShantung. His father was a district magistrate, and dying when lie was only three years old, left his care and education to his mother, who, although not so celebrated as the mother of Mencius, seems to have nurtured in hiui a respect for morality, and directed his studies. During his youth he was remarkable fuj- a grave demeanor and knowledge

    of ancient learning, which gained him the respect and admiration

    of his townsmen, so that at the age of twenty, the year

    after his marriage, he was entrusted M’itli the duties of a subordinate

    office in the revenue department, and afterward appointed

    a supervisor of fields and herds. In his twenty-fourth

    year his mother deceased, and in conformity with the ancient

    usage, which had then fallen into disuse, he immediately resigned

    all his employments to mourn for her three years, during M’hicli

    time he devoted himself to study. This practice has continued

    to the present day.

    His examination of the ancient writings led him to resolve

    upon instructing his countrymen in them, and to revive the

    usages of former kings, especially in whatever related to the

    rites. His position gave him an entry to court in Lu, where

    he met educated and influential men, and by the time he was

    thirty he was already in repute among them as a teacher. His

    own king, Siang, gave him the means of visiting the imperial

    t’ourt at Lohyang. Here, together Avith his disciples, he examined

    everything, past and present, with close scrutiny, and returned

    home with renewed regard for the ancieiit founders of

    the House of Chau. His scholars and admirers increased in

    numbers, and a corresponding extension of fame followed, so

    that ere long he had an invitation to the court of the prince of

    Tsi, but on arrival there was mortified to learn that curiosity

    had been the prevailing cause of the invitation, and not a desire

    to adopt his principles. He accordingly left him and went

    LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. 659

    home, where the struggles between three rival families carried disorder and misery throughout the kingdom ; it was with the greatest difficulty that he remained neutral between these factions.

    His disciples were from all parts of the land, and public opinion began to be influenced by his example. At length an opportunity offered to put his tenets into practice. The civil strife had resulted in the flight of the rebels, and Lu was settling down into better government, when in b.c. 500 Confucius was made the magistrate of the town of Chung-tu by his sovereign, Duke Ting. He was now fifty years old, and began to carry out the best rule he could in his position as minister of crime. For three years he administered the affairs of State with such a mixture of zeal, prudence, severity, and

    regard for the rights and wants of all classes, that Lu soon

    became the envy and dread of all other States. He even

    succeeded in destroying two or three baronial castles M’hose

    chiefs had set all lawful authority at defiance. His precepts

    had been fairly put in practice, and, like Solomon, his influence

    in after-ages was increased by the fact of acknoM’ledged

    success.

    It was but little more than an experiment, however ; for Duke

    King of Tsi, becoming envious of the growing power of his

    neighbor, sent Ting a tempting present, consisting of thirty

    horses beautifully caparisoned, and a number of curious rai’ities,

    with a score of the most accomplished courtesans he could

    procure in his territories. This scheme of gaining the favor of

    the youthful monarch, and driving the obnoxious cynic from

    his counj3ils, succeeded, and Confucius soon after retired by

    compulsion into private life. He moved into the dominions of

    the prince of Wei, accompanied by such of his disciples as chose

    to follow him, where he employed himself in extending liis

    doctrines and travelling into the adjoining States.

    He Mas at times applauded and pati’onized, but quite as often

    the object of persecution and contumely ; more than once his

    life was endangered. He compared himself to a dog driven

    from his home : ” I have the fidelity of that animal, and I am

    treated like it. But what matters the ingratitude of men ?

    They cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been appointed me. If my precepts are disregarded, I have the consolation of knowing in my own breast that I have faithfully performed my duty.” lie sometimes spoke in a manner that showed his own impression to be that heaven had conferred on him a special commission to instruct the world. On one or two occasions, when he was in jeopardy, he said : ” If IJeaven means not to obliterate this doctrine from the earth, the men of Kwang can do nothing to me.” And ” as Heaven has produced whatever virtue is in nie, what can Ilwan Tui do to me 5f ” In his instructions he improved passing events to afford useful lessons, and some of those recorded are at least ingenious. Observing a fowler one day soi’tinghis birds into different cages, he said, ” I do not see any old birds here ; Where have you put them ? ” ” The old birds,” replied the fowler, ” are too wary to be caught ; they are on the lookout, and if they see a net or cage, far from falling into the snare they escape and never return.

    Those young ones which are in company with them likewise escape, but only such as separate into a flock by themselves and rashly approach are the birds I take. If perchance I catch an old bird it is because he follows the young ones.”

    ” You have heard him,” observed the sage, turning to his disciples; “the words of this fowler afford us matter for instruction.

    LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. G61

    The young birds escape the snare oidy when they keep with the old ones, the old ones are taken when they follow the young ; it is thus with maidvind. Presumption, hardihood, want of forethought, and inattention are the principal reasons why young people are led astray. Inflated with their small attainments they have scarcely made a commencement in learning before they think they know everything; they have scarcely performed a few common virtuous acts, and straight they fancy themselves at the height of wisdom. Under this false impression they doubt nothing, hesitate at nothing, pay attention to nothing ; they rashly undertake acts without consulting the aged and experienced, and thus securely following their own notions, they are misled and fall into the flrst snare laid for ihem. If you see an old man of sober years so badly advised as to be taken with the sprightliness of a youth, attached tq him, and thinking and acting with him, he is led astray by him and soon taken in the same snare. Do not forget the answer of the fowler.””

    Once, when looking at a stream, he compared its ceaseless

    current to the transmission of good doctrine through succeeding

    generations, and as one race had received it they should liand

    it down to others. ” Do not imitate those isolated men [the

    Rationalists] who are wise only for themselves ; to communicate

    the modicum of knowledge and virtue we possess to others will

    never impoverish ourselves.” lie seems to have entertained

    only faint hopes of the general reception of his doctrine, though

    toward the latter end of his life he had as much encouragement

    in the respect paid him personally and the increase of his

    scholars as he could reasonably have wished.

    Confucius returned to his native country at the age of sixtyeight,

    and devoted his time to completing his edition of the

    classics and in teaching his now large band of disciples. He

    was consulted by his sovereign, who had invited him to return,

    and one of his last acts was to go to court to urge an attack on

    Tsi and punish the nnu’der of its duke. Many legends have

    gathered around him, so that he now stands before his countrymen

    as a sage and a demigod ; yet there is a remarkable

    absence of the prophetic and the miraculous in every event connected

    with these later writings. One story is that when he

    had finished his writings he collected his friends around him

    and made a solenm dedication of his literary labors to heaven

    as the concluding act of his life. ” he assembled all his disciples and led them out of the town to one of the hills where sacrifices had usually been offered for many years. Here he erected a table or altar, upon which he placed the books ; and then turning his face to the north, adored Heaven, and returned thanks upon his knees in a humble manner for having had life and strength granted him to enable him to accomplish this laborious undertaking ; he implored Heaven to grant that the benefit to his countrymen from so arduous a labor might not be small. He had prepared himself for this ceremony by privacy, fasting, and prayer. Chinese pictures represent the sage in the attitude of supplication, and a beam of light or a rainbow desceiiding from the sky upon the books, Avhile his scholars stand around in admiring wonder.” ‘

    A few davs before his death lie tottered about the house, sighing,

    Tai shan, ki tui Jiu!—Liang miih. hi liwai hit,

    !—Ch’ijin, ki wei hu!

    The great mountain is broken

    !The strong beam is thrown down !

    The wise man withers like a plant

    !lie died soon after, b.c. 478, aged seventy-three, leaving a

    single descendant, his grandson Tsz’-sz, thi-ougli whom the succession

    has been transmitted to the pi-esent day. During his

    life the return of the Jews from Bal)ylon, the invasion of

    Greece by Xerxes, and concjucst of Egypt l)y the Persians took

    place. Posthumous honors in great variety, amounting to idolatrous

    worship, have been conferred upon him. His title is the

    ‘Most Holy Ancient Teacher’ Kung tsz’, and the ‘Holy Duke.’

    In the reign of Kanghi, two thousand one hundred and fifty

    years after his death, there were eleven thousand males alive

    bearing his name, and most of them of the seventy-fourth generation,

    being undoubtedly one of the oldest families in the

    world. In the Sacrificial llitual a short account of his life is

    given, which closes M’ith the following pa^an :

    Confucius ! Confucius ! How great is Confucius !

    Before Confucius there never was a Confucius !

    Since Confucius there never has been a Confucius !

    Confucius ! Confucius ! How great is Confucius !

    The leading features of the })hilosophy of CVjnfucius are subordination

    to superiors and kind, upright dealing with our fellow-

    nien ; destitute of all reference to an iniseen Power to whom

    all men are accountable, they look only to this world for their

    sanctions, and make the monarch himself only partially amenable

    to a higher tribunal. It would indeed be hard to overestimate

    the influence of Confucius in his \^q,^ princelij scholar,

    and the power for good over his race this conception ever since

    has e.xerted. It might be compared to the glorious work of the

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XI., p. 421. Pauthier, La Chine, Paris, 1839,pp. 121-184.

    ClIAKACTEK OF THE CONFUCIAN SYSTEM. 663

    sculptor on tlie Acropolis of Athens—that matchless statue

    more than seventy feet in height, whose casque and spear of

    burnished brass glittered above all the temples and high places

    of the city, and engaged the constant gaze of the mariner on

    the near ^Egean ; guiding his onward course, it was still ever

    beyond his reach. Like the Athena Promachos to the ancient

    Attic voyager, so stands the klun-tsz” of Confucius among the

    ideal men of pagan moralists. The immeasurable influence

    in after-ages of the character thus portrayed proves how lofty

    was his own standard, and the national conscience has ever

    since assented to the justice of the portrait.

    From the duty, honor, and obedience owed by a child to his

    parents, he proceeds to inculcate the obligations of wives to their

    husbands, subjects to their prince, and ministers to their king,

    together with all the obligations arising from the various social

    relations. Political morality must be founded on private rectitude,

    and the beginning of all real advance was, in his opinion,

    comprised in nosce tei]_)Hiu)i. It cannot be denied that among

    much that is commendable there are a few exceptionable dogmas

    among his tenets, and Dr. Legge, as has already been seen,

    reflects severely on his disregard of truth in the Chun Tain

    and in his lifetime. Yet compared wdth the precepts of Grecian

    and Poman sages, the general tendency of his writings is good,

    while in adaptation to the society in which he lived, and their

    eminently practical character, they exceed those of western

    philosophers. lie did not deal much in sublime and unattainable

    descriptions of virtue, but rather taught how the common

    intercourse of life was to be maintained—how children should

    conduct themselves toward their parents, when a man should

    enter on office, when to marry, etc., etc., which, although they

    may seem somewhat trifling to us, were probably well calculated

    for the times and people among whom he lived.’

    ‘ Compare Dr. Legge’s lielirjions of Clnmi ; Prof. R. K. Douglas, Confucianism and Tuouism, London, 1879 ; S. Johnson, Orkntdl IMigions : China, Boston, 1877 ; A Systematical Digest of tfis Doctrines of Confiidus, according to the Analects, Great Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean, etc., by Ernst Faber. Translated from the German by MollendorfF, Hongkong, 1875 ; Histoire de Confucius, par J. Senamaud, Bordeaux et Paris, 1878.

    Had Confucius transmitted to posterity such works as the

    Iliad, the De Officiis, or the Dialogues of Plato, he would no

    doubt liave taken a higher rank among the commanding intellects

    of the world, but it may be well doubted whether his influence

    among his own countrymen would have been as good or

    as lasting. The variety and minuteness of liis instructions for

    the nurture and education of children, the stress he lays upon

    filial duty, the detail of etiquette and conduct he gives for the

    intercourse of all classes and ranks in society, characterize his

    writings from those of all philosophers in other countries, who,

    comparatively speaking, gave small thought to the education of

    the young. The Four Books and the Five Classics woukl not,

    80 far as regards their intrinsic character in comparison with

    other productions, be considered as anything more than curiosities

    in literature for their antiquity and language, were it not

    for the incomparable influence they have exerted over so many

    millions of minds ; in this view they are invested with an interest

    which no book, besides tlie Bible, can claim. The source

    and explanation of this influence is to be found in their use as

    text-books in the schools and competitive examinations, and

    well would it be for Christian lands if their youth had the same

    knowledge of the writings of Solomon and the Evangelists.

    Their freedom from descriptions of impurity and licentiousness,

    and alhisions to whatever debases and vitiates the heart, is a

    redeeming quality of the Chinese classics which should not be

    overlooked. Chinese literature contains enough, indeed, to pollute

    even the mind of a heathen, but its scum has become the

    sediment ; and little or nothing can be found in the writings

    that are most highly prized which will not bear perusal by any

    person in any country. Every one acquainted with the writings

    of Hindu, Greek, and Koman poets knows the glowing descriptions

    of the amours of gods and goddesses which fill their

    pages, and the purity of the Chinese canonical books in this

    respect must be considered as remarkable.

    For the most part the Chinese, in worshipping Confucius, content

    themselves with erecting a simple tablet in his honor ; to

    carve imaiires for the cult of the sage is uncommon. The incident

    represented in the adjoining wood-cut illustrates, however,

    WORSHIP OF CONFUCIUS. 665

    Worship of Confucius and his Disciples.

    an exception to the prevailing severity of this worship. A certain

    “Wei Ki, a scholar living in the Tang dynasty (a.d. 657), not

    content, it is said, with giving instruction in the classics, set np

    the life-size statues of Confucius and his seventy-two disciples

    in order to incite the enthusiasm of his own pupils. Into this

    sanctuary of the divinities of learning were wont to come the

    savant AYei and his scholars—among whom were numhered

    hoth his grandfather and several of his grandchildren—to prostrate

    themselves before the ancient worthies. ” But of his descendants,”

    concludes the chronicler, ” there were many who

    arose to positions of eminence in the State.”

    The last of the Fonr Books is nearly as large as the other

    three nnited, and consists entirely of the writings of Mencius,

    Mang tsz’, or Mang fu-tsz’, as he is called by the Chinese.’

    This sage flourished npward of a century after the death of his

    master, and although, in estimating his character, it must not

    be forgotten that he had the advantages of his example and

    stimulus of his fame and teachings, in most respects he displayed

    an oi-iginality of thought, inflexibility of purpose, and

    extensive views superior to Confucius, and must be regarded

    as one of the greatest men Asiatic nations have ever produced.

    Mencius was born b.c. 371,^ in the city of Tsau, now in the

    province of Shantung, not far from his master’s native district.

    He was twenty-three years t)ld when Plato died, and many

    other great men of Greece were his contemporaries. His

    father died earlj’^, and left the guardianship of the boy to his

    widow, Changshi. “The care -of this prudent and attentive

    mother,” to quote from Bemusat, ” has been cited as a model

    for all virtuous parents. The house she occupied was near that

    ‘ It may liere be remarked that the terms tsz’ or fu-tsz’ do not properly form a part of the name, but are titles, meaning rabhi or eminent teacher, and are added to the surnames of some of the most distinguished writers, by way of peculiar distinction ; and in the words Mencius and Confucius have been Latinized with Mang and Kung, names of the persons themselves, into one word. The names of other distinguished scholars, as Chu fu-tsz’, Ching fu-tsz’, etc., have not undergone this change into Chufucius, Chingfucius ; but usage has now brought the compellation for these two men into universal use as a distinctive title, somewhat like the term reneraUe applied to Bede.

    llemusat, Nouveuux MekuKjex, Tome II., pp. 115-129.

    LIFE OF MENCIUS. 667

    of a butcher ; she observed that at the first crj of the animals

    that were being slaughtered the little Mang ran to be present

    at the sight, and that on his return he sought to imitate what

    he had seen. Fearful that his heart might become hardened,

    and be accustomed to the sight of blood, she removed to another

    house wdiicli Avas in the neighborhood of a cemetery.

    The relations of those who were buried there came often to

    weep upon their graves and make the customaiy libations ; the

    lad soon took pleasure in their ceremonies, and amused himself

    in imitating them. This was a new subject of uneasiness to

    Changshi ; she feared her son might come to consider as a jest

    what is of all things the most serious, and that he would acquire

    a habit of performing with levity, and as a matter of

    routine merely, ceremonies which demand the most exact attention

    and respect. Again, therefore, she anxiously changed her

    dwelling, and went to live in the city, opposite to a school,

    where her son found examples the most worthy of imitation,

    and soon began to profit by them. I should not have spoken

    of this trifling anecdote but for the allusion which the Chinese

    constantly make to it in the common proverb, ‘ Formerly the

    mother of Mencius chose out a neighborhood.” ” On another

    occasion her son, seeing persons slaughtering pigs, asked her

    why they did it. ” To feed you,” she replied ; but reflecting

    that this was teaching her son to lightly regard tlie truth, went

    and bought some pork and gave him.

    Mencius devoted himself early to the classics, and probably attended the instructions of noted teachers of the school of Confucius and his grandson Ivih. After his studies were completed, at the age of forty, he came forth as a public teacher, and offered his services to the feudal princes of the country. Among others, he was received by Ilwui, king of Wei, but, though much respected by this ruler, his instructions were not regarded ; and he soon perceived that among the numerous petty rulers and intriguing statesmen of the day there was no prospect of restoring tranquillity to the Empire, and that discourses upon the mild government and peaceful virtues of Yao and Shun, King Wan and Chingtang, offered little to interest persons whose ininds were engrossed with schemes of conquest or pleasure, lie thereupon accepted an invitation to go to Tsi, the adjoining State, and spent most of his public life there; the records show that he was often called on for his advice by statesmen of many governments. As he went from one State to another his influence extended as his experience showed him the difficulties of gcwd government amidst the general disregard of justice, mercy, and frugality. His own unyielding character and stern regard for etiquette and probity chilled the loose,

    luiscrupulous men of those lawless times. At length he retired

    to his home to spend the last twenty years of his life in the

    society of his disciples, there completing the Mork which bears

    liis name and has made him such a power among his countrymen.

    He has always been an incentive and guide to popular

    efforts to assert the rights of the subject against the injustice

    of riders, and an encourager to rulers who have governed with

    justice. His assertion of the proper duties and prerogatives

    belonging to both parties in the State was prior to that of any

    M’estern writer; some of his principles of liberal govermnent

    were taught before their enunciation in Holy Writ. He died

    when eighty-four years old (b.c. 288), shortly before the death

    of Ptolemy Soter at the same age.

    After his demise Mencius was honored, by public act, with

    the title of ‘ Holy Prince of the country of Tsau,’ and in the

    temple of the sages he I’eceives the same honors as Confucius

    his descendants bear the title of ‘ Masters of the Traditions

    concerning the Classics,’ and he himself is called A-sMn//, or

    the ‘ Secondary Sage,’ Confucius being regarded as the first.

    His writings are in the form of dialogues held with the great

    personages of his tinae, and abound with irony and ridicule

    directed against vice and oppression, which only make his

    praises of virtue and integrity more weighty. After the manner

    of Socrates, he contests nothing with his adversaries, but,

    while granting their premises, he seeks to draw from them consequences

    the most absurd, which cover his opponents with confusion.

    The king of Wei, one of the turbulent princes of the time,

    was conq)laining to Mencius how ill he succeeded in his endeavors

    to make Ids people happy and his kingdom flourishing.

    PERSONAL CHARACTER OF HIS TEACHINGS. 669

    “Prince,” said the philosopher, “you love war; permit me to draw a comparison from thence : two armies are in presence; the chaige is sounded, the battle begins, one of the parties is conquered; half its soldiers have Hed a hundjed paces, the other half has stopped at fifty. Will the last have any right to mock at those mIio have fled further than themselves?*’

    “No,” said the king; “they have equally taken flight, and the same disgrace must attend them both.”

    ” Prince,” says Mencius quickly, ” cease then to boast of your efforts as greater than your neighbors’. You have all deserved the same reproach, and not one has a right to take credit to himself over another.” Pursuing then his bitter interrogations, he asked, “Is there a difference, O king! between killing a man with a chip or with a sword? ” ” No,” said the prince.

    “Between him who kills with the sword, or destroys by an inhuman tyranny?” “No,” again replied the prince.

    “Well,” said Mencius, “your kitchens are encumbered with food, your sheds are full of horses, while yonr subjects, with emaciated conntenances, are worn down with misery, or found dead of hunger in the middle of the fields or the deserts. What is this but to breed animals to prey on men ‘i And what is the difference between destroying them by the sword or by nnfeeling conduct ? If we detest those savage animals which mutually tear and devour eaclr other, how much more should we abhor a prince who, instead of being a father to his people, does not hesitate to lear animals to destroy them. What kind of father to his people is he who treats his children so nnfeelingly, and has less care of them than of the wild beasts he provides for ?”

    On one occasion, addressing the prince of Tsi, Mencius renuirked: ” It is not the ancient forests of a country which do it honor, but its families devoted for many generations to the duties of the magistracy. Oh, king ! in all your service there are none such ; those whom you yesterday raised to honor, what are they to-day ?”

    ” In what way,” replied the king, ” can I know beforehand that they are without virtue, and remove them ?”

    “In raising a sage to the highest dignities of the State,” replied the philosoplier, “ii king acts only as lie is of necessity bound to do. But to put a man of obscure condition over the nobles of his kingdom, or one of his remote kindred over princes more nearly connected with him, demands most careful deliberation. Do his courtiers imite in speaking of a man as wise, let him distrust them. If all the magistrates of his kingdom concur in the same assurance, let him not rest satisfied with their testimony, but if his subjects confirm the story, then let him convince himself; and if he finds that the individual is indeed a sage, let him ]-aise him to office and honor. So, also, if all his courtiers would f)ppose his placing confidence in a minister, let him not give heed to them; and if all the magistrates are of this opinion, let him be deaf to their solicitations; but if the people unite in the same request, then let him examine the object of their ill-will, and, if guilty, remove him. In short, if all the courtiers think that a minister should sufPer death, the prince must not content himself with their opinion merely. If all the high officers entertain the same sentiment, still he must not yield to their convictions ; but if the people declare that such a num is unfit to live, then the prince, inquiring himself and being satisfied that the charge is true, must condemn the guilty to death ; in such a case, we may say that the people are his judges. In acting thus a prince becomes the parent of his subjects.”

    The will of the people is always referred to as the supreme

    power in the State, and Mencius warns princes that they nnist

    both please and benefit their people, observing that ” if the

    country is not subdued in heart there will be no such thing as

    governing it; ” and also, ” He who gains the hearts of the people

    secures the throne, and he who loses the people’s hearts

    loses the throne.” A prince should ” give and take what is

    })leasing to them, and not do that wdiich they hate.” ” Good

    laws,” he further remarks, ” are not equal to winning the people

    by good instruction.” Being consulted by a sovereign, wdiether

    he ought to attempt the conquest of a neighboring territory, he

    answered : ” If the people of Yen are delighted, then take it ;

    but if otherwise, not.” lie also countenances the dethroning of

    a king who does not rule his people with a regard to their hap

    HIS ESTIMATE OF HUMAN NATURE. 671

    piness, and adduces the example of tije founders of the Shang

    and Chan dynasties in proof of its propriety. “Wlien the

    prince is gnilty of great errors,” is liis doctrine, “the minister

    should reprove him ; if, after doing so again and again, he does

    not listen, he ought to dethrone him and put another in his

    place.”

    His estimate of human nature, like many of the Chinese

    sages, is high, believing it to be originally good, and that ” all

    men are naturally virtuous, as all water flows downward. All

    men have compassionate hearts, all feel ashamed of vice.” But

    he says also, ” Shame is of great moment to men ; it is only the

    desig-nino; and artful that find no use for shame.” Yet human

    nature must be tried by suffering, and to form an energetic and

    virtuous character a man nnist endure much ; ” when Heaven

    was about to place Shun and others in important trusts, it first

    generally tried their minds, inured them to abstinence, exposed

    them to poverty and adversity ; thus it moved their hearts and

    taught them patience.” His own character presents traits

    widely differing from the servility and baseness usually ascribed

    to Asiatics, and especially to the Chinese ; and he seems to

    have been ready to sacrifice everything to his principles. ” I

    love life, and I love justice,” he observes, “‘ but if I cannot preserve

    both, I would give up life and hold fast justice. Although

    I love life, there is that which I love more than life; although

    I hate death, there is that which I hate more than death.” And

    as if referring to his own integrity, he elsewhere says: “The

    nature of the superior man is such that, although in a high and

    prosperous situation, it adds nothing to his virtue ; and although

    in low and distressed circumstances, it impairs it in nothing.”

    In many points, especially in the importance he gives to filial

    duty, his reverence for the ancient books and princes, and his

    adherence to old usages, Mencius imitated and upheld Confucius

    ; in native vigor and carelessness of the reproaches of his

    compatriots he exceeded him. Many translations of his work

    have appeared in European languages, but Legge’s ‘ is in most

    respects the best for its comments, and the notices of Men-CMnese Classics, Vol II. Hongkong, 1863. ciiis’ life and times, and a fair estimate of his character and in fiuence.

    KeLurning to the Imperial Catalogue, its ninth section contains a list of musical works, and a few on dancing or posture making; they hold this distinguished place in the list from the importance attached to music as employed in the State worship and domestic ceremonies.

    The tenth section gives the names of philological treatises and lexicons, most of them confined to the Chinese language, though a few are in Mancliu. The Chinese government has excelled in the attention it has given to the compilation of lexicons and encyclopaedias. The number of works of this sort here catalogued is two hundred and eighteen, the major part issued during this dynasty, and including only works on the general language, none on the dialects. For their extent of quotation, the variety of separate disquisitions upon the form, origin, and composition of characters, and treatises upon subjects connected with the language, they indicate the careful labor native scholars have bestowed upon the elucidation of their own tongue.

    One of them, the Pel Wan Yiin Fa, or ‘ Treasury of compared

    Characters and Sounds,’ is so extensive and profound as

    to deserve a short notice, which cannot be bettei’ made than by

    an extract from the preface of M. Callery to his prospectus to

    its translation, of which he only issued one livi-aison. He says

    the Emperor Kanglii, who planned its preparation, ” assembled

    in his palace the most distinguished literati of the Empire, and

    laying befoi-e them all the works that could be got, whether

    ancient or modern, commanded them carefully to collect all the

    words, allusions, forms and figures of speech of every style, of

    which examples might be found in the Chinese language ; to

    class the principal articles according to the pronunciation of the

    words ; to devote a distinct paragraph to each expression ; and

    to give in suppoi-t of every paragraph several quotations from

    the original works. Stimulated by the nuinificence, as well as

    the example, of the Emperor, who reviewed the performances

    of every day, seventy-six literati assembled at Peking, labored

    with such assiduity, and kept up such an active correspondence

    KANGIlfs DICTIONARY. 673

    \v »th the learned in all parts of the Empire, that at the end of

    eight years the work was completed (1711), and printed at the

    public expense, in one hundred and thirty thick volumes.” The

    peculiar natui-e of the Chinese language, in the formation of

    many dissyllabic compounds of two or more characters to express

    a third and new idea, renders such a work as this thesaurus

    more necessary and useful, perhaps, than it would be in any

    other lano;naoi;e. Under some of the common characters as

    many as three hundred, four hundred, and even six hundred

    combinations are noticed, all of which modify its sense more or

    less, and form a complete monograph of the character, of the

    highest utility to the scholar in composing idiomatic Chinese.

    This magnificent monument of literary labor reflects great

    credit on the monarch who took so much interest in its compilation

    (as he remarks in his preface), as to devote the leisure hours of every day, notwithstanding his manifold occupations, for eight years, to overlooking the labors of the scholars engaged upon it.Vol. L—43

    CHAPTER XII.  POLITE LITERATURE OP THE CHUSTESE

    The three remaining divisions of the Imperial Catalogue

    comprise lists of Historical, Professional, and Poetical works.

    The estimate made of their value will depend somewhat on the

    peculiar line of research of the student, and to give him the

    means of doing this would re([uire copious extracts from poetical,

    religious, topographical or moral writings. Those who

    have studied them the longest, as Remusat, Julien, Staunton,

    Pauthier, the two Morrisons, Legge, etc., speak of them with

    the most respect, whether it arose from a higher appreciation

    of their worth as they learned more, or that the zealousness of

    their studies imparted a tinge of enthusiasm to their descriptions.

    A writer in the Quarterly Hemeto gives good reasons

    for placing the polite literature of the Chinese first for the insight

    it is likely to give Europeans into their habits of thought.

    ” The Chinese stand eminently distinguished from other

    Asiatics by their early possession and extensive use of the important

    art of printing—of printing, too, in that particular shape,

    the stereotype, which is best calculated, by multiplying the

    copies and cheapening the price, to promote the circulation of

    eV’Cry species of their literature. Hence they are, as might be

    expected, a reading people ; a certain degree of education is

    connnon amono; even the lower classes, and amono- the hisfher it

    is superfluous to insist on the great estimation in which letters

    must be held under a system where learning forms the very

    threshold of the gate that conducts to fame, honors, and civil

    employment. Amid the vast mass of printed books which is

    the natural offspring of such a state of things, we make no

    CHINESE WORKS ON HISTORY. 675

    scruple to avow that the circle of their helles-lettres, comprised

    under the heads of drama, poetrv, and novels, has always possessed

    the highest place in our esteem ; and we must say that

    there appears no readier or more agreeable mode of becoming

    intimately acquainted with a people from whom Europe can

    have so little to learn on the score of either moral or physical

    science than by drawing largely on the inexhaustible stores of

    their ornamental literature.”

    The second division in the Catalogue, &’ Pu, or ‘ Historical

    Writings,’ is subdivided into fifteen sections. These writings

    are very extensive ; even their mere list conveys a high idea of

    the vast amount of labor expended upon them ; and it is impossible

    to withhold respect, at least, to the industry displayed in

    compilations like the Seventeen Histories^ in two hundred and

    seventeen volumes, and its continuation, the Twenty-two Histories^

    a still larger work. Though the entertaining episodes

    and sketches of character found in Herodotus and other ancient

    European historians are wanting, there is plenty of incident in

    court, camp, and social life, as well as public acts and royal

    biography. The dynastic records became the duty of special

    officers, and the headings adopted from the Sui, a.d. 590, have

    since been followed in arranging the historic materials under

    twelve heads. From the mass of materials digested by careful

    scholars have been compiled the records now known ; they

    form, with all their imperfections, the best continuous history

    of any Asiatic people. Popular abridgments are common,

    among which the Tung Klen Kang-muh, or ‘ General Mirror

    of History,’ and a compiled abridgment of it, the Kang Klen I

    Chi, or ‘ History made Easy,’ are the most useful.

    The earliest historian among the Chinese is Sz’maTsien,’ who

    flourished about b.c. 104, in which year he commenced the &’

    Kt, or ‘ Historical Memoirs,’ in one hundred and thirty chapters.

    . In this great work, which, like the Muses of Herodotus

    in Greek, forms the commencement of credible modern history

    with the Chinese, the author relates the actions of the Emperors

    ‘ Compare Remusat, Nouveaiix Mehinriefi, Tome II., pp. IBO ff., where there

    are excellent biographical notices of Sz’ma Tsieu and other native historians.

    676 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    in regular succession and the principal events which happened

    during their reigns, together with details and essays respecting

    mus’c, astronomy, religious ceremonies, weights, public works,

    etc., and the changes they had nndei-gone during the twentytwo

    centuries embraced in his Memoirs. It is stated by liemusat

    that there are in the whole work five hundred and twentysix

    thousand five hundred characters, for the Chinese, like the

    ancient Hebrews, number the words in their standard authors.

    The aSs’ Kl is in five parts, and its arrangement has served as

    a model for subsequent historians, few of whom have equalled

    its author in the vivacity of their style or carefulness of their

    research.

    The General Mh’ror to Aid in Governin/j, by Sz’ma Kwang,

    of the Sung dynasty, in two hundred and ninety-four chapters,

    is one of the best digested and most lucid amials that Chinese

    scholars have produced, embracing the period between the end

    of the Tsin to the beginning of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 313 to

    960). Both the historians Sz’ma Tsien and Sz’ma Ivwang filled

    high offices in the State, were both alternately disgraced and

    honored, and were mixed up with all the political movements

    of the day. Kemusat speaks in terms of deserved connnendation

    of their writings, and to a notice of their works adds some

    account of their lives. One or two incidents in the career of

    Sz’ma Kw^ang exhibit a readiness of action and freedom in expressing

    his sentiments which are more common among the

    Chinese than is usually supposed. In his youth he was standing

    with some companions near a large vase used to rear gold

    fish, when one of them fell in. Too terrified themselves to do

    anything, all but young Kwang ran to seek succor ; he looked

    around for a stone with which to break the vase and let the

    water flow out, and thus saved the life of his companion. In

    subsequent life the same common sense was joined with a boldness

    which led him to declare his sentiments on all occasions.

    Some southern people once sent a present to the Emperor of a

    strange quadruped, which his flatterers said was the mythological

    Jxi-lin of happy omen. Sz’ma Ivwang, being consulted on

    the matter, replied : ” I have never seen the ki-len, therefore I

    cannot tell wdiether this be one or not. What I do know is that

    THE HISTORIANS Sz’mA TSIEN AND SZ’mA KWANG. G77

    tlie i-eal JA-Un conkl iievei- ])e In-ought liitliei hy foi’eignors ; he

    appears of liiniself wlieii the State is well governed.” ‘ An extension

    of this great work hj Li Tao, of the Sung (Ivnasty, in

    five Imndrod and twenty books, gave their countrymen a fair

    account of the thirty-six centuries of their national fortunes ;

    and the digest under C’hu Ui’s direction has made them still

    more accessible and famous to succeed in<r a^es.

    Few works in Chinese literatui-e are more popular than a

    historical novel by Chin Shan, about a.d. 350, called the San

    Kiroh C/n, or ‘ History of the Three States ;’ its scenes are laid

    in the northern parts of China, and include the period between

    A.I). 170 and ‘j\7, when several ambitious chieftains conspii’ed

    against the indjecile ju-inces of the once famous Ilan dynasty,

    and, after that was overtlirown, fought among themselves until

    the Empire Avas again reconsolidated under the Tsin dynasty.

    This pei’formance, from its donl)le character and the long period

    over which it extends, necessarily lacks that unity which a novel

    should have. Its charms, to a Chinese, consist in the animated

    descriptions of plots and counterplots, in the relations of battles,

    sieges, and retreats, and the admirable manner in M-hicli the

    characters are delineated and their acts intermixed with entertaining

    episodes. The work opens with desci-ibing the -distracted

    state of the Empire under the misrule of Ling ti and

    Ilwan ti, the last two monarchs of the ILjuse of Ilan (147 to

    184), who were entirely swayed l)y eunuchs, and left the administration

    of government to reckless oppressors, until aml»itious

    men, taking advantage of the general <liscontent, raised

    the standard of rebellion. The leaders ordered their partisans

    to wear yellow head-dresses, whence the rebellion Avas called

    that of the Yellow Caj^s, and Avas suppressed only after several

    years of hard struggle by a few distinguished generals who upheld

    the throne. Among these was Tung Choh, who, gradually

    drawing to himself all the power in the State, therel)y arrayed

    against himself others equally ambitious and unscrupulous.

    Disorganization had not yet proceeded so far that all hope of

    supporting the rightful throne had left the minds of its adher

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., pp. 210, 274.

    078 THE middlj: kingdom.

    ents, among wlioiu was Wang Yun, a chancellor of the Empire,

    who, seeing the danger of the State, devised a scheme ta

    inveigle Tung Choh to his ruin, which is thus narrated

    :

    One day Timg Cholx gave a great entertainment to the officers of government.

    When the wine had circulated several times, Lii Pu (his adopted son)

    whispered something in his ear, whereupon he ordered the attendants to take

    Chang Wan from the table into the hall below, and presently one of them returned,

    handing up his head in a charger. The spirits of all present left their

    bodies, but Tung, laughing, said, ” Pra}’, sirs, do not be alarmed. Chang

    Wan has been leaguing with Yuen 8huh how to destroy me ; a messenger just

    now brought a letter for him, and inadvertently gave it to my son ; for which

    he has lost his life. You, gentlemen, have no cause for dread.” All the

    officers replied, ” Yes ! Yes ! ” and immediately separated.

    Chancellor Wang Yun returned home in deep thought : ” The proceedings of this day’s feast are enough to make my seat an uneasy one ;” and taking his cane late at night he walked out in the moonlight into his rear garden, when standing near a rose arbor and weeping as he looked up, he heard a person sighing and groaning within the peony pavillion. Carefully stepping and watching, he saw it was Tiau Chen, a singing-girl belonging to the house, who had been taken into his family in early youth and taught to sing and dance ; she was now sixteen, and both beautiful and accomplished, and Wang treated her as if she had been his own daughter.

    Listening some time, he spoke out, ” What underhand plot are you at now, insignificant menial ‘? ” Tiau Chen, much alarmed, kneeling, said, ” What treachery can your slave dare to devise ? ” “If you have nothing secret, why then are you here late at night sighing in this manner V ” Tiau replied, “Permit your handmaid to declare her inmost thoughts. I am very grateful for your excellency’s kind nurture, for teaching me singing and dancing, and for the treatment I have received. If my body should be crushed to powder [in your service], I could not requite a myriad to one [for these favors]. But lately I have seen your eyebrows anxiously knit, doubtless from some State affairs, though I presumed not to ask ; this evening, too, I saw you restless in your seat. On this account I sighed, not imagining your honor was overlooking me. If I can be of the least use, I would not decline the sacrifice of a thousand lives.” Wang, striking his cane on the ground, exclaimed, “Who would have thought the rule of Han was lodged in your hands ! Come with me into the picture-gallery.” Tiau Chen following in, he ordered his females all to retire, and placing her in a seat, turned himself around and did her obeisance. She, much surprised, prostrated herself before him, and asked the reason of such conduct, to which he replied, ” You are able to compassionate all the people in the dominions of Han.” His words ended, the tears gushed like a fountain. She added, ” I just now said, if I can be of any service I will not decline, though I should lose my life.”

    Wang, kneeling, rejoined, “The people are in most imminent danger, and

    the nobility in a hazard like that of eggs piled up ; neither can be rescued

    Without your assistance. The traitor Tung Choh wishes soon to seize the

    EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OF THE THREE STATES. 679

    throne, and none of the civil or military officers have any practicable means

    of defence. He has an adopted son, Lii Pu, a remarkably daring and brave

    man, wlio, like himself, is the slave of lust. Now I wish to contrive a scheme

    to inveigle them both, by first promising to wed you to Lii, and then offering

    you to Tung, while you must seize the opportunity to raise suspicions in them,

    and slander one to the other so as to sever them, and cause Lii to kill Tung,

    whereby the present great evils will be terminated, the throne upheld, and

    the government re-established. All this is in your power, but I do not know how the plan strikes you.” Tiau answered, “I have promised your excellency my utmost service, and you may trust me that I will devise some good scheme when I am offered to them.”

    ” You must be aware that if this design leaks out, we shall all be utterly exterminated.” “Your excellency need not be anxious, and if I do not aid in accomplishing your patriotic designs, let me die a thousand deaths.”

    Wang, bowing, thanked her. The next day, taking several of the brilliant pearls preserved in the family, he ordered a skillful workman to inlay there into a golden coronet, which he secretly sent as a present to Lii Pu. Highly gratified, Lti himself went to Wang’s house to thank him, where ar well-prepared feast of viands and wine awaited his arrival. Wang went out to meet him, and waiting upon him into the rear hall, invited him to sit at the top of the table, but Lii objected : “I am only a general in the prime minister’s department, while your excellency is a high minister in his Majesty’s court—why this mistaken re.spect V”

    Wang rejoined, “There is no hero in the country now besides you; I do not pay this honor to your office, but to your talents.” Lii was excessively pleased. Wang ceased not in engaging him to drink, the while speaking of Tung Choh’s high qualities, and praising his guest’s virtues, who, on his side, wildly laughed for joy. Most of the attendants were ordered to retire, a few waiting-maids stopping to serve out wine, when, being half drunk, he ordered them to tell the young child to come in. Shortly after, two pages led in Tiau Chen, gorgeously dressed, and Lii, much astonished, asked, “Who is this ?”

    ” It is my little daughter, Tiau Chen, whom I have ordered to come in and see you, for I am very grateful for your honor’s misapplied kindness to me, which has been like that to near relatives. ” He then bade her present a goblet of wine to him, and, as she did so, their eyes glanced to and from each other.

    Wang, feigning to be drunk, said : ” The child strongly requests your honor

    to drink many cups ; my house entirely depends upon your excellency.” Lii

    requested her to be seated, but she acting as if about to retire, Wang remarked,

    “The general is my intimate friend; be seated, my child; what are

    you afraid of V ” She then sat down at his side, while Lii’s eyes never strayed

    from their gaze upon her, drinking and looking.

    Wang, pointing to Tiau, said to Lii, ” I wish to give this girl to you as a concubine, but know not whether you will receive her ? ” Lii, leaving the table to thank him, said, ” If I could obtain such a girl as this, I would emulate the requital dogs and horses give for the care taken of them-“

    Wang rejoined, ” I will immediatcly select a lucky day, and send her to your house” Lii was delighted beyond measure, and never took his eyes off her, while Tiau herself, with ogling glances, intimated her passion. The feast shortly alter broke up, and Lii departed.

    The scheme here devised was successful, and Tung Choli was assassinated by his son when he was on his war to depose the monarch. His death, however, brought no peace to the country, and three chieftains, Tsau Tsau, Lin Pi, and Sun Iviuen, soon distinguished themselves in their struggles for power, and afterward divided the Empire into the three States of AVu, Shuh, and Wei, from which the work derives its name. Many of the personages who figure in this work have since been deified, among whom are Liu Pi’s sworn brother Kwan Yli, who is now the Mars (Kioan ti), and Ilwa To, the Esculapius, of Chinese mythology. Its scenes and characters have all been fruitful subjects for the pencil and the pen of artists and poetasters.

    One commentator has gone so far as to incorporate his reflections in the body of the text itself, in the shape of such expressions as ” Wonderful speech ! What rhodomontade ! This man was a fool before, and shows himself one now ! ” Davis likens this M’ork to the Iliad for its general arrangement and blustering character of the heroes ; it was composed when the scenes described and their leading actors existed chiefly in personal recollection, and the remembrances of both were fading away in the twilight of popular legends.

    Among the numerous historians of China, only a few would repay the labor of an entire translation, but many would furnish good materials for extended epitomes. Among these are the Tso Chtieriy already noticed ; the Anterior Ilan Dynasty by Pan Ivu and his sister ; the Wei /Shu, by Wei Shau (a.d.3SG-55C) ; and the works of Sz’ma Ivwang. In addition to the dynastic histories, numerous similar works classified under the heads of amials and complete I’ecords in two sections of this division would furnish nnich authentic material for the foreign archaeologist. The most valuable relic after the Chun Tsiu, of a historic character, is the ” Bamboo Books,” reported to have been found in a tomb in Ilonan, .\.d. 279 ; it gives a chronological list down to b.c. 299, with incidents interspersed, and bears many internal evidences of genuineness. Legge and Biot have each translated it.’

    BIOGPAPHIES A:SI) STATISTICS. 681

    Biographies of distinguished men and women are numerous, and their preparation forms a favorite branch of literary labor. It is noticeable to observe the consideration paid to literary women in these memoirs, and the praises bestowed upon discreet mothers whose talented children are considered to be the criteria of their careful training. One work of this class is in one hundred and twenty volumes, called Sifuj J^i/, but it does not possess the incident and animation which are found in some less formal biographical dictionaries. The Ziek Wil Chuen, or ‘Memoirs of Distinguished Ladies’ of ancient times, by Liu Iliang, B.C. 125, is often cited by writers on female education who wish to show how women were anciently trained to the practice of every virtue and accomplishment. If a Chinese author cannot quote a case to illustrate his position at least eight or ten centuries old, he thinks half its force abated by its

    youth. Biographical works are almost as numerous as statistical,

    and afford one of the best sources for studying the national

    character; some of them, like the lives of Washington or

    Cromwell in our own literature, combine both history and

    biography.

    Some of the statistical and geographical works mentioned in

    this division are noticed on p. 49. Among those on the Constitution

    is the ‘ Complete Antiquarian Besearches’ of Ma

    Twan-lin (a.d. 1275), in three hundred and forty-eight chapters.

    It forms a most extensive and profound work, containing i-esearches

    upon every matter relating to government, and extending

    through a series of dynasties which held the throne nearly

    forty centuries. Benmsat goes so far as to say : ” This excellent

    work is a library by itself, and if Chinese literature possessed

    no other, the language would l)e worth learning foi- the

    sake of reading this alone.” ]^o book has been more drawn

    upon by Europeans for information concerning matters relating

    to Eastern Asia than this ; Yisdelou and De Guignes took from

    ‘ Legge’s CMnese Classics, Vol. III. ; Proleqomenn, Chap. TV. E. Biot in

    the Jourtud Aaiatigrte, 2e Series, Tome? XII., p. 537, and XIII., pp. 203

    381.

    it much of their information relating to the Tartars and Huns; and Pingsc extracted his account of the comets and aerolites from its pages, besides some geographical and ethnographical papers. Remusat often made use of its stores, and remarks that many parts merit an entire translation, which can be said, indeed, of few Chinese authors. A supplement prepared and published in 1586 by AVang Ki brings it down to that date. A further revision was issued under imperial patronage in 1TT2, and a iinal one not long afterward, continuing the narrative to the reign of Kanghi.’ It elevates our opinion of a nation whose literature can boast of a work like this, exhibiting such patient investigation and candid comparison of authorities, such varied research and just discrimination of what is truly important, and so extensive a mass of facts and opinions upon every subject of historic interest. Although there be no quotations

    in it from Homan or Greek classic authors, and the ignorance

    of the compiler of what was known upon the same subjects in

    other countries disqualified him from giving his remarks the

    completeness they would otherwise have had, 3’et when the

    stores of knowledge from western lands are made known to a

    people whose scholars can produce such works as this, the Memoirs

    of Sz’ma Tsien, and others equally good, it may reasonably

    be expected that they will not lack in industry or ability to

    carry on their researches.

    The third division of Tsz* I^u, ‘ Scholastic ‘ or ‘ Professional Writings,” is arranged under fourteen sections, viz. : Philosophical, Military, Legal, Agricultural, Medical, Mathematical, and Magical writings, works on the Liberal Arts, Collections, Miscellanies, Encyclopedias, Novels, and treatises on the tenets of the Buddhists and Rationalists. The first section is called Jil Khi Lid, meaning the ‘ Works of the Literary Family,’ under which name is included those who maintain, discuss, and teach the tenets of the sages, although they may not accept all that Confucius taught. This class of books is worthy of far more examination than foreigners have hitherto given to it, and they will find that Chinese philosophers have discussed morals, government, cosmogony, and like subjects, with a freedom and acuteness that has not been credited to them.

    ‘ Compare Remusat, Melanges Asiatiques, Tome II., p. 166; Chinese Beposi'(ory. Vol. IX., p. 143 ; Wylie’s Notea, p. 55 ; Mayer’s Chinese Seader^s Manual,p. 149.

    CHINESE rJIILOSOPHICAL WKITINGS. 683

    It was during the Sung dynasty, when Eui’ope was utterly

    lethargic and unprogressive, that China showed a marvellous

    mental activity, and received from Ching, Chu, Chau, and their

    disciples a molding and conservative influence which has remained

    to this day. An extract from a discussion by Chu Hi

    will show the way in which he reasons on the i>ruiimn mohile.

    Under the whole heaven there is no primary matter (//) without the immaterial

    principle {kl), and no immaterial principle apart from the primary matter.

    Subsequent to the existence of the immaterial principle is produced

    primary matter, which is deducible from the axiom that the one male and the

    one female principle of nature may be dominated iao or logos (the active principle

    from which all things emanate) ; thus nature is sj^ontaneously possessed

    of benevolence and righteousness (which are included in the idea of tao).

    First of all existed ticn II (the celestial principle or soul of the universe), and then came primary matter ; primary matter accumulated constituted ridj,(body, substance, or the accidents and qualities of matter), and nature was arranged.

    Should any ask whether the immaterial principle or primary matter existed

    first, I should say that the immaterial principle on assuming a figure ascended,

    and primary matter on assuming form descended ; when we come to speak of

    assuming form and ascending or descending, how can we divest ourselves of

    tlie idea of priority and subsequence V When the immaterial 2:)rinciple does

    not assume a form, primary matter then becomes coarse, and forms a sediment.

    Originally, however, no priority or subsequence can be predicated of the

    immaterial principle and primary matter, and yet if you insist on carrying out

    the reasoning to the question of their origin, then you must say that the immaterial

    principle has the priority ; but it is not a separate and distinct thing ;

    it is just contained in the centre of the priniary nuitter, so that were there no

    primary matter, then this immaterial principle would have no place of attachment.

    Primary matter consists, in fact, of the four elements of metal, wood,

    water, and fire, while the immaterial principle is no other than the four cardinal

    virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.

    Should any one ask for an explanation of the assertion that the immaterial

    principle has first existence, and after that comes primary matter, I say, it is

    not necessary to speak thus : but when we know that they are combined, is it

    that the immaterial principle holds the precedence, and the primary matter

    the subsequence, or is it that the immaterial principle is subsequent to the

    primary matter V We cannot thus carry our reasoning ; but should we endeavor

    to form some idea of it, then we may suppose that the primary matter

    relies on the immaterial principle to come into action, and wherever the primary matter is coagulated, there the immaterial principle is present. For the primary matter can concrete and coagulate, act and do, but the immaterial principle has neither will nor wish, plan nor operation : but only where the primary matter is collected and coagulated, then the immaterial principle is in

    the midst of it. Just as in nature, men and things, grass and trees, birds and

    beasts, in their propagation invariably require seed, and certainly cannot without

    seed from nothingness produce anything ; all this, then, is the primary

    matter, but the immaterial principle is merely a pure, empty, wide-stretched

    void, without form or footstep, and incapable of action or creation ; but the

    primary matter can ferment and coagulate, collect and produce things. . . .

    Should any one ask, with regard to those expressions, ” The Supreme Ruler

    confers the due medium on the people, and when Heaven is about to send

    down a great trust upon men, out of regard to the people it sets up princes

    over them ;

    ” and, ” Heaven in producing things treats them according to their

    attainments : on those who do good, it sends down a hundred blessings, and

    on those who do evil, a hundred calamities;” and, “When Heaven is about

    to send down some uncommon calamity upon a generation, it first produces

    some uncommon genius to determine it ;” do these and such like expressions

    imply that above the azure sky there is a Lord and Ruler who acts thus, or is

    it still true that Heaven has no mind, and men only carry out their reasonings

    in this style ? I reply, these three things are but one idea ; it is that the immaterial

    principle of order is thus. The primary matter in its evolutions

    hitherto, after one season of fulness has experienced one of decay ; and after a period of decline it again flourishes ; just as if things were going on in a circle. There never was a decay without a revival.

    When men blow out their breath their bellies puff out, and when they inhale their bellies sink in, while we should have thought that at each expiration the stomach would fall in, and swell up at each inspiration ; but the reason of it is that when men expire, though the mouthful of breath goes out, the second mouthful is again produced, therefore the belly is puffed up ; and when men inspire, the breath which is introduced from within drives the other out, so that the belly sinks in. LaoZi said nature is like an open pipe or bag ; it moves, and yet is not compelled to stop, it is empty, and still more comes out ; just like a fan-case open at both ends.

    The great extreme (Taiji) is merely the immaterial principle. It is not an independent separate existence ; it is found in the male and female principles of nature, in the five elements, in all things ; it is merely an immaterial principle, and because of its extending to the extreme limit, is therefore called the (jredt extreme. If it were not for it, heaven and earth would not have been set afloat. . . . From the time when the great extreme came into operation, all things were produced by transformation. This one doctrine includes the whole ; it was not because this was first in existence and then that, but altogether there is only one great origin, which from the substance extends to the use, and from the subtle reaches to that which is manifest. Should one ask, because all things jiartake of it, is the great extreme split up and divided ?

    I should reply, that originally there is only one great extreme {(inima mimdi), of which all things partake, so that each mw is provided with a great extreme;

    CIIU HI ON THE GREAT EXTREME. 68o

    just as the moon in the heavens is only one, and ^-et is dispersed over the hills and Lakes, being seen from every place in succession ; still you cannot say that the moon is divided.

    The great extreme has neither residence, nor form, nor place which you can assign to it. If you speak of it before its development, then previous to that emanation it was perfect stillness ; motion and rest, with the male and female principles of nature, are only the embodiment and descent of this principle.

    Motion is the motion of the great extreme, and rest is its rest, but these same motion and rest are not to be considered the great extreme itself. Should any one ask, what is the great extreme ‘i I should say, it is simply the principle of extreme goodness and extreme perfection. Every man has a great extreme, everything has one ; that which Chao-tsz’ called the great extreme is the exemplified virtue of everything that is extremely good and perfect in heaven and earth, men and things.

    The great extreme is simply the extreme point, beyond which one cannot go ; that which is most elevated, most mysterious, most subtle, and most divine, beyond which there is no passing. Lienki was a’^raid lest people should think that the great extreme possessed form, and therefore called it the boundless extreme, a principle centred in nothing, and having an infinite extent.

    . It is the immaterial principle of the two powers, the four forms, and the eight changes of nature ; we cannot say that it does not exist, and yet no form or corporeity can be ascribed to it. From this point is produced the one male and the one female principle of nature, which are called the dual powers ; the four forms and eight changes also proceed from this, all according to a certain natural order, irrespective of human strength in its arrangement.

    But from the time of Confucius no one has been able to get hold of this idea.’

    And, it miglit be added, no one ever will be able to ” get hold ” thereof. Such discnssions as this have ocenpied the minds and pens of Chinese metaphysicians for centuries, and in their endeavors to explain the half-digested notions of the Bool’ of Ohaiujes^ they have wandered far away from the road which would have led them in the path of true knowledge, namely, the observation and record of the works and operations of nature around them ; and one after another they have continued to roll this stone of Sisyphns until fatigne and bewilderment have come over them all. Some works on female education are found in this section, which seems designed as much to include whatever philosophers wrote as all they wrote on philosophy.

    ‘ Translated by Rev. W. H. Medhurst, iu the OJiinese Hi’potiiUjvy, Vol. XIII.,pp. 552, 001) et seq.

    The second and third sections, on military and legal subjects, contain no writings of any eminence. The isolation of the Chinese prevented them from studying the various forms of government and jurisprudence observed in other countries and ages ; it is this feature of originality which renders their legislation so interesting to western students. Among the fourth, on agricultural treatises, is the Kdng Chili Tu Shi, or ‘ Plates and Odes on Tillage and Weaving,’ a thin quarlo, which was written a.d. 1210, and has been widely circulated by the present government in order ” to evince its regard for the people’s support.” The first half contains twenty-three plates on the various processes to be followed in raising rice, the last of which represents the husbandmen and their families returning thanks to the gods of the land for a good harvest, and offering a portion of the fruits of the earth ; the last plate in the second part of the work also represents a similar scene of returning thanks for a good crop of silk, and presenting an offering to the gods.

    The drawings in this work are among the best for perspective and general composition which Chinese art has produced; probably their merit was the chief inducement to publish the work at governmental expense, for the odes are too brief to contain much information, and too difficult to be generally understood.

    The Encydopedia of Agriculture, by Sii Kwang-ki, a high officer in 1600, better known as Paul Su, gives a most elaborate detail of farming operations and utensils existing in the Ming. Other treatises on special topics and crops have been written, but it is the untiring industry of the people which secures to them the best returns from the soil, for they o^ve very little to science or machinery.

    Among the numerous writings published for the iuiprovement

    and instruction of the people by their rulers, none have

    been more influential than the ShlngYu, or ‘ Sacred Commands,’

    a politico-moral treatise, which has been made known to English

    readers by the translation of Dr. Milne.’ The groundwork

    ‘ The Sacred Edict, London, 1817; a second edition of this translation appeared in Shanghai in 1870, and another in 1878. Compare Wylie’s JVotes, p.71 ; Sir G. T. Staunton’s MureUdneous Notm’n, etc., pp. 1-56 (1812); Le Saint Edit, Etude de JAUerature chinoixc, i)reparee par A. Tlieophile Piry, Shanghai, 1879.

    THE SACRED COMMANDS OF KANGHI, 687

    consists of sixteen apothegms, written bj the Emperor Kano-hi,

    containing general rules for the peace, prosperity, and wealth

    of all classes of his subjects. In order that none should })lead

    ignorance in excuse for not knowing the Sacred Commands, it

    is by law required that they be proclaimed throughout the Empire

    by tlie local officers on the first and fifteenth day of every

    month, in a public hall set apart for the purpose, where the

    people are not only permitted, but requested and encouraged,

    to attend. In point of fact, however, this political preaching,

    as it has been called, is neglected except in large towns, though

    the design is not the less commendable. It is highly praise-

    \vorthy to monarchs, secure in their thrones as Kanglii and

    Yungching were, to take upon themselves the teaching of

    morality to their subjects, and institute a special service every

    fortnight to have their precepts communicated to them. If,

    too, it should soon be seen that their designs had utterly failed

    of all real good results from the mendacity of their officers and

    the ignorance or opposition of the people, still the merit due

    them is not diminished. The sixteen apothegms, each consisting

    of seven characters, are as follows:
    1. Pay just regard to filial and fraternal duties, in order to give due importance to the relations of life.
    2. Respect kindred in order to display the excellence of harmony.
    3. Let concord abound among those who dwell in the same neighborhood, thereby preventing litigations.
    4. Give the chief place to husbandry and the culture of the mulberry, that adequate supplies of food and raiment be secured.
    5. Esteem economy, that money be not lavishly wasted.
    6. Magnify academical learning, in order to direct the scholar’s progress.
    7. Degrade strange religions, in order to exalt the orthodox doctrines.
    8. Explain the laws, in order to warn the ignorant and obstinate.
    9. Illustrate the principles of a polite and yielding carriage, in order to improve manners.
    10. Attend to the essential employments, in order to give unvarying determination to the will of the people.
    11. Instruct the youth, in order to restrain them from evil.
    12. Suppress all false accusing, in order to secure protection to the innocent.
    13. Warn those who hide deserters, that they may not be involved in their downfall.
    14. Complete the payment of taxes, in order to prevent frequent urging.
    15. Unite the pao and km, in order to extirpate robbery and theft.
    16. Settle animosities, that lives may be duly valued.

    The aniplilications of these maxims by Yungchiiig contain much information respecting the tlieoiy of his government, and the position of the writer entitles him to speak from knowledge; his amplification of the fourteenth maxim shows their character. From of old the country was divided into districts, and a tribute paid proportioned to the produce of the land. From hence arose revenues, upon which the expense of the five I’l and the whole charges of government depended.

    These expenses a prince must receive from the people, and they are what inferiors should offer to superiors. Both in ancient and modern times this principle has been the same and cannot be changed. Again, the expenses of the salaries of magistrates that they may rule our people ; o” pay to the army that they may protect them ; O- preparing for years o!; scarcity that they may be fed ; as all these are collected from the Empire, so they are all employed for its use. How then can it be supposed that the granaries and treasury of the sovereign are intended to injure the people that he may nourish himself ? Since the establishment of our dynasty till now, the proportions of the revenue have been fixed by an universally approved statute, and all unjust items completely cancelled ; not a thread or hair too much has been demanded from the people. In the days of our sacred Father, the Emperor Pious, his abounding benevolence and liberal favor fed this people upward of sixty years. Daily desirous to promote their abundance and happiness, he greatly diminished the revenue, not limiting the reduction to hundreds, thousands, myriads, or lacs of taels. The mean and the remote have experienced his favor ; even now it enters the muscles, and penetrates to the marrow.

    To exact with moderation, diminish the revenue, and confer favors on the multitude, are the virtues of a prince : to serve superiors, and to give the first place to public service and second to their own, are the duties of a people.

    Soldiers and people should all understand this. Become not lazy and trifling, nor prodigally throw away your property. Linger not to pay in the revenue, looking and hoping for some unusual occurrence to avoid it, nor entrust your imposts to others, lest bad men appropriate them to their own use.

    Pay in at the terms, and wait not to be urged. Then with the overplus you can nourish your parents, complete the marriages of your children, satisfy your daily wants, and provide for the annual feasts and sacrifices. District officers may then sleep at ease in their public halls, and villagers will no longer be vexed in the night by calls from the tax-gatherers ; on neither hand will any be involved. Your wives and children will be easy and at rest, than which you have no greater joy. If unaware of the importance of the revenue to government, and that the laws must be enforced, perhaps you will positively refuse or deliberately put off the payment, when the magistrates, obliged to balance their accounts, and give in their reports at stated times, must be rigorously severe. The assessors, suffering the pain of the whip, cannot help indulging their rapacious dtunands on you ; knocking and pecking at your doors like hungry luiwks, they will devise numerous methods of getting their wants supplied. These nameless ways o^ spending will probably amount to more than the sum which ought to have been paid, and that sum, after all, cannot be dispensed with.

    THEIR AMPLIFICATION BY YUNGCIIING. GSO

    We know not what benefit can accrue from this. Rather than give presents to satisfy the rapacity of policemen, how much better to clear off the just assessments ! Rather than prove an obstinate race and refuse the payment of the revenue, would it not be better to keep the law ? Every one, even the most stupid, knows this. Furthermore, when superiors display benevolence, inferiors should manifest justice ; this belongs to the idea of their being one body. Reflect that the constant labors and cares of the palace are all to serve the people. When freshes occur, dikes must be raised to restrain them ; ij! the demon of drought appear, prayer must be oTered for rain ; when the locusts come, they must be destroyed. If the calamities be averted, you reaji the advantage ; but if they overwhelm you, your taxes are forborne, and alms liberally expended for yon. If it be thus, and the people still can suffer themselves to evade the payment of taxes and hinder the supply of government, how, I ask, can you be easy ? Such conduct is like that o” an undutiful son. We use these repeated admonitions, only wishing you, soldiers and people, to think of the army and nation, and also of your persons and families.

    Then abroad you will have tlie fame of faithfulness, .and at home

    peacefully enjoy its fruits. Officers will not trouble yon, nor their clerks vex

    you—what joy equal to this ! O soldiers and people, meditate on these things

    in the silent night, and let all accord with our wishes. ^

    Wang Yu-pi, a liigh officer under Yiingching, paraphrased

    the anipliiications in a colloquial manner. His remarks on the

    doctrines of the Buddhists and nationalists will serve as an

    illustration ; the (juotation liere given is found under the seventh

    maxim.

    You simple people know not how to discriminate ; for even according to

    what the books of Buddha say, he was the first-born son of the king Fan ; but,

    retiring from the world, he fled away alone to the top of the Snowy Mountains,

    in order to cultivate virtue. If he regarded not his own father, mother, wi^’e,

    and children, are you such fools as to suppose that he regards the multitude

    of the living, or would deliver his laws and doctrines to you ? The imperial

    residence, the queen’s palace, the dragon’s chamber, and halls of state – if he

    rejected these, is it not marvellous to suppose that he should delight in the

    nunneries, monasteries, temples, and religious houses which you can build for

    .’lim ? As to the Gemmeous Emperor, the most honorable in heaven, if there

    ^if- indeed such a god, it is strange to think he should not enjoy himself at his

    own ease in the high heavens, but must have you to give him a body of molten

    gold, and build him a house to dwell in !

    All these nonsensical tales about keeping fasts, collecting assemblies,

    building temples, and fashioning images, are feigned by those sauntering,

    • Sacred Edict, pp. 254-259.

    Vol. I.—44

    690 THE MIDDLE KINGDOlVr.

    worthless priests and monks to deceive you. Still you believe them, and not

    only go yourselves to worship and burn incense in the temples, but also suffer

    your wives and daughters to go. With their hair oiled and faces painted,

    dressed in scarlet and trimmed with green, they go to burn incense in the

    temples, associating with the priests of Buddha, doctors of Reason and barestick

    attorneys, touching slioulders, rubbing arms, and pressed in the moving

    crowd. I see not where the good tliey talk of doing is ; on the contrary,

    tliey do many shameful things that create vexation, and give people occasion

    for laughter and ridicule.

    Further, there are some persons who, fearing that their good boys and

    girls may not attain to maturity, take and give them to the temples to become

    priests and priestesses of Buddha and Reason, supposing that after having removed

    them from their own houses and placed them at the foot of grandfather

    Fuh (Buddha), they are then sure of prolonging life ! Now, I would ask you

    if those who in this age are priests of these sects, all reach the .age of seventy

    or eighty, and if there is not a short-lived person among them y

    Again, there is anotlier very stupid class of persons who, because their

    parents are sick, pledge their own persons by a vow before the gods that if

    their parents be restored to health, they will worship and burn incense

    on the hills, prostrating themselves at every step till they arrive at the summit,

    whence they will dash themselves down ! If they do not lose their lives,

    they are sure to break a leg or an arm. They sa}’ to themselves, “To give

    up our own lives to save our parents is the highest display of liliahduty.”

    Bystanders also praise them as dutiful children, but they do not consider that

    to slight the bodies received from their parents in this manner discovers an

    extreme want of filial duty.

    Moreover, you say that serving Fiih is a profitable service ; that if you

    burn paper money, present offerings, and keep fasts before the face of your

    god Fuh, he will dissii^ate calamities, blot out your sins, increase your happiness,

    and prolong your age ! Now reflect : from of old it has been said, ” The

    gods are intelligent and just.” Were Buddha a god of this description, how

    could he avariciously desire your gilt paper, and your offerings to engage him

    to afford you protection ? If you do not burn gilt paper to him, and spread

    offerings on his altar, the god Fuh will be displeased with you, and send down

    judgments on you ! Then your god Fuh is a scoundrel ! Take, for example,

    the district magistrate. Should you never go to compliment and flatter him,

    yet, if you are good people and attend to your duty, he will pay marked attention

    to you. But transgress the law, commit violence, or usurp the rights

    of others, and though you should use a thousand ways and means to flatter

    him, he will still be displeased with you, and will, without fail, remove such

    pests from society.

    You say that worshipping Fuh atones for your sins. Suppose you have

    violated the law, and are hauled to the judgment-seat to be punished ; if you

    should bawl out several thousand times, ” O your excellency ! O your excellency

    ! ” do you think the magistrate would spare you ? Yoii will, however,

    at all risks, invite several Buddhist and Rationalist priests to your houses to recite

    their canonical books and make confession, siipposing that to chant their

    WANG YU-Pf S RIDICULE OF BUDDHISM. 691

    mummery drives away misery, secures peace, and prolongs happiness and life.

    But suppose you rest satisfied with merely reading over the sections of these

    Sacred Commands several thousands or myriads of times without acting conformably

    thereto ; would it not be vain to suppose that his Imperial Majestj’

    should delight in you, reward you with money, and promote you to office ?

    ‘

    This ridicule of the popular superstitions has, no doubt, had

    some effect, repeated as it is in all parts of the country’ ; but

    since the literati merely tear down and build up nothing, giving

    the people no substitute for what thej take away, but rather,

    in their times of trouble, doing the things they decry, such

    homilies do not destroy the general respect for such ceremonies.

    The Shlng Yic has also been versitied for the benefit of children,

    and collo<piial explanations added, which has further

    tended to enforce and inculcate its admonitions. The praise

    bestowed on this work by Johnson, in his Oriental Ecllgmis^

    has a good degree of actual usefulness among the people to

    confirm his observations ; yet they are quite used to hearing

    the highest moral platitudes from their rulers, to whom they

    would not lend a dollar on their word.

    In the fifth section, on medical writings, separate works are

    mentioned on the treatment of all domestic animals; among

    them is one on veterinary surgery, whose writers have versified

    most of their observations and prescriptions. The Ilerhal of

    Li Shi-chin, noticed on p. 370, and monographs on special diseases,

    all show the industry of Chinese physicians to much better

    advantage than their science. Works on medicine and

    surgery are numerous, in which the surface of the body is

    minutely represented in pictures, together with drawings of

    the mode of performing various operations. Works on judicial

    astrology, chiromancy, and other .modes of divination, on the

    rules for finding lucky spots for houses, graves, and temples,

    are exceedingly numerous, a large number of them written by

    Rationalists.

    The eighth section, on art, contains writings on painting,

    music, engraving, writing, posturing, and archery, and they will

    doubtless furnish many new points to western artists on the

    > ^red Edict, p. 146.

    692 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    principles and attainments o£ the Chinese in these Inanchea

    wlien the works have been made better known.

    Tlie ninth section, entitled ‘Collections’ or ‘ llepertories,’ is

    divided into memoirs on antiques, swords, coins, and bronzes,

    and presents a field of interesting research to a foreign archaeologist

    likely to reward him. Another division, containing the

    monographs on tea, bamboo, floriculture, etc., is not so promising.

    The tenth section, on philosophical writings, having a tinge of

    heterodoxy, is a very large one, and offers a i-are opportunity of

    research to those curious to know what China can contribute to

    moral science. The writings of Roman Catholics and Moslems

    are included in this long catalogue.

    Under the head of encyclopa>dias, a list of sunnnaries, compends,

    and treasuries of knowledge is given, which for extent

    and bulkiness cannot be equalled in any language. Among

    them is the Tal Tlen^ or’ Great Record ‘ of the Euqjeror Yungloh

    (a.d. 1403), in twenty-two thousand eight hundred and

    sev^enty-seven chapters, and containing the substance of all classical,

    historical, philosophical, and scientific writings in the language.

    Parts of this compilation were lost, and on the accession

    of the Manchus one-tenth of it was missing ; but by means

    of the unequalled interest on the part of Yungloh in his

    national literature, three hundred and eighty-five ancient and

    rare works were rescued from destruction. The San Tsai Tu,

    or ‘ Plates [illustrative of the] Three Powers ‘ (?!.«?., heaven,

    earth, and man, by which is meant the entire universe), in one

    hundred and thirty volumes, is one of the most valuable compilations,

    by reason of the great number of plates it contains,

    which exhibit the ideas of the compilers much better than their

    descriptions.

    The twelfth section, containing novels and tales, called Sia/)

    Shinoh., or ‘Trifling Talk,’ gives the titles of but few of the

    thousands of productions of this class in the language. Works

    of fiction are among the most popular and exceptionable books

    the Chinese have, and those which are not demoralizing are,

    with some notable exceptions, like the Ten Talented Authors,

    generally slighted. The books sold in the streets are chiefly

    of this class of writings, consisting of tales and stories generally

    CYCLOPiEDIAS, NOVELS, ETC. 693

    destitute of all iutricaey of ])lot, fertility of illustration, or elevation

    of sentiment. They form the common mental aliment

    of the lower classes, being read by those who are able, and

    talked about by all ; their influence is consequently immense.

    Many of them are written in the purest style, among which a

    callection called L’lao Chat, or ‘Pastimes of the Study,’ in sixteen

    volumes, is pre-eminent for its variety and force of expression,

    and its perusal can be recommended to every one who

    wishes to study the copiousness of the Chinese language. The

    preface is dated in 1079 ; most of the tales are shoi’t, and few

    have any ostensible moi-al to them, while those which are objectionable

    for their immorality, or ridiculous from their magic

    whimsies, form a large proportion. A quotation or two will

    illustrate the author’s invention:

    A villager was once selling pinms in the market, which were rather delicions

    and fragrant, and high in price ; and there was a Tao priest, clad in

    ragged garments of coarse cotton, begging before his wagon. The villager

    scolded him, but he would not goolf ; whereupon, becoming angry, he reviled

    and hooted at him. The priest said, “The wagon contains manj hundred

    plums, and I have only begged one of them, which, for you, respected sir,

    would certainly be no great loss ; wh}^ then are yon so angry ‘i ” The spectators

    advised to give him a poor plum and send him away, but the villager

    would not consent. The workmen in the market disliking the noise and

    clamor, furnished a few coppers and bought a plum, which they gave the

    priest. He bowing thanked them, and turning to the crowd said, ” I do not

    wish to be stingy, and reqiiest you, my friends, to partake with me of this

    delicious plum.” One of them replied, ” Now you have it, why do you not eat

    it yourself V” “I want only the stone to plant,” said he, eating it up at a

    munch. When eaten, he held the stone in his hand, and taking a spade off

    his shoulder, dug a hole in the ground several Indies deep, into which he put

    it and covered it with earth. Then turning to the market people, he procured

    some broth with which he watered and fertilized it; and others, wishing to

    see what would turn up, brought him boiling dregs from shops near by, which

    he poured upon the hole just dug. Every one’s eyes being fixed upon the

    spot, they saw a crooked shoot issuing forth, which gradually increased till it

    became a tree, having branches and leaves ; flowers and then fruit succeeded,

    large and very fragrant, which covered the tree. The priest then approached

    the tree, plucked the fruit and gave the beholders ; and when all were consumed,

    he felled the tree with a colter— chopping, chopping for a good while,

    until at last, having cut it off, lie shouldered the foliage in an easy manner,

    and leisurely walked away.

    When first the priest began to perform his magic arts, the villager was

    also among the crowd, with outstretched neck and gazing eyes, and completely

    694 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    forgot his own business. When the priest had gone, he hegan to look int«

    liis wagon, and lo ! it was empty of plums ; and for the first time he perceived

    that wliat liad just been distributed were all his own goods. Moreover, looking

    narrowly about his wagon, he saw that the dashboard was gone, having

    just been cut ojE with a chisel. Much excited and incensed he ran after him,

    and as he turned the corner of the wall, he saw the board thrown down beneath

    the hedge, it being that with which the plum-tree was felled. Nobody

    knew where the priest had gone, and all the market folks laughed heartily.

    The Rationalists are considered as the chief magicians among

    the Chinese, and they figure in most of tlie tales in this work,

    whose object probably was to exalt their craft, and add to their

    reputation. Like the foregoing against liardheartedness, the

    following contains a little sidewise admonition against theft

    :

    On the west of the city in the hamlet of the White family lived a rustic

    who stole his neighbor’s duck and cooked it. At night he felt his skin itch,

    and on looking at it in the morning saw a thick growth of duck’s feathers,

    which, when irritated, pained him. He was much alarmed, for he had no

    remedy to cure it; but, in a dream ox the night, a man informed him, ” Your

    disease is a judgment from heaven ; you must get the loser to reprimand you,

    and the feathers will fall off.” Now this gentleman, his neighbor, was always

    liberal and courteous, nor during his whole life, whenever he lost anything,

    had he even manifested any displeasure in his countenance. The thief

    craftily told him, ” The fellow who stole your duck is exceedingly afraid of a

    reprimand; but reprove him, and he will no doubt then fear in future.” He,

    laughing, replied, “Who has the time or disposition to scold wicked men ?” and

    altogther refused to do so ; so the man, being hardly bestead, was obliged to

    tell the truth, upon which the gentleman gave him a scolding, and his disorder

    was removed.

    Remusat compares the construction of Chinese novels to those

    of Itichardson, in which the ” authors render their characters

    interesting and natural by reiterated strokes of the pencil, which

    finally produce a high degree of illusion. The interest in their

    pages arose precisely in proportion to the stage of my progress

    ;

    and in approaching to the termination, I found myself about to

    part with some agreeable people, just as I had duly learned to

    relish their society.” lie briefly describes the defects in Chinese

    romances as principally consisting in long descriptions of trifling

    particulars and delineations of localities, and the characters and

    circumstances of the interlocutors, while the thread of the narrative

    is carried on mostly in a conversational way, which, fronj

    CHARACTER OF CHINESE FICTION. 695

    its minuteness, soon becomes tedious. The length of their

    poetic descriptions and prolix display of the wonders of art or

    the beauties of nature, thrown in at the least hint in the narrative,

    or moral reflections introduced in the most serious manner

    in the midst of diverting incidents, like a long-metre psalm in

    a comedy, tend to confuse the main story and dislocate the unity

    requisite to produce an effect.

    Chinese novels, however, generally depend on something of

    a plot, and the characters are sometimes well sustained. ” Visits

    and the formalities of polished statesmen ; assemblies, and above

    all, the conversations which make them agreeable ; repasts, and

    the social amusements which prolong them ; M^alks of the admirers

    of beautiful nature ; journeys ; the manoeuvres of adventurers;

    lawsuits; the literary examinations; and, in the

    sequel, marriage, form their most fi-equent episodes and ordinary

    conclusions.” The hero of these plots is usually a young academician,

    endowed with an amiable disposition and devotedly

    attached to the study of classic authors, who meets with every

    kind of obstacle and ill luck in the way of attaining the literary

    honors he has set his heart on. The heroine is also well acquainted

    with letters ; her own inclinations and her father’s

    desires are that she may find a man of suitable accomplishments,

    but after having heard of one, every sort of difficulty is

    thrown in the way of getting him ; which, of course, on the

    part of both are at last happily surmounted.

    The adventures which distinguished persons meet in wandering

    over the countiy incognito, and the happy denouement of

    their interviews with some whom they have been able to elevate

    when their real characters have been let out, form the plan of

    other tales. There is little or nothing of high wrought description

    of passion, nor acts of atrocious vengeance introduced to

    remove a troublesome person, but everything is kept within the

    bounds of jirobability ; and at the end the vicious are punished

    by seeing their bad designs fail of their end in the rewards and

    success given those who have done well. In most of the stories

    whose length and style are such as to entitle them to the name

    of novel, and which have attained any reputation, the story is

    not disgraced by anything offensive ; it is rather in the shorter

    G96 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM,

    tales that decency is violated. Among tlieiu the Ilung La(s

    Jlfwyt^, or ‘ Dreams of the Red Chamber,’ is one of the most

    popular stories, and open not a little to this objection.

    The historical novels, of which there are many, would, if

    translated, prove more interesting to foreign readers than those

    merely describing manners, because they interweave much information

    in the story. The SJiui Hu Chnen, or ‘Narrative

    of the “Water Marshes,’ and ‘ The Annals of the Contending

    States,’ are two of the best written ; the latter is more credible

    as a history than any other work in this class.

    The fourth division of the Catalogue is called TkUi Pu, or

    ‘ Miscellanies,’ and the works mentioned in it are chieily poems

    or collections of songs, occupying nearly one-third of the whole

    collection. They arc arranged in five sections, namely : Poetry

    of Tsu, Complete Works of Individuals, and General Collections,

    On the Art of Poetry, and Odes and Songs. The most

    ancient poet in the language is Yuh Yuen, a talented Minister

    of State who flourished previous to the time of Mencius, and

    wrote the Li Sao, or ‘Dissipation of Sorrows.’ It has been

    translated into German and French. Ilis name and misfortunes

    are still commemorated by the Festival of Dragon-boats

    on the fifth day of the fifth moon. More celebrated in Chinese

    estimation are the poets Li Tai-peh and Tu Fu of the Tang

    djTiasty, and Su Tung-po of the Sung, who combined the three

    leading traits of a bard, being lovers of flowers, wine, and song,

    and attaining distinction in the service of government.’ The

    incidents in the life of the former of these bards were so varied,

    and his reckless love of drink brought him into so many scrapes,

    that he is no less famed for his adventures than for his sonnets.

    The following stoi-y is told of him in the ‘ Remarkable Facts

    of all Times,’ which is here abridged from the translation of

    T. Pavie :

    Li, called Tai-peli, or ‘Great-white,’ from the planet Venns, was endowed

    with a beautiful countenance and a well-made person, exhibiting in all liis

    ‘ The second of these, Tu Fu, is a poet of some distinction noticed by Eemusat

    {Koiivcdiix MeUoicicx, Tome II., p. 174). He lived in the eighth century

    A.I)., dying of hunger in the year 768. His writings are usually edited wit);

    those of Li Tai-peh.

    STORY OF LI TAI-PEII, THE POET. 697

    movements a gentle nobility which indicated a man destined to rise above his

    age. When only ten years old, he could read the classics and histories, and

    liis conversation sliowed the brilliancy of liis thoughts, as Avell as the purity

    ol his diction. He was, in consequence oi’ his precocity, called the Exiled

    Immortal, but named himself the Retired Scholar of the Blue Lotus. Some

    one having extolled the quality of the wine of Niauching, he straightway

    went there, although more than three hundred miles distant, and abandoned

    lumself to his appetite for liquor. While singing and carousing in a tavern,

    a military commandant passed, who, hearing his song, sent in to inquire who

    it was, and carried the poet off to his own house. Cn departing, he urged Li

    to go to the capital and compete for literary honors, which, he doubted not,

    couid be easily attained, and at last induced him to bend his steps to the capital.

    On his arrival there, he luckily met the academician Ho near the palace,

    who invited him to an alehouse, and laying aside his robes, drank wine with

    him till night, and then carried him home. The two were soon well acquainted,

    and discussed the merits of poetry and wine till they were much charmed with

    each other.

    As the day of examination approached. Ho gave the poet some advice.

    ” Ihe examiners for this spring are Yang and Kao, one a brother of the Empress,

    the other commander of his Majesty’s body-guard ; both of them love

    those who make them presents, and if you have no means to buy their favor,

    the road of promotion will be shut to you. I know them both very well, and

    will write a note to each of them, which may, perhaps, obtain you some

    favor.” In spite of his merit and high reputation, Li found himself in such

    circumstances as to make it desirable to avail of the good-will of his friend

    Ho ; but on perusing the notes he brought, the examiners disdainfully exclaimed,

    ” After having fingered his pi’oieije^a money, the academician contents

    himself with sending us a billet which merely rings its sound, and bespeaks

    our attention and favors toward an upstart without degree or title. On the

    day of decision we will remember the name of Li, and any composition signed

    by him shall be thrown aside without further notice.” The day of examination

    came, and the distinguished scholars of the Empire assembled, eager to

    hand in their compositions. Li, fully capable to go through the trial, wrote

    off his essay on a sheet without effort, and handed it in first. As soon as he

    saw the name of Li, the examiner Yang did not even give himself time to

    glance over the page, but with long strokes of his pencil erased the composition,

    saying, “Such a scrawler as this is good for nothing but to grind my ink !

    “

    ” To grind your ink ! ” interrupted the other examiner Kao ; ” say rather he is

    only fit to put on my stockings, and lace up my buskins.”

    With these pleasantries, the essay of Li was rejected ; but he, transported

    with anger at such a contemptuous refusal at the public examination, returned

    liome and exclaimed, “I swear that if ever my wishes for promotion are accomplished,

    I will order Yang to grind my ink, and Kao to put on my stockings

    and lace up my buskins; then my vows will be accomplished.” Ho

    endeavored to calm the indignation of the poet: ” Stay here with me till a

    new examination is ordered in three years, and live in plenty ; the examiners

    will not be the same then, and you will surely succeed.” They therefore

    continued to live as they had done, drinking and making verses.

    69S THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    After many months had elapsed, some foreign ambassadors came to the

    capital charged with a letter from their sovereign, whom he was ordered to

    receive and entertain in the hall of ambassadors. Ihe next day the officers

    handed in their letter to his Majesty’s council, who ordered the doctors to opei»

    and read it, but they could none of them decipher a single word, humbly declaring

    it contained nothing but fly-tracks; “your subjects,” they added,

    “have only a limited knowledge, a shallow acquaintance with things ; they are

    unable to read a word.” On hearing this, the Emperor turned to the examiner

    Yang and ordered him to read the letter, but his eyes wandered over the

    characters as if he had been blind, and he knew nothing of them. In vain

    did his Maje.’ity addi’ess himself to the civil and military officers who filled the

    court ; not one among them could say whether the letter contained words of

    good or evil import. Highly incensed, he broke out in reproaches against the

    grandees of his palace : ” What ! among so many magistrates, so many scholars

    and warriors, cannot there be found a single one who knows enough to relieve

    us of the vexation of this affair ? If this letter cannot be read, how can it be

    answered ? If the ambassadors are dismissed in this style, we shall be the

    ridicule of the barbarians, and foreign kings will mock the court of Nanking,

    and doubtless follow it up by seizing their lance and buckler and join to invade

    our frontiers. What then ? If in three days no one is able to decipher this

    letter, every one of your appointments shall be suspended ; if in six days you

    do not tell me what it means, your offices shall every one be taken away ; and

    death shall execute justice on such ignorant men if I wait nine days in vain

    for its explanation, and others of our subjects shall be elevated to power whose

    virtue and talents will render some service to their country.”

    Terrified by these words, the grandees kept a mournful silence, and no one

    ventured a single reply, which only irritated the monarch the more. On hia

    return home. Ho related to his friend Li everything that had transpired at

    court, who, hearing him with a mournful smile, replied, ” How to be regretted,

    how unlucky it is that I could not obtain a degree at the examination last

    year, which would have given mo a magistracy ; for now, alas ! it is impossible

    for me to relieve his Majesty of the chagrin which troubles him.” “But

    truly,” said Ho, suddenly, ” I think you are versed in more than one science,

    and will be able to read this unlucky letter. I shall go to his Majesty and

    propose you on my own responsibility.” The next day he went to the

    palace, and passing through the crowd of courtiers, approached the throne,

    saying, ” Your subject presumes to announce to your Majesty that there is a

    scliolar of great merit called Li, at his house, who is profoundly acquainted

    with more than one science ; command him to read this letter, for there is

    notliing of which he is not capable.”

    This advice pleased the Emperor, who presently sent a messenger to the

    house of the academician, ordering him to present himself at court. But Li

    offered some objections : “I am a man still without degree or title; I have

    neither talents nor information, while the court abounds in civil and military

    officers, all equally famous for their profound learning. How then can you

    have recourse to sucli a contemptible and useless man as IV If I presume to

    accept this behest, I fear that I shall deeply offend the nobles of the palace”—

    referring especially to the premier Yang and the general Kao. When hisreplj^

    STOliY OF Li TAI-PEII, THE POET. 699

    was announced to the Emperor, lie demanded of IIo why his guest did not

    come when ordered. Ho replied, ” I can assure your Majesty that Li is a man

    of parts beyond all those of the age, one whose compositions astonish all who

    read them. At the trial of last year, his essay was marked out and thrown

    aside by the examiners, and lie himself shamefully put out of the hall. Your

    Majesty now calling him to court, and he having neitlier title nor rank, liis

    self-love is touched ; but if your Majesty would hear your minister’s prayer

    and shed your favors upon his friend, and send a high officer to him, I am

    sure he will hasten to obey the imperial will.” ” Let it be so,” rejoined the

    Lmperor ; ” at the instance of our academician, we confer on Li Peh the title

    of doctor of the first rank, with the purple robe, yellow girdle, and silken

    bonnet ; and herewith also issue an order for him to present himself at court.

    Our academician Ho will charge himself with carrying this order, and bring

    Li Peh to our presence without fail.”

    Ho returned home to Li, and begged him to go to court to read the letter,

    adding how his Majesty depended on his help to relieve him from his present

    embarrassment. As soon as he had put on his new robes, which were those

    of a high examiner, he made his obeisance toward the palace, and hastened to

    mount his horse and enter it, following after the academician. Seated on his

    throne, Hwantsung impatiently awaited the arrival of the poet, who, prostrating

    himself before its steps, went through the ceremony of salutation and

    acknowledgment for the favors he had received, and then stood in his place.

    The Emperor, as soon as he saw Li, rejoiced as poor men do on finding a treasure,

    or starvelings on sitting at a loaded table ; his heart was like dark clouds

    suddenly illuminated, or parched and arid soil on the approach of rain. “Fome

    foreign ambassadors have brought us a letter wliieli no one can read, and we

    have sent for you, doctor, to relieve our anxiety.” ” Your minister’s knowledge

    is very limited,” politely replied Li, with a bow, ” for his essay was rejected by

    the judges at the examination, and lord Kao turned him out of doors. Now

    that he is called upon to read this letter from a foreign prince, how is it that

    the examiners are not charged with the answer, since, too, the ambassadors

    liave already been kept so long waiting ? Since I, a student turned off from

    the trial, could not satisfy the wishes of the examiners, how can I hope to

    meet the expectation of your Majesty V ” ” We know what you are good for,”

    said the Emperor ; ” a truce to your excuses,” putting the letter into his hands.

    Running his eyes over it, he disdainfully smiled, and standing before the

    throne, read off in Cliinese the mysterious letter, as follows

    :

    “Letter from the mighty Ko To of the kingdom of Po Hai to the prince

    of the dynasty of Tang : Since your usurpation of Corea, and carrying your

    conquests to the frontiers of our States, your soldiers have violated our territory

    in frequent raids. We trust yon can fully explain to us this matter, and as we

    cannot patiently bear such a state of things, we have sent our ambassadors to

    announce to you that you must give up the hundred and sixty-six towns of

    Corea into our hands. We have some precious things to ofer you in compensation,

    namely, the medicinal plants from the mountains of Tai Peh, and the

    byssus from the southern sea, gongs of Tsiching, stags from Fuyu, and hor.ses

    from Sopin, silk of Wucliau, black fish from the river Mcito, prunes from

    700 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Kiutu, and building materials from Loyu ; some of all these articles shall be

    sent you. If you do not accept these propositions, we shall raise troops and

    carry war and destruction into your borders, and then see on whose side victory

    will remain.”

    After its perusal, to which they had given an attentive ear, the grandees

    were stupefied and looked at each other, knowing how improbable it was that

    the Emperor would accept the propositions of Ko To. iMor was the mind of

    his Majesty by any means satisfied, and after remaining silent for some time,

    he turned himself to the civil and military officers about him, and asked what

    means were available to repulse the attacks of the barbarians in case their

    forces invaded Corea. Scholars and generals remained mute as idols of clay

    or statues of wood ; no one said a word, until Ho ventured to observe, *’ Your

    venerable grandfather Taitsung, in three expeditions against Corea, lost an untold

    number of soldiers, without succeeding in his enterprise, and impoverished

    his treasury. Thanks to Heaven Kai-su-wSn died, and profiting by the

    dissensions between the usurper’s sons, the glorious Emperor Taitsung confided

    the direction of a million of veterans to the old generals Li Sie and Pi Jinkwei,

    who, after a hundred engagements, more or less important, finally conquered

    the kingdom. But now having been at peace for a long time, we have

    neither generals nor soldiers ; if we seize the buckler and lance, it will not be

    easy to resist, and our defeat will be certain. I await the wise determination

    of your Majesty.”

    ” Since such is the case, what answer shall we make to the ambassadors ?

    “

    said Hwantsung. ” Deign to ask Li,” said the doctor; ” he will speak to the

    purpose.” On being interrogated by his sovereign, LI replied, “Let not this

    matter trouble your clear mind. Give orders for an audience to the ambassadors,

    and I will speak to them face to face in their own language. The terms

    of the answer will make the barbarians blush, and their Ko To will be obliged

    to make his respects at the foot of your throne.” “And who is this Ko To ?

    “

    demanded Hwantsung. “It is the name the people of Po Hai give to their

    king after the usage of their country ; just as the Hwui Hwui call theirs Kokan ;

    the Tibetans, T.sangpo ; the Lochau, Chau ; the Holing, Si-mo-wei ; each one

    according to the custom of his nation.”

    At this rapid flood of explanations, the mind of the wise Hwantsung experienced

    a lively joy, and the same day he honored Li with the title of an

    academician; a lodging was prepared for him in the palace of the Golden

    Bell ; musicians made the place re-echo with their harmony ; women poured

    out the wine, and young girls handed him the goblets, and celebrated the

    glory of Li with the same voic(?s that lauded the Emperor. What a delicious,

    ravishing banquet ! He could hardly keep witliin tlie limits of propriety, but

    ate and drank until he was unconscious of anything, when the Emperor ordered

    the attendants to carry him into the palace and lay him on a bed.

    The next morning, when the gong announced the fifth watch, the Emperor

    repaired to the hall of audience ; but Li’s faculties, on awaking, were

    not very clear, though the officers hastened to bring him. When all had gone

    through their pro.strations, Hwantsung called the poet near liim, but perceiv

    ing that the visage of the new-made doctor still bore the marks of his debaucli,

    STORY OF LI TAI-PEH, THE POET, 701

    and discovering the discomposure of Lis mind, he sent into the kitcVien for a little wine and some well-spiced fish broth, to arouse the sleepy bard. The servants presently sent it up on a golden tray, and the Emperor seeing the cup was fuming, condescended to stir and cool the broth a long time with the ivory chopsticks, and served it out himself to Li, who, receiving it on his knees, ate and drank, while a pleasing joy illumined his countenance. While this was going on, some among the courtiers were much provoked and displeased at the strange familiarity, while others rejoiced to see how well the Emperor knew to conciliate the good will of men. Ihe two examiners, Yang and Kao, betrayed in their features the dislike they felt.

    At the command of the Emperor, the ambassadors were introduced, and

    saluted his Majesty by acclamation, whilst Li Tai-peh, clad in a purple robe

    and silken bonnet, easy and gracious as an immortal, stood in the historiographer’s

    place before the left of the throne, holding the letter in his hand, and

    read it ol in a clear tone, without mistaking a word. Then tinning toward

    the frightened envoys, he said, ” Your little province has failed in its etiquette,

    but our wise ruler, whose power is comparable to the heavens for vastness, disdains

    to take advantage of it. This is the answer which he grants you : hear

    and be silent.” The terrified amljassadors fell trembling at the foot of the

    throne. The Emperor had already prepared near him an ornamented cushion,

    and taking a jade stone with which to rub the ink, a pencil of leveret’s hair

    bound in an ivory tube, a cake of perfumed ink, and a sheet of flowery paper,

    gave them to Li, and seated liim on the cushion ready to draw up the answer.

    ” May it please your Majesty,” objected Li, ” my boots are not at all suitable, for they were soiled at the banquet last evening, and I trust your Majesty in your generosity will grant me some new buskins and stockings fit for ascending the platform.” The Emperor acceded to his request, and. ordered a servant to procure them ; when Li resumed, “Your minister has still a word to add, and begs beforehand that his untoward conduct may be excused ; then he will prefer his request.” “Your notions are misplaced and useless, but I will not be ofended at them ; go on, speak,” said Hwantsung ; to which LI, nothing daunted, said, “At the last examination, your minister was turned off by Yang, and put out of doors by Kao. The sight of these persons here to-day at the head of the courtiers casts a certain discomposure over his spirits; let your voice deign to command Yang to rub my ink, whilst Kao puts on my stockings and laces iip my buskins ; then will my mind and wits begin to recover their energies, and my pencil can trace your answer in the language of the foreigners. In transmitting the reply in the name of the Son of Heaven, he will then not disappoint the confidence with which he is honored.” Afraid to displease Li when he had need of him, the Emperor gave the strange order ; and while Yang rubbed the ink and Kao put on the buskins of the poet, they could not help reflecting, that this student, so badly received and treated by them, only fit at the best to render such services to them, availed himself now of the sudden favors of the Emperor to take their own words pronounced against him as a text, and revenge himself upon them for past injuries. Rut what could they do ? They could not oppose the sovereign will, and if they did feel chagrined, they did not dare at least to express it. The proverb hath it true: Do not draw upon you a person’s enmity, for enmity is never appeased; injury returns upon him who injures, and sharp words recoil against him who says them.”

    The poet triumphed, and his oath was accomplished. Buskiued as he desired, he mounted the platform on the carpet and. seated himself on the cushion, while Yang stood at his side and rubbed the ink. Of a truth, the disparity was great between an ink-grinder and the magnate who counselled the Emperor.

    But why did the poet sit while the premier stood like a servant at his side ‘i It was because Li was the organ of the monarch’s words, while Yang, reduced to act the part o: an ink-rubber, could not request permission to sit.

    With one hand Li stroked his beard, and seizing his pencil in the other, applied it to the paper, which was soon covered with strange chai-acters, well turned and even without a fault or rasure, and then laid it lapon the dragon’s table. The Emperor gazed at it in amaze, for it was identical with that of the barbarians ; not a character in it resembled the Chinese ; and as he handed it about among the nobles, their surprise was great. When requested to read it, Li, placed before the throne, read in a clear loud tone the answer to the strangers:” The mighty Emperor of the Tang dynasty, whose reign is called Kiayuen, sends his instructions to Ko To of the Po Hai.

    “From ancient times the rock and the egg have not hit each other, nor the serpent and dragon made war. Our dynasty, favored by fate, extends its power, and reigns even to the four seas ; it has under its orders brave generals and tried soldiers, solid bucklers and glittering swords. Your neighbor, King Hiehli, who refused our alliance, was taken prisoner ; but the people of Putsau, after offering a present of a metal bird, took an oath of obedience.

    ” The Sinlo, at the southern end of Corea, have sent us praises written on the finest tissues of silk ; Persia, serpents which can catch rats ; India, birds that can speak ; and Rome, dogs which lead horses, holding a lantern in their month; the white parrot is a present from the kingdom of Koling, the carbuncle which illumines the night comes from Cambodia, and famous horses are sent by the tribe of Koli, while precious vases are brought from Nial : in short, there is not a nation which does not respect our imposing power, and does not testify their regard for the virtue which distinguishes us. Corea alone resisted the will of Heaven, but the divine vengeance has fallen heavily upon it, and a kingdom which reckoned nine centuries of duration was overthrown as in a morning. Why, then, do you not profit by the terrible prognostics Heaven vouchsafes yon as examples ‘? Would it not evince your sagacity ?

    “Moreover, your little country, situated beyond the peninsula, is little more than as a province of Corea, or as a principality to the Celestial Empire ; your resources in men and horses are not a millionth part those of China. You are like a cha’”ed locust trying to stop a chariot, like a stiff-necked goose which will not submit. Under the arms of our warriors your blood will run a thousand J’l. You, prince, resemble that audacious one who re”used our alliance, and whose kingdom became annexed to Corea. The designs of our Bage Emperor are vast as the ocean, and he now bears with your culpable anJ unreasonable conduct ; but hasten to prevent misfortune by repentance, and cheerfully pay the tribute of each year, and you will prevent the shame and opprobrium which will cover you and expose you to the ridicule of your neighbors. Reflect thrice on these instructions.”

    STORY OF Li TAI-PEH, THE POET. 703

    The reading of this answer filled the Emperor with joy, who ordered Li to make known its contents to the ambassadors ; he then sealed it with the imperial seal. The poet called Kao to put on the boots which he had taken off. and he then returned to the palace of Golden Bells to inform the envoys concerning his sovereign’s orders, reading the letter to them in a loud tone, while they heard tremblingly. The academician Ho reconducted them to the gates of the capital, and there the ambassadors asked who it was who had read the imperial instructions. ” He is called Li, and has the title of Doctor of the Hanlin.” ” But among so many dignitaries, M^hy did the first Minister of State rub his ink, and the general of the guards lace up his buskins ‘? ” ” Hear,” added Ho ; ” those two personages are indeed intimate ministers of his Majesty, but they are only noble courtiers who do not transcend common humanity, while Doctor Li, on the contrary, is an immortal descended from heaven on the earth to aid the sovereign of the Celestial Empire. How can any one equal him ? ” The ambassadors bowed the head and departed, and on their return rendered an account of their mission to their sovereign. On reading the answer of Li, the Ko To was terrified, and deliberated with his counsellors: “The Celestial Empire is upheld by an immortal descended from the .skies! Is it possible to attack it ‘/ ” He thereupon wrote a letter of submission, testifying his desire to .send tribute each year, which was thenceforth allowed. Li Tai-peh afterward drowned himself from fear of the machinations of his enemies, exclaiming, as he leaped into the water, ” I’m going to catch the moon in the midst of the sea !”

    The poetry of the Chinese has been investigated hy Sir Jolni

    Davis, and tlie republication of liis first paper in an enhirged

    fonn in 1870, with the versification of Legge’s translations of

    the Shi King by his nephew, and two volumes of ^’arious pieces

    by Stent, have altogether given a good variety/ Davis explains

    the principles of Chinese rhythm, touches upon the tones, notices

    the parallelisms, and distinguishes the various kinds of

    verse, all in a scholarly manner. The Avhole subject, however,

    stOl awaits more thorough treatment. Artificial poetry, where

    ‘ Davis, Poetry of (he Chinese, London, 1870 ; G. C. Stent, The Jade Chaplet,

    London, 1874; Entmnhed Alive, and other Verses, 1878; Le Marquis

    D’Hervey-Saint-Denys, Poesies de VEpoqne des Thanr/, Paris, 18G2. A number

    of extracts of classical and modern literature will be found in Confucius and

    the Chinese Classics, compiled by Rev. A. W. Loomis, San Francisco, 1867

    China Peview, Yols. I., p. 248, IV., p. 4G, and passim the sound and jingle is regarded more than the sense, is not uncommon; the great number of characters having the same sound enables versifiers to do this with greater facility than is possible in other languages, and to the serious degradation of all high sentiment. The absence of inflections in the words Clippies the easy flow of sounds to which our ears are familiar, but renders such lines as the following more spirited to the eye which sees the characters than to the ear which hears them: Liang kinuij, ming nuvrifi, yanr] hiang tsiang, Ki n’t, jn eJti, I’l M mi, etc.

    Lines consisting of characters all containing the same radical are also constructed in this manner, in which the sounds are subservient to the meaning. This bizarre fashion of writing is, however, considered fit only for pedants.

    The Augustan age of poetry and letters was in the ninth and

    tenth centui’ies, during the Tang dynasty, when the brightest

    day of Chinese civilization was the darkest one of European.

    Xo complete collection of poems has yet been translated into any

    Eui’opean language, and perhaps none would bear an entire version.

    The poems of Li Tai-peh form thirty volumes, and those

    of Su Tung-po are contained in one hundred and fifteen volumes,

    while the collected poems of the times of the Tang dynasty

    have been published by imperial authority in nine hundred

    volumes. The proportion of descriptive poetry in it is small

    compared with the sentimental. The longest poem yet turned

    into English is the Jlwa Tsien Ki, or ‘ The Flower’s Petal,’ by

    P. P. Thoms, nnder the title of Cldneae CouHsld]) ; it is in heptameter,

    and his version is quite prosaic. Another of much

    greater repute among native scholars, called Li Sao, or ‘ Dissipation

    of Sorrows,’ dating from about b.c. 314, has been rendered

    into French by D’llervey-Saint-Denys.’

    It is a common pastime for literary gentlemen to try their’ Chinese Courtship. In Verse. To wJiieJi is added an Appendix treating of the Jievenue of China, etc., etc., by Peter Perring Thorns, London, 1S24. Compare the Quarterly Review for 1827, pp. 49G ff. Lc Li-Sao, Poeme da III’ Siedeuvant noire ere. Traduit da Chinois, par le Marquis d’Hervey de Saiut<Denys, Paris, 1870.

    CHINESE SONGS AND BALLADS. 705

    skill in versification ; epigrams and pasquinades ai-e usually put into metre, and at the examinations every candidate must hand in his poetical exercise. Consequently, much more attention is paid by such rhymesters to the jingle of the words and artificial structure of the lines than to the elevation of sentiment or copiousness of illustrations ; it is as easy for them to write a sonnet on shipping a cargo of tea as to indite a love-epistle to their mistress. Extemporaneous verses are made on every subject, and to illustrate occurrences -that are elsewhere regarded as too prosaic to disturb the mnse.

    Still, human emotions have been the stimulus to their expression in verse among the Chinese as well as other people ; and all classes have found an ntterance to them. Ribald and impure ditties are sung by street-singers to their own low classes, but such subjects do not characterize the best poets, as they did in old Rome. A piece called ‘ Chang Liang’s Flute ‘ is a fair instance of the better style of songs:

    ‘Twas niglit—the tired soldiers were peacefully sleeping,
    The low hum of voices was hushed in repose ;
    The sentries, in silence, a strict watch were keeping
    ‘Gainst surprise or a sudden attack of their foes ;
    When a low mellow note on the night air came stealing,
    So soothingly over the senses it fell—
    So touchingh- sweet—so soft and appealing,
    Like the musical tones of an aerial bell.
    Now rising, now falling — now fuller and clearer—
    Now liquidly solt — now a low wailing cry,

    Now the cadences seem floating nearer and nearer—
    Now dying away in a whispering sigh.
    Then a burst of sweet music, so plaintively thrilling.
    Was caught up by the echoes which sang the refrains
    In their many-toned voices—the atmosphere filling
    With a chorus of dulcet mysterious strains.

    The sleepers arous(», and with beating hearts listen;
    In their dreams they had heard that weird music before ‘,
    It touches each heart—with tears their eyes glisten.
    For it tells them of those they may never see more.
    In fancy those notes to their childhood’s days brought them,
    To those far-away scenes they had not seen for years ;
    To those who had loved them, had reared them, and taught them,
    And the eyes of those stern men were wetted with tears.
    Bright visions of home through their mem’ries came thronging,
    Panorama-like passing in front of their view;
    They were lunne-mk—no power could withstand that strange yearning;
    The longer they listened the more home-sick they grew.

    Whence came those sweet sounds ‘?— who the unseen musician
    That breathes out his soul, which floats on the night breeze
    In melodious sighs—in strains so elysian
    As to soften the hearts of rude soldiers like these ?
    Each looked at the other, but no word was spoken.
    The music insensibly tempting them on :
    They must return home. Ere the daylight had broken
    The enemy looked, and behold ! they were gone.
    There’s a magic in music—a witchery in it,
    Indescribable either with tongue or with pen ;
    The tlute of Chang Liang, in one little minute,
    Had stolen the courage of eight thousand men I’

    The following verses were presented to Dr. Parker at Canton by a Chinese gentleman of some literary attainments, upon the occasion of a successful operation for cataract. The original may be considered as a very creditable example of extempore sonnet:

    A fluid, darksome and opaque, long time had dimmed my sight,
    For seven revolving, weary years one eye was lost to light;
    The other, darkened by a film, during three years saw no day,
    High heaven’s bright and gladdening light could not pierce it with its ray.

    Long, long I sought the hoped relief, but still I sought in vain,
    My treasures lavished in the search, brought no relief from pain;
    Till, at length, I thought my garments I must either pawn or sell,
    And plenty in my house, I feared, was never more to dwell.

    Th<m loudly did I ask, for what cause such pain I bore—
    For transgressions in a former life unatoned for before ?
    But again’ came the reflection how, of yore, oft men of worth.
    For slight errors, had borne sutf’ ring great as drew my sorrow forth.
    Stent’s Jiule Cluiplet.

    SPECIMEN OF AN EXTEMPORE SONNET. 707

    ” And shall not one,” said I then, ” whose worth is but as naught, Bear patiently, as heaven’s gift, what it ordains ‘i ” The thought Was scarce completely formed, when of a friend the footstep fell

    On my threshold, and I breathed a hope he had words of joy to tell.
    ‘* I’ve heard,” the friend who enter’d said, ” there’s come to us of late
    A native of the ‘ Flowery Flag’s ‘ far-ofi and foreign State ;
    O’er tens of thousand miles of sea to the Inner Land he’s come—
    His hope and aim to heal men’s pain, he leaves his native home.”

    I quick went forth, this man I sought, this gen’rous doctor found;
    He gained my heart, he’s kind and good ; for, high up from the ground,
    He gave a room, to which he came, at morn, at eve, at night—
    Words were but vain were I to try his kindness to recite.
    With needle argentine he pierced the cradle of the tear.
    What fears I felt ! Su Dong-po’s words rung threatening in my ear:
    ” Glass hung in mist,” the poet says, “take heed you do not shake ;
    “(The words of fear rung in my ear), “how if it chance to break I” The fragile lens his needle pierced : the dread, the sting, the pain, I thought on these, and that the cup of sorrow I must drain ; But then my mem’ry faithful showed the work of fell disease.

    How long the orbs of sight were dark, and I deprived of ease.

    And thus I thought : ” If now, indeed, I were to find relief,

    ‘Twere not too much to bear the pain, to bear the present grief.”

    Then the words of kindness which I heard sunk deep into my soul,

    And free from fear I gave myself to the foreigner’s control.

    His silver needle sought the lens, and quickly from it drew
    The opaque and darksome fluid, whose effect so well I knew;
    His golden probe soon clear’d the lens, and then my eyes he bound,
    And laved with water sweet as is the dew to thirsty ground.

    Three days thus lay I, prostrate, still ; no food then could I eat ;

    My limbs relax’d were stretched as though th’ approach of death to meet

    With thoughts astray—mind ill at ease —away from home and wife,

    I often thought that by a thread was hung my precious life.

    Three days I lay, no food had I, and nothing did I feel;

    Nor hunger, sorrow, pain, nor hope, nor thought of woe or weal;

    My vigor fled, my life seemed gone, when, sudden, in my pain,

    There came one ray—one glimm’ring ray,—I see,—^I live again !

    As starts from visions of the night he who dreams a fearful dream,

    As from the tomb uprushing comes one restored to day’s bright beam,

    Thus I, with gladness and surprise, with joy, with keen delight,

    See friends and kindred crowd around ; I hail the blessed light.

    With grateful hfart, with heaving breast, with feelings flowing o’er,

    I cried, ” O lead nie quick to him who can the sight restore !”

    To kneel I tried, but he forbade ; and, forcing me to rise,

    ” To mortal man bend not the knee ;

    ” then pointing to the skies:—

    ” I’m but,” said he, ” the workman’s tool ; another’s is the hand ;

    Before Jiis might, and in Im sight, men, feeble, helpless, stand :

    Go, virtue learn to cultivate, and never thou forget

    That for some work of future good thj life is spared thee yet !”

    The off’ring, token of my tlianks, he refused ; nor would he take

    Silver or gold—they seemed as dust ; ’tis but for virtue’s sake

    His works are done. His skill divine I ever must adore,

    Nor lose remembrance ox his name till life’s last day is o’er.

    Thus liave I told, in these brief words, this learned doctor’s praise:

    Well does his worth deserve tliat I should tablets to liim raise.

    In this facility of versification lies one of the reasons for the

    mediocrity of common Chinese poetry, but that does not prevent

    its power over the popular mind being very great. Men

    and women of all classes take great delight in recitation and

    singing, hearing street musicians or strolling play-actors ; and

    these results, whatever we may judge by our standards, prove

    its power and suitableness to infiuence them. One or two

    additional specimens on different subjects may be quoted, inasnnich

    as they also illustrate some of the better shades of feeling

    and sentiment. A more finished piece of poetry is one

    written about a.d. 370, by Su-IIwui, whose husband was banished.

    Its talented authoress is said to have written more than

    five thousand lines, and among them a curious anagram of

    about eight hundred characters, which was so disposed that it

    would make sense equally well when i-ead up or down, crosswise,

    backward, or forward.’ Nothing from her pen remains except this ode, interesting for its antiquity as well as sentiment.

    ‘ A translation is given in the Chinese lieposztori/ (Vol, IX., p. 508) of a supposed complaint made by a cow of her sad lot in being obliged to work hard and fare poorly during life, and then be cut up and eaten when dead; the ballad is arranged in the form of the animal herself, and a herdboy leading her, who in his own form praises the happiness of a rural life. This ballad is a Buddhist tractate, and that fraternity print many such on broad-.sheets; one common collection ol’ prayers is arranged like a pagoda, with images of Buddlia sitting in the windows of each story.

    LAMENT OF TUV: POETESS SIT-IIWUI. 709

    ODE OF RU-HWUI.

    When thou receiv’dst the king’s command to quiet tlie frontier,
    Together to the bridge we went, striving our liearts to cheer-

    Hiding our grief. These words I gasped upon that mournful day :

    ” Forget not, love, my fond embrace, nor tarry long away !”

    Ah ! Is it true that since tliat time no message glads my sight V

    Think you that 7io?p your lone wi’e’s heart even in bright spring delights ?

    Our pearly stairs and pleasant yard the foul weeds have o’ergrown ;

    Our nuptial room—and couch—and walls—are now with dust o’erstrown.

    Whene’er I think of our farewell, my soul with fear grows cold;

    My mind resolves what shape I’d take to see thee as of old.

    Now as I watch the deep-sea moon, I long her form to be;

    Again, the mountain cloud has filled my dull heart with envy.

    For deep-sea moon shines year by year upon the land abroad ;

    And ye, O mountain clouds, may meet the form of my adored!

    Aye, flying here and flying there, seek my beloved’s place.

    And at ten thousand thousand miles—speed !—gaze on his fair face.

    Alas ! for iiie the road is long, steep mountain peaks now sever

    Our loving souls. I can but weep—O ! may’t not be forever !

    The long reed’s leaves had yellow grown when we our farewell said ;

    Who then had thought the plum-tree’s bough so oft would turn to red ?

    The fairy flowers spreading their leaves have met the early spring—
    All, genial months, what time for love !—But who can ease my sting ?
    The pendant willows strew the court, for thee I pull them down ;
    The falling flowers enrich the earth, none pick these from the ground
    And scatter vernal growth, as once, before the ancestral tomb !
    Taking the lute o? Tsun I strive to chase away the gloom
    By thrumming, as I muse o? thee, songs of departed friends.

    Sending my inmost thoughts away, they reach the northern ends—

    Those northern bounds! —how far they seem, o’erpassed the hills and streams

    No news, no word from those confines to lighten e’en my dreams !

    My dress, my pillow, once so white, are deeply stained with tears ;

    My broidered coat with gilded flowers, all spotted now appears.

    The very geese and storks to me, when in their passage north.

    Seemed by their cries, my distant love, to tear my heartstrings forth.

    No more my lute —though thou wert strong, with passion was I wrung;
    My grief was its utmost bent—my song was still unsung.

    Ah ! husband, lord, thy love I feel is stable as the liills ;

    ‘Tis joy to think each hour of this—a balm for countless ills!

    I had but woven half my task—I gave it to his Grace :

    O grant my husband quick release, I pine for his embrace!

    Auioiig tlie best of Chinese ballads, if regard be had to the

    character of the sentiment and metaphors, is one on Picking

    Tea, wliich the girls and women sing as they collect the leaves.

    BALLAD OF THE TEA-PICKER.

    I.

    A\Tiere thousand hills the vale enclose, our little lu;t is there,
    And on the sloping sides around the tea grows everywhere ;
    And I must rise at early dawn, as busy as can be.
    To get my daily labor done, and pluck the leafy tea.

    II.

    At early dawn I seize my crate, and sighing. Oh, for rest!
    Thro’ the thick mist I pass the door, with sloven hair half drest;
    The dames and maidens call to me, as hand in hand they go,
    ” What steep do you, miss, climb to-day—what steep of high Sunglo?*

    III.
    Dark is the sky, the twilight dim still on the hills is set;
    The dewy leaves and cloudy buds may not be gathered yet:
    Oh, who are they, the thirsty ones, for whom this work we do,
    For whom we spend our daily toil in bands of two and two ?

    IV.
    Like fellows we each other aid, and to each other say,
    As down we pull the yielding twigs, ” Sweet sister, don’t delay ;
    E’en now the buds are growing old, all on the boughs atop.
    And then to-morrow—who can tell ?—the drizzling rain may drop.”

    V.
    We’ve picked enow ; the topmost bough is bare of leaves ; and so
    We lift our brimming loads, and by the homeward path we go;
    In merry laughter by the pool, the lotus pool, we hie.
    When hark ! tiprise a mallard pair, and hence affrighted Hy.

    VI.
    Limpid and clear the pool, and there how rich the lotus grows.
    And only lialf its opening leaves, round as the coins, it shows—
    I bend me o’er the jutting brink, and to myself I say,
    ” I marvel in the glassy stream, how looks my face to-day ?”

    VII.

    My face is dirty; out of trim my hair is, and awry;
    Oh, tell me, where’s the little girl so ugly now as I ?
    ‘Tis all because whole weary hours I’m forced to pick the tea.
    And driving winds and soaking showers have made me what von seet

    VIII.
    With morn again come wind and rain, and though so fierce and strong,
    With basket big, and little hat, I wend my way along;
    At home again, when all is picked, and everybody sees
    How muddy all our dresses are, and drabbled to the knees.

    IX.

    I saw this morning through the door a pleasant day set in;
    Be sure I quickly dressed my hair and neatly fixed my pin,
    And fleetly sped I down the path to gain the wonted spot,
    But, never thinking of the mire, my working shoes forgot!

    X.
    The garden reached, my bow-shaped shoes are soaking through and through;
    The sky is changed—the thunder rolls—and I don’t know what to do;
    I’ll call my comrades on the hill to pass the word with speed
    And fetch my green umbrella-hat to help me in my need.

    XI.

    But my little hat does little good ; my plight is very sad !
    I stand with clothes all dripping wet, like some poor fisher-lad;
    Like him I have a basket, too, of meshes woven fine—
    A fisher-lad, if I only had his fishing-rod and line.

    XII.
    The rain is o’er ; the outer leaves their branching fibres show;
    Shake down the branch, the fragrant scent about us ‘gins to blow;
    Gather the yellow golden threads that high and low are found—
    Oh, what a precious odor now is wafted all around !

    XIII.
    N^o sweeter perfume does the wild and fair Aglaia shed,
    Throughout Wu-yuen’s bounds my tea the choicest will be said;
    When all are picked we’ll leave the shoots to bud again in spring,
    But for this morning we have done the third, last gathering.

    XIV.

    Oh, weary is our picking, yet do I my toil withhold ?
    My maiden locks are all askew, my pearly fingers cold;
    I only wish our tea to be superior over all.
    O’er this one’s “sparrow-tongue,” and o’er the other’s “dragon-ball.”

    XV.

    Oh, for a month I weary strive to find a leisure day ;
    I go to pick at early dawn, and until dusk I stay ;
    Till midnight at the firing-pan I hold ray irksome place:
    But will not labor hard as this impair my pretty face ?

    XVI.

    But if my face be pomewhat lank, more firm shall be my mind;
    I’ll fire my tea that all else shall be my golden buds behind ;
    But yet the thought arises who the pretty maid shall be
    To put the leaves in jewelled cup, from thence to sip my tea.

    XVII.
    Her griefs all flee as she makes her tea, and she is glad ; but oh,
    Where shall she learn the toils of us who labor for her so ”.
    And shall she know of the winds that blow, and the rains that jiour their wrath,
    And drench and soak us thro’ and thro’, as plunged into a bath ?

    XVIII.
    In driving rains and howling winds the birds forsake the nest,
    Yet many a loving pair are seen still on the boughs to rest;
    Oh, wherefore, loved one, with light look, didst thou send me away?
    I cannot, grieving as I grieve, go through my work to-day.

    XIX.
    But though my bosom rise and fall, like T)ucket in a well.
    Patient and toiling as I am, ‘gainst work I’ll ne’er rebel;
    My care shall be to have my tea fired to a tender brown,
    And let the Jla(/ and aid, well rolled, display their whitish down.’

    XX.
    Ho ‘ for my toil ! Ho I for m\’ steps ! Aweary though I be.
    In our poor house, for working folk, there’s lots of work, I see ;
    When the firing and the drying’s done, off at the call I go,
    And once again, this very morn, I climb the high Sunglo.

    XXI.
    My wicker basket slung on arm, and hair entwined with flowers,
    To the slopes I go of high Sunglo, and pick the tea for hours;
    How laugh we, sisters, on the road ; what a merry turn we’ve got;
    I giggle and say, as I point down the way, There, look, there lies our cot!

    XXII.
    Your handmaid ‘neath the sweet green shade in sheltered cot abides.
    Where the pendant willow’s sweeping bough the thatchy dwelling hides;
    To-morrow, if you wish it so, my guests I pray you’ll be !
    The door you’ll know by the fragrant scent, the .scent of the firing tea.
    ‘ The ki, or ‘ flag,’ is the term by which the leaflets are called when they just begin to unroll ; the tfiiang, or ‘ awl,’ designates those lijaves which are still wrapped u]^ and which are somewhat sharp.

    XXIII.
    While ’tis cold, and then ’tis warm, when I want to fire iny tea,
    The sky is sure to shift and change— and all to worry me;
    When the sun goes down on the western hills, on the eastern there is rain I
    And however fair lie promises, he promises in vain.

    XXIV.
    To-day the tint of the western hills is looking bright and fair,
    And I bear my crate to the stile,’ and wait my fellow toiler there ;
    A little tender lass is she—she leans upon the rail
    And sleeps, and though I hail her she answers not my hail.

    XXV.
    And when at length to my loudest call she murmurs a reply,
    ‘Tis as if bard to conquer sleep, and with half-opened eye;
    Up starts she, and with straggling steps along the path she’s gone,
    She brings her basket, but forgets to put the cover on !

    XXVI.
    Together trudge we, and we pass the lodge of the southern bowers,
    Where the beautiful sea-pomegranate waves all its yellow Howers ;
    Fain would we stop and pluck a few to deck our tresses gay,
    But the tree is high, and ’tis vain to try and reach the tempting spray.

    XXVII.
    The pretty birds upon the boughs sing songs so sweet to hear.
    And the sky is so delicious now, half cloudy and half clear ;
    While bending o’er her work, each maid will prattle of her woe.
    And we talk till our hearts are sorely hurt, and tears unstinted flow.

    XXVIII.
    Our time is up, and yet not full our baskets to the mouth—
    The twigs anorth are fully searched, let’s seek them in the south;
    Just then by chance I snapped a twig whose leaves were all apair;
    See, with my taper fingers now I fix it in my hair.

    XXIX.
    Of all the various kinds of tea, the bitter beats the sweet,
    But for whomever either seeks, for him I’ll find a treat;
    Though who it is shall drink them, as bitter or sweet they be,
    I know not, my friend—but the pearly end of my finger only see!
    ‘ The ting is not exactly a stile, being a kind of shed, or four posts supporting
    a roof, which is often erected by villagers for the convenience of wayfarers,
    who can stop there and rest. It sometimes contains a bench or seat, and is usually over or near a spring of water.

    XXX.
    Ye twittering swallows, rise and fall in your flight around the hill,
    But when next I go to the high Sunglo, I’ll change my gown—I will;
    And I’ll roll up the cuff and show arm enough, for my arm is fair to see:
    Oh, if ever there were a fair round arm, that arm belongs to me 1

    CHINESE DRAMAS AND BUKLETTAS. 715

    In the department of plays and dramas, Chinese literature shows a long list of names, few or none of which have ever been heard of away from their native soil. Some of their pieces have been translated by Julien, Bazin, Davis, and others, most of which were selected from the Hundred Plays of Yuan. The origin of the present Chinese drama does not date back, according to M. Bazin, beyond the Tang dynasty, though many performances designed to be played and sung in pantomime had been written before that epoch. He cites the names of eighty-one persons, besides mentioning other plays of unknown authors, whose combined writings amount to five hundred and sixty-four separate plays ; all of whom flourished during the Mongol dynasty. The plays that have been translated from this collection give a tolerably good idea of Chinese talent in this difficult department; and, generally speaking, whatever strictures may be nuide upon the management of the plot, exhibition of character, unity of action, or illustration of manners, the tendency of the play is on the side of justice and morality. Pere Preraare first translated a play in 1731, under the title of the Orphan of Chau,^ which was taken by Voltaire as the groundwork of one of his plays. The Heir in Old Aye and the Sorrows of Han are the names of two translated by Sir J. F. Davis. The Oircle of CJialk was translated and published in 1832 by Julien, and a volume of Bazin, aine, containing the Tidrtgaes of an Ahiyail, the Coupared Tunic, the So)i(jstrcss, and Ilesentnierd of Tau JS^go, appeared in 1838, at Paris, None of these pieces exhibit much intricacy of plot, nor would the simple arrangements of Chinese theatres allow much increase to the dramatis personoi without confusion. M. Bazin, moreover, translated the Pi-pa Ki, or History of a Lide^ ‘ Tehiio-cM-cou-eulh, ou VOrphdin de la Maison de Telmo, tragedie chinoise, tradnile par le R. P. de Pr>’mare, Miss, de la Chine, 1755. Julien published a translation o2 the same, I’aris, iy34.

    a drama in twenty-four acts, of more pretensions, partaking of the novel as well as the drama; the play is said to have been represented at Peking in 1404, under the Ming dynasty.’

    Besides plays in the higher walks of the drama, which form the principal part of the performances at theatres, there are by-plays or farces, which, being confined to two or three interlocutors, depend for their attractiveness upon the droll gesticulations, impi’omptu allusions to passing occurrences, and excellent pantomimic action of the performers. They are usually brought on at the conclusion of the bill, and from the freedom given in them to an exhibition of the humor or wit of the players, are much liked by the people. A single illustration will exhibit the simple range and character of these burlettas.

    THE MENDER OF CRACKED CHINAWARE.

    DKAMATis PERSONS. \ ^f” ^^’^]’ ^ wandering tinker.

    ( narif/ jyutng A joung girl.

    Scene—A Street.

    Niu Chau enters—across his shoulder is a bamboo, to each end of which are

    suspended boxes containing the various tools and impleynenls of his trade,

    and a small stool. He is dressed meanly ; his face and head are painted

    and decorated in a fantastic manner.

    (Sings) Seeking a livelihood by the work of my hands,

    Daily do I traverse the streets of the city.

    {Speaks) Well, here I am, a mender of broken jars,

    An unfortunate victim of ever changing plans.

    To repair old fractured jars

    Is my sole occupation and support.

    ‘Tis even so. I have no other employment.

    (7’akes his bo.rcs from his shoulder, places tJiem on the ground^ sits

    beside them, and drawing out his fan, continues sjoeaking)—

    A disconsolate old man—I am a slave to inconveniences.

    For several days past I have been unable to go abroad,

    •Since the appearance of M. Bazin’s Theatre Chinois (Paris, 18B8) and Davis’ Sorroirs of Han (London, 1829), there has been astonishingly little done

    In the study of Chinese plays. Compare, for the rest, an article on this subject by J. J. AmpJre, in the Eevue des Deux Mondes, September, 1838 ; The Far East, Vol. I. (1876), pp. 57 and 90 ; Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 575 ; China Review, Vol. I., p. 2G ; also Lay’s Chinese as They Are, and Dr. Gray’s China, passim. Lieut. Kreitner gives an interesting picture of the Chinese theatre in a country town, together with a few pages upon the drama, of which his party were spectators. Lnfernen Osten, pp. 595-599.

    But, observing this morning a clear sky and fine air,
    I was induced to recommence my street wanderings.

    （Sings) At dawn I left my home,
    But as yet have had no job.
    Hither and yon, and on all sides,
    From the east gate to the west.
    From the south gate to the north,
    And all over within the walls,
    Have I been, but no one has called
    For the mender of cracked jars. Unfortunate man 1

    But this being my first visit to the city of Nanking,

    Some extra exertion is necessary ;

    Time is lost sitting idle here, and so to roam again I go.

    {8Jionlders Ids boxes and stuol, and walks about, ct^ying)-‘

    Plates mended ! Bowls mended !

    Jars and pots neatly repair’d !

    Lady Wang (fieard ‘mthin). Did I not hear the cry of the mender ot cracked jars ?

    I’ll open the door and look. {She enters, looking around.)

    Yes, there comes the repairer of jars.

    Niu Chau. Pray, have you a jar to mend ?

    I have long been seeking a job.

    Did you not call ?

    TMdy W. What is your charge for a large jar—

    And how much for a small one ?

    Kiu Chau. For large jars, one mace five.

    Lady W. And for small ones ‘?

    JV^iu Chau. Fifty pair of cash.

    Lady W. To one mace five, and fifty pair of cash.

    Add nine candareens, and a new jar may be had.

    liiu Chau. What, then, will you give ?

    Ljidy W. I will give one caudareen for either size.

    Niu Chau. Well, lady, how many cash can I get for this caudareen ?

    fjody W. Why, if the price be high, you will get eight cash.

    Niu Chau. And if low V

    Lady W. You will get but seven cash and a half.

    Niu Chau. Oh, you wicked, tantalizing thing!
    (Sings) Since leaving home this morning,

    I have met but with a trifler.

    Who, in the shape of an old wife.

    Tortures and gives me no job ;

    I’ll shoulder again my boxes, and continue my walk.

    And never again will I return to tli(* house of Wang.

    (Iffi moves off slowly.}

    Lady W. Jar-mender ! return, quickly return ; with a loud voice, I entreat

    you; for I have something on which I wish to consult with

    you.

    THE MENDER OF CHINAWARE—A FARCE. 717

    Hiu Chav. What is it on wliicli you wish to consult me ?

    Lady M’. I will give you a hundred cash to mend a large jar.

    Niu Chau. And for mending a small one V

    Lady W. And for mending a small one, thirty pair of cash.

    Niu Chau. One hundred, and thirty pair !—truly, lady, this is worth consulting about.

    Lady Wang, where shall I mend them ?

    Lady W. Follow me. {.They move toward tJie door of the house.)

    {Sings) Before walks the Lady Wang.

    Niti Chdu. And behind comes the jni-kany (or jar-mender).

    Lady W. Here, then, is the place.

    JVtu Chau. Lady Wang, permit me to pay my respects.

    {Bows reiwatedly in a ridiculotis manner.)

    We can exchange civilities.

    I congratulate 3’ou ; may you prosper—before and behind.

    Lady W. Here is the jar ; now go to work and mend it.

    {Takes the jar in his hand and tosses it about, examining it.)

    Niu Chan. This jar lias certainly a very appalling fracture.

    Lady W. Therefore, it requires the more care in mending.

    Niu Clmu. That is self-evident.

    ha^y W. Now, Lady Wang will retire again to her dressing room,

    And, after closing the door, will resume her toilet.

    Her appearance she will beautify ;

    On the left, her hair she will comb into a dragon’s head tuft,

    On the right, she will arrange it tastefully with flowers ;

    Her lips she will color with blood-red vermilion.

    And a gem of chrysoprase will she place in the dragon’s head tuft.

    Then, liaving completed her toilet, she will return to the door,

    And sit down to look at the jar-mender. {E.iit.)

    (Niu Ghausits dotcn, straps the jar on his knee, and arranges his tools before him, and as he drills holes for the clamps, sings)—

    Every hole drilled requires a pin.

    And every two holes drilled require pins a pair.

    As I raise my head and look around,

    (At this moment Lady Wang re-enters, beautifully dressed, and sits down by the door.)

    There sits, I see, a delicate young lady ;

    Before she had the appearance of an old wife,

    Now she is transformed into a handsome young girL

    On the left, her hair is comb’d into a dragon’s head tuft;

    On the right it is adorn’d tastel’ully with flowers.

    Her lips are like plums, her mouth is all smiles,

    Her eyes are as brilliant as the phamix’s ; and

    She stands on golden lilies, but two inches long.

    I look again, another look,—down drops the jar.

    {Tliejar at this moment falls, and is broken to pieces.]

    {Speaks) Heigh-ya ! Here then is a dreadful smash !

    Lady \V. You have but to replace it with another, and do so quickly.

    iVm Chau. For one that was broken, a good one must be given.

    Had two been broken, then were a pair to be supplied ;

    An old one being smashed, a new one must replace it.

    Lady W. You have destroyed the jar, and return me nothing but words.

    Give me a new one, then you may return home,—not before.

    Niu CJutu. Here upon my knees upon the hard ground, I beg Lady Wang,

    while she sits above, to listen to a few words. Let me receive

    pardon for the accident her beauty has occasioned, and I will-^’

    at once make her my wife.

    lAidy W. Impudent old man ! How presume to think

    That I ever can become your wife !

    Niu Cluiu. Yes, it is true, I am somewhat older than Lady Wang,

    Yet would I make her my wife.

    Lady W. No matter then for the accident, but leave me now at once.

    Niu Chau. Since you have forgiven me, I again shoulder my boxes,

    And I will go elsewhere in search of a wife.

    And here, before high heaven, I swear never again to come near the house of Wang.

    You a great lady ! Yon are but a vile ragged girl.

    And will yet be glad to take up with a much worse companion.

    (Going away, Tw suddenly thToimoffJds upper dress, and appears as a handsome young man.)

    Lady W. Henceforth, give up your wandering profession,

    And marrying me, quit the trade of a jar-mender.

    With the Lady Wang pass happily the remainder of your life.

    {They eiithrace, and exeunt.]

    DEFICIENCIES AND LIMITS OF CHINESE LITERATURE. 719

    Such is the general range and survey of Chinese literature, according to the Catalogue of the Imperial Libraries. It is, take it in a mass, a stupendous monument of human toil, fitly compared, so far as it is calculated to instruct its readers in useful knowledge, to their Great Wall, which can neither protect from its enemies, nor be of any real’ use to its makers. Its deficiencies are glaring. Ko treatises on the geography of foreign countries nor truthful narratives of travels abroad are contained in it, nor any account of the languages of their inhabitants, their history, or their governments. Philological works in other languages than those spoken within the Empire are unknown, and must, owing to the nature of the language, remain .so until foreigners prepare them. Works on natural history, medicine, and physiology are few and useless, while

    those on inatheiiiatics and the exact sciences are much less

    popular and useful than they might be ; and in the great range

    of theology, founded on the true basis of the Bible, there is

    almost nothing. The character of the people has been mostly

    formed by their ancient books, and this correlate influence has

    tended to repress independent investigation in the pursuit of

    truth, though not to destroy it. A. new infusion of science,

    religion, and descriptive geography and history will lead to

    comparison with other countries, and bring out whatever in it

    is good.

    A survey of this body of literature shows the effect of governmental

    patronage, in maintaining its character for what

    appears to ns to be a wearisome uniformity. Xew ideas, facts,

    and motives must now come from the outer world, which will

    gradually elevate the minds of the people above the same unvarying

    channel. If the scholar knows that the goal he strives

    for is to be attained by proficiency in the single channel of

    classicvJ knowledge, he cannot be expected to attend to other

    studies until he has secured the prize. A knowledge of mediciiiC,

    mathematics, geography, or foreign languages, might, indeed,

    do the candidate much more good than all he gets out

    of the classics, but knowledge is not his object ; and where all run the same race, all must study the same works. But let there be a different programme of themes and essays, and a wider range of subjects required of the students, and the present system of governmental examinations in China, with all its imperfections, can be made of great benefit to the people, if it is not put to a strain too great for the end in view.

    The Chinese are fond of proverbs and aphorisms. They employ them in their writings and conversation as much as any people, and adorn their houses by copying them upon elegant scrolls, carving them upon pillars, and embroidering them upon banners. A complete collection of the proverbs of the Chinese has never been made, even among the people themselves any more than among those of other lands. Davis published, in 1828, a volume called Moral Maxims, containing two hundred aphorisms ; P. Perny issued an assortment of four hundred and forty-one in 1869 ; and J. Duolittle collected several hundred proverbs, signs, couplets, and scrolls in his Vocahulaiy.

    CHINESE PROVERBS. 721

    Besides these, a collection of two thousand seven hundred and twenty proverbs was published in 1875 by W. 8carboi-ough, furnished with a good index, and, like the others noted here, with the original text. Davis mentions the 3I’h(/ Shi Pao Kien, or ‘Jewelled Mirror for Illumining the Mind,’ as containing a large number of proverbs. The Ku Ss* Kimig Lhi^ or ‘Coral Forest of Ancient Matters,’ is a similar collection; but if that be compared to a dictionary of quotations, this is better likened to a classical dictionary, the notes which follow the sentences leaving the reader in no doubt as to their meaning.

    Manuscript lists of sentences suitable for hanging upon doors or in parlors are collected by persons who write them at New Year’s, and whose success depends upon their facility in quoting elegant couplets. The following selection will exhibit to some extent this branch of Chinese wisdom and wit:
    Not to distinguish properly between the beautiful and ugly, is like attaching a dog’s tail to a squirrel’s body.
    An avaricious man, who can never have enough, is as a serpent wishing to swallow an elephant.
    While one misfortune is going, to have another coming, is like driving a tiger out of the front door, while a wolf is entering the back.
    The tiger’s cub cannot be caught without going into his den.
    To paint a snake and add legs. (Exaggeration.)
    To sketch a tiger and make it a dog, is to iniitatt’ a work of genius and spoil it.
    To ride a fierce dog to vaXx-\\ a huut^ rabbit. (Useless power over a contcni])- tible enemy.)
    To attack a thousand tigers with ten men. (To atteniiit a ditliculty with incommensurate means.)
    To cut off a hen’s head with a battle-axe. (Unnecessary valor.)
    To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger ; if not well fed he will devour you: or like rearing a hawk ; if hungry he will stay by you, but lly away when fed.
    To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees.
    To catch a fish and throw away the net ;—not to requite benefits.
    To take a locust’s shank for the shaft of a carriage;—an inefficient person doing important work.
    A pigeon sneering at a roc ;— a mean man despising a prince.
    To climb a tree to catch a fish, is to talk much and get nothing.
    To test one good horse by judging the portrait of another.
    A fish sports in the kettle, but his life will not be long.
    Like a swallow building her nest on a hut is an anxious statesman.
    Like a crane among hens is a man of parts among fools.
    Like a sheep dressed in a tiger’s skin is a superficial scholar.
    Like a cuckoo in a magpie’s nest is one who enjoy’s another’s labor.
    To hang on the tail of a beautiful horse. (To seek promotion.)
    Do not pull up your stockings in a melon field, or arrange your hat under a peach tree, lest people think you are stealing.
    An old man marrying a young wife is like a withered willow sprouting.
    Let us get drunk to-day while we have wine ; the sorrows of to-morrow may be borne to-morrow.
    If the blind lead the blind, they will both go to the pit.
    Good iron is not used for nails, nor are soldiers made of good men.
    A fair wind raises no storm.
    A little impatience subverts great undertakings.
    Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man is never satisfied.
    The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable.
    When the tree falls the monkeys flee.
    Trouble neglected becomes still more troublesome.
    Wood is not sold in tlie forest, nor fish at the pool.
    He who looks at the sun is dazzled, he who hears the thunder is deafened.(Do not come too near the powerful.)
    He desires to hide his tracks, and walks on the snow.
    He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him.
    Speak not of others, but convict yourself.
    A man is not always known by his looks, nor the sea measured by a bushel.
    Ivory does not come from a rat’s mouth.
    If a chattering bird be not placed in the mouth, vexation will not sit between the eyebrows.
    Prevention is better than cure.
    For the Emperor to break the laws is one with the people’s doing so.
    Douiit and distraction are on earth, the brightness of truth in heaven.
    Punishment can oppose a barrier to open crime, laws cannot reach to secret offences.
    Wine and good dinners make abundance of friends, but in time of adversity not one is to be found.
    Let every man sweep the snow from before his own doors, and not trouble himself about the hoarfrost on his neighbor’s tiles.
    Better be upright with poverty than depraved with abundance. He whos’) virtue exceeds his talents is the good man; he whose talents exceed his virtues is the fool.
    Though a man may be utterly stupid, he is very perspicuous when reprehending the bad actions of others; though he may be very intelligent, he is dull enough when excusing his own faults: do you only correct yourselves on the same principle that you correct others, and excuse others on the same principles you excuse yourselves.
    ‘If I do not debauch other men’s wives, my own will not be polluted.
    Better not be than be nothing.
    The egg fights with the rock—hopeless resistance.
    One thread does not make a rope ; one swallow does not make a summer.
    To be fully fed and warmly clothed, and dwell at ease without learning, is little better than a bestial state.
    A woman in one house cannot eat the rice of two. (A wise woman does not marry again.)
    Though the sword be sharp, it will not wound the innocent.
    Sensuality is the chief of sins, filial duty the best of acts.
    Prosperity is a blessing to the good, but to the evil it is a curse.
    Instruction pervades the heart of the wise, but cannot penetrate the ears of a fool.
    The straightest trees are first felled ; the cleanest wells first drunk up.
    The yielding tongue endures ; the stubborn teeth perish.
    The life of the aged is like a candle placed between two doors—easily blown out.
    The blind have the best ears, and the deaf the sharpest eyes.
    The horse’s back is not so safe as the buffalo’s. (The politician is not so secure as the husbandman.)
    A wife should excel in four things : virtue, speech, deportment, and needlework.
    He who is willing to inquire will excel, but the self-sufficient man will fail.
    Anger is like a little fire, which if not timely checked may burn down flofty pile.
    Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns.
    Too much lenity multiplies crime.
    If you love your son, give him plenty of the cudgel; if you hate him, cram him with dainties.
    When the mirror is highly polished, the dust will not defile it; when the heart is enlightened with wisdom, impure thoughts will not arise in it.
    A stubborn wife and stiff necked son no laws can govern.
    He is my teacher who tells me my faults, my enemy who speaks my virtues.
    He has little courage who knows the right and does it not.
    To sue a flea, and catch a bite—the results of litigation.
    Would you understand the character of a prince, look at his ministers; or the disposition of a man, observe his companions; or that of a father, first mark his son.
    The fame of good deeds does not leave a man’s door, but his evil acts are known a thousand miles off.
    A virtuous woman is a source of honor to her husband, a vicious one disgraces him.
    The original tendency of man’s heart is to do right, and if well ordered will not of itself be mistaken.
    They who respect themselves will be honored, but disesteeming ourselves we shall be despised.
    The load a beggar cannot carry he himself begged.
    The happy-hearted man carries joy for all the household.
    The more mouths to eat so much the more meat.
    The higher the rat creeps up the cow’s horn the narrower he finds it.

    ‘ The commendation by Lord Brougham of this “admirable precept,” as he called it, is cited by Sir J. Davis.

    CHAPTER XIII.  ARCHITECTURE, DRESS, AND DIET OF THE CHINESE

    It is a sensible remark of De Guigues,’ that ” the habit we

    fall into of conceiving things according to the words which express

    them, often leads ns into error when reading the relations

    of travellers. Such writers have seen objects altogether new,

    but they are compelled, when describing them, to employ equivalent

    terms in their own language in order to be understood; while these same terms tend to deceive the reader, who imagines

    that he sees such palaces, colonnades, peristyles, etc., under

    these designations as he has been used to, when, in fact, they

    are (piite another thing.” The same observation is true of other

    things than architecture, and of other nations than the Chinese,

    and this confusion of terms and meanings proves a fruitful

    source of error in regard to an accurate knowledge of foreign

    nations, and a just perception of their condition. For instance,

    the terms a court of justice^ a common school^ jiolltenesa^^ leariiing^

    navy, houses, etc., as well as the names of things, like razor,

    shoe, cap’, hed, jj<3;?6’//, jxijjer, etc., ai’e inapplicable to the same

    things in England and China; M’hile it is plainly hnpossible to

    coin a new word in English to describe the Chinese article, and

    equally inexpedient to introduce the native term. If, for example,

    the utensil used by the Chinese to shave with were

    picked up in Portsmouth by some English navvy who had never

    seen or heard of it, he would be more likely to call it an oysterknife,

    or a wedge, than a razor ; while the use to which it is

    ‘ Voyage a Peking, Vol. II., p. 173.

    POPULAR EKRORS KEiiAUDING FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 725

    applied must of course give it that name, and would, if it were

    still more unlike the western article. So with other things.

    The ideas a Chinese gives to the terms htcangtl, kwanfa, jxio^

    2jih, and shu^ are very different from those conveyed to an

    American by the words envperor, inag1strate, cannon, jpoicil,

    and IjooJ^:. Since a person can only judge of what he hears or

    reads by what he knows, it is desirable that when he meets with

    western names ap])lied to their equivalents in eastern countries,

    the function of a different civilization, habits, and notions should

    not be overlooked in the opinion he forms. These remarks are

    peculiarly applicable to the domestic life of the Chinese, to their

    houses, diet, dress, and social customs; although careful descriptions

    may go a good way in conveying just ideas, it cannot be

    hoped that they will do what the most cursory examination of

    the ol)ject or trait would instantly accomplish.

    The notions entertained abroad on tliese particulars ai-e, it need

    hardly i)e remarked, rather more accurate than those the Chinese

    have of distant countries, and it is scarcely possible that

    they can lose their conceit in their own civilization and position

    among the nations so long as such ideas are entertained as the

    following extract exhibits. Tien Ivi-shih, a popular essayist of

    the last century, thus congratulates himself and his readers: ” I

    felicitate myself that I was born in China, and constantly think

    how very different it would have been with me if I had been

    born beyond the seas in some remote part of the earth, M’liere

    the people, far remov^ed from the converting maxims of the

    ancient kings, and ignorant of the domestic relations, are clothed

    with the leaves of plants, eat wood, dwell in the wilderness, and

    live in the holes of the earth ; though born in the world, in

    such a condition I should not have been different from the

    beasts of the field. But now, happily, I have been born in the

    Middle Kingdom. I have a house to live in ; have food and

    drink, and elegant furniture ; have clothing and caps, and infinite

    blessings : truly, the highest felicity is mine.” This extract

    well indicates the isolation of the writer and his race from their

    fellow-men ; among the neighboring nations even the Japanese

    would have shoAvn him his erroneous view. The seclusion which

    had been forced upon both these peoples, who closed their doors as the surest possible defence against aggression from foreign traders and sought in this fashion to remove all cause of quarrel, brought with it in time the almost equal dangers of ignorance and inability to understand their true position among the nations of the world.

    Diagram of Chinese Roof Construction. (From Fergusson.)

    ABSENCE OF GREAT ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS. 727

    The architecture of the Chinese suggests, in its general outline and the peculiar concave roof, a canvas tent as its primary motive, though there is no further proof than this likeness of its origin. From the palace to the hovel, in temples and in private dwellings, this type everywhere stands confessed,’ and almost nothing like a dome or cupola, a spire or a turret, is anywhere found. Few instances occur of an attempt to develop even this simple model into a grand or imposing building. While the Mogul princes in India reared costly mausolea and palaces to perpetuate their memory and the splendor of their reigns, the monarchs of China, with equal or greater resources at command, seldom indulged in this princely pastime, or even attempted the erection of any enduring monument to commemorate their taste or their splendor. Whether it was owing to the absence of the beautiful and majestic models seen in western countries, or to ignorance of the mechanical principles of the art, the fact is not the less observable, and the inference as to the advance made by them in knowledge and taste not less just.

    ‘ It is said that when Ghoimis in Lis invasion of Hiina took a city, his soldiers immediately set about pulling down the four walls of the houses, leaving the overhanging roofs supported by the wooden columns—by which process they converted them into excellent tents for themselves and their horses.—Encyclopedia Britannica : Art. China.

    Fergiisson has no doubt assigned one good reason for this fact, in that ” the Chinese never had either a dominant priesthood or a hereditary nobiHty. The absence of the former class is important, because it is to sacred art that architecture has owed its highest inspiration, and sacred art is never so strongly developed as under the influence of a powerful and splendid hierarchy. In the same manner the want of a hereditary nobility is equally unfavorable to domestic architecture of a durable description.

    Private feuds and private wars were till lately unknown, and hence there are no fortalices or fortified mansions, which by their mass and solidity giv^e such a marked character to a certain class of domestic edifices in the west.” ‘ These reasons have their weight, but they hardly cover the whole question, whose solution reaches into the well-known inertness of the imaginative faculty in the Chinese mind. It is nevertheless true that there is nothing in the whole Empire worthy to be called an architectural ruin, nothing which can inform us whether previous generations constructed edifices more splendid or more mean than the present.^

    Dwelling-houses are generally of one story, having neither

    cellars nor baseuients, and lighted by lattices opening into a

    court; they must not equal adjacent temples in height, nor

    possess the ornaments appropriated to palaces and religious establishments.

    ‘ James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 687; compare also Minwires Concernant les Chinois, where Chinese architecture is treated of in almost every volume.

    ‘ The foreign literature upon this subject is as yet scant and unimportant. Compare the rare and costly Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, etc., from Originals draicn in China by Mr. Chambers, London, 1757, folio; J. M. Callery, De VArchitecture Chinoise, in the Recue d*Architecture ; Wm. Simpson, in Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1873-74,p. 33 , Notes and Queries on China arid Japan.

    The common building materials are bricks, adobie or matting for the walls, stone for the foundation, brick tiling for the roof, and wood only for the inner work ; stone and wooden houses are not unknown, but are so rare as to attract attention. The high prices of tinil)er and the very partial use of window-glass have both tended to modify and restrict the

    construction of dwelHngs. The id chuen, or sifted earth, is a

    compound of decomposed granite or gravel and lime mixed with

    water, and sometimes a little oil, of which durable walls are

    made by pounding it into a solid mass between planks secured

    at the sides and elevated as the wall rises, or by beating it into

    large blocks ; when stuccoed and protected from the rain this

    material gradually hardens into stone. In houses of the better

    sort the stone M’ork of the foundation rises three or four feet

    above the ground, and sometimes the finished surfaces, great

    size of the stones and the i-egularity of their arrangement make

    one regret that the same skill had nut been expended on large

    edifices. In towns their fronts present no opening except the

    door, and when the outer walls of sevei’al houses join those of

    gardens and enclosures, the sti-eet presents an uninteresting

    sameness, unrelieved by steps, windows, balconies, porticoes,

    or front yards. The walls are twenty -five or thirty feet high,

    usually hollow, or too thin to safely support the roof unaided.

    In the common buildings a framework of wood is erected on

    the foundation, which has large stones so arranged as to receive

    the posts, and on these rests the entire weight of the roof. The

    brick nogging fills up the intervals, but supports nothing ; it is

    sometimes solid, more frequently merely a face-work, and if the

    roof becomes leaky or broken a heavy rain will destroy the

    wall, as it soaks through the courses and washes out the mud

    within. In the central provinces common walls are often made

    of small bricks four inches square and one thick, which are laid

    on their edges in a series of hollows ; between the courses a

    plank sometimes adds greater strength to the wall. These cellular

    constructions are more durable than would be imagined provided

    the stucco remains uninjured.

    CONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE BUILDINGS. 729

    The bricks are the same size as our own, and usually burned to a grayish slate coloi- ; they are made by hand, and sell at a price varying from three dollars to eight dollars a thousand. In the sea-coast districts lime is cheaply obtained from shells, but in the interior from limestone calcined by anthracite coal; the people use it pure, only occasionally mixing sand with it for either mortar or stucco. The walls are often stuccoed, and when not thus covered the bricks are occasionally rubbed smooth and pointed with tine cement. In place of a broad coi-nice the top is frequently relieved by a pretty ornament of moulded work of painted clay figures in alto relievo, representing a battle scene, a landscape, clusters of flowers, or some other design, defended from the weather by the projecting eaves. A black painted baud, relieved by cornei-s and designs of flowers and scrolls, is a cheap substitute for the carved figures.

    The roofs are hipped in some provinces, but rarely in the north. They are steep, and if kept tight will last several years; the grass which is apt to spring up on them is a source of injury, and its growth or removal alike endangers the soundness

    of the construction. The yellow and green glazed tiles of public

    buildings add to their beauty, as do the dragon’s heads and

    globes on their ridge-poles ; these features, together with the

    earthen dogs at the corners of temples or official houses, make

    the structures exceedingly picturesque. In Peking the framework

    under the wide eaves of palaces is tastefully painted in

    green and gold, and protected by a netting of copper wire.

    Hoofs are made of earthen tiles laid on coarse clapboarding

    that rests on the purlines in alternate ridges and furrows. The

    under layer consists of square thin pieces, laid side by side in

    ascending rows with the lower edges overlapping ; the sides are

    covered by the serai-cylindrical tiles, which are further protected

    by a covering of mortar. In the northern provinces the tiles

    are laid in a course of mud resting on straw over the clapboarding.

    The workmen begin the tiling at the ridge-pole and finish as they come down to the eaves, so as not to walk over the tiles and crack them ; but such roofs easily leak in driving storms. No chimneys are seen ; the slope is steep, for quick discharge of rain and snow. Terraces are erected on shops, but balustrades or flat roofs are seldom seen. Occasionally the gable w^alls rise above the roof in degrees, imparting a singular, bow-like aspect to the edifice. The purlines and ridge-pole extend from wall to wall, and the i-afters are slender strips. In all roofs the principal weight rests on the two rows of pillars; it the sides, tliut iiphold the plates, and the aiitefixoe which support the broad eaves far beyond the walh A series of beams and posts above the phites and tie-beams make the roof very heavy but also secure; curb and mansard roofs are unknown.

    The pillars of stone or timber in Chinese temples are often

    noticeable, owing to their size or length as single pieces. They

    are, however, unadorned with either capital or carved base,

    though the shaft may be finely carved and painted, the color

    decoration being often upon a thick coating of ]_>aj)iei’-mac1iey

    laid on to protect the wood. In two-story houses the sleepers

    of the rioor are supported on tie-beams attached to the main

    posts if they do not rest on the wall. Posts form an element

    of all Chinese buildings, either to support the roof or the

    veranda. The entrance is on the sides, and the wall is set back

    from the outer line of the eaves so as to afford a shelter or porch.

    Hipped roofs enable the architect to encompass the entire

    building with a veranda, this being a common arrangement in

    the southern provinces. A slight ceiling usually conceals the

    tiling, but the apartment appears lofty owing to the cavity of

    the roof.

    The pavilion is a prominent feature of Chinese architecture,

    and its ornamentation calls out the best talent of the builder in

    making his edifice acceptable. One charming specimen of this

    style at the Emperor’s sunnner palace of Yuen-ming Yuen is

    already famous, its material being of pure copper ; it is about

    fourteen feet square and twenty high.

    Another beautiful structure which well exhibits the pavilion is shown in the adjoining cut. It is the Pih-yung Rang, or ‘Classic Hall,’ built by Kienlung adjacent to the Confucian Temple at Peking Tpage 74), and devoted to expounding the classics. This loftj^ building, which may be here seen through

    an ornamental arch across the court, is perfectly square, covered

    with a four-sided double roof, whose bright 3’ellow tiles and

    gilded ball at the apex produce a most brilliant effect in the

    sindight. The deep veranda, completely encircling the structure-

    and supported by a score of colored wooden pillars, very

    al)ly relieves the dead mass and heavy upper roof of the pavilion

    P1H-YU>G KUNG, OK ‘CLASSIC HALL,’ PEKING.

    ORNAMENTAL EDIFICES AND DWELLINGS. 731

    proper. Around flow the waters of a circular tank, edged witli

    marble balustrades and spanned by four bridges which form

    the approaches to each of the sides.

    The general disposition of a Chinese dwelling of the better

    sort is that of a series of rooms separated and lighted by intervening

    courts, and accessible along a covered corridor communicating

    with each, or by side passages leading through the courts.

    In cities, where the houses are cramped and the lots irregular

    in shape, there is more diversity in the arrangement and size

    of rooms ; and in the country establishments of wealthy families,

    where the gradual increase of the members calls for additional

    space, the succession of courts and buildings, interspersed

    with gardens and pools, sometimes renders the whole not a little

    complicated. The great expense of timber for floors, posts, and

    sleepers has been the chief reason for retaining the single

    story, rather than tlie awkwardness caused by cramping women’s

    feet. Xo contrivance for warming the rooms by means of

    chimneys or flues exists, except that found in the I’dng, or brick

    bed, on which the inmates lie and sit.

    The entrance into large mansions in the country is by a triple

    gate leading through a lawn or garden up to the hall ; in towns,

    a single door, usually elevated a step or two above the street,

    introduces the visitor into a porch or court. A wall or movable

    screen is placed inside of the doorway, and the intervening

    space is occupied by the porter ; upon the wall on the left is

    often seen a shrine dedicated to the gods of the threshold. In

    the liouses of oSicials, upon this wall is inscribed a list of dignities

    and offices which the master has held during his life. The

    door is solidly constructed, and moves upon pivots turning in

    sockets. Under the projecting eaves hang paper lanterns informing

    the passer-by of the name and title of the householder,

    and when lighted at night serving to illumine the street and

    designate his hal)itation ; for door-plates and numbers are unknown.

    The roughness of the gate is somewhat concealed by

    the names or grotesque representations of two tutelar gods,

    Shintu and Yuhlui, to whom the guardianship of the house is

    entrusted ; wliile the sides and lintel are embellished with felicitous

    quotations written upon red paper, or with sign-boards of official rank. The doorkeeper and other servants lodge in small rooms within the gateway, and above the porch is an attic containing one or two apartments, to be reached by a rude stairway.

    On passing behind the screen a court, occasionally adorned

    with flowers or a fancy fish-pool, is crossed before reaching the

    principal hall. Tlie upper end of the hall is furnished with a

    high table, on which incense vases, idolatrous utensils, and offerings

    are placed in honor of the divinities and lares worshipped

    there, whose tablets and names are on the wall. Sometimes the

    table merely contains flowers in jars, fancy pieces of white

    quartz, limestone or jade, or ornaments of various kinds. Before

    the table is a large couch, with a low stand in its centi’e,

    and a pillow for reclining upon. In front of it the chairs are

    arranged down the room in two I’ows facing each other, each

    pair having a small table between them. Tlie floors are made of

    thick, lai’ge tiles of brick or marble, or of hard cement. Even

    in a bright day the room is dim, and the absence of carpets and

    fireplaces, and of windows to afford a prospect abroad, renders

    it cheerless to a foreigner accustomed to his own glazed and

    loftier houses.

    A rear door near the side wall opens either into a kitchen or

    court, across which are the female apartments, or directly into

    the latter and the rooms for domestics. Instead of being always

    rectangular the doors are sometimes made round, leaf-shaped,

    or semi-circular, and it is thought desirable that they should not

    open opposite each other, lest evil spirits find their way in from

    tlie street. The rear rooms are lighted by skylights when

    other modes are unavailable, and along the southern sea-coasts

    the thin laminae of a species of oyster (Placuna) cut into small

    squares supply the place of window-glass. Commerce is gradually

    bringing this material into greater use all over the land,

    though the fear of thieves still limits it. (^orean paper is the

    chief substitute for glass in the north. The kitchen is a small

    affair, for the universal use of portable furnaces enables the

    imnates to cook M’herever the smoke will be least troulilesome.

    Warming the house, even as far north’as i^ingpo, is not frequent,

    as the inmates lely on their quilted and fur garments foi

    AHRAXGEMEXT OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 733

    protection. Tlie flue of tlio tiled-brick divan, or hoig^ is connected

    with a pit lined with brick dug in the floor in front; when the pot of coal is well lighted and placed near the opening, the draft carries the heat into the passages running under the surface, and soon warms the room without much smoke.

    The pot of burning coal furnishes all the cooking-fire the poor

    liave, and at night the inmates sleep on the warm bricks.

    The country establishments of wealthy men furnish the best

    expression of Chinese ideas of elegance and comfort. In these

    enclosures the hall of ancestors, library, school-room, and summer-

    houses are detached and erected upon low plinths, surrounded

    by a veranda, and frecpiently decorated with tracery

    and ornamental carving, l^ear the rear court are the female

    apartments and offices, many of the former and the sleeping

    apartments being in attics. Considerable space is occupied by

    the quadrangles, which are paved and embellished by fish-pools,

    flowering shrubs, and other plants. Mr. Fortune describes ‘ the

    house and garden of a gentleman at Kingpo as being connected

    by rude-looking caverns of rock-work, ” and what at first sight

    appears to be a subterranean passage leading from room to room,

    tln-ough which the visitor passes to the garden. The small

    courts, of which a gliinpse is caught in passing along, are fitted

    up with rock-work ; dwarf trees are planted here and there in

    various places, and graceful creepers hang down into the pools

    in front. These being passed, another cavernous passage leads

    into the garden, with its dwarf trees, vases, ornamented lattices,

    and beautiful shrubs suddenly opening to the view. By

    windings and glimpses along the rocky passages into other

    courts, and hiding the real boundary by masses of shrubs and

    trees, the grounds are made to appear much larger than they

    really are.”

    * Wanderings in China, p. 98.

    The houses of the poor are dark, dirty, low, and narrow tenements, where the floor is of earth covered with mats or tiled, and the doorway the only opening, on which a swinging mat conceals the interior. The whole family often sleep, eat, and live in a single room. Pigs, dogs, and hens dispute the space with cliiklron and fiiruitui-c—if a tublc and a few trestles and

    stools, pots and plates, deserve that name. The filthy street

    without is a counterpart to the gloomy, smoky abode within,

    and a single walk through the streets and lanes of such a neighborhood

    is sufficient to reconcile a person to any ordinary condition

    of life. On the outskirts of the town a still poorer class

    take up with huts made of mats and thatch npon the ground,

    through which the rain and wind find free course. It is surprising

    that people can live and enjoy liealth, and even be

    cheeriul, as the Chinese are, in such circumstances. Between

    these hovels and the abodes of the rich is a class of middle

    houses, consisting of three or four small rooms surrounding a

    court, each one lodging a family, which uses its portion of the

    quadrangle.

    The best furniture is made of a heavy w^ood stained to resemble,

    ebony ; camphor, elm, pine, aspen, and melia woods furnish

    cheaper nuiterial. Ornamental articles, porcelain vases, copper

    tripods or pots, stone screens, book-shelves, flowers in pots, etc.,

    show the national taste. Ink sketches of landscapes, gay scrolls

    inscribed with sentences suspended from the walls, and pretty

    lanterns relieve the baldness of the room; their combined effect

    is not destitute of vai’iety and elegance, though there is a lack of

    ‘:oriifort. l*artitions are sometimes fancifully made of latticework,

    with openings neatly arranged for the reception of boxes

    containing books. The bedrooms are small, poorly ventilated,

    and seldom visited except at night. A massive bedstead of

    costly woods, elaborately carved, and supporting a tester for

    the silk curtains and mosquito-bars, is often shown as the family

    ])ride and heirloom ; a scroll of fine writing adorns its fringe or

    valance. Mattresses or feather beds are not used, and the pillow

    is a liollow square frame of rattan or bamboo. The bed, wardrobe,

    and toilet usually complete the furniture of the sleeping

    apartments of the Chinese ; but if this is also the sitting room,

    the bed is rolled up so as often to furnish seats on its boards.

    The grounds of the rich are laid out in good style, and were

    not the tasteful arrangements aiul diversified shrubbery which

    would render them charming resorts almost always spoiled by

    geiieial bad keeping—neglect and ruin, if not nastiness and

    STYLE OF GAKDEXS. To.”)

    offals, being often visible—tliej would please the most fastidi

    ons. The necessity of having a place for the women and children

    to recreate themselves is one reason for having an open

    enclosure, even if it be only a plat of flo\vei-s or a bed of

    vegetables. In the imperial gardens the attempt to make an

    epitome of nature has been highly successful. De Guignes

    describes their art of gardening as ” imitating the beauties and

    producing the inequalities of nature. Instead of alleys planted

    symmetrically or uniform grounds, there are winding footpaths,

    trees here and there as if by chance, woody or sterile hillocks,

    and deep gulleys with narrow passages, whose sides are steep

    or rough with rocks, and presenting only a few miserable

    shrubs. They like to bring together in gardening, in the same

    view, cultivated grounds and arid plains ; to make the field

    uneven and cover it with artificial rock-work ; to dig caverns in

    mountains, on whose tops are arbors half overthrown, and around

    which tortuous footpaths run and return into themselves, prolonging, as it were, the extent of the grounds and increasing the pleasure of the w^alk.”

    A fish-pond, supplied by a rivulet running wildly through

    the grounds, forms a pretty feature of such gardens, in which,

    if there be room, a summer-house is erected on a rocky islet, or

    on piles over the water, accessible by a rugged causey of rockwork.

    The nelumbium lily, with its plate-like leaves and magnificent

    flowers, is a general favorite in such places ; carp and

    other fish are reared in their waters, and gold-fish in small

    tanks. AA^henever it is possible a gallery runs along the sides

    of the pond for the pleasure and use of the females in the household.

    A tasteful device in some gardens, which beguiles the

    visitor”s ramble, is a rude kind of shell or pebble mosaic iidaid

    in the g^’avelly paths, representing birds, animals, or other

    figures ; the time required to decipher them prolongs the walk,

    and apparently increases the size of the grounds. The pieces of

    rock-work are cemented and bound w-ith wire ; and in fish-pools,

    grottos, or causeways this unique ornament has a charming

    effect, the moss and plants which grow upon it adding rather to

    its appropriateness.

    The wood and mason work is unsubstantial, requiring con736

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    staiit repairs ; when new they present a pi-etty appearance, but

    both gardens and lionses, when neglected, soon fall into a ruinous

    condition. Some of the princi})al merchants at Canton, in

    the former days of the hong monopoly, had cultivated grounds

    of greater or less extent attached to their establishments. One

    of them, by way of variety, constructed a summer-house entirely

    of glass, this wonderful structure being made so that it

    could be closed and protected with shutters.

    The arrangement of shops and warehouses is modified by the

    uses to which they are applied, but they still i-esemble dwellinghouses

    more than is the case with stores in western cities. The

    rear room of the shop is a small apartment, used for a dormitory,

    store-room, or workshop, and sometimes for all these purposes

    together ; it is in most cases on an upper floor. Small

    ones are lighted from the street, but the lai-gest by a skylight,

    in whicli cases there is a latticed screen reaching across the

    room, to secure the inside from the street. The whole shopfront

    is thrown open by day and closed at uight by shutters

    running in grooves, and secured by heavy cross-bars to a row of

    posts whicli fit in sockets in the threshold and lintel. The doorway

    recedes a foot or two, and the projecting roof serves to protect

    customers, and such goods as are exposed, fi-om the rain and

    sun. In small shops there are two counters, a long one running

    back from the door, and another at right angles to it, reaching

    partly across the front. The shopman sits within the angle

    formed by these, and as they are low he can easily serve a customer

    in the street as well as in the shop. At night the smaller

    one often forms a lodging place for homeless beggars. The

    facing of the outer counter is of granite, and in Canton a niche

    containing a tablet inscribed to the god of wealth is cut in the

    end, where incense is burned. Another shrine is placed on

    liigh within the apartment,- dedicated to the deity of the place,

    whoever he may be.

    The loft is much contracted ; and that it may not intercept

    the skylight, it is usually a small chamber reached by a gallery,

    and lighted in front. Chinese tradesmen do not make nnich

    display in exhibiting their goods, and the partial use of glass

    renders it somewhat unsafe for them to do so. The want of a

    SHOPS AND THOROUGHFARES. 7H7

    yard compels theni to cook and wash either beliind or on top of

    tlie building ; clerks and workmen usually eat and sleep under

    the shop roof. In the densest parts of Canton the roofs are

    covered with a loose framework, on which firewood is piled,

    clothes washed and dried, and meals cooked ; it also affords a

    sleeping place in summer. In case of fire, however, these lumbered

    roofs become like so many tinder-boxes, and aid not a

    little to spread the flames.

    The narrowness of the streets in Chinese cities is a source of

    many inconveniences ; few exceed ten or twelve feet in width,

    and most of those in Canton are less than eight. No large

    squares having fountains and shrubbery, nor any open spaces

    except the areas in front of temples relieve the closeness of

    these lanes. The absence of horses and carriages in southern

    cities, and a custom of liuddling together, a desire to screen the

    thoroughfare from the sun, and ignoi-ance of the advantages

    of another mode, are among the leading reasons for making

    them so contracted ; while the difficulty of collecting a mob in

    them shoidd be mentioned as one point in their favor. In case

    of fire it is difficult to get access to the burning buildings, and

    dangerous for the inmates to move or save their property. At

    all times porters carrying burdens are impeded by the crowd

    of passengers, who likewise must pass Indian file lest they tilt

    against the porters. Ventilation is imperfect where the

    buildings are packed so closely, and the public necessaries and

    their olfal carried through the streets by the scavengers pollute

    the air. Drainage is very superficial and incomplete ; the sewers

    easily choke up or get broken and exude their contents over

    the pathway. The ammoniacal and other gases which are generated

    aggravate the ophthalmic diseases so prevalent ; and

    it is a matter of surprise that the cholera, plague, or yellow

    fever does not visit the inhabitants of such confined abodes,

    who breathe so tainted an atmosphere. The peculiar government

    of cities by means of wards and neighborhoods, each

    responsible to the officials, combined with the ignorance

    among all ranks of the principles of hygiene, will account for

    the evils so patent to one accustomed to the energetic sway o^

    a mayor and board of health in most European cities, whc

    Vol. I. -47

    738 THE CUDDLE KIX<,;l)OM.

    can bring knowledge and power to cooperate for tlie well-being

    of all.

    The streets are usnally paved with slabs of stone laid crosswise,

    and except near markets and wells are comparatively

    clean. They are not laid out straight, and some present a singularl}^

    irregular appearance from the slight angle which each

    house makes with its neighbors ; it being considered rather unlucky

    to have them exactly even. The names of the streets are

    written on the gateways crossing them, whenever they are

    marked at all ; occasionally, as at Canton, each division njakes

    a separate neighborhood and has its own name ; a single long

    street will thus have live, six, or more names. The general arrangement

    of a Chinese city presents a labyrinth of streets,

    alleys, and byways very perplexing to a stranger who has

    neither plan nor directory to guide him, nor numbers upon

    the houses and shops to direct him. The sign-boards are

    hung each side of the door, or securely inserted in stone sockets

    ; some of them are ten or fifteen feet high, and being gaily

    painted and gilded on both sides with picturesque characters, a

    succession of them as seen down a street produces a gay effect.

    The inscriptions simply mention the kind of goods sold, and

    “without half the puffing seen in western cities ; accounts sometimes

    given of the inscriptions on sign-boards in Chinese cities,

    as ” Ko cheating here,” and others, describe the exception and

    not the rule. The edicts of government, handbills of medicines

    and the famous doctors who make them, notices offering rewards

    for children who are lost or slaves escaped, new shops opened,

    houses to let, or other events, cover blank walls in great vaiiety,

    printed on red, black, white, or yellow paper ; the absence of

    newspapers leads shopmen to depend more for patronage upon

    a circle of customers and the distribution of cards than to spend

    much money in handbills. The shrines of the street gods occur

    in southern cities, located in niches in the wall, with altars

    before them.

    The temples and assembly-halls are the only public buildings

    in C’liinese cities belonging to the people. Their courts and

    cloisters, with such gardens, tea-houses, and pools as may be

    accessible, attract constant crowds, and furnish the only places

    CLUB-HOUSES AND TAVERNS. 739

    of common resort. The priests derive no small portion of their

    income from travellers, and their establishments are consequently

    made more commodious and extensive than the number

    of priests or the throng of worshippers require.

    The assembly-halls or club-houses form a peculiar feature of

    Chinese society. There are more than a hundred in Canton

    and many hundreds in Peking. They are built sometimes by a

    particular craft as its guildhall, or more commonly erected by

    persons resorting to the place for trade, study, or amusement,

    who subscribe to fit up a commodious establishment to accommodate

    persons coming from the same town. In this w^ay their

    convenience, assistance, oversight, and general safety are all increased.”

    All buildings pay a ground rent to the government,

    but no data are available for comparing this tax with that levied

    in western cities. The government furnishes the owner of the

    ground with ^ hung Vi, or ‘red deed,’ in testimony of his right

    to occupancj’, which puts him in possession as long as he pays

    the taxes. There is a record office in the local magistracy of

    such documents.

    Houses are rented on short leases, and the rent collected quarterly in advance ; the annual income from real estate is between nine and twelve per cent. The yearly rent of the best shops in Canton is from $150 to $400 ; there is no system of insuring against fire, which, with the municipal taxes and the difficulty of collecting bad rents, enhances their price. Such kind of property in China is liable to many risks.

    Compare pp. 76 and 167.

    The taverns are numerous and adapted for every calling. Though they will not bear comparison with western hotels, they are far in advance of the cheerless khans and caravansaries found in Western Asia. The traveller brings his own bedding, sometimes also his own provision, and when night comes spreads his mat upon the floor or divan and lies down in his clothes. The better sort of travellers order a room for themselves, but officials or rich men go to temples, or hire a boat in which to travel and sleep ; this usage takes off the best class of customers. One considerable source of income to innkeepers is the preparation of dinners for parties of men, who either come to the house or send to it for so many covers ; for when a gentleman

    invites his fi-iends to an entertainment it is common to serve it

    up at liis warehouse, or at an inn. In towns and cities thousands

    of men eat in the streets ; the number of eating and cooking-

    stalls produces a most lively impression upon a stranger.

    This custom has had a good effect in promoting the general

    courtesy so conspicuous among the people, and is increased by

    y-reat numbers of street story-tellers. The noisy hilaritv of

    the customers, as they ply their ” nimble lads,” or chopsticks,

    and the vociferous cries of the cooks recommending their cakes

    and dishes, with the steaming savor from the frying-pan and

    kettles, form only one of the many objects to attract the notice

    of the foreign observer. Their ap23earauce and the variety of

    bustling scenes and j)icturesque novelties presented to him afford

    constant instruction and entertainment. Those at Canton have been thus described by an eye-witness. The iiuinlMT of itinerant workmen of one kind or another which line the sides of the streets or occupy the areas before public buildings in Chinese towns is a remarkable feature. Fruiterers, pastrymen, cooks, venders of gimcracks, and wayside sho^nnen are found in other countries as well as China; but to see a travelling blacksmith or tinker, an itinerant glass-mender, a peripatetic repairer of umbrellas, a locomotive seal-cutter, an ambulatory barber, a migratory banker, a peregrinatory apothecary or druggist, or a walking shoemaker and cobbler, one must travel hitherward. These movable establishments, together with fortune-tellers, herb and booksellers, chiromancers, etc., pretty well fill up the space, so that one often sees both sides of the streets literally lined with the stalls, wares, or tools of persons selling or making something to eat or to wear. The money-changer sits behind a small table, on which his strings of cash are chained, and where he weighs the silver he is to change ; his neighbor, the seal-cutter, sits next him near a like fashioned table.

    The barber has his chest of drawers made to serve for a seat, and if he has not a furnace of his own he heats his water at the cook’s or the blacksmith’s fire near by, perhaps shaving his friend gratis by way of recompense.

    STREET SCENES IN CANTON AND PEKING. 741

    The herbseller chooses an open place where he will not be trampled on, and there displays his simples and his plasters, while the denti.st, with a ghastly string of fangs and grinders around his neck, testimonials of his skill, sits over against him, each with his infallible remedy. The book-peddler and chooser of lucky days, and he who searches for stolen goods by divination, arrange themselves on either side, with their tables and stalls, and array of sticks, l)en.:-ils, signs, and pictures, all trying to “catch a little jngeon.” The spectacle-mender and razor-grinder, the cutler and seller of bangles and bracelets, and tho uiakfi- <»’.’ clay jjiippcts or mender of old shoes, are not far off, all plying their callings as l)usily as it’ tln^y were in their own shops. Then, besides the hundreds of stalls for selling articles of food, dress, or ornament, there are innumerable hucksters going up and down with baskets and trays slung on

    their shoulders, each bawling or making his own peculiar note, which, with

    coolies transporting burdens, chair-bearers carrying sedans, and passengers following

    one another lik(! a stream, with here and there a woman among them,

    so till up the stre(4s that it is no easy matter to navigate one’s way. Notwitlistanding

    all these obstructions, it is worthy of note and highly praiseworthy

    to see these crowds jjass and repass with the greatest rapidity in the narrow

    streets without altercation or disturbance, and seldom with accident.

    ‘

    Streets at the north present a somewhat different, and on the

    whole a less inviting becanse less entertaining and pictnresqne

    aspect. Their greater width allows carts to pass, and it also

    offers more room for the garbage, the rubbish, and the noisome

    sights that are most disgusting, all of which are made worse in

    rainy weather by the mud through which one liounders. Barrow

    thus delineates those in Peking: “The midtitude of movable

    workshops of tinkers and barbers, cobblers and blacksmiths,

    the tents and booths where tea and fruit, i-ice and other eatables

    were exposed for sale, with the wares and merchandise arrayed

    befoi-e the doors, had contracted this spacious street to a narrow

    road in the middle, just wide enough for two little vehicles to

    pass each other. The processions of men in office attended by

    their numerous retinues, bearing umbrellas and Hags, painted

    lanterns and a variety of strange insignia of their rank and

    station, different trains that were accompanying, with lamentable

    cries, corpses to their graves, and with squalling nmsic, brides

    to their husbands ; the troops of dromedaries laden with coals

    from Tartary ; the wbeel-barrows and hand-carts stuffed with

    vegetables, occupied nearly the whole of this middle space in

    one continued line. All was in motion. The sides of the streets

    were filled with an immense concourse of people, buj’ing and

    sellino; and bartering; their different connnodities. The buzz

    and confused noises of this mixed multitude, proceeding fi’om

    the loud bawling of those who were crying their wares, the

    wrangling of others, with every now and then a strange twanging

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. X. , p. 473.

    sound like the jarring of a cracked jewsharp (the barber’s »io-nal), the mirth and laughter that prevailed in every group,

    could scarcely be exceeded. Peddlers with their packs, jugglers

    and conjurers, fortune-tellers, mountebanks and quack doctors,

    comedians and musicians, left no space unoccupied.” ‘

    Shops are closed at nightfall, and persons going abroad carry

    a lantern or torch. Over the thoroughfares slender towers are

    erected, where notice of a fire is given and the watches of the

    night announced by striking a gong. Few persons are met in

    the streets at night, and the private watch kept by all who are

    able greatly assists the regular police in preserving order and

    apprehending thiev^es. These watchers go up and down their

    wards beating large bamboos, to let ” thieves know they are on

    the lookout.” Considering all things, large Chinese cities are

    remarkably quiet at night. Beggars find their lodgings in the

    porches and squares of temples, or sides of the streets, and

    nestle toorether for mutual warmth. This class is under the care

    of a headman, who, in order to collect the poor-tax allowed by

    law, apportions them in the neighborhoods with tiie advice of

    the elders and constables. During the day they go from one

    door to another and receive their allotted stipend, which cannot

    be less than one cash to each person. They sit in the doorway

    and sing a ditty or beat their clap- dishes and sticks to attract

    attention, and if the shopkeeper has no customers he lets them

    keep up their cries, for he knows that the longer they are detained

    so much the more time will elapse before they come

    again to his shop. Many are blind and all present a sickly

    appearance, their countenances begrimed with dirt and furi’owed

    by sorrow and suffering. The very difficult question how to

    assist, restrain, and employ the poor has been usually left to the

    mercy and wisdom of the municipal officers in the cities ; and

    the results are not on the whole discreditable to their humanity

    and benevolence. Many persons give the headman a dollar or

    more per month to purchase exemption from the daily importunity

    of the beggars, and families about to have a house-warming,

    marriage, or funeral, as also jiewly arrived junks, are obliged

    to fee him t<» get rid of the clamorous and loathsome crowd.

    ^Travels in China, p. 96.

    OONTROL OF BEGGARS AND FIRES IN CITIES. 743

    When fires occur the officers of goveniinent are held responsible

    ; the law being that if ten houses are burned vntlmi

    the walls, tlie higliest officer in it shall l)e fined nine months’

    pay ; if more than thirtj-, a year’s sahiry ; and if three hundred

    are consumed, lie shall be degraded one degree. The governor

    and other high officers, attended by a few troops, are frequently

    seen at fires in Canton, as much to prevent thievery as

    to direct in extinguishing the flames. The engines ai’e hurried

    through tlie narrow streets at a fearful rate ; those who carry

    away property are armed with swords to defend it, and usually

    add to the crash of the burning houses by loud cries. The police

    do not hesitate to pull down houses if the fire can thereby

    be sooner extinguished, but there is no organized body of firemen,

    nor any well-arranged system of operations in such cases,

    thoufch conflagrations are ordinarilv soon under control. Cruel

    men often take the opportunity at such times to steal and carry

    off defenceless persons, especially young girls.

    At Canton the usage is general of levying a bonus on the

    owners of the houses adjacent to the burnt district, whose

    dwellings were saved by the exertions of the firemen, the appraisement

    decreasing as the distance increases ; the sum is divided

    among the firemen. The householders thus saved also

    employ priests to erect an altar near by, whereon to perform a

    service, and “return thanks for Heaven’s mercy.” On the

    whole, the fire control in China is superior to that in Turkey,

    where the firemen pay themselves for their efforts by extortions

    practised upon house-owners.

    The pagoda is a building considered as so peculiar to the

    Chinese that a landscape or painting relating to China without a

    pagoda perched on a hill—like one of Egyptian scenerj’ destitute

    of a pyramid—would be considered deficient. The ioxm. pagoda

    is used in its proper sense by most of the French and Portuguese

    writers to denote a temple for idols, but in English books it has

    always been appropriated to the polygonal towers seen throughout

    the country. Some confusion has arisen in consequence of applying

    the account of an immense temple full of idols to these

    towers. The English use is the most definite in China, although

    its misapplication is indefensible if we regard its derivation.

    The form of the (“liinesc tult is probably derived from the epire on the top of the Hindu dagoha, as its name is doubtless taken from the first syllable; but their purpose has so long been identitied with the geomantie inihK^nces which determine the hit’k of a place that the people do not associate them with Buddhism. Mr. Milne explains this in his remark that “the presence of such an edifice not only secures to the site the protection of heaven, if it already bears evidence of enjoying it, but represses any evil influences that may be native to the spot, and imparts to it the most salutary and felicitous omens.” ‘

    Those in the southern and central provinces seldom contain

    idols of any pretensions. They are ascended by stairways built

    in the thick walls on alternate sides of the stories. In the

    north there is another kind, designed to contain a she-li, or

    relic of Buddha, having a large room near the base for worshipping

    the -idol placed in it, but otherwise entirely solid and

    nearly uniform in size to the top ; the stories are merely numerous

    narrow projections, like eaves or string courses, on which

    hundreds of small images are sometimes placed. These structlu’es

    more nearly resemble the Indian dagoha than the other

    kind, and are always connected with a monastery, while those

    are not uniformly so placed, though under a priestly oversight.

    Xo town is considered complete without a pagoda, and many

    large cities have several ; there ]nust be nearly two thousand in

    the Empire, some of which are quite celebrated. It is rare to

    see a new one, and the ruinous condition of most of them indicates

    the weakness of the faith which erected them. They vary

    in height from five to thirteen stories, and are mostly built in

    so solid a manner that they are likely to remain for centuries.

    One at Ilangchau is octagonal, each face twenty-eight feet

    wide and the wall at the base eighteen feet thick ; the top is

    reached by a spiral stairway between the M’alls ; a covei-ed gallery

    on the outside of each story affords resting-places and everchanging

    views to the visitor; it is one hundred and seventy

    feet high, and Avas built during the Sung dynasty, in the twelfth

    ‘ Life in China, p. 453.

    century. The prospect from its summit is superb ; the picturescjiie coiubinatiou of sen aiul shore, land and water, city aiul country, wilderness, gardens, andliills, with many historical and religious associations interesting to a Jiativi;, make it one of the most charming landscapes in China.

    PAGODAS, THEIR PURPOSE AXD COXSTRUCTION. 74.J

    Sir John Davis visited one near Lintsing chau iu Shantung,

    in very good repair, inhabited hy Buddhist ])riests, and containing

    two idols ; each of its nine stories was inscribed with Otneto

    Fuh, in large characters. It was erected since the completion

    of the Grand Canal. A M’iuding stairway of near two hundred

    steps conducted to the top, about one hundred and fifty feet

    from the ground, from whence an extensive view was obtained

    of the surrounding counti’v. The basement was excellently

    built of granite, and all the rest of glazed brick, beautifully

    joined and cemented.

    The objects in building these structures being of a mixed nature,

    sometimes geomantic and sometimes religious, their materials,

    size, and structure vary considerably. There are two inside

    of Canton, and three near the Pearl Hiver, below the city ;

    fifteen others occur in the prefecture. Suchau has two, Xingpo

    one, Fuhchau two, and Peking six in and out of the Avails.

    One of those at Canton was built by the Moslems about a thousand

    years ago, a plain brick tower nearly two hundred feet

    high, from which the faithful were probably called to prayers in

    the adjacent mosque. Fergusson’s remarks upon Chinese architecture

    wcndd probably have been modified had the writer enjoyed

    a wider range of observation and a fuller knowledge of

    the designs of native builders. They are, however, the conclusions

    of a competent observer, and the position he gives to

    the pagoda among the tower-like buildings of the woi-ld, arising

    from its peculiar form, its divisions, and its apparent uselessness,

    will be genei-ally accepted as just.

    Mr. Milne, in his interesting work, has a good account of pagodas; he shows that while their model is of Hindu origin, and has been carefully followed since the first one was erected(about A.D. 250) at Nanking, the popular geomantic ideas connected with their octawnal form and great heii>:ht have “”radually increased and influenced their location. The Buddhists seem themselves to have lost their ancient confidence in the protection of the sJie-ll (or salna) supposed to be built in them. The number of Indian words transliterated in Chinese accounts of these edifices further proves their foreign origin. For convenience and accuracy in describing them, it would be best to restrict the term 2)a(joda to the hollow octagonal towers, the word dagoha to the solid ones covering the relics, and toj)e to the erections over priests when buried.

    Pagodas are sometimes made of cast iron ; those hitherto observed

    are in the central provinces. One exists in Chehkiang

    province, nearly fifty feet high and of nine stories. The octagonal

    pieces forming the walls are each single castings, as are also the

    plates forming the roof. The whole structure, including the

    base and spire, was made of twenty pieces of iron. Its interior

    is filled with brick, probably Mith the design to strengthen it

    ao;ainst storms. The ignorance of the Cliinese of later davs of

    the Hindu origin of pagodas has led to their regarding those

    now in existence as of native design, and appropi-iated by the

    Buddhists for their own ends. Most of them are falling to

    ruins ; and the assurances held out by the geomancers that the

    pagoda will act like an electric tractor to draw doAvn every

    felicitous omen from above, so that fire, water, wood, earth, and

    metal will be at the service of the people, the soil productive,

    trade prosperous, and the natives submissive and happy, all fail

    to call out funds for repairing them,’

    ^Voyages d Peking, Tome II., p. 79 ; Davis’ Sketclies, Vol. I., p. 213 ; PergiLsson, Indian and Eastern Architecture, 187G, p. ()!)5 ; Milne’s Life in China p. 429 seq.; Chinese Repositoi-y, Vol. XIX., pp. 535-540.

    MODES OF TRAVELLING, 747

    The dull appearance of a Chinese city when seen from a distance is unlike that of European cities, in which spires, domes, and towers of churches and cathedrals, halls, palaces, and other public buildings relieve the uniformity of rows of dwellings. In China, temples, houses, and palaces are nearly of one height ; their sameness being only partially relieved by trees mingled with pairs of tall flag-staffs with frames near their tops, which at a distance rather suggest the idea of dismantled gallows. Nature, however, charms and delights, and few countries present more beautiful landscapes ; even the tameness of the works of man serves as a foil for the diversified beauties of the cultivated landscape,

    A Chinese usually prefers to travel by water, and in the southeastern provinces it may be said that vehicles solely designed for carrying travelers or goods do not exist, for the carts and wheel l)arrows which are met with are few and miserably made. Ihit north of the Yangzi River, all over the Great Plain carts and wheelbarrows form the chief means of travel and transportation. The high cost of timber and the bad roads compel the people to make these vehicles very rude and strong, having axles and wheels able to bear the strains or upsets which befall them. Carts for goods are drawn by three or four horses

    Wheelbarrows Used for Travelling.

    usually driven tandem, and fastened Ijy long traces to the axletree,

    one remaining within the thills. The common carts,

    drawn by one or two mules, are oblong boxes fastened to an

    axle, covered -with cotton cloth, and cushioned to alleviate the

    jolting; the passengers get in and out at the front, where the

    driver sits close to the horse. In Peking the members of

    the imperial clan and family are allowed to use carts having the

    wheel behind the body ; their ranks are further indicated by a

    red or yellow covering, and a greater or less number of outriders

    to escort them. The wheelbarrow is in great use for short

    distances throughout the same region. The position of the wheel in the center enables the man to 2)rupel a heavy load readily. When on a good road, and aided by a donkey, the larger \arieties of barrow carry easily a burden of a ton’s weight ; two men are necessary to maintain the balance and guide the rather top-heavy vehicle.

    Where travelling by water is impossible, sedan chairs are used to carry passengers, and coolies with poles and slings transport their luggage and goods There are two kinds of sedan, neither of them designed for reclining like the Indian ^^(dl’ij.

    The light one is made of bamboo, and so narrow that the sitter is obliged to lean forward as he is carried ; the large one, called hiao^ is, whether viewed in regard to lightness^ comfort, or any other quality associated with such a mode of carriage, one of the most convenient articles found in any country. Its use is subject to sumptuary laws, and forbidden to the common people unless possessing some kind of rank. In Peking only the highest officials ride in them, with four bearers. In other cities two chairmen manage easily enough to maintain a gait of four miles an hour with a sedan upon their shoulders. Goods are carried upon poles, and however large or heavy the package may be, the porters contrive to subdivide its weight between them by means of their sticks and slings. The number of persons who thus gain a livelihood is great, and in cities they are employed by headmen, who contract for work just as carmen do elsewhere ; when unengaged by overseers, parties station themselves at corners and other public places, ready to start at a beck, after the manner of Dlenstuianner in German cities. In the

    streets of Canton groups of brawny fellows are often seen idling

    awa\’ their time in smoking, gambling, sleeping, or jeering at

    the wayfarers ; and, like the husbandmen mentioned in the

    parable, if one ask them why they stand there all the day idle?

    the answer will be, ” Because no man hath hired us.”

    SEDAX ClfAHIS AND KIVKll CHAFT. 740

    The chair-bearers form a distinct guild in cities, and the establishments where sedans and their bearers are to be hired suggest a comparison with the livery stables of western cities; the men, in fact, are nicknamed at Canton mo ml ma, ‘tailless horses.’ A vehicle used sometimes by the Emperor and high officers consists of an open chair set upon poles, so made that the inciinibeiit can 1×3 .sccii as avcU as si-e around him. It undergoes many changes in different parts of the country, as it is both cheap and iiglit and M’ell litted for traversing mountainous regions.

    In the construction and management of their river craft the Chinese exceh ^Vs boats are intended to be the residences of those who navigate them, regard is had to this in their arrangement.

    ^)uly a part of the fleets of boats seen on the river at (^anton ai’C intended for transportation, a large nundier being designed for fixed residences, and per]ia|>s half of them are pernianently moored. They are not t)bligcd to remain where they station themselves, but the boats and their inmates are both under the supervision of a M^ater police, who I’egister them and point out the position they may occupy. Barges for families, those in which oil, salt, fuel, or other articles are sold, lighters, passage-boats, flower-boats, and other kinds, are by this means grouped together, and more easily found. It was once ascertained that there were eighty-four thousand boats

    registered as belonging to the city of Canton, but whether all

    remained near the city and did not go to other parts of the district,

    or whether old ones were erased from Ihe register when

    broken up, was not determined. It is not likely, however, that

    at one time this luimber of boats ever lay opposite the citv.

    Ko (lueMdio has been at Canton can forget the noisy, animating

    sight the river offers, nor failed to have noticed the good humored carefulness with which boats of every size pass each other without collision.

    It is difficult to describe the many kinds of craft found t>n Chinese waters without the assistance of drawings. They are furnished with stern sculls moving upon a pivot, and easily propelling the boat. Large boats are furnished with two or three of these, which, when not in use, are conveniently haided in upon the side. They are provided with oars, the loom and blade of which are fastened by withs, and “work through a band attached to a stake ; the rower stands up and pushes his oar with the same motion as that employed by the A’enetian gondolier. Occasionally an oarsman is seen rowing with his feet.

    The mast in some large cargo boats consists of two sticks, resting Oil the gunwales, joined at top, and so arranged as to be hoisted from the boAv ; in those designed for residences no provision is made for a mast. Fishing boats, ligliters, and seagoing craft have one or two permanent masts. In all, except the smallest, a wale or frame projects from the side, on which the boatmen Avalk when poling the vessel. The sails in the south are “woven of strips of matting, sewed into a single sheet, and provided with yards at the top and bottom ; the bamboo ribs crossing it serve to retain the hoops that run on the mast, and enable the boatmen to haul them close on the wind. A driver is sometimes placed on the taifrail, and a small foresail near the bow, but the mainsail is the chief dependence. No Chinese boat has a bowsprit, and very few are coppered, or have two decks, further than an orlop in the stern quarter in which to stow provisions; no dead-lights give even a glimmer to these recesses, which are necessarily small.

    The internal arrangement of dwelling-boats is simple. The

    better sort are from sixty to eighty feet long, and about fifteen

    wide, divided into three rooms ; the stem is sharp, and upholds

    a platform on which, when they are moored alongside, it is

    easy to pass from one boat to another. Each one is secured by

    ropes to large hawsers which run along the whole line at the

    bow and stern. The room nearest the bow serves for a lobby

    to tlie pi’incipal apartment, which occupies about half the body

    of the boat ; the two are separated by trellis bulkheads, but the

    sternmost room, or sleeping apartment, is carefully screened.

    Cooking and wasliiug are performed on a high stern framework,

    wliicli is a(]miral)ly contrived, by means of furnaces and other

    conveniences above and hatches and partitions below deck, to

    serve all these purposes, contain all the fuel and water necessary,

    and answer for a sleeping place as well. By means of

    awnings and frameworks the top of the l)oat also subser\’es

    many objects of work or pleasure. The window-shutters are

    movable, fitted for all kinds of weather and for fiexibility of

    arrangement, meeting all the demands of a family and the particular

    service of a vessel ; nothing can be more ingenious.

    Tiie lumdsomest of these craft are called hica ting, or flowerboats,

    and are let to parties for pleasure excursions on tlie river,-

    d\vp:lleiis on the water. 751

    a large proportion of them are also the abodes of public women.

    The smaller sorts at Canton are generally known as tait.kia

    boats ; they are about tweuty-live feet long, coutain only one

    room, and are fitted with moveable mats to cover the whole

    vessel ; they are usually rowed by women. In these ” egghouses

    ” whole families are reared, live, and die ; the room which

    serves for passengers by day is a bedroom by night ; a kitchen

    at one time, a washroom at another, and a nursery always.

    As to this custom of living upon the water, we have an interesting testimony of its practice so far back as the fourteenth century, from the letter of a Dominican Friar in 1330. ” The realm of Cathay,” writes the missionary, ” is peopled passing well And there be many great rivers and great sheets of water throughout the Empire; insomuch that a good half of the realm and its territory is under water. And on these waters dwell great multitudes of people because of the vast population that there is in the said realm. They build wooden houses upon boats, and so their houses go up and down upon the waters; and the people go trafficking in their houses from one province to another, whilst they dwell in these houses with all their families, with their wives and children, and all their household utensils and necessaries. And so they live upon the waters all the days of their life. And there the women be brought to bed, and do everything else just as people do who dwell upon diy land.” ‘

    ‘ Yule, Cat/iay and t/ie Way TMthn\ Vol. I., p. 243.

    It is unnecessary to particularize the various sorts of lighters or c7toj)-hoats found along the southern coast, the passenger boats plying from town to town along the hundreds of streams, and the smacks, revenue cutters, and fishing craft to be seen in all waters, except to call attention to their remarkable adaptation for the ends in view. The best sorts are made in the southern provinces; those seen at Tientsin or Niuchwang suffer by comparison for cleanliness, safety, and speed, owing partly to the high price of wood and the less use made of them for dwellings. On the head waters of the River Ivan the boats are of a peculiarly light construction, with upper works entirely of matting, and the liull like a crescent, well fitted to encounter the rapids and rocks which beset their course.

    Besides these various kinds the revenue service employs a narrow, sharp-built boat, j^ropelled by forty or fifty I’owers, armed with swivels, spears, boarding-hooks, and pikes, and lined on the sides with a menacing array of rattan shields painted with tigers’ heads. Smugglers have simihirly made boats, and now and then imitate the government boats in their appearance, which, on their part, often compete with them in smuggling. In 1S<!3 the imperial government was induced to adopt a national flag for all its own vessels, which will no doubt gradually extend to merchant craft. It is triangular in shape, and has a dragon with the head looking upward. It is usual for naval officers to exhibit long yellow flags with their official titles at full length ; the vessels under them are distinguished by various pennons. Junks carry a great assortment of flags, triangular and square, of white, red, and other colors, most of them bearing inscriptions. The number of governmental boats and war junks, and those used for transporting the revenue and salt, is proportionately very snuill ; but if all the craft found on the rivers and coasts of China be included, their united tonnage perhaps equals that of all other nations put together. The dwellers on the water near Canton are not, as has been sometimes said, debaiTed from living ashore. A boat can be built cheaper than a brick house, and is equally comfortable; it is kept clean easier, pays no ground-rent, ainl is not so (ibnoxious to fire and thieves. Most of them are constructed c^f fir or jtine and smeared with wood oil; the seams are caulked with i-attan shavings and paid over with a cement (»f oil and gvpsum. The sailing craft are usually flat-bottomed, shai-i)foi-wai'(l, and guided by an enormous i-udder which can be hoisted through the open stern sheets when in shallow waters. The teak-Mood anchors have iron-bound flukes, held bycoii’or bamboo hawsers— now often replaced by iron chain and giapnel.’

    ‘Compare an article by W. F. Mayers in Notes and Queries on C. and J.,Vol. I., pp. 170-173 (with illustrations) ; Mrs. Gray, Fourteen Months in Canton, passim ; Dr. Edkins in Journal JV! H. Br. R. A. Soc, Vol. XT., p. 12:5; Doolittl.?, VoMihvliry, Part ITT., No. LXVTTT ; Enirin.-.M- J. W. Kiuir in The United Service, Vol. IT., p. 383 (Phila., 1880).

    RKVENUK BOATS AND J UN Kb. 753

    The ()1<1 picturesque junk, with its bulging Inill, high steni, and great eyes on tlu; Itow, is rapidly disappearing before steamers. Its original model is said to he a huge sea monster; the teeth at the cutwater and top of the bow detine its mouth, the long boards on each side of the bow form the armature of the head, the eyes being painted on them, the masts and sails are ^he tins, and the high stern is the tail frisking aloft. The cabins look more like niches in a sepulchre than the accommodations for a live passenger. The crew live upon deck most of the time, and are usually interested in the trade of the vessel or an adventure of their own. The hold is divided into watertight compartments, a contrivance that has its advantages when the vessel strikes a rock, but prevents her carrying a cargo comparable to her size. The great number of passengers which have been stowed in these vessels entailed a frightful loss of life when they Mere wrecked. In February, 1822, Capt. Pearl, of the English ship Indiana, coming through Gaspar Straits, fell in with the cargo and crew of a wrecked junk, and saved one hundred and ninety-eight persons (out of one thousand six hundred with whom she had left Amoy), whom he landed at Pontianak ; this humane act cost him $55,000.”

    Among secondary architectural works deserving notice are bridges and honoraiy jiortals. There is good reason for supposing that the Chinese have been acquainted with the arch from very early times, though they make comparatively little use of it. Certain bridges have pointed arches, others have semicircular, and others approach the form of a horse-shoe, the transverse section of an ellipse, or even like the Greek /2, the space being widest at the top. In some the arch is high for the accommodation of boats passing beneath; and where no heavy wains or carriages cross and jar the fabric, it can safely be made light. A graceful specimen of this class is the structure seen in the illustration on page T54. This bridge, though serving no practical purpose, is one of the greatest ornaments about the Emperor’s summer palace of Yuan-ming Yuan. The material is marble; its summit is reached by forty steps rising abruptly from the causeway, and impracticable, of course, for any but pedestrians.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 149. Vol. I.—48

    BRIDGES IN CHINA. 755

    The balustrades and paving of the long marble bridges near Peking and Hangzhou, some of them adorned with statues of elephants, lions, and other animals, present a pleasing effect, while their solidity and endurance of freshes running over the top at times attest the skill of the architects. Wooden bridges furnish means for crossing small streams in all parts of the land; when the river is powerful, or the rise and fall of the tide great, it is crossed on boats fastened together, with contrivances for drawing out two or three in the centre when the passing craft demand a passage. At Tientsin, Ningbo, and other cities, this means of crossing entails little delay in comparison to its cheapness.

    Some of the bridges in and about Peking are beautiful structures; their erection, however, presented no difficult problem, while that at Fuhchau was a greater feat of engineering.

    It is about four hundred yards long and five wide, consisting of nearly forty solid buttresses of hewn stone placed at unequal distances and joined by slabs of granite; some of these slabs arc three feet square and forty-five feet long. They support a granite pavement. The bridge was formerly lined with shops, which the increased traffic has caused to be removed. Another similar bridge lies seven miles north of it on the River Min, and a third of equal importance at the city of Chinchew, north of Amoy. Some of the mountain streams and passes in the west and north are crossed by rope bridges of ingenious construction, and by chain suspension bridges.

    Mr. Lowrie describes a bridge at Changchau, near Amoy, and these structures are more numerous in the eastern provinces than elsewhere. ” It is built on twenty-live piles of stone about thirty feet apart, and perhaps twenty feet each in height. Large round beams are laid from pile to pile, and smaller ones across in the simplest and rudest manner; earth is then placed above these and the top paved with brick and stone. One would suppose that the work had been assigned to a number of different persons, and that each one had executed his part in such manner as best suited his own fancy, there being no regularity whatever in the paving. Bricks and stone were intermingled in the most confused manner, and the railing was here wood and there stone. We were particularly struck Math the length of some of the granite stones used in paving the bridge; one was eight, another eleven, and three others eighteen paces, or about forty-five feet long, and two broad. The bridge averaged eight or ten feet in width, and about half its length on both sides was occupied by shops.”‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. XII., p. 528 ; Medhurst’s HohJceen Dictionary, Introduction pp. XXII, XXIII.

    A causeway of ninety arches crosses a feeder of the Grand Canal near Hangchau. The stones for the arch in one bridge noticed by Barrow were cut so as to form a segment of the arch, and at each end were mortised into transverse blocks of stone stretching across the bridge ; they decreased in length from ten feet at the spring of the arch to three at the vertex, and the summit stone was mortised, like the rest, into two transverse blocks lying next to it.* (* Barrow’s Travels, p. 338.)The tenons were short, and the disposition of tlio principal pieces such that a bridge built in tliit^ way “would not support great weights or endure many ages.

    The mode oi” placing the pieces can be seen in the cut. In other instances the stones are laid in the same manner as in Europe; many small bridges over creeks and canals have cambered or straight arches. When one of these structures falls into ruins or becomes dangerous, the people seldom bestir themselves to repair the damage, preferring to wait for the government ; they thereby lose the benefit of self-dependence and action.

    Bridge showing the mode of Moitising the Arch.

    TAI-LAU, OR irOXOKAUY rOlJTALS. 7o7

    It is singular how the term triumphal arch came to be applied to tha j)al-fan<j und jxii-lau, or honorary portals or tablets, of the Chinese; for a triumph was perhaps never heard of in that country, and these structures are never arched. They consist merely of a broad gateway flanked with two smaller ones, and suggest a turnpike gate Mitli side-ways for foot passengers rather than a triumphal monument. They are scattered in great numbers over the provinces, and are erected in honor of distinguished persons, or by officers to commemorate their parents, by special favor from the Emperor. Some are put up in honor of women who liiive distinguished thoiiiHclves for their cliastity and filial duty, or to widows who have refused a second marriage. Permission to erect them is considered a high honor, and perhaps the term tflant_p/ud was given them from this circumstance.

    The economical and peaceful nature of such honors conferred upon distinguished men in China is most characteristic; a man is allowed to build a stone gateway to himself or his parents, and the Emperor furnishes the inscription, or perhaps sends with it a patent of nobility. Their general arrangement is exhibited in the title page of this work; the two characters, f<Jiin(j c/ii, at the top, meaning ‘ sacred will,’ intimate that it was erected by his Majesty’s permission.

    Some of the J>al-l(( (6 are elaborately ornamented with carved work and inscriptions; and as a protection to the frieze a ponderous covering of tiles projects over the top, which, however, exposes the structure to injury from tempests. They are placed in conspicuous places in the outskirts of towns, and in the streets before temples or near government edifices. Travellers looking for what they had read about have sometimes strangely mistaken the gateways at the heads of streets or the entrance to temples for the honorary portals.’ Those built of stone are fastened by mortises and tenons in the same manner as the wooden ones ; they seldom exceed twenty or twenty-five feet in height. The skill and taste displayed in the symmetry and carving upon some of them are creditable ; but as the man in wdiose honor it is erected is, generally speaking, “the architect of his own fame,” he prudently considers the worth of that commodity, and makes an inferior structure to what would have been done if his fellow-subjects, ” deeply sensible of the honor,” had come together to appoint a committee and open a subscription list for the purpose. Among the numerous ^>^//-Zc^?^, in and near Peking, two or three deserve mention for their beauty.

    One lies in the Confucian Temple in front of the Plh-yung Kung, and is designed to enhance the splendor, of its approach by presenting, as it were, a frame before its facade. It is built of stone and overlaid with square encaustic tiles of many hues.

    ‘ Encyclopedia Americana, Art. Canton.

    The arrangement of the colors, the carving on the marble, and the fine proportions of the structrue render it altogether one of the most artistic objects in China. Another like it is built in the Imperial Park, but the position is not so advantageous.

    Fergusson points out the similarity between tho&e pai-lau and certain Hindu gateways, and claims that India furnished the model. The question of priority isliardly susceptible of proof; but his fancy that a \iirge pai-lau in a street of Amoy presented a simulated coffin on it above the principal cornice, leads us to suspect that he was looking for what was never in the builder’s mind.

    The construction of forts and towers presents little worthy of

    observation, since there is no other evidence of science than what

    the erection of lines of massive stone Avail displays. The portholes

    are too large for protection and the parapet too slight to

    resist modern missiles. The Chinese idea of a fortification is

    a wall along the water s edge, with embrasures and battlements,

    and a plain wall landwai’d without port-holes or. parapets, enclosing

    an area in which a few houses accommodate the garrison

    and ammunition. Some erected at the junction of streams are

    pierced on all sides ; others are so unscientifically jilanned that

    the walls can be scaled at angles where not a single gun can be

    brought to bear. The towers are rectangular edifices of brick

    on a stone foundation, forty feet square and fifty or sixty high,

    to be entered by ladders through a door half way up the side.

    The forts in the neighborhood of Canton, probably among the best in the Empire, are all constructed without fosse, bastion, glacis, or counter-defence of any kind. Both arrangement and placement are alike faulty : some are square and approachable without danger; others circular on the outer face but with flank or rear exposed; others again built on a hillside like a pound, so that the garrison, if dislodged from the battlements, are forced to fly up the slope in full range of their enemy’s fire. The gate is on the side, unprotected by ditch, drawbridge, or portcullis, and poorly defended by guns upon the walls or in the area behind. In general the points chosen for their forts display a misapprehension of the true principles of defence, though Bome may be noted as occupying commanding positions.

    MILITAKY Ar.dllTKCTUUE—DRKSS. 759

    111 recent times mud defences and batteries of sand-bags have proved a much safer defence than such buildings against ships and artillery, and show the aptitude of the people to adopt practical things. Though not particularly resolute on the held, the Chinese soldier stands well to his guns when behind a fortification of whose strength he is assured. The forts which have recently been constructed under supervision of European engineers are rapidly taking the place of native works in all parts of the country.

    Dress, like other things, undergoes its changes in China, and fashions alter there as well as elsewhere, but they are not as rapid or as strikhig as among European nations. The full costume of both sexes is, in general terms, commodious and graceful, combining all the purposes of warmth, beauty, and ease which could be desired, excepting always the shaven crown and braided queue of the men and the crippled feet of the women, in both of which fashions they have not less outraged nature than deformed themselves. On this point different tastes exist, and some prefer the close-fitting dress of Europeans to the loose robes of Asiatics ; but when one has become in a measure habituated to the latter, one is willing to allow the force of the criticism that the European male costume is ‘* a mysterious combination of the inconvenient and the unpicturesque : hot in summer and cold in winter, useless for either keeping off rain or

    sun, stiif but not plain, bare without being simple, not durable,

    not becoming, and not cheap.” The Chinese dress has remained,

    in its general style, the same for centuries ; and garments of fur

    or silk are handed down from parent to child without fear of

    attracting attention by their antique shapes. The fabrics most

    worn are silk, cotton, and grass-cloth for summer, with the addition

    of furs and skins in winter ; woollen is used sparingly, and

    ahiiost wholly of foreign manufacture.

    Barber’s Establishment Dress of the Common People.

    VARIETY AND MATERIAL OP APPAREL. 761

    The principal articles of dress are inner and outer tunics of various lengths made of cotton or silk, reaching below the loins or to the feet ; the lapel on the right side folds over the breast and fits close about the neck, which is left uncovered. The sleeves are much wider and longer than the arms, have no cuffs or facings, and in common cases serve for pockets. A Chinese, instead of saying ” he pocketed the book,” would say ” he sleeved it.” In robes of ceremony the end of the sleeve resembles a horse’s hoof, and good breeding requires the hand to be kept in a position to exhibit the cuff when sitting. In warm weather one upper garment is deemed sufficient; in winter a dozen can be put on without discommodity, and this number is sometimes actually seen upon persons engaged in sedentary employments, or on those who sit in the air. Latterly, underwear of flannel has become common among the better dressed, who like the knitted fabric so close-fitting and warm. The lower limbs are comparatively slightly protected ; a pair of loose trousers, covered;o the knee by cloth stockings, is the usual summer garment; tight leggings are pulled over both in winter and attached to the girdle by loops ; and as the trousers are rather vohiiriiiions and the tunic short, the excess shows behind from luider these leggings in a rather unpleasant manner. Gentlemen and officers always wear a robe with the skirt opened at the sides, which conceals this intermission of the imder apparel. The colors preferred for outer garments are various hues of buff, purple, oi blue.

    The shoes are made of silk or cotton, usually embroidered for women’s wear in red and other colors. The soles are of felt, sometimes of paper inside a rim of felt, and defended on the bottom by hide. These shoes keep the feet dry and unchilled on the tiles or ground, so that a Chinese nuiy be said really to carry the floor of his house under his feet instead of laying it on the ground. The thick soles render it necessary for ease in walking to round up their ends, which constrains the toes into an elevated position so irksome that all go slipshod who conveniently can do so. The cost of a cotton suit need not exceed five dollars, and a complete silken one, of the gayest colors and best materials, can easily be procured for twenty-five or thirty. Quilted cotton garments are exceedingly common, and are so made as to protect the whole person from the cold and obviate the need of fires. In the north dressed sheepskin i-()l)os furnish bedding as well as garments, and their durability will long make them more desirable than woven fabrics.

    The ancient Chinese wore the hair long, bound upon the top of the head, somewhat after the style of the Lewchewans; and taking pride in its glossy black, called themselves the black-haired race. But in 1627 the Manchus, then in possession of only Liautung, issued an order that all Chinese under them should adopt their coiffure as a sign of allegiance, on penalty of death; the fashion thus begun by compulsion is now followed from choice. The fore part of the head is shaved to the crown and the hair braided in a single plait behind. Laborers often wind it about the head or knot it into a ball out of the way when barebacked or at work. The size of the queue can be enlarged by permitting an additional line of hair to grow; the appearance it gives the M-earer is thus described by Mr. Downing, and the quotation is not an unfair specimen of the remarks of travelers upon China : ” At the hotel one of the waiters was dressed in a pecuhar manner about the head. Instead of the hair being shaved in front, he had it cut round the top of the forehead about an inch and a half in length. All the other part was tiu-ned as usual and plaited down the back. This thin semi-circular ridge of hair was then made to stand bolt upright, and as each hair was separate and stiff as a bristle, the whole looked like a very fine-toothed comb turned upward. This I imagined to be the usual way of dressing the head by single unengaged youths, and of course must be very attractive.”” Thus what the wearer regarded as ill-looking, and intended to braid in as soon as it was long enough, is here taken as a device for beautifying himself in the eyes of those he never saw or cared to see.

    Tricks Played with the Queue.

    OFFICIAL COSTUMES. 763

    The people are vain of a long thick queue, and now and then play each other tricks with it, as well as use it as a ready means for correction ; but nothing irritates them more than to cut it off. Men and women oftener go bareheaded than covered, warding off the sun by means of a fan ; in winter felt or silk skull-caps, hoods, and fur protect them from cold. Laborers shelter themselves from rain under an umbrella hat and a grotesque thatchwork of leaves neatly sewn upon a coarse network—very effectual for the purpose. In illustration of the remailv at the beginning of this chapter, it might be added that if they were not worn on the head such hats woukl be called ti-ays, so unlike are they to the English article of that name. The formal head-dress is the conical straw or felt hat so peculiar to this nation, usually covered with a red fringe of silk or hair.

    The various forms, fabrics, colors, and ornaments of the dresses

    worn by grades of officers are regulated by sumptuary laws.

    Citron-yellow distinguishes the imperial family, but his Majesty’s

    apparel is less showy than many of his courtiers, and in all

    that belongs to his own personal use there is an appearance of

    disregard of ornament. The five-clawed dragon is figured upon

    the dress and whatever pertains to the Emperor, and in certain

    things to members of his family. Tlie nionarchs of China formerly

    wore a sort of flat-topped crown, shaped somewhat like

    a Cantab’s cap, and having a row of jewels pendent from each

    side. The sunnner bonnet of officers is made of finely woven

    straw covered with a red fringe ; in winter it is trimmed with

    fur. A string of beads hanging over an embroidei’ed robe, a

    round knob on the cap, thick-soled satin boots, two or three

    pouches for fans or chopsticks, and occasionally a watch or two

    hanging from the girdle, constitute the principal points of difference

    between the official and plebeian costume. No company

    of men can appeal- more splendid tlian a large pai’ty of officers

    in their winter robes made of fine, lustrous crapes, trimmed

    with rich furs and brilliant with gay embroidery. In winter a silk or fur spencer is worn over the robe, and forms a handsome and warm garment. Lambskins are much used, and the downy coats of unyeaned lambs, which, with the finer furs and the skins of hares, wild cats, rabbits, foxes, wolves, otter, squirrels, etc., are worn by all I’anks. Some years ago a lad used to parade the streets of Canton, who presented an odd appearance in a long spencer made of a tiger’s skin. The Chinese like strong contrasts in the colors of their garments, sometimes wearing yellow leggings underneath a light blue robe, itself set off by a purple spencer.

    The dress of women is likewise liable to few fluctuations, and all ranks can be sure that the fashion will last as long as the gown. The garments of both sexes among the common people resemble each other more than in Western Asia. The tunic oi short gown is open in front, buttoning around the neck and under the arm, reaching to the knee, like a smock-frock in its general shape. The trousers among the lower orders are usually worn over the stockings, both being covered, on ceremonial occasions, by a petticoat reaching to the feet. Laboring women, whose feet are left their natural size, go barefoot or slipshod in the M-arni latitudes, but cover their feet carefully farther north. Both sexes have a paucity of linen in their habiliments—if not a shiftless, the Chinese certainly are a shirtless race, and such undergarments as they have are not too often washed.

    The head-dress of married fenuiles is becoming and even elegant.

    The copious black hair is bound upon the head in an

    oval-formed knot, which is secured in its place and shape by a

    broad pin placed lengthwise on it, and fastened by a shorter ona

    thrust across and under the bow. The hair is drawn back from

    the forehead into the knot, and elevated a little in front by combino;

    it over the fiuo’er ; in order to make it lie smooth the locks

    are drawn through resinous shavings moistened in warm M^ater,

    which also adds an exti-a gloss, at the cost, however, of injury

    to the hair. In front of the knot a tube is often inserted, in

    which flowers can be placed. The custom of wearing them is

    nearly universal, fresh blossoms being preferred wdien obtainable,

    and artificial at other times. Having no covering on the head

    there is more opportunity than in the west to display pretty

    devices in arranging the hair. A widow is known by her white

    flowers, a maiden by one or two plaits instead of a knot, and so on; in their endless variety of form and ornament, Chinese women’s head-dresses furnish a source of constant study. Mr. Stevens tells us that the animated appearance of the dense crowd which assembled on the bridge and banks of the river at Fuhchau when he passed in 1835, was still more enlivened by the flowers worn by the women.

    COSTUMES OF CHINESE WOMEN. 765

    Matrons wear an embroidered fillet on the forehead, an inch or more wide, pointed between the eyebrows, and covering the front of the hair though not concealing the baldness which often comes on early from the resinous l)and()line used. This fillet is embroidered, or adorned with pearls, a favorite ornament with Chinese ladies. The women along the Yangzi River wear a band of fur around the head, which relieves their colorless complexions.

    A substitute for l)onnets is common in summer, consisting of a flat piece of straw trimmed with a fringe of blue cloth. The hair of children is unbound, but girls more advanced allow^ the side locks to reach to the waist and plait a tress down the neck ; their coarse hair does not curl, and the beautiful luxuriance of curls and ringlets seen in Europe is entirely unknown.

    False hair is made use of by both sexes, the men being particularly fond of eking out their queues to the fullest length. Gloves are not worn, the long sleeves being adequate for warmth; in the north the ears are protected from freezing by ear-tabs lined with fur, and often furnished with a tiny looking-glass on the outside.

    The dress of gentlewomen, like that of their husbands, is

    regulated by sumptuary laws, but none of these prevent their

    costumes from being as splendid as rich silks, gay colors, and

    beautiful embroidery can make them. The neck of the robe is

    protected by a stiff band, and the sleeves are large and long,

    just the contrary of the common style, which being short allows

    the free use and display of a well-turned arm. The official embroidery

    allowed to the husband is changed to another kind on

    his wife’s robe indicative of the same rank. No belt or girdle

    is seen, nor do stays compress the waist to its lasthig injury.

    One of the prettiest parts of a lady’s dress is the petticoat, which appears about a foot below the upper robe covering the feet. Each side of the skirt is plaited about six times, and in front and rear are two pieces of buckram to which they are attached; the plaits and front pieces are stiffened with wire and lining. Embroidery is worked upon these two pieces and the plaits in such a way that as the wearer steps the action of the feet alternately opens and shuts them on each side, disclosing a part or the whole of two different colored figures, as may be seen in the illustration. The plaits are so contrived that they are the same when seen in front or from behind, and the effect is more elegant when the colors are well contrasted. In order to produce this the plaits close around the feet, unlike the wider skirt of western ladies.

    Ornaments are less worn by the Chinese than other Asiatic

    nations. The men suspend a string of fragrant beads together

    with the tobacco-pouch from the jacket lapel, or occasionally

    wear seal-rings, linger- rings, and armlets of strass, stone, oi

    glass. They are by law prohibited from carrying weapons of

    any sort. The women wear bangles, bracelets, and ear-rings of

    glass, stone, and metal ; most of these appendages are regarded

    more as amulets to ward off evil influences than mere orna*

    raents. Felicitous charms, such as aromatic bags, old coins,

    and rings, are attached to the persons of children, and few

    adults venture to go through life without some preservative of

    this kind ; no sacred thread or daub of clay, as in India, is

    known, however, nor any image of a saint or other figurine, as

    in Ttomish countries. The queer custom of wearing long nails

    is practised by comparatively few ; and although a man or

    woman with these appendages would not be deemed singular, it

    is not regarded as in good taste by well-bred persons. Pedantic

    scholars wear them more than other professions, in order to

    show that they are above manual labor ; but the longest set the

    writer ever saw was, oddly enough, o’n a carpenter’s fingers, who

    thereby showed that he was not obliged to use his tools. Fine

    ladies protect theirs with silver sheaths.

    The practice of compressing the feet, so far as investigation has gone, is more an inconvenient than a dangerous custom, for among the many thousands of patients who have received aid in the missionary hospitals, few have presented themselves with ailments chargeable to this source. A difference of opinion exists respecting its origin. Some accounts state that it arose from a desire thereby to remove the reproach of the club feet of a popular empress, others that it gradually came into use from the great admiration of and attempt to imitate delicate feet, and others that it was imposed by husbands to keep their wives from gadding.’ Its adoption was gradual, however it may have commenced, and not without resistance. It is practised

    ‘ It is recorded that Hau-Chu, of the Chin dynasty, in the year a.d. 583 ordered Lady Yao to bind hor feet so as to make them looli like the new moon; and Uiat the evil fashion has since prevaili’d against all subsequent prohibitions.—^o/^^s «//(/ Q’lcr/cs on Ghina and Jajxtn, Vol. II., pp. 37 and 43.

    MANNER OF COMPRESSING THE FEET. 767

    by all classes of society except the Manchus and Tartars, poor as

    well as rich (for none are so poor as not to wish to be fashionable)

    ; and so habituated does one become to it after a residence

    in the country, that a well-dressed lady with large feet seems

    to be denationalized. There is no certain age at which the

    operation nnist be commenced, but in families of easy circumstances

    the bandages are put on before five; otherwise not until

    betrothment, or till seven or eight years old. The whole operation

    is performed, and the shape maintained, by bandages,

    which are never permanently removed or covered by stockings;

    iron or wooden shoes are not used, the object being rather to

    prevent the feet growing than to make them smaller.

    A good account of the effects of this practice is given in a paper contained in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, written by Dr. Cooper, detailing the appearances presented on dissection.

    The foot belonged to a person in low life ; it was five and one-fourth inches long, which is full eighteen lines over the most fashionable size. The big toe was bent upward and backward on the foot, and the second twisted under it and across, so that the extremity reached the inner edge of the foot. The third toe somewhat overlapped the second, but lying less obliquely, and reaching to the first joint of the great toe. The ball of the great toe, much flattened, separated these two from the fourth and fifth toes. The fourth toe stretched obliquely inward under the foot, but less so than the little toe, which passed under and nearly across the foot, and had been bound down so strongly as to bend the tarsal bone. The dorsum of the foot was much curved, and a deep fissure crossed the sole and separated the heel and little toe, as if the two ends of the foot had been forced too-ether ; this was filled for three Appearance of the Bones of a

    Foot when Compressed.

    inches with a very condensed cellular tissue; the instep waa

    three and one-half inches high. The heel-bone, which naturally

    forms a considerable angle with the ankle, was in a direct Ihie

    with the leg-bones ; and the heel itself was large and flat,

    covered with a peculiarly dense integument, and forming, with

    the end of the metatarsal bone of the great toe and the two

    smallest toes bent under the sole, the three points of taction in

    walkino-. When the operation is begun earlier, and the bones

    are more flexible, four of the toes are bent under the foot and

    only the big toe laid upon the top. The development of the

    nniscles of the calf being checked, the leg tapers from the knee

    downward, though there is no particular w^eakness in the limb.

    The appearance of the deformed member when uncovered is shocking, crushed out of all proportion and beauty, and covered with a wrinkled and lifeless skin like that of a washerwoman’s hand. It is surprising how the circulation is kept up in the member without any pain or wasting away ; the natural supposition would be that if any nutriment M’as conveyed to it, there would be a disposition to grow until maturity was attained, and consequently constant pain ensue, or else that it would be destroyed or mortify for want of nourishment.

    Feet of Chinese Ladies.

    PllEVALENCP] OF THE FASTnON”.—LADIES SHOES. im

    The gait of these victims of fashion can be imitated by a l)erson walking on the heels. Women walking alone swing their arms and step quick and short, elderly women availing themselves, when practicable, of an umbrella, or leaning upon the shoulder of a lad or maid for support—literally making a walking-stick of them. The })ain is said to be severe at first, and a recurrence now and then is felt in the sole ; but the evident freedom fiom distress exhibited in the little girls who are seen walking or playing in the streets, proves that the amount of suffering and injm-ious effects upon life and health are perhaps not so great as has been imagined. The case is different when the girl is not victimized until ten or more years old. The toes are then bent under and the foot forced into the smallest compass ; the agony arising from the constrained nniscles and excoriated ilesli is dreadful, while, too, the shape of the member is, even in Chinese eyes, a burlesque upon the beautiful little ness so nnich desired.

    Shape of a Lady’s Shoe.

    The opinion prevails abroad that only the daughters of the rich or learned pay this price to Dame Fashion. A greater proportion is indeed found among the well-to-do classes, and in the southern provinces near the rivers the unfashionable form perhaps half of the whole ; for those who dwell in boats, and all who in early life may have lived on the water or among the farmsteads, and slave girls sold in infancy for domestics, are usually left in the happy though low-life freedom of nature. Close observation in the northern provinces show general adoption of the usage among the poor, whose feet are not, however, usually so small as in the south. Foreigners, on their arrival at Canton or Fuhchau, seeing so many women with natural feet on the boats and about the streets, wonder where the ” little-footed Celestials” they had heard of were, the only specimens they see being a few crones by the wayside mending clothes. Across the Mei ling range the proportion increases. All the women who came to the hospital at Chusan in 1841, to the number of eight hundred or one thousand, had their feet more or less cramped ; and some of them walked several miles to the hospital and home again the same day. Although the operation may be less painful than has been represented, the people are so much accustomed to it that most men would refuse to M^ed a woman whose feet were of the natural size ; and a man who should find out that his bride had large feet when he expected small ones would be exonerated if he instantly sent her back to her parents. The kin lien, or ‘golden lilies,’ are desired as the mark of gentility ; the hope of rising to be one of the upper ten, and escaping the roughness and hard work attached to the lower class, goes far to strengthen even children to endure the pain and loss of free d(tin consequent on the practice. The secret of the prevalence of the cruel custom is the love of ease and praise; and not till the principles of Christianity extend will it cease. In Peking, where the Manchus have shown the advantages nature has over fashion, the example of their women for two hundred and fifty years, aided by the earnest efforts of the great Emperor Kanghi, has not had the least effect in inducing Chinese ladies to give it up. The shoes are made of red silk and prettily embroidered; hut no one acquainted with Chinese society would say that “if a lady ever breaks through the prohibition against displaying her person’, she presents her feet as the surest darts with which a lovers heart can be assailed ! ” ‘

    Cosmetics are used by females to the serious injury of the

    skin. On grand occasions the face is entirely bedaubed Nvitli

    white paint, aiul rouge is added to the lips and clieeks, giving a

    singular starched appearance to the physiognomy. A girl thus

    l)eautified has no need of a fan to hide her blushes, for they

    cannot be seen through the paint, her eye being the only index

    of emotion. The eyebrows are blackened with charred sticks,

    and arched or narrowed to resemble a nascent willow leaf, or the moon when first seen—as in the ballad translated by Mr. Stent, which pictures the beauty as possessing

    Eyebrows shaped likt^ loaves of willows
    Drooping over “autumn billows;”
    Almond shaped, oi’ liciiiid brightness,
    Were the eyes of Yang-gui-fei.

    ‘ Murray’s OJiiiirt, Vol. II., p. 266. Compare the Chinese Repository, Vol. III., p. r)37; Hee. dc Mem. tic Meleriiic iinlil. (Paris), 1802-63 -04 passim; Clihirse Il/ror(f<r, Vols. I., II., and III. passim (mostly a series of articles on this subject by Dr. I)udg<M)n) ; T/ir Far Eaxl, February, 1877, p 27.

    ‘ The Jade Chiipht, p. 121.

    TOILET PRAOTICES. 771

    A belle is described as having cheeks like the almond llower, lips like a peach’s bloom, waist as the willow leaf, eyes bright as dancing ripples in the sun, and footsteps like the lotus flower. Much time and care is bestowed, or said to be, by females upon their toilet, but if those; in the upper classes have anything like the variety of domestic duties which their sisters in common life perform, they have little leisure left for superfluous adorning. If dramas give an index of Chinese manners and occupations, they do not convey the idea that most of the time of well-bred ladies is spent in idleness or dressing.

    At his toilet a Chinese uses a basin of tepid water and a cloth,

    and it has been aptly remarked that he never appears so dirty

    as when trying to clean himself. Shaving is done by the barber,

    for no man can shave the top of his head. Whiskers are never

    worn, even by the very few who have them, and mustaches are

    not considered proper for a man under forty. Snuff bottles and

    tobacco pipes ai”e carried and nsed by both sexes, but the practice

    of chewing betel-nut is confined to the men, M-ho, however,

    take nmch pains to keep their teeth white. Among ornamental

    articles of dress, in none do they go to so nmch expense and

    style as in the snuff bottle, which is often carved fi-om stone,

    amber, agate, and other rare miuerals with most exquisite taste.

    Snuff is put on the thumb-nail with a spoon fastened to the

    stopper—a more cleanly way than the European mode of ” pinching.”‘

    The articles of food which the Chinese eat, and the mode and

    ceremonies attending their feasts, have aided much in giving

    them the odd character they bear abroad, though uncouth or

    unsavory viands form an infinitesimal portion of tlieir food,

    and ceremonious feasts not one in a thousand of their repasts.

    Travellers have so often spoken of birdsnest soup, canine hams,

    and grimalkin fricassees, rats, snakes, worms, and other culinary

    novelties, served up in equally strange ways, that their readers

    get the idea that these articles form as large a proportion of

    the food as their description does of the narrative. In general,

    the diet of the Chinese is sufficient in variety, wholesome, and

    ‘ On Chinese costume, see Wm. Alexander, Tim Costume of China, illustrated, London, 1805; Mnnirs et Containes des CMnois et leurs costumes en couleur, j)’ii’ J. G. Grohmann, Leipzig; Breton, China: Its Costume, Arts, etr.,4 vols., translated from the French, London, 1813; another translation is from Auguste Borget, Sketches of China and ths Chinese, London, 1843 ; Illvstrations of China and, its People. A series of two hundred photorjrajths, with letterpress descriptive of the places and people represented, by J. Thompson, London, 1874, 4 vols. q.uarto.

    well cooked, tliongli many of the dishes arc unpalatable to a

    European from the vegetahlc oils used in their preparation, and

    the alliaceous plants introduced to savor them. In the assortment

    of dishes, Barrow has truly said that ” there is a wider

    diiference, perhaps, between the rich and the poor of China than

    in any other country. That wealth, which if permitted would

    be expended in flattering the vanity of its possessors, is now

    applied to the purchase of dainties to pamper the appetite.”

    The proportion of animal food is probably smaller among the

    Chinese than other nations on the same latitude, one platter of

    fish or flesh, and sometimes both, being the usual allowance on

    the tables of the poor, llice, maize, Italian millet, and wheat

    furnish most of the cereal food ; the first is emphatically the

    staff of life, and considered indispensable all over the land. Its

    louf use is indicated in the number of terms emr)loved to describe it and the variety of allusions to it in common expressions.

    To tale a meal is chifan, ‘eat rice;’ and the salutation equivalent to hoio cVije ? is cJuh l-wofan ? ‘ have you eaten rice?’ The grain is deprived of its skin by wooden pestles M’orked in a mortar by levers, either by a water-wheel or more conunonly by oxen or men. It is cleaned by rubbing it in an earthen dish scored on the inside, and steamed in a shallow iron bc>iler partly filled with water, over which a basket or sieve containing the rice is supported on a framework ; a M’ooden dish fits over the whole and confines the steam. By this process the kernels are thoroughly cooked without forming a pasty mass, as is too often the result when boiled by cooks in Christian countries.

    Bread, vegetables, and other articles are cooked in a

    similar manner; four or five sieves, each of them full and

    nicely fitting into each other, are placed upon the boiler and

    covered with a cowl ; in the water beneath, which supplies the

    steam, meats or other things are boiled at the same time. Wheat

    flour is boiled into cakes, dumplings, and other articles, but not

    baked into bread. Maize, buckwheatj oats, and barley are not

    ground, but the grain is cooked in various ways, alone or mixed

    with other dishes. Italian millet, or canary-seed {Setaria), furnishes

    a large amoimt of nutritious cereal food in tlic north ; the

    flour is yellow and sweet, and boiled or baked for eating, often

    VEGETABLES EATEN BY THE CHINESE. 773

    seasoned witli jujube plums in tlie cakes. Its cultivation is easy,

    and its proliiic crop makes up in a measure for the small seeds; ten thousand kernels have been counted on one spike in a good season.

    The Chinese have a long list of culinary vegetables, and much

    of their agriculture consists in rearing them. Leguminous and

    cruciferous plants occupy the largest part of the kitchen garden ;

    more than twenty sorts of peas and beans are cultivated, some

    for camels and horses, but mostly for men. Soij is njade by boiling

    the beans and mixing \vater, salt, and wheat, and producing

    fermentation by yeast ; its quality is inferior to the foreign.

    Another more common condiment, called bean curd or bean jam,

    is prepared by boiling and grinding black beans and mixing the

    flour with water, gypsum, and turmeric. The consumption of

    cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cress, colewort, and other

    cruciferous plants is enormous ; a great variety of modes are

    adopted for cooking, preserving, and improving them. The

    leaves and stems of many plants besides these ai-e included in

    the variety of greens, and a complete enumeration of them

    would form a curious list. Lettuce, sow thistle [Sonchus),

    spinach, celery, dandelion, succory, sweet basil, ginger, mustard,

    radishes, artemisia, amaranthus, tacca, pig weed {Chenopod’tum),

    burslane, shepherd’s purse, clover, ailantus, and others having

    no English names, all furnish green leaves for Chinese tables.

    Garlics, leeks, scallions, onions, and chives are eaten by all

    classes, detected upon all persons, and smelt in all rooms where

    they are eating or cooking. CVirrots, gourds, squashes, cucumbers,

    watermelons, tomatoes, turnips, radishes, brinjals, pumpkins,

    okers, etc., are among the list of garden vegetables; the

    variety of cucurbitaceous plants extends to nearly twenty. Most

    of these vegetables are inferior to the same articles in the markets

    of western cities, where science has improved their size or

    flavor. Several aquatic plants increase the list, among which

    the nelumbium covers extensive mai*shes in the eastern and

    northern provinces, otherwise unsightly and ban-en. The root

    is two or three feet lonp-, and piei-ced longitudinally with several

    holes ; when boiled it is of a yellowish color and sweetish taste,

    not unlike a turnip. Taro is used less than the nelumbium, and SO arc the water-caltrops {Trajxi) and water-cliestnuts. The taste of water-caltrops when boiled resembles that of new cheese; water-c’hostniits are the round roots of a kind of sedge, and resemble that fruit in color more than in taste, which is mealy and crisp. The sweet potato is the most common tuber ; although the Irish potato has been cultivated for scores of years it has not become a common vegetable among the people, except on the borders of Mongolia.

    The catalogue of fruits comprises most of those occurring elsewhere in the tropic and temperate zones, and China is probably the earliest home of the peach, plum, and pear. The pears arc large and juicy, sometimes weighing eight or ten pounds; the white and strawberry }>ear are equal to any western variety. The apples are rather dry and insipid. The peaches, plums, quinces, and apricots are better, and offer many good varieties. Cherries are almost unknown. The orange is the common fruit at the south, and the baskets, stalls, and piles of this golden fruit, mixed with and heightened by contrast with other sorts and with vegetables, which line the streets of Canton and Amoy in winter, present a beautiful sight. Many distinct species of Citrus, as the lemon, kumquot, pumelo, citron, and orange, are extensively cultivated.

    The most delicious is the vhu-sha I’ih, or ‘mandarin orange;’ the skin, when ripe, ,is of a cinnabar red color, and adheres to the pulp by a few loose fibres. The citron is more prized for its fragrance than taste, and the thick rind is now and then made more abundant by cutting it into strips when growing, each of which becomes a roundish end like a finger, whence the name of Fushou, or ‘Buddha’s hand,’ given it. It will remain uncorrupt for two or three mouths, diffusing an agreeable perfume.

    COMMON TABLE FRUITS. 775

    Chapter YI. contains brief notices of other fruits. The banana and persimmon are common, and several varieties are enumerated of each; the plantain is eaten raw and cooked, and forms a large item in the subsistence of the poor. The pomegranate, carambola or tree gooseberry, mango, custard-apple, pine-apple, rose-apple, bread-fruit, fig, guava, and olive, some of them as good and others inferior to what are found in other countries, increase the list. The ir/i,n/ij>e, lic/i’t, l/nuja/i, or ‘dragon’s eyes,’ and loquat, are the native names of four indigenous fruits at Canton. The whampe(Cookla) resembles a grape in size and a gooseberry in taste; the loquat or 2)cho (Eriobotryct) is a kind of medlar. The liclii looks like a strawberry in size and shape; the tough, rough red skin encloses a sweet watery pulp of a whitish color surrounding a hard seed. Grapes are plenty and cheap ; in the northern cities they are preserved during the winter, and even till May, by constant care in regulating the temperature.

    Chestnuts, walnuts, ground-nuts, filberts {Torreya), almonds,

    and the seeds of the salisburia and nelumbium, are the most

    common nuts. The Chinese date {Itkanmus) has a sweetish,

    acidulous flesh ; the olive is salted or pickled ; the names of

    both these fruits are given them because of a resemblance to the

    western sorts, for neither the proper date nor olive growls in

    China. A pleasant sweetmeat, like cranberry, is made from

    the seeds of the arbutus (M(//’lea), and another still more acid

    from a sort of haw, both of them put up for exportation.

    Preserved fruits are common, and the list of sweetmeats and

    delicacies is increased by the addition of many roots, some of

    which are preserved in syrup and others as comfits. Ginger,

    nelumbium roots, bamboo shoots, the common potato, and

    other vegetables are thus prepared for export as well as domestic

    consumption. The natives consume enormous quantities of

    pickles of an inferior quality, especially cabbages and onions,

    but foreigners consider them detestable. The Chinese eat but

    few spices ; black pepper is used medicinally as a tea, and

    cayenne pepper when the pod is green.

    Oils and fats are in universal use for cooking ; crude lard or

    pork fat, castor oil, sesamum oil, and that expressed from two

    species of Camellia and the ground-nut, are all employed for

    domestic and culinary purposes. The Chinese use little or no

    milk, butter, or cheese ; the comparatively small number of

    cattle raised and the consequent dearness of these articles may

    liave caused them to fall into disuse, for they are all common

    among the Manchus and Mongols. A Chinese table seems ill

    furnished to a foreigner when he sees neither bread, butter, nof

    milk upon it, and if he express his disrelish of the oily dishes or alliaceous stews before liliii, the Chinese thinks that he delivers a

    sufficient retort to his want of taste when he answers, ” You eat

    cheese, and sometimes when it can almost walk.” Milk is used

    a little, and no one who has lived in Canton can forget the prolonged

    mournful cry of n<jao nal ! of the men hawking it about

    the streets late at night. “Women’s milk is sold for the sustenance

    of infants and superannuated people, the idea being prevalent

    that it is peculiarly nourishing to aged persons.’

    Sugar is grown only in Formosa and the three southern provinces,

    which supply the others; neither molasses nor rum are

    manufactured from it. No sugar is expressed from sorghum

    stalks, nor do the Chinese know that it contains syrup. The

    tobacco is milder than the American plant; it is smoked and

    not chewed or made into cigars, though these are being imported

    from Manila in steadily increasing quantities, and find favor

    among many of the wealthier Chinese ; snuff is largely usoil.

    The betel-nut is a common masticatory, made up of a slice of

    the nut and the fresh leaf of the betel-pepper with a little lime

    rubbed on it. The common beverages are tea and arrack, both

    of which arc taken warm ; cold water is not often drunk, cold

    liquids of any kind being considered unwholesome. The constant

    practice of boiling Avater before drinking, in preparing tea,

    doubtless tends to make it less noxious, when the people are not

    particular as to its sources. Coffee, chocolate, and cocoa are unknown, as are also beer, cider, porter, Avine, and brandy.

    ‘ Dr. Hobson mentions a case at Shanghai where he was called upon to examine a child well-iiigli dead with spurious hydrocephalus. Upon investigation he found that the nurse, “a young healthy-looking woman, with breasts full of milk to overflowing,” had “been in the habit of selling her milk in small cupfuls to old persons, under the idea of its highly nutritive properties, and was actually poisoning the child dependent on it.” The nurse being promptly changed, the infant recovered almost immediately.

    —Journal N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. ?sew Series, Vol. I., p. 51.

    KINDS OF ANIMAL FOOD USED. 777

    The meats consumed by the Chinese comprise, perhaps, a greater variety than are used in other countries; while, at the same time, very little land is appropriated to rearing animals for food. Beef is not a common meat, chiefly from a Buddhistic prejudice against killing so useful an animal. Mutton in the southern provinces is poor and dear compared with its excellence and cheapness north of the Yangzi River, where the greater numbers of Mohanunedans cause a larger demand for it. The beef of the buffalo and the mutton of the jjroat are still less used; pork is consumed more -than all other kinds, and no meat can be raised so economically. Hardly a family so poor

    that it cannot possess a pig ; the animals are kept even on the

    boats and rafts, to consume and fatten upon what others leave.

    Fresh pork probably constitutes more than half of the meat

    eaten by the Chinese ; hauis are tolerably plenty, and a dish

    called “golden hams,” from the amber appearance of the joint,

    makes a conspicuous object in feasts. Ilgrseilesh, venison, wild

    boar, and antelope are now and then seen, but in passing through

    the markets mutton, pork, fowls, and fish are the viands which

    everywhere meet the eye.

    A few kittens and puppies are sold alive in cages, mewing and yelping as if in anticipation of their fate, or from pain caused by the pinching and handling they receive at the hands of dissatisfied customers. Those intended for the table are usually fed upon rice, so that if the nature of their food be considered, their flesh is far more cleanly than that of the omnivorous hog ; few articles of food have, however, been so identified abroad with the tastes of the people as kittens, puppies, and rats have M’ith the Chinese. American school geograpliies often contain pictures of a nuxrket-man cariying baskets holding these unfortunate victims of a perverse taste (as we think), or

    else a string of rats and mice hanging by their tails to a stick

    across his shoulders, which almost necessarily convey the idea

    that such things form the usual food of the people. Travellers

    hear beforehand that the Chinese devour everything, and when

    they arrive in the country straightway inquire if these animals

    are eaten, and hearing that such is the case, perpetuate the idea

    that they form the common articles of food. However commonly

    live kittens and puppies or dressed dogs may be exposed

    for sale, one may live in a city like Canton or Fuhchau for

    many years and never see rats offered for food, unless he hunts

    up the people who sell them for medicine or aphrodisiacs ; in

    fact, they are not so easily caught as to be either common or

    cheap. A peculiar prejudice in favor of black dogs and cats exists among natives of the south ; these animals invariably command a higher price than others, and are eaten at midsmnmer in the belief that the meat ensures health and strength during the ensuing year.

    Rats and mice are, no doubt, eaten now and then, and so are many other undesirable things, by those whom want compels to take what they can get; but to put these and other strange eatables in the front of the list gives a distorted idea of the everyday food of the people. There are perhaps half a dozen restaurants in Canton city where dog’s-meat appears upon the menu ‘, it is, however, by no means an inexpensive delicacy.’ The flesh of rats is eaten by old women as a hair restorative. The blood of ducks, pigs, and sheep is used as food, or prepared for medicine and as a paste; it forms an ingredient in priming and some kind of varnish. It is coagulated into cakes for sale, and in cooking is mixed with the meats and sauces. The blood of all animals is eaten without repugnance so far as concerns religious scruples, except in the case of Buddhist priests.

    Frogs are caught in a curious manner by tying a young jumper lately emerged from tadpole life to a line and bobbing him up and down in the grass and grain of a rice field, where the old croakers are wont to harbor. As soon as one of them sees the young frog sprawling and squirming he makes a ])hmge at him and swallows him whole, whereupon he is immediately conveyed to the frog-fisher’s basket, losing his life, liberty, and lunch together, for the bait is rescued from his maw and used again as long as life lasts.

    Poultry, including chickens, geese, and ducks, are everywhere

    raised ; of the three the geese are the best flavored, but all of

    them are reared cheaply and supply a large portion of the poor

    with the principal meat they eat. The eggs of fowls and ducks

    are hatched artificially, and every visitor to Canton remembers

    the duck-boats in which those birds are hatched and reared

    and carried up and down the river seeking for pasture along

    its muddy banks. Sheds are erected for hatching, in which are

    ‘ Archdeacou Gray, China, Vol. II., p. 7G.

    HATCHING ducks’ EGGS. 779

    a number of higli baskets well lined to retain the heat. Each

    one is placed over a fireplace, so that the heat shall be conveyed

    to the eggs through the tile in its bottom and retained

    in the basket by a close cover. When the eggs are brought a

    layer is put into the bottom of each basket, and a tire kept in

    the room at a uniform heat of about SU° F. After four or five

    days they are examined in a strong light, to separate the addled

    ones ; the others are put back in the baskets and the heat kept

    up for ten days longer, when they are all placed upon shelves in

    the centre of the shed and covered with cotton and felt for

    fourteen days. At the end of the twenty-eighth day the shells

    are broken to release the inmates, which are sold to those who

    rear them. Pigeons are raised to a great extent ; their eggs

    form an ingredient in soups. Wild and water fowl are caught in

    nets or shot ; the wild duck, teal, grebe, wild goose, plover, snipe,

    heron, egret, partridge, pheasant, and ortolan or rice bird are all

    procurable at Canton, and the list could be increased elsewhere.

    If the Chinese eat many things which are rejected by other peoples, they are perfectly omnivorous with respect to aquatic productions ; here nothing comes amiss ; all waters are vexed with their fisheries. Their nets and other contrivances for capturing fish display great ingenuity, and most of them are admirably adapted to the purpose. Elvers, creeks, and stagnant pools, the great ocean and the little tank, mountain lakes and garden ponds, tubs and rice fields, all furnish their quota to the sustenance of man, and tend to explain, in a great degree, the dense population. The right to fish in running streams and natural waters is open to all, while artificial reservoirs, as ponds, pools, tanks, tubs, etc., are brought hito available use; near tidewater the rice grounds are turned into fish-ponds in winter if they will thereby afford a more profitable return. The inhabitants of the water are killed with the spear, caught with the hook, scraped up by the dredge, ensnai-ed by traps, and captured by nets ; they are decoyed to jump into boats by painted boards, and frightened into nets by noisy ones, taken out of the water by lifting nets and dived for by birds—for the cormorant seizes what his owner could not easily reach. In short, every possible way of catching or rearing fish is practiced in one part of the country or another. Tanks are placed in the streets, with water running through them, where carp or perch are reared until they become so large they can hardly turn lound in their pens ; eels and water-snakes of every color and size are fed in tubs and jars until customers carry them off.

    King-crabs, cuttle-fish, sharks, sting-rays, gobies, tortoises, tuitles, crabs, prawns, crawlish, and shrimps add to the variety. The best lish in the Canton market are the garoupa or rock cod, pomfret, sole, mackerel, bynni carp or mango fish, and the polynemns, erroneously called salmon. Carp and tench of many kinds, herring, shad, perch, mullet, and bream, with others less connnon at the west, are found in great abundance. They are usually eaten fresh, or merely opened and dried in the sun, as stock-fish. Both salt and fresh-water shell-fish are abundant.

    The oysters are not so well flavored as those on the Atlantic coast of America ; the crabs and prawns are excellent, but the clams, mussels, and other fresh-water species are less palatable. Insect food is confined to locusts and grasshoppers, grubs and silk-worms; the latter are fried to a crisp when cooked. These and water-snakes are decidedly the most repulsive things the Chinese eat. Many articles of food are sought after by this sensual people for their supposed aphrodisiac qualities, and most of the singular productions brought from abroad for food are of this nature.

    COOKING AMOTS’G THE CHINESE. 781

    The famous birds nest soup is prepared from the nest of a swallow (Collocah’a esrulenfa) found in caves and damp places in some islands of the Indian Archipelago ; the bird macerates the material of the nest from seaweed (Gelidiwn chiefly) in the crop, and constructs it by drawing the food out in fibres, which are attached to the damp stone with the bill. The nest has the same shape as those which chimney swallows Ituild, and holds the young against the cliffs; they rarely exceed three or four inches in the longest diameter. The operation of cleaning is performed by picking away each morsel of dirt or feathers from the nest, and involves considerable labor. After they come forth perfectly free from impui’ities they are stewed with pigeons’ eggs, spicery, and other ingredients into a soup ; when cooked they resemble isinglass, and the dish depends upon sauces and seasoning for most of its taste. The biche-de-mer, tripang, oi

    sea-slug, is a marine substance procui-ed from the Polynesian

    Islands ; it is souglit aftei- under the same idea of its invigorating

    qualities, and being cheaper than the birdsnest is a more common

    dish ; when cooked it resembles pork-rind in appearance and

    taste. Sharks’ fins and fish-maws are imported and boiled into

    gelatinous soups that are nourishing and palatable ; and the

    sinews, tongues, palates, udders, and other parts of different

    animals are sought after as delicacies. A large proportion of

    the numerous made dishes seen at great feasts consists of such

    odd articles, most of which are supposed to possess some peculiar

    strengthening quality.

    The art of cooking has not reached any high degree of perfection. Like the French, it is very economical, and consists of stews and fried dishes more than of baked or roasted. Salt is proportionately dear from its preparation being a government monopoly, and this has led to a large use of onions for seasoning.

    The articles of kitchen furniture are few and simple ; an iron

    boiler, shaped like the segment of a sphere, for stewing or frying,

    a portable earthen furnace, and two or three dift’erent shaped

    earthenware pots for boiling water or vegetables constitute the

    whole establishment of thousands of families. A few other

    utensils, as tongs, ladles, forks, sieves, mills, etc., are used to a

    greater or less extent, though the variety is quite commensurate

    witli the simple cookery. Both meats and vegetables, previously

    hashed into mouthfuls, are stewed or fried in oil or fat ; they

    are not cooked in large joints or steaks for the table of a household.

    Hoy;s are baked whole for sacrifices and for sale in cookshops,

    but before being eaten are hashed and fI’ied again. Chitting

    the food into small pieces secures its thorough cooking with less

    fuel than it would otherwise re(|uire, and is moreover indispensable

    for eating with chopsticks. Two or three vegetables are boiled together, but meat soups are seldom seen ; and the immense variety of puddings, pastry, cakes, pies, custards, ragouts, creams, etc., made in western lands is almost unknown in China.’
    ‘ Memoires cone. les Ohinols, Tome XL, pp. 78 ff. C. C. Coffin in the Atlantic Monthly, 18G9, p. 747. Doolittle’s Vocnhul(try, Part III., No. XVIIl. M.Henri Cordier in the Journal des Debats, Nov. 19, 1879. Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. II., pp. 11 and 2(5.

    CHAPTER XIV. SOCIAL LIFE AMONG THE CHINESE

    The preceding chapter, in a measure, exhibits the attainnienta the Chinese have reached in the comforts and elegances of li\”-ing. These terms, as tests of civilization, however, are so comparative that it is rather difficult to define them ; for the notions which an Englishman, an Egyptian, and a Chinese severally might have of comfort and elegance in the furniture and arrangement of their houses are almost as unlike as their languages.

    If Fisher’s Views of China he taken as a guide, one can easily believe that the Chinese need little from abroad to better their condition in these particulars; while if one listen to the descriptions of some persons who have resided among them, it will be concluded that they possess neither comfort in their houses, civility in their manners, nor cleanliness in their persons. In passing to an account of their social life, this variety of tastes should not be overlooked; and if some points appear objectionable when taken alone, a little further examination will, perhaps, show that they form part of a system which requires complete reconstruction before it could be happily and safely altered.

    FACTORS IN CHINESE SOCIAL LIFE. 783

    The observations of a foreigner upon Chinese society are likely to be modified by his own feelings, and the way in which he has been treated by natives there ; but their behavior to him might be very unlike what would be deemed good breeding among themselves. If a Chinese feared or expected something from a foreigner, he would act toward him more politely than if the contrary were the case ; on the one hand better, on the other worse, than he would toward one of his own countrymen in like circumstances. In doing so, it may be remarked with

    regret that lie would only imitate the conduct of a host of

    foreigners who visit China, and whose coarse remarks, rude

    actions, and general supercilious conduct toward the natives ill

    comport with their superior civilization and assumed advantages.

    One who looked at the matter reasonably would not expect

    much true politeness among a people whose conceit and ignorance,

    selfishness and hauteur, were nearly equal ; nor be surprised to find the intercourse between the extremes of society present a strange mixture of brutality and commiseration, formality and disdain. The separation of the sexes modifies and debases the amusements, even of the most moral, leads the men to spend their time in gambling, devote it to the pleasures of the table, or dawdle it away when the demands of business, study, or labor do not arouse them. Political parties, which

    exert so powerful an influence upon the conduct of men in

    Christian countries, leading them to unite and connnunicate

    with each other for the purpose of watching or resisting the

    acts of government, do not exist ; and where there is a general

    want of confidence, such institutions as insurance companies,

    savings or deposit banks, corporate bodies to Iniild a railroad

    or factory, and associations of any kind in which persons unite

    their funds and efforts to accomplish an object, are not to be

    expected ; they do not exist in China, nor did they in Home or

    ancient Europe. Xor will any one expect to hear that literary

    societies or voluntary philanthropic associations are common.

    These, as they are now found in the west, are the products of Christianity alone, and we must wait for the planting of the tree before looking for its fruit. The legal profession, as distinct from the possession of office, is not an occupation in which learned men can obtain an honorable livelihood; the priesthood is confined to monasteries and temples, and its members do not enter into society ; while the practice of medicine is so entirely empirical and strange that the few experienced practitioners are not enough to redeem the class. These three professions, which elsewhere do so much to elevate society and guide public opinion, being wanting, educated men have no stimulus to draw them out into independent action. The competition for literary degrees and official rank, the eager pursuit of trade, or the duU routine of mechanical and agricultural lal)*»i-, form the leading avocations of the Chinese people. Unacquainted with the intellectual enjoyments found in books and the conversation of learned men, and having no educated taste, as we understand that term (while, too, he cannot iind such a thing as virtuous female society), the Chinese resorts to the dice-box, the opium pipe, or the brothel for his pleasures, though even there with a loss of character among his peers.

    The separation of the sexes has many bad results, only partially compensated by some conservative ones. Woman owes her present elevation at the west to Christianity, not only in the degree of respect, support, freedom from servile labor, and education which she receives, but also in the retlex influences she exerts of a purifying, harmonizing, and elevating character.

    Where the requirements of the Gospel exert no force, her rights are more or less disregarded, and if she become as debased as the men, she can exert little good influence even upon her own family, still less upon the community. General mixed society can never be maintained with pleasure unless the better parts of human nature have the acknowledged preeminence, and where she, who impaits to it all its gracefulness and purity, is herself uneducated, nnpolished, and immodest, the common sense of mankind sees its impropriety. By advocating the partition of the sexes, legislators and moralists in China have acted as they best could in the circumstances of the case, and by preventing the evils beyond their remedy, provided the best

    safeguards they could against general coiruption. In her own

    domestic circle a Chinese female, in the character and duties of

    daughter, wife, or mother, flnds as nnich em])loyment, and probably

    as many enjoyments, as the nature of her training has litted

    her for. She does not hold her proper place in society simply

    because she has nev’cr been taught its duties or exercised its

    privileges.

    RESULTS UPON SOOIKTY OF SEPAIIATINO THK SKXKS. 785

    In ordinary cases the male and female branches of a household are strictly kept apart; not only the servants, but even brothers and sisters do not freely associate after the boys commence their studies. At this period of life, or even earlier, an anxious task devolves upon parents, which is to And suitable partners for their children. Uetrothmeiit is entirely in their hands, and is conducted through the medium of a class of persons called inel-jin, or go-betweens, who are expected to be well acquainted with the character and circumstances of the parties. Mothers sometimes contract their unborn progeny on the sole contingency of a difference of sex, but the usual age of forming these engagements is ten, twelve, or older, experience having shown that the casualties attending it render an earlier period undesirable.

    There are six ceremonies which constitute a regular marriage, though their details vary much in different parts of the Empire: 1. The father and elder brother of the young man send a go-between to the father and brother of the girl, to inquire her name and the moment of her birth, that the lioroscope of the two may be examined, in order to ascertain whether the proposed alliance will be a happy one. 2. If the eight characters’ seem to augur aright, the boy’s friends send the mei-jin back to make an offer of marriage. 3. If that be accepted, the second party is again requested to return an assent in writing. 4. Presents are then sent to the girl’s parents according to the means of the parties. 5. The go-between requests them to choose a lucky day for the wedding. 6. The preliminaries are concluded by the bridegroom going or sending a party of friends with music to bring his bride to his own house. The match-makers contrive to multiply their visits and prolong the negotiations, when the parties are rich, to serve their own ends.

    In Fuhkien parents often send pledges to each other when their children are mere infants, and registers containing their names and particulars of nativity are exchanged in testimony of the contract. After this has been done it is impossible to retract the engagement, unless one of the parties becomes a leper or is disabled. When the children are espoused older, the boy sometimes accompanies the go-between and the party carrying the presents to the house of his future mother-in-law, and receives from her some trifling articles, as melon-seeds, fruits, etc., which he distributes to those around. Among the presents sent to the fijirl are fruits, money, vermicelli, and a ham, of which she gives a morsel to each one of the party, and sends its foot back. These articles are neatly arranged, and the party bringing them is received with a salute of fire-crackers.

    ‘ Compare p. 628.

    From the time of engagement until marriage a young lady is required to maintain the strictest seclusion. Whenever friends call upon her parents she is expected to retire to the inner apartments, and in all her actions and words guard her conduct with careful solicitude. She must use a close sedan whenever she visits her relations, and in her intercourse with her brothers and the domestics in the household nniintain great reserve. Instead of having any opportunity to form those friendships and acquaintances with her own sex which among ourselves become a source of so much pleasure at the time and advantage in after life, the Chinese maiden is confined to the circle of her relations and her immediate neighbors. She has few of the pleasing remembrances and associations that are usually connected with school day life, nor has she often the ability or opportunity to correspond by letter with girls of her own age. Seclusion at this time of life, and the custom of crippling the feet, combine to confine women in the house almost as much as the strictest laws against their appearing abroad ; for in girlhood, as they know only a few persons except relatives, and can make very few acquaintances

    after marriage, their circle of friends contracts rather

    than enlarges as life goes on. This privacy impels girls to learn

    as much of the world as they can, and among the rich their

    curiosity is gratified through maid-servants, match-makers, pedlers,

    visitors, and others. Curiosity also stimulates young ladies

    to learn something of the character and appearance of their intended

    husbands, but the rules of society arc too strict for young

    persons to endeavor to form a personal attachment, though it is

    not impossible for them to see each other if they wish, and there

    are, no doubt, many contracts suggested to parents by their

    children.

    BETROTHMENT AND PRELI^MINARIES OF MARRIAGE. 787

    The office of match-maker is considered honorable, and both men and women are employed to conduct nuptial negotiations. Great confidence is reposed in their judgment and veracity, and as their employment depends somewhat upon their tact and character, they have every inducement to act with strict propriety in their intercourse with families. The father of the girl employs their services in collecting the sum agreed upon in the contract, which, in ordinary circumstances, varies from twenty-five to forty dollars, increasing to a hundred and over according to the condition of the bridegroom ; until that is paid the marriage does not take place. The presents sent at betrothment are sometimes costly, consisting of silks, rice, cloths, fruits, etc. ; the bride brings no dower, but both parents frequently go to expenses they can ill afford when celebrating the nuptials of their children, as the pride of family stimulates each party to make undue display.

    The principal formalities of a marriage are everywhere the same, but local customs are observed in some regions which are quite unknown and appear singular elsewhere. In Fuhkien, when the lucky day for the wedding comes, the guests assemble in the bridegroom’s house to celebrate it, where also sedans, a band of music, and porters are in readiness. The courier, who acts as guide to the chair-bearers, takes the lead, and in order to prevent the onset of malicious demons lurking by the road, a baked hog or large piece of pork is carried in front, that the procession may safely pass while these hungry souls are devouring the meat. Meanwhile the bride arrays herself in her best dress and richest jewels. Her girlish tresses have already been bound up, and her hair arranged by a matron, with due formality; an ornamental and complicated head-dress made of rich materials, not unlike a helmet or corona, often forms part of her coiffure. Her person is nearly covered by a large mantle, over

    which is an enormous hat like an umbrella, that descends to the

    shoulders and shades the whole figure. Thus attired she takes

    her seat in the red gilt marriage sedan, called hwa Jdao, borne

    by four men, in which she is completely concealed. This is

    locked by her mother or some other relative, and the key given

    to one of the bridemen, who hands it to the bridegroom or his

    representative on reaching his house.

    The procession is now rearranged, with the addition of as many red boxes and trays to contain the wardrobe, kitchen utensils, luul the feast, as the means (.»f the family or the extent of her parapliei’ualia require. As the procession approaches the bridegroom’s house the courier iiastens forward to announce its coming, whereupon the music strikes up, and fire-crackers salute her until she enters the gate. As she approaches the door the bridegroom conceals himself, but the go-between brings forward a young child to salute her, while going to seek the closeted bridegroom, lie approaches with becoming gravity and opens the sedan to hand out his bride, she still retaining the hat and mantle ; they approach the ancestral tablet, which they reverence with three bows, and then seat themselves at a table upon which are two cups of spirits. The go-between serves them, though the bride can only make the motions of drinking, as the large hat completely covers her face. They soon retire into a

    chamber, where the husband takes the hat and mantle from his

    wife, and sees her, perhaps, for the first time in his life. After he

    has considered her for some time, the guests and friends enter

    the room to sui-vey her, when each one is allowed to express an

    opinion ; the criticisms of the M’omen are severest, perhaps because

    thej remember the time they stood in her unpleasant

    position. This cruel examination being over, she is introduced

    to her husband’s parents, and then salutes her own. Such are

    some of the customs among the Fuhkienese. Other usages followed

    in marriages and betrothals have been carefully described

    by Doolittle, with parti(;nlar reference to the same people, and

    by Archdeacon John II. Gray, alluding to other parts of the

    Empire.’

    The bridegroom, previous to the wedding, receives a new

    name or ” style,” and is formally capped by his father in presence

    of his friends, as an introduction to manhood. He invites

    the guests, sending two red cakes with each invitation, and to

    liim each guest, a few days before the marriage, returns a

    present or a sum of money worth about ten or fifteen cents,

    nominally equal to the expenses he will be considered as occasioning.

    ‘ Social Life of the CldneM, Chapters II. and III.; China, Chap. VII.; also

    Fourteen Months in Canton, by Mrs Gray.

    MARRIAGE CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS. 789

    Another invitation is sent the day after to a feast, and the bride also calls on the ladies who attended her wedding,

    from whom slie receiv^es a ring or some other article of small

    value. The gentlemen also make the bridegroom a present of

    a pair of lanterns to hang at his gateway. On the night of the

    wedding they sometimes endeavor to get into the house when

    the pair is supposed to be asleep, in order to carry off some article, which the bridegroom must ransom at their price.

    Among the poor the expenses of a wedding are much lessened by purchasing a young girl, whom the parents bring up as a daughter until she is marriageable, and in this way secure her services in. the household. A girl already affianced is for a like reason sometimes sent to the boy’s parents, that they may support her. In small villages the people call upon a newly married couple near the next full moon, when they are received standing near the bedside. The men enter first and pay their respects to the bride, while her husband calls the attention of his visitors to her charms, praises her little feet, her beautiful hands, and other features, and then accompanies them into the hall, where they are regaled with refreshments. After the men have retired the women enter and make their remarks upon the lady, whose future character depends a good deal upon the manner in which she conducts herself. If she shows good temper, her reputation is made. Many a prudent woman on this occasion says not a word, but suffers herself to be examined in silence in order that she may I’un no risk of offending.’ Far different is this introduction to married life from the bridal tour and cordial greetings of friends which ladies receive in western lands during the honeymoon !

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vols. IV., p. 568, and X., pp. 65-70; Annalea de la Foi, No. XL., 1885.

    The bridal procession is a peculiar feature of Chinese social life. It varies in its style, nature of the ornaments, and the wdiole get-up in all parts of the land, but is always as showy as the means of the parties will allow. It is composed of bearers of lanterns and official tablets, musicians, relatives of the bride and groom and their personal friends, framed stands with roofs carried on thills to hold the bride’s effects, all centering around her sedan. In Peking such a procession will sometimes be stretched out half a mile, and the sedan borne by a dozen or more bearers. The coolies are dressed hi red. and tlicy and their burdens are nsiially provided by special sli()|>iiieii, who purvey on such occasions. The tablets of literary rank held by members of the family, wooden dragons’ heads, titular lanterns, and other official insignia are l)orne in state, an evidence of its high standing. In some places an old man, elegantly dressed,

    heads the procession, bearing a large umbrella to hold over the

    bride when she enters and leaves her sedan ; behind him come

    bearers with lanterns, one of which carries the inscription, “The

    phoenixes sing harmoniously.” To these succeed the music and

    the honorary tablets, titular flags, state umbrella, etc., and two

    stout men as executioners dressed in a fantastic manner, wearing

    long feathers in their caps, and lictors, chain-bearers, and other

    emblems of office. Parties of young lads, prettily dressed

    and playing on drums, gongs, and flutes, or carrying lanterns

    and banners, occasionally form a pleasing variety in the train,

    which is continued by the trays and covered tables containing

    the bride’s trousseau, and ended with the sedan containing

    herself.

    The ceremonies attending her reception at her husband’s

    house are not uniform. In some parts she is lifted out of the

    sedan, over a pan of charcojd placed in the court, and carried

    into the bed-chandjer ; in other places she enters and leaves her

    sedan on rugs spread for her use, and walks into the chamber.

    After a brief interval she returns into the hall, bearing a tray

    of betel-nut for the guests, and then worships a pair of geese brought in the train with her husband, this bird being an emblem of conjugal afl^ection. On returning to her chamber the bridegroom follows her and takes off the I’ed veil, after which they pledge each other in wine, the cups being joined by a thread. While there a matron who has borne several children to one husband comes in to pronounce a blessing upon them and make up the nn])tial l)ed. The assembled guests then sit down to the feast and ])ly the sni l(ing^ ‘new man’ or bridegroom, pretty well with liquor; the Chinese on such occasions do not, however, often overpass the rules of sobriet\-. The sin fitjiii, ‘new lady’ or bride, and her mother-in-law also attend to those of her own sex who are present in other apartments, but among the poor a pleasanter sight is now and then seen in all the o-nests sittino; at one table.

    NUPTIAL PROCESSION AND FESTIVITIES. 791

    In the morning the pair worship the ancestral tablets and salute all the members of the family ; among the poor this important ceremony occurs very soon after the pair have exchanged their wine-cups. The pledging of the bride and groom in a cup of wine, and their worship of the ancestral tablets and of heaven

    and earth, are the important ceremonies of a wedding after the

    procession has reached the house. Marriages are celebrated at

    all liom-s, though twilight and evening are preferred ; the spring

    season, or the last month in the year, are regarded as the most

    felicitous nuptial periods. From the way in which the whole

    matter is conducted there is some room for deception by sending

    another person in the sedan than the one betrothed, or the

    man may mistake the name of the girl he wishes to marry.

    Mr. Smith mentions one of his acquaintances, who, having been

    captivated with a girl he saw in the street, sent a go-between

    with proposals to her parents, which were accepted ; but he was

    deeply mortified on receiving his bride to find that he had mistaken

    the number of his charmer, and had received the fifth

    daughter instead of the fourth.

    The Chinese do not marry another woman wdth these observances

    while the first one is living, but they may bring home

    concubines with no other formality than a contract with her

    parents, though it is considered somewhat discreditable for a

    man to take another bedfellow if his wife have borne him sons,

    unless he can afford each of them a separate establishment. It is

    not unfrequent for a man to secure a maid-servant in the family

    with the consent of his wife by purchasing her for a concubine,

    especially if his occupation frequently call him away from home,

    in which case he takes her as his travelling companion and leaves

    his wife in charge of the household. The fact that the sons of a

    concubine are considered as legally belonging to the wife induces

    parents to betroth their daughters early, and thus prevent their

    entering a man’s family in this inferior capacity. The Chinese

    are sensible of the evils of a divided household, and the laws

    place its control in the hands of the wife. If she have no sons

    of her own, she looks out for a likely boy among her clansmen to adopt, knowing that otherwise her husband will probably bring a concubine into the family. It is difficult even to guess at the extent of polygamy, for no statistics have been or can be easily taken. Among the laboring classes it is rare to find more than one woman to one man, but tradesmen, official persons, landholders, and those in easy circumstances frequently take one or more concubines : perhaps two-fifths of such families have them. Show and fashion lead some to increase the number of their women, though aware of the discord likely to arise, for they fully believe their own proverb, that ” nine women out of ten are jealous.” Yet it is probably true that polygamy finds its greatest support from the women themselves. The wife seeks to increase her own position by getting more women into the

    house to relieve her own work and humor her fancies. The

    Chinese illustrate the relation by comparing the wife to the

    moon and the concubines to the stars, both of which in their

    appropriate spheres wait upon and I’cvolve around the sun.

    If regard be had to the civilization of the Chinese and their

    opportunities for moral training, the legal provisions of the code

    to protect females in their acknowledged rights and pnnish

    crimes against the peace and purity of the family relation reflect

    credit upon their legislators. In these laws the obligation of

    children to fulfil the contract made by their parents is enforced,

    even to the annulling of an agreement made by a son himself

    in ignorance of the arrangements of his parents. The position

    of the tsi, or wife taken by the prescribed formalities, and that

    of the tneh, or women purchased as concubines, are accurately

    defined, and the degradation of the former or elevation of

    the latter so as to interchange their places, or the taking of a

    second ts’i, are all illegal and void. The relation between the

    two is more like that which existed between Sarah and 1 1 agar in

    Abraham’s household, or Zilpah and Bilhah and their mistresses

    in Jacob’s, than that indicated by our terms first and second

    wife, of which idea the Chinese words contain no trace. The

    degrees of unlawful marriages are comprehensive, extending even

    to the prohibition of persons having the same fthuj^ or family

    name, and to two brothers marrying sisters. The hnvs forbid

    the marriage of a brother’s widow, of a father’s or grandfather’s

    LAWS KEGULATING MARRIAGES. 793

    wife, or a father’s sister, under the penalty of death ; and the

    like punishment is inflicted upon whoever seizes the wife or

    daughter of a freeman and carries them away to marry them.

    These regulations not only put honor upon marriage, but render it more common among the Chinese than almost any other people, thereby preventing a vast train of evils. The tendency of unrestrained desire to throw down the barriers to the gratiiication of lust must not be lost sight of ; and as no laws on this subject can be effectual unless the common sense of a people approve of them, the Chinese, by separating the sexes in general society, have removed a principal provocation to sin, and by compelling young men to fulfil the marriage contracts of their parents have also provided a safeguard against debauchery at the age when youth is most tempted to indulge, and when indulgence would most strongly disincline them to marry at all. They have, moreover, provided for the undoubted succession of the inheritance by disallowing more than one loife^ and yet have granted men the liberty they would otherwise take, and which immemorial usage in Asiatic countries has sanctioned. They have done as well as they could in regulating a difficult matter, and better, on the whole, perhaps, than in most other unchristianized countries. If any one supposes, however, that because these laws exist sins against the seventh commandment are uncommon in China, he will be as mistaken as those who infer that because the Chinese are pagans nothing like modesty, purity, or affection exists between the sexes.

    When a girl ” spills the tea”—that is, loses her betrothed by death—public opinion honors her if she refuse a second engagement; and instances are cited of young ladies committing suicide rather than contract a second marriage. They sometimes leave their father’s house and live with the parents of their affianced husband as if they had been really widows. It is considered derogatory for widows to marry ; though it may be that the instances quoted in books with so much praise only indicate how rare the practice is in reality. The widow is occasionally sold for a concubine by her father-in-law, and the grief and contumely of her degradation is enhanced by separation from her children, whom she can no longer retain. Such cases are, however, not common, for the impulses of maternal affection are too strong to be thus trifled with, and widows usually look to their friends for support, or to their own exertions if their children he still young; they are assisted, too, by their relatives in this laudable industry and care. It is a lasting stigma to a son to neglect the comfort and support of his widowed mother. A widower is not restrained by any laws, and weds one of his concubines or whomsoever he chooses ; nor is he expected to defer the nuptials for any period of mourning for his first wife.

    The seven legal reasons for divorce, viz., barrenness, lasciviousness,

    jealousy, talkativeness, thievery, disobedience to her

    husband’s parents, or leprosy, are almost nullified by the single

    provision that a woman cannot be put away whose parents are

    not living to receive her back again. Parties can separate on

    nmtual disagreement, but the code does not regulate the alimony

    ; and a husband is liable to punishment if he retain a

    wife convicted of adultery. If a wife merely elopes she can

    be sold by her husband, but if she marry while absent she is

    to be sti’angled ; if the husband be absent three years a woman

    must state her case to the magistrates before presuming to remarry.

    In regard to the o-eneral condition of females in China the

    remark of De Guignes is applicable, that ” though their lot is

    less happy than that of their sisters in Europe, their ignorance

    of a better state renders their present or jji-ospective one more

    supportable ; happiness does not always consist in absolute

    enjoyment, but in the idea which we have formed of it.” ‘ She

    does not feel that any injustice is done her by depriving her of

    the right of assent as to whom her partner sliall be ; her wishes

    and her knowledge go no farther than her domestic circle, and

    where she has been trained in her mother’s apartments to the

    various duties and accomplishments of her sex, her removal to

    a husband’s house brings to her no great change.

    ‘ Yoyages a Peking^ Tome II. , jj. 383.

    PRIVILEGES AND I USlTlOK OF WIVES AND WIDOWS. 795

    This, however, is not always the case, and the power accorded to the husband over his wife and family is often used with great tyranny. The young wife finds in her new home little of the sympathy and love her sisters in Christian lands receive. Her mother-in-law is not unfrequently the source of her greatest trials, and demands from her both the submission of a child and the labor of a slave, which is not seldom returned by disobedience and bitter revilings. If the husband interfere she has less likelihood of escaping his exactions; though in the lower walks of life his cruelty is restrained by fear of losing her and her services, and in the upper diverted by indifference as to what

    she does, in the pursuit of other objects. If the wife behave

    well till she lierself becomes a mother and a mother-in-law, then

    the tables are turned ; from being a menial she becomes almost

    a goddess. Luhchau, a writer on female culture, jnentions the

    following indirect mode of reproving a mother-in-law : ” Loh

    Yang travelled seven years to improve himself, during which

    time his wife diligently served her mother-in-law and supported

    her son at schooL The poultry from a neighbor’s house once

    wandered into her garden, and her mother-in-law stole and killed

    them for eating. When she sat down to table and saw the

    fowls she would not dine, but burst into tears, at which the old

    lady was much surprised and asked the reason. ‘ I am much

    distressed that I am so poor and cannot aftord lo su|)|)]y you

    with all I wish I could, and that I should have caused you to

    eat flesh belonging to another.’ Her parent was affected by

    this, and threw away the dish.”

    The evils attending early betrothment induce many parents

    to defer engaging their daughters until they are grown, and a

    Imsband of similar tastes can be found ; for even if the condition

    of the families in the interval of betrothment and marriage

    unsuitably change, or the lad grows up to be a dissipated, worthless,

    or cruel man, totally unworthy of the gii’l, still the contract

    must be fulfilled, and the worst party genei-ally is most anxious

    for it. The unhappy bride in such cases often escapes from her

    present sufferings and dismal prospects by suicide. A case occured

    in Canton in 1833 where a young wife, visiting her parents

    shortly after marriage, so feelingly desciibed her sufferings at

    the hands of a cruel husband to her sisters and friends that she

    and three of her auditors joined their hands together and drowned

    themselves in a pond, she to escape present misery and they to avoid its future possibility. Another young lady, having heard of the worthless character of her intended, carried a bag of money with her in the sedan, and when they retired after the ceremonies were over thus addressed him : ” Touch me not ; I am resolved to abandon the world and become a nun. I shall this night cut off my hair. I have saved 8200, which I give you ; with the half you can purchase a concubine, and with the rest enter on some trade. Be not lazy and thriftless. Hereafter, remember me.” Saying this, she cut off her hair, and her husband and his kindred, fearing suicide if they opposed her, acquiesced, and she returned to her father’s house.’

    Such cases are common enough to show the dark side of family life, and young ladies implore their parents to rescue them in this or some other way from the sad fate which awaits them. Sometimes girls become skilled in female accomplishments to recommend themselves to their husbands, and their disappointment is the greater when they find him to be a brutal, depraved tyrant. A melancholy instance of this occurred in Canton in 1840, which ended in the wife committing suicide. Her brother had been a scholar of one of the American missionaries, and took a commendable pride in showing specimens of his sister’s exquisite embroidery, and not a few of her attainments in writing, which indicated their reciprocal attachment. The contrary happens too, sometimes, where the husband finds himself compelled to wed a woman totally unable to appreciate or share his pursuits, but he has means of alleviatinor or avoidino; such misalliances which the weaker vessel has not. On the whole, as we have said, one must admit that woman holds a fairly high position in China. If she suffers from the brutality of her husband, the tyraimy of her mother-in-law, or the overwork of household, field, or loom, she is as often herself blameworthy for indolence, shiftlessness, gadding, and bad temper. The instances which are given by Gray” in his account of marital atrocities prove the length to which a man will wreak his rage on the helpless ; but they are the exception to the general testimony of the people themselves. So far as general purity of society goes, one may well doubt whether such aboininahle conduct as is legalized among IVIornions in Utah is any improvement on the hardships of woman among the Chinese.

    ‘ Chinese JRepository, Vol. I., p. 293. * China, Chap. VII.

    UNHAPPY BKTKOTHMENTS. 797

    Pursuing this brief account of the social life of the Chinese, the right of parents in managing their children comes into notice. It is great, though not unlimited, and in allowing them very extensive power, legislators have supposed that natural affection of the parents, a desire to continue the honorable succession of the family, together with the influence of proper education, were as good securities against paternal cruelty and neglect as any laws which could be made. Fathers give their sons the ru ming, or ‘milk name,’ about a month after birth.

    The mother, on the day appointed for this ceremony, worships

    and thanks the goddess of Mercy, and the boy, dressed and

    having his head shaved, is brought into the circle of assembled

    friends, where the father confers the name and celebrates the

    occasion by a feast. The milk name is kept until the lad enters

    school, at which time the sJiit ming, or ‘school name,’ is conferred

    upon him, as already mentioned. The fiJiu ruing generally

    consists of two characters, selected with reference to the

    boy’s condition, prospects, studies, or some other event connected

    with him ; sometimes the milk name is continued, as the

    family have become accustomed to it. Such names as InJi–

    gi’lnder. Promising-study, Opening-oli’ve, Entering-virtue, Rising-

    advancement, etc., are given to young students at this time.

    Though endearing or fanciful names are often conferred, it is

    quite as common to vilify very young children by calling them

    dog, hog, pujypy, fiea, etc., under the idea that such epithets

    will w^ard off the evil eye. Girls have only their milk and

    marriage names ; the former may be a flower, a sister, a gem,

    or such like ; the latter are terms like Emulating the Moon,

    Orchis 1^ lower, the Jasmine, Delicate Perfume, etc. A mere

    number at Canton, as A-yat, A-sam, A-luk (No. 1, No. 3, No. G),

    often designates the boys till they get their book names.’

    ‘ Doolittle’s Handbook, Vol. III., p. 660, gives a list of names collected at Fulicliau, which are applicable to other provinces.

    The personal names of the Chinese are written contrariwise to our own, the xing or surname, coming first, then the ming, or given name, and then the complimentary title ; as Liang Wantai siensang, where Liang, or ‘ Millet,’ is the family name, Wantai, or ‘ Tei’race of Letters,’ the given name, and siensdng, Mr. {i.e., Master), or ‘ Teacher.’ A few of the surnames are double, as Si’ma Qian, where Si’ma is the family name and Qian the official title. A curious idea prevails among the people of Canton, that foreigners have no surname, which, as Pliny thought of the inhabitants of Mt. Atlas, they regard as one of the proofs of their barbarism ; perhaps tin’s notion came by inference from the fact that the Manchus write only their given name, as Kishen, Kiying, Ilipu, etc. When writing Chinese names in

    translations and elsewhere, some attention should be paid to

    these particulars ; the names of Chinese persons and places are

    constantly appearing in print nnder forms as singular as would

    be Williamhcnryhdrrison, Rich-Ard- Ox-Ford, or Phila Delphia-

    city in English. The name being in a different language,

    and its true nature unknown to most of those who write it, accounts

    for the misarrangement.

    NUMBER AND CHANGES OF PERSONAL NAMES. 799

    Li Canton and its vicinity the names of people are abbreviated in conversation to one character, and an A prefixed to it; —as TslnteJi, called A-teh or A-tsin. In Amoy the A is placed after, as China in the northern provinces no such usage is known. Some families, perhaps in imitation of the imperial precedent, distinguish their members from others in the clan by adopting a constant character for the first one in the niing,OY given name ; thus a family of brothers will be named Lin Tung-pei, Lin Tung-fung, Lin Tung-peh, where the word Tung distinguishes this sept of the clan Lin from all others. There are no characters exclusively appropriated to proper names or different sexes, as George, Agnes, etc., all being chosen out of the language with reference to their meanings. Consequently, a name is sometimes felt to be incongruous, as Xaomi, when saluted on her return to Bethlehem, felt its inappropriateness to her altered condition, and suggested a change to Mara. Puns on names and sobriquets are common, from the constant contrast of the sounds of the characters with circumstances suggesting a comparison or a play upon their meanings ; sly jokes are also played when writing the names of foreigners, by choosing such characters as will make a ridiculous meaning when read according to their sense and not their sound.

    “When a man marries he adopts a third name, called zi, or ‘style’, by which he is usually known through life ; this is either entirely new or combined from previous names. When a girl is married her family name becomes her given name, and the given name is disused, her husband’s name becoming her family name. Thus Wa Salah married to ^Vei San-wei drops the Salah, and is called ^Vei Wa shl, i.e., Mrs. Wei [born of the clan] Wa, though her husband or near relatives sometimes retain it as a trivial address. A man is frequently known by another compellation, called jrieh tsz\ or ‘second style,’ which the public do not presume to employ. When a young man is successful in attaining a degree, or enters an office, he takes a title called I’lixm ming, or ‘ official name,’ by which he is known to government. The members or heads of licensed mercantile companies each have an official name, which is entered in their permit, from whence it is called among foreigners their choj) name. Each of the heads of the co-hong formerly licensed to trade with foreigners at Canton had such an official name. Besides these various names, old men of fifty, shopkeepers, and others take a ?mo, or ‘ designation; ‘ tradesmen use it on their signboards as the name of their shop, and not unfrequently receive it as their personal appellation. Of this nature are the appellations of the tradesmen who deal with foreigners, as Catshing, Chanlung, Linchong, etc., which are none of them the names of the shopmen, but the designation of the shop. It is the usual M’ay in Canton for foreigners to go into a shop and ask ” Is Mr. Wanglik in ? ” which would be almost like one in New York inquiring if Mr. Alhambra or Mr, Atlantic-House was at home, though it does not sound quite so ridiculous to a Chinese. The names taken by shopkeepers allude to trade or its prospects, such as Mutual Advantage, Obedient Profit, EHcns’ive Ilarniony, liising Goodness, Great Completeness, etc. ; the names of the partners as such are not employed to form the firm. Besides this use of the hao, it is also employed as a brand upon goods; the terms Hoyuen^ K’mghing, YiienVi, meaning ‘ Harmonious Springs,’ ‘ Cheering Prospects,’ ‘ Fountain’s Memorial,’ etc., are applied to particular parcels of tea, silk, or other goods, just as brands are placed on lots of wine, flour, or pork. This is called zi-hao, or ‘ marked signation,’ but foreigners call both it and the goods it denotes a choj).

    When a man dies he receives another and last, though not

    necessarily a new name in the hall of ancestors ; upon emperors

    and empresses are bestowed new ones, as Benevolent, Pious,

    Discreet, etc., by which they are worshipped and referred to in

    history, as that designation which is most likely to be permanent.

    In their common intercourse the Chinese are not more formal

    than is considered to be well-bred in Europe ; it is on extraordinary

    or official occasions that they observe the precise etiquette

    for which they are famous. The proper mode of behavior toward

    all classes is pei’haps more carefully inculcated upon youth

    than it is in the west, and habit renders easy what custom demands.

    The ceremonial obeisance of a court or a levee, or the salutations proper for a festival, are not carried into the everyday intercourse of life; for as one chief end of the formalities prescribed for such times is to teach due subordination among persons of different rank, they are in a measure laid aside with the robes which suggested them. True politeness, exhibited in an unaffected regard for the feelings of others, cannot, we know, be taught by rules ; but a great degree of urbanity and kindness is everywhere shown, whether owing to the naturally placable disposition of the people or to the effects of their early instruction in the forms of politeness. Whether in the crowded and narrow thoroughfares, the village green, the market, the jostling ferry, or the thronged procession—wherever the people are assembled promiscuously, good humor and courtesy are observable; and when altercations do arise wounds or serious injuries seldom ensue, although from the furious clamor one would imagine that half the crowd were in danger of their lives.

    CEREMONIAL OBEISANCE AT COURT. 801

    Chinese ceremonial requires superiors to be honored according to their station and age, anci equals to depreciate themselves while lauding those they address. The Emperor, considering himself as the representative of divine power, exacts the same prostration which is paid the gods; and the ceremonies which are performed in his presence partake, therefore, of a religious character, and are not merely particular forms of etiquette, which may be altered according to circumstances. There are eight gradations of obeisance, commencing with “the lowest form of respect, called hung shao, which is merely joining the hands and raising them before the breast. The next is tso yih, bowing low with the hands thus joined. The third is ta tsieoi^ bending the knee as if about to kneel ; and hinei^ an actual kneeling, is the fourth. The fifth is Jco tao (ketou), kneeling and striking the head on the ground, which when thrice repeated makes the sixth, called m/i hao, or ‘thrice knocking’.

    The seventh is the In/i hfo, or kneeling and knocking the head thrice upon the ground, then standing upright and again kneeling and knocking the head three times more. The climax is closed by the san. kwcl liu I’ao, or thrice kneeling and nine times knocking the head. Some of the gods of China are entitled to the san hio, others to the Ink Ji’ao, while the Emperor and Heaven are worshipped by the last. The family now on the throne consider this last form as expressing in the strongest manner the submission and homage of one state to another.”‘

    The extreme submission which the Emperor demands is partaken by and tratisferred to his officers of every grade in a greater or less degree ; the observance of these forms is deemed, therefore, of great importance, and a refusal to render them is considered to be nearly equivalent to a rejection of their authority.

    Minute regulations for the times and modes of official intercourse

    are made and promulgated by the Board of Rites, and to

    learn and practise them is one indispensable part of official duty.

    In court the master of ceremonies stands in a conspicuous place,

    and with a loud voice commands the courtiers to rise and kneel,

    stand or march, just as an orderly sergeant directs the drill of

    ‘ Memoir of Dr. Morrison, “Vol. II. , p. 143.

    recruits. The same attention to the ritual is observed in their mutual intercourse, for however much an inferior may desire to dispense with the ceremony, his superior will not fail to exact it. In the salutations of entree and exit among officers these forms are particularly conspicuous, but when well acquainted with each other, and in moments of conviviality, they are in a great measure laid aside; but the juxtaposition of art and nature among them, at one moment laughing and joking, and the next bowing and kneeling to each other as if they had never met, sometimes produces amusing scenes to a foreigner. The entire ignorance and disregard of these forms by foreigners unacquainted with the code leaves a worse impression upon the natives at times, who ascribe such rudeness to hauteur and contempt.

    Without particularizing the tedious forms of official etiquette,

    it will be sufficient to describe what is generally required in

    good society. Military men pay visits on horseback ; civilians

    and others go in sedans or carts ; to walk is not common. Visiting

    cards are made of vermilioned paper cut into slips about

    eight inches long and three wide, and are single or folded four,

    six, eight, or more times, according to the position of the visitor.

    If he is in recent mourning, the paper is white and the

    name written in blue ink, but after a stated time this is indicated

    by an additional character. The simple name is stamped

    on the upper right corner, or if written on the lower corner, with an addition thus, ‘* Your humble servant {lit., ‘stupid younger brother ‘) Pi Chi-wan bows his head in salutation.” On approaching the house his attendant hands a card to the doorkeeper, and if he cannot be received, instead of saying ” not a^ home,” the host sends out to ” stay the gentleman’s approach,” and the card is left. If contrariwise the sedan is carried through the doorway into the court, wdiere he comes forth to receive his guest ; as the latter steps out each one advances just so far, bowing just so many times, and going through the ceremonies which they mutually understand and expect, until both have taken their seats at the head of the hall, the guest sitting on the left of the host, and his companions, if he have any, in the chairs on each side.

    ETIQUETTj: OF FORMAL VIRITINCt. 803

    The inquiries made after ihe mutual welfare of friends and each other are eonched in a form of studied laudation and depreciation, which when literally translated seem somewhat affected, but to them convey no more than similar civilities do among ourselves—in truth, perhaps not so much of sincere good-will.

    For instance, to the remark, ” It is a long time since we have met, sir,” the host replies (literally), ” IIow presume to receive the trouble of your honorable footsteps ; is the person in the chariot well ? “—which is simply equivalent to, ” I am much obliged for your visit, and hope you enjoy good health.”

    Tea and pipes are always presented, together with betel-nut or sweetmeats on some occasions, but it is not, as among the Turks, considered disrespectful to refuse them, though it would be looked upon as singular. If the guest inquire after the health of relatives he should commence with the oldest living, and then ask how many sons the host has; but it is not considered good bi’eeding for a formal acquaintance to make any remarks respecting the mistress of the house. If the sons of the host are at home they are generally sent for, and make their obeisance to their father’s friend by coming up l)eft>re him and performing the kototn as rapidly as possible, each one making haste, as if he did not wish to delay him. The guest raises them with a slight bow, and the lads stand facing him at a respectful distance. He will then remark, perhaps, if one of them happen to be at his studies, that ” the boy will perpetuate the literary reputation of his family ” {lit., ‘ he will fully carry on the fragrance of the books’); to which his father rejoins, “The reputation of our family is not great {lit., ‘ hills and fields’ happiness is thin ‘) ; high expectations are not to be entertained of him ; if he can only gain a livelihood it will be enough.” After a few such compliments the boys say shao j)ei, ‘slightly waiting on you,’ i.e., pray excuse us, and retire. Girls are seldom brought in, and young ladies never.

    The periphrases employed to denote persons and thus avoid speaking their names in a measure indicate the estimation in which they are held. For instance, ” Does the honorable great man enjoy happiness?” means “Is your father well?” “Distinguished and aged one what honorable age ? ” is the mode of asking how old he is; for among the Chinese, as it seems to have been among the Egyptians, it is polite to ask the names and ages of all ranks and sexes. ” The old man of the house,” “excellent honorable one,” and ” venerable great prince,” are terms used by a visitor to designate the father of his host. A child terms his father ” family’s majesty,” ” old man of the family,” ” prince of the family,” or ” venerable father.” When dead a father is called ” former prince,” and a mother ” venerable

    great one in repose ; ” and there are particular characters to

    distinguish deceased parents from living. The request, ” Make

    my respects to your mother”—for no Chinese gentleman ever

    asks to see the ladies—is literally, ” Excellent-longevity hall place

    in my behalf wish repose,” the first two words denoting she who

    remains there. Care should be taken not to use the same expressions

    when speaking of the relatives of the guest and one’s

    own; thus, in asking, ” IIow many worthy young gentlemen

    [sons] have you ? ” the host replies, ” I am unfortunate in having

    had but one l)oy,” literally, ” My fate is niggardly ; I have only

    one little bug.” This runs through their whole Chesterlieldian

    code. A man calls his wife Uleii mti, i.e., ‘ the mean one of the

    inner apartments,’ or ‘ the foolish one of the family ; ‘ while another speaking of her calls her ” the honorable lady,” ” worthy lady,” ” your favored one,” etc.

    ‘ This is repeated by both at the\

    FORMALITIE:^ OF ADDRESS AND GREETING. 80.”)

    Something of this is found in all oriental languages ; to become familiar with the right application of these terms in Chinese, as elsewhere in the east, is no easy lesson for a foreigner. In their salutations of ceremony they do not, however, quite equal the Arabs, with their kissing, bowing, touching foreheads, stroking beards, and repeated motions of obeisance. The Chinese seldom embrace or touch each other, except on unusual occasions of joy or among family friends; in fact, they have hardly a common word for a kiss. When the visitor rises to depart he remarks, ” Another day I will come to receive your instructions; ” to which his friend replies, ” You do me too much honor; I rather ought to wait on you tomorrow.” The common form of salutation among equals is for each to clasp his own hands before his breast and make a slight bow, saying, Tsing ! Tsimj ! i.e., ^l\\x\\\ ITail !

    .same time, on meeting as well as separating.’ The formalities of leave-taking correspond to those of receiving, but if the parties are equal, or nearly so, the host sees his friend quite to the door and into his sedan.

    Officers avoid meeting each other, especially in public, except when etiquette requires them. An officer of low rank is obliged to stop his chair or horse, and on his feet to salute his superior, who receives and returns the civility without moving. Those of equal grades leave their places and go through a mock struo-gle of deference to sret each first to return to it. The common people never presume to salute an officer in the streets, nor even to look at him very carefully. In his presence, they speak to him on their knees, but an old man, or one of consideration, is usually requested to rise when speaking, and even criminals with gray hairs are treated with respect. Officers do not allow their inferiors to sit in their presence, and have always been unwilling to concede this to foreigners ; those of the lowest rank consider themselves far above the best of such visitors, but this affectation of rank is already passing away. The converse, of not paying them proper respect, is more common among a certain class of foreigners.

    Children are early taught the forms of politeness toward all

    ranks. The duties owed by younger to elder brothers are peculiar,

    the firstborn havino; a sort of birthrio-ht in the ancestral

    Avorship, in the division of property, and in the direction of the

    family after the father’s decease. The degree of formality in

    the domestic circle inculcated in the ancient Book of Rites is

    never observed to its full extent, and would perhaps chill the

    affection which should exist among its members, did not habit

    render it easy and proper ; and the extent to which it is actually

    carried depends a good deal upon the education (jf the family.

    In forwarding presents it is customary to send a list with the

    note, and if the person deems it proper to decline some of them,

    he marks on the list those he takes and returns the i-est ; a douceur

    is always expected by the bearer, and needy fellows sometimes pretend to have been sent with some insignificant present

    ‘ Chinese Chrestomathy, Chap. V., Sec. 12, p. 182. This phrase is the origin of the word chinchin, so often heard among the Chinese.

    from a grandee in hopes of receiving more than its equivalent as a cumshavv from the person thus honored. De Guignes mentioned one donor who waited until the list came back, and then sent out and purchased the articles which had been marked and sent them to his friend.

    Travellers have so often described the Chinese formal dinners,

    that theJ have almost become one of their national traits in the

    view of foreigners ; so many of these banquets, however, were

    given by or in the name of the sovereign, that they are hardly

    a fair criterion of usual private feasts. The Chinese are both a

    social and a sensual people, and the pleasures of the table form

    a principal item in the list of their enjoyments ; nor are the

    higher delights of mental recreation altogether wanting, though

    this part of the entertainment is according to their taste and not

    ours. Private meals and public feasts among the higher classes

    are both dull and long to us, because ladies do not participate; but perhaps we judge more what our own tables would be without their cheerful presence, Avhile in China each sex is of the opinion that the meal is more enjoyable without interference from the other.

    An invitation to dinner is written on a slip of red paper like a visiting-card, and sent some days before. It reads, ” On the —day a trifling entertainment will await the light of your countenance. Tsau San-wei’s compliments.” Another card is sent on the day itself, stating the hour of dinner, or a servant comes to call the guests. The host, dressed in his cap and robes, awaits their arrival, and after they are all assembled, requests them to follow his example and lay aside their dresses of ceremony.

    CUSTOMS AT DINNER. 807

    The usual way of arranging guests is by twos on each side of small uncovered tables, placed in lines; an arrangement as convenient for serving the numerous courses which compose the feast, and removing the dishes, as Avas the Roman fashion of reclining around a hollow table; it also allows a fair view of the musical or theatrical performances. On some occasions, in the sunny south, however, a single long or round table is laid out in a tasteful manner, having pyramids of cakes alternating with piles of fruits and dishes of preserves, all covered more or less with flowers, while the table itself is partly hidden from view by nosegaj’s and leaves. If the party be large, ten minutes or more are consumed by the host and guests going through a tedious repetition of requests and refusals to take the highest seats, for not a man will sit down until he sees the host occupying his chair.

    On commencing, the host, standing up, salutes his guests, in

    a cup, apologizing for the frugal board before them, his only

    desire being to show his respects to them. At a certain period

    in the entertainment, they reply by simultaneously rising and

    drinking his health. The Western custom of giving a sentiment

    is not known ; and politeness requires a person when drinking

    healths to turn the bottom of the tiny wine-cup upward to

    show that it is drained. Glass dishes are gradually becoming

    cheap and common among the middle class, but the table furniture

    still mainly consists of porcelain cups, bowls, and saucers

    of various sizes and quality, porcelain spoons shaped like a

    child’s pap-boat, and two smooth sticks made of bamboo, ivory,

    or wood, of the size of quills, well known as the chojp-sticks^

    from the native name hwai tsz\ i.e., ‘ nimble lads.’ Grasping

    these implements on each side of the forefinger, the eater

    pinches up from the dishes meat, fish, oi- vegetables, already

    cut into mouthfuls, and conveys one to his mouth. The bowl

    of rice or millet is brought to the lips, and the contents shovelled

    into the mouth in an expeditious manner, quite suitable to the

    name of the tools employed. Less convenient than forks, chopsticks

    are a great improvement on fingers, as every one will

    acknowledge who has seen the Hindus throw the balls of curried

    rice into their mouths.

    The succession of dishes is not uniform ; soups, meats, stews, fruits, and preserves are introduced somewhat at the discretion of the major-domo, but the end is announced by a bowl of plain rice and a cup of tea. The fruit is often brought in after a recess, during which the guests rise and refresh themselves by walking and chatting, for three or four hours are not unfrequently required even to taste all the dishes. It is not deemed impolite for a guest to express his satisfaction with the good fare before him, and exhibit evidences of having stuffed himself to repletion ; nor is it a breach of manners to retire before the dinner is ended. The guests relieve its tedium by playing the game of ehal mel, or morra (the niicare digitls of the old Romans), which consists in showing the fingers to each other across the table, and mentioning a number at the same moment; as, if one opens out two fingers and mentions the number four, the other instantly shows six fingers, and repeats that number.

    If he mistake in giving the complement of ten, he pays a forfeit

    by drinking a cup. This convivial game is common among

    all ranks, and the boisterous merriment of workmen or friends

    at their meals is frecjuently heard as one passes through the

    streets in the afternoon.’ The Chinese generally have but two

    meals a day, breakfast at nine and dinner at four, or thereabouts.

    The Chinese are comparatively a temperate people. This is owing principally to the universal use of tea, but also to taking their arrack very warm and at their meals, rather than to any notions of sobriety or dislike of spirits. A little of it fiushes their faces, mounts into their heads, and induces them when flustered to remain in the house to conceal the suffusion, although they may not be really drunk. This liquor is known as toddy, arrack, saki, tsiu, and other names in Eastern Asia, and is distilled from the yeasty liquor in which boiled rice has fermented under pressure many days. Only one distillation is made for common liquor, but when more strength is wanted, it is distilled two or three times, and it is this strong spirit alone which is rightly called samshu, a word meaning ‘ thrice fired.’ Chinese moralists have always inveighed against the use of spirits, and the name of I-tih, the reputed inventor of the deleterious drink, more than two thousand years before Christ, has been handed down with opprobrium, as he was himself banished by the great Yu for his discovery.

    ‘ Compare the- China Review, Vol. IV., p. 400.

    TEMPERANCE OF THE CHINESE. 809

    The Shu King contains a discourse by the Duke of Chan on the abuse of spirits. His speech to his brother Fung, b.c. 1120, is the oldest temperance address on record, even earlier than the words of Solomon in the Proverbs. ” When your reverend father, King AVaii, founded our kingdom in the western region, ho delivered announcements and cautions to the princes of the

    various states, their officers, assistants, and managers of affairs,

    morning and evening, saying, ‘ For sacrifices spirits should be

    employed. When Heaven was sending down its [favoring]

    commands and laying the foundations of our people’s sway,

    spirits were used only in the great sacrifices. [But] when

    Heaven has sent down its terrors, and our people have therel)y

    been greatly disorganized, and lost their [sense of] virtue, this

    too can be ascribed to nothing else than their unlimited use of

    spirits; yea, further, the ruin of the feudal states, small and

    great, may be traced to this one sin, the free use of spirits.’

    King Wan admonished and instructed the young and those in

    office managing public affairs, that they should not habitually

    drink spirits. In all the states he enjoined that their use be

    confined to times of sacrifices ; and even then with such limitations

    that virtue should prevent drunkenness.” ‘

    The general and local festivals of the Chinese are numerous, among which the first three days of the year, one or two about the middle of April to worship at the tombs, the two solstices, and the festival of dragon-boats, are common days of relaxation and merry-making, only on the first, however, are the shops shut and business suspended. Some persons have expressed their surprise that the unceasing round of toil which the Chinese laborer pursues has not rendered him more degraded. It is usually said that a weekly rest is necessary for the continuance of the powers of body and mind in man in their full activity,

    and that decrepitude and insanity would oftener result

    were it not for this relaxation. The arguments in favor of this

    observation seem to be deduced from undoubted facts in countries

    where the obligations of the Sabbath are acknowledged,

    though where the vast majority cease from business and labor,

    it is not easy for a few to work all the time even if they wish,

    owing to the various ways in which their occupations are involved

    ‘ C/dnese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 433. Book of Records, Part V., Book X., Legge’s translation ; also Medliurst’s and Caubil’s translations.

    with those of others ; yet, in China, people who apparently tax themselves uninterruptedly to the utmost stretch of

    body and mind, live in health to old age. A few facts of this

    sort incline one to suppose that the Sabbath was designed by

    its Lord as a day of rest for man from a constant routine of relaxation

    and mental and physical labor, in order that he might

    have leisure for attending to the paramount duties of religion,

    and not alone as a day of relaxation and rest, without which

    they could not live out all their days. Nothing like a seventh

    day of rest, or religious respect to that interval of time, is

    known among the Chinese, but they do not, as a people, exercise

    their minds to the intensity, or upon the high subjects

    common among Western nations, and this perhaps is one reason

    why their yearly toil produces no disastrous effects. The countless blessings which flow from an observance of the fourth commandment can be better appreciated by witnessing the wearied

    condition of the society where it is not acknowledged, and whoever

    sees such a society can hardly fail to wish for its introduction.

    Converts to Christianity in China, who are instructed in its

    strict observance, soon learn to prize it as a high privilege ; and

    its general neglect among the native Roman Catholics has removed

    the only apparent difference between them and the pagans. The former prime minister of China once remarked that among the few really valuable things which foreigners had brought to China, the rest of the Sabbath day was one of the most desirable; he often longed for a quiet day.”

    Nevius, China and the Chinese, pp. 399-408.

    NEW year’s customs AND CEREMONIES. 811

    The return of the year is an occasion of unbounded festivity and hilarity, as if the whole population threw oft” the old year with a shout, and clothed themselves in the new with their change of garments. The evidences of the approach of this chief festival appear some weeks previous. The principal streets are lined with tables, upon which articles of dress, furniture, and fancy are disposed for sale in the most attractive manner. Necessity compels many to dispose of certain of their treasures or superfluous things at this season, and sometimes exceedingly curious bits of bric-a-brac, long laid up in families, can be procured at a cheap rate. It is customary for superiors to give their dependents and employees a present, and for shopmen to send an’ acknowledgment of favors to their customers; one of the most common gifts among the lower classes is a pair of new shoes. Among the tables spread in the streets are many provided with pencils and red paper of various sizes, on which persons write sentences appropriate to the season in various styles,

    to be pasted upon the doorposts and lintels of dwellings and

    shops,’ or suspended from their walls. The shops also put on a

    most brilliant appearance, arrayed in these papers interspei’sed

    among the I’hi hwa^ or ‘golden flowers,’ which are sprigs of artificial

    leaves and flowers made in the southern cities of brass tinsel

    and fastened upon wires ; the latter are designed for an annual offering in temples, or to place before the household tablet. Small strips of red and gilt paper, some bearing the word fah, or ‘happiness,’ large and small vermilion candles, gaily painted, and other things used in idolatry, are likewise sold in great quantities, and with the increased throng impart an unusually lively appearance to the streets. Another evident sign of the approaching change is the use of water upon the doors, shutters, and other woodwork of houses and shops, washing chairs, utensils, clothes, etc., as if cleanliness had not a little to do wath joy, and a well-washed person and tenement were indispensable to the proper celebration of the festival. Throughout the southern rivers all small craft, tankia-boats, and lighters are beached and turned inside out for a scrubbing.

    ‘ A like custom existed among the Hebrews, now continued in the modern mezuzmc. Deut. vi. 9. Jahu’s Arduvoloyy, p. 88.

    A still more praiseworthy custom attending this season is that of settling accounts and paying debts; shopkeepers are kept busy waiting upon their customers, and creditors urge their debtors to arrange these important matters. No debt is allowed to overpass new year without a settlement or satisfactory arrangement, if it can be avoided ; and those whose liabilities altogether exceed their means are generally at this season obliged to wind up their concerns and give all their available property into the hands of their creditors. The consequences of this general pay-day are a high rate of money, great resort to the pawnbrokers, and a general fall in the price of most kinds of produce and commodities. Manj- good results flow from the practice, and the conscious sense of the difficulty and expense of resorting to legal proceedings to recover debts induces all to observe and maintain it, so that the dishonest, the unsuccessful, and the wild speculator may be sifted out from amongst the honest traders.

    De Guignes mentions one expedient to oblige a man to pay

    his debts at this season, which is to carry off the door of his

    shop or house, for then his premises and person will be exposed

    to the entrance and anger of all hungry and malicious demons

    prowling around the streets, and happiness no more revisit his

    abode ; to avoid this he is fain to arrange his accounts. It

    is a common practice among devout persons to settle with the

    gods, and during a few days before the new yeai”, the temples

    are nnusually thronged by devotees, both male and female, rich

    and poor. Some persons fast and engage the priests to intercede

    for them that their sins may be pardoned, while they prostrate

    themselves before the images amidst the din of gongs, drums,

    and bells, and thus clear off the old score. On new year’s eve

    the streets are full of people hun-ying to and fro to conclude the

    many matters which press upon them. At Canton, some are

    busy pasting the five slips upon their lintels, signifying their

    desire tliat the five blessings which constitute the sum of all

    human felicity (namely, longevity, riches, health, love of virtue,

    and a natural death) may be their favored portion. Such sentences

    as ” May the five blessings visit this door,” ” May heaven

    send down happiness,” ” May rich customers ever enter this

    door,” are placed above them ; and the dooi-posts are adorned

    with others on plain or gold sprinkled red paper, making tlie

    entrance quite picturesque. In the hall are suspended scrolls

    more or less costly, containing antithetical sentences carefully

    chosen. A literary man would have, for instance, a distich like

    the following:

    May I be so learned as to secrete in my raind three myriads of volumes:

    May I know the affairs of the world for six tiiousand years.

    SETTLING ACCOUNTS AND DECORATING HOUSES. 813

    A. shopkeeper adorns his door with those relating to trade:
    May prolits ho lik(> tlio morning sun lising on tho clouds.
    May wealth increase like the morning tidt; which brings the rain.
    Manage your occupation according to truth and loyalty.
    Hold ou to benevolence and rectitude in all your trading.

    The influence of these mottoes, and countless others like them which are constantly seen in the streets, shops, and dwellings throughout the land, is inestimable. Generally it is for good, and as a large proportion are in the form of petition or wish, they show the moral feeling of the people.

    Boat-people in Kwaiigtmig and Fuhkien provinces are peculiarly

    liberal of their paper prayers, pasting them on every board

    and oar in the boat, and suspending them from the stern in scores,

    making the vessel flutter with gaiety. Farmers stick theirs

    upon barns, trees, wattles, baskets, and implements, as if nothing

    was too insignificant to receive a blessing. The house is arranged

    in the most oi’derly and cleanly manner, and purified

    with religious ceremonies and lustrations, firing of ei-ackers, etc.,

    and as the necessary preparations occupy a considerable portion

    of the night, the streets are not quiet till dawn. In addition

    to the bustle arising from business and religious observances,

    which marks this passage of time, the constant explosion of firecrackers,

    and the clamor of gongs, make it still more noisy.

    Strings of these crackling fireworks are burned at the doorposts,

    before the outgoing and incoming of the year, designed to expel

    and deter evil spirits from the house. The consumption is

    so great as to cover the sti-eets with the fragments, and farmers

    come the week after into Canton city and sweep up hundreds of

    bushels for manure.

    The first day of the year is also regarded as the birthday of the entire population, for the practice among the Hebrews of dating the age from the beginning of the year, prevails also in China; so that a child born only a week before new year, is considered as entering its second year on the first day of the first month. This does not, however, entirely supersede the observance of the real anniversary, and parents frequently make asolenmity of their son’s birthday. A missionary thus describes the celebration of a son’s sixth birthday at Ningpo. ” The little fellow was dressed in his best clothes, and his father had brought gilt paper, printed praj^ers, and a large number of bowls of meats,

    rice, vegetables, spirits, nuts, etc., as an offering to be spread

    out before the idols. The ceremonies were performed in the

    apartment of the Tao 2£u, or ‘ Bushel Mother,’ who has special

    charge of infants before and after birth. The old abbot

    was dressed in a scarlet robe, with a gilt image of a serpent

    fastened in his hair ; one of the monks wore a purple, another

    a gray robe. A multitude of prayers, seemingly a round of

    repetitions, were read by the abbot, occasionally chanting a little,

    when the attendants joined in the chorus, and a deafening

    clamor of bells, cymbals, and wooden blocks, added force to

    their cry ; genuflexions and prostrations were repeatedlj’ made.

    One pai’t of the ceremony was to pass a live cock through a barrel,

    which the assistants performed many times, shouting some

    strange words at each repetition ; this act symbolized the dangers

    through which the child was to pass in his future life, and

    the priests had prayed that he might as safely come out of them

    all, as the cock had passed through the barrel. In conclusion,

    some of the prayers were burned and a libation poured out, and

    a grand symphony of bell, gong, drum, and block, closed the

    scene.”‘

    ‘ Presbyterian Missionary Chronide, 1846.

    CALLS AND COMPLLMKNTS AT NEW YEAR’S. 815

    A great diversity of local usages are observed at this period in different parts of the country. In iVmoy, the custom of ‘•’ surrounding the furnace” is generally practised. The members of the family sit down to a substantial supper on new year’s eve, with a pan of charcoal under the table, as a supposed preservative against fires. After the supper is ended, the wooden lamp-stands are brought out and spread upon the pavement with a heap of gold and silver paper, and set on fire after all demons have been warned off by a volley of fire-crackers. The embers are then divided into twelve heaps, and their manner of going out carefully watched as a prognostic of the kind of weather to be expected the ensuing year. Many persons wash their bodies in warm water, made aromatic by the infusion of leaves, as a security against disease; this ceremony, and ornamenting the ancestral shrine, and garnishing the whole house with inscriptions, pictures, flowers, and fruit, in the gayest manner the means of the family will allow, occupy most of the night.

    The stillness of the streets and the gay inscriptions on the

    closed shops on new year’s morning present a wonderful contrast

    to the usual bustle and crowd, resembling the Christian

    Sabbath. The red papers of the doors are here and there interspersed with the blue ones, announcing that during the past

    year death has come among the inmates of the house ; a silent

    but expressive intimation to passers that some who saw the last

    new year have passed away. In certain places, white, yellow,

    and carnation colored papers are employed, as well as blue, to

    distinguish the degree of the deceased kindred. Etiquette requires that those who mourn remain at home at this period.

    By noontide the streets begin to be filled with well-dressed persons, hastening in sedans or afoot to make their calls; those who cannot afford to buy a new suit hire one for this purpose, so that a man hardly knows his own domestics in their finery and robes. The meeting of friends in the streets, both bound on the same errand, is attended with particular demonstrations of respect, each politely struggling who shall be most affectedly humble. On this day parents receive the prostrations of their children, teachers expect the salutations of their pupils, magistrates

    look for the calls of their inferiors, and ancestors of every

    generation, and gods of various powers are presented with the

    offerings of devotees in the family hall or public temple. Much

    of the visiting is done by cards, on which is stamped an emblematic

    device representing the three happy wishes—of children,

    rank, and longevity ; a common card suffices for distant

    acquaintances and customers. It might be a subject of speculation

    whether the custom of visiting and renewing one’s acquaintances

    on new year’s day, so generally practised among

    the Dutch and in America, was not originally imitated from

    the Chinese ; but as in many other things, so in this, the

    westerns have improved upon the easterns, in calling upon

    the ladies. Persons, as they meet, salute each other with Kung-hi I Kung-ld ! ‘ I respectfully wish yon joy ! ‘—or Sviihi! 8in-hi ! ‘ May the new joy be yours,’ either of which, from its use at this season, is quite like the Ilayj^ij JVew Year ! of Englishmen.

    Toward evening, the merry sounds proceeding from the closed

    doors announce that the sacrifice provided for presentation before

    the shrines of departed parents is cheering the M’orshippers ;

    while the great numbers who resort to gambling-shops show full

    M’ell that the routine of ceremony soon becomes tiresome, and a

    more exciting stimulus is needed. The extent to which play is

    now carried is almost indescribable. Jugglers, mountebanks,

    and actors also endeavor to collect a few coppers by amusing

    the crowds. Generally speaking, however, the three days devoted

    to this festival pass by without turmoil, and business and

    work then gradually resume their usual course for another

    twelvemonth.

    The festival of the dragon-boats, on the fifth day of the fifth month, presents a very different scene wherever there is a serviceable stream for its celebration. At Canton, long, narrow boats, holding sixty or more rowers, race up and down the river in pairs with huge clamor, as if searching for some one wdio had been drowned. This festival was instituted in memory of the statesman Kiih Yuen, about 450 b.c, who drowned himself in the river Miii-lo, an affluent of Tungting Lake, after having been falsely accused by one of the petty princes of the state. The people, who loved the unfortunate courtier for his

    fidelity and virtues, sent out boats in search of the body, but to

    no purpose. They then made a peculiar sort of rice-cake called

    tsung, and setting out across the river in boats with flags and

    gongs, each strove to be fii’st on the spot of the tragedy and sacrifice

    to the spirit of Kiih Yuen. This mode of commemoi-ating

    the event has been since continued as an annual holiday.

    The bow of the boat is ornamented or cai’ved into the head of

    a dragon, and men beating gongs and drums, and waving flags,

    inspirit the rowers to renewed exertions. The exhilarating exercise

    of racing leads the people to prolong the festival two or

    three days, and geiuM’ally with commendable good humor, but

    their eagerness to beat t»ften breaks the boats, or leads them

    DKAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL XnD FEAST OF JvANTEKNS. 817

    into 80 iiiudi danger that the magistrates souietiiues forbid the

    races in order to save tlie people from drowning.’

    •The first full moon of the year is the feast of lanterns, a

    childish and dull festival compared with the two preceding. Its

    origin is not certainly known, but it was obse^. ^d as early as

    A.D. 700. Its celebration consists in suspending lantei-ns of different

    forms and materials before each door, and illuminating

    those in the hall, but their united brilliancy is dimness itself

    compared with the light of the moon. At Peking, an exhibition

    of transparencies and pictures in the Loard of War on this

    evening attracts great crowds of both sexes if the weather be

    good. Magaillans describes a firework he saw, which was an

    arbor covered with a vine, the woodwork of which seemed to

    burn, while the trunk, leaves, and clusters of the plant gradually

    consumed, yet so that the redness of the grapes, the greenness

    of the leaves, and natural brown of the stem were all

    maintained until the whole was burned. The feast of lanterns

    coming so soon after new year, and being somewhat expensive,

    is not so enthusiastically observed in the southern cities. At

    the capital this leisure time, when public offices are closed, is

    availed of by the jewellers, bric-a-brac dealers, and others to

    hold a fair in the courts of a temple in the Wai Ching, where

    they exhibit as beautiful a collection of carvings in stone and

    gems, bronzes, toys, etc., as is to be seen anywhere in Asia.

    ‘ Compare Morrison’s Dictionary under Tsunrj ; Doolittle, &>ntil Life, Vol II., pp. 55-60; JVot^s and Qaeries on China ami Japan, Vol. II., p. 157.Vol. J. —53

    The respect with which the crowds of women and children are treated on these occasions reflects much credit on the people. In the manufacture of lanterns the Chinese surely excel all other people ; the variety of their forms, their elegant carving, gilding, and coloring, and the laborious ingenuity and taste displayed in their construction, render them among the prettiest ornaments of their dwellings. They are made of paper, silk, cloth, glass, horn, basket-work, and bamboo, exhibiting an infinite variety of shapes and decorations, vary ingin size from a small hand-light, costing two or three cents, up to a magnificent chandelier, or a complicated lantern fifteen feet in diameter, containing several lamps within it, and worth three or four hundred dollars. The uses to which they are applied are not less various than the pains and skill bestowed upon their construction are remarkable. One curious kind is called the tsao-ma-tdng^ or ‘ horse-racing lantern,’ which consists of one, two, or more wire

    frames, one within the other, and arranged on the same principle

    as the smoke-jack, by w^iich the current of air caused by

    the flame sets them revolving. The wire framework is covered

    with paper figures of men and animals placed in the midst of

    appropriate scenery, and represented in various attitudes ; or,

    as Magaillans describes them, ” You shall see horses run, draw

    chariots and till the earth ; vessels sailing, kings and princes go

    in and out with large trains, and great numbers of people, both

    afoot and a horseback, armies marching, comedies, dances, and

    a thousand other divertissements and motions represented.”

    One of the prettiest shows of lanterns is seen in a festival observed

    in the spring or autumn by fisherman on the southern

    coasts to propitiate the gods of the waters. An indispensable

    part of the procession is a dragon fifty feet or more long, made

    of light bamboo frames of the size and shape of a barrel, connected

    and covered with strips of colored cotton or silk ; the extremities

    represent the gaping head and frisking talk This

    monster symbolizes the ruler of the watery deep, and is carried

    through the streets by men holding the head and each joint

    upon poles, to which are suspended lanterns ; as they follow each

    other their steps give the body a wriggling, waving motion.

    Huge models of fish, similarly lighted, precede the dragon, while

    music and fireworks—the never-failing warning to lurking

    demons to keep out of the way—accompany the procession,

    which presents a very brilliant sight as it winds in its course

    through the dark streets. These sports and processions give

    idolatry its hold upon a people ; and although none of them are

    required or patronized by government in China as in other

    heathen countries, most of the scenes and games which please

    the people are recommended by connecting with them the observances

    or hopes of religion and the merrymaking of the

    festive board.

    ARRANGElvrENT AND STYLE OF PROCESSIONS. 819

    In the middle of the sixth moon lanterns are hung from the top of a pole placed on the highest part of the house. A single small lantern is deemed sufficient, but if the night be calm, a greater display is made by some householders, and especially in boats, by exhibiting colored glass lamps arranged in various ways. The illumination of a city like Canton when seen from a high spot is made still more brilliant by the moving boats on the river. On one of these festivals at Canton, an almost total eclipse of the moon called out the entire .population, each one carrying something with which to make a noise, kettles, pans, sticks, drums, gongs, guns, crackers, and what not to frighten away the dragon of the sky from his liideous feast. The advancing shadow gradually caused the mj-riads of lanterns to show more and more distinctly and started a still increasing clamor,

    till the darkness and the noise were both at their climax ; silence

    gradually resumed its sway as the moon recovered her fulness.

    The Chinese are fond of processions, and if marriages and

    funerals be included, have them more frequently than any other

    people. Livery establishments are opened in every city and town

    where processions are arranged and supplied with everything

    necessary for bi’idal and funeral occasions as well as religious

    festivals. Not only are sedans, bands of music, biers, framed

    and gilded stands for carrjdng idols, shrines, and sacrificial

    feasts, red boxes for holding the bride’s trousseau, etc., supplied,

    but also banners, tables, stands, curiosities, and uniforms in

    great variety. The men and boys required to carry them and

    perform the various parts of the ceremony are hired, a uniform

    hiding their ragged garments and dirty limbs. Guilds often go

    to a heavy expense in getting up a procession in honor of their

    patron saint, whose image is carried through the streets attended

    by the members of the corporation dressed in holiday robes and

    boots. The variety and participators of these shows are exceedingly

    curious and characteristic of the people’s taste. Here are

    seen splendid silken banners worked with rich embroidery,

    alternating with young girls bedizened with paint and flowers,

    and perched on high seats under an artificial tree or apparently

    almost in the air, resting upon frames on men’s shoulders ; bands

    of music ; sacrificial meats and fruits adorned with flowers ; shrines, images, and curious rarities laid out upon red pavilions; boys gaily dressed in official robes and riding upon ponies, oi harnessed up in a covered framework to represent horses, all so contri\’ed and painted that the spectator can hardly believe they are not riding Lilliputian ponies no bigger than dogs. A child standing in a car and carrying a branch on its shoulder, on one twi”; of which stands another child on one foot or a girl

    holding a plate of cakes in her hand, on the top of which stands

    another miss on tiptoe, the whole borne by coolies, sometimes

    add to the diversion of the spectacle and illustrate the mechanical

    skill of the exhibitors. Small companies dressed in a great

    variety of military uniforms, carrying spears, shields, halberds,

    etc., iio\v and then volunteer for the occasion, and give it a more

    martial appearance. The carpenters at Canton are famous for

    their splendid processions in honor of their hero, Lu Pan, in

    which also other craftsmen join ; for this demi-god corresponds

    to the Tubal-cain of Chinese legends, and is now regarded as

    the patron of all workmen, thougli he flourished no longer ago

    than the time of Confucius. Besides these festivities and processions,

    there are several more strictly religious, such as the

    annual mass of the Buddhists, the supplicatory sacrifice of

    farmers for a good crop, and others of more or less importance,

    which add to the number of days of recreation.

    Theatrical representations constitute a common amusement,

    and are generally connected with the religious celebration of

    the festival of the god before whose temple they are exhibited.

    They are got up by the priests, who send their neophytes around

    with a subscription paper, and then engage as large and skilful

    a band of performers as the funds will allow. There are few

    permanent buildings erected for theatres, for the Thespian band

    still retains its original strolling character, and stands ready to

    pack up its trappings at the first call. The erection of sheds

    for playing constitutes a separate l)ranch of the carpenter’s

    trade ; one large enough to accommodate two thousand persons

    can be put up in the southern cities in a day, and almost the

    only part of the materials which is wasted is the rattan which

    binds the posts and mats together. One large shed contahis

    the stage, and three smaller ones before it enclose an area, and

    are furnished with rude seats for the paying spectators. The

    THEATRICAL RKPKESEXTATIOXS AND PLAV-ACTOIIS. 821

    subscribers’ bounty is acknowledged by pasting^rcd siieets containing

    their names and amounts upon the walls of tlie temple.

    The purlieus are let as stands for the sale of refreshments, for

    gambling fables, or for worse purposes, and by all these means

    the ]>riests generally contrive to make gain of their devotion.’

    Parties of actoi-s and acrobats can be hired cheaply, and their

    performances form part of the festivities of rich families in

    their houses to entertain the women and relativ^es who cannot

    go abroad to see them. They are constituted into separate corporations or’ guilds, and each takes a distinguishing name, as the ‘ Happy and Blessed company,’ the ‘ Glorious Appearing company,’ etc.

    The performances usually extend through three entire days,

    with brief recesses for sleeping and eating, and in villages

    where they are comparatively rare, the people act as if they

    were bewitched, neglecting everything to attend them. The

    female parts are performed by lads, who not only paint and

    dress like women, but even squeeze their toes into the “golden

    lilies,” and imitate, upon the stage, a mincing, wriggling gait.

    These fellows personate the voice, tones, and motions of the

    sex with wonderful exactness, taking every opportunity, indeed,

    that the play will allow to relieve their feet by sitting when on

    the boards, or retiring into the green-room when out of the acts.

    The acting is chiefly pantomine, and its fidelity shows the excellent

    ti-aining of the players. This development of their imitative

    faculties is probably still more encouraged by the difficulty

    the audience find to understand what is said ; for owing to

    the differences in the dialects, the open construction of the

    theatre, the high falsetto or recitative key in which many of the

    parts are spoken, and the din of the orchestra intervening between

    every few sentences, not one cpiarter of the people hear

    or understand a word.

    ‘ Gray’s China (Vol. II., p. 273) contains a cut of a mat theatre from a native drawing. See also Doolittle, Social Life, Vol. II., pp. 292-299,

    The scenery is very simple, consisting merely of rudely painted mats arranged on the back and sides of the stage, a few tables, chairs, or beds, which successively serve for many uses, and are bfonglit in and out from the robing-room. The orchestra sits on the side of the stage, and not only fill up the intervals with their interludes, but strike a crashing noise by way of emphasis, or to add energy to the rush of opi30sing warriors.

    ]S’o falling curtain divides the acts or scenes, and the play is carried to its conclusion without intermission. The dresses are made of gorgeous silks, and present the best specimens of ancient Chinese costume of former dynasties now to be seen. The imperfections of the scenery require much to be suggested by the spectator’s imagination, though the actors themselves supply the defect in a measure by each man stating what part he performs, and what the person he represents has been doing: while absent. If a courier is to be sent to a distant city, away he strides across the boards, or perhaps gets a whip and cocks up his leg as if mounting a horse, and on reaching the end of the stao;e cries out that he has arrived, and there delivers his message. Passing a bridge or crossing a river are indicated by stepping up and then down, or by the rolling motion of a boat. If a city is to be impersonated, two or three men lie down upon each other, when warriors rush on them furiously, overthrow the wall which they formed, and take the place by assault. Ghosts or supernatural beings are introduced through a wide trap-door in the stage, and, if he thinks it necessary, the impersonator cries out from underneath that he is ready, or for assistance to help him up through the hole.

    Mr. Lay describes a play he saw, in which a medley of celestial

    and terrestrial personages were introduced. “The first

    scene was intended to represent the happiness and splendor of

    beings who inhabit the upper regions, with the sun and moon

    and the elements curiously personified playing around them.

    The man who personated the sun held a round image of the

    sun’s disk, while the female who acted the part of the moon

    liad a crescent in her hand. The actors took care to move so’

    as to mimic the conjunction and opposition of these heavenly

    bodies as they revolve round in their apparent orbs. The

    Thunderer wielded an axe, and lea})ed and dashed about in a

    variety of extraordinary somersaults. After a few turns the

    monarch, who had been so highly honored as to find a place.

    DESCRIPTION OF A PLAY. 823

    throngh the partiality of a mountain nynipli, in the ahocles of

    the happy, begins to feel that no height of good fortune can

    secure a mortal against the common calamities of this frail life.

    A wicked courtier disguises himself in a tiger’s skin, and in this

    garb imitates the animal itself. He rushes into the retired

    apartments of the ladies, frightens them out of their wits, and

    throws the heir-apparent into a moat. The sisters hurry into

    the royal presence, and casting themselves on the ground divulge

    the sad intelligence that a tiger has borne off the young

    prince, who it appears was the son of the mountain nymph

    aforesaid. The loss the bereaved monarch takes so much to

    heart, that he renounces the world and deliberates about the

    nomination of a successor. By the influence of a crafty woman

    he selects a young man who has just sense enough to know that

    he is a fool. The settlement of the crown is scarcely finished

    when the unhappy king dies, and the Ijlockhead is presently invested

    with the crown, but instead of excelling in his new preferment

    the lout bemoans his lot in the most awkward strains

    of lamentation, and cries, ‘ O dear ! what shall I do ? ‘ with such

    piteous action, and yet withal so truly ludicrous, that the spectator

    is at a loss to know whether to laugh or to weep. The courtier who had taken off the heir and broken the father’s heart finds the new king an easy tool fur prosecuting his traitorous purposes, and the state is plunged into the depths of civil discord at home and dangerous wars abroad.

    ” In the sequel a scene occurred in which the reconciliation of this court and some foreign prince depends upon the surrender of a certain obnoxious person. The son-in-law of the victim is charged with the letter containing this proposal, and returns to his house and disguises himself for the sake of concealment. When he reaches the court of the foreign prince he discovers that he has dropped the letter in changing his clothes, and narrowly escapes being taken for a spy without his credentials.

    He hurries back, calls for his garments, and shakes them one by one in an agony of self-reproach, but no letter appears. He sits down, throwing himself with great violence upon the chair, Avith a countenance inexpressibly full of torture and despair:

    reality could have added nothing to the imitation. But while every eye was riveted upon him, he called the servant maid and inquired if she knew anything about the letter ; she replied she overheard her mistress reading a letter whose contents

    were so and so. The mistress had taken her seat at a

    distance from him and was nursing her baby ; and the instant

    he ascertained the letter was in her possession, he looked toward

    her with such a smile upon his cheek, and with a flood of

    light in his eye, that the whole assembly heaved a loud sigh

    of admiration ; for the Chinese do not applaud by clapping and

    stamping, but express their feelings by an ejaculation that is

    between a sigh and a groan. The aim of the husband was to

    wheedle his wife out of the letter, and this smile and look of

    aifection were merely the prelude ; for he takes his chair, places

    it beside her, lays one hand softly on her shoulder, and fondles

    the child with the other in a style so exquisitely natural and so

    completely English, that in this dramatic picture it was seen

    that nature fashioneth men’s hearts alike. His addresses were,

    however, ineffectual, and her father’s life was not sacrificed.” ‘

    The morals of tlie Chinese stage, so far as the sentiments of

    the pieces are concerned, are better than the acting, which

    sometimes panders to depraved tastes, but no indecent exposure,

    as of the persons of dancers, is ever seen in China. The audience

    stand in the area fronting the stage, or sit in the sheds

    around it ; the women present are usually seated in the galleries.

    The police are at hand to maintain order, but the crowd, although in an irksome position, and sometimes exposed to a fierce sun, is remarkably peaceable. Accidents seldom occur on these occasions, but whenever the people are alarmed by a crash, or the stage takes fire, loss of life or limb generally ensues. A dreadful destruction took place at Canton in May, 1845, by the conflagration of a stage during the performances, by which more than two thousand lives were sacrificed ; the survivors had occasion to remember that fifty persons had been killed many years before in the same place, and while a play was going on, by the falling of a wall.^

    ‘ Chinese as They Are, p. 114. ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. XIV., p. 335,

    POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 825

    j^ctive, manly plays are not popular in the south, and instead

    of engaging in a ball-game or i-egatta, going to a bowling alley

    or fives’ court, to exhibit their strength and skill, jouug men

    lift beams iieaded with heavy stones, like huge dumb-bells,

    to prove their muscle, or kick up their lieels in a game of

    shuttlecock. The out-door amusements of gentlemen consist in

    flying kites, carrying birds on perches and throwing seeds high

    in the air for them to catch, sauntering through the fields, or

    lazily boating on the water. Pitching coppers, fighting crickets

    ()!• quails, tossing up several balls at once, kicking large leaden

    balls against each other, snapping sticks, chncking stones, or

    guessing the number of seeds in an orange, are plays for

    lads.

    Gambling is universal. Hucksters at the roadside are provided

    with a cup and saucer, and the clicking of their dice is

    heard at every corner. A boy with but two cash prefers to risk

    their loss on the throw of a die to simply buying a cake without

    trying the chance of getting it for nothing. Gaminghouses

    are opened by scores, their keepers paying a bribe to the

    local officers, who can hardly be expected to be very severe

    against what they were brought up in and daily practise ; and

    women, in the privacy of their apartments, while away their

    time at cards and dominoes. Porters play by the wayside

    when waiting for employment, and hardly have the retinue of

    an officer seen their superiors enter the house, than they pull

    out their cards or dice and squat down to a game. The most

    common game of luck played at Canton is called fan tan^ or

    ‘ quadrating cash.’ The keeper of the table is provided with

    a pile of bright large cash, of which he takes a double handful,

    and lays them on the table, covering the pile with a bowl. The

    persons standing outside the rail guess the remainder there will

    be left after the pile has been divided by four, whether one, two,

    three, or nothing, the guess and stake of each person being first

    recorded by a clerk ; the keeper then carefully picks out the coins

    four by four, all narrowly watching his movements. Cheating

    is almost impossible in this game, and twenty people can play

    at it as easily as two. Chinese ciirds are smaller and more

    numerous than our own ; but the dominoes are the same.

    Combats between crickets are oftenest seen in the south, where the small field sort is common. Two well-chosen combatants are put into a basin and irritated with a straw until they rush upon each other with the utmost fury, chirruping as they make the onset, and the battle seldom ends without a tragical result in loss of life or limb. Quails are also trained to mortal combat ; two are placed on a railed table, on which a handful of millet has been strewn, and as soon as one picks up a kernel the other flies at him with beak, claws, and wings, and the struggle is kept up till one retreats by hopping into the Boys Gambling with Crickets.

    hand of his disappointed owner. Hundreds of dollars are occasionally betted upon these cricket or quail fights, which, if not as sublime or exciting, are certainly less inhuman than the pugilistic fights and bull-baits of Christian countries, while both show the same brutal love of sport at the expense of life.

    METHODS AXD POPULARITY OB’ GAMBLING. 827

    A favorite amusement is the flying of kites. They are made of paper and silk, in imitation of birds, butterflies, lizards, spectacles, fish, men, and other objects ; but the skill shown in flying them is more remarkable than the ingenuity displayed in their construction. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a festival devoted to this amusement all over the land. Doolittle describes them as sometimes resembling a great bird, or a serpent thirty feet long ; at other times the spectator sees a group of hawks hovering around a centre, all being suspended by one strong cord, and each hawk-kite controlled and moved by a separate line. On this day he estimates that as many as thirty thousand people assemble on the hills around Fuhchau to join in this amusement if the weather be propitious. Many of the kites are cut adrift under the belief that, as they float off, they carry away with them all impending disasters.

    Chinese Chess-board.

    The Chinese game of chess is very ancient, for Wu Wang (b.c. 1120) is the reputed inventor, and its rules of playing are so unlike the Indian game as to suggest an independent origin, which is confirmed by the peculiar feature of the kiai ho, or river, running across the board. There are seventy-two squares of which eight are run together to form the river, leaving thirty-two on each side ; but as the men stand on the intersection of the lines, there are ninety positions for the sixteen pieces used by each player, or twenty-six more than in the European game. The pieces are arranged for playing as in the diagram above.

    The pieces are like chequer-men in shape, each of the seven kinds on each side having its name cut on the top, and distinguished by its red or black colors. The four squares near each edge form the headquarters of the tsimig, or ‘ general,’ out of which he and his two «.*’, or ‘ secretaries,’ cannot move. On each side of the headquarters are two elephants, two horses, and two chariots, whose powers are less than our bishop, knight, and castle, though similar ; the chariot is the most powerful piece. In front of the horses stand two cannoniers, which capture like our knight but move like our castle. Five pao, soldiers or pawns, guard the river banks, but cannot return when

    once across it in pursuit of the enemy, and get no higher value

    when they reach the last row. Each piece is put down in the

    point where it captured its man, except the cannoniers ; as the

    general cannot be taken, the object of each player is to checkniate

    him in his headquarters, therefore, by preventing his

    moving except into check. The want of a queen and the limited

    moves of the men restrict the combinations in the Chinese

    game more than in western chess, but it has its own elements

    of skill. Literary men and women play it much, and usually

    for small stakes. There is another game played less frequently but one of the most ancient in the Empire. It is called loei-ki, which may be rendered ‘blockade chess,’ and was common in the days of the sages, perhaps even earlier than chess. The board contains three hundred and twenty four squares, eighteen each way, and the number of pieces is three hundred, though both the number of points and of pieces may be less than this size of the full game. The pieces are black and white and stand on the crossings of the lines, three hundred and sixty-one in number. The object of the opponents is to surround each other’s men and take up the crossings they occupy, or neutralize their power over those near them. Each player puts down a piece anywhere on the board, and continues to do so alternately, capturing his adversary’s positions until all the crossings are occupied and the game is ended.’

    CHINESE CHESS. 829

    If this sketch of the customs and annisemcnts of the Chinese

    in their social intercourse and public entertainments is necessarily

    brief, it is perhaps enough to exhibit their character.

    Dr. Johnson has well remarked that no man is a hypocrite in

    his amusements. The absence of some of the violent and gladiatorial

    sports of other countries, and of the adjudication of

    doubtful questions by ordeals or duels ; the general dislike of a

    resort to force, their inability to cope with enemies of vastly

    less resources and numbers, and the comparative disesteem of

    warlike achievements, all indicate the peaceful traits of Chinese character. Duels are unknown, assassinations are infrequent, betting on horse-races is still to begin, and running amuck a la Malay is unheard of. When two persons fall out upon a matter, after a vast variety of gesture and huge vociferation of opprobrium, they will blow oft their wrath and separate almost without touching each other. Some contrarieties in their ideas and customs from those practised among ourselves have frequently been noticed by travellers, a few of which are grouped in the following sketch :

    On asking the boatman in which direction the harbor hxy, I was answered west-north, and the wind, he said, was west-south ; lie still further perplexed my ideas as to our course by getting out his compass and showing me that the needle pointed south. It was really a needle as to size, weight, and length, about an inch and a half long, the south end of it painted red, and all the time quivering on the pivot. His boat differed from our vessels, too, in many ways: the cooking was done in the stern and the passengers were all accommodated in the bow, while the sailors slept on deck and had their kits stowed in lockers amidships.

    ‘ Temple Bur, Vol. XLIX., p. 45.

    On lauding, the first object that attracted my attention was a military officer wearing an embroidered petticoat, who had a string of beads around his neck and a fan in his hand. His insignia of rank was a peacock’s feather pointing downward instead of a plume turning upward ; he had a round knob or button on the apex of his sugar-loaf cap, instead of a star on his breast or epaulettes on his shoulders; and it was with some dismay that I saw him mount his horse on the right side. Several scabbards hung from his belt, which I naturally supposed must be dress swords or dirks; but on venturing near through the crowd 1 was undeceived by seeing a pair of chopsticks and a knife-handle sticking out of one, and soon his fan was folded up and put in the other. I therefore concluded that he was going to a dinner instead of a review. The natives around me shaved the hair from the front half of their heads and let it grow long behind: many of them did not shave their faces, and others employed their leisure in diligently pulling the straggling hairs down over their mouths. We arrange our toilets differently, thought I ; but could easily see the happy device of chopsticks, which enabled these gentlemen to put their food into the mouth endwise under this natural fringe. A group of hungry fellows, around the stall of a travelling cook, further exhibited the utility of these ktrai-fsz\ or ‘ nimble lads ‘ (as I afterward learned chopsticks were called), for each had put his bowl of rice to his lips, and was shovelling in the contents till the mouth would hold no more. “We keep our bowls on the table, ” said I, “do our cooking in the house, and wait for customers to come there instead of travelling around after them;” but these chopsticks serve for knife, fork, and spoon in one.

    On my way to the hotel I saw a group of old people and graybeards. A few were chirruping and chuckling to larks or thrushes, which they carried perched on a stick or in cages; others were catching flies or hunting for crickets to feed them, while the remainder of the party seemed to be delightfully employed in flying fantastic paper kites. A group of boys were gravely looking on and regarding these innocent occupations of their seniors with the most serious and gratified attention. A few of the most sprightly were kicking a shuttlecock back and forth with great energy, instead of playing rounders with bat and ball as boys would do.

    As I had come to the country to reside for some time, I made inquiries respecting a teacher, and happily found one who understood English. On entering he stood at the door, and instead of coming forward and shaking my hands, he politely bowed and shook his own, clasping them before his breast.

    I looked upon this mode as an improvement on our custom, especially when the condition of the hands might be doubtful, and requested him to be seated.

    I knew that I was to study a language without an alphabet, but was not prepared to see him begin at what I had always considered to be the end of the book. He read the date of its publication, ” the fifth year, tenth month, and first day.” ” We arrange our dates differently,” I observed, and begged him to read—which he did, from top to bottom, and proceeding from right to left.

    CONTRARIETIES IN CHINESE AND WESTERN USAGE. 831

    “You have an odd book here,” remarked I, taking it up; “what is the price?” “A dollar and eight-thirds,” said he, upon which I counted out three dollars and two-thirds and went on looking at it. The paper was printed only on one side; the running title was on the edge of the leaves instead of the top of the page, the paging was near the bottom, the number and contents of the chapters were at their ends, the marginal notes on the top, where the blank was double the size at the foot, and a broad black line across the middle of each page, like that seen in some French newspapers, separated the two works composing the volume, instead of one being printed after the other. The back was open and the sewing outside, and the name neatly written on the bottom edge. ” You have given me loo much,” said he, as h« handed me back two dollars and one-third, and then explained that eight thirds meant eight divided by three, or only three-eighths. A small native vocabulary which lu? carried with him had the characters arranged according to the termination of their sounds, iidny, dint/, kiiifj, being all in a row, and the first word in it being necii. “Ah! my friend,” said I, “English won’t help me to find a word in that book ; please give me your address.” He accordingly took out a red card, big as a sheet of paper, on which was written Ying San-yuen in large characters, and pointed out the place of his residence, written on the other side. “I thought your name was Mr. Ying; why do you write your name wrong end first ‘? ” ” It is you who are in the wrong,” replied he ; “look in your yearly directory, where alone you write names as they should be written, putting the honored family name first.”

    I could only say, ” Customs differ; ” and begged him to speak of ceremony, as I gave him back the book. He commenced, ” When you receive a distinguished guest, do not fail to place him on your left, for that is the seat of honor ; and be careful not to uncover the head, as that would be an unbecoming act of familiarity.” This was a little opposed to my established notions ; but when lie reopened the volume and read, ” The most learned men are decidedly of the opinion that the seat of the human understanding is in the belly,” I cried out, ” Better say it is in the feet ! ” and straightway shut up the book, dismissing him for another day ; for this shocked all my principles of correct philosophy, even if King Solomon was against me.

    On going abroad I met so many things contrary to my early notions of propriety that I readily assented to a friend’s observation, that the Chinese were our antipodes in many things besides geographical position. ” Indeed,” said T, ‘ ‘ they are so ; I shall expect shortly to see a man walking on his head. Look ! there’s a woman in trousers and a party of gentlemen in petticoats ; she is smoking and they are fanning themselves.” However, on passing them I saw that the latter had on tight leggings. We soon met the steward of the house dressed in white, and I asked him what merry-making he was invited to ; with a look of concern lie told me he was returning from his father’s funeral.

    Instead of having crape on his head he wore white shoes, and his dress was slovenly and neglected. My companion informed me that in the north of China it was common for rich people at funerals to put a white harness on the mules and .shroud the carts in coarse cotton ; while the chief mourners walked next to the bier, making loud cryings and showing their grief by leaning on the attendants. The friends rode behind and the musicians preceded the coffin—all being unlike our sable plumes and black crapes.

    We next went through a retired street, where we heard sobbing and crying inside a court, and I inquired who was dead or ill. The man, suppressing a smile, said, ” It is a girl about to be married, who is lamenting with her relatives and fellows as she bids adieu to the family penates and lares and her paternal home. She has enough to cry about, though, in the prospect of going to her mother-in-law’s house”

    I thought, after these unlucky essays, I would ask no more questions, but use my eyes instead. Looking into a shop, I saw a stout fellow sewing lace on a bonnet for a foreign lady; and going on to the landing-place, behold, all the ferry-boats were rowed by women, and from a passage-boat at the wharf I saw all the women get out ol! the bow to go ashore. “What are we coming to next ? ” said I ; and just then saw a carpenter take his foot-rule oiit of his stocking to measure some timber which an apprentice was cutting with a saw whose blade was set nearly at right angles with the frame. Before the door sat a man busily engaged in whitening the thick soles of a pair of cloth shoes.

    ” That’s a shoewhite, I suppose,” said I ; ” and he answers to the shoeblacks in New York, who cry ‘Shine ! shine !’ ” “Just so,” said my friend ; ” and beyond him see the poor wretch in chokey, with a board or cangue around his neck for a shirt-collar ; an article of his toilet which answers to the cuffs with which the lads in the Tombs there are garnished instead of bracelets. In the prisons in this land, instead of cropping the hair of a criminal, as with us, no man is allowed to have his head shaved.”

    In the alleys called streets, few of them ten feet wide, the signs stood on their ends or hung from the eaves ; the counters of the shops were next the street, the fronts were all open, and I saw the holes for the upright bars which secured the shop at night. Everything was done or sold in the streets or markets, which presented a strange medley. The hogs were transported in hampers on the shoulders of coolies, to the evident satisfaction of the inmates, and small pigs were put into baskets carried in slings, while the fish were frisking and jumping in shallow tubs as they were hawked from door to door.

    A loud din led us to look in at an open door to see what was going on, and there a dozen boys were learning their tasks, all crying like auctioneers ; one lad reciting his lesson out of Confucius turned his back to the master instead of looking him in the face, and another who was learning to write put the copyslip under the paper to imitate it, instead of looking at it as our boys would do.

    We next passed a fashionable lady stepping out of her sedan chair. Her head was adorned with flowers instead of a bonnet, her hands gloveless, and her neck quite bare. Her feet were encased in red silk pictured shoes not quite four inches long ; her plaited, embroidered petticoat was a foot longer than her gown, and her waist was not to be seen. As she entered the courtyard, leaning on the shoulder of her maid to help her walk on those cramped feet, my friend observed, “There you see a good example of a live walking stick.”

    A little after we met one of his acquaintances accompanying a prettily carved coffin, and he asked who was dead.

    ” No man hab catchee die,” replied the Celestial ; “this one piecy coffin I just now gib my olo fader. He likee too much counta my numba one ploper; s’pose he someteem catchee die, can usee he.”

    ” So fashion, eh?” rejoined n\v friend ; “how muchee plice can catchee one alia same same for that ?”

    ” I tinky can get one alia same so fashion one tousaia dollar, so ; this hab first chop hansom, lo.”

    ” Do you call that gibberish English or Chinese ? ” I asked ; for the language sounded no less strange than the custom of presenting a coffin to a living father differed from my preconceived notions of filial duty.

    “That’s the purest pigeon-English,” replied he; “and you must be the Jack Downing of Canton to immortalize it.”

    COMMENDABLE TIIAITS OF CHINESE CHAIIACTER. 833

    “Comi’, rather let lis go home, for soon I shall hardly be able to tell where or who I am in this strange land.” ‘

    In suinining up the moral traits of Chinese character—a far more difficult task than the enumeration of its oddities—we must necessarily compare them with that perfect standard given us from above. While their contrarieties indicate a different external civilization, a slight acquaintance with their morals proves tneir similarity to their fellow-men in the lineaments of a fallen and depraved nature. Some of the better traits of their character have been marvellously developed. They have attained, by the observance of peace and good order, to a high degree of security for life and property ; the various classes of society are linked together in a remarkably homogeneous manner by the diffusion of education in the most moral bookb in their language and a general regard for the legal rights of property. Equality of competition for office removes the main incentive to violence in order to obtain posts of power and dignity, and industry receives its just reward of food, raiment, and shelter with a uniformity which encourages its constant exertion. If any one asks how they have reached this point, we would primarily ascribe it to the blessing of the Governor of the nations, who has for

    His own purposes continued one people down to the present time from remote antiquity. The roots of society among them have never been broken up by emigration or the overflowing conquest of a superior race, but have been fully settled in a great regard for the family compact and deep reverence for parents and superiors. Education has strengthened and disseminated the morality they had, and God has blessed their filial piety by fulfilling the first commandment with promise and making their days long in the land which He has given them. Davis lays rather too much stress upon geographical and climatic causes in accounting for their advancement in these particulars, though their isolation has no doubt had much to do with their security and progress.

    Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 106 ; New York Christian Weekly, 1878. Vol. I. -53

    When, however, these traits have been mentioned, the Chinese are still more left without excuse for their wickedness, since being without law, they are a law unto themselves; they have always known better than they have done. With a general regard for outward decency, they are vile and polluted in a shocking degree; their conversation is full of filthy expressions and their lives of impure acts. They are somewhat restrained in the latter by the fences put around the family circle, so that seduction and adultery are comparatively infrequent, the former may even be said to be rare; but brothels and their inmates occur everywhere on land and on water. One danger attending young girls going abroad alone is that they will be stolen for incarceration in these gates of hell. By pictures, songs, and aphrodisiacs they excite their sensuality, and, as the Apostle says, “receive in themselves that recompense of their error which is meet.”

    MENDACITY OF THE CHINESE. 835

    More uneradicable than the sins of the flesh is the falsity of the Chinese, and its attendant sin of base ingratitude; their disregard of truth has perhaps done more to lower their character than any other fault. They feel no shame at being detected in a He (though they have not gone quite so far as not to know when they do lie), nor do they fear any punishment from their gods for it. On the other hand, the necessity of the case compels them, in their daily intercourse with each other, to pay some regard to truth, and each man, from his own consciousness, knows just about how much to expect. Ambassadors and merchants have not been in the best position to ascertain their real character in this respect; for on the one side the courtiers of Peking thought themselves called upon by the mere presence of an embassy to put on some fictitious appearances, and on the other, the integrity and fair dealing of the Hang merchants and great traders at Canton is in advance of the usual mercantile honesty of their countrymen. A Chinese requires but little motive to falsify, and he is constantly sharpening his wits to cozen his customer—wheedle him by promises and cheat him in goods or work. There is nothing which tries one so much when living among them as their disregard of truth, and renders him m indifferent as to what calamities may befall so mendacious a race ; an abiding impression of suspicion toward everybody rests upon the mind, which chills the warmest wishes for their welfare and thwarts many a plan to benefit them. Their better traits diminish in the distance, and patience is exhausted in its daily proximity and friction with this ancestor of all sins. Mr. Abeel mentions a case of deceit which may serve as a specimen.

    Soon after we arrived at Kulang sii, a man came to us who professed to be the near relation and guardian of the owners of the house in which we live, and presented a little boy as the joint proprietor with his widowed mother.

    From the appearance of the house and the testimony of others we could easily credit his story that the family were now in reduced circumstances, having not only lost the house when the English attacked the place, but a thousand dollars besides by native robbers; we therefore allowed him a small rent, and gave the dollars to the man, who put them into the hands of the child. The next month he made his appearance, but our servant, whom we had taken to be peculiarly honest for a heathen, suggested the propriety of inquiring whether the money was ever given to those for whom it was professedly received ; and soon returned with the information that the mother had heard nothing of the money, the man who received it not living in the family, but had now sent a lad to us who would receive it for her, and who our servants assured us would give it to the proper person. A day or two afterward our cook whispered to me that our honest servant, who had taken so much pains to prevent all fraud in the matter, had made the lad give him one-half of the money for his disinterestedness in preventing it from falling into improper hands; and further examination showed us that this very cook had himself received a good share to keep silent.

    Thieving is exceedingly common, and the illegal exactions of the rulers, as has already been sufficiently pointed out, are most burdensome. This vice, too, is somewhat restrained by the punishments inflicted on criminals, though the root of the evil is not touched. While the licentiousness of the Chinese may be in part ascribed to their ignorance of pure intellectual pleasures and the want of virtuous female society, so may their lying be attributed partly to their truckling fear of officers, and their thievery to the want of sufficient food or work. Hospitality is not a trait of their character; on the contrary, the number and wretched condition of the beggars show that public and private charity is ahuOi^t extinct ; yet here too the sweeping charge must be mouifled when we remember the efforts they make to sustain their relatives and families in so densely peopled a country.

    Their avarice is not so distinguishing a feature as their love of money, but the industry which this desire induces or presupposes is th source of most of their superiority to their neighbors.

    The politeness which they exhibit seldom has its motive in goodwill, and consequently, when the varnish is off, the rudeness, brutality, and coarseness of the material is seen; still, among themselves this exterior polish is not without some good results in preventing quarrels, where both parties, fully understanding each other, are careful not to overpass the bounds of etiquette.

    On the whole, the Chinese present a singular mixture: if there is something to commend, there is more to blame; if they have some glaring vices, they have more virtues than most pagan nations. Ostentatious kindness and inbred suspicion, ceremonious civility and real rudeness, partial invention and servile imitation, industry and waste, sycojjhancy and self-dependence, are, with other dark and bright qualities, strangely blended. In trying to remedy the faults of their character by the restraints of law and the diffusion of education, they have no doubt hit upon the right mode; and their shortcomings show how ineffectual both must be until the Gospel comes to the aid of ruler and subject in elevating the moral sense of the whole nation. Female infanticide in some parts openly confessed, and divested of all disgrace and penalties everywhere ; the dreadful prevalence of all the vices charged by the Apostle Paul upon the ancient heathen world ; the alarming extent of the use of opium(furnished, too, under the patronage, and supplied in purity by the power and skill of Great Britain from India), destroying the productions and natural resources of the people ; the universal practice of lying and dishonest dealings; the unblushing lewdness of old and young ; harsh cruelty toward prisoners by officers, and tyranny over slaves by masters—all form a full unchecked torrent of human depravity, and prove the existence of a kind and degree of moral degradation of which an excessive statement can scarcely be made, or an adequate conception hardly be formed.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》6-9

    CHAPTER VI.  NATURAL HISTORY OF CHINA

    The succinct account of the natural history of China given by Sir John Davis in lS^i^, contained nearly all the popular notices of much value then known, and need not be repeated, while summarizing the items derived from other and later sources. Malte-Brun observed long ago, ” That of even the more general, and, according to the usual estimate, the more important features of that vast sovereignty, we owe whatever knowledge we have obtained to some ambassadors who have seen the courts and the great roads—to certain merchants who have inhabited a suburb of a frontier town—and to several missionaries who, generally more credulous than discriminating, have contrived to penetrate in various directions into the interior.”

    The volumes upon China in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library contain the best digest of what was known forty years since on this subject. The botanical collections of Robert Fortune in 18-14-1849, and those of Col. Champion at Hongkong, have been studied by Bentham, while the later researches of Hance, Bunge and Maximowitch have brought many new forms tc notice. In geology, Pumpelly, Ivingsinill, Bickmore, and Bai-on Richthofen have greatly enlarged and certiiied our knowledge by their travels and memoirs ; while Pere David, Col. Prejevalsky, Swinhoe, Stimpson, and Sir John Richardson have added hundreds of new species to the scientific fauna of the Empire.

    GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 297

    Personal investigation is particularly necessary in all that relates to the geology and fossils of a country, and the knowledge possessed on these heads is, it must be conceded, still meagre, though now sufficient to convey a general idea of the formations, deposits, and contents of the mountains and mines, as well as the agencies at work in modifying the surface of this land. The descriptions and observed facts recorded in native books may furnish valuable hints when they can be compared with the places and productions, for at present the difficulty of explaining terms used, and understanding the processes described, render these treatises hard to translate. The empirical character of Chinese science compels a careful sifting of all its facts and speculations by comparisons with nature, while the amount of real information contained in medical, topographical, and itinerant works render them always worth examining. Large regions still await careful examination in every part of the Empire ; and it will be m’ell for the Chinese Government if no tempting metallic deposits are found to test its strength to protect and work them for its own benefit. But in mere science it cannot be doubted that so peculiar a part of the world as the plateau of Central Asia will, when thoroughly examined, solve many problems relating to geology, and disclose many important facts to illustrate the obscure phenomena of other parts of the world.

    A few notices of geolooical formations furnished in the waitings of travelers, have already been given in the geographical account of the provinces. The summaiy published by Davis is a well digested survey of the observations collected by the gentlemen attached to the embassies.’

    The loess-beds, covering a great portion of Northern China, are among the most peculiar natural phenomena and interesting fields for o;eoloo;ical investigation on the world’s surface. Since attention was first directed to this deposit by Pumpelly, in 18G4, its formation and extent have been more carefully examined by other geologists, whose hypotheses are now pretty generally discarded for that of Baron von Eichthofen. The loess territory begins, at its eastern limit, with the foot hills of the great alluvial plane. From this rises a terrace of from 90 to 250 feet in height, consisting entirely of hjess, and westward of it, in 1 The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 333-343.

    a nearly north and south line, stretches the TaihangShan or dividing range between the alluvial land and the hill (tountrj of Shansi. An almost uninterrupted loess-covered country extends west of this line to the Koko-nor and head-waters of the Yellow River. On the north the formation can he ti’aced from the vicinity of Ivalgan, along the water-shed of the Mongolian steppes, and into the desert beyond the Ala shan. Toward the south its limits are less sharply defined ; though covering all the country of the Wei basin (in Shensi), none is found in Sz’chuen, due south of this valley, but it appears in parts of Ilonan and Eastern Shantung. Excepting occasional spurs and isolated spots—as at Xanking and the Lakes Poyang and Tungting—

    loess may be considered as ending everywhere on the north side of the Yangzi valley, and, roughly speaking, to cover the parallelogram between longs. 99° and 115°, and lats.

    33° and 41°. The district within China Proper represents a territory half as large again as that of the German Empire, while outside of the Provinces there is reason to believe that loess spreads far toward the east and north. In the WuTaiShan (Shanxi), Richthofen observed this deposit to a height of 7200 feet above the sea, and supposes that it may occur at higher levels.

    LOESS-BEDS OF ISTORTIIERX CHINA. 299

    The term loess, now generally accepted, has been used to designate a tertiary deposit appearing in the Illiine valley and several isolated sections of Eurt)pe ; its formation has heretofore been ascribed to glaciers, but its enormous extent and thickness in China demand suine other origin. The substance is a brownish colored earth, extremely porous, and when dry easily powdered between the fingers, when it becomes an impalpable (lust that may be rubbed into the pores of the skin. Its particles are somewhat angular in shape, the lumps varying from the size of a peamit to a foot in length, whose appearance warrants the peculiarly appropriate Chinese name meaning ‘ ginger stones.’(‘ Journal of the Oeolog. Soc, Loudon, for 1871, p. 379.) After washing, the stuff is readily disintegrated, and spread far and wide by rivers during their freshets ; Ivingsmill’ states that a nimiber of specimens which crumbled in the moist air of a Shanghai summer, rearranged themselves afterward in the bottom of a drawer in which they had been phiced. Every atom of loess is perforated by small tubes, usually very minute, circulating after the manner of root-fibres, and lined with a thin coating of carbonate of lime. The direction of these little canals being always from above downward, cleavage in the loess mass, in-espective of its size, is invariably vertical, while from the same cause surface water never collects in the form of rain puddles or lakes, but sinks at once to the local water level.

    One of the most striking, as well as important phenomena of this formation is the perpendicular splitting of its mass into sudden and multitudinous clefts that cut up the country in every direction, and render observation, as well as travel, often exceedingly difficult. The clifPs, caused by erosion, vary from cracks measured by inches to canons half a mile wide and hundreds of feet deep ; they branch out in every direction, ramifying through the country after the manner of tree-roots in the

    soil—from each root a rootlet, and from these other small

    fibres—until the system of passages develops into a labyrinth of

    far-reaching and intermingling lanes. Were the loess throughout

    of the uniform structure seen in single clefts, such a region

    would itideed be absolutely imj^assable, the vertical banks

    becoming precipices of often more tlian a thousand feet. The

    fact, however, that loess exhibits all over a terrace formation,

    renders its surface not only habitable, but highly convenient

    for agricultural purposes; it has given rise, moreover, to the

    theory advanced by Kingsmill and some otliers, of its stratification,

    and from this a proof of its origin as a marine deposit.

    Richthofen argues that these apparent layers of loess are due

    to external conditions, as of rocks and debris sliding from surrounding hillsides upon the loess as it sifted into the basin or

    valley, thus interrupting the homogeneity of the gradually rising

    deposit. In the sides of gorges near the mountains are seen

    layers of coarse debris which, in going toward the valley, become

    finer, while the layei’s themselves are thinner and separated

    by an increasing vertical distance ; along these rubble

    beds are numerous calcareous concretions which stand upright.

    These are then the terrace-forming layers which, by their

    resistance to tlie action of water, cause the broken chasms and

    step-like contour of the loess regions. Each bank does indeed

    cleave vertically, sometimes—since the erosion works from below—

    leaving an overhanging bank ; but meeting with this

    horizontal layer of marl stones, the abrasion is interrupted, and

    a ledge is made. Falling clods upon such spaces are gradually

    spread over their surfaces by natural action, converting them

    into rich fields. AVhen seen from a height in good seasons,

    tliese systems of terraces present an endless succession of green

    fields and growing crops ; viewed from the deep cut of a road

    below, the traveller sees nothing but yellow walls of loam and

    dusty tiers of loess ridges. As may be readily imagined, a

    country of this nature exhibits many landscapes of unrivalled

    picturesqueness, especially when lofty crags, which some variation

    in the water- course has left as giant guardsmen in fertile

    river valleys, stand out in bold relief against the green background

    of neighboring hills and a fruitful alluvial bottom, or

    when an opening of some ascending pass allows the eye to range

    over leagues of sharp-cut ridges and teaming crops, the work of

    the careful cultivator.

    UTILITY AND FRUITFULNESS OF THE LOESS. 301

    The extreme ease with which loess is cut away tends at times to seriously embarrass traffic. Dnst made by the cart-wheels on a highway is taken up by strong winds during the dry season and blown over the surrounding lands, much after the maimer in which it was originally deposited here. This action continued over centuries, and assisted by occasional deluges of rain, Which find a ready channel in the road-l)od, has hollowed the country routes into depressions of often 50 or 100 feet, where the passenger may ride for miles without obtaining a glimpse of the surrounding scenery. Lieutenant Kreitner, of the Szechenyi exploring expedition, illustrates,’(‘ Imfirnen Oxtin, j>. 4()2.) in a personal experience in Shansf, the difficulty and danger of leaving these deep cuts; after scrambling for miles along the broken loess above the road, he only regained it when a further passage was cut off by a precipice on the one side, while a jump of some 30 feet into the beaten track below awaited him on the other. Difficult as may be such a territory for roads and the purposes of trade, the advantages to a fanner are manifold. Wherever this deposit extends, there the liusbandman has an assured harvest, two and even three times in a year. It is easily worked, exceedingly

    fertile, and submits to constant tillage, with no other manure

    than a sprinkling of its own loam dug from the nearest bank.

    Facade of Dwelling in Loess Cliffs, Ling-shf hien. (Fronn Richthofen.)

    But loess performs still another service to its inhabitants. Caves

    made at the base of its straight clefts afford homes to millions

    of people in the northern provinces. Choosing an escai”pment

    where the consistency of the earth is greatest, the natives cut

    for themselves rooms and houses, whose partition walls, cement,

    bed and furniture are made from the same loess. Whole villages

    cluster together in a series of adjoining or superimposed chambers, some of which pierce the soil to a depth of often more than 200 feet. Tii more costly dwellings the terrace or succession of terraces tlms perforated are faced with brick, as well as the arching of rooms within. The advantages of such habitations consist as well in imperviousness to changes of temperature without, as in their durability when constructed in properly selected places, many loess dwellings outlasting six or seven generations. The capabilities of defence in a country such as this, where an invading army must inevitably become lost in the tangle of interlacing ways, and where the defenders may always remain concealed, is very suggestive.

    There remains, lastly, a peculiar property of loess which is perhaps more important than all other features M’hen measured by its man-serving efficiency. This is the manner in which it brings forth crops without the aid of manure. From a period more than 2,000 years before Christ, to the present day, the province of Shansi has borne the name of Grainery of the Empire, while its fertile soil, HuangDi, or ‘yellow earth’, is the origin of the imperial color. Spite of this productiveness, which, in the fourteenth century, caused the Friar Odoric to class it as the second country in the world, its present capacity for raising crops seems to be as great as ever. In the nature of this substance lies the reason for this apparently inexhaustible

    fecundity. Its renuirkably porous sti-uctui-e must indeed cause

    it to absorb the gases necessary to plant life to a much greater

    degree than other soils, but the stable productit>n of those mineral

    substances needful to the yearly succession of crops is in

    the ground itself. The salts contained more or loss in solution

    at the water level of the region are freed by the capillary action

    of the loess when rain-water sinks thi’ough tlie spongy mass

    from above. Surface moisture following the downward direction

    of the tiny loess tubes establishes a connection M’ith the

    waters compressed below, when, owing to the law of diffusion,

    the ingredients, being released, mix with the moisture of the

    little canals, and are taken from the lowest to the topmost

    levels, permeating the ground and fni-nishing nourishment to

    the plant roots at the surface. It is on account of this curious

    action of loess that a co])ious i-ain fall is nioi-e necessary in North

    richtiiofen’s theory of its origin. 303

    China than elseM’lieie, for with a dearth of rain the capillary communication from above, below, and vice versa, is interrupted, and vegetation loses both its niainire and moisture. Drought and famine are consequently synonymous terms here. As to the formation and origin of loess, Richthofen’s theory is substantially as follows :
    ‘The uniform composition of this material over extended areas, coupled with the absence of stratification and of marine or fresh-water organic remains, renders impossible the hypothesis that it is a water deposit. On the other hand, it contains vast quantities of land-shells and the vestiges of animals (mammalia) at every level, both in remarkably perfect condition. Concluding, also, that from the

    conformation of the neighboring mountain chains and their

    peculiar weathering, the glacial theory is inadmissible, he advances

    the supposition that loess is a sub-aerial deposit, and that

    its fields are the drained analogues of the steppe-basins of Central

    ‘ China : Ergebnisse eigener Reiaen. Baud I. , S. 74. Berlin, 1877.

    Asia. They date from a geological era of great dryness, before the existence of the Yellow and other rivers of the northern provinces. As the rocks and hills of the highlands disintegrated, the sand was removed, not by water-courses seaward, but by the high winds ranging over a treeless desert landward, until the dust settled in the grass- covered districts of what is at present China Proper. New vegetation was at once nourished, while its roots were raised by the constantly arriving deposit; the decay of old roots produced the lime-lined canals which impart to this material its peculiar characteristics. Any one who has observed the terrible dust-storms of North China, when the air is filled with an impalpable yellow powder, which leaves its coating upon everything, and often extends, in a foglike cloud, hundreds of miles to sea, will understand the power of this action during many thousand years. This deposition received the shells and bones of innumerable animals, while the dissolved solutions contained in its bulk stayed therein, or saturated the water of small lakes. By the sinking of mountain chains in the south, rain-clouds emptied themselves over this region with much greater frequency, and gradually the system became drained, the erosion working backward from the coast, slowly cutting into one basin after another. AVith the sinking of its salts to lower levels, unexampled richness was added to the wonderful topography of this peculiar formation.’

    Pumpelly, while accepting this ingenious theory in place of his own (that of a fresh- water lake deposit), adds that the supply of loess might have been materially increased by the vast mersde-(jlam of High Asia and the Tien Shan, whose streams have for ages transported the products of glacial attrition into Central Asia and Northwest China. Again, he insists that llichthofen has not given importance enough to the parting planes, wrongly considered by his predecessors as planes of stratification.

    ” These,” he says, ” account for the marginal layers of debris brought down from the mountains. And the continuous and more abundant growth of grasses at one ])lanG would produce a modification of the soil structurally and chemically, which superincumbent accumulations could never efface. It should seem probable that we have herein, also, the explanation of the calcareous concretions which abound along these planes ; for the greater amount of carbonic acid generated by the slow decay of this vegetation would, by forming a bicarbonate, give to the lime the mobility necessary to produce the concretions.”

    ‘Compare Kingsmill, in the Quar. Journal of the Oeol. Soe. of London, 1868, pp. 119 ff., and in the North China Herald, Vol. IX., 85, 80.

    METHODS OF WORKING COAL. 305

    The metallic and mineral productions used in the arts comprise nearly everything found in other countries, and the common ones are furnished in such abundance, and at such rates, as conclusively prove them to be plenty and easily worked. The careful digest of observations published by Pumpelly through the Smithsonian Institution, carries out this remark, and indicates the vast field still to be explored. Coal exists in every province in China, and Pumpelly enumerates seventy-four h)calities which have been ascertained. Marco Polo’s well-known notice of its use shows that the people had long employed it: ” It is a fact that all over the country of Cathay there is a kind of black stone existing in beds in the mountains, which they dig out and burn like firewood. It is true that they have plenty of wood also, but they do not burn it, because those stones burn better and cost less.’ This mineral seems to have been unknown in Europe till after the return of the Venetian to his native land, while it was employed before the Christian era in China, and probably in very ancient times, if the accessible deposits in Shensi then cropped out in its eroded gorges, as represented by Richthofen. The few fossil plants hitherto examined indicate that the mass of these deposits are of the Mesozoic age. The mode of working the coal mines is described by Pumpelly,” and was probably no worse two thousand five hundred years ago.

    Want of machinery for draining them prevents the miners from going much below the water-level, and a rain-storm will sometimes flood and ruin a shaft. An inclined plane seldom takes the workmen more than a hundred feet below the level of the mouth, and then a horizontal gallery conducts him to the end of the mine. Some water is bailed out by buckets handed from one level up to another at the top, and the coal

    is carried out in baskets on the miners’ backs, or dragged in

    sleds over smooth, round sticks along passages too low for the

    coolies to do better than crawl as they work. Mr. Pumpelly

    found the gallery of one mine near Peking so low that he

    had to crawl the whole distance (six thousand feet) to see its

    construction, and when he emerged into daylight, with his

    knees nearly skinned, ascertained that the workmen padded

    theirs. The timbering is very expensive, yet, with all drawbacks,

    the coal sells, at the pit’s mouth, for $2.00 down to 50 cents a ton. The mines, lying on the slopes of the plateau reaching from near Corea to the Yellow River, supply the plain with cheap and excellent fuel.

    » Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 395.^ Across Aineric i and Asia, pp. 291 ff.Vol. I.—20

    Blakiston gives an account of the manner in which coal is worked on the Uj^per Yangzi near the town of Siichau: “Having to be got out at a great height up in the cliff, very thick hawsers, made of plaited bamboo, are tightly stretched from the mouth, or near the mouth, of the working gallery, to a space near the water where the coal can be deposited. These ropes are in pairs, and large pannier-shaped baskets are made to traverse on them, a rope passing from one over a large wheel

    at the upper landing, and down again to the other, so that the

    full basket going down pulls the empty one up, the velocity

    being regulated by a kind of brake on the wheel at the top.

    At some places the height at which the coal is worked is so

    great that two or more of these contrivances are used, one takine:

    to a landins; half wav down, and another from thence to the

    river. The hawsers are kept taut by a windlass for that purpose

    at the bottom.” * This useful mineral appears to be abundant

    throughout Sz’chuen Province, and is used here much less

    sparingly than in the east. With such inexpensive methods of

    getting coal to the water-courses, foreign machinery can hardly

    be expected to reduce its price very materially.

    The economical use of coal in the household and the arts has

    been carried to great perfection. Anthracite is powdered and

    mixed with wet clay, earth, sawdust or dung, according to the

    exigencies of the case, in the proportion of about seven to one ;

    the balls thus made are dried in the sun. The brick-beds

    (Jcang) are effective means of warming the house, and the hand

    furnaces enable the poor to cook with these balls—aided by a

    little charcoal or kindlings—at a trifling expense. This form

    of consumption is common north of the Yellow River, and brings

    coal within reach of multitudes who otherwise would suffer and

    starve. Bituminous, brown, and other varieties of coal occur

    in the same abundance and extent as in other great areas, giving

    promise of adequate supplies for future ages. The coal

    worked on the Peh kiang, in Ivwangtung, contains sulphur,

    ftud is employed in the manufacture of copperas.*

    Crystallized gypsum is brought fi-om the northwest of the

    province to Canton, and is ground to powder in mills ;

    plaster

    ‘ Five Months on the Ynng-Uze, p. 265. Annates de la Foi, Tome IX., p.

    457.

    2 N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. Journal, New Series, No. III., pp. 94-106, and No.

    IV., pp. 243 ff. Notes by Mr. Hollingworth of a Visit to the Coal Mines in the

    Neighborhood of Loh-Ping. Blue Book, China, No. 2, 1870, p. 11. Notes

    and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. IT., pp. 74-76. North China Herald,

    passim. Richthofen’s Letters, and in Ocean Highways, Nov., 1S78. Chinese Repository, Vol. XIX., pp. 385 fE. l4j’Cr /’ 111/

    BUILDING STONES AND MINP:RALS. 307

    of Paris and other forms of this sulphate are common all over China. It is not used as a manure, but the flour is mixed with wood-oil to form a cement for paying the seam’s of boats after they have been caulked. The powder is employed as a dentifrice, a cosmetic, and a medicine, and sometimes, also, is boiled to make a gruel in fevers, under the idea that it is cooling. The bakers who supplied the English troops at Amoy, in 1843, occasionally put it into the bread to make it heavier, but not, as was erroneously charged upon them, with any design of poisoning their customers, fur they do not think it noxious ; its employment in coloring green tea, and adulterating powdered sugar, is also explainable by other motives than a wish to injure the consumers.

    Limestone is abundant at Canton, both common clouded marble and blue limestone ; the last is extensively used in the artificial rockwork of gardens. Even if the Cantonese knew of the existence of lime in limestone, which they generally do not, the expense of fuel for calcining it would prevent their burning it while oyster-shells are so abundant in that region. In other provinces stone-lime is burned, by the aid of coal, in small kilns.

    The fine marble quarried near Peking is regarded as fit alone

    for imperial uses, and is seen only in such places as the Altar

    of Heaven and palace grounds. The marble used for floors is a

    fissile crystallized limestone, unsusceptible of polish ; no statues

    or ornaments are sculptured from this mineral, but slabs are

    sometimes wrought out, and the surfaces curiously stained and

    corroded with acids, forming rude representations of animals or

    other figures, so as to convey the appearance of natural markings.

    Some of these simulated petrifactions are exceedingly

    well done. Slabs of aro-illaceous slate are also chosen with

    reference to their layers, and treated in the same manner. An

    excellent granite is used about Canton and Amoy for building,

    and no people exceed the Chinese in cutting it. Large slabs are

    split out by wooden wedges, cut for basements and foundations,

    and laid in a beautiful manner ; pillars are also hewn from single stones of different shapes, though of no extraordinary dimensions, and their shafts embellished with inscriptions.

    Ornamental walls are frequently formed of large slabs set in posts, like panels, the outer faces of which are beautifully carved with figures representing a landscape or procession. lied and gray sandstone, gneiss, mica slate, and other species of rock, are also worked for pavements and walls.

    Nitre is cheap and common enough in the northern provinces

    to obviate any fear of its being smuggled into the country from

    abroad ; it is obtained in Chihli by lixiviating the soil, and

    furnishes material for the manufacture of gunpowder. A lye

    is obtained from ashes, which partially serves the purposes of

    soap ; but the people are still ignorant of the processes necessaiy

    for manufacturing it. Fourteen localities of alum are

    given in Pumpelly’s list, but the gi-eatest supply for the eastern

    provinces comes from deposits of shale, in Ping-yang hien, in

    Chehkiang, Avhich produces about six thousand tons annually.

    It is used mostly by the dyers, also to |)urify tnrbid water, and

    whiten paper. Other earthy salts are known and used, as borax,

    sal-ammoniac (which is collected in Mongolia and 111 from

    lakes and the vicinity of extinct volcanoes), and blue and white

    vitriol, obtained by roasting pyrites. Common salt is procured

    along the eastern and southern coasts by evaporating seawater,

    rock-salt not having been noticed ; in the western provinces

    and Shansf, it is obtained from artesian wells and lakes

    as cheaply as from the ocean ; in Tsing-3’en hien, in Central

    Sz’chuen, two hundred and thirty-seven wells are worked. At

    Chusan the sea-water is so turbid that the inhabitants filter it

    through clay, afterward evaporating the Avater.

    The minerals heretofore found in China have, for the most part, been such as have attracted the attention of the natives, and collected by them for curiosity or sale. The skillful manner in which their lapidaries cut crystal, agate, and other qnartzose minerals, is well known.’ The corundum used for polishing and finishing these carvings occurs in China, but a good deal of emery in powder is obtained from Borneo. A composition of gramdar corundum and gum-lac is usually employed by workmiMi in order to produce the highest luster of

    ‘ Compare Remusat, Uistmre de Khotan, pp. 163 ff., where there is an qxtended list of Chinese precious stones drawn from native sources.

    JADE STONE, Oil YUH. 300

    which the stones arc capable. The three varieties of the silicate of alumina, called jade, nephrite, and jadeite by mineralogists, are all named yuh by the Chinese, a word which is applied to a vast variety of stones—white marble, ruby, and cornelian all coming under it—and therefore not easy to define.

    Jade has long been known in Europe as a variety of jasper, its separation from that stone into a species by itself being of comparatively recent origin. Since the third edition of Boetius, in 1647, the two minerals have been regarded as entirely distinct. Its value in the eyes of the Chinese depends chiefly upon its sonorousness and color. The costliest specimens

    are brought from Yunnan and Klioten ; a greenish-white

    color is the most highly prized, a plain color of any shade

    being of less value. A cargo of this mineral was once imported

    into Canton from New Holland, but the Chinese would

    not purchase it, owing to a fancy taken against its origin and

    color. The patient toil of the workers in this hard mineral is

    only equalled by the prodigious admiration with which it is

    regarded ; both fairly exhibit the singular taste and skill of the

    Chinese. Its color is usually a greenish-white, or grayish-green

    and dark grass-green ; internally it is scarcely glimmering. Its

    fracture is splintery; splinters white; mass semi-transparent

    and cloudy ; it scratches glass strongly, and can itself generally

    be scratched by flint or quartz, but while not excessively hard

    it is remarkable for toughness. The stone when freshly broken

    is less hard than after a short exposure. Specific gravity from

    2.9 to 3.1.’ Fischer (pp. 31-1-318) gives some one hundred and

    fifty names as occurring in various authors—ancient and modern

    —for jade or nephrite.” An interesting testimony to the esteem

    ‘ Murray’s China^ Edinburgh, 1843, Vol. III., p. 276 ; compare also an

    article on this stone by M. Blondel, of Paris, published in the Smithsoninn

    Report for 1876. Memoires concernant Us Chinois, Tome XIII., p. 889. Remusat

    in the Journal des Savcuis, Dec, 1818, pp. 748 fF. J^i’otes and Queries

    oil a and J., Vol. II., pp. 173, 174, and 187 ; Vol. III., p. 63 ; Vol. IV., pp.

    13 and 33. MacmilUui’H Magazine, October, 1871. Yule, Cathay and the

    Way Thither, Vol. II., p. 564.

    ‘^ Nephrit undjadeit, nach ihren miiieralogischen Eigenschaften soioie nach ihrer

    urgeschichtiichea und ethnographischen Bedeutiing. Heinrioh Fischer, Stuttgart,

    1880. An exhaustive treatise on every phrase and variety of the mineral in wliicli tills stone was held in China during tlie middle agea

    conies from Benedict Goes (1002), who says : “There is no article

    of traffic more valuable than lumps of a certain transparent

    kind of marble, which we, from poverty of language, usually

    call jasper. . . , Out of this marble they fashion a variety of

    articles, such as vases, brooches for mantles and girdles, which,

    when artistically sculptured in flowers and foliage, certainly

    have an effect of no small magniflcence. These marbles (with

    which the Empire is now overflowing) are called by the Chinese

    lusce. There are two kinds of it ; the first and more valuable

    is got out of the river at Cotan, almost in the same way

    in which divers fish for gems, and this is usually extracted in

    pieces about as big as large flints. The other and inferior

    kind is excavated from the mountains.” The ruby, diamond,

    amethyst, sapphire, topaz, pink tourmaline, lapis-lazuli,’ turquoises,

    beryl, garnet, opal, agate, and other stones, are known

    and most of them used in jewelry. A ruby Ijrought from

    Peking is noticed by Bell as having been valued in Europe at

    $50,000. The seals of the Boards are in man}’ instances cut on

    valuable stones, and private persons take great pride in quartz

    or jade seals, with their names carved on them ; lignite and

    jet are likewise employed for cheaper ornaments, of which all

    classes are fond.

    All the common metals, except platina, are found in China, and the supply would be sufficient for all the purposes of the inhabitants, if they could avail themselves of the improvements adopted in other countries in blasting, mining, etc. The importations of iron, lead, tin, and quicksilver, are gradually increasing, but they form only a small proportion of the amount used throughout the Empire, especially of the two first named ; iron finds its way in because of its convenient forms more than its cheapness. The careful examination of Chinese topographical works by Pumpelly,” records the leading localities of iron in every province, and where copper, tin, lead, silver, and quick, silver have been observed ; he also mentions fifty-two places pro-

    ‘ Obtained from Badakslian. Wood, Journey to tlie Oxus, p. 263.

    ‘ Geological licucarches in China, Chap. X.

    METALS AND THEIR PRODUCTION. 31J

    diicing gold in various forms, most of them in Sz’cliuen. The rumor of gold-washings occurring not far from Chifn, in Shantung, caused much excitement in 1808, but thej were soon found to he not worth the labor. Gold has never been used as coin in China, but is wrought into jewelry ; most of it is consumed in gilding and exported to India as bullion, in the shape of small bars or coarse leaves.

    Silver is mentioned in sixty-three localities by the same author; large amounts are brought from Yunnan, and the mines in that region must be both extensive and easily worked to afford such large quantities as have been exported. The working of both gold and silver mines has been said to be prohibited, but this interdiction is rather a government monopoly of the mines than an injunction upon working those which are known. The importation of gold into China during the two centuries the trade has been opened, does not probably equal the exportation which has taken place since the commencement of the opium trade.

    It is altogether improbable that the Chinese are acquainted

    with the properties of quicksilver in separating these two

    metals from their ores, though its consumption in making vermilion

    and looking-glasses calls for over two thousand flasks

    yearly at Canton. Cinnabar occurs in Kweichau and Shensi

    and furnishes most of the ” water silver,” as the Chinese call

    it, by a rude process of burning brushwood in the wells, and

    collecting the metal after condensation.

    Copper is used for manufacturing coin, bells, bronze articles,

    domestic and cooking utensils, cannon, gongs, and brass-foil.

    It is found pure in some instances, and the sulphuret, the blue

    and green carbonates, pyrities, and other ores are w’orked ; malachite

    is ground for a paint. It occurs in every province, and

    is specially rich in Shansi and Kweichau. The ores of zinc

    and copper in Yunnan and Sz’chuen fnrnish spelter, and the

    peculiar alloy known as white copper or argentan, containing in

    addition tin, iron, nickel, and lead. So much use indicates

    large deposits of the ores. Tin is rather abundant, but lead is

    more common ; thirty-nine localities of the first are mentioned,

    some of which are probably zinc ores, as the Chinese confound

    tin and zinc under one generic name. Lead occurs with silver in many places ; twenty-four mines are mentioned in Pumpelly’s list, and those in Fuhkien are rich ; but the extensive importations prove that its reduction is too expensive to compete with the foreign.

    Realgar is quite common, this and orpiment being used as paints; statuettes and other articles are carved from the former, while arsenic is used in agriculture to quicken grain and preserve it from insects. Amber and fossilized copal are collected in several localities ; the first is much employed in the making of court necklaces and hair ornaments. Thefel-tsui or jadeite is the most prized of the semi-precious stones; it is cut into ear-rings, finger-rings, necklaces, etc. Pumpelly mentions pieces of this mineral set in relics obtained from tombs in Mexico, though no locality where it abounds has yet been found in America. Lapis-lazuli is employed in painting upon copper

    and porcelain ware ; this mineral is obtained in Chehkiang and

    Kansuli ; jadeite, topaz, and other fine stones are most plenty

    in Yunnan. A few minerals and fossils have been noticed in

    the vicinity and shops at Canton, but China thus far has furnished

    very few petrifactions in any strata. Coarse epidote

    occurs at Macao, and tungstate of iron has been noticed in the

    quartz rocks at Hongkong. Petrified crabs {inacrojpJithalinus)

    have been brought to Canton from Hainan, which are prized

    by the natives for their supposed medicinal qualities. Scientists have hitherto described a score or more species of Devonian shells, and recognized fragments of the hyena, tapir, rhinoceros, and stegedon, among some other doubtful vertebrate in the ” dragon’s bones ” sold in medicine shops ; but further examinations will doubtless increase the list. Orthoceratites and bivalve shells of various kinds are noticed in Chinese books as being found in rocks, and fossil bones of huge size in caves and river banks.

    There are many hot springs and other indications of volcanic

    action along the southern acclivities of the table land in the

    ])rovinces of Shensi and Sz’chuen ; and at Jeh-ho, in Chihli,

    there are thermal springs to which invalids resort. The Ilo

    tsing, or Fire wells, in Sz’chuen are apertures resembling artesian

    springs, sunk in the rock to a depth of one thousand

    QUADRUMANOUS ANIMALS OF CHINA. 313

    five hundred or one thousand eight hundred feet, whilst theii

    breadth does not exceed five or six inches. This is a work

    of great difiicultj, and requires in some cases the labor of

    two or three jears. The water procured from them contains

    a fifth part of salt, which is very acrid, and mixed with nmch

    nitre. When a lighted torch is applied to the mouth of

    some of those which have no Avator, fire is produced with

    great violence and a noise like thunder, bursting out into a

    flame twenty or thirty feet high, and which cannot be extinguished

    M’ithout great danger and expense. The gas has a

    bituminous smell, and burns with a bluish flame and a quantity

    of thick, black smoke. It is conducted under boilers in bamboos,

    and employed in evaporating the salt-water from the

    other springs.’ Besides the gaseous and aqueous springs in

    these provinces, there are others possessing different qualities,

    some sulphurous and others chalybeate, found in Shansi and

    along the banks of the Yellow River. Sulphur occurs, as has

    been noted, in great abundance in Formosa, and is purified for

    powder manufacturers.

    The animal and vegetable productions of the extensive regions

    under the sway of the Emperor of China include a great

    variety of types of different families. On the south the

    islands of Hainan and Formosa, and parts of the adjacent

    coasts, slightly partake of a tropical character, exhibiting in the

    cocoanuts, plantains, and peppers, the parrots, lenmrs, and

    monkeys, decided indications of an equatorial climate. From

    the eastern coast across through the country to the northwest

    provinces occur mountain ranges of gradually increasing elevation,

    interspersed with intervales and alluvial plateaus and bottoms,

    lakes and rivers, plains and hills, each presenting its

    peculiar productions, both wild and cultivated, in great variety

    and abundance. The southern ascent of the high land of Mongolia,

    the uncultivated wilds of Manchuria, the barren wastes

    of the desert of Gobi, with its salt lakes, glaciers, extinct volcanoes,

    and isolated mountain ranges ; and lastly the stupendous

    ‘ Humboldt, Fragmens Asiatiques, Tome I., p. 196. Annates de la Foi,

    Janvr., 182’J, pp. 41G ff.

    chains and v^alleys of Tibet, Koko-nor, and Kwanlun all differ

    from eacli other in the character of their prodnctions. In one

    or the other division, every variety of soil, position, and temperature

    occur which are known on tlie globe ; and what has

    been ascertained within the past fifteen years by enterprising

    naturalists is an earnest of future greater discoveries.

    Of the quadrumanous order of animals, there are several

    species. The Chinese are skilful in teaching the smaller kinds

    of monkeys various tricks, but M. Breton’s picture of their

    adroitness and usefulness in picking tea in Shantung from

    plants growing on otherwise inaccessible acclivities, is a fair instance

    of one of the odd stories furnished by travellers about

    China, inasmuch as no tea grows in Shantung, and monkeys

    are taught more profitable tricks.’ One of the most remarkable

    animals of this tribe is the douc^ or Cochinchinese monkey

    {Seinnojnthecus 7iemmus). It is a large species of great rarity,

    and remarkable for the variety of colors with which it is

    adorned. Its Ijody is about two feet long, and when standing

    in an upright position its height is considerably greater. The

    face is of an orange color, and flattened in its foi-m. A dark

    band runs across the front of the forehead, and the sides of the

    countenance are bounded by long spreading yellowish tufts of

    liair. The body and upper parts of the forearms are brownish

    gray, the lower portions of the arms, from the elbows to the

    wrists, being white ; its hands and thighs are black, and the

    legs of a bright red color, while the tail and a large triangular

    spot above it are pure white. Such a creature matches well,

    for its grotesque and variegated appearance, with the mandarin

    duck and gold fish, also peculiar to China.

    ‘ Breton, China, its Costumes, Arts, etc., Vol. II.

    THE FI-FI AND IIAI-TUH. 315

    Chinese books speak of several species of this family, and small kinds occur in all the provinces. M. David has recently added two novelties to the list from his acquisitions in Eastern Koko-nor, well fitted for that cold region by their abundant hair. The Rhinoplthccus I’oxellancB inhabits the alpine forests, nearly two miles high, where it subsists on the buds of plants and bamboo shoots laid up for winter supply; its face is greenish, the nose remarkably /’cfrousse, and its strong, brawny limbs well fitted for the arboreal life it leads ; the hair is thick and like a mane on the back, shaded with yellow and white tints.

    In this respect it is like the Gelada monkey of Abyssinia, and a few others protected in this part of the body from cold. This is no doubt the kind called f’t-fi in native books, and once found in flocks along many portions of western China, as these authors declare. Their notices are rather tantalizing, but, now that we have found the animal, are worth quoting: “The f’l-fi resembles a man ; it is clothed with its hair, runs quick and eats men ; it has a human face, long lips, black, hairy body, and turns its heels. It laughs on seeing a man and covers its eyes with its lips ; it can talk and its voice resembles a bird. It occurs in Sz’chuen, where it is called jhi hiung, or ‘human bear ; ‘ its palms are good eating, and its skin is used; its habit is to turn over stones, seeking for crabs as its food. Its form is like that of the men who live in the Kwaiilun Mountains.”

    Another large simia {2Iacactis thlhetanus) comes from the

    same region; it lives in bands like the preceding, but lower

    down the mountains. A third species of gi-eat size was reported

    to occur in the southwestern part of Sz’chuen, and described

    as greenish like the Macacus tcheliensis from the hills

    northwest of Peking—the most northern species of monkey

    known. The former of these two may possibly be the sinysing

    of the Chinese books, though its characteristics involve

    some confusion of the Macacus and baboon on the part of those

    writers. Two other species of ]\Iacacus, and as many of the

    gibbons, have been noticed in Hainan, Formosa, and elsewhere

    in the south.

    The singular proboscis monkey {J^^asalis laivalus\ called hhi-doc in Cochinchina and hai-tuh by the Chinese, exhibits a strange profile, part man and part beast, reminding one of the combinations in Da Yinci’s caricatui-es. It is a large animal, covered with soft yellowish hair tinted with red ; the long nose projects in the form of a sloping spatula. The Chinese account says : ” Its nose is turned upward, and the tail very long and forked at the end, and that whenever it rains, the animal thrusts the forks into its nose. It goes in herds, and lives in friendship ; when one dies, the rest accompany it to buriaL Its activity is so great that it runs its head against the trees; its fur is soft and gray, and the face black.’”‘

    ‘The Chinese llerhal., from which the preceding extract is taken, describes the bat under various names, such as ‘ heavenly rat,’ ‘faiiy rat,’ ‘flying rat,’ ‘night swallow,’ and ‘belly wings;’Ff-fr and Hai-tuh. (From a Chinese cut.)

    it also details the various uses made of the animal in medicine,

    and the extraordinary longevity attained by some of the wdiite

    species. The bat is in form like a mouse ; its body is of an

    ashy black color ; and it has thin fleshy wings, which join the

    four legs and tail into one. It appears in the summer, but becomes

    torpid in the winter ; on which account, as it eats nothing

    during that season, and because it has a habit of swallowing its

    breath, it attains a great age. It has the character of a night

    ‘ Bridgmiui’s Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 4G9.

    WILD ANIMALS. 317

    rover, not on account of any inability to fly in the day, hnt it dares not o;o abroad at that time because it fears a kind of hawk. It subsists on mosquitoes and gnats. It flies with its head downward, because the brain is heavy,’ This quotation is among the best Chinese descriptions of animals, and shows how little there is to depend upon in them, though not without interest in their notices of habits. Bats are common everywhere, and seem to be regarded with less aversion than in certain other countries. Twenty species belonging to nine genera are given in one list, most of them found in southern China ; the wings of some of these measure two feet across ; a large sort in Sz’chuen is eaten.

    The brown bear is known, and its paws are regarded as a

    delicacy ; trained animals are frequently brought into cities by

    showmen, wdio have taught them tricks. The discovery by

    David of a large species {Ailunypus riielanoleurus) allied to the

    Himalayan panda {Ailurasfulgens), also found on the Sz’chuen

    Mountains, adds another instance of the strange markings common

    in Tibetan fauna. This beast feeds on flesh and vegetables

    ; its body is white, but the ears, eyes, legs, and tip of the

    tail are quite black ; the fur is thick and coarse. It is called

    peh hlaixj, or white bear, by the hunters, but is no doubt the

    animal called j;i in the classics, connnon in early times over

    western China, and now rare even in Koko-nor. The Tibetan

    black bear occurs in Formosa, Shantung, and Hainan, showing

    a wide range. The badger is quite as widespread, and the two

    species have the same general appearance as their European

    congeners.

    Carnivorous animals still exist, even in thickly settled districts.

    The lion may once have roamed over the southwestern

    Manji kingdom, but the name and drawings both indicate a

    foreign origin. It has much connection with Buddhism, and

    grotesque sculptures of ranq3ant lions stand in pairs in front of

    temples, palaces, and graves, as a mark of honor and symbol

    of protection. The last instance of a live lion brought as tribute

    was to Hientsung in a.d. 1470, from India or Ceylon.

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. VII., p. 90.

    Many other species of yeZ/5 are known, some of tliein peculiar

    to particular regions. The royal tiger has been killed near

    Amoy, and in Manchuria the panther, leopard, and tiger-cat

    all occur in the northern and southern provinces, making

    altogether a list of twelve species ranging from Formosa to

    Sagalien. Mr. Swinhoe’s ‘ account of his rencounter with a

    tiger near Amoy in 1S58 explains how^ such large animals still

    remain in thickly settled regions where food is abundant and

    the people are timid and unarmed. In thinly peopled parts

    they become a terror to the peasants. M. David enumerates

    six kinds, including a lynx, in Monpin alone, one of which

    {Felis sc/’fj)ta) is among the most prettily marked of the whole

    family. Ilunting-leopards and tigers were used in the days of

    Marco Polo by Kublai, but the manly pastime of the chase, on

    the magnificent scale then pi-actised, has fallen into disuse with

    the present princes. A small and fierce species of wild- cat

    {Felis chinensls), two feet long, of a brownish-gray coloi’, and

    liandsomely marked with chestnut spots and black streaks, is

    still common in the southwestern portions of Fuhkien. (Uvet

    cats of two or thi-ee kinds, tree-civets (Ildwtes), and a fine

    species of marten {Martes), with yellow neck and purplishbrown

    bod}’, from Formosa, are among the smaller cai-nivora in

    the southern provinces.

    The domestic animals offer few peculiarities. The cat, lia U,

    or ‘household fox,’ is a favorite inmate of families, and the

    ladies of Peking are fond of a variety of the Angora cat,

    having long silky hair and hanging ears. The common species

    is variously marked, and in the south often destitute of a tail; when reared for food it is fed on i-ice and vegetables, but is not much eaten. Popular superstition has clustered many omens of good and bad luck about cats ; it is considered, for example, the prognostic of certain misfortune when a cat is stolen from a house—much as, in some countries of the western world, it is unlucky when a black cat crosses one’s pathway.

    The dog differs but little from that reared among the Esquimaux,

    and is perhaps the original of the species. There is

    • Zodl. &c. Proc, 1870, p. G3G.

    CATS AND DOGS. 319

    little variation in tlieir size, wliicli is about a foot liigli and

    two feet in length ; the color is a pale yellow or black, and

    always uniform, with coarse bristling hair, and tails curling up

    high over the back, and rising so abruptly from the insei-tion

    that it has been humoi-ously remarked they almost assist in

    lifting the legs from the ground. The hind legs are unusually

    straight, which gives them an awkward look, and perhaps pre*

    vents them running very rapidly. The black eyes are small

    and piercing, and the insides of the lips and months, and the

    tongue, are of the same color, or a blue black. The bitch has a

    dew-claw on each hind leg, but the dog has none. The ears are

    sharp and upright, the head peaked, and the bark a short, thick

    snap, very unlike the deep, sonorous baying of our mastiffs. In

    Xganhwui a peculiar variety has pendant ears of great length,

    and thin, wii-ey tails. One item in the Chinese description of

    the dog is that it ‘ can go on three legs ‘—a gait that is often

    exhibited b}’ them. They are used to watch houses and flocks; the Mongolian breed is fierce and powerful. The dogs of Peking are very clannish, and each set jealously guards its own street or yard ; they ai-e fed by the butchers in the streets, and serve as scavengers there and in all large towns. They are often mangey, presenting hideous spectacles, and instances of j>//(‘«2)oloni<‘a are not uncommon, l)nt, as among the celebrated street dogs of Ooiistantinople, hydrophobia is almost unheard of among them. Dog markets are seen in every city where this meat is sold ; the animals are reared expressly for the table, but their flesh is expensive.

    One writer remarks on their habits, when describing the

    worship offered at the tombs : ” Hardly had the hillock been

    abandoned by the M’orshippers, when packs of hungry dogs

    came running up to devour the part of the offerings left for the

    dead, or to lick up the grease on the ground. Those who came

    first held up their heads, bristled their hair, and showed a

    proud and satisfied demeanor, curling and wagging their tails

    with selfish delight ; while the late-comers, tails between their

    legs, held their heads and ears down. There was one of them,

    however, which, grudging the fare, held his nose to the wind as

    if sniffing for better luck ; but one lean, old, and ugly beast. with a flayed back and liaii-less tail, was seen gradually separating himself from the band, though without seeming to hurry himself, making a thousand doublings and windings, all the while looking back to see if he was noticed. But the old sharper knew what he was about, and as soon as he thought himself at a safe distance, away he went like an arrow, the whole pack after him, to some other feast and some other tomb.”

    ‘Wolves, raccoon-dogs, and foxes are everywhere common, in some places proving to be real pests in the sheepfold and farmyard. In the vicinity of Peking, it is customary to draw large white rings on the plastered walls, in order to terrify the wolves, as these beasts, it is thought, will flee on observing such traps.

    The Chinese regard the fox as the animal into which human spirits enter in preference to any other, and are therefore afraid to destroy or displease it. The elevated steppes are the abodes of three or four kinds, which find food without difficulty. The Tibetan wolf (Cams chanco) has a warm, yellowish-white covering, and ranges the wilds of Tsaidam and Koko-nor in packs. The fox {Ganis cossac) spreads over a wide range, and is famed for its sagacity in avoiding enemies.

    The breed of cattle and horses is dwarfish, and nothing is done to improve them. The oxen are sometimes not larger than an ass ; some of them have a small hump, showing their affinity to the zebu ; the dewlap is large, and the contour neat and symmetrical. The forehead is round, the horns small and irregularly curved, and the general color dun red. The buffalo(shui niu), or ‘water ox’, is the largest beast used in agriculture. It is very docile and unwieldy, larger than an English ox, and its hairless hide is a light black color; it seeks coolness and refuge from the gnat in muddy pools dug for its convenience, where it wallows with its nose just above the surface. Each horn is nearly semi-circular, and bends downward, while the head is turned back so as almost to bring the nose horizontal.

    ‘ Borget, La Chine Ouverte, p. 147.

    CATTLE, SHEEP, AND DEER. 321

    The herd-boys usually ride it, and the metaphor of a lad astride a buffalo’s back, blowing the flute, frequently enters into Chinese descriptions of rural life. The yak of Tibet is employed us a beast of burden, and to furnish food and raiment. It is covered with a mantle of hair reaching nearly to the ground, and the soft pelage is used for making standards among the Persians, and its tail as fly-Haps or chowries in India ; the hair is woven into carpets. The wild yak {PoepluKjas (jrunnienH) has already been described. Great herds of these huge bovines roam over the wastes of Koko-nor, where their dried droppings furnish the only fuel for the nomads crossing those barren wilds.

    The domestic sheep is the broad-tailed species, and furnishes excellent mutton. The tail is sometimes ten inches long and three or four thick ; and the size of this fatty member is not affected by the temperature. The sheep are reared in the north by Mohammedans, who prepare the fleeces for garments by careful tanning ; the animal is white, with a black head. Goats are raised in all parts, but not in large numbers. The argali and wild sheep of the Ala shau Mountains {Ovis Burrhel) furnish exciting sport in chasing them over their native cliffs, which they clamber with wonderful agility. Another denizen of those dreary wilds is the Antilope jpicticauda, a small and tiny species, weighing about forty pounds, of a dusky gray color, with a narrow yellow stripe on the flanks. Its range is about the head-waters of the YangZiJiang River ; its swiftness is amazing; it seems absolutely to fly. It scrapes for itself trenches in which to lie secure from the cold.

    Many genera of ruminants are represented in China and

    the outlying regions ; twenty-seven rare species are enumerated

    in Swinhoe’s and David’s lists, of which eleven are antelopes

    and deer. The range of some of them is limited to a

    narrow region, and most of them are peculiar to the country.

    The wealthy often keep deer in their grounds, especially the

    spotted deer {Cermis j)seicdaxis), from Formosa, whose coat is

    found to vary greatly according to sex and age ; its name, Mntsien

    lu/i, or ‘money deer,’ indicates its markings. Mouse-deer

    are also reared as pets in the southern provinces.

    One common species is the dscren or hwang yan<j {AntiUpe(jiitturosa), which roams over the Mongolian wilds in large herds, and furnishes excellent venison. It is heavy in comparison to the gazelle ; liorns thick, about nine inches long, anmilated to the tips, lyrated, and their points turned inward. The goitre, which gives it its name, is a movable protuberance occasioned by the dilatation of the larnyx ; in the old males it is much enlarged. The animal takes surprising bounds when running.

    Great numbers are killed in the autunm, and their flesh,

    skins, and liorns ai’e all of service for food, leather, and medicine.

    Several kinds of hornless (or nearly hornless) deer, allied to

    the musk-deer, exist. One is the river-deer {Ihjdrojyotes)^ common

    near the Yangtsz’ Eiver, which resembles the pudu of

    Chili ; it is very prolific on the bottoms and in the islands. Another

    sort in the northwest {Elaj>hod>iK) is intermediary between

    the muntjacs and deer, having long, trenchant, canine

    upper teeth, and a deep chocolate-colored fur. Three varieties

    of the musk-deer {MoscJiun) have been observed, differing a

    little in their colors, all called shie or hkouj cliaiuj by the Chinese,

    and all eagerly hunted for their musk. This perfume

    was once deemed to be nseful in medicine, and is cited in a

    Greek presci-iption of the sixth century ; the abundance of the

    animal in the Himalayan regions may be inferred from Tavernier’s

    statement that he bought 7GT3 bags or pods at Patna in

    one of his journeys over two hundred years ago. This animal

    roams over a vast extent of alpine territory, from Tibet and

    Shensi to Lake Baikal, and inhabits the loftiest cliffs and defiles,

    and makes its way over nigged mountains with great rapidity.

    It is not unlike the roe in general appearance, though the projecting

    teeth makes the npper lip to look broad. Its color is

    grayish-brown and its limbs slight; the hair is coarse and brittle,

    almost like spines. The musk is contained in a pouch beneath

    the tail on the male, and is most abundant during the

    i-utting season. He is taken in nets or shot, and the hunters

    are said to allure him to destruction by secreting themselves

    and playing the flute, though some would say the animal

    showed very little taste in listening to such sounds as Chinese

    flutes usually produce. The musk is often adulterated with

    clay or mixed with other sul)stanees to moderate its powerful

    odor. A singular and interesting member of this familv is

    reared in the great park south of Peking—a kind of elk with

    HORSES, ARSES, AND ELEPHANTS. 8,’?:}

    short horns. This large animal {Elwphwus Damdianus)^ of a

    gentle disposition, equals in size tlie largest deer; its native

    name, sz’-2>uh slang, indicates that it is neither a horse, a deer,

    a camel, nor an ox, but partakes in some respects of the characteristics

    of each of them. Its gentle croaking voice seems to be

    nnworthj of so huge a body ; the color is a uniform fawn or

    light gray.

    The horse is not much larger than the Shetland pony ; it is

    bony and strong, but kept with little cai-e, and presents the

    worst possible appearance in its usual condition of untrinmied

    coat and mane, bedraggled fetlocks, and twisted tail. The Chinese

    language possesses a great variety of terms to designate

    the horse ; the difference of age, sex, color, and disposition, all

    being denoted by particular characters. Piebald and mottled,

    white and bay horses are common ; but the improvement of

    this noble animal is neglected, and he looks sorry enough compared.

    with the coursers of India. lie is principally used for

    carrying the post, or for military services ; asses and mules

    being more employed for draught. lie is hardy, feeds on

    coarse food, and admirably serves his owners. The mule is

    well-shaped, and those raised for the gentry are among the very

    best in the M’orld for endurance and strength; dignitaries are

    usually drawn by sumpter mules. Donkeys are also carefully

    raised. Chinese books speak of a mule of a cow and horse, as

    M’ell as from the ass and horse, though, of course, no such hybrid

    as the former ever existed.

    The wild ass, or onager (under the several names by which

    it is known in different lands, Ji-yaiuj^ djan/j, I’ulan, djiggeta),

    ghor-hhar, and ye-la), still roams free and untameable. It is

    abundant in Koko-nor, gathering in troops of ten to fifty, each

    under the lead of a stallion to defend the mares. The flesh is

    highly prized, and the difficult}^ of procuring it adds to the

    delicacy of the dish ; the color is light chestnut, with white

    belly.

    Elephants are kept at Peking for show, and are used to

    draw the state chariot when the Emperor goes to worship at

    the Altars of Heaven and Earth, but the sixty animals seen in

    the days of Kienlung, by Bell, have since dwindled to one or two. Van Braam met six going into Peking, sent thither from Yunnan. The deep forests of that province also harbor the rhinoceros and tapir. The horn of the former is sought after as medicine, and theTjest pieces are carved most beautifully into

    ornaments or into drinking cups, which are supposed to sweat

    whenever any poisonous liquid is put into them. The tapir is

    the white and brown animal found in the IMalacca peninsula,

    and strange stories are recorded of its eating stones and copper.

    The wild boar grows to weigh over four hundred pounds and

    nearly six feet long. In cold weather its frozen carcass is

    brought to I’eking, and sold at a high price. A new species of

    The Chinese Pig.

    hoff has been found in Formosa, about three feet long, twentyone

    inches high, and showing a dorsal row of large bristles ; a

    tliird variety occurs among the novelties discovered in Sz’chuen

    ij^m moujnnensiH)^ having short ears. Wild boars are met M’ith

    even in the hills of C’hehkiang, and seriously’ annoy the husbandmen

    in the lowlands by their depredations. Deep pits are

    dug near the l)ase of the hills, and covered M’ith a bait of fresh

    grass, and many are annually captured or droM’iied in them.

    They are fond of the bamboo shoots, and persons are stationed

    near the groves to fi-igliten them away by striking pieces of

    wood together.

    The Chinese hollow-backed pig is known for its short legs,

    tup: wild boar and domestic hog. 325

    round body, crooked back, and almndance of fat; the flesh is

    the connnoii meat of tlie people soutli of tlie Yaii<>’ts// liiver.

    The black C-hinese breed, as it is called in England, is considered

    the best pork raised in that country. The boo-” in the

    northern provinces is a gaunt animal, unifoiiuly black, and not

    so well cared for as its southern rival. Pieljald pigs are common

    in Formosa, resulting from crossing; sometimes animals

    of this kind are quite woolly. The Chinese in the south, well

    aware of the perverse disposition of the hog, find it much more

    expeditious to can-y instead of drive him through their narrow

    Mode of Carrying Pigs.

    Streets. For this purpose cylindrical baskets, open at both ends,

    are made ; and in order to capture the obstinate brute, it is

    secured just outside the half-opened gate of the pen. The men

    seize him by the tail and pull it lustily ; his rage is roused by

    the pain, and he struggles ; they let go their hold, whereupon

    he darts out of the gate to escape, and finds himself snugly

    caught. He is lifted up and unresistingly carried off.

    The camel is employed in the trade carried on across the

    desert, and throughout Mongolia, Manchuria, and northern

    China near the plateau; without his aid those regions would be ii))pa?sil)le ; the passes across the ranges near Tvoho-nor, sixteen thonsand feet high, ai-e traversed by his help, though amid suffej’ing and danger. In the summer season it sheds all its hair, which is gathered for weaving into ropes and rugs ; at this period, large herds pasture on the plateau to recuperate. The humps at this season hang down the back like empty bags, and the poor animal presents a distressed appearance during the hot weather. In its prime condition it carries about six hundred

    pounds weight, but is not used to ride upon as is the Arabian

    species. The two kinds serve man in one continuous l-ajilah

    from the Sea of Tartary across two continents to Tinibuctoo.

    The Chinese have employed the camel in wai’, and trained it to

    carry small gingalls so that the riders could fire them while

    resting on its head, but this antique kind of cavalry has disappeared

    with the introduction of better weapons.

    Among the various tribes of smaller animals, the Chinese

    Em])ire furnishes many interesting peculiarities, and few families

    are unrepresented. Xo marsupials have yet been met, and

    the order of edeutata is still restricted to one instance. Several

    families in other orders are rare or wanting, as baboons,

    spider-monkeys, skunks, and ichneumons. In the weasel tribe,

    some new species have been added to the already long list of

    valuable fur-bearing animals found in the mountains—the sable

    ermine, marten, pole-cat, stoat, etc., whose skins still repay the

    hunters. The weasel is common, but not troublesome. The

    otter is trained in Sz’chuen to catch fish in the mountain

    streams \vith the docility of a spaniel ; another species {Lutia

    siolnhosl) occurs along the islands on the southern coast, while

    in Hainan Island appears a kind of clawless otter of a rich

    brown color above and white beneath ; each of these is about

    twenty inches long. The furs of all these, and also the seaotter,

    are prepared for garments, especially collars and neckwraps.

    A kind of mole exists in Sz’chuen, having a muzzle of extreme

    length, while the scent of another variety near Peking is so

    nuisky as to suggest its name {Scapfot’hirKi^ moschatus). Muskrats

    and shrew-mice are found both north and south ; and one

    western species has only a rudimentary tail ; w^hile another, the

    SMALLER ANIMALS AISTD RODET^TS, 327

    Scaptony.i’, forms an intermediate species l>ctween a mole and a

    shrew, having a bhmt muzzle, strong fore feet and a long tail;

    and lastly, a sort fitted for aquatic lial)its, with l)road hind feet

    and flattened tail. Tiny hedgehogs are common even in the

    streets and by-lanes of Peking, where they find food and

    refuge in the allnvial earth. Two or three kinds of marmots

    and mole-rats are fonnd in the north and west {Sqyhucus Arctami/

    s), all specifically unlike their congeners elsewhere. The

    Chinese have a curious fancy in respect to one beast, one bird,

    and one fish, each of which, they say, requires that two come

    together to make one complete animal, viz., the jerboa, the

    spoonbill and sole-fish ; the first {D’qius annnlatus) occurs in

    the sands of northern China, the second in Formosa, and the

    third along the coasts.

    Many kinds of rodents have been described. The alpine

    hare {Lagomijs ogotona) resembles a marmot in its habits and is

    met with throughout the grassy parts of the steppes ; its burrows

    riddle the earth wherever the little thing gathers, and endangers

    the hunters riding over it. It is about the size of a rat,

    and by its w^onderful fecundity furnishes food to a great number

    of its enemies—man, beasts, and birds ; it is not dormant, but

    gathers dry grass for food and warmth during cold weather

    ;

    this winter store is, however, often consumed by cattle before

    it is stored away. Hares and rabbits are well known. Two

    species of the former are plenty on the Mongolian grass-lands,

    one of which has very long feet ; in winter their frozen bodies

    are brought to market. One species is restricted to Hainan

    Island, Ten or twelve kinds of squirrels have been described,

    red, gray, striped, and buff ; one with fringed ears. Their skins

    are prepared for the furriers, and women wear winter robes

    lined with them. Two genera of flying-squirrel {Pteromys and

    Sciurapterus) have been noticed, the latter in Formosa and the

    former mostly in the western provinces, Chinese writers have

    been puzzled to class the flying-squirrel ; they place it among

    birds, and assure their readers that it is the only kind which

    suckles its young when it flies, and that ” the skin held in the

    hand during parturition renders delivery easier, because the

    animal has a remarkably lively disposition,” The long, dense

    328 THE MIDDLK KINGDOM.

    fur of the P. alhonifow’i makes beautiful dressep, the white

    tips of the hair contrasting prettily with the red ground.

    Of the proper rats and mice, more than twenty-five species

    have been already described. Some of them are partially

    arboreal, others have remarkably long tails, and all but three

    are peculiar to the country. A Formosan species, called by

    Swinhoe the spinous county rat, had been dedicated to Koxinga,

    the conqueror of that island ; while another common

    in Sz’chuen bears the name of Mufi Confucianus. The extent

    to which tlie Chinese eat rats has been greatly exaggerated

    by travellers, for the flesh is too expensive for general

    use.

    One species of porcupine {TTijsfrir suhcrlxtata) inhabits the

    southern provinces, wearing on its head a purplish-black crest

    of stout spines one to five inches long ; the bristles are short,

    but increase in size and length to eight oi- nine inches toward

    the rump ; the entire length is thiity-three inches. The popular

    notion that the porcupine darts its quills at its enemies as

    an efPectual weapon is common among the Chinese.

    Xo animal has puzzled the Chinese more than the scaly anteater

    or pangolin {JIa?iis dahnanni), which is logically considered

    as a certain and useful remedy bv them, simply because of

    its oddity. It is regarded as a fish out of water, and therefore

    named Ihuj-l’i., or ‘ hill carp,’ also dragon carp, but the most

    common designation is ehuen. s/ian liah, or the ‘ scaly hill borer.’

    One author says: ” Its shape resembles a crocodile ; it can go in

    dry paths as well as in the water ; it has four legs. In the

    daytime it ascends the banks of streams, and lying down opens

    its scales wide, putting on the appearance of death, which induces

    the ants to enter between them. As soon as they are in,

    the animal closes its scales and returns to the water to open

    them ; the ants float out dead, and he devours them at leisure.”

    A more accurate observer says: “It contimially protrudes its

    tongue to entice the ants on which it feeds ; ” and true to

    Chinese physiological deductions, similia similihis curantur,

    he recommends the scales as a cure for all antish swellings.

    lie also I’emarks that the scales are not bony, and consist of

    the agglutinated hairs of the body. The adult specimens

    PORPOISES AND WHALES. 329

    measure tliirty-threo inches. It walks on the sides of the

    hind feet and tips of the claws of the fore feet, and can stand

    upright for a minute or two. The large scales are held tt

    the skin by a liesliy iiipple-like pimple, which adheres to the

    base.

    Among the cetaceous inhabitants of the Chinese waters, one

    of the most noticeable is the great white poi-poise {Delj>/ihi>;s

    chinensis), whose uncouth tumbles attract the traveller’s notice

    as he sails into the estuary of the Pearl River on his way to

    Hongkong, and again as he steams up the Yangtsz’ to Hankow.

    The Chinese fishermen are shy of even holding it in their nets,

    setting it free at once, and never pui-suing it ; they call it^>M-^i

    and deem its presence favorable to their success. A species of

    fin-whale {Balmnoptera) has been described by Swinhoe, which

    ranges the southern coast from the shores of Formosa to Hainan.

    Its pi-esence between Hongkong and Amoy induced some

    foreigners to attempt a fishery in those waters, but the yield of

    oil and bone was too small for their outlay. The native fishermen

    join their efforts in the wintei*, when it resorts to the seas

    near Hainan, going out in fleets of small boats from three to

    twenty-five tons burden each, fifty l)oats going together. The

    line is about three hundred and fifty feet long, made of native

    hemp, and fastened to the mast, the end leading over the bow.

    The harpoon has one barb, and is attached to a wooden handle

    ;

    through an eye near the socket, the line is so fastened along the

    handle, that when the whale begins to strain upon it, the handle

    draws out upon the line, leaving only the barlj buried iji the

    skin. The boat is sailed directly upon the fish, and the harpooner

    strikes from the bow just behind the blow-hole. As

    soon as the fish is struck the sail is lowered, the rudder unshipped,

    and the boat allowed to drag stern foremost until the

    prey is exhausted. Other boats come up to assist, and half a

    dozen harpoons soon dispatch it. The species most common

    there yield about fifty bai-rels each ; the oil, fiesh, and bone are

    all used f(jr food or in manufactures. Tiie fish resort to the

    shallow waters in those seas for food, and to roll and rub on the

    banks and reefs, thus ridding themselves of the barnacles and

    insects which torment them ; they are often seen leaping en330

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    tire)y out of water, and falling back perpend icnlarly against the

    hard bottom.’

    The Yellow Sea affords a species of cow-lish, or round headed

    cachalot {Globicejjhalus Itissii), wdiich the Japanese capture.*

    Seals have been observed on the coast of Liautung, but nothing

    is known of their species or habits ; the skins are common and

    cheap in the Peking market. Xative books speak of a marine

    animal in Koko-nor, from wliich a rare medicine is obtained,

    that probably belongs to this famOy.

    This imperfect account of the mammalia known to exist

    in China has been drawn from the lists and descriptions inserted

    in the zoological periodicals of Europe, and may serve to

    indicate the extent and richness of the field yet to be investigated.

    The lists of Swinhoe and David alone contain nearly

    two hundred species, and within the past ten years scores more

    have been added, but have not exhausted the new and unexplored

    zoological regions. The emperors of the Mongol dynasty

    were very fond of the chase, and famous for their love of the

    noble amusement of falconry ; Marco Polo says that Kublai employed

    no less than seventy thousand attendants in his hawking

    excursions. Falcons, kites, and other birds were taught to

    pursue their quarry, and the Venetian speaks of eagles trained

    to stoop at wolves, and of such size and strength that none

    could escape their talons.’ Hanking has collected * a number

    of notices of the mode and sumptuousness of the field sports of

    the Mongols in China and India, but they convey little more

    information to the naturalist, than that the game Avas abundant

    and comprised a vast variety. ]\rany s])ecies of accipitrine

    birds are described in Chinese books, but they are spoken of so

    vaguely that nothing definite can be learned from the notices.

    Few of them are now trained for sport by the Chinese, except

    a kind of sparrow-hawk to amuse dilettanti hunters in

    showing their skill in catching small birds. The fondness for

    sport in the wilds of Manchuria which the old emperoi-s

    ‘ CMnese Repository, Vol. XII., p. 608.

    Mbid., Vol. VI., p. 411.

    •Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. ‘m^.

    * Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans.

    BIRDS OF PREY. 331

    encouraged two centuries ago has all died out among their

    descendants.

    Within the last fifteen years a greater advance has been

    made in the knowledge of the birds of China than in any other

    branch of its natural history, perhaps owing somewhat to their

    presenting themselves for capture to the careful observer. The

    list of described species already munljers over seven hundred, of

    which the careful paper of the lamented Swinhoe, in the ProceedingH

    of the Zoological SocJeti/ for May, 1871, gives the

    names of six hundred and seventy-five species, and M. David’s

    list, in i\\(i Nouvelles Archives for 1871, gives four hundred and

    seventy as the number observed north of the Itiver Yangtsz’.

    The present sketcli must confine itself to selecting a few of the

    characteristic birds of the country, for this part of its fauna is

    as interesting and peculiar as the mammalia.

    Among birds of prey are vultures, eagles, and ernes, all of

    them M’idespread and well known. One of the fishing-eagles

    (Ilalicctus macei) lives along the banks of the bend of the Yellow

    River in the Ortous country. The golden eagle is still

    trained for the chase by Mongols ; Atkinson accompanied a

    party on a hunt. ” We had not gone far,” he says, ” when

    several large deer rushed past, bounding over the plain about

    three hundred yards from ns. In an instant the barkut wai

    unhooded and his shackles removed, when he sprung from hi^

    perch and soared on high. lie rose to a considerable height,

    and seemed to poise fof^ minute, gave two or three flaps with his

    wings, and swooped off in a straight line for the pi’ey. I could

    not see his wings move, but he went at a fearful rate, and all of

    us after the deer ; when we were about two hundred yards off,

    the bii-d struck the deer, and it gave one bound and fell. The

    barkut had struck one talon in his neck, the other into his back,

    and was tearing out his liver. The Kirghis sprung from his

    horse, slipped the hood over the eagle’s head and the shackles

    on his legs, and easily took him off, remounting and getting

    ready for another flight.” ‘ Other smaller species are trained

    to capture or worry hares, foxes, and lesser game.

    ‘ Oriental and Western Siberia, p. 41 G.

    332 TIIK MIDDLK KINGDOM.

    The falcons which inhabit the gate-towers and trees in Pe

    kinw form a peculiar feature of the place, from their impudence

    in foraging in tlie streets and markets, snatching things out of

    the liands of people, and startling one by their responsive

    screams. Much quarrelling goes on between them and the

    crows and magpies for the possession of old nests as the spring

    comes on. Their services as scavengers insures them a quiet

    residence in their eyries on the gate-towers. Six sorts of harriers

    (Circles), with various species of falcons, bustards, gledes,

    and spaiTOw^-hawks, are enumerated. The family of owls is

    well represented, and live ones are often exposed for sale in

    the markets ; its native name of ‘ cat-headed hawk ‘ {inao-rhtao

    ying) suggests the likeness of the two. Out of the fifty-six

    species of accipitrine birds, the hawks are much the most

    numerous.

    The great order of Passerinae has its full share of beautiful

    and peculiar representatives, and over four hundred species

    have been catalogued. The night-hawks have only three

    members, but the swallows count up to fifteen species. Around

    Peking they gather in vast numbers, year after year, in the

    gate-towers, and that whole region was early known by the

    name of Yen Kwoli, or ‘ Land of Swallows.’ The innnunity

    granted by the natives to this twittering, bustling inmate of

    their houses has made it a synonym for domestic life ; the

    phrase yin yen. {lit. to ‘ drink swallows ‘) means to give a feast.

    The famil}’ of king-fishers contains several most exquisitely

    colored birds, and multitudes of the handsome ones, like the

    turquoise king-fisher {Halcyon fi/nyrnensis), are killed by the

    (Chinese for the sake of the plumage. Beautiful feather-work

    ornaments are made from this at Canton. The hoopoe, beeeater,

    and cuckoo are not uncommon ; the first goes by the

    name of the s/ia/i. ho-.shan’j, or ‘ country priest,* f i-om its color.

    Six species of the last have been recognized, and its peculiar

    habits of driving other birds from their nests has made it well

    kuuwn to the people, who call it ha-l’a for the same reason as

    do the English. On the upper Yangtsz’ the short-tailed species

    makes its noisy agitated Hight in order to draw off attention from

    its nest. The C’hinesc say it wcepi blood as it bewails its mate

    SWALLOWS, THRUSHES, LARKS, El’C. 333

    all night long. The Cacutas strlatus varies so greatly in different

    provinces that it has much perplexed naturalists ; all of

    them are only summer visitants.

    The habit of the shi-ike of impaling its prey on thorns and

    elsewhere before devouring it has been noticed by native

    writers ; no less than eleven species have been observed to cross

    the country in their migrations from Siberia to the Archipelago.

    Of the nuthatches, tree and wall creepers, wrens, and chats,

    there is a large variety, fJid one species of willow-wren {Sylvia

    horealls) has been detected over the entire eastei’u hemisphere ;

    six sorts of redstarts {Rat’tGilla) are spread over the provinces.

    Among the common song birds reared for the liousehold, the

    thrush and lark take precedence ; their fondness for birds and

    flowers is one of the pleasant features of Chinese national character.

    A kind of grayish-yellow thrush {Garrula,c j)<”i’-y)i<-il’^-

    tus)j called hwa-mi, or ‘painted ej’ebrows,’ is common about

    Canton, where a well-trained bird is worth several dollars.

    This genus furnishes six species, but they are not all equally

    nnisical ; another kind {Suthorla wehhiana) is kept for its fighting

    qualities, as it will die before it yields. These and other

    allied birds furnish the people with much amusement, by teaching

    them to catch seeds thrown into the air, jump from perches

    held in the hand, and })erform tricks of various kinds. A party

    of gentlemen will often be seen on the outskii-ts of a town in

    mild weather, each one holding his pet bird, and all busily engaged

    in catching grasshoppei’s to feed them. The spectacle

    thrush {Leuc()d’wj.>trn,tii) has its eyes surrounded by a black

    circle bearing a fancied resemblance to a pair of spectacles ; it

    is not a very sweet songster, but a graceful, lively fellow. The

    species of wagtail and lark known amount to about a score altogether,

    but not all of them are equally good singers. The

    southern (^hinese prefer the lark which comes from Chihli, and

    large numbei-s ai-e annually carried south. The shrill notes of

    the field lark {Alauda adkiox and arvensis) are heard in the

    shops and streets in enmlous concert with other kinds—these

    larks becoming at times well-nigh frantic with excitement in

    their struggles for victory. The Chinese name of peh-ling, or

    ‘hundred spirits,’ given to the Mongolian lark, indicates the

    334 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    reputation it has earned as an active songster ; and twenty-five

    dollars is not an unconnnon pi-ice for a good one.’

    The tits [Parus) and recdlings {Emhe/’ha), together with kindred

    genera, are among the most common .small birds, fifteen or

    twenty species of each having been noticed. In the proper season

    the latter are killed for market in such numbei-s as to excite

    surprise that they do not become extinct. In taking many of

    the warblers, orioles, and jays, for rearing or sale as fancy birds,

    the Chinese are veiy^ expert in the use of birdlime. In all parts

    of the land, the pie family are deemed so useful as scavengers

    that they are never molested, and in consequence become very

    connnon. The magpie is a favorite bird, as its name, /il tsloh,

    or ‘ joyous bird,’ indicates, and occurs all over the land. Ravens,

    choughs, crows, and blackbirds keep doM-n the insects and vermin

    and consume offal. The palace grounds and inclosures of

    the nobility in Peking are common I’esorts for these crows,

    where they are safe from harm in the great trees. Every

    morning myriads of them leave town with the dawn, returning

    at evenino; with increased ca\\ino; and clamor, at times actuallv

    darkening the sky with their flocks. A pretty sight is occasionally

    seen M’hen two or three thousand young ci’ows assemble

    just at sunset in mid-air to chase and play with each other.

    The crow is i-egarded as somewhat of a sacred bird, either from

    a service said to have been rendered by one of his race to an

    ancestor of the present dynasty, or because he is an emblem of

    filial duty, from a notion that the young assist their parents

    when disabled. The owl, on the other hand, has an odious

    name because it is stiy-matized as the bii’d which eats its dam.

    One member of the pie family deserving mention is the longtailed

    l)lue jay of Formosa (^.TO^’^Vm), remarkable for its brilliant

    plumage. Another, akin to the sun birds {^Ethoj^njija

    (lahryi)^ comes from Sz’chuen, a recent discovery. The body is

    red, the head, throat, and each side of the neck a brilliant

    violet, belly yellow, wings black with the primaries tinted green

    along the edge, and the feathers long, tapering, of a black or

    steel blue.

    ‘ Journal of the North China Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, May, 1S59.

    p. 289.

    MAGPIES AND PIGEONS. 335

    Tlie Mahiah, or Indian niino [Acndotheus)^ known by its

    yellow carbuncles, which extend like ears from behind the eye,

    is reared, as are also three species of Mu7iia, at Canton. Sparrows

    abound in every province around houses, driving away

    otiier birds, and entertaining the observer by their quarrels and

    activity, llobins, ouzels, and tailor-birds are not abundant.

    Xone of the humming-birds or birds of paradise occur, and

    only one species has hitherto been seen of the parrot group.

    Woodpeckers {Picus) are of a dozen species, and the wryneck

    occasionally attracts the eye of a sportsman. Tlie canary is

    reared in great numbers, being known under the names of

    ‘white swallow’ and ‘time spari-ow ;

    ‘ the chattering Java

    sparrow and tiny avedavat are also taught little tricks by their

    fanciers, in compensation for their lack of song. The two or

    three proper parrots are natives of Formosa.

    The family of pigeons {Coluvibidie) is abundantly represented

    in fourteen species, and doves form a common household

    bird ; their eggs are regarded as proper food to prevent smallpox,

    and sold in the markets, being also cooked in birdnest and

    other kinds of soups. The Chinese regard the dove as eminently

    stupid and lascivious, but gi^ant it the qualities of faithfulness,

    impartiality, and filial duty. The cock is said to send

    away its mate on the approach of rain, and let her return to the

    nest with fine weather. They have an idea that it undergoes

    periodic metamoi-phoses, but disagree as to the form it takes,

    though the sparrow-hawk has the preference.’ The bird is

    most famed, howevei-, for its filial duty, arising very probably

    from impei’fect observations of the custom of feeding its young

    with the macerated contents of its crop ; the wood pigeon is

    said to feed her seven young ones in one order in the morning,

    and reversing it in the evening. Its note tells the husbandman

    when to begin his labors, and the decorum observed in the nests

    and cotes of all the species teach men how to govern a family

    and a state. The visitor to Peking is soon attracted by the

    aeolian notes proceeding from doves which circle around their

    homes for a short time (forty or fifty or less in a flock), and

    ‘ Journal N. O. Br. R A. Soc, Vol. IV., 1867, Art. XI., by T. Walters.

    336 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    then settle. These birds are cdWed j)aN -tie n l-ido-j’in^ or ‘ mid

    cky houris,’ and their weird music is caused by ingenious wooden

    whistles tied on the rumps of two or three of the Hock, which

    lead the others and delight themselves. Carrier pigeons are

    used to some extent, and training them is a special mystery.

    One of the prettiest sort is the rose pigeon, and half a dozen

    kinds of turtles enliven the village groves with their gentle

    notes and peculiar plumage.

    No tribe of birds in China, however, equals the Gallinaceous

    for its beauty, size, and novelty, furnishing some t)f the most

    elegant and graceful birds in the world, and yet none of them

    have become domesticated for food. As a connecting link between

    this tribe and the last is the sand-grouse of the desert

    {Syrrhaptis paradoxus), whose singular combination attracted

    Marco Polo’s eye. “This bird, the harg^erlae, on which the

    falcons feed,” says lie, ” is as big as a partridge, has feet like

    a parrot’s, tail like a swallow’s, and is strong in tUght.” ‘ Abbo

    Hue speaks of the immense flocks which scour the plateau.

    The gold and silver pheasants are reared without ti-ouble in

    all the provinces, and have so long been identified witli tlic

    ornithology of China as to bo regarded as typical of its grotesque

    and brilliant fauna. Among other pheasants may be

    mentioned the Impeyan, Heeves, Argus, JVIedallion, Andierst,

    riluys, and Pallas, each one vicing with the other for some

    peculiarly graceful featui’e of color and sha])e, so that it is liaid

    to decide which is the lincst. The Amherst pheasant has tlic

    bearin<r, the ele«i;ance, and the details of form like the goM

    pheasant, but the neck, shoulders, back and M’ing covers are of

    a sparkling metallic green, and each feather ends in a belt of velvet

    black. A little red crest allies it to the gold ])heasant, and a

    pretty silvery ruff M’ith a black band, a white breast and belly, and

    a tail barred with bi-own, green, Avhite, and red bands, complete

    the picturesque dress. Jlidden away in these Tibetan wilds are

    other pheasants that dispute the })alm for beauty, among which

    four species of the eared pheasant {( ‘fossoptUon) attract notice.

    One is of a pure white, with a black tail curled up and spread

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. T., p. 2:57.

    vai:ii:tiks of piika.sants. 337

    out like a plume, uud is mcII called the suow pheasant. Another

    is the better knctwn Pallas pheasant, nearly as large as a

    turkey, distinguished hy eai’-like appendages or Avattles hehind

    the head, and a red neck above a white body, whence its native

    name of /lo-li, or ‘ fire hen.’ Another genus {^Lojp1ioj)horus) contains

    some elegant kinds, of Avhich the I’lluys pheasant is new,

    and noted for a coppery-green tail bespangled with white. The

    longer known Reeves pheasant is sought for by the natives for

    the sake of its white and yellow-l)arred tail feathers, which are

    used l)y play actoi’S to complete a wan-ior’s dress ; Col. Yule

    proves a reference to it in Marco Polo from this part of its

    plumage, Mhicli the Venetian states to be ten palms in length

    —

    not far beyond the truth, as they have been seen seven feet

    long.’ It is a long time for a bird of so iiiuch beauty to have

    been unknown, from 1350 to ISOS, Avhen Mr. Thomas Beale

    procured a specimen in Canton, and sent others to England in

    1832 ; Mr. Reeves took it thither, and science has recorded it

    in her annals. As Xew Guinea is the home of the birds of

    paradise, so do the Himalayas contain most of these superb

    pheasants and francolins, each tribe serving as a foil and comparison

    with the Creator’s handiwork in the other.

    The island of Formosa has furnished a second species, Swinhoe’s

    pheasant, of the same genus as the silver pheasant {Eujploeamus),

    and another smaller kind {Phasianusfcmnosanus) ; the

    list is also increased by fresh acquisitions from Yimnan and

    Cochinchina through Dr. Anderson. This is not, liowever, the

    place where Me may indulge in details respecting all of these

    gorgeous birds ; we conclude, then, with the Medallion, or

    horned pheasant. It has a ” l)eautiful membrane of resplendent

    colors on the neck, which is displayed or conti’acted according

    as the cock is more or less roused. The hues are chiefly

    purple, with bright red and green spots, which vary in intensity

    according to the degree of excitement.’”

    The peacock, though not a native, is reared in all parts ; it

    bears the name of I’ung Utah, sometimes rendei-ed ‘ Confucius’

    ‘ Yiile’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 246—where there is an admirable wood-cut of one from Wood.

    Lird,” though it is more probable that the name means the great

    or magniticeiit bird. The use of the tail feathers to designate

    official rank, which probably causes a large consumption of

    them, does not date previous to the present dynasty. Poultry

    is reared in immense quantities, but the assortment in China

    does not equal in beauty, excellence, and variety the products

    of Japanese culture. The silken cock, the vane of whose plume

    is so minutely divided as to resemble curly hair, is probably the

    same sort with that described by some w^riters as having wool

    like sheep. The Mongols succeed very well in rearing the tall,

    Shanghai breed, and their unifoi-m cold winter enables them to

    preserve frozen flesh without much difficulty. The smaller

    gallinaceous birds already described, grouse, quails, francolins,

    partridges, sand-snipe, etc., amount to a score or more species,

    ranging all over the Empire. The red partridge is sometimes

    tamed to keep as a house bird with the fowls. The Chinese

    quail {Cotarnic) has a brown back, sprinkled with black spots

    and white lines, blackish throat and chestnut breast. It is reared

    for lighting in south China, and, like its bigger Gallic rival, is

    soon eaten if it allows itself to be beaten.

    The widespread family of waders sends a few of its representatives

    from Europe to China, but most of the members are

    Oriental. The marshes and salt lakes of Mongolia attract

    enormous numbers of migratory birds in summer to rear their

    young in safety, in the midst of abundant food. Col. Prejevaleky

    watched the arrival of vast flocks early in February, and

    thus describes their appearance : ” For days together they

    sped onward, always fi-oni the W.S.AV., going further east in

    search of open water, and at last settling down among the open

    pools ; their favorite haunts were the flat nnid banks overgrown

    with low saline bushes. Here every day vast flocks would congregate

    toward evening, crowding among the ice ; the noise they

    made on rising was like a hurricane, and at a distance they resembled a thick cloud. Flocks of one, two, three, and even five thousand, followed one another in quick succession, hardly a minute apart. Tens and hundreds of thousands, even millions

    of birds appeared at Lob-nor during the fortnight ending the

    2l6t of February, when the flight was at its height. What

    FAMILY OF WADERS I]?f CHINA. 339

    prodigious quantities of food must be necessary for such numbers

    ! ” ‘ Wading and web-footed birds all harmlessly mix in

    these countless hosts, but hawks, eagles, and animals gather too,

    to prey on them.

    Among the noticeable wadei-s of China, the white Manchurian

    or Montigny crane is one of the finest and largest ; it is

    the official insigna of the highest rank of civilians. Five

    species of crane {Grus) arc recognized, and seven of plovers,

    together with as many more allied genera, including an avocet,

    bustard, and ov8ter-catclier. Curlews abound along the flat

    shores of the Gulf of Pechele, and are so tame that they race

    up and down with the naked children at low tide, hunting for

    shell-fish ; as the boy runs his arm into the ooze the curlew

    pokes his long bill up to the eyes in the same hole, each of

    them grasping a crab. Godwits and sandpipers enliven the

    coasts with their cries, and seven species of gambets {Totanus)

    give them them the largest variety of their family group, next

    to the snipes {Tr’tnga)^ of wdiich nine are recorded. Herons,

    egrets, ibis, and night-herons occur, and none of them are discarded

    for food. At Canton, a pure Nvliite egret is often exposed

    for sale in the market, standing on a shelf the livelong

    day, with its eyelids sewed together—a pitiable sight. Its

    slender, elegant shape is imitated by artists in making bronze

    candlesticks. The singular spoonbill {Platalea) is found in

    Formosa, and the jacana in southwestern China. The latter

    is described by Gould as ” distinguished not less by the grace

    of its form than its adaptation to the localities which nature

    has allotted it. Formed for traversing the morass and lotuscovered

    surface of the water, it supports itself upon the floating

    weeds and leaves by the extraordinary span of the toes,

    aided by the unusual lightness of the body.” ‘ Gallinules,

    crakes, and rails add to this list, but the flamingo has not been

    recorded.

    In the last order, sixty-five species of web-footed birds are

    enumerated by naturalists as occui-ring in China. The fenny

    ‘ From Kulja to Lob-nor, p. 116.

    ‘John Gould, Century of Birda, London, 1831-32.

    margins of lakes and rivera, and tlie seacoast niaislies, afford

    food and shelter to Hocks of water-fowl. Ten sepaiate species

    of duck are known, of which four or live ai”e peculiar. The

    whole coast fi’oin Hainan to jVIanchuiia swarms with gulls,

    terns, and grebes, while geese, swans, and mallards resort to the

    inland waters and pools to rear their young. Ducks are sometimes

    caught by persons who first cover their heads with a

    gourd pierced with holes, and then wade into the water where

    the birds are feeding ; these, previously accustomed to emptycalabashes

    floating about on the water, allow the fowler to approach,

    and ai”e pulled under without difficulty. The wild

    goose is a favorite bird with native poets. The reputation for

    conjugal fidelity has made its name and that of the mandarin

    duck emblems of that virtue, and a pair of one or the other

    usually forms part of wedding processions. The epithet mandarin

    is applied to this beautiful fowl, and also to a species of

    orange, simply because of their excellence over other varieties

    of the same genus, and not, as some writers have inferred, l)ecause

    they are appropriated to officers of government.

    The yuen-ydng, as the Chinese call this duck, is a native of

    the central provinces. It is one of the most variegated birds

    known, vieing with the humming-birds and parrots in the

    diversified tints of its plumage, if it does not equal them for

    brilliancy. The drake is the object of admiration, his partner

    being remarkably plain, but during the sunnner season he also

    loses much of his gay vesture. INFr. P>ennet tells a pleasant

    story in proof of the conjugal fidelity of these birds, the incidents

    of which occurred in Mr. Beale’s aviary at Macao. A

    drake was stolen one night, and the duck displayed the strongest

    marks of despair at her loss, retiring into a corner and refusing

    all nourishment, as if determined to starve lierself to death

    from grief. Another drake undertook to comfort the disconsolate

    widow, but she declined his attentions, and was fast becoming

    a martyr to her attachment, when her mate was recovered

    and restored to her. Their nnmioii was celebrated by

    the noisiest demonstrations of joy, and the duck soon infoi-med

    her lord of the gallant ])i-o]iosals made to her during his absence

    ; in high dudgeon, he instantly attacked the luckless bird

    BEale’s aviary. 341

    which would have snp})hintc(l him, and so maltreated liim as to

    cause his death.

    The aviary here mentioned was for many j’ears, up to 1838,

    one of the principal attractions of Macao. Its owner, Mr

    Thomas Beale, had erected a wire cage on one side of his house,

    having two apartments, each of them about fifty feet high, and

    containing several large trees ; small cages and roosts were

    placed on the side of the liouso under shelter, and in one corner

    a pool afforded bathing conveniences to the water-fowl. The

    genial climate obviated the necessity of any covering, and only

    those species which would agree to live quietly together were

    allowed the free range of the two apartments. The great attraction

    of the collection was a living bird of paradise, which, at

    the period of the owner’s death, in 1840, had been in his possession

    eighteen years, and enjoyed good health at that time.

    The collection during one season contained nearly thirty specimens

    of pheasants, and besides these splendid birds, there were

    upward of one hundred and fifty others, of different sorts, some

    in cages, some on perches, and others going loose in the aviary.

    In one corner a large cat had a hole, where she reared her

    young ; her business was to guard the whole from the depredations

    of rats. A magnificent peacock from Damaun, a large

    assortment of macaw^s and cockatoos, a pair of magpies, another

    of the superb crowned pigeons {Goura coronata), one of Mdioni

    moaned itself to death on the decease of its mate, and several

    Nicobar ground pigeons, were also among the attractions of this

    curious and valuable collection.

    Four or five kinds of grebe and loon frequent the coast, of

    which the Podlcejys cristatus, called shui nu, or ^ water

    slave,’ is connnon around Macao. The same region affords

    sustenance to the pelican, which is seen standing motionless for

    hours on the rocks, or sailing on easy wing over the shallows

    in search of food. Its plumage is nearly a pure wliite, except

    the black tips of the wings ; its height is about four feet, and

    the expanse of the wings more than eight feet. The bill is

    flexible like whalel)one, and the pouch susceptible of great

    dilatation. Gulls abound on the northeast coasts, and no one

    who has seen it can forget the beautiful sight on the marshes at the entrance of the Pei ho, where myriads of white gulls assemble to feed, to ‘preen, and to quarrel or scream—the bright sun rendering their plumage like snow. The albatross, black tern, petrel, and noddy increase the list of denizens in Chinese waters, but offer nothing of particular interest.’

    There are foui* fabulous animals which are so often referred

    .y to by the Chinese as

    to demand a notice.

    The ki-lin is one of

    these, and is placed

    ‘^’i at the head of all

    hairy animals; as

    the funfj-Jiwang is

    pre-eminent among

    feathered races ; the

    dragon and tortoise

    among the scaly and

    shelly tribes ; and

    man among naked

    animals! The naked,

    hairy, feathered,

    shelly, a n d scaly

    tribes constitute the

    quinary system of

    ancient Chinese naturalists.

    The Tci-lin

    is pictured as resembling

    a stag in its

    \)^’>k\\ and a horse in its hoofs, but possessing the tail of an ox

    and a parti-colored or scaly skin. A single horn having a

    Heshy tip proceeds out of the forehead. Besides these external

    marks to identify it, the ¥i-lin exhibits great benevolence of

    The Kf-lin, or Unicorn,

    ‘ On the birds of China, see in general T^es Oiteaux de la Chine, par M.

    I’Abbo Armand David, avec un Atlas de 124 Planches dessin.’es et lith. par M.

    Arnonl. Taris, 1877. R. Rwinhoe, in the Procredmfjs of th<‘. ScknUfic Meetinf/

    s of the Zoological Sac. of London, and in 77ie Ihis, a Max/azine of General

    Ornitholodn, passim. Journ. N. C. Br. R. A. Soc, Nos. II., p. 225, and

    III., p. 287.

    THE KI-LIN AND FUNU-IIWANO. 343

    disposition toward other living animals, and appears only when

    w’ise and just kings, like Yau and Shun, or sages like Confucius,

    are born, to govern and teach mankind. The Chinese description

    presents many resemblances to the popular notices of the

    unicorn, and the independent origin of their account adds something

    to the probability that a single-horned equine or cervine

    animal has once existed.’

    Cuvier expresses the opinion that Pliny’s description of the

    The Fung-hwang, or Phcenix.

    Arabian phcenix was derived from the golden pheasant, though

    othei-s think the Egyptian plover is the original type. From his

    likening it to an eagle for size, having a yellow neck with purple,

    a blue tail varied with red feathers, and a richly feathered tufted

    head, it is more probable that the Impeyan pheasant was Pliny’s

    ‘ Chine.se Rejiository, Vol. VII., p. 213. Compare Yule’s note, Marco Polo,

    Vol. I., p. 233. Hue, Travels in Tartary, etc.. Vol. II., p. 246. Bell,

    Journey from St. Petersburgh in Russia to Ispahan in Persia., Vol. I., p. 216.

    Also Heeren, Asiatic Nations, Vol. I., p. 98, where there is a resume of

    Ctesias’ acco\int of the unicorn.

    tvpe. The Chinesefung-kivang, or phoenix, is probably based

    on the Argns pheasant. It is described as adorned with every

    color, and combines in its form and motions whatever is elegant

    and graceful, while it possesses such a benevolent disposition

    that it will not peck or injure living insects, nor tread on

    o-rowino- herbs. Like the ki-lin, it has not been seen since the

    halcyon days of Confucius, and, from the accomit given of it,

    seems to have been entii-ely fabulous. The etymology of the

    characters implies that it is the emperor of all birds. One Chinese author describes it ” as resembling a wild swan before and a unicorn behind ; it has the throat of a swallow, the bill of a cock, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish, the forehead of a crane, the crown of a mandarin drake, the stripes of a dragon, and the vanlted back of a tortoise. The feathers have five colors, which are named after the five cardinal virtues, and it i;^ five cubits in height ; the tail is graduated like Pandean pipes, and its song resembles the music of that instrument, having five modulations.” A beautiful ornament for a lady’s headdress is sometimes made in the shape of i\\e fung-Jnrang, and somewhat resembles a similar ornament, imitating the vulture, worn by the ladies of ancient Egypt.

    The lung, or dragon, is a familiar object on articles from

    China. It furnishes a comparison among them for e\ierything

    terrible, imposing, and powerful ; and being taken as the imperial

    coat of arms, consequently imparts these ideas to his

    person and state. The type of the dragon is probably the boaconstrictor

    or sea-serpent, or otiier similar monster, though the

    researches of geology have brought to light such a near counterpart

    of the lung in the iguanadon as to tempt one to

    believe that this has been the prototype. There are three

    dragons, the lung in the sky, the U in the sea, and the hlao in

    the marshes. The first is the only authentic species, according

    to the Chinese ; it has the head of a camel, the horns of a deer,

    eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog,

    scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tigei-. On

    each side of the mouth are whiskers, and its beard contains a

    bi’ight pearl ; the breath is sometimes changed into water and

    sometunes into fire, and its voice is like the jingling of copper

    THE LUNG, OR DRAGON. 345

    pans. The dragon of the sea occasionally ascends to heaven in

    Avater-sponts, and is the rnler of all oceanic phenomena.’ The

    dragon is worshipped and feared by Chinese fishermen, and

    their liing-wang, or ‘ drag(jn king,’ answei-s to Keptnne in western

    mythology ; perhaps the ideas of all classes toward it is a

    modified relic of the widespread serpent worship of ancient

    times. The Chinese suppose that elfs, demons, and other

    supernatural beings often transform themselves into snakes ;

    and M. Julien has translated a fairy story of this sort, called

    Blanche et Bleue. The J,-wet, or tortoise, has so few fabulous

    qualities attributed to it that it hardly comes into the list ; it

    was, according to the story, an attendant on Pwanku when he

    chiselled out the world. A semi-classical work^ the SJian-hal

    Kmg, or ‘ Memoirs upon the Mountains and Seas,’ contains

    pictures and descriptions of these and kindred monsters, from

    which the people now derive strange notions respecting them,

    the l)Ook having served to embody and fix for the whole nation

    what the writer anciently found floating about in the popular

    legends of particular localities.

    A species of alligator {A. sinensis) has been described by

    Dr. A. Fauvel in the iT. O. Br. B.A. So,-. Journal, Xo. XIII.,

    1879, in which he gives man}’ historical and other notices of its

    existence. Crocodiles are recorded as having been seen in the

    rivers of Ivwangtnng and Ivwangsi, but none of this family

    attain a large size.

    Marco Polo’s account of the huge serpent of Yunnan,” having

    two forelegs near the head, and one claw like that of a lion or

    hawk on each, and a mouth big enough to swallow a man whole,

    referring no doubt to the crocodile, is a good instance of the

    way in which truth and fable were mingled in the accounts of

    those times. The flesh is still eaten by the Anamese, as he

    says it was in his day. A gigantic salamander, analogous to

    the one found in Japan (the Sieholdia), has suggested it as the

    ‘ CJdnese Refiository, Vol. VII., p. 250. For a careful analysis of this relic

    of ancient lore, see the Nowoeau Journal Asiatiq^ie, Tome XII., pp. 232-243,

    1833 ; also Tome VIII., 3d Series, pp. 337-382, 1839, for M. Bazin’s estimata of its value.

    •^ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 46.

    type of the dragon which ligures on the Chinese national flag.

    Small lizards abound in the southern parts, and the variety

    and numbers of serpents, both land and water, found in the

    maritime provinces, are hardly exceeded in any country in the

    world ; they are seldom poisonous. A species of naja is the

    only venomous sruike yet observed at Chusan, and the hooded

    cobra is one of the few yet found around Canton. Another

    species frequents the banks, and is driven out of the di’ains and

    creeks l)v high water into the houses. A case is mentioned by

    Bennet of a Chinese who was bitten, and to whose wound the

    mashed head of the reptile had been applied as a poultice, a

    mode of treatment which probably accelerated his death by

    mixing more of the poison diluted in the animars blood with

    the man’s own blood. It is, however, rare to hear of casualties

    from this source. This snake is called ‘black and M’hite,’

    from beino; marked in alternate bands of those two colors. A

    species of acrochordon, remarkable for its abrupt, short tail,

    has been noticed near Macao.

    It is considered felicitous by the Buddhist priests to harbor

    snakes around their temples ; and though the natives do not

    play with poisonous serpents like the Hindoos, they often

    handle or teach them simple tricks. The common frog is taken

    in great numbers for food. Tortoises and tui-tles from fresh

    and salt water are plenty along the coast, while both the emys

    and trionyx are kept in tubs in the streets, where they grow

    to a large size. An enormous carnivorous tortoise inhabits the

    M’aters of Chehkiansr near the ocean. The natives have strange

    ideas concerning the hairy turtle of Sz’chuen, and regard it as

    excellent medicine ; it is now known that the supposed hair

    consists of confervre, whose spores, lodged on the shell, have

    grown far beyond the animal’s body.

    The ichthyology of China is one of the richest in the world,

    though it may be so more from the greater proportion of food

    fui-nished by the waters than from any real supei’abundance of

    the finny tribes. The offal thi-own from boats near cities attracts

    some kinds to those jdaces, and gives food and employment

    to multitudes. Several large collections of fishes have

    CHTHYOLOGY OF CHINA. 347

    been made in Canton, and IMr. Reeves deposited one of the richest in the British Museum, together with a series of drawings made Ijy native artists from living specimens ; they have been described by Sir John liicliardson in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for 1845. In this paper he enumerates one hundred and ninety genera and six hundred and seventy-one species, nearly all of which are marine

    or come out to sea at certain times. Since it was prepared

    great accessions to this branch have been made from the inland

    waters, so that probably a thousand sorts in all have been observed.

    The salmon and cod families are comparatively scarce,

    but the mackerel, goby, and herring families are very abundant.

    The variety of fish is so great in Macao, that if one is

    willino; to eat all that are brought to market, as the Chinese do

    (including the sharks, torpedoes, gudgeons, etc.), one can have

    a different species every day in the year. It may with truth

    be said that the Chinese eat nearly every living thing found in

    the water, some of the hideous fishing frogs or gurnards alone

    excepted.

    The cartilaginous fishes, sharks, rays, and saw-fish, are abundant

    on the sea-coast. The sturgeon is not common at the south,

    but in the winter it is brouo;ht fi-om the Sonsfari and other

    rivers to Peking for the imperial table, being highly prized by

    Chinese epicures. There is found in the Yangtsz”‘ a singular

    species of sturgeon, the i/iuyil, which lies under the banks in still

    water and sucks its prey into a sac-like mouth projecting like

    a cusp under the long snout ; it has no scales, and is four feet

    long. Common sturgeon, weighing a thousand pounds, are

    caught in this river. The hammer-headed and zebra shark

    {Cestracion zehra) are seen in the markets at Macao; also huge

    skates, some of them measuring five feet across ; the young of

    all these species are regarded as particularly good eating. A

    kind of torpedo {J^arcine lingula) is not uncommon on the

    southern coast, but the natives do not seem to l)e aware of any

    electrical properties. It is said that the fishermen sometimes

    destroy the shark by boiling a melon and throwing it out as a

    bait ; when swallowed, the heat kills the fish. The true cod

    has not been observed on the Chinese coast, but several species

    of serrani (as Plectrojiotna susuki, Serranus shihjjan, Megachh\etc.), generally called s/n’/i-jxtn by the natives, and garoupa bj foreigners, are common oft” C^anton, and considered to be most

    delicate fare. Anothei” fine fish is the Poh/nennis fetradactylus^

    or bjnni-carp, often called salmon by foreigners ; isinglass is

    prepared from its skin. The pomfret, or tsang yii {Stromateus

    argenteus), is a good pan-fish, bnt hardly so delicate as the sole,

    many fine species of which aboimd along the whole coast. Besides

    these, two or three species of mackerel, the Soiodna lucicla^

    an ophicephalns, the mullet, and the ‘ white rice fish ‘ occur.

    The shad is abundant oft’ the Yangtsz’, and is superior to the

    American species; Chinese epicures will sometimes pay fifty

    dollars for the first one of the season.

    The cai’p family {C’i/2>i’hiidie) is very abundant in the rivers

    and lalces of China, and some species are reared in fish-pools and

    tubs to a monstrous size ; fifty-two species are mentioned in

    Ricliardson’s list. The gold-fish is the most celebrated, and

    has been introduced into Europe, M’here it M-as first seen towai’d

    tlie end of the seventeenth century. The Chinese say that its

    Jiative place is Lake Tsau, in the province of l^ganhwui. The

    effects of domestication in changing the natm-al form of this

    fish are great ; specimens are often seen without any doi-sal fin,

    and the tail and other fins tufted and lol)ed to such a degree as

    to resemble artificial appendages or wings rather than natui-al

    organs. The eyes are developed till the globe projects beyond

    the socket like goggles, presenting an extraordinary appearance.

    Some of them are so fantastic, indeed, that tlioy would be regarded

    as Insns nature M^ere they not so connnon. The usual

    color is a I’uddy golden hue, but both sexes exhibit a silvery or

    blackish tint at certain stages of their growth ; and one variety,

    called the silver-fish, retains this shade all its life. The Chinese

    keep it in their garden ponds, or in earthern jai-s, in which

    are placed rocks covered with moss, and overgi-own w\x\\ tufts

    of ferns, to afford them a retreat fi-om the light. Vriien the

    females spawn, the eggs must be removed to a shallow vessel,

    lest the males devour them, where the heat of the sun hatches

    them ; the young are nearly black, but gradually become whitish

    or i-eddish, and at last assume a golden or silvery hue.

    Specimens upward of two feet long have been uoticed, and

    METHODS OF REARIN^G FISH. 349

    those wlio rear tlieni emulate each other in producing new

    varieties.

    The rearing of lisli is an important pursuit, the spawn being

    collected with the greatest care and placed in favorable positions

    for hatching. The Bulletin Universel for 1829 asserts

    that in some part of China the spawn so taken is carefullv

    placed in an empty egg-shell and the hole closed ; the cirg is

    then replaced in the nest, and, after the hen has sat a few davs

    upon it, reopened, and the spawn placed in vessels of water

    warmed bj the sun, wdiei-e it soon hatclies.

    The innnense fleets of fishing boats on the Yangtsz’ and its

    tributaries indicate the finny supplies its waters afford. A species

    of pipe-fish [Fistula/’ia iminaculata\ of a red color, and

    the gar-pike, with green bones, are found about Canton ; as are

    also numerous beautiful parrot-fish and sun-fish {Chwtodon).

    An ingenious mode of taking its prey is practised by a sort of

    chsetodon, or chelmon ; it darts a drop of water at the flies or

    other insects lighting on the bank near the edge, in such a

    manner as to knock them off, when they are devoured. All

    the species of ophieephalus, or mruj yi’i., so I’emarkable for their

    tenacity of life, are reared in tanks and pools, and are hawked

    alive through the streets.

    Eels, mullets, alewives or file-fish, breams, gudgeons, and

    many other kinds, are seen in the nuirkets. Few things eateix

    by the Chinese look more repulsive than the gobies as they lie

    wriggliTig in the slime which keeps them alive; one species

    {Try])auchen vcujina)^ called chu 2>’Ji yu, or ‘vermilion pencilfish,’

    is a cylindrical fish, six or eight inches long, of a dark red

    color ; its eyes protrude so that it can see behind, like a girafle.

    Some kinds of gobies construct little liillocks in the ooze, with

    a depression on the top, in which their spawn is hatched by tlu;

    sun ; at low tide they skip about on the banks like young frogs,

    and are easily captured with the hand. A delicious species oi

    Saurus {Leiicosoma Chinensis), called pihfan yil, or ‘ white rice

    fish,’ and yin yil, or silver-fish, ranges from Hakodate to Canton.

    It is six or eight inches long, the body scaleless and transparent,

    so that the muscles, intestines, and spinal column can

    be seen without dissection ; the bones of the head are thin, flexible, and diaphanoiis. Many species of file-fish, sole-fish, an^ cliovy, and eels, are captured on the coast. Vast quantities of

    dried fish, like the stock fish in Sweden, are sent inland to sell

    in resrions where fish are rare. The most common sorts are the

    perch, sun fish, gurnard, and hair-tail {Trlchlnrus).

    Shell-fish and mollusks, both fresh and salt, are abundant in

    the market. Oysters of a good quality are common along the

    coast, and a species of mactra, or sand-clam, is fished up near

    Macao. The Pearl River affords two or three kinds of freshwater

    shell-fish {Mytilus), and snails ( Voluta) are plenty in all

    pools. The crangons, prawns, shrimps, crabs, and other kinds

    of Crustacea met with, are not less abundant than palatable;

    one species of craw-fish, as large as (but not taking the place of)

    the lobster, called Ian// hat, or ‘ dragon crab,’ together with

    cuttle-fish of three or four kinds, and the king-crab {Poly])]ietnus),

    are all eaten. The inland w^aters produce many species

    of shells, and the new genus theliderma, allied to the unio,

    was formed by Mr. Benson, of Calcutta, from specimens obtained

    of a shopkeeper at Canton. The land shells are abundant,

    especiall}’ various kinds of snails {IIcll,i; Liftiiiwa, etc.) ;

    twenty two species of helix alone were contained in a small

    collection sent from Peking, in which region all this kind of

    food is well known. A catalogue of nearly sixty shells obtained

    in Canton is given in Murray’s China,’ but it. is doubtful

    whether even half of them are found in the country, as the

    shops there are supplied in a great degree from the Archipelago.

    Dr. Cantor”” mentions eighty-eight genera of shells occurring

    between Canton and Chusan. Pearls are found in China, and

    Marco Polo speaks of a salt lake, supposed now to be in Yunnan,

    which produced them in such quantity that the fishery in

    his day was farmed out and restricted lest they should become

    too cheap and common. In Chehkiang the natives take a largo

    kind of clam {Alasmodonta) and gently attach leaden images

    ‘ Vol. TIL, p. 445.

    ” Conspectus of collections made by Dr. Cantor, CMnefte Ttepository, Vol. X.,

    p. 434. General features of Cliusan, with remarks on the Fh)ra and Fauna of that Island, by T. E. Cantor, Aimal. Nai. Hist., Vol. IX. (1H42), pp. 205, 3()1

    and 481. Juuriial Ah. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XXIV., 1855.

    SHELL-FISII AND INSECTS OF CHINA. 351

    of Buddha under tlie flsli, after wliieli it is thrown back into

    the water. Xacre is deposited over the lead, and after a few

    months the shells are retaken, cleaned, and then sent abroad to

    sell as proofs of the power and presence of Buddha. The

    Quarterly lieview speaks of a mode })ractised by the Chinese

    of making pearls by dropping a string of small mother-of-pearl

    beads into the shell, which in a year ai’e covered wdth the

    pearly crust. Leeches are much used by native physicians;

    the hammer-headed leech has been noticed at Chusan.

    The insects of China are almost unknown to the naturalist.

    In Dr. Cantor’s collection, from Chusan, there are fifty-nine

    genera mentioned, among which tropical forms prevail ; there

    are also six genera of arachnida^, and the list of spiders could

    easily be nudtipliod to hundreds ; among them are many showing

    most splendid coloring. One large and strong species is

    affirmed to capture small birds on the trees. Locusts sometimes

    commit extensive ravages, and no part of the land is free

    from their presence, though their depredations do not usually

    reach over a great extent of country, or often for two successive

    years. They are, however, sufficiently troiildesome to attract

    the notice of the government, as the edict against them, inserted

    in another chapter, proves. Centipedes, scorpions, and some other species in the same order are known, the former being most abundant in the central and western regions, where scorpions are rare.

    The most valuable insect is the silkworm, which i.; reared in

    nearly every province, and the silk from otlier wild M’orms

    found on the oak and ailantus in Shantung, Sz’chuen, and elsewhere

    also gathered ; the proper silkworm itself has been met

    with to some extent in northern Shansi and Mongolia. Many

    other insects of the same order {Lepidoj)ter(e) exist, but those

    sent abroad have been mostly from the province of Kwangtung.

    Eastward of the city of Canton, on a range of hills

    called Lofau shan, large butterflies and night moths of immense

    size and brilliant coloring are captured. One of these

    mQGcis, {Bornhyx atlas) \\\e2i&\\ve& about nine inches across ; the

    ground color is a rich and varied orange brown, and in the centre

    of each wing there is a triangular transparent spot, resembling a piece of mica. Sphinxes of great beauty and size are common, and in their splendid coloring, rapid noiseless flight from flower to flower, at the close of the day, remind one of the lunnming-bird. Sonje families are more abundant than others ; the coleopterous exceed the lepidopterous, and the range of particular tribes in each of these is often very limited. The humid regions of Sz’chuen furnished a great harvest of beautiful butterflies to M, David, while the lamellicorn beetles and cerambycidae are the most common in the north and central parts.

    Many tribes of coleopterous insects are abundant, but the

    number of species yet identified is trifling. Several water

    beetles, and others included under the same general designation,

    have been found in collections sold at Canton, but owing to the

    careless manner in wliich those boxes are filled, very few specimens

    are perfect, the antenna3 or tarsi being broken. The molecricket

    occurs everywhere. The common cricket is caught and

    sold in the markets for gambling ; persons of all ranks amuse

    themselves by irritating two of these insects in a bowl, and betting

    upon the prowess of their favorites. The cicada, or broad

    locust, is abundant, and its stridulous sound is heard from trees

    and groves with deafening loudness. Boys tie a straw around

    the abdomen of the male, so as to irritate the sounding apparatus,

    and carry it through the streets in this predicament, to

    the great annoyance of every one. This insect was well known

    to the Greeks ; the ancient distich

    —

    ” Happy the cicadas’ lives,

    For they all have voiceless wives,”

    hints at their knowledge of this sexual difference, as well as intimates

    their opinion of domestic quiet. Again it forms the

    subject of Meleager’s invocation :

    •’ shrill-voiced insect ! that with dew-drops meet,

    Inehriate, dost in desert woodlands sing ;

    Perch’d on the spray top with indented feet,

    Thy dusky body’s echoings harp-like ring.”

    COLEOPTEM^ AND THE WAX \VOK>t. 358

    The lantern-fly {Fulgm’o) is less common than the cicada. It is easily recognized by its long cylindrical snout, arched in an upward direction, its greenish reticulated elytra, and orange-yellow wings with black extremities ; but its appearance in the evening is far from being as luminous as are the fire-Hy and glow-worm of South America. The Peh lah ahu, or ‘ white wax tree’ {Fraxinus chinensis), affords nourishment to an insect of this order

    called Coccus pela. The larvae alone furnish the wax, the secretion

    being the result of disease. Sir Geo. L. Staunton first

    described the tly from specimens seen in Annam in 1795, where

    the natives collected a white powder from the bark of the

    tree on which it occurs. Daniel Ilanbury figured the insect

    and tree with the deposit of crude wax on the limbs, all obtained

    in Chekhiang province.’ Baron Richthofen speaks of

    this industry in Sz’chuen as one furnishing employment to

    great multitudes. The department of Kia-ting furnishes the

    best wax, as its climate is warmer than Chingtu. The eggs of

    the insect are gathered in Kien-chang and King-yuen, where

    the tree flourishes on which it deposits them, and its culture is

    carefully attended to. The insect lives and breeds on this evergreen,

    and in April the eggs are collected and carried up to

    Kia-ting by porters. This journey is mostly performed by

    night so as to avoid the risk of hatching their loads ; 300 eggs

    weigh one tael. They are instantly placed on the same kind of

    tree, six or seven balls of eggs done up in palm-leaf bags and

    hung on the twigs. In a few days the larvae begin to spread

    over the branches, but do not touch the leaves ; the bark soon

    becomes incrusted with a white powder, and is not disturbed

    till August. The loaded branches are then cut off and boiled,

    when the wax collects on the surface of the water, is skimmed

    off, and melted again to be poured into pans for sale. A tael’s

    weight of eggs will produce two or three catties of the translucent,

    highly crystalline wax ; it sells thei-e for five mace a tael and

    upward. The annual income is reckoned at Tls. 2,000,000.’

    The purposes to which this singular product are applied include

    all those of beeswax. Pills are ingeniously enclosed in small

    ‘ Hanbury’s notes on Chinese Materia Medica, 1862 ; Pharmaceutical

    Journal, Feb., 1802.

    ^ Baron Ricbthofen’s Letters, No. VII. , to Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, May, 187e, p. r)2.

    globes of it, and onndles of every size made. “Wax is also gatli

    ered from wild and domestic bees, but honey is not miicli used ;

    a casing of wax, colored with vermilion, is nsed to inclose the

    tallow of great painted candles set before the idols and tablets.

    The Chinese Ilerhal contains a singular notion, prevalent

    also in India, concerning the generation of the sphex, or solitary

    wasp. When the female lays her eggs in the clayey nidus

    she makes in houses, she encloses the dead body of a caterpillar

    in it for the subsistence of the worms when they hatch. Those

    who observed her entombing the caterpillar did not look for

    the eggs, and immediately concluded that the sphex took the

    wo)-m for her progeny, and say that as she plastered up the

    liole of the nest, she hinnmed a constant song over it, saying,

    ^^ Class ‘ii’ith nnc ! (Jhixs tiufji, me ! ‘”—and the transformation

    gradually took place, and was perfected in its silent grave by

    the next spring, when a winged wasp emerged to continue its

    posterity in the same mystei’ious way.’

    White ants are troublesome in the warmer parts, and annoy

    the people there by eating up tlie coffins in the graves. They

    form passages under ground, and penetrate upward into the

    woodwork of houses, and the w’hole building may become infested

    M’ith them almost before their existence is suspected.

    They will even eat their way into fruit trees, cabbages, and

    other plants, destroying them while in full vigor. Many of the

    internal arrangements of the nests of bees and ants, and their

    peculiar instincts, have been described by Chinese writers with

    considerable accuracy. The composition of the characters for

    the bee, ant, and mosquito, respectively, denote the atcl insect,

    the 7’l(jhteous insect, and the lettered insect ; referring thereby

    to the sting of the first, the orderly working and subordination

    of the second, and the letter-like markings on the wings of

    the latter. Mosquitoes are plenty, and gauze curtains are considered

    to be a more necessary part of bed furniture than a

    mattress.

    The botany of China is rather better known than its zoology,

    ‘ Darwin, NaturalisVs Voyage, p. 35, notices a similar habit of the spliex in

    tlie vicinity of Rio Janeiro. The insect partially kills the spider or caterpillar

    by stinging, when they are stored in a rotting state with her eggs.

    RESEARCHES IN THE BOTANY OF CHINA. 355

    though vast and unexplored fields, like that reaching from Canton

    to Silhet and Assam, still invite the diligent collector to

    gather, examine, and make known their treasures. One of the

    earliest authors in this branch was Pere Loureiro, a Portuguese

    for thirty-six years missionary in Cochinchina, and professor of

    mathematics and physic in the royal palace. He gathered a

    large herbarium there and in southern Kwangtung, and published

    his Flora Coehinehinensis in 1790, in which he described

    one hundred and eighty-four genera and more than three hundred

    new species. The only other work specially devoted to

    Chinese botany is Bentham’s Flora JTongJcongensis, published

    in 18G1. The materials for it were collected by Drs. Hinds,

    Ilance and Ilarland, Col. Champion, and others, during the

    previous twenty years, and amounted in all to upward of five

    thousand specimens, gathered exclusively on the island. Since

    its publication, Dr. Hance has added to our accurate knowledge

    of the Chinese flora many new specimens growing in other

    parts of the Empire, whose descriptions are scattered through

    various publications. Pere David, during his extensive travels

    in northern China, gathered thousands of specimens which have

    yet to be carefully described. The Pussian naturalists Maximowitch,

    Bunge, Tatarinov, Bretschneider, Prejevalsky, and

    others liave largely increased our knowledge of the plants of

    Mongolia, the Amur basin, and the region about Pekhig. The

    first named has issued a separate work on the Amur flora, but

    most of the papers of these scientists are to be found in periodicals.

    In very early days, China was celebrated for the camphor,

    varnish, tallow, oil, tea, cassia, dyes, etc., obtained from

    its plants ; and the later monographs of professed botanists,

    issued since Linneus looked over the two hundred and sixtyfour

    species brought by his pupil Osbeck in 1750, down to the

    present day, have altogether given immense assistance to a

    thorough understanding of their nature and value.

    Mr. Bentham’s observations on the range of the plants collected

    in the island of Hongkong represent its flora, in general

    character, as most like that of tropical Asia, of which it offers,

    in numerous instances, the northern limit. The damp, M’ooded

    ravines on the north and west furnish plants closely allied to those of Assam and Sikkiiii ; while other species, in considerable numbers, have a much more tropical character, extending with little variation over the x\rchipelago, Malaysia, Ceylon, and even to tropical Africa, but not into India. Within two degrees north of the island these tropical features (so far as is

    known) almost entireW cease, and out of the one thousand and

    fifty-six species described in the Flora Ifongl’ongensis, only

    about eighty have been found in Japan ; thus indicating that

    very few of the plants known to range across from the Himalaya

    to Japan grow south of Amoy. On the twenty-nine

    square miles foi-ming the area of Hongkong there exists, Mr.

    ]3entham says, a greater number of monotypic genera than in

    any other flora from an equal area in the world ; he gives a

    comparative table of the floras of Hongkong, Aden and Ischia

    islands, about equal in extent, showing one thousand and three

    species growing on the first, ninety-five on the second, and

    seven hundred and ninety-two on the third. Tlie proportion

    of woody to herbaceous species in Hongkong is nearly one-half,

    while in Ischia it is one to eleven ; yet Hongkong has actually

    fewer trees than Ischia. Out of tlie one thousand and three

    species of wild plants there, three hundred and ninety-eight

    also occur in the tropical Asiatic flora, while one hundred and

    eighty-seven others have been found as well on the mainland; one hundred and fifty-nine are peculiar to the island.

    Many species of coniferae are floated down to Canton, taken

    from the Mei ling, or brought from Kwangsi ; the timber is

    used for fuel, but more for rafters and pillars in buildings.

    The wood of the pride of India is employed for cabinet work ;

    there are also many kinds of fancy wood, some of which are

    imported, and more are indigenous. The nan muh, or southern

    wood, a magnificent species of laurus common in Sz’chuen,

    which resists time and insects, is peculiarly valuable, and reserved

    for imperial use. The cc«salpinia, rose wood, aigle

    wood, and the camphor, elm, willow, and aspen, are also

    serviceable in carpentry.

    The people collect seaweed to a great extent, using it in the

    arts and also for food ; among these the Gi<jartina tenax affords

    an excellent material for glues and varnishes. It is boiled, and

    CONIFERyE AND GRASSES. 357

    the transparent glne obtained is brushed upon very coarse silk or

    mulberry paper, filling up their substance, and making a transparent

    covering for lanterns ; it is also used as a size for stiffening

    silks and gauze. This and other kinds of fuel are boiled to a

    jelly and used for food ; it is known in commerce under the name

    of agar-agar. The thick fronds of the laminaria are gathered on

    the northern coasts and imported from Japan. Among other

    cryptogams, the Tartarian lamb {Aspldiian haromefz), so

    graphically described by Darwin in his Botania Garden, has

    long been celebrated ; it is partly an artificial production of the

    ingenuity of Chinese gardeners taking advantage of the natural

    habits of the plant to form it into a shape resembling a sheep or

    other object.

    Among i-emarkable grasses the zak or saxaul {Ilaloxylon) and

    the sulhJr {Agr’tojdnjllu.m), which grow in the sandy parts of

    the desert of Gobi, should he mentioned. The first is found

    across the whole length of this arid region, growing on the bare

    sand, furnishing to the traveller a dry and ready fuel in its brittle

    twigs, while his camels greedily browse on its leafless but

    juicy and prickly branches. The Mongols pitch their tents bebeath

    its shelter, seeking for some covert from the wintry

    winds, and encouraged to dig at its roots for water which has

    been detained by their succulent nature, a wonderful provision

    furnished by God in the bleakest desert. The sulh’ir is even

    more important, and is the ” gift of the desert.” It grows on

    bare sand, is about two feet high, a prickly saline plant, producing

    many seeds in September, of a nutritious, agreeable

    nature, food for man and beast.

    The list of gramineous plants cultivated for food is large; the common sorts include rice, wheat, barley, oats, maize, sugarcane,

    panic, sorghum, spiked and panicled millet, of each kind

    several varieties. The grass {Phragmites) raised along the

    river banks is carefully cut and dried, to be woven into floormatting

    ; a coarser sort, called ataj), is made of bamboo splints

    for roofs of huts, awnings, and sheds. In the milder climes of

    the southern coasts, cheap houses are constructed of these

    materials. The coarse grass and shrubbery on the hills is cut

    in the autumn for fuel by the poor ; and when the hills are well slieared of their grassy covering, the stubble is set on lire, in order to supply ashes for manuring the next crop—an operation which tends to keep the hills ])are of all shrubbery and trees.

    Few persons mIio have not seen the bainlxio growing in its

    native climes get a full idea from pictures of its grace and

    beauty. A clump of this magnificent grass will gradually develop

    by new shoots into a grove, if care be taken to cut down

    the older stems as they reach full maturity, and not let them

    flower and go to seed ; for as soon as they have perfected the

    seed, they die down to the root, like other grasses. The stalks

    usually attain the height of fifty feet, and in the Indian islands

    often reach seventy feet and upward, with a diameter of ten or

    twelve inches at the bottom. A road lined with them, with

    their feathery sprays meeting overhead, presents one of the most

    beautiful avenues possible to a warm climate.

    In China the industry and skill of the people have multiplied

    and pei-petuated a number of varieties (one author contents

    himself with describing sixty of them), among M’liich are the

    yellow, the black, the green, the slender sort for pipes, and a

    slenderer one for writing-pencils, the big-leaved, etc. Its uses

    are so various that it is not easy to enumerate them all. The

    shoots come out of the ground nearly full-sized, four to six

    inches in diameter, and are cut like asparagus to eat as a pickle

    or a comfit, or by boiling or stewing. Sedentary Buddhist

    priests raise this lenten fare for themselves or to sell, and extract

    the tabasheer from the joints of the old culms, to sell as a

    precious medicine for almost anything which ails you. The

    roots are carved into fantastic and ingenious images and stands,

    or divided into egg-shaped divining-blocks to ascertain the will

    of the gods, or trinnned into lantern handles, canes, and umbrella-

    sticks.

    The tapering culms are used for all pui’poses that poles can

    be applied to in carrying, propelling, suj)])orting, and measuring,

    for which thcii- light, elastic, tubular sti-uctni-e, guarded by

    a coating of silicious skin, and strengthened by a thick septum

    at each joint, most admii-ably fits them. The pillars and props

    of houses, the framework of awnings, the ribs of mat-sails, and

    THE BAMBOO—ITS BEAUTY AND USEFULNESS. 359

    tlie shafts of rakes are each fnrnislied bj these cuhns. So,

    also, are fences and all kinds of frames, coops, and cages, the

    wattles of abatis, and the ribs of uuibi-eHas and fans. The

    leaves are sewed into rain-cloaks for farmers and sailors, and

    thatches for covering their huts and boats, pinned into linings

    for tea-boxes, plaited into immense um])rellas to screen the

    huckster and his stall from the sun and rain, or into coverings

    for theatres and sheds. Even the whole lot where a two-storj

    house is building is usually covered in by a framework of bamboo-

    poles and (?/%;—as this leaf covering is called, from its

    Malay name—all tied together by rattan, and protecting the

    workmen and theii” work from sun and rain.

    The wood, cut into splints of proper sizes and forms, is woven

    into baskets of every shape and fancy, sewed into window-curtains

    and door-screens, plaited into awnings and coverings for

    tea-chests or sugar-cones, and twisted into cables. The shavings

    and curled threads aid softer things in. stuffing pillows ; while

    other parts supply the bed for sleeping, the chopsticks for eating,

    the pipe for smoking, and the broom for sweeping. The

    mattress to lie upon, the chair to sit upon, the table to eat on,

    the food to eat, and the fuel, to cook it with, are also derivable

    from bamboo. The master makes his ferule from it, the carpenter

    his foot-measure, the farmer his water-pipes, irrigating

    wheels, and straw-rakes, the grocer his gill and phit cups, and

    the mandarin his dreaded instrument of punishment. This last

    use is so common that the name of the plant itself has come in

    our language to denote this application, and the poor wretch

    who is hamhooed for his crimes is thus taught that laws cannot

    be violated with impunity.

    The paper to write on, the book to study fi’om, the pencil to

    write with, the cup to hold the pencils, and the covering of the

    lattice-window instead of glass are all indebted to this grass in

    their manufacture. The shaft of the soldier’s spear, and oftentimes

    the spear altogether, the plectrum for playing the lute,

    the reed in the native organ, the skewer to fasten the hair, the

    undershirt to protect the body, the hat to screen the head, the

    bucket to draw the water, and the easy-chair to lounge on,

    besides cages for birds, fish, bees, grasshoppers, shrimps, and

    360 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    cockroaches, crab-nets, fishing-poles, sumpitans oi* sliooting

    tubes, fintes, fifes, fire-holders, etc., etc., are among the thingti

    furnished from this plant, whose beauty when growing is commensurate

    to its usefulness when cut down. A score or two of

    bamboo- poles for joists and rafters, fifty fathoms of rattan ropes,

    with plenty of palm-leaves and bamboo-matting for roof and

    sides, supply material for a common dwelling in the south of

    China. Its cost is about five dollars. Those houses built over

    creeks, or along the low banks of rivers and sea-beaches, are

    elevated a few feet, and their floors are neatly made of split

    bamboos, which allow the water to be seen through. The

    decks, masts, yards, and framework of the mat-sails of the small

    boats of the islanders in the Archipelago are all more or les.’i

    made of this useful plant. Throughout the south of Asia it

    enters into the daily life of the people in their domestic economy

    more than anything else, or than any other one thing does in

    any part of the world. The Japanese supply us with fans

    neatly formed, ribs and liandle, from a single branch of bamboo,

    and covered with paper made from mulberry bark, while their

    skill is shown also in the exquisite covering of fine bamboo

    threads woven around cups and saijcers.’

    In ancient times the date palm was cultivated in China, but

    is now unknown. The cocoanut flourishes in Hainan and the

    adjacent coasts, where its fruit, leaves, and timber are much

    used. A great variety of utensils are carved from the nut-case,

    and ropes spun from the coir, while the cultivators drink the

    toddy made from the juice. The fan palm {Ch(Hiucroj)s) is the

    comlnon palm of the country, two species being cultivated for

    the wiry fibres in the leaf-sheaths, and fur their broad leaves.

    This fibre is far more useful than that from cocoanut husks, as

    it is longer and smoother, and is woven into ropes, mats, cloaks,

    and brushes. The tree is spread over the greater part of the

    provinces, one of their most ornamental and useful trees. Another

    sort {Canjotd) also furnishes a fibre employed in the same

    way, but its timber is more valuable ; sedan thills are made of

    its wood. Still another is the tali}>ot \rA\\\\ (ItoraxKits), from.

    ‘ Compare Yule’s Marm Polo, Vol. I., p. 271 •, A. 11. Wallace. 2’he Malay

    Archipelago, pp. 87-91, American Ed.

    PALMS, YAMS, PLANTAINS, ETC. 861

    whose leaves a material fur writing books upon was once produced,

    as is the case now in Siam.’

    Several species of Aroideae are cultivated, among which the

    Caladluiii cuculaturn, Arum esculentuvi, and Indicurii are

    common. The tuberous farinaceous roots of the Sagittaria

    srueihslfi are esteemed ; the roots of these plants, and of the

    water-chestnut, are manufactured into a powdoi- resemblingarrow-

    root. The sweet Hag {Calanitm) is used in medicine for

    its spic\’ warmth. The stems of a species of Juncus are collected

    and the pith carefully taken out and dried for the wicks

    of water lamps, and the inner layers of the pith hats so generally

    worn in southern China.

    The extensive group of lillies contains many splendid ornaments

    of the conservatory and garden, natives of China ; some

    are articles of food. The Agcqxinthus, or blue African lily, four

    species of IlemerocaUis, or day lily, and the fragrant tuberose,

    are all common about Canton ; the latter is widely cultivated

    for its blossoms to scent fancy teas. Eight or ten species of

    Lilium (among which the speckled tiger lily and the unsullied

    white are conspicuous) also add their gay beauties to the gardens

    ; while the modest Commelina, with its delicate blue blossoms,

    ornaments the hedges and walks. Many alliaceous plants,

    the onion, cives, garlic, etc., belong to this group ; and the Chinese

    relish them for the table as nmcli as they admire the

    flowers of their beauteous and fi-agrant congeners for bouquets.

    The singular red-leaved iron-wood {Draccena) forms a common

    ornament of gardens.

    The yam, or t((-s/tu (i.e., ‘great tuber’), is not much raised,

    though its wholesome qualities as an article of food are well

    understood. The same group {3Iusalei^) to which tlie yam

    belongs furnishes the custard-apple, one of the few fruits which

    have been introduced from abroad. The Amaryllidse are represented

    by many pretty species of Crinum, Xerine, and Amaryllis.

    Their unprotitable beauty is compensated by the plain but

    useful plantain, said to stand before the potato and sago pahn

    as producing the greatest amount of wholesome food, in propor-

    ‘See also in Nates and Queries on 0. and J., Vol. IIL, pp. 115, 139, 13^

    147, 150, 170.

    362 tup: middle kixgdom.

    tion to its size, of any cultivated plant.’ There are many varieties

    of this fruit, some of them so acid as to require cooking

    hefore eating.

    That pleasant stomachic, ginger, is cultivated through all the

    country, and exposed for sale as a ereen vegetable, to spice

    dishes, and largely made into a preserve. The Alpinia and

    Canna, or Indian shot, are common garden flowers. The large

    group of OrchideiB has nineteen genera known to be natives of

    China, among which the air plants ( Vanda and jErides) are great

    favorites. They are suspended in baskets under the trees, and

    continue to unfold their blossoms in gradual succession for manv

    weeks, all the care necessary being to sprinkle them daily. The

    true species of brides are among the most beautiful productions

    of the vegetable world, their flowers being arrayed in long racemes

    of delicate colors and delicious fragrance. The beautiful Bletia,

    Arundina, Spathoglottis, and Cymbidium are common in damp

    and elevated places about the islands near Macao and Hongkong.

    Many species of the pine, cypress, and yew, forming the

    three subdivisions of cone-bearing plant?, furnish a 1 a I’ge proportion

    of the timber and fuel. The larch is not rare, and the

    Pinus tndssoniana and Cunninghamia furnish most of the

    common pine timber. The finest member of this order in

    China is the white pine {Pinus htDujtami), peculiar to Chihli

    ;

    its trunk is a clear white, and as it annually sheds the bark it

    always looks as if whitewashed. Some specimens near Peking

    are said to be a thousand years old. Two members of the

    genus Sequoia, of a moderate size, occur near Tibet. The juniper

    and thuja are often selected by gardeners to try their skill

    in forcing them to grow into rude representations of birds and

    animals, the price of these curiosities being proportioned to

    their grotesqueness and difiiculty. The nuts of the maiden-hair

    tree {Saliffhu/’ia adiatdifolia) are eaten, and the leaves are

    sometimes put into books as a preservative against insects.

    The willow is a favorite plant and grows to a great size,

    Staunton mentioning some which were fifteen feet in girth ;

    ‘ From calculations of Humboldt It was estimated that the productiveness

    of this plant as compared with wheat is as 133 to 1, and as against potatoes, 44

    to 1.

    FOKEST TREES, HEMP, ETC. 363

    they shade the roads near the capital, and one of them is the

    true Babylonian ^\ illow ; the trees are grown for timber and for

    burning into charcoal. Their leaves, shape, and habits afford

    many metaphors to poets and Avriters, much more use being

    made of the tree in tliis way. it miglit almost be said, than any

    other. The oak is less patronized by fine writers, but the value

    of its wood and bark is well understood ; the country affords

    several species, one of which, the chestnut oak, is cultivated for

    tlie cupules, to be used in dyeing. The galls are used for dyeing

    and in medicine, and the acorns of some kinds are ground in

    mills, and the iiour soaked in water and made into a farinaceous

    paste. Some of the missionaries speak of oaks a hundred feet

    high, but such giants in this family are rare. ” One of the

    lai’gest and most interesting of these trees, which,’”‘ writes Abel,

    ” I have called Quercus derhsifolia, resembled a laurel in its

    sliming green foliage. It bore branches and leaves in a thick

    head, crowning a naked and straight stem ; its fi-uit grew along upright

    spikes terminating the branches. Another species, growing

    to the height of fifty feet, bore them in long, pendulous spikes.”

    The chestnut, walnut, and hazelnut together furnish a large

    supply of food. The queer-shaped ovens fashioned in imitation

    of a raging lion, in which chestnuts are roasted in tlie streets of

    Peking, attract the eye of the visitoi”. The Jack-fruit {Artocarj>

    us) is not uidvnown in Canton, but it is not much used. Thei’e

    are many species of the banian, but none of them produce fruit

    worth plucking ; the Portuguese have introduced the connnon

    fig, but it does not flourish. The bastard banian is a magnificent

    shade tree, its branches sometimes overspreading an area a

    hundred or more feet across. The walls of cities and dwellings

    are soon covered with the Ficus rej>en.s, and if left unmolested

    its roots gradually demolish them. The paper mulberry

    {Broussonetia) is largely cultivated in the northern provinces,

    and serves the poor with their chief material for windows.

    The leaf of the common nmlberry is the pi-incipal object of its

    culture, but the fruit is eaten and the wood burned for lampblack

    to make India-ink.

    Hemp {Cannahis) is cultivated for its fibres, and the seeds

    furnish an oil used for household purposes and medicinal prep364

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    arations ; the intoxicating substance called hang, made in India,

    is unknown in China. The family Proteaceae’ contains the

    Eleococca cvrdata, or wu-ttnuj, a favorite tree of the Chinese for

    its beauty, the hard wood it furnishes, and the oil extracted

    from its seeds. The Stillingia belongs to the same family ; this

    symmetrical tree is a native of all the eastern provinces, where

    it is raised for its tallow ; it resembles the aspen in the form

    and color of the leaf and in its general contour. The castor-oil

    is cultivated as a hedge plant, and the seeds are used both in

    the kitchen and apothecai’ies’ ^\\o\>.

    The order Ilippuriuie furnishes the water caltrops {Trwpa),

    the seeds of which are vended in the streets as a fruit after

    boiling; one native name is ‘buffalo-head fruit,’ Mhicli the unopened

    nuts strikingly resemble. Black pepper is imported,

    not so much as a spice as for its infusion, to be administered in

    fevers. The betel pepper is cultivated for its leaves, which are

    chewed with the betel-nut. The pitcher plant (N’ejpenthes),

    called pig-basket plant, is not unfrequent near Canton ; the

    leaves, or ascidia, bear no small resemblance to the open baskets

    employed for carrying hogs.

    Many species of the tribe JRumicince are cultivated as esculent

    vegetables, among which maybe enumerated spinach, green

    basil, beet, amaranthus, cockscomb, broom-weed {Kochia), buckwheat,

    etc. Two species of Polygonum are laised for the blue

    dye furnished by the leaves, which is extracted, like indigo, by

    maceration. Buckwheat is prepared for food by boiling it like

    millet; one native name means ‘triangular wheat.’ The tlour

    is also employed in pastry. The cockscomb is much adniire<l

    by the Chinese, whose gardens furnish several splendid varieties.

    The rhubarb is a member of this useful tribe, and large quantities

    are l)rought from Kansuh and Koko-nor, where its habits

    have lately been observed by Prejevalsky. The root is dug by

    Chinese and Tanguts during September and October, dried in

    the shade, and ti-ansported by the Yellow River to the coast

    towns, where Europeans pay from six to ten times its rate

    among the mountain markets.’ The Chinese consider the rest

    ‘ Compare Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. T., p. 197.

    RHUBARB, LEGUMINOS^, ETC. 365

    of tiie world dependent on them for tea and rhubarb, whose

    inhabitants are therefore forced to resort thither to procure

    means to relieve themselves of an otherwise irremediable costiveness.

    This argument was made use of by Commissioner

    Lin in 1840, when recommending certain restrictive regulations

    to be imposed upon foreign trade, because he supposed merchants

    from abroad would be compelled to purchase them at

    any price.

    The order lliclna^ or holly, furnishes several genera of

    lihamneai, whose fruits are often seen on tables. The Zizyphus

    furnishes the so called Chinese dates’ in immense quantities

    throughout the northern provinces. The fleshy peduncles

    of the llovenia are eaten ; they are connnon in the southeastern

    provinces. The leaves of the Rltaninus tlieezans are among

    the many plants collected by the poor as a make-shift for the

    true tea. The fruit called the Chinese olive, obtained from the

    Pimela, is totally diiferent from and is a poor substitute for the

    rich olive of the Mediterranean countries.”

    The Leguminos^e hold an important place in Chinese botany,

    affording many esculent vegetables and valuable products.

    Peas and beans are probably eaten more in China than any

    other country, and soy is prepared chiefly from the ISoja or

    Dolichos. One of the modes of making this condiment is to

    skin the beans and gi’ind them to flour, which is mixed with

    water and powdered gypsum, or turmeric. It is eaten as a

    jelly or curd, or in cakes, and a meal is seldom spread without

    it in some form. One genus of this tribe affords indigo, and

    from the buds and leaves of a species of Coluteaakind of green

    dye is said to be obtained. Liquorice is esteemed in medicine ;

    and the red seeds of the Ahna j^recrt/o^’/^^.s” are gathered for

    ornaments. The Poinciana and Bauhinia are cultivated for

    their flowers, and the Erythrina and Cassia are among the

    most magnificent flowering trees in the south.

    ‘ Tlie application of this name to the jujube plum by foreigners, because

    the kind cured in honey resembled Arabian dates in color, size, and taste

    when brought on the table, is a good instance of the nuinner in which errors

    arise and are perpetuated from mere carelessness.

    ‘^ Compare Dr. H. F. Hance, in Journal of Bot<iny, Vol. IX., p. 38.

    366 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    The fruits are, on the whole, inferior in flavor and size to

    those of the same names at the west. Several varieties of

    pears, plums, peaches, and apricots are known ; it is probable

    that China is the native country of each of these fruits, and

    some of the varieties equal those found anywhere. Erman

    ‘

    mentions an apple or haw which grows in ” long bunches and

    is round, about the size of a cherry, of a red color, and very

    sweet taste,” found in abundance near Kiahhta. There are

    numerous species of Amygdalus cultivated for their flowers

    ;

    and at new year the budding stems of the flowering almond,

    narcissus, plum, peach, and bell-flower (Enlianthus retlculatuH)

    are forced into blossom for exhibition, as indicating good luck

    the coming year. The apples and cpiinces are generally destitute

    of that flavor looked for in them elsewhere, but the lu-l’uh,

    or loquat^ is a pleasant acid spring fruit. The pomegranate is

    chiefly cultivated for its beauty as a flowering plant ; but the

    guava and Eugenia, or rose-apple, are sold in the market or

    made into jellies. The rose is a favorite among the Chinese and

    extensively cultivated ; twenty species are mentioned, together

    with many varieties, as natives of the country ; the Banks rose

    is developed and trained with great skill. The Spira?a or privet,

    myrtle, Quisqualis, Lawsonia or henna, white, purple, and red

    varieties of crape-myrtle or Lagerstrcemia, Hydrangea, the passion-

    flower, and the house-leek are also among the ornamental

    plants found in gardens. Few trees in any countiy present a

    more elegant appearance, when in full flowei”, than the Lagerstra’inias.

    The Pride of India and Chinese tamarix are also

    beautiful flowering trees. Specimens of the Cactus and Cereus,

    containing fifty or more splendid flowers in full bloom, are not

    unusual at Macao in August.

    The watermelon, cucumber, squash, tomato, brinjal or eggplant,

    and other garden vegetables are abundant ; the tallowgourd

    (Bcnincctsacerifcm) is remarkable for having its surface

    covered with a waxy exudation which sniells like rosin. The

    dried bottle-gourd {Cucnirbita lagenaria) is tied to the backs of

    children on the boats to assist them in floating if they should

    ^Travels in Siberia, Vol. II., p. 151.

    FRUIT TREES AND FLOWERING PLANTS. 367

    Tinluckily fall overboard. Tlie fniit and leaves of the papaw,

    or inuh k^va, ‘ tree melon,’ are eaten after being cooked ; tlie

    Chinese are aware of the inteneratino; property of the exhalations

    from the leaves of this tree, and make use of them sometimes

    to soften the flesh of ancient hens and cocks, by hanging

    the newly killed birds in the tree or by feeding them upon the

    fruit beforehand. The carambola {Averr/ioa) or tree gooseberry

    is nnich eaten by the Chinese, but is not relished by

    foreigners ; the tree itself is also an ornament to any pleasure

    grounds.

    Ginseng is found wild in the forests of Manchuria, where it

    is collected by detachments of soldiers detailed for this purpose ;

    these regions are regarded as imperial preserves, and the medicine

    is held as a governmental monopoly. The importation of

    the American root does not interfere to a very serious degree

    with the imperial sales, as the Chinese are fully convinced that

    their o’svn plant is far superior. Among numerous plants of

    the malvaceous and pink tribes (Dianthacece) remarkable for

    their beauty or use, the Lychnis cownata, five sorts of pink,

    the Althcea Chinensis, eight species of Hibiscus, and other

    malvaceous flowers may be mentioned ; the cotton tree {Salmalia)

    is common at Canton ; the fleshy petals are sometimes

    j^repared as food, and the silky stamens dried to stuff cushions.

    The (Tossyjnmn hevljaceniti and Pachyrrhizus affoi-d the matCv

    rials for cotton and gra«scloth ; both of them are cultivated in

    most parts of China. The latter is a twining, leguminous

    plant, cultivated fi-om remote antiquity, and still grown for its

    fibres, which are woven into linen. The petals of the Ilihiscvs

    rosa-sinensis furnish a black liquid to dye the eyebrows, and at

    Batavia they are employed to polish shoes. The fruits of the

    Hibiscus ocJira^ or okers, are prepared for the table in a vai’iety

    of ways.

    The Camellia Ja^wnica is allied to the same great tribe as

    the Hibiscus, and its elegant flowers are as much admired by

    the people of its native country as by florists abroad ; thirty or

    forty varieties are enumerated, many of them unknown out of

    China, while Chinese gardeners are likewise ignorant of a large

    proportion of those found in our conservatories. This flower is

    368 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    cultivated solely for its beauty, but other species of Camellia

    are raised for their seeds, the oil expressed from them being

    serviceable for many household and mechanical purposes. From

    the fibres of a species of Waltheria, a j)lant of the same tribe, a

    fine cloth is made ; and the Pentapctes Pluxnicia^ or ‘ noon

    fiower,’ is a common ornament of gardens.

    The widely diffused tribe Ranunculiacese has many representatives,

    some of them profitable for their timber, others sought

    after for their fruit or admired for their beauty, and a few

    prized for their healing properties. There are eight species of

    Magnolia, all of them splendid flowering plants ; the bark of

    the Magnol’ui yulan is employed as a febrifuge. The seed vessels

    of the IllclunL anisatum, or star-aniseed, are gathered on

    account of their spicy warmth and fragrance. The Artabotrys

    odoratixslinuH and Unona odorata are cultivated for tlieir perfume.

    Another favorite is the iiiowtan^ or tree paiony, reared

    for its large and variegated flowers ; its name of hwa uiang, or

    ‘ king of flowers,’ indicates the estimation in which it is held.

    The skill of nativ-e gardeners has made many varieties, and

    their patience is rewarded b}’ the high prices which fine specimens

    command. Good imitations of full-grown plants in flower

    are sometimes made of pith paper. Tlie Clematis, the foxglove,

    the Berheris Chinensh^ and the magnificent lotus, all

    belong to this tribe ; the latter, one of the most celebrated

    plants in Asia, is more esteemed by the CMiinese for its edible

    roots than reverenced for its religious associations. The Adtm

    aKpci’d is sometimes collected, as is the scouring i-ush, for cleaning

    pewter vessels, for which its hispid leaves are well fitted.

    The groups which include the poppy, nnistai-d, cabbage, cress,

    and many ornamental species, form an important ])ortion of

    native agriculture. The poppy has become a connuon crop in

    all the province^, driving out the useful cereals by its greater

    value and profit. The leaves of many crucifei-ous plants are

    eaten, whether cultivated or wild ; and one kind {Lsates^ yields

    a fine blue dye in the eastern provinces ; the variety and amount

    of such food consumed by the Chinese proi)ably exceeds that

    of any other people. Another tribe, Tlutaceie, contains the

    oranges and shaddocks, and some very fragrant shrubs, as the

    ORTSTAMKNTAL PLANTS, ETC. 369

    Mnvraya ci’otk’a and jHiniculata, and tlie Aglaia odoratd ;

    while the bhiddei’-tree {Koelt’euteria) is a great attraction when

    its whole surface is brilliant with golden tlowers. The whamj^e,

    ^.^?,, yellow skin {Cvo/iJ((, j}a/uiat(f), is a common and superior

    fruit. The seeds of the Gleditschia, besides their value in cleansing,

    are worn as beads, ” because,” say the Buddhists, ” all

    demons are afraid of the wood ;” one name means ‘ preventive

    of evil.’ Two native fruits, the lic/u and liinrjan, are allied to

    the Sapindus in their affinities ; while the f’f’/i/j sku, or Liquidambar,

    and many sorts of maple, with the P’tttosj[)orum tohira^

    an ornamental shrub, may be mentioned among plants used for

    food or sought after for timber.

    Tiiese brief notices of Chinese plants may be concluded by

    mentioning some of the most ornamental not before spoken of

    ;

    but all the beautiful soi-ts are soon introduced into western

    conservatories by enterprising florists. In the extensiv^e tribe

    of Rubiacinae are several species of honeysuckle, and a fragrant

    Yiburnum resembling the snowball. The Serissa is cultivated

    around beds like the box ; the Ixora eocGinea, and other species

    of that genus, are among common garden shrubs. The seeds of

    two or three species of Artemisia are collected, dried, and reduced

    to a down, to be bui-ned as an actual cautery. The dried

    twigs are frequently woven into a rope to slowly consume ^s

    a means of driving away mosquitoes. From the Carthamxis

    tlnctoirus a fine red dye is prepared. The succory, lettuce, dandelion,

    and other cichoraceous plants, either wild or cultivated,

    furnish food ; while innumerable varieties of Chrysanthemums

    and Asters are reared for their beauty.

    The Labiatae afford many genera, some of them cultivated ;

    and the Solanaceae, or nightshades, contain the tomato, potato,

    tobacco, stramony, and several spetnes of Capsicum, or red pepper.

    It has been disputed whether tobacco is native or foreign,

    but the philological argument and historical notices prove that

    both this plant and maize were introduced -within half a century

    after the discovery of America, or about the year 1530. The

    Chinese dry the leaves and cut them into shreds for smoking ;

    the snuff is coarser and less pungent than the Scotch ; it is said

    that powdered cinnabar is sometimes mixed with it.

    Vol. I.— -4

    Among the Convolvnlaceai are many beautiful species of Ipomea,

    especially the cypress vine, or quaniodU, ti-ained about the

    houses even of the poorest. The Ijxnnea marithiia occurs, trail

    ing over the sandy beaches along the coast from Hainan to

    Chusan and Lewchew. The Convolvulus rej)tans is planted

    around the edges of pools on the confines of villages and fields,

    for the sake of its succulent leaves. The narcotic family of

    Apocynese contains the oleander and Plumeria, prized for their

    fragrance ; while the yellow milkweed {Asdejykis curamamca)

    and the Vlnea rosea, or red periwinkle, are less conspicuous,

    but not unattractive, members of the same group. The jasmine

    is a deserved favorite, its clusters of flowers being often wound

    by women in their hair, and planted in pots in their houses.

    The Ol<iafragrans, or hwei hum, is cultivated for scenting tea.

    In the eastern provinces the hills are adorned with yellow and

    red azaleas of gorgeous hue, especially around Ningbo and in

    Chusan. ” Few,” says Mr. Fortune, ” can form any idea of the

    gorgeous beauty of these azalea-clad hills, where, on every side,

    the eye rests on masses of flowers of dazzling brightness and

    surpassing beauty. IS^or is it the azalea alone which claims our

    admiration ; clematises, wild roses, honeysuckles, and a hundred

    others, mingle their flowers with them, and make us confess

    that China is indeed the ‘ central flowery land.’ “

    A few notices of the advance made by the Chinese themselves

    in the study of natural history, taken from their great work on

    materia medica, the Pun tsao, or ‘ Herbal,’ will form an appropriate

    conclusion to this chapter. This work is usually bound

    in forty octavo volumes, divided into fifty-two chapters, and

    contains many observations of value mixed up with a deal of

    incorrect and useless matter ; and as those who read the book

    have not sufiicient knowledge to discriminate between what is

    true and what is partly or wholly wrong, its reputation tends

    .greatly to perpetuate the errors. The compiler of the Pun fsao,

    Li Shi-chin, spent thirty years in collecting all the information

    on these subjects extant in his time, arranged it in a methodical

    manner for popular use, adding his own observations, and pub-

    ‘ Wanderings in China.

    THE PUN TSAO, OR CHINESE HERBAL. 371

    lished it about 1590. lie consulted some eight hundred preceding

    autliors, from whom he selected one thousand five hundred

    and eighteen prescriptions, and added three hundred and

    seventy-four new ones, arranging his materials in fifty-two books

    in a methodical and (for his day) scientific manner. But how

    far behind the writings of Pliny and Dioscorides ! The nucleus

    of Li’s production is a small work which tradition ascribes to

    Shinnung, the God of Agriculture, and is doubtless anterior to

    the Ilan dynasty. His composition was well received, and attracted

    the notice of the Emperor, who ordered several succeeding

    editions to be published at the expense of the state. It

    was, in fact, so great an advance on all previous books, that it

    checked future writers in that branch, and Li is likely now to

    be the first and last purely native critical writer on natural science

    in his mother tongue.

    The first two volumes contain a collection of prefaces and

    indices, together with many notices of the theory of anatomy

    and medicine, and three books of pictorial illustrations of the

    rudest sort. Chapters I. and II. consist of introductory observations

    upon the practice of medicine, and an index of the

    recipes contained in the work, called the Sure Guide to a

    Myriad of Recipes ^ the whole filling the first seven volumes.

    Chapters III. and IV. contain lists of medicines for the cui-e of

    all diseases, occupying three volumes and a half, and comprising

    the therapeutical portion of the work, except a treatise on the

    pulse in the last volume.

    In the subsequent chapters the author carefully goes over

    the entire range of nature, first giving the correct name and

    its explanation ; then comes descriptive remarks, solutions of

    doubts and corrections of errors being interspersed, closing with

    notes on the savor, taste, and application of the recipes in

    which it is used. Chapters V. and YI. treat of inorganic

    substances under water and fire, and mine)-als under Chapters

    VII. to XL, as earth, metals, gems, and stones. Water is

    divided into aerial and terrestrial, /.c, from the clouds, and

    from springs, the ocean, etc. Fire is considered under eleven

    species, among which ai-e the flames of coal, bamboo, moxa,

    etc. The chapter on earth comprises the secretions from various animals, as well as soot, ink, etc. ; that on metals includes

    metallic substances and their common oxides ; and gems

    are spoken of in the next division. The eleventh chapter, in

    true Chinese stvle, groups together what could not be placed

    in the preceding sections, including salts, minerals, etc. In

    looking at this arrangement one detects the similarity between

    it and the classification of characters in the language itself,

    showing the influence this has had upon it ; thus /«>, shui, tu,

    Hn, yuh, shih, and la^ or fire, water, earth, metals, gems,

    stones, and salts, are the seven radicals under which the names

    of inorganic substances are classified in the iuiperial dictionary.

    A like similarity runs through other parts of the Ilcrhal.

    Chapters XII. to XXXATLL, inclusive, treat of the vegetable

    kingdom, under fivej*??^, or ‘divisions,’ viz. : herbs, gi-ains, vegetables,

    fruits, and trees; which are again subdivided into lui^ or

    ‘families,’ though the members of these families have no more

    relationship to each other than the heterogeneous family of an

    Egyptian slave dealer. The lowest term in the Chinese scientific

    scale is chung, which sometimes in<;ludes a gemis, but

    quite as often corresponds to a species or even a variety, as

    Linneus understood those terms.

    The first division of hei’bs contains nine families, viz. : hill

    plants, odoriferous, marshy, noxious, scandent or climbing,

    aquatic, ston}^, and mossy plants, and a ninth of one hundred

    and sixty-two miscellaneous plants not used in medicine, making

    six hundred and seventy-eight species in all. In this classification

    the habitat is the most influential principle of arrangement

    for the families, while the term tsao, or ‘herb,’ denotes

    M-hatcver is not eaten or used in the arts, or which does not attain

    to the magnitude of a tree.

    The second division of grains contains four families, viz. : 1,

    that of hemp, sesamuiii, buckwheat, wheat, rice, etc.; 2, the

    family of millet, maize, opium, etc. ; 3, leguminous plants,

    pulse, peas, vetches, etc. ; and 4, fermentable things, as bean

    curd, boiled rice, wine, yeast, congee, bread, etc., which, as they

    are used in medicine, and pi’oduced from vegetables, seem most

    naturally to come in this place. The first three families em

    bi-ace thirty-nine species, and the last tweny-nine articles.

    BOTANY OF THE HERBAL. 373

    The tliird division of kitclicn herbs contains five families: 1,

    offensive pungent plants, as leeks, nnistard, ginger ; 2, soft and

    mucilaginous plants, as dandelions, lilies, bamboo sprouts; 3,

    vegetables producing fruit on the ground, as tomatoes, eggplants,

    melons ; 4, aquatic vegetables ; and 5, mushrooms and

    fungi. The number of species is one hundred and thirty-three,

    and some part of each of them is eaten.

    The fourth division of fruits contains seven families : 1, the

    five fruits, the plum, peach, apricot, chestnut, and date (Rhamnus)

    ; 2, liill fruits, as the orange, pear, citron, persinniion ; 3,

    foreign fruits, as the cocoanut, lichi, cararnbola ; 4, aromatic

    fruits, as pepper, cubebs, tea ; 5, trailing fruits, as melons,

    grape, sugar-cane ; G, aquatic fruits, as water caltrops, water

    lily, water chestnuts, etc. ; and 7, fruits not used in medicine,

    as whampe. In all, one hundred and forty-seven species.

    The fifth division of trees has six families: 1, odoriferous

    trees, as pine, cassia, aloes, camphor ; 2, stately trees, as the

    willow, tamarix, elm, soapl)erry, palm, j^oplar, julibrissin or silk

    tree ; 3, luxuriant growing trees, as mulberry, cotton, Cercis,

    Gardenia, Bonibax, Hibiscus ; 4, parasites or things attached to

    trees, as the mistletoe, pachyma, and amber ; 5, flexible plants,

    as bamboo ; this family has only four species ; 6, includes what

    the other five exclude, though it might have been thought that

    the second and tliird families were sufficiently comprehensive

    to contain almost all miscellaneous plants. The mnnber of

    species is one hundred and ninety-eight. All botanical subjects

    are classified in this manner under five divisions, thirtyone

    families, and one thousand one hundred and ninety-five

    species, excluding all fermentable things.

    The arrangement of the botanical characters in the language

    does not correspond so well to this as does that of inorganic

    substances. The largest group in the language system is tsao^

    which comprises in general such herbaceous plants as are not

    used for food The second, muh, includes all trees or shrubs ;

    and the bamboo, on account of its great usefulness, stands by itself,

    though the characters mostly denote names of articles made

    of bamboo IS’o less than four radicals, viz., rice, wdieat, millet,

    and grain, serve as the heads under which the esculent grasses

    374 tup: middle kingdom.

    are arranged ; tliere are consequently many synonymes and

    superfluous distinctions. One family includes beans, and another

    legumes ; one comprises cucurbitaceous plants, another

    the alliaceous, and a fourth the hempen ; the importance of

    these plants as articles of food or manufacture no doubt suggested

    their adoption. Thus all vegetable substances are distributed

    in the language under eleven different heads.

    The zoological grouping in the Pun tsao is as rude and unscientific

    as that of plants. There are five jpu^ or divisions,

    namely : insect, scaly, shelly, feathered, and hairy animals. The

    first division contains four families : 1 and 2, insects born

    from eggs, as bees and silkworms, butterflies and spiders; 3,

    insects produced by metamorphosis, as glow-worms, molecrickets,

    bugs ; and 4, water insects, as toads, centipedes, etc.

    The second division has four families: 1, the dragons, including

    the manis, ” the only fish that has legs ; ” 2, snakes ; 3,

    fishes having scales ; and 4, scaleless fishes, as the eel, cuttlefish,

    prawn. The third division is classified under the two

    heads of toi”toises or turtles and mollusks, including the starfish,

    echinus, hermit-crab, etc. The fourth division contains

    birds arranged under four families : 1, water-fowl, as herons,

    king-fishers, etc. ; 2, heath-fowl, sparrows, and pheasants ; 3,

    forest birds, as magpies, crows; and 4, wild birds, as eagles

    and hawks. Beasts form the fifth division, which likewise

    contains four families : 1, the nine domesticated animals and

    their products ; 2, wild animals, as lions, deers, otters ; 3,

    rodentia, as the squirrel, hedgehog, rat ; and 4, monkeys and

    fairies. The number of species in these five divisions is three

    hundred and ninety-one, but there are only three hundred and

    twenty different objects described, as the roe, fat, hair, e.xuvite,

    etc., of animals are separately noticed.

    The sixteen zoological characters in the language are not

    quite so far astray fi-om being types of classes as the eleven

    botanical ones. Nine of thorn are mannniferous, viz. : the tiger,

    dog, and leopard, which stand for the carnivora ; the rat for

    lodentia ; the ox, sheep, and deer for ruminants ; and the

    horse and hog for pachydermatous. Birds are chiefly comprised

    under one radical niao, but there is a sub-family of

    ITS ZOOLOGY AND OI?SKKV ATFOXS OX TTTE IIOKSP:. 37.7

    short-tailed gallinaceous fowls, though much confusion exists in

    the division. Fishes form one group, and improperly inchide

    crabs, lizards, whales, and snakes, though most of the latter are

    placed along with insects, or else under the dragons. The tortoise,

    toad, and dragon are the types of three small collections,

    and insects are comprised in the sixteenth and last. These

    groups, although they contain many anomalies, as might be

    expected, are still sufficiently natural to teach those who write

    the language something of the world around them. Thus,

    when one sees that a new character contains the radical dorj in

    composition, he will be sure that it is neither fowl, fish, nor bug,

    nor any animal of the pachydermatous, cervine, or ruminant

    tribes, although he may have never seen the animal nor heard

    its name. This peculiarity runs through the whole language, indeed,

    but in other groups, as for instance those under the radicals

    man, woman, and child, or heart, hand, leg, etc., the characters

    include mental and passionate emotions, as well as actions and

    names, so that the type is not sufficiently indicative to convey a

    definite idea of the words included under it ; the names of

    natural objects being most easily arranged in this manner.

    Between the account of plants and animals the Jlerhal has

    one chapter on garments and domestic utensils, for such things

    ” are used in medicine and are made out of plants.” The remaining

    chapters, XXXIX.-LII., treat of animals, as noticed

    above. The properties of the objects spoken of are discussed

    in a very methodical manner, so that a student can immediately

    turn to a plant or mineral and ascertain its virtue. For instance,

    the information relative to the history and uses of the

    horse is contained in twenty-four sections. The first explains

    the character, ma, which was oi-iginally intended to represent

    the outline of the animal. The second describes the varieties

    of horses, the best kinds for medical use, and gives brief descriptions

    of them, for the guidance of the practitioner. ” The

    pure white are the best for medicine. Those found in the south

    and east are small and Aveak. The age is known by the teeth.

    The eye reflects the full image of a man. If he eats rice his

    feet will become heavy ; if rat’s dung, his belly will grow long; if his teeth be rubbed with dead silkworms, or black plums, he will not eat, nor if the skin of a rat or wolf be li\uii^- in his

    manger, lie should not he allowed to eat from a hog’s trough,

    lest he contract disease; and if a monkey is kept in the stable

    he M’ill not fall sick.”

    The third section goes on to speak of the flesh, which is an

    article of food ; that of a pure white stallion is the most wholesome.

    One author recommends ” eating almonds, and taking a

    rush broth, if the person feel uncomfoi-table after a meal of

    horse-flesh. It should he roasted and eaten with ginger

    and pork ; and to eat the flesh of a black horse, and not

    drink wine -with it, will surely produce deatli.” The fourth

    describes the crown of the horse, the ” fat of which is sweet,

    and good to make the hair grow and the face to shine.” The

    fifth and succeeding sections to the twenty-fourth treat of the

    sanative properties and mode of exhibiting the milk, heart,

    lungs, liver, kidneys, placenta, teeth, bones, skin, mane, tail,

    brains, blood, perspiration, and excrements.

    Some of the directions are dietetic, and others are prescriptive.

    ” When eating horse-flesh do not eat the liver,” is one of

    the former, given because of the absence of a gall-bladder in

    the liver, wdiich imports its poisonous qualities. ” The heart of

    a white horse, or that of a hog, cow, or hen, when dried and

    rasped into spirit and so taken, cures forgetfulness; if the patient

    hears one thing he knows ten.” ” Above the knees the

    horse has night-eyes (warts), M’hich enable him to go in the

    night ; they are useful in the toothache ;” tliese sections partake

    both of the descriptive and pi-escriptive. Another medical one

    is : ” If a man be restless and hysterical when he wishes to

    sleep, and it is requisite to put him to rest, let the ashes of a

    skull be mingled with water and given him, and let him have a

    skull for a pillow, and it will cure him.” The same preservative

    virtues appear to be ascribed to a horse’s hoof hung in a

    house as are supposed, by some who should know better, to

    belong to a horseshoe Avhen nailed upon the door.’ The whole

    of this extensive work is liberally sprinkled with such whimsies,

    but the practice of medicine among the Chinese is vastly

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 393.

    NATURAL SCIENCES IN CHINA. 377

    better than their tlieories ; for as llenmsat justly oTjserves, ” To

    see well and reason falsely are not wholly incompatible, and the

    naturalists of China, as well as the chemists and physicians of

    our ancient schools, have sometimes tried to reconcile them.”

    Another work on botany besides the Jlefbal, issued in 1848,

    deserves notice for its research and the excellence of its drawings.

    It is the Ch’th Wuh Mlng-shih Ta-kao, or Researches

    into the Names and Virtues of Plants, with plates, in sixty volumes.

    There are one thousand seven hundred and fifteen

    drawings of plants, with descriptions of each, arranged in

    eleven books, followed by medical and agricultural observations

    on the most important in four books. One of its valuable

    points to the foreigner is the terminology furnished by

    the two authors for describing the parts and uses of plants.

    Renmsat read a paper in 1828, ‘ On the State of the Natural

    Sciences among the Orientals,’ in which he indicates the position

    attained by Chinese in their researches into the nature

    and uses of objects around them. After speaking of the adaptation

    the language possesses, from its construction, to impart

    some general notions of animated and vegetable nature,

    he goes on to remark upon the theorizing propensities of their

    writers, instead of contenting themselves with examining and

    recording facts. “In place of studying the organization of

    bodies, they undertake to determine by reasoning how it should

    be, an aim which has not seldom led them far from the end

    they proposed. One of the strangest errors among them relates

    to the transformation of beings into each other, which has

    arisen from popular stories or badly conducted observations on

    the metamorphoses of insects. Learned absurdities have been

    added to puerile prejudices ; that which the vulgar have believed

    the philosophers have attempted to explain, and nothing

    can be easier, according to the oriental systems of cosmogony, in

    which a simple matter, infinitely diversified, shows itself in all

    beings. Changes affect only the apparent propei’ties of bodies, or

    rather the bodies themselves have only appearances ; according

    to these principles, they are not astonished at seeing the electric

    fiuid or even the stars converted into stones, as happens when

    aerolites fall. That animated beings become inanimate is proven by fossils and petrifactions. Ice enclosed in the earth for a millenninm becomes rock crystal ; and it is only necessary that lead, \\\e father of all metals (as Satnrn, its alchemistic type, was of gods), pass thi-oiigh four periods of two centuries each to become successively cinnabar, tin, and silver. In spring the rat changes into a quail, and quails into rats again during the eighth month.

    ” The style in which these marvels is related is now and then a little equivocal ; but if they believe part of them proved, they can see nothing really impossible in the others. One naturalist, less credulous than his fellows, rather smiles at another author who reported the metamorphosis of an oriole into a mole, and of rice into a carp ;

    ‘ it is a ridiculous story,’ says he ;

    ‘ there is proof only of the change of rats into quails, which is reported in the almanac, and which I have often seen myself, for there is an imvaried progression, as well of transformations as of generations.’

    Animals, according to the Chinese, are viviparous as quadrupeds, or oviparous as birds ; they grow by transformations, as insects, or by the effect of humidity, as snails, slugs, and centipedes The success of such systems is almost always sure, not in China alone either, because it is easier to put words in place of things, to stop at nothing, and to have formulas ready for solving all questions. It is thus that they have formed a scientific jargon, which one might almost think had been borrowed from our dark ages, and which has powerfully contributed to retain knowledge in China in the swaddling clothes we now find it. Experience teaches that when the human mind is once drawn into a false way, the lapse of ages and the help of a man of genius are necessary to draw it out.

    Ages have not been wanting in China, but the man whose superior enlightenment might dissipate these deceitful glimmerings, would find it very difficult to exercise this happy influence as long as their political institutions attract all their inquiring minds or vigorous intellects far away from scientific researches into the literary examinations, or put before them the honors and employments which the functions and details of magisterial appointments bring with them.” ‘* Melanges Orientules, Posthumes, p. 315.

    CONSKKVATISM OF NATIVE liESEARCH. 379

    This last observcation indicates the reason, to a great degree, for the fixedness of the Chinese in all departments of learned inquiry ; hard labor employs the energy and time of the ignorant mass, and emulation in the strife to reach official dignities consumes and perverts the talents of the learned. Then their language itself disheartens the most enthusiastic students in this branch of study, on account of its vagueness and want of established terms. When the vivifying and strengthening truths of revelation shall be taught to the Chinese, and its principles acted upon among them, we may expect more vigor in their minds and more profit in their investigations into the wonders of nature.

    CHAPTER VII. LAWS OP CHINA, AND PLAN OP ITS GOVERNMENT

    The consideration of the theory and practice of the Chinese government reconmiends itself to the attention of the intelligent student of man by several peculiar reasons, among which are its acknowledged antiquity, the multitudes of people it rules, and the comparative quiet enjoyed by its subjects. The government of a heathen nation is so greatly modified by the personal character of the executive, and the people are so liable to confound institutions with men, either from imperfect acquaintance with the nature of those institutions, or from being, through necessity or habit, easily guided and swayed by designing and powerful men, that the long continuance of the Chinese polity is a proof both of its adaptation to the habits and condition of the people, and of its general good management. The antiquity and excellence of such a government, and its orderly administration, might, however, be far greater than it is in China, without being invested with the interest which at present attaches to it in that Empire in consequence of the immense population, whose lives and property, food and well-being, depend to so great a degree upon it. What was at first rather a feeling of curiosity, gradually becomes one of awe, when the evil results of misgovernment, or the beneficent effects of equitable rule, are seen to be so momentous.

    THEORY OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT. 381

    The theory of the Chinese government is undoubtedly the patriarchal; the Emperor is the sire, his officers are the responsible elders of its provinces, departments, and districts, as every father of a household is of its inmates. This may, perhaps, be the theory of other governments, but nowhere has it been systematized so thoroughly, and acted upon so consistently and for so long a period, as in China, ^wo causes, mutually acting upon each other, have, more than anything else, combined to give efficiency to this theory. The ancient rule of Van and Shun ‘ was strictly, so far as the details are known, a patriarchal chieftainship, conferred upon them on account of their excellent character ; and their successors under Yu of the Xia dynasty were considered as deriving their power from heaven, to whom they M’ere amenable for its good use. When Chingtang, founder of the Shang dynasty, b.c. ITOG, and Wu Wang, of the Zhou, B.C. 1122, took up arms against the Emperors, the excuse given was that they had not fulfilled the decrees of heaven, and had thereby forfeited their claim to the throne.

    Confucius, in teaching his principles of political ethics, referred to the conduct of those ancient kings both for proof of the correctness of his instructions and for arguments to enforce them.

    The large number of those who followed him during his lifetime furnishes some evidence that his countrymen assented to

    the propriety of his teachings. This may account for their reception,

    illustrated as they were by the high character the sage

    boi-e ; but it was not till the lapse of tM’o or three centuries

    that the rulers of China perceived the great security the adoption

    and diffusion of these doctrines would give their sway.

    They therefore turned their attention toward the embodiment of

    these precepts into laws, and towai’d basing the institutions of

    government upon them ; through all the convulsions and wars

    which have disturl)ed the country and changed the reigning

    families, these writings have done more than any one thing

    else to uphold the institutions of the Chinese and give them

    their character and permanence. Education being founded on

    them, those who as students had been taught to receive and

    reverence tliem as the oracles of political wisdom, would, when

    they entered upon the duties of office, endeavor to carry out, in

    some degree at least, their principles. Thus the precept and

    the practice have mutually modified, supported, and enforced

    each other./

    • 2357 and 2255 before Christ.

    But this civilization i;^ Asiatic and not European, pagan and not Christian. ^The institutions of China are despotic and defective, and founded on wrong principles. They may have the element of stability, but not of improvement.^ The patriarchal theory does not make uien honorable, truthful, or kind; it does not place woman in her right position, nor teach all classes their obligations to their Maker; the wonder is, to those who know the strength of evil passions in the human breast, that this huge mass of mankind is no worse. We must, indeed, look into its structure in order to discover the causes of this stability, inasmuch as here we have neither a standing army to enforce nor the machinery of a state religion to compel obedience toward a sovereign. A short inspection will show that(the great leading principles by which the present administration preserves its power over the people, consist in a system of strict surveillance and viatual 7’esj)onsihiHtij among all classes.

    These are aided in their efficiency by the geographical isolation of the country, a remarkable spirit of loyal pride in their own history, and a general system of political education and official examinations!)

    These two principles are enforced by such a minute gradation of rank and subordination of othces as to give the government more of a military character than at first appears, and the whole system is such as to make it one of the most unmixed oligarchies now existing. (It is like a network extending over the whole face of society, each individual being isolated in his own mesh but responsibly connected with all around him’) The man who knows that it is almost impossible, except by entire seclusion, to escape from the company of secret or acknowledged emissaries of government, will be cautions of offending the laws of the country, knowing, as he must, that though he should himself escape, yet his family, his kindred, or his neighbors will suffer for his offence; that if unable to recompense the sufferers, it will probably be dangerous for him to return home ; or if he does, it will be most likely to find his property in the possession of neighbors or officials, who feel conscious of security in plundering one whose offences have forever placed him under a ban.

    RESPONSIBILITY, FEAR, AXD ISOLATION. 383

    ^The effect of these two causes upon the mass of the people is to imbue them with a i^ceat fear of the government, both of its officers and its operations; each man considers that safety is best to be found in keeping aloof from both. This mutual surveillance and responsibility, though only partially extended throughout the multitude, necessarily undermines confidence and infuses universal distrust ; while this object of complete isolation, though at the expense of justice, truth, honesty, and natural affection, is what the government strives to accomplish and actually does to a wonderful degree.) The idea of government in the minds of the uneducated people is that of some everpresent terror, like a sword of Damocles; and so far has this undetined fear of some untoward result when connected with it counteracted the real vigor of the Chinese, that to it may be referred much of their indifference to improvement, contentment with what is already known and possessed, and submission to petty injustice and spoliation.^

    Men are deterred, too, as much by distrust of each other as by fear of the police, from combining in an intelligent manner to resist governmental exactions because opposed to principles of equity, or joining with their rulers to uphold good order; no such men, and no such instances, as John Hampden going to prison for refusing to subscribe to a forced loan, or Thomas Williams and his companions throwing the tea overboard in Boston harbor, ever occurred in China or any other Asiatic country. They dread illegal societies quite as much from the cruelties this same distrust induces the leaders to exercise over recreant or suspected members, as from apprehension of arrest and punishment by the regular authorities. (Thus, with a state of society at times on the verge of insurrection, this mass of people is kept in check by the threefold cord of responsibility, fear, and isolation, each of them strengthening the other, and all depending upon the character of the people for much of their efficiency. Since all the officers of government received their intellectual training when connnoners under these influences, it is easy to understand why the supreme powers are so averse to improvement and to foreign intercourse—from both of which causes, in truth, the monarch has the greatest reason to dread lest the cliarin of his power be weakened and his sceptre pass away. I (There is, however, a further explanation for the general peace which prevails to be found back of this. It is owing partly to the diffusion of a political education among the people ^teaching them the principles on which all government is founded, and the reasons for those principles flowing from the patriarchal theory—and partly to their plodding, industrious character. A brief exposition of the construction and divisions of the central and provincial governments and their mutual relations, and the various duties devolving upon the departments and officers, will exhibit more of the operation of these principles.

    Although the Emperor is regarded as the head of this great

    organization, as the fly-wheel w^hich sets other wheels of the

    machine in motion, he is still considered as bound to rule according

    to the code of the land ; and when there is a w^ellknown

    law, though the source of law, he is expected to follow

    it in his decrees. The statutes of China form an edifice, the

    foundations of which were laid by Li Ivwei twenty centuries

    ago. Successive dynasties have been building thereon ever

    since, adding, altering, pulling down, and putting together as

    circumstances seemed to require. The people liave a high regard

    for the code, ” and all they seem to desire is its just and

    impartial execution, independent of caprice and uninfluenced

    by corruption. That the laws of China are, on the contrary,

    very frequently violated l)y those who are their administrators

    and constitutional guardians, there can, unfortunately, be no

    question ; but to what extent, comparatively with the laws of

    other countries, must at present be very much a matter of conjecture

    : at the same time it nuiy be observed, as something in

    favor of the Chinese system, that there are substantial grounds

    for believing that neither flagrant nor repeated acts of injustice

    do, in point of fact, often, in any rank or station, ultimately

    escape with impunity.” ‘ Sir George Staunton is well qualified

    to speak on this point, and his opinion has been corroborated

    ‘ Penal Code, Introduction, p. xxviii.

    THE PENAL CODE OF CHINA. 385

    by most of those who have had siinihir opportunities of judging; while his translation of the Code has given all persons interested in the (piestion the means of ascertaining the principles on which the government ostensibly acts.

    This body of laws is called Ta Tsing Liuh Li, i.e., ‘ Statutes and Eescripts of the Great Pure Dynasty,’ and contains all the laws of the Empire. They are arranged under seven leading heads, viz.: General, Civil, Fiscal, Ritual, Military, and Criminal laws, and those relating to Public Works ; and subdivided into four hundred and thirty-six sections, called Hah, or ‘ statutes,’ to which the li, or modern clauses, to limit, explain or alter them, are added ; these are now much more numerous than the original statutes. A new edition is published by authority every five years; in the reprint of 1830 the Emperor ordered that the Supreme Court should make but few alterations, lest wily litigants might take advantage of the discrepancies between the new and old law to suit their own purposes. This edition is in twenty-eight volumes, and is one of the most frequently seen books in the shops of any city. The clauses are attached to each statute, and have the same force. ]^o authorized reports of cases and decisions, either of the provincial or supreme courts, are published for general use, though their record is kept in the court where they are decided ; the publication of such adjudged cases, as a guide to officers, is not unknown. An extensive collection of notes, comments, and cases, illustrating the practice and theory of the laws, was appended to the edition of 1799.

    A short extract from the original preface of the Code, published in 101:7, only three years after the Manchu Emperors took the throne, will explain the principles on which it was drawn up. After remarking upon the inconveniences arising from the necessity of aggravating or mitigating the sentences of the magistrates, who, previous to the re-establishment of an authentic code of penal la\vs, were not in possession of any fixed rules upon which they could build a just decision, the Emperor Shunchi goes on to describe the manner of revising the code:

    ” A numerous body of magistrates was assembled at the

    capital, at our command, for the purpose of revising the penal

    code formerly in force under the late dynasty of Ming, and of dio-esting the same into a new code, by the exchision of such parts as were exceptionable and the introduction of others which were likely to contribute to the attainment of justice and the t>-eneral perfection of the work. The result of their labors having been submitted to our examination, we maturely weighed and considered the various matters it contained, and then instructed a select number of our great officers of state carefully to revise the whole, for the purpose of making such alterations and emendations as might still be found requisite. “Wherefore, it being now published, let it be your great care, officers and magistrates of the interior and exterior departments of our Empire, diligently to observe the same, and to forbear in future to give any decision, or to pass any sentence, according to your private sentiments, or upon your unsupported authority. Thus shall the magistrates and people look up with awe and submission to the justice of these institutions, as they find themselves respectively concerned in them ; the transgressor will not fail to suffer a strict expiation of his crimes, and will be the instrument of deterring others from similar misconduct ; and finally both officers and people will l)e equally secured for endless generations in the enjoyment of the happy effects of the great and noble virtues of our illustrious progenitors.”

    Under the head of Genei-al Laws are forty-seven sections,

    comprising principles and definitions applicable to the whole,

    and containing some singular notions on equity and criminality.

    The description of the five ordinary punishments, definition of

    the ten treasonable offences, regulations for the eight privileged

    classes, and general directions regarding the conduct of officers

    of government, are the matters treated of under this head.

    The title of Section XLIY. is ” On the decision of cases not provided for by law ; ” and the rule is that ” such cases may then be determined by an accurate comparison with others which are already provided for, and which approach most nearly to those under investigation, in order to ascertain afterward to what extent an asirravation or mitiij-ation of the i)nnislinment would be equitable. A provisional sentcMice confonnablc thereto shall be laid before the superior magistrates, an<l, after receiving their approbation, be submitted to the Enqieror’s final decision. Anv

    GENEIIAL, CIVIL, AXD FISCAL LAWS. 387

    *

    erroneous judgment which may be pronounced, in consequence

    of adopting a more summary mode of proceeding in cases of a

    doubtful nature, shall be punished as wilful deviation from justice.”

    This, of course, gives great latitude to the magistrate, and

    as he is thus allowed to decide and act before the new law can

    be confirmed or aimulled, the chief restraints to his injustice in

    such cases (which, however, are not nuinerous) lie in the fear

    of an appeal and its consequences, or of summary reprisals

    from the suffering parties.

    The six remaining divisions pertain to the six administrative

    boards of the government. The second contains Civil Laws,

    under twenty-eight sections, divided into two books, one of

    them referring to the system of government, and the otlier to

    the conduct of magistrates, etc. The hereditary succession of

    rank and titles is regulated, and punishments laid down for

    those who illegally assume these honors. HlMost of the nobility

    of China are Manchus, and none of the hereditary dignities existing

    previous to the conquest were recognized, except those

    attached to the family of Confucius*’ Improperly recommending

    unfit persons as deserving liigh honors, appointing and

    removing officers witliout the Emperor’s sanction, and leaving

    stations without due permission, are the principal subjects

    regulated in the first book. The second book contains rules

    regarding the interference of superior magistrates with the proceedings

    of the lower courts, and prohibitions against cabals and

    treasonable combinations among oflScers, which are of course

    capital crimes ; all persons in the employ of the state are required

    to make themselves acquainted with the laws, and even

    private individuals ” who are found capable of explaining the

    nature and comprehending the objects of the laws, shall receive

    pardon in all offences resulting purely from accident, or imputable

    to them oidy from the guilt of others, j^rovided it be the

    first offence.”

    The third division, of Fiscal Laws, under eighty-two sections,

    contains rules for enrolling the people, and of succession and

    inheritance ; also laws for regulating marriages between various

    classes of society, for guarding granaries and treasuries, for

    preventing and punishing smuggling, for restraining usury, and for overseeing shops. Section LXXYI. orders that persons and families truly represent their profession in life, and restrains them from indulging in a change of occupation ; ” generation

    after generation they must not vary or alter it.” This i-ule is,

    however, constantly violated. Section XC. exempts the huildinffs

    of literarv and relio;ious institutions from taxation. The

    general aim of the laws relating to holding real estate is to

    secure the cultivation of all the land taken up, and the regular

    payment of the tax. The proprietor, in some cases, can be deprived

    of his lands because he does not till them, and though in

    fact owner in fee simple, he is restricted in the disposition of

    them by will in many w^ays, and forfeits them if the taxes are

    not paid.

    The fourth division, of Ritual Laws, under twenty-six sections,

    contains the regulations fur state sacritices and ceremonies,

    those appertaining to the worship of ancestors, and whatever

    belongs to heterodox and magical sects or teachers. The heavy

    penalties threatened in some of these sections against all illegal

    combinations under the guise of a new form of worship presents

    an interesting likeness to the restrictions issued by the

    English, French, and German princes during and after the

    Heformation. The Chinese authorities had the same dread

    lest the people should meet and consult how to resist them.

    Even processions in honor of the gods may be forbidden for

    good reason, and are not allow^ed at all at Peking ; while, still

    more, the rites observed by the Emperor cannot be imitated by

    any unauthorized person ; women are not allowed to congregate

    in the temples, nor magicians to perform any strange incantations.

    Few of these laws ai’e really necessary, and those

    against illegal sects are in fact levelled against political associations,

    which usually take on a religious guise.

    The fifth division, of Military Laws, in seventy-one sections,

    provides for the protection of the palace and government of

    the army, for guarding frontier passes, management of the

    imperial cattle, and forwarding despatches by couriers. Some

    of these ordinances lay down rules for the protection of the

    Emperor’s person, and the disposition of his body-guard and

    troops in the palace, the capital, and over the Empire. The

    RITUAL, MILITARY, AND CRIMmAL LAWS!. 380

    sections r(‘latiii<2; to the goveniinoiit of tlie army include tlic

    rules for tli(> police of cities ; and those designed to secure the

    protection of the frontier conipi-ise all the enactments against

    foreign intei’course, some of which have already been refei-red tn

    in passing. The supply of horses and cattle for the army is a

    matter of some importance, and is minutely regulated ; one law

    orders all persons who possess vicious and dangerous animals to

    restrain them, and if through neglect any person is killed or

    wounded, the owner of the animal shall be obliged to redeem

    himself from the punishment of manslaughter by pa-ying a fine.

    This provision to compel the owners of unruly beasts to exercise

    proper restraint over them is like that laid down by Moses

    in Exodus XXT., 20, 30. There is as yet no general postoffice

    establishn’ent, hut governmental couriers often take

    private letters ; local mails are safely carried by express companies.

    The required rate of travel for the official post is one hundred miles a day, but it does not ordinarily go more than half that distance. Officers of government are allowed ninety days to make the journey from Peking to Canton, a distance of twelve hundred miles, but conriers frequently travel it in twelve days.

    The sixth division, on Criminal Laws, is arranged in eleven books, containing in all one hundred and seventy sections, ‘and is the most important of the whole. The clauses under some of the sections are numerous, and show that it is not for want of proper laws or insufficient threatenings that crimes go unpunished.

    The books of this division relate to robbery, in which is included high treason and renunciation of allegiance ; to homicide and murder; quarrelling and fighting; abusive language; indictments, disobedience to parents, and false accusations ; bribery and corruption ; forging and frauds ; incest and adultery ; arrests and escapes of criminals, their imprisonment and execution ; and, lastly, miscellaneous offences.

    Under Section CCCXXIX. it is ordered that any one who is guilty of addressing abusive language to his or her father or mother, or father’s parents, or a wife who rails at her husband’s

    parents or grandparents, shall be strangled ; provided always

    that the persons so abused themselves complain to the magistrate, and had personally heard the language addressed to them.

    This law is the same in regard to children as that contained

    in Leviticus XX. , H, and the power here given the parent does

    not seem to be productive of evil. Section CCCLXXXI. has

    reference to ” privately hushing np public crimes,” but its

    penalties are for the most part a dead letter, and a full account

    of the various modes adopted in the courts of withdrawing cases

    from the cognizance of superiors, would form a singular chapter

    in Chinese jurisprudence. Conseq\icntly those who refuse every

    offer to suppress cases are highly lauded by the people. Another

    section (CCCLXXXYI.) ordains that whoever is guilty of improper

    conduct, contrary to the spirit of the laws, but not a

    breach of any specific article, shall be punished at least with forty blows, and with eighty when of a serious nature. Some of the provisions of this part of the code are praiseworthy, but no part of Chinese legislation is so cruel and irregular as criminal jurisprudence. The permission accorded to the judge to torture the criminal opens the door for much inhumanity.

    The seventh division contains thirteen sections relating to Public Works and Ways, such as the weaving of interdicted patterns of silk, repairing dikes, and constructing edifices for government. All public residences, granaries, treasuries and manufactories, embankments and dikes of rivers and canals, forts, walls, and mausolea, must be frequently examined, and kept in repair. Poverty or peculation render numy of these laws void, and many subterfuges are often practised by the superintending officer to pocket as much of the funds riS he can.

    One officer, M’hen ordered to repair a wall, made the workmen go over it and chip off the faces of the stones etill remaining, then plastering up the holes.

    CRITICISM OF THE CODE. 301

    Besides these laws and their numerous clauses, every high provincial officer has the right to issue edicts upon such public matters as require regulation, some of thei^,; even affecting life and death, either reviving some old law or ^.v^ving it an application to the case before him, with such iuodifications as seem to be necessary. lie must report these ac-t* to the proper board at Peking. Xo such order, which for Uf*. time has the force of law, is formally repealed, but gradually f;(,lls into ohlWion, until circumstances again require its reiteration. This mode of publishing statutes gives rise to a sort of common and unwritten law in villages, to which a council of elders sometimes compels individuals to submit ; long usage is also another ground for enforcing them.

    Still, with all the tortures and punishments allowed by the law, and all the cruelties superadded upon the criminals by irritated officers or rapacious underlings and jailors, a broad survey of Chinese legislation, judged by its results and the general appearance of society, gives the impression of an administration far superior to other Asiatic countries. A favorable comparison has been made in the Jidinlmrgh Review:’ ” By far the most remarkable thing in this code is its great reasonableness, clearness, and consistency, the business-like brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the plainness and moderation in which they are expressed. There is nothing here of the monstrous verhiage of most other Asiatic productions, none of the superstitious deliration, the miserable incoherence, the tremendous non-sequiturs and eternal repetitions of those oi”acnlar performances—nothing even of the turgid adulation, accumulated epithets, and fatiguing self-praise of other Eastern despotisms—but a calm, concise, and distinct series of enactments, savoring throughout of practical judgment and European good sense, and if not always conformable to onr improved notions of expediency, in general approaching to them more nearly than the codes of most other nations. When we pass, indeed, from the ravings of the Zendavesta or the Puranas to the tone of sense and business in this Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness to light, from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an improved understanding ; and redundant and absurdly minute as these laws are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that is at once so copious and so consistent, or that is so nearly free from intricacy, bigotry, and fiction. / In everything relating to political freedom or individual independence it is indeed wofuUy defective!; but for the repression of disorder and the gentle coer-cion o£ a vast population, it appears to be equally mild and efficacious. The state of society for which it was formed appears incidentally to be a low and wretched o!ie ; but how could its framers have devised a wiser means of maintaining it in peace and tranquillity ?”

    This encomium is to a certain extent just, but the practice of legislation in China has probably not been materially improved by the mere possession of a reasonable code of laws, though some melioration in jurisprudence has been effected.’ ^The infliction of barbarous punishments, such as blinding, cutting off noses, ears, or other parts of the body, still not uncommon in Persia and Turkey, is not allowed or practised in China ; and the government, in minor ci’imes, contents itself with but little more than opprobrious exposure in the pilloij, or castigation, which cari-y with them no degradation.

    uhe defects in this remarkable body of laws arise from several

    sources. The degree of liberty that can safely be awarded

    to the subject is not defined in it, and his i-ights are unknown

    in law. The government is despotic, but having no etficient

    military power in their hands, the lawgivers resort to a minuteness

    of legislation upon the pi-actice of social and relative virtues

    and duties which interferes with their observance ; though it

    must be remembered that no pulpit or Sabbath-school exists

    there to expound and enforce them from a higher code, and

    the laws must be the chief guide in most cases. The code also

    exhibits a minute attention to trifles, and an effort to legislate

    for every possible contingency, which nmst perplex the judge

    when dealing with the infinite shades of difference occuning in

    human actions. There are now many vague and obsolete statutes,

    I’eady to serve as a handle to prosecute offenders for the

    gratification of private pique ; and although usage and precedent

    both combine to prove their disuse, malice and bribery

    can easily effect their reviviscence and application to the case.

    Sheer cruelty, except in cases of treason against the Emperor,

    cannot be chai’ged against this code as a whole, though

    many of the laws seem designed to operate chiefly in terrorem^

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 24-29.

    INFLUEXCE OF THE LAWS UPON SOCIETY. 39o

    and the penalty is placed higher than the punishment really

    intended to be inflicted, to the end that the Emperor may have

    scope for mercy, or, as he says, ” for leniency beyond the bounds

    of the law.” The principle on which this is done is evident, and

    the commonness of the practice proves that such an exercise of

    mercy has its effect. The laws of China are not altogether unmeaning

    words, though the degi-ee of ethciency in their execu

    tion is subject to endless variations ; some officers are clement,

    others severe ; the people in certain provinces are industrious

    and peaceable, in others turbulent and averse to quiet occupations,

    so that one is likely to form a juster idea of their adnunistration

    by looking at the i-esults as seen in the general aspect

    of society, and judging of the tree by its fruits, than by drawing

    inferences applicable to the whole machine of state from particular

    instances of oppression and insubordination, as has been. so often the case with travellers and writers.

    The general examination of the Chinese government here proposed may be conveniently considered under the iieads of the Emperor and his court, classes of society, the different branches of the supreme administration, the provincial authorities, and the execution of the laws.

    The Emperor is at the head of the whole ; and if the possession

    of great power, and being the object of almost unbounded

    reverence, can impai-t happiness, he may safely be considered

    as the happiest mortal living; though to his power there are

    many checks, and the reverence paid him is proportioned somewhat

    to the fidelity with which he administers the decrees of

    heaven. ” The Emperor is the sole head of the Chinese constitution

    and government ; he is regarded as the vice-gerent of

    lieaven, especially chosen to govern all nations ; and is supreme

    In everything, holding at once the highest legislative and executive

    powers, without limit or control.” Both he and the Pope

    claim to be the vice-gerent of heaven and interpreter of its decrees

    to the whole world, and these two rulers have emulated

    each other in their assumption of arrogant titles. The most

    common appellation employed to denote the Emperor in state

    papers and among the people is hirangt’i, or ‘ august sovereign ;

    ‘it is defined as ” the appellation of one possessing complete virtues, and able to act on heavenly principles.” ‘ This title is further defined as meaning heaven : ” Heaven speaks not, yet the four seasons follow in regular succession, and all things spring forth. So the three august ones (Fulihi, Shinnung, and Hwangti) descended in state, and without even uttering a word the people bowed to their sway ; their virtue was inscrutal)le and boundless like august heaven, and therefore were they called august ones.”

    Among the numerous titles given the monarch may be mentioned

    hiimng shang, the ‘ august lofty one ; ‘ tien Mvang, ‘ celestial

    august one;’ shing hivang, the ‘wise and august,’-/.^.,

    infinite in knowledge and complete in virtue ; tien ti, ‘ celestial

    sovereign ;’ and shing t’l, ‘ sacred sovereign,’ because he is able

    to act on heavenly principles. He is also called tien tsz\ ‘ son

    of heaven,’ becanse heaven is his father and earth is his mother,

    and shing tien tsz\ ‘wise son of heaven,’ as being born of heaven

    and having infinite knowledge ; terms which are given him as

    the ruler of the world l)y the gift of heaven. He is even addressed,

    and sometimes refers to himself, under designations which pertain exclusively to heaven. Wan sui ye, ‘ sire of ten thousand years,’ is a term used when speaking of him or approaching him, like the words, O h’ng, live forever! addressed to the ancient kings of Persia. Pi Ida, ‘ beneath the footstool,’ is a sycophantic compellation used by his courtiers, as if they were only worthy of being at the edge of his footstool.

    ‘ Chinese Repositori/, Vol. IV., p. 12 ; Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 558.

    ATTRIBUTES OF THE CHINESE EMPEROR. 395

    The Emperor usually designates himself by the terms ehvn^ ‘ourself; ‘ hwa jin, the ‘ solitary man,’ or the one man ; and hwa Jciun, the ‘ solitary prince.’ He has been loaded with many ridiculous titles by foreign writers, as Brother of the Sun and Moon, Grandson of the Stars, King of Kings, etc., but no such epithets are known among his subjects. His palace has various appellations, such as hall of audience, golden palace, the ninth entrance, vermilion avenue, vermilion hall, rosy hall, forbidden pavilion, the crimson and forbidden palace, gemmeous steps, golden steps, meridian portal, gemmeous avenue, celestial steps,

    celestial court, great interior, the maple pavilion, royal house,

    etc. To see him is to see the dragon’s face ; the throne is called

    the ” di-agon’s throne,” and also the ” divine utensil,” i.e., the

    tliinir oiven him bv heaven to sit in Avhen executin<!; his divine

    mission ; his person is styled the dragon’s body, and a fiveclawed

    dragon is emblazoned, like a coat of arms, on his robes,

    which no one can use or imitate. Thus the Old Dragon, it

    might be almost said, has coiled himself around the Emperor

    of China, one of the greatest upholders of his power in this

    world, and contrived to get himself worshipped, through him,

    by one third of mankind.

    The Emperor is the fountain of power, rank, honor, and privilege to all within his dominions, which are termed tieti hia, meaning all under heaven, and were till recently, even by his highest officers, ignorantly supposed to comprise all mankind.

    As there can be but one sun in the heavens, so there can be

    but one hwangti on earth, the source and dispenser of benefits

    to the whole world.” /The same absolute executive power held

    by him is placed in the hands of his deputies and governorgenerals,

    to be by them exercised within the limits of their

    jui-isdiction. He is the head of religion and the only onef

    qualified to adore heaven ; he is the source of law and dispen-j

    ser of mercy ; no right can be held in opposition to his pleasure,

    no claim maintained against him, no privilege protect from his

    wrath. All the forces and revenues of the Empire are his, and

    lie has a riffht to claim the services of all males between sixteen j and sixty. In short, the whole Empire is his property, and they only cliecks upon his despotism are 2)ubli(‘ opinion, the want of j an efficient standing army, po^’erty and the venality of the agents of his power.

    When the Manchus found themselves in possession of Peking,

    they regarded this position as fully entitling them to assume all

    imperial rights. Their sovereign thus announced his elevation

    in November, 16-14 : ” I, the Son of Heaven, of the Ta-tsing

    ^ The attributes ascribed to a chakrnwartti in the Buddhist mythology have

    many points of resemblance to the hintngti, and Hardy’s Manual of Buddhism

    (p. 126) furnishes an instructive comparison between the two characters, one fanciful and the other real.

    dynasty, liuniljly as a subject dare to announce to Imperial

    Heaven and Sovereign Earth. Tliougli tlie world is vast,

    Sliangti looks on all without partiality. My Imperial Grandfather

    received the gracious decree of Heaven and founded a

    kingdom in the East, which became firmly established. My

    Imperial Father succeeding to the kingdom, extended it ; and I,

    Heaven’s servant, in my poor person became the ii heritor of

    the dominion they transmitted. AVlien the ]\Iing dynasty was

    coming to its end, traitors and men of violence appeared in

    crowds, involving the people in misery. China was without a

    ruler. It fell to me reverentially to accept the responsibility

    of continuing the meritorious work of my ancestors. I saved

    the people, destroyed their ojopressors ; and now, in accordance

    with the desires of all, I iix the urns of Empire at Yen-king.

    … I, receiving Heaven’s favor, and in accordance with their

    wishes, announce to Heaven that I have ascended the throne of

    the Empire, that the name I have chosen for it is the Great

    Pure, and that the style of my reign is Shun-chl (‘ Obedient

    Rule ‘). I beg reverentially Heaven and Earth to protect and

    assist the Empire, so that calamity and disturbance may soon

    come to an end, and the land enjoy universal peace. For this

    I humbly pray, and for the acceptance of this sacrifice.”

    The present Emperor is the ninth of the Tsing dynasty M’ho

    has reigned in China. Tk/ikj means Pure, and was taken by

    the Manchus as a distinctive tei’m for their new dynasty,

    alluding to the ])uj’ity of justice they intended to maintain in

    their sway. Some of the founders of the ancient dynasties derived

    their dynastic name from their patrimonial estates, as

    /SifUfj, ITaii, C//af/, etc., but the later ones have adopted names

    like T’uen, or ‘ Original,’ Min<j, or ‘ Illustrious,’ etc., which indicate

    their vanity.

    The present monarch is still a minor, and the affairs of government are nominally under the direction of the Empressdowager, who held the same office during the minority of his predecessor, Tungchf. -The surname of the reigning family is (j’ioi’o, or ‘ Golden,’ derived from their ancestral chief, Aisin Gioro, whom they feign to have been the son of a divine virgin.

    PERSONAL NAME AXD TITLES OF THE EMPEROR. 397

    They are the lineal descendants of the Kin, a rude race u-liieh drove out the Chinese rulers and occupied the northern provinces about 1130, making Peking their capital for many years. On the approach of the Mongols they were chased away to the east, and retained oidy a nominal independence ; changing their name from Niichih to Manjurs, they gradually increased in numbers, but did not assume any real importance until they became masters of China. The acknowledged founder of the reigning house was the chief IIien-tsu(1583-lC15), whose actual descendants are collectively designated Tsutuj-sJi’/h, or ‘Imperial Clan.’ The second Emperor further limited the Clan by giving to each of his twenty-four sons a personal name of two characters, the first of which, Ynn, was the same for all of

    them. For the succeeding generations lie ordered a series of

    characters to be nsed l)y all the membei-s of each, so that

    through all their ramifications the first name would show tlieir

    position. Ivanghi’s own name was Iliuen^ then followed Yun^

    Hung, Yung, JIt’en, Y!h, and T^v?/, tlie last and present sovereigns

    being both named T^cr/. All who bear this name are

    direct descendants of Kanghi. Since the application of these

    seven generation names, eight more have been selected for

    future nse by imperial scions.

    Tn order still further to distinguish those most nearly allied

    in blood, as sons, nephews, etc., it is required that the second

    names of each family always consist of characters under the

    same radical. Thus Kiaking and his brothers wrote their first

    names Yang, ‘Am\ under the radical ^?r>i for the second ; Taukwang

    and his brothers and cousins Mien, and under the radical

    heart. For some unexplained reason the radicals sill: and gaJ(l,

    chosen for the second names of the next two generations, were

    altered to u-ords and irater. This peculiarity is easily represented

    in the Chinese characters ; a comparison can be made

    in English with the supposed names of a family of sons, as

    Louis Edward, Louis Edwin, Louis Edwy, Louis Edgar, etc.,

    the word Louis answering to Mien, and the syllable Ed to the radical heart.

    The present Emperor’s personal name is Tsai-tien, and, like those of his predecessors, is deemed to be too sacred to be spoken, or the characters to be written in the common form.

    The same reverence is observed for the names after death, sg that twelve characters have been altered since the Manchu monarchs began to reign ; Hinen-wa, which was the personal name of Kanghi, has become permanently altered in its formation.

    The present sovereign was born August 15, 1871, and on January

    12, 1875, succeeded his cousin Tsaishun, who died without

    issue—the first instance in the Gioro family for nearly three

    centuries. At this time there was some delay as to which of

    his cousins should succeed to the dragon throne, when the united

    council of the princes was led by the mother of the deceased

    Emperor to adopt her nephew, the son of Prince Chun. The

    little fellow was sent for at night to be immediately saluted

    as hwangti, and ere long brought in before them, cross and

    sleepy as he was, to begin his reign under the style of Kwangsii,

    or ‘ Illustrious Succession.’

    This title is called a kwoh hao^ or national designation, and

    answers more nearly to the name that a new Pope takes with

    the tiara than to anything else in western lands. It is the expression

    of the idea which the monarch wishes to associate with

    his reign, and is the name by which he is known to his subjects

    during his life. It has been called a j>^^”^od by some

    writers, but while it is not strictly his name, yet period is not

    so correct as reign. Usage has made it equivalent in foreign

    books to the personal name, and it is plainer to say the Emperor

    Taukwang than the period Taukwang or the reign Taukwang,

    or still more than to write, as Wade has done, ” the Emperor

    Mien-Ning, the style of whose reign Mas Tau Kwang ;”or than Legge has done, to Bay, *’ the Emperor Pattern, of the period Yungciiing.” In such cases it is not worth the trouble to attempt strict accuracy in a matter so entirely unlike western usages.

    The use of the kwoh hao began with Wan-ti, of the Han dynasty,’ b.c. 179, and has continued ever since. Some of ‘ The remark of Heeren {Asiatic Nations, Vol. I. , p. 57), that the names by which the early Persian monarchs, Darius, Xerxes, and others, were called, were really titles or surnames, and not their own personal names, suggests the further comparison whether those renowned names were not like the kiroh hao of the Chinese emperors, whose adoption of the custom was after the ex

    THE KWOII HAO AND MIAO HAO. 399

    the early inouarclis elianged their hwoli hao many times during

    their reigns ; Kao-tsung (a.d. 650-684), for example, had thirteen

    in a regime of thirty four years, which induced historians

    to employ the laiao Jiao, or ancestral name, as more suitable

    and less liable to confusion. The reason for thus investinir the

    sovereign with a title different from his real name is not fully

    apparent, but arose probably out of the vanity of the monai-ch,

    who wished thus to glorify himself by a high-sounding title,

    and make his own name somewhat ineffable at the same time.

    The custom was adopted in Japan about a.d. 645, and is practised

    in Corea and Annam.

    When a monarch ascends the throne, or as it is expressed in Chinese, ” when he receives from Heaven and revolving nature the government of the world,” he issues an inaugural proclamation. There is not much change in the wording of these papers, and an extract from the one issued in 1821 will exhibit the practice on such occasions: “Our Da Qing dynasty has received the most substantial indication of Heaven’s kind care. Our ancestors, Taitsu and Taitsung. began to lay the vast foundation [of our Empire] : and Shitsu became the sole monarch of China. Our sacred ancestor Kanghi, the Emperor Yungching, the glory of his age, and Kienlung, the eminent in honor, all abounded in virtue, were divine in martial prowess, consolidated the glory of the Empire, and moulded the whole to peaceful harmony.

    ” His late Majesty, who has now gone the great journey, governed all under Heaven’s canopy twenty-live years, exercising the utmost caution and industry. Xor evening nor morning was he ever idle. He assiduously aimed at the best possible rule, and hence his government was excellent and illustrious; the court and the country felt the deepest reverence and the stillness of profound awe. A benevolent heart and a benevolent tinction of the Persian monarchy. Herodotus (Book VI., 98) seems to have been familiar with these names, not so much as being arbitrary and meaningless terms as epithets whose significations were associated with the kings. The new names given to the last two sons of Josiah, who became kings of Judah by their conquerors (3 Kings, 23; 34, and 24 : 17), indicate even an earlier adoption of this custom.

    administration were universally dift’used : in China Proper, as well as beyond it, order and tranquillity pi-evailed, and the tens of thousands of common people were all happy. But in the midst of a hope that this glorious reign would be long protracted, and the help of Heaven would be received many days, unexpectedly, on descending to bless, by his Majesty’s presence, Lwanyang, the dragon charioteer (the holy Emperor) became a guest on high.

    ” My sacred and indulgent Father had, in the yeai” that ho

    bejiran to rule alone, silent! v settled that the divine utensil

    should devolve on my contemptible person. I, knowing the

    feebleness of my virtue, at first felt much afraid I should not be

    competent to the office ; but on reflecting that the sages, my

    ancestors, have left to posterity their plans ; that his late

    Majesty has laid the duty on me—and Heaven’s throne should

    not be long vacant—I have done violence to my feelings and

    foi’ced myself to intermit awhile my heartfelt grief, that I may

    with reverence obey the unalterable decree ; and on the 2Tth of

    the Sth moon (October 3d) 1 purpose devoutly to announce the

    ev^ent to Heaven, to earth, to my ancestors, and to the gods of

    the land and of the grain, and shall then sit down on the imperial throne. Tx’t the next year be the first of Taukwang.

    ” I look upward and hope to be able to continue former excellences. I lay my hand on my heart with feelings of respect and cautious awe.—When a new monarch addresses himself to the Empire, he ought to c(»iifer benefits on his klndi-ed, and extensively bestow gracious favors : what is proper to be done on this occasion is stated below.”

    (Here follow twenty-two paragraphs, detailing the gifts to be

    conferred and promotions made of noblemen and officers ; ordering

    the restoration of suspended dignitaries to their full pay

    and honoi’s, and sacrifices to Confucius and the Emperors of

    former dynasties ; pardons to be extended to ciiminals, and

    banished convicts recalled ; governmental debts and arrearages

    to be forgiven, and donations to be bestowed upon the aged.)

    “Lo! now, on succeeding to the throne, T shall exei-cise myself

    to give repose to the millions of my ]>eople. iVssist me to

    sustain the burden laid on mv shoulders ! With veneration I

    COr.OXATIOX T’ROrr.AMATIOX OF TArKU’AXO. 4(‘]

    receive charge of Heaven’s great concerns.—Ye kings and statesmen, great and small, civil and military, let every one be faithful and devoted, and aid in supporting the vast afPairs, that our family dominion may be preserved hundreds and tens of thousands of years in never-ending tranquillity and glory ! Promulgate this to all under Heaven — cause every one to hear it!”

    The programme of ceremonies to be observed when the Emperor” ascends the summit,” and seats himself on the dragon’s throne, was published for the Emperor Taukwangby the Board of Kites a few days after. It details a long series of prostrations and bowings, leading out and marshalling the various officers of the court and members of the imperial family. After they are all arranged in proper precedence before the throne,” at the appointed hour the president of the Board of Bites shall go and entreat his Majesty to put on his mourning, and

    come forth by the gate of the eastern palace, and enter at the

    left door of the middle palace, where his Majesty, before the

    altar of his deceased imperial father, will respectfully announce

    that he receives the decree—kneel thrice and bow nine times.”

    lie then retires, and soon after a large deputation of palace

    officers ” go and solicit his Majesty to put on his impei-ial robes

    and proceed to the palace of his mother, the Empress-dowager,

    to pay his respects. The Empress-dowager will put on her court

    robes and ascend her throne, before which his Majesty shall

    kneel thrice and bow nine times.” After this filial ceremony

    is over the golden chariot is made ready, the officer of the

    Astronomical Board—whose business is to ohscrve times—

    h

    stationed at the palace gate, and when he announces the arrival

    of the chosen and felicitous moment, his Majesty comes forth

    and mounts the golden chariot, and the procession advances to

    the Palace of Protection and Peace. Here the great officers of

    the Empire are marshalled according to their rank, and when

    the Emperor sits down in the palace they all kneel and bow

    nine times.

    ” This ceremony over, the President of the Board of Rites, stepping forward, shall kneel down and beseech his Majesty, saying, ‘ Ascend the imperial throne.’ The Emperor shall then rise from his seat, and the procession moving on in the same order to the Palace of Peace, his Majesty shall ascend the seat of gems and sit down on the imperial throne, with his face to the south.” All present come forward and again make the nine prostrations, after which the proclamation of coronation, as it would be called in Europe, is formally sealed, and then announced to the Empire with similar ceremonies. There are many other lesser rites observed on these occasions, some of them appropriate to such an occasion, and others, according to our notions, bordering on the ludicrous ; the whole presenting a strange mixture of religion, splendor, and farce, though as a whole calculated to impress all with a sentiment of awe toward one who gives to heaven, and receives from man, such homage and worship.’

    Nothing is omitted which can add to the dignity and sacredness

    of the Emperor’s person or character. Almost everything

    used by him, or in his personal service, is tabued to the connuon

    people, and distinguished by some peculiar mark or color, so as

    to keep up the impression of awe with which he is regarded,

    and which is so powerful an auxiliary to his throne. The outer

    gate of the palace must always be passed on foot, and the paved

    entrance walk leading up to it can only be used by him. The vacant throne, or even a screen of yellow silk thrown over a chair, is worshipped equally with his actual presence, and an imperial dispatch is received in the provinces with incense and prostrations ; the A-essels on the canal bearing articles for his special use always have the rig:ht of way. His birthday is eel ebrated by his officers, and the account of the opening ceremony, as witnessed by Lord Macartney, shows how skilfully every act tends to maintain his assumed character as the son of heaven.

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. X., pp. 87-98. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, February, isai.

    HOMAGE KENDERP:D TO THE EMPEROR. 403

    ” The first day was consecrated to the purpose of rendering a solemn, sacred, and devout homage to the supreme majesty of the Emperor. The ceremony was no longer performed in a tent, nor did it partake of the nature of a banquet. The princes, tributai-ies, ambassadors, and great officers of state were assembled in a vast hall ; and upon particular notice were introduced into au inner building, bearing at least the semblance of a temple.

    It was chietiy furnished with great instruments of music,

    among which were sets of cylindrical bells suspended in a line

    from ornamental frames of wood, and gradually diminishing in

    size from one extremity to the other, and also triangular pieces

    of metal, arranged in the same order as the bells. To the

    sound of these instruments a slow and solemn hymn was sung

    by eunuchs, who had such a command over their voices as to

    resemble the effect of musical glasses at a distance. The performers

    were directed, in tlie gliding from one tone to the other,

    by the striking of a shrill and sonorous cymbal ; and the judges

    of music among the gentlemen of the embassy were much

    pleased with their execution. The whole had, indeed, a grand

    effect. During the performance, and at particular signals, nine

    times repeated, all present prostrated themselves nine times,

    except the ambassador and his suite, who made a profound

    obeisance. But he whom it was meant to honor continued, as

    if in imitation of the Deity, invisible the whole time. The

    awful impression intended to iTe made upon the minds of men

    by this apparent worship of a fellow-mortal was not to be

    effaced by any immediate scenes of sport or gaiety, which were

    postponed to the following day. ” ‘ The mass of the people are

    not aduutted to particij^ate in these ceremonies ; they are kept

    at a distance, and care, in fact, very little about them. In every

    provincial capital there is a hall, called Wan-shao l:u?ig, dedicated

    solely to the honor of the Emperor, and where, three days

    before and after his birthday, all the civil and military officers

    and the most distinguished citizens assemble to do him tlie

    same homage as if he were present. The walls and furniture

    are yellow.

    The right of succession is hereditary in the male line, but it

    is always in the power of the sovereign to nominate his successor

    from among his own children. The heir-apparent is not

    commonly known during the lifetime of the incumbent, though

    Staunton’s Embassy, 8vo edition, London, 1797, Vol. III., p. 63.

    there is a titular office of guardian of the heir-apparent. During

    tlie Tsing dynasty the succession has varied, l)ut tiie hloody

    scenes enacted in Turkey, Egypt, and India to remove competitors

    are not known at Peking, and the people have no fear that they will be enacted. Of the eight preceding sovereigns, Shunchi was the ninth son, Tvanghi the third, Vnngehing the fourth, Kienlung the fourth, Kiaking the iifteenth, Taukwang

    the second, Hienfung the fourth, and Tungchi the only son.

    When Kwangsii was chosen this regular line failed, and thus

    was terminated an nnbi-oken succession during two Inmdred

    and fifty-nine years (1616 to 1875), when ten rulers (including

    two in Manchuria) occupied the throne. It can be paralleled

    onlv in eTudah, where the line of David down to Jehoiachin

    (b.c. 1055 to 599) continued regularly in the same manner—

    •

    twenty kings in four hundred and fifty six years.

    In the reign of Kieidung, one of the censors memorialized

    him upon the desirableness of announcing his sncsessor, in order

    to quiet men’s minds and repress intrigue, but the suggestion

    cost the man his place. The Emperor said that the name of

    his successor, in case of his own sudden death, would be found

    in a designated place, and that it was highly inexpedient to

    mention him, lest intriguing men buzzed about him, forming

    factions and trying to elevate themselves. The soundness of

    this policy cannot l)e doubted, and it is not nnlikely that Kienlung

    knew the evils of an opposite course from an acquaintance

    with the history of some of the princes of Central Asia or

    India. One good result of not indicating the heir-apparent is

    that not oidy are no intrigues formed by the crown-prince, but

    when he begins to reign he is seldom compelled, from fear of

    his own safety, to kill or imprison his brothers or uncles; for,

    as they possess no power or party to render them formidable,

    their ambition finds full scope for its exercise in peaceful ways.

    In 1861, when the heir was a child of five years, a palace intrigue

    was started to remove his custody out of the hands of his mother

    into those of a cabal wlio had held sway for some years, but the

    promoters were all executed.

    THE IMPKIilAL HOUSE AXD NOBILITY. 405

    The management of the imperial clan appertains entirely to the Emperor, and has been conducted with considerable sagacI’ty. All its members arc under the control of the Tsuny-jln fu, a sort ot” clansmen’s court, consisting of a presiding controller, two assistant directors, and two deputies of the family.

    Their duties are to regulate whatever belongs to the government of the Emperor’s kindred, which is divided into two branches, the direct and collateral, or the Uiukj-hMIi and Gioro.

    The TmurKj-sJiiJi, or ‘Imperial House,’ coni})rise only the lineal

    descendants of Tienming’s father, named llien-tsu, or ‘ Illustrious

    Sire,” who first assumed the title of Emperor a.d. 1610.

    The collateral branches, including the children of his uncles and

    brothers, are collectively c;illed Gioro. Their united number is

    unknown, l)ut a genealogical record is kept in the national archives

    at Peking and Mukden. The Tsunfj-ahlh are distinguished

    by a yellow girdle, and the Gioro by a red one; when

    degraded, the former take a red, the latter a carnation girdle.

    There are altogether twelve degrees of rank in the Tsung-shih^

    and consequently some of the distant kindred are reduced to

    straitened circumstances. They are shut out from useful careers,

    and generally exhibit the evils ensuent upon the system of education

    and surveillance adopted toward them, in their low,

    vicious pursuits, and cringing imbecility of character. Tlie sum

    of $133 is allowed when they marry, and $150 to defray funeral

    expenses, vvhich induces some of them to maltreat their wives

    to death, in order to receive the allowance and dowry as often

    as possible.

    The titular nobility of the Empire, as a whole, is a body

    whose members are without power, land, wealth, office, or influence,

    in virtue of their honors ; some of them are more or less

    hereditary, but the whole system has been so devised, and the

    designations so conferred, as to tickle the vanity of those who

    receive them, without granting them any real power. The titles

    are not derived from landed estates, but the rank is siinply

    designated in addition to the name, and it has been a question

    of some difficulty how to translate them. For instance, the

    title Kung tsin-vKing literally means the ‘ Reverent Kindred

    Prince,’ and should be translated Prince Kung, not Prince of

    Kung, which conveys the im})ression to a foreign reader that

    Kung is an appanage instead of an epithet The twelve orders of nobility are conferred solely on the members of the imperial house and clan : 1. Tsin icamj, ‘ kindred prince,’ i.e., prince of the blood, conferred usnallj on his

    Majesty’s brothers or sons. 2. K’nm. irang, or ‘ prince of a

    princedom ;

    ‘ the eldest sons of the princes of these two degrees

    take a definite rank during their father’s lifetime, but the collateral

    branches descend in precedence as the generations are

    more and more remote from the direct imperial line, until at

    last the person is simply a member of the imperial clan. These

    two ranks were termed regulus by the Jesuit writers, and each

    son of an Emperor enters one or other as he becomes of

    age. The highest princes receive a stipend of about ^13,300,

    some rations, and a retinue of three hundred and sixty servants,

    altogether making an annual tax on the state of $75,000 to

    $90,000. The second receive half that sum, and inferior grades

    in a decreasing ratio, down to the simple members, who each

    get four dollars a month and rations. 3 and -i. BeUe and

    Beitse, or princes of and in collateral branches. The Sth to

    8th are dukes, called Guard i;m and Sustaining, with two subordinate

    grades not entitled to enter the court on state occasions.

    The 9th to 12th ranks are nobles, or rather generals, in line of

    descent. The number of persons in the lower ranks is very

    great. Few of these men hold offices at the capital, and still

    more rarely are they placed in responsible situations in the

    provinces, but the government of Manchuria is chiefly in their

    hands.

    Besides these are the five ancient orders of nobility, Ining,

    liao,2_^(‘li,Uz’, and nan, usually rendered duke, count, viscount,

    baron, and baronet, which are conferred without distinction on

    Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, both civil and military, and as

    such are highly prized by their recipients as marks of honor.

    The three first take precedence of the highest untitled civilians,

    but an appointment to most of the high offices in the country

    carries with it an honorary title. The direct descendant of

    Confucius is called Yoi-f^/ilng humj, ‘ the Ever-sacred duke,’

    and of Koxinga Ilai-ching hmg, or ‘ Sea-quelling duke ;’ these

    two arc the only perpetual titles among the Chinese, but among

    the Manchus, the chiefs of eight families which aided in settling the crown in the Gioro line were made hereditary princes,

    LIFE IN THE PALACE. 407

    who are collectively called princes of the iron crown. Besides

    the above-mentioned, there are others, which are deemed even

    more honorable, either from their rarity or peculiar privileges,

    and answer to membership of the various orders of the Garter,

    Golden Fleece, Bath, etc , in Europe.

    The internal arrangements of the court are modelled somewhat

    after those of the Boards, the general supervision being

    under the direction of the Nid-wufa, composed of a president

    and six assessors, under whom are seven subordinate departments.

    It is the duty of these officers to attend upon the Emperor

    and Empress at sacrifices, and conduct the ladies of the

    harem to and from the palace ; they oversee the households of

    the sons of the Emperor, and direct, under his Majestj’, everything

    belonging to the palace and whatever appertains to its

    supplies and the care of the imperial guard. The seven departments

    are arranged so as to bear no little resemblance to a

    miniature state : one supplies food and raiment ; a second is

    for defence, to regulate the body-guard when the Emperor

    travels; the third attends to the etiquette the members of this

    great family must observe toward each other, and brings forward

    the inmates of the harem when the Emperor, seated in

    the inner hall of audience, receives their homage, led by the

    Empress herself ; a fourth department selects ladies to fill the

    harem, and collects the revenue from crown lands ; a fifth

    superintends all repairs necessary in the palace, and sees that

    the streets of the city be cleared whenever the Emperor, Erapress,

    or any of the women or children in the palace wish to go

    out ; a sixth department has in charge the herds and fiocks of

    the Emperor ; and tlie last is a court for punishing the crimes

    of soldiers, eunuchs, and ethers attached to the palace.

    The Emperor ought to have three thousand eunuchs, but the

    actual number is rather less than two thousand, who perform

    the work of the household. His sons and grandsons are alloM^ed

    from thirty down to four, while the iron-crown princes and imperial

    sons-in-law have twenty or thirty ; all these nobles are

    constrained to employ some eunuchs in their establishments, if

    not able to maintain the full quota, for show. Most of this

    class are compelled to submit to mutilation by tlieir parents

    before the age of eight (and not always from povei-ty), as it

    usually insures a livelihood. Some take to this condition from

    motives of laziness and the high duties falling to their share if

    they behave themselves. From very ancient times certain

    criminals have been punished by castration. There is a separate

    control for the due efficiency of these servants of the court,

    who are divided into forty-eight classes ; durhig the present

    dynasty they have never caused trouble. The highest pay any

    of them receive is twelve taels a month.

    The number of females attached to the harem is not accurately

    known ; all of them are under the nominal direction

    of the Empress. Every third year his Majesty reviews the

    daughters of the IVIanchu officers over twelve years of age, and

    chooses such as he pleases for concubines ; there are oidy seven

    legal concubines, but an unlimited mnuber of illegal. The latter

    are restored to li])erty when they reach the age of twentyfive,

    unless they have borne cliildren to his Majest}-. It is generally

    considered an advantage to a family to have a daughter

    in the harem, especially by the Manchus, who endeavor to rise

    by this backstairs influence.’ To the poor Avomen themselves

    it is a monotonous, weary life of intriguing unrest. As soon as

    one enters the palace she bids final adieu to all her male relatives,

    and rarely sees her female friends ; the eunnchs \vlio

    take care of her are her chief channels of communication with

    the outer world. It may be added, however, that the comforts

    and influence of her condition are vastly superior to those of

    Hindu females.

    In the forty-eighth volume of the Hiral Tioi, from whicii

    work most of the details in this chapter are obtained, is an account

    of the snpplies furnished his Majesty and the court.

    There should daily be placed befoi-o the Emperor thirty pounds

    of meat in a basin and seven pounds boiled into soup ; hog’s

    fat and butter, of each one and one-third pound ; two sheep,

    two fowls, and two ducks, the milk of eighty cows, and seventy-

    ‘ Chinese licpositorp, Vol. XIV., !>. 521; N. C. Br. It. As. Soc. Jovriuil,

    x\o. XI.

    positio:n” of the empress and ladies. 409

    five parcels of tea. Her Majesty receives twenty-one pounds

    of meat in platters and thirteen pounds boiled with vegetables

    ;

    one fowl, one duck, twelve pitchers of watei’, the milk of

    twenty-iive cows, and ten parcels of tea. Her maids and the

    3oncubines receive their rations according to a regular fare.

    The Empress-dowager is the most important subject within

    the palace, and his Majesty does homage at frequent intervals,

    !)y making the highest ceremony of nine prostrations before

    her. When the widow of Iviaking reached the age of sixty in

    1S3<), many honors were conferred l)y the Emperor. An extract

    from the ordinance issued on this festival will exhibit the

    regard paid her by the sovereign

    :

    ” Our extensive dominions have enjoyed the utmost prosperity

    under the shelter of a glorious and enduring state of felicity.

    Our exalted race has become most illustrious under the protection

    of that honored relative to whom the whole court looks up.

    To her happiness, already unalloyed, the highest degree of

    felicity has been superadded, causing joy and gladness to every

    inmate of the Six Palaces. The grand ceremonies of the occasion

    shall exceed in splendor the utmost recpiirements of the

    ancients in regard to the human relations, calling ft)rth the gratulation

    of the whole Em})ire. It is indispensable that the observances

    of the occasion sliould be of an exceedingly unusual

    nature, in older that our reverence for our august parent and

    care of her may both be equally and gloriously displayed. . . .

    … In the first month of the present winter occurs the sixtieth

    anniversary of her Majesty’s sacred natal day. At the opening

    of the happy period, the sun and moon shed their united genial

    influences on it. When commencing anew the revolution of

    the sexagenary cycle, the honor thereof adds increase to her

    felicity. Looking upward and Ijeholding her glory, Ave repeat

    our gratulations, and announce the event to Heaven, to Earth, to

    our ancestors, and to the patron gods of the Empire. On the

    nineteenth day of the tenth moon in the fifteenth year of Taukwang,

    we will conduct the princes, the nobles, and all the high

    officers, both rivil and military, into the presence of the great

    Empress, benign and dignified, universally placid, thoi-oughly

    virtuous, tran(piil and self-collected, in favors unbounded ; and

    we will then present our congratulations on the glad occasion,

    the anniversary of her natal day. The occasion yields a happiness

    equal to what is enjoyed by goddesses in heaven ; and

    while announcing it to the gods and to our people, we will

    tender to her blessings unbounded.”

    Besides the usual tokens of favor, such as rations to soldiers, pardons, promotions, advances in official rank, etc., it was ordered in the eleventh article, ” That every perfectly filial son or obedient grandson, every upright husband or chaste wife, upon proofs being brought forward, shall have a monument erected, with an inscription in his or her honor.”” Soldiers who had reached the age of ninety or one hundred received money to erect an honorary portal, and tombs, temples, bridges, and roads were ordered to be repaired ; but how many of these ” exceedingly great and special favors ” were actually carried into effect cannot be stated.’

    For the defence and escort of the Emperor and his palaces

    there are select bodies of troops, which are stationed within the

    Hwang-ching and the capital and at the various cantonments

    near the city. The Bannermen form three separate corps, each

    containing the hereditaiy troops of Manchu, Mongol, and enrolled

    Chinese, organized at the beginning of the dynasty under

    eight standards. Their flags are ti’iangular, a plain yellow,

    white, red, and blue for troops in the left wing, and the same

    bordered with a narrow stripe of another color for troops in the

    rio-ht wino;. All the families of these soldiers remain in the

    corps into which they were born.

    Two special forces are selected, one named the Vanguard

    Division, the other the Flank Division, from the Manchu and

    Mongol Bannermen ; these guard the Forbidden City, form his

    Majesty’s escort when he goes out, and number respectively

    about one thousand five hundred and fifteen thousand men.

    For the preservation of the peace of the capital a force of upward

    of twenty thousand, called the Infantry Division, or Gendarmerie,

    is stationed in and around the walls, in addition to

    the palace forces. Besides these a cadet corps of five hundred

    Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 576.

    EMPEllOR’S GUARD AND DIVISIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 411

    young men nrnied with l)Ows and spears, two battalions with firearms, and four larger battalions of eight hundred and seventy-five men each, di’iiled in rifle-practice, are relied on to aid the Gendarmerie and Vanguard in case of danger. Whenever the One Man goes out of the palace gate to cross the city, the streets through which he passes aie screened with matting, to keep off the crowds as well as diminish the risks of his person.

    The result has been that few of the citizens have ever seen their sovereign’s face during the last two hundred years. The young Emperor Tungchi obtained great favor among them on one occasion of his return from the Temple of Heaven by ordering the screen of mats to be removed so that he and his people could see each other.

    Lender the Emperor is the whole body of the people, a great

    family bound implicitly to obey his will as being that of heaven,

    and possessing no right or property jper se ; in fact, having

    nothing but what has been derived from or may at any time be

    reclaimed by him. The greatness of this family, and the absence

    of an entailed aristocracy to hold its members or their

    lands in serfdom, have been partial safeguards against excess

    of oppression. Liberty is unknown among the people ; there is

    not even a word for it in the language. No acknowledgment

    on the part of the sovereign of certain well-understood rights

    belonging to the people has ever been required, and is not

    likely to be demanded or given by either party until the Gospel

    shall teach them their respective rights and duties. Emigration abroad, and even removal from one part of the Empire to another, are prohibited or restrained by old laws, but at present no real obstacle exists to changing one’s place of residence or occupation. Notwithstanding the fact that Chinese society is so homogeneous when considered as distinct from the sovereign, inequalities of many kinds are constantly met with, some growing out of birth or property, others out of occupation or merit, but most of them derived from official rank. There is no caste as in India, though the attempt to introduce the miserable system was vainly made by Wan-ti about a.d. 590. The ancient distinctions of the Chinese into scholars, agriculturists, artisans, and traders is far superior to that of Zoroaster into priests, warriors, agriculturists, and artisans ; a significant index of the different polities of eastern and western x\siatic nations is contained in this early quaternary division, and the superiority of the Chinese in its democratic element is also noticeable. There are local prejudices against associating with some portions of the community, thougly the people thus shut out are not remnants of old castes.

    \The tan/da, or boat-people, at Canton form a class in some respects beneath the other portions of the community, and have many customs peculiar to themselves.

    At Mngpo there is a degraded set called to viin, amounting to nearly three thousand persons, with whom the people will not associate. The men are not allowed to enter the examinations or follow an honorable calling, but are play-actors, musicians, or sedan-bearers ; the women are match-makers or female barbers and are obliged to wear a peculiar dress, and usually go abroad carrying a bundle wrapped in a checkered handkerchief.

    The tanhia at Canton also wear a similar handkerchief on their head, and do not cramp their fee^ The to iidn are supposed to be descendants of the Kin, who held northern China in a.d.1100, or of native traitors who aided the Japanese, in 1555-1563, in their descent upon Chehkiang. The tanh’ui came from some of the Miaotsz’ tribes so early that their origin is unknown.’

    The modern classifications of the people, recognized, however, more by law than custom, are various and comprehensive. First, natives and aliens ; the latter include the unsubdued mountaineers and aboriginal tribes living in various parts, races of boat-people on the coasts, and all foreigners residing within the Empire, each of whom are subject to particular laws. Second, conquerors and conquered ; having reference almost entirely to a prohibition of intermarriages between Manchus arid Chinese. Third, freemen and slaves; every native is allowed to pm-chase slaves and retain their children in servitude, and free persons sometimes forfeit their freedom on account of their crimes, or mortgage themselves into bondage. Fourth, the

    ‘ Missionary Chronicle, Vol. XIV., p. 324; Hardy, Manual of BttddJdsm, pC9 ; Heereii, Asiatic Nations, Vol. I., p. 240.

    SLAVES AXD PRIVILEGED CLASSES. 413

    iioiioi’able and the mean, m’Iio cannot intermarry without the former forfeiting their privileges; the latter comprise, besides aliens and slaves, criminals, executioners, police-runners, actors, jugglers, beggars, and all other vagrant or vile persons, who are in general required to pursue for three generations some honorable and useful employment before they are eligible to enter the literary examinations. These four divisions extend over the whole body of the people, but really affect only a small minority.

    It is worthy of note how few have been the slaves in China, and how easy has been their condition in comparison with what it was in Greece and Rome. / Owing chiefly to the prevalence of education in the liberal principles of the Four Books, China has been saved from this disintegrating element. The proportion of slaves to freemen cannot be stated, but the former have never attracted notice by their numbers nor excited dread by their restiveness^ Girls are more readily sold than boys ; at Peking a healthy girl under twelve years brings from thirty to fifty taels, rising to two hundred and fifty or three hundred for one of seventeen to eighteen years old. In times of famine orphans or needy children are exposed for sale at the price of a few cash.’

    There are also eight privileged classes, of which the privileges of imperial blood and connections and that of nobility are the only ones really available ; this privilege affects merely’ the punishment of offenders belonging to either of the eight classes. The privilege of imperial blood is extended to all the blood relations of the Emperor, all those of the Empress-mother and grandmother within four degrees, of the Empress within three, and of the consort of the crown prince within two. Privileged noblemen comprise all officers of the first rank, all of the second holding office, and all of the third whose office confers a command.

    These ranks are distinct from titles of nobility, and are much thought of by officers as honorary distinctions. There are nine, each distinguished by a different colored ball placed on the apex of the cap, by a peculiar emblazonry of a bird for civilians and a beast for military officers on the breast, and a different clasp to the girdle.

    ‘ M. Ed. Biot furnished a good account to the Journal Asiatique (3d series, Vol. III.) of the legal condition of slaves in China ; see also Chinese RepoHVtory^ Vol. XVIII., pp. 347-003, and passim; Archdeacon Gray’s China.

    Civilians of the first rank wear a precious ruby or transparent red stone; a Manchurian crane is embroidered on the back and breast of the robe, while the girdle clasp is jade set in rubies; military men have a unicorn, their buttons and clasps being the same as civilians.

    Civilians of the second rank wear a red coral button, a robe

    embroidered with a golden pheasant, and a girdle clasp of gold

    set in rubies ; the lion of India is emblazoned on the military.

    Civilians of the third rank carry a sapphire and one-eyed

    peacock’s feather, a robe with a peacock worked on the breast,

    and a clasp of worked gold ; military officers have a leopard.

    Different Styles of Official Caps.

    Civilians of the fourth rank are distinguished by a blue opaque stone, a wild goose on the breast, and a clasp of worked gold with a silver button ; military officers carry a tiger in place of the embroidered wild goose.

    Civilians of the fifth rank are denoted by a crystal button, a silver pheasant on the breast, and a clasp of plain gold with a silver button ; the bear is the escutcheon of military men.

    Civilians of the sixth rank wear an opaque white shell button, a blue plume, an egret worked on the breast, and a mother of pearl clasp; military men wear a tiger-cat.

    Civilians of the seventh rank have a plain gold button, a mandarin duck on the breast, and a clasp of silver; a mottled bear designates the military, as it also does in the last rank.

    EIGHT HONOUAUY RANKS. 415

    The eighth rank wear a worked gokl button, a quail on the breast, and a clasp of clear horn : military men have a seal. The ninth rank are distinguished by a worked silver button, a long-tailed jay on the breast, and a clasp of buffalo’s horn ; military men are marked by a rhinoceros embroidered on the robe. All under the ninth can embroider the oriole on their breasts, and unofficial Ilanlin take the egret.

    The mass of people show their democratic tendencies in many ways, some of them conservative and others disorganizing. They form themselves into clans, guilds, societies, professions, and communities, all of which assist them in maintaining their rights, and give a power to public opinion it would not otherwise possess. Legally, every subject is allowed access to the magistrates, secured protection from oppression, and can appeal to the higher courts, but these privileges are of little avail if he is poor or unknown. ( He is too deeply imbued with fear and too ignorant of his rights to think of organized resistance ; his mental independence has been destroyed, his search after truth paralyzed, his enterprise checked, and his whole efforts directed into two channels, viz., labor for bread and study for office.

    The people of a village, for instance, will not be quietly robbed of the fruits of their industry ; but every individual in it niay suffer multiplied insults, oppressions, and cruelties, without thinking of combining with his fellows to resist. Property is held by a tolerably secure tenure, but almost every other right and privilege is shamefully trampled oiA

    Although there is nominally no deliberative or advisatory body in the Chinese government, and nothing really analogous to a congress, parliament, or tiersetat, still necessity and law compel the Emperor to consult and advise with the heads of tribunals. There are two imperial councils, which are the organs of communication between the head and the body politic ; these are the Cabinet, or Imperial Chancery, and the Council of State ; both of them partake of a deliberative character, but the first has the least power. Subordinate to these two councils are the administrative parts of the supreme government, consisting of the six Boards, the Colonial Office, Censorate, Courts of Representation and Appeal, and the Imperial Academy; making in all thirteen principal departments, each of which will require a short description. It need hardly be added that there is nothing like an elective body in any part of the system ; such a feature would be almost as incongruous to a Chinese as the election of a father by his family.

    1. The Nui Kon, or Cabinet, sometimes called the Grand Secretariat,

    consists of iowv ta]ik)Ji-sz\ or principal, and two hiehpa/i

    ta Jdoh-sz\ or ‘joint assistant chancellors,’ half of them Manchus

    and half Chinese. Their duties, according to the Imperial

    Statutes, are to ” deliberate on the government of the Empire,

    proclaim abroad the imperial pleasure, regulate the canons

    of state, together with the whole administration of the great

    balance of power, thus aiding the Emperor in directing the

    affairs of state.” Subordinate to these six chancellors are six

    grades of officers, amounting in all to upward of two hundred

    persons, of whom more than half are Manchus. Under the six

    chancellors are ten assistants, called hloh-sz\ ‘ learned scholars ;’

    some of the sixteen are constantly absent in the provinces or

    colonies, when their places are supplied by substitutes. What in other countries is performed by one person as prime minister, is in China performed by the four chancellors, of whom the first in the list is usually considered to be the premier, though perhaps the must influential man and the real leader of government holds another station.

    The most prominent daily business of the Cabinet is to receive imperial edicts and rescripts, present memorials, lay before his Majesty the affairs of the Empire, procure his instructions thereon, and forward them to the appropriate office to be copied and promulgated. In order to expedite business in court, it is the custom, after the ministers have read and formed an opinion upon each document, to fasten a slip of paper at the foot—or more than one if elective answers are to be given—and thus present the document to his Majesty, in the presence chamber, who, with a stroke of his pencil on the answer he chooses, decides its fate. The papers, having been examined and arranged, are submitted to the sovereign at daylight on the following morning ; one of the six Manchu ///o/z-.s*.?’ first reads each document and hands it over to one of the four Chinese ]uoh-sz\ who inscribes the answer dictated by the sovereign, or hands it to him to perform that duty with the vermilion pencil.

    THE NTTI KOII, OR CABIXET. 417

    By this arrangement a large amount of business can be summarily despatched; but it is also evident that much depends upon the manner in which the answer written upon the slip is drawn up, as to the reception or rejection of the paper, though care has been taken in this particular by requiring that codicils be prepared showing the reasons for each answer. The appointment, removal, and degradation of all officers throughout his vast aominions, orders respecting the apportionment or remittal of the revenue and taxes, disposition of the army, regulation of the nomadic tribes—in short, all concerns, from the highest appointments and changes down to petty police cases of crime, are in this way brought to the notice and action of the Emperor.

    Besides these daily duties there are additional functions devolving

    upon the members of the Cabinet, who are likewise all

    attached to other bureaus, such as presiding on all state occasions

    and sacrifices, coronations, reception of embassies, etc. ;

    these duties are fulfilled by the ten assistant hk>h-sz\ who are

    all vice-presidents of the Board of Rites. They are the keepers

    of the twenty-five seals of government, each of which is of a

    different form and used for different and special purposes,

    according to the custom of orientals, who place so much de-

    Tj)endence upon the seal for vouching for* the authenticity of a

    document.’ Attached to the Cabinet are ten subordinate offices,

    one of which is for translating documents into the various

    Vmguages found in the Empire. The higher members of the

    Cabinet are familiarly called h>h lao, i.e., elders of the councilroom,

    from which the word colao, often met with in old books

    upon China, is derived.”

    ‘ Chinese Chrestmnnthy. Chap. XVII., Sec. 4, p. 570.

    ^ A still more common designation for officers of every rank in the employ of the Chinese government has not so good a parentage ; this is the word iiKtiidarin, derived from the Portuguese maiidar, to command, and indiscriminately applied by foreigners to every grade, from a premier to a tide-waiter; it is not needed in English as a general term for officers, and ought to be disiised, moreover, from its tendency to convey the impression that they are in some way unlike similar officials in other lands. Compare Notes and Queries on Chihd (uid Jdjmn, Vol. III., p. 12.

    2. The KiCN-Ki Chu, Council of State or General _Coimci], was organized about 1730, butjias now become the most influential body in the governmentj and^ though quite unlike in its construction, corresponds to the 7mnidry of western nations more than does any other branch of the Chinese system. It can be composed of any grandees, as princes of the blood, chancellors, presidents and vice-presidents of the Six Boards, and chief officers of all the other metropolitan courts. They are ^selected at the Emperor’s pleasure^ and unitedly called J^great ministers directing the machinery of the army “—the army being here taken to signify the nation. Its duties are ” to write imperial edicts and decisions, and determine such things as are of importance to the army and nation, in order to aid the sovereign in regulating the machinery of affairs.” The number of members of the General Council probably varies according to his Majesty’s pleasure, for no list of them is given in the Bed Bool’ • but latterly their munber has been four, two of each nationality, and Prince Kung as the president. This body is one of the mainsprings of the government, and its composition shows the tendency of the national councils and polity.

    The members of the General Council assemble daily in the

    Forbidden Palace, between five and six in the morning ; when

    summoned by his Majesty into the council-chamber they sit

    upon mats or low cushions, no person being permitted to sit on

    chairs in the real or supposed presence of the Emperor. His

    Majesty’s commands being written down by them, are, if public,

    transmitted to the Iimer Council to be promulgated ; but

    on any matter requiring secrecy or expedition, a despatch is

    forthwith made up and sent under cover to the Board of War,

    to be forwarded. In all important consultations or trials this

    Council, either alone or in connectipji^with the appropriate

    court, is called in ; and in time of war it is formed intg^a committee

    of ways and means. Lists of ofiicers entitled to promotion

    are kept by it, and the names of proper persons to supply

    vacancies furnished the Emperor, Many of the residents in

    the colonies ai-e members of the Council, and communicate

    directly with his Majesty through it, and receive allowances

    and gifts with great formality from the throne—a device of

    THE KIUN-Ki, OR GENERAL COUNCIL. 419

    statecraft designed to maintain an awe of the imperial character and name as much as possible among the mixed races under them.

    The General Council fills an important station in the system, and tends greatly to consolidate the various branches of government, facilitating their harmonious action as well as supplying the deficiencies of an imbecile, or restraining the acts of a tyrannical monarch. The statutes speak of various record books, both public and secret, kept by the members for noting down the opinions of his Majesty, and add that there are no fixed times for audiences, one or more sessions being held daily, according to the exigencies of the state. Besides these functions, its members are further charged with certain literary matters, and three subordinate offices are attached to the Council for their preparation. One is for drawing up narratives of important transactions—a few of those relating to the wars and negotiations with foreigners since 1839 would be of much interest now ; a second is for translating documents ; and the third, entitled ” an office for observing that imperial edicts are carried into effect,” must be at times rather an arduous task, though probably its responsibility ends when the despatch goes forward.

    An office with this title shows that the Chinese government, with all its business-like arrangements, is still an Asiatic one.* The duties of these supreme councils are general, comprising matters relating to all departments of the government, and serving to connect the head of the state with the subordinate bodies, not only at the capital, but throughout the provinces, so that he can, and probably does to a very great degree, thereby maintain a general acquaintance with what is clone in all parts, and sooner rectify disorders and malpractices. The rivalry between their members, and the dislike entertained by the Chinese and Manchus composing them, cause, no doubt, some trouble to the Emperor ; but this has some effect in thwarting conspiracies and intrigues. It must not be supposed, however, that every high officer in the Chinese government is wholly unprincipled, venal, and intriguing; most of them desire to serve and maintain their country. The personal character and knowledge of the monarch has much to do with the efficiency of his government, and the guidance of its affairs demands constant oversight.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 138. Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 573.

    If he allows his ministers to conduct their trusts without restraint, they soon engross and misuse this power for selfish ends. In natural sequence every branch feels the fatal laxity, while its functionaries lose no time in imitating their superiors.

    This was the case during the reign of Ilienfung, but matters have much improved under the regency since 18C1. In ordinary times, the daily hiterconrse between the Emperor of China and his ministers presents very similar features of confidence, courtesy, and esteem between them as those seen in western lands.

    The King Pac, i.e.^

    ‘ Metmpol’diui Itejjoiier^ usually called the PcJdng Gazette, is compiled from the papers presented before the General Council, and constitutes the principal source of information available to the people for ascertaining what is going on in the Empire. Every morning ample extracts from the papers decided upon or examined by the Emperor, including his own orders and rescrij^ts, are placarded upon boards in a court of the palace, and form the materials for the aimals of government and the history of the Empire. Couriers are despatched to all parts of the land, carrying copies of these papers to the high provincial officers; certain persons are also permitted to print these documents, but always without note or change, and circulate them at their own charges to their customers.

    This is the Peking Gazette, and such the mode of its compilation. It is simply a record of official acts, promotions, decrees, and sentences, without any editorial comments or explanations; and as such of great value in understanding the policy of government.

    It is very generally read and discussed by educated people in cities, and tends to keep them more acquainted with the character and proceedings of their rulers than ever the Itomans were of their sovereigns and Senate. In the provinces thousands of persons find employment by copying and abridging the Gazette for readers who cannot afford to purchase the complete edition.’

    ‘ Fraser’s Magazine. February, 1873. China Review, Vol. III., p. 13.

    Note on the Condition and Government of the Chinese Empire in 1849. By T F. Wade. Hongkong, 1850. Translations of several years of the Oazette have appeared since 1S72, reprinted from the columns of the North China Herald.

    THE PEKING GAZETTE AND SIX BOARDS. 421

    The principal executive Ixxlies uiulor these two Councils are the Lali Pa, or ‘ Six Boards/ which were modelled on much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head of each Board are two presidents, called sJi<iti(j->ifi.i(, and foiTr vicepresidentsT called HhUaug^ alternately a Manchu and a Chinese; and over three of them—those of lievenue, War, and Punishment—are placed superintendents, who are frequently members of the Cabinet ; sometimes the president of one Board is superintendent of another. There a.re three subordinate grades of officers in each Board, who may be called directors, undersecretaries, and controllers, with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate departments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar business coming under the cognizance of the Board, the whole being arranged and subordinated in the most business-like style. The detail of all the departments in the general and provincial governments is regulated in the same manner. For instance, each Board” has a different style of envelope for its despatches, and the papers in the offices are filed away in them.

    3. The LiBu, or Board of Civil Office, ” has the government and direction of all the various officers in the civil service of the Empire, and thereby it assists the Emperor to rule all people ; ” these duties are further defined as hicluding ” whatever appertains to the plans of selecting rank and gradation, to the rules of determining degradation and promotion, to the ordinances of granting investitures and rewards, and the laws for fixing schedules and furloughs, that the civil service may be supplied.” Civilians arc presented to the Emperor, and all civil and literary officers throughout the Empire distributed by this Board. The great power apparently thus entrusted is shared by the two preceding, whose members are made advisory overseers of the highest appointments, while the provincial authorities put men in vacant posts as fast as they are needed. The danger arising from the arrangement is noticed by Biot’ as having early attracted criticism.

    ‘ Esaai mr P Instruction en Chine, jip. 540-589.

    This Board is subdivided into four bureaus. The first at tends to the distinctions, precedence, promotion, exchanging, etc., of officers. The second investigates their merits and worthiness to be recorded and advanced, or contrariwise ; ascertains the character each officer bears and the manner in which he fulfils his duties, and prescribes his fnrlonghs. The third jegnlates retirement from office on account of mourning or filial duties, and supervises the registration of official names; it is through this bureau that Hwang Xgan-tung, the Governor of Ivwangtung, was degraded in 1846 for not resigning his office on the death of his mother. The fourth regulates the distribution of titles, patents, and posthumous honors. The Chinese is the only government that ennobles ancestors for the merits of their descendants; the custom arose out of the worship paid them, in which the rites arc proportionate to the rank of the deceased, not of the survivor ; and if the deceased parent or grandparent were connnoners, they receive proper titles in consequence of the elevation of their son or grandson. This custom is not a trick of state to get money, for commoners cannot buy these posthumous titles ; they can only buy nominal titles for themselves. The usage, however, offers an unexpected illustration of the remark of Job, ” His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not.”

    4. The Hu Bu, or Board of Revenue, ” directs the territorial government of the Empire, and keeps the lists of population in order to aid the Emperor in nourishing all people ; whatever appertains to the regulations for levying and collecting duties and taxes, to the plans for distributing salaries and allowances, to the rates for receipts and disbursements at the gi*anaries and treasuries, and to the rights for transporting by land and water are reported to this Board, that sufficient supplies for the country may be provided.” Besides these duties, it obtains the admeasurement of all lands in the Empire, and proportions taxes and conscriptions, according to the divisions, population, etc., regulates the expenditure, and ascertains the latitude and longitude of places. One minor office prepares lists of all the Manchu girls fit to be introduced into the palace for selection as inmates of the harem, a duty wdiich is enjoined on it because the allowances, outfits, and positions of these womou

    BOARDS OF REVENUE AND KITES. 423

    come within its control. The injudicious mode of collecting revenue common under the Persian and Syrian kings, by which the sums obtained from single cities and provinces were apportioned among the royal family and favorites, and carried directly to them, has never been practised by the Chinese, there are fourteen subordinate departments to attend to the receipt of the revenue from each of the provinces, each of which corresponds with the treasury department in its respective province. The revenue being paid in sundry ways and articles, as money, grain, manufactures, etc., the receipt and distribution of the various articles require a large force of assistants.

    This Board is moreover a court of appeal on disputes respecting propertyj^and superintends the mint in each province; one bureau is called the ” great ministers of the Three Treasuries,” viz., of metals, silks and dye-stuffs, and stationery.

    5. The Li Bu, or Board of Rites, ” examines and directs concerning the performance of the five kinds of ritual observances, and makes proclamation thereof to the whole Empire, thus aiding the Emperor in guiding all people. Whatever appertains to the ordinances for regulating precedence and literary distinctions, to the canons for maintaining; religious honor and fidelity, to the orders respecting intercourse and tribute, and to the forms of giving banquets and granting bounties, are reported to this Poard in order to promote national education.”

    The five classes of rites are defined to be those of a propitious and those of a felicitous nature, military and hospitable rites, and tliosj of an infelicitous nature. Among the subordinate departments is that of ceremonial forms, which ” has the regulation of the etiquette to be observed at court on all occasions, on congratulatory attendances, in the performance of official duties, etc. ; also the regulation of dresses, caps, etc. ; as to the figure, size, color, and nature of their fabrics and ornaments, of carriages and riding accoutrements, their form, etc., with the number of followers and insignia of rank. It has also the direction of the entire ceremonial of personal intercourse between the various ranks or peers, minutely defining the number of bows and degree of attention which each is to pay to the other when meeting in official capacities, according as they are on terms of equality or otherwise. It has also to direct the forms of their written official intercourse, including those to be observed in addresses to and from foreign states. The regulation of the literary examinations, the imnjber of the graduates the distinction of their classes, the fornisj)f their jelection, and the privileges of successful candidates, with the establishment of governmental schools and academies, are all under this department.”

    Another office superintends the rites to be observed in worshipping deities and spirits of departed monarchs, sages, and worthies, and in ” saving the sun and moon ” when eclipsed.

    The third, called ” iiost and guest office,” looks after tribute and tribute-bearers, ar^d takes the whole management of foreign embassies, supplying not only provisions, but translators, and ordering the mode of intercourse between China and other states. The fourth oversees the supplial of food for banquets and sacrifices. The details of all the multifarious ritual duties of this Board occupy fourteen volumes of the Statutes. ” Truly nothing is without its ceremonies,” as Confucius taught, and no nation has paid so much attention to them in the ordering of its government as the Chinese. The Book of Rites is the foundation of ceremonies and the infallible standard as to their meaning; the importance attached to them has elevated etiquette and I’itualism into a kind of crystallizing force which has molded Chinese character in many ways.

    Connected with the Board of Rites is a Board of Music, containing an indefinite number of officers whose duties ” are to study the principles of harmony and melody, to compose musical pieces’ and form instruments proper to play them, and then suit both to the various occasions on which they are required.” Kor are the gi*aces of posture-making neglected by these ceremony-mongers ; but it may with tinith be said, that if no other nation ever had a Board of Music, and required so much official music as the Chinese, certaiidy none ever had less real melody.

    THE BING BU, OR BOARD OF WAR. 425

    6. The Bing Bu, or Board of War, “has the duty of aiding the sovereign to protect the people by the direction of all military affairs in the metropolis and the province Sj^ and to regulate the hinge of the state upon the reports received from the various departments regarding deprivation of, or appointment to, office ; succession to, or creation of, hereditary military rank ; postal or courier arrangements ; examination and selection of the deserving, and accuracy of returns.”* The navy is also under the control of this Board. The management of the post is confided to a special department, and the transmission of official despatches is performed with great efficiency and regularity. A minor bureau of the courier office is called ” the office for the announcement of victories,” which, from a recital of its duties, appears to he rather a grande vlfes-se, whose couriers should hasten as if they announced a victory.

    To enable this Board of War to discharge its duties, they are apportioned under four s~\ or bureaus, severally attending to promotion for various reasons : to the regulation of the distribution of rewards and punishments, inspection of troops and issue of general orders, answering to an adjutant-general’s department; to the supply and distribution of horses for the cavalry; and, lastly, to the examination of candidates, preparation of estimates and rosters, with all the details connected with equipments and ammunition. The conception of all government with the Manchus being military and not civil, they have developed this board more than was the case during the last dynasty, the possessions in Central Asia having drawn greatly on their resources and prowess.

    The Household troops and city Gendarmerie have already been noticed ; their control is vested in the JVui-zric F’u, and the oversight of all the Bannermen in the Empire vests in the metropolitan office of the Tu-tun/j, or Captains-general, of whom there are twenty-four, one to every banner of each race. The Board of War has no control directly over this large portion of the Chinese army, and as the direction of the land and sea forces in each province is entrusted in a great degree to the local authorities, its duties are really more circumscribed than one would at first imagine. The singular subordination of military to civil power, which has ever distinguished the Chinese polity, makes the study of the army, as at present constituted, a very interesting feature of the national history ; fur while it has often proved inefficient to repress insurrection and defend the people against brigandage, it has never been used to destroy their institutions. In times of internal commotion the national soldiers have usually been loyal to their flag, though it must be confessed that discipline within the ranks is not so perfect as to prevent the soldiers from occasionally harassing and robbing those whom they are set to protect.’

    7. The Xing Bu, or Board of Punishments, ” has the government

    and direction of punishments throughout the Empire, for

    the purpose of aiding the sovereign in cori-ecting all people.

    Whatever appertains to measures of applying the laws with

    leniency or severity, to the task of hearing evidence and giving

    decisions, to the rights of granting pardons, reprieves, or otherwise,

    and to the rate of fines and interest, are all reported to

    this Board, to aid in giving dignity to national manners.” The

    Hing Pu partakes of the nature of both a criminal and civil

    court ; its officers usually meet with those of the Censorate and

    Tali Sz’, the three forming the San Fall 8z\ or ‘ Three Law

    Chambers,’ which decide on capital cases brought before them.

    In the autumn these three unite with members from six other

    courts, forming collectively a Court of Errors, to revise the decisions

    of the provincial judges before reporting them to his

    Majesty. These precautions are taken to prevent injustice

    when life is involved, and the system shows an endeavor to secure

    a full and impartial consideration for all capital cases,

    which, although it may signally fail of its full effect, does the

    rulers high credit, when the small value set upon life generally

    by Asiatic governments is considered. These bodies are expected

    to conform their decisions to the law, nor are they permitted

    to cite the Emperor’s own decisions as precedents, without

    the law on these decisions has been expressly entered as a

    supplementaiy clause in the code.

    It also belongs to sub-officers in the Board of Punishments to

    record all his Majesty’s decisions upon appeals from the provinces

    at the autumnal assizes, when the entire list is presented

    ‘ Chineae Refiository, Vol. lY., pp. 188, 276-287; Vol. V., pp. 165-178;Vol. XX., pp. 250, 800, and 863.- Memoires concernant Us Chinois^par k» Mmionuiren a Pekin, Tomes VII. and VIII., passim.

    BOARDS OF PUNISHMENTS AND WORKS. 427

    for Lis examination and ultimate decision, and see that these

    sentences are transmitted to the provincial judges. Another

    office snpei’intends the publication of the code, with all the

    changes and additions ; a third oversees jails and jailers ; a

    fourth i-eceives the fines levied by commutation of punishments,

    and a fifth registei’s the receipts and expenditures. If the administi-

    ation of the law in China at all corresponded with the

    equitj’ of most of its enactments, or the caution taken to prevent

    collusion, malversation, and haste on the part of the judges, it would be incomparably the best governed country out of Christendom; but the painful contrast between good laws and wicked rulers is such as to show the utter impossibility of securing the due administration of justice without higher moral principles than heathenism can teach.

    The yamiui of the Hlny Pa in the capital is the most active of all the Boards, but little is known of what goes on within its walls. Its prisoners are mostly brought from the provinces, officers of high rank arrested for malfeasance or failure, and criminals convicted or condemned there who have appealed to the highest tribunals. Few of those who enter its gates ever return through them, and their sufferings seldom end as long as they have any property left. The narrative of the horrible treatment endured by Loch and his comrades in ISCO, while confined within this yaiiiun^ gives a vivid picture of their sufferings, but native prisoners are not usually kept bound and pinioned.

    In the rear wall of the establishment is an iron door, through which dead bodies are thrust to be carried away to burial.

    8. The Gong Bu, or Board of Works, ” has the government and direction of the public works throughout the Empire, together with the current expenses of the same, for the purpose of aiding the Emperor to keep all people in a state of repose. Whatever appertains to plans for buildings of wood or earth, to the forms of useful instruments, to the laws for stopping up or opening channels, and to the ordinances for constructing the mausolea and temples, are reported to this Board in order to perfect national works.” Its duties are of a miscellaneous nature, and are performed in other countries b}^ no one department, though the plan adopted by the Chinese is not without its advantages

    One bureau takes cognizance of the condition of all city walls,

    palaces, temples, altars, and other public structures ; sits as a

    prize-office, and furnishes tents for his Majesty’s journeys ; supplies

    timber for ships, and potterj’ and glassware for the court.

    A second attends to the manufacture of mihtary stores and

    utensils employed in the army ; sorts the pearls from the fisheries

    according to their value ; regulates weights and measures,

    furnishes ” death-warrants ” to governors and generals ; and,

    lastly, takes charge of arsenals, stores, camp-equipage, and other

    things appertaining to the army. A third dcpailnient has

    charge of all water-ways and dikes; it also repairs and digs

    canals, erects bridges, oversees the banks of rivers by means of

    deputies stationed at posts along their course, builds vessels of

    Avar, collects tolls, mends roads, digs the sewers in Peking and

    cleans out its gutters, preserves ice, makes book-cases for public

    records, and, lastly, looks after the silks sent as taxes. Tlie

    fourth of these offices confines its attention chiefly to the condition

    of the imperial mausolea, the erection of the sepulchres

    and tablets of meritorious officers buried at public expense, and

    the adormnent of temples and palaces, as well as superintending

    ah workmen employed by the Board.

    The mint is under the direction of two vice-presidents, and

    the manufacture of gunpowder is specially intrusted to two

    great ministers. One would think, from this recital, that the

    functions of the Boai’d of AYorks Mere so diverse that it would

    be one of the most efficient parts of government ; but if the

    condition of forts, ports, dikes, etc., in other parts of the country

    corresponds to those along the coast, there is, as the Emperor

    once said of tlie army, ” the appearance of going to war,

    but not the reality “—most of the works being on record, and

    suffered to remain there, except when danger threatens, or his

    Majesty specially orders a public work, and, what is more important,

    furnishes the money.

    THE LI FAN YUAN, OR COLONIAL OFFICE. 429

    9. The Li Fan Yuan, or Court for the Government of Foreigners, commonly called the Colonial Office, ” has the government and direction of the external foreigners, orders their emoluments and honors, appoints their visits to court, and regulates their punishments, in order to display the majesty and goodness of the state.” This is an important branch of the government, and has the superintendence of all the wandering and settled tribes in Mongolia, Cobdo, Ili, and Koko-nor. All these are called wai fan, or ‘ external foreigners,’ in distinction from the tributary tribes in Sz’chuen and Formosa, who are termed ivuifan, or ‘ internal foreigners.’ There are also nui i

    and loai i, or ‘ internal and external barbarians,’ the former

    comprising the unsubdued mountaineers of Kweichau, and the

    latter the inhabitants of all foreign countries who do not choose

    to range themselves under the renovating influences of the Celestial

    Empire. The Colonial Othce regulates the government of the nomads and restricts their wanderings, lest they trespass on each other’s pasture-grounds. Its officers are all Manchus and Mongols, having over them one president and two vice-presidents, Manchus, and one Mongolian vice-president appointed for life.

    Besides the usual secretaries for conducting its general business,

    there are six departments, whose combined powers include

    every branch necessary for the management of these

    clans. The first two have jurisdiction over the numerous tribes

    and corps of the Inner Mongols, who are under more complete

    subjection than the others, and part have been placed under

    the control of officers in Chihli and Shansi. The appointment

    of local officers, collecting taxes, allotting land to Chinese settlers,

    opening roads, paying salaries, arranging the marriages,

    retinues, visits to courts, and presents made by the princes and

    the review of the troops, all appertain to these two departments.

    The third and fourth have a similar, but less effectual control

    over the princes, lamas, and tribes of Outer Mongolia. At

    TTrga reside two high ministers, organs of communication with

    Russia, and general overseers of the frontier. The oversight of

    the lama hierarchy in Mongolia is now completely under the

    control of this office ; and in Tibet their power has been considerably

    abridged. The fifth department directs the actions,

    restrains the powers, levies the taxes, and orders the tributary

    visits of the Mohannnedan begs in the Tien shan Xan Lu, who

    are quiet pretty nuich as they are paid by presents and flattered

    by honors. The sixth department regnlatesthe penal discipline

    of the tributary tribes. The salai’ies paid the Mongolian princes

    are distributed according to an economical scale. A tsin wmuj

    annually receives $2,000 and twenty-hve pieces of silk ; a kiun

    wang receives about $1,066 and iifteen pieces of silk ; and so on

    through the ranks of Eeile, JBeitse, Duke, etc., the last of whom

    gets a stipend of only $133 and four pieces of silk. The internal

    organization of these tribes is probably the same now as it

    was at first among the Scythians and Huns, and partakes of the

    features of the feudal and tribal system, modified by the nomadic

    lives they are obliged to lead. The Chinese government

    is endeavoring to reduce the influence and retinues of the khans

    and begs and elevate the people to positions of independent

    owners and cultivators of the soil.

    10. The DuCHA Yuan, or Censorate, i.e., ‘ All-examining Court,’ is entrusted with the ” care of manners and customs, the investigation of all public offices within, and without the capital, the discrimination between the good and bad performance of their business, and between the depravity and uprightness of the officers employed in them ; taking the lead of other censors, and uttering each his sentiments and reproofs, in order to cause officers to be diligent in attention to their daily duties, and to render the government of the Empire stable.” The Censorate, when joined with the Board of Punishments and Court of Appeal, forms a high court for the revision of criminal cases and hearing appeals from the pntvinces; and, in connection with the Six Boards and the Court of Representation and Appeal, makes one of the Iviu King, or ‘ Nine Courts,’ which deliberate on important affairs of government.

    The officers are two censors and four deputy censors, besides whom the governors, lieutenant-governors, and the governors of rivers and inland navigation are ex-offwlo deputy censors.

    A class of censors is placed over each of the Six Boards, whose

    duties are to supervise all their acts, to receive all public documents

    from the C^abinet, and after classifying them transmit

    them to the several courts to which they belong, and to make a

    semi-monthly examination of the papers entered on the archives

    uf each court. All ciiminal cases in the provinces come under

    THE DU-CHA YUAN, OR CENSORATE. 431

    the oversight of the censors at tlie capital, and the department

    which superintends the affairs of the nieti-opolis revises its

    municipal acts, settles the quarrels, and represses the crimes of

    its inhabitants. Tliese are the duties of the Censorate, tlian

    which no part of the Chinese government has attracted more

    attention. The privilege of reproof given by the law to the

    office of censor has sometimes been exercised with remarkable

    candor and plainness, and many cases are recoi-ded in histoiy

    of these officers suffering for tlieir fidelity, but such instances

    must be few indeed in proportion to the failures.

    The celebrated Sung, who was appointed commissioner to accompany

    Loi’d Macartney, once remonstrated with the Emperor

    Kiaking upon his attachment to play-actors and strong drink,

    which degraded him in the eyes of his people and incapacitated

    him from performing his duties. The Emperor, highly ii-ritated,

    called him to his presence, and on his confessing to the authorship

    of the memorial, asked him vidiat punishment he deserved.

    He answered, ” Quartering.” lie was told to select some

    other; “Let me be beheaded ;” and on a third command, he

    chose to be strangled. He was then ordered to retire, and the

    next “day the Emperor appointed him governor in llf, thus

    acknowledging his rectitude, though unable to bear his censure.

    History records the reply of another censor in the reign of an

    Emperor of the Tang dynasty, who, when his Majesty once desired

    to inspect the archives of the historiographer’s office, in

    order to learn what had been recorded concei’ning himself,

    under the excuse that he nuist know his faults before he could

    well correct them, was answered : ” It is true your Majesty has

    committed a number of errors, and it has been the painful duty

    of our employment to take notice of them ; a duty which further

    obliges us to inform posterity of the conversation which

    your Majesty has this day, very improperly, held with us.”

    The censors usually attend on all state occasions by the side

    of his Majesty, and are frequently allowed to express tlieir

    opinions openly, but in a despotic government this is little else

    than a fiction of state, for the fear of offendhig the imperial ear,

    and consequent disgrace, will usually prove stronger than the

    consciousness of right or the desires of a public fame and martyrdom for the sake of principle. The usual mode of advising is to send in a remonstrance against a proposed act, as when one of the body in 1832 remonstrated against the Emperor paying attention to anonymous accusations ; or to suggest a different procedure, as the memorials of Chu Tsun against legalizing opium. The number of these papers inserted in the Peking Gazette for the information of the Empire, in many of which the acts of officers are severely reprehended, shows that the censors are not altogether idle. In 1833 a censor named Slii requested the Emperor to interdict official persons at court from writing private letters concerning public persons and affairs in the provinces. lie stated that when candidates left the capital for their provincial stations, private letters were sent by them from their friends to the provincial authorities, ” sounding

    the voice of influence and interest,” by which means justice

    M-as perverted. The Emperor ordered the Cabinet to examine

    the censor and get his facts in proof of these statements, but on

    inquiry he either would not or could not bring forward any

    cases, and he himself consequently received a reprimand.

    ‘^’ These censors are allowed,” says the Emperor, ” to tell me

    the reports they hear, to inform me concerning courtiers” and

    governors who pervert the laws, and to speak plainly about any

    defect or impropriety which they may oljserve in the monaich

    himself; but they are not permitted to employ their pencils in

    writing memorials which are filled M’i^^h vague surmises and

    mei’e probabilities or suppositions. This would only fill my

    mind with doubts and uncertainty, and T wo;dd not know what

    men to employ; were this spirit indulged, the detrinie?)t of

    government would be most serious. Let 8ii ))0 subjected to a

    court of inquiry.”

    ‘J’lie suspension or disgrace of censors for their freedom of

    speech is a common occurrence, and among the forty or fifty

    persons who have this privilege a few are to be found who do

    not hesitate to lift up their voice against what they deem to be

    wrong; and there is reason for supposing that only a small portion

    of their remonstrances appeai-s in the Gazette. With regard

    to this depai’tment of government, it is to be observed

    that although it may tend only in a partial degree to check

    COURTS OF TUANSMISSION AND JUPTCATURE. 433

    Oppression and reform ahusos, and wliilc a close examination of

    its real operations and intlnenee and the character of its members

    may excite more contempt than respect, still the existence of

    such a body, and the pnblication of its memorials, can hardly

    fail to rectif}’ misconduct to some degree, and check maladministration

    before it results in widespread evil. The (Jensorate is,

    however, only one of a number of checks upon the conduct of

    officers, and perhaps by no means the strongest.’

    11. The TuNG-cniNG Sz’, which may be called a Court of

    Transmission, consists of a small body of six officers, whose

    duty is to receive memorials from the provincial authorities and

    appeals from their judgment by the people and present them to

    the Cabinet. Attached to this Court is an office for attending

    at the palace-gate to await the beating of a drum, which, in conformity

    with an ancient custom, is placed there that applicants

    may by striking it obtain a hearing. It is also the channel

    through which the people can directly appeal to his Majesty,

    and cases occur of individuals, even women and girls, travelling

    to the capital from remote places to present their petitions for

    redress before the throne. The feeling of blood revenge prevails

    among the Chinese, and impels many of these weak and

    unprotected persons to undergo great hardships to obtain legal

    redress, when the lives of their parents have been unjustly

    taken by powerful and rich enemies.

    12. The Ta-li Sz’, or Court of Judicature and Eevision, has

    the duty of adjusting all the criminal courts in the Empire, and

    forms the nearest approach to a Supreme Court in the government,

    though the cases brought before it are mostly criminal.

    “When the crimes involve life, this and the preceding unite

    with the Censorate to form one coui’t, and if the judges are

    ]i()t unanimous in their decisions they must report their reasons

    to the Emperor, who M’ill pass judgment upon them. In a despotic

    government no one can expect that the executive officers

    of courts will exercise their functions with that caution and

    ‘ Compare an article by E. C Taintor, in Notes and Queries on China and Japan. Chinese Repository, Vols. IV., pp. 148, 164, and 177, and XII., pp.62 and 67.

    equity required in Christian countries, but considerable care has

    been taken to obtain as great a degree of justice as possible.

    IJr. The Hanlin Yuen, or Imperial Academy, is entrusted

    ” with the duty of drawing up governmental documents, histories,

    and other works ; its chief officers take tlie lead of the

    various classes, and excite their exertions to advance in learning

    in order to prepare them for employments and fit them for attending

    upon the sovereign.” This body has, it is highly probable,

    some similarity to the collection of learned men to whom

    the King of Babylon entrusted the education of promising

    young men, for although the members of the Ilanlin Yuen do

    not, to any great degree, educate persons, they are constantly

    referred to as the Chaldeans were by Belshazzai-. Sir John

    Davis likens it to the Sorbonne, inasmuch as it expounds the

    sacred books of the Chinese. Its chief officers are two presidents

    or senior members, called chuiang yuen hioh-sz\ m*1io are

    usually appointed for life ; they attend upon the Emperor,

    superintend the studies of graduates, and furnish semi-annual

    lists of persons to be ” speakers” at the ” classical feasts,” where

    the literary essays of his Majesty are translated from and into

    Manchu and read before him.

    Subordinate to the two senior members are four grades of

    officers, five in each grade, together with an imlimited number

    of senior graduates, each forming a sort of college, whose duties

    are to prepare all works published under governmental sanction

    ; these persons are subject from time to time to fresh examination,

    and are liable to lose their degrees or be altogether

    dismissed from office if found faulty or deficient. Subordinate

    to the Hanlin Yuen is an office consisting of twenty-two selected

    members, who in rotation attend on the Emperor and make a

    record of his words and actions. There is also an additional

    office for the preparation of national histories.

    The situation of a member of the Ilanlin is one of considerable

    honor and literary ease, and scholars look forward to a station

    in it as one which confers dignity in a government where

    all officers are appointed according to their literary merit, l)ut

    much more from its being the body from which the Emperor

    selects his most responsible offi-ers. A graduate of this rank is

    THE IIANLIN AND MINOR COURTS. 435

    most likely to be nominated to a vacant office, though the possession

    uf the title does not of itself warrant a place.’

    Before proceeding to consider the provincial governments,

    notices of some of the other de})artments not connected with

    the general machinery of the state are here in place. The

    municipality of Peking has already been mentioned when describing

    the capital ; it is intimately connected with the general

    government and forms an integral part of the machine.

    Among the courts not connected with tlie nnmicipal rule of the

    metropolis, nor forming one of the great departments of state,

    is Tal-chang Sz\ or ‘ Sacrificial Court,’ whose officers ” direct

    the sacrificial observances and distinguish the various instruments

    and the quality of the sacrifices.” Their duties are of importance iti connection with the state religion, and they rank high among the court dignitaries of the Empire, but as members of this, possess no power. The Tal-jyuTi Sz\ or Superintendent of II. I. ]\I.’s Stud, is an office for “rearing horses, taking account of their increase, and regulating their training;” large tracts of land beyond the Great “Wall are appropriated to this purpose, and the clerks of this office, under the direction of the Board of War, oversee the herdsmen and grooms.

    The JCwanrjluh Ss\ or ‘Banqueting House,’ has the charge

    of ” feasting the meritorious and banqueting the deserving ;

    “

    it is somewhat subordinate to the Board of Rites, and provides

    whatever is necessary for banquets given to literary graduates,

    foreign ambassadors, etc. The Jlunz/hc >&’, or ‘ Ceremonial

    Court,’ regulates the forms to be observed at these banquets,

    which consist in little else than marshalling the guests according

    to their proper ranks and directing them when to make the

    Ivtow, called also scui Jewel hlu Jcao, ” three kneelings and nine

    knockings.” The Guozi’ Jian, or ‘ National College,’ is a different institution from the Hanlin Yuen, and intended for teaching graduates of the lower degrees; the departments of study are the Chinese language, the classics and mathematics, each branch having its appropriate teachers, with some higher officers, both Chinese and Manchu.

    ‘ Dr. W. A. P. Martin, Th& Chinese.

    The Qin Tian Jian, or ‘ Imperial Astronomical College,’ as might be expected, is much more astrological than astronomical; its duties are defined to 1)0 ” to direct the ascertainment of times and the movements of the heaveidy bodies, in order to attain conformity with the celestial periods and to regulate the notati(Mi of time among inen ; all things relating to divination and the selection of days are under its charge.” The preparation of the almanac, in which, among other things, lucky and unlucky days are marked for the performance of all the important acts of life, and astrological and chiromantic absurdities inserted for the amusement of fortune-tellers and others, the instruction of a few pupils, and care of the observatory, occupy most of the time of its officers. It is now of no practical use, and as the Tang-icdn Kuxtii develops into a learned and efficient college, including astronomy and medicine and their kindred branches, these native Boards will gradually pass away.

    The other local courts of the capital seem to have been subdivided and multiplied to a great degree for the purpose of affording employment to a larger number of persons, especially Manchus and graduates, so that the Emperor can attach them to himself and be surer of their support in case of any insurrection on the part of the people, and also that he may have them more under his control. The nundjer of clerks and minor offices in all the general departments of state is doubtless more numerous than it would be in a European government. In the nnitual relations of the great departments of the Chinese government the principles of responsibility and surveillance among the officers are plainly exhibited, while regard has been paid to such a division and apportionment of labor as would secure great efficiency and care, if every member of the machine faithfully did his duty. Two presidents are stationed over each Board to assist and watch each other, while the two presidents oversee the four vice-presidents ; the president of one Board is sometimes the vice-president of another ; and by means of the Censorate and the General Council every portion is brought under the cognizance of several independent officers, whose mutual jealousy and regard for individual advancement, or a

    RELATION OF THE KMPEUOIl WITH HIS OFFICIALS. 437

    partial desire for tlie well-being of tlie state, affords the Emperor

    some guarantee of fidelit}-. Tlie seclusion in which he

    lives makes it difficult for any conspirator to approach his person,

    but his own fears regarding the management of such an

    immense Empire compel him to inform himself respecting the’

    actions of ministers, generals, and proconsular governors. The

    conduct and devotion of hundreds of officers, both civil and

    military, during the wars with Great Britain and the suppression

    of rebellions within the last thirty years, afford proof

    enough that he has attached his subordinates to his service by

    some other principle than fear. The total number of civilians

    holding office is estimated at about fourteen thousand persons,

    but those dependent on the government are many times this

    amount.

    The rulers of China have contrived the system of provincial governments in an admirable manner, considering the character of the people and the materials they had to work with; no better proof of their sagacity in this respect can be required than the general degree of good order which has been maintained for nearly two centuries, and the great progress the people have made in wealth, numbers, and power. By a well-arranged plan of checks and changes in the provincial authorities, the chances of their abusing position and power and combining to overthrow the supreme government have been reduced almost to an impossibility; the influence of mutual responsibility among them does something to prevent outrageous oppression of the people, by leading one to accuse another of high crimes in order to exonerate himself or obtain his place. The sons and relatives of the Emperor being excluded from civil office inthe provinces, the high-spirited and talented native Chinese do

    not feel inclined to cabal against the government because every

    avenue to emolument aiid power is filled and closed against them

    by creatures and connections of the sovereign ; nor when in office

    are they disposed to attempt the overthrow of the reigning

    family, lest they lose what has cost them many years of toilsome

    study and the wealth and influence of friends to attain.

    The examination of these pashaliks is furthermore entitled to notice from the degree of power delegated to their highest officers, and the shrewd manner in which its exercise has been circumscribed and rendered amenable to its imperial source.

    The highest officers in the provinces are afsu/iyfuh, lit. ‘general director,’ or governor-general, and the fatal or fuyuen, ‘ soother ‘ or governor. The former is often called a viceroy, but that term seems to be quite inapplicable M-hen used to denote an officer within the limits of the state ; governor-general, or proconsul, is more analogous to his duties. A translation of these and many other Chinese titles does not convey their exact functions, but in some cases an equivalent is more intelligible than a translation.’ The tsungtuh has rule over two provinces, or else fills two high offices in one province, while the fntd’i is placed over one province, either independent of or in subordination to a tsungtuh^ as enumerated in the table on page 61.

    An examination of the Tied Booh for 1852 showed that out

    of a total of 20,327 names in it, 10,-174 were Chinese, 3,29.5

    were Manclius and Mongols, and 558 enrolled Chinese ; in the

    copy for 1844, out of 12,758 names, 10,403 were Chinese, 1,708

    Manchus, and 527 enrolled Cliinese ; these figui-es include only

    civilians and the employees in Peking. The Eighteen Provinces

    ha\e altogether less than two thousand persons in office al)ove

    the raidc of assistant district magistrate, viz. : 8 governor-generals,

    15 governors, 19 treasurers, 18 judges, 17 chancellors, 15

    commanders of the forces, including 2 admirals and 1,740 prefects

    and magistrates. All those filling tlie high grades in this

    series report themselves to the Enq)eror twice every month, by

    sending him a salutatory card upon yellow paper, enclosed in a

    silken envelope ; stating, for instance, that ‘ Lin Tseh-sii, governor-

    general of Liang Ivwang, humbly presents his duty to the

    throne, wishing his Majesty repose.’ The Emperor replies M’ith

    the vei’niilion ])encil, Cli’ni ngan, ij\, ‘ Ourself is well.’

    The duties of the governor-general consist in the collective

    control of all affairs, civil and military, in the regioii under hia

    jurisdiction ; he occupies, in his sphere, under correction, the

    same authority that the Emperor does over the whole Empire.

    ‘ Mayers’ Manual of Chinese Titles furnishes tlio best compend for learning their duties and names.

    IIIGIIP:ii PROVINCIAL ALTIlOliniKS. 439

    The futai has a similar control, but in an inferior degree when there is a tstungtuh, in the more special supervision of the administrative part of the civil government, as distinguished from the revenue, gabel, or literary branches.

    The departments of the civil government are five, viz. : administrative,

    literary, gabel, commissariat, and excise ; the first

    being also divided into the teri-itorial and financial and the

    judicial branches. At the head of the first branch is the j»j>t^-

    ihing sz^ {i.e., ]-egulating-government commissioner), who is

    usually called the treasurer ; the ngan-chah sz\ or ‘ criminal

    judge,’ presides over the second. These two ofiicers often unite

    their deliberations in the direction of any territoi’ial or financial

    business, or the trial of important cases. The literary department

    is placed under the direction of an ofiicer selected from

    among the members of the Hani in Academy, called a hioh-ching,

    director of learning, or literary chancellor ; there are seventeen

    of them altogether. The gabel and connnissariat are usually

    supervised l)y certain intermediate ofiicers called tao, or taotai,

    sometimes termed intendants of circuit, who have other functions

    in addition. The excise, or conmiercial department, is under /ivV;*^?^^, or superintendents, but the details of these three branches vary considerably in different provinces. The officers of the excise, either in the interior or on the coast, are made amenable

    to their supei-iors in the province, but their functions are exercised

    in an irregular manner ; for the collection of the revenue is

    a difficult affair, and mostly entrusted to the local magistrates.

    The military govemment of a province includes both the land

    and sea forces. It is under a tHuh, or commander-in-chief, of

    which rank there are in all sixteen, twelve of them commanding

    one arm alone, and four controlling both land and sea forces.

    In five provinces the futai is commander-in-chief, and in

    Ivansuh there are two. Above the tttuJ}, in point of rank but

    not of power, are placed garrisons of Manchu Bannermen under

    a tsicmg-Jciun, or general, whose ofiice is conferred, and his

    actions directly controlled, by the captains-general in Peking;

    he has jurisdiction, usually, only in the city itself, the principal

    object of the appointment, api)areTitly, being to check any treasonable designs of the civil authorities.

    The duties and relations of these various grades with one another require some further explanation, however, to be understood.

    The three officers, tsunytuh, fatal, and tslaiujMun (if there be one), form a supreme council, and unite in deliberating upon a measure, calling in the subordinate officer to whose department it particularly belongs, and to whom its execution is io be committed, the whole forming a deliberative board, though “the responsibility of the act rests with the two highest officers.

    By this means the various members of the provincial government

    become better acquainted with each other’s character and

    plans, though their intercourse is nuich restricted by precedence

    and rivalry. In the provincial courts civilians always take precedence

    of military officers ; the governor-general and Banner

    commander, governor and major-general, the literary chancellor

    and collector of customs, rank with each other ; then follow the

    treasurer, the judge, and other civilians. The authority of the

    governor-general extends to life and death, to the temporary

    appointment to all vacant offices in the province, to ordering

    the troops to any part of it, issuing such laws and taking such

    measures as are necessary for the security and peace of the

    region committed to his care, or any other steps he sees necessary.

    The futal also has the power of life and death, and

    attends to appeals of criminal cases ; he oversees, moreover, the

    conduct of the lower civilians.

    IS^ext in rank to i\\e j)u-ching sz^ and ngan-chah sz\ who always reside in the provincial capital, are the intendants of circuit, who are located in the circuits consisting of two or three prefectures united for this purpose. They are deputies of the two highest functionaries, and their delegated power often includes military as well as civil authority, the chief object of their appointment being to relieve and assist those high functionaries in the discharge of their extensive duties. Some of the intendants are appointed to supervise the proceedings of the prefects and district magistrates; others are stationed at important posts to protect them, and those connected with foreign trade at the open ports have no territorial jurisdiction.

    SUBORDINATE PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES. 441

    Subordinate to the governors, through the intendants of circuits, are the prefects or head magistrates of departments, called Zhifu/Zhizhou, and ting tungchi, i.e., ‘knowers’ of them, according as they are placed over fu, zhou, or ting departments.

    It is the duty of these persons to make themselves acquainted with everything that takes place within their jurisdiction, and they are held responsible for the full execution of whatever orders are transmitted to them, all presenting their reports and receiving their orders through the intendants.

    The practical efficiency of the Chinese government in promoting the welfare of the people and preserving the peace depends chiefly upon these officers. The people themselves are prone to quarrel and oppress each other ; beggars, robbers, tramps, and shysters stir up disorders in various ways, and need wise and vigorous hands to repress and punish them ; while all classes avoid and resist the tax-gatherer as much as is safe. The proverb, ” A Zhifu can exterminate a family, a chihien can confiscate a patrimony,” indicates the popular fear of their power.

    The subdivisional pai’ts of departments, called ting, chau, and

    hien, have each their separate officers, who report to the chifu

    and cliicliau above them ; these are called tungcM, clacJiau, and

    ch’tJiien, and may all be denominated district magistrates. The

    parts of districts called sz’ are placed under the control of siuii-

    I’ien, circuit-restrainers, or hundreders, who form the last in the

    regular series of descending; rank—the last of the ” connnissioned

    officers,” as they might not improperly be called. The

    prefects sometimes have deputies directly under them, as the

    governor has his intendants, when their jurisdiction is very

    large or important, who are called hiunininfu and tungchi, i.e.,

    ‘ joint-knowers.’ The deputies of district magistrates are termed

    chautung and chmiptran for the chlchan, and hienching and

    chufu for the cJdhien^ the last also have others called tso-tang

    And yu-tang, i.e., left-tenants and right-tenants.

    Resides these assistants there are others, both in the departments and districts, having the oversight of the police, collection of the taxes and management of the revenue, care of waterways, and many other subdivisions of legislative duties, which it is unnecessary to particularize. They are appointed whenever and wherever the territory is so large and the duties so onerous that one man cannot attend to all, or it is not safe to entrust him with them. They have nearly as much power as their superiors in the department entrusted to them, but none of them have judicial or legislative functions, and the routine of their othces affords them less scope for oppression. ±\oy is it worth while to notice the great number of clerks, registrars, and secretaries found in connection with the various ranks of dignitaries here mentioned, or the multitude of petty subordinates found in the provinces and placed over particular places or duties as necessity may require. Their number is very large, and the responsibility of their proceedings devolves upon the higher officers who receive their reports and direct their actions.

    The common people suffer more from these ” rats under the altar,” as a Chinese proverb calls them, than from their superiors, because, unlike them, they are usually natives of the place and better acquainted with the condition of the inhabitants, and are not so often removed. The fear of getting into their clutches restrains from evil doings perhaps more than all punishments, though the people soon complain of high-handed acts in a way not to be disregarded. (3ne saying, ” Underlings see money as a fly sees blood,” indicates their penchant, as another, ” Cash drops into an underling’s paw as a sheep falls into a tiger’s jaw,” does the popular notion how to please them.

    Each intendant, prefect, and district magistrate has special

    secretaries in his ofhce for riling papers, writing and transmitting-

    despatches, investigating cases, recording evidence, keeping

    accounts, and performing other functions. All above the chihien

    are allowed to keep private secretaries, called sz’ ye, who

    are usually personal friends, and accompany the officers wliereever

    they go for the purpose of advising them and preparing

    their official documents. The ngan-chah s£ have jailers under

    their control, as have also the more important prefects.

    The appointment of officers being theoretically founded on

    literary merit, those to whom is committed the supervision of

    students and conferment of degrees would naturally be of a

    high grade. The Jiioh-ehlti’/, or literary chancellor, of the province,

    therefore ranks next to the governor, more, however, because

    he is specially ai)pointed by his Majesty and oversees thia

    LITEKAKY, (lABEL, AND REVENUE DEPARTMENTS. 443

    hrancli of the goveniinent, than from the power coinniitted to

    liis liaiids. Under him aie head-teachers of different degrees

    of autliority, residing in the cliief towns of departments and

    districts, tlie ^vhole forming a simihir series of functionaries to

    M’hat exists in tlie civil department. These subordinates have

    merely a greater or less degree of supervision over the studies of

    students, and the colleges established for the promotion of learning

    in the chief towns of departments. The business of conferring

    the lower degrees appertains exclusively to the chancellor,

    who makes an annual circnit through the province for that purpose,

    and holds examinations in the chief town of each department,

    to which all students residing within its limits can come.

    The gabel, or salt department, is under the control of a special

    officer, called a ” commissioner for the transport of salt,”

    and forming in the five maritime provinces one of thesau s.z\ or

    three commissioners, of which the j>u-e/ung sz’ and ngan-chah ss’

    are the other two. There are, above these commissioners, eight

    directors of the salt monopoly, stationed at the depots in Chihli

    and Shantung, M’ho, however, also fill other offices, and have

    rather a nominal responsibility over the lower commissioners.

    The number and rank of the ofilcers comiected with the salt

    monopoly show its importance, and is proof of how large a revenue

    is derived fi-om an article which will bear such an expensive establishment. At present its administration costs about as much as its receipts.

    The commissariat and revenne department is nnusually large

    in China compared with other countries, for the plan of collecting

    any part of the revenue in kind necessarily requires nnmerous

    vehicles for transporting and buildings for storing it, which

    still further multiplies the number of clerks and hands employed.

    The transportation of grain along the Yangtsz’ River is under

    the control of a tsungtuh, who. also oversees the disposal and

    directs the collectors of it in eight of the provinces adjacent to

    this river. The office of liang-chu tao, or commissioner to collect

    grain, is found in twelve provinces, the pu-ehing.sz’ attending

    to this duty in six ; the supervision of the subordinate agents of this department in the several districts is in the hands of the prefects and district magistrates.- That feature of the Chinese system which makes officers mutually responsible, seems to lead the superior powers to confer such various duties upon

    one functionary, in order that he may thus have a general

    knowledge of what is going on about and under him, and ref)ort

    what he deems amiss. It is not, indeed, likely that such was the

    original arrangement, for the Chinese government has come to

    its present composition by slow degrees ; but such is, so far as

    can be seen, the effect of it, and it serves in no little degree to

    accomplish the designs of the rulers to bind the main and lesser

    wheels of the huge machine to themselves and to one another.

    The customs and excise are under the management of different

    grades of officers according to the importance of their posts.

    The transit duties levied at the excise stations placed in every

    town are collected by officers acting under the local authorities,

    and have nothing to do with the collection of maritime duties.

    This tax, called li-kin, or ‘a cash a catty,’ has lately been

    greatly increased, and the natural result has been to destroy the

    trade it preyed on, or divert it to other channels. The foreign

    merchants and officers have, too, protested against its imposition,

    seeing that their trade was checked.

    Kecapitulating in tabular form, we may say that outside of

    the Cabinet, Council, Boards, and Courts at the capital, the

    government (in the Eighteen Provinces) is in the hands of: 8 Governors-General (6 governing two provinces each).

    15 Governors. 11) Commissioners of Finance (2 for Kiangsu).

    18 Commissioners of Justice.

    4 Directors of the Salt Gabel.

    9 Collectors (independent of these).

    13 Commissioners of Grain, or Commissaries.

    G4 Intendants of Circuit.

    182 Prefects.

    G8 Prefects of Inferior Departments.

    18 Independent Subprefects.

    180 Dependent Subprefects.

    139 Deputy Subprefects.

    141 District Magistrates of the Fifth

    Class.

    1,232 District Magistrates of the Seventh

    Class.

    The military section of the provincial governments is under

    the control of a tituh, or major-general, who resides at a central

    post, and, in conjunction with the governor-general and

    governor, directs the movements of the forces, while these last

    have also an independent control over a certain body of troops

    belonging to them officially. The various grades of officers in

    the native army, and the portion of troops under each of them,

    MILITARY AND NAVAL DEPARTMENTS. 445

    stationed in the garrisons and forts in different parts of the

    provinces, are all arranged in a methodical manner, which will

    bear examination and comparison with the army of any country

    in the world. The native force in each province is distinct

    from the Manchu troops, and is divided somewhat according to

    the Roman plan of legion, cohort, maniple, and century, over

    each of which are officers, from colonel down to sergeant.

    Nothing is wanting to the Chinese army to make it fully adequate to the defence of the country but discipline and confidence in itself ; for lack of practice and systematic drilling have made it an army of paper warriors against a resolute enemy. Nevertheless, the recent campaigns against the rebels in the extreme western colonies indicate the fact that its regeneration is already of some weight. On the other hand, it has no doubt been for the good of the Chinese people and government—the advance of the first in wealth, numbers, and security, and the consolidation and efficiency of the latter—that they have cultivated letters rather than arms, peace more than war.

    All the general officers in the army have fixed places of residence,

    at which the larger portion of their respective brigades

    remain, while detachments are stationed at various points within

    their command. The governor, major-general, and Banner

    commandant have commands independent of each other, but

    the tituh,OY major-general, exei-cises the principal military sway.

    The navai officers have the same names as those in the army,

    and the two are interchanged and promoted from one service to

    the other. Admirals and vice-admirals usually reside on shore,

    and despatch their subordinates in squadrons or single vessels

    wherever occasion requires. This system must, ere long, give

    place to a better division of the two arms with the building of

    steam vessels and management of arsenals, when junks are

    superseded.

    The system of mutually checking the provincial officers is

    also exhibited in their location. For example, in the city of

    Canton the governor-general is stationed in the Xew city near

    the collector of customs, while the lieutenant-governor and

    Manchu general are so located in the Old city that should circumstances require they can act against the two first. The governor has the general command of all the provincial troops,

    estimated to be one hundred thousand men, but the particukir

    command of only five thousand, and they are stationed fifty

    miles off, at Sliauking fu. The ts’uoiy A-ii/.n has five thousand

    men under him in the Old city, which, in an extreme case,

    would make him master of tlie capital, while his own allegiance

    is secured by the antipathy between the Manchus and Chinese

    preventing liim from combining with the latter. Again, the

    governor-general has the power of condenming certain criminals

    to death, but the vxincj-iiiuKj^ or death-warrant, is lodged

    with tlie fatal, and the order for execution must be countersigned

    by him ; his despatches to court must be also countersigned

    b}’ his coadjutor. The general absence of resistance to

    the imperial sway on the part of these high officers during the

    two centuries of Manchu rule, when compared with the multiplied

    intrigues and rebellions of the pashas in the Turkish

    Empire, proves how well the system is concocted.

    In order to enable the superior officers to exercise greater

    vigilance over their inferiors, they have the privilege of sending

    special messengers, invested with full power, to every part

    of their jurisdiction. The Emperor himself never visits the

    provinces judicially, nor has an Emperor been south of the

    capital during the present century ; he therefore constantly

    sends connnissioners or legates, called llncJuii, to all parts of the

    Empire, ostensibly entrusted M’ith the management of a particular

    business, but required also to take a general surveillance of

    what is going on. The ancient Persians had a similar system

    of commissioners, who M-ere called the eyes and ears of the

    prince, and made the circuit of the empire to oversee all that

    was done. There are numy points of resemblance between the

    structure of these two ancient monarchies, the body of councillors

    who assisted the prince in his deliberations, the presidents

    over the provinces, the satraps, etc. ; but tlie Persians had not

    the elements of perpetuity which the system of connnon schools

    and official examinations <rive to the Chinese iiovernment.”

    ‘ RoUin’s Aricient Ilktory, Chap. IV. Manners of the Assyrians. Heeren’aAsiatic Researches, Vol. I., Chap. II.

    TRAVELLINCJ DEPUTIES AND COMMISSIONKRS. 447

    Governors in like manner send their deputies and agents, called weiyuen, over the province ; and even the prefects and intendants despatch their messengers. All these functionaries, during the time of their mission, take rank with the highest officers according to the quality of their employers; but the imperial connnissioners, who for one object or another are constantly passing and repassing through the Empire in every direction, exercise great influence in the government, and are powerful agents in the hands of the Emperor for keeping his proconsuls at their duty.

    CHAPTER VIII. ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAWS

    The preceding chapter contains a general view of the plan upon which the central and provincial governments of the Empire are constircted ; and if an examination of the conduct of oiRcers in every department shows their extortion, cruelty, and venalitv, it will not, in the opinion of the liberal-minded reader, detract from the general excellence of the theory of the government, and the sagacity exhibited in the system of checks designed to restrain the various parts from interfering with the well-being of the whole. In addition to the division of power and the restrictions upon Chinese officers already mentioned, there are other means adopted in their location and alternation 10 prevent combination and resistance against the head of the state. One of them is the law forbidding a man to hold any civil office in his native province, which, besides stopping all intrigue where it would best succeed, has the further effect of congregating aspirants for office at Peking, where they come in hope of obtaining some post, or of succeeding in the examination for the highest literary degrees. The central government could not contrive a better plan for bringing all the ambitious and talented men in the country under its observation before appointing them to clerkships in the capital, or scattering them in the provinces.

    Moreover, no officer is allowed to marry in the jurisdiction under his control, nor own land in it, nor have a son, brother, or near relative holding office under him ; and he is seldom continued in the same station or province for more than three or four years, QVfanchus and (liinese are mingled together in high stations, and obligations are imposed on certain grandees

    CHECKS PLACED UPON OFFICIMIDLDEKS. 449

    to inform the Emperor of each other’s acts. Members of the imperial clan are required to attend the meetings of the Boards at the capita], and observe and report what they deem amiss or Qf interest to the Emperor and his council; while in all the upper departments of the general and provincial governments, a system of espionage is can-ied out, detrimental to all principles of honorable fidelity, such as we look for in officiajA, but not without some good effects in a weak despotism like China.

    OThere is, besides this constant surveillance, a triennial catalogue made out of the merits and demerits of all officers in the Empire, which is submitted to imperial inspection by the Board of Civil Office. In order to collect the details for this catalogue, it is incumbent upon every provincial officer to report upon the character and cpialiiications of those under him, and the list, when made out, is forwarded by the govei-nor to the capital./

    The points of character are arranged under six different heads, viz.: those wh(i are not diligent, the inefficient, the superficial, the untalented, superannuated, and diseased. ( According to the opinion given in this report, officers are elevated or degraded so many steps in the scale of merit, like school-boys in a class, and whenever they issue an edict are required to state how many steps they have been advanced or degraded, and how many times recorded. Officers are required to accuse themselves, when guilty of crime, either in their own conduct or that of their subordinates, and request punishment^ The results of this peculiar and patriarchal mode of teaching officers their duty will be best exhibited by quoting from a rescript of Taukwang’s, issued in February, 1837, after one of the catalogues had been submitted to his Majesty.

    “The cabinet minister Cliangling lias strenuously exerted himself during a long lapse of years ; he has reached the eightieth year of his age, yet his energies are still in full force. His colleagues Pwan Shi-ngan and Muchangah, as well as the assistant cabinet minister Wang Ting, have invariably displayed diligence and attention, and have not failed in yielding us assistance. Tang Kin-chau, president of the Board of Office, has knowledge and attainments of a respectable and sterling character, and has shown himself public-spirited and intelligent in the performance of special duties assigned to him. Shi Chi-yen, president of the Board of Punishments, retains his usual strength and energies, and in the performance of his judicial duties has displayed perspicacity and circumspection. The assistant cabinet minister and governor of Chihli province, Kislien, transacts the affairs of his government with faithfulness, and the military force under his control is well disciplined. Husunge, the governor of Sliensi and Kausuh provinces, is cautious and prudent, and perrorms his duties with careful exa,ctness. iKpu, governor of Yunnan and Kweichau, is well versed in the affairs of his frontier government, and has fully succeeded in pre erving it free from disturbance. Linking, who is entrusted with the general charge of the rivers in Kiangnan, has not failed in his care of the embankments, and has preserved the surrounding districts from all disquietude. To show our favor unto all these, let the Board of Office determine on appropriate marks of distinction for them.

    “Kweisan, subordinate minister of the Cabinet, is hasty and deficient, both in precision and capacity ; he is incapable of moving and acting for himself; let him take an inferior station, and receive an appointment in the second class of the guards. Yihtsih, vice-president of the Board of Works for Mukden, possesses but ordinary talents, and is incompetent to the duties of his present office; let him also take an inferior station, and be appointed to a place in the first class of guards. Narkinge, the governor-general of Hukwang, though having under him the whole civil and military bodies of two provinces, has yet been unable, these many days, to seize a few beggarly impish vagabonds : a’”ter having in the first instance failed in prevention, he has followed up that failure by idleness and remissness, and has fully proved himself inefficient. Let him take the lower station of governor in Hunan, and within one year let him, by the apprehension of Lan Ching-tsun, show that he is aroused to greater exertion.

    s.

    “Let all our other servants retain their present appointments. Among them Tau Shu, the governor of Kiangnan and Kiangsi, is bold and determined in the transaction of affairs, but has not yet attained enlarged views in regard to the salt department; Chung Tsiang, the governor of Fuhkien and Chehkiang, finds his energies failing; TSng Ting-ching, the governor of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, possesses barely an adequate degree of talent and knowledge ; and Shin Ki-hien, though faithful and earnest in the performance of his duties, has, in common with these others, been not very long in office.

    *’ That all ministers will act with purity and devotedness of purpose, with public spirit and diligence, is our most fervent hope. A special edict.” ‘

    ‘ Chinese licposilor;/, Vol. VI. , p. 48.

    niAKACTER OF CHINESE OFFICIALS. 451

    I The effet’t of such confessions and examination of cliafacter iV to restrain the commission of outra<;eons acts of oppression; it is still further enforced by the privilege, common alike to censors and private subjects, of complaining to the Emperor of misdeeds done to them by persons in authority. Fear for their own security has suggested this multiplicity of checks, but the Emperor and his ministry have no doubt thereby impeded the efficiency of their subordinates, and compelled them to attend so much to their own standing that they care far less than they otherwise would foi* the prosperity of the people.*)

    The position of an officer in the Chinese government can hardly be ascertained from the enumeration of his duties, nor can we easily appreciate, from a general account of the system, his temptations to oppress inferiors and deceive superiors.

    His duties, as indicated in the code, are so minute, and often so contradictory, as to make it impossible to fulfil them strictly; it is found, accordingly, that few or none have ascended the slippery heights of promotion without frequent relapses. ^Degradation, when to a step or two and temporary, carries with it of course no moral taint in a country where the award for bribery is graduated to the amount received, without any reference to moral violation^, where the bamboo is the standard of punishment as well for error in judgment or remissness as for crime —only commuted to a fine in honor of official rank ; whereas a distinction in favor of the imperial race, the bamboo is softened to the whip and banishment mitigated to the pillory.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV. , p. 59.

    The highest officers have of course the greatest opportunity to oppress, but their extortions are limited by the venality and mendacity of the agents they are compelled to employ. Inferiors also can carry on a system of exactions if they keep on the right side of those above them. (.The whole class forma body of men mutually jealous of each other’s advance, where every incumbent endeavors to supplant his associate ; they all agree in regarding the people as the source of their profits, the sponge which all must squeeze, but differ in the degree to which they should carry on the same plan with each other. Although sprung from the mass of the people, the welfare of the community has little place in their thoughts. Their life is spent in ambitious efforts to rise upon the fall of others, though they do not lose all sense of character or become reckless of the means of advance, for this would destroy their chance of success] The game they play with each other and their imperial master is, however, a harmless one compared with what was done ill old Rome or in Europe four or five centuries ago, or even lately among the pashas and viziers of the sultans and shahs in Western Asia. To the honor of the Chinese, life is seldom sacrificed for political crime or envious emulation; no officer dreads a bowstring or a poisoned cup from his lord paramount, nor is he on the watch against the dagger of an assassin hired by a vindictive competitor. Whatever heights of favor or depths of umbrage he may experience, the servant of the Emperor of Chhia need not, in unproved cases of delinquency, fear for his life; but he not unfrequently takes it himself from conscious guilt and dread of just punishment.

    The names and staiuiing of all officers are published quarterly by permission of government in the Red Book (which by an usual coincidence is bound in red), called the ” Complete Record of the Girdle Wearers” {Tshi jSkin Tslae/h Shif), comprised in four volumes, 12nio, to which are added two others of the Army and Bannermen. This publication was first issued at the command of Wanlih, of the Ming dynasty, about 15S0, and mentions the native province of each person, whether Chinese, Manchu, Mongol, or enrolled Chinese, describes the title of the office, its salary, and gives much general information. The publishers of the book expect that officers will inform them of the changes that take place in their standing, and sometimes omit to mention those who do not thus report themselves.

    CAREER OF DUKE HO. 463

    A memoir of the public life of a high officer in China would present a singular picture of ups and downs, but, on account of their notorious disregard of truth, Chinese documents are unsafe to trust entirely in drawing such a sketch. One of the most conspicuous men in late times was Duke IIo, the premier in the time of Macartney’s embassy, who for many years exercised a greater control over the counsels of a Chinese sovereign than is recorded of any other man during the present dynasty. This man was originally a private person, who attracted the notice of the Emperor by his comeliness, and secured it by his zeal in discharging the offices entrusted to him. With but few interruptions he gradually’ mounted the ladder of promotion, and for some years before Tvienlung’s death, when the hitter’s energies had begun to fail from age, was virtual master of the country. Staunton describes him as possessing eminent abilities ; ” the manners of Ilokwan were not less pleasing than his understanding was penetrating and acute, lie seemed indeed to possess the qualities of a perfect statesman.”‘ The favorite had gradually tilled the highest posts with his friends, and his well-wishers were so numerous in the general and provincial governments that some began to apprehend a rising in his favor when the Emperor died. Kiaking, on coming to the throne, began to take those cautious measures for his removal which showed the great influence he possessed ; one of these proceedings was to appoint him superintendent of the rites of mourning, in order, probably, that his official duties might bring him often to the palace.

    After four years the Emperor drew up sixteen articles of impeachment, most of them frivolous and vexatious, though of more consequence in the eyes of a Chinese prince than they would have been at other courts. One article alleged that he had ridden on horseback up to the palace gate; another, that he had appropriated to his own household the females educated for the imperial harem; a third, that he had detained the reports of officers in time of war from coming to the Emperor’s eye, and had appointed his own retainers to office, when they were notoriously incompetent; a fourth, that he had built many apartments of nan-muh, a kind of laurel-wood exclusively appropriated to j-oyalty, and imitated regal style in his grounds and establishment; a fifth, that ” on the day previous to our

    Itoyal Father’s announcement of our election as his successor,

    Ilokwan waited upon us and presented the insignia of the newly

    conferred rank—thereby betraying an important secret of state,

    in hopes of obtaining our favor.” lie was also accused of having

    pearls and jewels of larger size than those even in the Emperor’s

    regalia. But so far as can be inferred from what was

    published, this Cardinal AVolsey of China was, comparatively

    speaking, not cruel in the exercise of his power, and the real

    cause of his fall was evidenth’ his riches. In the schedule of his

    confiscated property it was mentioned that besides houses, lands,

    and other innnovable property to an amazing extent, not less

    ‘ Embassy to China, Vol. III., p. 26.

    than one hundred and five millions of dollars in bullion and

    geuls were found in his treasury, A special tribunal was instituted

    for his trial, and he was allowed to become his own executioner,

    while his constant associate was beheaded. These were

    the only deaths, the remainder of his relatives and dependents

    being simply removed and degraded. His power was no doubt

    too great for the safety of his master if he had proved faithless

    ;

    but his wealth was too vast for bis own security, even had he

    been innocent. The Emperor, in the edict which contains the

    sentence, cites as a precedent for his own acts similar condemnation

    of premiers by three of bis ancestors in the present dynasty,

    but nothing definite is known of their crimes or trials.’

    Taukwang was more clement, or more fortunate than his father, and upon coming to the throne continued Tohtsin in power; this statesman bad held the premiership from 1815 to 1832, with but few interruptions, when he was allowed to retire at the age of seventy-five. He had served under three emperors, having risen step by step from the situation of clerk in one of the offices. His successor, Changling, experienced a far more checkered course, but remained in favor at last, and retired from the j)remiership in 1836, aged about seventy-nine. He became very popular with his master from his ability in quelling the insurrection of Jeliangir in Turkestan in 1 827. Even a few such instances of the honor in which an upright, energetic, and wise minister is regarded by prince and people have great influence in encouraging young men to act in the same way.

    ‘ Phiriese Repository^ Vol. III., p. 241.

    LIFE AND CIIARACTEU OF MINISTEIl SUNT,, 453

    Few Chinese statesmen have been oftener brought into the notice of western foreigners than Sung, one of the commissioners attached to Lord Macartney’s embassy, and a favorite of all its members. His lordship speaks of him then as a young man of high quality, possessing an elevated mind; and adds that ” during the whole time of our connection with him he has on all occasions conducted himself toward us in the most friendly and gentleman-like manner.” This was in 1703. In 1817 he is mentioned as one of the Cabinet ; but not long after, for some unknown reason, he was degraded by Kiaking to the sixth rank, and appointed adjiitaiit-general aiuoiig tlic Tsakliar Mongols ; from thence he memorialized his master respecting the ill conduct of some lamas, who had been robbing and murdering. Sung and his friends opposed the Emperor’s going to Manchuria, and were involved in some trouble on this account, the reasons of which it is difficult to understand. He was promoted, however, to be captain-general of Manchuria, but again fell under censure, and on his visit to his paternal estate at Mukden the Emperor took him back to the capital and appointed him to some important office. lie soon got into new trouble with the Emperor, who in a proclamation remarks that ” Sung is inadequate to the duties of minister of the imperial presence ; because, although he formerly officiated as such, he is now upward of seventy years of age, and rides badly on horseback ; ” he is therefore sent to Manchuria to fill his old office of captain-general. The next year the ex-minister and his adherents were involved in a long trial about the loss of a seal, and he was deprived of his command and directed to retire to his own Banner ; the real reasons of this disgrace were probably connected with the change of parties ensuent upon the accession of Taukwang.

    Soon afterward Sung was restored to favor and made adjutant at Jell ho, after having been president of the Censorate for a month. He was allowed to remain there longer than usual, and employed his spare time in writing a book upon the newly acquired territory in Turkestan. In 1824 he was reinstated as president of the Censorate, with admonitions not to confuse and puzzle himself with a multiplicity of extraneous matters. In 1826 he was sent on a special commission to Shansi, and when he returned was honored with a dinner at court on new year’s day. He then appears as travelling tutor to the crown-prince, but where his royal highness went for his education does not appear; from this post we find him made president of the Board of Rites, and appointed to inspect the victims for a state sacrifice. He is then ordered to Jeh ho, from whence, in a fit of penitence, or perhaps from fear of a dun, he memorialized the Emperor about a debt of $52,000 he had incurred nearly thirty years before, which he proposed to liquidate by foregoing his salary of $1,000 until the arrears were paid up ; the Emperor was in good humor with the old man, and forgave him the whole amount, being as Bured, he says, of Sung’s pure official character. In this memorial, when recounting his services, the aged officer says that he has been twice commander-in-chief and governor of III, governor- general at Xanking, Canton, etc., but had never saved much.

    NOTICE OF COMMISSIONER LIN, 457

    Shortly after this he is recalled from Jeh ho and made ti-iuh of Peking, then president of the Board of War ; and in a few months he is ordered to proceed across the desert to Cobdo to investigate some affair of importance—a long and toilsome journey of fifteen hundred miles for a man over seventy-five years old. He returned the next year and resumed his post as president of the Board of war, in which capacity he acted as examiner of the students in the Russian College. In 1831 he was made president of the Colonial Office, and later received an appointment as superintendent of the’ Three Treasuries, but was obliged to resign from ill health. A month’s relaxation seems to have wonderfully restored him, for the Emperor, in reply to his petition for employment, expresses surprise that he should so Boon be fit for official duties, and plainly intimates his opinion that the disease was all sham, though he accedes to his request so far as to nominate him commander of one of the eight Banners. In 1832 Sung again became involved in intrigues, and was reduced to the third degree of rank; the resignation of Tohtsin and the struggle for the vacant premiership was probably the real reason of this new reverse, though a frivolous accusation of two years’ standing “was trumped up against him. He was restored again, after a few months’ disgrace, at the petition of a beg of a city in Turkestan, which illustrates, by the way, the influence which those princes exert. Old age now began to come upon the courtier in good earnest, and in 1833 he was ordered to retire with the rank and pay of adjutant, which he lived to enjoy only two years. Much of the success of Suui; was said to be owinu to his havin<r had a daughter in the harem, but his personal character and kindness were evidently the main sources of his enduring influence among all ranks of people and officers; one account says the IManchus almost worshipped him, and beggars clung to his chair in the streets to ask alms. It is wortriy of notice that in all his re-A-erses there is no mention made of any severer punishment than degradation or banishment, and in this particular the political life of Sung is probably a fair criterion of the usual fortune of high Chinese statesmen. The leading events in the life of Changling, the successor of Tohtsin, together with a few notices of the governor of Canton in 1833, Li llung-pin, are given in the Rej)ositorij.^ Commissioners Lin and Kivins; became more famous amontr foreigners than their compeers in the capital, from the parts they acted in the war with England in IS-iO, but only a few notices of their lives are accessible. Lin Tseh-sii was born in 1785, in Fuhchau, and passed through the literary examinations, becoming a graduate of the second rank at the age of nineteen, and of the third when twenty-six. After filling an

    office or two in the Imperial Academy, he was sent as assistant

    literary examiner to Iviangsi in 1816, and during three subsequent

    years acted as examiner and censor in various places. In

    1819 he filled the office of intendant of circuit, in Chehkiano^:

    and after absence on account of health, he was, in 1823, appointed

    to the post of treasurer of Iviangsu, in the absence of the incuml)ent. In 1820 he was made overseer of the Yellow River, but hearing of his mother’s death, resigned his office to mourn for her. After the period of mourning was finished he went to Peking and received the office of judge in Shensi; but before he had been in it a month he was made treasurer of Kiangsu, and before he could enter upon this new office he

    heard of his father’s death, and was obliged to resign once

    more. In 1832 he was nominated treasurer in Ilupeh, and

    five months later transferred to the same office in Honan, and

    six months after that sent to Iviangsu again. Three months after this third transfer he was reinstated overseer of the Yellow River, and within a short time elevated to be governor of Iviangsi, which he retained three years, and acted as governor-general of Liang Iviang two years more. In 1838 he was made governor-general of II u Kwang; and shortly after this ordered to come to Peking to be admitted to an imperial audience, and by special favor permitted to ride on horseback within the palace.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 61-66.

    He was at this audience appointed imperial commissioner to put down the opium trade and manage the affairs of the maritime frontier of Ivwantung, receiving at the time such plenipotentiary powers to act for the Emperor as had only once before been committed to a subject since 1644-, viz., when Changling was sent to Turkestan to (piell the insurrection. Lin’s ill success in dealing with the opium trade and its upholders in the British government reflect no discredit on his own ability, for the task was beyond the powers of the Empire ; but his fame even now stands high amono; the Cantonese. One incident showing his kindness to the crew of the Sunda, an English vessel lost on Hainan Island, on their arrival in Canton in October, 1839, while he was ligliting their consular officers,

    gave a good insight into the candor of the man. In December,

    1839, he was appointed governor-general of Liang Kiang ; but

    succeeded to that of Liang Ivwang in February, 1840, In

    October of the same year the seals of office were taken away,

    and he was ordered to return to Peking. He remained, however,

    till May of the next year to advise with Ivishen in his

    difficult negotiations with the English. Lin left Canton in

    May,’ 1841, leading two thousand troops to defend Ningpo, but

    this role M^as not his foi’te. In July, 1842, he was banished to

    111, but the sentence was suspended for a season hy giving him

    a third time the oversight of the Yellow River. However, in

    1844 we find him in lli, holding an inferior appointment and

    trying to bring waste lands near the Mohammedan cities nnder

    cultivation ; his zeal was rewarded the next year by a pardon,

    and the year after that by the Jiigh post of governor-general of

    Shensi and Kansuh, in wliich region he set himself to work to

    reform the civil service and increase the revenue. In 1847 the

    cares of office wore “upon him, so that he asked for a furlough

    and went back to Fulichau, aged sixty-two. His ambition was

    not yet satisfied, for he was made governor-general in Yunnan

    in 1848, but his strength was not equal to its duties, and

    he again retired in 1849. The young Emperor Hienfung,

    CAREER OF COMMISSIONER KIYING. 459

    startled at the rapid rise of the Tai-ping rebels, applied to the aged statesman to help him as he had his father, Lin responded to the call of his sovereign, but death came upon him before he reached Kwangsi, on the 22d of November, 1850, at the aiie of sixty-seven. More endurino; than some of his official acts was the preparation and publication of the History of Maritime Nations, with maps, in fifty books, in which he gave his countrymen all the details he could gather of other nations.’

    Much less is known of the official life of Iviying than of Lin, but the Manchu proved himself superior to the Chinese in trinunino; his course to meet the inevitable and avoid the rocks his predecessor struck. In 1835 his name is mentioned as president of the Board of Revenue and controller of the Tsung-jin fu. lie was detained at the capital as commander-in chief of the forces there until 1842, when his Majesty sent him to Canton to take the place of Yihshan. He was ordered to stop at Ilangchau, however, on his way, and make a report of the condition of affairs; his memorials seem to have had great influence, for he was appointed joint commissioner with llipu in April of that year. At the negotiations of Xanking Iviying acted as chief commissioner, and was mainly instrumental in bringing the war to a conclusion. He proceeded to Canton in May, 18-43, to succeed llipu, and there acted as sole commissioner in negotiating the supplementary treaty and the commercial regulations with the British, returning to the capital in December, 1843. His prudence and vigor had great effect in calming the irritation of the people of Canton. On the arrival of the American plenipotentiary lie was vested with full powers to treat with Mr. Cushing, and soon after with the French and Swedish envoys, with all of whom he signed treaties. During the progress of these negotiations Ki Kung died and Iviying succeeded him.

    ‘ Compare Dr. Bowring in N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. Journal, Part III., Art VII. (Dec, 1852).

    His administration as governor-general continued till January, 1848, when he returned to Peking to receive higher honors from the Emperor. In 1849 he went to Kiangsu to inquire into the salt department, and then to Northern Shansi to settle differences with the Mongols. From this period he held various posts in the cabinet and capital, busy in all court intrigues, and rather losing his good name, till he fell into disgrace.

    In 1856, when the envoys of the four western Powers were at Tientsin, he entered into some underhand dealings against the policy of Kweiliang and Ilwashana, and was sent there as joint commissioner, he had hardly entered upon his functions by the presentation of his commission, when he suddenly returned to Peking against the Emperor’s will, and was ordered to take poison in the presence of the head of the Clan to avoid the ignominy of a public execution,’ Few Chinese statesmen in modern times have borne a higher character for prudence, dignity, and intelligence than Iviying, and the confidence reposed in him is creditable to his imperial master. In his demeanor, says Sir Thomas Wade, ” there was a combination of dignity and courtesy which more than balanced the deficiencies of a by no means attractive exterior.” The portrait of him has been engraved from a native painting made at Canton, and is a good one. It was kindly furnished for this work by J. P. Peters, Jr.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, passim. Oliphant, Lord Elgin’s Mission to China and Jiqmu, Cluii). XVIT. Minister Reed, in U. >S’. Dip. Correspondence, 1857-58.

    AGED STATESMEN RETAINED IN OFFICE. 461

    The facts of this man’s career are not all known, but his connection by birth with the Clan brought him into an entirely different set of influences from Lin, while his training removed him from the contact with the people which made the other so popular and influential. Both of them were good instances of Chinese statesmen, and their checkered lives as here briefly noticed resemble that of their compeers in the highest grades of official dignity. The sifting which the personnel of the Emperor’s employees in all their various grades receive generally brings the cleverest and most trustworthy to the top ; no one can come in contact with thein in state affairs without an increase of respect for their shrewdness, loyalty, and skill. One observable feature of the Chinese political world is the great age of the high officers, and It is not easy to account for their

    being kept in their posts, when almost worn out, bj a monarch

    who wished to have efficient men around liim, until we learn

    how little real power he can arbitrarily exert over the details of

    the branches of his government. It is somewhat explainable

    on the ground that, as long as the old incumbents are alive, the

    Emperor, being more habituated to their company and advice,

    prefers to retain those whose competency has been proven by

    their service. The patriarch, kept near the Emperor, is moreover

    a kind of hostage for the loyalty of his following ; and the

    latter, scattered throughout the provinces, can be managed and

    moved about through him with less opposition : he is, still

    further, a convenient medium thrcjugh which to receive the

    exactions of the younger members of the service, and convey

    such intimations as are thought necessary. Tlie system of

    clientelage which existed among the Gauls and Franks is also

    found in China with some modifications, and has a tendency to

    link officers to one another in parties of different degrees of

    power. The Emperor published an order in 1S33 against this

    system of patronage, and it is evident that he would find it seriously interfering with his power were it not constantly broken up by changing the relations of the parties and sending them away in different directions. Peking is almost the only place where the ” teacher and pupils,’^ as the patron and client call each other, could combine to much purpose ; and the principal safeguard the throne seems to have against intrigues and parties around it lies in the conflicting interests arising among themselves, though a long-established oi- unscrujiulous favorite, as in the cases of Duke IIo and Suhshun in 1S55-C1, can sometimes manage to engross the whole power of the crown.

    Notwithstanding the heavy charges of oppression, cruelty, bribery, and mendacity which are often brought against officers Math more or less justice, it must not be inferred that no good qualities exist among them. Thousands of them desire to rule equitably, to clear the innocent and punish the guilty, and exert all the knowledge and power they possess to discharge their functions to the acceptance of their master and their own good name among the inhabitants. Such officers, too, generally rise, while the cruelties of others are visited with degradation, The pasquinades which the people stick up in the streets indicate their sentiments, and receive much more attention than would such vulgar expressions in other countries, because it is almost the only way in which their opinions can be safely uttered. The popularity which upright officers receive acts as an incentive to others to follow in the same steps, as well as a reward to the person himself. The governor of Ivwangtung in 1833, Chu, was a very popular officer, and when he obtained leave to resign his station on account of age, the people vied with each other in showing their hearty regret at losing him.

    The old custom was observed of retaining his boots and presenting him with a new pair at every city he passed through, and many other testimonials of their regard were adopted.

    On leaving the city of Canton he circulated a few Aerses, ” to console the people and excite them to virtue,” for he heard that some of them w^ept on learning of his departure.

    From ancient days, my fathers trod the path
    Of literary fame, and placed their names
    Among the wise ; two generations past,
    Attendant on their patrons, they have come
    To this provincial city. ‘ Here this day
    ‘Tis mine to be imperial envoy ;
    Thus has the memory of ancestral fame
    Ceased not to stimulate this feeble frame.
    My father held an office at Lungchau.”

    And deep imprinted his memorial there ;
    He was the sure and generous friend
    Of learning unencouraged and obscure.
    When now I turn my head and travel back
    In thought to that domestic hall, it seems
    As yesterday, those early happy scenes—
    How was he pained if forced to be severe 1

    ‘ The Chinese have a great affection for the place of their nativity, and coneider a residence in any other province like being in a foreign settlement.

    They always wish to return thither in life, or have their remains carried and interred there after death.

    VALEDICTORY VERSES OF GOVERNOR CHU. 463

    ‘^ A district in the province of Kwangsi.
    From times remote Kwangtung has been renowned
    For wise and mighty men ; but none can stand
    Among them, or compare with Kiuh Kiang :’
    Three idle and inglorious years are past,
    And I have raised no monument of fame,
    By shedding round the rays of light and truth,
    To give the people knowledge. In this heart
    I feel the shame, and cannot bear the thought.
    But now, in flowered pavilions, in street
    Illuminations, gaudy shows, to praise
    The gods and please themselves, from year to year

    The modern people vie, and boast themselves,
    And spend their hard-earned wealth—and all in vain;
    For what shall be the end? Henceforth let all
    Maintain an active and a useful life,
    The sober husband and the frugal wife.
    The gracious statesman, “politic and wise,
    Is my preceptor and my long-tried friend ,

    Called now to separate, spare our farewell

    The heartrending words affection so well loves.

    That he may still continue to exhort

    The people, and instruct them to be wise,

    To practice virtue and to keep the laws

    Of ancient sages, is my constant hope.

    When I look backward o’er the field of fame

    Where I have travelled a long fifty years,

    The struggle for ambition and the sweat

    For gain seem altogether vanity.

    Who knoweth not that heaven’s toils are close,
    Infinitely close V Few can escape.
    Ah! how few great men reach a full old age f
    How few unshorn of honors end their days I
    Inveterate disease has twined itself
    Around me, and binds me in slavery.
    The kindness of his Majesty is high ‘
    And liberal, admitting no return

    ‘ Kiuh Kiang was an ancient minister of state during the Tang dynasty. Hia imperial master would not listen to his advice and lie therefore retired. Rebellion and calamities arose. The Emperor thought of his faithful servant and sent for him ; but he was already dead.

    • Governor Loo.

    * In permitting Chu to retire from public life.
    Unless a grateful heart ; still, still my eyes
    Will see the miseries of the people—
    Unlimited distresses, mournful, sad,
    To the mere passer-by awaking grief.
    Untalented, unworthy, I withdraw,
    Bidding farewell to this windy, dusty world;
    Upward I look to the supremely good—
    The Emperor—to choose a virtuous man
    To follow me. Henceforth it will oe well—
    The measures and the merits passing mine;
    But I shall silent stand and see his grace
    Diffusing blessings like the genial spring.

    Ilipn, Ki Kiing, the late governor-general of Ivwangtnng, and Shn, the prefect of Ningbo in 1842, are other officers who have been popular in late years. When Lin passed through Macao in 1839, the Chinese had in several places erected honorary portals adorned with festoons of silk and laudatory scrolls ; and when he passed the doors of their houses and shops they set out tables decorated with ^’ases of flowers, ” in order to manifest their profound gratitude for his coming to save them from a deadly vice, and for removing from them a dire cahnnity by the destruction and severe intei’diction of opium.” Alas, that his efforts and intentions should have been so fruitless! The Pehing Gazette frequently contains petitions from old officers describing their ailments, their fear lest they shall not be able to perform their duties, the length of their official service, and requesting leave of absence or permission to retire.

    OFFICIAL PETITIONS AND CONFESSIONS. 465

    It is impossible to regard all the expressions of loyalty in these papers, coming as they do from every class of officers, as heartless and made out according to a prescribed form; but we are too ready to measure them by our own standard and fashion, forgetting that it is not the defects of a system which give the best standard of its value and efficiency. Let us rather, as an honest expression of feeling, quote a few lines from a memorial of Shi, a censor in 1824: “Reflecting within myself that, notwithstanding the decay of my strength, it has still pleased the imperial goodness to employ me in a high office instead of rejecting and discarding me at once, I have been most anxious to eft’ect a cure, in order that, a weak old horse as I am, it might be still in my power, by the exertion of my whole strength, to recompense a ten-thousandth part of the benevolence which restored me to life/”

    Connected with the triennial schedule of official merits and

    demerits is the necessity the high officers of state are under of

    confessing their faults of government ; and the two form a

    peculiar and somewhat stringent check upon their intrigues and

    malversation, making them, as Le Comte observes, “exceeding

    circumspect and careful, and sometimes even virtuous against

    their own inclinations.” The confessions reported in i\\Q Peking

    Gazette are, however, by no means satisfactory as to the real extent

    or nature of these acts ; most of the confessors are censors,

    and perhaps it is in virtue of their office that they thus sit in

    judgment upon themselves. Examples of the crimes mentioned

    are not wanting. The governor-general of Chihli requested severe

    punishment in 1S32 for not having discovered a plotting

    demagogue who had collected several thousand adherents in his

    and the next provinces ; his request was granted. An admiral

    in the same province demands punishment for not having properly

    educated his son, as thereby he went mad and wounded several people. Another calls for judgment upon himself because the Empress-dowager had been kept waiting at the palace gate by the porters when she paid her Majesty a visit. One officer accused himself for not being able to control the Yellow River; and his Majesty’s cook in 1830 requested punishment for being too late in presenting his bill of fare, but M^as graciously forgiven. The rarity of these confessions, compared with the actual sins, shows either that they are, like a partridge’s doublings, made to draw off attention from the real nest of malversation, or that few officers are willing to undergo the mortification.

    The Emperor, in his character of vicegerent of heaven, occasionally imposes the duty of self confession upon himself.

    ‘ Chinese Repositunj , Vol. IV., p. 71.

    Kiaking issued several public confessions during his reign, but the Gazette has not contained many such papers within the last thirty years. These confessions are drawn from him more by natural calamities, such as drought, freshets, epidemics, etc., than by political causes, though insurrections, tii-es, ominoug portents, etc., sometimes induce them. The personal character of the monarch has much to do with their frequency and phraseology. On occasion of a drought in 1817 the Emperor Kiaking said : ” The remissness and sloth of the officers of government constitute an evil which has long been accumulating.

    It is not the evil of a day ; for several years I have given the most pressing admonitions on the subject, and have punished many cases which have been discovered, so that recently there appears a little improvement, and for several seasons the weather has been favorable. The drought this season is not perhaps entirely on their (the officers’) account. I have meditated upon it, and am persuaded that the reason why the aznro Heavens above manifest disapprobation by withholding rain for a few hundred miles only around the capital, is that the fifty and more rebels who escaped are secreted somewhere near Peking.

    Hence it is that fertile vapors are fast bound, and the felicitous harmony of the seasons interrupted.” On the 14th of May, 1818, between five and six o’clock in the evening, a sudden darkness enveloped the capital, attended by a violent “wind from the southeast and much rain. During its action two intervals occurred when the sky became a lurid red and the air offensive, terrible claps of thunder startling the people and frightening the monarch. His astroloo;ers could not relieve his forebodings of evil, and he issued a manifesto to explain the matter to his subjects and discharge his own conscience. One sentence is w^orth quoting : ” Calumnious accusations cause the ruin and death of a multitude of innocent people; they alone are capable of provoking a sign as terrible as this one just seen. The wind coming from the southeast is proof enough that some great crime has been committed in that region, which the officials, by neglecting their duties, have ignored, and thereby excited the ire of Heaven,” ‘

    ^Anncdes de la Foi, No. 6, 1823, pp. 21-24.

    PRAYER FOR RAIN OF TAUKWANG. 467

    One of the most remarkable specimens of these papers is a prayer for rain issued by Taukwang, July 24, 1832, on occasion of a severe drought at the capital. Before publishing this paper he had endeavored to mollify the anger and heat of heaven by ordering all suspected and accused persons in the prisons of the metropolis to be tried, and their guilt or innocence established, in order that the course of justice might not be delayed, and witnesses be released from confinement. But these vicarious corrections did not avail, and the drought continuing, he was obliged, as high-priest of the Empire, to show the people that he was mindful of their sufferings, and would relieve them, if possible, by presenting the following memorial:

    *’ Kneeling, a memorial is hereby presented, to cause affairs to be beard.

    ” Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, were not the world afflicted by extraordinary changes, I would not dare to present extraordinary services. But this year the drought is most unusual. Summer is past, and no rain has fallen. Not only do agriculture and human beings feel the dire calamity, but also beasts and insects, herbs and trees, almost cease to live. I, the minister of Heaven, am placed over mankind, and am responsible for keeping the world in order and tranquillizing the people. Although it is now impossible for me to sleep or eat with composure, although I am scorched with grief and tremble with anxiety, still, after all, no genial and copious showers have been obtained.

    “Some days ago I fasted, and offered rich sacrifices on the altars of the gods of the land and the grain, and had to be thankful for gathering clouds and slight showers; but not enough to cause gladness. Looking up, I consider that Heaven’s heart is benevolence and love. The sole cause is the daily deeper atrocity of my sins; but little sincerity and little devotion. Hence I have been unable to move Heaven’s heart, and bring down abundant blessings.

    ” Having searched the records, I find that in the twenty-fourth year of Kienlung my exalted Ancestor, the Emperor Pure, reverently performed a ‘great snow service’. I feel impelled, by ten thousand considerations, to look up and imitate the usage, and with trembling anxiety rashly assail Heaven, examine myself, and consider my errors; looking up and hoping that I may obtain pardon. I ask myself whether in sacrificial services I have been disrespectful? Whether or not pride and prodigality have had a place in my heart, springing forth there unobserved? Whether, from length of time, I have become remiss in attending to the affairs of government, and have been unable to attend to them with that serious diligence and strenuous effort which I ought ‘i Whether I have uttered irreverent words, and have deserved reprehension? Whether perfect equity has been attained in conferring rewards or inflicting punishments ? Whether in raising mausolea and laying out gardens I have distressed the people and wasted property ? Whether in the appointment of officers I have failed to obtain fit persons, and thereby the acts of government have been petty and vexatious to the people V Whether punishments have been unjustly inflicted or not V Whether the oppressed have found no meaus of appeal ? Whether in pc^rsecuting lieterodox sects the innocent have not been involved ? Whether or not the magistrates have insulted the people and refused to listen to their affairs ‘i Whctln’r, in the successive military operations on the western frontiers, then’ may imt liavu been the horrors of human slaughter for the sake of imperial rewards V Whether the largesses bestowed on the afflicted southern provinces were properly applied, or the people were left to die in the ditches ‘i Whether the efforts to exterminate or pacify the rebellious mountaineers of Hunan and Kwangtung were properly conducted ; or whether they led to the inhabitants being trampled on as mire and ashes ? To all these topics to which my anxieties have been directed I ought to lay the plumb-line, and strenuously endeavor to correct what is wrong ; still recollecting that there may be faults which have not occurred to me in my meditations.

    ” Prostrate I beg imperial Heaven (Jlmmcj Tieu) to pardon my ignoiance and stupidity, and to grant me self-renovation ; for myriads of innocent people are involved by me, the One man. My sins are so numerous it is difficult to escape from them. Summer is past and autumn arrived ; to wait longer will really be impossible. Knocking head, I pray imperial Heaven to hasten and confer gracious deliverance—a speedy and divinely beneficial rain, to save the people’s lives and in some degree redeem my iniquities. Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, observe these things. Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, be gracious to them. I am inexpressibly grieved, alarmed, and frightened. Reverently this memorial is presented.” ‘

    This paper apparently intimates some acknowledgment of a

    ruling power above, and before a despot like the Emperor of

    China would place himself in such an equivocal posture before

    his people, he would assure himself very thoroughly of their

    sentiments ; for its effects as a state paper would be worse than

    null if the least ridicule was likely to be thrown upon it. In this

    case heavy showers followed the same evening, and appropriate

    thanksgivings were ordered and oblations presented before the

    six altars of heaven, earth, land, and grain, and the gods of

    heaven, earth, and the revolving year.

    ‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. I., p. 236.

    METHODS OF PUHLISITINO EDICTS. 469

    The orders of the court are usually transmitted in manuscript, except when some grand event or state cei’cmony requires a general i)i”oclanuition, in which cases the document is printed on yellow paper and published in both the Chinese and ]\[anchu languages, encin;led with a border of dragons. The governors and their suboi’dinatos, imperial commissioners, and collectoi’s of customs are the principal officers in the provinces who publish their orders to the people, consisting of admonitions, exhortations, regulations, laws, special ordinances, threatenings, and municipal j-e<|uirements. Standing laws and local regulations are often superbly carved on tablets of black marble, and placed in the streets to be ” held in everlasting remembrance,” so that no one can plead ignorance ; a custom which recalls the mode of publishing the Twelve Tables at Rome. Several of these

    monuments, beautifully ornamented, are to be seen at Canton

    and Macao. The usual mode of publishing the commands of

    government is to print the document in large characters, and

    , post copies at the door of the offices and in the streets in public

    places, with the seal of the officer attached to authenticate them.

    The sheets on -which they are printed being connnon bamboo

    paper, and having no protection from the weather, are, however,

    soon destroyed ; the people read them as they are thus

    exposed, and copy them if they wish, but it is not unconnnon,

    too, for the magistrates to print important edicts in pamphlet

    form for circulation. These placards are written in an official

    style, differing from common Meriting as much as that does

    in English, but not involved or obscure. A single specimen of

    an edict issued at Canton will suffice to illustrate the form of

    such papers, and moreover show npon what subjects a Chinese

    ruler sometimes legislates, and the care he is expected to take

    of the people.

    ” Sii and Hwang, by special appointment magistrates of the districts of Nanliai and Pwanyn, raised ten steps and recorded ten times, hereby distinctly publish important rules for the capture of grasshoppers, that it may be known how to guard against them in order to ward off injury and calamity. On the 7th day of the Sth month in the 18th year of Taukwang [September 20, 1838], we received a communication from the prefect of the [department of Kwangchau], transmitting a despatch from their excellencies the governor-general and governor, as follows:
    ” ‘ During the fifth month of the present year flights of grasshoppers appeared in the limits of Kwangsi, in [the departments of] Liu, Tsin, Kwei, and Wu, and their vicinage, which have already, according to report, been clean destroyed and driven off. We have heard that in the department of Kauchau and its neighborhood, conterminous to Kwangsi, grasshoppers have appeared which multiply with extreme rapidity. At this time the second crop is in the blade (which if destroyed will endamage the people), and it is proper, therefore, immediately, wherever they are found, to capture and drive them off, marshalling the troops to advance and wholly exterminate them. But Kwang tung heretofore has never experienced this calamity, and we apprehend the officers and people do not understand the mode of capture; wherefore we now exhibit in order the most important rules for catching grasshoppers. Let the governor’s combined forces be immediately instructed to capture them secundum artem; at the same time let orders be issued for the villagers and farmers at once to assemble and take them, and for the magistrate to establish storehouses for their reception and purchase, thus without fail sweeping them clean away.

    If you do not exert yourselves to catch the grasshoppers, your guilt will be very great ; let it be done carefully, not clandestinely delaying, thus causing this misfortune to come upon yourselves, transgressing the laws, and causing US again, according to the exigencies of the case, to promulgate general orders and make thorough examination, etc., etc. Appended hereto are copies of the rules for catching grasshoppers, which from the lieutenant-governor must he sent to the treasurer, who will enjoin it upon the magistrates of the depart-, meats, and he again upon the district magistrates.’

    “Having received the preceding, besides respectfully transmitting it to the colonel of the department to be straightway forwarded to all the troops under his authority, and also to all the distri(-t justices, that they all with united purpose bend their energies to observe, at the j^roper time, that whenever the grasshoppers become numerous they join their forces and extirpate them, thus removing calamity from the people ; we also enjoin upon whomsoever receives this that the grasshoppers be caught according to these several directions, which are therefore here arranged in order as follows:

    “‘1. When the grasshoppers first issue forth they are to be seen on the borders of large morasses, from whence they quickly multiiily and fill large tracts of land; they produce their young in little hillocks of black earth, using the tail to bore into the ground, not quite an inch in depth, which still remain as open holes, the whole somewhat resembling a bee’s nest. One grasshopper drops ten or more pellets, in form like a pea, each one containing a hundred or more young. For the young grasshoppers fly and eat in swarms, and this laying of their young is done all at once and in the same spot; the place resembles a hive of bees, and therefore it is very easily sought and found.

    ” ‘2. When the grasshoppers are in the fields of wheat and tender rice and

    the thick grass, every day at early dawn they all alight on the leaves of the

    grass, and their bodies being covered with dew are heavy and they cannot fly

    or liop ; at noon they begin to assemble for flight, and at evening they collect

    in one spot. Thiis each day there are three periods when tliey can be caught,

    and the p(!ople and gentry will also have a short respite. The mode of catching

    them is to dig a trench before them, the broader and longer tlio better, on

    each side placing boards, doors, screens, and such like things, oiu> stretched

    on after another, and spreading open each side. The whole multitude must

    then cry aloud, and, holding boards in their hands, drive them all into the

    trench; meanwhile those on the opposite side, provided with brooms and

    rakes, on seeing any leaping or crawling out, must sweep them back; then

    covering them with dry grass, burn them all up. Let the fire be first kindled

    in the trench, and then drive; tlunn into it ; for if they are only buried upi

    then many of them will crawl out of the openings and so escape.

    EDICT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF GRASSHOPPERS. 471

    ” ‘3. When the swarms of grasshoppers see a row of trees, or a close line of

    flags and streamers, they nsnally hover over and settle ; and the farmers frequently

    suspend red and white clothes and petticoats on long poles, or make

    red and green paper flags, but they do not always settle with great rapidity.

    Moreover, tliey dread the noise of gongs, matchlocks, and guns, hearing which

    they fly away. If they come so as to obscure the heavens, you must let off

    the guns and clang the gongs, or fire the crackers ; it will strike the front

    ranks with dread, and flying away, the rest will follow them and depart.

    ” ‘4. When the wings and legs of the grasshoppers are taken off, and [their

    bodies] dried in the sun, the taste is like dried prawns, and moreover, they

    can be kept a long time without spoiling. Ducks can also be reared upon the

    dried grasshoppers, and soon become large and fat. Moreover, the hill people

    catch them to feed pigs ; tliese pigs, weighing at first only twenty catties

    or so, in ten days’ time grow to weigh more than fifty catties ; and in rearing

    all domestic animals they are of use. Let all farmers e.xert themselves and

    catch them alive, giving rice or money according to the number taken. In

    order to remove this calamity from your grain, what fear is there that you will

    not perform this V Let all these rules for catching the grasshoppers hb diligently

    carried into full effect.’

    “Wherefore these commands are transcribed that all you soldiers and people

    may be fully acquainted with them. Do you all then immediately in

    obedience to them, when you see the proper time has come, sound the gong ;

    and when you see the grasshoppers and their young increasing, straightway

    get ready, on the one hand seizing them, and on the other announcing to the

    oflicers that they collect the troops, that with united strength you may at once

    catch them, without fail making an iitter extermination of them ; thus calamity

    will be removed from tlie people. We will also then confer rewards upon

    those of the farmers and people who first announce to the magistrates their

    approach. Let every one implicitly obey. A special command.

    ” Promulgated Taukwang, 18th year, 8th month, and 15th day.’”

    The concluding part of an edict affords some room for displaying

    tlie character of the promulgator. Among other endings

    are sucli as these : ” Hasten ! hasten ! a special edict.”

    ‘• Tremble liereat intenselj.” ” Lay not up for yourselves future

    repentance by disobedience.” ” I will by no means eat my

    words.” ” Earnestly observe these things.” In their state

    papers Chinese officers are constantly referring to ultimate

    tmiths and axioms, and deducing arguments therefrom in a

    peculiarly national grandiloquent manner, though some of their

    ‘ Easy Lessons in Chinese, pp. 223-227. The effect of these instructions relating to grasshoppers does not appear to have equaled the zeal of the officers composing them ; swarms of locusts, however, are in general neither numerous nor devastating in China.

    conclusions are preposterous iion-sequitvirs. Commissioner Lin addressed a letter to the Queen of England regarding the interdiction of opium, which began with the following preamble:” Whereas, the ways of Heaven are without partiality, and no sanction is allowed to injure others in order to benefit one’s self, and that men’s natural feelings are not very diverse (for where is he who does not abhor death and love life ?)—therefore your honorable nation, though beyond the wide ocean at

    a distance of twenty thousand /?, also acknowledges the same

    ways of Heaven, the same human nature, and has the like perceptions

    of the distinctions between life and death, benefit and

    injury. Our heavenly court has for its family all that is within

    the four seas ; and as to the great Emperor’s heaven-like benevolence—

    there is none whom it does not overshadow ; even

    regions remote, desert, and disconnected have a part in his

    general care of life and well-being.”

    The edicts furnish almost the only exponents of the intentions

    of government. They present several characteristic features

    of the ignorant conceit and ridiculous assumptions of the

    Chinese, while they betray the real weakness of the authorities

    in the mixture of argument and command, coaxing and threatening,

    pervading every paragraph. According to their phraseology,

    there can possibly be no failure in the execution of every

    order ; if they are once made known, the obedience erf the people

    follows almost as a nuitter of course; while at the same

    time both the writer and the people know that most of them are

    not only perfunctory but nearly useless. The resj^onsibility of

    the writer in a measure ceases witli the promulgation of his

    orders, and when they reach the last in the series their efficiency

    has well nigh departed. Expediency is the usual guide

    for obedience ; deceiving superiors and oppressing the people

    the rule of action on the part of many officials ; and their orders

    do not more strikingly exhibit their weakness and igno-

    I’ance than their mendacity and conceit. A large proportion of

    well-meanino; officers are sensible too that all their efforts will

    be neutralized by the half-paid, imscrupnlous retainers and

    clerks in the ymnuns ; and this checks their energy.

    It is not easy, without citing many examples accompanied

    CHAKACTEK AND PHRASEOLOGY OF THE EDICTS. 478

    with particular explanations, to give a just idea of the actual

    execution of the laws, and show how far the people are secured

    in life and pi’opcrty hy their i-ulei”s ; and perhaps nothing has

    been the source of such differing views regarding the Chinese

    as the predominance writers give either to the theory or the

    practice of legislation. Old Magaillans has hit this point pretty

    well when he says : ” It seems as if the legislators had omitted

    nothing, and that they had foreseen all inconveniences that were

    to be feared ; so that I am persuaded no kingdom in the world

    could be better governed or more happy, if the conduct and

    probity of the officers were but answerable to the institution of

    the government. But in regard they have no knowledge of the

    true God, nor of the eternal rewards and punishments of the

    other woi-ld, they are subject to no remorses of conscience, they

    place all their happiness in pleasure, in dignity and riches ; and

    therefore, to obtain these fading advantages, they violate all

    the laws of God and man, trampling under foot religion, reason,

    justice, honesty, and all the rights of consanguinity and

    friendship. rThe inferior officers mind nothing but how to defraud

    their superiors, they the supreme tribunals, and all together

    how to cheat the king ; which the}’ know how to do

    with so much cunning and address, making use in their memorials

    of words and expressions sb soft, so honest, so respectful,

    so humble and full of adulation, and of reasons so plausible,

    that the deluded prince frecpiently takes the greatest falsehoods

    for solemn truths. So that the people, finding themselves continually

    oppressed and overwhelmed without any reason, murmur

    and raise seditions and revolts, which have caused so much

    ruin and so many changes in the Empirp^ Nevertheless, there

    is no reason that the excellency and perfection of the laws of

    China should suffer for the depravity and wickedness of the

    magistrates.”

    ‘

    Magaillans resided in China nearly forty years, and his opinion

    may be considered on the whole as a fair judgment of the

    real condition of the people and the policy of their rulers.

    * A new nistory of China, containing a description of tJie most considerable

    particulars of that Empire, written by Gabriel Magaillans, of the Society oj

    Jesus, Missionary Apostolick. Done out of French. Loudou, 1G88, p. 249.

    474 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    “When one is living in the country itself, to hear the complaints

    of individuals against the extortion and cruelty of their rulers,

    and to read the reports of judicial murder, torture, and crime

    in the Pekimj Gazette^ are enough to cause one to wonder how

    such atrocities and oppressions are endured from year to year,

    and why the sufferers do not rise and throw aside the tyrannous

    power M’hich thus abuses them. But the people are generally

    conscious that their rulers are no better than themselves,

    and that they would really gain nothing by such a procedure,

    and their desire to maintahi as great a degree of peace as possil)

    le leads them to submit to many evils, which in western

    countries would soon be remedied or cause a revolution. In

    order to restrain the officers in their misrule. Section CCX. of the

    code ordains that ” If any officer of government, whose situation

    gives him power and control over the people, not only does

    not conciliate them by proper indulgence, but exercises his

    authority in a manner so inconsistent with the established laws

    and approved usages of the Empire, that the sentiments of the

    once loyal subjects being changed by his oppressive conduct,

    they assemble tunniltuously and openly rebel, and drive him at

    length from the capital city and seat of his government ; such

    jeer shall suffer death.”

    Ry the laws of China, every officer of the nine lanks must

    be previously qualified for duty by a degree; in the ninth are

    included village magistrates, deputy treasurers, jailers, etc., but

    the police, local interpreters, clerks, and other attendants on the

    courts are not considered as having any rank, and most of them

    are natives of the place where they are employed. The oidy

    degradation they can feel is to turn them out of their stations,

    but this is hardly a palliative of the evils the people suffer from

    thein ; the new leech is more thirsty than the old. The cause

    of many of the extortions the people suffer from their rulers is

    found in the system of purchasing office, at all times practised

    in one shape or other, but occasionally resorted to by the government.

    As the counterpart of this system, that of receiving

    bribes must be expected therefore to prevail, and l)eing in fact

    l)ractised by all grades of dignitaries, and sometimes even uplield

    by them as a ” necessary evil,” it adds still more to the

    EXTORTIONS PRACTISED BY MAGISTRATES. 475

    bad consequences lesulting fi-oni tliis mode of obtaining oflBce.

    Indeed, so far is tlie practice of “covering the eyes” carried in

    China, that the people seldom approach their rulers without a

    gift to mahe way for them.

    One mode taken hy the highest ranks to obtain money is to

    notify inferiors that there are certain days on M’hich presents

    are expected, and custom soon increases these as nnich as the

    case will admit. Subscriptions for objects of public charity or

    disbursements, such as an inundation, a bad harvest, bursting

    of dikes, and other similar things which the government must

    look after, are not uufrequently made a source of revenue to

    the incumbents by requiring nnich more than is needed ; those

    who subscribe are rewarded by an enqDty title, a peacock’s

    feather, or employment in some insignificant formality. The

    sale of titular rank is a source of revenue, but the government

    never attempts to subvert or interfere with the well-known

    channel of attaming office by literary merit, and it seldom confers

    much real power for money when unconnected with some

    degree of fitness. The security of its own position is not to be

    risked for the sake of an easy means of filling its exchequer,

    yet it is impossible to say how far the sale of office and title is

    carried. The censors inveigh against it, and the Emperor

    almost apologizes for resorting to it, but it is nevertheless constantly

    practised. The government stocks of this description

    were opened during the late rebellions and foreign wars, as the

    necessities of the case were a sufficient excuse for the disreputable

    practice. In 1SS5 the sons of two of the leading hongmerchants

    wei’e promoted, in consequence of their donations of

    $25,000 each to repair the ravages of an inundation ; subscribers

    to the amount of §;10,000 and upward were rewarded by an

    honorary title, whose only privilege is that it saves its possessor

    from a bambooing, it being the law that no one holding any

    office can be personally chastised.’/

    Besides the lower officers, the clerks in their employ and the

    police, who are often taken from the garrison soldiery, are the

    agents in the hands of the upper ranks to squeeze the people.

    ‘ Compare tlie Chinese Repository, Vol. XVIII., p. 207.

    476 TIIK .AIIDDLK KINGDOM.

    There are many clerks of vaiious duties and grades about all

    the offices who receive small salaries, and every application and

    petition to their sujDeriors, going through their hands, is attended

    by a bribe to pass them up. The military police and

    servants connected with the offices are not paid any regular

    salary, and their number is great. In the large districts, like

    those of Nanhai and Pwanyu, which compose the city of Canton

    and suburbs, it is said there are about a thousand unpaid

    police ; in the middle-sized ones l)etween tln*ee and four hundred,

    and in the smallest from one to two hundred. This

    number is increased by the domestics attending high officers as

    part of their suite, and by their old acquaintances, who make

    themselves known when there is any likelihood of being employed.

    Among other abuses mentioned by the censors is that

    of magistrates appointing their own creatures to fill vacancies

    until those nominated by his Majesty arrive ; like a poor man

    oppressing the poor, such officers are a sweeping rain. A

    similar abuse arises when country magistrates leave their posts

    to go to the provincial capital to dance attendance npon their

    superiors, and get nominated to a higher place or taken into

    their service as secretaries, because they will work for nothing

    the duties of their vacated offices are meantime nsually left undone,

    and underlings take advantage of their absence to make

    new exactions. The governor fills vacant offices with his own

    friends, and recommends them to his Majesty to be confirmed

    ;

    but this has little effect in consolidating a system of oppression

    from the constant changes going on. In fact, it is hard to say

    which feature of the Chinese polity is the least disastrous to

    good government, these constant changes which neutralize all

    sympathy with the people on the part of rulers, or on the

    other hand make it useless for seditious men to try to foment

    rebellion.

    The retinues of high provincial officers contain many dependents

    and expectant supermnneraries, all subservient to

    them ; among them arc the descendants of poor officers ; the

    sons of bankrupt merchants who once possessed influence

    ;

    dissipated, well bred, uiiscru]iulous men, who lend themselves

    to everything flagitious ; and lastly, fortune-seekei’s without

    AGENTS AND MODES OF OFFICIAL EXACTION. 477

    money, T)ut posscssinp; talents of good order to he used bv any

    one who will hire them. Such persons are not })ecnliar to

    China^ and their employment is guarded against in the code,

    but no law is more of a dead letter. (Officers of government,

    too, conscious of their delinquencies, and afraid their posts will

    soon be taken from them, of course endeavor to make the most

    of their opportunities, and by means of such persons, who are

    iisually well acquainted with the leading inhabitants of the

    district, harass and thi’eaten such as are likely to pay well for

    being left in quiet. It does them little or no good, however,

    for if they are not removed they must fee their superioi-s, and

    if they are punished for their misdeeds they are still more certain

    of losing their wicked exactions. /

    In the misappropriation of pul)lic funds, and peculation of all

    kinds in materials, government stores, rations, wages, and salaries,

    the Chinese officials are skilled experts, and are never surprised

    at any disclosures.

    Another common mode of plundering the people is for officers

    to collude with bands of thieves, and allow them to escape for a

    composition when arrested, or substitute other persons for the

    guilty party in case the real offenders are likely to be condemned.

    Sometimes these banditti are too strong even for an

    upright magistrate, and he is obliged to overlook what he cannot

    I’emedy ; for, however much he may wish to ari-est and

    bring them to justice, his policemen are too much afraid of

    their vengeance to venture nipon attacking them. An instance

    of this occurred near Canton in 1S39, when a boat, containing a

    clerk of the court and three or four police, came into the fleet

    of European opium-ships to hunt for some desperate opium

    smugglers Avho had taken refuge there. The fellows, hearing

    of the arrival of the boat, came in the night, and surrounding

    it took out the crew, bound their pursuers, and burned them

    alive with the boat in sight of the whole fleet, to whom the

    desperadoes looked for protection against their justly incensed

    countrymen.

    A censor in 1819, complaining of flagrant neglect in the administration of justice in Cliihli, says : ” Among the magistrates are many who, without fear or shame, connive at robbery and deceit. Formerly, horse-stealers were wont to conceal themselves in some secret place, but now they openly bring their plunder to market for sale. “When they perceive a person to be weak, they arc in the habit of stealing his property and returning it to him for money, while the officers, on hearing it, treat it as a trivial matter, and blame the sufferer for not being more cautious. Thieves are apprehended with warrants on them, showing that when they were sent out to arrest

    thieves they availed of the opportunity to steal for themselves.

    And at a village near the imperial residence are very many

    plunderers concealed, M’ho go out by night in companies of

    twenty or thirt}- persons, carrying weapons with them ; they

    frequently call up the inhabitants, break open the doors, and

    having satisfied themselves with what food and wine they can

    obtain, they threaten and extort money, Avhich if they cannot

    procure they seize their clothes, ornaments, or cattle, and depart.

    They also frequently go to shops, and having broken

    open the shutters impudently demand money, which if they do

    not get they set fire to the shop with the torches in their

    hands. If the master of the house lay hold on a few of them

    and sends them to the magistrate, he merely imprisons and

    beats them, and ‘ before half a month allows them to run

    away.” ‘

    The impaid retainers about the ycnmins a^e very numerous,

    and are more di-eaded than the police ; one censor says they are

    looked upon by the people as tigers and wolves ; he effected

    the discharge of nearly twenty-four thousand of them in the

    province of Cliihli alone. They are usually continued in their

    places by the head magistrate, who, wheii he arrives, being

    ignorant of the characters of those he must employ, re-engages

    such as are likely to serve. In cases of serious accusation the

    clei-ks frequently subpoena all who are likel}^ to be implicated,

    and demand a fee for liberating them when their innocence is

    shown. These myrmidons still fear the anger of their superiors

    and a recoil of the people so far as to endeavor to save

    appeai-ances by hushing up the matter, and liberating those

    ‘ Chinese licposituryy Vol. IV., p. 218.

    VENALITY OF THE POLICE AND CLERKS. 479

    unjustly cappreliended, with great protestations of conipassion.

    It may be added that, as life is not lightly taken, thieves are

    careful not to murder or maltreat their victims dangerously,

    nor do the magistrates venture to take life outright by torture,

    though their cruelties frequently result in death by neglect or

    starvation. Money and goods are what both policemen and

    officials want, not blood and rcA^enge. Parties at strife with

    each other frequently resort to legal inq^lication to gratify their

    ill-will, and take a pitiful revenge by egging on the police to

    pillage and vex their enemy, though they themselves profit nowise

    thereby.

    The evils resulting from a half-paid and venal magistracy are

    dreadful, and the prospects of their removal very slight. The

    governor of Chihli, in 1829, memorialized the Emperor upon

    the state of the police, and pointed out a remedy for many

    abuses, one of which was to pay them fair salaries out^ of the

    public treasury ; but it is plain that this remedy must begin

    with the monarch, for until an officer is released from sopping

    his superior he will not cease exacting from his inferiors. Experience has shown the authorities liow f^r it can safely be carried; while many officers, seeing how useless it is to irritate the people, so far as ultimately enriching themselves is concerned, endeavor to restrain their policemen. One governor issued an edict, stating that none of his domestics were allowed to browbeat shopmen, and thus get goods or eatables below the market price, and permitted the seller to collar and bring them to him

    for punishment when they did so. When an officer of high

    rank, as a governor, treasurer, etc., takes the seals of his post, he

    ofttimes issues a proclamation, exhorting the subordinate ranks

    to do as he means to do—” to look up and embody the kindness

    of the high Emperor,” and attend to the faithful discharge of

    their duties. The lower officers, in their turn, join in the cry,

    and a series of proclamations, by turns hortative and mandatory,

    are echoed from mastiff, spaniel, and poodle, until the cry ends

    upon the police. Thus the prefect of Canton says : ” There are

    hard-hearted soldiers and gnawing lictors who post themselves

    at ferries or markets, or rove about the streets, to extort money

    under various pretexts ; or, being intoxicated, they disturb and annoy the people in a hundred ways. Since I came into office iicre I have repeatedly commanded the inferior magistrates to act faithfully and seize such persons, but the depraved spirit still continues.”

    A censor, speaking of the police, says : ” They no sooner get a warrant to bring up witnesses than they assail both plaintiff and defendant for money to pay their expenses, from the amount of ten taels to several scoi’es. Then the clei’ks must have double what the runners get; if their demands be not satisfied they contrive every species of annoyance. Then, again, if there are people of property in the neighborhood, they will implicate them. They plot also with pettifogging lawyers to get np accusations against people, and threaten and frighten them out of their money.” ‘

    One natural consequence of such a state of society and such

    a perve/sion of justice is to render the people afraid of all contact

    with the officers of government and exceedingly selfish in

    all their intercourse, though the latter trait needs no particular

    training to develop it in any heathen comitry. It also tends to

    an inhuman disregard of the life of others, and chills every emotion

    of kindness which might otherwise arise ; for by making a

    man responsible for the acts of his neighbors, or by involving a whole village in the crimes of an individual, all sense of justice is violated. The terror of being iinplieatcd in any evil that takes place sometimes prevents the people from cpienching fires until the superior authorities be first informed, and from relieving the distressed until it is often too late. Hence, too, it not unfrequently happens that a man who has had the ill fortune to be stabbed to death in the street, or who falls down from disease and dies, remains on the spot till the putrescence obliges the neighbors, for their own safety, to remove the corpse. A dead body floating down the river and washing ashore is likely to remain

    on the banks until it again drifts away or the authorities

    get it buried, for no unofficial person would voluntarily run the

    risk of being seen interring it. One censor reports that when

    he asked the people why they did not remove the loathsome ob-

    ‘ Compare Doolittle, Socidl Life of the CJit’nene, Vol. I., p. 330.

    EFFECT OF IMUTUAL llESPONSIBILITY. 481

    ject, tliej said: “Wo always let the bodies be either buried in

    the bellies of fishes or devoured by the dogs ; for if we inform

    the magistrates they are sure to make the owner of the ground

    buy a coffin, and the clerks and assistants distress us in a hundred

    ways/’ The usual end of these memorials and remonstrances is that the police are ordered to behave better, the clerks commanded to abstain from implicating innocent people and retarding the course of justice, and their masters, the magistrates, threatened with the Emperor’s displeasure in ease the grievance is not remedied : after which all goes on as before, and will go on as long as both rulers and ruled are what they are.

    (The working out of the principle of responsibility accounts for many things in Chinese society and jurisprudence that otherwise appear completely at variance with even common humanity.

    It makes an officer careless of his duties if he can shift the responsibility of failure upon his inferiors, who, at the same time,

    he knows can never execute his orders; it renders the people

    dead to the impulses of relationship, lest they become involved

    in what they cannot possibly control and hardly know at the

    time of its commission. Mr. Lindsay states that when he was

    at Tsungming in 18r>2 the officers were very urgent that he

    should go out of the river, and in order to show him the effect

    of his non-compliance upon others a degraded subaltern was

    paraded in his sight. ” His cap with its gold button was borne

    before him, and he nuirched about blindfolded in procession between

    two executioners, with a small flag on a bamboo pierced

    through each ear. Uefore him was a placard with the inscription,

    ‘ By orders of the general of Su and Sung : for a breach

    of militaiy discipline, his ears are pierced as a warning to the

    multitude.’ Ilis offence was having allowed our boat to pass

    the fort without reporting it.’^

    During the first war with England, fear of punishment induced many of the subordinates to commit suicide when unable to execute their orders, and the same motive impelled their superiors to avoid the wrath of the Emperor in like fashion.

    The Hong-merchants and linguists at Canton, during the old regime, were constantly liable, from the operation of this principle, to exactions and punishments for the acts of their foreign customers. One of them, Sunsliing, was put in prison and ruined because Lord Napier came to Canton from Whampoa in the boat of a ship which the unhappy merchant had ” secured” several weeks before, and the hnguist and pilot were banished for allowing what they could not possibly have hindered even if they had known it.

    Having examined in this general manner the various grades

    of official rank, we come to the people ; and a close view will

    show that this great mass of human l)eings exhibits many equally

    objectionable traits, while oppression, want, clannish rivalry,

    and brigandage combine to keep it in a constant state of turmoil.

    The subdivisions into tithings and hundreds are better

    observed in rural districts than in cities, and the headmen of

    those communities, in their individual and collective character,

    possess great influence, from the fact that they represent the

    popular feeling. In all parts of the country this popular organization

    is found in some shape or other, though, as if everything

    was somehow perverted, it not unfrequently is an instrument of

    greater oppression than defence. The division of the people

    into clans is far more marked in the southern provinces than in

    those lying north of the Yangtsz’, and has had a depressing

    effect upon their good government. It resembles in general the

    arrangement of the Scottish clans, as do the evils arising from

    their dissensions and feuds those which histoiy records as excited

    among the Highlanders by the i-ivalry between Campbells

    and Macgregors.

    ‘ H«eren, Asiatic Nations, Vol. II., p. 259. Raffles, Java, Vol. II. App.Biot, Vlmtructioii publique, pp. 59, 200.

    VILLAGE ELDERS. 483

    The eldership of villages has no necessary connection with the clans, for the latter are unacknowledged by the government, but the clan having the majority in a village generally selects the elders from among their number. This system is of very ancient date; its elementary details are given in the Chau-l’i, one of the oldest works extant in China ; Ileeren furnishes the same details for India and Kaffles for Java, reaching back in their duration to remote antiquity.’ In the vicinity of Canton the elder

    is elected by a sort of town meeting, and holds his office during

    good behavior, receives such a salary as his fellow villagers give

    him, and may be removed to make way for another whenever

    the principal persons in the village are displeased with his conduct.

    His duties are limited to the supervision of the police

    and general oversight of what is done in the village, and to be a

    sort of agent or spokesman between the villagers and higher authorities; the duties, the power, and the rank of these officers

    vary almost indeiinitel}’. The preponderance of one clan prevents

    much strife in the selection of the elder, but the degree of

    power reposed in his hand is so small that there is probably little

    competition to obtain the dignity. A village police is maintained

    by the inhabitants, under the authority of the elder ; the village

    of Whampoa, for instance, containing about eight thousand inhabitants, pays the elder $300 salary, and employs fourteen

    watchmen. His duties further consist in deciding upon the

    petty questions arising between the villagers and visiting the

    delinquents with chastisement, enforcing such regulations as are

    deemed necessary regarding festivals, markets, tanks, streets,

    collection of taxes, etc. The system of surveillance is, howevei-,

    kept up by the superior officers, who appoint excise officers, grain

    agents, tide-waiters, or some other subordinate, as the case may

    require, to exercise a general oversight of the headmen.

    The district magistrate, with the s’mnkien and their deputies

    over the hundred, are the officers to whom appeals are carried

    from the headmen ; they also receive the reports of the elders

    respecting suspicious characters within their limits, or other

    matters which they deem worthy of reference or remonstrance.

    A similarity of interests leads the headmen of many villages

    to meet together at times in a public hall for secret consultation

    upon important matters, and their united resolutions are

    generally acted upon by themselves or by the magistrates, as

    the case may be. This system of eldership, and the influential

    position the headmen occupy, is an important safeguard the

    people possess against the extremity of oppressive extortion; while, too, it upholds the government in strengthening the loyalty

    of those who feel that the only security they possess against

    theft, and loss of all things from their seditious countrymen, is to uphold the institutions of the land, and that to suffer the evils of a bad magistracy is less dreadful than the horrors of a lawless brigandage.

    The customs and laws of clanship perpetuate a sad state of

    society, and render districts and villages, otherwise peaceful, the

    scenes of unceasing tm-moil and trouble. There are only about

    four hundred clans in the whole of China, but inasmuch as all

    of the same surname do not live in the same place, the separation

    of a clan answers the same purpose as multiplying it. Clannish

    feelings and feuds are very much stronger in Kwangtung

    and Fuhkien than in other provinces. As an instance which

    may be mentioned, the Gazette contains the petition of a man

    from Chauchau fu, in Kwangtung, relating to a quarrel, stating

    that “four years before, his kindred having refused to assist

    two other clans in their feuds, had during that period suffered

    most shocking cruelties. Ten jiersons had been killed, and

    twenty men and women, taken captives, had had their eyes dug

    out, their ears cut off, their feet maimed, and so rendered useless

    for life. Thirty houses Avere laid in ruins and three hundred

    acres of land seized, ten thousand taels plundered, ancestral

    temples thrown down, graves dug up, dikes destroyed, and water

    cut off from the fields. The governor had oifered a reward of

    a thousand taels to any one who would apprehend these persons,

    but for the ten murders no one had been executed, for the

    police dare not seize the offenders, whose nmnbers have largely

    increased, and M’ho set the laws at defiance.” This region is

    notorious for the turbulence of its inhal)itants ; it adjoins the

    province of Fuhkien, and the people, known at Canton as Ilolio,

    emigrate in large immbers to the Indian Archipelago or to other

    provinces. The later Gazettes contain still more dreadful accounts

    of the contests of the clans, and the great loss of life and

    property resulting from their forays, no less than one hundred

    and twenty villages having been attacked, and thousands of

    people killed. These battles are constantly occurring, and the

    authorities, feeling themselves too weak to put them down, are

    ()l)]iged to comiive at them and let the clans fight it out.

    Ill will is kept up between the clans, and private revenges

    gratified, by every personal annoyance that malice can suggest

    SOCIAL EVILS OF CLANSHIP. 485

    or opportniiity tempt. If an unfortunate individual of one clan

    is met alone by his enemy, he is sure to be robbed or beaten, or

    botli ; the boats or the houses of each party are plimdered or

    burned, and legal redress is almost impossible. Graves are defaced

    and tombstones injured, and on the annual visit to the

    family sepulchre perhaps a putrid corpse is met, placed there

    by the hostile clan ; this insult arouses all their ire, and they

    vow deadly revenge. The villagers sally out with such arms as

    they possess, and death and wounds are almost sure to result

    before they separate. In Shunteh (a district between Canton

    and Macao) upward of a thousand men engaged with spears

    and iirearms on one of these occasions, and thirty-six lives were

    lost ; the military were called in to quell the riot. In Tungkwan

    district, southeast of Canton, thirty-six ringleaders w^ere

    apprehended, and in 1S31 it was reported that four hundred

    persons had been killed in these raids ; only twenty-seven of

    their kindred appealed to government for redress.

    When complaint is made to the prefect or governor, and investigation becomes inevitable, the villagers have a provision to meet the exigencies of the case, which puts the burden of the charges as equally as possible upon the whole clan. A band of ”devoted men ” are found —persons who volunteer to assume such crimes and run their chance for life—whose names are kept on a list, and they come forward and surrender themselves to government as the guilty persons. On the trial their friends employ witnesses to prove it a justifiable homicide, and magnify the provocation, and if tliei-e are several brought on the stand

    at once they try to get some of them clear by proving an alibi.

    It not unfrequently happens that the accused are acquitted—

    seldom that they are executed ; transportation or a fine is the

    usual result. The inducement for persons to run this risk of

    their lives is security from the clan of a maintenance for their

    families in case of death, and a reward, sometimes as high as

    $300, in land or money when they return. This sum is raised

    by taxing the clan or village, and the imposition falls heavily

    on the poorer portion of it, who can neither avoid nor easily

    pay it. This sj-stem of substitution pervades all parts of society,

    and for all misdemeanors. A person was strangled in Macau in 183S for having been engaged in the opium trade, who had

    been hired bj the real criminal to answer to liis name. Another

    mode of escape, sometimes tried in sucli cases when the

    person has been condemned, is to bribe the jailers to report him

    dead and carry out his body in a cotiin ; but this device probably

    does not often answer the end, as the turnkeys require a

    larger bribe than can be raised. There can be little doubt of the

    prevalence of the j)ractice, and for crimes of even minor penalty.

    To increase the social CN^ils of clanship and systematized

    thieving, local tyrants occasionally spring up, persons who rob

    and maltreat the villagers by means of their armed, retainers,

    who are in most cases, doubtless, members of the same clan.

    One of these tyrants, named Yc/i, or Leaf, became quite notorious

    in the district of Tungkwan in 1833, setting at defiance

    all the power of the local authorities, and sending out his men

    to plunder and ravage whoever resisted his demands, destroying

    their graves and grain, and particularly molesting those who

    would not deliver np their wives or daughters to gratify him.

    lie was arrested through craft by the district magistrate at

    Canton leaving his office and inducing him, for old acquaintance

    sake, to return with him to the provincial city ; he was there

    tried and executed by the governor, although it was at the time

    reported that the Board of Punishments endeavored to save his

    life because he had been in office at the capital. In order that

    no attempt should be made to rescue him, he was left in ignorance

    of his sentence until he was put into the sedan to be carried

    to execution.

    Clannish banditti often supply themselves with firearms, and prowling the countiy to revenge themselves on their enemies, soon proceed to pillage every one; in disarming them the government is sometimes obliged to resort to contemptible subterfuges, which conspicuously show its weakness and encourage a repetition of the evil. Parties of tramps, called /lakka, or ‘guests,’

    roam over Ivwangtung provinc^e, s(juatting on vacant places

    along the shores, away from the villages, and forming small

    clannish communities ; as soon as they increase, occupying more

    and more of the land, they l)egin to commit petty depredations

    upon the crops of the inhabitants, and demand money for the

    BANDITTI AND TRAMPS, 487

    privilege of burying upon the unoccupied ground around tliem.

    The government is generally unwilling to drive them ofP bv

    force, because there is the alternative of making them robbers

    thereby, and they are invited to settle in other waste lands,

    which they can have free of taxation, and leave those they have

    cultivated if strictly private property. This practice shows the

    populousness of the country in a conspicuous manner. To these

    evils nnist be also added the large bodies of floating l)anditti or

    dakoits, who rove up and down all the watercourses ” like

    sneaking rats ” and pounce upon defenceless boats. Hardly a

    river or estuary in the land is free from these miscreants, and

    lives and property are annually destroyed by them to a very

    great amount, especially on the Yangtsz’, the Pearl Iviver, and

    other great thoroughfares.

    The popular associations in cities and towns are chiefly based

    upon a community of interests, resulting either from a similarity

    of occupation, wdien the leading persons of the same calling

    form themselves into guilds, or from the municipal regulations

    requiring the householders living in the same street to unite to

    maintain a police and keep the peace of their division. Each

    guild has an assembly-hall, where its members meet to hold the

    festival of their patron saint, to collect and appropriate the subscriptions of the members and settle the rent or storage on the

    rooms and goods in the hall, to discuss all public matters as well

    as the good cheer they get on such occasions, and to confer with

    other guilds. The members often go to a great expense in

    emulating each other in their processions, and some rivalry

    exists regarding their rights, over which the government keeps

    a watchful eye, for all popular assemblies are its horror. The

    shopkeepers and householders in the same street are required to

    have a headman to superintend the police, watchmen, and beggars

    within his limits. The rulers are sometimes thwarted in

    their designs by both these forms of popular assemblies, and they

    no doubt tend in many ways to keep up a degree of independence

    and of nmtual acquaintance, which compels the respect of

    the government. The governor of Canton in 1838 endeavored

    to search all the shops in a particular street, to ascertain if there

    Was opium in them ; but the shopmen came in a body at the iiead of the street, and told the policemen that they would on no account permit their shops to be searched. The governor deemed it best to retire. Those who will not join or agree to what the majority orders in these bodies occasionally experience petty tyranny, but in a city this must be comparatively trilling.

    Several of the leading men in the city are known to hold meetings

    for consultation in still more popular assemblies for different

    reasons of a public and pressing nature. There is a building

    at Canton called the Mhuj-lun Tang^ or ” Free Discussion

    Hall,” where political matters are discussed under the knowledge

    of government, which rather tries to mould than put them

    down, for the assistance of such bodies, rightly managed, in

    carrying out their intentions, is considerable, while discontent

    would be roused if they were forcibly suppressed. In October,

    1842, meetings were held in this hall, at one of which a public

    manifesto was issued, here quoted entire as a specimen of the

    public appeals of Chinese politicians and orators: “We have been reverently consulting upon the Empire— a vast and undivided whole ! How can Yfi^ permit it to be severed in order to give it to others ‘? Yet we, the rustic people, can learn to practice a rude loyalty; we too know to destroy the banditti, and thus requite his Majesty. Our Great Pure dynasty has cared for this country for more than two hundred years, during which a succession of distinguished monarchs, sage succeeding sage, has reigned ; and we who eat the herb of the field, and tread the soil, have for ages drank in the dew of imperial goodness, and been imbued with its benevolence. The people in wilds far remote beyond our influence have also felt this goodness, comparable to the heavens for height, and been upheld by this bounty, like the earth for thickness. Wherefore peace being now settled in the country, ships of all lands come, distant though they be from this for many a myriad of miles ; and of all the foreigners on the south and west there is not one but what enjoys the highest peace and contentment, and entertains the profoundest respect and submission.

    ” But there is that English nation, whose ruler is now a woman and then a man, its people at one time like birds and then like beasts, with dispositions more fierce and furious than the tiger or wolf, and hearts more greedy than the snake or hog—this people has ever stealthily devoured all the southern barbarians, and like the demon of the night llicy now suddenly exalt themselves.

    MANIFESTO ISSUI^-O AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 489

    During the reigns of Kienlung and Kiaking these English barbarians humlily besought entrance and permission to make a present ; they also presumptuously reijuested to have Chusan, but those divine personages, clearly perceiving their traitorous designs, gave them a peremptory refusal. From that time* linking themselves in with traitorous traders, they have privilj dwelt at Macao, trading largely in opium and poisoning our brave people.

    They have ruined lives— how many millions none can tell ; and wasted property—how many thousands of millions who can guess! They have dared again and again to murder Chinese, and have secreted the murderers, whom they have refused to deliver up, at which the hearts of all men grieved and their heads ached. Thus it has been that for many years past the English, by their privily watching for opportunities in the country, have gradually brought things to the present crisis.

    “In 1888, our great Emperor having fully learned all the crimes of the

    English and the poisonous effects of opium, (quickly wished to restore the

    good condition of the country and compassionate the people. In consequence

    of the memorial of Hwang Tsioh-sz’, and in accordance to his request, he

    specially deputed the public-minded, upright, and clear-headed minister, Lin

    Tseh-sii, to act as his imperial commissioner with pleniijotentiary powers, and

    go to Canton to examine and regulate. He came and took all the storedup

    opium and stopped the trade, in order to cleanse the stream and cut

    off the fountain ; kindness was mixed with his severity, and virtue was

    evident in his laws, yet still the English repented not of their errors, and

    as the climax of their contumacy called troops to their aid. The censor

    Hwang, by advising peace, threw down the barriers, and bands of audacious

    robbers willingly did all kinds of disreputable and villainous deeds. During

    the past three years these rebels, depending upon their stout ships and effective

    cannon, from Canton went to Fuhkien, thence to Chehkiang and on

    to Kiangsu, seizing our territory, destroying our civil and military authorities,

    ravishing our women, capturing our property, and bringing upon the inhabitants

    of these four provinces intolerable miseries. His Imperial Majesty was

    troubled and afflicted, and this added to his grief and anxiety. If you wish

    to purify their crimes, all the fuel in the Empire will not suffice, nor would

    the vast ocean be enough to wash out our resentment. Gods and men are

    alike filled with indignation, and Heaven and Earth cannot permit them to remain.

    “Recently, those who have had the management of affairs in Kiangnan have been imitating those who were in Canton, and at the gates of the city they have willingly made an agreement, peeling oH the fat of the people to the tune of .hundreds of myriads, and all to save the precious lives of one or two useless officers ; in doing which they have exactly verified what Chancellor Kin Ying-lin had before memorialized. Now these English rebels are barbarians dwelling in a petty island beyond our domains ; yet their coming throws myriads of miles of country into turmoil, while their numbers do not exceed a few myriads. What can be easier than for our celestial dynasty to exert its fulness of power and exterminate these contemptible sea-going imps, just as the blast bends the pliant bamboo? But our highest officers and ministers cherish their precious lives, and civil and military men both dread a dog as they would a tiger ; regardless of the enemies of their country or the griefs of the people, they have actually sundered the Empire and granted its wealth ; acts more flagitious these than those of the traitors in the days of the Southern Sung dynasty, and the reasons for which are wholly beyond out comprehension. These English barbarians are at bottom without ability, and yet we have all along seen in the memorials that officers exalt and dilate upon their prowess and obstinacy ; our people are courageous and enthusiastic, but the officers on the contrary say that they are dispirited and scattered : this is for no other reason than to coerce our prince to make peace, and then they will luckily avoid the penalty due for ‘ deceiving the prince and betraying the country.’ Do you doubt ? Then look at the memorial of Chancellor Kin Ying-lin, which says : ‘ They take the occasion of war to seek for self-aggrandizement ;’ every word of which directly points at such conduct as this.

    “We have recently read in his Majesty’s lucid mandate that ‘There is no other way, and what is requested must be granted ; ‘ and that ‘ We have cou’ferred extraordinary powers upon the ministers, and they have done nothing but deceive us.’ Looking up we perceive his Majesty’s clear discrimination and divine perception, and that he was fully aware of the imbecility of his ministers ; he remembers too the loyal anger of his people. He has accordingly now temporarily settled all the present difficulties, but it is that, having matured his plans, he may hereafter manifest his indignation, and show to the Empire that it had not fathomed the divine awe-inspiring counsels.

    ” The dispositions of these rebellious English are like that of Hlie dog or sheep, whose desires can never be satisfied ; and therefore we need not inquire whether the peace now made be real or pretended. Remember that when they last year made disturbance at Canton they seized the Square fort, and thereupon exhibited their audacity, everywhere plundering and ravishing.

    MANIFESTO ISSUED AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 491

    If it had not been that the patriotic inhabitants dwelling in Hwaitsing and other hamlets, and those in Shingping, had not killed their leader and destroyed their devilish soldiers, they would have scrupled at nothing, taking and pillaging the city, and then firing it in order to gratify their vengeance and greediness : can we imagine that for the paltry sum of six millions of dollars they would, as they did, have raised the siege and retired ‘i How to be regretted ! That when the fish was in the frying-pan, the Kwangchau fu should come and pull away the firewood, let loose the tiger to return to the mountains, and disarm the people’s indignation. Letting the enemy thus escape on one occasion has successively brought misery upon many provinces: whenever we speak of it, it wounds the heart and causes the tears to fiow.

    ” Last year, when the treaty of peace was made, it was agreed that the English should withdraw from lieyond Lankeet, that they should give back the forts near there and dwell temporarily at Hongkong, and that thenceforth all military operations were forever to cease. Who would have supposed that before the time stipulated had passed away they would have turned their backs upon this agreement, taken violent possession of the forts at the Bogue with their ‘ wooden dragons ‘ [i.e. , ships of war]—and when they came upon the gates of the City of Rams with their powerful forces, who was there to oppose them ? During these three years we have not been able to restore things as at first, and their deceptive craftiness, then confined to these regions, has rapidly extended itself to Kiangnan. But our high and mighty Emperor, preeminently intelligent and discerning [lit. grasping the golden mirror and holding the gemmeous balances], consents to demean himself to adopt soothing counsels of peace, and therefore submissively accords with the decrees of Heaven. Having a suspicion that these outlandish people intended to encroach upon us, he has secretly arranged all things. We have respectfully read through all his Majesty’s mandates, and they are as clear-sighted as the sun and moon ; but those who now manage affairs are like one who, supposing the raging fire to be under, puts himself as much at ease as swallows in a court, but who, if the calamity suddenly reappears, would be as defenceless as a grampus in a fish-market. The law adjudges the penalty of death for betraying the country, but how can even death atone for their crimes V Those persons who have been handed down to succeeding ages with honor, and those whose memories have been execrated, are but little apart on the page of righteous history ; let our rulers but remember this, and we think they also must exert themselves to recover their characters. We people have had our day in times of great peace, and this age is one of abundant prosperity ; scholars are devising how to recompense the kindness of the government, nor can husbandmen think of forgetting his Majesty’s exertions for them. Our indignation svas early excited to join battle with the enemy, and we then all urged one another to the firmest loyalty.

    “We have heard the English intend to come into Pearl River and make a

    settlement ; this will not, however, stop at Chinese and foreigners merely

    dwelling together, for men and beasts cannot endure each other ; it will be

    like opening the door and bowing in the thief, or setting the gate ajar and

    letting the wolf in. While they were kept outside there were many traitors

    within ; how much more, when they encroach even to our bedsides, will our

    troubles be augmented ? We cannot help fearing it will eventuate in something

    strange, which words will be insi;flicient to express. If the rulers of

    other states wish to imitate the English, with what can their demands be

    waived V Consequently, the unreasonable demands of the English are going

    to bring great calamity upon the people and deep sorrow to the country. If

    we do not permit them to dwell with us under the same heaven, our spirits

    will feel no shame ; but if we willingly consent to live with them, we may in truth be deemed insensate.

    ” We have reverently read in the imperial mandate, ‘There must indeed be some persons among the people of extraordinary wisdom or bravery, who can stir them up to loyalty and patriotism or unite them in self-defence ; some who can assist the government and army to recover the cities, or else defend passes of importance against the robbers ; some who can attack and burn their vessels, or seize and bring the heads of their doltish leaders ; or else some with divine presence and wisdom, who can disclose all their silly counsels and get to themselves a name of surpassing merit and ability and receive the highest rewards. We can confer,’ etc., etc. We, the people, having received the imperial words, have united ourselves together as troops, and practise the plan of joining hamlets and villages till we have upward of a million of troops, whom we have provisioned according to the scale of estimating the produce of respective farms; and now we are fully ready and quite at ease as to the result. If nothing calls us, then each one will return to his own occupation ; but if the summons come, juiuiug our strength iu force we will incite each other to e.7ort ; our brave sons and brothers are all animated to deeds of arms, and even our wives and daughters, finical and delicate as jewels, have learned to discourse of arms. At first, alas, those who guarded the passes were at ease and careless, and the robbers came unbidden and undesired; but now [if they come], we have only zealously to appoint each other to stations, and suppress the rising of the waves to the stillest calm [i.e., to exterminate them]. When the golden pool is fully restored to peace, and his Majesty’s anxiety for the south relieved; when the leviathan has been driven away, then will our anger, comparable to the broad ocean and high heavens, be pacified.

    ” Ah ! We here bind ourselves to vengeance, and express these our sincere intentions in order to exhibit great principles ; and also to manifest Heaven’s retribution and rejoice men’s hearts, we now issue this patriotic declaration. The high gods clearly behold : do not lose your first resolution.” ‘

    This spirited paper was subsequently answered Ly the party desirous of peace, but the anti-English feeling prevailed, and the committee appointed by the meeting set the English consulate on fire a few days after, to prevent it being occupied.

    There were many reasons at the time for this dislike; its further exhibition, however, ended with this attack, and has now pretty much died out with the rising of a new generation. The many secret as.^ociations existing among the people are mostly of a political character, but have creeds like religious sects, and differ slightly in their tenets and objects of worship.

    ‘ ChineHe Ilejwsitory, Vol. XI., p. 0:50.

    POPULAR SECRET ASSOCIATIONS. 493

    They are traceable to the system of clans, which giving the people at once the habit and spirit for associations, are easily made use of by clever men for their own purposes of opposition to government. Similar grievances, as local oppression, hatred of the Manchus, or hope of advantage, add to their mimbersand strength, and were they founded on a full acquaintance with the grounds of a just resistance to despotism, they would soon overturn the government ; but as out of an adder’s egg only a cockatrice can be hatched, so until the people are enlightened with regard to their just rights, no ]”)cnnanent melioration can be expected. It is against that leading feature in the ]\[anchu policy, isolation^ that these societies sin, which further prompts to systematic efforts to suppress them. The only objection the supreme government seems to have against the religion of the people is that it brings them together ; they may be Buddhists, nationalists, Jews, J\rohammedans, or Christians, apparently, if they will worship in secret and apart. On the other hand, the people naturally connect some religious rites with their opposition and cabals in order to more securely bind their members together.

    The name of the most powerful of these associations is mentioned in Section CLXII. of the code for the purpose of interdicting it ; since then it has apparently changed its designation from the Pih-Uen l-kio, or ‘AVater-lily sect,’ to the Tien-ti hioui or Siui-hoh /itnii, i.e., ^ Triad society,’ though both names still exist, the former in the northern, the latter in the maritime provinces and Indian Archipelago; their ramifications take also other appellations. The object of these combinations is to overturn the reigning dynasty, and in putting this prominently forward they engage many to join them. About the beginning of the century a wide-spread rebellion broke out in the northwestern and middle provinces, which was put down after eight years’ war, attended with desolation and bloodshed ; since that time the AYater-lily sect has not been so often spoken of. The Triad society has extended itself along the coasts, but it is not popular, owing more than anything else to its illegality, and the intimidation and oppression employed toward those who will not join it. The members have secret regulations and signs, and uphold and assist each other both i)i good and bad acts, but, as might be inferred from their character, screening evil doers from just punishment oftener than relieving distressed members. The original designs of the association may have been good, but what was allowable in them soon degenerated into a systematic plan for plunder and aim at power.

    The government of Hongkong enacted in 1845 that any Chinese living in that colony who was ascertained to belong to the Triad society should be declared guilty of felony, be imprisoned for three 3’ears, and after branding expelled the colony. These associations, if they cause the government much trouble by interfering with its operations, in no little degree, through the overbearing conduct of the leaders, uphold it by showing the people what may be expected if they should ever get the upper hand.’

    The evils of lual-adiniiiistratiou are to be learned chiefly

    from the memorials of censors, and although they may color

    their statements a little, very gross inaccuracies would be used

    to their own disadvantage, and contradicted by so many competitors,

    that most of their statements may be regarded as having

    some foundation. An unknown person in Kwangtung memorialized

    the Emperor in 1838 concerning the condition of that

    province, and drew a picture of the extortions of the lower

    agents of government that needs no illustrations to deepen its

    darkness or add force to its complaints. An extract from each

    of the six heads into which the memorial is divided will indicate

    the principal sources of popular insurrection in China,

    besides the exhibition they give of the tyranny of the officers.

    In his preface, after the usual laudation of the beneficence

    and popularity of the monarch, the memorialist proceeds to express

    his regret that the imperial desires for the welfare of his

    subjects should be so grievously thwarted by the villany of his

    officers. After mentioning the calamities which had visited the

    province in the shape of freshets, insurrections, and conflagrations,

    he says that affairs generall}’ had become so bad as to

    compel his Majesty to send connnissioners to Canton repeatedly

    in order to regulate them. ” If such as this be indeed the state

    of things,” he inquires, ” what wonder is it if habits of plunder

    characterize the people, or the clerks and under officers of the

    public courts, as well as village pettifoggers, lay themselves out

    on all occasions to stir up quarrels and instigate false accusations

    against the good?” He reconnnends reform in six departments,

    under each of which he thus specities the evils to beremedied: “‘

    Compare Dr. Milne, in Transnctions R. A. S. of Gr. Brit, and Irel., Vol.I., p. 240 (182.”)). Journal of the R. A. R, Vol. I., p. 9;}, and Vol. VI., p.120. Chinese Repository, Vol. .XVIII., pp. 280-295. A. Wylie, in the Shttncjhiti Almtinacfor ISrA. Notes and Queries on C and ,/., Vol. III., p. M. T. T. Meadows, The Chinese and their Rebellions, London, 1850. Gustave Schlegel, Thian Ti Ilitui, the JIunfj-Jjeague or JTeaven-Earth-League. A Secrel Society with the Chinese in China and India, Hatavia, lS(i().

    MEMORIAL UPON OFFICIAL OPPRESSION. 495

    First.—(In the department of police there is great negligence

    and delay in the decision of judicial cases. Cases of plunder

    are very common, most of which are committed hy banditti

    under the designations of Triad societies, Heaven and Earth

    brotherhoods, etc. These men carry off persons to extort a

    ransom, falsely assume the character of policemen, and in sinuilated

    revenue cutters pass up and down the rivers, plundei’iiig

    the boats of travellers and forcibly carrying off the women.

    Husbandmen are obliged to pay these robbers an ” indemnity,”

    or else as soon as the crops are ripe they come and carry off

    the M’hole harvest. In the precincts of the metropolis, where

    their contiguity to the tribunals prevents their committing depredations

    in open day, they set tire to houses during the night,

    and under the pretence of saving and defending the persons and

    property carry off both of them; hence, of late years, calamitous

    fires have increased in frequency, and the bands of robbers

    multiplied greatly. In cases of altercations among the villagers,

    who can only use their local patois, it rests entirely with the

    clerks to interpret the evidence ; and when the magistrate is lax

    or pressed with business, they have the evidence pre-arranged

    and join with bullies and strife-makers to subvert right and

    wrong, fattening themselves upon bribes extorted under the

    names of ” memoranda of complaints,” ” purchases of replies,”

    etc., and retarding indefinitely the decision of cases. They also

    instigate thieves to bring false accusations against the good, who

    are thereby ruined by legal expenses. While the officers of the

    government and the people are thus separated, how can it be

    otherwise than that appeals to the higher tribunals should be

    increased aiid litigation and strife prevail ?

    Second.—Magistrates overrate the taxes with a view to a deduction for their own benefit, and excise officers connive at non-payment. The revenue of Kwangtung is paid entirely in money, and the magistrates, instead of taking the commutation at a regular price of about five dollars for one hundred and fifty pounds of rice, have compelled the people to pay nine dollars and over, because the inundation and bad harvests had raised the price of grain.j In order to avoid this extortion the police go to the villagers and demand a douceur, when they will get them off from all payment. But the imperial coffers are not filled b;^ this means, and the people are by and hy forced to pay up their arrearages, even to the loss of most of their possessions.

    Third.—There is great mismanagement of the granaries, and instead of being any assistance to the people in time of scarcity, they are only a soiu’ce of peculation for those who are charged with their oversight.

    Fourth —The condition of the army and navy is a disgrace;

    illicit traffic is not prevented, nor can insurrections be put down.

    The only care of the officers is to obtain good appointments,

    and reduce the actual nmnber of soldiers below the register in

    order that they may appropriate the stores. The cruisers aim

    only to get fees to allow the prosecution of the contraband traffic,

    nor will the naval officers bestir themselves to recover the

    pi-operty of plundered boats, but rather become the protectors

    of the lawless and partakers of their booty. Robberies are so

    common on the rivers that the traders from the island of Hainan,

    and Chauchau near Fuhkien, prefer to come by sea, but

    the revenue cutters overhaul them under pretence of searching

    for contraband articles, and practise many extortions/*

    Fifth.—The monopoly of salt needs to be guarded more

    strictly, and the private manufacture of salt stopped, for thereby

    the revenue from this source is materially diminished.

    S’uih.—^\\Q inei-case of smuggling is so great, and the evils

    flowing from it so multiplied, that strong measures nmst be

    taken to repress it. Traitorous Chinese combine with depraved

    foreigners to set the laws at defiance, and dispose of their opium

    and other commodities for the pure silvci-. In this manner the

    country is impoverished and every evil arises, the revenues of

    the customs are diminished by the unnecessary number of persons

    employed and by the fees they receive for connivance, i If

    all these abuses can be remedied, ” it will be seen that when

    there are men to rule well, nothing can be found beyond the

    reach of their government.”

    FREQUENCY OF KOBBEllY AXI) DAKOITY. 497

    The chief efforts of officials are directed to put down banditti, and maintain such a degree of peace as will enable them to collect the revenue and secure the people in the quiet possession of their property ; but the people are too ready to resist them rulers, and this brings into operation a constant struggle of opposing desires. ( )nc side gets into the habit of resisting even the proper re(piisitions of the officers, who, on their part, endeavor in every way to reimburse their outlay in bribes to their superiors ; and the combined action of the two proves an insurmountable impediment to the attainment of even that degree of security a Chinese officer wishes.”i The general commission of robbery and dakoity, and the prevalence of bands of thieves, therefore proves the weakness of the government, not the insurrectionary disposition of the people. In one district of Ilupeh the governor reported in 1828 that “very few of the iuliabitants have any regular occupation, and their dispositions are exceedingly ferocious; they fight and kill each other on every provocation. In their villages they harbor thieves who flee from other districts, and sally forth again to plunder.” In the northern parts of Ivwangtung the people have erected high and strongly built houses to which they flee for safety from the attacks of robbers. These bands sometimes fall upon each other, and the feudal animosities of clanship adding fuel and

    rage to the rivalry of partisan warfare, the destruction of life

    and property is great. Occasionally the people zealously assist

    their rulers to apprehend them, though their exertions depend

    altogether upon the energy of the incumbent ; an officer in

    Fuhkien is recommended for promotion because he had apprehended

    one hundred and seventy-three persons, part of a band

    of robbers which had infested the department for years, and

    tried and convicted one thousand one hundred and sixty criminals,

    most or all of whom were probably executed.

    In 1821 there were four hundred robbers taken on the borders

    of Fuhkien ; in 1827 two hundred were seized in the

    south of the province, and forty-one more brought to Canton

    from the eastward. The governor offered $1,000 reward for

    the capture of one leader, and ,^3,000 for another. The judge

    of the province put forth a proclamation upon the subject in

    the same year, in w’hieh he says there were four hundred and

    thirty undecided cases of robbery by brigands then on the calendar

    ; and in 1816 there were upward of two thousand waiting

    his decision, for each of which there were perhaps five or six persons in prison or under constraint until the ease was settled.

    These bands prowl in the large cities and commit great

    cruelties. In 1830 a party of live hundred openly plundered a

    rich man’s house in the western suburbs of Canton ; and in

    Shunteh, south of the city, $600 were paid for the ransom of

    two persons carried off by them. The ex-governor, in 1831,

    was attacked by them near the Mei ling pass on his departure

    from Canton, and plundered of about ten thousand dollars.

    The magistrates of ITiangshan district, south of Canton, M-ere

    ordered by their superiors the same year to apprehend five

    hundred of the robbers. Priests sometimes harbor gangs in

    their temples and divide the spoils with them, and occasionally

    go out themselves on predatory excursions. Xo mercy is

    shown these miscreaTits when they are taken, but the multiplication

    of executions has no effect in deterring them from crime.

    Cruelty to individual prisoners does not produce so nuich disturbance

    to the general peace of the community as the forcible

    attempts of officers to collect taxes. / The people have the impression

    that their rulers exact more than is legal, and consequently

    consider opposition to the demands of the tax-gatherer

    as somewhat justifiable, which compels, of course, more stringent

    measures on the part of the authorities, whose station depends

    not a little on their punctuality in remitting the taxes. Bad

    harvests, floods, or other public calamities _i-ender the people

    still more disinclined to pay the assessments./ (In 184:5 a serious

    disturbance arose near jS^ingpo on this accoimt, which with unimportant differences could probably be paralleled in every prefecture in the land. The people of Funghwa liien having refused to pay an onerous tax, the prefect of Ningpo seized three literary men of the place, who had been deputed to collect it, and put them in prison ; this procedure so irritated the gentry that the candidates at the literary examination which occurred at Funghwa soon afterward, on being assembled at the public hall before the cJuhicn, rose upon him and beat him severely.

    DIFFICULTY IN COLLECTING TAXES. 499

    They were still further incensed against him from having recently detected him in deceitful conduct regarding a ]>etition they had made at court to have their taxes lightened; he had kept the answer and pocketed the difference, he was consequently superseded by another magistrate, and a deputy of the intendant of circuit was sent with the new incumbent to restore order. But the deputy, full of his importance, carried himself so haughtily that the excited populace treated him in the same manner, and he barely escaped with his life to Xingpo.

    The intendant and prefect, finding matters rising to such a pitch, sent a detachment of twelve hundred troops to keep the peace, but part of these were decoyed within the walls and attacked with such vigor that many of them were made prisoners, a colonel and a dozen privates killed, and two or three hundred wounded or beaten, and all deprived of their arms. In this plight they returned to Ningbo, and, as the distance is not great, apprehensions were entertained lest the insurgents should follow up their advantage by organizing themselves and ii>arching upon the city to seize the prefect. The officers sent immediately to Ilangchau for assistance, from whence the governor sent a strong force of ten thousand men to restore order, and soon after arrived himself. He demanded three persons to be given up who had been active in fomenting the resistance, threatening in case of non-compliance that he would destroy the town ; the prefect and his deputy from the intendant’s office were suspended and removed to another post.^ These measures restored quiet to a considerable extent.’

    The existence of such evils in Chinese society would rapidly

    disorganize it were it not for the conservative influence upon

    society of early education and training in industry. The government

    takes care to avail itself of this better element in public

    opinion, knd grounds thereon a basis of action for the establishment

    of good order. But this, and ten thousand similar

    instances, only exhibit more strongly how great a work there is

    to be done before high and low, people and rulers, will understand

    their respective duties and rights ; before they will, on

    the one hand, pay that regard to the authority of their rulers

    which is necessary for the maintenance of good order, and, on

    the other, resist official tyranny in preserving their own liberties.

    If the character of the officers, therefore, be such as has been

    ^Mmionary Chronicle, Vol. XTV., p. 140. Smith’s China, p. 250.

    briellv shown—open to hi-ibeiy, colluding with criminals, sycO’

    phantic toward suporions, and cruel to the people ; and the constituents of society present so many repulsive features—opposing clans engaged in deadly feuds, bandits sccjuring the country to rob, policemen joining to oppress, truth universally disregarded, selfishness the main principle of action, and almost every disorganizing element but imperfectly restrained from violent outbreaks and convulsions, it will not be expected that the regular proceedings of the courts and the execution of the laws will prove on examination to be any better than the materials of which they arc composed. As civil and criminal cases are all judged by one officer, one court tries nearly all the questions which arise. A single exception is provided for in the code, wherein it is ordered that ” in cases of adultery, r()l)bery, fraud, assaults, breach of laws concerning marriage, landed property or pecuniaiy contracts, or any other like offences committed by or against individuals in the military class—if any of the people are implicated or concerned, the military commanding officer and the civil magistrate shall have a concurrent jurisdiction.” ‘

    ‘ For cases of this sort in Cambodia, R’musat makes mention of a variety of ordeals which curioush’ resemble tiiose resorted to on the continent of Europe lUuing the Middle Ages. Nouveaux Milanyes, Tome I., p. 126.

    CHARACTER OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS. 501

    At the bottom of the judicial scale are the village elders. This incipient element of the democratic principle has also existed in India in much the same form ; but while its power ended in the local eldership there, in China it is only the lowest step of the scale. The elders give character to the village, and are expected to manage its public affairs, settle disputes among its inhabitants, arrange matters with other villages, and answer to the magistrates on its behalf. The code provides that all persons having complaints and informations address themselves in the first instance to the lowest tribunal of justice in the district, from which the cognizance of the affair may be transferred to the superior tribunals. The statement of the case is made in writing, and the officer is required to act upon it immediately; if the parties are dissatisfied with the award, the judgment of the lower courts is carried np to the superior ones. No case can be carried directly to the Emperor ; it must go through the

    Board of Punishments ; old men and womeu, however, sometimes

    present petitions to him on his journeys, but such appeals

    seldom occur, owing to the ditficulty of access. The captains in

    charge of the gates of Peking, in 1831, presented a memorial

    upon the subject, in which they attribute the number of appeals

    to the obstinacy of many persons in pressing their cases and

    the remissness of local officers, so that even women and girls of

    ten years of age take long journeys to Peking to state their

    cases. The memorialists reconnnend that an order be issued requiriug

    the two high provincial officers to adjudicate all cases,

    either themselves or by a court of errors, and not send the complainants

    back to the district magistrates. These official porters

    must have been much troubled with young ladies coming to see

    his Majesty, or perhaps were advised to present such a paper to

    afford a text for the Emperor to preach from ; to confer such

    power upon the governor and his associates would almost make

    them the irresponsible sovereigns of the provinces. A2:)peals

    frequently arise out of delay in obtaining justice, owing to the

    amount of business in the courts ; for the calendar may be

    expected to increase when the magistrate leaves his post to

    curry favor with his superiors. The almost utter impossibility

    of learning the truth of the case brought before tliern, either

    from the principal parties or the witnesses, must be borne in

    mind when deciding upon the oppressive proceedings of the

    magistrates to elicit the truth. Mention is made of one officer

    promoted for deciding three hundred cases in a year ; again of

    a district magistrate who tried upward of a thousand within

    the same period ; while a third revised and decided more than

    six hundred in which the parties had appealed. What becomes

    of the appeals in such cases, or whose decision stands, does not

    appear ; but if such proceedings are common, it accounts for the

    constant practice of sending appeals back to be revised, probably

    after a change in the incumbent.

    Eew or no civil cases are reported in the Gazette as being carried up to higher courts, and probably only a small proportion of them are brought before the authorities, the rest being settled by reference. Appeals to court receive attention, and it may be inferred, too, that many of them are mentioned in the Gazette in order that the carefnhiess of the supreme government in revising the unjust decrees against the people should be known through the country, and this additional check to malversation on the part of the lower courts be of some use. Many cases are reported of widows and daughters, sons and nephews, of murdered persons, to -whom the revenge of kindred rightly belongs, appealing against the unjust decrees of the local magistrates, and then sent back to the place they came from ; this, of course, was tantamount to a nolle 2^i’osequL At other times the wicked judges have been degraded and banished. One case is reported of a man who found his way to the capital from Fuhkien to complain against the magistracy and police, who protected a clan by whom his only son had been shot, in consideration of a ])i-ibe of $2,000. His case could not be understood at Peknig in consequence of his local pronunciation, which indicates that all cases are not reported in writing. One appeal is reported against the governor of a province fur not carrying into execution the sentence of death passed on two convicted murderers ; and ant»tlicr appellant requests that two persons, who were bribed to undergo the sentence of the law instead of the real murderers, might not be substituted—he, perhaps, fearing their subsequent vengeance.

    All officers of government are supposed to be accessible at

    any time, and the door of justice to be open to all who claim a

    hearing ; and in fact, courts are held at all hours of night and

    day, though the regular time is from sunrise to noonday. The

    style of address varies according to the rank ; t((jin, or magnate,

    for the highest, ta laoye, or gi-eat Sii-, and hioi/e, Sir, for the

    lower grade, are the most common. A drum is said to be

    placed at the inferior tribunals, as well as before the Court of

    Representation in Peking, which the plaintiff strikes in order to

    make his presence known, though from the mimberof hangerson

    a!)Out the doors of official residences, the necessity of employing

    this mode of attracting notice is rare. At the gate of the

    governor-general’s palace are placed six tablets, having appropriate

    inscriptions for those who have been wronged by wicked

    officers ; for those who have suffered from thieves ; for persons

    STYLE OF OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 508

    falsely accused ; for those who have been swindled ; for such as

    have been grieved by other parties ; and lastly, for those who

    have secret information to impart. The people, however, are

    aware how useless it would be to inscribe their appeals upon

    these tablets ; they write them out and carry them up to his

    excellency, or to the proper official—seldom forgetting the indispensable present.

    Magistrates are not allowed to go abroad in ordinary dress

    and without their official retinue, which varies for the different

    grades of rank. The usual attendants of the district magistrates

    are lictors M’ith whips and chains—significant of the

    punishments they inflict; they are preceded by two gong-

    Mode of Carrying High Officers in Sedan.

    bearers, who every few moments strike a certain number of

    raps to intimate their master’s rank, and by two avant-couriers,

    who howl out an order for all to make room for the great man.

    A servant bearing aloft a lo^ or state uml)]-ella (of which a

    drawing is given on the title-page), also goes before him, further

    to increase his display and indicate his rank.’ A subaltern

    usually runs by the side of his sedan, and his secretary and messengers,

    seated in moi*e ordinary chairs or following on foot,

    make up the cortege. The highest officers are carried by eight

    bearers, others by four, and the lowest by two. Lanterns are

    used at night and red tablets in the daytime, to indicate his

    rank. Officers of higher ranks are attended by a few soldiers

    Hee.’en informs us that a similar insignia was used in Persia in early days.

    in addition, and in the capital are required to liave mounted

    attendants if tliej ride in carts ; those who bear the sedan are

    usually in a uniform of their masters devising. The parade

    and noise seen in the provinces are all hushed in Peking, where

    the presence of majesty subdues the glory of the officers which

    it has created. When in court the officer sits behind a desk upon

    which are placed writing materials ; his secretaries, clerks, and interpreters

    being in waiting, and the lictors with their instruments

    of punishment and torture standing around. Persons who are

    brought before him kneel in front of the tribunal. His official

    seal, and cups containing tallies which are thrown down to indicate

    the number of blows to be given the culprits, stand upon

    the table, and behind his seat a I’l-luu or unicorn, is depicted

    on the wall. There are inscriptions hanging around the room,

    one of which exhorts him to be merciful. There is little pomp

    or show, either in the office or attendants, compared with our

    notions of what is usual in such matters among Asiatics. The

    former is a dirty, unswept, tawdry room, and the latter are beggarly’

    and impertinent.

    No counsel is allowed to plead, but the written accusations,

    pleas, or statements required nmst be prepared by licensed

    notaries, Avho may also read them in court, and who, no doubt,

    take opportunity to explain circumstances in favor of their

    client. These notaries buy their situations, and repay themselves

    by a fee upon the documents ; they are the only persons

    who are analogous to the lawyers in western countries, and

    most of them have the reputation of extorting largely for their

    services. Of course there is no such thing as a jury, or a chief

    justice stating the case to associate judges to learn their

    opinion ; nor is anything like an oath required of the witnesses.

    The presiding officer can call in others to assist him in the

    trial to any extent he pleases. In one Canton court circular it

    is stated that no less than sixteen officers assisted the governorgeneral

    and governor in the trial of one criminal. Tlie report of

    the trial is as summary as the recital of tlic bench of judges is

    minute: “II. E. Gov. Tang arrived to join the futai in examining

    a criminal ; and at 8 a.m., under a salute of guns, the

    doors of the great hall of audience were thrown open, and their

    VKISONEK lON-‘JEMNEn TO TUE CANGUE, IN COURT.

    (Bis son praying to take his place.)

    MODE OF PROCEDURE IN LAW COURTS. 605

    excellencies took their seats, supported by all the other func

    tioiiaries assembled for the occasion. The police officers of the

    judge were then directed to bring forward the prisoner, Yeli

    A-sliun, a native of Tsingyuen hien ; he was forthwith brought

    in, tried, and led out. The futai then requested the imperial

    death-warrant, and sent a deputation of officers to conduct the

    criminal to the market-place and there decapitate him. Soon after the officers returned, restored the death-warrant to its place, and reported that they had executed the criminal.”’ The prisoner, or his friends for him, are allowed to appear in every step of the inquiry prior to laying the case before the Emperor, and punishment is threatened to all the magistrates through whose hands it passes if they neglect the appeal ; but this extract shows the usage of the courts.

    The general policy of officers is to quash cases and repress appeals, and probably they do so to a great degree by bringing extorted confessions of the accused party and the witnesses in proof of the verdict. Governor Li of Canton issued a prohibition in 1834: against the practice of old men and women presenting petitions—complaining of the nuisance of having his chair stopped in order that a petition might be forced into it, and threatening to seize and punish the presumptuous intruders if they persisted in this custom. lie instructs the district magistrates to examine such persons, to ascertain who pushed them forward, and to punish the instigators, observing, ” if the people are impressed with a due dread of punishment, they will return to respectful habits.” It seems to be the constant effort on the part of the officers to evade the importunities of the injured and shove by justice, and were it not owing to the perseverance of the people^ a system of irremediable oppression would soon be induced. But the poor have little chance of being heard against the rich, and if they do appeal they are in most cases remanded to the second judgment of the very officer against Mdiom they complain ; and of course as this is equivalent to a refusal from the high grades to right them at all, commotions gradually grow out of it, which are managed according to the exigencies of the case by those who are likely to be involved in their responsibility. The want of an irresistible police to compel obedience luis a restraining effect on the rulers^ who know that Lyncli law niav perhaps be retaliated upon them if they cxaspei’ate the people too far. A prefect was killed in Chauchan fu some years ago for his cruelty, and the people excused their act by saying that, it was done because the officer had failed to carry out the Emperor’s good rule, and they would not endure it longer. Amid such enormities it is no wonder if the peaceably disposed part of the community prefer to submit in silence to petty extortions and robberies, rather than risk the loss of all by unavailing complaints.

    The code contains many sections regulating the proceedings

    of courts, and provides heavy punishments for such officers as

    are guilty of illegalities or cruelty in their decisions, but the recorded

    cases prove that most of these laws are dead letters.

    Section CCCCXYI. ordains that ” after a prisoner has been tried

    and convicted of any offence punishable with temporary or perpetual

    banishment or death, he shall, in the last place, be

    brought before the magistrate, together with his nearest relations

    and family, and informed of the offence M’hereof he

    stands convicted, and of the sentence intended to be pronounced

    upon him in consequence ; their acknowledgment of its justice

    or protest against its injustice, as the case maybe, shall theii be

    taken down in writing: and in every case of their refusing to

    admit the justice of the sentence, their protest shall be made

    the ground of another and more particular investigation.” All

    capital cases must be reviewed by the highest authorities at the

    metropolis and in the provinces, and a final report of the case

    and decision submitted to the Emperor’s notice. Section

    CCCCXY. requires that the law be quoted M’hen deciding. The

    numerous wise and merciful provisions in tlie code for the due

    administration of justice only place the conduct of its authorized

    executives in a less excusable light, and prove how impossible it

    is to procure an equitable magistracy by mere legal requirements

    and penalties.

    MODES AND EXTF>:T OF TORTUllIXG CULPRITS. 507

    The confusion of the civil and criminal laws in the code, and the union of both functions in the same person, together with the torture and imprisonment employed to elicit a confession, serve as an indication of the state of legislation and jurisprudence. The common sense of a truthful people would revolt against the inliietioii of torture to get out the true deposition of a witness, and their sense of honor would resist the disgraceful exposure of the cangue for not paying debts. As the want of truth among a people indicates a want of honor, the necessity of more stringent modes of procedure suggests the practice of torture ; its application is allowed and restricted by several sections of the code, but in China, as elsewhere, it has always been abused. Torture is practised upon both criminals and witnesses, in court and in prison ; and the universal dread among the people of coming before courts, and having anything to do with their magistrates, is owing in great measure to the illegal sufferings they too often must endure. It has also a powerful deterrent effect in preventing crime and disorder. IN^either imprisonment nor torture are ranked among the five punishments, but they cause more deaths, probably, among arrested persons than all other means.

    Among the modes of torture employed in court, and reported in the Gazette^ are some revolting to humanity, but which of them are legal does not appear. The clauses under Section I. in the code describe the legal instruments of torture ; they consist of three boards with proper grooves for compressing the ankles, and five round sticks for squeezing the fingers, to which may be added the bamboo; besides these no instruments of torture are legally allowed, though other ways of putting the question are so common fis to give the impression that some of them at least are sanctioned. Pulling or twisting the ears with roughened fingers, and keeping them in a bent position while making the prisoner kneel on chains, or making him kneel for

    a long time, are among the illegal modes. Striking the lips

    with sticks until they are nearly jellied, putting the hands in

    stocks before or behind the back, wrapping the fingers in oiled

    cloth to burn them, suspending the body by the thumbs and

    fingers, tying tlie hands to a bar under the knees, so as to bend

    the body double, and chaining by the neck close to a stone, are

    resorted to when the prisoner is contumacious. One magistrate

    is accused of having fastened up two criminals to boards by

    nails driven through their palms ; one of them tore his hands loose and was nailed np again, which caused his death ; using beds of iron, boiling water, red hot spikes, and cutting the tendon Achilles are also charged against him, but the Emperor exonerated him on account of the atrocious character of the criminals. Compelling them to kneel upon pounded glass, sand, and salt mixed together, until the knees become excoriated, or simply kneeling upon chains is a lighter mode of the same infliction.

    Mr. Milne mentions seeing a wretch undergoing this torture, his hands tied behind his back to a stake held in its position by two policemen; if he swerved to relieve the agony of his position, a blow on his head compelled him to resume it. The agonies of the poor creature were evident from his quivering lips, his pallid and senseless countenance, and his tremulous voice imploring relief, which was refused with a cold, mocking command, ” Suffer or confess.” ‘

    Flogging is one of the five authorized punishments, but it is used more than any other means to elicit confession; the bamboo, rattan, cudgel, and whip are all employed. When death ensues the magistrate reports that the criminal died of sickness, or hushes it up by bribing his friends, few of whom are ever allowed access within the walls of the prison to see and comfort the sufferers. From the manner in which such a result is spoken of it may be inferred that immediate death does not often take place from torture. A magistrate in Sz’chuen being abused by a man in court, who also struck the attendants, ordered him to be put into a coffin which happened to be near, when suffocation ensued ; he was in consequence dismissed the service, punished one hundred blows, and transported three years. One check on outrageous torture is the fear that the report of their cruelty will come to the ears of their superiors, who are usually ready to avail of any mal-administration to get an officer removed, in order to fill the post. In this case, as in other parts of Chinese government, the dread of one evil prevents the commission of another.

    ‘ W. C. Milne, Life in China, Loudon, 1857, p. 99.

    THE FIVE LEGAL PUNISHMENTS. 509

    The five kinds of punishment mentioned in the code are from ten to fifty bloM’s with the lesser bamboo, from fifty to one hundred with the greater, transportation, perpetual banishishment, and death, each of them modified in various ways. The small bamboo weighs about two pounds, the larger two and two-thirds pounds. Public exposure in the Ida, or cangue, is considered rather as a kind of censure or reprimand than a punishment, and carries no disgrace with it, nor comparatively much bodily suffering if the person be fed and screened from the sun. The frame weighs between twenty and thirty pounds, and is so made as to rest upon the shoulders without chafing the neck, but so broad as to prevent the person feeding himself.

    The name, residence, and offence of the delinquent are written upon it for the information of every passerby’, and a policeman is stationed over him to prevent escape. Branding is applied to deserters and banished persons.

    Imprisonment and fines are not regarded as legal punishments, but rather correctives ; and flogging, as Le Comte says, ” is never wanting, there being no condemnation in China without this previous disposition, so that it is unnecessary to mention it in their condemnation ; this being always understood to be their first dish.” When a man is arrested he is effectually prevented from breaking loose by putting a chain around his neck and tying his hands.

    Mode of Exposure in the Cangue.

    Most punishments are redeemable by the payment of money if the criminal is under fifteen or over seventy years of age, and a table is given in the code for the guidance of the magistrate in such cases. An act of ofrace enables a criminal condemned even to capital punishment to redeem himself, if the oifenee be not one of wilful malignity ; but better legislation would have shown the good effects of not making the punishments so severe. It is also ordered in Section XA^IIL, that ” any offender under sentence of death for a crime not excluded from the contingent benefit of an act of grace, who shall have infirm parents or grandparents alive over seventy years of age, and no other male child over sixteen to support them, shall be recommended to the mercy of his Majesty ; and if only condemned to banishment, shall receive one hundred blows and

    redeem himself by a fine/’ Many atrocions laws may be forgiven

    for one such exhibition of regard for the care of decrepid

    parents. Few governments exhibit such opposing principles of

    actions as the Chinese : a strange blending of cruelty to prisoners

    with a maudlin consideration of their condition, and a constant

    effort to coax the peoj^le to obedience while exercising

    great severity npon individuals, are everywhere manifest. One

    M’ho has lived in the country long, however, knows well that

    they are not to be held in check by rope-yarn laws or whimpering

    justices, and unless the rulers are a terror to evil-doers, the

    latter w\\\ soon get the upper hand. Dr. Field Avell considers

    this point in his interesting notes describing his visit to a

    yaniwi at Canton.’ The general prosperity of the Empire

    proves in some measure the ecjuity of its administration.

    Banishment and slavery are punishments for minor official

    delinquencies, and few officers who live long in the Emperor’s

    employ do not take an involuntary journey to Mongolia, Turkestan,

    or elsewhere, in the course of their lives. The fates

    and conduct of banished criminals are widely unlike; some

    doggedly serve out their time, others try to ingratiate themselves

    with their nuisters in order to alleviate or shorten the

    time of service, while hundreds contrive to escape and return

    to their homes, though this subjects them to increased punishment.

    ‘ Dr. H. M. Field, From Effypt fo Japan, Chap. XXIV., passim. New York,1877. CMtN’sp Rrpox’/fori/, Vol. TV., pp. 214, 2fiO.

    CORRECTION OF MINOR OFFENCES. 511

    Publicly Whipping a Thief through the Streets.

    Persons banished for treason are severely dealt with if they return without leave, and those convicted of crime in their place of banishment are increasingly punished ; one man was sentenced to be outlawed for an offence at his place of banishment, but seeing that his aged mother had no other support than his labor, the Emperor ordered that a small sum should be paid for her living out of the public treasury. “Whipping a man through the streets as a public example to others is frequenty practised upon persons detected in robbery, assault, or some other minor offences. The man is manacled, and one policeman goes before him carrying a tablet, on which are written his name, crime, and punishment, accompanied by another holding a gong. In some cases little sticks bearing flags

    are thrust through his ears, and the lictor appointed to oversee

    the fulfilment of the sentence follows the executioner, who

    strikes the criminal with his whip or rattan as the rap on the

    gong denotes that the appointed number is not yet complete.

    Decapitation and strangling are the legal modes of executing

    criminals, though Ki Kung having taken several incendiaries at

    Canton, in 1843, who were convicted of fii-ing the city for purposes

    of plunder, starved them to death in the public squares of the city. The least disgraceful mode of execution is strangulation, which is performed by tying a man to a post and tightening the cord which goes round his neck by a winch ; the infliction is very speedy, and apparently less painful than hanging. The least crime for which death is awarded appears to be a third and aggravated theft, and defacing the branding inflicted for former offences. Decollation is considered more disgraceful than strangling, owing to the dislike the Chinese have of dissevering the bodies which their parents gave them entire. There are two modes of decapitation, that of simple decollation being considered, again, as less disgraceful than being ” cut into ten thousand pieces,” as the phrase Uikj cluli has been rendered. The military officer who superintends the execution is attended by a

    guard, to keep the populace from crowding upon the limits and

    prevent resistance on the part of the prisoners. The bodies are

    given up to the friends, except when the head is exposed as a

    warnini>; in a cao-e where the crime was committed. If no one

    is present to claim the corpse it is buried in tlie public pit. The

    criminals are generally so far exhausted that they make no resistance,

    and submit to their fate without a groan—nmch more,

    without a dying speech to the spectators. In ordinary cases

    the executions are postponed until the autumnal assize, when

    the Emperor revises and confirms the sentences of the provincial

    governors; criminals guilty of extraordinary offences, as robbery

    attended with murder, arson, rape, breaking into fortifications,

    liiglivvay robbery, and piracy, may be immediately beheaded

    M’ithout reference to court, and as the expense of maintenance

    and want of prison room are both to be considered, it is the

    fact that criminals condennied for one or other of these crimes

    comprise the greater part of the um-eferred executions in the

    provinces.

    It is impossible to ascertain the number of persons executed

    in China, for the life of a condennied criminal is thought little

    of ; in the court circular it is merely reported that ” the execution

    of the criminals was completed,” without mentioning their

    crimes, residences, or names. At the autunmal revises at Peking

    the number sentenced is given in the Gazette; 935 were

    sentenced in 1S17, of which 133 were from the province of

    MANNER OK PUHLIC EXECUTIONS. 613

    Kwangtnng ; in 1820 tlicro wci’c r)Sl ; in 182S the number

    was 789, and in the next year 579 names were marked off, none of

    whose crimes, it is inferrible, are inchided in tlie list of offences

    mentioned above. The condenniations are sent from the capital

    by express, and tlie executions take place innnediately. Most

    of the persons condemned in a province are executed in its capital,

    and to hear of the death of a score or more of felons on a

    single day is no uncommon thing. The trials are more speedy

    than comports with our notions of justice, and the executions are

    performed in the most summary manner. It is reported on one

    occasion that the governor-general of Canton ascended his judgment-

    seat, examined three prisoners brought before him, and

    having found then\ guilty, condemned them, asked himself for

    the death-warrant (for he temporarily filled the office of governor),

    and, having received it, had the three men carried away

    in about two hours after they were first brought before him. A

    few days after he granted the warrant to execute a hundred

    bandits in prison. During the terrible rebellion in Ivwangtung,

    in 1854-55, the prisoners taken by the Imperialists were usually

    transported to Canton for execution. In a space cf fourteen

    months, up to January, 1856, about eighty-three thousand malefactors

    suffered death in that city alone, besides those who died

    in confinement ; these men were arrested and delivered to execution

    by their countrymen, who had suffered untold miseries

    through their sedition and rapine.

    “When taken to execution the prisoners are clothed in clean

    clothes.* A military officer is present, and the criminals are

    brought on the ground in hod-like baskets hanging from a pole

    borne of two, or in cages, and are obliged to kneel toward the

    Emperor’s residence, or toward the death-warrant, which indicates

    his presence, as if thanking their sovereign for his care.

    The list is read aloud and compared with the tickets on the

    prisoners ; as they kneel, a lictor seizes their pinioned hands

    and jerks them i.pward so that the head is pushed down horizontally,

    and a single down stroke with the heavy hanger severs

    ‘ Persons who commit suicide also dress themselves in their best, the common notion being that in the next world they will wear the same garments in which they died.Vol. I.—33

    it from tlie neck. In the slow and ignominious execution, or

    ling chih, the criminal is tied to a cross and hacked to pieces ; the

    executioner is nevertheless often hired to give the coup-de-grace

    at the first blow. It is not uncommon for him to cut out the

    gall-bladder of notorious robbers and sell it, to be eaten as a

    specific for courage. There is an official executioner besides the

    real one, the latter being sometimes a criminal taken out of the

    prisons.

    Probably the number of persons who suffer by the sword of

    the executioner is not one-half of those who die from the effects

    of torture and privations in prisons. Not much is known of

    the internal arrangement of the hells, as prisons are called ; they

    seem to be managed with a degree of kindness and attention to

    the comfort of the prisoners, so far as the intentions of government

    are concerned, but the cruelties of the turnkeys and older

    prisoners to exact money from the new comers are terrible. In

    Canton there are jails in the city under the control of four different

    officers, the largest covering about an acre, and capable

    of holding upward of five hundred prisoners. Since it is the

    practice of distant magistrates to send their worst prisoners up

    to the capita], these jails are not large enough, and jail distempers

    arise from over-crowding ; two hundred deaths were

    reported in 1826 from this and other causes, and one hundred

    and seventeen cases in 1831. Private jails were hired to accommodate

    the number, and one governor reports having found

    twenty-two such places in Canton where every kind of cruelty

    was practised. The witnesses and accusers concerned in appellate

    causes had, he says, also been brought up to the city and

    imprisoned along with the guilty party, where they were kept

    months Avithout any just reason. In one case, M’here a defendant

    and plaintiff were imprisoned together, the accuser fell upon

    the other and murdered him. Sometimes the officer is unable

    from press of business to attend to a case, and confines all the

    principals and witnesses concerned until he can examine them,

    but the government takes no means to provide for them during

    the interval, and many of the poorer ones die. No security’ or

    bail is obtainable on the word of a witness or his friends, so

    that if unable to fee the jailers he is in nearly as bad a case as the

    ATROCIOUS MAXAGEMENT OF PRISONS. 515

    criminal. Extending bail to an accused criminal is nearly unknown,

    but female prisoners are put in charge of their husbands

    or parents, who are held responsible for their appearance. Tliie

    constant succession of criminals in the provincial head prison

    renders the posts of jailers and turnkeys very lucrative. The

    letters of the Roman Catholic missionaries from China during

    the last century, found in the Lettres Edijiantes and Annales de

    la Foi, contain many sad pictures of the miseries of prison life

    there.

    The prisons are arranged somewhat on the plan of a large

    stable, having an open central court occupying nearly one-fourth

    of the area, and small cribs or stalls covered by a roof extending

    nearly around it, so contrived that each company of prisoners

    shall be separated from its neighbors on either side night and

    day, though more by night than by day. The prisoners cook for

    themselves in the court, and are secured by manacles and gyves,

    and a chain joining the hands to the neck ; one hand is liberated

    in the daytime in order to allow them to take care of themselves.

    Heinous criminals are more heavily ironed, and those in the

    prisons attached to the judge’s office are Avorse treated than the

    others. Each criminal should receive a daily ration of two

    pounds of rice, and about two cents \vith which to buy fuel, but

    the jailer starves them on half this allowance if they are unable

    to fee him ; clothing is also scantily provided, but those who

    have money can pi’ocure almost every convenience. Each crib

    full of criminals is under the control of a turnkey, who with a

    few old offenders spends much time torturing newly arrived

    persons to force money from them, by which many lose their

    lives, and all suffer far more in this manner than they do from

    the officers of government. Well may the people call their

    prisons hells, and say, when a man falls into the clutches of the

    jailers or police, “the flesh is under the cleaver.”

    There are many processes for the recovery of debts and fulfilment of contracts, some legal and others customary, the latter depending upon many circumstances irrelevant to the merits of the case. The law allows that debtors be punished by bambooing according to the amount of the debt. A creditor often resorts to illegal means to recover his claim, which give rise to tnanj excesses ; sometimes he quarters himself upon the debtor’s family or premises, at others seizes him or some of his family and keeps them prisoners, and, in extreme cases, sells them.

    Unscrupulous debtors are equally skilful and violent in eluding, cheating, and resisting their incensed creditors, according as they have the power. They are liable, when three months have expired after the stipulated time of payment, to be bambooed, and their property attached. In most cases, however, disputes of this sort are settled without I’ecourse to government, and if the debtor is really without property, he is not imprisoned till he can procure it. The effects of absconding debtors are seized and divided by those who can get them. Long experience, moreover, of each other’s characters has taught them, in contracting debts, to have some security at the outset, and therefore in settling up there is not so much loss as might be supposed considering the difficulty of collecting debts. Accusations for libel, slander, breach of marriage contract, and other civil or less criminal offences are not all brought before the authorities, but are settled by force or arbitration among the people themselves and their elders.

    The nominal salaries of Chinese officers have already been

    stated (p. 294). It is a common opinion among the people that

    on an average they receive about ten times their salaries ; in

    some cases they pay thirty, forty and more thousand dollars

    beforehand for the situation. One encouragement to the

    harassing vexations of the official secretaries and police is the

    dislike of the people to carry their cases before officers who

    they know are almost compelled to fleece and peel them ; they

    think it cheaper and safer to bear a small exaction from an

    underling than run the risk of a greater from his master.

    If the preventives against popular violence which the supreme

    government has placed around itself could be strengthened

    by an efficient military force, its power would be well

    secured indeed ; but then, as in Kussia, it would probably become,

    by degrees, an intolerable tyranny. The troops are, in

    fact, everywhere present, ostensibly to support the laws, protect

    the innocent, and punish the guilty ; such of them as are employed

    by the authorities as guards and policemen are, on the

    whole, efficient and coni-tcous, though iniseralily paid, while the regiments in garrison are contemptible to both friend and foe.

    LATENT INFLUENCE OF PUI5LIC OPINION. 517

    The efficacy of the system of che<*ks upon the high courts and provincial officers is ijicreased by their intrigues and contlicting ambition, and long expeiuence has shown that the Emperor’s power has little to fear from proconsular rebellion. The inefficiency of the army is a serious evil to the people in one respect, for more power in that arm would repress banditti and pirates; while the sober part of the community would cooperate in a hearty effort to quell them. The greatest difficulty the Emperor finds in upholding his authority lies in the general want of integrity in the officers he employs ; good laws may be made, but he has few upright agents to execute them. This has been abundantly manifested in the laws against opium and gambling ; no one could be found to carry them into execution, though everybody assented to their propriety^

    The chief security on the side of the people against an unmitigated oppression such as now exists in Turkey, besides those already pointed out, lies as much as anywhere in their general intelligence of the true principles on which the government is founded and should be executed. With public opinion on its side the government is a strong one, but none is less able to execute its designs when it runs counter to that opinion, although those designs may be excellent and well intended.

    Elements of discord are found in the social system which would

    soon effect its ruin were they not counteracted by other influences,

    and the body politic goes on like a heavy, shackly, lumbering

    van, which every moment threatens a crashing, crumbling

    fall, yet goes on still tottering, owing to the original goodness

    of its construction. From the enormous population of this

    ancient van, it is evident that any attempt to remodel it mut^t

    seriousl}^ affect one or the other of its parts, and that when

    once upset it may be impossible to reconstruct it in its original

    form. There is encouragement to hope that the general intelligence

    and shrewdness of the government and people of China,

    their language, institutions, industry, and love of peace, will ail

    act as powerful conservative influences in working out the

    changes which cannot now be long delayed ; and that she will luaintaiii her unitv and industry while going through a thorough reform of her political, social, and religious systems.

    It is very difficult to convey to the reader a fair view of the administration of the laws in China. Notwithstanding the cruelty of officers to the criminals before them, they are not all to be considered as tyrants ; because insurrections arise, attended

    with great loss of life, it must not be supposed that

    society is everywhere disorganized ; the Chinese are so prone

    to falsify that it is difficult to ascertain the truth, yet it must

    not be inferred that every sentence is a lie ; selfishness is a

    prime motive for their actions, yet charity, kindness, filial

    affection, and the unbought courtesies of life still exist among

    them. Although there is an appalling amount of evil and crime

    in every shape, it is mixed with some redeeming traits ; and in

    China, as elsewhere, good and bad are intermingled, [^ome of

    the evils in the social system arise from the operation of the

    principles of mutual responsibility, while this very feature produces

    sundry good effects in restraining people who have no

    higher motive than the fear of injuring the innocent;^ TTeliear

    so much of the shocking cruelties of courts and prisons that

    the vast number of cases before the bench are all supposed to

    exhibit the same fatiguing reiteration of suffering, injustice,

    bribery, and cruelty. One must live in the country to see how

    the antagonistic j^rinciples found in Chinese society act and react

    upon each other, and are affected by the wicked passions of the heart. Officers and people are bad almost beyond belief to one conversant only with the courtesy, justice, purity, and sincerity of Christian governments and society; and yet we think they are not as bad as the old Greeks and Romans, and have no more injustice or torture in their courts, nor impurity or mendacity in their lives. As in our own land we are apt to forget that the recitals of crimes and outrages which the daily papers bring before our eyes furnish no index of the general condition of society, so in China, where that condition is immeasurably worse, we must be mindful that this is likewise true.

    CHAPTER IX.EDUCATION AND LITERARY EXAMINATIONS

    Among the points relating to the Chinese people which have attracted the attention of students in the history of intellectual development, their long duration and literary institutions have probably taken precedenceJ To estimate the causes of the first requires much knowledge of the second, and from them one is gradually led onward to an examination of the government, religion, and social life of this people in the succeeding epochs of their existence. The inquiry will reveal much that is instructive, and show us that, if they have not equaled many other nations in the arts and adornments of life, they have attained a high degree of comfort and developed much that is creditable in education, the science of rule, and security of life and property.

    Although the powers of mind exhibited by the greatest

    writers in China are confessedly inferior to those of Greece

    and Rome for genius and original conceptions, the good influence

    exerted by them over their countrymen is far greater, even

    at this day, than was ever obtained by western sages, as Plato,

    Aristotle, or Seneca. The thoroughness of Chinese education,

    the purity and effectiveness of the examinations, or the accuracv

    and excellency of the literature must not be compared with

    those of modern Christian countries, for there is really no common

    measure between the two ; they must be taken with other

    parts of Chinese character, and comparisons drawn, if necessary,

    with nations possessing similar opportunities. (The importance

    of generally instructing the people was acknowledged even before

    the time of Confucius, and practised to a good degree at an age

    when other nations in the world had no such system; and although in his day feudal institutions prevailed, and offices and rank were not attainable in the same manner as at present, on the other hand magistrates and noblemen deemed it necessary to be well acquainted with their ancient writings’. It is said in the Booh of RitcH (b.c. 1200), ” that for the purposes of education among the ancients, villages had their schools, districts their academies, departments their colleges, and principalities their universities.” This, so far as we know, was altogether superior to what obtained among the Jews, Persians, and Svrians of the same period.’

    TTlie great stimulus to literary pursuits is the hope thereby of

    ] obtaining office and honor, and the only course of education

    followed is the classical and historical one prescribed by law.

    Owing to this undue attention to the classics, the minds of the

    scliolars are not symmetrically trained, and they disparage other

    branches of literature which do not directly advance this great

    1 end, /’^very department of letters, except jurisprudence, his-

    * t^ tory, and official statistics, is disesteemed in comparison ; and

    the literary graduate of fourscore will be found deficient in

    most branches of general learning, ignorant of hundreds of

    common things and events in his national history, which the

    merest schoolljoy in the western world would be ashamed not

    to know in Lis. This course of instruction does not form wellbalanced

    minds, but it imbues the future rulers of the land

    with a full understanding of the principles on which they are

    to govern, and the policy of the supreme power in using those

    principles to consolidate its own authoi-ityj

    (C’entralization and conservatism were the leading features of

    the teachings of Confucius which first recommended them to

    the rulers, and have decided the course of public examinations

    in selecting officers who would readily uphold these principles.

    The effect has been that the literary class in China holds the

    functions of both nobles and priests, a perpetual association,

    genu edema in qua nemo nascitiir, holding^ in its liands public

    opinion and legal power to maintain it.- The geographical

    isolation of the people, the nature of the language, and the

    absence of a landed aristocracy, combine to add efficiency to

    this system ; and when the peculiarities of Chinese character,

    and the nature of the class-books which do so much to mould that character, are considered, it is impossible to devise a better plan for insuring the perpetuity of the government, or the contentment of the people under that government./

    STIMULUS TO LITERARY PURSUITS. 621

    Lit was about a.d. 600, that Taitsung, of the Tang dynasty,

    instituted the present plan of preparing and selecting civilians

    by means of study and degrees, founding his system on the

    facts that education had always been esteemed, and that the ‘

    ancient writings were accepted by all as the best instructors o£J

    the manners and tastes of the peopji^. ‘ According to native

    historians, the rulers of ancient times made ample provision for

    the cultivation of literature and promotion of education in all

    its branches. They supply sojne details to enable us to understand

    the mode and the materials of this instruction, and glorify

    it as they do everything ancient, but probably from the want

    of authentic accounts in their own hands, they do not clearly

    describe it. fThe essays of M. I^douard Biot on the History of

    Public Instruction in China,{contains well-nigh all the information

    extant on this interesting subject, digested in a very lucid

    manner. Education is probably as good now as it ever was,

    and its ability to maintain and develop the character of the

    people as great as at any time ; it is remarkable how much it

    really has done to form, elevate, and consolidate their national

    institutions. The Manchu monarchs were not at first favorably

    disposed to the system of examinations, and frowned upon the

    literary hierarchy who claimed all honors as their right ; but

    the next generation saw the advantages and necessity of the

    concours, in preserving its own power.

    ^oys commence their studies at the age of seven with a

    teacher/; for, even if the father be a literary man he seldom instructs

    his sons, and very few mothers are able to teach their

    offspring to read. Maternal training is supposed to consist in

    giving a right direction to the morals, and enforcing the obedience

    of the child ; but as there are few mothers who do more

    than compel obedience by commands, or by the rod, so there are

    none who can teach the infantile mind to look up to its God in

    prayer and praise.

    Among the many treatises for the guidance of teachers, the Siao Hioh, or ‘ Juvenile Instructor,’ is regarded as most author*itative. When establishing the elements of education, this book advises fathers to “choose from among their concubines those who are fit for nurses, seeking such as are mild, indulgent, affectionate, benevolent, cheerful, kind, dignified, respectful, and reserved and careful in their conversation, whom they will make

    governesses over their children. “When able to talk, lads must

    be instructed to answer in a quick, bold tone, and girls in a slow

    and gentle one. ^t the age of seven, they should be taught to

    count and name the cardinal points ; but at this age the sexes

    should not be allowed to sit on the same mat nor eat from the

    same table. At eight, they must be taught to wait for their superiors,

    and prefer others to themselves. At ten, the boys

    must be sent abroad to private tutors, and there remain day and

    night, studying writing and arithmetic, wearing plain apparel,

    learning to demean themselves in a manner becoming their age,

    and acting with sincerity of purpose. At thirteen, they must

    attend to music and poetry ; at fifteen, they must practise archery

    and charioteering. At the age of twenty, they are in due

    form to be admitted to the rank of manhood, and learn additional

    rules of propriety, be fathful in the performance of filial

    and fraternal duties, and though they possess extensive knowledge,

    must not affect to teach others. At thirty, they may

    marry and commence the management of business. At forty,

    they may enter the service of the state ; and if their prince

    maintains the reign of reason, they must serve him, but otherwise

    not. At fifty, they may be promoted to the rank of ministers

    ; and at seventy, they must retire from public life.”

    Another injunction is, t^Let children always be tanght to

    speak the simple truth ; to stand erect and in their proper places,

    and listen with respectful attention.” The way to become a

    student, ” is, with gentleness and self-abasement, to receive implicitly

    every word the master utters. The pupil, when he sees

    virtuous people, nuist follow them, when he hears good maxims,

    conform to them. He must cherish no wicked designs, but always

    act uprightly ; whether at home or abroad, he nmst have

    a fixed residence, and associate with the benevolent, carefully

    regulating his personal deportment, and controlling the feelings

    METHODS AND PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN CHINA. 623

    of his heart. lie must keep his clothes in order. Every morning

    he must learn something new, and rehearse the same every

    evenuig.” The great end of education, therefore, among the

    ancient Chinese, was not so much to fill the head M’ith knowledge,

    as to discipline the heart and purify the affections^ One

    of their writers says, ” Those who respect the virtuous and put

    away unlawful pleasures, serve their parents and prince to the

    utmost of their ability, and are faithful to their word ; these,

    though they should be considered unlearned, we must pronounce

    to be educated men.” Although such terms as purity, filial

    affection, learning, and truth, have higher meanings in a Christian

    education than are given them by Chinese masters, the inculcation

    of them in any degree and so decided a manner does

    great credit to the people, and will never need to be superseded

    —only raised to a higher grade.’

    In intercourse with their relatives, children are taught to attend

    to the minutest points of good breeding ; and are instructed in

    everything relating to their personal appearance, making their

    toilet, saluting their parents, eating, visiting, and other acts of

    life. Many of these directions are trivial even to puerility, but

    they are none too minute in the ideas of the Chinese, and still

    form the basis of good manners, as much as they did a score of

    centuries ago ; and it can hardly be supposed that Confucius

    would have risked his influence upon the grave publication of

    trifles, if he had not been well acquainted with the character of

    his countrymen. Yet nothing is trifling which conduces to the

    growth of good manners among a people, though it may not

    have done all that was wished.^

    \lules are laid down for students to observe in the prosecution

    of their studies, which reflect credit on those who set so

    high a standard for themselves.’ Dr. Morrison has given a

    synopsis of a treatise of this sort, called the ‘ Complete Collection

    of Family Jewels,’ and containing a minute specification of

    ‘ Compare Du Halde, Description de VEmpire fie la Chine, Tome IT., pp. 365-384 ; A. Wylie, Notes, p. 68 ; Chinese Repository, Vols. V., p. 81, and VI., pp.185, 393, and 563; China Review, Vol. VI., pp. 120, 195, 253, 328, etc. ; New Enghmder, May, 1878.

    ”Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 83-87, 306-316.

    duties to be performed by all who would be thorough students.

    The author directs the tyro to form a hxed resolution to press

    forward in his studies, setting his mark as high as possible, and

    thoroughly understanding everything as he goes along. “I

    have always seen that a man who covets much and devotes

    liimself to universal knowledge, when he reads he presumes on

    the quickness and celerity of his genius and perceptions, and

    chapters and volumes pass before his eyes, and issue from his

    mouth as fluently as water rolls away ; but when does he ever

    apply his mind to rub and educe the essence of a subject? In

    this manner, although much be read, what is the use of it ?

    Better little and fine, than much and coarse.” lie also advises

    persons to have two or three good volumes lying on their tables,

    which they can take up at odd moments, and to keep commonplace

    books in which they can jot down such things as occur to

    them. They should get rid of distracting thoughts if they

    wish to advance in their studies ; as ” if a man’s stomach has

    been filled by eating greens and other vegetables, although the

    most precious dainties with exquisite tastes should be given

    him, he cannot swallow them, he must first get rid of a few

    portions of the gi-eens ; so in reading, the same is true of the

    mixed thoughts which distract the mind, which are about the

    dusty affairs of a vulgar world.” The rules given by these

    writers correspond to those laid down among ourselves, in such

    books as Todd’s Manual for Students, and reveal the steps

    which have given the Chinese their intellectual position.’

    iFor all grades of scholars, there is but one mode of study ;

    the imitative nature of the Chinese mind is strikingly exhibited

    ; in the few attempts on the part of teachers to improve upon

    the stereotyped practice of their predecessors, although persons

    of as original minds a,aL_tlic country affords are constantly en-

    ^_gage_d in education.^When the lad connnences his studies, an

    impressive ceremony takes place—or did formerl}-, for it seems

    to have fallen into desuetude : the father leads his son to the

    teacher, who kneels down before the name of some one or other

    of the ancient sages, and supplicates their blessing upon his

    ‘ Morrison’s (JlUiU’se Dictionary, Vol. T., Tiirt T., ])p. TlD-ToH.

    ARRANGEMENT AND REGIME OF BOYS’ SCHOOLS. 525

    pupil ; after which, seating himself, he receives tlie homage

    and petition of the lad to guide him in his lessons.’ As is the

    case in Moslem countries, a present is expected to accompany

    this initiation into literary pursuits. In all cases this event is

    further marked by giving the lad his shu oning or ‘ book name,’

    by which he is culled during his future life. The furniture of

    the school merely consists of a desk and a stool for each pupil,

    and an elevated seat for the master, for maps, globes, blackboards,

    diagrams, etc., are yet to come in among its articles of

    furniture. In one corner is placed a tablet or an inscription on

    the wall, dedicated to Confucius and the god of Letters ; the

    sage is styled the ‘ Teacher and Pattern for All Ages,’ and incense

    is constantly burned in honor of them both.

    ^The location of school-rooms is usually such as would be considered

    bad elsewhere, but by comparison with other things in

    China, is not so. A mat shed which barely protects from the

    weather, a low, hot upper attic of a shop, a back room in a

    temple, or rarely a house specially built for the purpose, such

    are the school-houses in China. The chamber is hired by the

    master, who regulates his expenses and furnishes liis apartment

    according to the number and condition of his pupils ; their

    average nundjer is abont twenty, ranging between ten and forty

    in day schools, and in private schools seldom exceeding ten.

    The most th<n-ough course of education is probably pursued in

    the latter, where a well-qualified teacher is hired by four or five

    persons living in the same street, or nnituully related by birth

    or marriage, to teach their children at a stipulated salary. In

    such cases the lads are placed in bright, well-aired apartments,

    superior to the common school-room. ^Tlie majority of teachers

    have been unsuccessful candidates for literary degrees, who

    having spent the prime of their days in fruitless attempts to

    attain office, are unfit for manual lal)or, and unable to enter on

    mercantile life.J In Canton, a teacher of twenty boj’s receives

    from half a dollar to a dollar per month from each pupil ; in

    country villages, three, four or five dollars a year are given,

    with the addition, in most cases, of a small present of eatables

    1

    ‘ This custom obtains also in Bokhara.

    from each scholar three or four times a year. Private tutors

    receive from $150 to $350 or more per annum, according to

    particular engagement. There are no boarding-schools, nor

    anything answering to infant schools ; nor are public or charity

    schools established by government, or by private benevolence

    for the education of the poor. ‘

    The first hours of study are from sunrise till ten a.m., when

    the boys go to breakfast ; they reassemble in an hour or more,

    and continue at their books till about five p.m., when they disperse

    for the day. In summer, they have no lessons after dinner,

    but an evening session is often held in the winter, and evening

    schools are occasionally opened for mechanics and others

    who are occupied during the day. When a boy comes into

    school in the morning, he bows reverentially before the tablet

    of Confucius, salutes his teacher, and then takes his seat. The

    vacations during the year are few ; the longest is before new

    year, at which time the engagement is completed, and the school

    closes, to be reopened after the teacher and parents have made a

    new arrangement. The common festivals, of which there are a

    dozen or more, are regarded as holydays, and form very necessary

    relaxations in a country destitute of the rest of the Sabbath.

    (The requisite qualifications of a teacher are gravity, severity,

    and patience, and acquaintance w^ith the classics ; he has

    only to teach the same series of books in the same fashion in

    which he learned them himself and keep a good watch over his

    charge,)

    When the lads come together at the opening of the school,

    their attainments are ascertained ; the teacher endeavors to

    have his pupils nearly equal in this respect, but inasmuch as

    they are all put to precisely the same tasks, a difference is not

    material. If the boys are beginners, they are brought up in a

    line before the desk, holding the San-tsz’ King, or ‘ Trimetrical

    Classic,’ in their hands, and taught to read off the first lines

    after the teacher until they can repeat them without help. He

    calls off the first four lines as follows:

    Jin chi tsu, smgpun sTien /

    SiTig sirnig hm, slh sian^ yuen /

    ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION. 527

    when his pupils siniultaiieoiisly cry out:

    , Jin ehi tsii, Hinypan slien ^

    Sing siang kin, sih siang yuen.

    ‘Mispronunciations are corrected until each can read the lesson

    accurately ; they are then sent to their seats to commit the

    sounds to memory. As the sounds are all entire words (not

    letters, nor syllables, of which they have no idea), the boys are

    not perplexed, as ours are, with symbols M’hich have no meaning.

    All the children study aloud, and when one is able to recite

    the task, he is required to hach it—come up to the mastei-‘s

    desk, and stand with his back toward him while rehearsing it.)

    ‘ The San-tsz’ King was compiled by Wang Pih-hao of the

    Sung dynasty (a. d. 1050) for his private school. It contains

    ten hundred and sixty-eight words, and half that number of different

    characters, arranged in one hundred and seventy-eight

    double lines. It has been commented upon by several persons,

    one of whom calls it ” a ford which the youthful inquirer may

    readily pass, and thereby reach the fountain-head of the higher

    courses of learning, or a passport into tlie regions of classical and

    historical literature.”) This hornbook begins with the nature of

    man, and the necessity and modes of education, and it is noticeable

    that the first sentence, the one quoted above, which a Chinese

    learns at school, contains one of the most disputed doctrines in

    the ancient heathen world :

    ** Men at their birth, are by nature radically good ;
    Though alike in this, in practice they widely diverge.
    If not educated, the natural character grows worse ;
    A course of education is made valuable by close attention.
    Of old, Mencius’ mother selected a residence,
    And when her son did not learn, cut out the [half-wove] web.
    To nurture and not educate is a father’s error;
    To educate without rigor shows a teacher’s indolence.
    That boys should not learn is an unjust thing ;
    For if they do not learn in youth, what will they do when old ?
    As gems unwrought serve no useful end, ,
    So men untaught will never know what right conduct is.”

    The importance of filial and fraternal duties are then inculcated by precept and example, to which succeeds a synopsis of the various branches of learning in an ascending series, under several heads of numbers ; the three great powers, the four seasons and four cardinal points, the five elements and live constant virtues, the six kinds of grain and six domestic animals, the seven passions, the eight materials for music, nine degrees of kindred, and ten social duties. A few extracts will exhibit the mode in which these subjects are treated.

    “There are three powers,—heaven, earth, and man.
    There are tliree lights,—the sun, moon, and stars.
    There are three bonds,—between prince and niinister, justice ;
    Between father and son, affection ; between man and wife, concord.
    Humanity, justice, propriety, wisdom, and truth,—
    These five cardinal virtues are not to be confused.
    Rice, millet, pulse, wheat, sorghum, millet grass,
    Are six kinds of grain on which men subsist.
    Mutual affection of father and son, concord of man and wife;
    The older brother’s kindness, the younger one’s respect;
    Order between seniors and juniors, friendship among associates;
    On the prince’s part regard, on the minister’s true loyalty ;—
    These ten moral duties are ever binding among men.”

    To this technical summary succeed rules for a course of

    academical studies, M’ith a list of the books to be learned, and

    the order of their use, followed by a synopsis of the general history

    of China, in an enumeration of the successive dynasties.

    The work concludes with incidents and motives to learnino;

    drawn from the conduct of ancient sages and statesmen, and

    from considerations of interest and gh)iy. The exam})les cited

    are curious instances of pui-suit of knowledge under difficulties,

    and form an inviting part of the treatise.

    ” Formerly Confucius had young Iliang Toh for his teacher;

    Even the sages of antiquity studied with diligence.

    Chau, a minister of state, read tlu^ Confucian Dialogues,

    And he too, though high in office, studied assiduously.

    One copied lessons on rec’ds, another on slii)s of l)amb()o ;

    These, though without books, eagerly sought knowledge.

    [To vanquish sleep] one tied his head [by tlu! hair] to a beam, and auothel pierced his thigh with an awl;
    Though destitute of instructors, these were laborious in study.
    One read by the glowwoi’ui’s light, another by rellection from snow;

    TIIK TRIM ETHICAL CLASSIC. 629

    These, tliougli tlieir families were poor, did not omit to study.

    One carried faggots, and another tied his books to a cow’s horD«

    And while thus engaged in labor, studied with intensity.

    Su Lau-tsiuen, when lie was twenty-seven years old

    Commenced close study, and applied his mind to books;
    This man, when old, grieved that he commenced so late ;
    You who are young must early think of these things.
    Behold Liang Hau, at the ripe age of eighty-two,
    In the imperial hall, amongst many scholars, gains the first rani:’f

    This he accomplished, and all regarded liim a prodigy ;

    You, mj’ young readers, shoukl now resolve to be diligent.

    Yung, when only eiglit years old, could recite the Odes ;

    And Pi, at the age of seven, understood the game of chess;
    These displayed ability, and all deemed them to be rare men ;

    And you, my hopeful scholars, ought to imitate them.

    Tsai Wan-ki could play upon stringed instruments ;

    Sie Tau-wfin, likewise, could sing and chant;
    These two, though girls, were bright and well informed ;

    You, then, my lads, should surely rouse to diligence.

    Liu Ngan of Tang, when only seven years old,

    Proving himself a noble lad, was able to correct writing:

    He, though very young, was thus highly promoted.

    You, young learners, strive to follow his example, .

    For he who does so, will acquire like honors.

    ” Dogs watch by night ; the cock announces the morning J

    If any refuse to learn, how can they be esteemed men ?

    The silkworm spins silk, the bee gathers honey ;

    If men neglect to learn, they are below the brutes.

    He who learns in youth, to act wisely in mature age.

    Extends his influence to the prince, benefits the people.

    Makes his name renowned, renders his parents honorable ;

    Reflects glory on his ancestors, and enriches his posterity.

    Some for their Ouspring, leave coffers filled with gold ;

    While I to teach children, leave this one little book.

    Diligence has merit ; play yields no profit;
    Be ever on your guard ! Rouse all your energies !”

    These quotations illustrate the character of the T7imetri’

    cal Classic, and show its imperfections as a book for voung

    minds. It is a syllahns of studies rather than a book to be

    learned, and ill snited to entice the boy on in his tasks by giving

    him mental food in an attractive form. Yet its influence has

    been perhaps as great as the classics during the last four dynasties,

    from its general use in primary schools, where myriads of

    lads have ” backed ” it who have had no leisure to study much

    more, and when they had crossed this ford could travel no

    farther, (The boy commences his education by learning these

    maxims ; and by the time he has got his degree—and long before,

    too—the higiiest truths and examples known in the land

    are more deeply impressed on his mind than are ever Biblical

    truths and examples on graduates of Yale, Oxford, Heidelberg

    or the Sorbonne.’ Well was it for them that they had learned

    nothing in it which they had better forget, for its deficiencies,

    pointed out by Bridgman in his translation, should not lead us

    to overlook its suggestive synopsis of principles and examples.

    The commentary explains them very fully, and it is often

    learned as thoroughly as the text. Many thousands of tracts

    containing Christian truths written in the same style and with

    the same title, have been taught with good effect in the mission

    schools in China.”

    ( The next hornbook put into the boy’s hands is the P\h Kla,

    S’mg, or ‘ Century of Surnames.’ It is a list of the family or clan

    names commonly in use. Its acquisition also gives him familiarity

    with four hundred and fifty-four common words employed

    as names, a knowledge, too, of great importance lest mistakes

    be made in choosing a wrong character among the scores of

    horaophonous characters in the language) For instance, out of

    eighty-three common words pronounced hi, six only are clan

    names, and it is necessary to have these very familiar in the

    daily intercourse of life. The nature of the work forbids its being

    studied, but the usefulness of its contents probably explains

    its position in this series.’^

    The third in the list is the Tsien Tsz^ Wan, or ‘Millenary

    Classic,’ unique among all books in the Chinese language, and

    whose like could not be produced in any other, in that it consists

    ‘ Compare Dr. Morrison in the Horm Sinic/v, pp. 122-146 ; B. Jenkins, The

    Three-Glmnicter CluxHic, romanized acrording to the Khaufihai di(dect, Shanghai,

    1800. The Classic has also been translated into Latin, French, German, Russian,

    and Portuguese. For the Trimetrical Classic of the Tai-ping regime see

    a version in the North China Herald, No. 147, May 21, 185;}, by Dr. Medhurst •

    also a translation by Rev. S. C. Malan, of Balliol College, Oxford. London,

    1856.

    ” E. C. Bridgman in the Chinese Eepository, Vol. IV., p. 152. Livre de Cent

    famiUes, Perny, Diet., App., No. XIV., pp. 156 fE.

    THE THOUSAND-CHARACTER CLASSIC. 531

    of just a thousand characters, no two of which are alike in form or

    meaning. The author, Chau lling-tsz’, flourished ahout a.d. 550,

    and according to an account given in the history of the Liang

    dynasty, wrote it at tlie Empei-or’s request, who had ordered his

    minister Wang Hi-chi to write out a thousand characters, and

    give them to him, to see if he could make a connected ode with

    them.’ This he did, and presented his performance to liis majesty,

    who rewarded him with rich presents in token of his approval.

    Some accounts (in order that so singular a work might

    not M’ant for corresponding wonders) add that he did the task in

    a single night, under the fear of condign punishment if he

    failed, and the mental exertion was so great as to turn his hair

    white. It consists of two hundred and fifty lines, in which

    rhyme and rhythm are both carefully observed, though there

    is no more poetry in it than in a multiplication table. The

    contents of the book are similar but more discursive than those

    of the Trimetrical Classic. Up to the one hundred and second

    line, the productions of nature and virtues of the early monarchs,

    the power and capacities of man, his social duties and

    mode of conduct, with instructions as to the manner of living,

    are summarily treated.’ Thence to the one hundred and sixtysecond

    line, the splendor of the palace, and its high dignitaries,

    with other illustrious persons and places, are referred to. The

    last part of the w’ork treats of private and literary life, the pursuits

    of agriculture, household government, and education, interspersed

    with some exhortations, and a few illustrations. A few

    disconnected extracts from Dr. Bridgman’s translation’ will show

    the mode in which these subjects are handled. The opening

    lines are,

    *’ The heavens are sombre ; the earth is yellow

    ;

    The whole universe [at the creation] was one wide waste ;

    “

    after which it takes a survey of the world and its products, and

    Chinese history, in a very sententious manner, down to the

    thirty-seventh line, which opens a new subject.

    ‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. IV., p. 229.

    ” Now this our human body is endowed
    With four great powers and five cardinal virtues:
    Preserve with reverence what your paieuts nourished,—
    How dare you destroy or injure it V
    Let females guard their chastity and purity,
    And let men imitate the talented and virtuous.
    When you know your own errors then reform;
    And when you have made acquisitions do not lose them.

    Forbear to complain of the defects of other people,

    And cease to brag of your own superiority.

    Let your truth be such as may be verified,

    Your capacities, as to be measured with difficulty.

    ” Observe and imitate the conduct of the virtuous,

    And command your thoughts that you may be wise.

    Your virtue once fixed, your reputation will be established

    ;

    Your habits once rectified, your example will be correct.

    Sounds are reverberated in the deep valleys.

    And the vacant hall reechoes all it hears

    ;

    So misery is the penalty of accumulated vice.

    And happiness the reward of illustrious virtue.

    ” A cubit of iade stone is not to be valued,

    But an inch of time you ought to contend for.

    ” Mencius esteemed plainness and simplicity;

    And Yu the historian held firmly to rectitude.

    These nearly approached the golden medium,

    Being laborious, humble, diligent, and moderate.

    Listen to what is said, and investigate the principles explained

    :

    Watch men’s demeanor, that you may distinguish their characters.

    Leave behind you none but purposes of good ;

    And strive to act in such a manner as to command respect.

    When satirized and admonished examine 3’ourself,

    And do this more thoroughly when favors increase.

    ” Years fly away like arrows, one pushing on the other;

    The sun shines brightly through his whole course.

    The planetarium keeps on revolving where it hangs ;

    And the bright moon repeats her revolutions.

    To support fire, add fuel ; so cultivate the root of happiness,

    And you will obtain eternal peace and endless felicity.”

    Tlie conimentaiy 011 the TJiousand Character Classic contains

    many just observations and curious anecdotes to explain

    this hook, whose text is so familiar to the people at large that its

    lines or characters are used as lal)ols instead of figures, as thev

    take up less room. If Western scholars were as familiar with

    the acts and sayings of King Wan, of Su Tsin, or of Kwan

    (hung, as they are with those of Sesostris, Pericles, or Horace,

    THE ODES FOR CIirLDREN. 583

    these incidents and places would naturally enough he deemed

    more interesting than they now are. But where the power of

    genius, or the vivid pictures of a brilliant imagination, are

    wanting to illustrate or beautify a subject, there is comparatively

    little to interest Europeans in the authors and statesmen of such

    a distant country and remote period/

    (The fourth in this series, called V-iu ITioh Shl-tlch^ or ‘ Odes

    for Children,’ is written in rhymed pentameters, and contains

    only thirty-four stanzas of four lines.’ A single extract will

    show its character, which is, in general, a brief description and

    praise of literary life, and allusion to the changes of the season,

    and the beauties of nature.

    It is of the utmost importance to educate children ;

    Do not say that your families are poor,

    For those who can handle well the pencil,

    Go where they will, need never ask for favors.

    One at the age of seven, showed himself a divinely endowed youth,

    ‘Heaven,’ said he, ‘gave me my intelligence :

    Men of talent appear in the courts of the holy monarch,

    Nor need they wait in attendance on lords and nobles.

    ‘ In the morning I was an humble cottager,

    In the evening I entered the court of the Son of Heaven:
    Civil and military offices are not hereditary.
    Men must, therefore, rely on their own efforts.
    ‘ A passage for the sea has been cut through mountains,

    And stones have been melted to repair the heavens ;

    In all the world there is nothing that is impossible ;

    It is the heart of man alone that is wanting resolution.

    • Once I myself was a poor indigent scholar.

    Now I ride mounted in my four-horse chariot.

    And all my fellow-villagers exclaim with surprise.’

    Let those who have children thoroughly educate them.

    The examples of intelligent youth rising to the highest offices

    of state are numerous in all the works designed for beginners,

    * Compare Das Tsidn clsii wen, oder Buch von Tamend MDrtern, aus dem

    Schinesisclien, niit Bei’dckschtit/unf/ der Koraisclien und Jwpaninchen Uebersetzumj,

    ins DeuUche ubertragen, Ph. Fr. de ^iehoXdi, Nippon, Abh. IV., pp. 105-

    191 ; B. Jenkins, The Thou’sand-ChanieUr Cittssic, romanized, etc. Shanghai,

    1860; Ths/en-2’ffeu-Weii, Le Livre des MiUe Mots, etc., par Stanislas Julien

    (with Chinese text), Paris, 18G4 ; China Review, Vol. II., pp. 1S3 ff.

    and stories illustrative of their precocity are sometimes given

    in toy-books and novels. One of the most common instances ia

    here quoted, that of Confucius and Iliang Toh, which is as well

    known to every Chinese as is the story of George Washington

    barking the cherry-tree with his hatchet to American youth..

    ” The name of Confucius was Yu, and his style Chungni ; he established himself as an instructor in the western part of the kingdom of Lu. One day, followed by all his disciples, riding in a carriage, he went out to ramble, and on the road, came across several children at their sports ; among them was one who did not join in them. Confucius, stopping his carriage, asked him, saying, ‘ Why is it that you alone do not play V ‘ The lad replied, ‘ All play is without any profit ; one’s clothes get torn, and they are not easily mended ; above me, I disgrace my father and mother ; below me, even to the lowest, there is fighting and altercation ; so much toil and no reward, how can it be a good business ? It is for these reasons that I do not play.’ Then dropping his head, he began making a city out of pieces of tile.

    “Confucius, reproving him, said, ‘ Why do you not turn out for the carriage V ‘ The boy replied, ‘ From ancient times till now it has always been considered proper for a carriage to turn out for a city, and not for a city to turn out for a carriage. ‘ Confucius then stopped his vehicle in order to discourse of reason. He got out of the carriage, and asked him, ‘ You are still young in years, how is it that you are so quick V ‘ The boy replied, saying, ‘ ^human being, at the age of three years, discriminates between his father and his mother ; a hare, three days after it is born, runs over the ground and furrows of the fields ; fish, three days after their birth, wander in rivers and lakes ; what heaven thus produces naturally, how can it be called brisk ?’

    “Confucius added, ‘In what village and neighborhood do you reside, what is your surname and name, and what your style? ‘ The boy answered, * I live in a mean village and in an insignificant land ; my surname is Hiang, my name is Toh, and I have yet no style.’

    ” Confucius rejoined, ‘ I wish to have you come and ramble with me ; what do you think of it V ‘ The youth replied, ‘ A stern father is at home, whom I am bound to serve ; an affectionate mother is there, whom it is my duty to cherish ; a worthy elder brother is at home, whom it is proper for me to obey, with a tender younger brother whom I must teach ; and an intelligent teacher is there from whom I am required to learn. How have I leisure to go a rambling with you V’

    “Confucius said, ‘I have in my carriage thirty-two chessmen; what do you say to having a game together V ‘ The lad answered, ‘ If the Emperor love gaming, the Empire will not be governed ; if the nobles love play, the government will b<5 impeded ; if scholars love it, learning and investigation will be lost and thrown by ; if the lower classes are fond of gambling, they will utterly lose the support of their families ; if servants and slaves love to game, they will gel a cudgelling ; if farmers love it, they miss the time for ploughing and sowing; for these reasons I shall mit play with you.’

    THE STORY OF CONFUCIUS AND IIIANG TOIL 585

    “Confucius rejoined, ‘I wish to have you go with me, and fully equalize the Empire; what do you think of this? ‘ The Lad replied, ‘ The Empire cannot be equalized; here are high hills, there are lakes and rivers; either there are princes and nobles, or there are slaves and servants. If the high hills be levelled, the birds and beasts will have no resort ; if the rivers and lakes be filled up, the fishes and the turtles will have nowhere to go ; do away with kings and nobles, and the common people will have much dispute about right and wrong ; obliterate slaves and servants, and who will there be to serve the prince ! If the Empire be so vast and unsettled, how can it be equalized ?’

    ” Confucius again asked, ‘ Can you tell, under the whole sky, what fire has no smoke, what water no fish ; what hill has no stones, what tree no branches ; what man has no wife, what woman no husband ; what cow has no calf, what mare no colt ; what cock has no hen, what hen no cock ; what constitutes an excellent man, and what an inferior man ; what is that which has not enough, and what which has an overplus ; what city is without a market, and who is the man without a style ?’

    ” The boy replied, ‘A glowworm’s fire has no smoke, and well-water no fish ; a mound of earth has no stones, and a rotten tree no branches ; genii have no wives, and fairies no husbands ; earthen cows have no calves, nor wooden mares any colts ; lonely cocks have no hens, and widowed hens no cocks ; he who is worthy is an excellent man, and a fool is an inferior man ; a winter’s day is not long enough, and a summer’s day is too long ; the imperial city has no market, and little folks have no style.’

    ” Confucius inquiring said, ‘ Do you know what are the connecting bonds between heaven and earth, and what is the beginning and ending of the dual powers ? What is left, and what is right ; what is out, and what is in ; who is father, and who is mother ; who is husband, and who is wife. [Do you know]where the wind comes from, and from whence the rain V From whence the clouds issue, and the dew arises V And for how many tens of thousands of miles the sky and earth go parallel ?’

    “The youth answering said, ‘Nine multiplied nine times make eighty-one, which is the controlling bond of heaven and earth ; eight multiplied by nine makes seventy-two, the beginning and end of the dual powers. Heaven is father, and earth is mother ; the sun is husband, and the moon is wife ; east is left, and west is right ; without is out, and inside is in ; the winds come from Tsang-wu, and the rains proceed from wastes and wilds ; the clouds issue from the hills, and the dew rises from the ground. Sky and earth go parallel for ten thousand times ten thousand miles, and the four points of the compass have each their station.’

    “Confucius asking, said, ‘ Which do you say is the nearest relation, father and mother, or husband and wife ? ‘ The boy responded, ‘ One’s parents are near ; husband and wife are not [so] near.’

    “Confucius rejoined, ‘While husband and wife are alive, they sleep under the same coverlet ; when they are dead they lie in the same grave ; how then can you say that they are not near V ‘ The boy replied, ‘ A man without a wife is like a carriage without a wheel ; if there be no wheel, another one is made, for he can doubtless get a new one ; so, if one’s wife die, he seeks again, for he also can obtain a new one. The daughter of a worthy family must certainly marry an honorable husband ; a house having ten rooms always has a plate and a ridgepole ; three windows and six lattices do not give the ligh\ of a single door ; the whole host of stars with all their sparkling brilliancy do not equal the splendor of the solitary moon : the affection of a father and mother—alas, if it be once lost !’

    “Confucius sighing, said, ‘How clever! how worthy!’ The boy asking the sage said, ‘ You have just been giving me questions, which I have answered one by one ; I now wish to seek information ; will the teacher in one sentence afford me some plain instruction V I shall be much gratified if my request be not rejected.’ He then said, ‘ Why is it that mallards and ducks are able to swim; how is it that wild geese and cranes sing ; and why are firs and pines green through the winter ‘?

    ‘ Confucius replied, ‘ Mallards and ducks can swim because their feet are broad ; wild geese and cranes can sing because they have long necks ; firs and pines remain green throughout the winter because they have strong hearts.’ The youth rejoined, ‘ Not so ; fishes and turtle’; can swim, is it because they all have broad feet ? Frogs and toads can sing, is it because their necks are long V The green bamboo keeps fresh in winter, is it on account of its strong heart *’

    “Again interrogating, he said, ‘ How many stars are there altogether in the sky V ‘ Confucius replied, ‘ At this time inquire about the earth; how can we converse about the sky with certainty?’ The boy said, ‘Then how many houses in all are there on the earth ? ‘ The sage answered, ‘ Come now, speak about something that’s before our eyes ; why mu.st you converse about heaven and earth ? ‘ The lad resumed, ‘ Well, speak about what’s before our eyes—how many hairs are there in your eyebrows ‘?’

    “Confucius smiled, but did not answer, and turning round to his disciples called them and said, ‘ This boy is to be feared ; for it is easy to see that the subsequent man will not be like the child. ‘ He then got into his carriage and rode off.”‘

    6Xext in course to this rather trifling primer conies the Hlao

    King, or ‘ Canons of Filial Duty,’ a short tractate of only 1,903

    characters, which purports to be the record of a conversation

    held between Confucius and his disciple Tsitng Tsan on the

    principles of filial piet}*! Its authenticity has been disputed by

    critics, but their doubts are not shared by their countrymen,

    who commit it to memory as the words of the sage. The legend

    is that a copy was discovered in the wall of his dwelling, and

    compared with another secreted by Yen Chi at the burning of

    the books ; from the two Liu Iliang chose eighteen of tlie

    chapters contained in it as alone genuine, and in this shape it

    has since remained. The sixth section of the Imperial Catalogue

    is entirely devoted to writers on the Iliao Kmg, one of whom was

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 614.

    THE HIAO KING, OR CANONS OF FILIAL DUTY. 537

    Vnentsuiig, an emperor of the Tang dynasty (a.d. T33). Another

    comment was publislied in 32 vohimes in Kanghi’s reign, discussing

    the whole sul)ject in one liundred cliapters. Though it

    does not share in critical eyes the conlidence accorded to the

    nine classics, the brevity and subject matter of this work have

    commended it to teachers as one of the best books in the

    language to be placed in the hands of their scholars ; thus its

    influence has been great and enduring. It has been translated

    by Bridgman, who regards the first six sections as the words of

    Confucius, while the other twelve contain his ideas. Two quotations

    are all that need be here given to show its character.

    Section I.

    —

    On the origin and nature ofjUial duty.—Filial duty is the root

    of virtue, and the stem from which instruction in the moral principle springs.

    Sit down, and I will explain this to you. The first thing which filial duty requires

    of us is, that we carefully preserve from all injviry, and in a perfect

    state, the bodies which we have received from our parents. And when we

    acquire for ourselves a station in the world, we should regulate our conduct

    by correct principles, so as to transmit our names to future generations, and

    reflect glory on our parents. This is the ultimate aim of filial duty. Thus it

    commences in attention to parents, is continued through a course of services

    rendered to the prince, and is completed by the elevation of ourselves. It

    is said in the Book of Odes,

    Ever think of your ancestors

    ;

    Reproducing then- virtue.

    Section V.

    —

    0>i the attention of scholars to flial duty.—With the same love

    that they serve their fathers, they should serve their mothers ; and with the

    same respect that they serve their fathers, they should serve their prince ; unmixed

    love, then, will be the offering they make to their mothers ; unfeigned

    respect the tribute they bring to their prince ; while toward their fathers both

    tliese will be combined. Therefore they serve their prince with filial duty and

    are faithful to him ; they serve their superiors with respect and are obedient to

    them. By constant obedience and faithfulness toward those who are above

    them, they are enabled to preserve their stations and emoluments, and to offer

    the sacrifices which are due to their deceased ancestors and parents. Such is

    the influence of filial piety when performed by scholars. It is said in the

    Book of Odes,

    When the dawn is breaking, and I cannot sleep,

    The thoughts in my breast are of our parents.

    ‘

    ‘ Compare Pere Cibot in Memoires.concernant les Chinois, Tome IV., pp. 1 ff.

    ;

    Dr. Legge, ±he Sacred Books of China, Part I. The ShU-kinr/, Reliyious Portions of the Shih-kinff, the Hsido-kimj, Oxford, 1879 ; Asiatic Journal, Vol XXIX., pp. 302 if., 1839.

    (The highest place in the list of virtues and obligations is accorded

    to filial duty, not only in this, but in other writings of

    Confucius and those of his school. ” There are,” to quote from

    another section, ” three thousand crimes to which one or the

    other of the five kinds of punishment is attached as a penalty ;

    and of these no one is greater than disobedience to parents.

    When ministers exercise control over the monarch, then there

    is no supremacy ; when the njaxims of the sages are set aside,

    then the law is abrogated ; and so those who disregard filial

    duty are as though they had no parents. These three evils prepai*

    e the way for universal rebellion.’^

    This social virtue has been highly lauded by all Chinese

    wn-Iters, and its observance inculcated upon youth and children

    by precept and example. Stories are written to show the good

    effects of obedience, and the bad results of its contrary sin,

    which are put into their hands, and form also subjects for pictorial

    illustration, stanzas for poetry, and materials for conversation.

    The following examples are taken from a toy-book of

    this sort, called the Twenty-four F’diah^ one of the most popular

    collections on the subject.

    ” During the Chau dynasty there lived a lad named Tsang Tsan (also Tsz’-yu),

    who served his mother very dutifully. Tsang was in the habit of going to the.

    hills to collect fagots ; and once, while he was thus absent, many guests came

    to his house, toward whom his mother was at a loss how to act. She, while

    expecting her son, who delayed his return, began to gnaw her fingers. Tsang

    suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and took up his bundle of fagots in order to

    return home ; and when he saw his mother, he kneeled and begged to know

    what was the cause of her anxiety. She replied, ‘ there have been some guests

    here, who came from a great distance, and I bit my finger in order to arouse you to return to me.’

    ” In the Chau dynasty lived Chung Yu, named also Tsz’-lu, who, because his

    family was poor, usually ate herbs and coarse pulse ; and he also went more

    than a hundred I’l to procure rice for his parents. Afterward, when they were

    dead, he went south to the country of Tsu, where he was made commander of

    a hundred companies of chariots; there he became rich, storing up grain in

    myriads of measures, reclining upon cushions, and eating food served to him

    in numerous dishes; but sighing, ho said, * Although I should now desire to

    eat coarse herbs and bring rice for my parents, it cannot be !

    ‘

    ” In the Chau dynasty there flourished the venerable Lai, who was very obedient

    and reverential toward his parents, manifesting his dutifulness by exerting

    liimself to provide them with every delicacy. Although upward of

    EXTRACTS FROM THE TWENTY-FOUR FILIALS. 539

    seventy years of age, he declared that he was not yet old ; and usually

    dressed liimself in parti-colored embroidered garments, and like a child

    would playfully stand by the side of his parents. He would also take up

    buckets of water, and try to carry them into the house ; but feigning to slip,

    would fall to the ground, wailing and crying like a child: and all these things

    he did in order to divert his parents.

    ” During the Han dynasty lived Tung Yung, whose family was so very poor

    that when his father died he was obliged to sell himself in order to procure

    money to bury his remains. After this he went to another place to gain the

    means of redeeming liimself ; and on his way he met a lady who desired to become

    his wife, and go with him to his master’s residence. She went with him,

    and wove three hundred pieces of silk, which being completed in two months,

    they returned home ; on the way, having reached the shade of the cassia tree

    where they before met, the lady bowed and ascending, vanished from his sight.

    ” During the Han dynasty lived Ting Lan, whose parents both died when

    he was young, before he could obey and support them ; and he reflected that

    for all the trouble and anxiety he had caused them, no recompense had yet

    been given. He then carved wooden images of his parents, and served them

    as if they had been alive. For a long time his wife would not reverence them ;

    but one day, taking a bodkin, she in derision pricked their fingers. Blood immediately

    flowed from the wound ; and seeing Ting coming, the images wept.

    He examined into the circumstances, and forthwith divorced his wife.

    “In the days of the Han dynasty lived Koh Kii, who was very poor. He

    had one child three years old ; and such was his poverty that his mother usually

    divided her portion of food with this little one. Koh says to his wife,

    ‘ We are so poor that our mother cannot be supported, for the cliild divides

    with her the portion of food that belongs to her. Why not bury this child V

    Another child may be born to us, but a mother once gone will never return.’

    His wife did not venture to object to the proposal ; and Koh immediately dug

    a hole of about three cubits deep, when suddenly he lighted upon a pot of gold,

    and on the metal read the following inscription :

    ‘ Heaven bestows this treasure

    upon Koh Kii, the dutiful son ; the magistrate may not seize it, nor shall

    the neighbors take it from him.’

    “Mang Tsung, who lived in the Tsin dynasty, when young lost his father.

    His mother was very sick ; and one winter’s day she longed to taste a soup

    made of bamboo sprouts, but Mang could not procure any. At last he went

    into the grove of bamboos, clasped the trees with his hands, and wept bitterly.

    His filial affection moved nature, and the ground slowly opened, sending forth

    several shoots, which he gathered and carried home. He made a soup with

    them, of which his mother ate and immediately recovered from her malady

    ” WuMang, a lad eight years of age, who lived under the Tsin dynasty, was

    very dutiful to his parents. They were so poor that they could not afford to

    furnish their bed with mosquito-curtains ; and every summer’s night, myriads

    of mosquitos attacked them unrestrainedly, feasting upon their flesh and

    blood. Although there were so many, yet Wu would not drive them away,

    lest they should go to his parents, and annoy them. Such was his affection.”

    ‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 131.

    The last book learned before entering on the classics has had

    almost as great an influence as any of them, and none of the works

    of later scholars are so well calculated to sliow the ideas of the

    Chinese in all ages upon the principles of education, intercourse

    of life, and rules of conduct as this ; precepts are illustrated by

    examples, and the examples referred back to precepts for their

    moving cause. (This is the Siao Hloh, or ” Juvenile Instructor,”

    and was intended by Chu Hi, its author, as a counterpart of the

    Ta Hlao, on which he had written a connnentary, “^ It has had

    more than fifty commentators, one of whom says, ” We confide

    in the Siao Hioli as we do in the gods, and revere it as we do

    our parents.” It is divided into two books, the ” fountain of

    learning,” and ” the stream flowing from it,” arranged in 20

    chapters and 385 short sections. The first book has four parts

    and treats of the first principles of education ; of the duties we

    owe our kindred, rulers, and fellow-men, of those we owe

    ourselves in regard to study, demeanor, food, and dress ; and

    lastly gives numerous examples from ancient history, beginning

    with very early times down to the end of the Chau dynasty,

    B.C. 249, confirmatory of the maxims inculcated, and the good

    effects resulting from their observance. The second book contains,

    in its first part, a collection of wise sayings of eminent,

    men who flourished after e.g. 200, succeeded by a series of examples

    of distinguished persons calculated to show the effects of

    good principles ; both designed to establish the truth of the

    teachings of the first book. One or two quotations, themselves

    extracted from other works, will sulfice to show something of

    its contents.

    ” Confucius said, ‘ Friends must sharply and frankly admonish each other, and brothers must be gentle toward one another.’ “

    “Tsz’-kung, asking about friendship, Confucius said, ‘ Faithfully to inform and kindly to instruct another is the duty of a friend ; if he is not tractable, desist ; do not disgrace yourself.’ “

    “Whoever enters with his guests, yields precedence to them at every door ;

    when they reach the innermost one, he begs leave to go in and arrange the

    seats, and then returns to receive the guests ; and after they have repeatedly

    declined he bows to them and enters. He passes through the right door, they

    through the left. He ascc^nds the eastern, they the western steps. If a guest

    be of a lower grade, he must api)roach the steps of the host, while; the latter

    THE SIAO IIIOH, OR JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR. 541

    must reppatedly dc^cline this attention ; then the guest m.\v return to the western

    steps, he ascending, both liost and guest must mutually yield precedence:

    then the host must ascend first, and tlie guests follow. From step to step they

    must bring their feet together, gradually ascending—those on the east moving

    the right foot lirst, those on the west the left.”

    The great influence wliicli these six school-books have had is

    owing to their formative power on youthful minds, a large proportion

    of whom never go beyond them (either from want of

    time, means, or desire), but are really here fui-nished with the

    kernel of their best literature.

    (The tedium of memorizing these unmeaning sounds is relieved

    by writing the characters on thin paper placed over copy slips.

    The writing and the reading lessons are the same, and both are

    continued for a year or two until the forms and sounds of a few

    thousand characters are made familiar, but no particular effort

    is taken to teach their meanings. It is after this that the teacher

    goes over the same ground, and with the help of the commentary,

    explains the meaning of the words and phrases one by one, until they are all understoodJ It is not usual for the beginner to attend much to the meaning of what he is learning to read and write, and where the labor of committing arbitrary characters is so great and irksome, experience has probably shown that it is not wise to attempt too many things at once.

    ^The boy has been familiarizing himself with their shapes as

    he sees them all the time around him, and he learns what they

    mean in a measure before he comes to school. The association

    of form with ideas, as he cons his lesson and writes their words,

    gradually strengthens, and results in that singular interdependence

    of the eye and ear so observable among the scholars of the

    far East. They trust to what is read to help in understanding what

    is heard much more than is the case in phonetic languages. (_Xo

    effort is made to facilitate the acquisition of the characters by the

    boys in school by arranging them according to their component

    parts ; they are learned one by one, as boys are taught the names

    and appearance of minerals in a cabine^<_^The effects of a course of

    study like this, in which the powers of the tender mind are not

    developed by proper nourishment of truthful knowledge, can

    hardly be otherwise than to stunt the genius, and drill the faculties of the mind into a slavish adherence to venerated usage and dictation, making the intellects of Chinese students like the trees which their gardeners so toilsomely dwarf into pots and jars—plants, whose unnaturalness is congruous to the insipidity of their fruit.)

    The number of years spent at school depends upon the means

    of the parents. Tradesmen, mechanics, and country gentlemen

    endeavor to give their sons a competent knowledge of the

    usual series of books, so that they can creditably manage the

    common affairs of life. (No other branches of study are pursued

    than the classics and histories, and what will illustrate

    them, ineanwhile giving much care and practice to composi-

    ,_jtioiiivNo arithmetic or any department of mathematics, nothing

    of the geography of their own or other countries, of natural

    philosophy, natural history, or scientific arts, nor the study of

    other languages, are attended to.) Persons in these classes of

    society put their sons into shops or counting-houses to learn the

    routine of business with a knowledge of figures and the style

    of letter-writing ; they are not kept at school more tlian three

    or four years, unless they mean to compete at the examinations.

    Working men, desirous of giving their sons a smattering,

    try to keep them at their books a year or two, but millions

    nnist of course grow up in utter ignorance. It is, however,

    an excellent policy for a state to keep up this universal honor

    paid to education where the labor is so great and the return

    so doubtful, for it is really the homage paid to the principles

    taught.

    r^ Besides the common schools, there are grammar or high

    I schools and colleges, but they are far less effective. In Canton,

    I there are fourteen grammar schools and thirty colleges, sqinej:)f

    / wluch are quite ancient, but most of them are neglected,/ Three

    of the largest contaimeach about two hundred students and two

    or three professors. (The chief object of these institutions is to

    instruct advanced scholars in composition and elegant writing ;

    the tutors do a little to turn attention to general literature, but

    have neither the genius nor the means to make many advances.”)

    In I’ural districts students are encouraged to meet at stated times

    in the town-house, where the lieadman, or deputy of the sz” or

    HABITS OF STUDY—SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 543

    township, examines them on themes previously proposed by him.’

    In large towns, the local officers, assisted by the gentry and

    graduates, hold annual examinations of students, at which pre

    miums are given to the best essayists. At such an examination

    in Amoy in March, 1845, there were about a thousand

    candidates, forty of whom received sums varying from sixty to

    sixteen cents

    ^One of the most notable, as well as the most ancient of collegiate

    institutions, is the Jvwoh-Uz’ Kien, or ‘ School for the Sons

    of the State,’ whose extensive buildings in Peking, now empty

    and dilapidated, show how much easier it is to found and plan

    a good thing than to maintain its efficiency^ , This state school

    orighiated as early as the Chau dynasty, andTtlie course of study

    as given in the Tt’itual of Chau was much the same three thousand

    years ago as at present. Its officers consisted of a rector,

    usually a high minister of state, aided by five councillors, two

    directors, two proctors, two secretaries, a librarian, two professors

    in each of the six halls, and latterly five others for each of the

    colleges for Bannermen. These halls are named Hall of the

    Pursuit of “Wisdom, the Sincere of Heart, of True Virtue, of

    Koble Aspiration, of Broad Acquirements, and the Guidance of

    Xature. ^he curriculum was not intended to go beyond the classics

    and the six libei-ai arts of music, charioteering, archery, etiquette,

    writing, and mathematics’; but as if to encourage the

    professors to ” seek out by wisdom concerning all things that are

    done under heaven,” as Solomon advises, they were told to take

    their students to the original sources of strategy, astronomy, engineering,

    music, law, and the like, and points out the defects and

    merits of each author. The Kiooh-tsz’ Kien possesses now only

    the husk of its ancient goodness ; and if its professors were not

    honored, and made eligible to be distinct magistrates after three

    years’ term, the buildings would soon be left altogether empty.

    Instead of reviving and rearranging it, the Chinese Government

    . i^ Chinese Repository, VoL IV., p. 414. See also Vol. VI., pp. 229-241;Vol. IV., pp. 1-10; Vol. XL, pp. 545-557 ; and Vol. XIII. , pp. 626-641, for further notices of the modes and objects of education ; Biot, Essai stir VHistoiie de I’Instruction PiMiqiie en Chine, and liis translation of the C1uw-li, VoL H.,p. 27, Paris, 1851. Chinese Recorder, September, 1871.

    Las wisely supplanted it by a new college with its new professors

    and new course of studies—the Tang-iodn Kwan mentioned on p.

    436. Kative free schools, established by benevolent })ersons in

    city or country, are not uncommon, and serve to maintain the literary

    spirit ; some may not be very long-lived, but others take

    their place. In Peking, each of the Banners has its school, and so

    lias the Imperial Clan ; retired officials contribute to schools

    opened for boys connected with their nativ^e districts living in

    the capital. Such efforts to promote education are expected

    from those who have obtained its high prizes.

    ow great a proportion of the people in China can read, is a

    difficult question to answer, for foreigners have had no means of

    learning the facts in the case, and the natives never go into such

    inquiries. More of the men in cities can read than in the country,

    and inore in some provinces than in othfirSj,’ In the district

    anhai, which forms part of the city of Canton, an imperfect

    examination led to the belief that neaily all the men are

    able to read, except fishermen, agriculturists, coolies, boat-people,

    and fuelers, and that two or three in ten devote their lives

    to literary pursuits. In less thickly settled districts, not more

    than four- or five-tenths, and even less, can read. /Tn Macao,

    perhaps half of the men can read. From an examination of the

    hospital patients at Kingpo, one of the missionaries estimated

    the readers to form not more than five per cent, of the men ;

    while another missionary at the same place, w^ho made inquiry in

    a higher grade of society, reckoned them at twenty per cent.

    The villagers about Amoy are deplorably ignorant ; one lady

    who had lived there over twenty years, writes that she had never

    found a woman who could ycad, but these were doubtless from

    among the poorer classes. It appears that as one goes north, the

    extent and thoroughness of education diminishes. ^Throughout

    the Enipiretho ability to understand books is not commensurate

    with the ability to read the characters, and both ha\e been somewhat

    exaggerated. Owiner to the manner in which education is

    commenced^learning the forms and sounds of characters before

    their meanings are understood—it comes to pass tliat many persons

    can call over the names of the characters while they^do not

    comprehend in the least the sense of what they readJ/ They can

    rROPOllTIOX OF THOSE WHO CAN READ IX CHINA. 545

    pick oat ;i word here and there, it may be a phrase or a sentence,

    but they derive no clearer meaning from the text before them

    than a lad, who has just learned to scan, and has proceeded half

    through the Latin Header, does from reading Virgil ; while in

    both cases an intelligent audience, unacquainted with the facts,

    might justly infer that the reader understood what he was readino-

    as well as his hearers did. Moreover, in the Chinese language,

    different subjects demand different characters ; and although a

    man may be well versed in the classics or in fiction, he may be

    easily posed by being asked to explain a simple treatise in medicine

    or in mathematics, in consequence of the many new or unfamiliar

    words on every page. This is a serious obsta^e in the way

    of obtaining a general acquaintance with boolvS^The mind be-‘

    comes weary with the labor of study where its toil is neither rewarded

    b}^ knowledge nor beguiled by wit ; consequently, few

    Chinese are well read in their natural literature. The study o£

    books being regarded solely as the means wherewith to attain ai

    ‘

    definite end, it follovs naturally that when a cultivated man haa

    reached his goal he should feel little disposed to turn to these;

    inmlements of his profession for either instruction or pleasure^

    (Wealthy or official parents, who wish their sons to compete

    for literarv honors, o-ive them the advantages of a full course in

    reading and rhetoric under the best masters. Composition is

    the most difficult part of the training of a Chinese student, and

    requires unwearied application and a retentive memory. lie

    who can most readily quote the classics, and approach the nearest

    to their terse, comprehensive, energetic diction and style, is,

    cmierls iKtrihus^ most likely to succeed ; while the man who can

    most quickly throw off well rhythmed verses takes the palm

    from all competitor^. In novels, the ability to compose elegant

    verses as fast as the pencil can fly is usually ascribed to the hero

    of the plot. How many of those who intend to compete for

    degrees attend at the district colleges or high schools is not

    known, but they are resorted to by students about the time of

    the examinations in order to make the acquaintance of those

    who are to conq^ete with them. Xo public examinations take

    place in either daj’ or private schools, nor do parents often visit

    them, but rewards for remarkable proficiency are occasionally conferred. (There is little gradation of studies, nor are any diplomas conferred on students to show that they have gone Q . through a certain course. Punishments are severe, and the rattan or bamboo hangs conspicuously near the master, and its liberal use is considered necessary : ” To educate without rigor, shows the teachers indolence,” is the doctrine, and by scolding,

    starving, castigation, and detention, the master tries to instil

    habits of obedience and compel his scholars to learn their

    task. )

    Notwithstanding the high opinion in which education is held,

    the general diffusion of knowledge, and the respect paid to

    learning in comparison with mere title and wealth, the defects of

    the tuition here brieHy described, in extent, means, purposes, and

    results, are very great. Such, too, must necessarily be the case

    until new principles and new information are infused into it.

    Considered in its best point of view, this system has effected all

    that it can in enlarging the understanding, purifying the heart,

    and strengthening the minds of the people ; but in none of these,

    nor in any of the essential points at which a sound education

    aims (as we understand the matter), has it accomplished half that

    is needed. The stream never rises even as high as its source,

    and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius have done all that

    is possible to make their countrymen thinking, useful, and intelligent

    men.

    Turn we now from this brief sketch of primary education

    among the Chinese, to a description of the mode of examining

    students and conferring the degrees which have been made the

    passport to office, and learn what are the real merits of the systeuL^-‘

    tPersons from almost every class of society may become

    (—’^naidates for degrees under the certificates of securities, but

    none are eligible for the second diploma who have not already

    received the first. It therefore happens that the republican

    license apparently’ allowed to well-nigh every subject, in reality

    reserves the prizes for the few most talented or wealtiiy persons

    in thficonamunity.) |V majority of the clever, learned, ambitious,

    and intelligent spirits in the laTid look forward to these examinations

    as the only field woithy of their efforts, and where they are

    most likely to find their equals and friends. How much better

    MODE OF EXAMINATION AND CONFERRING DEGREES. 547

    for the good of society, too, is this arena than the camp or

    the feudal court, the tournament or the monastery !

    There are four regular literary degrees, with some intermediate

    steps of a titular sort. The first is called slu-tsal, meaning

    ‘ flowering talent,’ because of the promise held out of the future

    success of the scholar ; it has often been rendered ‘ bachelor of

    arts ‘ as its nearest equivalent. The examinations to obtain it

    are held under the supervision of the chihien in a public

    building belonging to the district situated near his yamun ; and

    the chief literary officer, called Moh-ching^ ‘ corrector of learning,’

    or Mao-yu, ‘ teacher of the commands,’ has the immediate

    control. (When assembled at the hall of examination, the district

    magistrate, the deputy chancellor, and prefect, having prepared

    the lists of the undergraduates and selected the themes,

    allow only one day for writing the essays. The number of candidates

    depends upon the population and literary spirit of the district

    } in the districts of Xanhai and Pwanyu, upward of two

    thousand persons competed for the prize in 1832, while in

    Hiangshan not half so many came together. The rule for apportioning

    them was at first according to the annual revenue.

    “When the essays are handed in, they are looked over by the

    board of examiners, and the names of the successful students

    entered on a roll, and pasted upon the walls of the magistrate’s

    hall ; this hoaor is called Men ming, i.e., ‘ having a name in

    the village.’ Out of the four thousand candidates referred to

    above, only thirteen in one district, and fourteen in the other,

    obtained a name in the village ; the entire population of these

    two districts is not much under a million and a half. Many of

    the competitors at this primary tripos are unable to finish their

    essays in the day, others make errors in writing, and others

    show gross ignorance, all of which so greatly diminish their

    numbers, that only those who stand near the head of the list of

    Men mhuj do really or usually enter on the next trial before

    the prefect. ^ But all have had an equal chance, and few complain

    that their performances were disregarded, for they can try as often as they please.

    (Those who pass the first examination are entered as candidates for the second, which takes place in the chief town of the department before the literary chancellor and the prefect, as. sisted bj a literary magistrate called Mao-shao, ‘ giver of instructions; ‘ it is more rigorous than that held before the chihlcn^ though similar to it in nature. The prefect arranges the candidates from each district by themselves according to their standing on their several lists, and it is this vantage ground which makes the first trial in one’s native place so important to the

    ambitious scholar. The themes on which they have tested their

    scholarship are published for the information of friends and the

    other examiners. If the proportion given above of successful

    candidates at the district examinations hold for each district,

    there would not be more than two hundred students assembled

    at the prefect’s hall, but the number is somewhat increased by

    persons who have purchased the privilege ; still the second trial

    is made among a small number in projjortion to the first, and

    yet more trifling when compared with the amount of population.

    The names of the successful students at the second trial are exposed

    on the walls of the office, which is called y^* mlng^ i.e.,

    ‘ having a name in the department,’ and these only are eligible

    as candidates for the third trial} (In addition to their knowledge

    of the classics, the candidates at this trial are often required to

    write off the text of the Siting Yu, or ‘ Sacred Edict,’ from memory,

    as this work consists of maxims for the guidance of officer§li

    The literary chancellor exercises a superintendence over the

    previous examinations, and makes the circuit of the province to

    attend them in each department, twice in three years. There

    are various ranks among these educational officials, corresponding

    to the civilians in the province ; transfers are occasionally

    made from one service to the other, and the oversight of the

    latter is always given at; the examinations wherever they ai’C

    held. Most of the literary officers, however, remain in their

    own line, as it is highly honorable and more permanent. (At the

    third trial in the provincial capital, he confers the first degree of

    siio-tmi upon those who are chosen out of the whole list as the

    best scholars.^

    EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF SIU TSAI. 649

    There are several classes of bachelors, depending; somewhat on the manner in which they obtained their dciirree ; those who get it in the maimer here described take the precedence. yiAiQ possession of this degree protects the person from corporeal punishment, raises him above the common people, renders him a consj)icuons man in his native place, and eligible to enter the triennial examination for the second degree. (Those who have more money than learning, purchase this degree for sums varying from $200 up to $1000, and even higher; in later years, according to the necessities of the government, diplomas have been sold as low as $25 to $50, but such men seldom risel They are called kien-sd/Kj, and, as might be supposed, are looked upon

    somewhat contemptuously by those who have passed through the

    regular examinations, and ” won the battle with their own

    lance.” A degree called Imng-sdng is purchased by or bestowed

    upon the slu-tsal, but is so generally recognized that it has almost

    become a fifth degree, which does not entitle them to the

    full honors of a ku-jin. What proportion of scholars are rewarded

    by degrees is not known, but it is a small number compared

    with the candidates. A graduate of considerable intelligence

    at Ningbo estimated the number of sia-tsal in that city at four hundred, and in the department at nearly a thousand. ( In

    Canton City, the number of shin-hin, or gentry, who are allowed

    to wear the sash of honor, and have obtained literary degrees, is

    not over three hundred ; but in the wdiole province there are

    about twelve thousand bachelors in a population of nineteen

    millions.) Those who have not become siu-tsal are still regarded

    as under the oversight of the hiao-yu and others of his class,

    who still receive their essays ; but the body of provincial

    siu-tsai are obliged to report themselves and attend the prefectural

    tripos before the chancellor, under penalty of losing all the

    privileges and rank obtained. (This law brings them before

    those who may take cognizance of misdeeds, for these men are

    often very oppressive and troublesome to their countrymen^

    The graduates in each district are placed under the control of a chief, whose power is almost equal to the deputy chancellors; from them are taken the two securities required by each applicant to enter the tripos.

    The candidates for siu-tsai are narrowly examined when they enter the hall, their pockets, shoes, wadded robes, and ink-stones, all being searched, lest precomposed essays or other aids to com position be smuggled in. When they are all seated in the hall in their proper places, the wickets, doors, windows, and other entrances are all guarded, and pasted over with strips of paper.

    The room is filled with anxious competitors arranged in long seats, pencil in hand, and ready to begin. The theme is given out, and every one immediately writes off his essay, carefully

    noting how many characters he erases in composing it, and hands

    it up to the board of examiners ; the whole day is allotted to the

    task, and a signal-gun announces the hour when the doors are

    thrown open, and the students can disperse. (A man is liable to

    lose his acquired honor of sla-tsai if at a subsequent inspection

    he is found to have discarded his studies, and he is therefore impelled

    to pursue them in order to maintain his influence, even if

    he does not reach the next degree. ‘\

    ^ince the first degree is sometimes procured by influence and

    money, it is the examination for the second, called hiljin, or

    ‘ promoted men,’ held triennially in the provincial capitals before

    two imperial commissioners, that separates the candidates

    into students and ofiacers, though all the students who receive a

    diploma by no means become officers./ This examination is held

    at the same time in all the eighteen provincial capitals, viz., on

    the 9th, 12th, and 15tli days of the eighth moon, or about the

    middle of September ; while it is going on, the city appears exceedingly

    animated, in consequence of the great number of relatives

    and friends assembled with the students. The persons

    who preside at the examination, besides the imperial commissioners,

    are ten provincial officers, with the futai at their head,

    who jointly form a board of examiners, and decide upon the

    merits of the essays. (The number of candidates who entered

    the lists at Canton in the years 1828 and 1831 was 4,800 ; in

    1832 there were 6,000, which is nearer the usual number. In

    the largest provinces it reaches as many as 7,000, 8,000, and upward.]

    ^Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p. 349; Vol. XVI., pp. 67-72. Doolittle, Social Life of f/te Chineisc, Vol. I., pp. 376-443. Dr. Martin, The Chinese.

    EXAMINATION Foil THE SECOND DEGREE. 551

    Previous to entering the Kunrj T’aen, each candidate has given in all the necessary proofs and particulars, which entitle him to a cell, and receives the ticket which designates the one he is to occupy. He enters the night before, and is searched to see that no manuscript essay, “skinning paper,” or miniature edition of the classics, is secreted on his person. If anything of the sort is discovered, he is punished with the cangue, degraded from his first degree, and forbidden again to compete at the examination; his father and tutor are likewise punished. ( Some of the pieces written for this purpose are marvels of penmanship, and the most finished compositions ; one set contained an essay on every sentence in the Four Books, each of the sheets covered with hundreds of characters, and the paper so thin that they could be easily read through it. The practice is, however, quite common, notwithstanding the penalties, and one censor requested a law to be passed forbidding small editions to be

    printed, and booksellers’ shops to be searched for tlieni^

    The general arrangement of the examination halls in all the

    provincial capitals is alike. A description of that at Canton,

    given on page 166, is typical of them all.

    The Hall at Peking, situated on the eastern side, not far from

    the observatory, contains ten thousand cells, and these do not

    always suffice for the host which assembles. The Hall at Fuhchau

    is equally large ; each cell is a little higher than a man’s

    head, and is open on but one side—letting in more rain and wind

    during inclement days than is comfortable. Confinement in

    these cramped cells is so irksome as to frequently cause the death

    of aged students, who are unable to sustain the fatigue, but who

    still enter the arena in hopes of at last succeeding. Cases have

    occurred where father, son, and grandson, appeared at the same

    time to compete for the same prize. (Dr. Martin’ found that out

    of a list of ninety-nine successful competitors for the second

    degree, sixteen were over forty years of age, one sixty-two, and

    one eighty-three. The average age of the whole number was over

    thirty—while in comparison with like statistics foi* the third degree,

    a proportionate increase might be looked for.) The unpleasantness

    of the strait cell is nnich increased by the smoke arising

    • The Chinese, p. 50.

    from the cooking, and by the heat of the weather. All servants are provided by government, but each candidate takes in the rice and fuel which he needs, together with cakes, tea, candles, bedding, etc., as he can afford ; no one can g(> in with him. The enclosure presents a bustling scene during the examination, and its interest intensifies until the names of the successful scholars

    are published. Should a student die in his cell, the body is pulled

    through a hole made in the wall of the enclosure, and left there for

    his friends to carry away. Whenever a candidate breaks any of

    the prescribed regulations of the contest, his name and offence are

    reported, and his name is ” pasted out ” by placarding it on the

    outer door of the hall, after which he is not allowed to enter until

    another examination comes around. More than a hundred

    persons are thus ” pasted out ” each season, but no heavy disgrace

    seems to attach to them in consequence.

    (On the first day after the doors have been sealed up, four themes are selected by the examiners from the Four Books, one of which subjects must be discussed in a poetical essay. The minimum length of the compositions is a hundred characters, and they must be written plainly and elegantly, and sent in without any names attached^ In 1828, the acumen of four thousand

    eight hundred candidates was exercised during the first day on

    these themes : ” Tsang-tsz’ said, ‘ To possess ability, and yet ask

    of those who do not ; to know much, and yet inquire of those

    who know little ; to possess, and yet appear not to possess ; to

    be full, and yet appear empty.’ “—” lie took hold of things by

    the two extremes, and in his treatment of the people maintained

    the golden medium.” “A man from his youth studies eight

    principles, and when he arrives at manhood, he wishes to reduce

    them to practice.”—The fourth essay, to be written in

    pentameters, had for its subject, “The sound of the oar, and the

    green of the hills and water.” Among the themes given out

    in 1843, were these: “lie who is sincere will be intelligent,

    and the intelligent man will be faithful.”—”In carrying out

    benevolence, there are no rules.” In 1835, one was, ” lie acts

    as he ought, both to the common people and official men, receives

    his revenue from Heaven, and by it is protected and highly

    esteemed.” Among other more practical texts are the following: ” Fire-arms began with the use of rockets in the Chau dynasty ; in what book do we first meet with the word for cannon? Is the defence of Kaifung fii its first recorded use ?

    METHOD OF CONDUCTING THE EXAMINATION. 553

    Kublai klian, it is said, obtained cannon of a new kind ; from whom did he obtain them ? When the Ming Emperors, in the reign of Yungloh, invaded Cochincliina, they obtained a kind of cannon called the weapons of the gods; can you give an account of their origin ‘( “

    The three or five themes (for the number seems to be optional)

    selected from the Five Classics are similar to these, but as those

    works are regarded as more recondite than the Four Books, so

    nmst the essayists try to take a higher style/ An officer goes

    around to gather in the pa] )ers, which are first handed to a body

    of scholars in waiting, who look them over to see if the prescribed

    rules have all been observed, and reject those which infringe

    them, /The rest are then copied in red ink, to prevent

    recognition of the handwriting, and the original manuscripts

    given to the governor. The cojjies are submitted to another

    class of old scholars for their criticism, each of whom marks the

    essays he deems best with a red circle, and these only are placed

    in the hands of the chancellors sent from Peking for their decision.

    The examining board are aided by twelve scholars of

    repute, to each of whom forty or fifty essays are given to read.

    The students are dismissed during the niglit of the ninth day,

    and reassemble before sunrise of the eleventh ; all M’hose essays

    were rejected on the first review are refused enti-ance to their

    cells. At the second tripos, five themes are given out from the

    Five Classics, and everything pi-oceeds as before in respect

    to the disposal of the manuscripts. The students are liberated

    early on the thirteenth as before by companies, under a salute

    and music as they leave the great door; their number has been

    much reduced by this time. On the next morning the roll is

    called, and those who answer to their names for the last struggle

    are furnished with five themes for essays, one for poetry, taken

    from the classics or histories, upon doubtful matters of government,

    or such problems as might arise in law and finance.

    These questions take even a more extended range, including topics relating to the laws, history, geography, and customs of the Empire in former times, doubtful points touching the classical works, and the interpretation of obscure passages, and biograpli«ical notices of statesnieiil Ut is forbidden, however, to discusa any points relating to the poHcy of the present family, or the character and learning of living statesmen); but the conduct of their rulers is now and then alluded to by the candidates. (Manuals of questions on such subjects as candidates are examined in, are commonly exposed for sale in shops about the time of these examinations.’ By noon of the sixteenth day of the eighth moon, all the candidates throughout the Empire have left their halls, and the examination is over.’

    The manner in which subjects are handled may be readily illustrated

    by introducing an essay upon this theme : ” When persons

    in high stations are sincere in the performance of relative

    and domestic duties, the people generally will be stimulated to

    the practice of virtue.” It is a fair specimen of the jejune style

    of Chinese essayists, and the mode of reasoning in a circle M’hick

    pervades their writings.

    “When the upper classes are really virtuous, the common people will inevitably become so. For, though the sincere performance of relative duties by superiors does not originate in a wish to stimulate the people, yet the people do become virtuous, which is a proof of the effect of sincerity. As benevolence is the radical principle of all good government in the world, so also benevolence is the radical principle of relative duties amongst the people. Traced back to its source, benevolent feeling refers to a first progenitor ; traced forward, it branches out to a hundred generations yet to come. The source of personal existence is one’s parents, the relations which originate from Heaven are most intimate; and that in which natural feeling blends is felt most deeply. That which is given by Heaven and by natural feeling to all, is done without any distinction between noble or ignoble. One feeling pervades all. My thoughts now refer to him who is placed in a station of eminence, and who may be called a good man. The good man who is placed in an eminent station, ought to lead forward the practice of virtue; but the way to do so is to begin with his own relations, and perform his duties to them.

    ” In the middle ages of antiquity, the minds of the people were not yet dissipated—how came it that they were not humble and observant of relative duties, when they were taught the principles of the five social relations V This having been the case, makes it evident that the enlightening of the people must depend entirely on the cordial performance of immediate relative duties. The person in an eminent station who may be called a good man, is he who appears at the head of all others in illustrating by his practice the relative duties.

    ‘ Blot, Essai sur VInstruction en Chine, p. 603.

    EXAMPLE OF AN ESSAY. 555

    To ages nearer to our own, the manners of the people were not far removed from the dutiful; how came it that any were disobedient to parents, and without

    brotherly att’ectioii, and that it was yet necessary to restrain men by intiictiug

    the eight forms of punishment ‘! This having been the case, shows tliat in the

    various modes of obtaining promotion in the state, there is nothing regarded of

    more importance than filial and fraternal duties. The person in an eminent

    station who may be called a good man, is he who stands forth as an example of

    the performance of relative duties.

    ” The difference between a person filling a high station and one of the common

    people, consists in the dej^artment assigned them, not in their relation to

    Heaven ; it consists in a difference of rank, not in a difference of natural feeling; but the common people constantly observe the sincere performance of relative duties in people of high stations. In being at the head of a family and preserving order amongst the persons of which it is composed, there should be sincere attention to politeness and decorum. A good man placed in a high station says, ‘ Who of all these are not related to me, and shall I receive them with mere external forms ‘?

    ‘ The elegant entertainment, the neatly arranged

    tables, and the exhilarating song, some men esteem mere forms, but the good

    man esteems that which dictates them as a divinely instilled feeling, and at

    tends to it with a truly benevolent heart. And who of the common peoj^le

    does not feel a share of the delight arising from fathers, and brothers, and

    kindred ? Is this joy resigned entirely to princes and kings ?

    ” In favors conferred to display the benignity of a sovereign, there should

    be sincerity in the kindness done. The good man says, ‘ Are not all these

    persons whom I love, and shall I merely enrich them by largesses ? ‘ He gives

    a branch as the sceptre of aiithority to a delicate 3’ounger brother, and to another

    he gives a kingdom witli his best instructions. Some men deem this as

    merely extraordinary good fortune, but the good man esteems it the exercise

    of a virtue of the first order, and the effort of inexpressible benevolence.

    But have the common people no regard for the spring whence the water flows,

    nor for the root which gives life to the tree and its branches ? Have they no

    regard for their kindred ? It is necessary both to reprehend and to urge them

    to exercise these feelings. The good man in a high station is sincere in the

    performance of relative duties, because to do so is virtuous, and not on account

    of the common people. I3ut the people, without knowing whence the impulse

    comes, witli joy and delight are influenced to act with zeal in this career of

    virtue ; the moral distillation proceeds with rapidity, and a vast change is effected.

    ” The rank of men is exceedingly different ; some fill the imperial throne, but every one equally wishes to do his utmost to accomplish his duty ; and success depends on every individual himself. The upper classes begin and pour the wine into the rich goblet ; the poor man sows his grain to maintain his parents ; the men in high stations grasp the silver bowl, the poor present a pigeon ; they arouse each other to unwearied cheerful efforts, and the principles implanted by Heaven are moved to action. Some things are difficult to be done, except by those who possess the glory of national rule ; but the kind feeling is what I myself possess, and may increase to an unlimited degree.

    The prince may write verses appropriate to his vine bower ; the poor man can think of his gourd shelter ; the prince may sing his classic odes on fraternal regards ; the poor man can muse on his more simple allusions to the same subject, and asleep or awake indulge his recollections ; for the feeling is instilled into his nature. When the people are aroused to relative virtues, they will be sincere ; for where are there any of the common people that do not desire to perform relative duties ? But without the upper classes performing relative duties, this virtuous desire would have no point from which to originate, and

    therefore it is said, ‘Good men in high stations, as a general at the head of liis

    armies, will lead forward the world to the practice of social virtues.’”

    _\ The discipline of mind and memory wliicli these examinations

    di’aw ont fm-nishes a grade of intellect which only needs the

    friction and experience of public life to make statesmen out of

    scholars, and goes far to account for the influence of Chinese in

    Asia. The books studied in preparation for such trials must be

    remembered with extraordinary accuracy,)though we may wish

    they contained more truth and better science. The following

    are among the questions proposed in 1853, and must be taken

    as an average : ” In the Ilan dynasty, there were three commentators

    on the J7A King^ whose explanations, and divisions

    into chapters and sentences were all different : can you give an

    account of them ?

    “—” Sz’ma Tsien took the classics and ancient

    records in arranging his history according to their facts ; some

    have accused him of undulv exaltino; the Taoists and thinking

    too highly of wealth and power. Pan Ku is clear and compreliensive,

    but on Astronomy and the Five Elements, he has written

    more than enough. Give examples and proof of these two

    statements.”—” Chin Shao had admirable abilities for historical

    writings. In his San Kiooh Chi he has depreciated Chu-koh

    Liang, and made very light of t and I, two other celebrated

    characters. What does he say of them ? ” This kind of

    question involves a wide range of reading within the native literature,

    though it of course contracts tlie mind to look upon that

    literature as containing all that is worth anything in the world/J

    ( Twenty-five days are allowed for the examining board to de

    cide on the essays ; and few tasks can be instanced moi-e irksome

    to a board of honest examiners than the perusal of between flfty

    and seventy-flve thousand papers on a dozen subjects, through

    which the most monotonous uniformity nuist necessarily run,

    ARDUOUS LABORS OF THE EXAMIXERS. 551

    and out of wliich tliey have to choose the seventy or eighty best

    —for the number of successful candidates cannot vary far from

    this, according to the size of the province. The examiners, as

    lias ah’eady been described, are aided by literary men in sifting

    this mass of papers, which relieves them of most of the laboi”,

    and secures a better decision. If the number of students be

    five tliousand, and each writes thirteen essays,- there will be

    sixty-five thousand papers, whicli allots two hundred and sixty

    essays for each of the tenexamineivs. With the help of the assistants

    who are intrusted with their examination, most of the essays obtain a reading, no doubt, by some qualified scholar.

    There is, therefore, no little sifting and selection, so that when at the last the commissioners choose three rolls of essays and poems from each of the sessions belonging to the same scholar, to pass their final judgment, the company of candidates lilcely to succeed has been reduced as. small in proportion as those in Gideon’s host who lapped water. (One of the examining committee, in 183:2, who sought to invigorate his nerves or clear his intellect for the task by a pipe of opium, fell asleep in consequence, and on awaking, found that many of the essays had caught fire and been consumed. It is generally supposed that hundreds of them are unread, but the excitement of the occasion, and the dread on the part of the examining board to irritate the body of students, act as checks against gross omissions. Very trivial errors are enough to condemn an essay, especially if the examiners have not been gained to look upon it kindly. Section LIT. of the code

    regulates the conduct of the examiners, but the punishments are

    slight. One candidate, whose essay had been condenmed without

    being read, printed it, which led to the punishment of the

    examiner, degradation of the graduate, and promulgation of a

    law forbidding this mode of appealing to the public. Another

    essay was rejected because the writer had abbreviated a single characterj

    When the names of the successful wranglers are known, they are published by a crier at midnight, on or before the tenth of the ninth moon ; at Canton, he mounts the highest tower, and, after a salute, announces them to the expectant city ; the next morning, lists of the lucky scholars are hawked about the streets, and rapidly sent to all parts of the province. The proclamat) m which contains their names is pasted upon the governor’s office under a salute of three guns ; his excellency comes out and bows three times towards the names of iha I’i’omoted men^ and retires under another salute. The disappointed multitude must then rejoice in the success of the few, and solace themselves with the hope of better luck next time ; while the successful ones are honored and feasted in a very distinguished manner, and are the objects of flattering attention from the whole city. On an appointed day, the governors, commissioners, and high provincial officers banquet them all at the futai’s palace; inferior officers attend as servants, and two lads, fantastically dressed, and holding fragrant branches of the olive(pleafragrans) in their hands

    grace the scene with this symbol of literary attainments. The

    number of A.M., licentiates, or kil-jtn, who triennially receive

    their degrees in the Empire, is upwards of thirteen hundred :

    the expense of the examinations to the government in various

    ways, including the presents conferred on the graduates, can

    hardly be less than a third of a million of taels. (Besides the

    triennial examinations, special ones are held every ten years,

    and on extraordinary occasions, as a victory, a new reign, or an

    imperial marriage. One was granted in 1835 because the Empress-

    dowager had reached her sixtieth year)

    The third degree of tsln-sz\ ‘entered scholars,’ or doctors, is

    conferred triennially at Peking upon the successful licentiates

    who compete for it, and only those among the h’d-j’m., who have

    not alread}’ taken office, are eligible as candidates. On application

    at the provincial treasury, they are entitled to a part of their

    travelling expenses to court, but it doubtless requires some interest

    to get the mileage granted, for many poor scholars are detained

    from the metropolitan examination, or nnist beg or bor

    row in order to reach it. The procedure on this trial is the

    same as in the provinces, but the examiners are of higher rank ;

    the themes are taken from the same works, and the essays ai’e

    but little else than repetitions of the same ti-ain of thought and

    argument. After the degrees are conferred upon all who are

    deeined worthy, which varies from one hundi-ed and fifty to four

    hundred each time, the doctors are introduced to the Emperor,

    EXAMINATIONS FOR TIIIKD AND FOUKTII DEGREES. 559

    and do him reverence, the three highest receiving rewards from

    him) At this examination, candidates, instead of being promoted,

    are occasionally degraded from their acquired standing

    for incompetency, and forbidden to appear at them again. VThe

    graduates are all inscribed upon the list of candidates for promotion,

    by the Board of Civil Office, to be appointed on the lirst

    vacancy ; most of them do in fact enter on official life in some

    way or other by attaching themselves to high dignitaries, or getting

    employment in some of the departments at the capital-/

    (One instance is recorded of a student taking all the degrees

    within nine months ; and some become Tianlin before entering

    office. Others try again and again, till gi’ay hairs compel them

    to retire.) I’here are many subordinate offices in the Academy,

    the Censorate, or the Boards, which seem almost to have been

    instituted for the employment of graduates, whose success has

    given them a partial claim upon the country. The Emperor

    sometimes selects clever graduates to prepare works for the use

    of government, or nominates them upon special literary commissions’”

    ‘ It can easily be understood that no small address in

    managing and appeasing such a crowd of disciplined active

    minds is required on the part of the bureaucracy, and only the

    long experience of many generations of the graduates could suffice

    to keep the system so vigorous as it is.

    The fourth and highest degree of Jianlln is rather an office

    than a degree, for those who attain it are enrolled as members

    of the Imperial Academy, and receive salaries. The triennial

    exatnination for this distinction is held in the Emperor’s palace,

    and is conducted on much the same plan as all preceding ones,

    though being in the presence of the highest personages in the

    Empire, it exceeds them in honor.’ *^ Manchus and Mongols

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 541 ; Vol. III., p. 118.

    2 See Morrison’s Chinese Dictionary, Vol. I., Part I., pp. 759-779, for the laws

    and usages of the several trials. Also Doolittle’s Sucidl Life, Vol. I. , Chaps.

    XV., XVI., and XVII. ; Biot, Essai snr VHistoirc de VInstruction PubUque en

    Chine ; W. A. P. Martin, T/iC Chiiu’se, pp. 39 ff. ; Journal Asiatique, Tomes

    III., pp. 257 and 331, IV., p. 3, and VII. (3d Series, 1839), pp. 32-81;

    Journal Asiatic Soc. Benr/al, Vol. XXVIII., No. 1, 1859; Journal N. C. Br.

    R. As. Soc, New Series, Vol. VI., pp. 129 ff. ; China Review, Vol. II., p

    309.

    compete at these trials with the Chinese, but many facts show

    tliat the former are generally favored at the expense of the latter’;

    the large proportion of men belonging to these races filling

    high oflSces indicates who are the rulers of the landT] The candidates

    are all examined at Peking ; one instance is recorded

    of a Chinese who passed himself oif for a Mancliu, but afterward

    confessed the dissimulation ; the head of the division was

    tried in consequence of his oversight. It is the professed policy

    of the govermnent to discourage literary pursuits among them,

    in order to maintain tho ancient energy of the race ; but Avhero

    the real power is lodged in the hands of civilian^^, it is impossible

    to prevent so powerful a component of the population

    from competing with the others for its possession.

    The present dynasty introduced examinations and gradations

    among the troops on the same principles as obtain in the civil

    service ; nothing more strikingly proves the power of literary

    pursuits in China, than this vain attempt to harmonize the profession

    of arms in all its branches with them. Their enemies

    were, however, no better disciplined and equipped than they

    themselves were. Candidates for the first degree present

    themselves before the district magistrate, with proper testimonials

    and securities. On certain days they are collected on

    the parade-grounds, and exhibit their skill in archery (on foot

    and in the saddle), in wielding swords and lifting weights,

    graduated to test their muscle. The successful men are assembled

    afterward before the prefect ; and again at a third trial

    before the literary chancellor, who at the last tripos tests them

    on their literary attainments, before giving them their degrees

    of siu-tsai. The number of successful military slu-tsal is tho

    same as the literary. They are triennially called together by

    tho governor at the provincial capital to undergo further examination

    for Mi-jin in four successive trials of the same nature.

    These occasions are usually great gala days, and three or four

    scores of young warriors who carry off pi’izes at these tournaments

    receive honors and degrees in much the same style as

    their literary compeers. The trials for the highest degree are

    lield at Peking ; and the long-continued efforts in this service

    generally obtain for the young men posts in the body-guard of

    COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS OF THE MILHARV. 561

    the governors or staff uppointrneiits. The forty- nine successful

    candidates out of several thousands at tlie trieiniial examination

    for l-il-jln. in Canton, November, 1882, all hit the target on

    foot six times successively, and on horseback six times ; once

    with the arrow they hit a ball lying on the ground as they

    passed it at a gallop ; and all were of the first class in wielding

    the iron-handled battle-axe, and lifting the stone-loaded beam,

    tl’he candidates are all persons of property, who find their own

    horses, dresses, arms, etc., and are handsomely dressed, the

    horses, trimmings, and accoutrements in good order—the arrows

    being without barbs, to prevent accidents. One observer

    says, ” the marks at wliich they fired, covered with white

    paper, were about the height of a man and somewhat wider,

    placed at intervals of fifty yards ; the object was to strike the>ie

    marks successively with their three ari’ows, the horses be^.’g

    kept at full speed. Although the bulTs-eye was not always

    hit, the target was never missed : the distance did not exceed

    fifteen or twenty feet.’y

    (Since military honors depend so entirely on personal skill, it

    may partly account f(jr the inferior rank the graduates hold in

    comparison with civilians. I\^o knowledge of tactics, gunnery,

    engineering, fortifications, or even, letters in general, seems to

    be required of them; and this explains the inefficiency of the

    army, and the low estimation its officers are held in. Sir J.

    Davis mentions one military officer of enoi’mous size and

    strength, Avhom. he saw on the Pei ho, who had lately been

    promoted for his personal prowess ; and speaks of another attached

    to the guard on one of the boats, who was such a foolish

    fellow that none of the civilians would associate with him.”

    All the classes eligible to civil promotion can enter the ^.sts for

    military honors ; the Emperor is present at the examination for

    the highest, and awards prizes, such as a cap decorated with a

    peacock’s feather ; but no system of prizes or examinations can

    supply the want of knowledge and courage. Military distinctions

    not being much sought by the people, and conferring but

    •Ellis, Embassy to China, p. 87; Chinese Repository, No\. XVI., p. 63;

    Vol. IV., p. 125.

    ^ Davis, Sketches, Vol. I., pp. 99, 101.

    little emolument or power, do not stand as high in public estimation as the present government wishes. The selection oi officers for the naval service is made from the land force, and a man is considered (piite as fit for that branch after his feats of archery, as if the trials had been in yacht-sailing or manning the yards. I

    Such is the outline of the system of examinations through

    which the civil and military services of the Chinese government

    are supplied) and the only part of their system not to be

    paralleled in one or other of the great monarchies of past or

    present times ; though the counterpart of this may have also

    existed in ancient Egypt. ” It is the only one of their inventions,”

    as has been remarked, “which is perhaps worth preserving,

    and has not been adopted by other countries, and carried

    to greater perfection than they were equal to.” CBut such a

    system w^ould be unnecessary in an enlightened Cliristian

    country, where the people, pursuing study for its own sake, are

    able and willing to become as learned as their rulers desire

    without any such inducement. Nor M’ould they submit to the

    trammels and trickery attendant on competition for office ; the

    ablest politicians are by no means found among the most

    learned scholars. The honor and power of official position

    liave proved to be ample stimnlus and reward for years of

    patient study, (^ot one in a score of graduates ever obtains an

    office, not one in a hundred of competitors ever gets a degree ;

    but they all belong to the literary class, and share in its influence,

    dignity, and privileges. Moreover, these books render

    not only those who get the prizes well acquainted with the true

    principles on which power should be exercised, but the whole

    nation—gentry and commoners—know them also. These unemployed

    literati form a powerful middle class, whose members

    advise the work-people, who have no time to study, and aid

    ri their rulers in the management of local affairs. Their intelligence

    fits them to control most of the property, while few

    acquire such wealth as gives them the power to oppress. They

    make the public opinion of the country, now controlling it,

    then cramping it; alternately adopting or resisting new influences,

    and sometimes successfully thwarting the acts of officials,

    OBSERVATIONS UPON THE SYSTEM. 503

    when the rights of the people are in danger of encroachment

    ;

    or at other times combining with tlie authorities to repress anarchy

    or relieve suffering.’

    (This class has no badge of I’ank, and is open to every man’s

    highest talent and efforts, but its complete neutralization of

    hereditary rights, which would have sooner or later made a

    privileged uligari^iij anil-aJiUJdeifiiLfeiKhLLMi§tQcracy, proves

    its vitalizing, democratic influence.) It has saved the Chinese’

    people from a second disintegration into numerous kingdoms,

    by the sheer force of instruction in the political rights and

    duties taught in the classics and their conmientaries. f While

    this system put all on equality, human nature, as we know, has

    no such equality. .Vt its inception it probably met general

    support from all classes, because of its fitness for the times, and

    soon the resistance of multitudes of hopeful students against

    its abrogation and their consequent disappointment in their lifework

    aided its continuance.^ As it is now, talent, wealth, learning,

    influence, paternal raidc, and intrigue, each and all have

    full scope for their greatest efforts in securing the prizes. If

    these prizes had been held by a tenure as slippery as they

    are at present in the American Republic, or obtainable only

    by canvassing popular votes, the system would surely have

    failed, for ” the game would not have been worth the candle.”

    But in China the throne gives a character of pernumency to

    the government, which opposes all disorganizing tendencies,

    and makes it for the interest of every one in ofiice to strengthen

    the power which gave it to him. This loyalty was remarkably

    shown in the recent rebellion, in which, during the eighteen

    years of that terrible carnage and ruin, not one imperial official

    voluntarily joined the Tai-pings, while hundreds died resisting

    them.

    There is no space here for further extracts from the classics

    which will adequately show their character. They would prove

    that Chinese youth, as well as those in Christian lands, are

    taught a higher standard of conduct than they follow. The

    former are, however^ drilled in the very best moral books the

    language affords ; if the Proverbs of Solomon and the New Testament were studied as thoroughly in our schools as the Four Books are in China, our young- ineu would be better fitted to act their part as good and useful citizens.

    fin this way literary pursuits have taken precedence of warlike,

    and no unscrupulous (“sesar or ]^apoleon has heen able to

    use the army for his own aggrandizement. The army of

    Cliina is contemptible, certainly, if compared with those of

    Western nations, and its use is rather like a police, whose powers

    of protection or oppression are exhibited according to the

    tempers of those Avho employ them. But in China the army

    has not been employed, as it was by those great captains, to

    destroy the institutions oti ^vhich it rests ; though its weakness

    and want of discipline often make it a greater evil than good to

    the people.) But had the military waxed strong and efficient,

    it would certainly have l)ecome a terror in the hands of ambitious

    monarchs, a drain on the resources of the land, pci-haps

    a menace to other nations, or finally a destroyer of its own.

    (The officials were taught, when young, what to honor in their

    rulers ; and, now that they liold those stations, they learn that

    discreet, upright magistrates do receive reward and promotion,

    and experience has shown them that peace and thrift are the

    ends and evidence of good government, and the best tests of

    their own fitness for office.?

    Another observable result of this republican method of getting

    the best-educated men into office is the absence of any

    class of slaves or serfs among the population. Slavery exists in

    a modified form of corporeal mortgage for debt, and thousands

    remain in this serfdom for life through one reason or another.

    But the destruction of a feudal baronage involved the extinction

    of its correlative, a villein class, and the oppression of

    poor debtors, as Avns the case in Rome under the consuls. Only

    freemen are eligil>le to enter the concoKfs^ but the percentage

    of slaves is too snuill to influence the total. To this cause, too,

    may, perhaps, to a large degree, be ascribed the absence of

    anything like caste, which has had such bad effects in India.

    <‘^The system could not be transplanted ; it is fitted for the

    ‘genius of the Chinese, and they have become well satisfied

    with its workings, jits purification would do great good, doubtless,

    if the mass or^the people are to be left in their present

    VARIOUS KKSl’LTS TO THE LAND AND PKOI’LIO. 565

    state of ignoi’ance, but their elevation in knowledge would, ere

    long, revolutionize the whole. There can be no doubt as to

    tlie important and beneficial i-esnlts it has accomplished, with / .

    all its defects, in perpetuating and strengthening the system of

    government, and securing to the people a more equitable and

    vigorous body of magistrates than they could get in any other

    way. It offers an honorable career to the most ambitious, taleiited,

    or turbulent spirits in the country, which demands all

    their powers ; and by the time they enter upon office, those

    aspirations and powers have been drilled and molded into use-

    1

    ful service, and are ever after devoted to the maintenance of \

    the system they might otherwise have wrecke^.f Most of the

    real benefits of Chinese education and this sj’sfem of examinations

    are reached before the conferment of the degree of Ixujin.

    These consist in diffusing a general respect and taste for

    letters among the people ; in calling out the true talent of the

    country to the notice of the rulers in an honorable path of effort

    ; in making all persons so thoroughly acquainted -with the

    best moral books in the language that they cannot fail to exercise

    some salutary i-estraint ; in elevating the genei-al standard

    of education so much that every man is almost compelled to

    give his son a little learning in order that he may get along in

    life ; and finally, through all these influences, powerfully contributing

    to uphold the existing institutions of the Empire.

    From the intimate knowledge thus obtained of the writings

    of their best minds, Chinese youth learn the principles of democratic

    nde as opposed to personal authority ; and from this instruction

    it has resulted that no monarch has evei* been able to

    use a standing army to enslave the people, or seize the proceeds

    of their industry for his own selfish ends^’ Nothing in Chinese

    politics is more worthy of notice than the unbounded reverence

    for the Emperor, while each man resists unjust taxation, and

    joins in killing or driving away oppressive officials. [Educated

    men form the only aristocracy in the land ; and the attainment

    of the first degree, by introducing its owner into the class of

    gentnj, is considered ample compensation for all the expense

    and study spent in getting it. On the whole, it may safely be

    asserted that these examinations have done more to maintain the stability, and explain the continuance, of the Chinese government than any other single canse.)

    Ijhe principal defects and malversations in the system can

    soon be shown. Some are inherent, but others rather prove

    the badness of the material than of the system and its harmonious

    workings. One great difRcnlty in the way of the graduated

    students attaining office according to their merits is the

    favor shown to those who can buy nominal and real honors.

    “”Two_censm:g^,-ill–1822, laid a document before his Majesty, in

    M’hich the evils attendant on selling office are shown ; viz., elevating

    priests, highwaymen, merchants, and other unworthy or

    uneducated men, to responsible stations, and placing insurmountable

    difficulties in the way of hard-working, worthy students

    reaching the reward of their toi^ They state that the

    plan of selling offices connnenced during the II an dynasty, but

    speak of the greater disgrace attendant upon the plan at the

    present time, because the avails all go into the privy purse instead

    of being applied to the public service ; they recommend,

    therefore, a reduction in the disbursements of the imperial estal)

    iishment. LVniong the items mentioned by these oriental

    Joseph Humes, which they consider extravagant, are a lac of

    taels (100,000) for tlowers and rouge in the seraglio, and 120,-

    000 in salaries to waiting-boys ; two lacs were expended on the

    gardens of Yuenming, and almost half a million of taels upon

    the parks at Jeh ho, while the salaries to officers and presents

    to women at Yuenming were over four lacs. ” If these few

    items of expense were abolished,” they add, “there would be a

    saving of moi’e than a million of taels of useless expenditure

    ;

    talent might be brought forward to the service of the country,

    and the people’s wealth be secured.”

    i^n consequence of the extensive sale of offices, they state

    that more than five thousand ^.s/;? -,<?.;’ doctors, and more than

    twenty-seven thousand l-il-j’ui licentiates, arc waiting for employment

    ; and those first on the list obtained their degrees

    thirty years ago, so that the pi-obability is that when at last

    employed, they will be too old for service, and be declared

    superannuated in the first examination of official merits and demerits.

    The rules to be observed at the regular examinations

    ITS rilACTICAL DEFECTS AND CORRUPTION. 067

    are strict, but no questions are asked the buyers of office ; and

    they enter, too, on their duties as soon as the money is paid.

    The censors quote tliree sales, ^vhose united proceeds amounted

    to a quarter of a million of taels, and state that the whole income

    from this source for twenty years was only a few lacs.

    Examples of the flagitious conduct of these purse-proud magistrates

    are quoted in proof of the bad results of the plan.

    ” Thus the priest Siang Yang, prohibited from holding office,

    bought his way to one ; the intcndant at Xingpo, from being a

    mounted highwayman, bought his M’ay to office ; besides others

    of the vilest parentage. But the covetousness and cruelty of

    these men are denominated purity and intelligence ; they inflict

    severe punishments, which make the people terrified, and

    their superiors point them out as possessing decision : these are

    our able officers !

    “/^

    After animadverting on the general practice “of all officers,

    from governor-generals down to village magistrates, combining

    to gain their jMU-poses l)y hiding the truth from the sovereign,”

    and specifying the malversations of Tohtsin, the premier, in

    particular, they close their paper with a protestation of their

    integrity. “If your Majesty deems what we have now stated

    to be right, and will act thereon in the government, you will

    realize the designs of the souls of your sacred ancestors; and

    the army, the nation, and the poor people, M’ill have cause for

    gladness of heart. Should we be subjected to the operation of

    the hatchet, or suffer death in the boiling caldron, we will not

    decline it,”

    These censors place the proceeds of “button scrip “far too

    low, for/in 1826, the sale produced about six millions of taels,

    and was continued at intervals during the three following

    years. In 1831, one of the sons of HoAvqua was created a

    ku-jin by patent for having subscribed nearly fifty thousand

    dollars to repair the dikes near Canton ; and upon another was

    conferred the rank and title of ” director of the salt monopoly”

    for a lac of taels toward the war in Turkestan, Neither of

    these persons ever held any office of power, nor probably did

    they expect it ; and such may be the case with many of those

    who are satisfied with the titles and buttons, feathers and robes, which their money procures./ The sale of office is rather accepted

    as a State necessity which does not necessarily bring

    tyrants npon the bench ; but when, as was the case in 1863.

    Peiching, head of the Examining Board at Peking, fraudulently

    issued two or three diplomas, his execution vindicated

    the law, and deterred similar tampering with the life-springs of

    the system, ^i^uring the present dynasty, military men have

    l)een frequently appointed to magistracies, and the detail of

    their offices intrusted to needy scholars, which has tended, still

    further, to disgii^ and dishearten the latter from resorting to

    the literary arena.)

    The language itself of the Chinese, which has for centuries

    aided in preserving their institutions and strengthening national

    homogeneity amid so many local varieties of speech, is now

    rather in the way of their progress, and may be pointed to as

    another unfortunate feature which infects this system of education

    and examination ; for it is impossible for a native to write

    a treatise on grammar about another language in his own

    tongue, through which another Chinese can, unaided, learn to

    speak that language. This people have, therefore, no ready

    means of learning the best thoughts of foreign minds. Such

    being the case, the ignorance of their first scholars as regards

    other races, ages, and lands has been their misfortune far more

    than their fault, and thej’ have suffered the evils of their isolation.

    One has been an utter ignorance of what would have

    conferred lasting benefit resulting from the study of outside

    conceptions of morals, science, and politics, (inasmuch as

    neither geography, natural history, mathematics, nor the history

    or languages of other lands forms part of the curriculum,

    these men, trained alone in the classics, have naturally grown

    up with distorted views of their own country. The officials

    are imbued with conceit, ignorance, and arrogance as to its

    power, resources, and comparative influence, and are helpless

    when met by greater skill or strength. However, these disadvantages,

    great as they are and have been, have mostly resulted

    naturally fi-om their secluded position, and are rapidly yielding

    to the new influences which are acting upon government and

    people.^ To one contemplating this startling metamorphosis,

    SALE OF DEGREES a:ND FORGED DIPLOMAS. D6j)

    the foremost wish, indeed, must he that these causes do not

    disinte^’-rate their ancient economies too fast for the recuperation

    and preservation of wliatever is good therein.

    |\nother evil is ^h^ bribery practised to attain the degrees.

    By certain signs placed on the essays, the examiner can easily

    pick out those he is to approve; §8,000 was said to be the

    price of a bachelor’s degree in Canton, but this sum is within

    the reach of few out of the six thousand candidates. The poor

    SL’liolars sell their services to tlie rich, and for a certain price

    will enter the hall of examination, and personate their employer,

    running the risk and penalties of a disgraceful exposure if

    detected ; for a less sum they will drill them before examination,

    or write the essays entirely, which the rich booby must commit

    to memory.) ^The purchase of forged diplomas is another mode

    of obtaining a graduate’s honors, which, from some discoveries

    made at Peking, is so extensively practised, that when this and

    other corruptions are considered, it is surprising that any person

    can be so eager in his studies, or confident of his abilities,

    as ever to think he can get into office by them alone. In 1830,

    the Gazette contained some documents showing that an inferior

    officer, aided by some of the clerks in the Board of Hevenue,

    during the successive superintendence of twenty presidents of

    the Board had sold twenty thousand four hundred and nineteen

    foi-ged diplomas ; and in the ])rovince of Xganhwui, the

    writers in the office attached to the Board of Ileveuue had

    carried on the same practice for four years, and forty-six persons

    in that province were convicted of possessing them. All

    the principal criminals convicted at this time were sentenced to

    decapitation, butCjhese cases are enough to show that the real

    talent of the country does not often find its way into the magistrate’s

    seat without the aid of money ; nor is it likely that the

    tales of such delinquencies often appear in the Gazette. Literary

    chancellors also sell bachelors’ degrees to the exclusion of

    deserving poor scholars ; the office of the // ‘lohchhuj of Kiangsi

    was searched in 1828 by a special commission, and four lacs of

    taels found in it ; he hung himself to avoid further punishment,

    as did also the same dignitary in (^anton in 1833, as was supposed,

    for a similar cause. It is in this way, no doubt, that the ill-fjotten o;ains of most officers return to the o-enenil cirdilation.’

    Notwithstanding these startling corruptions, which seem to

    involve the principle on which the harmony and efficiency of

    the whole machinery of state stand, it cannot be denied, judging

    from tlie results, that the highest officei’s of the Chinese

    government do possess a very respectable rank of talent and

    knowledge, and carry on the unwieldy machine with a degree

    (»f integrity, pati’iotism, industry, and good order which shows

    that the leading minds in it are well chosen. The person who

    has originally obtained his rank by a forged diploma, or by

    direct purchase, cannot hope to rise or to maintain even his first

    standing, without some knowledge and parts. One of the tlu’ce

    commissioners whom Kiying associated with himself in his

    negotiations with the American minister in lS4-i, was a supernumerary

    cluhloi of forbidding appearance, who could hardly

    Avrite a common document, but it was easy to see the low estimation

    the ignoranms was hold in. It may therefore be fairly

    inferred that enough large prizes are drawn to incite successive

    generations of scholars to compete for them, and thus to maintain

    the literary spirit of the people. At these examinations

    the superior minds of the country are brought together in large

    bodies, and thus they learn each others views, and are able to

    check official oppressions with something like a public ojunion.

    In Peking the concourse of several thousands, from the remotest

    provinces, to compete at or assist in the triennial examinations,

    exerts a great and healthy influence upon their rulers

    and themselves. jSTothing like it ever has been seen in any

    other metropolis.

    ^The enjoyment of no small degree of power and influence in

    their native village, is also to be considered in estinuiting the

    rewards of studious toil, whether the student get a diploma or

    not ; and this local consideration is the most common i-eward

    attending the life of a scholar. ^ In those villages where no

    governmental officer is specially appointed, such men are almost

    sure to become the headmen and most influential persons in the

    very spot)where a Chinese loves to be distinguished, (rraduates

    are likewise allowed to erect flag-staffs, or put up a red sign

    INFLUENCE AND IlESPECT OBTAINED BY BACHELORS. 57]

    over the door of tlieir lionses si lowing tlie degree tliev have obtained,

    wliich is both a hariuloss and gratifying reward of

    stud}’/; like the additions of Cant((h. or Odvu.^ D.D. or LL.D.,

    to their owner’s names in other lands.

    (The fortune attending the unsuccessful candidates is various/

    Thousands of them get employment as school-teachers, pettifogging notaries, and clerks in the public offices, and others who are rich return to their families. Some are reduced by degrees to beggary, and resort to medicine, fortune-telling, letter-writing, and other such shifts to eke out a living. Many turn their attention to learning the modes of drawing up deeds and forms used in dealings regarding property ; others look to aiding military men in their duties, and a few turn authors, and thus in one way or another contrive to turn their learning to account.

    During the period of the examinations, when the students are assembled in the capital, the officers of government are careful not to irritate them by punishment, or offend their €ii]^>i-it ile corj)s^ but rather, by admonitions and warnings, induce them to set a good example. The personal reputation of the officer himself has much to do with the influence he exerts over the students, and whether they will heed his cdveats. One of the examiners in Zhejiang, irritated by the impei’tinence of a bachelor, who presumed upon his immunity from corporeal chastisement, twisted his ears to teach him better manners; soon after, the student and two others of equal degree were accused before the same magistrate for a libel, and one of them beaten forty strokes upon his palms. At the ensuing examination, ten of the xiucai indignant at this unauthorized treatment, refused to appear, and all the candidates, when they saw who was to preside, dispersed immediately. In his memorial upon the matter, the governor-general recommends both this officer, and another one who talked much al)Out the affair and produced a great effect upon the public mind, to be degraded, and the bachelors to be stripped of their honors. A magistrate of Honan, having punished a student with twenty blows, the assembled body of students rose and threw their caps on the ground, and walked ofp, leaving him alone. The prefect of Canton, in 1842, having become obnoxious to the citizens from the part lie took in ransoming the city M’lien surrounded by the British forces, the students refused to receive him as their examiuer, and when he appeai’ed in tlie liall to take his seat,

    drove him out of the room by throwing their ink-stones at him ;

    he soon after resigned his statio’N. Perhaps the siu-tsai are

    more impatient than the hu-jin from being better acquainted

    with eacli other, and being examined by local officers, while the

    I’il-jin are overaw’ed by the rank of the commissioners, and,

    coming from distant parts of a large province, have little

    }mitual sympathy or acquaintance. The examining boards,

    however, take pains to avoid displeasing any gathering of graduates.

    We have seen, then, in what has been of necessity a somewhat

    cursory resmue, the management and extent of an institution

    which has opened the avenues of rank to all, by

    teaching candidates how to maintain the principles of liberty

    and equality they had learned from their oft-quoted ‘ancients.’

    All that these institutions need, to secure and promote the highest welfare of the people—as they themselves, indeed, aver—is their faithful execution in every department of government; as we find them, no higher evidence of their remarkable wisdom can be adduced, than the general order and peace of the land. When one sees the injustice and oppressions in law courts, the feuds and deadly fights among clans, the prevalence of lying, ignorance, and pollution among commoners, and the unscrupulous struggle for a living going on in every rank of life, he wonders that Tuiiversal anarchy does not destroy the whole machine. But ‘ the powers that be are ordained of God.”

    The Chinese seem to have attained the great ends of human government to as high a degree as it is possible for man to go without the knowledge of divine revelation. That, in its great truths, its rewards, its hopes, and its stimulus to good acts has yet to be received among them. The course and results of the struggle between the new and the old in the land of Sinim will fomi a remarkable chapter in the history of man.

    FKMA^ EDUCATION IX CHINA. 573

    With regard to female education, it is a singular anomaly among Chinese writers, that while they lay great stress upon maternal instruction in f(u-ining the infant mind, and leading i* on to exoelleiK’O, no more of them should have turned their attention to the preparation ©f hooks for girls, and the establishment of female schools. There are some reasons for the absence of the latter to be found in the state of society, notable among which must stand, of course, the low position of woman in every oriental community, and a general contempt for the capacity of the female mind. It is, moreover, impossible to procure many qualified schoolmistresses, and to this we must add the hazard of sending girls out into the streets alone, where they would run some risk of being stolen. (^~~The principal stimulus

    for boys to study—the hope aiid:”~pi”ospect of office—is

    taken away from girls, and Chinese literature offei’s little to re-|

    pay them for the labor of learning it in addition to all the

    domestic duties which devolve upon them// Nevertheless, education

    is not entirely confined to the sti-onger sex ; seminaries

    for young women are not at all unconnnon in South China, and

    it is not unusual to find private tutors giving instruction to

    young ladies at their houses.* Though this must be regarded

    as a comparative statement, and holding much more for the

    southern than for the northern provinces, on the other hand, it

    may be asserted that literary attainments are considered creditable

    to a wonuin, more than is the case in India or Siam ; the

    names of authoresses mentioned in Chinese annals would make

    a long list. Yuen Yuen, tlie governor general of Canton, in

    1S20, while in office, published a volume of his deceased’s

    daughter’s poetical effusions ; and literary men ai-e usually desirous

    of having their daughters accomplished in music and

    poetry, as well as in composition and classical lore. Such an

    education is considered befitting their station, and reflecting

    credit on the family.

    One of the most celebrated female writers in China is Pan

    Ilwui-pan, also known as Pan Chao, a sister of the historian

    Pan Ivu, who wrote the histoiy of the former Ilan dynasty.

    She M’as appointed historiographer after his death, and completed

    his unfinished annals ; she died at the age of seventy,

    and was honored by the Emperor Ho with a public burial, and

    ‘ Arcluleacon Gray, China, Vol. I., p. 167.

    the title of the (ireat Lady Tsao. About a.d. So, slie was made

    pi”eeeptress of tlie Empress, and wrote the Urst woi-k in any

    language on female education ; it was called Nil Kiai or Fe-

    ‘inale Precej’ts^ and has formed the basis of many succeeding

    books on female education. The aim of her writings was to

    elevate female character, and make it virtuous. She says, ” The

    virtue of a female does not consist altogether in extraordinary

    abilities or intelligence, but in being modestly grave and inviolably

    chaste, observing the requirements of virtuous widowhood,

    and in being tidy in her person and evei-ything about

    her ; in whatever she does to be unassmning, and M’henever she

    moves or sits to be decorous. This is female virtue.” Instruction

    in morals and the various branches of domestic economy

    are more insisted upon in the Mi-itings of this and other authoresses,

    than a knowledge of the classics or histories of the country.

    One of the most distinguished Chinese essayists of modern

    times, Luhchau, published a Avork for the benefit of the sex,

    called the Female Instructor j an extract from liis preface will

    show what ideas are generally entertained on female education

    by Chinese moralists.

    ” The basis of the government of the Empire lies in the habits of the people, and the surety that their usages will be correct is in the orderly management of families, which last depends chiefly upon the females. In the good old times of Cliau, the virtuous women set such an excellent example that it influenced the customs of the Empire—an influence that descended even to the times of the Ching and Wei states. If the curtain of the inner apartment gets thin, or is hung awry [i.e., if the sexes are not kept apart], disorder will enter the family, and viltimately pervade the Empire. Females are doubtless the sources of good manners ; from ancient times to the present this has been the case. The inclination to virtue and vice in women differs exceedingly; their dispositions incline contrary ways, and if it is wished to form them alike, there is nothing like education. In ancient times, youth of both sexes were

    in.structed. According to the A’rtwa^ 0/ 67</<m, ‘the imperial wives regulated the law for educating females, in order to instruct the ladies of the palace in morals, conversation, manners, and work ; and each led out her respective

    (dasses, at proper times, and arranged them for examination in the imperial

    presence.’ But these treatises have not reached us, and it cannot be distinctljr

    ascertained what was their plan of arrangement

    “The t^lncation of a woman and that of a man arc* very <lissimilar. Tlius,

    a man can study during his whole life ; whether he is abroad or at home, lit

    THE “female IISrSTRUCTOR” ON WOMEN”. 575

    can always look into the classics and history, and liecome thorouglily ac-nainted

    wilh the wlioUi range of authors, lint a woman does not study mori; than ten

    years, when she takes upon her the management of a family, whave a multiplicity

    of cares distract her attention, and having no leisure lor undisturbed

    study, she cannot easily understand learned authors ; not having obtained a

    thorough acquaintance with letters, she does not fully comprehend their principles

    ; and like water that has flowed from its fountain, she cannot regulate

    lier conduct by their guidance. How can it be said that a standard work on

    female education is not wanted 1 Every profession and trade has its appropriate

    master ; and ought not those also who possess sucli an influence over manners

    [as females] to be tanght their duties and tluir proper limits ? It is a

    matter of regret, that in these books no extracts liave been made from the

    works of Confucius in order to make them introductory to the writings on polite

    literature ; and it is also to be regretted that selections have not been made

    from the commentaries of Clung, Chu, and other scholars, who have explained

    his writings clearly, as also from the whole range of writers, gathering from

    them all that which was appropriate, and omitting the rest. These are circulated

    among mankind, together with such books as the Juvenile InstrucU/i’

    ;

    yet if they are put into the hands of females, they cause them to become like a

    blind man without a guide, wandering hither and thither without knowing

    where he is going. There has been this great deficiency from very remote times until now.

    “Woman’s influence is according to her moral character, there Tore that point

    is largely explained. First, concerning her obedience to her husband and to

    liis parents ; then in regard to her complaisance to his brothers and sisters,

    and kindness to her sisters-in-law. If unmarried, she has duties toward her

    parents, and to the wives of her elder brothers ; if a principal wiie, a woman

    must have no jealous feelings ; if in straitened circumstances, she must be

    contented with her lot ; if rich and honorable, she must avoid extravagance

    and haughtiness. Then teach her, in times of trouble and in days of ease,

    how to maintain her purity, how to give importance to right principles, how

    to observe widowhood, and how to avenge the murder of a relative. Is she

    a mother, let her teach lier children ; is she a step-mother, let her love

    and cherish her husband’s children ; is her rank in life high, let her be

    condescending to her inferiors ; let her wholly discard all sorcerers, superstitious

    nuns, and witches ; in a word let her adhere to propriety and avoid

    vice.

    “In conversation, a female should not be freward and garrulous, but observe

    strictly what is correct, whether in suggesting advice to her husband, in

    remonstrating with him, or teaching her children, in maintaining etiquette,

    humbly imparting her experience, or in averting misfortune. The deportment

    of females should be strictly grave and sober, and yet adapted to the occasion

    ; whether in waiting on her parents, receiving or reverencing her husband,

    rising up or sitting down, when pregnant, in times ol’ mourning, or when

    fleeing in war, she should be perfectly decorous. Rearing the silkworm and

    working cloth are the most important of the employments of a female ; pre’

    paring and serving up the food for the household, and setting lu order th* sacrificee, follow next, each of which must be attended to ; after them, studj

    and learning can fill up the time.” ‘

    The work thus prefaced, is similar to Sprague’s Letters to a

    Daughter, rather than to a text-book, or a inaiiual intended to

    be read and obeyed rather than recited by young ladies. Happy

    would it be for the country, however, if the instructions given

    by this moralist were followed ; it is a credit to a pagan, to write

    such sentiments as the followinor : ” Durino; infancv, a child ardently

    loves its mother, who knows all its traits of goodness: while the father, perhaps, cannot know about it, there is nothing

    which the mother does not see. Wherefore the mother teaches

    more effectually, and only by her unwise fondness does her son

    become more and more proud (as musk by age becomes sourer

    and stronger), and is thereby nearly ruined.”—*’ Heavenly order

    is to bless the good and curse the vile ; he who sins against it

    will certainly receive his punishment sooner or later : from lucid

    instruction springs the happiness of the world. If females are

    unlearned, they will be like one looking at a wall, they will know

    nothing : if they are taught, they will know, and knowing they

    will imitate their examples.”

    It is vain to expect, however, that any change in the standing

    of females, or extent of their education, will take place until influences

    from abroad are brought to bear upon them—until the

    same work that is elswhere elevating them to their proper place

    in society by teaching them the principles on which that elevation

    is founded, and how they can themselves maintain it, is

    begun. The Chinese do not, by any means, make slaves of their

    females, and if a comparison be made between their condition in

    China and other modern unevangelized countries, or even with

    ancient kingdoms or Moslem races, it will in many points acquit

    them of much of the obloquy they have received on this behalf.

    There are some things which tend to show that more of the

    sex read and write sufficiently for the ordinary purposes of life,

    than a slight examination would at first indicate. Among these

    may be mentioned the letter-writers compiled for their use, in

    which instructions are given for every variety of note and epis-

    ‘ Chinese lieposltorij, Vol. IX., p. 543.

    EXTRACT FROM A GIHLs’ PRIMER. 577

    tie, except, perhaps, love letters. The works just inentioiied, intended

    for their improvement, form an additional fact. A

    Mancliu official of rank, named Sin-kwau, who rose to be governor

    of Kiangsi in Kiaking’s reign, wrote a primer in 1838, for

    girls, called the Nu-rh Yu, or ‘ Words/or Women and Girls.”

    It is in lines of four characters, and consists of aphorisms and

    short pi-ecepts on household management, behavior, care of

    children, neatness, etc., so written as to be easily memorized.

    It shows one of the ways in which literary men interest themselves, in educating youth, and further that there is a demand for such books. A few lines from this primer will exhibit its tenor
    Vile looks should never meet your eye,
    Nor filthy words defile your ear ;
    Ne’er look on men of utterance gross,
    Nor tread the ground which they pollute.
    Keep back the heart from thoughts impure,
    Nor let your hands grow fond of sloth ;
    Then no o’ersight or call deferred
    Will, when you’re pressed, demand your time
    In all your care of tender babes,
    Mind lest they’re fed or warmed too much;
    The childish liberty first granted
    Must soon he checked by rule and rein;
    Guard them from water, fire, and fools ;
    Mind lest they’re hurt or maimed by falls.
    All flesh and fruits when ill with colds
    Are noxious drugs to tender bairus—
    Who need a careful oversight,
    Yet want some license in their play.
    Be strict in all you bid them do.
    For this will guard from ill and woe.

    The pride taken by girls in showing their knowledge of letters is evidence that it is not common, while the general respect in which literary ladies ai-e held proves them not to be so very rare ; though for all practical good, it may be said that half of the Chinese people know nothing of books. The fact that female education is so favorably regarded is encouraging to those philanthropic persons and ladies who are endeavoring to establish female schools at the mission stations, since they have not preiudice to contend with in addition to ignorance.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》1-5

    The Middle Kingdom: A SURVEY OP THE GEOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT. LITERATURE, SOCIAL LIFE, ARTS, AND HISTORY of THE CHINESE EMPIRE ITS INHABITANTS
    S. WELLS WILLIAMS, LL.D.    ， Professor of the Chinese language and literature at tale college; author or TONIC AND STLLABIO DICTIONARIES OF THE CHINESE LANOUAOE
    1913

    PREFACE
    During the thirty-five years which have elapsed since the first edition of this work was issued, a greater advance has probably been made in the political and intellectual development of China than within any previous century of her history. While neither the social habits nor principles of government have so far altered as to necessitate a complete rewriting of these pages, it will be found, nevertheless, that the present volumes treat of a reformed and in many respects modern nation. Under the new regime the central administration has radically increased its authority among the provincial rulers, and more than ever in former years has managed to maintain control over their pretentions. The Empire has, moreover, established its foreign relations on a well-understood basis by accredited envoys; this will soon affect the mass of the people by the greater facilities of trade, the presence of travelers, diffusion of education, and other agencies which are awaking the people from their lethargy. Already the influences which will gradually transform the face of society are mightily operating.
    The changes which have been made in the book comprise such alterations and additions as were necessary to describe the country under its new aspects. In the constant desire to preserve a convenient size, every doubtful or superfluous sentence has been erased, while the new matter incorporated has increased the bulk of the present edition about one-third. The arrangement of chapters is the same. The first four, treating of the geography, combine as many and accurate details of recent explorers or residents as the proportions of this section will permit. The extra-provincial regions are described from the researches of Russian, English, and Indian travelers of the last twenty years. It is a waste, mountainous territory for the most part and can never support a large population. Great pains have been taken by the cartographer, Jacob Wells, to consult the most authentic charts in the construction of the map of the Empire. By collating and reducing to scale the surveys and route charts of reliable travelers throughout the colonies, he has produced in all respects as accurate a map of Central Asia as is at this date possible. The Eighteen Provinces are in the main the same as in my former map.
    The chapter on the census remains for the most part without alteration, for until there has been a methodical inspection of the Empire, important questions concerning its population must be held in abeyance. It is worth noticing how generally the estimates in this chapter—or much larger figures—have since its first publication been accepted for the population of China. Foreign students of natural history in China have. by their researches in every department, furnished material for more extensive and precise descriptions under this subject than could possibly have been gathered twoscore years ago. The sixth chapter has, therefore, been almost wholly rewritten, and embraces as complete a summary of this wide field as space would allow or the general reader tolerate. The specialist will, however, speedily recognize the fact that this rapid glance serves rather to indicate how immense and imperfectly explored is this subject than to describe whatever is known.

    That portion of the first volume treating of the laws and their administration does not admit of more than a few minor changes. However good their theory of jurisprudence, the people have many things to bear from the injustice of their rulers, but more from their own vices. The Peking Gazette is now regularly translated in the Shanghai papers, and gives a coup devil of the administration of the highest value.

    The chapters on the languages and literature are considerably improved. The translations and text-books which the diligence of foreign scholars has recently furnished could be only partially enumerated, though here, as elsewhere in the work, references in the foot-notes are intended to direct the more interested student to the bibliography of the subject, and present him with the materials for an exhaustive study. The native literature is extensive, and all branches have contributed somewhat to form the resume which is contained in this section, giving a preponderance to the Confucian classics. The four succeeding chapters contain notices of the arts, industries, domestic life, and science of the Chinese—a necessarily rapid survey, since these features of Chinese life are already well understood by foreigners. Nothing, however, that is either original or peculiar has been omitted in the endeavor to portray their social and economic characteristics. The emigration of many thousands of the people of Kwangtung within the last thirty years has made that province a representative among foreign nations of the others; it may be added that its inhabitants are well fitted, by their enterprise, thrift, and maritime habits, to become types of the whole.

    The history and chronology are made fuller by the addition of several facts and tables(An alphabetical arrangement of all the tables scattered throughout the work may be found, under this word in the Index.) ; but the field of research in this direction has as yet scarcely been defined, and few certain dates have been determined prior to the Confucian era. The entire continent of Asia must be thoroughly investigated in its geography, antiquities, and literature in order to throw light on the eastern portion. The history of China offers an interesting topic for a scholar who would devote his life to its elucidation from the mass of native literature.
    The two chapters on the religions, and what has been done within the past half century to promote Christian missions, are somewhat enlarged and brought down to the present time. The study of modern scholars in the examination of Chinese religious beliefs has enabled them to make comparisons with other systems of Asiatics, as well as discuss the native creeds with more certainty.
    The chapter on the commerce of China has an importance commensurate with its growing amount. Within the past ten years the opium trade has been attacked in its moral and commercial bearings between China, India, and England. There are grounds for hope that the British Government will free itself from any connection with it, which will be a triumph of justice and Christianity. The remainder of Volume II. Describes events in the intercourse of China with the outer world, including a brief account of the Tai-ping Rebellion, which proximately grew out of foreign ideas. No connected or satisfactory narrative of the events which have forced one of the greatest nations of the world into her proper position, so far as I am aware, has as yet been prepared. A succinct recital of one of the most extraordinary developments of modern times should nut be without interest to all.
    The work of condensing the vast increase of reliable information upon China into these two volumes has been attended with considerable labor. Future writers will, I am convinced, after the manner of Richthofen, Yule, Legge, and others, confine themselves to single or cognate subjects rather than attempt such a comprehensive synopsis as is here presented. The number of illustrations in this edition is nearly doubled, the added ones being selected with particular reference to the subject-matter. I have availed myself of whatever sources of information I could command, due acknowledgment of which is made in the foot-notes, and ample references in the Index.
    The revision of this book has been the slow though constant occupation of several years. When at last I had completed the revised copy and made arrangements as to its publication, in March, 1882, my health failed, and under a partial paralysis I was rendered incapable of further labor. My son, Frederick Wells Williams, who had already looked over the copy, now assumed entire charge of the publication. I had the more confidence that he would perform the duties of editor, for he had already a general acquaintance with China and the books which are the best authority. The work has been well done, the last three chapters particularly having been improved under his careful revision and especial study of the recent political history of China. The Index is his work, and throughout the book I am indebted to his careful supervision, especially on the chapters treating of geography and literature. By the opening of this year I had so far recovered as to be able to superintend the printing and look over the proofs of the second volume.
    My experiences in the forty-three years of my life in China were coeval with the changes which gradually culminated in the opening of the country. Among the most important of these may be mentioned the cessation of the East India Company in 1834, the war with England in 1841-42, the removal of the monopoly of the hong merchants（特许商行）, the opening of five ports to trade, the untoward attack on the city of Canton which grew out of the lorcha Arrow, the operations in the vicinity of Peking, the establishment of foreign legations in that city, and finally, in 1873, the peaceful settlement of the kotow, which rendered possible the approach of foreign ministers to the Emperor’s presence. Those who trace the hand of God in history will gather from such rapid and great changes in this Empire the foreshadowing of the fulfilment of his purposes ; for while these political events were in progress the Bible was circulating, and the preaching and educational labors of missionaries were silently and with little opposition accomplishing their leavening work among the people.

    On my arrival at Canton in 1833 I was officially reported, with two other Americans, to the hong merchant Kingqua as fan-kwai, or ‘foreign devils,’ who had come to live under his tutelage. In 1874, as Secretary of the American Embassy at Peking, I accompanied the Hon. B. P. Avery to the presence of the Emperor Tungchi, when the Minister of the United States presented his letters of credence on a footing of perfect equality with the ‘Son of Heaven.’ With two such experiences in a lifetime, and mindful of the immense intellectual and moral development which is needed to bring an independent government from the position of forcing one of them to that of yielding the other, it is not strange that I am assured of a great future for the sons of Han; but the progress of pure Christianity will be the only adequate means to save the conflicting elements involved in such a growth from destroying each other. Whatever is in store for them, it is certain that the country has passed its period of passivity. There is no more for China the repose of indolence and seclusion—when she looked down on the nations in her overweening pride like the stars with which she could have no concern.

    In this revision the same object has been kept in view that is stated in the Preface to the first edition—to divest the Chinese people and civilization of that peculiar and indefinable impression of ridicule which has been so generally given them by foreign authors. I have endeavored to show the better traits of their national character, and that they have had up to this time no opportunity of learning man}’ things with which they are now rapidly becoming acquainted. The time is speedily passing away when the people of the Flowery Land can fairly be classed among uncivilized nations. The stimulus which in this labor of my earlier and later years has been ever present to my mind is the hope that the cause of missions may be promoted. In the success of this cause lies the salvation of China as a people, both in its moral and political aspects. This success bids fair to keep pace with the needs of the people. They will become fitted for taking up the work themselves and joining in the multiform operations of foreign civilizations. Soon railroads, telegraphs, and manufactures will be introduced, and these must be followed by whatsoever may conduce to enlightening the millions of the people of China in every department of religious, political, and domestic life.
    The descent of the Holy Spirit is promised in the latter times, and the preparatory work for that descent has been accomplishing in a vastly greater ratio than ever before, and with increased facilities toward its final completion. The promise of that Spirit will fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, delivered before the era of Confucius, and God’s people will come from the land of Sinim and join in the anthem of praise with every tribe under the sun.
    S. w. w. New Haven, July, 1883.

    CONTENTS OF VOLUME I & VOLUME II

    CHAPTER I. General Divisions and Features of the Empire
    Unusual interest involved in the study of China ; The name China probably a corruption of Tsin; Other Asiatic names for the country; Ancient and modern native designations; Dimensions of the Empire; Its three Grand Divisions :The Eighteen Provinces, Manchuria, and Colonies; China Proper, its names and limits; Four large mountain chains; The Tien shan. ibid.: The Kwanlun; The Hing-an and Himalaya systems; Pumpelly’s ” Sinian System” of mountains; The Desert of Gobi and Sha-moh; Its character and various names; Rivers of China : The Yellow River; The Yangtsz’ River; The Chu or Pearl River；Lakes of China; Boundaries of China Proper; Character of its coast; The Great Plain; The Great Wall of China, its course; Its construction and aspect; The Grand Canal,; Its history and present condition; Minor canals; Public roads, De Guignes’ description, ibid.; General aspects of a landscape; Physical characteristics of the Chinese; The women; Aborigines: Miaotsz’, Lolos, Limus, and others; Manchus and Mongols; Attainments and limits of Chinese civilization
    CHAPTER II. Geographical Description of the Eastern Provinces
    Limited knowledge of foreign countries; Topographies of China numerous and minute; Climate of the Eighteen Provinces; Of Peking and the Great Plain; Of the southern coast towns; Contrast in rain-fall between Chinese and American coasts; Tyfoons; Topographical divisions into Fu, Ting, Chan, and Hien; Position and boundary of Chihli Province; Table of the Eighteen Provinces, their subdivisions and government; Situation, size, and history of Peking; Its walls and divisions; The prohibited city (Tsz’ Kin Ching) and imperial residence; The imperial city (Huang Ching) and its public buildings; The so-called “Tartar City”; The Temples of Heaven and of Agriculture; Environs of Peking; Tientsin and the Pei ho; Dolon-nor or Lama-miao; Water-courses and productions of the province; The Province of Shantung; Tai shan, the ‘Great Mount’; Cities, productions, and people of Shantung; Shansi, its natural features and resources; Taiyuen, the capital; Roads and mountain passes of Shansi; Position and aspect of Honan Province, ibid.; Kaifung, its capital; Kiangsu Province, ibid.; Its fertility and abundant water-ways; Nanking, or Kiangning, the capital; Porcelain Tower of Nanking; Suchau, “the Paris of China”; Chinkiang and Golden Island; Shanghai; The Province of Nganhwui; Nganking, Wuhu, and Hwuichau; Kiangsi Province; Nanchang, its capital, and the River Kan; Porcelain vvorks at Kingteh in Jauchau; Chehkiang Province, its rivers; Hangchau, the capital; Ningpo; Chinhai ano the Chusan Archipelago; Chapu, Canfu, and the “Gates of China,”; Fuhkien Province, ibid. : The River Min, Fuhchau; Amoy and its environs; Chinchau (Tsiuenchau), the ancient Zayton; Position, inhabitants, and productions of Formosa; The Pescadore Islands
    CHAPTER III. Geographical Description of the Western Provinces
    The Province of Hupeh; The three towns, Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow; Scenery on the Yangtsz’ kiang; Hunan Province, its rivers and capital city; Shensi Province; The city of Si-ngan; Topography and climate of Kansuli Province; Sz’chuen Province and its four streams; Chingtu fu and the Min Valley; The Province of Kwangtung; Position of Canton, or Kwangchau; Its population, walls, general appearance; Its streets and two pagodas; Temple of Longevity and Honam Josshouse; Other shrines and the Examination Hall; The foreign factories, or ‘Thirteen Hongs’; Sights in the suburbs of Canton; Whanipoa and Macao; The colony of Hongkong; Places of interest in Kwangtiing; The Island of Hainan; Kwangsi Province; Kweichau Province; The Miaotsz’; The Province of Yunnan; Its topography and native tribes; Its mineral wealth
    CHAPTER IV. Geographical Description of Manchuria, Mongolia, Ili, and Tibet
    Foreign and Chinese notions of the land of Tartary; Table of the Colonies, their subdivisions and governments; Extent of Manchuria; Its mountain ranges; The Amur and its affluents, the Ingoda, Argun, Usuri, and Songari; Natural resources of Manchuria; The Province of Shingking, ibid.; Its capital, Mukden, and other towns; Climate of Manchuria; The Province of Kirin; The Province of Tsi-tsi-har; Administration of government in Manchuria; Extent of Mongolia; Its climate and divisions; Inner Mongolia; Outer Mongolia; Urga, its capital, ibid. ; Civilization and trade of the Mongols; Kiakhta and Maimai chin; The Province of Cobdo; The Province of Koko-nor, or Tsing hai; Its topography and productions; Towns between Great Wall and Ili; Position and topography of ill; Tien-shan Peh Lu, or Northern Circuit; Kuldja, its capital; Tien-shan Nan Lu, or Southern Circuit; The Tarim Basin, ibid. ; Cities of the Southern Circuit; Kashgar, town and government; Yarkand; The District of Khoten; Administration of government in Ili; History and conquest of the country; Tibet, its boundaries and names; Topography of the province; Its climate and productions; The yak and wild animals, ibid. ; Divisions: Anterior and Ulterior Tibet; Il’lassa, the capital city; Manning’s visit to the Dalai-lama; Shigatsi’, capital of Ulterior Tibet; Om mani padmi hum; Manners and customs in Tibet; Language; History; Government
    CHAPTER V. Population and Statistics
    Interest and difficulties of this subject; Ma Twan-lin’s study of the censuses; Tables of various censuses; These estimates considered in detail; Four of these are reliable; Evidence in their favor; Comparative population-density of Europe and China; Proportion of arable and unproductive land; Sources and kinds of food in China; Tendencies toward increase of population; Obstacles to emigration; Government care of the people; Density of population near Canton, ibid; Mode of taking the census under Kublai khan; Present method; Reasons for admitting the Chinese census; Two objections to its acceptance; Unsatisfactory statistics of revenue in China; Revenue of Kwangtung Province; Estimates of Medhurst, De Guignes, and others; Principal items of expenditure; Pay of military and civil officers; The land tax
    CHAPTER VI. Natural History of China
    Foreign scientists and explorers in China; Interesting geological features; Loess formation of Northern China, ibid. : Its wonderful usefulness and fertility; Baron Richthofen’s theory as to its origin; Minerals of China Proper : Coal; Building stones, salts, jade, etc.; The precious metals and their production; Animals of the Empire; Monkeys; Various carnivorous animals; Cattle, sheep, deer, etc.; Horses, pigs, camels, etc.; Smaller animals and rodents; Cetacea in Chinese waters; Birds of prey; Passerinse, song-birds, pies, etc.; Pigeons and grouse; Varieties of pheasants; Peacocks and ducks; An aviary in Canton; Four fabulous animals : The ki-Un; The fung-huang, or phoenix; The lung, or dragon, and kuei, or tortoise; Alligators and serpents; Ichthyology of China; Gold-fish and methods of rearing them; Shell-fish of the Southern coast; Insects : Silk-worms and beetles; Wax-worm : Native notions of insects; Students of botany in China; Flora of Hongkong, coniferae, grasses; The bamboo; Varieties of palms, lilies, tubers, etc.; Forest and timber growth; Rhubarb, the Chinese ‘ date ‘ and ‘ olive’; Fruit-trees; Flowering and ornamental plants; The Pun tsito, or Chinese herbal; Its medicine and botany; Its zoology; Its observations on the horse; State of the natural sciences in China
    CHAPTER VII. Laws of China, and Plan of its Government
    Theory of the Chinese Government patriarchal; The principles of surveillance and mutual responsibility; The Penal Code of China; Preface by the Emperor Shunchi; Its General, Civil, and Fiscal Divisions; Ritual, Military, and Criminal Laws; The Code compares favorably with other Asiatic Laws; Defects in the Chinese Code; General survey of the Chinese Government; 1, The Emperor, his position and titles, ibid. ; Proclamation of Hungwu, first Manchu Emperor; Peculiarities in the names of Emperors; The Kicoh Imo, or National, and Miiio hao, or Ancestral Names; Style of an Imperial Inaugural Proclamation; Programme of Coronation Ceremonies; Dignity and Sacredness of the Emperor’s Person; Control of the Right of Succession; The Imperial Clan and Titular Nobles; 2, The Court, its internal arrangements; The Imperial Harem; Position of the Empress-dowager; Guard and Escort of the Palace; 3, Classes of society in China; Eight privileged classes; The nine honorary “Buttons,” or Rank; 4, The central administration; The Nui Koh, or Cabinet; The Kinn-ki Chu, or General Council; The King Pao, or Peking Gazette; The Six Boards(a), of Civil Office—Li Pu; (b), of Revenue—Hu PU; (c), of Rites— Li Pu; {d), of War—Ping Pu; {e), of Punishments—Hing Pu; (f), of War—Ping Pu; The Colonial Office; The Censorate; Frankness and honesty of certain censors; Courts of Transmission and Judicature; The Hanlin Yuen, or Imperial Academy; Minor courts and colleges of the capital; 5, Provincial Governments; Governors-general (tsungtuh) and Governors (futai); Subordinate provincial authorities; Literary, Revenue, and Salt Departments; Tabular Resume of Provincial Magistrates; Military and Naval control; Special messengers, or commissioners
    CHAPTER VIII. Administration of the Laws
    6, Execution of laws, checks upon ambitious officers; Triennial Catalogue and its uses; Character and position of Chinese officials; The lied Book, or status of office-holders; Types of Chinese high officers : Duke Ho; Career of Commissioner Sung; Public lives of Commissioners Lin and Kiying; Popularity of upright officers. Governor Chu’s valedictory; Official confessions and petitions for punishment; Imperial responsibility for public disasters; A prayer for rain of the Emperor Taukwang; Imperial edicts, their publication and phraseology; Contrast between the theory and practice of Chinese legislation; Extortions practised by officials of all ranks; Evils of an ill-paid police; Fear and selfishness of the people; Extent of clan systems among them; Village elders and clan rivalries; Dakoits and thieves throughout the country; Popular associations—character of their manifestoes; Secret societies. The Triad, or Water-Lily Sect; A Memorial upon the Evils of Mal-Administration; Efforts of the authorities against brigandage; Difficulties in collecting the taxes; Character of proceedings in the Law Courts; Establishments of high magistrates; Conduct of a criminal trial; Torture employed to elicit confessions; The five kinds of punishments; Modes of executing criminals; Public prisons, their miserable condition; The influence of public opinion in checking oppression
    CHAPTER IX. Education and Literary Examinations
    Stimulus of literary pursuits in China; Foundation of the present system of competition; Precepts controlling early education; Arrangements and curriculum of boys’ schools; Six text-books employed : 1, The ‘Trimetrical Classic’; 2, The ‘Century of Surnames,’ and 3, ‘ Thousand-Character Classic’; 4, The ‘ Odes for Children’; 5, The Hiao King, or ‘ Canons of Filial Duty,’; 6, The Siao Hioh, or ‘Juvenile Instructor,’; High schools and colleges; Proportion of readers throughout China; Private schools and higher education; System of examinations for degrees and public offices; Preliminary trials; Examination for the First Degree, Siu-tsai,; For the Second Degree, Kil-jin,; Example of a competing essay,; Final honors conferred at Peking; A like system applied to the military; Workings and results of the system of examinations,; Its abuses and corruption; Social distinction and influence enjoyed by graduates; Female education in China; Authors and school-books employed
    CHAPTER X Structure of the Chinese Language
    Influence of the Chinese language upon its literature; Native accounts of the origin of their characters; Growth and development of the language; Characters arranged into six classes; Development from hieroglyphics; Phonetic and descriptive properties of a character; Arrangement of the characters in lexicons; Classification according to radicals; Mass of characters in the language; Six styles of written characters; Their elementary strokes; Ink, paper, and printing; Manufacture and price of books; Native and foreign movable types; Phonetic character of the Chinese language; Manner of distinguishing words of like sound; The Shing, or tones of the language; Number of sounds or words in Chinese; The local dialects and patois; Court or Mandarin dialect; Other dialects and variations in pronunciation; Grammar of the language; Its defects and omissions; Hints for its study; Pigeon English
    CHAPTER XI. Classical Literature of the Chinese
    The Imperial Catalogue as an index to Chinese literature; The Five Classics : I. The Yih King, or ‘Book of Changes’; II. The Shu King, or ‘ Book of Records’; III. The Shi King, or ‘ Book of Odes’; IV. The Li Ki, or ‘ Book of Rites,’ and other Rituals; V. The Chun Tsui, or ‘ Spring and Autumn Record’; The Four Books : 1, The ‘Great Learning’ 2, The ‘Just Medium’; 3, The Lun Yu, or ‘ Analects ‘ of Confucius; Life of Confucius; Character of the Confucian System of Ethics; 4, The Works of Mencius; His Life, and personal character of his Teachings; Dictionary of the Emperor Kanghi
    CHAPTER XII. Polite Literature of the Chinese
    Character of Chinese Ornamental Literature; Works on Chinese History; Historical Novels; The ‘ Antiquarian Researches ‘ of Ma Twan-lin; Philosophical Works : Chu Hi on the Primum Mobile; Military, Legal, and Agricultural Writings; The Shing Yu, or ‘Sacred Commands’ of Kanghi; Works on Art, Science, and Encyclopedias; Character and Examples of Chinese Fiction; Poetry: The Story of Li Tai-peh; Modern Songs and Extempore Verses; Dramatic Literature, burlettas; ‘The Mender of Cracked Chinaware ‘—a Farce; Deficiencies and limits of Chinese literature; Collection of Chinese Proverbs
    CHAPTER XIII. Architecture, Dress, and Diet of the Chinese
    Notions entertained by foreigners upon Chinese customs; Architecture of the Chinese; Building materials and private houses; Their public and ornamental structures; Arrangement of country houses and gardens; Chinese cities: shops and streets; Temples, club-houses, and taverns; Street scenes in Canton and Peking; Pagodas, their origin and construction; Modes of travelling; Various kinds of boats; Living on the water in China; Chop-boats and junks; Bridges, ornamental and practical; Honorary Portals, or Pai-lan; Construction of forts and batteries; Permanence of fashion in Chinese dress; Arrangement of hair, the Queue; Imperial and official costumes; Dress of Chinese women; Compressed feet : origin and results of the fashion; Toilet practices of men and women; Food of the Chinese, mostly vegetable; Kinds and preparation of their meats; Method of hatching and rearing ducks’ eggs; Enormous consumption of fish; The art of cooking in China
    CHAPTER XIV. Social Life among the Chinese
    Features and professions in Chinese society; Social relations between the sexes; Customs of betrothment and marriage; Laws regulating marriages; General condition of females in China; Personal names of the Chinese; Familiar and ceremonial intercourse : The Kotow; Forms and etiquette of visiting; A Chinese banquet; Temperance of the Chinese; Festivals ; Absence of a-Sabbath in China; Customs and ceremonies attending New-Year’s Day; The dragon-boat festival and feast of lanterns; Brilliance and popularity of processions in China; Play-houses and theatrical shows; Amusements and sports : Gambling, chess; Contrarieties in Chinese and Western usage Strength and weakness of Chinese character; Their mendacity and deceit
    CHAPTER XV.  INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF THE CHINESE
    Tenure of land in China; Agricultural utensils; Horse-shoeing; Cultivation of rice; Terraces and methods of irrigation; Manner of using manure; Hemp, the mulberry sugar, and the tallow-tree; Efforts in arboriculture; Celebration of the annual ploughing ceremony; Modes of catching and rearing fish; Mechanical arts, metallurgy; Glass and precious stones; Ingredients and manufacture of porcelain; Its decoration; Chinese snuff-bottles discovered in Egyptian tombs; The preparation of lacquered-ware; Silk culture and manufacture in China; Chinese skill in embroidery; Growth and manufacture of cotton; Leather, felt, etc.; Tea culture, 39 ; Method of curing and preparing, 42 ; Green and black teas, 44 ; Historical notice; Constituents and effects of tea; Preparation of cassia (cinnamomum) and camphor; Ingenious methods of Chinese craftsmen; The blacksmith and dish-mender; Carving in wood and ivory, 59 ; Manufacture of cloisonne, matting, etc.• General aspect of Chinese industrial society.
    CHAPTER XVI.  Science Among the Chinese
    Attainments of the Chinese in the exact sciences : Arithmetic; Astronomy, 68 ; Arrangement of the calendar, 69 ; Divisions of the zodiac, 71 ; Chinese observations of comets and eclipses; Their notions concerning the “Action and Reaction of the Elements,”; Astronomical myths: Story of the herdsman and weaver-girl; Divisions of the day : arrangement of the almanac, 79 ; Geographical knowledge, 80 ; Measures of length, money, and weight, 81 ; System of banks and use of paper money, 85 ; Pawnshops, 8G ; Popular associations, or huni; The theory and practice of war, arms in use, 89 ; Introduction and employment of gunpowder, 90 ; Chinese policy in warfare; Their regard for music, 94; Examples of Chinese tunes; Musical instruments, 99 ; Dancing and posture-making; Drawing and painting, 105 ; Samples of Chinese illustrative art, 107 ; Their symbolism. 111 ; Paintings on pith-paper and leaves, 113; Sculpture and architecture, 115; Notions on the internal structure of the human body, 119; Functions of the viscera and their connection with the yin and yang; Surgical operations, 123 ; A Chinese doctor, 125 ; Drugs and medicines employed, 127 ; The common diseases of China, 129 ; Native treatises on medicine.
    CHAPTER XVII.  History and Chronology of China
    General doubts and ignorance concerning the subject, 136 ; The mythological period, 137 ; Chinese notions of cosmogony, 138 ; The god Pwanku; Chu Hi’s cosmogony; The legendary period, Fuh-hi, 143 ; The eight monarchs, 145 ; Hwangti and the sexagenary cycle, 146 ; The deluge of Yao, 147 ; The historical period : The Hia dynasty, 148 ; Yu the Great, his inscription on the rocks of Kau-lan shan; Records of the Hia, 152 ; The Shang dynasty; Chau-sin; Rise of the house of Chau, 157 ; Credibility of these early annals, 159 ; The Tsin dynasties, Tsin Chi Hwangti; The dynasty of Han; From the Han to the Sui, 165 ; The great Tang dynasty; Taitsung and the Empress Wu, 169 ; The Five Dynasties, 172; Tlie Sung dynasty; The Mongol conquest, Kublai Khan, 175; The Mings, 177; The Manchus, or Tsing dynasty, 179; Kanghi, 180; Yungching and Kienlung, 181; Kiaking and Taukwang, 183; Tables of the monarchs and dynasties.
    CHAPTER XVIII. REHGION OF THE CHINESE
    Causes of the perpetuity of Chinese institutions, 188 ; Isolation of the people, 189; The slight influence upon them of foreign thought and customs, 191 ; Their religious belief’s, two negative features; Three sects: the State religion, called Confucianism; Objects and methods of State worship, The Emperor as High Priest, 198 ; The Ju kino, or Sect of Literati, 15)9 ; Religious functions of government officers, 202 ; Purity and coldness of this religious system, 205 ; Rationalism (Tao kia), Lau-tsz’ its founder, 207 ; His classic, the Tao-the King, 208 ; Visit of Confucius to the philosopher Lau-tsz’, 212; Rites and mythology of the Taoists, 214; Their degeneracy into fetich worshippers, 215 ; Their organization, 217 ; The Sect of Fuh, or Buddhism, 218 ; Life of Buddha, 219 ; Influence of the creed among the people, 221 ; Checks to its power; Its tenets and liturgy, 224 ; Opposition to this sect by the literati, 227 ; Perpetuated in monasteries and nunneries; Similarity between the, Buddhist and Roman Catholic rites; Shamanism, its form in Tibet and Mongolia, 233 ; Buddhist temples, 235 ; Ancestral worship, its ancient origin; Its influence upon the family and society, 237 ; Infanticide in China, its prevalence, 239 ; Comparison with Greece and Rome; Customs and ceremonies attending a decease, 243 ; Funerals and burial-places, 245 ; Funtj-slnit, 240 ; Interment and mourning; Family worship of ancestors, 250 ; Character of the rites, 253 ; Popular superstitions, 255 ; Dread of wandering ghosts, 257 ; Methods of divination, 200 ; Worship at graves and shrines, 262 ; Chinese benevolent institutions and the practice of charity, 263 ; General condition of religion among them; Secret societies, 267 ; Mohammedanism in China; Jews in Kaifung, 271 ; Their miserable condition.
    CHAPTER XIX. RISTIAN Missions Among the Chinese
    Arrival of the Nestorians in China; The tablet of Si-ngan; Prester John and traces of Nestorian labors, 286 ; First epoch of Roman Catholic missions in Eastern Asia; John of Montecorvino, ibid.; Other priests of the fourteenth century; Second period : Xavier’s attempt, 289 ; Landing of Ricci; His life and character, 292 ; The Jesuits in Peking; Faber, 295 ; Adam Schaal; Verbiest; Discussion concerning the rites, 299 ; The Pope and the Emperor Kanghi; Quarrels between the missionaries, 302; Third period: The edict of Yungching expels the Catholics; Statistics of their numbers, 307 ; Their methods : the baptism of dying infants; Collisions between converts and magistrates; Pagan and Christian superstitions: casting out devils; Character of Catholic missionary work, 317; Protestantism in China : The arrival of Morrison in Canton, 318 ; His missionary and literary work, 320 ; Comparison with that of Ricci; Protestant missions among the Chinese of the Archipelago Early efforts, tract distribution, 328 ; Gutzlaff’s voyages along the coast; Foundation of the Medical Missionary Society; Success of hospital work among the natives; Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China; The Morrison Education Society, 341 ; Protestant mission work at Canton; At Amoy and Fuhchan, 348 ; In Chehkiang province; At Shanghai, 352 ; Toleration of Christianity in China obtained through Kiying; Policy of the government toward missionaries, 359 ; Articles of toleration in the treaties of 1858; Bible translation and the Term Question among missionaries; Female missionaries, 364 ; Statistics of Protestant missions in China, 366 ; Notices of deceased missionaries; Facilities and difficulties attending the work.
    CHAPTER XX. Commerce of the Chinese
    Ancient notices of foreign trade; The principal import, opium; Peculiarities of its cultivation in India, ibid.; Its preparation and sale in Calcutta, 376 ; Early efforts at introduction into China; Rise of the smuggling trade, 378 ; Manipulation of the drug in smoking, 380 ; The pipe and its use, 382 ; Effects of the practice, 383 ; Quantity and value of the import, 3S7 ; Coasting and inland navigation in China, 389 ; Detail of the principal exports from China, 391 ; Of the imports, 396 ; An example of pigeon-English, 402 ; Present management of the maritime customs; Trade tables.
    CHAPTER XXI. Foreign Intercourse with China
    Limited conception of the Chinese as to embassies; Earliest mention of China or Cathay, 408 ; Acquaintance between Rome and Seres, or Sinae; Knowledge of China under the Greek Empire; Narratives of Buddhist pilgrims, 413 ; Notices of Arab travellers, 414 ; Piano Carpini’s mission from the Pope to Kuyuk Klian, 415; Rubruquin sent by Louis XL to Mangu Khan, 418 • Travels of Marco Polo and King Ilayton of Armenia ; Of the Moor, Ibn Batuta; Of Friar Odoric, 422 ; Of Benedict Goes, 424 ; Of Ibn Waliab, 425 ; The Manchus confine foreign trade to Canton, 42G ; Character of early Portuguese traders; Their settlement at Macao and embassies to Peking; Relations of Spain with China, 431 ; The Dutch come to China, 438 ; They occupy Formosa, 434 ; Koxinga expels them from the island, 437 ; Van Hoorn’s embassy to Peking; Van Braam’s mission to Kienlung, 439 ; France and China; Russian embassies to the court at Peking, 441 ; Intercourse of the English with China, 443 ; Attempts of the East India Company to establish trade, 445 ; The Co-hong; Treatment of Mr. Flint; Anomalous position of foreigners in China during the eighteenth century, 450 ; Chinese action in sundry cases of homicide among foreigners, 451 ; Lord Macartney’s embassy to Peking, 454 ; Attitude of the Chinese regarding Macao; Regarding English and American “squabbles,”; Embassy of Lord Amherst, 458 ; Close of the East India Company monopoly; American trade with China; Chinese terms for foreigners.
    CHAPTER XXII.  Origin Of THE First War with England
    Features of the war with England; Lord Napier appointed superintendent of British trade, 404 •, He goes to Canton; His contest with the governor, 468 ; Chinese notions of supremacy; Lord Napier retires from Canton, his sudden death; Petition of the British merchants to the king, 47() ; Trade continued as before, 478 ; Sir B. G. Robinson the superintendent at Lintin; Is succeeded by Captain Elliot; Hu Nai-tsi proposes to legalize the opium trade, 482 ; Counter-memorials to the Emperor, 483 ; Discussion of the matter among foreigners, 487 ; Canton officers enforce the prohibitory laws; Elliot ordered to drive the opium ships from Lintin; Arrival of Admiral Sir F. Maitland; Smuggling increases; A mob before the factories, 495 ; Captain Elliot’s papers and actions regarding the opium traffic, 496 ; Commissioner Lin sent to Canton, 497; He demands a surrender of opium held by foreigners, 499 ; Imprisons them in the factories; The opium given up and destroyed, 502 ; Homicide of Lin Wei-hi at Hongkong, 505 ; Motives and position of Governor Lin; The war an opium war; Debate in Parliament upon the question.
    CHAPTER XXIII. Progress and Results of the First War between England AND China
    Arrival of the British fleet and commencement of hostilities; Fall of Tinghai, 515; Lin recalled to Peking, 510; Kishen sent to Canton, negotiates’ a treaty with Captain Elliot at the Bogue, 517 ; The negotiations fail, 519 ; Capture of the Canton River defences; The city ransomed; Amoy and Tinghai taken; Fall of Chinhai and Ningpo, 527 ; The Emperor determines to resist, 529 ; Attempt to recapture Ningpo; The British reduce the neighboring towns, 533 ; The fleet enters the Yangtsz’, capture of Wusung; Shanghai taken; Proclamations issued by both parties respecting the war; Storming of Chinkiang, 540 ; Terrible carnage among its Manchu inhabitants, 542 ; Singular contrast at Iching; Kiying communicates with Sir H. Pottinger; The envoy and commissioners meet, 547 ; A treaty drawn up, 549 ; Conversation on the opium question, 550 ; The Treaty of Nanking signed; Massacre of shipwrecked crews on Formosa; Losses and rewards on both sides alter the war, 556 ; Settlement of a tariff and commercial relations, 557 ; Deaths of Howqua and John R. Morrison; A supplementary treaty signed; Renewal of opium vexations, 562 ; Treaties arranged with other foreign powers, 565 ; The ambassador and letter from the United States to China, 566 ; Caleb Cushing negotiates a treaty with Kiying, 567 ; Homicide by an American at Canton, and subsequent correspondence, 568 ; A French treaty concluded by M. de Lagreno at Whampoa; Position of England and China after the war.
    CHAPTER XXIV.  THE Tai-ping Rebellion
    Attitude of the ruling classes in China toward foreigners; Governor Sir J. Davis and Commissioner Kiying; Killing of six Englishmen at Canton; Chinese notions of treaties ibid; Causes of the Tai-ping Rebellion; Life of Hung Siutsuen, its leader; This wonderful vision; He interprets it by Christian ideas, 585 ; Early phases of the movement; Commencement of the insurrection, 590 ; Political and religious tenets of the rebels, 592 ; Rapid advance to the Yangtsz’ and occupation of Nanking, 596 ; The expedition against Peking; Its failure; Dissensions among the rebel wangs, or leaders; Rebel sortie from Nanking; Assistance of foreigners sought by imperialists; Achievements of the Chung Wang; Colonel Gordon assumes control of the “Ever-Victorious force,”; His successful campaigns; Environment of Suchan; The city surrenders; Execution of its wangs by Governor Li; Gordon’s responsibility in the matter, GIG ; Further operations against the insurgents, 617 ; The Ever-Victorious force disbanded, 618 ; Fall of Nanking and dispersion of the rebels; Subsequent efforts of the Shi and Kau wangs; Disastrous character of the rebellion.
    CHAPTER XXV. The Second War between Great Britain and China Relations between the Cantonese and foreigners after the first war; Collecting of customs duties at Shanghai entrusted to foreigners; Common measures of defence against the rebels there; The insurrection in Kwangtung; Frightful destruction of life, 632 ; Governor Yeh’s policy of seclusion; Smuggling lorchas at Hongkong and Macao; The lorcha Arrow affair; The initial acts of the war; Collision with Americans at the Barrier forts, 639 ; View of the war in England, 641 ; Arrival of Lord Elgin and Baron Gros in China; Bombardment and capture of Canton, ibid.; Problem of governing the city; The allies repair to the Pei ho; Capture of the Taku forts, 651 ; Negotiations with Kweiliang and Hwashana at Tientsin; Unexpected appearance of Kiying; Difficulties of Lord Elgin’s position at Tientsin; The treaties signed and ratified, 656 ; Revision of the tariff undertaken at Shanghai; Effect of treaty stipulations and foreign trade on the people of China; Lord Egin visits the Tai-ping rebels at Hankow, 659 ; Sentiment of officials and people in China regarding foreigners, 660 ; Coolie trade outrages, 663 ; The foreign ministers repair to Taku, 664 ; Repulse at the Taku forts, 66G ; The American minister conducted to Peking; Discussion concerning the formalities of an audience, 669 ; He retires and ratifies the treaty at Pehtang; Lord Elgin and Baron Gros sent back to China, 671 ; War resumed, the allies at Pehtang; Capture of villages about Taku, 674 ; Fall of the Taku forts, 676 ; Lord Elgin declines to remain at Tientsin; Interpreters Wade and Parkes sent to Tungchau, 678 ; Capture of Parkes and Loch, 680 ; Skirmish of Pa-li-kiau, 682 ; Pillage of Yuen-ming Yuen, G83 ; Its destruction upon the return of the prisoners, 684 ; Entry into Peking and signing of the treaties, 686 ; Permanent settlement of foreign embassies at the capital.
    CHAPTER XXVI. Narrative of Recent Events in China
    Palace conspiracy upon the death of Hienfung; The regency established at Peking, 691 ; The Lay-Osborne flotilla, 693 ; Collapse of the scheme and dismissal of Lay, 695 ; The Burlingame mission to foreign countries, 696 ; Its treaty with the United States, 698 ; Outbreak at Tientsin, 700 ; Investigation into the riot, 703 ; Bitter feeling among foreigners, 705 ; Memorandum from the Tsung-ii Yamun on the missionary question; Conclusion of the Kansuh insurrection; Marriage of the Emperor Tungchi; The foreign ministers demand an audience; Reception of the ambassadors by Tungchi; Stopping of the coolie trade, 715 ; Japanese descent upon Formosa; English expedition to Yunnan, 719 ; Second mission, murder of Margary; The Grosvenor mission of inquiry; The Chifu Convention between Li Hung-chang and Sir T. Wade, 725 ; Death of Tungchi and accession of Kwangsii; The rebellion of Yakub Beg in Turkestan; He overthrows the Dungani Confederation, 730 ; His forces conquered by Tso Tsung-tang, 731 ; Negotiations as to the cession of Kuldja, 732 ; The great famine of 1878, 734 ; Efforts of foreigners for its relief, 736 ; Chinese boys sent to America for education, 739 ; Grounds of hope for the future of China.

    LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS IN VOLUME I & VOLUME II
    Worship of the Emperor at the Temple of Heaven, Title-page, representing an honorary portal, or PAI-LAU. (The two characters, Shing chi, upon the top, indicate that the structure has been erected by imperial command. In the panel upon the lintel the four characters, Chung Kwoh Tsung-Um, ‘ A General Account of the Middle Kingdom,’ express in Chinese the title of this work. On the right the inscription reads, Jin che ngai jin yu tsin kih so, ‘ He who is benevolent loves those near, and then those who are remote ; ‘ the other side contains an expression attributed to Confucius, ‘ Si fang chi jin yu shing che ye,” ‘The people of the West have their sages.’)—Compare p. 757. A Road-Cut IN the Loess,  An-ting Gate, Wall of Peking,  Plan op Peking, Portal op Confucian Temple, Peking,  Monument, or Tope, op a Lama, Hwang sz’, Peking,  View over the Loess-clefts in Shansi, Temple of the Goddess Ma Tsu-pu, Ningpo,  Lukan Gorge, Yangtsz’ River. (From Blakiston.), View of a Street in Canton,  Miaotsz’ Types,  Domesticated Yak,  FACADE OF Dwellings in Loess Cliffs, Ling-shi hien,  Coal Gorge on the Yangtsz’. (From Blakiston.),  Fl-Fl Ami HAI-TUJI. (From a Chinese cut.),  The Chinese Pig,  Mode of Carrying Pigs,  The Kl-LIJV, or Unicorn,  The FUNG-HWANG, or Phoenix,  Different Styles op Official Caps,  Mode of Carrying High Officers in Sedan,  Prisoner Condemned to the Cangue in Court,  Mode of Exposure in the Cangue,  Publicly Whipping a Thief through the Streets,  Interior of KUNO YUEN, or ‘Examination Hall,’ Peking,  Chinese Hieroglyphics and their Modern Equivalents,  Six Styles op Chinese Characters,  Worship of Confucius and his Disciples,  Diagram of Chinese Roof Construction,  The PIH-TUNO KUNO, or ‘Classic Hall,’ Peking, Wheelbarrow used for Travelling,  Bridge in Wan-shao Shan Gardens, near Peking,  Bridge, showing the Mode of Mortising the Arch,  Barber’s Establishment,  Tricks Played with the Queue,  Procession op Ladies to an Ancestral Temple,  Appearance of the Bones op a Foot when Compressed,  Feet of Chinese Ladies,  Shape of a Lady’s Shoe,  Boys Gambling with Crickets,  Chinese Chess-board
    Signing of the Treaty of Peking, Manner of Shoeing Horses, Pedler’s Barrow, Group and Residence of Fishermen near Canton, The Fishing Cormorant, The Cobbler and his Movable Workshop, Mode op Firing Tea, Travelling Blacksmith and Equipment, Itinerant Dish-mender， Fancy Carved Work, Fable of the Herdsman and Weaver-girl. (From a bowl.), Representation of a Man Dreaming, The Vengeance op Heaven upon the False Grave, A would-be Assassin Followed by Spirits, Symbols of Happiness and Old Age. (From a plaque.), Caricature of an English Foraging Party, Chinese Notions of the Internal Structure of the Human Body, Pwanku Chiselling Out the Universe, Gateway of the Yuen Dynasty, Ku-yung Kwan, Great Wall, Ancestral Hall and Mode of Worshipping the Tablets, Buddhist Priests, Consulting a Fortune-teller, Head of Nestorian Tablet at Si-ngan, Roman Catholic Altar near Shanghai, Manner of Smoking Opium, Wall of Canton City. (From Fisher.), Plan of Canton and Vicinity, Portrait of Commissioner KiYing, Plan of the Pei ho and Forts. (From Fisher.), Portrait of Prince Kung, Portrait of Wanslang

    NOTE RESPECTING THE SYSTEM OF PRONUNCL ATION ADOPTED IN THIS WORK
    In this the values of the vowels are as follows :
    1. a as the italicized letters in father, far (never like a in hat) ;e.g., chang, hang—sounded almost as if written chahng, hahng, not flat as in the English words sang, hang, man, etc.
    2. a like the short u in hut, or as any of the italicized vowels in American, summer, mother ; the German o approaches this sound, while Wade writes it e ; e.g., pan, tang, to be pronounced as pun, tongue.
    3. e as in men, dead, saw! ; as teh, shen, yen.
    4. e, the French e, as in they, neigh, pray ; as che, ye, pronouneed chaij, yay.
    5. i as in pm, f/ntsh ; as dug, lin, Chihl’i.
    6. ‘t as in machine, believe, feel, me ; as I’l, Ktshen, Kanghi.
    7. o as in long. Yawn ; never like no, cro^u ; as to, soh, j)o.
    8. u as in rule, too, fool ; as 7\i7-k, Belur, ku, sung ; pronounced Toork, Beloor, koo, soong. This sound is heard less full in fuh, fsun, and a few other words ; this and the next may be considered as equivalent to the two ii-sounds found in German.
    9. u nearly as in I’une (French), or wnion, rheum ; as hii, tsil.
    10. ai as in aisle, high, or longer than i in pine ; as Shanghai, Hainan. The combination ei is more slender than ai, though the difference is slight ; e.g., Kivei chau.
    11. au and ao as in round, our, hoio ; as Fuhchau, Macao, Taukwang.
    12. eu as in the colloquial phrase say ’em ; e.g., cheung. This diphthong is heard in the Canton dialect.
    13. ia as in yard ; e.g., Ma, Hang ; not to be sounded as if written Jdgh-a, kigh-ang, but like hed, keiing.
    14. iau is made b}” joining Nos. 5 and 11 ; hiau, Liautung.
    15. ie as in sierra (SjDanisli), Ki’enzi; e.g., Men, kien.
    16. iu as in peu;, pure, lengthened to a dij)hthong ; km, siun.
    17. iue is made by adding a short e to the preceding ; kiuen, Muen,
    18. ui as in Louisiana, suicide ; e.g., sui, cMii.

    SYSTEM OF PRONUNCIATION
    The consonants are sounded generally as they are in the English alphabet. Ch as in church ; hw as in when. ; j soft, as s in pleasure; kw as in awkward ; ng, as an initial, as in singing, leaving off the first two letters ; sz’ and tsz’ are to be sounded full with one breathing, but none of the English vowels are heard in it ; the sound stops at the z ; Dr. Morrison wrote these sounds tsze and sze, while Sir Thomas Wade, whose system bids fair to become the most widely employed, turns them into ssu and fzii. The hs of the latter, made by omitting the first vowel of hissing, is written simply as h by the author. Urh, or’rh, is pronounced as the three last letters of purr.
    All these, except No. 12, are heard in the court dialect, which has now become the most common mode of writing the names of places and persons in China. Though foreign authors have employed different letters, they have all intended to write the same sound ; thus chan, shan, and xan, are only different ways of writing閂; and tsse, tsze, tsz’, zh, tzu`, and tzu, of 字. Such is not the case, however, with such names as Macao, Hongkong, Amoy, Whampoa, and others along the coast, which are sounded according to the local patois, and not the court pronunciation-Ma-ngau, Hiangkiang, Hiamun, Hwangpu, etc. Many of the discrepancies seen in the works of travellers and writers are owing to the fact that each is prone to follow his own fancy in transliterating foreign names ; uniformity is almost unattainable in this matter. Even, too, in what is called the court dialect there is a great diversity among educated Chinese, owing to the traditional way all learn the sounds of the characters. In this work, and on the map, the sounds are written uniformly according to the pronunciation given in Morrison’s Dictionary, but not according to his orthography. Almost every writer upon the Chinese language seems disposed to propose a new system, and the result is a great confusion in writing the same name ; for example, eull, olr, id, ulli, Ih, urh, ‘rh, ‘i, e, lur, nge, ngi, je, ji, are different ways of writing the sounds given to a single character. Amid these discrepancies, both among the Chinese themselves and those who endeavor to catch their pronunciation, it is almost impossible to settle upon one mode of writing the names of places. That which seems to offer the easiest pronunciation has been adopted in this work. It may, perhaps, be regarded as an unimportant matter, so long as the place is known, but to one living abroad, and unacquainted with the language, the discrepancy is a source of great confusion. He is unable to decide, for instance, whether Tang-ngan, Tangon hien, Tang-oune, and Tangao, refer to the same place or not.
    In writing Chinese proper names, authors differ greatly as to the style of placing them ; thus, Fuhchaufu, Fiih-chau fu, Fuh Chau Fu, Fuh-Chau fu, etc., are all seen. Analogy affords little guide here, for New York, Philadelphia, and Cambridge are severally unlike in the principle of writing them : the first, being really formed of an adjective and a noun, is not in this case united to the latter, as it is in Newport, Newtown, etc. ; the second is like the generality of Chinese towns, and while it is now written as one word, it would be written as two if the name were translated-as ‘Brotherly Love ;’ but the third, Cambridge, despite its derivation, is never written in two words, and many Chinese names are like this in origin. Thus applying these rules, properly enough, to Chinese places, they have been written here as single words, Suchau, Peking, Hongkong ; a hyphen has been inserted in some places only to avoid mispronunciation, as Hiau-‘i, St-ngan, etc. It is hardly supposed that this system will alter such names as are commonly written otherwise, nor, indeed, that it will be adhered to with absolute consistency in the following pages ; but the principle of the arrangement is perhaps the simplest possible. The additions fu, chau, ting, and hien, being classifying terms, should form a separate word. Li conclusion, it may be stated that this system could only be carried out approximately as regards the proper names in the colonies and outside of the Empire.

    CHAPTER I GENERAL DIVISIONS AND FEATURES OF THE EMPIRE

    The possessions of the ruling dynasty of China,—that portion of the Asiatic continent which is usually called by geographers the Chinese Empire,—form one of the most extensive dominions ever swayed by a single power in any age, or any part of the world. Comprising within its limits every variety of soil and climate, and watered by large rivers, which serve not only to irrigate and drain it, but, by means of their size and the course of their tributaries, affording unusual facilities for intercommunication, it produces within its own borders everything necessary for the comfort, support, and delight of its occupants, who have depended very slightly upon the assistance of other climes and nations for satisfying their own wants. Its civilization has been developed under its own institutions; its government has been modelled without knowledge or reference to that of any other kingdom ; its literature has borrowed nothing from the genius or research of the scholars of other lands ; its language is unique in its symbols, its structure, and its antiquity ; its inhabitants are remarkable for their industry, peacefulness, numbers, and peculiar habits. The examination of such a people, and so extensive a country, can hardly fail of being both instructive and entertaining, and if rightly pursued, lead to a stronger conviction of the need of the precepts and sanctions of the Bible to the highest development of every nation in its personal, social, and political relations in this world, as well as to individual happiness in another. It is to be hoped, too, that at this date in the world’s history, there are many more than formerly, who desire to learn the condition and wants of others, not entirely for their own amusement and congratulation at their superior knowledge and advantages, but also to promote the well-being of their fellow-men, and impart liberally of the gifts they themselves enjoy. Those who desire to do this, will find that few families of mankind are more worthy of their greatest efforts than those comprised within the limits of the Chinese Empire ; while none stand in more need of the purifying, ennobling, and invigorating principles of our holy religion to develop and enforce their own theories of social improvement.

    ORIGIN OF THE NAME CHINA

    The origin of the name China has not yet been fully settled. The people themselves have now no such name for their country, nor is there good evidence that they ever did apply it to the whole land. The occurrence in the Laws of Manu and in the Mahaharata of the name China, applied to a land or people with whom the Hindus had intercourse in the twelfth century B.C., and who were probably the Chinese, throws the origin far back into the remotest times, where probability must take the place of evidence. The most credible account ascribes its origin to the family of Tsin, whose chief first obtained complete sway, about b.c. 250, over all the other feudal principalities in the land, and whose exploits rendered him famous in India, Persia, and other Asiatic states. His sept had, however, long been renowned in Chinese history, and previous to this conquest had made itself widely known, not only in China, but in other countries. The kingdom lay in the northwestern parts of the empire, near the Yellow River, and according to Visdelon, who has examined the subject, the family was illustrious by its nobility and power. ” Its founder was Taye, son of the emperor Chuen-hu. It existed in great splendor for more than a thousand years, and was only inferior to the royal dignity. Feitsz’, a prince of this family, had the superintendence of the stud of the emperor Hiao, b.c. 909, and as a mark of favor his majesty conferred on him the sovereignty of the city of Tsinchau in mesne tenure with the title of sub-tributary king. One hundred and twenty-two years afterwards, b.c. 770, Siangkwan, jh’t’it vol of Tsinchau (having by his bravery revenged the insults offered to the emperor Ping by the Tartars, who slew his father Yu), was created king in full tenure, and without limitation or exception. The same monarch, abandoning Si-ngan (then called Hao-king, the capital of his empire) to transport his seat to Lohyang, Siangkwan was able to make himself master of the large province of Sliensi, which had composed the proper kingdom of the emperor. The king of Tsin thus became very powerful, but though his fortune changed, he did not alter his title, retaining always that of the city of Tsinchau, which had been the foundation of his elevation. The kingdom of Tsin soon became celebrated, and being the place of the first arrival by land of people from western countries, it seems probable that those who saw no more of China than the realm of Tsin, extended this name to all the rest, and called the whole empire Tsin or Chin.”(D’Herbelot, Bibliotheqne Orientale, quarto edition, 1779, Tome IV., p. 8.Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, Vol. I., pp. xxxiv., Ixviii. Edkiius, Chinese Buddhism, p. 93.)

    This extract refers to periods long before the dethronement of the house of Chan by princes of Tsin ; the position of this latter principality, contiguous to the desert, and holding the passes leading from the valley of the Tarim across the desert eastward to China, renders the supposition of the learned Jesuit highly probable. The possession of the old imperial capital would strengthen this idea in the minds of the traders resorting to China from the West ; and when the same family did obtain paramount sway over the whole empire, and its head render himself celebrated by his conquests, and by building the Great Wall, the name Tsin was still more widely diffused, and regarded as the name of the country. The Malays and Arabians, whose vessels were early found between Aden and Canton, knew it as China, and probably introduced the name into Europe before 1500. The Hindus contracted it into Machin, from Maha-china, i.e., ‘Great China;’ and the first of these was sometiuies confounded with Manj’i^ a term used for the tribes in Yunnan. Tlius it appears that these and other nations of Asia have known the country or its people by no other terms than Jin., Chin, Sin, Since, or Tziniske. The Persian name Cathay, and its Russian form of Kitai, is of modern orio-in ; it is altered from Ki-tah, the race Avhieh ruled northern China in the tenth century, and is quite unknown to the people it designates. The Latin word Seres is derived from the Chinese word sz’ (silk), and doubtless first came into use to denote the people during the Ilan dynasty.

    VARIOUS DESIGNATIONS

    The Chinese have many names to designate themselves and the land they inhabit. One of the most ancient is Tien Ilia, meaning ‘ Beneath the Skj^,’ and denoting the AVorld ; another, almost as ancient, is /&’ Ilai, i.e., ‘ [all within] the Four Seas,’ while a third is (Vtunr/ Kivoh, oy ‘Middle Kingdom.’ This dates from the establishment of the Chan dynasty, about b.c.1150, when the imperial family so called its own special state in Honan because it was surrounded by all the others. The name was retained as the empire grew, and thus has strengthened the popular belief that it is really situated in the centre of the earth; Chn,)i<j Kioohjln, or ‘men of the Middle Kingdom,’ denotes the Chinese. All these names indicate the vanity and ignorance of the people respecting their geographical position and their rank among the nations ; they have not been alone in this foible, for the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had terms for their possessions which intimated their own ideas of their superiority ; while, too, the area of none of those monarchies, in their widest extent, ecpialled that of China Proper. The family of Tsin also established the custom, since continued, of calling the country by the luimc of the dynasty then reigning; but, wliilc the brief duration of that house of forty-four years was not long enough to give it much currency among the people, snccueeding dynasties, by their talents and prowess, imparted their own as permanent appellations to the people and country. The terms Ilan-jhi and JLoi-tsz’ {i.e., men of Ilan or sons of llan) are now in use by the people to denote themselves : the last also means a ”brave man.” Tangjin, or ‘Men of Tang,’ is quite as frequently heard iu the southern provinces, where the phrase Tang Shan, or ‘ Hills of Tang,’ denotes the whole country. The Buddhists of India called the land Chin-tan, or the ‘ Dawn,’ and this appellation has been used in Chinese writings of that sect.

    The present dynasty calls the empire Ta Tsing Kivoh, or * Great Pure Kingdom;’ but the people themselves have refused the corresponding term of Tsing-jin, or ‘ Men of Tsing.’ The empire is also sometimes termed Tsing Chau, i.e., ‘ [land of the] Pure Dynasty,’ by metonymy for the family that rules it. The term now frequently heard in western countries—the Celestial Empire^is derived from Tien Chan, i.e., ‘ Heavenly Dynasty,’ meaning the kingdom which the dynasty appointed by heaven rules over ; but the term Celestials, for the people of that kingdom, is entirely of foreign manufacture, and their language could with difficulty be made to express such a patronymic.

    The phrase Li Jlin, or ‘ Black-haired Pace,’ is a common appellation ; the expressions Ilira Yen, the ‘ Flowery Language,’ and Chung lima Kiooh, the ‘ Middle Flowery Kingdom,’ are also frequently used for the written language of the country, because the Chinese consider themselves to be among the most polished and civilized of all nations—which is the sense of hwa in these phrases. The phrase I^ui T”i, or ‘ Inner Land,’ is often employed to distinguish it from countries beyond their borders, regarded as the desolate and barbarous regions of the earth. lima Ilia (the Glorious Hia) is an ancient term for China, the Hia dynasty being the first of the series; Tung Tu, or ” Land of the East,” is a name used in Mohammedan writings alone.

    The present ruling dynasty has extended the limits of the empire far beyond what they were under the Ming princes, and nearly to their extent in the reign of Kublai, a.d. 1290. In 1840, its borders were well defined, reaching fi*om Sagalien I. on the north-east, in lat. 48° 10′ jS”. and long. 144° 50′ E., to Hainan I. in the China Sea, on the south, in lat. 18° 10′ X., and westward to the Belur-tag, in long. T4° E., inclosing a continuous area, estimated, after the most careful valuation by McCullcjch, at 5,300,000 square miles. The longest line which could be drawn in this vast region, from the south-western part of tli, bordering on Kokand, north-easterly to the sea of Okhotsk, is 3350 miles ; its greatest breadth is 2,100 miles, from the Outer Hing-an or Stanovoi Mountains to the peninsula of Luichau in Kwangtung :—the first measuring 71 degrees of longitude, and the last over 34 of latitude.

    Since that year the process of disintegration has been going on, and the cession of Hongkong to the British has been followed by greater partitions to Russia, which have altogether reduced it more than half a million of square miles on the north-east and west. Its limits on the western frontiers are still somewhat undefined. The greatest breadth is from Albazin on the Amur, nearly south to Hainan, 2150 miles ; and the longest line which can be drawn in it runs from Sartokh in Tibet, north-east to the junction of the Usuri River with the Amur.

    GENERAL DIVISIONS

    The form of the empire approaches a rectangle. It is

    bounded on the east and south-east by various arms and portions

    of the Pacific Ocean, beginning at the frontier of Corea,

    and called on European maps the gulfs of Liautung and Pechele,

    the Yellow Sea, channel of Formosa, China Sea, and Gulf

    of Tonquin. Cochinchina and Burmali border on the provinces

    of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan, in the south-west;

    but most of the region near that frontier is inhabited by halfindependent tribes of Laos, Ivakyens, Singphos, and others.

    The southern ranges of the Himalaya separate Assam, Butan,

    Sikkim, Nipal and states in India from Tibet, whose western

    border is bounded by the nominally dependent country of

    Ladak, or if that be excluded, by the Kara-kormn Mountains.

    The kingdoms or states of Cashmere, Badakshan, Kokand, and

    the Kirghls steppe, lie upon the western frontiers of Little

    Tibet, Ladak, and 111′, as far north as the Russian border ; the

    high range of the Belur-tag or Tsung-ling separates the former

    countries from the Cliiiiese territory in this quarter. Russia is

    conterminous with China from the Kirghis steppe along the

    Altai chain and Kenteh range to the junction of the Argun

    and the Amur, from whence the latter river and its tributary,

    the Usuri, form the dividing line to the border of Corea, a

    total stretch of 5,300 miles. The circuit of tiie whole empire

    is 14,000 miles, or considerably over half the circumference of

    the globe. These measurements, it must be remembered, are

    of the roughest character. The coast line froiri the mouth of

    the river Yaluh in Corea to that of the Annam in Cochinchina

    is not far from 4,400 miles. This immense country comprises

    about one-third of the continent, and nearly one-tenth of the

    habitable part of the globe ; and, next to Russia, is the largest

    empire which has existed on the earth.

    It will, perhaps, contribute to a better comprehension of the

    area of the Chinese Empire to compare it with some other countries.

    Russia is nearly 6,500 miles in its greatest length, about 1,500 in its average breadth, and measures 8,369,144(Or 21,759,974 sq. km.—Gotha Almanack.) square miles, or one-seventh of the land on the globe. The United States of America extends about 3,000 miles from Monterey on the Pacific in a north-easterly direction to Maine, and

    about 1700 from Lake of the Woods to Florida. The area of

    this territory is now estimated at 2,936,166 square miles, with

    a coast line of 5,120 miles. The area of the British Empire

    is not far from 7,647,000 square miles, but the boundaries of

    some of the colonies in Hindostan and South Africa are not

    definitely laid down ; the superficies of the two colonies of

    Australia and Kew Zealand is nearly equal to that of all the

    other possessions of the British crown.

    The Chinese themselves divide the empire into three principal

    parts, rather by the different form of government in each,

    than by any geographical arrangement.

    I. The Eighteen Provinces^ including, with trivial additions, the country conquered by the Manchus in 1664.
    II. 3fmichuria, or the native country of the Manchus, lying north of the Gulf of Liautung as far as the Amur and west of the Usuri River.
    III. Colonial Possessions, including Mongolia, 111 (comprising Sungaria and Eastern Turkestan), Koko-uor, and Tibet.

    The first of these divisions alone is that to which other nations have given the name of China, and is the only part which is entirely settled by the Chinese. It lies on the eastern slope of the high table-land of Central Asia, in the south-east ern angle of the continent ; and for beauty of scenery, fertility of- soil, salubrity of climate, magnificent and navigable rivers, and variety and abundance of its productions, M’ill compare with any portion of the globe. The native name for this portion, as distinguished from the rest, is Shih-jxih Sang or the ‘ Eighteen Provinces,’ but the people themselves usually mean this part

    alone by the term Chung Juvoh. The area of the Eighteen

    Provinces is estimated by ‘McCulloch at 1,348,870 square miles,

    but if the full area of the provinces of Kansuh and Chihli be

    included, this figure is not large enough ; the usual computation

    is 1,297,999 square miles ; Mahe Brun reckons it at

    1,482,091 square miles ; but the entire dimensions of the Eighteen

    Provinces, as the Chinese define them, cannot be much

    under 2,000,000 square miles, the excess lying in the extension

    of the two provinces mentioned above. This part, consequently,

    is rather more than two-fifths of the area of tlie whole empire.

    MOUNTAIN CHAINS

    The old limits are, however, more natural, and being better known may still be retained. They give nearly a square form to the provinces, the length from north to south being 1,474

    miles, and the breadth 1,355 miles ; but the diagonal line from

    the north-east corner to Yunnan is 1,009 miles, and tliat from

    Amoy to the north-western part of Kansuh is 1,557 miles.

    China Proper, therefore, measures about seven times the size of

    France, and fifteen times that of the United Kingdom ; it is

    nearly half as large as all Europe, which is 3,050,000 square

    miles. Its area is, however, nearer that of all the States of the

    American Union lying east of the Mississippi Piver, with Texas,

    Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa added ; these all cover 1,355,309

    square miles. The position of the two countries facing the

    western borders of great oceans is another point of likeness,

    which involves considerable similarity in climate ; there is

    moreover a further reseml)lance between tlie size of the provinces

    in China and those of the newer States.

    Before proceeding to define the three great basins into which

    China may be divided, it will give a better idea of the whole

    subject to speak of the mountain ranges which lie within and

    near or along the limits of the country. The latter in them

    selves form almost an entire wall inclosing and defining the old

    empire ; the principal exceptions being the western boundaries

    of Yunnan, the border between Hi and the Kirghis steppe, and

    the trans-Anmr region.

    Commencing at the north-eastern corner of the basin of the

    Amur above its mouth, near lat. 56° N., are the first sunmiits

    of the Altai range, which during its long course of 2,000 miles

    takes several names ; this range forms the northern limit of the

    table-land of Central Asia. At its eastern part, the range is

    called Stanovoi by the Russians, and Wai Jling-an by the Chinese

    ; the first name is applied as far west as the confluence of

    the Songari with the Amur, beyond which, north-west as far

    as lake Baikal, the Russians call it the Daourian Mountains.

    The distance from the lake to the ocean is about 600 miles, and

    all within Russian limits. Beyond lake Baikal, westward, the

    chain is called the Altai, i.e.^ Golden Mountains, and sometimes

    Kinshan, having a similar meaning. Near the head-waters of

    the river Selenga this range separates into two nearly parallel

    systems running east and west. The southern one, which lies

    mostly in Mongolia, is called the Tangnu, and rises to a much

    liigher elevation than the northern spur. The Tangnu Mountains

    continue under that name on the Chinese maps in a southwesterly

    direction, but this chain properly joins the Tien shan,

    or Celestial Mountains, in the province of Cobdo, and continues

    until it again unites with the Altai further west, near the

    junction of the Kirghis steppe with China and Russia. The

    length of the whole chain is not far from 2,500 miles, and

    except near the Tshulyshman River, does not, so far as is

    known, rise to the snow line, save in detached peaks. The

    average elevation is supposed to be in the neighborhood of

    7,000 feet ; most of it lies between latitudes 47° and 52° X.,

    largely covered with forests and susceptible of cultivation.

    The next chain is the Belur-tag, Tartash ling, in Chinese

    Tsungling, Onion Mountains, or better. Blue Mountains, so called from their distant hue. (Klaproth (MemoireH sur VAsie, Tome II., p. 295) observes that the name is derived from the abundance of onions found upon tliese mountains. M. Abel-Remusat prefers to attribute it to the “bluish tint of onions.”) This range lies in the south-west of Songaria, separating that territory from Badakshan ; it commences about lat. 50° N., nearly at right angles with the Tien shan, and extends south, rising to a great height, though little is known of it. It may be considered as the connecting link between the Tien shan and the Kwanlun ; or rather, both this and the latter

    may be considered as proceeding from a mountain knot, detached

    from the llindu-kush, in the south-western part of Turkestan

    called Pushtikhur, the Belur-tag coming from its northern

    side, while the Kwanlun issues from its eastern side, and extends

    across the middle of the table-land to Koko-nor, there diverging

    into two branches. This mountain knot lies between latitudes

    36° and 37° Is., and longitudes 70° and 74° E. The Himalaya

    range proceeds from it south-easterly, along the southern frontier

    of Tibet, till it bi-eaks up near the head-waters of the

    Yangtsz’, Salween, and other rivers between Tibet, Burmali,

    and Yunnan, thus nearlj’ completing the inland fi’ontier of the

    empire. A small spur from the Yun ling, in the west of Yunnan,

    in the country of the Singphos and borders of Assam,

    may also be regarded as forming part of the boundary line.

    The C/ian(/-j)eh shan lies between the head-waters of the Yaluh

    and Toumen rivers, along the Corean frontier, forming a

    spur of the lower range of the Siliota or SUi-hlh-teh Mountains,

    east of the Usuri.

    Within the confines of the empire are four large chains,

    some of the peaks in their course rising to stupendous elevations,

    but the ridges generally falling below the snow line.

    The first is the Tien shan or Celestial Mountains, called Tengkiri

    b}’ the Mong(jls, and sometimes erroneously Alak Mountains.

    This chain begins at the northern extremity of the

    Belur-tag in lat. 40° N., or more properly comes in from the

    west, and extends from west to east between longitudes 76° and

    90° E., and generally along the 22° of north latitude, dividing

    Ili into the Northern and Southern Circuits. Its western portion

    is called Muz-tag ; the Muz-daban, about long. 79° E., between

    Kuldja and Aksu, is where the road from north to south

    runs across, leadino; over a hi”;h glacier above the snow line.

    East of this occurs a mass of peaks anK)ng the highest in Central

    Asia, called Bogdoula; and at the eastern end, near Ur

    THE TIEN SHAN AND KWANLUX RANGES. 11

    Qiiitsi, as it declines to the desert, are traces of volcanic action

    seen in solfataras and spaces covered with ashes, but no active

    volcanoes ai’C now known. The doubtful volcano of Pi shan,

    between the glacier and the Bogdo-ula, is the only one reported

    in continental China. The Tien shan end abruptly at their

    eastern point, w-here the ridge meets the desert, not far from

    the meridian of Barknl in Kansuh, though Humboldt considers

    the hills in l^Iongolia a continuation of the range eastward,

    as far as the Kui Iling-an. The space between the

    Altai and Tien shan is very nuich broken up by mountainous

    spurs, which may be considered as connecting links of them

    both, though no regular chain exists. The western prolongation

    of the Tien shan, under the name of tlie Muz-tag, extends

    from the high pass only as far as the junction of the Belurtag,

    beyond which, and out of the Chinese Empire, it continues

    nearly west, south of the river Sihon toward Kodjend, under

    the names of Ak-tag and Asferah-tag ; this part is covered with

    perpetual snow.

    Nearly parallel with the Tien shan in part of its course is

    the Kan shan, Ivwanlun or Koulkun range of mountains, also

    called Tien Chu or ‘ Celestial Pillar ‘ by Chinese geographers.

    The Ivwanlun starts from the Pushtikhur knot in lat. 3G° X.,

    and runs along easterly in nearly that parallel through the

    whole breadth of the tabledand, dividing Tibet from the desert

    of Gobi in part of its course. About the middle of its extent,

    not far from long. 00° E., it divides into several ranges,

    wliich decline to the south-east through Ivoko-nor and Sz’cliuen,

    under the names of the Bayan-kara, the Burklian-buddha,

    the Shuga and the Tanghi Mountains,—each more or less

    parallel in their general south-east course till they merge

    with the Yun ling {i.e., Cloudy Mountains), about lat. 33° !N.

    Another group bends northerly, beyond the sources of the Yellow

    Piver, and under the names of Altyn-tag, Xan shan, In

    shan, and Ala shan, passes through Ivansuh and Shensi to join

    the Xui IIino;-an, not far fi-om the o-reat bend of the Yellow

    River. Some portion of the country between the extremities

    of these two ranges is less elevated, but no plains occur, though

    the parts north of Kansuh, where the Great Wall runs, are rugged and unfertile. The large tract between the basins of the Tarini River and that of the Yaru-tsano . i, including the Kwanlun range, is mostly occupied by the desert of Gobi, and is now one of the least known parts of the globe. The mineral treasures of the Kwanlun are probably great, judging from the many precious stones ascribed to it ; this desolate region is the favorite arena for the monsters, fairies, genii, and other beings of Chinese legendary lore, and is the Olympus where the Buddhist and Taoist divinities hold their mystic

    sway, strange voices are lieard, and marvels accomplished.*

    From near the head-waters of the Yellow Iliver, the four ridges

    run south-easterly, and converge hard by the confines of Burmth

    and Yunnan, within an area about one hundred miles in breadth.

    The Yun ling range constitutes the western frontier of Sz’chuen,

    and going south-east into Yunnan, thence turns eastward, under

    the names of Kan ling, Mei ling, “Wu-i shan, and other local

    terms, passing through Kweichau, Hunan, and dividing Kwangtunoj

    and Fuhkien from Iviano-si and Chehkiano;, bends northeast

    till it reaches the sea opposite Chusan. One or two spurs

    branch off north from this range through Hunan and Iviangsi,

    as far as the Yangtsz’, but they are all of moderate elevation,

    covered with forests, and susceptible of cultivation. The descent

    from the Siueh ling or Bayan-kara Mountains, and the

    western part of the Yun ling, to the Pacific, is ^’ery gradual.

    The Chinese give a list of fifty peaks lying in the provinces

    w^hich are covered with snow for the whole ur part of the

    year, and describe glaciers on several of them.

    Another less extensive ridge branches off nearly due east

    from the Bayan-kara Mountains in Koko-nor, and forms a moderately

    high range of mountains between the Yellow Iliver and

    Yangtsz’ kiang as far as long. 112° E., on the western borders

    of Kganhwui ; this range is called Ivo-tsing shan, and Peh

    ling {i.e., Xorthern Mountains), on European maps. These two

    chains, viz., the Yun ling—with its continuation of the Mei

    ling—and the Peh ling, with their numerous offsets, render the

    whole of the western })art of C’hina very imeven.

    ‘ Compare Reimisiit, Ilistaire de la VUle de KJiotan, p. (ir), ff.

    HING-AN AND HIMALAYA KANGES. IB

    On the east of Mongolia, and cominencini!; near the hend of

    the Yellow Ilivei”, or i-ather forming a contiiniation of the

    range in Shansi, is the Nui lling-an ling or Sialkoi, called also

    kSoyorti range, which runs north-east on the west side of the

    basin of the Amur, till it reaches the Wai lling-an, in lat.

    56° N. The sides of the ridge toward the desert are nearly

    naked, but the eastern acclivities are AV’ell wooded and fertile.

    On the confines of Corea a spur strikes off westward through

    Shingking, called Kolmin-shanguin alin bj the Manchus, and

    Chang-pell shan {i.e., Long White Mountains) by the Chinese.

    Between the Sialkoi and Siliota are two smaller ridges defining

    the basin of the Nonni River on the east and west. Little is

    known of the elevation of these chains except that they are

    low in comparison with the great \vestern ranges, and under the

    snow line.

    The fourth system of mountains is the Himalaya, which

    bounds Tibet on the south, while the Kwanlun and Burkhan

    Buddha range defines it on the north. A small range runs

    through it from west to east, connected with the Himalaya by

    a high table-land, which surrounds the lakes Manasa-rowa and

    Ravan-hrad, and near or in which are the sources of the Indus,

    Ganges, and Yaru-tsangbu. This range is called Gang-dis-ri

    and Zang, and also Kailasa in Dr. Buchanan’s map, and its

    eastern end is separated from the Y^un ling b}’ the narrow valley

    of the Y’angtsz’, which here flows from north to south. The

    countr}’ north of the Gang-dis-ri is divided into two portions by a

    spur which extends in a north-west direction as far as the Kwanhm,’

    called the Kara-korum Mountains. On the western side

    of this range lies Ladak, di-ained by one of the largest branches

    of the Indus, and although included in the imperial domains

    on Chinese maps, has long been separated from imperial cognizance.

    The Kara-korum Mountains may therefore be taken

    as composing part of the boundary of the empire ; Chinese

    geographers regard them as forming a continuation of the Tsung ling.

    ‘ One among many native names given to tlie Kwanlun, or Koulkun Mountains, is Tien chv. ^ .^^ ‘Heaven’s Pillar,’ wliieli corresponds precise!)’ with the Atlas of China.

    This hasty sketch of the mountain chains in and around China needs to be further illustrated by Punipelly’s outlines of their general course and elevation in what he suitably terms the Sinian System^ applied ” to that extensive northeast-southwest system of upheaval which is traceable through nearly all Eastern Asia, and to which this portion of the continent owes its most salient features.” lie has developed this system in the liesearches in China, Moncfolla and Ja^Kin, issued by the Smithsonian Institution in 186G. The mountains of China correspond in many respects to the Appalachian system in America, and its revolution probably terminated soon after the deposition of

    the Chinese coal measures. Mr. Pumpelly describes the principal

    anticlinal axes of elevation in China Proper, beginning with the Barrier Range, extending through the northern part of Cliihli and Shansi, where it trends AV.S.W., prolonging across the Yellow River at Pao-teh, and hence S.W. through Shansi and Kansuh, coinciding with the watershed between the bend of that river, which traverses it through an immense gorge.

    The next axis east begins at the Tushih Gate, and goes S.W. to the Xankau Pass, both of them in the Great Wall, and thence across Shansi to the elbow of the Yellow River, and onward to Western Sz’chuen, forming the watershed within the bend of the Yangtsz’. In the regions between these two axes are found coal deposits. A central axis succeeds this in Shansi, crossing the Yangtsz’ near Ichang, and passing on S.W. through Kweichau to the Kan ling ; going X.E., it )-uns through IIonaTi and subsides as it gets over the Yellow River, till in Shantung and the Regent’s Sword it rises higher and higher as it stretches on to the Chang-peh shan in Manchuria, and the ridge between the Songai-i and Usuri rivers. Between the last

    two ranges lie the great coal, iron, and salt deposits in the

    provinces, and each side of the central axis huge troughs and

    basins occur, such as the valley of the Yangtsz’ in Yunnan, the

    Great Plain in Nganhwui and Chihli, the Gulf of Pechele, and

    the basins of the Liao and Songari rivers.

    The coast axis of elevation is indicated by ranges of granitic mountains between Kiangsi and Kiangsu on the north, and Chehkiang and Fuhkien on the south, extending S.W. through pumpelly’s sinian system.

    15 Kwangtung into the Yuii ling, and N.E. into the Chusan Arcliipelago, thence across to Corea and the Sihota Mountains east of the Usuri River. An outlying granitic range, reaching from Hongkong north-easterly to Wanchau, and IS.W. to Hainan Island, marks a fifth axis of elevation.

    Crossing these anticlinal axes are three ranges, coming into China Proper from the west in such a manner as to prove highly beneficial to its structure. The northern is apparently a continuation of the Bayan-kara Mountains in a S.E. direction into Kansuh, and south of the river Wei into Honan, inider the name of the Hiung slian or ‘ Bear Mountains.’ The centre is an offset from this, going across the north of Hupeh. The southern appears to be a prolongation of the IHmalaya into Yunnan and Kwangsi, making the watershed between the Yangtsz’ and Pearl river basins.

    Between the Tien slian and the Kwanlun range on the southwest,

    and reaching to the Sialkoi on the north-east, in an oblique

    direction, lies the great desert of Gobi or Sha-moh, both words

    signifying a ivaterless j)laln^ or sandy floats.’ The entire length

    of this waste is more than 1,800 miles, but if its limits are

    extended to the Belnr-tag and the Sialkoi, at its western and

    eastern extremity, it will reach 2,200 miles ; the avei-age breadth

    is between 350 and 400 miles, subject, however, to great variations.

    The area within the mountain ranges which define it is

    over a million square miles, and few of the streams occurring

    in it find their way to the ocean. The whole of this tract is not

    a barren desert, though no part of it can lay claim to more than

    comparative fertility ; and the great altitude of most portions

    seems to be as much the cause of its stei-ility as the nature of

    the soil. Some portions have relapsed into a waste because of

    the destruction of the inhabitants.

    The M^estern portion of Gobi, lying east of the Tsung ling

    and north of the Kwanlun, between long. 76° and 94° E., and

    in lat. 36° and 41° N., is about 1,000 miles in length, and

    between 300 and 400 wide. Along the southern side of the

    ‘ Another interpretation makes Gobi (Kopi) to apply to the stony, while Sha-moh denotes the sandy tracks of this desert, in which case the name would more correctly read, ” Great Desert of Gobi and Sha-moh.”

    Tien shan extends a strip of arable land from 50 to SO miles in width, producing grain, pastni’age, cotton, and other things, and in which lie nearly all the Mohammedan cities and forts of the JVcui Lu. The Tarim and its branches flow eastward into Lob-nor, through the best part of this ti-act, from 76° to 89° E. : and along; the banks of the Khoten River a road runs from Yarkand to that city, and thence to Il’lassa. Here the desert is comparatively narrow. This part is called Ilan ha I, or ‘ Mirao;e Sea,’ by the Chinese, and is sometimes known as the desert of Lob nor. The remainder of this region is an almost unnntigated waste, and north of Koko-nor assumes its most terrific appearance, being covered with dazzling stones, and rendered insufferably hot by the reflection of the sun’s rays from these and numerous movable mountains of sand. Kor in winter is the climate milder or more endurable. ” The icy winds of Siberia, the almost constantly unclouded sky, the bare saline soil, and its great altitude above the sea, combine to make the Gobi, or desert of Mongolia, one of the coldest countries in the whole of Asia.” *

    The sandhills —kmi/^jchi, as the Mongols call them—appear north of the Ala Shan and along the Yellow River, and when the wind sets them in motion they, gradually travel before it, and form a great danger to travelers who try to cross them.

    One Chinese author says, ” There is neither watei-, herb, man,

    nor smoke ;—if there is no smoke, there is absolutely nothing.”

    The limits of the actual desert are not easily defined, for near

    the base of the mountain ranges, streams and vegetation are

    usually found.

    Near the meridian of Hami, long. 9-1° E., the desert is narrowed to about 150 miles. The road from Kiayii kwan to Hami runs across this narrow part, and travellers find water at various places in their route. It divides Gobi into two parts—the desert of Lob-nor and the Great Gobi—the former being about 4,500 feet elevation, and the latter or eastern not higher than 4,000 feet. The borders of Kansuh now extend across this tract to the foot of the Tien shan. ‘Col. Prejevalskj, Travelis in Mongolia, i’U-. Vul. II., p. 22. London, 187(5.

    THE DESERT OF GOBI. 17

    The eastern part, or Great Gobi, stretches from the eastern declivity of the Tien shan, in long. 94° to 120° E., and about lat. 40° iS^., as far as the Inner Iling-aii. Its width between the Altai and the In shan range varies from 500 to 700 miles. Through the middle of this tract extends the depressed valley properly called Sha-moh, from 150 to 200 miles across, and whose lowest depression is from 2,000 to 2,000 feet above the sea. Sand almost covers the surface of this valley, generally level, but sometimes rising into low hills. The road from Urga to Kalgan, crossing this tract, is watered during certain seasons of the year, and clothed with grass. It is 660 miles, and forty-seven posts are placed along the route. The crow, lai-k, and sand-«:;rouse are abundant on this road, the first beins a real pest, from its pilfering habits. Such vegetation as occurs is scanty and stunted, affording indiiferent pasture, and the M-ater in the small streams and lakes is brackish and unpotable. North and south of the Sha-moh the surface is gravelly and sometimes rocky, the vegetation more vigorous, and in many places affords good pasturages for the herds of the Kalkas tribes. In those portions bordering on or included in Chihli province, among the Tsakhars, agricultural labors are repaid, and millet, oats,

    and barley are produced, though not to a great extent. Trees

    are met with on the water-courses, but not to form forests.

    This region is called tsaii-ti, or Grassland, and maintains large

    herds of sheep and cattle. It extends more or less northward

    towards Siberia. The Etsina is the largest inland stream in

    this division of Gobi, but on its north-eastern borders are some

    large tributaries of the Annir. On the south of the Sialkoi

    range the desert-lands reach nearly to the Chang-peh shan,

    about five degrees beyond those mountains. The general features

    of this portion of the earth’s surface are less forbidding

    than Sahara, but more so than the steppes of Siberia or the

    pampas of Buenos Ayres. The whole of Gobi is regarded by

    Pumpelly as having formed a portion of a great ocean, which,

    in comparatively recent geological times, extended south to the

    Caspian and Black Seas, and between the Ural and Inner Hing an

    Mountains, and was drained off by an upheaval whose traces

    and effects can be detected in many parts. ” It appears to me,”

    Vol. I.—2

    he adds, ” that the ancient physical geography of this region,

    and the effects of its elevation, present one of the most important

    fields of exploration.” It will no doubt soon be more fully

    explored. Baron Richthofen describes Central Asia as properly

    a shallow trough, 1,800 miles long and about 400 miles wude,

    whose bottom is about 1,800 feet above the ocean ; its ancient

    shore-line extended between the Kwanlun and Tien slian ranges

    on the west, from 5,000 to 10,000 feet high, and gradually falling

    to 3,600 feet in its eastern shore. This is the Ilan-ha’i •

    eastward is Sha-nioh.^ and outside of both these wildernesses

    are the peripheral regions, where the waters flow to the ocean,

    carrying their silt, the erosions from the mountains. Inside of

    the shore-line nothing reaches the oceans, and these results of

    degradation are washed or blown into the valleys, and the

    country is buried in its own dust.’

    The rivers of China are her glory, and no country can

    compare with her for natural facilities of inland navigation.

    The people themselves consider that portion of geography relating

    to their rivers as the most interesting, and give it the

    greatest attention. The four largest rivers in the empire are the

    Yellow River, the Yangtsz’, the Amur, and the Tarim ; the

    Yaru-tsangbu also runs more than a thousand miles within its

    borders.

    The Hwang ho, or ‘ Yellow River,’ rises in the plain of Odontala,

    called in Chinese Shuj-suh Juil, or ‘ Starry Sea,’ from the

    numerous springs or lakelets found there between the Shuga

    and Bayan-kara Mountains, in lat. 35^°, and about long. 96° E.,

    and Tiot a hundred miles from the Yangtsz’. The Chinese popularly

    believe that the Yellow River runs underground from

    Lob-nor to Sing-suh liai. In this region are two lakes—the

    Dzaring and Oling, which are its fountains ; and its course is

    very crooked after it leaves them. It turns first south 30 miles,

    then east 160, then nearly west about 120, winding through

    gorges of the Kwanlun; the river then flows north-east and

    east to Lanchau in Ivansuh, having gone about 700 miles in its

    devious line. From Lanchau it turns northward along the

    ‘ Von Richthofen, China. Ergebnisse eigener Heisen, Band I. Berlin, ISTt,

    THE YELLOW RIVEE. 19

    Great Wall for 430 miles, till deflected eastward by the fn shan,

    on the edge of the plateau, and incloses the country of the

    Ortous Mongols within this great bend. A spur of the Peh

    ling forces it south, about long. 110° E., between Shansi and

    Shensi, for some 500 miles, till it enters the Great Plain,

    having run 1,130 miles from Lanchau. Through this loess region

    it becomes tinged with the soil which imparts both color

    and name to it. At the northern bend it separates in several

    small lakes and branches, and during this part of its course,

    for more than 500 miles, receives not a single stream of any

    size, while it is still so rapid, in descending from the plateau,

    as to demand much care when crossing it by boats. At the

    south-western corner of Shansi this river meets its largest

    tributary, the Wei, which comes in from the westward after

    a course of 400 miles, and is more available as a navigable

    stream than any other of the aflHuents. The area of the whole

    basin is less than that of the Yangtsz’, and may be estimated

    at about 475,000 square miles ; though the source of this

    stream is only 1,290 miles in a direct line from its mouth,

    its numerous windings prolong its course to nearly double that

    distance.

    The great differences of level in winter and summer have

    always made this river nearly useless, except as a drain ; while

    the effect of the long-continued deposit of silt along its lower

    level course has finally choked the mouth altogether. This

    remarkable result has been hastened, no doubt, by the dikes

    built along the banks to the east of Kaifung, which thus forced

    the floods to fill up the channel, and pushed the waters back

    over 500 miles to Honan-fu. Here the land is low, and the

    refluent waters gradually worked their way through marshes

    and creeks into the river Wei on the north bank, and thus

    found a north-east ‘ channel into the Canal and the Ta-tsing

    River, till they reached the Gulf of Pechele. A small part of

    these floods have perhaps gone south into the head waters of

    the river Hwai, and thence into Hung-tsih Lake ; but that lake

    has shrivelled, like its great feeder, and all its waters flow into

    the Yangtsz’. The history of the Yellow River furnishes a conclusive

    argument against diking a river’s banks to restrain its floods. It lias now reverted to the channel it occupied about fourteen centuries ago.’

    Far more tranquil and useful is its rival, the Yangtsz’ kiang,

    called also simply Kiaivj or Ta kiang, the ‘ River,’ or ‘ Great

    River.’ It is often erroneously named on western maps, Kyang

    Ku, which merely means ‘ mouth of the river.’ The sources

    of the Kiang ai’e in the Tangla Mountains and the Kwanlun

    range, and are placed on native maps in three streams flowing

    from the southern side of the Bayan-kara, This has been

    partly confirmed by Col. Prejevalsky. In January, 1873, he

    reached the Murui-ussu (Tortuous River) in lat. 35°, long. 94°,

    at its junction with the Ts^apchitai, the northern of the three

    branches, and found it 750 feet wide at that season. In spring,

    the river’s bed there is filled up a mile wide. Its course thence

    is south-east, receiving three other streams, all of which may be

    considered as its head-waters. All their channels are over ten

    thousand feet above the sea, but the ranges near them are under

    the snow-line. There is no authentic account of its course from

    this union till it joins the Yalung kiang in Sz’chuen, a distance

    of nearly 1,300 miles ; but Chinese maps indicate a southeasterly

    direction through the gorges of the Yun ling, till it

    bursts out from the mountains in lat. 20° IST., where it turns

    north-east. During nmcli of this distance it bears the name of

    the Po-lai-tsz’. The Yalung River rises very near the Yellow

    River, and runs parallel with the Kiang in a valley further east,

    flowing upwards of 600 miles before they join. Great rafts

    of timber are floated down both these streams, for sale at

    the towns furtlier east, but no large boats are seen on them

    before they leave the mountains. The town of Batang, in

    Sz’chuen, on the road from Il’lassa, is the first large place on

    the river. The main trunk is called Kin sha kiang {I.e., Goldensand

    River), until it receives the Yalung in the southern part

    of Sz’chuen, which the Chinese there regard as the principal

    stream of the two. Beyond the junction, the united river is

    called Ta kiang as far as Wuchang, in Ilupeh, beyond which

    ‘ Report by Dr. W. A. P. Martin in Journal of N. C. Branch of R A.

    Society, Vol. III., pp. 33-38 ; 1860. Same journal, Vol. IV., pp. 80-86 ; 1867,-

    Notes by Ney Elias. Pumpelly’s Researches, 1866, chap, v., pp. 41-51

    THE YANGTSZ’ KIANG. 21

    the people know it also as the Cliang kiang, or ‘Long Tliver.’

    They do not often call it Yangtsz’, which is properly applied

    only to the reach from Xanking ont to sea, which lay within

    the old region of Yangchan. This name has been erroneously

    written in Chinese, and thence translated ‘ Son of the Ocean,’

    The French often call it the Fleuve Bleu, but the Chinese have

    no such name. Its general course from AYuchang is easterly,

    receiving various tributaries on both shores, until it discharges

    its waters at Tsungming Island, by two mouths, in hit, 32° N,,

    more than 1,850 miles from its mouth in a direct line, but flowing

    nearly 3,000 miles in all its windings.’

    One of the largest and most useful of its tributaries in its

    lower course is the Ivan kiang in Kiangsi, which empties

    through the Poyang lake, and continues the transverse communication

    from north to south, connecting with the Grand

    Canal. The Tungting lake receives the Siang and Yuen, which

    drain the northern sides of the Xan ling in Ilunan ; and west

    of them is the Kungtan or Wu, which comes in with its

    surplus waters from Kweichau. These are on the south ; the

    Ilan in Ilupeh, and the Kialing, Min, and Loh in Sz’chuen, are

    the main aifluents on the north, contributing the drainage

    south of the Peli ling. The Grand Canal comes in opposite

    Chinkiang, and from thence the deep channel, able to carry the

    largest men-of-war on its bosom, finds its way to the Pacific.

    No two rivers can be more unlike in their general features than

    these two mighty streams. While the Yellow Piver is unsteady,

    the Yangtsz’ is uniform and deep in its lower course,

    and available for rafts from Batang in the western confines of

    Sz’chuen, and for boats from beyond Tungchuen in Yunnan,

    more than 1,700 miles from its mouth. Its great body and

    depth afford ample I’oom for ocean steam-ships 200 miles, as far

    as Xanking, where in some places no bottom could be found at

    twenty fathoms, while the banks are not so low^ as to be often

    injured by the freshets, even when the flood is over thirty feet.

    ‘ See the account of Pere Laribe’s voyage on this river in 1843, Annates de

    la Propagation de la Foi, Tome XVII., pp. 207, 286, ff. Five Months on the

    Tang-tsze, by Capt. Thos.W. Blakiston ; London, 1862. Pumpelly’s Researches^chap. ii. , pp. 4-10. Capt. Gill, The River of Golden Sand.

    At Pingslian above Siicliau in Sz’chnen, 1,550 miles from its month, Blakiston reckons the river to be 1,500 feet above tidewater, which gives an average fall of 13 inches to a geographical mile ; the inclination is increased to 19 inches in some portions, and it is this force which carries the silt of this stream ont to sea, bnt which is wanting in the Yellow River. The fall of the Yangtsz’ is nearly donble that of the Nile and Amazon, and half that of the Mississippi. The amount of water discharged is estimated at 500,000 cubic feet a second at Ichang, about 700 miles up, and it may reasonably be concluded that at Tsungming it discharges in times of flood a million cubic feet per second. Barrow calculated the discharge of the Yellow River in 1798 to be 11,610 cubic feet per second, when the current ran seven miles an hour. Xo river in the world exceeds the Yangtsz’ for arrangement of subsidiary streams, which render the whole basin accessible as far as the Yalung. “When a ship-canal has been dug around the gorges and rapids between Ichang and Kwei, steam-vessels can ascend nearly two thousand miles. The area of its basin is estimated at 548,000 square miles ; and from its central course, and the number of provinces through which it 2:)asses, it has been termed the Girdle of China ; while for its size, perennial and ample supply of water, and accessibility for navigation, it ranks with the great rivers of the world.’

    Besides these two notable rivers, numerous others empty

    into the ocean along the coast from Hainan to the Amur, three

    of which drain large tracts of country, and afford access to

    many populous cities and districts. The third basin is that

    south of the I^an ling to the ocean ; it is drained chiefly by the

    Chu kiang, and its form is much less regular than those of the

    Yellow River and Yangtsz’. The Chu kiang or Pearl River,

    like most of the rivers in China, has many names during its

    course, and is formed by three principal branches, respectively

    called East, North, and West rivers, according to the quarter

    from whence they come. The last is by far the largest, and all

    ‘ Staunton’s Emhnssy, Vol. III., p. 233. Blakiston’s Yang-tsze, p. 294, etc

    Chinese Repodtoru^ Vol. II., p. 316,

    LAKES OF CHINA. 2^\

    of them are navigal)le most of their length. They disembogue

    togetlier at Canton, and drain a region of not nuich less than

    130,000 S(jiiare miles, being all the conntr}- east of the Ynn ling

    and south of the Nan ling ranges. The rivers in Yunnan, for

    the most part, empty into the Salween, Saigon, Meikon, and

    other streams in Coehinehina. The Min, which flows by Fnhchau,

    the Tsili, upon which Xingpo lies, the Tsientang, leading

    up to Hangchau, and the Pei ho, or White River, emptying into

    the Gulf of Pechele, are the most considerable among these

    lesser outlets in the provinces ; while the Liau ho and Yaliluh

    kiang, discharging into the Gulf of Liautung, are the only two

    that deserve mention in Southern Manchuria. The difference

    between the number of river-mouths cutting the Chinese coast

    and that of the United States is very striking, resulting from

    the diiferent direction of the mountain chains in the interior.

    The lah’s of China are comparatively few and small ; all

    those in the provinces of any size lie within the Plain, and are

    connected with the two.great rivers. The largest is tlie Tungting

    in Ilunan, about 220 miles in circumference, tlirough

    Avliich the waters of the Siang and Yuen rivers flow, and fill

    its channels and beds according to the season ; it is now the silted-

    up bed of a former inland sea in Ilupeh, lying on both sides

    of the Yangtsz’, and through which countless lakes, creeks, and

    canals form a navigable network between that river and the

    Han. The lake receives the silt as the tributaries flow on

    through it, and discharge themselves along the deep outlet

    near Yohchau ; this depression altogether is about 200 miles

    long and 80 broad. About 320 miles eastward lies the Poyang

    Lake in Kiangsi, which also discharges the surplus waters of

    the Kan into the Yangtsz’. It is nearly 90 miles long, and

    about 20 in breadth, inclosing within its bosom many beautiful

    and populous islets. The scenery around this lake is highly

    picturesque, and its trade and flsheries are inore important

    than those of the Tungting. The Yangtsz’ receives the waters

    of several other lakes as it approaches the ocean, the largest

    of which are the Ta liu or ‘ Great Lake ‘ near Suchau, and the Tsau hu, lying on the northern bank, between Nganking and Nanking ; both these lakes join the river by navigable streams and the former is connected with the ocean by more than one channel.

    The only considerahle lake connected with the Yellow River

    is the llungtsih in Iviangsu, situated near the junction of that

    river and the Grand Canal, into which it discharges the drainings

    of the Ilwai River ; it is more remarkable for the fleets of

    boats upon it than for scenery in the vicinity. The larger part

    of the country between the mouths of the two rivers is so

    marshy and full of lakes, as to suggest the idea that the

    whole was once an enormous estuary where their waters joined,

    or else that their deposits have filled up a huge lake which

    once occupied this tract, leaving only a number of lesser sheets.

    Besides these, there are small lakes in Chihli and Shantung; also the Tien, the /Sien, and the Tali, of moderate extent, in Yunnan ; all of them support an aquatic population upon the fish taken from their waters.

    The largest lake in Manchuria is the Hinkai-nor in Kirin,

    near the source of the Usuri ; the two.lakes Hurun and Puyur,

    or Pir, in the basin of the Nonni River, give their name to

    Hurun-pir, the western district of Tsitsihar ; but of the extent

    and productions of these sheets of water little is known.

    Tl”3 regions lying north and south of Gobi contain many

    salt lakes, none of them individually comparing with the Aral

    Sea, but collectively covering a much larger extent, and most

    of them receiving the waters of the streams which drain their

    own isolated basins. The peculiarities of these little known

    parts, especially the depression on each side of the Tien shan,

    are such as to render them among the most interesting fields

    for geographical and geological research in the world. The

    largest one in Turkestan is Lob-nor, stated to be a great marsh

    overgrown with tall reeds and having a length of 75 miles and

    width of 15 miles(Prejevalsky, Froni Kulja Across the Tien shnii to Lob-nor, p. 99.). Bostang-nor, said to connect with this

    lake, is placed on Chinese maps some 30 miles north of it.

    Korth of the Tien shan the lakes are larger and more numerous

    ; the Dzaisang, Kisil-bash and Issik-kul are the most important.

    All these lakes are salt.

    BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCES. 25

    The M’liole region of Koko-nor is a country of lakes. The

    Oling and Dzaring are among tlie sources of the Yellow Rivei”; and the Tsing Ixti^ or Azure Sea, better known as Koko-nor,

    gives its name to the province. The Tengkiri-nor in Tibet lies

    to the north of H’lassa, and is the largest sheet of water within

    the frontiers of the empire. In its neighborhood are numerous

    small lakes extending northward into Koko-nor. The

    Palti or Yamorouk is shaped like a ring, an island in its centre

    occupying nearly the whole surface. Ulterior Tibet possesses

    many lakes on both sides of the Gang-dis-ri range ; the Yik

    and Paha, near Gobi, are the largest, being only two of a long

    row of them south of the Kwanlun range.

    The Eighteen Provinces are bounded on the north-east by the

    colony of Shingking, from which they are separated by the

    line of a former palisade marking the boundary from the town

    of Shan-hai kwan to the Hwang ho. Following this stream to

    its sources in the In shan, the boundary then crosses these

    mountains and pursues a west and south-west course, through

    the territories of roving Mongol tribes, until it finds the Yellow

    River at the settlement of Hokiuli in Shensi. West of this

    the Great “Wall divides the provinces of Shensi and Ivansuh

    from the Mongolian deserts as far as the Kiayli Pass, beyond

    which lies the desert of Gobi, called Pch ha I (Xorth Sea) and Hah

    fiai (Black Sea). On the east are the Gulf of Pechele and the

    Yellow Sea or Hwang hai, also called Tang hai (Eastern Sea)

    as far south as the Channel of Formosa. This channel and

    the China Sea lie on the south-east and south, as far as the Gulf

    of Tongking and the confines of Annam. Kwangsi and Yunnan border on Annam and Siam on their south sides, while Burmali marks the western frontier, but nearly the whole southwest and western frontiers beyond Yunnan and Sz’chuen are possessed by small tribes of uncivilized people, over whom neither the Chinese nor Burmese have much real control.

    Koko-nor bounds Sz’chuen and Kansuh on their western and southwestern sides.

    The coast of China, from Hainan to the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is bordered with multitudes of islands and rocky islets; from that point northward to Liautung, the shores are low, and, except in Sliantuiiii’, the coast is rendered dangerous by shoals.

    South of the Pei ho, along to the end of Shantung Promontory, the coast is bolder, increasing in height after passing the Miautau Islands, though neither side of the promontory presents any point of remarkable elevation ; Cape Macartney, at the eastern end, is a conspicuous bluff when approaching it from sea. From this cape to the mouth of the Tsientang River, near Chapu, a distance of about 400 miles, the coast is

    low, especially between the mouths of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow

    rivers, and has but few good harbors. Quicksands in the

    regions near these rivers and the Bay of Ilangchau render the

    navigation dangerous to native junks. From Kitto Point, near

    Ningpo, down to Hongkong, the shores assume a bolder aspect,

    and numerous small bays and coves occur among the islands,

    affording safe refuge for vessels. The aspect along this part is

    uninviting in the extreme, consisting principally of a succession

    of yellowish cliffs and naked headlands, giving little promise

    of the highly cultivated country beyond them. This bleak appearance

    is caused by the rains washing the decomposed soil

    off the surface ; the rock being granite in a state of partial

    and progressive disintegration, the loose soil is easily carried

    down into the intervals. Another reason for its treeless sin–

    face is owing to the practice of annually cutting the coarse

    grass for fuel, and after the crop is gathered setting the stubble

    on fire, in order to manure the ground for the coming year; the fire and thinness of the soil together effectually prevent any large growth of trees or shrubbery upon the hills.

    The estuary of the Pearl Iliver from the Bocca Tigris down to the Grand Ladrones, a distance of TO miles, and from Hongkong westerly to the Island of Tungku, about 100 miles, is interspersed with islands. The strait which separates Hainan from the Peninsula of Luichau has been supposed to be the place called by Arabian travelers in the ninth century the Gates of China, but that channel was probably near the Chusan Archi})elago. That group of fertile islands is regarded as the l)rokeii termination of the continental range of mountains running throui^h Chehkiang.

    CHARACTER OF THE COAST.

    The Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, cmmects tlie islands of Japan and Lewchew with Lu9onia. Between Formosa and the coast lie the Pescadores or Panghu Islands, a group much less in extent and number than the Chusan Islands. The Chinese have itineraries of all the places, headlands, islands, etc., along the entire coast, but they do not afford much information respecting the names of positions.(CJiinese Repository, Vol. V., p. 337; Vol. X., pp. 351, 371. Williams’ Chinese Commerced Guide, fifth edition, second part, 1863.)

    The first objects that invite attention in the general aspect of China Proper are the Great Plain in the north-east, and the three longitudinal basins into which the country is divided by mountain chains running east and west(Remusat (Nouvennx Melanges, Tome I., p. 9) adds a fourth basin, that of the Sagalien. The latter, however, scarcely deserves the name, having so many interrupting cross-chains.). The three great rivers which drain these basins How through them very irregularly, but by means of their main trunks and the tributaries, water communication is easily kept up, not only from west to east along the great courses, but also across the country. These natural facilities for inland navigation have been greatly” improved by the people, but they still, in most cases, await the introduction of steam to assist them in stemming the rapid currents of some of their rivers, and bringing distant places into more frequent communication.

    The whole surface of China may be conveniently divided into the mountainous and hilly country and the Great Plain. The mountainous country comprehends more than luilf of the whole, lying west of the meridian of 112^ or 114° (nearly that of Canton), quite to the borders of Tibet. The hilly portion is that south of the Yangtsz’ kiang and east of this meridian, comprising the provinces of Fuhkien, Kiangsi, Kwangtung, and sections of Hunan and Ilupeh. The Great Plain lies in the northeast, and forms the richest part of the empire.

    This Plain extends in length 700 miles from the Great Wall and Barrier Range north of Peking to the confluence of Poyang Lake with the Yangtsz’ in Kiangsi, lat. 30° X. The latter river is considered as its southern boundary as far down as Nganking in Ngankwui, wlience to the sea it is formed by a line drawn nearly east throng] i llangchau. The western boundary may be marked by a line drawn from Kingchau in Ilupeh(lat. 30° 36′), nearly north to llwaiking, on the Yellow River, and thence due north to the Great Wall, 50 miles north-west of

    Peking. The breadth varies. North of lat. 35°, where it

    partly extends to the Yellow Sea, and partly borders on the

    western side of Shantung, thence across to tlie ]jear Mountains

    and Shansi, its measure is between 150 and 250 miles ; stating

    the average at 200 miles, this portion has an area of 70,000

    square miles. Between 3-i° and 35° the Plain enlarges, and in

    the parallel of the Yellow Piver has a breadth of some 300

    miles from east to west ; while further south, along the course

    of the Yangtsz’, it reaches nearly 400 miles inland. Estimating

    the mean breadth of this portion at 400 miles, there are

    140,000 square miles, which, watli the northern part, make an

    area of about 210,000 square miles—a surface seven times as

    large as that of Lombardy, and about the same area as the

    plain of Bengal drained by the Ganges. The northern portion

    in Chihli up to the edge of the Plateau is mostly a deposit

    of the yellow loess and alluvial on the river bottoms;

    that lying near the coast in Kiangsu is low and swampy, covered

    by lakes and intersected by water-courses. This portion

    is extremely fertile, and furnishes large quantities of silk, tea,

    cotton, grain, and tobacco. The most interesting feature of this

    Plain is tlie enormous population it supports, which is, according

    to the census of 1812, not less than 177 millions of human

    beings, if the whole number of inhabitants contained in the six

    provinces lying wholly or partly in it be included ; making it

    by far the most densely settled of any part of the world of the

    same size, and amounting to nearly two-thirds of the whole

    population of Europe.(Penny Cydojwidia, Vol. VII., p. 74. McCulloch’s Oeographicul Dictionary, Vol. I., p. 596.)

    THE GREAT WALL 29

    The public works of China are probably unequalled in any land or by any people, for the amount of human labor bestowed upon them; the natural aspect of the country has been materially changed by them, and it has been remarked that the Great Wall is the only artificial structure which would arrest attention in a hasty survey of the surface of the globe. But their usefulness, or the science exhibited in their construction, is far inferior to their extent. The Great Wall, called Wan-li Chang Cheng (i.e., Myriad-mile Wall), was built by Qin Shi-huangdi, in order to protect his dominions from

    the incursions of the northern tribes. Some portions of it

    were already in existence, and he formed the plan of joining

    and extending them along the whole northern frontier to

    guard it. It was finished b.c. 204, having been ten years in

    building, seven of which were done after the Emperor’s death.

    This gigantic work was probably a popular one in the main,

    and still remains as its own chief evidence of the energy,

    industry, and perseverance of its builders, as well as their

    unwisdom and waste. Its construction probably cost less than

    the usual sums spent by Eui-opean States for their standing

    armies. It commences at Shanhai wei or Shanhai kwan (lat.

    40°, long. 119° 50′), a coast town of some importance as on

    the boundary between Child i and Shingking, and a place of

    considerable trade. Lord Jocelyu describes the wall, when

    observed from the ships, as ” scaling the precipices and topping

    the craggy hills of the country, which have along this

    coast a most desolate appearance.”

    It runs along the shore for several miles, and terminates on

    the beach near a long reef. Its course from this point is

    west, a little northerly, along the old frontiers of the province

    of Chihli, and then in Shansi, till it strikes the Yellow River,

    in lat. 394° and long. 111^°. This is the best built part, and

    contains the most important gates, where garrisons and trading

    marts are established. Within the province of Chihli there

    are two walls, inclosing a good part of the basin of the Sangkan

    ho west of Peking ; the inner one was built by an emperor of the Ming dynasty. From the point where it strikes the Yellow River, near Pau-teh, it forms the northern boundary of Shensf, till it tonches that stream again in lat. 37°, inclosing the country of the Ortous Mongols. Its direction from this point is north-west along the northern frontier of Kansnh to its termination near Kiavii kwan, through which the road passes leading to llami.

    From Tiear the eastern extremity of tlio AVall in the province of Ciiihh’, extending in a north-easterly direction, there was once a wooden stockade or palisade, forming the boundary between Liautung and Ivirin, which has been often taken from its representation on maps as a continuation of the Great Wall. It was erected by the Manchus, but has long since become decayed and disused.

    The entire length of the Great Wall between its extremities is 22^ degrees of latitude, or 1,255 miles in a straight line; but its turnings and doublings increase it to fully 1,500 miles.

    It would stretch from Philadelphia to Topeka, or from Portugal to Naples, on nearly the same latitude. The construction of this gigantic work is somewhat adapted to the nature of the country it traverses, and the material was taken or made on the spot where it was used. In the western part of its course, it is in some places merely a mud or gravel wall, and in others earth cased with brick.

    The eastern part is generally composed of earth and pebbles faced with large bricks, weighing from 10 to GO lbs, each, supported on a coping of stone. The whole is about 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 feet at the top, and varying from 15 to 30 feet high; the top is protected with bricks, and defended by a slight parapet, the thinness of which has been taken as proof that cannon were unknown at the time it was erected.

    There are brick towers at different intei’vals, some of them more than 40 feet high, but not built upon the Wall. These are independent structures, usually about 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top; at particular spots the towers are of two stories.

    The impression left upon the mind of a foreigner, on seeing this monument of human toil and unremunerative outlay, is respect for a people that could in any manner build it. Standing on the jK-ak at Kn-jxh Knu (Old North (late), one sees the cloud-<-a[)ped towers extending away over the declivities in single tiles both east and west, until dwarfed by miles and miles of sk}’-w:ird jiei-sj)e(‘ti\(> as they dwindle inf(» niiiinte piles, yet stand

    THE GRAND CANAL. 31

    with solemn stillness where they were stationed twenty centuries ago, as though condemned to wait the march of time till their builders returned. The crumbling dike at their feet may be followed, winding, leaping across gorges, defiles, and steeps, now buried in sonie chasm, now scaling the cliffs and slopes, in very exuberance of power and M’antonness, as it vanishes in a thin, shadowy line, at the horizon. Once seen, the Great Wall of China can never be forgotten.

    At present this remarkable structure is simply a geographical boundary, and except at the Gates nothing is done to keep it in repair. Beyond the Yellow River to its western extremity, the Great Wall, according to Gerbillon, is mostly a mound of earth or gravel, about fifteen feet in height, with only occasional towers of brick, or gateways made of stone.

    At Kalgan portions of it are made of porphyry and other stones piled up in a pyramidal form between the brick towers, difficult to cross but easy enough to pull down. The appearance of this rampart at Ivu-peh kau is more imposing; the entire extent of the main and cross walls in sight from one of the towers there is over twenty miles. In one place it runs over a peak 5,225 feet high, where it is so steep as to make one wonder as much at the labor of erecting it on such a cliff as on the folly of supposing it could be of any use there as a defence. The wall is most visited at Xan-kau (South Gate), in the Ku-yung Pass, a remarkable Thermopyla fifteen miles in length, which leads from the Plain at Peking up to the first terrace above it, and at one time was guarded by five additional walls and gates, now all in ruins. From this spot, the wall reaches across Shansi, and was built at a later period.

    The other great public work is the Grand Canal, or Chah ho (i.e., river of Flood-gates), called also Yim ho or ‘ Transit River,’ an enterprise which reflects far more credit upon the monarchs who devised and executed it, than does the Great Wall, and if the time in which it was dug, and the character of the princes who planned it, be considered, few works can be mentioned in the history of any country more admirable and useful. When it was in order, before the inflow of the Yellow River failed, by means of its connection with its feeders, an uninterrupted water communication across the country from Peking to Canton existed, and goods and passengers passed from the capital to nearly every hirge town in the basins of the two great rivers. The canal was designed by Kublai to reach from his own capital as far as HangZhou, the former capital of the Sung dynasty, and cannot be better described than in Marco Polo’s language : ” You must understand that the Emperor has caused a water communication to be made from this city [Kwa-chau] to Cambaluc, in the shape of a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between lake and lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels can ply.” ‘ The northern end is a channel fourteen miles long, from Tung-chau up to Peking, which, passing under the city walls, finishes its course of some 600 miles at the palace wall, close by the British Legation ; here it is called Jl^ Ao, or ‘ Imperial River,’ but all boats now unlade at the eastern gate. An abridged account of Davis’s observations ” will afford a good idea of its construction and appearance.

    “Early on the 23d September, we entered the canal through

    two stone piers and between very high banks. The mounds

    of earth in the immediate vicinity were evidently for the purpose

    of effecting repairs, which, to judge from the vestiges of

    inundation on either side, could not be infrequent. The canal

    joins the Yu ho, which we had just quitted, on its eastern

    bank, as that river flows towards the Pei ho. One of the

    most striking features of the canal is the comparative clearness

    of its waters, when contrasted with that of the two rivers

    on which we had hitherto travelled ; a circumstance reasonably

    attributable to the depositions occasioned by the greater stillness

    of its contents. The course of the canal at this point

    was evidently in the bed of a natural river, as might be perceived

    from its winding course, and the irregularity and inartificial

    appearance of its banks. The stone abutments and

    flood-gates are for the purpose of regulating its waters, which

    at present were in excess and flowing out of it. As we proceeded

    on the canal, the stone flood-gates or sluices occurred at the rate of three or four a day, sometimes oftener, according as the inequalities in the surface of the country rendered them necessary

    • Yuk-‘s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. KJG. ” Sketches of China, Vol. I., p. 245

    THE GRAND CANAL. 33

    ” As we advanced, the canal in some parts became narrower,

    and the banks had rather more of an artificial appearance than

    where we first entered it, being occasionally pretty high ; but

    still the winding course led to the inference, that as yet the

    canal was for the most part only a natural river, modified and

    regulated by sluices and embankments. The distance between

    the stone piers in some of the flood-gates was apparently so

    narrow as only just to admit the passage of our largest boats.

    The contrivance for arresting the course of the water through

    them was extremely simple ; stout boards, with ropes fastened

    to each end, were let down edgewise over each other through

    grooves in the stone piers. A number of soldiers and workmen

    alwaj’s attended at the sluices, and the danger to the boats

    was diminished by coils of rope being hung down at the sides

    to break tha force of l)lows. The slowness of our progress,

    which for the last week averaged only twenty miles a day,

    gave us abundant leisure to observe the country

    ” “We now began to make better progress on the canal than

    we had hitherto done. The stream, though against us, was

    not strong, except near the sluices, where it was confined. In

    the afternoon we stopped at Kai-ho chin (i.e., River-opening mart), so called, perhaps, because the canal was commenced near here. On the 28th we arrived at the influx of the Yun ho, where the stream turned in our favor, and flowed to the southward, being the highest point of the canal, and a place of some note. The Yun ho flows into the canal on its eastern side nearly at right angles, and a part of its waters flow north and part south, while a strong facing of stone on the western bank sustains the force of the influx. At this point is the temple of the Dragon King, or genius of the watery element, who is supposed to have the canal in his special keeping. This enterprise of leading in this river seems to have been the work of Sung Li, who lived under Hungwu, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, about 1375. In his time, a part of the canal in Shantung became so impassable that the coasting passage by sea began to be most used. Tins was the very thing the canal had been intended to prevent ; Sung accordingly adopted the plan of an old man named Piying, to concentrate the waters of the Yun ho and neighboring streams, and bring them down upon the canal as they are at present. History states that Sung employed 300,000 men to carry the plan into operation, and that the work was completed in seven months.

    On both sides of ns, nearly level with the canal, were extensive swamps with a shallow covering of water, planted with the Keluml)ium ; they were occasionally separated by narrow banks, along which the trackers walked, and the width of the canal sometimes did not exceed twenty-five yards. On reaching the part which skirts the Tu-shan Lake, the left bank was entirely submertred, and the canal confounded with the lake. All within sight was swamp, coldness, and desolation—in fact, a vast iidand sea, as many of the large boats at a distance were hull down. The swamps on the following day were kept out of sight by some decent villages on the high banks, which from perpetual accunnilation assumed in some places the aspect of hills.

    ” A part of our journey on the first of October lay along a portion of the canal where the banks, particularly to the right, were elaborately and thoroughly faced with stone ; a precaution which seemed to imply a greater than ordinary danger from inundations. In fact, the lakes, or rather floods, seemed to extend at present nearly to the feet of the mountains which lay at a distance on our left. We were now approaching that part of China which is exposed to the disastrous overflowings of the Yellow River, a perpetual source of wasteful expenditure to the government, and of peril and calamity to the people ; it well deserves the name of China’s Sorrow. We observed the repairs of the banks diligently proceeding under the superintendence of the proper officer. For this purpose they use the natural soil in combination with the thick stalks of the gigantic millet.”

    THE GRAND CANAL. 35

    The canal reaches the Yellow River about TO miles from its mouth ; but before leaving the lakes in the southern part of Shantung, it used to run nearly parallel with that stream for more than a hundred miles, and between it and the New Salt River during a good part of this distance. It is hard to understand how, by natural causes, so powerful a river, as it is described to be by the historians of both the British enil^assies less than one hundred years ago, should have become so completely choked up. The difference of level near Kaifung is found to be so very little that the siltage there has been enough to turn the current into the river “Wei and elsewhere. When Amherst’s

    embassy passed, the boats struck right across the stream,

    and gained the opposite bank, about three-fourths of a mile

    distant, in less than an hour. They drifted about two miles

    down, and then slowly brought up against the current to the

    spot Avhere the canal entered. This opening was a sluice nearly

    a hundred yards across, and through it the waters rushed into

    the river like a mill-race ; the banks were constructed of earth,

    strengthened with sorghum stalks, and strongly bound with cordage.

    Sir John Davis remarks, with the instinct of a tradesman,

    as he commends the perseverance and industry which had

    overcome these obstacles, that if the science of a Brunei could

    be allowed to operate on the Yellow River and Grand Canal,” a

    benefit mio-ht be conferred on the Chinese that M^ould more

    than compensate for all the evil that M-e have inflicted with our

    opium and our guns.” The boats were dragged through and

    up the sluice close to the bank by ropes communicating with

    large windlasses worked on the bank, wdiich safely, though

    slowly, brought them into still water.

    The distance between the Yellow and Yangtsz’ rivers is about

    ninety miles, and the canal here is carried largely upon a raised

    w^ork of earth, kept together by retaining walls of stone, and

    not less that twenty feet above the surrounding country in

    some parts. This sheet of water is about two hundred feet wide,

    and its current nearly three miles an hour. South of the II%vang

    ho several large towns stand near the levees, below their level,

    whose safety wholly depends upon the care taken of the baidvs

    of the canal. Ilwai-ngan and Pauying lie thus under and near

    them, in such a position as to cause an involuntary shudder at

    the thought of the destruction which would take place if they

    should give way. The level descends from these towns to the Yangtsz’, and at ‘i’angeliau the canal is much below the houses on its sides. It also connects with every stream or lake whose waters can be led into it. There are two or three inlets into the Yangtsz’ where the canal reaches the northern bank, but Chinkiang, on the southern shore, is regarded as the principal defence and post of its crossing. The canal leaves the river east of that city, proceeds south-east to

    Sucliau, and thence southerly on the eastern side of lake Tai,

    with which it communicates, to Ilangchau in Chehkiang. This

    portion is by far the most interesting and picturesque of the

    whole line, owing to its rich and populous cities, the fertility

    and high cultivation of the banks, and the lively aspect imparted

    by the multitude of boats. Though Kublai has had the credit

    of this useful work, it existed in parts of its com-se long before his day. The reach between the two great rivers was opened in the 11 an dynasty, and repaired by the wise founder of the SuiChao dynasty (a.d. (500). The princes of the TangChao dynasty kept it (tpen, and when the Sung emperors lived at Ilangchau they made the extension up to Chinkiang the great highway which it is to this day. The work from Peking to the Yellow River Mas opened by the Mongols about 1289, in which they merely joined the rivers and lakes to each other as they now exist. The Ming and Tsing emperors have done all they could to keep it open throughout, and lately an attempt has been made to reopen the passage from Ilungtsih Lake north into the old bed, so that boats can reach Tientsin from Kwachau. Its entire length is about 650 miles, or not quite twice that of the Erie Canal, but it varies in its breadth and depth more than any important canal either of America or Europe.

    As a work of art, compared with canals now existing in western countries, the Transit river does not rank high ; but even at this day there is no work of the kind in Asia which can compare with it, and there was none in the world equal to it when first put in full operation. It passes through alluvial soil in every part of its course, and the chief labor was expended in constructing embankments, and not in digging a deep channel.

    CANALS. 37

    The junction of the Yun ho, about lat. 3(5° N., was probably taken as the summit level. From this point northward the trench was dug through to Liiitsing to join the Yu ho, and embankments thrown up from the same place southward to the Yellow River, the whole being a line of two hundred miles. In some places the bed is cut down thirty, forty, and even seventy feet, but it encountered no material obstacle. The sluices which keep the necessary level are of rude construction, and thick planks, sliding in grooves hewn in stone buttresses, form the only locks. Still, the objects intended are all fully gained, and the simplicity of the means certainly does not derogate from the merit and execution of the plan.’

    There are some other inferior canals in the empire. Kienlung

    constructed a waste-weir for carrying off the surplus waters

    of the Yellow River of about a hundred miles in length, by

    cutting a canal from Ifimg liien in llonan, to one of the principal

    affluents of lake Hungtsih. It also answered as a drain for

    the marshy land in that part, and has probably recently served

    to convey the Hoods from the main stream into the lake. In

    the vicinity of Canton and Sucliau are many channels cut

    through the plains, which serve both for irrigation and navigation,

    but they are not worthy the name of canals. Similar conveniences

    are more or less frequently met with in all parts of

    the provinces, notably those on the Plain and low coast-lands.

    The public roads, in a country so well provided with navigable

    streams, are of minor consequence, but these media of travel

    are not neglected. ” I have travelled near 600 leagues by land

    in China,” observes De Guignes, ^ and have found many good

    roads, most of them wide and planted with trees. They are

    not usually paved, and consequently in rainy weather are either

    channelled by the water or covered with nnid, and in dry weather

    so dusty that travellers are obliged to wear spectacles to protect

    their eyes. In Kwangtung transportation is perfornied almost

    wholly by water, the only roads being across the lines of navigation.

    ‘ Klaproth, Memoires, Tome III., p. 312 sqq. De Guignes’ Voyages a Peking. Tome II., p. 195. Davis’s Sketchets, Vol. I., passim.H8 almost nortlnv

    The pass across the Mei ling is paved or filled up with stones; at Kihngan, in Kiangsi, are paved roads in good condition, but beyond the Yangtsz’, in xSganhwui, they were impracticable, but became better as we proceeded ard, and in many places had trees on both sides. Beyond-the Hwang ho they were broader, and we saw crowds of travelers, carts, nudes, and horses.

    In Shantung and Chihli they were generally broad and shady, and very dusty. This is, no doubt, disagreeable, but we went smoothly over these places, while in the villages and towns we were miserably jolted on the pavements. I hope, for the sake of those who may come after me, that the Chinese will not pave their roads before they improve their carriages.

    Some of the thoroughfares leading to Peking are paved with thick slabs of stone. One feature of the roads through the northern provinces which attracts attention is the great miiiilxT that lie below the level of the country. It is caused by the wind sweeping along them, and carrying over

    A Rf ., I-Cut in thf Loess. runLic JioADS. 39

    the fields the dust made and raised by the carts. As soon as the pools left by the rains dry enough to let the carts pass, the earth is reduced to powder ; as the winds sweep through the passage and clear it out, the process in a few years cuts a defile through the loani often fifteen feet deep, which impedes travel by its narrow gauge, hindering the carts as they meet. The banks are protected by revetment Myalls or turf, if necessary. Those near I langchau, and the great road leading from Chehkiang into Kiangsi, are all in good condition. Generally speaking, however, as is the case with most things in China, the roads are not well repaired, and large holes are frequently allowed to remain unfilled in the path, to the great danger of those who travel by night.” ‘

    Mountain passes have been cut for facilitating the transit of goods and people over the high ranges in many parts of the empire. The great road leading from Peking south-west through Sliansi and Shensi, and thence to Sz’chuen, is carried across the Peli ling and the valley of the river Ilwai by a mountain road, ” which, for the difficulties it presents and the art and labor with which they have been overcome, does not appear to be inferior to the road over the Simplon.” * At one place on this route, called Li-nai, a passage has been cut through the rock, and steps hewn on both sides of the mountain from its base to the summit. The passage across the peak being only wide enough for one sedan, the guards are perched in little houses placed on poles over the pass. This road was in ancient times the path to the metropolis, and these immense excavations were made from time to time by different monarchs. The pass over the Mei ling, at Kan-ngan, is a work of later date, and so are most of the other roads across this range in Fuhkien and Ivwangtung.

    ^ Voyages a Peking, Vol. II., p. 214. Compare the letter of a Jesuit missionary (Annales de la Foi, Tome VII., p. 377), who describes houses of rest on the wayside. These singular road-gullies of the loess region have been very thoroughly examined by Baron von Richthofen, from whose work the cut above is taken.^ Penny Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXVIL, p. 656.

    The general aspect of the country is perhaps as much modified by labor of man in China as in England, but the appearance of a landscape in the two kingdoms is unlike. Whenever water is a\aihil)le, streams are led upon the rice fields, and this kind of cultivation allows few or no trees to grow in the plats.

    Such fields are divided by i-aised banks, which serve for pathways across the marshy enclosui-e, and assist in confining the water when let in upon the growing crop. The bounds of other fields are denoted by stones or other landmarks, and the entire absence of walls, fences, or hedgerows, makes a cultivated plain appear like a vast garden.

    The iireatest sameness exists in all the cities. A wall encloses all towns above a .s-^’ or township, and the suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte. The streets in large towns south of the Hwang ho are paved, and the sewers run under the cross slabs. What filth is not in them is generally in the street, as these drains easily become choked. The roadways arc not usually over ten feet wide, but the low houses on each side make them appear less like alleys than would be the case in western cities. Villages have a pleasant appearance at a distance, usually embowered among trees, between which the whitewashed houses look prettily ; but on entering them one is disappointed at their irregularit}’, dirtiness, and generally decayed look. The gardens and best houses are mostly walled in from sight, while the precincts of temples are the resort of idlers, beggars, and children, with a proportion of pigs and dogs.

    Elegance or ornament, orderly arrangement and grandeur of design, cleanliness, or comfort, as these terms are applied in Europe, are almost unknown in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens.

    GENERAL ASPECT AND RACE TYPES. 41

    Commanding or agreeable situations are chosen for temples and monasteries, which are not only the abode of priests but serve for inns, theatres, and other purposes. The terrace cultivation sometimes renders the acclivities of hills beautiful in the highest degree, but it does not often impart a distinguishing feature to the landscape. A lofty solitary pagoda, an extensive temple shaded by trees in the opening of a vale, a commemorative ^x«’-Z«i*, or boats inoving in every direction through narrow creeks or on broad streams, are some of the peculiar lin eanients of Chinese scenery. No imposing mansions with beautiful grounds are found on the skirts of a town, for the people huddle together in luunlets and villages for mutiuil aid and security.

    No tapering spires pointing out the rural chureli, nor towers, pillars, domes, or steeples in the cities, indicating buildings of public utility, rise upon the low level of dun-tiled roofs.

    No meadows or pastures, containing herds and tlocks, are visible from tlie hill-tops in China ; nor are coaches or railroad cars observed hurrying across its landscapes. Steamers have just begun to course through some of its rivers, and disturb, by theii whistles and wheels, the drowsy silence of past ages and the slow progress of unwieldy junks—the other changes have yet to come.

    The condition and characteristics of the various families of man inhabiting this great empire, render its study far more interesting than anything relating to its physical geography or public works. The Chinese forms the leading family, but the Miaotsz’, the Li-mu, the Kakyens, and other aborigines in the southern provinces, the Manchus, the Mongols, and various

    Tartar tribes, the Tibetans, and certain wild races in Kirin and

    Formosa, must not be overlooked. The sons of Ilan are indeed

    a remarkable race, whether regard be had to their antiquity,

    their numbers, their government, or their literature, and on

    these accounts deserve the study and respect of every intelligent

    student of mankind ; while their unwearied industry, their general

    peaceableness and good humor, and their attainments in

    domestic order and mechanical arts, connnend them to the notice

    of every one who sees in these points of character an earnest

    of their future position amid the great family of civilized

    nations when once they shall have attained the same.

    The physical traits of the Chinese may be described as being between the light and agile Hindu, and the muscular, fleshy European. Their form is well built and symmetrical ; their color is a brunette or sickly white, rather approaching to a yellowish than to a florid tint, but this yellow hue has been much exaggerated ; in the south they are swarthy but not black, ne\er becoming as dark even as the Portuguese, whose fifth or sixth ancestors dwelt near the Tagus. The shades of complexion differ much according to the latitude and degree of exposure to the -u-eather, especially in the females. The hair of the head is lank, black, coarse, and glossy; beard always black, thin, and deficient ; scanty or no whiskers ; and very little hair on the body. Eyes invariably black, and apparently oblique, owing to the slight degree in which the inner angles of the eyelids open, the internal canthi being more acute than in western races, and not allowing the whole iris to be seen ; this peculiarity in the eye distinguishes the eastern races of Asia from all other families of man. There is a marked difference between the features of the mixed race living south of the Mei ling, and the inhabitants of the Great Plain and in Shansi or further west ; the latter are the finer appearing. The hair and eyes being always black, a European with blue eyes and light hair appears strange to them; one reason given by the people of Canton for calling foreigners ‘yangguizi’ or ‘foreign devils,’ is, that they have sunken blue eyes, and red hair like demons.

    The cheek-bones are high, and the outline of the face remark ably round. The nose is rather small, much depressed, nearly even with the face at the root, and wide at the extremity ; there is, however, considerable difference in this respect, but no aquiline noses are seen. Lips thicker than among Europeans, but not at all approaching those of the negro. The hands are small, and the lower limbs better proportioned than among any other Asiatics. The height of those living north of the Yangtsz’ is about the same as that of Europeans. A thousand men taken as they come in the streets of Canton, will hardly equal in stature and weight the same number in Rome or New Orleans, while they would, perhaps, exceed these, if gathered in Peking;

    their nuiscular powers, however, would probably be less in

    either Chinese city than in those of Europe or America.

    In size, the women are smaller than European females ; antf

    in the eyes of those accustomed to the European style of beauty,

    the Chinese women possess little ; the broad upper face, low

    nose, and linear eyes, being quite the contrary of handsome.

    Nevertheless, the Chinese face is not destitute of beauty,

    and when animated with good humor and an expressive eye,

    and lighted by the glow of youth and health, the features lose

    much of their repulsiveness. Nor do they fade so soon and

    ABORIGINAL TRIBES. 43

    look as ugly and witliered wlien old as some travellers say, but

    are in respect to bearing children and keeping their vigor, more

    like Europeans than the Hindus or Persians.

    The mountainous regions in Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Ivweichau,

    give lodgement to many elans of the Miaotsz’ or ” children

    of the soil,” as the words may be rendered. It is singular that

    any of these people should have maintained their independence

    so long, when so lai’ge a portion of them have partially submitted

    to Chinese rule. Those who will not are called sang

    Miaots2\ i.e., wild or ‘ unsubdued,’ while the others are termed

    sh}ih or ‘ subdued.’ They present so many physical points of

    difference as to lead one to infer that they are a more ancient

    race than the Chinese around them, and the aborigines of

    Southern China. They are rather smaller in size and stature,

    have shorter necks, and their features are somewhat more

    angular. They are divided into many tribes, and have been

    described by Chinese travellers, who have illustrated their habits

    by paintings and sketches, from which a good idea can be

    obtained of their condition. Dr. Bridgman has translated such

    an account, written by a Chinese native traveller, in which he

    sketches the manners of eighty-two clans, especially those customs

    relating to worship and marriage, showing how little they

    have learned from their i-ulei’s or impi-oved from the savage

    state. An examination of their languages shows that those of

    the Miaotsz’ proper have strong affinities with the Siamese and

    Annamese, and those known as Lolo exhibit a decided likeness

    to the Burmese. The former of these are mentioned in Chinese

    histoi-y during 4,000 years ; the latter about a.d. 250, when a

    Shan nation came under Cliinese influence in Yunnan, and was

    the object of a warlike expedition. The same race still remain

    on the Upper Irrawadi and in Assam as Shans and Ivhamti, ami

    in the basins of the IMeinam and Mei-lung, all of them akin to

    the Tibetans and Burmese. They form together an interesting

    relic of the ancient peoples of the land, and further inquiries

    will doubtless develop something of their history and origin.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XIV., p. 105. Shanghai Journal, No. III., 1859.Journal of Indian Archipelago, 1852. Missionary Recorder, Vol. III., pp. 33,02, 149, etc. T. T. Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce, jiassim.

    An aboriginal race—the Li-mu—exists in the center of Hainan, an offset from the Miaotsz’, judging by the little that is known of their language. The natives of Formosa seem to have more affinity with their neighbors in Luzon and southwai-d than with the Chinese.

    The Mongol and Manchu races have been considered as springing from the same stock, but during centuries of separation under different ‘ circumstances they have altered much.

    The Mongols are essentially a nonuadic race, while the Manchus are an agricultural or a hunting people, according to the part of their country they inhabit. The Manchus are of a lighter complexion and somewhat larger than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eyelids, but leather more beard, while their countenances indicate greater intellectual capacity. They seem to partake of both the Mongol and Chinese character, possessing more determination and largeness of plan than the latter, with much of the rudeness and haughtiness of the former.

    They have fair, if not florid, complexions, straight noses, and, in a few cases, brown hair and heavy beards. They are more allied to the Chinese, and when they ruled the northern provinces as the Kin dynasty, amalgamated with them. They may be regarded as the most improvable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent; and the skill with which they have governed the Chinese empire, and adopted a civilization higher than their own, gives promise of still further advances when they become familiar with the civilization of Christian lands.

    Under the term Mongols or Moguls a great number of tribes occupying the steppes of Central Asia are comprised. They extend from the borders of the Ivhirgis steppe and Kokand eastward to the Sialkoi Mountains, and it is particularly to this race that the name Tartars or Tatars is applicable. ‘ No such word is now known among the people, except as an ignominious epithet, by the Chinese, who usually write it with two characters—tah-tsz’—meaning ‘ trodden-down people.’ Klaproth confines the appellation of Tartars to the Mongols, Kalmucks, Kalkas, Eleuths, and Buriats, while the Kirghis, Usbecks, Cossacks, and Turks are of Kurdish and Ttirhrman origin.

    MANCIIUS AND MONGOLS. 46

    The Mongol tribes generally arc a stout, squat, swarthy, ill favored race of men, having high and broad shoulders, short, broad noses, pointed and prominent chins, long teeth distant from each other, eyes black, elliptical, and imsteady, thick, short necks, extremities bony and nervous, muscular thighs, but short legs, with a stature nearly or quite equal to the European.

    They have a written language, but their literature is limited and mostly religious. The same language is spoken by all the tribes, with slight variations and only a small admixture of foreign words. Most of the accounts of their origin, their wars, and their habits, were written by foreigners living or travelling among them ; but they themselves, as McCulloch remarks, know as little of these things as rats or marmots do of their descent.

    Yet it is not so easy to find the typical Mongol among the medley of nationalities in their towns. A crowd in a town like Yarkand exhibits all the varieties of the human race. The gaunt, almost beardless Manchu, with sunken eyes, high cheekbones, and projecting jowl, contrasts with the smooth face, pinky yellow, oblique eye, flat cheeks, and rounded jowl of the Chinese. The bearded, sallow Toork, the angular, rosy Kirghis, the coarse, hard Dungani, and thick-lipped, square-faced Eleuth, all show poorly with the tall, handsome Cashmerian, the swarthy liadakshi, and robust, intelligent Uzbek. The fate of the vast swarms of this race which have descended from the tal)le-land of Central Asia and overrun, in different ages, the plains of India, China, Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, and the rise and fall of the gigantic empire they themselves erected under Genghis in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the most remarkable episodes in the world’s history. They have always maintained the same character in their native wilds, their conquests have been exterminations rather than subjugations, their history a record of continual quarrels between clans.

    The last of the five races is the Tibetan, who partake of the physical characteristics of the Mongols and Hindus. They are short, squat, and broad-shouldered in body, with angular faces, wide, high cheek-bones, small black eyes, and scant beard. They are^ mild in disposition, have a stronger religious feeling than the Chinese, and have never left their own highlands either for emigration or conquest. Their civilization is fullj’ equal to that of tlie Siamese and Burmese, and life and property are more secure with them than among their turbulent neighbors in Butan, Lahore, or Cabul.

    It will be seen from this short survey that a full account of the geography, government, manners, literature, and civilization of so large a part of the world and its inhabitants requires the combined labors of many observers, all of them well acquainted with the languages and institutions of the people whom they describe. No one will look, therefore, for more than a brief outline of these subjects in the present work, minute enough, however, to enable readers to form a fair opinion of the people.

    It is the industry of the Chinese which has given them their high place among the nations of the earth. Not only has the indigenous vegetation been superseded wherever culture M-ould remunerate toil, but lofty hills have been tilled and terraced almost to their tops, cities have been built upon them, and extensive ranges of wall erected alone; their summits. They practise all the industrial arts whose objects are to feed, clothe, educate or adorn mankind, and maintain the largest population ever united under one system of rule. Ten centuries ago they were the most civilized nation on earth, and the incredulity manifested in Europe, five hundred years ago, at the recitals of Marco Polo regarding their condition, is the counterpart of the sentiments now expressed by the Chinese when they hear of the power and grandeur of western nations.

    Isolated by natural boundaries from other peoples, their civilization, developed under peculiar influences, must be compared to, ratlier than judged of, by European. A people from whom some of the most distinguishing inventions of modern Europe came (such as the compass, porcelain, gunpowder, and printing), and were known and practised many centuries earlier; who probably amount to more tlian three huTidred millions, united in one system of manners, letters, and polity; whose cities and capitals rival in numbers the greatest metropoles of any age; who have not only covered the earth, but the waters, with towns and streets—such a nation must occupy a conspicuous place in the history of mankind, and the study of their character and condition commend itself to every well-v/islier of his race.

    CIVILIZATION PAST AND FUTURK

    It lias been too much the custom of writers to overlook the influence of the Bible upon modern civilization ; but when a comparison is to be drawn between European and Asiatic civilization, this element forces itself upon the attention as the main cause of the superiority of the former. It is not the civilization of luxury or of letters, of arts or of priestcraft ; it is not the spirit of war, the passion for money, nor its exhibitions in trade and the application of machinery, that render a nation permanently great and prosperous. ” Christianity is the summary of all civilization,” says Chenevix ; ” it contains every argument which could be urged in its support, and every precept which explains its nature. Former systems of religion were in conformity with luxury, but this alone seems to have been conceived for the region of civilization. It has flourished in Europe, while it has decayed in Asia, and the most civilized nations are the most purely Christian.” Christianity is essentially the religion of the people, and when it is covered over with forms and contracted into a priesthood, its vitality goes out; this is one reason why it has declined in Asia. The attainments of the Chinese in the arts of life are perhaps as great as they can be without this spring of action, without any other motives to industry, obedience, and morality, than the commands or demands of the present life.

    A survey of the world and its various races in successive ages leads one to infer that God has some plan of national character, and that one nation exhibits the development of one trait, while another race gives prominence to another, and subordinates the first. Thus the Egyptian people were eminently a priestly race, devoted to science and occult lore ; the Greeks developed the imaginative powers, excelling in the fine arts ; the Romans were warlike, and the embodiment of force and law ; the Babylonians and Persians magnificent, like the head of gold in Daniel’s vision ; the Arabs predacious, volatile, and imaginative ; the Turks stolid, bigoted, and impassible ; the Hindus are contemplative, religious, and metaphysical ; the (yhinese industrious, peaceful, literary, atlieistic, and self-contained.’ The same religion, and constant intercommunication among European nations, has assimilated

    them more than these other races ever could have become ; but every one knows the national peculiarities of the Spaniards,

    Italians, French, English, etc., and how they are maintained,

    notwithstanding the motives to imitation and coalescence. The

    compai’ison of national character and civilization, M’ith the

    view of ascertaining such a plan, is a subject worthy the profound

    study of any scholar, and one which would orter new

    views of the human race. The Chinese would be found to

    iiave attained, it is believed, a higher position in general security

    of life and property, and in the arts of domestic life and

    comfort among the mass, and a greater degree of general literary

    intelligence, than any other heathen or Mohammedan nation

    that ever existed—or indeed than some now calling: themselves

    Christian, as Abyssinia. They have, however, probably done all they can do, reached as high a point as they can without the Gospel ; and its introduction, with its attendant intluences, will erelong change their political and social system. The rise and progress of this revolution among so mighty a mass of liuman beings will form one of the most interesting parts of the history of the world during the nineteenth century, and solve the problem whether it be possible to elevate a race without the intermediate steps of disorganization and reconstruction. ‘ For ol)Sprvations on the Chinese as compared witli other nations, see Sclilef^el’s Philoaifphy of llistuiy, p. 1 18, Bohu’s edition.

    CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EASTERN PROVINCES

    The provinces of China Proper are poll tloally subdivided in a scientific manner, but in the regions beyond them, these divisions are considerably modified. Manchuria is regarded as belonging to the reigning family, somewhat as Hanover once pertained to the kings of England, and its scanty population is ruled by a simple military organization, the higliev officials being appointed by his majesty himself. The khans ot the Mongols in Mongolia and 111, the Mohammedan begs in Turkestan, and the lamas in Tibet, are assisted in their rule by Chinese residents and generals who direct and uphold the government.

    The geography of foreign countries has not been studied by the Chinese ; and so few educated men have travelled even into the islands of the Indian Archipelago, or the kingdoms of Siam, Corea, or Burmah, that the people have had no opportunity to become acquainted with the countries lying on their borders, much less with those in remoter parts, whose names, even, they hardly know. A few native works exist on foreign geography, among which four may be here noticed. ”

    1. Researches in the East and West^ 6 vols. Svo. It was written about two centuries ago ; the first volume contains some rude charts intendea to show the situation and form of foreign countries.
    2. Notices of the Seas, 1 vol. Its author, Yang Ping-nan, obtained his information from a townsman, who, being wrecked at sea, wss picked up by a foreign ship, and travelled abroad for fourteen years; on his return to China he became blind, and was engaged as an interpreter in Macao.
    3. JVotiees of Things heard and seen in Foreign Countries^ 2 vols. 12mo ; written about a century ago, containing among other things a chart of the wholb Vol. I.—4 Chinese coast,
    4. The Memoranda of Foreign Tribes, 4 vols.Svo, published in the reign of Kienlung.”‘ A more methodical

    work is that of Li Tsing-lai, called ‘Plates Illustrative of tJie

    Ileavens^ being an astronomical and geographical work, mucl^

    of whose contents were obtained from Europeans residing iiv

    the country. But even if the Chinese had better treatises on

    these subjects, the information contained in them would be

    of little use until it was taught in their schools. The high officers

    in the government begin now to see the importance of a

    better acquaintance with general geography. Commissioner

    Lin, in 1841, published a partial translation of Murray’s Cydol)(

    jidia of Geogrcfjjhy, in 20 volumes ; Gov. Seu Ki-yu, in 1850,

    issued a compend of geographical notices with maps, and many

    others, more accurate and extensive, are now extant.

    However scarce their geographical works upon foreign countries

    may be, those delineating the topography of their own are

    hardly equalled in number and minuteness in any language :

    every district and town of importance in the empire, as well as

    every department and province, has a local geography of its

    own. It may be said that the topographical and statistical

    works form, after the ethical, the most valuable portion of

    Chinese literature. It would not be difficult to collect a library

    of 10,000 volumes of such treatises alone ; the topography of the

    city of Suchau, and of the province of Chehkiang, are each in

    40 vols., while the Kwamjtuncj Tung Chi, an ‘ Historical and

    Statistical Account of Kwangtung,’ is in 182 volumes. Xone

    of these works, however, would bear to be translated entii’c,

    such is the amount of legendary and unimportant matter contained

    in them ; but they contain many data not to be overlooked

    by one who undertakes to write a geography of China.

    The Climate of the Eighteen Provinces has been represented

    in meteorological tables sufficiently well to ascertain its general

    salubrity. Pestilences do not frequently visit the land, nor, as

    in Southern India, is it deluged with rain during one monsoon,

    and parched with drought during the other. The average temperature

    of the whole empire is lower than that of any other

    ‘ Bridgman’s Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 420. Macao, 1841.

    CLIMATE OF THE PROVINCES. ol

    country on the same latitude, and the coast is subject to the

    same extremes as that of the Atlantic States in America. The

    isothermal line of 70° F. as the average for the year, which

    passes south of Canton, runs hy Cairo and Xew Orleans, eight

    degrees north of it ; the line of 60° F. average passes from

    Shanghai to Marseilles, Raleigh, St. Louis, and north of San

    Francisco ; and the line of 50° F. average goes near Peking,

    thence on to Vienna, Dublin, Philadelphia, and Puget’s Sound,

    in lat. 52°. These various lines show that while Shanghai and

    Peking liave temperatures similar to Paleigh and Philadelphia,

    nearly on their own parallels, Canton is the coldest place on the

    globe in its latitude, and the only place within the tropics

    where snow falls near the sea-shore. One result of this projection

    of the temperate zone into the tropical is seen in the

    greater vigor and size of the people of the three southern pi-ovinces

    over any races on the same parallel elsewhere ; and the

    productions are not so strictly tropical. The isothermal lines

    for the year, as given above, are not so irregular as those for

    winter. The line of 00° F. runs by the south of Formosa and

    Hongkong, to Cairo and St. Augustine, a range of nine degrees

    ;

    but the winter line of 40° F. passes from Shanghai to Constantinople,

    Milan, Dublin, and Ealeigh, ending at Puget’s

    Sound, a range of twenty degrees. A third line of 32° for

    winter passes through Shantnng to X. Tibet and the Black

    Sea, Norway, Xew York, and Sitka—a range of twenty-five

    degrees.

    Peking (lat. 39° 55′ N.) exhibits a fair average of the climate

    in that part of the Plain. The extremes range from 104° to

    zero F., but the mean annual temperature is 52.3° F., or more

    than 9° lower than Kaples ; the mean winter range is 12° below

    freezing, or about 18° lower than that of Paris (lat. 48° 50′),

    and 15° lower than Copenhagen. The rainfall seldom reaches

    sixteen inches in a year, most of it coming in July and August

    the little snow that descends remains only two or three days on

    the ground, and is blown away rather than melted ; no one associates

    white with winter, but snow is earnestly prayed for as

    a purifier of the air against diphtheria and fevers. The winds

    from the Plateau cause the barouieter and thermometer to fall, r])ut the sky is clear. In the spring, as the heat increases, the winds raise the dust and sand over the country ; some of these sand-storms extend even to Shanghai, carrying millions of tons of soil from its original place. The dryness of the region has apparently increased during the last century, and constant droughts destroy the trees, which by their absence increase the desiccation now going on. Frost closes the rivers for three months, and ice is cheap. After the second crops fully start in August, the autumns become mild, and till the lOtli of December are calm and genial.’

    The climate of the Plain is generally good, but near the rivers and marshy grounds along the Grand Canal, agues and bowel complaints prevail. A resident speaks of the temperature of banking and the region around it : ” This vast Plain being only a marsh half drained, the moisture is excessive, giving rise to many strange diseases, all of them serious, and not unfrequently mortal. The climate affects the natives from

    other provinces, and Europeans. I have not known one of the

    latter who was not sick for six months or a year after his arrival.

    Every one who comes here must prepare himself for a

    tertian or quotidian. For myself, after suffering two months

    fi’om a malignant fever, I had ten attacks of a maladv the Chinese

    here call the sand^ from the skin being covered with little

    blackish pimples, resembling grains of dust. It is prompt and

    \iolent in its progi’ess, and corrupts the blood so rapidly that in

    a few minutes it staijnates and coae-ulates in the veins. The

    best remedy the people have is to cicatrize the least fleshy j^arts

    of the body with a copper cash. The first attack I experienced

    rendered all my limbs insensible in two minutes, and I expected

    to die before I could receive extreme unction. After recovering

    a little, great lassitude succeeded.” ^ The monsoons

    form an important element in the seaside climate as far north

    as latitude 31°. The dry and wet seasons correspond to the

    north-east and south-west monsoons, assuaging the heats of

    summer by their cooling showers, and making the winters

    ^Comijare an article in the China Review for September-October, 1881, byII. Fritsche : The Amount of Baiii and Snow in Pekinf/.Annates de la Foi, Tome XVI., p. 29^3.

    CLIMATE OF THE COAST TOWNS. 53

    bracing- and healthy. Above the Formosa Channel they are

    less regular in the summer than in winter.

    The inhabitants of Shanghai suffer from rapid changes in

    the autumn and spring months, and pulmonaiy and rheumatic

    complaints are connnon. The maximum of heat is 100° F.,

    and the minimum 2-i°, but ice is not common, nor does snow

    remain long on the ground. The average temperature of the

    sunnner is from 80° to 93° by day, and from G0° to 75.° by

    .night , the thermometer in winter ranges from 45° to 60° by

    day, and from 36° to 45° by night.

    Owing in some degree to the hills, the extremes are rather greater at Ningbo than Shanghai. The thermometer ranges from 24° to 107° during the twelvemonth, and changes of 20° in the course of two hours are not unusual, rendering it the most uidiealtliy station along the coast. There is a hot and cold season of three months each at this place. The cold is very piercing when the north-east winds set in, and fires are needed, but natives content themselves with additional clothing.

    The large brick beds {hang) common in Chihli are not often

    seen. Ice forms in pools, and is gathered to preserve fish.

    Snow frequently falls, but does not remain long. Occasionally

    it covers the hills in Chehkiang for several weeks to the depth

    of six inches. Fuhchau and Canton lie at the base of hills,

    Avithin a hundred miles of the sea-coast, and their climates exhibit

    greater extremes than Amoy and Hongkong. Frost and

    ice are common every winter at each of the former, and fires

    are therefore pleasant in the house. The extremes at Fuhchau

    are from 38° to 95°, with an average of 56° during December

    and 82° for August. Along this whole coast the most refreshing

    monsoon makes the summers very agreeable. The climate of

    Amoy is delightful, but its insular position renders a residetice

    somewhat less agreeable than on the main. Here the thermometer

    ranges from 40° to 96° during the year, without the

    rapid changes of Xingpo. The heat continues longer, though

    assuaged by breezes from the sea.

    Meteorology at Canton and its vicinity has been carefully studied ; on the whole, its climate, and especially that of Macao, may be considered more salubrious than in most other places situated between the tropics. The thermometer at Canton in July and August stands on an average at S0° to 88°, and in January and February at 50° to 60°. The highest recorded observation in 1831 was 94°, in July; and the lowest, 29° in January. Ice sometimes forms in shallow vessels a line or two in thickness, but no use is made of it. A fall of snow nearly two inches deep occurred there in February, 1835, which remained on the ground three hours. Having never seen any before, the citizens hardly knew what was its proper name, some calling \t falling cotton, and every one endeavoring to preserve a little for a febrifuge. Another similar fall occurred in the winter of 1861. Fogs are common during February and March, and the heat sometimes renders them very

    disagreeable, it being necessary to keep up a little fire to dry

    the house. Most of the rain falls in May and June, but there

    is nothing like the rainy season at Calcutta and Manilla in July,

    August, and September. The regular monsoon comes from

    the south-west, with frequent showers to allay the heat. In

    the succeeding months, northerly winds connnence, but from

    October to January the temperature is agreeable, the sky clear,

    and the air invigorating. Few large cities are more healthy

    than Canton ; no epidemics nor malaria prevail, notwithstanding

    the fact that much of the town is built upon piles.

    The climate of Macao and Hongkong has not so great a range

    as Canton, from their proximity to the sea. Few cities in Asia

    are more salntiferous than Macao, though it has been remarked

    that few of the natives there attain a great age. Themaxinnnn

    is 90°, with an average summer heat of 84°. The minimum is

    50°, and average winter weather 68°, with almost uninterrupted

    sunshine. Fogs are not often seen here, but on the river they

    prevail, being frequent at Whampoa. Korth-easterly gales

    are conmion in the spring and autumn, and have a noticeable

    periodicity of three days. The vegetation does not change its

    general aspect during the winter, the trees cease to grow, and the

    grass becomes brownish ; but the stimulus of the warm moisture

    in March soon makes a sinisilJe diffei’ence in the appearance of

    the landscape, and bright green leaves ra])idly replace the old.

    The reputed insalubrity of Hongkong, in early days, was owing

    RAIN-FALL ON CHINESE AND AMERICAN COASTS. 55

    to other causes than climate, and when it became a well-built and

    well-drained town, its unwholesomeness disappeared. The rainfall

    is greater than in Macao, owing to the attraction of the high

    peaks. During the rainy weather the walls of houses become

    damp, and if newlj plastered, drip with moisture.

    The Chinese consider the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi,

    and Yunnan to be the most unhealthy of the eighteen, and for

    this reason employ them as places of banishment for criminals

    from the north-eastern districts. The central portions of the

    country are on some accounts the most bracing, not so liable to

    sudden changes as the coast, nor so cold as the western and

    northern districts. Sz’chuen and tweichau are cooler than

    Fuhkien and Chehkiang, owing to the mountains in and upon

    their borders.

    The marked contrast between the Chinese and American coasts in regard to rain is doubtless owing, in a great degree, to the outlying islands from Formosa to Sagalien on the former, whose high mountains arrest the clouds in their progress inland.

    The iLuro-siwo, being outside of them, allows a far greater mass of cold water between it and the shore on the Chinese, than is the case on the Atlantic coast, and renders it the colder of the two by nearly eight degrees of latitude, if isothermal lines alone are regarded. This mass of cold water, having less evaporation, deprives the maritime provinces of rain in diminishing supply as one goes north along the skirts of the Plain, until the Chang-peh shan are reached. The rains which fall in the western provinces and the slopes of the Bayan kara Mountains, coming up from the Indian Ocean during the south-west

    monsoon, fall in decreasing quantities as the clouds are driven

    north-east across the basins of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow rivers.

    In the western part of Kansuh the humidity covers the mountains

    with more vegetation than further east, toward the ocean.

    Snow falls as late as June, and frosts occur in every month of the

    year. The enormous elevation of the western side of China near

    Tibet, the absence of an expanse of water like the great lakes,

    and the bareness of the mountains north of the Mei ling, account

    for much of this difference between the United States and China f

    but more extended data are needed for accurate deductions.

    The fall of rain at Canton is 70 inches annually, which is the mean of sixteen years’ observation. JS^inety inches was registered during one of these years. Kearly one-half of the whole falls during May, June, and September. The average at Shanghai for four years was 36 inches. Ko observations are recorded for the valley of the Yangtsz Near the edge of the Plateau the rainfall averages 10 inches in the province of Chihli, and rather more in Shansi and Shantung, where moisture is attracted by the mountains. More than three fourths of the rain falls during the ten weeks ending August 31st. Snow seldom remains on the level over a fortnight.

    The increased temperature on the southern coast during the months of June and July operates, with other causes, to produce violent storms along the seaboard, called typhoons, a word derived from the Chinese taifeng, or ‘great wind.’ These destructive tornadoes occur from Hainan to Chusan, between July and October, gradually progressing northward as the season advances, and diminishing in fury in the higher latitudes. They annually occasion great losses to the native and foreign shipping in Chinese waters, more than half the sailing ships lost on that coast having suffered in them. Happily, their fury is oftenest spent at sea, but when they occur inland, the loss of life is fearful.

    In August, 18G2, and September 21, 1ST4-, the deaths reported in two such storms near Canton, Hongkong, and their vicinity, were upward of 30,000 each. In the latter instance the American steamer Alaska, of 3,500 tons, M’as lifted from her anchorage and quietly put down in five feet of water near the shore, from whence she was safely floated some months afterward.

    TYFOONS. 57

    Typhoons exhaust their force within a narrow track, which, in such cases as have been registered, lies in no uniform direction, other than from south to north, at a greater or less angle, along the coast. The principal i)heni)iiiena indicating their approach are the direction of the wind, which commences to blow in soft zephyj-s from the north, without, however, assuaging the heat or disturbing the stifling calm, and the falling barometer. The glass usually begins to fall several hours before the storm commences, and the rarefaction of the air is further shown by the heavy swell rolling in upon the beach, though the sea remains unrutfled. The wind increases as it veers to the north-east, and from that point to south-east blows with the greatest force in iitful gusts. The rain falls heaviest toward the close of the gale, when the glass begins to rise. The barometer not unfrequently falls below 28 in. Capt. Krusenstern in 1804 records his surprise at seeing the mercury sink out of sight.

    The Chinese have erected temples in Hainan to the Tjfoon

    Mother, a goddess whom they supplicate for protection against

    these hurricanes. They say “that a few days before a tyfoon

    comes on, a slight noise is heard at intervals, whirling round

    and then stopping, sometimes impetuous and sometimes slow.

    This is a ‘ tyfoon brewing.’ Then fiery clouds collect in thick

    masses ; the thunder sounds deep and heavy. Kainbows appear,

    now forming an unbroken curve and again separating, and the

    ends of the bow dip into the sea. The sea sends back a bellowing

    sound, and boils with angry surges ; the loose rocks dash

    against each other, and detached sea-weed covers the water;

    there is a thick, murky atmosphere ; the water-fowl fly about

    affrighted ; the trees and leaves bend to the south—the tyfoon

    has connnenced. When to it is superadded a violent rain and

    a frightful surf, the force of the tempest is let loose, and away

    fly the houses up to the hills, and the ships and boats are

    removed to the dry land ; horses and cattle are turned heels

    over head, trees are torn up by the roots, and the sea boils up

    twenty or thirty feet, inundating the fields and destroying vegetation.

    This is called tleh la, or an iron tcJurlwindr ‘ Those

    remarkable gusts which annually occur in the Atlantic States,

    called tornadoes, defined as local storms affecting a thread of

    surface a few miles long, are unknown in China. The healthy

    climate of China has had much to do with the civilization of its

    inhabitants. Xo similar area in the world exceeds it for general

    salubrity.

    The Chinese are the only people who have, by means of a

    ‘ Chinese Repository. Vol. VIII ., p. 230 ; Vol. IV., p. 197. See also Fritsche’a

    paper in Journal of N. C. Branch Royal Asiatic Society, No. XII., 1878, pp.

    127-385; also Appendix II. in No. X., containing observations taken at Zi-ka

    wei.

    term added to the name of a place, endeavored to designate ita

    relative rank. Three of the words used for this purpose, viz.,

    fa, chau, and Men, have been translated as ‘ first,’ ‘ second,’ and

    ‘ third ‘ rank ; but this gradation is not quite correct, for the terms

    do not apply to the city or town alone, but to the portions of

    country of which it is the capital. The nature of these and

    other terms, and the divisions intended by them, are thus

    explained

    :

    “The Eighteen Provinces are divided into fu, ting, clinu, and Men. A fu

    is a large portion or department of a province, under the general control of

    one civil officer immediately subordinate to the heads of the provincial government.

    A ting is a division of a province smaller than a fu, and either like it

    governed by an officer immediately subject to the heads of the provincial

    government, or else forming a subordinate part of a/?/. In the former case it

    is called chih-l%, i.e. under the ‘direct rule’ of the provincial government;

    in the latter case it is sim^jly called ting. A chaii is a division similar to a

    ting, and like it either independent of any other division, or forming part of

    a/H. The difference between the two consists in the government of a ting

    resembling that of a fu more nearly than that of a chau does : that of the chau is less expensive. The ting and chau of the class to which the term chih-li is attached, may be denominated in common with the fu, departments or prefectures ; and the term cMh-Vi may be rendered by tlie word independent.

    The subordinate ting and chau may both be called districts. A ?den, which is also a district, is a small division or subordinate part of a department, whether of a,fu, or of an independent chau or ting.

    “Each/w, ting, chau, and hien, possesses at least one walled town, the seat of its government, which bears the same name as the department or district to which it pertains. Thus Hiangshan is the chief town of the district Hiang-.shan hien ; and Shanking, that of the department Shanking fu. By European writers, the chief towns of the/w or departments liave been called cities of the first order ; tho.se of the chau, cities of the second order ; and those of the hien, cities of the third order. The division called ting, being rarely met with, lias been left out of the arrangement—an arrangement not recognized in

    China. It must be observed that the cliief town of a fu is always also the

    cliief town of a hien district ; and sometimes, when of considerable size and

    importanc-e, it and the country around are divided into two Iden districts, both

    of which have the seat of their government within the same walls: but this

    is not the case with the ting and chau departments. A district is not always

    subdivided ; instances may occur of a whole district possessing but one important

    town. But as there are often large and even walled towns not included in the number of chief or of district towns, consequently not the seat of a regular chau or hien magistracy, a subdivision of a district is therefore frequently rendered necessary ; and for the better government of such towns and the towns surrounding them, magistrates are appointed to them, secondary to the magi.strates of the departments or the districts in which they are

    PtJ, TING, CHAU, AND HIEN. 59

    comprised. Thus Fnlishan is a very large commercial town or mart called a

    chin, situated in the district of Nanhai, of the department of Kwangchau,

    about twelve miles distant from Canton. The chief officer of the department

    has therefore an assistant residing there, and the town is partly under his

    government and partly under that of the Nanhai magistrate, within whose

    district it is included, but who resides at Canton. There are several of these

    c?iin in the provinces, as Kingteh in Kiangsi, Siangtan in Hunan, etc. ; they are not inclosed by walls. Macao affords another instance : being a place of some importance, both from its size and as the residence of foreigners, an assistant

    to the Hiangshan hien magistrate is placed over it, and it is also under

    the control of an assistant to the chief magistrate of the fu. Of these assistant

    magistrates, there are two ranks secondary to the chief magistrate of a///,

    two secondary to the magistrate of a chaii, and two also secondary to the magistrate

    of a liien. Tiie places under the rule of these assistant magistrates are

    called by various names, most frequently chin and so, and sometimes also chai

    and wei. These names do not appear to have reference to any particular form

    of municipal government existing in them ; but the chai and the loei are often

    military posts ; and sometimes a place is, with respect to its civil government,

    the chief city of a fu, while with respect to its military position it is called

    icei. There are other towns of still smaller importance ; these are under the

    government of inferior magistrates who are called siun kien : a division of

    country under such a magistrate is called a sz’, which is best represented by

    the term township or commune. The town of Whampoa and country around it form one such division, called Kiautang sz’, belonging to the district of Pwanyu, in the depai’tment of Kwangchau.

    “In the mountainous districts of Kwangsi, Yunnan, Kweichau, and Sz’-

    chuen, and in some other places, there are districts called tu sz’. Among

    these, the same distinctions of fu, chau, and hien exist, together with the

    minor division «2′. The magistrates of these departments and districts are liereditary in their succession, being the only hereditary local officers acknowledged by the supreme government.

    “There is a larger division than any of the above, but as it does not prevail universally, it was not mentioned in the first instance. It is called tau, a cottrse or circuit, and comprises two or more departments of a province, whether fu, or independent ting or cJtnu. These circuits are subject to the government of officers called tau-tai or intendants of circuit, who often combine with political and judicial powers a military authority and various duties relating to the territory or to the revenue.”

    ‘The eighteen provinces received their present boundaries and divisions in the reign of Ivienhmg ; and the little advance which has been made abroad in the geography of China is shown by the fact, that although these divisions were established a hundred years ago, the old deniarkations, existing at’ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 54.

    the time of the survey in 1710, are still found in many modern European geographies and maps. The following tahle shows their present divisions and government. The three columns under the head of JJepaiiiiieuts contain i\iQ fu, chUdl tiny^ and chihli chau, all of which are properly prefectures ; the three columns under the head of Districts contain the timj, cJiau, and Men.

    The province of CniiiLi is the most important of the whole. Qn foreign maps it is sometimes written Pechele {i.e., Korth vJhihii), a name formerly given it in order to distinguish it from Iviangnau, or Xaii-cUiJd’i, in which the seat of government w^as once located. This name is descriptive, rather than technical, and means ‘ Direct rule,’ denoting that from this province the supreme power which governs the empire proceeds; any province, in which the Emperor and court should be fixed, would therefore be termed Chihli, and its chief city King, ‘ capital,’ or King-ta or King-ss\ ‘ court of the capital.’ The surface of this province lying south of the Great Wall is level, excepting a few ridges of hills in the west and north, while the eastern parts, and those south to the Gulf, are among the flattest portions of the Great Plain.

    It is bounded on the north-east by Liautung, M’here for a short distance the Great AVall is the frontier line ; on the east by the Gulf of Pechele ; on the south-east and south by Shantung; on the south-west by llonan ; on the west by Shansi and north by Inner Mongolia, where the river Liau forms the boundary. The extensive region beyond the Wall, occupied mostly by the Tsakhar Mongols, is now included within the jurisdiction, and placed under the administration o*f officers residing at one of the garrisoned gates of the Great Wall ; the area of this part is about half that of the whole province. The chief department in the province, that of Shuntien, being both large and important, as containing the metropolis, is divided into four III or circuits, each under the rule of a sub-prefect, who issubordinate to the prefect living at Peking.

    Peking’ {i.e., Northern Capital) is situated upon a sandy’ This word shoixld not be written Pekin ; it is pronounced Pei-ching by the citizens, and by most of the people north of the Great River.

    TOPOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF CIIIXA PROPEPv, Gl 13 o) a o S 0′;’= so-e a ^ S to pc; Hfol o> ?s 2 5 _S S1^ S S ^ ^^3 « ^ig cs 2 ^ =3 “So g oO iD 3 Sfl £5tzT^ x’^cgO CIS3 O .a> cs> iio 2SC ” to *2 > ^2 o’ 2 ‘”‘ 6B;o -^ 5 o :5: cs £ 1: cs •-O c! CO BD^ 2u 5 ^OH C 2 SC3 M C4 *3 -3 c3

    plain, about twelve miles south-west of the Pei ho, and more than a hundred miles west-north-west of its month, in lat. 39° 54′ 36′ K., and long. 11(3° 27′ E., or nearly on the parallel of Samarkand, Naples, and Philadelphia. It is a city worthy of note on many accounts. Its ancient history as the capital of the Yen Kwoh (the ‘ Land of Swallows ‘) during the feudal times, and its later position as the metropolis of the empire for many centuries, give it historical importance ; while its imperial buildings, its broad avenues with their imposing gates and towers, its regular arrangement, extent, populousness, and diversity of costume and equipage, combine to render it to a traveler the most interesting and unique city in Asia. It is now ruinous and poor, but the remains of its former grandeur under Kienlung’s prosperous reign indicate the justness of the comparisons made by the Catholic writers with western cities one hundred and eighty years ago. The entire circuit of the walls and suburbs is reckoned by Ilyacinthe at twenty-five

    miles, and its area at twenty-seven square miles, but more accurate

    measurements of the walls alone give forty-one //, or

    14.25 miles (or 23.55 kilometers) for the Manchu city, including

    the cross-wall, and twenty-eight Z/, or ten miles, for the

    Chinese city on its south ; not counting the cross-wall, the circuit

    measures almost twenty-one miles. The suburbs near the

    thirteen outer gates altogether form a small pi-oportion to the

    whole ; the area within them is nearly twenty-six square miles.

    Those residents who have had the best opportunities estimate

    the entire population at a million or somewhat less ; no census

    returns are available to prove this figure, nor can it be stated

    what is the proportion of Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, except

    that the latter outnumber all others. Du Ilalde reckoned it

    to be about three millions, and Klaproth one million three hundred

    thousand ; and each was probably true at some period,

    for the number has diminished with the poverty of the Government.

    Peking is regarded by the Chinese as one of their ancient

    cities, ])ut it was not made the capital of the whole empire

    until Kublai established his court at this spot in 1264. The

    Ming emperors who succeeded the Mongols held their court

    POSITION AND HISTORY OF PEKING. 63

    at Nanking until Yimgloh transferred the seat of government to Peking in 1411, where it lias since remained. Under the Mongols, the city was called Khan-haligh (*.<?., city of the Khan), changed into Cambalii in the accounts of those times; on Chinese maps it is usually called King-sz\ Peking has, during its history, existed under many different names ; after each disaster her walls have been changed and her houses rebuilt, so that to-day she stands, like the capitals of the ancient Roman and Byzantine empires, upon the debris of centuries of buildings. The most important renovations have been those by the Liao dynasty, in 937 A.D., who entirely rebuilt the city, and by the Kin rulers in 1151.

    It was at first surrounded by a single wall pierced by nine

    gates, whence it is sometimes called the City of Nine Gates.

    The southern suburbs were inclosed by Kiatsing in 1543, and

    the city now consists of two portions, the northern or inner

    city {JSFui ching), containing about fifteen square miles, where

    are the palace, government buildings, and barracks for troops; and the southern or Outer city ( Wai ching), where the Chinese live. The wall of the Manchu city averages fifty feet high, forty wide at top, and about sixty at bottom, most of the slope being on the inner face. That around the Outer city is no more than thirty in height, twenty-five thick at bottom, and about fifteen at top. The terre-plein throughout is pave^ with bricks weighing sixty pounds each ; a crenellated parapet runs around the entire town, intended only for archers or musketeers, as no port-holes for cannon exist. It is undoubtedly the finest wall surrounding any city now extant. Near the gates, of which there are sixteen in all, the walls are faced with stone, but in other places with these large bricks, laid in a concrete of lime and clay, which in process of time becomes almost as durable as stone. The intermediate space between facings is filled up with the earth taken from the ditch which surrounds the city. Square buttresses occur at intervals of sixty yards on the outer face, each projecting fifty feet, and every sixth one being twice the size of the others ; their tops furnish room for the troops posted there to resist side attacks. Each gate is surmounted with a brick tower of many stories, over a hundred feet high, built in galleries with port-holes, and giving a very imposing appearance to the city as one approaches it from the wide plain. The gates of the Mancliu city have a double entrance formed by joining their supporting bastions with a circular wall in which are side entrances, thus making an enceinte of several acres, in which the yellow-tiled temple to the tutelary God of War is conspicuous. The arches of all the gates are built solidly of granite; the massive doors are closed and barred every night soon after dark.

    At the sides of the gates, and also between them, are esplanades for mounting to the top ; this is shut to the common people, and the guards are not allowed to bring their women upon the wall, which would be deemed an affront to Kwanti. The moat around the city is fed from the Tunghwui River, which also supplies all the other canals leading across or through the city. The approach to Peking from Tung chau is by an elevated stone road, but nothing of the buildings inside the walls is seen ; and were it not for the lofty towers over the gates, it would more resemble an encampment inclosed by a massive wall than a large metropolis. No spires or towers of churches, no pillars or monuments, no domes or minarets, nor even many dw-ellings of superior elevation, break the dull uniformity of this or any Chinese city. In Peking, the different colored yellow or green tiles on official buildings,’ mixed with the brown roofs of common houses, impart a variety to the scene, but the chief objects to relieve the monotony are the large clumps of trees, and the flag -staffs in pairs near the temples.

    GENERAL ASPECT OF THE CAPITAL. 65

    The view from the walls impresses one with the grand ideas of the founders of the city ; and the palaces in the Forbidden City, towering above everything else, worthily exhibit their notions of what was befitting the sovereigns of the Middle Kingdom. The Bell and Clock Towers, the Prospect Hill, the dagobas, pagodas, and gate towers, and lastly the Temple of ‘ ” You woxald think them all made of, or at least covered with, piii’e gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once majestic an^ channing.” Magaillans, Noavelln Dencriptioit dc Id Cliiiu\ p. 353.

    Heaven, are all likewise visible from this point, and render the scene picturesque and peculiar.*

    The plan of the city here given is reduced from a large Chinese

    map, but is not very exact. The northern portion occupies

    for the most part the same area as the Cambaluc of Marco

    Polo, which, however, extended about two miles north, where

    the remains of the old north wall of the Mongols still exist.

    On their expulsion Ilungwu erected the present northern wall,

    and his son Yungloh rebuilt the other three sides in 1419 on a

    rather larger scale ; but the ai’rangement of the streets and

    gates is due to the Great Khan. When taken possession of by

    the Manchus in 1611, they found a magnificent city ready for

    them, uninjured and strong, which they apportioned among

    their officers and bannermen ; but necessity soon obliged these

    men, less frugal and thrifty than the natives, to sell them, and

    content themselves with humbler abodes ; consequently, the

    greater part of tlie noi-thern city is now tenanted by Chmese.

    The innermost inclosure in the l!^ul Ching contains the palace

    and its surrounding buildings; the second is occupied by barracks

    and public offices, and by many private residences ; the

    outer one, for the most part, consists of dwelling-houses, with

    shops in the large avenues. The inner inclosui’e measures 6.3

    li^ or 2.23 miles, in circuit, and is called Ts£ Kin Ching, or

    ‘ Carnation Prohibited City ;

    ‘ the wall is less solid and high than the city wall ; it is covered with bright yellow tiles, guarded by numerous stations of bannermen and gendarmerie, and surrounded by a deep, wide moat. Two gates, the Tunghwa and Si-hiva, on the east and west, afford access to the interior of this habitation of the Emperor, as well as the space and rooms appertaining, which furnish lodgment to the guard

    c’afending the approach to the Dragon’s Throne ; a tower at

    each corner, and one over each gateway, also gi\’e accommodation

    to other troops. The interior of this inclosure is divided

    ‘ See also Ji’ Unwera Pittoresque, Chine Modern f, par MM. Pauthier et Bazin,

    Paris, 185:^, for a good map of Peking, with careful descriptions. Yule’s Murro

    Polo, passim. De Guigues, Voydr/cs, Tome I. Williamson, Journeys in North

    China, Vol. II. Dr. Rennie, Pckiny and tlixi Pekimjeae. Tour du Monde foi 1864, Tome II.

    A.

    B.

    C.

    D.

    E.

    F.

    G.

    H.

    1.

    J.

    K.

    K.

    L.

    M.

    N.

    O.

    P.

    Q.

    R.

    S.

    T.

    U.

    V.

    w.

    X.

    Y.

    Z.

    BEFEBENCES.

    The Meridian Gate.

    Gate of E.\tensive Peace.

    Hall of Perfect Peace.

    Hall of Secure Peace.

    Palace of Heaven—the Emperor’s.

    Palace of Earth’s Repose—the Empress’.

    Gate to Earth’s Repose, leads to a Garden.

    Ching-hwang miao.

    Temple of Great Happiness.

    Northern gate of Forbidden City.

    Nui Koh, or Privy Council Chamber, lies

    within the wall.

    Gate of Heavenly Rest.

    Hall of Intense Mental Exercises.

    Library, or Hall of Literary Abyis.

    Imperial Ancestral Hall.

    Hall of National Portrait-s.

    PrintinK Office.

    Court of Controllers of Imperial Clan.

    Marble Isle ; a marble bridge leads to it.

    Five Dragon Pavilion.

    Great Ancestral Temple.

    Altar to the Gods of Land and Grain.

    Artificial Mountain. The Russian school

    lies just north of the Eastern gate near N.

    A summer-houpc.

    Military Examination Hall.

    Plantain Garden, or Conservatory,

    A Pavilion.

    Medical College.

    Astronomical Board.

    Five of the Six Boards. The Hanlin Yu9n

    lies just above them.

    House of the Russian Mission.

    Colonial Office.

    Temple for Imperial worship.

    Imperial Observatory, partly on the wall-

    Hall of Literary Examination.

    Russian Church of the Assumption.

    Temple of Eternal Peace of the lamas.

    Kwoh Tsz’ Kien, a Manchii College.

    Temple of the God of the North Star.

    High Watch-tower and Police Office.

    Board of Punishments.

    Censorate.

    Mohammedan Mosque.

    I’ortugtiese Church.

    Elephant’s Inclosure.

    Principal Ching-hwang miau.

    Temple of Deceased Emperors of all ages.

    Obelisk covering a »cab of Buddha.

    Altar to Heaven.—Altar to Earth is on the

    north of the city.

    Altar to Ayriculture.

    Black Dragon Pool, and Temple of God ol

    Hain.

    Altar to the Moon.

    Altar to the Sun.

    PALACES OF THE PROHIBITED CITY. 67

    Into three parts by two walls running from south to north, and

    the whole is occupied by a suite of court-yards and halls, which,

    in their prrangenient and architecture, far exceed any other

    speciraer?. of the kind in China. According to the notions of a

    common Chinese, all here is gold and silver ; ” he will tell you

    of gold and silver pillars, gold and silver roofs, and gold and

    silver vases, in which swim gold and silver fishes.”

    The southern gate, called the Wu 3Idn, or ‘ Meridian Gate,’

    is the fourth in going north from the entrance opposite the

    Tsien. Mitii, and this distance of nearly half a mile is occupied

    by troops. The Wtc Ildn leads into the middle division, in

    which are the imperial buildings ; it is especially appropriated

    to the Emperor, and whenever he passes through it, a bell

    placed in the tower above is struck ; when his troops return in

    triumph, a drum is beaten, and the prisoners are here presented

    to him ; here, too, the presents he confers on vassals and ambassadors

    are pompously bestowed. Passing through this gate

    into a large court, over a small creek spanned by five marble

    bridges, ornamented with sculptures, the visitor is led through

    the Tai-ho Mdii into a second court paved with marble, and

    terminated on the sides by gates, porticos, and pillared corridors.

    The next building, at the head of this court, called the TaiheDian or ‘ Hall of Highest Peace,’ is a superb marble structure, one hundred and ten feet high, standing on a terrace that raises it twenty feet above the ground ; five flights of stairs, decorated with balustrades and sculptures, lead up to it, and five doors open through it into the next court-yard. It is a great hall of seventy-two pillars, measuring about two hundred feet by ninety broad, with a throne in the midst. Here

    the Emperor holds his levees on New Year’s Day, his birthdays,

    and other state occasions ; a cortege of about fifty household

    courtiers stand near him, while those of noble and inferior

    dignity and rank stand in the court below in regular grades,

    and, when called upon, fall prostrate as they all make the fixed

    obeisances. It was in this hall that Titsingh and Van Braam

    were banqueted by Kienlung, January 20, 1795, of which interesting

    ceremony the Dutch embassador gives an account, and

    since which event no European has entered the building. The three Tien in this iiiclosiire are the audience halls, and the sido buildings contain stores and treasures under the charge of the Household Board, with minor bureaus.

    Beyond it are two halls; the first, the CJmmjhe Dian, or ‘Hall of Central Peace,’ having a circular roof, that rests on columns arranged nearly four-square. Here the Emperor ‘jomes to examine the written prayers provided to be offered at the state worship. The second is the Baohe Dian, or ‘ Hall of Secure Peace,’ elevated on a high marble terrace, and containing nine rows of pillars. The highest degrees for literary merit are her6 conferred triennially by the Emperor upon one hundred and fifty or more scholars ; here, also, he banquets his foreign guests and other distinguished persons the day before New Year’s Day. After ascending a stairway, and passing the Iti-eii Tsing 2Idn, the visitor reaches the Kieii Tsing Jfiinj, or ‘Palace of Heavenly Purity’, into which no one can eiiter without special license. In it is the council-chamber, where the Emperor usually sits at morning audience up to eight o’clock, to transact business with his ministers, and see those appointed to office. The building is the most important as it is described to be the loftiest and most mao-nificent of all the palaces. In the court before it is a small tower of gilt copper, adorned with a great number of figures, and- on each side are large incense vases, the uses of which are no doubt religious.

    It Avas in this palace that Ivanghi celebrated a singular and

    unique festival, in 1722, for all the men in the enquire over

    sixty years of age, that being the sixtieth year of his reign.

    His grandson Ivienlung, in 1785, in the fiftieth year of his

    reign, repeated the ceremony, on which occasion the number

    of guests was about three thousand.’ Beyond it stands the

    ‘ Palace of Earth’s Bepose,’ where ‘ Heaven’s consort ‘ rules

    • ler niiniature court in the imperial harem ; there are numerous

    buildings of lesser size in this part of the inclosure, and

    adjoining the northern Avail of the Forbidden City is the imperial

    Flower Garden, designed for the use of its inmates. The

    gardens arc adorned with elegant pavilions, tenq)les, and. :

    ‘ Chinese liepobitory, Vol. IX., p. 259.

    IMPERIAL CITY. 69

    groves, and interspersed with canals, fountains, pools, and

    flower-beds. Two groves rising from the bosoms of small

    lakes, and another crowning the summit of an artificial mountain, add to the beauty of the scene, and afford the inmates of the palace an agreeable variety.

    In the eastern division of the Prohibited City are the otiices

    of the Cabinet, where its members hold their sessions, and the

    treasury of the palace. North of it lies the ‘Hall of Intense Thought,’ where sacrifices are presented to Confucius and other sages. Kot far from this hall stands the Wchi-//yen loA, or the Library, the catalogue of whose contents is published from time to time, forming an admirable synopsis of Chinese literature.

    At the northern end of the eastern division are numerous

    palaces and buildings occupied by princes of the blood, and

    those connected Avith them ; and in this quarter is placed the

    Fung Sien tien, a small temple where the Emperor comes to

    ‘ bless his ancestors.’ Here the Emperor and his family perform

    their devotions before the tablets of their departed progenitors;

    whenever he leaves or returns to his palace, the first

    day of a season, and on other occasions, the monarch goes

    through his devotions in this hall.

    The western division contains a great variety of edifices devoted

    to public and private purposes, among which may be

    mentioned the hall of distinguished sovereigns, statesmen, and

    literati, the printing-office, the Court of Controllers for the

    regulation of the receipts and disbursements of the court, and

    the Ching-Jncang Mlao^ or ‘Guardian Temple’ of the city.

    The number of people residing within the Prohibited City

    cannot 1)0 stated, .but probably is not large ; most of them are

    Manchus.

    The second inclosure, which surrounds the imperial palaces,

    is called Hwang Ching^ or ‘ Imperial City,’ and is an oblong rectangle

    about six miles in circuit, encompassed by a wall twenty

    feet high, and having a gate in each face. From the southern

    gate, called the Tlen-an Mdn^ or ‘ Heavenly Rest,’ a broad

    avenue leads up to the Kin Chiw/ ; and before it. outside of

    the M’all, is an extensive space walled in, and having one entrance

    on the south, called the gate of Great Purity, which 110 one is allowed to enter except on foot, unless by special permission. On the right of the avenue within the wall is a gateway leading to the TaiMiao, or ‘ Great Temple’ of the imperial ancestors, a large collection of buildings hiclosed by a wall 3,000 feet in circuit. It is the most honored of religious structures

    next to the Temple of Heaven, and contains tablets to princes

    and meritorious officers. Here offerings are presented before

    the tablets of deceased emperors and empresses, and worship

    performed at the end of the year by the members of the imperial

    family and clan to their departed forefathers. Across

    the avenue from this temple is a gateway leading to the Shie-

    Tsih tan, or altar of the gods of Land and Grain. These were

    originally Kaa-lung, a Minister of Works, b.c. 2500, and Hautsih,

    a remote ancestor of Chan Kung ; here the Emperor sacriiices

    in spring and autumn. This altar consists of two stories,

    each five feet high, the upper one being fifty-eight feet square; no other altar of the kind is found in the empire, and it would

    he tantamount to high treason to erect one and worship upon it.

    The north, east, south, and west altar are respectively black,

    green, red, and white, and the top yellow ; the ceremonies connected

    with the worship held here are among the most ancient practised among the Chinese.

    PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND BARKS. 71

    On the north of the palace, separated by a moat, and surrounded by a wall more than a mile in circuit, is the King Shan, or ‘ Prospect Hill,’ an artificial mound, nearly one hundred and fifty feet high, and having five summits, crowned with as many temples ; many of these show the neglect in which public edifices soon fall. Trees of various kinds border its base, and line the paths leading to the tops. Its height allows the spectator to overlook the whole city, while, too, it is itself a conspicuous object from every direction. The earth and stone in it were taken from the ditches and pools dug in and around the city, and near its base are many tanks of picturesque shape and appearance; so that altogether it forms a great ornament to the city. Another name for it is Mei Shan, or ‘ Coal Hill,’ from a tradition that a quantity of coal Avas placed there, as a supply in case of siege. The western part of this inelosure is chiefly occupied by the Si l”;<;6/<, or ‘Western Park,’ in and around which are found some of the most beautiful objects and spots in the uietropolis. An artificial lake, more than a mile long, and averaging a furlong in breadth, occupies the centre; it is supplied from the Western Hills, and its waters are adorned with the splendid lotus. A marble bridge of nine arches crosses it, and its banks are shaded by groves of trees, under which are well-paved walks. On its south-eastern side is a large summer-house, consisting of several edifices partly in or over the water, and inclosing a number of gardens and walks, in and around which are artificial hills of rock-work beautifully alternating or supporting groves of trees and parterres of flowers.

    On the western side is the hall for examining military candidates,

    where his majesty in person sees them exliibit their

    prowess in equestrian archery. At the north end of the lake is

    a bridge leading to an islet, wdiich presents the aspect of a hill

    of gentle ascent covered with groves, temples, and summerhouses,

    and surmounted with a tower, from which an extensive

    view can be enjoyed. On the north of the bridge is a hill on

    an island called Kiung-hwa tan^ capped by a white dagoba.

    Xear by is an altar forty feet in circuit, and four feet high,

    inclosed by a wall, and a temple dedicated to Yuenfi, the

    reputed discoverer of the silk-worm, where the Empress annually

    offers sacrifices to her ; in the vicinity a plantation of mulberry

    trees and a cocoonery are maintained. Xear the temple

    of ‘ Great Happiness,’ not far distant from the preceding, on

    the northern borders of the lake, is a gilded copper statue of

    Maitreya, or the coming Buddha, sixty feet high, with a hundred

    arms ; the temple is one of the greatest ornaments of the

    Park. Across the lake on its western bank, and entered

    through the first gate on the south side of the street, is the

    Ts^-kwamj Koh^ wdiere foreign ministers are received by the

    Emperor ; the inclosure is kept with great care, and numerous

    halls and temples are seen amidst groves of firs. The object

    kept in view in the arrangement of these gardens and grounds

    has been to make them an epitome of nature, and then furnish

    every part with conmiodious buildings. But however elegant

    the palaces and grounds may have appeared when new, it is to

    be feared that his majesty has no higher ideas of cleanliness and order tliuu lii.s subjects, and tluit the various public and private edifices and gardens in these two inelosures are despoiled of luilf their beauty bj dirt and neglect. The nundjer of the palaces in them both is estimated to be over two hundred, “each of which,” says Attinet, in vague terms, ” is suflSciently large to accommodate the greatest of European noblemen, with all his retijiue.*’

    Along the avenue leading south from the Imperial City to the division Avail, are found the principal government offices. Five of the ISix Boards have their bureaus on the east side, the Board of Punishments with its subordinate departments being situated with its courts on the west side; immediately south of this is the Censorate. The office attached to the Board of Itites, for the preparation of the Calendar, commonly called the Astronomical Board, stands directly east of this; and the Medical College has its hall not far off. The Ilanlhi l\en, or National Academy, and the Ll-fan Yuen., or Colonial Office, are also near the south-eastern corner of the Imperial City. Opposite to the Colonial Office is the Tang T)iz\ where the remote ancestors of the reigning family are worshipped by his majesty together with the princes of his family; when they come in procession to this temple in their state dresses, the Emperor, as high-priest of the family, performs the highest religious ceremony before his deified ancestors, viz., three kneelings and nine knockings. After he has completed his devotions, the attendant grandees go through the same ceremonies. The temple itself is pleasantly situated in the midst of a grove of fir and other trees, and the large inclosure around it is prettily laid out.

    BUDDHIST AND CONFUCIAN TEMPLES. 73

    In the south-eastern part of the city, built partly upon the wall, is the Observatory, which was placed imder the superintendence of the Komish missionaries by Ivanghi, but is now confided to the care of Chinese astronomers. The instruments are arranged on a terrace higher than the city wall, and are beautiful pieces of bronze art, though now antiquated and useless for practical observations. Nearly opposite to the Observatory stands the Ilall for Literary Examinations, Mdiere the candidates of the province assemble to write their essays. In the north-eastern corner of the city is the Bussian Mission and

    Astronomical Office, inclosed in a large compound ; near it live

    the converts. About half a mile west is the Yung-ho Kung, or

    ‘ Lamasar}’ of Eternal Peace,’ wherein alwut 1,500 Mongol and

    Tibetan priests study the dogmas of Buddhism, or spend their

    days in idleness, under the conti’ol of a Gegen or living Buddha.

    Their course of study comprises instruction in metaphysics, ascetic

    duties, astrology, and medicine ; their daily ritual is performed

    in several courts, and the rehearsal of prayers and chants

    by so many men strikes the hearer as very impressive. The I’ear

    building contains a wooden image, 70 feet in height, of Mait-

    •veya, the coming Buddha ; the whole establishment exhibits in its

    buildings, pictures, images, cells, and internal arrangemeuts for

    study, living, and worship, one of the most complete in the empire.

    Several smaller lamasaries occur in other parts of the city.

    Directly west of the Yimg-ho Kung^ and presenting the

    greatest contrast to its life and activity, lies the Confucian

    Temple, where embowered in a grove of ancient cypresses

    stands the imposing Wan Mlao^ or ‘ Literary Temple,’ in which

    the Example aiid Teacher of all Ages and ten of his great disciples

    are worshipped. The hall is 84 feet in front, and the lofty

    roof is supported on wooden pillars over 40 feet high, covering

    the single room in which their tablets are placed in separate

    niches, he in the high seat of honor. All is simple, quiet, and

    cheerless ; the scene liere presents an impressive instance of

    merited honors paid to the moral teachers of the people. Opposite

    and across the court are ten granite stones shaped like

    drums, which are believed to have been made about the eighth

    century b.c, and contain stanzas recording King Siien’s hunting

    expeditions. In another court are many stone tablets containing

    the lists of Tslii-sz’ graduates since the Mongol dynasty, many thousands of names with places of residence. Contiguous to this temple is the Pili-yung Kang^ or ‘Classic Ilall’, where the Emperor meets the graduates and literati. It is a beautiful specimen of Chinese architectural taste. Near it are 800 stone tablets on which the authorized texts of the classics are engraved.’

    ‘ Dr. Martin, The CJdnese (New York, 1881), p. 85.

    North of the Imperial City lies the extensive yamiui of fJie Tl-tuh, who has the police and garrison of the city under his control, and exercises great authority in its civil administration. The Drum and Bell Towers stand north of the Ti-ngan Mwi in the street leading to the city wall, each of them over a hundred feet high, and forming conspicuous objects ; the drum and bell are sounded at night watches, and can be heard throughout the city; a clepsydra is still maintained to mark time—a good instance of Chinese conservatism, for clocks are now in general use, and correct the errors of the clepsydra itself.

    SHRINES OF ALL KELIGIONS. 75

    Outside of the south-western angle of the Imperial City stands the Mohammedan mosque, and a large number of Turks whose ancestors were brought from Turkestan about a century ago live in its vicinity ; this quarter is consequently the chief resort of Moslems who come to the capital. South-%vest of the mosque, near the cross-wall, stands the Xan Tavy, or old For tugiiese church, and just west of the Forbidden City, inside of the Hwang Chlng, is the Peh 2’ang, or Cathedral; Loth are imposing edifices, and near them are large schools and seiiiinaries for the education of children and neophytes. There are religions edifices in the Chinese metropolis appropriated to many forms of religion, viz., the Greek, Latin, and Protestant churches, Islamism, Buddhism in its two principal forms, nationalism, ancestral worship, state worship, and temples dedicated to Confucius and other deified mortals, besides a great number in which the popular idols of the country are adored. One of the most worthy of notice is the Ti- Wang Miao, lying on the avenue leading to the west gate, a large collection of halls wherein all the tablets of former monarchs of China from remote ages are worshipped. The rule for admission into this Walhalla is to accept all save the vicious and oppressive, those who were assassinated and those who lost their kingdoms. This

    memorial temple was opened in 1522; the Manchus have even

    admitted some of the Tartar rulers of the Kin and Liao dynasties,

    raising the total number of tablets to nearly three hundred.

    It is an impressive sight, these simple tablets of men who once

    ruled the Middle Kingdom, standing .here side by side, wovshipped

    by their successors that their spirits may bless the state.

    This selection of the good sovereigns alone recalls to mind the

    custom in ancient Jerusalem of allowing wicked pi-inces no place

    in the sepulchres of the kings. Distinguished statesmen of all

    ages, called by the Chinese liroh cJiu, or ‘pillars of state,’ are

    associated with their masters in this temple, as not unworthy to

    receive equal honors.

    A little west of this remarkable temple is the Peli-ta sz\ or ‘White Pagoda Temple,’ so called from a costly dagoba near it erected about a.d. 1100, renovated by Kublai in the thirteenth century, and rebuilt in 1S19. Its most conspicuous feature is the great copper umbrella on the top. When finished, the dagoba was described as covered with jasper, and the projecting parts of the roof with ornaments of exquisite workmanship tastefully arranged. Around this edifice, which contains twenty beads or relics of Buddha, two thousand clay pagodas and five books of charms, are also one hundred and eight small pillars Oil which lamps are burned. The portion of the city lying south of the cross-wall is inhabited mostly by Chinese, and contains

    hundreds of /avui-kican, or club-liouses, erected by the gentry

    of cities and districts in all parts of the empire to accommodate

    their citizens resorting to the capital. Its streets are narrow

    and the whole aspect of its buildings and markets indicates the

    life and industry of the people. Hundreds of inns accommodate

    trayellers who lind no lodging-places in the Nul C/n’urj, and

    storehouses, theatres, granaries and markets attract or supply their customers from all parts. There is more dissipation and freedom from etiquette here, and the Chinese officials feel freer from their Manchu colleagues.

    Three miles south of the Palace, in the Chinese City, is situated the Tien Tan, or ‘ Altar to Ileayen,’ so placed because it was anciently customary to perform sacrifices to Heaven in the outskirts of the Emperor’s residence city. The compound is inclosed by more than three miles of wall, within which is planted a thick grove of locust {Sajj/iora), pine and fir trees, interspaced with stretches of grass. Within a second wall, which surrounds the sacred buildings, rises a copse of splendid and thickly growing cypress trees, reminding one of the solemn shade in the vicinity of famous temples in Ancient Greece, or of those celebrated shrines described in “Western Asia. The great South Altar, the most important of Chinese religious structures, is a beautiful triple circular terrace of white marble, whose base is 210, middle stage 150, and top 90 feet in width, each terrace encompassed by a richly caryed balustrade. A curious symbolism of the number three and its multiples may be noticed in the measurements of this pile. The uppermost terrace, whose height above the ground is about eighteen feet, is paved with marble slabs, forming nine concentric circles—the inner of nine stones inclosing a central piece, and around this each receding layer consisting of a successive multiple of nine until the square of nine (a favorite number of Chinese philosophy) is reached in the outermost row. It is upon the single nnind stone in the centre of the upper plateau that the Emperor kneels when worshipping Heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice.

    THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN”. 77

    Four lliglits of nine steps each lead from this elevation to the next lower stage, where are placed tablets to the spirits of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the Year God. On the ground at the end of the four stairways stand vessels of bronze in which are placed the bundles of cloth and sundry animals constituting part of the sacrilicial offerings. But of ^’astly greater importance than these in the matter of burnt-offering is the great furnace, nine feet high, faced with green porcelain, and ascended on three of its sides by porcelain staircases. In this receptacle, erected some hundred feet to the south-east of the altar, is consumed a burnt-offering of a bullock—entire and without blemish—at the yearly ceremony. The slaughter-house of the sacrificial bullock stands east of the North Altar, at the end of an elaborate winding passage, or cloister of 72 compartments, each 10 feet in length.

    Separated from the Altar to Heaven by a low wall, is a smaller though more conspicuous construction called Kl-l’iih Tan, or ‘ Altar of Prayer for Grain.’ Its proportions and arrangement are somewhat similar to those of the South Altar, but upon its upper terrace rises a magnificent triple-roofed, circular building known to foreigners as the ‘ Temple of Heaven.’

    This elaborate house of worship, whose surmounting gilded ball rests 100 feet above the platform, was originally roofed with blue, yellow and green tiles, but by Kienlung these colors were changed to blue. When, added to these brilliant hues, we consider the I’ichly carved and painted eaves, the windows shaded by Venetians of blue-glass rods strung together, and the I’ai’e symmetry of its proportions, it is no exaggeration to call this temple the most remarkable edifice in the capital—or indeed in the empire. The native name is Qi-Nian Dian, or ‘Temple of Prayer for the Year’. In the interior, the large shrines of carved wood for the tablets coiTespond to the movable blue wooden huts which on days of sacrifice are put up on the Southern Altar. Here, upon some day following the first of spring (Fel). G), the Emperor offers his supplications to Heaven for a blessing upon the year. In times of drought, prayer for rain is also made at this altar, the Emperor being obliged to proceed on foot, as a repentant suppliant, to the ‘ Hall of Peni tent Fasting,’ a distance of three miles. A green furnace for burnt-offerings lies to the south-east of this, as of the Korth Altar ; while in the open park not far from the two and seventy cloisters are seven great stones, said to have fallen from heaven and to secure good luck to the country.

    Across the avenue upon which is situated this great inclosure of the I’ien Tan, is the Sleii ^uny Tan, or ‘ Altar dedicated to Shinnung,’ the supposed inventor of agriculture. These precincts are about two miles in circumference, and contain four separate altars : to the gods of the heavens, of the earth, of the planet Jupiter, and to Shinnung, The worship here is performed at the vernal equinox, at which time the ceremony of ploughing a part of the inclosed park is performed by the Emperor, assisted by various officials and members of the Board of Rites, The district magistrates and prefect also plough their plats ; but no one touches the imperial portion save the monarch himself. The first two altars are rectangular ; that to the gods of heaven, on the east, is 50 feet long and 4^ feet high: four marble tablets on it contain the names of the gods of the clouds, rain, wind, and thunder. That to the gods of earth is 100 feet long by GO wide ; here the five marble tablets contain the names of celebrated mountains, seas, and lakes in China, Sacrifices are offered to these divinities at various times, and, with the prayers presented, are burned in the furnaces, thus to come before them in the unseen world ; the idea which runs through them partakes of the nature of homage, not of atonement, iS’ early one-half of the Chinese City is empty of dwellings, much of the open land being cultivated ; a large pond for rearing gold-fish near the T’ten Tan is an attractive place. West of this city wall is an old and conspicuous dagobain the Ti.enning sz\ nearly 200 feet high, and a landmark for the city gate. This part of Peking was much the best built when the Liao and Kin dynasties occupied it, west of the main city is the Temple of the Moon, and on the east side, directly opposite, stands the Temple to the Sun ; the T’l Tan, or ‘ Altar to Earth.’ is on the north over against the Altar to Heaven, just desciilicd.

    MONUMENT, OK TOPE, OF A LAMA. UWANG SZ’, PEKING.THE BELL TEMPLE AND HWANG SZ*. 79

    At all these the Emperor performs religious rites during the twelve months. The inciosure of the Altar to Earth is suuiller, and everything connected with the sacrifices is on an inferior scale to those conducted in the Altar to Heaven, The main altar has two terraces, each 6 feet high, and respectively lOG feet and 00 feet square ; the tablet to Imperial Earth is placed on the npper with those to the Imperial Ancestors, and all are adored at the summer solstice. The bullock for sacrifice is afterwards buried and not burned. Adjoining the terraced altar on the south is a small tank for Mater.

    About two miles from the Tl Tan, in a northerly direction, passing through one of the ruined gates of the Peking of Marco Polo’s time on the way, is found the Ta-chioig sz\ or ‘Bell Temple’, in which is hung the great bell of Peking. It was cast about 1406, in the reign of Yungloli, and was covered over in 1578 by a small temple. It is 14 feet high, including the nmbones, 34 feet in circumference at the lim, and 9 inches thick ; the weight is 120,000 lbs. av. ; it is struck by a heavy beam swung on the outside. The Emperor cast five bells in all, but this one alone was hung. It is covered with myriads of Chinese characters, both inside and out, consisting of extracts from the Fah-hwa King and TJng-yen King, two Buddhist classics. In some respects this may be called the most remarkable work of art now in China ; it is the largest suspended bell in the world. A square hole in the top prevents its fracture under the heaviest rinoino-.’

    ‘ Compare Kirclier, China Illustratn, where an engraving of it may be seen. A bell near Mandalay, mentioned by Dr. Anderson, is 13 feet high, 10 feet across tli3 lips, and weighs 90 tons—evidently a heavier monster than this in Peking. (Mandalay to Momien, p. 18.)

    A short distance outside the northern gate, Tah-shing Man, is an open ground for military reviews, and near it a Buddhist temple of some note, called Hwang sz\ containing in its enceinte a remarkable monument erected by Ivienlung. In 1779 the Teshu Lama started for Peking with an escort of 1,500 men; he was met by the Emperor near the city of Si-ning in Ivansuh, conducted to Peking with great honor, and lodged in this temple for several months. He died here of small-pox, November 12, 1780, and this cenotaph of white marble was erected to his nieinoi’v ; the body was inclosed in a <^old cuflin and sent to the Dalai Lama at Lliassa in 1781. The plinth of this beautiful work contains scenes in the })relate’s life carved on the panels, one of which represents a lion rubbing- his eyes with his paw as the tears fall for grief at the Lama’s death.

    The Summer Palace at Yiien-ming Yuen lies about seven miles from the north-west corner of Peking, and its entire circuit is reckoned to contain twelve square miles. The country in this direction rises into gentle hills, and advantage has been taken of the original surface in the arrangement of the different parts of the ground, so that ilie whole presents a great variety of hill and dale, woodlands and lawns, interspered with pools, lakes, caverns, and islets joined by bridges and walks, their banks thrown up or diversified like the free hand of nature. Some parts are tilled, groves or tangled thickets occur here and there, and places are purposely left wild to contrast the better with the cultivated precincts of a palace, or to form a rural pathway to a retired temple or arbor. Here were formerly no less than thirty distinct places of residence for various palace officials, around which were houses occupied by eumichs md servants, each constituting a little village.

    But all was swept away l)y the British and French troops in

    I860, and their ruins still i-cmain to irritate the officials and

    people of Peking against all foreigners. Xear the Summer

    Palace is the great cantomnent of llai-tien, where the Manchu

    garrison is stationed to defend the capital, and whose troops

    did their best in the vain effort to stay the attack in I860. As

    a contrast to the proceedings connected with this approach of

    the British, an extract fi-om Sir John Davis’s Chinese (chap, x.)

    will furnish an index of the changed condition of things.

    ” It was at a place called Jlai-tien, in the innnediate vicinity

    of these gardens, that the strange scene occurred which terminated

    in the dismissal of the embassy of 1816, On his arrival

    there, about daylight in the jnornii?g, with the coinmissioners

    and a few other gentlemen, tlie ambassador was drawn

    to one of the Emperor’s temporary residences by an invitation

    from Duke llo, as he was called, the imperial relative charged

    rt’ith the conduct of the negotiations. After passing through

    SUMMEIl PALACE AT YUEN-MING YUEN. 81

    an open court, where were assembled a vast number of grandees

    in their dresses of ceremony, they were shown into a WTetched

    room, and soon encompassed l)y a well-dressed crowd, among

    whom were princes of the blood by dozens, wearing yellow girdles.

    With a childish and unmannei-ly curiosity, consistent

    enough with the idle and disorderly life which many of them

    are said to lead, they examined the persons and dress of the

    gentlemen without ceremony ; while these, tired with their

    sleepless journey, and disgusted at the behavior of the celestials,

    turned their backs upon them, and laid themselves down to rest.

    Duke IIo soon appeared, and surpi’ised the ambassador hy urging

    him to proceed directly to an audience of the Emperor, who

    was waiting for him. His lordsliip iu vain remonstrated that

    to-morrow liad been fixed for the first audience, and that tired

    and dusty as they all were at present, it would be worthy

    neither of the Emperor nor of himself to wait on his majesty in

    a manner so unprepared. He urged, too, that he was unwell,

    and required innnediate rest. Duke llo became more and more

    pressiug, and at length forgot himself so far as to grasp the

    ambassador’s arm violently, and one of the others stepped up at

    the same time. His lordship immediately shook them oft’, and

    the gentlemen crowded about him ; while the highest indignation

    was expressed at such treatment, and a determined resolution

    to proceed to no audience this morning. The ambassador

    at leugth retired, with the appearance of satisfaction on the

    part of Duke Ho, that the audience should take place tomorrow.

    There is every reason, however, to suppose that this

    person had been largely bribed by the heads of the Canton

    local government to frustrate the views of the embassy, and

    prevent an audience of the Emperor. The mission, at least, was

    on its way back in the afternoon of the same day.”

    The principal part of the provisions recpiired for the supply of this iimnense city comes from the southern provinces, and from flocks reared beyond the wall. It has no important manufactures, horn lanterns, wall papers, stone snuff-bottles, and pipe mouth-pieces, being the principal. Trade in silks, foreign fabrics, and food is limited to supplying the local demand, inasmuch as a heavy octroi duty at the gates restrains all enterprise. No foreign merchants are allowed to carry on business here. The government of Peking differs from that of other cities in the empire, the affairs of the department being separated from it, and administered by officers residing in thvi four circuits into which it is divided. ” A minister of one of the Boards is appointed superintendent of the city, and subordinate to him is ^ fuyin, or mayor. Their duties consist in having charge of the metropolitan domain, for the purpose of extending good government to its four divisions. They have under them two district magistrates, each of Mhoni rules half the city; none of these officers are subordinate to the provincial governor, but carry affairs which they cannot determine to the Emperor. They preside or assist at many of the festivals observed in the capital, superintend the military police, and hold the courts which take cognizance of the offences committed there.”‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 181.

    STREET SCENES AND FEATURES OF PEKING. 80

    The thoroughfares leading across Peking, from one gate to the other, are broad, unpaved avenues, more than a hundred feet wide, which appear still wider owing to the lowness of the buildings; the centre is about two feet higher than the sides. The cross-streets in the main city are generally at right angles with them, not over forty feet wide, and for the most part occupied with dwellings. The inhabitants of the avenues are required to keep them well sprinkled in summer; but in rainy weather they are almost impassable from the mud and deep jniddles, the level surface of the ground, and obstructed, neglected drains, preventing rapid drainage. The crowds which throng these avenues, some engaged in various callings, along the sides or in the middle of the way, and others busily passing and repassing, together with the gay appearance of the signl)oards, and. an air of business in the shops, render the great streets of the Chinese metropolis very bustling, and to a foreigner a most interesting scene. Shop-fronts can be entirely opened when necessary ; they are constructed of panels or shutters fitting into grooves, and secured to a row of strong posts which set into mortises. At night, when the shop is

    closed, nothing of it is seen from without ; but in the daytime,

    when the goods are exposed, tlie scene becomes more animated.

    The sign-boards are often broad planks, fixed in stone bases

    on each side of the shop-front, and reaching to the eaves, or

    above them ; the characters are large and of different colors,

    and in order to attract more notice, the signs are often hung

    with various colored flags, bearing inscriptions setting forth the

    excellence of the goods. The sliops in the outer city are frequently

    constructed in this manner, others are made more compact

    for warmth in winter, but as a whole they are not brilliant

    in their fittings. Their signs are, when possible, images of

    the articles sold and always have a red pennon attached ; the

    finer shop-fronts are covered with gold-leaf, brilliant when new,

    but shabby enough when faded, as it soon does. The aj^pearance

    of the main streets exhibits therefore a curious mixture ol

    decay and renovation, which is not lessened by the dilapidated

    temples and governmental buildings everywhere seen, all indicating

    the impoverished state of the exchequer. In many parts of

    the city are placed 2>(^i-lau, or honorary gateways, erected to

    mark the approach to the palace, and M^orthy, by their size and

    ornamental entablatures, to adorn the avenues and impress the

    traveller, if they were kept in good condition.

    The police of the city is connected with the Bannermen, and

    is, on the whole, efiicient and successful in preserving the peace.

    During the night the thoroughfares are quiet ; they are lighted

    a little by lanterns hanging before the houses, but generally are

    dark and cheerless. In the metropolis, as in all Chinese cities,

    the air is constantly polluted by the stench arising from private

    vessels and pul)lic reservoirs for urine and every kind of offal,

    which is all carefully collected by scavengers. By this means,

    although the streets are kept clean, they are never sweet ; but

    habit renders the people almost insensible to this as well as

    other nuisances. Carts, mules, donkeys and horses are to be

    hired in all the thoroughfares. The Manchu women ride

    astride ; their number in the streets, both riding and walking,

    imparts a pleasant feature to the crowd, which is not seen in

    cities further south. The extraordinary length and elaborateness

    of marriage and funeral processions daily passing through the avenues, adds a pretty feature to them, which other cities Avitli narrow streets catinot emulate.

    The environs beyond the suburbs are occupied with niausolea, temples, private mansions, hamlets, and cultivated fields, in or near which are trees, so that the city, viewed from a distance, appears as if situated in a thick forest. Many interesting points for the antiquarian and scientist are to be found in and around this old city, which annually attracts more and more tlic attention of other nations. Its population has decreased regularly since the death of Kienlung in 1707, and is now probably rather less than one million, including the immediate suburbs. The clinuite is healthy, but subject to extremes from zero to 104°; the dryness during ten months of the year is, moreover, extremely irritating. The poor, who resort thither from other parts, form a needy and troublesome ingredient of the population, sometimes rising in large mobs and pillaging the granaries to supply themselves with food, but more commonly perishing in great numbers from cold and hunger. Its peace is always an object of considerable solicitude with the imperial government, not only as it may involve the personal safety of the Emperor, but still more from the disquieting effect it may have upon the administration of the empire. The possession of this capital by an invading force is more nearly equivalent to the control of the country than might be the case in most European kingdoms, but not as much as it might be in Siam, Burmah, or Japan.

    The good influences which nuiy be exerted upon the nation from the metropolis are likewise correspondingly great, while the purification of this source of contamiiuition, and the liberalizing of this centre of power, now well begun in various ways, will confer a vast benefit upon the Chinese people.’

    ‘ Compare the Aiinales de la Foi, Tome X., p. 100, for interesting details concerning the Romish missionurios in Peking. Also Pautliier’s CIdne Moderne,pp. 8-;}(i (I’iiris, l.sr)2), containing an oxccllont map. Bretschneider’s Archeokxjical and Jliitt’iricti! Rencarches on Pddiig, etc., published in the Chinese Recorder, Vol. VI. (1875, passim). Memnirea .mncernaiit fllistoire, les Sciences, les Arts, les A/oeiirs, /<?.<( Usages, etc., des Chinois. par les Mit,si(»inaires de Pckiii ; 16 vols., Paris, 1797-1814. N. B. Dtjimys, Notes for T(>iV.rwts in the: North of China ; Hongkong, 18(5G.

    Chihli contains several other large cities, among which Tau-ting, the foniier residence of the governor-general, and Tientsin, are the most important. The former lies about eighty miles south-west of the capital, on the Yungting River and the great road leading to Shansi. The whole department is described as a thoroughly cultivated, populous region ; it is well M’atered, and possesses two or three small lakes.

    Tientsin is the largest port on the coast above Shanghai. Owing, however, to the shallowness of the gulf and the bar at the mouth of the Pei ho, over which at neap tide only three or four feet of water flow, the port is rendered inaccessible to large foreign vessels. 1 tti size and importance were formerly chiefly owing to its being t’le terminus of the Grand Canal, where the produce and taxes for the use of the capital were brought. Mr. Gutzlaff, who visited Tientsin in 1831, described it as a bustling place, comparing the stirring life and crowds on the water and shores outside of the walls of the city with those of Liverpool.

    The enormous fleet of grain junks carrying rice to the capital is supplemented by a still greater number of vessels which take the food up to Tung chau. Formerly the coast trade increased the shipping at Tientsin to thousands of junks, including all which lined the river for about sixty miles. This native trade has diminished since 1861, inasmuch as steamers arc gradually ousting the native vessels, no one caring to risk insurxince on freight in junks. The country is not very fertile between the city and the sea, owing to the soda and nitre in the soil; but scanty crops are brought forth, and these only after much labor ; one is a species of grass(Phragmites) much used in making floor-mats. Sometimes the rains cause the Pei ho and its affluents to break over their banks, at which periods their waters deposit fertilizing matter over large areas.

    The approach to Tientsin from the eastward indicates its importance, and the change from the sparsely populated country lying along the banks of the Pei ho, to the dense crowds on shore and the fleets of boats, adds greatly to the vivacity of its aspect. ” If flue buildings and striking localities are required to give interest to a scene,” remarks Mr. Ellis, ” this has no claims; but, on the other hand, if the gradual crowding of junks till they become innumerable, a vast population, buildings, though not elegant, yet reguhir and peculiar, careful and successful cultivation, can supply these deficiencies, the entrance to Tientsin will not be without attractions to the traveler.’”

    The stacks of salt along the river arrest the attention of the voyager; the innuense quantity of this article collected at this city is only a small portion of the amount consumed in the interior. Tientsin will gradually increase in wealth, and nt)\v perhaps contains half a million of inhabitants. Its position renders it one of the most important cities in the empire, and the key of the capital.

    Near the endjouehure of the river is Ta-ku, with its forts and gari’ison, a small town noticeable as the spot where the first interview between the Chinese and English plenipotentiaries was held, in August, IS^tO ; and for three engagements between the British and Chinese forces in 1858, 1859, and ISGO. The general aspect of the province is flat and cheerless, the soil near the coast unpi’o(lucti\e, but, as a whole, rich and well cultivated, though the harvests are jeopardized by frequent droughts.

    The port of Peking is Tung chau on the Pei ho, twelve miles from the east gate, and joined to it by an elevated stone causeway. All boats here unload their passengers and freight, which are transported in carts, wheelbarrows, or on mules and donkeys.

    The city of Tung chau presents a dilapidated appearance amidst all its business and trade, and its population depends on the transit of goods for their chief support. The streets are paved, the largest of them having raised footpaths on their sides. The houses indicate a prosperous community. A single pagoda towers nearly 200 feet above them, and forms a waymark for miles across the country. Tung chau is only 100 feet above the sea, fi-om which it is distant 120 miles in a direct line; consequently, its liability to floods is a serious drawback to its permanent prosperity.

    ‘ Jourtud of Lord AinhcrsVs Emba.sKy to China^ Cd ed., p. 22. Lundon, 1840

    DOLOX-XUli \:SD TOV.^’.S IX THE NORTH. 87

    Another city of note is Siuenhwa fu, finely situated between the branches of the Great Wall. Tindvowski remarks, “the crenfvted wall which surrounds it is thirty feet high, and puts one in mind of that of the Krendin, and resembles those of several towns in Uussia; it consists of two thin parallel brick walls, the intennediate space being filled with clay and saud. The Avail is flanked with towers. AVe passed through three gates to enter the city : the first is covered with iron nails; at the second is the guard-house ; we thence proceeded along a broad street, bordered with shops of hardware ; we went through several large and small streets, which are broad and clean ; but, considering its extent, the city is thinly peopled.” ‘

    The department of Chahar, or Tsakhar, lies beyond the Great Wall, north and west of the province, a mountainous and thinly settled country, chiefly inhabited by Mongol shepherds who keep the flocks and herds of the Emperor.”

    ‘ Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China, Vol. I., p. 293.London, 1837.•^ Williamson, Journeys in North China, Vol. II. , p. 90.

    In the north-east of their grounds lies the thriving town of Dolon-nor (I.e., Seven Lakes), or Lama-miao, of about 20,000 Chinese, founded by Kanghi. The Buddhist temples and manufactories of bells, idols, praying machines, and other religious articles found here, give it its name, and attract “the Mongols, whose women array themselves in the jewelry made here. It is in latitude 42° 16′ X., about ten miles from the Shangtu river, a large branch of the river Liao, on a sandy plain, and is approached by a road Minding among several lakes. North-west of Dolon-nor are the ruins of the ancient Mongolian capital of Shangtu, rendered more famous among English reading people by Coleridge’s exquisite poem—

    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure-dome decree :
    Where Alpli, the sacred river, ran
    Through caverns measureless to man
    Down to a sunless sea.
    So twice five miles of fertile ground
    With walls and towers were girdled round

    —than by Marco Polo’s relation, which moved the poet to pen the lines. It was planned as Mukden now is, an outer and inner Avail inclosing separate peoples, and its tumuli will probably furnish many tablets and relics of the Mongol emperors, when carefully dug over. It was too far from Peking for the Manclm monarchs to rebuild, and the Ming emperors had no power there. It was visited in 1 872 by Messrs. Grosvenor and Bushell of the British Legation ; Dr. BusheH’s description corroborates Polo’s account and Gerbillon’s later notices of its size.’

    There are several lakes, the largest of which, the Peh hu, in

    the south-western part, connects with the Pei ho throngh the

    river Hli-to. The various bi-anches of the five rivers, whose

    miited waters disembogue at Ta-ku, afford a precarious water

    communication through the southern half of Chihli. Their headwaters

    rise in Shan si and beyond the Great AVall, bringing down

    much silt, which their lower currents only partially take out into

    the gulf; this sediment soon destroys the usefulness of the

    channels by raising them dangerously ncai’ the level of the banks.

    The utilization of their streams is a difficult problem in civil

    engineering, not only here but throughout the Great Plain.

    Kear the banks of the Lan ho, a large stream flowing south

    from the eastern slopes of the (Jhahar Hills, past Yungping fu

    into the gulf, and about one hundred and seventy-four miles

    north of Ta-ku, lies Chingpeli, or Jeh-ho, the Emperor’s country

    palace. The approach to it is through a pass cut out of the

    rock, and resembles that leading to Damascus. The imperial

    grounds are embraced by a high range of hills forming a grand

    amphitheatre, which at this point is extremely fine. This descent

    to the city presents new and captivating views at every

    turn of the road. The hunting grounds are inclosed by a high

    wall stretching twenty miles over the hills, and stocked with

    deer, elks, and other game. The Buddhist temples form the

    chief attraction to a visitor. The largest one is square and castellated,

    eleven stories high, and about two hundred feet on

    each of its sides ; the stories are painted red, yellow and green

    alternating. There are several similar but smaller structures

    below this one, and on each of the first two or three series is a

    row of small chinaware pagodas of a blue color ; their tiles are

    ‘ Journal of the Boy. Qeog. Foe, 1874. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., pp. 263-26S. Cathay and the Way Thither, Vol. I., p. 134. Gerbillon, Memoires concernant leu Vhinoin (Anih^y’^ cd.), Vol. IV., pp. 701-71(5. Joiiriuil AHutiqve,Ser. II., Tome XL, p. 345. Hue, Tiirtary, etc., Vol. I., p 34, 2d ed., London

    SHANDONG PROVINCE. 89

    likewise blue. In the bright sunlight the effect of these brilliant hands is very good, and the general neatness adds to the pleasing result of the gay coloring. Nearly a thousand lamas live about these shrines. The town of Re-he (I.e., Hot River) consists mostly of ons street coiling around the hills near the palace; its inhabitants are of a higher grade than usual in Chinese cities, the greater part being connected with the government.

    The road through Ku peh kau in the Great Wall from Peking to Jeh-ho is one of the best in the province, and the journey presents a variety of charming scenery ; its chief interest to foreigners is connected with the visit there of Lord Macartney, in 1793.’ This fertile prefecture is rapidly settling by Chinese, whose numbers are now not far from two millions.

    The principal productions of Chihli are millet and wheat, sorghum, maize, oats, and many kinds of pulse and fruits, among which are pears, dried and fresh dates(likamnus), apples and grapes ; all these are exported. Coal, both bituminous and anthracite, exists in great abundance ; one mode of using hard coal is to mix its dust with powdered clay and work them into balls and cakes for cooking and fuel. The province also furnishes good marble, granite, lime, and iron, some kinds of precious stones, and clay for bricks and pottery.

    ‘ Sir G. L. Staunton, Acconntof an KmhasRy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China. 3 vols. Lond., 179G.

    The province of Shandong (i.e., East of the Hills) has a long coast-line, its maritime border being more than half its whole circuit. It lies south of the Gulf of Pechele, south-east of Chihli, north of Kiangsu, and borders on Honan, where the Yellow River divides the two. Most of its area is level, the hilly part is the peninsula portion, where the highest points rise too high to admit of cultivation. The Grand Canal enters the province on its course from Tientsin at Lintsing chan in the north-west, passing in a south-easterly direction to the old Yellow River, and adds greatly to its importance. The shores of the promontory are generally l)old, and full of indentations, presenting several excellent harbors ; no important river disembogues within the province, and on each side of the peninsula the waters are shallow. Chifu, in the prefecture of Tangchau, has the hest harhor, and its trade will gradually draw toward it a large population. The hills along the shore have a reniarkahlj uniform, conical shape, resembling the bonnets worn by officers. The hilly regions are arranged in a series of chains running across the promontory, the longest and highest of which runs Avith the general trend of the coast in Tai-ngan fu, some peaks reaching over five thousand feet, but most of them being under three thousand feet high. Their intervales are highly cultivated. The soil is generally productive, except near the shores of the gulf, where it is nitrous. Two crops are aimually produced here as elsewhere in Northern China. The willow, aspen, ailantus, locust(Sop^ora), oak, mulberry, and conifera, are common trees; silk-worms fed on oak leaves furnish silk.

    This province is one of the most celebrated in Chinese history, partly from its having been the scene of many remarkable events in the early history of the people up to b.c. 200, but more particularly from its containing the birthplaces of Confucius and Mencius, wdiose fame has gone over the earth. The inhabitants of the province are proud of their nativity on this score, much as the woman of Samaria was because Jacob’s cattle had (huidv water at the well of Sychar.

    TAI SHAN, THE ‘ GREAT MOUNT,’ 91

    The high mountain called Taishan, or ‘great mount’, is situated near Tai-ngan fu in this province. This peak is mentioned in the Shu King as that where Shun sacrificed to Heaven (b.c.2254) ; it is accordingly celebrated for its historical as well as religious associations. It towers high above all other peaks in the range, as if keeping solitary watch over the country roundabout, and is the great rendezvous of devotees ; every sect has there its temples and idols, scattered up and down its sides, in which priests chant their prayers, and practise a thousand superstitions to attract pilgrims to their shrines. During the spring, the roads leading to the Tai shan are obstructed with long caravans of people coming to accomplish their vows, to supplicate the deities for health or riches, or to solicit the joys of heaven in exchange for the woes of earth. A French missionary mentions having met with pilgrims going to it, one party

    of whom consisted of old dames, who had with iulhiite fatigue

    and discomfort come from the south of llonan, about three

    hundred miles, to “‘remind their god of the long abstinence

    from flesh and fish thev had obsei’ved during the course of tlieir

    lives, and solicit, as a recompense, a happj transmigration for

    their souls.” The youngest of this party was 78, and the oldest

    90 years.’ Another traveller says that the pilgrims resort there

    during the spring, when there are fairs to attract tliem ; high

    and low, official and commoner, men and women,’ old and

    young, all sorts gather to worship and traffic. A great temple

    lies outside the town, whose grounds furnish a large and secure

    area for the tents where the devotees amuse themselves, after

    they have finished their devotions. The road to the summit is

    about five miles, well paved and furnished with rest-houses,

    tea-stalls, and stairways for the convenience of the pilgrims,

    and shaded with cypresses. It is beset with beggars, men and

    women with all kinds of sores and diseases, crippled and injured,

    besieging travellers with cries and self-imposed sufferings,

    frequently lying across the path so as to be stepped upon.

    A vast number of them live on alms thus collected, and have

    scooped themselves holes in the side of the way, where they

    live ; their numbers indicate the great crowds whose offerings

    support such a M’retched thi-ong on the hill.

    ‘ Annalcs de la Foi, 1844, Tome XVI., p. 421.

    The capital of the province is Tsinan, a well-built city of about 100,000 inhabitants. It was an important town in ancient times as the capital of Tsi, one of the influential feudal States, from b.c.1100 to its conquest by Chf Huangdi about 230 ; the present town lies not far east of the Ta-tsing ho, or new Yellow River, and is accessible by small steamers from sea. It has hills around it, and is protected by three lines of defence, composed of mud, granite, and brick. Three copious sprhigs near the western gate furnish pure water, which is tepid and so abundant as to fill the city moat and form a lake for the solace of the citizens whether in boats upon its bosom or from temples around its shores. Its manufactures are strong fabrics of wild silk, and ornaments of llit-ll, a vitreous substance like strass, of which pnuff-l)()ttlcp, bangles, cups, etc., are made in great variety, to reseuil)le serpentine, jade, ice, and other things. East of Tsinan is the prefect city of Tsing chau, once the provincial capital, and the centre of a populous and fertile region. Tsining chau is an opulent and flourishing place, judging from the gilded and carved shops, temples, and public offices in the suburbs, which stretch along the eastern banks of the Canal ; just beyond the town, the Canal is only a little raised above the level of the extensive marshes on each side, and further south the swamps increase rapidly : when Amherst’s embassy passed, the whole country, as far as the eye could reach, displayed the effects of a most extensive I’ecent inundation. Davis adds, ” The

    waters were on a level with those of the Canal, and there was

    no need of dams, which wei-e themselves nearly under water,

    and sluices for discharging the superfluous water were occasionally

    observed. Clumps of large trees, cottages, and towers, were

    to be seen on all sides, half under water, and deserted by the

    inhabitants ; the number of the latter led to the inference that

    they were provided as places of refuge in case of inundation,

    which must be here very frequent. Wretched villages t»ccuiTC(l

    frequently on the right-hand bank, along which the tracking

    path was in some places so completely undermined as to give

    way at every step, obliging them to lay down hurdles of reeds

    to afford a passage.” ‘

    Lin-tsing chau, on the Yu ho, at its junction with the Canal, lies in the midst of a beautiful country, full of gardens and cultivated grounds, interspersed with buildings. This place is the depot for produce brought on the Canal, and a rendezvous for large fleets of boats and baiges. ?sear it is a pagoda in good repair, about 150 feet high, the basement of which is built of granite, and the other stories of glazed bricks.

    ‘ SketcJies of CJu/ui, Yul. I., p. 257.

    CITIES AND CIIAnACTERISTICS OF SHANTUNG. 93

    The towns and villages of Shandong have been much ^•isited during the past few years, and tlu’ir inhabitants have become better acquainted with foreigners, with whom increased intercourse has developed its good and bad results. The productions of this fertile province comprise every kind of grain and vegetable finuid in Xoitlieni China, and its trade by sea and along the Canal opens many outlets for enterprising capital. Among its mineral productions are gold, copper, asbestos, galena, antimony, silver, sulphur, fine agates, and saltpetre ; the first occurs in the beds of streams. All these yield in real importance, however, to the coal and iron, which are abundant, and have been worked for ages. Its manufactures supply the common clothing and utensils of its people ; silk fabrics, straw braid woven from a kind of wheat, glass, cheap earthenware, and rugs of every pattern.

    Mr. Stevens, an American missionary who risited Wei-hai wei and Chifu in 1837, gives a description of the people, which is still applicable to most parts of the province : “These poor people know nothing, from youth to old age, but the same monotonous round of toil for a subsistence, ?nd never see, never hear anything of the world around them. Improvements in the useful arts and sciences, and an increase of the conveniences of life, are never known among them. In the place where their fathers lived and died, do they live, and toil, and die, to be succeeded by another generation in the same nuiimer.

    Few of the comforts of life can be found among them; their houses consisted in general of granite and thatched roofs, but neither table, chair, nor floor, nor any article of furniture could be seen in the houses of the poorest. Every man had his pipe, and tea was in most dwellings. They were industriously engaged, some in ploughing, others in reaping, some carrying out manure, and others bringing home produce; numbers were collected on the thrashing-floors, winnowing, sifting and packing wheat, rice, millet, peas, and in drying maize, all with the greatest diligence. Here, too, were their teams for ploughing, yoked together in all possible ludicrous combinations; sometimes a cow and an ass; or a cow, an ox and an ass; or a cow and two asses; or four asses; and all yoked abreast. All the women had small feet, and wore a pale and sallow aspect, and their miserable, squalid appearance excited an indelible feeling of compassion for their helpless lot. They were not always shy, but were generally ill-clad and ugly, apparently laboring in the fields like the men. But on several occasions, young ladies clothed in gay silks and satins, riding astride upon bags on donkeys, were seen. Ko prospect of melioration for either men or women appears but in the liberalizing and happy influences of Christianity.” ‘

    The province of ShanXxi (i.e., West of the Hills) lies between Ciiihli and Shensi, and north of HeNan ; the Yellow River bounds it on the west and partly on the south, and the Great Wall forms most of the northern frontier. It measures 55,2(38 square miles, nearly the same as England and Wales, or the State of Illinois. This province is the original seat of the Chinese people ; and many of the places mentioned and the

    scenes recorded in their ancient annals occurred within its borders.

    Its rugged surface presents a striking contrast to the level

    tracts in Chihli and Shantung. The southern portion of ShansI,

    including the region down to the Yellow River, in all an area

    of 30,000 square miles, presents a geological formation of great

    simplicity from Ilwai king a^ far north as Ping ting. The plain

    around the lirst-named cit)^ is bounded on the north by a steep,

    castellated raiige of hills which varies from 1,000 to 1,500 feet

    in height ; it has few roado ov streams crossing it. On reaching

    the top, an undulating table-land stretches northward, varying

    from 2,500 to 3,000 feet above the Plain, consisting of coal formation,

    above the limestone of the lower steep hills. About

    forty miles from those hills, there is a second rise like the first,

    up which the road takes one to another plateau, nearly 6,000

    feet above the sea. This plateau is built up of later rocks, sandstones,

    shales, and conglomerates of green, red, yellow, lilac,

    and brown colors, and is deeply eroded by branches of the Tsin

    Piver, which finally flow into the Yellow Piver. This plateau

    has its north-west boi-der in the Wu ling pass, beyond which

    besrins the descent to the basin of the Fan Piver. That basin

    is traversed near its eastern side by the Hob shan nearly to Taiyuen; its peaks rise to 8,000 feet in some places ; the rocks are granite and divide the coal measures, anthracite lying on its eastern side and bituminous on the west, as far as the Yellow.
    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 308-335. W. H. Medhurst’s China,chaps, xv.-xix.

    NAT- -HANSI. 95

    River, and nr \, On top of both plateaus is spread the loess deposi iu depth from ten to five hundred fe^ ” ‘ water-courses in every direction, Avhic’ ‘ ^ .nines.

    On the eastern side . Shansi the rocks are made up of ancient for Liatlons v»r deposits of the Sihirian age, presenting a series of peaks, piisses and ranges that render travel very difficult down to u’.j Plain. By these outlying ranges the province is isolated from Chihli, as no useful water communication exists. This coal and iron formation is probably the largest in the “world, and when railroads open it up to easy access it can be leadily -worked along the water-courses. The northern part of the province is drained through the rivers ending at Tientsin. This elevated region cannot be artificially irrigated, and when the rainfall is too small or too late, the people suffer from famine. The northern and southern prefectures exhibit great diversity in their animal, mineral, and vegetable productions. Some of the favorite imperial hunting-grounds are in the north; from the coal, iron, cinnabar, copper, marble, lapis-lazuli, jasper, salt, and other minerals which it affords, the inhabitants gain much of their wealth. The principal grains are wheat and millet, a large variety of vegetables and fruits, such as persimmons, pears, dates and grapes. The rivers are not large, and almost every one of them is a tributary of the Yellow River. The Fan ho, about 300 miles long, is the most important, and empties into it near the south-western corner of the province, after draining the central section. East of this stream, as far as the headwaters of those rivers flowing into Chihli, extends an undulating table-land, having a general altitude of 3,000 feet above the Plain. South of it runs the river Kiang, also an afiiuent of the Yellow River, and near this, in Kiai chau, is a remarkable deposit of salt in a shallow lake (18 miles long and 3 lu-oad), which is surrounded by a high wall. The salt is evaporated in the sun under government direction, the product bringing in a large revenue ; the adjacent town of Lung-tsiien, containing 80,000 inhabitants, is devoted to the business. Salt has been obtained from this region for two thousand years ; the water in some of the springs is only brackish, and used in culiiKiry operations. There are t\\ “> smaller lakes nearei” the Yellow River.

    The iron obtained in the lower puitean, ii: the sonth-east neaj Tsih chan, is from clay iron-ure and spathic ore with heniatite4 \vhich occurs in limestone strata at the bottom of the coal formations.

    It is extracted in a rude manner, but the produce is etpial to any iron in the world, while its price is only about two cents a pound. The working and transportation of coal and iron employ myriads of people, though they are miserably paid. The province barely supplies its own cotton, but woolen garments and sheepskins are produced to make up the demand for clothing.

    Taiyuen fu, the capital, lies on the northern border of a fertile plain, 3,000 feet above the sea level ; this plain extends about 2,000 square miles, and owes its existence to the gradual filling up of a lake there, the waters having cut their way out, and left the river Fan to drain the surplus. Across the IIo shan Range lies another basin of equal fertility and mineral wealth, in Ping-ting chau, where coal, iron, clay and stone exist in unlimited

    quantities. In the northern part of this province the Buddhist

    tenqjles at AVu-tai shan in Tai chau draw vast crowds of votaries

    to their shrines. The hills in which they are built rise

    jtroiuinently above the range, and each celebrated locality is

    memorialized by its own particular divinity, and the buildings

    where he is worshipped. The presence of a living Buddha, or

    G’egen, hei-e attracts thousands of Mongols from the north to

    adore him ; their toilsome journey adding to the worth of the

    \isit. Most of the lamas are from the noi-th and west. The

    region north of this seems to be gradually losing its fertility,

    owing to the sand which is drifted by north winds from the

    Ortous steppes ; and as all the hills are bare of trees, the whole

    of Shansi seems destined to increasing poverty and barrenness.

    Its inhabitants are shrewd, enterprising traders as well as frugal

    agriculturists ; many of the bankers in the Empire are from its

    cities.

    MOUNTAIN PASSES IN SFIANSl. 97

    The great roads from Peking to the south-west and west pass through all the chief towns of this province, and when new pi-()b:ibly (‘(|ualk'(l in eiiglneei’ing and construction anything o^ the kind ever biult by the Konuuis. The stones with which they are paved average 15 inches in thickness. Few regions can exceed in natural difficulties some of the passes over the loess-covered tracts of this province, where the road must wind the Loess-clefts from the Han-sing From Richthofen.

    through miles of narrow cuts in the light and tenacious soil, to emerge before a landscape such as that seen in the illustration.’

    The province of Henan (i.e. South of the River) comprises some of the most fertile parts of the Plain, and, on account of its abundance and central position, early received the name of

    ‘ Richthofen, China. Band I. S. 68. Ilcv. Arthur Smith, Glimpses of Travel in the Middle Kingdom. Shanghai, 1875.

    Chung Hwa T’l, or the ‘ Middle Flowery Land,’ afterwards enlarged into Chung Kicoh, or ‘ Middle Kingdom.’ Its form is an irregular triangle, and its size nearly the same as ISiiantmig ; it has iShansi and Cliihli on the north, ]S’ganliwui on the southeast, Ilupeh on the south and south-west, and Shensi on the west, bordering also on Shantung and Kiangsu. This area is divided into three basins, that of the Yellow River in the north, of the Hai River on the south, and the Han River on the south-west; the last two are separated by a marked range of mountains, the Fuh-niu shan, which is regarded as the eastern terminus of the Kwunlun Mountains ; it is about 300 miles long, and its eastern end is near Jii-ning fu. This range maintains an elevation of 4,000 to 6,000 feet, and is crossed at Xanchau, where a remarkable natural pass about 30 miles long, rising to 1,200 or 1,500 feet, affords the needed facilities for trade and travel between the central and northern provinces. The Peh and Tan rivers drain its southern slopes into the Ilan, and the eastern sides are abundantly watered by the numerous branches of the Hai River as they flow into Ilungtsih Lake. The northern portion of Henan along the Yellow River is level, fertile and populous, forming one of the richest portions of the province.

    For its climate, productions, literary reputation, historical associations, and variety of scenery, this province takes a prominent rank. The earliest records of the Black-haired race refer to this region, and the struggles for dominion among feudal and imperial armies occurred in its plains. Its’ present difficulty of access from the coast will ere long be overcome by railroads, when its capabilities may be further developed, and the cotton, hemp, iron, tutenag, silk and coal be increased for exportation.

    THE PKOVIXCE OF IIOXMST. 99

    The people at present consume their own food and manufactures, and only require a got)d demand to increase the quality and amounts and exchange them for other things. The three prefectures north of the Yellow River are low-lying; through these the waters of that river have recently found their way into the river Wei and thence to the (lulf of Pechele, at Mang-tsin or east of it ; the gradual rise of the l)ed renders their levels nearly the same, while it makes the main stream so broad and shallow that it is of little use for navigation. These plains are traversed by wheelbarrows and carts, whose drivers and trundlers form a vast body of stalwart men constantly going about in their employment from one city to another.

    Kaifung fu, or Pien-liang, the capital, is situated about a

    league from the southern bank of the Yellow Kiver, whose bed

    is here elevated above the adjacent country. It was the metropolis

    from A.D. 960 to 1120, and has often suffered from attacks

    of armies as well as from inundations. The dikes are mostly

    on the northern shore, and exhibit the industry and unavailing

    efforts of the people for scores of leagues. During the period

    of the Manchu conquest Kaifung was defended by a loyal general,

    who, seeing no other resource against the invaders, broke

    down the embankments to drown them, by which mantjeuvre

    upwards of 300,000 of the inhabitants perished. The city was

    rebuilt, but it has not attained to its ancient splendor, if credit

    can be given to the Statistics of Kaifumj^ in which work it

    is described as having been six leagues in circuit in the twelfth

    century, approached by five roads, and containing numerous

    palaces, gardens, and government houses. The valley of the

    Kiver Loll lies between the Yellow River and the Fuh-niu Mountains,

    a fertile, populous region wherein many of the remarkable

    events of Chinese history M’ere enacted. Loh-yang, near Honan,

    was the metropolis at three different intervals, and probably

    further researches here will bring to light many ancient relics; rock-cut temples and old inscriptions, with graceful bas-reliefs, near the natural gate of Lung-man, where the road crosses Sung slian, have already been seen. Owing to the direction of the roads leading through this region from the south and east, and the passes for travel towards the north-west, it will form a very important center of trade in the future of Central Asia and western China.

    The province of Iviangsu is named from the first syllable of the capital, Kiangning, joined to Su, part of the name of the richest city, Suchau. It lies along the sea-coast, in a northwesterly direction, having Shantung on the north, Xganhwnii on the west, and C’hehkiang on the south. The area is about 4:5,000 square miles, equaling Pennsylvania or a little less than England by it-self. It consists, with little interruption, of level tracts interspersed with lakes and marshes, through which How their two noble rivers, which as tliej are the source of the extraordinary fertility of this region, so also render it obnoxious to freshes, or cover the low portions with irreclaimable morasses.

    The region of Kiangnan is where the beauty and riches

    of China are most amply displayed ; ” and M-hether we considai*,”

    remarks Gutzlaff, speaking of this and the adjoining

    province, ” their agricultural resom-ces, their great manufactures,

    their various productions, their excellent situation on the

    banks of these t»vo large streams, their many canals and tributary

    rivers, these two provinces doubtless constitute the best

    territory of China.” The staple productions are grain, cotton,

    tea, silk, and rice, and most kinds of manufactures are here

    carried to the greatest perfection. The people have an exceptional

    reputation for intelligence and wit, and although the

    province has long ceased to possess a court, its cities still ])i’esent

    a ga^’er aspect, and are adorned W’ith better structures than

    any others in the empire. This province was the scene of the

    dreadful ravages of the Tai-ping rebellion, and large districts

    are still desolate, while their cities lie waste.

    Proljably no other country of equal extent is better watered

    than Kiangsu. The Great River, the Grand Canal, many

    smaller streams and canals, and a succession of lakes along the

    line of the canal, afford easy communication through everj’ part.

    The sea-coast has not been surveyed north of the Yangtsz’,

    where it is unapproachable in large vessels ; dykes have been

    constructed in some portions to prevent the in-flo\v of the

    ocean. The largest lake is the Ilungtsih, about two hundred

    miles in circumference. South of it lies Ivauyu Lake, and on

    the eastern side of the canal opposite is Pauying Lake, both of

    them broad sheets of water. Numerous small lakes lie around them. Tai hu, or ‘ Great Lake,’ lies partly in Jiangsu and partly in Zhejiang, and is the largest in the province. Its borders are skirted by romantic scenery, while its bosom is broken by numerous islets, affording convenient resort to the fishermen who get their subsistence from its waters.

    CITY OF NANKING. 10^

    Kiangning fu (better known abroad as Nanking), the capital

    of the province, is situated on the south sliore of tlie Yangtsz’,

    194 miles from Shanghai. It was the metropolis from a.d. 317

    to 582, and again for 35 years during the Ming dynasty (1368-

    1403). This city is the natural location of an imperial court,

    accessible by land and water from all cpiarters, and susceptible

    of sure defence. “When the Tai-pings were expelled in 1865,

    the city was nearly destroyed, and has since that date only

    slowly revived. When Hungwu made it his capital, he

    strengthened the wall around it, inclosing a great area, 35 miles

    in circuit, which was never fully covered with buildings, and at

    present has a most ruinous appearance. Davis remarks the

    striking resemblance between Home and Xanking, the area

    within the walls of both being partially inhabited, and ruins of

    buildings lying here and there among the cultivated fields, the

    melancholy remains of departed glory. Both of them, however,

    have now brighter prospects for the future.

    The part occupied by the Manchus is separated by a cross

    wall from the Chinese town. The great extent of the wall

    renders the defence of the city difficult, besides which it is

    overlooked from the hills on the east, from one of which, tlio

    Chung shan, a wide view of the surrounding country can be

    obtained. On this eastern face are three gates ; the land near

    the tM’o toward the river is marshy, and the gates are ap

    preached on stone causeys. A deep canal runs up from the

    river directly under the walls on the west, serving to strengthen

    the approaches on that side. Xanking is laid out in four

    rather wide and parallel avenues intersected by others of less

    width ; and though not so broad as those of Peking, are on the

    Mdiole clean, vrell-paved, and bordered Avith handsomely furnished

    shops.

    The only remarkable monuments of royalty which remain are

    several guardian statues situated not far from the walls. These

    statues form an avenue leading up to the sepulchre where the

    Emperor Hungwu was buried about 1398. They consist of

    gigantic figures like warriors cased in armor, standing on either

    side of the road, across which at intervals large stone tablets are

    extended, supported by great blocks of stone instead of pillars

    Situated at some distance arc a innnber of ]-ude colossal timires of horses, elephants, and other animals, all intended to repre eent the guardians of the mighty dead.’

    Nothing made Kanking more celebrated abroad than the

    Porcelain Tower, called Pao-nydn tah, or the ‘Recompensing

    Favor Monastery,’ which stood pre-eminent above all other

    similar buildings in China for its completeness and elegance,

    the material of which it was built, and the quantity of gikling

    with wliicli its interior was embellished. It was erected by

    Yungloh to recompense the great favor of her majesty the

    Empress, and occupied 19 years (1411-14:30) in its construction.

    It was maintained in good condition by the government, and

    three stories which had been thrown down by lightning in

    1801 were rebuilt. TheTai-pings blew it up and carried off the

    bricks in 1856, fearing lest its geomantic influences should work

    against the success of their cause. As to its dimensions : Its

    form was octagonal, divided into nine equal stories, the circumference

    of the lower story being 120 feet, decreasing gradually

    to the top. Its base rested upon a solid foundation of brickwork

    ten feet high, up which a flight of twelve steps led into

    the tower, whence a spiral staircase of 190 steps carried the

    visitor to the summit, 261 feet from the ground. The outer

    face was covered with slabs of glazed porcelain of various

    colors, principally green, red, yellow, and white, the body of

    the edifice being brick. At every story was a projecting roof,

    covered with green tiles ; from each corner and from the top of

    these roofs were suspended bells, numbering 150 in all.

    ‘ The curious reader can consult the article by Mayer, in Vol. XII. of the North China Jirnnch Royal Asiatic Societt/’s Journal, 1878, for the meaning of these various objects.

    ^ Five Years in China, Nashville, Tenn., 1860. See also Voyages of the Nemesis, pp. 450-452, for further details of this city in 1842 ; the Chinese Repository, Vols. I., p. 257, and XIII., p. 261, contain more details on the PagoJa

    PORCELAIl^ TOWEll OF NANKING. 103

    This beautiful structure was visited in 1852 by Dr. Charles Taylor, an American missionary, who has left a full account of his observations. It was to have been raised to an altitude of 329 feet and of thirteen stories, but only nine were built ; careful measurement gave 261 feet as its height, 8^ feet its thickness at top, and 12 feet at the base, wdiere it was 96 feet 10 inches in diameter. The facing was of bricks made of fine porcelain clay ; the prevailing color was green, owing to the predominance of the tiles on the nnnierous stories. The woodwork supporting these successive roofs was strong, curiously carved and richly painted. The many-colored tiles and bricks were highly glazed, giving the building a gay and beautiful appearance, that was greatly heightened when seen in the reflected sunlight.

    When new it had 140 lamps, most of them hanging outside; and a native writer says ” that when lighted they illumine the 33 heavens, and detect the good and evil among men, as well as forever ward off human miseries.” The destruction of a building like this, from mere fanciful ideas, goes far to explain the absence of all old or great edifices in China.

    Nanking has extensive manufactories of fiue satin and ci-upc, Nankeen cotton cloth, paper and ink of fine quality, and beautiful artificial flowers of pith paper. In distant parts of the empire, any article which is superior to the common run of workmanship, is said to be from Nanking, though the speaker means only that it was made in that region. It is renowned, too, for its scholars and literary character, and in this particular stands among the first places of learning in the country. It is the residence of the governor-general of three provinces, and consequently the centre of a large concourse of officials, educated men, and students seeking for promotion ; these, with its large libraries and bookstores, all indicating and assisting literary pursuits, combine to give it this distinguished position. In the monastery on Golden Island, near Chinkiang, a library was found by the English officers, but there was no haste in examining its contents, as they intended to have carried off the whole collection, had not peace prevented.

    The city of Suchau now exceeds Nanking in size and riches. It is situated on islands lying in the Ta hu, and from this sheet of water many streams and canals connect the city with most parts of the department. The walls are about ten miles in circumference; outside of them are four suburbs, one of which is said to extend ten miles, besides which there is an immense floating population. The whole space includes many canals and pools connected with the Grand Canal and the lake, and preeented in 1859 a scene of activity, industry, and riches whicieonJd not be surpassed elsewhere in China. The population probably then exceeded a million, including the suburbs. It lies north-west of Shanghai, the way passing through a continual range of villages and cities; the environs are highly cultivated, producing cotton, silk, rice, wheat, fruits, and vegetables. It was captured in 1860 by the rebels, and M’lien retaken in 1865 was nearly reduced to a heap of ruins. It is, however, rapidly reviving, as the loss of life was comparatively small.

    The Chinese regard this as one of their richest and most beautiful cities, and have a saying, ” that to be happy on earth, one must be born in Suchau, live in Canton, and die in Liauchau, for in the first are the handsomest people, in the second the most C(»8tly luxui-ies, and in the third the best coffins.”

    It has a high reputation for its Imildings, the elegance of its tombs, the picturesrpie scenery of its waters and gardens, the politeness and intelligence of its inhabitants, and the beauty of its women. Its manufactures of silk, linen, cotton, and works in iron, ivory, wood, horn, glass, lackered-ware, paper, and other articles, are the chief sources of its wealth and prosperity; the kinds of silk goods produced here surpass in variety and richness those woven in any other place. Vessels can proceed up to the city by several channels from the Yangzi jiang, but junks of large burden anchor at Shanghai, or Songjiang ; the whole country is so intersected by natural and artificial watercourses, that the people have hardly any need for roads and carts, but get about in barrows and sedans. Small steamers find their way to every large village at high tide.*

    THE CITIES OF SUCIIAU AND CIIIXKIANG. 105

    Chinkiang, situated at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Yangzi jiang, was captured by the British in July, 1842, at a great loss of life to its defenders ; the Manchu general Hailing, finding the city taken, seated himself in his office, and set fire to the house, making it his funeral pyre. Its position renders it the key of the country, in respect to the transport of produce, taxes and provisions for Peking, inasmuch as when the river and canal ai-e both blockaded, the supplies for the north and south are to a great extent intercepted. In times of peace the scenes at the junction afford a good e\hil)itinu of the Industry and trade of the people. BaiTow describes, in 1794, ” tlio multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some glidin<^ down the stream, <^)thers sailing against it; some moving by oars, and others lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses as far as the eye could reach; as presenting a prospect more varied and cheerful than any that had hitherto occurred. Kor was the canal, on the opposite side, less lively. For two whole days we were contimially passing among fleets of vessels of different construction and dimensions.” ‘

    The country in the vicinity is well cultivated, moderately hilly, and presents a characteristic view of Chinese life and action. ” On the south-east, the hills broke into an undulating country clothed with verdure, and firs bordering upon small lakes. Beyond, stretched the vast river we had just ascended. In the other direction, the land in the foreground continued a low and swampy flat, leaving it difficult at a little distance to determine which of the serpentine channels was the main branch; there were imnnnerable sheets of water, separated by narrow mounds, so that the whole resembled a vast lake, intersected by causeways. Willows grew along their sides, and dwellings were erected on small patches somewhat higher than the common surface.” ” This whole country was the scene of dreadful fighting for many years. Between the Imperialists and Tai-pings the city was totally destroyed, so that in 1801 hardly a house was left. It is now roo-ainino- its natural trade and prosperity.

    Near the month of the Grand Canal is Kin shan, or Golden Island,’ a beautiful spot, covered with temples and monastic establishments. A pagoda crowns the summit, and there are many pavilions and halls, of various sizes and degrees of elegance, on its sides and at the base, many of them showing their imperial ownership by the yellow or green tiling. Since the river has been open to traffic, and the devastations of the Tai-pings have ceased, the priests have retui-ned in small munbers to their abodes, but the whole settlement is a pool mockery of its early splendor. A similar one, rather larger, is found at Siung shan, or Silv^er Island, below Chinkiang ; it is, however, on a less extensive scale, though in a beautiful situation.

    ‘ Travels in China. ‘^ Capt. G. G. Locli, Ecents in CMna, p. 74.^Mentioned by Marco Polo. Yule’s edition, Vol. II., p. 1<37.

    Priests are the only occupants; temples and palaces the principal buildings, surrounded by gardens and bowers. Massive granite terraces, decorated with huge stone monsters, are reached from the water by broad flights of steps; fine temples, placed to be seen, and yet shaded by trees, open pavilions, and secluded summer-houses, give it a delightful air of retreat and conifort, which a nearer inspection sadly disappoints.

    The banks of the Yangtsz’ during the 250 miles of its course through this province, are uniformly low, and no towns of importance occur close to them, as they would be exposed to the floods. The vast body of water, with its freight of millions of tons of silt goes on its way in a quiet equable current into the Yellow Sea. The dense population of the prefectures on the south bank, contrasted with the sparseness of the region between the Canal and seashore on the north side, indicate the comparative barrenness of the latter, and the difficulty of cultivating marshy lands so nearly level with the sea.

    SHANGHAI. 107

    The largest seaport in Jiangsu is Shanghai (i.e., Approaching the Sea), now become one of the leading emporia in Asia. It lies on the north shore of the Wusong River, about fourteen miles from its mouth, in lat. 31° 10′ N., and long. 121° 30′ E., at the junction of the Huangpu with it, and by means of both streams communicates with SuZhou, SongJiang, and other large cities on the Grand Canal ; while by the Yangzi’ it receives produce from Yunnan and Sichuan. In these respects its position resembles that of New Orleans.

    The town of Wusung is at the mouth of that river, here about a mile wide ; and two miles beyond lies the district town of Paushan. The wall of Shanghai is three miles in circuit, through which six gates open into extensive suburbs ; around the ramparts flows a ditch twenty feet wide. The city stands in a wide plain of extraordinary fertility, intersected by numerous streamlets, and aftoi-ding ample means of navigation and communication; its population is estimated to be at present over 500-000, but the data for this figure are rather imperfect. Since it was opened to foreign commerce in 1843, the growth of the town has been rapid in every element of prosperity, though subject to great vicissitudes by reason of the rebellion which devastated the adjoining country. Its capture by the insurgents in 1851, and their expulsion in February, 1853, with the destruction of the eastern and southern suburbs in 1800, have been its chief disasters since that date. The native trade has gradually passed from the unwieldy and unsafe junks which used to throng the Ilwang-pu east of the city, into steamers and foreign craft, and is now confined, so far as the vessels are concerned, to the inland and coast traffic in coarse, cheap articles.

    Shanghai city itself is a dirty place, and poorly built. The houses are mostly made of bluish square brick, imperfectly burned ; and the walls are constructed in a cellular manner by placing bricks on their edges, and covering them with stucco. The streets are about eight feet wide, paved with stone slabs, and in the daytime crowded with people. Silk and embroidery, cotton, and cotton goods, porcelain, ready-made clothes, beautiful skins and furs, bamboo pipes of every size, bamboo ornaments, pictures, bronzes, specimens of old porcelain, and other curiosities, to which the Chinese attach great value, attract the

    stranger’s notice. Articles of food form the most extensive

    trade of all ; and it is sometimes a difficult matter to get

    through the streets, owing to the iiwmense quantities of fish,

    pork, fruit, and vegetaUes, which crowd the stands in front of

    the shops. Dining-rooms, tea-houses, and bakers’ shops, are

    met with at every step, from the poor man who carries around

    his kitchen or bakehouse, altogether hardly worth a dollai-, to

    the most extensive tavern or tea-house, crowded with customers.

    ‘ Fortune’s Wanderings in China, p. 120.

    For a few cash, a Chinese can dine upon rice, fish, vegetables, and tea; nor does it matter much to him, whether his table is set in the streets or on the ground, in a house or on a deck, he makes himself merry with his chopsticks, and eats what is before him.’ The buildings composing the Cheng-huang miao, and the grounds attached to this establishment, present a good instance of Chinese style and taste in architecture. Large warehouses for storing goods, granaries, and temples, are common; but neither these, nor the public buildings, present any distinguishing features peculiar to this city alone.

    The contrast between the narrow, noisome and reeking parts of the native city, and the clean, spacious, well-shaded and well paved streets and large houses of the foreign municipalities, is like that seen in many cities in India. The Chinese are ready enough to enjoy and support the higher style of living, but they are not yet prepared to adopt and maintain similar improvements among themselves. The difficulty of being sure of the co-operation of the rulers in municipal improvements deters intelligent natives from initiating even the commonest sanitary enterprise of their foreign neighbors.

    The remaining cities and districts of Iviangsu present nothing worthy of special remark. The Grand Canal runs from north to south, and affords a safe and ample thoroughfare for multitudes of boats in its entire length. Tsing-kiang-pu and Ilwaingan, near the old Yellow River, receive the traffic from the north and Ilungtsih Lake, while Yangchau near the Yangtsz’ River, takes that going north. In this part of the channel, constant dyking has resulted in raising the banks ; the city of Ilwai-ngan, for example, lies below the canal which brings trade to its doors, and may one day be drowned by its benefactor. Salt is manufactured in the districts south of the Yellow River, where the people cultivate but rare patches of arable land.

    The island of Tsungming, at the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is about sixty miles long, and sixteen wide, containing over nine hundred square miles, and is gradually enlarging by the constant deposits from the river; it is flat, but contains fresh water. It is highly cultivated and populous, though some places on the northern side are so impregnated with salt, and others so marsh}’, as to be useless for raising food. This island produces a variety of kaoliang or sorghum (Holcus), which is sweet enough to furnish syrup, and is groMu for that purpose in the United States.

    POSITIOX AND TOWNS OF NGANIIWUI PllOVINCE, 109

    The pruvince of T^ganuwui was so named by condjining the rtrst words in its two large cities, Xgaiikiiig and llw uicliaii, and forms the south-western half of Kiangnan ; it is both larger and more uneven than Kiangsu, ranges of hills stretching along the southern portions, and between the River llwai and the Yangzi. It lies in the central and southern parts of the Plain, north of Kiangsi, west of Kiangsu and Chehkiang, and between them and IJonan and Ilupeh. Its productions and manufactures, the surface, cultivation of the country, and character of the people, are very similar to those of Kiangsu, but the cities are less celebrated. The terrible destruction of life in this province during the Tai-ping rule has only been partially remedied by immigration from other provinces ; it will require years of peace and industry to restore the prosperous days of Taokwang’s reign.

    The surface of the country is naturally divided into that portion which lies in the hilly regions around Ilwaichau and Ningkwoh connected with the Tsientang River, the central plain of the Yangtsz’ with its short affluents, and the northern portion which the River Ilwai drains. The southern districts are superior for climate, fertility, and value of their products to most parts of the Empire; and the numerous rivulets which irrigate and open their beautiful valleys to traffic with other districts, render them attractive to settlers. No expense has been spared in erecting and preserving the embankments along the streams, whose waters are thereby placed at the service of the farmers.

    The Great River passes through the south from south-west to north-east ; several small tributaries flow into it on both banks, one of which connects with Chao Hu, or Nest Lake, in Lu Zhou Fu, the principal sheet of water in the province. The largest section is drained by the River Huai and its branches, which flow into Hongze Lake ; most of these are navigable quite across to Ilonan. The productions comprise every kind of grain, vegetables, and fruit known in the Plain ; most of the green tea districts lie in the south-eastern parts, particularly in the Sunglo range of hills in ITwuichau prefecture. Silk, cotton, and hemp are also extensively raised ; but excepting iron, few metals are brought to market.

    The provincial capital, Xgaiikiiig or Anking, lies close to the northern shore of the Kiang. Davis describes the streets as very narrow, and the shops as unattractive ; the courts and gateways of many good dwelling-houses presented themselves as he passed along the streets. ” The palace of the governor we first took for a temple, but were soon undeceived by the inscriptions on the huge lanterns at the gateway. These official residences seldom display any magnificence. The pride of a Chinese officer of rank consists in his power and station, and as the display of mere wealth attracts little respect, it is neglected more than in any country of the world. The best shops that

    we saw were for the sale of horn lanterns and porcelaiu. They

    possess the art of softening horn by the application of a very

    high degree of moist heat, and extending it into thin laminse of

    any shape. These lamps are about as transparent as groundglass,

    and, M’hen ornamented with silken hangings, have an elegant

    appearance.” During the fifty years since his visit, this

    large city has been the sport of prosperous and adverse fortunes,

    and is now slowly recovering from its demolition during the

    Tai-ping rebellion. It is situated on rising ground near the base

    of a range of hills far in the north, the watershed of two basins.

    The banks of the river, between Kanking and Xganking, a

    distance of 300 miles, are well cultivated, and contain towns

    and villages at short intervals. The climate, the scenery, the

    bustle on the river near the towns, and the general aspect of

    peaceful thrift along this reach, makes it on ordinary occasions

    one of the bright scenes in China. AYuhu hien, about sixty

    miles above Xanking, lies near tlie mouth of the llwangchi, a

    stream connecting it with the back country, and making it the

    mart for much of that trade. It was next in importance to

    Chinkiang, but its sufferings between the rebels and imperialists

    nearly destroyed it. The revival in population and trade has

    been encouraging, and its former importance is sure to revive.

    Ilwuichau (or in Cantonese, Fychow) is celebrated, among

    other things, for its excellent ink and lackered-ware. Fung’

    yang (i.e., the Rising Phoenix), a town lying north-west of Thanking, on the River Huai, was intended, by Hongwu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, to have been the capital of the Empire instead of NanJing, and was thus named in anticipation of its future splendor.

    KIANGSf PROVINCE. Ill

    The province of IviAN<isi (/.<?., AVest of the River) lies south of Xganhwui and Ilupeh, between Chehkiaiig and Fuhkien on the east, and Ilunan on the west, reaching from the Yaugtsz’ to the Mei ling on the south. Its form is oblong, and its entire area is nuide up of the beautiful basin of the Kan kiang, including all the affluents and their minor valleys. The hilly portions form part of the remarkable series of mountainous ridges, which cover all south-eastern and southern China, an area of about 300,000 square miles, extending from Ningpo south-westerly to Annam. It is made up of ranges of short and moderate hills, cut up by a complicated net of water-courses, many of which present a succession of narrow defiles and gentle valleys with bottom lands from five to twelve miles wide. That part of this region in Kiangsi has an irregular watershed on the east, separating it from the Min basin, and a more definite divide on the west from Ilunan and its higher mountains. The province entire is a little larger than all New England, or twice the size of Portugal, but, in population, vastly exceeds those countries.

    The surface of the land is rugged, and the character of the inhabitants partakes in some respects of the roughness of their native hills. It is well watered and drained by the River Kan and its tributaries, most of which rise within the province; the main trunk empties into Poyang Lake by numerous mouths, whose silt has gradually made the country around it swampy. For many miles on its eastern and southern banks extends an almost uninhabitable marsh, presenting a dreary appearance. The soil, generally, is productive, and large quantities of rice, wheat, silk, cotton, indigo, tea, and sugar, are grown and exported. It shares, in some degree, the manufactures of the neighboring provinces, especially in Xankeen cloth, vast quantities of which are woven here, but excels them all in the quality and amount of its porcelain. The mountains produce camphor, varnish, oak, banian, fir, pine, and other trees ; those on the west are well wooded, but much of the timber has been carried away during the late rebellion, and left the hill-sides bare and profitless.

    Kancliang, the provincial capital, lies near the southern shore

    of the Poyang Lake ; the city walls are six miles in circuit, and

    accessible by water from all sides. The character of its population

    is not favorable among their countrymen, and owing to the

    difficulty of reaching it from the Yangtsz’, it escaped the ruin

    and rapine which befel Kiukiang. Small steamers can come

    up to its jetties, but as the tea and porcelain are shipped on the

    south-east side of the lake, Nanchang is not likely to become

    a large mart ; few of the cities above it can ever be reached l)y

    steamers. Barrow estimated that there were, independent of

    innumerable small craft, 100,000 tons of shipping lying before

    the place. The banks of the Kan kiang, near the lake, are flat,

    and not highly cultivated, but the scenery becomes more varied

    and agreeable the further one ascends the stream ; towns and

    villages constantly come in sight, and the cultivation, though

    not uiiiversal, is more extended. Among other sights on this

    river are the bamboo water-wheels, which are so built on the

    steep banksides, that the buckets lift their freight 20 or 25

    feet, and pour it out in a ceaseless stream over the fields. The

    flumes thrown out into the stieani to turn a stronger current on

    the wheel, often seriously interfere with navigation. Many

    pagodas are seen on eithei* bank of this water-course, some of

    them undoubtedly extremely old. As the voyager ascends the river, several large cities are passed, as Linkiang, Kih-ngan, Ivauchau, and Xan-ngan (all capitals of departments), besides numerous towns and villages; so that if the extent of this river and the area of the valley it drains be considered, it will probably bear comparison with that of any valley in the world for populousness, amount and variety of productions, and diligence of cultivation.

    Beyond Kihngan are the Shihpah tan, or ‘ Eighteen llapids,’ which are torrents formed by ledges of rocks running across the river, but not of such height or roughness as to seriously obstruct the navigation except at low water. The shores in their vicinage are exceedingly beautiful. The transparency of the stream, the bold I’ocks fringed with wood, and the varied forms of the mountains, call to mind those delightful streams that are discharged from the lakes and iioilh counties of England. The

    TOWNS AND PRODUCTIONS OF KIAN(iSI. 113

    hilly banks are in many places covered with the Camellia oleifera, whose white blossoms give them the appearance of snow, when the plant is in flower. Kanchan is the town where large boats are obliged to stop; but Nan-ngan is at the head of navigation, about three hundred miles from the lake, where all goods for the south are debarked to be carried across the Mei ling, or ‘ Plnm Pass.’

    Within the department of Janchan in Fanliang hien, east of Poyang Lake, are the celebrated porcelain manufactories of Ivingteh chin, named after an Emperor of the Sung dynasty, in whose reign, a.d. 1004, they were established. This mart still supplies all the fine porcelain used in the country, but was almost wholly destroyed during the rebellion, the kilns broken up, and the workmen dispersed to join the rebels or die from want. The million of workmen said to have been employed there thirty years ago are now only gradually resuming their operations, and slowly regaining their prosperity. The approach to the spot is announced by the smoke, and at night it appears like a town on fire, or a vast furnace emitting fiames from numerous vents, there. being, it is said, five hundred kilns constantly burning. Ivingteh chin stands on the river Chang in a plain flanked by high mountains, about forty miles north-east from Jauehau, through which its ware is distributed over the empire.

    Genius in China, as elsewhere, renders a place illustrious, and few spots are more celebrated than the vale of the white Deer in the Lii hills, near Kankang, on the west side of Lake Poyang, where Chu Hi, the great conniientator of Confucius, lived and taught, in the twelfth century. It is a secluded valley about seven miles from the city, situated in a nook by the side of a rivulet. The unpretending buildings are comprised in a number of different courts, evidently intended for use rather than show. In one of the halls, the White Deer is represented, and near by a tree is pointed out, said to have been planted by the philosopher’s own hand. This spot is a place of pilgrimage to Chinese literati at the present day, for his writings are prized by them next to their classics. The beauty and sublimity of this region arc lauded by Davis, and its praisea are frequent themes for poetical celebration among native scholars.”

    The maritime province of Ciiehkiang, the smallest of the eighteen, lies eastward of Kiangsi and ^N^ganhwui, and between Kiangsu and Fuhkein north and south, and derives its name from the river Cheh or ‘ Crooked,’ which runs across its southern part. Its area is 39,000 square miles, or nearly the same as Ohio; it lies south-east of the plain at the end of the Kan slian, and for fertility, numerous water-courses, rich and populous cities, variety of productions, and excellence of manufactures, is not at all inferior to the larger provinces. Baron Richthofen’s letter to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, July 25, 1871, contains a good account of its topography. The whole province produces cotton, silk, tea, rice, ground nuts, wheat, ‘indigo, vegetable tallow {stilUngia)^ and pulse, in abundance. It possesses within its limits every requisite for the food and clothing of its inhabitants, while the excellence of its manufactures insures it in exchange a supply of the luxuries of other regions.

    The rivers in Chehkiang rise in the province ; and, as might be inferred from the position of the hills, their course is generally short and the currents rapid. Fourteen principal streams are enumerated, of which the Tsientangis the most important.

    The main branch of this river rises in the southern districts in two head-waters, which join at Kiichau fu and run thence into Hangchau Bay. The bore which comes up into this river fifteen miles, as far as Hangchau, is the only one along the coast. As its wall of water approaches the city, the junks and boats prepare by turning their bows to meet it, and usually rise over its crest, G or 10 feet at times, without mishap.

    The basin of the Tsientang River measures nearly half of the province; by means of rafts and boats the people transport themselves and their produce for about 300 miles to its headwaters.

    ‘ Davis’s Sketches^ Vol. II., p. 55.

    NATURAL FEATURES OF CHEIIKIANG. 115

    The valley of Lanki is the largest of the bottom lands, 140 miles long and .5 to 15 wide, and passes north through a gorge 70 miles in length into the lower valley, where it receives the Sin-ngan River from the west in Xganhwui, and thus communicates with Tlwuichau at times of higli water. It is just fitted for the rafting navigation of the region, and by means of its tortuous channels each one of the 29 districts in its entire basin can be readied by water.

    The forest and fruit trees of Chehkiang comprise almost

    every vahiable species known in the eastern provinces. The

    larch, elcococcus, camphor, tallow, fir, mulberry, varnish, and

    others, are common, and prove sources of wealth in their timber

    and products. The climate is most salubrious ; the grains,

    vegetables, animals, and fishes, furnish food ; while its beautiful

    manufactures of silk are unrivalled in the world, and have found

    their way to all lands. Hemp, lackered- and bamboo-wares,

    tea, crockery, paper, ink, and other articles, are also exported.

    The inhabitants emulate those in the neighboring regions for

    wealth, learning, and refinements, with the exception of the

    hilly districts in the south bordering on Kiangsi and Fuhkien.

    The dwellers of these upland valleys are shut out by position

    and inclination, so that they form a singularly clannish race.

    Their dialects are peculiar and very limited in range, and each

    group of villagers suspects and shuns the others. They are sometimes rather turbulent, and in some parts the cultivation of the mountain lands is interdicted, and a line of military posts extends around them in the three provinces, in order to prevent the people from settling in their limits; though the interdiction does not forbid cutting the timber growing there.’

    HangZhou, the capital of the province, lies in the northern part, less than a mile from the Qiantang. The velocity of this stream indicates a rapid descent of the country towards the ocean, but it discharges very little silt ; the tide rises six or seven feet opposite the city, and nearly thirty at the mouth.

    >See Chinese Repository, Vol. FV., p. 488; Journal of N. C. Br. R. A. Society,Vol. VI., pp. 123-128; and Chinese Recorder, Vol. I., 1869, pp. 241-248. These people are relies of tribes of Miaotsz’.

    Only a moiety of the inhabitants reside within the walls of the city, the suburbs and the waters around them supporting a large population. A portion of the space in the north-western part is walled off for the accommodation of the Manchu garri-si)]i, which consists of 7,000 troops. The governor-general of Chehkiang and Fulikien has an official house here, as well, also, as the governor of the province, but since the increased importance of Fuhchan. he seldom resides in this city; these, with their courts and troops, in addition to the great trade passing through, render it one of the richest and most important cities in the empire. The position is the most picturesque of any of the numerous localities selected by the Chinese for their capital. It lies in full view of the ocean, and from the hill-top in the center a wide view of the plains south and east is obtained.

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Poh, Vol. IT., p. 145.

    IIANGCIIAU AND ITS ENVIKOISrS. 117

    The charming lake, Si Ilu, and the numerous houses on its shores, with the varied scenery of the hills, copses, glades, and river banks, all highly cultivated, within a radius of ten miles, fidly bear out the praises of the Chinese as to i’ts singular beauty. Marco Polo lavishes all his admiration upon its size, riches, manufactures, and government, from which it is to be inferred that it suffered little in the Mongolian conquest. He visited the place when governor of Yangchau in 1286, and enthusiastically describes it as ” beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.” ‘ The Chinese have a proverb—-t^Ar^;?^yu. tlen tang : Hia ya Sa Hang—the purport of which is that Ilangchau and Suchau are fully equal to paradise ; but the comparison of the Venetian traveler gives one a poorer idea of the European cities of his day, than it does of the magnificence of the Chinese, to those who have seen them. The streets are well-paved, ornamented with numerous honorary tablets erected to the memoiy of distinguished individuals, and agreeably interrupting the passage through them. The long main street extending along the Grand Canal into and through the city, thence out by the Tsientang, was, before its ruthless demolition by the Tai-pings in 1S63, probably one of the finest streets in t’^? whole Empire. The shops and warehouses, in point of size and stock of goods contained in them, might vie with the best in London. In population, luxury, wealth, and influence this city rivals Suchau, and for excellence of manufactures probably exceeds the latter place. Were Ilangchau easily reached bji sea, and had it ample harbors, it would engross the trade of the eastern coast; but furious tides (running sometimes 11^ knots an hour) ; the bore jeoparding passage-boats and other small crafts ; sand banks and quick sands ;—these present insuperable difficulties to the commerce by the ocean.

    This city was the metropolis of the country during the nine latter princes of the Sung dynasty (1129 to 1280), when the northern parts were under dominion of the tribe of Kin Tartars. One cause of celebrity is found in the beauty of its environs, especially those near the Si llu, or West Lake, an irregular sheet of water about 12 miles in circuit. Barrow observes that ” the natural and artificial beauties of this lake far exceeded anything we had hitherto had an opportunity of seeing in China. The mountains surrounding it were lofty, and broken into a variety of forms that were highly picturesque ; and the valleys were richly clothed with trees of different kinds, among which three species were remarkably striking, not only by their intrinsic beauty, but also by the contrast they formed with themselves and the rest of the trees of the forest. These were the camphor and tallow trees, and the arl)or vitse. The bright, shining green foliage of the first, mhigled with the purple leaves of the second, and over-topped by the stately tree of life, of the deepest green, produced a pleasing effect to the eye ; and the landscape was rendered still more interesting to the mind by the very singular and diversified appearance of several thousand repositories of the dead upon the sloping sides of the inferior hills. Here, as well as elsewhere, the sombre and upright cypress was destined to be the melancholy companion of the tombs.

    ” Higher still, among the woods, avenues had been opened to admit of rows of small blue houses, exposed on white colonnades, which, on examination, were also found to be mansions of the dead. Xaked coffins, of extraordinary thickness, were everywhere Iving on the surface of the OTOund. The maro-ins of the lake w^ere studded with light aerial buildings, among W’hich one of more solidity and greater extent than the rest was said to belong to the emperor. The grounds were inclosed with brick walls, and mostly planted with vegetables and fruit trees; but in some there appeared to be collections of such shrubs and tiowers as are most esteemed in the country.” ‘

    Staunton speaks of the lake as a beautiful sheet of water, perfectly pellucid, full of fish, in most places shallow, and ornamented with a great number of light and fanciful stone bridges, thrown across the arms of the lake as it runs up into the hills.

    A stone tower on the summit of a projecting headland attracted attention, from its presenting a different architecture from that usually seen in Chinese buildings. This tower, called the Lui Fung t<(h, lit. ‘Tower of the Thunder Peak’ (not Thundering Wind, as Staunton renders it), from the hill being at first owned by Mr. Lui, was built about a.d. 050, and is to-day a solid structure, though much ruined. It has now four stories, and is about 120 feet high ; something like a regular order is still discernible in the moldering cornices. The legend of the White Snake is associated with this structure, and people constantly cany away pieces of its bricks as charms.

    An interesting corroboration of this account is given by Polo, who says, ” Inside the city there is a lake which has a compass of some 30 miles ; and all around it are erected beautiful palaces and mansions, of the richest and most exquisite structure that you can imagine, belonging to the nobles of the city. There are also on its shores many abbeys and churches of the idolaters. In the middle of the lake are two islands, on each of which stands a rich, beautiful and spacious edifice, furnished in such a style as to seem fit for the palace of an emperor. And when any one of the citizens desired to hold a marriage feast, or to give any other entertainment, it used to be done at one of these palaces.” ‘^

    • Travels ih China, p. 522. ‘^ Yule’s Murco Poh, Vol. II., p. 146.

    DESCRIPTION OF HANGZHOU. 119

    The splendor and size of the numerous Buddhist temples in and around HangZhou attracted travelers to the city more even than (lid its position; these shrines have, however, all been destroyed, and their thousands of priests driven away; the Taipings left no Iniilding untouched. The Yoh Miao stands near the north-west corner of the Si IIu, and contains the tombs of the patriot general ^’oh Pi of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 1125), and his son, who were unjustly executed as traitors. Two conical

    mounds mark their resting places, and separated bj a wall, but

    inside the inclosnre are four iron statues cast in a kneeling posture

    and loaded with chains,—on his right Qin Hui and his wife, on the left a judge and general, who subserved Qin Hui’s hatred of Yue Fei by their flagitious conduct. All four are here doing homage and penance to this just man whom they killed, and by the obloquy they receive serve as a warning to other traitors. In a temple, called Tmg-tHz’ s.z\ not far from the city, ths party of the Dutch embassy were well lodged, and attended by three hundred priests. The establishment was in good repair, and besides two guardian monsters more than thirty feet high, near the entrance, contained five hundred images of the Buddhist Arhans, with miniature pagodas of bronze, of beautiful workmanship.

    Ilangchau is better known abroad for manufactures of silk than for any other fabrics, but its position at the termination of the Canal may perhaps give its name to ujany articles which are not actually made there, for lluchau is now a greater depot for raw and woven silks. In the northern suburbs lies an irregular basin, forming the southern extremity of the Canal ; but between the river and the basin there is no communication, so that all goods brought hither nnist be landed. The city contains, among other public buildings, a mosque, bearing an iugcription in Arabic, stating that it is a ” temple for Mussnlmen, when travelling, who wish to consult the Koran,” ‘ It is higher than the adjacent buildings, and adorned with a cupola, pierced with holes at short intervals. It was spared in 1803, as not being an idolatrous temple. There are also several others in the city, it being a stronghold of Islamism in China. “Water communication exists between Ilangchau and Yiiyau, south-east through Shauhing, and thence to Ningbo, by means of which goods find their way to and from the capital. A good road also runs between the two former cities; indeed, elsewhere in the province the thoroughfares are very creditable; they are laid with broad slabs of granite and limestone, and lead over plains and hills in numberless directions.

    ‘ De Guigiies, Voyages a Peking, Vol. II., pp. 65-77.

    Ningbo fu (‘Peaceful AVave city*) is the next important city in Zhejiang, in consequence of its foreign relations. It is adniiiably situated for trade and intluence, at the junction of three streams, in hit. 20° 55′ ^”., and long. 121° 22’ E. ; the united river flows on to the ocean, eleven and a half miles distant, under the name of the Tatsieh. Opposite the city itself, there are but two streams, but the southern branch again subdivides a few miles south-west of Ningbo. Its population has been variously estimated from one-fourth to one-third of a million, and even more, including the subin-ban and floating inhabitants.

    This place was called Klng-yuen by the Sung, and received its present name from the Mongols. It was captured in 1862 by the insurgents, who were deterred from destroying it by the presence of foreign men-of-war ; the prosperity of the mart has since increased. When foreigners first resorted to China for trade, Ningbo soon became a centre of silk and other kinds of commodities; the Portuguese settled there, calling it Z/rt>/(^>o, “which is the same name. It is, moreover, an ancient city, and its Annals afford full information upon every point interesting to a Chinese antiquarian, though a foreigner soon tires of the numy insignificant details mixed up with a few valuable statements.’

    ‘ Compare R. M. Martin’s CJiiiui (Vol. II., ]>. 304), who gives considerable miscellaneous information about the open ports, jtrevious to 184(5; also Dennys’ Treaty Porta of (Jhiiut, 18(57, pp. ;52(5-:54!) ; Richthol’en’s Letlerx, No. T), 1871 ; Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 181 ; Mistsioaarij Recorder, 18(59, pp. 15(5,177.NINGPO. 121

    ” The plain in which Xingpo lies is a magnificent amphitheatre, stretching away from twelve to eighteen miles on one side to the base of the distant hills, and on the other to the verge of the ocean. As the eye travels along, it catches many a pleasing object. Turn landward, it will see canals and water-courses, fields and snug farm-houses, smiling cottages, family residences, hamlets and villages, family tombs, monasteries and temples. Turn in the opposite direction, and you perceive a plain country descending toward the ocean; but the river alive with all kinds of boats, and the banks studded with ice-houses, most of all attract the attention. From without the city, and while still

    Upon the ramparts, look within its walls, you. will be no less gratified. Here there is nothing European, little to remind you ut’ what you have seen in the west. The single-storied and the double-storied houses, the heavy prison-like family mansions, the family vaults and graveyards, the glittering roofs of the temples, the dilapidated official residences, the deserted literary and examination halls, and the prominent sombre Tower of Ningpo, are entirely Chinese. The attention is also arrested for a moment or two by ditches, canals, and reservoirs of water, with their wooden bridges and stone arches.” ‘ Two serious drawbacks to a residence here are the stifling heat of summer and the bad equality of the water.

    The circumference of the walls is nearly five miles ; they are

    about twenty-five feet high, fifteen feet wide at the top, and

    twenty-two at the base, built solidly, though somewhat dilapidated,

    and overgrown with grass. A deep moat partly surrounds

    them ; conimencing at the North gate, it runs on the west, south,

    and south-east side as far as Bridge gate, a distance of nearly

    thi’ee miles, and is in some places forty yards wide. Its constant

    use as a thoroughfare for boats insures its repair and proper

    depth ; the other faces of the city are defended by the river.

    There are six gates, and two sally-ports near the south and west

    approaches intended for the passage of the boats that ply on the

    city canals.

    On the east is Bridge gate, within which, and near the walls,

    the English factory was once situated. This opening leads out

    to the floating bridge ; the latter structure is two hundred yards

    long and five broad, made of planks firmly lashed, and laid

    upon sixteen lighters closely linked and chained together, but

    which can be opened. A busy market is held on the bridge,

    and the visitor following the lively crowd finds his way to an

    extensive suburb on the opposite side. Ferry boats ply across

    both streams in vast numbers, adding greatly to the vivacity of

    the scene. The custom-house is situated beyond the bridge,

    and this eastern suburb contains several buildings of a religious

    ‘ Milne, in Chinese Bepositorp, “Vol. XIII. , p. 22, and in liis Life in China, part second. London, 1857.

    :ind public cliaracter, lumber-yards, dock-yards, and rows of icelionses, inviting the notice of the traveler. The environs beyond the north gate are not so thickly settled as those across the rivers ; the well cultivated fields, divided and irrigated by numerous water-courses, with scattered hamlets, beguile the visitor in his rambles, and lead him onward.

    There are numerous temples and monasteries, and a large variety of assembly-halls, governmental offices, and educational establishments, but none of these edifices are remarkable in an architectural point of view. The assembly-halls or club-houses are numerous, and in their internal arrangements form a cm-ious feature of native society. It is the practice among residents or merchants from other provinces, to subscribe and erect on the spot where they are engaged in business, a temple, dedicated to the patron deity of their native province, in which a few priests are supported, and plays acted in its honor. Sometimes the building is put in charge of a layman, called a ” master of ceremonies,” and the cun-ent expenses defrayed by subscription.

    The club-houses are places of resort for travellers from the several provinces or districts, and answer, moreover, to European coffee-houses, in being points where news from abroad is heard and exchanged.

    The streets are well paved, and interrupted here and there

    by honorary portals of considei*able size and solidity, which also

    give variety to an otherwise dull succession of shops and signboards,

    or dead walls. Two small lagoons afford space for

    some aquatic amusements to the citizens. One called Sun Lake

    is only a thousand yards in circuit ; the other, called Moon

    Lake, is near the AVest gate, and has three times its perimeter.

    ]3oth are supplied by sluices passing through the city gates,

    while many canals are filled from them, which aid in irrigating

    the suburbs. Some of the pleasantest residences of the city are

    built on their banks.

    NINGPO, CHI.HIIAI, AND THE ARCHIPELAGO. 12B

    Among interesting edifices is the Tien-fung tah {i.e., Heavenconferred pagoda), a hexagonal seven-storied tower upward of 100 feet high, which, according to the Aanah of Ningbo, was first erected 1100 years ago, though during that period it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Upon the authority of this work, the tower was constructed before the city itself, and its })reservation is considered as connected with the good hick of the place. The visitor mounts to the summit by a flight of narrow stone steps, ascending spirally within the walls.

    The most elegant and solid building of the city lies on the water’s edge outside the walls, between the East and Bridge gates ; it is a temple dedicated to the marine goddess Ma Tsupu, and was founded by Fuhkien men in the 12th century, but the present structure was erected in IGSO, and largely endowed.

    Its ornaments are elaborate and rich, and its appearance on festival days, gay and animated in an unusual degree. The lanterns and scrolls hanging from the ceiling attract attention by the curious devices and beautiful characters written and drawn on them in bright colors, while the walls are concealed by innumerable drawings.

    Chinhai, at the mouth of the river, is so situated by nature and fortified by art, that it commands the passage. Its environs were the scene of a severe engagement between the Chinese and English in October, 1841, on which occasion great slaughter was committed npon the imperial troops. The town lies at the foot of a hill on a tongue of laud on the northern bank of the river, and is partly sheltei-ed from the sea on the north by a dyke about three miles long, composed of large blocks of hewn granite, and proving an admirable defence in severe weather. The walls are twenty feet high and three miles in circumference, but the suburbs extend along the water, attracted by, and for the convenience of, the shipping. Merchant ships report here when proceeding up the river, along whose banks the scenery is diversified, wdiile the water, as usual in China, presents a lively scene. Numerous ice-houses are seen constructed of thick stone walls twelve feet high, each having a door on one side and an incline on the other for the removal and introduction of the ice, and protected by straw and a heavily thatched roof.

    The Chusan archipelago forms a single district of which Tinghai is the capital ; it is divided into thirty-four chwang or townships, whose officers are responsible to the district magistrate.

    The southern limit of the group is Quesan or the Iviu shan islands, in lat. 29° 21′ X., and long. 121° 10′ E., consist ing of eleven islets, the nortlierninost of which is False Saddle Island ; their total number is over a hundred. Tinghai city lies on the southern side of Chau shan or Boat Island, which gives its name on foreign maps to the whole group. It is twenty miles long, from six to ten wide, and fifty one and a half in circumference. The archipelago seems to be the highest portion of a vast submarine plain, geologically comiected with the Kan shan range on the Continent and the mountains in Kiusiu and Nippon; it is a pi\’ot for the changes in weather and temperature observed north and south of this point along the coast.

    The general aspect of these islands and the mainland, is the same beautiful alternation of hills and narrow valleys, everywhere fertile and easily irrigated, with peaks, cascades, and woodlands interspersed. In Chusan itself the fertile and well watered valleys usnally reach to the sea, and are furnished with dykes along the beach, which convert them into plains of greater or less extent, through which run canals, used both for irrigation and navigation. Rice and barley, beans, yams, sweet potatoes, etc., are grown ; every spot of arable soil being cultivated, and terraces constructed on most of the slopes. The view from the tops of the ridges, looking athwart them, or adown their valleys, or to seaward, is highly picturesque. The prevailing rocks belong to the ancient volcanic class, comprising many varieties, but principally clay-stone, trachj^te, and compact and porphyritic felspar. The brief occupation of this island by the British forces in 1841 led to no permanent improvement in the condition of the people, and it has neither trade nor minerals sufficient to attract capital thither. Owing in part, perhaps, to this poverty, Tinghai escaped the ravages of the Tai-pings, and has now recovered from the damage sustained by its first capture.

    PUTO ISLAND AND ITS TEMPLES. 125

    Puto and a few smaller islands are independent of civil jurisdiction, being ruled by the abbot of the head monastery. This establishment, and that on Golden Island in the Yangtsz’ are among the ‘ richest and best patronized of all the bhiddhist monasteries in China ; both of them have been largely favored by emperors at diffirent periods.

    Puto is a narrow islet, 3^ miles long, and lies 1^ miles from the eastern point of Cliusan. Its surface is covered with sixty monasteries, pavilions, temples, and other religious buildings, besides grottos and sundry monuments of superstition, in which at least 2,000 idle priests chant the praises of their gods. One visitor describes his landing and ascending ” a broad and well beaten pathway which led to the top of one of the hills, at every: 5rag and turn of which we encountered a temple or a grotto, an inscription or an image, with here and there a garden tastefully laid out, and walks lined with aromatic shrubs, which diffused a grateful fragrance through the air. The prospect from these heights was extremely delightful; numerous islands, far and near, bestudded the main, rocks and precipices above and below, here and there a mountain monastery rearing its head, and in the valley the great temple, with its yellow tiles indicative of imperial distinction, basked like a basilisk in the noonday-sun. All the aid that could be collected from nature and from Chinese art, was here concentrated to render the scene enchanting. But to the eye of the Christian philanthropist it presented a melancholy picture of moral and spiritual death. The only tliuig we heard out of the mouths of the

    priests was Ometo Full ; to every observation that was made,

    re-echoed Ometo Full ; and the reply to every inquiry was

    Ometo Full. Each pi-iest was furnished with a rosary which

    lie was constantly counting, and as he counted repeated the

    same senseless, monotonous exclamation. These characters met

    the eye at every turn of the road, at every corner of the temples,

    and on every scrap of paper; on the bells, on the gateways,

    and on the walls, the same words presented themselves; indeed the whole island seemed to be under the spell of this talismanic phrase, and devoted to recording and re-echoing Ometo Full.” ‘ The pristine glory of these temples has become sadly dimmed, many of the buildings present marks of decay, and some of the priesthood are obliged to resort to honest labor in order to gain a living. Deaths in their number are supplied by purchasing youths, who are taught nothing but re-‘ Mcdhurst’s China, its State and Prospects, p. 393.

    Jigious literature, a tit training to stunt their minds to pursue the dull niunnuery of singing Onieto Full. The two inipeiial temples present good specimens of Chinese architecture ; but they as well as all other things to be seen at Puto are dilapidated and effete.

    Temples were erected on this island as early as a.d. 550, and since it became a resort for priests it seems to have enjoyed the patronage of the government. The goddess of Mercy is said to have visited this spot, and her image is the principal object of worship. No females are allowed to live on the island, nor any persons other than the priests, unless in their employ. The revenues are derived from rent of the lands belong-ino; to the temples, from the collection of those priests who go on begging excursions over the Empire, and from the alms of pilgrims who resort to this agreeable locality. It appears like one of the most beautiful spots on the earth when the ti’aveller lands, just such a place as his imagination had pictured as exclusively belonging to the sunny East, and so far as nature and art can combine, it is really so : but liere the illusion ends. Idleness and ignorance celibacy and idolatr}-, vice, dirt, and dilapidation, in the inmate! or in their habitations, form a poor back-ground for the well dressed connnunity, and gay, variegated prospect seen when stepping ashore.

    A town of considerable importance in this province is Chapu,

    about fifty miles north-west from Chinhai, across Ilangchau

    Pay, and connected with that city through a luxuriant plain by

    a well-paved causeway about thirty miles long. Chapu was the

    port of Ilangchau, and when it possessed the entii-e trade with

    Japan, boasted of being the largest mai’t on the seacoast of Chehkiang.

    The town lies at the bottom of a bay on the westei’n

    face of some hills fc)rming its eastern point ; and at low tide

    the mud extends a long way from the lowland. The suburbs

    are situated near a small headland ; the walled town stands

    about half a mile ])ehin(l. When attacked by the British in

    !^^ay, ]S42, the walls were found in ])()or condition, but the

    Manchu garrison stationed here upheld their ancient reputation

    for bravery. This body of troops occupies a separate division

    of the city, and their cantonment is j)lanned on the model of a

    CHAPU AND CAN FIT. 127

    camp. The outer defences are numerous, but most of tlie old

    fortifications are considerably decayed. The country in tlu;

    vicinity is highly cultivated, and possesses an unusual number

    of finely constructed, substantial houses.

    South-west from Chapu lies the old town of Canfu (called

    Kanpu by the Chinese), which was once the port of Ilangchau,

    but now deserted, since the stream on which it is situated has

    become choked with sand. This place is mentioned in the voyages

    of two Arabian travellers in the ninth century, as the chief

    port of China, where all shipping centred. The narrow entrance

    between Buffalo Island and Ivitto Point is probably the

    Gates of China mentioned by them ; and Marco Polo, in 1290,

    says, ” The Ocean Sea comes within 25 miles of the city at a

    place called Ganfu, where there is a town and an excellent

    haven, with a vast amount of shipping which is engaged in the

    traffic to and from India and other foreign parts. . . . And a

    great river flows from the city of Kinsay to that sea-haven, l)y

    which vessels can come up to the city itself.” ‘ Marsden erroneously

    supposes Kanpu to be Xingpo, If this was in fact the

    only port allowed to be opened for foreign trade, it shows that,

    even in the Tang dynasty, the same system of exclusion was

    maintained that has so recently been broken up ; though at that

    date the Emperors in Shansi had very little authority along the

    southern coasts. The changes in the Bay of Ilangchau have

    been more potent causes for the loss of trade, and Yule reasonably

    concludes that the upper part of it is believed to cover now

    the old site in Polo’s time.

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 149. Cathay and the Way Thither, p.cxciii. Reinaud, Relations den Voyages faits par les Arabea dans VTnde et d la Chine, etc. (Paris, 1845), Tome I., p. 19.

    The province of Fujian (i.e. Happily Established) is bounded on the north by Zhejiang, north-west and west by Iviangsf, south-west by Ivwangtung, and east by the channel of Formosa. Its western borders are determined, for the most part, by the watershed of the basins of the rivers Min and Kan; a rugged and fertile region of the Xan shan. The line of seacoast is bold, and bordered with a great number of islands, whose lofty granitic or trappean peaks extend in precipitous,

    Larreu headlands from Xaiiioli as far as tlie Cliusan archipelago.

    Ill the general features of its surface, the islands on its

    coasts, and its position with reference to the ocean, it resembles

    the region lying east of Xew Hampshire in the United States ;

    including Formosa, it about equals Missouri in size.

    The Itiver Min is formed by the union of three large streams

    at Yenping fu ; it drains all the country lying east of the AVu-i

    (Bohea) hills, or about three-fourths of the province. It is

    more than three hundred miles long, and owing to its regular

    depth, is one of the most useful streams in China ; twenty-seven

    walled towns stand on its banks. The tide rises eighteen or

    twenty feet at the entrance, and this, with the many islands and

    reefs, renders the approach difficult. At Min-ngan hien, about

    fourteen miles from the mouth, the stream is contracted to less

    than half a mile for about three miles, the water being from

    twelve to twenty-five fathoms deep ; the hills on each side rise

    from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet. One traveller speaks

    of the walls of its forts and batteries, in this part, as affording

    a sort of stairs for the more convenient ascent of the hills on

    which they are situated. From the top, ” the view embraces a

    beautiful scene ; nothing can be more picturesque than the little

    plats of wheat and barley intermixing their yellow crops on the

    acclivities with bristling pines and arid rocks, and crowned with

    garden spots, or surrounded with rice fields and orchards of

    oranges. The valley of the Min, viewed from the summit of

    the fortress, is truly a beautiful sight.” ‘ The scenery on this

    river, though of a different character, will bear comparison with

    that of the Hudson for sublimity and beauty ; the hills are,

    however, much higher, and the country less fruitful, on the

    Min.

    * Borget, L(i Chine Ouverte, p. 13G.

    AVATKll-COUllSES OF FUIIKIEN ri:()VIX(n<:. 129

    Beyond Pagoda Anchorage the passage is too shallow for large vessels, and this obstacle tends to prevent Fuhchau from becoming a place of commerce in keeping with its size and geographical advantages. From the city upwards the river is partially obstructed with rocks and banks, rendering the navigation troublesome as far as Mintsing hien, about thirty miles above it, beyond which the strong rapids render the passageto Yenping extremely tedious,—in high water impossible even with trackers. The banks are steep, and the tow-rope is sometimes taken 50 to 70 feet above the water.

    Mr. Stevens says of this river, that ” bold, high, and romantic

    hills giA^e a uniform yet ever varying aspect to the country ;

    l)ut it partakes so much of the mountainous character, that it

    may be truly said that beyond the capital we saw not one plain

    even of small extent. Every hill was covered with verdure

    from the base to the summit. The less rugged were laid out in

    terraces, rising above each other sometimes to the number of

    thirty or forty. On these the yellow barley and wheat were

    waving over our heads. Here and there a laborer, with a bundle

    of grain which he had reaped, was bringing it down on his

    shoulder to thrash out. Orange, lemon, and mulberry, or other

    trees, sometimes shaded a narrow strip along the banks, half

    concealing the cottages of the inhabitants.” ‘

    Next in size is the Lung kiang, which flows by Changchau, and disembogues near Amoy after a course of two hundred miles. A large number of small islands lie on the coast of Fuhkien, the first of which, on the west, is Naraoh or ]^an-au, about thirteen miles long. Amoy and Quemoy are the largest islands of a group lying off the estuary of the Lung kiang.

    Chimmo Bay is north-east of Amoy, and is the entrance of the passage up to Chinchew, or Tsiuenchau fu, the Zayton * of Marco Polo, and still celebrated for the commercial enterprise of its inhabitants. Before the introduction of steamers into the oasting trade, the harbors and creeks along the provinces of Fuhkien and Kwangtung were infested with numerous fleets of pirates, which used to ” sneak about like rats,” and prey upon the peaceful traders.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 93.’Yule’s Mnrco Poh, Vol. II., pp. 183-185, etc. A Turkish geography,printed at Constantinople, describes this port under the name of Zeitouii.Compare Klaproth, Memoires sur VAsie, Tome II., p. 208. See further,CJdnese Recoider, Vol. III., p. 87; Vol. IV., p. 77; Vol. V., p. 327, and Vol VI., p. 31, sqq.Vol. I.—9

    The grain raised in Fujian is hardly enough to support its population, especially on the sea-board, and large quantities of rice are brought from Siani, Formosa, and elsewhere. Black tea, camphor and other woods, sugar, chinaware, and grass cloth, are the principal exports.

    The city of Fuzhou(i.e., Happy City), or Ilokchiu, as it is called by the inhabitants, lies in lat. 26° 5′ north, and long. 119° 20′ east, on the northern side of the Min, thirty -four miles from its mouth, and nine from Pagoda Island. The city lies in a plain, surrounded by hills, forming a natural and most magnificent amphitheatre of vast dimensions, whose fertility emulates and adds to its beauty. Suburbs extend from the walls three miles to the banks, and stretch along on both sides the stream.

    They are connected with each other, and a small islet in the

    river, by a stone bridge built in the eleventh century. The

    scenery is bold, and such parts of the surrounding hills as are not

    cultivated or used for graves, are covered with pines ; some of

    the hills north of the city are three thousand feet high. Opposite

    Fuhchau the land is lower, and the suburb is built upon an

    island formed by the division of the main channel, seven miles

    above the city ; the branches reunite at Pagoda Island. This

    island, and the plain on each side, forms a large basin, about

    twenty miles long by fifteen wide. The river is crowded with

    floating habitations, ferry-boats, and trading craft, rendering its

    surface an animated and noisy scene. The flowers grown in

    pots on the boats, and those usually worn by the boatwomen in

    their hair, all assist in imparting a pleasing aspect to the lively sight.

    The city walls ai-e about thirty feet high and twelve wide at the top. The gates, seven in number, are overlooked by high towers ; smaller guard-houses stand upon the walls at short intervals, in which a few soldiers lodge, and where two or three cannon indicate their object. The city is divided into wards and neighborhoods, each of which is under its own police and headmen, who are resjxnisible for the peace of their respective districts.

    APPEARANCE OF FUHCIIAU. 131

    From the Wu-shih slum, an eminence on the south of the city, the view is extensive, and presents a great diversity of charming objects. The square battlements of the wall are seen extending in a devious and irregular circuit for more than eight miles, and inclosing most of the buildings, except on the south.

    On the south-east, a hill rises abruptly more than two hundred feet, its sides built up with interspersed dwellings ; and another on the extreme north of the cit}’, surmounted by a “watch-tower,

    closes the prospect in that dii-ection. Two pagodas within, and

    fantastic looking watch-towers upon the walls, large, regularbuilt

    granaries, and a vast number of flag-staffs in pairs indicating

    temples and offices, contribute to relieve the otherwise dull

    monotony, which is still further diversified by many large trees.

    Several lookout houses are placed over the streets, or upon the

    roofs of buildings, for the accommodation of watchmen, one of

    M’hich immediately attracts the attention of the visitor, from

    its height, and its clock-dial with Koman letters. Few vacant

    spaces occur within the walls of the city, which is everywhere

    equally well built.

    Serpentine canals divide the country round about into plats of greater or less extent, of every form and hue ; while they help drain the city and provide channels for boats coming from the river. These parts of the landscape are dotted with hamlets and cottages, or, where the ground is higher, with graves and tombstones. To one seated on this eminence, the confused hum of mingling cries ascending from the town below,—the beating of gongs, crackling of fireworks, reports of guns, vociferous cries of hucksters and coolies, combining with the barking of dogs and other domestic sounds, as well as those from the crows, fish-hawks, and magpies nearer by,—inform him in the liv^eliest manner that the beautiful panorama he is looking down upon is filled with teeming multitudes in all the tide of life. On the western side of the city is a sheet of water, called Xi Hu, or West Lake, with a series of unpretending buildings and temples lying along its margin, a bridge crossing its expanse, and fishing-nets and boats floating upon its bosom. The watch-tower, on the hill in the northern part of the city, is upon the wall, which here runs near a precipice two hundred feet high ; it is a most conspicuous object when approaching the place.

    The Manchus occupy the eastern side of the city, and number altogether about 8,000 persons; the natives gcncrall}- are not allowed to enter their precincts. They live under their own officers, in much the same style as the Chinese, and, .not having any regular occupation, give no little trouble to the provincial authorities. Though vastly larger than Ningpo, the number of temples and substantial private residences in Fuhchau is much less, and as a whole it is not so well built. The streets are full of abominations, for which the people seem to care very little.

    Before foreign trade attained importance, paper money used to be issued by native mercantile iirms in the city, varying in denomination from forty cents to a thousand dollars, and supplying all the advantages with few of the dangers of bank notes.

    The blue, red, and black colors, which are blended on these promissory bills, present a gay appearance of signatures and eudorsings. The name of the issuing house, and a number of characters traced around the page, in briglit blue ink, form the original impression. The date of issue, and some ingeniously Avrought cyphers, for the recej^tion of signatures and prevention of forgeries, are of a deep red ; while the entry of the sum, and names of the partners and receiver, stand forth in large blade characters. On the back are the endorsements of various individuals, through whose hands the bill has passed, in order to facilitate the detection of forgeries, but not rendering the writer at all liable. These bills have now nearly disappeared, and bank bills from Hongkong are gradually coming into use. The streets usually are thronged with craftsmen and hucksters, in the fashion of Chinese towns, where the shopmen, in their desire to attract buyers, seem to inuigine, that the more they get in their customers’ way, the more likely they are to sell them something. The shops are thrown ojien so widely, and display such a variety of articles, or expose the M’orkmeii so plainly, that the whole street seems to be leather the stalls of a nuirket, or the aisle in a manufactory, than the town-thoroughfare.

    BUILDINGS AND TYPES OF INirABITANTS. 133

    The chief civil and military dignitaries of the province reside here, besides the profect and the magistrates of ]\rin and llaukwan districts. The (li’iiKj-lmxing mUio is one of the largest religious edifices in the place, and the temples tif the goddess of Mercy, and god of War, the most frequented. The KiuSien shan, or ‘ Hill of the Nine Genii,’ on the southern side of the town, is a pretty object. The city wall runs over it, and on its sides little houses are built upon rocky steps ; numerous inscriptions are carved in the face of the rocks. Near the eastern gate, called Tang Men., or ‘ Bath gate,’ is a small suburb, where Chinese and Manchus live together, and take care of many hot wells filled from springs near by ; the populace resort hither in large crowds to wash and amuse themselves.

    The citizens of Fuhchau bear the character of a reserved, proud, rather turbulent people, imlike the polite, affable natives further north. They are better educated, however, and plume themselves on never having been conquered by foreigners. Their dialect is harsh, contrasting strongly with the nasal tones of the patois of Amoy, and the melliflnous sounds heard at Ningpo. There are few manufactures of importance in the city, its commerce and resources depending almost wholly on the trade with the interior by the River Min. Many culprits wearing the cangue are to be seen in the streets, and in passing none of the hilarious merriment which is heard elsewhere greets the eai”. There is also a general lack of courtesy between acquaintances meeting in the higlnvay, a circumstance quite unusual in China. Beggars crowd the thoroughfares, showing both the poverty and the callousnesj of the inhabitants. One half the male population is supposed to be addicted to the opium pipe, and annually expend millions of dollars for this noxious gratification.

    The population of the city and suburljs is reckoned at rather over than under a million souls, including the boat people; it is, no doubt, one of tlie chief cities in the Empire \\\size, trade, and iidluence.

    The island in the river is settled by a trading p()])ulati(jii, a great part of whom consist of sailors and boatmen. The country-women, who bring vegetables and poultry to market, are a robust race, and contrast strikingly with the sickly-looking, little-footed ladies of the city, Fishing-boats are numerous in the river, many of which are furnished with cormorants.’

    Chinese liejwsitary, Vol. TSV., pp. 185, 225.

    Amoy is the best known port in the province, and 150 years ao-Q was the seat of a large foreign coniinercc. It lies in tha district of Tung-ngan, within the prefecture of Tsiuenchau, in lat. 2i° 4U’ X., and long. 118° 20′ E., upon the south-western corner of the island of Amoy, at the mouth of the Lung Kiang. The island itself is about forty miles in circumference, and contains scores of large villages besides the city. The scenery within the bay is picturesque, caused partly by the numerous islands which define it, some of them surmounted by pagodas or temples, and partly by the high hills behind the city, and

    crowds of vessels in the liarbor in the foreground.’ There is

    an outer and inner city, as one approaches it seaward—or more

    properly a citadel and a city—divided by a ridge of rocky hills

    having a fortified wall along the top. A paved road connects

    the two, which is concealed from the view of the beholder as

    he comes in from sea, until he has entered the Inner harbor.

    The entire circuit of the city and suburbs is about eight miles,

    containing a population of 185,000, while that of the island is

    estimated at 100,000 more.

    The harbor of Amoy is one of the best on the coast ; the tide

    rises and falls from fourteen to sixteen feet. The western side

    of the harbor is formed by the island of Kulang su, the batteries

    upon it completely commanding the city. It is about a

    mile long and two and three-quarters around, and maintains a

    large rural population, scattered among four or five hamlets.

    The foreign residences scattered over its hills add measurably

    to the charm of its aspect when viewed from the harbor. Eastward

    of Amoy is the island of Quemoy (/.6\, Golden harbor), whose low, rice grounds on the south-west shore produce a very different effect as opposed to the high land on Amoy ; its population is, moreover, much less.

    ‘ The Boston Missionary Herald for 1845 (p. 87) coutaius a notice of tha ” WfeHe Deer Cavern,” in tliu neighborhood.

    AMOY AND ITS ENVIRONS. 135

    The country in this part of Fuhkien is thickly settled and highly cultivated. Mr. Abeel, describing a trip toward TungngaTi, says, ” For a few miles up, the hills wore the same rugged, barren aspect which is so common on the southern coast of China, but fertility and cultivation grew upon us as we advanced ; the mountains on the east became hills, and these were adorned with fields. The villages were numerous at intervals; many of them were indicated in the distance by large groves of trees, but generally the landscape looked naked. Well-sweeps were scattered over the cultivated hills, affording evidence of the need and the means of irrigation.”

    In the other direction, toward Changchau, the traveller, beyond Pagoda Island, enters an oval bay ten or twelve miles long, bounded by numerous plains rising in the distance into steep barren mountains, and upon which numerous villages are found ; twenty-three were counted at once by Mr. Abeel, and the boatmen said that all could not be seen. Several large towns, and ” villages uncounted ” are visible in every direction, as one proceeds up the river toward Changchau, thirty-five miles from Amoy. This city is well built, the streets paved with granite, some of them twelve feet wide, and intolerably offensive. A bridge, about eight hundred feet long, spans the river, consisting of beams stretching from one abutment to another, covered with cross pieces. From the hill- top behind a temple at the north-western corner of the city, the prospect is charming.

    ” Imagine an amphitheatre,” says Mr. Lowrie, ” thirty miles in length and twenty in breadth, hemmed in on all sides by bare pointed hills, a river running through it, an immense city at our feet, with fields of rice and sugar-cane, noble trees and

    numerous villages stretching away in every direction. It was

    grand and beautiful beyond every conception we had ever

    formed of Chinese scenery. Beneath us lay the city, its shape

    nearly square, curving a little on the river’s banks, closely built,

    and having an amazing number of very large trees within and

    around. The guide said that in the last dynasty it had numl)

    ered 700,000 inhabitants, and now he thought it contained a

    million—probably a large allowance. The villages around also

    attracted our attention. I tried to enumerate them, but after counting thirty-nine of large size distinctly visible in less than half the field before us, I gave over the attempt. It is certainly Avithhi the mark to say that within the t-ircuit of thi.- immense plain there are at least one hundred villages, some of them small, but many numbering Inmdreds and even thousands of inliabitants.” ‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XI., p. 506.

    ChangZhou was the last city in the eastern provinces held by the Tai-pings, a small remnant of their forces having come across the country after the loss of NanJing. They were expolled in 1806, after the town had suffered much from the contending forces. Traces of this destruction have not yet entirely disappeared from the vicinity.

    Shilima, or Chiohbe, is a place of some trade, extending a

    mile along the shore, and larger than Ilaitang hien, a district

    town between it and Amoy. Large numbers of people dwell

    in boats on this river, rendering a voyage up its channel somewhat

    like going through a street, for the noise and bustle.

    The city of Chinchew (or Tsiuenchau), north of Amoy, w’as

    once the larger of the two. It is described by Marco Polo, who

    reached it after iive days’ journey from Fuhchau, meeting with

    a constant succession of flourishing cities, towns and villages.

    “At this city is the haven of Zayton, frequented by all the

    ships from India, . . . and by all the merchants of Manzi, for

    hither is imported the most astonishing quantity of goods and

    of precious stones and pearls. . . . For it is one of the two

    greatest havens in the world for connnerce.”^ It was gradually

    forsaken for Amoy, which was more accessible to junks.

    ‘ Chinesie Rejmiton/, Vol. XIT., p. T^•.^0^, Fortune’s Tea Districts, chaps, xiv and XV.=” Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. IbG.

    THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA. 137

    From Zayton, Ivublai Khan’s expedition to Java and Japan sailed, and here the men from Egypt and Arabia traded for silks, sugar, and spices long after the Portuguese reached China. The department of Ilinghwa, situate on the coast between Tsiuenchau and Fuhchau, is exceedingly populous, and its dialect differs distinctly from both of the adjoining prefectures. Its people have a bad reputation, and female infanticide prevails here to a greater degree than elsewhere. At Yenping, on the Min River, the people speak the dialect of banking, showing their origin of not many scores of years past ; there are many patois in these hilly parts of Fnhkien, hirI tlio province as a whole exhibits probably greater discrepancies in its dialects than any other. Its produce is exported north and west, as well as coastwise, and this intcirconrse tends to assimilate the speech of the inhabitants with their neighbors. The natural scenery in the ranges near the Bohea Hills in the borders of Kiangsi attracts visitors from afar. Fortune describes the picturesque grouping of steep rocks, lonely temples on jutting ledges and hidden adits, alternating with hamlets, along the banks of the stream which carries the boats and produce away to a market. The rocks and cliffs here have furnished Chinese artists with many subjects for pen and pencil, while the valley in addition to its natural beauty brings forth the best of teas.

    The island of Formosa, lying 90 miles west of Amoy, together with the Pescadore group, forms a department called Taiwan. The former is a fertile, well-watered region, possessing a salubrious climate, and meriting in every respect its name Formosa—a descriptive term first given by the Portuguese to their settlement at Kilung in 1590, and extended afterward to the entire island. Its total length is about 235 miles, while the width at the centre is not far from 80 miles ; the limits of Chinese jurisdiction do not, however, end)race more than the western or level portion, leaving to untamed aborigines the

    thickly wooded districts beyond the ]\f((h htii sJkdk a lofty

    rantj-e of mountains runnino; north and south and formino- the

    backbone of the island. The western coast presents no good

    harbors, and vessels lying a long distance oft” shore are exposed

    to the double inconvenience of a dano-erons anchoraije and an

    inhospitable reception from the natives ; the eastern side is still

    less inviting, owing to its possession by savage tribes. From

    recent reports it appears, moreover, that the whole coast line is

    rising with unusual persistence and regularity, and that the

    streams are being choked up at their mouths.

    The aborigines of this island are, in those districts that lemain uncontaminated by mixture with Chinese settlers, a remarkably well-built, handsome race, strong, large of eye, bold, and devoted to hunting and ardent spirits (when the latter is procurable), after the manner of wild people the world over; no written language exists among them, nor do they employ any fixed method of reckoning time. They and the inhabitants of Lewchew and neighboring islands are probably of the same race with the Philippine Tagalas, though some have supposed them to be of Malay or Polynesian origin. Like the North American Indians they are divided into numerous clans,

    whose mutual feuds are likely to last until one party or another

    is exterminated ; this turbulence restrains them from any

    united action against the Chinese, whose occupation of the

    island has always been irksome to the natives. Their social

    condition is extremely low ; though free from the petty vices

    of thieving and deception, and friendly toward strangers, the

    principle of blood-requital holds among them with full force,

    and family revenge is usually the sole object of life among the

    men. I^o savage is esteemed who has not beheaded a Chinaman,

    while the greater the number of heads brought home from a fray, the higher the position of a brave in the comnumity.

    The women are forced to attend both to house and field, but share the laziness of their masters, insomuch that they never cut from the growing rice or millet more than enough for the day’s provision. ” Although these people have men’s forms,” observes a Chinese writer in the peculiar antithetical style common to their literary productions, ” they have not men’s natures. To govern them is impossible; to exterminate them not to be thought of; and so nothing can be done with them. The only thing left is to establish troops with cannon at all the passes through which they issue on their raids, and so overawe them, b^^ military display, from coming out of their fastnesses. The savage tracks lie only through the dense forests, thick with underbi’ush, where hiding is easy.

    PRODUCTIONS OF FORMOSA. 139

    When they cut off a head, they boil it to separate the flesh, adorn the skull with various ornaments, and hang it up in their huts as evidence of their valor.” In addition to a few native clans who have submitted to the rulers from the mainland and dwell in the border region between the colonists and :i])oi-igines proper, a peculiarly situated race, called Ilahhas^ maintains a neutral position between the hill tribes and the Cliinese. These people were formerly industrious but per«secuted inhabitants of Kwangtung province, who, in order to better their lot, emigrated to Formosa and established close communication with the natives there, making themselves indispensable to them by procuring arms, powder, and manufactured goods, while owing to their industry they were able in time to monopolize the camphor trade. Though retaining the Chinese costume and shaving their heads, they practically ignore Chinese rule, paying tribute and intermarrying with the mountaineers, from whom they have also obtained large tracts of land.

    Maize, potatoes, fruits, tobacco, indigo, sugar, rice, and tea, are all grown on this island, the three latter in rapidly increasing quantities for purposes of export. Of natural products salt, coal, sulphur, petroleum, and camphor are of the first importance.

    The vast coal basins have hardly been opened or even explored, the only mines now worked being those in the northern part, near Kilung. Native methods of mining are, however, the only ones employed thus far, and it is not surprising, considering their extreme simplicity, that they have not been able to extract coal from remote districts, where the natural difficulties encountered are greatest. Hand labor alone is used, and draining a pit unheard of—compelling a speedy abandoning of the mines when pierced to any great depth in the mountain side. The cost of the coal at the mouth of the pit is about 65 cents per ton for the first qualities, which price improved methods might reduce a third. The presence of volcanoes on this island will, nevertheless, present a serious obstacle to the employment of western mining machinery, especially along the coast, where the measures appear to be excessively dislocated and the work of draining is rendered more difficult. Petroleum is abundant in certain tracts of northern Formosa, flowing plentifully from crevices in the hills, and used to some extent for burning and medicinal purposes by the natives, but not exported. The possibilities of a large sulphur trade are much more important. It is brought from solfatarae and geysers at Tah-yu kang, near Kilung, where it is found in a nearly pure state, as well, too, as a great quantity of sulphurous acid which might with profit be used in the sugar refineries on the island. The manufacture of sidphur is, however forbidden by treaty, though its exportation goes on in small quantities, the contractors taking on themselves all risk of seizure. Camphoi”, perhaps the greatest source of wealth to Formosa, is obtained here by saturating small sticks of the wood with steam, not by boiling as in Japan. The crystals of camphor condense in a receiv-er placed above the furnace ; during the process of distillation an es-^ential oil is produced, which when chemically treated with nitric acid becomes solid camphor. The trees from which the wood is cut grow^ in the most inaccessible tracts of the island, and are, according to all descriptions, of innnense extent, though chopped down by the natives without discrimination or idea of encouraging a second growth.

    Among the most interesting natural phenomena of this district are the so-called volcanoes, whoso occasional eruptions have been noticed by many, Mr. Le Gendre, United States Consul at Amoy in 1869, upon a visit to Formosa took occasion to examine more closely into this subject. It appears from his report ‘ that a gas is constantly issuing from the earth, and when a hole to the depth of a few inches is made it can be lighted.

    It is most likely, he continues, that from time to time gas jets break forth at points of the hills where they had not been observed before, rushing through its long grass and forests of linge trees, and the rock oil which as a general thing flows in their vicinity. As they are apt to spontaneously ignite in contact with the atmosphere, they must set fire to these materials and cause a local conflagration, that gives to the many peaks of the chain the appearance of volcanoes.

    FORMOSA AND THE PESCADORES. 141

    Previous to the first half of the fifteenth century the Chinese had little knowledge of Formosa, nor was their sway established over any part of it until 1GS3. It was never really colonized, and became a misooverned and refractorv region from the earliest attempts at subjection. A great emigration is constantly going on from the main, and lands are taken up by capitalists, who not only encourage the people in settling there, but actually purchase large numbers of poor people to occupy these districts. Taiwan fu, the seat of local government, is the ‘ Commercial Relations between the U. S. and Voreign ‘iS(ttiiinx. lS(iO.

    largest place on the island ; other harbors or places of importance are Ku-sia and Takow, some miles south of Taiwan, the latter, with Tamsui, on the north-west coast, being one of the recently opened ports of trade. Kihmg possesses a good harbor and is the entrepot of goods for the northern end of the island. Snice the opening (in 1861) of these three towns to foreign intercourse, and the more careful examination of the neutral territory at the foot of the mountains, the resources, peoples, and condition of this productive isle have become better known.

    It may be of interest to refer, before leaving Formosa, to the extraordinary fabulous history of the island by one George Psalmanazar, the nam de lylmiie of a remarkable impostor of the commencement of the eighteenth century, who pretended to be a Japanese convert to CJhristianity from Formosa, and who created a profound sensation in Europe by the publication in Latin of a iictitious notice of that country.’

    About twenty-five miles west of Formosa, and attached to Taiwan fu, is the district of Pdvghu ting or Pescadore Islands, consisting of a group of twenty-one inhabited islets, the largest of which, called Panghu, is eighty-four miles in circumference; none of them rise three hundred feet above the sea. The two largest, called Prmgliu and Fisher Islands, ai-e situated near the centre of the cluster, and have an excellent harbor between them. The want of trees, and the absence of sheltered valleys, give these islands a barren appearance. Millet, ground-nuts, pine-apples, sweet potatoes, and vegetables are grown, but for most of their supplies they depend upon Formosa. The population of the group is estimated at ‘6()()(^^ of M’hom a large part are fishermen. The Dutch seized these islands in 1G22, and attempted to fortify them by forced Chinese laborers, but removed to Formosa two years after at the instance of the governor of Fuhkien.
    ‘ ” An nistoricrd and GeograpJdcal Description of Formosa, an Island subject to the Emperor of Japan, ^^ etc. YiXii^voili {MemoiressiirVAsie, Tome I., p. 321) translates an accovint of this island from Chinese sources. E. C. Taintor, The Aborigines of Northern /’l^’/w^Avn!—Shanghai, 1874—read before the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p408, and Vol. V., p. 480.”

    CHAPTER III. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN PROVINCES

    The central provinces of llnpeli and Hunan formerly constituted a single one under the name of Hukwang {i.e. Broad Lakes), and they are still commonly known by this appellation. HuPEH {i.e. Korth of the Lakes) is the smaller of the two, but contains the most arable land. It is bounded north by Honan, east by Kganhwui and Kiangsi, south by Hunan, and west by Sz’chuen and Shensi. Its area is about T0,000 square miles, or slightly above that of Kew England.

    The Great Tliver flows through the south, where it connects with all the lakes on both its shores, and nearly doubles its volume of water. The Han kiang, or Han shui rises in the southwest of Shensi, between the Fuh-niu shan and Tapa ling, and drains the south of that province and nearly the whole of Hupeh, joining Yangtsz’ at AVuehang. It is very tortuous in its course, flowing about 1300 miles in all, and is navigable only a portion of the year, during the freshes, as far as Siangyang, about 300 miles. Boats of small size come down, however, at all times from Sin-pu-wan, near its source in Shensi.

    THE PROVINCE OP IIUPEH. 143

    The mouth is not over 200 feet broad, but the bed of the river as one ascends soon widens to 400 and 500 feet, and at Shayang, 168 miles from Hankow, it is half a mile wide. The area of its whole basin is about the same as the province. The extraordinary effects of a large body of melted snow poured into a number of streams converging on the slopes of a range of hills, and then centering in a narrow valley, bringing their annual deposit of alluvial and silt are seen along the River Han. The rise of this stream is often fifty feet where it is narrowest, and the shores are high ; at Iching the channel varies from 300 to 1500 feet at different seasons, but the i-iverbed from 2000 to 9000 feet, the water rising 18 feet at the fresh. In these wide places, the river presents the aspect of a broad, winding belt of sand dunes, in which the stream meanders in one or many channels, l^avigation, therefore, is difficult and dangerous, since moving sands shift the deep water from place to place, and boats are delayed or run aground. In high water the banks are covered, but the current is then almost as serious an obstacle as the shallows are in winter.

    The southeastern part of Ilupeh is occupied by an extensive depression filled with a succession of lakes. The length and breadth of this plain are not far from two hundred miles, and it is considered the most fertile part of China, not being subject to overflows like the shores of the Yellow River, while the descent of the land allows its abundance of water to be readily distributed. Every spot is cultivated, and the surplus of productions is easily transported wherever there is a demand.

    The portions nearest the Yangtsz’ are too low for constant cultivation. The Ax Lake, Millet Lake, Red Horse Lake, and Mienyang Lake, are the largest in the province. The remaining parts of both the Lake provinces are hilly and mountainous ; the high range of the Ta-peh shan (‘ Great White Mountains ‘), commencing far into Shensi, extends to the west of Ilupeh, and separates the basins of the Great River from its tributary, the Han Jiang, some of its peaks rising to the snow line. The productions of Ilupeh are bread-stuffs, silk, cotton, tea, fish, and timber; its manufactures are paper, wax, and cloth. The climate is temperate and healthy.

    The favorable situation of “Wuchang, the provincial capital,

    lias drawn to it most of the trade, which has caused in the

    course of years the settlement of Hanyang and Hankow on the

    northern bank of the Yangtsz’ and River Han. The number

    of vessels gathered here in former years from the other cities

    on these two streams was enormous, and gave rise to exaggerated

    ideas of the value of the trade. The introduction of steamers has destroyed much of this native commerce, and the cities themselves suffered dreadfully Ijv the Tai-pings, from Mliicli thev are rapidly recovering, and oti a surer foundation. The cities ‘lie in lat. 30° 33′ X. and long. 114° 20’ E., 582 geographical miles distant from Shanghai.

    Wuchang is the residence of the provincial officers, the

    Manchu garrison, and a literary population of influence, while

    the working part depends mostly on Hankow for employment.

    Its walls are over twelve miles in circuit, inclosing more vacant

    than occupied surface, whose flatness is relieved by a range of

    low hills that extend bevond Ilanvano; on the other side of

    the liver. The narrow streets are noisome from the offal,

    and in summer are sources of malaria, as the drainage is had.

    AYhen Haidvow was opened to foreign trade in 1801, it presented

    AvucHAXd a:vd Hankou. 145

    a most ruinous appearance, but the sense of security inspired by the presence of the men and vessels from far lands rapidly drew the scattered citizens and artisans to rebuild the ruins. The foreigners live near the river side, east of Hankow and west of the River Han, where the anchorage is very favorable, and out of the powerful current of the Yangtsz’. The difference in level of the great stream is about forty feet in the year. In the long years of its early and peaceful trade up to 1850, this region had gathered probably more people on a given area than could be found elsewhere in the world ; and its repute for riches led foreigners to base great hopes on their share, which have been gradually dissipated. The appearance of the city as it was in 1845 is given by Abbt’^ Hue in a few sentences: ” The night had already closed in when we reached the place where the river is entirely covered with vessels, of every size and form, congregated here from all parts. I hardly think there is another port in the world so frequented as this, which passes, too, as among the most commercial in the empire. We entered one of the open ways, a sort of a street having each side defined by floating shops, and after four hours’ toilsome navigation through this difficult labyrinth, arrived at the place of debarkation. For the space of five leagues, one can only see houses along the shore, and an infinitude of beautiful and strange looking vessels in the river, some at anchor and others passing up and down at all hours.” ‘

    The coup d’a’il of these three cities is beautiful, their environs being highly cultivated and interspersed with the mansions of the great ; but he adds, “If you draw near, you will find on the margin of the river only a shapeless bank worn away with freshets, and in the streets stalls surmounted with palisades, and workshops undermined by the waters or tumbling to pieces from age. The open spots between these ruins are filled with abominations which diffuse around a suffocating odor. No regulation.s respecting the location of the dwellings, no sidewalks, no place to avoid the crowd which presses upon one, elbowing and disputing the passage, but all get along pell-mell, in the midst of cattle, hogvS, and other domestic animals, each protecting himself as he best can from the filth in his way, which the Chinese collect with care for agricultural uses, and carry along in little open buckets through the crowd.”

    Above Hankow, the towns on the Yangtsz’ lie n’earer its

    banks^lfsHiey are not so exposed to the freshets. The largest

    trading places in this part of Ilupeli on the river, are Shasi,

    opposite Kinchau fu, and Ichang near the borders of Sz’chuen,

    respectively 293 and 363 miles distance. From the first settlement

    there is a safe passage by canal across to Shayang, forty

    miles away on the iliver Han ; the travel thence goes north

    to Shansi. The other has recently been opened to foreign

    trade. It is the terminus of navigation for the large vessels

    used from Shanghai upward, as the rapids commence a few

    miles beyond, necessitating smaller craft that can be hauled by

    trackers. These two marts are large centres of trade and travel,

    and were not made desolate by the Tai-pings, as were all other

    towns of importance on the lower Yangtsz’.

    ‘ Annnles de la Fci. i845, Tome XVII., pp. 287, 290. See also Hue’s TravreU in the Chinese Empire, Harper’s Ed., 1855, Vol. II., pp. 142-144. Fnmpelly, pp. 224-22G ; Blakiston’s Yanrjtsze, p. 65 ; Treaty Ports of China, 1867,Art. Hankow.

    The portion of the Yangzi in this province, between Yichang and the Sichuan border, exhibits perhaps some of the most Jiiagnificenl- glunpse^,_.M_scenery in the world. Breaking through the limestone foundations that dip on either side of the granite core of the rapids, the river first penetrates the AVu shan, Mitan, and Lukan gorges on the one side, then the lono- defile of Ichang on the other. At various points between and beyond these the stream is broken by more or less formidable rapids. Among these grand ravines the most impressive, though not the longest, is that of Lukan, whose vertical walls rise a thousand feet or more above the narrow river. Nothing can be more striking, observes Blakiston, than suddenly coming upon this huge split in the mountain mass ” by which the river escapes as through a funnel,” The eastern portions of llupch are rougher than the southern, and were overrun during the rebellion by armed bands, so that their best towns were destroyed. Siangyang fu and Fanching, near the northern borders, arc important places in the internal commerce of this region. Its many associations with leading events in Chinese early and feudal history render it an interesting region to native scholars. A large part of the southwestern prefecture of Shingan is hilly, and its mountainous portions are inhabited by a rude, illiterate population, many of whom are partly governed by local rulers.

    The province of Hunan is bounded north by Ilupeh, east by Kiangsi, south by Kwangtung and Kwangsi, w.est by Ivweichau and Sz’chuen. Its area is reckoned at 84,000 square miles—equal to Great Britain or the State of Kansas. It is drained by four rivers, whose basins comprise nearly the whole province, and define its limits by their terminal watersheds. The largest is the Siang, which, rising in the hills on the south and east in numerous navigable streams, affords facilities for trade in small boats to the borders of Kiangsi and Kwangtung,

    the traffic concentring at Siangtan ; this fertile and populous

    basin occupies well-nigh half of the province. Through the

    western part of Hunan runs the Yuen kiang, but the rapids

    and cascades occur so frequently as to render it far less useful

    than the Siang. Boats are towed up to the towns in the southwest

    with great labor, carrying only four or five tons cargo;

    these are exchanged for mere scows at Ilangkia, 200 miles

    above Changteh, in order to reach Yuenchau. The contrast

    ‘UKAN GOKGE, YANGZI RlVER. NATURAL AND POLITICAL FEATURES OF HUNAN. 147

    between the two rivers as serviceable channels of intercourse is

    notable. Between these two main rivers runs the Tsz’ kiang,

    navigable for only small batteaux, which nnist be pulled up so

    many rapids that the river itself has been called Tan ho, or

    ‘ Rapid River ; ‘ its basin is narrow and fertile, and the produce

    is carried to market over the hills both east and west. The

    fourth river, the Li shui, empties, like all the others, into the

    Tungting Lake, and drains the northwestern portion of the

    province ; it is navigable only in its lower course, and is almost

    useless for travel. These rivers all keep their own chaimels

    through the lake, which is rather a cesspool for the overflow of

    the Yangtsz’ during its annual rise than a lake fed by its own

    springs and aflluents. At Siangyin, on the River Siang, the

    banks are 35 feet above low water, and gradually slope down

    to its mouth at Yohchau, or near it. The variation of this

    lake from a large sheet of water at one season to a marsh at

    another, must of course affect the whole internal trade of the

    province, inasnnich as the rivers running through it are in a

    continual condition of flood or low water—either extreme

    cannot but seriously interfere with steam vessels.

    The productions of Ilunan do not represent a very high development

    of its soil or mines. Tea and coal are the main exports; tea-oil, ground-nut and tun/j oils, hemp, tobacco, and rice, with iron, copper, tin, and coarse paper make up the list.

    The coal-fields of southern Hunan contain deposits equal to those in Pennsylvania ; anthracite occurs on the River Lui, and bituminous on the River Xiang, both beds reaching over the border into Kwangtung. The timber trade in pine, fir, laurel, and other woods is also important. The population of Hunan was somewhat reduced during the Tai-ping rebellion ; its inhabitants have in general a bad reputation among their countrymen for violence and rudeness. The hilly nature of the country tends to segregate them into small communities, which are imperfectly acquainted with each other, because travelling is difficult ; nor is the soil fertile enough to support in many districts a considerable increase of population.

    The capital of Hunan, Changsha, lies on the River Xiang, and is one of the most iofluentialj as it is historically one of the most interesting, cities in the central })urt of China ; the festival of the Dragon Boats originated here. Siangtan, at the confluence of the Lien kf, nioie than 200 miles above Yohchan, is one of the greatest tea-marts in China. Its population is reckoned to he a million, and it is a centre of trade and banking for the products of this and other legions ; it extends for three miles along the west bank, and nearly two miles inland, with thousands of boats lining the shores. Its return to prosperity since the rebellion has been marvellously rapid. The city of Changteh on the Yuen River is the next important town, as it is easily reached from Yohchan on the Yangzi; large amounts of rice are grown in the prefecture.

    Hunan has a high position for letters, the people are well dressed, healthy, and usually peaceable. The boating population is, however, exceptionally lawless, and forms a difficult class for the local authorities to control. Aboriginal hill-tribes exist in the sonthwestern districts, mIucIi are still more unmanageable, probably through the imjust taxation and oppression of the imperial officers set over them. In addition to these ungovernable elements a large area is occupied by the Yao-Jin, who have possessed themselves of the elevated territory lying between Ynngchau and Kweiyang, in the southern point of the province, and there barricaded the mountain passes so that no one can ascend against their will.

    MOUNTAINS AND HIVEKS OF SIIENSl. 140

    The province of SnENsi (i.e., Western Defiles) is bounded north by Inner Mongolia, from which it is divided by the Great Wall, cast by Shansi and Ilonan, southeast by Ilupeh, south by Sz’chuen, and west by Ivansuh. Its area is not far from 70,000 square miles, which is geologically and politically most distinctly marked by the Tsingling shan, the watershed between the Wei and Ilan I’ivers. There is only one good road across it to Ilanchung fu near its southern part ; another, farther east, goes from Si-ngan, by a natural pass between it and the Fuh-niu shan, to Shang, on the Tan ho, in the Ilan basin. This part conijM’ises about one-third of Shensf. The other portion includes the basins of the Wei, Loh an<l Wu-ting, and some smaller tributaries of the Yellow River, of which the Wei is the mo.-^t important. This I’iver joins tiie Yehow at the lowest point of its basin, the Tung-kwaii pass, where the larger stream breaks thj-ongh into the lowlands of llonan, and divides eastern and southern Cliina from the northwestern regions.

    The whole of this part presents a loess formation, and the beds of the streams are cut deep into it, the roads across them being few. The Wei basni is the most fertile part of the province; the history of the Chinese race has been more connected with its fortunes than with any other portion of their possessions. Its productiveness is shown in the rapid development and peopling of the districts along the banks and affluents.

    On the north, the Great Wall separates Shensi from the Ordos -Mongols, its western end reaching the Yellow River at Ninghia—the largest and only imjx^rtant city in that region. All the connections with this region are through Shensi and by Kwei-hwa-ching, l)ut the configuration of the ranges of hills prevents direct travel. Isone of the rivers in this region are serviceable to any great degree for navigation, and but few of them for irrigation ; the crops depend on the rainfall. The climate is more equable and mild than in Shansi, and not so wet as in many parts of Kansuh. The harvests of one good year here furnish food for three poor ones. The chief dependence of the people is on wheat, but rice is grown wherever water can be had; sorghum, millet, pulse, maize, barle}^ ground-nut, and fruits of many sorts fill up the list. Cotton, hemp, tobacco, rapeseed, and poppy are largely cultivated, but the surplus of any crop is not enough in average years to leave much for export.

    The ruthless civil war recently quenched in the destruction of the Mohannnedans in the province has left it quite desolate in many parts, and its restoi’ation to former prosperity and population must be slow.

    The travel between Shensi and Sz’chuen is almost wholly confined to the great road reaching from Si-ngan to Chingtu. It passes along the River Wei to Hienyang liien on the left bank, where the road north into Kansuh diverges, the other continuing west along the river through a populous region to Paoki hien, where it recrosses the Wei. During this portion, the Tai-peh Mountain, about eleven thousand feet high, with its white summit, adds a prominent feature to the scenery. At Paoki, the crossing at the Tsingliiig slian commences, and occupies seven days of difficult travel through a devious road of 163

    miles to Fung hien on the confines of Kansnh. It crosses successive

    ridges from C>,OUO to 9,000 feet higli, and is carried along

    the sides of hills and down the gorges in a manner reflecting

    nnich credit on the engineers of the third centuiy a.d. who

    made it. These mountainous regions ai-e thinly settled all the

    M’ay down to Paoching, near Ilanchung ; hut upon gaining the

    Kiver Ilan, one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in

    China is reached. Its western watershed is the Kiu-tiao shan,’

    running southwesterly into Sz’chuen on the west side of the

    Kialing River.

    The city of Si-ngan is the capital of the northwest of China, and next to Peking in size, population, and importance. It surpasses that city in historical interest and records, and in the long centuries of its existence has upheld its earlier name of Chang-cm^ or ‘ Continuous Peace.’ The approach to it from the east lies across a bluff, whose eastern face is filled with houses cut in the dry earth, and from whose sunnnit the lofty towers and imposing walls are seen across the plain three miles away.

    These defences Avere too solid for the Mohammedan rebels, and protected the citizens while even their suburbs were burned. The population occupies the entire enciente, and presents a heterogeneous sprinkling of Tibetans, Mongols and Tartai’s, of whom many thousand Moslems are still spared because they were loyal. Si-ngan has been taken and retaken, rebuilt and destroyed, since its establishment in the twelfth century b.c. by the Martial King, but its position has always assured for it the control of trade between the central and western provinces and Central Asia. The city itself is picturesquely situated, and contains some few remains of its ancient importance, while the

    ‘ Usually known as the Ta-pa ling ; but Baron von Eiclithofen found that the natives of that region “call those mountains the Kiu-tiao shan, that is the ‘ nine mountain ridges,’ designating therewith the fact that the range is made up of a number of parallel ridges. This name should be retained in preference to the other.” Letter on the Promncc>< of Chihl’i, Shansi, Shenx’t, etc Shanghai, 1872. See also his CMim, Band II. S. SCJJ-STti ; Alex. Wylie, Notes of a Journey from Chin<jtoo to Hankow^ Journ. Roy. Qeoy. Sac. Vol XIV., p. 108.

    St-I^GA?^ ITS CAPITAL. 151

    neighborhood promises better returns to the sagacious antiquarian

    and explorer than any portion of China. The principal

    record of the Xestorian mission work in China, the famous tablet

    of A.D. 781, still remains in the yard of a temple. Some miles to

    the northwest lies the temple Ta-fu-sz’, containing a notable

    colossus of Buddha, the largest in China, said to have been cut

    by one of the Emperors of the Tang in the ninth century.

    This statue is in a cave hewn out of the sandstone rock, being

    cut out of the same material and left in the construction of the

    grotto. Its height is 56 feet ; the proportions of limbs and

    l)ody of the sitting figure are, on the whole, good, the Buddha

    being represented with right hand npraised in blessing, and the

    figure as well as garments richly covered with color and gilt.

    Before the god stand two smaller colossi of the Schang-hoa,

    Buddha’s favorite disciples ; their inferior art and workmanship,

    however, testify to a later origin. The cave is lighted from

    above, after the manner of the Pantheon, by a single round

    opening in the vaulting. Sixty feet over the rock temple rises

    a tile roofing, and upon the hillside without the cavern are a

    nimiber of minor temples and statues.’

    Next to this city in importance is Ilanchnng, near the bordor of Sz’chuen ; it was much injured by the Tai-pings, and is only slowly recovering, like all the towns in that valley which were exposed ; none of these rebels crossed the Tsingling Mountains. Yu-lin (‘Elm Forest’) is an important city on the Great Wall in the north of Shensi, the station of a garrison which overawes the Mongols. Several marts carrying on considerable trade are on or near the Wei and Han Rivers.

    Gold mines occur in Shensi, and gold is collected in some of the streams ; other metals also are worked. The climate is too cold for rice and silk ; wheat, millet, oats, maize, and cotton supply their places ; rhubarb, nuisk, wax, red-lead, coal, and nephrite are exported. The trade of Si-ngan is chiefly that of bartering the produce of the eastern provinces (reaching it by the great pass of Tung-kwan) and that from Tibet, Kansuh, and 111. Wild animals still inhabit the northern parts, and the number of horses, sheep, goats, and cattle raised for food and service is large compared with eastern China.

    ‘ See Kreituer, Tmfernen Osten, p. 504. Wien, 1881.

    The iniineiise province of Kansuh (/.(\, A^oluntary Reverence,

    made by uniting the names of Kanchaufu and ISuh chau) belonged

    at one time to Shensi, and extended no farther westtlian Kiayii

    kwan; but since the division by Ivienlung, its limits have been

    stretched across the desert to the confines of Songaria on the

    northwest, and to the borders of Tibet on the west. It is

    bounded north and northeast by Gobi and the Dsassaktu

    khanate, east by Shensi, south by Sz’chuen, southwest by Kokonor

    and the desert, and northwest by Cobdoand lli. Its entire

    area cannot be much under 400,000 square miles, the greater

    part of which is a barren waste ; it extends across twelve degrees

    of latitude and twenty-one degrees of longitude, and comprises

    all the best part of the ancient kingdom of Tangut, M’hich

    was destroyed by Genghis.

    The topography of this vast region is naturally divided into

    two distinct areas by the Kiayii kwan at the end of the Great

    Wall ; one a fertile, well-watered, populous country, differing

    toto cwlo from the sandy or mountainous wildernesses of the

    other. The eastern portion is further partitioned into two sections

    by the ranges of mountains which cross it nearly from

    south to north in parallel lines, dividing the basins of the AVei

    and Yellow Rivers near the latter. The passage between them

    is over the Fan-shui ling, not far from the Tao ho and by the

    town of Tihtao, leading thence up to Lanchau. This part of

    the province, watered by the Wei, resembles Shansi in fertility

    and productions, and its nearness to the elevated ranges of the

    Bayan-kara induces comparatively abundant rainfall. The

    streams in the extreme south flow into Sz’chuen, but furnish

    few facilities for navigation. The affluents of the Yellow River

    are on the whole less useful for irrigation and navigation, and

    the four or five which join it near Lanchau vary too nmch in

    their supply of water to be depended on.

    JIAiSSUII PROVINCE. 153

    The peculiar feature of Kansuh is the narrow strip projecting like a wedge into the Tibetan plateau, reaching from Lanchau northwesterly between the Ala shan and Kilien shan to the end of the Great Wall. This strip of territory commands the passage between the basin of the Tarini River and Central Asia and China Proper ; its passage nearly controls trade and power throughout the northern provinces. The Ta-tnng River flows on the south of the Kilien Mountains, but the travel goes near the Wall, where food and fuel are abundant, a long distance beyond its end—even to the desert. The roads from Si-ngan to Lanchan pass up the King River to Pingliang and across several ranges, or else go farther up the River Wei to Tsin chau; the distances are between 500 and 600 miles. From Lanchau one road goes along the Yellow River down to Ninghia, a town inhabited chiefly by Mongols. Another leads 90 miles west to Sining, whither the tribes around Koko-nor repair for trade. The most important continues to Suhchau, this being an easier journey, while its trade furnishes employment to denizens of the region, whose crops are taken by travellers on passage ; this road is about 500 miles in length. Its great importance from early days is indicated by the erection of the Great Wall, in order to prevent inroads along its sides, and by the fortress of Kiayii, which shuts the door upon enemies.

    The climate of Kansuh exhibits a remarkable contrast to that

    of the eastern provinces. Prejevalsky says it is damp in three

    of the seasons; clear, cold winds blowing in winter, and alternatiug

    witli calm, warm weather ; out of 92 days up to September

    3(>, he registered 72 rainy days, twelve of them snowy.

    The highest temperature was 8S° F. in July. Snow and hail

    also fall in May. Xorth of the Ala slian, which divides this

    moist region from the desert, everything is dry and sandy; their peaks attract the clouds, which sometimes discharge their

    contents in torrents, and leave the northern slopes dry ; a marsh

    appears over against and only a few miles from a sandy waste.’

    ‘ Prejevalsky’s Travels in Mongolia, Vol. II., pp. 256-266.

    The country east of the Yellow River is fertile, and produces wheat, oats, barley, millet, and other edible plants. Wild animals are frequent, wdiose chase affords both food and peltry; large flocks and herds are also maintained by Tartars living within the province. The mountains contain metals and minerals, among which are copper, almagatholite, jade, gold, and silver. The capital, Lanchau, lies on the south side of the Yellow River, where it turns northeast ; the valley is narrow, and defended on the west Ly a pass, through which the road goes westward. At Sming fii, about a hundred miles east of Qing Hai, the superintendent of Koico-nor resides ; its political importance has largely increased its trade within the last few yeais. Xinghia fu, in the northeast of the province, is the larofest tow’n on the borders of the desert. The destruction of life and all its resources during the recent JNIohannjiedan rebellion, which was crushed out at Suhchau in October, 1873, is not likely to be repeated soon, as the rebels were all destroyed ;’ their Toorkish origin can even now be traced in their features.” Ko relialjle desci’iption of the t(nvns belonging to Kansuh in the districts around Barkul, since the pacificatioTi of the country by the Chinese, has been made.

    The province of Sz’cuuen (‘ Four Streams ‘) was the largest of

    the old eighteen before Kansuh was extended across the desert,

    and is now one of the richest in its pi-oductions. It is bounded

    north by Kansuh and Shonsi, east by Ilupeh and Ilunan, south

    by Kweichau and Yunnan, west and northwest by Tibet and

    Koko-nor; its area is 1G0,S00 square miles, or double most of

    the other provinces, rather exceeding Sweden in supei-ticies, as it

    falls below California, while it is superior to both in navigable

    I’ivers and productions. The emperors at Si-ngan always de-

    ])ended upon it as the main prop of their power, and in the

    third century a.d. the After Hans I’uled at its capital over the

    west of China.

    ‘7)//). Cor., ^S7i, p. 251.

    • That this insurroction was not unprccodented we learn from a notice of a similar Moliammedan revolt here in 1784. NouveUes Lcttrcs h\lijiantes des MissiiiitK de Ik (‘}iini\ Tome II., p. 2;3.

    TOPOGKAPTIY 01″ SZ’CHUEN PROVINCE. lf).1

    Sz’chuen is naturally divided by the four great rivers which run from north to south into the Yangtsz’, and thus form parallel basins ; as a whole these comprise about half of the entire area, and all of the valuable portion. The western part beyond the Min Hiver belongs to the high table lands of Central Asia, and is little else than a series of mountain ranges, sparsely populated and unfit for cultivation, except in small spaces and bottom lands. The eastern portion is a triangular sluiped I’egion surrounded with high niountaiiis composed of Silurian and Devonian formations with intervening deposits, mostly of red clayey sandstone, imparting a peculiar brick color, which has

    led Baron von Richthofen to call it the Red Basin. The ranges

    of hills average about 3,500 feet high, but the rivers have cut

    their channels through the deposits from 1,500 to 2,500 feet

    deep, making the travel up and down their waters neither rapid

    nor easy. The towns which define this triangular red basin are

    Kweichau on the Yangtsz’, from which a line runnhig south

    of the river to Pingshan hien, not far from Siichau at its

    confluence with the Min, gives the southern border ; thence

    taking a circuit as far west as Yachau fu on the Tsing-i River,

    and turning northwesterly to Lung-ngan fu, the western side is

    roughly skirted, while the eastern side returns to Kweichau

    along the watershed of the River Ilan. Within this area, life,

    industry, wealth, prosperity, are all found; outside of it, as a

    rule, the rivers arc unnavigable, the country uncultivable, and

    the people wild and insubordinate, especially on the south and

    west.

    The four chief rivers in the province, flowing into the Yangtsz’,

    are the Kialing, the Loh, the Min, and the Yalung, the

    last and westerly beiiig regarded as the main stream of the

    Great River, which is called the Kin-sha kiang, west of the

    Min. The Kialing rises in Kansuh, and retains that name

    along one trunk stream to its mouth, receiving scores of tributaries

    from the ridges between its basin and the Ilan, until it

    develops into one of the most useful watercourses in China,

    coming perhaps next to the Pearl River in Kwangtung. Chungking,

    at its embouchure, is the largest dej^ot for trade west of

    Icliang, and like St. Louis, on the Mississippi, will grow in importance

    as the country beyond develops. The River Fo Loh

    (called Fa-sang by Blakiston) is the smallest of the four, its

    headwaters being comiected with the Min al)Ove Chingtu ; the

    town of Lu chau stands at its mouth ; through its upper part it

    is called Chuno; kiani>;. The Min River has its fountains near

    those of the Kialing in Koko-nor, and like that stream it gathers

    contributions from the ranges defining and crossing its basin; as it descends into the plain of Cliingtu, its waters divide into a dozen channels below 1 1 wan hien, and after ruiuiing more than a hundred miles reunite above ^Afei hien, forming a deep and picturesque riv n* down to Siichau, a thousand miles and more from the source. At its junction, the Min almost doubles the volume of water in summer, when the snows melt. The Ya-Innc River is the only large affluent between the Min and the main trunk ; it comes from the I>ayan-kara mountains, between the headwaters of the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers, and leceives no important tributaries in its long, solitary, and unfnictuous course. The Abbe Hue speaks of crossing its rapid channel near Makian-Dsung just before reaching Tatsienlu, the frontier town ; it takes three luimes in its course.

    From Chingtu as a centre, many roads radiate to the other

    large towns in the province, by which travel and trade find free

    course, and render the connections with other provinces safe

    and easy. The roads are paved with flagstones wide enough

    to allow passage for two pack-ti’ains abreast ; stairs are made

    on the inclines, up and down which mules and ponies travel

    without risk, though most of the goods and passengers are

    carried by coolies. In order to facilitate travel, footpaths are

    opened and paved, leading to every handet, and wherever the

    traffic will afford it, bridges of cut stone, iron chains or wii-e,

    span the torrent or chasm, according as the exigency’ requires ;

    towns or hamlets near these structures take pride in keeping

    them in repair.

    chIjStgtu a]nd the mix valley. 157

    The products of this fertile region are varied and abundant. nice and wheat alternate each other in summer and winter, but the amount of land producing food is barely sufficient for its dense population ; pulse, barley, maize, ground-mits, sorghum, sweet and connnon potatoes, buckwheat and tobacco, are each raised for home consumption. Sugar, hemp, oils of several kinds, cotton, and fruits complete the list of plants mostly grown for home use. The exports consist of raw and woven silk, of which more is sent abroad than from any province ; salt, opium, musk, croton (tun//) oil, gentian, rhubarb, tea, coal, spelter, copper, iron, and insect wax, are all grown oi* made for other regions. The peace which S//chuen enjoyed while other provinces were ravaged by rebels, has tended to develop all its products, and increase its abundance. The climate of this region favors the cultivation of the hillsides, which are composed of disintegrated sandstones, because the moist and mild winters bring forward the winter crops ; snow remains only a few days, if it fall at all, and Mdieat is cut before May. The summer rains and freshets furnish water for the rice fields by filling the streams on a thousand hills. This climate is a great contrast to the dry regions further north, and it is subject to less extremes of temperature and moisture than Yunnan south of it. When this usual experience is altered by exceptional dry or wet seasons, the people are left without food, and their wants cannot be supplied by the abundance of other provinces, owing to the slowness of transit. Brigandage, rioting, cannibalism, and other violence then add to the misery of the poor, and to the difficulty of government.

    Chingtu, the capital, lies on the River Min, in the largest plain in the province, roughly measuring a hundred miles one way, and fifty the other, conspicuous for its riches and populousness.

    The inhabitants are reckoned to number 3,500,000 souls. This city has been celebrated from the earliest days, but received its present name of the ‘Perfect Capital ‘ when Liu Pi made it his residence. Its population approaches a million, and its walls, shops, yamuns, sti-eets, warehouses, and suburbs, all indicate its wealth and political importance. Marco Polo calls it Sindafu, and the province Acbalec Manzi, describing the fine stone bridge, half a mile long, M’ith a roof resting on marble pillars, under Mhich “trade and industry is carried on,” ‘ which spans the Kian-suy, i.e.^ the Yangtsz’, as the Min is still often termed. The remarkable cave houses of the old iidiabitants still attract the traveler’s notice as he journeys up to Chingtu, along its banks.

    > Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 23.

    M. David, who lived at this city several months, declares it to be one of the most beautiful towns in China, placed in the midst of a fertile plain watered by many canals, which form a network of great solidity and usefulness. The number of honoraiy gateways in and near it attract the voyager’s eye, and their variety, size, inscriptions, and age furnish an interesting field of in(]iiiry. Many statues cut in fine stone are scattered about the city or used to adoi-n the cemeteries.

    The city of Chungking, on the Yangzi, at the mouth of the Jialing River, 725 miles from Hankow, is the next important city in Sichuan, and the center of a great trade on both rivers. The other marts on the Great River are also at the mouths of its affluents, and from Kwaichau to Siichau and Pingslian hien, a distance of 41)0 miles, there is easy and safe communication within the province for all kinds of boats; steam vessels will also liere find admirable opportunities for their employment.

    In the western half of Sz’clmen, the people are scattered over intervales and slopes between the numberless hills and mountains that make this one of the roughest parts of China; they are governed by their own local rulers, under Chinese superintendence. They belong to the Lolos race, and have been inimical and insubordinate to Chinese rule from earliest times, preventing their own progress and destroying all desire on the part of their rulers to benefit them. Yachau fu, Tatsieidu, and Datang are the largest towns Avest of Chingtu, on the road to Tibet. On the other side of the province, at

    Fungtu hien, occur the fire-wells, where great supplies of

    petroleum gas are used to evaporate the salt dug out near by.

    The many topics of interest in all parts of Sz’chuen, can only

    be referred to in a brief sketch, for it is of itself a kingdom.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, “Vol XIX., pp. 317 and .394 Annnles de la Foi, Tome III., pp. :Ui9-:}81, and Tome IV., pp. 40!)-4ir>. J^ter by Baron Hiclithofen oit the Provinces of ChlM’i, Shdiisl, Sheiis’t, Sz’chueiiy etc. Shanghai, 1872-Krt’itiicr, Tiafcriien Onteit, pp. 780-829.

    THE PROVINCE OF KWAXGTUNG. 150

    The province of Kwangtuno {i.e., Broad East), from its having been for a long time the only one of the eighteen to which foreigners have had access, has almost become synonymous with (vhina, although but little more is really known of it than of the others—except in the vicinage of Canton, and along the course of the Peh kiang, from Xanhiung down to that city. It is bounded north by Kiangsi and llunan, northeast by Fuh-kieu, south by the ocean, and west and northwest hy Kwangsi; with an area about the same as that of the United Kingdom. The natural facilities for internal navigation and an extensive coasting trade, are unusually great ; for while its long line of ‘coast, nearly a thousand miles in length, affords many excellent harbors, the rivers communicate with the regions on the west, north, and east beyond its borders.

    The Xan shau runs along the north, between it and Kiangsi

    and Ilunan, in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction^

    presenting the same succession of short ridges, with bottom

    lands ‘and clear streams between them, which are seen in Fuhkien.

    These ridges take scores of names as they follow one

    another from Kwangsi to Fuhkien, but no part is so well known

    as the road, twenty-four miles in length, which crosses the Mei

    ling [i.e. Plum ridge), between Xan-ngan and Xanhiung. The

    elevation here is about a thousand feet, none of the peaks in

    this part exceeding two thousand, but rising higher to the west.

    Their summits are limestone, with granite underlying; granite

    is also the prevailing rock along the coast. Li-nm ridge in

    Hainan has some peaks reaching nearly to the snow-line. The

    bottoms of the I’ivers are wide, and their fertility amply repays

    the husbandman. Fruits, rice, silk, sugar, tobacco, and vegetables,

    constitute the greater part of the pi-oductions. Lead,

    iron, and coal, are abundant.

    The Zhu Jiang, or Pearl River, which flows past Canton, takes this name only in that short portion of its course ; it is however preferable to employ this as a distinctive name, comprehending the whole stream, rather than to confuse the reader by naming the numerous branches. It is formed by the union of three rivers, the West, Korth, and East, the two first of which unite at Sanshwui, west of the city, while the East River joins them at Whampoa. The Si kiang, or AVest Iliver, by far the largest, rises in the eastern part of Yunnan, and receives tributaries throughout the whole of Kwangsi, along the southern acclivities of the Xan shan, and after a course of 500 miles, passes out to sea through numerous mouths, the best known of which is the Boeca Tigris. The Peh kiang, or North Piver, joins it after a course of 200 miles, and the East Piver is nearly the same length; these two streams discharge the surplus waters of all the northern parts of Kwangtung. The country drained by the three cannot benmch less than 150,000 square miles, and most of their channels are navigable for boats to all the large towns in this and the province of Kwangsi. The Han kiang is the only river of importance in the eastern end of Kwangtung; the large town of Chauchau lies near its mouth. There can hardly be less than three hundred islands scattered along the deeply indented coast line of this province between Namoh Island and Annani, of which nearly one-third belong to the department of Kwangchau.

    Canton,, or Kwangchau fu (i.e. Broad City), the provincial capital, lies on the north bank of the Pearl River, in lat. 23° 7’10” K., and long. 113° 11:’ 30″ E., nearly parallel with Havana, Muskat, and Calcutta ; its climate is, however, colder than any of those cities. The name Canton is a corruption of Kwangtung, derived in English from Kamtoin, the Portuguese mode of writing it ; the citizens themselves usually call it Kicangtung Sling chinij, i.e. the provincial capital of Kwangtung or simply sdny cJilny. Another name is Yang-ching, or the ‘City of Rams,’ and a third the City of Cienii, both derived from ancient legends. It lies at the foot of the White Cloud hills, along the banks of the river, about seventy miles north of Macao in a direct line, and ninety northwest of Hongkong ; these distances are greater by the river.

    SIZE AND SITUATION OF CANTON. 161

    The delta into which the West, JSTorth, and East Rivei’S fall might be called a gulf, if the islands in it did not occupy so much of the area. The whole forms one of the most fertile parts of the province, and one of the most extensive estuaries of any river in the world,—being a rough triangle about a hundred miles long on each side. The bay of Lintin—so called from the islet of that name, where opium and other store ships formerly anchored—is the largest sheet of water, and lies below the principal embouchure of the river, called Fu, 3ft(.n, i.e. Bocca Tigi-is, or Bogue. Few rivers can be more completely protected by nature than this ; their defences of walls and guns at this spot, however, have availed the Chinese but little against the skill and power of their enemies. Ships pass through it up to the auchorage at Whainpoa, about thirty miles, from whence Canton lies twelve miles nearly due west. The approach to it is indicated by two lofty ]3agodas within the walls, and the multitude of boats and junks thronging the river, amidst which the most pleasing object to the ” far- travelled stranger” is the glimpse he gets through their masts of the foreign houses on Sha-meen, and the flagstaifs bearing their national ensigns.

    The part of Canton inclosed by walls is about six miles in circumference ; having a partition wall running east and west, which divides it into two unequal parts. The entire circuit, including the suburbs, is nearly ten miles. The population on land and water, so far as the best data enable one to judge, cannot be less than a million of inhabitants. This estimate has been doubted ; and certainty npon the subject is not to be attained, for the census affords no aid in determining this point, owing to the fact that it is set down hy districts, and Canton lies partly in two districts, Kanhai and Pwanyii, which extend beyond the walls many miles. Davis says, ” the whole circuit of the city has been compassed within two hours by persons on foot, and cannot exceed six or seven miles ;

    ”—-which is true, but he means only that portion contained within the walls ; and there are at least as many houses without the walls as within them, besides the boats. The city is constantly increasing, the western suburbs present many new streets entirely built up within the last ten years. The houses stretch along the river from opposite the Fa ti or Flower grounds to French Folly, a distance of four miles, and the banks are everywhere nearly concealed by the boats and rafts.

    The situation of Canton is one w^hich would naturally soon attract settlers. The earliest notices of the city date back two centuries befoi-e Christ, but traders were doubtless located here prior to that time. It grew in importance as the country became better settled, and in a.d. 700, a regular market was opened, and a collector of customs appointed. AYhenthe Manchus overran the country in 1650, this city resisted their ntmost efforts to reduce it for the space of eleven months, and was finally carried by treachery. Martini states that a hundred thousand men were killed at its sack ; and the whole number who lost their lives at the final assault and during the siege was 700,000—if the native accounts are trustworthy.’ Since then, it has been rebuilt, and has increased in prosperity until it is regarded as the second city in the empire for numbers, and is probably at present the first in wealth.

    The foundations of the city Avails are of sandstone, their upper

    part being brick ; they are about twenty feet thick, and from

    twenty-five to forty feet high, having an esplanade on the inside,

    and pathways leading to the i-aiiipart, on three sides. The

    houses are built near the wall on both sides of it, so that except

    on the north, one hardly sees it when walking around the

    city. There are twelve outer gates, four in the partition wall,

    and two water gates, through which boats pass, into the moat,

    from east to west. A ditch once encompassed the walls, now

    dry on the northern side ; on the other thi’cc, and within the

    city, it and most of the canals arc filled by the tide, which as it

    runs out does nmch to cleanse iUp city from its sewage. The

    gates are all shut at night, and a guard is stationed near them to

    preserve order, but the idle soldiers themselves cause at times

    no little disturbance. Among the names of the gates are Gfeat-

    Peace gate, Eternal-Rest gate, Five-Genii gate, Bainhoo- Wiehet

    gate, etc.

    The appearance of the city when viewed from the hills on the north is insipid and uninviting, compared with western cities, being an expanse of reddish roofs, often concealed by frames for drying or dyeing clothes, or shaded and relieved by a few large trees, and interspersed with high, red ])olcs used for flagstaffs. Two pagodas shoot up within the walls, far above the watch towers on them, and with the five-storied tower on Kwanyiji shan near the northern gate, form the most conspicuous objects in the prospect.

    ‘ The French bishop Palafox gives still another accoimt of the capture of Canton ; his statement contains, however, one or two glaring errors. Vid. Iliitoire de la Conquete de la Chine par lea Tartares^ pp. 150 ff.

    SIGHTS OF CANTON CITY. 163

    To a spectator at this elevation, the river is a prominent feature in the landscape, as it shines out covered with a great diversity of boats of different colors aiul sizes, some stationary others moving, and all resounding with the mingled hum of laborers, sailors, musicians, hucksters, children, and boatwonien, pursuing their several sports and occupations. On a low sandstone ledge, in the channel off the city, once stood the Sea Pearl(Hai Zhu) Fort, called Dutcli Folly by foreigners, the cpiietude reigning witliin which contrasted agreeably with the liveliness of the waters around. Beyond, on its southern shore, lie the suburb and island of Ilonam, and green fields and low hills are

    seen still farther in the distance ; at the western angle of this

    island the Pearl Piver divides, at the Peh-ngo tan or Macao

    Passage, the greatest body of water flowing south, and leaving a

    comparatively narrow channel before the city. The hills on the

    north rise twehe hundred feet, their acclivities for miles being

    covered with graves and tombs, the necropolis of this vast city.

    The streets are too narrow to be seen from such a spot.

    Among their names, amounting in all to more than six hundred,

    are Dragon street, Martial Dragon street, l\’arl street. Golden

    Fknver street, I^ew Green Pea street, Physic street, SjKctaele

    street, Old Clothes street, etc. They are not as dirty as those

    of some other cities in the empire, and on the whole, considering

    the habits of the people and surveillance of the government,

    which prevents almost everything like public spirit, Canton has

    been a well governed, cleanly city. In these respects it is not

    now as w^ell kept, perhaps, as it was before the war, nor was it

    ever comparable to modern cities in the West, nor should it be

    likened to them : without a coi’poration to attend to its condition,

    or having power to levy taxes to defray its unavoidable

    expenses, it cannot be expected that it should be as wholesome.

    It is more surprising, rather, that it is no worse than it is. The houses along the waterside are built upon piles and those portions of the city are subject to inundations. On the edge of the stream, the water percolates the soil, and spoils all the wells.

    The temples and public buildings of Canton are numerous. There are two pagodas near the west gate of the old city, and one hundred and twenty-four temples, pavilions, halls, and other religious edifices within the circuit of the city. The Kwang tah or ‘Plain pagoda,’ was erected by the Mohammedans (who still reside near it), about ten centuries ago, and is rather a minaret than a pagoda, though quite unlike those structures of Turkey in its style of architecture ; it shoots up in an angular, tapering tower, to the height of one hundred and sixty feet. The other is an octagonal ])agoda, of nine stories, one hundred and seventy feet high, first erected more than thirteen hundred years ago. The geoniancei’S say that the whole city is like a junk, these two pagodas are her masts, and the iive-storied tower on the northern wall, her stern sheets.

    Among the best known monuments to foreigners visiting this city was the monastery of ChorKj-shoin ^z\ ‘ Temple of Longevity,’ founded in 1573, and occupying spacious grounds. “In the iirst pavilion are three Buddhas ; in the second a sevenstory, gilt pagoda, in which are TO images of Buddha. In the third pavilion is an image of Buddha reclining,, and in a merry mood. A garden in the rear is an attractive place of resort, and another, on one side of the entrance, has a numher of tanks in which gold fish are reared. In the space in front of the temple a fair is held every morning for the sale of jade ornaments and other articles.” ‘ This temple was destroyed in Novemher, 1881, hy a mob who were incensed at the alleged jnisbehaviour of some of the priests toward the female devotees—an instance of the existence in China of a lively popular sentiment regarding certain matters. Near this compound stands the ‘Temple of the Five Hundred Genii,’ containing 500 statues of various sizes in honor of Buddha and his disciples.

    ‘Dr. Kerr, Cttntoiu (Inidc,

    BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN CANTON. 165

    The TTaJ-cJiwang sz\ a Buddhist temple at Ilonam usually known as the Plonam Joss-house, is one of the largest in Canton. Its grounds cover about seven aci-es, surrounded by a wall, and divided into courts, garden-spots, and a burial-gromid, where are deposited the ashes of priests after cremation. The buildings consist mostly of cloistei’s or apartments surrounding a court, within which is a temple, a pavilion, or a hall ; these courts are overshadowed by bastard-banian trees, the resort of thousands of birds. The outer gateway leads up a gravelled walk to a high portico guarded by two huge demoniac figures, through which the visitor enters a small inclosure, separated from the largest one by another spacious porch, in which are four colossal statues. This conducts him to the main temple, a low building one hundred feet square, and surrounded by pillars; it contains three wooden gilded images, in a sitting posture, called San Pao Fah, or the Past, Present, and Future Puddha, each of them about twenty-five feet high, and surrounded by numerous altars and attendant images. Daily prayers are chanted before them by a large chapter of priests, all of whom, dressed in yellow canonicals, go through the liturgy. Beyond this a smaller building contains a marble carving somewhat resembling a pagoda, under which is preserved a relic of Puddha, said to be one of his toe-nails. This court has other shrines, and many rooms for the accommodation of the priests, among which are the printing-office and library, both of them respectable for size, and containing the blocks of books issue by them, and sold to devotees.

    There are about one hundred and seventy-five priests connected with the establishment, only a portion of whom can read. Among the buildings are several small temples dedicated to national deities whom the Puddhists have adopted into their mythology. One of the houses adjoining holds the hogs (not hiKjs, as was stated in one work) offered by worshippers who feed them as long as they live.

    •Two other shrines belonging to the Buddhists, are both of them, like the Honam temple, well endowed. One called Kivanghiao s.i\ or ‘ Temple of Glorious Filial Duty,’ contains two hundred priests, who are supported from glebe lands, estimated at three thousand five hundred acres. The number of priests and nuns in Canton is not exactly known, but probably exceeds two thousand, nine-tenths of whom are Puddhists. There are only three temples of the Pationalists, their numbers and influence being far less in this city than those of the Puddhists.

    The Cluntj-liioang miao is an important religious institution in every Chinese city, the temple, being a sort of palladium, in which both rulers and people offer their devotions for the mcIfare of the city. The superintendent of that in Canton pays $4,000 for his situation, which sum, with a large profit, is obtained again in a few years, by the sale of candles, incense, etc., to the worshippers. The temples in China are generally cheerJJess and gloomy abodes, well enough fitted, however, for the residence of inanimate idols and the perfurmance of unsatisfying ceremonies. The entrance courts are usually occupied by liucksters, beggars, and idlers, who are occasionally driven off to give room for the mat-sheds in which theatrical performances got up by priests are acted. The principal hall, where the idol sits enshrined, is lighted only in fictnt, and the altar, drums, bells, and other furniture of the temple, are little calculated to enliven it ; the cells and cloisters are inhabited by men almost as senseless as the idols they serve, miserable beings, whose droning, useless life is too often only a cloak for vice, indolence, and crime, which make the class an opprobrium in the eyes of their countrymen.

    Canton is the most intluential city in Southern China, and its

    reputation for riches and luxury is established throughout the

    central and northern provinces, owing to its formerly engrossing

    the entire foreign trade np to 1843, for a period of about one

    hundred years. At that time the residence of the governorgeneral

    Avas at Shao-king fu, west of Canton, and his official

    guard of 5,000 troops is still quartered there, as the Manchii

    garrison is deemed enougli for the defence of Canton. He and

    the lloppo, or collector of customs, once had their yamuns in the

    Xew City, but a llomish C^athedral lias been built on the ^te

    of the former’s office since its capture in 1857. The governor,

    treasurer, Manchu commandant, chancellor, and the lower local

    magistrates (ten in all), live in the Old City, and with their official

    retinues compose a large body of underlings. Some of these

    establishments occupy four or five acres.

    The KanyYuenoY Examination Hall, lies in the southeastern corner of the Old City, similar in size and arrangement to these edifices in other cities. It is 1,330 feet long, 583 wide, and covers over sixteen acres. The wall surrounding it is entered at the east and west corners of the south end, where door-keepers are stationed to prevent a crowd of idlers. The cells are arranged in two sets on each side of the main passage^ which is paved and lined with trees: they are further disposed in rows of 57 and 63 cells each—all reached through one side door.

    The total is 8,653 ; each cell is 5 feet 9 inches deep, by 3 feet 8 inches wide ; grooves are made in the wall to admit a planlc, serving as a table by day and a bed by night. Once within, the students arc contined to their several stalls, and the outer gate is sealed. A single roof covers the cells of one range, the ranges being 3 feet 8 inches apart. The northern portion includes about one-third of the whole, and is built over with the lialls, courts, lodging-rooms, and guard or eating-houses of the highest examiners, their assistants and copyists, with thousands of waiters, printers, underlings, and soldiers. At the biennial examination the total number of students and others in the Hall reaches nearly twelve thousand men.

    THE THIRTEEN HONGS OR FACTORIES. 167

    There are four prisons in the city, all of them large establish- v^

    ments ; all the capital offenders in the province are brought to Canton for trial before the provincial officers, and this regulation makes it necessary to provide spacious accommodations for them. The execution-ground is a small yard near a pottery manufacture between the southern gate and the river side, and unless the ground is newly stained with blood, or cages containing the heads of the criminals are hung around, has nothing about it to attract the attention. Another public building, situated near the governor’s palace, is the Wan-s/iao Jiung, or ‘ Imperial Presence hall,’ where three days before and after his majesty’s birthday, the officers and citizens assemble to pay him adoration.

    The various guilds among the people, and the clubs of scholars

    and merchants from other provinces, have, each of them, public

    halls which are usually called consoo houses by foreigners, from

    a corruption of a native term hung-sz\ i.e., public hall ; but the

    usual designation is houi kwan or ‘ Assembly Hall.’ Their

    total number must be quite one hundred and fifty, and some of

    them are not destitute of elegance.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. II., pp. 145, 191, &c.

    The former residences of foreigners in the western suburbs were known as Shisan Hang or ‘ Thirteen Hangs,’ “” and for nearly two centuries furnished ulniust theonlv (!\hll)ition to the Chinese people of the Yangren or ‘ocean-men’. Here the fears and the greed of the rulers, landlords, and traders combined to restrain foreigners of all nations “within an area of about fifteen acres, a large part of this space being the Garden or licyxnidxiii’ta

    – This word is derived from the Chinese hong or hang, meaning a row or series, and is applied to warehouses because these consist of a succession of rooms. The foreign factories were built in this manner, and therefore the Chinese called each block a hong; the old security-merchants were dubbed liong-merchants, because they lived in such establishments.

    “Walk on the baidv of the river. All these houses and out-houses covered a space scarcely as great as the base of the Great Pyramid ; its total population, including native and foreign servants, was upwards of a thousand souls. The shops and nuirkets of the Chinese were separated from them only a few feet, and this greatly increased the danger from fire, as may be inferred from the sketch of the street next on the west side.

    VIEW OF A STKEET IN CANTON.ENVIKOXS OF CANTOX. 169

    In 1S50, the number of hongs was reckoned to be 16, and the local calendar for that A’ear contained 317 names, not including women and children. Besides the 16 Hangs, four native streets, boidered with shops for the sale of fancy and silk goods to their foreign customers, ran between the factories. This latter name was given to them from their being the residences of factors, for no handicraft was carried on here, nor were many goods stored in them. Fires were not unusual, which demolished jwrtions of them ; in 1822 they were completely consumed; another conflagration in 1843 destroyed two hongs and a street of shops ; and in 1842, owing to a sudden riot, connected with paying the English indemnity, the British Consulate was set on fire. Finally, as if to inaugurate a new era, they were all simultaneously burned by the local authorities to drive out the British forces, in December, 1856, and every trace of this interesting spot as it existed for so long a time in the annals of foreign intercourse obliterated. Since the return of trade, a new and better site has been fomned at Shameen, west of the old spot, by building a solid stone wall and filling in a long, marshy low-tide bank, formerly occupied by boats, to a height of 8 or 10 feet, on which there is room for gardens as well as houses. This is surrounded by water, and thereby secure from fire and mobs t() which the old hongs were exposed. Besidences are obtainable anywhere in the city by foreigners, and the common sight in the olden times of their standing outside of the Great Peace Gate to see the crowd pass in and out while

    they themselves could not enter, is no longer seen. A very

    good map of the enciente was made by an American missionary,

    Daniel Vrooman, by taking the angles of all the conspicuoni

    buildings therein, with the highest points in the suburbs ; he

    then taught a native to pace the streets between them, compass

    in liand (noting courses and distances, which he fixed by the principal gates), until a complete plan was filled out. When the city was opened four years afterwards this map was foundto need no important corrections.

    The trades and manufactories at Canton are mainly connected

    with the foreign commerce. Many silk fabrics are woven at

    Fatshan, a large town situated about ten miles west of the city ;

    fire-crackers, paper, mat-sails, cotton clotli, and other articles,

    are also made there for exportation. The number of persons

    engaged in M’eaving cloth in Canton is about 50000, including

    embroiderers ; nearly 7000 barbers and 4200 shoemakers are

    stated as the number licensed to shave the crowns and shoe the

    soles of their fellow-citizens.

    ^lie opposite suburb of Ilonam offers pleasant walks for recreation, and the citizens are in the habit of going over the river to saunter in its fields, or in the cool grounds of the great temple ; a race-course and many enjoyable rides on horseback also tempt foreigners into the country. A couple of miles up the river are the Fa ti or Flower gardens which once supplied the plants carried out of the country, and are resorted to bypleasure parties ; but to one accustomed to the squares, gardens, and esplanades of M’estern cities, these grounds appear mean in

    the extreme.y Foreigners randjle into the country, but rowing

    upon the river is their favorite reci-eation. Like Europeans in

    all parts of the East, they retain their own costume and modes

    of living, and do not espouse native styles ; though if it were

    not for the shaven crown, it is not unlikely that many of them

    would adopt the Chinese dress.

    The Cantonese enumerate eight remarkable localities, called

    l>ah hhuj^ which they consider worth}’ the attention of the

    stranger. The first is the peak of Yuehsiu, just within the

    walls on the north of the city, and commanding a fine view of

    the surrounding country. The Vi-])a Tah^ or Lyre pagoda at AVhampoa, and the ‘Eastern Sea Fish-pearl,’ a rock in the Pearl

    River off the city, on wliich the fort ah-eady referred to as

    the ‘ Dutch Folly ‘ was formerly situated, are two more ; the

    pavilion of the Five Genii, with the five stone rams, and print

    of a man’s foot in the rock, ” always filled with water,” near

    by ; the rocks of Yu-shan ; the lucky wells of Faukiu in the

    western suburbs ; cascade of Si-tsiau, forty miles west of the

    city ; and a famous red building in the city, complete the eight

    ” lions.”

    The foreign shipping all anchored, in the early days, at “Whampoa, but this once important anchorage has been nearly deserted since the river steamers began their trips to the outer waters. There are two islands on the south side of the anchorage, called French and Danes’ islands, on which foreigners are buried, some of the gravestones marking a century past. The prospect from the summit of the hills hereabonts is picturesque and charming, giving the spectator a high idea of the fertility and industry of the land and its people. The town of Whanipoa and its pagoda lie north of the anchorage; between this and Canton is another, called Lob creek pagoda, both of them uninhabited and decaying.

    MACAO AND HONGKONG. 171

    Macao (pronounced Mal’ov) is a Portuguese settlement on a small peninsula projecting from the south-eastern end of the large island of Iliangshan. Its Chinese inhabitants have been governed since 1S49 by the Portuguese authorities somewhat differently from their own people, but the mixed government has succeeded very well. The circuit of this settlement is about eight miles ; its position is beautiful and very agreeable ; nearly surrounded with water, and open to the sea breezes, having a good variety of hill and plain even in its little territory, and a large island on the west called Tul-vtien shan or La})a Island, on which arc pleasant rambles, to be reached by equally pleasant boat excursions, it offers, moreover, one of the healthiest residences in south-eastern Asia. The population is not far from 80,000, of whom more than ‘7,000 are Portuguese and other foreigners, living under the control of the Portuguese authorities. The Portuguese have refused to pay the former annual ground-rent of 000 taels to the Chinese Government, since the assassination of their governor in 1849, and now control all the inhabitants living within the Barrier wall, most of M’lioni have been born therein. The houses occupied by the foreign population aie solidly built of brick or adobie, large, roomy, and open, and from the rising nature of the ground on which they stand, present an imposing appearance to the visitor coming in from the sea.

    There are a few notable buildings in the settlement ; the most imposing edifice, St. Paul’s church, was burned in 1835.

    Three forts on connnanding eminences protect the town, and others outside of the walls defend its waters ; the governor takes the oaths of office in the Monte fort ; but the government offices are mostly in the Senate house, situated in the middle of the town. Macao was, up to 1813, the only residence for the

    families of merchants trading at Canton. Of late the authorities

    are doing much to revive the prospei-ity of the place, by making

    it a free port. The Typa anchorage lies’ between the islands

    Mackerara and Typa, about three miles off the southern end

    of the peninsula ; all small vessels go into the Inner harbor on

    the west side of the town. Ships anchoring in the Roads are

    obliged to lie about three miles off in consequence of shallow

    Mater, and large ones cannot come nearer than six or seven miles.’

    Since the ascendancy of Hongkong, this once celebrated poi-t

    has fallen away in trade and importance, and for many years

    had an infamous reputation for the protection its rulers afforded

    the coolie trade.

    Eastward from Macao, about, forty miles, lies, the English colony of Hongkong, an island in lat. 22° 16^’ K., and long. Ill” 8^’ E., on the eastern side of the estuary of the Pearl River. The island of Hongkong, or Xianggang (i.e., the Fragrant Streams), is nine miles long, eight broad, and twenty-six in circumference, presenting an exceedingly uneven, barren surface, consisting for the most part of ranges of hills, with narrow intervales, and a little level beach land. Victoria Peak is 1825 feet. Probably not one-twentieth of the surface is available for a<^riciiltural purposes. The island and harbor were first ceded to the Crown of England by the treaty made between Captain Elliot and Kishen, in January, 1841, and again by the treaty of Nanjing, in August, 1842 ; lastly, by the Convention of Peking, October 24, ISCO, the opposite peninsula of Ivowlung M’as added, in order to furnish space for quartering troops and storehouse room for naval and military supplies. The town of Victoria lies on the north side, and extends more than three miles along the shore. The secure and convenient harbor has attracted the settlement here, though the nne\en nature of the ground compels the inhabitants to stretch their warehouses and dwellings along the beach.

    ‘ Cldnese Rejwsitory, passim. An Historical Sketch of the Portwjxiese Settlements in China. Bj Hir A. Ljungstedt. Boston, 188(>.

    The architecture of most of the buildings erected in Victoria is eu})erior to anything heretofore seen in (^liina. Its population is now estimated at 130,000, of whom five-sixths are Chinese tradesmen, craftsmen, laborers, and boatmen, few of whom lune their families. • The government of the colony is vested ^’n a governor, chief-justice’, and a legislative council of five, assisted by various subordinate officers and secretaries, the M’liole forming a cumbrous and expensive machinery, compaied “with the needs and resources of the colony The Bishop of Victoria has an advisory control over the missions of the establishment in the southern provinces of China, and supervises the schools in the colony, where many youths are trained in English and Chinese literature.

    The supplies of the island are chiefly brought from the mainland where an increasing population of Chinese, under the control of the magistrate of Kowluiig, find ample demand for all the provisions they can furnish.

    Three newspapers are published in English, and two in Chinese. The Seaman’s and Military hospitals, the chapels and schools of the London and Church Missionary Society, St. John’s Cathedral, Tioman Catholic establishment, the government house, the magistracy, jail, the ordnance and engineer departments.

    TOWNS OF KWAXGTUNG PROVINCE. 173

    Exchange, and the Club house, are among the principal edifices. The amount of money expended in buildings in this colony is enormous, aiid most of them are substantial stone or brick houses. The view of the city as seen from the harbor is only excelled in beauty by the wider panorama spread out before the spectator on Victoria Peak. During the forty-odd years of its occupation, this colony lias slowly advanced in commercial importance, and become an entrepot for foreign goods designed for native markets in Southern China. Every facility has been given to the Chinese who resort to its shops to carry away their purchases, by making the port free of every impost,

    and preventing the imperial revenue cutters from interfering

    with their junks while in sight of the island. The arrangements

    of this contested point so that the Chinese revenue shall

    not suffer have not satisfied either party, and as it is in the similar

    case of Gibraltar, is not likely to soon be settled. Smugglers

    must run their own risks with the imperial officers. The

    most valuable article leaving Hongkong is opium, but the

    greatest portion of its exports pay the duties on entering China

    at the five open ports in the province of Kwangtung. As the

    focus of postal lines of passenger steamers, and the port where

    mercantile vessels come to learn markets, Ilonofkono; exerts a

    greater influence on the southeast of Asia than her trade and

    size indicate. The island of Shangclmen or San9ian, where Xavier

    died, lies southwest of Macao about thirty miles, and is sometimes

    visited by devout persons from that place to reverence his tomb, which they keep in repair.

    The city oi Shauchau in the northern part of the province lies at the fork of the river, which compels a change of boats for passengers and goods ; it is one of the largest cities after Canton, and a pontoon bridge furnishes the needed facilities for stopping and taxing the boats and goods passing through.

    Shanking, west of Canton, is another important town, which held out a long time against the Manchus ;* it was formerly the seat of the provincial authorities, till they removed to Canton in 1630 to keep the foreigners under control. It stretches along six miles of the river bank, a well-built city for China, in a beautiful position. Some of its districts furnish green teas and matting for the Canton market, and this trade has opened the way for a large emigration to foreign countries. Among other towns of note is Xanhiung, situated at the head of navigation on the North River, where goods cross the Mei ling.

    ‘ Palafox, Conquete de la CJdne, p. 172.

    Before the coast was opened to trade, fifty thousand porters obtained a livelihood by transporting packages, passengers, and merchandise to and from this town and Xan-ngan in Kiangsi. It is a thriving place, and the restless habits of these industrious carriers give its population somewhat of a turbulent character. Many of them are women, who usually pair off by themselves and carry as heavy burdens as the men.

    Not far from Yangshan hien is a fine cavern, the JV^iu Yen or ‘ Ox Cave,’ on a hillside near the North River. Its entrance is like a grand hall, with pillars TO feet high and 8 or 10 feet thick. The finest part is exposed to the sun, but many pretty rooms and niches are revealed by torches ; echoes 2-esound through their recesses. The stalactites and stalagmites present a vast variety of shapes—some like immense folds of di-apery, between which are lamps, thrones and windows of all shapes and sizes, while others hang from the roof in fanciful forms.

    ‘ Embassy (of Lord Amherst) to Cldna, Moxon’s ed., 1840, p. 98.

    THE ISLAND OF HAINAN. 175

    The scenery along the river, between Xanhiung and Shauchau, is described as wild, rugged, and barren in the extreme; the summits of the mountains seem to touch each other across the river, and massive fragments fallen from their sides, in and along the river, indicate that the passage is not altogether free from danger. In this mountainous region coal is procured by opening horizontal shafts to the mines. Ellis ‘ says, it was brought some distance to the place where he saw it, to be used in the manufacture of green vitriol. Many pagodas are passed in the stretch of 330 miles between Xanhiung and Canton, calculated to attract notice, and assure the native boatmen which swarm on its waters, of the protection of the two elements he has to deal with—wind and water. One of the most conspicuous objects in this part of the river are five rocks, which rise abruptly from the banks, and are fancifully called Wt(-7na-tao, or ‘Five-horses’ heads.’ The formation of this part of the province consists of compact, dark-colored limestone, overlying sandstone and breccia. Nearly halfway between Shauchau and Canton is a celebrated mountain and cavern temple, dedicated to Kwanjnn, the goddess of Mercy, and most charmingly situated amid waterfalls, groves, and fine scenery, near a hill about 1850 feet high. The cliff has a sheer descent of five hundred feet; the temple is in a fissure a hundred feet above the water, and consists of two stories; the steps leading up to them, the rooms, walls, and cells, are all cut out of the rock. Inscription;; and scrolls hide the naked walls, and a few inane priests inhabit this somewhat gloomy abode. Mr. Barrow draws a proper comparison between these men and the inmates of the Cork Convent in Portugal, or the Franciscan Convent in Madeira, who had likewise ” chained themselves to a rock, to be gnawed by the vultures of superstition and fanaticism,” but these last have less excuse.

    The island of Hainan constitutes a single department, Kiungchau,

    but its prefect has no power over the central and mountainous

    parts. In early European travels it is named Aynao, Kainan

    and Aniam. It is about one hundred and fifty miles long and

    one hundred broad, being in extent nearly twice the size of

    Sicily. It is separated from the main by Luichau Strait, sixteen

    miles wide, whose shoals and reefs render its passage uncertain.

    The interior of the island is mountainous, and well wooded, and the inhabitants give a partial submission to the Chinese ; Ihey are identical in race with the mountaineers in Kweichau. This ridge is called Li-mu ling; a remarkable peak in the centre of the southern half, Wuzhi Shan or ‘ Fivefinger Mountain,’ probably rises 10,000 feet. The Chinese inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from Fuhkien, and are either trading, agricultural, marine, or piratical in their vocation, as they can make most money. The lands along the coast are fertile, producing areca-nuts, cocoa-nuts, and other tropical fruits, which are not found on the main. Kiungchau fu lies at the mouth of the Li-mu River, opposite Luichau. The port is Hoiliau, nineteen miles distant, but the entrance is too shallow for most vessels, and the trade consequently seeks a better market at Pakhoi, a town which has recently risen to importance as a treaty port on the mainland. All the thirteen district towns are situated on the coast, and within their circuit, on Chinese maps, a line is drawn, inclosing the centre of the island, within which the Li viin^ or Li people live, some of whom are acknowledged to he independent. They are therefore known as wild and civilized Li, and are usually in a state of chronic irritation from the harsh treatment of the rulers. It is prohahle that they originally came from the Malayan Peninsula (as their features, dress, and habits indicate their atiinity with those tribes), and have gradually withdrawn themselves into their recesses to avoid oppression. In 1202, the Emperor Kublai gave twenty thousand of them lands free for a time in the eastern parts, but the Ming sovereigns found them all intractable and l)elligerent. The population of the island is about a million. Its productions are rice, sweet potatoes, sugar, tobacco, fruits, timber, and insect wax.’

    The province of Guangxi(l.e. Broad West) extends westward of Guangdong to the borders of Annam, occupying the region on the southwest of the Xan ling, and has been seldom visited by foreigners, mIioso journeys have been up the Kwai Jiang: or ‘Cassia River’ into Hunan. The banks of the rivers sometimes spread out into plains, more in the eastern parts than elsewhere, on which an abundance of rice is grown. There are mines of gold, silver, and other metals, in this province, most of which are worked under the superintendence of government, but no data are accessible from whicli to ascertain the produce.

    Among the commercial productions of Guangxi, are cassia, cassia-oil, ijik-stones, and cabinet-woods; its natural ivsources supply the prin(;i})al articles of trade, for there are no manufactures of importance. IMany partially subdued tribes are found within the limits of this province, who are ruled by their own hereditary governors, under the supervision of the Chinese authorities; there are twenty-four vhau districts occupied by these people, the names of whose head-men are given in the lied

    ‘ E. C. Taintor, OeogrnpMeal Skelcit of the Mnnd of JTnlnnn, with map.

    (Canton. 18«8. Journal N. G. Br. R. A. S., No. VII., Arts. I., 11., and IN.C’/iiTKi li/anew, Vols. I., p. 124, and II., p. 382. N. B. Dennys, Report on thtnetoly-^jpeiied porta of Kiangchow {UoUkiu) in JIi<iu((n, <ind lldiphong in. Tonqidn. Ilouij’koug, 1878.

    THE PROVINCE OF KWANGSI. 177

    Book, and their position marked in the statistical maps of the

    empire, but no information is furnished in either, concerning

    the numbers, hmguage, or occupations, of the inhabitants.

    Guangxi is well watered by the west lliver and its branches, which enable traders to convey timber and surplus produce to Canton, and receive from thence salt and other articles. The mountains on the northwest are occasionally covered with siK)w; many of the western districts furnish little besides wood for buildings and boats. The basin of the West River is subdivided by ranges of hills into three large valleys, through which flow many tributaries of the leading streams, and as they each usually drop the old name on receiving a new affluent, it is a confusing study to follow them all. On the south the river Yiih rises near Yunnan, and deflects south to Kan-ning near

    the borders of Kwangtung, joining the central trunk at Sinchau,

    after a course of five hundred miles. On the north the

    river Lung and the Hiing-shui receive the surplus drainage

    of the northern districts and of Kweichau, a region where the

    Miaotsz’ have long kept watch and ward over their hilly abodes.

    The waters are then poured into the central trench a few miles

    west of Sinchau. This main artery of the province rises in

    Yunnan and would connect it by batteaux with Canton City if the channel were improved ; it is called Sz’ ho, and ranks as the largest tributary of the Pearl River.

    The capital, Guilin (i.e., Cassia Forest), lies on the Cassia River, a branch of the West River, in the northeast part of the province ; it is a poorly built city, surrounded by canals and branches of the river, destitute of any edifices wortliy of notice and having no great amount of trade. During the Tai-ping rebellion, this and the next town were nearly destroyed between the insurgents and imperialists.

    Wuchau fu, on the same river, at its junction with the Long Jiang, or ‘Dragon River’, where they unite and form the West River, is the largest trading town in the province. The independent chau districts are scattered over the southwest near the frontiers of Annam, and if anything can be inferred from their position, it may be concluded that they were settled by Laos tribes, who had been induced, by the comparative security of life and property within the frontiers, to acknowledge the Chinese sway.’

    The province of Kweichau (*.<?., Koblc Region) is on the whole the poorest of the eighteen in the character of its inhabitants, amount of its products, and development of its resources.

    A range of mountains passes from the northeast side in a southwesterly course to Yunnan, forming the watershed between the valleys of the Yangtsz’ and Siang rivers, a rough but fertile region. The western slopes are peopled by Chinese tillers of the soil, a rude and ignorant race, and rather turbulent; the eastern districts are largely in the hands of the Miaotsz’, who are considered by the officials and their troops to be lawful objects

    of oppression and destruction. The climate of the province

    is regarded as malarious, owing to the quantity of stagnant

    water and the impurity of that drawn from wells. Its productions

    consist of rice, wheat, musk, insect wax, tobacco, timber,

    and cassia, with lead, copper, silver, quicksilver, and iron. The

    quicksilver mines are in Kai chau, north of the provincial capital,

    and apparently exceed in extent and richness all other

    known deposits of this metal ; they have been worked for centuries.

    Cinnabar occurs at various places, about lat. 27°, in a

    belt extending quite across the province, and tei’minating near

    the borders of Yunnan. Two kinds of silk obtained from the

    worms which feed on the mulberry and oak, furnish material

    for clothing so cheaply that cotton is imported from other provinces.

    Horses and other domestic animals are reared in larger quantities than in the eastern provinces. •

    The largest river is the AVu, which drains the central and northern parts of the province, and empties into the Yangtsz’, through the river Kien near Chungking. Other tributaries of that river and West River, also have their sources in this province, and by means of batteaux and rafts are all more or less available for traffic. The natural outlet for the products of Ivweichau is the river Yuen in Ilunan, whose various branches flow into it from the eastern prefectures, but their unsettled condition prevents regular or successful intercourse.

    ‘ Chinese Repodtory, Vol. XIV., pp. 171 ff.

    KWEICHAU PROVINCE AND THE MIAOTSZ 179

    The capital, Kweijang, is situated among the mountains ; it is the smallest provincial capital of the eighteen, its walls not being more than two miles in circumference. The other chief towns or departments are of inferior note. There are many military stations in the southern prefectures at the foot of the mountains, intended to restrain the unsubdued tribes of Miaotsz’ who inhabit them.

    Miaotsz’ Types.

    This name Miaotsz’ is used among the Chinese as a general term for all the dwellers upon these mountains, but is not applied to every clan by the people themselves. They consist of eighty-two tribes in all (found scattered over the mountains in Kwangtung, ITunan, and Kwangsi, as well as in Kweichau), speaking several dialects, and diifering among themselves in their customs, government, and dress. The Chinese have often described and pictured these people, but the notices are confined to a list of their divisions, and an account of their most striking peculiarities. Their language dift’ei’s entirely from the Chinese, but too little is known of it to ascertain its analogies to other tonj^ues; its affinities are most likely with the Laos, and those

    tribes between Burmah, Siam, and China. One clan, inhabiting

    Lipo hien in the extreme south, is called Yau-jin, and

    although they occasionally come down to Canton to trade, the

    citizens of that place firmly believe them to be furnished with

    short tails like monkeys. They carry arms, are inclined to live

    at peace with the lowlanders, but resist eveiy attempt to penetrate

    into their fastnesses. The Yau-jin first settled in Kwangsi,

    and thence passed over into Lien chau about the twelfth century, where they have since maintained their footing. Both sexes wear their hair braided in a tuft on the top of the head—but never shaven and tressed as the Chinese—and dress in loose garments of cotton and linen ; earrings are in imiversal use among them. They live at strife among themselves, which becomes a source of safety to the Chinese, who are willing enough to liarass and oppress, but are ill able to resist, these hardy mountaineers. In 1832, they broke out in active hostilities, and destroyed numerous parties of troops sent to subdue them, but were finally induced to return to their retreats by offers^of pardon and largesses granted to those who submitted.

    A Chinese traveler among the Miaotsz’ says that some of them live in huts constructed upon the branches of trees, others in mud hovels ; and one tribe in clift” houses dug out of the hillsides, sometimes six hundred feet up. Their agriculture is rude, and their garments are obtained Ijy barter from the lowlanders in exchange for metals and grain, or wov^en by themselves.

    The religious observances of these tribes are carefully noted, and whatever is connected with nuirriages and funerals.

    THE PROVINCE OF YUNNAN. 181

    In one tribe, it is the custom for the father of a new-born child, as soon as its mother has become strone^ enouoh to leave her couch, to get into bed himself and there receive the congratulations of his acquaintances, as he exhibits his offspring—a custom which has been found among the Tibetan tribes and elsewhere. Another class has the counterpart of the may-pole and its jocund dance, which, like its corresponding game, is availed of by young men to select their mates.’

    The province of Yunnan {i.e., Cloudy South—south of the Yun ling, or ‘Cloudy Mountains”‘) is in the southwest of the empire, bounded by north Sz’chuen, east by Kweichau and Kwangsi, south by Annam, Laos, and Siam, and west by Burmah.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 29; Vol. XIV., pp. 105-117; G. T. Lay,Chinese as They Are, p. 316 ; Journal of N’. C. Branch of Royal Asiatic Society,No. III., 1H59, and No. VI., 1869. Chinese Recorder, Vols. 11., p. 265, and III., pp. 33, 74, 96, 134 and 147. Peking Gazette for 1872. China Rei-ietc,Vol. v., p. 92.- Known as Widiharit in Pali records. Chinese Recorder, Vol. III., pp. 33,74, sqq. ; see also pp. 62, 93, 126, for the record of a visit.

    Its distance from the central authority of the Empire since its partial conquest under the Ilanjhjnasty has always made it a weak point, and the uneducated, mixed character of the inhabitants has given an advantage to enterprising leaders to resist Chinese rule. It was recovered from the aborigines by the Tang Emperors, who called it Jung chau, or the region of the Jung tribes, from which the name Karajang, i.e.. Black Jung, which Marco Polo calls it, is derived; Kublai Khan himself led an army in 1253 thither before he conquered China, and sent the Venetians on a mission there about the year 127S, after his establishment at Peking. A son of the Emperor was his Yiceroy over this outlying province at that time. The recent travels of Margary, Baber, and Anderson, of the British service, with Monhot and Garnier of the French, have done much to render this secluded province better known. The central portion is occupied by an extensive plateau, ramifying in various directions and intersected with valley-plains at altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 feet, in Mdiich lie several large lakes and the seven principal cities in the province. These plains are overtopped by the ridges separating them, which, seen from the lower levels, appear, as in Sliansi, like horizontal, connected summit-lines. All are built up of red sandstone, like the basin in Sz’chuen, through which rivers, small and large, have furroM’ed their beds hundreds and thousands of feet, rendering communication almost impossible in certain directions as soon as one leaves the plateau. In the east and northwest, the defiles are less troublesome, and in this latter portion of the province are some peaks rising far above the snow line. These are called on Col. Yule’s map the Goolan Sigon range. The climate is cooler than in Sz’chuen, owing to this elevation, and not very healthy ; snow lies for weeks at Yunnan fu, and the summers are charming.

    The Yangtsz’ enters the province on the northwest for a short distance. The greatest river in it is the Lantsan, which rises in Tibet, and runs for a long distance parallel with and between the Yangzi and Xu Kivers till the three break through the mountains not far from each other, and take different courses,—the largest turning to the eastward across China, the Lantsan southeast throngh Ynnnan to the gulf of Siani, under the name of the Meikon or river of Cambodia, and the third, or Salween, westerly through Burmah. The Meikon receives many large tributaries in its course across the province, and its entire length is not less than 1500 miles. The Lungehuen,

    a large affluent of the Irrawadi, runs a little west of the

    Salween. The Meinam rises in Yunnan, and flows south into

    Siam under the name of the Xanting, and after a course of nearly

    eight hundred miles, empties into the sea below Bangkok.

    East of the Lantsan are several important streams, of which

    three that unite in Annam to form the Sangkoi, are the largest.

    The general course of these rivers is southeasterly, and their

    upper waters are separated by mountain lidges, between which

    the valleys are often reduced to very narrow limits. There are

    two lakes in the eastern part of the province, south of the capital,

    called Sien and Tien ; the latter is about seventy miles

    long by twenty wide, and the Sien hu {I.e., ‘ Fairy Lake ‘) about

    two-thirds as large. Another sheet of water in the northwest,

    near Tali fu, coiinnunicating with the Yangtsz’ kiang, is called

    Urh hai or Uhr sea, which is more* than a hundred miles long,

    and about twenty in width.

    INHABITANTS AND PRODUCTIONS OF YUNNAN. 183

    The capital, Yunnan, lies u})ou the north shore of Lake Tien, and is a town of note, having, moreover, considerable political importance from its trade with other parts of the country through the Yangtsz’, and with Burmah. The city was seriously injured in 1834, by an earthquake, which is said to have lasted three entire days, forcing the inhabitants into tents or the open fields, and overthrowing every important building.’

    The traffic between this province and Burinah centres at the fortified post of Tsantah, in the district of Tangjneh, both of them situated on a branch of the Irrawadi. The principal part of the commodities is transported upon animals from these depots to Bhamo, upon the Iri-awadi, the largest market-town in this part of Chin-India. The Chinese participate largely in this trade, which consists of raw and manufactured silk to the amount of §400,000 annualh’, tea, copper, carpets, orpiment, quicksilver, vermilion, drugs, fruits, and other things, carried from their country in exchange for raw cotton to the amount of $1,140,000 annually, ivory, wax, rhinoceros and deer’s horns, precious stones, birds’ nests, peacocks’ feathers, and foreign articles.

    The entire traffic is probably $2,500,000 annually, and for a few years past has been regularly increasing. There is considerable intercourse and trade on the southern frontiers with the Lolos, or Laos and Annamese,” partly by means of the head-waters of the Meinam and Meikon—which are supposed to communicate with each other by a natural canal—and partly by caravans over the mountains. Yunnan fu was the capital of a Chinese prince about the time of the decadence of the Ming dynasty, who had rendered himself independent in this part of their empire by the overthrow of the rebel Li, but having linked his fortunes with an imbecile scion of that house, he displeased his officers, and his territories gradually fell under the sway of the conquering Manchus.

    ‘ A/males de la Foi, Tome VIII. , p. 87.
    ‘ Two thousand Chinese families live in Amerapura.

    The southern and western districts of the province are inhabited by half-subdued tribes who are governed by their own rulers, under the nominal sway of the Chinese, and pass and repass across the frontiers in pursuit of trade or occupation. The extension of British trade from Bangoon toward this part of China, has brought those hill tribes more into notice, and proved in their present low and barbarous condition the accuracy of the ancient description by Marco Polo and the Boman Catholic missionaries. Colonel Yule aptly terms this wide region an “Ethnological Garden of tribes of various race and in every stage of uncivilization.” The unifying influence of the Chinese written language and literary institutions has been neutralized among these races by their tribal dissensions and inaptitude for study of any kind. Anderson gives short vocabularies of the Kakhyen, Shan, Ilotha Shan, Le-san and Poloung languages, all indicating radical differences of origin, the existence of which would keep them from mingling with each other as Avell as from the Chinese.’

    The mineral wealth of Yunnan is greater and more varied than that of any other province, certain of the mines having been worked since the Sung dynasty. Coal occurs in many places on the borders of the central plateau ; some of it is anthracite of remarkable solidity and uniformity. Salt occurs in hills, not in wells as in Sz’chuen ; the brine is sometimes obtained by diving tunnels into the hillsides. Metalliferous ores reach from this province into the three neighboring ones. Copper is the most abundant, and the mines in Kingyuen fu, in the southwestern ‘part of Sz’chuen, have supplied both copper and zinc ores during the troubles in Yunnan. The copper at Ilwuili chau in that prefecture is worked by companies which pay a royalty of two taels a pecul to the government, and furnish the metal to the mine owners for $S per pecul. The pehtaiKj or argentan ores are mixed with copper, tin, or lead, by the manufacturers according to the uses the alloys are put to.

    Silver exists in several places in the north, and the exploitation of the mines was successful until within 30 years past ; now they cannot be safely or profitably worked, in consequence of political disturbances. Gold is obtained in the sand of some rivers but not to a large extent; lead, iron, tin, and zinc occur in such plenty that they can be exported, but no data are accessible as to the entire product or export.
    ”’ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II. Anderson, Mandalay to Momien.” rroced. Roy. Geog. Soc, Vols. XIII., p. 392, XIV.’, p. 335, XV., pp. 1G3 and 343. Col. Yule, Trade Routes to Westeru CJdiia—The Geo(jiuq,hic<d Mitynzine,April, 1875. Riclithofen, Recent Attoiipts to find a direct Trade-Road toSonthtDCstern China—Shoiif/fiai Budget, March 2(i, 1874. Journey of A. R.Margary from Shaiighae to Bhamo. Loudon, 1875. Col. H. Browne in Blue Books, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 (1870-77).

    CHAPTER IV. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF MANCHURIA, MONGOLIA, ILi, AND TIBET

    The portions of the Chinese Empire beyond the limits of the Eighteen Provinces, though of far greater extent than China Proper, are comparatively of minor importance. Their vast regions are peopled by different races, whose languages are nnitually unintelligible, and whose tribes are held together under the Chinese sway rather by interest and reciprocal hostilities or dislike, than by force. European geographers have vaguely termed all that space lying north of Tibet to Siberia, and east of the Tsung ling to the Pacific, Chinese Tartary ; while the countries west of the Tsung ling or Belur tag, to the Aral Sea, have been collectively called Inde2}endtnt Tartary. Both these

    names have already become nearly obsolete on good maps of

    those regions ; the more accurate knowledge brought home by

    recent travellers having ascertained that their inhabitants are

    neither all Tartars (or Mongols) nor Turks, and further that

    the native names and divisions are preferable to a single comprehensive

    one. Such names as Manchuria, Mongolia, Songaria,

    and Turkestan, derived from the leading tribes dwelling in

    those countries, are more definite, though these are not permanent,

    owing to the migratory, changeable habits of the people.

    From their ignorance of scientific geography, the Chinese have

    no general designations for extensive countries, long chains of

    mountains, or devious rivers, but apply many names where, if

    they were better informed, they would be content with one.

    The following table presents a general view of these countries,

    giving their leading divisions and forms of government.

    EXTENT OF Manchuria. 187

    They cannot be classed, however, in the same manner as the provinces, nor are the divisions and capitals here given to be regarded as definitely settled. Their nnited area is 3,951,130 square miles, or a little more than all Europe ; their separate areas cannot be precisely given. Manchuria contains about 400,000 square miles ; Mongolia between 1,300,000 and 1,500,000 square miles ; III about 1,070,000 square miles ; and Tibei from 500,000 to 700,000 square miles.

    MANcnuRi.v is so termed from the leading race who dwell there, the 3IandJu/’s or Manclius ^ it is a word of foreign origin, the Chinese having no general appellation for the viceroyalty ruled from Mukden. It comprises the eastern portion of the high table land of Central Asia, and lies between latitudes 39° and 52° X., and longitudes 120° to 134° E. These points include the limits in l^otli directions, giving the region a rectangular shape lying in a north-east and sonth-west direction; roughly speaking, its dimensions are 800 by 500 miles. It is

    bounded on the south by the Gulf of Pechele, and the highlands

    of Corea on the north bank of the Yalnli River ; on the east

    by a line running from the Russian town of Possiet northerly

    to the River ITsuri, so as to include Ilinka Lake ; thence from

    its headwaters to its junction Nvith the Anmr. This river forms

    the northern frontier ; its tributary, the River Argun, together

    with the large lakes llurun and Puyur, lie on the west ; from

    the latter lake an artificial line stretching nearly due east for

    six degrees in lat. 47° strikes the town of Tsitsihar on the

    River Xonni. The rest of the western border follows the rivers

    Konni and Songari to the Palisade. This obsolete boundary

    commences at Shan-hai kwan on the Gulf of Liatung and runs

    north-easterly ; it nominally separates the Mongols from the

    Manchus for neai’ly 300 miles, and really exists only at the

    passes where the roads are guarded by military.

    But a portion of this region has yet been traversed by Europeans, and most of it is a wilderness. The entire population is not stated in the census of 1812, and from the nature of the country and wandering habits of the people, many tribes of whom render no allegiance to the Emperor, it would be impossible to take a regular census. Parts of Manchuria, as here defined, have been known under many names at different periods.

    LiaiUung (‘East of the River Lian’) has been applied to the country between that river, Corea, and the Sea of Japan ; Tungking(‘Eastern Capital’) referred to the chief town of that region, under the Ming dynasty ; and Kwantung (‘ East of the Pass ‘), denoting the same country, is still a common designation for the whole territory.

    Manchuria is now chiefly comprised in the valleys between the ITsuri and Nonni Rivers, up to the Amur on the north, while the basin of the Liau on the south embraces the rest. There are three principal mountain chains. Beginning nearly a hundred miles east of Mukden, in lat. 43°, are the Long White Mountains’ (Chang-bai Shan of the Chinese, or Kolmin-shanguin alin of the Manchus), which form the watershed between the Songari and Yaluh Rivers and serve for the northern frontier of Corea as far as Russian territory. There it divides

    and takes the name of Sih-hih-teh, or Sihoti Mountains, for the

    eastern spur which runs near the ocean, east of the River ITsuri; and the name of Hurkar Mountains for the western and lower

    spurs between that river and the Ilurkar. One noted peak,

    called Mount Chakoran, rising over 10,000 feet, lies south-east

    of San-sang on the Amur. On the plain, north of Ivirin,

    numerous buttes occur, sometimes isolated, and often in lines

    fifteen or twenty miles apart ; most of them are wooded.

    In the western part of Tsitsihar lies the third great range of

    mountains in Manchuria, called the Sialkoi Mountains, a continuation

    of the Inner Iling-an range of Mongolia, and separating

    the Argun and Nonni basins. The Sialkoi range extends over

    a great part of Mongolia, commencing near the bend of the Yellow

    River, and reaching in a north-easterly direction, it forms

    in Manchuria three sides of the extensive valley of the Xonni,

    ending between the Amur and Songari Rivers at their junction.

    These regions are more arid than the eastern portions, and

    the mountains are rather lower ; but our information is vague

    and scanty. As a whole, Manchuria should be called hilly

    rather than mountainous, its intervales alone repaying cultivation.

    ‘ Klaproth {Memoires Relatifs d PAsie, Tome I., Paris, 1834) has translated from the Manchu a narrative of a visit made in 1(577 by one of the grandees of Kanghi’s court to a summit in this range. Chlneise lieposilvry, Vol. XX. , p. 29G.

    THE AMUR AND ITS AFFLUENTS. 189

    The country north of the Chang-bai Shan as far as the Stanovoi Mountains is drained by one river, viz., the Sagalien, Amur, Kwantung, or Hehlung kiang (for it is known by all these names), and its affluents ; Scujalieii ula in Manchu and Heilong Jiang in Chinese, each mean ‘Black’ or ‘Black Dragon River’. The Amur drains the north-eastern slope of Central Asia by a circuitous course, aided by many large tributaries. Its source is in lat. 50° N. and long. 111° E., in a spur of the Daou-]”ian Mountains, called Kenteh, where it is called the Onon.

    After an east and north-east course of nearly five hundred miles,

    the Onon is joined in long. 115° E. by the Ingoda, a stream

    coming from the east of Lake Baikal, where it takes its rise by a

    peak called Tshokondo, the highest of the Yablonsi Khrebet

    Mountains. Beyond this junction, under the Bussian name of

    Shilka, it flows about two hundred and sixty miles north-east

    till it meets the Argun. The Argun rises about three degrees

    south of the Onon, on the south side of the Kenteh, and under

    the name of Kerlon runs a solitary north-east course for four

    Imndred and thirty miles to Lake Hurun, Kerlon, or Dalai-nur; the Kalka here comes in from Lake Buyur or Fir, and their waters leave Lake Hurun atUst-Strelotchnoi (the Arrow’s Mouth) under the name of the Argun, flowing north nearly four hundred miles to the union with the Shilka in lat. 53° ; from its exit as the Argun and onward to the entrance of the Usuri, it forms the boundary between China and Russia for 1,593 versts, or 1,062 miles.

    Beyond this town the united stream takes the name of the

    Amur (/.(‘., Great River) or Sagalien of the Manchus, running

    nearly east about 550 miles beyond Albazin, when its course is

    south-east till it joins the Songari. Most of the affluents are on

    the north bank ; the main channel grows wider as its size increases,

    having so many islands and banks as seriously to interfere

    with navigation. The valley thus watered possesses great

    natural advantages in soil, climate, and productions, which are

    now gradually attracting Russian settlers. In lat. 47^° the Songari River {Sung-hwa kiang of the Chinese) unites with the Amur on the right bank, 950 miles from Ust-Strelotchnoi,

    bringing the drainings of the greater portion of ]\ranehuria,

    and doubling the main volume of water. The headwaters of

    this stream issue from the northern slopes of the C”liang-peh

    shan ; quickly combined in a single channel, these waters tlow

    past the town of Ivirin, scarcely a hundred miles from the

    mountains, in a river twelve feet deep and 900 M-ide. Xear Petune

    the Iliver Xonni joins it from Tsitsihar, and their united

    stream takes the Chinese name of Kwantung (‘ Mingled Union ‘);

    it is a mile and a half wide here and only three or four feet

    deep, a sluggish river full of islands. Then going east b}- north,

    growing deeper by its affluents, the Ilurka, Mayen, Tunni,

    llulan, and other smaller ones, it unites with the Amur at

    at Changchu, a hundred miles west from the Usuri. All accounts

    agree in giving the Songari the superiority. At Sansing,

    it is a deep and rapid river, but further down islands and

    banks interfere with the navigation. The Ilurka drains the

    original country of the Manchus.’

    The district south-east of the desert, and north of the Great

    Wall, is drained and fertilized by the Sira-nniren, or Liau

    Iliver, which is nearly valueless for navigation. Its main and

    western branch divides near the In shan Mountains into the

    Hwang ho and Lahar; the former rises near the Pecha peak,

    a noted point in those mountains. The Sirainuren runs

    through a dry region for nearly 400 miles before it turns south,

    and in a zigzag channel reaches the Gulf of Liautung, a powerful stream carrying its quota of deposit into the ocean ; the M’idtli at Yingtsz’ is C50 feet. The depth is IG feet on the bar at high tide. The Yaluh kiang, nearly three hundred miles long, runs in a very crooked channel along the northern frontiers of Corea. iJut little is known about the two lakes, Ilurun and Pir, except that their waters are fresh and full of fish ; the river Urshun unites them, and several smaller streams run into the latter.

    ‘ Voyage Down the Amur, by Perry McD. Collins, in 1857. New York,1860, cliaps. xxxii.-lx., passim. Ravenstein’s Arnur. Chinese Repository,Vol. XIX., p. 289. Rev. A. Williamson, Journeys in North China, Vol. II.,eliap.s. x.-xiii.

    NATURAL RESOURCES OF MANCHURIA. 191

    The larger part of Manchuria is covered by forests, the

    abode of wild animals, whose capture affords employment,

    clothing, and food to their hunters. The rivers and coasts

    abound in fish ; among which carp, sturgeon, salmon, pike, and

    other species, as well as shell-fish, are plenty ; the pearl-fishery

    is sufficiently remunerative to employ many fishermen ; the

    Chinese Government used to take cognizance of their success,

    and collect a revenue in kind. The argali and jiggetai are

    found here as well as in Mongolia ; bears, wolves, tigers, deer,

    and numerous fur-bearing animals are hunted for their skins.

    The troops are required to furnish 2,4:00 stags annually to the

    Emperor, who reserves for his own use only the fieshy part of

    the tail as a delicacy. Larks, pheasants, and crows of various

    species, with pigeons, thrushes, and grouse, abound. The condor

    is the largest bird of prey, and for its size and fierceness rivals

    its congener of the Andes.

    The greater half of Shingking and the south of Ivirin is cultivated; maize, Setaria wheat, barley, pulse, millet, and buckwheat are the principal crops. Ginseng and rhubarb are collected by troops sent out in detachments under’ the charge of their proper officers. These sections support, moreover, large herds of various domestic animals. The timber which covers the mountains will prove a source of wealth as soon as a remunerative market stimulates the skill and enterprise of settlers; even now, logs over three feet in diameter find their way up to Peking, brought from the Liau valley.

    Manchuria is divided into three provinces, Shhujhing, Kirin,

    and Tsltnlhar. The province of Shingking includes the ancient

    Liautung, and is bounded north by Mongolia ; north-east and

    east by Kirin ; south by the Gulf of Liautung and Corea, from

    which latter it is separated by the Yaluh Eiver ; and west by

    Chahar in Chihli. It contains two departments, viz., Fungtien

    and Kinchau, subdivided into fifteen districts; there are also

    twelve gai-risoned posts at the twelve gates in the Palisade,

    whose inmates collect a small tax on travellers and goods. Manchuria

    is under a strictly military government, every male above

    eighteen being liable for military service, and being, in fact,

    enrolled under that one of the eight standards to which by Liith he belongs. The administration of Shingking is partl;yuivil and partly military ; that of Iviriu and Tsitsihar is entirely military.

    The popnlation of the province has been estimated by T. T.

    Meadows ‘ at twelve millions, consisting of Manclms and Chinese.

    The coast districts are now mostly occupied and cultivated

    by emigrants from Shantung, who are pushing the Manchus

    toward the Amur, or compelling them to leave their hunting

    and take to farming if they wish to stay where they ^vere born.

    The conquerors are being civilized and developed by their subjects,

    losing the use of their own meagre language, and becoming

    more comfortable as they learn to be industrious. But few

    aboriginal settlements now remain who still resist these influences.

    The inhabitants collect near the river, or along the great

    roads, where food or a market are easiest found.

    The capital of Shingking is usually known on the spot as

    Shin-yang, an older name than the Manchu Mukden, or the

    Chinese name Fungtien. As the metropolis of Manchuria, it is

    also known as Shingking (the ‘ Affluent Capital ‘), distinguished

    from the name of the province by the addition oi jjuti-chiny, or

    ‘head-garrison.’ It lies in lat. 41° 50^’ X. and long. 123° 30′ E., on the banks of the Shin, a small brancli of the Liau, and is reckoned to be five hundred miles north-east from Peking. The town is surrounded by a low mud wall about ten miles in circuit, at least half a mile distant from the main city wall, whose eight gates have double archways so that the crowd may not interfere in passing ; this wall is about three miles around, and its towers and bastions are in good condition. It is 35 or 40 feet high, and 15 feet wide at the top, of brick throughout ; a crenulated parapet protects the guard. But for its smaller scale, the walls and buildings here are precisely similar to those at Peking.

    ‘ The Chinese and their Rebdliona. Loudon, 1856.

    THE PROVINCE OF SHINGKING. 193

    The streets are wide, clean, and the main business avenues lined with large, well built shops, their counters, windows, and other arrangements indicating a great trade. This capital contains a large proportion of governmental establishments, yai/uins^ and nearly all the officials belong to the ruling race. Main streets run across the city from gate to gate, with narrow roads or ku-tung intersecting them. The palace of the early Manchn sovereigns occupies the center; while the large warehouses are outside of the inner city. Everywhere marks of prosperity and security indicate an enterprising population, and for its tidy look, industrious and courteous population, Mukden takes high rank among Chinese cities. Its population is estimated to be under 200,000, mostly Chinese. The Manchu monarchs made it the seat of their government in 1631, and the Emperors have since done everything in their power to enlarge and beautify it. The Emperor Kienlung rendered himself celebrated among his subjects, and made the city of Mukden better known abroad, by a poetical eulogy upon the city and province, which was printed in sixty-four different forms of Chinese writing. This curious piece of imperial vanity and literary effort was translated into French by Amyot.

    The town of Ilingking,’ sixty miles east of it, is one of the favored places in Shingking, from its being the family residence of the Manchu monarchs, and the burial-ground of their ancestors.

    It is pleasantly situated in an elevated valley, the tombs being three miles north of it upon a mountain called Tsz’yun shan. The circuit of the walls is about three miles. Ilingking lies near the Palisade which separates the province from Ivirin, and its officers have the rule over the surrounding country, and the entrances into that province. It has now dwindled to a small handet, and the guards connected with the tombs comprise most of the inhabitants.

    Ivinchau, fifteen leagues from Mukden, carries on considerable

    trade in cattle, pulse, and drugs. Gutzlaff ‘ describes the

    harbor as shallow, and exposed to southern gales ; the houses

    in the town are built of stone, the environs well cultivated and

    settled by Chinese from Shantung, while natives of Fuhkien

    conduct the trade. The Manchus lead an idle life, but keep

    on good terms with the Chinese. When he was there in 1832,

    ‘Also called Yertden ; Klaprcth, Meinoire.% Tcvme T., p. 446. Remusat

    informs us that this name formerly included all vf Kirin, or that which was placed under it.- Voyages Along the Coast of China. New York, 1833»Vol. I.— 18

    the authorities had ordered all the females to seclude themselves

    in order to put a stop to debauchery among the native

    sailors. Horses and camels are numerous and cheap, but the

    carriages are clumsy. Kaichau, another port lying on the east

    side of the gulf, possesses a better liarboi-, but is not so much

    frequented.

    Since the treaty of 1858 opened the port of Xiuchwang or

    Yingts//, on the Iliver Liau, to foreign trade, the development

    of Shingking has rapidly increased. The trade in pulse and

    bean-cake and oil employs many vessels annually. Opium,

    silk, and paper are prepared for export thi’ough this mart, besides

    foreign goods. Fung-hwang ting, lying near the Yaluh

    liiver, commands all the trade with Corea, which must pass

    through it. There are many restrictions upon this intercourse

    by both governments, and the Chinese forbid their subjects

    passing the frontiers. The trade is conducted at fairs, under

    the supervision of officers and soldiers ; the short time allowed

    for concluding the bargains, and the great numbers resorting to

    them, render these bazaars more like the frays of opposing clans

    than the scenes of peaceable trade. There is a market-town in

    Corea itself, called Ki-iu w^an, about four leagues from the

    frontier, wliei’e the Chinese ” supply the Coreans with dogs,

    cats, pipes, leather, stags’ horns, copper, horses, mules, and

    asses ; and receive in exchange, baskets, kitchen utensils, rice,

    corn, swine, paper, mats, oxen, furs, and small horses.” Merchants

    are allowed not more than four or five hours in which

    to conduct this fair, and the Corean officers under whose charge

    it is placed, drive all strangers back to the frontier as soon as

    the day closes.’

    The borders of the sea consist of alluvial soil, efflorescing

    a nitrous white salt near the beach, .but very fertile inland,

    well cultivated and populous. Beyond, the hill-country is extremely

    picturesque. Ever-changing views, torrents and fountains,

    varied and abounding vegetation, flocks of black cattle

    grazing on the hillsides, goats perched on the overhanging crags,

    liorses, asses, and sheep lower down in the intervales, numerous

    ‘ Annales de la Foi, Tome XVIII., 1840, p. 302.

    TRADE AND CLIMATE OF MANCHURIA. 195

    well-built Iiamlets, eveiywliere enliven the scene. The department

    of Kinchau lies along the Gulf of Liautung, between the

    Palisade and the sea, and contains four small district towns,

    with forts, around whose garrisons of agricultural troops have

    collected a few settlers. On the south, toward Chilili and the

    “Wall, the country is better cultivated.

    The climate of Manchuria, as a whole, is healthy and moderate,

    far removed from the rigor of the plateau on its west, and

    not so moist as the outlying islands on the east. In summer

    the ranges are TO” to 90° F., thence down to 10° or 20° below

    zero. The rivers remain frozen from December nearly to

    April, and the fall of snow is less than in Eastern America.

    The seasons are really six weeks of spring, five months of summer,

    six weeks of autumn and four months of winter ; the last

    is in some respects the enjoyable period, and is used l)y the

    farmers to l)ring produce to market. If the houses were

    tighter, their inmates would suffer little during the cold season.

    Hue speaks of hail storms which killed tlocks of sheep in Mongolia,

    near’Chahar. Darwin (^N^aturalisfs Yoymje, 2d ed., 1845,

    p. 115) corroborates the possibility of his statement by a somewhat

    similar experience near Buenos Ayres. He here saw many

    deer and other wild animals killed by ” hail as large as small

    apples and extremely hard.’” Of the denuded country, near the

    Liau River, Abbe Hue says : ” Although it is uncertain where

    God placed paradise, we may be sure that he chose some other

    country than Liautung ; for of all savage regions, this takes a

    distinguished rank for the aridity of the soil and rigor of the

    climate. On his entrance, the traveller remarks the barren

    aspect of most of the hills, and the nakedness of the plains,

    where not a tree nor a thicket, and hardly a slip of a herb is to

    be seen. The natives are superior to any Europeans I have

    ever seen fof their powers of eating ; beef and pork abound on

    their tables, and I think dogs and horses, too, under some other

    name ; rich people eat i-ice, the poor are content with boiled

    millet, or with another grain called hac-ham,, about thrice the

    size of millet and tasting like wheat, which I never saw elsewhere.

    The vine is cultivated, but must be covered from October to April ; the grapes are so watery that a hundred liters of juice produce by distillation only forty of poor spirit. The leaves of an oak are used to rear wild silkworms, and this is a considerable branch of industry. The people relish the worms as food after the cocoons have been boiled, drawing them out with a pin, and sucking the whole until nothing but the pellicle is left.” ‘ Another says, the ground freezes seven feet in Kirin, and about three in Shingking ; the thermometer in winter is thirty degrees below zero. The snow is raised into the air by the north-east winds, and becomes so fine that it penetrates the clothes, houses, and enters even the lungs. When travelling, the eyebrows become a mass of ice, the beard a large flake, and the eyelashes are frozen together ; the wind cuts and pierces the skin like razors or needles. The earth is frozen during eight months, but vegetation in summer is rapid, and the streams are swollen by the thawing drifts of snow.

    The province of Kikin, or Girin, comprises the country northeast

    of Shingking, as far as the Annir and Usuri, which bound

    it on the north and east, while Corea and Shingking lie on the

    south-east (better separated by the Chang-peh shan than any

    political confine) and Mongolia on the west. All signs of the line

    of palisades have disappeared (save at the Passes) in the entire

    trajct between the Songari and Shan-hai kwan. The region is

    mountainous, except in the link of that river after the Xonni

    joins it till the Usuri comes in, measuring about one-fourth of

    the M’hole. This extensive region is thinly inhabited by Manchus

    settled in garrisons along the bottoms of the rivers, by

    Goldies, Mangoons, Ghiliaks, and tribes having afiinity with

    them, mIio subsist principall}^ by hunting and fishing, and acknowledge

    their fealty by a tribute of peltry, but who have no

    officers of government placed over them. Du llalde calls them

    Kicking Tatse^ Yuj)i Tatse^ and other names, which seem, indeed,

    to have been their ancient designations. The Y^u-jn TdJifs’i,

    or ‘Fish-skin Tartars,’^ are said to inhabit the extensive valley

    of the Usuri, and do not allow the subjects of the Emperor to

    ‘ AnnaleR de la Foi, Tomo XVI. , p. ‘^i’iO.

    – The inhabitants of ancient Gedrosia, now Beloochi.stan, are said to have

    clothed themselves in lish-skins. Heereu, Historical Researches among Asiatic

    Nations^ Vol. I., p. 175.

    TOWNS AND PRODUCTIONS OB’ KIRIN PROVINCE. 197

    live among them. In winter they nestle together in kraals like

    the Bushmen, and subsist upon the products of their summer’s

    tishing, having cut down fuel enough to last them till warm

    weather. Shut out, as they have been during the past, from all

    elevating influences, these people are likely to be ei-e long amalgamated

    and lost, as well among liussian and other settlers coming

    in from the north, as amid the Chinese immigrants who occupy

    their land in the south. The entire population of this province

    cannot be reckoned, from present information, as high as three

    millions, the greater part of which live along the Songari valley.

    Kirin is divided into three ruling tlmj departments or commanderies,

    viz., Kirin ula, or the garrison of Kirin, Petune or

    Pedne, and Changchun ting. Kirin, the largest of the three, is

    subdivided into eight garrison districts. The town, called

    Chaen Chwang, or ‘ Navy Yard,’ in Chinese, is finely situated

    on the Songari, in lat. 43” 45′ N., and long. 127° 25′ E., at the

    foot of encircling hills, where the river is a thousand feet wide.

    The streets are narrow and irregular, the shops low and small,

    and much ground in the city is unoccupied. Two great streets

    cross each other at right angles, one of them running far into

    the river on the west supported by piles. The highways are

    paved with wooden blocks, and adorned with flowers, gold fish,

    and squares ; its population is about 50,000.

    The four other important places in Kirin are Petune, Larin,

    Altchuku, or A-shi-ho, and Sansing, the latter at the confluent of

    the Sono-ari and Ilurka. Altchuku is the largest, and Petune

    next in size, each town having not far from 35,000 inhabitants

    ;

    Larin is perhaps half as lai’ge, and like the others steadily increasing

    in numbers and importance. jS inguta on the river Ilurka

    has wide regions under its sway where ginseng is gathered ; near

    the stockaded town is a subterranean body of water that furnishes

    large fish. A great and influential portion of the Chinese

    population is Moslem, but no Manchus reside in the place.

    The former control trade and travel in every town.

    Petune, in lat. 45° 20′ X., and long. 125° 10′ E., is inhabited

    by troops and many persons banished from C’hina for their

    crimes. Its favorable position renders it a place of considerable

    trade, and during the suunner ujonths it is a busy mart for

    198 TlIK MIDDLE KINCiDOM.

    these tliiiilj peopled regions. It consists of two main streets,

    with the chief market at their crossing. .\. large mosque attracts

    attention. The third commandery of Changchun, west

    of Kirin and south of Petunc, just beyond the Palisade, is a

    mere post for overseeing the Manchus and Mongols passing to

    and fro on the edge of the steppe.

    The resources of this wide domain in timber, minerals, metals,

    cattle and grain Ivaxq not yet been explored or developed. The

    hills are wooded to the top, the bottoms bring forth two crops

    anmially, and the rivers take down timber and grain to the

    llussian settlers. Sorghum, millet, barley, maize, pulse, indigo,

    and tobacco are the chief crops ; and latterly opium, wdiicli has

    rapidly extended, because it pays well. Oil and whiskey are extensi\’

    ely manufactured, packed in wicker baskets lined with

    paper and transported on Avheelbarrows. The wild and domestic

    animals are numerous. ^Vmong the latter the hogs and mules,

    more than any other kind, furnish food and transportation ;

    while tigers, panthers, and leopards, bears, wolves, and foxes

    reward the hunters for their pains in killing them.

    The province of Tsi-tsi-hak, or Ilehlung kiang, comprises the

    northwest of Manchuria, extending four hundred miles from

    east to west, and about five hundred from north to south. It is

    bounded north by the Amur, from Sliilka to its junction with

    the Songari ; east and southeast by Ivirin, from which the

    Songari partly separates it ; southwest by Mongolia, and west

    by the lliver Argun, dividing it from Russia. The greatest part

    of it is occupied by the valley of the Noimi, jSToun or IS^iin ; its

    area of about two hundred thousand square miles is mostly an

    iminhabited, mountainous wilderness. It is divided into six

    commanderies, viz. : Tsitsihar, Ilulan, Putek, Merguen, Sagalien

    ula, and Ilurun-pir, whose officers have control over the

    tribes within their limits; of these, Sagalien or Igoon is the

    chief town in the northeast districts, and is used by the government

    of Peking as a penal settlement. The town stands on a

    plain but a rood or so above the river, Avhich sweeps off to the

    mountains in the distance. Here is posted a large force of officers

    and men, their extensive barracks indicating the importance

    attached to the place. The garrison has gradually attracted a

    THE PROVINCE OF TSI-TSI-IIAR. 199

    population of natives and Chinese from the south, who live by

    fishing and hunting, as well as farming.

    Tsitsihar, the capital of the province, lies on the River

    ]^onni, in lat. 47° 20′ N., and long, 124° E., and is a place of some

    trade, resorted to by the tribes near the river. Merguen, Hurunpir,

    and Ilulan are situated upon rivers, and accessible when

    the waters are free from ice. Tsitsihar was built in 1692 by

    Kanghi to owerawe the neighboring tribes. It is inclosed hy a

    stockade and a ditch. The one-stoi-ied houses are constructed

    of logs, or of brick stuccoed, where timber is dear, and warmed

    by the brick beds ; the tall chimneys outside the main buildings

    give a peculiar appearance to villages. Pulse, maize, tobacco,

    millet, and wheat, and latterly poppy are common crops. The

    valley of the Nonni is cultivated by the Taguri Manchus, among

    whom six thousand six hundred families of Yakutes settled in

    1687, when they emigrated from Siberia. The Korchin Mongols

    occupy the country south and west of this valley. Some

    of its streams produce large pearls. The region lying between

    the Sialkoi Mountains and the River Argun is rough and sterile,

    presenting few inducements to agriculturalists. Fish abound

    in all the rivers, and furs are sought in the hills. Pasturage is

    excellent in the bottoms. Fairs, between the natives and Cossacks,

    are constantly held at convenient places on the Argun

    and other rivers. The racial distinction between the Mongols

    and Manchus is here seen in the agricultural labors of the latter,

    so opposed to the nomadic habits of the former. This

    region has, within the last half century, attracted Chinese settlers

    from Shantung and Chihli. These colonists are fast filling

    up the vacant lands along the rivers, dispossessing the Manchus

    by their thrift and industry, and making the country far more

    valuable. They will in this way secure its possession to the

    Peking Government, and bring it, by degrees, under Chinese

    control, greatly to the benefit of all. In early days the policy

    of the Manchus, like that of the E. I. Company in India towardg

    British immigration, discountenanced the entrance of Chinese

    settlers, and in both cases to the disadvantage of the ruling

    power.

    The administration of Manchuria consists of a supreme civil

    200 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    government at Mukden, and three provincial military one.’-,

    though Shingking is under both civil and military. There are

    live Boards, each under a president, whose duties are analogous

    to those at Peking. The oversight of the city itself is under a

    fiiyia or mayor, superior to the prefect. The three provinces

    are under as many marshals, whose subordinates rule the conimanderies,

    and these last have garrison officers subject to them,

    whose rank and power correspond to the size and importance of

    their districts. These delegate part of their power to ” assistant

    directors,” or residents, who are stationed in every town ; on

    the frontier posts, the officers have a higher grade, and report

    directly to the marshals or their lieutenants. All the officers,

    both civil and military, are Manchus, and a great portion of

    them belong to the imperial clan, or are intimately connected

    with it. By this arrangement, the Manchus are in a measure

    disconnected with the general government of the provinces,

    furnished wnth offices and titles, and induced to recommend

    themselves for promotion in the Empire by their zeal and fidelity

    in their distant posts.’

    Mongolia is the first in order of the colonies, by which are

    meant those parts of the Empire under the control of the Ll-fan

    Yaen, or Foi’eign Office.” According to the statistics of the

    Empire, it comprises the region lying between lats. 35° and 52°

    X., and from long. 82° to 123° E. ; bounded north by the

    Russian governments of Trans-Baikalia, L’kutsk, Yeniseisk,

    Tomsk, and Semipolatinsk ; northeast and east by Manchuria

    ;

    south by the provinces of Chihli and Shansi, and the Yellow

    River ; southwest by Kansuh ; and west by Cobdo and Ili.

    These limits are not very strictly marked at all points, but the

    lengtli from east to west is about seventeen hundred miles,

    and one thousand in its greatest breadth, inclosing an area of

    ‘ Rev. Alex. Williamson, Travels in Northern China. London, 1870.

    Vol. II., Chaps. I. to XIV. ; Chinene Reposltorij, Vols. IV., p. 57 ; XV., p. 454 -,

    Phinene Itecorder, Vol. VII., \HH\, ” The Ris« and Progress of the Maujows,”

    by J. Ross, pp. 155, 2;}5, and ;515.

    ” Compare Niebuhr’s Flistori/ of Rome, Vol. II., Sect. “Of the Colonies,”

    where can be observed the essential differences between Roman settlements

    abroad and those of the Chinese ; and still greater differences will be fonnd in

    contrasting these with the offsets of Grecian States.

    CLIMATE AXU DIVISIOXS OF MONGOLIA. 201

    1,400,000 square miles, supporting an estimated population uf

    two millions. This elevated plain is almost destitute of wood

    or water, inclosed southward by the mountains of Tibet, and

    northward by offsets from the Altai range. The central part

    is occupied by the desert of Gobi, a barren steppe having an

    average height of 4,000 feet above the sea level, and destitute

    of all running water. Owing to its elevation, extremely vari.:-

    l)le climate, and the absence of oases, it may be considered quite

    as terrible as Sahara, although the sand-waste liere is, perhaps,

    hardly as unmitigated.

    The climate of Mongolia is excessively cold for the latitude,

    arising partly from its elevation and dry atmosphere, and, on

    the steppes, to the want of shelter from the winds. But this

    has its compensation in an unclouded sky and the genial rays of

    the sun, which support and cheer the people to exertion when

    the thermometer is far below zero. The air has been drained of

    its moisture by the ridges on every side ; day after day the

    sun’s heat reaches the eartli with smaller loss than obtains in

    moister regions in the same latitudes. Otherwise these wastes

    would support no life at all at such an elevation. In the districts

    bordering on Chihli, the people make their houses partly

    under ground, in order to avoid the inclemency of the season.

    The soil in and upon the confines of this high land is unfit for

    agricultural purposes, neither snow nor rain falling in suflicient

    quantities, except on the acclivities of the mountain ranges ;

    but millet, barley, and wheat might be raised north and south

    of it. The nomads rejoice in their freedom from tillage, however,

    and move about with their herds and possessions Avithin

    the limits marked out by the Chinese for each tribe to occupy.

    The space on the north of Gobi to the confines of Russia,

    about one hundred and fifty miles wide, is warmer than the

    desert, and supports a greater population than the southern

    sides. Cattle arc numerous on the hilly tracts, but none are

    found in the desert, where wild animals and birds hold undisputed

    possession. The thermometer in winter sinks to thirty

    and forty degrees below zero (Fr.), and sudden and great

    changes are frequent. Xo month in the year is free from snow

    or frost ; but on the steppes, the heat in summer is almost

    202 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    intolerable, owing to the radiation from the sandy or stony

    surface. The snow does not fall very deep, and even in cold

    weather the cattle find food under it ; the flocks and herds are

    not, however, large.

    The principal divisions of Mongolia are four, viz. : 1, Inner

    Mongolia, lying between the Wall and south of the desert ; 2,

    Outer Mongolia, between the desert and the Altai Mountains,

    and reaching from the Inner Iling-an to the Tien shan ; 3, the

    country about Koko-nor, between Kansuh, Sz’chuen, and Tibet

    ;

    and, 4, the dependencies of Uliasutai, lying northwestward of

    the Kalkas khanates. The whole of this region has been included

    under the comprehensive name of Tartary, and if the

    limits of Inner and Outer Mongolia had been the bounds of Tartary,

    the appellation would have been somewhat appropriate.

    But when Genghis arose to power, he called his own tribe

    Kitkai Mongol^ ‘ Celestial People,’ and designated all the

    other tribes Tatars^ that is ‘ tributaries.’ ‘ The three tribes of

    Kalkas, Tsakhars, and Sunnites, now constitute the great body

    of Mongols under Chinese rule.

    Inner Mongolia, or Nui MunyJcu, is bounded north by

    Tsitsihar, the Tsetsen khanate, and Gobi, their frontiers being

    ‘ Abulgasi-Bayadui-clian (lIi»toire Genenlogique des Tatars, traduite du

    Manuscript Tartare ; Leyde : 172G), gives another derivation for these two

    names. ” Alanza-chan eut deux lils jumeaiix I’un appelle Tatar and I’autre

    Mogull oil pour bien dire Muiig’l, entre les quels il partagea ses Estates lorsqu’il

    se vit sur la fin de sa vie.” It is the first prince, he adds, from whom

    came the name Tartar—not from a river called Tata, as some liave .stated—

    wliile of the second : ” Le terme Mung’l a ests change par une corruption generale

    en Mogull ; Mung vent dire trMe on un homme triste, et i)aroeque ce

    prince estoit naturellement d’une humeur fort triste, il porta ce nom dans la

    verite”—(pp. 27-29). But Visdelon (D’Herbelot, ed. 1778, Tome IV., p. 327)

    shows more acquaintance with their history in producing proofs that the name

    Tatar was applied in the eightli century by the Chinese to certain tribes living

    north of the in shan, Ala shan, and River Liau. In the dissensions following

    upon the ruin of the Tang dynasty, some of them migrated eastwards beyond

    the Songari, and there in time rallied to subdue the northern provinces,

    under the name of Nu-cldh. These are the ancestors of the Manchus. Another

    fraction went north to the marshy banks of Lakes Hurun and Puyur,

    where they received the name of Moungul Tahtsz\ i.e., Marsh Tatars. This

    tribe and name it was that the warlike Genghis afterwards made conspicuous

    The sound Mogul used in India is a dialectal variation.

    TRIBES OF INNER MONGOLIA. 203

    almost luidefinable ; east by Ivirin and Sliingking ; south hy

    Chihli and Shansi ; and west by Kansuli. Wherever it runs

    the Wall is popularly regarded as the boundary between China

    and Mongolia. The country is divided into six m/’nj or clialkans^

    like our corps, and twenty-four aimahs ‘ (tribes), which are

    again placed under forty-nine standards or Ihochoun^ each of

    which generally includes about two thousand families, commanded

    l)y hereditary princes, or dsassaks. The principal

    tribes are the Kortchin and Ortous. The large tribe of the

    Tsakhars, which occupies the region north of the Wall, is governed

    by a tatanfj, or general, residing at Kalgan, and their

    pasture gi-ounds are now nominally included in the province of

    Chihli. The province of Shansi in like manner includes the

    lands occupied by the Toumets, who are under the control of a

    general stationed at Suiyuen, beyond the Yellow E-iver. In the

    pastures northwest from Kalgan, in the vicinity of Lakes

    Chazau and Ichi, and reaching more than a hundred miles from

    the Great Wall, lie the tracts appropriated to raising horses for

    the ” Yellow Banner Corps.” Excepting such grazing lands or

    the vast hunting grounds near Jeh-lio, reserved in like manner

    by the government, small settlements of Chinese are continually

    squatting over the plains of Inner Mongolia, from whence they

    have already succeeded in driving many of the aboriginal Mongol

    tribes off to the north. Those natives who will not retire

    are fain to save themselves from starvation or absorption by

    cultivating the soil after the fashion of their neighbors, the

    Chinese immigrants. It was, indeed, this influx of settlers

    which led Ivanghi to erect the southern portion of Inner Mongolia

    into prefectures and districts like China Proper. This

    alteration of habits among its population seems destined, ere

    long, to modify the aspect of the country.

    Most of the smaller tribes, except the Ortous, live between

    the western frontiers of Manchuria, and the steppes reaching

    north to the Sialkoi range, and south to Chahar. These tribes

    are peculiarly favored by the Manchus, from their having joined

    them in their conquest of China, and their leading men are

    ‘ Abulgasi (p. 8:’) fviniislies a notice of these aiinaks and their origin.

    204 thp: middle kingdom.

    often promoted to liigh stations in the government of the

    country.

    OcjTEK Mongolia, or Wal Muivjhu^ is the wild tract Iving

    north of the last as far as Russia. It is bounded north bv

    Russia, east by Tsitsihar, southeast and south by Inner Mongolia,

    southwest by Bai’kul in Kansuli, west by Tarbagatai,

    and northwest by Cobdo and Uliasutui. The desert of CJobi

    occupies the southern half of the i-egion. It is divided into

    four lu^ or circuits, each of which is governed by a khan or

    prince, claiming direct descent fi’om Genghis, and superintending

    the internal management of his own khanate. The Tsetseu

    khanate lies west of Ilurun-pir in Tsitsiliar, extending from

    Russia south to Inner Mongolia. West of it, reaching from

    Siberia across the desert to Inner Mongolia, lies the Tuchetu

    (or Tut<letii of Klaproth’) khanate, the most considerable of the

    four ; the road fi’om Iviakhta to Ivalgan lies within its borders.

    “West of the last, and bounded south by Gobi and northeast

    by Uliasutai, lies the region of the Kalkas of Sainnoin ; and on

    its northwest li(3S the Dsassaktu khanate, south of Uliasutai,

    and reaching to Barkul and Cobdo on the south and west. All

    of them are politically under the control of two IManchu residents

    stationed at I’rga, who direct the mutual interests of the

    Mongols, Chinese, and Russians.

    Ilrga, or Ivuren, the capital, is situated in the Tuchetu khanate,

    in lat. 48° 20′ X., and long. 1()T^° E., on the Tola River, a

    branch of the Selenga. It is the largest and most important

    place in Mongolia, and is divided into ^fahiia’i cJi’tn, the Chinese

    quartei’, and Jhxjdo-Iviu’c’ii^ the Mongol settlement, nearly

    three miles from the other. Its total population is estimated at

    30,000, the Chinese inhabitants of M’hich are forbidden by law

    to live with their families ; of the Mongols here, by far the larger

    part is composed of lamas. In the estimation of these people

    Ilrga stands next to Il’lassa in degree of sanctity, being the seat

    of the third person in the Tibetan 2)atriarchate. According to

    the Lama doctrine this dignitary—the Kutuktu—is the terrestrial

    impersonation of the Godhead and never dies, but passes.

    ‘ Meinoires, Tome I., p. 3.

    OUTER MONGOLIA. 205

    after lils apparent decease, into the body of some newly born

    boy, who is songlit for afterwards according to the prophetic

    indications of the Dalai-lania in Tibet. Tliis holy potentate,

    thongh of limited education and entirely nnder the control of

    the attendant lamas, exercises an nnbonnded influence over the

    Kalkas. It is, indeed, by means of him that the Chinese officials

    control the native I’aces of Mongolia. His wealth, owing to

    contributions of enthusiastic devotees, is enoi-mous ; in and

    about Urga he owns 150,000 slaves, an abundance of worldly

    goods, and the most pretentious palace in Mongolia. Outside

    of its religious buildings, Urga is disgustingly dirty ; the filth

    is thrown into the streets, and the habits of the people are

    loathsome. Decrepid beggars and starving dogs infest the

    Avays ; dead bodies, instead of being interred, are flung to birds

    and beasts of prey ; Imts and liovels afford shelter for both rich

    and poor.*

    The four khanates constitute one ahaah or tribe, subdivided

    into eighty-six standards, each of which is restricted to a certain

    territory, within which it wanders about at pleasure. There

    are altogether one hundred and thirty-five standards of the

    Mongols. The Kalkas chiefiy live between the Altai Mountains

    and Gobi, but do not cultivate the soil to much effect.

    They are devoted to Buddhism, and the lamas hold most of the

    power in their hands through the KatfiMu. They render an

    annual tribute to the Emperor of horses, camels, sheep, and

    other animals or their skins, and receive presents in return of

    many times its value, so that they are kept in subjection by

    constant bril)ing ; the least restiveness on their part is visited

    by a reduction of presents and other penalties. An energetic

    government, however, is not wanting in addition. The supreme

    tribunal is at Urga ; it is the yaiiiKii, par excellence, and has

    both civil and military jurisdiction. The decisions are subject

    to the revision of the two Chinese residents, and sentences

    are usually carried into execution after their confirmation.

    The punishments are horribly sev^ere ; but only a decided

    ‘ Prejevalsky, Monrjolia, Vol. I. ; Pumpelly, Across America, pp. 382-385 ;

    Michie, Across Siberia.

    206 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    and cruel hand over these wild tribes can keep them from constant

    strife.

    Letters are encouraged among them by the Manchus, but

    Avith little success. Many Buddhist books have been translated

    into Mongolian by order of the Emperors ; nor can we wonder

    at the indifference to literature when this stuff is the aliment

    ])rovided them. Their tents, or yu/’ts, are made of wooden

    laths fastened together so as to form a coarse lattice-work ; the

    framework consists of several lengths securer! with ropes, leaving

    a door about three feet square. The average size is twelve

    feet across and ten feet high ; its shape is round and the conical

    roof admits light where it emits smoke. The poles or rafters

    are looped to the sides, and fastened to a hoop at the top.

    Upon this framework sheets of heavy felt are secured according

    to the season. A hearth in the centre holds the fire which

    heats the kettle hanging over it, and warms the inmates squatted

    round, who usually place only felt and sheepskins under

    them. The felt protects from cold, rain, snow, and heat in a

    wonderful manner. A first-class yiwt is by no means an uncomfortable

    dwelling, with its furniture, lining, shrine, and hot

    kettle in the centre. A carpet for sleeping and sitting on is sometimes

    seen in yurts of the wealthier classes; in these, too, the

    walls are lined with cotton or silk, and the floors are of wood.

    The lodges of the rich Kalkas have several apartments, and are

    elegantly furnished, but destitute of cleanliness, comfort, or

    airiness. Most of their cloths, utensils, and arms ai’o procured

    from the Chinese. The Sunnites are fewer than the Kalkas,

    and roam the wide wastes of Gobi. Both derive some revenue

    fi’om conducting caravans across their counti-y, but depend for

    their livelihood chiefly upon the produce of their herds and

    hunting. Their princes are obliged to reside in Urga, or keep

    hostages there, in order that the residents nuiy direct and restrain

    their conduct ; but their devotion to the Katitktu^ and

    the easy life they lead, are the strongest inducements to remain.

    The trade with Tlussia formerly all passed through Iviakhta,

    a town near the frontier, and was carried on by special agents

    and officials appointed by each nation. The whole business

    was managed in the interest of the govermnent, and its ramiK-

    IAKHTA AND THE TRADE WITH RUSSIA. 207

    fications furnished employment, position, and support to so

    many persons as to form a bond of union and guaranty of peace

    between them and their subjects. Timkowski’s jonrney with

    the decennial mission to Peking in 1820-21 furnishes one of

    the best accounts of this trade and intercourse now accessible,

    and with Klaproth’s notes, given iti the English translation

    published in 1827, has long been the chief reliable authority

    for the divisions and organization of the Mongol tribes. Since

    the opening of the Suez Canal, through which Russian steamers

    carry goods to and fro between Odessa and China, the largest

    portion of the Chinese produce no longer goes to Kiakhta.

    That which is required for Siberia is sent from Hankow by way

    of Shansi’, or from Kalgan and Tientsin, under the direction of

    Russian merchants at those places. Furs, which once formed

    the richest part of this produce, are gradually diminishing in

    quality and quantity wdth the increase of settlers. In 1843 the

    export of black tea for Russian consumption was only eight

    millions of pounds, besides the brick tea taken by the Mongols.

    Cottrell states the total value of the trade, annually, at that

    period, at a hundred millions of rubles, reckoned then to be equal

    to $20,830,000, on w^hich the Russians paid, in 1836, about

    $2,500,000 as import duty. The data respecting this trade of

    forty years ago are not very accurate, probably ; the monopoly

    was upheld mostly for the benefit (.>f the officials, as private

    traders found it too much burdened.

    Kiakhta is a haudet of no importance apart from the trade.

    The frontier here is marked by a row of granite columns ; a stockade

    separates it from Maimai chin. Pumpelly says : ” One

    can hardly imagine a sharper line than is here drawn. On the

    one side of the stockade wall, the houses, churches, and people

    are European, on the other, Chinese. With one step the traveller

    passes really from Asia and Asiatic customs and language,

    into a refined European society.’” The goods pay duty at the

    Russian douane in a suburb of fifty houses, near Kiakhta. The

    Chinese town is also a small place, numbering between twelve

    and fifteen hundred men (no women being allowed in the settlement)

    who lived in idleness most of the year. This curious

    haudet has two principal streets crossing at right angles, and gates at the four ends, in the wooden muU which surrounds it.

    These streets are badly paved, while their narrowness barely allows the passage of two camels abreast. The one-storied houses are constructed of wood, roofed Avith turf or boards, and consist of two small rooms, one used as a shop and the other as a bedroom. The windows in the rear apartment are made of oiled paper or mica, but the door is the only opening in the shop.

    The dwellings are kept clean, the furniture is of a superior description, and considerable taste and show are seen in displaying the goods. The traders live hixuriously, and attract a great crowd there during the fair in February, when the goods are exchanged. They are under the control of a Manchu, called the dzargneh’i, who is appointed for three years, and superintends the police of the settlement as Mell as the commercial proceedings. There are two Buddhist temples here served by lamas, and containing five colossal images sitting cross-legged, and numerous smaller idols.’

    The western portion of Mongolia, between the meridians of

    84^ and *JG^ E., extending from near the western extremity of

    Kansuh province to the confines of Russia, comprising Uliasutai

    and its dependencies, Cobdo, and the Kalkas and Tom–gouths of the Tangini JNEountains, is less kiunvn than any other part of it. The residence of the superintending officer of this province is at [Tliasutai (i.e., ‘ Poplar drove ‘), a tt»wn lying northwest of the Seleuira, in the khanate of Sainnoin, in a wiill cultivated and pleasant valley.

    Conno, according to the ( 1iin(\se ma])s, lies in the northwest of Mongolia ; it isbounded north and west by the government Yeniseisk, northeast by I’lianghai, and southeast by the Dsassakt.i khanate, south by Kansidi, and west by Tarbagatai. The part occupied by the Ulianghai or Fi-iyangkit tribes of the Tangmi ^lountains lies northeast of ( ‘olxlo, and nctrth of the Sainnoin and Dsassaktu khanates, and separated from Kussia by the Altai.

    These tribes are allied to the Samoj^eds, and the i ule over th(Mn is ^CoiirAV?, Recollections of Sibena, Chap. IX., p. 314; Timkowski’s T/aveU, Vol. I., ])p. 4-91, 1821 ; PumpHlly, Acnm America and Asia, p. ;]S7, 1871 ; Klapi-oth, Memoires, Toiuu I., p. (Jo ; Kittor, J),’e Erdkuiule run Asien, Bd. II., l>l.. 11)8-1220.

    THE PROVINCE OF COBDO. 200

    administered bv twenty-five siiljordinate military officers, subject

    to the resident at Uliasutai. This city is said to contain

    about two tliousand liouses, is regularly built, and carries on

    some trade with Urga ; it lies on the Iro, a tributary of the

    Jabkan. Cobdo comprises eleven tribes of Kalkas divided into

    thirty-one standards, whose princes obey an amban at Cobdo

    City, himself subordinate to the resident at Uliasutai. The

    Chinese rule over these tribes is conducted on the same principles

    as that over the other IVLjngols, and they all render fealty to

    the Emperor through the chief resident at Uliasutai, but liow

    much obedience is really paid his orders is not known. The

    Kalkas submitted to the Emperor in 1688 to avoid extinction in

    their war with the Eleuths, by whom they had been defeated.

    Cobdo contains several lakes, many of which I’eceivc rivers without having any outlet. The largest is Upsa-nor, which receives from the east the Kiver Tes, and the Iki-aral-nor into which the Jabkan runs. The Hiver Irtysh falls into Lake Dzaisang.

    The existence of so many rivers indicates a more fertile country north of the Altai or Ektag Mountains, but no bounties of nature would avail to induce the inhabitants to adopt settled modes of living and cultivate the soil, if such a clannish state of society exists among them as is described by M. Levchine to be the case among their neighbors, the Kirghis.

    The tribes in Cobdo resemble the American Lidians in their habits, disputes, and modes of life, more than the eastern Kalkas, who approximate in their migratory character to the Arabs.

    The province of Qinghai, or Koko-nor (called Tsok-gumbam by the Tanguts), is not included in Mongolia by European geographers, nor in the Chinese statistical works is it comprised within its borders ; the inhabitants are, however, mostly Mongols, both Buddhist and Moslem, and the government is conducted on the same plan as that over the Kalkas tribes further north.

    This region is known in the histories of Central Asia under the names of Tangout, Sifan, Turfan, etc. On Chinese maps it is politically called Qinghai(‘Azure Sea’), but in their books is named Si Tn or Si Yi/t, ‘ western Limits.’ The borders are now limited on the north by Kansuh, southeast by Sz’chuen, south by Anterior Tibet, and west by the desert, comprising about four degrees of latitude and eleven of longitude. It includes within its limits several large lakes, which receive rivers into their bosoms, and many of them having no outlets.

    The Azure Sea is the largest, lying at an altitude of 10,500 feet and overlooked by high mountains, which in winter are covered with snow, and in summer form an emerald frame that deepens the blueness of the Avater. . It is over 200 miles in circuit, and its evaporation is replaced by the inflowing waters of eight large streams ; oue small islet contains a monaster}’, whose inmates are freed from their solitude only when the ice makes a bridge, as no boat is known to have floated on its salt

    water. The wide, moist plains on the east and west furnish

    pasturage for domestic and wild animals, and constant collisions

    occur between the tribes resorting there for food. The travels

    of Abbe Hue and Col. Prejevalsky furnish nearly all that is

    known concerning the productions and inhabitants of Koko-nor.

    The country is nominally divided into thirty-four banners, and

    its Chinese rulers reside at Si’ning, east of the lake ; but they

    have more to do in defending themselves than in protecting

    their subjects. The Avhole country is occupied by the Tanguts

    of Til)etan origin, who are brigands by profession, and roam

    over the mountains around the headwaters of the Yangtsz’ and

    Yellow Kivers ; by the Mohammedan Dunganis, who have latterly

    been nearly destroyed in their recent rebellion ; and by

    tribes of Mongols under the various names of Eleuths, Kolos,

    Kalkas, Surgouths, and Koits. The Chinese maps are filled

    with names of various tribes, but their statistical accounts are as

    meagre of information as the maps are deficient in accurate and

    satisfactory delineations.

    THE PROVINCE AND LAKE OF KOKO-NOR. 211

    The topographical features of this region are still imperfectly known, and its inhospitable climate is rendered more dangerous by man’s barbarity. High mountain masses alternate with narrow valleys and a few large depressions containing lakes ; the country lying south of the Azure Sea, as far as Burmah, is exceedingly mountainous. “West and southwest of the lake extends the plain of Chaidamu, which at a recent geological age has been the bed of a huge lake; it is now covered with morasses, shaking bogs, small rivers, and sheets of water—the most considerable of the latter bemg Lake Kara, in the extreme western portion.

    The saline argillaceous soil of this region is not adapted to vegetation. Large animals are scarce, due in part to the plague of

    insects which compels even the natives to retreat to the mountains

    with their herds during certain seasons. Its inhabitants

    are the same as those of Eastei-n Koko-nor ; thej are divided

    into five banners, and number about 1,000 yurts^ or 5,000 souls.

    The Burkhan-buddha range forms the southern boundary of

    this plain, and the northernmost limit of the lofty plateau of

    Tibet. Its length from east to west is not far from 130 miles,

    its eastern extremity being near the Yegrai-ula (the near sources

    of the Yellow Eiver) and Toso-nor. The range has no lofty

    peaks, and stretches in an unbroken chain at a height of 15,000

    to 16,000 feet ; it is terribly barren, but does not attain the

    line of perpetual snow. The southern range, which separates

    the headwaters of the Yellow and Yangtsz’ Rivers, is called the

    Bayan-kara Mountains ; that northw^est of this is called on

    Chinese maps, Kilien shan and Kan shan, and bounds the desert

    on the south. On the northern declivities of the T^an shan

    range are several towns lying on or near the road leading across

    Central Asia, which leaves the valley of the Yellow Eiver at

    Lanchau, in Kansuh, and runs X.X.W. over a rough country to

    Liangchau, a town of some importance situated in a fertile and

    populous district. From this place it goes northwest to Kanchau,

    noted for its manufactures of felted cloths which are in

    demand among the Mongol tribes of Koko-nor, and where large

    quantities of rhubarb, horses, sheep, and other commodities are

    procured. Going still northwest, the traveller reaches Suhchau,

    the last large place before passing the Great Wall, which renders

    it a mart for provisions and all articles brought from the

    west in exchange for the manufactures of China. This city

    was the last stronghold of the Dungani Moslems, and when

    they were destroyed in 1873 it began to revive out of its ruins.

    About fifty miles from this town is the pass of Kiayii, beyond

    which the road to Hami, Urumtsi, and 111 leads directly across

    the desert, here about three hundred miles wide. This route

    has been for ages the line of internal communication between the west of China and the regions lying around and in the basins of the Tarini river and the (‘asi)ian.’ A better idea of the security of traffic and caravans within the Empire, and consequently of the goodness of the Chinese rule, is obtained by comparing the usually safe travel on this route with the hazards, robberies, and poverty formerly met with on the great roads in ]5okhara, and the regions south and west of the Belur tag.

    The productions of Koko-nor consist of grain and other vegetables raised along the bottoms of the rivers and margins of the lakes ; sheep, cattle, horses, camels, and other aninuds. Alpine liares, wild asses,’ wild yaks, vultures, lammergeiers, pheasants, antelopes, wolves, mountain sheep, and wild camels are among the denizens of the wilds. The Chinese have settled among the tribes, and Mohammedans of Turkish origin are found in the large towns. There are eight corps between Koko-nor and

    Iliasutai, comprising all the tribes and banners, and over which

    are placed as many supreme generals or commanders appointed

    from Peking. The leading tribes in Ivoko-nor are Eleuths,

    Tanguts, and Tourbeths, the former of M’hom are the remnants

    of one of the most powerful tribes in Centi-al Asia. Tangout

    submitted to the Emperor in 1G90, and its population since the

    incorporation has greatly increased. They iidiabit the hilly region

    of Kansuh, Ivoko-nor^ Eastern Tsaidam, and the basin of

    the Upper Yellow Kiver. They resemble gipsies, being above

    the average in height, with thick-set features, broad shoulders,

    liair and whiskers, black, dark eyes, nose straight, lips thick

    and protruding, face long and never flat, skin tawny. Unlike

    the Mongols aiul Chinese they have a strong growth of beard

    and whiskers which, however, they always shave. They wear

    no tail, Ijut shave their heads; their dress consists of furs and

    cloths made into long coats that reach to the knees. Shirts or

    trowsers are not made use of ; their upper logs are generally

    left bare. Women dress like the men. Their habitations are wooden huts or black cloth tents. The Tangut is cunning,

    ‘Compare Richthofen, China, Band I., 2or Thoil. ; Yulo, Cathaij and t/ie Way Thither, passim.

    •The wild ass is called by Prejevalsky the most remarkable animal of these steppes. Compare Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 220 (2d edition).

    THE TANGUTS AND NOMADS OF KOKO-NOR. 218

    stingy, lazy, and sliiftless. His sole occupation that of tending

    cattle (yaks). He is even more zealous a Buddhist than are the

    Mongols, and extremely superstitious.” The trade at Sining is

    large, but not equal to that between Yunnan and Burniah at

    Tall and Bhamo ; dates, rhubarb, chowries, precious stones, felts,

    cloths, etc., are among the commodities seen in the bazaar. It

    lies about a hundred miles from the sea, at an elevation of

    V,800 feet, and near it is the famous laraasary of Ivunibum,

    where MM. Hue and Gabet lived in 1845. The town is well

    situated upon the Sining ho, and though constructed for the

    most part of wood, presents a fine appearance owing to the

    number of official buildings therein. The population numbers

    some 00,00(1 souls.”

    ‘ For a notice of the Ouigours, who formerly ruled Tangout, consult Klaproth, Memmres, Tome II., p. 301, if. See also Remusat, Nouveaux Melanges Asiati’ques, Tome II., p. 61, for a notice of the Ta-ta tung’o, who applied their letters to write Mongolian.

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 113; Vol. I., p. 118. Penny Cyclopaedia, Arts. Bayan Kara, Tangut. Kreitner, Imfemen Osten, p. 703. Hue, Tr^i*-els, passim.

    The towns lying between the treat Wall and ill, though politically belonging to Xansuh, are more connected with the colonies in their form of government than with the Eighteen Provinces. The first town beyond the Kiayii Pass is Yulimim, distant about ninety miles, and is the residence of officers, who attend to the caravans going to and from the pass. It is represented as lying near the junction of two streams, which flow northerly into the Purunki. The other district town of Tunhwang lies across a mountainous country, upwards of two hundred miles distant. The city of Xgansi chau has been built to facilitate the communication across the desert to Hami or Kamil, the first town in Songaria, and the depot of troops, arms, and munitions of Avar. “With the town of Hami,” says an Austrian visitor in these regions, ” the traveller comes upon the southern foot-hills of the Tien shan, and the first traces of Siberian civilization. Magnificent mountain scenery accompanies him on his way toward the west to the Pussian line. In the government of Semipolatinsk are the express mail-wagons wliicli stand ready at his order to carry him at furious speed to the town of the same name, then to the right bank of the River Irtjsh, and so to Omsk.” ‘ This route and that stretching towards the southwest bring an important trade to llanii ; the country around it is cuUivated by poor Mongols.” Barkul, or Chinsi fu, in hit. 43° 40′ ]X., and long. 93° 30’ E., is the most important place in the department ; the district is called Iho hien. A thousand Manchus, and three thousand Chinese, guard the post. The town is situated on the south of Lake Barkul, and its vicinity receives some cultivation, llami and Turfan each form a ihi(j district in the southeast and west of the department. The trade at all these places consists mostly of articles of food and clothing.

    Urumtsi, c)r Tih-hwa chau (the Bivh-halih of the Ouigours in 1100 % in hit. 43° 45′ N., and long. 89° E., is the westernmost department of Kansuh, divided into three districts, and containing many posts and settlements. In the war with the Eleuths in 1770, the inhabitants around this place were exterminated, and the countiy afterwards repeopled by upwards of ten thousand troops, with their families, and by exiles; emigrants from Kansuh were also induced to settle there. The Chinese accounts

    speak of a high monntain near the city, always covered

    with ice and snow, whose base is wooded, and abounding with

    pheasants ; coal is also obtained in this region. The cold is

    great, and snow falls as late as July. Many parts produce

    grain and vegetables. All this department formerly constituted

    a portion of Songaria. The policy of the Chinese government

    is to induce the tribes to settle, by placing large bodies of troops

    with their families at all important points, and sending their

    exiled criminals to till the soil ; the Mongols then find an increasing demand for their cattle and other products, and are induced to become stationary to meet it. So far as is known, this policy had succeeded well in the regions beyond the Wall, and those around Koko-nor ; but the rebellion of the Dunganis, who arose in these outlying regions at the moment when the energies of the Peking government were all directed to suppressing the Tai-ping insurrection, destroyed these improvements, and frustrated, for an indefinite period, the promising development of civilization among the inhabitants.

    ‘ Lieut. Krcitner, Imfernen Osten.

    ” In Remusat’s Ilii^toire de la VUle de Khotun (p. 70) there is an account of a journey made in the lOth century between Kanchan and Klioten.

    ^ Remusat calls it PciUiUope. Nouveaux MelamjeSy Tome I., p. 5.

    DIVISIONS AND BOUNDARIES OF ILI. 215

    That part of the Empire called Ili is a vast region lying on

    each side of the Tien shan, and including a tract nearly as large

    as Mongolia, and not much more susceptible of cultivation. Its

    limits may be stated as extending from lat. 36° to 49° K., and

    from long. 71° to 96° E., and its entire area, although difficult

    to estimate from its irregularity, can hardly be less than 900,000

    square miles, of which Songaria occupies rattier more than onethird.

    It is divided into two Lu^ or ‘ Circuits,’ viz., the Tien

    shan Pell Lu, and Tien shan Nan Lu, or the circuits north and

    south of the Celestial Mountains. The former is commonly

    designated Songaria, or Dzungaria, from the Songares or

    Eleuths, who ruled it till a few scores of years past, and the latter

    used to be known as Little Bokhara, or Eastern Turkestan.

    tli is bounded north by the Altai range, separating it from

    the Kirghls ; northeast by the Irtysh Piver and Outer Mongolia

    ; east and southeast by ITrumtsi and Barkul in Ivansuh ;

    south by the desert and the Ivwanlun range ; and west by the

    Belur-tag, dividing it from Badakshan and Russian territory.’

    ‘ The recent treaty between Russia and China (ratified in 1881), marks the boundaries between Ili and Russian territory in the following sections: Art. VII. A tract of country in the west of Ili is ceded to Russia, where those who go over to Russia and are thereby dispossessed of their land in tli may settle. The boundary line of Chinese tli and Russian territory will stretch from the Pieh-chen-tao [Bedschin-tau] Mountains along the course of the Hocrh-kwo-ssU [Yehorsos] River, to its junction with the Ili River, thence across the 111 River, and south to the east of the village of Kwo-li-cha-ti”‘ [Kaldschatl on the Wu-tsung-tau range, and from this point south along the old boundary line fixed by the agreement of Ta-Cheng [Tashkend] in the year 1864.

    Art. VIII. The boundary line to the east of the Chi-sang lake, fixed iu the year 1864 by the agreement of Ta-Cheng [Tashkend], having proved unsatisfactory, high officers will be specially deputed by both countries jointly to examine and alter it so that a satisfactory result may be attained. That there may be no doubt what part of the Kliassak country belongs to China and what to Russia, the boundary will consist of a straight line drawn from the Kwei Tung Mountains across the Hei-i-erh-te-shih River to the Sa-wu-crh range, and Ill lenoftli, the Northern Circuit extends about nine hundred miles, and the width, on an average, is three hundred miles. The Southern Circuit reaches nearly twelve hundred and fifty miles from west to east, and varies from three hundred to five hundred in breadth, as it extends to the IvM’unhm range on the south. There is probably most arable land in the Northern Circuit.

    Ili, taken north of the Tarim basin, may be regarded as an

    inland isthmus, extending southwest from the south of Siberia,

    off between the Gobi and Caspian deserts, till it reaches the

    Hindu Kush, leading down to the valley of the Indus. The

    former of these deserts incloses it on the east and south, the

    other on the west and northwest, separated from each other by

    the Belur and Muz-tag ranges, which join with the Tien shan,

    that divide the isthmus itself into t\\o parts. These deserts

    united are equal in extent to that of Sahara, l)ut are not as arid

    and tenantless.

    This region has some peculiar features, among which its great

    elevation, its isolation in respect to its water-courses, and the

    character of its vegetation, are the most remarkable. Songaria

    is especially noticeable for the many closed river-basins which

    occur between the Altai and Tien shan, among the various

    liiinor ranges of hills, each of which is entirely isolated, and

    containing a lake, the receptacle of its drainage. The largest

    of these singular basins is that of the Kiver 111, which runs

    about three hundred miles westward, from its rise in the Tien

    shan (lat. 85°) till it falls into Lake Balkash, which also receives

    some other streams ; the superficies of the whole basin is about forty thousand square miles. The other lakes lie northeastward of Balkash ; the largest of them are the Dzaisang, which receives the Irtysh, the Kisilbasli, into which the ITrungu the liigli of Beors deputed to settle the boundiuy will fix the iit>\v boundary .along such straight line which is within the old bounchxry.

    Art. IX. As to the boundary on the west, between the Province of Fei-rrhkan[Ferghana], which is subject to Russia, and Chinese Kashgar, officials will be deputed V)y both countries to examine it, and they will fix the boundary line between the territories at present actually under the jurisdiction of either country, and they will erect boundary stones thereon.

    TOPOGRAPHY OF ILI. 217

    flows, and four or five smaller ones between them, lying north

    of the city of III. Lake Tenmrtu, or Issik-kul, lies now just

    beyond the southwestern part of this Circuit, and was until

    recently contained therein. This sheet of water is deep and

    never freezes ; it is brackish, but full of fish ; the dimensions

    are about one liundred miles long, and thirty-five wide ; its

    superabundant waters flow oif through the Chu ho into the

    Xirghis steppe.

    The Ala-tau range defines the lake on the north shore. Says

    a Hussian traveller in describing this region, ” It M^ould be difl[icnlt

    to imagine anything more splendid than the view of the

    Tien shan from this spot. The dark blue surface of the Issikkul,

    like sapphire, may M’ell bear comparison with the equally

    blue surface of Geneva Lake, but its expanse—five times as

    great—seeming almost unlimited, and the matchless splendor of

    its background, gives it a grandeur which the Swiss lake does

    not possess. The unbroken, snowy chain liere stretches away

    for at least 200 miles of the length of the Issik-kul ; the sharp

    outlines of the spurs and dark valleys in the front range are

    softened by a thin mist, which hangs over the water and

    heightens the clear, sharp outlines of the white heads of the

    Tien shan giants, as they rise and glisten on the azure canopy

    of a central Asian sky. The line of perpetual snow connnences

    at three-fifths of their slope up, but as one looks, their snowless

    base seems to sink the deeper in the far east, till the waves of

    the lake seem to wash the snowy crests of Ivhan-Tengse.” Forty

    small rivers flow into it, but its size is gradually lessening.’

    Little is known concerning the topography, the productions,

    or the civilization of the tribes who inhabit a large part of Songaria,

    but the efforts of the Chinese government have been

    systematically directed to developing its agricultural resources,

    by stationing bodies of troops, who cultivate the soil, there, and

    by banishing criminals thither, who are obliged to work for and

    assist the troops. It gives one a higher idea of the rulers of

    China, themselves wandering nomads originally, when they are

    seen carrying on such a plan for extending the capabilities of

    these remote parts of their Empire, and teaching, partly by force, partly by bribes, and partly by example, the Mongol tribes under them the advantages of a settled life.

    ‘ Compare also Schuyler, Turkistan, Vol. II., pp. 137 ff

    The productions of Songaria are nnmerons. Wheat, barley,

    rice and millet, are the chief corn stuffs ; tobacco, cotton, melons,

    and some fruits, are grown ; herds of horses, camels, cattle, and

    sheep, afford means of locomotion and food to the people, while

    the mountains and lakes supply game and fish. The inhabitants

    are composed mostly of Eleuths, with a tribe of Tourgouths,

    and remnants of the Songares, together with Mongols, Manchus,

    and Chinese troops, settlers and criminals.

    TiEN-SHAN Peh Lu is divided by the Chinese into three commanderies, llh, on the west, Tarhagatai on the north, and Kurkara usu on the east, between Ili and the west end of Kansuh.

    The government of the ISTorth and South Circuits is under the control of Manchu military officers residing at Ili. This city, called by the Chinese Ilwuiyuen ching, and Gouldja (orlvuldja) and Kuren by the natives, lies on the north bank of the Ili River, in lat. 43° 55′ K., and long. 81^° E. ; it contains about fifty thousand inhabitants, and carries on considerable trade with China through the towns in Ivansuh. The city was defended by six strong fortresses in its neighborhood, and tho solidity of the stone walls enabled it to resist a vigorous assault in the Dungani rebellion. Its circuit is nearly four miles, and two wide avenues cross its centre, dividing it into four equal parts, through each of which run many lanes. Its houses indicate the Turkish origin of its builders in their clay or adobe walls and flat roofs, and this impression is increased by the Junnna mosque of the Taranchis, and the Dungan mosque, outside of the walls. The last has a wonderful minaret built of small roofed pavilions one over another; both of them affect the Chinese architecture in their roofs, and their walls are faced with diamond-shaped tiles. The Buddhist temple has hardly been rebuilt since the city has returned to Chinese rule. The supply of meats and vegetables is constant, and the variety and quality exceed that of most other towns in the region. The population is gradually increasing with the return of peace and trade, but is still under twenty thousand, of which not one-fifth are Chinese and Manchus : the Taranchis constitute half of the whole, and Dunganis are the next in number. The province is the richest and best cultivated of all this reijion of fli : its coal, metals, and fruits are sources of prosperity, and with its return to Chinese sway under new relations in respect to Russian trade, its future is promising.

    TIEN-SHAlSr PEU LU AXD THE TOWX OF KULDJA. 219

    The destruction of life was dreadful at the capture of Kuldja and other towns, which were then left a heap of ruins.’

    Schuyler estimates that not more than a hundred thousand people remained in the province, out of a third of a million in 1860. It is stated in Chinese works that when Amursana, the discontented chief of the Songares, applied, in 1775, to Kienlung for assistance against his rival Tawats or Davatsi, and was sent back with a Chinese army, in the engagements which ensued, more than a million of people were destroyed, and the whole country depopulated. At that time, Knldja was built by

    Kienlung, and soon became a place of note. Outside of the

    town are the barracks for the troops, which consist of Eleuths

    and Mohammedans, as well as ]\[anchus and Chinese. Coal is

    found in this region, and most of the inland rivers produce

    abundance of fish, wliile wild animals and birds are numerous.

    The resources of the country are, however, insufficient to meet

    the expenses of the military establishment, and the presents

    made to the begs, and the deficit is supplied from China.”

    ‘ 175,000 perished in Kuklja alone.
    ” The question of the existence of volcanoes in Central Asia, especially on the Knldja frontier, has always been a matter of doubt and discussion among geologists and Russian explorers. The Governor of Semiretchinsk, General Kolpakofsky, was, in 1881, able to report the discovery of the perpetual fires in the Tien shan range of mountains. The mountain Bai shan was found twelve miles northeast of Kuldja, in a basin surrounded by the massive Ailak mountains ; its fires are not volcanic, but proceed from burning coal. On the sides of the mountain there are caves emitting smoke and sulphurous gas. Mr. Schuyler, in his Turkistan, mentions that these perpetual fires in the mountains, referred to by Chinese historians, were considered by Severtzofif, a Russian, who explored the region, as being caused by the ignition of the seams of coal, or the carburetted h^’drogen gas in the seams. The same author further mentions that Captain Tosnofskey, another Russian explorer, was told of a place in the neighborhood from which steam constantly rose, and that near this crevice there had existed, from ancient times, three pits, where per sons afflicted with rheumatism or skin diseases were in the habit of bathing.

    Subordinate to the control of the commandant at Knldja are nine garrisoned places situated in the same valley, at each of which are bodies of Chinese convicts. The two remaining districts of Tarbagatai and Ivur-kara usu are small compared with 111 ; the first lies between Cobdo and the Kirghis steppe, and is inhabited mostly by emigrants from the steppes of the latter, who render merely a nominal subjection to the gari’isons placed over them, but are easily governed through their tribal rulers. The Tourgouths, who emigrated from Kussia in 1772, into China, are located in this district and Cobdo, as well as in the valleys of the Tekes and Kunges rivers. They have become more or less assimilated with other tribes since they were placed here. In the war with the Songares, many of the people fled from the valley of IK to this region, and after that country was

    settled, they submitted to the Emperor, and partly returned to

    111. The chief town, called Tuguchuk by the Kirghis, and

    Suitsing cliing by the Chinese, is situated not far from the

    southern base of the Tarbagatai Mountains, and contains about

    six hundred houses, half of which belong to the garrison. It

    is one of the nine fortified towns under the control of the commandant

    at Kuldja, and a place of some trade with the Kirghis.

    There are two residents stationed here, with high powers to oversee

    the trade across the frontier, but their duties are inferior

    in importance to those of the officials at Ilrga. 2,500 Manchu

    and Chinese troops remain at this post, and since the conquest

    of the country in 1772 by Kienhmg, its agricniltural products

    have gradually increased under the industry of the Chinese.

    The tribes dwelling in this distant province are restricted within

    certain limits, and their obedience secured by presents. The

    climate of Tarbagatai is changeable, and the cold weather

    comprises more than half the year. The basin of Lake

    Aladvul, or Alaktu-kul, occupies the southwest, and part of the

    Trtysh and Lake Dzaisang the northeast, so that it is well

    watered. The trade consists chiefiy of domestic animals and

    cloths.

    POSITION OF TIEN-SHAN NAN LU. 221

    The town of Kur-kara usu lies on the Ttiver Kur, northeast from Kuldja and oti the road between it and TTrumtsi ; it ia called Kingsui ching by the Chinese. The number of troops stationed at all these posts is estimated at sixty thousand, and the total population of Songaria under two millions.

    The TiEN-SHAN Kan Lit, or Southern C^ircuit of Ili,the territory

    of ‘ the eight Mohammedan cities,’ was named Sin

    Kiang (‘ New Frontier ‘) by Kienlung. It is less fertile than

    the T^orthern Circuit, the greatest part of its area consisting of

    ruffo-ed mountains or barren wastes, barelv affordino; subsistence

    for herds of cattle and goats. The principal boundaries are the

    Kwanlun Mountains, and the desert, separating it from Tibet on

    the south ; Cashmere lies on the southwest, and Badukshan and

    Kokand are separated from it on the west and northwest by

    the Belur-tag, all of them defined and partitioned by the mountain

    ranges over which the passes 12,000 to 16,000 feet high

    furnish both defence and travel according to the season.

    The greater part of this Circuit is occupied with the basin of

    the Tarim or Ergu, which flows from the Belur range in four

    principal branches ‘ (called from the towns lying upon their

    banks the Yarkand, Kashgar, Aksu, and Khoten Rivers), and

    running eastward, receives several affluents from the north and

    south, and falls into Lake Lob in long. 89^ E., after a course,

    including windings, of between 1,100 and 1,300 miles. Of the

    river system from which this stream flows Baron Ilichthofen

    says, ” the region which gives birth to this river is on a scale of

    grandeur such as no other river in the world can boast. It is

    girt round by a wide semicircular collar of mountains of the

    loftiest and grandest character, often rising in ridges of 18,000

    to 20,000 feet in height, while the peaks shoot up to 25,000 and

    even 28,000 feet. The basin which fills in the horse-shoe shaped

    space encompassed by these gigantic elevations, though deeply

    depressed below them, stands at a height above the sea varying

    from 6,000 feet at the margin to about 2,000 in the middle,

    and formed the bed of an ancient sea. From its wall-like sides

    on the south, west, and north, the waters rush headlong down,

    and though the winds blowing from all directions deposit most

    of their moisture on the remoter sides of the surrounding

    ‘ Wood, Jmirney to the Source of the River Oxus, p. 356. From the hills that encircle Lake Sir-i-kol rise some of the principal rivers in Asia : the Yarkand, Kashgar, Sirr, Kuner, and Oxus.

    ranges, viz., the southern foot of the Himalayas, the west side

    of the Paniii-, and the northern slope of the Tien shan, the

    streams formed thereby windhig through the cloud-capped lofty

    cradle-land, and breaking tlirough the mountain chains, reach

    the old ocean bed onlj^ partly well watered. The smallest of

    them disappear in the sand, others flow some distance before

    expanding into a level salt basin and are there absorbed. Only

    the largest, whose munber the Chinese estimate at sixty, unite

    with the Tarim, a river 1,150 miles long, and therefore in

    length between the Khine and Danube, but far surpassing both

    in the massiveness of surrounding mountains, just as it exceeds

    the Daimbe in the extent of its basin. Its tributaries foi-m

    along the foot of the mountains a number of fruitful oases, and

    these by means of artificial irrigation have been converted into

    flourishing, cultivated states, and have played an important part

    in the history of these regions.” ‘ Col. Prejevalsky’s explorations

    in this totally unknown country have brought out a multitude

    of facts pregnant with interest both for histoi’ical and geographical

    study. Among the most important results of his discoveries is the location of Lob more than a degree to the south of its position on Chinese maps, and a consequent bend of the Tarim from its due eastern course before it reaches its outlet.

    This lake, consisting of two sheets of water, the Kara-buran

    and Kara-kurc’hin (or Chon-kul), lies on the edge of the deseit,

    in an uniidiabited region, and surrounded by great swamps,

    which extend also northwest along the Tarim to its junction

    with the Kaidu. It is shallow, overgrown with weeds, and is

    for the most part a morass, the water being fresh, despite the sail

    marshes in the vicinity. The people living near it speak a language

    most like that of Ivhoten ; they are Moslems. Lake Lob is elliptical, 90 to 100 versts long and 20 wide, 2,200 feet above the sea. Enormous flocks of birds come from Khoten on the southwest, as they go north, and make Lob-nor their stopping-place. The desert in this region is poor and desolate in the extreme.

    ‘ RicJitJioferi’ s Bemarks in Prejevalsky’s Loh-nor, p. i;?8. London, 1879.

    THE RIVER TARIM AND LOB-NOR. 223

    Its southern side is formed by the Altyn-tag range, a spur of the Kwanlun Mountains that rises about 14,000 feet in a sheer wall. Wild camels are found in its ravines, whose sight, hearing, and smell are marvellously acute. No other river basins of any size are found within the Circuit, except a large tributary called the Kaidu, which, draining a parallel valley north of Lobnor, two hundred miles long, runs into a lake nearly as large, called Bostang-nor, from which an outlet on the south continues it into the Tarim, about eighty miles from its mouth.

    The tributaries of this river are represented as much more serviceable for agricultural purposes than the main trunk is for navigation. The plain through which the Tarim flows is about two hundred miles broad and not far from nine hundred miles long, most of it unfit for cultivation or pasturage. The desert extends considerably west of the two lakes. The climate of this region is exceedingly dry, and its barrenness is owing, apparently, more to the want of moisture than to the nature of the soil. The western parts are colder than those toward Kansuh, the river being passable on ice at Yarkand, in lat. 38°, for three months, while frost is hardly known at Hami, in lat. 43°.

    The productions of the valley of the Tai’im comprise most of the grains and fruits found in Southern Europe ; the sesamum is cultivated for oil instead of the olive. Few trees or shrubs cover the mountain acclivities or plains. All the domestic animals abound, except the hog, which is i-eared in small numbers by the Chinese. The camel and yak are hunted and raised for food and service, their coats affording both skins and hair for garments. The horse, camel, black cattle, ass, and sheep, are found wild on the edge of the desert, where they find a precarious subsistence. The mountains and marshes contain jackals, tigers, bears, wolves, lynxes, and deer, together with some large species of birds of prey. Gold, copper, and iron are brought from this region, but the amount is not large, and as articles of trade they are less important than the sal-ammoniac, saltpetre, sulphur, and asbestos obtained from the volcanic region in the east of the Celestial Mountains. The best specimens of the yuh or nephrite, so highly prized by the Chinese, are obtained in the Southern Circuit.

    The present divisions of this Circuit are regulated by the position of the eight Mohammedan cities. The western departments of Kansnh naturally belong to the same region, and the cities now pertaining to that province are inhabited by entirely

    similar races, and governed in the same feudal manner, with

    some advantages in consideration of their early submission to

    Kienlung. The first town on the road, of note, is Ilami ; Turfan

    and Pidshan are less important as trading posts than as

    garrisons. The eight cities are named in the Statistics of the

    Empire in the following order, beginning at the east : Harashar,

    Kuche, Ushi (including Sairim and Bai), Aksu, Khoten,

    Yarkand, Kashgar, and Yingkeshar or Yangi Hissar. The

    superior officers live at Yarkand, but the Southern Circuit is

    divided into four minor governments at Ilarashar, Ushi, Yarkand,

    and Khoten, each of whose residents reports both to Kuldja

    and Peking. There is constant restiveness on the part of the

    subject races, who are all Moslems, arising from their clannish

    habits and feuds ; they have not the elements of substantial

    progress and national growth, either under their own rulers or

    Chinese. They have lately thrown off the Peking Government,

    but they have generally regretted the rapines and waste caused

    by the strifes and change, and Avould probably receive the

    Kitai (so they term the Chinese) back again. The latter are

    not hard masters, and bring trade and wealth the longer they

    remain. One of the IJsbek chiefs under Yakub khan gave

    the pith of the situation between the two, when he replied to

    Dr. Bellew’s remark that he talked like a Chinese himself,

    ” Ko, I hate them. But they were not bad rulers. “We had

    everything then ; we have nothing now. We never see any

    signs of the Kitai trade, nor of the wealth they brought here.”‘

    Ilarashar (or Karashar) lies on the Kaidu River, not far from

    Lake Bagarash or Bostang, about two hundred and ninety miles

    west of Turfan, in lat. 42° 15′ N., and long. 87° E. It is a

    large district, and has two towns of some note within the jurisdiction

    of its officers—namely, Korla and Bukur. Ilarashar is

    fortified, and from its being a secure position, and the seat of

    the chief resident, attracts considerable trade. The embroidery

    is superior ; but the tribes living in the district are more addicted

    to hunting than disposed to sedentary trades. Korla lies

    TOWNS OF THE SOUTheRISr CIIiCUIT. 225

    southwest of llarasliar on the Kaidii, between lakes Bostany;

    and Lob, and the productions of the town and its vicinity indi

    cate a fertile soil ; the Chinese say the Mohammedans who live

    here are fond of singing, but have no ideas of ceremony or

    Virbanity. Bukur lies two hundred miles Avest of Korla and

    ” might be a rich and delicious country,”” says the Chinese account,

    ” but those idle, vagrant Mohannnedans only use their

    strength in theft and plunder ; the Avomen blush at nothing.”

    The town formerly contained upward of ten thousand inhal)-

    itants, but Kienlung nearly destroyed it ; the district has been

    since resettled by Iloshoits, Tourbeths, and Turks, and the people

    carry on some trade in the produce of their herds, skins, copper,

    and agates.

    Kuche, about eighty miles west from Bukur, hit. 41° 3T’ X.,

    and long. 83° 20′ E., is a larger an<l more important city than that

    t)f Ilarashar, for the road which crosses the Tien shan l)y the

    pass Muz-daban to Ili, here joins tliat coming from Aksu on

    the west and Ilami on the east. It is three miles in circuit, and

    is defended by ten forts and three hundred troops. The

    bazaars contain grain, fruits, and vegetables, raised in the vicinity

    by great labor, for the land requires to be irrigated by hand

    from Avells, pools, and streams. Copper, sulphur, and saltpeti’e

    are carried across to 111, for use of government as well as traffic,

    being partly levied from the inhabitants as taxes ; linen is

    manufactured in the town, and sal ammoniac, cimiabar, and

    quicksilver are procured fi’oni the mountains. Kuche is considered

    the gate of Turkestan, and is the chief town, politically

    speaking, between Ilami and Yarkand. The district and town

    of Shayar lie south of Kuche, in a marshy valley producing

    abundance of rice, melons, and fruit ; the pears are particularly

    good. Two small lakes, Baba-kul and Sary-kamysch, lie to the

    east of this town, and are the only bodies of water between

    Bostang-nor and Issik-kul. The population is about four thousand,

    ruled by hegs subordinate to the general at Kuche.

    The valley of. the Aksu contains two large towms, Aksu and Ushi or Ush-turfan, besides several posts and villages. Between the former and Kuche, lie the small garrisons and districts of Bai and Sairim. The first contains from four to five hundred families, ruled by their own chiefs. Sairim or Ilanlemuli is siiboi-dinate to Ushi in some degree, but its productions, climate, and inhabitants are like those of Kuche. ” Their manners are simple,” remarks a Chinese writer, speaking of the people; ” they are neither cowards nor rogues like the other Mohammedans; they are fond of singing, drinking, and dancing, like those of Kuche.” Aksu is a large commercial and manufacturing

    town, containing twenty thousand inhabitants, situated,

    like Kuche, at the termination of a road leading across the Tien

    slian to til, and attracting to its market traders from Siberia,

    i)okhara, and Kokand, as well as along the great road. Its manufactures

    of cotton, silk, leather, harnesses, crockery, precious

    stones, and metals are good, and sent abroad in great numbers.

    The country produces grain, fruits, vegetables, and cattle in perfection, and the people are more civilized than those on the east and north; “they are generous and nol)lo, and both slug and ] idieulc the oddities and niggardliness of the other jMobammedans.”

    The Chinese garrison consists of three thousand soldiers, and the officers are accountable to those at Ushi. Ushi lies al)Out TO miles due west of Aksu, in lat. 41° 15′ N. and long. 79° 40′ E., and is stated to contain ten thousand inhabitants.

    ^ CiilU’d aho Pourouts. Compare Klaproth {Memoircs, Tome III., p. 332), who has a notice of these tribes.

    THE GOVERNMENT AND TOWN OF KASJIGAR. 227

    The Chinese name is Yung-ning ching(ie. ‘City of Eternal Tranquillity’). The officers stationed here report to the commandant at Ili, but they communicate directly with Peking, and receive the Emperor’s sanction to their choice of begs, and to the envoys forwarded to the capital with tribute. Copper money is cast here in ingots, somewhat like the ingots of sycee in the provinces. There are six forts attached to Uslif, to keep in order the wandering tribes of the Kii’ghis, called I’ruth l\irghi’s,’ which roam over the fi’ontier regions between Ushi and ^’arkand. They pay homage to the officers at Ushi, but give no tribute. Those who do pay tribute are taxed a tenth, but the Kii-ghis on this frontier are usually allowed to roam where they like, provided they keep the peace. This region was nearly depopulated by Kienlung’s generals, and at present supports a sparse population compared with its fertility and resources.

    The government of Kashgar, known, at the time of the Arab conquest, as Klehlh Bul’hara, presents a vast, undulating plain, of which the slope is very gradual toward the east, and of which the general elevation maybe reckoned at from three to four thousand feet above the sea. The aspect of its surface is mostly one of unmitigated waste—a vast spread of bare sand and gloomy salts, traversed in all directions by dunes and banks of gravel, with the scantiest vegetation, and all but absence of animal life. Such is the view that meets the eye ajid joins the horizon everywhere on the plain immediately beyond the river courses and the settlements planted on their banks.’ The population of this whole district is considerably less than a million

    and a half. The natural mineral productions hei’e are of great

    value, and it is a knowledge of this fact which has induced the

    Chinese to persevere in retaining so expensive and turl)ulent a

    frontier province. The gold and jade of Ivhoten, silver and

    lead of Cosharab, and copper of Khalistan, have given abundant

    employment to Chinese settlers ; while coal, iron, sulphur,

    alum, sal ammoniac, and zinc, though worked in unimportant

    quantities before the insurrection of Yakub khan (Atalik

    Gliazi), furnished the inhabitants with supplies for domestic

    use. An important hinderance to building villages in many sections

    of this territory is the prevalence of sand dunes here.

    Solitary houses and even whole settlements lying in the path of

    these moving hills are suddenly overwhelmed and oftentimes

    totalh’ effaced.

    The town of Kashgar is situated at the northwestern angle

    of the Southern Circuit, on the Kashgar River, a branch of the

    Tarim, in lat. 39° 25′ X., and long. 76° 5′ E., at the extreme

    west of the Empire. Several roads meet here. Going in a

    northw^est direction, one leads over the Tien shan to Kokand ; a

    second passes south, through Yarkand and Khoten, to Leh and

    Cashmere ; a third, the great caravan route, from China through

    1 H. W. Bellew, Kashmir and Kashgar. A Narrative of the Journey of the Embassy to Kashgar in 1873-4, p. 2.

    Uslii, iiiav be said to end liere ; and the fourth and most frequented,

    leads off northwest over the Tien shan through the

    llowat Pass, and along the western banks of Lake Issik-kul to

    111. Kashgar was the capital of the Oigours for a long time, and

    its ruler forced his people, as far east as llanii, to accept Islaniisni

    about the year lUCiO. They then came under Genghis’

    sway, and this city increased its iuiportance. but when Abubahr

    JMiza took Yarkand, he razed Kashgar to the ground. Under

    Chinese rule it became one of the richest marts in Central

    Asia, and its future im])ortance is secured by its position. The

    city is enclosed with high and massive walls, supported by buttress

    bastions, and protected by a deep ditcli on three sides, the river flowing under the fourth. There are but two gates ; the area within is about fifty acres. Around it are populous suburbs.

    In the middle of the town is a large s(piare, and four bazaars

    branch from it through to the gates ; the gari-ison is placed

    without the wall^. The nuinufactures of Kashgar excel those

    of any other town in the two Circuits, especially in jade, gold,

    silk, cotton, gold and silver cloths, and carpets. The country

    around produces fruit and grain in abundance; “the manners

    of the people have an appearance of elegance and politeness,”

    says the Chinese geographer ;

    ” the women dance

    and sing in fanuly parties ; they fear and respect the officers,

    and have not the M’ild, uncultivated aspect of those in

    Ushi.” This judgment is in a measure confirmed by Bellew,

    who credits the people with being singularly free from prejudice

    against the foreigners, quite indifferent on any score of his

    nationality or religion, and content so long as lie pays his way

    and does not offend the customs of the natives. Sevei-al towns

    arc subordinate to Kashgar, because of its oversight of their

    I’ulers, and consumption of their products. Southwest lies Tashl)

    alig, and on the road leading to Yarkand is Yangi Tlissar, both

    of them towns of some importance ; the whole distance from

    Kashgar presents a succession of sandy or saline tracts, alternating

    with fertile bottoms wherever water runs. Small villages

    and post houses serve to connect the larger towns, but the soil

    does not reward the cultivators with much produce.

    THE CITY OF YARKAND. 229

    Tarkand, or Yerkiang, is the political capital of the Southern

    Circuit, as the highest militaiy officers and strongest force

    are stationed liere. It is situated on the Yarkand Itiver, in hit.

    36° 30′ X., and long. 77° 15′ E., in the midst of a sand-girt

    oasis of great fertility. The environs are ai)undantlv su])plied

    with water by canals. The stone walls are three miles in circumference,

    but its suburbs are nuicli larger ; the houses are

    built of dried bricks, and the town has a more substantial appearance

    than others in III. There are njanj mosques and colleges,

    which, with the public buildings occupied by the government

    and ti’oops, add to its consideration. Yarkand is one of

    the ancient cities of Tartary, and was, in remote times, a royal

    residence of Turk princes of the Afrasyab dynasty. In modern

    times it owes its rank as a well-built city chiefly to Abubahr

    Miza, whose short-lived sway from Aksu to Wakhan left its

    chief results in the mosques and bazaars erected or enlarged by

    him. By means of quarrying jade in the Karakash valley, and

    W’orking the bangles, ear-rings and other articles in the city,

    thousands of families found employment under Chinese rule.

    With the overthrow of that sway and then of Yakub khan in

    its restoration, all this industry disappeared. In the destruction

    ensuing on these long struggles for supremac}^, one learns the

    explanation of the barbarism which has succeeded the downfall

    of mighty empires all over AYestern ^isia. The city has no important

    manufactures ; it enjoys a local reputation for its

    leather, and boots and shoes made here are esteemed all over

    the province. Among other articles of trade are horses, silk,

    and wool, and fabrics made from them ; but everything found

    at Ivashgar is sold also at this market. In a Chinese notice of

    the city, the customs at Yarkand are stated to have yielded over

    $45,000 annually ; the taxes are 35,400 sacks of grain, 57,569

    pieces of linen, 15,000 lbs. of copper, besides gold, silk, varnish,

    and hemp, part of which are carried to 111. Jade is obtained

    from the river in large pieces, yellow, white, black, and reddish,

    and the articles made from it are cariied to China. The Chinese

    authorities have no olqection to the resorting thither of

    natives of Kokand, Badakshan, and other neighboring states,

    many of whom settle and marry.

    Klioten is situated on the southern side of the desert, and the

    district embraces all the country south of Aksu and \ arkand,

    alono- the northern base of the Kwanlun Mountains, for more

    tlian three hundred miles from east to west. The capital is

    called Ilchi on Chmese maps, and lies in an extensive plain on

    the Khoten Kiver in lat. 37° N., and long. 80^ E. The town

    of Karakash (meaning ‘Black Jade’)’ lies in lat. 37° 10′, long.

    80″ 13′ 30″, a few miles northwest in the same valley, and is

    said by traders to be the capital rather than Ilchi ; it is located

    on the road to Yarkaud, distant twelve days’ journey. On

    this road the town of (iumnu is also placed, whose chief had in

    his possession a stone supposed to have the power of causing

    rain. Kirrea lies five days’ journey east of Ilchi, near the pass

    across the mountains into Tibet and Ladak ; a gold mine is

    M’orked near this place, the produce of which is monopolized by

    the Chinese. The three towns of Karakash, tlchi, and Kirrea,

    are the only places of importance between the valley of the

    Tarim and Tibet, but none of them have been visited for a long

    time by Europeans.* The population of the town or district is

    unknown ; one notice ‘ gives it a very large number, approaching

    three millions and even more, which at any rate indicates

    a more fertile soil and genial climate than the regions north and

    south of it. Dr. Morrison, in his Yieia of China, puts it at

    44,630 inhabitants ; and although the former includes the whole

    district, and is probably too large, the second seems to be nnich

    too small.

    Khoten is known, in Chinese books, by the names of Yu-tu’/i,

    Ilwan-na, KleuAan, and Klu,-sa-tan-na—the last meaning, in

    Sanscrit, ” Breast of tiie Earth.” * Its eastern part is marshy,

    i)ut that the country nnist have a considerable elevation is

    manifest from the fact that the river which drains and connects

    it with the Tarim runs quite across the desert in its

    course. The country is governed by two high officei-s and a

    ‘ But Remusat says that Karakash is a river and no town.

    ‘” Wood {Journey to the Oxuk, p. 279) refers to a frontier town by the name

    of Ecla.

    ‘ Penny Ci/clopcedia, Art. Tuian Shan nan lu.

    * Rdmusat, Ilis’oire de Hhotan, p. 35.

    KHOTEN DISTRICT. 2^1

    detachment of troops ; there are six towns under their jurisdiction,

    the inhabitants of which are ruled in the same manner as

    the other Mohammedan cities. The people, however, are said

    to be mostly of the JJuddhist faith, and the Chinese give a good

    accoimt of their peacefulness and industi-y. The trade with

    Leh and ll’lassa is carried on by a road crossing the Kwunlun

    over the Kirrea Pass, beyond which it divides. The productions

    of Khoten are fine linen and cotton stuffs, jade ornaments,

    amber, copper, grain, fruits, and vegetables ; the former for exportation,

    the latter for use. It was in this region that Col.

    Prejcvalsky discovered (in 1879) a new variety of wild horse, a

    specimen of which has been stuffed and exhibited in St. Petersburg.

    The animal in question, though belonging undoubtedly

    to the genus J^quus, presents, in many respects, an intermediate

    form between the domestic horse and the wdld ass.

    Remusat published, in 1820, an account of this country,

    drawn from Chinese books, in wdiich the principal events in its

    histoiy are stated, commencing with the Han dynasty, before

    the Christian era, down to the Manchu conquest. In the early

    part of its history, Khoten was the resort of many priests from

    India, and the Buddhist faith was early established there. It

    was an independent kingdom most of the time, from its earliest

    mention to the era of Genghis khan, the princes sometimes extending

    their sway from the Iviayii pass and Koko-nor to the

    Tsung ling, and then being obliged to contract to the valley now

    designated as Khoten. After the expulsion of the Mongols

    from China, Khoten asserted its independence, but afterward

    fell under the sway of the Songares and Eleuths, and lost many

    of its inhabitants. The Manchus conquered it in 1770, when

    the rest of the region between the Tien shan and Kwanlun fell

    under their sway, but neither have they settled in it to the same

    extent, nor made thereof a penal settlement, as in other parts

    of 111.-

    The government of Ili differs in some respects from that of

    Mongolia, where religion is partly called in to aid the state. In

    ‘ Concerning the nomenclature of this region compare Remusat, Histoire de

    Khotan, p. 66. See, moreover, ib., p. 47 ff., the legend of a drove of desert

    rats assisting the king of this land against the army of his enemies.

    the Northern Circuit, the authority is strictly military, exercised

    by means of residents and generals, with bodies of troops under

    their control. The supreme connnand of all Hi is intrusted by

    the colonial office to a Manchu UiaH(jl(an,ov military governorgeneral

    at Kuldja, who has under him two coimcillors to take

    cognizance of civil cases, and thirty -four residents scattered

    about in both Circuits. This governor has also the control of

    the troops stationed in the three western departments of Kansuh,

    but has nothing to do M’ith the civil jurisdiction of those

    towns. The entire number of soldiers under his hand is stated

    at 60,000, most of whom have families, and add agricultural,

    mechanical, or other labors to the profession of arms. The

    councillors are not altogether sul)ordhiatc to the general, but report

    to the Colonial Office.

    In the Northern Circuit, there is a deputy appointed for every village and town, invested with military powers over the troops and convicts, and civil supervision over the native jpiko or chieftains, who are the real rulers acknowledged by the clans.

    The character of the inhabitants north of the Tien shan is rendered

    unlike that of those dwelling in the Southern Circuit, not

    more by the diversity in their language and nomadic habits,

    than by the sway religious rites and allegiance have over them.

    Through this latter motive, the government of Mongolia and

    the Xorthern Circuit is rendered far easier and more effectual

    for the distant court of Peking than it otherwise Avould be.

    The appointment of the native chieftains is first announced to

    the general at Kuldja and the Colonial Office, and they succeed

    to their post when confirmed, which, as the station is in a measure

    hereditaiy, usually follows in course.

    The inhabitants of the Southern Circuit are Mohammedans

    and acknowledge a less Milling subjection to the Emperor than

    those in the Xorthern, the differences in race, religion, and language

    being probably the leading reasons. The government

    of the whole rejjrion is divided amoni»; the Manchu residents or

    aiiihatin at the eight cities, who are nominally responsible to the

    general at Ili, and independent of each other, but there is a

    gradation in rank and power, the one at Yarkaiid having the

    priority. The begs are chosen by the tribes themselves, and

    GOVERNMEXT OF IlI 233

    exercise authority in all petty cases arising among the people,

    without the interference of the Chinese. The troops are all

    Manchu or Chinese, none of the Turks being enrolled in separate

    bodies, though individuals are employed with safety.

    There is considerable difference in the rank and inliuence of

    the begs, which is upheld and respected by the amhcDis. The

    allowances and style granted them are regulated in a measure

    by their feudal importance. The revenue is derived from a

    monthly capitation tax on each man of about half a dollar, and

    tithes on the produce ; there are no transit duties as in China,

    but custom-houses are established at the frontier trading towns.

    The language generally used in the Southern Circuit is the

    Jaghatai Turki of the Kalmucks ; the Usbecks constitute the majority

    of the people, but Eleuths and Kalmucks are everywhere

    intermixed. The Tibetans have settled in Khoten, or more

    probably, remnants still exist there of the former ijihabitants.

    The history of the vast region constituting the present government

    of 111 early attracted the attention of oriental scholars,

    and few portions of the world have had a more exciting historj’.

    After the expulsion of the Mongols from China by

    Hungwu, A.D. 1366, they found that they, as a tribe, were inferior

    in power to the westei’u triljes, but it was not till about

    1680 that the Eleuths, noi-th of the Tien slian under the Galdan,’

    began to attack the Kalkas, and drive them eastward.

    The Sunnites, Tsakhars, and Solons, portions of the Eastern

    Mongols, had already joined the Manchus ; and the Kalkas, to

    avoid extermination, submitted to them also, and besought their

    assistance against the Eleuths. Kanghi received their allegiance,

    and tried to settle the difficulties peaceably, but was

    obliged to send his troops against the Galdan, and drivj him

    from the territory of the Kalkas to the westward of Lob-nor

    and Barkul. The Emperor was materially aided in this enterprise

    by the secession from the Eleuths of the Songares,

    whose khan had taken offence, and drawn his hordes off to the

    south. The khans of the Kalkas and their vast territory thus

    ‘ “Galdan, better kuown by his title of Contaisch “—Remusat, Nouveaux

    Melanges, Tome II., p. 29, See also Scliuyler’s TurkiMan, Vol. II., p. 168.

    became subject to the Chinese. The Galdan lost all his forces,

    and expired bj poison, in 1697, his power dying with him, and

    his tribe having already become too weak to resist.

    Upon the ruins of his power arose that of Arabdan, the khan

    of the Songares. lie subjugated the ]S’orthern Circuit, passed

    over into Turkestan, Tangout, and Khoten, and gradually reduced

    to his sway nearly all the elevated region of Central Asia

    M’est of Kansuh. lie expelled the Tourgouths from their possessions

    in Cobdo, and compelled them to retreat to the banks

    of the Volga. Ivanghi expelled the Songares from the districts

    about Koko-nor, but made no impression upon their authority

    in Songaria. After the death of Arabdan, about 1720, his

    throne was disputed, and the power weakened by dissensions

    among his sons, so that it Avas seized by two usurpers, Amursana

    and Tawats, Avho also fell out after their object was gained.

    Annn-sana repaired to Peking for assistance, and with the aid

    of a Chinese army expelled Tawats, and took possession of the

    throne of Arabdan. But he had no intention of becoming a

    vassal to Ivienlung, and was no sooner reinstated than he resisted

    him ; he defeated two Chinese armies sent against him,

    but succumbed on the third attack, and fled to Tobolsk, -where

    he died in 1757.

    The territory of Arabdan then fell to Ivienlung, and he pursued

    his successes with such cruelty that the Northern Circuit

    was nearly depopulated, and the Songares and Eleuths became

    almost extinct as distinct tribes. The banished tribe of Tourgouths

    was then invited by the Emperor to retui-n from Russian

    sway to their ancient possessions, which they accepted in

    1772; the history of the Chinese embassy to them, and their

    disastrous journey back to Cobdo over the Ivirghis steppe and

    through the midst of their enemies, is one of the most remarkable

    instances of nomadic wanderings and unexampled suffering

    in modern times.’ Chinese troops, emigrants, exiles, and

    nomadic tribes and families, M^ere sent and encouraged to come

    ‘ Compare Remusat (Nouvrnvx Melanges, Tome II., p. 102), who lias compiled

    a brief life of their leader Ubusha. De Quincey’s essay, The Flight of a

    Tartar Tribe. Ritter, Asien, Bd. V. pp. 531-58:^ : Welthistorischer Einflusa

    des chinenicheu lieichs auf Central- tinU West-Asien.

    HISTORY AND CONQUEST OF ILI 235

    into the vacant territory, so that erelong it began to resume its

    former importance. In the period which has since elapsed, the

    Manchus have been enabled to prevent any combination among

    the clans, and maintain their own authority by a mixed system

    of coercion and coaxing which they well know how to practise.

    The agricultural and mineral resources of the country have

    been developed, many of the nomads induced to attend to agriculture

    by making their chieftains emulous of each others prosperity,

    and by exciting a spirit of traffic among all.

    There have been some disturbances from time to time, but no

    master spirit has arisen ^v]lo has been able to unite the tribes

    against the Chinese. In 1825, there “svas an attempt made

    from Kokand by Jehangir, grandson of the l:ojeh or prince of

    Kashgar, to regain possession of Turkestan ; the khan of Kokand

    assisted him with a small army, and such was their dislike

    of the Chinese, that as soon as Jehangir appeared, the Mohammedans

    arose and drove the Chinese troops away or put them

    to death, opening the gates to the invader, lie took possession

    of Tarkand and Kashgar, and advanced to Aksu” where the

    winter put a stop to the campaign. In the next year, the khan

    of Kokand, seeing the disposition of the people, thought he

    would embark himself in the same cause, and made an incursion

    as far as Aksu and Khoten, reducing more than half the

    Southern Circuit to himself, but ostensibly in aid of Jehangir.

    The kojeh, beginning to fear his aid, withdrew ; and the khan,

    having suffered some reverses from the Chinese troops, made his

    peace on very favorable terms, and returned to his own country.

    Jehangir went to Khoten fi-om Yarkand, but his conduct there

    displeasing the people, the Chinese troops, about 60,000 in

    number, had no difficulty in dispersing his force, and resuming

    their sway. The adherents of the kojeh fled toward Badakshan,

    while he himself repaired to Isaac, the newly appointed kojeh

    of Kashgar, by whom he was delivered up to the Chinese with

    his family, and all of them most barbarously destroyed.

    The kojeh was rewarded with the office of prince of Kashgar,

    but having been accused of treasonable designs he was ordered

    to come to Peking for trial ; the charges were all disproved,

    and he returned to Kashgar after several years’ residence at the capital of the Empire. The country was gradually reduced

    by Changliiig, the general at Ili, but Kashgar suffered so nuich

    by the war and removal of the chief authority to Yarkand,

    that it has not since regained its Importance. During this war,

    the dislike of the Mohammedans to the Chinese sway M’as exhibited

    in the large forces Jehangir brought into the field ; and

    if he had been a popular spirited leader, there is reason for

    supposing he might have finally wrested these cities from the

    Chinese. The joy of Taukwang at the successful termination

    of the expedition and capture of the rebel, was so extravagant

    as to appear childish ; and when Jehangir was executed at

    Peking, he ordered the sons of two officers who had been reported

    killed, ” to witness his execution, in order to give expansion

    to the indignation which had accumulated in their

    breasts ; and let the rebel’s heart be torn out and given to them

    to sacrifice it at the tombs of their fathers, and thus console

    their faithful spirits.” Honors Avere heaped upon Changling at

    his return to Peking, and rewards and titles showered upon all

    the troops engaged in the war.

    Since this insurrection, the frontiers of Kashgar and Kokand

    have been passed and repassed by the Pruth Kirghis; iiil830,

    they excited so much trouble because their trade was restricted,

    that a large force was called out to restrain them, and many

    lives were lost before the rising was subdued. The causes of

    the dispute wei-e then examined, and the trade allowed to go on

    as befoi’e. The oppressions of the residents sometimes goad

    on the Mohammedans to rise against the Chinese, but the

    policy of the Emperor is conciliatory, and the complaints of the

    people are in general listened to. The visits of the begs and

    princes to Peking with tribute affords them an opportunity to

    state their grievances, while it also prevents them from caballing

    among themselves. In 1871 the Russians took possession of

    nearly the whole of Tien-Shan Peh Lu during an insurrection of

    the Dunganis against Chinese control. The Tarantchis having

    attacked a Russian outpost, and Yakub Beg being on suspiciously

    good terms with the rebels, it was determined to occupy

    Kuldja—which was effected after a campaign of less than a

    month, led by Gen. l\olpakofsky. The Chinese government was

    BOUNDARIES OF TIBET. 2S1

    imniediatelv informed that the place should be restored whenever

    a sutHcient force could be brought there to hold it against

    attacks, and preserve order. After the final conquest of the

    Dungan tribes in 1S79-SO, this territory was returned by the

    Ilussians upon conclusion of their last treaty M’ith China, exactly

    ten years from the date of possession. The old manner

    of government is now resumed and the country slowly recoveriiiiT

    from the fri^-htful devastation of the insurrection. The

    salai’ies of the governor-general and his councillors, and the

    residents, are small, and they are all obliged to resort to illegal

    means to reimburse their outlays. The highest officer receives

    about $5,200 annually, and his councillors about $2,000 ; the residents

    from $2,300 down to $500 and less. These sums do not,

    probably, constitute one-tenth of the receipts of their situations.’

    The third gi-eat division of the colonial part of the Chinese

    empire, that of Tibet, is less known than III, though its area is

    hardly less extensive. It constitutes the most southern of the

    three great table lands of Central Asia, and is surrounded with

    high mountains which separate it from all the contiguous regions.

    The word Tibet or Tubet is unknown among the inhabitants

    as the name of their country ; it is a corruption by the

    Mongols of T(c po,’ the country of the Tu, a race w^hich overran

    it in the sixth century ; Turner gives another name, Pue-hoachim-,

    signifying the ‘ snowy country of the north,’ doubtless a

    local or ancient term. The general appellation by the people is

    Pot or Bod, or Bod yul—”- the land of Bod.” ‘ It is roughly

    bounded northeast by Ivoko-nor ; east by Sz’chuen and Yunnan ;

    south by Assam, Butan, Xipal, and Gurhwal ; west by Cashmere

    ; and north by the unknown i-anges of the Kwanlun Mountains.

    The southern frontier curves considerably in its course,

    1 Chinese Repository, Vol. V., pp. 267, 316, 351, etc. ; Vol. IX., p. 113.

    Penny Uyclo^mUa, Art. Songaria. Boiilger, Russia and England in Central

    Asia, 2 Vols., London, 1879. Schuyler, Turkistan, 2 vols., N. Y., 1877.

    Petermann’s Mlttheilungen, Appendices XLII. and XLIII., 1875.

    – This derivation is explained somewhat differently in R^musat, Nouveaux

    Melanges, Tome I., p. 190.

    3 To these Ritter adds the names of Wei, Dzang, Nga-ri, Kham, Bhodi, Peuu-

    Tsang, Si-Dzang, Tliupho, Tubl.at, TGbGt, Tiibet, Tibet, and Barantola, asall

    applying to this country. Asien, Bd. III., S. 174-183.

    but is not less than 1,500 miles from the western extremity of

    Kipal to the province of Yunnan ; the northern border is about

    1,300 miles ; the western frontiers cannot be accurately defined,

    and depend more upon the possession of the passes through which

    trade is carried on than any political separation. Beltistan,

    Little Tibet, and Ladak, although included in its limits on

    Chinese maps, have too little subjection or connection with the

    court of Peking, to be reckoned among its dependencies.

    Tibet, in its largest limits, is a table land, the highest plains

    of which have a mean elevation of 11,510 feet, or about 1,300

    feet lower than the plateau of Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca.

    The snow-line on the north side of the Himalaya is at an altitude

    of 16,630 feet ; on the southern slope it is at 12,982 feet.

    Several striking analogies may be traced between this country

    and Peru : the tripartite divisions caused by lofty ranges ; their

    common staples of wool, from alpacas and vicunas in one, and

    sheep and goats in the other ; the abundance of precious

    metals, and many specific customs. The entire province of

    Tibet is divided by mountain chains into three distinct parts; its western portion consists of the basin of the Lidus, until it breaks through into Cashmere at Makpon-i-Shagaron. It begins near Mount Ivailasa, and stretches northwest between the Hindu Ivush and Himalaya, comprising the whole of Beltistan and Ladak ; the Kara-korum, Mus-tag, or Tsung ling range defines it on the northeast. The second part consists of an extensive desert land, commencing at Mount Kailasa, and having the Tsung ling on the west, the Kwjlnlun on the north

    (which separates it from Khoten, and the high waterslied of the

    Yangtsz’, Salween, and other rivers), and Lake Tengkiri, on the

    east ; the Himalaya constitutes its southern boundary. This

    high i-egion, called Katshe or Kor-kache, has not been traversed

    by intelligent travellers and is one of the few yet unknown regions

    of the earth, and is nearly uninhabitable, owing to the extreme rigor of its climate.’

    ‘ Se<‘ Ri’musat, Nouvennx Milnnc/es, T. , p. 100, for notices of tribes anciently inliabiting this district and Bokhara. Compare also Heeren {Historical Re’ aenrcJies, Vol. I., j)p. 180-186), who gives in brief the accounts of Herodotus k)id Ctesias.

    \ NATURAL FEATURES OF TIBET. 239

    The eastern part, consisting of the basin of the Yaru-tsangbu,

    contains, in its plains, most of the towns in Tibet, until it

    reaches the Alpine region which lies between the River Yarn

    and the Yangtsz’, a space extending from long. 1)5° to 99° E.

    This district is described as a succession of ridges and gorges,

    over which the road takes the traveller on narrow and steep

    paths, crossing the valleys by ropes and bridges enveloped in

    the clouds. Mount Kailasa, a notable peak lying in the northeastern

    part of Xari, is not far from 26,000 feet high. The

    number of summits covered with perpetual snow exceeds that

    of any other part of the world of the same extent.

    The road from Sz’chuen to H’lassa strikes the Yalung kiang,

    in the district of Ta tsien lu, and then goes southwesterly to

    Batang on the Yangtsz’ kiang ; crossing the river it proceeds

    up the narrow valley a short distance, and then crosses the

    mountains northwest to the Lantsan kiang or River Meikon, by

    a series of pathways leading over the gorges, till it reaches

    Tsiamdo ; from this point the road turns gradually southwest,

    following the valleys when practicable, till it ends at H’lassa.

    The largest river in Tibet is the Erechumbu, or Yaru-tsangbu ;

    tsangha means river, and is often alone used for this whole

    name. It rises in the Tamchuk range, at the Mariam-la pass

    in Nari, 60 miles east of Lake Manasarowa, the source of the

    Sutlej ; it flows a little south of east for about seven hundred

    miles, through the whole of Southern Tibet, between the first

    and second ranges of the Himalayas, as far as long. 90° E.

    Its tributaries on the north are mimerous, and among them the

    Nauk-tsani>;bu and Dzany;tsu are the larij-est. The volume of

    water which flows through the mountains into Assam by this

    river, is equal to that by the Indus into Scinde. The disputed

    question, whether the Yaru-tsangbu joins the Brahmaputra or

    Irrawadi, has been settled by presumptive evidence in favor

    of the former, but a distance of about 400 miles is still unexplored; ‘ the fall in this part is about 11,000 feet, to where the river Dihong has been traced in Assam. This makes the Brah-‘ Introduction by Col. Yule, iu Gill’s River of Golden 8and.luaputra the largest and longest river in Southern Asia ; Its passage into Assam is near 95° E. longitude.

    The eastern part of Tibet, beyond this meridian, is traversed

    by numerous ranges of lofty mountains, having no separate

    names, the direction of which is from west to east, and from

    northwest to southeast. From these ranges, lateral branches

    run out in different directions, containing deep valleys between

    them. In proportion as the principal chains advance towards

    the southeast they converge towards one another, and thus the

    valleys between them gradually become narrower, until at last,

    on the frontiers of Yunnan and Burmah, they are mere mountain

    passes, whose entire breadth does not much exceed a

    hundred miles, having four streams flowing through them.

    In fact, Tibet incloses the fountain heads of all the large rivers

    of Southern and Eastern Asia. The names and courses of those

    in Eastern Tibet are known ordy imperfectly from Chinese

    maps, but others have described them after their entrance into

    the lowlands.

    Tibet, especially the central part, is a country of lakes, in this

    respect resembling Cobdo. The largest, Tengkiri-nor, situated

    in the midst of stupendous mountains, about one hundred and

    ten miles northwest of Il’lassa, is over a hundred miles long and

    about thirty wide. The i-egion north of it contains many isolated

    lakes, most of them salt. Two of the largest, the Bouka

    and Kara, are represented as connected with the Tliver Xu.

    Lake Khamba-la, Yamoruk or Yarbrokyu, sometimes called

    Palti, from a town on its northern sliore, is a large lake south of

    iriassa, remarkable for its ring shape, the centi-e being filled

    by a large island, around which its waters flow in a chamiel

    thirty miles or more in width. On the island is a nunnery,

    called the Palace of the Holy Sow, said to be the finest in the

    country. In Balti or Little Tibet are many sheets of water, the

    largest of which, the Yik and Paha, are connected by a river

    flowing through a marshy country. A long succession of lakes

    fill one of the basins in Katsche, suggesting the former existence

    of another Aral Sea. The sacred lakes of Manasarowa and

    Ilavan-hrad (Ma])am-dalai and Langga-nor, of the Cliinese)

    form the headwaters of the Sutlej.

    CLIMATE, FOOD ANJ) l’K<>DUCTIONS. 241

    The climate of Tibet is cliaracterized by its purity and excessive

    dryness. The valleys are hot, notwithstanding their proximity

    to snow-capped mountains; from May to October the sky

    is clear in the table -lands, and in the valleys the moisture and

    temperature are favorable to vegetation, the harvest being gathered

    before the gales and snows set in, after October. The

    effects of the air resemble or are worse than those of the kamsin

    in Egypt. The trees wither, and their leaves may be ground

    to powder between the fingers ; planks and beams break, and

    the iidial)itants cover the tind)ers and wood-work of their houses

    with coarse cotton, in order to preserve them against the destructive

    saccidity. The timber neither rots nor is worm-eaten.

    Mutton, exposed to the open air, Ijecomes so “dry that it may be

    powdered like bread ; when once dried it is preserved during

    years. This flesh-bread is a common food in Tibet. The carcass

    of the animal, divested of its skin and viscera, is placed

    where the frosty air Mnll have free access to it, until all the

    juices of the body dry np, and the whole becomes one stiffened

    mass. Xo salt is used, nor does it ever become tainted, and is

    eaten without any further dressing or cooking ; the natives eat it

    at all periods after it is frozen, and prefer the fresh to that which

    has been kept some months. The food called janiha is prepared

    by cooking brick tea during several hours, then adding butter

    and salt, and stirring the mixture until it becomes a thick broth.

    AVhen eaten the stuff is served in wooden bowls, and a plentiful,

    supply of roasted barley-meal poured in, the whole being kneaded

    by the hands and devoured in the shape of dough pellets.

    The productions of Tibet consist of domestic animals, cattle,

    horses, pigs ; some wild animals, such as the white-breasted

    argali, orongo-antelope, ata-dzeren, wolf, and steppe-fox ; and few

    plants or forests, presenting a strong contrast with Nipal and

    Butan, where vegetable life flourishes more luxuriantly. Sheep

    and goats are reared in immense flocks, for beasts of burden

    over the passes, and for their flesh, hair, and coats. Chiefest

    among the animals of tliis mountain land is the yak.’ The

    ‘ Called by Wood Kasli-gow {Journey to the Oxus, p. 319). Chauri gau^aarlykt and sarlac, are other names. doiiiesticated variety, or long-haired yak, is the inseparable companion and most trusty servant not only of the Tibetans, but of tribes in Cashmere, Ladak, Tangout, and JVIongolia, even as far north as Urga. It is a cross-breed, or mule from the yak bull and native cow, which alone is hardy enough for these elevated regions.’ These creatures are of the same size as our cattle, strong, sure-footed and possessed of extraordinary endurance; they retain, however, something of their wild nature, even after long domestication, and must be carefully treated,

    Domesticated Yak.

    especially when being loaded and unloaded. They thrive best

    in hilly countries, well watered and covered with grass—the two

    last being indispensable. The hair is black or black and white,

    seldom entirely white. One sort is without horns, and when

    crossed with the cow bears sterile males, or females which are

    fertile for one generation. As to the wild yak of Til)et, a traveller

    says : ” This handsome animal is of extraordinary size and

    beauty, measuring, when grown, eleven feet in length, exclusive

    of its bushy tail, which is three feet long; its height at the

    hump is six feet ; girth around the body eleven feet, and its

    ‘ This cross is mentioned by Maroo Polo, Yule^a ed., Vol. I., p. 241.

    AlSriMALS OP TIBET. 243

    weight ten or eleven liundred weight. The head is aaorned

    with ponderous liorns, two feet nine inches h)ng, and one foot

    four indies in circumference at the root. The body is covered

    with tliick, black hair, which in the old males assumes a chestnut

    color on the back and upper parts of the sides, and a deep

    fringe of black hair hangs down from the flanks. The muzzle

    is partly gray, and the younger males liave marks of the same

    color on the upper part of the body, whilst a narrow, silverygray

    stripe runs down the centre of the back. The hair of

    young yaks is much softer than that of older ones ; they are

    also distinguishable by their smaller size, and by handsomer

    horns, with the points turned up. The females are much

    smaller than the males, and not nearly so striking in appearance

    ; their horns are shorter and lighter, the hump smaller,

    and the tail and flanks not nearly as hairy.” ‘ This animal is

    useful for its milk, flesh, and wool, as well as for agricultural

    purposes and travel.

    There is comparatively little agriculture. The variety of

    wild animals, birds, and fishes, is very great ; among them the

    musk deer, feline animals, eagles, and wild sheep, are objects

    of the chase. The brute creation are generally clothed with an

    abundance of fine hair or wool ; even the horses have a shaggier

    coat than is granted to bears in more genial climes. The

    Tibetan mastiff is one of the largest and fiercest of its race,

    almost nntamable, and unknown out of its native country.

    The nnisk deer is clothed with a thick coverino; of hair two or

    three inches long, standing erect over the whole body ; the

    animal resembles a hog in size and form, having, however,

    slender legs. The Tibetan goat affords the shawl wool, so

    highly prized for the manufacture of garments.^

    ‘ Prejevalsky, Travels in Mongolia, etc., Vol. I., p. 187.

    “^ B. H. Hodgson, Notice of the Mammals of Tibet, Journal As. Soc. of BeU’gal, Vol. XI., pp. 275 ff. ; also ib. Vols. XVI., p. 763, XIX., p. 466, and XXVI., No. 3, 1857. Abbe Armand David-, Notes sur quelques oiseaux de Thibet, Nouv. Arch, du MuMum, Bull, V. 1869, p. 33; ib. Bull, VI., pp. 19 and 33. Bull, VIII., 1872, pp. 3-128, IX., pp. 15-48, X., pp. 3-82. Recherches pour servir a Vhistoire naturelle des mammiferes comprennant des considerations su)’ la classification de ces animaux, etc. , des etudes sur la faiine de la Chineel du Tibet oriental, par MM. Milne-Edwards, etc, 2 vols. Paris, 1868-74.

    Fruits are common ; small peaches, grapes, apples, and nuts, constitute the limited variety. Barley is raised more than any

    other grain the principal part of agricultural labors being performed

    by the Avomen. Pulse and wheat ai’e cultivated, but no

    rice “svest of Illassa. Ithubarl), asaf{jL’tida, ginger, madder, and

    safflower are collected or prepared, but most of the medicines

    come from China and Butan. Turnips, rape, garlic, onions, and

    melons are raised in small quantities. The mineral productions

    are exceedingly rich. Gold occurs in mines and placer diggings,

    and forms a constant article of export ; lead, silver, copper, and

    cinnabar are also dug out of the ground, but iron has not been

    found to much extent. The great difficulty in the way of the

    inhabitants availing themselves of their metallic Avealth, apart

    fi’om their ignorance of the best modes of mining, is the want

    t>f fuel with which to smelt the ore. Tincal, or crude borax,

    is gathered on the borders of a small lake in the neighborhood

    of Tengkiri-nor, where also any quantity of rock salt can be

    obtained. Precious stones are met with, most of which find

    their way to China.

    The 2)resent divisions of Tibet, by the Chinese, are Tsien

    Tsang^ or Anterior Tibet, and JIau Tsang, or Ulterior Tibet.

    Anterior Tibet is also called U (Wei) and U-tsang, and includes

    the central part of Bod-yur where Il’lassa is ; east of

    this lies Ivham (Kang) or Khamyul, and northeast toward

    Ivoko-nor is Ivhamsok, /.(?., Ivham on the River Sok. Kear the

    bend of the Brahmaputra is the district of Ivongbo, where I’ice

    can be raised ; going westward are Takpo, doUs and gTsang on

    the borders of Xari, ending in a line nearly continuous with

    the eastern border of Kipal. The Chinese books mention eight

    cantons in Anterior Tibet, five of them lying east of ITlassa,

    added to which are thirty-nine feudal townships in Khamsok

    called tu-sz\ all of them chiefiy nominal or at present antiquated.

    Csoma de Ivciros speaks of several small principalities

    in Kham, and describes the inhabitants as differing from the

    rest of the Tibetans in appearance and language ; they assimilate

    probably with the tribes on the l]urman and Chinese frontiers.

    Xari ( A-li in Chinese) is divided into Mangyul, Khorsum,

    and Maryul. The first of these districts lies nearly centerh’LASSA

    the (ATITAL. 24^

    iiiinous with Xipal, and its area is probably about the same, but

    its cold, drj, and elevated i-egions, support only a few sliepherds

    ; Khorsuni and Maryul lie north and northwest in a

    still more inhospitable clime ; the latter adjoins Ladak and

    Balti and is the reservoir of hundreds of lakes situated from

    12,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. A ridge separates the

    valley of the Indus from the Sutlej, crossed at the Bogola Pass,

    19,220 feet high, and then- over the Gugtila Pass, 19,500 feet

    into Gartok. The people throughout this elevated region are

    forced to live in tents, wood being ahuost unknown for buildil’lassa,

    the gyalsa or capital of Tibet, is situated on the Kichu

    River, about twelve leagues from its junction with the

    Yarn, in lat. 29° 39′ ]S\, and long. 91°05’E. ; the name signifies

    God’s ground^ and it is the largest town in this part of Asia.

    It is famous for the convents near it, composing the ecclesiastical

    establishments of the Dalai (or ‘ Ocean ‘)-lama, whose residence

    is in the monastery of Pobrang-marbu {I.e., ‘ Red town ‘) on

    Mount Putala. The principal building of this establishment is

    three hundred and sixty-seven feet high, and it contains, as the

    Chinese expression is, ” a myriad of rooms.” This city is the

    head-quarters of Buddhism, and the hierarchy of lamas, who, by

    means of the Dalai-lama, and his subordinate the Kiituktu, exercise

    priestly control over wellnigh all Mongolia as well as Tibet.

    The city lies in a fertile plain nearly 12,000 feet high, about

    twelve miles wide, and one hundred and twenty-five from north

    to south, producing harvests of barlej^ and millet, with abundant

    pasturage and some fruit trees. Mountains and hills encircle it; of these the westernmost is Putala, the liver running so near its base that a wall has been built to preserve the buildings from the rise of the waters. The Chinese garrison is quartered about two miles north of this mount, and two large temples, called ITlassa tm-‘kang and Bamotsietso-hang, resplendent with gold and precious stones, stand very near it. The four monasteries.

    Sera, Brebung, Samye, and Galdan, constitute as many separate establishuients.’ During the sway of the Songares in’ Klaproth, Description du Ttibet, p. 246.Ill, their prince xVrabdan made a descent npon IPlassa, and the Lama Avas killed. Kanglu placed a new one upon the see, in 1720, appointing six leading officers of the old Lama to assist him in the government. Three of these joined in an insurrection, and in the conflicts which succeeded, IFlassa suffered considerably.

    The population of the town is conjectured to be 24,000 ; that of the province is reckoned by Csoma at about 050,000.

    The town was visited in the year 1811 by j\rr. Manning whose description of its dirty and miserable streets swarming Mitli dogs and beggars, and the meanness of its buildings, corresponds

    with what Hue and Gabet found in 1846. Mr. Manning

    remained there nearly five months, and had several intei:-

    views with the Dalai-lama ; lie was much impeded in his

    observations by a Cantonese viansJd or teachei’, and exposed to

    danger of illness from insufficient shelter and clothing. His

    reception by the chief of the Buddhist faith on the 17th of

    December, was equally remarkable with that by the Teshu-lama

    of Bogle in 1774, and of Turner in 1783. Mr. Manning was

    alone and unprotected and had very few presents, but his offering

    was accepted ; it consisted of a piece of fine broadcloth, two

    brass candlesticks, twenty new dollars, and two vials of lavender

    water. He rode to the foot of the mountain Putala, and

    dismounted on the first platform to ascend by a long stairway

    of four hundred steps, part of them cut in the rock, and the

    rest ladder steps from story to stoiy in the palace, till he

    reached a large platform roof off which was the reception hall.

    Upon entering this he found that the Ti-mu-fu or Gesiib Jiwihoche,

    the highest civil functionary in Tibet, was also present,

    wliich caused him some confusion : “I did not know how

    much ceremony to go through with one before I began with

    the other. I made the due obeisance, touching the ground three times with my head to the (ii’and Lama, and once to the 2\-ina-fu. I presented my gifts, delivering the coins with a handsome silk scarf with my own hands to them both. While I was Jxotovnmj, the awkward servants let one of the bottles of lavender water fall and break. Havin<i: delivered the scarf to the Grand Lama, I took oft” my hat, and humbly gave him my clean shaven head to lay his hands upon. . . . The Lama’s beautiful and interesting face and manner engrossed all my attention.

    SIIIGATSE AND TESIIU-LUMBO. 247

    He was about seven yeai-s old ; had the simple manners

    of a well educated princely child. His face was, I thought,

    poetically and affectingly beautiful. He was of a cheerful disposition,

    his beautiful mouth perpetually unbending into a

    graceful smile, which illuminated his whole countenance. No

    doubt my grim beard and spectacles excited his risibility. “We

    had not been seated long before he put questions which we rose

    to receive and answer. He inquired whether I had met with

    difficulties on the road ; to which I replied that I had had

    troubles, but now that I had the happiness of being in his presence

    they were amply compensated. I could see that this

    answer pleased both him and his people, for they found that I

    was not a mere rustic, but had some tincture of civility in me.” ‘

    The capital of Tsangor Ulterior Tibet is Shigatse, situated 126

    miles west of H’lassa, and under its control. The monastery

    where the Teshu-lama and his court resides is a few miles

    distant, and constitutes a town of about 4,000 priests, named

    Teshu-Lumbo. He is styled Panchen Rimboche, and is the

    incarnation of Amitabha ]>uddha. His palace is built of dark

    l)rick and has a roof of gilded copper ; the houses rise one

    above another and the gilt ornaments on the temples combine

    to give a princely appearance to the town. The fortress of

    Shigatse stands so as to command both places. The plain

    between this town and H’lassa is a fertile tract, and judging

    from the number of towns in the valleys of the basin of the

    Yaru, its productive powers are comparatively great. Ulterior

    Tibet is divided into six other cantons, besides the territory

    under the jurisdiction of the chief town, most of their fortified

    capitals lying westward of Shigatse.

    ‘ Mis-sion of George Bogle to Tibet and Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhaaa^Edited by C. R. Markliam. London, 1876, p. 265.

    The degree of skill the Tibetans have attained in manufactures, mechanical arts, and general civilization, is less than that of the Chinese, but superior to the Mongols. They appear to be a mild and humane people, possessing a religious sense and enjoying an easy life compared with their southern neighbors.

    They are well-bred and affable, fond of gossiping and festivities, which soften the heart and cheer the temper. Women are treated with care and are not often compelled to work out of doors, ^s’o two people or countries widely separated present a stronger contrast than do the stout, tall, muscular, and floi-id Butias, upon their fertile fields and wooded hills, with the squat, puny, sluggish, and swarthy Tibetans in their rugged, barren mountains. They distinguish five sorts of people among

    themselves, the last of whom are the Butias ; the others are

    the inhabitants of Kham, or Anterior Tibet, those in Tsang, the

    nomads of Kor-kache, and the people of Little Tibet. All of

    them speak Tibetan with some variations. The Tibetans are

    clad with woollens and furs to such a degree that they appear

    to emulate the animals they derive’ them from in their weight

    and warmth ; and with this clothing is found no small quantity

    of dirt. The dress of the sexes varies slightly in its shape ;

    yellow and red are the predominant colors. Large bulgar boots

    of hide are worn by all persons ; the remainder of the dress

    consists of woollen robes and furs like those of the Chinese.

    The women wear many jewels, and adorn their hair as do the

    Mongols with pearls, coral, and turquoises. Girls braid their

    hair in three tresses, married women in two. The head is protected

    by high velvet caps ; the men wear broad-brimmed

    coverings of various materials.

    The two religious sects are distinguished by yellow and red

    caps ; the latter are comparatively few, allow marriage to the

    lamas, but do not differ materially in their ritual or tenets.

    There is no country where so large a proportion of the people

    are devoted to religious service as in Tibet, nor .one where the

    secular part of the inhabitants pays such implicit deference to

    the clergy. The food of the Tibetans is taken at all hours,

    nmtton, barley, and tea constituting the staple articles. On

    all visits tea is presented, and the cup replenished as often as it

    is drained. Spirits and beer, both made from barley, are common

    beverages. On every visit of ceremony, and whenever a

    letter is sent from one person to another, it is necessary to connect

    a silk scarf with it, the size and texture being proportioned

    to the rank and condition of the parties. The sentence Omviaiil 2)ttdiiii- hum is woven upon each end.

    OM MANX PADMI HUM. 249

    The following note by Col. Yule, condensed from Koeppen’s

    Lamaisehe Hlcrai’clde iind Kurhe, contains the most satisfactory

    explanation of this puzzling mystic formnla : ” Om mani

    padmi hum!—the primeval six syllables, as the lamas l ly,

    among all prayers on earth form that which is most abundantly

    recited, written, printed, and even spun by machines for the

    good of the faithful. These syllables form the only prayer

    knoM’u to the ordinary Tibetans and Mongols; they are the first

    words that the child learns to stannner, and the last gasping

    utterance of the dying. The wanderer nmrmurs them on his

    M’ay, the herdsman beside his cattle, the matron at her household

    tasks, the monk in all the stages of contemplation (/.^., of

    fa7- niente) y they form at once a cry of battle and a shout of

    victory ! They are to be read wherever the Lama church

    hath spread, upon banners, upon rocks, upon trees, upon walls,

    upon monuments of stone, upon household utensils, upon strips

    of paper, upon human skulls and skeletons ! They foi*m, according

    to the idea of the believers, the utmost conception of all

    religion, of all wisdom, of all revelation, the path of rescue and

    the gate of salvation ! Properly and literally these

    four words, a single utterance of which is sufficient of itself

    to purchase an inestimable salvation, signify nothing more

    than : ” O the Jewel in the Lotus ! Amen !

    ” Li this interpretation,

    most probably, the Jetcel stands for the Bodhisatva

    Avalokite5vara, so often born from the bud of a lotus flower.

    According to this the whole fornmla is simply a salutation to

    the mighty saint who has taken under his especial chai-ge the

    conversion of the Xorth, and with him who first employed it

    the mystic formula meant no more than Ave AvaloJiitecvara !

    But this simple explanation of course does not satisfy the Lama

    schoolmen, who revel in glorifications and multitudinous glossifications

    of this formula. The six syllables are the heart of

    hearts, the root of all knowledge, the ladder to re-birth in

    higher forms of being, the conquerors of the five evils, the

    flame that burns up sin, the hannner that breaks up torment,

    and so on. Om saves the gods, tua the Asuras, ni the men, jH((7 the animals, ?//< the spectre world oi p?’etas, ^lan the in

    habitants of hell! O/a^ is ‘the blessing of self-renunciation,

    ma of mercy, ?u’ of chastity, etc’ * Truly monstrous,’ says

    Koeppen,”is the number oi pcuh/us \\\nch in the great festivals

    Imm and buzz through the air like flies.’ In some places

    each worshipper reports to the highest Lama how many oni

    ‘jiKinis he has nttered, and the total immber emitted by the

    congregation is counted by the billion.”

    Grueber and Dorville describe Manij>e as an idol, befoi’e

    which xtidfa yens insol’dis gcdleulatlonihus sacra sua faclt.,

    hlentldtn verTja haec repetens:

    —’ O JManipe, mi hum, O Manipe,

    mi hum ; id est Manipe, salva nos !

    ‘ ” Ileniusat {Melanges

    I^ostJiuiiies, Paris, 1843, p. 90) translates this phrase by:

    ” Adoration, O thou precious stone who art in the lotus ! ” and

    observes that it illustrates the fundamental dogma of Buddhism,

    viz. : the production of the material universe by an absolute

    being; all things which exist are shut up in the breast of the

    divine substance ; the ‘ precious stone ‘ signifying that tJte

    world is in God. Mr. Jameson says that the sentence Oni

    tnaxi jxtdiiii JuDKj is formed of the initial letters of various

    deities, all of whom are supposed to be implored in the prayer.’

    In reverential salutations, the cap is removed by the inferior,

    and tbe arms hang by the side. The bodies of the dead are

    placed in an open inclosure, in the same nuumer as practised by

    the Parsees, where birds and beasts of prey devour them, or

    they are dismembered in an exposed place. Lanuis are burned,

    and their ashes collected into urns. As soon as the breath has

    departed, the body is seated in the same attitude as Buddha is

    represented, with the legs bent before, aiul the soles of the feet

    turned upwards. The right hand rests upon the thigh, the

    left turns up near the body, the tlnnnb touching the shoulder.

    In this attitude of contemplation, the corpse is burned.

    In Tibet, as in Butan, the custom of polyandry prevails. The

    choice of a Avife lies with the eldest son, who having made

    known his intentions to his parents sends a matchmaker to pro-

    ‘ Comjiare, for further discussion of this suhjoct, Timkowski’s Misffion ts Peking, London. 1827, Vol. II., p. :i4y. Wilson’s Abode of >S/toiC, p. 329.

    TIBETAN TYPES AND CUSTOMS. 251

    pose the matter to the parents of the girl. The consent of the

    parents being obtained, the matchmaker places an ornament of

    a jewel set in gold, called sedskc upon the head of the damsel,

    and gives her presents of jewels, dresses, cattle, etc., according

    to the means of the young man. The guests invited on the

    day of the marriage bring presents of such things as they

    choose, which augments the dowry, A tent is set up before

    the bride’s house, in which are placed three or four square

    cushions, and the ground around sprinkled with wheat ; the

    bride is seated on the highest cushion, her parents and friends

    standing near her according to their rank, and the assembled

    party there partake of a feast. The bride is then conducted to

    the house of her lover by the friends present, her person being

    sprinkled with wheat or barley as she goes along, and there

    placed by his side, and both of them served with tea and spirits.

    Soon after, the groom seats himself apart, and every one present

    gives a scarf, those of superior rank binding them around their

    necks, equals and inferiors laying them by their sides. The

    next day, a procession is formed of the relatives of the newly

    married pair, wdiich visits all the friends, and the marriage is

    conqjleted. The girl thus becomes the wife of all the brothers,

    and manages the domestic concerns of their household. The

    number of her husbands is son)etimes indicated by as many

    points in her cap. This custom is strengthened by the desire,

    on the part of the family, to keep the property intact among

    its members ; but it does not prevent one of the husbands leaving

    the roof and marrying another woman, nor is the usage

    universal, liemusat speaks of a novel in Tibetan, in which the

    author admirably portrays the love of his heroine, Triharticha,

    for her four lovers, and bi’ings their marriage in at the end in

    the happiest manner.

    The dwellings of the poor are built of unhewn stones, rudely piled upon each other without cement, two stories high, and resembling brick-kilns in shape and size ; the windows are small, in order not to weaken the structure ; the roof is flat, defended by a brushwood parapet, and protected from the molestation of evil spirits by flags, strips of paper tied to strings, or branches of trees. Timber is costly and little used ; the floors are of marble or tiles, and the furniture consists of little else than mats and cushions. The temples and convents are more imposing and commodious structures ; some of those at Il’lassa are among the noblest specimens of architecture in Central Asia.

    The mausoleum of the Teshu-lama at Teshu Lumbu resembles

    a plain square watch-tower surmounted by a double Chinese

    canopy roof, the eaves of which are hung with Ijells, on which

    the breeze plays a ceaseless dirge. The body of the lama reposes

    in a coffin of gold, and his effigy, also of gold, is placed

    within the concavity of a large shell upon the top of the pyramidal

    structure which contains it. The sides of the pyramid

    are silver plates, and on the steps are deposited the jewels and

    other costly articles which once appertained to him. An altar

    in front receives the oblations and incense daily presented before

    the tomb, and near by is a second statue of the deceased as

    large as life in the attitude of reading. Scrolls and pennons of

    silk hang from the ceiling, and the walls are adorned with

    paintings of priests engaged in prayer. The whole structure is

    substantially built, and its rich ornaments are placed there n<jt

    less for security than to do honor to the revered person deposited

    beneath. The windows are closed with mohair curtains,

    and a skylight in the upper story serves for lighting the room,

    and for passing out upon the roof. The roof or parapet is

    ornamented with cylinders of copper or other nuiteiials, which

    imparts a brilliant appearance to the ediiices.

    The manufactures of Tibet consist of woollens, cloth, blankets,

    yarn, goat-hair shawls, musk, paper, metals, and jewelry.

    Their lapidaries cut every kind of oriuiment in superior style,

    and gold and silverware forms a considerable article of trade to

    China. These and other crafts nmst necessai’ily languish, liowever,

    from the immense proportion of men who are witiidi’awn

    from labor into monasteries, compelling the residue to devote

    most of their strength to tillage. The most important exports

    to China consist of gold dust, precious stones, bezoars, asafcetida,

    musk, woollens, and skins ; for which the people receive

    silks, teas, chinaware, tobacco, musical instruments, and metals.

    The trade is carried on throuy-h Sinino- fu in Kansuh, and Batang in Sz’chneii. Tincal, rock-salt, and shawl wool, are additional articles sent to Ladak, Biitan, and India.

    COMMERCE AND LANGUAGE OF TIBET. 25;}

    Music is studied by the priesthood for their ceremonies, and

    with much better effect than among the Chinese priests. Their

    amusements consist in archery, dancing, and observance of

    many festivals connected with the worship of the dead or of

    the living. Dram-drinking is common, but the people camiot

    be called a drunken race, nor does the habit of opium eating or

    smoking, so fatally general in Assam, prevail, inasmuch as the

    poppy cannot well be cultivated among the mountains.

    Education is confined to the priesthood, but the women, who conduct much of the traffic, also learn arithmetic and writing. The language is alphabetical, and reads from left to right; there are two forms of the character, the uchen used for books, and the umin employed in writing, which do not differ more than the Iloman and the running-hand in English. The form of the characters shows their Sanscrit origin, but there are many consonants in the language not found in that tongue, and silent letters are not unfrequent in the written words. There are thirty consonants in the alphbet, distributed into eight classes, with four additional voM-el signs ; each of them ends in a short a, as la, oiga, cJia, which can be lengthened by a diacritical mark placed underneath. The syllables are separated

    from each other by a point ; the accented consonant is that

    which follows the vowel, and the others, whether before or

    after it, are pronounced as rapidly as possible, and not unfrequently

    omitted altogether in speaking. The variations in this

    respect constitute the chief features of the patois found in different

    parts where Tibetan is spoken. A dictionary and grammar ‘

    of this language were printed in 1S34 in Calcutta by (‘soma de

    Korcis, a Hungarian who resided among the priests near Ladak.

    The literature is almost wholly theological, as far as it has been

    examined, and such works as are not of this character, have

    probably been introduced from China. Their divisions of time,

    numeration, chronology, and weights, have also been adopted

    ‘ Essay towards a Dictionary, Tibetan and English. A Grammar of the Tibetan Lauguage in English. Calcutta, 1834. from that country with a few alterations. An Englishman, Mr. Brian Hodgson, who lived in Kipal from lb20 to 1843, has added more than any one else to our knowledge of the literature of this country. This gentleman procured complete copies of the original documents of the Buddhist canon preserved in Sanscrit in Nipalese monasteries, as well as (by a present from the Dalai-lama) the whole of the existing literary remains of the once flourishing Christian mission at Il’lassa. His more important essays on these lands have now been brought together in a single volume.’

    The history of Tibet has been made partially known to Europe through the Mongol author, Sanang Setsen,^ but if free access could be had to their annals, it is probable that a methodical history could be extracted, reaching back at least three centuries before Christ. Tibet was ruled by its ow^n princes till the rise of Genghis ; the first monarch, who united the various tribes under his sway b. c. 313, was Seger-Sandilutu-Kagan-Tlil-Esen,^ and from the fact that Buddhism was introduced during his reign, it miglit be inferred that he came from the south. Il’lassa was founded by Srongzan-Ctambo, or Srongbdzan sgambouo,^ about a.d. 630, after which time Tibetan

    history becomes more authentic, inasmuch as this king introduced

    the alphabet. The Tang dynasty carried their arms into

    Tibet from Khoten, but the people threw off their yoke during

    the decline of that family. Mohammedanism also disturbed the

    supremacy of the Buddhist faith, and severe persecutions followed

    about the beginning of the tenth century by an Islam

    prince Darma, but it was rej^elled at liis death, and has neversince

    made the least impression upon the people. Genghis reduced

    Tangout, one of the principalities, northeast of Koko-nor,

    and soon after brought the whole country under his sway ; this

    ‘ Essays on the Language, Literature, and Religion of Nejial and Tibet, etc.Loudon, 1874.-‘ R musat, Observations stir VlJistoire des Mongols orientemix de S:inang Setsen,Paris, I’an 8. Ssanang Ssetsen, Oeschichte der Mongolen, Uebers., von. J.J. Schmidt, Petersb., 1829.^ Remusat relates tlic story of his origin, Melanges Posthmnes, p. 400.• Klaproth, Description du Tubet.

    HISTORY OF TIBET. 255

    Kiiblai still further settled as a dependency of his empire. The people recovered their independence on the expulsion of the Mongols, and under the Ming dynasty formed several small kingdoms, among which were Ladak and Rodok, both of them still existing.

    From a short resume of letters written from Tibet in 162(), by Romish missionaries living there, it appears that the kingdom of Sopo was the most powerful in the north, and Cogur, IT-tsang, and Mai-yul were three southern principalities. The king of Cogue allowed these missionaries to reside in his territories, and took pleasure in hearing them converse and dispute with the lamas. The Dalai-lama at this time was the king’s brother, and possessed subordinate influence in the state, but the priests were numerous and influential. The conquest of Mongolia and Tangout opened the way for Ivanglil to enter Tibet, but the intercourse between the Emperor and Dalai-lama was chiefly connected with religion and carrying tribute. An index of the freedom of communication between Tibet and the west is found in the passports issued to the traders visiting iriassa in lOSS. The lamas held the supreme power imtil towards the end of his reign, when Chinese influence became paramount. The country had already been concpiered by the Songar chieftain, so that on his defeat it could ofPer little resistance.

    Ivanghi appointed six of the highest princes or gidlho over the provinces ; but soon after his death, in 1727, three of them conspired against Yungching, and were not subdued without considerable resistance. The Emperor then appointed the loyal prince or gialbo as governor-general, and he remained in his vice-regal office till his death, about 1750. Kienlung, finding that his son was endeavoring to make himself fully independent, executed him as a rebel, suppressed the office, and appointed two Chinese generals to be associated with the Dalailama and his coadjutoi-, in the administration of the country.

    The troops were increased and forts erected in all parts of the country to awe the people and facilitate trade.

    The present government of Tibet is superintended by two ta chilly ‘or great ministers,’ residing at Il’lassa, who act con-“‘ointly, while they serve as checks upon each other ; they do not hold their office for a long time. They have absolute control over all the troops in the country, and the military are generally confined to the garrisons, and do not cultivate the soil. The collection of revenue, transmission of tribute to Peking, and direction of the persons who carry it, and those mIu) conduct the trade at Batang and Sining fu, are all under their control. The Dalai-lama, and the Teshu-lama are the high religious officers of the country, each of them independent in his own province, but the former holding the highest place in the hierarchy. The Chinese residents confer with each concerning the direction of his own province. All their appointments to office or nobility must be sanctioned by the residents before they are A’alid, but merely religious officers are not under this surveillance. In the villages, the authority is administered by secular deputy lamas called delni^ and by commandants called kaiipon^ who are sent from the capital. Each dcha is assisted by a native vazir of the place, who, Avith the chief lama, foiiii the local government, amenable to the supreme magistracy. The western province of Kari is peopled by nomads, who wander over the regions north of Tlavan-hrad, and are under the authority of larjxni-‘^ sent from IFlassa, without the assistance of lamas. The two higli-pi-iests themselves are likewise assisted by councillors. One of these, called Soopoon(‘hoondx)o, who held the office of sadeeh or adviser when Turner visited Teshu-Lumbo, was a ]V[anchu by birth, but had long lived in Tibet.

    GOVERNMENT OF TIBET. 257

    The nomadic clans of Dam Mongols and other tribes occupying the thirty-nine feudal townships or ta-sz’ in Anterior Tibet, are governed by the residents without the intervention of the lamas. The disturbances in Ulterior Tibet in 1792, resulting from the irruption of the Kipalese and sack of Teshu-Lumbo, were speedily quelled by the energy of Kienlung’s government, and the invaders forced to sue for mercy. The southern frontier was, in consequence of this inroad, strongly fortified by a chain of posts, and the communication with the states between Tibet and India strictly forbidden and w^atched. It gave the Chinese an opportunity to strengthen their rule and extend their inlluence north to Khoten and into Ladak. The natural mildness of character of the Tibetans, and similarity of religion renders thera much easier under the Chinese joke, than the Mohammedans.*
    ‘ Authorities on Tibet besides those already referred to: Journal Asiatique,Tomes IV., p. 281 ; VIII., p. 117; IX., p. 81 ; XIV., pp. 177, ff. 277, 406,etc. Dii Halde, DescHption of (Jhiim., Vol. II., pp. 884-888. Capt. Samuel Turner, Account of an Embassy to the Court of Teslioo Lama in Tibet, London, 1800. Histoire cic ce qui s’est ]Mi>se au lioyaume du Tibet, en Pann’e 1(}26 ; trad de I’ltalien. Paris, 1829. P. Kircher, CJiinn llhistrnta. MM. Peron et Billecocq, liecueil de Voyages du lldbet, Paris, 1796. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal^ passim. Chinese Repository, Vols. VI., pp. 28, 494,IX., p. 20, and XIII., p. 50.5. Hitter, Asien, Bd. II., 4er Abschnitt, and Bd.III., S. 187-424. Richthofen, China, Bd. I., S. 228, 247, 466, 670, 688, etc.C. H. Desgodin, La mission du Tibet de 1855 a 1870, comprennant Pexpose desaffaires rdigieuses, etc. Dhtpres les lettres de M. fabbe Desgodins, missionaireapofitoliquc, Verdun, 1872. Lieut.’ Kreitner, Jm fernen Osten, pp. 829 ff.,and in The r»jndar Science Monthly, for August, 1882. Emil Schlagintweit,Tibetan Buddhism, Illustrated by Literary Documents and Objects of Religious Worship, London, 1868. Abbe Hue, I’ravels through Tartary, Tibet and China, 2 vols.Vol. I.—17

    CHAPTER V. POPULATION AND STATISTICS

    Much of the interest appertaining to the country and people here treated of, in the minds of philanthropic and intelligent men, has arisen from the impression they have received of its vast population. A country twice the size of the Chinese empire would present few attractions to the Christian^ the merchant, or the ethnologist, if it were no better inhabited than Sahara, or Arizona : a people might possess most admirable institutions, and a matchless form of government, yet these excellencies would lose their interest, did we hear that it is the republic of San Marino or the kingdom of Muscat, where they are found. The population of few countries in the world has been accurately ascertained, and probably that of China is less satisfactory than any European or American state of the present day. It is far easier to take a census among a people who understand its object, and will honestly assist in its execution, than in a despotic, half-civilized country, Avherc the mass of the inhabitants are afraid of contact or intercourse with their rulers; in most of such states, as Abyssinia, Turkey, Persia, etc., there is either no regular emnneration at all, or merely a general estimate for the purposes of i-cvemie or conscription.

    CREDIT DUE TO CHINESE CENSUSES. 259

    The subject of the population of Cliiiui has engaged the attention of the monarchs of the present dynasty, and their censuses have been the best sources of information in making up an intelligent opinion upon the matter. Whatever may be our views of the actual population, it is plain that these censuses, with all their discrepancies and inaccuracies, are the only reliable sources of information. The conflicting opinions and

    conclusions of foreign writers neither give any additional weight

    to them, nor detract at all from their credibility. As the question

    stands at present, they can be doubted, but cannot be

    denied ; it is impossible to prove them, while there are many

    grounds for believing them; the enormous total which they

    exhibit can be declared to be improbable, but not shown to be

    impossible.

    No one who has been in China can hesitate to acknowledge that there are some strong grounds for giving credit to them, but the total goes so far beyond his calculations, that entire belief nmst, indeed, be deferred till some new data have been furnished. There are, perhaps, more peculiar encouragements

    to the increase of population there than in any other

    country, mostly arising from a salubrious climate, semi-annual

    crops, unceasing industry, early marriages, and an equable

    taxation, involving reasonable security of life and property.

    Turning to other countries of Asia, we soon observe that in

    Japan and Persia these causes have less influence ; in Siam

    and Burmah they are weak ; in Tibet they are almost powerless.

    At this point every one must rest, as the result of an examination

    into the population of the Chinese Empire ; though,

    from the survey of its principal divisions, made in the preceding

    chapters, its capability of maintaining a dense population needs

    no additional- evidence. The mind, however, is bewildered in

    some degree by the contemplation of millions upon millions of

    human beings thus collected under one government ; and it

    almost wishes there might be grounds for disbelieving the

    enormous total, from the dieadful results that might follow

    the tyrannical caprice or unrestrained fury of their rulers,

    or the still more shocking scenes of rapine and the hideous

    extremities of want which a bad harvest would necessarily

    cause.

    Chinese literature contains many documents describing

    classes of society comprised in censuses in the various dynasties.

    The results of those enumerations have been digested by Ma

    Twan-lin in a judicious and intelligent manner in the chapters

    treating on population, from which M. Ed. Biot has elaborated

    many important data.’ The early records show that the census

    was designed to contain only the number of taxable people, excluding all persons bound to give personal service, who were

    under the control of others. Moreover, all othcials and slaves,

    all persons over 60 or 66 years of age, the weak or sick, those

    needing help, and sometimes such as were newly placed on state

    lands, were likewise omitted. Deducting these classes. Ma

    Twan-lin gives one census taken in the ninth century, b.c, as

    13,704,923 persons, between the ages of 15 and 05, living

    within the frontiers north of the Yangtsz’ Eiver. This figure

    would be worth, according to the tables of modern statistics,

    about 65 per cent, of the entire population, or as representing

    21,753,528 inhabitants.

    The mighty conqueror, Tsin Chi Ilwangtf, changed the personal

    corvc’c to scutage, and introduced a kind of poll tax, by

    accepting the money from many who could not be forced to do

    the work required. This practice was followed in the 11 an

    dynasty, and in b.c. 194, the poll-tax was legalized, to include

    all men between 15 and 66, while a lighter impost was le\ ied

    on those between 7 and 14. During the four centuries of this

    family’s regime, the object and modes of a census were well

    understood. Ma Twan-lin gives the results of ten taken between

    A.D. 2 and 155. His details show that it was done

    simply for revenue, and was omitted in bad years, when drought

    or freshets destroyed the harvests ; they show, too, an increase

    in the number of slaves, that women were now enumerated,

    and that girls between 15 and 30 paid a poll-tax. In b.c. 30,

    the limits of age were placed between 7 and 56. The average

    of these ten censuses is 63,500,600, the first one being as high

    as 83,640,000, while the next and lowest, taken fifty-five years

    afterwards, is only 29,180,000, and the third is 47,396,<»00.

    These great variations are explained by the disturbances arising

    in consequence of the usurpation of Wangmang, a.d. 9-27, and

    subsequent change of the ca})ital, and the impossibility, during

    this troubled period, of canvassing all parts of the Empire.

    ‘ This careful digest is contained in the Journal Asiatique for 1836 (April and May), and will repay perusal.

    MA TWAN-LIN’s study OF THE cp:nsu8es. 261

    The irfcroiice from thesc data, that tlio real population of the Chinese Empire north of the Nan ling at the time of Christ was at least eighty millions, is as well groinided as almost any fact in its history.’

    After the downfall of the Ilan dynasty, a long period of

    civil war ensued, in which the destruction of life and property

    was so enormous that the population was i-educed to one-sixth

    of the amount set down in a.d. 230, when disease, epidemics,

    and earthquakes increased the losses caused by war and the cessation

    of agricultui’e, according to Ma Twan-lin ; and it is not

    till A.D. 280, when the Tsin dynasty had subjected all to its

    sway, that the country began to revive. In that year an enumeration

    was made which stated the free peojjle between 12

    and 66 years in the land at 14,163,863, or 23,180,000 in all.

    From this period till the Sui dynasty came into power, in 589,

    Cliina was torn by dissensions and rival monarchs, and the

    recorded censuses covered only a portion of the land, the figures

    including even fewer of the people, owing to the great number

    of serfs or bondmen who had sought safety under the protection

    of landowners. At this time a new mode of taking the census

    was ordered, in M’hich the people were classified into those from

    1 to 3 years, then 3 to 10, then 10 to IT, and 17 to 60, after

    which age they were not taxed ; the ratio of the land tax was

    also fixed. A .census taken in 606 in this way gives an estimated

    population of 46,019,956 in all China ; the frontiers, at

    this period, hardly reached to the Xan ling Mountains, and the

    author’s explanation of the manner of carrying on some public

    works shows that even this sum did not include persons who were

    liable to l)e called on for personal service, while all officials, slaves,

    and beggars were omitted. Troubles arose again from these

    enforced works, and it was not till the advent to power of the

    Tang dynasty, in 618, that a regular enumeration was possible.

    ‘ The population of the Ronican Empire at the same period is estimated at 85,000,000 bj Merivale (Vol. IV., pp. ‘^,?,Q-M’^i), but the data are less complete than in China; he reckons the European provinces at 45,000,000, and the Asiatic and African colonies at the remainder, giving 27,000,000 to Asia Minor and Syria. The area of China, at this time, was less than Rome by about one fourth.

    This family reigned 287 years, and Ma Twan-lin gives fifteen

    returns of the population up to 841. They show great variations,

    some of them difficult to explain even by omitting ot

    supplying large classes of the inhabitants. The one most carefully

    taken was in a.d. 75-i, and gives an estimated total of

    about seventy millions for the whole Empire, which, though

    nearly the same as that in the Ilan dynasty in a.d. 2, extended

    over a far greater area, even to the whole southern seaboard.

    In addition to former enumerated classes, many thousands of priests were passed by in this census.

    The years of anarchy following the Tang, till a.d. 976, M-hen the Sung dynasty obtained possession, caused their usual effect. Its first census gives only about sixteen millions of taxable population that year, when its authority was not firmly assured ; but

    in 1021 the returns rise to 43,388,380, and thence gradually

    increase to 100,095,250 in 1102, just before the provinces north

    of the Yellow River, by far the most fertile and loyal, were lost.

    The last enumeration, in 1223, while Ma Twan-lin was living,

    places the returns in the southern provinces at 63,304,000 ; this

    was fifty years before Kublai khan conquered the Empire. Our

    author gives some details concerning the classes included in the

    census during his own lifetime, which prove to a reasonable

    mind that the real number of mouths living on the land Avas, if

    anything, higher than the estimates. In 1290, the Mongol

    Emperor published his enumeration, placing the taxable population

    at 58,834,711, “not counting those who had fled to the

    mountains and lakes, or who had joined the rebels.” This was

    not long after his ruthless hand had almost depopulated vast

    regions in the northern provinces, before he could quiet them.

    In the continuation of Ma Twan-lin’s Ti (‘searches, thei-e are

    sixteen censuses given for the Ming dynasty between 1381 and

    1580 ; the lowest figure is 46,800,000, in 1506, and the highest,

    66,590,000, in 1412, the average for the two centuries being

    56,715,360 inhabitants. One of its compilers declares that he

    cannot reconcile their great discrepancies, and throws doubts on

    their totals from his inability to learn the mo(^leof emimeration.

    Three are given for three consecutive years (1402-1404), the

    difference between the extremes of which amounts to sixteen

    millions, but they were all taken when Yungloh was fighting Kienwan, his nephew, at Nanking, and settling himself at Peking as Emperor, during which years large districts could not possibly have been counted.

    COMPARATIVE CENSUS TABLES. 263

    Before entering upon a careful examination of this question,

    it will be well to bring together the various estimates taken of

    the population during the present dynasty. The details given

    in the table on page 264 have been taken from the best sources,

    and are as good as the people themselves possess.

    Besides these detailed accounts, there have been several

    aggregates of the whole country given by other native writers

    than Ma Twan-lin, and some by foreigners, professedly drawn

    from original sources, but who have not stated their authorities.

    The most trustworthy, together with those given in the other

    table, are here placed in chronological order.

    Authorities.

    / Continuation of MaTwan-lin. Ed.I Biot, Jour7ial Asiatique, 1836.

    Oeneral Statistics of the Empire ;Medhurst’s China, p. 53.

    ‘, Till Tung Chi, a statistical work; \ Morrison’s View of China.

    j General Statistica ; Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 359.

    I Memoires sur les Chinois, Tome f VI., p. 377 ff.

    ] Les Missionaires, De Guignes,

    I Tomelll, p. 67.

    i General Statistics ; Chinese Repo-

    \ sitory. Vol. I., p. 359.

    J

    Yih Tung Chi, a statistical work ;

    ( Morrison’s Vieto of China.

    I Memoiressur lesChinois^TomeYI.

    f De Guignes, Tome III. , p. 73.

    j Allerstein ; Grosier ; De Guignes,

    ] Tome III., p. 67.

    \ ” Z.” of Berlin, in Chinese Repo-

    \ sitory. Vol. I., p. 361.

    j General Statistics ; Dr. Morrison,

    I Anglo-Chinese Coll. Report,

    \ 1839. Statement made to Lord

    ( Macartney.

    ] General Statistics ; Chinese Repo-

    ( sitory. Vol. I., p. 359.

    \ VassUivitch.

    ] Chinese Ciistoni’s Reports.

    Seven of these censuses, viz., the 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 17th,

    20th, 21st and 23d, are given in detail in the following table.

    364 tiij: middle kingdom.

    c O 3) CP o o^o^o —^ ~_ —_ —_ o ^_ :r_ —__ o

    ©j”-^’cct-*” CO* -T ;r”-r – to 7?’ ::’ //cc -T ir: r*’

    Tr-gi,-(0 CO rrir2-Tr;c;-T:ct:r-r. r: xco

    els??,:

    ~ ^? 5 »

    oil a>

    ^_^ —• N^ ^-^ ,*J l*X ^—’ -‘. ‘y T —^ ^’. l*X ^ ‘.r •— •*•’ -f^

    x’jT C-“cTi–rT^jij ;^’ -^ (^ —’ ^ ;^” 4^ai”X iO ifj

    1(5 = 100 o ooin o

    :c JO t- a, -^ lO =- r; o

    o iO X CO ;o 00 ?* T 😮

    I- rt as i: i- «:ca:_^ s-j

    ;C5’rX!W CO ;c”iCt:^ -^

    lO OOO U3″0 O

    CO <— O iC T 2? ?*

    O X O ‘^ lO ^ cc

    JB ‘—O i-H TJ ‘-‘.’5”

    a;i-r^5’*o^»:c-jrm -r o c: ir: ‘t t-_^oo (»

    cS X vr rr .r CO = 7′ – i m /; th x g 3 o (- :^

    <r« !- t- ^r ^ (- c; -r :^ = x o; x i- t-_~ -r o 😮

    irfic c:’i; ITT* r-‘ lo’xTx.’ x’ i- 1- ttScovi tT

    t-i U r-l(N T( ri 1-1

    ‘”id

    •52J «

    000=0000 oO oO oO oO oO O00!=0G> oO oO O00O0-^ 000= O — 00 C= 0^=:__0_0 0^0 0^=^ 0000 cT o”o cTo^oo cTcTo ^o

    o

    O0O0^0J0O Oo o_^o^o__o_o_0o_0o;3o_o=_^0oo0_o0_^

    oo*-*i-^io” 5* cTi-j’io’^’MocrirJtfT-fo’oroo’

    o

    roi-HrtS:ci-*ooot-5einQooif5 05o;e

    :*-Hi-oin~ X — oioiocii-o^Cii-H^^X’

    –r(T-<inOOC-**3’Ol0^rlO 0_’X^T* ?? c*^

    d” -T t–‘ cc^X :c o” i-^ oT ^* i-^ CO irf~ TT co’cd” T—* tjoccTco-

    Tioi-i-inoOicoi-t-ixco’-o

    15 O O 00 ri O S^ l-^CC CO ‘^^’^..^ •^’*^*’^ ^

    <i-iff{ra?;s«T<r-ie«i-ii-i>-i(NT-i

    Gi-l

    O

    t-.’NTH-Ot-i-iT-IQ035O(NWMC0 00C:XlX5»

    r-lt-0-n’CC;CiOOO:COTO-TIN3:-TT-ITJ>in-T

    OT0003C00iCC’NQ0C000?rO’W”T ^^CO X O t-^

    -^aTs^-^ooiffiO ‘?f0^00 cc^r-Tco co”oi”u5 x’ CO r-T

    t-OOt-Ht-IC0OC0»-lCCC010:CC0C0l— rHOS-^

    COt-T-ii-i;C-»OCO£- lO^CO O0_t-H CO cb os_i-_^o ‘»

    ofw itT t-^ cfcTiO*x -^ ‘^’” t”cc 5^ T-T cc’ T-T r-T r-T

    IS

    . OJXt-TH3:05iOt-e«o:»»T)’Xin3:cO’l’

    •(NXOCOC:-TTr(MXOt-lO:-‘£. XCD35 -~ — ~ ‘ “) 05 T-i_o; o^ o :c »-»

    _. -_ _ – _ TrH-^’oO lOrH *rf ‘t’ C:0~’-ilO«i-(CCCDt–^i-l-T-^Ol010 ” ^”^CCWCOfHT-HT* 74

    t-T itT

    uoi:(‘B[ndod uaAV

    lO^’NOOlOO^COCirlCOlOXrHCO*”-!

    t-^lflT^iOOC^t’-l’-XiQirtt-fN-TasXO

    •^Tji’TiTJ’Xt— COCD’WCC(?*»-<THf-ifW

    s

    THE CENSUSES INDIVIDUALLY CONSIDERED. 265

    The first three belong to the Ming dynasty, and are taken from

    a continuation of Ma Twan din’s Researches, whence they were

    quoted in the Mtrror of Hlstonj, without their details. During

    the Ming dynasty, a portion of the country now called the

    Eighteen Provinces, was not under the control of IlungM’u and

    his descendants. The wars with the Japanese, and with tribes

    on the north and west, together with the civil wars and struggles

    between the Chinese themselves, and with the Nu-chi in

    Manchuria, nmst have somewhat decreased the population.

    The first census of 1662 (No. 4), is incidentally mentioned by

    Kierlung in 1791, as having been taken at that time, from his

    making some observations upon the increase of the population

    and comparing the early censuses with the one he had recently

    ordered. This sum of 21,068,600 does not, however, include

    all the inhabitants of China at that date ; for the Manchus

    commenced their sway in 161:’±, and did not exercise full authority

    over all the provinces much before 1700 ; Canton was

    taken in 1650, Formosa in 1683.

    The census of 1668 (Ko. 5), shows a little increase over that

    of 1662, but is likewise confined to the conquered portions ; and

    in those provinces which had been subdued, there were extensive

    tracts which had been almost depopulated at the conquest.

    Any one who reads the recitals of Semedo, Martini, Trigautius,

    and othei’s, concerning the massaci-es and destruction of life

    both by the Manchus and by Chinese l)andits, between 1630

    and 1650, M’ill feel no loss in accounting for the diminution of

    numbers, down to 1710. But the chief explanation of the decrease

    from sixty to twenty-seven millions is to be found in the

    object of taking the census, viz., to levy a poll-tax, and get at

    the number of men fit for the army—two reasons for most men

    to avoid the registration.

    The census of 1711 (No. 8), is the first one on record which bears the appearance of crediljility, when its several parts are compared with each other. The dates of the preceding (Nos. 6 and 7), are rather uncertain ; the last was extracted by Dr. Morrison from a book published in 1790, and he thought it was probably taken as early as 1650, though that is unlikely.

    The other is given by Dr. Medhurst without any explanation, and their great disparity leads us to think that both are dated wrongly. The census of 1711 is much more consistent in itself, though there are some reasons for supposing that neither did it include all the population then in China. The census was still taken for enrolment in the army, and to levy a capitation tax upon all males between the ages of sixteen and sixty. But this tax and registration were evaded and resisted by the indignant Chinese, who had never been chronicled in this fashion by their own princes; the Emperor Kanghi, therefore, abolished the capitation tax. It was not till about this time that the

    Manchus had subdued and pacified the southern provinces, and

    it is not improbable that this census, and the survey taken by

    the Jesuits, were among their acts of sovereignty. Finding

    the people unwilling to be registered, the poll tax was merged

    in the land tax, and no census ordered during the reign of

    Yungching, till Kienlung revived it in order to have some

    guide in apportioning relief during seasons of distress and scarcity,

    establishing granaries, and aiding the police in their duties.

    Many, therefore, who would do all in their power to prevent

    their names being taken, when they were liable to be taxed or

    called on to do military service, could have no objection to

    come forward, when the design of the census was to benefit

    themselves. It matters very little, however, for what object the

    census was taken, if there is reason to believe it to have been

    accurate. It might indeed act as a stimulus to multiply names

    and figures whom there were no people to represent, as the

    principle of paying the marshals a percentage on the numbers

    they reported did in some parts of New York State in 1840.

    The three next numbers (9, 10, and 11), are taken from De

    Guignes, who quotes Amiot, but gives no Chinese authorities.

    The last is given in full by De Guignes, and both this and that

    of Allerstein, dated twenty years after, ai-e introduced into the

    table. There are some disci’epancies between these two and

    the census of 1753, taken from the General Statistics, which

    cannot easily be reconciled. The internal evidence is in favor

    of the latter, over the census of 1743 ; it is taken from a new

    edition of the Ta Tsing IFioul Tien, or ‘ General Statistics of

    the Empire,’ and the increase during the forty-two years which

    COMPAIJISON OF LATER CENSUSES. 267

    had elapsed since the last census is regular in all the provinces,

    with the exception of Shantung and Kiangnan. The extraordinary

    fertility of these provinces would easily induce immigration,

    while in the war of conquest, their popnlousness and wealth attracted the armies of the Manchus, and the destruction of life was disproportionably great. The smaller numbers given to the western and southern provinces correspond

    moreover to the opposition experienced in those regions.

    On the whole, the census taken in 1753 compares very well

    with that of 1711, and both of them bear an aspect of verity,

    which does not belong to the table of 1743 quoted by De Guignes.

    From 1711 to 1753, the population doubled itself in about

    twenty-two years, premising that the whole country was faithfully

    registered at the iii-st census. For instance, the province

    of Kweichau, in 1711, presents on the average a mere fraction

    of a little more than a single person to two square miles ; while

    in 1753 it had increased in the unexampled ratio of three to a square mile, which is doubling its population every seven years ; Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Kansuh (all of them containing to this day, partially subdued tribes), had also multiplied their numbers in nearly the same proportion, owing in great measure, probably, to the more extended census than to the mere increase of population.

    The amounts for 173G, three of 1743, and those of 1760,

    1761, and 1762 (Xos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 17), are all extracted

    from De Guignes, who took them from the Memolres

    sur les Chlnois. The last, that of 1762, is given in detail in the

    table. The discrepancy of sixty millions between that given

    by Amiot for 1760, and that by Dr. Morrison for the same

    year, is owing, there can be little doubt, to foreigners, and not

    to an error of the Chinese. The work from which Dr. Morrison

    extracted his estimate for that year was published in 1790,

    but the census was taken between 1760 and 1765. The same

    work contains the census of 1711 (Xo. 8), quoted by him, and

    there is good cause for believing that Amiot’s or Grosier’s

    estimate of 157,343,975 for 1743, is the very same census, he having multiplied the number 28,605,716 by five, supposing them to have been families and not individuals. The three ascribed to the year 1743, are probably all derived from the same native authorities by different individuals.

    The three dated in 1760, 1761, and 1762, are harmonious with each other ; but if they are taken, those of 1753 and 1760, extracted from the Ylh Tung CIu hy I)i-. Morrison, must be rejected, which are far more reasonable, and correspond better with the preceding one of 1711. It may be remarked, that by reckoning five persons to a family in calculating the census of 1753, as Amiot does for 1743, the population would be 189,223,820 instead of 103,050,060, as given in the table. This explains the apparent decrease of fifty millions. All the discrepancies between these various tables and censuses must not be charged upon the Chinese, since it is by no means easy to ascertain their modes of taking the census and their use of terms. In the tables, for example, they employ the phrase y^/lting, for a male over 15 years of age, as the integer ; this has, then, to be multiplied by some factor of increase to get at the total population ; and this last figure must be obtained elsewhere.

    It must not be overlooked that the object in taking a census being to calcidate the probable revenue by enumei’atingthe taxable persons, the margin of error and deficiency depends on the peace of the state at the time, and not chiefly on the estimate of five or more to a household.

    The amount for 1736 corresponds sufficiently closely with that for 1743 ; and reckoning the same number of persons in a family in 1753, that tallies well enough with those for 1760, 1761, and 1762, the whole showing a gradual increase for twenty-five years. But all of them, except that of 1753, ai’6 probably rated too high. That for 1762 (Xo. 17), has been justly considered as one of the most authentic.

    THE FOUR MOST RELIABLE CEISTSUSES. 269

    The amount given by ” Z.” of Berlin (Xo. 18), of 155^ millions for 1790 is quoted in the Clihiem liejms’dot’y, but the writer states no authorities, was probably never in China, and as it appears at present, is undeserving the least notice. That given by Dr. Morrison for 1792 (Xo. 19), the year before Lord Macartney’s embassy’, is quoted from an edition of that date, but probably Avas really taken in 1765 or thereabouts, but he did nut publish it in detail.’ It is probably much nearer the truth than the amount of ao’d millions by the commissioner Chau to the English ambassador. This estimate has had much more respect paid to it as an authentic document than it deserved.

    The Chinese connnissioner would naturally wish to exalt his country in the eyes of its far-travelled visitors, and not having the official returns to refer to, would not be likely to state them less than they were. lie gave the population of the provinces in round numbers, perhaps altogether from his own memory, aided by those of his attendant clerks, with the impression that his hearers would never be able to refer to the original native authorities.

    The next one quoted (Xo. 21) is the most satisfactory of all the censuses in Chinese works, and was considered by both the Morrisons and by Dr. Bridgman, editor of the Chinese Jiejwsitori/, as ” the most accurate that has yet been given of the population.”

    In questions of this nature, one well authenticated table is

    worth a score of doubtful origin. It has been shown how

    apocryphal are many of the statements given in foreign books,

    but with the census of 1812, the source of error which is chiefly

    to be guarded against is the average given to a family. This

    is done by the Chinese themselves on no uniform plan, and it

    may be the case that the estimate of individuals from the number

    of families is made in separate towns, fi-oni an intimate

    acquaintance with the particular district, which would be less

    liable to eri-or than a general average. The number of families

    given in the census of 1753, is 37,785,552, which is more than

    one-third of the population.

    The four censuses which deserve the most credit, so far as

    the sources are considered, are those of 1711, 1753, 1792, and

    1812 {i.e., Nos. 8, 13, 19, and 21) ; these, when compared,

    show the following rate of increase: From 1711 to 1753, the population increased 7”1,222,602,

    which was an annual advance of l,70-±,82-l: inhabitants, or a’ Sir G. Staunton, PJmbassy to China, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 615 : ” Table of the Population and Extent of China proper, within the Great V/all. Taken in round numbers from the Statements of Chow ta-zhin.” little more than six per cent, per annum for forty-two years.

    Tiiis high rate, it must be remembered, does not take into account

    the more thorough subjugation of the south and west at

    the later date, when the Manchus could safely enrol large districts,

    where in 1711 they would have found so much difficulty

    that they would not have attempted it.

    From 1753 to 1792, the increase was 104,636,882, or an annual

    advance of 2,682,997 inhabitants, or about 2^ per cent,

    per annum for thirty-nine years. During this period, the

    country enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace under the vigorous

    sway of Kienlung, and the unsettled regions of the south and

    west rapidly filled up.

    From 1792 to 1812, the increase was 51:,126,679, or an annual

    advance of 2,706,333—not quite one per cent, per annum

    —for twenty years. At the same rate of progress the present

    population would amount to over 150,000,000, and this might

    have been the case had not the Tai-ping rebellion reduced the

    numbers. An enumeration (Xo. 22), was published by the

    Russian Professor of Chinese Yassilivitch in 1868 as a translation

    from official documents. Foreigners have had greater

    opportunities for travel through the country, between the years

    1840 to 1880, and have ascertained the enormous depopulation

    in some places caused by wars, short supplies of food in consequence

    of scarcity of laborers, famines, or brigandage, each

    adding its own power of destruction at different places and

    times. The conclusion will not completely satisfy any inquirer,

    but the population of the Empire cannot now reasonably

    be estimated as high as the census of 1812, by at

    least twenty-five millions. The last in the list of these censuses

    (No. 23), is added as an example of the efforts of intelligent

    persons residing in China to come to a definite and

    independent conclusion on this point from such data as they

    can obtain. The Imperial Customs’ Service has been able to

    command the best native assistance in their researches, and the

    table of population given above fi-om the Gotha Almanac is

    the sunnnary of what has been ascertained. The population

    of extra-})rovincial (^hina is really uulvnown at present. Manclmria

    is put down at twelve millions by one author, and three

    PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE IN THEIR FAVOR. 271

    or four millions, by another, without any official autliurity for

    either ; and all those vast regions in Ili and Tibet may easily

    be set down at from twelve to fifteen millions. To sum up,

    one must confess that if the Chinese censuses are worth but

    little, compared with those taken in European states, they are

    better than the guesses of foreigners who have never been in

    the country, or who have travelled only partially in it.

    The Chinese are doubtless one of the most conceited nations

    on the earth, but with all their vanity, they have never bethought

    themselves of rating their population twenty-five or

    thirty per cent, higher than they suppose it to be, for the purpose

    of exalting themselves in the eyes of foreigners or in their

    own. Except in one case none of the estimates were presented

    to. Of intended to be known by foreigners. The distances in U

    between places given in Chinese itineraries correspond very

    well with the real distances ; the number of districts, towns,

    and villages in the departments and provinces, as stated in

    their local and general topographical works, agree with the

    actual examination, so far as it can be made : why should their

    censuses be charged with gross error, when, however much we

    may doubt them, we cannot disprove them, and the weight of

    evidence derived from actual observation rather confirms them

    than otherwise ; and while their account of towns, villages,

    distances, etc., are unhesitatingly adopted until better can be

    obtained ? Some discrepancies in the various tables are ascribable

    to foreigners, and some of the censuses are incomplete,

    or the year cannot be precisely fixed, both of which vitiate the

    deductions made from them as to the rate of increase. Some

    reasons for believing that the highest population ascribed to

    the Chinese Empire is not greater than the country can support,

    will first be stated, and the objections against receiving the

    censuses then considered.’

    ‘ This interesting subject can then be left with the reader, who will find

    further remarks in Medhurst’s China, De Guignes’ Voyages d Peking, The Missionaries,

    in Tomes VI. and VIII. of Memoires, Ed. Biot, in Journal Asiatique

    for 1836. The Numerical Relations of the Population of China during the 4,000

    Years of its Historical Existence ; or the Rise and Fall of the Chinese Pojmlation,

    by T. Sacharoflf. Translated into English by the Rev. W. Lobscheid, Hongkong,

    1862. Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. II., pp. 88, 103, and 117

    The area of the Eighteen Provinces is rather imperfectly given

    at 1,348,870 sqnare miles, and the average population, there

    fore, for the whole, in 1812, was 268 persons on every sqnare

    mile ; that of the nine eastern provinces in and near the Great

    Plain, comprising 502,192 sqnare miles, or two-fifths of the

    whole, is 458 persons, and the nine southern and western provinces,

    constituting the other three-fifths, is 154 to a square mile.

    The surface and fertility of the country in these two portions

    differ so greatly, as to lead one to look for results like these.

    The areas of some European states and their population, are

    added to assist in making a comparison with China, and coming

    to a clearer idea about their relative density.

    states.

    France

    German}’ . ..

    Great Britain

    Italy

    Holland

    Spain

    Japan

    Benural

    204.092

    212,091

    121,608

    114,296

    20,497

    190,625

    160,474

    156,200

    Population.

    dp:nsity of populations in Europe and china. 273

    ture-lands, and only ten millions devoted to grain and vegeta

    bles ; the other two millions consist of fallow-ground, hop-beds,

    etc. One author estimates that in England 42 acres in a hundred,

    and in Ireland G4, are pastures—a little more than half of

    the whole. There are, then, on the average about two acres of

    land for the support of each individual, or rather less than this,

    if the land required for the food of horses be subtracted. It

    has been calculated that eight men can be fed on the same

    amount of land that one horse requires ; and that four acres of

    pasture-land will furnish no more food for man than one of

    ploughed land. The introduction of railroads has superseded

    the use of horses to such an extent that it is estimated there are

    only 200,000 horses now in England, instead of a million in 1830.

    If, therefore, one-half the land appropriated to pasture should

    be devoted to grain, and no more horses and dogs raised than a

    million of acres could support, England and Wales could easily

    maintain a population of more than four hundred to a square

    mile, supposing them to be willing to live on what the land and

    water can furnish.

    The Irish consume a greater proportion of vegetables than

    the English, even since the improvement by emigration after

    1851 ; many of these live a beggaily life upon half an acre, and

    even less, -and seldom taste animal food. The quantity of land

    under cultivation in Belgium is about fifteen-seventeenths of

    the whole, which gives an average of about two acres to each

    person, or the same as in England. In these two countries, the

    people consume more meat than in Ireland, and the amoimt of

    land occupied for pasturage is in nearly equal proportions in

    Belgium and England. In France, the average of cultivated

    land is If acre ; in Holland, If acre to each person.

    If the same proportion between the arable and uncultivated

    land exists in China as in England, namely one-fourth, there are

    about six hundred and fifty millions of acres under cultivation

    in China ; and we are not left altogether to conjecture, for by a

    report made to Ivienlung in 1745, it appears that the area of

    the land under cultivation was 595,598,221 acres ; a subsequent

    calculation places it at 640,579,381 acres, which is almost the

    same proportion as in England. Estimating it at six hundred and fifty millions—for it lias since increased rather than diminished—it gives one acre and four-fifths to every person, Which is by no means a small supply for the Chinese, considering that there are no cultivated pastures or meadows.

    In comparing the population of different countries, the

    manner of living and the articles of food in use, form such important

    elements of the calculation, in ascertaining whether the

    country be overstocked or not, that a mere tabular view of the

    number of persons on a square mile is an imperfect criterion of

    the amount of inhabitants the land would maintain if they consumed

    the same food, and lived in the same manner in all of

    them. Living as the Chinese, Hindus, Japanese, and other

    Asiatics do, chiefly upon vegetables, the country can hardly be

    said to maintain more than one-half or one-third as many people

    on a square mile as it might do, if their energies were developed

    to the same extent with those of the English or Belgians.

    The population of these eastern regions has been repressed by the combined influences of ignorance, insecurity of life and property, religious prejudices, vice, and wars, so that the land has never maintained as many inhabitants as one would have otherwise reasonably expected therefrom.

    Nearly all the cultivated soil in China is employed in raising food for man. AVoollen garments and leather are little used, while cotton and mulberry cultivation take np only a small proportion of the soil. There is not, so far as is known, a single acre of land sown with grass-seed, and therefore almost no human labor is devoted to raising food for animals, which will not also serve to sustain man. Horses are seldom used for pomp or war, for travelling or carrying burdens, but mules, camels, asses, and goats are employed for transportation and other purposes north of the Yangtsz’ River. Horses are fed on cooked rice, bran, sorghum seed, pulse, oats, and grass cut along

    the banks of streams, or on hillsides. In the southern and

    eastern provinces, all animals are rare, the transport of goods

    and passengers being done by boats or by men. The natives

    make no use of butter, cheese, or milk, and the few cattle employed

    in agriculture easily gather a living on the waste ground

    around the villages. In the south, the buffalo is applied more

    AREA AND VALUE OF ARABLE LAND IN CHINA. 275

    than the ox to plough the rice fields, and the habits of this

    animal make it cheaper to keep him in good condition, while he

    can also do more work. The winter stock is grass cut upon the

    hills, straw, bean stalks, and vegetables, ^o wool being wanted

    for making cloth, flocks of sheep and goats are seldom seen—it

    may almost be said are unknown in the east and south.

    No animal is reared cheaper than the hog ; hatching and

    raising ducks affords employment to thousands of people ; hundreds

    of these fowl gather their own food along the river

    shore, being easily attended by a single keeper. Geese and

    poultry are also cheaply reared. In fishing, which is carried on

    to an enormous extent, no pasture-grounds, no manuring, no

    barns, are needed, nor are taxes paid by the cultivator and consumer.

    While the people get their animal food in these ways, its preparation takes away the least possible amount of cultivated soil. The space occupied for roads and pleasure-gromids is insignificant, but there is perhaps an amount appropriated for burial places quite equal to the area used for those purposes in European countries ; it is, however, less valuable land, and much of it would be useless for culture, even if otherwise unoccupied.

    Graves are dug on hills, in ravines and copses, and wherever they will be retired and dry; or if in the ancestral field, they do not hinder the crop growing close around them.

    Moreover, it is very common to preserve the coffin in temples

    and cemeteries until it is decayed, partly in order to save the

    expense of a grave, and partly to worship the remains, or preserve

    them until gathered to their fathers, in their distant

    native places. They are often placed in the corners of the fields,

    or under precipices where they remain till dust returns to dust,

    and bones and wood both moulder away. These and other customs

    limit the consumption of land for graves much more than

    would be supposed, when one sees, as at Macao, almost as much

    space taken up by the dead for a grave as by the living for a

    hut. The necropolis of Canton occupies the hills north of the

    city, of which not one-fiftieth part could ever have been used

    for agriculture, but where cattle are allowed to graze, as much

    as if there were no tombs.

    Under its genial and equable climate, nioi’e than three-fourths

    of the area of China Proper produces two crops annually. In

    Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Fuhkien, two ci’ops of rice are taken

    year after year from the low lauds ; while in the loess regions

    of the northwest, a three-fold return from the grain fields is

    annually looked for, if the rain-fall is not withheld. In the

    winter season, in the neighborhood of towns, a third crop of

    sweet potatoes, cabbages, turnips, or some other vegetable is

    grown, T)e Guignes estimates the retui-ns of a rice crop at ten

    for one, which, with the vegetables, will give full twenty-five

    fold from an acre in a year ; few parts, however, yield this increase.

    Little or no land lies fallow, for constant manuring and

    turning of the soil prevents the necessity of repose. The diligence

    exhibited in collecting and applying manure is Avell

    known, and if all this industry result in the production of two

    crops instead of one, it really doubles the area under cultivation,

    Avhen its superficies are compared with those of other

    countries. If the amount of land which produces two ci’ops be

    estimated at one-fourth of the whole (and it is perhaps as near

    one-third), the area of arable land in the provinces may be considered

    as representing a total of 812 millions of acres, or 2f

    acres to an individual. The land is not, however, cut up into such

    small farms as to prevent its being managed as w^ell as the people

    know how to stock and cultivate it ; manual labor is the chief

    dependence of the farmer, fewer cattle, carts, ploughs, and machines being employed than in other countries. In rice fields no aninuils are used after the wet land has received the shoots, transplanting, weeding, and reaping being done by men.

    In no other country besides Japan is so much food derived from the water. Not only arc the coasts, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, covered with fishing-boats of various sizes, which are provided with everything fitted for the capture of whatever lives in the waters, but the spawn of fish is collected and reared.

    TENDENCIKS TO INCREASE OF POrULATION”. 277

    Rice fields are often converted into pools in the winter season, and stocked with fish; and the tanks dug for irrigation usually contain fish. By all these means, an immense supply of food is obtained at a cheap rate, which is eaten fresh or preserved with or without salt, and sent over the Empire, at a cost which places it within the reach of all above beggary. Other articles of food, both animal and vegetable, such as dogs, game, worms, spring greens, tripang, leaves, etc., do indeed compose part of their meals, but it is comparatively an inconsiderable fraction, and need not enter into the calculation. Enough has been stated to show that the land is abundantly able to support the population ascribed to it, even with all the drawbacks known to exist; and that, taking the highest estimate to be true, and considering the mode of living, the average population on a square mile in China is less than in several European countries.

    The political and social causes which tend to multiply the inhabitants are numerous and powerful. The failure of male posterity to continue the succession of the family, and worship at the tombs of parents, is considered by all classes as one of the most afflictive misfortunes of life; the laws allow unlimited facilities of adoption, and secure the rights of those taken into the family in this way. The custom of betrothing children, and the obligation society imposes upon the youth when arrived at maturity, to fulfil the contracts entered into by their parents, acts favorably to the establishment of families and the nurture of children, and restricts polygamy. Parents desire children for a support in old age, as there is no legal or benevolent provision

    for aged poverty, and public opinion stigmatizes the man

    who allows his aged or infirm parents to suffer when he can

    help them. The law requires the owners of domestic slaves to

    provide husbands for their females, and prohibits the involuntary

    or forcible separation of husband and wife, or parents and

    children, when the latter are of tender age. All these causes

    and influences tend to increase population, and equalize the

    consumption and use of property more, perhaps, than in any

    other land.

    The custom of families remaining together tends to the

    same result. The local importance of a large family in the

    country is weakened by its male members removing to town, or

    emigrating; consequently, the patriarch of three or four generations

    endeavors to retain his sons and grandsons around him, their houses joining his, and they and their families forming a social, united company. Such cases as those mentioned in the.

    Sacred Commands are of course rare, where nine generations of the family of Chang Kung-i inhabited one lioiise, or of Chin, at whose table seven hundred mouths were daily fed,’ but it is the tendency of society. This remark does not indicate that great landed proprietors exist, whose hereditary estates are secured by entail to the great injur}- of the state, as in Great Britain,

    for the farms are generally small and cultivated by the

    owner or on the metayer system. Families are supported on a

    more economical plan, the claims of kindred are better enforced,

    the land is cultivated with more care, and the local importance

    of the family perpetuated. This is, however, a very different system from that advocated by Fourier in France, or Greeley in America, for these little communities are placed

    under one natural head, whose authority is acknowledged and

    upheld, and his indignation feared. Workmen of the same profession form unions, each person contributing a certain sum on the promise of assistance when sick or disabled, and this custom prevents and alleviates a vast amount of poverty.

    ‘ Sacred Edict, pp. 51, 60.

    RESTRICTIONS UPON EMIGRATION. 279

    The obstacles put in the way of emigrating beyond sea, both in law and prejudice, operate to deter respectable persons from leaving their native land. Necessity has made the law a dead letter, and thousands annually leave their homes. No better evidence of the dense population can be offered to those acquainted with Chinese feelings and character, than the extent of emigration. “What stronger proof,” observes Medhurst,” of the dense population of China could be afforded than the fact, that emigration is going on in spite of restrictions and disabilities, from a country where learning and civilization reign, and where all the dearest interests and prejudices of the emigrants are found, to lands like Burmah, Siam, Cambodia, Tibet, Manchuria, and the Indian Archipelago, where comparative ignorance and barbarity prevail, and where the extremes of a tropical or frozen region are to be exchanged for a mild and temperate climate? Added to this consideration, that not a single female is permitted or ventures to leave the country, when consequently, all the tender attachments that bind heart to heart must be burst asunder, and, perhaps, forever.”‘

    Moreover, if they return with wealth enough to live upon, they are liable to the vexatious extortions of needy relatives, sharpers, and police, who have a handle for their fleecing whip in the law against leaving the country ; although this clause has been neutralized by subsequent acts, and is not in force, the power of public opinion is against going. A case occurred in 1832, at Canton, where the son of a Chinese living in Calcutta, who had been sent home by his parent with his mother, to perform the usual ceremonies in the ancestral hall, was seized by his uncle as he was about to be married, on the pretext that his father had unequally divided the paternal inheritance; he

    was obliged to pay a thousand dollars to free himself. Soon

    after his marriage, a few sharpers laid hold of him and bore

    him away in a sedan, as he was walking near his house, but his

    cries attracted the police, who carried them all to the magistrates,

    where he was liberated—after being obliged to fee his

    deliverers.’ Another case occurred in Macao in 1838. A

    man had been living several years in Singapore as a merchant,

    and when he settled in Macao still kept up an interest in the

    trade with that place. Accounts of his great wealth became

    rumored abroad, and he was seriously annoyed by relatives.

    One night, a number of thieves, dressed like police-runners,

    came to his house to search for opium, and their boisterous

    manner terrified him to such a degree, that in order to escape

    them he jumped from the terrace upon the hard gravelled

    court-yard, and broke his leg, of which he shortly afterward

    died. A third case is mentioned, where the returned emigrants,

    consisting of a man and his wife, who was a Malay, and

    two children, were rescued from extortion, when before the

    magistrate, by the kindness of his wife and mother, who wished

    to see the foreign woman.” Such instances are now unknown,

    owing to the increase of emigration ; they were, indeed, never numerically great, on account of the small number of those who came back.

    ‘ China : Its State ojid Prospects, p. 42.

    ^ Ta Tslag Leu Lee ; being the Fundamental Laws, etc., of the Penal Codt of China, by Sir G. T. Staunton, Bart , London, 1810. Section CCXXV.

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 382.

    * Ibid., Vol. VII., p. 503; Vol. II., p. 161.

    The anxiety of the government to provide stores of food for times of scarcity, shows rather its fear of the disastrous residts following a short crop—such as the gathering of clamoi’ous crowds of starving poor, the increase of bandits and disorganization of society—than any peculiar care of the rulers, or that these storehouses really supply deficiencies. The evil consequences resulting from an overgrown population are experienced in one or another part of the provinces almost every year ; and drought, inundations, locusts, mildew, or other natural causes, often give rise to insurrections and disturbances. There can be no doubt, however, that, without adding a single acre to the area of arable land, these evils would be materially alleviated, if the intercommunication of traders and their goods, between distant parts of the country, were more frequent, speedy, and safe; but this is not likely to be the case until both rulers and ruled make greater advances in just government, science, obedience, and regard for each other s right.

    It would be a satisfaction if foreigners could verify any part

    of the census. But this is, at present, impossible. They cannot

    examine the records in the ofiice of the Board of Revenue,

    nor can they ascertain the population in a given district from

    the archives in the hands of the local authorities, or the mode

    of taking it. Neither can they go through a village or town to

    count the number of houses and their inhabitants, and calculate

    from actual examination of a few parts what the whole would

    be. “Where\er foreigners have journeyed, there has appeared

    much the same succession of waste land, hilly regions, cultivated

    plains, and M’ooded heights, as in other countries, M’ith an

    abundance of people, but not more than the land could support,

    if properly tilled.

    METHOD OF TAKING THE CENSUS. 281

    The people are grouped into hamlets and villages, under the control of village elders and officers. In the district of Nanhai, Avhich forms the western part of the city of Canton, and the surrounding country for more than a hundred square miles, there are one hundred and eighty /it'((/if/ or villages; the population of each hiang varies from two hundred and upwards to one hundred thousand, but ordinarily ranges between three hundred and thirty-five hundred. If each of the eighty-eight districts in the province of Kwangtung contains the same number of JtlaiKj, there will be, including the district towns, 15,928 villages, towns, and cities in all, with an average population of twelve hundred inhabitants to each. From the top of the hills on Dane’s Island, at Whampoa, thirty-six towns and villages can

    be counted, of which Canton is one; and four of these contain

    from twelve to fifteen hundred houses. The whole district of

    Hiangshan, in which Macao lies, is also well covered with villages,

    though their exact number is not known. The island of

    Anioy contains more than fourscore villages and towns, and

    this island forms only a part of the district of Tung-ngan. The

    banks of the river leading from Amoy up to Changchau fu, are

    likewise well peopled. The environs of Ningpo and Shanghai

    are closely settled, though that is no more than one always expects

    near large cities, where the demand for food in the city

    itself causes the vicinity to be well peopled and tilled. In a

    notice of an irruption of the sea in 1819, along the coast of

    Shantung, it was reported that a hundred and forty villages

    were laid under water.

    Marco Polo describes the mode followed in the days of Kublai

    khan : ” It is the custom for every burgess of the city, and

    in fact for every description of person in it, to write over his

    door his own name, the name of his wife, and those of his children,

    his slaves, and all the inmates of his house, and also the number of animals that he keeps. And if any one dies in the house, then the name of that person is erased, and if a child is born its name is added. So in this way the sovereign is able to know exactly the population of the city. And this is the practice throughout all Manzi and Cathay.” ‘ This custom was observed long before the Mongol conquest, and is followed at present ; so that it is perhaps easier to take a census in China than in most European countries.

    The law upon this subject is contained in Sees. LXXV. and

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vul. II., p. 152.

    LXXVI. of the statutes. It enacts various penalties for not

    registering the members of a family, and its provisions all go to

    show that the people are desirous rather of evading the census

    than of exaggerating it. When a family has omitted to make

    any entry, the head of it is liable to be punished with one hundred

    blows if he is a freeholder, and with eighty if he is not.

    If the master of a family has among his household another distinct family whom he omits to register, the punishment is the same as in the last clause, with a modification, according as the unregistered persons and family are relatives or strangers.

    Persons in government employ omitting to register their families, are less severely punished. A master of family failing to register all the males in his household who are lia1)le to public service, shall be punished with from sixty to one hundred blows,

    according to the demerits of the ofPence ; this clause was in

    effect repealed, when the land tax was substituted for the capitation

    tax. Omissions, from neglect or inadvertency to register

    all the individuals and families in a village or town, on the part

    of the headmen or government clerks, are punishable with

    different degrees of severity. All persons whatsoever are to

    be registered according to their accustomed occupations or professions,

    whether civil or military, whether couriers, artisans,

    physicians, asti’ologers, laborers, musicians, or of any other denomination

    whatever ; and subterfuges in representing one’s self

    as belonging to a profession not liable to public service, are

    visited as usual with the bamboo ; persons falsely describing

    themselves as belonging to the army, in order to evade public

    service, are banished as well as beaten. From these clauses it

    is seen that the Manchus have extended the enumeration to

    classes M’hich were exempted in the Ilan, Tang, and other

    dynasties, and thus come nearer to the actual population.

    ‘ Penal Code, p. 79, Staunton’s translation.

    ITS PROBABLE ACCURACY. 283

    ” In the Chinese government,” observes Dr. Morrison, ” there appears great regularity and system. Every district has its appropriate officers, every street its constable, and every ten houses their tything man. Thus they have all the requisite means of ascertaining the population with considerable accuracy. Every family is required to have a board always hanging up in the house, and ready for the inspection of authorized officers,

    on which the names of all persons, men, women, and children,

    in the house are inscribed. This board is called mun-j>ai

    or ‘door-tablet,’ because when there are women and children

    within, the officers are expected to take the account from the

    board at the door. Were all the inmates of a family faithfully

    inserted, the amount of the population would, of course, be

    ascertained with great accuracy. But it is said that names are

    sometimes omitted through neglect or design ; others think

    that the account of persons given in is generally correct.”

    The door-tablets are sometimes pasted on the door, thus serving

    as a kind of door-plate ; in these cases correctness of enumeration

    is readily secured, for the neighbors are likely to know

    if the record is below the truth, and the householder is not

    likely to exaggerate the taxable inmates under his roof. I have

    read these inun-jMil on the doors of a long ro\v of houses ; they

    were pi-inted blanks filled in, and then pasted outside for thejy<;o-

    Mah or tithing man to examine. Both Dr. Morrison and his

    son, than whom no one has had better opportunities to know the

    true state of the ease, or been more desirous (^f dealing fairly

    with the Chinese, regarded the censuses given in the General

    Statistics as more trustworthy than any other documents available.

    In conclusion, it may be asked, are the results of the enumeration

    of the people, as contained in the statistical works published

    by the government, to be rejected or doubted, therefore,

    because the Chinese officers do not wish to ascertain the exact

    population ; or because they are not capable of doing it ; or,

    lastly, because they wish to impose upon foreign powers by an

    arithmetical array of millions they do not possess ? The question

    seems to hang upon this trilemma. It is acknowledged

    that they falsify or garble statements in a manner calculated to

    throw doubt upon everything they write, as in the reports of

    victories and battles sent to the Emperor, in the memorials upon

    the opium trade, in their descriptions of natural objects in

    books of medicine, and in many other things. But the question

    is as applicable to China as to France : is the estimated population of France in 1801 to be called in question, because the Moniteur gsive false accounts of Napoleon’s battles in 18131

    It would be a strange combination of conceit and folly, for a

    ministry composed of men able to carry on all the details of a

    complicated government like that of China, to systematically

    exaggerate the population, and then proceed, for more than a

    century, with taxation, disbursements, and official appointments,

    founded upon these censuses. Somebody at least must know

    them to be worthless, and the proof that they were so, must,

    one would think, ere long Jbe apparent. The provinces and

    departments have been divided and subdivided since the Jesuits

    made their survey, because they were becoming too densely

    settled for the same officers to rule over them.

    Still less will any one assert that the Chinese are not capable

    of taking as accurate a census as they are of measuring distances,

    or laying out districts and townships. Errors may be

    found in the former as well as in the latter, and doubtless are

    so ; for it is not contended that the four censuses of 1711, 1Y53,

    1792, and 1812 are as accurate as those now taken in England,

    France, or the United States, but that they are the best data

    extant, and that if they are rejected we leave tolerable evidence

    and take up with that which is doubtful and suppositive. The

    censuses taken in China since the Christian era are, on the

    whole, more satisfactory than those of all other nations put

    together up to the Reformation, and further careful research

    will no doubt increase our respect for them.

    Ere long we may be able to traverse a census in its details of

    record and deduction, and thus satisfy a reasonable curiosity,

    especially as to the last reported total after the carnage of the

    rebellion. On the other hand, it may be stated that in the last

    census, the entire population of Manchuria, Koko-nor, 111, and

    Mongolia, is estimated at only 2,107,286 persons, and nearly all

    the inhabitants of those vast regions are subject to the Emperor.

    The population of Tibet is not included in any census,

    its people not being taxable. It is doubtful if an enumeration

    of any part of the extra provincial territory has ever been

    taken, inasmuch as the Mongol tril)es, and still less the TTsbeck

    or other Moslem races, are unused to such a thing, and would

    EVIDENCES IN FAVOR OF THE CENSUS, 28,”)

    not be nnnibered. Yet, the Chinese cannot be eliarged with

    exaggeration, when good judges, as Klaproth and others, reckon

    the whole at between six and seven millions ; and Khoten alone,

    one author states, has three and a half millions. No writer of

    importance estimates the inhabitants of these regions as high

    as thirty millions— as does 11. Mont. Martin—which would be

    more than ten to a square mile, excluding Gobi ; while Siberia

    (though not so well peopled) has only 3,611,300 persons on an

    area of 2,649,600 square miles, or 1^ to each square mile.

    The reasons just given why the Chinese desire posterity are

    not all those which have favored national increase. The uninterrupted

    peace’ which the country enjoyed between the years

    1700 and 1850 operated to greatly develop its resources. Every

    encouragement has been given to all classes to multiply and

    fill the land. Polygamy, slavery, and prostitution, three social

    evils which check increase, have been circumscribed in their

    effects. Early betrothment and poverty do much to prevent

    the first ; female slaves can be and are usually married ; while

    public prostitution is reduced by a separation of the sexes and

    early marriages. No fears of overpassing the supply of food

    restrain the people from rearing families, though the Emperor

    Kienlung issued a proclamation in 1793, calling upon all ranks

    of his subjects to economize the gifts of heaven, lest, erelong,

    the people exceed the means of subsistence.

    It is difficult to see what this or that reason or objection has to do with the subject, except where the laws of population are set at defiance, which is not the case in China. Food and work, peace and security, climate and fertile soil, not universities or

    steamboats, are the encouragements needed for the multiplication

    of mankind ; though they do not have that effect in all

    countries (as in Mexico and Brazil), it is no reason why they

    should not in others. There are grounds for believing that not

    more than two-thirds of the whole population of China were

    included in the census of 1711, but that allowance cannot be

    made for Ireland in 1785 ; and consequently, her annual percentage

    of increase, up to 18-41, would then be greater than

    China, during the forty-two years ending with 1753. McCulloch

    quotes De Guignes approvingly, but the Frenchman takes the rough estimate of 333,000,000 given to Macartney, which is less trustworthy than that of 307,407,200, and compares it with Grosier’s of 157,343,975, which is certainly wrong through his misinterpretation. De Guignes proceeds from the data in his possession in 1802 (which were less than those now available), and from his own observations in travelling through the country in 179G, to show the improbability of the estimated population.

    But the observations made in journeys, taken as were those of the English and Dutch embassies, though they passed through some of the best provinces, cannot be regarded as good evidence against official statistics.

    “Would any one suppose, in travelling from Boston to Chatham,

    and then from Albany to Buffalo, along the railroad, that

    Massachusetts contained, in 1870, exactly double the population

    on a square mile of New York ? So, in going from Peking to

    Canton, the judgment which six intelligent travellers might

    form of the population of China could easily be found to differ

    by one-half. De Guignes says, after comparing China with

    Holland and France, ” All these reasons clearly demonstrate

    that the population of China does not exceed that of other

    countries ;” and such is in truth the case, if the kind of food,

    number of crops, and materials of dress be taken into account.

    His remarks on the population and productiveness of the country are, like his whole work, replete with good sense and candor; but some of his deductions would have been different, had he

    been in possession of all the data since obtained.’ The discrepancies

    between the different censuses have been usually considered

    a strong internal evidence against them, and they should receive

    due consideration. The really difficult point is to fix the

    percentage that must be allowed for the classes not included as

    taxable, and the power of the government to enumerate those

    who wished to avoid a census and the subsequent taxation.

    After all these reasons for receiving the total of 1812 as the

    best one, there are, on the other hand, two principal objections

    against taking the Chinese census as altogether tinistworthy.

    ‘ Voyages a Peking, Tome III. , pp. 55-80.

    POSSIBILITIES OF ERROR. 287

    The first is the enormous averages of 850, 705, and 071 inhabitants on a square mile, severally apportioned to Kiangsu, Xganliwui, and Cliehkiang, or, what is perhaps a fairer calculation, of 458 persons to the nine eastern provinces. Whatever amount of circumstantial evidence may be brought forward in confirmation of the census as a whole, and explanation of the mode of taking it, a more positive proof seems to be necessary before giving implicit credence to this result. Such a population on such an extensive area is marvellous, notwithstanding the fertility of the soil, facilities of navigation, and salubrity of the

    climate of these regions, although acknowledged to be almost

    unequalled. While we admit the full force of all that has been

    urged in support of the census, and are willing to take it as the

    best document on the subject extant, it is desirable to have

    proofs derived from personal observation, and to defer the settlement

    of this question until better opportunities are afforded.

    So high an average is, indeed, not without example. Captain

    Wilkes ascertained, in 1840, that one of the islands of the Fiji

    group supported a population of over a thousand on a square

    mile. On Lord North’s Island, in the Pelew group, the crew

    of the American whaler Mentor ascertained there were four

    hundred inhabitants living on half a square mile. These, and

    many other islands in that genial clime, contain a population

    far exceeding that of any large country, and each separate community

    is obliged to depend M’holly on its own labor. They

    cannot, however, be cited as altogether parallel cases, though if

    it be true, as Barrow says, ” that an acre of cotton will clothe

    two or three hundred persons,” not much more land need be

    occupied with cotton or mulberry plants, for clothing in China,

    than in the South Sea Islands.

    The second objection against receiving the result of the census

    is, that we are not well informed as to the mode of enumerating

    the people by families, and the manner of taking the account,

    when the patriarch of two or three generations lives in

    a hamlet, with all his children and domestics around him. Two

    of the provisions in Sec. XXY. of the Code^ seem to be designed

    for some such state of society ; and the liability to underrate

    the males fit for public service, when a capitation tax was

    ordered, and to overrate the inmates of such a house, when the head of it might suppose he would thereby receive increased aid from government when calamity overtook him, are equally apparent.

    The door-tablet is also liable to mistake, and in shops and workhouses, where the clerks and workmen live and sleep on the premises, it is not known what kind of report of families the assessors make. On these important points our present information is imperfect, while the evident liability to serious error in the ultimate results makes one hesitate. The Chinese may have taken a census satisfactory’ for their purposes, showing

    the number of families, and the a^•erage in each ; but the point

    of this objection is, that ^ve do not know how the families aie

    enumerated, and therefore are at fault in reckoning the individuals.

    The average of persons in a household is set down at five

    by the Chinese, and in England, in 1831, *t was 4.7, but it is

    probably less than that in a thickly settled country, if every

    married couple and their children be taken as a family, whether

    living by themselves, or grouped in patriarchal hamlets.

    Ko one doubts that the population is enormous, constituting

    by far the greatest assemblage of human beings using one speech

    ever congreo ated under one monarch. To the merchants and

    manufacturers of the West, the determination of this question

    is of some importance, and through them to their governments.

    The political economist and philologist, the naturalist and geographer,

    have also greater or less degrees of interest in the

    contemplation of such a people, iiduibiting so beautiful and feitile

    a country. But the Christian philanthropist tui-ns to the

    consideration of this subject with the liveliest solicitude ; for if

    the weight of evidence is in favor of the highest estimate, he

    feels his responsibility increase to a painful degree. The danger

    to this people is furthermore greatly enhanced by the 0})ium

    traffic—a trade which, as if the Rivers Phlegethon and Lethe

    were united in it, carries fire and destruction wherever it flows,

    and leaves a deadly forgetfulness wherever it has passed. Let

    these facts appeal to all calling themselves Christians, to send

    the antidote to this baleful drug, and diffuse a knowledge of the

    principles of the Gospel among them, thereby placing life as

    well as death before them.

    REVENUE OF THE EMPIRE. 289

    If the population of the Empire is not easily ascertained, a satisfactory account of the public revenue and expenditures is still more difficult to obtain ; it possesses far less interest, of course, in itself, and in such a country as China is subject to many variations. The market value of the grain, silk, and other products in which a large proportion of the taxes are paid, varies from year to year; and although this does not materially affect the government which receives these articles, it complicates the subject very much when attempting to ascertain the real taxation. Statistics on these subjects are only of recent date in Europe, and should not yet be looked for in China, drawn up with much regard to truth. The central government requires each province to support itself, and furnish a certain surplusage for the maintenance of the Emperor and his court; but it is well known that his Majesty is continually embarrassed for the want of funds, and that the provinces do not all supply enough revenue to meet their own outlays.

    The amounts given by various authors as the revenue of

    China at different times, are so discordant, that a single glance

    shows that they were obtained from partial or incomplete returns,

    or else refer only to the surplusage sent to the capital.

    De Guignes remarks very truly, that the Chinese are so fully persuaded of the riches, power, and resources of their country, that a foreigner is likely to receive different accounts from every

    native he asks ; but there appears to be no good reason why the

    government should falsify or abridge their fiscal accounts. In

    1587, Trigault, one of the French missionaries, stated the revenue

    at only tls. 20,000,000. In 1655, Xieuhoff reckoned it at

    tls. 108,000,000. About twelve years after, Magalhaens gave

    the treasures of the Emperor at $20,423,962 ; and Le Comte,

    about the same time, placed the revenue at $22,000,000, and

    both of them estimated the receipts from rice, silk, etc., at

    $30,000,000, making the whole revenue previous to Kanghi’s

    death, in 1721, between fifty and seventy millions of dollars.

    Barrow reckoned the receipts from all sources in 1796 at

    tls. 198,000,000, derived from a rough estimate given by the

    commissioner who accompanied the embassy. Sir George

    Staunton places the total sum at $330,000,000 ; of which

    $60,000,000 only were transmitted to Peking. Medhurst,

    Vol. T.—19.

    drawing his iiiforuiation from original sources, thus states the

    principal items of the receipts :

    Land taxes in money,)

    ( Tie. 3I,745,9()6 valued at $42,327,954

    Land taxes in grain, }- sent to Peking, ^ Shih 4,2:30,’.)57 ” 12,692,871

    Custom and transit duties, ) ( Tls. 1,480,997 ” 1,974,662

    Land taxes in money, l kent in Drovinces ‘ ”^^«- 28,705,125 ” 38,373,500

    Grain, ( ^^P’^^P’^*”‘^””®^

    1 Shih 31,596,569 ” 105,689,707

    $200,958,694

    The shih of rice is estimated at $3, but this does not include

    the cost of transportation to the capital.’ At $200,000,-

    000, the tax received by government from each person on an

    average is about sixty cents ; Barrow estimates the capitation

    at about ninety cents. The account of the revenue in taels

    from each province given in the table of population on page

    264, is extracted from the Hed Mooh for 18-40 ; ” the account

    of the revenue in rice, as stated in the official documents

    for that year, is 4,114,000 shih, or about five hundred and

    fifty millions of pounds, calling each shUi a pecul. The

    manner in wdiich the various items of the revenue are divided

    is thus stated for Kwangtung, in the Ited Booh for 1842 :

    Taels.

    Land tax in money 1,264,304

    Pawnl)rokers’ taxes 5,990

    Taxes at the frontier and on transportation 719,307

    Retained 339,143

    Miscellaneous sources 59,530

    Salt department (gabel) 47,510

    Revenue from customs <at Canton 43,750

    Other stations iu the province 53,670

    2,533,204

    This is evidently only the sum sent to the capital from this

    province, ostensibly as the revenue, and which the provincial

    treasury must collect. The real receipts from this province or

    any other cannot well be ascertained by foreigners ; it is, however,

    known, that in former years, the collector of customs at

    Canton was obliged to remit annually from eight hundred

    thousand to one million three hundred thousand taels, and

    ‘ The fihih, says Medhurst, is a measure of grain containing 3,460 English

    cubic inches. China : Its State and Prospects, p. 68. London, 1838.

    * Aiinalea de la Foi, Tome XVI., p. 440.

    SOURCES AND AMOUNT OF REVENUE. 291

    the gross receipts of bis office were not far from three millions

    of taels.’ This was then the richest collectorate in the

    Empire ; hut since the foreign trade at the open ports has been

    placed under foreign supervision, the resoui’ces of the Empire

    have been better reported. A recent analysis of the sources of

    revenue in the Eighteen Provinces has been furnished by the

    eustoms service ; it places them under different headings from

    the preceding list, though the total does not materially differ.

    Out of this whole amount the sum derived from the trade in

    foreign shipping goes most directly to the central exchequer.

    Taels.

    Land tax in money 18,000,000

    Li-kin or internal excise on goods 20,000,000

    Import and export duties collected by foreigners 12,000,000

    Import and export duties on native commerce 3,000,000

    Salt gabel 5,000,000

    Sales of offices and degrees 7,000,000

    Sundries „ 1,400,000

    Amount paid in silver 66,400,000

    Land tax paid in produce 13,100,000

    79,500,000

    De Guignes has examined the subject of the revenue with

    his usual caution, and bases his calculations on a proclamation

    of Kienlung in 1777, in which it was stated that the total income

    in bullion at that period was tls. 27,967,000.

    Taels.

    Income in money as above 27,967,000

    Equal revenue in kind from grain 27,967,000

    Tax on the second crop in the southern provinces 21 ,800,000

    Gabel, coal, transit duties, etc 6,479,400

    Customs at Canton. .’. 800,000

    Revenue from silk, porcelain, varnish, and other manufactures.. 7,000,000

    Adding house and shop taxes, licenses, tonnage duties, etc 4,000,000

    Total revenue 89,713,400

    The difference of about eighty millions of dollars between

    this amount and that given by Medhurst, will not surprise one

    who has looked into this perplexing matter. All these calculations

    are based on approximations, which, although easily made

    ‘ Chinese Commercial Guide, 2d edition, 1842, p. 143.

    up, cannot be verified to onr satisfaction ; but all agree in placing

    the total amount of revenue below that of any European

    government in proportion to the population. In 1823, a paper

    M-as published by a graduate uj^on the fiscal condition of the

    country, in which he gave a careful analysis of the receij)ts and

    disbursements. P. P. Thoms translated it in detail, and summarized

    the former under three heads of taxes reckoned at

    tls. 33,327,056, rice sent to Peking 0,34(5,438, and supplies to

    army 7,227,300—in all tls. 46,900,854. Out of the first snni

    tls. 24,507,933 went to civilians and the army, leaving tls. 5,819,-

    123 for the Peking government, and tls. 3,000,000 for the Yellow

    Piver repairs and Yuen-ming Palace. The resources of the

    Empire this writer foots up at tls. 74,461,633, or just one-half

    of what Medhurst gives. The extraordinary sources of revenue

    which are resorted to in time of war or bad harvests, are sale of

    oflSce and honors, temporary increase of duties, and demands

    for contributions from wealthy merchants and landholders. The first is the most fruitful source, and nniy be regarded rather as a permanent than a temporary expediency employed to make

    up deficiencies. The mines of gold and silver, pearl fisheries in

    Manchuria and elsewhere, precious stones brought from 111 and

    Ivhoten, and other localities, furnish several millions.

    The expenditures, almost every year, exceed the revenue, but

    how the deficit is supplied does not clearly appear ; it has been sometimes drawn from the rich by force, at other times made good by paltering with the currency, as in 1852-55, and again by reducing rations and salaries. In 1832, the Emperor said the excess of disbursements was tls. 28,000,000 ;

    ‘ and, in 1836, the defalcation was still greater, and oflfices and titles to the amount of tls. 10,000,000 were put up for sale to supply it.

    This deficiency has become more and more alarming since the drain of specie annually sent abroad in payment for opium has been increased by military exactions for suppressing the lebellion up to 1867. At that date the Empire began to recuperate.

    ‘ Chinese Rejiositorij, Vol. I., p. 159.

    PRINCIPAL ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE. 293

    The principal items of the expenditure are thus stated by De Guignes:

    Taels,

    Salary of civil and military officers, a tithe of the impost on lands. 7,773,500

    Pay of 00(),()U0 infantry, three taels per month, half in money and

    half in rations •21,G00,()()&

    Pay of 242,000 cavalry, at four taels jjer month 11,010,000

    Mounting the cavalry, twenty taels each 4,840,000

    Uniforms for both arms of the service, four taels 3,308,000

    Arms and ammunition 842,000

    Navy, revenue cutters, etc 13,500,000

    Canals and transportation of revenue 4,000,000

    Forts, artillery, and munitions of war 3,800,000

    71,339,500

    This, according to his calculation, shows a surplus of nearly twenty millions of taels every year. But the outlays for quelling insurrections and transporting troops, deficiency from bad harvests, defalcation of officers, payments to the tribes and princes in Mongolia and 111, and other unitsual demands, more than exceed Ihis surplus. In 1833, the Peking Gazette contained an elaborate paper on the revenue, proposing various ways and means for increasing it. The author, named Xa, says

    the income from land tax, the gabel, customs and transit duty,

    does not in all exceed forty millions of taels, while the expenditures

    should not much transcend thirty in years of peace.* This

    places the budget much lower than other authorities, but the

    censor perhaps includes only the imperial resources, though the

    estimate would then be too high. The pay and equipment of

    the troops is the largest item of expenditure, and it is probable

    that here the apparent force and pay are far too great, and that

    reductions are constantly made in this department by compelling

    the soldiers to depend more and more for support upon

    the plats of land belonging to them. It is considered the best

    evidence of good government on the part of an officer to render

    his account of the revenue satisfactorily, but from the injudicious

    system which exists of combining fiscal, legislative, and

    judicial functions and control in the same person, the temptations

    to defraud are strong, and the pecuhitions proportionabl}’ great.

    The salaries of officers, for some reasons, are placed so low as

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p. 481.

    to prove that the legal allowances were really the nominal incomes,

    and the sums set against their names in the lied Book

    as y<-ing tlen, or anti-extortion perquisites (lit., ‘ nourishing

    frugality ‘), are the salaries.. That of a governor-general is

    from 15,000 to 25,000 taels for the latter, and only ISO or 200

    taels for the legal salary ; a governor gets 15,0UO when he is

    alone, and 10,000 or 12,000 when under a governor-general ; a

    treasurer from 4,500 to 10,000 ; a judge from 3,000 to 8,000 ;

    a prefect from 2,0(»0 to 4,5U0 ; district nuigistrates from 700 to 1,000, according to the onerousness of the post ; an intendant from 3,000 to 4,500 ; a literary chancellor from 2,000 to 5,000 ; and military men from 4,0(»0 taels down to 100 or 150 per annum. The perquisites of the highest and lowest officers are disproportionate, for the people prefer to lay their important cases before the highest courts at once, in order to avoid the expense of passing through those of a lower grade. The personal disposition of the functionary modifies the exactions lie makes upon the people so much, that no guess can be made as to the amount.

    The land tax is the principal resource for the revenue in rural districts, and this is well understood by all parties, so that there is less room for exactions. The land tax is from 1^ to 10 cents a inao (or from 10 to QQ cents an acre), according to the quality of the land, and difficulty of tillage ; taking the average at 25 cents an acre, the income from this source would be up- M^ard of 150 millions of dollars. The clerks, constables, lictors, and underlings of the courts ..ud prisons, are the “claws” of their superiors, as the Chinese aptly call them, and perform most of their extortions, and are correspondingly odious to the people. In toM’ns and trading places, it is easier for the officers to exact in various Avays from wealthy people, than in the country, where rich people often hire bodies of retainers to defy the police, and practise extortion and i-obbery themselves. Like other Asiatic governments, China suffers from the consequences of Ijribery, peculation, extortion, and poorly paid officers, but she has no powerful aristocracy to retain the money thus squeezed out of the people, and ere long it finds its way out of the hands of emperors and ministei’S back into the mass of the people, officers’ salaries and the land-tax. 295

    The Chinese believe, however, that the Emperor annually remits such amounts as he is able to collect into Mukden, in time of extremity ; but latterly he has not been able to do so at all, and probably never sent as much to that city as the popular ideas imagine. The sum applied to filling the granaries is much larger, but this popular provision in case of need is really a light draft upon the resources of the country, as it is usually managed. In Canton, there are onh fourteen buildings appropriated to this purpose, few of them more than thirty feet square, and none of them full.

  • 亨利·梅因《古代法》

    目录
    序
    导 言
    第 一 章 　 古 代 法 典
    第 二 章 　 法 律 拟 制
    第 三 章 　 自 然 法 与 衡 平
    第 四 章 　 自 然 法 的 现 代 史
    第 五 章 　 原 始 社 会 与 古 代 法
    第 六 章 　 遗 嘱 继 承 的 早 期 史
    第 七 章 　 古 今 有 关 遗 嘱 与 继 承 的 各 种 思 想
    第 八 章 　 财 产 的 早 期 史
    第 九 章 　 契 约 的 早 期 史
    第 十 章 　 侵 权 和 犯 罪 的 早 期 史

    序

    本书的 主 要 目 的 ， 在 扼 要 地 说 明 反 映 于 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 的人 类 最 早 的 某 些 观 念 ， 并 指 出 这 些 观 念 同 现 代 思 想 的 关 系 。 如果 没 有 像 罗 马 法 那 样 的 一 套 法 律 ， 本 文 中 企 图 进 行 的 研 究 ， 多数 将 不 能 有 丝 毫 希 望 达 到 有 用 的 结 果 。 因 为 在 罗 马 法 的 最 古部 分 中 ， 有 着 最 久 远 的 古 代 事 物 的 痕 迹 ， 而 在 其 后 期 规 定 中 ，又 提 供 了 甚 至 到 现 在 还 支 配 着 现 代 社 会 的 民 事 制 度 资 料 。 由于 必 须 把 罗 马 法 当 作 一 个 典 型 的 制 度 ， 这 使 著 者 不 得 不 从 其中 采 取 了 数 目 似 不 相 称 的 例 证 ； 但 他 的 本 意 并 非 在 写 一 篇 关于 罗 马 法 律 学 的 论 文 ， 他 并 且 尽 可 能 竭 力 避 免 足以 使 其 作 品具 有 这 样 的 外 貌 的 一 切 论 述 。 第 三 和 第 四 章以 一 定 篇 幅 用 来说 明 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 某 些 哲 学 理 论 ， 这 样 做 ， 有 两 个 理 由 。 第一 ， 著 者 认 为 这 些 理 论 对 世 界 的 思 想 和 行 为 ， 比 一 般 所 设 想的 有 较 为 广 泛 、 永 久 的 影 响 。 其 次 ， 这 些 理 论 被 深 信 为 是 有关 本 书 所 讨 论 的 各 个 问 题 直 到 最 近 还 流 行 着 的 大 多 数 见 解 的根 源 。 对 于 这 些 纯 理 论 的 渊 源 、 意 义 与 价 值 ， 著 者 如 不 说 明其 意 见 ， 则 其 所 承 担 的 工 作 ， 将 不 能 做 得 深 入 透 澈 。 ——亨利·梅因

    导言

    有 关 法 律 的书 籍 ， 不 论 是 古 代 法 或 现 代 法 ， 并 不 常 常 能吸 引 很 多 的读 者 ； 但 十 八 世 纪 和 十 九 世 纪 分 别 产 生 了 一 本 著名 的 法律 书 籍 ，对 当 代 的 和 以 后 的 思 想 发 展 方 向 ， 有 着 深 远的影 响 。 孟德 斯 鸠的 “ 论 法 的 精 神 ”是 法 国 十 八 世 纪 最 杰 出 的作 品 之一 ， 它 标 志 着 历 史 法 律 学 上 的 一 个 重 要 阶 段 ， 虽然 具 有梅 因 在 “ 古 代 法 ” （ 第 五 章 ） 中 所 评 论 的 某 些 偏 颇之 处 。“ 古 代 法 ” 在 十 九 世 纪 执 行 了 甚 至 更 为 重 大 的 职 能； 真 的， 就 英 国 而 论 ， 如 果 说 现代 历 史 法 律 学 是 随 着 这本 书 的出 现 而 出 生 的 ， 也 不 能 谓 言 之过 甚。

    虽 然 在 梅 因 的 卓 越 的 文 体 中 所 表 达 的 ， 有 一 些 也 不 能 认为 是 普 通 的 东 西 ， 但 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 有 相 当 部 分 ， 在 过 去 七 十年 中 ， 几 乎 是 学 习 法 律 制 度 的 学 生 所 不 可 或 缺 的 。 为 了 要 能体 现 它 在 当 时 是 怎 样 一 个 独 具 见 解 的 作 品 ， 我 们 有 必 要 来 回顾 一 下 当 时 流 行 着 的 一 些 智 力 状 态 。

    1758年 时 作 为 第 一 个 佛 尼 林 派（ Ｖ ｉ ｎ ｅ ｒ ｉ ａ ｎ）教授的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 （ Ｂ ｌ ａ ｃ ｋ ｓ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｅ ） 进 行 了 未 有 先 例 的 试 验 ， 他在 牛 津 大 学 讲 授 英 国 法 律 。 当 时 ， 他 不 得 不 用 法 律 研 究 是 一个 有 教 养 绅 士 的 一 种 适 宜 的 职 业 ， 来 说 服 他 的 听 众 ； 虽 然 甚至 他 自 己 或 许 也 不 会 相 信 这 是 像 猎 狐 一 样 一 种 非 常 绅 士 般 的职 业 。 七 十 年 以 后 ， 约 翰 · 奥 斯 丁 （ Ｊ ｏ ｈ ｎ 　 Ａ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｎ ） 在 伦 敦 大学 以 法 律 学 的 吸 引 力 与 实 利 向 其 听 众 吹 嘘 （ 结 果 收 效 很 少 ） ，同 时 却 坦 白 地 承 认 有 许 多 心 地 宽 厚 的 人 们 不 愿 研 习 法 律，主要 是 由 于 它 所 来 自 的 渊 源 ， 其 性 质 “ 令 人 可 厌 ” 。 有 一 次，他这 样 写 道 ， “ 我 胆 敢 断 言 ， 在 一 个 文 明 社 会 中 ， 没 有 一 套 法 律会 像 我 们 的 那 样 缺 乏 一 致 性 和 均 称 性 ” 。 除 了 海 尔 （ Ｈ ａ ｌ ｅ ） 和布 拉 克 斯 顿 外 ， 没 有 人 曾 把 它 作 过 有 系 统 的 阐 明 。 过 去 ， 法律 是 根 据 有 试 验 必 有 错 误 的 原 则 学 习 的 ， 现 在 还 活 着 的 一 些老 法 学 家 可 以 记 得 那 样 一 个 时 期 ， 用 一 个 著 名 的 美 国 老法官— — 荷 姆 斯 法 官 先 生 （ Ｍ ｒ ． ｊ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｃ ｅ 　 ｈ ｏ ｌ ｍ ｅ ｓ ） — — 的 话 来 描写 ， 法 律 只 是 一 麻 袋 的 琐 细 东 西 ； 真 的 ， 在 某 些 开 业 律 师 中，赞 成 用 这 种 纯 粹 实 验 的 、 听 天 由 命 的 方 法 来 精 通 法 律 的 偏 见，甚 至 到 今 天 忘 没 有 完 全 消 除 。

    至 于 英 国 的 法 律 史 ， 不 仅 被 忽 视 了 ， 简 直 是 被 蔑 视 了 。 例如 ， 边沁竟 然 建 议 — — 除 了 作 为 批 判 之 外 — — 完全 不 顾 所 有 的 先 例 而 把 英 国 法 律 全 部 重 新 写 过 ： 对 于 他 ， 甚至 其 最 卓 越 的 学 生 约 翰 · 斯 图 亚 特 · 密 尔也 不 得 不 说 ， “ 他 宁 愿 完 全 不 顾 过 去 的 全 部 成 就 ， 而 重新 从 头 写 起 ” 。 如 果 对 于 英 国 法 律 史 的 态 度 是 这 样 ， 那 就 可 以想 象 到 ， 对 于 外 国 制 度 或 对 于 今 昔 法 律 现 象 的 比 较 研 究 ， 又将 会 有 怎 样 轻 蔑 的 感 情 了 。这 种 褊 狭 的 心 情 ， 在 对 待 罗 马 法 上 ， 特 别 显 而 易 见 。1816年 尼 布 尔 （ Ｎ ｉ ｅ ｂ ｕ ｂ ｒ ） 在 维 罗 纳 （ Ｖ ｅ ｒ ｏ ｎ ａ ） 发 掘 到 该 雅 士（ Ｇ ａ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） “ 法 学 教 典 ” （ Ｉ ｎ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｔ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 的 手 稿 — — 这 当 然 是 学 术史 上 最 著 名 的 发 现 之 一 ： 因 为 这 篇 论 文 不 仅 是 我 们 对 于 古 代罗 马 法 律 甚 至 是 我 们 对 于 雅 利 安 （ Ａ ｒ ｙ ａ ｎ ） 法 律 一 些 最 有 启 发 性 的 方 面 的 唯 一 知 识 来 源 ， 并 且 在 它 写 成 四 百 年 后 的 一 部 不朽 杰 作 查 斯 丁 尼 安 （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｎ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 的 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” （ Ｉ ｎ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｔ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 曾根 据 其 中 极 大 部 分 作 为 编 纂 的 范 本 。 英 国 对 这 样 的 重 大 事 件漠 不 关 心 。 在 本 书 第 九 章 中 ， 可 以 看 到 梅 因 痛 切 地 — — 最 终是 有 效 地 — — 抗 议 “ 对 罗 马 法 的 无 知 ， 这 是 英 国 人 欣 然 承 认 ，且 有 时 不 以 为 耻 地 引 以自夸的 ” 。

    但 是 ， 对 于 过 去 法 律 制 度 和 政 治 制 度 中 可 以 确 定 的 事 实，不 愿 加 以 探 究 的 情 况 ， 不 独 英 国 如 此 。 全 欧 洲 有 许 多关 于 政治 社 会 、 自 然 法 以 及 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 的 起 源 的 假 说 ， 这 些 假 设，从 现 代 观 点 看 来 ， 似 乎 是 很 可 笑 ， 并 且 一 点 也 不 像 历 史 上 的事 实 ， 以 致 在 今 日 ， 我 们 竟 难 于 理 解 他 们 怎 样 会 这 样 强有力地 深 入 当 时 人 们 的 想 像 的 。 我 们 必 须 耐 心 地 、 宽 容 地、并 且也 许 谦 逊 地 （ 否 则 将 来 我 们 自 己 的 信 念 也 将 同 样 地 成 为 毫 无根 据 ） 牢 记 着 梅 因 所 说 的 “ 推 理 的 错 误 的 非 常 活 力 ” 。 这 使 我们 记 起 赫 伯 特 · 斯 宾 塞的 意 见 ， 即 “ 一种 思 想 体 系 在 自 杀 以 后 ， 有 可 能 精 神 焕 发 地 到 处 流 行 ” 。 十 八世 纪 中 流 行 着 的 关 于 政 治 起 源 的 各 种 观 念 ， 在 卢 梭的 奇 怪 的 假 定 中 达 到 了 极 点 ， 并 且 直 到 十 九 世 纪中 叶 即 使 已 濒 于 死 亡 ， 却 仍 活 着 、 呼 吸 着 ， 但 如 果 说 这 些 观念 在 过 去 二 千 年 的 长 时 期 中 实 在 一 无 进 步 ， 那 是 不 能 说 是 言之 过 甚 的 。 关 于 社 会 人 的 性 质 ， 同 这 些 虚 说 讽 喻 同 时 流 行 的 ，另 外 有 一 种 广 泛 传 布 的 信 念 ， 认 为 政 治 历 史 是 一 些 退 化 的 而不 是 发 展 的 故 事 ， 认 为 人 类 及 其 大 部 分 的 制 度 已 从 一 个 神 秘地 遥 远 的 时 代 的 较 为 幸 福 的 状 况 中 趋 向 衰 颓 。 因 此 ， 既 然 恢复 原 始 的 天 真 状 态 已 不 可 能 ， 则 我 们 为 民 族 所 能 做 的 最 好 的工 作 就 是 珍 惜 地 保 存 事 物 的 现 存 秩 序 ， 至 少 要 阻 止 它 进 一 步堕 落 。

    由 于 对 历 史 的 藐 视 ， 幸 而 它 是 同 比 较 体 面 的 动 机 相 结 合着 的 — — 一 种 动 机 是 对 于 这 种 卓 越 的 自 然 法 的 正 当 反 应 ， 另一 种 动 机 是 要 对 法 律 概 念 的 实 质 进 行 有 系 统 分 析 的 一 种 非 常及 时 的 愿 望 — — ， 就 在 英 国 产 生 了 另 一 种 法 律 理 论 ， 这 主 要同 霍 布 斯和 奥 斯 丁 有 关 ， 但 和 边 沁 也 不 无 关 系 。 这种 理 论 ， 我 们 为 了 便 利 称 它 为 法 律 与 主 权 的 命 令 说 。 它 认 为 法 律最突出的 是 一 个 在 法 律 上 有 无 限 权 力 的 主 权 者 或 “ 政 治领 袖 ” 对 一 个 臣 民 或 “ 政 治 下 属 ” 所 颁 发 的 不 可 抗 拒 的 命令 ，后 者 既 被 假 定 为 具 有 服 从 的 习 惯 ， 就 有 绝 对 服 从 的 义 务。对于自 然 法 或 理 想 法 中 模 糊 的 赏 罚 观 念 发 生 着 怀 疑 ， 并 且 是 正当 地 怀 疑 ， 它 就 集 中 其 全 部 注 意 力 于 现 实 法 的 强 制 性 质 ， 至于 它 在 历 史 上 或 伦 理 上 的 各 种 要 素 ， 则 坚 决 不 加 考 虑 。这 种理 论 虽 然 在 其 他 地 方 很 少 受 到 注 意 ， 但 在 英 国 直 到 现 在仍 旧常 常 被 讨 论 到 ； 不 过 至 少 有 一 种 意 见 是 大 家 一 致 同 意 的， 即它 既 然 从 法 律 学 的 领 域 中 排 斥 了 历 史 考 虑 ， 就 使 它 陷入了一 种 根 本 的 谬 误 ， 即 把 一 切 法 律 制 度 都 认 为 是 以 西 欧 的 君 主国 家 作 为 典 型 的 。

    对 于 这 些 倾 向 ， 不 是 没 有 阻 力 的 ， 这 些 阻 力 就 存 在 于 梅因 的 作 品 中 。 德 国 有 一 个冯·萨维尼，他是历 来 最 著 名 的 法 学 家 之 一 ， 他 在 十 九 世 纪 初 期 曾 对 十 八 世 纪非 历 史 的 思 想 习 惯 加 以 激 烈 的 攻 击 。 虽 然 他 对 于 国 家 法 律 与习 惯 并 没 有 真 正 找 到 一 种 科 学 的 历 史 的 研 究 方 法 ， 但 他 提 供了 向 这 个 方 向 努 力 的 主 要 推 动 力 量 ； 他 从 事 于 法 律 学 研 究 的精 神 ， 辉 煌 地 表 达 在 他 自 己 的 研 究 中 ， 此 种 精 神 在 以 后 就 从来 没 有 被 人 们 舍 弃 过 ， 虽 然 其 中 有 些 夸 张 之 处 ， 随 着 时 间 的变 迁 已 有 所 变 更 。 他 在 英 国 很 少 直 接 影 响 ， 就 是 曾 在 德 国 求学 的 奥 斯 丁 ， 也 常 常 反 对 他 所 提 出 的 结 论 ， 并 且 我 认 为 虽 然没 有 很 多 证 据 ， 足 以 证 明 梅 因 非 常 熟 悉 丰 · 萨 维 尼 及 其 门 徒的 著 作 ， 但 他 是 深 知 他 们 的 观 点 的 一 般 要 旨 的 ， 并 且 无 疑 地在 实 质 上 是 同 意 这 种 观 点 的 。 梅 因 可 能 从 洛 多 尔 夫 · 丰 · 伊叶 林  在1858年 出 版 的 巨 著 “ 罗 马 法 精 神 ”受 到 更 加 直 接 的 影 响 。 伊 叶 林 在 几 个 重 要 问 题 方 面 ， 与 萨 维 尼 的 观 点 不 同 ， 但 他 肯 定 地 主 张 把 历 史 方 法 用 于 法 律 学 中 。 他 也 对 罗 马 法 的 研究 带 来 了 一 种 新 的 和 活 泼 的 精 神 ， 与 长 期 在 德 国 压 制 着 罗 马法 的 无 生 气 的 经 院 哲 学 派 不 同 ； 有 许 多 证 据 足 以 表 明 这 对 于梅 因 是 一 种 真 正 的 刺 激 ， 正 像 吉 朋对 伊 叶 林 同 样 是 一 种 刺 激 一 样 。
    “ 古 代 法 ” 出 现 的 时 期 ， 也 是 人 类 思 想 史 上 有 最 深 远 影 响 的 事 件 之 一 ， 即 达 尔 文自 然 选 择 原 则 形 成 的 时 期 。
    “ 物 种 起 源 ”发 表 于 “ 古 代 法 ” 出 版 前 两 年 。 在 梅 因 的 主 要 著 作 中 ， 据 我 所 知 ， 只 有 一 处 直 接提 到 了 达 尔 文 ； 在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 七 章 中 ， 他 认 为 达 尔 文 从 自 然 科 学 上 提 供 了 有 利于 父 权 制 理 论 的 证 据 。 究 竟 梅 因 是 否 接 受 进 化 论 的 理 论包 括其 全 部 含 意 在 内 ， 这 是 本 文 作 者 所 不 了 解 的 ， 但 梅 因 在历 史法 律 学 方 面 的 著 作 自 然 地 同 十 九 世 纪 中 叶 广 为 传 布 的 新 的 研究 精 神 平 列 在 一 起 ， 则 是 没 有 疑 问 的 。
    关 于 这 种 “ 新 学 问 ” ， 就 其 对 法 律 的 影 响 而 论 ， 梅 因 的 全部 著 作 可 以 被 认 为 是 一 种 有 生 气 的 表 现 。 他 对 那 些 不 科 学的缺 乏 批 判 的 ， 被 野 蛮 地 但 简 略 地 称 为 “ 先 天 主 义 ” 的 那 种很盛 行 的 思 想 习 惯 ， 从 不 放 松 加 以 反 对 。 他 在 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ”（ 第 十 二 讲 ） 中 写 道 ，“ 为 英 国 法 学 家 一 般 接 受 的 各 种 历 史 理 论 ， 不 但 对 于 法 律 的 研究 有 很 大 的 损 害 ， 即 使 对 历 史 的 研 究 也 是 如 此 ， 因 此 ， 当 前英 国 学 术 上 最 迫 切 需 要 增 益 的 ， 也 许 是 新 材 料 的 审 查 ， 旧材料 的 再 度 审 查 ， 并 在 这 基 础 上 把 我 们 法 律 制 度 的 来 源 及 其 发展 ， 加 以 阐 明 。 ” 对 英 国 法 律 应 该 这 样 ， 对 其 他 一 般 法 律 也 同样 应 该 这 样 。 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 ， 梅 因 对 当 时 流 行 的 政 治 纯 理论 中 最 为 旁 若 无 人 的 、 根 深 蒂 固 的 某 种 “ 先 天 主 义 ” 给 以第一 次 的 攻 击 （ 这 在 他 以 后 的 著 作 中 ， 常 被 重 复 地 进 行 着）。例如 ， 在 第 四 章 中 的 “ ‘ 自 然 平 等 ’ 的 教 条 ” ， 第 五 章 中 的 “ 幻想 的 ‘ 自 然 状 态 ’ ” ， 第 八 章 中 的 “ 认 为 财 产 起 源 于 单 独 的个人 对 物 质 财 富 的 ‘ 占 有 ’ 这 毫 无 根 据 的 观 点 ” ， 第 九 章 中 的“ 社 会 契 约 的 梦 呓 ” ， 没 有 一 个 人 曾 像 他 那 样 恶 毒 地 辱 骂这 些一 度 声 势 极 盛 的 说 教 的 严 重 错 误 。 他 说 ： 这 些 有 关 “ 世界最古 年 代 人 类 情 况 的 描 写 受 到 这 两 种 假 设 的 影 响 ， 首 先 是假定人 类 并 不 具 有 今 天 围 绕 者 他 们 的 大 部 分 环 境 ， 其 次 ，是假定在 这 样 想 像 的 条 件 下 他 们 会 保 存 现 在 刺 激 他 们 进 行 活 动的同样 的 情 绪 和 偏 见 ” 。 至 少 对 于 英 国 ， 梅 因 可 以 说 是 已 经改变了“自然” 的 面 貌 。

    这 种 智 力 状 态 使 梅 因 完 全 不 可 能 接 受 霍 布 斯 与 奥 斯 丁 的主 权 命 令 说 ， 把 它 视 为 是 一 切 法 律 的 起 源 和 性 质 的 特 征 。 这 是 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 最 初 的 篇 幅 中 就 加 以 说 明 的 ； 并 且 他 在 十 四 年 后 出 版 的 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 最 后 两 讲 中 更 深 入 地 加 以 发 挥 。 奇 怪 的 是 ， 梅 因 虽 然 是 奥 斯 丁 最 严 格 的 批 评 者 之 一 ， 但 他 把 奥 斯 丁 在 法 律 分 析 上 所 作 努 力 的 真 正 成 绩 推 荐 给 英 国 法 学 家 ， 则 有 甚 于 任 何 人 。 奥 斯 丁 在 １ ８ ２ ８ 年 所 作 的 演 讲 ， 除 了 培 养 人才 补 足 审 判 席 缺 额 以 外 ， 似 乎 很 少 成 就 ； 他 的 演 讲 集 在 １ ８ ３２年 出 版 时 ， 依 旧 毫 无 影 响 ； 只 是 通 过 了 梅 因 的 各 种 著 作 和 他在 １ ８ ５ ２ 年 对 法 学 院 所 作 的 演 讲 才 把 这 一 热 诚 的 、 太 过 热 诚 的真 理 追 求 者 所 作 耐 性 的 但 落 空 的 努 力 ， 从 湮 没 中 援 救 出 来 。 但是 ， 虽 然 他 对 奥 斯 丁 的 分 析 天 才 比 以 后 许 多 争 论 者 给 予 更 多的 赞 誉 ， 但 他 对 于 把 法 律 视 作 为 命 令 ， 并 且 只 是 命 令 这 一个论 点 ， 却 无 疑 地 论 证 了 它 的 缺 点 。

    我 在 前 面 已 经 提 到 梅 因 对 于 英 国 人 对 罗 马 法 的 “ 极 端 无知 ” ， 提 出 了 非 难 。 1847年 ， 他 接 受 了 剑 桥 大 学 民 法 学 钦 定 讲座 的 教 授 职 位 ， 因 为 这 个 任 命 ， 使 他 得 以 专 心 研 究 古 代 法 而获 益 不 少 。 在 关 于 罗 马 遗 嘱 （ 第 六 章 ） 、 法 律 诉 讼 （ 第十 章 ）、家 父 权 （ 第 五 章 ） 以 及 罗 马 契 约 分 类 （ 第 八 章 ） 等 这 些 辉 煌的 纲 要 中 ， 包 含 着 许 多 新 奇 的 东 西 ， 这 些 东 西 现 在 虽 已毫 不新 奇 ， 但 在 １ ８ ６ １ 年 它 们 都 是 很 新 奇 的 ； 我 们 必 须 指 出 其 中 也有 许 多 到 现 在 已 成 为 有 疑 问 的 了 ， 但 是 ， 对 于 并 不 熟 悉专 门的 罗 马 法 的 读 者 ， 还 不 能 在 英 文 中 找 到 一 本 书 ， 能 对 那伟 大法 制 中 某 些 独 特 的 制 度 ， “ 像 古 代 法 ” 这 样 提 供 生 气 勃 勃 的说明 ， 并 且 就 罗 马 法 对 于 欧 洲 人 生 活 上 和 思 想 上 几 乎 每 一 个 部门 所 发 生 的 巨 大 影 响 ， 现 在 当 然 还 找 不 到 比 第 九 章 中 所 作 的更 好 的 、 更 有 说 服 力 的 描 写 。 还 不 很 熟 悉 这 一 切 的 读 者 ， 可以 从 吉 朋 所 著 “ 罗 马 帝 国 衰 亡 史 ” 这 一 无 比 精 辟 的 书 的 第 四十 四 章 中 找 到 很 适 宜 的 补 充 材 料 。

    梅 因 与 进 化 论 学 派 的 密 切 关 系 ， 可 以 从 他 对 于 法 律 制 度史 中 某 种 进 步 因 素 所 具 有 的 确 实 而 决 不 空 洞 的 信 念 ， 明 白 表现 出 来 ， 他 完 全 意 识 到 进 步 一 字 的 含 义 含 糊 ： 在 其 无 数警句之 一 中 ， 他 告 诉 我 们 ： “ 对 于 人 们 ， 不 论 是 个 人 或 是 集体，没有 东 西 比 把 他 们 的 道 德 进 步 认 作 一 个 实 体 的 现 实 性 ， 更可厌恶 的 了 ” ； 他 认 为 绝 大 部 分 人 类 往 往 对 于 任 何 有 意 识 地努力改进 民 主 制 度 表 示 漠 不 关 心 ， 对 于 这 种 现 象 ， 他 表 示 大 为惊奇（ 见 第 二 章 ） 。 他 从 不 怀 疑 ， 社 会 是 明 显 地 向 着 一 种 稳健的坚实 的 方 向 前 进 的 ； 这 样 ， 在 契 约 的 发 展 史 中 ， 他 发 现 了善意这 个 道 德 观 念 的 逐 步 出 现 ， 并 且 虽 然 从 没 有 停 止 和 自 然 法 非历 史 性 的 谬 论 作 斗 争 ， 但 他 依 然 在 其 中 看 到 了 一 个 可 以 促 使改 进 的 有 力 因 素 ， 以 反 对 法 律 的 保 守 主 义 的 禀 性 ，即认为法律 是 只 能 通 过 相 当 难 以 运 用 的 如 拟 制 、 衡 平 和 立 法 等 权宜手段 来 改 进 本 身 的 。 他 同 样 清 楚 地 认 识 到 社 会 是 天 然 地 分 为“ 进 步 的 ” 和 “ 不 进 步 的 ” 的 — — 这 种 两 分 法 ， 相 当 于 西 方 与东 方 的 两 分 法 。 他 不 愿 为 “ 进 步 ” 的 标 准 下 一 个 定 义 ； 但 在“ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 中 ， 他 提 出 了 至 少 两 种 可 能 的 区 别 标 准 — — 一种 是 有 意 识 地 采 用 对 最 大 多 数 人 给 以 最 大 幸 福 的 原 则 作 为 立法 政 策 ， 另 一 种 是 对 待 妇 女 地 位 的 流 行 态 度 。 有 许 多 其 他 标准 可 以 提 出 来 讨 论 ； 没 有 一 个 可 以 不 变 地 加 以 应 用 ； 但 谁 会怀 疑 ， 在 进 步 的 社 会 和 不 进 步 的 社 会 之 间确有 不 同 ， 或 是 谁会 认 为 ， 梅 因 在 这 样 相 信 了 以 后 已 作 出 了 过 分 满 足 的 假 设 呢 ？

    在 进 一 步 介 绍 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 某 几 个 时 常 引 起 争 论 的 部 分以 前 ， 必 须 首 先 注 意 到 本 书 的 一 个 独 特 之 点 。 大 多 数 人 在 对某 一 门 科 学 作 专 门 研 究 时 ， 在 发 表 （ 如 果 他 们 的 确 发 表 了 ） 他们 的 一 般 结 论 前 ， 必 先 就 其 各 个 细 节 ， 加 以 详 细 研 究 ， 并可能 要 先 加 以 说 明 。 而 梅 因 的 做 法 ， 恰 恰 与 此 相 反 。 在 其 第 一本 书 中 ， 他 叙 述 了 最 粗 糙 的 一 般 原 理 ， 而 在 他 所 有 的 后 期 作品 中 ， 除 了 二 本 比 较 不 重 要 的 之 外 ， 只 是 用 了 更 详 细 的 和 更明 确 具 体 的 例 证 ， 以 深 入 阐 明 他 在 开 始 其 专 业 时 新 提 出 的 各项 原 理 。 这 种 方 法 是 大 胆 的 ， 并 不 是 毫 无 危 险 的 ：除 了 对 于事 物 的 要 点 具 有 非 常 的 直 觉 的 理 解 力 的 人 ， 采 用 这 种 做 法 ， 很难 获 得 成 功 。 学 者 们 为 了 使 其 结 论 能 达 到 精 确 无 误 ， 一般 对于 概 括 是 非 常 谨 慎 的 ， 有 时 简 直 是 不 健 康 地 谨 慎 ； 但 是 对 于“ 古 代 法 ” ， 如 果 真 有 任 何 成 语 与 它 联 用 得 最 最 经 常 ， 那 就 是“ 辉 煌 的 概 括 ” 这 一 个 成 语 。 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 ， 很 少 有 一 页 没有 几 句 著 名 的 警 句 ， 突 出 于 字 里 、 行 间 ； 可 怪 的 是 ， 梅 因 在经 过 长 期 的 辛 勤 的 进 一 步 研 究 后 ， 竟 发 现 很 少 有 必 要 就 其 最早 的 意 见 ， 进 行 修 正 。 这 本 书 充 满 了 渊 博 的 知 识 ， 却 没 有 表示 博 学 的 一 般 附 属 物 ； 究 竟 是 由 于 政 策 ， 或 是 由 于 厌 恶，还是由于 无 能 ， 无 论 如 何 ， 梅 因 坚 决 拒 绝 采 用 似 乎 常 常 需 要 的旁 注 和 详 细 证 据 ， 以 为 其 明 白 直 率 的 主 文 的 累 赘 。 虽 然具结果 有 时 使 经 过 专 门 训 练 的 读 者 感 到 不 便 ， 但 免 除 学 术上的累赘 ， 无 疑 地 大 大 增 加 了 “ 古 代 法 ” 和 梅 因 的 其 他 一 切 著 作的声 望 。 我 们 享 受 着 文 字 的 乳 汁 ， 而 不 被 迫 目 击 挤 乳 的 这种繁重 的 、 有 时 候 很 辛 苦 的 劳 动 ， 虽 然 在 “ 东 西 方 村 落 共 产 体 ”（ Ｖ ｉ ｌ ｌ ａ ｇ ｅ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｕ ｎ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｅ ｓ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｅ ａ ｓ ｔ 　 ａ ｎ ｄ 　 Ｗ ｅ ｓ ｔ ，1871） 、 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” （1875） 及 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” （ １ ８ ８ ３年）中 都 用 了 比 “ 古 代 法 ” 更 正 确 的 、 更 有 批 评 眼 光 的 考 查以 观 察 古 代 法 律 中 的 各 个 问 题 ， 但 梅 因 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 之 后 写的 一 些 作 品 ， 都 不 及 这 个 初 生 儿 ， 甚 至 一 半 也 及 不 到 。

    因 此 ， “ 古 代 法 ” 应 该 被 认 为 好 像 是 梅 因 毕 生 工 作 中 的 一个 宣 言 书 ， 这 是 雅 利 安 民 族 各 个 不 同 支 系 ， 尤 其 是 罗 马 人 、 英国 人 、 爱 尔 兰 人 、 斯 拉 夫 人 以 及 印 度 人 的 古 代 法 律 制 度 的 一个 比 较 研 究 。 由 于 它 本 身 是 一 个 令 人 满 意 的 统 一 体 ， 它 不 能被 视 为 仅 仅 是 一 篇 绪 论 ； 不 过 ， 对 于 他 粗 糙 地 谈 到 的 许 多 问题 ， 如 果 要 获 得 更 丰 富 的 知 识 ， 读 者 还 必 须 借 助 于 梅 因 的 后期 作 品 。 例 如 第 八 章 提 到 的 村 落 共 产 体 是 一 篇 用 同 名 的 完 整的 （ 虽 然 是 简 短 的 ） 论 文 的 主 题 ， 由 于 当 时 那 士 （ Ｎ ａ ｓ ｓ ｅ ） 和Ｇ．Ｌ ． 丰 · 毛 勒 （ Ｇ ． Ｌ ． ｖ ｏ ｎ 　 Ｍ ａ ｕ ｒ ｅ ｒ ） 的 新 近 研 究 而 引 起的 ； 关 于 父 权 家 族 的 说 明 ， 当 然 应 该 以 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 为补 充 材 料 ， 这 是 梅 因 的 最 后 一 部 重 要 著 作 ， 在 其 中 ， 他 用 了同 样 的 说 服 力 和 机 智 ， 乘 便 对 主 张 母 权 制 理 论 的 几 个 主 要 代表人 予 以 答 复 。 在 这 里 ， 由 于 篇 幅 的 限 制 ， 难 以 就 “ 古 代法”中 讨 论 的 各 个 题 目 ， 一 一 指 出 究 竟 在 他 后 期 作 品 中 哪 些地 方 曾 详 加 说 明 ； 但 就 主 要 的 题 目 中 ， 可 以 提 出 的 有 主 权 、 集体 财 产 的 早 期 形 式 （ 其 重 要 的 一 方 面 ， 即 联 合 家 族 ， 在 “ 古代 法 ” 中 没 有 提 到 ， 但 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 和 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 中 ，都 有 详 尽 的 讨 论 ） ， 封 建 制 度 化 的 过 程 ， 各 种 古 代 法 典 （ 例 如在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 的 第 一 章 中 ， 详 细 叙 述 了 “ 摩 奴法典 ” ），法 学 家 〔 特 别 是 罗 马法学专家 （ Ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ｓ ｐ ｒ ｕ ｄ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 和 爱尔 兰 “ 古 代 法 官 ” 〕 在 制 成 法 律 上 所 起 的 影 响 ， 原 始 的 亲 属 关系，动 产 所 有 权 〔 关 于 第 八 章 中 所 讨 论 的要式交易物 （ ｒ ｅ ｓ ｍ ａ ｎ Aｃｉｐｉ） 更 详 细 的 说 明 ， 可 参 考 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 十 章 〕 ， 土地 所 有 权 ， 长 子 继 承 权 ， 拟 制 （ 例 如 ， 关 于 收 养 这 个 拟 制 的补 充 说 明 ， 可 见 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 第 八 讲 和 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 四 章 ） ， 原 始 诉 讼 程 序 〔 著 名 “ 戏 剧 化 ” 的誓金（Ｓａｃｒａ ｍ ｅ ｎ Aｔ ｕ ｍ ） 可 在 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 第 九 讲 中 再 发 现 〕 ， 强 制 执 行 的 各种 早 期 形式，祖先 崇 拜 和 家 族圣物，以 及 衡 平 的 发 展 等。
    “ 古 代 法 ” 中 有 许 多 部 分 ， 在 后 来 成 为 批 评 或 者 有 时 是 别人 所 不 同 意 的 主 题 ， 对 于 这 些 ， 只 可 浏 览 一 过 。 在 一 般 人的心目中 ， 梅 因 的 名 字 也 许 最 容 易 同 父 权 制 的 理 论 联 系 在 一 起 。
    大 家 都 知 道 ， 有 一 个 以 巴 觉 芬 （ Ｂ ａ ｃ ｈ ｏ ｆ ｅ ｎ ） 〔 他 的 “ 母 权 制论 ” （ Ｄ ａ ｓ 　 Ｍ ｕ ｔ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｒ ｅ ｃ ｈ ｅ ｔ ） 由 于 巧 合 ， 恰 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 出 版 的同 一 年 中 出 版 〕 、 马 克 林 南 （ Ｍ ｃ ｌ ｅ ｎ ｎ ａ ｎ ） 、 摩 尔 根 （ Ｍ ｏ ｒ ｇ ａ ｎ ） 、约 瑟 夫 · 库 勒 （ Ｊ ｏ ｓ ｅ ｆ 　 ｋ ｏ ｈ ｌ ｅ ｒ ） 和 法 拉 善 （ Ｆ ｒ ａ ｚ ｅ ｒ ） 为 其 主 要代 表 人 物 的 反 对 学 派 ， 主 张 人 类 社 会 以 一 个 人 群 开 始 ，其中男 女 两 性 处 于 一 种 没 有 节 制 的 杂 交 状 态 中 互 相 匹 配 ， 主张首先 出 现 的 家 族 集 团 是 以 母 氏 为 中 心 的 ， 并 且 主 张 以 认 定 的 生父 的 体 力 和 独 占 禁 忌 占 优 势 的 家 族 集 团 ， 在 发 展 的 过 程中，应属 于 一 个 较 后 的 阶 段 。 而 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 和 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习惯 ” 的 简 要 研 究 中 ， 显 然 梅 因 所 描 写 的 社 会 ， 既 不 是 一 个 以“ 自 然 状 态 中 的 人 ” 也 不 是 以 母 系 子 嗣 ， 而 是 一 个 以 父 权 的 、宗 亲 的 家 作 为 单 位 的 社 会 。
    但 是 ， 梅 因 所 重 新 假 设 的 这 种 共 产 体 ， 从 来 没 有 要 被 认为 是 人 类 社 会 渊 源 的 代 表 之 意 。 他 的 研 究 明 白 地 限 于 雅 利 安民 族 ， 尤 其 是 其 中 比 较 进 步 的 几 个 支 系 （ 但 有 显 著 的 例 外 ， 如印 度 村 落 共 产 体 ） ； 虽 然 在 其 他 方 面 可 能 有 些 争 执 ， 但 雅 利 安家 族 制 度 主 要 是 父 权 的 ， 这 是 没 有 争 议 的 。 在 “ 古 代 法 律 与习 惯 ” 中 ， 梅 因 不 但 不 主 张 人 类 种 族 的 各 个 支 系 应 该 有 一 个单 一 的 、 一 成 不 变 的 发 展 图 式 ， 他 并 且 毫 无 隐 瞒 地 对 这 种 想法 表 示 着 怀 疑 。 现 代 学 说 所 主 张 的 ， 正 和 这 个 意 见 相 同 ： 现在 认 为 ， 把 父 权 制 理 论 和 母 权 制 理 论 作 为 相 互 之 间 不 能调和的 对 立 物 是 完 全 人 为 的 。 男 性 和 女 性 在 家 族 中 和 社 会 上 的 相对 重 要 性 决 定 于 许 多 变 化 着 的 情 况 ， 譬 如 各 家 族 集 团 是孤立的 还 是 互 相 邻 接 的 ， 男 女 两 性 的 相 对 人 数 ， 战 争 的 影 响，可用 以 瞻 养 妻 子 的 财 富 ， 灭 婴 的 习 俗 ， 以 及 许 多 其 他 类 似 的 因素 ， 决 不 可 能 在 一 切 时 代 和 一 切 地 点 ， 完 全 相 同 。 即 使 在 大量 证 据 中 仅 仅 熟 悉 其 中 一 部 分 的 人 （ 或 仅 仅 熟 悉 其 中 可靠部分 的 人 ， 并 且 不 包 括 梅 因 讽 刺 地 称 之 为 “ 道 听 途 说 ” 的 人 ） ，现 在 也 不 再 怀 疑 母 系 的 安 排 曾 流 行 于 世 界 的 许 多 地 方 。 梅 因曾 被 责 难 为 在 承 认 马 克 林 南 和 摩 尔 根 所 提 出 母 权 制 的 证 据 时过 分 勉 强 ， 并 且 过 分 严 格 地 坚 持 着 男 性 的 体 力 和 性 的 忌 妒 这些 支 配 的 因 素 。 实 际 上 ， 梅 因 完 全 承 认 父 权 制 并 不 能 适用 于一 切 形 式 的 社 会 ； 他 所 主 张 的 ， 只 是 父 权 制 是 雅 利 安 人 所 特有 的 ， 同 时 母 权 制 的 证 据 并 不 足 以 支 持 有 一 种 原 始 群 杂交的通 说 而 已 。 对 于 这 两 种 说 法 ， 现 代 的 意 见 都 支 持 着 他 ； 任 何普 遍 的 原 始 杂 交 的 假 设 ， 现 在 为 一 般 人 所 不 信 ， 虽 然 作为偶然 的 热 情 奔 放 的 那 种 所 谓 性 的 共 产 主 义 ， 证 据 还 是 不 少 ； 在雅 利 安 人 中 间 确 有 母 权 制 的 遗 迹 ， 但 他 们 认 为 这 很 可 能 不 是人 类 家 族 中 这 一 支 系 的 一 种 较 古 时 期 的 原 有 情 况 ， 而 是 它 同非 雅 利 安 种 族 习 惯 相 接 触 的 结 果 。

    梅 因 的 行 文 流 畅 ， 偶 尔 （ 但 只 是 偶 尔 ） 也 有 自 相 矛 盾 之处 ， 这 是 不 能 毫 无 保 留 地 加 以 接 受 的 。 这 类 矛 盾 在 “ 古 代法 ” 最 初 的 篇 幅 中 就 可 以 看 到 ， 在 第 一 章 中 ， 关 于 半 司 法 的 、半 宗 教 的θεμιτε 觉 得 出 了 在 原 始 社 会 中 “ 判 决 先 于 习 惯 ” 的结 论 。 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 中 ， 梅 因 回 到 了 “ 主 权 者 有 权 创造习 惯 ” 。 在 这 个 问 题 上 ， 有 两 种 不 同 信 念 的 学 派 ； 一 派 主 张 在最 古 时 期 高 级 官 吏 的 宣 告 只 是 宣 布 业 已 存 在 的 习 惯 ， 另一派则 认 为 这 些 宣 告 却 真 正 是 创 设 和 塑 造 通 俗 惯 例 的 决 定 因 素 。真 相 似 乎 是 在 这 两 种 相 反 的 观 点 的 中 间 。 毫 无 疑 问 ， 早期的判 决 ， 不 论 是 国 王 的 或 是 祭 司 的 ， 不 论 是 纯 粹 世 俗 的或是幻想为 神 灵 所 启 示 的 ， 在 确 定 习 惯 的 形 式 、 范 围 以 及 方 向 上，确有 很 大 的 影 响 。 同 时 ， 一 切 证 据 似 乎 都 说 明 ， 最 古 时 期 的 司法 职 能 被 认 为 是 以发现现存的法律 为 其 主 要 目 的 。 在 西 方 世界，到处都有关 于 这 种 “ 发 现 法 律 ” 以 及 以 发 现 法 律 为 专 职的 公 认 专 家 的 各 种 记 录 。 甚 至 在 解 释 过 程 中 采 用 了 （ 这 也 常是 必 然 的 ） 新 的 成 分 ， 在 这 种 情 况 下 ， 实 际 上 已 从 单 纯 的 宣布 进 入 了 创 设 的 时 期 ， 甚 至 在 这 种 时 候 ， 这 种 改 革 仍 旧被装扮成 只 是 发 现 ： 正 像 英 国 法 官 在 实 质 上 是 把 新 的 成 分 转 入 到法 律 中 去 ， 却 仍 旧 尽 可 能 地 把 它 们 说 成 是 根 据 于 现 存 的 先 例一 样 。 梅 因 对 于 这 种 看 法 ， 曾 经 详 细 考 虑 而 加 以 同 意 ， 因 为在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” （ 第 六 章 ） 中 ， 当 他 写 到θεμιτε时 ， 认为 它 “ 无 疑 地 来 自 早 已 存 在 的 习 惯 或 惯 例 ” ； 虽 然 他 也 许 是 为了 表 示 公 正 起 见 ， 接 着 说 ； “ 这观念是，它 们 是 由 国 王 自 发 地或 经 过 神 的 提 示 而 想 出 来 的 ” 。

    “ 古 代 法 ” 中 没 有 一 部 分 像万民法的 叙述 那 样 需 要 更 多 的 详 细 说 明 。 “ 古 代 法 ” 的 最 大 缺 点 ， 在 于 它跳 过 了 从 罗 马 人 到 格 罗 秋 （ Ｇｒｏｔｉｕｓ） 之 间 的 几 个 世 纪 ， 忽 略了中古世纪的时期 ， 在 这 个 时 期 内 ， “ 自 然 法 ” 转 变 成 为 有 无限 活 力 和 影 响 的 一 种 神 学 概 念 。 对 于 像 梅 因 这 样 有 非 常 的 均衡 感 和 透 视 力 的 人 ， 这 真 是 一 个 奇 怪 的 遗 漏 ， 而 每 一 个 读 者希 望 对 这 一 漫 长 时 期 的 法 律 理 论 有 比 较 正 确 的 印 象 的 ，应该至 少 参 考 一 下 布 赖 斯 爵 士 （Ｂ ｒ ｙ ｃ ｅ ） 和 菲 莱 特 烈 克 · 濮洛 克 爵 士 （Ｆ ｒ ｅ ｄ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｃ ｋ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｌ ｌ ｏ ｃ ｋ ） 关 于 “ 自 然 法 律 史 ” 的几 篇 论 文 ， 以 及喀莱尔博士 （A. J. Ｃ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ ｌ ｅ ） 的“ 西 方 中 世 纪 政 治 理 论 ” 。

    梅 因 对 于 罗 马 契 约 法 发 展 的 说 明 ， 是 他 论 文 中 最 雄 辩 的部 分 之 一 。 但 这 部 分 有 些 浪 漫 的 倾 向 ， 则 是 无 法 掩 盖 的 事 实 。 在 有 些 方 面 ， 他 似 乎 显 然 是 错 误 的 ； 例 如约定，根据现代意 见 ， 不 能 被 真 正 地 认 为 是 来 源 于耐克逊（ ｎ ｅ ｘ ｕ ｍ ） ： 它也 许 在宗教的 神 圣 性 中 有 完 全 不 同 的 历 史 ， 不 同 的 来 源 。在其 他 方 面 ， 如 关 于耐克逊 的 确 切 性 质 ， 他 所 表 示 的 见 解 ， 有些 也 只 能 认 为 是 似 乎 可 信 的 猜 测 ； 但 这 样 说 ， 并 不 能 被 认 为是 对 他 责 难 ， 因 为 从 梅 因 的 时 代 起 ， 对 于 这 一 个 问 题 曾 发 生过 无 休 无 止 的 争 论 ， 而 争 论 的 结 果 也 还 只 是 一 些 可 能 和 推 测而 已 ， 实 际 上 ， 以 证 据 而 论 ， 也 只 能 得 到 这 样 的 结 果 。 梅 因对 于 罗 马 契 约 的 历 史 分 类 存 在 着 真 正 的 弱 点 ， 这 与 罗 马 法 学家 自 己 对 于 合 意 的 分 类 的 存 在 着 弱 点 ， 完 全 相 同 — 弱 点是在于 它 图 表 式 的 但 靠 不 住 的 单 纯 。 梅 因 所 提 出 的 各 个 阶段是：把债 务 同 真 正 的 以 身 体 自 由 为 质 物 （ 耐 克 逊 借 贷 ） 看 做 一 回 事 ， 带 有 严 格 的 神 圣 仪 式 ； 其 次 是 以 庄 严 的 口 头 问 答 和 以 诚 意 担保 的 债 务 ； 其 次 是 有 书 面 文 字 的 无 可 辩 驳 的 证 据 ； 其 次 是 真正 契 约 的 “ 巨 大 道 德 进 步 ” ， 这 些 契 约 代 表 着 公 正 的 基 本 原 理 ，即 根 据 一 致 同 意 的 条 件 ， 受 领 和 享 有 他 人 有 价 物 件 的 人 ， 有归 还 它 或 其 价 值 的 义 务 ； 其 次 是 在 任 何 经 济 发 达 的 社 会 中 ， 在四 种 最 普 通 和 重 要 的 交 易 中 一 致 的 效 力 ； 以 及 最 后 ， 通 过 裁判 官的 自 由 学 说 ， 在 任 何 严 肃 的 和 合 法 的 场 合 中 所取 得 纯 粹 一 致 的 拘 束 力 。 我 们 不 能 说 这 种 根 据 于 道 德 进 步 路线 的 历 史 顺 序 ， 是 明 显 地 错 误 的 ， 但 为 慎 重 起 见 ， 我 们 必 须承 认 要 证 实 其 一 切 细 节 ， 现 有 的 证 据 显 然 并 不 充 分 。 事 实 正如 我 们 常 常 指 出 来 的 那 样 ， 罗 马 人 在 有 关 合 意 的 法 律 方 面 是独 特 地 凭 经 验 的 ， 他 们 从 来 没 有 发 展 一 个 令 人 满 意 的 和 不 矛盾 的 真 正作为 契 约 的 契 约 理 论 ， 他 们 的市民法要因（ｃａｕｓａ ｃｉｖｉｌｉｓ）学说， 被 假 定 为 是 一 切 有 拘 束 力 的 合 意 所 依 据 的 ， 是完 全 没 有 可 靠 的 法 律 基 础 的 。 梅 因 留 给 我 们 的 印 象 是 ， 裁 判官 凭 着 体 现 “ 能 达 到 正 当 后 果 的 ‘ 诺 成 契 约 ’ 原 则 ” 的 ‘ 裁判 官 告 令 ” ， 把 合 意 的 可 诉 性 扩 大 到 几 乎 毫 无 限 制 。 这 是 一 种严 重 的 夸 大 。 实 际 上 ， 裁 判 官 告 令 ， 在 数 量 上 是 很 少 的 ， 在性 质 上 是 很 专 门 的 ， 在 范 围 上 是 很 狭 小 的 。 毫 无 疑 义 ， 到 了古 典 时 期 ， 契 约 的 领 域 在 理 论 上 和 在 实 际 上 ， 都 已 变 得 很 广泛 ， 足 以 满 足 一 切 普 通 目 的 了 ； 但 是 它 还 不 能 公 正 地 被 认 为具 有 梅 因 这 样 热 诚 地 归 功 于 它 的 那 种 科 学 的 均 称 性 或 道 德 的一 致 性 。

    在 第 五 章 的 结 尾 ， 可 以 看 到 梅 因 对 他 所 想 象 的 “ 各 国 民事 法 律 ” 的 发 展 ， 进 行 了 干 练 的 总 结 ， 同 时 读 者 在 开 始 阅 读本 书之 前 ， 最 好 先 熟 读 这 一 段 文 字 ， 即 以 “ 到 现 在 为 止 ， 我 们 已 经研 究 过 有 关 古 代 ‘ 人 法 ’ 的 各 个 部 分 ” 开 始 的 几 页 ， 并 且 先 要 把 本 书 开 头 的 主 要 的 五 章 所 依 据 的 要 旨 牢 记 在 心 中 。这 几 页 中 最 后 一 句 话 是 全 部 英 国 法 律 文 献 中 最 著 名 的 “ 进 步社 会 的 运 动 ， 到 此 处 为 止 ， 是 一个从身分到契约 的 运 动 。 ” 这些 文 句 在 它 写 成 的 当 时 ， 是 适 当 的 、 可 以 接 受 的 — —那 个 时候 ， 十 九 世 纪 个 人 主 义 的 全 部 力 量 正 在 逐 渐 增 加 其 动 力。关于 梅 因 所 应 用 的 “ 身 分 ” 这 个 字 ， 是 否 适 当 ， 这 里 不 拟作专门 的 详 尽 讨 论 ， 但 作 为 一 个 法 律 “ 术 语 ” ， 就 他 所 接 受 的 含 义来 讲 ， 是 有 讨 论 的 余 地 的 ； 但 他 的 结 论 实 足 以 表 现 一 条为当今 历 史 法 学 家 没 有 任 何 争 执 的 原 则 — — 即 个 人 自 决 的原则，把 个 人 从 家 庭 和 集 团 束 缚 的 罗 网 中 分 离 开 来 ； 或 者 ， 用 最 简单 的 话 来 说 ， 即 从 集 体 走 向 个 人 的 运 动 。 这 是 梅 因 的 论文的主 要 观 点 ， 是 他 对 所 有 那 些先天 的 空 想 进 行 攻 击 的 矛 头，这些 空 想 创 造 了 抽 象 的人 ， 作 为 年 轻 世 界 的 天 命 的 君 主 ， 这样就 颠 倒 了 全 部 的 历 史 进 程 。 可 以 看 到 ， 梅 因 在 说 这 个 运 动到此处为止 是 进 步 社 会 的 特 征 时 ， 是 很 慎 重 的 。 现 在 有 许 多 人在 问 ， 有 的 带 着 怀 疑 ， 有 的 可 以 看 出 是 有 礼 貌 地 ， 究 竟 有 没有 从 契 约 到 身 分 的 相 反 运 动 发 生 过 。 我 们 可 以 完 全 肯 定 ， 这个 由 十 九 世 纪放任主义 （ ｌ ａ ｉ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｚ ｆ ａ ｉ ｒ ｅ ） 安 放 在 “ 契 约 自 由 ” 这神 圣 语 句 的 神 龛 内 的 个 人 绝 对 自 决 ， 到 了 今 日 已 经 有 了 很 多的 改 变 ； 现 在 ， 个 人 在 社 会 中 的 地 位 ， 远 较 著 作 “ 古 代 法 ” 的时 候 更 广 泛 地 受 到 特 别 团 体 、 尤 其 是 职 业 团 体 的 支 配 ， 而 他的 进 入 这 些 团 体 并 非 都 出 于 他 自 己 的 自 由 选 择 。 很 可 能 ， 过去 一 度 由 家 庭 这 个 发 源 地 担 任 的 任 务 ， 在 将 来 要 由 工 团 这 个发 源 地 来 担 任 了 ； 也 可 能 梅 因 的 这 个 著 名 原 则 ， 将 会 有 一 天被 简 单 地 认 为 只 是 社 会 史 中 的 一 个 插 曲 。 如 果 竟 然 是 这 样 发生 了 ， 这 究 竟 是 标 志 着 社 会 的 进 步 还 是 退 化 ， 是 一 个 非 常 适合 于 每 一 个 有 思 想 的 人 仔 细 研 究 的 问 题 ， 但 在 这 里 ， 是 不 宜于 作 任 何 讨 论 的 。

    本 书 中 有 些 不 重 要 的 疏 漏 之 处 ， 对 于 一 般 读 者 ， 是 可 以不 必 特 别 提 出 的 。 但 有 一 点 必 须 加 以 指 出 。 在 第 四 章 中 梅 因竟 以 为 布 拉 克 顿 （ Ｂ ｒ ａ ｃ ｔ ｏ ｎ ） 曾 “ 把 全 部 形 式 和 三 分 之 一 内 容直 接 剽 窃 自 ‘ 民 法 大 全 ’ ” 的 一 篇 论 文 ， 作 为 纯 粹 英 国 法 的 一个 纲 要 ， 向 其 同 胞 推 销 。 这 与 现 在 由 麦 特 兰 （ Ｍ ａ ｉ ｔ ｌ ａ ｎ ｄ ） 研 究结 果 确 定 的 事 实 严 重 地 不 相 符 合 ， 这 些 事 实 ， 在1861年 时 是不 可 避 免 地 被 误 解 了 。 布 拉 克 顿 的 亨 利 或 布 拉 顿 （ Ｂ ｒ ａ ｔ ｏ ｎ ） 是除 了 法 学 家 和 历 史 学 家 外 ， 一 般 人 很 少 知 道 的 一 个 作 家 ， 因此 请 原 谅 我 为 他 作 一 介 绍 ， 他 是 亨 利 三 世 皇 朝 后 半 期 中 一 个王 室 法 庭 的 法 官 ， 并 且 是 研 究 中 世 纪 时 期 “ 英 国 法 律 和 习惯 ” 方 面 一 个 最 重 要 的 “ 寺 院 派 ” 作 家 。 像 他 当 时 所 有 的 教士 一 样 ， 他 用 拉 丁 文 纂 述 文 章 ， 他 应 用 罗 马 法 的 传 统 分 类 与排 列 ； 虽 然 决 不 至 于 有 “ 三 分 之 一 内 容 ” ， 但 他 的 著 名 论 文 中确 有 相 当 部 分 借 助 于 罗 马 法 — — 但 不 是 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 的 本 身 ，而是 十 二 世 纪 “ 波 罗 诺 学 派 ” （ Ｂ ｏ ｌ ｏ ｇ ｎ ｅ ｓ ｅ ） 注 释 者 所 “ 修 正 ”的 罗 马 法 律 学 。 但 他 的 著 作 ， 不 论 在 意 图 上 或 是 在 效 果 上 ， 绝不 是 欺 人 之 谈 ： 他 的 主 题 是 真 实 的 、 本 土 风 光 的 、 英 国 的 封建 法 律 ， 虽 然 曾 受 到 当 时 所 公 认 的 研 究 法 律 学 的 方 法 — — 一个 必 然 是 罗 马 式 的 方 法 — — 的 影 响 ， 而 它 受 到 这 种 影 响 ， 实在 也 是 无 可 避 免 的 。
    最 后 必 须 加 以 说 明 ， 在 本 书 中 提 到 的 一 二 椿 有 关 英 国 法的 事 ， 最 近 已 经 有 了 变 化 。 一 般 都 知 道 ， 在 梅 因 著 作 中 占 有非 常 显 著 地 位 的 并 且 是 他 所 一 贯 不 赞 成 的 长 子 继 承 权， 在 现 在 ， 除 了 荣 誉 称 号 以 外 ， 在 一 切 主 要 方 面都 已 从 英 国 继 承 法 中 消 失 了 。 第 八 章 中 有 关 英 国 动 产 法 “ 威胁着要 并 吞 和 毁 灭 不 动 产 法 ” 的 预 言 ， 现 在 大 部 已 经 实 现 了 。
    至 于 英国已婚妇 女 的 无 能 力 （ 第 五 章 ） ，这种 现 象 在1861年时 是 任 何 文 明 社 会 的 一 种 耻 辱 ， 在 二 十 一 年 以 后 已 被 彻 底 消灭 ， 这 原 是 众 所 周 知 而 毋 庸 加 以 说 明 的 事。
    ——Ｃ ａ ｒ ｌ ｅ ｔ ｏ ｎ 　 ｋ ｅ ｍ ｐ 　 Ａ ｌ ｌ ｅ ｎ，1931

    第一章 　 古代法典

    世 界 上 最 著 名 的 一 个 法 律 学 制 度 从 一 部 “ 法 典 ” （code）开 始 ， 也 随 着 它 而 结 束 。 从 罗 马 法 历 史 的 开 始 到 结 束 ， 它 的释 义 者 一 贯 地 在 其 用 语 中 暗 示 着 ， 他 们 制 度 的 实 体 是 建 筑 于“ 十 二 铜 表 法 ”、因 此 也 就 是 建 筑 于 成 文 法 的 基 础 上 的 。 在 罗 马 ， 对 于 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 以前 的 一 切 制 度 ， 除 了 一 特 殊 之 点 外 ， 都 不 予 承 认 。 罗 马 法 律学 在 理 论 上 是 来 自 一 部 法 典 ， 而 英 国 法 律 在 理 论 上 则 被 认 为是 来 自 古 代 的 不 成 文 惯 例 ， 这 是 他 们 制 度 的 发 展 和 我 们 制 度的 发 展 所 以 不 同 的 主 要 原 因 。 这 两 种 理 论 与 事 实 不 完 全 相 符，但 却 都 产 生 了 极 端 重 要 的 后 果 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 公 布 并 不 能 作 为 我 们 开 始 研 究 法 律 史 的最 早 起 点 ， 这 是 毋 庸 多 说 的 。 古 代 罗 马 法 典 ， 是 属 于 这 样 一类 的 法 典 ， 几 乎 世 界 上 每 一 个 文 明 国 家 都 可 以 提 出 一 个 范 例 ，并 且 以 罗 马 和 希 腊 而 论 ， 它 们 是 在 彼 此 之 间 相 距 并 不 过 分 遥远 的 时 代 中 在 它 们 各 自 的 领 域 中 广 泛 地 传 布 着 。 它 们 是 在 非常 类 似 的 情 况 下 出 现 的 ， 并 且 据 我 们 所 知 ， 也 是 由 类 似 的 原因 产 生 的 。 毫 无 疑 问 ， 在 这 些 法 典 的 后 面 ， 存 在 许 多 法 律 现象 ， 这 些 法 律 现 象 在 时 间 上 是 发 生 在 法 典 之 前 的 。 现 在 有 很多 文 件 记 录 ， 明 白 地 提 供 我 们 关 于 这 种 早 期 法 律 现 象 的 知 识 ；但 在 语 言 学 家 能 对 “ 梵 文 ”文 学 作 出 完 全的 分 析以 前 ， 我 们 知 识 的 最 好 来 源 无 疑 地 只 有 希 腊 的 荷 马 诗 篇， 当 然 我 们 不 能 把 它 认 作 一 种 确 实 事 件 的历 史 ， 而 只 能 把 它 作 为 作 者 所 知 道 的 不 是 完 全 出 于 想 象 的 一种 社 会 状 态 的 描 写 。 纵 使 诗 人 的 想 象 力 对 于 这 种 英 雄 时代的某 些 特 征 ， 如 战 士 的 勇 猛 以 及 神 的 威 武 ， 可 能 有 些 夸 张 之 处 ，但 我 们 没 有 理 由 相 信 ， 他 的 想 象 力 曾 受 到 道 德 或 形 而 上 学 的概 念 的 影 响 ， 因 为 ， 这 些 概 念 当 时 当 没 有 作 为 有 意 识 观察的对 象 。 就 这 一 点 而 论 ， 荷 马 文 学 实 远 比 后 期 的 文 件 更为真实可 靠 ， 因 为 ， 这 些 文 件 虽 然 也 是 为 了 要 说 明 同 样 的 较 早时期的 情 况 ， 但 是 它 们 的 编 纂 是 在 哲 学 的 或 神 学 的 影 响 之 下 进 行的 。 如 果 我 们 能 通 过 任 何 方 法 ， 断 定 法 律 概 念 的 早 期 形 式 ， 这将 对 我 们 有 无 限 的 价 值 。 这 些 基 本 观 念 对 于 法 学 家 ， 真 象 原始 地 壳 对 于 地 质 学 家 一 样 的 可 贵 。 这 些 观 念 中 ， 可 能 含 有 法律 在 后 来 表 现 其 自 己 的 一 切 形 式 。 我 们 的 法 律 科 学 所 以 处 于这 样 不 能 令 人 满 意 的 状 态 ， 主 要 由 于 对 于 这 些 观 念 除 了最最肤 浅 的 研 究 之 外 ， 采 取 了 一 概 加 以 拒 绝 的 草 率 态 度 或 偏 见 。 在采 用 观 察 的 方 法 以 代 替 假 设 法 之 前 ， 法 学 家 进 行 调 查 研究的方 法 真 和 物 理 学 与 生 物 学 中 所 用 的 调 查 研 究 方 法 十 分 近 似 。凡 是 似 乎 可 信 的 和 内 容 丰 富 的 、 但 却 绝 对 未 经 证 实 的 各 种 理论 ， 像 “ 自 然 法 ”或 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 之 类 ， 往 往 为 一 般 人 所 爱 好 ， 很 少 有 踏 实 地 探 究社 会 和 法 律 的 原 始 历 史 的 ； 这 些 理 论 不 但 使 注 意 力 离 开 了 可以 发 现 真 理 的 唯 一 出 处 ， 并 且 当 它 们 一 度 被 接 受 和 相 信 了 以后 ， 就 有 可 能 使 法 律 学 以 后 各 个 阶 段 都 受 到 其 最 真 实 和 最 大的 影 响 ， 因 而 也 就 模 糊 了 真 理 。

    在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 曾 经 提 到 “ 地 美 士 ” （ Ｔ ｈ ｅ ｍ ｉ ｓ ） 和 “ 地 美 士第 ” （ Ｔ ｈ ｅ ｍ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 的 字 眼 ， 这 是 一 些 最 早 期 的 概 念 ， 它 们 和 现在 已 经 充 分 发 达 的 法 律 观 念 和 生 活 规 律 有 着 密 切 的 关 系 。 如所 周 知 ， “ 地 美 士 ” 在 后 期 希 腊 万 神 庙 中 是 “ 司 法 女 神 ” （ A Ｇｏｄｄｅｓｓ 　 ｏ ｆ Ｊ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｃ ｅ ） ， 但 这 是 一 个 现 代 的 并 且 已 经 很 发 达 的 观念 ， 同 “ 伊 利 亚 特 ” （ Ｉ ｌ ｉ ａ ｄ ） 中 把 “ 地 美 士 ” 描 写 为 宙 斯的 陪 审 官 的 原 意 ， 完 全 不 同 。 所 有 对 于 人 类 原 始 状 态的 忠 实 观 察 者 现 在 都 能 清 楚 地 看 到 ， 在 人 类 的 初 生 时 代 ， 人 们 对 于 持 续 不 变 的 或 定 期 循 坏 发 生 的 一 些 活 动 只 能 假 用 一 个有 人 格 的 代 理 人 来 加 以 说 明 。 这 样 ， 吹 看 的 风 是 一 个 人 ， 并且 当 然 是 一 个 神 圣 的 人 ； 上 升 、 上 升 、 到 达 极 顶 然 后 下 落 的太 阳 是 一 个 人 ， 并 且 是 一 个 神 圣 的 人 ； 生 长 庄 稼 的 土 地 是 一个 人 ， 也 是 神 圣 的 人 。 在 物 理 世 界 中 如 此 ， 在 道 德 世 界 中 也是 如 此 。 当 国 王 用 判 决 解 决 纠 纷 时 ， 他 的 判 决 假 设 是 直接灵感 的 结 果 。 把 司 法 审 判 权 交 给 国 王 或 上 帝 的 神 圣 代 理 人 ， 万王 之 中 最 伟 大 的 国 王 ， 就 是地美士 。 这 个 概 念 的 特 点 ， 表 现在 这 个 字 的 复 数 用 法 。地美士第，即地美西斯 ， 是 “ 地 美士 ” 的 复 数 ， 意 指 审 判 的 本 身 ， 是 由 神 授 予 法 官 的 。 在 谈 到 国 王 时 ， 好 像 他 们 的 手 中 就 有 着 丰 富 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” ， 随 时 可 以 应 用 似 的 。 但 是 我 们 必 须 明 白 了 解 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 并 不 就 是 法 律 而 是 判 决 。 格 罗 脱 （ Ｇ ｒ ｏ ｔ ｅ ） 先 生 在 其 “ 希 腊 史 ”中 说， “宙 斯 或 是 地 球 上 的 人 王 ， 不 是 一 个 立法 者 而 是 一 个 法 官 ” 。 他 有 充 足 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” ， 但 是 ， 虽 然始 终 相 信 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 来 自 天 上 ， 我 们 却 并 不 能 就 假 设 在 各个 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 之 间 ， 有 着 任 何 一 条 原 则 贯 串 着 ； 它 们 是 各别 的 、 单 独 的 判 决 。

    甚 至 在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 ， 我 们 也 还 可 以 看 出 ， 这 些 观 念 只 是暂 时 的 。 在 古 代 社 会 的 简 单 机 构 中 ， 情 况 类 似 的 情 形 可 能 比现 在 还 要 普 遍 ， 而 在 一 系 列 的 类 似 案 件 中 ， 就 有 可 能 采用彼此 近 似 的 审 判 。 我 们 由 此 就 有 了 一 种 “ 习 惯 ” 的 胚 种 或者雏形 ， 这 是 在 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 或 判 决 的 概 念 之 后 的 一 种 概 念。由于 我 们 的 现 代 联 想 ， 我 们 就先天地 倾 向 于 以 为 一 个 “ 习 惯 ” 观念 必 然 是 先 于 一 个 司 法 判 决 的 概 念 ， 以 为 一 个 判 决 必 然是肯定 一 个 “ 习 惯 ” ， 或 是 对 于 违 犯 “ 习 惯 ” 的 人 加 以 处 罚 ， 纵 使我 们 的 思 想 倾 向 是 这 样 ， 但 是 ， 非 常 明 确 ， 各 种 观 念 的 历 史

    顺 序 却 真 正 是 象 我 在 前 面 所 排 列 的 那 样 排 列 的 。 荷 马 对 于 一个 在 胚 胎 中 的 习 惯 ， 有 时 用 单 数 的 “ 地 美 士 ” — — 更 多 的 时候 则 用 “ 达 克 ” （ Ｄ ｉ ｋ ｅ ） ， 它 的 意 义 明 显 地 介 于 一 个 “ 判 决 ” 和一 个 “ 习 惯 ” 或 “ 惯 例 ” 之 间 。 至 于 Ｎ Fμ σ � 是 指 一 条 “ 法律 ” ， 这 是 后 期 希 腊 社 会 政 治 语 言 中 一 个 非 常 伟 大 而 著 名 的 名辞 ， 但 在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 却 没 有 见 到 过。

    所 谓 神 圣 的 代 理 人 这 种 观 念 ， 暗 示 着 “ 地 美 士 第 ” ， 而 其本 身 又 人 格 化 在 “ 地 美 士 ” 中 。 这 种 观 念 一 个 肤 浅 的 研 究 者可 能 会 把 它 和 其 他 原 始 信 念 混 淆 起 来 ， 我 们 必 须 把 它 们 区 分开 来 。 有 一 种 概 念 认 为 整 部 的 法 典 是 由 “ 神 ” （ Ｄ ｅ ｉ ｔ ｙ ） 口 授 的 ，例 如 印 度 的 “ 摩 奴 ” 法 典 （ Ｈ ｉ ｎ ｄ ｏ ｏ 　 laws of Ｍａｎｕ）， 这 种概 念 似 乎 属 于 比 较 后 期 和 比 较 发 达 的 思 想 ， “ 地 美 士 ” 和 “ 地美 士 第 ” 是 同 长 久 以 来 顽 固 地 为 人 们 拘 泥 着 的 一 种 信 念 密 切地 联 系 着 的 ， 这 种 信 念 认 为 在 生 活 的 每 一 个 关 系 中 ， 在 每 一个 社 会 制 度 中 ， 都 有 一 种 神 的 影 响 作 为 它 的 基 础 ， 并 支 持 着它 。 在 每 一 古 代 法 律 中 ， 在 每 一 政 治 思 想 的 雏 形 中 ， 到 处 都可 以 遇 到 这 种 信 念 的 征 象 。 那 时 候 所 有 的 根 本 制 度 如 “ 国家 ” 、 “ 种 族 ” 和 “ 家 族 ” 都 是 假 定 为 贡 献 给 一 个 超 自 然 的 主宰 ， 并 由 这 个 主 宰 把 它 们 结 合 在 一 起 的 。 在 这 些 制 度 所 包 含的 各 种 不 同 关 系 中 集 合 起 来 的 人 们 ， 必 然 地 要 定 期 举 行 公 共的 祭 礼 ， 供 奉 公 共 的 祭 品 ， 他 们 时 时 为 了 祈 求 赦 免 因 无 意 或疏 忽 的 侮 慢 而 招 惹 的 刑 罚 举 行 着 斋 戒 和 赎 罪 ，在 这 中 间 这 种同 样 的 义 务 甚 至 被 更 有 意 义 地 承 认 着 。 凡 是 熟 悉 普 通 古 典 文学 的 人 ， 都 会 记 得家祭 （ ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ａ 　 ｇ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｌ ｉ ｃ ｉ ａ ） 这 个 名 词 ， 这 对于 古 代 罗 马 的 收 养 法 和 遗 嘱 法 都 有 着 极 重 要 的 影 响 。 到 现 在为 止 ， 还 保 存 着 原 始 社 会 某 些 最 古 怪 特 点 的 印 度 习 惯 法 （ Ｈ ｉ ｎ Aｄ ｏ ｏ 　 Ｃ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｏ ｍ ａ ｔ ｙ 　 law），对 于 人 们 所 有 的 一 切 权 利 和 继 承 的一 切 规 定 ， 几 乎 都 要 在 死 人 安 葬 时 ， 也 就 是 说 在 家 族 延 续 发生 中 断 时 ， 按 照 举 行 规 定 仪 式 时 的 严 肃 程 度 而 决 定 。

    在 我 们 离 开 这 一 法 律 学 阶 段 以 前 ， 凡 是 英 国 学 生 都 必 须注 意 到 这 样 的 一 点 。 在 边 沁 的 “ 政 府 论 丛 ” 以 及 奥 斯 丁 的 “ 法 律 学 范 围 论 ”中 ， 他 们 把 每 一 项 法 律 分 解 为立 法 者 的 一 个命令，因 此 是 一 种 强 加 于 公 民 身 上 的义务，并且 是 在 发 生 反 抗 时 的 一 种制裁 ； 他 们 并 且 进 一 步 断 定 这 个 作为 法 律 第 一 个 要 素 的命 令，必 须 不 仅 是 针 对 一 个 单 一 的 行 为，而 且 是 对 着 一 系 列 的 或 者 许 多 属 于 同 一 类 型 和 性 质 的 行 为 。这 样 把 法 律 的 各 种 要 素 加 以 分 析 的 结 果 ， 同 已 经 成 熟 的 法 律学 的 事 实 完 全 相 符 ； 并 且 只 要 在 用 语 上 稍 为 引 伸 一 下 ，它们就 能 在 形 式 上 适 用 于 各 种 各 样 的 、 各 个 时 代 的 一 切 法 律 。 但是 ， 这 并 不 就 是 说 ， 在 这 个 概 括 中 所 含 有 的 法 律 观 念 ， 即 使到 现 在 ， 还 完 全 同 这 个 解 剖 相 符 合 ； 可 奇 怪 的 是 ， 我 们 对 于古 代 思 想 史 如 果 研 究 得 越 深 入 ， 我 们 发 现 我 们 自 己 同 边 沁 所主 张 的 所 谓 法 律 是 几 个 要 素 的 混 合 物 的 这 种 概 念 ， 距 离 越 远 。可 以 断 言 ， 在 人 类 初 生 时 代 ， 不 可 能 想 象 会 有 任 何 种 类 的 立法 机 关 ， 甚 至 一 个 明 确 的 立 法 者 。 法 律 还 没 有 达 到 习 惯的程度 ， 它 只 是 一 种 惯 行 。 用 一 句 法 国 成 语 ， 它 还 只 是 一种“气氛 ” 。 对 于 是 或 非 唯 一 有 权 威 性 的 说 明 是 根 据 事 实 作 出 的 司 法判 决 ， 并 不 是 由 于 违 犯 了 预 先 假 定 的 一 条 法 律 ， 而 是 在 审 判时 中 一 个 较 高 的 权 力 第 一 次 灌 输 入 法 官 脑 中 的 。 我 们 要想理解 这 些 在 时 间 上 和 在 联 想 上 同 我 们 距 离 这 样 遥 远 的 种 种 见解 ， 当 然 是 极 端 困 难 的 ， 但 是 ， 我 们 如 果 能 比 较 详 细 地 研 究一 下 古 代 社 会 的 构 成 ， 了 解 到 在 古 代 社 会 中 ， 每 个 人 的生命有 极 大 部 分 都 生 活 在 族 长 的 专 制 之 下 ， 他 的 一 切 行 为 实 际 上

    不 是 由 法 律 的 而 是 由 翻 复 无 常 的 一 种 统 治 所 控 制 着 ， 这 就 比

    较 可 信 了 。 我 可 以 说 ， 一 个 英 国 人 应 该 比 外 国 人 更 能 够 理 解

    这 样 的 一 个 历 史 事 实 ， 即 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 的 发 生 先 于 任 何 法 律

    概 念 ， 这 是 因 为 ， 在 流 行 着 的 有 关 英 国 法 律 学 性 质 的 许 多 相

    互 矛 盾 的 理 论 中 ， 其 最 得 人 心 的 ， 或 者 无 论 如 何 是 最 能 影 响

    实 践 的 ， 当 然 是 假 定 成 案 和 先 例 先 于 规 则 、 原 则 及 差 别 而 存

    在 的 理 论 。 应 该 指 出 ， 根 据 边 沁 和 奥 斯 丁 的 见 解 ， “ 地 美 士

    第 ” 还 有 把 单 一 的 或 唯 一 的 命 令 从 法 律 中 区 分 开 来 的 特 性 。 真

    正 的 法 律 使 所 有 公 民 毫 无 差 别 地 一 致 遵 守 着 种 类 相 似 的 许 多

    条 例 ； 这 正 是 法 律 的 最 为 一 般 人 所 深 切 感 觉 到 的 特 征 ， 使

    “ 法 律 ” 这 个 名 词 只 能 适 用 于 一 致 、 连 续 和 类 似 。 至 于 ·

    命令 只规 定 一 个 单 独 的 行 为 ， 因 此 同 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 比 较 近 似 的 是 命令而不是法律 。 命 令 只 是 对 孤 立 的 事 实 状 态 的 宣 告 ， 并 不 必然 地 按 照 一 定 的 顺 序 一 个 和 另 一 个 相 速 。

    英 雄 时 代 的 文 学 告 诉 我 们 的 法 律 萌 芽 ， 一 种 是 “ 地 美 士第 ” ， 还 有 一 种 是 在 稍 为 发 展 的 “ 达 克 ” 的 概 念 中 。 我 们 在 法律 学 史 上 达 到 的 下 一 个 阶 段 是 非 常 著 名 的 ， 并 且 也 是 饶 有 兴趣 的 。 格 罗 脱 先 生 在 其 “ 希 腊 史 ” 第 二 篇 第 二 章 中 ， 曾 把 已逐 渐 不 同 于 荷 马 所 纂绘的社 会 生 活 方 式 详 细 加 以 描 写 。英雄时 代 的 王 权 ， 部 分 地 依 靠着神所赋与的特 权 ， 部 分 地 依 靠着拥 有 出 类 拔 萃 的 体 力 、 勇 敢 和 智 慧 。 逐 渐 地 ， 君 主 神 圣不可侵 犯 的 印 象 开 始 淡 薄 ， 当 一 系 列 的 世 袭 国 王 中 产 生 了 柔 弱 无能 的 人 ， 王 家 的 权 力 就 开 始 削 弱 ， 并 且 终 于 让 位 于 贵 族 统 治 。如 果 我 们 可 以 正 确 地 应 用 革 命 的 术 语 ， 则 我 们 可 以 说 ， 王 位是 被 荷 马 一 再 提 到 的 和 加 以 描 写 的 领 袖 议 会 所 篡 夺 了 。 无 论如 何 ， 在 欧 洲 各 地 ， 这 时 已 经 从 国 王 统 治 时 代 转 变 到 一 个 寡头 政 治 时 代 ； 即 使 在 名 义 上 君 主 职 能 还 没 有 绝 对 消 失 ，然而王 权 已 缩 小 到 只 剩 下 一 个 暗 影 。 他 成 为 只 是 一 个 世 袭 将 军 ， 像在 拉 栖 第 梦 （ Ｌ ａ ｃ ｅ ｄ Eｍ ｏ ｎ ） ， 只 是 一 个 官 吏 ， 像 雅 典 的 执 政 王（Ｋｉｎｇ Ａｒｃｈｏｎ　ａｔ　Ａｔｈｅｎｓ ） ， 或 仅 仅 是 一 个 形 式 上 的 祭司 ， 像 罗 马 的献身王 （ Ｒ ｅ ｘ 　 Ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｌ ｕ ｓ ） 。 在 希 腊 、 意 大 利和 小 亚 细 亚 ， 统 治 阶 级 似 乎 一 般 都 包 括 着 由 一 种 假 定 的 血 缘关 系 结 合 在 一 起 的 许 多 家 族 ， 他 们 虽 然 在 开 始 时 似 乎 都 主 张有 一 种 近 似 神 圣 的 性 质 ， 但 他 们 的 力 量 在 实 际 上 却 并 不 在 于他 们 所 标 榜 的 神 圣 性 。 除 非 他 们 过 早 地 被 平 民 团 体 所 推 翻 ， 他们 都 会 走 向 我 们 现 在 所 理 解 的 一 种 贵 族 政 治 。 在 更 远 一 些 的亚洲 国 家 ， 社 会 所 遭 遇 的 变 革 ， 在 时 间 上 ， 当 然 要 比 意 大 利和 希 腊 所 发 生 的 这 些 革 命 早 得 多 ； 但 这 些 革 命 在 文 化 上 的 相对 地 位 ， 则 似 乎 是 完 全 一 样 的 ， 并 且 在 一 般 性 质 上 ， 它 们 也似 乎 是 极 端 相 似 的 。 有 些 证 据 证 明 ， 后 来 结 合 在 波 斯 王 朝 统治 下 的 各 个 民 族 以 及 散 居 在 印 度 半 岛 上 的 各 个 民 族 ， 都 有 其英 雄 时 代 和 贵 族 政 治 时 代 ； 但 是 在 它 们 那 里 ， 分 别 产 生 了 军事 的 寡 头 政 治 和 宗 教 的 寡 头 政 治 ， 而 国 王 的 权 威 则 一 般 并没有 被 取 而 代 之 。 同 西 方 事 物 的 发 展 过 程 相 反 ， 在 东 方 ， 宗 教因 素 有 胜 过 军 事 因 素 和 政 治 因 素 的 倾 向 。 在 国 王 和 僧 侣阶级之间，军事和 民 事 的 贵 族 政 治 消 失 了 ， 灭 绝 了 ， 或 者 微 不 足道 ； 我 们 所 看 到 的 最 后 结 果 ， 是 一 个 君 主 享 有 大 权 ， 但是受到了祭 司 阶 级 的 特 权 的 拘 束 。 在 东 方 ， 贵 族 政 治 成 为 宗 教 的 ，而 在 西 方 ， 贵 族 政 治 成 为 民 事 的 或 政 治 的 ， 虽 然 有 着 这些区别 ， 但 是 ， 在 一 个 英 雄 国 王 历 史 时 代 的 后 面 跟 着 来 了 一 个 贵族 政 治 的 历 史 时 代 ， 这 样 一 个 命 题 是 可 以 被 认 为 正 确 的，纵使 并 不 对 于 全 人 类 都 是 如 此 ， 但 无 论 如 何 ， 对 于 印 度 — 欧 罗巴系 各 国 是 一 概 可 以 适 用 的 。

    有 一 点 对 于 法 学 家 很 重 要 ， 就 是 这 些 贵 族 都 是 法 律 的 受托 人 和 执 行 人 。 他 们 似 乎 已 经 继 承 了 国 王 的 特 权 ， 唯 一 的 重要 区 别 ， 在 于 他 们 并 不 对 每 一 个 判 决 都 装 作 出 于 直 接 的 神 示 。主 张 全 部 法 律 或 是 部 分 法 律 来 自 神 授 的 思 想 联 系 ， 仍 旧 到 处表 现 出 来 ， 这 使 族 长 所 作 的 判 决 被 诿 诸 于 超 人 类 的 口 授 ， 但是 思 想 的 进 步 已 不 复 允 许 把 个 别 争 议 的 解 决 ， 用 假 定 一 种 超人 的 仲 裁 来 解 释 。 法 律 寡 头 政 治 现 在 所 主 张 的 是 要 垄 断 法 律知识 ， 要 对 决 定 争 论 所 依 据 的 各 项 原 则 有 独 占 的 权 利 。 我 们在事 实 上 已 到 了 “ 习 惯 法 ” 的 时 代 。 “ 习 惯 ” 或 “ 惯 例 ” 现 在已 成 为 一 个 有 实 质 的 集 合 体 而 存 在 ， 并 被 假 定 为 贵 族 阶 层 或阶 级 所 精 确 知 道 的 。 我 们 所 依 据 的 权 威 使 我 们 深 信 ， 这 种 寄托 于 寡 头 政 治 的 信 任 有 时 不 免 要 被 滥 用 ， 但 这 当 然 不 应 该 仅仅 视 为 一 种 僭 取 或 暴 政 的 手 段 。 在 文 字 发 明 以 前 ， 以 及 当 这门 技 术 还 处 于 初 创 时 代 ， 一 个 赋 与 司 法 特 权 的 贵 族 政 治 成 了唯 一 的 权 宜 手 段 ， 依 靠 这 种 手 段 可 以 把 民 族 或 部 族 的 习 惯 相当 正 确 地 保 存 着 。 正 是 由 于 它 们 被 托 付 于 社 会 中 少 数 人 的 记忆 力 ， 习 惯 的 真 实 性 才 能 尽 可 能 地 得 到 保 证。

    “习惯法” 以 及 它 为 一 个 特 权 阶 级 所 秘 藏 的 时 代 ， 是 一 个很 值 得 注 意 的 时 代 。 这 个 时 代 的 法 律 学 处 于 怎 样 一 个 状 态 ， 其残 留 痕 迹 到 现 在 仍 旧 可 以 在 法 律 的 和 民 间 的 用 语 中 发 现 。 这种 专 门 为 有 特 权 的 少 数 人 所 知 道 的 法 律 ， 不 论 这 少 数 人是一个 等 级 ， 一 个 贵 族 团 体 ， 一 个 祭 司 团 体 ， 或 者 一 个 僧侣学院，是 一 种 真 正 的 不 成 文 法 。 除 此 以 外 ， 世 界 上 就 没 有 所 谓不成文 法 这 样 东 西 了 。 英 国 的 判 例 法 有 时 被 称 为 不 成 文 法，有些英 国 理 论 家 正 告 我 们 说 ， 如 果 真 要 编 订 一 部 英 国 法 律 学 的 法

    典 ， 我 们 必 须 把 不 成 文 法 变 为 成 文 法 — — 他 们 坚 持 说 ， 这 一

    个 转 变 ， 如 果 不 是 在 政 策 上 有 可 疑 之 处 ， 无 论 如 何 ， 是 非 常

    重 大 的 。 实 际 上 ， 在 有 一 个 时 期 中 ， 英 国 普 通 法 的 确 可 以 合

    理 地 称 为 不 成 文 法 。 前 一 辈 的 英 国 法 官 们 确 实 标 榜 着 具 有 为

    法 院 和 人 民 群 众 所 不 完 全 知 道 的 规 则 、 原 则 及 差 别 的 知 识 。 他

    们 要 垄 断 的 法 律 ， 究 竟 是 不 是 完 全 不 成 文 的 ， 是 非 常 可 疑 的 ；

    但 是 ， 无 论 如 何 ， 纵 使 可 以 假 定 过 去 确 实 曾 经 一 度 有 着 许 多

    专 门 为 法 官 们 所 知 道 的 民 事 和 刑 事 规 则 ， 但 它 在 不 久 以 后 即已 不 再 成 为 不 成 文 法 了 。 在 “ 威 斯 敏 斯 特 法 院 ”开 始 根 据 档 案 ， 不 论 是 根 据 年 鉴 或 是其 他 资 料 作 出 判 决 时 ， 他 们 所 执 行 的 法 律 已 是 成 文 法 。 到 这个 时 候 英 国 法 律 中 任 何 一 条 规 则 ， 必 须 首 先 从 印 成 的 许 多 判决 先 例 所 记 录 的 事 实 中 清 理 出 来 ， 然 后 再 由 特 定 法 官 根 据 其不 同 的 风 格 、 精 确 度 以 及 知 识 而 表 现 于 不 同 的 文 字 形 式 中 ， 最后 再 把 它 运 用 于 审 判 的 案 件 。 在 这 过 程 中 ， 没 有 一 个 阶 段 显示 出 有 任 何 特 点 ， 使 它 和 成 文 法 有 什 么 不 同 之 处 。 英 国 法 律是 成 文 的 判 例 法 ， 它 和 法 典 法 的 唯 一 不 同 之 处 ， 只 在 于 它 是用 不 同 的 方 法 写 成 的 。

    离 开 “ 习 惯 法 ” 时 代 ， 我 们 再 来 谈 谈 法 律 学 史 上 另 一 明确 划 分 的 时 代 ， 也 就 是 “ 法 典 ” 时 代 ， 在 那 些 古 代 法 典 中 ， 罗马 的 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 是 最 著 名 的 范 例 。 在 希 腊 、 在 意 大 利 、 在西 亚 的 希 腊 化 海 岸 上 ， 这 些 法 典 几 乎 到 处 都 在 同 一 个 时 期 出现 ， 这 所 谓 同 一 个 时 期 ， 我 的 意 思 当 然 并 不 是 指 在 时 间 上 的同 一 个 时 期 ， 而 是 说 在 每 一 个 社 会 相 对 地 进 步 到 类 似 的 情 况下 出 现 的 。 在 我 所 提 到 的 几 个 国 家 中 ， 到 处 都 把 法 律 铭 刻 在石 碑 上 ， 向 人 民 公 布 ， 以 代 替 一 个 单 恁 有 特 权 的 寡 头 统 治 阶级 的 记 忆 的 惯 例 。 在 我 所 说 的 这 种 变 化 中 ， 我 们 决 不 能 设 想当 时 已 有 了 现 代 编 纂 法 典 时 所 必 须 有 的 各 种 精 密 考 虑 。 毫 无疑 问 ， 古 代 法 典 的 所 以 全 创 造 成 功 是 由 于 文 字 的 发 现 和 传 布 。诚 然 ， 贵 族 们 似 乎 曾 经 滥 用 具 对 于 法 律 知 识 的 独 占 ： 并 且 无论 如 何 ， 他 们 对 于 法 律 的 独 占 有 力 地 阻 碍 了 当 时 在 西 方 世 界开 始 逐 渐 普 遍 的 那 些 平 民 运 动 获 得 成 功 。 不 过 虽 然 民 主 情 绪可 能 使 这 些 法 典 更 加 深 得 人 心 ， 但 是 法 典 的 产 生 当 然 主 要 还是 由 于 文 字 发 明 的 直 接 结 果 。 铭 刻 的 石 碑 被 证 明 真 是 一 种 比较 好 的 法 律 保 存 者 ， 并 且 是 一 种 使 其 正 确 保 存 的 更 好 保 证 ， 这比 仅 仅 依 靠 着 少 数 人 的 记 忆 要 好 得 多 ， 虽 然 这 种 记 忆 由 于 惯常 运 用 的 结 果 也 是 在 不 断 地 加 强 着 的 。

    罗 马 法 典 就 是 属 于 上 面 所 说 的 那 一 类 法 典 ， 这 类 法 典 的价 值 不 在 于 其 分 类 比 较 匀 称 或 用 词 比 较 简 洁 明 了 ， 而 在 于 它们 为 众 所 周 知 ， 以 及 它 们 能 使 每 个 人 知 道 应 该 做 些 什 么 和 不应 该 做 些 什 么 的 知 识 。 罗 马 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 确 实 显 示 出有排 列 匀 稀 的 某 种 迹 象 ； 但 根 据 傅 说 ， 这 可 能 是 由 于 当 时这个法 律 的 编 纂 者 曾 求 助 于 希 腊 人 ， 这 些 希 腊 人 具 有 后 期希腊在编 纂 法 律 工 作 上 的 经 验 。 从 “ 核 伦 的 阿 提 喀 法 典 ” （ Ａ ｔ ｔ ｉ ｃＣ ｏ ｄ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｓ ｏ ｌ ｏ ｎ ） 所 遗 留 下 来 的 片 断 ， 可 以 看 到 它 很 少 有秩序，而 在 “ 德 里 科 ” 的 法 律 （ Ｌ ａ ｗ ｓ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｄ ｒ ａ ｃ ｏ ） 中 也 许 更 少 。这 些 东 方 的 和 西 方 的 法 典 的 遗 迹 ， 也 都 明 显 地 证 明 不 管它们的 主 要 性 质 是 如 何 的 不 同 ， 它 们 中 间 都 混 杂 着 宗 教 的、民事的 以 及 仅 仅 是 道 德 的 各 种 命 令 ； 而 这 是 和 我 们 从 其 他 来源所知 道 的 古 代 思 想 完 全 一 致 的 ， 至 于 把 法 律 从 道 德 中 分离出来，把 宗 教 从 法 律 中 分 离 出 来 ， 则 非 常 明 显 是 属 于 智 力 发 展 的 较后 阶 段 的 事 。

    但 是 ， 不 论 从 现 代 的 眼 光 看 来 这 些 “ 法 典 ” 的 特 点 是 什么 ， 它 们 对 于 古 代 社 会 的 重 要 性 ， 是 无 法 用 言 词 来 形 容 的 。 问题 — — 而 这 个 问 题 影 响 着 每 一 个 社 会 的 全 部 将 来 — — 并不在于 究 竟 该 不 该 有 一 个 法 典 ， 因 为 大 多 数 古 代 社 会 似 乎 迟 早 都会 有 法 典 的 ， 并 且 如 果 不 是 由 于 封 建 制 度 造 成 了 法 律 学史上重 要 的 中 断 ， 则 所 有 的 现 代 法 律 很 可 能 都 将 明 显 地 追 溯 到 这些 渊 源 中 的 一 个 或 一 个 以 上 上 去 。 但 是 民 族 历 史的转 折 点 ， 是要 看 在 哪 一 个 时 期 ， 在 社 会 进 步 的 哪 一 个 阶 段 ， 他 们应该把法 律 书 写 成 为 文 字 。 在 西 方 世 界 中 每 一 个 国 家 的 平 民 成分都成 功 地 击 溃 了 寡 头 政 治 的 垄 断 ， 几 乎 普 遍 地 在 “ 共 和 政治”史的初期 就 获 得 了 一 个 法 典 。 但 是 在 东 方 ， 像 我 已 在 前 面 说 过

    的 ， 统 治 的 贵 族 们 逐 渐 倾 向 于 变 为 宗 教 的 而 不 是 军 事 的 或 政

    治 的 ， 并 因 此 不 但 不 失 去 反 而 获 得 了 权 力 ； 同 时 ， 在 有 些 事

    例 中 ， 亚 细 亚 国 家 的 地 理 构 造 促 使 各 个 社 会 比 西 方 社 会 的 面

    积 更 大 ， 人 口 更 多 ； 根 据 公 认 的 社 会 规 律 ， 一 套 特 定 制 度 传

    布 的 空 间 越 广 ， 它 的 韧 性 和 活 力 也 越 大 。 不 论 由 于 何 种 原 因 ，

    东 方 各 国 社 会 编 制 法 典 ， 相 对 地 讲 ， 要 比 西 方 国 家 迟 得 多 ， 并

    且 有 很 不 相 同 的 性 质 。 亚 细 亚 的 宗 教 寡 头 ， 或 者 是 为 了 他 们

    自 己 参 考 ， 或 者 是 为 了 帮 助 记 忆 ， 或 者 是 为 了 教 育 生 徒 ， 都

    终 于 把 他 们 的 法 律 知 识 具 体 地 编 订 成 为 法 典 ； 但 也 许 促 使 他

    们 这 样 做 的 最 难 于 拒 绝 的诱力，还 在 于 这 是 一 个 可 以 增 加 和

    巩 固 他 们 影 响 的 机 会 。 他 们 完 全 垄 断 法 律 知 识 ， 这 一 点 使 它

    们 能 用 汇 编 来 欺 骗 世 人 ， 而 汇 编 中 所 包 括 的 确 实 已 被 遵 守 的规 则 ， 还 不 及 祭 司 阶 级 认 为 应 当 被 遵 守 的 规 则 多 。 称 为 “ 摩奴 ” 法 律 的 印 度 法 典 ， 当 然 是 婆 罗 门所 编 辑 的 ，无 疑 地 包 含 了 印 度 民 族 的 许 多 真 正的惯例，但根据现代最好的 东 方 学 者 的 见 解 ， 整 个 讲 起 来 ， 它 并 不 代 表 确 实 曾 经 在 印度 斯 坦 执 行 过 的 一 套 规 则 。 在 它 里 面 有 一 大 部 分 只 是 在 婆 罗门 的 眼 光 中应该 作 为 法 律 的 一 幅 理 想 图 画 。 这 是 和 人 类 的 性质 相 适 应 的 ， 也 是 和 作 者 的 特 殊 动 机 相 一 致 的 ： 即 像 “ 摩 奴法 典 ” 这 样 的 一 些 法 典 ， 应 该 假 托 为 最 古 的 ， 并 且 应 认 为 完全 从 “ 神 ” 得 来 的 。 按 照 印 度 的 神 话 学 ， “ 摩 奴 ” 是 至 尊 “ 上帝 ” 的 一 种 分 出 物 ； 但 是 这 个 冠 以 他 的 名 称 的 汇 编 ， 虽 然 其确 切 日 期 已 不 易 查 考 ， 从 印 度 法 律 学 的 相 对 进 步 来 看 ， 实 在是 一 种 近 代 的 产 品 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 以 及 类 似 的 法 典 赋 予 有 关 社 会 的 好 处 ， 主要 是 保 护 这 些 社 会 使 它 们 不 受 有 特 权 的 寡 头 政 治 的 欺 诈 ， 使国 家 制 度 不 致 自 发 地 腐 化 和 败 坏 。 “ 罗 马 法 典 ” 只 是 把 罗马人的 现 存 习 惯 表 述 于 文 字 中 。 从 罗 马 人 在 文 化 进 步 中 的 相 对 地位 来 看 ， 它 是 一 非 常 早 的 法 典 ， 而 它 公 布 的 时 间 ， 正 当罗马社 会 还 没 有 从 这 样 一 种 智 力 状 态 中 脱 身 出 来 ， 也 就 是 正 当 他们 的 智 力 状 态 还 处 在 政 治 和 宗 教 义 务 不 可 避 免 地 混 淆 在 一 起的 时 候 。 一 个 野 蛮 社 会 实 行 的 一 套 习 惯 ， 往 往 对 其 文 化 进 步绝 对 有 害 或 有 某 种 特 殊 的 危 险 。 一 个 特 定 社 会 从 其 初 生 时 代和 在 其 原 始 状 态 就 已 经 采 用 的 一 些 惯 例 ， 一 般 是 一 些 在 大体上 最 能 适 合 于 促 进 其 物 质 和 道 德 福 利 的 惯 例 ； 如 果 它 们 能 保持 其 完 整 性 ， 以 至 新 的 社 会 需 要 培 养 出 新 的 惯 行 ， 则 这个社会 几 乎 可 以 肯 定 是 向 上 发 展 的 。 但 不 幸 的 是 ， 发 展 的 规 律始终 威 胁 着 要 影 响 这 些 不 成 文 的 惯 例 。 习 惯 是 为 群 众 所 遵 守 的 ，但 他 们 当 然 未 必 能 理 解 它 们 所 以 存 在 的 真 正 原 因 ， 因 此 ， 也

    就 不 可 避 免 地 要 创 造 出 迷 信 的 理 由 以 说 明 它 们 的 永 恒 存 在 。

    于 是 就 开 始 着 这 样 一 种 过 程 ， 简 单 地 讲 ， 就 是 从 合 理 的 惯 例

    产 生 出 不 合 理 的 惯 例 。 类 比 ， 这 是 法 律 学 成 熟 时 期 中 最 有 价

    值 的 工 具 ， 但 在 法 律 学 的 初 生 时 代 却 是 最 危 险 的 陷 阱 。 禁 令

    和 命 令 在 开 始 时 由 于 正 当 理 由 原 来 只 限 于 某 一 种 性 质 的 行

    为 ， 后 来 就 被 适 用 于 属 于 同 一 类 别 的 一 切 行 为 ， 因 为 一 个 人做 了一椿要受到 上 帝 谴 责 的 行 为 ， 他 在 做 任 何 稍 有 些 类 似 的

    行 为 时 ， 就 必 然 地 要 感 到 一 种 自 然 的 恐 惧 。 当 一 种 食 物 由 于

    卫 生 的 理 由 被 禁 止 ， 禁 令 就 要 适 用 于 一 切 类 似 的 食 物 ， 虽 然

    类 比 在 有 的 时 候 完 全 是 建 筑 在 想 象 的 基 础 上 的 。 同 样 的 ， 为

    了 保 证 一 般 清 洁 而 作 出 的 明 智 的 规 定 ， 终 于 竟 变 成 了 教 仪 上

    净 身 的 冗 繁 的 手 续 。 又 如 等 级 的 划 分 是 在 社 会 史 上 特 定 紧 急

    关 头 为 保 持 民 族 生 存 所 必 需 的 ， 但 逐 渐 退 化 而 成 为 所 有 人 类一 切 制 度 中 最 不 幸 的 和 最 有 损 害 的 制 度 — — “ 族 籍 制 度 ”（Ｃ ａ ｓ ｔ ｅ ） 。 印 度 法 的 命 运 ， 在 事 实 上 ， 是 衡 量 罗 马 法 典 价 值 的尺 度 。 人 种 学 告 诉 我 们 ， 罗 马 人 与 印 度 人 来 自 同 一 个 原始祖先 ， 而 在 他 们 的 原 来 习 惯 中 ， 也 确 实 有 显 著 的 类 似 之处，即使 在 现 在 ， 印 度 法 律 学 还 存 留 着 考 虑 周 到 和 判 断 正 确 的 实 体 ，只 是 不 合 理 的 摹 仿 已 使 它 在 实 体 上 面 附 加 着 残 酷 妄 诞 的 巨 大附 着 物 。 罗 马 人 由 于 得 到 了 法 典 的 保 护 ， 没 有 受 到 这 一类腐蚀 。 在 它 编 纂 的 时 期 ， 惯 例 还 是 很 健 康 的 ， 如 果 推 迟 到 一 百年 以 后 ， 或 许 就 太 迟 了 。 印 度 法 的 大 部 分 是 具 体 规 定 于文字中 的 ， 但 是 ， 在 “ 梵 文 ” 中 到 现 在 仍 旧 保 存 着的撮要 虽 然在一 种 意 义 上 是 很 古 的 ， 但 在 它 们 中 间 有 充 分 证 据 ， 证 明 它 们的 编 制 是 在 错 误 造 成 之 后 。 当 然 ， 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 而 有 权 利说 ， 如 果 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 没 有 公 布 ， 罗 马 人 的 文 明 将 像 印 度文 明 那 样 地 无 力 和 恶 化 ， 但 至 少 这 是 可 以 断 定 的 ， 他 们有了 法 典 ， 才 避 免 了 那 样 不 幸 的 遭 遇 。

    第二章　法律拟制

    当 原 始 法 律 一 经 制 成 “ 法 典 ” ， 所 谓 法 律 自 发 的 发 展 ， 便告 中 止 。 自 此 以 后 ， 对 它 起 着 影 响 的 ， 如 果 确 有 影 响 的 话 ， 便都 是 有 意 的 和 来 自 外 界 的 。 。 我 们 不 能 设 想 ， 任 何 民 族 或 部 族的 习 惯 ， 从 一 个 族 长 把 它 们 宣 告 以 后 一 直 到 把 它 们 用 文 字 公布 为 止 在 这 一 个 长 久 的 — — 在 有 些 情 况 下 ， 非 常 悠 久 的 — —期 间 内 ， 会 一 无 变 更 。 如 果 认 为 在 这 个 期 间 以 内 的 任 何 变 更都 不 是 有 意 地 进 行 的 ， 也 是 不 妥 当 的 。 但 就 我 们 对 于 这 个 时期 内 法 律 进 步 所 掌 握 的 一 些 知 识 来 说 ， 我 们 确 有 理 由 假 定 ， 在造 成 变 化 中 ， 故 意 只 占 着 极 小 的 部 分 。 远 古 惯 例 中 曾 经 发 生过 一 些 改 革 ， 但 促 使 这 些 改 革 发 生 的 情 感 作 用 和 思 想 方 式 ， 却不 是 我 们 在 现 在 智 慧 状 态 下 所 能 理 解 的 。 但 是 ， 有 了 “ 法典 ” 就 开 始 了 一 个 新 纪 元 。 在 这 时 期 以 后 ， 当 我 们 追 溯 一 下法 律 变 更 的 经 过 时 ， 我 们 就 能 发 现 这 些 变 更 都 是 出 于 一 种 要求 改 进 的 、 有 意 识 的 愿 望 ， 或 者 无 论 如 何 ， 是 出 于 一 种 具 有一 定 目 的 的 有 意 识 的 愿 望 ， 这 同 原 始 时 代 所 企 求 的 完 全 不 同 。

    初 看 起 来 ， 我 们 从 法 典 产 生 以 后 的 法 律 制 度 史 中 ， 似 乎很 难 引 伸 出 来 足 以 深 信 不 疑 的 各 种 一 般 命 题 。 涉 及 的 领 域是太 广 泛 了 。 我 们 很 难 肯 定 ， 在 我 们 的 观 察 中 是 否 已 包 括 了 足够 数 量 的 现 象 ， 或 者 我 们 对 于 所 观 察 的 现 象 ， 是 否 已 有了正确 的 理 解 。 但 如 果 我 们 注 意 到 ， 在 法 典 时 代 开 始 后 ， 静 止 的社 会 和 进 步 的 社 会 之 间 的 区 分 已 开 始 暴 露 出 来 的 事 实 ， 我 们

    的 工 作 就 比 较 容 易 进 行 。 我 们 所 关 心 的 只 是 进 步 的 社 会 ， 而

    这 类 社 会 显 然 是 极 端 少 数 的 。 虽 然 有 着 充 分 的 证 据 ， 但 是 对

    于 一 个 西 欧 的 公 民 ， 还 是 非 常 难 于 使 他 完 全 领 会 这 样 一 个 真

    理 ， 即 环 绕 在 他 周 围 的 文 明 ， 在 整 个 世 界 史 中 ， 实 在 是 一 个

    罕 有 的 例 外 。 如 果 把 各 个 进 步 民 族 同 人 类 生 活 总 体 的 关 系 鲜

    明 地 放 在 我 们 的 前 面 ， 则 我 们 中 间 共 有 的 思 想 感 情 ， 我 们 所

    有 的 一 切 希 望 、 恐 惧 和 理 想 必 将 受 到 重 大 的 影 响 。 这 是 无 可

    争 辩 的 ， 几 乎 绝 大 部 分 的 人 类 ， 在 其 民 事 制 度 因 被 纳 入 某 种

    永 久 纪 录 中 而 第 一 次 使 其 具 有 外 表 上 的 完 善 性 时 ， 就 绝 少 有

    表 示 要 再 加 以 改 进 的 愿 望 。 一 套 惯 例 有 时 被 另 外 一 套 惯 例 强

    暴 地 推 翻 和 代 替 了 ； 到 处 ， 标 榜 着 来 自 超 自 然 渊 源 的 一 个 原

    始 法 典 ， 往 往 由 于 僧 侣 注 释 者 的 牵 强 附 会 而 被 大 大 地 扩 大 了 ，

    并 被 歪 曲 成 为 最 可 惊 人 的 形 式 ； 但 是 ， 除 了 世 界 上 极 小 部 分

    外 ， 从 没 有 发 生 过 一 个 法 律 制 度 的 逐 渐 改 良 。 世 界 有 物 质 文

    明 ， 但 不 是 文 明 发 展 法 律 ， 而 是 法 律 限 制 着 文 明 。 研 究 现 在

    处 在 原 始 状 态 下 的 各 民 族 ， 使 我 们 得 到 了 某 些 社 会 所 以 停 止

    发 展 的 线 索 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 ， 婆 罗 门 教 的 印 度 还 没 有 超 过 所

    有 人 类 各 民 族 历 史 都 发 生 过 的 阶 段 ， 就 是 法 律 的 统 治 尚 未 从

    宗 教 的 统 治 中 区 分 出 来 的 那 个 阶 段 。 在 这 类 社 会 中 的 成 员 ， 认

    为 违 犯 了 一 条 宗 教 命 令 应 该 用 普 通 刑 罚 来 处 罚 ， 而 违 背 了 一

    个 民 事 义 务 则 要 使 过 失 者 受 到 神 的 惩 戒 。 在 中 国 ，这 一 点 是

    过 去 了 ， 但 进 步 又 似 乎 就 到 此 为 止 了 ， 因 为 在 它 的民事法律中，同 时 又 包 括 了 这 个 民 族 所 可 能 想 象 到 的 一 切 观 念 。 静 止的 和 进 步 的 社 会 之 间 的 差 别 ， 是 还 须 继 续 加 以 探 究 的 大 秘 密之 一 。 在 对 于 它 的 局 部 的 解 释 中 ， 我 敢 把 上 章 之 末 所 提 出 的意 见 ， 提 供 考 虑 。 我 也 许 必 须 进 一 度 说 明 ， 如 果 不 明 白 地 理解 到 ， 在 人 类 民 族 中 ， 静 止 状 态 是 常 规 ， 而 进 步 恰 恰 是 例 外 ，这 样 研 究 就 很 少 可 能 有 结 果 。 成 功 的 另 一 个 不 可 或 缺 的 条 件 ，是 对 于 罗 马 法 的 所 有 各 主 要 阶 段 ， 都 要 有 精 确 的 知 识 。 罗 马法 律 学 中 ， 有 着 任 何 一 套 人 类 制 度 中 最 长 久 著 名 的 历 史 。 它所 经 历 的 一 切 变 化 的 性 质 ， 已 经 在 大 体 上 得 到 很 好 的 肯 定 。 从它 的 开 始 到 它 的 结 束 ， 它 是 逐 步 地 改 变 得 更 好 ， 或 向 着 修 改者 所 认 为 更 好 的 方 向 发 展 ， 而 且 改 进 是 在 各 个 时 期 中 不 断 地进 行 着 的 ， 在 这 些 时 期 中 ， 所 有 其 余 的 人 类 的 思 想 和 行 动 ， 在实 质 上 都 已 经 放 慢 了 脚 步 ， 并 且 不 止 一 次 地 陷 于 完 全 停 滞 不前 的 状 态 。

    我 将 把 我 的 叙 述 局 限 于 进 步 社 会 中 所 发 生 的 情 况 。 关于这 些 社 会 ， 可 以 这 样 说 ， 社 会 的 需 要 和 社 会 的 意 见 常 常 是或多或少 走 在 “ 法 律 ” 的 前 面 的 。 我 们 可 能 非 常 接 近 地 达 到 它们 之 间 缺 口 的 接 合 处 ， 但 永 远 存 在 的 趋 向 是 要 把 这 缺 口 重 新

    打 开 来 。 因 为 法 律 是 稳 定 的 ； 而 我 们 所 谈 到 的 社 会 是 进 步 的 ，

    人 民 幸 福 的 或 大 或 小 ， 完 全 决 定 于 缺 口 缩 小 的 快 慢 程 度 。

    关 于 使 “ 法 律 ” 和 社 会 相 协 调 的 媒 介 ， 有 一 个 有 些 价 值

    的 一 般 命 题 可 以 提 出 。 据 我 看 来 ， 这 些 手 段 有 三 ， 即 “ 法 律

    拟 制 ” 、 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 立 法 ” 。 它 们 的 历 史 顺 序 就 像 我 在 上 面 所

    排 列 的 ， 有 时 ， 其 中 两 个 在 同 时 进 行 ， 也 有 些 法 律 制 度 没 有

    受 到 它 们 中 的 这 一 个 或 另 一 个 的 影 响 。 但 我 从 没 有 看 到 过 一

    个 例 子 ， 它 们 出 现 的 顺 序 会 是 不 同 的 或 颠 倒 过 来 的 。 “ 衡 平 ”

    的 早 期 历 史 ， 一 般 讲 起 来 ， 都 是 比 较 模 糊 的 ， 因 此 ， 有 人 以为 某 些 改 进 民 法 的 单 独 条 例 ， 就 早 于 任 何 衡 平 的 审 判 权 。 我

    的 意 见 是 ， 不 论 任 何 地 方 ， 补 救 的 “ 衡 平 ” 必 早 于 补 救 的 立

    法 ； 但 是 ， 倘 使 事 实 上 并 不 严 格 地 是 这 样 ， 那 就 只 须 把 关 于

    它 们 先 后 顺 序 的 命 题 局 限 于 那 些 时 期 ， 即 ， 它 们 在 改 变 原 始法 律 中 发 生 持 续 和 实 质 影 响 的 时 期 内 。

    我 在 应 用 “ 拟 制 ” 这 个 字 时 ， 其 含 意 比 英 国 法 学 家 习 用的 意 义 要 广 泛 一 些 ， 比 罗 马 的 “ 拟 制 ” （ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｅ ｓ ） 则 要 广 泛得 多 。 “ 拟 制 ” （ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 在 旧 罗 马 法 中 ， 恰 当 地 讲 ， 是 一 个 辩诉 的 名 词 ， 表 示 原 告 一 方 的 虚 伪 证 言 是 不 准 被 告 反 驳 的 ； 例如 原 告 实 际 上 是 一 个 外 国 人 而 提 出 他 是 一 个 罗 马 公 民 的 证 言是 。 这 种 “ 拟 制 ” 的 目 的 ， 当 然 是 为 了 给 予 审 判 权 ， 因 此，他们 与 英 国 后 座 法 院 和 理 财 法 院 命 令 状 中 的 主 张 非 常 类 似 ， 这些 法 院 就 是 通 过 这 些 主 张 来 剥 夺 普 通 诉 证 的 审 判 权 的 ； — —主 张 被 告 已 为 国 王 执 行 官 所 拘 留 ， 或 是 主 张 原 告 为 国 王 的 债务 人 ， 并 以 被 告 的 拖 欠 为 理 由 而 不 能 清 偿 债 务 。 但 我 现 在应用 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 这 一 个 用 语 ， 是 要 用 以 表 示 掩 盖 、 或 目 的 在

    掩 盖 一 条 法 律 规 定 已 经 发 生 变 化 这 事 实 的 任 何 假 定 ， 其 时 法

    律 的 文 字 并 没 有 被 改 变 ， 但 其 运 用 则 已 经 发 生 了 变 化 。 因 此 ，

    这 个 用 语 包 括 了 上 面 我 从 英 国 法 和 罗 马 法 中 所 引 证 的 拟 制 的

    实 例 ， 但 是 它 们 所 包 括 的 范 围 还 要 广 泛 得 多 ， 因 为 我 认 为 英

    国 的 “ 判 例 法 ” 和 罗 马 的 “ 法 律 解 答 ” （ Ｒ ｅ ｓ ｐ ｏ ｎ ｓ ａ Ｐｒ ｕ ｄ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 都 是 以 拟 制 为 其 基 础 的 。 这 两 方 面 的 例 子 立 刻就 要 加 以 研 究 。

    事实 是 ， 在 这 两 种 情 况 下，法 律 都 已 经 完 全 被 变 更 了 ； 而拟制 是 它 仍 旧 和 改 变 以 前 一 样 。 为 什 么 各 种 不 同 形 式 的 拟 制 特 别 适 合 于 社 会 的 新 生 时 代 ， 这 是 不 难 理 解 的 。

    它 们 能 满 足 并 不 十 分 缺 乏 的 改 进 的 愿 望 ， 而 同 时 又 可 以 不 触

    犯 当 时 始 终 存 在 的 、 对 于 变 更 的 迷 信 般 的 嫌 恶 。 在 社 会 进 步

    到 了 一 定 阶 段 时 ， 它 们 是 克 服 法 律 严 格 性 最 有 价 值 的 权 宜 办

    法 。 真 的 ， 如 果 没 有 其 中 之 一 ， 即 “ 收 养 的 拟 制 ” ， 准 许 人 为

    地 产 生 血 缘 关 系 ， 就 很 难 理 解 社 会 怎 样 能 脱 出 其 襁 褓 而 开 始

    其 向 文 明 前 进 的 第 一 步 。 因 此 ， 我 们 不 应 该 受 着 边 沁 的 影 响 ，

    他 一 遇 到 法 律 拟 制 就 要 加 以 嘲 笑 谩 骂 。 他 认 为 拟 制 只 是 诈 欺 ，

    这 适 足 以 说 明 对 于 它 们 在 法 律 发 展 史 中 所 担 任 的 特 殊 任 务 ，

    愚 昧 无 知 。 但 同 时 有 些 理 论 家 看 到 了 拟 制 的 用 处 ， 即 据 而 认

    为 它 们 应 该 在 我 们 制 度 中 固 定 下 来 ， 如 果 我 们 同 意 他 们 的 见

    解 ， 也 同 样 的 是 愚 蠢 的 。 它 们 有 它 们 的 时 代 ， 但 是 它 们 的 时

    代 早 已 过 去 了 。 我 们 现 在 已 不 值 得 要 去 用 像 法 律 拟 制 这 样 一

    种 粗 糙 的 方 式 以 求 达 到 一 个 公 认 为 有 益 的 目 的 。 我 不 能 承 认

    任 何 变 例 都 是 合 法 的 ， 如 果 它 只 有 使 法 律 更 难 解 ， 或 者 是 更

    难 按 照 和 谐 的 顺 序 排 列 起 来 ， 因 为 ， 法 律 拟 制 是 均 称 分 类 的

    最 大 障 碍 。 法 律 制 度 仍 旧 保 持 原 样 ， 原 封 不 动 ， 但 它 已 只 成

    为 一 个 躯 壳 。 它 已 经 早 被 破 坏 了 ， 而 藏 在 其 外 衣 里 面 的 则 是

    新 的 规 定 。 于 是 ， 困 难 就 立 刻 发 生 了 ， 我 们 将 很 难 断 定 ， 实

    际 上 可 以 适 用 的 规 定 究 竟 应 该 归 类 于 其 真 正 的 还 是 归 类 于 其

    表 面 的 地 位 ， 同 时 ， 禀 性 不 同 的 人 在 不 同 的 部 门 中 进 行 选 择

    时 ， 也 将 得 到 不 同 的 结 果 。 如 果 英 国 法 真 要 得 到 有 秩 序 的 分门 别 类 ， 那 就 必 须 剪 除 这 些 法 律 拟 制 ， 虽 然 最 近 在 立 法上有所 改 进 ， 但 在 英 国 法 律 中 ， 拟 制 仍 旧 是 很 多的。

    法 律 用 以 适 应 社 会 需 要 的 其 次 一 个 手 段 ， 我 称 之 为 “ 衡平 ” （ Ｅ ｑ ｕ ｉ ｔ ｙ ） 。 这 个 名 词 的 含 义 ， 是 指 同 原 有 民 法 同 时 存 在 的某 一 些 规 定 ， 它 们 建 筑 在 各 别 原 则 的 基 础 上 ， 并 且 由 于 这 些原 则 所 固 有 的 一 种 无 上 神 圣 性 ， 它 们 竟 然 可 以 代 替 民 法 。 不论 是 罗 马 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 或 是 英 国 的 大 法 官 的 “ 衡 平 ” ， 同 出 现比 较 早 的 “ 拟 制 ” 都 有 不 同 ， 其 不 同 之 点 在 于 它 能 公 开 地 、 明

    白 地 干 涉 法 律 。 另 一 方 面 ， 它 又 和 “ 立 法 ” 不 同 ， 这 是 发 生

    在 它 之 后 的 另 外 一 种 法 律 改 进 的 媒 介 ， 其 不 同 之 点 在 于 它 的

    权 力 基 础 并 不 建 筑 在 任 何 外 界 的 人 或 团 体 的 特 权 上 面 ， 甚 至

    也 不 建 筑 在 宣 布 它 的 官 吏 的 特 权 上 面 ， 而 是 建 筑 在 它 原 则 的

    特 殊 性 上 面 ， 这 些 原 则 ， 据 说 是 一 切 法 律 应 该 加 以 遵 循 的 。 这

    种 认 为 有 一 套 原 则 比 普 通 法 律 具 有 更 高 的 神 圣 性 并 且 可 以 不

    经 任 何 外 界 团 体 的 同 意 而 主 张 单 独 适 用 的 概 念 ， 要 比 法 律 拟制 最 初 出 现 时 属 于 进 步 得 多 的 一 个 思 想 阶 段 。

    最 后 一 个 改 进 的 手 段 是 “ 立 法 ” （ Ｌ ｅ ｇ ｉ ｓ ｌ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ， 就 是 由 一个 立 法 机 关 制 定 的 法 规 。 这 种 立 法 机 关 ， 不 论 它 的 形 式 是 一个 专 制 君 主 或 是 一 个 议 会 ， 总 之 是 一 个 为 社 会 所 公 认 的 机 关 。

    它 和 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 不 同 ， 正 像 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 不 同一 样 。 它 和 “ 衡 平 ” 也 有 不 同 ， 因 为 它 的 权 威 来 自 一 个 外 界团 体 或 人 。 它 所 以 有 强 制 力 ， 与 其 原 则 无 关 。 不 论 社 会 舆 论对 立 法 机 关 加 以 任 何 现 实 的 约 束 ， 在 理 论 上 ， 它 有 权 把 它 所认 为 适 宜 的 义 务 加 在 社 会 的 成 员 身 上 。 没 有 谁 能 够 限 制 它 任意 制 定 法 律 。 如 果 衡 平 的 名 词 可 以 用 作 是 或 非 的 标 准 ， 而 立法 机 关 所 制 定 的 法 规 恰 巧 是 根 据 了 这 些 标 准 而 调 整 的 ， 则 立法 可 以 说 是 根 据 了 衡 平 而 制 定 的 ； 但 即 使 是 这 样 ， 这 些 法 规所 以 能 有 拘 束 力 ， 仍 旧 是 由 于 立 法 机 关 本 身 的 权 力 ， 并 不 是由 于 立 法 机 关 制 定 法 律 所 根 据 的 原 则 的 权 力 。 因 此 ， 它 们 在专 门 术 语 的 意 义 上 与 “ 衡 平 法 ” 不 同 ， 后 者 标 榜 着 有 一 种 高度 的 神 圣 性 ， 这 使 它 们 即 使 没 有 经 过 君 主 或 议 会 同 意 ， 也 应该 为 法 院 立 即 承 认 。 这 些 差 别 特 别 重 要 ， 因 为 一 个 边 沁 的 学生 很 容 易 把 “ 拟 制 ” 、 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 制 定 法 ” 混 淆 起 来 ， 把 它们 统 统 归 属 于 立 法 的 一 个 项 目 下 。 他 会 说 ， 它 们 都 包 括制定法律 ； 它 们 之 所 以 不 同 ， 只 是 在 新 法 律 产 生 的 机 构 。 这 个 说法 是 完 全 正 确 的 ， 我 们 永 远 不 应 该 忘 记 ； 但 这 并 不 使 我 们 有理 由 不 去 利 用 这 样 一 个 便 利 的 名 词 ， 表 达 出 立 法 的 特 殊 意 义 。“ 立 法 ” 与 “ 衡 平 ” 在 一 般 人 的 心 目 中 和 在 大 多 数 法 律 家 的 心目 中 ， 是 分 开 的 ； 我 们 决 不 能 忽 略 它 们 之 间 的 区 分 ， 纵 使 是习 惯 上 的 区 分 ， 因 为 这 个 区 分 有 着 重 要 的 实 际 后 果 。

    法律拟制的 例 子 ， 几 乎 可 以 很 容 易 地 在 任 何 正 常 发 展 的法 律 规 定 中 找 到 ， 因 为 它 们 的 真 正 性 质 立 刻 可 以 为 现 代 观 察者 所 发 觉 。 在 我 即 将 进 而 研 究 的 两 个 例 子 中 ， 其 所 用 权 宜 的性 质 不 是 很 容 易 立 刻 就 发 现 的 。 这 些 拟 制 的 第 一 批 作 者 ， 其目 的 也 许 并 不 在 改 革 ， 当 然 更 不 希 望 被 人 怀 疑 是 在 改 革 。 此外 ， 有 一 些 人 ， 并 且 是 始 终 有 着 这 样 一 些 人 ， 拒 绝 看 到在发展 过 程 中 的 任 何 拟 制 ， 而 习 惯 言 语 证 实 了 他 们 的 拒 绝 。因此，没 有 其 他 的 例 子 能 够 被 更 好 地 用 来 说 明 法 律 拟 制 的 分 布广泛 ， 以 及 它 们 在 完 成 其 双 重 任 务 ， 即 一 方 面 改 变 一 个 法律制度 ， 而 另 一 方 面 又 掩 盖 这 种 改 变 时 所 有 的 效 率 。

    我 们 在 英 国 惯 常 看 到 有 一 种 机 构 ， 在 扩 大 、 变 更 和 改 进法 律 。 但 在 理 论 上 这 种 机 构 原 是 不 能 改 变 现 存 法 律 一 丝 一毫的 。 这 种 用 以 完 成 实 际 立 法 工 作 的 过 程 ， 并 非 是 不 可 感知的，只 是 不 被 承 认 而 已 。 关 于 包 括 在 判 例 中 和 记 录 在 法 律 报 告 中的 我 们 大 部 分 的 法 律 制 度 ， 我 们 习 惯 于 用 一 种 双 重 言 语 ， 并

    往 往 持 有 一 种 双 重 的 互 不 一 致 的 两 套 观 念 。 当 有 一 些 事 实 被

    提 出 于 英 国 法 院 请 求 审 判 时 ， 在 法 官 与 辩 护 人 之 间 进 行 讨 论

    的 全 部 进 程 中 ， 决 不 会 、 也 决 不 可 能 提 出 要 在 旧 的 原 则 之 外

    应 用 其 他 任 何 原 则 ， 或 者 除 早 已 允 许 的 差 别 外 应 用 任 何 差 别

    的 问 题 。 被 绝 对 地 认 为 当 然 的 ， 是 在 某 些 地 方 ， 必 然 会 有 这

    样 一 条 法 律 能 够 包 括 现 在 诉 诸 法 律 以 求 解 决 的 事 实 ， 如 果 不

    能 发 现 这 样 一 条 法 律 ， 那 只 是 由 于 缺 乏 必 要 的 耐 性 、 知 识 或

    智 力 把 它 发 现 而 已 。 但 是 一 当 判 决 被 宣 告 并 列 入 纪 录 以 后 ， 我

    们 就 不 自 觉 地 、 不 公 开 地 潜 入 到 一 种 新 的 言 语 和 一 串 新 的 思

    想 中 。 到 这 时 ， 我 们 不 得 不 承 认 新 的 判 决已经 改 变 了 法 律 。 如

    果 我 们 用 有 时 被 应 用 的 一 个 非 常 不 正 确 的 说 法 ， 那 就 是 可 以

    适 用 的 规 定 已 经 成 为 比 较 有 弹 性 的 了 。 事 实 上 ， 它 们 已 经 发

    生 变 化 。 在 已 有 的 先 例 中 ， 现 在 已 显 然 地 多 了 一 条 ， 比 较 各

    个 先 例 而 得 出 的 法 律 准 则 ， 必 将 和 仅 仅 从 一 个 例 子 所 能 得 到

    的 法 律 准 则 完 全 不 同 。 旧 的 规 定 已 经 被 废 除 ， 而 一 个 新 的 规

    定 已 被 用 来 代 替 它 ， 但 这 个 事 实 往 往 不 容 易 觉 察 ， 因 为 们 们

    不 习 惯 于 把 我 们 从 先 例 中 引 伸 出 来 的 法 律 公 式 用 正 确 的 文 字

    表 现 出 来 ， 因 此 ， 它 们 性 质 的 改 变 ， 除 非 是 剧 烈 而 明 显 的 以

    外 ， 就 不 很 容 易 被 发 觉 了 。 我 现 在 不 打 算 停 下 来 详 细 讨 论 使

    英 国 法 学 家 同 意 这 些 古 怪 变 例 的 原 因 。 情 况 可 能 是 这 样 的 ， 即

    原 来 可 能 有 一 条 公 认 的 学 说 ， 认 为 在 某 些 地 方 ，在太虚幻境中 （ｉｎ　ｎｕ ｂ ｉ ｂ ｕ ｓ ） 或 者在官吏的胸怀中 （ ｉ ｎ 　 ｇ ｒ ｅ ｍ ｉ ｏ 　 ｍ ａ ｇ ｉ ｓ Aｔ ｒ ａ ｔ ｕ ｕ ｍ ） ， 有 着 一 套 完 全 的 、 有 条 理 的 、 匀 称 的 英 国 法 律 ， 其内 容 广 泛 ， 足 以 提 供 各 种 原 则 以 适 用 于 任 何 可 以 想 象 到 的 一组 情 况 。 这 个 理 论 在 当 初 比 在 现 在 更 为 人 们 深 信 不 疑 ， 并 且

    这 也 许 真 正 有 很 好 的 根 据 。 十 三 世 纪 的 法 官 们 也 许 的 确 掌 握

    着 一 些 为 律 师 和 一 般 人 民 所 不 知 道 的 法 律 宝 藏 ， 因 为 我 们 有

    理 由 怀 疑 他 们 秘 密 地 从 罗 马 法 和 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 流 行 纲 要 中 任

    意 地 但 不 一 定 是 始 终 聪 明 地 套 用 着 一 些 东 西 。 但 是 当 韦 斯 敏

    斯 德 法 院 所 判 决 的 问 题 逐 渐 增 加 ， 足 以 组 成 一 个 独 立 存 在 的

    法 律 制 度 基 础 时 ， 这 个 仓 库 就 被 封 闭 ； 而 现 在 ， 几 世 纪 以 来 ，

    英 国 法 律 学 者 竟 然 提 出 了 这 样 一 个 自 相 矛 盾 的 命 题 ， 认 为 除

    “ 衡 平 法 ” 和 “ 制 定 法 ” 以 外 ， 在 英 国 法 的 基 础 上 ， 从 它 第 一

    次 形 成 的 时 候 起 ， 就 没 有 什 么 东 西 加 上 去 过 。 我 们 不 承 认 我

    们 的 法 庭 从 事 于 立 法 工 作 ； 我 们 暗 示 着 ， 它 们 从 来 没 有 做 过

    立 法 工 作 ； 然 而 我 们 又 主 张 ， 英 国 普 通 法 的 规 定 ， 在 衡 平 法

    院 和 国 会 的 帮 助 下 ， 是 可 以 同 现 代 社 会 的 复 杂 利 益 相 适 应 的 。

    在 罗 马 有 一 种 法 律 ， 具 有 非 常 类 似 我 们 判 例 法 中 我 所 说的 那 些 特 点 的 ， 称 为 “ 法 律 解 答 ” ， 即 “ 法 学 家 的 回 答 ” 。 这些 “ 解 答 ” 的 形 式 ， 在 罗 马 法 律 学 的 各 个 时 期 中 有 极 大 的不同 ， 但 自 始 至 终 它 们 都 是 由 对 权 威 文 件 的 注 解 组 成 的 ， 而 在最 初 ， 它 们 只 是 解 释 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 各 种 意 见 的 专 门 性的汇 编 。 同 我 们 一 样 ， 在 这 些 解 答 中 所 有 的 法 律 用 语 都 从 这 样一 个 假 设 出 发 ， 即 古 代 “ 法 典 ” 的 原 文 应 被 保 存 不 变 。 这就是 明 白 的 规 定 。 它 废 止 了 一 切 注 解 和 评 注 ， 并 且 不 论 解 释 者是 如 何 的 优 秀 ， 对 于 法 典 的 任 何 解 释 ， 在 参 照 古 老 的 原文时，没 有 人 敢 公 开 承 认 ， 他 所 作 的 解 释 不 会 发 生 修 正 。 但 在 事 实上 ， 冠 以 重 要 法 学 专 家名 字 的 “ 法 律 解 答 汇编 ”，至 少 具 有 与 我 们 报 告 案 件 同 样的 威 权 ， 并 且 不 断 地 变 更 、 扩 大 、 限 制 或 在 实 际 上 废 弃 “ 十二 铜 表 法 ” 的 规 定 。 在 新 法 律 学 逐 步 形 成 的 过 程 中 ， 它 的 作者 们 自 认 为 非 常 专 心 地 尊 重 着 “ 法 典 ” 的 原 来 文 字 。 他 们 只是在 解 释 它 ， 阐 明 它 ， 引 伸 其 全 部 含 义 ； 但 其 结 果 ， 通 过 把

    原 文 凑 合 在 一 起 ， 通 过 把 法 律 加 以 调 整 使 适 应 于 确 实 发 生 的

    事 实 状 态 以 及 通 过 推 测 其 可 能 适 用 于 或 许 要 发 生 的 其 他 事 实

    状 态 ， 通 过 介 绍 他 们 从 其 他 文 件 注 释 中 看 到 的 解 释 原 则 ， 他

    们 引 伸 出 来 大 量 的 多 种 多 样 的 法 律 准 则 ， 为 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的

    编 纂 者 所 梦 想 不 到 的 ， 并 且 在 实 际 上 是 很 难 或 者 不 能 在 其 中

    找 到 的 。 法 学 专 家 的 全 部 论 文 都 受 到 尊 重 ， 因 为 它 们 是 被 假

    定 为 完 全 符 合 “ 法 典 ” 的 ， 但 它 们 的 相 当 高 的 权 威 是 植 基 在

    把 它 们 公 诸 于 世 的 各 个 法 学 专 家 的 声 望 上 的 。 凡 是 举 世 公 认

    为 伟 大 的 任 何 名 字 ， 必 使 一 本 “ 法 律 解 答 汇 编 ” 具 有 一 种 不

    小 于 立 法 机 关 制 定 法 规 所 有 的 拘 束 力 ； 而 这 样 一 本 汇 编 的 本

    身 又 成 为 更 进 一 步 的 法 律 学 所 根 据 的 新 基 础 。 但 是 ， 早 期 法

    学 家 的 “ 解 答 ” 并 不 由 原 著 者 像 现 在 那 样 印 行 的 。 它 们 由 其

    学 生 加 以 记 录 和 编 辑 ， 因 此 ， 多 半 都 不 是 按 照 任 何 分 类 方 法

    排 列 的 。 学 生 们 在 这 些 出 版 物 中 所 处 的 地 位 ， 应 加 特 别 注 意 ，

    因 为 他 们 对 老 师 服 务 ， 一 般 都 因 老 师 对 学 生 孜 孜 不 倦 的 教 育

    而 得 到 补 偿 。 被 称 为 “ 法 学 教 典 ” 或 “ 评 释 ”（Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ａ ｒ ｉ ｅ ｓ ） 的 教 育 论 文 为 当 时 承 认 的 义 务 的 一 种 后 来果 实 ， 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 显 著 的 特 色 之 一 。 至 于 法 学 专 家 们 公诸 于 世 的 他 们 的 分 类 法 以 及 他 们 对 于 变 更 和 改 进 专 门 术 语 的建 议 ， 显 然 不 是 在 他 们 用 以 训 练 法 学 家 的 解 答 中 ， 而 是 在 这些 涉 及 原 理 的 作 品 中 。

    在 把 罗 马 的 “ 法 律 解 答 ” 同 英 国 法 律 中 最 相 近 的 相 应 部分 进 行 比 较 时 ， 我 们 必 须 牢 记 着 ， 说 明 罗 马 这 一 部 分 法 律 学的 权 威 者 不 是法院 而 是律师 。 罗 马 法 庭 的 判 决 虽 然 在 特 定 案件 中 是 终 局 的 判 决 ， 但 除 了 当 时 承 审 官 吏 在 职 位 上 极 有威信者外 ， 并 无 使 它 可 以 适 用 于 其 他 案 件 的 权 力 。 更 确 当 地 讲，在共 和 时 期 内 罗 马 并 没 有 和 英 国 法 院 、 日 耳 曼 帝 国 审 判院或法兰 西 君 主 国 高 等 审 判 厅 相 类 似 的 机 构 。 罗 马 有 许 多 高 级官吏在 其 各 该 部 门 中 都 握 有 重 要 的 司 法 职 能 ， 但 他 们 的 官 职 任 期只 有 一 年 ， 因 此 它 们 不 能 与 一 个 永 久 的 裁 判 所 相 比 ， 只 能 作为 在 律 师 领 袖 中 间 迅 速 地 流 转 着 的 一 个 循 环 职 位 。 对 这种奇特 状 态 的 来 源 ， 可 能 有 很 多 的 说 明 ， 在 我 们 看 来 是 一种可惊的 变 例 ， 但 是 事 实 上 ， 它 比 我 们 自 己 的 制 度 更 能 适 合 于 古 代社 会 精 神 ， 因 为 这 种 社 会 常 常 不 断 地 分 裂 为 许 多 各 别 的 阶 级 ，在 它 们 之 间 虽 然 互 不 往 来 ， 但 却 都 不 愿 在 他 们 上 面 有 一 个 职业 的 教 阶 组 织 存 在 。

    值 得 注 意 的 是 ， 这 种 制 度 并 没 有 产 生 某 种 很 可 能 会 产 生的 结 果 。 例 如 ， 它 并 没 有 使 罗 马 法通俗化— — 它 没 有 像 有 些希 腊 共 和 国 那 样 削 弱 知 识 分 子 精 通 这 门 科 学 所 需 要 的 努力，虽 然 并 没 有 人 为 的 障 碍 阻 碍 其 普 及 和 作 权 威 的 解 释。相反的，如 果 不 是 由 于 其 他 许 多 原 因 在 发 生 作 用 ， 那 就 非 常 可 能，这种 罗 马 法 律 学 就 会 成 为 琐 细 、 专 门 和 难 以 解 释 的 东 西，像从那 时 候 起 流 行 着 的 任 何 制 度 一 样 。 其 次 ， 另 外 有 一 种 可能更加 自 然 地 预 期 会 发 生 的 后 果 ， 却 没 有 在 任 何 时 期 中 表显出来 。直到 罗 马 的 共 和 政 权 被 颠 复 时 ， 法 学 专 家 还 只 是 一 个 界 限不十 分 明 显 并 在 数 量 上 有 很 大 消 长 的 阶 级 ； 虽 然 ， 他 们 之 中 任何 特 定 的 个 人 ， 对 于 在 他 们 面 前 提 出 的 任 何 案 件 能 发 表 终 局的 意 见 ， 则 似 乎 从 来 就 没 有 发 生 过 疑 问 。 在 拉 丁 文 学 中，有大 量 的 关 于 著 名 法 学 专 家 日 常 活 动 的 生 动 描 写 — — 从全 国 各地 蜂 拥 而 来 的 当 事 人 在 清 晨 到 达 他 的 接 待 室 ， 他 的 学 生环 立在 周 围 ， 手 里 都 拿 着 笔 记 簿 ， 记 录 着 这 伟 大 法 学 家 的 回 答——，但 这 样 描 写 的 著 名 人 物 在 任 何 既 定 时 期 内 ， 很 少 或 从来 没 有 超 过 一 个 或 二 个 人 的 。 同 时 正 由 于 当 事 人 和 辩 护人的

    直 接 接 触 ， 罗 马 人 民 也 就 似 乎 经 常 注 意 着 职 业 威 信 的 升 降 。 现

    在 有 充 分 的 证 据 ， 特 别 是 在 西 塞 罗的 著 名 演 讲 “ 为黑 罗 那 辩 ” （ Ｐｒｏ Ｍ ｕ ｒ Eｎ ａ ） 中 ， 证 明 群 众 对 于 胜 诉 的 重 视 往往不 是 不 够 而 是 过 度 的 。

    我 们 毫 不 怀 疑 ， 我 们 在 罗 马 法 最 早 依 靠 了 它 而 得 以 发 展的 这 种 手 段 中 所 发 现 的 各 种 特 点 ， 就 是 使 罗 马 法 独 特 卓 越的渊 源 ， 也 是 使 它 很 早 就 能 有 丰 富 原 则 的 渊 源 。 原 则 的 成长和茂 盛 ， 部 分 地 是 法 律 注 释 者 之 间 的 竞 争 所 造 成 的 ， 而这种竞争 ， 在 有 法 院 的 地 方 ， 即 有 国 王 或 政 府 授 以 司 法 特 权 的 受 托人 的 地 方 ， 是 不 被 人 们 所 完 全 知 道 的 。 但 是 主 要 的 媒 介 ，无疑 地 还 在 于 提 请 法 律 判 决 的 各 种 案 件 的 无 限 制 地 大 量 增加。有 些 事 实 状 态 虽 会 使 一 个 乡 村 当 事 人 真 诚 地 感 到 不 知 所 措，但 这 些 事 实 状 态 对 于 形 成 法 学 专 家 “ 解 答 ” 或 法 律 判 决基础的 价 值 ， 还 不 如 一 个 有 才 智 的 学 生 所 提 出 的 各 种 假 设情况。成千 成 百 的 事 实 ， 不 论 是 真 的 或 是 出 于 想 象 的 ， 都 被 一 律 看 待 。

    对 于 一 个 法 学 专 家 ， 如 果 他 的 意 见 为 审 判 其 当 事 人 案 件 的 官

    吏 暂 时 废 弃 ， 他 会 毫 不 介 意 ， 除 非 这 个 官 吏 的 法 律 知 识 或 在

    专 业 上 受 到 的 尊 敬 都 恰 恰 高 过 于 他 。 当 然 ， 我 的 意 思 并 不 是说 他 会 完 全 不 考 虑 其 当 事 人 的 利 益 ， 因 为 ， 这 些 当 事 人 在 较早 时 期 就 是 大 律 师 的 选 举 人 ， 到 后 来 才 成 为 他 的 付 款 人 的 ， 但

    是 ， 一 个 法 学 专 家 走 向 成 功 之 路 要 依 靠 他 的 公 会 的 好 评 ； 显

    然 ， 在 我 所 描 写 的 这 样 一 个 制 度 下 ， 要 达 到 这 样 一 个 结 果 ， 就

    必 须 把 每 一 个 案 件 作 为 一 条 重 大 原 则 的 一 个 例 证 或 是 一 条 广

    泛 规 定 的 一 个 示 范 来 考 虑 ， 而 不 能 斤 斤 于 个 别 案 件 的 得 失 。 另

    外 一 种 更 有 力 的 影 响 ， 发 生 在 对 各 种 可 能 的 问 题 任 意 提 出 或

    创 造 ， 不 加 任 何 明 确 的 限 制 。 资 料 既 然 可 以 任 意 增 加 ， 则 发

    展 成 为 一 条 总 则 的 方 便 便 也 无 限 地 增 多 。 法 律 是 在 我 们 自 己

    中 间 执 行 的 ， 法 官 不 能 逾 越 展 示 于 他 或 他 的 先 辈 之 前 的 各 种

    事 实 的 范 围 。 因 此 ， 受 到 审 判 的 每 一 种 情 况 ， 借 用 一 个 法 国

    成 语 ， 就 被 奉 之 为 神 圣 。 它 具 有 与 每 一 个 其 他 真 正 的 或 假 设

    的 案 件 不 同 的 某 种 特 点 。 但 是 在 罗 马 ， 像 我 已 经 在 前 面 企 图

    说 明 的 ， 没 有 像 “ 法 院 ” 或 “ 审 判 院 ” 这 一 类 的 机 构 ； 因 此 ，

    也 没 有 一 组 事 实 会 比 其 他 事 实 具 有 更 多 的 特 殊 价 值 。 当 有 一

    种 困 难 提 交 法 学 专 家 征 求 意 见 时 ， 决 没 有 东 西 会 阻 止 一 个 赋

    有 很 好 类 比 力 的 人 立 即 进 而 援 引 和 考 虑 同 它 有 些 联 系 的 全 部

    假 设 问 题 。 不 论 给 予 当 事 人 的 实 际 劝 告 是 怎 样 ， 其 由 倾 听着的 学 生 在 笔 记 簿 上 慎 重 保 存 起 来 的 解 答 ， 无 疑 地 会 考 虑 到 由一 重 大 原 则 所 能 适 用 的 、 或 为 一 条 包 罗 无 遗 的 规 定 所 能 包 括的 一 切 情 况 ， 在 我 们 中 间 ， 这 种 情 况 是 不 可 能 的 ， 并 且 应 该承 认 ， 在 对 英 国 法 提 出 的 许 多 批 评 中 ， 它 提 出 时 所 用 的 方 式似 乎 已 经 不 存 在 了 。 我 们 的 法 院 所 以 不 愿 直 截 了 当 地 宣 布 原则 ， 很 可 能 不 是 由 于 我 们 法 官 的 禀 性 ， 而 是 由 于 我 们 的 先 例比 较 少 ， 虽 然 我 们 的 先 例 ， 在 不 知 其 他 制 度 的 人 看 来 已 是 卷帙 浩 繁 的 了 。 就 法 律 原 则 的 财 富 而 论 ， 我 们 显 然 比有些现代欧 洲 国 家 贫 乏 得 多 。 但 必 须 记 着 ， 它 们 是 以 罗 马 法 律 学 为 其民 事 制 度 的 基 础 的 。 它 们 把 罗 马 法 的碎石残屑 建 筑 在 它 们墙垣 之 中 ； 但 就 其 材 料 和 工 作 技 巧 来 看 ， 则 并 没 有 使 它 好 过 英国 司 法 机 关 所 造 的 建 筑 物 。

    罗 马 共 和 时 期 是 使 罗 马 法 律 学 具 有 特 别 性 质 的 一 个 时期 ； 在 其 最 初 的 一 部 分 时 间 中 ， 法 律 的 发 展 主 要 依 靠 着法学专 家 的 “ 解 答 ” 。 但 当 它 临 到 共 和 国 衰 败 的 时 候 ， 在 “ 解 答 ”的 形 式 上 显 示 出 它 们 已 不 可 能 再 作 进 一 步 扩 展 的 预 兆 。它们已 经 开 始 系 统 化 ， 并 且 被 提 炼 成 为 纲 要 。 据 说 曾 有 一 个 名 为缪 子 · 沙 沃 拉 （ Ｑ ． Ｍ ｕ ｃ ｉ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｓ ｃ Eｖ ｏ ｌ ａ ） 的 “ 教 长 ”（ Ｐ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｆ ｅ ｘ ） 公 布 过 一 本 包 括 全 部 “ 市 民 法 ” 的 手 册 ， 在 西 塞罗 的 著 作 中 ， 也 显 示 出 对 于 旧 方 法 日 益 不 满 的 迹 象 ， 所 谓 旧方 法 是 指 与 法 律 改 革 这 个 更 活 泼 的 手 段 比 较 而 言 的 。 到 了 这个时候 ， 其 他 各 种 媒 介 也 在 事 实 上 对 法 律 开 始 发 生 影 响 。 所谓 “ 告 令 ” （ Ｅ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ） 或 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 年 度 布 告 已 被 日 益 重 视，并 用 作 法 律 改 革 的 主 要 手 段 ， 而 哥 尼 流 · 西 拉 （ Ｌ ． Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｎ ｅ ｌ ｉ ｕ ｓ Ｓ ｙ ｌ ｌ ａ ） 把 称 为 “ 哥 尼 流 律 ” （ Ｌ ｅ ｇ ｅ ｓ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｎ ｅ ｌ ｉ E） 的 大 量 条 例经 过 立 法 而 制 定 为 法 律 ， 就 显 示 出 用 直 接 立 法 的 方 法 能 达 到如 何 迅 速 的 改 进 。 至 于 对 “ 解 答 ” 的 致 命 打 击 则 来 自 奥古斯都，他 限 制 少 数 主 要 的 法 学 专 家 对 案 件 发 表 有 拘束 力 的 意 见 的 权 利 ， 这 个 变 化 虽 使 我 们 能 更 接 近 于 现 代 世 界的 观 念 ， 但 显 然 根 本 地 改 变 了 法 律 职 业 的 特 点 以 及 它 对 罗 马法 影 响 的 性 质 。 在 一 个 较 后 的 时 期 中 ， 另 外 一 个 学 派 的 法 学专 家 又 产 生 了 ， 这 些 都 是 各 时 代 中 法 律 学 的 巨 大 人 物 。 但 是阿 尔 比 安 （ Ｕ ｌ ｐ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 和 保 罗 斯 （ Ｐ ａ ｕ ｌ ｕ ｓ ） 、 该 雅 士 和 巴 平 尼 安（ ｐ ａ ｐ ｉ ｎ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 都 不 是 “ 解 答 ” 的 作 者 。 他 们 的 作 品 都 是 论 述 法律 特 定 部 门 尤 其 是 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 的 正 式 论 文 。

    罗 马 人 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 以 及 使 衡 平 法 成 为 其 制 度 一 部 分 的“ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” ， 将 在 下 面 的 一 章 中 加 以 研 究 。 至 于 对 “ 制 元法 ” ， 须 要 说 明 的 只 是 它 在 共 和 时 期 是 很 少 的 ， 但 到 了 帝 国 时期 则 有 大 量 增 加 。 在 一 个 国 家 还 是 青 年 和 幼 年 的 时 代 ， 绝 少要 求 借 助 于 立 法 机 关 的 活 动 以 求 对 私 法 作 一 般 的 改 进 的 。 人民 所 要 求 的 不 是 变 更 法 律 ， 这 些 法 律 通 常 被 估 计 得 高 过 它 们的 真 正 价 值 ， 人 民 的 要 求 只 在 能 很 纯 洁 地 、 完 善 地 和 容 易 地执 行 法 律 ； 一 般 是 在 要 除 去 某 种 大 积 弊 ， 或 是 要 处 理 阶 级 与阶 级 之 间 和 朝 代 与 朝 代 之 间 某 种 无 可 调 和 的 争 执 时 ， 才 求 助于 立 法 机 关 。 依 罗 马 人 看 来 ， 在 社 会 发 生 了 一 次 重 大 民 变 后，必 须 制 定 一 大 批 的 条 例 ， 才 得 以 安 定 社 会 秩 序 。 西 拉 用 “ 哥尼 流 律 ” 来 宣 布 他 的 改 造 共 和 国 ； 朱 理 亚 · 凯 撒在 “ 制 定 法 ” 中 作 了 大 量 增 加 ； 奥 古 斯 多 促 使 通 过 了最 重 要 的 “ 朱 理 亚 律 ”； 在 以 后 的 一 些 皇 帝 中 ，最 积 极 于 颁 布 宪 令 的 是 像 君 士 坦 丁那 些 要 想统 治 世 界 事 务 的 君 主 。 真 正 的 罗 马 制 定 法 时 期 要 直 到 帝 国 建立 以 后 方 才 开 始 。 皇 帝 们 的 各 种 立 法 起 初 还 伪 装 经 过 群 众 同意 ， 但 在 后 来 就 毫 不 掩 饰 地 利 用 皇 权 ， 从 奥 古 斯 多 政 权 巩 固后 到 “ 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法 典 ” 公 布 ， 这 种法 规 有 大 量 的 增 加 。 可 以 看 到 ， 甚 至 在 第 二 个 皇 帝 的 统 治 时期 内 ， 法 律 的 条 件 和 其 执 行 的 方 式 就 已 逐 渐 地 接 近 于 我 们 都熟 悉 的 了 。 一 个 制 定 法 和 一 个 有 限 制 的 释 义 局 已 产 生 了 ； 一个 永 久 的 上 诉 法 院 和 一 个 特 许 的 评 释 集 将 在 不 久 之 后 产 生了 ； 这 样 ， 我 们 就 被 带 到 更 接 近 于 我 们 今 日 的 观 念 了 。

    第 三 章 　 自 然法 与 衡 平

    有 些 法 律 原 则 由 于 固 有 的 优 越 性 而 有 代 替 旧 有 法 律 的 权利 ， 这 种 理 论 很 早 就 在 罗 马 国 家 和 英 国 广 泛 流 行 。 这 一 类 原则 存 在 于 任 何 制 度 中 ， 在 以 前 各 章 中 曾 被 称 为 “ 衡 平 ” ， 像 我们 立 刻 就 要 谈 到 的 ， 这 个 名 词 是 罗 马 法 学 专 家 用 以 称 呼 法 律变 化 中 这 种 媒 介 的 名 称 之 一 （ 虽 然 是 唯 一 的 一 个 ） 。 在 英 国 ，冠 以 “ 衡 平 ” 名 称 的 衡 平 法 院 ， 其 有 关 的 法 律 学 只 能 在 另 一论 文 中 充 分 讨 论 。 它 的 组 成 是 极 端 复 杂 的 ， 它 的 资 料 来 自 几个 不 同 的 渊 源 。 早 期 的 教 会 大 法 官 曾 从 “ 寺 院 法 ” 中 采 取 了许 多 原 则 ， 这 些 原 则 已 深 深 地 根 植 在 其 结 构 中 。 罗 马 法 中 可以 适 用 于 世 俗 纠 纷 的 规 定 远 多 于 “ 寺 院 法 ” ， 因 此 罗 马 法 便 常为 下 一 代 的 衡 平 法 官 所 借 重 ， 在 他 们 的 审 判 意 见 录 中 ， 我 们常 常 发 现 列 入 了 从 “ 民 法 大 会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｐ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ｓ 　 Ｃ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｌ ｉ ｓ ） 中采 摘 的 整 段 原 文 ， 其 中 的 名 词 不 加 更 动 ， 虽 然 它 们 的 来 源 是从 来 没 有 注 明 的 。 在 近 代 ， 尤 其 是 在 十 八 世 纪 中 叶 和 其 后 半期 中 ， 尼 德 兰 （ Ｌ ｏ ｗ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｕ ｎ ｔ ｒ ｉ ｅ ｓ ） 的 公 法 学 家 所 创 造 的 法 律与 道 德 的 混 合 制 度 似 乎 曾 经 为 英 国 法 学 家 详 细 研 究 过 ， 从 泰

    尔 波 爵 士 （ Ｌ ｏ ｒ ｄ 　 Ｔ ａ ｌ ｂ ｏ ｔ ） 大 法 官 到 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 （ Ｌ ｏ ｒ ｄ 　 Ｅ ｌ A

    ｄ ｏ ｎ ） 就 任 大 法 官 职 位 时 为 止 ， 这 些 作 品 对 衡 平 法 院 的 裁 定 实

    有 相 当 的 影 响 。 构 成 这 个 制 度 的 各 种 要 素 虽 然 来 自 许 多 不 同

    方 面 ， 但 由 于 它 必 须 与 普 通 法 近 似 ， 它 的 发 展 受 到 了 很 大 的抑 制 ， 不 过 它 始 终 能 符 合 一 个 比 较 新 的 法 律 原 则 的 要 求 ， 能

    因 其 固 有 的 伦 理 优 越 性 而 有 权 废 弃 国 内 旧 有 的 法 律 。

    罗 马 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 在 结 构 上 比 较 简 单 ， 它 从 开 始 出 现 时

    起 的 全 部 发 展 过 程 是 很 容 易 查 考 的 。 它 的 性 质 和 它 的 历 史 都

    有 详 加 研 究 的 必 要 。 它 是 对 人 类 思 想 有 着 深 远 影 响 的 、 通 过

    人 类 思 想 严 重 地 影 响 了 人 类 命 运 的 那 几 种 概 念 的 根 源 。

    罗 马 人 认 为 他 们 的 法 律 制 度 是 由 两 个 要 素 组 成 的 。 经 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 皇 帝 钦 定 出 版 的 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” （ Ｉ ｎ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｔ ｕ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ａ ｌ 　 Ｔ ｒ ｅ ａ Aｔ ｉ ｓ ｅ ｓ ） 中 说 ， “ 受 法 律 和 习 惯 统 治 的 一 切 国 家 ， 部 分 是 受 其 固有 的 特 定 法 律 支 配 ， 部 分 是 受 全 人 类 共 有 的 法 律 支 配 。一 个民 族 所 制 定 的 法 律 ， 称 为 该 民 族 的 ‘ 民 事 法 律 ’ ， 但 是 ， 由 自

    然 理 性 指 定 给 全 人 类 的 法 律 ， 则 称 为 ‘ 国 际 法 ’ ， 因 为 所 有 的

    国 家 都 采 用 它 。 ” 所 谓 “ 由 自 然 理 性 指 定 给 全 人 类 的 ” 这 一 部

    分 法 律 ， 就 是 被 假 定 为 由 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 带 入 罗 马 法 律 学 中

    的 原 素 。 在 有 些 地 方 ， 它 被 简 单 地 称 为 “ 自 然 法 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ Aｒ ａ ｌ ｅ ） ； 它 的 规 定 据 说 是 受 命 于自然 衡平 （ ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ａ ｌ ｉ ｓ 　Eｑ ｕ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ ） 和 自 然 理 性 。 我 将 设 法 发 掘 这 些 著 名 成 语 如 “ 国 际法 ” 、 “ 自 然 法 ” 、 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 渊 源 ， 并 进 而 决 定 它 们 所 表 示的 概 念 在 相 互 之 间 存 在 着 什 么 关 系 。

    有 一 些 学 者 对 于 罗 马 历 史 只 有 极 肤 浅 的 知 识 ， 当 他 看 到

    许 多 外 国 人 用 各 种 名 义 在 共 和 国 境 内 出 现 ， 以 及 共 和 国 的 命

    运 竟 会 受 到 非 常 程 度 的 影 响 ， 一 定 有 很 深 刻 的 印 象 。 在 较 后

    时 期 ， 这 种 侨 民 入 境 的 原 因 是 很 容 易 被 理 解 的 ， 因 为 我 们 很

    容 易 体 会 为 什 么 各 族 人 民 都 要 成 群 结 队 地 到 这 世 界 霸 主 的 国

    家 来 ； 在 罗 马 国 家 最 早 的 纪 录 中 ， 我 们 就 发 现 有 这 种 大 量 外国 人 和 归 化 者 移 入 的 现 象 。 毫 无 疑 义 ， 古 代 意 大 利 大 半 是 由

    强 盗 部 落 所 组 成 的 ， 社 会 的 不 安 定 使 得 人 们 集 居 在 有 力 量 来

    保 护 自 己 并 可 以 不 受 外 界 攻 击 的 任 何 社 会 领 土 内 ， 纵 使 这 种

    保 护 要 以 付 重 税 、 以 政 治 上 权 利 的 被 剥 夺 、 以 忍 受 社 会 耻 辱

    作 为 代 价 ， 也 在 所 不 惜 。 这 个 解 释 也 许 是 不 完 全 的 ， 要 作 一

    比 较 完 全 的 解 释 ， 还 必 须 考 虑 到 当 时 活 跃 的 商 业 关 系 ， 这 种

    关 系 虽 然 很 少 在 共 和 国 的 军 事 传 统 中 反 映 出 来 ， 但 罗 马 在 史

    前 时 期 是 必 然 地 和 迦 太 基 （ Ｃ ａ ｒ ｔ ｈ ａ ｇ ｅ ） 以 及 和 意 大 利 内 地 存 在

    着 这 种 关 系 。 不 论 情 况 究 竟 是 怎 样 ， 共 和 国 中 的 外 国 人 实 决

    定 着 其 历 史 的 全 部 过 程 ， 在 这 个 历 史 的 各 个 阶 段 中 ， 几 乎 完

    全 是 在 说 明 一 个 顽 强 的 民 族 与 一 个 外 来 的 人 民 之 间 的 冲 突 。

    在 现 代 世 界 中 从 来 没 有 发 生 过 这 种 情 况 ， 一 方 面 ， 因 为 现 代

    欧 洲 社 会 很 少 或 从 来 没 有 受 到 过 足 以 使 土 著 公 民 感 觉 得 到 的

    大 量 的 外 国 移 民 侵 入 ， 另 一 方 面 ， 因 为 现 代 国 家 的 团 结 一 起

    是 依 靠 着 对 于 一 个 国 王 或 政 治 上 强 有 力 者 的 忠 诚 ， 因 此 这 些

    国 家 可 以 用 古 代 世 界 所 没 有 见 到 过 的 速 度 吸 收 着 相 当 数 量 的

    入 境 移 民 ， 但 在 古 代 世 界 中 ， 一 个 社 会 的 本 地 公 民 常 常 自 以

    为 是 由 于 血 统 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 ； 他 们 反 对 外 来 人 民 主 张 平 等

    权 利 ， 认 为 这 是 对 于 他 们 生 来 固 有 权 利 的 一 种 篡 夺 。 早 期 罗

    马 共 和 国 在 “ 宪 令 ” 中 规 定 有 绝 对 排 斥 外 国 人 的 原 则 ， 在

    “ 市 民 法 ” 中 也 有 同 样 规 定 。 外 国 人 或 归 化 者 在 “ 国 家 ” 利 益

    休 戚 相 关 的 任 何 机 构 中 ， 是 不 能 参 与 的 。 他 不 能 享 受 “ 公 民

    法 ” （ Ｑ ｕ ｉ ｒ ｉ ｔ ａ 　 ｒ ｉ ａ ｎ 　 ｌ ａ ｗ ） 的 利 益 。 他 不 能 成 为耐克逊的当事人 ， 这 种 契 约 在 有 一 个 时 期 是 原 始 罗 马 人 的 让 与 证 据 同 时 也是 契 约 。 他 不 能 用 “ 提 供 誓 金 之 诉 ” （ Ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ａ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ａ ｌ 　 Ａ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ）起 诉 ， 这 种 涉 讼 的 方 式 其 渊 源 可 以 追 溯 到 文 明 的 萌 芽 时 代 。 但是 ， 不 论 是 为 了 罗 马 的 利 益 或 是 为 了 罗 马 的 安 全 ， 都 不允许把 外 国 人 完 全 剥 夺 法 律 的 保 护 。 所 有 古 代 社 会 往 往 为 了 轻 微的 骚 动 就 有 被 颠 复 的 危 险 ， 所 以 单 单 出 于 自 卫 的 本 能 ，就足以 迫 使 罗 马 人 要 想 出 某 种 方 法 来 安 排 外 国 人 的 权 利 和 义 务 ，

    否 则 他 们 也 许 会 — — 而 这 是 古 代 世 界 中 一 种 真 正 重 要 的 危 险

    — — 用 武 力 斗 争 来 解 决 争 执 。 况 且 ， 在 罗 马 史 中 从 来 没 有 一

    个 时 期 完 全 忽 略 对 外 贸 易 。 因 此 ， 对 于 当 事 人 双 方 都 是 外 国

    人 或 者 一 方 是 本 国 人 一 方 是 外 国 人 的 争 议 ， 在 最 初 所 以 有 审

    判 权 ， 也 许 一 半 是 作 为 一 种 警 察 手 段 ， 一 半 是 为 了 要 促 进 商

    业 。 由 于 这 类 审 判 权 的 存 在 ， 就 有 必 要 立 即 发 见 某 种 原 则 ， 以

    便 据 以 解 决 提 交 审 判 的 问 题 ， 而 罗 马 法 律 家 为 了 达 到 这 目 的

    而 采 用 的 原 则 是 卓 越 地 反 映 着 当 时 的 特 点 的 。 像 我 在 前 面 已

    经 说 过 的 ， 他 们 拒 绝 用 纯 粹 的 罗 马 “ 市 民 法 ” 来 判 决 新 的 案

    件 。 他 们 拒 绝 采 用 外 国 诉 讼 人 “ 本 国 ” 的 特 定 法 律 ， 显 然 这

    是 因 为 ， 如 果 这 样 做 了 ， 也 许 要 造 成 法 律 的 退 化 。 他 们 最 后

    采 用 的 方 法 ， 是 选 择 罗 马 同 外 来 移 民 所 出 生 的 意 大 利 各 个 不

    同 社 会 中 共 有 的 法 律 规 定 。 换 言 之 ， 他 们 开 始 形 成 一 种 符 合于 “ 万 民 法 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｇ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 的 原 始 的 和 字 面 的 意 义 的 制 度 。所 谓 “ 万 民 法 ” ， 即 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 。 事 实 上 ， “ 万 民法 ” 是 古 意 大 利 各 部 落 各 种 习 惯 共 同 要 素 的 总 和 ， 因 为 这 些部 落 是 罗 马 人 有 办 法 可 以 观 察 到 的 、 并 且 是 不 断 把 移 民 一 群群 送 到 罗 马 土 地 上 来 的所有国家 。 当 有 一 种 特 别 惯 例 被 看 到为 大 量 的 各 别 民 族 共 同 应 用 时 ， 它 即 被 纪 录 下 来 作 为 “ 所有国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 或 是 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 一 部 分 。 像 这 样 ， 在 罗马 四 周 各 个 不 同 的 国 家 中 ， 对 于 财 产 的 让 与 虽 然 都 必 然 地 伴随 着 很 不 同 的 形 式 ， 但 是 准 备 要 让 与 的 物 品 的 实 际 移 转 、 交

    付 或 是 送 达 乃 是 它 们 之 中 共 有 仪 式 的 一 部 分 。 例 如 ， 这 就 是

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” （ Ｍ ａ ｎ ｃ ｉ ｐ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 或 是 罗 马 所 特 有 的 让 与 方 式 中

    的 一 部 分 ， 虽 然 是 一 个 次 要 的 部 分 。 因 此 ， 交 付 既 然 很 可 能

    是 被 法 学 专 家 有 机 会 观 察 到 的 各 种 让 与 方 式 中 的 唯 一 共 同 要

    素 ， 它 就 被 订 作 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 的 一 种 制 度 ， 或 是 “ 所 有 国 家

    共 有 法 律 ” 的 一 项 规 定 。 大 量 的 其 他 惯 例 在 经 过 仔 细 研 究 后 ，

    也 得 到 同 样 的 结 果 。 它 们 都 有 一 个 共 同 目 的 ， 具 有 某 些 共 同

    特 点 ， 这 些 特 点 就 被 归 类 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 。 因 此 ， “ 万 民 法 ”

    是 规 则 和 原 则 的 一 个 集 合 物 ， 这 些 规 则 和 原 则 经 过 观 察 后 被

    决 定 是 各 个 意 大 利 部 落 间 当 时 通 行 的 各 种 制 度 所 共 有 的 。

    上 面 所 说 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 起 源 情 况 ， 也 许 足 以 消 除 这 样

    一 种 误 解 ， 即 认 为 罗 马 法 学 家 似 乎 对 “ 万 民 法 ” 特 别 重 视 。

    “ 万 民 法 ” 的 产 生 ， 一 部 分 是 由 于 他 们 轻 视 所 有 的 外 国 法 律 ，

    一 部 分 是 由 于 他 们 不 愿 以 其 本 土 的 “ 市 民 法 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｃ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｌ ｅ ） 的

    利 益 给 予 外 国 人 。 诚 然 ， 现 在 如 果 我 们 执 行 着 罗 马 法 学 专 家

    当 时 所 进 行 的 工 作 ， 我 们 对 于 “ 万 民 法 ” 可 能 会 采 取 一 种 完

    全 不 同 的 看 法 。 我 们 对 于 这 样 辨 别 出 来 的 作 为 大 量 不 同 惯 例

    的 基 础 而 普 遍 存 在 的 要 素 ， 必 然 会 附 着 某 种 模 糊 的 优 越 或 占

    先 之 感 。 我 们 对 于 这 样 普 遍 地 适 用 的 规 则 和 原 则 ， 必 然 会 有

    几 分 尊 重 。 也 许 我 们 会 认 为 ， 这 种 共 同 的 要 素 是 进 行 交 易 所

    必 需 的 本 质 ， 而 剩 下 来 的 在 各 个 社 会 中 不 相 同 的 仪 式 ， 则 只

    能 被 认 为 是 偶 然 的 和 非 必 要 的 。 我 们 也 可 能 会 作 出 这 样 的 推

    论 ， 认 为 我 们 正 在 进 行 比 较 的 各 个 民 族 ， 在 过 去 可 能 曾 经 一度 遵 守 过 一 种 共 同 的 伟 大 制 度 ， 而 “ 万 民 法 ” 就 是 这 个 制 度

    的 一 个 复 制 品 ， 认 为 各 个 国 家 中 错 综 复 杂 的 惯 例 ， 只 是 过 去

    曾 经 一 度 管 理 过 他 们 的 原 始 状 态 的 比 较 简 单 的 法 规 的 讹 误 和

    残 余 。 但 现 代 思 想 引 导 观 察 者 达 到 的 这 些 结 论 ， 与 原 始 罗 马

    人 本 能 地 感 到 的 结 论 几 乎 恰 恰 相 反 。 我 们 所 尊 重 或 赞 美 的 ， 正

    是 他 所 不 喜 欢 的 或 疑 惧 的 。 他 所 爱 好 的 那 部 分 法 律 学 ， 正 是

    现 代 理 论 家 认 为 不 必 加 以 考 虑 的 和 暂 时 的 ； 例 如 “ 曼 企 帕 地

    荷 ” 中 的 庄 严 手 势 ； 口 头 契 约 中 巧 妙 地 安 排 的 问 和 答 ； 辩 护

    与 诉 讼 中 不 胜 枚 举 的 手 续 程 序 。 “ 万 民 法 ” 只 是 由 于 政 治 需 要

    而 强 使 他 注 意 的 一 种 制 度 。 他 不 爱 “ 万 民 法 ” 正 像 他 不 爱 外

    国 人 一 样 ， 因 为 “ 万 民 法 ” 是 从 这 些 外 国 人 的 制 度 中 来 的 ， 并

    且 是 为 了 外 国 人 的 利 益 而 制 定 的 。 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 能 得 到 他 的

    重 视 以 前 ， 必 须 在 他 思 想 中 有 一 次 彻 底 的 革 命 ， 但 当 这 个 革

    命 确 实 发 生 时 ， 它 真 进 行 得 非 常 的 彻 底 ， 我 们 现 在 对 于 “ 万

    民 法 ” 的 估 计 所 以 与 刚 才 所 说 的 完 全 不 同 ， 其 真 正 理 由 就 在

    于 现 代 法 律 学 和 现 代 哲 学 所 持 的 观 点 都 是 继 承 着 后 期 法 学 专

    家 就 这 问 题 所 持 的 成 熟 见 解 的 。 过 去 确 实 有 过 这 样 一 个 时 期 ，

    把 这 仅 仅 是 “ 市 民 法 ” 的 一 个 卑 贱 附 属 物 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 认 作

    为 一 切 法 律 所 应 该 尽 可 能 依 从 的 一 个 伟 大 的 、 虽 然 还 没 有 完

    全 发 展 的 模 范 。 这 个 剧 变 的 发 生 是 正 当 希 腊 的 “ 自 然 法 ” 理论 被 适 用 于 罗 马 的 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 法 律 ” 的 实 践 中 的 时 期。所 谓 “ 自 然 法 ” （ ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ａ ｌ ｅ ） 只 是 从 一 个 特 别 理 论 的角 度 来 看 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 或 “ 国 际 法 ” 。 法 学 专 家 阿 尔 比 安 曾 经

    以 一 个 法 学 家 所 特 有 的 辨 别 的 癖 好 ， 企 图 把 它 们 加 以 区 别 ， 但

    结 果 没 有 成 功 。 根 据 有 更 高 权 威 的 该 雅 士 的 言 论 ， 以 及 前 面从 “ 法 学 教 典 ” 中 所 摘 引 的 部 分 ， 使 我 们 毫 不 怀 疑 ， 这 些 用

    语 在 实 际 上 是 可 以 通 用 的 。 它 们 之 间 的 差 别 完 全 是 历 史 的 ， 在

    本 质 上 ， 它 们 之 间 不 可 能 有 什 么 区 别 。 “ 万 民 法 ” 或 “ 所 有 国

    家 共 有 法 律 ” 与 “ 国 际 法 ” 之 间 的 混 淆 不 清 ， 完 全 是 现 代 的 ，

    这 几 乎 是 不 必 加 以 说 明 的 。 国 际 法 的 古 典 用 语 是 “ 使 节 法 ”（ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｆ ｅ ｃ ｉ ａ ｌ ｅ ） 或 谈 判 与 外 交 的 法 律 。 但 是 毫 无 疑 问 ， “ 万 民法 ” 的 含 义 不 明 对 于 独 立 国 家 之 间 的 关 系 应 由 自 然 法 来 管 理这 一 个 现 代 理 论 的 产 生 曾 经 起 过 很 大 的 作 用 。

    我 们 有 必 要 研 究 一 下 希 腊 的 自 然 和 自 然 法 律 的 两 个 概念 。 � Gσ ι � 这 个 字 在 拉 丁 文 中 是 ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ａ ， 在 英 文 中 是nature，它的 含 义 毫 无 疑 问 原 来 是 指 物 质 宇 宙 ， 但 这 个 物 质 宇 宙 是 从 完全 另 外 一 个 角 度 来 领 会 的 ， 由 于 我 们 的 智 力 与 当 时 的 智 力 有着 距 离 ， 这 一 个 角 度 ， 在 现 代 语 言 中 ， 就 不 很 容 易 加 以说 明。自 然 指 的 是 物 质 世 界 ， 是 某 种 原 始 元 素 或 规 律 的 结 果 。 最 古的 希 腊 哲 学 家 习 惯 把 宇 宙 结 构 解 释 为 某 种 单 一 原 则 的 表现，这 种 原 则 ， 他 们 有 不 同 的 看 法 ， 认 为 是 运 动 、 是 强 力 、 是 火、是 湿 气 、 是 生 殖 。 “ 自 然 ” 的 最 简 单 和 最 古 远 的 意 义 ， 正 就 是从 作 为 一 条 原 则 表 现 的 角 度 来 看 的 物 质 宇 宙 。 此 后 ， 后 期 希腊 各 学 派 回 到 了 希 腊 最 伟 大 知 识 分 子 当 时 迷 失 的 道 路 上 ， 他们 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 概 念 中 ， 在物质 世 界 上 加 上 了 一 个道德 世 界 。他 们 把 这 个 名 词 的 范 围 加 以 扩 展 ， 使 它 不 仅 包 括 了 有 形的 宇宙 ， 并 且 包 括 了 人 类 的 思 想 、 惯 例 和 希 望 。 这 里 ， 像 以前一样 ， 他 们 所 理 解 的自然 不 仅 仅 是 人 类 的 社 会 的 道 德 现 象 ， 而且 是 那 些 被 认 为 可 以 分 解 为 某 种 一 般 的 和 简 单 的 规 律 的现象。

    犹 如 最 古 的 希 腊 理 论 家 所 假 定 的 机 会 的 嘲 弄 使 物 质 宇 宙

    从 其 简 单 的 原 始 形 式 变 成 为 现 今 的 庞 杂 状 态 ， 他 们 的 聪 明 的

    后 裔 幻 想 着 ， 倘 若 不 是 凑 巧 的 意 外 人 类 很 可 能 会 使 其 自 己 生

    活 于 较 简 单 的 行 动 规 律 和 一 种 比 较 平 静 的 生 活 中 。 按 照 ·

    自 ·

    然

    而 生 活 ， 曾 被 认 为 是 人 类 生 存 的 目 的 ， 并 且 是 最 优 秀 的 人 必

    须 要 达 到 的 目 的 。 按 照 自 然 而 生 活 ， 是 解 脱 粗 俗 人 民 的 混 乱

    习 惯 和 粗 野 放 纵 而 达 到 较 高 级 的 行 为 规 律 ， 这 些 规 律 只 有 有

    志 者 通 过 克 己 和 自 制 才 能 加 以 遵 守 。 尽 人 皆 知 ， 这 个 命 题 — —按 照 自 然 而 生 活 — — 是 著 名 的 斯 多 葛 派 哲 学 哲 理 的总 和 。 在 希 腊 被 征 服 后 ， 这 种 哲 学 在 罗 马 社 会 中 立 刻 有 了 长足 的 发 展 。 它 对 于 有 权 势 的 阶 级 有 着 自 然 的 魔 力 ， 这 个 阶 级

    的 人 们 至 少 在 理 论 上 还 墨 守 着 古 代 意 大 利 民 族 的 简 单 习 惯 ，

    不 愿 意 使 自 己 屈 从 于 新 的 外 来 的 风 俗 习 惯 。 他 们 于 是 立 即 开

    始 爱 好 斯 多 葛 派 关 于 按 照 自 然 而 生 活 的 训 戒 。 当 时 由 于 对 世

    界 的 掠 夺 ， 由 于 各 地 最 奢 侈 民 族 的 榜 样 ， 罗 马 城 中 充 满 了 荡

    佚 荒 淫 ， 这 种 爱 好 ， 相 比 之 下 ， 益 加 可 喜 ， 我 并 且 要 说 ， 益

    加 可 以 尊 贵 。 纵 使 我 们 不 能 从 历 史 上 来 加 以 证 实 ， 但 我 们 仍

    可 以 断 定 ， 出 现 于 这 新 希 腊 学 派 门 徒 的 前 列 的 ， 一 定 是 罗 马

    法 学 家 。 我 们 有 大 量 证 据 ， 证 明 在 罗 马 共 和 国 中 ， 实 质 上 只

    有 两 种 职 业 ， 军 人 一 般 地 就 是 行 动 的 一 派 ， 而 法 学 家 则 普 遍地 站 在 反 抗 派 的 前 列 。

    法 学 家 同 斯 多 葛 派 哲 学 家 的 联 盟 ， 延 续 到 数 世 纪 之 久 。 在一 系 列 的 著 名 法 学 专 家 中 ， 其 最 早 的 几 个 名 人 都 同 斯 多 葛 学派 有 联 系 ， 最 后 ， 一 般 公 认 罗 马 法 律 学 的 黄 金 时 代 是 在 安 托宁 · 凯 撒 （ Ａ ｎ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｎ ｅ 　 Ｃ Eｓ ａ ｒ ｓ ） 的 时 代 ， 而 他 们 就 是 从 这 派哲 学 中 取 得 一 种 生 活 规 则 的 最 著 名 的 门 徒 。 这 些 学 理 在 一 些从 事 特 殊 职 业 的 人 中 间 长 期 广 泛 传 播 ， 必 然 要 影 响 他 们所执行 的 和 掌 握 的 艺 术 。 在 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 遗 著 中 ， 有 些论 点 简直 不 能 理 解 ， 除 非 我 们 掌 握 了 斯 多 葛 派 的 哲 理 把 它 用 作 一 把

    钥 匙 ； 但 同 时 ， 如 果 我 们 只 计 算 那 些 肯 定 归 属 于 斯 多 葛 派 教

    条 的 法 律 条 文 的 数 目 来 衡 量 斯 多 葛 学 派 对 于 罗 马 法 所 发 生 的

    影 响 ， 这 将 是 一 个 严 重 的 、 虽 然 是 很 普 通 的 错 误 。 一 般 人 以

    为 ， 斯 多 葛 学 派 的 力 量 并 不 在 其 规 定 的 行 为 准 则 中 ， 因 为 这

    些 准 则 常 是 可 厌 和 可 笑 的 ， 而 是 在 于 伟 大 的 （ 虽 然 是 模 糊

    的 ） 教 人 抑 制 情 欲 的 一 些 原 则 中 。 同 样 地 ， 最 明 显 地 表 现 于

    斯 多 葛 哲 学 上 的 希 腊 理 论 对 法 律 学 上 的 影 响 ， 并 不 在 于 它 们

    提 供 给 罗 马 法 的 特 殊 论 点 的 数 量 ， 而 在 于 它 们 结 予 它 的 单 一

    的 基 本 假 设 。 自 从 自 然 一 语 已 成 为 罗 马 人 口 头 上 一 个 家 喻 户

    晓 的 名 词 以 后 ， 这 样 一 种 信 念 便 逐 渐 在 罗 马 法 学 家 中 间 流 行

    着 ， 即 旧 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 实 际 是 已 经 失 去 的 “ 自 然 ” 法 典 ， 至

    于 “ 裁 判 官 ” 根 据 “ 万 民 法 ” 原 则 而 创 制 的 “ 告 令 ” 法 律 学 ，

    则 正 在 逐 渐 恢 复 法 律 因 为 背 离 了 它 而 退 化 的 一 种 范 式 。 从 这

    信 念 出 发 ， 我 们 立 即 得 到 了 这 样 一 个 推 断 ， 即 “ 裁 判 官 ” 有

    责 任 尽 量 以 “ 告 令 ” 来 代 替 “ 市 民 法 ” ， 尽 可 能 把 “ 自 然 ” 用

    以 管 理 处 于 原 始 状 态 中 的 人 们 的 各 种 制 度 恢 复 过 来 。 当 然 ， 用

    这 个 媒 介 来 改 良 法 律 ， 还 存 在 着 许 多 障 碍 。 甚 至 在 法 律 界 本

    身 ， 可 能 还 要 克 服 各 种 偏 见 ， 而 罗 马 人 的 习 惯 也 是 非 常 固 执 ，

    不 肯 很 快 屈 服 于 单 纯 的 哲 学 理 论 。 “ 告 令 ” 用 以 反 抗 某 种 专 门的 变 例 的 间 接 方 法 ， 显 示 出 作 者 的 不 得 不 非 常 谨 慎 注 意，而且 直 到 查 斯 丁 尼 安 时 代 ， 还 有 部 分 的 旧 法 固 执 地 拒 绝 它 的 影响 。 但 是 ， 从 整 体 来 讲 ， 罗 马 人 在 法 律 改 进 方 面 ， 当 受 到“ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 的 刺 激 时 ， 就 发 生 了 惊 人 迅 速 的 进 步 。 单 纯化 和 概 括 化 的 观 念 ， 是 常 常 和 “ 自 然 ” 这 个 概 念 联 系 着 的 ； 因此 单 纯 匀 称 和 通 晓 易 懂 就 被 认 为 是 一 个 好 的 法 律 制 度 的 特点 ， 过 去 对 于 复 杂 言 语 、 繁 褥 仪 式 和 不 必 要 困 难 的 好 尚，便完 全 消 除 。 罗 马 法 所 以 能 具 有 现 存 形 式 ， 是 依 靠 着 查 斯 丁 尼安 的 坚 强 意 志 以 及 不 寻 常 的 机 会 ， 但 是 制 度 的 基 本 图 形 ， 则在 皇 帝 的 改 革 实 行 以 前 很 早 就 计 划 定 当 了 。

    旧 “ 万 民 法 ” 与 “ 自 然 法 ” 之 间 ， 真 确 切 的 接 触 之 点 是什 么 ？ 我 以 为 它 们 是 通 过 原 来 意 义 的 “ 衡 平 ” （ Hｑ ｕ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ ） 而接 触 和 混 合 的 ； 这 里 ， 我 们 似 乎 在 法 律 学 上 第 一 次 遇 到“衡平 ” 这 个 著 名 的 名 词 。 在 研 究 一 个 来 源 如 此 古 远 、 历 史 如此悠 久 的 用 语 上 ， 如 果 可 能 ， 最 妥 当 的 办 法 是 深 追 最 初 隐 藏 这

    概 念 的 简 单 隐 喻 或 比 喻 。 一 般 认 为 Hｑ ｕ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ 就 是 希 腊 文

    Iσ IDη � ， 即 平 均 或 按 比 例 分 配 的 原 则 。 数 或 量 的 平 均 分 配 无 疑

    地 是 和 我 们 对 公 正 的 理 解 密 切 地 交 织 在 一 起 的 ； 很 少 联 想 能

    象 这 样 顽 固 地 坚 持 在 人 们 的 心 中 ， 即 使 是 最 深 刻 的 思 想 家 也

    很 难 把 它 从 脑 海 中 加 以 清 除 。 但 在 探 求 这 种 联 想 的 来 历 时 ， 我

    们 当 然 还 不 能 证 明 它 是 一 种 早 期 的 思 想 ， 它 只 是 比 较 后 来 的

    一 种 哲 学 的 产 物 ， 同 时 也 必 须 注 意 ， 希 腊 民 主 政 治 用 以 夸 耀

    的 法 律 “ 平 等 ” — — 这 种 平 等 ， 在 卡 利 斯 屈 拉 得 斯 （ Ｇ ａ ｌ ｌ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｒ ａ A

    ｔ ｕ ｓ ） 的 美 丽 的 酒 歌 中 ， 据 说 是 哈 马 笛 斯 （ Ｈ ａ ｒ ｍ ｏ ｄ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） 和 阿 利

    斯 托 杰 顿 （ Ａ ｒ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｏ ｇ ｉ ｒ ｏ ｎ ） 给 予 雅 典 人 的 — — 与 罗 马 人 的 “ 衡平 ” 很 少 共 同 之 处 。 前 者 表 示 在 公 民 中 间 平 等 施 行 民 事 法 律 ，

    纵 使 公 民 这 一 个 阶 级 的 人 数 是 非 常 有 限 的 ； 后 者 的 含 义 是 把民 事 法 律 以 外 的 一 种 法 律 适 用 于 不 一 定 要 由 公 民 组 成 的 一 个

    阶 级 。 前 者 不 包 括 暴 君 ； 后 者 包 括 着 外 国 人 ， 在 某 种 情 况 下 ，并 且 包 括 奴 隶 。 总 的 讲 来 ， 我 倾 向 于 从 另 外 一 个 角 度 来 探 求罗 马 “ 衡 平 ” 的 胚 种 。 拉 丁 文 “ Eｑ ｕ ｕ ｓ ” 比 希 腊 文 “ Iσ F� ” 更明 确地 带 有平准 的 意 思 。 平 准 的 倾 向 正 是 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 点 ，这 种 倾 向 是 一 个 原 始 罗 马 人 最 注 意 的 。 纯 粹 的 “ 公 民 法 ” 承认 在 各 阶 级 人 类 和 各 种 类 财 产 之 间 有 大 量 的 武 断 的 区 分 ； 至于 把 许 多 不 同 习 惯 加 以 比 较 概 括 起 来 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 则 不 承 认“ 公 民 法 ” 的 这 些 区 分 。 例 如 ， 古 罗 马 法 规 定 在 “ 宗 亲 ”（ Ａ ｇ ｎ ａ ｔ ｉ ｃ ） 与 “ 血 亲 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｇ ｎ ａ ｔ ｉ ｃ ） 关 系 之 间 具 有 一 种 根 本 的区 别 ， 前 者 是 指 基 于 共 同 服 从 于 同 一 家 父 权 的 “ 家 族 ” ， 后 者是 指 （ 按 照 现 代 的 观 点 ） 单 单 由 于 源 自 共 同 祖 先 的 事 实而结合 起 来 的 “ 家 族 ” 。 这 个 区 分 在 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 中 不 复 存 在，在 财 产 的 古 代 形 式 之 间 、 即 所 谓 “ 要 式 交 易 ” 物 （ Ｔ ｈ ｉ ｎ ｇ ｓ 　“ Ｍ ａ ｎ ｃ ｉ ｐ ｉ ” ） 与 “ 非 要 式 交 易 ” 物 （ Ｔ ｈ ｉ ｎ ｇ ｓ 　 “ ｎ ｅ ｃ 　Ｍ ａ ｎ ｃ ｉ ｐ ｉ ” ） 之 间 的 区 别 ， 也 是 如 此 。 因 此 ， 据 我 看 来 ， 这 种 界限 不 清 ， 就 是 以 “ 衡 平 ” 表 示 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 色 。 当 裁 判官 制 度 适 用 于 涉 及 外 国 诉 讼 人 的 案 件 时 ， 常 常 发 生 有 要 求平准 或 排 除 不 规 则 的 必 要 ， 我 猜 想 这 个 字 在 最 初 就 是 用 来 描 述

    这 种 情 况 的 。 起 始 ， 在 这 个 用 语 中 可 能 没 有 任 何 伦 理 的 色 彩 ；

    也 没 有 任 何 理 由 可 以 相 信 它 所 指 的 诉 讼 程 序 就 不 是 原 始 罗 马

    人 心 目 中 所 极 端 嫌 恶 的 诉 讼 程 序 ， 而 是 另 一 种 诉 讼 程 序 。

    在 另 一 方 面 ， 罗 马 人 通 过 “ 衡 平 ” 这 个 名 词 所 理 解 的

    “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 点 ， 正 就 是 对 假 想 中 的 自 然 状 态 的 第 一 次 和 最

    鲜 明 地 感 觉 到 的 特 点 。 “ 自 然 ” 含 有 匀 称 秩 序 的 意 思 ， 先 是 在物 质 世 界 中 ， 而 后 是 在 道 德 世 界 中 ， 而 对 秩 序 的 最 早 的 看 法 ，

    无 疑 地 含 有 直 线 、 平 面 和 长 短 之 意 。 人 们 不 论 是 在 想 象 假 定

    中 的 自 然 状 态 的 轮 廓 ， 也 不 论 是 在 想 象 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 的

    确 实 行 使 情 况 时 ， 都 会 不 自 觉 地 想 到 这 种 同 样 种 类 的 图 画 或

    数 字 ， 并 且 我 们 所 知 道 的 关 于 原 始 思 想 的 知 识 ， 会 使 我 们 达

    到 这 样 一 个 结 论 ， 即 这 种 想 象 上 的 相 似 性 很 可 能 会 促 使 我 们

    相 信 这 两 种 概 念 在 实 际 上 是 一 同 事 。 可 是 ， 虽 然 “ 万 民 法 ” 在

    罗 马 在 事 前 很 少 有 或 者 没 有 什 么 声 望 ， 但 是 当 “ 自 然 法 ” 的

    理 论 被 介 绍 到 罗 马 时 ， 带 来 了 高 度 的 哲 学 权 威 的 威 望 ， 并 且

    被 认 为 是 同 罗 马 民 族 较 早 和 更 幸 福 的 情 况 有 联 系 的 。 不 难 理

    解 ， 观 点 的 不 同 会 如 何 地 影 响 到 这 名 词 的 含 义 ， 它 既 描 述 了

    旧 原 则 的 运 用 ， 又 描 述 了 新 理 论 的 结 果 。 即 在 现 代 的 人 看 来 ，

    把 一 个 过 程 描 述 为 “ 平 准 ” 的 过 程 ， 而 同 时 把 这 个 过 程 称 为

    “ 变 例 的 纠 正 ” ， 也 不 能 认 为 完 全 是 一 回 事 ， 虽 然 两 者 的 含 义

    确 切 地 讲 来 是 一 样 的 。 我 也 并 不 怀 疑 ， 当 “ 衡 平 ” 一 经 被 理

    解 为 具 有 希 腊 理 论 的 含 义 时 ， 从 希 腊平均 （ Iσ IDη � ） 观 念 所 发生 的 各 种 联 想 ， 便 开 始 环 绕 在 衡 平 的 周 围 。 西 塞 罗 的 言 论 把

    它 夸 大 了 ， 而 这 就 是 衡 平 这 个 概 念 发 生 变 质 的 第 一 个 阶 段 ， 并

    为 自 从 那 个 时 候 起 的 几 乎 每 一 个 伦 理 制 度 或 多 或 少 推 动 着 进行 的 。

    这 里 必 须 说 明 一 下 ， 起 初 同 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 发 生 联 系 、后 来 又 同 “ 自 然 法 ” 联 系 的 各 种 原 则 和 差 别 ， 是 通 过 了 什 么正 式 手 段 而 逐 渐 结 合 到 罗 马 法 律 中 去 的 。 因 塔 垦 士（ Ｔ ａ ｒ ｑ ｕ ｉ ｎ ｓ ） 的 被 放 逐 而 在 古 罗 马 史 上 引 起 的 危 机 中 ， 发 生 了在 许 多 古 代 国 家 早 期 史 乘 中 相 类 似 的 一 种 变 化 ， 但 这 种 变 化同 我 们 今 天 所 称 为 革 命 的 那 些 政 治 事 件 ， 很 少 共 同 之 处 。 最妥 当 的 说 法 ， 可 以 说 是 君 主 政 体 被 转 变 为 委 员 政 治 。 以 往 被集 中 在 一 个 人 手 中 的 权 力 ， 现 在 被 分 配 给 了 许 多 选 任 官吏，王位 这 个 名 称 仍 旧 被 保 持 着 ， 放 在 后 来 被 称 为 “ 献 身 王 ” （Ｒｅ ｘ　 Ｓ ａ ｒ ｏ ｒ ｕ ｍ 　 或 　 Ｒ ｅ ｘ 　 Ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｌ ｕ ｓ ） 的 一 个 人 物 身 上 。 变 化的 一 部 分 是 把 最 高 司 法 机 关 的 固 定 职 务 移 转 给 了 “ 裁 判 官 ” ，他 同 时 是 共 和 国 的 首 席 官 吏 ， 跟 着 这 些 职 务 一 并 移 转 的 有法律 的 和 立 法 的 无 限 制 的 最 高 统 治 权 ， 这 是 始 终 为 古 代 主权者所 掌 握 ， 并 且 是 显 然 地 同 他 们 一 度 所 享 有 的 宗 法 的 和 英 雄 的

    权 力 有 关 系 的 。 罗 马 当 时 的 情 况 ， 使 这 些 被 移 转 的 职 能 中 这

    个 比 较 不 确 定 的 部 分 特 别 显 得 重 要 ， 因 为 ， 随 着 共 和 国 的 建

    立 ， 迫 使 国 家 不 得 不 进 行 一 系 列 反 复 的 试 验 ， 以 求 解 决 这 样

    一 个 困 难 ， 使 能 很 好 处 理 这 一 部 分 人 ， 他 们 在 技 术 上 不 符 合

    于 土 著 罗 马 人 的 标 准 ， 但 却 长 期 隶 属 于 罗 马 审 判 权 之 内 。 在

    这 类 人 之 间 或 在 这 类 人 和 土 著 公 民 之 间 所 发 生 的 争 执 ， 如 果

    “ 裁 判 官 ” 不 进 行 处 理 ， 则 将 永 远 处 于 罗 马 法 所 能 提 供 的 救 济

    的 范 围 之 外 。 随 着 商 业 的 扩 展 ， 在 罗 马 人 民 和 真 正 的 外 国 人

    之 间 发 生 了 更 为 严 重 的 纠 纷 ， 不 久 也 迫 使 他 不 得 不 加 以 处 理 。

    约 在 第 一 次 布 匿 战 争 （ Ｐ ｕ ｎ ｉ ｃ 　 Ｗ ａ ｒ ） 时 期 ， 罗 马 法 院 中 这 类

    案 件 的 数 量 ， 大 量 增 加 ， 当 时 就 任 命 了 一 个 专 任 “ 裁 判 官 ” 即

    后 来 被 称 为 “ 外 事 裁 判 官 ” 的 （ Ｐ ｒ Eｔ ｏ ｒ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｅ ｇ ｒ ｉ ｎ ｎ ｓ ） 来 专 门

    处 理 这 些 案 件 。 同 时 ， 罗 马 人 为 了 预 防 暴 政 的 复 辟 ， 使 职 责

    范 围 有 逐 渐 扩 张 趋 势 的 每 一 个 高 级 官 史 在 他 就 职 之 时 ， 公 布

    一 个 “ 告 令 ” 或 布 告 ， 在 这 个 “ 告 令 ” 或 布 告 中 ， 他 把 他 负

    责 部 门 的 管 理 方 式 公 布 出 来 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 采 用 了 与 其 他 高 级 官吏 同 样 的 规 定 ； 但 每 年 规 定 一 套 原 则 制 度 ， 必 然 是 不 可 能 的 ，

    他 只 是 照 例 把 他 前 任 的 “ 告 令 ” 重 新 公 布 一 次 ， 并 针 对 当 前

    的 迫 切 需 要 或 根 据 他 自 己 对 于 法 律 的 见 解 ， 作 一 些 增 加 或 者

    变 更 。 这 样 每 年 由 于 新 增 部 分 的 不 断 加 长 ， “ 裁 判 官 ” 告 令 就

    获 得 了 “ 常 续 告 令 ” （ Ｅ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ｕ ｍ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｐ ｅ ｕ ｕ ｍ ） 的 名 称 ， 意 即连续的和不断的 告 令 。 它 的 无 限 长 度 ， 再 加 上 了 它 结 构 必 然 地杂 乱 无 章 ， 引 起 了 嫌 恶 ， 使 一 次 次 往 上 增 加 的 习 惯 ， 到 了 萨尔 维 士 · 犹 令 安 （ Ｓ ａ ｌ ｖ ｉ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｊ ｎ ｌ ｉ ａ ｎ ｕ ｓ ） 的 年 代 就 被 终 止 了 ， 犹令 安 是 汉 德 林 皇 帝 （ Ｅ ｍ ｐ ｅ ｒ ｏ ｒ 　 Ｈ ａ ｄ ｒ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 朝 代 的 一 个 高 级 官吏 。 这 一 个 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 告 令 便 包 括 了 全 部 的 衡 平 法 律 学 ， 可能 被 用 了 新 的 和 均 称 的 顺 序 加 以 排 列 ， 于 是 ， 在 罗 马 法 中 ， 常续 告 令 便 常 被 称 为 “ 犹 令 安 告 令 ” （ Ｅ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｌ ｉ ａ ｎ ｕ ｓ ） 。

    一 个 研 究 “ 告 令 ” 这 特 殊 机 构 的 英 国 人 ， 可 能 会 发 生 的第 一 个 问 题 ， 是 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 这 些 广 泛 权 力 ， 究 竟 有 没 有 限制 的 范 围 ？ 这 样 很 少 有 明 确 界 限 的 权 威 ， 如 何 与 社 会 的 和 法律 的 稳 定 条 件 相 适 应 ？ 要 求 得 一 个 答 案 ， 只 有 通 过 详 细 研 究我 们 自 己 施 行 英 国 法 律 的 各 种 条 件 。 必 须 记 着 “ 裁 判 官 ” 本身 是 一 个 法 学 专 家 ， 或 者 是 一 个 完 全 掌 握 在 都 是 些 法 学专家的 顾 问 手 中 的 人 ， 那 就 很 可 能 ， 每 一 个 罗 马 法 学 家 都 焦 急 地在 等 待 着 有 一 天 时 间 到 来 ， 他 能 充 任 或 掌 握 这 伟 大 的 司 法 高级 官 职 。 在 这 期 间 内 ， 他 的 嗜 好 、 情 感 、 偏 见 和 教 养 程度不可 避 免 地 是 属 于 他 自 己 阶 级 的 ， 而 他 最 后 带 到 他 职 位 上 的 资格 也 必 然 是 他 在 职 业 的 实 践 和 研 究 中 所 获 得 的 。 每 一 个英国大 法 官 所 受 到 的 正 是 完 全 同 样 的 训 练 ， 他 所 带 到 大 法 官 席 上的 正 是 同 样 的 资 格 。 在 他 就 任 时 就 可 以 决 定 ， 到 他 离 职 前 必将 在 某 种 程 度 上 变 更 法 律 ， 但 是 直 到 他 离 去 职 位 和 直 到 他 所

    作 的 一 系 列 判 决 完 全 被 记 载 于 “ 法 律 记 录 ” 以 前 ， 我 们 不 能

    发 现 他 对 于 前 辈 所 遗 留 下 来 的 原 则 ， 究 竟 有 了 多 少 的 简 明 或

    增 加 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 对 罗 马 法 的 影 响 ， 和 我 们 所 不 同 的 ， 只 在 其

    结 果 被 确 定 的 期 间 。 像 前 面 已 说 过 的 ， 他 的 任 期 只 有 一 年 ， 而

    他 在 任 期 以 内 所 作 的 判 决 ， 虽 然 对 于 诉 讼 人 当 然 是 不 可 推 翻

    的 ， 但 此 外 就 没 有 别 的 价 值 。 因 此 ， 他 宣 布 想 实 行 变 革 的 最

    顺 利 的 时 期 即 是 在 他 就 “ 裁 判 官 ” 职 位 的 时 候 ； 所 以 ， 他 在

    就 职 时 公 开 地 做 的 ， 正 是 其 英 国 代 表 在 最 后 不 声 不 响 和 有 时

    不 自 觉 地 做 的 。 对 于 这 种 显 然 的 自 由 所 加 的 节 制 ， 也 正 和 加

    于 一 个 英 国 法 官 的 完 全 一 样 。 理 论 上 ， 对 于 他 们 二 者 的 权 力 ，

    似 乎 都 并 没 有 任 何 限 制 ， 但 是 在 事 实 上 ， 罗 马 “ 裁 判 官 ” 和

    英 国 大 法 官 一 样 ， 被 其 早 期 训 练 浸 润 的 先 入 之 见 以 及 职 业 论

    点 的 有 力 抑 制 束 缚 在 极 其 狭 小 的 活 动 范 围 之 内 ， 这 些 抑 制 的

    严 格 程 度 非 身 受 者 是 不 能 体 会 的 。 应 该 附 加 说 明 的 ， 那 许 可

    行 动 的 范 围 以 及 其 不 准 逾 越 的 范 围 ， 都 是 非 常 清 楚 地 被 标 明

    的 。 在 英 国 ， 法 官 遵 循 着 记 录 判 决 中 各 类 事 实 而 进 行 类 比 。 在

    罗 马 ， 由 于 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 干 预 在 最 初 仅 仅 是 为 了 关 心 社 会 的

    安 全 ， 那 就 很 可 能 ， 在 最 早 的 时 候 ， 干 预 的 多 少 决 定 于 它 所

    必 须 解 决 的 困 难 的 程 度 。 后 来 ， 当 “ 解 答 ” 引 起 了 大 家 对 于

    原 则 的 兴 味 时 ， 他 就 无 疑 地 利 用 “ 告 令 ” 作 为 一 种 手 段 ， 来

    广 泛 推 行 他 和 同 时 代 的 其 他 法 学 专 家 认 之 为 法 律 基 础 的 那 些

    原 则 。 最 后 ， 他 竟 完 全 处 在 希 腊 哲 学 理 论 的 影 响 之 下 ， 这 些

    理 论 立 即 推 动 他 前 进 ， 并 把 他 局 限 于 一 个 特 殊 的 发 展 过 程 中 。

    对 于 萨 尔 维 士 · 犹 令 安 所 采 取 的 措 施 的 性 质 ， 有 很 多 的争 论 ， 无 论 如 何 ， 这 些 措 施 对 于 “ 告 令 ” 的 影 响 是 非 常 明 显的 。 “ 告 令 ” 不 再 因 每 年 有 所 增 加 而 延 长 。 在 这 以 后 ， 罗 马 衡平 法 律 学 由 于 汉 德 林 朝 代 到 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 （ Ａ ｌ ｅ ｘ ａ ｎ ｄ ｅ ｒ　 Ｓ ｅ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｕ ｓ ） 朝 代 一 系 列 伟 大 法 律 学 专 家 的 辛 勤 著 作 而 得 到 发展 。 他 们 所 建 立 起 来 的 奇 伟 制 度 ， 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 “ 法 学 汇纂 ” （ Ｐ ａ ｎ ｄ ｅ ｃ ｔ ｓ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｎ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 中 还 保 存 着 一 些 片 断 ， 证 明 他们 的 著 作 采 用 了 论 文 的 形 式 讨 论 了 “ 罗 马 法 ” 的 全 部 ， 但 主要 的 是 对 “ 告 令 ” 加 以 解 释 。 真 的 ， 在 这 个 时 代 中 ， 一 个 法学 专 家 不 论 其 处 理 的 是 什 么 ， 他 总 可 以 称 为 是 “ 衡 平 法 ”的一 个 释 义 者 。 在 “ 告 令 ” 被 停 止 应 用 的 时 代 以 前 ， “ 告 令 ” 的

    原 则 已 经 渗 入 了 罗 马 法 律 学 的 每 一 个 部 门 。 必 须 了 解 ， 罗 马

    的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 纵 使 在 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 完 全 不 同 的 时 候 ， 也 始 终

    是 在 同 一 个 法 院 内 执 行 的 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 是 普 通 法 的 大 官 吏 ， 也

    是 衡 平 法 的 首 席 法 官 ， 并 且 一 到 “ 告 令 ” 发 展 成 为 一 种 衡 平

    规 定 时 ， “ 裁 判 官 ” 法 院 立 即 开 始 适 用 它 ， 以 代 替 “ 市 民 法 ”

    的 旧 规 定 ， 或 者 与 其 同 时 适 用 ， 这 样 旧 规 定 就 不 经 过 立 法 机关 的 立 法 行 为 而 直 接 或 间 接 地 被 废 弃 了 ， 其 结 果 ， 当 然只是法 律 与 衡 平 完 全 不 相 融 合 而 已 ， 这 种 融 合 要 直 到 查 斯丁尼安改 革 时 方 才 实 现 。 法 律 学 上 这 两 个 要 素 在 技 术 上 的 分 割 ， 必然 地 造 成 了 某 种 混 乱 和 不 便 ， 而 “ 市 民 法 ” 中 有 些 比 较 顽固的 学 理 ， 则 又 是 “ 告 令 ” 著 者 或 释 义 者 都 不 敢 加 以 干 涉 的。不过 在 同 时 ， 在 法 律 学 的 领 域 内 ， 几 乎 没 有 一 个 角 落 没 有 受 到“ 衡 平 法 ” 或 多 或 少 的 影 响 。 它 供 给 了 法 学 家 他 所 用 的 一 切 概括 材 料 、 所 用 的 解 释 方 法 、 他 对 原 理 的 释 明 ， 以 及 大 量 的 限制 规 定 ， 这 些 规 定 很 少 受 到 立 法 者 的 干 预 ， 但 却 严 密 地 控 制着 每 一 个 立 法 法 案 的 应 用。

    法 学 家 的 时 期 同 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 同 时 告 终 。 从 汉 德林 到 这 个 皇 帝 时 为 止 ， 法 律 在 继 续 不 断 地 改 进 着 ， 正 如 现 在在 大 多 数 大 陆 国 家 中 一 样 ， 一 部 分 通 过 审 定 的 解 释 ， 一 部 分

    通 过 直 接 立 法 。 但 在 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 在 位 的 时 期 ， “ 罗 马

    衡 平 法 ” 的 发 展 力 量 似 乎 已 到 了 枯 竭 的 时 候 ， 法 学 专 家 的 延

    续 也 停 止 了 下 来 。 余 下 来 的 一 部 分 罗 马 法 律 史 是 君 主 立 法 史 ，

    最 后 ， 则 是 试 图 把 到 这 时 为 止 已 成 为 罗 马 法 律 学 的 这 个 庞 大

    躯 体 编 成 法 典 的 历 史 时 期 。 这 样 一 种 最 后 的 和 最 著 名 的 试 验就 是 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 。

    要 把 英 国 的 和 罗 马 的 衡 平 法 详 细 地 加 以 比 较 或 对 照 ， 是一 件 冗 长 可 厌 的 事 ， 但 有 必 要 提 出 它 们 所 共 有 的 两 个 特 点 。 第一 个 特 点 是 这 样 的 。 它 们 都 倾 向 于 、 并 且 所 有 这 类 制 度 都 是这 样 地 倾 向 于 和 旧 普 通 法 第 一 次 为 衡 平 法 所 干 涉 时 的 那 种 状态 完 全 一 样 的 状 态 。 这 样 一 个 时 期 是 必 然 会 到 来 的 ， 就 是 原来 采 用 的 道 德 原 则 已 经 发 挥 出 了 所 有 的 合 法 的 结 果 ， 于 是 ， 建筑 在 这 些 道 德 原 则 上 面 的 制 度 ， 就 会 像 最 严 峻 的 法 律 法 典 那样 地 生 硬 、 那 样 地 没 有 伸 缩 、 那 样 地 不 得 不 落 后 于 道 德 的 进步 。 在 罗 马 ， 这 样 一 个 时 期 正 是 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 在 位 的时 期 ； 在 这 以 后 ， 虽 然 整 个 罗 马 世 界 正 在 经 历 着 一 次 道德革命 ， 但 “ 罗 马 衡 平 法 ” 已 停 止 扩 展 。 英 国 法 律 史 达 到 这同一阶 段 时 ， 正 是 大 法 官 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 在 职 的 时 候 ， 在 我 们的衡平法 官 中 ， 他 是 第 一 个 人 不 但 不 用 间 接 立 法 的 方 法 来 扩 大 其法院 的 法 律 学 ， 并 且 终 其 身 致 力 于 解 释 它 和 协 调 它 。 如 果 法 律史 的 哲 学 会 在 英 国 被 更 好 地 理 解 ， 则 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 的 贡 献 ， 将不 会 像 同 时 代 法 学 家 对 待 它 那 样 ， 一 方 面 加 以 夸 张 而 另 一 方面 则 不 予 重 视 。 还 有 其 他 各 种 误 解 ， 曾 发 生 某 种 实 际 效 果 的 ，也 许 可 能 会 得 到 避 免 。 英 国 法 学 家 很 容 易 看 出 ， “ 英 国 衡 平法 ” 是 建 筑 在 道 德 规 则 上 的 一 种 制 度 ； 但 是 却 忘 记 了 这 些 规则 是 过 去 几 世 纪 的 — — 而 不 是 现 在 的 — — 道 德 ， 忘 记 了 这 些

    规 则 已 经 几 乎 尽 它 们 所 能 的 受 到 了 多 方 面 的 应 用 ， 并 且 忘 记

    了 它 们 虽 然 同 我 们 今 天 的 伦 理 信 条 当 然 并 没 有 很 大 的 区 别 ，

    但 它 们 并 不 一 定 同 我 们 今 天 的 伦 理 信 条 处 在 同 一 个 水 平 上 。

    一 般 人 对 于 这 个 主 题 所 采 用 的 各 种 理 论 并 不 完 全 ， 这 造 成 了

    两 种 相 反 的 误 解 。 许 多 研 究 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 著 者 ， 看 到 了 这 个

    制 度 在 今 日 的 完 整 状 态 ， 竟 然 会 明 显 地 或 暗 示 地 自 陷 于 这 样

    一 种 矛 盾 的 说 法 ， 即 认 为 衡 平 法 律 学 的 始 创 人 在 奠 定 第 一 块

    墙 基 时 ， 就 已 经 筹 划 着 它 今 日 的 固 定 形 式 。 而 另 外 一 些 人 则

    抱 怨 着 — — 这 是 一 种 时 常 在 法 庭 辩 论 中 提 到 的 不 平 — — 以 为

    衡 平 法 院 所 执 行 的 道 德 规 定 已 不 完 全 合 乎 今 日 的 伦 理 标 准 。

    他 们 希 望 每 一 个 大 法 官 对 法 律 学 所 做 的 ， 能 完 全 和 英 国 衡 平

    法 的 先 辈 们 对 旧 普 通 法 所 做 的 一 样 。 但 这 是 和 促 使 法 律 改 进的 媒 介 顺 序 ， 恰 恰 相 反 的 。 衡 平 法 自 有 它 的 地 位 和 它 的 时 期 ；但 我 在 前 面 已 经 指 出 了 ， 当 衡 平 法 的 活 力 消 耗 完 了 时 ， 另 一个 手 段 已 经 准 备 好 来 继 承 它 了 。

    英 国 和 罗 马 衡 平 法 还 有 另 一 个 显 著 的 共 同 特 点 ， 即 原 来用 以 辩 护 衡 平 主 张 比 法 律 规 定 优 越 的 这 个 假 定 ， 是 虚 伪 的 。 对于 人 们 ， 不 论 是 个 人 或 是 集 体 ， 没 有 东 西 比 把 他 们 的 道德进步 认 作 一 个 实 体 的 现 实 性 ， 更 可 厌 恶 的 了 。 这 种 厌 恶 情 绪 ， 就个 人 而 言 ， 表 现 在 过 分 的 尊 敬 ， 这 种 过 分 的 尊 敬 通 常 是 只 用以 对 一 致 性 的 这 个 可 疑 的 美 德 的 。 全 社 会 集 体 意 见 的 动 向 是非 常 明 显 ， 不 应 加 以 忽 视 的 ， 并 且 一 般 是 非 常 明 显 地 为 了 求得 进 步 不 应 加 以 诋 毁 的 ； 但 是 社 会 上 有 一 种 巨 大 的 阻 力，不愿 接 受 它 ， 把 它 作 为 一 种 原 始 现 象 来 对 待 ， 而 一 般 都 只 把 它解 释 为 恢 复 一 个 失 去 的 至 善 （ Ｌ ｏ ｓ ｔ 　 ｐ ｅ ｒ ｆ ｅ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） — — 逐 渐 回返 到 民 族 未 堕 落 以 前 的 状 态 。 这 种 向 后 而 不 是 向 前 去 寻 求 道德 进 步 目 标 的 倾 向 ， 像 我 们 已 看 到 的 ， 在 古 代 就 对 罗 马 法 律学 产 生 了 最 深 远 的 影 响 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 为 了 要 说 明 “ 裁 判官 ” 对 法 律 学 所 作 的 改 进 ， 从 希 腊 借 用 了 一 个 人 类 “ 自 然 ” 状态 — — 一 个 “ 自 然 ” 社 会 — — 的 学 理 ， 这 种 自 然 社 会 是 出 现于 由 现 实 法 统 治 的 社 会 组 织 之 前 的 社 会 。 另 一 方 面 在 英 国 ， 则用 一 些 特 别 适 合 于 当 时 英 国 人 口 味 的 观 念 ， 来 解 释 “ 衡 平法 ” 主 张 的 优 于 普 通 法 ， 这 些 观 念 假 定 国 王 作 为 其 宗 主 权 的自 然 结 果 ， 是 应 该 被 推 定 为 具 有 监 督 公 正 执 行 的 一 般 权 利 的 ，过 去 有 这 样 一 种 旧 的 学 理 ， 认 为 “ 衡 平 法 ” 来 自 国 王 的 良 心— — 这 种 改 进 在 实 际 上 已 经 发 生 在 被 指 为 主 权 者 在 道 德 意 义上 的 一 个 固 有 的 提 高 的 社 会 道 德 标 准 中 了 ， 这 种 见 解 是 和 前述 的 见 解 相 同 的 ， 不 过 表 现 于 一 种 不 同 的 和 一 种 更 为 离奇古怪 的 方 式 中 而 已 。 英 国 宪 法 的 发 展 ， 使 这 种 一 条 理 论 在 过 了一 个 时 期 以 后 ， 就 不 合 口 味 ； 但 是 ， 衡 平 法 院 的 审 判 权在当时 既 然 已 经 是 坚 定 地 确 定 了 ， 那 就 没 有 另 设 任 何 正 式代 替 物的 必 要 。 在 现 代 教 科 书 中 ， 关 于 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 理 论 是 多 种多样 的 ， 但 都 是 同 样 的 不 足 取 。 其 中 绝 大 部 分 都 只 是 把 罗马的自 然 法 学 理 加 以 改 头 换 面 ， 尤 其 是 那 些 著 者 ， 他 们 在 开 始 讨论 衡 平 法 院 的 审 判 权 时 就 在 自 然 公 正 和 民 事 公 正 之 间 加 以 明白 的 区 分 ， 那 真 是 把 罗 马 自 然 法 学 理 的 要 旨 全 部 采 纳 了 。

    第 四 章 　 自 然 法 的 现 代 史

    从 前 面 所 说 的 ， 可 以 推 断 ， 改 变 罗 马 法 律 学 的 理 论 决 不能 被 认 为 有 哲 学 上 的 正 确 性 。 这 种 理 论 事 实 上 包 括 了 “ 思 想的 混 合 方 式 ” 之 一 ， 这 种 所 谓 思 想 的 混 合 方 式 现 在 被 认为是人 类 思 想 初 期 的 最 高 思 想 的 特 点 ， 同 时 也 是 我 们 今 天 的 智 慧的 努 力 所 不 难 发 现 的 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 把 “ 过 去 ” 与 “ 现 在 ” 混 淆起 来 了 。 逻 辑 上 ， 它 意 味 着 曾 经 一 度 由 自 然 法 支 配 的 一 种 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 ； 但 法 学 专 家 并 不 明 白 地 或 确 信 地 说 到 过 有 这 样一 个 状 态 存 在 ， 这 种 状 态 除 了 偶 然 在 幻 想 黄 金 时 代 的 诗 歌 中能 发 现 外 ， 的 确 也 绝 少 为 古 人 们 所 注 意 到 。 自 然 法 从 实 际 效果 讲 ， 是 属 于 现 代 的 产 物 ， 和 现 存 制 度 交 织 在 一 起 的 东 西 ， 是一 个 有 资 格 的 观 察 家 可 以 从 现 存 制 度 中 区 分 出 来 的 东 西 。 把“ 自 然 ” 的 法 规 从 同 这 些 法 规 混 淆 在 一 起 的 各 种 粗 陋 成 分 中 分离 开 来 的 鉴 别 方 法 ， 是 一 种 单 纯 和 调 和 的 感 觉 。 但 是 这 些 经过 提 炼 出 来 的 原 素 所 以 能 受 到 重 视 ， 却 并 不 是 由 于 它 们 的 单纯 和 调 和 ， 而 是 由 于 它 们 来 自 太 古 的 “ 自 然 ” 统 治 。 这 种 混淆 并 没 有 为 法 学 专 家 的 现 代 学 生 们 成 功 地 解 释 清 楚 ， 而 对

    “ 自 然 法 ” 提 出 的 一 些 近 代 纯 理 论 中 暴 露 出 来 的 认 识 模 糊 、 用

    语 含 混 不 清 之 处 ， 实 际 上 远 比 我 们 公 正 地 责 咎 于 罗 马 法 学 家

    的 还 要 来 得 厉 害 。 有 些 研 究 这 个 主 题 的 著 者 ， 认 为 “ 自 然 ” 法

    典 存 在 于 将 来 ， 是 所 有 民 事 法 律 正 在 走 向 的 目 的 ， 他 们 企 图用 这 种 方 法 来 避 免 基 本 的 困 难 ， 但 是 这 非 但 同 旧 理 论 所 根 据的 假 设 完 全 相 反 ， 而 且 也 许 混 杂 了 两 种 自 相 矛 盾 的 理 论 。 这种 不 问 过 去 只 向 将 来 寻 求 完 善 典 型 的 倾 向 ， 是 由 基 督 教 带 到这 世 界 上 来 的 ， 古 代 文 学 很 少 或 者 没 有 暗 示 过 这 样 一 种 信 念 ，即 认 为 社 会 进 步 必 然 地 是 从 坏 到 好 的 。

    但 是 ， 这 个 理 论 在 哲 学 上 虽 然 有 其 缺 陷 ， 我 们 却 不 能 因此 而 忽 视 其 对 于 人 类 的 重 要 性 。 真 的 ， 如 果 自 然 法 没 有 成 为古 代 世 界 中 一 种 普 遍 的 信 念 ， 这 就 很 难 说 思 想 的 历 史 、 因 此也 就 是 人 类 的 历 史 ， 究 竟 会 朝 哪 一 个 方 向 发 展 了 。

    法 律 以 及 由 法 律 结 合 在 一 起 的 社 会 ， 在 其 幼 稚 时 代 ， 似乎 很 容 易 遭 受 两 种 特 殊 危 险 。 其 中 之 一 是 ， 法 律 可 能 发 展 得太 快 。 在 比 较 进 步 的 希 腊 社 会 中 ， 它 们 的 法 典 就 发 生 过这 种情 形 ， 这 些 法 典 用 惊 人 的 速 度 从 繁 杂 的 程 序 形 式 和 不 必 需 的术 语 中 解 脱 出 来 ， 并 且 不 久 以 后 就 使 各 种 严 峻 的 规 定 和 规 则上 不 再 依 附 着 任 何 迷 信 色 彩 。 它 们 这 样 做 ， 其 本 意 并 不 是 为了 人 类 的 最 终 利 益 ， 虽 然 因 此 而 使 其 公 民 获 得 的 直 接 好 处 可能 是 相 当 大 的 。 国 民 性 中 最 罕 见 的 特 性 之 一 ， 是 这 样 的 来 应用 和 制 定 法 律 的 能 力 ， 即 一 方 面 在 达 到 抽 象 公 正 中 忍 受 着 不断 地 发 生 的 错 误 ， 而 在 同 时 却 不 丧 失 法 律 可 能 符 合 于 一 个 较高 理 想 的 希 望 或 愿 望 。 希 腊 的 思 想 家 本 其 高 贵 的 和 顺 应的特性 ， 没 有 把 自 己 局 限 在 窄 狭 的 法 律 公 式 中 ； 我 们 对 于 雅 典 平民 法 院 的 工 作 情 况 掌 握 着 正 确 的 知 识 ， 如 果 我 们 用 雅 典 平 民法 院 来 推 测 希 腊 的 法 院 ， 则 我 们 可 以 知 道 ， 在 希 腊 法 院 中 有着 非 常 强 有 力 的 倾 向 把 法 律 与 事 实 混 淆 在 一 起 。 当 时 “ 演 说家 ”的 遗 著 ， 以 及 亚 里 士 多 德在 “ 修辞 学 论 ”中 所 保 存 的 法 庭 语 录 ， 显示 出 当 时 对 纯 粹 的 法 律 问 题 往 往 是 用 可 能 影 响 法 官 心 理 的 各 种 理 由 来 进 行 辩 论 的 。 通 过 这 种 方 法 ， 不 可 能 产 生 持 久 的 法律 学 制 度 。 一 个 社 会 对 于 某 些 特 殊 案 件 ， 为 了 要 得 到 一 个 理想 的 完 美 的 判 决 ， 就 毫 不 迟 疑 的 把 阻 碍 着 完 美 判 决 的 成 文 法律 规 定 变 通 一 下 ， 如 果 这 个 社 会 确 有 任 何 司 法 原 则 可 以传诸后 世 ， 那 它 所 能 传 下 来 的 司 法 原 则 只 可 能 仅 仅 是 包 括 着 当 时正 在 流 行 的 是 非 观 念 。 这 种 法 律 学 就 不 能 具 有 为 后 世 比 较 进步 的 概 念 所 能 适 合 的 骨 架 。 充 其 量 ， 它 只 是 在 带 有 缺 点 的 文明 之 下 成 长 起 来 的 一 种 哲 学 而 已 。

    很 少 民 族 社 会 的 法 律 学 曾 受 到 这 种 或 则 过 早 成 熟 或 则 时机 未 熟 就 已 经 瓦 解 的 特 殊 危 险 的 威 胁 。 究 竟 罗 马 人 有 没 有 受到 过 它 的 严 重 威 胁 ， 当 然 还 不 能 确 定 ， 但 是 无 论 如 何 ，罗马人 在 其 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 中 是 有 着 适 当 的 保 护 的 。 因 为法学专 家 显 明 地 把 “ 自 然 法 ” 想 象 为 一 种 应 该 逐 渐 吸 收 各 种民事法 律 的 制 度 ， 但 是 在 民 事 法 律 还 没 有 被 废 弃 以 前 ， 自 然 法 却不 能 把 它 们 取 而 代 之 。 在 国 外 自 然 法 是 没 有 这 种 神 圣 不可侵犯 的 印 象 的 ， 就 是 只 要 向 它 提 出 申 诉 就 有 可 能 使 处 理 特 定 诉讼 案 件 的 法 官 的 心 理 为 之 折 服 。 这 个 概 念 的 所 以 有 其 价 值 和作 用 ， 是 因 为 它 能 使 人 在 想 象 中 出 现 一 个 完 美 法 律 的 典 型 ， 它并 且 能 够 鼓 舞 起 一 种 要 无 限 地 接 近 于 它 的 希 望 ， 而 在 同 时 ， 对于 还 没 有 适 应 于 这 个 理 论 的 那 些 现 存 法 律 义 务 ， 它 又 从 不 使法 律 实 务 者 或 市 民 加 以 否 认 。 同 样 重 要 的 ， 应 该 看 到 ， 这 个模 范 制 度 同 许 多 在 以 后 时 期 曾 嘲 弄 过 人 们 的 希 望 的 制 度 不同 ， 并 不 完 全 是 幻 想 的 产 物 。 从 来 没 有 人 把 它 看 作 是 建 筑 在完 全 没 有 经 过 考 验 的 原 则 之 上 的 。 一 般 的 看 法 ， 它 是 现 存 法律 的 基 础 ， 并 且 一 定 要 通 过 现 存 法 律 才 能 找 到 它 。 它 的 职 能 ，简 单 地 讲 ， 是 补 救 性 的 ， 而 不 是 革 命 性 的 或 无 政 府 状 态 的 。 这一 点 ， 不 幸 地 ， 恰 恰 就 是 现 代 对 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 见 解 常 常 不再 和 古 代 见 解 相 同 的 地 方 。

    社 会 在 幼 年 时 代 要 招 惹 到 的 另 外 一 种 危 险 ， 曾 阻 碍 了 或停 住 了 更 大 一 部 分 人 类 的 进 步 。 原 始 法 律 的 僵 硬 性 ， 主 要 是由 于 它 同 宗 教 的 早 期 联 系 和 同 一 性 而 造 成 的 ， 这 种 僵 硬 性 曾

    把 大 多 数 人 在 生 活 和 行 为 上 的 见 解 束 缚 住 ， 使 它 们 和 人 们 的惯 例 第 一 次 被 固 定 为 有 系 统 形 式 时 的 见 解 一 样 。 世 界 上 只 有

    一 二 个 民 族 由 于 奇 异 的 命 运 才 能 使 它 们 免 除 了 这 种 不 幸 ， 而

    从 这 些 民 族 所 出 的 支 系 曾 丰 富 了 少 数 现 代 社 会 ， 但 是 情 况 仍

    旧 是 这 样 ： 在 大 部 分 世 界 中 ， 只 有 墨 守 着 由 原 始 立 法 者 所 设

    计 的 最 初 计 划 ， 法 律 才 能 达 到 其 完 美 性 。 如 果 在 这 类 情 形 中 ，

    智 慧 确 曾 对 法 律 发 生 过 影 响 ， 那 它 能 一 致 地 以 之 自 夸 的 ， 就

    是 它 能 在 古 原 文 的 基 础 上 ， 求 得 种 种 机 巧 的 牵 强 附 会 的 结 论 ，

    而 在 其 文 字 性 质 上 却 毫 无 显 著 的 背 离 。 我 找 不 出 任 何 理 由 ， 为

    什 么 罗 马 法 律 会 优 于 印 度 法 律 ， 假 使 不 是 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论

    给 了 它 一 种 与 众 不 同 的 优 秀 典 型 。 在 这 个 稀 有 的 事 例 中 ， 这

    个 由 于 其 他 原 因 而 注 定 了 对 人 类 发 生 巨 大 影 响 的 社 会 ， 把 单

    纯 和 匀 称 作 为 其 心 目 中 一 个 理 想 的 和 绝 对 的 完 美 法 律 的 特

    证 。 一 个 国 家 或 者 一 个 职 业 在 其 力 求 改 进 时 ， 如 果 能 有 一 个

    明 显 的 要 达 到 的 目 标 ， 其 重 要 性 是 不 能 忽 视 的 。 在 过 去 三 十

    年 间 ， 边 沁 之 所 以 能 在 英 国 发 生 巨 大 影 响 ， 其 秘 密 就 是 在 于他 能 成 功 地 把 这 样 一 个 目 的 ， 向 国 人 提 出 。 他 给 我 们 一 个 明白 的 改 良 规 则 。 前 一 世 纪 中 的 英 国 法 学 家 是 敏 锐 的 ， 当 然 不致 于 会 被 这 样 一 个 似 是 而 非 的 言 论 所 蒙 蔽 ， 以 为 英 国 法 律 是人 类 完 美 的 理 想 ， 但 是 由 于 缺 乏 任 何 其 他 原 则 可 资 依 据 ， 他们 在 行 动 上 似 乎 就 相 信 着 这 样 一 个 说 法 。 边 沁 提 出 社 会 幸 福 ，

    把 它 作 为 优 先 于 其 他 一 切 的 首 要 目 的 ， 这 样 ， 就 使 一 个 长 期以 来 正 在 寻 找 出 路 的 洪 流 ， 得 到 了 发洩 。

    如 果 我 们 把 前 面 所 描 述 的 假 定 作 为 边 沁 主 义 的 古 代 对 称物 ， 这 不 能 说 是 完 全 出 于 妄 想 的 一 种 比 较 。 罗 马 理 论 引 导 人们 努 力 的 方 向 ， 正 和 这 个 英 国 人 计 划 的 理 论 所 导 致 的 方 向 ， 完全 相 同 ； 罗 马 理 论 的 实 际 结 果 ， 同 主 张 坚 决 地 追 求 社 会 一 般幸 福 的 改 良 法 学 派 所 可 能 达 到 的 结 果 ， 不 致 于 有 很 大 的 区 别 。但 如 果 认 为 这 个 理 论 是 边 沁 原 则 的 有 意 识 的 豫 期 ， 则 是一种错 误 。 毫 无 疑 义 ， 在 罗 马 的 普 通 文 献 和 法 律 文 献 中 ，确有时以 人 类 幸 福 作 为 补 救 立 法 的 正 当 目 的 ， 但 如 果 拿 有 关 这 个 原则 的 证 据 ， 同 不 断 地 给 予 “ 自 然 法 ” 笼 盖 一 切 的 主 张 的 颂扬相 比 ， 则 前 者 是 显 著 地 少 而 无 力 的 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 所 甘 心 悦

    服 的 ， 不 是 近 似 博 爱 的 东 西 ， 而 是 它 们 的 单 纯 和 调 和 之 感 — —

    就 是 他 们 意 味 深 长 地 称 为 “ 文 雅 ” 的 东 西 。 他 们 辛 勤 劳 力 的

    结 果 ， 恰 和 一 个 更 精 确 的 哲 学 所 企 求 的 相 一 致 ， 这 正 是 人 类

    好 运 的 一 部 分 。

    回 过 头 来 看 自 然 法 的 现 代 史 ， 我 们 断 然 相 信 它 的 影 响 是

    广 泛 深 入 的 ， 但 这 种 影 响 的 是 好 是 坏 ， 则 就 比 较 难 以 坚 定 地

    加 以 肯 定 。 同 它 有 关 的 各 种 学 说 和 制 度 ， 是 在 我 们 时 代 中 争

    论 最 剧 烈 的 一 些 资 料 。 譬 如 说 ， “ 自 然 法 ” 理 论 是 一 切 特 殊 观

    念 如 法 律 、 政 治 与 社 会 的 渊 源 ， 在 过 去 一 百 年 间 通 过 法 国 而传 遍 西 方 世 界 。 法 学 家 在 法 国 史 上 所 占 有 的 地 位 以 及 法 律 概

    念 在 法 国 思 想 中 所 占 的 领 域 ， 始 终 是 非 常 巨 大 的 。 但 现 代 欧

    洲 的 法 律 科 学 ， 其 起 源 实 在 不 是 在 法 国 ， 而 是 在 意 大 利 ， 在

    意 大 利 各 大 学 的 使 者 在 大 陆 各 地 创 设 的 和 企 图 （ 虽 然 结 果 是

    徒 劳 的 ） 在 我 岛 国 创 立 的 学 校 中 ， 建 立 在 法 国 的 学 校 对 这 个

    国 家 的 命 运 产 生 了 最 大 的 影 响 。 当 时 的 法 国 法 学 家 立 即 同 加佩 皇 族 （ ｈ ｏ ｕ ｓ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｃ ａ ｐ ｅ ｔ ） 的 国 王 们 结 成 了 密 切 的 联 盟 ， 而法 兰 西 君 主 国 之 所 以 能 从 省 邦 和 藩 属 的 割 据 状 态 中 成 长 起来 ， 一 方 面 固 然 是 由 于 武 力 ， 同 时 也 借 助 他 们 对 帝 王 特 权 的主 张 以 及 他 们 对 封 建 承 继 规 则 的 解 释 。 法 国 国 王 们 同 法 律 家之 间 的 谅 解 ， 使 国 王 们 在 对 大 封 建 主 、 贵 族 和 教 会 的 斗 争 中

    取 得 巨 大 的 利 益 ， 我 们 只 要 研 究 一 下 直 到 中 世 纪 还 在 欧 洲 流

    行 着 的 各 种 观 念 就 能 够 体 会 到 这 一 点 。 首 先 是 对 于 概 括 的 非

    常 醉 心 以 及 对 于 一 般 命 题 的 出 奇 的 崇 拜 ， 因 此 ， 在 法 律 的 分

    野 内 ， 对 于 看 上 去 似 乎 能 包 含 和 总 括 在 各 地 区 作 为 惯 例 实 行

    的 许 多 各 别 规 则 的 每 一 条 一 般 公 式 就 都 油 然 而 产 生 一 种 虔 敬

    之 心 。 像 这 样 一 类 的 一 般 公 式 ， 对 于 熟 习 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 或

    “ 注 释 集 ” 的 法 律 实 务 者 说 来 ， 当 然 是 不 难 尽 量 提 供 的 。 但 是

    此 外 还 有 其 他 原 因 使 法 学 家 的 权 力 有 更 大 的 增 加 。 在 我 们 所

    谈 到 的 时 期 中 ， 对 于 成 文 法 律 究 竟 有 怎 样 程 度 和 怎 样 性 质 的

    权 力 ， 在 观 念 上 是 普 遍 地 模 糊 的 。 一 般 讲 来 ， 独 断 的 序 言 ，兹规定 （ Ｉ ｔ ａ 　 ｓ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｐ ｔ ｕ ｍ 　 ｅ ｓ ｔ ） ， 似 乎 即 足 以 止 息 所 有 的 异 议 。 按

    照 我 们 今 日 的 心 意 ， 我 们 对 于 所 引 证 的 公 式 ， 必 将 审 慎 地 加

    以 研 究 ， 查 询 其 来 源 ， 必 要 时 并 会 否 认 它 所 属 的 法 律 有 代 替

    当 地 习 惯 之 权 ， 但 前 辈 法 学 家 可 能 就 不 敢 这 样 做 ， 他 们 只 是考 究 一 下 法 律 的 规 定 是 否 可 以 适 用 ， 充 其 量 ， 也 只 是 从 “ 法

    学 汇 纂 ” 或 “ 寺 院 法 ” 中 引 一 些 相 反 的 命 题 而 已 。 对 于 各 种

    法 律 争 论 中 这 个 最 重 要 的 方 面 人 们 看 法 的 变 化 无 定 ， 必 须 牢

    记 在 心 中 ， 因 为 这 不 但 可 以 帮 助 说 明 法 学 家 对 于 帝 王 出 过 一

    臂 之 力 ， 同 时 也 可 以 使 几 个 古 怪 的 历 史 问 题 得 以 阐 明 。 “ 伪 教皇 教 令 集 ” （ Ｆ ｏ ｒ ｇ ｅ ｄ 　 Ｄ ｅ ｃ ｒ ｅ ｔ ａ ｌ ｓ ） 著 者 的 动 机 以 及 他 的 非 常 成功 ， 也 能 因 此 而更 加 容 易 领 会 。 再 就 一 个 关 系 较 小 的 现 象 而论 ， 它 能 够 帮 助 我 们 、 虽 然 只 是 部 分 地 ， 了 解 布 拉 克 顿 的 抄袭 主 义 。 这 个 生 活 在 亨 利 三 世 （ Ｈ ｅ ｎ ｒ ｙ 　 Ⅲ ） 时 代 的 英 国 著 者 ，竟 会 把 他 的 一 篇 全 部 形 式 和 三 分 之 一 内 容 直 接 剽 窃 自 “ 民 法大 全 ” 的 论 文 ， 作 为 纯 粹 国 英 法 的 纲 要 ， 而 向 其 同 胞 宣 扬 。 他竟 敢 在 正 式 禁 止 系 统 地 研 究 罗 马 法 的 一 个 国 家 内 作 这 样 的 试验 ， 这 在 法 学 史 上 将 始 终 成 为 一 个 最 不 可 解 之 谜 。 但 当 我 们了 解 到 当 时 对 于 成 文 法 律 有 拘 束 力 的 一 般 意 见 ， 不 论 其 来 源 如 何 ， 则 我 们 的 惊 异 是 仍 旧 可 以 略 为 减 少 的 。

    当 法 国 的 国 王 们 在 长 期 争 取 最 高 统 治 权 的 斗 争 中 得 到 胜

    利 的 结 束 时 ， 约 相 当 于 瓦 罗 亚 · 安 古 伦 （ Ｖ ａ ｌ ｏ ｉ ｓ Ａ ｎ ｇ ｏ ｕ ｌ ｅ Jｍ ｅ ） 王 族 继 承 皇 位 的 时 候 ， 法 国 法 学 家 的 地 位 是 特 殊 的 ， 并 且 延续 到 革 命 暴 发 为 止 。 一 方 面 ， 他 们 形 成 了 国 内 最 有 教 养 的 并且 是 最 有 势 力 的 阶 级 。 他 们 尽 量 利 用 他 们 在 封 建 贵 族 以 外 的

    一 个 特 殊 阶 级 的 地 位 ， 他 们 并 且 通 过 了 一 个 组 织 把 他 们 的 职

    业 分 布 到 全 法 国 来 确 保 他 们 的 影 响 ， 这 个 组 织 包 括 许 多 巨 大

    的 特 许 公 司 ， 具 有 广 泛 而 明 确 的 权 力 ， 以 及 更 为 广 泛 无 限 制

    的 发 言 权 。 不 论 他 们 所 担 任 的 是 辩 护 人 ， 是 法 官 ， 或 是 立 法

    者 ， 在 其 性 质 上 他 们 都 远 超 过 全 欧 洲 的 同 辈 。 他 们 的 法 律 技巧 ， 他 们 的 能 言 善 辩 ， 他 们 的 善 于 类 比 和 调 和 ， 以 及 （ 如 果以 他 们 中 最 著 名 的 人 物 来 评 定 ） 他 们 对 公 正 概 念 的 热 诚 ， 正和 他 们 所 赋 有 的 各 式 各 样 的 独 特 天 才 ， 同 样 是 十 分 引 人 注 意的 。 在 这 多 样 的 天 才 中 包 括 着 由 古 乍 斯 （ Ｃ ｕ ｊ ａ ｓ ） 到 孟 德 斯 鸠 ，由 达 该 素 （ Ｄ ’ Ａ ｇ ｕ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｅ ａ ｕ ） 到 都 漠 兰 （ Ｄ ｕ ｍ ｏ ｕ ｌ ｉ ｎ ） 的 两 个 相反 的 极 端 之 间 的 全 部 人 物 。 但 是 在 另 一 方 面 ， 他 们 必 须 执 行

    的 法 律 制 度 ， 则 与 他 们 所 养 成 的 习 性 完 全 不 同 。 这 个 主 要 经

    由 他 们 的 努 力 而 组 成 的 法 国 ， 当 时 从 一 种 畸 形 的 和 不 协 调 的

    法 律 学 受 到 的 苦 恼 ， 远 超 过 了 其 他 的 任 何 欧 洲 国 家 。 一 次 巨

    大 的 分 裂 终 于 在 这 个 国 家 发 生 ， 把 它 分 为成文法区域和习惯 ·

    法 ·

    区域，前 者 承 认 成 文 的 罗 马 法 为 其 法 律 学 的 基 础 ， 后 者 只

    在 它 能 提 供 一 般 表 现 形 式 或 是 它 能 提 供 同 当 地 惯 例 相 一 致 的

    法 律 推 理 方 法 时 ， 才 加 以 采 用 。 这 样 划 分 的 区 域 ， 又 被 划 分为 不 同 的 小 区 域 。 在习惯法区域中 ， 就 其 习 惯 的 性 质 来 说 、 省与 省 之 间 不 同 ， 县 与 县 之 间 、 市 与 市 之 间 又 有 不 同 。 在成文法区域 中 ， 掩 盖 在 罗 马 法 上 面 的 封 建 规 则 ， 具 层 次 组 成 亦 非常 复 杂 。 英 国 从 来 没 有 发 生 过 这 样 的 混 乱 情 况 。 在 德 国，这种 情 况 曾 经 存 在 ， 但 因 为 和 该 国 政 治 宗 教 间 的 深 刻 划 分 ， 在很 大 程 度 上 是 非 常 协 调 的 ， 所 以 很 少 影 响 ， 甚 至 难 以 感觉到法 国 的 独 特 之 点 在 于 当 君 主 的 中 央 政 权 正 在 不 断 加 强 ， 完 全

    的 行 政 统 一 工 作 正 在 迅 速 完 成 ， 以 及 在 人 民 中 间 一 种 热 烈 的

    国 家 精 神 正 在 发 展 起 来 的 时 候 ， 这 种 法 律 上 非 常 参 差 的 情 况

    还 是 继 续 着 ， 丝 毫 不 感 到 有 什 么 改 变 。 这 种 矛 盾 现 象 产 生 了

    许 多 严 重 的 后 果 ， 其 中 ， 尤 以 它 在 法 国 法 学 家 心 神 上 所 产 生的 效 果 ， 最 为 重 要 。 他 们 在 推 理 上 的 意 见 和 他 们 在 智 力 上 的

    偏 见 ， 恰 恰 和 他 们 的 利 益 和 职 业 习 惯 完 全 相 反 。 他 们 既 深 深

    地 感 觉 到 并 完 全 认 识 到 法 律 学 上 的 完 美 是 在 于 单 纯 性 和 一 致

    性 ， 因 此 便 以 为 或 似 乎 以 为 那 些 确 实 感 染 着 法 国 法 律 的 缺 点

    是 难 以 革 除 的 ， 因 此 ， 在 实 际 上 ， 他 们 常 拒 绝 纠 正 这 些 缺 点 ，

    其 顽 固 程 度 即 在 比 较 不 开 明 的 同 胞 中 也 是 不 常 有 的 。 但 当 时

    有 一 种 方 法 可 以 用 来 调 和 这 些 矛 盾 。 他 们 变 成 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 的

    热 烈 拥 护 者 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 跳 过 了 所 有 的 省 市 界 限 ； 它 不 管 一 切

    区 分 ， 不 论 是 贵 族 和 市 民 之 间 的 ， 市 民 和 农 民 之 间 的 ； 它 给

    明 白 、 单 纯 和 系 统 以 极 端 崇 高 的 地 位 ； 但 是 它 并 没 有 促 使 其

    拥 护 者 进 行 任 何 特 殊 的 改 进 ， 亦 没 有 直 接 威 胁 到 任 何 可 尊 敬

    的 或 有 利 的 专 门 性 质 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 可 以 说 已 成 为 法 国 的 普 通 法 ，

    或 者 ， 无 论 如 何 ， 承 认 它 的 尊 严 和 要 求 已 成 为 所 有 法 国 法 律

    实 务 者 一 致 同 意 的 一 个 哲 理 。 革 命 前 法 学 家 的 言 论 中 ， 对

    “ 自 然 法 ” 毫 无 保 留 地 一 致 颂 扬 ， 而 值 得 注 意 的 是 ， 那 些 专 事诽 谤 纯 粹 罗 马 法 的 “ 习 惯 ” 论 者 ， 在 谈 到 “ 自 然 ” 及 其 规 定时 ， 往 往 甚 至 比 自 认 为 只 尊 重 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” （ Ｄ ｉ ｇ ｅ ｓ ｔ ） 及 “ 法典 ” 的 民 法 学 家 ， 更 为 热 烈 。 都 漠 兰 是 古 “ 法 兰 西 习 惯 法 ” 所

    有 权 威 学 者 中 的 最 高 权 威 ， 却 有 几 篇 非 常 透 彻 详 尽 的 有 关

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 论 文 ， 他 的 颂 词 并 且 有 一 种 特 殊 的 风 格 ， 显 然 同罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 小 心 慎 重 有 着 距 离 。 一 个 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 假 说已 成 为 不 复 是 指 导 实 际 的 一 种 理 论 ， 而 是 纯 理 论 信 仰 的 一 种信 条 ； 因 此 ， 我 们 将 发 现 在 它 比 较 近 来 所 经 受 的 变 化 中 ， 由于 其 拥 护 者 的 推 崇 ， 它 的 最 弱 部 分 也 上 升 到 了 其 最 强 部 分 的水 平 。

    在 “ 自 然 法 ” 史 达 到 最 紧 要 的 关 头 时 ， 十 八 世 纪 已 经 过去 了 一 半 。 如 果 对 于 自 然 法 理 论 及 其 后 果 的 讨 论 继 续 专 属 于法 律 界 ， 则 它 所 受 到 的 重 视 可 能 要 有 一 些 减 少 ； 因 为 到 这 个

    时 候 ， “ 论 法 的 精 神 ” 出 版 了 。 孟 德 斯 鸠 在 这 本 书 中 ， 一 方 面

    相 当 夸 张 地 显 示 出 作 者 强 烈 地 不 愿 接 受 以 前 通 常 是 不 加 详 细

    审 查 而 予 以 容 忍 的 各 种 假 设 ， 另 一 方 面 又 相 当 模 糊 地 表 现 出

    作 者 要 与 现 存 偏 见 相 调 和 的 愿 望 ， 但 是 ， 这 本 书 虽 有 其 缺 点 ，

    却 仍 按 照 着 “ 历 史 方 法 ” 进 行 研 究 ， 在 这 种 方 法 之 前 ， “ 自 然

    法 ” 是 从 来 没 有 能 瞬 息 维 持 其 立 足 点 的 。 它 不 但 受 到 了 大 众

    的 欢 迎 ， 并 且 在 思 想 上 也 发 生 了 巨 大 的 影 响 ； 但 是 ， 在 事 实

    上 它 并 没 有 得 到 进 一 步 深 入 的 机 会 ， 因 为 似 乎 注 定 要 被 它 所

    毁 灭 的 反 假 说 突 然 从 法 庭 传 到 了 民 间 ， 并 且 成 为 远 较 法 院 或

    学 校 中 曾 经 激 辩 过 的 主 题 更 能 引 起 激 烈 争 执 的 主 题 。 这 个 把

    它 放 在 新 地 位 的 人 ， 是 一 个 非 常 的 人 ， 他 没 有 学 识 ， 很 少 美

    德 ， 并 且 也 没 有 十 分 坚 强 的 个 性 ， 但 由 于 一 种 鲜 明 的 想 象 力 ，

    以 及 他 对 于 人 类 的 真 诚 的 热 爱 （ 为 了 这 ， 我 们 对 他 有 许 多 地

    方 应 该 原 谅 的 ） ， 却 使 他 成 为 历 史 上 不 可 磨 灭 的 人 物 。 在 我 们

    自 己 的 一 代 中 ， 我 们 从 来 没 有 看 到 过 — — 的 确 ， 即 在 全 世 界

    整 个 历 史 过 程 中 ， 也 不 会 看 到 一 次 或 二 次 以 上 的 — — 这 样 一

    个 文 件 ， 曾 对 人 类 的 心 灵 、 对 知 识 分 子 的 躯 体 和 灵 魂 产 生 过

    像 卢 梭 在 １ ７ ４ ９ 年 和 １ ７ ６ ２ 年 之 间 所 产 生 的 那 样 巨 大 的 影 响的 。 在 由 贝 尔 （ Ｂ ａ ｙ ｌ ｅ ） 和 部 分 地 由 我 国 的 洛 克开 始 ，最 后 却 由 伏 尔 泰完 成 的 纯 然 是 偶 象 破 坏 的 努 力 以后 ， 这 是 要 重 新 建 立 人 类 信 念 的 第 一 次 尝 试 ； 并 且 除 了 每 一个 有 建 设 性 的 努 力 常 常 必 然 优 于 单 纯 的 破 坏 性 的 努 力 以 外，它 还 有 着 一 个 卓 越 之 处 ， 就 是 在 一 个 几 乎 普 遍 的 怀 疑 论 的 氛围 中 间 ， 提 出 了 所 有 过 去 推 理 方 面 知 识 的 健 全 性 问 题 。 在 卢梭 的 一 切 理 论 中 ， 其 中 心 人 物 ， 不 论 是 穿 着 英 国 服 装 在 一 个

    社 会 契 约 上 签 名 的 或 者 是 率 直 地 把 所 有 历 史 特 性 完 全 剥 光

    的 ， 都 一 律 是 在 一 种 假 设 的 自 然 状 态 中 的 “ 人 ” 。 每 一 种 法 律

    和 制 度 ， 凡 是 不 能 适 合 于 这 些 理 想 情 况 下 的 这 种 想 象 的 人 ， 都

    被 加 以 非 难 ， 认 为 是 从 一 种 原 始 完 美 状 态 的 堕 落 ； 对 于 每 一

    种 能 使 社 会 更 接 近 于 “ 自 然 ” 生 物 统 治 着 的 世 界 的 社 会 变 革 ，

    都 认 为 是 可 以 赞 美 的 ， 并 值 得 用 任 何 明 显 的 代 价 使 其 实 现 。 这

    个 确 论 仍 旧 是 罗 马 法 学 家 的 理 论 ， 因 为 在 这 个 人 类 居 住 的“ 自 然 条 件 ” （ Ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ａ ｌ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 的 暗 影 中 ， 除 了 对 于 法 学

    专 家 具 有 非 常 魔 力 的 单 纯 和 调 和 之 外 ， 竟 没 有 一 个 特 色 和 特

    点 为 人 们 所 注 意 到 ； 但 是 这 个 理 论 好 像 是 本 末 倒 置 过 来 了 。 现

    在 所 研 究 的 主 要 问 题 ， 已 不 是 “ 自 然 法 律 ” ， 而 是 “ 自 然 状态 ” （ Ｓ ｔ ａ ｔ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ｅ ） 。 罗 马 人 曾 认 为 ， 如 果 对 于 现 存 的 各种 制 度 加 以 仔 细 观 察 ， 则 在 这 些 制 度 中 必 然 可 以 挑 选 出 有 几

    个 部 分 或 者 立 即 可 以 显 示 出 来 ， 或 者 必 须 经 过 法 律 上 的 纯 净

    作 用 才 可 以 显 示 出 那 种 自 然 统 治 的 痕 迹 ， 这 种 自 然 统 治 在 罗

    马 人 看 起 来 ， 有 可 能 是 真 实 的 。 至 于 卢 梭 的 信 念 是 ： 一 个 完

    美 的 社 会 秩 序 可 以 求 之 于 单 纯 的 对 自 然 状 态 的 考 虑 ， 这 一 种

    社 会 秩 序 完 全 同 世 界 的 实 际 情 况 没 有 关 系 ， 并 且 完 全 同 世 界

    的 实 际 情 况 不 同 。 这 两 种 见 解 的 分 歧 是 巨 大 的 ， 一 种 是 痛 责

    现 在 ， 因 为 它 不 像 理 想 中 的 过 去 ： 而 另 外 的 一 种 ， 假 定 现 在

    同 过 去 一 样 的 必 要 的 ， 因 此 也 就 不 轻 视 现 在 或 谴 责 现 在 。 我

    们 没 有 必 要 枉 费 时 间 ， 以 详 细 分 析 这 建 筑 于 一 个 自 然 状 态 基础 上 的 政 治 、 艺 术 、 教 育 、 伦 理 学 和 社 会 关 系 的 哲 学 。 这 种

    哲 学 对 于 每 一 个 国 家 中 比 较 不 精 确 的 思 想 家 还 具 有 特 别 的 吸

    引 力 ， 并 且 无 疑 地 是 妨 碍 着 应 用 “ 历 史 研 究 方 法 ” 的 几 乎 一

    切 先 入 之 见 的 、 多 少 是 不 直 接 的 根 源 ， 但 它 已 为 我 们 今 日 有

    识 者 所 不 信 任 到 了 这 样 的 程 度 ， 竟 使 那 些 熟 知 纯 理 论 的 错 误

    具 有 非 常 活 力 的 人 们 ， 为 之 惶 惑 不 止 。 在 今 天 最 常 提 到 的 问

    题 ， 也 许 并 不 是 这 些 意 见 究 竟 有 什 么 价 值 ， 而 是 ： 在 一 百 年

    以 前 使 它 们 有 这 样 的 盖 过 一 切 的 优 势 ， 其 原 因 究 竟 是 什 么 。 我

    认 为 回 答 是 很 简 单 的 。 在 上 一 世 纪 中 ， 有 一 种 研 究 最 可 能 用

    来 纠 正 凡 是 专 门 注 意 于 古 法 律 的 人 很 容 易 陷 入 的 误 解 ， 这 种

    研 究 便 是 宗 教 的 研 究 。 但 希 腊 宗 教 如 当 时 所 理 解 的 那 样 ， 都

    已 被 分 散 于 许 多 想 象 的 神 话 中 。 东 方 的 各 种 宗 教 纵 使 确 曾 受

    到 过 注 意 ， 但 这 些 宗 教 似 乎 都 迷 失 于 空 虚 的 宇 宙 开 辟 论 中 。 只

    有 一 种 原 始 记 录 ， 值 得 加 以 研 究 — — 就 是 早 期 的 犹 太 史 。 但

    当 时 的 种 种 偏 见 阻 止 着 我 们 利 用 它 。 卢 梭 学 派 同 伏 尔 泰 学 派

    所 共 有 的 少 数 特 征 之 一 ； 是 完 全 轻 视 一 切 宗 教 上 的 古 代 事 物 ，

    特 别 是 属 于 希 伯 来 民 族 的 。 众 所 周 知 ， 当 时 的 理 论 家 都 不 仅

    认 为 以 摩 西为 名 的 制 度 并 非 真 的 出 自 神 授 ， 认 为 它

    们 也 不 是 象 传 说 那 样 在 一 个 较 后 的 时 期 被 制 定 为 法 典 的 ， 他

    们 认 为 这 些 制 度 以 及 全 部 的 “ 摩 西 五 经 ”都 只是 一 种 毫 无 根 据 的 伪 造 ， 是 在 从 “ 幽 囚 ” （ Ｃ ａ ｐ ｔ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｔ ｙ ） 中 回 来以 后 完 成 的 。 这 些 思 想 家 所 以 作 出 这 样 的 假 定 ， 因 为 这 与 他们 的 荣 誉 有 关 。 因 此 法 国 的 哲 学 家 们 ， 既 被 阻 止 取 得 这 个 反

    对 纯 理 论 谬 见 的 主 要 保 证 ， 就 在 他 们 热 切 于 从 他 们 认 为 是 僧

    侣 的 迷 信 中 逃 避 出 来 的 时 候 ， 又 轻 率 地 把 他 们 自 己 投 入 了 法学 家 的 迷 信 中 去 。

    但 是 这 个 以 自 然 状 态 的 假 设 为 基 础 的 哲 学 ， 虽 然 因 为 它

    只 被 看 到 了 其 粗 糙 的 和 比 较 容 易 看 到 的 一 面 ， 一 般 的 评 价 不

    高 ， 但 这 并 不 是 说 ， 当 它 在 比 较 精 巧 的 伪 装 中 ， 就 失 掉 了 它

    可 以 赞 美 的 地 方 、 通 俗 的 地 方 和 它 的 力 量 。 我 相 信 ， 象 我 前

    面 已 说 过 的 ， 它 仍 旧 是 “ 历 史 方 法 ” 的 劲 敌 ； 并 且 （ 除 了 宗

    教 上 的 反 对 以 外 ） 凡 是 拒 绝 或 责 难 这 种 研 究 方 式 的 人 ， 一 般

    都 是 由 于 有 意 或 无 意 地 受 到 了 信 赖 社 会 或 个 人 的 非 历 史 的 即

    自 然 的 状 态 的 一 种 偏 见 或 武 断 的 影 响 的 结 果 。 不 过 “ 自 然 ” 学

    说 及 其 法 律 观 点 之 所 以 能 保 持 其 能 力 ， 主 要 是 由 于 它 们 能 和

    各 种 政 治 及 社 会 倾 向 联 结 在 一 起 ， 在 这 些 倾 向 中 ， 有 一 些 是

    由 它 们 促 成 的 ， 有 一 些 的 确 是 它 们 所 创 造 的 ， 而 绝 大 部 分 则

    是 由 它 们 提 供 了 说 明 和 形 式 。 它 们 明 显 地 大 量 渗 入 到 不 断 由

    法 国 传 播 到 文 明 世 界 各 地 的 各 种 观 念 中 ， 这 样 就 成 为 改 变 世

    界 文 明 的 一 般 思 想 体 系 的 一 部 分 。 这 些 学 理 对 民 族 命 运 所 加

    的 影 响 ， 其 价 值 如 何 ， 当 然 是 我 们 时 代 中 最 热 烈 争 辩 的 论 点

    之 一 ， 对 于 这 个 方 面 ， 我 们 不 准 备 在 本 文 中 加 以 讨 论 。 但 是

    如 果 回 顾 一 下 自 然 状 态 理 论 在 政 治 上 达 到 非 常 高 度 的 重 要 性

    的 时 期 ， 则 绝 少 人 会 否 认 ： 在 第 一 次 “ 法 国 革 命 ” 时 期 ， 曾

    经 多 次 发 生 的 重 大 失 望 都 是 由 它 有 力 地 促 成 的 。 它 产 生 了 或

    强 烈 地 刺 激 了 当 时 几 乎 普 遍 存 在 的 智 力 上 的 恶 习 ， 如 对 现 实

    法 的 蔑 视 ， 对 经 验 的 不 耐 烦 ， 以 及 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 优 先 于 一 切 其 他 理

    性 等 。 这 种 哲 学 紧 紧 地 掌 握 住 了 那 些 比 较 思 想 得 少 、 同 时 又

    不 善 于 观 察 的 人 ， 它 的 发 展 趋 势 也 就 比 例 地 成 为 明 显 的 无 政

    府 状 态 。 可 惊 异 的 是 ， 杜 蒙 （ Ｄ ｕ ｍ ｏ ｎ ｔ ） 为 边 沁 出 版 的 “ 无 政府 的 诡 辩 ” 一 书 中 具 体 地 表 现 了边 沁 所 暴 露 的 显 然 是 来 自 法 国 的 谬 见 ， 有 很 多 是 来 自 经 过 法国 变 化 的 罗 马 假 设 ， 并 且 除 非 是 参 照 了 罗 马 假 设 ， 这 些 诡 辩是 不 容 易 理 解 的 。 在 这 一 点 上 可 以 参 考 在 革 命 的 各 个 主 要 年代 中 间 的 ·

    劝 ·

    戒 ·

    者 （ Ｍ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｕ ｒ ） 。 时 代 越 黑 暗 ， 则 诉 诸 “ 自 然 法

    律 和 状 态 ” 便 越 加 频 繁 。 在 “ 国 民 议 会 ” 中 这 种 情 况 比 较 少

    见 ； 在 “ 立 法 议 会 ” 时 期 则 比 较 经 常 ； 在 “ 宪 法 会 议 ” 中 ， 在

    辩 论 着 阴 谋 和 战 争 的 纷 争 声 中 ， 这 种 情 况 便 永 久 存 在 着 。

    有 一 个 例 子 非 常 明 显 地 说 明 了 自 然 法 理 论 对 现 代 社 会 的

    影 响 ， 并 且 表 明 这 些 影 响 是 如 何 的 深 而 且 远 。 我 以 为 人 类 根

    本 平 等 的 学 理 ， 毫 无 疑 问 是 来 自 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 种 推 定 。 “ 人

    类 一 律 平 等 ” 是 大 量 法 律 命 题 之 一 ， 它 随 着 时 代 的 进 步 已 成

    为 一 个 政 治 上 的 命 题 。 罗 马 安 托 宁 时 代 的 法 学 专 家 们 提 出 ：

    “ 每 一 个 人 自 然 是 平 等 的 ”， 但 在 他 们 心 目 中 ， 这 是 一 个 严 格 的 法 律 公 理 。 他 们 企 图 主 张 ， 在 假 设 的 “ 自 然 法 ” 之 下 ， 以 及 在 现 实法 接 近 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 程 度 内 ， 罗 马 “ 市 民 法 ” 所 支 持 的 各 阶

    级 人 们 之 间 的 武 断 区 分 不 应 该 在 法 律 上 存 在 。 这 个 规 定 对 罗

    马 法 律 实 务 者 ， 是 有 相 当 的 重 要 性 的 ， 因 为 这 使 他 们 必 须 记

    着 ， 凡 在 罗 马 法 律 学 被 推 定 为 完 全 符 合 于 “ 自 然 ” 法 典 的 规

    定 时 ， 则 罗 马 法 院 在 考 虑 公 民 与 外 国 人 之 间 、 人 民 与 奴 隶 之

    间 、 “ 宗 亲 ” 与 “ 血 亲 ” 之 间 ” 的 一 切 问 题 时 ， 却 不 应 该 有 所

    区 别 。 凡 是 作 这 样 主 张 的 法 学 专 家 ， 当 然 决 不 会 指 摘 使 市 民

    法 不 能 达 到 其 理 论 形 式 的 社 会 安 排 ， 他 们 显 然 也 不 会 相 信 世

    界 真 会 看 到 人 类 社 会 会 同 自 然 组 织 完 全 同 化 的 。 但 当 人 类 平等 学 说 披 上 了 现 代 服 装 而 出 现 时 ， 它 显 然 已 包 藏 着 一 种 新 的

    意 义 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 用 “ 是 平 等 ” （ Eｑ ｕ ａ ｌ ｅ ｓ 　 ｓ ｕ ｎ ｔ ） 的 这 些 字眼 ， 其 所 含 意 义 真 和 他 所 说 的 完 全 一 样 ， 而 现 代 民 法 学 家 在

    写 “ 人 类 一 律 平 等 ” 时 ， 他 的 意 思 是 “ 人 类 应 该 平 等 ” 。 罗 马

    人 以 为 自 然 法 是 和 市 民 法 同 时 存 在 的 ， 并 且 是 在 逐 渐 吞 并 着

    市 民 法 的 ， 这 种 特 殊 看 法 显 然 已 经 被 遗 忘 了 ， 或 已 经 成 为 不

    可 理 解 的 了 。 这 些 字 眼 在 过 去 充 其 量 只 是 表 达 了 有 关 人 类 各

    种 制 度 渊 源 、 组 织 和 其 发 展 的 一 种 理 论 ， 后 来 开 始 被 用 来 表

    示 人 类 长 期 遭 受 的 大 不 公 正 之 意 。 早 在 十 四 世 纪 初 期 ， 关 于

    人 类 出 生 状 态 的 流 行 说 法 虽 然 明 显 地 想 要 和 阿 尔 比 安 及 其 同

    时 代 人 的 说 法 相 一 致 ， 但 其 形 式 和 意 义 却 已 全 然 不 同 。 路 易

    · 胡 廷 国 王 （ Ｋ ｉ ｎ ｇ 　 Ｌ ｏ ｕ ｉ ｓ 　 Ｈ ｕ ｔ ｉ ｎ ） 解 放 王 家 领 地 内 农 奴 的 著名 命 令 中 的 前 言 ， 在 罗 马 人 听 来 ， 将 是 非 常 陌 生 的 ， “ 既 然 按

    照 自 然 法 ， 每 个 人 应 该 生 而 自 由 ； 由 于 自 上 古 以 来 就 已 采 用

    并 一 直 到 现 在 还 在 我 国 土 上 被 保 持 着 的 某 种 惯 例 和 习 惯 ， 并

    且 可 能 由 于 人 们 前 辈 的 罪 行 ， 在 我 们 普 通 人 民 中 就 有 许 多 人

    陷 入 了 被 奴 役 的 地 位 ， 因 此 ， 我 们 等 等 ” ， 这 不 是 一 条 法 律 规

    定 而 是 一 个 政 治 教 条 的 宣 言 ； 从 这 个 时 候 起 ， 法 国 法 学 家 们

    在 谈 到 人 类 平 等 时 ， 正 好 象 这 是 偶 然 被 保 留 在 他 们 的 科 学 中

    的 一 个 政 治 真 理 似 的 。 象 来 自 “ 自 然 法 ” 假 设 中 的 一 切 其 他

    演 释 一 样 ， 同 时 也 象 “ 自 然 法 ” 这 个 信 念 的 本 身 一 样 ， 它 在

    直 到 被 从 法 学 家 之 手 转 入 到 十 八 世 纪 文 人 们 之 手 以 及 信 服 他

    们 的 公 众 之 手 以 前 ， 只 是 毫 无 生 气 地 被 同 意 着 ， 而 且 它 对 意

    见 和 实 践 ， 也 都 很 少 有 影 响 。 在 这 些 文 人 之 手 中 ， 它 成 为 他

    们 信 条 中 最 清 楚 的 教 理 ， 并 被 认 为 是 一 切 其 他 教 理 的 一 个 总结 。 但 是 ， 它 最 后 在 １ ７ ８ ９ 年 事 件 中 所 以 得 势 ， 可 能 不 完 全 是

    由 于 它 在 法 国 的 声 望 。 因 为 在 这 世 纪 的 中 叶 ， 它 已 被 传 播 到

    了 美 国 。 当 时 的 美 国 法 学 家 ， 尤 其 是 弗 吉 尼 亚的 法 学 家 ， 似 乎 已 具 有 和 英 国 同 时 代 人 不 同 的 大 量 知 识 ， 其 主要 不 同 之 点 ， 是 在 他 们 的 知 识 中 包 括 了 许 多 只 可 能 来 自 欧 洲大 陆 法 律 文 献 的 知 识 。 只 要 参 考 一 下 杰斐逊的 著 作 ， 就 可 以 看 到 他 是 如 何 深 受 到 法 国 当 时 时 尚 的 半 法 律 、 半通 俗 的 见 解 的 影 响 ； 我 们 也 毫 不 怀 疑 ， 正 是 由 于 他 们 对 法 国法 学 家 这 些 特 殊 观 念 深 表 同 情 ， 在 “ 独 立 宣 言 ” 开 头 的 几 行 中 ， 这 位 指 导 着 当 时 美 国 事务 的杰斐逊和 在 这 殖 民 地 中 的 其 他 法 学 家 ， 就 把 这 独 特 的 法国 假 设 即 “ 人 类 生 而 平 等 ” 和 英 国 人 最 熟 悉 的 假 设 “ 人 类 生而 自 由 ” 相 结 合 在 一 起 。 这 是 放 在 我 们 当 前 的 这 个 学 理 的 历史 中 有 极 大 重 要 性 的 一 节 文 句 。 美 国 法 学 家 这 样 突 出 地 和 这样 着 重 地 主 张 人 类 的 根 本 平 等 ， 这 在 他 们 自 己 国 家 中 ， 并 且在 较 小 的 程 度 上 ， 也 在 大 不 列 颠 ， 推 动 了 一 个 政 治 运 动 ， 到

    现 在 还 远 没 有 衰 竭 下 来 ； 但 除 此 以 外 ， 他 们 正 把 他 们 所 一 度

    采 用 的 教 条 还 给 了 法 国 本 土 ， 赋 予 了 更 巨 大 的 能 力 ， 并 且 使

    它 受 到 了 一 般 人 更 大 的 欢 迎 和 尊 敬 。 甚 至 在 第 一 次 “ 国 民 议

    会 ” 中 比 较 小 心 谨 慎 的 政 治 家 ， 也 重 复 着 阿 尔 比 安 的 命 题 ， 好

    象 这 个 命 题 立 即 自 荐 于 人 类 的 本 能 和 直 觉 似 的 ； 并 且 在 所 有

    “ １ ７ ８ ９ 年 的 各 种 原 则 ” 中 ， 这 是 唯 一 的 曾 受 到 最 少 的 热 烈 的 攻击 ， 曾 最澈底地 影 响 现 代 意 见 并 将 最 深 刻 地 改 变 社 会 构 成 和

    国 家 政 治 的 原 则 。

    “ 自 然 法 ” 所 尽 的 最 伟 大 的 职 能 是 产 生 了 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ”和 现 代 “ 战 争 法 ”， 虽 然 它 的 这 一 个 部 分 效果 是 非 常 重 要 的 ， 但 在 这 里 ， 由 于 它 和 本 文 关 系 不 大 ， 因 此将 略 而 不 论 。

    在 形 成 “ 国 际 法 ” 基 础 的 各 种 假 定 中 间 ， 或 在 形 成 “ 国

    际 法 ” 中 到 现 在 仍 旧 能 保 持 其 从 原 来 建 筑 师 那 里 所 接 受 的 形

    态 的 部 分 基 本 假 定 中 间 ， 有 二 三 种 特 别 显 得 重 要 的 假 定 。 其

    中 第 一 个 表 现 在 这 样 的 一 个 立 论 中 ， 即 认 为 有 一 种 可 以 确 定

    的 “ 自 然 法 ” 。 格 罗 修 斯 及 其 后 继 者 直 接 从 罗 马 人 那 里 得 到 这

    一 个 假 设 ， 但 他 们 同 罗 马 法 学 专 家 之 间 以 及 在 他 们 相 互 之 间 ，

    对 于 确 定 的 方 式 ， 在 看 法 上 有 着 巨 大 的 分 歧 。 在 文 艺 复 兴 以

    后 盛 极 一 时 的 公 法 学 家 中 ， 几 乎 每 一 个 人 都 野 心 勃 勃 ， 提 出

    了 新 的 和 更 容 易 处 理 的 有 关 “ 自 然 ” 及 其 法 律 的 定 义 ， 并 且

    无 可 争 辩 ， 当 这 个 概 念 经 过 一 系 列 的 “ 公 法 ” 学 著 者 之 手 ， 在

    其 周 围 就 积 聚 了 一 大 堆 的 附 加 物 ， 其 中 包 括 了 都 是 从 支 配 着

    各 学 派 的 每 一 种 伦 理 学 理 论 中 得 来 的 各 种 观 念 片 断 。 虽 然 是

    这 样 ， 但 仍 有 明 显 的 证 据 证 明 这 个 概 念 主 要 是 有 历 史 性 质 的 ，

    因 为 从 自 然 状 态 的 各 种 必 要 特 点 中 探 求 自 然 法 典 ； 虽 然 经 过

    了 种 种 努 力 ， 但 所 获 得 的 结 果 ， 正 和 人 们 把 罗 马 法 学 家 的 意

    见 不 加 探 究 或 修 正 而 立 即 采 用 时 所 可 能 得 到 的 结 果 ， 完 全 相

    同 。 如 果 把 国 际 法 中 的 协 约 和 条 约 部 分 撇 开 不 论 ， 可 以 看 到 ，

    在 这 制 度 中 有 相 当 惊 人 的 一 部 分 是 由 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 所 组 成

    的 。 法 学 专 家 的 每 一 种 学 理 ， 只 要 经 过 他 们 确 认 为 同 “ 万 民

    法 ” 相 协 调 时 ， 公 法 学 家 就 以 种 种 理 由 来 借 用 它 ， 不 论 这 个

    学 理 是 如 何 明 显 地 标 志 着 其 罗 马 渊 源 。 我 们 也 可 以 看 到 ， 这

    些 派 生 的 理 论 是 带 有 其 原 来 观 念 的 弱 点 的 。 大 多 数 公 法 学 家的 思 想 方 法 仍 旧 是 “ 混 合 的 ” 。 在 研 究 这 些 著 者 时 ， 最 大 的 困

    难 始 终 是 在 弄 清 楚 他 们 所 讨 论 的 究 竟 是 法 律 还 是 道 德 — — 他

    们 所 描 写 的 国 际 关 系 状 态 究 竟 是 现 实 的 还 是 理 想 的 — — 他 们

    所 说 的 究 竟 是 事 实 ， 还 是 他 们 的 意 见 认 为 应 该 是 这 样 的 。

    作 为 “ 国 际 法 ” 基 础 的 其 次 一 个 假 设 是 ， “ 自 然 法 ” 与 国家相 ·

    互之间有约束力。一系 列 主 张 或 认 可 这 原 则的 言 论 ， 得 追 溯 到 现 代 法 律 科 学 的 极 幼 稚 时 代 ， 并 且 初 看 起

    来 ， 它 好 像 是 直 接 来 自 罗 马 人 学 说 的 一 个 推 理 。 人 为 的 社 会

    状 态 和 自 然 状 态 不 同 ， 在 前 者 之 中 有 一 个 明 显 的 制 法 者 ， 在

    后 者 却 没 有 ， 因 此 ， 如 果 某 一 个单位 不 承 认 它 们 服 从 一 个 共

    同 主 权 或 政 治 领 袖 的 时 候 ， 它 们 就 好 像 恢 复 到 了 受 命 于 “ 自

    然 法 ” 了 。 国 家 就 是 这 类 的 单 位 ； 它 们 各 自 独 立 的 这 个 假 设 ，

    排 斥 了 一 个 共 同 立 法 者 的 观 念 ， 并 从 这 观 念 出 发 ， 按 照 某 种

    思 想 方 法 进 而 得 到 了 从 属 于 自 然 原 始 秩 序 的 观 念 。 另 一 种 想

    法 认 为 各 独 立 的 社 会 相 互 之 间 没 有 任 何 法 律 把 它 们 联 系 着 ，

    但 这 种 无 法 律 状 态 正 就 是 法 学 专 家 们 的 “ 自 然 ” 所 厌 恶 的 真

    空 。 如 果 一 个 罗 马 法 学 家 遇 到 有 市 民 法 被 排 斥 不 能 适 用 的 情

    况 ， 他 就 立 即 会 以 “ 自 然 ” 法 令 来 填 补 这 个 空 隙 ， 这 样 一 种

    想 法 ， 显 然 是 有 理 由 的 。 但 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 以 为 ， 在 历 史 的

    任 何 时 期 中 ， 都 确 实 可 以 得 出 这 样 的 结 论 ， 虽 然 这 在 我 们 的

    眼 光 中 是 非 常 明 确 和 直 接 的 。 根 据 我 的 判 断 ， 罗 马 法 的 遗 作

    中 没 有 任 何 一 节 可 以 用 来 证 明 法 学 专 家 确 曾 相 信 自 然 法 在 独

    立 国 家 之 间 有 任 何 拘 束 力 ； 并 且 我 们 不 得 不 看 到 ， 对 于 把 君

    主 领 土 看 作 和 文 明 同 境 界 的 罗 马 帝 国 公 民 们 ， 如 果 确 有 各 国

    平 等 隶 属 “ 自 然 法 ” 这 样 的 想 法 ， 也 至 多 只 是 古 怪 理 论 的 一个 极 端 结 果 。 真 相 似 乎 是 ： 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” 虽 然 无 疑 是 罗

    马 法 的 后 裔 ， 但 只 是 由 一 种 不 规 则 的 血 统 相 联 系 着 的 。 现 代

    早 期 的 罗 马 法 解 释 者 ， 误 解 了 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 意 义 ， 毫 不 犹 豫

    地 认 为 罗 马 人 传 给 了 他 们 一 套 调 整 国 际 事 务 的 法 律 制 度 。 在

    起 初 这 个 “ 国 际 法 ” 成 为 有 许 多 可 怕 的 竞 争 者 与 之 相 对 抗 的

    一 种 权 威 ， 而 欧 洲 是 长 期 处 在 这 种 情 况 下 ， 阻 碍 着 它 被 普 遍

    接 受 。 但 是 ， 逐 渐 地 ， 西 方 世 界 安 排 了 它 自 己 ， 使 其 形 式 比

    较 适 合 于 民 法 学 家 的 理 论 ； 情 况 的 变 更 摧 毁 了 所 有 敌 对 学 理

    的 势 力 ； 最 后 ， 在 一 个 罕 有 地 幸 运 的 机 会 ， 阿 雅 拉 （ Ａ ｙ ａ ｌ ａ ） 和

    格 罗 修 斯 终 于 为 它 取 得 了 欧 洲 的 热 诚 同 意 ； 这 种 同 意 曾 经 在

    每 一 个 不 同 的 庄 严 条 约 中 被 一 再 重 复 申 述 着 。 它 的 胜 利 主 要

    应 归 功 于 这 些 伟 大 人 物 ， 他 们 并 且 企 图 把 它 放 在 一 个 完 全 新

    的 基 础 上 ， 这 是 毋 庸 赘 述 的 ； 而 且 毫 无 疑 问 ， 在 这 转 移 位 置

    的 过 程 中 ， 他 们 改 变 了 很 多 它 的 结 构 ， 虽 然 远 没 有 一 般 所 想

    象 的 那 么 多 。 格 罗 修 斯 既 然 从 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 那 里 采 用 了 这

    个 论 点 ， 认 为 “ 万 民 法 ” 和 “ 自 然 法 ” 是 同 一 的 ， 他 和 他 的

    直 接 前 辈 及 直 接 后 继 者 便 使 “ 自 然 法 ” 具 有 一 种 权 威 ， 这 种

    权 威 要 不 是 在 那 个 时 候 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 含 义 模 糊 不 清 ， 是 也 许

    永 远 不 会 为 “ 自 然 法 ” 要 求 的 。 他 们 毫 无 保 留 地 主 张 “ 自 然

    法 ” 是 各 国 的 法 典 ， 于 是 就 开 始 了 这 样 一 种 过 程 ， 就 是 把 假

    定 是 从 单 纯 考 虑 “ 自 然 ” 概 念 而 求 得 的 各 种 规 定 灌 输 到 国 际

    制 度 中 去 ， 这 个 过 程 几 乎 一 直 延 续 到 我 们 的 时 代 。 还 有 一 种

    对 于 人 类 有 着 巨 大 实 际 重 要 性 的 后 果 ， 虽 然 在 欧 洲 早 期 现 代

    史 中 并 非 完 全 不 知 ， 但 在 直 到 格 罗 修 斯 学 派 的 学 理 获 得 盛 行

    之 前 ， 却 从 来 没 有 被 明 显 地 或 普 遍 地 承 认 过 。 如 果 各 个 国 家的 集 体 都 受 着 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 统 治 ， 则 组 成 这 个 集 体 的 各 个 原

    子 必 须 绝 对 平 等 。 人 类 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 王 笏 之 下 ， 是 一 律 平 等

    的 ， 从 而 ， 如 果 国 际 间 的 状 态 是 一 种 自 然 的 状 态 ， 则 各 国 也

    一 定 是 平 等 的 。 独 立 的 国 家 不 论 ， 大 小 强 弱 不 同 ， 但 在 国 际

    法 的 眼 光 中 是 一 律 平 等 的 ； 这 个 命 题 对 人 类 的 幸 福 有 巨 大 的

    贡 献 ， 虽 然 它 在 各 个 时 代 中 继 续 不 断 地 为 各 种 政 治 倾 向 所 威

    胁 着 。 如 果 “ 国 际 法 ” 不 是 由 文 艺 复 兴 后 的 公 法 学 家 们 完 全

    从 “ 自 然 ” 的 庄 严 主 张 中 求 得 ， 那 末 这 个 学 理 可 能 永 远 不 能

    获 得 一 个 稳 固 的 立 足 点 。

    可 是 ， 总 的 讲 起 来 ， 象 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过 的 ， 自 从 格 罗

    修 斯 时 代 以 来 ， 在 加 于 “ 国 际 法 ” 上 的 各 种 附 加 物 中 ， 只 有

    很 小 一 部 分 是 从 罗 马 “ 万 民 法 ” 最 古 资 料 直 接 采 取 来 的 。 土

    地 的 取 得 始 终 是 引 起 国 家 野 心 的 巨 大 的 刺 激 物 ； 而 适 用 于 这

    种 取 得 的 法 律 规 定 ， 以 及 消 除 因 土 地 取 得 而 造 成 的 战 争 的 法

    律 规 定 ， 都 仅 仅 是 从 罗 马 法 中 有 关 取 得 “ 万 民 法 ” 财 产 的 各

    种 方 式 的 部 分 中 抄 袭 得 来 的 。 这 许 多 取 得 的 方 式 ， 象 我 在 前

    面 已 经 企 图 说 明 的 ， 都 是 由 前 辈 法 学 专 家 从 其 所 观 察 到 的 各

    种 惯 例 中 抽 象 出 来 的 一 些 共 同 要 素 ， 这 些 惯 例 曾 经 流 行 于 罗

    马 周 围 各 部 落 间 ； 根 据 它 们 的 来 源 ， 这 些 规 定 被 归 类 在 “ 各

    国 共 有 的 法 律 ” 中 ， 再 由 于 他 们 的 单 纯 性 ， 后 来 的 法 学 家 便

    认 为 它 们 恰 合 于 一 个 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 较 近 代 的 概 念 。 它 们 就 这

    样 编 进 了 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” ， 其 结 果 是 ， 国 际 制 度 中 有 关 ·

    领土（ ｄ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 、 领 土 性 质 、 领 土 范 围 、 取 得 和 保 卫 领 土 方 式 的 那些 部 分 ， 便 都 是 纯 粹 的 罗 马 “ 财 产 法 ” — — 这 就 是 说 ， 罗 马

    “ 财 产 法 ” 中 的 那 些 部 分 ， 曾 为 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 想 象 为 和 自 然状 态 有 某 种 一 致 性 的 。 为 了 使 “ 国 际 法 ” 中 这 些 章 节 能 付 诸

    实 施 ， 有 必 要 使 存 在 于 主 权 者 之 间 的 相 互 关 系 ， 如 同 罗 马 所

    有 者 各 个 成 员 之 间 存 在 的 关 系 一 样 。 这 是 建 立 “ 国 际 法 典 ” 所

    依 据 的 各 种 假 定 中 的 另 一 个 假 定 ， 而 这 也 是 在 现 代 欧 洲 史 开

    头 几 个 世 纪 中 不 可 能 被 同 意 的 一 个 假 定 。 这 个 假 定 可 以 被 分

    解 为 这 样 一 个 双 重 命 题 ， 一 方 面 “ 主 权 是 领 土 的 ” ， 即 它 是 始

    终 和 地 球 表 面 上 一 定 部 分 的 所 有 权 联 系 着 ， 另 一 方 面 “ 主 权

    者 ·

    相 ·

    互 ·

    之 ·

    间 ， 应 该 被 认 为 不 是 国 家 领 土 的最高 所 有 人 ， 而 是

    ·

    绝 ·

    对 所 有 人 ” 。

    许 多 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” 著 者 都 默 认 ： 他 们 以 各 种 衡 平 和

    常 识 原 则 为 基 础 建 立 起 的 整 套 学 理 ， 都 可 以 在 现 代 文 明 的 各

    个 阶 段 中 推 论 出 来 。 但 这 个 默 认 一 方 面 掩 盖 着 国 际 理 论 上 所

    存 在 的 某 些 真 正 缺 点 ， 另 一 方 面 ， 就 大 部 分 的 现 代 史 而 论 ， 实

    在 是 完 全 不 足 取 的 。 在 匡 际 事 务 中 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 权 威 并 不 是

    始 终 不 受 到 反 抗 的 ； 相 反 的 ， 它 不 得 不 长 时 期 地 和 几 种 相 竞

    争 的 制 度 不 断 斗 争 着 。 同 时 ， 主 权 的 领 土 性 质 也 并 不 是 始 终

    被 承 认 着 的 ， 因 为 在 罗 马 统 治 解 体 以 后 ， 人 们 的 心 理 是 长 时

    期 地 处 在 和 这 类 概 念 不 相 协 调 的 观 念 的 支 配 之 下 。 在 “ 国 际

    法 ” 上 这 两 个 主 要 假 定 被 普 遍 承 认 之 前 ， 一 个 旧 的 制 度 以 及

    建 筑 在 它 上 面 的 思 想 观 念 必 然 地 要 腐 败 ， 一 个 新 的 欧 洲 ， 以

    及 与 之 相 适 应 的 新 的 观 念 必 然 地 要 生 长 起 来 。

    有 一 桩 事 值 得 注 意 ， 在 我 们 通 常 称 为 现 代 史 的 大 部 分 时期 中 ， 没 有 接 受 过 所 谓领土主权 这 类 概 念 。 在 过 去 ， 主 权 并不 是 和 对 地 球 上 一 部 分 或 再 小 部 分 的 土 地 的 控 制 联 系 在 一 起的 。 世 界 曾 有 这 样 许 多 世 纪 长 期 处 于 罗 马 帝 国 的 庇 护 之 下 ， 以致 忘 记 了 包 括 在 帝 国 中 的 广 大 空 间 在 过 去 曾 一 度 被 划 分 成 许多 独 立 国 家 ， 它 们 都 主 张 有 权 不 受 外 来 的 干 预 ， 并 且 标 榜 着

    国 家 权 利 应 该 一 律 平 等 。 在 蛮 族 入 侵 平 靖 后 ， 关 于 主 权 当 时

    流 行 着 的 观 念 ， 似 乎 具 有 双 重 意 义 。 一 方 面 它 有 着 所 谓 “部落 主 权 ” 的 形 式 。 法 兰 克 人， 勃艮第人， 汪 达 尔 人，伦巴达人以 及 西 哥 特 人， 当 然 都 是 他 们 所 占领 着 的 土 地 的 主 人 ， 其 中 有 几 种 人 并 以 他 们 自 己 的 名 字 作 为

    土 地 的 地 理 名 称 ； 但 是 他 们 并 不 根 据 土 地 占 有 的 事 实 而 主 张

    任 何 权 利 ， 并 且 在 实 际 上 甚 至 对 于 占 有 的 事 实 也 并 不 认 为 有

    任 何 特 别 重 要 性 。 他 们 似 乎 还 保 留 着 他 们 由 森 林 中 和 草 原 上

    所 带 来 的 传 统 ， 按 照 他 们 自 己 的 看 法 ， 仍 旧 是 一 个 宗 法 社 会 ，

    一 个 游 牧 部 落 ， 只 是 暂 时 驻 扎 在 能 供 给 他 们 粮 食 的 土 地 上 而

    已 。 阿 尔 卑 斯 北 高 卢 的 一 部 分 加 上 了 日 耳 曼 的 一 部 分 ， 现 在

    已 成 为 法 兰 克 人 在事实上 占 领 的 国 家 — — 就 是 法 兰 西 ； 但 克洛维的 后 裔 即 墨 洛 温王 朝 的 首 领们 并 不 是 法 兰 西 的 国 王 而 是 法 兰 克 人 的 国 王 。 另 外 一 种 有 关主 权 的 特 殊 观 念 ， 似 乎 是 — — 这 是 重 要 的 一 点 — — 普 遍 领 土

    的 观 念 。 当 一 个 君 主 失 去 了 领 袖 与 其 部 族 之 间 的 特 殊 关 系 ， 并

    为 了 个 人 的 目 的 急 切 要 取 得 一 个 新 的 主 权 形 式 时 ， 他 所 能 采

    用 的 唯 一 先 例 是 罗 马 皇 帝 们 的 霸 术 。 胡 乱 摹 仿 一 句 谚 语 ， 他成 了 “不为凯撒，即为庸人”的人 。 或 则 他 享 有 拜 占 廷 皇 帝的 全 部 特

    权 ， 或 则 他 完 全 没 有 任 何 政 治 地 位 。 在 我 们 这 个 时 代 ， 当 一

    个 新 的 王 朝 希 望 废 去 被 黜 免 皇 朝 的 名 号 时 ， 它 往 往 喜 欢 说 它的 称 号 来 自人民 而 不 是领土 。 这 样 ， 我 们 便 有 了 一 些 法 兰 西

    皇 帝 和 国 王 ， 还 有 一 个 比 利 时 人 的 国 王 。 在 我 们 所 谈 到 的 时

    期 中 ， 在 类 似 的 情 况 下 ， 还 出 现 了 另 外 一 种 不 同 的 观 念 。 一

    个 “ 首 领 ” 如 果 不 想 再 自 称 为 部 落 国 王 ， 必 定 会 要 求 成 为 世

    界 的 皇 帝 。 这 样 ， 当 世 袭 的 权 臣 们 和 实 际 上 久 已 废 立 的 君 主

    们 相 决 裂 时 ， 他 们 立 即 不 愿 自 称 为 法 兰 克 人 的 国 王 ， 这 个 称

    号 是 属 于 被 废 黜 的 墨 洛 温 的 ； 但 他 们 又 不 能 自 称 为 法 兰 西 的

    国 王 ， 因 为 ， 虽 然 这 类 称 号 显 然 并 不 是 不 见 经 传 的 ， 却 也 不

    是 一 个 尊 严 的 称 号 。 因 此 ， 他 们 就 进 而 矢 志 为 世 界 帝 国 的 统

    治 者 。 他 们 的 动 机 曾 被 大 大 地 误 解 。 近 代 法 国 作 家 们 曾 认 为 ，

    查 理 曼是 远 远 超 过 他 的 同 时 代 人 的 ， 不 但 在

    其 意 图 的 性 质 上 如 此 ， 即 在 他 执 行 这 些 意 图 所 用 的 能 力 上 也

    是 如 此 。 不 论 是 否 有 人 在 任 何 时 期 都 是 超 过 他 的 同 时 代 人 的 ，

    但 有 一 点 必 然 是 真 的 ， 即 查 理 曼 在 企 求 一 个 无 限 制 的 领 土 时 ，

    确 是 有 力 地 采 取 了 他 当 时 的 时 代 思 想 所 准 许 他 遵 循 的 唯 一 的

    道 路 。 关 于 他 在 智 力 上 的 卓 越 ， 当 然 是 毫 无 疑 问 的 ， 但 这 种

    卓 越 不 是 由 他 的 理 论 而 是 由 他 的 行 为 证 明 的 。

    在 见 解 上 的 这 些 特 性 ， 并 不 因 为 查 理 曼 的 遗 产 为 其 三 个

    孙 子 所 分 割 而 有 所 变 更 。 秃 头 查 理、 路易和 罗 退 耳仍 旧 在 理 论 上 — — 如 果 用 这个 词 是 适 当 的 — — 是 罗 马 的 皇 帝 。 正 犹 如 东 罗 马 帝 国 与 西 罗马 帝 国 的 “ 凯 撒 ” ·

    在 ·

    法 ·

    律 ·

    上 都 是 全 世 界 的 皇 帝 ， 而 ·

    在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    上

    则 只 各 自 统 治 着 其 中 的 一 半 ， 这 三 个 加 洛 温 朝 的 皇 帝 似 乎 都

    认 为 他 们 的 权 力 是 有 限 的 ， 但 是 他 们 的 称 号 是 无 限 的 。 这 同

    一 的 纯 理 论 的 主 权 普 遍 性 在 肥 硕 查 理死 亡 ， 发 生 第 二 次 分 裂 时 仍 继 续 和 王 位 联 系 着 ， 并 且 ， 真 的 ，

    在 日 耳 曼 帝 国 存 续 期 间 内 ， 从 来 没 有 完 全 和 它 分 离 过 。 领 土

    主 权 — — 这 种 把 主 权 与 地 球 表 面 上 一 块 土 地 的 占 有 联 系 起 来

    的 见 解 — — 明 显 地 是 ·

    封 ·

    建 ·

    制 ·

    度 的 一 个 支 流 ， 虽 然 是 一 个 迟 缓

    的 支 流 。 这 可 能 是 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 预 期 的 ， 因 为 第 一 次 把 个 人 义 务 ， 结

    果 也 就 是 把 个 人 权 利 和 土 地 所 有 权 联 系 起 来 的 是 封 建 制 度 。

    对 于 封 建 制 度 的 渊 源 和 其 法 律 性 质 ， 不 论 正 当 见 解 应 当 是 怎

    样 ， 要 鲜 明 地 想 象 封 建 组 织 的 最 好 方 式 ， 应 从 它 的 基 础 开 始 ，

    先 考 虑 佃 农 同 设 定 和 限 制 其 劳 务 的 小 块 土 地 之 间 的 关 系 — —

    而 后 通 过 上 层 封 建 建 筑 的 狭 小 范 围 而 一 直 上 升 以 至 接 近 于 这

    制 度 的 顶 点 。 在 黑 暗 时 代 的 后 期 ， 这 个 顶 点 究 竟 在 什 么 地 方 ，

    是 不 容 易 决 定 的 。 可 能 ， 在 部 落 主 权 的 概 念 确 实 消 失 的 地 方 ，

    这 个 最 高 之 点 始 终 被 指 向 着 西 罗 马 帝 国 凯 撒 的 假 定 承 继 人 。

    但 是 过 了 不 久 ， 当 帝 国 权 威 的 实 际 影 响 大 大 萎 缩 时 ， 皇 帝 把

    他 仅 有 的 残 余 权 力 集 中 于 日 耳 曼 和 北 意 大 利 ， 所 有 在 前 加 洛

    温 帝 国 四 周 的 最 高 封 建 主 发 觉 了 在 他 们 上 面 实 际 上 已 经 没 有

    一 个 最 高 首 领 。 逐 渐 地 他 们 就 习 惯 于 这 种 新 的 形 势 ， 而 已 免

    除 外 来 干 涉 的 这 个 事 实 ， 终 于 把 依 附 的 理 论 隐 灭 掉 ； 当 然 有

    许 多 征 象 表 明 ， 这 个 变 化 的 完 成 并 不 是 十 分 容 易 的 ； 而 且 我

    们 得 毫 无 疑 问 地 认 为 ， 由 于 这 样 一 种 印 象 ， 就 是 说 ， 根 据 事

    物 的 自 然 性 质 ， 必 然 地 要 在 某 些 地 方 有 一 个 最 高 的 统 治 权 ， 就

    产 生 了 不 断 地 把 世 俗 上 的 无 上 权 力 归 属 于 罗 马 教 皇 的 倾 向 。

    法 兰 西 加 佩 王 朝 的 接 位 ， 标 志 着 思 想 革 命 中 第 一 阶 段 的 完 成 。

    这 个 环 绕 着 巴 黎 四 周 有 限 领 土 的 封 建 诸 侯 ， 由 于 大 量 的 宗 主

    权 结 合 于 本 身 这 一 个 偶 然 事 件 而 开 始 自 称 为 ·

    法 ·

    兰 ·

    西 ·

    国 ·

    王 ， 他成 为 了 一 种 全 然 新 的 意 义 的 国 王 ， 一 个 主 权 者 ， 他 对 法 兰 西

    土 地 的 关 系 和 男 爵 对 于 封 邑 、 佃 农 对 于 自 由 产 的 关 系 完 全 相

    同 。 这 个 先 例 不 但 是 新 奇 的 ， 同 时 也 是 有 影 响 的 。 在 法 兰 西

    的 这 种 君 治 的 形 式 ， 有 力 地 促 使 其 他 地 方 向 同 一 个 方 向 变 化 。

    我 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊王 室 的 王 位 这 时 处 于 一个 部 落 首 领 和 领 土 最 高 统 治 权 的 中 途 。 但 是 诺 曼王朝 诸 王 最 高 权 模 仿 着 法 兰 西 国 王 ， 明 显 地 是 一 种 领 土 主 权 。 在

    以 后 建 立 的 或 巩 固 的 每 一 个 统 治 权 ， 都 根 据 了 后 一 种 模 型 而

    组 成 。 西 班 牙 、 那 不 勒 斯以 及 在 意 大 利 自 由 市 废 墟

    上 建 立 起 来 的 各 个 诸 侯 国 家 ， 都 由 领 土 主 权 的 统 治 者 统 治 着 。

    从 一 个 见 解 逐 渐 转 变 到 另 一 个 见 解 的 事 例 中 ， 我 认 为 最 最 离

    奇 的 莫 如 ·

    威 ·

    尼 ·

    斯 ·

    人。 在 其 对 外 征 伐 开 始 时 ， 这 个共 和 国 自 视 为 和 罗 马 共 和 政 治 同 一 类 型 的 国 家 ， 统 治 着 许 多

    的 属 省 。 经 过 了 一 个 世 纪 以 后 ， 你 就 可 以 发 现 它 却 希 望 成 为一 个 集 合 的 主 权 国 家 ， 对 它 在 意 大 利 和 爱 琴 海所 有的 占 有 地 拥 有 一 个 封 建 宗 主 国 的 权 利 。

    关 于 主 权 这 个 主 题 的 各 种 通 俗 观 念 在 经 历 着 显 著 变 化 的时 期 内 ， 作 为 我 们 今 日 称 为 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 制 度 ， 在 形 式 上 是杂 乱 无 章 的 ， 在 原 则 上 也 是 不 符 合 它 所 祈 求 的 目 的 的 。 在 罗马－日耳 曼 帝 国 内 的 一 部 分 欧 洲 土 地 上 ， 联 邦 国 家 之 间 的 关系 是 由 复 杂 的 但 还 不 完 全 的 帝 国 宪 法 机 构 所 约 束 着 ； 并且这在 我 们 看 来 也 许 是 可 惊 异 的 ， 日 耳 曼 法 学 家 所 爱 好 的 观 念 仍旧 是 ： 联 邦 国 之 间 的 关 系 ， 不 论 在 帝 国 之 内 或 在 帝 国 之 外 应该 根 据 以 凯 撒 为 中 心 的 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 学 的 规 定 而 不 应 该 根 据“万 民 法 ” 的 规 定 。 这 个 学 理 在 边 远 的 各 国 中 没 有 像 我 们 早 先所 假 定 那 样 地 被 大 胆 抛 弃 ； 但 是 在 实 质 上 ， 在 欧 洲 的 其 余 的地 方 ， 封 建 的 部 属 已 成 为 公 法 的 一 种 代 替 品 ； 当 那 些 封建从属 犹 疑 不 定 暧 昧 不 明 时 ， 至 少 在 理 论 上 ， 从 “ 教 会 ” 领袖的权 威 上 面 找 到 一 种 最 高 的 支 配 力 。 虽 然 是 这 样 ， 但 可 以 断 定，封 建 和 教 会 的 势 力 在 十 五 世 纪 甚 至 在 十 四 世 纪 年 代 中 就 已 开

    始 迅 速 衰 败 了 ； 如 果 我 们 密 切 审 视 一 下 当 时 各 次 战 事 的 借 口

    以 及 公 开 的 联 盟 动 机 ， 就 可 以 看 到 ， 以 后 为 阿 雅 拉 和 格 罗 修

    斯 所 调 和 和 巩 固 的 各 种 见 解 ， 正 随 着 旧 原 则 一 步 步 地 被 代 替

    而 有 着 重 要 的 进 展 ， 虽 然 这 种 进 展 是 默 默 无 声 的 ， 并 且 是 很

    缓 慢 的 。 来 自 各 个 渊 源 的 权 威 有 没 有 经 熔 合 而 最 后 成 为 一 个

    国 际 关 系 的 制 度 ， 以 及 这 个 制 度 究 竟 在 实 质 上 是 不 是 和 格 罗

    修 斯 的 结 构 有 什 么 不 同 ， 现 在 已 无 法 加 以 断 定 ， 因 为 在 事 实

    上 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 已 经 把 它 所 有 的 有 力 要 素 ， 除 了 一 点 之 外 ， 全

    部 消 灭 。 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 从 日 耳 曼 开 始 ， 它 在 帝 国 的 各 个 诸 侯 之

    间 用 深 而 且 广 的 鸿 沟 分 裂 开 来 ， 纵 使 帝 国 元 首 保 持 中 立 ， 也

    已 无 法 用 帝 国 最 高 统 治 来 加 以 沟 通 。 帝 国 元 首 于 是 不 得 不 袒

    护 教 会 以 反 对 改 革 者 ； 教 皇 自 然 也 是 处 在 同 样 的 苦 境 中 ； 这

    样 ， 这 原 来 在 敌 对 双 方 之 间 负 有 调 停 职 责 的 两 个 当 局 者 本 身

    就 成 为 了 各 国 分 裂 中 的 一 个 大 党 的 首 领 。 在 这 时 声 势 已 被 削

    弱 ， 并 且 已 不 能 被 认 为 是 公 共 关 系 中 的 一 个 原 则 而 加 以 信 任

    的 封 建 主 义 ， 已 不 复 是 足 够 稳 定 并 可 以 和 宗 教 联 盟 相 匹 敌 的

    一 种 约 束 力 。 因 此 ， 在 公 法 处 于 几 乎 混 乱 状 态 的 情 况 下 ， 那

    些 被 认 为 是 罗 马 法 学 专 家 唯 一 加 以 认 可 的 一 个 国 家 制 度 的 各种 观 念 ， 仍 旧 继 续 存 在 。 这 些 观 念 从 格 罗 修 斯 手 中 获 得 的 形式 、 均 称 和 卓 越 性 ， 为 每 一 个 学 者 所 熟 知 。 但 “ 战 事 与 和 平法 规 论 ” 这 部 巨著 的 惊 人 之 处 则 在 其 迅 速 、 完 全 和 普 遍 的 成 功 上 。 “ 三 十 年 战争 ” 的 惨 状 ， 军 人 毫 无 拘 束 的 放 纵 行 为 所 激 起 的 无 边 恐 怖 和

    憾 事 ， 无 疑 地 ， 在 某 种 程 度 上 ， 可 以 被 用 来 说 明 这 种 成 功 的

    原 因 ， 但 是 这 还 不 能 作 为 全 部 的 说 明 。 因 为 只 要 对 当 时 的 各

    种 观 念 略 为 浏 览 一 下 ， 就 可 以 使 我 们 深 信 在 格 罗 修 斯 的 伟 大

    著 作 中 描 绘 出 来 的 国 际 大 厦 的 基 本 图 样 ， 如 果 不 是 在 理 论 上很 完善 的 话 ， 那 它 就 很 可 能 会 被 法 学 家 所 抛 弃 ， 被 政 治 家 及士 兵 们 所 藐 视 。

    显 然 ， 格 罗 修 斯 制 度 在 纯 理 论 上 的 完 善 性 是 和 我 们 所 讨论 的 那 个 领 土 主 权 概 念 密 切 地 联 系 着 的 。 “ 国 际 法 ” 理 论 所 作出 的 假 定 是 ： 各 个 共 和 政 治 在 其 相 互 关 系 上 处 在 一 种 自然 状态 中 ； 但 是 一 个 自 然 社 会 的 各 个 组 成 原 子 根 据 这 个 基 本 假 设必 须 是 互 相 分 离 和 各 自 独 立 的 。 如 果 有 一 个 较 高 的 权 力 由 于对 共同 最 高 统 治 权 的 要 求 而 把 它 们 联 结 起 来 ， 纵 使 这 种 联 结是 很 薄 弱 的 并 且 也 是 偶 然 的 ， 但 正 是 这 一 个 共 同 领 导 者 的 概念 引 进 了 现 实 法 的 观 念 ， 排 斥 了 一 个 自 然 法 的 观 念 。 因此，如果 一 个 帝 国 元 首 的 普 遍 宗 主 权 ， 即 使 仅 仅 是 在 理 论 上 被得到承 认 ， 格 罗 修 斯 的 努 力 就 可 能 会 变 成 徒 劳 。 这 也 不 是现代公法 和 我 企 图 描 述 其 发 展 的 有 关 主 权 的 各 种 见 解 之 间 的 唯一结合之 点 。 我 曾 经 说 过 ， 国 际 法 律 学 中 有 些 部 门 完 全 是 由 罗马“财 产 法 ” 组 成 的 。 那 末 我 们 可 以 得 到 什 么 推 论 呢 ？ 推 论 是：在 对 主 权 所 作 的 评 价 中 如 果 没 有 象 我 所 描 述 的 那 种 变化——如 果 主 权 并 没 有 和 地 球 上 一 块 土 地 的 所 有 权 联 系 起 来 ， 换言之 ， 并 没 有 成 为 对 领 土 的 主 权 — — ， 则 格 罗 修 斯 的 理 论 ， 就将 有 四 分 之 三 无 法 加 以 适 用 。

    第 五 章 　 原 始 社 会 与 古 代 法

    在 近 代 ， 法 律 学 这 个 主 题 作 为 科 学 研 究 的 必 要 性 ， 是 一向 被 重 视 的 ， 由 于 感 到 这 种 必 要 而 提 出 的 论 文 来 自 各 个 不 同方 面 ， 但 是 ， 如 果 说 ， 到 现 在 为 止 ， 被 认 为 是 科 学 的 东 西 实际 上 绝 大 部 分 仅 只 是 一 些 推 测 ， 只 是 一 些 在 前 面 二 章 中 所 研究 的 罗 马 法 学 家 的 推 测 ， 我 以 为 并 不 能 认 为 太 武 断 。 明 白 承认 和 采 用 一 个 自 然 状 态 ； 以 及 与 其 性 质 相 类 似 的 原 则 制 度 的各 种 推 测 理 论 ， 其 有 关 的 一 系 列 论 文 ， 从 这 些 理 论 发 明 者 的时 代 起 一 直 到 我 们 今 天 为 止 ， 始 终 被 继 续 着 ， 很 少 中 断 。它们 出 现 于 奠 定 现 代 法 律 学 基 础 的 注 释 学 派 的 注 解 中 ， 出 现 于继 承 他 们 的 经 院 法 学 家 的 作 品 中 。 它 们 可 以 在 寺 院 法 学者的教 条 中 看 到 。 它 们 被 那 些 在 文 艺 复 兴 时 代 极 为 活 跃 的 博 学 多能 的 民 法 学 家 放 置 在 杰 出 的 地 位 。 格 罗 修 斯 及 其 继 承 人 不 但

    使 它 们 具 有 实 际 的 重 要 性 ， 并 且 使 它 们 变 得 更 加 辉 煌 更 加 可

    以 赞 誉 。 在 我 国 布 拉 克 斯 顿 的 开 头 几 章 中 也 可 以 看 到 它 们 ， 他

    把 它 们 原 封 不 动 地 从 柏 拉 玛 克 （ Ｂ ｕ ｒ ｌ ａ ｍ ａ ｑ ｕ ｉ ） 中 照 抄 下 来 ， 而凡 是 今 天 所 刊 印 的 用 以 为 学 者 或 实 务 者 作 指 导 的 各 种 教 科

    书 ， 在 它 们 开 头 讨 论 法 律 的 基 本 原 理 时 往 往 就 会 被 发 觉 ， 这

    些 基 本 原 理 就 是 罗 马 假 设 的 一 次 重 复 申 述 。 但 是 ， 正 由 于 这

    些 推 测 有 时 用 以 掩 盖 其 自 己 的 伪 装 ， 如 同 其 原 来 的 形 式 一 样 ，

    使 我 们 对 于 它 们 混 杂 于 人 类 思 想 中 的 技 巧 ， 能 获 得 一 个 充 分的 观 念 。 洛 克 所 主 张 的 “ 法 律 ” 起 源 于 一 个 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 的理 论 ， 很 难 隐 瞒 其 来 自 罗 马 的 特 点 ， 事 实 上 ， 这 个 理 论 只 是

    使 古 代 见 解 对 现 代 人 中 特 殊 的 一 代 具 有 更 大 吸 引 力 的 外 衣 而

    已 ； 可 是 ， 在 另 一 方 面 ， 霍 布 斯 就 同 一 主 题 所 提 出 的 理 论 ， 却

    故 意 否 认 罗 马 人 及 其 门 徒 所 设 想 的 一 个 自 然 法 的 现 实 性 。 然

    而 在 这 个 把 英 国 有 代 表 性 的 政 治 家 长 期 分 成 为 两 个 敌 对 阵 营

    的 两 种 理 论 中 ， 有 一 点 却 是 彼 此 之 间 极 为 相 似 的 ， 就 是 它 们

    都 以 人 类 的 、 非 历 史 的 、 无 法 证 实 的 状 态 作 为 他 们 的 基 本 假

    设 ， 这 两 个 理 论 的 作 者 ， 对 于 社 会 产 生 前 状 态 的 各 种 特 征 ， 以

    及 对 于 人 类 凭 以 脱 离 这 种 社 会 产 生 前 状 态 进 入 我 们 所 熟 悉 的

    仅 有 的 那 种 社 会 组 织 的 异 常 活 动 的 性 质 ， 有 着 分 歧 的 看 法 。 但

    是 他 们 却 一 致 同 意 ， 认 为 在 原 始 状 态 中 的 人 和 在 社 会 产 生 后

    的 人 两 者 之 间 ， 存 在 着 一 个 巨 大 的 鸿 沟 把 他 们 分 离 开 来 ， 我

    们 毫 不 怀 疑 ， 这 个 观 点 正 是 他 们 有 意 识 地 或 者 无 意 识 地 从 罗

    马 人 那 里 借 用 来 的 。 如 果 法 律 现 象 的 确 象 这 些 理 论 家 所 认 为

    的 那 样 — — 即 认 为 是 一 个 庞 大 、 复 杂 的 整 体 — — ， 那 么 ， 也

    就 难 怪 人 心 往 往 要 规 避 它 所 担 任 的 工 作 ， 否 则 它 有 时 候 就 会

    失 望 地 放 弃 系 统 化 的 工 作 ； 而 人 心 所 采 取 的 规 避 的 办 法 ， 是

    退 而 求 助 于 某 种 似 乎 可 以 调 和 一 切 事 物 的 智 巧 的 推 测 。

    在 和 罗 马 学 理 有 着 同 样 的 思 想 基 础 的 各 种 法 律 学 理 论

    中 ， 有 两 种 非 常 著 名 的 理 论 ， 必 须 除 外 。 其 中 的 第 一 种 是 和

    孟 德 斯 鸠 的 大 名 有 联 系 的 。 虽 然 在 “ 论 法 的 精 神 ” 的 开 始 部

    分 中 ， 有 一 些 模 糊 辞 句 似 乎 表 明 作 者 不 愿 与 当 时 流 行 着 的 各

    种 见 解 公 然 决 裂 ， 但 从 全 书 的 大 意 来 看 ， 它 对 其 主 题 所 表 示

    的 概 念 当 然 是 和 前 人 所 发 表 的 见 解 完 全 不 同 的 。 在 它 从 各 种假 定 的 法 律 学 制 度 中 通 过 广 泛 深 入 观 察 而 搜 集 起 来 的 大 量 种

    类 繁 杂 的 例 子 中 间 ， 常 常 可 以 看 到 有 一 种 明 显 的 渴 望 ， 想 把

    因 其 粗 鲁 、 奇 异 或 猥 亵 而 使 文 明 的 读 者 为 之 震 惊 的 那 些 风 尚

    和 制 度 ； 置 于 特 别 杰 出 的 地 位 。 书 中 不 断 地 提 出 的 推 测 是 ： 法

    律 是 气 候 、 当 地 情 况 、 偶 然 事 件 或 诈 欺 的 产 物 — — 是 除 了 相

    当 经 常 发 生 作 用 的 原 因 以 外 任 何 原 因 的 产 物 。 在 事 实 上 ， 孟

    德 斯 鸠 似 乎 把 人 类 的 本 性 看 做 是 完 全 可 塑 性 的 ， 它 只 是 在 被

    动 地 重 复 着 它 从 外 界 所 接 受 的 印 象 ， 在 绝 对 地 听 命 着 它 从 外

    界 所 接 受 的 刺 激 。 而 他 的 制 度 所 以 不 能 成 为 一 个 制 度 ， 无 疑

    地 ， 错 误 就 是 在 这 里 。 他 过 低 地 估 计 了 人 类 本 性 的 稳 定 性 。 他

    很 少 或 完 全 不 重 视 种 族 的 遗 传 性 质 ， 即 每 一 代 从 前 辈 接 受 下

    来 再 一 代 代 传 下 去 很 少 加 以 改 变 的 性 质 。 的 确 ， 除 非 对 “ 论

    法 的 精 神 ” 中 所 注 意 到 的 那 些 变 更 原 因 给 予 应 有 的 承 认 ， 要

    对 社 会 现 象 、 因 而 也 对 于 法 律 提 供 一 个 完 全 的 说 明 是 不 可 能

    的 ； 但 这 些 原 因 的 数 量 和 其 力 量 ， 似 乎 为 孟 德 斯 鸠 过 高 地 估

    计 了 。 在 他 所 罗 列 的 变 例 中 ， 有 许 多 已 被 证 明 是 建 筑 在 虚 伪

    的 报 告 或 错 误 的 解 释 上 ， 而 在 剩 余 下 来 的 一 些 变 例 中 ， 有 不

    少 不 是 证 明 人 类 本 性 的 变 化 无 常 ， 相 反 地 却 证 明 了 其 恒 久 不

    变 ， 因 为 它 们 都 是 人 类 在 较 古 远 的 时 期 顽 固 地 抗 拒 了 在 别 种

    场 合 可 能 会 发 生 效 果 的 各 种 影 响 而 遗 留 下 来 的 遗 物 。 真 相 是 ，

    在 我 们 智 力 的 、 道 德 的 和 体 力 的 组 成 中 ， 绝 大 部 分 都 是 属 于

    稳 定 部 分 ， 它 对 于 变 化 具 有 巨 大 的 抵 抗 力 ， 因 此 虽 然 世 界 上

    一 个 部 分 的 人 类 社 会 是 明 显 地 变 化 多 端 的 ， 但 这 些 变 化 并 非

    如 此 迅 速 ， 也 不 是 如 此 广 泛 ， 以 致 其 数 量 、 性 质 及 一 般 趋 向

    会 达 到 不 可 能 确 定 的 地 步 。 以 我 们 今 日 有 限 知 识 所 可 能 达 到的 ， 也 许 只 是 比 较 地 接 近 的 真 理 ， 但 我 们 没 有 理 由 以 为 这 是非 常 遥 远 的 ， 或 以 为 （ 实 在 是 同 样 的 东 西 ） 它 须 要 在 将 来作很 大 的 修正，因 此 是 完 全 无 用 的 和 不 足 为 训 的 。

    前 面 所 谈 的 另 外 一 种 理 论 是 边 沁 的 历 史 理 论 。 这 个 理 论

    在 边 沁 的 著 作 的 有 几 个 部 分 中 模 糊 地 （ 并 且 可 以 说 是 胆 小

    地 ） 提 出 来 ， 和 他 在 “ 政 府 论 丛 ” 中 开 其 端 ， 后 来 由 约 翰 ·

    奥 斯 丁 先 生 加 以 完 成 的 有 关 法 律 概 念 的 分 析 完 全 不 同 。 把 一

    条 法 律 还 原 为 在 特 殊 情 况 下 适 用 的 一 种 特 殊 性 的 命 令 ， 目 的

    只 是 为 了 使 我 们 可 以 摆 脱 言 语 上 的 困 难 — — 这 当 然 是 一 种 最

    可 怕 的 困 难 。 至 于 社 会 所 以 把 这 些 命 令 加 诸 自 己 身 上 ， 其 动

    机 何 在 ， 这 些 命 令 相 互 之 间 的 联 系 如 何 ， 以 及 它 们 对 在 它 们

    以 前 的 命 令 及 对 它 们 所 代 替 的 命 令 的 依 附 性 质 又 如 何 这 一 些

    问 题 ， 仍 旧 是 悬 而 未 决 。 边 沁 所 提 出 的 答 案 是 ， 社 会 因 其 对

    一 般 权 宜 措 施 的 见 解 有 所 变 更 而 变 更 着 、 并 且 是 不 断 地 变 更

    着 法 律 。 很 难 说 这 个 命 题 是 错 误 的 ， 但 它 肯 定 是 没 有 效 果 的 。

    因 为 ， 所 谓 对 一 个 社 会 或 毋 宁 说 是 对 社 会 的 统 治 阶 级 是 权 宜

    的 东 西 ， 实 际 上 必 然 地 就 是 社 会 在 作 出 变 更 时 心 目 中 所 想 要

    达 到 的 目 的 ， 不 论 这 个 目 的 是 什 么 。 所 谓 权 宜 和 最 大 幸 福 ， 实

    在 就 是 推 动 变 更 的 冲 动 ， 不 过 名 称 不 同 而 已 ； 当 我 们 把 权 宜

    作 为 是 变 更 法 律 或 意 见 的 准 则 时 ， 我 们 从 这 个 命 题 中 所 能 得

    到 的 ， 只 是 用 一 个 特 别 名 词 来 代 替 当 我 们 说 一 次 变 更 发 生 了时 必 然 地 要 想 到 的 另 一 个 名 词 而 已 。

    对 于 现 有 的 各 种 法 律 学 理 论 ， 存 在 着 非 常 广 泛 的 不 满 ， 并且 一 般 都 认 为 这 些 理 论 不 能 真 正 解 决 它 们 标 榜 着 要 解 决 的 问题 ， 因 此 就 正 当 地 产 生 了 这 样 的 一 种 怀 疑 ， 就 是 说 为 了 要 求得 一 个 完 美 的 结 果 所 必 须 的 某 些 方 面 的 研 究 ； 或 者 为 其 著 者进 行 得 不 够 彻 底 ， 或 者 是 甚 至 完 全 被 忽 略 了 。 真 的 ， 也 许 除了 孟 德 斯 鸠 外 ， 在 所 有 这 些 纯 理 论 中 ， 的 确 都 有 一 个 可 以 指责 的 显 著 遗 漏 。 在 这 些 纯 理 论 中 ， 都 忽 视 了 在 它 们 出 现的特定 时 间 以 前 很 遥 远 的 时 代 中 ， 法 律 在 实 际 上 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 这

    些 纯 理 论 的 创 造 者 详 细 地 观 察 了 他 们 自 己 时 代 的 各 种 制 度 和

    文 明 以 及 在 某 种 程 度 上 能 迎 合 他 们 心 理 的 其 他 时 代 的 各 种 制

    度 和 文 明 ， 但 是 当 他 们 把 其 注 意 力 转 向 和 他 们 自 己 的 在 表 面

    上 有 极 大 差 别 的 古 代 社 会 状 态 时 ， 他 们 便 一 致 地 停 止 观 察 而

    开 始 猜 想 了 。 因 此 ， 他 们 所 犯 的 错 误 ， 正 和 一 个 考 察 物 质 宇

    宙 规 律 的 人 ， 把 他 的 考 虑 从 作 为 一 个 统 一 体 的 现 存 物 理 世 界

    开 始 而 不 从 作 为 其 最 简 单 构 成 要 素 的 各 个 分 子 着 手 时 所 犯 的

    错 误 ， 很 相 类 似 。 这 种 在 科 学 上 违 背 常 理 的 方 法 ， 在 任 何 其

    他 思 想 领 域 中 不 可 采 用 ， 那 在 法 律 学 中 当 然 也 是 同 样 不 足 取

    的 。 似 乎 在 先 就 可 以 看 到 ， 我 们 应 该 从 最 简 单 的 社 会 形 式 开

    始 ， 并 且 越 接 近 其 原 始 条 件 的 一 个 状 态 越 好 。 换 言 之 ， 如 果

    我 们 要 采 用 这 类 研 究 中 所 通 常 遵 循 的 道 路 ， 我 们 就 应 该 尽 可

    能 地 深 入 到 原 始 社 会 的 历 史 中 。 早 期 社 会 所 提 供 给 我 们 的 各

    种 现 象 并 不 是 一 看 就 容 易 理 解 的 ， 但 要 掌 握 住 这 些 现 象 时 所

    遇 到 的 困 难 ， 和 在 考 究 现 代 社 会 组 织 错 综 复 杂 情 况 时 使 我 们

    遭 受 的 困 惑 ， 是 不 能 相 比 的 。 这 种 困 难 的 产 生 ； 是 由 于 它 们

    的 奇 怪 和 异 样 ， 而 不 是 由 于 它 们 的 数 量 和 复 杂 性 。 当 人 们 用

    一 种 现 代 的 观 点 来 观 察 这 些 现 象 时 必 然 会 引 起 不 易 很 快 克 服

    的 惊 奇 ； 但 当 惊 奇 被 克 服 时 ， 它 们 就 将 很 少 也 很 简 单 的 了 。 不过 纵 使 它 们 造 成 了 很 大 的 困 难 ， 我 们 不 辞 劳 苦 以 确 定 这 些 胚种 也 不 会 是 浪 费 精 力 的 。 因 为 现 在 控 制 着 我 们 行 动 以 及 塑 造着 我 们 行 为 的 道 德 规 范 的 每 一 种 形 式 ， 必 然 可 以 从 这 些 胚 种当 中 展 示 出 来 。

    我 们 所 能 知 道 的 社 会 状 态 的 雏 形 ， 来 自 三 种 记 录 — — 即

    观 察 者 对 于 同 时 代 比 较 落 后 的 各 种 文 明 的 记 事 ， 某 一 个 特 殊

    民 族 所 保 存 下 来 的 关 于 他 们 的 原 始 历 史 的 记 录 ， 以 及 古 代 的

    法 律 。 第 一 种 证 据 是 我 们 可 以 预 期 的 最 好 的 一 种 。 各 个 社 会

    既 不 是 同 时 并 进 而 是 按 着 不 同 速 度 前 进 的 ， 因 此 确 有 这 样 一

    些 时 期 ， 凡 是 受 到 有 系 统 的 观 察 习 惯 训 练 的 人 们 ， 能 真 正 有

    机 会 可 以 看 到 人 类 的 幼 年 ， 并 加 以 描 述 。 塔西佗曾尽 量 利 用 了 这 种 机 会 ； 但 是 他 所 著 的 “ 日 耳 曼 ” 一书 ， 不 像 大 多 数 著 名 的 经 典 著 作 一 样 ， 没 有 能 引 起 别 人 去 仿 效 他 的 优 秀 榜 样 ； 因 此 我 们 现 在 所 保 有 的 这 一 类 的 记 录 ， 数

    量 非 常 之 少 。 文 明 人 对 于 其 野 蛮 的 邻 人 往 往 有 一 种 傲 慢 之 感 ；

    这 就 使 他 们 往 往 明 显 地 不 屑 于 观 察 他 们 ， 而 这 种 不 关 心 有 时

    更 因 为 恐 惧 、 因 为 宗 教 偏 见 、 甚 至 就 因 为 这 些 名 词 — — 即 文

    明 和 野 蛮 — — 的 应 用 而 更 加 严 重 ， 这 种 文 明 和 野 蛮 的 分 野 常

    对 大 多 数 人 造 成 了 不 但 在 程 度 上 而 且 在 种 类 上 都 有 所 差 别 的

    印 象 。 甚 至 对 于 “ 日 耳 曼 ” 也 有 些 批 评 家 曾 怀 疑 它 为 了 要 求

    对 比 尖 锐 ， 叙 述 生 动 而 牺 牲 了 信 实 。 有 一 些 史 料 ， 叙 述 着 民

    族 的 幼 年 ， 保 存 在 档 案 中 流 传 给 我 们 的 ， 也 被 认 为 由 于 种 族

    骄 傲 或 由 于 新 时 代 的 宗 教 情 绪 而 被 歪 曲 了 。 然 而 对 于 大 部 分

    的 古 代 法 律 却 并 未 发 生 过 这 些 毫 无 根 据 的 或 合 理 的 疑 虑 ， 这

    是 非 常 值 得 重 视 的 事 实 。 所 有 流 传 下 来 的 许 多 古 代 法 律 所 以

    能 被 保 存 下 来 ， 只 是 因 为 它 们 是 古 代 的 ， 那 些 在 当 初 执 行 它和 服 从 它 的 人 们 ， 并 不 标 榜 能 理 解 它 ； 在 有 些 情 况 下 ， 他 们

    甚 至 嘲 笑 它 和 藐 视 它 。 除 了 它 是 由 他 们 祖 先 传 下 来 的 以 外 ， 他

    们 对 它 并 不 特 别 重 视 。 因 此 ， 如 果 我 们 能 集 中 注 意 力 于 那 些

    古 代 制 度 的 断 片 ， 这 些 断 片 还 不 能 合 理 地 被 假 定 为 曾 经 受 到

    过 改 动 ， 我 们 就 有 可 能 对 于 原 来 所 属 社 会 的 某 种 主 要 特 征 获

    得 一 个 明 确 的 概 念 。 在 这 个 基 础 上 再 向 前 跨 进 一 步 ， 我 们 可

    以 把 我 们 已 有 的 知 识 适 用 于 象 “ 摩 奴 法 典 ” 那 种 大 体 上 其 真

    实 性 还 可 疑 的 一 些 法 律 制 度 ； 凭 了 这 个 已 经 获 得 的 关 键 ， 我

    们 就 可 以 把 那 些 真 正 是 古 代 传 下 来 的 部 分 从 那 些 曾 经 受 到 过

    编 纂 者 的 偏 见 、 兴 趣 或 无 知 的 影 响 的 部 分 ， 区 分 开 来 。 至 少

    应 该 承 认 ， 如 果 有 足 够 的 材 料 来 从 事 于 这 样 的 研 究 过 程 ， 如

    果 反 复 的 比 较 是 被 正 确 地 执 行 着 ， 则 我 们 所 遵 循 的 方 法 ， 必

    将 象 征 比 较 语 言 学 中 使 能 达 到 惊 人 结 果 的 那 些 方 法 一 样 很 少

    有 可 以 反 对 的 余 地 。

    从 比 较 法 律 学 中 所 获 得 的 证 据 ， 使 我 们 对 人 类 原 始 状 态

    确 立 了 一 种 看 法 ， 即 所 谓 “ 宗 法 理 论 ” 。 当 然 这 个 理 论 无 疑 地

    原 来 是 以 下 亚 细 亚（Ｌ ｏ ｗ ｅ ｒ 　 Ａ ｓ ｉ ａ ） 希 伯 来族 长制 的 圣 经 史 为 根 据 的 ； 但 是 ， 像 前 面 已 经 解 释 过 的 ， 正 因 为 它 和 “ 圣 经 ” （ Ｓ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｐ ｔ ｕ ｒ ｅ ） 有 联 系 ， 它 就 被 反 对 ， 不 被 认 为 是一 个 可 以 接 受 的 完 全 的 理 论 ， 因 为 直 到 最 近 还 热 诚 从 事 于 总

    括 各 种 社 会 现 象 的 多 数 研 究 者 ， 不 是 一 些 对 希 伯 来 古 代 事 物

    具 有 最 顽 强 偏 见 的 人 ， 就 是 一 些 想 不 借 助 于 宗 教 记 录 而 最 坚

    强 地 希 望 自 己 建 立 一 个 体 系 的 人 。 即 使 一 直 到 现 在 ； 也 许 还

    有 着 这 样 一 种 倾 向 ， 低 估 这 些 记 事 的 价 值 ， 或 者 应 该 说 是 不

    愿 把 它 们 作 为 闪 族 （ Ｓ ｅ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｃ 　 ｐ ｅ ｏ ｐ ｌ ｅ ） 传 统 的 组 成 部 分 ， 而 从其 中 得 出 结 论 。 但 是 ， 值 得 注 意 的 是 ， 这 一 种 法 律 记 录 ， 几乎 完 全 来 自 属 于 印 度 － 欧 罗 巴 种 族 的 社 会 制 度 ， 其 中 较 大 部

    分 是 罗 马 人 、 印 度 人 和 斯 拉 夫 人 所 供 给 的 ； 而 当 前 研 究 阶 段

    所 面 临 的 困 难 是 ： 要 知 道 究 竟 到 什 么 地 方 为 止 ， 究 竟 有 哪 一

    些 人 种 ， 是不 许 可 被 肯 定 为 他 们 的 社 会 原 来 是 按 照 父 权 的 模

    型 而 组 成 的 。 从 “ 创 世 纪 ” 开 头 的 几 章 中 所 能 收 集 到 的 这 一

    类 社 会 的 主 要 轮 廓 ， 在 这 里 毋 庸 详 为 描 述 ， 因 为 我 们 大 多 数

    人 已 经 从 小 都 非 常 熟 悉 ， 同 时 也 因 为 由 于 洛 克 和 菲 尔 美

    （ Ｆ ｉ ｌ ｍ ｅ ｒ ） 之 间 辩 论 的 结 果 ， 在 英 国 文 献 中 已 有 专 书 论 述 了 这个 问 题 ， 虽 然 这 本 书 并 不 是 很 有 益 的 。 从 历 史 表 面 上 所 能 看

    到 的 各 点 是 ： — — 最 年 长 的 父 辈 — — 最 年 长 的 尊 属 亲 — — 是

    家 庭 的 绝 对 统 治 者 。 他 握 有 生 杀 之 权 ， 他 对 待 他 的 子 女 、 他

    的 家 庭 象 对 待 奴 隶 一 样 ， 不 受 任 何 限 制 ； 真 的 ， 亲 子 具 有 这

    样 较 高 的 资 格 ， 就 是 终 有 一 天 他 本 身 也 要 成 为 一 个 族 长 ， 除

    此 以 外 ， 父 子 关 系 和 主 奴 关 系 似 乎 很 少 差 别 。 子 女 的 羊 和 牛

    就 是 父 的 羊 和 牛 ， 父 所 占 有 的 物 件 是 由 他 以 代 表 的 身 分 而 非

    所 有 人 的 身 分 占 有 的 ， 这 些 占 有 物 ， 在 他 死 亡 时 ， 即 在 其 一

    等 卑 亲 属 中 平 均 分 配 ， 长 子 有 时 以 生 得 权 的 名 义 接 受 双 倍 的

    份 额 ， 但 更 普 通 的 是 除 了 一 种 荣 誉 的 优 先 权 以 外 ， 不 再 赋 予

    任 何 继 承 利 益 。 在 圣 经 的 记 事 中 有 一 个 不 十 分 明 显 的 例 子 ， 似

    乎 父 系 的 帝 国 第 一 次 发 生 了 破 坏 的 痕 迹 。 雅 各和以扫两 个 家 族 分 离 而 组 成 为 两 个 国 家 ； 但 是 雅 各 子 女的 各 个 家 族 却 仍 旧 结 合 在 一 起 ， 而 成 为 一 个 民 族 。 这 就 好 象是 一 个 国 家 或 共 和 政 治 的 不 成 熟 的 胚 种 ， 同 时 也 好 象 是 一 种权 利 顺 序 较 胜 于 家 族 关 系 所 提 出 的 要 求 。

    为 了 法 学 家 的 特 殊 目 的 ， 简 要 地 说 明 人 类 在 其 历 史 黎 明时 期 所 做 状 态 的 各 个 特 征 ， 我 以 为 只 要 摘 引 荷 马 “奥特赛 ”中 如 下 几 行 诗 句 就 够 了 ：

    “ 他 们 既 没 有 评 议 会 ， 又 没 有地美士第 ， 但 每 一 个 人 对 妻 子 和儿 女 都 有 审 判 权 ， 在 他 们 相 互 之 间 ， 则 是 各 不 相 关 的 。 ” 这 些诗 句 是 适 用 于 “ 独 眼 巨 人 ”的 ， 我 以 为 如 果 说 “ 独眼 巨 人 ” 就 是 荷 马 心 目 中 一 种 外 国 的 和 不 进 步 的 文 明 的 典 型 ，

    也 许 不 完 全 是 一 种 幻 想 ； 因 为 一 个 原 始 共 产 体 对 于 在 风 尚 上

    和 它 自 己 有 非 常 不 同 的 人 ， 往 往 会 感 到 几 乎 是 自 然 的 憎 恶 ， 这

    种 憎 恶 通 常 表 现 为 把 他 们 描 写 成 怪 物 ， 例 如 巨 人 甚 至 是 魔 鬼

    （ 在 东 方 神 话 学 中 ， 几 乎 在 所 有 情 况 中 都 是 如 此 ） 。 不 论 是 不

    是 这 样 ， 在 这 几 行 诗 句 中 ， 正 集 中 了 古 代 法 律 事 物 所 能 给 予

    我 们 的 各 种 暗 示 的 总 和 。 人 类 最 初 是 分 散 在 完 全 孤 立 的 集 团

    中 的 ， 这 种 集 团 由 于 对 父 辈 的 服 从 而 结 合 在 一 起 。 法 律 是 父

    辈 的 语 言 ， 但 它 们 没 有 达 到 我 们 在 本 文 第 一 章 中 所 分 析 的 地

    美 士 第 的 程 度 。 当 我 们 向 前 进 行 而 达 到 这 些 早 期 法 律 概 念 成

    形 的 社 会 状 态 时 ， 我 们 发 现 ， 这 些 法 律 概 念 仍 旧 多 少 带 有 足

    以 表 示 一 个 专 制 的 父 的 命 令 的 这 个 特 点 的 神 秘 性 和 自 发 性 ，

    但 在 同 一 时 候 ， 由 于 他 们 来 自 一 个 主 权 者 ， 这 些 法 律 概 念 就

    预 先 假 定 了 一 个 组 织 比 较 广 泛 、 由 许 多 家 族 集 团 组 成 的 联 合体 。 第 二 个 问 题 是 ， 这 种 联 合 体 的 性 质 是 什 么 以 及 它 包 括 的

    亲 密 程 度 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 正 是 在 这 一 点 ， 古 代 法 律 提 供 给 我

    们 最 大 的 贡 献 之 一 ， 并 且 填 补 了 否 则 只 可 能 以 猜 度 来 渡 过 的

    一 个 鸿 沟 。 它 不 论 在 任 何 方 面 都 明 显 地 表 示 着 ， 原 始 时 代 的

    社 会 并 不 象 现 在 所 设 想 的 ， 是 一 个个人 的 集 合 ， 在 事 实 上 ； 并

    且 根 据 组 成 它 的 人 们 的 看 法 ， 它 是一个 ·

    许 ·

    多 ·

    家 ·

    族 ·

    的 ·

    集 ·

    合 ·

    体 。 如

    果 说 一 个 古 代 社 会 的 ·

    单 ·

    位 是 “ 家 族 ” ， 而 一 个 现 代 社 会 的 单 位

    是 “ 个 人 ” ， 则 这 个 对 比 ， 也 许 可 以 更 强 有 力 地 表 示 出 来 。 在

    古 代 法 律 中 ， 这 个 差 别 有 着 重 大 的 后 果 。 法 律 的 这 样 组 成 是

    为 了 要 适 应 一 个 小 的 独 立 团 体 的 制 度 。 因 此 ， 它 的 数 量 不 多 ，

    因 为 它 可 以 由 家 长 的 专 断 命 令 来 增 补 的 。 它 的 仪 式 繁 多 ， 因

    为 它 所 着 重 处 理 的 事 务 ， 类 似 国 际 间 的 事 务 的 地 方 ， 多 于 个

    人 间 交 往 的 迅 速 处 理 。 尤 其 重 要 的 ， 它 具 有 一 种 特 性 ， 其 重

    要 性 在 目 前 还 不 能 全 部 表 现 出 来 。 它 所 持 有 的 ·

    人 ·

    生 观 和 发 达

    的 法 律 学 中 所 体 现 的 完 全 不 同 。 团 体 ·

    永 ·

    生 ·

    不 ·

    灭 ， 因 此 ， 原 始法 律 把 它 所 关 连 的 实 体 即 宗 法 或 家 族 集 团 ， 视 为 永 久 的 和 不能 消 灭 的 。 这 种 见 解 同 远 古 时 代 道 德 属 性 所 表 现 的 特 别 看 法 ，

    有 着 密 切 联 系 。 个 人 道 德 的 升 降 往 往 和 个 人 所 隶 属 集 团 的 优

    缺 点 混 淆 在 一 起 ， 或 处 于 比 较 次 要 的 地 位 。 如 果 共 产 体 有 了

    罪 过 ， 它 的 罪 恶 大 于 其 成 员 所 犯 罪 的 总 和 ； 这 个 罪 是 一 个 团

    体 行 为 ， 其 后 果 所 及 ， 要 比 实 际 参 与 犯 罪 行 为 的 人 多 的 多 。 如

    果 ， 反 过 来 ， 个 人 是 显 然 有 罪 的 ， 那 他 的 子 女 、 他 的 亲 属 、 他

    的 族 人 或 他 的 同 胞 就 都 要 和 他 一 起 受 罚 ， 有 时 甚 至 代 替 他 受

    罚 。 因 此 关 于 道 德 责 任 和 道 德 报 应 的 观 念 ， 在 很 古 时 代 ， 似

    乎 常 比 各 个 较 进 步 时 代 体 会 得 更 加 明 白 ， 因 为 既 然 家 族 集 团是 永 生 不 灭 的 ， 其 担 当 刑 罚 的 责 任 是 无 限 制 的 ， 则 原 始 人 的

    头 脑 自 不 会 象 后 来 当 个 人 被 视 为 完 全 和 集 团 分 离 的 时 期 的 后

    代 人 的 头 脑 那 样 被 种 种 困 难 问 题 所 窘 困 了 。 早 期 希 腊 关 于 一

    个 遗 传 的 诅 咒 的 观 念 ， 标 志 着 由 古 代 的 和 简 单 的 对 于 事 物 的

    看 法 走 向 后 来 神 学 或 形 而 上 学 解 释 的 过 渡 的 一 步 。 他 的 后 裔

    从 原 来 罪 犯 所 受 到 的 遗 物 ， 不 是 一 种 受 刑 罚 的 义 务 ， 而 是 一

    种 犯 新 罪 使 发 生 一 种 该 受 报 复 的 义 务 ； 这 样 ， 家 族 的 责 任 就

    和 这 种 新 的 思 想 状 态 ， 即 把 犯 罪 后 果 限 制 于 实 际 犯 罪 者 的 新

    思 想 状 态 ， 取 得 了 一 致 。

    如 果 我 们 能 根 据 前 面 谈 到 的 圣 经 上 的 例 子 提 供 给 我 们 的

    暗 示 而 作 出 一 个 一 般 结 论 ， 并 假 定 ： 凡 族 长 死 亡 时 ， 一 个 家

    族 仍 能 结 合 在 一 起 而 不 分 散 ， 这 时 候 共 产 体 就 开 始 存 在 了 ， 如

    果 是 这 样 ， 则 社 会 起 源 的 解 释 将 是 很 简 单 的 。 在 大 多 数 的 希

    腊 国 家 中 ， 以 及 在 罗 马 ， 长 期 存 在 着 一 系 列 上 升 集 团 的 遗 迹 ，

    而 “ 国 家 ” 最 初 就 是 从 这 些 集 团 中 产 生 的 。 罗 马 人 的 “ 家

    族 ” 、 “ 大 氏 族 ” 和 “ 部 落 ” 都 是 它 们 的 类 型 ， 根 据 它 们 被 描

    述 的 情 况 ， 使 我 们 不 得 不 把 它 们 想 象 为 从 同 一 起 点 逐 渐 扩 大

    而 形 成 的 一 整 套 同 心 圆 ， 其 基 本 的 集 团 是 因 共 同 从 属 于 最 高

    的 男 性 尊 属 亲 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 “ 家 族 ” 。 许 多 “ 家 族 ” 的 集 合

    形 成 “ 氏 族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ” 。 许 多 “ 氏 族 ” 的 集 合 形 成 “ 部

    落 ” 。 而 许 多 “ 部 落 ” 的 集 合 则 构 成 了 “ 共 和 政 治 ” 。 根 据 这

    些 痕 迹 ， 我 们 是 不 是 可 以 进 而 认 为 ： 共 和 政 治 是 因 为 来 自 一

    个 原 始 家 族 祖 先 的 共 同 血 统 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 许 多 人 的 一 个 集

    合 体 。 关 于 这 一 点 ， 我 们 至 少 可 以 断 定 ， 一 切 古 代 社 会 都 自

    认 为 是 来 自 一 个 原 祖 ， 并 且 除 此 以 外 ， 他 们 虽 经 努 力 ， 但 仍无 法 想 出 他 们 所 以 会 结 合 在 一 个 政 治 团 体 中 的 任 何 其 他 理

    由 。 事 实 上 ， 政 治 思 想 的 历 史 是 从 这 样 一 个 假 设 开 始 的 ； 即

    血 缘 是 共 产 体 政 治 作 用 的 唯 一 可 能 的 根 据 ； 也 没 有 任 何 一 种

    我 们 强 调 地 称 之 为 革 命 的 感 情 破 灭 ， 其 惊 人 和 完 全 的 程 度 及

    得 上 其 他 原 则 — — 例 如 所 谓 “ 地 方 毗 邻 ” — — 第 一 次 成 为 共

    同 政 治 行 动 的 基 础 时 所 完 成 的 变 化 的 。 因 此 ， 我 们 可 以 肯 定

    认 为 在 早 期 共 和 政 治 中 ， 所 有 公 民 都 认 为 ， 凡 是 他 们 作 为 其

    成 员 之 一 的 集 团 ， 都 是 建 筑 于 共 同 血 统 上 的 。 凡 对 于 “ 家

    族 ” 是 显 然 正 确 的 ， 当 时 便 认 为 首 先 对 于 “ 氏 族 ” ， 而 后 对 于

    “ 部 落 ” ， 最 后 对 于 “ 国 家 ” 也 都 是 正 确 的 。 可 是 ， 我 们 发 现 ，

    虽 然 有 着 这 样 一 个 信 念 ， 或 者 假 如 我 们 可 以 这 样 称 呼 它 的 话 ，

    这 个 理 论 ， 但 每 一 个 共 产 体 所 保 存 着 的 记 录 或 传 统 ， 却 都 明

    显 地 表 示 这 个 基 本 假 设 是 虚 伪 的 。 不 论 我 们 观 察 希 腊 各 邦 ， 或

    罗 马 ， 或 提 供 尼 布 尔 以 许 多 有 价 值 例 证 的 在 笛 脱 麻 希 的 条 顿

    贵 族 政 治 ， 或 凯 尔 特 部 族 组 织 ， 或 斯 拉 夫 俄 罗 斯 人 和 波 兰 人

    的 那 些 只 在 后 来 才 引 人 注 意 的 奇 怪 的 社 会 组 织 ， 在 每 个 地 方 ，

    我 们 都 能 在 他 们 的 历 史 中 发 现 有 把 外 国 出 生 的 人 接 纳 或 同 化

    于 原 来 的 同 族 人 中 的 事 。 如 果 单 独 以 罗 马 而 论 ， 我 们 也 可 看

    到 ， 这 个 原 始 集 团 即 “ 家 族 ” 是 不 断 地 由 于 收 养 的 习 俗 而 搀

    杂 进 来 其 他 血 统 的 人 的 ， 而 有 关 把 原 来 的 “ 部 落 ” 之 一 驱 逐

    出 境 ， 以 及 一 个 古 代 国 王 大 量 增 加 各 氏 族 成 员 的 种 种 故 事 ， 似

    乎 是 始 终 不 断 地 流 传 着 的 。 国 家 的 组 成 被 普 遍 假 定 为 自 然 的 ，

    但 在 实 际 上 却 绝 大 部 分 是 人 为 的 。 这 种 存 在 于 信 念 或 理 论 同

    显 著 的 事 实 之 间 的 互 相 抵 触 ， 初 看 起 来 是 非 常 令 人 困 惑 的 ； 但

    它 真 正 说 明 的 ， 正 是 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 在 社 会 幼 年 时 代 所 发 挥 的效 能 。 最 早 最 广 泛 应 用 的 法 律 拟 制 ， 是 允 许 以 人 为 的 方 法 来

    发 生 家 庭 关 系 ， 我 以 为 ， 人 类 所 深 受 其 惠 的 ， 实 没 有 比 这 个

    更 多 的 了 。 如 果 过 去 从 来 没 有 过 这 种 拟 制 ， 任 何 一 个 原 始 集

    团 不 论 其 性 质 如 何 ， 决 不 可 能 吸 收 另 一 个 集 团 ， 除 了 一 方 面

    是 绝 对 的 优 势 ， 另 方 面 是 绝 对 的 从 属 之 外 ， 也 决 不 可 能 有 任

    何 二 个 集 团 在 任 何 条 件 下 能 结 合 起 来 。 毫 无 疑 问 ， 如 果 我 们

    用 现 代 的 见 解 来 设 想 几 个 独 立 共 产 体 的 结 合 ， 我 们 可 以 提 出

    成 百 种 达 到 这 个 目 的 的 方 式 来 ， 其 中 最 简 单 的 方 式 就 是 由 包

    括 在 要 合 并 的 各 集 团 中 的 个 人 ， 按 照 地 区 在 一 起 选 举 或 一 起

    活 动 ； 但 是 ， 许 多 人 如 果 仅 仅 因 为 他 们 恰 巧 居 住 于 同 一 地 域

    以 内 就 应 该 行 使 共 同 政 治 权 利 ， 这 个 观 念 对 于 原 始 的 古 代 社

    会 来 讲 ， 是 完 全 陌 生 和 奇 怪 的 。 在 那 时 代 ， 受 到 欢 迎 的 办 法

    是 ， 外 国 人 应 该 ·

    把 ·

    他 ·

    们 ·

    自 ·

    己 ·

    冒 ·

    充 为 来 自 他 们 所 要 加 入 的 人 民

    的 同 一 祖 先 ； 我 们 今 天 所 不 易 理 解 的 ， 正 就 是 这 个 拟 制 的 善

    意 ， 以 及 它 能 被 做 得 接 近 真 实 。 但 是 ， 有 一 个 情 况 是 必 须 加

    以 重 视 的 ， 即 形 成 不 同 政 治 集 团 的 人 们 当 然 有 定 期 会 集 在 一

    起 的 习 惯 ， 目 的 在 用 共 同 的 祭 祀 以 确 认 和 神 圣 其 联 系 。 被 同

    化 于 同 胞 中 的 异 乡 人 无 疑 地 也 会 被 允 许 参 加 这 些 祭 祀 ； 我 们

    可 以 相 信 当 这 些 异 乡 人 一 度 这 样 做 了 以 后 ， 似 乎 就 很 容 易 或

    没 有 什 么 困 难 被 视 为 参 加 了 共 同 血 统 。 因 此 ， 从 证 据 得 出 的

    结 论 ， 所 有 早 期 社 会 并 不 都 是 由 同 一 祖 先 的 后 裔 组 成 ， 但 所

    有 永 久 和 团 结 巩 固 的 早 期 社 会 或 者 来 自 同 一 祖 先 ， 或 者 则 自

    己 假 定 为 来 自 同 一 祖 先 。 有 无 数 的 原 因 可 能 会 把 原 始 集 团 加

    以 粉 碎 ， 但 无 论 如 何 ， 当 它 们 的 成 分 重 新 结 合 时 ， 都 是 以 一

    种 亲 族 联 合 的 型 式 或 原 则 为 根 据 的 。 不 论 在 事 实 上 是 怎 样 ， 所有 的 思 想 、 言 语 和 法 律 都 被 调 整 ， 以 适 合 于 这 个 假 定 。 但 是 ，

    虽 然 在 我 看 来 ， 就 那 些 记 录 为 我 们 所 熟 悉 的 各 个 共 产 体 而 论 ，

    所 有 这 一 切 似 乎 都 是 可 以 成 立 的 ， 但 它 们 历 史 的 其 余 部 分 论

    证 了 前 面 所 提 出 的 论 点 ， 即 这 个 最 有 力 的 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 主 要

    地 起 着 暂 时 的 和 有 限 的 影 响 。 到 了 某 一 个 时 间 — — 也 许 是

    — — 当 它 们 自 己 感 觉 到 自 己 力 量 足 以 抵 抗 外 来 压 力 时 — — ，

    所 有 这 些 国 家 就 立 即 终 止 用 人 为 扩 大 血 缘 的 方 法 来 滋 补 新 成

    员 。 因 此 ， 凡 当 有 新 的 人 口 由 于 任 何 原 因 而 结 集 在 他 们 四 周 ，

    但 不 能 提 出 和 他 们 起 原 于 共 同 祖 先 的 主 张 时 ， 在 这 种 情 况 下 ，

    他 们 就 必 然 地 成 为 “ 贵 族 ” 。 他 们 严 格 维 持 着 一 个 制 度 的 主 要

    原 则 ， 根 据 这 个 原 则 人 们 除 了 真 正 的 或 人 为 的 血 统 关 系 以 外 ，

    没 有 任 何 条 件 可 以 使 他 们 获 得 政 治 权 利 ， 因 此 教 导 了 弱 者 另

    一 个 原 则 ， 这 个 原 则 已 证 明 是 具 有 高 度 的 生 命 力 的 。 这 就 是

    ·

    地 ·

    方 ·

    毗 ·

    邻 原 则 ， 现 在 已 被 到 处 承 认 为 共 产 体 在 政 治 职 能 上 的

    一 种 条 件 。 于 是 一 套 新 的 政 治 观 念 立 刻 产 生 了 ， 这 些 既 然 是

    我 们 自 己 的 观 念 ， 是 我 们 同 时 代 人 的 观 念 ； 并 且 在 很 大 程 度

    上 也 是 我 们 祖 先 的 观 念 ， 因 此 也 就 模 糊 了 我 们 对 于 那 些 被 它

    们 所 驳 倒 和 废 弃 的 旧 理 论 的 理 解 。

    一 个 古 代 社 会 、 据 我 们 所 能 设 想 到 的 ， 虽 然 是 多 种 多 样

    的 ， 但 “ 家 族 ” 是 它 的 典 型 ； 不 过 这 里 所 谓 的 家 族 ， 同 现 代

    人 所 理 解 的 宗 族 并 不 完 全 相 同 。 为 了 要 得 到 古 代 的 概 念 ， 我

    们 必 须 就 我 们 现 代 观 念 作 一 些 重 要 的 增 加 和 一 些 重 要 的 限

    制 。 我 们 必 须 把 家 族 看 作 是 因 吸 收 外 来 人 而 不 断 扩 大 的 团 体 ，

    我 们 并 且 必 须 把 收 养 的 拟 制 认 为 是 和 真 正 的 血 缘 关 系 非 常 密

    切 地 近 似 的 ， 因 此 不 论 在 法 律 上 或 在 人 们 的 意 见 中 ， 对 于 真正 的 血 缘 关 系 和 收 养 关 系 之 间 ， 都 没 有 丝 毫 差 别 。 在 另 一 方

    面 ， 由 于 共 同 血 统 而 在 理 论 上 混 合 于 一 个 家 族 中 的 人 们 ， 他

    们 在 实 际 上 结 合 在 一 起 ， 乃 是 由 于 他 们 共 同 服 从 其 最 高 在 世

    的 尊 亲 属 如 父 亲 、 祖 父 或 曾 祖 父 。 一 个 首 领 具 有 宗 法 权 ， 是

    家 族 集 团 观 念 中 的 一 个 必 要 的 要 素 ， 正 和 家 族 集 团 是 由 他 所

    产 生 的 事 实 （ 或 假 定 事 实 ） 同 样 的 必 要 ； 因 此 ， 我 们 必 须 了

    解 ， 不 论 任 何 人 ， 虽 然 由 于 血 缘 关 系 真 正 包 括 在 同 族 之 内 ； 但

    如 果 他 们 ·

    在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    上 退 出 了 其 统 治 者 的 支 配 ， 则 早 在 法 律 创 始

    时 期 ， 他 们 就 要 被 认 为 是 不 属 于 这 个 家 族 了 。 我 们 在 原 始 法

    律 学 的 发 轫 时 候 所 遇 到 的 ， 正 是 这 种 宗 法 的 集 合 体 ， — — 近

    代 家 族 就 是 这 样 在 一 方 面 加 以 缩 小 在 另 一 方 面 加 以 扩 大 而 组

    成 的 。 家 族 也 许 比 “ 国 家 ” 、 比 “ 部 落 ” 、 比 “ 氏 族 ” 更 加 古

    老 一 些 ， 但 它 在 “ 氏 族 ” 和 “ 部 落 ” 被 长 久 遗 忘 ， 在 血 缘 同

    国 家 的 组 成 已 长 久 失 掉 了 联 系 以 后 ， 还 在 私 法 上 留 有 残 迹 。 它

    在 法 律 学 的 各 大 部 门 中 都 有 烙 印 可 以 发 现 ； 并 且 我 以 为 ， 它

    可 以 被 认 为 是 这 些 部 门 中 许 多 最 重 要 和 最 持 久 特 征 的 真 正 渊

    源 。 最 古 法 律 的 各 种 特 性 从 开 始 时 就 使 我 们 得 到 这 样 一 个 结

    论 ， 即 在 权 利 和 义 务 制 度 上 ， 它 对 于 家 族 集 团 所 持 的 见 解 正

    和 我 们 今 日 流 行 在 全 欧 洲 的 对 于 个 人 所 持 的 见 解 完 全 相 同 。

    即 使 在 现 在 ， 我 们 还 可 以 观 察 到 这 样 的 社 会 ， 它 们 的 法 律 和

    惯 例 除 非 被 假 定 为 还 没 有 脱 离 这 种 原 始 状 态 就 很 难 加 以 说

    明 ； 但 是 在 环 境 比 较 幸 运 的 共 产 体 中 ， 法 律 学 的 结 构 已 开 始

    逐 渐 瓦 解 了 ， 如 果 我 们 仔 细 地 观 察 这 种 瓦 解 现 象 ， 我 们 就 能

    看 到 这 种 瓦 解 主 要 是 发 生 在 受 到 家 族 的 原 始 概 念 影 响 最 深 的

    那 些 部 分 的 制 度 中 。 一 个 最 重 要 的 例 证 中 ， 就 是 在 罗 马 法 中 ， 变 化 发 生 得 非 常 迟 缓 ， 从 一 个 时 代 到 另 一 个 时 代 ， 我 们 可 以

    观 察 到 变 化 所 遵 循 的 路 线 和 方 向 ， 并 且 甚 至 可 以 对 变 化 所 趋

    向 的 最 后 结 果 ， 略 加 叙 述 。 并 且 在 进 行 这 个 最 后 的 研 究 时 ， 我

    们 不 会 受 到 那 个 把 现 代 和 古 代 世 界 分 隔 开 来 的 想 象 障 碍 的 阻

    挠 。 因 为 经 过 提 炼 的 罗 马 法 同 原 始 野 蛮 的 惯 例 混 合 后 ， 形 成

    了 以 封 建 制 度 这 个 虚 伪 的 名 字 为 我 们 所 知 的 混 合 物 ， 其 结 果

    之 一 是 复 活 了 在 罗 马 世 界 早 已 废 弃 不 用 的 古 代 法 律 学 的 许 多

    特 色 ， 因 此 那 似 乎 已 经 终 止 了 的 分 解 过 程 又 再 度 开 始 ， 并 且

    在 某 种 程 度 上 直 到 现 在 仍 旧 在 继 续 进 行 中 。

    最 古 社 会 的 家 族 组 织 曾 在 少 数 法 律 制 度 学 上 留 有 明 白 而

    广 大 的 标 志 ， 显 示 出 “ 父 ” 或 其 他 祖 先 对 于 卑 亲 属 的 人 身 和

    财 产 有 终 身 的 权 力 ， 这 种 权 力 ， 我 们 为 了 方 便 起 见 ， 用 它 后

    来 在 罗 马 的 名 称 ， 称 它 做 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 在人 类 原 始 联 合 的 所 有 特 色 中 ， 没 有 比 这 种 权 力 更 多 地 被 大 量的 证 据 所 证 明 ； 但 也 没 比 这 种 权 力 更 为 普 遍 地 、 更 为 迅 速 地从 进 步 共 产 体 的 惯 例 中 消 失 掉 。 在 安 托 宁 时 代 写 作 的 该 雅 士 ，认 为 这 个 制 度 是 罗 马 人 特 有 的 制 度 ， 诚 然 ， 如 果 他 看 一 看 莱因 河 或 多 瑙 河 对 岸 那 些 曾 引 起 他 同 时 代 人 好 奇 心 的 野 蛮 部落 ， 他 可 能 会 看 到 许 多 最 粗 陋 形 式 的 宗 法 权 的 例 子 。 在 远 东

    有 一 个 和 罗 马 人 来 自 同 一 人 种 的 支 系 也 正 在 按 照 其 最 专 门 的

    细 节 重 复 施 行 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 但 在 公 认 为 包 括 于 罗 马 帝 国 内 的 各

    民 族 中 ， 除 了 只 在 亚 细 亚 加 拉 塔 （ Ａ ｓ ｉ ａ ｔ ｉ ｃ 　 Ｇ ａ ｌ ａ ｔ E） 之 外 ， 该雅 士 不 可 能 找 到 有 类 似 罗 马 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 一 种 制 度 。 据 我 看来 ， 祖 先 的 直 接 权 威 在 大 多 数 进 步 社 会 中 所 以 会 很 快 就 少 于

    其 在 最 早 状 态 中 所 有 的 程 度 ， 是 有 多 种 理 由 的 。 未 开 化 人 们对 其 父 绝 对 遵 从 ， 无 疑 地 是 一 个 主 要 事 实 ， 这 个 事 实 不 是 轻

    易 地 能 解 释 清 楚 的 ， 如 果 只 说 因 为 这 样 对 他 们 有 利 ； 但 是 ， 在

    同 时 ， 如 果 子 服 从 父 是 出 于 自 然 的 ， 那 末 子 希 望 父 具 有 卓 越

    的 体 力 或 卓 越 的 智 慧 也 是 同 样 出 于 自 然 的 。 因 此 ， 当 社 会 处

    在 体 力 和 智 力 都 具 有 特 殊 价 值 的 时 候 ， 就 会 发 生 一 种 影 响 ， 倾

    向 于 使 “ 家 父 权 ” 限 于 确 实 具 有 才 干 的 和 强 有 力 的 人 。 当 我

    们 初 看 到 有 组 织 的 希 腊 社 会 时 ， 好 像 出 类 拔 萃 的 智 慧 会 使 体

    力 虽 已 衰 微 的 人 仍 能 保 持 其 家 父 权 ； 但 在 “ 奥 特 赛 ” 中 优 烈

    锡 士 （ Ｕ ｌ ｙ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｓ ） 和 莱 安 底 斯 （ Ｌ ａ ｅ ｒ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 的 关 系 似 乎 表 示 当 其子 兼 有 非 常 的 勇 武 和 智 慧 时 ， 其 年 已 衰 老 的 父 是 可 以 从 家 族

    首 领 的 地 位 上 被 废 免 的 。 在 成 熟 的 希 腊 法 律 学 中 ， 其 规 定 比

    荷 马 文 学 中 所 暗 示 的 实 践 ， 更 前 进 了 几 步 ； 虽 然 仍 有 许 多 严

    格 的 家 族 义 务 被 保 留 着 ， 但 父 亲 的 直 接 权 威 象 在 欧 洲 的 法 典

    中 一 样 被 限 制 于 未 成 年 的 子 女 ， 或 是 ， 换 言 之 ， 被 限 制 于 这

    些 子 女 假 定 他 们 的 智 力 和 体 力 还 不 充 足 的 一 定 时 期 内 。 但 是 ，

    这 个 具 有 改 革 古 旧 惯 例 以 适 应 共 和 政 治 急 需 这 种 显 著 倾 向 的

    罗 马 法 ， 它 一 方 面 保 持 了 原 始 制 度 ， 另 一 方 面 却 保 持 了 我 认

    为 它 曾 从 属 的 自 然 限 制 。 在 每 一 种 生 命 有 关 的 场 合 ， 如 当 集

    体 的 共 产 体 为 了 议 和 或 为 了 战 争 而 必 须 利 用 其 智 力 和 体 力

    时 ， 家 子或 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 就 可 以 获 得 和 父 同 样 的 自 由 。 罗 马 法 学 中 有 这 样 一 个 格 言 ， “ 家 父 权 ” 并 不 触 及 “ 公 法 ”。 父 和子 在 城 中 一 同 选 举 ， 在 战 场 上 并 肩 作 战 ； 真 的 ， 当 子 成 为 将

    军 时 ， 可 能 会 指 挥 其 父 ， 成 为 高 级 官 吏 时 ； 要 审 判 其 父 的 契

    约 案 件 和 惩 罚 其 父 的 失 职 行 为 。 但 在 “ 私 法 ” 所 创 造 的 一 切关 系 中 ， 子 就 必 须 生 活 在 一 个 家 庭 专 制 之 下 ， 这 种 家 庭 专 制

    直 到 最 后 还 保 持 着 严 酷 性 ， 它 并 且 延 续 了 许 多 世 纪 ， 为 就 成

    为 法 律 史 中 最 奇 怪 的 问 题 之 一 。

    罗 马 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 必 然 地 是 我 们 原 始 父 权 的 典 型 ， 但 作

    为 一 个 文 明 生 活 的 制 度 ， 不 论 我 们 从 其 对 人 的 影 响 或 对 物 的

    效 果 而 论 ， 都 是 同 样 难 以 理 解 的 。 遗 憾 的 是 ， 在 它 的 历 史 上

    存 在 着 的 一 个 鸿 沟 ， 现 在 已 无 法 更 完 全 地 填 满 了 。 就 人 而 言 ，

    根 据 我 们 所 获 得 的 材 料 ， 父 对 其 子 有生死之权，更 ·

    毋 ·

    待 ·

    论 的 ， 具 有 无 限 制 的 肉 体 惩 罚 权 ； 他 可 以任 意 变 更 他 们 的 个 人 身 分 ； 他 可 以 为 子 娶 妻 ， 他 可 以 将 女 许 嫁 ； 他 可 以 令 子 女 离 婚 ； 他 可 以 用 收 养 的 方 法 把 子 女 移 转 到

    其 他 家 族 中 去 ； 他 并 且 可 以 出 卖 他 们 。 后 来 在 帝 政 时 期 ， 我

    们 还 可 以 发 现 所 有 这 些 权 利 的 遗 迹 ， 但 已 经 缩 小 在 极 狭 小 的

    范 围 内 。 家 内 惩 罚 的 无 限 制 的 权 利 已 变 成 为 把 家 庭 犯 罪 移 归

    民 事 高 级 官 吏 审 判 的 权 利 ； 主 宰 婚 姻 的 特 权 已 下 降 为 一 种 有

    条 件 的 否 定 权 ； 出 卖 的 自 由 已 在 实 际 上 被 废 止 ， 至 于 收 养 在

    查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 改 良 制 度 中 几 乎 全 部 失 去 了 它 在 古 代 的 重 要

    性 ， 如 果 没 有 子 女 的 同 意 ， 移 转 给 养 父 母 就 不 能 生 效 。 总 之 ，

    我 们 已 十 分 接 近 最 后 流 行 于 现 代 世 界 的 各 种 观 念 的 边 缘 ， 但

    是 在 这 些 相 隔 很 远 的 时 代 之 间 ， 存 在 着 一 个 暗 昧 的 期 间 ， 据

    我 们 猜 想 ， “ 家 父 权 ” 所 以 能 这 样 长 时 期 地 持 续 者 ， 其 原 因 就

    在 它 比 表 面 上 较 为 可 以 容 忍 一 些 。 儿 子 积 极 完 成 其 对 国 家 所

    负 各 种 义 务 中 最 重 要 的 义 务 ， 纵 使 不 取 消 他 父 亲 的 权 威 ， 一

    定 也 会 削 弱 这 种 权 威 。 我 们 不 难 想 象 ， 如 果 对 于 一 个 占 有 高

    级 民 事 官 吏 职 位 的 成 年 人 行 使 父 权 专 制 ， 则 必 然 地 会 引 起 极大 的 诽 谤 。 不 过 在 较 早 期 的 历 史 中 ， 这 种 在 实 际 上 解 放 的 事

    例 ， 如 和 罗 马 共 和 时 代 因 不 断 发 生 战 事 而 造 成 的 事 例 相 比 ， 是

    要 少 得 多 。 早 期 战 争 中 一 年 有 四 分 之 三 时 间 辗 转 于 战 场 上 的

    军 事 护 民 官 和 士 兵 ， 以 及 在 后 一 时 期 统 治 一 省 的 地 方 总 督 和

    占 领 它 的 军 团 兵 ， 他 们 实 在 不 应 该 有 任 何 实 际 理 由 使 他 们 自

    认 为 是 一 个 专 制 主 人 的 奴 隶 ； 而 在 当 时 ， 所 有 这 些 逃 避 “ 家

    父 权 ” 的 道 路 有 不 断 增 加 的 倾 向 。 胜 利 引 导 到 征 服 ， 征 服 引

    导 到 占 领 ； 用 殖 民 来 占 领 的 方 式 改 变 了 用 常 备 军 来 占 领 各 省

    的 制 度 。 每 次 向 前 进 展 一 步 ， 就 要 召 唤 更 多 的 罗 马 公 民 出 国 ，

    就 要 对 正 在 不 断 减 少 的 拉 丁 民 族 的 血 液 进 行 一 次 新 的 汲 引 。

    我 以 为 ， 我 们 得 推 定 ， 到 帝 国 建 立 ， 世 界 平 靖 开 始 的 时 候 ， 主

    张 松 弛 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 强 有 力 的 情 绪 ， 已 成 为 确 切 不 移 的 了 。 最

    早 加 于 这 古 代 制 度 的 大 打 击 来 自 较 早 期 的 几 个 凯 撒 ， 而 图 拉

    真 （ Ｔ ｒ ａ ｊ ａ ｎ ） 和 汉 德 林 所 作 的 几 次 单 独 干 涉 ， 似 乎 又 为 后 来 一

    系 列 明 确 的 立 法 准 备 了 条 件 ， 我 们 虽 无 法 断 定 这 些 立 法 的 时

    间 ， 但 我 们 知 道 ， 这 些 立 法 在 一 方 面 限 制 了 家 父 权 ， 另 一 方

    面 增 加 了 其 自 动 放 弃 的 种 种 便 利 。 在 比 较 早 的 时 期 ， 如 果 子

    经 过 三 次 出 卖 ， 就 可 以 消 灭 “ 家 父 权 ” ， 我 认 为 ， 这 个 方 式 证

    明 在 很 早 时 候 就 感 觉 到 没 有 延 长 这 种 权 力 的 必 要 。 这 一 条 规

    定 宣 布 子 在 被 父 出 卖 三 次 以 后 应 该 获 得 自 由 ， 其 原 意 似 乎 是

    为 了 要 惩 罚 这 种 甚 至 为 道 德 观 念 还 处 于 启 蒙 时 期 的 原 始 罗 马

    人 所 反 对 的 实 践 。 但 是 甚 至 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 以 前 ， 由

    于 法 学 专 家 的 智 机 ， 如 果 家 父 愿 意 中 止 家 父 权 的 时 候 ， 就 可

    以 利 用 这 个 方 式 来 把 它 取 消 。

    无 疑 地 ， 我 们 是 不 能 从 历 史 的 表 面 来 发 现 这 许 多 促 使 减轻 父 对 子 人 身 权 力 的 严 酷 性 的 原 因 的 。 我 们 无 法 断 定 究 竟 公

    共 舆 论 对 于 一 种 法 律 所 赋 予 的 权 威 能 使 它 瘫 痪 到 如 何 程 度 ，

    或 者 父 子 之 情 究 竟 能 使 它 被 忍 耐 到 如 何 程 度 。 但 是 ， 虽 然 对

    于 人 身 的 权 力 在 后 来 可 能 变 成 了 有 名 无 实 ， 不 过 到 现 在 还 残

    存 的 罗 马 法 律 学 的 全 部 要 旨 暗 示 着 ； 父 对 子财产 所 有 的 权 利 ，

    则 是 始 终 毫 无 犹 豫 地 被 行 使 到 法 律 所 准 许 的 限 度 的 。 这 些 对

    财 产 的 权 利 在 最 初 出 现 时 ， 其 活 动 范 围 较 广 是 无 足 惊 异 的 。 古

    代 罗 马 法 禁 止 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ”和父 分 开 而 持 有 财 产 ， 或 者 （ 我 们 宁 可 说 ） 绝 对 不 考 虑 子 有 主张 一 种 各 别 所 有 权 的 可 能 。 父 有 权 取 得 其 子 的 全 部 取 得 物 ， 并享 有 其 契 约 的 利 益 而 不 牵 涉 到 任 何 赔 偿 责 任 。 我 们 从 最 古 罗

    马 社 会 的 构 成 中 所 能 得 到 的 就 是 这 些 ， 因 为 除 非 我 们 假 定 原

    始 家 族 集 团 的 成 员 应 该 把 他 们 各 式 各 样 的 劳 动 所 得 都 放 在 其

    共 有 的 财 产 中 ， 而 在 同 时 他 们 又 不 能 把 在 事 前 没 有 经 过 考 虑

    的 个 人 债 务 来 拘 束 它 ， 则 我 们 就 很 难 就 原 始 家 族 集 团 作 出 一

    个 概 念 。 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 真 正 难 解 之 处 实 在 并 不 在 这 一 方 面 ， 而

    是 在 于 父 的 这 些 财 产 特 权 被 剥 夺 得 如 此 之 慢 ， 以 及 在 于 在 这

    些 特 权 被 大 大 地 缩 小 之 前 全 部 文 明 世 界 都 被 引 入 这 些 特 权 范

    围 之 内 的 情 况 。 对 于 这 种 情 况 ， 没 有 试 作 过 任 何 改 革 ， 直 到

    帝 国 的 初 期 ， 现 役 军 人 的 取 得 物 可 以 不 受 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 影 响 ，

    这 无 疑 地 是 被 用 作 为 对 推 翻 自 由 共 和 政 治 的 军 队 的 酬 劳 的 一

    部 分 。 经 过 三 个 世 纪 以 后 ， 这 同 样 的 免 除 扩 大 而 适 用 于 国 家

    文 官 的 劳 动 所 得 。 这 二 种 变 化 在 应 用 时 是 显 然 有 限 制 的 ， 并

    且 它 们 在 技 术 上 是 采 用 这 样 的 形 式 ， 以 求 尽 量 避 免 干 预 “ 家

    父 权 ” 的 原 则 。 罗 马 法 在 过 去 是 一 向 承 认 某 种 有 限 的 和 依 附的 所 有 权 的 ， 奴 隶 及 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 的 赏 金 和 积 蓄 并 不 被强 迫 包 括 在 家 庭 账 目 之 内 ， 这 种 特 许 财 产 的 特 别 名 称 为 “ 特有 产 ” （ Ｐ ｅ ｃ ｕ ｌ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） ， 适 用 于 新 从 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 解 放 出 来 的 取 得物 ， 属 于 军 人 方 面 的 则 称 为 “ 军 役 特 有 产 ”， 属 于 文 官 方 面 的 则 称 为 “ 准 军 役 特 有 产 ”。 以 后 对 家 父 权 还 有 其 他 的 变 更 ， 在 外 表

    上 对 于 古 代 原 则 已 不 复 像 过 去 那 样 的 尊 重 了 。 在 采 用 “ 准 军

    役 特 有 产 ” 以 后 不 久 ， 君 士 坦 丁 大 帝 取 消 了 父 对 子 从 其 母 承

    继 财 产 上 所 有 的 绝 对 权 ， 把 它 缩 小 为 一 种用益权或 终 身 收 益 。 在 西 罗 马 帝 国 还 有 少 数 比 较 不 很 重 要 的 变 化 ， 但最 大 的 变 化 发 生 在 东 罗 马 帝 国 ， 是 当 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 时 代 ， 他

    所 制 定 的 法 律 ， 规 定 除 非 子 的 取 得 物 是 来 自 其 父 自 己 财 产 ， 父

    对 这 些 取 得 物 的 权 力 不 得 超 出 在 他 生 存 期 内 享 有 出 产 物 的 范

    围 。 罗 马 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 虽 已 作 了 这 样 极 度 的 宽 放 ， 但 是 罗 马

    的 制 度 仍 旧 远 比 现 代 世 界 中 任 何 类 似 制 度 为 广 泛 和 严 格 。 法

    律 学 最 早 的 现 代 作 者 认 为 ， 只 有 比 较 残 暴 和 比 较 鄙 野 的 罗 马

    帝 国 征 服 者 ， 特 别 是 斯 拉 夫 族 的 各 国 ， 才 有 类 似 “ 法 学 彙

    纂 ” 和 “ 法 典 ” 中 所 叙 述 的 一 种 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 所 有 的 日 耳 曼 移民 似 乎 都 承 认 一 个 家 族 团 体 属 于门特 （ ｍ ｕ ｎ ｄ ） 或 族 长 权 之 下 ；

    但 族 长 的 权 力 显 然 只 是 一 种 腐 败 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 遗 骸 ， 同 罗

    马 人 的 父 所 享 有 的 权 力 远 不 能 相 比 拟 。 法 兰 克 人 特 别 被 提 到

    没 有 受 到 这 种 罗 马 制 度 的 影 响 ， 因 此 老 一 辈 的 法 国 法 学 家 甚

    至 在 非 常 忙 于 用 罗 马 法 规 定 来 填 补 野 蛮 习 惯 的 孔 隙 时 ， 还 不

    得 不 用 这 明 白 的 格 言 ·

    在 ·

    法 ·

    兰 ·

    西 ·

    父 ·

    权 ·

    不 ·

    能 ·

    代 ·

    替

    来 保 获 自 己 ， 使 不 受 到“ 家 父 权 ” 的 侵 入 。 罗 马 人 固 执 地 保 持 着 他 们 这 个 最 古 状 态 的

    遗 迹 ， 其 本 身 是 值 得 注 意 的 ， 但 更 值 得 注 意 的 是 “ 家 父 权 ” 在

    它 一 度 绝 迹 以 后 又 复 在 全 部 文 明 世 界 广 泛 流 行 这 一 事 实 。 当

    “ 军 役 特 有 产 ” 还 只 是 父 对 子 财 产 权 力 的 唯 一 例 外 时 ， 以 及 当

    父 对 于 子 人 身 所 有 的 权 力 还 是 极 为 广 泛 的 时 候 ， 罗 马 公 民 权

    以 及 随 着 公 民 权 而 产 生 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 正 被 广 布 到 帝 国 的 每 一

    个 角 落 。 每 一 个 非 洲 人 或 西 班 牙 人 、 每 一 个 高 卢 人 、 不 列 颠

    人 或 犹 太 人 因 赠 与 、 买 受 或 继 承 而 获 得 这 种 公 民 权 的 光 荣 时 ，

    把 它 自 己 放 在 罗 马 “ 人 法 ” 之 下 ， 又 虽 然 我 们 的 权 威 学 者 暗

    示 ， 在 取 得 公 民 权 前 所 生 的 子 女 不 能 违 背 他 们 的 意 志 而 把 他

    们 放 在 “ 父 权 ” 之 下 ， 但 在 这 以 后 所 生 的 子 女 以 及 所 有 在 他

    们 以 后 的 卑 亲 属 都 应 该 处 于 一 个 罗 马家子 的 通 常 地 位 上 。 对

    于 后 期 罗 马 社 会 的 构 成 ， 本 不 在 本 文 研 究 范 围 之 内 ， 但 我 不

    妨 在 这 里 说 明 ， 有 人 认 为 安 托 宁 那 · 卡 刺 卡 拉 （ Ａ ｎ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｎ ｕ ｓ Ｃ ａ ｒ ａ ｃ ａ ｌ ｌ ａ ） 规 定 把 罗 马 公 民 权 赋 予 其 全 部 臣 民 的 措 施 并 不 重要 ， 这 种 意 见 是 缺 乏 根 据 的 。 不 论 我 们 对 这 件 事 作 如 何 解 释 ，

    但 它 必 然 无 疑 地 大 大 扩 大 了 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 范 围 ， 并 且 据 我 看

    来 ， 它 使 家 族 关 系 更 加 紧 密 ， 而 这 正 是 我 们 必 须 比 以 前 更 加

    注 意 的 ， 可 以 用 来 说 明 正 在 改 变 着 世 界 的 伟 大 道 德 革 命 的 一

    种 媒 介 。

    在 离 开 我 们 主 题 的 这 一 个 部 分 以 前 ， 应 该 注 意 到 “ 家

    父 ” 对 于 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 的 不 法 行 为 （ 或侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 ） 应 负

    责 任 。 他 对 其 奴 隶 的 不 法 行 为 也 同 样 的 应 该 负 责 ； 但 在 这 两

    种 情 形 下 ， 他 原 有 这 样 一 种 特 别 的 权 利 ， 就 是 把 犯 罪 者 的 本

    人 交 出 以 赔 偿 损 害 。 “ 家 父 ” 这 样 因 为 子 的 缘 故 而 负 担 责 任 ，再 加 上 父 和 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 相 互 之 间 不 能 提 起 控 诉 ， 有 些

    法 学 家 认 为 这 种 情 况 最 好 用 “ 家 父 ” 与 “ 家 子 ” 间 存 在 着 一

    种 “ 人 格 统 一 ” 的 假 设 来 加 以 说 明 。 在 “ 继 承 ” 的 一 章 中 ， 我

    将 说 明 在 什 么 意 义 上 和 在 什 么 限 度 内 ， 这 种 “ 统 一 ” 可 以 被

    认 为 是 一 种 现 实 。 在 目 前 我 只 须 说 明 ： “ 家 父 ” 的 这 些 责 任 以

    及 此 后 要 讨 论 到 的 其 他 一 些 法 律 现 象 ， 据 我 看 来 ， 都 是 作 为

    原 始 族 长 所 有 ·

    权 ·

    利 的 一 种 对 称 的 某 种 ·

    义 ·

    务 。 我 的 看 法 是 ， 如

    果 他 有 绝 对 的 处 分 其 同 部 族 之 人 的 人 身 和 财 产 的 权 利 ， 则 和

    这 种 代 表 性 的 所 有 权 相 适 应 ， 他 也 有 从 共 同 基 金 中 供 养 同 族

    内 所 有 成 员 的 责 任 。 困 难 是 在 于 ， 当 我 们 在 想 象 “ 家 父 ” 的

    这 种 责 任 的 性 质 时 ， 我 们 必 须 从 我 们 习 惯 的 联 想 中 充 分 地 解

    脱 出 来 。 它 不 是 一 种 法 律 义 务 ， 因 为 法 律 还 没 有 渗 透 到 “ 家

    族 ” 的 境 界 之 内 。 要 称 它 为 ·

    道 ·

    德 ·

    的 也 许 还 言 之 过 早 ， 因 为 道

    德 观 念 属 于 较 后 阶 段 的 智 力 发 展 ； 在 目 前 ， 我 们 不 妨 称 之 为

    “ 道 德 义 务 ” ， 但 是 这 所 谓 “ 道 德 义 务 ” ， 应 该 被 理 解 为 一 种 自

    觉 地 服 从 的 ， 并 且 是 依 靠 本 能 和 习 惯 而 不 是 依 靠 文 明 规 定 裁

    制 所 强 行 的 义 务 。

    “ 家 父 权 ” 就 其 正 常 状 态 而 论 ， 并 不 是 ， 并 且 据 我 看 来 ，

    也 不 可 能 是 一 种 在 大 体 上 永 久 的 制 度 。 因 此 ， 如 果 我 们 单 从

    它 本 身 来 考 虑 ， 它 以 前 具 有 普 遍 性 的 证 据 ， 是 不 完 全 的 ； 但

    是 如 果 研 究 一 下 古 代 法 律 中 在 根 本 上 依 附 着 它 、 但 却 不 是 从

    它 所 有 方 面 或 为 每 一 个 人 所 能 看 到 的 一 条 线 索 所 联 系 着 的 其

    他 部 门 ， 则 可 以 获 得 的 证 据 将 更 多 。 我 们 试 以 亲 属 关 系 为 例 ，

    或 者 换 言 之 ， 以 古 代 法 律 学 中 亲 属 相 互 间 据 而 衡 量 远 近 亲 疏

    的 等 级 为 例 。 这 里 ， 最 方 便 的 方 法 又 是 应 用 罗 马 的 用 语 ， 即“ 宗 亲 ” 和 “ 血 亲 ” 关 系 。 血亲 关 系 就 是 现 代 观 念 所 熟 悉 的 亲属 关 系 概 念 ； 这 是 因 一 对 已 婚 的 人 所 出 生 的 共 同 后 裔 而 产 生 的 亲 属 关 系 ， 不 论 其 后 裔 来 自 男 性 或 女 性 方 面 。宗亲 亲 属 关系 和 这 完 全 不 同 ； 它 不 包 括 有 许 多 我 们 在 今 天 认 为 当 然 是 我

    们 亲 属 的 人 ， 而 同 时 却 包 括 了 更 多 我 们 决 不 会 计 算 在 我 们 亲

    属 中 的 人 。 其 实 ， 这 是 根 据 了 最 古 时 代 的 看 法 而 存 在 于 家 族

    成 员 间 的 一 种 关 系 。 这 个 关 系 的 范 围 ， 和 现 代 亲 属 关 系 的 范

    围 是 远 不 相 一 致 的 。

    因 此 ， “ 血 亲 ” 指 的 是 一 切 人 ， 从 血 统 上 能 追 溯 到 一 个 单

    一 的 男 性 和 女 性 祖 先 的 ； 或 者 ， 如 果 我 们 用 罗 马 法 中 这 个 字

    的 严 格 的 专 门 意 义 ， 他 们 是 一 切 从 血 统 上 能 追 溯 到 一 对 合 法

    结 婚 夫 妇 的 人 。 “ 血 亲 属 ” 因 此 是 一 个 相 对 的 名 称 ， 它 所 表 示

    血 缘 关 系 的 程 度 要 以 被 选 定 作 为 计 算 的 起 点 的 特 殊 婚 姻 而 决

    定 。 如 果 我 们 从 父 和 母 的 婚 姻 开 始 ， “ 血 亲 属 ” 只 表 示 兄 弟 和

    姊 妹 的 亲 属 关 系 ； 如 果 我 们 从 祖 父 和 祖 母 的 婚 姻 开 始 ， 则 伯

    叔 姑 母 以 及 其 后 裔 也 都 要 包 括 在 “ 血 亲 属 ” 的 观 念 内 ， 根 据

    这 同 一 步 骤 只 要 我 们 在 宗 谱 上 选 定 更 高 更 高 的 起 点 ， 那 就 可

    继 续 得 到 更 大 量 的 “ 血 亲 ” 。 这 一 些 都 是 为 一 个 现 代 人 所 容 易

    理 解 的 ， 但 谁 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 呢 ？ 首 先 ， 凡 专 从 男 性 追 溯 其 亲 属

    关 系 的 都 是 “ 血 亲 ” 。 为 了 要 组 成 一 张 “ 血 亲 ” 世 系 表 ， 当 然

    只 须 要 依 次 取 每 一 个 直 系 祖 先 ， 并 把 其 所 有 男 女 两 性 的 卑 属

    亲 都 包 括 在 一 张 表 式 内 ； 如 果 ， 在 追 溯 这 样 一 张 家 系 表 或 家

    系 树 的 各 个 支 派 时 ， 我 们 每 到 达 一 个 女 性 的 名 字 时 立 即 停 止 ，

    不 再 在 该 特 殊 的 支 派 或 枝 节 上 继 续 向 前 进 行 ， 把 女 性 的 卑 属

    亲 完 全 除 外 后 所 有 遗 留 下 来 的 人 就 都 是 “ 宗 亲 ” ， 而 他 们 相 互的 关 系 便 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 关 系 。 我 之 所 以 要 在 那 实 际 上 把 他 们 从

    “ 血 亲 ” 分 开 来 的 过 程 上 稍 谈 几 句 ， 因 为 这 说 明 了 一 个 著 名 的

    法 律 格 言 “ 一 个 妇 女 是 家 族 的 终 点 ”。 在 一 个 女 性 名 字 出 现 的 地 方 封 闭 了 家 系 中 有 关 支 派 或 枝 条 。 女 性 的 后 裔 是 不 包 括 在 家 族 关 系 的 原 始 观 念 中 的 。

    如 果 我 们 所 研 究 的 古 法 律 制 度 是 一 个 允 许 收 养 的 制 度 ，

    则 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 之 中 还 必 须 加 进 由 于 人 为 的 扩 大 范 围 而 增 加 到

    “ 家 族 ” 中 来 的 人 口 ， 包 括 男 性 或 女 性 。 但 是 这 类 人 的 卑 亲 属

    如 果 能 满 足 上 面 所 谈 的 各 种 条 件 ； 则 他 们 将 只 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 。

    然 则 ， 究 竟 凭 着 什 么 理 由 ， 决 定 这 种 专 断 的 包 括 和 除 外 ？

    为 什 么 一 个 “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 的 概 念 一 方 面 是 这 样 地 有 弹 性 ， 可

    以 包 括 因 收 养 而 带 入 家 族 中 来 的 陌 生 人 ， 但 另 一 方 面 又 是 这

    样 地 狭 隘 ， 把 一 个 女 性 成 员 的 后 裔 排 除 在 家 族 之 外 ？ 要 解 决

    这 个 问 题 ， 我 们 又 必 须 回 到 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 基 础 并

    不 是 “ 父 ” “ 母 ” 的 婚 姻 ， 而 是 “ 父 ” 的 权 威 。 在 同 一 “ 父

    权 ” 之 下 的 一 切 人 ， 或 是 曾 经 在 它 下 面 的 一 切 人 ， 或 是 可 能

    会 在 它 们 下 面 的 一 切 人 ， 如 果 他 们 的 直 系 祖 先 寿 命 很 长 足 以

    造 成 他 个 人 的 王 国 ， 所 有 这 一 切 人 就 都 是 因 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 而 结

    合 在 一 起 的 。 实 际 上 ， 在 原 始 的 见 解 中 ， 所 谓 “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 正

    是 以 “ 家 父 权 ” 为 其 范 围 的 。 “ 家 父 权 ” 开 始 时 ， “ 亲 属 关

    系 ” 也 开 始 ； 因 此 ， 收 养 关 系 也 包 括 在 亲 属 关 系 之 中 。 “ 家 父

    权 ” 终 了 时 ， “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 也 终 了 ； 因 此 ， 一 个 被 父 所 解 放 了

    的 子 就 丧 失 了 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 一 切 权 利 。 这 就 是 为 什 么 女 性 后

    裔 不 在 古 亲 属 关 系 范 围 之 内 的 理 由 。 如 果 一 个 妇 女 未 婚 而 死

    亡 ， 她 不 能 有 合 法 的 卑 亲 属 。 在 她 结 婚 后 ， 她 所 生 的 子 女 属于 她 夫 而 不 属 于 她 父 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 范 围 ， 这 样 ， 她 的 子 女 就不 属 于 她 自 己 的 家 族 。 很 显 然 ， 如 果 有 人 自 称 是 母 亲 的 亲 属 ，

    则 原 始 的 社 会 组 织 可 能 要 为 之 惊 惶 失 措 。 因 为 这 样 一 个 人 就

    可 能 要 属 于 两 个 不 同 的 “ 家 父 权 ” ； 但 是 各 别 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 含

    有 各 别 的 管 辖 权 之 意 ， 则 这 个 同 时 属 于 两 个 管 辖 权 的 人 就 必

    将 生 活 于 两 种 不 同 法 律 管 理 之 下 。 既 然 “ 家 族 ” 是 帝 国 内 的

    一 个 帝 国 ； 是 共 和 政 治 内 的 一 个 共 产 体 ， 受 到 它 自 己 的 以 父

    为 其 泉 源 的 制 度 的 统 治 ， 则 把 亲 属 关 系 限 于 “ 宗 亲 ” ， 正 是 避

    免 在 家 庭 中 的 法 庭 上 发 生 法 律 冲 突 的 一 种 必 要 保 证 。

    “ 父 权 ” 本 身 因 父 的 死 而 消 灭 ， 但 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 则 好 像 是 一

    个 模 型 ， 在 “ 父 权 ” 消 灭 后 还 留 着 痕 迹 。 这 就 是 研 究 法 律 学

    史 的 人 对 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 感 到 有 兴 趣 的 所 在 。 只 有 在 比 较 少 数 的

    古 代 法 律 的 纪 念 碑 中 可 以 看 到 “ 父 权 ” ， 但 是 意 味 着 父 权 存 在

    的 “ 宗 亲 ” 关 系 ， 则 几 乎 到 处 都 可 以 发 现 。 属 于 印 度 － 欧 罗

    巴 祖 先 的 各 个 共 产 体 的 土 著 法 律 ， 在 其 最 古 结 构 中 ； 绝 少 不

    显 示 出 明 明 可 以 归 因 于 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 特 性 的 。 例 如 ： 在 含 有

    浓 厚 宗 族 依 附 这 个 原 始 观 念 的 印 度 法 中 ， 亲 属 关 系 是 完 全

    “ 宗 亲 ” 的 ， 据 我 所 知 ， 在 印 度 的 家 谱 中 ， 所 有 妇 女 的 名 字 一

    般 是 完 全 略 而 不 载 的 。 对 于 亲 属 关 系 的 这 种 同 样 见 解 ， 在 许

    多 蹂 躏 罗 马 帝 国 的 各 民 族 的 法 律 中 都 普 遍 存 在 ， 真 好 象 是 它

    们 原 始 惯 例 的 一 部 分 ； 我 们 并 且 不 妨 猜 想 ； 如 果 不 是 后 期 罗

    马 法 对 现 代 思 想 所 加 的 巨 大 影 响 ， 它 在 现 代 欧 洲 法 律 学 中 可

    能 要 比 现 在 更 永 久 地 被 保 存 着 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 很 早 就 把 “ 血 亲属 ” 作 为天然 形 式 的 亲 属 关 系 ， 并 不 辞 艰 苦 地 想 把 旧 的 概 念

    从 他 们 的 制 度 中 清 除 出 去 。 他 们 的 观 念 传 给 了 我 们 ， 但 “ 宗亲 属 ” 的 痕 迹 在 许 多 现 代 的 继 承 法 规 定 中 仍 旧 可 以 看 到 。 把

    女 性 及 其 子 女 排 斥 在 政 府 职 务 之 外 ， 一 般 以 为 系 由 于 撒 利 族法 兰 克 人 （ Ｓ ａ ｌ ｉ ａ ｎ 　 Ｆ ｒ ａ ｎ ｋ ｓ ） 的 惯 例 ， 但 这 当 然 是 来 自 “ 宗亲 ” 关 系 ， 起 源 于 古 日 耳 曼 对 于 自 主 财 产 的 继 承 规 定 。 在 英

    国 法 律 中 ， 只 有 到 最 近 才 被 废 弃 的 那 种 特 别 规 定 ， 即 禁 止 半

    血 统 兄 弟 相 互 继 承 土 地 的 规 定 ， 也 可 以 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 中 找 到 解

    释 。 在 诺 曼 底的 习 惯 中 。 这 个 规 定 只 适 用 于同母 ·

    异 ·

    父 （ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｎ ｅ ） 兄 弟 ， 也 即 是 同 母 而 不 是 同 父 的 兄 弟 ； 这

    种 限 制 ， 是 严 格 地 从 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 制 度 中 演 绎 出 来 的 ， 因 为 在

    这 个 制 度 下 ， 同 母 异 父 兄 弟 在 相 互 之 间 根 本 不 是 亲 属 。 当 它

    被 带 到 英 格 兰 时 ， 英 国 法 官 不 了 解 原 则 的 来 源 ， 把 它 解 释 为

    只 是 一 般 地 禁 止 半 血 统 的 继 承 ， 并 把 它 推 用 到同血 ·

    统兄 弟 ， 即 同 父 异 母 的 各 个 儿 子 。 在 一 切 虚 伪 法律 哲 学 的 文 籍 中 ， 当 以 企 图 对 半 血 统 的 被 排 斥 进 行 解 释 并 证

    明 它 是 正 当 的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 的 诡 辩 文 章 ， 最 为 突 出 。

    我 以 为 ， 由 此 可 以 看 出 这 个 由 “ 家 父 权 ” 结 合 起 来 的

    “ 家 族 ” 是 全 部 “ 人 法 ” 从 其 中 孕 育 而 产 生 出 来 的 卵 巢 。 在

    “ 人 法 ” 的 各 章 中 ， 最 重 要 的 是 有 关 妇 女 身 分 的 一 章 。 刚 才 说

    过 ， “ 原 始 法 律 学 ” 虽 不 允 许 一 个 妇 女 把 任 何 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 权

    利 传 给 其 后 裔 ， 但 却 把 它 本 人 包 括 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 范 围 之 内 。 其

    实 ， 一 个 女 性 同 她 所 出 生 的 家 族 之 间 的 关 系 ， 应 该 比 把 她 和

    男 性 亲 属 结 合 在 一 起 的 关 系 更 来 得 严 格 、 密 切 和 永 久 。 我 们

    曾 几 次 说 过 ， 早 期 法 律 只 着 眼 于 “ 家 族 ” ； 这 也 就 是 说 ， 它 只

    着 眼 于 行 使 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 人 ： 因 此 ， 它 在 父 死 之 时 解 放 其 子

    或 孙 所 依 据 的 唯 一 原 则 ， 是 在 考 虑 这 个 子 或 孙 有 没 有 使 其 本身 成 为 一 个 新 家 族 的 首 领 和 一 套 新 “ 父 权 ” 的 根 子 的 能 力 。 一

    个 妇 女 当 然 不 具 有 这 种 能 力 ， 因 此 也 就 不 能 有 获 得 法 律 所 赋

    与 的 自 由 的 权 利 。 所 以 古 法 律 学 用 一 种 特 殊 的 诡 计 把 她 终 生

    留 在 “ 家 族 ” 的 范 围 中 。 这 就 是 最 古 罗 马 法 中 所 谓 “ 妇 女 终身 监 护 ” （ Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ａ ｌ 　 Ｔ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｌ ａ ｇ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｗ ｏ ｍ ｅ ｎ ） 的 制 度 ， 在 这个 制 度 下 面 ， 一 个 “ 女 性 ” 虽 因 其 父 的 死 亡 而 从 父 权 中 解 脱

    出 来 ， 但 仍 应 继 续 终 身 从 属 于 最 近 的 男 性 亲 属 ； 并 以 他 作 为

    其 “ 监 护 人 ” 。 “ 终 身 监 护 制 ” （ Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ａ ｌ 　 Ｇ ｕ ａ ｒ ｄ ｉ ａ ｎ ｓ ｈ ｉ ｐ ） 显

    然 是 不 折 不 扣 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 一 种 人 为 的 延 长 ， 虽 然 当 时 在

    其 他 方 面 ， “ 家 父 权 ” 已 经 被 完 全 取 消 了 。 在 印 度 ， 这 个 制 度

    完 整 无 缺 地 保 存 下 来 ， 并 执 行 得 非 常 严 格 ， 以 致 一 个 印 度 的

    母 亲 常 常 受 着 自 己 儿 子 的 监 护 。 甚 至 在 欧 洲 所 有 斯 干 的 那 雄

    亚 各 国 有 关 妇 女 的 法 律 一 直 到 最 近 还 保 留 着 这 种 制 度 。 西 罗

    马 帝 国 的 侵 入 者 在 土 著 惯 例 中 都 普 遍 具 有 这 种 制 度 。 他 们 在

    “ 监 护 制 ” 这 个 主 题 上 所 有 的 各 式 各 样 观 念 ， 实 在 是 他 们 介 绍

    到 西 方 世 界 的 各 种 观 念 中 最 退 化 的 一 种 。 但 在 成 熟 的 罗 马 法

    律 学 中 ， 这 种 制 度 已 完 全 消 失 。 如 果 我 们 所 能 参 考 的 只 是 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 所 编 纂 的 法 律 ， 则 我 们 将 几 乎 完 全 不 知 道 有 这 样 一

    个 制 度 ； 但 是 该 雅 士 手 稿 的 发 现 让 我 们 看 到 了 这 个 制 度 ， 正

    当 它 陷 于 完 全 丧 失 信 用 和 濒 于 消 灭 的 这 样 一 个 最 有 趣 的 时

    代 。 这 个 伟 大 的 法 学 专 家 斥 责 了 一 般 用 来 替 这 个 制 度 辩 解 的

    所 谓 女 性 智 力 低 劣 的 说 法 ， 在 他 的 著 作 中 ， 并 且 有 相 当 大 的

    一 部 分 用 来 说 明 罗 马 法 学 家 所 提 出 以 便 “ 妇 女 们 ” 能 凭 以 打

    垮 这 古 代 规 定 的 许 多 方 法 ， 其 中 有 些 是 非 常 聪 明 的 。 这 些 法

    学 专 家 在 “ 自 然 法 ” 理 论 的 指 导 下 ， 在 这 个 时 期 明 显 地 以 两性 平 等 作 为 其 衡 平 法 典 的 一 个 原 则 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 他 所 攻 击

    的 各 种 限 制 是 对 于 财 产 处 分 上 的 限 制 ， 因 为 在 那 个 时 候 ， 妇

    女 处 分 财 产 仍 必 须 正 式 取 得 其 监 护 人 的 同 意 。 至 于 对 她 人 身

    的 支 配 权 则 显 然 早 已 废 弃 了 。

    “ 古 代 法 ” 把 妇 女 从 属 于 她 血 统 至 亲 ， 而 现 代 法 律 学 中 的

    一 个 主 要 现 象 则 是 把 她 从 属 于 丈 夫 。 这 种 变 化 的 历 史 是 值 得

    注 意 的 。 这 种 历 史 的 开 始 ， 远 在 罗 马 的 纪 年 史 中 。 在 古 代 ， 按

    照 罗 马 的 惯 例 而 缔 结 婚 姻 的 方 式 有 三 种 ， 一 种 是 男 宗 教 仪 式 ，

    另 外 两 种 是 按 照 世 俗 仪 式 进 行 。 宗 教 婚 姻 叫共食婚 （ Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｆ ａ ｒ A ｒ ｅ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ； 高 级 形 式 的 民 事 婚 姻 称 为买卖婚 （ Ｃ ｏ ｅ ｍ ｐ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ； 低 级 形 式 称 为时效婚 （ Ｕ ｓ ｕ ｓ ） ， 通 过 这 些 婚 姻 ， 夫 对 于 妻 的 人 身和 财 产 取 得 了 多 种 权 利 ， 总 的 说 来 ， 是 超 过 现 代 法 律 学 任 何制 度 所 赋 与 他 的 。 然 则 ， 他 究 竟 是 凭 什 么 能 力 取 得 这 些 权 利的 呢 ？ 他 不 是 以夫 而 是 以父 的 能 力 。 通 过 “ 共 食 婚 ” 、 “ 买 卖婚 ” 和 “ 时 效 婚 ” ，妇女处在夫 的 监 护 下也 就 是 说 ， 在 法 律 上 ， 她 成 了 她 丈 夫 的女儿 。 她 被 包 括 在 夫的 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 。 她 承 担 着 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 存 在 时 所 产 生 的 以及 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 消 灭 后 所 遗 下 的 一 切 义 务 。 她 所 有 的 全 部 财

    产 绝 对 地 属 于 夫 所 有 ， 在 他 死 亡 后 ， 她 便 受 监 护 人 的 保 护 ， 监

    护 人 是 由 其 夫 用 遗 嘱 指 定 的 。 但 是 ， 这 三 种 古 代 的 婚 姻 形 式

    逐 渐 废 弃 不 用 ， 在 罗 马 最 光 辉 灿 烂 的 时 期 ， 它 们 几 乎 完 全 为

    另 外 的 一 种 婚 礼 所 代 替 — — 显 然 是 旧 式 的 ， 但 到 这 时 为 止 一

    向 是 被 认 为 不 体 面 的 — — ， 这 是 低 级 形 式 民 间 婚 姻 的 一 种 变

    形 。 我 毋 庸 详 细 说 明 这 在 现 在 成 为 普 遍 流 行 的 制 度 的 专 门 结

    构 ， 只 须 说 明 ： 在 法 律 上 妇 女 只 是 作 为 家 族 的 一 种 暂 时 寄 托物 而 已 。 家 族 所 有 的 各 种 权 利 仍 旧 毫 无 损 失 ， 妇 女 继 续 在 她

    父 所 指 定 的 监 护 人 的 保 护 之 下 ， 而 监 护 人 的 支 配 权 在 许 多 实

    质 问 题 上 甚 且 超 过 其 夫 的 低 级 权 力 。 其 结 果 ， 罗 马 女 性 不 论

    是 已 婚 的 或 未 婚 的 ， 在 人 身 上 和 财 产 上 都 有 巨 大 的 独 立 地 位 ，

    因 为 象 我 已 经 暗 示 过 的 ； 后 期 法 律 的 趋 势 把 监 护 人 的 权 力 逐

    渐 缩 减 到 零 ， 而 流 行 的 婚 姻 形 式 也 并 没 有 把 补 充 的 优 越 权 给

    予 其 夫 。 但 基 督 教 似 乎 从 开 始 时 就 有 要 缩 小 这 种 显 著 自 由 的

    倾 向 。 具 有 这 个 新 信 仰 的 专 家 们 最 初 由 于 对 腐 败 的 邪 教 世 界

    种 种 放 荡 行 为 的 正 当 嫌 恶 的 引 导 ， 但 后 来 则 为 禁 欲 主 义 的 一

    种 热 情 所 催 促 ， 对 于 这 事 实 上 为 西 方 世 界 所 仅 见 的 最 松 弛 的

    一 种 婚 姻 关 系 ， 不 表 欢 迎 。 最 后 期 的 罗 马 法 律 由 于 它 曾 受 到

    基 督 皇 帝 宪 令 的 接 触 ， 带 有 反 对 这 些 伟 大 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 们

    自 由 学 理 的 某 种 痕 迹 。 当 时 流 行 的 宗 教 情 绪 可 以 说 明 ， 经 过

    蛮 族 征 服 的 熔 炉 锻 炼 过 并 由 罗 马 法 律 学 同 宗 法 惯 例 混 合 而 形

    成 的 近 代 法 律 学 ， 为 什 么 会 在 其 雏 形 中 过 分 地 吸 收 一 些 不 完

    全 的 文 明 社 会 中 有 关 妇 女 地 位 的 规 定 。 在 近 代 史 开 始 的 混 乱

    时 代 ， 日 耳 曼 和 斯 拉 夫 移 民 的 法 律 对 于 地 方 臣 民 象 是 一 个 隔

    层 那 样 重 叠 在 罗 马 法 学 之 上 ， 这 些 优 胜 民 族 的 妇 女 到 处 都 是

    处 在 各 式 各 样 的 古 代 监 护 制 之 下 ， 丈 夫 要 从 他 本 族 以 外 任 何

    家 族 娶 妻 ， 为 了 从 他 们 那 里 取 得 保 佐 权 ， 就 必 须 以 一 种 聘 金

    付 给 她 的 亲 属 作 为 代 价 。 当 我 们 继 续 向 前 进 展 看 到 中 世 纪 时 ，

    法 典 已 通 过 两 种 制 度 的 合 并 而 形 成 ， 其 有 关 妇 女 的 法 律 也 就

    带 有 双 重 渊 源 的 烙 印 。 对 于 未 婚 女 性 ， 罗 马 法 律 学 的 原 则 占

    了 优 势 ， 一 般 （ 虽 然 对 这 规 定 在 有 些 地 方 是 有 例 外 的 ） 都 已

    不 受 家 族 的 束 缚 ； 但 已 婚 妇 女 的 地 位 则 是 根 据 蛮 族 的 古 代 原则 规 定 的 ， 夫 能 以 夫 的 身 分 把 过 去 一 度 属 于 妻 的 男 性 亲 属 所

    有 的 各 种 权 力 取 为 己 有 ， 所 不 同 的 是 他 已 不 再 是 购 买 他 的 特

    权 了 。 因 此 ， 到 这 时 候 ， 西 欧 和 南 欧 的 近 代 法 律 开 始 因 这 样

    一 个 主 要 特 征 而 著 名 ， 就 是 一 方 面 未 婚 妇 女 和 寡 妇 比 较 有 了

    自 由 ， 另 一 方 面 它 又 使 妻 子 感 到 沉 重 无 力 。 由 于 婚 姻 而 使 女

    性 处 于 从 属 地 位 ， 要 经 过 很 长 时 期 才 明 显 地 消 灭 ， 欧 洲 这 种

    野 蛮 主 义 的 复 活 ， 其 主 要 和 有 力 的 溶 剂 始 终 是 来 自 查 斯 丁 尼

    安 法 典 化 的 法 律 学 ； 因 为 凡 是 研 究 它 的 地 方 都 必 然 地 会 唤 起

    那 热 情 ， 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法 典 化 的 法 律 学 隐 秘 地 、 但 是 最 有 效 地

    损 坏 着 它 在 表 面 上 仅 仅 是 要 加 以 解 释 的 各 种 习 惯 、 但 是 有 关

    已 婚 妇 女 的 一 章 法 律 ， 绝 大 部 分 不 是 根 据 了 “ 罗 马 法 ” 而 是

    根 据 了 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 见 解 来 解 释 的 ， “ 寺 院 法 ” 对 于 因 婚 姻 而

    创 设 关 系 所 持 的 见 解 同 世 俗 法 律 学 的 精 神 两 者 之 间 有 着 宽 阔

    的 距 离 ， 其 程 度 较 其 他 任 何 方 面 都 来 得 明 显 。 这 多 少 是 难 以

    避 免 的 ， 因 为 凡 是 保 留 着 一 些 基 督 教 制 度 这 种 彩 色 的 社 会 ， 很

    少 可 能 会 使 已 婚 妇 女 恢 复 中 期 罗 马 法 所 赋 与 她 们 的 个 人 自

    由 ， 但 是 已 婚 女 性 在 财 产 上 没 有 权 力 和 其 在 人 格 上 的 没 有 地

    位 是 建 筑 在 完 全 不 同 的 基 础 上 的 ， 而 寺 院 法 的 释 义 者 所 以 深

    深 阻 碍 了 文 明 ， 就 是 因 为 他 们 把 前 者 保 存 下 来 ， 并 加 以 巩 固 。

    有 许 多 迹 象 说 明 在 世 俗 原 则 和 教 会 原 则 之 间 ， 是 曾 经 发 生 过

    斗 争 的 ， 但 寺 院 法 几 乎 处 处 都 得 到 胜 利 。 在 有 些 法 国 省 分 中 ，

    等 级 低 于 贵 族 的 已 婚 妇 女 取 得 了 罗 马 法 律 学 所 准 许 的 处 分 财

    产 的 全 部 权 力 ， 这 种 地 方 法 律 后 来 有 大 部 分 就 为 “ 拿 破 仑 法

    典 ” 所 采 纳 ； 但 是 苏 格 兰 法 律 的 情 况 表 明 ， 切 实 顺 从 罗 马 法

    学 专 家 的 学 理 并 不 一 定 能 使 妻 的 地 位 有 所 提 高 。 不 过 对 于 已 婚 妇 女 最 严 厉 的 制 度 ， 或 则 是 那 些 严 格 尊 重 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 制

    度 ， 或 则 是 由 于 同 欧 洲 文 明 接 触 较 迟 从 未 把 他 们 的 古 制 加 以

    去 除 的 制 度 。 斯 干 的 那 维 亚 法 律 直 到 后 来 对 于 所 有 女 性 还 是

    比 较 苛 刻 的 ， 仍 旧 因 为 对 妻 的 严 峻 而 著 名 。 英 国 普 通 法 所 规

    定 的 财 产 上 的 无 能 力 ， 其 严 厉 程 度 也 并 不 稍 逊 ， 而 英 国 普 通

    法 中 绝 大 部 分 的 基 本 原 则 ， 都 是 来 自 “ 寺 院 法 学 者 ” 的 法 律

    学 的 。 普 通 法 中 规 定 已 婚 妇 女 法 律 地 位 的 那 一 部 分 ， 真 可 以

    使 一 英 国 人 对 作 为 本 章 主 题 的 伟 大 制 度 有 一 个 明 白 的 概 念 。

    我 们 只 要 回 想 一 下 纯 粹 英 国 普 通 法 所 赋 与 丈 夫 的 各 种 特 权 ，

    并 回 想 一 下 ， 在 普 通 法 还 没 有 经 衡 平 法 或 制 定 法 修 正 的 部 分

    中 ， 在 权 利 、 义 务 和 救 济 等 各 方 面 严 格 地 坚 持 妻 在 法 律 上 必

    须 完 全 从 属 的 见 解 ， 我 们 将 对 古 代 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 运 用 和 性 质 ，

    获 得 一 个 鲜 明 的 印 象 。 最 早 的 罗 马 法 和 最 晚 的 罗 马 法 之 间 ， 就

    在 “ 父 权 下 之 子 ” 这 个 主 题 上 所 存 在 着 的 距 离 ， 同 普 通 法 和

    衡 平 法 院 法 律 学 就 其 分 别 对 妻 所 作 规 定 上 存 在 的 距 离 ， 可 以

    视 为 完 全 相 等 。

    如 果 我 们 看 不 到 监 护 在 两 种 形 式 上 的 真 正 来 源 ， 而 就 这

    些 论 题 采 用 了 普 通 用 语 ， 则 我 们 必 然 会 以 为 ， “ 妇 女 的 保 佐 ”

    果 然 是 古 代 法 律 制 度 把 停 止 权 利 的 拟 制 推 进 到 一 个 过 分 极 端

    的 例 子 ， 而 古 代 法 律 制 度 为 “ 男 性 孤 儿 监 护 ”所 设 的 规 定 则 是 恰 恰 方 向 相 反 的 一 种 错 误 的 例 证 。 所 有 这 类 制 度 都 规 定 在 绝 早 的 时 期 就 终 止 男

    性 的 保 佐 。 根 据 可 以 作 为 其 典 型 的 古 代 罗 马 法 的 规 定 ， 因

    “ 父 ” 或 “ 祖 父 ” 死 亡 而 免 除 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 家 子 ， 应 仍 处 在 监

    护 之 下 ， 一 般 讲 到 他 十 五 岁 的 时 候 为 止 ； 但 一 到 这 个 时 候 ， 他 就 能 立 刻 完 全 享 有 人 格 和 财 产 独 立 之 权 。 因 此 ， 未 成 年 的 期

    间 ， 是 不 合 理 地 短 促 ， 正 像 妇 女 无 权 力 的 持 续 期 间 是 荒 谬 地

    长 久 一 样 。 但 是 ， 事 实 上 ， 在 造 成 这 两 种 监 护 原 来 形 式 的 情

    况 中 ， 既 没 有 过 分 ， 也 没 有 不 足 的 成 分 。 在 这 两 者 之 中 ， 不

    论 是 哪 一 种 都 丝 毫 没 有 考 虑 对 公 或 对 私 的 便 利 。 男 性 孤 儿 的

    监 护 原 只 是 为 了 庇 护 他 们 到 解 事 的 年 龄 ， 正 像 妇 女 的 保 佐 ， 目

    的 是 在 保 护 女 性 使 不 受 其 本 身 柔 弱 所 造 成 的 害 处 。 父 的 死 亡

    所 以 能 使 子 免 除 家 族 束 缚 ， 其 理 由 是 为 了 子 已 有 能 力 成 为 一

    个 新 的 宗 族 首 领 和 一 个 新 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 始 创 者 ； 这 类 能 力 是

    妇 女 所 没 有 的 ， 所 以 她 就 ·

    永 ·

    远 ·

    不 ·

    能 被 解 放 。 因 此 “ 男 性 孤 儿

    监 护 ” 是 一 种 手 段 ， 用 以 保 持 从 属 于 “ 父 ” 家 族 的 假 象 ， 到

    假 定 儿 童 能 自 成 为 父 的 时 候 为 止 。 这 就 是 把 “ 家 父 权 ” 延 长

    到 体 力 刚 刚 达 到 壮 年 时 为 止 。 因 为 严 格 的 理 论 要 求 它 应 该 作

    出 这 样 的 规 定 ， 直 到 青 春 期 终 了 为 止 。 但 是 ， 它 既 然 并 不 要

    求 把 受 监 护 的 孤 儿 一 直 监 护 到 智 力 成 熟 或 适 宜 于 处 理 事 务 的

    年 龄 ， 那 就 不 能 达 到 一 般 便 利 的 目 的 ； 而 这 一 层 似 乎 是 罗 马

    人 在 其 社 会 进 步 的 很 早 阶 段 就 已 经 发 觉 的 了 。 罗 马 立 法 中 最

    早 的 纪 念 碑 之 一 是 ·

    雷 ·

    多 ·

    利 ·

    亚 或 ·

    柏 ·

    雷 ·

    多 ·

    利 ·

    亚 ·

    法 （ Ｌ ｅ ｘ 　 ｌ Eｔ ｏ ｒ ｉ ａ

    　 ｏ ｒ 　 Ｐ ｌ Eｔ ｏ ｒ ｉ ａ ） ， 它 就 把 所 有 成 年 的 和 有 完 全 权 利 的 自 由 男性 放 在 一 种 新 型 监 护 人 称 为保佐人 （ Ｃ ｕ ｒ ａ ｔ ｏ ｒ ｅ ｓ ） 的 暂 时 管 束之 下 ， 取 得 保 佐 人 的 认 可 是 一 切 行 为 或 契 约 有 效 的 必 要 条 件 。

    青 年 人 年 龄 达 到 二 十 六 岁 ， 是 这 个 制 定 法 所 规 定 的 监 督 的 限

    期 ； 罗 马 法 中 所 用 的 “ 成 年 ” 或 “ 未 成 年 ” 这 些 名 词 ， 是 专

    对 二 十 五 岁 的 年 龄 而 言 的 。 在 现 代 法 律 学 中 ， ·

    未 ·

    成 ·

    年 或 ·

    受 ·

    监

    ·

    护 已 经 几 乎 一 致 地 被 用 为 专 门 保 护 在 体 力 上 和 智 力 上 未 成 熟的 少 年 人 。 在 达 到 解 事 年 龄 时 ，未成 · 年 或受 · 监护 便 自 然 终 止

    了 。 但 罗 马 人 对 于 体 力 幼 弱 的 保 护 和 对 于 智 力 幼 稚 的 保 护 ， 分

    成 在 理 论 上 和 在 形 式 上 完 全 不 同 的 两 种 制 度 。 有 关 这 两 种 制

    度 的 观 念 ， 在 近 代 的 对 监 护 的 观 念 中 已 合 而 为 一 。

    “ 人 法 ” 中 还 有 另 外 一 章 ， 现 在 有 加 以 引 述 的 必 要 。 在 成

    熟 的 法 律 学 的 各 种 制 度 中 用 以 规 定 ·

    奴 ·

    隶 ·

    主 ·

    和 ·

    奴 ·

    隶 关 系 的 法 律

    规 定 ， 并 没 有 很 明 显 的 迹 象 可 以 表 明 这 种 原 始 状 态 是 古 代 社

    会 所 共 有 的 。 但 是 这 种 例 外 是 有 理 由 的 。 在 “ 奴 隶 制 度 ” 中

    似 乎 始 终 有 一 些 使 人 类 为 之 震 惊 或 困 惑 的 东 西 ， 不 论 人 类 是

    如 何 的 不 习 惯 于 回 忆 ， 不 论 人 类 道 德 天 性 的 教 养 是 进 步 得 如

    何 微 少 。 古 代 共 产 体 几 乎 是 下 意 识 地 都 要 体 验 到 良 心 谴 责 ， 其

    结 果 往 往 会 采 用 一 些 想 象 的 原 则 为 奴 隶 制 度 作 辩 护 ， 或 至 少

    是 作 理 性 上 的 辩 护 的 可 能 根 据 。 在 他 们 历 史 的 初 期 ， 希 腊 人

    解 释 这 个 制 度 的 根 据 是 因 为 某 种 民 族 智 力 低 劣 ， 从 而 天 然 地

    适 合 于 这 种 奴 役 状 态 。 罗 马 人 用 了 同 样 独 特 的 精 神 ， 认 为 它

    是 战 胜 者 和 战 败 者 之 间 一 种 假 定 的 合 意 ， 前 者 要 求 敌 人 永 久

    为 其 服 役 ； 而 后 者 以 获 得 他 在 法 律 上 已 经 丧 失 的 生 命 来 作 为

    交 换 。 这 些 理 论 不 但 不 充 分 ， 并 且 也 显 然 同 它 所 想 说 明 的 实

    际 情 况 不 符 。 但 这 些 理 论 在 某 些 方 面 还 有 着 巨 大 的 影 响 。 它

    们 使 “ 奴 隶 主 ” 心 安 理 得 。 它 们 永 久 保 存 了 并 且 也 许 加 深 了

    “ 奴 隶 ” 的 低 下 地 位 。 它 们 自 然 有 助 于 隐 蔽 奴 隶 同 家 族 制 度 其

    他 方 面 原 来 所 有 的 关 系 。 这 种 关 系 虽 不 明 显 ， 但 在 原 始 法 律

    的 许 多 部 分 中 ， 特 别 是 在 典 型 的 制 度 — — 即 古 罗 马 的 制 度 中 ，

    还 是 不 经 意 地 被 表 现 出 来 的 。

    在 美 国 ， 曾 花 了 很 多 力 量 从 事 于 研 究 早 期 社 会 中 “ 奴隶 ” 是 否 被 认 为 “ 家 族 ” 中 一 个 成 员 的 问 题 。 有 这 样 一 种 看法 ， 认 为 答 案 必 然 是 正 面 的 。 从 古 代 法 和 许 多 原 始 历 史 所 提供 的 证 据 中 ， 很 明 显 ， “ 奴 隶 ” 在 某 种 条 件 下 ， 是 可 以 成 为“ 奴 隶 主 ” 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 概 括 继 承 人 ” （ Ｕ ｎ ｉ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｓ ａ ｌ Ｓ ｕ ｃ ｃ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｏ ｒ ） 的 ， 这 样 重 要 的 权 力 ， 像 我 将 在 “ 继 承 ” 这 一 章中 加 以 说 明 的 ， 意 味 着 “ 家 族 ” 的 管 理 和 代 理 在 某 种 特 殊 情

    况 下 是 可 能 遗 传 给 奴 仆 的 。 但 在 美 国 的 论 点 中 似 乎 有 着 这 样

    的 一 个 假 定 ， 即 如 果 我 们 承 认 “ 奴 隶 制 ” 曾 经 是 一 个 原 始 的

    “ 家 族 ” 制 度 ， 这 个 确 认 实 在 就 是 意 味 着 承 认 现 在 “ 黑 奴 制

    度 ” 在 道 德 上 是 有 可 以 辩 护 的 根 据 的 。 然 则 所 谓 “ 奴 隶 ” 原

    来 就 包 括 在 “ 家 族 ” 之 内 ， 究 竟 是 什 么 意 思 呢 ？ 这 并 不 是 说

    奴 隶 的 地 位 不 可 能 是 激 动 人 们 行 动 的 最 卑 鄙 动 机 的 产 物 。 “ 奴

    隶 制 ” 的 基 础 无 疑 是 出 于 这 种 简 单 的 愿 望 ， 就 是 利 用 他 人 的

    体 力 以 为 图 谋 自 己 舒 适 或 安 乐 的 一 种 手 段 ， 而 这 是 象 人 类 天

    性 一 样 地 古 老 的 。 当 我 们 说 “ 奴 隶 ” 在 古 时 候 就 包 括 在 “ 家

    族 ” 之 内 ， 我 们 并 不 是 企 图 说 明 那 些 把 他 带 到 “ 家 族 ” 里 并

    把 他 留 在 那 里 的 人 们 的 动 机 ； 我 们 仅 仅 是 在 暗 示 ， 把 他 同 奴

    隶 主 连 结 起 来 的 约 束 ， 和 把 集 团 中 每 一 个 成 员 同 族 长 结 合 在

    一 起 的 约 束 ， 是 属 于 同 样 的 一 般 性 质 的 。 我 们 在 前 面 已 提 到

    过 ， 在 人 类 原 始 观 念 中 ， 除 了 家 族 关 系 之 外 ， 不 可 能 理 解 在

    各 个 个 人 相 互 之 间 可 以 有 任 何 关 系 ， 事 实 上 ， 上 述 的 后 果 就

    是 来 自 这 个 一 般 的 确 言 。 “ 家 族 ” 首 先 包 括 因 血 缘 关 系 而 属 于

    它 的 人 们 ， 其 次 包 括 因 收 养 而 接 纳 的 人 们 ； 但 是 当 有 一 种 第

    三 类 的 人 ， 他 们 只 是 因 为 共 同 从 属 于 族 长 而 参 加 “ 家 族 ” 的 ，

    这 些 人 就 是 “ 奴 隶 ” 。 族 长 所 出 生 的 和 收 养 的 臣 民 被 放 在 “ 奴隶 ” 之 上 ； 因 为 按 照 事 物 正 常 的 发 展 ， 他 们 迟 早 一 定 会 从 约

    束 中 被 解 放 出 来 ， 行 使 他 自 己 的 权 力 ； 至 于 “ 奴 隶 ” ， 他 并 不

    因 为 地 位 低 微 而 被 放 在 家 族 范 围 之 外 ， 也 不 因 为 他 地 位 低 微

    而 使 他 降 低 到 无 生 命 的 财 产 那 样 的 地 位 ， 我 以 为 ， 这 是 可 以

    从 遗 留 下 来 的 许 多 迹 象 中 明 显 地 证 明 的 ， 象 在 没 有 其 他 办 法

    时 古 代 奴 隶 可 以 有 继 承 的 能 力 ， 就 是 证 明 之 一 。 但 如 果 妄 自

    推 测 ， 以 为 在 社 会 的 启 蒙 时 期 ， 因 为 在 “ 父 ” 的 王 国 中 曾 经

    为 他 保 留 过 一 定 的 地 位 ， 所 以 “ 奴 隶 ” 的 命 运 就 可 以 大 大 改

    善 ， 这 当 然 是 极 端 不 妥 当 的 。 比 较 可 能 的 情 况 是 ， 家 子 在 实

    际 上 已 经 被 同 化 为 “ 奴 隶 ” ， 而 不 是 “ 奴 隶 ” 分 享 着 较 晚 的 时

    代 父 对 其 子 所 表 示 的 那 种 温 情 。 但 是 对 于 那 些 比 较 进 步 的 和

    成 熟 的 法 典 ， 我 们 可 以 有 信 心 地 说 ， 凡 是 准 许 有 奴 隶 制 度 的

    场 合 ， 在 那 些 保 留 着 奴 隶 早 期 状 态 某 种 残 余 的 制 度 下 面 的

    “ 奴 隶 ” ， 一 般 要 比 采 用 使 他 社 会 地 位 降 低 的 其 他 理 论 的 制 度

    下 面 的 “ 奴 隶 ” 好 一 些 。 法 律 学 对 于 奴 隶 所 持 的 观 念 ， 对 于

    奴 隶 始 终 有 着 巨 大 的 关 系 。 罗 马 法 由 于 受 到 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 理

    论 的 影 响 ， 把 他 日 益 看 作 为 一 件 财 产 的 趋 势 得 以 停 止 发 展 ， 从

    而 凡 是 深 受 罗 马 法 律 学 影 响 并 准 许 有 奴 隶 的 地 方 ， 其 奴 隶 的

    状 态 从 来 不 是 悲 惨 得 难 堪 的 。 我 们 有 大 量 的 证 据 ， 证 明 在 美

    国 凡 是 以 高 度 罗 马 化 的 路 易 斯 安 那 州 法 典为 其 法 律 基 础 的 那 些 州 中 ， 黑 种 人 的 命 运 及 其 前途 ， 在 许 多 重 大 方 面 都 比 以 英 国 普 通 法 为 其 基 础 的 制 度 之 下

    的 要 好 得 多 ， 因 为 根 据 最 近 的 解 释 ， 在 英 国 普 通 法 上 “ 奴

    隶 ” 是 没 有 真 正 的 地 位 的 ， 因 此 也 就 只 能 被 认 为 是 一 种 物 件 。

    到 现 在 为 止 ， 我 们 已 经 研 究 过 属 于 本 文 范 围 之 内 的 有 关古 代 “ 人 法 ” 的 各 个 部 分 ， 而 研 究 的 结 果 ， 我 相 信 ， 能 使 我

    们 对 于 法 律 学 初 生 时 期 所 有 的 看 法 ， 有 进 一 步 的 明 确 。 各 国

    的 民 法 ， 在 其 最 初 出 现 时 ， 是 一 个 宗 法 主 权 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” ，

    我 们 现 在 并 且 可 以 看 到 这 些 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 也 许 只 是 更 早 期 人

    类 状 态 中 每 一 个 独 立 族 长 可 能 向 他 妻 、 子 以 及 奴 隶 任 意 提 出

    的 不 负 责 任 的 命 令 的 一 种 发 展 形 式 。 但 是 甚 至 在 国 家 组 织 形

    成 之 后 ， 法 律 的 使 用 仍 旧 是 极 其 有 限 的 。 这 些 法 律 不 论 是 保

    持 着 像 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 的 这 种 原 始 形 态 ， 也 不 论 是 已 经 进 步 到

    “ 习 惯 或 法 典 化 条 文 ” 的 状 态 ， 它 的 拘 束 力 只 及 到 各 “ 家 族 ”

    而 不 是 个 人 。 用 一 个 不 完 全 贴 切 的 对 比 ， 古 代 法 律 学 可 以 譬

    作 “ 国 际 法 ” ， 目 的 只 是 在 填 补 作 为 社 会 原 子 的 各 个 大 集 团 之

    间 的 罅 隙 而 已 。 在 处 于 这 种 情 况 下 的 一 个 共 产 体 中 ， 议 会 的

    立 法 和 法 院 的 审 判 只 能 及 到 家 族 首 长 ， 至 于 家 族 中 的 每 一 个

    个 人 ， 其 行 为 的 准 则 是 他 的 家 庭 的 法 律 ， 以 “ 家 父 ” 为 立 法

    者 。 但 民 法 的 范 围 在 开 始 时 虽 然 很 小 ， 不 久 即 不 断 地 逐 渐 扩

    大 。 改 变 法 律 的 媒 介 即 拟 制 、 衡 平 和 立 法 ， 依 次 在 原 始 制 度

    中 发 生 作 用 ， 而 在 每 一 个 发 展 过 程 中 必 有 大 量 的 个 人 权 利 和

    大 量 的 财 产 从 家 庭 审 判 庭 中 移 转 到 公 共 法 庭 的 管 辖 权 之 内 。

    政 府 法 规 逐 渐 在 私 人 事 件 中 取 得 了 同 在 国 家 事 务 中 所 有 的 同

    样 的 效 力 ， 已 不 再 被 每 一 个 家 庭 中 奉 为 神 圣 的 暴 君 的 严 命 所

    废 弃 了 。 通 过 罗 马 法 的 纪 年 史 ， 我 们 可 以 看 到 有 关 一 个 古 代

    制 度 逐 渐 被 摧 毁 以 及 把 各 种 材 料 再 度 结 合 起 来 而 形 成 各 种 新

    制 度 的 几 乎 全 部 的 历 史 ， 这 些 新 的 制 度 ， 有 的 被 保 持 原 状 一

    直 传 到 了 现 代 世 界 ， 也 有 的 由 于 在 黑 暗 时 期 和 蛮 族 相 接 触 而

    被 消 灭 或 腐 蚀 ， 最 后 才 又 为 人 类 所 恢 复 。 当 这 个 法 律 学 在 查斯 丁 尼 安 时 代 经 过 了 最 后 一 次 改 编 后 ， 除 了 为 活 着 的 “ 家

    父 ” 仍 旧 保 有 广 泛 权 力 的 唯 一 条 款 以 外 ， 其 中 已 很 难 找 到 古

    代 制 度 的 迹 象 。 到 处 都 以 便 利 的 、 匀 称 的 或 单 纯 的 原 则 — —

    总 之 ， 是 新 的 原 则 — — 来 代 替 能 满 足 古 代 良 心 的 空 洞 考 虑 的

    权 威 。 到 处 都 以 一 种 新 的 道 德 来 代 替 同 古 代 惯 例 相 一 致 的 行

    为 准 则 和 顺 从 理 由 ， 因 为 在 事 实 上 ， 这 些 准 则 和 理 由 都 是 从古 代 惯 例 中 产 生 的 。

    所 有 进 步 社 会 的 运 动 在 有 一 点 上 是 一 致 的 。 在 运 动 发 展的 过 程 中 ， 其 特 点 是 家 族 依 附 的 逐 步 消 灭 以 及 代 之 而 起 的 个人 义 务 的 增 长 。 “ 个 人 ” 不 断 地 代 替 了 “ 家 族 ” ， 成 为 民 事法律 所 考 虑 的 单 位 。 前 进 是 以 不 同 的 速 度 完 成 的 ， 有 些 社会在表 面 上 是 停 止 不 前 ， 但 实 际 上 并 不 是 绝 对 停 止 不 前 ， 只要经过 缜 密 研 究 这 些 社 会 所 提 供 的 各 种 现 象 ， 就 可 以 看 到 其 中 的古 代 组 织 是 在 崩 溃 。 但 是 不 论 前 进 的 速 度 如 何 ， 变 化 是绝少受 到 反 击 或 者 倒 退 的 ， 只 有 在 吸 收 了 完 全 从 外 国 来 的 古 代 观

    念 和 习 惯 时 ， 才 偶 尔 发 生 显 然 停 滞 不 前 的 现 象 。 我 们 也 不 难

    看 到 ： 用 以 逐 步 代 替 源 自 “ 家 族 ” 各 种 权 利 义 务 上 那 种 相 互

    关 系 形 式 的 ， 究 竟 是 个 人 与 个 人 之 间 的 什 么 关 系 。 用 以 代 替

    的 关 系 就 是 “ 契 约 ” 。 在 以 前 ， “ 人 ” 的 一 切 关 系 都 是 被 概 括

    在 “ 家 族 ” 关 系 中 的 ， 把 这 种 社 会 状 态 作 为 历 史 上 的 一 个 起

    点 ， 从 这 一 个 起 点 开 始 ， 我 们 似 乎 是 在 不 断 地 向 着 一 种 新 的

    社 会 秩 序 状 态 移 动 ， 在 这 种 新 的 社 会 秩 序 中 ， 所 有 这 些 关 系

    都 是 因 “ 个 人 ” 的 自 由 合 意 而 产 生 的 。 在 西 欧 ， 向 这 种 方 向

    发 展 而 获 得 的 进 步 是 显 著 的 。 奴 隶 的 身 分 被 消 灭 了 — — 它 已

    为 主 仆 的 契 约 关 系 所 代 替 了 。 在 “ 保 佐 下 妇 女 ” 的 身 分 ， 如果 她 的 保 佐 人 不 是 夫 而 是 其 他 的 人 ， 也 不 再 存 在 了 ； 从 她 成

    年 以 至 结 婚 ， 凡 是 她 所 能 形 成 的 一 切 关 系 都 是 契 约 关 系 。 “ 父

    权 下 之 子 ” 的 身 分 也 是 如 此 ， 在 所 有 现 代 欧 洲 社 会 的 法 律 中

    它 已 经 没 有 真 正 的 地 位 。 如 果 有 任 何 民 事 责 任 加 于 “ 家 父 ” 和

    成 年 之 子 ， 使 他 们 共 同 受 到 它 的 约 束 ， 则 这 样 的 责 任 只 可 能

    通 过 契 约 而 后 才 能 具 有 法 律 效 力 。 有 一 些 显 然 的 例 外 ， 而 这

    种 例 外 的 性 质 适 足 以 证 明 这 个 规 定 。 在 解 事 年 龄 以 前 的 子 裔 ，在 监 护 下 的 孤 儿 ， 经 宣 告 的 疯 癫 病 人 ， 都 在 “ 人 法 ” 上 规 定了 他 们 在 某 些 方 面 是 有 能 力 的 ， 在 某 些 方 面 是 无 能 力 的 。 究竟 为 什 么 要 有 这 些 规 定 呢 ？ 在 各 种 不 同 制 度 的 传 统 用 语 中 ， 所提 出 的 理 由 虽 然 是 各 不 相 同 的 ， 但 是 在 实 质 上 ， 各 种 说 法 所具 有 的 效 果 却 是 完 全 一 致 的 。 绝 大 部 分 法 学 家 都 一 致 承 认 这样 一 个 原 则 ， 他 们 都 认 为 上 述 各 类 人 所 以 应 受 外 来 的 支 配 ， 其唯 一 理 由 是 在 于 他 们 本 身 不 具 有 为 其 自 己 利 益 而 作 出 决 定 的能 力 ； 换 言 之 ， 他 们 缺 乏 用 “ 契 约 ” 而 达 到 定 约 的 必 要 条 件 。

    “ 身 分 ” 这 个 字 可 以 有 效 地 用 来 制 造 一 个 公 式 以 表 示 进 步的 规 律 ， 不 论 其 价 值 如 何 ， 但 是 据 我 看 来 ， 这 个 规 律 是 可 以足 够 地 确 定 的 。 在 “ 人 法 ” 中 所 提 到 的 一 切 形 式 的 “ 身 分 ” 都起 源 于 古 代 属 于 “ 家 族 ” 所 有 的 权 力 和 特 权 ， 并 且 在 某 种 程度 上 ， 到 现 在 仍 旧 带 有 这 种 色 彩 。 因 此 ， 如 果 我 们 依 照 最 优秀 著 者 的 用 法 ， 把 “ 身 分 ” 这 个 名 词 用 来 仅 仅 表 示 这 一 些 人格 状 态 ， 并 避 免 把 这 个 名 词 适 用 于 作 为 合 意 的 直 接 或 间 接 结果 的 那 种 状 态 ， 则 我 们 可 以 说 ， 所 有 进 步 社 会 的 运 动 ， 到 此 处 为 止 ， 是 一 个 “ 从 身 分 到 契 约 ” 的 运 动 。

    第 六 章 　 遗 嘱 继 承 的 早 期 史

    我 们 在 英 国 研 究 “ 法 律 学 ” ， 如 果 想 要 表 示 出 历 史 的 研 究

    方 法 的 优 越 性 ， 超 过 其 他 流 行 在 我 们 中 间 的 任 何 方 法 ， 则

    “ 遗 命 ” （ Ｔ ｅ ｓ ｔ ａ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｓ ） 或 “ 遗 嘱 ” （ Ｗ ｉ ｌ ｌ ｓ ） 在 “ 法 律 ” 的 一 切部 门 中 ， 是 一 个 最 好 的 例 子 。 它 所 以 具 有 这 种 性 能 是 由 于 它 的 内 容 多 、 时 间 长 。 它 的 历 史 ， 在 社 会 状 态 很 幼 稚 的 时 期 就开 始 了 ， 当 时 所 有 的 各 种 概 念 ， 由 于 其 形 式 古 老 ， 须 要 费 些 心 力 才 能 加 以 理 解 ； 而 在 其 发 展 过 程 的 另 一 个 极 端 ， 即 现 在 ，

    我 们 又 有 这 样 许 多 法 律 观 念 ， 这 些 法 律 观 念 成 为 现 代 语 法 和

    思 想 习 惯 所 隐 蔽 的 一 些 同 样 的 概 念 ， 因 此 也 就 遇 到 另 外 一 种

    困 难 ， 就 是 难 以 相 信 那 些 作 为 我 们 日 常 知 识 的 各 种 观 念 ， 究

    竟 是 否 真 的 需 要 加 以 分 析 研 究 。 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 的 发 展 正 在 这 两 个

    极 端 之 间 ， 是 可 以 追 溯 得 很 清 楚 的 。 和 多 数 其 他 部 门 的 法 律

    史 不 同 ， 它 在 封 建 制 度 产 生 的 时 代 很 少 受 到 阻 碍 。 真 的 ， 就

    法 律 的 所 有 部 门 而 论 ， 所 谓 它 们 曾 由 于 古 代 史 和 近 代 史 间 的

    划 分 而 引 起 了 中 断 ， 或 者 换 言 之 ， 曾 由 于 罗 马 帝 国 的 解 体 而

    引 起 了 中 断 ， 这 个 说 法 实 际 上 是 大 大 地 夸 张 了 的 。 许 多 著 者 ，

    只 是 由 于 懒 惰 ， 不 愿 费 一 些 力 量 在 六 百 多 年 的 混 乱 中 从 迷 惑

    和 模 糊 的 里 面 寻 求 联 系 的 线 索 ， 至 于 其 余 的 研 究 者 ， 虽 然 不

    是 天 然 地 缺 乏 耐 性 和 勤 奋 ， 但 由 于 他 们 对 自 己 国 内 法 律 制 度

    怀 有 无 谓 的 自 尊 心 ， 不 愿 承 认 它 曾 受 惠 于 罗 马 法 律 学 ， 他 们就 被 引 入 了 歧 途 。 但 这 些 不 利 的 势 力 ， 对 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 领 域 中

    发 生 的 影 响 比 较 少 。 蛮 族 对 于 所 谓 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 概 念 ， 显 然 是

    生 疏 的 。 权 威 学 者 一 致 同 意 ， 他 们 在 本 土 和 以 后 在 罗 马 帝 国

    边 境 居 留 地 上 所 实 行 的 各 种 包 括 他 们 习 惯 的 成 文 法 典 的 有 关

    部 分 中 ， 完 全 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 痕 迹 。 只 有 在 他 们 和 罗 马 各 省

    人 民 混 合 在 一 起 以 后 ， 他 们 才 从 帝 国 法 律 学 中 吸 取 了 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 概 念 ， 在 开 始 时 只 是 一 部 分 ， 到 后 来 才 被 全 部 采 纳 。 教

    会 的 影 响 对 于 这 次 迅 速 同 化 有 很 大 关 系 。 教 会 势 力 很 早 就 继

    承 了 有 些 邪 教 神 庙 所 享 有 的 那 些 保 管 和 登 记 “ 遗 命 ” 的 特 权 ；

    甚 至 在 这 样 早 的 时 候 ， 宗 教 基 金 中 的 现 世 所 有 物 几 乎 完 全 来

    自 私 人 遗 赠 。 因 此 ， 最 早 的 “ 省 议 会 ”的 命 令 对 于 否 认 “ 遗 嘱 ” 神 圣 性 的 人 都 有 革 出 教 门

    的 规 定 。 在 我 们 这 里 ， 在 英 国 ， 一 般 都 认 为 阻 止 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 史

    中 断 的 主 要 原 因 之 一 当 然 是 由 于 教 会 的 影 响 ， 这 种 中 断 有 时

    被 确 信 曾 在 其 他 部 门 的 “ 法 律 学 ” 史 中 发 生 过 。 有 一 类 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 管 辖 权 过 去 曾 被 委 托 给 “ 宗 教 法 院 ” ， 这 些 法 院 虽 然 并

    不 始 终 是 明 白 地 、 但 却 的 确 适 用 着 罗 马 法 律 学 的 原 则 ； 并 且 ，

    虽 然 “ 普 通 法 院 ” 或 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 都 并 没 有 必 须 遵 照 “ 宗 教

    法 院 ” 的 任 何 义 务 ， 但 它 们 对 这 在 它 们 旁 边 适 用 的 一 套 明 确

    规 定 的 制 度 ， 终 不 能 规 避 其 有 力 影 响 。 英 国 的 人 格 遗 嘱 继 承

    法 就 成 了 过 去 罗 马 公 民 遗 产 处 分 所 遵 循 的 宗 规 的 一 种 变 形 。

    用 历 史 方 法 来 研 究 这 个 问 题 时 我 们 所 能 得 到 的 结 论 ， 和

    不 依 靠 历 史 而 单 凭表 ·

    面印 象 进 行 分 析 时 所 得 到

    的 结 论 ， 两 者 之 间 的 极 端 不 同 是 不 难 指 出 的 。 我 认 为 ， 不 论

    从 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 通 俗 概 念 出 发 ， 或 是 从 它 的 法 律 概 念 出 发 ，没 有 人 会 不 想 象 到 ： 凡 是 “ 遗 嘱 ” 必 附 有 某 种 特 性 。 例 如 ， 他

    可 能 会 说 ， 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 必 须 ·

    只 ·

    有 ·

    在 ·

    死 ·

    亡 ·

    时 才 能 发 生 效 力 — —

    它 是 ·

    秘 ·

    密 ·

    的 ， 它 里 面 所 规 定 的 有 利 害 关 系 的 人 们 是 必 然 地 不

    应 该 知 道 的 — — 它 是 ·

    可 ·

    以 ·

    取 ·

    消 ·

    的 ， 即 始 终 可 以 为 一 个 新 的 遗

    嘱 行 为 所 代 替 的 。 但 是 ， 我 可 以 证 明 ， 在 某 一 个 时 期 ， 一 个

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 完 全 没 有 这 些 特 征 。 我 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 直 接 来 自 “ 遗

    命 ” ， 而 “ 遗 命 ” 在 最 初 是 一 经 执 行 立 即 有 效 的 ： 是 不 秘 密 的 ；

    是 不 可 取 消 的 。 事 实 上 ， 在 所 有 法 律 媒 介 中 ， 没 有 一 种 历 史

    媒 介 的 产 物 要 比 人 们 用 书 面 意 志 来 控 制 其 死 后 的 财 产 处 分 更

    为 复 杂 的 了 。 “ 遗 命 ” 很 迟 缓 地 但 是 逐 渐 地 把 我 在 前 面 所 说 的

    各 种 特 性 聚 集 在 其 周 围 ； 造 成 这 种 情 况 的 原 因 是 完 全 偶 然 的 ，

    并 且 也 是 在 偶 然 的 事 物 压 力 之 下 完 成 的 ， 这 些 原 因 和 事 物 压

    力 除 了 曾 影 响 过 法 律 的 历 史 以 外 ， 对 于 我 们 目 前 已 经 是 没 有

    什 么 利 害 关 系 的 了 。

    在 法 律 理 论 远 比 现 在 为 多 的 一 个 时 期 中 — — 诚 然 ， 这 些

    理 论 的 绝 大 部 分 是 毫 无 价 值 的 和 十 分 不 成 熟 的 ， 但 是 这 些 理

    论 却 仍 旧 把 法 律 学 从 我 们 并 非 是 不 知 道 的 、 比 较 恶 劣 的 和 比

    较 拙 劣 的 情 况 下 挽 救 了 出 来 ， 在 当 时 的 情 况 中 ， 我 们 不 能 希

    望 有 象 概 括 这 一 类 的 东 西 ， 而 法 律 也 被 仅 仅 认 为 是 一 种 经 验

    的 产 物 — — 对 于 我 们 在 直 觉 上 能 立 即 和 显 然 地 感 到 的 一 个

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 所 具 有 的 某 些 特 性 ， 当 时 在 进 行 解 释 时 所 采 取 的 流 行

    说 法 是 ： 这 些 特 性 是 它 天 然 就 有 的 ， 或 者 ， 说 得 具 体 一 些 ， 是

    由 “ 自 然 法 ” 附 着 于 它 上 面 的 。 我 以 为 ， 在 一 度 认 定 所 有 这

    些 特 征 的 渊 源 都 在 历 史 的 记 忆 中 ， 可 能 就 不 会 有 人 主 张 这 样

    一 个 学 理 了 ； 同 时 ， 这 个 学 理 所 自 来 的 理 论 ， 其 遗 迹 尚 残 存于 我 们 所 习 用 并 且 也 许 还 不 知 如 何 加 以 舍 弃 的 表 现 形 式 中 。

    我 可 以 用 十 七 世 纪 法 律 文 籍 中 一 个 共 有 的 论 点 来 说 明 这 种 情

    况 。 当 时 的 法 学 家 很 普 遍 地 认 为 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 权 力 的 本 身 是 来

    自 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 权 力 ， 是 由 “ 自 然 法 ” 所 赋 与 的 一 种 权 利 。 他

    们 的 学 说 虽 然 并 不 是 所 有 的 人 都 能 立 即 看 到 其 联 系 的 ， 但 实

    质 上 ， 这 些 学 说 确 在 后 来 为 这 些 人 所 取 法 ， 他 们 主 张 ： 指 定

    或 控 制 死 亡 后 财 产 处 分 的 权 利 是 财 产 所 有 权 本 身 的 一 种 必 然

    的 或 自 然 的 结 果 。 每 一 个 法 律 学 者 也 一 定 还 遇 到 过 表 现 在 一

    个 相 当 不 同 的 学 派 的 语 句 中 的 这 个 同 一 的 见 解 ， 这 个 见 解 在

    说 明 这 一 部 门 法 律 的 原 理 时 ， 认 为遗命 继 承是 死 亡 者 财 产 应 该 首 先 遵 照 的 移 转 方 式 ， 然 后再 进 而 说 明 法 定 继 承是 立 法 者

    的 偶 然 规 定 ， 以 履 行 由 于 死 亡 的 财 产 所 有 者 因 疏 忽 或 不 幸 而

    未 执 行 的 一 种 职 能 。 这 些 意 见 ， 实 际 上 就 是 所 谓 遗 嘱 处 分 是

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 个 制 度 这 种 比 较 扼 要 的 学 理 ， 表 现 于 详 尽 的 方

    式 中 而 已 。 当 近 代 思 想 非 难 “ 自 然 ” 和 “ 自 然 法 ” 时 ， 究 竟

    它 所 联 想 的 范 围 如 何 ， 如 果 要 武 断 地 加 以 认 定 ， 当 然 是 决 不

    妥 当 的 ； 但 我 以 为 ， 大 多 数 主 张 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 是 来 自 “ 自 然

    法 ” 的 人 们 ， 他 们 的 意 思 ， 可 能 或 者 是 认 为 这 种 权 力 在 事 实

    上 普 遍 存 在 的 ， 或 者 认 为 这 种 权 力 由 于 一 种 原 始 的 本 能 和 冲

    动 的 推 动 而 为 各 国 所 一 致 承 认 。 对 于 上 述 论 点 中 的 第 一 点 ， 我

    认 为 ， 当 它 经 过 这 样 明 显 的 说 明 后 ， 是 决 不 能 认 为 满 意 的 ， 特

    别 是 在 这 样 一 个 时 期 中 ， 当 我 们 可 以 看 到拿破仑法典对 于 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 有 着 许 多 严 格 的 限 制 ， 同 时 也可 以 看 到 以 这 个 法 兰 西 法 典 为 范 本 的 各 种 制 度 正 在 一 天 天 地增 加 。 对 于 第 二 种 说 法 ， 我 们 也 必 须 加 以 反 对 ， 因 为 这 是 违 背 了 早 期 法 律 史 中 最 最 可 靠 的 事 实 的 ， 并 且 我 敢 于 一 般 地 断 定 ， 在 所 有 自 然 生 长 的 社 会 中 ， 在 早 期 的 法 律 学 中 是不 准 许

    或 是 根 本 没 有 考 虑 到 过 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 的 ， 只 有 在 法 律 发 展 的 后

    来 阶 段 ， 才 准 许 在 多 少 限 制 之 下 使 财 产 所 有 者 的 意 志 能 胜 过

    他 血 亲 的 请 求 。

    所 谓 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 这 个 概 念 是 不 能 单 从 它 本 身 来

    考 虑 的 。 它 是 一 系 列 概 念 中 的 一 个 概 念 ， 并 且 还 不 是 第 一 个

    概 念 。 就 其 本 身 而 论 ， 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 仅 仅 是 遗 嘱 人 用 以 宣 告

    其 意 思 的 工 具 。 我 以 为 ， 在 讨 论 这 一 个 工 具 前 ， 有 几 个 问 题

    必 须 首 先 加 以 研 究 — — 例 如 ， 从 一 个 死 亡 者 在 死 亡 时 所 转 移

    的 究 竟 是 什 么 ， 究 竟 是 哪 一 类 的 权 利 或 利 益 ？ 转 移 给 谁 ， 用

    什 么 形 式 ？ 以 及 为 什 么 死 亡 者 被 允 许 在 死 后 来 支 配 其 财 产 的

    处 分 ？ 如 果 用 术 语 来 表 示 ， 则 和 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 观 念 有 关 联 的

    各 种 概 念 ， 它 们 的 依 附 关 系 是 应 该 这 样 表 示 的 。 一 个 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 是 一 种 工 具 ， 继 承 权 的 移 转 即 通 过 这 个 工 具

    而 加 以 规 定 。 继 承 权 是 概 括 继 承 的 一 种 形 式 。 概 括 继 承 是 继

    承 一 种 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 （ ｕ ｎ ｉ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｓ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ 　 ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ｓ ） ， 或 权 利 和 义 务 的 全

    体 。 把 这 个 次 序 颠 倒 过 来 ， 我 们 就 必 须 研 究 什 么 是 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权

    ·

    利 ； 什 么 是 概 括 继 承 ； 被 称 为 一 个 继 承 权 的 概 括 继 承 ， 它 的

    形 式 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 此 外 还 有 两 个 问 题 ， 虽 然 在 某 种 程 度 上

    和 我 所 要 讨 论 的 各 点 是 并 不 相 关 的 ， 但 为 了 澈 底 了 解 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 这 个 主 题 ， 却 是 必 须 加 以 解 决 的 。 这 两 个 问 题 就 是 ， 为

    什 么 一 个 继 承 权 在 任 何 情 况 下 都 要 由 遗 嘱 人 的 意 志 来 支 配 ，

    以 及 用 以 控 制 继 承 权 的 工 具 ， 它 的 性 质 究 竟 是 什 么 ？

    第 一 个 问 题 和概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 有 关 ； 即 和 一 个 全 体 的 （ 或 一

    群 的 ） 权 利 和 义 务 有 关 。 所 谓 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 是 各 种 权 利 和 义 务

    的 集 合 ， 由 于 在 同 一 时 候 属 于 同 一 个 人 这 种 唯 一 情 况 而 结 合

    起 来 的 。 它 好 比 是 某 一 个 特 定 的 个 人 的 法 律 外 衣 。 它 并 不 是

    把 “ 任 何 ” 权 利 和 “ 任 何 ” 义 务 凑 合 在 一 起 而 形 成 的 。 它 只

    能 是 属 于 一 个 特 定 人 的 一 切 权 利 和 一 切 义 务 所 组 成 的 。 把 这

    样 许 多 财 产 权 、 通 行 权 、 遗 赠 权 、 特 种 清 偿 义 务 、 债 务 、 损

    害 赔 偿 责 任 — — 把 这 样 一 些 法 律 权 利 和 义 务 结 合 在 一 起 而 成

    为 一 个 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 的 纽 带 ， 是 由 于 它 们 附 着 于 某 一 个 能 够 行

    使 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 的 个 人 的 这 一 种 ·

    事 ·

    实 。 没 有 这 一 个 ·

    事 ·

    实 ， 就

    没 有 权 利 和 义 务 的 全 体 。 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 这 个 用 语 不 是 古 典 的 ， 但

    法 律 学 有 这 个 观 念 ， 应 该 完 全 归 功 于 罗 马 法 ； 同 时 这 个 用 语

    也 不 是 完 全 难 于 捉 摸 的 。 我 们 应 该 设 法 把 我 们 每 一 个 人 对 世

    界 上 其 余 人 的 全 部 法 律 关 系 ， 聚 集 在 一 个 概 念 之 下 。 不 论 这

    些 法 律 关 系 的 性 质 和 构 成 是 怎 样 ， 这 些 法 律 关 系 在 集 合 起 来

    后 ， 就 成 为 了 一 个 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 ； 只 要 我 们 仔 细 记 着 ， 在 这 个

    用 语 中 不 但 应 该 包 括 权 利 并 且 也 应 该 包 括 义 务 ， 则 我 们 对 于

    这 个 观 念 就 很 少 有 误 解 的 危 险 。 我 们 的 义 务 可 能 超 过 我 们 的

    权 利 。 一 个 人 可 能 欠 得 多 而 值 得 少 ， 因 此 ， 如 果 他 的 总 的 法

    律 关 系 用 金 钱 价 值 来 衡 量 ， 他 可 能 是 一 个 所 谓 破 产 者 。 但 就

    以 他 为 中 心 所 包 含 的 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 而 论 ， 这 依 然 是 一 个

    “ 概 括 的 权 利 ” 。

    其 次 我 们 要 研 究 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 。 概 括 继 承 就 是 继 承 一 种 ·

    概

    ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 。 当 一 个 人 接 受 了 另 外 一 个 人 的 法 律 外 衣 ， 在 同 一

    个 时 候 一 方 面 承 担 其 全 部 义 务 ， 另 一 方 面 享 有 其 全 部 权 利 时 ，就 发 生 概 括 继 承 。 为 了 使 这 个 概 括 继 承 真 实 和 完 全 ， 转 移 必

    须 象 法 学 家 所 说 的 那 样一次。 当 然 ， 可 以想 象 ， 一 个 人 可 以 在 不 同 时 期 取 得 另 外 一 个 人 的 全 部 权 利 和

    义 务 ， 例 如 通 过 连 继 购 买 ； 他 也 可 以 用 不 同 身 份 来 取 得 这 些

    权 利 和 义 务 ， 部 分 由 于 是 继 承 人 ， 部 分 由 于 是 买 受 人 ， 部 分

    由 于 是 受 遗 赠 人 。 但 是 ， 虽 然 这 样 组 合 起 来 的 一 群 权 利 和 义

    务 在 事 实 上 确 等 于 一 个 特 定 人 的 全 部 法 律 人 格 ， 但 这 种 取 得

    不 能 作 为 一 个 概 括 继 承 。 要 有 一 个 真 正 的 概 括 继 承 ， 转 让 必

    须 是 对 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 在同一 时 候 一 次 进 行 ， 同 时 受 领 人 也

    必 须 以同一 法 律 身 分 来 接 受 。 一 个 概 括 继 承 的 观 念 正 如 一 个

    概 括 的 权 利 的 观 念 ， 在 法 律 学 中 是 永 久 的 ， 虽 然 在 英 国 法 律

    制 度 中 ， 由 于 取 得 权 利 的 身 分 是 多 种 多 样 的 ， 尤 其 是 由 于 英

    国 财 产 上 “ 不 动 产 ” 和 “ 动 产 ” 两 大 部 分 之 间 的 区 分 ， 这 个

    观 念 给 模 糊 了 。 在 破 产 的 情 况 下 ， 一 个 受 让 人 继 承 破 产 者 全

    部 财 产 ， 是 一 种 概 括 继 承 ， 虽 然 受 让 人 只 就 遗 产 的 限 度 清 偿

    债 务 ， 但 这 只 是 对 原 来 观 念 的 一 个 修 正 形 式 。 如 果 在 我 们 中

    间 有 人 承 受 一 个 人 的 ·

    全 ·

    部 财 产 以 偿 付 其 ·

    全 ·

    部 债 务 作 为 条 件 ，

    则 这 类 移 转 就 和 最 古 罗 马 法 中 所 谓 概 括 继 承 完 全 类 似 。 当 一

    个 罗 马 公 民收养 一 个 养 子 ， 就 是 说 把 原 来 不 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 下

    的 人 收 纳 为 其 养 子 ， 他 就概括地 继 承 其 养 子 的 财 产 ， 也 就 是

    说 他 取 得 了 养 子 全 部 财 产 和 承 担 了 其 养 子 全 部 义 务 。 在 原 始

    “ 罗 马 法 ” 中 还 发 现 有 几 种 其 他 形 式 的 概 括 继 承 ， 但 其 中 最 重

    要 和 最 持 久 的 一 种 ， 是 我 们 所 最 直 接 关 心 的 “ 汉 来 狄 塔 斯 ”

    （ Ｈ Eｒ ｅ ｄ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ ） 或 “ 继 承 权 ” 。 “ 继 承 权 ” 是 在 死 亡 时 发 生 的 一 种概 括 继 承 。 概 括 继 承 人 是 “ 汉 来 斯 ” （ Ｈ Eｒ ｅ ｓ ） 或 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 他 立 即 取 得 死 亡 者 的 全 部 权 利 和 全 部 义 务 。 他 立 刻 取 得 了 他

    的 全 部 法 律 人 格 ， 并 且 不 论 他 由 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 提 名 ， 或 是 根 据

    “ 无 遗 嘱 ” （ Ｉ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｓ ｔ ａ ｃ ｙ ） 而 继 承 ， “ 汉 来 斯 ” 的 特 殊 性 质 保 持 不

    变 ， 这 是 无 须 赘 述 的 。 “ 汉 来 斯 ” 这 个 名 词 可 以 用 于 “ 无 遗 嘱

    继 承 人 ” ， 也 可 以 用 于 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 人 ” ， 因 为 一 个 人 成 为 “ 汉

    来 斯 ” 的 方 式 和 他 所 具 有 的 法 律 性 质 本 来 是 毫 无 关 系 的 。 死

    亡 者 的 概 括 继 承 人 ， 不 论 是 由 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 由 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” ，统 是 他 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 但 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 不 一 定 是 一 个 人 。 在 法律 上 被 视 为 一 个 单 位 的 许 多 人 ， 也 可 以 作 为 “ 继 承 权 的共同继承人 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｈ ｅ ｉ ｒ ｓ ） 。

    我 现 在 引 述 罗 马 人 通 常 对 于 一 个 “ 继 承 权 ” 所 下 的 定 义 ，读 者 就 能 够 理 解 这 些 各 别 名 词 的 全 部 含 意 。 “ 继承权是对于一个死亡者全部法律地位的一种继承”。意思 就 是 说 ， 死 亡 者 的 肉 体 人 格 虽 已 死 亡 ， 但 他 的 法 律 人 格 仍

    旧 存 在 ， 毫 无 减 损 地 传 给 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” ，

    （ 以 法 律 而 论 ） 他 的 同 一 性 在 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ”

    身 上 是 延 续 下 去 的 。 在 我 国 法 律 中 ， 把 “ 遗 嘱 执 行 人 ” 作 为

    死 亡 者 个 人 遗 产 范 围 内 的 代 表 一 条 可 以 用 来 例 证 它 所 自 来 的

    理 论 ， 不 过 它 虽 然 能 例 证 ， 但 却 仍 不 能 对 这 个 理 论 加 以 说 明 。

    甚 至 后 期 罗 马 法 ， 尚 认 为 在 死 亡 者 和 其 继 承 人 之 间 ， 必 须 有

    密 切 相 当 的 地 位 ， 但 英 国 的 一 个 代 表 人 就 不 具 有 这 一 种 特 点 ；

    同 时 在 原 始 法 律 学 中 ， 一 切 东 西 都 依 赖 着 继 承 的 延 续 。 除 非

    在 遗 嘱 中 规 定 着 遗 嘱 人 的 权 利 和 义 务 应 该 立 即 移 转 给 “ 继 承

    人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” ， 遗 命 就 丧 失 其 效 力 。

    在 近 代 遗 嘱 法 律 学 中 ， 象 在 后 期 罗 马 法 中 一 样 ， 最 重 要

    的 目 的 是 在 执 行 遗 嘱 人 的 意 志 。 象 古 罗 马 法 律 中 ， 相 应 关 心

    的 主 题 是 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 的 授 与 。 在 这 些 规 定 中 ， 有 一 些 在 我

    们 看 来 是 一 种 来 自 常 识 的 原 则 ， 但 另 外 一 些 则 看 上 去 很 象 是

    一 个 无 谓 的 幻 想 。 不 过 如 果 没 有 其 中 第 二 类 的 规 定 ， 则 第 一类 的 规 定 便 将 无 从 产 生 ， 这 是 任 何 这 一 类 的 命 题 所 必 然如此的 。

    为 了 要 解 决 这 显 然 的 矛 盾 ， 并 使 我 想 说 明 的 一 系 列 观 念

    更 为 清 楚 起 见 ， 我 必 须 借 用 前 一 章 开 始 部 分 中 所 作 研 究 的 结

    果 。 我 们 在 社 会 的 幼 年 时 代 中 ， 发 现 有 这 样 一 个 永 远 显 著 的

    特 点 。 人 们 不 是 被 视 为 一 个 个 人 而 是 始 终 被 视 为 一 个 特 定 团

    体 的 成 员 。 每 一 个 人 首 先 是 一 个 公 民 ， 然 后 ， 既 是 一 个 公 民 ，

    他 必 是 阶 级 中 的 一 个 成 员 — — 属 于 一 个 贵 族 阶 级 的 成 员 或 是

    属 于 一 个 平 民 阶 级 的 成 员 ； 或 是 ， 在 有 一 些 社 会 中 ， 由 于 时

    运 不 佳 而 在 其 发 展 的 过 程 中 遭 受 到 了 特 殊 的 逆 转 ， 他 就 成 了

    一 个 族 籍 的 成 员 。 其 次 ， 他 是 一 个 氏 族 、 大 氏 族 或 部 族 的 成员 ； 最 后 ， 他 是 一 个家族 的 成 员 。 这 最 后 的 一 类 是 他 所 处 身的 最 狭 小 的 最 个 人 的 关 系 ； 这 看 上 去 好 象 是 矛 盾 的 ， 但 他 绝不把他自己 看 成 为 一 个 各 别 的 个 人 。 他 的 个 性 为 其 家 族 所 吞没 了 。 我 重 复 一 遍 前 面 已 经 说 过 的 对 于 一 个 原 始 社 会 的 定 义 。作 为 社 会 的 单 位 的 ， 不 是 个 人 ， 而 是 由 真 实 的 或 拟 制 的 血 族关 系 结 合 起 来 的 许 多 人 的 集 团 。

    我 们 第 一 次 发 现 有 关 概 括 继 承 的 迹 象 ， 正 是 一 个 未 开 化

    社 会 的 特 点 之 一 。 原 始 时 代 的 共 和 国 和 一 个 近 代 国 家 的 组 织

    不 同 ， 在 原 始 时 代 的 共 和 国 中 ， 包 括 了 许 多 小 的 专 制 政 府 ， 每一 个 政 府 相 互 之 间 各 不 相 关 ， 每 一 个 政 府 都 处 于 一 个 唯 一 的

    君 主 特 权 的 绝 对 统 治 之 下 。 但 是 ， 虽 然 “ 族 长 ” 〔 我 们 在 这 时

    候 还 不 应 称 他 为 “ 家 父 ” （ Ｐ ａ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｉ ａ ｓ ） 〕 有 这 样 广 泛 的 权 利 ，

    但 我 们 决 不 能 就 认 为 他 负 担 着 同 样 广 大 的 义 务 。 如 果 他 管 理

    一 家 ， 这 是 为 了 家 族 的 利 益 。 如 果 他 是 所 有 物 的 主 人 ， 他 是

    作 为 儿 女 和 亲 族 的 受 讬 人 而 持 有 的 。 除 去 由 于 他 统 治 着 小 国

    家 的 关 系 而 赋 与 他 的 权 力 和 地 位 以 外 ， 他 没 有 任 何 其 他 特 权

    或 特 殊 地 位 。 一 个 “ 家 族 ” 在 事 实 上 是 一 个 “ 法 人 ” ， 而 他 就

    是 它 的 代 表 ， 或 者 我 们 甚 至 几 乎 可 以 称 他 为 是 它 的 “ 公 务

    员 ” 。 他 享 有 权 利 ， 负 担 义 务 ， 但 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 在 同 胞 的 期

    待 中 和 在 法 律 的 眼 光 中 ， 既 作 为 他 自 己 的 权 利 和 义 务 ， 也 作

    为 集 体 组 织 的 权 利 和 义 务 。 我 们 不 妨 在 这 里 研 究 一 下 ， 当 这

    样 一 个 代 表 在 死 亡 时 所 可 能 产 生 的 结 果 。 在 法 律 的 眼 光 中 ， 根

    据 民 事 高 级 官 吏 的 看 法 ， 族 长 的 死 亡 是 一 个 全 然 无 关 紧 要 的

    事 件 。 因 为 结 果 只 是 代 表 家 族 集 体 组 织 和 对 于 市 政 审 判 权 负

    有 主 要 责 任 的 人 ， 换 一 个 名 字 而 已 。 所 有 原 来 依 附 于 死 亡 的

    族 长 的 种 种 权 利 和 义 务 ， 将 毫 无 间 断 地 依 附 于 其 继 承 人 ； 因

    为 ， 在 事 实 上 ， 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 是 家 族 的 权 利 和 义 务 ， 而 家

    族 则 分 明 具 有 一 个 法 人 的 特 性 — — 它 是 永 生 不 灭 的 。 债 权 人

    对 新 的 族 长 象 对 旧 的 族 长 一 样 ， 可 以 要 求 同 样 的 补 偿 ， 因 为

    这 种 责 任 既 然 是 仍 旧 存 在 的 家 族 的 责 任 ， 自 将 绝 对 不 变 。 在

    族 长 死 亡 后 ， 家 族 所 有 的 一 切 权 利 将 和 他 死 亡 前 所 有 的 完 全

    相 同 ， 除 了 这 法 人 — — 如 果 对 这 样 早 的 时 代 真 能 够 恰 当 地 运

    用 这 样 精 确 而 专 门 的 用 语 — — 必 须 用 一 个 略 微 有 变 动 的 名 字

    来 ·

    依 ·

    法 ·

    要 ·

    求 以 外 。

    如 果 我 们 要 了 解 社 会 是 怎 样 逐 渐 地 和 缓 慢 地 分 解 而 成 为

    它 现 在 所 由 构 成 的 合 成 原 子 的 — — 是 经 过 了 怎 样 的 不 知 不 觉

    的 程 序 才 以 人 和 人 的 关 系 来 代 替 个 人 和 家 族 以 及 家 族 和 家 族

    相 互 之 间 的 关 系 的 ， 那 我 们 就 得 探 究 法 律 学 历 史 的 全 部 过 程 。

    现 在 所 应 注 意 之 点 是 ， 纵 使 革 命 已 经 显 然 完 成 ， 纵 使 高 级 官

    吏 已 经 在 很 大 程 度 上 代 替 了 “ 家 父 ” 的 地 位 ， 民 事 法 庭 已 代

    替 了 家 族 法 庭 ， 但 是 ， 司 法 当 局 所 管 理 的 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 仍

    旧 受 到 已 经 废 弃 的 特 权 的 影 响 ， 并 在 每 一 个 部 分 中 都 带 有 这

    些 特 权 的 色 彩 。 因 此 ， 毫 无 疑 问 ， 被 罗 马 法 律 用 全 力 坚 持 作

    为 遗 嘱 或 无 遗 嘱 继 承 首 要 条 件 的 “ 概 括 的 权 利 ” 的 移 转 ， 是

    一 个 比 较 古 老 的 社 会 的 一 个 特 点 ， 这 特 点 是 人 们 的 思 想 无 法

    把 它 和 新 社 会 分 离 开 来 的 ， 虽 然 它 和 较 新 的 局 面 之 间 是 并 没

    有 真 正 的 或 适 当 的 联 系 的 。 一 个 人 在 法 律 上 的 生 存 得 在 其 继

    承 人 或 许 多 共 同 继 承 人 身 上 延 长 ， 这 在 实 质 上 似 乎 就 等 于 把

    ·

    家 ·

    族 的 一 个 特 征 通 过 拟 制 而 移 转 给 ·

    个 ·

    人 。 法 人 中 的 继 承 必 然

    是 概 括 的 ， 而 家 族 是 一 个 法 人 。 法 人 永 生 不 灭 。 个 别 成 员 的

    死 亡 对 于 集 体 的 总 的 生 存 毫 无 关 系 ， 并 且 也 决 不 会 影 响 到 集

    体 的 法 律 附 带 、 其 能 力 或 其 责 任 。 这 样 ， 在 罗 马 人 所 谓 概 括

    继 承 的 这 个 观 念 中 一 个 法 人 所 有 的 这 一 切 性 质 ， 似 乎 都 被 移

    转 给 个 人 公 民 了 。 他 肉 体 的 死 亡 可 以 丝 毫 不 影 响 他 所 占 有 的

    法 律 地 位 ， 其 所 根 据 的 原 则 显 然 是 ： 他 的 地 位 应 该 尽 可 能 和

    一 个 家 族 的 地 位 相 类 似 ， 而 一 个 家 族 既 有 着 法 人 的 性 质 ， 是

    不 会 发 生 肉 体 死 亡 的 。

    我 注 意 到 在 大 陆 法 学 家 中 ， 对 于 混 杂 于 概 括 继 承 中 的 各

    种 概 念 之 间 的 联 系 ， 在 理 解 其 性 质 时 ， 绝 少 不 感 到 很 大 的 困难 的 ， 同 时 在 法 律 学 中 ， 一 般 讲 起 来 恐 怕 也 没 有 一 个 主 题 像

    他 们 就 这 个 主 题 上 所 作 的 纯 理 论 那 样 缺 少 价 值 。 但 英 国 法 学

    者 就 我 们 现 在 正 在 研 究 的 观 念 所 作 的 分 析 ， 应 该 不 会 有 错 误

    的 危 险 。 在 我 们 自 己 的 制 度 中 有 一 种 为 所 有 法 律 家 都 熟 悉 的

    拟 制 ， 能 用 来 很 好 地 说 明 它 。 英 国 法 学 家 把 法 人 分 为 “ 集 合

    法 人 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｐ ｏ ｒ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ 　 ａ ｇ ｇ ｒ ｅ ｇ ａ ｔ ｅ ） 和 “ 单 一 法 人 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｐ ｏ ｒ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ｏ ｌ ｅ ） 。 一 个 “ 集 合 法 人 ” 是 一 个 真 正 的 法 人 ， 但 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 则 是 一 个 个 人 ， 是 一 系 列 的 个 人 中 的 一 个 成 员 ， 通 过 拟 制 而 赋 与 一 个 “ 法 人 ” 的 性 质 的 。 例 如 ， 国 王 或 一 个 教 区 中 的 教 区 长 就 是 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 的 例 子 。 在 这 里 ， 当 考 虑 到

    他 的 权 能 或 职 位 时 ， 是 和 随 时 可 以 据 有 这 种 权 能 或 这 个 职 位

    的 各 别 的 人 不 相 牵 涉 的 ， 同 时 ， 由 于 这 种 权 能 是 永 久 的 ， 因

    此 据 有 这 种 权 能 的 一 系 列 的 个 人 便 也 带 着 “ 法 人 ” 所 有 的 主

    要 属 性 — — 即 “ 永 久 性 ” 。 在 罗 马 法 的 较 古 理 论 中 ， 个 人 之 与

    家 族 ， 正 和 英 国 法 律 学 的 原 理 中 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 之 与 “ 集

    合 法 人 ” 的 关 系 ， 完 全 相 同 。 这 两 种 观 念 的 由 来 和 联 系 是 完

    全 相 同 的 。 事 实 上 ， 如 果 我 们 认 为 就 罗 马 遗 嘱 法 律 学 而 论 ， 每

    一 个 个 人 公 民 就 是 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” ， 则 我 们 将 不 但 能 充 分 理

    解 一 个 继 承 权 的 全 部 概 念 ， 并 且 将 能 完 全 掌 握 这 概 念 所 自 来

    的 假 定 的 线 索 。 我 们 有 这 样 一 个 格 言 ， 国 王 是 一 个 “ 单 一 法

    人 ” ， 他 永 生 不 灭 。 他 的 权 能 应 立 即 为 其 继 承 人 所 填 补 ， 而 统

    治 权 的 延 续 也 就 视 为 未 经 中 断 。 对 于 罗 马 人 ， 把 死 亡 的 事 实

    从 权 利 和 义 务 的 移 转 中 排 除 掉 ， 似 乎 也 是 同 样 简 单 和 自 然 的

    过 程 。 遗 嘱 人 在 其 继 承 人 或 在 许 多 共 同 继 承 人 中 继 续 生 存 下

    去 。 在 法 律 上 ， 他 和 他 们 是 同 一 个 人 ， 如 果 有 任 何 人 在 其 遗

    嘱 处 分 中 违 背 了 把 他 的 实 际 生 存 和 他 的 死 后 生 存 结 合 起 来 的

    原 则 ， 纵 使 这 种 违 背 仅 仅 是 出 于 推 定 的 ， 法 律 也 就 将 认 为 这

    个 遗 嘱 有 瑕 疵 而 予 以 排 斥 ， 并 把 继 承 权 给 与 其 血 亲 族 ， 至 血

    亲 族 所 以 能 具 有 符 合 继 承 人 条 件 的 权 能 ， 是 由 法 律 本 身 的 规

    定 ， 而 不 是 由 可 能 会 有 错 误 的 任 何 证 件 所 赋 与 的 。

    当 一 个 罗 马 人 在 死 亡 时 没 有 遗 嘱 或 没 有 有 效 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ，

    他 的 卑 亲 属 或 亲 族 就 将 根 据 下 述 亲 等 而 成 为 其 继 承 人 。 继 承

    的 人 或 许 多 人 不 仅 仅代表 ·

    着 死 亡 者 ， 根 据 刚 才 所 谈 到 的 理 论 ，

    他 们 并 且 ·

    继 ·

    续 着 他 的 民 事 生 活 、 他 的 法 律 生 存 。 当 继 承 的 顺

    序 是 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 决 定 时 ， 也 可 以 得 到 同 样 的 结 果 ， 但 是 死 亡

    者 和 其 继 承 人 之 间 有 同 一 性 的 原 理 ， 当 然 比 任 何 形 式 的 “ 遗

    命 ” 或 任 何 种 遗 嘱 法 律 学 要 古 老 得 多 。 这 里 ， 应 该 恰 当 地 提

    出 一 个 问 题 ， 这 个 问 题 将 因 我 们 对 这 主 题 探 究 得 愈 深 入 而 对

    我 们 发 生 愈 大 压 迫 力 — — 如 果 不 是 由 于 和 概 括 继 承 有 关 联 的

    这 些 显 著 观 念 ， 那 末遗 ·

    嘱 是 否 就 根 本 不 会 出 现 了 呢 ？ 遗 嘱 法

    所 适 用 的 原 则 是 可 以 用 多 种 多 样 的 似 是 而 非 的 哲 学 假 设 来 说

    明 的 ； 这 个 原 则 和 现 代 社 会 的 每 一 个 部 分 交 织 着 ， 并 且 可 以

    用 广 泛 的 一 般 便 宜 来 作 为 辩 护 它 的 根 据 的 。 但 是 在 这 里 ， 必

    须 再 一 次 地 重 复 我 们 的 警 告 ， 即 如 果 以 为 ， 目 前 我 们 为 维 护

    一 个 现 存 制 度 而 持 有 的 那 些 理 由 ， 必 然 地 和 这 个 制 度 产 生 时

    所 有 的 情 绪 有 其 共 同 之 处 ， 这 是 不 对 的 ， 这 种 印 象 是 法 律 学

    上 各 种 问 题 发 生 错 误 的 最 大 根 源 。 可 以 断 言 ， 在 古 罗 马 “ 继

    承 法 ” 中 ， 遗 嘱 或 遗 命 这 个 观 念 是 和 一 个 人 死 后 生 存 于 其 继

    承 人 人 格 中 的 理 论 ， 不 能 分 解 地 纠 缠 在 一 起 的 ， 我 甚 至 可 以

    说 ， 是 混 和 在 一 起 的 。

    概 括 继 承 这 个 概 念 虽 然 在 法 律 学 中 已 经 根 深 蒂 固 ， 却 并

    不 是 为 每 一 种 法 律 的 编 制 者 自 发 地 想 到 的 。 在 可 以 发 现 有 这

    种 概 念 的 地 方 ， 都 显 示 出 它 是 来 自 罗 马 法 ； 跟 着 它 一 直 传 下

    来 的 有 许 多 以 “ 遗 命 ” 和 “ 遗 赠 ” 为 主 题 的 法 律 规 定 ， 这 些

    规 定 为 现 代 实 务 者 所 应 用 ， 竟 完 全 没 有 觉 察 到 它 们 和 其 原 来

    理 论 的 关 系 。 但 是 ， 在 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 学 中 ， 一 个 人 在 其 继 承

    人 身 上 继 续 生 存 的 原 则 — — 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 说 ， 根 本 消 灭

    死 亡 的 事 实 — — 是 遗 嘱 继 承 和 无 遗 嘱 继 承 全 部 法 律 所 环 绕 的

    中 心 ， 这 是 非 常 明 显 而 不 致 发 生 误 解 的 。 罗 马 法 强 迫 服 从 这

    个 有 势 力 的 理 论 ， 其 坚 决 严 厉 的 程 度 就 足 以 说 明 ， 这 个 理 论

    是 由 罗 马 原 始 社 会 组 织 中 生 长 出 来 的 ； 在 这 个 推 定 之 外 ， 我

    们 并 且 还 有 更 好 的 证 据 。 在 罗 马 最 古 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 制 度 中 恰 巧

    有 某 些 术 语 偶 然 地 被 保 存 到 现 在 。 在 该 雅 士 的 著 作 中 ， 我 们

    看 到 概 括 继 承 所 借 以 创 设 的 授 受 公 式 。 我 们 看 到 古 代 的 名 称 ，

    通 过 了 这 个 名 称 ， 一 个 后 来 被 称 为 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 人 被 预 先 给

    指 定 了 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 我 们 并 且 还 有 明 白 承 认 “ 遗

    命 ” 权 的 著 名 条 款 ， 而 规 定 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 的 条 款 也 被 保 存

    着 。 所 有 这 一 切 古 代 的 名 言 中 ， 都 有 一 个 显 著 的 特 点 。 它 们

    一 致 表 示 ， 从 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 转 移 给 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 是 ·

    家族 ， 也 就

    是 包 括 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 和 由 “ 家 父 权 ” 而 产 生 的 各 种 权 利 和

    义 务 的 集 合 体 。 在 所 有 的 三 个 例 子 中 都 完 全 没 有 提 到 物 质 财

    产 ； 在 其 余 两 个 例 子 中 ， 物 质 财 产 被 明 白 地 称 为 “ 家 族 ” 的

    附 属 物 或 附 属 品 。 因 此 ， 原 始 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 是 一 个

    手 段 ， 或 者 （ 因 为 在 开 始 时 可 能 不 是 成 文 的 ） 是 一 种 程 序 ， 而

    ·

    家 ·

    族 的 移 转 就 是 根 据 了 这 个 规 定 而 进 行 的 。 这 是 宣 告 谁 有 权来 继 承 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 为 族 长 的 一 种 方 式 。 当 我 们 对 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 原 来 目 的 作 出 这 样 的 理 解 ， 我 们 也 就 立 即 可 以 看 到 为 什 么

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 会 同 古 代 宗 教 和 法 律 最 古 怪 遗 物 之 一 的家祭 （ ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ａ）联 系 在 一 起 。 这 些 ·

    家 ·

    祭 是 一 种 罗 马 形 式 的 制 度 ， 凡 是 没 有 完

    全 解 脱 原 始 形 态 的 社 会 都 有 这 种 制 度 。 ·

    家 ·

    祭 是 用 以 纪 念 家 族

    同 胞 之 谊 的 祭 祀 和 礼 仪 ， 是 家 族 永 存 的 誓 约 和 见 证 。 不 论 ·

    家祭 的 性 质 如 何 — — 所 谓 在 一 切 情 形 中 ·

    家 ·

    祭 都 是 对 某 些 荒 诞 无

    稽 的 祖 先 的 崇 拜 ， 不 论 这 话 是 否 真 实 — — 它 们 在 各 处 都 被 用

    来 誓 证 家 族 关 系 的 神 圣 性 ； 因 此 每 当 家 族 族 长 本 人 发 生 变 化

    危 及 “ 家 族 ” 的 延 续 生 存 时 ， ·

    家 ·

    祭 就 显 得 特 别 重 要 。 因 此 ， 在

    这 族 统 治 者 死 亡 时 ， 人 们 更 常 提 到 ·

    家 ·

    祭 。 在 印 度 人 中 ， 继 承一 个 死 亡 者 财 产 的 权 利 ， 是 和 履 行 其 葬 仪 的 责 任 相 辅 而 行 的 。

    如 果 葬 仪 没 有 被 按 礼 履 行 或 者 不 是 由 适 当 的 人 来 履 行 ， 则 在

    死 亡 者 和 在 生 存 者 之 间 不 能 认 为 已 经 建 立 了 任 何 关 系 ； “ 继 承

    法 ” 就 不 能 适 用 ， 没 有 人 能 继 承 遗 产 。 在 一 个 印 度 人 的 一 生

    中 ， 似 乎 每 一 椿 大 事 都 和 这 些 祭 仪 有 关 。 如 果 印 度 人 结 婚 了 ，

    是 为 了 要 有 子 女 ， 在 他 死 亡 后 祭 祀 他 ； 如 果 他 没 有 子 女 ， 他

    就 有 最 大 的 责 任 从 其 他 家 族 中 收 养 一 个 子 女 ， “ 其 目 的 是 在 ” ，

    根 据 印 度 博 士 的 说 法 ， “ 获 得 葬 饼 、 水 和 庄 严 的 祭 礼 ” 。 西 塞

    罗 时 代 罗 马 ·

    家 ·

    祭 所 保 存 的 范 围 ， 也 并 不 小 于 印 度 。 它 包 括 了

    “ 继 承 权 ” 和 “ 收 养 ” 。 如 果 对 养 子 原 来 的 家 族 不 举 行 适 当 的

    ·

    家 ·

    祭 ， 则 不 能 进 行 “ 收 养 ” ： 如 果 祭 仪 的 费 用 不 在 各 个 共 同 继

    承 人 中 严 格 地 平 均 分 摊 ， 则 不 准 根 据 “ 遗 命 ” 来 分 配 一 个

    “ 继 承 权 ” 。 我 们 最 后 一 次 看 到 这 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 时 代 的 罗 马 法 ， 和 现

    存 印 度 制 度 之 间 所 存 在 的 差 别 ， 是 非 常 有 益 的 。 在 印 度 人 中间 ， 法 律 中 的 宗 教 成 分 获 得 了 完 全 的 优 势 。 “ 家 族 ” 祭 祀 成 了

    一 切 “ 人 法 ” 和 大 部 分 “ 物 法 ” 的 基 石 。 祭 祀 甚 至 经 过 异 常

    的 扩 大 ， 因 为 ， 在 一 种 常 常 伴 随 着 祭 祀 的 观 念 的 印 象 影 响 之

    下 ， 认 为 人 类 血 液 是 一 切 祭 品 中 最 可 珍 贵 的 祭 品 ， 印 度 人 就

    在 原 始 的 家 祭 上 作 了 一 些 补 充 ， 认 为 寡 妇 在 丈 夫 的 葬 仪 中 应

    该 以 身 殉 葬 ， 这 个 实 践 为 印 度 人 继 续 实 行 到 有 史 时 期 ， 并 且

    在 几 个 印 度 － 欧 罗 巴 人 种 中 亦 都 见 诸 于 传 说 。 在 罗 马 人 方 面

    则 恰 恰 与 此 相 反 ， 法 律 责 任 和 宗 教 义 务 已 不 再 挽 杂 在 一 起 。 举

    行 庄 严 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 必 要 性 已 不 再 成 为 民 事 法 律 理 论 的 一 部 分 ， 它

    们 改 属 “ 教 长 会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｌ ｌ ｅ ｇ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｆ ｆ ｓ ） 的 各 别 管 辖 之 下 。

    在 西 塞 罗 给 阿 提 格 斯 （ Ａ ｔ ｔ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｓ ） 的 许 多 信 中 充 满 了 有 关 ·

    家 ·

    祭

    的 提 示 ， 使 我 们 深 信 不 疑 ·

    家 ·

    祭 已 在 “ 继 承 权 ” 上 构 成 了 一 种

    难 以 容 忍 的 重 担 ； 但 到 这 个 时 候 ， 在 发 展 上 已 经 超 过 了 法 律

    从 宗 教 分 离 出 来 的 时 期 ， 而 我 们 所 期 待 着 的 是 ·

    家 ·

    祭 从 后 期 法

    律 学 中 全 部 消 失 不 见 。

    在 印 度 法 律 中 ， 没 有 一 个 所 谓 真 正 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 东 西 。

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 所 处 的 地 位 为 “ 收 养 ” 所 占 据 着 。 在 这 里 我 们 可 以 看

    到 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 和 “ 收 养 能 力 ” 的 关 系 ， 以 及 为 什 么 这 两 者

    之 一 的 行 使 都 可 能 引 起 要 履 行 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 一 种 特 殊 渴 望 。 “ 遗 嘱 ”

    和 “ 收 养 ” 都 威 胁 着 要 歪 曲 “ 家 族 ” 承 袭 的 正 常 进 程 ， 但 当

    亲 族 之 中 没 有 人 能 继 承 的 时 候 ， 它 们 显 然 都 是 避 免 承 袭 的 完

    全 中 断 的 手 段 。 在 这 两 者 之 中 ， 用 人 为 的 方 法 来 创 设 血 亲 关

    系 的 “ 收 养 ” 是 在 大 部 分 古 代 社 会 中 自 发 地 产 生 的 一 种 手 段 。

    印 度 人 无 疑 地 在 古 代 的 实 践 上 前 进 了 一 步 ， 即 准 许 寡 妇 收 纳

    养 子 ， 如 果 丈 夫 忽 略 了 这 样 做 ； 只 在 孟 加 拉 的 地 方 习 惯 中 ， 隐约 有 一 些 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 的 痕 迹 。 但 是 首 创 这 个 对 人 类 社 会 的

    转 化 具 有 巨 大 影 响 （ 仅 次 于 “ 契 约 ” ） 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 制 度 这 一 项

    功 劳 ， 主 要 应 该 归 属 于 罗 马 人 。 我 们 必 须 注 意 ， 切 不 可 以 把

    在 晚 近 时 代 它 所 具 有 的 职 能 ， 认 为 在 其 最 早 形 态 中 就 已 经 具

    备 的 了 。 在 开 始 时 ， 它 并 不 是 分 配 死 亡 者 财 产 的 一 种 方 式 ， 而

    是 把 家 族 代 表 权 移 转 给 一 个 新 族 长 的 许 多 方 法 中 的 一 种 。 无

    疑 地 财 产 已 传 给 其 “ 继 承 人 ” ， 但 这 些 是 因 为 公 有 财 产 处 分 权

    是 随 着 家 族 统 治 权 的 移 转 而 移 转 的 。 我 们 还 没 有 到 达 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 史 上 的 这 一 个 阶 段 ， 即 “ 遗 嘱 ” 已 成 为 变 更 社 会 的 有 力

    工 具 ， 即 一 方 面 它 们 刺 激 着 财 产 的 流 转 ， 另 一 方 面 它 们 在 财

    产 所 有 权 中 产 生 了 可 塑 性 。 甚 至 最 后 期 的 罗 马 法 学 家 ， 似 乎

    也 没 有 在 实 际 上 把 这 些 后 果 和 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 联 系 起 来 。 在 罗

    马 社 会 中 ， 从 没 有 把 “ 遗 嘱 ” 视 为 分 离 “ 财 产 ” 和 “ 家 族 ” 的

    一 种 手 段 ， 或 作 为 创 设 许 多 各 式 各 样 利 益 的 一 种 手 段 ， 而 是

    作 为 使 一 个 家 族 的 成 员 都 能 得 到 比 在 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规 定 下

    所 能 获 得 的 更 好 的 供 应 的 一 种 方 法 。 我 们 可 能 要 发 生 这 样 一

    个 疑 问 ， 即 当 时 一 个 罗 马 人 对 于 立 遗 嘱 的 实 践 所 有 的 想 法 和

    我 们 今 天 所 熟 悉 的 想 法 究 竟 是 不 是 极 端 地 不 同 的 。 把 “ 收

    养 ” 和 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 作 为 延 续 “ 家 族 ” 的 方 式 的 习 惯 ， 是 必 然

    地 和 罗 马 人 对 于 主 权 继 承 的 看 法 特 别 含 糊 有 关 联 。 我 们 不 能

    不 看 到 ， 早 期 罗 马 各 个 皇 帝 的 依 次 继 承 在 当 时 是 被 认 为 合 理

    地 正 常 的 ， 并 且 尽 管 当 时 发 生 了 这 一 切 事 情 ， 但 象 狄 奥 多 西

    （ Ｔ ｈ ｅ ｏ ｄ ｏ ｓ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） 或 查 斯 丁 尼 安 这 类 诸 侯 的 自 封 为 凯 撒 和 奥 古 斯多 ， 也 并 没 有 被 认 为 是 妄 诞 无 稽 的 。

    当 原 始 社 会 的 各 种 现 象 揭 露 以 后 ， 十 七 世 纪 法 学 家 认 为可 疑 的 一 个 命 题 ， 即 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 比 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 是 更 为

    古 老 的 一 个 制 度 ， 已 成 为 无 可 争 辩 的 了 。 在 这 个 问 题 解 决 以

    后 ， 又 发 生 了 另 外 一 个 更 有 趣 的 问 题 ， 即 一 个 遗 嘱 的 指 示 究

    竟 是 怎 样 和 在 什 么 条 件 下 最 初 被 准 许 用 来 规 定 家 族 权 的 移

    转 ， 以 及 后 来 又 规 定 财 产 的 死 后 分 配 。 这 个 问 题 的 所 以 难 于

    决 定 ， 是 因 为 在 古 代 共 产 体 中 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 是 罕 见 的 。 除 了

    罗 马 人 之 外 ， 其 他 原 始 社 会 究 竟 是 否 知 道 有 真 正 立 遗 嘱 权 力

    的 ， 还 是 有 疑 问 的 。 它 的 萌 芽 形 式 虽 然 到 处 可 见 ， 但 其 中 绝

    大 部 分 都 不 能 逃 避 渊 源 来 自 罗 马 的 嫌 疑 。 雅 典 的 遗 嘱 无 疑 是

    土 著 的 ， 但 我 们 不 久 就 可 以 看 到 ， 它 只 是 未 成 熟 的 遗 命 。 至

    于 那 些 征 服 罗 马 帝 国 的 各 个 蛮 族 所 传 给 我 们 的 一 些 法 典 中 用

    法 律 规 定 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ， 这 些 “ 遗 嘱 ” 几 乎 都 肯 定 是 罗 马 的 。 近

    来 最 有 鉴 别 力 的 德 国 批 评 都 注 意 到 这 些 ·

    蛮 ·

    族 ·

    法 ·

    律上 来 ， 调 查 的 主 要 目 的 ， 是 要 在 这 些 制 度 中 把

    原 来 本 族 习 惯 所 组 成 的 部 分 从 借 用 罗 马 法 律 的 外 来 要 素 中 分

    离 出 来 。 在 进 行 这 项 工 作 的 过 程 中 ， 经 常 发 现 一 个 结 果 ， 即

    在 古 代 法 典 的 核 心 中 并 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 痕 迹 。 凡 含 有 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 法 律 ， 都 是 来 自 罗 马 法 律 学 的 。 同 样 地 ， （ 据 我 被 告

    知 ） 希 伯 来 语 的 犹 太 法 所 规 定 的 萌 芽 “ 遗 命 ” ， 也 应 该 归 因 于

    和 罗 马 人 接 触 。 唯 一 不 属 于 罗 马 或 希 腊 社 会 的 遗 命 形 式 可 以

    被 合 理 地 假 定 为 土 著 的 ， 是 为 孟 加 拉 省 的 惯 例 所 承 认 的 一 种 ；

    而 孟 加 拉 的 遗 命 只 是 一 种 萌 芽 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 。

    从 上 述 证 据 似 乎 应 该 得 出 这 样 一 个 结 论 ， 即 “ 遗 命 ” 在

    最 初 只 是 在 没 有 人 能 根 据 真 正 的 或 人 为 的 血 族 权 利 而 享 有 继

    承 时 方 才 有 效 。 因 此 ， 当 梭 伦 法 第 一 次 以 “ 遗 命 ” 权 赋 与 雅典 公 民 时 ， 他 们 曾 禁 止 剥 夺 直 系 男 性 卑 亲 属 的 继 承 权 。 同 样地 ， 孟 加 拉 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 只 有 在 和 家 族 某 种 优 先 权 相 一 致 时 才 被 准 许 适 用 于 某 种 继 承 。 又 ， 犹 太 人 的 原 来 制 度 虽 没 有 规 定

    “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 的 特 权 ， 但 后 来 自 称 为 以遗漏之 ·

    件 （ ｃ ａ ｓ ｕ ｓ 　ｏ ｍ ｉ ｓ ｓ ｉ ） 补 充 “ 摩 西 法 ” （ Ｍ ｏ ｓ ａ ｉ ｃ 　 Ｌ ａ ｗ ） 的 希 伯 来 语 法 律 学 ，

    准 许 在 根 据 摩 西 制 度 规 定 有 继 承 权 的 亲 族 全 部 不 能 继 承 或 全

    部 不 能 发 现 时 ， 才 能 行 使 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 权 。 古 日 耳 曼 法 典 借 以

    保 卫 与 之 相 结 合 的 遗 嘱 法 律 学 的 一 些 限 制 也 是 很 有 意 义 的 ，

    并 且 也 指 向 了 同 一 的 方 向 。 根 据 我 们 所 知 道 的 这 些 日 耳 曼 法

    律 ， 其 绝 大 部 分 都 有 这 样 一 个 特 点 ， 即 在 每 家 所 有 的 ·

    自 ·

    主 ·

    地（ａ ｌ ｌ ｏ ｄ ） 或 领 地 外 ， 法 律 还 承 认 几 种 附 属 的 财 产 ， 每 一 种 附 属

    财 产 就 都 表 示 着 罗 马 的 原 则 曾 各 别 地 被 注 入 到 原 始 条 顿 惯 例

    中 。 原 始 的 日 耳 曼 的 自 主 的 财 产 是 被 严 格 地 保 留 给 其 亲 族 的 。

    它 不 但 不 能 用 遗 命 来 处 分 ， 并 且 也 不 能 ·

    在 ·

    生 ·

    前 （ ｉ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｒ 　

    ｖ ｉ ｖ ｏ ｓ ） 用 让 与 的 方 式 来 移 转 。 古 日 耳 曼 法 和 印 度 法 律 学 相 同 ，

    规 定 男 性 的 子 嗣 与 其 父 亲 是 财 产 共 有 人 ， 家 族 赠 与 非 得 全 部

    成 员 同 意 ， 不 能 执 行 。 但 其 他 各 种 财 产 ， 比 自 主 物 发 生 得 较

    迟 并 且 也 比 较 不 甚 贵 重 的 ， 就 比 较 容 易 移 转 ， 并 且 移 转 时 也

    按 照 远 为 宽 弛 的 规 定 办 理 。 妇 女 和 女 性 的 后 嗣 也 可 以 继 承 这

    种 财 产 ， 显 然 是 根 据 这 样 一 个 原 则 ， 即 它 们 是 不 包 括 在 宗 亲

    的 神 圣 界 限 之 内 的 。 从 罗 马 借 用 的 “ 遗 命 ” ， 最 初 被 准 许 适 用

    于 、 实 在 也 仅 适 用 于 这 些 最 后 提 到 的 财 产 。

    以 上 的 说 明 ， 可 用 以 使 我 们 对 古 代 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 史 ” 中 一

    种 确 定 的 事 实 所 作 的 最 可 能 的 解 释 更 为 可 信 。 我 们 根 据 丰 富

    的 证 据 ， 认 为 在 罗 马 国 家 的 原 始 时 代 ， “ 遗 命 ” 是 在 “ 特 别 民会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｉ ａ 　 Ｃ ａ ｌ ａ ｔ ａ ） 也 即 是 在 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｉ ａ 　 Ｃ ｕ ｒ ｉ ａ Aｔ ａ ） 或 “ 罗 马 贵 族 市 民 议 会 ” （ Ｐ ａ ｒ ｌ ｉ ａ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｐ ａ ｔ ｒ ｉ ｃ ｉ ａ ｎ Ｂ ｕ ｒ ｇ ｈ ｅ ｒ ｓ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｒ ｏ ｍ ｅ ） 为 “ 私 事 ” 而 集 会 时 加 以 执 行 的 。 这

    种 执 行 的 方 式 ， 成 为 民 法 学 家 世 代 相 传 的 一 种 说 法 的 来 源 ， 他

    们 认 为 在 罗 马 史 的 有 一 个 时 代 中 每 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 都 是 一 个 庄

    严 的 立 法 行 为 。 但 我 们 实 在 没 有 必 要 去 仰 仗 一 个 曾 对 古 代 议

    会 的 程 序 作 了 非 常 不 精 确 的 说 明 的 解 释 。 有 关 在 “ 特 别 民会 ” 中 执 行 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 故 事 ， 其 适 当 的 解 答 无 疑 地 应 求 诸最古 的 罗 马无遗嘱 继 承 法 。 原 始 罗 马 法 律 学 中 规 定 亲 属 相 互 之间 继 承 权 的 准 则 ， 在 它 们 还 没 有 受 到 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 “ 告 令 法律 ” 所 变 更 前 ， 是 这 样 的 ： — — 第 一 ， 由正统 （ ｓ ｕ ｉ ） 或 没 有被 解 放 的 直 系 卑 亲 属 继 承 。 在 没 有正统 时 ， 由 “ 最 近 的亲 ” 来 代 替 他 ， 即 由 过 去 在 或 曾 经 在 死 亡 者 同 一 “ 家 父 权 ”下的 最 亲 近 的 人 或 最 亲 近 的 亲 等 来 代 替 。 再 次 是 三 等 和 最 后 等亲 ， 其 中 继 承 权 传 给同族人 ， 即 死 亡 者氏族或大氏族中的集体 成 员 。 我 在 前 面 已 经 解 释 过 ， “ 大 氏 族 ” 是 家 族 的 一 种 拟 制

    的 扩 大 ， 凡 是 具 有 同 一 姓 氏 以 及 因 为 有 同 一 姓 氏 而 被 假 定 为

    来 自 共 同 始 祖 的 一 切 罗 马 “ 贵 族 ” 公 民 都 包 括 在 内 。 称 为

    “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 的 “ 贵 族 议 会 ” 是 完 全 由 “ 氏 族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ”

    的 代 表 组 成 的 一 个 “ 立 法 机 关 ” 。 这 是 罗 马 人 民 的 一 个 代 表 会

    议 ， 根 据 了 国 家 的 组 成 单 位 是 “ 氏 族 ” 的 假 定 而 组 织 的 。 正

    由 于 这 样 不 可 避 免 的 推 理 ， “ 民 会 ” 的 受 理 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 与 “ 同

    族 人 ” 的 权 利 有 关 的 ， 并 且 其 目 的 是 在 保 证 “ 同 族 人 ” 能 行

    使 他 们 的 最 后 继 承 权 。 如 果 我 们 假 定 ， 只 有 在 遗 嘱 人 没 有 可以 发 现 的同族人 或在同族人 放 弃 权 利 时 才 可 以 立 “ 遗 命 ” ， 并假 定 每 一 个 “ 遗 命 ” 应 提 交 给 “ 罗 马 氏 族 大 会 ” （ Ｇ ｅ ｎ ｅ ｒ ａ ｌ 　 Ａ ｓ Aｓ ｅ ｍ ｂ ｌ ｙ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｒ ｏ ｍ ａ ｎ 　 Ｇ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 以 便 使 那 些 因 遗 嘱 处 分 而 受 到 损 害 的 人 得 在 必 要 时 可 以 提 出 否 决 ， 在 大 会 中 通 过 后即 可 推 定 他 们 已 放 弃 其 继 承 权 ， 如 果 我 们 这 样 假 定 ， 则 全 部

    显 然 的 变 例 就 可 以 为 之 扫 除 了 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 的 前

    夕 ， 这 种 否 决 权 可 能 已 经 大 大 地 缩 小 了 ， 或 是 仅 仅 偶 然 地 和

    不 经 常 地 行 使 着 。 虽 然 ， 要 说 明 把 这 管 辖 权 托 付 给 “ 特 别 民

    会 ” 的 意 义 和 渊 源 是 容 易 的 ， 但 要 追 溯 其 逐 渐 发 展 或 逐 渐 衰

    亡 的 过 程 却 没 有 这 样 容 易 。

    但 是 ， 所 有 现 代 “ 遗 命 ” 所 自 来 的 “ 遗 命 ” ， 并 不 是 在

    “ 特 别 民 会 ” 中 执 行 的 “ 遗 命 ” ， 而 是 另 外 一 种 与 之 相 竞 争 并

    且 终 于 用 来 代 替 它 的 “ 遗 命 ” 。 这 种 早 期 罗 马 “ 遗 命 ” 在 历 史

    上 有 其 重 要 性 ， 并 且 通 过 了 它 可 以 解 释 清 楚 许 多 古 代 的 思 想 ，因 此 我 认 为 必 须 比 较 详 细 地 加 以 阐 明 。

    当 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 在 法 律 史 上 第 一 次 出 现 时 ， 像 几 乎 所 有 伟大 的 各 种 罗 马 制 度 一 样 ， 有 迹 象 证 明 它 成 了 “ 贵 族 ” 和 “ 平民 ” 间 争 论 的 题 目 。 当 时 有 一 条 政 治 格 言 ， 即 “一个平民不能成为一个大氏族的成员 ” （ Ｐ ｌ ｅ ｂ ｓ 　 Ｇ ｅ ｍ ｔ ｅ ｍ 　 ｎ ｏ ｎ 　 ｈ ａ ｂ ｅｔ），其 结 果 是 把 “ 平 民 ” 完 全 排 斥 在 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 之 外 。 因 此 ，有些 评 论 家 就 认 为 一 个 “ 平 民 ” 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 不 可 能 在 “ 贵 族议 会 ” 中 宣 读 的 ， 因 此 一 个 “ 平 民 ” 就 也 完 全 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 之

    权 。 其 他 评 论 家 仅 仅 指 出 ， 在 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 没 有 代 表 的 一 个 不

    友 好 的 议 会 中 ， 要 把 一 个 拟 议 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 提 交 它 受 理 是 有 困

    难 的 。 不 论 真 正 的 看 法 应 该 如 何 ， 一 种 “ 遗 命 ” 被 应 用 了 ， 它

    具 有 意 图 避 免 某 种 可 厌 恶 义 务 的 一 切 特 点 。 这 种 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是一 种在生 ·

    前 的 让 与 ， 把 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 家 族 和 财 产 完 全 地 和 不

    可 挽 回 地 移 转 给 他 心 意 中 的 继 承 人 。 这 种 移 转 一 定 是 始 终 为

    严 格 的 罗 马 法 规 定 所 准 许 的 ， 但 是 ， 当 这 种 行 为 的 目 的 是 要

    在 死 后 发 生 效 力 时 ， 就 可 能 发 生 纠 纷 ， 因 为 在 没 有 取 得 “ 贵族 议 会 ” 的 正 式 认 可 前 ， 它 是 否 能 成 为 有 效 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ， 是 一

    个 问 题 。 当 时 在 罗 马 人 民 的 两 个 阶 级 之 间 如 果 在 这 一 点 上 存

    在 着 分 歧 意 见 ， 那 末 后 来 通 过 伟 大 的 大 宪 官 和 解 时 代 它 就 连同 许 多 其 他 不 平 的 泉 源 给 一 并 消 灭 了 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 原 文 还保 存 着 ， 它 说法律规定，家父得使用他资产的监护权 （ Ｐ ａ ｔ ｅ ｒ　 ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｉ ａ ｓ 　 ｕ ｔ ｉ 　 ｄ ｅ 　 ｐ ｅ ｃ ｕ ｎ ｉ ａ J　 ｔ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｌ ａ Jｖ ｅ 　 ｒ ｅ ｉ 　 ｓ ｕ E　ｌ ｅ ｇ ａ Jｓ ｓ ｉ ｔ ， ｉ ｔ ａ 　 ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 ｅ ｓ ｔ ｏ ） — — 这 一 条 法 律 除 了 使 “ 平 民 遗嘱 ” 合 法 化 外 ， 不 可 能 有 任 何 其 他 的 目 的 。

    学 者 们 都 知 道 ， 在 “ 贵 族 议 会 ” 停 止 作 为 罗 马 国 家 的 立法 机 关 又 经 过 了 几 世 纪 后 ， 它 仍 旧 为 了 私 事 而 继 续 召 开 正 式集 会 。 因 此 ， 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 后 的 一 个 长 时 期 内 ，我们 有 理 由 相 信 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 仍 旧 为 了 使 “ 遗 命 ” 生 效 而 集 会。把 它 称 为 一 个 “ 登 记 法 院 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｕ ｒ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｒ ｅ ｇ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｒ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ， 可 以最 恰 当 地 表 示 出 它 可 能 的 职 能 ， 但 是 提 出 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 应 被 理解 为 并 不 真 正 地登入簿据 ， 只 是 向 其 成 员 宣 读 ， 他 们 应 能 注意 其 要 旨 并 牢 记 于 心 中 。 很 可 能 这 一 种 “ 遗 命 ” 从 来 没 有写成 书 面 ， 但 无 论 如 何 ， 纵 使 “ 遗 嘱 ” 原 来 是 书 面 的 ， “ 民 会 ”

    的 职 责 也 只 限 于 听 取 高 声 朗 诵 ， 在 这 以 后 文 件 由 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 加以 保 管 ， 或 寄 存 于 某 些 宗 教 团 体 妥 为 保 管 。 这 种 公 告 也 许 是在 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 中 执 行 的 “ 遗 命 ” 的 附 带 条 件 之 一 ， 这 就 使它 不 为 一 般 人 所 欢 迎 。 在 帝 国 的 初 期 ， “ 民 会 ” 仍 旧 召 集 会 议 ，但 这 些 会 议 似 已 徒 具 形 式 ， 很 少 或 甚 至 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 会 在 定期 会 议 中 被 提 出 来 。

    对 现 代 世 界 文 明 有 深 远 影 响 的 ， 是 古 代 的 “ 平 民 遗嘱 ” — — 这 是 上 述 “ 遗 命 ” 的 代 替 物 。 它 在 罗 马 获 得 了 由于要 把 “ 遗 命 ” 提 交 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 而 丧 失 的 一 切 声 望 。 它 所 以有 其 一 切 优 点 ， 关 键 在 于 它 是 来 自曼企帕因 （ ｍ ａ ｎ ｃ ｉ ｐ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 或 即 古 罗 马 的 让 与 ， 我 们 毫 不 踌 躇 地 认 为 这 种 手 续 程 序 是 现 代社 会 如 果 没 有 了 它 们 就 很 难 团 结 在 一 起 的 两 个 伟 大 制 度即“ 契 约 ” 和 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 母 体 。 曼 企 帕 因 或 后 来 在 拉 丁 文 中 所谓“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ， 把 我 们 带 回 到 民 事 社 会 的 萌 芽 时 代 去 。由于它 的 产 生 远 在 书 写 艺 术 发 明 之 前 、 至 少 是 在 书 写 艺 术 广 为 流

    行 之 前 ， 所 以 手 势 、 象 征 的 行 为 和 庄 严 的 成 语 便 被 用 来 代 替

    了 文 件 的 形 式 ， 冗 长 的 和 繁 复 的 仪 式 是 为 了 要 使 有 关 各 造 都

    能 注 意 到 交 易 的 重 要 性 ， 并 使 证 人 们 可 以 因 此 而 获 得 深 刻 的印 象 。 口 头 证 言 不 及 书 面 证 言 完 备 ， 因 此 必 须 增 加 的 证 人 和助 手 的 人 数 ， 远 超 过 后 来 被 认 为 合 理 或 可 以 理 解 的 范 围 。

    罗 马 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 首 先 要 求 当 事 人 、 也 就 是 出 卖 人和 买 受 人 到 场 ， 如 果 我 们 用 现 代 法 律 术 语 ， 应 该 是 让 与 人 和受 让 人 到 场 。 此 外 ， 还 应 该 至 少 有五个 证 人 ； 以 及 一 个 例 外人 物 ， 即 “ 司 秤 ” （ Ｌ ｉ ｂ ｒ ｉ ｐ ｅ ｎ ｓ ） ， 他 带 着 一 对 天 平 秤 用 以 权 衡古 罗 马 未 铸 成 钱 币 的 铜 钱 。 我 们 现 在 所 研 究 的 “ 遗 命 ” — —即铜衡式 （ ｐ ｅ ｒ Eｅ ｔ 　 ｌ ｉ ｂ ｒ ａ ｍ ） “ 遗 嘱 ” ， 这 是 在 术 语 上 这 样 被 长

    期 继 续 称 呼 的 — — 就 是 一 个 普 通 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ， 在 形 式 上 甚至 在 用 语 上 都 是 毫 未 变 动 过 的 。 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 是 让 与 人 ； 五 个 证人 和 司 秤 都 到 场 了 ； 受 让 人 的 地 位 由 一 个 在 术 语 上 被 称 为家产买主 （ ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｉ E　 ｅ ｍ ｐ ｔ ｏ ｒ ） 的 所 占 有 。 于 是 就 按 照 一 个 普 通“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 仪 式 进 行 。 经 过 某 种 正 式 的 手 势 和 言 语 的 宣述 。

    家产买主 用 一 块 钱 敲 击 天 平 以 表 示 价 金 的 支 付 ， 最 后 ，“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 即 用 所 谓 “ 交 易 宣 告 ” （ Ｎ ｕ ｎ ｃ ｕ ｐ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 的 一 套 话 语 来批 准 刚 才 所 做 的 ， 这 一 套 成 语 在 遗 嘱 法 律 学 中 已 有 了 长 久 的历 史 ， 已 为 法 学 家 所 熟 知 。 对 于 称 为 家 产 买 主 的 人 的 性 质 ， 必须 特 别 加 以 注 意 。 毫 无 疑 问 ， 在 起 初 他 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 本 身 。“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 当 场 把 他 全 部 “ 家 产 ” （ ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｉ ａ ） ， 也 就 是 他 在 家 族

    上 以 及 通 过 家 族 所 享 有 的 一 切 权 利 移 转 给 他 ， 包 括 他 的 财 产 、

    他 的 奴 隶 以 及 他 的 一 切 祖 传 特 权 ， 连 同 他 的 一 切 义 务 和 责 任 。

    根 据 上 面 所 说 的 资 料 ， 我 们 可 以 发 现 原 始 形 式 的 所 谓

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 式 “ 遗 命 ” 和 现 代 的 遗 嘱 之 间 是 有 几 个 显 著 的不 同 之 点 的 。 因 为 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 式 “ 遗 命 ” 既 然 相 当 于“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 财 产 的完全的 让 与 ， 它 是 不 能撤销的 。 因 为 一 个 权力 在 既 已 消 灭 之 后 ， 是 不 能 重 新 行 使 的 了 。

    再 则 ， 它 不 是 秘 密 的 。 既 然 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 本 身 就 是 “ 继承 人 ” ， 他 就 完 全 知 道 他 的 权 利 是 什 么 ， 并 且 也 知 道 他 是 不 可

    改 变 地 享 有 继 承 权 的 ， 即 使 在 秩 序 最 好 的 古 代 社 会 中 也 常 难

    免 会 发 生 暴 乱 ， 因 此 这 样 的 知 识 便 成 为 极 端 危 险 的 了 。 但 这

    种 “ 遗 命 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 关 系 所 发 生 的 最 可 惊 的 后 果 ， 也 许 是

    在 把 继 承 权 立 刻 归 属 于 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 多 数 民 法 学 家 都 不 相 信 这

    一 点 ， 他 们 认 为 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 财 产 的 归 属 是 以 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 死 亡

    为 条 件 的 ， 或 要 在 一 个 不 可 确 定 的 时 候 ， 即 让 与 人 死 亡 的 时

    候 才 能 让 与 给 他 。 但 是 一 直 到 罗 马 法 律 学 的 最 后 时 期 ， 有 一

    类 的 交 易 是 绝 对 不 允 许 用 一 个 条 件 来 直 接 变 更 它 ， 或 用 一 定时 限 来 限 制 它 ， 或 用 一 定 时 限 来 起 算 的 。 用 术 语 来 讲 ， 就 是不 准 许 附 有条件 （ ｃ ｏ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 或日期 （ ｄ ｉ ｅ ｓ ） 的 。 “ 曼 企 帕 地荷 ” 是 其 中 的 一 种 ， 因 此 ， 虽 然 看 起 来 很 奇 怪 ， 但 我 们 还 是

    不 得 不 得 出 这 样 一 个 结 论 ， 即 原 始 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 立 即 生 效

    的 ， 即 使 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 在 其 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 行 为 后 仍 旧 生 存 ， 也 是

    如 此 。 很 可 能 ， 罗 马 公 民 原 来 只 在 临 死 的 时 候 订 立 “ 遗 嘱 ” ，

    而 一 个 少 壮 的 人 为 了 “ 家 族 ” 延 续 而 预 作 准 备 时 就 往 往 宁 可

    采 取 “ 收 养 ” 而 不 采 取 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 形 式 。 我 们 仍 旧 应 该 相 信 ，

    如 果 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 竟 然 恢 复 健 康 ， 他 只 能 在 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 容

    许 之 下 继 续 管 理 其 家 族 。

    这 些 不 方 便 处 如 何 补 救 ， 以 及 为 什 么 “ 遗 命 ” 会 具 有 现

    在 普 遍 地 认 为 和 它 有 关 联 的 各 种 特 点 ， 我 在 进 行 解 释 之 前 ， 首

    先 应 该 说 明 二 三 个 问 题 。 “ 遗 命 ” 并 非 必 须 是 书 面 的 ： 在 起 初 ，

    “ 遗 命 ” 似 乎 一 成 不 变 地 是 口 头 的 ， 并 且 ， 即 使 在 较 后 时 期 ，

    宣 布 遗 赠 的 证 书 也 只 是 偶 然 地 和 “ 遗 嘱 ” 联 系 在 一 起 而 并 不

    是 它 的 主 要 组 成 部 分 。 它 对 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 关 系 ， 事 实 上 正 和 旧

    英 国 法 律 中 允 许 使 用 的 证 书 对 罚 金 和 回 复 的 关 系 ， 或 “ 封 土

    授 与 状 ” 对 封 土 授 与 的 关 系 相 同 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 之 前 ， 书

    面 绝 少 用 处 ， 因 为 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 无 权 以 其 遗 产 遗 赠 给 任 何 人 ， 能

    从 一 个 遗 嘱 中 获 得 利 益 的 唯 一 的 人 们 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同

    继 承 人 ” 。 但 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 条 文 的 极 端 一 般 性 不 久 产 生 了

    这 样 一 条 教 义 ， 即 不 论 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 对 他 加 上 任 何 指 示 ， “ 继 承

    人 ” 必 须 接 受 继 承 权 ， 换 言 之 ， 必 须 接 受 作 出 遗 赠 限 制 的 继

    承 权 。 书 面 的 遗 嘱 证 件 于 是 取 得 了 一 种 新 的 价 值 ， 即 可 以 用

    来 作 为 防 止 继 承 人 诈 欺 地 拒 绝 满 足 受 遗 赠 人 的 一 种 保 证 ； 但到 最 后 ， “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 还 是 可 以 任 意 决 定 专 靠 证 人 的 证 言 ， 并 用口 头 宣 告家产买主 必 须 支 付 的 各 个 遗 赠 。

    所 谓家产买主 这 个 名 词 ， 须 要 注 意 。 “ 买 主 ” 表 示 “ 遗嘱 ” 可 以 说 是 一 种 买 卖 ， 而 “ 家 产 ” 这 个 词 ， 和 “ 十 二 铜 表法 ” 遗 嘱 条 款 中 的 用 语 相 比 较 时 ， 可 以 使 我 们 获 得 有 启 发 性的 结 论 。 “ 家 产 ” 在 古 典 拉 丁 文 中 ， 意 思 始 终 是 指 一 个 人 的 奴隶 。 但 在 这 里 ， 以 及 一 般 地 在 古 罗 马 法 的 用 语 中 ， 它 包 括 了在 他 “ 家 父 权 ” 之 下 的 一 切 人 ， 至 于 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 物 质 财 产或 资 产 ， 则 视 为 家 族 的 附 属 物 而 移 转 。 试 再 回 顾 一 下 “ 十 二铜 表 法 ” ， 可 以 看 到 它 谈 到 了 “他资产的监护权 ” （ ｔ ｕ ｔ ｅ ｌ ａ 　 ｒ ｅ ｉｓｕ E） ， 这 一 种 说 法 正 和 刚 才 所 研 究 的 成 语 意 义 相 反 。 因 此我 们 就 无 法 避 免 这 样 一 个 结 论 ， 即 甚 至 在 比 较 近 的 大 宪 官 和解 时 代 ， 表 示 “ 家 庭 ” 和 “ 财 产 ” 的 两 个 名 词 在 日 常 用 语 中是 混 淆 不 清 的 。 如 果 把 一 个 人 的 “ 家 庭 ” 认 为 是 他 的 财 产 ， 我们 就 不 妨 把 这 个 用 语 解 释 为 指 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 范 围 ， 但 是 ， 由于 这 两 个 名 词 是 可 以 相 互 交 换 的 ， 我 们 必 须 承 认 ， 这 样 的 说法 把 我 们 带 回 到 了 原 始 时 代 ， 当 时 财 产 是 由 家 族 所 有 ， 而 家族 则 为 公 民 所 管 理 ， 因 此 社 会 的 成 员 并 不 有 其 财 产和 其 家 族 ，而是通过 其 家 族 而 有 其 财 产 的 。

    在 一 个 不 容 易 明 确 决 定 的 时 期 ， 罗 马 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在 处 理“ 遗 命 ” 时 ， 习 惯 于 按 照 法 律 的 精 神 而 不 是 法 律 的 文 字 来 举 行仪 式 。 不 定 期 处 分 在 不 知 不 觉 中 成 为 成 规 定 例 ， 直 到 最 后 ， 一

    种 完 全 新 形 式 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 成 熟 了 ， 并 且 和 “ 告 令 法 律 学 ” 正

    规 地 啣 接 在 一 起 。 新 的 或 是裁判官 的 “ 遗 命 ” 从 ·

    大 ·

    官 ·

    法 （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ　 Ｈ ｏ ｎ ｏ ｒ ａ ｒ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 或 罗 马 的 衡 平 法 取 得 其 全 部 的 稳 固 性 。 某 年的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 一 定 曾 在 其 就 任 的 “ 布 告 ” 中 列 入 了 一 个 条 款 ，

    说 明 他 决 意 支 持 通 过 某 种 仪 式 而 执 行 的 一 切 “ 遗 命 ” ； 这 种 改

    革 在 被 发 现 为 有 利 的 以 后 ， 其 有 关 条 款 便 被 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 继

    承 者 重 新 引 用 ， 并 再 为 其 后 任 重 复 采 用 ， 直 到 最 后 由 于 这 样

    地 被 继 续 编 入 而 被 称 为 “ 常 续 ” 或 “ 永 续 告 令 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｎ ｕ ｏ ｕ ｓ Ｅ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ） 这 一 部 分 法 律 学 的 一 个 公 认 部 分 。 研 究 一 下 一 个有效 “ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” 的 条 件 ， 显 然 可 以 看 到 这 些 条 件 决 定 于“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 的 要 求 ， 革 新 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 显 然 只 在 旧 有的 手 续 能 保 证 真 实 或 防 止 诈 欺 时 才 加 以 保 留 。 当 “ 曼 企 帕地荷 遗 命 ” 执 行 时 ， 在 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 旁 边 有 七 个 人 到 场 。 因 此“ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” 必 须 有 七 个 证 人 ： 其 中 两 个 相 当 于司秤和家产买主 ， 他 们 不 是 作 为 象 征 的 性 质 ， 他 们 到 场 的 唯 一 目 的 是为了 提 供 证 言 。 这 时 不 再 举 行 象 征 的 仪 式 ； 只 是 把 “ 遗 嘱 ”诵读 一 遍 ； 但 是 为 了 要 永 保 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 处 分 的 证 据 起 见 ， 很 可能 （ 虽 然 不 能 绝 对 地 肯 定 ） 必 须 有 一 书 面 的 证 件 。 无 论 如 何 ，每 当 一 个 书 面 提 出 诵 读 或 被 提 供 为 一 个 人 的 最 后 “ 遗 嘱 ” 时，我 们 确 切 地 知 道 ， 除 非 七 个 证 人 中 的 每 一 个 人 分 别 在 外 面 加盖 其 印 章 ， “ 裁 判 官 法 院 ” 是 不 会 用 特 别 干 涉 来 支 持 它 的。这是 在 法 律 学 史 上 第 一 次 看 到盖印 ， 作 为 立 证 的 方 式 。 必 须 注意 ， 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 以 及 其 他 重 要 文 件 上 的 印 章 并 非 仅 仅 作 为签 证 者 到 场 或 同 意 的 标 志 ， 而 是 的 的 确 确 的 一 种 封 签 ， 在 可以 阅 读 文 件 前 必 须 加 以 启 开 的 。

    因 此 “ 告 令 法 律 ” 所 强 行 的 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 处 分 ， 只要 经 过 七 个 证 人 的 封 签 证 明 ， 不 一 定 要 经 过 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的形 式 。 但 我 们 可 以 作 出 这 样 一 个 一 般 性 的 命 题 ， 即 罗 马 财 产的 主 要 性 质 ， 除 非 通 过 假 定 为 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 同 源 的 各 种 程 序以 外 ， 是 不 能 传 授 的 。 因 此 ， “ 裁 判 官 ” 不 能 把 一 个继承权授与 任 何 人 。 他 不 能 把 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” 放 在 “ 遗嘱 人 ” 本 身 和 他 自 己 的 权 利 义 务 所 有 的 同 样 关 系 中 。 他 所 能做 到 的 ， 是 使 被 称 为 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 人 对 遗 赠 财 产 有 实 际 的 享有 权 ， 并 对 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 债 务 有 清 偿 的 力 量 。 当 “ 裁 判 官 ” 为这 些 目 的 而 行 使 其 权 力 时 ， 在 术 语 上 他 被 称 为 传 授遗产占有（ Ｂ ｏ ｎ ｏ ｒ ｕ ｍ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｉ ｏ ） 。 这 种 情 况 下 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 或遗产占有者 ， 能 享 有 “ 市 民 法 ” 上 “ 继 承 人 ” 所 能 享 有 的 一 切 财 产 所有 权 。 他 取 得 财 产 利 益 并 能 以 之 移 转 ， 然 而 ， 在 申 请 损 害 赔偿 时 ， 他 不 应 如 我 们 所 说 的 ， 求 诸 “ 普 通 法 ” 而 应 求 诸 “ 裁判 官 法 院 ” 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 。 如 果 我 们 说 他 拥 有 在 继 承 权 中 的 一种衡平 的 财 产 ， 可 能 不 致 发 生 大 错 ； 但 是 ， 为 了 使 我 们 不 致为 这 样 的 类 比 所 迷 惑 ， 我 们 必 须 始 终 记 着 ， 在 有 一 年 中，遗产占有 是 根 据 所 谓 “ 时 效 取 得 ” （ Ｕ ｓ ｕ ｃ ａ ｐ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 的 一 条 罗 马 法 原则 而 产 生 效 果 的 ， “ 占 有 者 ” 就 成 为 包 括 在 继 承 权 中 的 一切 财产 的 一 个 “ 公 民 ” 所 有 人 。我 们 对 古 代 的 “ 民 事 诉 讼 ” （ Ｃ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｌ 　 Ｐ ｒ ｏ ｃ ｅ ｓ ｓ ） 法 所 知 道 的太 少 了 ， 不 能 对 “ 裁 判 官 法 院 ” 所 提 供 的 各 式 救 济 方 法 之间的 利 弊 一 一 加 以 比 较 。 但 可 以 断 言 ， 虽 然 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷遗命 ” 有 许 多 缺 点 ， 但 通 过 它 而 立 即 全 部 把概括的权利 加 以 移转 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” ， 却 从 没 有 完 全 为 这 新 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 所

    代 替 ； 在 一 个 不 拘 泥 于 古 代 形 式 或 者 这 些 古 代 形 式 并 不 十 分

    被 重 视 的 时 期 ， 法 学 专 家 的 所 有 机 智 便 都 被 耗 费 于 改 进 这 种

    比 较 神 圣 庄 严 的 工 具 。 在 该 雅 士 时 代 ， 也 就 是 安 托 宁 · 凯 撒时 代 ； “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 的 大 缺 点 都 已 消 除 。 原 来 ， 正 如 我

    们 已 经 看 到 过 的 那 样 ， 对 手 续 程 序 的 主 要 性 质 的 要 求 ， 是

    “ 继 承 人 ” 本 身 必 须 是 “ 家 产 买 主 ” ， 其 结 果 是 ： 他 不 但 立 即

    在 “ 遗 嘱 人 的 财 产 ” 中 取 得 一 种 既 得 利 益 ， 并 且 被 正 式 告 知他 的 权 利 。 但 是 到 了 该 雅 士 时 期 ， 就 准 许 可 由 一 些 不 相 关 的人 来 担 任 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 。 因 此 继 承 人 就 不 一 定 会 被 告 知 他 的 预定 继 承 ； 从 此 以 后 ， “ 遗 嘱 ” 就 取 得 了秘密 的 特 性 。 用 一 个 陌生 人 作 为 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 以 代 替 真 正 的 “ 继 承 人 ” ， 还 有 其 他 的种 种 后 果 。 在 它 一 经 合 法 化 后 ， 一 个 罗 马 “ 遗 命 ” 就 包 括 了两 个 部 分 或 阶 段 — — 一 个 是 让 与 ， 这 是 一 种 纯 粹 的 形 式 ， 还有 一 个 是 “ 宣 告 ” 。 在 这 程 序 的 后 半 过 程 中 ， “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 或 者口 头 向 其 助 手 宣 布 在 他 死 亡 后 应 该 执 行 的 愿 望 ， 或 者 提 出 一个 书 面 文 件 ， 其 中 包 含 有 他 的 愿 望 。 可 能 要 直 到 注 意 力 已 不再 集 中 于 这 想 象 的 ” 让 与 ” 而 集 中 于 “ 宣 告 ” ， 并 把 它 作 为 交易 的 重 要 部 分 时 ， “ 遗 嘱 ” 才 被 准 许 成 为可以撤销的 。

    这 样 ， 我 已 从 法 律 史 上 把 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 系 统 作 了 一 番 考 察 。它 的 根 源 ， 就 是 建 筑 在 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 或 “ 让 与 ” 上 的 古“ 铜 衡 式 ” 遗 命 。 但 这 个 古 “ 遗 嘱 ” 有 多 种 缺 点 ， 这 些 缺 点 已经 ， 虽 然 只 是 间 接 的 ， 为 裁 判 官 法 所 补 救 了 。 同 时 ， 法 学 专家 们 的 机 智 ， 在 “ 普 通 法 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 中 ， 实现 了 那 些 裁 判 官 可 能 会 同 时 在 “ 衡 平 法 ” 中 达 到 的 各 种 改 进 。但 这 些 最 后 的 改 良 ， 完 全 依 靠 了 法 律 上 的 机 巧 ， 因 此 我 们 看到 该 雅 士 或 是 阿 尔 比 安 时 代 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 只 是 过 渡 性 质 的 。 以后 接 着 发 生 些 什 么 变 化 ， 我 们 不 知 道 ； 但 最 后 ， 刚 在 查 斯 丁尼 安 法 律 学 复 兴 之 前 ， 我 们 发 现 东 罗 马 帝 国 的 人 民 应 用 着 一种 “ 遗 嘱 ” ， 它 一 方 面 可 以 追 溯 到 “ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” ， 而 另 一 方面 可 以 追 溯 到 “ 铜 衡 式 ” 遗 命 。 像 “ 裁 判 官 遗 命 ” 一 样 ， 它不 需 要 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ， 并 且 除 非 有 七 个 证 人 的 封 签 不 生 效 力 。

    但 又 象 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 嘱 ” 一 样 ， 它 所 移 转 的 是 继 承 权 ， 不仅 仅 是 一 个遗产占有 。 但 它 最 重 要 特 点 中 有 几 点 是 由 现 实 法规 所 规 定 的 ， 并 且 正 是 由 于 它 有 三 重 来 源 ， 即 “ 裁 判 官 告令 ” 、 “ 市 民 法 ” 以 及 “ 帝 国 宪 令 ” ， 因 此 查 斯 丁 尼 安 就 称 他 自己 时 代 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 为三重法 。 这 种 新 的“遗命 ” 就 是 一 般 人 所 说 的 “ 罗 马 遗 嘱 ” 。 但 这 只 是 东 罗 马 帝国 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ； 根 据 萨 维 尼 的 研 究 ， 显 示 出 在 西 罗 马 帝 国，直到 中 世 纪 ， 旧 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 连 同 让 与 、 铜 和 天平 等工 具 ， 仍 旧 被 继 续 使 用 着 。

    第七章 古今有关遗嘱与继 承的各种思想

    虽 然 现 代 欧 洲 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 中 有 许 多 地 方 和 过 去 人 类 所 实 行 的

    最 古 的 遗 嘱 处 分 有 着 密 切 的 联 系 ， 但 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 这

    个 主 题 上 ， 古 代 和 现 代 思 想 观 念 确 实 存 在 着 重 要 的 分 歧 。 这

    一 些 分 歧 点 ， 我 将 在 本 章 中 详 细 加 以 说 明 。

    在 距 离 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 时 代 几 世 纪 以 后 的 一 个 时 期 中 ， 我

    们 发 现 在 “ 罗 马 市 民 法 ” 上 增 加 了 许 多 规 定 ， 其 目 的 是 在 限

    制 剥 夺 子 女 的 继 承 权 ； 我 们 看 到 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 审 判 权 亦 积 极

    地 执 行 这 一 项 利 益 ； 我 们 在 那 时 候 发 现 有 一 种 新 的 救 济 方 法 ，

    在 性 质 上 是 非 常 例 外 的 ， 而 其 来 源 也 是 不 确 定 的 ， 这 种 救 济

    方 法 称 为 “ 遗 嘱 违 反 伦 道 之 诉 ” （ Ｑ ｕ ｅ ｒ ｅ ｌ ａ 　 Ｉ ｎ ｏ ｆ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｉ ｏ ｓ ｉ 　 Ｔ ｅ ｓ ｔ ａ Aｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ） ， 目 的 是 使 亲 子 恢 复 为 其 父 的 “ 遗 命 ” 所 不 公 正 地 拒 绝

    的 继 承 利 益 。 有 的 著 者 在 把 这 个 法 律 规 定 和 承 认 订 立 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 绝 对 自 由 的 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 原 文 相 比 较 时 ， 他 们 想 把

    大 量 戏 剧 性 的 偶 然 事 件 混 入 他 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 律 ” 史 中 。 他 们

    谈 到 族 长 立 刻 毫 无 限 制 地 任 意 剥 夺 子 女 的 继 承 权 ， 谈 到 这 种

    新 的 实 践 对 公 共 道 德 所 造 成 的 侮 辱 和 损 害 ， 更 谈 到 一 切 善 良

    人 们 对 “ 裁 判 官 ” 阻 止 父 权 堕 落 进 一 步 发 展 而 作 的 勇 敢 行 为

    加 以 赞 美 。 这 些 故 事 就 其 所 叙 述 的 主 要 事 实 而 论 ， 并 不 是 完

    全 毫 无 根 据 的 ， 但 反 映 出 对 于 法 律 史 上 的 各 项 原 则 是 有 严 重的 误 解 的 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 法 律 应 该 根 据 它 制 定 时 代 的 特 性

    来 加 以 解 释 。 它 不 可 能 有 一 种 在 较 后 时 代 认 为 它 必 须 加 以 反

    对 的 倾 向 ， 它 只 根 据 这 样 一 个 假 定 继 续 前 进 ， 即 不 认 为 这 种

    倾 向 是 存 在 的 ， 或 者 我 们 可 以 说 ， 根 本 不 考 虑 到 有 这 种 倾 向

    存 在 的 可 能 。 罗 马 公 民 很 少 可 能 会 立 刻 开 始 自 由 地 运 用 这 剥

    夺 继 承 权 的 权 力 。 我 们 知 道 ， 在 当 时 ， 家 族 奴 役 的 羁 绊 是 在

    最 残 酷 地 压 迫 着 ， 但 人 们 仍 旧 忍 受 着 ， 在 这 种 情 况 下 ， 如 果

    以 为 在 我 们 自 己 时 代 不 受 欢 迎 的 某 些 负 担 ， 在 那 时 竟 然 能 够

    解 脱 ， 这 是 违 背 了 一 切 理 性 和 违 背 了 对 于 历 史 的 合 理 理 解 的 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 准 许 执 行 “ 遗 命 ” ， 只 限 于 它 认 为 遗 嘱 可 能 被

    执 行 的 情 况 下 ， 也 就 是 说 ， 只 限 于 没 有 子 嗣 和 近 亲 的 时 候 。 它

    并 不 禁 止 剥 夺 直 系 卑 亲 属 的 继 承 权 ， 因 为 这 种 偶 然 事 件 是 当

    时 罗 马 立 法 者 所 不 可 能 预 见 到 的 ， 因 此 也 就 无 从 在 立 法 中 用

    明 文 加 以 规 定 。 毫 无 疑 义 ， 当 家 族 情 谊 逐 渐 丧 失 了 它 原 来 所

    具 有 的 个 人 义 务 的 面 貌 时 ， 就 偶 然 发 生 了 剥 夺 子 女 继 承 权 的

    事 件 ， 但 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 干 预 却 并 不 是 由 于 这 种 恶 习 的 普 遍 发

    生 ， 而 在 最 初 时 无 疑 地 是 由 于 下 述 原 因 的 推 动 ， 即 因 为 这 类

    不 自 然 的 任 意 行 动 事 例 在 当 时 是 很 少 而 且 是 例 外 的 ， 并 且 也

    是 和 当 时 的 道 德 观 念 相 抵 触 的 。

    由 这 一 部 分 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 所 提 供 的 迹 象 在 性 质 上 是 完

    全 不 同 的 。 可 注 意 的 是 ， 罗 马 人 从 没 有 把 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 用 作

    ·

    剥 ·

    夺 一 个 “ 家 族 ” 的 继 承 权 的 一 种 手 段 ， 或 用 作 造 成 一 项 遗

    产 的 不 公 平 分 配 的 一 种 手 段 。 阻 止 它 转 向 这 一 方 面 的 法 律 规

    定 ， 随 着 这 部 分 法 律 学 的 逐 渐 发 展 而 不 断 增 加 其 数 量 和 严 密

    程 度 ； 这 些 规 定 无 疑 地 是 和 罗 马 社 会 一 贯 的 情 绪 相 符 合 的 ， 并不 完 全 是 由 于 个 人 感 情 的 偶 然 变 动 。 遗 嘱 权 的 主 要 价 值 似 乎

    是 在 它 的 能 够 帮 助 一 个 “ 家 族 ” ·

    作 ·

    好 ·

    豫 ·

    备 ， 并 在 分 配 继 承 财

    产 中 能 比 较 按 照 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 法 ” 分 配 得 更 加 公 平 不 偏 。 如

    果 一 般 的 情 绪 确 是 这 样 ， 它 在 某 种 程 度 上 说 明 了 始 终 成 为 罗

    马 人 的 特 点 ： 即 对 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 而 死 亡 感 到 特 殊 的 恐 怖 。 丧

    失 遗 嘱 特 权 似 乎 被 认 为 是 比 任 何 灾 害 更 沉 重 的 一 种 天 罚 ； 咒

    诅 一 个 敌 人 ， 说 他 要 死 而 无 “ 遗 嘱 ” 要 比 任 何 咒 诅 都 更 苛 酷 。

    在 我 们 今 日 所 存 在 的 各 种 意 见 中 ， 没 有 这 种 类 似 的 感 情 ， 或

    是 很 不 容 易 发 现 有 这 种 感 情 。 所 有 各 个 时 代 的 一 切 人 无 疑 地

    都 宁 愿 能 筹 划 其 所 有 物 的 归 宿 ， 并 由 法 律 来 为 他 们 执 行 这 个

    任 务 ； 但 是 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 有 遗 嘱 而 死 亡 ” 的 感 情 ， 从 其 强 度

    来 讲 ， 并 不 仅 仅 是 出 于 放 任 随 便 的 愿 望 ； 当 然 ， 它 和 家 族 骄

    傲 更 无 共 同 之 处 ， 因 为 家 族 骄 傲 全 然 是 封 建 制 度 的 产 物 ， 它

    把 一 种 财 产 积 累 在 一 个 独 一 的 代 表 人 手 中 。 也 许 是 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 由

    于 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 中 的 某 些 规 定 ， 造 成 这 种 强 烈 地 宁 愿 用

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 分 配 财 产 而 不 愿 根 据 法 律 规 定 而 分 配 。 但 是 ， 困 难 是

    在 于 ， 当 我 们 看 到 罗 马 的 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 法 律 ， 还 是 处 在 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 把 它 制 成 为 现 代 立 法 者 几 乎 普 遍 采 用 的 继 承 顺 序 以

    前 几 个 世 纪 中 一 直 具 有 的 那 种 形 式 中 时 ， 它 完 全 没 有 给 人 以

    显 著 不 合 理 或 不 平 衡 的 印 象 。 相 反 的 ， 它 所 规 定 的 分 配 方 法

    非 常 公 平 合 理 ， 并 且 和 现 代 社 会 一 般 认 为 满 意 的 分 配 方 法 很

    少 不 同 之 处 ， 因 此 ， 我 们 实 没 有 理 由 说 明 为 什 么 会 这 样 地 非

    常 不 受 欢 迎 ， 特 别 是 在 这 样 一 种 法 律 学 中 ， 它 把 有 子 女 要 扶

    养 的 人 的 遗 嘱 权 削 减 到 一 个 狭 小 的 范 围 内 。 我 们 可 以 预 期 的 ，

    象 在 现 在 的 法 兰 西 那 样 ， 族 长 都 一 般 地 不 愿 意 自 找 麻 烦 执 行一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” ， 他 宁 愿 让 其 财 产 听 任 “ 法 律 ” 处 理 。 但 是 ， 我

    以 为 如 果 我 们 比 较 仔 细 地 研 究 一 下 查 斯 丁 尼 安 以 前 的 “ 无 遗

    嘱 继 承 ” 标 准 ， 我 们 就 能 发 现 打 开 秘 密 的 关 键 。 这 个 法 律 的

    结 构 包 括 两 个 不 同 的 部 分 。 一 部 分 的 规 定 来 自 “ 市 民 法 ” ， 这

    是 罗 马 的 “ 普 通 法 ” ； 另 一 部 分 则 来 自 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 。 我 在

    其 他 场 合 已 经 提 到 过 了 ， “ 市 民 法 ” 规 定 有 权 继 承 的 继 承 人 按

    顺 序 有 这 样 三 种 ； 未 解 放 之 子 ， 宗 亲 中 的 最 近 亲 等 ， 以 及

    “ 同 族 人 ” 。 在 这 三 种 顺 序 中 间 ， “ 裁 判 官 ” 添 加 了 各 类 的 亲 族 ，

    这 些 亲 族 是 “ 市 民 法 ” 所 完 全 不 管 的 。 直 到 最 后 “ 告 令 ” 和

    “ 市 民 法 ” 结 合 而 组 成 了 一 张 继 承 顺 序 表 ， 它 在 实 质 上 和 传 到

    现 代 的 多 数 法 典 中 的 并 没 有 很 大 区 别 。

    有 一 点 必 须 注 意 ， 在 古 代 一 定 有 这 样 一 个 时 期 ， 当 时

    “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 的 顺 序 完 全 由 “ 市 民 法 ” 决 定 “ 告 令 ” 的 安 排

    是 完 全 不 存 在 的 ， 或 是 不 一 贯 地 执 行 的 。 我 们 毫 不 疑 惑 ， “ 裁

    判 官 ” 的 法 律 学 在 其 早 年 时 代 ， 不 得 不 和 可 怕 的 阻 力 相 竞 争 ，

    并 且 更 可 能 的 是 ， 在 一 般 情 绪 和 法 律 意 见 默 认 了 它 很 久 以 后 ，

    它 定 期 地 介 绍 进 来 的 各 种 变 更 并 不 根 据 于 某 种 确 定 的 原 则 ，

    而 是 根 据 了 连 续 任 命 的 各 个 高 级 官 吏 的 不 同 偏 见 而 随 时 变 动

    的 。 我 认 为 ， 罗 马 人 在 这 个 时 期 中 所 实 行 的 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 规

    定 ， 足 以 说 明 罗 马 社 会 长 时 期 以 来 对 于 一 个 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 所

    以 始 终 存 在 着 强 烈 嫌 恶 的 理 由 。 当 时 继 承 的 顺 序 是 这 样 的 ： 在

    一 个 公 民 死 亡 时 ， 如 果 没 有 遗 嘱 或 是 没 有 有 效 的 遗 嘱 ， 他 的

    “ 未 解 放 ” 之 子 成 为 其 继 承 人 。 他 的 ·

    解 ·

    放 之 子 不 能 分 享 继 承 权 。

    如 果 在 他 死 亡 时 ， 没 有 直 系 卑 亲 属 ， 就 由 宗 亲 中 最 近 的 亲 等

    继 承 ， 但 是 通 过 女 性 后 裔 而 和 死 者 结 合 起 来 的 亲 族 （ 不 论 如何 接 近 ） ， 都 不 能 享 有 继 承 权 。 家 族 中 所 有 其 他 支 系 都 被 排 斥

    在 继 承 权 之 外 ， 而 继 承 权 就 应 归 属 于 ·

    同 ·

    族 ·

    人 也 就 是 和 死 者 具

    有 同 一 姓 氏 的 全 体 罗 马 公 民 。 因 此 ， 如 果 没 有 一 个 有 效 的

    “ 遗 命 ” ， 在 我 们 所 考 察 的 这 一 个 时 期 中 的 一 个 罗 马 人 就 将 使

    其 解 放 之 子 绝 对 得 不 到 什 么 权 利 ， 另 一 方 面 ， 既 然 假 定 他 在

    死 亡 时 没 有 子 嗣 ， 则 他 的 宗 族 就 有 完 全 失 去 其 财 产 而 使 财 产

    传 诸 于 另 外 一 些 人 的 迫 切 危 险 ， 这 些 人 和 他 的 关 系 仅 仅 是 由

    于 祭 司 的 拟 制 ， 假 定 凡 是 同 族 的 全 部 成 员 都 是 来 自 一 个 共 同

    祖 先 。 这 样 一 种 状 态 的 本 身 就 几 乎 足 以 说 明 上 述 一 般 情 绪 的

    所 以 发 生 ； 但 在 事 实 上 ， 如 果 我 们 忘 记 了 ， 我 所 描 述 的 情 况

    很 可 能 是 发 生 在 正 当 罗 马 社 会 处 于 从 其 分 散 家 族 的 原 始 组 织

    转 变 的 第 一 个 阶 段 时 ， 则 我 们 所 理 解 的 仅 及 一 半 而 已 。 把

    “ 解 放 ” 承 认 为 一 个 合 法 的 惯 例 ， 真 是 针 对 父 权 王 国 的 最 早 的

    一 个 打 击 ， 但 是 法 律 虽 然 仍 旧 认 为 “ 家 父 权 ” 是 家 族 关 系 的

    根 本 ， 却 坚 持 把 解 放 之 子 视 作 “ 亲 属 ” 权 外 的 陌 生 人 和 血 缘

    外 的 外 人 。 然 而 ， 我 们 不 能 就 因 而 认 为 法 律 上 的 炫 学 所 加 于

    家 族 上 的 种 种 限 制 会 在 其 父 的 自 然 情 感 上 有 同 样 效 果 。 家 族

    忠 诚 一 定 仍 旧 保 留 着 “ 宗 法 ” 制 度 下 的 那 种 近 乎 不 可 思 议 的

    神 圣 性 和 强 烈 性 ； 并 且 家 族 忠 诚 很 少 可 能 会 因 为 解 放 行 为 而

    消 灭 ， 它 的 可 能 性 恰 恰 完 全 相 反 。 可 以 毫 不 踌 躇 地 认 为 当 然

    的 ， 从 父 权 下 得 到 解 放 不 但 不 是 情 感 的 割 断 ， 相 反 的 正 是 情

    感 的 表 现 — — 这 是 对 最 最 溺 爱 和 最 最 尊 重 的 子 嗣 给 予 一 种 仁

    德 和 宠 爱 的 标 志 。 如 果 在 所 有 子 嗣 中 受 到 这 样 特 别 宠 遇 之 子

    会 因 为 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 而 绝 对 地 被 剥 夺 了 继 承 权 ， 则 他 的 不

    愿 蒙 受 这 种 情 况 是 母 庸 多 加 解 释 而 自 明 的 。 我 们 也 许 可 以 ·

    先天地 假 定 ， 人 们 的 喜 爱 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 是 由 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规

    定 所 造 成 的 某 种 道 德 上 的 不 公 正 而 产 生 的 ； 在 这 里 ， 我 们 发

    现 这 些 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规 定 是 和 古 代 社 会 借 以 结 合 在 一 起 的

    那 种 天 性 不 相 一 致 的 。 我 们 可 以 把 上 面 所 主 张 的 一 切 ， 表 现

    于 一 简 明 的 形 式 中 。 原 始 罗 马 人 的 每 一 种 占 优 势 的 情 绪 ， 都

    是 和 家 族 的 各 种 关 系 交 织 在 一 起 的 。 但 什 么 是 “ 家 族 ” ？ 法 律

    上 有 它 的 定 义 — — 自 然 情 感 上 有 它 另 外 的 一 个 定 义 。 在 这 两

    者 之 间 的 冲 突 中 产 生 了 我 们 所 要 加 以 分 析 的 感 情 ， 它 热 烈 欢

    迎 这 样 一 种 制 度 ， 根 据 这 种 制 度 人 们 可 以 根 据 情 感 的 指 示 而

    决 定 其 对 象 的 命 运 。

    因 此 ， 我 认 为 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 的 恐 惧 ， 说 明

    了 在 古 代 有 关 “ 家 族 ” 这 个 主 题 的 法 律 与 古 代 人 对 于 家 族 的

    情 感 慢 慢 地 发 生 改 变 这 两 者 之 间 很 早 就 发 生 了 冲 突 。 在 罗 马

    “ 制 定 法 ” 中 有 一 些 规 定 ； 特 别 是 有 关 限 制 妇 女 继 承 能 力 的 那

    一 个 条 例 ， 是 使 这 种 感 情 长 期 存 在 的 主 要 原 因 ； 一 般 人 都 相

    信 ， 创 设 “ 信 托 遗 赠 ” （ Ｆ ｉ ｄ ｅ ｉ － Ｃ ｏ ｍ － ｍ ｉ ｓ ｓ ａ ） 制 度 ， 其 目 的 就

    是 想 用 以 避 免 这 些 条 例 所 规 定 的 无 能 力 。 但 是 这 种 感 情 本 身

    的 惊 人 的 强 烈 程 度 ， 似 乎 说 明 了 在 法 律 和 舆 论 之 间 早 就 存 在

    着 某 种 很 深 的 对 抗 ； 而 “ 裁 判 官 ” 对 于 法 律 学 的 改 进 无 法 把

    这 种 感 情 加 以 消 灭 ， 也 是 完 全 不 足 为 奇 的 。 凡 是 熟 悉 舆 论 哲

    学 的 人 都 知 道 ： 一 种 情 绪 决 不 会 因 为 产 生 它 的 情 况 消 逝 了 而

    必 然 地 随 着 消 灭 。 它 可 能 会 比 情 况 留 存 得 更 长 久 ； 不 ， 它 也

    可 能 会 在 后 来 达 到 一 个 强 烈 的 顶 点 和 高 潮 ， 而 这 种 顶 点 和 高

    潮 是 在 情 况 继 续 存 在 期 间 从 来 没 有 达 到 过 的 。

    把 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 看 作 是 授 予 一 种 权 力 ， 把 财 产 从 家 族 中转 出 来 ， 或 是 把 财 产 根 据 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 想 象 或 见 解 而 分 成 许

    多 不 公 平 的 部 分 ， 这 种 看 法 发 生 在 封 建 制 度 已 完 全 巩 固 了 的

    中 世 纪 的 后 半 期 。 当 现 代 法 律 学 初 步 以 粗 糙 的 形 式 出 现 时 ， 用

    遗 嘱 来 绝 对 自 由 处 分 一 个 死 者 的 财 产 ， 还 是 很 少 见 的 。 在 这

    个 时 期 内 ， 当 财 产 的 遗 传 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 规 定 时 — — 在 大 部 分 的

    欧 洲 ， 动 产 是 遗 嘱 处 分 的 主 体 — — 遗 嘱 权 的 行 使 不 能 干 预 寡

    妇 从 遗 产 中 取 得 一 定 分 额 的 权 利 ， 同 样 不 能 干 预 子 嗣 取 得 固

    定 比 例 的 权 利 。 子 所 取 得 的 分 额 由 罗 马 法 的 规 定 用 数 量 表 示

    出 来 。 关 于 寡 妇 的 规 定 ， 应 该 归 功 于 教 会 的 努 力 ， 它 始 终 不

    懈 地 关 怀 着 丈 夫 死 后 妻 子 的 利 益 ， — — 经 过 二 三 世 纪 的 坚 决

    要 求 之 后 ， 才 获 得 了 所 有 的 胜 利 中 也 许 是 最 难 得 的 一 个 胜 利 ，

    就 是 丈 夫 在 结 婚 时 就 明 白 保 证 赡 养 其 妻 ， 最 后 并 把 “ 扶 养 寡

    妇 财 产 ” （ Ｄ ｏ ｗ ｅ ｒ ） 的 原 则 列 入 了 全 西 欧 的 “ 习 惯 法 ” 中 。 可

    怪 的 是 ， 以 土 地 作 为 扶 养 寡 妇 的 财 产 的 制 度 经 证 明 要 比 类 似

    的 和 更 古 的 为 寡 妇 和 子 嗣 保 留 的 一 定 分 额 动 产 的 制 度 ， 更 加

    巩 固 。 在 法 兰 西 有 些 地 方 习 惯 中 ， 把 这 种 权 利 一 直 保 持 到

    “ 革 命 ” 时 代 ， 在 英 国 ， 也 有 类 似 的 惯 例 的 痕 迹 ； 但 在 大 体 上 ，

    流 行 着 的 学 理 是 动 产 可 以 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 自 由 处 分 ， 并 且 ， 虽 然

    寡 妇 的 要 求 得 到 继 续 尊 重 ， 但 子 的 特 权 则 被 从 法 律 学 上 加 以

    取 消 。 当 然 这 种 变 化 完 全 是 由 于 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 影 响 。 “ 封

    建 的 ” 土 地 法 为 了 一 个 子 嗣 而 剥 夺 所 有 其 余 诸 子 的 继 承 权 ， 甚

    至 对 那 些 可 以 平 均 分 配 的 财 产 也 不 复 视 为 有 加 以 平 均 分 配 的

    义 务 。 “ 遗 命 ” 是 用 以 产 生 不 平 等 的 主 要 工 具 ， 而 在 这 种 情 况

    下 产 生 了 古 代 人 和 现 代 人 对 于 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 不 同 的 概 念 。 但

    是 ， 虽 然 通 过 “ 遗 命 ” 而 享 有 处 理 遗 产 的 自 由 是 封 建 主 义 的一 个 偶 然 产 物 ， 但 是 在 自 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 处 分 制 度 和 另 外 一 个 制

    度 ， 像 封 建 土 地 法 制 度 之 间 ， 是 存 在 着 极 端 巨 大 的 区 别 的 ， 因

    为 在 封 建 土 地 法 制 度 之 下 ， 财 产 的 移 转 是 强 迫 按 照 规 定 的 遗

    传 系 统 而 进 行 的 。 这 个 真 理 似 乎 是 “ 法 兰 西 法 典 ” 的 著 者 所

    没 有 注 意 到 的 。 在 他 们 决 定 要 加 以 摧 毁 的 社 会 组 织 中 ， 他 们

    看 到 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 主 要 建 筑 在 “ 家 族 ” 授 产 的 基 础 上 ， 但

    他 们 同 时 也 注 意 到 “ 遗 命 ” 在 严 格 限 嗣 继 承 下 常 常 被 用 来 以

    为 他 保 留 的 完 全 相 同 的 优 先 权 给 予 长 子 。 因 此 ， 为 了 使 他 们

    的 工 作 非 常 可 靠 ， 他 们 不 但 使 长 子 不 得 在 婚 姻 协 议 中 优 先 于

    其 余 诸 子 ， 他 们 并 把 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 排 斥 于 法 律 之 外 ， 否 则 就

    要 使 他 们 的 基 本 原 则 ， 即 在 父 死 亡 时 其 财 产 应 在 诸 子 中 平 均

    分 配 的 原 则 不 能 成 立 。 其 结 果 是 他 们 建 立 了 一 种 小 范 围 的 永

    续 限 嗣 继 承 制 度 （ ａ 　 ｓ ｙ ｓ ｔ ｅ ｍ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｓ ｍ ａ ｌ 　 ｐ ｅ ｒ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ａ ｌ　ｅ ｎ ｔ ａ ｉ ｌ ｓ ） ， 这 种 制 度 非 常 接 近 欧 洲 的 封 建 制 度 ， 而 不 是 完 全 的遗 产 自 由 。 英 国 的 土 地 法 ， “ 封 建 制 度 的 赫 鸠 妻 尼 恩 城 ” （ ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｈ ｅ ｒ ｃ ｕ ｌ ａ ｎ ｅ ｕ ｍ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｆ ｅ ｕ ｄ ａ ｌ ｉ ｓ ｍ ） ， 当 然 是 更 和 中 世 纪 的 土 地

    法 相 似 而 不 同 于 任 何 大 陆 国 家 的 土 地 法 ， 我 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 也

    就 常 常 被 用 来 助 长 或 效 法 长 子 和 其 亲 系 的 优 先 权 ， 这 成 为 不

    动 产 婚 姻 授 产 中 几 乎 普 遍 的 特 色 。 但 是 ， 这 个 国 家 中 的 感 情

    和 舆 论 都 曾 受 到 自 由 遗 嘱 处 分 实 践 的 重 大 影 响 ； 据 我 看 来 ， 在

    大 部 分 法 兰 西 社 会 中 就 家 族 中 保 存 财 产 这 个 问 题 所 具 有 的 情

    绪 ， 比 诸 英 国 人 更 接 近 于 二 三 世 纪 以 前 流 行 于 全 欧 洲 的 情 绪

    状 态 。

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 问 题 引 起 了 历 史 法 律 学 中 一 个 最 困 难 的 问

    题 。 虽 然 我 还 没 有 说 明 我 的 见 解 ， 但 我 常 常 谈 到 在 罗 马 继 承法 上 ， 许 多 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” 总 是 和 一 个 单 一 “ 继 承 人 ” 有 同

    一 的 立 足 点 的 。 事 实 上 ， 我 们 从 没 有 看 到 罗 马 法 律 学 上 有 这

    样 一 个 时 期 ， 一 个 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 概 括 继 承 人 ” 的 地 位 不 可

    以 为 一 个 集 体 的 共 同 继 承 人 所 取 得 。 这 个 集 体 作 为 一 个 单 一

    的 单 位 而 继 承 ， 继 承 的 财 产 通 过 以 后 另 外 的 法 律 程 序 在 他 们

    中 间 进 行 分 配 。 当 “ 继 承 ” 是 ·

    法 ·

    定 ·

    继 ·

    承 ， 这 个 集 体 中 所 包 括

    的 都 是 死 者 的 子 嗣 时 ， 他 们 每 一 个 人 都 从 财 产 中 取 得 一 个 相

    等 的 份 额 ； 虽 然 在 有 一 个 时 期 男 性 比 女 性 占 一 些 便 宜 ， 但 在

    这 里 完 全 没 有 一 些 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 痕 迹 。 分 配 的 方 式 在 全

    部 古 代 法 律 学 中 是 完 全 一 样 的 。 当 然 ， 当 民 事 社 会 开 始 ， 各

    家 族 在 经 过 许 多 世 代 以 后 已 不 再 结 合 在 一 起 时 ， 自 发 地 就 产

    生 了 这 种 观 念 ， 要 把 领 地 在 每 一 世 代 的 所 有 成 员 中 平 均 分 配 ，

    并 且 不 专 为 长 子 或 其 支 系 保 留 任 何 特 权 。 关 于 这 种 现 象 和 原

    始 思 想 的 密 切 关 系 ， 可 以 从 比 罗 马 制 度 更 古 的 一 些 制 度 中 ， 看

    到 一 些 特 别 有 意 义 的 暗 示 。 在 印 度 人 中 ， 当 子 刚 出 生 时 ， 他

    对 其 父 的 财 产 立 刻 取 得 一 种 既 得 权 ， 这 种 财 产 未 得 共 有 人 的

    承 认 是 不 能 出 卖 的 。 在 子 达 到 成 年 时 ， 他 有 时 甚 至 可 以 不 愿

    其 父 是 否 同 意 而 强 迫 分 割 财 产 ， 并 且 ， 如 果 得 到 父 的 同 意 ， 则

    纵 使 不 为 所 有 其 余 诸 子 所 愿 意 ， 一 子 也 能 取 得 分 割 。 在 这 类

    分 割 发 生 时 ， 父 除 了 取 得 的 份 额 不 是 一 份 而 是 两 份 以 外 ， 并

    不 能 较 其 子 更 为 优 待 。 日 耳 曼 部 落 的 古 代 法 是 非 常 类 似 的 。

    “ 自 由 地 ” 或 家 族 领 地 是 父 和 子 的 共 有 财 产 。 不 过 ， 习 惯 上 这

    种 共 有 财 产 在 父 死 亡 时 也 是 不 分 割 的 ， 而 一 个 印 度 人 的 所 有

    物 虽 然 在 理 论 上 是 可 以 分 割 的 ， 但 在 事 实 上 却 同 样 地 很 少 分

    割 ， 因 此 往 往 许 多 世 代 转 辗 相 传 从 不 分 割 ， 这 样 ， 印 度 的 家族 就 有 不 断 扩 大 为 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 倾 向 ， 其 情 况 我 将 在 以

    后 加 以 阐 述 。 所 有 这 一 切 ， 明 显 地 指 出 ， 在 死 亡 时 把 财 产 在

    男 性 子 嗣 中 绝 对 平 均 分 配 ， 是 家 族 依 附 发 生 瓦 解 的 第 一 个 阶

    段 中 社 会 上 最 为 普 遍 的 实 践 。 这 时 候 ， “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 就 成 为

    历 史 上 的 难 题 了 。 当 封 建 制 度 在 形 成 的 过 程 中 ， 这 些 制 度 除

    了 一 方 面 从 罗 马 各 省 的 法 律 以 及 另 一 方 面 从 蛮 族 的 古 代 习 惯

    中 得 到 其 原 素 外 ， 在 世 界 上 已 没 有 其 他 渊 源 ， 但 我 们 知 道 罗

    马 人 或 蛮 族 在 财 产 继 承 中 都 不 习 惯 于 把 任 何 优 先 权 给 予 长 子

    或 其 亲 系 ， 因 此 ， 初 看 起 来 ， 我 们 感 到 迷 惑 不 解 。

    在 蛮 族 最 初 定 居 于 罗 马 帝 国 境 内 时 所 实 行 的 各 种 “ 习

    惯 ” 中 ， 并 没 有 “ 长 子 继 承 制 ” 。 我 们 知 道 它 的 渊 源 是 来 自 入

    侵 酋 长 的采地 （ ｂ ｅ ｎ ｅ ｆ ｉ ｃ ｅ ） 或 贻 赠 。 这 些 初 时 只 是 由 移 居 来 的

    国 王 偶 然 封 赐 、 但 后 来 为 查 理 曼 大 量 分 配 的 “ 采 地 ” ， 乃 是 授

    与 有 军 功 的 受 益 人 管 业 的 罗 马 各 省 土 地 。 ·

    自 ·

    主 ·

    地 所 有 人 似 乎

    并 不 跟 随 其 统 治 者 从 事 远 征 或 艰 难 的 冒 险 事 业 ， 所 有 法 兰 克

    酋 长 和 查 理 曼 所 进 行 的 历 次 远 征 ， 其 随 军 出 征 的 或 是 人 身 依

    附 王 家 的 士 兵 ， 或 是 由 于 土 地 的 租 佃 而 被 迫 服 役 的 士 兵 。 但

    是 采 地 在 开 始 时 完 全 没 有 世 袭 的 意 味 ， “ 采 地 ” 的 持 有 要 听 从

    赐 与 人 的 好 恶 ， 至 多 以 受 赐 人 的 终 身 为 限 ； 但 从 最 初 的 时 候

    起 ， 受 益 人 似 乎 并 未 致 力 于 扩 大 出 租 地 ， 并 在 其 死 后 把 土 地

    继 续 保 留 给 家 族 中 人 。 由 于 查 理 曼 继 承 人 柔 弱 无 能 ， 这 些 企

    图 普 遍 获 得 成 功 ， “ 采 地 ” 就 逐 渐 转 变 为 世 袭 的 “ 封 地 ”

    （ Ｆ ｉ ｅ ｆ ） 了 。 但 是 封 地 虽 然 是 世 袭 的 ， 却 并 不 一 定 遗 传 给 长 子 。

    它 们 所 遵 从 的 继 承 规 则 ， 完 全 由 赐 与 人 和 受 益 人 之 间 同 意 的

    条 件 决 定 ， 或 者 由 其 中 之 一 方 强 加 于 另 一 方 的 条 件 决 定 。 因此 ， 原 来 的 租 地 条 件 是 非 常 多 种 多 样 的 ； 因 为 到 现 在 为 止 所

    提 到 的 各 种 租 地 条 件 都 是 为 罗 马 人 和 蛮 族 所 熟 悉 的 继 承 方 式

    的 某 种 联 合 ， 所 以 并 不 象 有 时 所 说 的 那 样 任 意 地 变 化 的 ， 但

    它 们 无 疑 是 非 常 琐 细 的 。 在 有 些 租 地 条 件 中 ， 毫 无 疑 问 地 准

    许 长 子 和 其 支 系 先 于 其 他 子 嗣 而 继 承 封 地 ， 但 这 类 继 承 非 特

    并 不 普 通 ， 甚 至 也 没 有 为 一 般 所 采 用 。 在 欧 洲 社 会 较 近 的 一

    次 变 化 中 ， 当 领 地 的 （ 或 罗 马 的 ） 和 自 主 地 的 （ 或 日 耳 曼

    的 ） 财 产 形 式 完 全 为 封 建 的 财 产 形 式 所 代 替 时 ， 这 种 完 全 同

    样 的 现 象 又 重 复 发 生 了 。 自 主 地 完 全 为 封 地 所 吸 收 。 较 大 的

    自 主 地 所 有 者 把 部 分 的 土 地 有 条 件 地 移 转 给 其 属 下 而 自 成 为

    封 建 主 ； 较 小 的 自 主 地 所 有 者 为 了 逃 避 那 个 恐 怖 时 代 的 压 迫 ，

    就 把 他 们 的 财 产 奉 献 给 某 些 强 大 的 酋 长 ， 并 以 战 争 时 为 他 服

    役 为 条 件 再 从 他 的 手 中 领 回 其 土 地 。 当 这 个 时 期 ， 西 欧 的 广

    大 人 民 都 处 于 奴 隶 或 半 奴 隶 的 状 态 — — 罗 马 和 日 耳 曼 的 个 人

    奴 隶 ， 即 罗 马 的 土 著 农 奴 （ ｃ ｏ ｌ ｏ ｎ ｉ ） 和 日 耳 曼 的 农 奴 （ ｌ ｉ ｄ ｉ ） — — 他 们 同 时 为 封 建 组 织 所 并 吞 ， 他 们 中 的 一 小 部 分 对 封 建 主 处

    于 奴 仆 关 系 ， 但 大 部 分 则 以 当 时 视 为 降 格 的 条 件 接 受 土 地 。 在

    这 普 遍 分 封 土 地 的 时 代 中 创 设 的 各 种 租 地 条 件 、 因 佃 农 和 新

    地 主 拟 定 的 条 件 或 因 佃 农 被 迫 接 受 地 主 条 件 的 不 同 而 各 异 。

    在 采 地 的 情 况 下 ， 有 些 财 产 的 继 承 按 照 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 规

    定 ， 但 并 不 是 全 部 如 此 。 但 是 ， 一 当 封 建 制 度 普 遍 推 行 于 西

    欧 ； 就 明 显 地 感 到 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 比 其 他 任 何 种 继 承 方 式 有

    更 大 的 长 处 。 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 于 是 就 以 惊 人 迅 速 的 程 度 遍 传 到

    全 欧 各 地 ， 它 传 播 的 主 要 工 具 是 “ 家 族 授 产 ” （ Ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｙ 　 Ｓ ｅ ｔ ｔ ｌ ｅ Aｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ， 在 法 兰 西 称 为 Ｐ ａ ｃ ｔ ｅ ｓ 　 ｄ ｅ 　 Ｆ ａ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｌ ｅ ， 在 日 耳 曼 称 为 Ｈ ａ ｕ ｓ Ｇ ｅ ｓ ｅ ｔ ｚ ｅ ） ， 它 普 遍 规 定 凡 是 由 于 武 功 而 占 有 的 土 地 一 概

    应 传 给 长 子 。 最 后 ， 法 律 竟 让 位 给 这 多 年 应 用 的 实 践 ， 在 逐

    渐 建 立 起 来 的 一 切 “ 习 惯 法 ” 中 ， 对 于 自 由 租 地 和 军 役 租 地

    的 财 产 ， 长 子 和 其 亲 系 有 优 先 继 承 之 权 。 至 于 因 佃 役 租 地 而

    持 有 的 土 地 （ 原 来 ， 所 有 租 地 都 是 佃 役 的 ， 佃 农 必 须 偿 付 金

    钱 或 提 供 劳 役 ） ， 习 惯 所 规 定 的 继 承 制 度 在 各 国 和 各 省 中 差 别

    很 大 。 比 较 一 般 的 通 例 是 ， 这 些 土 地 在 所 有 人 死 亡 时 应 由 所

    有 子 嗣 平 均 分 配 ， 但 在 有 些 事 例 中 ， 长 子 仍 有 优 先 权 ， 在 有

    些 事 例 中 则 由 幼 子 取 得 优 先 权 。 但 象 英 国 的 “ 定 役 租 地 ”

    （ Ｓ ｏ ｃ ａ ｇ ｅ ） 一 样 ， 它 发 生 的 时 期 较 其 余 各 类 的 租 地 为 迟 ， 并 且

    既 不 是 完 全 自 由 的 ， 也 不 是 完 全 佃 役 的 ， 这 些 通 过 租 地 而 持

    有 的 财 产 、 这 些 在 某 些 方 面 看 来 是 属 于 最 重 要 的 一 类 财 产 的

    继 承 ， 通 常 就 适 用 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 能 被 广 为 传 播 ， 一 般 都 认 为 是 由 于 所

    谓 封 建 的 理 由 。 据 说 ， 如 果 在 封 地 最 后 持 有 人 死 亡 时 把 它 传

    给 一 个 单 一 的 人 而 不 在 多 数 人 中 间 进 行 分 配 ， 封 建 主 就 可 以

    对 他 所 需 要 的 军 役 有 更 好 的 保 证 。 我 不 否 认 这 种 意 见 可 以 部

    分 地 说 明 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 逐 渐 为 人 们 所 爱 好 ， 但 我 们 须

    指 出 ， “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 能 成 为 欧 洲 的 一 种 习 惯 ， 倒 并 不 是

    由 于 它 对 封 建 主 有 利 ， 而 是 由 于 它 为 佃 农 所 欢 迎 。 再 则 ， 上

    述 理 由 完 全 不 能 说 明 它 的 来 源 。 法 律 中 决 不 可 能 有 任 何 规 定

    完 全 是 为 了 要 求 得 便 利 。 在 便 利 的 意 识 发 生 作 用 之 前 ， 必 先

    有 某 些 观 念 存 在 着 ， 它 所 能 做 的 也 只 是 把 这 些 观 念 组 成 新 的

    结 合 而 已 ； 在 当 前 的 情 形 中 ， 问 题 正 就 是 在 找 寻 这 些 观 念 。

    从 一 个 富 有 这 类 征 兆 的 地 方 ， 我 们 获 得 了 一 个 很 有 价 值的 暗 示 。 在 印 度 ， 虽 然 父 的 所 有 物 可 在 其 死 亡 时 加 以 分 割 ， 并

    且 甚 至 在 生 前 就 可 以 在 所 有 男 性 子 嗣 中 平 均 分 割 ， 虽 然 这 个

    平 均 分 配 财 产 的 原 则 推 广 到 印 度 制 度 的 每 一 个 部 分 ， 但 当 最

    后 一 个 在 职 者 死 亡 时 ， 他 所 传 下 的 ·

    官 ·

    职 ·

    或 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    权 ·

    利 ， 几 乎 普

    遍 地 根 据 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 规 定 而 进 行 继 承 。 因 此 ， 主 权 是

    传 给 长 子 的 ， 作 为 印 度 社 会 集 合 单 位 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 事

    务 原 归 一 人 管 理 时 ， 则 父 死 之 后 一 般 就 由 长 子 继 续 管 理 。 在

    印 度 ， 所 有 职 位 都 有 世 袭 的 趋 向 ， 并 且 在 性 质 许 可 时 ， 这 些

    职 位 即 归 属 于 最 老 支 系 的 最 长 成 员 。 把 这 些 印 度 继 承 和 在 欧

    洲 几 乎 一 直 到 现 在 还 存 在 的 较 未 开 化 社 会 组 织 的 有 些 继 承 ，

    加 以 比 较 ， 我 们 可 以 得 到 这 样 的 结 论 ， 即 宗 法 权 不 仅 是 ·

    家 ·

    庭

    ·

    的 并 且 是 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    的 ， 它 在 父 死 亡 时 不 在 所 有 子 嗣 中 分 配 ， 它 是

    长 子 的 天 生 权 利 。 例 如 ， 苏 格 兰 高 原 部 落 的 酋 长 职 位 是 按 照

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 顺 序 继 承 的 。 的 确 ， 这 里 似 乎 有 一 种 家 族 依

    附 ， 比 我 们 从 有 组 织 民 事 社 会 原 始 记 录 中 所 知 道 的 任 何 一 种

    家 族 依 附 还 要 来 得 古 老 。 古 罗 马 法 中 亲 属 的 宗 法 联 合 体 以 及

    大 量 类 似 的 征 兆 ， 说 明 在 有 一 个 时 期 中 家 族 所 有 的 各 支 系 都

    团 结 在 一 个 有 机 的 整 体 中 ； 当 亲 属 这 样 形 成 的 集 团 本 身 就 成

    为 一 个 独 立 社 会 时 ， 这 个 集 团 是 由 最 老 亲 系 的 最 长 男 性 管 理

    的 ； 这 自 非 狂 妄 的 臆 测 。 的 确 ， 我 们 并 不 具 有 这 类 社 会 的 真

    实 知 识 。 即 在 最 原 始 的 共 产 体 中 ， 就 我 们 所 知 ， 家 族 组 织 至

    多 只 是 “ 政 府 中 的 政 府 ” （ ｉ ｍ ｐ ｅ ｒ ｉ ａ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｉ ｍ ｐ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｏ ） 。 但 是 有 一

    些 部 族 、 特 别 是 凯 尔 特 部 族 的 地 位 从 有 史 以 来 都 近 似 独 立 ， 这

    使 我 们 不 得 不 深 信 它 们 过 去 曾 一 度 是 各 别 的 政 府 ， 它 的 酋 长

    职 位 是 根 据 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 而 继 承 的 。 但 是 ， 我 们 必 须 注 意 ，不 要 把 它 和 法 律 上 的 名 词 作 现 代 的 联 想 。 我 们 现 在 所 谈 到 的

    一 种 家 族 关 系 比 我 们 所 熟 知 的 印 度 社 会 或 古 罗 马 法 中 任 何 家

    族 关 系 更 为 紧 密 。 如 果 罗 马 的 “ 家 父 ” 明 显 地 是 家 族 所 有 物

    的 管 家 ， 如 果 印 度 人 之 父 只 是 其 诸 子 的 共 同 分 配 者 ， 则 真 正

    的 宗 法 族 长 将 更 显 著 地 仅 仅 是 一 个 公 共 基 金 的 管 理 人 。

    因 此 ， 在 “ 采 地 ” 中 所 发 现 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 继 承 事

    例 可 能 是 从 入 侵 种 族 的 一 种 宗 族 政 府 制 度 模 仿 来 的 ， 这 种 家

    族 政 府 制 度 曾 为 入 侵 种 族 所 知 道 ， 但 并 不 是 普 遍 适 用 的 。 有

    些 未 开 化 的 部 落 也 许 还 在 实 行 着 这 种 制 度 ， 或 者 更 加 可 能 ， 社

    会 还 刚 刚 离 开 较 古 的 状 态 ， 因 此 人 们 在 为 一 种 新 形 式 的 财 产

    决 定 继 承 规 则 时 ， 就 自 发 地 联 想 到 了 这 种 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。 但

    这 里 还 有 一 个 问 题 ， 为 什 么 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 会 逐 渐 代 替 了 其

    他 一 切 继 承 原 则 ？ 我 以 为 答 案 应 该 是 在 加 洛 林 帝 国 瓦 解 期 间 ，

    欧 洲 社 会 肯 定 是 在 退 化 着 。 它 比 早 期 蛮 族 王 朝 时 期 的 悲 惨 低

    微 状 况 甚 至 还 要 落 后 一 些 。 这 个 时 期 的 最 大 特 点 是 国 王 权 力

    的 软 弱 甚 至 中 断 ， 因 此 也 就 是 内 政 的 软 弱 中 断 ； 因 此 社 会 内

    部 是 不 团 结 的 ， 人 们 也 普 遍 地 倒 退 到 比 共 产 体 开 始 时 更 古 的

    一 种 社 会 组 织 中 去 。 在 第 九 第 十 世 纪 时 期 ， 封 建 主 连 同 其 属

    臣 大 概 都 属 于 一 个 宗 法 家 庭 ， 这 种 家 庭 不 是 象 原 始 时 代 那 样

    用 “ 收 养 ” 而 是 用 “ 分 封 土 地 ” （ Ｉ ｎ ｆ ｅ ｕ ｄ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 的 方 法 补 充 成

    员 的 ； 对 这 样 一 种 结 合 ， “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 继 承 方 式 是 强 力 和 持

    久 的 一 种 渊 源 。 只 要 全 部 组 织 建 筑 在 它 上 面 的 土 地 能 保 留 在

    一 起 ， 它 就 能 有 力 地 进 行 攻 击 和 防 卫 ； 分 割 土 地 也 就 是 分 割

    这 小 小 的 社 会 ， 也 就 是 在 普 遍 暴 乱 的 世 纪 中 给 侵 略 造 成 机 会 。

    我 们 可 以 完 全 断 定 ， “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 制 的 被 优 先 采 用 ， 并 不 是为 了 一 个 子 而 剥 夺 其 余 诸 子 的 继 承 权 。 分 裂 封 地 要 使 每 一 个

    人 受 到 损 害 。 封 地 的 巩 固 会 使 每 一 个 人 获 得 好 处 。 “ 家 族 ” 可

    以 因 权 力 集 中 于 一 个 人 手 中 而 更 强 大 有 力 量 ； 赋 与 继 承 权 的

    封 建 主 并 不 能 较 其 同 胞 和 亲 属 在 占 有 、 利 益 或 享 受 上 有 任 何

    优 越 之 处 ， 如 果 我 们 以 英 国 长 子 在 一 个 严 格 的 授 产 下 所 处 的

    地 位 ， 来 估 计 一 个 封 地 的 继 承 人 所 继 承 的 特 权 ， 这 将 是 一 个

    独 特 的 时 代 错 误 。

    我 曾 说 过 ， 早 期 的 封 建 结 合 来 自 一 种 古 代 的 “ 家 族 ” 形

    式 ， 并 且 和 它 极 端 类 似 。 但 是 在 古 代 世 界 中 ， 在 还 没 有 通 过

    封 建 制 度 坩 埚 的 一 些 社 会 中 ， 当 时 似 乎 曾 经 流 行 的 “ 长 子 继

    承 权 ” 还 没 有 变 成 后 期 封 建 欧 洲 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。 当 亲 属 集

    团 经 过 许 多 世 代 不 再 为 一 个 世 袭 的 酋 是 统 治 时 ， 过 去 曾 为 大

    家 而 管 理 的 领 地 也 就 被 大 家 平 均 分 配 了 。 为 什 么 这 种 情 况 不

    在 封 建 世 界 中 发 生 呢 ？ 如 果 在 最 初 的 封 建 时 代 的 混 乱 期 间 ， 长

    子 为 了 全 家 的 利 益 而 持 有 土 地 ， 那 末 为 什 么 当 封 建 欧 洲 已 经

    巩 固 ， 正 规 的 社 会 生 活 又 再 度 确 立 了 时 ， 全 个 家 族 会 不 重 新

    恢 复 过 去 一 度 属 于 罗 马 人 和 日 耳 曼 人 的 平 等 继 承 权 的 能 力 ？

    那 些 专 心 致 力 于 探 讨 封 建 制 度 的 家 系 的 著 者 ， 很 少 能 掌 握 开

    启 这 个 困 难 的 关 键 。 他 们 看 到 了 封 建 制 度 的 原 料 ， 但 是 他 们

    没 有 注 意 到 成 品 。 助 威 这 个 制 度 形 成 的 观 念 和 社 会 形 式 无 疑

    地 是 蛮 族 的 和 古 代 的 ， 但 是 ， 当 法 院 和 法 律 家 被 要 求 来 解 释

    它 时 ， 他 们 用 来 解 释 它 的 原 则 却 是 最 后 期 罗 马 法 律 学 的 ， 因

    此 也 就 是 非 常 精 炼 和 非 常 成 熟 的 原 则 。 在 一 个 宗 法 统 治 的 社

    会 中 ， 长 子 继 承 了 宗 亲 集 团 的 政 府 ， 并 有 绝 对 权 力 处 分 其 财

    产 。 但 他 并 不 因 此 而 成 为 一 个 真 正 的 所 有 人 。 他 还 有 不 包 含在 所 有 权 这 概 念 中 的 相 关 连 的 各 种 义 务 ， 这 些 义 务 是 十 分 不

    明 确 的 并 且 也 不 可 能 下 定 义 的 。 但 后 期 的 罗 马 法 律 学 象 我 们

    自 己 的 法 律 一 样 ， 把 对 于 财 产 上 所 有 的 无 限 制 权 力 看 做 财 产

    所 有 权 ， 并 没 有 、 并 且 在 事 实 上 也 不 可 能 注 意 到 这 一 类 的 义

    务 ， 而 关 于 这 类 义 务 的 概 念 是 在 正 规 法 律 产 生 之 前 就 已 经 有

    的 。 这 种 精 练 的 观 念 和 野 蛮 的 观 念 相 接 触 后 ， 不 可 避 免 地 召

    致 了 这 样 一 个 后 果 ， 就 是 把 长 子 改 变 成 继 承 财 产 的 法 定 所 有

    人 。 教 会 的 和 世 俗 的 法 律 学 家 从 一 开 始 就 这 样 确 定 了 长 子 的

    地 位 ； 而 原 来 本 可 与 其 亲 属 在 平 等 的 地 位 上 共 祸 福 的 年 轻 兄

    弟 ， 则 在 不 知 不 觉 间 下 降 为 僧 侣 、 军 事 冒 险 家 或 是 官 邸 的 食

    客 。 这 种 法 律 上 的 革 命 ， 正 和 苏 格 兰 高 原 大 部 分 地 方 在 最 近

    小 规 模 地 发 生 的 革 命 ， 完 全 相 同 。 当 苏 格 兰 法 律 学 必 须 决 定

    酋 长 在 扶 养 部 族 的 领 地 上 所 具 有 的 法 律 权 力 时 ， 它 已 远 超 过

    了 同 部 族 人 对 完 全 所 有 权 可 以 加 一 些 模 糊 限 制 的 时 期 ， 因 此 ，

    它 也 就 不 可 避 免 地 把 许 多 人 的 遗 产 转 变 成 一 个 人 的 财 产 了 。

    为 了 简 明 起 见 ， 我 把 一 个 单 独 子 嗣 对 一 个 家 或 一 个 社 会

    所 有 权 力 的 继 承 ， 称 为 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 继 承 方 式 。 但 是 ， 可

    注 意 的 是 ， 在 遗 留 给 我 们 的 这 类 继 承 的 少 数 很 古 的 事 例 中 ， 取

    得 代 理 地 位 的 不 一 定 是 我 们 所 熟 知 的 意 义 中 的 长 子 。 曾 在 西

    欧 流 行 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 形 式 也 曾 在 印 度 人 中 继 续 保 存 过 ， 我

    们 并 有 一 切 理 由 相 信 它 是 正 常 的 形 式 。 在 这 种 制 度 下 ， 不 但

    是 长 子 ， 并 且 是 长 子 的 亲 系 也 常 常 获 得 优 先 权 。 如 果 长 子 不

    能 继 承 ， 则 他 的 长 子 不 但 对 其 兄 弟 并 且 对 其 叔 父 辈 有 优 先 权 。

    如 果 他 也 不 能 继 承 ， 这 同 一 规 定 可 以 适 用 于 再 下 一 代 。 但 如

    果 继 承 不 仅 仅 是 ·

    民 ·

    事 ·

    的 、 而 且 是 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    的 权 力 时 ， 就 可 能 要 发生 一 种 困 难 ， 这 种 困 难 的 大 小 随 社 会 团 结 力 的 强 弱 而 增 减 。 一

    个 行 使 权 力 的 酋 长 可 能 寿 命 长 过 其 长 子 ， 而 原 来 有 继 承 资 格

    的 孙 子 又 可 能 年 龄 太 小 未 及 成 年 ， 不 能 担 负 实 际 指 导 社 会 以

    及 管 理 事 务 的 责 任 。 在 这 种 情 况 下 ， 比 较 固 定 的 社 会 往 往 采

    取 这 种 便 宜 方 法 ； 就 是 把 这 幼 小 的 继 承 人 放 在 监 护 之 下 ， 一

    直 到 他 适 宜 于 执 政 的 年 龄 。 监 护 权 一 般 属 于 男 性 宗 亲 ； 但 有

    可 注 意 的 是 ， 在 极 少 的 偶 然 事 例 中 ， 古 代 社 会 也 有 同 意 由 妇

    女 行 使 这 种 权 力 者 ， 这 无 疑 是 出 于 尊 重 母 亲 的 庇 护 的 要 求 。 在

    印 度 ， 一 个 印 度 主 权 者 的 寡 妇 曾 用 她 稚 子 的 名 义 而 统 治 着 国

    家 ， 并 且 我 们 也 不 禁 要 想 到 法 兰 西 皇 位 继 承 规 定 的 习 惯 — —这种 习 惯 ， 不 论 其 渊 源 为 何 ， 无 疑 是 非 常 古 远 的 — — 规 定母后 对 “ 摄 政 职 位 ” （ Ｒ ｅ ｇ ｅ ｎ ｃ ｙ ） 较 所 有 其 他 申 请 人 有 优 先 之 权 ，但 同 时 它 却 又 严 格 地 排 斥 一 切 女 性 据 有 皇 位 。 把 主 权 遗 传 给

    一 个 幼 小 的 继 承 人 所 发 生 的 不 方 便 ， 还 有 另 外 一 种 方 法 加 以

    消 除 ， 这 种 方 法 无 疑 会 自 发 地 发 生 在 组 织 简 略 的 共 产 体 中 。 就

    是 把 幼 小 的 继 承 人 完 全 放 在 一 边 ， 而 把 酋 长 的 职 位 授 与 第 一

    代 中 年 事 最 高 的 现 存 男 性 。 凯 尔 特 部 族 组 织 在 他 们 已 保 留 了

    一 个 世 纪 且 其 中 民 事 的 和 政 治 的 社 会 还 没 有 初 步 划 分 的 许 多

    现 象 中 间 ， 就 有 着 这 样 一 个 继 承 的 规 定 ， 并 把 它 一 直 带 到 了

    有 史 时 期 。 在 这 些 部 族 组 织 中 ， 似 乎 还 有 这 样 一 种 现 实 准 则 ，

    认 为 在 长 子 不 能 继 承 时 ， 他 的 长 弟 可 以 优 先 于 所 有 的 孙 辈 而

    获 得 继 承 ， 不 问 在 主 权 遗 传 的 当 时 孙 辈 的 年 龄 是 怎 样 。 有 些

    著 者 用 这 样 的 假 说 来 解 释 这 个 原 则 ， 认 为 凯 尔 特 的 习 惯 是 把

    最 后 的 酋 长 看 做 好 象 是 一 个 树 根 或 是 主 干 ， 而 后 把 继 承 权 给

    与 和 他 距 离 最 近 的 卑 亲 属 ； 叔 父 既 较 接 近 于 共 同 的 根 干 ， 便应 优 先 于 孙 辈 。 如 果 这 个 解 释 只 是 用 以 说 明 继 承 制 度 ， 那 是

    无 可 非 议 的 ； 但 如 果 以 为 第 一 个 采 用 这 样 的 规 定 的 人 ， 是 在

    应 用 显 然 从 封 建 继 承 制 度 开 始 在 法 律 家 中 进 行 论 辩 的 时 候 起

    就 有 的 推 理 过 程 ， 则 将 是 一 个 严 重 的 错 误 。 叔 父 所 以 能 优 先

    于 孙 辈 ， 其 真 正 的 来 源 无 疑 地 是 出 于 一 个 原 始 社 会 中 原 始 人

    们 的 一 种 简 单 打 算 ， 即 认 为 由 一 个 成 年 的 酋 长 来 统 治 总 比 由

    一 个 孩 子 统 治 来 得 好 ， 一 个 年 纪 较 轻 的 儿 子 将 比 长 子 的 任 何

    子 嗣 更 早 达 到 成 年 。 同 时 ， 我 们 有 证 据 证 明 我 们 所 最 熟 悉 的

    那 种 形 式 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 是 一 种 原 始 的 形 式 ， 其 传 统 是 当

    越 过 一 个 幼 小 的 继 承 人 而 作 出 有 利 于 其 叔 父 的 决 定 时 ， 须 先取 得 部 族 的 同 意 。 在 麦 克 唐 纳 氏 （ Ｍ ａ ｃ ｄ ｏ ｎ ａ ｌ ｄ ｓ ） 纪 年 史 中 有着 有 关 这 种 仪 式 的 相 当 真 实 的 例 子。

    根 据 可 能 保 存 着 一 种 古 代 阿 剌 伯 习 惯 的 穆 罕 默 德 法 律（ Ｍ ｏ ｈ ａ ｍ ｅ ｔ ａ ｎ 　 Ｉ ａ ｗ ） ， 财 产 继 承 权 是 在 诸 子 中 平 均 分 配 的 ， 女儿 则 可 取 得 半 份 ， 但 是 如 果 有 任 何 一 人 在 继 承 权 分 割 前 死 亡而 遗 下 子 女 时 ， 这 些 孙 儿 女 会 全 部 为 其 叔 姑 所 排 斥 。 与这原则 相 一 致 ， 当 遗 下 的 是 政 治 权 时 ， 继 承 就 按 照 凯 尔 特社会中的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 形 式 进 行 。 在 西 方 两 个 穆 罕 默 德 的 大 家 族中 ， 所 根 据 的 规 定 是 ： 在 继 承 王 位 时 叔 父 优 先 于 诸 姪 ， 虽 此姪 为 长 兄 之 子 ， 亦 在 所 不 论 ； 这 一 规 定 虽 然 直 到 最 近 还 在 埃及 适 用 ， 但 依 我 所 知 ， 是 否 适 用 于 土 耳 其 君 主 的 移 转 ， 是 还有 疑 问 的 。 苏 丹 们 的 政 策 事 实 上 一 直 是 在 防 止 适 用 这 个规定的 情 况 的 发 生 ， 很 可 能 ， 他 们 整 批 屠 杀 其 幼 年 兄 弟 一 方 面 固然 是 为 了 其 子 孙 的 利 益 ， 另一 方 面 也 是 为 了 消 除 对 王 位 的 危险 竞 争 者 。 不 过 很 明 显 ， 在 一 夫 多 妻 的 社 会 中 ， “ 长 子 继 承权 ” 的 形 式 是 经 常 在 变 化 的 。 有 许 多 理 由 都 可 以 构 成 对 继 承的 要 求 ， 例 如 ， 母 亲 的 位 次 或 她 受 父 亲 宠 爱 的 程 度 。 因 此 ， 有些 信 奉 伊 斯 兰 教 的 印 度 君 主 不 敢 主 张 有 任 何 明 显 的 遗 嘱 权 ，但 主 张 有 权 指 定 继 承 之 子 。 圣 经 上 以 撒 与 其 子 的 历 史 中 所 提到 的祝福 ， 有 时 被 指 为 一 种 遗 嘱 ， 但 这 似 乎 应 该 被 认 为 是 一种 指 定 一 个 长 子 的 方 式 。

    第 八 章 　 财 产 的 早 期 史

    罗 马 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” 在 对 各 种 各 样 的 所 有 权 下 了 定 义 之 后 ，

    进 而 讨 论 “ 取 得 财 产 的 自 然 方 式 ” 。 凡 是 不 熟 悉 法 律 学 史 的 人 ，

    对 于 这 些 取 得 的 “ 自 然 方 式 ” ， 似 乎 不 致 在 一 看 之 下 就 有 理 论

    上 的 或 者 是 实 践 上 的 兴 趣 的 。 猎 人 捕 获 或 杀 死 的 野 兽 ， 由 于

    河 流 在 不 知 不 觉 中 的 淤 积 而 在 我 们 田 野 上 增 加 的 土 地 ， 和 生

    根 于 我 们 土 地 上 的 树 木 ， 这 些 都 是 罗 马 法 律 家 称 之 为 我 们 可

    以自然地 取 得 的 东 西 。 较 老 的 法 学 专 家 一 定 曾 注 意 到 ， 这 类

    取 得 是 普 遍 地 为 他 们 所 处 的 小 社 会 的 惯 例 所 认 可 的 ， 后 一 时

    期 的 法 律 家 既 然 发 现 这 些 取 得 被 归 类 于 古 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 ， 并

    把 它 们 看 作 为 最 简 单 的 一 种 取 得 ， 就 在 “ 自 然 ” 律 令 中 给 它

    们 分 配 了 一 个 地 位 。 这 些 财 产 所 受 到 的 尊 严 性 在 现 代 时 期 正

    在 继 续 不 断 增 长 ， 直 至 完 全 超 过 了 它 原 来 的 重 要 性 。 理 论 已

    把 它 们 作 为 它 的 美 好 食 料 ， 并 使 它 们 在 实 践 上 起 着 最 最 严 重

    的 影 响 。

    在 这 些 “ 自 然 取 得 方 式 ” 中 ， 我 们 有 必 要 只 研 究 其 中 的一 种 ， 即 “ 先 占 ” （ Ｏ ｃ ｃ ｕ ｐ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 。 “ 先 占 ” 是 蓄 意 占 有 在 当 时 为

    无 主 的 财 产 ， 目 的 （ 这 是 在 专 门 定 义 中 加 上 去 的 ） 在 取 得 财

    产 作 为 己 有 。 罗 马 法 律 学 称 为无主物 （ ｒ ｅ ｓ 　 ｎ ｕ ｌ ｌ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） 的 物 件— — 即 现 在 没 有 或 过 去 从 来 没 有 过 一 个 所 有 人 的 物 件 — — 只能 用 列 举 的 方 法 来 加 以 确 定 。 在从来没有过 一 个 所 有 人 的 物件 中 ， 如 野 兽 、 鱼 、 野 雞 、 第 一 次 被 发 掘 出 来 的 宝 石 ， 以 及新 发 现 或 以 前 从 未 经 过 耕 种 的 土 地 。 在现在没有 一 个 所 有 人的 物 件 中 ， 包 括 抛 弃 的 动 产 、 荒 废 的 土 地 以 及 （ 一 个 变 例 的但 最 为 惊 人 的 项 目 ） 一 个 敌 人 的 财 产 。 在 所 有 这 些 物 件 中 ， 完全 的 所 有 权 为 第 一 个 占 有 它 们 、 意 图 保 留 它 们 作 为 已 有 的占有人 所 取 得 — — 这 种 意 图 在 某 种 情 况 下 是 必 须 以 特 殊 行 为 来表 示 的 。 我 以 为 我 们 不 难 理 解 “ 先 占 ” 有 其 普 遍 性 ， 它 促 使有 一 代 的 罗 马 法 律 家 把 “ 先 占 ” 的 实 践 列 入 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 中 ， 它 有 其 单 纯 性 ， 这 使 另 外 一 些 法 律 家 认 为 它 应 归 因 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 。 但 对 于 它 在 现 代 法 律 史 中 的 命 运 ， 我 们 是没有先天的 考 虑 的 。 罗 马 人 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 ， 以 及 法 学 专 家把 这 原 则 发 展 而 成 的 规 则 ， 是 所 有 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ” 有 关 “ 战利 品 ” 和 在 新 发 现 国 家 中 取 得 主 权 等 主 题 的 来 源 。 它 们 又 提供 了 “ 财 产 起 源 ” 的 理 论 ， 这 种 理 论 立 刻 受 到 欢 迎 ， 并 通 过这 一 种 或 另 一 种 形 式 而 成 为 绝 大 部 分 纯 理 论 法 律 家 所 默 认 的理 论 。

    我 曾 说 过 ， 罗 马 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 曾 决 定 “ 国 际 法 ” 中 有

    关 “ 战 利 品 ” 这 一 章 的 要 旨 。 “ 战 争 虏 获 法 ” 中 的 种 种 规 定 ，

    来 自 这 样 一 种 假 定 ， 就 是 敌 对 行 动 的 开 始 使 社 会 回 复 到 了 一

    种 自 然 状 态 ， 并 且 ， 在 这 样 造 成 的 人 为 的 自 然 状 态 中 ， 就 两

    个 交 战 国 而 论 ， 私 有 财 产 制 度 就 处 于 停 止 的 状 态 。 后 期 论 述

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 著 者 竭 力 主 张 私 有 财 产 在 某 种 意 义 上 是 他 们 所 解

    释 的 制 度 所 认 可 的 ， 因 此 ， 所 谓 一 个 敌 人 的 财 产 是 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 的

    假 说 ， 在 他 们 看 起 来 ， 是 不 法 和 惊 人 的 ， 他 们 谨 慎 地 把 它 污

    蔑 为 仅 仅 是 法 律 学 上 的 一 种 拟 制 。 但 是 ， 当 我 们 把 “ 自 然法 ” 的 渊 源 追 溯 到 “ 万 民 法 ” ， 我 们 立 刻 看 到 为 什 么 一 个 敌 人的 财 物 会 被 看 作 无 主 财 产 ， 并 因 此 而 能 力 第 一 个 占 有 人 所 取

    得 。 在 古 代 ， 当 胜 利 使 征 服 者 的 军 队 的 组 织 解 体 ， 并 任 令 士

    兵 进 行 不 分 皂 白 的 抢 掠 时 ， 从 事 战 争 的 人 们 会 自 然 地 产 生 这

    种 观 念 。 可 是 ， 在 最 初 ， 允 许 为 虏 获 者 所 取 得 的 ， 只 是 一 些

    动 产 。 我 们 根 据 一 个 可 靠 的 证 据 ， 知 道 在 古 意 大 利 ， 对 于 在

    一 个 被 征 服 国 家 的 土 地 上 取 得 所 有 权 ， 流 行 着 一 种 很 不 同 的

    规 则 ， 因 此 ， 我 们 可 以 猜 想 把 先 占 原 则 适 用 于 土 地 （ 这 始 终

    是 一 椿 困 难 事 ） 开 始 于 “ 万 民 法 ” 成 为 “ 自 然 法 典 ” 的 时 期 ，

    并 且 这 是 黄 金 时 代 法 学 专 家 所 作 的 一 种 概 括 的 结 果 。 他 们 有

    关 这 一 点 的 教 条 被 保 存 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 中 ， 这

    些 教 条 无 条 件 地 主 张 ， 敌 人 的 各 种 财 产 就 交 战 的 对 方 而 论 是

    ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 ， 而 虏 获 者 使 敌 产 成 为 自 己 所 有 的 “ 先 占 ” 则 是 “ 自

    然 法 ” 的 一 种 制 度 。 国 际 法 律 学 从 这 些 立 论 中 得 出 的 规 则 ， 有

    时 被 人 诋 毁 为 一 种 不 必 要 的 对 于 战 斗 者 的 残 酷 和 贪 婪 的 宽

    纵 ， 但 我 认 为 提 出 这 种 责 难 的 人 ， 只 是 那 些 不 熟 悉 战 争 历 史

    的 人 ， 因 此 也 就 是 那 些 不 了 解 要 强 使 人 们 服 从 任 何 一 种 法 则

    是 怎 样 一 种 伟 大 功 绩 的 人 。 当 罗 马 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 被 现 代 的

    “ 战 利 品 ” 法 所 采 用 时 ， 带 来 了 一 些 附 属 的 法 规 ， 使 其 执 行 得

    更 加 精 确 。 如 果 把 在 格 罗 修 斯 论 文 成 为 权 威 著 作 后 发 生 的 战

    事 来 和 较 早 时 期 的 战 争 相 比 较 ， 可 以 看 到 ， 一 待 罗 马 的 格 言

    被 接 受 后 ， “ 战 争 ” 立 刻 具 有 一 种 比 较 可 以 容 忍 的 性 质 。 如 果

    把 罗 马 “ 先 占 ” 法 律 非 难 为 对 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 任 何 部 分 发

    生 着 有 害 的 影 响 ， 则 我 们 可 以 有 相 当 理 由 认 为 曾 受 到 有 害 影

    响 的 是 国 际 法 的 另 外 一 章 。 “ 公 法 学 家 ” 把 罗 马 人 曾 引 用 于 宝石 的 发 现 的 原 则 同 样 地 引 用 于 新 国 家 的 发 现 ， 这 样 就 生 搬 硬

    套 地 采 用 了 与 期 待 它 担 当 的 任 务 完 全 不 相 称 的 一 条 学 理 。 由

    于 十 五 世 纪 和 十 六 世 纪 伟 大 航 海 家 的 发 现 ， 这 学 理 被 提 高 到

    了 极 端 重 要 的 地 位 ， 但 它 所 引 起 的 争 端 比 它 所 解 决 的 争 端 更

    来 得 多 。 不 久 ， 在 最 需 要 明 确 的 两 个 问 题 上 ， 发 生 了 最 大 的

    不 明 确 ， 即 关 于 发 现 人 为 其 主 权 者 取 得 的 领 土 的 范 围 ， 以 及

    完 成 ·

    主 ·

    权 ·

    者 ·

    占 ·

    有 ·

    假 ·

    定 （ ａ ｄ ｐ ｒ ｅ ｈ ｅ ｎ ｓ ｉ ｏ ） 所 必 需 的 行 为 的 性 质 。 更

    有 进 者 ， 这 个 原 则 对 于 一 件 幸 运 的 结 果 竟 赋 与 了 这 样 巨 大 的

    利 益 ， 它 就 本 能 地 为 欧 洲 有 些 最 冒 险 的 民 族 如 荷 兰 人 、 英 吉

    利 人 以 及 葡 萄 牙 人 所 反 对 。 我 们 英 国 人 虽 不 明 白 否 认 “ 国 际

    法 ” 的 规 定 ， 但 在 实 践 上 从 不 承 认 西 班 牙 人 独 占 墨 西 哥 湾 以

    南 全 部 美 洲 的 要 求 ， 也 没 有 承 认 法 兰 西 国 王 独 霸俄亥俄和密西西比河流 域 的 要 求 。 从 伊 利 萨 伯（ Ｅ ｌ ｉ ｚ ａ ｂ ｅ ｔ ｈ ） 接 位 到 查 理 二 世 接 位 时 为 止 ， 在 美 洲 领 海 内 可 以说 从 来 没 有 过 完 全 的 和 平 ， 而 新 英 格 兰 殖 民 者 侵 犯 法 兰 西 国

    王 的 领 土 一 直 延 续 了 一 世 纪 之 久 。 边 沁 看 到 这 条 法 律 在 运 用

    中 所 遇 到 的 混 乱 情 况 ， 受 到 很 深 刻 的 印 象 ， 竟 然 失 其 常 态 而

    去 赞 美 那 著 名 的 教 皇 亚 历 山 大 六 世 （ Ｐ ｏ ｐ ｅ 　 Ａ ｌ ｅ ｘ ａ ｎ ｄ ｅ ｒ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ Ｓ ｉ ｘ ｔ ｈ ） 的 “ 训 谕 ” ， 在 亚 速 尔 群 岛 （ Ａ ｚ ｏ ｒ ｅ ｓ ） 之 西 一 百 海 哩

    处 划 一 分 界 线 把 世 界 上 未 发 现 的 国 家 分 给 西 班 牙 人 和 葡 萄 牙

    人 ； 边 沁 的 赞 扬 ， 初 看 起 来 ， 好 像 很 是 奇 怪 的 ， 但 教 皇 亚 历

    山 大 的 安 排 ， 究 竟 是 否 在 原 则 上 真 比 “ 公 法 ” 的 规 定 更 为 妄

    谬 ， 还 是 可 疑 的 。 因 为 “ 公 法 ” 把 半 个 大 陆 给 与 一 个 国 王 ， 主

    要 由 于 他 的 臣 仆 们 所 做 的 ， 恰 恰 符 合 罗 马 法 律 学 的 规 定 ， 符

    合 取 得 一 件 可 以 用 手 复 盖 的 贵 重 物 件 时 所 需 要 的 各 种 条 件 。

    从 事 研 究 本 书 主 题 的 人 们 ， 所 以 认 为 “ 先 占 ” 饶 有 兴 味

    者 ， 主 要 由 于 它 对 纯 理 论 法 律 学 所 作 出 的 贡 献 ， 即 它 提 供 了

    一 个 关 于 私 有 财 产 起 源 的 假 说 。 过 去 曾 一 度 普 遍 地 认 为 “ 先

    占 ” 中 包 含 的 手 续 程 序 和 在 最 初 时 属 于 共 有 的 土 地 及 其 果 实

    转 变 成 为 个 人 财 产 的 手 续 程 序 ， 是 同 样 的 。 导 致 这 个 假 定 的

    思 想 过 程 是 不 难 理 解 的 ， 如 果 我 们 掌 握 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 概 念 上

    古 代 的 和 现 代 的 区 别 。 罗 马 法 律 家 认 为 ， “ 先 占 ” 是 取 得 财 产

    的 “ 自 然 方 式 ” 之 一 ， 他 们 毫 不 怀 疑 地 深 信 ， 如 果 人 类 真 能

    生 活 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 制 度 下 ， “ 先 占 ” 必 将 为 他 们 的 实 践 之 一 。

    至 于 他 们 是 否 真 正 自 信 这 样 的 民 族 状 态 确 实 存 在 ， 则 象 我 在

    前 面 已 经 说 过 的 ， 是 他 们 论 文 中 留 而 未 决 的 一 点 ； 但 他 们 有

    一 个 推 测 则 确 是 所 有 时 代 的 人 一 致 认 为 可 信 的 ， 即 财 产 制 度

    并 不 是 自 有 人 类 以 来 就 有 的 制 度 。 现 代 法 律 学 一 无 保 留 地 接

    受 他 们 的 全 部 教 条 ， 而 对 于 这 种 假 定 的 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 所 怀 抱

    的 热 诚 好 奇 ， 甚 且 超 过 了 他 们 。 此 后 ， 由 于 现 代 法 律 学 接 受

    了 这 个 论 点 ， 认 为 土 地 及 其 果 实 在 过 去 一 度 是 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 ， 同 时

    也 由 于 它 对 于 “ 自 然 ” 的 特 殊 见 解 使 得 它 毫 无 犹 豫 地 假 定 人

    类 在 组 织 民 事 社 会 前 很 久 就 确 实 实 行 过 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 的 “ 先 占 ” ， 我

    们 可 以 立 刻 得 到 这 样 一 个 推 理 ： 即 “ 先 占 ” 是 一 个 手 续 程 序 ，

    通 过 了 这 个 手 续 程 序 ， 原 始 世 界 的 “ 无 人 物 件 ” 在 世 界 历 史

    中 即 成 为 个 人 的 私 有 财 产 。 要 列 举 那 些 赞 成 这 个 理 论 的 某 一

    形 式 的 法 学 家 ， 将 是 无 聊 的 ， 并 且 也 没 有 这 样 做 的 必 要 ， 因

    为 始 终 作 为 其 时 代 一 般 意 见 的 忠 实 索 引 的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 ， 曾 在

    他 的 第 二 部 书 的 第 一 章 中 有 如 下 一 段 概 括 。

    他 写 道 ： “ 土 地 及 土 地 里 的 一 切 物 件 是 人 类 直 接 得 自 ‘ 造物 主 ’ 的 赐 赠 的 一 般 财 产 。 财 物 共 有 即 使 在 最 早 时 代 ， 似 乎也 从 来 没 有 适 用 于 物 件 实 体 以 外 的 部 分 ； 也 不 能 扩 大 及 于 物

    件 的 使 用 。 因 为 ， 根 据 自 然 法 律 和 理 性 ， 凡 是 第 一 个 开 始 使

    用 它 的 人 即 在 其 中 取 得 一 种 暂 时 所 有 权 ， 只 要 他 使 用 着 它 ， 这

    种 所 有 权 就 继 续 存 在 ， 但 是 不 能 比 使 用 期 更 长 ； 或 者 ， 更 确

    切 一 些 讲 ， 占 有 的 权 利 只 是 与 占 有 行 为 同 时 继 续 存 在 。 这 样 ，

    土 地 是 共 有 的 ， 没 有 一 部 分 可 以 成 为 任 何 特 定 个 人 的 永 久 财

    产 ； 但 如 有 人 占 有 了 它 的 任 何 一 定 的 地 点 作 为 休 息 、 居 住 以

    及 类 似 目 的 之 用 ， 即 暂 时 取 得 一 种 所 有 权 ， 如 果 有 人 用 武 力

    把 他 赶 走 ， 这 是 不 公 正 的 并 且 是 违 反 自 然 法 的 ， 但 是 一 当 他

    离 开 而 不 复 占 有 它 时 ， 别 的 人 就 可 以 夺 取 它 而 并 无 不 公 正 之

    处 。 ” 他 于 是 再 进 而 辩 称 ： “ 当 人 类 日 益 增 加 ， 就 有 必 要 接 受

    较 永 久 的 所 有 权 的 概 念 ， 不 是 仅 仅 把 眼 前 的 使 用 权 而 是 要 把

    将 被 使 用 的 物 件 的 实 体 拨 归 个 人 所 有 。 ”

    这 一 节 中 有 一 些 模 糊 的 说 法 ， 令 人 怀 疑 布 拉 克 斯 顿 对 于

    他 在 他 的 权 威 著 作 中 所 找 到 的 命 题 即 所 谓 地 面 的 所 有 权 在

    “ 自 然 ” 法 下 是 由 ·

    占 ·

    有 ·

    人 第 一 个 取 得 的 意 义 ， 似 乎 并 不 完 全 了

    解 ； 但 他 有 意 地 或 是 由 于 误 解 而 加 于 这 个 理 论 上 的 限 制 ， 使

    它 变 成 了 它 所 不 时 采 取 的 形 式 。 许 多 比 布 拉 克 斯 顿 更 著 名 的

    作 者 在 用 语 上 是 确 切 的 ， 认 为 在 事 物 开 始 时 ， “ 先 占 ” 最 初 给

    与 一 种 针 对 世 人 来 说 是 排 外 性 的 但 又 只 是 暂 时 享 有 的 权 利 ，

    到 后 来 ， 这 种 权 利 一 方 面 保 持 其 排 外 性 ， 同 时 又 成 为 永 久 的 。

    他 们 这 样 来 说 明 其 理 论 ， 目 的 是 为 了 使 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 中 的 ·

    无

    ·

    主 ·

    物 通 过 “ 先 占 ” 而 成 为 财 产 的 学 理 ， 和 他 们 从 圣 经 史 中 所

    获 得 的 推 理 取 得 一 致 ， 即 族 长 们 在 最 初 对 牧 养 其 牛 羊 的 土 地并 不 是 永 久 占 有 的 。

    直 接 适 用 于 布 拉 克 斯 顿 理 论 的 唯 一 批 评 ， 是 在 研 究 那 个

    造 成 他 的 原 始 社 会 图 景 的 情 况 ， 是 否 要 比 其 他 能 同 样 容 易 地

    想 象 出 来 的 情 况 更 接 近 可 能 一 些 。 用 这 种 方 法 来 研 究 ， 我 们

    可 以 恰 当 地 询 问 ， 是 不 是 ·

    占 ·

    有 （ 布 拉 克 斯 顿 显 然 是 按 照 其 普

    通 英 语 意 义 而 使 用 这 个 名 词 的 ） 土 地 上 一 定 地 点 作 为 休 息 或

    居 住 的 人 就 应 该 准 许 保 留 它 而 不 受 干 扰 。 在 这 样 情 况 下 ， 他

    的 占 有 权 必 须 有 同 样 广 大 的 力 量 ， 才 能 保 留 它 ， 并 且 他 也 很

    可 能 时 常 受 到 新 来 者 的 干 扰 ， 如 果 这 个 新 来 者 看 中 了 这 块 土

    地 并 自 以 为 有 强 力 足 以 把 占 有 人 驱 逐 掉 。 但 事 实 是 ： 所 有 对

    这 些 论 点 的 一 切 强 辩 由 于 这 些 论 点 本 身 的 毫 无 根 据 而 完 全 没

    有 价 值 。 人 类 在 原 始 状 态 中 所 做 的 也 许 并 不 是 一 个 毫 无 办 法

    加 以 研 究 的 主 题 ， 但 对 于 他 们 为 什 么 要 这 样 做 的 动 机 ， 则 可

    能 就 无 法 知 道 了 。 这 些 有 关 世 界 最 古 年 代 人 类 情 况 的 描 写 ， 受

    到 这 两 种 假 定 的 影 响 ， 首 先 是 假 定 人 类 并 不 具 有 他 们 现 在 被

    围 绕 着 的 大 部 分 的 情 况 ， 其 次 是 假 定 在 这 样 想 象 的 条 件 下 他

    们 会 保 存 着 刺 激 他 们 现 在 活 动 的 同 样 情 绪 和 偏 见 ， — — 虽 然

    在 事 实 上 ， 这 些 情 绪 很 可 能 正 是 由 这 个 假 定 认 为 他 们 应 该 被

    剥 夺 的 情 况 所 创 设 和 产 生 的 。

    萨 维 尼 有 一 个 格 言 ， 有 时 被 认 为 是 在 赞 助 着 和 布 拉 克 斯

    顿 所 概 括 的 一 些 理 论 颇 相 近 似 的 一 种 有 关 财 产 起 源 的 见 解 。

    这 个 伟 大 的 日 耳 曼 法 律 家 宣 称 ： 一 切 “ 所 有 权 ” 都 是 因 “ 时

    效 ” （ Ｐ ｒ ｅ ｓ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｐ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 而 成 熟 的 “ 他 主 占 有 ” （ Ａ ｄ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｓ ｅ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｓ Aｓ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 。 萨 维 尼 作 出 这 样 说 明 ， 只 是 就 罗 马 法 而 言 ， 在 全 部 理

    解 其 含 义 以 前 ， 必 须 对 用 语 的 解 释 和 定 义 耗 费 很 多 劳 力 。 可

    是 ， 他 的 意 思 可 以 充 分 正 确 地 表 现 出 来 ， 如 果 我 们 认 为 他 所

    断 言 的 是 ： 不 论 我 们 对 罗 马 人 所 接 受 的 有 关 所 有 权 的 观 念 钻

    研 得 如 何 深 入 ， 不 论 我 们 在 追 溯 这 些 观 念 时 如 何 密 切 接 近 法

    律 的 初 生 时 代 ， 我 们 所 能 得 到 的 有 关 所 有 权 的 概 念 不 外 乎 包

    括 这 三 个 要 素 — — “ 占 有 ” ， “ 他 主 占 有 ” ， 即 不 是 一 种 任 意 的

    或 从 属 的 而 是 一 种 针 对 世 人 来 说 的 绝 对 占 有 ， 以 及 “ 时 效 ” ，

    也 就 是 “ 他 主 占 有 ” 不 间 断 地 延 续 着 的 一 定 期 间 。 非 常 可 能 ，

    这 个 格 言 可 以 用 其 著 者 所 允 许 的 更 大 的 概 括 性 来 表 达 ， 但 如

    果 我 们 所 考 察 的 任 何 法 律 制 度 的 发 生 远 在 这 些 联 合 观 念 构 成

    所 有 权 观 念 的 时 期 以 前 ， 则 就 很 难 预 期 一 个 合 理 可 靠 的 结 论 。

    同 时 萨 维 尼 的 准 则 不 但 确 立 了 关 于 财 产 起 源 的 通 俗 理 论 ， 它

    的 特 殊 价 值 还 在 于 使 我 们 注 意 到 它 的 弱 点 。 在 布 拉 克 斯 顿 和

    他 的 追 随 者 的 见 解 中 ， 神 秘 地 影 响 我 们 人 类 祖 先 的 心 理 的 是

    取 得 专 门 享 有 的 方 式 。 但 神 秘 之 处 ， 并 不 在 此 。 所 有 权 以 他

    主 占 有 开 始 ， 并 不 足 以 奇 怪 。 第 一 个 所 有 人 应 该 是 武 装 的 强

    有 力 的 人 ， 才 能 保 证 其 物 件 的 安 全 ， 这 也 并 非 出 于 意 外 。 但

    是 为 什 么 一 定 要 经 过 一 定 的 时 间 ， 才 能 产 生 一 种 尊 重 他 占 有

    的 情 绪 — — 这 正 就 是 为 什 么 人 类 对 于 一 切 在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    上 长 时 期 存

    在 的 东 西 普 遍 加 以 尊 敬 的 根 源 — — ， 这 才 真 正 有 深 入 研 究 的

    必 要 但 却 远 不 属 于 本 文 范 围 之 内 的 问 题 。

    在 指 出 我 们 可 能 多 少 搜 集 一 些 有 关 所 有 权 早 期 历 史 知 识

    的 处 所 之 前 ， 我 敢 提 出 我 的 意 见 。 我 认 为 一 般 对 于 “ 先 占 ” 在

    文 明 第 一 阶 段 中 起 的 作 用 所 产 生 的 印 象 ， 恰 正 和 真 相 直 接 相

    反 。 “ 先 占 ” 是 实 物 占 有 的 有 意 承 担 ； 至 于 这 样 一 种 行 为 赋 予

    人 们 对 “ 无 主 物 ” 享 有 权 利 的 看 法 ， 不 但 不 是 很 早 期 社 会 的特 征 ， 而 且 很 可 能 ， 这 是 一 种 进 步 法 律 学 和 一 种 在 安 定 的 情

    况 下 法 律 产 生 的 结 果 。 只 有 在 财 产 权 利 的 不 可 侵 犯 性 在 实 际

    上 长 期 得 到 了 认 可 时 ， 以 及 绝 大 多 数 的 享 有 物 件 已 属 于 私 人

    所 有 时 ， 单 纯 的 占 有 可 以 准 许 第 一 个 占 有 人 就 以 前 没 有 被 主

    张 所 有 权 的 物 品 取 得 完 全 所 有 权 。 产 生 这 个 学 理 的 情 绪 ， 和

    作 为 文 明 开 始 时 期 的 特 征 的 所 有 权 的 少 见 和 不 固 定 ， 是 绝 对

    不 能 调 和 的 。 它 的 真 正 的 基 础 ， 并 不 在 于 对 这 “ 财 产 权 ” 制

    度 出 于 天 性 的 偏 爱 ， 而 是 在 于 这 个 制 度 长 期 继 续 存 在 而 发 生

    的 一 种 推 定 ， 即 ·

    每 ·

    一 ·

    种 ·

    物 ·

    件 ·

    都 ·

    应 ·

    该 ·

    有 ·

    一 ·

    个 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    人 。 当 一 个

    “ 无 主 物 ” 、 也 就 是 当 一 个 还 没 有 或 者 ·

    从 ·

    来 没 有 成 为 完 全 所 有

    权 的 物 件 被 占 有 时 ， 占 有 人 所 以 被 允 许 成 为 所 有 人 ， 是 出 于

    这 样 一 种 感 觉 ， 即 所 有 的 贵 重 物 件 天 然 地 是 一 种 绝 对 占 有 的

    主 体 ， 而 在 上 述 的 情 况 中 ， 除 了 “ 占 有 人 ” 以 外 还 没 有 一 个

    人 被 授 与 过 财 产 权 。 简 言 之 ， “ 占 有 人 ” 成 为 所 有 人 ， 因 为 所

    有 的 物 件 都 被 假 定 为 应 该 是 属 于 某 个 人 的 财 产 ， 同 时 也 因 为

    没 有 一 个 人 比 他 对 这 特 定 物 件 有 更 好 的 所 有 权 。

    即 使 对 于 我 们 所 讨 论 的 、 在 其 自 然 状 态 中 的 人 类 的 描 写

    没 有 其 他 反 对 意 见 ， 但 在 有 一 点 上 ， 这 种 描 述 是 和 我 们 所 掌

    握 的 真 凭 实 据 严 重 地 不 一 致 的 。 可 以 看 到 ， 这 些 理 论 所 假 定

    的 各 种 行 为 和 动 机 是 “ 个 人 ” 的 行 为 和 动 机 。 为 自 己 签 署

    “ 社 会 契 约 ” 的 ， 是 每 一 个 “ 个 人 ” 。 这 好 象 是 一 个 移 动 的 沙

    洲 ， 而 作 为 沙 洲 中 的 沙 粒 的 是 “ 个 人 ” ， 按 照 霍 布 斯 的 理 论 ，

    这 些 沙 粒 由 于 强 力 的 锻 炼 凝 固 为 社 会 岩 石 。 在 布 拉 克 斯 顿 所

    描 绘 的 图 画 中 ， “ 占 有 了 它 的 任 何 一 定 的 地 点 作 为 休 息 、 居 住

    以 及 类 似 目 的 之 用 ” 的 ， 也 是 一 个 “ 个 人 ” 。 它 的 缺 点 是 ： 它必 然 要 动 摇 从 罗 马 “ 自 然 法 ” 所 传 下 来 的 一 切 理 论 。 罗 马

    “ 自 然 法 ” 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 主 要 不 同 之 处 ， 是 在 于 它 对 “ 个 人 ”

    的 重 视 ， 它 对 人 类 文 明 所 作 最 大 的 贡 献 ， 就 在 于 它 把 个 人 从

    古 代 社 会 的 权 威 中 解 放 出 来 。 但 是 有 必 要 再 一 次 加 以 重 复 的

    就 是 “ 古 代 法 律 ” 几 乎 全 然 不 知 “ 个 人 ” 。 它 所 关 心 的 不 是

    “ 个 人 ” 而 是 “ 家 族 ” ， 不 是 单 独 的 人 而 是 集 团 。 即 使 到 了

    “ 国 家 ” 的 法 律 成 功 地 透 过 了 它 原 来 无 法 穿 过 的 亲 族 的 小 圈 子

    时 ， 它 对 于 “ 个 人 ” 的 看 法 还 是 和 法 律 学 成 熟 阶 段 的 看 法 显

    著 地 不 同 的 。 每 一 个 公 民 的 生 命 并 不 认 为 以 出 生 到 死 亡 为 限 ；

    个 人 生 命 只 是 其 祖 先 生 存 的 一 种 延 续 ， 并 在 其 后 裔 的 生 存 中

    又 延 续 下 去 。

    罗 马 人 就 “ 人 法 ” 和 “ 物 法 ” 之 间 的 区 分 ， 虽 然 是 极 端

    方 便 的 ， 但 却 是 完 全 人 为 的 ， 这 个 区 分 显 然 促 使 我 们 在 研 究

    当 前 的 主 题 时 ， 离 开 了 真 正 的 方 向 。 当 讨 论 到 “ 物 法 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　

    Ｒ ｅ ｒ ｕ ｍ ） 时 ， 就 把 讨 论 “ 人 法 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｓ ｏ ｎ ａ ｒ ｕ ｍ ） 中 所 得 的

    教 训 忘 记 了 ， 当 考 虑 到 “ 财 产 ” 、 “ 契 约 ” 以 及 “ 侵 权 行 为 ”

    （ Ｄ ｅ ｌ ｉ ｃ ｔ ） 等 等 时 ， 好 像 从 关 于 “ 人 ” 的 原 始 状 态 所 确 定 的 事

    实 中 ， 不 能 获 得 有 关 它 们 原 始 性 质 的 暗 示 。 如 果 一 个 纯 粹 古

    法 律 制 度 可 以 放 在 我 们 的 面 前 ， 并 适 用 罗 马 的 分 类 来 作 为 试

    验 ， 这 种 方 法 的 无 用 是 显 而 易 见 的 。 不 久 就 可 以 看 到 ， 把

    “ 人 法 ” 从 “ 物 法 ” 中 分 离 出 来 ， 在 法 律 的 初 生 时 代 是 毫 无 意

    义 的 ， 因 为 属 于 这 两 个 部 门 的 规 定 是 难 解 地 错 杂 在 一 起 的 ， 而

    后 期 法 律 家 的 区 分 只 可 能 适 用 于 后 期 法 律 学 。 本 文 开 始 时 已

    经 说 过 ， 可 以 推 断 ， 如 果 把 我 们 的 注 意 力 限 于 个 人 的 所 有 权 ，

    则 就 先 天 地 极 少 可 能 对 早 期 的 财 产 史 获 得 任 何 线 索 。 真 正 古代 的 制 度 很 可 能 是 共 同 所 有 权 而 不 是 各 别 的 所 有 权 ， 我 们 能

    得 到 指 示 的 财 产 形 式 ， 则 是 些 和 家 族 权 利 及 亲 族 团 体 权 利 有

    联 系 的 形 式 。 在 这 里 ， 罗 马 法 律 学 不 能 对 我 们 有 所 启 发 ， 因

    为 正 是 被 自 然 法 理 论 所 改 变 后 的 罗 马 法 律 学 把 下 述 的 印 象 遗

    留 给 我 们 现 代 人 ， 即 个 人 所 有 权 是 正 常 状 态 的 所 有 权 ， 而 人

    的 集 团 所 共 有 的 所 有 权 只 是 通 则 的 一 个 例 外 。 可 是 ， 凡 是 要

    探 究 原 始 社 会 任 何 已 经 消 灭 的 制 度 的 人 ， 有 一 个 共 产 体 始 终

    应 该 仔 细 地 加 以 研 究 。 对 长 期 居 留 在 印 度 的 一 支 印 度 － 欧 罗

    巴 系 ， 这 类 原 始 制 度 即 使 曾 经 发 生 过 重 大 变 化 ， 但 我 们 发 现

    它 绝 少 完 全 抛 弃 它 原 来 在 其 中 长 大 的 外 面 轮 廓 。 在 印 度 人 中

    间 ， 我 们 确 实 发 现 有 一 种 所 有 权 形 式 应 立 刻 引 起 我 们 的 注 意 ，

    因 为 它 完 全 符 合 我 们 研 究 “ 人 法 ” 中 有 关 财 产 原 始 状 态 时 要

    使 我 们 接 受 的 各 种 观 念 。 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 一 方 面 是 一 个

    有 组 织 的 宗 法 社 会 ， 另 一 方 面 又 是 共 同 所 有 人 的 一 个 集 合 。 组

    成 它 的 人 们 相 互 之 间 的 个 人 关 系 是 和 他 们 的 财 产 所 有 权 不 能

    辨 别 地 混 淆 在 一 起 的 ， 英 国 官 吏 曾 企 图 要 把 两 者 加 以 分 开 ， 这

    种 企 图 被 认 为 是 英 印 统 治 中 最 惊 人 的 失 策 。 印 度 的 “ 村 落 共

    产 体 ” 是 被 公 认 为 非 常 古 老 的 。 不 论 从 哪 一 个 方 面 来 深 入 研

    究 印 度 历 史 ， 印 度 的 一 般 历 史 或 者 地 方 史 ， 在 其 历 史 发 展 的

    最 早 时 期 常 常 可 以 发 现 有 这 种 “ 共 产 体 ” 的 存 在 。 许 多 有 才

    智 的 和 善 于 观 察 的 著 者 ， 其 中 大 部 分 的 人 对 于 这 种 “ 共 产

    体 ” 的 性 质 和 来 源 ， 都 没 有 任 何 理 论 的 支 持 ， 但 他 们 却 一 致

    同 意 认 为 它 是 一 种 最 不 容 易 摧 毁 的 社 会 制 度 ， 它 从 来 不 愿 意

    把 任 何 一 个 惯 例 加 以 革 新 。 征 服 和 革 命 不 断 地 横 扫 而 过 ， 但

    是 并 没 有 扰 乱 它 或 除 掉 它 ， 在 印 度 ， 凡 是 最 好 的 政 府 制 度 似乎 始 终 是 把 它 承 认 为 行 政 基 础 的 那 些 政 府 制 度 。

    成 熟 的 罗 马 法 律 以 及 紧 接 着 它 的 足 迹 的 现 代 法 律 学 把 共

    有 制 度 看 作 财 产 权 中 一 种 例 外 的 、 暂 时 的 状 态 。 在 西 欧 普 遍

    流 行 着 的 格 言 ： ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    人 ·

    能 ·

    违 ·

    背 ·

    其 ·

    意 ·

    志 ·

    而 ·

    被 ·

    保 ·

    留 ·

    在 ·

    共 ·

    同 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    制

    ·

    中 （ Ｎ ｅ ｍ ｏ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｕ ｎ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｅ 　 ｐ ｏ ｔ ｅ ｓ ｔ 　 ｉ ｎ ｖ ｉ ｔ ｕ ｓ 　 ｄ ｅ ｔ ｉ ｎ ｅ ｒ ｉ ） ， 就

    明 显 地 表 示 出 这 种 见 解 。 但 是 在 印 度 ， 他 们 的 想 法 恰 恰 相 反 ，

    个 别 的 所 有 制 始 终 是 朝 着 共 同 所 有 制 的 方 向 在 发 展 。 其 过 程

    已 经 在 前 面 谈 到 了 。 儿 子 一 出 世 就 已 在 父 的 财 产 中 立 即 取 得

    一 种 既 得 利 益 ； 当 到 达 成 年 时 ， 在 某 种 偶 然 情 况 下 ， 法 律 的

    条 文 甚 至 许 可 他 要 求 分 割 家 族 财 产 。 可 是 ， 在 事 实 上 ， 甚 至

    在 父 死 亡 时 ， 也 绝 少 发 生 分 家 的 ， 财 产 继 续 被 保 留 不 分 割 有

    几 代 之 久 ， 虽 然 每 一 代 的 每 一 个 成 员 对 于 财 产 中 没 有 经 过 分

    割 的 一 个 份 额 都 各 有 一 种 合 法 权 利 。 这 样 共 有 的 领 地 有 时 由

    一 个 选 任 的 管 理 人 加 以 管 理 ， 但 在 一 般 情 况 下 ， 在 某 些 省 份

    中 ， 始 终 是 由 年 事 较 高 的 宗 亲 、 也 就 是 由 血 族 中 最 长 一 支 系

    的 最 年 长 的 代 表 来 管 理 。 这 样 一 种 共 同 财 产 所 有 人 的 集 合 ， 一

    个 持 有 一 个 共 有 领 地 的 亲 族 的 集 团 ， 是 最 简 单 形 式 的 印 度

    “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 。 但 是 这 个 “ 共 产 体 ” 不 仅 仅 是 一 个 因 亲 族 的

    同 胞 之 谊 而 结 合 起 来 的 ， 也 不 仅 仅 是 一 种 合 伙 的 联 合 。 它 是

    一 个 有 组 织 的 社 会 ， 它 不 但 管 理 着 共 有 基 金 ， 并 且 通 过 一 整

    套 的 官 吏 来 管 理 着 内 政 、 警 务 、 司 法 以 及 赋 和 公 共 义 务 的 分

    配 。

    我 在 上 面 叙 述 的 一 个 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 形 成 过 程 ， 可 以

    视 为 典 型 的 。 但 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 而 假 定 ， 在 印 度 每 一 个 “ 村

    落 共 产 体 ” 都 是 在 这 样 一 种 简 单 方 式 里 面 结 合 起 来 的 。 虽 然据 我 所 知 ， 在 印 度 北 部 ， 在 保 存 下 来 的 记 录 中 ， 几 乎 一 成 不

    变 地 表 明 “ 共 产 体 ” 是 由 一 种 简 单 的 血 亲 集 合 而 成 的 ， 但 记

    录 中 也 提 供 我 们 这 种 情 况 ， 即 血 亲 外 的 人 也 始 终 随 时 可 以 参

    加 进 来 ， 并 且 在 某 种 条 件 下 ， 只 要 是 一 个 份 额 财 产 的 买 受 人 ，

    一 般 地 就 可 以 被 准 许 加 入 族 内 。 在 印 度 半 岛 的 南 部 ， 常 常 有

    一 些 “ 共 产 体 ” 似 乎 不 是 由 一 个 而 是 由 二 个 或 更 多 的 家 族 发

    展 而 成 的 ； 也 有 些 “ 共 产 体 ” 的 构 成 部 分 经 公 认 是 完 全 出 于

    人 为 的 ； 真 的 ， 有 时 在 同 一 社 会 中 聚 合 着 属 于 不 同 族 籍 的 人

    们 ， 这 种 情 况 对 于 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 设 是 一 个 致 命 的 打 击 。 但

    是 在 所 有 这 些 同 族 中 ， 或 者 保 留 着 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 传 统 ， 或

    者 有 着 这 样 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 定 。 蒙 特 斯 图 亚 特 · 爱 芬 斯 吞

    （ Ｍ ｏ ｕ ｎ ｔ ｓ ｔ ｕ ａ ｒ ｔ 　 Ｅ ｌ ｐ ｈ ｉ ｎ － ｓ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｅ ） 曾 经 特 别 详 细 描 述 过 “ 南 方村 落 共 产 体 ” （ 在 其 “ 印 度 史 ” 第 ７ １ 页 中 ） 。 他 这 样 说 ： “ 一

    般 人 的 看 法 是 ： 村 落 的 土 地 所 有 人 都 是 开 拓 这 个 村 落 的 一 个

    或 几 个 个 人 的 后 裔 ； 向 原 有 族 员 购 买 或 通 过 其 他 方 法 从 原 有

    家 族 成 员 取 得 权 利 的 人 ， 则 是 仅 有 的 例 外 。 这 一 个 推 定 由 下

    述 事 实 加 以 证 实 ， 即 直 到 现 在 ， 在 小 村 落 中 ， 往 往 只 有 一 个

    唯 一 的 家 族 的 土 地 所 有 人 ， 大 村 落 中 的 土 地 所 有 人 往 往 也 只

    有 少 数 几 个 家 族 ； 但 每 一 个 家 族 都 有 许 多 成 员 ， 以 致 全 部 农

    业 劳 动 普 通 都 是 由 土 地 所 有 人 自 己 担 任 的 ， 不 需 要 佃 农 或 工

    人 的 帮 助 。 土 地 所 有 人 的 权 利 是 他 们 集 体 所 有 的 ， 虽 然 他 们

    几 乎 始 终 可 以 取 得 其 中 或 多 或 少 一 个 完 整 的 部 分 ， 但 他 们 从

    来 没 有 发 生 过 一 次 全 部 的 分 割 。 例 如 ， 一 个 土 地 所 有 人 可 以

    出 卖 或 抵 押 其 权 利 ； 但 他 必 须 首 先 取 得 ‘ 村 落 ’ 的 同 意 ， 而

    买 受 人 就 恰 恰 抵 充 他 的 位 置 并 负 担 他 的 所 有 义 务 。 如 果 一 家没 有 后 裔 ， 它 的 份 额 便 应 归 入 共 有 财 产 中 。 ”

    本 书 第 五 章 中 提 到 的 一 些 意 见 ， 我 相 信 可 以 帮 助 读 者 理

    解 爱 芬 斯 吞 所 谈 的 重 要 性 。 没 有 一 种 原 始 社 会 的 制 度 可 能 会

    保 存 到 今 天 ， 除 非 是 通 过 某 种 生 动 的 法 律 拟 制 使 它 取 得 了 原

    来 性 质 所 没 有 的 一 种 弹 性 。 因 此 ， “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 不 一 定 是 一

    种 血 亲 的 集 合 ， 它 或 者 是 这 类 的 一 种 集 合 ， 或 者 是 根 据 一 个

    亲 属 联 合 的 模 型 而 组 成 的 一 个 共 同 财 产 所 有 人 的 集 体 。 和 它

    可 以 相 比 拟 的 类 型 显 然 不 是 罗 马 的 “ 家 族 ” ， 而 是 罗 马 的 “ 氏

    族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ” 。 “ 氏 族 ” 也 是 根 据 家 族 的 模 型 而 组 成 的 一

    个 集 团 ； 这 是 通 过 多 种 多 样 的 拟 制 而 扩 大 的 家 族 ， 这 些 拟 制

    的 确 切 性 质 已 经 湮 没 不 可 考 了 。 在 历 史 时 期 内 ， 其 主 要 的 特

    点 正 就 是 爱 芬 斯 吞 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 中 所 谈 到 的 两 点 。 过 去

    始 终 有 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 定 ， 这 个 假 定 有 时 和 事 实 显 然 是 有

    出 入 的 ； 我 们 再 重 复 一 次 历 史 学 家 的 话 ， “ 如 果 一 家 没 有 后 裔 ，

    它 的 份 额 便 应 归 入 共 有 财 产 中 ” 。 在 旧 罗 马 法 中 ， 无 人 主 张 的

    继 承 权 归 属 于 “ 同 族 人 ” 。 凡 是 研 究 它 们 历 史 的 人 们 都 这 样 怀

    疑 ， 认 为 “ 共 产 体 ” 和 “ 氏 族 ” 一 样 ， 一 般 都 由 于 准 许 族 外

    人 的 加 入 而 混 杂 ， 但 “ 共 产 体 ” 吸 收 族 外 人 的 确 实 方 式 ， 现

    在 已 无 法 确 定 。 在 现 在 ， 据 爱 芬 斯 吞 告 诉 我 们 ， “ 共 产 体 ” 在

    取 得 族 人 同 意 后 用 接 纳 买 受 人 的 方 法 而 补 充 成 员 。 然 而 ， 这

    个 被 收 养 成 员 的 取 得 是 属 于 一 种 概 括 继 承 的 性 质 ； 随 着 他 所

    买 受 的 份 额 ， 他 同 时 继 承 了 卖 主 对 集 合 体 所 负 的 全 部 责 任 。 他

    是 一 个 “ 家 产 买 主 ” ， 他 开 始 抵 充 某 人 的 地 位 ， 也 就 继 承 了 他

    的 法 律 身 分 。 要 接 纳 他 必 须 取 得 全 族 人 的 同 意 ， 这 使 我 们 回

    忆 到 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 那 些 自 命 为 亲 属 的 较 多 族 人 所 组 成 的 “ 议会 ” ， 也 就 是 古 代 罗 马 共 和 政 体 所 竭 力 坚 持 的 同 意 ， 他 们 坚 执

    地 认 为 这 种 同 意 是 使 一 个 “ 收 养 ” 合 法 化 和 使 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 获

    特 确 认 所 必 要 的 条 件 。

    在 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 每 一 个 方 面 几 乎 都 可 以 发 现 一

    种 极 端 古 老 的 象 征 。 我 们 有 极 多 的 充 足 的 理 由 来 猜 疑 ： 法 律

    初 生 时 代 的 特 点 是 ， 由 于 人 格 权 和 财 产 权 的 混 杂 不 清 以 及 公

    法 义 务 和 私 法 义 务 的 混 淆 在 一 起 而 流 行 着 共 同 所 有 制 ， 因 此 ，

    即 使 在 世 界 的 任 何 其 他 部 分 都 不 能 发 现 类 似 地 混 合 的 社 会 ，

    我 们 应 有 正 当 理 由 从 我 们 对 于 这 些 财 产 所 有 同 族 团 体 的 考 察

    中 推 论 出 许 多 重 要 的 结 论 来 。 在 欧 洲 有 一 些 部 分 其 财 产 权 很

    少 受 到 封 建 变 化 的 影 响 ， 在 许 多 其 他 重 要 方 面 它 和 东 方 世 界

    的 关 系 也 象 和 西 方 世 界 一 样 密 切 ， 在 这 些 部 分 中 ， 恰 巧 有 一

    套 类 似 的 现 象 在 最 近 引 起 了 许 多 热 切 的 兴 趣 。 哈 克 索 孙 （ Ｍ ．

    ｄ ｅ 　 Ｈ ａ ｘ ｔ ｈ ａ ｕ ｓ ｅ ｎ ） 、 顿 戈 波 斯 基 （ Ｍ ． Ｔ ｅ ｎ ｇ ｏ ｂ ｏ ｒ ｓ ｋ ｉ ） 以 及 其 他人 的 科 学 研 究 告 诉 我 们 ， 俄 罗 斯 的 村 落 并 不 是 人 们 的 偶 然 集合 ， 也 不 是 根 据 契 约 而 组 成 的 联 合 体 ； 它 们 是 和 印 度 那 些 村

    落 一 样 天 然 组 织 起 来 的 共 产 体 。 诚 然 ， 这 些 村 落 在 理 论 上 始

    终 是 某 些 贵 族 所 有 人 的 世 袭 财 产 ， 农 民 从 历 史 时 期 起 就 已 变

    成 领 主 的 附 属 于 土 地 的 农 奴 ， 在 很 多 情 况 下 ， 并 成 为 领 主 个

    人 的 农 奴 。 但 这 高 贵 的 所 有 制 的 压 力 从 来 没 有 把 古 代 的 村 落

    组 织 加 以 破 坏 ， 而 且 很 可 能 ， 这 个 假 定 为 把 农 奴 制 介 绍 来 的

    俄 罗 斯 沙 皇 ， 他 在 制 定 法 律 时 的 真 正 意 图 是 在 防 止 农 民 舍 弃

    那 种 合 作 ， 因 为 没 有 这 种 合 作 ， 旧 的 社 会 秩 序 是 不 可 能 长 期

    维 持 的 。 在 俄 罗 斯 “ 村 落 ” 中 ， 村 民 之 间 是 假 定 有 一 种 宗 亲

    的 关 系 的 ， 人 格 权 和 所 有 权 是 混 杂 在 一 起 的 ， 在 内 政 方 面 亦有 多 种 多 样 的 自 发 规 定 ， 这 一 切 就 使 它 几 乎 完 全 和 印 度 “ 共

    产 体 ” 重 复 ； 但 是 有 一 个 重 要 的 不 同 之 点 ， 是 我 们 极 感 兴 趣

    的 。 一 个 印 度 村 落 的 共 同 所 有 人 ， 虽 然 其 财 产 是 混 在 一 起 的 ，

    但 他 们 有 其 各 别 的 权 利 ， 而 且 这 种 权 利 的 分 割 是 完 全 和 无 限

    制 地 继 续 着 的 。 在 一 个 俄 罗 斯 村 落 中 ， 权 利 的 分 割 在 理 论 上

    也 是 完 全 的 ， 但 只 是 暂 时 的 。 在 一 定 的 、 但 并 不 是 在 所 有 情

    况 中 都 是 同 样 的 时 期 终 了 后 ， 各 别 的 所 有 权 即 告 消 灭 ， 村 落

    的 土 地 就 集 中 在 一 起 ， 然 后 在 组 成 共 产 体 的 家 族 中 按 照 人 数

    重 行 分 配 。 这 种 再 分 配 实 行 后 ， 家 族 的 和 个 人 的 权 利 又 被 分

    成 为 各 个 支 系 ， 作 为 再 一 次 分 配 时 期 到 来 之 前 继 续 遵 循 的 根

    据 。 还 有 一 种 所 有 权 更 奇 特 的 变 形 发 生 在 某 些 国 家 中 ， 这 些

    国 家 长 期 成 为 土 耳 其 帝 国 和 奥 地 利 皇 室 领 土 之 间 的 一 块 争 执

    的 土 地 。 在 塞 尔 维 亚 （ Ｓ ｅ ｒ ｖ ｉ ａ ） 、 在 克 罗 西 亚 （ Ｃ ｒ ｏ ａ ｔ ｉ ａ ） 以 及

    在 奥 地 利 的 斯 拉 窝 尼 亚 ， 各 种 村 落 也 都 是 由 既 是 共 同 所 有 人

    又 是 亲 属 的 人 们 集 合 而 成 的 ； 但 在 那 里 ， 共 产 体 的 内 部 安 排

    和 以 上 两 个 例 子 中 所 提 到 的 有 所 不 同 。 在 这 一 例 子 中 ， 共 有

    财 产 的 内 容 不 但 在 事 实 上 不 分 割 ， 并 且 在 理 论 上 也 认 为 是 不

    能 分 割 的 ， 全 部 土 地 由 所 有 村 民 的 联 合 劳 动 耕 种 着 ， 农 产 物

    每 年 在 各 家 村 民 中 分 配 一 次 ， 有 时 按 照 各 家 假 定 的 需 要 ， 有

    时 按 照 规 定 而 以 一 定 份 额 的 用 益 权 给 与 各 别 的 人 。 东 欧 的 法

    学 家 都 认 为 所 有 这 些 实 践 都 可 追 溯 到 一 个 据 说 在 最 古 的 斯 拉

    夫 法 律 中 可 以 找 到 的 原 则 ， 就 是 家 族 财 产 不 能 永 久 分 割 的 原

    则 。

    在 以 上 研 究 中 发 现 的 这 些 现 象 所 以 会 引 起 人 们 的 极 大 兴

    趣 ， 主 要 是 它 使 我 们 得 以 了 解 原 来 持 有 财 产 的 团 体 ·

    内 ·

    部 的 各别 所 有 权 的 发 展 情 况 。 我 们 有 强 有 力 的 理 由 ， 认 定 在 某 一 个

    时 期 中 ， 财 产 不 属 于 个 人 、 甚 至 也 不 属 于 各 别 的 家 族 ， 而 是

    属 于 按 照 宗 法 模 型 组 成 的 较 大 的 社 会 所 有 ； 从 古 代 所 有 权 转

    变 到 现 代 所 有 权 的 方 式 ， 虽 然 还 是 十 分 模 糊 的 ， 但 是 如 果 有

    几 种 显 著 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 形 式 没 有 被 发 现 并 加 以 研 究 的 话 ，

    则 可 能 还 要 更 加 模 糊 。 在 印 度 － 欧 罗 巴 血 统 的 民 族 中 间 ， 过

    去 可 以 看 到 ， 或 者 至 今 还 可 以 看 到 一 些 宗 法 团 体 ， 其 中 各 式

    各 样 的 内 部 安 排 是 有 加 以 注 意 的 价 值 的 。 据 说 ， 未 开 化 的 苏

    格 兰 高 原 部 族 领 袖 经 常 每 隔 一 个 短 时 期 、 有 时 甚 至 是 逐 日 把

    食 物 分 配 给 其 管 辖 下 各 家 庭 的 家 长 。 奥 地 利 和 土 耳 其 省 的 斯

    拉 夫 村 人 也 由 他 们 团 体 的 长 辈 作 定 期 分 配 ， 但 在 这 里 ， 是 把

    全 年 全 部 农 产 物 一 次 分 配 的 。 可 是 在 俄 罗 斯 村 落 中 ， 财 产 的

    实 体 已 不 再 被 视 为 不 可 分 割 的 ， 各 别 的 对 于 财 产 的 要 求 准 许

    自 由 提 出 ， 但 在 这 里 ， 分 割 的 进 程 在 继 续 一 定 的 时 期 以 后 即

    断 然 停 止 。 在 印 度 ， 不 但 没 有 共 有 财 产 的 不 可 分 性 ， 并 且 共

    有 财 产 的 各 个 部 分 所 具 有 的 各 别 的 财 产 所 有 权 得 无 限 制 地 延

    长 ， 并 分 为 任 何 数 量 的 派 生 所 有 权 ， 但 是 公 有 财 产 的 “ 事 实

    上 ” 的 分 割 则 为 根 深 蒂 固 的 习 惯 所 阻 止 ， 也 为 反 对 在 未 经 族

    人 同 意 时 接 纳 族 外 人 的 规 定 所 阻 止 。 当 然 ， 我 们 并 不 想 坚 持

    这 些 不 同 形 式 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 可 以 代 表 到 处 都 以 同 样 方 式

    完 成 的 一 种 变 化 过 程 中 的 各 个 阶 段 。 虽 然 证 据 并 不 允 许 我 们

    前 进 过 远 ， 但 是 我 们 如 果 认 为 ， 就 我 们 所 看 到 的 那 种 形 式 的

    私 有 财 产 权 ， 主 要 是 由 一 个 共 产 体 的 混 合 权 利 中 逐 步 分 离 出

    来 的 各 别 的 个 人 权 利 所 组 成 的 ， 这 种 猜 度 ， 并 不 能 说 是 完 全

    毫 无 根 据 的 臆 测 。 我 们 在 研 究 “ 人 法 ” 时 ， 似 乎 可 以 看 到“ 家 族 ” 扩 张 而 成 为 亲 属 的 “ 宗 亲 ” 集 团 ， 然 后 ， “ 宗 亲 ” 团

    体 分 解 而 成 为 各 个 的 家 ； 最 后 ， 家 又 为 个 人 所 代 替 ； 现 在 可

    以 提 出 这 样 的 意 见 ， 即 在 这 个 变 化 中 每 一 个 步 骤 相 当 于 “ 所

    有 权 ” 性 质 中 一 次 类 似 的 改 变 。 如 果 在 这 个 意 见 中 有 任 何 真

    理 的 话 ， 可 以 看 到 ， 它 在 实 质 上 影 响 了 有 关 “ 财 产 ” 起 源 的

    理 论 家 一 般 都 向 他 们 自 己 提 出 的 问 题 。 他 们 最 急 切 需 要 解 决

    的 问 题 — — 也 许 是 一 个 无 法 解 决 的 问 题 — — 是 ： 最 初 引 起 人

    们 相 互 尊 重 他 人 的 所 有 物 ， 其 动 机 究 竟 是 什 么 ？ 这 个 问 题 也

    可 以 用 这 种 形 式 来 表 现 ， 虽 然 也 很 少 希 望 能 为 它 找 到 一 个 答

    案 ， 即 研 究 一 下 使 得 一 个 混 合 团 体 和 其 他 混 合 团 体 的 领 地 离

    开 的 原 因 。 但 是 ， 私 有 “ 财 产 ” 史 中 最 最 重 要 的 一 章 如 果 真

    是 它 的 逐 渐 从 亲 属 共 同 所 有 权 中 解 除 出 来 ， 那 末 ， 需 要 研 究

    的 主 要 之 点 ， 就 和 在 所 有 历 史 法 律 学 门 口 所 要 遇 到 的 问 题 完

    全 相 同 — — 即 原 来 促 使 人 们 团 结 在 家 族 联 合 体 中 的 动 机 究 竟

    是 什 么 ？ 对 于 这 样 一 个 问 题 ， 如 果 没 有 其 他 科 学 的 帮 助 ， 单

    靠 法 律 学 是 不 能 提 出 一 个 答 案 的 。 这 个 事 实 不 得 不 加 以 注 意 。

    古 代 社 会 的 财 产 是 不 分 割 的 ， 但 这 种 状 态 是 和 当 任 何 单

    独 的 一 部 分 完 全 从 集 团 遗 产 中 分 离 出 来 时 就 立 刻 表 现 的 一 种

    特 殊 鲜 明 的 分 割 ， 是 不 相 矛 盾 的 。 这 种 现 象 的 产 生 ， 无 疑 地

    是 由 于 财 产 经 分 割 后 ， 就 成 为 一 个 新 的 团 体 的 所 有 物 ， 因 此 ，

    在 已 经 分 离 的 状 态 下 ， 如 果 要 和 它 发 生 往 来 ， 就 成 为 两 个 高

    度 复 杂 团 体 之 间 的 一 种 交 易 了 。 我 已 经 就 各 集 合 体 的 大 小 和

    复 杂 程 度 等 方 面 ， 把 古 代 法 和 现 代 国 际 法 加 以 比 较 ， 这 些 集

    合 体 的 权 利 和 义 务 古 代 法 里 都 有 规 定 。 古 代 法 中 的 契 约 和 让

    与 既 然 不 是 以 单 独 的 个 人 而 是 以 有 组 织 的 人 的 团 体 为 当 事人 ， 这 此 契 约 和 让 与 就 有 高 等 的 仪 式 ； 它 们 需 要 多 种 多 样 象

    征 性 的 行 为 或 言 辞 ， 其 目 的 是 使 整 个 交 易 能 深 深 地 印 在 参 与

    仪 式 的 每 一 个 人 的 记 忆 中 ； 它 们 并 且 要 求 一 个 很 大 数 目 的 证

    人 到 场 。 从 这 些 特 点 以 及 类 似 的 其 他 特 点 产 生 了 古 代 财 产 形

    式 上 普 遍 存 在 着 的 顽 强 性 。 有 时 ， 家 族 的 遗 产 是 绝 对 不 可 让

    与 的 ， 像 斯 拉 夫 人 的 情 形 ， 更 通 常 的 是 ， 虽 然 让 与 不 一 定 完

    全 非 法 ， 但 象 在 大 部 分 的 日 耳 曼 部 落 中 那 样 ， 让 与 在 实 际 上

    几 乎 是 不 能 实 行 的 ， 因 为 要 移 转 就 必 须 取 得 多 数 人 的 同 意 。 在

    这 些 障 碍 并 不 存 在 或 是 能 够 克 服 的 地 方 ， 让 与 行 为 的 本 身 一

    般 都 为 一 大 套 不 能 有 丝 毫 疏 忽 的 仪 式 所 重 累 着 。 古 代 法 一 致

    拒 绝 废 除 一 个 单 独 动 作 ， 不 论 它 是 如 何 地 荒 诞 ； 一 个 单 独 的

    音 节 ， 不 论 其 意 义 可 能 是 早 已 被 忘 却 了 ； 一 个 单 独 的 证 人 ， 不

    论 他 的 证 词 是 如 何 地 多 余 。 全 部 的 仪 式 应 该 由 法 律 上 所 规 定

    的 必 须 参 加 的 人 们 毫 不 苟 且 地 加 以 完 成 ， 否 则 让 与 便 归 无 效 ，

    而 出 卖 人 亦 恢 复 其 权 利 ， 因 为 他 移 转 的 企 图 并 未 生 效 。

    对 使 用 物 件 和 享 有 物 件 的 自 由 流 通 所 加 的 种 种 障 碍 ， 只

    要 社 会 获 得 极 为 细 微 的 活 动 时 ， 就 会 立 刻 被 感 觉 到 ， 前 进 中

    的 社 会 就 竭 力 用 种 种 权 宜 手 段 来 克 服 这 些 障 碍 ， 这 就 形 成 了

    “ 财 产 ” 史 中 的 材 料 。 在 这 些 手 段 中 ， 有 一 个 更 重 要 ， 因 为 它

    更 古 老 和 普 遍 。 把 财 产 分 为 许 多 类 别 的 想 法 ， 似 乎 是 大 多 数

    早 期 社 会 中 自 发 地 产 生 的 。 有 一 种 或 一 类 的 财 产 放 在 比 较 不

    贵 重 的 地 位 上 ， 但 在 同 时 却 免 除 了 古 代 加 在 它 们 上 面 的 种 种

    拘 束 。 后 来 ， 适 用 于 低 级 财 产 移 转 与 继 承 的 规 定 ， 其 高 度 的

    便 利 逐 渐 被 一 般 人 所 承 认 ， 在 经 过 了 一 个 渐 进 的 改 革 过 程 后 ，

    比 较 不 贵 重 一 类 的 有 价 物 的 可 塑 性 就 传 染 给 传 统 上 地 位 较 高一 级 的 各 类 物 件 。 罗 马 “ 财 产 法 ” 的 历 史 就 是 “ 要 式 交 易物 ” 和 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 同 化 的 历 史 。 在 欧 洲 大 陆 上 的 “ 财产 ” 史 是 罗 马 化 的 动 产 法 消 灭 封 建 化 的 土 地 法 的 历 史 ， 虽 然在 英 国 所 有 权 的 历 史 还 没 有 接 近 完 成 ， 但 已 可 以 看 出 ， 动 产

    法 是 在 威 胁 着 要 并 吞 和 毁 灭 不 动 产 法 。

    享 有 物 件 的 唯 一自然 分 类 ， 即 能 符 合 物 体 中 实 质 区 别 的唯 一 分 类 ， 是 把 它 们 分 成 为 “ 动 产 ” 和 “ 不 动 产 ” 。 这 种 分 类

    虽 是 法 律 学 中 所 熟 悉 的 ， 但 它 是 罗 马 法 慢 慢 地 发 展 而 得 来 的 ，

    并 且 直 到 罗 马 法 的 最 后 阶 段 才 被 采 用 。 我 们 现 在 的 分 类 就 是

    从 罗 马 法 得 来 的 。 “ 古 代 法 ” 的 分 类 有 时 在 表 面 上 和 这 个 分 类

    很 相 类 似 。 古 代 法 分 类 偶 然 地 把 财 产 分 为 各 个 范 畴 ， 并 把 不

    动 产 作 为 其 中 的 一 项 ； 但 是 后 来 发 现 它 们 或 者 把 许 多 和 不 动

    产 毫 无 关 系 的 物 件 归 在 不 动 产 之 内 ， 或 者 把 它 们 从 和 它 们 有

    极 密 切 关 系 的 各 种 权 利 中 强 行 分 出 来 。 这 样 ， 在 罗 马 法 中 ，

    “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 不 但 包 括 土 地 ， 并 且 也 包 括 奴 隶 和 牛 马 。 苏 格

    兰 法 律 把 某 种 抵 押 物 和 土 地 列 在 一 起 ， 印 度 法 则 把 土 地 和 奴

    隶 联 系 起 来 。 在 另 一 方 面 ， 英 国 法 律 把 多 年 的 土 地 租 赁 和 土

    地 上 的 其 他 利 益 分 列 ， 并 把 前 者 用 动 产 物 （ ｃ ｈ ａ ｔ ｔ ｅ ｌ ｓ 　 ｒ ｅ ａ ｌ ） 的名 义 并 入 动 产 之 内 。 更 有 进 者 ， “ 古 代 法 ” 的 分 类 是 含 有 贵 重和 低 贱 之 意 的 分 类 ； 动 产 和 不 动 产 之 间 的 区 分 ， 至 少 以 罗 马法 律 学 而 论 ， 实 在 并 不 具 有 尊 鄙 的 意 思 。 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ”最初的 确 要 比 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 优 越 些 ， 正 象 苏 格 兰 的 可 继 承财产 和 英 格 兰 的 不 动 产 优 越 于 和 它 们 相 对 的 动 产 一 样 。 研究一切 制 度 的 法 律 家 都 不 辞 劳 苦 ， 力 求 以 某 种 易 解 的 原 则 来 说 明这 些 分 类 ； 但 在 法 律 哲 学 中 去 寻 求 划 分 的 理 由 ， 结 果 必 然 是徒 劳 无 功 ； 它 们 不 属 于 法 律 哲 学 而 属 法 律 历 史 。 可 以 用 来 概括 绝 大 多 数 事 例 的 解 释 是 ， 比 其 余 享 用 物 贵 重 的 享 用 物， 一般 都 是 每 一 个 特 定 社 会 最 初 和 最 早 知 道 的 ， 因 此 也 就 着 重 地用 “ 财 产 ” 的 名 称 来 尊 重 它 们 的 那 些 形 式 的 财 产 。 在 另 一 方面 ， 所 有 不 列 入 爱 好 的 物 件 中 的 物 品 都 被 列 在 较 次 的 地 位 ， 因为 关 于 它 们 价 值 的 知 识 是 肯 定 在 贵 重 财 产 目 录 已 经 确 定 之

    后 。 它 们 在 最 初 是 不 为 人 们 所 知 道 的 ， 稀 少 ， 用 途 有 限 ， 再

    不 然 就 被 认 为 是 特 权 物 件 的 附 属 物 。 这 样 ， 罗 马 “ 要 式 交 易

    物 ” 虽 然 包 括 了 许 多 极 有 价 值 的 动 产 ， 但 价 值 最 高 的 宝 石 仍

    旧 是 从 来 没 有 被 列 入 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 项 内 ， 因 为 它 们 是 古 罗

    马 人 所 不 知 道 的 。 同 样 地 ， 在 英 国 ， 动 产 物 据 说 已 下 降 到 动

    产 的 地 位 ， 因 为 在 封 建 土 地 法 下 ， 这 类 地 产 是 不 常 见 的 ， 并

    且 是 毫 无 价 值 的 。 但 最 饶 有 兴 趣 的 是 ， 这 些 商 品 继 续 降 格 ， 正

    当 其 重 要 性 已 有 增 加 、 其 数 量 已 有 增 多 时 。 为 什 么 它 们 没 有

    继 续 被 包 括 在 爱 好 的 享 有 物 件 中 呢 ？ 理 由 之 一 ， 是 由 于 “ 古

    代 法 ” 固 执 地 墨 守 着 它 的 分 类 。 凡 是 没 有 受 过 教 育 的 人 和 早

    期 社 会 都 有 这 样 一 个 特 点 ， 他 们 除 了 在 实 际 上 所 熟 悉 的 特 定

    应 用 之 外 ， 一 般 都 不 能 想 出 一 条 通 用 的 规 则 。 他 们 不 能 从 日

    常 经 验 中 遇 到 的 特 殊 事 件 中 分 析 出 一 个 通 用 的 名 词 或 通 用 的

    格 言 ； 这 样 ， 包 括 为 我 们 所 熟 知 的 各 种 形 式 财 产 的 名 称 ， 就

    被 拒 绝 适 用 于 和 它 们 完 全 类 似 的 其 他 享 有 物 件 和 权 利 主 体

    上 。 对 象 法 律 那 样 稳 定 的 一 个 主 题 发 生 了 特 别 的 力 量 ， 后 来

    又 添 加 了 其 他 更 适 合 于 文 明 进 步 以 及 一 般 适 宜 概 念 的 影 响 。

    法 院 和 法 律 家 终 于 对 爱 好 商 品 的 移 转 、 回 复 或 遗 传 中 所 需 要

    的 各 种 令 人 困 惑 的 手 续 程 序 ， 感 到 不 便 ， 于 是 便 也 不 愿 把 作为 法 律 幼 年 时 代 特 点 的 专 门 束 缚 加 于 新 的 各 类 财 产 之 上 。 因

    此 就 产 生 了 一 种 倾 向 ， 把 这 些 最 后 发 现 的 物 件 在 法 律 学 安 排

    中 列 在 最 低 的 地 位 ， 只 通 过 较 简 单 的 程 序 就 可 以 移 转 ， 比 较

    古 代 的 让 与 简 便 了 许 多 ， 不 再 用 来 作 为 善 意 的 绊 脚 石 和 诈 欺

    的 进 身 阶 了 。 我 们 也 许 有 低 估 古 代 移 转 方 式 的 不 便 的 危 险 。 我

    们 的 让 与 证 书 是 书 面 的 ， 其 中 的 文 字 既 经 职 业 起 草 者 审 慎 推

    敲 过 ， 在 正 确 性 上 就 绝 少 存 在 着 缺 点 。 但 是 一 个 古 代 让 与 不

    是 用 书 面 的 ， 而 是 用 行 动 的 。 动 作 和 口 语 代 替 了 书 面 专 门 语

    法 ， 任 何 公 式 被 误 读 了 或 是 象 征 的 行 为 被 遗 漏 了 ， 就 可 能 使

    程 序 归 于 无 效 ， 正 如 二 百 年 前 在 叙 述 使 用 权 或 发 表 残 余 财 产

    权 中 发 生 一 个 重 大 错 误 时 ， 就 使 一 个 英 国 契 据 归 于 无 效 一 样 。

    真 的 ， 古 代 仪 式 的 害 处 ， 上 面 所 说 的 仅 及 其 半 。 假 使 只 在土地 的 移 转 中 需 要 有 书 面 的 或 行 为 的 精 密 让 与 ， 由 于 这 类 财 产绝 少 在 极 忽 忙 之 中 予 以 处 分 ， 在 移 转 时 发 生 错 误 的 机 会 是 不

    会 多 的 。 但 是 古 代 世 界 中 所 谓 高 级 财 产 不 但 包 括 土 地 ， 并 且

    也 包 括 几 种 最 最 普 通 和 几 种 最 最 有 价 值 的 动 产 。 当 社 会 一 经

    开 始 很 快 地 运 动 时 ， 如 果 对 于 一 匹 马 或 一 头 牛 ， 或 对 于 古 代

    世 界 最 有 价 值 的 可 移 动 之 物 — — “ 奴 隶 ” — — 都 需 要 高 度 地错 综 复 杂 形 式 的 移 转 ， 必 将 感 到 很 大 的 不 便 。 这 类 商 品 一 定常 常 是 、 并 且 甚 至 于 原 来 是 用 不 完 全 的 形 式 来 让 与 的 ， 因 此也 就 在 不 完 全 的 名 义 下 持 有 它 们 。

    古 罗 马 法 中 的 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 是 土 地 — — 在 有 史 时 期 ， 指意 大 利 疆 土 内 的 土 地 ， — — 奴 隶 以 及 负 重 的 牲 畜 ， 如 牛 和 马 。毫 无 疑 问 ， 构 成 这 一 类 别 的 物 件 都 是 农 业 劳 动 的 工 具 ， 对 于一 个 原 始 民 族 很 重 要 的 商 品 。 我 猜 想 ， 这 类 商 品 最 初 称 为“ 物 件 ” 或 “ 财 产 ” ， 而 它 们 移 转 的 让 与 方 式 称 作 “ 曼 企帕因 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ； 但 可 能 要 直 到 很 后 的 时 期 ， 它 们才接受 了 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 特 别 名 称 ， 所 谓 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” ， 就 是“ 需 要 一 次 ‘ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ’ 的 物 件 ” 。 可 能 除 此 以 外 ， 存 在 着或 产 生 了 有 一 类 的 物 件 ， 这 些 物 件 是 不 值 得 坚 持 采 用 全 部 的

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 仪 式 的 。 当 这 些 物 件 由 所 有 人 移 转 给 所 有 人 时 ，

    只 须 进 行 通 常 手 续 程 序 的 一 部 分 ， 这 一 部 分 就 是 实 际 送 达 、 实

    物 移 转 或 交 付 ， 这 是 一 种 财 产 所 有 权 变 更 的 最 明 显 的 标 志 。 这

    类 商 品 是 古 代 法 律 学 中 的 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” ， 即 “ 不 需 要 一 次

    ‘ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ’ 的 物 件 ” ， 这 些 物 件 在 起 初 可 能 很 少 被 重 视 ， 并

    且 也 不 常 从 一 个 团 体 的 所 有 人 移 转 给 另 一 团 体 的 所 有 人 的 。

    可 是 ， “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 目 录 虽 是 不 可 改 变 地 定 下 来 了 ， 但

    “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 目 录 却 在 无 限 制 地 扩 大 ； 从 此 ， 人 类 对 物

    质 自 然 每 一 次 新 的 征 服 就 在 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 上 添 加 了 一 个

    新 的 项 目 ， 或 在 那 些 已 经 公 认 的 项 目 中 实 行 一 次 修 改 。 因 此 ，

    它 们 就 不 知 不 觉 地 提 高 到 和 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 处 于 平 等 的 地 位 ，

    一 种 固 有 的 低 级 的 印 象 就 这 样 逐 渐 消 失 ， 人 们 也 就 看 到 了 在

    他 们 移 转 时 ， 如 果 用 简 单 的 手 续 ， 比 较 采 用 复 杂 和 严 肃 的 仪

    式 有 更 多 的 利 益 。 法 律 改 良 中 的 两 个 媒 介 即 “ 拟 制 ” 和 “ 衡

    平 ” 就 被 罗 马 法 律 学 专 心 一 致 地 运 用 着 ， 使 得 “ 交 付 ” 能 具

    有 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 实 际 效 果 。 同 时 ， 虽 然 罗 马 立 法 者 是 期

    不 敢 制 订 法 律 ， 规 定 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 中 的 财 产 权 可 通 过 简 单

    的 物 件 送 达 而 立 即 移 转 ， 但 甚 至 这 样 一 个 步 骤 ， 最 后 也 为 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 大 胆 地 做 了 ， 在 他 的 法 律 学 中 ， “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 和

    “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 之 间 的 区 别 已 完 全 消 失 ， “ 交 付 ” 或 “ 送达 ” 成 为 法 律 所 承 认 的 最 大 让 与 。 罗 马 法 律 家 很 早 就 对 “ 交

    付 ” 有 显 著 的 偏 爱 ， 这 种 偏 爱 使 他 们 在 理 论 中 分 配 给 “ 交

    付 ” 一 个 特 殊 地 位 ， 使 现 代 学 生 们 无 法 看 到 其 真 正 的 历 史 。

    “ 交 付 ” 被 归 类 在 “ 自 然 的 ” 取 得 方 式 中 ， 一 方 面 因 为 它 在 意

    大 利 各 部 落 中 普 遍 地 应 用 着 ， 另 一 方 面 因 为 它 是 能 通 过 最 简

    单 机 构 来 达 到 其 目 的 的 一 种 过 程 。 如 果 把 法 学 专 家 的 言 语 简

    要 地 加 以 重 述 ， 无 疑 地 包 含 着 ： 属 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 “ 交 付 ” 比

    “ 是 企 帕 地 荷 ” 还 要 古 老 ， 因 为 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 是 一 个 “ 市 民

    社 会 ” 的 制 度 ； 我 认 为 不 消 说 得 ， 这 一 点 是 恰 恰 和 事 实 相 反

    的 。

    “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 和 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 之 间 的 区 分 是 一 种 有

    功 于 人 类 文 明 的 区 分 ， 这 种 区 分 涉 及 全 部 商 品 ， 它 把 商 品 中

    的 一 小 部 分 归 入 一 类 ， 而 把 其 余 的 列 入 较 低 级 的 一 类 。 各 种

    低 级 的 财 产 ， 由 于 蔑 视 和 忽 视 ， 首 先 从 原 始 法 律 所 喜 爱 的 复

    杂 仪 式 中 释 放 出 来 ， 此 后 ， 在 另 一 种 智 力 进 步 的 状 态 下 ， 简

    单 的 移 转 和 恢 复 方 法 便 被 采 用 ， 作 为 一 个 模 型 ， 以 它 的 便 利

    和 简 单 来 非 难 从 古 代 传 下 来 的 繁 重 仪 式 。 但 是 ， 在 有 些 社 会

    中 ， 财 产 所 受 到 的 束 缚 是 过 分 地 复 杂 和 严 密 ， 不 能 轻 易 地 得

    到 放 松 。 当 印 度 人 生 出 男 性 的 子 嗣 时 ， 象 我 已 经 说 过 的 印 度

    的 法 律 便 使 他 们 都 在 父 的 财 产 中 取 得 一 种 利 益 ， 并 使 他 们 的

    同 意 成 为 财 产 让 与 的 一 个 必 要 条 件 。 古 日 耳 曼 民 族 的 一 种 通

    例 具 有 同 样 的 精 神 — — 值 得 注 意 的 是 ， 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 的 习

    惯 似 乎 是 一 个 例 外 — — ， 它 规 定 在 未 经 取 得 男 性 子 嗣 同 意 前

    禁 止 让 与 财 产 ； 斯 拉 夫 人 的 原 始 法 律 甚 至 完 全 禁 止 让 与 。 很

    明 显 ， 这 一 类 的 障 碍 是 不 能 用 在 各 种 财 产 之 间 加 以 区 分 的 方法 来 克 服 的 ， 因 为 困 难 涉 及 所 有 各 类 商 品 ； 因 此 ， 当 “ 古 代

    法 ” 一 度 开 始 向 改 进 的 道 路 发 展 时 ， 就 用 另 外 一 种 性 质 的 区

    分 来 克 服 这 种 障 碍 ， 这 种 区 分 不 是 按 照 财 产 的 性 质 而 是 按 照

    其 渊 源 来 分 类 。 在 印 度 ， 就 有 两 种 分 类 制 度 的 遗 迹 ， 我 们 现

    在 考 虑 的 一 种 可 以 用 印 度 法 在 “ 继 承 财 产 ” 和 “ 取 得 物 ” 之

    间 建 立 的 区 分 来 例 证 。 父 的 继 承 财 产 在 其 子 出 生 时 即 为 他 们

    所 分 有 ； 但 按 照 大 多 数 省 分 的 习 惯 ， 他 本 人 在 世 时 取 得 的 则

    完 全 为 他 个 人 所 有 ， 并 可 以 由 他 任 意 移 转 。 罗 马 法 中 有 一 种

    类 似 的 区 分 ， 这 是 对 “ 父 权 ” 最 早 的 一 种 改 革 ， 它 允 许 子 把

    他 在 军 役 中 所 获 得 的 物 件 归 他 自 己 所 有 。 但 这 种 分 类 方 法 ， 在

    日 耳 曼 人 中 得 到 最 广 泛 的 应 用 。 我 曾 反 复 地 说 过 ，自主 ·

    地 虽然 并 非 不 可 让 与 ， 但 一 般 必 须 经 过 很 大 的 困 难 才 可 以 移 转 ； 而且 ，自主地 只 可 以 遗 传 给 宗 亲 属 。 于 是 ， 非 常 多 种 多 样 的 区分 便 被 承 认 了 ， 都 企 图 消 灭 和 自 主 土 地 分 不 开 的 各 种 不 便 。 例如，杀害亲属和解费 （ ｗ ｅ ｈ ｒ ｇ ｅ ｌ ｄ ） 在 日 耳 曼 法 律 学 中 占 有 很 大的 地 位 ， 却 并 不 成 为 家 族 领 地 的 一 部 分 ， 并 且 根 据 完 全不同的 继 承 规 则 而 遗 传 。 同 样 的 ，寡妇再醮时所课的罚金（ ｒ ｅ ｉ ｐ ｕ ｓ ） 也 不 并 入 它 所 给 付 的 人 的自主地 之 内 ， 在 移 转 时 ， 并且 也 可 以 不 理 会 宗 亲 的 特 权 。 日 耳 曼 的 法 律 也 象 印 度 人 的 法

    律 一 样 ， 把 家 长 的 “ 取 得 物 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 财 产 区 分 开 来 ， 准

    许 他 在 十 分 自 由 的 条 件 下 处 理 其 “ 取 得 物 ” 。 其 他 种 类 的 分 类

    也 是 被 承 认 的 ， 常 见 的 是 土 地 与 动 产 的 区 分 ； 但 是 在 动 产 项

    下 还 被 分 成 几 个 附 属 的 类 别 ， 每 一 类 都 适 用 一 种 不 同 的 规 则 。

    象 征 服 罗 马 帝 国 的 日 耳 曼 人 那 样 未 开 化 的 民 族 竟 会 有 这 样 丰

    富 的 分 类 ， 我 们 在 初 看 起 来 似 乎 是 很 奇 怪 的 ， 但 这 无 疑 地 是由 于 他 们 的 制 度 中 有 相 当 数 量 的 罗 马 法 成 分 ， 这 些 都 是 他 们长 期 寄 居 于 罗 马 领 土 边 境 的 时 期 内 吸 收 的 。 对 于 自 主 地 以 外各 种 商 品 的 移 转 和 遗 传 的 规 定 ， 我 们 可 以 毫 无 困 难 地 发 现 其

    中 许 多 来 自 罗 马 法 律 学 ， 这 些 都 可 能 是 他 们 在 非 常 是 的 时 间

    内 零 零 星 星 地 从 罗 马 法 律 学 中 借 用 来 的 。 究 竟 阻 碍 财 产 自 由

    流 通 的 障 碍 通 过 了 这 类 手 段 能 克 服 到 何 种 程 度 ， 我 们 无 法 加

    以 猜 度 ， 因 为 这 些 区 分 已 在 现 代 历 史 上 消 失 了 。 我 在 前 面 已

    解 释 过 ， 自 主 地 形 式 的 财 产 在 封 建 时 期 已 完 全 消 灭 了 ， 并 且

    当 封 建 制 度 一 经 巩 固 后 ， 西 方 世 界 所 有 各 种 区 分 在 实 际 上 只

    有 一 种 还 留 存 着 — — 就 是 土 地 和 物 件 、 不 动 产 和 动 产 之 间 的

    区 分 。 在 外 表 上 ， 这 个 区 分 和 罗 马 法 在 最 后 采 用 的 那 种 区 分

    相 同 ， 但 中 世 纪 的 法 律 和 罗 马 法 律 在 有 一 点 上 是 显 然 不 同 的 ，

    这 就 是 中 世 纪 的 法 律 认 为 不 动 产 比 动 产 更 加 高 贵 。 这 一 个 例

    子 ， 就 足 以 证 明 它 所 属 的 一 类 方 法 的 重 要 性 。 在 以 法 兰 西 法

    典 为 其 制 度 的 基 础 的 一 切 国 家 中 ， 也 就 是 在 欧 洲 大 陆 的 绝 大

    部 分 国 家 中 ， 始 终 是 来 自 罗 马 法 律 的 动 产 法 代 替 了 和 废 弃 了

    封 建 的 土 地 法 。 英 国 是 唯 一 的 重 要 国 家 ， 在 那 里 这 种 变 化 虽

    然 已 有 进 展 ， 但 并 没 有 接 近 完 成 。 应 该 进 一 步 说 明 ， 我 国 也

    是 唯 一 重 要 的 欧 洲 国 家 ， 在 其 中 ， 动 产 和 不 动 产 的 分 开 受 到

    了 在 过 去 曾 促 使 古 代 分 类 乖 离 了 唯 一 合 乎 自 然 分 类 的 同 一 种

    影 响 的 扰 乱 。 英 国 的 分 类 在 大 体 上 是 分 为 土 地 和 物 件 ； 但 某

    种 物 件 被 作 为 继 承 动 产 （ ｈ ｅ ｉ ｒ ｌ ｏ ｏ ｍ ） 和 土 地 列 在 一 起 ， 某 种 土地 上 的 利 益 则 由 于 历 史 上 的 原 因 又 和 动 产 平 列 。 英 国 法 律 学站 在 法 律 变 化 的 主 流 之 外 ， 重 复 着 古 代 法 律 的 现 象 ， 这 里 所说 的 并 不 是 唯 一 的 事 例 。

    因为 本 文 的 范 围 只 许 可 提 到 那 些 极 古 的 方 法 ， 我 要 再 谈

    一二 个 方 法 ， 通 过 了 这 些 方 法 ， 古 代 人 对 于 财 产 所 有 权 所 加

    的 种 种 束 缚 多 少 放 松 了 一 些 。 特 别 是 其 中 的 一 种 必 须 加 以 详

    细 讨 论 ， 因 为 凡 是 不 熟 悉 早 期 法 律 史 的 人 都 不 会 很 容 易 地 相

    信 ： 现 代 法 律 学 非 常 迟 缓 并 且 经 过 了 绝 大 困 难 才 获 得 承 认 的

    一 条 原 则 ， 却 在 法 律 科 学 很 幼 年 时 代 就 非 常 熟 悉 了 。 在 一 切

    法 律 中 ， 现 代 人 最 不 愿 采 用 并 不 愿 使 它 产 生 合 法 后 果 的 原 则 ，

    就 是 罗 马 人 所 知 的 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 和 在 “ 时 效 ” 的 名 义 下 一 直

    传 到 现 代 法 律 学 的 原 则 ， 虽 然 这 个 原 则 是 有 它 有 利 的 性 质 的 。

    最 古 罗 马 法 上 有 一 条 明 定 的 规 则 ， 比 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 更 古 老 ，

    它 规 定 ： 凡 是 曾 被 不 间 断 地 持 有 一 定 时 期 的 商 品 即 成 为 占 有

    人 的 财 产 。 占 有 的 期 间 是 极 短 促 的 — — 一 年 或 二 年 ， 根 据 商

    品 的 性 质 而 定 — — ， 在 有 史 时 期 内 ， “ 时 效 取 得 ” 只 在 用 一 种

    特 殊 方 式 开 始 占 有 时 才 能 准 许 有 效 ； 但 我 以 为 在 一 个 较 不 进

    步 的 时 代 ， 比 我 们 在 权 威 著 作 中 所 读 到 的 更 不 严 格 的 条 件 下 ，

    占 有 也 很 可 能 变 成 所 有 权 。 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过 ， 我 决 不 主 张

    人 类 对 于事实上 占 有 的 尊 重 是 法 律 学 本 身 所 能 说 明 的 一 种 现

    象 ， 但 有 必 要 说 明 的 是 ， 原 始 社 会 在 采 用 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 原 则

    时 ， 并 没 有 被 曾 经 阻 碍 现 代 人 接 受 这 原 则 的 那 些 纯 理 论 的 疑

    虑 和 踌 躇 所 困 惑 。 现 代 法 律 家 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的 看 法 ， 起 先 是

    嫌 恶 ， 后 来 则 是 勉 强 赞 成 。 在 有 几 个 国 家 中 ， 包 括 我 们 自 己

    的 国 家 在 内 ， 立 法 是 期 不 愿 越 过 这 样 一 个 旧 的 方 法 而 前 进 一

    步 ， 根 据 这 个 旧 的 方 法 ， 凡 是 在 过 去 一 个 指 定 的 时 期 以 前 、 一

    般 是 前 一 个 朝 代 的 第 一 年 以 前 遭 受 损 害 而 提 出 的 诉 讼 ， 一 概

    不 予 受 理 ； 直 到 中 世 纪 最 后 结 束 、 詹 姆 士 一 世继 承 英 格 兰 王 位 ， 我 们 才 获 得 了 一 种 很 不 完 全 的 真 正

    的 时 限 条 例 。 现 代 世 界 对 罗 马 法 中 这 最 著 名 的 一 章 、 而 且 无

    疑 是 欧 洲 大 多 数 法 律 家 经 常 谈 到 的 一 章 竟 会 这 样 慢 才 加 以 采

    用 ， 主 要 是 由 于 受 到 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 影 响 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 是 从 宗 教

    习 惯 产 生 出 来 的 ， 这 些 宗 教 习 惯 既 然 关 心 着 神 圣 或 准 神 圣 的

    利 益 ， 就 很 自 然 地 认 为 它 们 所 赋 与 的 特 权 不 能 因 长 期 不 用 而

    丧 失 ； 按 照 这 个 见 解 ， 宗 教 法 律 学 在 后 来 巩 固 时 ， 就 以 明 显

    地 反 对 “ 时 效 ” 著 称 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 被 教 会 法 律 家 用 作 世 俗 立 法

    的 范 本 ， 对 基 本 原 理 就 发 生 了 特 殊 影 响 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 给 予 全 欧

    洲 形 成 的 各 式 各 样 习 惯 的 明 确 规 定 ， 其 数 量 远 不 及 罗 马 法 所

    给 予 的 多 ， 但 它 在 许 多 基 本 问 题 上 似 乎 已 经 给 了 职 业 意 见 以

    一 种 偏 向 ， 而 这 样 产 生 的 倾 向 又 随 着 每 个 制 度 的 发 展 而 不 断

    地 增 加 力 量 。 它 所 产 生 的 倾 向 之 一 就 是 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的 嫌 恶 ；

    但 是 ， 如 果 不 是 和 实 在 派 经 院 法 学 家 的 学 理 相 同 ， 我 以 为 这

    种 偏 见 是 决 不 会 象 它 现 在 那 样 有 力 的 。 这 些 经 院 法 学 家 认 为 ：

    不 论 实 际 立 法 如 何 变 动 ， 凡 是 一 种 ·

    权 ·

    利 ， 纵 使 经 过 长 期 的 忽

    视 ， 在 实 际 上 是 不 可 毁 灭 的 。 这 种 想 法 的 残 余 ， 到 现 在 依 旧

    存 在 。 凡 是 热 诚 讨 论 法 律 哲 学 的 任 何 地 方 ， 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的

    理 论 基 础 问 题 ， 总 是 热 烈 地 进 行 争 辩 的 。 在 法 国 和 德 国 ， 如

    果 一 个 人 已 经 有 许 多 年 丧 失 了 占 有 ， 究 竟 应 作 为 其 怠 忽 的 处

    罚 而 剥 夺 其 所 有 权 呢 ， 还 是 由 于 法 律 希 望结束诉讼 （ ｆ ｉ ｎ ｉ ｓ 　ｌ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 而 通 过 简 单 仲 裁 使 其 丧 失 所 有 权 ， 仍 旧 是 一 个 极 有 兴

    趣 的 问 题 。 但 是 在 古 代 罗 马 社 会 中 ， 人 们 就 没 有 受 到 这 种 犹

    豫 不 决 的 困 扰 。 罗 马 的 古 代 惯 例 对 于 在 某 种 情 况 下 丧 失 占 有

    达 一 二 年 的 任 何 人 ， 就 直 接 剥 夺 其 所 有 权 。 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 这个 规 定 ， 在 它 最 古 代 形 式 下 ， 其 确 切 性 质 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 ， 很

    不 容 易 说 明 ； 但 是 ， 就 我 们 从 书 本 中 所 看 到 和 它 附 着 在 一 起

    的 种 种 限 制 ， 可 知 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 实 在 是 一 种 最 有 用 的 保 障 ， 用

    以 防 止 过 于 繁 杂 的 一 种 让 与 制 度 所 有 的 各 种 害 处 。 为 了 得 到

    “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 好 处 ， 他 主 占 有 在 开 始 时 必 须 是 善 意 的 ， 换 言

    之 ， 即 占 有 人 必 须 认 为 他 是 合 法 地 取 得 财 产 ； 其 次 ， 商 品 移

    转 给 他 时 所 采 用 的 形 式 虽 然 在 这 特 定 情 况 中 不 一 定 要 等 于 是

    一 个 完 全 的 权 利 的 赋 与 ， 但 至 少 是 应 该 为 法 律 所 承 认 的 。 因

    此 ， 在 一 个 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 情 形 中 ， 不 问 履 行 是 如 何 的 草

    率 ， 但 只 要 在 履 行 中 已 经 包 括 了 一 种 “ 交 付 ” 或 “ 送 达 ” ， 则

    权 利 上 的 缺 点 就 可 以 因 至 多 两 年 的 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 而 矫 正 。 在

    罗 马 人 的 实 践 中 ， 我 认 为 他 们 对 于 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 利 用 ， 最

    有 力 地 证 明 他 们 的 法 律 天 才 。 他 们 所 感 到 苦 恼 的 困 难 ， 几 乎

    正 是 英 国 法 律 家 过 去 曾 经 和 现 在 仍 旧 感 到 窘 迫 的 困 难 。 由 于

    他 们 的 制 度 的 复 杂 性 ， 这 是 他 们 一 直 没 有 勇 气 也 没 有 力 量 加

    以 改 造 的 ， 实 际 上 的 权 利 常 常 和 理 论 上 的 权 利 相 脱 离 ， 衡 平

    上 的 所 有 权 则 和 法 律 上 的 所 有 权 相 脱 离 。 但 是 法 学 专 家 制 订

    的 这 个 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 提 供 了 一 个 自 动 的 机 械 ， 通 过 了 这 个 自

    动 机 械 ， 权 利 的 缺 陷 就 不 断 得 到 矫 正 ， 而 暂 时 脱 离 的 所 有 权

    又 可 以 在 可 能 极 短 的 阻 碍 之 后 重 新 迅 速 地 结 合 起 来 。 直 到 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 改 革 之 前 ， “ 时 效 取 得 ” 一 直 没 有 失 掉 其 好 处 。 但 法

    律 和 衡 平 一 经 完 全 混 合 、 罗 马 人 不 再 用 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 作 为

    让 与 时 ， 这 古 代 的 方 法 已 失 去 必 要 ， 而 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 在 相 当

    地 延 长 的 时 期 后 ， 就 成 为 “ 时 效 ” ， 它 最 后 几 乎 为 所 有 现 代 法

    律 制 度 所 普 遍 采 用 。

    我 将 简 单 地 提 一 提 另 外 一 种 方 法 ， 它 和 上 面 所 提 到 的 一

    种 方 法 具 有 同 一 的 目 的 ， 它 虽 然 没 有 立 即 在 英 国 法 律 史 中 出

    现 ， 但 在 罗 马 法 中 却 是 历 史 非 常 悠 久 的 。 有 些 日 耳 曼 民 法 学

    家 对 英 国 法 律 中 类 比 这 个 问 题 所 提 供 的 线 索 没 有 足 够 地 注

    意 ， 竟 认 为 它 甚 至 早 于 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ， 这 足 证 它 的 明 显 年 代 。

    我 要 谈 到 的 是 “ 拟 诉 弃 权 ” （ Ｃ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｉ ｏ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｒ ｅ ） ， 即 在 一 个 法院 中 ， 对 于 要 求 让 与 财 产 的 一 种 串 通 回 复 。 原 告 用 一 种 普 通

    形 式 的 诉 讼 请 求 诉 讼 标 的 ； 被 告 缺 席 ； 商 品 就 当 然 地 被 判 给

    原 告 。 我 母 庸 提 醒 英 国 法 律 家 ， 这 个 方 法 也 曾 为 我 们 的 祖 先

    所 想 到 ， 并 产 生 了 著 名 的 “ 罚 金 ” 和 “ 回 复 ” ， 大 大 地 解 除 了

    封 建 土 地 法 最 严 酷 的 束 缚 。 这 种 罗 马 人 的 和 英 国 人 的 方 法 有

    很 多 相 同 之 点 ， 并 且 最 有 启 发 地 相 互 例 证 。 但 在 这 两 者 之 间

    还 是 有 区 别 的 ， 英 国 法 律 家 的 目 的 是 解 除 存 在 权 利 中 的 各 种

    纠 葛 ， 而 罗 马 法 学 专 家 则 是 在 用 一 种 必 然 地 无 可 非 议 的 移 转

    方 式 来 代 替 常 常 失 误 的 移 转 方 式 ， 用 它 来 防 止 纠 葛 。 实 际 上 ，

    这 种 办 法 是 “ 法 院 ” 正 常 地 进 行 工 作 时 自 行 发 现 的 办 法 ， 但

    无 论 如 何 仍 旧 逃 不 出 原 始 观 念 的 支 配 。 当 法 律 观 点 在 前 进 状

    态 中 时 ， 法 院 认 为 串 通 的 诉 讼 是 诉 讼 程 序 的 一 种 滥 用 ； 但 始

    终 存 在 这 样 一 个 时 期 ， 当 法 院 的 形 式 被 谨 慎 地 遵 守 着 时 ， 法

    院 就 决 不 会 梦 想 再 有 所 求 了 。

    法 院 及 其 诉 讼 手 续 对 “ 财 产 ” 的 影 响 是 很 广 泛 的 ， 但 这

    个 问 题 已 超 过 了 本 文 的 范 围 ， 并 将 使 我 们 深 入 到 后 期 的 法 律

    史 ， 这 也 和 本 文 的 计 划 是 不 相 一 致 的 。 但 有 必 要 提 一 下 ， “ 财

    产 ” 和 “ 占 有 ” 间 区 分 之 所 以 重 要 ， 就 是 由 于 这 种 影 响 — —

    并 不 是 区 分 的 本 身 ， 这 （ 用 一 个 著 名 英 国 民 法 学 家 的 话 ） 和对 物 所 有 的 法 律 权 利 和 对 物 所 有 的 实 际 权 力 间 的 区 分 ） 是 完

    全 相 同 的 — — 而 是 它 在 法 律 哲 学 中 所 获 得 的 非 常 重 要 性 。 凡

    是 受 过 教 育 的 人 决 不 全 没 有 从 法 律 著 作 中 听 到 过 罗 马 法 学 专

    家 在 “ 占 有 ” 这 个 问 题 上 长 时 期 来 发 生 的 一 些 极 端 混 乱 的 意

    见 ， 而 萨 维 尼 天 才 的 得 到 证 明 ， 主 要 就 在 于 他 发 现 了 这 个 谜

    语 的 解 答 。 事 实 上 ， 罗 马 法 律 家 所 用 的 “ 占 有 ” 似 乎 含 有 一

    种 不 容 易 说 明 的 意 义 。 这 个 名 词 从 其 字 源 上 看 ， 原 来 一 定 含

    有 实 体 接 触 或 可 以 任 意 恢 复 的 实 体 接 触 之 意 ； 但 在 实 际 应 用

    上 如 不 加 任 何 形 容 词 ， 它 的 含 义 不 仅 仅 包 括 实 体 强 留 ， 而 是

    实 体 强 留 加 上 了 要 把 物 件 保 留 为 自 己 所 有 的 意 向 。 萨 维 尼 跟

    随 着 尼 布 尔 ， 认 为 这 个 变 例 只 可 能 有 一 个 历 史 渊 源 。 他 指 出 ，

    罗 马 的 “ 贵 族 ” 市 民 在 付 出 名 义 租 金 而 成 为 绝 大 部 分 公 共 领

    地 的 佃 农 时 ， 在 古 罗 马 法 的 见 解 中 ， 他 们 只 是 占 有 人 ， 但 他

    们 当 时 是 一 些 意 图 保 持 他 们 的 土 地 而 抗 拒 一 切 外 来 者 的 占 有

    人 。 其 实 ， 他 们 所 提 出 的 请 求 ， 几 乎 和 最 近 在 英 国 由 “ 教

    会 ” 土 地 的 承 租 人 所 提 出 的 请 求 ， 完 全 相 同 。 他 们 承 认 在 理

    论 上 他 们 是 国 家 的 任 意 佃 农 （ ｔ ｅ ｎ ａ ｎ ｔ ｓ － ａ ｔ － ｗ ｉ ｌ ｌ ） ， 但 又 认 为

    时 间 和 安 全 的 享 有 使 他 们 的 持 有 成 熟 而 成 为 一 种 所 有 权 ， 如

    果 为 了 要 重 行 分 配 领 地 而 排 斥 他 们 ， 那 是 不 公 正 的 。 这 种 请

    求 和 “ 贵 族 ” 租 地 的 联 想 永 远 影 响 着 “ 占 有 ” 的 意 义 。 同 时 ，

    佃 农 如 果 被 排 斥 了 或 受 到 了 扰 乱 的 威 胁 时 ， 他 们 所 能 利 用 的

    唯 一 法 律 救 济 ， 是 “ 占 有 禁 令 ” （ Ｐ ｏ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｏ ｒ ｙ 　 Ｉ ｎ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ｓ ） ， 这是 罗 马 法 中 的 简 易 诉 讼 程 序 ， 是 “ 裁 判 官 ” 为 了 要 保 护 他 们而 明 白 制 定 的 ， 或 者 ， 根 据 另 外 一 种 理 论 ， 是 在 较 早 时 代 用以 临 时 保 持 占 有 以 待 法 律 权 利 问 题 的 最 后 解 决 。 因 此 ， 不 难了 解 ， 凡 是 · 作 ·

    为 · 自 ·

    己 · 所 ·

    有 而 占 有 财 产 的 人 ， 就 有 权 要 求 “ 禁

    令 ” ， 并 且 通 过 一 种 高 度 人 为 的 辩 诉 制 度 ， 使 “ 禁 令 ” 程 序 能

    用 以 处 理 一 个 争 执 占 有 的 冲 突 请 求 。 接 着 就 开 始 了 一 种 运 动 ，

    而 这 种 运 动 正 象 约 翰 · 奥 斯 丁 先 生 所 指 出 的 ， 在 英 国 法 律 中

    恰 恰 重 复 地 发 生 。 ·

    财产所有人 （ ｄ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｉ ） 宁 愿 采 用 形 式 比 较 简

    单 方 法 比 较 迅 速 的 “ 禁 令 ” ， 以 代 替 手 续 程 序 迟 滞 而 复 杂 的

    “ 物 权 诉 讼 ” （ Ｒ ｅ ａ ｌ 　 Ａ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ， 并 且 为 了 能 利 用 这 种 占 有 救 济 ，

    财 产 所 有 人 竟 借 助 于 假 定 是 包 括 在 其 所 有 权 之 中 的 占 有 。 容

    许 不 是 真 正 的 “ 占 有 人 ” 而 是 “ 所 有 人 ” 的 人 们 能 自 由 利 用

    占 有 救 济 以 证 实 其 权 利 ， 在 起 初 虽 可 能 是 一 种 恩 赐 ， 但 最 后

    使 英 国 和 罗 马 法 律 学 发 生 了 严 重 退 化 的 效 果 。 罗 马 法 ， 在

    “ 占 有 ” 问 题 上 发 生 了 各 种 复 杂 难 解 之 处 ， 使 它 为 人 们 所 不 信

    任 ， 而 英 国 法 ， 在 适 用 于 回 复 不 动 产 的 诉 讼 陷 入 了 最 无 希 望

    的 混 乱 状 态 后 ， 终 于 不 得 不 用 一 种 果 断 的 救 济 办 法 来 把 全 部

    混 乱 一 扫 而 光 。 近 三 十 年 来 英 国 在 实 质 上 已 把 物 权 诉 讼 加 以

    发 除 ， 没 有 人 怀 疑 ， 这 是 一 件 公 认 的 好 事 ， 但 是 对 于 法 律 学

    的 调 和 有 敏 感 的 人 们 仍 将 慨 歎 地 认 为 ， 这 样 我 们 不 但 没 有 澄

    清 、 改 进 和 简 化 真 正 的 所 有 权 诉 讼 ， 反 而 牺 牲 了 这 些 所 有 权

    诉 讼 而 让 位 于 占 有 的 勒 迁 之 诉 （ ｐ ｏ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｏ ｒ ｙ 　 ａ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｅ Aｊ ｅ ｃ ｔ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ） ， 这 样 使 我 们 的 全 部 土 地 回 复 制 度 完 全 建 筑 在 一 个

    法 律 拟 制 上 。

    法 院 也 用 区 分 “ 法 律 ” 和 “ 衡 平 ” 的 方 法 来 有 力 地 帮 助

    形 成 和 改 变 有 关 财 产 所 有 权 的 各 种 概 念 ， 法 律 和 衡 平 间 的 区

    分 在 最 初 出 现 时 通 常 表 现 为 管 辖 权 上 的 区 分 。 在 英 国 ， 可 以

    衡 平 的 财 产 只 是 受 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 管 辖 的 财 产 。 在 罗 马 ， “ 裁 判官 告 令 ” 采 用 新 的 原 则 时 在 外 表 上 往 往 是 用 允 许 在 某 种 情 况

    下 可 以 提 出 一 种 特 殊 诉 讼 或 一 种 特 殊 抗 辩 的 形 式 ； 因 此 ， 罗

    马 法 上 的 ·

    可 ·

    衡 ·

    平 财 产 （ ｐ ｒ ｏ ｐ ｅ ｒ ｔ ｙ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｂ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｓ ） 是 以 “ 告 令 ” 为

    根 据 的 完 全 由 救 济 方 法 保 护 的 财 产 。 保 全 衡 平 权 利 、 使 不 因

    法 律 所 有 人 的 请 求 而 发 止 的 机 构 ， 在 两 种 制 度 中 似 乎 略 有 不

    同 。 在 我 们 的 制 度 中 ， 它 们 的 独 立 性 靠 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 的 “ 禁

    状 ” 而 保 全 。 在 罗 马 制 度 中 ， 既 然 “ 法 律 ” 和 “ 衡 平 ” 还 没

    有 巩 固 ， 并 且 由 同 一 法 院 执 行 ， 就 不 需 要 “ 禁 状 ” ， 只 须 “ 高

    级 官 吏 ” 简 单 地 拒 绝 把 “ 市 民 法 所 有 人 ” 能 凭 而 获 得 在 衡 平

    法 上 属 于 别 人 的 财 产 的 那 些 诉 讼 和 抗 辩 给 与 他 们 即 可 。 但 两

    个 制 度 在 实 际 的 执 行 上 ， 是 几 乎 相 同 的 。 它 们 都 用 了 不 同 的

    手 续 程 序 ， 以 一 种 暂 时 成 立 来 保 存 新 的 财 产 形 式 ， 直 到 这 种

    新 的 财 产 形 式 为 全 部 法 律 所 承 认 。 用 了 这 种 方 法 ， 罗 马 “ 裁

    判 官 ” 以 一 种 即 时 的 财 产 权 给 与 因 仅 仅 送 达 而 取 得 “ 要 式 交

    易 物 ” 的 人 ， 不 必 等 待 “ 取 得 时 效 ” 的 成 熟 。 同 样 ， 他 及 时

    承 认 最 初 仅 作 为 一 个 “ 受 托 人 ” 或 受 寄 人 的 抵 押 权 人 ， 以 及

    “ 永 佃 人 ” （ Ｅ ｍ ｐ ｈ ｙ ｔ ｅ ｕ ｔ ａ ） 或 偿 付 一 定 永 久 佃 租 的 佃 农 ， 有 所

    有 权 。 和 这 个 发 展 过 程 相 平 行 ； 英 国 衡 平 法 院 为 “ 抵 押 人 ” 、

    为 “ 信 托 受 益 人 ” （ Ｃ ｅ ｓ ｔ ｕ ｉ 　 ｑ ｕ ｅ 　 Ｔ ｒ ｕ ｓ ｔ ） 为 享 有 特 种 授 产 的

    已 婚 妇 女 ， 以 及 为 还 没 有 获 得 一 种 完 全 法 律 所 有 权 的 “ 买 受

    人 ” ， 创 设 一 种 特 殊 的 所 有 权 。 在 这 一 切 事 例 中 ， 显 然 是 新 的

    所 有 权 形 式 被 承 认 了 并 保 存 了 。 但 是 ， 在 英 国 和 罗 马 ， “ 财

    产 ” 间 接 地 受 到 衡 平 影 响 的 ， 真 不 下 千 百 种 之 多 。 衡 平 的 著

    者 利 用 他 们 手 中 掌 握 的 有 力 工 具 ， 向 法 律 学 的 各 个 角 落 里 推

    进 ， 他 们 必 然 地 要 遇 到 、 触 及 并 且 多 少 在 实 质 上 改 变 财 产 法律 。 在 前 面 我 谈 到 某 些 古 代 法 律 特 点 和 方 法 曾 有 力 地 影 响 着

    所 有 权 的 历 史 时 ， 我 的 意 见 应 被 理 解 为 ， 它 们 的 最 大 影 响 是

    在 把 改 进 的 暗 示 和 提 示 注 入 到 衡 平 制 度 制 造 者 所 呼 吸 的 精 神

    空 气 中 。

    但 是 要 描 述 “ 衡 平 法 ” 对 “ 所 有 权 ” 发 生 的 全 部 影 响 ， 就

    必 须 把 它 的 历 史 一 直 写 到 我 们 现 在 为 止 。 我 所 以 提 到 它 ， 主

    要 因 为 有 几 位 可 尊 敬 的 当 代 著 者 曾 以 为 ： 从 罗 马 人 把 “ 衡

    平 ” 财 产 从 “ 法 律 ” 财 产 中 分 离 开 来 这 件 事 情 中 ， 我 们 获 得

    了 使 中 世 纪 法 律 对 于 “ 所 有 权 ” 持 有 的 概 念 显 然 有 别 于 罗 马

    帝 国 法 律 所 持 有 概 念 的 线 索 。 封 建 时 代 概 念 的 主 要 特 点 ， 是

    它 承 认 一 个 双 重 所 有 权 ， 即 封 建 地 主 所 有 的 高 级 所 有 权 以 及

    同 时 存 在 的 佃 农 的 低 级 财 产 权 或 地 权 。 有 人 认 为 这 种 双 重 所

    有 权 非 常 象 罗 马 人 把 财 产 权 概 括 地 区 分 ·

    为 ·

    公 ·

    民 的 或 法 律 的 ，

    以 及 （ 用 一 个 后 来 的 名 词 ） ·

    有 ·

    使 ·

    用 ·

    权 ·

    的 （ Ｂ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｔ ａ ｒ ｉ ａ ｎ ） 或 可 衡

    平 的 。 该 雅 士 也 把 ·

    完 ·

    全 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    权 分 裂 为 两 个 部 分 作 为 罗 马 法 律

    的 一 个 特 点 ， 与 其 他 民 族 所 熟 悉 的 完 全 或 自 主 财 产 所 有 权 成

    为 明 白 的 对 比 。 诚 然 ， 查 斯 丁 尼 安 把 完 全 所 有 权 重 新 合 而 为

    一 ， 但 蛮 族 在 这 样 许 多 世 纪 中 所 接 触 到 的 是 西 罗 马 帝 国 经 过

    部 分 改 革 的 制 度 而 不 是 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 法 律 学 。 当 蛮 族 居 留 在

    帝 国 的 边 缘 上 时 ， 很 可 能 他 们 学 到 了 这 种 分 划 ， 后 来 便 产 生

    了 显 著 的 后 果 。 我 们 虽 然 同 意 这 种 理 论 ， 但 无 论 如 何 必 须 承

    认 ， 在 各 种 蛮 族 习 惯 中 所 含 有 的 罗 马 法 因 素 到 现 在 为 止 ， 还

    研 究 得 很 不 完 全 。 所 有 解 释 封 建 制 度 的 各 种 错 误 的 或 不 充 分

    的 理 论 ， 在 它 们 相 互 之 间 有 一 点 类 似 的 倾 向 ， 就 是 忽 略 了 包

    含 在 封 建 制 度 结 构 中 的 这 种 特 殊 要 素 。 在 这 个 国 家 中 为 一 般人 所 追 随 的 前 辈 研 究 者 ， 都 特 别 着 重 封 建 制 度 逐 渐 从 长 成 到

    成 熟 这 个 混 乱 期 间 内 的 各 种 情 况 ； 后 来 ， 在 已 经 存 在 的 那 些

    错 误 中 又 加 添 了 一 个 新 的 错 误 的 来 源 ， 这 就 是 民 族 骄 傲 ， 它

    使 日 耳 曼 的 著 者 过 分 夸 大 其 祖 先 早 在 他 们 来 到 罗 马 世 界 之 前

    就 已 建 立 起 了 的 社 会 组 织 的 完 整 性 。 有 一 二 位 英 国 研 究 者 虽

    能 从 正 确 的 方 向 来 寻 求 封 建 制 度 的 基 础 ， 但 他 们 的 考 察 仍 旧

    没 有 得 到 任 何 可 以 令 人 满 意 的 结 果 ， 这 或 者 是 由 于 他 们 过 于

    专 心 地 从 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 编 纂 中 寻 求 类 比 ， 或 者 由 于 他 们 把 注

    意 力 局 限 于 现 在 被 发 现 附 在 现 存 的 蛮 族 法 典 上 的 罗 马 法 纲 要

    上 。 但 是 ， 如 果 罗 马 法 律 学 的 确 对 蛮 族 社 会 有 任 何 影 响 ， 则

    绝 大 部 分 影 响 的 产 生 应 该 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 立 法 以 前 ， 也 就 是 这

    些 纲 要 着 手 编 辑 之 前 。 我 认 为 ， 在 蛮 族 惯 例 这 个 瘦 削 的 骨 骼

    上 被 以 肌 肉 的 ， 不 是 经 过 改 革 的 和 经 过 提 炼 的 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法

    律 学 ， 而 是 流 行 在 西 罗 马 帝 国 的 以 及 东 罗 马 帝 国 ·

    民 ·

    法 ·

    大 ·

    全 所

    没 有 能 代 替 的 未 经 整 理 的 体 系 。 变 更 的 发 生 ， 应 该 假 限 定 在

    日 耳 曼 部 落 作 为 征 服 者 而 占 有 罗 马 领 土 的 任 何 部 分 之 前 ， 因

    此 ， 也 就 是 远 在 日 耳 曼 君 主 为 供 罗 马 臣 民 之 用 下 令 起 卓 罗 马

    法 辑 要 之 前 。 凡 是 能 体 会 到 古 代 法 律 和 发 达 的 法 律 之 间 的 差

    别 的 每 一 个 人 都 会 感 觉 到 有 这 类 假 定 的 必 要 。 遗 存 的 ·

    蛮 ·

    族 ·

    法

    ·

    律 虽 然 是 粗 糙 的 ， 但 从 它 们 纯 粹 源 自 蛮 族 的 理 论 来 看 ， 还 不

    是 太 粗 糙 的 ； 我 们 也 没 有 理 由 认 为 我 们 在 文 字 记 录 中 所 看 到

    的 已 超 过 了 当 时 在 胜 利 部 落 的 成 员 自 己 中 间 所 实 行 的 各 种 规

    定 。 如 果 我 们 能 有 办 法 使 我 们 相 信 在 蛮 族 制 度 中 已 经 存 在 着

    已 贬 低 了 价 值 的 罗 马 法 的 大 量 成 分 ， 则 我 们 就 有 可 能 解 除 一

    个 严 重 的 困 难 。 征 服 者 的 日 耳 曼 法 律 和 其 臣 民 的 罗 马 法 律 恐不 可 能 合 并 起 来 ， 如 果 在 这 两 种 法 律 相 互 之 间 不 具 有 比 精 炼法 律 学 和 蛮 族 习 惯 中 间 通 常 有 的 更 多 的 亲 和 力 的 话 。 很 可 能 ，蛮 族 的 法 典 在 表 面 上 虽 然 很 古 ， 却 只 是 真 正 原 始 的 惯 例 和 半

    省 略 的 罗 马 规 定 的 一 种 混 合 物 ， 正 是 这 种 外 国 原 素 使 它 们 和

    罗 马 法 律 学 能 合 并 起 来 ， 而 当 时 的 罗 马 法 律 学 其 精 致 程 度 也已 稍 逊 于 西 罗 马 帝 国 诸 皇 帝 治 下 所 获 得 的 了 。

    虽 然 这 一 切 都 应 该 承 认 ， 但 是 却 有 几 种 理 由 使 封 建 形 式的 所 有 权 不 象 是 罗 马 的 双 重 所 有 权 所 直 接 提 示 的 。 法 律 上 的财 产 权 和 衡 平 的 财 产 权 之 间 的 区 别 ， 看 起 来 很 微 妙 ， 极少 可能 为 蛮 族 所 理 解 ； 更 有 进 者 ， 除 非 “ 法 院 ” 已 经 正 常 进 行 工作 ， 这 是 很 难 被 人 懂 得 的 。 但 反 对 这 理 论 的 最 强 有 力 的 理 由是 ， 在 罗 马 法 中 存 在 一 种 形 式 的 财 产 权 — — 这 的 确 是 “ 衡平 ” 的 一 种 产 物 — — 可 以 用 来 非 常 简 单 地 说 明 从 一 套 思 想 转变 到 另 一 套 思 想 的 过 渡 。 这 种 财 产 权 就 是 “ 永 佃 权 ” （ Ｅ ｍ ｐ ｈ ｙ Aｔ ｅ ｕ ｓ ｉ ｓ ） ， 虽 然 关 于 它 把 封 建 所 有 权 介 绍 到 世 界 上 来 时 所 作 出的 确 切 助 力 ， 我 们 知 道 得 很 少 ， 但 中 世 纪 的 “ 封 地 ” 就 常 常是 建 筑 在 这 上 面 的 。 “ 永 佃 权 ” 虽 在 当 时 也 许 还 没 有 以 它 的 这个 希 腊 名 称 为 人 所 知 道 ， 仅 却 的 确 标 志 着 最 后 引 导 到 封 建 主义 的 一 种 思 潮 中 的 一 个 阶 段 。 在 罗 马 史 中 ， 第 一 次 提 到 大 地产 ， 是 在 我 们 研 究 到 罗 马 的 贵 族 财 产 时 ， 其 规 模 之 大 绝 非 一个 “ 家 父 ” 连 同 其 子 嗣 和 奴 隶 全 家 所 能 耕 种 的 。 这 些 大 财 产所 有 人 似 乎 完 全 不 知 道 有 自 由 佃 农 耕 种 的 制 度 。 他 们 的大地产 （ ｌ ａ ｔ ｉ ｆ ｕ ｎ ｄ ｉ ａ ） 一 般 都 是 由 奴 隶 队 在 监 工 之 下 进 行 工 作 ， 监工 本 身 可 能 是 奴 隶 或 自 由 人 ； 当 时 试 行 的 唯 一 组 织 ， 就 是 把低 级 奴 隶 分 成 为 许 多 小 团 体 ， 使 他 们 成 为 较 好 的 和 较 可 信 任的 那 些 奴 隶 的特有产 ， 因 而 也 就 使 那 些 较 好 的 和 较 可 信 任 的奴 隶 关 心 他 们 的 工 作 效 率 。 可 是 ， 这 类 制 度 对 于 有 一 种 土 地所 有 人 即 “ 市 政 当 局 ” 特 别 不 利 。 意 大 利 的 官 吏 从 事 于 罗 马行 政 的 往 往 调 动 迅 速 频 繁 ； 因 此 由 一 个 意 大 利 法 人 来 管理 广大 土 地 必 定 是 非 常 不 够 好 的 。 因 此 ， 市 政 当 局 开 始 把纳税地（ ａ ｇ ｒ ｉ ｖ ｅ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｇ ｕ ｌ ｅ ｓ ） 出 租 ， 换 言 之 ， 即 把 土 地 以 一 定 的 租 金 、 在某 种 条 件 下 、 永 久 租 与 一 个 自 由 佃 农 。 这 个 办 法 后 来 为个人所 有 者 广 泛 模 仿 ， 而 佃 农 和 所 有 人 的 关 系 原 来 是 由 契约决定的 ， 后 来 为 “ 裁 判 官 ” 所 承 认 ， 认 为 佃 农 也 具 有 一 种 有 限 的所 有 权 ， 这 在 后 来 就 成 为 “ 永 佃 权 ” 。 从 这 时 起 ， 租 地的历史分 为 两 大 支 流 。 在 我 们 对 于 罗 马 帝 国 记 录 最 不 完 全 的一段长时 期 内 ， 那 时 罗 马 大 家 族 的 奴 隶 队 逐 渐 转 化 成 为土著农夫 ， 他们 的 来 源 和 地 位 构 成 了 全 部 历 史 中 最 暧 昧 问 题 之 一 。 我 们 不妨 这 样 来 猜 测 ， 即 他 们 中 一 部 分 来 自 奴 隶 的 上 升 ， 一 部 分 来自 自 由 农 民 的 降 格 ； 同 时 他 们 也 证 明 了 罗 马 帝 国 的 富 人阶级逐 渐 注 意 到 耕 种 者 对 于 土 地 的 出 产 物 有 一 种 利 益 时 就 可 以 使土 地 财 产 的 价 值 增 多 。 我 们 知 道 ， 他 们 的 服 役 是 属 于 土 地 的 ；这 种 服 役 性 质 并 不 完 全 具 有 绝 对 奴 隶 状 态 的 许 多 特 征 ； 并 且他 们 只 要 在 每 年 收 获 量 中 以 一 定 的 部 分 付 给 地 主 就 可 以 免 除服 役 。 我 们 也 知 道 ， 他 们 经 历 了 古 代 世 界 和 现 代 世 界 中 一 切社 会 的 变 化 而 被 保 存 下 来 ， 他 们 虽 然 包 括 在 封 建 结 构 的 较 低级 的 地 位 ， 但 他 们 在 许 多 国 家 中 继 续 以 他 们 曾 付 给 罗 马土地所有人 （ ｄ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｕ ｓ ） 的 完 全 同 样 数 量 的 贡 税 交 与 地 主 ， 而 从 土著 农 夫 之 中 的 一 个 特 殊 阶 层 、 即 为 其 所 有 人 保 留 一 半 农 产物的分益土著农夫 （ ｃ ｏ ｌ ｏ ｎ ｉ 　 ｍ ｅ ｄ ｉ ｅ ｔ ａ ｒ ｉ ） ， 传 下 来 了分益 佃 农（ ｍ ｅ ｔ ａ ｙ ｅ ｒ 　 ｔ ｅ ｎ ａ ｎ ｔ ｒ ｙ ） ， 几 乎 所 有 欧 洲 南 部 的 土 地 到 现 在 为 止仍 旧 由 这 些 人 耕 种 着 。 在 另 一 方 面 ， 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 来 理解 “ 民 法 大 全 中 ” 关 于 它 的 暗 示 的 话 ， 那 末 “ 永 佃 权 ” 可 以成 为 财 产 权 的 一 种 人 人 欢 迎 和 有 益 的 变 更 ； 并 且 可 以 设 想 ， 凡有 自 由 农 民 存 在 的 地 方 ， 支 配 着 他 们 在 土 地 上 的 利 益 的 ， 就是 这 种 租 地 制 。 前 面 已 经 说 过 ， “ 裁 判 官 ” 把 永 佃 人 认 为 一 个真 正 的 所 有 人 。 在 被 驱 逐 时 ， 他 可 以 用 “ 物 权 诉 讼 ” 来 争取恢 复 ， 这 是 所 有 权 的 明 显 的 标 志 ， 并 且 只 要 他 准 期 清 偿 租 金（ ｃ ａ ｎ ｏ ｎ ） 就 可 以 受 到 保 护 ， 不 受 租 借 人 的 干 扰 。 但 在 同 时 ， 我 们 不 能 以 为 租 借 人 的 所 有 权 已 经 消 灭 或 是 停 止 了 。 他 的 所 有权 仍 旧 存 在 ， 因 为 他 在 不 付 租 金 时 就 有 权 收 回 租 地 ， 在 出 卖时 有 先 买 权 ， 并 且 对 于 耕 种 的 方 式 有 一 定 的 控 制 权 。 因 此 ， 我们 可 以 把 “ 永 佃 权 ” 作 为 一 个 显 著 的 双 重 所 有 权 的 例 子 ，这种 双 重 所 有 权 是 封 建 财 产 权 的 特 点 ， 同 时 ， 这 种 例 子 也比法律 的 和 衡 平 的 权 利 并 列 要 简 单 得 多 ， 并 且 容 易 摹 仿 得 多 。 可是 。 罗 马 租 地 史 并 不 到 此 为 止 。 我 们 有 明 显 的 证 据 ， 证明在沿 莱 因 河 和 多 瑙 河 一 带 是 期 保 卫 着 帝 国 边 疆 以 反 抗 蛮族的各大 堡 垒 之 间 ， 有 连 绵 不 断 的 狭 长 的 田 地 ， 称 为边界地 （ ａ ｇ ｒ ｉ ｌ ｉ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｒ ｏ ｐ ｈ ｉ ） 的 ， 向 由 罗 马 军 队 中 的 久 戍 的 兵 士 根 据 “ 永 佃权 ” 的 条 件 占 有 着 。 这 里 也 有 一 种 双 重 所 有 权 。 罗 马 国 家 是土 地 的 地 主 ， 士 兵 们 只 要 随 时 准 备 着 在 边 境 危 急 时 应 征 入 伍服 役 ， 即 能 耕 种 土 地 而 不 受 侵 扰 。 事 实 上 ， 一 种 非 常 类 似 奥地 利 － 土 耳 其 边 境 军 队 屯 垦 制 度 的 卫 戍 职 守 代 替 了 普 通“永佃 权 ” 人 应 尽 的 清 偿 租 金 的 义 务 。 我 们 不 可 能 怀 疑 ： 这 就 是建 立 封 建 主 义 的 蛮 族 君 主 所 抄 袭 的 先 例 。 他 们 目 睹 这 种 制 度有 百 余 年 ， 并 且 我 们 必 须 记 着 ， 有 许 多 守 卫 着 边 境 的 老 兵 本身 就 是 蛮 族 的 后 裔 ， 他 们 说 的 也 许 是 日 耳 曼 语 言 。 他 们 接 近着 这 样 容 易 模 仿 的 一 个 模 型 ， 这 不 但 使 佛 兰 克 和 论 巴 德 的 君主 们 从 此 获 得 了 把 公 有 领 地 划 出 一 部 分 赐 与 其 从 者 以 换 取 军役 的 想 法 ； 同 时 或 许 也 说 明 了 这 种 趋 势 ， 即 这 种 “ 采 地 ” 很快 就 成 为 世 袭 的 ， 因 为 一 个 “ 永 佃 权 ” 虽 然 可 能 是 根 据 原 来契 约 的 条 件 创 造 出 来 的 ， 但 按 诸 常 理 它 却 是 传 给 受 让 人 的 继承 人 的 。 诚 然 ， 采 地 的 持 有 人 ， 以 及 较 近 时 期 由 采 地 变 成 的那 种 封 地 的 封 建 主 ， 似 乎 都 负 有 某 种 为 屯 军 所 不 致 有 的 和“ 永 佃 权 人 ” 所 必 然 不 会 有 的 劳 役 。 例 如 对 于 高 一 级 的 封 建 主有 尊 敬 和 感 恩 的 义 务 ， 有 帮 助 他 置 备 女 儿 嫁 奁 和 为 他 儿 子 准备 武 装 的 责 任 ， 在 未 成 年 时 受 他 监 护 的 义 务 ， 以 及 许 多 其 他类 似 的 租 地 条 件 ， 一 定 都 是 从 罗 马 法 中 “ 庇 护 人 ” 和 “ 自 由民 ” 亦 即 是 “ 前 主 人 ” （ ｑ ｕ ｏ ｎ ｄ ａ ｍ ｍ ａ ｓ ｔ ｅ ｒ ） 和 “ 前 奴 隶 ” （ ｑ ｕ ｏ ｎ ｄ ａ ｍ－ ｓ ｌ ａ ｖ ｅ ） 的 相 互 关 系 依 照 字 面 直 接 借 用 来 的 。 然 而 ， 我 们 知道 ， 最 早 的 采 地 受 益 人 都 是 君 主 的 个 人 随 从 ， 这 个 地 位 在 表面 上 是 很 光 荣 的 ， 但 在 初 时 一 定 夹 杂 着 某 种 身 分 低 贱 的 意 味 ，这 是 无 可 争 辩 的 。 在 宫 庭 中 侍 奉 君 主 的 人 放 弃 了 某 种 属 于 绝对 个 人 自 由 的 东 西 ， 即 自 主 财 产 所 有 人 最 足 以 骄 傲 的 特 权 。

    第 九 章 　 契 约 的 早 期 史

    关 于 我 们 所 处 的 时 代 ， 能 一 见 而 立 即 同 意 接 受 的 一 般 命

    题 是 这 样 一 个 说 法 ， 即 我 们 今 日 的 社 会 和 以 前 历 代 社 会 之 间

    所 存 在 的 主 要 不 同 之 点 ； 乃 在 于 契 约 在 社 会 中 所 占 范 围 的 大

    小 。 这 个 说 法 所 根 据 的 现 象 ， 有 些 都 是 常 常 被 提 出 来 受 到 注

    意 、 批 评 和 颂 扬 的 。 我 们 决 不 会 毫 不 经 心 地 不 理 会 到 ： 在 无

    数 的 事 例 中 ， 旧 的 法 律 是 在 人 出 生 时 就 不 可 改 变 地 确 定 了 一

    个 人 的 社 会 地 位 ， 现 代 法 律 则 允 许 他 用 协 议 的 方 法 来 为 其 自

    己 创 设 社 会 地 位 ； 真 的 ， 对 于 这 个 规 定 有 几 个 例 外 ， 不 断 地

    在 热 烈 愤 慨 下 遭 到 废 弃 。 例 如 ， 黑 奴 问 题 ， 到 现 在 仍 被 剧 烈

    争 论 着 ， 其 真 正 争 执 之 点 是 ： 奴 隶 的 身 分 究 竟 是 不 是 属 于 过

    去 的 制 度 ， 又 如 雇 主 和 工 人 之 间 能 合 乎 现 代 道 德 的 唯 一 关 系 ，

    究 竟 是 不 是 完 全 由 契 约 决 定 的 一 种 关 系 。 承 认 过 去 和 现 在 之

    间 存 在 这 种 差 别 ， 是 最 著 名 的 现 代 思 想 的 实 质 。 可 以 断 言 ，

    “ 政 治 经 济 学 ” 是 今 日 有 相 当 进 步 的 唯 一 伦 理 研 究 部 门 ， 它 将

    会 和 生 活 的 事 实 不 相 符 合 ， 如 果 “ 强 行 法 ” 对 它 一 度 占 据 的

    领 域 的 绝 大 部 分 不 肯 加 以 放 弃 ， 并 且 人 们 不 能 具 有 直 到 最 近

    才 允 许 他 们 有 的 决 定 其 自 己 行 为 规 律 的 一 种 自 由 。 受 到 政 治

    经 济 学 训 练 的 大 多 数 人 都 有 这 样 一 种 偏 见 ， 认 为 他 们 的 科 学

    所 根 据 的 一 般 真 理 是 有 可 能 变 为 普 遍 性 的 真 理 的 ， 并 且 ， 当

    他 们 把 它 作 为 一 种 艺 术 而 运 用 时 ， 他 们 一 般 都 着 重 于 扩 大“ 契 约 ” 的 领 域 ， 缩 小 “ 强 行 法 ” 的 领 域 ， 只 有 在 必 须 依 靠 法

    律 以 强 制 “ 契 约 ” 的 履 行 时 ， 才 是 例 外 。 一 些 思 想 家 在 这 种

    思 潮 影 响 下 作 出 的 鼓 动 ， 开 始 在 西 方 世 界 中 很 强 烈 地 感 觉 到 。

    立 法 几 乎 已 经 自 己 承 认 它 和 人 类 在 发 现 、 发 明 以 及 大 量 积 累

    财 富 各 方 面 的 活 动 无 法 并 驾 齐 驱 ； 即 使 在 最 不 进 步 的 社 会 中 ，

    法 律 亦 逐 渐 倾 向 于 成 为 一 种 仅 仅 的 表 层 ， 在 它 下 面 ， 有 一 种

    不 断 在 变 更 着 的 契 约 规 定 的 集 合 ， 除 非 为 了 要 强 迫 遵 从 少 数

    基 本 原 理 或 者 为 了 处 罚 违 背 信 用 必 须 诉 求 法 律 外 ， 法 律 绝 少

    干 预 这 些 契 约 的 规 定 。

    社 会 研 究 ， 因 为 它 们 必 须 依 靠 对 法 律 现 象 的 考 究 ， 是 在

    一 种 非 常 落 后 的 状 态 中 ， 因 此 ， 我 们 发 现 这 些 真 理 不 为 今 天

    流 行 着 的 有 关 社 会 进 步 的 日 常 用 语 所 承 认 ， 是 不 足 为 奇 的 。 这

    些 日 常 用 语 比 较 符 合 我 们 的 偏 见 ， 而 不 符 合 我 们 的 信 念 。 当

    “ 契 约 ” 所 根 据 的 道 德 成 为 问 题 的 时 候 ， 绝 大 多 数 的 人 都 更 强

    有 力 地 不 顾 把 道 德 认 为 是 进 步 的 ， 我 们 中 有 许 多 人 几 乎 本 能

    地 不 愿 承 认 我 们 同 胞 所 有 的 善 意 和 信 任 ， 会 比 古 时 代 更 为 广

    泛 传 布 ， 也 不 愿 承 认 我 们 当 代 的 礼 仪 中 有 能 和 古 代 世 界 中 的

    忠 诚 相 比 拟 的 东 西 。 有 的 时 候 ， 这 些 先 人 之 见 的 声 势 为 诈 欺

    行 为 所 大 大 加 强 ， 这 种 诈 欺 行 为 是 在 它 们 被 目 睹 之 前 所 未 曾

    听 到 过 的 ， 并 且 以 其 犯 罪 行 为 而 使 人 震 骇 ， 更 以 其 复 杂 而 令

    人 惊 异 。 但 这 些 欺 诈 行 为 的 性 质 明 白 地 显 示 出 ： 在 它 们 成 为

    可 能 之 前 ， 它 们 所 破 坏 的 道 德 义 务 必 定 已 超 过 了 一 定 比 例 的

    发 展 。 由 于 多 数 人 笃 守 信 义 ， 就 给 了 少 数 人 不 顾 信 义 的 方 便 ，

    因 此 ， 当 巨 大 的 不 诚 实 的 事 件 发 生 时 ， 必 然 的 结 论 是 ， 在 一

    般 的 交 易 中 都 显 现 出 审 慎 的 正 直 ， 只 在 特 殊 情 形 中 才 予 犯 法者 以 可 乘 之 机 。 如 果 我 们 坚 持 要 从 法 律 学 上 的 反 映 来 看 道 德

    史 ， 并 且 把 我 们 的 眼 光 向 着 “ 犯 罪 ” 法 而 不 是 向 着 “ 契 约 ” 法 ，

    则 我 们 必 须 细 心 谨 慎 ， 才 不 致 错 误 。 最 古 罗 马 法 所 处 理 的 唯

    一 形 式 的 不 诚 实 ， 是 “ 窃 盗 罪 ” 。 在 我 写 本 书 的 时 候 ， 英 国 刑

    法 中 最 新 的 一 章 ， 是 企 图 为 “ 受 托 人 ” 的 欺 诈 行 为 作 出 处 罚

    的 规 定 。 从 这 对 比 中 所 可 能 得 到 的 正 当 推 论 ， 并 不 是 原 始 罗

    马 人 比 我 们 有 更 高 的 道 德 观 念 。 我 们 应 该 说 ， 在 他 们 和 我 们

    相 隔 开 的 时 代 中 间 ， 道 德 已 经 从 一 个 很 粗 浅 的 概 念 进 步 到 一

    种 高 度 精 炼 的 概 念 — — 从 把 财 产 权 视 为 绝 对 神 圣 ， 发 展 到 把

    仅 仅 由 于 片 面 信 用 而 产 生 的 权 利 视 为 有 权 受 到 刑 事 法 律 的 保

    护 。

    法 学 家 的 各 种 明 确 理 论 ， 在 这 一 点 上 ， 并 不 比 普 通 人 的

    意 见 更 接 近 真 理 。 试 从 罗 马 法 律 家 的 见 解 开 始 ， 我 们 发 现 他

    们 的 见 解 和 道 德 及 法 律 进 步 的 真 正 历 史 并 不 符 合 。 在 有 一 类

    的 契 约 中 ， 以 缔 约 两 造 的 善 意 担 保 为 唯 一 要 件 ， 这 种 契 约 他

    们 特 别 称 之 为 “ 万 民 法 契 约 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｒ ａ ｃ ｔ ｓ 　 ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ｓ 　 ｇ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 。

    并 且 ， 虽 然 这 些 契 约 无 疑 地 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 迟 产 生 的 ， 但 其

    所 用 的 用 语 ， 如 果 我 们 可 以 从 中 吸 取 其 含 义 的 话 ， 实 包 含 着 ：

    这 些 契 约 比 在 罗 马 法 中 处 理 的 某 种 其 他 形 式 的 约 定 还 要 古

    远 ， 在 罗 马 法 中 忽 视 一 个 专 门 手 续 程 序 ， 就 要 像 误 会 或 欺 骗

    一 样 损 害 到 责 任 。 然 而 所 谓 它 们 是 古 远 的 说 法 ， 是 模 糊 的 、 暧

    昧 的 ， 是 只 能 通 过 “ 现 在 ” 方 能 理 解 的 ； 所 谓 “ 国 际 法 契

    约 ” 被 明 白 地 看 作 人 类 在 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 下 所 知 道 的 一 种 “ 契

    约 ” ， 也 要 到 罗 马 法 律 家 的 用 语 变 成 了 对 罗 马 法 律 家 的 思 想 方

    式 已 不 再 能 理 解 的 一 个 时 代 的 用 语 之 后 才 能 理 解 。 卢 梭 兼 有了 法 律 上 的 和 通 俗 的 错 误 。 在 “ 论 艺 术 和 科 学 对 道 德 的 影响 ”— — 这 是 他 作 品 中 引 人 注 意 的 第 一 部 ，并 且 是 他 最 无 保 留 地 申 述 他 的 意 见 使 他 成 为 一 个 学 派 首 创 人的 一 篇 作 品 — — 中 ， 他 一 再 指 出 古 波 斯 人 的 诚 实 和 善 意 ， 认为 这 些 是 原 始 人 天 真 的 特 征 ， 已 经 逐 渐 为 文 明 所 消 灭 了 的 ； 到

    一 个 较 后 的 时 期 ， 他 把 他 所 有 理 论 完 全 放 在 一 个 原 始 “ 社 会

    契 约 ” 学 理 的 基 础 上 。 所 谓 “ 社 会 契 约 ” ， 是 我 们 正 在 讨 论 的

    错 误 所 形 成 的 最 有 系 统 的 一 种 形 式 。 这 个 理 论 虽 然 为 政 治 热

    情 所 抚 育 而 趋 于 重 要 ， 但 所 有 它 的 营 养 则 完 全 来 自 法 律 学 的

    纯 理 论 。 首 先 受 它 吸 引 的 著 名 英 国 人 士 所 以 重 视 它 ， 主 要 是

    由 于 可 以 在 政 治 上 利 用 它 ， 但 是 ， 正 象 我 现 在 解 释 的 ， 如 果

    政 治 家 不 是 长 期 地 用 法 律 用 语 来 进 行 争 辩 ， 则 他 们 将 决 不 可

    能 达 到 它 。 同 时 这 个 理 论 的 英 国 著 者 也 不 是 对 于 这 理 论 的 深

    远 影 响 茫 然 不 见 的 ， 因 为 法 国 人 就 是 经 过 这 种 推 荐 而 承 继 到

    它 的 。 法 国 人 的 著 作 显 示 出 ： 他 们 认 为 这 个 理 论 可 以 用 来 说

    明 一 切 政 治 现 象 ， 同 时 也 可 以 说 明 一 切 社 会 现 象 。 他 们 看 到

    在 他 们 时 代 中 已 经 非 常 触 目 的 事 实 ， 即 人 类 所 遵 守 的 现 实 法

    规 中 ， 比 较 大 的 部 分 都 是 由 “ 契 约 ” 设 定 的 ， 只 有 少 数 是 由

    “ 强 行 法 ” 设 定 的 。 但 是 ， 他 们 对 于 法 律 学 中 这 两 个 要 素 的 历

    史 关 系 ， 或 者 是 一 无 所 知 ， 或 者 是 漠 不 关 心 。 因 此 ， 他 们 提

    出 一 切 “ 法 律 ” 源 自 “ 契 约 ” 的 理 论 ， 其 目 的 是 在 满 足 他 们

    的 尝 试 ， 要 把 所 有 法 律 学 归 因 于 一 个 一 致 渊 源 的 纯 理 论 ， 同

    时 也 在 规 避 主 张 “ 强 行 法 ” 来 自 神 授 的 各 种 学 理 。 在 另 一 个

    思 想 阶 段 中 ， 他 们 可 能 满 足 于 把 他 们 的 理 论 停 留 在 一 个 巧 妙假 设 或 一 个 便 利 的 口 头 公 式 的 情 况 中 。 但 这 个 时 代 ， 是 在 法

    律 迷 信 的 统 治 之 下 。 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 已 不 再 是 似 是 而 非 的 东 西 了 ，

    因 此 ， 在 坚 持 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 是 一 种 历 史 事 实 时 ， 就 很 容 易 使

    “ 法 律 ” 起 源 于 契 约 的 理 论 获 得 一 种 虚 伪 的 真 实 性 和 明 确 性 。

    我 们 自 己 的 一 代 已 经 摈 弃 了 这 些 错 误 的 法 律 理 论 ， 部 分

    由 于 我 们 已 经 超 过 了 他 们 所 处 的 智 力 状 态 ， 部 分 由 于 我 们 已

    经 几 乎 完 全 停 止 再 在 这 类 主 题 上 进 行 推 理 。 喜 爱 研 究 的 人 们

    在 目 前 所 乐 于 从 事 的 工 作 ， 以 及 答 复 我 们 祖 先 对 社 会 状 态 起

    源 所 持 纯 理 论 的 工 作 ， 是 对 现 在 存 在 和 在 我 们 眼 前 活 动 的 社

    会 进 行 分 析 ； 但 是 ， 由 于 缺 少 历 史 的 帮 助 ， 这 种 分 析 就 时 常

    退 化 而 成 为 一 种 徒 然 是 好 奇 心 的 活 动 ， 并 且 特 别 容 易 使 研 究

    者 不 能 理 解 和 他 所 习 见 的 有 很 大 不 同 的 社 会 状 态 。 用 我 们 自

    己 时 代 的 道 德 观 念 来 评 价 其 他 时 代 的 人 们 ， 其 错 误 正 如 假 定

    现 代 社 会 机 器 中 的 每 一 个 轮 子 、 每 一 只 螺 钉 在 较 原 始 的 社 会

    中 都 有 其 相 对 物 的 那 样 错 误 。 在 用 现 代 风 格 写 成 的 历 史 著 作

    中 ， 这 类 印 象 繁 衍 很 广 ， 并 且 都 很 巧 妙 地 掩 盖 着 它 们 自 己 ； 但

    是 我 在 法 律 学 的 领 域 中 也 发 现 了 它 们 的 痕 迹 ， 如 一 般 对 孟 德

    斯 鸠 穿 插 在 其 “ 波 斯 人 信 札 ”中 有 关

    “ 穴 居 人 ” （ Ｔ ｒ ｏ ｇ ｌ ｏ ｄ ｙ ｔ ｅ ｓ ） 的 小 寓 言 所 作 的 颂 扬 中 。 据 说 “ 穴居 人 ” 是 一 种 人 ， 由 于 他 们 系 统 地 破 坏 其 “ 契 约 ” ， 因 而 全 部

    遭 受 灭 亡 。 如 果 这 个 故 事 表 示 着 著 者 意 中 的 道 德 观 念 ， 并 且

    是 用 以 暴 露 这 一 世 纪 和 上 一 个 世 纪 曾 受 到 其 威 胁 的 一 种 反 社

    会 异 端 ， 这 诚 然 是 无 可 指 摘 的 ； 但 如 果 由 它 而 得 到 的 推 论 是 ：

    一 个 社 会 在 允 约 和 合 意 上 如 果 没 有 给 予 一 种 神 圣 性 ， 而 这 种

    神 圣 性 与 一 个 成 熟 文 明 所 给 予 的 尊 敬 相 类 似 ， 这 个 社 会 就 不可 能 结 合 在 一 起 ， 则 它 所 含 有 的 错 误 将 是 非 常 严 重 的 ， 它 将使 我 们 对 于 法 律 史 不 能 作 出 正 确 的 理 解 。 事 实 是 ， “ 穴 居 人 ”

    完 全 没 有 注 意 到 “ 契 约 ” 责 任 ， 却 曾 兴 旺 起 来 ， 建 立 过 强 有

    力 的 国 家 。 在 原 始 社 会 组 织 中 ， 必 须 首 先 了 解 的 一 点 是 ， 个

    人 并 不 为 其 自 己 设 定 任 何 权 利 ， 也 不 为 其 自 己 设 定 任 何 义 务 。

    他 所 应 遵 守 的 规 则 ， 首 先 来 自 他 所 出 生 的 场 所 ， 其 次 来 自 他

    作 为 其 中 成 员 的 户 主 所 给 他 的 强 行 命 令 。 在 这 样 制 度 下 ， 就

    很 少 有 “ 契 约 ” 活 动 的 余 地 。 同 一 家 族 的 成 员 之 间 （ 我 们 得

    这 样 来 解 释 证 据 ） 是 完 全 不 能 相 互 缔 结 契 约 的 ， 对 于 其 从 属

    成 员 中 任 何 一 人 企 图 拘 束 家 族 而 作 出 的 合 意 ， 家 族 有 权 置 之

    不 理 。 诚 然 ， 家 族 得 与 其 他 家 族 缔 结 契 约 ， 族 长 得 与 族 长 缔

    结 契 约 ， 但 这 种 交 易 在 性 质 上 和 财 产 的 让 与 相 同 ， 并 同 样 地

    有 许 多 繁 文 缛 节 ， 只 要 在 履 行 时 忽 略 其 中 一 个 细 节 就 足 以 使

    义 务 归 于 无 效 。 由 于 一 个 人 对 另 外 一 个 人 的 话 加 以 信 赖 而 产

    生 积 极 义 务 ， 是 进 步 文 明 最 迟 缓 的 胜 利 品 之 一 。

    无 论 是 “ 古 代 法 ” 或 是 任 何 其 他 证 据 ， 都 没 有 告 诉 我 们

    有 一 种 毫 无 “ 契 约 ” 概 念 的 社 会 。 这 种 概 念 在 最 初 出 现 时 ， 显

    然 是 极 原 始 的 。 在 可 靠 的 原 始 记 录 中 ， 我 们 都 可 以 注 意 到 ， 使

    我 们 实 践 一 个 允 约 的 习 性 还 没 有 完 全 发 展 ， 种 种 罪 恶 昭 彰 不

    信 不 义 的 行 为 常 被 提 到 ， 竟 毫 无 非 难 ， 有 时 反 加 以 赞 许 。 例

    如 ， 在 荷 马 文 学 中 ， 优 烈 锡 士 的 欺 诈 狡 猾 ， 好 象 是 和 纳 斯 佗

    （ Ｎ ｅ ｓ ｔ ｏ ｒ ） 的 智 虑 明 达 、 海 克 佗 （ Ｈ ｅ － ｃ ｔ ｏ ｒ ） 的 坚 毅 不 拔 以 及亚 济 里 斯 （ Ａ ｃ ｈ ｉ ｌ ｌ ｅ ｓ ） 的 英 雄 豪 侠 处 于 同 等 的 一 种 美 德 。 古 代

    法 特 别 使 我 看 到 粗 糙 形 式 的 和 成 熟 时 期 的 “ 契 约 ” 间 存 在 着

    一 个 很 远 的 距 离 。 在 开 始 时 ， 法 律 对 于 强 迫 履 行 一 个 允 约 ， 并不 加 以 干 预 。 使 法 律 执 有 制 裁 武 器 的 ， 不 是 一 个 允 约 ， 而 是

    附 着 一 种 庄 严 仪 式 的 允 约 。 仪 式 不 但 和 允 约 本 身 有 同 样 的 重

    要 性 ， 仪 式 并 且 还 比 允 约 更 为 重 要 ； 因 为 成 熟 的 法 律 学 着 重

    于 仔 细 分 析 据 供 一 个 特 定 的 口 头 同 意 的 心 理 条 件 ， 而 在 古 代

    法 中 则 着 重 于 附 着 在 仪 式 上 的 言 语 和 动 作 。 如 果 有 一 个 形 式

    被 遗 漏 了 或 用 错 了 ， 则 誓 约 就 不 能 强 行 ， 但 是 ， 在 另 一 方 面 ，

    如 果 所 有 形 式 经 表 明 已 完 全 正 确 进 行 ， 则 纵 使 以 允 约 是 在 威

    胁 或 欺 骗 之 下 作 出 为 辩 解 ， 也 属 徒 然 。 从 这 样 一 种 古 代 的 看

    法 ， 转 变 而 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 熟 习 观 念 ， 其 转 化 过 程 在 法

    律 学 史 中 是 显 然 可 见 的 。 在 起 初 ， 仪 式 中 有 一 个 或 二 个 步 骤

    省 略 了 ； 后 来 其 他 的 也 简 化 了 或 者 在 某 种 条 件 下 忽 略 了 ； 最

    后 ， 少 数 特 殊 的 契 约 从 其 他 契 约 中 分 离 出 来 ， 准 许 不 经 任 何

    仪 式 而 缔 结 定 约 ， 这 种 选 定 的 契 约 都 是 些 社 会 交 往 活 动 和 力

    量 所 依 靠 的 。 心 头 的 约 定 从 繁 文 缛 节 中 迟 缓 地 但 是 非 常 显 著

    地 分 离 出 来 ， 并 且 逐 渐 地 成 为 法 学 专 家 兴 趣 集 中 的 唯 一 要 素 。

    这 种 心 头 约 定 通 过 外 界 行 为 而 表 示 ， 罗 马 人 称 之 为 一 个 “ 合

    约 ” （ Ｐ ａ ｃ ｔ ） 或 “ 协 议 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｖ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） ； 当 “ 协 议 ” 一 度 视 为

    一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 核 心 时 ， 在 前 进 中 的 法 律 学 不 久 就 产 生 了 一

    种 倾 向 ， 使 契 约 逐 渐 和 其 形 式 和 仪 式 的 外 壳 脱 离 。 在 这 以 后 ，

    形 式 只 在 为 了 要 保 证 真 实 性 和 为 了 要 保 证 谨 慎 和 细 心 时 才 加

    保 留 。 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 观 念 是 完 全 地 发 展 了 ， 或 者 ， 用 罗 马

    人 的 用 语 来 说 ， “ 契 约 ” 是 吸 收 在 “ 合 约 ” 中 了 。

    罗 马 法 律 中 这 个 变 更 过 程 的 历 史 ， 是 非 常 有 启 发 性 的 。 在

    法 律 学 的 最 初 曙 光 期 ， 用 以 表 示 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 名 词 是 历 史

    “ 拉 丁 语 法 ” 学 者 很 熟 悉 的 一 个 名 词 。 这 就 是 “ 耐 克 逊 ” ， 契约 的 两 造 称 为 “ 耐 克 先 ” （ ｎ ｅ ｘ ｉ ， ） ， 这 两 个 用 语 必 须 特 别 注 意 ，

    由 于 它 们 所 依 据 的 隐 喻 特 别 持 久 。 在 一 个 契 约 合 意 下 的 人 们

    由 一 个 强 有 力 的 ·

    约 ·

    束 或 ·

    连 ·

    锁 联 结 在 一 起 ， 这 个 观 念 一 直 继 续

    着 ， 直 到 最 后 影 响 着 罗 马 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 ； 并 且 由 这 里 顺

    流 而 下 ， 它 和 各 种 现 代 观 念 混 合 起 来 。 然 则 在 这 耐 克 逊 或 约

    束 中 ， 究 竟 包 括 些 什 么 ？ 从 一 个 拉 丁 考 古 学 家 传 下 来 的 一 个

    定 义 ， 认 为 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 ·

    每 ·

    一 ·

    种 ·

    用 ·

    铜 ·

    片 ·

    和 ·

    衡 ·

    具 ·

    的 ·

    交 ·

    易 　 （ ｏ ｍ ｎ ｅ ｑ ｕ ｏ ｄ 　 ｇ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｔ ｕ ｒ 　 ｐ ｅ ｒ 　 Eｓ 　 ｅ ｔ 　 ｌ ｉ ｂ ｒ ａ ｍ ） ， 这 些 文 字 曾 引 起 了许 多 疑 惑 。 铜 片 和 衡 具 是 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 著 名 附 属 物 ， 即在 前 章 中 描 述 过 的 古 代 仪 式 ， 通 过 这 种 仪 式 “ 罗 马 财 产 ” 最高 形 式 中 的 所 有 权 就 由 一 个 人 移 转 到 另 外 一 个 人 。 “ 曼 企 帕 地荷 ” 是 一 种让与 ， 因 此 就 发 生 了 一 个 困 难 ， 因 为 这 样 的 定 义似 乎 把 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 混 淆 起 来 了 ， 而 在 法 律 哲 学 上 ， 它们 不 仅 仅 是 各 别 的 ， 而 且 在 实 际 上 是 相 互 对 立 的 。物权 （ ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｒ ｅ ） 、对世权 （ ｒ ｉ ｇ ｈ ｔ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｒ ｅ ｍ ） ， 即 “ 对 全 世 界 有 效的 ” 权 利 或 “ 财 产 所 有 权 ” ， 在 成 熟 法 律 学 的 分 析 中 是 和 人 权　 （ ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 ａ ｄ 　 ｒ ｅ ｍ ） 、 对 人 权 （ ｒ ｉ ｇ ｈ ｔ 　 ｉ ｎ 　 ｐ ｅ ｒ ｓ ｏ ｎ ａ ｍ ） ， 即 “ 对一 单 独 个 人 或 团 体 有 效 的 ” 权 利 或 债 权 ， 有 明 显 的 区 别 的 。

    “ 让 与 ” 转 移 “ 财 产 所 有 权 ” ， “ 契 约 ” 创 设 “ 债 权 ” — — 然 则，这 两 者 怎 样 会 包 括 在 同 一 的 名 称 或 同 一 的 一 般 概 念 之 下 ？ 这

    和 许 多 相 似 的 困 难 一 样 ， 是 由 于 把 显 然 属 于 智 力 发 展 进 步 阶

    段 的 一 种 能 力 ， 把 在 实 践 上 混 合 在 一 起 的 各 种 纯 理 论 观 点 加

    以 区 别 的 能 力 ， 错 误 地 认 为 属 于 一 个 未 成 形 社 会 的 心 理 状 态

    而 产 生 的 。 我 们 有 不 可 误 解 的 有 关 社 会 事 务 状 态 的 各 种 迹 象 ，

    证 明 “ 让 与 ” 和 “ 契 约 ” 在 实 际 上 是 混 淆 不 分 的 ； 同 时 ， 直到 人 们 在 缔 约 和 让 与 中 采 用 一 种 各 别 的 实 践 前 ， 这 两 个 概 念的 差 异 从 来 没 有 为 人 们 所 领 会 到 。

    这 里 可 以 看 到 ， 我 们 对 古 罗 马 法 已 具 有 足 够 的 知 识 ， 使我 们 可 以 提 供 一 些 在 法 律 学 萌 芽 时 代 各 种 法 律 概 念 和 法 律 用语 所 遵 循 的 转 化 方 式 的 大 概 。 它 们 所 经 历 的 变 更 似 乎 是 从 一

    般 到 特 殊 的 一 种 变 更 ； 或 者 ， 换 言 之 ， 古 代 的 概 念 和 古 代 的

    名 词 是 处 于 逐 渐 专 门 化 的 过 程 中 。 一 个 古 代 的 法 律 概 念 相 当

    于 不 仅 一 个 而 是 几 个 现 代 概 念 。 一 个 古 代 的 专 门 术 语 可 以 用

    来 表 示 许 多 东 西 ， 这 些 东 西 在 现 代 法 律 中 分 别 具 有 各 种 不 同

    的 名 称 。 如 果 我 们 研 究 下 一 阶 段 的 法 律 学 史 ， 我 们 就 可 以 看

    到 次 要 的 概 念 逐 渐 地 被 解 脱 出 来 ， 旧 的 一 般 的 名 称 正 为 特 别

    的 名 称 所 代 替 。 旧 的 一 般 概 念 并 没 有 被 遗 忘 ， 但 它 已 不 再 包

    括 它 起 初 包 括 的 一 种 或 几 种 观 点 。 因 此 同 样 的 ， 古 代 的 专 门

    术 语 依 旧 存 在 ， 但 它 只 执 行 着 它 以 前 一 度 具 有 的 许 多 职 能 中

    的 一 种 。 我 们 可 以 从 许 多 方 面 来 证 明 这 种 现 象 。 例 如 ， 各 式

    各 样 的 “ 父 权 ” 在 过 去 曾 一 度 被 认 为 是 属 于 同 一 性 质 的 ， 它

    也 无 疑 地 被 归 属 于 一 个 名 称 之 下 。 祖 先 所 行 使 的 权 力 ， 不 论

    它 是 对 家 族 或 是 对 物 质 财 产 — — 对 牛 、 羊 、 奴 隶 、 子 女 或 妻— — 行 使 的 统 是 一 样 的 。 我 们 不 能 绝 对 地 确 定 权 力 的 旧 的 罗马 名 称 ， 但 我 们 有 强 有 力 的 理 由 相 信 ：曼奴斯 （ ｍ ａ ｎ ｕ ｓ ） 能 表示 各 种 不 同 程 度 的权力 ， 就 可 知 道 古 代 对 于权力 的 一 般 名 词

    是曼奴斯 。 但 是 ， 当 罗 马 法 稍 稍 进 步 了 后 ， 名 称 和 观 念 都 专

    门 化 了 。 “ 权 力 ” 按 照 着 它 所 行 使 的 对 象 而 在 文 字 上 或 在 概 念上 明 确 地 区 分 了 。 对 物 质 商 品 或 奴 隶 行 使 的 权 力 ， 成 为完全所有权 — — 对 儿 女 ， 称 为家父权 — — ， 对 那 些 已 被 他 们 的 祖先 把 他 们 的 劳 役 卖 给 了 别 人 的 自 由 人 ， 称 为曼企帕因 — — ， 对妻 子 ， 则 仍 然 是 曼 奴 斯 。 可 以 看 到 ， 旧 的 文 字 并 没 有 完 全 废止 ， 只 是 限 制 于 它 以 前 表 示 的 权 限 的 一 种 特 定 的 行 使 上 而 已 。

    这 个 例 子 可 以 使 我 们 理 解 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 在 历 史 上 所 发生 的 关 联 的 性 质 。 一 切 要 式 行 为 在 开 始 时 可 能 只 有 一 种 庄 严的 仪 式 ， 在 罗 马 ， 它 的 名 称 在 过 去 似 乎 就 是耐克逊 。 过 去 在让 与 财 产 时 所 用 的 同 样 形 式 ， 后 来 似 乎 就 恰 恰 被 用 于 缔 结 一个 契 约 。 但 经 过 不 多 时 候 ， 我 们 到 达 了 这 样 一 个 时 期 ， 当 时一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 观 念 又 被 从 一 个 “ 让 与 ” 的 观 念 中 分 离 了 出来 。 这 样 ， 就 发 生 了 一 个 双 重 的 变 化 。 “ 用 铜 片 和 衡 具 ” 的 交易 ， 当 它 的 目 的 是 在 移 转 财 产 时 ， 采 用 了 一 个 新 的 、 特 殊 的名 称 ， “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 。 而 古 代 的 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 则 仍 旧 用 以 表 示原 来 的 仪 式 ， 但 这 样 仪 式 只 被 用 于 使 契 约 庄 严 化 的 特 殊 目 的 。

    当 我 们 说 ： 在 古 代 二 种 或 三 种 法 律 概 念 往 往 混 合 为 一 ， 我们 的 意 思 并 不 是 在 暗 示 ： 在 这 些 包 括 在 一 起 的 几 个 观 念 之 中

    不 可 能 有 一 种 观 念 会 比 其 他 各 种 观 念 古 老 一 些 ， 或 者 ， 在 几

    个 观 念 形 成 时 ， 也 不 可 能 有 一 种 观 念 会 较 其 他 观 念 显 著 地 占

    优 势 ， 并 居 于 它 们 之 上 。 为 什 么 一 个 法 律 概 念 会 继 续 长 期 包

    括 几 个 概 念 ， 一 个 术 语 会 代 替 几 个 术 语 ， 其 理 由 无 疑 地 是 因

    为 在 原 始 社 会 中 ， 往 往 在 人 们 有 机 会 注 意 或 给 与 适 当 名 称 之

    前 ， 法 律 在 实 践 上 很 早 已 发 生 了 变 化 。 虽 然 我 们 已 说 过 ， “ 父

    权 ” 在 最 初 时 并 不 是 因 它 所 行 使 的 对 象 的 不 同 而 有 所 区 分 ， 然

    我 确 切 地 感 到 ， “ 对 子 女 的 权 力 ” （ Ｐ ｏ ｗ ｅ ｒ 　 ｏ ｖ ｅ ｒ 　 Ｃ ｈ ｉ ｌ ｄ － ｒ ｅ ｎ ） 实 即 是 古 代 “ 权 力 ” 概 念 的 基 础 ； 我 也 深 信 在 最 早 应 用“ 耐 克 逊 ” 时 ， 也 即 是 在 原 来 应 用 它 的 人 们 的 心 目 中 ， “ 耐 克逊 ” 的 作 用 是 在 使 财 产 的 移 转 有 适 当 的 庄 严 仪 式 。 大 概 “ 耐克 逊 ” 的 略 微 歪 曲 其 原 来 的 职 能 ， 最 初 是 为 了 使 它 适 用 于

    “ 契 约 ” ， 而 由 于 它 改 变 的 程 度 十 分 轻 微 ， 所 以 人 们 长 期 没 有

    觉 察 或 注 意 到 。 旧 的 名 称 仍 旧 保 留 着 ， 因 为 人 们 没 有 感 觉 到

    他 们 需 要 一 个 新 的 名 称 。 旧 的 观 念 盘 踞 在 人 们 脑 中 ， 因 为 没

    有 人 发 现 有 理 由 要 费 心 来 研 究 它 。 这 种 情 况 ， 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 史

    中 已 有 了 明 白 的 例 证 。 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 在 最 初 只 是 简 单 的 财 产

    移 转 。 只 在 这 种 特 殊 让 与 和 一 切 其 他 让 与 之 间 逐 渐 发 生 了 巨

    大 的 实 践 上 的 差 别 ， 才 使 这 种 让 与 被 分 别 对 待 ， 即 使 是 这 样 ，

    也 还 需 要 经 过 几 个 世 纪 以 后 ， 法 律 改 良 者 才 把 这 名 义 上 的 曼

    企 帕 地 荷 ， 作 为 无 用 的 累 赘 而 加 以 清 除 ， 并 同 意 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 中

    除 了 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 明 白 意 思 外 ， 其 他 一 切 都 非 必 要 。 不 幸 的

    是 ， 我 们 无 法 以 对 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 早 期 史 的 绝 对 信 心 来 追 溯 “ 契约 ” 的 早 期 史 ， 但 我 们 并 非 完 全 没 有 暗 示 ， 说 明 契 约 在 最 初出 现 时 是 把耐克逊 放 在 一 种 新 的 应 用 中 ， 后 来 通 过 实 际 试 验获 得 了 重 要 效 果 ， 被 承 认 为 一 种 各 别 的 交 易 。 下 述 过 程 的 描写 虽 然 是 出 于 臆 测 ， 但 并 非 全 无 根 据 。 我 们 试 以 一 次 现 款 买

    卖 作 为 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 通 常 形 式 。 出 卖 人 携 带 他 意 欲 处 分 的 财

    产 — — 例 如 一 个 奴 隶 — — 买 受 人 带 来 了 他 用 作 金 钱 的 粗 铜 块— — 还 有 一 个 不 可 缺 少 的 助 手 ， 即司秤 ， 他 带 来 了 一 个 天 平秤 。 通 过 规 定 手 续 ， 奴 隶 被 移 交 给 买 受 人 — — 铜 块 经司秤秤过 ， 然 后 移 交 给 出 卖 人 。 在 这 交 易 继 续 进 行 的 过 程 中 ， 我 们称 之 为耐克逊 ， 买 卖 的 双 方 是 耐 克 先 ； 但 一 当 交 易 完 成 后 ，耐克逊 就 告 中 止 ， 出 卖 人 和 买 受 人 即 不 再 具 有 他 们 因 这 暂 时 关

    系 而 产 生 的 名 称 。 在 这 里 ， 我 们 试 再 根 据 商 业 史 的 发 展 向 前跨 进 一 步 。 假 定 奴 隶 是 移 转 了 ， 但 没 有 付 钱 。 在这 ·

    种 情 况 下 ，

    就 出 卖 人 说 ， ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 完 成 了 ， 并 且 当 他 已 移 交 其 财 产 后 ， 他

    已 不 再 是 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    苏 ·

    斯 （ ｎ ｅ ｘ ｕ ｓ ） ； 但 就 买 受 人 说 ， 耐 克 逊 仍 在 继

    续 着 。 就 他 的 部 分 而 论 ， 交 易 还 未 完 成 ， 他 仍 被 认 为 是 耐 克

    苏 斯 。 因 此 ， 可 以 看 到 ， 这 同 一 名 词 在 一 方 面 是 指 财 产 凭 以

    移 转 的 “ 让 与 ” ， 在 另 一 方 面 又 是 指 债 务 人 对 于 还 没 有 偿 付 的

    买 价 的 个 人 债 务 。 我 们 还 可 以 更 进 一 步 ， 假 设 一 种 程 序 是 完

    全 属 于 形 式 ， 在 这 程 序 中 并 ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    东 ·

    西 移 转 ， 也 ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    东 ·

    西 偿 付 ；

    这 就 表 明 了 一 种 更 高 级 商 业 活 动 的 交 易 ， 一 种 ·

    将 ·

    来 ·

    生 ·

    效 ·

    的 ·

    买

    ·

    卖 ·

    契 ·

    约 （ ｅ ｘ ｅ ｃ ｕ ｔ ｏ ｒ ｙ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｔ ｒ ａ ｃ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｓ ａ ｌ ｅ ） 。

    如 果 在 一 般 见 解 和 职 业 见 解 中 ， 真 的 都 把 一 个 契 约 长 期

    地 认 为 是 一 种 不 ·

    完 ·

    全 ·

    的 ·

    让 ·

    与 ， 这 个 真 理 的 重 要 性 是 有 多 种 理

    由 的 。 在 上 一 世 纪 中 ， 有 关 人 类 在 自 然 状 态 中 的 各 种 纯 理 论

    被 概 括 为 这 样 一 个 学 理 ， 即 “ 在 原 始 社 会 中 财 产 是 不 当 什 么

    的 ， 被 重 视 的 只 有 债 务 ” ， 这 并 非 是 完 全 不 适 当 的 ； 但 现 在 可

    以 看 到 ， 如 果 把 这 个 命 题 颠 倒 过 来 ， 可 能 会 更 接 近 于 实 际 。 另

    一 方 面 ， 从 历 史 上 考 虑 ， “ 让 与 ” 和 “ 契 约 ” 在 原 始 时 代 的 联

    系 ， 说 明 了 某 些 常 被 学 者 和 法 学 家 认 为 特 别 难 以 解 释 的 东 西 ，

    我 的 意 思 是 指 ： 极 古 法 律 制 度 中 一 般 都 对 于 ·

    债 ·

    务 ·

    人 非 常 苛 酷 ，

    并 给 与 ·

    债 ·

    权 ·

    人 以 过 分 的 权 力 。 当 我 们 一 度 懂 得 了 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 被

    人 为 地 延 长 了 以 使 债 务 人 有 一 定 的 时 间 ， 我 们 就 可 以 更 好 地

    理 解 他 在 公 众 和 法 律 之 前 的 地 位 。 他 的 负 债 无 疑 地 被 认 为 是

    一 种 变 例 ， 而 中 止 付 款 一 般 被 认 为 是 一 种 诡 计 和 对 于 严 格 的

    规 定 的 一 种 歪 曲 。 相 反 的 ， 凡 是 在 交 易 中 正 当 地 完 成 其 任 务

    的 人 ， 必 为 人 所 尊 重 ； 那 就 很 自 然 的 要 使 他 掌 握 紧 急 的 武 器以 便 强 使 程 序 完 成 ， 这 个 程 序 严 格 地 讲 ， 是 决 不 应 该 准 许 展

    期 或 迟 延 的 。

    因 此 ， “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 原 意 是 一 种 财 产 让 与 ， 在 不 知 不 觉 中

    也 用 来 表 示 一 个 “ 契 约 ” ， 并 且 ， 在 最 后 ， 这 个 字 和 一 个 “ 契

    约 ” 观 念 经 常 发 生 联 系 ， 不 得 不 用 一 个 特 定 名 词 即 “ 曼 企 帕

    因 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 来 表 明 真 正 的 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 或 交 易 ， 这

    样 财 产 是 真 正 的 移 转 了 。 现 在 ， “ 契 约 ” 便 从 “ 让 与 ” 中 分 离

    出 来 ， 它 们 的 历 史 的 第 一 阶 段 于 是 完 成 了 。 但 它 们 发 展 到 这

    样 一 个 时 期 ， 即 缔 约 者 的 允 约 要 比 附 带 进 行 的 手 续 程 序 有 更

    高 神 圣 性 的 时 期 ， 则 还 有 很 大 一 段 距 离 。 为 了 说 明 这 一 时 期

    中 所 发 生 的 变 化 的 性 质 ， 必 须 略 为 越 出 本 文 范 围 之 外 ， 研 究

    一 下 罗 马 法 学 专 家 关 于 “ 合 意 ” 的 分 析 。 这 种 分 析 ， 是 他 们

    智 慧 最 美 丽 的 纪 念 碑 ， 在 这 分 析 中 ， 我 只 须 约 略 提 一 下 ， 它

    把 “ 债 ” 和 “ 协 议 ” 或 “ 合 约 ” 在 理 论 上 加 以 分 开 。 边 沁 和

    奥 斯 丁 先 生 宣 称 ， “ 一 个 契 约 有 两 个 要 素 ： 首 先 ， 要 约 者 一 造

    表 示 ·

    意 ·

    向 ， 要 做 他 约 定 要 做 的 行 为 或 遵 守 他 约 定 要 遵 守 的 不

    行 为 。 其 次 ， 是 受 约 者 表 示 他 ·

    预 ·

    期 要 约 者 一 造 履 行 其 提 出 的

    允 约 ” 。 这 在 实 际 上 是 和 罗 马 法 律 家 的 学 理 完 全 相 同 的 ， 但 在

    他 们 的 见 解 中 ， 这 些 “ 表 示 ” 的 结 果 不 是 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 而 是

    一 个 “ 协 议 ” 或 “ 合 约 ” 。 一 个 “ 合 约 ” 是 个 人 相 互 间 同 意 的

    极 端 产 物 ， 它 显 然 还 不 够 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 。 它 最 后 是 否 会 成

    为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” ， 要 看 法 律 是 否 把 一 个 “ 债 ” 附 加 上 去 。 一 个

    “ 契 约 ” 是 一 个 “ 合 约 ” （ 或 “ 协 议 ” ） ·

    加 ·

    上 一 个 “ 债 ” 。 在 这

    个 “ 合 约 ” 还 没 有 附 带 着 “ 债 ” 的 时 候 ， 它 称 为 ·

    空 ·

    虚 （ ｎ ｕ ｄ ｅ 或 ｎ ａ ｋ ｅ ｄ ） 合 约。

    什 么 是 一 个 “ 债 ” ？ 罗 马 法 律 家 的 定 义 是 ： “ 应 负 担 履 行

    义 务 的 法 锁 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ｓ 　 ｖ ｉ ｎ ｃ ｕ ｌ ｕ ｍ ， ｑ ｕ ｏ 　 ｍ ｅ ｃ ｅ ｓ ｓ ｉ ｔ ａ ｔ ｅ 　 ａ ｄ Aｓ ｔ ｒ ｉ ｎ ｇ ｉ ｍ ｕ ｒ 　 ａ ｌ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 ｓ ｏ ｌ ｖ ｅ ｎ ｄ E　 ｒ ｅ ｉ ） 。 这 个 定 义 通 过 它 们 所

    根 据 的 共 同 隐 喻 而 把 “ 债 ” 和 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 联 系 起 来 ， 并 明 白

    告 诉 我 们 一 个 特 殊 概 念 的 体 系 。 “ 债 ” 是 法 律 用 以 把 人 或 集 体

    的 人 结 合 在 一 起 的 “ 束 缚 ” 或 “ 锁 链 ” ， 作 为 某 种 自 愿 行 为 的

    后 果 。 凡 引 起 “ 债 ” 的 效 果 的 行 为 ， 主 要 是 那 些 归 类 在 “ 契

    约 ” 和 “ 侵 权 ” 、 “ 合 意 ” 和 ” 损 害 ” 等 题 目 之 下 的 行 为 ； 但

    是 有 许 多 其 他 行 为 能 造 成 类 似 后 果 的 ， 却 不 能 包 括 在 一 种 确

    切 分 类 中 。 应 予 注 意 的 是 ， 行 为 并 不 是 由 于 任 何 道 德 上 的 必

    要 而 使 它 自 己 负 上 “ 债 ” 的 ； 这 是 由 法 律 根 据 其 充 沛 的 权 力

    而 附 加 上 去 的 ， 这 是 非 常 有 必 要 加 以 注 意 的 一 点 ， 因 为 “ 市

    民 法 ” 的 现 代 解 释 者 有 时 提 出 了 一 个 不 同 的 学 理 ， 并 以 他 们

    自 己 道 德 的 或 形 而 上 学 的 理 论 来 作 为 支 持 。 ·

    法 ·

    锁 的 意 象 沾 染

    了 和 渗 透 了 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 侵 权 ” 法 律 的 每 一 个 部 分 。 法

    律 把 各 当 事 人 拘 束 在 一 起 ， ·

    锁 ·

    链 只 有 通 过 称 为 ·

    清 ·

    偿 （ ｓ ｏ ｌ ｕ ｔ ｉ ｏ ）

    的 程 序 才 能 解 除 ， 清 偿 也 是 一 个 借 喻 的 用 语 ， 英 语 中 的 “ 支

    付 ” 只 偶 尔 地 和 它 的 意 义 相 同 。 这 借 喻 的 意 象 借 以 表 现 其 自

    己 的 一 致 性 ， 说 明 了 罗 马 法 律 用 语 上 另 一 个 在 其 他 情 况 下 很

    难 解 释 的 特 性 ， 即 “ 债 ” 既 表 示 权 利 ， 也 表 示 义 务 ， 例 如 使

    债 务 清 偿 之 权 以 及 清 偿 债 务 的 义 务 。 事 实 上 罗 马 人 把 “ 法 律

    上 的 锁 链 ” 的 全 貌 放 在 他 们 的 眼 前 ， 对 其 一 端 的 重 视 不 多 也

    不 少 于 其 他 一 端 。

    在 进 步 的 罗 马 法 中 ， “ 协 议 ” 在 完 成 以 后 ， 几 乎 在 所 有 情

    况 下 ， 都 立 即 把 “ 债 ” 加 上 去 ， 于 是 就 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” ； 这是 契 约 法 必 然 要 趋 向 的 结 果 。 但 为 了 进 一 步 研 究 ， 我 们 必 须

    特 别 注 意 其 中 间 阶 段 — — 即 除 了 一 个 完 全 的 合 意 之 外 ， 还 需

    要 某 种 东 西 来 吸 引 “ 债 ” 的 阶 段 。 这 个 时 期 正 是 把 契 约 分 成

    四 类 — — 即 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 、 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 、 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 和 “ 诺

    成 契 约 ” （ ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｖ ｅ ｒ ｂ ａ ｌ ， ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｌ ｉ ｔ ｅ ｒ ａ ｌ ， ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｒ ｅ ａ ｌ ， ａ ｎ ｄ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ

    　 Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｓ ｕ ａ ｌ ） — — 的 著 名 的 罗 马 分 类 法 开 始 应 用 的 时 期 ， 在

    这 个 时 期 内 ， 这 四 类 “ 契 约 ” 也 是 法 律 所 要 强 制 执 行 的 仅 有

    的 四 类 契 约 。 这 个 分 类 的 意 义 ， 在 我 们 理 解 了 把 “ 债 ” 从

    “ 协 议 ” 中 分 离 出 来 的 理 论 后 ， 立 即 可 以 理 会 。 每 一 类 的 契 约

    实 际 上 都 是 根 据 某 种 手 续 而 命 名 的 ， 这 些 手 续 是 除 了 缔 约 两

    造 仅 仅 的 合 意 以 外 所 必 需 的 。 在 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 中 ， 一 待 “ 协

    议 ” 完 成 以 后 ， 必 须 要 经 过 一 种 言 辞 的 形 式 才 能 使 法 锁 附 着

    在 它 上 面 。 在 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 中 ， 登 入 总 帐 簿 或 记 事 簿 能 使

    “ 协 议 ” 具 有 “ 债 ” 的 效 力 ， 在 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 的 情 况 下 ， 送 达

    作 为 预 约 主 体 的 “ 物 ” 时 ， 才 产 生 同 样 的 结 果 。 总 之 ， 在 每

    一 种 情 况 下 ， 缔 约 的 两 造 必 须 达 到 一 种 谅 解 ； 但 是 ， 如 果 他

    们 不 再 前 进 ， 他 们 在 相 互 之 间 即 不 ·

    负 ·

    义 ·

    务 ， 不 能 强 迫 履 行 或

    在 违 背 信 约 时 要 求 救 济 。 但 如 果 他 们 遵 守 了 某 种 规 定 的 手 续 ，

    “ 契 约 ” 就 立 即 完 成 ， 并 以 所 采 取 的 特 殊 方 式 作 为 它 的 名 称 。

    至 于 这 种 实 践 的 例 外 ， 将 在 下 文 中 加 以 详 述 。

    在 前 面 ， 我 是 根 据 历 史 顺 序 而 列 举 四 类 “ 契 约 ” 的 ， 但

    罗 马 教 科 书 的 著 者 并 不 都 是 一 成 不 变 地 按 照 这 个 顺 序 的 。 “ 口

    头 契 约 ” 是 四 类 契 约 中 最 古 的 一 类 ， 并 且 是 原 始 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 最

    早 的 已 知 的 后 裔 ， 这 是 毫 无 可 疑 的 。 古 代 采 用 的 “ 口 头 契

    约 ” 有 好 几 种 ， 但 其 中 最 重 要 的 、 并 为 我 们 的 权 威 学 者 讨 论到 的 唯 一 的 一 种 是 用约 ·

    定 的 方 法 来 达 成 的 ， 所 谓 约 定 ， 就 是

    一 “ 问 ” 一 “ 答 ” ； 即 由 要 求 允 约 的 人 提 出 问 题 ， 并 由 作 出 允

    约 的 人 给 予 回 答 。 这 个 问 题 和 回 答 ， 像 我 刚 才 解 释 过 的 ， 构

    成 了 原 始 观 念 中 除 了 有 关 系 的 人 们 的 单 纯 的 合 意 之 外 所 必 需

    的 额 外 要 素 。 它 们 成 为 “ 债 ” 借 以 附 加 上 去 的 媒 介 。 古 代 的

    “ 耐 克 逊 ” 现 在 已 经 传 给 较 成 熟 的 法 律 学 的 ， 第 一 件 就 是 锁 链

    的 概 念 ， 它 把 缔 约 两 造 结 合 起 来 ， 而 这 就 成 为 “ 债 ” 。 其 次 传

    下 来 的 是 仪 式 的 观 念 ， 它 伴 随 着 同 时 尊 崇 着 定 约 ， 这 个 仪 式

    已 变 化 而 成 为 “ 约 定 ” 。 原 来 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 主 要 特 点 是 庄 严 让

    与 ， 这 种 庄 严 让 与 转 变 为 单 纯 的 问 题 和 回 答 ， 如 果 我 们 没 有

    罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 史 来 启 发 我 们 ， 将 始 终 是 一 个 秘 密 。 读 了 那 些

    历 史 ， 我 们 可 以 懂 得 正 式 的 “ 让 与 ” 怎 样 先 从 和 手 中 交 易 有

    直 接 关 系 的 手 续 程 序 中 分 离 开 来 ， 后 来 又 完 全 都 省 略 了 。 在

    当 时 ， “ 约 定 ” 的 问 和 答 既 然 无 疑 地 是 一 种 最 简 单 形 式 的 “ 耐

    克 逊 ” ， 我 们 可 以 认 为 这 种 问 和 答 实 早 已 带 有 一 种 专 门 形 式 的

    性 质 。 如 果 认 为 它 们 所 以 为 早 期 的 罗 马 法 律 家 所 欢 迎 ， 完 全

    是 由 于 它 们 能 使 协 议 合 意 的 人 们 有 机 会 来 考 虑 和 回 想 ， 这 是

    错 误 的 。 无 可 否 认 ， 它 们 有 这 样 一 种 的 价 值 ， 这 是 逐 渐 被 承

    认 的 ； 但 根 据 我 们 权 威 著 作 的 陈 述 ， 有 证 据 证 明 它 们 有 关

    “ 契 约 ” 的 职 能 在 起 先 是 形 式 的 和 仪 式 的 ， 并 不 是 每 一 个 问 题

    和 回 答 都 是 自 古 以 来 就 足 以 构 成 一 个 “ 约 定 ” 的 ， 只 有 用 特

    别 适 宜 于 特 定 情 况 的 专 门 术 语 表 白 的 一 个 问 题 和 回 答 ， 才 能

    构 成 一 个 “ 约 定 ” 。

    为 了 正 确 理 解 契 约 法 史 ， 虽 然 必 须 把 “ 约 定 ” 理 解 为 ： 在

    它 被 承 认 为 一 种 有 用 的 担 保 之 前 ， 它 只 是 一 种 庄 严 的 形 式 ， 但是 ， 在 另 一 方 面 ， 如 果 对 它 的 真 正 用 度 视 若 无 睹 ， 也 将 是 错

    误 的 。 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 虽 然 已 不 象 古 代 那 样 重 要 ， 但 它 一 直 被 保

    存 到 罗 马 法 律 学 的 最 后 时 期 ； 我 们 可 以 视 作 当 然 的 ， 在 罗 马

    法 上 没 有 一 种 制 度 如 此 长 期 的 保 存 着 ， 除 非 它 在 实 践 上 确 有

    些 用 处 。 我 在 一 个 英 国 著 者 的 文 章 中 看 到 他 对 罗 马 人 甚 至 在

    最 早 时 期 也 满 足 于 这 种 对 忽 忙 和 缺 乏 深 思 熟 虑 之 处 ， 如 此 疏

    于 防 范 的 情 况 ， 表 示 十 分 惊 奇 。 但 是 如 果 把 约 定 详 细 研 究 一

    下 ， 并 且 记 着 在 我 们 所 涉 及 的 社 会 状 态 里 面 ， 书 面 证 据 是 很

    不 容 易 得 到 的 ， 那 末 我 以 为 ， 我 们 必 须 承 认 这 种 专 门 用 以 满

    足 它 所 要 求 达 到 的 目 的 的 这 种 问 题 和 回 答 ， 可 以 公 允 地 认 为

    是 一 种 高 度 巧 妙 的 办 法 。 ·

    允 ·

    约 ·

    人 以 约 定 人 的 资 格 把 契 约 中 所

    有 的 条 款 用 一 个 问 题 的 形 式 提 出 ， ·

    要 ·

    约 ·

    人 给 予 回 答 。 “ 你 是 否同 意 在 某 某 地 点 某 某 日 期 送 达 给 我 某 某 一 个 奴 隶 ？ ” “ 我 同意 。 ” 现 在 ， 我 们 试 想 一 想 ， 我 们 可 以 看 到 ， 这 个 “ 债 ” 把 允约 用 问 句 的 形 式 提 出 来 ， 就 把 两 造 的 自 然 地 位 给 颠 倒 过 来 了 ，并 且 由 于 有 效 地 破 坏 了 会 话 的 行 程 ， 使 人 注 意 不 到 滑 过 一 个危 险 的 质 权 。 对 于 我 们 ， 一 般 说 来 ， 一 个 口 头 允 约 是 完 全 从要 约 人 的 话 中 得 来 的 。 在 古 罗 马 法 中 ， 另 一 个 步 骤 是 绝 对 需

    要 的 ， 即 允 约 人 在 达 到 合 意 后 必 须 把 所 有 条 件 综 合 在 一 个 庄

    严 的 问 句 中 ； 并 且 ， 在 审 判 时 ， 必 须 提 出 的 证 据 ， 就 是 这 个

    问 句 以 及 对 这 问 句 的 同 意 — — 而 ·

    不 ·

    是 允 约 ， 允 约 本 身 是 没 有

    拘 束 力 的 。 这 个 看 上 去 无 足 轻 重 的 特 点 ， 在 契 约 法 的 用 语 中

    竟 有 这 样 大 的 关 系 ， 这 是 罗 马 法 律 学 的 初 学 者 迅 速 感 觉 到 的 ，

    他 们 最 初 碰 到 的 绊 脚 石 之 一 几 乎 普 遍 地 是 由 它 产 生 的 。 当 我

    们 在 英 文 中 提 到 一 个 契 约 时 ， 为 便 利 起 见 ， 偶 然 把 它 和 契 约两 造 的 一 方 联 系 起 来 时 — — 例 如 ， 如 果 我 们 想 一 般 地 提 到 一

    个 缔 约 人 — — ， 我 们 的 话 所 指 的 总 是 要 约 人 。 但 罗 马 人 的 一

    般 用 语 则 转 向 不 同 的 一 面 ； 它 总 是 从 允 约 人 的 地 位 来 看 契 约

    的 ， 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 说 的 话 。 在 谈 到 一 个 契 约 的 一 造 时 ， 主

    要 谈 到 的 总 是 “ 约 定 人 ” ， 即 提 出 问 题 的 人 。 至 于 约 定 的 用 处 ，

    其 最 生 动 的 实 例 可 参 见 拉 丁 喜 剧 家 的 集 子 。 如 果 有 这 些 段 落

    的 全 部 场 面 经 通 读 一 过 〔 例 如 ， 普 罗 塔 斯 （ Ｐ ｌ ａ ｕ ｔ ｕ ｓ ） 的 “ 说谎 者 ” （ Ｐ ｓ ｅ ｕ ｄ ｏ ｌ ｕ ｓ ） 幕 一 景 一 ； 幕 四 景 六 ； “ 三 个 铜 钱 ” （ Ｔ ｒ ｉ ｎ ｕ ｍ Aｍ ｕ ｓ ） 幕 五 景 二 〕 ， 就 可 以 看 到 思 考 允 约 的 人 的 注 意 力 是 如 何

    有 效 地 为 问 题 所 吸 引 ， 以 及 从 一 个 没 有 预 先 考 虑 好 的 应 承 中

    撤 退 的 机 会 是 如 何 的 充 足 。

    在 “ 文 书 ” 或 “ 书 面 契 约 ” 中 ， 一 个 “ 债 ” 通 过 了 它 而

    加 于 “ 协 议 ” 上 的 正 式 行 为 是 把 可 以 明 白 确 定 的 欠 款 数 目 登

    入 一 本 总 帐 的 借 方 。 为 了 要 说 明 这 种 “ 契 约 ” ， 必 须 了 解 罗 马

    的 家 庭 状 态 ， 古 代 簿 记 的 有 条 不 紊 性 质 和 非 常 的 有 规 律 性 。 古

    罗 马 法 中 有 几 个 小 困 难 ， 例 如 ， 象 “ 奴 隶 特 有 产 ” 的 性 质 ， 只

    有 在 我 们 回 想 起 ： 在 一 个 罗 马 家 庭 中 ， 所 有 成 员 都 严 格 地 对

    其 户 主 负 责 ， 以 及 家 庭 中 每 笔 收 支 在 登 入 草 帐 后 ， 在 一 定 期

    间 内 必 须 转 入 家 庭 总 帐 ， 只 有 明 了 了 这 些 ， 才 能 解 释 清 楚 。 可

    是 ， 就 我 们 所 看 到 的 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 的 描 写 中 ， 是 有 些 不 易 明

    了 之 处 的 ， 原 因 是 登 帐 的 习 惯 在 后 来 已 不 普 遍 了 ， 而 “ 文 书

    契 约 ” 的 用 语 成 了 表 示 和 原 来 所 理 解 的 完 全 不 同 的 一 种 定 约

    的 形 式 。 因 此 ， 我 们 无 法 说 明 ， 关 于 原 始 “ 文 书 契 约 ” ，

    “ 债 ” 的 设 定 究 竟 是 由 债 权 人 一 方 简 单 的 登 入 簿 据 ， 还 是 必 须

    获 得 债 务 人 的 同 意 或 在 其 自 己 的 簿 据 中 同 样 登 记 ， 才 能 发 生法 律 效 力 。 但 是 有 一 个 主 要 之 点 是 可 以 确 定 的 ， 即 在 这 种“ 契 约 ” 中 ， 只 要 条 件 遵 守 了 ， 所 有 的 手 续 都 可 以 省 却 。 这 是

    契 约 法 历 史 中 向 前 推 进 的 另 一 步 。

    根 据 历 史 顺 序 ， 其 次 一 种 “ 契 约 ” 是 “ 要 物 契 约 ” ， 表 示

    在 伦 理 概 念 上 向 前 跨 进 一 大 步 。 凡 是 在 任 何 合 意 中 ， 以 送 达

    一 种 特 殊 物 件 为 其 目 的 的 — — 绝 大 部 分 的 简 单 合 意 都 属 此 类

    — — ， 一 待 送 达 确 实 发 生 后 ， “ 债 ” 即 产 生 。 其 结 果 必 定 是 对

    最 古 的 有 关 “ 契 约 ” 观 念 的 一 个 重 大 革 新 ； 因 为 在 原 始 时 代 ，

    毫 无 疑 义 ， 当 缔 约 的 一 造 由 于 疏 忽 而 没 有 把 他 的 合 意 通 过 约

    定 的 手 续 ， 则 按 照 合 意 而 做 的 一 切 ， 将 不 为 法 律 所 承 认 。 借

    钱 的 人 除 非 经 过 正 式 的 ·

    约 ·

    定 ， 是 不 能 诉 请 偿 还 的 。 但 在 “ 要

    物 契 约 ” 中 ， 一 方 的 履 行 就 允 许 使 他 方 负 担 法 律 责 任 — — 则

    显 然 是 基 于 伦 理 的 根 据 。 第 一 次 把 道 德 上 的 考 虑 认 为 “ 契

    约 ” 法 中 的 一 个 要 素 ， 这 就 是 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 和 前 两 种 不 同 之

    处 ， 并 不 是 由 于 专 门 形 式 或 由 于 遵 从 罗 马 家 庭 习 惯 而 有 所 不

    同 。

    我 们 现 在 要 讨 论 第 四 类 或 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” ， 这 是 各 种 契 约 中

    最 有 趣 和 最 重 要 的 一 种 。 在 这 名 称 下 有 四 种 特 殊 “ 契 约 ” ： 委

    任 （ Ｍ ａ ｎ ｄ ａ ｔ ｕ ｍ ） 　 即 “ 受 托 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｉ ｓ ｓ ｉ ｏ ｎ ） 或 “ 代 理 ”

    （ Ａ ｇ ｅ ｎ ｃ ｙ ） ； “ 合 伙 （ Ｓ ｏ ｃ ｉ ｅ ｔ ａ ｓ ） ； “ 买 卖 ” （ Ｅ ｍ ｔ ｉ ｏ 　 Ｖ ｅ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） ； 以

    及 “ 租 赁 ” （ Ｌ ｏ ｃ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｄ ｕ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 。 在 前 面 几 页 说 明 了 一 个“ 契 约 ” 是 附 加 着 一 个 “ 债 ” 的 一 个 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” 后 ，

    我 曾 提 起 通 过 一 些 行 为 或 手 续 法 律 允 许 “ 债 ” 吸 收 入 “ 合

    约 ” 内 。 我 这 样 说 ， 只 是 为 了 作 一 般 的 说 明 ， 但 除 非 我 们 把

    这 理 解 为 不 但 包 括 正 面 的 ， 而 且 也 包 括 反 面 的 ， 则 这 个 说 明不 是 严 格 地 正 确 的 。 因 为 ， 实 质 上 ， 这 些 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 的 特

    点 是 ： 从 “ 合 约 ” 中 产 生 这 些 契 约 ， 是 ·

    无 ·

    需 任 何 手 续 的 。 关

    于 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” ， 很 多 是 难 以 辨 解 的 ， 更 多 是 含 糊 不 清 的 ， 甚

    至 曾 有 这 样 的 说 法 ， 即 在 这 些 契 约 中 ， 缔 约 两 造 的 ·

    同 ·

    意 比 在

    其 他 任 何 种 类 的 合 意 中 更 为 着 重 。 但 “ 诺 成 ” 的 这 个 名 词 不

    过 表 示 ： 在 这 里 ， “ 债 ” 是 立 即 附 着 于 ·

    诺 ·

    成 （ Ｃ ｏ ｎ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｓ ｕ ｓ ） 的 。

    “ 诺 成 ” 或 两 造 的 相 互 同 意 是 “ 协 议 ” 中 最 后 的 和 最 主 要 的 要

    素 ， 而 属 于 “ 买 卖 ” 、 “ 合 伙 ” 、 “ 委 任 ” 和 “ 租 赁 ” 四 类 之 一

    的 合 意 ， 它 的 特 点 是 ： 一 经 两 造 同 意 提 供 了 这 个 要 素 时 ， 一

    个 “ 契 约 ” 立 即 成 立 。 “ 诺 成 ” 带 来 了 “ 债 ” ， 在 特 种 交 易 中 ，

    执 行 着 在 其 他 契 约 中 由 ·

    要 ·

    物 （ Ｒ ｅ ｓ ） 或口头 约 定 （ Ｖ ｅ ｒ ｂ ａ 　 ｓ ｔ ｉ ｐ Aｕ ｌ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 以 及 由文书 （ Ｌ ｉ ｔ ｅ ｒ E） 或 书 面 登 入 总 帐 而 履 行 的 同

    样 职 能 。 “ 诺 成 ” 因 此 是 一 个 名 词 ， 并 无 细 微 的 变 例 ， 而 正 是

    和 “ 要 物 ” 、 “ 口 头 ” 及 “ 文 书 ” 完 全 相 类 似 的 。

    在 生 活 的 接 触 中 ， 最 普 通 和 最 重 要 的 一 种 契 约 无 疑 是 那

    称 为 “ 诺 成 ” 的 第 四 种 。 每 一 个 社 会 的 集 体 生 存 ， 其 较 大 部

    分 是 消 耗 在 买 卖 、 租 赁 、 为 了 商 业 目 的 而 进 行 的 人 与 人 之 间

    的 联 合 、 一 个 人 对 另 一 个 人 的 商 业 委 托 等 等 交 易 中 ； 这 无 疑

    是 使 罗 马 人 象 大 多 数 社 会 一 样 ， 考 虑 到 把 这 些 交 易 从 专 门 手

    续 的 累 赘 中 解 脱 出 来 ， 并 尽 可 能 使 社 会 运 动 最 有 效 的 泉 源 不

    至 阻 塞 。 这 类 动 机 当 然 不 以 罗 马 人 为 限 ， 而 罗 马 人 和 其 邻 国

    人 通 商 贸 易 ， 必 然 使 他 们 有 丰 富 的 机 会 看 到 在 我 们 面 前 的 各

    种 契 约 到 处 都 有 变 成 ·

    诺 ·

    成 ·

    的 倾 向 ， 即 一 经 表 示 相 互 同 意 立 即

    具 有 拘 束 力 。 于 是 ， 依 靠 他 们 通 常 的 实 践 ， 他 们 就 把 这 些 契

    约 称 为 ·

    万 ·

    民 ·

    法 契 约 。 但 我 们 并 不 以 为 它 们 在 很 早 时 期 就 有 这个 名 称 。 一 个 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 最 早 观 念 也 许 在 委 任 一 个 “ 外 事

    裁 判 官 ” 之 前 早 就 存 在 罗 马 法 律 家 的 心 中 ， 但 只 有 通 过 广 泛

    的 和 正 常 的 贸 易 ， 罗 马 法 律 家 才 能 熟 悉 其 他 意 大 利 社 会 的 契

    约 制 度 ， 而 这 类 贸 易 在 意 大 利 获 得 彻 底 平 靖 和 罗 马 的 最 高 权

    力 断 然 确 立 之 前 ， 是 很 难 达 到 相 当 的 规 模 的 。 虽 然 ， 极 端 可

    能 ， “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 后 出 生 的 ， 并 且 虽 然 很 可 能

    ·

    万 ·

    民 ·

    法 这 个 称 呼 证 明 它 渊 源 并 不 太 古 ， 但 把 这 些 契 约 归 属 于

    “ 国 际 法 ” 的 这 个 用 语 ， 却 在 现 代 产 生 了 它 们 来 自 非 常 古 远 的

    年 代 的 看 法 。 因 为 ， 当 “ 国 际 法 ” 变 为 “ 自 然 法 ” 时 ， 似 乎

    就 含 有 了 这 样 的 意 思 ， 即 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 是 最 适 合 于 自 然 状 态

    的 一 种 合 意 ； 于 是 ， 产 生 了 这 独 特 的 信 念 ， 即 文 明 愈 年 轻 ， 它

    的 契 约 形 式 一 定 愈 简 单 。

    “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 在 数 量 上 是 极 端 有 限 的 。 但 是 ， 毫 无 疑 义 它

    在 “ 契 约 ” 法 史 上 开 创 一 个 新 的 阶 段 ， 所 有 现 代 契 约 概 念 都

    是 从 这 个 阶 段 发 轫 的 。 意 志 的 运 动 构 成 合 意 ， 它 现 在 完 全 孤

    立 了 ， 成 为 另 外 一 种 考 虑 的 主 题 ； 在 契 约 的 观 点 上 ， 形 式 全

    部 被 消 除 了 ， 外 部 行 为 只 是 看 做 内 部 意 志 行 为 的 象 征 。 “ 诺 成

    契 约 ” 被 归 类 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 ， 并 且 这 种 分 类 在 不 久 以 后 即

    得 出 了 这 样 一 个 推 理 ， 认 为 它 们 是 代 表 定 约 的 一 种 合 意 ， 为

    “ 自 然 ” 所 认 可 并 包 括 在 自 然 法 典 中 的 。 当 到 达 这 一 点 时 ， 我

    们 就 可 以 看 到 在 罗 马 法 律 家 中 有 几 个 著 名 的 学 理 和 区 分 。 其

    中 之 一 是 “ 自 然 债 ” 和 “ 民 事 债 ” （ Ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ａ ｌ 　 ａ ｎ ｄ 　 Ｃ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｌ 　 Ｏ ｂ ｌ ｉ A

    ｇ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 之 间 的 区 分 。 当 一 个 智 力 完 全 成 熟 的 人 有 意 使 其 自

    己 受 到 一 个 合 意 的 约 束 ， 即 使 他 并 没 有 履 行 某 种 必 要 的 手 续

    以 及 由 于 某 种 技 术 上 的 障 碍 ， 他 缺 少 了 制 订 一 个 有 效 契 约 的正 式 能 力 ， 他 仍 被 称 为 在 一 个 ·

    自 ·

    然 ·

    债 ·

    之 ·

    下 。 法 律 （ 而 这 就 是

    区 分 所 暗 示 的 ） 不 强 制 执 行 债 ， 但 它 也 不 绝 对 拒 绝 承 认 它 ； ·

    自

    ·

    然 ·

    债 在 许 多 方 面 和 纯 粹 是 无 效 的 债 又 有 不 同 ， 尤 其 是 在 这 样

    的 情 况 下 ， 即 如 果 缔 结 契 约 的 能 力 在 后 来 取 得 时 ， 自 然 债 就

    可 以 在 民 事 上 得 到 批 准 。 法 学 专 家 另 外 一 种 很 奇 怪 的 学 理 ， 其

    渊 源 不 可 能 早 于 “ 协 议 ” 从 “ 契 约 ” 的 专 门 要 素 中 分 离 出 来

    的 时 期 。 根 据 这 些 法 学 专 家 的 意 见 ， 虽 然 只 有 “ 契 约 ” 能 作

    为 一 个 ·

    诉 ·

    讼 的 基 础 ， 但 一 个 单 纯 的 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” 可 以

    作 为 一 个 ·

    抗 ·

    辩 的 根 据 。 由 此 推 论 ， 虽 然 一 个 人 由 于 在 事 前 没

    有 注 意 遵 照 正 当 形 式 使 一 个 合 意 成 熟 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 话 ， 不

    能 就 根 据 这 个 合 意 而 提 起 诉 讼 ， 但 根 据 一 个 有 效 契 约 而 提 出

    的 请 求 ， 只 要 经 证 明 有 一 个 还 没 有 超 过 一 个 简 单 协 议 状 态 的

    反 合 意 ， 就 可 以 癖 驳 了 。 例 如 回 复 债 务 之 诉 可 以 提 供 一 个 仅

    仅 放 弃 或 延 期 付 款 的 非 正 式 合 意 作 为 抗 辩 。

    上 面 所 说 的 学 理 ， 表 示 出 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在 向 其 最 伟 大 的 革

    新 前 进 时 所 发 生 的 迟 疑 。 他 们 关 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 必 定 曾

    经 引 导 他 们 特 别 偏 爱 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 以 及 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 仅 仅 是

    其 中 的 特 殊 例 子 之 一 的 那 些 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” ； 但 是 他 们 不

    敢 立 即 把 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 的 自 由 推 及 一 切 “ 协 议 ” 。 他 们 利 用 了

    从 罗 马 法 开 始 时 就 托 付 给 他 们 的 对 于 诉 讼 程 序 的 那 时 特 殊 监

    督 权 ， 并 且 ， 虽 然 他 们 不 准 提 出 不 是 根 据 正 式 契 约 的 一 个 诉

    讼 ， 但 在 导 演 诉 讼 程 序 的 秘 密 舞 台 中 ， 他 们 使 其 新 的 合 意 理

    论 有 充 分 活 动 的 余 地 。 但 当 他 们 进 展 到 这 样 的 程 度 后 ， 不 可

    避 免 地 他 们 一 定 要 向 前 再 进 一 步 。 当 有 一 年 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在

    “ 告 令 ” 中 宣 称 ： 他 将 对 还 没 有 成 熟 为 “ 契 约 ” 的 “ 合 约 ” 赋与 可 衡 平 的 诉 讼 ， 只 要 争 执 中 的 “ 合 约 ” 是 根 据 一 个 要 因

    （ Ｃ ａ ｕ ｓ ａ ） 的 话 ， 在 这 时 候 ， 古 代 “ 契 约 ” 法 的 革 命 就 完 成 了 。

    这 类 的 “ 合 约 ” 在 进 步 的 罗 马 法 律 学 中 始 终 是 被 强 行 的 。 其

    原 则 是 把 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 达 到 其 适 当 后 果 的 原 则 ； 事 实 上 ， 如

    果 罗 马 人 的 专 门 用 语 具 有 象 他 们 的 法 律 理 论 所 具 有 的 那 样 的

    可 塑 性 ， 这 些 由 “ 裁 判 官 ” 强 行 的 “ 合 约 ” 就 可 能 称 为 新 的

    “ 契 约 ” ， 新 的 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 。 但 ， 法 律 语 法 是 最 后 变 更 的 法 律

    的 一 部 分 ， 而 可 衡 平 地 强 行 的 ” 合 约 ” 继 续 被 简 单 地 称 为

    “ 裁 判 官 合 约 ” 。 必 须 注 意 ， 除 非 在 “ 合 约 ” 中 有 要 因 ， 这

    “ 合 约 ” 就 新 的 法 律 学 而 论 ， 将 继 续 是 ·

    空 ·

    虑 的 ； 要 使 它 能 具 有

    效 力 ， 就 必 须 用 一 个 约 定 来 使 它 变 为 一 个 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 。

    我 所 以 这 样 详 细 的 讨 论 它 ， 主 要 由 于 我 认 为 这 “ 契 约 ” 史

    有 非 常 的 重 要 性 ， 它 可 以 用 来 防 止 无 可 数 计 的 误 会 。 在 这 讨

    论 中 ， 详 细 说 明 了 从 一 个 伟 大 的 法 律 学 里 程 碑 到 另 一 个 里 程

    碑 中 各 种 观 念 的 进 程 。 我 们 由 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 开 始 ， 其 中 “ 契

    约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 是 混 杂 在 一 起 的 ， 其 中 伴 随 着 合 意 的 手 续 形

    式 甚 至 比 合 意 本 身 还 要 重 要 。 从 “ 耐 克 逊 ” ， 我 们 转 到 “ 约

    定 ” ， 这 是 较 古 仪 式 的 一 个 简 单 形 式 。 其 次 发 现 的 是 “ 文 书 契

    约 ” ， 在 这 里 ， 一 切 的 手 续 都 被 放 弃 了 ， 如 果 合 意 的 证 据 能 从

    一 个 罗 马 家 庭 的 严 格 遵 守 的 习 惯 中 提 出 来 。 在 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 中 ，

    第 一 次 承 认 了 一 个 道 德 责 任 ， 凡 是 参 加 或 同 意 一 个 定 约 的 部

    分 履 行 的 人 们 ， 就 不 许 由 于 形 式 上 的 缺 陷 而 否 认 它 。 最 后 ， 出

    现 了 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” ， 其 中 唯 一 被 重 视 的 是 缔 约 人 的 心 理 状 态 ，

    至 于 外 界 情 况 除 非 作 为 内 在 企 图 的 证 据 外 是 不 予 注 意 的 。 罗

    马 人 的 思 想 从 一 个 粗 糙 的 观 念 到 一 个 精 练 的 观 念 的 这 种 进步 ， 究 竟 是 否 能 例 证 人 类 思 想 在 “ 契 约 ” 这 主 题 上 有 了 必 要的 进 步 ， 这 当 然 是 无 法 断 定 的 。 除 了 罗 马 人 之 外 ， 所 有 其 他古 代 社 会 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 或 者 太 少 了 ， 没 有 充 足 的 资 料 ， 或 者是 已 经 完 全 失 传 了 ； 至 于 现 代 法 律 学 则 是 如 此 透 澈 地 为 罗 马观 点 所 影 响 ， 以 致 我 们 无 法 获 得 对 比 和 类 似 ， 并 从 中 吸 取 教训 。 但 是 ， 从 我 所 描 写 的 演 变 中 既 缺 乏 任 何 剧 烈 的 、 惊 奇 的以 及 不 易 理 解 的 东 西 ， 我 们 就 可 以 合 理 地 相 信 ， 在 某 种 程 度

    上 ， 古 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 史 是 其 他 古 代 社 会 中 这 类 法 律 概 念 的 历

    史 的 典 型 。 但 也 只 是 在 某 种 程 度 上 ， 罗 马 法 的 进 步 可 以 被 用

    来 代 表 其 他 法 律 学 制 度 的 进 步 。 “ 自 然 ” 法 的 理 论 是 专 属 于 罗

    马 人 的 。 ·

    法 ·

    锁 的 观 念 ， 就 我 所 知 ， 也 是 专 属 于 罗 马 人 的 。 成

    熟 的 罗 马 的 “ 契 约 和 侵 权 ” 法 中 有 许 多 特 点 ， 都 来 自 上 述 的

    两 种 观 念 ， 或 则 来 自 其 一 ， 或 则 两 者 兼 而 有 之 ， 因 此 ， 这 许

    多 特 点 也 是 属 于 一 特 定 社 会 的 专 门 产 物 。 这 些 后 期 法 律 概 念

    是 重 要 的 ， 不 是 因 为 这 些 概 念 代 表 了 在 一 切 条 件 下 思 想 发 展

    的 必 然 结 果 ， 而 是 因 为 它 们 对 现 代 世 界 的 智 力 素 质 起 了 十 分

    巨 大 的 影 响 。

    罗 马 法 尤 其 是 罗 马 “ 契 约 法 ” 以 各 种 思 想 方 式 、 推 理 方

    法 和 一 种 专 门 用 语 贡 献 给 各 种 各 样 的 科 学 ， 这 确 是 最 令 人 惊

    奇 的 事 。 在 曾 经 促 进 现 代 人 的 智 力 欲 的 各 种 主 题 中 ， 除 了

    “ 物 理 学 ” 外 ， 没 有 一 门 科 学 没 有 经 过 罗 马 法 律 学 滤 过 的 。 纯

    粹 的 “ 形 而 上 学 ” 诚 然 是 来 自 希 腊 而 不 是 来 自 罗 马 的 ， 但 是

    “ 政 治 学 ” 、 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 甚 至 “ 神 学 ” 不 但 在 罗 马 法 中 找 到 了

    表 意 的 工 具 ， 并 且 以 罗 马 法 为 其 最 深 奥 的 研 究 养 育 成 是 的 一

    个 卵 巢 。 为 了 要 说 明 这 种 现 象 ， 并 没 有 绝 对 必 要 讨 论 文 字 和观 念 之 间 的 神 秘 关 系 ， 或 是 说 明 人 类 的 心 神 如 何 从 来 没 有 能

    抓 住 任 何 思 想 主 题 ， 除 非 它 在 事 前 就 具 有 适 当 丰 富 的 用 语 或

    能 掌 握 一 种 适 当 的 逻 辑 方 法 的 工 具 。 只 须 说 明 ， 当 东 方 和 西

    方 世 界 的 哲 学 兴 趣 分 离 时 ， 西 方 思 想 的 始 创 者 都 属 于 讲 拉 丁

    语 和 用 拉 丁 语 著 作 的 一 个 社 会 。 但 是 在 西 方 各 省 中 ， 能 够 很

    精 确 地 用 来 研 究 哲 学 的 唯 一 语 言 是 罗 马 法 的 语 言 ， 它 由 于 独

    特 的 机 会 ， 几 乎 保 留 了 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 所 有 的 纯 洁 性 ， 而 地 方

    拉 丁 则 正 在 退 化 为 怪 异 的 不 纯 正 的 一 种 方 言 。 如 果 罗 马 法 律

    学 提 供 了 语 言 上 唯 一 的 正 确 的 媒 介 ， 更 重 要 的 ， 是 它 同 时 提

    供 了 思 想 上 唯 一 的 正 确 、 精 密 深 邃 的 媒 介 。 因 为 哲 学 和 科 学

    在 西 方 不 能 立 足 ， 至 少 有 三 个 世 纪 之 久 ； 并 且 虽 然 大 多 数 罗

    马 人 的 精 力 都 集 中 在 形 而 上 学 和 形 而 上 学 的 神 学 上 面 ， 但 这

    些 热 情 的 研 究 中 所 用 的 语 法 完 全 是 希 腊 的 ， 而 它 们 的 活 动 场

    所 是 帝 国 的 东 半 部 。 有 时 ， 东 方 争 论 者 所 获 得 的 结 论 非 常 重

    要 ， 以 致 不 论 是 同 意 或 是 不 同 意 这 些 结 论 的 人 都 必 须 把 它 们

    记 录 下 来 ， 后 来 东 方 争 论 的 结 果 就 被 介 绍 到 西 方 来 ， 对 于 这

    些 结 果 ， 西 方 一 般 都 予 以 默 认 ， 不 赞 许 亦 不 拒 绝 。 在 这 时 候 ，

    有 一 个 研 究 部 门 ， 虽 是 最 勤 劳 的 人 也 感 到 困 难 ， 最 精 细 的 人

    也 感 到 深 奥 ， 最 精 巧 的 人 也 感 到 细 致 的 ， 但 对 于 西 方 各 省 受

    过 教 育 的 阶 级 却 从 来 没 有 失 掉 过 它 的 吸 引 力 。 对 阿 非 利 加 、 西

    班 牙 、 高 卢 和 北 意 大 利 的 有 教 养 的 公 民 ， 正 是 法 律 学 ， 并 且

    也 只 有 法 律 学 ， 代 替 了 诗 歌 和 历 史 、 哲 学 和 科 学 。 西 方 思 想

    在 其 最 早 的 对 于 明 显 的 法 律 面 貌 的 努 力 中 不 但 毫 无 一 些 神 秘

    之 处 ， 并 且 ， 如 果 我 们 以 为 它 会 有 其 他 任 何 色 彩 ， 也 将 是 令

    人 惊 奇 的 。 我 所 认 为 可 怪 的 是 ， 由 于 一 种 新 要 素 的 出 现 而 在西 方 和 东 方 观 念 之 间 、 西 方 和 东 方 神 学 之 间 引 起 的 区 别 ， 竟

    然 很 少 人 注 意 。 正 是 由 于 法 律 学 的 影 响 开 始 变 得 非 常 有 力 ， 才

    使 君 士 坦 丁 堡 的 建 立 和 后 来 的 西 罗 马 帝 国 从 东 罗 马 帝 国 分

    离 ， 成 为 哲 学 史 中 的 两 个 新 纪 元 。 但 是 ， 由 于 来 自 “ 罗 马 法

    律 ” 的 各 种 观 念 已 和 日 常 的 观 念 非 常 密 切 地 混 杂 在 一 起 ， 大

    陆 思 想 家 无 疑 地 不 容 易 体 会 到 这 个 重 要 关 头 的 重 要 姓 。 另 一

    方 面 ， 英 国 人 对 这 一 点 也 是 视 若 无 睹 的 ， 这 是 由 于 他 们 对 于

    他 们 自 己 承 认 的 现 代 知 识 潮 流 的 最 丰 富 渊 源 和 罗 马 文 明 的 一

    个 智 慧 的 成 果 ， 极 端 无 知 。 在 同 时 ， 一 个 费 尽 心 力 熟 悉 古 典

    罗 马 法 的 英 国 人 ， 由 于 其 本 国 人 对 这 主 题 向 来 极 少 兴 趣 ， 对

    于 我 胆 敢 提 出 的 主 张 ， 他 比 起 法 国 人 或 德 国 人 来 也 许 是 一 个

    更 好 的 鉴 定 家 。 任 何 一 个 知 道 罗 马 法 律 学 是 怎 样 一 回 事 的 人 ，

    知 道 确 实 由 罗 马 人 实 践 的 罗 马 法 律 学 的 人 ， 并 且 要 观 察 最 古

    的 西 方 神 学 及 哲 学 在 那 些 特 点 上 不 同 于 它 们 之 前 的 思 想 状 态

    的 人 ， 对 于 这 已 经 开 始 透 入 和 支 配 着 纯 理 论 的 新 要 素 究 竟 是

    什 么 ， 都 可 以 有 资 格 加 以 说 明 。

    罗 马 法 中 对 其 他 研 究 主 题 有 最 广 泛 影 响 的 部 分 是 “ 债 ”

    法 ， 或 是 接 近 于 “ 债 ” 法 的 部 分 ， 即 “ 契 约 和 侵 权 ” 法 。 罗

    马 制 度 中 这 一 部 分 丰 富 的 术 语 ， 它 所 能 用 以 履 行 的 职 能 ， 罗

    马 人 本 身 并 不 是 不 知 道 的 ， 这 从 他 们 把 这 个 特 别 形 容 词 准 字

    用 在 “ 准 契 约 ” 和 “ 准 侵 权 ” 等 名 词 中 ， 就 可 以 得 到 证 明 。

    “ 准 ” 在 这 样 的 用 法 中 ， 完 全 是 一 个 分 类 的 名 词 。 英 国 评 论 家

    常 认 为 “ 准 契 约 ” 就 是 默 约 ， 但 这 是 错 误 的 ， 因 为 默 约 是 真

    的 契 约 而 准 契 约 则 不 是 契 约 。 在 默 约 中 ， 行 为 和 情 况 是 用 作

    为 某 些 要 素 的 象 征 ， 这 些 要 素 在 明 约 中 是 用 文 字 来 象 征 的 ； 就合 意 的 理 论 而 论 ， 一 个 人 所 用 的 究 竟 是 这 一 套 象 征 还 是 另 一

    套 象 征 ， 是 毫 无 关 系 的 。 但 是 一 个 “ 准 契 约 ” 完 全 不 是 一 个

    契 约 。 这 类 准 契 约 中 最 普 通 的 例 子 ， 象 一 个 人 误 以 金 钱 给 付

    另 一 个 人 因 而 在 这 两 人 之 间 存 在 的 关 系 。 法 律 为 了 顾 全 道 德

    上 的 利 益 ， 使 受 领 人 负 有 偿 还 的 责 任 ， 但 根 据 这 交 易 的 性 质 ，

    表 示 出 这 并 不 是 一 个 契 约 ， 因 为 ， 在 这 中 间 ， 缺 乏 作 为 “ 契

    约 ” 最 重 要 要 素 的 “ 协 议 。 ” “ 准 ” 这 个 字 放 在 罗 马 法 的 一 个

    名 词 之 前 ， 含 有 这 样 一 种 意 思 ， 即 用 它 作 为 标 志 的 概 念 和 其

    原 来 的 概 念 之 间 ， 在 比 较 上 有 着 一 种 强 有 力 的 表 面 类 比 或 相

    似 。 它 的 意 思 并 不 是 说 ， 这 两 种 概 念 是 同 样 的 ， 或 是 属 于 同

    一 种 类 的 。 相 反 地 ， 它 否 定 了 在 它 们 之 间 存 在 着 同 一 性 的 观

    念 ； 但 是 它 指 出 它 们 有 充 分 的 相 似 之 处 ， 可 以 把 其 中 之 一 归

    类 为 另 一 个 的 连 续 ， 以 及 从 法 律 的 一 个 部 门 中 取 来 的 用 语 可

    以 移 用 到 法 律 的 另 外 一 个 部 门 ， 并 加 以 应 用 ， 而 不 致 对 规 定

    的 说 明 有 强 烈 的 歪 曲 ， 而 这 些 规 定 在 另 一 种 情 况 下 是 很 难 完

    善 地 加 以 说 明 的 。

    有 人 这 样 乖 巧 地 提 出 ， “ 默 约 ” 是 真 正 的 契 约 ， “ 准 契

    约 ” 完 全 不 是 契 约 ， 在 这 两 者 之 间 所 存 在 的 混 淆 不 清 ， 和 把

    政 治 上 的 权 利 和 义 务 归 因 于 被 统 治 者 和 统 治 者 之 间 的 一 个

    “ 原 始 契 约 ” （ Ｏ ｒ ｉ ｇ ｉ ｎ ａ ｌ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｐ ａ ｃ ｔ ） 　 的 这 个 著 名 错 误 ， 有 很

    多 共 同 之 点 。 早 在 这 理 论 获 得 定 形 之 前 ， 罗 马 契 约 法 的 用 语

    大 部 分 用 来 描 写 人 类 所 常 常 设 想 的 存 在 于 君 主 和 臣 民 之 间 的

    权 利 和 义 务 上 的 相 互 关 系 。 当 世 界 上 充 满 了 各 式 各 样 的 格 言 ，

    极 端 断 然 地 提 出 国 王 的 主 张 应 该 绝 对 服 从 ， — — 这 些 格 言 佯

    称 来 自 “ 新 约 全 书 ” ， 而 实 际 上 却 是 来 自 凯 撒 暴 政 的 难 忘 回 忆— — 如 果 罗 马 “ 债 ” 法 没 有 提 供 一 种 言 语 ， 能 隐 约 表 示 当 时

    还 没 有 完 全 发 展 的 一 种 观 念 ， 则 被 统 治 者 应 该 享 有 相 关 权 利

    的 思 想 ， 将 完 全 没 有 表 达 的 可 能 。 我 认 为 国 王 的 特 权 和 国 王

    对 其 臣 民 的 义 务 两 者 之 间 的 互 不 相 容 ， 自 从 西 方 历 史 开 始 以

    来 是 从 来 没 有 忘 却 过 的 ， 但 在 封 建 制 度 继 续 盛 行 之 际 ， 除 了

    纯 理 论 著 作 家 外 ， 这 是 绝 少 为 人 所 注 意 的 ， 因 为 封 建 制 度 通

    过 明 白 的 习 惯 有 效 地 控 制 着 欧 洲 多 数 君 主 ， 使 不 能 有 过 分 的

    理 论 上 的 权 利 。 但 是 当 封 建 制 度 衰 亡 、 中 世 纪 的 组 织 脱 出 工

    作 常 规 、 以 及 宗 教 改 革 使 教 皇 的 权 威 不 复 为 人 所 信 任 时 ， 国

    王 有 神 权 的 学 理 就 显 著 地 立 即 提 高 到 它 以 前 从 来 没 有 达 到 过

    的 重 要 地 位 。 它 所 获 得 的 声 价 必 须 常 常 求 助 于 罗 马 法 的 用 语 ，

    而 原 来 带 有 神 学 面 貌 的 一 科 争 论 逐 渐 一 天 天 地 取 得 了 一 种 法

    律 争 辩 的 色 彩 。 于 是 出 现 了 一 种 曾 在 意 见 史 中 不 断 重 复 出 现

    的 现 象 。 正 当 君 主 权 主 张 逐 渐 发 展 而 成 为 菲 尔 美 的 学 理 时 ， 从

    “ 契 约 法 ” 中 借 用 来 的 原 来 作 为 保 护 臣 民 权 利 的 用 语 竟 成 为 国

    王 和 人 民 间 一 个 现 实 的 原 始 契 约 的 学 说 ， 这 一 个 学 说 首 先 在

    英 国 人 手 中 ， 后 来 、 特 别 是 在 法 国 人 手 中 发 展 成 为 社 会 和 法

    律 一 切 现 象 的 一 种 广 博 的 解 释 。 但 是 政 治 学 和 法 律 学 之 间 仅

    有 的 真 正 的 联 系 ， 是 在 后 者 把 其 独 特 地 有 可 塑 性 的 术 语 的 好

    处 给 与 了 前 者 。 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 对 君 主 和 臣 民 关 系 上 所

    作 出 的 贡 献 ， 正 和 在 一 个 比 较 狭 小 范 围 内 、 它 对 于 为 一 个

    “ 准 契 约 ” 责 任 拘 束 在 一 起 的 人 们 的 关 系 上 所 作 出 的 贡 献 完 全

    相 同 。 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 提 供 了 一 套 文 字 和 成 语 ， 充 分 正

    确 地 接 近 当 时 对 于 政 治 责 任 问 题 所 具 有 的 各 种 观 念 。 一 个

    “ 原 始 契 约 ” 学 理 所 处 的 地 位 ， 从 未 能 高 过 怀 威 尔 博 士 （Ｗ ｈ ｅ ｗ ｅ ｌ ｌ ） 所 提 出 的 ， 他 的 意 见 是 ： 这 个 学 理 虽 然 是 不 够 健 全

    的 ， 但 “ 它 可 能 是 表 示 道 德 真 理 的 一 种 ·

    方 ·

    便 ·

    的 形 式 ” 。

    在 “ 原 始 契 约 ” 发 明 之 前 把 法 律 用 语 广 泛 应 用 于 政 治 主

    题 上 以 及 “ 原 始 契 约 ” 这 个 假 定 在 后 来 所 发 生 的 有 力 影 响 ， 充

    分 说 明 了 在 政 治 学 中 有 着 大 量 的 为 罗 马 法 律 学 所 独 特 创 造 的

    文 字 和 概 念 。 它 们 也 大 量 地 存 在 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 中 ， 这 可 能 有

    不 同 的 解 释 ， 这 是 由 于 罗 马 法 比 政 治 理 论 受 到 伦 理 著 作 更 直

    接 的 贡 献 ， 而 这 些 伦 理 著 作 的 著 者 也 更 加 自 觉 到 他 们 责 任 的

    范 围 。 在 谈 到 道 德 哲 学 特 别 应 该 归 功 于 罗 马 法 律 家 时 ， 我 所

    指 的 应 该 是 未 经 康 德 （ Ｋ ａ ｎ ｔ ） 中 断 其 历 史 以 前 的 道 德 哲 学 ， 即

    研 究 人 类 行 为 规 则 的 一 种 科 学 ， 适 当 地 解 释 这 些 规 则 的 科 学 ，

    以 及 这 些 规 则 应 受 的 限 制 的 科 学 。 在 “ 批 判 哲 学 ” （ Ｃ ｒ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｃ ａ ｌ 　Ｐ ｈ ｉ ｌ ｏ ｓ ｏ ｐ ｈ ｙ ） 兴 起 后 ， 道 德 学 的 旧 有 意 义 几 乎 完 全 丧 失 ， 除 了由 罗 马 天 主 教 神 学 者 仍 旧 研 究 的 诡 辩 学 中 用 一 种 降 格 的 形 式

    保 留 着 之 外 ， 道 德 学 似 乎 已 普 遍 被 认 为 只 是 本 体 论 研 究 （ ｏ ｎ Aｔ ｏ ｌ ｏ ｇ ｉ ｃ ａ ｌ 　 ｉ ｎ ｑ ｕ ｉ ｒ ｙ ） 的 一 个 部 门 了 。 除 怀 威 尔 博 士 一 人 外 ， 我

    在 当 时 的 英 国 著 者 中 找 不 到 一 个 人 ， 他 把 道 德 哲 学 理 解 为 在

    它 被 形 而 上 学 所 吸 收 之 前 以 及 在 它 的 规 定 的 基 础 变 成 为 比 其

    规 定 本 身 更 为 重 要 的 问 题 之 前 ， 为 人 们 所 理 解 的 那 样 。 可 是 ，

    只 要 伦 理 科 学 涉 及 行 为 的 实 际 统 治 时 ， 它 就 多 少 受 到 罗 马 法

    的 浸 润 。 象 现 代 思 想 中 一 切 巨 大 主 题 一 样 ， 它 是 原 来 合 并 在

    神 学 中 的 。 最 初 曾 经 被 称 为 、 以 及 现 在 仍 为 罗 马 天 主 教 神 学

    者 称 为 “ 道 德 神 学 ” 的 科 学 ， 无 疑 地 是 在 著 者 明 知 之 下 采 用

    了 教 会 制 度 中 的 行 为 原 则 而 构 成 的 ， 并 且 是 用 了 法 律 学 中 的

    用 语 和 方 法 为 其 表 现 和 扩 张 的 。 在 这 个 过 程 继 续 进 行 的 中 间 ，法 律 学 虽 然 只 是 准 备 成 为 发 表 思 想 的 工 具 ， 但 它 不 可 避 免 地

    会 把 它 的 特 色 传 给 思 想 本 身 。 由 于 和 法 律 概 念 相 接 触 而 感 染

    到 的 特 点 ， 在 现 代 世 界 最 早 的 伦 理 文 献 中 完 全 可 以 看 到 ， 我

    以 为 这 是 很 明 显 的 ， 以 权 利 和 义 务 完 全 的 相 互 关 系 和 不 可 分

    解 的 关 系 为 基 础 的 “ 契 约 法 ” 曾 被 用 为 矫 正 著 者 们 某 种 倾 向

    的 东 西 ， 因 为 这 些 著 者 如 果 听 其 自 然 ， 就 有 可 能 把 一 个 道 德

    责 任 完 全 看 做 “ 神 国 ” （ Ｃ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｔ ａ ｓ 　 Ｄ ｅ ｉ ） 中 一 个 公 民 的 公 共 义 务 。

    但 是 当 伟 大 的 西 班 牙 道 德 学 家 们 研 究 道 德 神 学 时 ， 罗 马 法 在

    道 德 神 学 中 的 分 量 已 显 著 减 少 。 用 博 士 评 论 博 士 的 法 学 方 法

    发 展 起 来 的 道 德 神 学 有 它 自 己 的 一 套 用 语 ， 而 亚 里 士 多 德 的

    推 理 和 表 现 的 特 征 ， 由 于 大 部 分 无 疑 地 是 吸 收 自 学 院 派 的

    “ 道 德 论 ” （ Ｄ ｉ ｓ ｐ ｕ ｔ ａ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ 　 ｏ ｎ 　 Ｍ ｏ ｒ ａ ｌ ｓ ） 的 ， 便 代 替 了 凡 是 精通 罗 马 法 的 人 决 不 会 误 会 的 那 种 特 殊 的 思 想 方 式 和 言 语 形

    式 。 如 果 道 德 神 学 家 的 西 班 牙 学 派 的 势 力 继 续 着 ， 则 伦 理 学

    中 的 法 律 要 素 就 有 可 能 成 为 完 全 不 重 要 ， 但 是 下 一 代 研 究 这些 主 题 的 罗 马 天 主 教 著 者 在 应 用 他 们 的 结 论 时 ， 几 乎 把 他 们的 影 响 完 全 加 以 毁 灭 。 道 德 神 学 降 格 成 为 诡 辩 学 ， 不 再 为 欧洲 纯 理 论 的 领 袖 们 感 到 兴 趣 ； 完 全 操 在 基 督 新 教 徒 手 中的新的 道 德 哲 学 ， 大 大 超 出 了 过 去 道 德 神 学 家 的 成 就 。 其 结 果 是使 罗 马 法 对 伦 理 研 究 的 影 响 为 之 大 大 增 加 。

    在 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 之 后 不 久 ， 我 们 发 现 有 两 大 思 想 学 派 在这 一 个 主 题 上 划 分 开 来 。 这 两 大 学 派 中 最 有 势 力 的 一 派 最 初我 们 称 之 为 诡 辩 学 派 ， 他 们 都 是 些 和 罗 马 天 主 教 会 有 神 交 的人 ， 并 且 他 们 几 乎 都 是 分 属 于 这 一 个 或 另 一 个 宗 教 教 团 的 。 在另 一 方 面 ， 则 有 另 外 一 批 著 者 ， 他 们 是 以 在 学 识 上 共 同 来 自“ 战 争 与 和 平 法 规 论 ” 的 伟 大 著 者 嚣 俄 · 格 罗 修 斯 而 相 互 结 合在 一 起 的 。 几 乎 所 有 的 后 一 派 人 都 是 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 的 信 徒 ， 虽然 不 能 说 他 们 是 正 式 地 、 公 开 地 和 诡 辩 学 派 发 生 冲 突 ， 但 他们 体 系 的 起 源 和 目 的 显 然 是 和 诡 辩 学 派 有 着 本 质 上 的 不 同的 。 这 个 区 别 有 必 要 加 以 重 视 ， 因 为 它 涉 及 到 罗 马 法 和 对 这两 个 体 系 都 有 关 系 的 那 个 思 想 部 门 的 影 响 问 题 。 格 罗 修 斯 的著 作 虽 然 在 每 一 页 中 都 接 触 到 纯 粹 “ 伦 理 学 ” 的 各 个 问 题 ， 并且 虽 然 它 是 无 数 有 关 形 式 道 德 学 的 书 籍 的 近 的 或 远 的 根 源 ，但 众 所 周 知 ， 它 不 是 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 的 一 本 专 著 ： 它 是 决 定

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 个 尝 试 。 现 在 ， 无 须 研 究 这 个 问 题 ， 即 一 个

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 概 念 是 否 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 一 种 独 有 创 造 ， 我 们 可

    以 断 言 ， 甚 至 格 罗 修 斯 本 人 也 承 认 罗 马 法 律 学 的 格 言 说 ， 有

    些 已 知 的 现 实 法 应 该 认 为 是 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 部 分 ， 这 个 格 言

    纵 使 不 是 毫 无 错 误 ， 仍 应 该 受 到 极 端 的 尊 敬 而 加 以 接 受 的 。 因

    此 ， 格 罗 修 斯 体 系 在 其 基 础 上 就 是 和 罗 马 法 牵 涉 在 一 起 的 ， 而

    这 种 关 系 就 不 可 避 免 地 使 他 — — 这 是 著 者 所 受 法 律 训 练 的 必

    然 结 果 — — 在 每 一 章 节 中 自 由 地 应 用 着 罗 马 法 中 专 门 术 语 ，

    以 及 各 种 推 理 、 定 义 和 例 证 的 方 式 ， 而 这 些 辩 论 的 意 义 ， 特

    别 是 辩 论 的 说 服 力 ， 有 时 是 被 隐 藏 着 的 ， 是 不 熟 悉 于 它 们 来

    源 的 读 者 所 不 知 道 的 。 在 另 一 方 面 ， 诡 辩 学 很 少 借 用 罗 马 法 ，

    而 其 所 主 张 的 道 德 观 念 和 格 罗 修 斯 所 断 言 的 全 不 相 同 。 在 诡

    辩 学 的 名 称 下 成 为 著 名 的 或 是 不 名 誉 的 有 关 是 和 非 的 哲 学 ，

    它 的 渊 源 来 自 “ 不 可 赦 之 罪 ” 和 “ 可 赦 之 罪 ” （ Ｍ ｏ ｒ ｔ ａ ｌ 　 ａ ｎ ｄ Ｖ ｅ ｎ ｉ ａ ｌ sin） 间 的 区 分 。 迫 使 诡 辩 哲 学 的 著 者 发 明 一 套 精 密的 规 范 体 系 ， 以 便 在 尽 量 把 不 道 德 行 为 从 不 可 赦 犯 罪 的 范 畴中 移 出 来 ， 并 把 它 们 定 为 可 赦 之 罪 ， 其 动 机 之 一 是 出 于 一 种自 然 的 渴 望 ， 想 要 避 免 把 一 种 特 定 行 为 定 为 不 可 赦 罪 的 可 怕后 果 ， 另 一 种 动 机 是 出 于 一 种 同 样 地 可 以 体 会 的 愿 望 ， 就 是

    为 天 主 教 会 解 除 一 种 不 便 的 理 论 ， 来 帮 助 罗 马 天 主 教 会 在 和

    基 督 新 教 进 行 的 冲 突 中 取 得 胜 利 。 这 种 试 验 的 命 运 ， 应 属 于

    普 通 史 的 范 围 。 我 们 知 道 ， 诡 辩 学 派 使 僧 侣 辈 有 权 对 各 色 人

    等 的 性 格 加 以 精 神 上 的 约 束 ， 这 样 也 就 使 它 对 诸 侯 、 政 治 家

    和 将 军 们 有 着 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 时 代 以 前 所 从 未 听 到 过 的 一 种 影

    响 ， 并 且 也 真 的 对 基 督 新 教 初 步 成 就 发 生 遏 制 和 缩 小 作 用 的

    那 个 巨 大 反 动 作 出 了 重 大 贡 献 。 但 在 其 开 始 的 企 图 中 ， 它 不

    是 在 建 立 而 是 在 规 避 ， — — 不 是 在 发 现 一 条 原 则 而 是 在 逃 避

    一 个 假 定 — — 不 是 在 确 定 是 和 非 的 性 质 而 是 在 行 为 的 决 定 在

    一 个 特 殊 性 质 中 哪 些 是 不 错 的 ， — — 诡 辩 学 就 是 这 样 用 了 它

    的 巧 妙 的 高 论 继 续 发 展 下 去 ， 直 到 它 最 后 过 分 地 削 弱 行 为 的

    道 德 特 征 ， 过 分 地 诽 谤 了 我 们 人 类 的 道 德 本 能 ， 以 致 最 后 人

    类 的 良 心 突 然 起 来 反 抗 它 ， 并 把 这 体 系 和 其 博 士 们 埋 葬 在 一

    个 共 同 的 废 墟 中 。 在 长 期 不 断 的 打 击 中 ， 最 后 的 一 击 来 自 巴斯 噶 （ Ｐ ａ ｓ ｃ ａ ｌ ） 的 “ 书 翰 集 ” （ Ｐ ｒ ｏ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｃ ｉ ａ ｌ 　 Ｌ ｅ ｔ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｓ ） ， 在 这 些可 纪 念 的 “ 文 件 ” 出 现 后 ， 就 没 有 一 个 即 使 影 响 最 小 、 声 望最 微 的 道 德 学 家 敢 于 公 开 踏 着 诡 辩 学 家 的 足 迹 前 进 。 这 样 一来 ， 全 部 伦 理 学 的 领 域 便 完 全 留 归 追 随 格 罗 修 斯 的 著 者 们 控

    制 了 ； 它 在 很 大 程 度 上 仍 表 现 出 和 罗 马 法 纠 缠 在 一 起 的 迹 象 ，这 有 时 被 认 为 是 对 格 罗 修 斯 理 论 的 一 种 过 失 ， 但 有 时 则 被 认

    为 是 对 它 的 最 高 贡 献 。 自 从 格 罗 修 斯 时 代 以 来 ， 许 多 研 究 者

    已 变 更 了 他 的 原 则 ， 并 且 在 “ 批 判 哲 学 ” 兴 起 以 后 ， 当 然 有许 多 人 已 完 全 抛 弃 了 他 的 原 则 ； 但 即 使 是 那 些 远 离 其 基 本 假

    设 的 人 们 ， 也 继 承 了 很 多 他 的 陈 述 方 法 、 他 的 思 思 路 线 以 及

    他 的 例 证 方 式 ； 而 对 于 不 懂 罗 马 法 律 学 的 人 ， 这 些 是 绝 少 意

    义 并 且 也 是 绝 无 妙 处 的 。（以上部分是 作 者 在 １ ８ ５ ６ 年 投 寄 “ 剑 桥 论丛 ” 的 一 篇 论 文 ， 转 录 时 曾 略 加 修 改 ）

    我 已 经 说 过 ， 在 自 然 科 学 之 外 ， 没 有 一 门 知 识 会 象 形 而

    上 学 那 样 受 罗 马 法 的 影 响 如 此 之 少 的 。 因 为 ， 有 关 形 而 上 学

    主 题 的 讨 论 始 终 是 用 希 腊 文 进 行 的 ， 最 初 是 用 纯 粹 希 腊 文 ， 后

    来 是 用 特 意 用 来 表 现 希 腊 概 念 的 拉 丁 方 言 。 现 代 语 言 只 有 在

    采 用 拉 丁 方 言 或 在 模 仿 了 原 来 在 其 结 构 上 所 用 的 程 序 之 后 ，

    才 能 适 合 于 形 而 上 学 的 研 究 。 现 代 形 而 上 学 论 文 中 所 常 用 的

    用 语 ， 其 来 源 是 亚 里 士 多 德 的 拉 丁 译 文 ， 其 中 ， 不 论 是 否 来

    自 阿 拉 伯 译 文 ， 翻 译 者 的 计 划 并 不 是 要 从 任 何 部 分 的 拉 丁 文

    献 中 找 寻 类 似 的 言 语 ， 而 是 要 从 拉 丁 字 根 上 重 新 创 造 一 套 相

    当 于 希 腊 哲 学 观 念 辞 句 的 成 语 。 在 这 样 一 个 过 程 中 ， 罗 马 法

    的 用 语 可 能 仅 仅 发 生 绝 少 的 影 响 ； 至 多 ， 也 只 有 少 数 变 形 的

    拉 丁 法 律 名 词 进 入 形 而 上 学 的 言 语 中 。 同 时 ， 必 须 注 意 ， 当

    有 些 形 而 上 学 的 问 题 成 为 西 欧 最 激 烈 的 问 题 时 ， 在 其 思 想 中 ，

    如 果 不 是 在 言 语 中 ， 一 定 泄 露 出 来 一 种 法 律 的 本 源 。 在 纯 理

    论 史 中 ， 很 少 事 物 有 比 下 列 事 实 给 人 以 更 深 的 印 象 ， 即 凡 是

    用 希 腊 语 言 的 人 民 从 来 没 有 严 重 地 感 觉 到 为 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 和

    “ 必 然 性 ” 的 大 问 题 所 困 扰 过 。 我 不 想 对 这 一 点 作 出 任 何 概 括

    的 解 释 ， 但 这 样 说 明 似 乎 并 不 是 离 题 太 远 的 ， 即 不 论 是 希 腊

    人 或 是 用 希 腊 语 讲 话 和 思 想 的 任 何 一 个 社 会 ， 都 没 有 显 示 出

    来 有 产 生 一 种 法 律 哲 学 的 最 小 的 能 力 。 法 律 科 学 是 罗 马 人 的

    一 种 创 造 ， “ 自 由 意 志 ” 的 问 题 是 当 我 们 在 一 个 法 律 观 点 下 研

    究 一 个 形 而 上 学 的 概 念 时 发 生 的 。 为 什 么 会 发 生 这 样 的 问 题 ：

    不 变 的 顺 序 是 否 和 必 要 的 联 系 相 一 致 ？ 我 只 能 说 ， 罗 马 法 的

    随 着 它 的 发 展 而 日 益 增 强 的 趋 势 ， 是 认 为 法 律 后 果 是 通 过 一

    种 坚 决 的 必 然 性 而 和 法 律 原 因 相 结 合 着 的 ， 这 一 种 趋 势 在 我

    反 复 引 用 过 的 如 下 的 “ 债 ” 的 定 义 中 得 到 最 明 显 的 证 明 ： “ 应

    负 担 履 行 的 义 务 的 法 锁 ” 。

    但 是 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 问 题 在 它 成 为 哲 学 问 题 之 前 ， 是 一 个

    神 学 上 的 问 题 ， 如 果 它 的 名 词 曾 受 到 法 律 学 的 影 响 ， 这 是 由

    于 法 律 学 早 已 渗 入 了 神 学 的 缘 故 。 这 里 所 要 提 出 并 加 以 研 究

    的 大 问 题 过 去 从 来 没 有 被 满 意 地 阐 述 过 。 我 们 必 须 决 定 的 是 ：

    法 律 学 究 竟 有 没 有 被 用 来 作 为 通 过 它 而 观 察 神 学 上 各 项 原 则

    的 媒 介 ； 它 究 竟 有 没 有 提 供 一 种 特 殊 的 言 语 ， 一 种 特 殊 的 推

    理 方 式 ， 以 及 解 决 许 多 生 活 问 题 的 特 殊 方 法 从 而 开 辟 新 的 通

    道 ， 使 神 学 上 的 纯 理 论 通 过 它 顺 流 而 下 并 得 到 扩 展 。 为 了 要

    得 到 一 个 答 案 ， 有 必 要 回 忆 一 下 关 于 神 学 最 初 吸 收 的 理 智 粮

    食 最 著 名 的 著 者 们 已 经 一 致 同 意 的 究 竟 是 什 么 。 各 方 面 都 一

    致 同 意 ， 基 督 教 会 最 古 的 语 言 是 希 腊 语 ， 而 它 最 初 所 从 事 的

    各 种 问 题 是 那 些 希 腊 哲 学 在 其 后 期 形 式 中 为 它 们 开 辟 了 道 路

    的 问 题 。 人 类 从 中 获 得 从 事 于 深 奥 争 论 ， 如 有 关 “ 神 人 ” 、

    “ 神 质 ” 和 “ 神 性 ” （ ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｄ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｅ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｓ ｏ ｎ ｓ ， ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｄ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｅ 　 Ｓ ｕ ｂ Aｓ ｔ ａ ｎ ｃ ｅ ， ａ ｎ ｄ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｄ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｅ 　 Ｎ ａ ｔ ｕ ｒ ｅ ｓ ） 等 等 问 题 的 手 段 的 唯 一的 文 字 和 观 念 的 宝 库 ， 是 希 腊 形 而 上 学 文 献 。 拉 丁 语 以 及 贫乏 的 拉 丁 哲 学 是 不 足 以 胜 任 的 ， 因 此 ， 帝 国 中 西 方 或 操 拉 丁

    语 的 各 省 对 于 东 方 的 结 论 ， 就 毫 无 争 议 或 不 加 审 查 而 采 用 了 。

    弥 尔 曼 教 长 （ Ｄ ｅ ａ ｎ 　 Ｍ ｉ ｌ ｍ ａ ｎ ） 说 ： “ 拉 丁 基 督 教 接 受 了 拉 丁 的

    狭 隘 肤 浅 的 语 彙 所 无 法 用 适 当 名 词 加 以 表 示 的 信 条 。 但 是 ， 自

    始 至 终 ， 罗 马 和 西 方 之 间 的 紧 密 粘 固 ， 是 对 于 东 方 神 学 者 较

    深 奥 的 神 学 所 精 制 出 来 的 教 条 制 度 的 一 种 被 动 的 默 从 ， 并 不

    是 它 自 己 对 那 些 神 秘 事 物 加 以 有 力 的 和 有 创 造 性 的 研 究 的 结

    果 。 拉 丁 教 会 是 阿 塔 纳 细 阿 （ Ａ ｔ ｈ ａ ｎ ａ ｓ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） 的 弟 子 ， 同 时 也 是

    他 的 忠 实 信 徒 ” 。 但 是 ， 当 东 方 和 西 方 的 分 离 一 天 天 地 扩 大 ，

    操 拉 丁 语 的 西 罗 马 帝 国 开 始 生 活 在 其 自 己 的 精 神 生 活 中 时 ，

    它 对 东 方 的 谦 逊 突 然 为 东 方 理 论 所 完 全 不 熟 悉 的 许 多 问 题 的

    议 论 所 代 替 。 “ 当 希 腊 神 学 〔 弥 尔 曼 ： ‘ 拉 丁 基 督 教 ’ （ Ｌ ａ ｔ ｉ ｎ Ｃ ｈ ｒ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｉ ａ ｎ ｉ ｔ ｙ ） 序 ， 第 ５ 页 ］ 用 更 精 致 的 技 巧 来 为 ‘ 神 格 ’ （ Ｇ ｏ ｄ Aｈ ｅ ａ ｄ ） 和 基 督 的 性 质 下 定 义 时 ” — — “ 当 无 休 止 的 争 辩 仍 旧 不

    断 地 延 续 ， 并 从 这 陷 于 衰 弱 的 社 会 中 一 个 宗 派 跟 着 一 个 宗 派

    传 布 出 来 时 ” — — 西 方 教 会 以 非 常 的 热 诚 投 身 于 一 类 新 的 辩

    论 中 ， 这 种 辩 论 ， 从 那 时 候 起 一 直 到 现 在 ， 是 包 括 在 拉 丁 教

    会 中 的 任 何 时 候 的 任 何 人 类 所 从 来 没 有 失 去 过 兴 趣 的 。 “ 罪

    过 ” （ Ｓ ｉ ｎ ） 的 性 质 和 它 的 可 以 由 继 承 而 转 让 — — 人 所 欠 的 债 务以 及 其 代 替 的 偿 还 — — “ 赎 罪 ” （ Ａ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｅ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ） 的 必 要 和 能 力— — 最 重 要 的 是 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 和 “ 神 意 ” （ Ｄ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｅ Ｐ ｒ ｏ ｖ ｉ ｄ ｅ ｎ ｃ ｅ ） 之 间 的 显 然 互 不 相 容 — — ， 这 些 是 西 方 开 始 进 行

    辩 论 的 问 题 ， 并 且 辩 论 时 象 东 方 在 讨 论 其 比 较 特 殊 的 信 条 的

    条 款 时 同 样 的 热 烈 。 然 则 ， 在 这 个 把 希 腊 语 各 省 从 拉 丁 语 各

    省 分 离 开 来 的 分 界 线 的 两 边 ， 为 什 么 竟 会 存 在 这 样 显 著 不 同的 两 类 神 学 上 问 题 ？ 教 会 历 史 家 说 过 ， 新 的 问 题 比 曾 把 东 方

    基 督 教 扯 得 粉 碎 的 那 些 问 题 更 多 “ 实 际 ” ， 更 少 绝 对 理 论 ， 他

    们 的 这 种 解 释 ， 虽 已 接 近 答 案 ， 但 就 我 所 注 意 到 的 ， 他 们 中

    实 在 没 有 一 个 人 完 全 达 到 了 全 部 答 案 。 我 敢 毫 不 踌 躇 地 断 言 ，

    这 两 个 神 学 体 系 间 的 不 同 ， 主 要 是 由 于 这 样 一 个 事 实 ， 就 是

    神 学 理 论 由 东 方 传 到 西 方 时 ， 它 是 由 希 腊 的 形 而 上 学 的 气 氛

    移 转 到 罗 马 法 的 气 氛 中 。 在 这 些 争 辩 成 为 有 压 倒 重 要 性 以 前

    的 几 个 世 纪 中 ， 西 方 罗 马 人 的 一 切 智 力 活 动 都 完 全 花 费 在 法

    律 学 上 。 他 们 都 忙 于 把 一 套 特 殊 的 原 则 适 用 于 生 活 情 况 可 被

    安 排 的 一 切 结 合 中 。 没 有 任 何 外 来 的 工 作 或 风 尚 曾 把 他 们 的

    注 意 力 从 这 全 神 贯 注 的 事 情 上 转 移 开 来 ， 并 且 为 了 继 续 这 样

    做 ， 他 们 有 一 个 丰 富 而 精 确 的 词 汇 ， 一 个 严 格 的 推 理 方 法 ， 一

    批 多 少 已 为 经 验 所 证 实 的 有 关 行 动 的 通 则 ， 和 一 个 严 正 的 道

    德 哲 学 。 因 此 他 们 也 就 不 可 能 不 从 基 督 教 记 录 的 各 项 问 题 中

    选 择 那 些 接 近 于 他 们 习 惯 的 纯 理 论 制 度 的 问 题 ， 他 们 处 理 这

    些 问 题 的 态 度 也 就 不 可 能 不 来 自 他 们 的 法 庭 的 习 惯 。 几 乎 每

    一 个 对 罗 马 法 有 足 够 知 识 的 人 ， 能 够 理 解 罗 马 刑 法 制 度 ， 罗

    马 人 由 “ 契 约 或 侵 权 ” 创 设 的 债 的 理 论 ， 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 债

    务 ” 以 及 对 于 “ 债 务 ” 产 生 、 消 灭 和 移 转 的 方 式 的 见 解 ， 罗

    马 人 对 于 通 过 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 而 个 人 继 续 生 存 的 观 念 的 人 ， 都

    可 以 说 明 ： 西 方 科 学 问 题 经 证 明 对 它 非 常 意 气 相 投 的 心 境 是

    来 自 什 么 地 方 的 ， 用 以 说 明 这 些 问 题 的 用 语 是 来 自 什 么 地 方

    的 ， 以 及 应 用 于 其 解 决 中 的 推 理 方 法 又 是 来 自 什 么 地 方 的 。 必

    须 回 忆 一 下 ， 这 逐 渐 渗 入 西 方 思 想 中 的 罗 马 法 既 不 是 古 城 市

    的 古 制 度 ， 也 不 是 “ 拜 占 廷 皇 帝 ” 的 经 过 删 改 的 法 律 学 ； 当然 ， 更 不 是 几 乎 埋 没 于 以 “ 现 代 民 法 ” 名 义 通 行 于 世 的 现 代

    纯 理 论 学 理 的 象 寄 生 物 那 样 的 过 度 发 展 中 的 大 量 规 则 。 我 所

    谈 的 ， 只 是 指 由 安 托 宁 时 代 伟 大 法 律 思 想 家 所 研 究 出 来 的 、 部

    分 地 由 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 加 以 转 载 的 法 律 哲 学 ， 这

    个 体 系 很 少 缺 点 ， 除 了 它 所 要 达 到 的 高 度 的 优 雅 、 明 确 和 精

    审 ， 已 超 过 了 人 类 事 务 所 许 可 以 及 人 类 法 律 所 能 限 制 的 范 围 。

    许 多 英 国 著 名 的 和 有 信 誉 的 著 者 ， 由 于 对 罗 马 法 的 无 知

    （ 这 是 英 国 人 不 得 不 立 即 承 认 ， 但 有 时 不 以 为 耻 ， 反 以 自 夸

    的 ） ， 对 罗 马 帝 国 时 期 内 人 类 智 力 状 态 提 出 了 最 不 足 取 的 奇

    论 。 他 们 常 常 这 样 主 张 ， 并 且 是 毫 不 踌 躇 地 、 好 象 在 提 出 这

    命 题 时 毫 不 卤 莽 似 的 ， 认 为 从 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 终 了 的 时 候 起 一

    直 到 一 般 对 于 基 督 信 仰 开 始 发 生 兴 味 时 ， 文 明 世 界 的 心 力 遭

    受 到 瘫 痪 症 的 猛 烈 侵 染 。 这 时 有 两 个 思 想 主 题 ， — — 也 许 是

    除 了 自 然 科 学 之 外 仅 有 的 两 个 — — 可 以 供 人 们 所 具 有 的 一 切

    能 力 作 专 心 致 志 的 研 究 。 其 中 之 一 是 形 而 上 学 的 研 究 ， 这 只

    要 人 愿 意 继 续 钻 研 是 没 有 限 制 的 ； 另 一 个 是 法 律 ， 这 是 和 人

    类 的 事 务 同 样 地 广 大 的 。 恰 巧 在 上 述 的 时 期 中 ， 操 希 腊 语 的

    名 省 专 心 从 事 于 其 一 ， 而 操 拉 丁 语 的 各 省 又 专 心 于 另 一 种 问

    题 。 我 不 想 谈 亚 历 山 大 城 和 东 方 在 纯 理 论 研 究 方 面 的 成 果 ） 但

    我 大 胆 地 断 言 ， 在 罗 马 和 西 方 的 手 中 有 一 件 工 作 ， 足 以 补 偿

    在 其 他 智 力 上 的 欠 缺 ， 并 且 我 要 附 带 说 明 一 句 ， 他 们 所 获 得

    的 结 果 ， 就 我 们 所 知 而 论 ， 对 于 他 们 所 花 费 的 坚 毅 的 专 门 的

    劳 力 ， 并 不 是 不 值 得 的 。 除 了 一 个 职 业 法 律 家 外 ， 也 许 没 有

    人 能 完 全 了 解 “ 法 律 ” 能 吸 收 个 人 的 多 少 精 力 ， 但 是 一 个 普

    通 人 也 不 难 理 解 为 什 么 罗 马 集 体 智 力 的 一 个 不 平 常 部 分 会 被法 律 学 所 独 占 。 “ 一 个 特 定 社 会 的 精 通 法 律 学 ， 它 所 依 靠 的 条

    件 ， 和 它 在 任 何 其 他 种 类 研 究 中 所 依 靠 的 条 件 终 久 是 完 全 相

    同 的 ； 而 条 件 中 最 主 要 的 是 全 国 智 力 花 费 的 比 例 ， 以 及 时 间

    的 长 短 。 当 促 使 一 种 科 学 前 进 和 完 善 的 一 切 直 接 的 和 间 接 的

    原 因 结 合 在 一 起 时 ， 这 种 结 合 在 从 ‘ 十 二 铜 表 法 ’ 到 两 个 帝

    国 分 裂 时 候 为 止 的 这 个 长 时 期 内 继 续 对 罗 马 的 法 律 学 发 生 作

    角 ， — — 并 不 是 不 规 则 的 和 间 断 的 ， 而 是 力 量 继 续 不 断 地 增

    长 ， 数 量 继 续 不 断 地 增 加 的 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 ， 一 个 年 轻 国 家

    最 早 的 智 力 活 动 是 研 究 它 的 法 律 。 一 当 人 们 的 智 力 第 一 次 有

    意 识 地 努 力 要 作 出 概 括 时 ， 首 先 包 括 在 一 般 通 则 和 包 含 丰 富

    的 公 式 中 的 是 日 常 生 活 中 的 事 务 。 年 轻 共 和 国 集 中 一 切 精 力

    专 心 从 事 法 学 研 究 的 声 势 ， 在 开 始 时 是 毫 无 限 制 的 ； 但 不 久

    就 终 止 了 。 智 力 不 再 为 法 律 所 垄 断 。 早 晨 集 合 在 伟 大 罗 马 法

    学 专 家 那 里 的 听 众 减 少 了 。 英 国 ‘ 法 学 院 ’ 的 学 生 数 从 几 千

    人 减 少 到 了 几 百 人 。 艺 术 、 文 学 、 科 学 和 政 治 在 全 国 的 知 识

    界 取 得 了 它 们 的 分 额 ； 而 法 律 学 的 实 践 则 限 制 于 一 个 职 业 界

    的 范 围 之 内 ， 虽 然 并 不 是 有 限 的 或 是 无 关 重 要 的 ， 但 它 所 以

    能 有 吸 引 力 ， 一 方 面 是 由 于 这 一 门 科 学 的 固 有 的 引 人 之 处 ， 另

    一 方 面 亦 是 由 于 因 此 而 可 能 获 得 的 酬 报 。 这 一 系 列 的 变 化 在

    罗 马 甚 至 比 在 英 国 表 现 得 更 为 显 著 。 到 共 和 国 时 代 的 末 期 ， 法

    律 是 除 了 有 将 军 的 特 殊 天 才 的 人 以 外 一 切 有 才 干 的 人 的 唯 一

    天 地 。 但 是 到 了 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 ， 一 个 新 的 智 力 发 展 的 阶 段 开

    始 了 ， 正 象 我 们 的 伊 利 萨 伯 时 代 开 始 一 样 。 我 们 都 知 道 它 在

    诗 歌 和 散 文 上 的 成 就 ； 但 必 须 说 明 ， 有 些 迹 象 表 明 在 其 装 饰

    文 学 的 光 辉 灿 烂 以 外 ， 它 已 到 了 在 自 然 科 学 中 作 出 新 征 服 的前 夕 。 但 是 到 这 个 时 候 ， 罗 马 国 家 中 智 力 的 历 史 已 不 再 和 智

    力 进 步 到 这 时 为 止 所 追 求 的 道 路 平 行 前 进 。 罗 马 文 学 严 格 讲

    起 来 只 能 说 是 昙 花 一 现 ， 它 在 各 式 各 样 的 影 响 下 突 然 终 止 ， 这

    些 影 响 虽 然 有 一 部 分 是 可 以 探 索 的 ， 但 在 这 里 加 以 分 析 是 不

    适 当 的 。 古 代 的 知 识 界 有 力 地 被 推 囘 到 其 老 路 上 去 ， 而 法 律

    又 成 为 专 属 于 天 才 的 正 常 范 围 ， 正 和 罗 马 人 把 哲 学 和 诗 歌 蔑

    视 为 一 种 幼 稚 民 族 的 玩 具 的 时 代 一 样 。 在 帝 政 时 代 ， 使 一 个

    有 天 才 的 人 从 事 于 法 学 专 家 的 事 业 的 外 因 ， 其 性 质 究 竟 是 怎

    样 的 ， 要 理 解 这 一 点 ， 最 好 的 方 法 是 考 虑 他 在 选 择 职 业 时 所

    面 对 的 抉 择 。 他 可 能 成 为 一 个 修 辞 学 教 师 ， 一 个 边 境 哨 地 的

    司 令 官 ， 或 是 一 个 颂 词 的 职 业 著 者 。 此 外 ， 能 容 纳 他 的 仅 有

    的 现 实 生 活 中 的 其 他 职 业 是 法 律 职 业 。 通 过 了 这 ， 可 以 到 达

    财 富 、 名 誉 、 官 职 、 君 主 的 会 议 室 — — 甚 至 可 以 达 到 王 位 的

    本 身 。 ” （“ 剑 桥 论丛 ” ， １ ８ ５ ６ 年）

    学 习 法 律 学 的 报 酬 是 巨 大 的 ， 所 以 在 帝 国 境 内 到 处 都 有

    法 律 学 校 ， 甚 至 在 形 而 上 学 的 领 域 内 也 是 如 此 。 虽 然 帝 国 首

    都 迁 到 拜 占 廷 显 而 易 见 地 推 动 了 它 在 东 方 的 研 究 工 作 ， 但 法

    律 学 从 没 有 能 推 翻 和 它 相 竞 争 的 各 种 学 问 。 它 所 用 的 语 言 是

    拉 丁 ， 这 是 帝 国 东 半 部 的 一 种 外 来 方 言 。 只 是 对 西 方 我 们 可

    以 说 ， 法 律 不 但 是 有 野 心 的 和 有 抱 负 的 人 的 精 神 食 粮 ， 并 且

    是 一 切 智 力 活 动 的 唯 一 滋 养 。 对 于 罗 马 的 知 识 界 ， 希 腊 哲 学

    仅 不 过 是 一 个 短 促 的 风 尚 ， 并 且 当 新 的 东 方 首 都 建 立 ， 帝 国

    分 裂 为 二 ， 西 方 各 省 就 比 以 前 更 明 白 地 和 希 腊 纯 理 论 相 分 离 ， 更 明 白 地 专 心 于 法 律 学 。 当 他 们 这 样 不 再 听 命 于 希 腊 人 ， 并

    开 始 自 行 建 立 其 神 学 时 ， 这 个 神 学 经 证 明 渗 透 了 法 律 的 观 念

    并 在 其 措 辞 中 用 了 法 律 的 用 语 。 当 然 ， 在 西 方 神 学 中 ， 这 个

    法 律 的 基 体 是 十 分 深 厚 的 。 一 套 新 的 希 腊 理 论 ， 即 亚 里 士 多

    德 哲 学 ， 后 来 流 入 西 方 ， 并 且 几 乎 完 全 掩 没 了 土 著 的 学 理 。 但

    到 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 、 它 部 分 地 摆 脱 了 它 们 的 影 响 时 ， 它 立 即 用“ 法 律 ” 来 补 足 它 们 的 地 位 。 在 喀 尔 文 （ Ｃ ａ ｌ ｖ ｉ ｎ ） 和 阿 明 尼 阿斯 （ Ａ ｒ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｉ ｕ ｓ ） 两 种 宗 教 体 系 中 究 竟 哪 一 个 有 更 显 著 的 法 律性 质 ， 这 是 很 难 说 的 。

    罗 马 人 的 特 殊 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 对 现 代 “ 法 律 ” 中 相 当部 门 所 发 生 的 巨 大 影 响 ， 似 不 属 于 本 文 范 围 ， 应 属 于 成 熟 的法 律 学 史 。 这 种 影 响 要 直 到 波 罗 诺 学 派 创 立 了 现 代 欧 洲 法 律学 后 才 感 觉 到 。 但 罗 马 人 在 帝 国 衰 亡 前 曾 把 “ 契 约 ” 概 念 发展 得 非 常 完 全 的 事 实 ， 在 比 上 述 时 期 更 早 的 一 个 时 期 就 具 有重 要 性 。 我 曾 不 止 一 次 地 说 过 ， “ 封 建 制 度 ” 是 古 代 蛮 族 习 惯和 罗 马 法 的 一 种 混 合 物 ； 其 他 任 何 解 释 都 是 不 足 信 的 ， 甚 至是 不 可 领 会 的 。 封 建 时 代 最 早 的 社 会 形 式 和 原 始 人 类 到 处 结合 在 其 中 的 一 般 社 团 很 少 区 别 。 一 个 “ 封 地 ” 是 一 些 财 产 权利 和 人 身 权 利 不 可 分 解 地 混 合 在 一 起 的 一 种 有 机 的 、 完 全 的结 合 。 它 和 一 个 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 以 及 一 个 苏 格 兰 高原部族 社 团 有 许 多 共 同 之 处 。 但 封 建 社 会 仍 具 有 某 种 现 象 ，是我们 从 文 明 初 创 者 自 发 形 成 的 社 团 中 找 不 到 的 。 真 正 的古代共产 体 不 是 由 明 白 的 规 定 而 是 依 靠 情 绪 ， 或 者 ， 我 们 应 该 说 ， 依靠 本 能 ， 结 合 在 一 起 的 ； 凡 是 新 来 者 都 虚 假 地 装 做 有 血 统 关系 而 就 在 这 个 本 能 的 范 围 之 内 被 纳 入 社 团 的 。 但 是 最 早 的 封建 社 会 既 不 是 仅 仅 由 情 绪 结 合 起 来 的 ， 也 不 是 靠 一 种 拟 制 来补 充 其 成 员 的 。 把 他 们 结 合 在 一 起 的 纽 带 是 “ 契 约 ” ， 他 们 用和 新 伙 伴 缔 结 一 个 契 约 的 方 法 来 获 得 新 伙 伴 。 封 建 主 和 属 臣的 关 系 原 来 是 用 明 白 的 定 约 来 确 定 的 ， 一 个 愿 意 把 自 己 用推荐或分封土地 的 方 法 接 纳 在 同 族 之 内 的 人 ， 对 于 他 被 接 纳 的各 项 条 件 是 明 白 了 解 的 。 因 此 ， 把 封 建 制 度 和 原 始 民 族 纯 粹惯 例 加 以 区 分 的 主 要 东 西 是 “ 契 约 ” 在 它 们 中 间 所 占 的 范 围 。封 建 主 具 有 一 个 宗 法 家 长 的 许 多 特 点 ， 但 他 的 特 权 为 多 种 多样 确 立 的 习 惯 所 限 制 ， 这 种 习 惯 来 自 分 封 土 地 时 经 过 同 意 的

    明 确 的 条 件 。 使 我 们 不 能 把 封 建 社 会 和 真 正 的 古 代 社 会 归 属

    一 类 ， 其 主 要 的 不 同 之 点 就 是 由 此 而 来 的 。 封 建 社 会 比 较 持

    久 ， 比 较 多 种 多 样 ； 它 们 所 以 持 久 ， 是 因 为 明 确 的 规 定 比 本

    能 的 习 惯 不 容 易 毁 灭 ， 其 所 以 多 种 多 样 ， 是 因 为 它 们 所 根 据

    的 契 约 是 依 照 交 出 或 授 与 土 地 的 人 的 具 体 情 况 和 具 体 要 求 而

    调 节 的 。 这 最 后 的 理 由 可 以 用 来 说 明 那 在 我 们 中 间 流 行 的 关

    于 现 代 社 会 渊 源 的 通 俗 意 见 是 如 何 大 大 地 需 要 修 正 。 人 们 常

    说 ， 现 代 文 明 的 外 貌 所 以 如 此 地 不 规 则 和 多 样 化 ， 主 要 是 由

    于 日 耳 曼 民 族 的 丰 富 而 易 变 的 天 才 ， 这 和 罗 马 帝 国 那 种 迟 钝的 常 规 是 完 全 不 同 的 。 真 相 是 ， 罗 马 帝 国 把 法 律 概 念 遗传给了 现 代 社 会 ， 而 这 种 不 规 则 正 是 来 自 那 些 法 律 概 念 ； 如 果 说蛮 族 的 习 惯 和 制 度 有 一 个 特 点 比 另 一 个 特 点 更 为 显 著 ， 那 末这 个 特 点 就 是 它 们 的 极 端 一 致 。

    第 十 章 　 侵 权 和 犯 罪 的 早 期 史

    “ 条 顿 法 典 ” （ Ｔ ｅ ｕ ｔ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｃ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｄ ｅ ｓ ） 包 括 我 们 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克逊 的 法 典 在 内 ， 是 流 传 到 我 们 手 里 的 唯 一 的 古 代 世 俗 法 律 ， 关于 它 原 来 的 规 模 我 们 可 以 形 成 一 个 明 确 的 概 念 。 虽 然 罗 马 和希 腊 法 典 的 现 存 片 断 足 以 证 明 它 们 的 一 般 性 质 ， 但 残 存 的 数

    量 不 多 ， 还 不 够 使 我 们 十 分 确 切 地 知 道 它 们 到 底 有 多 大 的 篇

    幅 以 及 各 个 部 分 相 互 的 比 重 。 但 大 体 而 论 ， 所 有 已 知 的 古 代

    法 的 蒐 集 都 有 一 个 共 同 的 特 点 使 它 们 和 成 熟 的 法 律 学 制 度 显

    然 不 同 。 最 显 著 的 差 别 在 于 刑 法 和 民 法 所 占 的 比 重 。 在 日 耳

    曼 法 典 中 ， 民 事 部 分 的 法 律 比 刑 事 部 分 范 围 要 狭 小 得 多 。 德

    累 科 法 典 科 处 血 刑 的 传 统 ， 似 乎 表 明 它 也 有 同 样 的 特 点 。 只

    有 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” （ 这 是 一 个 具 有 伟 大 法 律 天 才 和 一 个 温 良

    风 俗 的 社 会 的 产 物 ） 中 ， 它 的 民 事 法 律 才 有 些 象 其 现 代 的 先

    例 ； 但 是 损 害 救 济 方 式 所 占 的 地 位 ， 虽 然 不 是 异 常 巨 大 ， 但

    却 是 相 当 大 的 。 我 以 为 可 以 这 样 说 ， 法 典 愈 古 老 ， 它 的 刑 事

    立 法 就 愈 详 细 、 愈 完 备 。 这 种 现 象 常 常 可 以 看 到 ， 并 且 这 样

    解 释 无 疑 地 在 很 大 程 度 上 是 正 确 的 ： 由 于 法 律 初 次 用 文 字 写

    成 时 ， 社 会 中 经 常 发 生 强 暴 行 为 。 据 说 ， 立 法 者 按 照 野 蛮 生

    活 中 某 一 类 事 件 发 生 次 数 的 多 少 以 分 配 其 工 作 的 比 重 。 但 我

    认 为 这 个 说 法 并 不 十 分 完 全 。 应 该 囘 想 一 下 ， 在 古 代 的 蒐 集

    中 民 事 法 律 比 较 缺 少 是 和 本 文 中 所 讨 论 的 古 代 法 律 学 的 其 他特 征 相 一 致 的 。 文 明 社 会 所 施 行 的 法 律 的 民 事 部 分 ， 有 十 分

    之 九 是 由 “ 人 法 ” 、 “ 财 产 和 继 承 法 ” 以 及 “ 契 约 法 ” 组 成 的 。

    但 是 很 显 然 ， 当 我 们 越 接 近 社 会 的 萌 芽 时 代 ， 这 一 切 法 律 学

    领 域 就 愈 缩 小 到 更 狭 小 的 范 围 之 内 。 既 然 一 切 身 分 形 式 都 共

    同 从 属 于 “ 父 权 ” 之 下 ， 既 然 “ 妻 ” 对 其 “ 夫 ” 没 有 任 何 权

    利 ， 子 对 其 父 也 没 有 任 何 权 利 ， 以 及 婴 儿 “ 受 监 护 人 ” 对 作

    为 其 “ 监 护 人 ” 的 “ 宗 亲 ” ， 也 没 有 任 何 权 利 ， 这 个 等 于 是

    “ 身 分 法 ” 的 “ 人 法 ” 即 被 限 制 在 最 狭 小 的 限 度 内 。 同 样 地 ，

    有 关 “ 财 产 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 的 规 定 决 不 会 很 多 的 ， 既 然 土 地 和

    财 物 是 在 家 族 内 授 受 ， 并 且 ， 如 果 真 要 分 配 的 话 ， 也 是 在 家

    族 的 范 围 内 进 行 的 。 但 是 ， 古 代 民 法 中 最 大 的 缺 口 始 终 是 由

    于 缺 少 “ 契 约 ” 而 造 成 的 ， 在 有 些 古 代 法 典 中 完 全 不 提 到

    “ 契 约 ” ， 而 在 另 一 些 古 代 法 典 中 则 用 一 种 精 细 的 “ 宣 誓 ” 法

    律 来 代 替 “ 契 约 ” ， 这 足 以 证 明 “ 契 约 ” 所 依 据 的 道 德 观 念 还

    没 有 成 熟 。 至 于 刑 法 ， 则 并 没 有 同 样 的 使 它 贫 乏 的 理 由 ， 因

    此 ， 纵 使 我 们 不 应 冒 昧 地 宣 称 在 国 家 的 幼 年 时 代 总 是 一 个 无

    法 抑 制 的 强 暴 时 期 ， 我 们 仍 旧 应 该 懂 得 为 什 么 刑 法 和 民 法 的

    现 代 关 系 竟 在 古 代 法 典 中 颠 倒 过 来 。

    我 曾 认 为 ： 原 始 法 律 学 曾 以 近 代 所 不 知 道 的 优 先 给 与 ·

    犯

    ·

    罪 法 。 这 种 说 法 完 全 是 为 了 方 便 起 见 ， 但 事 实 上 ， 对 古 代 法

    典 的 仔 细 考 察 使 我 们 知 道 ， 它 们 以 非 常 的 数 量 揭 示 的 法 律 并

    非 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 。 所 有 文 明 制 度 都 一 致 同 意 在 对 国 家 、 对 社

    会 所 犯 的 罪 行 和 对 个 人 所 犯 的 罪 行 之 间 ， 应 该 有 所 区 别 ， 这

    样 区 别 的 两 类 损 害 ， 我 称 之 为 ·

    犯 ·

    罪 （ ｃ ｌ ｉ ｍ ｉ ｎ ａ ） 和 ·

    不 ·

    法 ·

    行 ·

    为（ ｄ ｅ ｌ ｉ ｃ ｔ ａ ） ， 虽 然 我 并 不 认 为 这 两 个 名 词 在 法 律 学 上 是 始 终 这样 一 致 应 用 的 。 古 代 社 会 的 刑 法 不 是 “ 犯 罪 ” 法 ； 这 是 “ 不

    法 行 为 ” 法 ， 或 用 英 国 的 术 语 ， 就 是 “ 侵 权 行 为 ” 法 。 被 害

    人 用 一 个 普 通 民 事 诉 讼 对 不 法 行 为 人 提 起 诉 讼 ， 如 果 他 胜 诉 ，

    就 可 以 取 得 金 钱 形 式 的 损 害 补 偿 。 我 们 试 参 考 该 雅 士 在 “ 评

    释 ” 中 根 据 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 对 刑 事 法 律 学 所 作 的 讨 论 ， 可 以

    看 到 ， 在 罗 马 法 所 承 认 的 民 事 不 法 行 为 的 开 头 有 ·

    窃 ·

    盗 ·

    罪 （ Ｆ ｕ ｒ Aｔ ｕ ｍ ） 。 我 们 在 习 惯 上 认 为 专 属 于犯 ·

    罪 的 罪 行 被 完 全 认 为 是不

    · 法 ·

    行为 ， 并 且 不 仅 是 窃 盗 ， 甚 至 凌 辱 和 强 盗 ， 也 被 法 学 专 家

    把 它 们 和 扰 害 、 文 字 诽 谤 及 口 头 诽 谤 联 系 在 一 起 。 所 有 这 一

    切 都 产 生 了 “ 债 ” 或 是 ·

    法 ·

    锁 ， 并 都 可 以 用 金 钱 支 付 以 为 补 偿 。

    但 这 个 特 点 ， 最 有 力 地 表 现 在 日 耳 曼 部 落 的 统 一 法 律 （ ｔ ｈ ｅ 　

    ｃ ｏ ｎ ｓ ｏ ｌ ｉ ｄ ａ ｔ ｅ ｄ 　 Ｌ ａ ｗ ｓ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｇ ｅ ｒ ｍ ａ ｎ ｉ ｃ 　 ｔ ｒ ｉ ｂ ｅ ｓ ） 中 。 它 们 对 杀 人罪 也 不 例 外 有 一 个 庞 大 的 用 金 钱 赔 偿 的 制 度 ， 至 于 轻 微 损 害 ，

    除 少 数 例 外 ， 亦 有 一 个 同 样 庞 大 的 金 钱 赔 偿 制 度 。 垦 布 尔 先

    生 （ Ｍ ｒ ． Ｋ ｅ ｍ ｂ ｌ ｅ ｓ ） 〔 在 “ 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 ” （ Ａ ｎ ｇ ｌ ｏ －

    Ｓ ａ ｘ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 卷 一 ， 第 １ ７ ７ 页 中 〕 写 道 ： “ 根 据 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 法

    律 ， 对 于 每 一 个 自 由 人 的 生 命 ， 都 可 以 按 照 他 的 身 分 而 以 一

    定 金 钱 为 赔 偿 ， 对 于 其 身 受 的 每 一 个 创 伤 ， 对 于 他 的 民 权 、 荣

    誉 或 安 宁 所 造 成 的 几 乎 每 一 种 损 害 ， 都 可 以 用 相 当 的 金 钱 为

    赔 偿 ； 金 额 按 照 偶 然 情 势 而 增 加 ” 。 这 些 和 解 费 明 显 地 被 认 为

    是 收 入 的 一 种 有 价 值 的 来 源 ； 一 套 高 度 复 杂 的 规 则 规 定 着 申

    请 它 们 的 权 利 和 负 担 它 们 的 责 任 ； 并 且 象 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过

    的 那 样 ， 如 果 它 们 在 所 属 的 人 死 亡 时 还 没 有 清 偿 ， 它 们 常 根

    据 一 些 特 殊 的 规 定 而 遗 传 下 去 。 因 此 ， 如 果 一 种 ·

    侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 或

    ·

    不 ·

    法 ·

    行 ·

    为 的 标 准 是 ： 被 认 为 受 到 损 害 的 是 被 损 害 的 个 人 而 不是 “ 国 家 ” ， 则 可 断 言 ， 在 法 律 学 幼 年 时 代 ， 公 民 赖 以 保 护 使

    不 受 强 暴 或 诈 欺 的 ， 不 是 “ 犯 罪 法 ” 而 是 “ 侵 权 行 为 法 ” 。

    于 是 ， 在 原 始 法 律 学 中 “ 侵 权 行 为 ” 被 大 量 地 扩 大 了 。 必

    须 说 明 ， 原 始 法 律 学 也 涉 及 “ 罪 过 ” 。 对 于 条 顿 法 典 ， 我 们 几

    乎 是 毋 庸 作 这 样 的 说 明 的 ， 因 为 我 们 所 接 受 到 的 这 些 法 典 的

    形 式 ， 是 经 基 督 教 立 法 者 编 纂 或 改 写 过 的 。 但 是 ， 在 非 基 督

    教 的 古 代 法 律 中 ， 对 于 某 类 行 为 和 不 行 为 也 往 往 因 为 违 背 了

    神 的 指 示 和 命 令 而 加 以 刑 罚 。 雅 典 “ 阿 勒 乌 柏 果 斯 元 老 院 ”

    （ Ｓ ｅ ｎ ａ ｔ ｅ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ａ ｒ ｅ ｏ ｐ ａ ｇ ｕ ｓ ） 所 适 用 的 法 律 也 许 是 一 个 特 殊 的宗 教 法 典 ， 而 在 罗 马 ， 显 然 从 很 早 的 时 期 起 ， 教 长 法 律 学 就

    对 通 奸 罪 、 渎 神 罪 以 及 谋 杀 罪 加 以 刑 罚 。 因 此 ， 在 雅 典 和 在

    罗 马 各 省 中 ， 法 律 处 罚 ·

    罪 ·

    过 。 他 们 也 有 处 罚 ·

    侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 的 法 律 。

    触 犯 “ 上 帝 ” 的 罪 行 的 概 念 产 生 了 第 一 类 的 律 令 ； 触 犯 邻 居

    的 概 念 产 生 了 第 二 类 的 律 令 ； 但 触 犯 国 家 或 集 成 社 会 的 观 念 ，

    并 没 有 一 开 始 就 产 生 一 个 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 律 学 。

    但 是 我 们 不 能 就 因 而 假 定 ， 对 国 家 做 出 不 法 行 为 这 样 一

    种 简 单 而 基 本 的 概 念 ， 是 在 任 何 原 始 社 会 中 都 缺 乏 的 。 很 可

    能 在 最 初 阻 止 犯 罪 法 律 发 展 的 真 正 原 因 ， 正 是 由 于 这 个 概 念

    被 理 解 得 很 清 楚 明 白 。 无 论 如 何 ， 当 罗 马 社 会 认 为 它 本 身 受

    到 了 损 害 时 ， 它 即 绝 对 按 照 字 面 地 类 推 适 用 当 一 个 个 人 受 到

    不 法 行 为 时 所 发 生 的 后 果 ， 国 家 对 不 法 行 为 的 个 人 就 用 一 个

    单 一 行 为 来 报 复 。 其 结 果 是 ， 在 共 和 国 的 幼 年 时 代 ， 对 于 严

    重 妨 害 国 家 安 全 或 国 家 利 益 的 每 一 种 罪 行 ， 都 由 立 法 机 关 制

    定 一 个 单 独 法 令 来 加 以 处 罚 。 这 就 是 对 于 一 个 ·

    犯 ·

    罪 （ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｍ ｅ ｎ ）的 最 古 概 念 — —犯 ·

    罪 是 一 种 涉 及 重 要 结 果 的 行 为 ， 对 于 这 种行 为 ， 国 家 不 交 给 民 事 法 院 或 宗 教 法 院 审 判 ， 而 专 对 犯 罪 者

    制 定 一 个特 ·

    别法 ·

    律 （ ｐ ｒ ｉ ｖ ｉ ｌ ｅ ｇ ｉ ｕ ｍ ） 加 以 处 理 。 因 此 ， 每 一 个 起

    诉 都 用 一 种 痛 苦 和 刑 罚 状 （ ａ 　 ｂ ｉ ｌ ｌ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｐ ａ ｉ ｎ ｓ 　 ａ ｎ ｄ 　 ｐ ｅ ｎ ａ ｌ Aｔ ｉ ｅ ｓ ） 的 形 式 ， 而 审 判 一 个 犯 人 （ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｍ ｉ ｎ ａ ｌ ） 所 用 的 一 种 诉 讼 程序 是 完 全 非 常 的 、 完 全 非 正 规 的 、 完 全 离 既 定 的 规 则 和 固 定

    条 件 而 独 立 的 。 一 方 面 由 于 执 行 正 义 的 法 院 就 是 主 权 国 家 本

    身 ， 另 一 方 面 由 于 不 可 能 把 规 定 的 或 禁 止 的 行 为 加 以 分 类 ， 因

    此 ， 在 这 个 时 代 中 ， 就 没 有 任 何 的 犯 罪 ·

    法 ·

    律 、 任 何 的 犯 罪 法

    律 学 。 所 用 的 程 序 和 通 过 一 条 普 通 法 令 的 形 式 完 全 相 同 ； 它

    是 由 同 样 的 人 物 提 议 ， 并 且 用 完 全 同 样 的 仪 式 来 进 行 的 。 可

    以 注 意 的 是 ， 当 一 种 犯 罪 法 律 连 同 执 行 它 的 一 套 “ 法 院 ” 和

    官 员 们 在 后 来 出 现 时 ， 旧 的 程 序 可 能 是 由 于 它 符 合 于 理 论 ， 仍

    旧 严 格 地 适 用 着 ； 由 于 这 一 种 方 法 不 复 为 人 所 信 任 ， 罗 马 人

    民 常 对 触 犯 国 家 尊 严 的 人 保 留 着 用 一 种 特 别 法 律 加 以 处 罚 的

    权 力 。 凡 是 古 典 派 的 学 者 都 能 知 道 ， 雅 典 的 ·

    痛 ·

    苦 ·

    和 ·

    刑 ·

    罚 ·

    状

    （ Cι σ α γ γ CKι α ） 正 是 完 全 同 样 地 ， 在 正 式 法 院 成 立 后 还 继 续 存

    在 。 我 们 也 知 道 ， 当 条 顿 民 族 的 自 由 人 集 会 立 法 时 ， 他 们 也

    主 张 有 权 刑 罚 特 别 凶 残 的 罪 行 ， 或 刑 罚 占 有 崇 高 地 位 的 犯 人

    所 犯 的 罪 行 。 具 有 这 种 性 质 的 ， 是 “ 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 国 会 ”

    （ Ａ ｎ ｇ ｌ ｏ － Ｓ ａ ｘ ｏ ｎ 　 Ｗ ｉ ｔ ｅ ｎ ａ ｇ ｅ ｍ ｏ ｔ ） 的 刑 事 管 辖 权 。

    也 许 有 人 以 为 ， 我 所 说 的 古 代 和 现 代 关 于 刑 法 观 念 上 所

    存 在 的 不 同 ， 只 是 在 口 头 上 存 在 。 可 以 这 样 说 ， 社 会 除 了 用

    立 法 的 方 法 来 处 罚 犯 罪 外 ， 从 最 早 的 时 代 起 ， 它 就 用 它 的 法

    院 来 进 行 干 预 ， 强 迫 不 法 行 为 人 补 偿 其 不 法 行 为 。 如 果 它 是

    这 样 做 了 ， 那 就 始 终 可 以 假 定 社 会 在 某 些 方 面 由 于 他 造 成 的罪 行 而 受 到 了 损 害 。 但 是 ， 不 论 这 个 推 论 在 今 天 的 我 们 看 来是 如 何 严 格 ， 它 是 否 真 正 由 原 始 古 代 的 人 们 所 作 出 ， 依 旧 是

    一 个 疑 问 。 国 家 在 最 早 时 代 ·

    通 ·

    过 ·

    其 ·

    法 ·

    院 而 进 行 干 涉 ， 很 少 是

    由 于 国 家 受 到 了 损 害 这 个 观 念 ， 这 从 下 述 的 情 况 中 可 以 看 出 ，

    即 在 原 来 的 司 法 行 政 中 ， 它 所 采 用 的 程 序 ， 主 要 是 摹 仿 私 人

    生 活 中 可 能 要 做 的 一 系 列 的 行 为 ， 即 人 们 在 生 活 中 发 生 了 争

    执 ， 但 在 后 来 不 得 不 把 他 们 的 争 执 提 交 和 解 。 高 级 官 吏 谨 慎

    地 仿 效 着 临 时 被 召 唤 来 的 一 个 私 人 公 断 者 的 态 度 。

    为 了 要 表 明 这 个 说 法 不 仅 仅 是 一 种 幻 想 ， 我 将 提 出 它 所

    依 据 的 证 据 。 我 们 所 知 道 的 最 古 的 司 法 程 序 是 罗 马 人 的 “ 誓

    金 法 律 诉 讼 ” （ Ｌ ｅ ｇ ｉ ｓ 　 Ａ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ 　 Ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ａ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｉ ） ， 所 有 后 期 的 罗 马“ 诉 讼 法 ” （ Ｌ ａ ｗ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ａ ｃ ｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 都 是 从 它 发 展 来 的 。 该 雅 士曾 详 尽 地 描 述 它 的 仪 式 。 初 看 起 来 ， 这 好 象 是 毫 无 意 义 甚 至荒 谬 的 ， 但 稍 加 注 意 ， 就 可 使 我 们 了 解 它 的 意 义 。

    涉 讼 的 标 的 一 般 认 为 是 应 该 存 缴 到 法 院 中 的 。 如 果 是 动

    产 ， 就 用 原 物 。 如 果 是 不 动 产 ， 就 以 碎 片 或 样 品 为 代 替 ； 例

    如 土 地 用 一 块 泥 ， 房 屋 用 一 块 砖 作 代 表 。 在 该 雅 士 所 选 的 例

    子 中 ， 诉 讼 是 为 了 一 个 奴 隶 。 当 诉 讼 开 始 时 ， 原 告 手 持 一 竿

    前 进 ， 这 一 根 竿 子 据 该 雅 士 的 说 明 是 象 征 着 一 支 枪 。 他 抓 住

    了 奴 隶 ， 并 用 下 述 语 句 主 张 他 的 权 利 ， “我根据公民法的规定主张这个人是我所有的 ” （ Ｈ ｕ ｎ ｃ 　 ｅ ｇ ｏ 　 ｈ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｅ ｍ 　 ｅ ｘ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｒ ｅ 　 Ｑ ｕ ｉ ｒ ｉ ｔ ｉ ｕ ｍ 　 ｍ ｅ ｕ ｍ 　 ｅ ｓ ｓ ｅ 　 ｄ ｉ ｃ ｏ 　 ｓ ｅ ｃ ｕ ｎ ｄ ｕ ｍ 　 ｓ ｕ ａ ｍ 　 ｃ ａ ｕ ｓ ａ ｍ 　 ｓ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｔ 　 ｄ ｉ ｘ ｉ ） ； 接 着 他 用 竿 触 他 ， 说 ， “现在把枪放在他身上 ” （ Ｅ ｃ ｃ ｅ 　 ｔ ｉ ｂ ｉ 　 Ｖ ｉ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ａ ｍ 　 ｉ ｍ ｐ ｏ ｓ ｕ ｉ ） 。 被 告 进 行 着 同样 的 一 系 列 的 行 为 和 动 作 。 这 时 裁 判 官 进 而 干 涉 ， 他 吩 咐 诉讼 两 造 放 手 ， “ 放开枪 ” （ Ｍ ｉ ｔ ｔ ｉ ｔ ｅ 　 ａ ｍ ｂ ｏ 　 ｈ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｎ ｅ ｍ ） 。 他 们 服从 了 ， 原 告 就 要 求 被 告 提 出 其 干 涉 的 理 由 ， “ 我请求这物件，你有什么理由主张权利 ” （ Ｐ ｏ ｓ ｔ ｕ ｌ ｏ 　 ａ ｎ ｎ ｅ 　 ｄ ｉ ｃ ａ ｓ 　 ｇ ｕ ａ J　 ｅ ｘ ｃ ａ ｕ ｓ ａ J　 ｖ ｉ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｃ ａ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｓ ） ， 对 这 个 问 题 所 给 与 的 回 答 是 一 个 新 的权 利 的 主 张 ， “我已主张这物件是我所有，所以把枪放在他身上 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｓ 　 ｐ ｅ ｒ ｅ ｇ ｉ 　 ｓ ｉ ｃ ｕ ｔ 　 ｖ ｉ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｔ ａ ｍ 　 ｉ ｍ ｐ ｏ ｓ ｕ ｉ ） 。 到 这 时 ， 第一 个 请 求 人 提 出 一 笔 称 为 “ 誓 金 ” 的 金 钱 ， 作 为 他 提 出 案 件正 当 的 赌 注 ， 并 说 ， “你的权利主张没有根据，我愿以誓金决胜负 ” （ Ｑ ｕ ａ ｎ ｄ ｏ 　 ｔ ｕ 　 ｉ ｎ ｊ ｕ ｒ ｉ ａ J　 ｐ ｒ ｏ ｖ ｏ ｃ ａ ｓ ｔ ｉ ， Ｄ Eｒ ｉ ｓ 　 Ｓ ａ ｃ ｒ ａ ｍ ｅ ｎ A

    ｔ ｏ 　 ｔ ｅ 　 ｐ ｒ ｏ ｖ ｏ ｃ ｏ ） ， 被 告 于 是 说 “ 我也给 ” （ Ｓ ｉ ｍ ｉ ｌ ｉ ｔ ｅ ｒ 　 ｅ ｇ ｏ ｔ ｅ ） ， 接 受 赌 注 。 这 以 后 的 程 序 已 不 再 是 一 种 正 式 需 要 的 了 ， 但 须 注 意 ， 裁 判 官 从 誓 金 中 提 取 保 证 金 ， 这 些 保 证 金 常 被 解 入国 库 。

    这 是 每 一 个 古 罗 马 诉 讼 的 必 要 的 开 端 。 有 人 认 为 这 就 是

    一 个 戏 剧 化 的 “ 公 道 的 起 源 ” ， 我 以 为 ， 这 个 意 见 是 很 难 不 予

    同 意 的 。 两 个 带 武 器 的 人 为 了 某 种 引 起 纠 纷 的 财 产 而 争 吵 着 。

    裁 判 官 ，一个因恭敬谨慎和功绩而受尊敬的人 （ ｖ ｉ ｒ 　 ｐ ｉ ｅ ｔ ａ ｔ ｅ

    　 ｇ ｒ ａ ｖ ｉ ｓ ） ， 恰 巧 经 过 ， 居 间 要 求 停 止 争 执 。 争 吵 的 人 就 把 情况 告 诉 他 ， 同 意 由 他 公 断 ， 他 们 一 致 同 意 失 败 的 一 方 除 了 放 弃 争 执 的 标 的 物 外 ， 并 应 以 一 定 数 量 的 金 钱 给 付 公 断 八 ， 作 为 麻 烦 和 时 间 上 损 失 的 酬 报 。 如 果 不 是 由 于 一 个 意 外 的 巧 合，该 雅 士 所 描 写 的 一 个 “ 法 律 诉 讼 ” 中 必 要 的 诉 讼 程 序 ， 实 质

    上 是 和 荷 马 所 描 写 的 给 “ 火 及 金 属 工 作 之 神 ” （ Ｇ ｏ ｄ Ｈ ｅ ｐ ｈ Eｓ ｔ ｕ ｓ ） 铸 造 为 亚 济 里 斯 盾 牌 的 第 一 格 （ Ｆ ｉ ｒ ｓ ｔ Ｃ ｏ ｍ Aｐ ａ ｒ ｔ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｓ ｈ ｉ ｌ ｅ ｄ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ａ ｃ ｈ ｉ ｌ ｌ ｅ ｓ ） 的 两 个 主 题 之 一完 全 相 同 ， 则 这 个 解 释 将 不 象 它 表 面 上 那 样 地 可 信 。 在 荷 马所 描 写 的 审 判 剧 内 ， 似 乎 为 了 特 意 要 表 明 原 始 社 会 的 特 证 ， 争

    议 不 是 为 了 财 产 ， 而 是 为 了 一 个 杀 人 罪 的 和 解 费 。 一 个 人 说

    他 已 经 付 了 ， 另 一 个 人 说 他 从 来 没 有 收 到 过 。 但 是 使 这 幅 图

    画 成 为 古 罗 马 实 践 的 复 本 的 细 节 就 是 指 定 要 交 给 法 官 的 酬

    金 。 两 个 塔 仑 （ ｔ ａ ｌ ｅ ｎ ｔ ） 的 黄 金 放 在 中 间 ， 这 些 黄 金 要 付 给 那个 能 把 判 决 的 理 由 解 释 得 使 听 众 感 到 极 为 满 意 的 人 。 这 个 数

    额 ， 和 “ 誓 金 ” 的 细 小 相 比 ， 显 得 十 分 巨 大 ， 这 在 我 看 来 ， 表

    示 着 变 动 中 的 惯 例 和 已 经 巩 固 为 法 律 的 惯 例 之 间 的 差 别 。 这

    被 诗 人 认 作 是 英 雄 时 代 城 市 生 活 中 一 个 显 著 的 、 特 有 的 、 但

    仍 旧 只 是 偶 然 的 特 点 而 加 以 介 绍 的 一 幕 ， 在 民 事 诉 讼 的 历 史

    开 始 时 ， 就 被 固 定 而 成 为 一 种 正 式 的 、 通 常 的 诉 讼 手 续 。 因

    此 ， 很 自 然 ， 在 一 个 “ 法 律 诉 讼 ” 中 ， “ 法 官 ” 的 酬 劳 会 减 低

    到 一 个 合 理 的 数 额 ， 并 且 不 再 用 公 决 的 方 法 把 它 公 断 给 许 多

    公 断 人 中 的 一 个 人 ， 而 视 为 当 然 地 把 它 付 给 裁 判 官 所 代 表 的

    国 家 。 但 我 毫 不 怀 疑 ， 荷 马 如 此 生 动 地 加 以 描 写 并 由 该 雅 士

    用 了 比 平 常 粗 劣 的 术 语 精 美 得 多 的 术 语 来 描 写 的 这 些 事 件 ，

    在 实 质 上 它 们 的 意 义 是 完 全 一 致 的 ； 为 了 肯 定 这 个 见 解 ， 应

    该 附 加 说 明 ， 许 多 观 察 现 代 欧 洲 最 早 司 法 惯 例 的 观 察 者 都 认

    为 “ 法 院 ” 加 于 罪 人 的 罚 金 原 来 就 是 誓 金 ， “ 国 家 ” 并 不 因 为

    被 告 对 它 做 了 任 何 不 法 行 为 而 取 得 和 解 费 ， 但 从 给 与 原 告 的

    赔 偿 中 取 得 一 分 作 为 时 间 和 麻 烦 的 公 平 代 价 。 垦 布 尔 先 生 明

    白 地 认 为 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 的 ｂ ａ ｎ ｎ ｕ ｍ 或 ｆ ｒ ｅ ｄ ｕ ｍ 具 有 这 种 性质 。

    古 代 法 律 还 提 供 了 其 他 证 据 ， 证 明 最 古 的 司 法 官 吏 模 仿着 私 人 争 执 中 人 们 的 可 能 行 为 。 在 决 定 陪 偿 损 害 时 ， 他 们 以

    在 该 案 件 的 情 况 下 一 个 被 害 人 可 能 要 采 取 报 复 的 程 度 作 为 他

    们 的 指 南 。 这 就 说 明 了 为 什 么 古 代 法 律 对 于 现 行 犯 或 犯 罪 后

    不 久 被 捕 的 犯 人 以 及 经 过 相 当 时 间 后 被 捕 的 犯 人 处 以 很 不 同

    的 刑 罚 的 原 故 。 在 古 罗 马 的 “ 盗 窃 法 ” 中 有 几 个 有 关 这 个 特

    点 的 奇 怪 例 证 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 似 将 “ 盗 窃 罪 ” 分 为 “ 显 然

    的 ” 和 “ 非 显 然 的 ” 两 种 ， 并 根 据 罪 行 归 类 的 不 同 而 处 以 显

    著 不 同 的 刑 罚 。 “ 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 是 指 在 行 窃 的 屋 子 里 被 捕 的 人

    或 是 携 带 赃 物 向 安 全 处 所 逃 避 中 被 捕 的 人 ； 如 果 他 原 来 是 一

    个 奴 隶 ， “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 判 处 他 死 刑 ， 如 果 他 是 一 个 自 由 人 ，

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 判 处 他 为 财 产 所 有 人 的 奴 隶 。 “ 非 显 然 的 窃

    盗 ” 是 指 在 上 述 以 外 其 他 任 何 情 况 下 被 发 现 的 人 ； 对 这 一 类

    的 罪 人 ， 旧 法 典 只 是 简 单 地 要 求 他 双 倍 偿 囘 他 所 偷 窃 的 价 值 。

    在 该 雅 士 时 代 ， “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 对 “ 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 的 过 度 严 酷 ，

    大 大 减 轻 了 ， 但 是 法 律 仍 维 持 旧 的 原 则 ， 处 以 四 倍 于 偷 窃 价

    值 的 罚 金 。 至 于 “ 非 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 则 仍 旧 继 续 给 付 双 倍 。 古

    代 立 法 者 无 疑 地 认 为 ， 如 果 让 被 害 的 财 产 所 有 人 自 己 处 理 ， 则

    在 他 盛 怒 之 下 所 拟 加 的 刑 罚 必 将 和 窃 盗 在 一 个 相 当 时 期 后 发

    觉 时 ， 他 所 能 满 意 的 刑 罚 ， 完 全 不 同 ； 法 律 刑 罚 的 等 级 就 是

    根 据 这 个 考 虑 而 调 整 的 。 这 里 边 的 原 则 和 盎 格 鲁 － 撒 克 逊 及

    其 他 日 耳 曼 法 典 所 遵 循 的 原 则 完 全 相 同 ， 这 些 法 典 规 定 人 赃

    并 获 的 窃 盗 应 当 场 绞 杀 或 斩 首 ， 但 对 于 追 捕 已 经 中 断 而 仍 把

    他 杀 死 的 人 ， 则 规 定 要 处 以 杀 人 罪 的 刑 罚 。 古 代 法 律 中 的 这

    些 区 别 有 力 地 证 明 一 个 改 进 的 和 一 个 粗 糙 的 法 律 学 之 间 的 距

    离 。 现 代 司 法 行 政 者 公 认 为 最 感 困 难 的 ， 是 对 属 于 同 一 专 门类 型 的 各 种 罪 行 ， 把 它 们 的 犯 罪 程 度 加 以 区 别 。 我 们 很 容 易

    说 一 个 人 犯 了 过 失 杀 人 罪 、 窃 盗 罪 或 重 婚 罪 ， 但 如 果 要 确 定

    他 所 犯 道 德 罪 过 的 程 度 ， 从 而 确 定 他 所 应 受 刑 罚 的 轻 重 ， 则

    常 常 是 最 感 困 难 的 。 如 果 我 们 企 图 正 确 地 解 决 这 个 问 题 ， 我

    们 在 决 疑 上 ， 或 在 动 机 的 分 析 上 ， 必 将 遇 到 困 难 ； 因 此 ， 我

    们 今 日 的 法 律 就 开 始 了 一 种 日 益 增 长 的 倾 向 ， 尽 可 能 对 这 问

    题 不 在 现 实 法 上 加 以 规 定 。 在 法 兰 西 ， 当 陪 审 团 认 为 有 罪 时 ，

    究 竟 这 个 罪 是 否 有 可 以 减 轻 的 情 况 ， 听 由 陪 审 团 加 以 决 定 ； 在

    英 格 兰 ， 准 许 法 官 对 于 刑 罚 的 选 择 有 几 乎 无 限 的 伸 缩 范 围 ； 所

    有 的 国 家 都 对 误 用 法 律 保 留 着 叫 做 “ 赦 免 特 权 ” 的 一 种 最 后

    补 救 办 法 ， 这 种 权 力 一 般 都 归 “ 元 首 ” （ Ｃ ｈ ｉ ｅ ｆ 　 Ｍ ａ ｇ ｉ ｓ ｔ ｒ ａ ｔ ｅ ） 掌握 。 很 奇 怪 ， 原 始 时 代 的 人 们 很 少 受 到 这 些 踌 躇 的 若 恼 ， 他

    们 完 全 确 信 被 害 人 的 冲 动 是 他 有 权 要 求 报 复 的 正 当 标 准 ， 并

    且 他 们 正 确 地 摹 仿 他 情 感 的 升 降 以 确 定 他 们 的 量 刑 标 准 。 我

    希 望 能 够 这 样 说 ， 他 们 的 立 法 方 法 是 已 过 时 效 的 。 但 有 些 现

    代 法 律 制 度 ， 在 遇 到 严 重 不 法 行 为 时 ， 承 认 不 法 行 为 者 在 当

    场 被 捕 时 其 所 受 被 害 人 过 度 的 惩 罚 是 有 正 当 理 由 的 — — 这 一

    种 宽 纵 ， 虽 然 在 表 面 上 看 来 似 乎 是 可 以 理 解 的 ， 但 据 我 看 来 ，

    在 实 际 上 是 根 据 于 一 种 很 低 微 的 道 德 观 念 。

    我 曾 说 过 ， 最 后 引 导 古 代 社 会 形 成 一 个 真 正 犯 罪 法 律 学

    的 理 由 ， 是 非 常 简 单 的 。 国 家 自 以 为 是 受 到 损 害 了 ， “ 人 民 议

    会 ” 就 用 伴 随 着 立 法 行 为 的 同 一 行 动 直 接 打 击 犯 人 。 最 古 犯

    罪 法 院 只 是 立 法 机 关 的 一 部 分 或 委 员 会 — — 虽 然 在 现 代 并 不

    完 全 是 如 此 ， 我 将 有 机 会 指 出 — — 在 古 代 世 界 ， 确 实 是 如 此

    的 。 无 论 如 何 ， 这 是 最 大 的 两 个 古 国 的 法 律 史 所 指 出 的 结 论 ，在 一 个 情 况 中 是 相 当 清 楚 的 ， 而 在 另 一 个 情 况 中 是 绝 对 明 白

    的 。 雅 典 的 原 始 刑 法 把 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 执 政 官 ”

    （ Ａ ｒ ｃ ｈ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 作 为侵权行为 而 加 以 处 罚 ， 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 阿 勒乌 柏 果 斯 元 老 院 ” ， 作 为 罪 过 而 加 以 处 罚 。 这 两 个 管 辖 权 在 最

    后 都 移 转 给 “ 希 黎 亚 ” （ Ｈ ｅ ｌ ｉ Eａ ） 即 平 民 高 等 法 院 （ ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｈ ｉ ｇ ｈ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｕ ｒ ｔ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｐ ｕ ｌ ａ ｒ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｓ ｔ ｉ ｃ ｅ ） ， 而 “ 执 政 官 ” 和 “ 阿 勒 乌柏 果 斯 ” 的 职 能 便 成 为 只 是 行 政 的 或 竟 完 全 无 意 义 的 了 。 但

    “ 希 黎 亚 ” 只 是 “ 议 会 ” 的 一 个 古 字 ； 古 典 时 代 的 “ 希 黎 亚 ”

    只 是 为 了 司 法 目 的 而 召 集 的 “ 人 民 议 会 ” ， 著 名 的 雅 典 “ 迪 卡

    斯 德 黎 ” （ Ｄ ｉ ｋ ａ ｓ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｅ ｓ ） 只 是 它 的 一 部 分 或 是 陪 审 官 。 在 罗 马 ，也 发 生 过 相 应 的 变 更 ， 这 更 容 易 加 以 解 释 ， 因 为 罗 马 人 把 他

    们 的 试 验 限 于 刑 法 ， 他 们 和 雅 典 人 不 同 ， 并 不 使 普 通 法 院 既

    有 民 事 的 又 有 刑 事 的 管 辖 权 。 罗 马 犯 罪 法 律 学 的 历 史 开 始 于

    古 “ 平 民 法 院 ” （ Ｊ ｕ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｉ ａ 　 Ｐ ｏ ｐ ｕ ｌ ｉ ） ， 据 说 是 由 国 王 主 持 的 。 这

    些 全 然 是 在 立 法 形 式 下 对 大 罪 人 的 庄 严 审 判 。 但 似 乎 从 一 个

    很 早 的 时 期 起 ， “ 民 会 ” 有 时 把 它 的 犯 罪 管 辖 权 委 托 一 个 “ 审

    问 处 ” （ Ｑ ｕ Eｓ ｔ ｉ ｏ ） 或 “ 委 员 会 ” ， 它 和 “ 议 会 ” 的 关 系 ， 正 和

    “ 众 议 院 ” 的 一 个 “ 委 员 会 ” 与 “ 议 院 ” 本 身 的 关 系 一 样 ， 只

    是 罗 马 的 “ 委 员 ” 或 “ 审 问 官 ” （ Ｑ ｕ Eｓ ｔ ｏ ｒ ｅ ｓ ） 不 仅 对 “ 民

    全 ” 提 送 ·

    报 ·

    告 ， 并 且 也 行 使 该 团 体 本 身 习 惯 上 行 使 的 一 切 权

    力 ， 甚 至 包 括 对 “ 被 告 人 ” 判 刑 。 这 样 的 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 只

    被 指 定 审 判 一 种 特 殊 犯 人 ， 但 并 没 有 规 定 不 许 可 二 个 或 三 个

    “ 审 问 处 ” 在 同 时 进 行 审 判 ； 很 可 能 ， 当 有 几 件 对 社 会 的 严 重

    不 法 案 件 同 时 发 生 时 ， 有 几 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 在 同 时 受 到 委 派 。 也

    有 迹 象 表 明 ， 有 时 这 些 “ 审 问 处 ” 非 常 近 似 我 们 “ ·

    常 ·

    设 委 员会 ” （ Ｓ ｔ ａ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｎ ｇ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｔ ｅ ｅ ｓ ） 的 性 质 ， 因 为 它 们 是 定 期 委 任

    的 ， 不 必 等 待 某 种 严 重 犯 罪 行 为 的 发 生 。 在 很 古 的 时 代 的 议

    事 录 中 被 提 到 过 的 ， 旧 的 “ 弑 亲 审 问 官 ” （ Ｑ ｕ Eｓ ｔ ｏ ｒ ｅ ｓ 　 Ｐ ａ ｒ ｒ ｉ Aｃ ｉ ｄ ｉ ） 有 权 审 判 （ 或 如 有 的 人 认 为 的 那 样 ， 有 权 搜 索 和 审 判 ）一 切 弑 亲 和 谋 杀 案 件 ， 他 们 似 乎 是 正 规 地 每 年 选 派 的 ； 而 审判 对 共 和 国 有 严 重 危 害 的 二 人 委 员 会 或 “ 叛 逆 二 人 委 员 会 ” （ Ｄ ｕ ｕ ｍ ｖ ｉ ｒ ｉ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｄ ｕ ｅ ｌ ｌ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｉ ｓ ） ， 大 多 数 著 者 也 相 信 是 定 期 指 派

    的 。 把 这 些 权 力 委 派 给 这 些 官 吏 ， 使 我 们 又 前 进 了 一 步 。 不

    再 是 在 对 国 家 犯 罪 发 生 时 ， 才 被 委 派 ， 而 是 在 有 ·

    可 ·

    能 发 生 时 ，

    就 已 具 有 一 般 的 、 虽 然 是 暂 时 的 审 判 权 。 这 时 已 很 接 近 一 种

    正 规 的 犯 罪 法 律 学 ， 这 也 可 以 从 “ 弑 亲 ” 和 “ 判 逆 ” 这 些 一

    般 用 语 上 显 示 出 来 ， 这 些 用 语 标 志 着 已 临 近 彷 彿 是 犯 罪 分 类

    的 那 种 东 西 。

    但 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 要 到 纪 元 前 １ ４ ９ 年 才 开 始 产 生 ， 当 时 古

    尔 潘 尼 斯 · 披 梭 （ Ｌ ． Ｃ ａ ｌ ｐ ｕ ｒ ｎ ｉ ｕ ｓ 　 Ｐ ｉ ｓ ｏ ） 实 行 了 所 谓 “ 古 尔潘 尼 亚 贪 污 律 ” （ Ｌ ｅ ｘ 　 Ｃ ａ ｌ ｐ ｕ ｒ ｎ ｉ ａ 　 ｄ ｅ 　 Ｒ ｅ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ｎ ｄ ｉ ｓ ） 的 制 定

    法 。 这 个 法 律 适 用 于 有 关 盗 用 金 钱 （ Ｒ ｅ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ｎ ｄ ａ ｒ ｕ ｍ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｃ ｕ A

    ｎ ｉ ａ ｒ ｕ ｍ ） 的 案 件 ， 这 就 是 ， 各 “ 省 民 ” （ Ｐ ｒ ｏ ｖ ｉ ｎ ｃ ｉ ａ ｌ ｓ ） 对 总 督

    （ Ｇ ｏ ｖ ｅ ｒ ｎ ｏ ｒ － Ｇ ｅ ｎ ｅ ｒ ａ ｌ ） 不 正 当 征 收 的 金 钱 有 偿 还 的 请 求 权 ， 但

    这 个 制 定 法 的 最 大 和 永 久 重 要 性 在 于 它 建 立 了 第 一 个 “ 永 久

    审 问 处 ” （ Ｑ ｕ Eｓ ｔ ｉ ｏ 　 Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｐ ｅ ｔ ｕ ａ ） 。 一 个 “ 永 久 审 问 处 ” 是 一 个

    ·

    永 ·

    久 的 委 员 会 ， 和 那 些 临 时 的 以 及 那 些 暂 时 的 是 有 区 别 的 。 它

    是 一 个 正 规 的 刑 事 法 院 ， 它 的 存 在 从 创 设 它 的 制 定 法 通 过 时

    候 起 ， 一 直 继 续 到 废 弃 它 的 另 一 个 制 定 法 通 过 时 候 为 止 。 它

    的 成 员 不 是 象 较 早 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 成 员 那 样 特 别 任 命 的 ， 而是 在 组 成 它 的 法 律 中 规 定 由 特 种 法 官 中 选 任 并 按 照 明 确 的 规

    定 进 行 更 换 。 它 有 权 审 理 的 罪 行 也 是 在 条 例 中 明 白 规 定 和 明

    白 下 定 义 的 ， 新 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 有 权 在 将 来 审 判 一 切 人 ， 如 果

    他 的 行 为 符 合 于 法 律 所 规 定 的 犯 罪 的 定 义 。 因 此 ， 它 是 一 个

    正 规 的 犯 罪 司 法 机 关 ， 行 使 一 种 真 正 的 刑 事 法 律 学 。

    因 此 ， 原 始 犯 罪 法 史 可 分 为 四 个 阶 段 。 我 们 可 以 了 解 犯罪 的 概 念 和不法行为或侵权行为以及罪过 的 概 念 是 有 区 别的 ， 在 犯 罪 的 概 念 中 包 括 着 对 国 家 或 社 会 集 体 所 加 损 害 的 概 念 ， 我 们 首 先 发 现 的 是 ， 共 和 国 按 照 这 概 念 的 字 面 意 义 由 它 自 己 直 接 干 预 或 由 它 用 单 独 行 为 对 那 些 损 害 国 家 的 人 给 予 报

    复 。 这 是 我 们 的 出 发 点 ； 每 一 个 公 诉 状 就 是 一 个 痛 苦 和 刑 罚

    状 ， 这 是 一 个 特 别 法 律 ， 指 明 犯 人 的 姓 名 ， 并 规 定 他 的 刑 罚 。

    当 犯 罪 种 类 增 加 ， 使 立 法 机 关 不 得 不 把 权 力 委 托 给 特 别 “ 审

    问 处 ” 或 “ 委 员 会 ” ， 它 们 都 有 权 对 一 个 特 定 的 控 告 进 行 调 查 ，

    并 在 控 告 经 证 明 属 实 后 有 权 对 特 定 犯 人 加 以 处 罚 。 这 时 ， ·

    第

    ·

    二 ·

    步 方 告 完 成 。 当 立 法 机 关 不 再 等 待 一 个 犯 罪 发 生 以 后 方 才

    委 托 “ 审 问 处 ” ， 而 在 某 种 犯 罪 有 发 生 的 可 能 以 及 预 防 这 些 犯

    罪 将 要 发 生 时 ， 定 期 的 任 命 象 “ 弑 亲 审 问 处 ” 和 “ 叛 逆 二 人

    委 员 会 ” 那 样 的 “ 委 员 ” 时 ， 它 又 作 了 ·

    另 ·

    一 ·

    次 运 动 。 至 ·

    最 ·

    后

    阶 段 ， “ 审 问 处 ” 从 定 期 的 或 临 时 的 变 为 永 久 的 法 院 — — 法 官

    们 不 再 由 指 派 委 员 会 的 特 定 法 律 加 以 指 定 ， 而 是 规 定 在 将 来

    用 一 种 特 定 方 法 和 从 一 个 特 定 阶 级 中 选 任 — — ， 并 把 某 种 行

    为 用 普 通 文 字 加 以 说 明 和 宣 布 为 有 罪 ， 如 果 触 犯 了 ， 就 将 处

    以 适 合 于 每 一 种 犯 罪 的 刑 罚 。

    如 果 “ 永 久 审 问 处 ” 有 一 个 较 长 的 历 史 ， 它 们 将 无疑 的会 被 认 为 是 一 个 各 别 的 制 度 ， 它 们 和 “ 民 会 ” 的 关 系 将 不 会比 我 们 自 己 的 法 院 和 君 主 之 间 的 关 系 更 为 密 切 ， 君 主 在 理 论上 是 公 道 的 泉 源 。 但 帝 国 暴 政 在 它 们 的 渊 源 被 完 全 忘 却 前 就把 它 们 全 部 摧 毁 ， 并 且 ， 在 它 们 存 续 的 时 期 内 ， 这 些 “ 永 久

    委 员 会 ” 被 罗 马 人 视 为 仅 仅 是 一 种 委 托 权 的 受 托 人 。 犯 罪 的

    审 判 权 被 认 为 是 立 法 机 关 的 一 种 自 然 属 性 ， 而 公 民 的 心 理 总

    是 要 从 “ 审 问 处 ” 回 复 到 “ 民 会 ” ， 是 民 会 把 它 不 可 分 割 的 职

    能 的 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 审 问 处 ” 执 行 的 。 甚 至 在 “ 审 问 处 ” 成

    为 永 久 机 关 时 也 认 为 它 只 是 “ 平 民 议 会 ” 的 “ 委 员 会 ” — —

    只 是 为 一 个 较 高 的 权 威 服 役 的 机 关 — — ， 这 个 看 法 有 重 要 的

    法 律 后 果 ， 其 痕 迹 留 在 犯 罪 法 中 一 直 到 最 近 的 时 期 。 它 的 直

    接 结 果 之 一 是 在 “ 审 问 处 ” 成 立 了 很 久 之 后 ， “ 民 会 ” 仍 继 续

    通 过 痛 苦 和 刑 罚 状 而 行 使 刑 事 管 辖 权 。 虽 然 立 法 机 关 为 了 便

    利 起 见 ， 同 意 把 其 权 力 委 托 于 其 自 身 以 外 的 机 关 ， 我 们 并 不

    能 就 认 为 它 已 经 完 全 放 弃 了 这 些 权 力 。 “ 民 会 ” 和 “ 审 问 处 ”

    继 续 平 行 地 审 判 犯 人 ； 在 平 民 发 生 任 何 不 平 常 的 大 公 愤 时 ， 直

    到 共 和 国 消 灭 时 为 止 ， 必 然 地 要 在 “ 部 落 民 会 ” （ Ａ ｓ ｓ ｅ ｍ ｂ ｌ ｙ 　of ｔ ｈ ｅ 　 Ｔ ｒ ｉ ｂ ｅ ） 前 对 其 对 象 提 起 控 诉 。

    共 和 国 各 种 制 度 中 最 显 著 的 特 征 之 一 也 来 自 始 “ 审 问

    处 ” 的 依 附 于 “ 民 会 ” 。 罗 马 共 和 国 刑 法 制 度 中 “ 死 ” 刑 的 消

    灭 一 向 是 上 一 世 纪 中 著 者 们 最 喜 爱 的 题 目 ， 他 们 经 常 利 用 它

    指 出 罗 马 人 的 性 格 和 现 代 社 会 组 织 的 学 说 。 这 种 断 然 地 提 出

    的 理 由 ， 认 为 它 纯 粹 是 出 于 偶 然 的 。 在 罗 马 立 法 机 关 陆 续 采

    取 的 三 种 形 式 中 ， 为 众 所 习 知 的 一 种 ， 即 “ 兵 员 民 会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｉ ａ Ｃ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｕ ｒ ｉ ａ ｔ ａ ） ， 是 专 门 在 行 军 中 代 表 国 家 的 。 因 此 “ 兵 员 民众 ” 就 具 有 一 个 军 队 指 挥 官 所 应 有 的 一 切 权 力 ， 它 有 权 使 所

    有 的 犯 过 失 的 人 ， 遭 受 一 个 士 兵 在 违 犯 纪 律 时 所 应 得 的 同 样

    惩 戒 。 因 此 ， “ 兵 员 民 会 ” 可 以 科 处 死 刑 。 但 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 或

    “ 部 落 民 会 ” （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｉ ｔ ｉ ａ 　 Ｔ ｒ ｉ ｂ ｕ ｔ ａ ） 则 不 然 。 罗 马 城 中 的 罗 马 公

    民 是 由 宗 教 和 法 律 赋 与 神 圣 性 的 ， 由 于 这 一 点 ， 这 两 种 民 会

    就 都 受 到 了 束 缚 ， 并 且 ， 就 这 后 一 种 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 而 论 ， 我

    们 确 知 ： 根 据 确 定 的 原 则 ， “ 部 落 民 会 ” 最 多 只 能 科 处 罚 金 ，

    既 然 刑 事 审 判 权 专 属 于 立 法 机 关 ， 而 “ 兵 员 民 会 ” 和 “ 部 落

    民 众 ” 却 继 续 行 使 着 平 列 的 权 力 ， 于 是 很 容 易 就 会 把 比 较 严

    重 的 犯 罪 向 科 处 较 重 刑 罚 的 立 法 机 关 起 诉 ； 但 在 这 时 ， 比 较

    民 主 的 民 会 即 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 几 乎 已 完 全 代 替 了 别 的 民 会 ， 成

    为 后 期 共 和 国 的 普 通 立 法 机 关 。 共 和 国 的 衰 落 ， 正 当 “ 永 久

    审 问 处 ” 设 立 的 时 候 ， 因 此 设 立 它 们 的 制 定 法 都 是 由 一 个 立

    法 机 关 通 过 ， 而 过 个 立 法 机 关 本 身 在 通 常 开 会 时 也 不 能 对 一

    个 犯 人 判 处 死 刑 。 所 以 ， 具 有 受 委 托 权 威 的 “ 永 久 司 法 委 员

    全 ” （ Ｐ ｅ ｒ ｍ ａ ｎ ｅ ｎ ｔ 　 Ｊ ｕ ｄ ｉ ｃ ｉ ａ ｌ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｉ ｓ ｓ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） ， 在 其 权 力 和 能 力

    上 ， 受 到 委 派 权 力 给 它 的 团 体 所 具 有 的 权 力 限 度 的 限 制 。 它

    们 不 能 做 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 所 不 能 做 的 事 ； 既 然 “ 民 会 ” 不 能 判

    处 死 刑 ， “ 审 问 处 ” 也 就 同 样 的 无 权 判 处 死 刑 。 这 样 达 到 的 变

    例 在 古 代 并 不 象 现 代 一 样 用 赞 成 的 眼 光 来 看 它 ， 并 且 ， 真 的 ，

    罗 马 人 的 性 格 是 否 会 因 此 而 变 好 ， 是 个 疑 问 ， 但 可 以 肯 定 的

    是 ， “ 罗 马 宪 法 ” 竟 变 得 更 坏 。 正 如 每 一 个 跟 随 着 人 类 历 史 一

    直 流 传 到 今 日 的 制 度 一 样 ， 死 刑 在 文 明 过 程 的 某 一 些 阶 段 中

    对 社 会 是 必 需 的 。 有 一 个 时 期 ， 废 弃 死 刑 的 企 图 挫 败 了 作 为

    一 切 刑 法 根 源 的 两 大 本 能 。 如 果 没 有 了 死 刑 ， 社 会 将 感 觉 到它 对 罪 人 没 有 获 得 充 分 的 报 复 ， 同 时 也 将 以 为 刑 罚 的 赦 免 将

    不 足 以 阻 止 别 人 的 仿 效 。 罗 马 法 院 不 能 判 处 死 刑 ， 显 然 地 、 直

    接 地 引 入 一 个 恐 怖 的 革 命 时 期 ， 即 称 为 “ 公 敌 宣 言 ” （ Ｐ ｒ ｏ ｓ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｐ Aｔ ｉ ｏ ｎ ｓ ） 的 ， 在 这 期 间 内 ， 一 切 法 律 都 正 式 停 止 执 行 ， 只 因 为

    党 派 暴 行 不 能 为 它 所 渴 望 的 报 复 找 到 其 他 的 出 路 。 这 种 法 律

    的 间 歇 的 中 止 ， 是 使 罗 马 人 民 政 治 能 力 衰 败 的 最 有 力 的 原 因 ；

    并 且 ， 一 旦 到 达 这 样 境 地 ， 我 们 可 以 毫 不 迟 疑 地 说 ， 罗 马 自

    由 的 毁 灭 仅 仅 是 一 个 时 间 问 题 ， 如 果 “ 法 院 ” 的 工 作 能 使 人

    民 的 热 情 有 一 个 适 当 的 出 口 ， 司 法 诉 讼 的 形 式 将 无 疑 地 被 罪

    恶 昭 彰 地 滥 用 ， 象 在 我 国 后 期 斯 图 亚 特 （ Ｓ ｔ ｕ ａ ｒ ｔ ｓ ） 的 各 个 朝代 一 样 ， 但 国 民 性 格 将 不 致 于 象 它 在 实 际 上 那 样 深 受 其 害 ， 罗马 制 度 的 稳 定 也 不 致 于 象 它 在 实 际 上 那 样 严 重 受 到 削 弱 。

    我 还 要 提 一 提 罗 马 刑 事 制 度 中 由 这 同 一 的 司 法 权 的 理 论

    产 生 的 另 外 两 个 特 点 。 这 两 个 特 点 是 ： 罗 马 刑 事 法 院 的 非 常

    众 多 以 及 犯 罪 分 类 的 变 化 繁 多 和 极 不 规 则 ， 这 是 罗 马 刑 事 法

    律 学 全 部 历 史 中 一 贯 的 特 色 。 据 说 ， 每 一 个审问处 ， 不 论 是否 永 久 的 ， 都 以 一 个 各 别 的 制 定 法 为 其 创 始 的 来 源 。 它 从 创

    设 它 的 法 律 得 到 权 力 ； 它 严 格 遵 守 其 特 许 状 所 规 定 的 范 围 ， 对

    于 特 许 状 所 没 有 明 白 规 定 的 各 种 犯 罪 是 不 能 过 问 的 。 由 于 组

    成 各 种 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 制 定 法 都 是 为 了 适 应 特 种 紧 急 需 要 ， 事

    实 上 每 一 种 制 定 法 都 是 为 了 惩 罚 当 时 的 情 况 特 别 令 人 憎 恶 和

    特 别 危 险 的 一 类 行 为 ， 这 些 立 法 在 相 互 之 间 丝 毫 没 有 关 系 ， 并

    且 也 没 有 共 同 原 则 把 它 们 联 系 起 来 。 同 时 存 在 的 不 同 犯 罪 法

    共 有 二 三 十 种 ， 由 数 目 完 全 相 等 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 来 执 行 它 们 ； 在

    共 和 国 时 期 内 ， 并 没 有 作 过 任 何 企 图 要 把 这 些 各 别 的 司 法 机关 合 而 为 一 ， 或 是 要 把 委 任 它 们 和 规 定 它 们 责 任 的 各 种 制 定

    法 中 的 规 定 加 以 匀 称 。 这 个 时 期 罗 马 犯 罪 管 辖 权 的 情 况 在 某

    些 方 面 有 些 象 英 国 的 民 事 救 济 行 政 ， 当 时 英 国 普 通 法 院 还 没

    有 把 那 种 拟 制 的 证 言 引 用 到 它 们 的 令 状 ， 使 它 们 得 相 互 侵 入

    彼 此 的 特 殊 的 领 域 中 。 正 和 “ 审 问 处 ” 一 样 ， 后 座 法 院 （ Ｃ ｏ ｕ ｒ ｔ of Ｑ ｕ ｅ ｅ ｎ ’ ｓ 　 Ｂ ｅ ｎ ｃ ｈ ） 、 民 事 高 等 法 院 （ Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ｏ ｎ 　Ｐ ｌ ｅ ａ ｓ ） 和 理 财 法 院 （ Ｅ ｘ ｃ ｈ ｅ ｑ ｕ ｅ ｒ ） 在 理 论 上 都 是 从 一 个 较 高 的权 威 分 出 来 的 机 关 ， 并 且 每 一 个 机 关 都 分 别 主 管 一 类 特 种 案件 ， 这 类 案 件 被 假 定 是 由 其 管 辖 权 的 泉 源 委 托 给 它 的 ； 不 过当 时 罗 马 “ 审 问 处 ” 在 数 量 上 远 不 止 三 个 ， 如 要 把 分 属 于 每

    一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 审 判 权 的 各 种 行 为 加 以 区 别 ， 远 不 及 把 韦 斯

    敏 斯 德 三 种 法 院 的 范 围 加 以 划 分 那 样 便 当 。 在 各 个 不 同 的

    “ 审 问 处 ” 的 范 围 之 间 划 一 条 正 确 分 界 线 是 有 困 难 的 ， 因 此 这

    样 多 的 罗 马 法 院 有 时 造 成 了 许 多 不 便 ； 我 们 很 惊 异 地 读 到 ， 当

    一 个 人 所 犯 的 罪 行 不 能 立 即 明 了 究 竟 应 属 哪 一 个 类 别 时 ， 他

    可 同 时 或 连 续 地 在 几 个 不 同 的 “ 委 员 会 ” 中 被 提 出 控 诉 ， 以

    至 有 一 个 “ 委 员 会 ” 宣 布 它 有 权 来 认 定 他 有 罪 ； 并 且 ， 虽 然

    某 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 定 罪 可 以 排 斥 其 他 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 审 判 权 ，

    但 某 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 所 作 的 无 罪 开 释 不 能 作 为 另 一 个 “ 审 问

    处 ” 提 出 控 告 时 的 辩 护 。 这 和 罗 马 民 事 法 律 的 规 定 直 接 相 反 ；

    我 们 并 且 可 以 确 定 ， 象 罗 马 人 那 样 对 法 律 学 中 的 变 例 （ 或 者用 他 们 的 意 义 深 长 的 成 语粗野 ） 十 分 敏 感 的 人 民 ， 是 不 会 长期 容 忍 这 种 情 况 的 ， 如 果 不 是 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 忧 郁 的 历 史 使 它们 被 认 为 是 党 派 手 中 的 暂 时 武 器 ， 而 不 是 惩 治 犯 罪 的 常 设 机构 。 皇 帝 不 久 就 消 除 了 这 种 审 判 权 的 重 复 和 冲 突 的 现 象 ； 但可 以 注 意 的 是 他 们 并 没 有 消 除 犯 罪 法 中 的 另 一 个 特 点 ， 这 是和 “ 法 院 ” 的 数 量 有 密 切 关 系 的 。 甚 至 包 括 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安“ 民 法 大 全 ” 中 的 犯 罪 分 类 也 是 非 常 反 复 多 变 的 。 事 实 上 每 一

    个 “ 审 问 处 ” 都 把 自 己 局 限 于 由 其 特 许 状 委 托 给 它 审 判 的 各

    种 罪 行 。 但 这 些 罪 行 在 原 来 制 定 法 中 所 以 归 类 在 一 起 ， 只 是

    因 为 在 这 一 项 制 定 法 通 过 时 这 些 罪 行 恰 巧 同 时 需 要 法 律 加 以

    惩 罚 。 因 此 ， 在 这 些 罪 之 间 未 必 一 定 有 任 何 共 同 之 点 ； 但 是

    它 们 在 一 个 特 定 “ 审 问 处 ” 中 构 成 一 特 定 的 审 判 题 目 ， 这 一

    个 事 实 很 自 然 地 会 给 群 众 以 深 刻 的 印 象 ， 同 时 在 同 一 制 定 法

    中 所 提 到 的 各 种 罪 行 之 间 的 联 系 又 是 如 此 的 根 深 蒂 固 ， 甚 至

    在 西 拉 和 奥 古 斯 多 皇 帝 正 式 企 图 整 理 罗 马 犯 罪 法 时 ， 立 法 者

    还 是 保 留 着 旧 的 分 类 方 法 。 西 拉 和 奥 古 斯 多 的 制 定 法 是 帝 国

    刑 事 法 律 学 的 基 础 ， 这 些 制 定 法 所 传 给 法 律 学 的 有 些 分 类 是

    非 常 特 别 的 。 我 试 举 一 个 简 单 的 例 子 ，伪证 是 始 终 和割伤 以及毒杀 归 类 在 一 起 ， 这 无 疑 是 由 于 一 条 西 拉 法 律 即 “ 哥 尼 流暗 杀 和 毒 杀 律 ” （ Ｌ ｅ ｘ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｒ ｎ ｅ ｌ ｉ ａ 　 ｄ ｅ 　 Ｓ ｉ ｃ ａ ｒ ｉ ｓ 　 ｅ ｔ 　 Ｖ ｅ ｎ ｅ ｆ ｉ Aｃ ｉ ｓ ） 曾 把 这 三 种 形 式 的 罪 行 的 审 判 权 给 与 同 一 个 “ 永 久 委 员会 ” 。 同 时 可 以 看 到 ， 这 种 罪 行 的 任 意 归 类 也 影 响 到 罗 马 人 的方 言 。 人 民 自 然 地 养 成 这 样 一 种 习 惯 ， 即 把 列 举 在 一 条 法 律中 的 各 种 罪 行 用 单 子 上 的 第 一 个 名 称 来 称 呼 它 ， 而 这 个 名 称也 就 用 来 称 呼 授 权 审 判 这 些 罪 行 的 法 院 。 凡 是 由 “ 通 奸 审 问处 ” （ Ｑ ｕ Eｓ ｔ ｉ ｏ 　 Ｄ ｅ 　 Ａ ｄ ｕ ｌ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｉ ｓ ） 审 判 的 罪 行 便 都 称 为 “ 通 奸罪 ” （ Ａ ｄ ｕ ｌ ｔ ｅ ｒ ｙ ）。

    我 对 罗 马 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 历 史 和 特 征 所 以 不 厌 其 详 地 加 以说 明 ， 是 因 为 一 个 刑 事 法 律 学 的 形 成 从 没 有 在 任 何 其 他 地 方这 样 有 启 发 地 例 证 过 。 最 后 的 一 批 “ 审 问 处 ” 是 由 奥 古 斯 多皇 帝 加 设 的 ， 从 这 时 候 起 ， 罗 马 人 可 以 说 已 具 有 一 个 相 当 完

    全 的 犯 罪 法 了 。 和 它 发 展 的 同 时 ， 类 推 的 过 程 继 续 进 行 着 ， 我

    把 这 个 过 程 称 为 把 “ 不 法 行 为 ” 改 变 为 “ 犯 罪 ” ， 因 为 ， 虽 然

    罗 马 法 立 机 关 对 于 比 较 凶 暴 的 罪 行 并 没 有 废 止 民 事 救 济 ， 它

    给 被 害 人 提 供 了 他 一 定 愿 意 选 择 的 一 种 赔 偿 。 但 是 ， 即 在 奥

    古 斯 多 完 成 其 立 法 以 后 ， 有 几 种 罪 行 仍 继 续 被 视 为 “ 不 法 行

    为 ” ， 而 这 些 罪 行 在 现 代 社 会 看 起 来 ， 是 应 该 作 为 犯 罪 的 ； 直

    到 后 来 ， 在 一 个 不 能 确 定 的 时 期 ， 当 法 律 开 始 注 意 到 一 种 在

    “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 中 称 为非常犯罪 （ ｃ ｒ ｉ ｍ ｉ ｎ ａ 　 ｅ ｘ ｔ ｒ ａ ｏ ｒ ｄ ｉ ｎ ａ ｒ ｉ ａ ） 的 新的 罪 行 时 ， 它 们 才 成 为 刑 事 上 可 以 处 罚 的 罪 行 。 无 疑 的 ， 有 一 类 行 为 ， 罗 马 法 律 学 理 论 是 单 纯 地 把 它 们 看 做 不 法 行 为 的 ；但 是 社 会 的 尊 严 心 日 益 提 高 ， 反 对 对 这 些 行 为 的 犯 罪 者 在 给 付 金 钱 赔 偿 损 失 以 外 不 加 其 他 较 重 的 处 罚 ， 因 此 ， 如 果 被 害 人 愿 意 时 ， 准 许 把 它 们 作 为 非 常 （ ｅ ｘ ｔ ｒ ａ 　 ｏ ｒ ｄ ｉ ｎ ｅ ｍ ） 犯 罪 而 起诉 ， 即 通 过 一 种 在 某 些 方 面 和 普 通 程 序 不 同 的 救 济 方 式 而 起诉 。 从 这 些非常犯罪 第 一 次 被 承 认 的 时 期 起 ， 罗 马 国 家 的 犯 罪 表 一 定 和 现 代 世 界 任 何 社 会 中 所 有 的 同 样 地 长 。

    我 们 没 有 必 要 详 细 描 写 罗 马 帝 国 执 行 犯 罪 司 法 的 方 式 ，但 须 注 意 ， 它 的 理 论 和 实 践 都 对 现 代 社 会 发 生 有 力 的 影 响 。 皇帝 们 并 不 直 接 废 弃 “ 审 问 处 ” ， 在 开 始 时 ， 他 们 把 一 种 广 泛 的 刑 事 审 判 权 交 给 “ 元 老 院 ” （ Ｓ ｅ ｎ ａ ｔ ｅ ） ， 虽 然 事 实 上 它 其 中 可 能显 得 很 卑 贱 ， 但 在 这 个 “ 元 老 院 ” 中 皇 帝 在 名 义 上 也 和 其 余的 人 一 样 只 是 一 个 “ 议 员 ” （ Ｓ ｅ ｎ ａ ｔ ｏ ｒ ） 。 皇 帝 在 开 始 时 就 主 张 要 有 某 几 种 并 行 的 犯 罪 审 判 权 ； 这 种 审 判 权 跟 着 对 自 由 共 和国 的 记 忆 日 益 衰 退 而 坚 定 地 扩 大 着 ， 它 占 取 了 古 法 院 的 权 力 。 逐 渐 地 ， 对 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 权 移 转 给 直 接 由 皇 帝 委 派 的 高 级 官 吏 ， “ 元 老 院 ” 的 特 权 移 转 到 “ 帝 国 枢 密 院 ” （ ｌ ｍ ｐ ｅ ｒ ｉ ａ ｌ 　 Ｐ ｒ ｉ ｖ ｙ Ｃ ｏ ｕ ｎ ｃ ｉ ｌ ） ， “ 帝 国 枢 密 院 ” 也 就 成 了 一 个 最 后 刑 事 上 诉 法 院 。 在 这 些 影 响 下 ， 现 代 人 所 熟 悉 的 学 理 在 不 知 不 觉 中 形 成 了 ， 即 君 主 是 一 切 “ 公 道 ” 的 泉 源 ， 是 一 切 “ 美 德 ” 的 受 托 人 。 帝国 在 这 时 候 已 达 到 完 善 的 地 步 ， 这 不 是 不 断 增 长 阿 谀 和 卑 贱的 结 果 ， 而 是 帝 国 集 权 的 结 果 。 事 实 上 ， 刑 事 公 道 的 理 论 已几 乎 回 到 了 它 开 始 的 出 发 点 。 它 开 始 时 相 信 应 该 由 集 合 体 用其 自 己 的 手 来 报 复 其 自 己 的 不 法 行 为 ； 它 最 后 所 采 的 学 理 则以 为 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 在 一 种 特 殊 方 式 中 属 于 君 主 ， 他 是 人 民 的 代表 和 受 托 人 。 这 种 新 的 见 解 和 旧 的 见 解 不 同 ， 主 要 在 于 公 道 监 护 所 给 予 君 主 个 人 的 敬 畏 和 庄 严 气 概 。

    罗 马 人 对 于 君 主 和 公 道 关 系 的 一 个 较 近 的 见 解 ， 当 然 有助 于 使 现 代 社 会 可 以 无 须 经 过 这 一 系 列 的 变 化 ， 象 我 在 “ 审问 处 ” 的 历 史 中 已 经 例 证 过 了 的 。 在 居 住 于 西 欧 的 几 乎所有民 族 的 原 始 法 律 中 ， 都 有 这 样 一 个 古 代 概 念 的 迹 象 ，即犯罪的 处 罚 属 于 自 由 人 的 议 会 ， 在 有 些 国 家 中 — — 据 说 苏 格兰是其 中 之 — — 现 存 司 法 机 关 的 渊 源 可 以 追 溯 到 立 法 机 关的一个“ 委 员 会 ” 。 但 犯 罪 法 普 遍 由 于 两 种 原 因 而 得 到 更 快 的 发 展 ， 这两 种 原 因 ， 即 罗 马 帝 国 的 回 忆 和 教 会 的 影 响 。 一 方 面 ， 凯 撒的 威 严 传 统 由 于 查 理 曼 王 朝 的 暂 时 得 势 而 被 保 全 ， 使 君 主 具有 一 个 蛮 族 酋 长 所 决 不 能 获 得 的 一 种 威 望 ， 并 使 最 小 的 封 建主 也 有 了 社 会 保 护 人 和 国 家 代 表 人 的 资 格 。 另 一 方 面 ， 教 会急 于 控 制 凶 暴 残 忍 行 为 ， 对 比 较 严 重 的 恶 行 树 立 惩 罚 的 权 威 ，在 “ 圣 经 ” 的 有 些 章 节 中 ， 有 些 语 句 同 意 以 刑 罚 之 权 授 与 民事 高 级 官 吏 。 “ 新 约 全 书 ” 认 为 世 俗 统 治 者 的 存 在 是 为 了 使 作恶 之 人 有 所 恐 惧 ； “ 旧 约 全 书 “ 认 为 “ 流 人 血 者 ， 人 亦 流 其血 ” 。 我 以 为 ， 毫 无 疑 问 ， 对 于 犯 罪 问 题 的 各 种 现 代 观 念 都 根据 “ 黑 暗 时 代 ” 教 会 所 主 张 的 两 种 假 定 — — 第 一 ， 每 一 个 封建 统 治 者 在 他 的 地 位 上 得 比 拟 于 圣 · 保 罗所谈 到 的 罗 马 高 级 官 吏 ； 其 次 ， 他 所 要 惩 罚 的 罪 行 是 “ 摩 西 十诫 ” （ Ｍ ｏ ｓ ａ ｉ ｃ 　 Ｃ ｏ ｍ ｍ ａ ｎ ｄ ｍ ｅ ｎ ｔ ｓ ） 中 规 定 要 禁 止 的 ， 或 是 教 会并 不 保 留 在 其 自 己 审 判 权 之 内 的 。 “ 异 端 ” （ Ｈ ｅ ｒ ｅ ｓ ｙ ） （ 被 假 定为 包 括 在 “ 第 一 诫 ” 和 “ 第 二 诫 ” 中 的 ） 、 “ 通 奸 ” 和 “ 伪证 ” 是 宗 教 罪 行 ， 教 会 只 允 许 世 俗 权 力 在 发 生 非 常 严 重 案 件时 才 予 以 合 作 以 便 课 以 较 重 的 刑 罚 。 同 时 ， 它 教 导 我 们 ， 各式 各 样 的 谋 杀 和 强 盗 案 件 之 所 以 都 属 于 民 事 统 治 者 的 管 辖 ，这 不 是 由 于 他 们 地 位 的 偶 然 结 果 ， 而 是 由 于 上 帝 的 明 白 命 令 。在 关 于 阿 尔 弗 烈 德 国 王 （ Ｋ ｉ ｎ ｇ 　 Ａ ｌ ｆ ｒ ｅ ｄ ） （ 垦 布 尔 ， 卷 二 ，第 ２ ０ ９ 页 ） 的 著 作 中 ， 有 这 样 一 段 ， 特 别 明 显 地 说 明 在 他 的时 代 关 于 刑 事 审 判 权 的 起 源 流 行 着 的 各 种 观 念 的 争 论。可 以看 到 ， 阿 尔 弗 烈 德 认 为 它 半 属 于 教 会 权 威 ， 半 属 于 “ 国 会 议员 ” （ Ｗ ｉ ｔ ａ ｎ ） ， 他 明 白 主 张 反 叛 地 主 罪 可 以 不 受 普 通 规 定 的 管辖 ， 正 和 罗 马 “ 大 法 ” （ Ｌ ａ ｗ 　 ｏ ｆ 　 Ｍ ａ ｊ ｅ ｓ ｔ ａ ｓ ） 规 定 反 叛 凯 撒罪 应 不 受 普 通 规 定 管 辖 相 同 。 “ 在 这 以 后 ” ， 他 说 ， “ 有 许 多 国家 接 受 了 对 基 督 的 信 仰 （ 有 许 多 宗 教 会 议 遍 及 地 球 各 处 ， 在英 国 人 中 当 他 们 接 受 了 基 督 信 仰 ， 不 论 对 神 圣 主 教 的 ， 或 是对 崇 高 的 ‘ 国 会 议 员 ’ 的 ） 之 后 ， 也 是 如 此 。 他 们 于 是 规 定 ，由 于 基 督 的 慈 悲 之 心 ， 世 俗 的 君 主 们 在 取 得 他 们 的 许 可 后 ， 得不 犯 罪 过 而 对 每 一 恶 行 取 得 他 们 所 规 定 的 以 金 钱 表 现 的 · 博脱（ ｂ ｏ ｔ ） ； 除 了 反 叛 君 主 外 ， 对 于 这 种 情 形 ， 他 们 是 不 敢 给 与 任何 慈 悲 的 ， 因 为 ‘ 全 能 的 上 帝 ’ 对 于 藐 视 ‘ 他 ’ 的 ， 不 为 定罪 ， 基 督 对 于 把 ‘ 他 ’ 出 卖 致 死 的 ， 也 不 为 定 罪 ， ‘ 他 ’ 命 令一 个 君 主 应 该 受 人 爱 戴 ， 象 ‘ 他 自 己 ’ 受 人 爱 戴 一 样 。 ”

  • 密码保护：张广友《抹不掉的记忆》

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  • 陈熙：延续香火的理想与普遍绝嗣的现实—基于家谱的人口数据

    摘要：延续香火、传宗接代（本文所讨论的传嗣、绝嗣、传宗接代等皆以男性后代为判断标准，这符合中国历史的传统。在历史上尽管也有女性作为继承人的现象存在， 但是在传统观念和实际中，绝大多数都是以是否有男性后代作为是否绝嗣的判断标准）是传统社会人们的普遍愿望和理想，然而，由于传统时代人口的高死亡率和极短的预期寿命， 延续香火的理想对于大多数人来说难以实现， 绝嗣现象普遍存在。 本文依据家谱的人口信息， 通过构建虚拟的家族支脉，考察了清代两百余年间家族支脉的繁衍状况。 结果显示，仅有13.61％的人在经历了两百余年的生存竞争后， 能够拥有自己的后代， 而其他大多数都已绝嗣，传嗣的理想和现实之间存在巨大的落差。

    一、引言

    “不孝有三 ， 无后为大 。” 孟子的这句话典型反映了传统社会对家族延续的强烈愿望与伦理要求， 传宗接代成为人生中最重要的使命。 费孝通曾指出， 延续 “香火” 的观念深入民间， 是中国社会最重要的信念 （费孝通，1982）。 然而这一理想在现实中究竟多大程度上能够被实现， 却鲜有实证性的证据。 明清以后民间编修了大量的家谱， 清晰地记载了家族人口的繁衍过程， 包括个人的生卒年月和亲属关系等， 这就为研究人口繁衍和香火延续问题提供了最有效的资料。

    尽管清代人口出现了爆炸性的增长， 从康熙十八年 （1679） 的 1．6 亿增加到宣统二年 （1910）的 4．36 亿 （曹树基， 2001）， 但人口的死亡率仍然居高不下， 预期寿命也非常低， 人口再生产依然是处于传统的高出生、 高死亡的状态， 出生预期寿命可能低于 30 岁 （Zhao， 2000）。 根据家谱资料的研究结果显示， 18 世纪十五岁男子的人均预期寿命仅有 35－38 岁 （Yuan I－Chin， 1931； 刘翠溶， 1992； 侯杨方， 2000）。 李中清等根据辽宁户籍登记资料发现， 清朝 1－5 岁年龄组男性人口的预期寿命是 35．9 岁， 女性是 29 岁 （James Lee ＆ Cameron Campbell， 1997）。 到了 1920 年代，中国农村人口的出生预期寿命也仅仅为 24．2 岁 （Barclay， G．W．， A．J． Coale， M．A． Stoto and T．J．Trussell ， 1976）。 根据寇尔－德曼的模型生命表 ， 在出生预期寿命为 30 岁的情况下 ， 40％的人会在 10 岁前死亡， 50％的人在 20 岁前死亡 （Coale and Demeny， 1983）， 这意味着近半数的人在进入婚姻状态之前就死去， 无法完成传宗接代的使命。

    清代的婴幼儿死亡率估计较为困难， 但总体上期间婴幼儿死亡率处于很高的水平。 由于清代皇室族谱对女儿和早殇儿童的登记较为完备， 李中清等对皇室族谱的研究显示， 清代婴幼儿的死亡率为 100－400‰ （James Lee， Wang Feng， Cameron Campbell， 1994）。 而在 1774－1873 年间辽宁农村孩子中 （1－5 岁）， 女孩死亡率为 316‰， 男孩为 266‰ （李中清、 王丰， 2000）。 民国以后区域性的人口调查增多， 20 世纪三十年代许士廉估计婴幼儿的死亡率在 250‰左右 （许士廉，1930）。 四十年代初， 呈贡男性婴儿死亡率为 212．1‰， 女性为 211．1‰ （陈达， 1981）。

    早婚被认为是中国历史人口的一个重要特征， 但是最近的一些研究表明， 仅仅是女性早婚，而男性有不少人是在 30、 40 岁才结婚， 超过 5％的男性甚至终生未婚 （李中清、 王丰， 2000），受高死亡率影响， 丧偶发生的可能性很高， 这都会对生育后代产生消极影响。

    已有的历史人口学研究表明， 尽管具体的数值有所差异， 但在清代以至民国， 中国人口的死亡率处在一个很高的水平， 婴幼儿死亡率尤其高， 人口的预期寿命短暂。 在高死亡率面前，传嗣的难度大大增加， 延续香火的理想与人口高死亡率之间发生了明显的冲突。

    清代人口总量快速增长和极低的预期寿命这两个宏观层面的特征， 似乎同时作用于微观家族人口的繁衍上。 通过观察家谱的世系图很容易发现， 家族中有些支脉拥有数量庞大的后代， 人口数量快速增加， 而有些支脉则人丁稀少， 逐渐绝嗣。 人口繁衍的机会在各个支脉之间并非均等分布。 在人口总量的快速增长的同时， 绝嗣现象却普遍地发生， 这两个看似相互矛盾的现象， 让我们推出这样的假设： 即清末规模庞大的人口， 可能就只是清朝初期一小部分人的后代， 而清初的1．6 亿人中的绝大多数， 在后来的两百余年间， 都陆续绝嗣了。 这就意味着传嗣的理想对于大多数人可能都是难以实现的， 只有少数人能够拥有自己的后代。

    本文利用家谱资料进行历史人口学的研究， 试图通过家谱数据来检验和测定延续香火的理想与现实之间的差距， 并在此基础上对人口再生产规律进行思考。

    二、文献回顾

    对于中国的历史人口研究， 家谱是进行定量分析的重要资料之一（另外一个重要的数据来源是户口册， 目前已经发现并建立完善数据库的是由李中清 （James Lee） 团队开发的 “中国多世代人口数据库——辽宁部分 （CMGPD－LN）”）。 家谱作为一种长时段的人口记录， 通常有几百年甚至上千年的记载， 适合用于长时段的人口分析。 与正史和方志中记载的数据不同， 由于家谱属于民间私修， 修家谱的主要目的是为了显示本族的兴旺发达， 源远流长（葛剑雄， 1999）， 不像官方的人口资料， 家谱没有刻意隐瞒家族人口的必要 （Telford， 1992）。 此外， 不同于官方记载中的宏观人口统计， 家谱是基于个人层面的记载， 包括个人的出生、 死亡等信息， 将这些信息整理为数据库， 便可以获得适用于人口分析的统计指标。 这些优势条件使得家谱自上世纪七八十年代以来， 逐渐成为研究中国历史微观人口行为的核心资料。

    然而， 和其他历史人口学资料一样，家谱也存在着自身的缺陷， 其中最主要的问题是对女儿和早殇儿童漏记的问题 （Meskill，1970；Telford，1986，1990； Harrell， 1987； 刘翠溶， 1992），以及由于漏记导致的对死亡率的低估和代表性问题， 即家谱可能更多反映的是繁衍成功的家族人口状况， 不一定能够代表全部人口 （Zhao， 1994， 2001）。 因为存在这些漏记的问题， 所以在利用家谱数据做出结论时， 需要特别地谨慎 （Harrell， 1995）。 尽管不完美， 家谱仍然是研究中国历史人口的重要资料， 利用 CAMSIM 方法进行微观人口模拟与家谱数据进行比对证明， 家谱提供的诸多人口统计指标是可靠的 （Zhao， 1994）， 谨慎对待这些漏记问题， 仍可以从家谱数据中得到合理和准确的人口信息 （Liu， 1978， 1985）。

    上世纪八十年代以来， 利用家谱进行历史人口学研究形成了许多重要的成果， 对明清以来的中国人口， 尤其是近两百年人口的死亡率、 结婚率、 生育率等有了深入的研究； 家庭结构也是重要的议题， 不过由于家谱无法直接提供家庭规模的数据， 因而研究家谱的学者只能从人口条件对家庭结构的制约角度对家庭问题进行探讨 （刘翠溶， 1992）。 人口条件对家庭的制约， 主要表现在较短的人均寿命限制了大家庭的实现。 由于人均寿命较短， 多代同堂难以实现， 使得核心家庭是主流的家庭模式 （Zhao， 1994， 2000）。 这些研究对历史人口的诸多方面进行了深入探讨，然而，从家族本身的延续方面进行考察的研究则相对较少。 早期 Freedman 等对中国传统宗族的研究显示， 家族内部成员之间的社会经济地位是呈现分化状态， 既包含富有的商人， 也包含落魄的贫民；既有拥有功名、 地位显赫的士绅， 也有处于社会底层的农民 （Freedman， 1958）。 这意味着财富和社会声望在家族内部的分配是不均匀的， 集中在特定的优势支脉中， 这种优势在繁衍后代过程中不断累积和放大。 通过对浙江萧山三个家族的研究， Harrell 证明了那些拥有更多功名的富有的支脉， 他们的子孙数量不成比例地占据了人口的大部分 （Harrell， 1985）。 John C． H． Fei （1982）等对十个家族人口的发展历程进行考察， 发现家族人口的增长存在一个 CMV （critical maximum value）， 即当家族人口增长到最高点时 ， 家族就不可避免地走向瓦解 ， 这可能归因于在特定区域内土地资源的短缺带来的竞争导致。 因此， 最初占有优势的家族， 随着家族人口规模的增加， 家族优势在不同支脉之间不均衡分配， 使得族内的优势支脉与劣势支脉的分化， 家族内部开始新一轮的贫富分化， 演绎着类似家族之间的生存竞争。

    三、家谱数据与方法

    本文利用 《松源魏氏宗谱》 进行分析。 松源镇地处福建西北山区， 地形相对封闭， 属于河谷盆地， 受外界影响较小。 魏氏宗谱最早编修于明代正德八年 （1513 年）， 其后历次增修， 民国六年（1917） 进行了第五次增修。 不间断地修谱可以减少因时间久远、 对祖先信息记忆模糊造成的谬误， 提高记载准确性。 家谱中与人口统计相关的记载是世系表， 包括男子的世系、父子关系、排行、 职位、功名、出生日期、死亡日期、 妻子的出生日期、 死亡日期、儿子和女儿的名字和数量以及早殇和出继子女的情况等。 此外家谱的世系图则详细地绘制了家族内部的代际传承关系，这对于考察家族人口的代际繁衍过程提供了方便。 不可避免的是， 魏氏家谱也存在着漏记的问题，比如对女儿的信息记载不全， 往往只记载女儿的数量而没有记载女儿的生卒年； 对于早殇儿童的记载存在遗漏， 往往只记载早殇儿子的个数， 对女儿早殇的记载几乎没有。不过，本文重点并不在于估计人口的死亡率， 因此女儿和早殇儿童的漏记造成的影响会相对较小。 另外，魏氏宗族的另一个优点在于，由于地理位置相对封闭，历史上受到战乱影响很小， 历史上诸如太平天国战争等造成重大人口损失的事件，对该地区的影响很小。

    与以往的研究不同， 本文的研究单位是支脉， 而不是个人或者家庭。 本文重点考察的是整个家族的传承， 即家族的延续和消亡情况。 研究存在一个实际的困难是， 历史上有些家族成功繁衍，家族规模不断壮大，而有些家族则繁衍失败， 走向绝嗣， 那些能够编修家谱的家族， 都属于繁衍成功者，而在历史上绝嗣的家族曾经在历史上出现过， 却没有家谱传世， 因而无法分析他们的人口状况。 幸运的是， 即使在一个成功家族的内部， 各个支脉的繁衍状况也是不一样的，在一些支脉繁衍壮大的同时， 家族中的另一些支脉却逐渐消亡。 家族之间生存竞争在家族内部不同支脉之间也同样存在。 然而， 成功家族内部的失败者的信息被相对完整地保存在家谱里，这使得我们有可能重新复原历史上不同支脉之间在繁衍过程中的竞争场景。

    基于这样的设想，本文将魏氏宗谱中的第 20 世设置为繁衍竞争开始的第 1 世。 第 20 世共有169个男性，以他们的嫡系子孙为各自的后代， 假设他们各自成为一个独立的家族 ， 这样便可以得到 169 个虚拟的支脉， 作为本文的基本研究单位。 第 20 世中最早出生的时间是清顺治七年（1650）， 作为观测开始时间 ； 1917 年是第五次修谱时间 ， 作为结束时间 。 由此可以观测这 169 个支脉， 共计 1360 个男性， 在这 267 年间的繁衍和消亡历程。

    四、支脉繁衍竞争状况

    从 1650－1917 年， 魏氏家族整个家族是逐步扩张的。 在 1650－1770 年间， 该家族的每二十年新生男子数从初期的 16 人逐渐增加到 100 人左右， 1770 年之后每二十年新生男子数稳定在80－100 人。

    不过，尽管新生男子数在稳定增加， 但是新增人口在各个支脉之间的分布是极不均匀的。 在本文设定的竞争起点 1650 年， 这169 个支脉都只有一名男子 ， 起点上是公平的； 但竞争开始之后，有些支脉繁衍昌盛，人口逐渐增多，而有些 支 脉 逐 渐 绝 嗣 。 每 经 历一代，都有一定数 量 的 支脉被淘汰（见图 1）。

    松源魏氏在经历第一代繁衍后，淘汰了43．8％的支脉， 即有超过四成的支脉绝嗣； 至第二代则淘汰了 62．13％的支脉， 第三代淘汰了71．60％，可见，三代之内，松源魏氏的大多数支脉的香火已断，支脉被淘汰的速度非常快。 之后由于存留的支脉总数较少， 因而绝嗣的速度逐渐放缓。 能繁衍 5 代的支脉， 大多数已经成为魏氏家族中的人丁兴旺的大支。 延续香火对于这些大支而言，变得相对容易。 直到最后观测时间 1917 年， 初期的 169 支脉中的 86．39％已经先后绝嗣。 这就意味着， 在经历 267 年的繁衍竞争之后，最后只有 13．61％的人能够有自己的嫡系后代。

    以上的分析结果与赵中维运用 CAMSIM 方法进行的微观人口模拟实验的结果相近。在赵中维的实验中， 3000 人经过 9 代的繁衍后， 只有 398 人有自己的后代，传嗣的比例也仅有13.27％（Zhao，2001）。 由于每个家族人口具有一定的特殊性，以上数据并不能直接推广到其他人口 ，但是可以反映人口繁衍的大致趋势， 即传嗣的难度很大， 绝嗣现象普遍存在， 传宗接代的使命对于大多数人都是难以完成的。

    在整个繁衍历程中，魏氏家族共生育了1360个男性，而这1360 个男性并非在各个支脉中平均分布。

    从表 1 的累计百分比一栏可以看到， 占 74．56％即将近 3 ／ 4 的支脉只有 5 个人及以下， 这些人丁稀少的支脉面临绝嗣的可能性很大； 而人数能达到 26 人以上的支脉只有 7．69％， 这些人口众多的支脉属于繁衍过程中的胜利者。 少数优势支脉占据了大量的人口， 而大多数的劣势支脉占据比重很小的人口比重。 人口在各个支脉之间的分布严重失衡。

    这 1360 个男性分配在 169 条支脉中分布的基尼系数是 0．719， 可见人口的分布是非常不均衡的。 这就为我们描绘了人口繁衍竞争中的一个侧面， 即少数优势支脉逐渐繁荣， 呈现不对称地壮大起来，占据了大量的人口，排挤了其他支脉的发展， 而其他大量的劣势支脉则逐步走向绝嗣。

    优势支脉的繁荣和劣势支脉的淘汰是一个循环过程， 当原先的优势支脉后代人数不断增多， 其内部也开始出现分化，有些能继承前人的优势， 而有些则衰弱下去，于是开始了新一轮的优势淘汰劣势的过程又重新上演。

    五、传嗣的影响因素

    理论上，影响支脉是否能传嗣因子有很多， 然而家谱所能够提供的解释性因素主要包括以下几个方面： 生育子女数、 妻子数、 社会经济地位指标 （是否担任族长和是否有功名）、早殇儿童数和过继。 由于因变量的取值在传嗣和绝嗣之间的二元变量 ， 故 采 用 Logistic 回 归 分析，结果如表 2 所示。

    （一） 生育子女数

    生育子女数是影响传嗣与否最直接的因素。 在相同的医疗卫生条件和营养水平下， 生育子女数越多，传嗣的机会越大。在回归模型1中，只考虑儿子数和女儿数两个变量的影响， 结果显示两者对于提高传嗣几率都有显著的正向作用， 而且在模型 2、 3中分别加入职位、 功名、早殇儿童数等其他变量之后， 儿子数和女儿数这两个变量的作用因素并没有减弱，可见其影响大小是稳定的。

    需要注意的是，女儿数的系数明显大于儿子数， 这是由于家谱对女儿记载不完备导致的， 并不意味着生育女儿更容易传嗣。在全 部 记 录 中 ， 每 个 男 性 平 均 生 育 儿 子 1．1个， 生育女儿 0．3 个， 这说明女儿存在严重的漏记。 更重要的是， 随着时间的推移， 对女儿的记载逐渐增多。 表 3 显示的是有出生年记载的父亲 （占总数的 70．15％） 生育的儿子和女儿数， 其中年份是指父亲出生的年份。 1750 年以后，女儿的记载逐渐增多， 而大量绝嗣的支脉已经在 1650－1750 年退出了历史舞台， 这就导致女儿大多数出现在传嗣的支脉中， 绝嗣支脉中女儿记载很少， 进而造成回归方程中女儿数的影响系数大于儿子数的反常现象。

    （二） 妻子数

    一般认为， 妻子 （包含妾和续弦） 数越多， 生育的儿子和女儿也会越多， 进而提高传嗣的概率， 然而这一假设并不能得到回归方程的支持， 如回归模型 2。 考虑到女儿的记载偏差以及女儿数理论上和儿子数量对传嗣贡献一样， 因而在模型 2 中， 去掉了女儿数这个变量， 只考虑儿子数和妻子数的影响。 妻子数这个变量对于传嗣的影响呈现微弱的负向作用，但是未能通过显著性检验， 在模型 3 加入社会经济变量后， 妻子数仍未能通过检验。

    进一步通过比较绝嗣支脉和传嗣支脉中的已婚男子娶妻状况发现， 两者也没有明显的差别。 如表 4 所示， 已婚的绝嗣男子和传嗣男子都以娶 1 个妻子为主， 均占 80％以上； 两个妻子的比例都还较高， 达到 10％以上， 多妻的比例都很低。 表 4 说明， 在妻子数量和结构上，绝嗣男子和传嗣男子并没有区别。

    需要注意的是， 绝嗣男子的未婚比例要高于传嗣男子， 这也是造成绝嗣的重要原因。 比较已婚的绝嗣和传嗣男子的婚姻状态的意义在于说明， 男子一旦进入婚姻状态后， 娶妻的多少并不影响传嗣。 未婚而亡或者不婚当然意味着绝嗣， 但是多妻也并不能明显提高传嗣的机会。 在已婚的男性中， 妻子数量和生育儿子数量之间的相关系数仅为 0．075， 相关性微弱， 这进一步说明妻子数与儿子数无关， 多妻并未能带来多子。 由于妻子的数量很少存在漏记情况， 儿子的记载也较为完备， 这个结论具有较好的可信度。 已有的研究显示， 在传统社会， 人们生育的目的是为了传嗣，如果有足够多的儿子， 那么人们就可能提早结束生育行为 （侯杨方， 1998； Zhao， 2006）。 妻子数量对传嗣没有明显影响， 这也可以说明， 在由男性主导生育行为的传统社会， 女性的生育潜力被大量闲置。

    （三） 社会经济地位

    在婚姻和繁衍后代中占据优势者， 主要归功于他们较高的社会经济地位 （Telford， 1992）。家族中那些拥有功名的人， 能够较早地结婚和生育， 这使得他们更容易获得子嗣， 可以说是 “富人拥有后代” （Harrell 1985）。 对英国工业革命以前的人口研究发现， 财富状况和子嗣数量之间有着明显的相关性， 最富有的人留下的后代数量是最贫穷的人的两倍 （Gregory Clark and Gillian Hamilton， 2006）。 贫穷推迟了男性结婚年龄 （Freedman， 1958）， 并成为导致 35 岁以上男性未婚的主要原因 （陈意新、 曹树基， 2002）。 在 18 和 19 世纪， 上层贵族的儿子中到 30－40岁时只有6％的人未婚， 而下层贵族中单身的比例却达到 12％ （李中清、王丰，2000）， 而在安徽桐城，绅士 阶 层 的 儿 子 中 20 岁 以 上 尚 未 结 婚 的 只 有5％ ， 而 非 绅 士 阶 层 的 儿 子 则 有 15％ 是 单 身（Telford，1994）。 穷人在婚姻市场上处于劣势地位 ， 未婚比例的增加 ， 自然提高了绝嗣的概率 ，而晚婚也压缩了夫妻双方的生育期， 在人均预期寿命很低的时代， 生育期的缩短对于子女数量的影响是明显的。此外， 贫穷带来的营养不良问题也降低了生育能力 （劳伦斯·斯通，2011），这些使得在前现代社会富人往往拥有更多的孩子。

    除了影响结婚率外， 社会经济因素还会影响到人们的生育决策和行为。 已有的研究显示， 传统中国的人口生育行为存在人为控制， 并非处于纯粹的 “自然的状态”，人们会根据家庭经济状况和对未来的预期进行生育控制， 当人们拥有足够保证传嗣的儿子数时， 就可能停止生育，以减轻经济负担 （James Lee ＆ Cameron Campbell， 1997； 侯杨方，1998；Zhao，2006）。 婚后推迟生育、 提早结束生育年龄、 延长生育间隔是形成低生育的三种人口机制 （李中清、 王丰，2000）。因此， 贫困可能会影响人们生育决策和预期， 减少子女数， 同时溺婴的可能性也在增加。 另外，富裕的家庭可以为成员提供较好的生活条件和医疗条件， 并在灾荒年间降低死亡率。

    在家谱资料中， 直接对个人的收入状况的记载很少， 因而需要寻找其他的代用指标。 本文分别选取 “族长” 代表经济状况、 用 “功名” 代表社会地位。 族长是整个家族的权威代表，族长所在的支脉往往拥有更多的资源， 进而提高结婚的机会， 例如在辽宁农村， 族长的结婚概率比普通人高三倍 （李中清、 王丰， 2000）； 功名则是社会地位的重要指标， 拥有国家赐予的功名，不仅可以享受到国家的物质补助， 同时也在地方上享有一定的社会地位和声望。 一方面，考取功名需要一定的经济基础， 尽管不乏穷人获取功名的例子， 但通常只有经济条件较好的家庭，才有能力供养后代读书考取功名； 另一方面， 许多的功名是花钱捐来的， 捐得的功名越多， 也反映出家族的财力。 在表 2 的模型 3 中， 族长这个变量的影响作用很大， 并通过了显著性检验；功名变量虽然没有通过检验， 但该变量对传嗣的作用也是正向的。 进一步通过卡方分析表明， 在有功名的人当中，传嗣的比例远远高于绝嗣； 而在没有功名的人当中， 这一差距要小得多 （见表 5）。功名和传嗣之间的卡方系数为 32．836 （p＝0．000）， 可见， 是否拥有功名对于是否拥有后代的影响是显著的。

    对族长和功名所代表的社会经济地位变量所进行的研究，再次验证了前人的研究结论，即经济上占优势的人群更容易得到后代。这种优势在近亲之间得到传播和继承（James Lee ＆Cameron Campbell，1997），使得优势得到进一步的扩大，进而使得所在的支脉逐渐繁荣壮大起来。

    （四） 过继

    过继是传统社会为了维持家族香火延续而常用的一种方式。 过继包括出继和入继两个方面。 这里并没有将过继的因素放在回归方程中，主要是因为，不论是出继还是入继，都同时包含对延续香火积极和消极的意义。就入继而言，一方面入继可以弥补自己没有男性后代的缺憾，有助于延续香火，但另一方面， 需要入继这一事件本身也表明该支人丁衰微，几近断了香火。因此，过继因素在延续后代方面，同时具有一正一负两相矛盾的作用，不便于直接进入方程。 表6统计了家族中出入继的情况。

    若以 “无过继” 群体为平均水平的话， 则 “入继 1 子” 群体的绝嗣比例略低于平均水平， 表明入继在一定程度上起到了延续香火的作用； 出继 1 子的人， 其绝嗣比例则明显高于平均水平，说明出继不利于传嗣。 实际上， 大多数时候是辈分较低者的儿子过继给辈分较高者， 比如弟弟的儿子过继给兄长。 这意味着在某种程度上， 家庭地位也会影响到绝嗣的发生。

    除了上述因素外， 早殇儿童数量理论上也是影响因素之一。 尽管由于家谱中对早殇儿童的记载存在严重的遗漏， 使得估计儿童的死亡率水平存在困难， 我们还是找到了 77 条早殇儿童的记载。 在回归方程中，早殇儿童的因素勉强能够通过检验， 并显示对传嗣产生负面影响， 即随着早殇儿童的增多，传嗣的概率可能下降。早殇儿童数量越多， 可能意味着营养和医疗卫生条件越差。不过由于早殇儿童漏记的问题， 此仅作参考。

    六、结论

    尽管延续香火、 传宗接代是人们的普遍理想， 人们为此也做出种种努力， 但是现实当中， 人们所向往的那种儿孙满堂的理想情景并不多见，恰恰相反， 绝嗣才是更为普遍的现实。 经历了这267年间后，只有 13.61％的人留下了自己的后代 ， 尽管期间人口总量在不断增长，但是绝嗣现象仍普遍发生，人们延续香火的理想受到普遍绝嗣现实的狙击。

    在影响传嗣的诸多因子中，生子数的影响最为直接，在同等死亡率下，生子数越多， 传嗣的机会也就越大。生子数的多少最终受制于社会经济因素的影响，在家谱数据中表现为占据更多资源和声望的族长容易有后代，拥有功名的人也容易使得本支脉得到延续。 在人口繁衍的过程中，这些占据更多资源的人群在生存竞争中取得优势， 这种优势被逐步累计和放大，使得他们的后代逐渐占据了人口的主体部分。占人口大多数的弱势人群则逐步被排挤和淘汰，最终绝嗣。人数最多的 10％支脉， 占据了总人口的 62．72％； 而人数最少的 10％的支脉，只拥有总人口的1．25％，繁衍的机会在不同支脉之间是极不均等的。

    当代欧美发达国家人口不愿意多生育、 而拉美、非洲、 东南亚等发展中国家和地区维持相对较高的生育率， 进而出现了落后地区人口比重上升， 而发达国家地区的人口比重下降的局面。这种人口的逆向淘汰的出现，前提条件是生育和死亡大体已经在人类的掌控范围之内，尤其是在人们可以较为有效地控制流行病和饥荒。 然而在传统时期的中国， 人们显然还无法自主选择生育、控制死亡， 相反， 死亡水平决定并塑造了人口的再生产方式。 那么， 在这种情况下，人口的繁衍可能遵循着 “优胜劣汰” 的自然法则，那些占据较好的社会经济地位的家族，能够提供较为充足的营养、 相对清洁的居住条件，尤其是在爆发大规模流行病和饥荒时， 具有较强的应对能力，使得死亡率低于那些社会经济水平落后的人群。 这使得优势家族在繁衍过程中逐渐壮大，而劣势家族的生存空间则逐渐被挤压， 最终被淘汰。需要注意的是， 随着优势家族后代人口规模的不断扩大， 内部成员之间也逐渐出现优势和劣势的分化，只有少数后代能够继承优势， 而多数人则渐渐退化， 于是新一轮的优胜劣汰的生存竞争也随之展开。

    本文见刊于《南方人口》2012年第6期。

  • 王明珂：谁的历史：自传、传记与口述历史的社会记忆本质

    　　 一、前言　 

    　　 长久以来，重要人物的日记、回忆录、自传与传记常被历史学者视为“重建过去史实”的重要材料。近数十年来，“口述历史”的记录与分析，在历史学界成为一新兴学术传统。部分从事口述历史的学者，也将之视为补充近现代历史事实的利器。在本文中，我将从另一种角度，探讨自传、当代人物传记与口述历史中所记载的“过去”的本质。由此角度，我认为自传、传记与口述历史，都可视为一种“社会记忆”。
    　　 作为一种社会记忆，自传、传记与口述历史所呈现的“过去”并非是“全部的过去”，而是选择性的过去；不是所有人的过去，而是部分人的过去。为了支持这个看法，在本文中，我将分析近五十年在台湾出版的自传、当代人物传记与口述历史的作者、传主与受访者的社会背景，借此表现这些文献材料的社会记忆本质。
    　　 在一个社会中，个人与群体都在争着表达自己的存在（或说是，自己的社会重要性）。有意义地选择、组织“过去”，并将它在社会上“推广”，是诠释或合理化个人与群体存在地位的工具。在此“百家争鸣”中，在此对于“过去”的战争中，“过去”被选择、强调、争辩，一个社会的本质因此形成或变迁。因此，将自传、传记与口述历史当作“社会记忆”，我们可借以探讨个人的社会本质，以及社会的个人基础。 

    　　 二、自传、传记与口述历史中的社会记忆结构 

    　　 学者在分析记忆时，都注意到个人记忆中相当一部分是从社会生活中获得，在与他人的社会活动中被共同忆起，并且在特定社会背景中重建，以符合个人的社会身份认同。n个人从社会中得到与建立部分记忆的同时，他与其他社会群体成员也在各种社会活动中，共同保存、回忆、创造“社会记忆”。这些社会记忆以各种形式，如集体活动（祭典、工运游行）、图像（博物馆的陈列品、纪念碑）、文字（书籍、档案）、口述等方式（或混合的方式），存在与流通。
    　　 自传、人物传记与口述历史，都记载一个人的过去。在出版流传后，它们都成为社会记忆的一部分。这种社会记忆，以两种方式保存与流传。首先，它以书的形式保留在图书馆、档案室与个人藏书中，形成一种静态的、绝对的社会记忆。其次，它们被有不同社会文化背景的读者阅读；读者对于书中所记载的“过去”，有不同的选择与诠释。然后，这些“过去”又在不同的社会情景下，以各种方式被传述，如此形成一种动态的、相对的社会记忆。因此，自传、当代人物传记与口述历史，可说是个人记忆与社会记忆间的桥梁。
    　　 自传、传记与口述历史都陈述一个人的过去，而自传作者、传记的传主、口述历史的受访者，经常都被认为是对一个时代社会有相当影响的人，因此他们的“过去”被视为史家重建历史的重要材料。其中，自传与口述历史的内容，主要根据个人记忆，所载常不见于其他文献，如此更因其资料的“原始性”而受到重视。然而，许多研究都指出，个人对于过去的记忆并非是一连串“事实”的组合；个人或群体都选择、重组或遗忘一些过去，以符合某种社会群体的认同，或作为适存于现实社会的策略。以此观点，我们可以探讨自传、传记与口述历史的社会记忆本质。 

    　　 1. 自传　 
    　　 我们所谓的“自传”，是指一个人将自己生命史中的一些“过去”，写成文字，编辑成书，并由自己或他人出版流通的文献。自传作为一种文学形式，在中国或西方都有很长远的发展历史。有关传记的研究，在西方学术界更吸引许多不同学科学者们的注意。
    　　 对于许多历史学者而言，自传中包含许多当事人亲身经历的过去，可作为相当可靠的历史材料。然而在许多其他学科中，自传的“历史性”常被怀疑。在心理学上，学者对于自传式记忆（autobiographical memories）的构造，其中的失忆与虚构记忆，以及其社会及病理学背景，都有相当长远而深入的研究。在文学研究中，部分受心理分析学的影响，学者常讨论自传中的“自我呈现”问题，或自传的虚构性，或文中因修辞而产生的意义。无论如何，自传并不是一连串历史事实的集结，则是许多学者们的共见。近年来，许多社会人类学家，也对于研究自传有相当兴趣。因为认知人类学与历史人类学的发展，自传在此领域中被当作一种田野报告人的陈述。人类学家希望借此分析经验、记忆与社会认同间的关系；基本上也是强调自传所传递的“过去”的当代背景（the pastinpresent）。
    　　 当然，自传中的确有许多“史实”，或“被修饰的史实”。即使承认这一点，我们同时也得承认，这些“史实”都是选择性的“过去”。首先，并不是所有的人都有动机写自传。一般而言，为自己写传记的人是自认为，也被社会认为，对社会有重要影响的人。在写传记的时刻，他（她）们对社会的影响已告一段落，或他（她）们在当时已享有相当的声誉与地位，或他（她）们的过去在当时社会中有争议。
    　　 其次，并不是个人所有对过去的记忆，都会被正确地写入自传。一个人从小到大有许多的经历，有些被记得，有些被忘记。在自传书写中，作者选择部分的记忆，甚至可能扭曲部分记忆，将之记录下来。同时，有意或无意地忽略其他。前面我们曾提到，写自传的人是自认为，也被社会认为，对社会有重要影响的人。因此，自传中所提到的“过去”，是作者认知本身在社会中的自我形象（self-image）下，刻意选择、组合的“过去”，以陈述他对社会的影响，或合理化他当前所享有的声誉与地位，或辩述他目前有争论的社会评价。因此，自传写作经常是读者取向，现实取向的；它不是为作者保留“过去”，而更像是为“读者”解释“现实”。
    　　 因此，虽然“自传”出于作者自己的回忆，但是自传中所陈述的过去，是作者与社会间互动的结果。他写作的动机，来自于社会给予他的评价（或社会对于他的忽略）。写作的内容，也就是他的回忆活动，在社会所提供的价值框架中进行。写作的目的，也在对现实社会（读者）合理化他的社会角色与地位。最后，自传写成后，这种“记忆”再一次地被出版商与读者选择。出版商认同作者的社会价值（更准确地说，其社会价值的经济效益），自传才被出版。读者认同作者的社会价值，自传才被阅读、流传，而成为一种社会记忆。而出版商与读者的选择，可说又一次强化了一本自传的社会记忆本质。

    　　 2. 口述历史
    　　 口述历史作为史学的一支，它的重要性越来越被重视，同时其性质与功能也在发展中趋于多样化。它曾被用来记录当代重要历史事件中人物的回忆，以作为那个时代与事件的“证据”。许多口述历史学者因此强调它的“原始性”与“可靠性”。在近年的发展中，它更与女性主义、地方史研究、马克思主义史学结合，被用来建立地方史、妇女史与社会少数族群的历史。这种发展的要旨在于：传统历史只是某一人群主观上所建立的过去，这群人通常是社会上层，是主要族群，是年长男人。他们掌握文字、意识形态与主要传播媒体。因此，口述历史学者努力呈现“过去”的多重声音，尤其是那些长期被“历史”忽略的声音。由于接近“中下层群众”，口述历史在资料呈现上，也与传统学院派历史著作大有不同；前者较平民化，而倾向于以多重媒体（如声音、影像等）来表现。
    　　 无论口述历史的访谈对象是一位退休将领，一位年长的外交官，或是一位市井平民，对于“过去发生的事”而言，他（她）们所陈述的“过去”也是相当有选择性、重建性与现实取向的。采访者“选择”受访对象，“选择”所问的问题；受访者“选择”适当的“过去”，来回应问题。再者，对于一位一生经历有“历史价值”的受访者而言，他（她）们经常能体认自己的社会角色（知道自己为何受访，或采访者已说明对他或她的期望）。或者，他（她）们揣测访问者的社会角色与态度，因此相对的在访谈中表现自己应有的社会角色与态度。如此，“过去”常被选择性重建（混合本身记忆，以及与他人共同建立的记忆），来使某种现实状况合理化，或解释过去与现在的因果关系，并同时满足访问者的需要。
    　　 影响这些对“过去”的选择与重建的，是访问者与受访者各自在过去的记忆与经验中所凝塑的“心理构图”（schemata）。以及现实社会中个人与群体的利益抉择，以此产生的文化与社会认同倾向。也就是说，访问者的过去经验与记忆，以及现实社会的利害关系，构成他当前的社会认同与价值体系。这个社会认同与社会价值体系，经常影响他的口述历史研究（访问什么样的人？问什么样的问题？）。对受访者而言，他的回忆与描述，除了受上述因素影响外，更经常在表现自我认同与不触犯采访者的认同中试探、徘徊。如此，我们所得到的口述历史资料，可说是过去与现在之间，采访者与受访者之间，个人（受访者与采访者）的生活经验与其社会认同之间，“互动”的结果。这样的资料，就像自传一样，它可能包括许多构成“史料”的“个人经验的过去事实”，但更重要的，它是一种“社会记忆”。
    　　 最后，许多口述历史研究与出版，都涉及长期的、大规模的采访调查工作与发行计划。这样的工作与计划，通常由一些从事历史研究的学术机构或团体主持，并在经费以及其他方面得到“社会”的支持。因此经常，或在一定程度上，社会或特定社会群体的价值与意识形态，能透过各种方式影响口述历史的采访与研究。经由这种大规模的调查采访，以及随后的出版发行，特定的“社会记忆”可能被强调、创造及推度。这些“社会记忆”，因得到对“发掘与诠释过去”有权威的历史学者或历史学术团体的支持，更增强了它们在人们心中的真实性及说服力，而成为强势的社会记忆。 

    　　 3.人物传记
    　　 传记作为一种文学形式，它也是以一个人的生命史或生命史中的一部分为主要内容。它与自传不同之处在于，作者不是传记中的主体（传主）。作者对传主的描述，不是自我描述。但是，传主的自述（日记、回忆录等），常成为传记写作的主要材料之一。事实上，有些当代人物传记的作者，在写作过程中经常得以采访传主，以及与传主有关的当代人物，或由传主及他人提供私人书信资料。因此，在资料结构上，当代人物传记经常综合了“自传”与“口述历史”等材料。除此之外，传记写作主要依赖大量已出版与未出版的文献资料。这些文献资料，可说是一种被社会或个人以文字形式保存的记忆。它们被社会认为是重要的，而被保存与流传。传记的写作，是将这所有的资料集结起来，以组织与修辞赋予它们新的意义，如此将原本静态的社会记忆（档案、文献），活化成动态的社会记忆（被阅读、谈论的书籍）。
    　 对传记作者来说，自传、口述历史与其他文献，形成多重的、可互相验证、互相补足的资料。因为作者不是完全采用自传与口述历史资料，而是在比较其他文献后，在这些资料中筛选“事实”。因此，传记作者常宣称他的著作是客观的、可靠的。但是，从另一个角度来看，传记作者在这些多重资料中，可有更多的选择，使他更容易选择、忽略或组织各种资料，来支持其心中的定见。由此而言，传记作者不比自传作者更客观。
    　　 传记作者对传主的定见，是他选择、组织与解释资料的基础。无论是采用何种资料，作者是资料的主动搜集者与组织者。在资料的搜集与阅读中，作者对传主有进一步的认识，也可能这认识彻底改变他对传主的看法。但是，通常在搜集与组织材料时，作者对传主已有既定评价。这种对传主的评价，又深受其所处社会的影响。这种社会价值定见，影响他选择、判断哪些是“事实”，以及对“事实”的解释。因此，“事实”虽然是构成传记的重要成分，但如学者所指出的，它不是结论，也不是写作的目的，而是经常被利用、被改变、被误用，以支持一种解释、一种性格描述的工具。而且，一个成功的传记作家不只是陈述事实而已，经由选择、安排这些“过去的事实”，加上修辞、隐喻，传记作家常常重新创造一个非凡的人，或赋予一个人物新的时代意义。由这一点来说，传记作家几乎类似小说作者；他们都是书中人物的创造者。透过传主个人的生命史及一些相关的事件，传记作者所描述的，事实上是一个时代与一个社会。这样的时代与社会（无论是过去的或是当代的），能符合并诠释作者自己的社会历史记忆与社会现实经验。
    　　 一旦传记写成出版，与自传一样，它也成为一种社会记忆。甚至于，传记成为比自传更强有力的社会记忆。因为它的观点被宣称是“客观的”，它的资料被认为是全面的，它对人物价值的诠释，无论是正面或是负面，经常符合特定的当代社会意识。因此，作为一种社会记忆，它选择性的、虚构性的一面，经常被忽略。
    　　 如前所述，我们可将自传、当代人物传记与口述历史的写作与出版，作为一种社会回忆活动（social remembering）。如同个人依赖记忆与回忆建立个人的特质；一个社会也透过这种，以及其他的社会回忆活动，不断地塑造或重塑其本质。基于这个观点，我们曾将1945—1994年间在台出版的自传、当代人物传记与口述历史做一编目工作（此一资料以下皆称《编目》），作为“台湾群众集体记忆资料搜集与分析计划”下的一个项目。由“社会记忆”的观点，在此《编目》中的书，没有哪一本特别好或特别坏；它们都反映一个时代中的个人与社会所认为“重要的过去”，反映着个人与社会的认同与认同危机。因此，《编目》中的每一本书都值得我们深入研究与分析。当然，这样的工作不是一个人可以完成，更不是本文所能做到的。但是，在本文以下各节中，我将根据这个编目，或编目中部分的书，来分析谁在回忆或谁被回忆，以及哪些主题被回忆。借此，我们可以略窥个人、社会与记忆之间的关系，以及台湾社会的部分特质及其变迁。 

    　　 三、谁在回忆、谁被回忆　 

    　　 对于“谁在回忆、谁被回忆”，前者，我们指的是自传作者、口述历史被访问人，后者指的是传记中的传主。他们是被社会回忆，或社会赋予他们“解释过去的权力”的人。在本节中，我们可以将《编目》中所有的这些“谁”，根据他们的社会背景作一量化分析。由分析谁在回忆（自传作者、口述历史受访人）、谁被回忆（传记传主），我们可以了解这些材料的社会记忆性质。　 

    　　 1.谁在回忆
    　　 在《编目》中收录的自传、回忆录与口述历史著作共有490种。它们的作者有许多不同的社会身份；他（她）们可能是男人或女人，军人或文人，他们也可能属于某一族群，或来自某一地域。无论如何，以下的统计显示，这些“在回忆的人”的社会身份有些共同的特质。
    　　 首先，毫无疑问，这些回忆者是以男性为主；女性只占总人数的9. 6%。而且，许多女性“回忆者”的主要回忆内容与某一男性有关。也就是说，她们的社会重要性建立在她们生命史与某一男性的密切关联上；她们因而“知道”自己生命记忆中那些“过去”是重要的。
    　　 其次，由这些“回忆者”的省籍背景来看，显然在近五十年来，台籍作者的“记忆”相对的被社会忽略。这个现象只在1975年之后，有较明显的变化。
    　　 以事业经历来说，1945—1974年对台湾社会回忆过去的人，大体上以被社会认为在政治、军事、学术上有成就的人物为主。1965年以后，出身文学艺术背景者的“回忆”在出版界急速增加。大约也从此时开始，财经、新闻、医学、宗教界人士，开始向社会呈现他（她）们的“过去”，而且在70年代之后愈来愈受社会重视。相反的，前30年中最常对社会强调自己过去的政治、学术界人物，在1975—1984年这一时段间，相对地沉默了许多。
    　　 1985—1994年，有关个人回忆的出版物，比起前一阶段几乎增长了一倍。一方面，这是因为《编目》中收录的“口述历史”著作，绝大部分都在此一时期出现；另一方面，这一时期个人出版自传、回忆录的风气，也较从前盛行。比较这一时期与前一时期“回忆者”的事业经历，值得注意的是，政界人士的“回忆”又有长足的发展；相对地，学术界人士的“回忆”仍然不振。　 

    　　 2.谁被回忆
    　　 传记的传主，因他（她）们对社会有特殊意义而被回忆。《编目》中收录1945—1994年间出版的传记有345种。由传主性别来说，这些“被回忆的人”还是以男人为主。从省籍上来看，他们中台籍人士只占相当少的比例。被社会回忆的台籍人士，只在近二十年，尤其是近十年来才有明显的增加。
    　 在传主的事业经历方面，政界人士显然最常被回忆，其次是军事、学术与文学艺术界人物。1975—1994年间，有大量的政治人物传记出版。此期间之前十年，与辛亥革命有关的政治人物传记出现较多；后十年，则以当代台湾政治人物的传记为多。学术与文艺界人士的传记，两者由1945年以来大体皆均势发展，但1985—1994年这一期间，显然文艺界人士的传记出现较多。有些宗教界人士的一生，在1975年以后也被写入传记。
    　　 另外，两种在90年代以来颇受重视的“记忆”，在本表中无法显现出来，那就是：（1）“二·二八”事件亲历者与受害者的记忆；（2）妇女对过去的记忆。这两者，在近五年来都有相当丰富的记录与出版，但因为大多不是以“单人专刊”的方式出版，或许多工作仍在进行中，因此在本表中无法显现。
    　　 以上统计数字，有些呈现的是一般性的人类社会现象。譬如，无论在哪一时期，政治人物都是社会上主要的“回忆者”与“被回忆者”。无论在哪一时期，男性与知识分子都是“过去”的主要组织者与诠释者。这些都是许多当代社会在社会记忆结构上的共同特质。
    　　 这些数字，部分也直接反映台湾近五十年来的政治与社会生态。譬如，非台籍人士一向掌握台湾主要社会记忆。这些在台湾社会记忆中大量的“非台籍人士”，许多是从未到过台湾的“辛亥革命参与者”。因此，这反映的是国家认同的问题，而与“某一族群”掌控历史记忆并无关联。无论如何，台籍人士的“过去”，在近十年来愈来愈受社会的重视。这也反映近十年来台湾在政治、文化各方面本土化的成果。
    　　 1975年之后，越来越多财经界领导人物的“过去”被回忆。显然，台湾社会借着这些人的过去，来诠释台湾的经济奇迹。台湾社会经济经过战后一段时间的稳定发展后，一些在“心灵与精神”方面工作的人，也受到社会普遍的重视。近十年来文学、艺术、宗教界人士的“过去”，成为相当受重视的社会记忆，即反映此一现象。
    　　 80年代末以来，台湾执政党内的主流与非主流之争，以及社会间广泛的中国认同与台湾认同之争，使得“过去”成为臧否人物，或为台湾政统定位的工具。因此，各种当代政治人物的传记、自传，如雨后春笋般出版；这也反映在表三与表六的统计数字上。这些当代政治人物的自传，以及或褒或贬的传记，如许多七口八舌的声音，争辩着“哪些是重要而真实的过去”。因此，在一个社会中，事实上并不是所有的成员都有同样的“社会记忆”。所谓“共同社会记忆”，是在各种社会利益群体的对立与竞争中，强化自身或本群体的记忆，或扭曲、抹煞敌对利益群体的记忆，如此在争辩与妥协中产生的反映社会现实的“记忆”。
    　　 进一步解读这些数字资料，必然需要深入分析每一本传记、自传与口述历史著作，深入体会在社会与个人的互动中，“过去”所隐含的期盼、骄傲与焦虑。更重要的是，自传、当代人物传记与口述历史，各代表不同类型的社会记忆，代表不同的主观意识。因此，在同样的社会背景中，自传、当代人物传记与口述历史书写者的“动机”也有差距。这个差距，由深入分析个案（譬如，同一人物的传记、自传与口述历史）内涵中，我们或可以更深入理解自传、传记与口述历史的社会记忆本质。　　 

    　　 3.哪些主题被回忆
    　　 虽然在本文中，我们无法分析《编目》中每一本传记、自传与口述历史的内容。但是，这些著作中有一些重复出现的主题。
    　　 虽然在本文中，我们无法分析《编目》中每一本传记、自传与口述历史的内容。但是，这些著作中有一些重复出现的主题。在政治人物的传记与自传中，最常出现的主题便是有关“辛亥革命”的记忆。不仅是辛亥革命参与者的这一段“过去”，经常被他们自己或他人回忆，在其他回忆者或被回忆者的过去中，辛亥革命也是相当重要的社会记忆。我在一篇文章中，曾以“文化亲亲性”（cultural nepotism）来解释“起源”对于凝聚一个社会人群的重要性。对于“中华民国”这一群体来说，辛亥革命就是这样的“起源记忆”。辛亥革命的领导者孙中山先生被尊称为国“父”；中华民国经常被认为由此“诞生”；而在此政治群体下的所有人群常被称为“同胞”。这些在台湾的生活中经常接触的政治语汇，皆显示辛亥革命被一群人根基化（primordealized）为“共同起源”，用来强化彼此的假血缘联系，也就是“文化亲亲性”，以增进群体的凝聚。　 

    　　 有关近五十年来台湾整体社会建设的个人功绩，也是经常出现在政治人物传记、自传或口述历史的重要主题。譬如，个别财经界人士在台湾经济发展上的贡献，或政界人士在台湾政坛的表现等等。这些主题，呈现自传、传记作者，或口述历史的受访者与访问者，对社会现实的看法及诠释。譬如，如果作者认为台湾近五十年来在经济、政治方面有重要的成就，这样的成就必然有一些解释，因此某些个人的事迹被强调来合理化此社会成就。相反地，如果作者认为现实政治、社会日益劣化，则“谁应为此负责，或谁不应为此负责”，成为自传与传记的主题。台湾近年来，尤其是在重要选举之前，各种自传、传记大批出现，都显示“社会记忆”是社会现实的理解与诠释的主要战场之一。卷入这场战争的个人，不只是为自己的社会角色与贡献作防卫，更重要的是强调、维护本身所属社会次群体（如党派、族群、地域群体、职业群体）的社会地位；而“过去”，则是这场战争中的主要攻防器械。　 

    　　 对于具军事背景的传记传主、自传作者或口述历史的受访者而言，他们的抗战、剿共经历，固然是被自己或他人回忆的主题。其他非军事背景的人，在回忆或被回忆时，“抗战与逃难时的生活与经历”，也是常被自己或他人提及的过去。这些关于抗战、剿共与逃难的记忆，透过许多的传记、自传、口述历史、教科书与其他媒体，成为台湾非常重要的“社会记忆”，或者，它也是一种“集体受难记忆”。即使绝大多数的人并没有亲身经历这些过去，但也（曾）感同身受。这些“集体受难记忆”造成台湾人民，尤其是战后出生的一代，普遍对日本以及中国大陆政权的嫌恶。直到近年来，在台湾本土意识普遍抬头的社会风气下，这些关于“抗战、剿共与逃难的记忆”究竟是谁的记忆，才被质疑，也因此相对地逐渐被遗忘。近年来，许多对日抗战纪念日的活动被省略或忽略，即为反映这种社会遗忘的现象之一。　 

    　　 与这种社会遗忘相反，另一种从前被忽略的“过去”——日本据台时期的经历与“二·二八”事件，80年代末以来被台湾社会热烈的集体回忆，成为台湾社会记忆的重要主题。日本据台时期的社会经历与“二·二八”事件，可以说是另一种“集体受难记忆”。在这种“集体受难记忆”下，凝聚的是某种狭义的“台湾人”，包含闽南人、客家人与原住民。绝大多数的外省人虽然对台湾日据时期没有亲身经历，但也如同身受；这有如抗战剿共记忆一样，可以成为所有台湾人的共同记忆。但在台湾流行的对“二·二八”事件的记忆与诠释中，外省族群经常被视为“迫害者”。因此，对于这种“集体受难记忆”，外省族群很难因自己也是“台湾人”而接受这种记忆。于是，在近年来，有些口述历史与回忆录中，另一种对“二·二八”事件的记忆——当时许多“大陆人”被殴打、杀害的记忆——也被集体发掘、恢复、扩大之中。
    　　 个人在特定事业中的社会成就，是许多学术、文艺、新闻、宗教、医学界人物，自我回忆或是回忆他人的过去，每一职业群体，作为一个现实的“社会”，仍是引导作者选择、组织、诠释过去的主要构图。在这种回忆中，一方面个别职业群体（如新闻界、学术界、文学界、艺术界、医学界、宗教界等等）的认同，及其社会重要性被强化。另一方面，该群体目前的结构特质（如各种不同的学门、流派、师承等），及对此种结构的主观评价（如，主流与非主流、主体与分支、正统与异端），也经常由特定人物的“过去”中得到某种诠释。 

    　　 在这种主观评价上，我们也能发现“起源”的魔力，许多特定职业群体的传记传主、口述历史受访者，被冠上“台湾第一位……”，或“中国第一位……”，或被称为“某某之父”。凡此种种，皆以起源创造一个传统，以凝聚一个群体；或以“起源”宣称该群体的特质。我们也应注意，当一个“起源”被创造、宣称时，许多旧传统与人物也同时被切断及遗忘。谁是主流、正统，谁是边缘与异端，皆可借此“起源”得到诠释。因此，不仅这些传记、自传、口述历史的“社会记忆内容”值得分析，在一定程度上，所有作者、出版者，以及有关的学术或其他公私机构，皆可视为“社会记忆”的创造者与推广者。因此，在分析一本传记、自传或口述历史时，背后的创造者与推广者（无论是个人或团体）的社会背景也值得我们留意。
    　　 最后，在许多自传、传记中，新闻工作者经常成为“回忆者”或“被回忆者”；他们在“社会记忆”中有特殊的地位。与其他回忆者或被回忆者相同，借着特定的“记忆”他们的社会重要性被自己或被他人强调。但他们的社会重要性在于：他们自认为或被认为是重要“历史”事件的目击者，或同时是能详其内幕的人。因此，一个新闻记者的“回忆”，几乎就是该社会“当代重要事件”的回顾；一种被认为是更客观或更深入的回顾。　 
    　　 一个社会常定义、重新定义哪些是“过去发生的重大事件”。不同的个人及群体都争辩、诠释这些“重大事件”的经过及意义。这些重要的过去，也就是“社会记忆”，在社会间以各种版本存在、流通。在一个充满多元记忆的社会中，由社会记忆塑造的个人认同体系常是多元的、不确定的，或易变的。外在环境充满变化，个人认同经常在不确定中游移，各种版本对“过去”的描述与诠释到处充斥，这些都造成社会大众对“真实过去”的渴求。这种渴求，提供自传、传记的广大出版市场；造成以发掘“史实”为取向的口述历史成为众所瞩目的学术活动；也同时使得“新闻从业者”的回忆，成为一种重要的社会记忆。　　 

    　　 4.个人记忆、社会记忆与社会本质
    　　 如前所述，自传、传记、口述历史皆可视为一种社会记忆。对于自传、传记、口述历史的撰写内容与出版，我们或许可以探讨一些关键的问题。譬如：在一个社会中，许多个人（传记作者、自传传主、口述历史的受访者及读者）的经验与记忆，如何形成社会记忆？以及，如果社会记忆塑造一个社会，那么更基本的问题便是：如此被塑造的“社会”的本质如何？　 

    　　 本文所讨论的“社会记忆”，只是由当代人物传记、自传与口述历史所保存的当代记忆。事实上，社会记忆的范围远超过“当代”，它还包括所有的“过去”，如历史、神话、传说等等。社会记忆的传递媒介，也不只是出版物，还包括由口述（日常对话与述说）、行为仪式（各种庆典、纪念仪式与讨论会）与形象化媒体（如名人画像、塑像，以及与某些记忆相关联的地形、地貌等等）所传递的各种记忆。因此，凝聚一个社会（及各次级社会群体）的“记忆”是一种相当多元的、易变的综合体。个人由自身经验，以及家庭、社区、学校、族群，以及其他社会群体中，得到各种关于过去的记忆。这些记忆，有些是相当集体性的，有些是个人性的（autobiographical）；有些是亲身经历的事件留下的记忆，有些是非亲身经历的；有些在日常生活中经常被重复，有些则为过去个别事件的记忆。在一个人的社会生活中，这些对过去的记忆形成个人心理上的一种构图（schemata）。当个人作为某群体的一分子，与外在世界的个人或群体互动时，透过这心理构图的回忆（rememberring），个人得以建立其社会认同体系。这样的回忆常是集体性的；许多人由此选择、强化特定的“共同过去”，以建立彼此的认同。　 

    　　 在社会生活中，社会记忆与集体回忆不断相互滋长，彼此影响，也因此强化个人或群体的认同，或造成认同变迁。这个过程大约是：在心理构图与社会认同体系中，个人经验到当前的重要事件或人物，学习到过去的重要事件与人物，也在此社会认同体系中，个人的社会行为受未来目的的导引。所有这些个人由经验、学习与行为中得到的记忆，都可能成为强化或修正其社会认同体系的心理构图的一部分。更重要的是，这些“经验、学习与行为”常经过集体的修正；我们常与他人共同忆起彼此的经验、共同学习彼此经验与非经验的过去，并且在某种认同下共同行动。因此这些“记忆”是个人的，也是社会的。尤其是个人有社会目的、对社会现实有巨大影响的行为，常成为社会记忆的一部分。生活在多变的现实社会中，为了个人或群体利益，个人经常需强调或调整自身的认同体系；这个过程，与个人社会记忆的累积与调整互为因果。我们由自传、传记与口述历史的书写与流传中，可看出这个过程。
    　　 我们以自传或传记的作者为例。在个人的一生里，由家庭、社区、学校与各种社会团体中，个人获得许多记忆，也因此构成他们基本的心理蓝图，并造成他们的认同体系。他们一生的作为，常是为了在此社会认同体系中彰显自己的重要性。因此，他努力成为一位中国的科学家，或客籍的文学家，或台湾的政治家。事实上，社会上每一个人，都经常在这言行上宣称自己的社会存在；以“过去”来宣称自己的社会重要性。只是这些传主与自传作者，经常比其他人更能透过各种媒体，宣称自己的社会重要性。一个传记的传主，已由许多管道宣称自己的社会角色；这些，都成为社会记忆。传记的作者，在其个人的认同体系中，经验或学习到这些有关传主的社会记忆，而成为其心理构图的一部分。在其现实的社会生活中，传记作者可能组织部分传主的过去，赋予有意义的诠释（一种回忆活动），以强化或修正某种社会认同。在此过程中，作者可能与他人共同讨论、辩驳（集体回忆活动）。借此，传记作者肯定或强化自身或其所属社会群体的社会价值。同时，经由出版流传，传记也成为一种社会记忆。　 

    　　 对于一位自传作者来说，他的社会重要性可能已被社会熟知，或不为社会熟知，或在不同社会群体间有不同的认知。无论如何，他是在自身的心理构图与现实人际关系交汇而成的个人认同体系中，选择部分的记忆以建立、强化、维护或辩解自己的社会价值。然后出版后的自传，成为一种社会记忆。因此，自传、传记，皆可被视为个人经历、记忆与社会间的一种对话。某些以“发掘史实”为目的的口述历史研究（或历史研究），也有类似的功能。各种社会记忆散布在书籍或人们的记忆中，学者经由本身的认同体系，选择哪些是可信的“文字史料”，哪些是可靠的“报告人”。经由各种集体回忆活动（采访、讨论、著述、发行），“过去”（无论是实在的、重组的或是虚构的）被有意义地安排，并赋予诠释。最后成为社会记忆的一部分。 

    　　 最后，我们必须面对的一个问题是：从社会记忆的观点，我们所谓的“社会”究竟有哪些特质？或者说，从社会记忆研究中，我们是否能更了解人类社会的本质？　 

    　　 在许多学科中，学者都把“社会”作为许多集体表征的集结。无论是历史学者所谓个别社会的时代精神，或结构主义人类学家所说的一个社会的结构（structure）、文化模式（cultural pattern）或考古学者所称的典范（norms），都宣示着一种整体观、典范观点的对“社会”的理解。这种观点，近年来常被批评为偏重上层阶级的（在历史学方面），非历史的（在人类学方面），或忽略“过程”的（在考古学方面）。我们由个人记忆与社会记忆的角度来看，社会由无数关系错杂的、相互补足、合作、竞争或敌对的群体构成，它们皆以集体记忆来强化本群体的凝聚，或强调本群体的社会重要性。作为一种社会记忆，自传、传记、口述历史的书写与出版流传显示，社会中每一个人都不愿自己被忽略，或不愿自己所属的群体被忽略。 

    　　 在现实社会中，由社会记忆所凝聚的“社会”，不断地在定义及重新定义哪些是该社会重要的过去事件与人物，以及不断诠释它（他）们为何重要，以界定、改变一个社会的本质。这些社会价值的形成，不完全是自然的凝聚，而更是一种社会内部不同团体间对“过去”的争夺。自传、当代人物传记与口述历史，以“个人过去”的形式，来表现哪些是社会的重要过去。因此，它们一方面反映一个时代所定义的重要人物、事件，以及对此的诠释；另一方面，它们之间的歧异，也表现不同社会人群对过去的选择与对诠释权的竞争。于是，推广、强化自身的记忆，或抹杀他人的记忆，成为一种战争。像是夏夜里，一个大池塘边住有许多不同品种的青蛙。每一种青蛙都以特殊的叫声宣称本身或本群的存在，并压制他种蛙群的声音。因此，一个社会群体中各成员之间，并没有完全一致的“社会记忆”，也没有一个大家都能同意的“认同”。一个社会永远在内部各群体间，以及与外界人群间，进行对现实生存资源以及对“过去”的竞争；在此竞争中，社会的本质得以不断地被修正。　 

    　　 5.结论：谁的历史? 
    　　 本文由个人记忆与社会记忆的角度，探讨自传、传记与口述历史中所记载的“过去”的本质。并以台湾近五十年来出版的自传、当代人物传记与口述历史为对象，分析在这段时间中，谁在回忆、谁被回忆，以及哪些主题被回忆，以呈现这些材料的社会记忆本质；从某一角度而言，这也是“历史”的本质。
    　　 这个观点，说得更明白些，就是“历史”不只有一种声音；许多不同时代、不同的社会人群，都在争着述说自己的过去，争着将自己的过去一般化、普遍化，以成为当代的社会记忆，以抹煞他人的记忆。在自传、传记与口述历史中，我们可以看见，有些人可以向社会宣扬自己的过去，有些人的过去被社会刻意发掘、重建。这是对过去的诠释权之争，也是认同之争，权力之争。因此，对于一个被广泛接受的“标准历史”，我们都可以问：那是谁的历史？以中国正史而言，可以说，那是汉人的历史，男人的历史，统治阶层的历史，士人的历史。因为，只有这些人能经常透过传记、自传与其他文献，以及纪念性建筑与造像，各种纪念活动，以及“溯源”取向的历史与考古学研究，将自己或该社会人群认为重要的过去发掘、创造与保存下来。
    　　 因此，我们至少可以在三种层面上来看待人物传记、自传与口述历史。首先，在“过去事实”层面上，这三种资料都告诉我们一些过去的事实，等待我们去探索。其次，在社会记忆的层面，人物传记、自传与口述历史都可以被作为一种社会记忆；透过这些材料，学者可以分析个人的时代社会本质，以及一个时代社会的文化价值，以及与资源分配有关的认同结构。第三，在社会道德与社会公平正义的层面，人物传记与口述历史的作者，能透过这两种写作方式为社会创造新的“记忆”，为受迫害、被忽略的社会人群争取他们应得的注意、尊重与社会福利。而这三种不同层面的研究与写作之间，有相辅相成也有相互纠葛的关系。如果我们知道“过去事实”，将有助于我们分辨与分析选择性的、扭曲的、虚构的“社会记忆”。从“社会记忆”的分析中，我们可以对一个时代社会的本质，特别是对其内部人群间的资源竞争的分配结构有深入的认识。我们更可以借“过去的意义”来了解人类及其社会的本质。在认识到人类社会以“社会记忆”来定义其本质，以支持特定的权力结构与资源分配关系，以及此种社会的演进过程时，学者可以思考什么是一个“理想的社会”，什么样的历史（或传记）写作有助于达成这样的社会。从另一方面来说，如果我们不深入了解人类社会记忆的本质，那么，我们永远难以剥开层层伪装以发掘“过去事实”；我们也难以理解一个社会的本质及其演进。而我们的历史研究，更容易受一些虚幻的、无意义的、有偏见的政治或学术意识形态潮流的导引；这样的研究，甚至可能导致更严重的社会资源竞争或支持另一种社会剥削关系。
    　　 人物传记与自传，都是一种文学形式。对于历史学者、人类学者或心理学者来说，它们都是可供分析的材料，学者无法也无须建议一个传记或自传作者应如何写他们的作品。但是，口述历史本身是历史学的一部分，是历史学者有意识的学术活动。无论在台湾或在国外，大量的田野采访与出版，使其成为一个新的史学传统。因此，我们必须对口述历史有更多的期许。
    　　 问题也就是：在传统史学之外，口述历史能为史学做些什么？毫无疑问，如前所言，口述历史能提供传统文献之外难得的“史料”。尤其在现实政治中，有些档案文献被刻意遮掩或抹煞的情况下，口述历史材料更有价值。因此对于当代重要人物，或重要事件亲历的人口述采访便是相当重要。但是，从社会记忆的观点，一位历史学者应有如是自觉：我们是否在某种社会意识的掌控下，定义何者是“当代或过去重要的人物或事件”？或者，定义“谁是知道过去真相的人”，而授予他（她）们诠释过去的权力？借着这样的口述历史采访所得资料，是否只是传统史料的另一种形式而已？它是否仍然为男性、主要族群、知识阶层、政治权力掌控者所认知的“过去”，以合理化某种社会现实？
    　　 在另一方面，有些人的“过去”常被社会忽略，他们是少数族群、妇女、劳工、乡间平民、低教育程度者或文盲。以中国历史为例，自二十五史的写作以来，在中国历史传统中，这些人的声音，他们记忆、失忆，以及组合过去的方式，从来没有被认真地记录过。如果我们认为，一个“社会”并不只是由一些精英人物、上层思想与意识形态以及典型的文化特征构成。那么，许多被传统史学遗忘的“过去”，值得我们记录与分析。从社会伦理的层面来说，社会弱势者的过去被忽略，是一种政治经济策略的运用，以将他们推到社会边缘。因此相反地，记录他们的声音以及他们的过去，也是一种策略，让他们不被忽略。
    　　 最后，将口述历史只当作是“恢复过去史实”的工具，显然过于低估了口述历史的研究价值。口述历史学者是否只将自己限制于找寻“真实的过去”？或者愿意去探触一个更广大范畴中被扭曲、遗忘、重要的“过去”？口述历史提供我们的是一种“社会记忆”或“活的历史”，它不一定是过去发生的事实，但它却反映个人的认同、行为、记忆与社会结构间的关系。因此，研究当代的人如何在社会中选择、扭曲、遗忘“过去”，可能给历史学者一些启发：所有的“史料”都可当做一种“社会记忆遗存”。以“社会记忆”的观点研究历史，并不是说历史学者从此不探求“过去的事实”，而是有更积极的学术意义。让我们去思考，在何种社会结构背景下，当时人需留下这些“记忆”，以及为何遗忘、扭曲一些记忆。如此，口述历史研究对于历史学者而言，可以如一面窗子。透过这窗子，能眺望千百年前的人如建构他们心目中的过去；以及他们的认同、期望与焦虑。学者得以从中探索该时代各社会人群间、个人与社会间一些动态的结构关系，以及其所反映的“史实”。　　 

    　　 原载于定宜庄、汪润主编：《口述史读本》，北京大学出版社，2011年，第61-83页。

  • 古华《芙蓉镇》

    第一章 山镇风俗画（一九六三年）

    一　 一览风物

    芙蓉镇坐落在湘、粤、桂三省交界的峡谷平坝里，古来为商旅歇宿、豪杰聚义、兵家必争的关隘要地。有一溪一河两条水路绕着镇子流过，流出镇口里把路远就汇合了，因而三面环水，是个狭长半岛似的地形。从镇里出发，往南过渡口，可下广东；往西去，过石拱桥，是一条通向广西的大路。不晓得是哪朝哪代，镇守这里的山官大人施行仁政，或者说是附庸风雅图个县志州史留名，命人傍着绿豆色的一溪一河，栽下了几长溜花枝招展、绿荫拂岸的木芙蓉，成为一镇的风水；又派民夫把后山脚下的大片沼泽开掘成方方湖塘，遍种水芙蓉，养鱼，采莲，产藕，作为山官衙门的“官产”。每当湖塘水芙蓉竞开，或是河岸上木芙蓉斗艳的季节，这五岭山脉腹地的平坝，便颇是个花柳繁华之地、温柔富贵之乡了。木芙蓉根、茎、花、皮，均可入药。水芙蓉则上结莲子，下产莲藕，就连它翠绿色的铜锣一样圆圆盖满湖面的肥大叶片，也可让蜻蜓立足，青蛙翘首，露珠儿滴溜；采摘下来，还可给远行的脚夫包中伙饭菜，做荷叶麦子粑子，盖小商贩的生意担子，遮赶圩女人的竹篮筐，被放牛娃儿当草帽挡日头……一物百用，各各不同。小河、小溪、小镇，因此得名“芙蓉河”、“玉叶溪”、“芙蓉镇”。

    芙蓉镇街面不大。十几家铺子、几十户住家紧紧夹着一条青石板街。铺子和铺子是那样的挤密，以至一家煮狗肉，满街闻香气；以至谁家娃儿跌跤碰脱牙、打了碗，街坊邻里心中都有数；以至妹娃家的私房话，年轻夫妇的打情骂俏，都常常被隔壁邻居听了去，传为一镇的秘闻趣事、笑料谈资。偶尔某户人家弟兄内讧，夫妻斗殴，整条街道便会骚动起来，人们往来奔走，相告相劝，如同一河受惊的鸭群，半天不得平息。不是逢圩的日子，街两边的住户还会从各自的阁楼上朝街对面的阁楼搭长竹竿，晾晒一应布物：衣衫裤子，裙子被子。山风吹过，但见通街上空“万国旗”纷纷扬扬，红红绿绿，五花八门。再加上悬挂在各家瓦檐下的串串红辣椒，束束金黄色的苞谷种，个个白里泛青的葫芦瓜，形成两条颜色富丽的夹街彩带……人在下边过，鸡在下边啼，猫狗在下边梭窜，别有一种风情，另成一番景象。

    一年四时八节，镇上居民讲人缘，有互赠吃食的习惯。农历三月三做清明花粑子，四月八蒸莳田米粉肉，五月端午包糯米粽子、喝雄黄艾叶酒，六月六谁家院里的梨瓜、菜瓜熟得早，七月七早禾尝新，八月中秋家做土月饼，九月重阳柿果下树，金秋十月娶亲嫁女，腊月初八制“腊八豆”，十二月二十三日送灶王爷上天……构成家家户户吃食果品的原料虽然大同小异，但一经巧媳妇们配上各种作料做将出来，样式家家不同，味道各各有别，最乐意街坊邻居品尝之后夸赞几句，就像在暗中做着民间副食品展览、色香味品比一般。便是平常日子，谁家吃个有眼珠子、脚爪子的荤腥，也一定不忘夹给隔壁娃儿三块两块，由着娃儿高高兴兴地回家去向父母亲炫耀自己碗里的收获。饭后，做娘的必得牵了娃儿过来坐坐，嘴里尽管拉扯说笑些旁的事，那神色却是完完全全的道谢。

    芙蓉镇街面虽小，居民不多，可是一到逢圩日子就是个万人集市。集市的主要场所不在青石板街，而在街后临河那块二、三十亩见方的土坪，旧社会留下了两溜石柱撑梁、青瓦盖顶、四向皆空的长亭。长亭对面，立着个油彩斑驳的古老戏台。解放初时圩期循旧例，逢三、六、九，一句三圩，一月九集。三省十八县，汉家客商，瑶家猎户、药匠，壮家小贩，都在这里云集贸易。猪行牛市，蔬菜果品，香菇木耳，懒蛇活猴，海参洋布，日用百货，饮食小摊……满圩满街人成河，嗡嗡嘤嘤，万头攒动。若是站在后山坡上看下去，晴天是一片头巾、花帕、草帽，雨天是一片斗篷、纸伞、布伞。人们不像是在地上行走，倒像汇流浮游在一座湖泊上。从卖凉水到做牙行掮客，不少人靠了这圩场营生。据说镇上有户穷汉，竟靠专捡猪行牛市上的粪肥发了家呢……到了一九五八年大跃进，因天底下的人都要去炼钢煮铁，去发射各种名扬世界的高产卫星，加上区、县政府行文限制农村集市贸易，批判城乡资本主义势力，芙蓉镇由三天一圩变成了星期圩，变成了十天圩，最后成了半月圩。逐渐过渡，达到市场消灭，就是社会主义完成，进入共产主义仙境。可是据说由于老天爷不作美，田、土、山场不景气，加上帝修反捣蛋，共产主义天堂的门坎太高，没跃进去不打紧，还一跤子从半天云里跌下来，结结实实落到了贫瘠穷困的人间土地上，过上了公共食堂大锅青菜汤的苦日子，半月圩上卖的净是糠粑、苦珠、蕨粉、葛根、土茯苓。马瘦毛长，人瘦面黄。国家和百姓都得了水肿病。客商绝迹，圩场不成圩场，而明赌暗娼，神拳点打，摸扒拐骗却风行一时……直到前年——公元一九六一年的下半年，县政府才又行下公文，改半月圩为五天圩，首先从圩期上放宽了尺度，便利物资交流。因元气大伤，芙蓉镇再没有恢复成为三省十八县客商云集的万人集市。

    近年来芙蓉镇上称得上生意兴隆的，不是原先远近闻名的猪行牛市，而是本镇胡玉音所开设的米豆腐摊子。胡玉音是个二十五、六岁的青年女子。来她摊子前站着坐着蹲着吃碗米豆腐打点心的客人，习惯于喊她“芙蓉姐子”。也有那等好调笑的角色称她为“芙蓉仙子”。说她是仙子，当然有点子过誉。但胡玉音黑眉大眼面如满月，胸脯丰满，体态动情，却是过往客商有目共睹的。镇粮站主任谷燕山打了个比方：“芙蓉姐的肉色洁白细嫩得和她所卖的米豆腐一个样。”她待客热情，性情柔顺，手头利落，不分生熟客人，不论穿着优劣，都是笑脸迎送：“再来一碗?添勺汤打口干?”“好走好走，下一圩会面!”加上她的食具干净，米豆腐量头足，作料香辣，油水也比旁的摊子来得厚，一角钱一碗，随意添汤，所以她的摊子面前总是客来客往不断线。

    “买卖买卖，和气生财。”“买主买主，衣食父母。”这是胡玉音从父母那里得来的“家训”。据传她的母亲早年间曾在一个大口岸上当过花容月貌的青楼女子，后来和一个小伙计私奔到这省边地界的山镇上来，隐姓埋名，开了一家颇受过往客商欢迎的夫妻客栈。夫妇俩年过四十，烧香拜佛，才生下胡玉音一个独女。“玉音，玉音”，就是大慈大悲的观音老母所赐的意思。一九五六年公私合营，也是胡玉音招郎收亲后不久，两老就双双去世了。那时还没有实行顶职补员制度，胡玉音和新郎公就参加镇上的初级社，成了农业户。逢圩赶场卖米豆腐，还是近两年的事呢。讲起来都有点不好意思启齿，胡玉音做生意是从提着竹篮筐卖糠菜粑粑起手，逐步过渡到卖蕨粉粑粑、薯粉粑耙，发展成摆米豆腐摊子的。她不是承袭了什么祖业，是饥肠辘辘的苦日子教会了她营生的本领。
    “芙蓉姐子!来两碗多放剁辣椒的!”
    “好咧——，只怕会辣得你兄弟肚脐眼痛!”
    “我肚脐眼痛，姐子你给治?”
    “放屁。”
    “女老表!一碗米豆腐加二两白烧!”
    “来，天气热，给你同志这碗宽汤的。白酒请到对面铺子里去买。”
    “芙蓉姐，来碗白水米豆腐，我就喜欢你手巴子一样白嫩的，吃了好走路。”
    “下锅就熟。长嘴刮舌，你媳妇大约又有两天没有喊你跪床脚、扯你的大耳朵了!”
    “我倒想姐子你扯扯我的大耳朵哩!”
    “缺德少教的，吃了白水豆腐舌尖起泡，舌根生疮，保佑你下一世当哑巴!”
    “莫咒莫咒，米豆腐摊子要少一个老主顾，你舍得?”
    就是骂人、咒人，胡玉音眼睛里也是含着温柔的微笑，嗓音也和唱歌一样的好听。对这些常到她摊上来的主顾们，她有讲有笑，亲切随和得就像待自己的本家兄弟样的。
    的确，她的米豆腐摊子有几个老主顾，是每圩必到的。
    首先是镇粮站主任谷燕山。老谷四十来岁，北方人，是个鳏夫，为人忠厚朴实。不晓得怎么搞的，谷燕山前年秋天忽然通知胡玉音，可以每圩从粮站打米厂卖给她碎米谷头子六十斤，成全她的小本生意!胡玉音两口子感激得只差没有给谷主任磕头，喊恩人。从此，谷燕山每圩都要来米豆腐摊子坐上一坐，默默地打量着脚勤手快、接应四方的胡玉音，仿佛在细细品味着她的青春芳容。因他为人正派，所以就连他对“芙蓉姐子”那个颇为轻浮俗气的比喻，都没有引起什么非议。再一个是本镇大队的党支书满庚哥。满庚哥三十来岁，是个转业军人，跟胡玉音的男人是本家兄弟，玉音认了他做干哥。干哥每圩来摊子上坐一坐，赏光吃两碗不数票子的米豆腐去，是很有象征意义的，无形中印证了米豆腐摊子的合法性，告诉逢圩赶场的人们，米豆腐摊子是得到党支部准许、党支书支持的。

    吃米豆腐不数票子的人物还有一个，就是本镇上有名的“运动根子”王秋赦。王秋赦三十几岁年纪，生得圆头圆耳，平常日子像尊笑面佛。可是每逢政府派人下来抓中心，开展什么运动，他就必定跑红一阵，吹哨子传人开会啦，会场上领头呼口号造气氛啦，值夜班看守坏人啦，十分得力。等到中心一过，运动告一段落，他也就像个泄了气的皮球。嘴巴又好油腻，爱沾荤腥，人家一个钱当三个花，他三个钱当一个钱吃。来米豆腐摊前一坐，总是一声：“弟嫂，来两碗，记账!”一副当之无愧的神气。有时还当着胡玉音的面，拍着她男人的肩膀开玩笑：“兄弟!怎么搞的?你和弟嫂成亲七、八年了，弟嫂还像个黄花女，没有装起窑?要不要请个师傅，做个娃娃包靠!”讲得两口子脸块绯红，气也不是，恼也不是，骂也不是。对于这个白吃食的人，胡玉音虽是心里不悦，但本镇上的街坊，来了运动又十分跑红的，自然招惹不起，自给吃还要赔个笑脸呢。

    每圩必来的主顾中，有个怪人值得特别一提。这人外号“秦癫子”，大名秦书田，是个五类分子。秦书田原先是个吃快活饭的人，当过州立中学的音体教员，本县歌舞团的编导，一九五七年因编演反动歌舞剧，利用民歌反党，划成右派，被开除回乡生产。他态度顽固，从没有承认过自己反党反社会主义的罪行，只承认自己犯过两回男女关系的错误，请求大队支书黎满庚将他的“右派分子”帽子换成“坏分子”帽子。自有一套自欺欺人的理论。他来胡玉音的摊子上吃米豆腐，总是等客人少的时刻，笑笑眯眯的，嘴里则总是哼着一句“米米梭，梭米来米多来辣多梭梭”的曲子。

    “秦癫子!你见天哼的什么鬼腔怪调?”有人问。
    “广东音乐《步步高》，跳舞的。”他回答。
    “你还步步高?明明当了五类分子，步步低啦!”
    “是呀，对呀，江河日下，努力改造……”
    在胡玉音面前，秦书田十分知趣，眼睛不乱看，半句话不多讲。“瘦狗莫踢，病马莫欺”，倒是胡玉音觉得他落魄，有些造孽。有时舀给他的米豆腐，香油和作料还特意下得重一点。

    逢圩赶集，跑生意做买卖，鱼龙混杂，清浊合流，面善的，心毒的，面善心也善的，面善心不善的，见风使舵、望水弯船的，巧嘴利舌、活货说死、死货说活的，倒买倒卖、手辣脚狠的，什么样人没有呢?“芙蓉姐子”米豆腐摊子前的几个主顾常客就暂且介绍到这里。这些年来，人们的生活也像一个市场。在下面的整个故事里，这几个主顾无所谓主角配角，生旦净丑，花头黑头，都会相继出场，轮番和读者见面的。

    二　女经理

    芙蓉镇街面虽小，国营商店却有三家：百货店、南杂店、饮食店。三家店子分别耸立在青石板街的街头、街中、街尾。光从地理位置上讲，就占着绝对优势，居于控制全镇商业活动的地位。饮食店的女经理李国香，新近才从县商业局调来，对镇上的自由市场有着一种特殊的敏感。每逢圩日，她特别关注各种饮食小摊经售的形形色色零星小吃的兴衰状况，看看究竟有多少私营摊贩在和自己的国营饮食店争夺顾客，威胁国营食品市场。她像个旧时的镇长太太似的，挺起那已经不十分发达了的胸脯，在圩场上看过来，查过去，最后看中了“芙蓉姐子”的米豆腐摊子。她暗暗吃惊的是，原来“米豆腐西施”的脸模长相，就是一张招揽顾客的广告画!更不用讲她服务周到、笑笑微微的经营手腕了。“这些该死的男人!一个个就和馋猫一样，总是围着米豆腐摊子转……”她作为国营饮食店的经理，不觉地就降低了自己的身分，认定“芙蓉姐子”的米豆腐摊子，是镇上惟一能和她争一高下的潜在威胁。

    一天逢圩，女经理和“芙蓉姐子”吵了一架。起因很小，原也和国营饮食店经理的职务大不相干。胡玉音的男人黎桂桂是本镇屠户，这一圩竞捎来两副猪杂，切成细丝，炒得香喷喷辣乎乎的，用来给每碗米豆腐盖码子。价钱不变。结果米豆腐摊子前边排起了队伍，有的人吃油了嘴巴，吃了两碗吃三碗。无形中把对面国营饮食店的顾客拉走了一大半。“这还了得?小摊贩竟来和国营店子抢生意?”于是女经理三脚两步走到米豆腐摊子前，立眉横眼地把戴了块“牛眼睛”（山里人对手表的戏称）的手伸了过去：“老乡，把你的营业许可证交出来看看!”胡玉音不知她的来由，连忙停住碗勺赔笑说：“经理大姐，我做这点小本生意，圩圩都在税务所上了税的。镇上大人娃儿都晓得……”“营业证!我要验验你的营业证!”女经理的手没有缩回，“若是没有营业证，就叫我们的职工来收你的摊子!’’温顺本分的胡玉音傻了眼：“经理大姐，你行行好，抬抬手，我卖点米豆腐，摆明摆白的，又不是黑市!”这可把那些等着吃米豆腐的人惹恼了，纷纷站出来帮腔：“她摆她的摊子，你开你的店子，井水不犯河水，她又没踩着哪家的坟地!”“今天日子好，牛槽里伸进马脑壳来啦!”“女经理，还是去整整你自己的店子吧，三鲜面莫再吃出老鼠屎来就好啦!哈哈哈……”后来还是粮站主任谷燕山出面，给双方打了圆场：“算啦算啦，在一个镇上住着，低头不见抬头见，有话到市管会和税务所去讲!”把李国香气的哟，真想大骂一通资本主义尾巴们!芙蓉镇庙小妖风大，池浅王八多，窝藏坏人坏事，对她这个外来干部欺生。

    李国香本是县商业局的人事干部，县委财贸书记杨民高的外甥女，全县商业战线以批资本主义出名的女将。据说早在一九五八年，她就献计献策，由县工商行政管理局放出了一颗“工商卫星”：对全县小摊小贩进行了一次突击性大清理。她的事迹还登过省报，一跃而成为县里的红人，很快入了党，提了干。人人都有一本难念的经。今年春上，正当要被提拔为县商业局副局长时，她和有家有室的县委财办主任的秘事不幸泄露。因她去医院打胎时不得不交代出肚里孽种畜生的来历。为了爱护典型，秘事当然被严格控制在极小的范围内。就连负责给她堕胎的女医生，都很快因工作需要被安排到千里之外的洞庭湖区搞“血防”去了。李国香也暂时受点委屈，下到芙蓉镇饮食店来当经理。可怜巴巴的连个股级干部都没够上呢。

    女经理今年三十二岁。年过三十二对于一个尚未成家的女人来说，是一个复杂的年纪，叫做上上不得，下下不得。唉唉，都怨得了谁呢?恋爱史就是她的青春史。李国香二十二岁那年参加革命工作，在挑选对象这个问题上，真叫尝遍了酸甜苦辣咸。她初恋谈的是县兵役局一位肩章上一颗“豆”的少尉排长，可是那年月时髦姑娘们流行的歌诀是：一颗“豆”太小，两颗“豆”嫌少，三颗“豆”正好，四颗“豆”太老。她很快就和“一颗豆”吹了。不久找了位“三颗豆”，老倒是不老，就是上尉连长刚和乡下的女人离了婚，身边还有个活蹦乱跳的男娃，头次见面不喊“阿姨”，而喊“后妈”!碰他娘的鬼哟，挂筒拉倒。接着发生了第三次爱情纠葛，闪电式的，很有点讲究，这里暂且不表。一九五六年党号召向科学进军，她找了位知识分子——县水利局的一位眼镜先生。两人已经有了“百日之恩”。可是眼镜先生第二年被划成右派分子。“妈呀!”她像走夜路碰见了五步蛇，赶忙把跨出去的脚缩了回来，好险!这一来她发誓要成为一名人事干部，对象则要个科局级，哪怕是当“后妈”。她的愿望只达到了一半。因为世上的好事总难全。不知不觉十年青春年华过去了，她政治上越来越跑红，而在私生活方面却圈子越搞越窄，品位级别也越来越低了。有时心里就和猫爪抓挠着一样干着急。她天天早晨起来的第一件事：照镜子。当窗理云鬓，对镜好心酸。原先黑白分明的大眼睛，已经布满了红丝丝，色泽浊黄。原先好看的双眼皮，已经隐现一晕黑圈，四周爬满了鱼尾细纹。原先白里透红的脸蛋上有两个逗人的浅酒窝，现在皮肉松弛，枯涩发黄……天哪，难道一个得不到正常的感情雨露滋润的女人，青春就是这样的短促，季节一过就凋谢萎缩?人一变丑，心就变冷。积习成癖，她在心里暗暗嫉妒着那些有家有室的女人。

    李国香急于成家。有了法定的男人，她在县上闹下的秘闻就会为人们淡忘。谁成家前没有一两件荒唐事哟。今年年初来到芙蓉镇后，她留心察看了一下，在“共产党员、国家干部”这个起码标准下，入选目标可怜巴巴，只有粮站主任谷燕山那个“北方佬”。“北方佬”一脸胡子拉碴，衣着不整，爱喝二两，染有一般老单身汉诸如此类的癖好积习。可是据山镇银行权威人士透出风声，谷主任私人存折是个“干字号”。谷燕山政治、经济条件都不差，就是年龄上头差一截……唉唉，事到如今，只能顾一头了。俗话说：“老郎疼婆娘，少郎讲名堂。”当然话讲回来，李国香有时也单相思地想到：一旦真的搂着那个一嘴胡子拉碴的黑雷公睡觉，没的恶心，不定一身都会起鸡皮疙瘩……一个果子样熟过了的女人，不能总靠单相思过日子。她开始注意跟粮站主任去接近，亲亲热热喊声“老谷呀，要不要我叫店里大师傅替你炒盘下酒菜?”或是扯个眉眼送上点风情什么的：“谷大主任，我们店里新到了一箱‘杏花村’，我特意吩咐给你留了两瓶!”“哎呀，你的 衣服领子都黑得放亮啦，做个假领子就省事啦……”如此这般。本来成年男女间这一类的表露、试探，如同易燃物，一碰就着。谷燕山这老单身汉却像截湿木头，不着火，不冒烟。没的恶心!李国香只好进一步做出牺牲，老着脸子采取些积极行动。

    有天晚上，全镇供销、财粮系统联合召开党员会，传达中央文件。镇上那时还没有发电，会场上吊着一盏时明时灭像得了哮喘病似的煤气灯。女经理等候在黑洞洞的楼梯口。粮站主任进来时，她自自然然地挨过身子去：“老谷呀，慢点走，这楼口黑得像棺材，你做点好事牵着我的手!”粮站主任没介意，伸过手臂去让女经理拉住，也就是类似大口岸地方那种男女“吊膀子”的款式。谁知女经理得寸进尺，“吊膀子”还嫌不足，竟然整个身子都贴了上来。粮站主任口里喷出酒气，女经理身上喷出香气。反正黑古隆冬的木板楼梯上，谁也看不清谁。“你呀，又喝了?嘻嘻嘻，酒臭!”女经理又疼又怨像个老交情。“你怎么像根藤一样地缠着我呀?来人了，还不赶快松开?”粮站主任真像棵树，全无知觉。气得女经理恨恨地在他的膀子上掐了一把：“老东西!不懂味，不知趣!送到口边的菜都不吃?”粮站主任竞反唇相讥：“女经理可不要听错了行情估错了价，我懂酒味，不知你趣!”天啊，这算什么话?没的恶心!好在已经来到了会场门口，两人都住了口。彼此冷面冷心，各人有各人的尊严。进了会场各找各的地方坐下，好像什么事都没有发生过。

    在一个四十出头的单身汉面前碰壁!李国香牙巴骨都打战战，格格响。饮食店的职工们当然不知女经理的这番挫折，只见她第二天早晨起来眼睛肿得和水蜜桃一样，看什么人都不顺眼，看见馒头、花卷、包子、面条都有气。还平白无故就把一位女服务员批了一顿：
    “妖妖调调的，穿着短裙子上班，要现出你的腿巴子白白嫩嫩?没的恶心!你想学那摆米豆腐摊的女贩子?还是要当国营饮食店的营业员?你不要脸，我们国营饮食店还要讲个政治影响!先向你们团支部写份检讨，挖一挖打扮得这么花俏风骚的思想根源!”

    几天后，女经理自己倒是找到了在老单身公谷燕山面前碰壁的根源：就是那个“米豆腐西施”，或如一般顾客喊的“芙蓉姐子”。原来老单身公是在向有夫之妇胡玉音献殷勤，利用职权慷国家之慨，每圩供给六十斤碎米谷头子!什么碎米谷头子?还不是为了障人耳目!里边还不晓得窝着、藏着些什么不好见人的勾当呢。“胡玉音!你是个什么人?李国香又是个什么人?在小小芙蓉镇，你倒事事占上风!”有好些日子，她恼恨得气都出不均匀，甚至对胡玉音婚后不育，她都有点幸灾乐祸。“空有副好皮囊!抱不出崽的寡蛋!”相形之下，她不免有点自负，自己毕竟还有过两回西医、草药打胎的记录……谷燕山，胡玉音!天还早着呢，路还远着呢。只要李国香在芙蓉镇上住下去，扎下根，总有一天叫你们这一对不清不白的男女丢人现眼败相。

    她是这样的人：常在个人生活的小溪小河里搁浅，却在汹涌着政治波涛的大江大河里鼓浪扬帆。“神仙下凡问土地”，她决定利用空余时间先去找本镇大队党支部调查调查，掌握些基本情况，再来从长计议。

    三　满庚哥和芙蓉女

    芙蓉河岸上，如今木芙蓉树不多了。人说芙蓉树老了会成芙蓉精，化作女子晚上出来拉过路的男人。有人曾在一个月白风清的后半夜，见一群天姿国色的女子在河里洗澡，忽而朵朵莲花浮玉液，忽而个个仙姑戏清波……每个仙姑至少要拉一个青皮后生去配偶。难怪芙蓉河里年年热天都要淹死个把洗冷水澡的年轻人。搞得镇上那些二百五后生子们又惊又怕又喜，个别水性好、胆子大的甚至想：只要不丢了性命，倒也不妨去会会芙蓉仙姑。站在领导者的立场上，从长远利益着眼，这可对镇上人口、民兵建设都是个威胁。因而河岸上的芙蓉老树从一镇风水变成了一镇迷信根源。后来乡政府布置种蓖麻籽，说是可以提炼保卫国家的飞机润滑油，镇上的小学生们就刨了芙蓉树根点种蓖麻，既巩固了国防，又破除了迷信。正跟镇背后的方方湖塘，原先种着水芙蓉，公社化后以粮为纲，改成了水稻田一样。不过河岸码头边，还幸存着十来株合抱大的凉粉树，树上爬满了薜荔藤。对于这十来株薜荔古树何以能够逃脱全民炼钢煮铁运动，镇上的人说法不一。有的说是因它的木质差，烧成木炭不厉火。有的说是乡政府的一个后来被划成右倾机会主义分子的乡长同志，执意要留给过渡群众歇气、纳凉。有的说就是到了尽吃尽喝的共产主义社会，大热天大约也还要用冰凉的井水磨几碗凉粉解解油腻，留下凉粉树，是看到了长远利益……你看看，才过了四、五年，对这么件小事就各执一词，众说纷纭，可见中国历史的复杂性。难怪历朝历代都有那么多大学问家做“考证”。凉粉树啊，薜荔藤，在码头石级两旁，形成了烈日射不透的夹道浓荫，荫庇着上下过往行人。树上吊满了凉粉公、凉粉婆，就像吊满一只只小小的青铜钟。它们连同浓荫投映在绿豆色的河水里，静静的河水都似乎在叮咚、叮咚……

    大队支书满庚哥，一九五六年从部队上复员下来，分配在区政府当民政干事，就是在这渡口码头边，见到了镇上客栈胡老板的独生女的。那女子洗完了一篮筐衣服，正俯着脸盘看水下岩缝缝里游着的尾尾花灯鱼玩。满庚哥从岸上下来等渡船，首先看到的是那张倒映在河水里的秀丽的鹅蛋脸……他心里迷惑了一下：乖!莫非自己大白天撞上了芙蓉树精啦?镇上哪家子出落个这么姣好的美人儿?民政干事出了神。他不怕芙蓉树精，不觉地走拢过去，继续打量着镜子一般明净的河水里倒映出的这张迷人的脸盘。

    这一来，河水里就倒映出了两张年轻人的脸。那女子吓了一大跳，绯红了脸，恨恨地一伸手先把河水里的影子搅乱了，捣碎了；接着站起身子，懊恼地朝后生子身上斜了一眼。可是，两个人都立时惊讶、羞怯得和触了电一样，张开嘴巴呆住了：
    “玉音!你长这么大了?……”
    “满庚哥，你回来了……”
    原来他们从小就认识。满庚哥是摆渡老倌的娃儿。玉音跟着他进山去扯过笋子、捡过香菇、打过柴禾。他们还山对山、崖对崖地唱过耍歌子，相骂着好玩。小玉音唱：“那边徕崽站一排，你敢砍柴就过来，镰刀把把打死你，镰刀嘴嘴挖眼埋!”小满庚回：“那山妹子生得乖，你敢扯笋就过来，红绸帕子把你盖，花花轿子把你抬!”一支一支的山歌相唱相骂了下去，满庚没有输，玉音也没有赢。她心里恨恨地骂：“短命鬼!哪个希罕你的红绸帕子花花轿?呸，呸!”有时她心里又想：“缺德少教的，看你日后花花轿子来不来抬……”后来，人，一年年长大了，玉音也一年年懂事了。满庚哥参了军。胡玉音一想到“花花轿子把你抬”这句山歌，就要脸热，心跳，甜丝丝地好害臊。

    一对青梅竹马，面对面地站在一块岩板上。可两人又都低着头，眼睛看着自己的鞋尖尖。玉音穿的是自己做的布鞋，满庚穿的是部队上发的解放鞋。好在是红火厉日的正中午，树上的知了吱——呀、吱——呀只管噪，对河的艄公就是满庚的爹，不知是在阴凉的岩板上睡着了，还是在装睡觉。

    “玉音，你的一双手好白净，好像没有搞过劳动……”还是民政干事先开了口。开过口又埋下眼皮好后悔，没话找话，很不得体。

    “哪个讲的?天天都做事哩。不戴草帽不打伞，不晓得哪样的，就是晒不黑……不信?你看，我巴掌上都起了茧……”客栈老板的独生女声音很轻，轻得几乎只能自己听见。但民政干事也听得见。

    胡玉音有点委屈地嘟起腮帮，想向满庚哥伸出巴掌去。巴掌却不听话，要伸不伸的，麻起胆子才伸出去一半。

    满庚哥歉意地笑了笑，伸出手去想把那巴掌上的茧子摸一摸，但手臂却不争气，伸到半路又缩了回来。

    “玉音，你……”满庚哥终于鼓起了勇气，眼睛睁得好大，一眨不眨地盯着秀丽女子，眼神里充满了讯问。

    玉音吃了灵芝草，满庚哥的心事，她懂：
    “我?清清白白一个人……”她还特意添加了一句，“就是一个人……”
    “玉音!”满庚哥声音颤抖了，紧张得身上的军装快要胀裂了，张开双臂像要扑上来。
    “你……敢!”胡玉音后退了一步，眼睛里立即涌出了两泡泪水，像个受了欺侮的小妹娃一样。
    “好，好，我现在不……”满庚哥见状，心里立即生出一种兄长爱护妹妹般的感情和责任，声音和神色都缓和了下来。“好，好，你回家去吧，老叔、婶娘在铺里等久了，会不放心的。你先替我问两个大人好!”
    胡玉音提起洗衣篮筐，点了点头：“爹娘都年纪大了，病病歪歪的……”
    “玉音，改天我还要来看你!”对岸，渡船已经划过来了。
    胡玉音又点了点头，点得下巴都挨着了衣领口。她提着篮筐一步步沿着石阶朝上走，三步一回头。
    民政干事回到区政府，从头到脚都是笑眯眯的。

    区委书记杨民高是本地人，很注意培养本地干部。在区委会、区政府二十几号青年干部里，他最看重的就是民政干事黎满庚。小黎根正苗正，一表人材，思想单纯作风正，部队上的鉴定签得好，服役五年立过四次三等功。当时，县委正在布置撤区并乡，杨民高要被提拔到县委去管财贸。他向县委推荐，提拔小黎到山区大乡——芙蓉乡当乡长兼党总支书记。县委组织部已经找黎满庚谈了话，只等着正式委任。这时，杨民高书记那在县商业局工作的宝贝外甥女，来区政府所在地调查供销工作。当然啰，三顿饭都要来书记舅舅宿舍里吃。杨书记不知出于无心还是有意，每顿饭都派民政干事到厨房里打了来一起吃。民政干事隐约听人讲过，区委书记的外甥女在县里搞恋爱像猴子扳苞谷，扳一个丢一个，生活不大严肃。饭桌上，不免就多打量了几眼：是啊，穿着是够洋派的，每到吃饭时，就要脱下米黄色丝光卡罩衣，只穿一件浅花无领无袖衫，裸露出一对圆圆滚滚、雪白粉嫩的胳膊，细嫩的脖子下边也现出来那么一片半遮不掩的皮肉，容易使人产生奇妙的联想呢。高耸的胸脯上，布衫里一左一右顶着两粒对称的小钮扣似的。就连杨民高书记这种长年四季板着脸孔过日子的领导人，吃饭时也不免要打望一下外甥女的一对白胖的手巴子，盯两眼她脖子下细嫩的一片，嘴角也要透出几丝丝不易被人察觉的笑意。杨书记的外甥女究竟是位见过世面的人，落落大方，一双会说话、能唱歌似的眼睛在民政干事的身上瞄来扫去，真像要把人的魂魄都摄去似的。黎满庚从来没有被女同志波光闪闪的眼睛这样“扫描”过，常常脸红耳赤，笨手笨脚，低下脑壳去数凳子脚、桌子脚。

    总共就这么在一张饭桌上吃了四顿饭，彼此只晓得个“小黎”、“小李”。第三天，杨书记送走外甥女后，就笑眯眯地问：“怎么样?嗯?怎么样?”黎满庚头脑不灵活，反应不过来，不知所问：“杨书记，什么事?什么‘怎么样’?”真是对牛弹琴!一个二十好几的复员军人，这么蠢，这么混账。明明刚送走了一位花儿朵儿的人儿，他却张大嘴巴来反问舅老爷“什么‘怎么样”’?

    当晚，区委书记找民政干事进行了一次严肃的谈话。这在杨民高来讲，已经是够屈尊赏光的了。要是换了别的青年干部，早就把“五粮液”、“泸州老窖”孝敬上来了，洗脸水、洗脚水都打不赢了。杨民高书记以舅老兼月老的身分，还以顶头上司的权威身分，不由分说地把两个年轻人的政治前程、小家庭生活安排，详细地布置了一番。也许是出于一种领导者的习惯，他就像在布置、分派下属干部去完成某项任务一样。“怎么样?嗯，怎么样?”区委书记又是上午的那口腔调。没想到民政干事嘴里结结巴巴，眼睛躲躲闪闪，半天才挤出一个阴屁来：“多谢首长关心，宽我几天日子，等我好好想想……”把区委书记气的哟，眼睛都乌了，真要当即拉下脸来，训斥一顿：狂妄自大，目无领导，你个芝麻大的民政干事，倒像个状元爷，等着做东床驸马?

    民政干事利用工作之便，回了一转芙蓉镇。摆渡艄公的后代和客栈老板的独生女，是不是又在码头下的青岩板上会的面，打了些什么商量，不得而知。当时，不晓得根据哪一号文件的规定，凡共产党员，甚至党外积极分子谈恋爱，都必须预先向党组织如实汇报情况，并经组织同意后，方可继续发展感情，以保障党员阶级成分、社会关系的纯洁性、可靠性。几天后，民政干事老老实实、恭恭敬敬向区委书记做了汇报。

    “恭喜恭喜，看上芙蓉镇上的小西施了。”杨民高书记不动声色，半躺半仰在睡椅里，二郎腿架起和脑壳一样高，正好成个虾公形。他手里拿一根火柴棍，剔除酒后牙缝缝里的肉丝菜屑，以及诸如此类的剩余物质。

    “我们小时候扯笋、捡香菇就认得……”民政干事的脸也红得和熟虾公一个色。
    “她家什么阶级成分?”
    “大概是小业主，相当于富裕中农什么的……”
    “大概?相当于?这是你一个民政干事讲的话?共产党员是干什么的?”杨民高书记精神一振，从睡椅上翻坐起来，眼睛瞪得和两只二十五瓦的电灯泡似的。
    “我、我……”民政干事羞惭得无地自容，就像小时候钻进人家的果园里偷摘果子被园主当场捉拿到了似的。
    “我以组织的名义告诉你吧，黎满庚同志。芙蓉镇的客栈老板，解放前参加过青红帮，老板娘则更复杂，在一个大口岸上当过妓女。你该明白了吧，妓女的妹儿，才会那样娇滴妖艳……”杨民高书记又半躺半仰到睡椅里去了，在本地工作了多年，四乡百姓，大凡出身历史不大干净、社会关系有个一鳞半爪的，他心里都有个谱，有一本阶级成分的账。
    民政干事耷拉着脑壳，只差没有落下泪来了。
    “小黎，根据婚姻法，搞对象你有你的自由。但是党组织也有党组织的规矩。你可以选择：要么保住党籍，要么去讨客栈老板的小姐做老婆!”
    杨民高书记例行的是公事，讲的是原则。当然，他一个字也没再提到自己那熟透了的水蜜桃似的亲外甥女。

    从部队到地方，从简单到复杂。民政干事像棵遭了霜打的落叶树，几天功夫瘦掉了一身肉。事情还不止是这样。区委书记在正式宣布县委的撤区并乡、各大乡领导人员名单时，民政干事没有挂上号。倒是通知他到一个乡政府去当炊事员。因为他从部队转地方时，本来就不可以做干部使用，只能做公务员。

    黎满庚没有到那乡政府去报到。他回到芙蓉镇的渡头土屋，帮着年事已高的爷老倌摆渡。本来就登得不高，也就算不得跌重。艄公的后代还当艄公，天经地义。行船走水是本分。

    一个月白风清的晚上，黎满庚和胡玉音又会了一次面。还是老地方：河边码头的青岩板上。如今方便得多了，黎满庚自己撑船摆渡，时常都可以见面。

    “都怪我!都怪我!满庚哥……”胡玉音眼泪婆娑。月色下，波光水影里，她明净妩媚的脸庞，也和天上的圆月一个样。

    “玉音，你莫哭。我心里好痛……”黎满庚高高大大一条汉子，不能哭。部队里锻炼出来的人，刀子扎着都不能哭。

    “满庚哥!我晓得了……党，我，你只能要一个……我不好，我命独。十三岁上瞎子先生给我算了个‘灵八字’，我只告诉你一人，我命里不主子，还克夫……”胡玉音呜呜咽咽，心里好恨。长这么大，她没有恨过人，人家也没有恨过她。她只晓得恨自己。

    什么话哟，解放都六、七年了，思想还这么封建迷信!但满庚哥不忍心批评她。她太可怜，又太娇嫩。好比倒映在水里的木芙蓉影子，你手指轻轻一搅，就乱了，碎了。

    “满庚哥，我认了你做哥哥，好吗?你就认了我做妹妹。既是我们没有缘分……”

    妹儿的痴心、痴情，是块铁都会化、会熔。黎满庚再也站不住了，他都要发疯了!他扑了上来，一把抱住了心上的人，嘴对着嘴地亲了又亲!

    “满庚哥，好哥哥，亲哥哥……”过了一会儿，玉音伏在满庚肩上哭。

    “好哥哥”，“亲哥哥”……这是信任，也是责任。黎满庚松开了手，一种男子汉的凛然正气，充溢他心头，涨满他胸膛。就在这神圣的一刹那间，他和她，已改变了关系。山里人纯朴的伦理观占了上风，打了胜仗。感情的土地上也滋长出英雄主义。

    “玉音妹妹，今后你就是我的亲妹妹……我们虽是隔了一条河，可还是在一个镇子上住着。今生今世，我都要护着你……”

    这是生活的承诺，庄严的盟誓。

    镇国营饮食店女经理李国香要找本镇大队党支书，了解米豆腐摊贩胡玉音的阶级成分、出身历史、现行表现，她是找错了人。她已经走到了河边，下了码头，才明白了过来：大队支书黎满庚，就是当年区政府的民政干事!妈呀，碰鬼哟!都要上渡船了，她缩回了脚。

    “李经理!你当领导的要下哪里去?”她迎面碰到了刚从渡船上下来的“运动根子”王秋赦。

    王秋赦三十五、六岁年纪，身子富态结实，穿着干净整洁。李国香礼节性地朝他笑了笑，忽然心里一亮：对了!王秋赦是本镇上有名的“运动根子”，历次运动都是积极分子，找他打听一下胡玉音的情况，岂不省事又省力。

    于是他们边走边谈，一谈就十分相契，竞像两个多年不见的亲朋密友似的。

    四　吊脚楼主

    说起李国香在渡口码头碰到的这位王秋赦，的确算得上本镇一个人物。论出身成分，他比贫下中农还优一等：雇农。贫下中农只算农村里的半无产者。黄金无假，麒麟无真，他王秋赦是个十足成色的无产阶级。查五服三代，他连父母亲都没有出处，不知是何年月从何州县流落到芙蓉镇这省边地角来的乞丐孤儿。更不用提他的爷爷、爷爷的爹了。自然也没有兄嫂、叔伯、姑舅、岳丈、外公等等复杂的亲戚朋友关系。真算得是出身历史清白，社会关系纯洁。清白清白，清就是白，白就是没得。没得当然最干净，最纯洁，最适合上天、出国。可惜驾飞机他身体太差，也缺少文化。出国又认不得洋字，听不懂洋话。都怪他生不逢时在旧社会，从小蹲破庙、住祠堂长大。土地改革那年，才二十二岁，却已经在本镇祠堂打过五年铜锣了。他嘴勤脚健，头脑不笨，又认得几个字，在祠堂跑腿办事，看着财老倌们的脸色、眼色应酬供奉，十分尽心费力。当然少不了也要挨些莫名其妙的冷巴掌，遭些突如其来的暗拳脚。用他自己在诉苦大会上的话来讲，是嚼的眼泪饭，喝的苦胆汤，脑壳给人家当木鱼敲，颈脖给人家做板凳坐，穷得十七、八岁还露出屁股蛋，上吊都找不到一根苎麻索。

    他被定为“土改根子”。依他的口才、肚才，本来可以出息成一个制服口袋上插金笔的“工作同志”的。但刚从“人下人”翻做“人上人”时没有经受住考验，在阶级立场这块光洁瓦亮、照得见人影的大理石台面上跌了一跤：工作队派他到本镇一户逃亡地主家去看守浮财，他却失足落水，一头栽进象牙床，和逃亡地主遗弃的小姨太太如鱼得水，仿佛这才真正尝到了“翻身”的滋味，先前对姨太太这流人儿正眼都不敢看一看，如今却被自己占有、取乐儿。他的这种“翻身观”当然是人民政府的政策不允许、工作队的纪律所不容忍的。那小姨太太因向贫雇农施“美人计”受到了，应得的惩罚，他“土改根子”也送掉了升格为“工作同志”的前程。要不，王秋赦今天就可能是位坐吉普车、管百十万人口的县团级了呢。他在工作队面前痛哭流涕、自己掌嘴，打得嘴角都出了血。工作队念及他苦大仇深、悔过恳切，才保住了他的雇农成分和“土改根子”身分，胜利果实还是分的头一等。他分得了四时衣裤、全套铺盖、两亩水田、一亩好土不说，最难得的是分得了一栋位于本镇青石板街的吊脚楼。

    吊脚楼本是一个山霸早先逢圩赶集时宿娼纳妓的一栋全木结构别墅，里头描龙画凤金漆家具一应俱全。王秋赦惟独忘记了要求也应当分给他农具、耕牛。得到了这份果实，他高兴得几天几夜合不上嘴、闭不了眼，以为是在做梦，光怪陆离的富贵梦。接着又眼花缭乱晕了头，竟生出一种最不景气、最无出息的想法：他姓王的如今得着了这份浮财，就是睡着吃现成的，餐餐沾上荤腥，顿顿喝上二两，这楼屋里的家什也够变卖个十年八年的了。如今共产党领导有方，人民政府神通广大，新社会前程无量，按工作同志大力宣传的文件、材料来判断推算，过上十年八年，就建成社会主义，进入共产社会了呢。那时吃公家的，穿公家的，住公家的，耍公家的，何乐而不为？连自己这百十斤身坯，都是公家的了呢，你们谁要？哈哈哈，嘻嘻嘻，谁要？老子都给，都给！他每每想到新社会有如此这般的美妙处，就高兴得在红漆高柱床上打手打脚，翻跟斗，乐不可支。

    可是土改翻身后的日子，却并不像他睡在吊脚楼的红漆高柱床上所设想的那样美妙。从小住祠堂他只习惯了“吃活饭”：跑腿，打锣，扫地；而没有学会“做死事”：犁田，整土，种五谷。好田好土不会自己长出谷子、麦子来，还得主家下苦力，流黑汗。人不哄地皮，地不哄肚皮。可是栽秧莳田面朝泥水背朝天，腰骨都勾断，挖土整地红火厉日头晒脱背脊皮，而且和泥土、土块打交道，一天到晚嘴巴都闭臭，身上的汗水干了又湿，湿了又干，真是一粒谷子千滴汗啊。他乏味，受不了这份苦、脏、累。他生成就不是个正经八板的作田佬，而生成是个跑公差吃活水饭的人。两三年下来，他田里草比禾深，土里藏得下鼠兔。后来他索性算它个毬，门角落的锄头、镰刀都生了锈。他开始偷偷地、暗暗地变卖土改时分得的胜利果实，箱箱柜柜的，都是人民币。人民币虽说是纸印的，哗哗响，却比解放前那叮叮当当的“袁大头”还顶事呢。他上馆子，下酒铺，从不敢大吃大喝，大手大脚，颇为紧吃慢用，细水长流，却也吃喝得满脸泛红，油光嘴亮，胖胖乎乎的发了体。有时本镇上的居民，半月一月都不见他的吊脚楼上空冒一次炊烟，还以为他学了什么道法，得了什么仙术，现成的鸡鸭酒席由着他招手即来，摆手则去，连杯盘碗筷都不消动手洗呢。

    常言道：“攒钱好比金挑土，花钱好比浪淘沙”，“坐吃山空”。几年日子混下来，王秋赦媳妇都没讨上一个，吊脚楼里的家什已经十停去了八停。就连衣服、裤子也筋吊吊的，现出土改翻身前的破落相来了。本镇上的居民们给他取下了几个外号：一是“王秋赊”，一年四季赊账借钱度日；一是“王秋蛇”，秋天的蛇在进洞冬眠前最是忌动，懒蛇；一是“王秋奢”，讲他手指缝缝流金走银，几年功夫就把一份产业吃花尽了。他则讲这些给他取外号的人没有一丝一毫的阶级感情。而另一些跟他一起当“土改根子”的翻身户，几年里却大出息了，买的买水牛，添的添谷仓，起的起新屋，全家老小穿的戴的都是一色新。他看了好眼红。他盼着有朝一日又来一次新的土地改革，又可分得一次新的胜利果实。“娘卖乖！要是老子掌了权，当了政，一年划一回成分，一年搞一回土改，一年分一回浮财！”他躺在吊脚楼的破席片上，双手枕着头，美滋滋地想着谁该划地主，谁该划富农，谁该划中农、贫农。他自己呢？“农会主席！除了老子，娘卖乖，谁还够这个资格！”当然他自己也晓得，这是穷开心。分浮财这等美差，几代人都难得碰上一回呢。一九五四年，镇上成立了几个互助组。他提出以田土入组。人家看他人不会入组，不会下田做活路，岂不是秋后吃地租？因此谁都不肯收容他。直到成立农业社，走合作化道路，他才成为一名农业社社员。农业社有社委会，社委会有主任、副主任若干人，下属若干生产队、专业组，不免经常开会呀，下通知呀，派差传话呀等等，就需要启用本质好、政治可靠、嘴勤腿快的人才。王秋赦这才生逢其时，适得其位，有了用武之地。

    王秋赦为人处世还有另外一面，就是肯在街坊中走动帮忙。镇上人家，除了五类分子之外，无论谁家讨亲嫁女、老人归天之类的红白喜事，他总是不请自到，协助主家经办下庚帖、买酒肉、备礼品、铺排酒席桌椅一应事宜。他尽心尽力，忘日忘夜，而且也没有什么非分之想，只是随喜随喜，跟着吃几回酒席，外加几餐宵夜。就是平常日子，谁家杀猪、打狗，他也最肯帮人当个下手，架锅烧水啦，刮毛洗肠子呀，跑腿买酒买烟啦，等等。因而他无形中有了一个特殊身分：镇上群众的“公差人”。他自己则把这称之为“跑大祠堂”。

    他除了在镇上有些“人缘”外，还颇得“上心”。他一个单身汉，住着整整一栋空落落的吊脚楼，房舍宽敞，因而大凡县里、区里下来的“吃派饭”的工作同志，一般都愿到他这楼上来歇宿。吊脚楼地板干爽，前后都有扶手游廊，空气新鲜，工作同志自然乐意住。这一来王秋赦就结识下了一些县里、区里的干部。这些干部们下乡都讲究阶级感情，看到吊脚楼主王秋赦土改翻身后婆娘都讨不起，仍是烂锅、烂碗、烂灶，床上仍是破被、破帐、破席，仍是个贫雇农啊，农村出现了两极分化啊。于是每年冬下的救济款，每年春夏之交青黄不接时的救济粮，芙蓉镇的救济对象，头一名常是王秋赦。而且每隔两三年他还领得到一套救济棉衣、棉裤。好像干革命、搞斗争就是为着王秋赦们啊，“一大二公”还能饿着、冻着王秋赦们？前些年因大跃进和过苦日子，民穷国困，救济棉衣连着四、五年都没有发给王秋赦。王秋赦身上布吊吊，肩背、前襟露出了板膏油（破棉衣露出花絮），胸前扣子都没有一颗，他艰苦朴素地搓了根稻草索子捆着，实在不成样子啊。王秋赦则认为政府不救济他，便是“出的新社会的丑”啊。冬天他冻得嘴皮发乌，流着清鼻涕，跑到公社去，找着公社书记说：“上级首长啊，一九五九年公社搞阶级斗争展览会，要去的我那件烂棉衣，比我如今身上穿的这件还好点，能不能开了展览馆的锁，给我斟换一下啊？”
    什么话？从阶级斗争展览馆换烂棉衣回去穿？今不如昔？什么政治影响？王秋赦身上露的是新社会的相啊！公社书记觉得责任重大，关系到阶级立场和阶级感情问题，上级民政部门又一时两时地不会发下救济物资来，只好忍痛从自己身上脱下了还有五成新的棉袄，给“土改根子”穿上，以御一冬之寒。

    “人民政府，衣食父母。”这话王秋赦经常念在嘴里，记在心上。他也晓得感恩，每逢上级工作同志下来抓中心，搞运动，他打铜锣，吹哨子，喊土广播，敲钟，跑腿送材料，守夜站哨，会场上领呼口号，总是积极肯干，打头阵，当骨干。工作同志指向哪，他就奔向哪。他依靠工作同志，工作同志依靠他。本也是政治运动需要他，他需要政治运动。

    胡玉音的男人黎桂桂，是个老实巴交的屠户，平日不吭不声，三锤砸不出一个响屁。可是不叫的狗咬人。他为王秋赦总结过顺口溜，当时流传甚广，影响颇坏，叫做：“死懒活跳，政府依靠；努力生产，政府不管；有余有赚，政府批判。”

    这里，捎带着介绍两句：胡玉音摆米豆腐摊子，王秋赦圩圩来白吃食，叫做“记账”。原来他又有个不景气的打算：土改时他分得的胜利果实中还有一块屋基，就在老胡记客栈隔壁。吊脚楼尽够他一个单身汉住的了，还要这屋基做什么？他已经向胡玉音夫妇透露过，只要肯出个一、两百块现钞，这块地皮可以转让。同时，也算两年来没有在米豆腐摊子上白吃食。更何况王秋赦堂堂一条汉子，岂能以他一时的贫酸貌相？赵匡胤还当过几年泼皮，薛仁贵还住过三年茅房呢！

    五 “精神会餐”和《喜歌堂》

    同志哥啊，你可曾晓得什么是“精神会餐”吗?那是一九六0、六一年乡下吃公共食堂时的土特产。那年月五岭山区的社员们几个月不见油腥，一年难打一次牙祭，食物中植物纤维过剩，脂肪蛋白奇缺，瓜菜叶子越吃心里越慌。肚子瘪得贴到了背脊骨，喉咙都要伸出手。当然账要算到帝修反身上、老天爷身上。老天爷是五类分子，专门和人民公社公共食堂捣蛋。后来又说账要算到彭德怀、刘少奇、邓小平的路线上，他们反对三面红旗吃大锅饭。吃大锅饭有什么不好?青菜萝卜煮在一起，连油都不消放，天天回忆对比，忆苦思甜。“苦不苦，想想红军两万五!”当年那些为着中国人民的翻身解放、幸福安乐而牺牲在雪山草地上的先烈们，如若九泉有灵，得知他们吃过的树皮草根竟然在为公共食堂的“瓜菜代”打马虎眼，真不知要做何感叹了。

    山区的社员们怎么搞得清、懂得了这些藏匿在楼阁嵯峨的广厦深宫里的玄论呢?玄理妙论有时就像八卦图、迷魂阵。民以食为天，社员们只晓得肚子饿得痛，嘴里冒清口水。蕨根糠粑吃下去，粪便凝结在肛门口，和铁一样硬，出生血。要用指头抠，细棍挑，活作孽。他们白天还好过，到了晚上睡不着。于是，人们的智慧就来填补物质的空白。人们就来互相回忆、讲述自己哪年哪月，何处何家所吃过的一顿最为丰盛的酒席，整鸡整鱼、肥冬冬的团子肉、皮皱皱的肘子、夹得筷子都要弯下去的四两一块的扣肉、粉蒸肉、回锅肉等等。当然山里人最喜欢的还是落雪天吃肥狗肉。正是一家炖狗肉，四邻闻香气。吃得满嘴油光，肚皮鼓胀，浑身燥热，打出个饱嗝来都是油腻腻的。狗肉好吃名气丑，上不得大席面，但滋阴壮阳，男人家在外边跑生意，少吃为佳，多吃生事……于是，讲着的，听着的，都仿佛眼睛看到了佳肴，鼻子闻到了肉香，满嘴都是唾液。日子还长着呢，机会还多的是……将口腹享受，寄望于日后。解放十余年了的山镇，总不乏几个知书识字、粗通文墨的人，就拟定下一个文绉绉的词儿：精神会餐。这词儿使用的期限不长，有的村寨半载，有的乡镇一年。上下五千年，纵横千万里啊，神州大地发生过的大饥荒还少了吗?那时饿殍载道，枯骨遍野。在茫茫的历史长河中，“精神会餐”之类的支流未节，算得了什么?一要分清延安和西安，二要分清九个指头和一个指头。何况新中国才成立十一、二年。白手起家，一切都在探索。进入现代社会，国家和百姓都要付学费。俱往矣，功与过，留给后人评说。

    一九六三年的春夜，在老胡记客栈里，芙蓉姐子胡玉音和男人黎桂桂，在进行另一种“精神会餐”。他们成亲六、七年了，夫妻恩爱，却没有子嗣信息。黎桂桂比胡玉音年长四岁，虽说做的是白刀子进去、红刀子出来的屠户营生，却是出名的胆小怕事。有时在街上、路上碰到一头红眼睛弯角水牛，或是一条松毛狗，他都要身子打哆嗦，躲到一边去。有人笑话他：“桂崔，你怎么不怕猪?”“猪?猪蠢，既不咬人，又没长角，只晓得哼哼!”人家笑他胆子小，他不在意。就是那些好心、歪心的人笑话他不中用，崽都做不出，那样标致能干的婆娘是只空花瓶，他就最伤心。他已经背着人(包括自己女人)，偷偷吃下过几副狗肾、猪豪筋了。桂桂身体强壮，有时晚上睡不着，又怕叹得气，惹玉音不高兴。

    “玉音，我们要生个崽娃就好了，哪怕生个妹娃也好。”
    “是哪，我都二十六了，心里急。”
    “要是你生了个毛毛，家务事归我做，尿布、屎片归我洗，晚上归我哄着睡。”“奶子呢?也归你喂?”玉音格格笑。
    “还是你做娘嘛!我胸面前又没鼓起两坨肉。”你听，桂桂有时也俏皮，也有点痞。
    “你坏，你好坏……”
    “我呀，每晚上把毛毛放到我胁肋窝下，‘啊，啊，啊，宝宝快睡觉，啊，啊，啊，宝宝睡着了。’白日里，我就抱着毛毛，就在小脸上亲个不停，亲个不停。给毛毛取个奶名，就叫‘亲不过’……”
    “你还讲!你还讲!”
    “怎么?我讲错了?”
    “想毛毛都想癫了!呜呜呜，没良心的，存心来气我，呜呜呜……”玉音哭起来了。

    桂桂是男人家，他哪里晓得，生不下毛毛，女人家总以为是自己的过失。就像鸡婆光啄米不下蛋一样没有尽到职分。“算了，算了，玉音。啊，啊，啊，好玉音，我又没怪你……还哭?哭多了，眼睛会起雾。看看枕头帕子都湿了。”桂桂心里好反悔，把自己的女人惹哭了，有罪。他像哄毛毛一样地哄着、安慰着自己的女人：
    “你就是一世不生育，我都不怪你。我们两双手做，两张口吃，在队上出工，还搞点副业，日子过得比镇上哪户人家都差不到哪里去。就是老了，也是我服侍你，你服侍我。你不信，我就给你赌咒起誓……”

    一听忠厚的男人要起誓，玉音怕不吉利，连忙止住哭泣，坐起身子来捂住了桂桂的嘴巴，轻声骂：“要死了!看我不打你!

    多少吉利的话讲不得?不生毛毛，是我对不起你……就是你不怪罪我，在圩上摆米豆腐摊子，也有人指背脊……”胡玉音自从那年热天经过了和黎满庚的一番波折，当年冬下和黎桂桂成亲后，就一副痴情、痴心，全交给了男人。她觉得自己命大、命独，生怕克了丈夫，因之把桂桂看得比自己还重。

    每逢赶圩的前一晚，因要磨米浆，下芙蓉河挑水烧海锅，熬成米豆腐倒在大瓦缸里，准备第二天一早上市，两口子总是睡得很迟，推石磨就要推四、五个小时。一人站一边，一人出只手，握住磨把转呀，转呀。胡玉音还要均匀准确地一下一下地朝旋转着的磨眼喂石灰水泡发的米粒……两口子脸块对着脸块，眼睛对着眼睛，也常常不约而同地把心里的麻纱事，扯出来消磨时光。这时刻，玉音是不会哭的，而且有点顽皮：
    “哼，依我看，巴不起肚，不生毛毛，也不能全怪女的……”
    “天晓得，我们两个都体子巴壮的，又没得病。”桂桂多少有点男子汉的自尊心，不肯承认自己有责任。
    “听学校的女老师讲，如今医院兴检查，男的女的都可以去化验。”玉音红起脸，看着男人说。
    “怎么检查?不穿一根纱?要去你去!我出不起那个丑!”桂桂的脸比女人的红得更厉害，像圩上卖的秋柿子一样。
    “我不过顺口提一句，又没有讲硬要去，你也莫发脾气。”玉音也收了口。他们都觉得，人是爹娘所生，养儿育女是本能，就是一世不生育，也不能去丢一次人。有时玉音心里也有点野，有点浪，眼睛直盯着自己的男人，有句话，她讲不出：
    “你是要子嗣?还是要我的名声、贞节?或许吊脚楼主王秋赦开的玩笑也是一个法子，请个人试一试……妈呀!坏蹄子，不要脸，都胡乱想了些什么呀?”桂桂这时仿佛也看出了她心里在野什么，就拿冷冷的眼神盯住她：“你敢!你敢?看看我打不打断你的脚杆!”当然这话，他们都是在心里想的，互相在眼神里猜的。山镇上的平头百姓啊，他们的财产不多，把一个人的名声贞节——这点略带封建色彩的精神财富，却看得比自己的性命还要紧。

    日子久了，胡玉音——这个只在解放初进过扫盲识字班的青年妇女，对于自己的不育，悟出了两个深刻的根由：一是自己和男人的命相不符。她十三岁那年，一个身背月琴、手拄黄杨木拐杖的瞎子先生给她算了个“灵八字”，讲她命大，不主子，克夫。必得找着一个属龙或是属虎、以杀生为业的后生配亲，才能家事和睦，延续后人。父母亲为了这个“灵八字”，从十五岁起就替她招郎相亲，整整找了四年。“杀生为业，属龙属虎”总也凑不到一起。另外既是“招郎”，男人的地位在街坊邻里眼中就低了一等，因此也还要人家愿意。后来父母亲总算放宽了尺寸，破除了一半迷信，找到了黎桂桂。杀生为业倒是对上了，是个老屠户的独生子。人长得清秀，力气也有。就是生庚不合，属鼠，最是胆子小，见了女人就脸红。人倒是忠厚实在，划个圈圈都把他圈得住。箩里选瓜，挑来挑去，只有桂桂算是中意的……还有一个根由，就是玉音认定自己成亲时，热闹是热闹，但彩头不好。唉，讲起来这芙蓉镇上百十户人家，哪家娶亲嫁女，都没有她的那份风光、排场。时至今日，青石板街上的姑娘媳妇们，还常常以羡慕的口气，讲起当年的盛况……

    那是一九五六年，州县歌舞团来了一队天仙般的人儿，到这五岭山脉腹地采风，下生活。领队的就是剧团编导秦书田——如今日叫做“秦癫子”的。一个个都是从画里走出来的仙子啊。又习歌，又习舞，把芙蓉镇人都喜饱了，醉倒了。盘古以来没有开过的眼福。原来芙蓉镇一带山区，解放前妇女们中盛行一种风俗歌舞——，一支《解放区的天是明朗的天》。内容上虽然有点牵强附会，但总算是正气压了邪气，光明战胜了黑暗。

    不久，秦书田带着演员们回到城里，把这次进五岭山区采风的收获，编创成一个大型风俗歌舞剧《女歌堂》，在州府调演，到省城演出，获得了成功。秦书田还在省报上发表了推陈出新反封建的文章，二十几岁就出了名，得了奖，可谓少年得志了。可是好景不常，第二年的反右派斗争中，《女歌堂》被打成一支射向新社会的大毒箭，怨封建礼教是假，恨社会主义是真。借社会主义舞台图谋不轨，用心险恶，猖狂已极，反动透顶。紧接着，秦书田就被戴上右派分子帽子，开除公职，解送回原籍交当地群众监督劳动。从此，秦书田就圩圩都在圩场上露个面，有人讲他打草鞋卖，有人讲他捡地下的烟屁股吃。人人都喊他“秦癫子”。

    唉唉，事情虽然没有祸及胡玉音和她男人黎桂桂，但两口子总觉得和自己有些不光彩的联系。新社会了，还有什么封建?还反什么封建?新社会都是反得的?解放都六、七年了，还把新社会和“封建”去胡编乱扯到一起。你看看，就为了反封建，秦书田犯了法，当了五类分子；胡玉音呢，有所牵连，也就跟着背霉，成亲七、八年了都巴不了肚，没有生育。

    六　“秦癫子”

    芙蓉镇国营饮食店后头，公共厕所的木板上出现了一条反动标语。县公安局派来了两个公安员办案，住在王秋赦的吊脚楼里。因王秋赦出身贫苦，政治可靠，又善于跑腿，公安员自然就把他当作办案的依靠对象。至于“反标”写的什么？只有店经理李国香和两个公安员才心里有数，因为不能扩大影响，变成“反宣传”。吊脚楼主王秋赦虽然也晓得个一鳞半爪，但关系到上级领导的重大机密，自是人前人后要遵守公安纪律，守口如瓶的。至于镇上的平头百姓们，就只有惶惑不安、既怀疑人家也被人家怀疑的份。

    李国香和王秋赦向公安员反映，莫看芙蓉镇地方小，人口不多，但圩场集市，水路旱路，过往人等鱼目混珠，龙蛇混杂。就是本镇大队戴了帽、标了号的地、富、反、坏、右分子，也有二十几个；出身成分不纯、社会关系复杂、不戴帽的内专对象及其亲属于女，就更不止这个数。圩镇上的人，哪个不是旧社会吃喝嫖赌、做生意跑码头过来的？有几个老实干净的人？还有就是镇上的国家干部和职工，党团员，也成年累月和这些居民厮混在一起，藤藤蔓蔓，瓜葛亲朋，拜姊妹结老表，认干爹干娘，阶级阵线也早就模糊不清了。

    两个公安员倒是颇为冷静地估计了一下镇上的阶级阵线、敌我状况，没有撤大网。他们依历来办案的惯例，和女经理、王秋赦一起，首先召集了一个“五类分子训话会”。

    镇上的五类分子，历来归本镇大队治保主任监督改造。一九六二年夏天，台湾海峡局势紧张，上级规定大队治保主任由大队党支部书记兼任。黎满庚支书定期召开五类分子训话会。他还在五类分子中指定了一个头目，负责喊人、排队、报数，以毒攻毒。这个五类分子头目就是“秦癫子”。

    秦癫子三十几岁，火烧冬茅心不死，是个坏人里头的乐天派。他出身成分不算差，仗着和黎满庚支书有点转弯拐角的姑舅亲，一从剧团开除回来就要求大队党支部把他头上的右派分子帽子改作坏分子帽子。他坦白交代说，他没有反过党和人民，倒是跟两个女演员谈恋爱，搞过两性关系，反右派斗争中他这条真正的罪行却没有被揭发，所以给他戴个坏分子帽子最合适。黎满庚支书被他请求过几回，心里厌烦：坏分子，右派分子，半斤八两，反正是一箩蛇，还不都一样。就在一个群众会上宣布秦癫子为坏分子。过了不久，黎支书见秦癫子文化高，几个字写得好，颇有组织活动能力，就指定他当了五类分子的小头目。

    秦癫子当上五类分子小头目后，的确给黎满庚支书的“监、管、改”工作带来了许多便利。每逢大队要召集五类分子汇报、训话，只要叫一声：“秦癫子！”秦癫子就会立即响亮答应一声：“有！”并像个学堂里的体育老师那样双臂半屈在腰间摆动着小跑步前来，直跑到党支书面前才脚后跟一并，来一个“立正”姿势，右手巴掌平举齐眉敬一个礼：“报告上级！坏分子秦书田到！”接着低下脑壳，表示老实认罪。黎满庚和大队干部们起初见了他的这套表演颇觉好笑，后来也就习惯了。“秦癫子，竖起你的耳朵听着！晚饭后，全体五类分子到大队部门口集合！”

    “是！上级命令，一定完成！”他立即来一个向后转，又像个体育老师那样小跑步走了。晚上，他准时把五类分子们集合到大队部门口的禾坪上，排好队，点好名，报了数，一律低下脑壳，如同一排弯钩似的，才请大队领导查点、过目。

    在五类分子中间，秦书田还有一套自己的“施政纲领”。他分别在同类们中间说：“虽讲大家都入了另册，当了黄种黑人，但也‘黑’得有深有浅。比方你是老地主，解放前喝血汗，吃剥削，伤天害理，是头等的可恶；比方你是富农，从前自己也劳动，也放高利贷搞剥削，想往地主那一阶梯上爬，买田买土当暴发户，是二等的可恶；再比方你反革命分子又不同，你不光是因财产、因剥削戴的帽子，而是因你的反动思想、反动行为，与人民为敌。所以五类分子中，你是最危险的一类。你再要轻举妄动，先摸摸你颈脖上长了几个脑壳。”

    “你呢？你自己又算个什么货？”有的地、富、反分子不服，回驳他。“我？我当然是坏分子。坏分子么，就比较复杂，有各式各样的。有的是偷摸扒抢，有的是强奸妇女，有的是贪污腐化，有的是流氓拐骗，有的是聚众赌博。但一般来讲，坏分子出身成分还是不坏。在五类分子中，是罪行较轻的一类。嘿嘿，日后，我们这些人进地狱，还分上、中、下十八层呢！”

    他讲得振振有词，好像要强调一下他“坏分子”在同行们中间的优越性似的。但他只字不提“右派分子”，也从没分析过“右派分子反党反社会主义的罪行”，百年之后进地狱又该安置在哪一层。

    秦癫子当过州立中学的音体教员，又任过县歌舞团的编导，因而吹、打、弹、唱四条板凳都坐得下，琴、棋、书、画也拿得起。舞龙耍狮更是把好角。平常日子嘴里总是哼哼唱唱的，还常“宽大大宽扯宽”地念几句锣鼓经。前几年过苦日子，乡下阶级斗争的弦绷得不那样紧，芙蓉镇大队一带的山里人家招郎嫁女，还请他参加鼓乐班子，在酒席上和贫下中农、社员群众平起平坐，吃吃喝喝，吹吹打打地唱花灯戏呢。这叫艺不碍身，使得他和别的五类分子在人们心目中的身价有所不同。还有，就是本镇大队根据上级布置搞各项中心，需要在墙上、路边、岩壁上刷大幅标语，如“大办钢铁，大办粮食”、“反右倾、反保守”、“共产主义是天堂，人民公社是桥梁”、“三面红旗万万岁”等，也大都出自他将功赎罪的手笔。

    去年春上，不晓得他是想要表现自己脱胎换骨的改造决心还是怎么的，他竟发挥他音乐方面的歪才，自己编词、谱曲，自己演唱出一支《五类分子之歌》来：“五类分子不死心，反党反国反人民，公社民兵紧握枪，谁敢捣乱把谁崩！坦白吧，交代吧！老实服法才光明，老实服法才光明！”他对这支既有点进行曲味道、又颇具民歌风的《五类分子之歌》，颇为自负、得意，还竟然要求在大队召集的训话会上教唱。但五类分子们态度顽固，死也不肯开口，加上大队支书黎满庚也笑着制止，才作罢。后来倒是让村镇上的一些小娃娃们学去了，到处传唱开来，算是有了一点社会影响。

    对于秦癫子，本镇大队的干部、社员们有各种各样的看法。有的人把他当本镇的“学问家”，读的书多，见的世面大，古今中外，过去未来，天文地理，诸如鸡生蛋还是蛋生鸡，美国的共产党为什么不上山打游击、工人为什么不起义，地球有不有寿命，月亮上有不有桂花树、广寒宫等等，他都讲得出一些道道来，而且还要捎带上几句马列主义、唯物史观。使得山镇上一些没有文化的人如听天书一般，尊他为“天上的事情晓得一半，地上的事情晓得全”；有的人讲他伪装老实，假积极，其实是红薯坏心不坏皮；有的人讲他鬼不像鬼，人不像人，穷快活，浪开心，活作孽；也有的人讲，莫看他白天笑呵呵，锣鼓点子不离口，山歌小调不断腔，晚上却躲在草屋里哭，三十几岁一条光棍加一顶坏分子帽，哭得好伤心。还有民兵晚上在芙蓉河边站哨，多次见他在崖岸上走过来，走过去，是想投河自尽？又不像是要自尽，大概是在思虑着他的过去和将来的一些事情……

    反正本镇上的人们，包括卖米豆腐的“芙蓉姐子”在内，包括镇粮站主任谷燕山在内，不管对秦癫子有哪样的看法，却都不讨嫌他。逢圩赶集碰了面，他跟人笑笑，打个招呼，人家也跟他笑笑，打个招呼。田边地头，大家也肯和他坐在一起纳凉、歇气，卷“喇叭筒”抽：“癫子老表！唱个曲子听听！…‘癫子，讲个古，刘备孙权、岳飞梁红玉什么的！”“上回那段樊梨花还没有讲完！’，就是一班年轻媳妇、妹子也不怕他，还敢使唤他：”癫子！把那把长梯子背过来，给我爬到瓦背去，晒起这点红薯皮！…‘癫子！快！我娘发蚂蝗痧，刚放了血，你打飞脚到卫生院请个郎中来！’‘至于那班小辈分的娃娃，阶级观念不强，竟有喊他“癫子叔叔”、“癫子伯伯”的。

    秦癫子领着全大队的二十二名五类分子，一个个勾头俯脑地来到镇国营饮食店楼下的一间发着酸咸菜气味的屋子里，捡了砖头、烂瓦片坐下，女经理李国香和“运动根子‘’王秋赦才陪着两个公安员进来。公安员手里拿着一本花名册，喊一个名字，让那被喊的分子站起来亮个相。公安员目光如剑，严威逼人，寒光闪闪，坏人坏事，往往一眼洞穿。当喊到一个历史反革命分子的名字时，一声稚嫩的”有“，来自屋角落。站起来的是个十一、二岁的小娃子。公安员有些奇怪，十一、二岁的小娃子解放以后才出生的，怎么会是历史反革命？秦癫子连忙代为汇报：他爷老倌犯了咳血病，睡在床上哼哼哼，才叫崽娃来代替；上级有什么指示，由他崽娃回去传达。王秋赦朝那小历史反革命啐了一口：”滚到一边去！娘卖乖，五类分子有了接脚的啦！看来阶级斗争还要搞几代！“

    接着，女经理李国香拿着一叠白纸，每个五类分子发一张，叫每人在纸上写一条标语：“大跃进、总路线、人民公社三面红旗万岁！”而且写两次，一次用右手写，一次用左手写。五类分子们大约也有了一点经验，预感到又是镇上什么地方出了“反标”了，叫他们来对笔迹。胆子大的，对公安人员这套老套子，不大在乎，因为不管你做不做坏事，一破什么案子总要从你这类人入手、开刀。胆子小的却吓得战战兢兢，丢魂失魄，就和死了老子老娘一样。

    使公安员和女经理颇为扫兴、失望的是，二十二名五类分子中，竞有十人声称没有文化，不会写字，而且互相作保、证明。王秋赦在旁做了点解释：“镇上凡是有点名望的地主老财解放前夕都逃到香港、台湾去了，剩下的大都是些土狗、泥猪！”只有坏分子秦书田，还多从女经理手里讨了一张纸，右手左手，写出来的字都是又粗又大，端端正正，和印板印出来的一样，把两张纸都写满了。其实公安员完全可以到街墙、石壁上去对他写的那些标语的笔迹。凡是会写字的五类分子都留下了笔迹之后，公安员和女经理分别训了几句要老实守法的话，才把这些入另册的家伙们遣散了。

    秦癫子最可疑。可是公安员找大队干部一了解，又得到的是否定的答复，说“秦癫子几年来老老实实，劳动积极，没有做过什么坏事”。而且笔迹也不对。女经理李国香和吊脚楼主王秋赦又提出“卖米豆腐的胡玉音”出身历史复杂，父亲入过青红帮，母亲当过妓女，本人妖妖调调，拉拢腐蚀干部，行踪可疑。公安员依他们所言，在逢圩那天，特意到米豆腐摊子上去吃了两碗，坐了半天，左看右看，米豆腐姐子无论从哪个侧面看都是一表人才，笑笑微微的，待人热情和气，一口一声：“大哥”、“兄弟”，服务态度比我们多数国营饮食店的服务员不知要好到哪里去了呢。胡玉音又没有什么文化，哪里像个写“眨标”的？人家做点小本生意和气生财，为什么要骂你这个三面红旗？三面红旗底下还允许她摆米豆腐摊子嘛，哪来的刻骨仇恨？

    后来实在没有别的线索，女经理又给公安员出了主意：通过各级党团组织，出政治题目，发动群众写文章谈对三面红旗的认识，让全镇凡是有点文墨的人，都写出一纸手迹来查对。真是用心良苦，兴师动众。结果还是没有查到什么蛛丝马迹。

    镇国营饮食店厕所的一块千刀万剐的杉木板，搅得全镇疑神疑鬼，草木皆兵，人心惶惶。每个人都觉得自己被揭发、被怀疑、被审查。后来公安员把这块臭木板当作罪证实物拿走了，但这一反革命政治悬案却没有了结。这就是说，疑云黑影仍然笼罩在芙蓉镇上空，鬼蜮幽魂仍在青石板街巷深处徘徊。

    案虽然没有破，王秋赦却当上了青石板街的治安协理员，每月由县公安局发给十二元钱的协理费。国营饮食店女经理在本镇居民中的威信，也无形中一下子树立了，并且提高了。这是本镇新出现的一个领袖人物，在和老的领袖人物——粮站主任谷燕山抗衡。从此，女经理喜欢挺起她那已经不太发达的胸脯，仰起她那发黄的隐现着胭脂雀斑的脸盘，在青石板街上走来走去，在每家铺面门口站个一两分钟：“来客了？找王治安员登记一下，写清客人的来镇时间，离镇时间，阶级成分，和你家是什么关系，有没有公社、大队的证明……”
    “你门口这幅对联是哪年哪月贴上去的？‘人民公社’这四个字风吹雨打得不成样子，而且你还在毛主席像下钉了竹钉挂牛蓑衣？”
    “老人家，你看那米豆腐姐子一圩的生意，大约进多少款子，几成利？听讲她男人买砖置瓦寻地皮，准备起新楼屋？”
    “你隔壁的土屋里住着右派分子秦书田吧？你们要经常注意他的活动，有些什么人往来出进……镇里王治安员会专门来向你布置。”
    如此等等。女经理讲这些话时，态度和好，带着一种关照、提醒的善意。但事与愿违，她的这些关照、提醒，给人留下的是一种沉闷的气氛，一种精神上的惶恐。渐渐地，只要她一在街头出现，人们就面面相觑，屏声住息。真是一鸟进山，百鸟无声，连猫狗都朝屋里躲。仿佛她的口袋里操着一本镇上生灵的生死簿。芙蓉镇上一向安分守己、颇讲人情人缘的居民们，开始朦朦胧胧地觉察、体味到：自从国营饮食店来了个女经理，原先本镇群众公认的领袖人物谷燕山已经黯然失色，从此天下就要多事了似的。

    七 “北方大兵”

    粮站主任谷燕山自从披着老羊皮袄，穿着大头鞋，随南下大军来到芙蓉镇，并扎下来做地方工作，已经整整十三年了。就是他的一口北方腔，如今也入乡随俗，改成镇上人人听得懂的本地“官话”了。跟人打招呼，也不喊“老乡”而喊“老表”了。还习惯了吃整碗的五爪辣、羊角辣、朝天辣，吃蛇肉、猫肉、狗肉。他生得武高武大，一脸连鬓胡子，眼睛有点鼓，两颊有横肉，长相有点凶。刚来时，只要他双手一叉，在街当中一站，就吓得娃娃们四下里逃散。甚至嫂子们晚上吓唬娃娃，也是：“莫哭!胡子大兵来捉人了!”其实他为人并不凶，脾气也不恶。镇上的居民们习惯了他后，倒是觉得他“长了副凶神相，有一颗菩萨心”。

    解放初，他结过一次婚。白胖富态、脑后梳着黑油油独根辫子的媳妇也是北方下来的。但没出半个月，媳妇就嘴嘟嘟、泪含含地走了，再也不肯回来。也没听他两口子吵过架，真是蚊子都没有嗡过一声。这使老谷多丢脸，多难堪啊。他不责怪那媳妇，原因在自己。他觉得自己像犯有哄骗妇女罪似的，在芙蓉镇上有好几个月不敢抬头见人。当时镇上的人不知底细，以为他是丢失了某种至关紧要、非找回来不可的证件呢。还是在北方打游击、钻地道时，他大腿上挂过一次花，染下一种可厌的病。娘儿们得了这类性质相同的病，有人医，有药治。可是男子汉得了这类病，提都很少有人敢提，一提起来也会引起哄堂大笑，给人逗趣取乐儿呢。何况那时枪子儿常在耳边呼啸，手榴弹常在身边爆炸，埋你一身土，呛你满嘴泥，半夜醒来还要摸摸是否四肢俱在。正是提着脑袋打江山、夺天下，拖几年再说吧。谁还不是带着某种伤疤和隐痛在干革命?有的战斗英雄身上留着枪子儿、弹片头都没顾上取出来呢。原想着，只要能活下来迎接胜利，过上太平日子，病就不难治，问题就不难解决。连指导员是个个头粗、心眼细的人，(唉唉，战争年代的指导员啊，是战士的兄长，甚至像战士的母亲啊!)终于在行军路上发现了这个年近二十的老排长的痛苦。当南下路过芙蓉镇时，就把他留在这山青水秀的地方，转了地方工作。但他还是羞于去寻医看病，却是偷偷地吃了十来服草药，也不见效用。这位参加推翻了封建主义大山的战士，脑壳里却潜伏着封建意识。科学要在大白天里把人的身子剥得一丝不挂，由着那些穿着白大褂、戴着大口罩的男男女女来左观右看，捏捏摸摸，比比划划，就像围观着一匹公马。他是怎么也接受不了这种“奇耻大辱”。后来他听人讲，男子汉娶了媳妇，某些病就自自然然会好起来的。他权衡了很久，才打定主意，不娶本地女人，讨个老家娘儿们，一旦不合适，好留个退步，起码不在本地方造成不良影响……后来事情的发展，证明他是办了一件稳妥事，又是一件负心事。因为他拒科学于门外，科学也就没有对他表示出应有的友善。他一直给那女人寄生活费，赎回良心上的罪责。

    对于这件事，本镇街坊们纳闷了多半年，才悟出了一点原由：大约老谷主任身上有那种再贤淑的女人都不能容忍、又不便声张的病。后来有些心肠虽好但不通窍的傻娘们，还给他当过几回介绍，都被他一口一个地回绝了。渐渐地一镇上的成年人都达成了默契，不再给他做媒提亲。因而上两月国营饮食店的女经理向他频送秋波、初试风骚也碰了壁。当然没有人把底细去向女经理学舌。

    话又讲回来，老谷这人虽然不行“子路”（没有后代），却有人缘。如今芙蓉镇上那些半大的男伢妹娃，多半都认了他做“亲爷”。他也特喜欢这些娃儿。因之他屋里常有妹娃嬉戏，床上常有男伢打滚。什么小人书、棒棒糖、汽车、飞机、坦克、大炮，摆了一桌，摊了一地。他还代有的娃娃交书籍课本费，买铅笔、米突尺什么的。据镇上的几位民间经济学家心算口算，他大约每月都把薪水的百分之十几花在这些“义崽义女”身上了镇上的青年人娶亲或是出嫁，也总要请他坐席，讲几句有分量又得体的话。他也乐于送一份不厚不薄的贺礼。镇上有的人家甚至家里来了上年纪、有身分的客人，办了有鳞有爪的酒菜，也习惯于请他作陪，并介绍：“这是镇上谷主任，南下的老革命……”好像以此可以光耀门庭。随着岁月的增长，老谷的存在对本镇人的生活，起着一种安定、和谐的作用。有时镇上的街坊邻里，不免要为些鸡鸭猫狗的事闹矛盾，挂在人们口边的一句话也是：“走走!去找老谷，喊他评评理，我怕他不骂你个狗血喷头才怪呢!”“老谷是你一家人的老谷?是全镇人的老谷!只要他断了我不是，我服!”而鼓眼睛、连鬓胡、样子颇凶的老谷，则总是乐于给街坊们评理、断案，当骂的骂，当劝的劝。他的原则是大事化小，小事化了，不使矛盾激化，事态闹大。若涉及到经济钱财的事，还根据情况私下贴腰包。所以往往吵架的双方都同时来赔礼道乏，感激他。他若是偶尔到县里去办事或开会，几天不回，天黑时，青石板街的街头巷尾，端着饭碗的人们就会互相打听：“看见老谷了么?”“几天了，还不回?”“莫非池要高升了，调走了?”“那我们全镇的人给县政府上名帖。给他个官，在我们镇上就做不得?”
    至于老谷为什么要主动向“芙蓉姐子”提出每圩批给米豆腐摊子六十斤碎米谷头子，至今是个谜。这事后来给他造成了很大的不幸，而他从没认错、翻悔。“芙蓉姐子”后来成了富农寡婆，他对她的看法也没有改变，十几二十年如一日。这是后话。

    县商业局给芙蓉镇圩场管理委员会下达了一个盖有鲜红大印的打字公文：
    查你镇近几年来，小摊小贩乘国家经济困难时机，大搞投机贩卖，从中牟利。更有不少社员弃农经商，以国家一、二类统购统销物资做原料，擅自出售各种生熟食品，扰乱市场，破坏人民公社集体经济。希你镇圩场管理委员会，即日起对小摊贩进行一次认真清理。非法经商者，一律予以取缔。并将清理结果，呈报县局。
    一九六三年×月×日
    公文的下半截，还附有县委财贸办的批示：“同意。”还有县委财贸书记杨民高的批示：“芙蓉镇的问题值得注意。”可见这公文是有来头的了。

    公文首先被送到粮站主任谷燕山手里。因当时芙蓉镇还没有专职的圩场管理委员会，所以委员们大都为兼职，在集市上起个平衡、调节作用，处理有关纠纷，也兼管发放摊贩的《临时营业许可证》。谷燕山是主任委员。他主持召集了一次委员会议，参加的有镇税务所所长，供销社主任，信用社主任，本镇大队党支书黎满庚。税务所所长提出：国营饮食店女经理近来对圩场管理、街道治安事务都很热心，是不是请她参加一下。谷主任委员说：人多打烂船，饮食店归供销社管辖，供销社主任来了，就没有必要劳驾她了。

    谷燕山首先把公文念了一遍。镇上的头头们就议论、猜测开了：
    “不消讲，是本镇有人告了状了!”
    “国以民为本，民以食为天，总要给小摊贩一碗饭吃嘛!”
    “有的人自己拿了国家薪水，吃了国家粮，还管百姓有不有油盐柴米、肚饱肚饥哩!”
    “上回出了条‘反标’，搞得鸡犬不宁。这回又下来一道公文，麻纱越扯越不清了!”
    只有大队支书黎满庚没有做声，觉得事情都和那位饮食店的女经理有关。上回女经理和胡玉音斗嘴，是他亲眼所见。前些时他又了解到，原来这女经理就是当年区委书记杨民高那风流爱俏的外甥女。但这女工作同志老多了，脸色发黄，皮子打皱，眼睛有些发泡，比原先差远了，难怪见了几面都没有认出。听讲还没有成家，还当老姑娘，大约把全部精力、心思都投到革命事业上了。前些天，女经理、王秋赦还陪着两个公安员召集本镇大队的五类分子训话，对笔迹。可见人家不单单是个饮食店的萝卜头。事后公安员安排吊脚楼主王秋赦当青石板街的治安员，都没有征求过大队党支部的意见。这回县商业局又下来公文……事情有些蹊跷啊!至于女经理通过这纸公文，还要做出些旁的什么学问来，他没有去细想。都是就事论事地看问题，委员们也没有去做过多的分析。

    委员们商议的结果，根据中央、省、地有关开放农村集市贸易的政策精神，觉得小摊小贩不宜一律禁止、取缔，应该允许其合法存在。于是决议：由税务所具体负责，对全镇大队小摊贩进行一次重新登记，并发放临时营业许可证。然后将公文的执行情况，政策依据，写成一份报告，上报县商业局，并转呈县委财贸办、县委财贸书记杨民高。

    税务所长笑问黎满庚：“卖米豆腐的‘芙蓉姐子’是你干妹子，你们大队同不同意她继续摆摊营业?”

    黎满庚递给税务所长一支“喇叭筒”：“公事公办，不论什么‘干’湿’。玉音每圩都到税务所上了税吧?她也向生产队交了误工投资。她两口子平日在生产队出集体工也蛮积极。我们大队认为她经营的是一种家庭副业，符合党的政策，可以发给她营业证。”

    老谷主任朝黎满庚点了点头，仿佛在赞赏着大队支书通达散会时，老谷主任和满庚支书面对面地站了一会儿。两人都有点心事似的。

    “老表，你闻出点什么腥气来了么?”老谷性情宽和，思想却还敏锐。
    “谷主任，胡蜂撞进了蜜蜂窝，日子不得安生了!”满庚哥打了个比方说。
    “唉，只要不生出别的事来就好……”老谷叹了口气，“常常是一粒老鼠屎，打坏一锅汤。”
    “你是一镇的人望，搭帮你，镇上的事务才撑得起。要不然，吃亏的是我干妹子玉音他们……”
    “是啊，你干妹子是个弱门弱户。有我们这些人在，就要护着他们过安生日子……我明后天进城去，找几位老战友，想想法子，把母胡蜂请走……”
    彼此落了心，两人分了手。

    这年秋末，芙蓉镇国营饮食店的女经理调走了，回县商业局当科长去了。镇上的居民都松了一口气，好像拨开了悬在他们头顶上的一块铅灰色的阴云。
    但山镇上的人们哪能晓得，就在一个他们安然熟睡、满街鼾声的秋夜里，一份由县公安局转呈上来的手写体报告，摆在县委书记杨民高的办公桌上。办公室里没有开灯，只亮着办公桌上的一盏台灯。台灯在玻璃板上投下一个圆圆的光圈。杨民高书记靠坐在台灯光圈外的藤围椅里，脸孔有些模糊不清。他对着报告沉思良久，不觉地转动着手里的铅笔，在一张暗线公函纸上画出了一幅“小集团”草图。当他的力举干钧的笔落到“北方大兵”谷燕山这个名字上时，他写上去，又打一个“?”然后又涂掉。他在犹豫、斟酌。“小集团”草图是这样的：
    米豆腐西施
    奸
    (父为青红帮，母为妓女，新生资产阶级)?奸黎满庚
    (大队支书，严重丧失阶级立场)　谷燕山
    (粮站主任，腐化堕落???)秦书田
    (反动右派)　税务所长
    (阶级异己分子)
    画毕，杨民高书记双手拿起欣赏了一会儿，就把这草图揉成一团，扔进办公桌旁的字纸篓里。想了想，又不放心似的，将纸团从字纸篓里捡出、展开，擦了根火柴，烧了。（文中“小集团草图”乃用线条标注的一个“图”）

    台灯光圈下，他像日理万机、心疲力竭的人们那样，眼皮有些浮肿，一脸的倦容。他大约批示过县公安局的这份材料，就可以到阳台上去活动活动一下身骨，转动几下发酸发硬的颈脖，擦把脸，烫个脚，去短暂地睡三、五个钟头了。他终于拉过一本公函纸，握起笔。这笔很沉，关系到不少人的身家性命啊。他字斟句酌地批示道：
    芙蓉镇三省交界，地处偏远，情况复杂，历来为我县政治工作死角。“小集团”一说，不宜草率肯定，亦不应轻易否定、掉以轻心。有关部门应予密切注意，发现新情况，立即报告县委不误。

    第二章 山镇人啊(一九六四年)

    一　第四建筑

    转眼就是一九六四年的春天。这年的春天，多风多雨，寒潮频袭，是个霉种烂秧的季节。芙蓉河岸上，仅存的一棵老芙蓉树这时开了花，而街口那棵连年繁花满枝的皂角树却赶上了公年，一朵花都不出。镇上一时议论纷纷，不晓得是主凶主吉。据老辈人讲，芙蓉树春日开花这等异事，他们经见过三次：头次是宣统二年发瘟疫，镇上人丁死亡过半，主凶；二次是民国二十二年发大水，镇上水汪汪，变成养鱼塘，整整半个月才退水，主灾；三次是一九四九年解放大军南下，清匪反霸，穷人翻身，主吉。至于皂角树不开花，不结扁长豆英，老辈人也有讲法，说是主污浊，世事流年不利。至于今年芙蓉树春日开花和皂角树逢公年两件异事碰在一起，火相克，或许大吉大利，或许镇上人家会有不测祸福等等。一时镇上人心惶惶，猫狗不安。可是毕竟解放都十三、四年了，圩场上连个测字先生也不易找见，因之有些人便去找“天上的事情晓得一半，地上的事情晓得全”的五类分子秦书田求教。秦书田这家伙却假装积极，好像比一般社员群众觉悟还高、思想还进步似的，竞唱开了高调，说以上言论都是不读书，不懂生物学、生态学为何物造成的，硬把世事变迁、自然灾害和草木花卉的变异现象扯在一起，做出了种种迷信解释，等等。

    最后还引用了革命导师关于“在一个文盲充塞的国度里是不可能建设共产主义”的教导，来说服大家，来上政治课，妄图以此来抬高身价，显示他有文化知识的优越性，贬低社员群众的思想觉悟呢。

    然而自然界的某些变异现象，却往往不迟不早地和社会生活里的某些重大事件巧合在一起。二月下旬，县委社教工作组进驻了芙蓉镇。组长就是原先国营饮食店的女经理。李国香这回来，衣着朴素，面色沉静，好些日子都不大露面，住在镇上的一户“现贫农”家——王秋赦的吊脚楼上，学当年土改工作队搞“扎根串连”。山镇上的居民对上级派来的工作同志向来十分敬重。对于政治，对于形势，却表现出一种耳目闭塞的顽愚。死水一般平静的生活，旧有的风俗人情，就像一剂效用长久的蒙汗药，使他们麻木、迟钝。就连谷燕山、黎满庚这些见过世面的头面人物，也以为生活的牛车轮子还会吱吱嘎嘎、不紧不慢地照常转动。对于李国香的重新出现，他们虽然心里也掠过了几丝阴云，但没有十分介意。她在客位，自己在主位。神仙下来问土地公。他们就是这镇上的土地公。不管哪个仙姑奶奶、官家脑壳来，外礼外法的事，大约是难以办起来的。加上这段时间，谷燕山为着粮站发放一批早稻优良品种，黎满庚为着大队的春耕生产，忙还忙不赢呢。

    工作组住进王秋赦的吊脚楼这件大事，暂时还没有成为本镇的重要新闻。本镇居民的注意力都被另一件事情吸引去了：摆米豆腐摊的胡玉音夫妇即将落成新楼屋了。新楼屋涣散了人心，干扰了运动。胡玉音两口子却为了这新楼屋请人描图、备料，请木匠泥匠，忙了一冬一春，都瘦掉了一身肉。逢圩赶场的人却讲，“芙蓉姐子”人瘦点，倒越发显得水灵鲜嫩了。她的老胡记客栈已经十分破旧，打算盖起新屋后拆除。新楼屋就盖在老胡记客栈的隔壁，屋基就是买得吊脚楼主王秋赦的。据说王秋赦花掉两百块钱地皮款后又有些翻悔：卖贱了，黎桂桂夫妇起码占了他一百块钱的便宜。就算他赊吃了两年多的米豆腐，但一百块钱就是一千碗呀!天啊，一千碗!他王秋赦就是牛肠马肚也装不下这许多呀。可见生意人是放长线钓大鱼，打的是铁算盘……可如今，管你翻悔不翻悔，人家新楼屋已经盖起了，一色的青砖青瓦，雪白的灰浆粉壁。临街正墙砌成个洋式牌楼，水泥涂抹，划成一格格长方形块块，给人一种庄重的整体感。楼上开着两扇门窗两用玻璃窗，两门窗之间是一道长廊阳台，砌着菱花图案。楼下是青石阶沿，红漆大门。一把会旋转的“牛眼睛”铜锁嵌进门板里。这座建筑物，真可谓土洋并举、中西合璧了。在芙蓉镇青石板街上，它和街头、街中、街尾的百货商店、南货店、饮食店互相媲美，巍然耸立于它古老、破旧的邻居们之上，可以称为本镇的第四大建筑，而且是属于私人所有!脚手架还没有完全拆除，本镇居民们就天天在围观、评价、感叹了。社教工作组组长李国香同志也杂在人群中来观看过几回，并在小本本里记下了几条“群众反映”：
    “攒钱好比针挑土，想不到卖米豆腐得厚利，盖起大屋来!”
    “比解放前的茂源商号还气派，比海通盐行还排场!”
    “人无横财不富，马无夜草不肥……没个三千两千的，这楼屋怕拿不下。”
    “黎桂桂这屠户杀生出身，入赘在胡氏家，不晓得哪世人积下的德!”
    “胡玉音真是本镇女子的头块牌，不声不气，票子没有存进银行，不晓得是夹在哪块老砖缝缝里……”

    新屋落成，破旧的老客栈还没拆除，就碰上芙蓉河岸老芙蓉树春日里开花的异事，胡玉音决定办十来桌酒席冲一冲。也是对街坊父老、泥木师傅的一种酬谢。她先去请教了义兄满庚哥。大队支书既没有点头，也没有摇头。胡玉音懂得这在头头们来说叫做“默认”。接着，她挨家挨户，从老谷主任、税务所长到供销社主任、信用社会计，百货、南货、饮食各单位头头，一些相好的街坊邻里，都请到了。大都满口应承，也有少数托词回避的。她还特意去请了请那位跟她面目不善的社教工作组组长李国香以及两位组员。李国香倒是客客气气的，开口就是“好的，好的”，说工作组新来，运动还没有展开，吃喜酒不好去，怕违犯社教工作队员的纪律，倒是日后一定到新楼屋去看看，坐坐，扯扯家闲。李国香这回确是身分不同，待人接物，讲话办事的水平也不同。胡玉音见她和和气气，心里自是宽慰感激。

    三月初一，天一放亮，新楼屋门口就响起了噼噼啪啪的鞭炮声，有五百响的，有一千响、两千响的，把芙蓉镇吵醒了。红漆大门洞开，贴着一副惹眼醒目的红纸金字对联。上联：勤劳夫妻发社会主义红财。下联：山镇人家添人民公社风光。横联：安居乐业。不用说，这副对联是出自秦书田的手笔。

    整整一上午，亲戚朋友，街坊邻里，同行小贩，来“恭喜贺喜”的，送镜框匾额、送“红包”、打鞭炮的络绎不绝。新楼屋门口的青石板上，红红绿绿的鞭炮纸屑天女散花似地撒了一层。通街都飘着一股喜庆的硝烟味、酒肉香。中午一时，人客到齐，新楼旧铺，摆下了十多桌酒席，济济两堂，热闹非凡。老谷主任、满庚支书、税务所长、供销社主任等镇上的头面人物，坐了首席。

    开席前，满面红光却又是一脸倦容的胡玉音拉着满庚哥说：“我是滴酒不沾的，桂桂又是个见不得场合、出不得众的人，你有海量，就给妹子做个主，劝谷主任他们多吃几杯。一生一世，也难得这么热闹两回……”“放心，放心，这回，我头一个就替你把‘北方大兵’灌醉!”“秦癫子也来帮过忙，他成分高，我打算另外谢他一下。”胡玉音周到地说。“对，对，秦癫子要入另册。”“另外，满庚哥，住进新楼屋后，拆了老屋，我和桂桂想收养一个崽娃，到时候请大队上做个主……”“哎呀，妹子，你今日是喜饱了?你还有没有个完?席上正等着我哪……

    是的，胡玉音没吃没喝，听着乡邻们的恭贺声，看着张张笑脸，就喜饱了，醉倒了。

    “北方大兵”谷燕山今日兴致特别高，第一轮酒喝下肚，在大队党支部书记黎满庚的催促下，他端着酒杯站起，来了段即兴祝辞。他讲的是一口纯正的北方话，没有杂一点本地土腔。在一切正规、严肃的场合，他都坚持讲一口北方话，好像用以显示其内容的重要性。

    “同志们!今天，咱都和主人一样高兴，来庆祝这幢新楼房的落成!一对普通的劳动夫妻，靠了自己的双手，积蓄下款子，能盖这么一幢新楼房，说明了什么问题呢?劳动可以致富，可以改善生活。咱不要苦日子，咱要过幸福生活。这就是社会主义制度的优越性，咱共产党领导的英明!这是今天大家端着酒杯，吃着鸡鸭鱼肉，应当想到的第一点。第二一点，大家都是在一个镇子上住着，对这幢新楼房和它的主人，咱应当抱什么态度呢?是羡慕，还是嫉妒?是想向他们看齐，还是站在一旁风言风语?我觉得应当向他们看齐，应当向这对勤劳夫妇学习。当然不是叫咱人人都去摆摊子卖米豆腐。发展集体生产和家庭副业，门路多得很!第三一点，咱不是经常讲要建成社会主义、进入共产主义吗?我想共产主义社会嘛，坐着是等不来的，伸着手也没有人给。前几年吃公共食堂大锅饭，也没有吃得成……我想共产主义嘛，在咱芙蓉镇，是不是可以先来一点具体的标准，每户人家除了吃好穿好外，都盖这么一幢新楼房，而且比这幢楼房还要盖得好，盖得高，盖得有气派!把咱镇上的草顶土砖房，杉皮木板房，歪歪斜斜的吊脚楼，门板都发黑、发霉了的老铺子，逐步换成楼上楼下，电灯电话!那一来，咱芙蓉镇的青石板街的两旁，就新楼房一幢挤着一幢，就和大城市里的一条整齐漂亮的街道一样……”

    因为不是在会场上，大家对于“北方大兵”的这席祝酒词，不是报以热烈的掌声，而是报以笑声、叫好声，杯盏相碰的叮当声。当然，也有少数人在心里嘀咕，这个老谷，两杯酒落肚，就讲开了酒话?家家住新屋，过好日子，就是共产主义?可如今上头来的风声很紧，好像阶级和阶级斗争，才是革命的根本，才是通向共产主义的路径。

    接着下来，镇税务所长也举起酒杯讲了几句话。当他提议祝新楼屋的主人早生贵子、人丁兴旺时，获得了满堂的喝彩、叫好。

    酒，是家做的杂粮烧酒，好进口，有后劲。菜是鸡、鸭、鱼、肉十大碗。老谷和黎满庚两人来了豪兴，开怀畅饮。

    也有细心的人冷眼旁观看出来，吊脚楼主王秋赦，破天荒头一回没有加入这场合，来跑堂帮忙，一享口福。真有点使人觉得反常。是王秋赦心疼自己“贱价”卖掉的地皮，不愿看到人家在那块本来是属于他的胜利果实上盖起了新楼屋?还是社教工作组住进了他的吊脚楼，如今他又成了红人，当了“根子”，协助工作组忙运动，抓中心，实在抽不开身?还有一种令人担忧的猜测，就是或许他已经听到了什么消息，摸着了什么风头，提高了觉悟，有了警惕性。

    二 吊脚楼啊

    吊脚楼原是富裕殷实的山里人家的住所，全木结构，在建筑上颇有讲究。或依山，或傍水，或绿树掩映，或临崖崛起，多筑在风景秀丽处。它四柱落地，横梁对穿，圆筒杉木竖墙，杉木条子铺楼板，杉皮盖顶。一般为上下两层，也有沿坡而筑，高达四层的：第一层养猪圈牛。第二层为库房，存放米谷、杂物、农具。第三层为火塘，全家饮食起居、接待客人、对歌讲古的场所。第四层方为通铺睡房。在火塘一层，有长廊突出，底下没有廊柱，用以日看风云，夜观星象，称为“吊脚”。初到山区的人，见吊脚楼衬以芭蕉果木，清溪山石，那尖尖的杉木皮顶，那四柱拔起的黄褐色形影，有的屋顶和木墙上还爬着青藤，点缀着朵朵喇叭花，倒会觉得是个神秘新奇的去处呢。

    王秋赦土地改革时分得的这栋胜利果实——临街吊脚楼，原是一个山霸逢圩赶场的临时住所。楼前原先有两行矮冬青，如今成了两丛一人多高的刺蓬；楼后原先栽着几棵肥大的芭蕉，还有两株广桔。如今芭蕉半枯半死，广桔树则生了粉虫。楼分上下二层。下一层原先为火塘、佣人住房。上一层方为山霸的吃喝玩乐处。整层楼面又分两半，临街一半为客厅，背街一半则分隔成三间卧室。如今王秋赦只在底下一层吃住，故楼上一层经常空着，留把上级下来的男女工作同志借宿。早先楼上的金红镂花高柱床没有变卖时，王秋赦也曾在楼上住过两三年，睡在镂花高柱床上做过许多春梦。唉唉，那时他就像中了魔、入了邪似的，在脑子里想像出原先山霸身子歪在竹凉床上，如何搂着卖唱的女人喝酒、听曲、笑闹的光景。有时就是闭着眼睛躺在被褥上，脑子里浮现的也是些不三不四的思念：娘卖乖，就是这张床，这套铺盖，山霸玩过多少女人？年少的，中年的，胖的，瘦的……山霸后来得了梅毒，死得很苦、很惨。活该！娘卖乖！可是，他总是觉得床上存有脂粉气，枕边留有口角香。

    牡丹花不死，做鬼也风流！他慢慢地生出一些下作的行径来。在那些天气晴和、月色如水的春夜、夏夜、秋夜，竟不能自禁，从床上蹦跳到客厅楼板上，模仿起老山霸当日玩乐的情景，他也歪在竹凉床上，抱着个枕头当姘头：“乖乖，唱支曲儿给爷听！听哪支？还消问？你是爷的心肝儿，爷是你的摇钱树……”他搂着枕头有问有答。从前有身分的乡绅总以哼几句京戏为时髦，他不会唱京戏，只好唱出几句老花灯来：“哎呀依子哥喂，哎呀依子妹，哥呀舔住了妹的舌，妹呀咬住了哥的嘴……”有时他还会打了赤脚，满客厅、卧室里追逐。追逐什么？只有他自己心里有数。他追的是一个幻影。时而绕过屋柱，时而跳过条凳，时而钻过桌底，嘴里骂着：“小蹄子！小妖精！看你哪里跑，看你哪里躲！嘻嘻嘻，哈哈哈，你这个小妖精，你这个坏蹄子……”他一直追逐到精疲力竭，最后气喘吁吁地扑倒在镂花高柱床上，一动不动地像条死蛇。但他毕竟是扑了一场空，觉得伤心、委屈，流出了眼泪：“从前山霸有吃有喝有女人……如今轮着爷们……却只做得梦……”

    有段时间，街坊邻居听见吊脚楼上乒乒乓乓，还夹杂着嬉笑声、叫骂声，就以为楼上出了狐狸精了，王秋赦这不学好、不走正路的人是中了邪，被精怪迷住了。原先有几位替王秋赦提亲做媒、巴望他成家立业、过正经日子的老婶子们，都不敢再当这媒人了。而一班小媳妇、大妹娃们，则大白天经过吊脚楼前，也要低下脑壳加快脚步，免得沾上了“妖气”。后来就连王秋赦本人，也自欺欺人，讲他确实在楼上遇到了几次狐狸精，那份标致，那份妖媚，除了镇上卖米豆腐的胡玉音，再没一个娘们能相比。从此，王秋赦也不上楼去睡了。他倒不是怕什么狐狸精，而是怕弄假成真得“色癫”，发神经病。不久，镇上倒是传出了一些风言风语，说是吊脚楼主没有遇上什么精怪，倒是迷上了卖米豆腐的“芙蓉姐子”，连着几次去钻老胡记客栈的门洞，都挨胡玉音的耳刮子，后来还是黎桂桂亮出了杀猪刀，他才死了心。但胡玉音夫妇都是镇上的正派人，苦吃勤做，老实本分。因之这些街言巷语，都不足凭信。

    屋靠保养楼靠修。李国香带着三个工作队员住进来时，吊脚楼已经很不成样子了。整座木楼都倾斜了，靠了三根粗大的斜桩支撑着。每根斜桩的顶端撑着木墙的地方，都用铁丝吊着块百十斤重的大青石。要是在月黑星暗的晚上，猛然间抬头看去，就像吊着三具死尸，叫人毛骨悚然。吊脚楼的屋脚，露出泥土的木头早就沤得发黑了，长了凤尾草，生了虫蚁。凤尾草倒是不错，团团围围就像给木楼镶了一圈绿色花边一样。还有楼后的杂草藤蔓，长得蓬蓬勃勃，早就探着楼上的窗口了。

    歪斜的楼屋，荒芜的院子，使李国香组长深有感触，感到自己的责任重大啊，解放都十四、五年了，王秋赦这样的“土改根子”还在过着穷苦日子，并没有彻底翻身。这是什么问题？三年苦日子，城乡资本主义势力乘机抬了头啊。不搞运动，不抓阶级斗争，农村必然两极分化，还是富的富，穷的穷，国变色，党变修，革命成果断送，资本主义复辟，地主资产阶级上台，又要重新进山打游击，搞农村包围城市……当李国香在楼下火塘里看到王秋赦的烂锅烂灶缺口碗，都红了眼眶掉了泪！多么深厚的阶级情感。女组长和两个工作组员做好人好事，每人捐了两块钱人民币，买回一口亮堂堂的钢精锅、一把塑料筷子、十个饭钵。工作组还身体力行出义务工，组长组员齐动手，把吊脚楼后藏蛇窝鼠的藤蔓刺蓬来了次大铲除，拯救了半死不活的芭蕉丛、柚子树，改善了环境卫生。李国香手掌上打起了血泡，手臂上划了些红道道。临街吊脚楼却是面貌一新，楼口贴了副红纸对联：千万不忘阶级斗争，永远批判资本主义。

    为了在镇上把“根子”扎正扎稳，工作组没有急于开大会，刷标语，搞动员，追求表面的轰轰烈烈。而是注重搞串连，摸情况，先分左、中、右，对全镇干部、居民“政治排队”，确定运动依靠谁，团结谁，教育争取谁，孤立打击谁。一天，李国香派两个工作组员分头深入镇上的几户“现贫农”家“串连”去了，她则留在吊脚楼里，对王秋赦进行重点培养，亲自念文件给“根子”听。她自去年和王秋赦有过几次交往后，对吊脚楼主印象不坏，觉得可塑性很大：首先是苦大仇深，立场坚定，对上级指示从无二话；再就是此人长相也不差，不高不矮，身子壮实，笑笑眯眯，和蔼可亲；更重要的是王秋赦思想灵活，反应快，嘴勤脚健，能说会道，有一定的组织活动能力。所谓“人不可貌相”，眼下王秋赦不过穿着破一点，饮食粗一点，要是给他换上一身干部制服，衬个白领子，穿双黄解放鞋，论起气度块头来，就不会比县里的哪个科局级干部差了去。她初步打算把王秋赦树成一个社教运动提高觉悟的“典型”，先进标兵，从而使自己抓的这个镇子的运动，也可以成为全县的一面红旗……

    李国香嘴里念着文件，心里想着这些，不时以居高临下的眼光看王秋赦一眼。王秋赦当然体察不到工作组女组长的这份苦心。当女组长念到“清阶级、清成分、清经济”的条款时，他心里一动，眼睛放亮，喉咙痒痒的，忍不住问：“李组长，这次的运动，是不是像土地改革时那样……或者叫做第二次土改？”
    “第二次土地改革？对对，这次运动，就是要像土改时那样扎根串连，依靠贫雇农，打击地富反坏右，打击新生的资产阶级分子！”
    李国香耐心地给“根子”解答，流畅地背着政策条文。
    “李组长，这回的运动要不要重新划分阶级成分？”
    “情况复杂，土地改革搞得不彻底的地方，就要重新建立阶级队伍，组织阶级阵线。老王，你听了文件，倒动了点脑筋，不错，不错。”
    “我还有个事不懂，清经济这一条，是不是要清各家各户的财产？”
    王秋赦睁大了眼睛，一眨不眨地瞪着女组长。他差点就要问出“还分不分浮财”这话来。女组长被这个三十几岁的单身汉盯得脸上有点发臊，就移开了自己的视线，继续讲解着政策界限：“要清理生产队近几年来的工分、账目、物资分配，要清理基层干部的贪污挪用，多吃多占，还要清查弃农经商、投机倒把分子的浮财，举办阶级斗争展览，政治账、经济账一起算。”
    “好好！这个运动我拥护！哪怕提起脑壳走夜路，我都去！”

    王秋赦呼的一下站了起来，兴奋得心都在怦怦跳。娘卖乖！哈哈，早些年曾经想过、盼过，后来自己都不相信会再来的事，如今说来就来！乖乖，第二次土改，第二次划成分，第二次分浮财……看看吧！王秋赦有先见之明吧？你们这些蠢东西，土改时分得了好田好土，耕牛农具，就只想着苦吃勤做，只想着起楼屋，置家产，发家致富……哈哈，王秋赦却是比你们看得远，仍是烂锅烂灶烂碗，当着“现贫农”，来“革”你们的“命”，“斗”你们的“争”！他一时浑身热乎乎、劲鼓鼓的，情不自禁一把抓住了女组长的双手臂：“李组长！我这百多斤身坯，交给工作组了！工作组就是我亲爷娘，我听工作组调遣、指挥！”

    李国香抽回了自己的双手，竞也有点儿心猿意马。没的恶心！她严肃地对“根子”说：“坐下来！不像话，这么没上没下、没大没小的，动手动脚，可要注意影响，啊？”

    王秋赦红了红脸，顺从地坐了下来。他搓着刚才曾经捏过女组长手臂的一双巴掌，觉得有些儿滑腻腻的：“我该死！只顾着拥护上级文件，拥护上级政策，就、就忘记了李组长是个女的……”

    “少废话，还是讲正事吧。”李国香倒是有海量，没大介意地笑了笑，掠了掠额上的一缕乱发，没再责备他。“你本乡本土的，讲讲看，镇上这些人家，哪些是近些年来生活特殊的暴发户？”

    “先讲干部？还是讲一般住户？镇上的干部嘛……有一个人像那河边的大树，荫庇着不少资本主义的浮头鱼，他每圩卖给胡玉音六十斤米头子做米豆腐卖，赚大钱起新楼屋。只是人家资格老，根底厚，威望高。就是工作组想动他一动，怕也是不容易。”
    “他？哼哼，如果真有问题嘛，我们工作组这回可要摸摸老虎屁股喽！还有呢？”
    “还有就是税务所长。听讲他是官僚地主出身，对贫下中农有仇恨，他多次讲我是‘二流子’‘流氓无产者’……”
    “嗯嗯，诬蔑贫农，就是诬蔑革命。还有呢？”

    “还有就是大队支书黎满庚。他立场不稳，重用坏分子秦书田写这刷那，当五类分子小头目。还认了卖米豆腐的胡玉音做干妹子，又和粮站主任、供销社主任勾通一气……芙蓉镇就是他们几个人的天下……”

    王秋赦讲的倒是真话。镇上这几个头头平日老是讲他游手好闲啊，好吃懒做啊，怕下苦力啊。黎满庚最可恶，克扣过他的救济粮和救济衣服，全无一点阶级感情！哼哼，这种人在本镇大队掌印当政，他王秋赦怎么彻底翻得了身？这回政府算开了恩，体察下情，派下了工作组，替现时最穷最苦的人讲话，革那些现时有钱有势人的命！

    李国香边问边记，把镇上十几个干部的情况都大致上摸了个底。王秋赦真是本活谱子呀，这家伙晓得的事多，记性又好，谁跟谁有什么亲戚，什么瓜葛，什么口角不和，什么明仇暗恨，甚至谁爬过谁的阁楼，谁摸过谁家的鸡笼，谁被谁的女人掌过嘴，谁的妹儿吃过哑巴亏，出嫁时是个空心萝卜，谁的崽娃长相不像爷老倌，而像谁谁谁。他都讲得头头是道，有根有叶。而且还有地点、人证、年月日。听着记着，女组长不禁对这“根子”产生了几分好感和兴趣，觉得王秋赦好比一块沉在水里的大青石，把什么水草啦，游丝啦，鱼虾、螺蛳、螃蟹啦，都吸附在自己身上。

    “这几年，趁着国家经济暂时困难，政策放得比较宽，圩场集市比较混乱，而做生意赚了钱、发了家的，镇上要算哪一户？”女组长又问。

    “还消问？你上级比我还清楚呀！”王秋赦故作惊讶地反问，“你上级听到的反映还少吗？就是东头起新楼屋的胡玉音！这姐子靠了她的长相摆米豆腐摊子，招徕顾客，得了暴利……而且她的本事大着呢。镇上的男女老少，没有几个不跟她相好。就是干部们对她，对她……”

    “对她怎么啦？”女组长有些不耐烦，又怀有强烈的好奇心。

    “喜欢她那张脸子、那双眼睛呀！大队黎支书认了她做干妹子，支书嫂子成了醋罐子。粮站主任供她碎米谷头子，税务所长每圩收她一块钱的税，像她大舅子。连秦癫子这坏分子跟她都有缘，从她口里收集过老山歌，骂社会主义是封建，可恶不可恶？”

    这席谈话，使得李国香大有收获，掌握了许多宝贵的第一手材料。吊脚楼主确是镇上一个人才，看看通过这场运动的斗争考验，能不能把他培养起来。

    半个月后，工作组把全镇大队各家各户的情况基本上摸清楚了。但群众还没有发动起来，于是决定从忆苦思甜、回忆对比入手，激发社员群众的阶级感情。具体措施有三项：一是吃忆苦餐，二是唱忆苦歌，三是举办大队阶级斗争展览。阶级斗争展览分解放前、解放后两部分。解放前的一部分需要找到几样实物：一床烂棉絮，一件破棉袄，一只破篮筐，一根打狗棍，一只半边碗。

    但解放都十四、五年了，穷人都翻了身，生活也有所提高，如今还到哪里去找这些烂东烂西！唉唉，土地改革那阵，只顾着欢天喜地庆翻身，土地还老家，只想着好好种种分得的好田好土，只顾着奔新社会的光明前程，那些破破烂烂，当初只怕扔都扔不赢呢，谁还肯留下来叫人见了伤心落泪，又哪里料想得到十几年以后还要搞展览，进行回忆对比呢。可见，凡事都应当有远见，烂东烂西自有烂东烂西的用处。越穷越苦的地方，就越要搞回忆对比。叫做物质的东西少一点，精神的东西就要多一些。比方，有的生产队集体生产暂时没有搞上去，分下的口粮不够吃，少数社员就骂娘，不满；再比方，有的地方工分值低，年终分配兑不了现，就有社员撕扯记工本，骂队长会计吃了冤枉；又比方，公社、县里的领导，统一推行某种耕作制，规定种植某个外地优良品种，因水土不服，造成了大面积减产，社员们就叫苦连天等等。不搞回忆对比行吗？不忆苦、不思甜行吗？解放才十四、五年，就把旧社会受过的苦、遭过的罪，忘得精光？三面红旗、集体经济，纵使有个芝麻绿豆、鸡毛蒜皮的毛病、缺点，你们也不应发牢骚、泄怨气。不要这山望着那山高，端着粗碗想细碗，吃了糠粑想细粮，人心不足蛇吞象。所以忆苦思甜是件法宝，能派很多用场。

    当然李国香组长要办忆苦思甜阶级教育展览会，是为了发动群众，开展运动。她为着寻找几件解放前的展品走访了好些人家，都一无所获。她忽然心里一亮：对了！眼前放着个百事通、活谱子不去问！或许吊脚楼主能想出点子来。一天吃中饭时，她把这事对王秋赦讲了讲。王秋赦面有难色，犹豫了一会儿，才说：“东西倒有几样，不晓得用得用不得……”
    “什么用得用不得，快去拿来看看！”

    李国香心里一块石头落了地，笑眯眯地看着她的“依靠对象”到门弯楼角里捣腾去了。

    不一会儿，王秋赦就一头一身灰蒙蒙的，提着一筐东西出来了，给女组长过目。原来是一床千疮百孔的破棉絮，一件筋吊吊、黑油油的烂棉袄，一只破篮筐，缺口碗。只少一根打狗棍，那倒随处可找了。

    “呵呵，得来全不费功夫！还是你老王有办法。”女组长十分高兴、赞赏。
    “只是要报告上级，这破棉絮，烂棉袄，都是解放后政府发给我的救济品……”王秋赦苦着眉眼，有实道实。
    “你开什么玩笑？这是严肃的政治任务！还有什么心三心四的？”女组长声色俱厉地批评教育说，“我到衡州、广州看过一些大博物馆，大玻璃柜里摆着的，好多都是模型、仿制品呢！”

    三 女人的账

    镇上传出了风声：县委工作组要收缴“芙蓉姐子”的米豆腐摊子和她男人的杀猪屠刀。这风声最初是从哪里来的，谁都不晓得，也无须去过问。而人们对于传播新鲜听闻的爱好，就像蜂蝶在春天里要传花授粉一样，是出于一种天性和本能。还往往在这新鲜听闻上添油加醋，增枝长叶，使其疑云闷雨，愈传愈奇，直到产生了另一件新鲜传闻，目标转移为止。

    街坊们的挤眉弄眼，窃窃私语，无形中给胡玉音夫妇造成一种压力，一种惶恐气氛。这可把胡玉音急坏了，也把她男人黎桂桂吓懵了。桂桂脸色呆滞，吃早饭时连碗都不想端了。难怪政治家们把舆论当武器，要办一件事总是先造舆论，放风声。

    “祖宗爷!人家的男人像屋柱子，天塌下来撑得起!我们家里一有点事，你就连个女人都不如，碗筷都拿不起?”胡玉音对自己不中用的男人又恼又气又恨。

    “玉音，我、我们恐怕原先就没想到，新社会，不兴私人起楼屋。土改前几年，不是也有些新发户紧穿省用，捆紧裤带买田买土买山场，后来划成了地主、富农……”桂桂眼睛里充满了惊恐，疑惧地说。
    “依你看，我们该哪样办?”胡玉音咬了咬牙关，问。
    “趁着工作组还没有找上门来，我们赶快想法子把这新楼屋脱手……哪怕贱卖个三、两百块钱……我们只有住这烂木板屋的命……”桂桂目光躲躲闪闪地说。
    “放屁!没得出息的东西!”胡玉音听完男人的主意，火冒三丈，手里的筷子头直戳了过去，在男人的额头上戳出了两点红印。“地主富农是收租放债、雇长工搞剥削!你当屠户剥削了哪个?我卖米豆腐剥削了哪个?卖新屋!只有住烂木板屋的命!亏你个男人家讲得出口!抓死抓活，推米浆磨把子都捏小了，做米豆腐锅底都抓穿了，手指头都抓短了，你张口就是卖新屋!天呀，人家的男人天下都打得来，我家男人连栋新屋都守不住……”

    黎桂桂伸手摸了摸额头，额头上的两个筷子头印子沁出了细细的血珠子。胡玉音含着眼泪，这才发觉，自己气头子上没轻没重……鬼打起，听到点风声，遇上点事，自己也发了癫哕，人都不抵钱了!她和桂桂结婚八年了，还没起过高腔红过脸。由于没有生育，她把女人的一腔母爱都倾注在男人身上，连男人的软弱怕事，都滋长了她对他袒护、怜爱的情感。桂桂既是她丈夫，又是她兄弟，有时还荒唐地觉得是自己的崽娃……可如今，把男人的额头都戳出了血!她赶忙放下碗筷，站起身子绕过去，双手捧住了桂桂的头：“你呀，蠢东西，就连痛都不晓得喊一声。”

    桂桂非但没有发气，反而把脑壳靠在她的胸脯上：“又不大痛。玉音，卖新楼屋，我不过随便讲讲，还是你拿定见……反正我听你的，你哪样办我就哪样办。你就是我的家，我的屋……只要你在，我就什么都不怕……真的，当叫花子讨吃，都不怕……”

    胡玉音紧紧搂着男人，就像要护着男人免受一股看不见的恶势力的欺凌，她不觉地就落下泪来。是的，一个摆小摊子为业的乡下女人的世界就这么一点大，她是男人的命，男人也是她的命。他们就是为了这个活着，也是为了这个才紧吃苦做，劳碌奔波。

    “玉音，你不要以为我总是老鼠胆子……其实，我胆子不小。如果为了我们的新楼屋，你喊我去杀了哪个，我就操起杀猪刀……我的手操惯了刀，力气蛮足……”桂桂闭着眼睛像在做梦似地咕咕哝哝，竟然说出这种无法无天的话来。

    胡玉音赶紧捂住了桂桂的嘴巴：“要死了!看看你都讲了些什么疯话!这号事，连想想都有罪过，亏你还讲得出……”说着，背过身子去擦眼泪。

    “玉音，玉音，我是讲把你听的，讲把你听的……又没有真的就要去杀哪个……”
    “可你，要就是卖掉新楼屋，要就是去拼性命……如今镇上只传出点风声，就把你吓成这样子……若还日后真的有点什么事，你如何经得起?”
    “左不过是个死。另外，还能把我们怎么的?”
    黎桂桂随口讲出的这个“死”字，使得胡玉音眼冒火星子。她真想扬手抽男人一个嘴巴子，但手举到半路又落不下去了。就像有座大山突然横到了她眼前，要压到她身上来，她感到了事情的严重和紧迫。她是个外柔内刚的人，当即在心里拿定了一个主意：
    “我就去找找李国香，问问她工作组组长，收缴米豆腐摊子和杀猪刀的话，是真是假……我想，大凡上级派来的工作同志，像老谷主任他们，总是来替我们平头百姓主事、讲话的……”

    黎桂桂以敬佩的目光看着自己的女人。每逢遇事，女人总是比他有主见，也比他有手腕，会周旋。在这个两口之家里，男人和女人的位置本来就是颠了倒顺的。

    胡玉音梳整了一下，想了想该和女组长说些什么话，才不致引起人家的反感，或是不给人家留下话把。她正打算出门，门外却有个女子和悦的声气在问：
    “胡玉音!胡玉音在屋吗?今天不是逢圩的日子嘛!”

    胡玉音连忙迎出门去，一看，竟是一脸笑容的李国香组长。真是心到神知啊!她连忙把客人迎进屋来。李国香比上一年当饮食店经理时略显富态些，脸上的皱纹也少了点。工作上的同志，劳心不劳力，日子过得爽畅，三十三岁上当黄花女，还不现老相。黎桂桂见李组长没有带手下的人，又和和气气的，一颗悬着的心，也就落下来一半。他赶忙筛茶，端花生、瓜子。这时，他抛给他女人一个眼色，羞愧地笑了笑。摆好茶盘杯子，他说了声“李组长好坐”，就从门背后拿出把锄头，上小菜园子去了。

    “你的爱人见了生客，就和个野老公一样，走都走不赢?”李国香组长呷了一口茶，似笑非笑地问。
    “他呀，是个没出息的。”胡玉音却脸一红，一边劝李组长剥花生，嗑瓜子，一边在心里想：你个没出嫁的老闺女，大约男人的东西都不分倒顺，却是“野老公”、“野老公”的也讲得出口。

    “今天，我是代表工作组，特意来参观这新楼屋的。顺便把两件事，和你个别谈谈。你放心，我们是熟人熟事，公事公办……”李国香说着就抓了一把瓜子站起身来。

    胡玉音脸色有些发白，脑壳里有些发紧。女组长今天大约是来者不善，善者不来啊。她来看新楼屋，总不会是个人的兴趣啊。但胡玉音还是强打起精神，赔着笑脸，领着女组长出了老客栈铺子，开开新楼屋的红漆大门。进得门来，李国香就闻到了一股新木香和油漆味。女组长把过厅，厢房，厨房，杂屋，后院的猪栏、鸡埘、厕所，一一地看了看，口里不停地夸赞着“不错，不错”。接着又踏着板梯，上楼看了宽大敞亮的卧室，里头摆着大衣柜、高柱床、五屉柜、书桌、圆桌、靠背椅，整套全新的家具，油漆泛出枣红色的亮光，把四壁雪白的粉墙都映出了一种喜气洋洋的色调。李国香嘴里没再夸赞什么“不错，不错”了，而是抿住嘴巴点着头，露出一脸惊叹、感慨之色。胡玉音一直在留神观看着她脸上的表情变化，但估不透女组长心里想着、窝着的是些什么。最后，她们打开落地窗，站在阳台上看了看山镇风光。李国香倚靠着栏杆，就像一位首长站在检阅台上。她站在阳台这个高度，才看清楚了四周围的古老发黑的土砖屋、歪歪斜斜的吊脚楼、靠斜桩支撑着的杉皮木板屋，和这幢鹤立鸡群似的新楼屋之间的可怕的差异，贫富悬殊的鸿沟啊。

    回到卧室，李国香径自在书桌前坐了下来。书桌当窗放着，土漆油的桌面像镜子，照得清人影。胡玉音在一旁陪站着。她见女组长已经在书桌上摊开了笔记本，手里的钢笔旋开了笔帽。

    “坐呀，你先坐下来呀。就我们两个人，谈一谈……”这时，李国香倒成了屋主似的，招呼着胡玉音落座了。

    胡玉音拉过一张四方凳坐下来。在摆着笔记本、捏着钢笔的女组长面前，她不由地就产生了一种自卑感。所以女组长坐靠背椅，她就还是坐四方凳为宜。

    “胡玉音，我们县委工作组是到镇上来搞‘四清’运动的，这你大约早听讲了。”李国香例行公事地说，“为了开展运动，我们要对各家各户的政治、经济情况摸一个底。你既不是头一家，也不是最末一户。对工作组讲老实话，就是对党讲老实话。我的意思，你懂了吧?”

    胡玉音点了点头。其实她心里蒙着雾，什么都不懂。

    “我这里替你初步算了一笔账，找你亲自落实一下。有出入，你可以提出来。”李国香说着，以她黑白分明的眼睛注视了胡玉音一下。

    胡玉音又点了点头。她糊糊涂涂地觉得，这倒省事，免得自己来算。若还女组长叫自己算，说不定还会慌里慌张的。而且女组长态度也算好，没有像对那些五类分子训话样的，眼光像刀子，锋寒刃利。

    “从一九六一年下半年起，芙蓉镇开始改半月圩为五天圩。这就是讲，一月六圩，对不对?”李国香又注视了胡玉音一眼。

    胡玉音仍旧点点头，没做声。她不晓得女组长为什么要扯得这么远，像要翻什么老案。

    “到今年二月底止，一共是两年零九个月，”李国香组长继续说，不过她眼睛停留在记事本上了，“也就是说，一共是三十三个月份，正好，逢了一百九十八圩，对不对?”

    胡玉音呆住了。她没有再点头。她开始预感到，自己像在受审。

    “你每圩都做了大约五十斤大米的米豆腐卖。有人讲这是家庭副业，我们暂且不管这个。一斤米的米豆腐你大约可以卖十碗。你的定价不高，量也较足。这叫薄利多销。你的作料香辣，食具干净，油水也比较厚。所以受到一些顾客的欢迎。你一圩卖掉的是五百碗，也就是五十块钱，有多无少。一月六圩，你的月收入为三百元。三百元中，我们替你留有余地，除掉一百元的成本花销，不算少了吧?你每月还纯收入两百元!顺便提一句，你的收入达到了一位省级首长的水平。一年十二个月，你每年纯收入二千四百元!两年零九个月，累计纯收入六千六百元!”

    胡玉音怎么也没有料到，女组长会替她算出这么一笔明细账来!她的收入达到了一位省长级干部的水平，累计六千六百元!天啊，天啊，自己倒是从没这样算过哪……真是五雷轰顶!她顿时就像被闪电击中了一样。

    “小本生意，我从没这么算过账……糊里糊涂过日子，钱是赚了一点，都起这新屋花费了……李组长，我卖米豆腐有小贩营业证，得到政府许可，没有犯法……”

    “我们并没有认定你就犯了法、搞了剥削呀!”李国香还是一副似笑非笑的脸色，“你门口不是贴着副红纸对联，‘发社会主义红财’吗?听说这对联还是出自五类分子秦书田的大手笔。你不要紧张，我只不过是来摸个底，落实一下情况。”

    胡玉音的神情一下子由惊恐变成了麻木冷漠，眼睛盯着楼板，抿紧了嘴唇。李国香倒是没有计较她的这态度，也不在乎她吱声不吱声。

    “还有个情况。粮站主任谷燕山，每一圩都从打米厂批给你六十斤大米做米豆腐原料，是不是?”李国香的脸色越来越严肃，一时间，真有点像是在讯问一个行为不正当的女人一样。

    “不不!那不能算大米，是打米厂的下脚，碎米谷头子。我每圩都要从里头选出砂子，筛出谷壳、稗子、土。而且，碎米谷头子老谷主任也不只批给我一个，镇上好多单位和私人，都买来喂猪……我开初也买来喂猪，后来才做了点小本生意……”一听关连到了粮站的老谷主任，胡玉音就像从冷漠麻木中清醒了过来，大声申辩。老谷是个好人，自己就算犯了法，也不能把人家连累了。

    “所以我先前每圩只算了你五十斤米的米豆腐。除去十斤的谷壳、砂子、稗子、土，总够了吧。我是给你留了宽余哪。再说，人家买碎米谷头子是喂了肥猪卖给国家，你买碎米谷头子是变成了商品，喂了顾客!”

    李国香组长的话产生了威力，一下子把胡玉音镇住了。接着，女组长又稳住了自己的声调，继续念着本本里的账目说：

    “一月六圩，每圩六十斤，两年零九个月，一百九十八圩。就是说，粮站主任谷燕山总共批给你大米一万一千八百八十斤!这是一个什么数字?当然，这是另外一个问题，虽和你有关系，但主要不在你这里……”

    算过账，李国香组长在笔记本上写了一行：“经和米豆腐摊贩胡玉音本人核对，无误。”就走了。胡玉音相送到大门口。她心里像煎着一锅油，连请“李组长打了点心再走”这样的客气话都没有讲一句。

    晚上，胡玉音把女组长李国香跟她算的一本账，一万多斤大米和六千六百元纯收入的事，告诉了黎桂桂。两口子胆战心惊，果然就像财老倌面临着第二次土改一样。但旧社会的财老倌已经成了五类分子，他们反倒臭狗粪臭到底，不怕了。胡玉音两夫妇是在新社会里攒了点钱，难道也要重新划成分，定为新的地主、富农?

    至此。胡玉音和黎桂桂夜夜难合眼。他们认定了自己只是个住烂木板屋的命。住烂木板屋虽然怕小偷，却有种政治上的安全感似的。他们再不去想什么受不受孕、巴不巴肚，而是暗暗庆幸自己没有后代子嗣。不然娃儿都跟着大人当了小五类分子，那才是活作孽啊。

    四　鸡和猴

    这天晚上，县委工作组进镇以来第一次召开群众大会。大会在圩场戏台前的土坪里举行。那盏得了哮喘病似的煤汽灯修好了，挂在戏台中间，把台上台下照得雪白通亮，也照得人们的脸块都有些苍白。跟往时不同的是，本镇原先的几个头面人物都没有坐上戏台，粮站主任谷燕山、大队支书黎满庚、税务所所长等等，都是自己拿了矮凳子或是找了块砖头垫张报纸坐在戏台下边。胡玉音、黎桂桂两口子则紧挨着坐在他们身后，像在寻求依靠、庇护。在台上坐着的只有工作组组长李国香和她手下的两个组员。本镇群众对这一变化十分敏感，既新奇又疑惧，都想朝前边挤挤看看。有的人甚至特意绕个大圈子钻到戏台下，看看“北方大兵”和满庚支书他们究竟坐在什么地方。

    大会跟往时不同的是，主持大会的李国香组长没有来一个开场白，像原先那些头头那样，从国际国内大好形势讲到本省本县大好形势，讲到本镇本地的大好形势，最后才讲到开会的旨意，几个具体问题；而是先由一位工作组组员，宣读了省、地、县的三份通报。省里的通报是：某地一个坏分子，出于仇恨党和人民的反动阶级本性，疯狂对抗“四清”运动，唆使、煽动部分落后群众围攻、殴打工作队队员，罪行严重，依法判处有期徒刑十五年。地区的通报是：某县一名公社党委委员、大队党支部书记，几年来利用职权包庇地、富、反、坏、右，作恶多端，“四清”工作组进驻后，大吵大闹，拍桌打椅，拒不交代问题，态度十分恶劣，经研究决定撤销其党内外职务，开除党籍，交群众管制劳动。县委的通报是：某公社一个解放前当过妓女的小摊贩，长期搞投机倒把牟取暴利，利用酒色拉拢腐蚀当地干部，妄图在运动中蒙混过关。经批准，将这个女摊贩在全公社范围内进行游斗，以教育广大干部、党团员……

    三份通报念将下来，马上产生了神效，一时会场上鸦雀无声，仿佛突然来了一场冰雪，把所有参加大会的人都冻僵了。谷燕山、黎满庚等几个平日在镇上管事的头头都瞠目结舌，像哑了口似的。

    “把资产阶级右派分子秦书田揪上台来！”突然，一个工作组组员以一种冰雪崩裂似的声音喊道。

    立时，王秋赦和一个基干民兵，就一左一右地像提着只布袋似地，把秦癫子扔到台上来。整个会场都骚动了一下，随即又肃穆了下来。秦癫子垂着双手，低着脑壳站在台前，雪亮的煤汽灯光射得他睁不开眼睛。灯光把他瘦长的影子投射到天棚板上，黑糊糊的一片，像尊魔影。

    一直坐在戏台上惟一的一张八仙桌旁的女组长李国香，这才走到台前来，习惯地拢了拢额前的几丝乱发后，指着秦癫子，以一口和悦清晰的本地官话说：“这就是芙蓉镇上大名鼎鼎的秦书田，秦癫子。本镇大队的贫下中农、革命群众，对于老地主、富农，是晓得仇恨的。可是对于这个阶级敌人，你们恨不恨呢？特别要问一句国家干部、共产党员、共青团员们，你们认为秦书田是香还是臭？这样一个阶级故人，在三年困难时期，竟然成了芙蓉镇一带的红人，仗着他会舞文弄墨，吹拉弹唱，活跃得很。年年冬下社员家里讨亲嫁女，做红白喜事，请的鼓乐班子里头有他。每年春节、元宵节，本镇大队舞龙灯、耍狮子贺新春有他。平日在路上、街上会了面，你们有多少人和他打招呼，给他纸烟抽？在田边、地头，你们多少人听他讲过那些腐朽没落、借古讽今的故事？你们家里的娃娃，那些没有受过剥削压迫的小学生，有多少叫过他做‘秦叔叔’、‘秦伯伯’的？”

    李国香声调不高，平平和和，有理有节地讲着、问着。整个会场的空气都仿佛凝结住了，寂静得会场上的人全都屏声住息了似的。坐在台下的谷燕山、黎满庚和胡玉音两口子，则开始感觉到某种强度的地震。

    “怪事多着呢，同志们，贫下中农们，社员们！”李国香继续不紧不慢地说，那语气就仿佛是在和人聊家闲似的。显然，她的斗争艺术是成功的。对于自己这驾驭群众、控制气氛的能力，她颇为得意。“前不久，我们镇上一个小摊贩盖起了一栋新楼屋。有人指出这楼屋比解放前本镇最大的两家铺子‘茂源商号’、‘海通盐行’还气派。顺便提一句，这个卖米豆腐的摊贩几年来究竟赚了多少钱？她是赚了谁的钱？她五天一圩做米豆腐的大米又是哪里来的？这些，我们都暂且不去说它。新楼房红漆大门上有一副对子，是谁写的？秦书田，你念一遍给大家听听。”

    秦癫子微微抬了抬头，斜看了女组长一眼，回答道：“是我写的，我写的……上联是‘勤劳夫妻发社会主义红财’，下联是‘山镇人家添人民公社风光’，横联是……”

    “这是一副反动对联，同志们！”李国香朝秦癫子挥了挥手，示意他住口，并稍稍抬高了一点声调说，“‘勤劳夫妻发社会主义红财’，大家嗅出这反动气味来没有？搞社会主义怎么是个人发财？过去讲‘人无横财不富，马无夜草不肥’，他却提出了‘发红财’这种蛊惑人心的反动口号，是对人民公社集体经济的反动！现在我们芙蓉镇，富的起楼屋，穷的卖地皮，说明了什么问题？大家好好想一想，同志们！还有下联‘山镇人家添人民公社风光’就更加露骨！‘山镇人家’是什么样的人家？是正经八板的贫下中农，还是别的出身历史复杂、社会关系七七八八的人家？据反映，这户人家早在五十年代就诬蔑过我们的农村政策、我们的阶级路线，是什么‘死懒活跳，政府依靠；努力生产，政府不管；有余有赚，政府批判’！这难道是一般的落后话、怪话？让这种人家来添人民公社的风光？人民公社是天堂，是乐园，本身就是无限风光，怎么要让私有制来添社会主义的风光？这是想变天！同志们，这是反社会主义，反党。这么一副反动对联，公然用大红纸写了贴在我们镇上！新楼屋的主人来了没有？这副对联不要撕了，要留着当个反面材料，让大家一天看上三遍。同志们，可不要小看了写写画画呀，这常常是阶级敌人向党、向社会主义进攻的一种武器，一种手段！”

    秦癫子听到这里，不服气地抬起头来看了李国香一眼。站在一旁看押着他的王秋赦，立即在他颈脖上重重拍了一掌，把他的脑壳往下一按。台下马上有几个运动骨干吼了起来：“秦癫子不老实！喊他跪下！”“秦癫子跪下！”“秦癫子不跪下，我们答应不答应？”

    整个会场稍稍迟疑了一下，才做出了反应：“不答应！”

    秦癫子浑身抖索，求救似地看了一眼台下的本大队支书黎满庚。黎满庚低着头，哪会顾得上答理他。满庚支书身后，“芙蓉姐子”胡玉音两口人更是丢魂失魄，张惶四顾。他双膝发软，识时务地扑通一声跪了下去。

    “秦书田，你可以站起来。”李国香却出乎大家意外地向秦癫子摆了摆手。这也没有什么奇怪，上级派来的干部总是比较讲政策。

    秦癫子依言站了起来。他恢复了原有姿态，面对群众双手下垂，低头认罪。只是他双膝上，添了两个鲜明的尘土印。

    “秦书田，现在继续批斗你，在群众雪亮的眼睛下，把你的画皮剥开来。”李国香说，“镇上老一辈的人，不是都晓得梁山泊好汉的故事吗，有个好汉叫圣手书生萧让。是不是？这个秦书田，也是一条好汉，被我们某些基层干部当成了本镇大队的‘圣手书生’！我们来看看吧，这圩场上，街上墙上，我们全大队的山坡、石壁上，到处写着‘全党动手，大办农业”三面红旗万岁’，‘农业以粮为纲，工业以钢为纲’，‘一定要解放台湾’等等。这些大幅标语都是出自谁的手笔？出自这个五类分子的手笔！我们一个芙蓉镇百十户人家，难道都是清一色的文盲吗？连个刷标语口号的人都找不出了吗？这是长了谁的威风，灭了谁的志气？秦书田，你讲讲，这些光荣任务，都是谁派给你的？“

    秦癫子缩着颈脖，看了台下的黎满庚支书一眼：“是是大队、大队……”

    “结结巴巴，心里有鬼，算了！”李国香挥了挥手，适可而止地制止住了秦书田。她驾轻就熟地掌握、调节着会场的火候。接着提出了一个更为叫人胆战心惊的问题：“秦书田！现在你当着广大贫下中农、革命群众的面，报一报你自己的阶级成分！”

    “坏分子，我是坏分子。”秦癫子说。

    “好一个坏分子！同志们，今天工作组要来戳穿一个阴谋。”李国香这时像一部开足了音量的扩音器，声音嘹亮地宣布：“根据我们内查外调掌握的材料，秦书田根本不是什么坏分子，而是一个罪行严重、编写反动歌舞剧向党向社会主义进攻的极右分子。他从一个遭到双开、清洗的右派分子，变成了一个搞男女关系的坏分子，这都是谁干的好事啊？五类分子的名单，是由县公安局掌握的。这是一起严重的违法乱纪行为！”

    讲到这里，李国香停了一停。她像一切有经验的报告人那样，总要留出个简短的间隙，来让听众思考、消化某个极其重要的问题，或是来记取某一段精辟的座右铭式的词句。

    会场上出现了一派嗡嗡的议论声和啧啧的惊叹声。

    “贫下中农同志们，社员同志们！”李国香的音调又降了下来，恢复了原先那一口聊家闲似的本地官话，“芙蓉镇上的怪事还多的是呢。还是这个秦书田，他还有个特殊身分，是全大队五类分子的头目。也就是说，他负责监管全大队的五类分子。请看看，我们的某些干部，对这个右派分子是多么地信任和器重。监督、改造五类分子，本来是我们贫下中农的职责和权利。可是，我们少数个别的干部，把这职责和权利拱手送给了阶级敌人。同志们，这是什么问题？这是严重的敌我不分，丧失了阶级立场。以上这些怪事，都出在我们镇上。今天，我们工作组把秦书田揪出来，当一个活靶子、反面教员，也当一面镜子，把我们有些干部、党员的脸块照一照，看看他们的屁股是坐在哪一边！”

    接着，李国香下了一道命令：呼口号，把右派分子秦书田押下去！所有的五类分子及其家属子女退出会场。

    在一片“打倒秦书田”、“秦书田不低头认罪，死路一条”、“坦白从宽，抗拒从严”的震耳欲聋的口号声中，秦癫子被王秋赦和另一个民兵押出了会场，五类分子的家属、子女也纷纷退出会场。之后，工作组组长李国香讲了一通，作为大会的结束语：“现在，阶级敌人离开会场了，我还要补充几句。”她姿势优美地掠了掠头发，声音也柔和多了，“贫下中农同志们，社员同志们，轰轰烈烈、尖锐复杂、你死我活的阶级斗争，就要在我们芙蓉镇展开了。我们搞的虽然是面上的‘四清’，但工作组准备和大家一起，全力以赴地投入这场斗争。我们有些党员，有些干部，有些社员，前些年过苦日子，由于各项政策比较放得松，或多或少犯有这样那样的错误，那不要紧。我们的方针是：有错认错，有罪认罪，贪污退赔，洗手洗澡，回头是岸。有的人不回头怎么办？那就要根据情节轻重，用党纪国法来制裁。要不然，地富反坏右一起跑了出来，党内党外互相勾结，而我们贫下中农、干部群众又麻木不仁，不闻不问，那么不要多久，党就变修，江山变色，地主资产阶级就重新上台！”

    散会后，胡玉音和黎桂桂回到老胡记客栈里，真是魂不着体，五内俱焚。他们感觉到了，一颗灾星已经悬在他们新楼屋的上空。这栋新楼屋，他们连一晚上都还没有搬进去住过，却成了祸害。就是继续心甘情愿的住烂木板屋，也缺乏安全感了。使夫妻俩尤为伤心的是，看来在这场运动中，老谷主任、满庚支书他们都会逃不脱女组长的巴掌心，他们是泥菩萨过河自身难保，也就不可能对旁人提供什么保护。

    黎桂桂吓得浑身打哆嗦，只晓得睁着神色迷乱的眼睛，望着自己的女人。

    到底胡玉音心里还有些主见，她坐在竹椅子上出神。唉，要是一家两口人都是虱婆子胆，老鼠见了猫一样，岂不只能各人备下一根索，去寻短路？

    “这样吧，事情拖不得了，讲不定哪晚上就会来抄家。我把我们剩下的那笔款子，交给满庚哥去保管。放在屋里迟早是个祸胎……”胡玉音眼睛盯着门口，压低了声音。

    “满庚？你没听出来，他好像犯在秦癫子的事上了……女组长的报告里，有一多半是对着他来的，杀鸡给猴子看……”黎桂桂提醒自己的女人说。

    “不怕。他在党。顶多吃几顿批评，认个错，写份悔过书。你怕还能把他一个复员军人哪样的？”

    “唉，就怕连累别人……”

    “他是我干哥。我们独门独户的，就只这么一个靠得住的亲戚。”

    “好吧。米豆腐摊子也莫等人家来收缴，自己先莫摆了。你哪，也干脆出去避避风头。我在广西秀州有门子远亲戚，十几年没往来过，镇上的人都不晓得……”

    五 满庚支书

    大队支书黎满庚家里，这些天来哭哭闹闹，吵得不成样子了。黎满庚的女人五大三粗，外号“五爪辣”，在队上出工是个强劳力，在家里养猪打狗、操持家务更是个泼悍妇。从去年起，黎满庚在社员大会上开始宣传晚婚、节育，口水都讲干了，可他女人“五爪辣”却和月月兔似的，早已生过了六胎，活了四个，全是妹儿。妹儿们站在一起，是四级阶梯。有的社员笑话他女人：“支书嫂子，节制生育你带了好头啊!”他女人双手在粗壮的腰身上一叉：“我没带好头?嗯，要依我的性子，早生下一个女民兵班了!人家养崽是过鬼门关，我养崽却是过门坎一样!”

    黎满庚刚成亲那年把，有点嫌自己的女人样子鲁，粗手粗脚的，衣袖一卷，裤腿一扎，有一身男子汉似的蛮力气。相形之下，他颇为留恋胡玉音的姣媚。但老辈人讲，自古红颜多薄命，样子生得太好的女人往往没有好命。胡玉音会不会有好命?当初他一个复员军人，大队党支书又不是算命先生，哪能晓得日后要出些什么事情?自他女人给他生下两个“干金妹儿”以后，他渐渐感觉到了自己女人的优越性，出工，收工，奶妹儿，做家务，简直就不晓得累似的，还成天哼哼“社员都是向阳花”呢。每天天不亮起床，每晚上和男人一样地打鼾，像头壮实的母牛。后来又连着生了四胎，也都连公社医院的大门都没有进过。“唉唉，陪着这种女人过日子，倒是实实在在的，当丈夫的要少操好多心……”黎满庚后来想。要说他女人有什么缺点，就是生娃娃的瘾太重了一点。

    “五爪辣”很少撒泼。她对男人在外干工作一直不大放心。特别是结婚前他所认的那个“干妹”，那样灵眉俊眼的女人，连天上的星子都会眼馋，哪有不把男人带坏的?不过她冷眼看了两年，并没有察觉出“干哥”“干妹”有什么不正当的行迹。但女人的这类警惕性是不容易松懈的。她平日嘴里不说，样子却做得明白：规矩点噢，你走到哪个角落里，都有双眼睛在瞄着你噢。有时两口子讲笑，她也来点旁敲侧击：“又在你干妹子那里灌了马尿?人家的婆娘过不得夜，要自爱点。”“你呀，你呀，讨打了还是怎么啦?”“我不过喊应你一句。自己的屋才是生根的屋。她男人虽是不中用，手里的杀猪刀可是吓人!…‘牙黄屎臭的，你胡讲些什么?”“狗婆的牙齿才白哪，你爱不爱?”直到黎满庚把拳头亮出来，他女人才笑格格住口。

    那天晚上，从圩场坪开完大会回来，“五爪辣”嘴里哔哔啵啵，煮开了潲水粥：
    “党支书喂!今晚上县里工作组女组长的话，有一多半是冲着你来的呀!不晓得你聪明人听没听出?”

    黎满庚阴沉着脸，斧头斧脑地坐在长条凳上卷“喇叭筒”。

    “你和你那卖米豆腐的干妹子到底有些哪样名堂?你对秦癫子怎么丢了立场?人家女组长只差没有道你的姓，点你的名!那女人也是，不老不少，闺女不像闺女，妇人不像妇人!”“五爪辣”在长条凳的另一头坐下来问。

    “你少放声屁好不好?今晚上的臭气闻得够饱的了!’’黎满庚横了自己的女人一眼。

    “你不要在婆娘面前充好汉，臭虫才隔着席子叮人。男子汉嘛，要在外边去耍威风，斗输赢!”“五爪辣”不肯相让。

    “你到底肯不肯闭嘴?”黎满庚转过身子来，露出一脸的凶相，“你头皮发痒了，是不是?”

    女人有女人的聪明处。每当男人快要认真动肝火时，“五爪辣”总是适时退让。所以七、八年来，家里虽然常有点小吵小闹，但黎满庚晓得“五爪辣”一旦撕开了脸皮是个惹不起的货色，“五爪辣”则提防着男人的一身牛力气，发作起来自己是要吃亏的，所以很少几回酝酿成家庭火并。“五爪辣”这时身子忽然恶作剧地一闪，跳离了长条凳，长条凳失重，翻翘了起来，使坐在另一头的黎满庚一屁股跌坐到地下。

    “活该!活该!”“五爪辣”闪进睡房里，露出张脸块来幸灾乐祸。

    黎满庚又恼又恨，爬起来追到睡房门口：“骚娘们，看看老子敲不敲你两丁更（屈起食指、中指敲人脑瓜）!”
    “五爪辣”把房门关得只剩下一条缝：“你敢!你敢!你自己屁股坐到哪边去了?跌了跤子又来赖我哟!”
    伸手不打笑脸人。每当女人和他撒娇卖乖时，他的巴掌即便举起来，也是落不下去的，心里还会感到一种轻松。

    但这晚上黎满庚却轻松不了。刚才女人无意中重复了县委工作组女组长的一句话：屁股坐到哪边去了!哪边去了?难道自己的屁股真的坐到地、富、反、坏、右、资产阶级一边去了?自已支持干妹子胡玉音卖了几年米豆腐，就是包庇、纵容了资本主义?玉音她赚钱盖起了一栋新楼屋，全镇第一号，就算搞了剥削，成了暴发户?摆米豆腐摊子摆成了新富农?还有秦书田的成分，从右派分子改成坏分子，自己的确在群众大会上宣布过。自己办事欠严肃。但并没办过什么正式的手续。依女组长的讲法，坏分子难道比右派分子真要好一点，罪减一等?在自己看来，都是一箩蛇。花蛇黑蛇都是蛇。还有，派秦书田的义务工，叫他到山坡、岩壁、圩场上刷过几条大标语，就算是对阶级敌人的重用?难道自己真的犯了这许多条律？

    第二天天黑时分，“五爪辣”正好提着潲桶到猪栏里喂猪去了，黎满庚正从公社开完批斗会回来，在屋门口洗脚，就见胡玉音慌慌张张地走了来，把一包用旧油纸布包着的东西交给他，说是一千五百块钱，请干哥代为保管一下，手头紧时，可以从里头抽几张花花。胡玉音失魂落魄的，头发都有些散乱，穿了一身青布大褂，模样儿也不似平常那么娇媚，连坐都没有坐，就慌慌忙忙地走了，好像生怕被人发现行踪似的。黎满庚晓得这款子进不得银行，就依乡下古老的习惯，立即把这油布包藏进了楼上的一块老青砖缝缝里，连数都没有数一下。在品德、钱财问题上，一向是干妹信得过干哥，干哥也信得过干妹。至于这种藏钱的法子，在镇上也不是什么秘密，一般人家都是这样。即便小偷进了屋，不把四面砖墙拆除，是难得找到金银财宝的。倒是要提防虫蛀鼠咬。

    这事，本来可以不让“五爪辣”晓得。黎满庚从楼上沾了一身灰尘下来时，却被“五爪辣”发觉了。“五爪辣”追问了他好久，他都没开口。“五爪辣”越问越疑心，哭了，抽抽咽咽数落着自己进这楼门七、八年了，生下了四个妹儿，男人家还在防贼一样地提防着她……哭得黎满庚都心软了，觉得女人抱怨得也是，既是在一个屋里住着，就没有讲不得的事。连自己的婆娘都信不得了，还去信哪个?

    可是他错了。都已经上床睡下了，当他打“枕头官司”似地把“绝密”透露给“五爪辣”听时，“五爪辣”竞像身上装了弹簧似的，一下子蹦下了床：
    “好哇!这屋里要发灾倒灶啦!白虎星找上门来啦!没心肝的，打炮子的，我这样待你，你的魂还是叫那妖精摄去了哇!啊，啊，啊——。”

    “五爪辣”竟然嚎啕大哭起来，天晓得为什么一下子中了魔似的，撒开了泼。

    “好好生生的，你嚎什么丧?你有屁放不得，不自重的贱娘们!”

    黎满庚也光火了，爬起来大声喝斥。

    “好好生生!还好好生生!我都戴了绿帽子、当乌龟婆啦!看我明天不去找着那个骚婊子拼了这条性命!”“五爪辣”披头散发，身上只穿了点筋吊吊的里衣里裤，拍着大腿又哭又骂。

    “你到底闭嘴不闭嘴?混账东西!和你打个商量，这天就塌下来啦，死人倒灶啦!”黎满庚鼓眼暴睛，气都出不赢。但他强压下心头的怒火，怕吵闹开去，叫隔壁邻居听了去，不好收场。

    “你和我讲清楚，你和胡玉音那骚货究竟是什么关系?她是你老婆，还是我是你老婆?你们眉里眼里，翘唇翘嘴狗公狗婆样的，我都瞎了这些年的眼睛，早看不下去啦!”
    “老子打扁你这臭嘴巴!混账东西!我清清白白一个人，由着你来满口粪渣渣地胡天乱骂!”

    “你打!你打!我给你生了四个女娃，你早就想休了我啦!我不如人家新鲜白嫩啦!家花没得野花香啦!你打!我送把你打!你把我打死算啦!你好去找新鲜货，吃新鲜食啦!”

    “五爪辣”边骂，边一头撞在黎满庚的胸口上，使他身子贴到了墙上。“五爪辣”的蛮力气又足，黎满庚推了几下都推不开，气得浑身发颤，眼睛出火。

    “天杀的!给野老婆藏起赃款来啦!这个家还要不要啦?昨天晚上开大会，工作组女组长在戏台上是怎么讲的，你要把我们一屋娘娘崽崽都拖下水，跟着你背时鬼、打炮子的去坐黑屋?你今天不把一千五百块钱赃款交出来，我这条不抵钱的性命就送在你手上算啦!……天杀的，打炮子的，你的野老婆把你的心都挖走啦!她的骑马布你都可以用来围脖子啦!我要去工作组告发，我要去工作组告发，叫他们派民兵来搜查!”

    啪的一巴掌下来，“五爪辣”被击倒在地。黎满庚失去了理智，巴掌下得多重啊，“五爪辣”就和倒下一节湿木头似的，倒在了墙角落。黎满庚怕她再爬起来撒野，寻死寻活，又用一只膝盖跪在她身上：

    “你还耍不耍泼?深更半夜的还骂不骂大街?是你厉害还是老子厉害?老子真的一拳就收了你这条性命，反正我也不想活啦!”

    说着，黎满庚愤不欲生地挥拳就朝自己的头上一击。

    “五爪辣”躺在地上，嘴角流血，鼻头青肿。但她到底被吓坏了，被镇住了。

    这时，四个妹儿全都号哭着，从隔壁屋里“妈妈呀——爸爸呀——”地跑过来了。

    娃儿们的哭叫，仿佛是医治他们疯狂症的仙丹妙药。黎满庚立即放开了自己的女人。“五爪辣”也立即爬了起来，慌里慌忙乱抓了件衣服把身子捂住。人是有羞耻心的，在自己的女儿面前赤身裸体，成何体统。

    街巷上猫嚎狗叫，四邻都惊动了，都来劝架了。他们站在屋

    外头敲的敲窗子，打的打门，喊的喊“支书”，叫的叫“嫂子”。

    邻居们好说歹说，婆婆妈妈地劝慰了一番后，暴风雨总算停歇了，过去了。关好门，重新上床睡觉。“五爪辣”不理男人，面朝着墙壁。“五爪辣”不号哭了，黎满庚却低声抽泣了起来：

    “老天爷……这日子怎么过得下去呀!人人都红眼睛啦!牙齿咬出血啦……不铁硬了心肠，昧了天良，就做不得人啦……苦命的女人……我从前没有对你做过亏心事，我是凭了一个人的良心……人就是人，不是牛马畜生……日后，日后连我自己，都不晓得保不保得住哇……在这世上，不你踩我，我踩你，就混不下去啦……”

    男子的哭声，草木皆惊。黎满庚活了三十几岁，第一次这么伤心落泪。他把“五爪辣”都吓着了。但“五爪辣”心里还憋着气。她听了一会儿，男人却越哭越伤心。她忍不住翻身坐起，正话反讲，半怨半劝了起来。男人再丑，还是自己的男人：
    “怎么啦，你把我打到了地下，像你们常对五类分子讲的，再踏上一只脚，还不解恨?没良心的!我再丑，再贱，也是你的女人，给你当牛当马，生了六胎，眼面前四个妹儿……你就真的下得手，一巴掌把我打下地，打得我眼发黑……还膝盖跪在我胸口上……呜呜呜……我好命苦!娘呀，我好命苦!……”

    “五爪辣”本来想劝慰一下男人，没想到越劝越委屈，越觉得自己可怜，就呜呜呜地也低声抽泣了起来。她还狠狠地在男人的肩膀上掐了一把，又掐一把：

    “你良心叫狗吃了……我也是气头子上，乱骂了几句……呜呜呜，你就一点都不疼我……呜呜呜，你不疼我，我还疼你这个没良心的……呜呜呜，女人的嘴巴是抹桌布，你又不是不晓得，骂是骂，疼是疼……呜呜呜……你就是不看重我这丑婆娘，也该看在四个乖乖妹儿的份上……呜呜呜!”

    黎满庚的心软了，化了。他泪流满面，一把搂住了自己的女人。是的，这女人，四个妹儿，这个家，才是他的，他的!他八年来辛辛苦苦，跟自己的女人喜鹊做窝样的，柴柴棍棍，一根根，一枝枝，都是用嘴衔来的……

    他搂住了“五爪辣”。“五爪辣”的心也软了，化了。她忽然翻身起来，双膝跪在男人面前，把男人的双手，按在自己的胸口上：

    “满庚，满庚，你听我一句话……你是当支书的，你懂政策，也懂这场运动，叫什么你死我活……我们不能死，我们要活……纸包不住火……那笔款子，你收留不得……你记得土改的时候，有的人替地主财老倌藏了金银，被打得死去活来，还戴上了狗腿子帽子……你把它交出去，交给工作组……反正你不交，到时候人家也会揭发……反正，反正，不是我们害了她……我们没有害过她。她要怪只有怪自己。新社会，要富大家富，要穷大家穷，不兴私人发家，她偏偏自己寻好路，要发家……”

    黎满庚又一把紧紧抱住了自己的女人。他心里仍在哭泣。他仿佛在跟原先的那个黎满庚告别。原先的那个黎满庚，是过不了“你死我活”这一关的。

    六 老谷主任

    县委组织部和县粮食局下来一件公文：鉴于芙蓉镇粮站主任谷燕山丧失阶级立场，盗卖国库粮食，情节严重，性质恶劣，令其即日起停职反省，交代问题。公文是县委工作组来粮站召开全体职工大会宣布的。谷燕山本人没有出席。真是晴天霹雳，迅雷不及掩耳啊。谷燕山被勒令“上楼”，在自己的宿舍里划地为牢，失去了行动自由。工作组派了两个运动骨干在他门口日夜看守，说是防止他畏罪自杀。他起初简直不相信自己的耳朵，不相信自己的眼睛，不相信这听到、看到的一切，以为自己在做一场荒唐的、不可思议的梦。假的，假的!这一切都是在演戏、演电影……编戏、编电影的人没有上过火线，没有下过乡，一看就是假的。有一回他看一部战斗故事片，指导员站在敌人的阵地前面，振臂高呼：“同志们，为了祖国和人民，为了全世界千千万万受苦受难的阶级弟兄，冲啊——!”天啊，战场上，哪有时间来这样一番演说?这不是给敌人当活靶子?一看就是假的，好笑又好气。可是，谷燕山这回碰到的“停职反省、交代问题”的指令，却是实实在在，半点不假的。自己不聋不瞎，也没有做梦。于是，这个以好脾气、老好人而在芙蓉镇上享有声誉的“北方大兵”，从混混沌沌中清醒了过来，他暴怒了，他拍桌、打椅、捶墙壁。他大声叫喊，怒吼：
    “工作组!你们算什么东西!算什么东西!你们假报材料，欺骗了县委!李国香，你好个娘养的，真下得手，真撕得开脸皮!你当了我的面，一口一声老革命、老同志，你背地里却搞突然袭击……突然袭击是战场上的战术，我们打小日本、打老蒋的时候用过，你们，你们却用来对付自己的同志……我们钻地道、挨枪子儿的时候，你们还毛黄屎臭，毛黄屎臭!血流成河，尸骨成山，打出了这个天下，你们却胡批乱斗，不让人过安生日子，不让人活命……”

    谷燕山拉门，踢门，门从外边上了锁，大约是因为他态度恶劣。两个运动骨干不理他，一人抱一枝“三八枪”在抽烟，扯谈。这“三八枪”说不定还是老谷和战友们从日本鬼子手里缴获的呢，如今却被人用来看守老谷自己。

    “把门狗!把门狗!开门!开开门!我来教你们放枪，教你们瞄准……你们凭什么把我锁在这屋里?这算什么牢房?要坐牢就到县里坐去，我不坐你们这号私牢!”

    没有人理会他，没有给他戴上铐子就算客气的。斗争是无情的，来不得半点“人情味”、“人性论”这些资产阶级的玩艺儿。不知过了多久，他疲乏了，他声音嘶哑，喉咙干得出烟。他喝了一杯冰凉的水，眼皮像灌了铅，就顺着门背跌坐在地板上，不知不觉睡了一觉。到了半夜，他被冻了醒来，昏天黑地的，伸手不见五指。他摸到床边去，扯了床棉毯披在身上。他在楼板上踱过来，踱过去，像一位被困或是被俘的将领……这时他仿佛头脑清醒了些，开始冷静下来思考白天发生的事情。他立即就有些后悔，感到羞愧：一个共产党员，一个战士出身的人，受了一点委屈，背了一点冤枉，就擂墙捶门，对着整条青石板街大喊大叫，像个老娘们耍泼似的，成何体统!谷燕山呀，谷燕山，你参加革命二十几年了，入党也二十几年了，还经不起这点子考验?你以为和平时期就总是风和日暖、晴空万里，没有乌云翻滚、暴雨倾盆?你复员到地方工作时才是个排长，芝麻大的官……他脑子里冒出些平日隐蔽得很深的念头来，是些平日想想都怕犯罪的念头啊。你还是华北野战军出来的哪，可人家彭德怀元帅，彭副总司令，用老戏里的话讲算一品当朝，开国元勋，五九年在庐山开会，都为了替老百姓讲话，反对大炼钢铁，吃公共食堂，被罢了官，上缴了元帅服，当了右倾机会主义分子……天底下的人哪个不晓得他受了委屈，背了冤枉，批他斗他是昧了良心，违了民意。后来我们国家过了三年苦日子，不再搞全民炼钢煮铁，不再发射牛皮卫星，不再吃公共食堂，还不是采纳了他的建议……可是如今的运动算什么?苦日子刚过完，百姓刚喘过一口气，生产、生活刚恢复了一点元气，就又来算三年困难时期的账，算困难时期政策放宽的账，算“右倾翻案”的账!真是过河拆桥，翻脸不认人……彭元帅啊，彭老总，比起你来，谷燕山算什么?小小一个镇粮站的站长，一个普通“北方大兵”，而且不过被宣布停职反省，交代问题。又没有真的抓你去坐牢，脚镣手铐地去坐牢……哈哈哈，共产党员去坐共产党的牢，天底下真会有这等怪事!胡说八道，胡思乱想……当然，谷燕山也明白，自己的思想出轨了，走火了，很危险，很危险。搭帮这思想是装在脑壳里，捣腾在心里。要是这“思想”真的是根辫子，或是长出个尾巴来，被人揪住了，那就倒霉了，真的要去坐牢了。

    谷燕山情绪时好时坏，思想反反复复。对这场落到他身上来的斗争，他想来想去还是不通。彭老总是为民请命，仗义执言，面折廷争。他谷燕山什么时候想过朝政、议过朝政?他够得上吗?十万八千里哪。他忠诚老实，从来都是党叫干啥就干啥。他不过是个五岭山脉腹地的芙蓉镇上的老好人，和事佬，普通得不能再普通，小得不能再小……唉唉，怎么回事嘛，难道今天这革命斗争，已经需要在内部爆发，开始自己斗自己，自己打自己，自己动手来把自己的战士消灭?动不动就“你死我活”，多么地可怕，不近人情。那么，是自己真的做了什么对不起革命、对不起党的事吗?啊，“盗卖国库粮食”，“盗卖国库粮食”，或许就是指他两年多来，每圩从打米厂批卖了六十斤碎米谷头给“芙蓉姐子”做米豆腐生意……你看，你看，自己也真混，这样一件全镇人人都晓得的事，摆明摆白的，他却花了三天时间去苦思苦想。

    对上了这个码单，他心里有些轻松，觉得问题并不像工作组宣布的、县里下的公文里讲的那么严重。这些年来，镇上的一些单位和个人，谁不在粮站打米厂买过碎米谷头子啊，喂猪喂鸭，养鸡养兔。当然哕，批碎米谷头子给胡玉音做米豆腐卖，或许真的是他办事欠妥……碰鬼，这个念头是怎么来的?讲良心话，自己虽然对妇女没有什么邪念，一镇的人也都晓得自己是个正派的人，可是，自己是有些喜欢那个胡玉音，喜欢看看她的笑脸，特别是那双黑白分明的大眼睛，喜欢听听她讲话的声音。一坐上她那米豆腐摊子，自己就觉得舒服、亲切。漂亮温柔的女人总是讨人喜欢啊，男人喜欢，女人也喜欢啊。难道这也算是罪过?自己这辈子不能享受女人的温存，难道就连在心里留下一片温存的小天地都不许可吗?既不存在什么道德问题，也不影响胡玉音的婚姻家庭，他才决定帮这“芙蓉姐子”一把。难道碎米谷头子变成了米豆腐卖，就是从量变到质变，铸成了大错?

    渐渐地，他心平气静了些。他晓得自己一月两月脱不了“反省”，“下”不了“楼”，撒尿拉屎都会被人监视着。这日子却是难熬、难过啊。原先，他每天早晨起来，都要挥动竹枝扫把，打扫粮站门口这一段青石板街，跟赶早出工的社员们笑一笑，把某个背书包去上学的娃娃搂一搂，抱一抱。每天傍黑，他习惯沿着青石板街走一走，散散心，在某个铺子门口站一站，聊一聊。或是硬被某个老表拖进铺里去喝杯红薯烧酒，嚼着油炸花生米，摆上一回说古论今的龙门阵……可如今，这些生活的癖好、乐趣都没有了。他和本镇街坊们是近在咫尺，远在天涯!

    谷燕山被宣布“停职反省”后的第五天，李国香组长“上楼”来找他做了一次“政策攻心”的谈话。

    “老谷呀，这几天精神有点紧张吧?唉，你一个老同志，本来我们只有尊敬、请教的份，想不到问题的性质这么严重，县委可能要当作这次运动的一个典型来抓啦!”李国香仍是那么一口清晰悦耳的腔调。每当听她讲话，谷燕山就想，这副金嗓子多可惜，没有用到正经地方啊，为什么不到县广播站去当广播员?

    谷燕山只是冷漠地朝李国香点了点头。他对这个女组长有着一种复杂的看法，既有点鄙视她，又有点佩服她，还有点可怜她。可是偏偏这么一个女人，如今代表县委，一下子就掌握了全镇人的命运，其中也包括了自己的命运……人家能耐大啊，上级看得起啊，大会小会聊家闲、数家珍似的，一口一个马列主义，一口一个阶级斗争，“四清”“四不清”。讲三两个钟头，水都不消喝一口，嗽都不会咳一声，就像是从一所专门背诵革命词句的高等学府里训练出来的。

    “怎么样?这些天来都有些什么想法?我看，再是重大的问题，只要向组织上交代清楚了，总是不难解决的。同时，从我个人来讲，是愿意你早点洗个温水澡，早点‘下楼’，和全镇革命群众一起投入当前这场重新教育党员、干部，重新组织阶级队伍的伟大运动。”李国香为了表示自己的诚意，打动这个“北方大兵”，又特别加了一句：“你看，我只想和你个别谈谈，都没有叫别的工作组员参加。起码，我对你，算是没有什么个人成见的吧!”

    谷燕山还是没有为她的诚心所动，只是抬起眼睛来瞟了她一眼，那眼神仿佛在说：你爱怎么讲你就怎么讲，反正我是什么都不会跟你讲。

    李国香仿佛摸准了他的对抗情绪，决定抛点材料刺他一下，看他会不会跳起来。于是从口袋里拿出那本记得密密麻麻的小本本，不紧不慢地一页页翻着，然后在某一页上停住，换成一种生硬的、公事公办的口气说：
    “谷燕山，这里有一笔账，一个数字，你可以听听!经工作组内查外调核实，自一九六一年下半年以来，在两年零九个月的时间里，也就是说，芙蓉镇五天一圩，一月六圩，总共一百九十八圩，你每圩卖给本镇女摊贩、新生资产阶级分子胡玉音六十斤大米，做成米豆腐当商品，一共是一万一千八百八十斤大米。这是不是事实?”

    “一万多斤!”果然，谷燕山一听这个数字，就陡地站了起来。这个数字，对他真是个晴天霹雳，他可从没有这么想过、这么算过啊!

    “数目不小吧?嗯!”李国香眼里透出了冷笑。又仿佛是在欣赏着：看看，才轻轻刺了这么一下，不就跳起来了，有什么难对付的。

    “可那是碎米谷头子，不是什么国库里的大米。”谷燕山再也沉不住气，受不了冤枉似地大声申辩着。

    “碎米谷头也好，大米也好，粮站主任，你私人拿得出一万斤?你什么时候种过水稻?不是国库里的又是哪里的?你向县粮食局汇过报?谁给了你这么大的权利?”李国香仍旧坐着一动没动，嘴里却在放出连珠炮。

    “碎米谷头就是碎米谷头，大米就是大米。我按公家的价格批卖给她，也批卖给街上的单位和个人，都有账可查，没有得过一分钱的私利。”

    “这么干净?没有得过一分钱，这我们或许相信。可是你一个单身男人有单身男人的收益……”李国香不动声色，启发地说。她盯着谷燕山，心里感到一阵快意，就像一个猎户见着一只莽撞的山羊落进了自己设置的吊网里。“难道这种事，还用得着工作组来提醒你?”

    “什么单身男人的收入?”

    “米豆腐姐子是芙蓉镇上的西施，有一身白白嫩嫩的好皮肉!”

    “亏你还是个女同志，这话讲得出口!”

    “你不要装腔拿势了。天下哪只猫不吃咸鱼?你现在交代还不晚。你们两个的关系，是从哪一年开始的?做这号生意，她是有种的，她母亲不是当过妓女?”

    “我和她有关系?”谷燕山急得眼睛都鼓了出来，摊开双手朝后退了两步。

    “嗯?”李国香侧起脸庞，现出一点儿风骚女人特有的媚态，故作惊讶地反问了一声。

    “李组长!我和她能有什么关系?我能么?我能么?”谷燕山额头上爬着几条蚯蚓似的青筋，他已经被逼得没有退路了，身后就是墙角。“李国香!你这个娘儿们!把你的工作组员叫了来，我脱、脱了裤子给你们看看……哎呀，该死，我怎么乱说这些……”

    “谷燕山!你耍什么流氓!”李国香桌子一拍站了起来，她仿佛再也没有耐心，不能忍受了，睁大两只丹凤三角眼，竖起一双柳叶吊梢眉，满脸盛怒。“你在我面前耍什么流氓!好个老单身公!要脱裤子，我召开全镇大会，叫你当着群众的面脱!在工作组面前耍流氓，你太自不量力!”

    “我、我、我是一时急的，叫你逼、逼得没法……这话，我算没说……”谷燕山毕竟是个老实厚道人，斗争经验不丰富，一旦被人抓住了把柄，态度很快就软了下来。他双手捂着脸块：“我别的错误犯过，就是这个错误犯不起，我、我有男人的病……”

    “讲实话，这还差不多。”李国香听这个男人在自己面前讲出了隐私，不胜惊讶，又觉得新鲜。她感到一种略带羞涩的喜悦，觉得自己是个强者，终于从精神上压倒了这个男性公民，“老谷，坐下来，我们都坐下来。不要沉不住气嘛。我一直没有对你发过什么脾气嘛。你犯了错误，怎么还能耍态度呢?我们工作组按党的政策办事，对干部要惩前毖后，治病救人；除非对那种对抗运动的死硬分子，我们才给予无情打击……”

    说着，李国香示范似地仍旧回到书桌边坐下来。谷燕山也回到原来的椅子上坐下。他感到四肢无力，一股凄楚、悲痛的寒意，袭上了他的心头。

    这时门口的两个运动骨干在探头探脑，李国香朝门口挥了挥手，示意他们缩回去。

    “老谷，我们还是话讲回来，在工作组面前，你什么事情都可以讲清楚，我可以直接在县委面前替你负责。”李国香又恢复了那一日聊家闲似的清晰悦耳的腔调，继续施行攻心战术，决定扩大缺口，趁热打铁，把这个芙蓉镇群众心目中的领袖人物彻底击败。“你的问题还远不止这些哪，可能比我们想像的要严重得多哪!就算你和胡玉音不是奸夫奸妇的关系，但这经济上、思想上的联系，总是存在的吧。你用国家的一万斤碎米，就算是你讲的碎米，支持她弃农经商，大搞资本主义，成了芙蓉镇地方的头号暴发户。这个女人不简单哪。胡玉音和黎满庚是什么关系?干哥干妹哪，黎满庚总没有你的那种所谓男子病了吧?要晓得，胡玉音是金玉其外，是个没有生育的女人。黎满庚作为她的政治靠山，长期庇护她在芙蓉镇上牟取暴利。再讲，黎满庚和秦书田什么关系?秦书田和胡玉音什么关系?胡玉音和官僚地主出身的镇税务所长是什么关系?我们查了一下，税务所每圩只收胡玉音一块钱的营业税，而胡玉音每月的营业额都在三百元以上。这是什么问题?所以你们这一小帮子人，实际上长期以来党内党外，气味相投，互相利用，互相勾结，抱成一团，左右了芙蓉镇的政治经济，实际上是一个小集团……”

    讲到这里，李国香有意停了一停。

    谷燕山额上汗珠如豆：“镇上有什么小集团!有什么小集团!这是血口喷人，这是要致人于死地……”

    “怎么?害怕了!你们是一个社会存在。”李国香抬高了音调，变得声色俱厉，“当然哕，只要你们一个一个认识得好，交代得清楚，也可以考虑不划作小集团。冰冻三尺，非一日之寒啦。

    去年，镇上就有革命群众向县公安局告了你们的状……不做小集团处理，工作组可以尽力向县委反映……但主要看你们这些人的态度老不老实。胡玉音就不老实，她畏罪潜逃了。可我们抓住了她丈夫黎桂桂问罪。……老谷，你不是镇上有名的大好人、和事佬吗，一镇的人望哪，就带个头吧。还是敬酒好吃哪，把这么多人牵扯了进去，身家性命，可不是好玩的……”

    真是苦口婆心，仁至义尽。

    “天呀!我以脑袋作保!镇上没有什么小集团……”

    谷燕山仿佛一下子老了十岁，浑身都叫冷汗浸透了。

    七 年纪轻轻的寡妇

    胡玉音在秀州一个远房叔伯家里住了两个月，想躲过了风头再回芙蓉镇。“风头子上避一避”，这原也是平头百姓们对付某些灾难经常采用的一种消极办法。岂知“跑了和尚跑不了庙”，人世间的有些灾难躲避得了吗?何况，如今天下一统，五湖四海一个政策，不管千里万里，天边地角，一个电话或一封电报就可以把你押送回来。

    两个月来，胡玉音日思夜想着的是芙蓉镇上的那座“庙”。她只收到过男人黎桂桂的一封信，信上讲了些宽慰她的话，说眼下镇上的运动轰轰烈烈，全大队的五类分子都集中在镇上训话，游行示威时把他们押在队伍的前面。原来镇上主事的头头都不见露面了，由工作组掌管一切。官僚地主出身的税务所长被揪了出来批斗。民兵还抄了好些户人的家，他的杀猪刀也被收缴上去了。收上去也好，那是件凶器……听讲这次运动，还要重新划分阶级成分。信的末尾是叫她一定在外多住些日子，也千万不要回信。

    看看这个不中用的男人，自己家里的事，除了那把杀猪屠刀，一句实在的话都没有，一切都靠胡玉音自己来猜测。比方讲镇上的管事头头都不露面了，是不是指老谷主任、满庚哥他们?抄了好些户人的家……都是哪几户人家?是不是也抄了自己的新楼屋?要重新划阶级成分，会不会给自己划个什么成分?男人呀，男人，总是太粗心了，太粗心，连封信都写不清。男人后来再没有给她来信。桂桂是被抓起来了?胡玉音越想越猜，越心惊肉跳。她像一只因屋里来了客人而被关进笼子里的母鸡，预感到了有大祸临头。但这“大祸”将是什么样的，她没有听人讲过，也没有亲眼见过。是不是和五类分子那些人渣、垃圾一样，一身穿得邋里邋遢，脸块黑得像鬼，小学生一碰见他们就打石子、扔泥团，圩镇上一有什么运动、斗争，就先拿他们示众，任凭革命群众骂、啐、打……

    天啊，假若“大祸”要使自己也沦落成这一流的人，那怎么活得下去啊!不会的，不会的。自己又没有做过坏事，讲过反话，骂过干部。自己倒是觉得老谷主任、满庚哥他们是自己一屋人，父老兄弟。圩镇上一个卖米豆腐的女人，能对新社会有什么仇、记什么恨呢，新社会对她胡玉音有哪样不好!解放后没有了强盗拐子，男人家也不赌钱打牌，宿娼讨小，晚上睡得了落心觉，新社会才好哪。要不是新社会，像自己这样一个人家，自己这么一副长相，早就给拐骗到大口岸上哪座窑子里去了哪!……不，不，五类分子才坏哪，他们是黑心黑肺黑骨头，是些人渣、垃圾，自己怎么也跟他们牵扯不到一起去。

    这时，她寄居的秀州县城，也在纷纷传说，工作队就要下来了，像搞土改那样的运动就要铺开了。的确已经有人来远房叔伯家里问过：“这位嫂子是哪里人啦?家里是什么阶级?住了多少日子啦?有没有公社、大队的证明?”她知趣、识相，她还要自爱自重，不能再死皮赖脸地在叔伯家里挨日子，连累人。“躲脱不是祸，是祸躲不脱。”她决定违背男人的劝告，回到芙蓉镇上去。也真是，原先怎么就没想到，越是这种时刻，越应该和男人在一起呀!就是头顶上落刀子，也要和男人一起去挨刀子呀!就是进坟地，也要和男人共一个洞眼。玉音哪，玉音!你太坏了!整整两个月，把男人丢在一边不管，你太狠心了……赶快，赶快，赶快……

    从大清早，走到天擦黑。一路上，她嘴里都在叨念着“赶快赶快”，就像心里有面小鼓在敲着节拍。她随身只背了个工作干部背的那种黄挎包，里头装了几件换洗衣服，一只手电筒。她在路上只打了两次点心，一次吃的是蛋炒饭，一次吃的还是两碗米豆腐。米豆腐的碱水放得重了点，颜色太黄。还不如自己卖的米豆腐纯白、嫩软，油水作料也没有自己给顾客配的齐全。围着白围裙的服务员就像在把吃食施舍给过路的人一样……哼，哪个上自己的米豆腐摊子上去，不是有讲有笑，亲亲热热的，吃罢喝足，放碗起身，也会喊一声：“姐子，走了，下一圩会。”“好走，莫在路上耍野了，叫你堂客站在屋门口眼巴巴地望……”

    天黑时分，胡玉音走到了芙蓉镇镇口。“哪个?”突然，从黑墙角里闯出一个背枪的人问。这人胡玉音认得，是打米厂的小后生。原先胡玉音去米厂买碎米谷头子，这后生崽总是一身白糠灰，没完没了地缠着她：“姐子，做个介绍吧，单身公的日子好难熬呀!”“做个哪样的?”“就和姐子样白净好看、大眉大眼的。”

    “呸!坏东西，我给你做个瓜子脸，梅花脚（指狗）!”“我就喜欢姐子的水蛇腰，胸前鼓得高!”“滚开点!谁和你牛马手脚……我要喊你们老谷主任了!”“姐子，你真狠心!”“滚滚滚，爷娘死早了，少了教头的!”……对了，如今搞运动，大约镇上的风头子还没有过去，所以晚上都站了哨。连这种流里流气的后生崽，都出息了，背上枪了。
    “啊，是你呀，自己回来了?”打米厂的后生家也认出她来，但声音又冷又硬，就像鞭子在夜空里抽打了一声那样。接着，后生子没再理会她，背着枪走到一边去了。要在平常，早又说开了不三不四的话、牛马畜生样地动手动脚了呢。

    她心里不由地一紧：“自己回来了?”什么话?难道自己不回来，就要派人去捉回来吗?她几乎是奔跑着走进青石板街的。街两边一家家铺面的木板上，到处刷着、贴着一些大标语。写的是些什么，她看不大清楚。她在自己的老铺子门口被青石阶沿绊了一下，差点跌了一跤。门上还是挂着那把旧铜锁，男人不在家。但铜锁是熟悉的，还是爹妈开客栈时留下来的东西。她略微喘了一口气。但隔壁的新楼屋呢?新楼屋门口怎么贴满了白纸条?还有两条是交叉贴着的。这么讲来，这新楼屋不但被查抄过，还被封过门。天呀，这算哪样回事呀?她慌里慌张地从挎包里摸出手电筒，照在红漆大门上。大门上横钉着一块白底黑字木牌：“芙蓉镇阶级斗争现场展览会”。怎么?自己的新楼屋被公家征用了，办了展览会?桂桂的信里连一个字都没有提……佳桂，桂桂!你这个不中用的男人，黑天黑地野到哪里去了?你还有心事野，你女人回来了，你都不来接，而是门上四两铁。

    但她马上明白了过来，找桂桂不中用，这个死男人屁话都讲句不出。当机立断，她要先去找谷燕山主任。老谷是南下干部，为人忠厚，秉事公正，又肯帮助人。在镇上就只他是个老革命，威信高，讲话作得了数……她觉得自己走在青石板街上，一点声音都没有，脚下轻飘飘，身子好像随时要离开地面飞起来一样。她走到镇粮站大门口，大门已关，一扇小门还开着。那守门的老倌子见了她，竞后退了一步，就跟见了鬼一样……又是怎么了?过去街上的人，特别是那些男人们，见了自己总是眼睃睃、笑眯眯的，恨不得把双眼睛都贴到自己身上来……“伯伯，请问老谷主任在不在?”她不管守门老倌子把自己当鬼还是当人，反正要找的是老谷主任。“胡家女子，你还来找老谷?”老倌子回转头去看了看围墙里头，又探出脑壳看了看街上，左近没人，才压低了沙哑的嗓门说：“你不要找老谷了，他被连累进大案子里头去了，你也有份。讲是他盗卖了一万斤国库大米，发展资本主义……他早就白日黑夜地被人看守起来了，想寻短路都找不到一根裤带绳……这个可怜人……”

    胡玉音的心都抽紧了……啊啊，老谷，老谷都被人看守起来了……这是她怎么也料想不到的。在她的心目中，在镇上，老谷就代表新社会，代表政府，代表共产党……可如今，他都被人看起来了。这个老好人还会做什么坏事?这个天下就是他们这些人流血流汗打出来的，难道他还会反这个天下?

    胡玉音退回到青石板街上。她抬眼看见了老谷住的那二层楼上尽西头那间屋子，还亮着灯光。她眼睛一眨不眨地看着。老谷是坐在灯下写检讨，还是在想法子如何骗过看守他的人，要寻自尽?不能，不能!老谷啊，你要想宽些，准定是有人搞错了，搞反了。人家冤枉不了你，芙蓉镇上的人都会为你给县里、省里出保票，上名帖。你的为人，镇上大人小孩哪个不清楚，你只做过好事，没有做过坏事……有一刻，胡玉音都忘记了自己的恐怖、灾祸，倒是在为老谷的遭遇愤愤不平。

    啊啊……想起来了，三个多月前，工作组女组长李国香来她的新楼屋，坐在楼上那间摆满了新木器的房子里，给她算过一笔账，讲她两年零九个月，卖米豆腐赚了六千多块钱，也提到有人为她提供了一万斤大米做原料……看看，老谷如今被看守，肯定就是因了这个……啊啊，一人犯法一人当，米豆腐是自己卖的，钱是自己赚的，怎么要怪罪到老谷头上?卖米豆腐的款子，还有一笔存放在满庚哥的手里呢。

    去找满庚哥。满庚哥大约是个如今还在镇上管事的人。满庚哥早就认了自己做干妹子。胡玉音还有靠山哪，在镇上还找得着人哪。满庚哥比自己的嫡亲哥哥还亲哪……胡玉音转身就走，就走?她哪里是在走，是在奔，在跑。她思绪有些混乱，却又还有点清晰。她脚下轻飘飘的，走路没有一点声响，整个身子都像要离开地面飘飞起来一样……啊啊，满庚哥，满庚哥，当初你娶不了我……你是党里的人，娶不了我这样的女人……可你在芙蓉河边的码头岩板上，抱过我，亲过我。你抱得好紧呀，身上骨头都痛。你起过誓，今生今世，你都要护着我，护着我……满庚哥，满庚哥，河边的码头没改地方，那块青岩板也还在……你还会护着我，护着我……满庚哥，满庚哥，你要救救妹妹，救救我……

    她不晓得怎样过的渡，不晓得怎样爬的坡……她敲响了黎满庚支书家的门。这条门她进得少，但她熟悉、亲切。有的地方只要去过一次，就总是记得，一生一世都会记得。

    开门的是满庚哥那又高又大的女人“五爪辣”。“五爪辣”见了她，吓得倒退了一步，就像见了鬼一样。过去镇上的妹子、嫂子，碰到自己总要多看两眼，有羡慕，有嫉妒。女人就是爱嫉妒、吃醋。可如今怎么啦，怎么镇上的男人女人，老的少的，见了自己就和见了鬼、见了不吉利的东西一样。

    “满庚哥在屋吗?”胡玉音问。她不管满庚的女人是一副什么脸相，她要找的是那个曾经爱过她、对她起过誓的人。

    “请你不要再来找他了!你差点害了他，他差点害了一屋人……一屋娘崽差点跟着他背黑锅……如今上级送他到县里反省、学习去了，背着铺盖去的……告诉你了吧，你交把他的那一千五百块钱赃款，被人揭发了，他上缴给县里工作组去了……”

    “啊啊……男人，男人……我的天啊，男人，没有良心的男人……”

    就像一声炸雷，把胡玉音的耳朵震聋了，脑壳震晕了。她身子在晃荡着，她站不稳了。

    “男人?你的男人贼大胆，放出口风要暗杀工作组女组长，如今到坟岗背去了!”

    说着，“五爪辣”像赶叫花子似的，空咚一声关紧了大门。她家的大门好厚好重。

    胡玉音就要倒下去了，倒下去了……不能倒下，要倒也不能倒在人家的大门口，真的像个下贱的叫花子那样倒在人家的大门口……她没有倒下去，居然没有倒下去!她自己都有些吃惊，哪来的这股力气……她脚下轻飘飘的，又走起来了，脚下没有一点声响，整个身子又像要飘飞起来一样……

    桂桂，你在哪里?刚才“五爪辣”讲你想暗杀工作组女组长，你不会，不会……你胆子那样小，在路上碰到条松毛狗、弯角牛，你都会吓得躲到一边去的……不会，不会。桂桂，天底下，你是最后的一个亲人了……可你不在铺子里等着我，而是在门上挂了把老铜锁。你跑到坟岗背去做什么?做什么……傻子，自古以来，那是镇上埋人的地方，大白天人都不敢去，你黑天黑地地跑去做什么?你胆子又小，坟岗背那地方岂是随便去得的!

    她迷迷糊糊……但还是有一线闪电似的亮光射进她黑浪翻涌的脑子里……啊啊，桂桂，好桂桂，难道、难道你……桂桂，桂桂，你不会的，不会的!你还没有等着我回来见一面哪……

    她大喊大叫了起来，在坑坑洼洼的泥路上跑，如飞地奔跑，居然也没有跌倒……看看，真傻，还哭，还喊，还空着急呢，桂桂不是来了?来了，来了……是桂桂!桂桂啊，桂桂哥……

    桂桂才二十二岁，胡玉音才满十八岁。是镇上一个老屠户做的媒。桂桂头次和自己见面，瘦高瘦长的，清清秀秀，脸块红得和猴子屁股一样，恨不得躲到门背后去呢……爸妈说，这回好，小屠户，杀生为业……开始时也是傻，总是在心里拿他和满庚哥去相比，而且总是桂桂比不赢。玉音一想就有气，觉得心酸、委屈，就不理睬桂桂。见了面就低脑壳，噘嘴巴，心里骂人家“不要脸”。可是桂桂是个实在人，不声不气，每天来铺里挑水啊，劈柴啊，扫地啊，上屋顶翻瓦检漏啊，下芙蓉河去洗客栈里的蚊帐、被子啊。每天都来做一阵，又快又好，做完就走。爸妈过意不去留他吃饭，他总是不肯，嘴巴都不肯打湿……便是邻居们．都讲，老胡记客栈前世修得好啊，白白地捡了一个厚道的崽娃罗。又讲玉音妹子有福分啊，招这么个新郎公上门，只怕今后家务事都不消她沾手，比娘边做女还贵气哟……怪哩，玉音越不喜欢这个佳桂，爸妈和街坊们却越夸他、疼他。他呢，也好像憋了一股子劲，要做出个样子给玉音看似的。后来，这个勤快得一刻都闲不住手脚的人，就连玉音的衣服、鞋袜都偷偷地拿了去洗。你洗，你洗!勤快就洗一世，玉音反正装做没看见，不理你……

    她和黎桂桂不战不和，怕有整整半年那么久。鬼打起，慢慢‘地，不知不觉，玉音觉得桂桂长相好看，人秀气，性子平和，懂礼。看着顺眼，顺心了。日久见人心嘛。这一来，只要偶尔哪天桂桂没到胡记客栈来，玉音就坐立不安，十次八次地要站到铺子门口去打望……惹得爸妈好欢喜，街坊邻居都挤眉挤眼地笑。笑什么?在玉音心里，桂桂已经把满庚哥比下去了……而且满庚哥已经成家了，讨了个和他一样武高武大、打得死老虎的悍妇。桂桂为什么比他不赢?桂桂才是自己的，自己的老公，自己的男人……桂桂有哪样不好?脚勤手快，文文静静，连哼都很少哼一声。她和桂桂成亲时多排场、多风光啊，县里歌舞团的一群天仙般的妹儿们都来唱戏，当伴娘，唱了整整一晚的《喜歌堂》。后来镇上的一些上了岁数的姑嫂们都讲，芙蓉镇方圆百里，再大的财主家收亲嫁女，都没有像玉音和桂桂的亲事办得风光、排场……

    风呼呼，草向两边分，树朝两边倒，胡玉音在没命地奔跑……

    黎桂桂就在她身边，陪伴着她，和她讲着话……“桂桂，还记得吗?成亲的那晚上，歌舞团那些天仙般的人儿把我们两个推进洞房里，就都走了。我们两个都累了。唱了一晚的歌，好累啊。你这个蠢子，还在脸红，还在低着脑壳，连看都不敢看我一眼。你上床，连衣服都不敢脱。我好气又好笑。你那样怕丑，倒像个新娘子哩……你当我就不怕丑?你这个傻子却像比我还怕丑。我忽然觉得，你不像我男人，倒像我弟弟。(唉唉，那时一提起‘男人’两个字就脸臊心跳。)我想，你这样脾气的人，今后大约不会骂我，不会凶我打我，会在我面前服服帖帖……一夜晚，我们都和衣睡着，谁都没挨谁。想起来都好笑呢。第二天早晨，你天不亮就起去了，挑水，做饭，把吵闹了一夜的堂屋、铺门口打扫得连一片瓜子皮、花生壳都见不到。我都不晓得。我还在睡懒觉。桂桂啊，我还在做女呢，我还有点撒娇呢。过去是在爷娘边撒娇，今后是在你身边撒娇呢……

    “是的，桂桂，我就想在你身边撒娇呢……可是你这个傻子，当了新郎公，比我还怕丑哩。还记得吗?成亲的第二天的晚上，镇上来了幻灯队。那时我们镇上还没有电影，却一个月要看次把幻灯，对不对?解放前我们镇上只演过影子戏、花灯。我还记得，幻灯片放的是《小二黑结婚》。片子上那一对青年男女长得真好看。他们为了自由对象，晚上在树林子里会面，还被村公所的坏人捆起来送到区政府去呢。看着，看着，我的身子就紧紧挨着你。你看，那才叫封建呢，父母要包办，媒婆要说亲，村干部随便捆人。啊啊，还是我们生在新社会里好，没有封建，男的女的坐在一起，没有人来捆。那天场子上真黑，天上星子都没有一颗。我记得你看着看着，就把手搂在我的腰上了。但你马上又怕烫似地要缩回手去，可叫我把你捉住了，还轻轻拍了你一下。搂着就搂着，我是你的女人，你是我的男人，又不是哪里来的野老公……你也就再没有松开我……

    “桂桂，桂桂!我们在一起，事事都合得来。因为你总是依着我，顺着我，听我的。你还讲我是你的司令官、女皇上哩。你都打了些什么蠢比方?看了几出老戏、新戏，就乱打比方。我也对你好，没有使过性子。那些年，我们脸都没有红过……可是我们也有烦心事，成亲六、七年了，还没有生崽娃……桂桂!我们多么想要一个崽娃啊!没有崽娃，我们两个再好再亲，也总是心里不满足，不落实，觉得不长久啊。崽娃才是我们树上结出的果子，身上掉下的肉啊。崽娃才能使我们永生永世在一起，不分离……为了这事，我常常背着你哭，你常常背着我唉声叹气。彼此的心情，其实都晓得，却又都装做没看见……也就是为了这事，我们后来才轻轻吵过几句，可隔壁邻居都没有听见。其实你也没有怪我。是我自己怪自己……后来我都有点迷信了。我想，大约是我们两个傻子厮亲厮敬，相好得过了头，把‘子路’都好断了……也该像别的人家那样，吵吵架，骂一骂……唉唉，桂桂呀，桂桂!你怎么不讲话?你总是皱着副眉头，有什么不高兴的?你是怪我不该卖米豆腐，不该起了那栋发灾的新楼屋?为这事，我们争了嘴，我还用筷子头戳了你一下，因为你竞想贱价卖掉它……”

    胡玉音在黑夜里奔跑着。她神志狂乱，思绪迷离。世界是昏昏糊糊的，她也是昏昏糊糊的。她都记不起回来的路上她坐没坐渡船，谁给她摆的渡。她跑啊，跑啊。她仿佛在追赶着前面的什么人。前面的那个人跑得真快，黎桂桂跑得真快，她怎么也追不到他的跟前去了。“桂桂!没良心的，你等等我!等等我!”她大喊大叫了起来，“我还有话和你讲，我的话还只讲了一小半，顶顶要紧的事都还没有和你打商量……”

    她身后，仿佛有人在追赶她，脚步响咚咚的，不晓得是鬼，还是人。她顾不上回过头去看，她追上自己的男人要紧。听人讲鬼走路是没有脚步声的，那就大约是人。他们还来追赶什么?胡玉音什么都没有了，什么都没有了!只剩下四两命。难道四两命都不放过，还要拿去批，拿去斗，拿去捆?我要和桂桂在一起，和桂桂在一起……你们就是捉到了我，捆住了我的手脚，我也会用牙齿咬断麻索、棕绳……

    她终于爬上了坟岗背。人家讲这里是一个鬼的世界，她一点都不怕。从古至今，镇上的子孙们在这里堆了上千座坟。好鬼，冤鬼，长寿的，短命的，恶的，善的，男的，女的，上天堂、下地狱的，都看中了这块风水宝地，都在这里找到了三尺黄土安息。

    “桂桂!你在哪里?你在哪——里——?”

    月黑风高，伸手不见五指。上千个土包包啊，分不清哪是旧坟，哪是新坟。

    “桂——桂!你在哪里?你答应我呀——，你的女人找你来了呀——!”

    胡玉音凄楚地叫喊着，声音拖得长长的，又尖又细。这声音使世界上的一切呼叫都黯然失色，就像黑暗里的绿色磷火，一闪一闪地在荒坟野地里飘忽……胡玉音一脚高，一脚低，在坟地里乱窜。她一路上都没有跌倒过，在这里却是跌了一跤又一跤跌得她都在坟坑里爬不起来了。仿佛永生永世就要睡在这坟坑里，……

    “芙蓉姐子!你不要喊了，不要找了，桂桂兄弟他不会答应你了!”

    不晓得过了多久，有人在坟坑里拉起了她。

    “你是哪个?你是哪个?”

    “我是哪个?你……都听不出来?”

    “你是人还是鬼?”

    “怎么讲呢?有时是鬼，有时是人!”

    “你、你……”

    “我是秦书田，秦癫子呀!”

    “你这个五类分子!快滚开!莫挨我，快滚开!”

    “我是为了你好，不怀半点歹意……芙蓉姐子，你千万千万，要想开些，要爱惜你自己，日子还长着呢……”

    “我不要你跑到这地方来怜惜我……昏天黑地的，你是坏分子，右派……”

    “姐子……黎桂桂被划成了新富农，你就是……”

    “你造谣!哪个是新富农?”

    “我不哄你……”

    “哈哈哈!我就是富农婆!卖米豆腐的富农婆!你这个坏人，你是想吓我，吓我?”

    “不是吓你，我讲的是真话，铁板上钉钉子，一点都不假。”

    “不假?”

    “乌龟不笑鳖，都在泥里歇。都是一样落难，一样造孽。”

    “天杀的……富农婆……姓秦的，都是你，都是你!我招亲的那晚上，你和那一大班妖精来反封建，坐喜歌堂……败了我的彩头，喜歌堂，发灾堂，害人堂……呜呜呜，呜呜呜，你何苦收集那些歌?何苦反封建?你害了自己一世还不够，还害了桂桂，还害了我……”

    蜡烛点火绿又青，烛火下面烛泪淋，
    蜡烛灭时干了泪，妹妹哭时哑了声。
    蜡烛点火绿又青，陪伴妹妹唱几声，
    唱起苦情心打颤，眼里插针泪水深……

    秦癫子真是个癫子，竟坐在坟堆上唱起他当年改编的大毒草《女歌堂》里的曲子来了。

    第三章 街巷深处(一九六九年)

    一 新风恶俗

    “四清”运动结束后，芙蓉镇从一个“资本主义的黑窝子”变成为一座“社会主义的战斗堡垒”。深刻的变化首先从窄窄的青石板街的“街容”上体现出来。街两边的铺面原先是一色的发黑的木板，现在离地两米以下，一律用石灰水刷成白色，加上朱红边框。每隔两个铺面就是一条仿宋体标语：“兴无灭资”、“农业学大寨”、“保卫‘四清’成果”、“革命加拚命，拚命干革命”。街头街尾则是几个“万岁”，遥相呼应。每家门口，都贴着同一种规格、同一号字体的对联：“走大寨道路”，“举大寨红旗”。所以整条青石板街，成了白底红字的标语街、对联街，做到了家家户户整齐划一。原先每逢天气晴和，街铺上空就互搭长竹竿，晾晒衣

    衫裙被，红红绿绿，纷纷扬扬如万国旗，亦算本镇一点风光，如今整肃街容，予以取缔。逢年过节，或是上级领导来视察，兄弟社队来取经，均由各家自备彩旗一面，斜插在各自临街的阁楼上，无风时低垂，有风时飘扬，造成一种运动胜利、成果丰硕的气氛。还有个规定，镇上人家一律不得养狗、养猫、养鸡、养兔、养蜂，叫做“五不养”，以保持街容整洁、安全，但每户可以养三只母鸡。对于养这三只母鸡的用途则没有明确规定，大约既可以当作“鸡屁股银行”换几个盐油钱，又好使上级干部下乡在镇上人家吃派饭时有两个荷包蛋。街上严禁设摊贩卖，摊贩改商从农，杜绝小本经营。

    以上是街容的革命化。更深刻的是人和人的关系的政治化。镇上制定了“治安保卫制度”，来客登记，外出请假，晚上基干民兵查夜。并在街头、街中、街尾三处，设有三个“检举揭发箱”，任何人都可以朝里边投入检举揭发材料，街坊邻居互相揭发可以不署名，并保护揭发人。知情不报者，与坏人同罪。检举有功者，记入“居民档案”，并给予一定的精神和物质奖励。“检举揭发箱”由专人定期开锁上锁。确立了检举揭发制度后，效果是十分显著的，每天天一落黑，家家铺面都及早关上大门，上床睡觉，节省灯油，全镇肃静。就是大白天，街坊邻居们也不再互相串门，免得祸从口出，被人检举，惹出是非倒霉。原先街坊们喜欢互赠吃食，讲究人缘、人情，如今批判了资产阶级人性论、人情味，只好互相竖起了觉悟的耳朵，睁大了雪亮的眼睛，警惕着左邻右舍的风吹草动。原先是“我为人人，人人为我”。如今是“人人防我，我防人人”。

    再者，如今镇上阶级阵线分明。经过无数次背靠背、面对面的大会、中会、小会和各种形式的政治排队，大家都懂得了：雇农的地位优于贫农，贫农的地位优于下中农，下中农的地位优于中农，中农的地位优于富裕中农，依此类推，三等九级。街坊邻居吵嘴，都要先估量一下对方的阶级高下，自己的成分优劣。只有十多岁的娃娃们不知利害，不肯就范。但经过几回鼻青额肿的教训后，才不再做超越父母社会级别的轻举妄为。小小年纪就晓得叹气：“唉，背霉!生在一个富裕中农家里，一开口人家就讲我爷老倌搞资本主义，想向地主富农看齐!”“你还不知足?你看看那些地富子女，从小就是狗崽子，缩得像乌龟脑壳!”“祖宗作恶，子孙报应，活该!”“唉，我爷老倌是个贫下中农就好了，这回参军就准有我哥的份!…‘你晓得?贫下中农里头也还有蛮多差别呢，政治历史清不清白，社会关系掺没掺杂，五服三代经不经得起查……”

    至于“干部历史真相大白”，就更是兴味无穷了。运动中工作组曾有个规定，就是每个干部都要向党组织和本单位革命群众交心，“过社会主义关”。比方原来大家对镇税务所所长都比较尊敬，是位打过游击的老同志。但他在交心时，讲出了自己出身在官僚地主家庭，参加游击队前和家里的一个使女通奸过，参加革命后再没有犯过类似的错误……天啊，税务所长原来是个这样的坏家伙，老实巴交的样子，玩女人是个老里手!下回他要催个什么税，老子先骂他个狗血喷头!比如镇供销社主任就在诉苦大会上啼啼哭哭，自己虽然出身贫苦，祖祖辈辈做长工，当牛马，但翻身忘本，解放初讨了个资本家的小姐做老婆，没保住穷苦人的本色，家庭和社会关系都复杂化，又已经矮子上楼梯样的生了五个娃娃，想离婚都离不脱……啊呀，供销社主任也不是个好东西，资本家的女婿，还管我们镇上的商店哩!下回若还吵架，就指着鼻子骂他资本家的代理人、狗腿子!再比如镇信用社会计，在一次交心会上讲到自己虽然是个城市贫民出身，但解放前被抓过壮丁，当过三年伪兵。于是镇上的人们就给他起了个野名：伪兵会计……如此等等。镇上有人编了个歌谣唱：“干部交心剥画皮，没有几个好东西，活农民管死地主，活地主管我和你!”

    芙蓉镇的圩期也有变化，从五天圩改成了星期圩，逢礼拜天，便利本镇及附近厂矿职工安排生活。至于这礼拜天是怎么来的，合不合乎革命化的要求，因镇上过去只信佛经而不知有《圣经》，因而无人深究。倒是有人认为，礼拜天全世界都通用，采用这一圩期，有利于今后世界大同。镇上专门成立了一个圩场治安委员会，由“四清”入党、并担任了本镇大队党支书的王秋赦兼主任。圩场治安委员会以卖米豆腐发家的新富农分子胡玉音为黑典型，进行宣传教育，严密注视着资本主义的风吹草动。圩场治安委员会下拥有十位佩黄袖章的治安员，负责打击投机倒把，查缴私人高价出售的农副产品、山货水产，没收国家规定不准上市的一、二、三类统购统销物资。这一来，圩场治安委员会的办公室里，每一圩都要堆放着些查缴、没收来的物品，如鲜菇、活鱼、石蛙、兽肉之类。这类东西又不能上交国库，去增加国民经济总收入。开初时确也烂掉、臭掉一些，颇为浪费。后来渐渐地悟出了一个办法：凡查缴、没收上来的违禁物资，一律做劣质次品削价处理。这一来一举三得：避免了浪费；圩场治安委员会有了一点经济收入做活动经费；每位佩黄袖章的成员在一圩奔走争吵之后，分点时鲜山货、水产改善生活。过去当乡丁还有点草鞋钱呢。当然王秋赦主任也没有忘记，每圩都从收缴上来的物资中送些到公社食堂去，给李国香书记改善生活。后来圩场管理委员会更名为“民兵小分队”，威信就更加高，权力就更加大。资本主义的浮头鱼们，贩卖山货、水产的小生产者们，见了民兵小分队就和老鼠见了猫一样，恨不得化作土行孙钻入地缝缝里去躲过“对资产阶级的全面专政”。但民兵小分队的队员们有时黄袖章并不佩在手臂上，而是装在口袋里搞微服私访，一当拿着了赃物，才把黄袖章拿出来在你眼前一晃：哈哈，狐狸再狡猾逃不过猎人的眼睛，资本主义再隐蔽逃不出小分队的手掌心!“违禁物品”被查缴、没收后，物主一般不敢吭声，一顽抗就扣人，打电话通知你所在的生产队派民兵来接回……久而久之，有些觉悟不高、思想落后的山里人，就背地里喊出了一个外号：“公养土匪”，真是脑后长了反骨呢。

    芙蓉镇上还有一项小小的革命化措施值得一提，就是罚铁帽右派秦书田和新富农寡婆胡玉音每天清早，在革命群众起床之前，打扫一次青石板街。

    然而历史是严峻的。历史并不是个任人打扮的小姑娘。当代的中国历史常有神来之笔出奇制胜，有时甚至开点当代风云人物的玩笑呢。

    芙蓉镇被列为全县乡镇革命化的典型，李国香则成为“活学活用政治标兵”。不久，因革命需要年轻有为的女闯将，她被提拔担任了县委常委兼公社书记。为了巩固“四清”成果，她大部分时间仍住在芙蓉镇供销社的高围墙里。

    可是没出半年，她在县常委、公社书记的靠背椅上屁股还没有坐热，一场更为迅猛的大运动，洪水一般铺天泼地而来。李国香惊惶不安了几天，但立即就站到了这场新的大运动的前列，领导运动主动积极。首先在芙蓉镇抓出了税务所长等几个“小邓拓”，把“小邓拓”和五类分子们串在一起，绕着全镇大队进行了好几次“牛鬼蛇神大游斗”。但她还是没有把本公社、本镇运动的舵把稳，还是有人跳出来捣乱、造反，糊她的大字报。她查出了供销社主任、信用社会计是“黑后台”，就又立即组织王秋赦这些革命干部、群众反击了过去，抓出了好几个“假左派，真右派”。你死我活、如火如荼的阶级大搏斗啊，谁稍事犹豫，谁心慈手软，谁就活该被打翻在地，被踏上一万只脚。可是，在全国上上下下大串联、煽风点火的红卫兵小将，就像天兵天将似地突然出现在芙蓉镇上。真是无法无天啊，仗着中央首长支持他们，踢开党委闹革命，把小小的芙蓉镇也闹了个天翻地覆。口号是“右派不臭，左派不香”。他们竟然对李国香进行了一次突击搜查。不搜则已，一搜叫小将们傻了眼，红了脸。没有结过婚的女书记的床上竟有几件男子汉用的不可言传的东西。小将们接着怒气填膺，把一双破鞋挂在李国香颈脖上，游街示众!

    那天随同李国香一起挂了黑牌游街的，有全镇的黑五类。当镇上的五类分子们发现李国香也加入了他们牛鬼蛇神的队伍时，那一颗颗低垂着的花岗岩脑壳，那一双双盯着脚下青石板的贼溜溜的眼睛，鬼晓得是在想些什么，呈现出一些什么样的表情。只有铁帽右派秦书田回过头来望了李国香一眼。四目相视，立即碰出了火星子来。秦书田射过来的目光里含有嘲弄、讥讽的针刺；李国香回击过去的目光是寒光闪闪的利剑。只有两秒钟，秦书田就把目光缩回去了，转过身子继续朝前走了。真正的阶级敌人、右派分子退却了，因为红卫兵的铜头牛皮带已经呼啸了过来。李国香好伤心啊，颈脖上除了黑牌子还吊了一双破鞋……

    “红卫兵小将、战友、同志!肯定是闹误会了。”她一次又一次地找红卫兵们申辩、解释，“我怎么会和他们五类分子、牛鬼蛇神搞到一起?我从来就没有当过右派。一九五七年，我在县商业局搞专案抓右派。五九年，我参加县委反右倾。六四、六五两年，我是工作组组长，揪五类分子，抓新富农，斗老右派……我从参加革命工作起，就是个左派，真正的左派!所以小将、战友、同志们，你们抓我，肯定是闹误会了，是新左派抓了老左派……”

    “哈哈!她妈的，破鞋!不要脸!你还有口讲什么左派?我们批斗反革命修正主义分子，是新左派抓了你老左派?恶毒诬蔑，疯狂反扑!”

    红卫兵莽莽撞撞，头脑膨胀，一口北方腔，用牛皮带抽得李国香这个自封的“真正的左派”有口难言，一时无从申辩。

    那是什么样的年月?一切真善美和假恶丑、是与非、红与黑全都颠颠倒倒光怪陆离的年月，牛肝猪肺、狼心狗肚一锅煎炒、蒸熬的年月。正义含垢忍辱、苟且偷生，派性应运而生、风火狂阔。

    这时芙蓉河上正在架设着一座石拱大桥，芙蓉镇快要通汽车了。五类分子、牛鬼蛇神都被押到拱桥工地上去出义务工，抬片石，筛沙子。工地上供一顿中饭。李国香死也不肯和新富农婆胡玉音共一个铁筛筛沙子，更不肯和老右派秦书田共一根扁担抬片石。她宁可咬着牙齿搞单干，背片石上脚手架。她时时刻刻注意着自己的身分，即便在坏人堆里，黑鬼群中，自己也是个上等人。总有一天会澄清自己的政治分野、左右派别。

    中饭按规定每人三两，这是牛鬼蛇神的定量。太阳大，劳动强度大，汗水流得多，三两米加一勺子辣椒茄子或是煮南瓜怎么够?下午干活又不能偷懒，黑鬼们纷纷要求加饭。只有胡玉音历来食量小，三两米尽够了。李国香则因过去很少参加体力劳动，如今是饭量跟着劳动量猛增，吃下三两米还觉得肚子饿得慌。监督他们劳动的红卫兵小将，想出了一个惩治这些社会渣滓的办法：加饭是可以，但必须从食堂工棚门口到食堂窗口，大约十五米的距离，跳一段“黑鬼舞”，并把“黑鬼舞”的基本动作、姿态要领讲解了一遍。

    “秦书田!划右派前你当过州立中学的音体教员，又做过歌舞团的编导。现在，由你来给你的同类们做一次示范。”

    秦书田这铁帽右派得到小将们的命令，立即站到了工棚门口。对于这一类的表演，他从来不迟疑，还显出一种既叫人嬉笑又令人讨厌的积极主动。他把“黑鬼舞”的基本动作、要领重新问了一遍，又在心里默想了一回，便看也不看大家一眼，跳了起来。但见他：一手举着饭钵，一手举着筷子，双手交叉来回晃动，张开双膝半蹲下身子，两脚一左一右地向前跳跃，嘴里则合着手足动作的节拍，喊着：“牛鬼蛇神加钵饭，牛鬼蛇神加钵饭，牛鬼蛇神加钵饭……”

    这可把红卫兵小将们乐坏了，拍着巴掌大声叫好。围观的社员们也忍不住哈哈大笑。“秦癫子，再来一次!’，“秦癫子，你每天跳三次，就算改造好了，给你摘帽!”

    五类分子们却叫秦癫子的“舞蹈”吓傻了。有的脸色发青，像刚从坟地里爬出来的；有的则低下头转过身子，生怕被小将们或是革命群众点了名，像秦癫子那样地去跳“黑鬼舞”。但谁都没有张惶失措，更没有哭。这些家伙是茅坑里的石头，又硬又臭，早已经适应惯了各式各样的侮辱了。他们哪里还晓得人间尚有“羞耻”二字!

    食堂大师傅没有笑，而是看呆了。啊啊，“文化大革命”，有红宝书、语录歌、“老三篇”天天读、破“四旧”、打菩萨、倒庙宇、抄家搜查，还有这种“黑鬼舞”……这就是新文化?这就是新思想，新风俗，新习惯?大师傅大约是心肠还没有铁硬，思想还没有“非常无产阶级化”，他在往秦书田的钵子里头扒饭时，双手在发抖，眼里有泪花。

    这天，李国香的肚子实在太饿了。她等红卫兵小将和革命群众笑闹的高潮过去后，就端了空饭钵径直朝窗口走去。“她就像要以此举动来表示自己和真正的右派、黑五类们相区别似的。可是红卫兵小将们偏偏不放过她，偏偏要把她归入牛鬼蛇神的行列：“站住!你哪里去?”
    “你这破鞋!向后——转，目标门口，正步走!’，一个女红卫兵手里呼呼地挥转着一根宽皮带，在后边逼住了她。她怕挨打，赶快退到了门边，脸上挤出了几丝丝笑容：“小将、战友、同志!我、我饱了，不加饭了!”
    “鬼跟你是‘同志’，‘战友’!饱了?你饱了?你刚才为什么那样威风?你向谁示威?向谁挑战?你以为你比旁的牛鬼蛇神高贵?现在，不管你加不加饭，我们都要勒令你，从这门口，向那窗口，学秦右派的样，跳一段‘黑鬼舞’给大家看看!”
    “对!就要她这‘战友’跳!就要她这‘战友’跳!”

    “你看她瓜子脸，水蛇腰，手长脚长，身段苗条，是个跳舞的料子!”

    “她不跳就叫她爬，爬一段也可以!”

    红卫兵小将们叫闹了起来。不知为什么，这些外地来的小闯将，这些好玩恶作剧的“飞天蜈蚣”，特别看不起这个女人，也特别憎恨这个女人。

    “小将、战友、同志们，我实在不会跳，我从来没有跳过舞……你们不要发火，不要用皮带抽，我爬，我爬，爬到那窗口下……”

    李国香含着辛酸的泪水，爬了下去，手脚并用，像一条狗。

    连续地向左转，事物走向了自己的反面。以整人为乐事者，后来自己也被整。佛家叫“因果报应”，“循环转替”。

    一九六八年底县革命委员会成立时，李国香的政治派属问题终于搞清楚了，恢复了她一贯就是革命左派的身分，被结合为县革委常委、公社革委会主任。她原是不应当有什么怨言、牢骚的。她自己不就在历次政治运动的动员会上指出过：在运动初期，广大群众刚刚发动起来的时候，是难免有点过火行动的，问题在于如何控制、引导。不能去吹冷风，泼冷水。何况这是场“史无前例”的“无产阶级文化大革命”，更是难免出现“左派打左派、好人打好人”之类的小小偏差呢。

    二“传经佳话”

    奇特的年代才有的奇特的事。但这些事的确在神州大地、天南海北发生过，而且是那样的庄严、神圣、肃穆。新的时代里降生的读者们一定会觉得不可思议，视为异端邪说。然而这正是我们国家的一页伤心史里的支流末节。

    芙蓉镇大队党支部书记王秋赦参加地、县农业参观团，迢迢千里从北方取经回来，这在偏僻的五岭山脉腹地里真是算得一件石破天惊的大事。听说参观团从县里出发到地区所在地集中时，坐的是扎了红绸、插了彩旗的专车，一路上都是鞭炮锣鼓相送。从地区所在地的火车站出发时更是举行了隆重的欢送仪式。来去都是坐的专列。什么叫专车、专列？山镇居民们没有出过远门，只好又去询问铁帽右派秦书田。铁帽右派喝劳动人民血汗读了那么多书，见了那么多世面，好像什么都懂。他有责任、有义务回答大家的问题。他说，专车一般是指专供首长单独乘坐的小卧车，也泛指重要会议包乘的大轿车。过去讲看老爷看轿子，轿子有爵位品级，从龙凤御驾到一品当朝，到七品县官，都有讲究。如今看首长看车子，也分三等九级。县一级领导坐的是黄布篷篷的吉普车。“听听这家伙，茅坑里的石头又臭又硬！问他个事，他就以讲授知识为名，总是不忘攻击社会主义！”有人大声斥责，及时指出。“不懂的，你们又爱问。我一讲，又是诬蔑加攻击。唉唉，今后还是你们不懂的莫问，我懂的莫讲，免得祸从口出……”秦书田苦着眉眼，做出一副可怜巴巴的相。“那专列呢？哪样的车叫专列？”还是有人问。秦书田只好又回答，专列是火车，一列客车十一节车厢本来可以坐一千多旅客。为了保证像林副统帅这些伟人的行动方便和安全，这种编成专列的火车只坐首长和工作人员、医务人员、警卫人员。可以在火车上办公、开会、食宿。车站道口、交通枢纽、桥梁隧洞，都为它开绿灯。来往车辆都要让路、回避……后来把某些重要参观团、会议代表包乘的列车，也称为专列。所以这一回，本镇大队支书王秋赦去北方取农业真经，坐上了专车、专列，就不是一般的规格，享受到了省革委头头一级的待遇呢。

    芙蓉镇上的居民们还听说，王秋赦支书在地区一下火车，就面对着前来欢迎参观团取经归来的革命群众，面对着鼓乐鞭炮彩旗，手拿袖珍红宝书，举平头顶不停地晃动着；他这动作，大家一看就晓得是从电影里向副统帅学下来的。他嘴里还琅琅有声、合着节拍地喊着：“红太阳，万岁！红太阳，万岁！红太阳，万万岁！……”据说县革委派了专车到火车站去迎接。他坐上吉普车后，在一百多里的归途中，嘴里也一直呼喊着“万岁，万万岁”。吉普车开进县革委会，主任、副主任来接见，握手，他口里轻轻呼喊的也是“万岁，万万岁”。在县革委吃过中饭，吉普车一直把他送到芙蓉镇，口里也没离“万岁，万万岁”。只是他的声音已经沙哑了，伤了风。

    冬天的日头短。天黑时分，吊脚楼里灯火通明。本镇大队的干部、社员们，有来请安道乏的，有来汇报情况、请示工作的，也有纯粹是来凑凑热闹、看个究竟的。人们走了一批又来一批。还有户人家因女儿等着大队推荐招工，把一大缸新烤的红薯烧酒和几样下酒菜都贡献了出来，摆在吊脚楼火塘边上的八仙桌上，给王支书接风洗尘。王支书也兴致极高，忘掉了旅途劳顿，凡本镇干部、贫下中农来看望他的，他一定让陪他喝上一小杯红薯酒。至于中农、富裕中农，他就只笑着点点头，算打个招呼。于是，够得上喝红薯烧酒资格的人们，就纷纷举起酒杯，借花献佛，热烈庆贺王支书北方取经胜利归来：“王支书！听讲你老人家坐了专车又坐专列，还吃了专灶，上下几千里，来去一个月，只差没坐飞机了！”

    “是啊，是啊，这回只差没有坐飞机。不过，听讲坐飞机不安全，怕三个轮子放不下。如今领导人都兴坐专车、专列……”

    “你老人家这回出远门，见了大世面，取经得宝，可要给我们传达传达！”

    “人家是农业的红旗，全国都要学习，经验一套又一套。我学习回来，当然要给大家传经送宝，把我们芙蓉镇也办成一个典型！”

    “一朝一法。从前唐僧骑匹白马，到西天取经，只带了孙悟空、猪悟能、沙悟净三个徒弟，经了九九八十一难……如今我们王支书去北方取经，是机械化开路，而且成千上万的人都去，五湖四海的人都去……”

    “什么？什么？你老伯喝了红薯烧酒讲酒话，怎么拿唐僧上西天取经来打比，那是封建迷信，我们这是农业革命！你这话要叫上级听去了，嘿嘿……”

    “王支书，天下那么大，我们芙蓉镇地方只怕算片小指甲……”

    “天下大，我们芙蓉镇也不小，而且很重要。这回全县去取经的人里，就只三个大队一级的领导……”

    对于这些热情的问候、赞誉，王秋赦笑眯眯地品着红薯酒，嚼着香喷喷的油炸花生米，沙哑着喉咙一一予以回答。

    “王支书，听讲从全国各地，每天都有上万人到那地方去参观学习？”这时，有个青皮后生插进来问。

    “对啊，天南海北，云南、新疆、西藏的少数民族，都去学习。学校、礼堂、招待所都住得满满登登的。光那招待所，就恐怕有我们芙蓉镇青石板街这样长。”王秋赦回答。

    “那，他们还用不用化肥？”青皮后生又问。

    “全国的典型，头面红旗，国家当然会保证供应。”王秋赦不晓得这青皮后生问话的用意，“话讲回来，人家主要依靠自力更生……”

    “我算了一下，每天一万人参观、取经、学习，就算每人只住一晚，每人屙一次屎、撒两泡尿，一万人每天要留下多少人粪尿？那大队才八、九百亩土地，只怕肥过了头，会清风倒伏，不结谷子只长苗，哪里还要什么化学肥料！”

    青皮后生的话，引得吊脚楼里的人都哈哈大笑。

    王支书正要正颜厉色，把这出身虽好但思想不正的青皮后生狠狠教训一顿，却见大队秘书黎满庚进楼来了。依黎满庚的错误，“四清”运动中工作组本要开除他的党籍，后因他主动交出了替新富农婆胡玉音窝藏的一千五百元赃款，认错、认罪态度较好，才受到了宽大处理，保留了党籍，降为大队秘书。

    “黎秘书！怎么这时刻才来？被你婆娘拖得脱不开身？你再不来，我就要打发人去请啦！”王秋赦满面红光，并不起身，拿腔拿调地说。他指了指旁边的一张凳子，倒了一杯红薯酒：“我到北方去了个把月，镇里没有出过什么事吧？”

    黎满庚如今成了王秋赦的下级。可他从前是十分看不起王秋赦这吊脚楼主的。所以这位置一上一下的变动，他总感到不舒服、不适应。但他又不能不当干部。他已经不是十多年前的那个头脑单纯的复员军人了，而是个有家有室的人。他向王支书简单汇报了一下本镇大队近一月来的工作，比如各生产队举行“天天读”的情况啦，有多少社员能背诵“老三篇”了啦，村头路口，又刷写下了多少条“最高指示”啦，画下了多少幅光辉形象啦，等等。

    “可是，我看镇里群众的思想有些乱啊。”王秋赦严肃地看了黎满庚一眼，“突出政治不够！刚才就有人在这里把我到北方取经，比作唐僧去西天取经，气人不气人？还有人讲全国的农业红旗不需要买化学肥料，每天一万多人参观学习，拉下的屎尿就会把苞谷、麦子肥倒，好笑不好笑？这话虽然都是从贫下中农的嘴巴里讲出来的，但有没有五类分子、阶级敌人在背后煽阴风？这是阶级斗争的新动向！我们不斗阶级敌人，阶级敌人可在斗我们。”

    王秋赦讲一句，黎满庚点一下头。陪坐在他们身边的人则有的跟着点头，有的则挤眉眨眼暗自发笑。

    “支书老王，你这回取了什么宝贵经验回来？”黎满庚毕竟听不惯王秋赦的这本阶级斗争歌诀，便岔开话题问。

    “什么经？丰富得很，够我们这些人几辈子受用。其中有一项，是大家从没听过、见过的！我要不是这回去开了眼界，硬是做梦都想不出呢！”王秋赦又呷了一口红薯酒说。

    “呵呵，王支书，快讲把大家听听！”黎满庚陪着端了端酒杯，嚼了两粒花生米。

    “叫‘三忠于’、‘四无限’，整整一套仪式！”说着，王秋赦站起身来，双目炯炯，兴致勃勃，右手从口袋里拿出了一本红宝书，紧贴着放到胸口上，仿佛立时进入到了一个神圣的境界，连他头上都仿佛显出了一圈圣灵的光环。“人家的经验干条万条，突出政治是第一条，一早一晚都要举行仪式，叫做‘早请示’、‘晚汇报’。火车上、汽车站、机关、学校都在搞……”

    王秋赦的话，立且时巴满屋的人都吸引住了。这真是山里人见所未见，闻所未闻。

    “你这本真经，安排什么时候给干部群众贯彻、传达？”黎满庚也兴致颇高地问。

    “革命不等人，传达不过夜！我看这回也不搞‘先党内后党外’、‘先干部后群众’那老一套了。”王秋赦沙着喉咙，当机立断地对黎满庚布置开了工作，“老黎，你去大队部放广播，立即在圩场坪里开大会，社员群众都要带红宝书，五类分子和他们的家属不准参加！”

    “你路上辛苦了，又刚喝了酒，是不是改天……”黎满庚迟疑着没有动身。

    “黎秘书！政治大于一切，先于一切！传达不过夜。通知每个人都带红宝书！”王秋赦眼睛直瞪着黎满庚，威严地重复着自己的命令。

    一个多钟头后，圩场坪古老的戏台上，悬挂着雪白通亮的煤气灯。戏台下是一片黑压压的人头，一片星星点点的火光。那是社员群众在吸着烟斗、纸烟，或是“喇叭筒”。近些年来，山里人也习惯了闻风而动，不分白日黑夜，召之即来，参加各种紧急、重要的群众大会，举行各种热烈欢呼、衷心拥护某篇“两报一刊”社论发表、某项“最新指示”下达的庆祝游行……王秋赦支书在几位大队干部的随同下，登上戏台，在两排长条凳上一一就座。这是大队一级规格的主席台。黎满庚秘书则站在煤气灯下，一个一个生产队地喊着队长们的名字，清点参加大会的队别人数。直到路途最远的一个生产队的人马都进了场，黎秘书才宣布大会开始，由地、县农业参观团成员、大队党支部王秋赦书记给贫下中农、革命群众传经授宝。

    在一派热烈的掌声中，王秋赦气度庄重地站到了台前，矜持地朝大家招了招手，点了点头。直等巴掌声停歇下来后，他才以沙哑的声音，开口说话：“贫下中农同志们，革命的同志们！听了广播通知，大家来开大会，你们都带了红宝书来没有？”

    出语不凡，台下立即响起了一片摸索口袋的窸窣声。接着有很多人响亮地回答：“带了！带了！”“我们还是大语录本！”“强烈要求大队给每个社员发本袖珍本！”

    “好！现在，带了红宝书的，都请举起来！”王秋赦目光扫视着整个会场。社员们纷纷把红宝书举过了头顶。“好！这就是红海洋！今后，我们要养成习惯，无论出工收工，大会小会，红宝书都要随身带！这叫做身不离红宝书，心不离红太阳！唱歌要唱语录歌，读书要读红宝书！”

    王支书的几句开场白，一下子使得整个会场鸦雀无声，呈现出一种庄严肃穆的气氛。

    “这次，我光荣地参加了地、县农业参观团，到北方取经，上下几千里，来回个多月。人家是全国的红旗，农业的样板。五湖四海、国内国外都去学习。人家的宝贵经验一套又一套，千条又万条。比方记政治工分，办政治夜校。比方贫下中农管学校、管供销、管卫生、管文化、管体育，取消自留地，取消集市贸易等等。千条万条，突出政治第一条！阶级斗争是根本，‘老三篇’天天读是关键，忠于领袖是标准。这些经验里头，最最重要的一项，是六个字：”三忠于‘，’四无限‘。什么叫做’三忠于‘、’四无限‘？我们芙蓉镇是个大山里的深沟沟，大家都没有听过，更没有见过。我这回取了经回来，可以讲给大家听，做给大家看，大家都要学。学会了都要照着做，要搞’早请示‘、’晚汇报‘。“

    社员们越听越新鲜，也越听越觉得神奇。王秋赦讲到这里，停了一停。他回过头去看了一眼戏台的正墙上空无一物，便十分气愤地责问黎满庚：“怎么搞的？台上为什么不挂光辉形象？快去取一幅光辉形象来！小学校里就有，越快越好！当秘书的人，这种大事都不预先准备好！”

    黎满庚晓得事关重大，立即纵身跳下戏台，奔往小学校去了。王秋赦则继续沙哑着嗓音，详详细细地给大家讲解着“三忠于”、“四无限”的内容，讲解着“早请示”、“晚汇报”的仪式程序。不一会儿，黎满庚就一头汗、一身灰、气喘吁吁地双手举着一幅光辉形象回来了。因为现场等着急用，又临时找不到浆糊、图钉，王秋赦就命黎满庚双手举着光辉形象，规规矩矩、恭恭敬敬地在戏台中央站定。

    “现在，请同志们都手捧红宝书，面向红太阳，统统站起来！”王秋赦大声宣布。整个会场的人立即依他所言，站了起来。

    王秋赦接着做开了示范的姿态、动作，但见他立正站好，挺胸抬头，双目平视，看着远方，左手下垂，右手则手臂半屈，握着红宝书紧贴在胸口上，然后侧身四十五度，斜对着光辉形象，嘴里朗诵道：“首先，敬祝我们最最敬爱的伟大领袖、伟大导师、伟大统帅、伟大舵手，我们心中最红最红的红太阳，万寿无疆！万寿无疆！万寿无疆！敬祝林副统帅身体健康！永远健康！永远健康！”

    当王秋赦朗诵到“万寿无疆、万寿无疆”、“永远健康、永远健康”时，他手里的红宝书便举平头顶，打着节拍似地来回晃动，来回晃动。……王秋赦在向群众传授了这套崇拜仪式之后，真是豪情澎湃，激动万分，喉咙嘶哑，热泪盈眶。他觉得自己无比高大，无比自豪，无比有力量。他就像个千年修炼、一朝得道的圣徒，沉湎在自己的无与伦比的幸福、喜悦里。这时刻，你就是叫他过刀山，下火海，抛头颅，洒热血，他都会在所不辞……接着他还发表了热情的讲演，号召贫下中农、革命群众、干部立即行动起来，家家户户做忠字牌，设宝书台。每个生产队都要搞“早请示”“晚汇报”，为把芙蓉镇大队办成红彤彤、亮堂堂的革命化大学校而努力……这回可是苦了黎满庚，他举着光辉形象，手痛了，腿酸了，可一动都不敢动：忠不忠，看行动。

    芙蓉镇大队支书王秋赦从北方取回的这本真经，不几天就由公社革筹小组汇报给了县革筹领导小组。县革筹负责人政治嗅觉十分灵敏，懂得这是“无产阶级文化大革命”中涌现出来的最新事物，谁要置之不理谁该倒大霉、受大罪。于是立即由县革筹做出决定，把王秋赦提拔为全县活学活用标兵，首先请到县革筹机关来讲用、传授“早请示”“晚汇报”仪式。接着又派出吉普专车一辆，配上三用机，到全县各条战线和各区、社去讲用，去传经授宝。王秋赦一跃而成为全县妇孺皆知、有口皆碑的人物……但这时，他头脑膨胀，忘乎所以，加上文化水平、政治阅历有限，估错了形势，他竟在各地讲用时，鹦鹉学舌地声讨走资派，连汤带水地批判开了业已靠边站了的原县委书记杨民高和原公社书记李国香……这一着棋，在吊脚楼主后来的政治生涯中造成了恶果。此是后话。

    写到这里，笔者要申明一句：中国大地上出现的这场现代迷信的洪水，是历史的产物，几千年封建愚昧的变态、变种。不能简单地归责于某一位革命领袖。不要超越特定的历史环境去大兴魏晋之风，高谈阔论。需要的是深入细致的、冷静客观的研究，找出病根，以图根治。至于现代迷信的各种形式究竟始于何年何月，何州何府，倒不一定去做烦琐考证。芙蓉镇大队吊脚楼主王秋赦表演出来的一鳞半爪，权且留作质疑。

    三　醉眼看世情

    “北方大兵”谷燕山，如今成了芙蓉镇有名的“醉汉”。皆因那一年，为了查实他盗卖一万斤国库粮食的犯罪动机，也是为了证实他和新富农分子胡玉音是否长期私通鬼混，工作组经请示有关部门同意，在县人民医院对他进行了一次体格检查。这无异于受了一次刑罚。多少年来，老谷渴想成家立室，品尝天伦乐趣，都没有付出这个代价。这回是身不由己，劫数难逃。在一间雪白的屋子里，一间好像满世界的阳光都聚集在一起的、亮得眼睛都睁不开的屋子里，命令他赤身裸体，“暴露在光天化日之下”。由着一大群穿着白大褂、戴着大口罩的人们（后来他听说还有卫校实习的男女学生），挨着个儿来低着头看看，摸摸，捏捏，然后交换着眼色（各种各样的眼色啊）……他就像一匹被阉掉了的公马似地一动不动地躺在那里，浑身起着鸡皮疙瘩，冒着冷汗，打着冷颤。他像失去了知觉似地闭上眼睛，脑子里是一片冷寂的空白……平津战役时在天津附近，他被傅作义的部下射中了，大腿上流着血，棉裤都浸透了，他以为自己要死了，要与这行将胜利、解放的土地告别了，他脑壳里也是一片冷寂的空白……和这次一样。那一次他被战友救活了，没有死。在一个老大娘家养了四十几天伤，就又重返了部队。这一次当然也不会死……这次又是被谁的子弹射中的？谁的子弹？又是一个什么样的战场？反修防修，灭资兴无，党不变修，国不变色，千百万人头不落地。所以人人都要过关，人人都要从灵魂到肉体，进行一次由上而下、由表及里的检查。这样的战场，比过去拿枪打敌人要深广、复杂，也玄妙得多啦……不知过了多久，一个男护士朝他走来，叫他到外间去穿上衣服。门敞开着。他听见那些白大褂们在做着科学结论：“此人已丧失男性功能”。有个稚嫩的声音在轻声问（大约是个奶气未尽的卫校实习生）：“他是不是阴阳人？有时变成女的，有时变成男的？”白大褂们就像听到了一句妙不可言的喜剧台词似地哈哈大笑了起来。笑声震得玻璃门窗都在沙沙作响。谷燕山真恨不得老天爷立即发生一次强级地震，把这些笑声连同自己都一起毁灭。

    工作组呈报县委，鉴于谷燕山严重丧失阶级立场，长期助长乡镇资本主义势力，情节恶劣，影响极坏，建议开除他的党籍、于籍，清洗回老家劳动。但县委的一些老同志念及他是个南下干部，在这之前没有犯过别的错误，这次虽然认错态度不好，检讨不深刻，但还是要给出路，才决定给予党内严重警告、降薪一级处分，以观后效。

    不久后，上级给芙蓉镇粮站派来了一个新的“一把手”。谷燕山虽然未被宣布免职，但实际上还是没有“下楼”。好在他本来就在楼上住着，早习惯了，也没有自杀。

    无官一身轻。第二年就来了雨急风狂、浊浪滔天的“文化大革命”。谷燕山百事不探，借酒浇愁，逍遥于运动之外。他经常喝得半醉半醒，给镇上的小娃娃们讲故事，也尽是些“酒话”。什么青梅煮酒论英雄，关公杯酒斩华雄啦；花和尚醉打山门，拿吃剩的狗肉往小和尚嘴巴上涂啦；武松醉卧景阳岗，碰上了白额大虫啦；吴用智取生辰纲是在酒里放了蒙汗药啦；宋江喝醉了酒在浔阳楼题反诗啦，等等。古代的英雄传奇，大都离不开一个酒字，所以他讲也讲不完，娃娃们听也听不厌，也没有揭发他“贩卖封、资、修的黑货”。

    这年冬天，谷燕山听说大队秘书黎满庚的女人“五爪辣”烤出了一坛子点得燃火的苞谷烧酒，又养了一条十几斤重的黑狗，就在一个大雪纷飞的晚上，来到黎满庚家，一手交出六十块钱，要买下这坛子酒和这条黑狗，当夜就在黎家来个开怀痛饮，尽醉方休。而且由他作东，请黎满庚作陪。黎满庚近些年来也是倒霉，在吊脚楼主王秋赦手下当一名秘书，跑脚办事，听话受气。于是两人立即动手，用一个旧麻袋把黑狗装了，抬到芙蓉河边的浅水滩里，按入水中，将黑狗活活淹死。然后提回屋来，将生石灰撒在黑狗身上揉搓退毛，不一会儿，黑狗就变成一条白白胖胖的肉狗了。立即架锅生火，把狗肉剁成三指大一块，先用茶油煎炒，再配上五香八角炖烂……

    雪天打狗，历来为五岭山区人家一件美事，大人小孩无不雀跃鼓舞。正好这晚上黎满庚女人“五爪辣”又带着四个妹儿回娘家去了，任凭两条汉子胡喝一气，无人劝阻。谷燕山和黎满庚面对面地紧吃慢喝，来了豪兴。一个说，大兵哥，今晚上一定把你老酒桶灌醉；一个说，小老表，今晚上非敲烂你的酒坛子不可。开始他们用酒碗，嫌不过瘾，就换茶杯，又不过瘾，干脆换成饭碗。

    “干！娘的干！老子这大半辈子还从来没有真醉过。自己也不晓得自己的酒量究竟有多大！”老谷举着酒碗，和黎满庚碰了碰碗，就一仰脖子咕嘟咕嘟喝干了底。

    “喝起，对，喝起！我黎满庚这十多年，一步棋走错，就步步走错……都是为了一个女人，最毒妇人心……喝起！这坛子烧酒算老子请客！”黎满庚喝干了酒，把空碗重重地朝桌上一礅。

    “女人？女人也分几姓几等。应该讲，天底下最心好的是女人，最歹毒的也是女人……你不要狗腿三斤，牛腿三斤，鸡把子也是三斤！来，筛酒，筛酒！，谷燕山把空碗伸了过去。

    其时，两人都还只半醉半醒。黎满庚觉得自己差点就乱说三干了，连忙收了口。谷燕山则望着他，心里暗自好笑，这小子空口讲大话，搞浮夸。他明明已经收过了六十块钱，却夸口“这坛子烧酒算老子请客”！龟儿子，如今是谷大爷请你的客，谷大爷才是你老子！

    他们一人一碗，相劝相敬，又互不相让地喝了下去。渐渐地，两人都觉得身子轻飘了起来，却又浑身都是力气，兴致极高，信心极大，仿佛整个世界都被他们踩到了脚下，被他们占有了似的。他们开始举起筷子，夹起肥狗肉朝对方的嘴巴里塞：“老谷！我的大兵哥，这一块，你他妈的就是人肉，都、都要给我他妈的吃、吃下去！”

    “满庚！我的小老表！如今有的人，心肠比铁硬，手脚比老虎爪子还狠！他们是吃得下人肉啊！……可、可是上级，上级就看得起这号人，器重这号人……人无良心，卵无骨头……这就叫革命？叫斗争？”

    “革命革命，六亲不认！斗争斗争，横下一条心……”

    “哈哈哈，妙妙妙！干杯，干杯！”

    两人越喝越对路，越喝越来劲。

    “满庚！你讲讲，李国香那婆娘，算不算个好货？一个饮食店小经理，摇身一变，变成了工作组长，把我们一个好端端的芙蓉镇，搞得猫弹狗跳，人畜不宁！又摇、摇身一变，当上了县常委、公社书记……真不懂她身上的哪块肉，那样子吃香……搭帮红卫兵无法无天，在她颈脖上挂了破鞋，游街示众……”

    谷燕山酒力攻心，怒气冲天，站起身子晃了几晃，一边叫骂，一边拳头重重地擂着桌子。桌子上的杯盘碗筷都震得跳起碎步舞来。

    黎满庚把嘴里的狗骨头呸的一声朝地下一吐，哈哈哈大笑起来：“那女人…不会跳‘黑鬼舞’，却会学狗爬……哈哈哈，她样子倒不难看，就是手头辣，想得到，讲得出，也做得出……当初，我当区政府的民政干事，他舅佬当区委书记硬要保媒，要把这骚货做把我……我那时真傻……要不，她今、今天，不就、不就困在我底下！我今、今天，最低限度也混、混到个公社一级……”

    “你、你堂堂一个汉子不要泄气，骚娘们爬到男人头上拉屎撒尿，历朝历代都不多，你们大队秦癫子就和我讲、讲过，汉朝有个吕雉，唐朝有个武则天，清朝有个西太后……老弟，讲、讲句真心话，秦癫子这右派分子，不像别的五类分子那样可厌、可恶……”

    “老谷，你一个老革命，南下干部，还和我讲这号话？你大兵哥真是大会小会，左批右批，都没有怕过场合……为了秦癫子，我可没少检讨啊！悔过书，指头大一个的字，写了一回又一回，不深刻。工作组就差点没喊我跪瓦碴、砖头……我他妈的今后管他妈的，也只好心狠点，手辣点，管他妈的五类分子变猪变狗，是死是活……要紧的是我自己，我的‘五爪辣’、女娃们不要死，要活……”

    “满庚，人还是要讲点良心。芙蓉镇上，如、如今只有一个年轻寡婆最造孽，你都会看不出来么？你的眼睛都叫你‘五爪辣’的裤裆，给兜起来了么？”

    酒醉心清。酒醉心迷。谷燕山眼睛红红的，不知是叫苞谷烧酒灌的，还是叫泪水辣的。

    听老谷提到胡玉音，黎满庚眼睛发呆，表情冷漠，好一会儿没有吭声……“干妹子！不不，如今她是富农婆，我早和她划清了界线……苦命的女人……我傻！我好傻！哈哈哈……”黎满庚忽然大笑了起来，笑了几声，忽又双手巴掌把脸孔一抹，脸上的笑容就抹掉了，变成了一副呆傻、麻木的表情。“我傻，我傻……那时我年轻，太年轻，把世上的事情看得过于认真……没有和她成亲，党里头不准，其实……只要……”

    “其实什么？你讲话口里不要含根狗骨头！”谷燕山睁圆眼睛盯着他，有点咄咄逼人。

    “其实，其实，我和你大兵哥讲句真心话，我一想起她，心里就疼……”

    “你还心疼她？我看你老弟也是昧了天良，落井下石……你、你为了保自己过关，心也够狠、手也够辣的啦！人家把你当作亲兄弟，一千五百块钱交你保管，你却上缴工作组，成了她转移投机倒把的赃款，窝藏资本主义的罪证……兄妹好比同林鸟，大难来时各自飞！”

    “老谷！老谷！我求求你……你住口！”黎满庚忽然捶着胸口，眼泪双流，哭了起来，“你老哥的话，句句像刀子……我也是没办法，没有办法哇！在敌人面前，我姓黎的可以咬着牙齿，不怕死，不背叛……可是在党组织面前，在县委工作组面前，你叫我怎么办？怎么办？我怕被开除党籍呀！妈呀，我要跟着党，做党员……”

    “哈哈哈！黎满庚！我今天晚上，花六十块钱，买了这坛酒、这条狗，还有就是你的这句话！”谷燕山听前任大队支书越哭越伤心，反倒乐了，笑了，大喊大叫：“看来，你的心还没有全黑、全硬！芙蓉镇上的人，也不是个个都心肠铁硬！‘’”……你老哥还是原先的那个‘北方大兵’，一镇的人望，生了个蛮横相，有一颗菩萨心……“

    “你老弟总算还通人性！哈哈哈，还通人性……”

    两人哭的哭，笑的笑，一直胡闹到五更鸡叫。

    他们都同时拿碗到坛子里去舀酒时，酒坛子已经干了底。两人酒碗一丢，这才东倒西歪地齐声哈哈大笑了起来：“你他妈的酒坛子我留把明天再来打！”

    “你他妈的醉得和关公爷一样了！带上这腿生狗肉，明天晚上到你楼上再喝！”

    “满庚！生狗肉留着，留着……我、我还要赶回镇上去，赶回粮站楼上去。我还没有‘下楼’……老子就在楼上住着，管它‘下楼’不‘下楼’！”

    雪，落着，静静地落着。仿佛大地太污浊不堪了，腌臜垃圾四处都堆着撒着，大雪才赶来把这一切都遮上、盖上，藏污纳垢……一道昏黄的电筒光，照着一行歪歪斜斜的脚印，朝青石板街走去。好在公路大桥已通，五更天气不消喊人摆渡。

    谷燕山回到镇上，叫老北风一吹，酒力朝头上涌。他已经醉得晕天倒地了。他站在街心，忽然叫骂开来：“你听着！婊子养的！泼妇！骚货！你、你把镇子搞成什么样子了，搞成什么样子了？街上连鸡、鸭、狗都不见了！大人、娃儿都哑了口，不敢吱声了！婊子养的！泼妇！骚货！你有胆子就和老子站到街上来，老子和你拼了！……”

    青石板街两边的居民们都被他闹醒了，都晓得“北方大兵”在骂哪个。天寒地冻的，没有人起来观看，也没有人起来劝阻。只有镇供销社的职工、家属感到遗憾，李国香回县革委开会去了，不曾听得这一顿好骂。

    在这个风雪交加的黎明，谷燕山竞不能自制，时而在街头，时而在街尾，时而回到街心，叫骂不已。后来，他大约是骂疲了，烂醉如泥地倒在供销社门口的街沿上。他在雪地里呕了一地的狗肉和酒。不知从哪里跑来两条狗，在他身边的雪地里舔吃着他呕吐出来的食物，呱哒，呱哒……他打着鼾，在睡梦里晃着手：“……王支书，李主任，不要吵！呱哒，呱哒，你们只顾自己吃，自己喝，老、老子可是醉了，要睡了……呱哒，呱哒，你们只管自己吃，自己喝，……”

    谷燕山没有冻死，甚至奇迹似地也没有冻病。天还没有大亮，青石板街两边的铺门还没有打开，他就被人送回粮站楼上的宿舍里去了。谁送的？不晓得。

    四 凤和鸡

    王秋赦在全县各地巡回讲用，传授“早请示”、“晚汇报”的款式程序，大受欢迎。所到之处，无不是鞭炮锣鼓接送。精神变物质，物质变精神，日日都有酒宴，他生平没有见过如此众多的鸡鸭鱼肉。油光水滑，食精腻肥，他算真正品尝到了活学活用、活鸡活鱼的甜头。俗话讲，“鸡吃叫，鱼吃跳”呢。传经授宝时，他也紧跟大批判运动，声讨、控诉全县最大的当权派杨民高及其本公社书记李国香的反革命修正主义罪行。当时李国香正在“靠边站”，接受革命群众的教育、批判。吊脚楼主的翻脸不认人，使女书记恨得直咬牙巴骨，恨自己瞎了眼，懵了心，栽培了一个坏坯。“活该！搬起石头砸自己的脚！”李国香自怨自艾，“是你把他当根子，介绍他入党，提拔他当大队支书，还打算进一步把他培养成国家干部，甚至对这个比自己年纪大不了几岁的单身男人，有过亲密的意念……可是，一番苦心喂了狗！他不独忘恩负义，还恩将仇报，过河拆桥，乘人之危到处去控诉舅舅和自己……王秋赦，真是一条蛇，一条刚要进洞的秋蛇……”

    当时，在一些靠边站、受审查的干部们中间，流传着这样一支歌谣：“背时的凤凰走运的鸡，凤凰脱毛不如鸡。有朝一日毛复起，凤还是凤来鸡还是鸡。”这支歌谣，李国香经常念在口头，默在心头，给了她信念和勇气。大约只过了不到一年，李国香果然就应验了这首歌谣。县革委会成立时，杨民高被结合为县革委第一副主任，她则当上了女常委，并仍兼任公社革委主任。凤凰身上的美丽羽毛又丰满了，恢复了山中百鸟之王的身分。

    王秋赦呢，对不起，脚杆上的泥巴还没有洗干净，没有能升格成为吃国家粮、拿国家钱、坐国家车子的专职讲用人员。跑红了一两年，一花引来百花香，全县社社队队、角角落落都普及了“早请示”、“晚汇报”的“三忠于”活动，而且涌现了一批新的活学活用标兵，人家念诵“誓词”时普通话不杂本地腔，挥动红宝书的姿态比他优美，还会做语录操，跳忠字舞。相比之下，他这在全县最早传授崇拜仪式的标兵，就自惭形秽，完成了历史使命。因而在一般革命群众、干部眼里，他也不似先时那样稀有、宝贵了。不久，上级号召“三结合”领导班子里的群众代表要实行“三不脱离”，回原单位抓革命、促生产。他也就回到了芙蓉镇，担任本镇大队革委主任一职。这一来他就又成了李国香同志的下级。凤还是凤来鸡还是鸡。

    人是怕吃后悔药的。这是生活的苦果。一年前李国香曾经为栽培了吊脚楼主而悔恨，一年后吊脚楼主因在一些公开场合揭批过李国香而痛悔。这都怨得了谁啊，大运动风风雨雨，反反复复，使得臣民百姓紧跟形势翻政治烧饼……有时王秋赦真恨不得要咬掉自己的舌头！多少次自己掌自己的嘴：“蠢东西！混蛋！小人得志！狗肉上不得大台盘！是谁把你当根子，是谁把你送进了党，是谁放你到北方去取经参观？人家养条狗还会摇尾巴，你却咬主人，咬恩人……”王秋赦苦思苦想，渐渐地明白了过来，今后若想在政治上进步，生活上提高，还是要接近李国香，依靠杨民高。就像是宝塔，一级压一级，一级管一级。他不是木脑壳，虽是吃后悔药可悲，但总比那些花岗岩脑壳至死不悔改的好得多。

    且说李国香主任在芙蓉镇供销社门市部楼上，有一个安静的住处。一进两间，外间办公、会客，一张办公桌，一张藤靠椅，几张骨排凳。墙上挂着领袖像，贴着红底金字语录，“老三篇”全文。还有宝书柜，忠字台，一架电话机。整个房间以红色为主，显示出主人的身分和气度。至于里间卧室，不便描述。我们不是天真好奇的红卫兵，连一个三十几岁单身女人的隐私也去搜查，于心何忍。这房间一到下午六点后，楼下的门市部一关门，供销社职工回了后院家属宿舍，就僻静得鬼都打死人。

    王秋赦开始一次又一次地到这“主任住所”来汇报、请示工作，而且总要先在门口停一下，抹抹头发，清清喉嗓，战战兢兢。李国香却一直不愿私下接待他，所以他一直没有能进得门。他也没有气馁，相信只要自己心诚，总有一天会感动女主任。是座碉堡也会攻破么。

    “李主任，李书记……”这天，他又轻轻敲了敲门板。“谁呀？”李国香不知在里头和谁笑嘻嘻的。“我、我……王秋赦……”他喉咙有些发干，声音有些打结。“什么事呀？”李国香和悦的声音一下子就变得又冷又硬。“我有点子事……”“有事以后再讲。我这里正研究材料，不得空！”

    王秋赦霉气地回到吊脚楼，真是茶饭无心。好在他大小仍是个大队的“一把手”，来找他请示汇报工作的队干部，来向他反映各种情况的社员，还是一天到晚都有；上传下达的“最新指示”、“重要文件”也多，所以他的日子颇不寂寞。过了几天的一个下午，他着意地修整打扮一番，他先去镇理发店理了发，刮了胡子修了面。在白衬衣外头罩了件“涤卡”，裤子也是刚洗过头水的，鞋子则是那双四季不换的工农牌猪皮鞋。一直挨到镇上人家都吃晚饭了，窗口上闪出了灯光，他才朝供销社楼上走去。这回他下了决心，不跟李主任碰上头，把当讲的话都讲讲，他就不回吊脚楼了。

    鬼晓得为什么，当他从供销社高围墙的侧门进去时，心口怦怦跳，就像要做什么见不得人的事情似的，蹑手蹑脚。幸好，他没有碰上任何人。他在“主任住所”门口站了站，才抬手敲了敲门：“李主任，李书记……”

    “谁呀？请进来！”屋里的声音十分和悦。

    王秋赦推门进屋。李国香正坐在圆桌旁享用着一只清焖鸡。

    “你？什么事？你最近来过好几次吧，是不是？有话就讲吧。今下午客人多，像从旱灾区来的，把三壶开水都喝干了。”

    李国香只看了他一眼，就又把注意力集中到清焖鸡上去了。可是这一眼，给王秋赦的印象很深，觉得女主任是居高临下望了望他，眼神里充满了冷笑、讥讽，而又不失她作为一位领导者对待下级那种满不在乎的落落气度。

    “李主任，我、我想向领导上做个思想汇报，检讨……”关键时刻，王秋赦的舌头有点不争气，打结巴。

    “思想汇报？检讨？你一个全县有名的标兵，到处讲用，表现很好嘛！”李国香略显惊讶地又看了王秋赦一眼，积怨立即像一股胡辣水袭上了心头，忍不住挖苦说，“王支书，你也不要太客气，太抬举我了。俗话讲，强龙斗不过地头蛇。只怕我这当公社干部的，想巴结你们还巴结不上哪！我头上这顶小小的乌纱帽，还拿在你这些人手里，随时喊摘就摘哪！”

    “李主任，李书记……你就是不笑我，骂我，我都没脸见人……特别是没脸来见你……我是个混蛋，得意了几天，就忘记了恩人……”王秋赦的脑壳垂下来，像一穗熟透了的谷子。他自己躬着身子找了张骨排凳坐下，双膝并拢，双手放在膝盖上，坐得规规正正。

    “那你怎么还来见我？这样不自爱、自重？”李国香这时仿佛产生了一点好奇心，边斜着脸子咬鸡腿，边饶有兴味地问。作为领导人，她习惯于人家在她面前低三下四。

    “我、我……文化低，水平浅，看不清大好形势……只晓得跟着喊口号，是只丑八哥，学舌都学不像……”王秋赦不知深浅地试试探探，留神观看着女主任脸上的表情。

    “你有话就讲吧。我一贯主张言者无罪，半吞半吐倒霉。”李国香又看了他一眼。女主任忽然发觉王秋赦今晚上的长相、衣着都颇不刺目，不那么叫人讨嫌。

    “我向你当主任的认罪，我是个坏坯！忘恩负义的坏坯！我对不起你主任，对不起县里杨书记……是你和杨书记拉扯着我，才入党，当支书，像个人……可我，可我，也跟人学舌，在讲用会上牙黄口臭批过杨书记和你，我是跟形势……如今我天天都吃后悔药……我真恨不得自己捆了自己，来听凭你领导处置……”王秋赦就像一眼缺了口子的池塘，清水浊水哗哗流。提起旧事，辛酸的热泪扑扑掉，落在楼板上滴答响。“……我亏了你主任的苦心栽培……我对不起上级。我这一跤子跌得太重……我如今只想着向你和杨书记悔过，请罪……我真该在你面前掌自己一千回嘴……”

    李国香听着听着，先是蹙了一会儿眉头，接着闷下脸来。王秋赦的哭泣痛悔，仿佛触动了她心灵深处的某根孤独、寂寞的神经，唤醒了几丝丝温热的柔情……她的脸色有些沮丧，用帕子抹了抹双手上的油腻，身子跌坐在藤围椅里，一副软塌无力的样子。她神思有些恍惚……但只恍惚了几秒种，就又坐直了身子，扬了扬眉头，仍以冷漠、鄙夷的目光盯住了王秋赦：“都过去了！过去就过去了。是你记性好，有些什么事，我都记不得了……我才不在乎呢。人家骂几声，批几句，对我是教育、帮助。你倒是这么一提再提，又是认错啦，又是检讨啦，我可没要你这样做……你吃不吃什么后悔药，我也不感兴趣……”

    “李主任，我是诚心诚意的……我晓得，你最是心软，肯饶人……”王秋赦留神到女主任仍然打着官腔，拒他于千里之外，心里扑通扑通，捏了两手冷汗，感到一种痛苦的失望。但他不能到此为止，知难而退。一定要讲出点有吸引力的东西来，使女主任意识到自己也还有点使用的价值……这时刻他倒是头脑十分冷静。他想起前些时听人讲过，大队秘书黎满庚和“四清”下台干部谷燕山深更半夜打狗肉平伙，两人喝得烂醉，讲了不少反动话，“北方大兵”还在雪地里骂了大街……对了，就先呈上这个“情况”。反正这年月，你不告人家，人家还告你呢。
    “李主任，我想趁便向你反映点本镇的新动向……”
    “新动向？什么新动向？”
    果然，李国香一听，就侧过身子转过脸，眼睛都闪闪发亮。
    “秦书田这些五类分子，最近大不老实啊。”话宜曲不宜直，王秋赦有意绕了个弯子汇报说，“大队勒令他们每天早请罪，晚悔过，他们竟比贫下中农还到得迟！如今全大队百分之八十的人都参加做忠字操、跳忠字舞了。就是一些老倌子、老太婆顽固，不肯做操、跳舞。他们宁肯对着光辉形象打拱作揖……”
    “你不要东拉西扯。五类分子是些死老虎、死蛇。问题在一些活老虎、活蛇。”李国香眯缝起眼睛，凝视着王秋赦。这冰冷的目光使得王秋赦心里打着哆嗦，直发冷。李国香忽然来了兴趣，决定放出一点诱饵，逗引一下这条“秋蛇”：“作为一个革命干部，眼睛不能光盯着定了性、戴了帽的，更重要的是要盯住那些没有定性、戴帽，混在群众里头的……镇上原先的几个人物，谷燕山他们都有些什么新活动，嗯？”

    王秋赦不由地心里一紧，要是女主任已经掌握了谷燕山、黎满庚打狗肉平伙的材料，自己再汇报，岂不是一个屁钱都不值？他咬了咬牙，还是硬着头皮把自己了解的“北方大兵”和前任支书那晚上的有关言论，添油加醋地披露了出来。还提出黎满庚继续担任大队秘书不合适。

    “王支书！你和我坐到这圆桌边上来，陪我也喝杯酒！”出乎王秋赦的意外，李国香对他呈告的情报大感兴趣，立时就对他客气了许多，并转身从柜子里拿出一瓶酒，两只玻璃杯，一碟油炸花生米。“莫以为只你们男人才有海量，来来，我们比一比，看看谁的脸块先变色！”

    对于这个“突变”，王秋赦真有点眼花缭乱，受宠若惊。他立即从李国香手里接过了酒瓶，哔啵哔啵地筛满两只玻璃杯，才侧着身子在圆桌边坐下，恭敬地、眼睛一眨不眨地看着女主任。

    “来！我们干了这一杯！”李国香十分懂行地把杯子端得高过眉头，从杯底看了王秋赦一眼。吊脚楼主也举起杯，从杯底回了女主任一眼。接着两只玻璃杯一碰，各自痛快地干了。

    “给你这只鸡腿。你牙齿好，把它咬干净！”为了表示信赖和亲热，李国香把一只自己咬了一半的鸡腿夹给王秋赦。王秋赦欠欠身子，双手接了过来。

    “队上、镇上还有些什么动静、苗头？”女主任边满意地欣赏王秋赦有滋有味地咬着那鸡骨头的馋相，边问。
    “镇上是庙小妖风大啊。特别是近几年来搞大民主，就鲤鱼、鳙鱼、跳虾都浮了头……你主任没听讲，抓‘小邓拓’那年被开除回家的税务所长，如今正在省里、地区告状，要求给他平反。”王秋赦放低了声音，眼睛不由地瞟了瞟房门。
    “这是一。官僚地主出身、‘四清’下台的原税务所长闹翻案。”李国香脸色沉静，扳开了手指头。
    “青石板街又成立了一个造反兵团，立山头……听说供销社主任暗里承的头……他们还想请谷燕山出马当顾问，但谷燕山醉醉糊糊的，不感兴趣。”
    “这是二。新情况，造反兵团，主谋是供销社主任，谷燕山醉生梦死，倒是不感兴趣。”
    李国香已经拿出那个贴身的笔记本，记起来了。
    “粮站打米厂的小伙计……”
    “怎么？”
    “偷了信用社会计的老婆！”
    “呸呸！放你娘的屁！谁要你汇报这个！”
    李国香身子朝后一躲，竟也绯红了脸，头发也有些散乱。
    “不不，是信用社会计的老婆无意中对米厂的小伙计讲，她老公准备到县里去告你主任的黑状……”
    “啊啊，这是三。新情况，新情况。”李国香不动声色，“你看看，一个领导干部，不走群众路线，不多几根眼线、耳线，就难以应付局面……你还掌握了一些什么动向，都讲出来，领导上好统筹解决。”
    “暂时就是这些。”王秋赦这时舌头不打结了，喝酒夹菜的举止，也不再那样战战兢兢、奴颜婢膝了。仿佛已经在女主任面前占了一席之地。
    “王秋赦！”女主任忽然面含春威，眉横冷黛，厉声喝道。
    “李主任……”王秋赦浑身一震，腿肚子发抖，站了起来，“我、我……”一时，他在女主任面前又显得畏首畏尾。
    “坐下，坐下。你不错，你不错……”李国香离开藤椅，在王秋赦身边踱来踱去，仿佛在考虑着重要决策，“我要一个一个来收拾……你们大队的基干民兵多少枪？”
    “一个武装排。”王秋赦摸不着头脑，又感到事关重大。
    “这个排是不是你控制着？”李国香又问。
    “还消讲？我是大队支书！”王秋赦胸口一拍。
    “好！不能让坏人夺了去。今后没有我的命令，谁也不准动！”
    “我拿我的脑壳作保，我只对你主任负责，听你主任指挥！”
    “坐下，坐下。我们还没有必要这样紧张嘛。”李国香的双手按在王秋赦肩膀上。王秋赦顺从地坐下。他一时有点心辕意马，感觉到了女主任的双手十分的温软细滑。“权在我们手里，我们就要用文斗。只有手里无权的人，才想着要武斗。我这意思，你懂吗？动刀动枪，是万不得已的下策……还有个黎满庚，我们要把他拉住，稳住他，还是要他在你手下当大队秘书。今天革命的一个核心任务，就是要防止谷燕山他们复辟，重新在镇上掌权，搞阶级调和，推行唯生产力论、人性论、人情味那一套……我这意思，你懂吗？”
    王秋赦对女主任的见地、胆识，真要佩服得五体投地了。他脑壳点动得像啄木鸟。

    李国香回到圆桌对面的藤围椅上坐下。她双手扶着藤围椅边，眼睛一眨不眨地望着吊脚楼主，仿佛有了几分醉意：“我们实话实说，王支书，对你的悔改、交心，我很满意。我们既往不咎吧。俗话讲，一个篱笆三棵桩，一个好汉三个帮。我不是好汉。但我手下需要几个得力的人。我还要考验考验你……我不是跟你许愿，只要你经得起考验，我可以在适当时候，对县革委杨主任他们提出，看看能不能让你当个脱产的公社革委会副主任……”
    真是一声春雷！王秋赦心都颤抖了起来。妈呀，再不能错过这个机遇，错过这个决定他后半生命运的天赐良缘了。为了表示自己的决心，他不由地站起身子，扑通一声就跪倒在女主任的身前：“李主任，李主任！我、我今后就是你死心塌地的……哪怕人家讲我是一条……我就是你忠实的……”
    李国香起初吃了一惊，接着是一脸既感动又得意的笑容，声音里难免带着点陶醉的娇滴：“起来，起来！没的恶心。你一个干部，骨头哪能这么不硬，叫人家看了……”
    王秋赦没有起来，只是仰起了脸块。他的脸块叫泪水染得像只花猫一样。女主任心里一热，忍不住俯下身子，抚了抚他的头发：“起来，啊，起来。一个大男人……新理了发？一股香胰子气。你的脸块好热……我要休息了。今晚上有点醉了。日子还长着呢，你请回……”
    王秋赦站起身子，睁着痴迷的眼睛，依依不舍地看着女主任，像在盼着某种暗示或某项指令。

    五 扫街人秘闻

    秦书田和胡玉音两个五类分子，每天清早罚扫青石板街，已经有两三个年头了。两人都起得很早。他们一般都是从街心朝两头扫，一人扫一半。也有时从两头朝街心扫，到街心会面。好在青石板街街面不宽，又总共才三百来米长。一年三百六十五天，闰年三百六十六天，当镇上的人们还在做着梦、睡着宝贵的“天光觉”时，他们已经挥动竹枝扫把，在默默地扫着、默默地扫着了。好像春天、夏天、秋天、冬天，都是在他们的竹枝扫帚下，一个接一个地被扫走了，又被扫来了。

    秦书田扫街还讲究一点姿态步伐，大约跟他当年当过歌舞剧团的编导有关系。他将扫帚整得和人一般高，腰杆挺得笔直的，右手在上，左手在下，握着扫帚就和舞蹈演员在台上握着片船桨一样，一摆一摆地挥洒自如；两脚则是脚尖落地，一前一后地移动着，也像在舞台上合着音乐节拍滑行一般。由于动作轻捷协调，他总是扫得又快又好，汗都少出。而且每天都要帮着胡玉音扫上一长截。胡玉音则每天早晨都是累出一身汗，看着秦癫子挥动扫帚的姿态感到羡慕。这本是一件女人要强过男人的活路。

    说起秦癫子这些年来的表演，也是够充分的了，令人可鄙又可笑。在“四清”运动时，他是本镇大队五类分子里被斗得最狠的一个。之后，改组后的大队党支部征得工作组的同意，继续由他担任五类分子的小头目。这叫以毒攻毒。只是在他的“右派”一词前边还加上“铁帽”二字，意思是形容这顶帽子是不朽的，注定要戴进棺材里去。千万年以后发掘出来做文物，让历史学家去考证，研究撰写二十世纪中下叶中国乡村阶级斗争的学术论文。好在秦癫子没有成过家，没有后人。要不，他的这笔政治遗产还要世代相传呢。就是秦癫子自己也懂得：运动就要有对象，斗争就要有敌人。每村每镇，不保留几只死老虎、活靶子，今后一次次的群众运动，阶级斗争，怎么来发动，拿谁来开刀?每次上级发号召抓阶级斗争，基层干部们就开上几次大会，把五类分子往台上一揪，又揭又批又斗，然后向上级汇报，运动中批斗了多少个(次)阶级敌人，配合吃忆苦餐，忆苦思甜，教育了群众，提高了觉悟等等。有些五类分子死光了的生产队，就让他们的子女接位，继续他们的反动老子没有完成的职责。要不，你叫基层干部、贫下中农怎么来理解整个社会主义历史时期，始终存在着阶级、阶级矛盾和阶级斗争?不理解，又怎么来抓这一头等重大的历史使命?在广大的乡村，基层干部们都拿工分不拿薪金，谈不到什么“走资派”、“资产阶级代理人”。基层干部、社员群众只能从五类分子及其子女身上，来看待、认识阶级和阶级斗争的历史延续性，来年年唱、月月讲、天天念。要不然，这关系到“党和国家前途命运”的百年大计、万年大计，又怎么讲?谁又讲清楚过?老天爷!诚然，土地改革后在广大乡镇进行的历次运动中，也曾经重新划分过阶级成分。可是生产资料公有了，不存在私有制人剥削人的问题了，就以伸缩性极大的政治态度为依据。但仍然存在着遗产的继承问题，即各个阶级的子孙世袭上辈祖先的阶级成分问题……唉唉，子孙的问题就留给子孙去考究吧。如果祖先把下辈的问题都解决了，子孙们岂不会成为头脑简单、无所作为的白痴?危言耸听，不可思议。我们还是言归正传，来看看铁帽右派秦癫子这些年来的各色表演吧。

    一九六七年，正是红色竞赛、“左派”争斗的鼎盛时期，不知从哪里刮来一股风，五类分子的家门口，都必须用泥巴塑一尊狗像，以示跟一般革命群众之家相区别，便于群众专政。就跟当时某些大城市的红五类子女佩红袖章当红卫兵，父母有一般历史问题的子女佩黄袖章当“红外围”，黑八类子女佩白符号当“狗崽子”一样。本镇大队共有二十二个五类分子，必须塑二十二尊狗像。这是一项义务工，没有工分补贴，自然就又派到了能写会画的铁帽右派秦癫子头上。秦癫子领下任务后，就从泥田里挖上了一担担粘泥巴，一户五类分子家门口堆一担。这简直是一项艺术性劳动。每天都有许多人围观、评议、指点。他兢兢业业，加班加点：不出一月，二十二户五类分子家门口，就塑起了二十二尊泥像。有男有女，有高有矮，有胖有瘦。每尊泥像下边还标出每个黑鬼的名号职称，并多少具备一点那分子的外貌特征。这一时成了本镇大队的一大奇闻。大人小孩自动组织起鉴赏、评比。一致认为，以秦癫子自己屋门口的狗像塑得最为生动，最像他本人形状。
    “癫子老表!你家伙自私自利，把功夫都花到捏你自己的狗像上!”
    “嘿嘿，不是自私自利……最高指示讲，生活是文学艺术的惟一源泉……当然是我自己最熟悉我自己哕，也就捏得最像啰。”

    但秦癫子的“艺术性劳动”有个重要的遗漏，竟忘了在老胡记客栈门口替年轻的富农寡妇胡玉音塑一尊泥像。这一“阴谋”过了好长一段时间才被人发觉，立即对他组织了一次批斗，审问他为什么要包庇胡玉音，和胡玉音到底有些什么勾结。他后颈窝一拍，连忙低头认罪，原来他只是记下了本镇大队五类分子的老人数，而忘记了“四清”中新划的富农。他嘴巴答应以实际行动悔过，却又拖了好些时日。不久上级就传下精神来，对敌斗争要讲质量和政策，对五类分子要从思想上批深批透，批倒批臭，而不要流于形式。因此，老胡记客栈门口才一直没有出现泥像。胡玉音对秦书田自是十分感激。据说秦书田挨批斗那晚上，她躲在屋里哭肿了眼睛。秦大哥是在代她受过啊，救了她一命啊。要不，她见到自己门口的泥像被小娃娃们扯起裤子尿尿，真会寻短见的。

    虽说上级文件上要求不搞形式主义，但每次五类分子游街示众，黑牌子还是要挂，高帽子也是要戴。芙蓉镇地方小，又是省边地界，遥远偏僻。听讲人家北京地方开斗争大会，还给批斗对象挂黑牌，插高标，五花大绑呢。有些批斗对象还是大干部、老革命呢。北京是什么地方，芙蓉镇又是什么地方，算老几?半边屋壁那么大的地图上，都找不到火柴头大的一粒黑点呢。不用说，本镇大队二十三个五类分子的黑牌子，又是出自秦癫子的高手。为了表现一下他大公无私的德行，他自己的黑牌子特意做得大一点。他在每块黑牌上都写明每个五类分子的“职称”，“职称”下边才是姓名，并一律用朱笔打上个“×”，表示罪该万死，应当每游街示众一次就枪毙一回。他这回又耍了花招，“新富农分子胡玉音”的黑牌没打红又叉。好在人多眼杂眼也花，他的这一“阴谋”竞也一直没有被革命群众雪亮的眼睛所发现，蒙混过了关。摆小摊卖米豆腐出身的新富农分子胡玉音，每回游街示众时都眼含泪花，对他的这番苦心感恩不尽。同是运动落难人啊。在这个冷漠的世界上，她还是感受到了一点儿春天般的温暖。

    镇上的人们说，秦癫子十多年来被斗油了，斗滑了，是个老运动员。每逢民兵来喊他去开批斗会，他就和去出工一样，脸不发白心不发颤，处之泰然。牵他去挂牌游街，他也是熟门熟路，而且总是走在全大队五类分子的最前头，俨然就是个持有委任状的黑头目。“秦书田!…‘有!”“铁帽右派!”“在!”“秦癫子!”“到!”总是呼者声色俱厉，答者响亮简洁。“一批两打、清理阶级队伍”运动开始时，全公社召开万人大会进行动员。各大队的五类分子也被带到大会会场示众，一串一串的就像圩场上卖的青蛙一般。示众之后，他们被勒令停靠在会场四周的墙角上接受政策教育。可是后来大会散了，人都走光了，芙蓉镇大队的二十三名五类分子却被丢弃在墙角，被押解他们来的民兵忘记了。严肃的阶级斗争场合出现了一点儿不严肃。可是当初宣布大会纪律时有一条：没有各大队党支书的命令，各地的五类分子一律不准乱说乱动，否则以破坏大会论处。这可怎么好?难道真要在这墙角呆到牛年马月?后来还是秦癫子想出了一个办法，他叫同类们站成一行，喊开了口令：“立正!向左看齐!向前看!报数，稍息!”紧接着，他煞有介事地来了个向后转，走出两步，双脚跟一碰，立正站定，向着空空如也的会场，右手巴掌齐眉行了个礼，声音响亮地请示说：“报告李书记!王支书!芙蓉镇大队二十三名五类分子，今天前来万人大会接受批判教育完毕，请准许他们各自回到生产队去管制劳动，悔过自新!”他请示完毕，稍候一刻，仿佛聆听到了谁的什么指示、答复似的，才又说：“是!奉上级指示，老实服法，队伍解散!”这样，他算手续完备，把大家放回来了。

    大清早，雾气漾漾。芙蓉镇青石板街上，狗不叫，鸡不啼，人和六畜都还在睡呢，秦书田就拖着竹枝扫帚去喊胡玉音。彼此都是每天早起见到的第一个人。他们总要站在老胡记客栈门口，互相望一眼，笑一笑。

    “大哥，你起得真早。回回都是你来喊门……”
    “玉音，你比我小着十把岁，哪有不贪睡的。”
    “看样子你是晚上睡不大好哕?”
    “我?唉，从前搞脑力劳动，就犯有失眠的毛病。”
    “晚上睡不着，你怎么过?”
    “我就哼唱《喜歌堂》里的歌……”
    提起《喜歌堂》，他们就都住了口。《喜歌堂》，这给他们带来苦难、不幸的发灾歌……渐渐地，他们每天早晨的相聚，成了可怜的生活里的不可缺少的一课。偶尔某天早晨，谁要是没有来扫街，心里就会慌得厉害，像缺了什么一大块……就会默默地一人把整条街扫完，然后再去打听，探望。直到第二天早晨又碰到一起，互相看一眼，笑一笑，才心安理得。

    这天早晨，有雾。他们从街心扫起，背靠背地各自朝街口扫去。真是万籁俱寂，街道上只响着他们的竹枝扫把刮在青石板上的沙沙沙，沙沙沙……秦书田扫到供销社门市部拐角的地方，身子靠在墙上歇了一歇，忽然听得供销社小巷围墙那边的侧门吱呀一声开了，他忍不住侧出半边脸块去看了看，但见一个身坯粗大的黑影，从侧门闪了出来，还反手把门带严。“小偷!”秦书田吓了一跳。但是不对，那人两手空空，身上也不鼓鼓囊囊，哪有这样的小偷?他心里好生奇怪，眼睁睁地看着那黑影顺着墙根走远了。他晓得供销社的职工们都是住在后院宿舍里，楼上只有女主任李国香住着。这溜走的人背影有些眼熟。这是什么好事呢?他没有吱声，也不敢吱声。这天中午，他还特意到供销社门口去转了转，也没有听见供销社里的人讲丢失了什么东西。

    过了几天。早晨没有雾。秦书田和胡玉音又从街心分手，各自朝街口扫去。他扫到供销社围墙的拐角处，又身子靠在墙上歇了歇。这回，他不等围墙的侧门吱呀响，就从墙角侧出半边脸块去盯着。不一会儿，侧门吱呀一声响，一个身坯粗大的黑影又从门里闪了出来，反手关了门，匆匆地顺着小巷墙根走了。秦书田这可看清楚了，暗暗吃了一惊，是他!天呀，天天钻进这围墙里去做什么?事关重大，秦书田不敢声张。但他毕竟是“人还在，心不死”，就拖着扫帚跑到另一头去，把胡玉音叫到一个僻静的角落，对着年轻寡妇的耳朵，透出了这个“绝密”。讲后又有些怕，一再叮嘱：“千万千万不能告诉第三个人。这号事，街坊邻居都管不了，我们只能当光眼瞎。何况，我们又是这种身分……”“是他?”“是他。”“那一个呢?”“是她。”“他，她，他，鬼晓得你指的是哪个他，她。”胡玉音却很开心似的，脸盘有点微微泛红：“鬼!你对着人家耳朵讲话，满口的胡子也不刮刮，戳得人家的脸巴子生痛!”“啊，啊啊，我的胡子……一定刮干净，天天都刮!”他们脸块对着脸块，眼睛对着眼睛，第一次挨得这么近。

    又是一天清早，秦书田想出了一个鬼主意。他和胡玉音在街心会齐了，把这鬼主意说了。胡玉音只笑了笑，说了声“由便你”。他们头一回犯例违禁，没有先扫街，而是用铲子从生产队的牛栏门口刮来了一堆稀家伙，放在供销社小巷围墙侧门的门口，开门第一脚就会踩着的地方。然后，两人躲到门市部拐弯的墙角，露出半边脸子去盯守着。真讨嫌，这早晨又有雾。他们的身子不觉地偎依在一起，都没有留意。等了好一会儿，他们听到了门市部楼上有脚步声，下楼来了。秦书田个头高，半蹲下身子。胡玉音把腮巴靠在他的肩膀上，朝同一个方向看着。他们都很兴奋，也很紧张，仿佛都感觉到了彼此心房跳动的声音。胡玉音的半边身子都探出了墙角，秦书田站起身子伸出手臂把她搂了回来，再也没有松开，还越搂越紧，真坏!胡玉音狠狠地拍了两下，才拍开。小巷侧门吱呀一声开了，那黑影闪将出来，肯定是头一脚就踩在那稀家伙上边了，砰咚一声响，就像倒木头似的，跌翻在青石板上。那人肯定是脑壳被重重地撞了一下，倒在石板上哼着哎哟，好一刻都没见爬起来。“活该!活该!天杀的活该!”胡玉音竞像个小女孩似地拍着双手，格格地轻轻笑了起来。秦书田连忙捂住她的嘴巴，捉住她的手，瞪了她一眼。秦书田的手热乎乎的，不觉的有一股暖流传到了胡玉音的身上，心上。

    两个扫街人继续躲在墙角观看，见那人哼哼哟哟，爬了几下都没有爬起来，看来是跌着什么地方了。秦书田起初吓了一跳，跟着心里一动，觉得这倒是个“立功赎罪”的机会，便又附在胡玉音的耳朵上“如此这般”地说了说。不过他的腮巴已经刮得光光溜溜了，再没有用胡子戳得人家的脸巴子生痛。胡玉音听了他的话，就推开他的双手，转身到街口扫街去了。

    秦书田轻手轻脚地走回街心，然后一步一步地扫来。忽然，他发现了什么似的，拖着个竹枝扫把，大步朝供销社围墙跑来，一迭连声地问：“那是哪个?那是哪个?”

    他来到巷子围墙下，故作吃惊地轻声叫道：“王支书呀!怎么走路不小心跌倒在这里呀?快起来!快起来!”

    “你们两个五类分子扫的好街!门口的牛粪滑倒人……”王秋赦坐了一屁股的稀家伙，浑身臭不可闻。他恨恨地骂着，又不敢高声。

    “我请罪，我请罪。来来，王支书，我、我扶你老人家起来。”秦书田用手去托了托王秋赦那卡在阴沟里的一只脚。

    “哎哟喂!痛死我了!这只脚扭歪筋了!”王秋赦痛得满头冷汗。

    秦书田连忙放开脚，不怕脏和臭，双手托住王秋赦的屁股，把他扶坐在门坎上。

    “怎么搞?王支书，回家去?还是送你老人家去卫生院?”秦书田关切地问。

    “家里去!家里去!这回你秦癫子表现好点，把我背回去。哎哟，日后有你的好处。哎哟……”王秋赦疼痛难忍，又不敢大声呼喊，怕惊动了街坊。

    秦书田躬下身子，把王秋赦背起就走。他觉得吊脚楼主身体强壮得像头公牛，都是这几年活学活用油水厚了啊，难怪要夜夜打栏出来寻野食，吃露水草。

    “王支书!你老人家今天起得太早，运气不好，怕是碰到了倒路鬼啊!”

    “少讲屁话!你走快点，叫人家看见了，五类分子背党支书，影响不大好……回头，回头你还要给我上山去寻两服跌打损伤的草药!”

    伤筋动骨一百天。吊脚楼主在床上整整躺了两个多月。幸亏有大队合作医疗的赤脚医生送医上门，并照顾他的起居生活。李国香因工作忙，暂时抽不出时间来看望。她离开了镇供销社楼上的“蹲点办”，回到县革委坐班去了。

    秦书田和胡玉音照旧每天天不亮起床，把青石板街打扫得干干净净。开初，他们两人都很高兴。每天早晨拖着竹枝扫帚在老胡记客栈门口一碰面，就你看着我，我看着你，脸发热，心发跳。通过定计捉弄王秋赦，他们一天比一天地亲近了。简直有点谁也不愿意离开谁似的了。他们心里都压抑着一种难以言状的痛苦，一种磨人的情感啊……有一天天落黑时，秦书田竞给她送来了一件浅底隐花的确凉衬衫，玻璃纸袋装着，一根红丝带扎着……天啊，她都吓慌了。从没见过这种料子的衣服。自己成了这号人还配穿吗?穿得出吗?秦书田走后，她把衬衫从玻璃纸袋里取出来，料子细滑得就和绸子一样。她没舍得穿。她把衣服紧紧地搂在胸口，捂在被窝里哭了整整一夜。她像捧着一颗热烈的心，她有了一种犯罪的感觉。她决定第二天乘人不备时去上一次坟，去桂桂的坟头上烧点纸，把心事和桂桂讲讲，打打商量。桂桂生前总是依着她，顺着她，娇她，疼她。桂桂的魂，也会保佑她，谅解宽恕她，她盼着桂桂晚上给她托个梦……第二天大清早，秦书田来敲门，约她去扫街时，她三下两下就把花的确凉衬衫穿上了，当里衣，贴心又贴肉。可是她连衣领子都塞了进去，叫人看不出。

    他们默默地扫着青石板街……本来都好好的，秦书田却突然手里的扫把一丢，张开双臂，胆大包天，紧紧搂住了她!“你疯了?天呀，秦大哥，你疯了?书田哥……”胡玉音颤着声音，眼里噙满了泪花……她抽泣着，让秦书田搂抱爱抚了好一会儿，才把他推开了，推开了。她好狠心，但不能不推开呀。天，这算哪样一回事呀?都当了反革命，沦为人下人，难道还能谈恋爱，还可以有人的正常感情?不行，不行，不行……她好恨，她好恨呀，恨自己心里还有一把火没有熄灭!为什么还不熄灭?为什么不变成一个木头人，一个石头人?你这磨难人的鬼火!生活把什么都夺走了，剥去了，生活已经把她像个麻疯病患者似地从正常人的圈子里开除出来了，入了另册，却单单剩下了这把鬼火。整整一早晨，她都一边扫街一边哭。

    出了这件事后，连着好几天早晨，他们都只顾各自默默地扫着街，谁都不理睬谁。他们心里都很痛苦。他们却渴望着过上一个“人”的生活。秦书田倒是跟往常一样，每天清早照例到老胡记客栈门口来默默地守候着，直到胡玉音起了床，开了门，他才默默地转身离去……时间，像一位生活的医生，它能使心灵的伤口愈合，使绝望的痛楚消减，使某些不可抵御的感情沉寂、默然。尽管这种沉寂、默然是暂时的，表面的。大约过了半个来月，秦书田仿佛冷静了下来。胡玉音就对他笑了，又叫开了“秦大哥”。而且那笑容里，那声音里，比原先多出了一种浓情蜜意。从此，他们仿佛达成了一种默契，不再提那要把人引入火坑的罪恶。反倒彼此都觉得坦然、亲近。生活又回到了旧的轨迹。他们就像这青石板街上的两台扫街机，不晓得自己为什么活着，为什么还能活着。但这种局面没有维持多久。不久，胡玉音害了伤风，发着高烧，睡在床上说胡话。难为秦书田每天早起一人服两人的劳役，挥着竹枝扫把从街头扫到街尾。而后又发挥自己的一点可怜的医药知识，上山采来药草，料理“同犯”吃喝。山镇上的人们早就不大关心这两个人物了，因此谁都没有注意。胡玉音病得每天只能歪在床上就着秦书田的双手吃喝汤药。每天，胡玉音都要含着眼泪、颤着声音喊几声“书田哥……”

    贵人有贵命，贱人有贱命。过了十来天，胡玉音的病好了，又天天早起扫街了。一天早晨五点钟左右，秦书田又去叫醒了胡玉音，两人又来到了街心。可是这时电闪雷鸣，狂风大作。马上就有倾盆大雨了。今年春上的雨水真多。他们仍在机械地打扫着街道。不同的是，如今他们是肩并着肩地扫了，一边一个。暴雨说来就来，黑糊糊的天空就像一只满是砂眼的锅底，把箭杆一般的雨柱雨丝筛落了下来。

    胡玉音忽然拉了秦书田就走，就跑!跑回老胡记客栈，两个人都成了落汤鸡。屋里还是一片漆黑。他们身上已经没有一根干纱。他们都脱着各自的湿衣服。脱下来的衣服都拧得出水。胡玉音在黑地里冷得浑身打哆嗦，牙齿也打战战：

    “书田哥……书田哥，你来扶我一下，我、我冻得就像结了冰凌……”

    “哎呀，病刚刚好，又来冻着。我扶你到床上去睡，在被窝里暖和暖和……”

    秦书田摸索着，真是黑得伸手不见五指。他双手接触到胡玉音时，两人都吓了一跳，他们都忘记了身上的衣服已经脱光了……

    风雨如磐，浩大狂阔。雷公电母啊，不要震怒，不要咆哮……雨雾雨帘，把满世界都遮拦起来吧。人世间的这一对罪人，这一对政治黑鬼啊，他们生命的源流还没有枯竭，他们性灵的火花还没有熄灭，他们还会撞击出感情的闪电，他们还会散发出生命的光热。爱情的枯树遇上风雨还会萌生出新枝嫩叶，还会绽放瘦弱的花朵，结出酸涩的苦果……

    六“你是聪明的姐”

    胡玉音对于自己能够活下来，能够熬下去，还居然会和秦书田相爱，常常感到惊奇。每次挨斗挨打、游街示众后，她被押回老胡记客栈，就觉得自己活够了，只剩下一丝丝气没断了。有时连颈脖上的黑牌子都不爱取下来，就昏昏糊糊地和衣睡去。可是第二天一早醒来，简直不敢相信似地睁开眼睛：奇怪，还活着？为什么还不死啊！她伸手摸摸自己的胸口，胸口里边还在扑通、扑通地跳着。这就是说，她还应当起来，还应当去扫街……

    她自艾自怜，曾经打算选下一个好点的日子死去，初一，或是十五。是的，死是自己的最后一件紧要事，一定要选个好点的日子。而且要死个好样子。不能用索子上吊，不能在胸口上戳剪刀，不能去买老鼠药吃。那样会死得凶，会破相。最好是投水。人家会打捞上来，会放得规规整整，干干净净。就像睡着了一样摆在块门板上，头发都不大乱。就只脸盘白得像张纸，而且有点发青，有点肿。胡玉音曾经是个观音菩萨跟前的玉女一般的人儿，死了，也应当是个玉女。变了鬼，都不会难看、吓人。

    因之，她曾经好几次走到玉叶溪的白石桥上，望着溪水发呆。白石桥有三、四丈高，溪水绿得像匹缎子。溪水两岸是湿漉漉的岩壁，岩壁上爬满了虎耳草、凤尾巴、藤萝花。若从岩岸边上看下去，水上水下，一倒一顺，有两座白石桥，四堵岩壁。人站在桥上，水里的倒影清楚得连脸上的酒窝都看得见。桥高，岸陡，水深。所以历朝历代，都有苦命女子到这桥上来寻自尽。久而久之，镇上居民就给这白石桥另取了个名字：孤女桥。每一次，胡玉音来到孤女桥上，低头一见自己落进水里的影子，就伤心，就哭：玉音啊，玉音，这就是你吗？你是个坏女人？你害过人？在镇上，你有什么生死对头？没有啊，没有！玉音在镇上蚂蚁子都怕踩得，脸都很少和人红，讲话都没有起过高腔，小娃儿都没有欺负过一个。你为人并不势利、刻薄，吝啬钱财，当初还周济过不少人……那又是为哪样啊？你不害人，不恨人，不势利，没有生死对头，人家还要整你、恨你、斗你？把你当作世界上最下作、最卑贱的女人？使你走路都抬不起头，人前人后扬不起脸，连笑都要先看看四周围……你是作了什么孽啊，要落得这样苦命，得到这样的报应！这个世道对自己太不公道，太无良心！每每想到这里，她就哭啊，哭啊，感到委屈，感到不平，就有了气！“我偏不死！我偏不死！我为什么要死？我犯了哪样法，哪样罪？我为什么活不得？”她站在孤女桥上，几次都没有跳下去。她就是不该一眼就看清了水里的那个自己……

    她还曾经用别的法子作践过自己。有一回她三天三晚水米不沾牙。可是每天早晨起来都梳头、洗脸，每晚上都洗澡、换衣。第四天早上，她去扫街，晕倒在青石板街上。是秦书田把她背回老胡记客栈来，像劝亲人一样地劝她，像哄妹儿一样地哄她，打了一碗蛋花汤喂她。秦书田一边喂她一边哭。她还从没见过秦书田哭。这个铁帽右派无论是跪砖头挨批斗，挂黑牌游街，都是笑眯眯的，就和去走亲家、坐酒席一样。他乐天，不知愁苦。可如今，秦书田为了她，反倒哭了，使胡玉音冷却了的心，感到了一点点人世的温存。她从小就心软。她对人家心软，对自己也心软。原先桂桂在世、日子好过的时候，她最怕看得、最怕听得人家屋里的伤心事。秦书田，秦癫子……早就在护着她了。有段时间，她恨秦癫子。仿佛自己的不幸，就是秦癫子带来的。就是那年她成亲，秦癫子却带着歌舞团的妖精们来唱《喜歌堂》，反封建，开坏了她新婚的彩头……如今，秦书田大约就是要来悔补自己的过失。但过失是这样重大，即便是死三回，生三回，也找补不回来。其实，秦书田也是物伤其类啊，惺惺惜惺惺，造孽人怜惜造孽人。在胡玉音的病床边，秦书田还轻轻地哼《喜歌堂》里的《铜钱歌》给她听：“正月好唱《铜钱歌》，铜钱有几多？一个铜钱四个角，两个铜钱几个角？快快算，快快说，你是聪明的姐，她唱哩《铜钱歌》……”秦书田三个铜钱、四个铜钱地唱下去，一直唱到十个铜钱打止。“你是聪明的姐、聪明的姐啊”，每唱到这一句，秦癫子就眼里含着泪花，忧伤地看着胡玉音。什么意思？“你是聪明的姐”啊，为什么要作践自己？为什么不活下去？世界不只是一个芙蓉镇。世界很大，天长日久啊。而且世界的存在也不能只靠搞运动，专门搞斗争。天底下还有许许多多别的事情。聪明的姐啊，聪明的姐，你是聪明的姐啊！……

    古老的民歌，一声声呼唤着，叮咛着。生命的歌。也许正是这古老的从小就会唱、爱唱的歌，唤醒了胡玉音对生的渴望。她开始留心秦书田这个人。当了五类分子，做了人下人，还总是那么快活、积极。好像他的黑鬼世界里就不存在着凄苦、凌辱、惨痛一样。游街示众他总是俨然走在前头。接受批斗总是不等人吆喝、挥动拳脚，扑通一声先跪下，低垂下脑壳。人家打他的左边耳光，他就等着右边还有一下。本镇大队的革命群众和干部讲他不算死顽固，只是个老运动油子。开初胡玉音有些看不起他，以为他下作。但后来慢慢地亲身体会到秦书田的办法对头，可以少挨打，少吃苦。就是自己学不起。人家揪她的头发，刚一松手，她就忍不住伸开手指去理理梳梳。人家按下她的颈脖，弯腰九十度，她一直起腰，就要扯扯衣襟，扣好衣扣。人家罚她下跪，一允许她站起来，她立即就把双膝盖上的尘土拍拍干净。为了这习惯，她多挨了不少打，就是改不了。有人讲“这个新富农婆真顽固”。这时她就想着要早点死，叫人家骂不成，批不成，斗不成。

    她所以还活着，还因为另一件事给了她强烈的刺激。就是那一回，外地来的那班无法无天似的男女红卫兵，讲着北方话或是操着长沙口音，把公社书记李国香也揪了出来，颈脖上挂着双破鞋游街！这算哪样回事啊，世界真是大，没听过、没见过的新奇事情真多。原来是你斗我，我斗你，斗人家，也斗自己……这天游街回来，不晓得为什么，她心里竟然感到快活。坏心眼，幸灾乐祸。她洗了脸，就去照镜子。镜子是妈妈留下来的。“四清”时只没收了新楼屋，改做了本镇的小招待所，而把老铺子留给她。她总怕有两三年没有照过镜子了。她发觉自己老多了，额角、眼角、嘴角都爬上了鱼尾细纹……但整个脸盘的大样子没变。头发还青黝，又厚又软。眼睛还又大又亮，两颊也还丰润。她自己都感到惊奇。她甚至有时神思狂乱地想：嗯，要是李国香去掉她的官帽子，自己去掉头上的富农帽子，来比比看！叫一百个男人闭着眼睛来摸、来挑，不怕不把那骚货、娼妇比下去……

    有时候，她晚上睡得早，睡不着。天气燥热，她光着身子平躺在被盖上。她双手巴掌习惯地蒙住眼睛，像害羞似的，然后慢慢地往下抹，一直抹到胸脯上才停下来。胸脯还肉鼓鼓、高耸耸的，像两座小山峰。她真恨死自己了，简直还跟一个刚出嫁的大闺女一样……好可厌，她恨不能把它抹平。可是抹不平。哪里像个五类分子？五类分子一个个佝腰拱背，手脚像干柴棍，胸脯荒凉得像冬天的草地。就她和秦书田还像个人。这以后，她又恢复了照镜子的习惯。有时对着镜子自怨自艾，多半时候是对着镜子哭。哭什么？她哭心里还有一把火，没有熄。她惟愿这把火早些熄灭。

    大雷雨的那个早上，那个漆黑的伸手不见五指的早上，她和秦书田身上都湿得不剩一根干纱，老天爷成全了他们的罪孽……人世间的事物，“第一”总是最可宝贵的。有了第一_，就不愁第二。做得初一，就做得十五。镇上的人们的警惕性侧重于政治方面。阶级斗争真是无所不在，无孔不入。谁会想到罚两个“新五类分子”打扫青石板街，还会发生这类男女欢媾？他们被瞒过了，骗住了。也许是大环套小环一般的运动，走马灯一般的上台和下台，反复无定、朝是夕非的口号，使他们眼花缭乱，神经疲乏了。他们只觉得青石板街打扫得一天比一天干净，净洁得青石板发出暗光，娃娃们掉粒饭在上头都不会脏。还有秦书田和胡玉音两个五类分子出工非常积极，还抢队上的重活、脏活做。胡玉音脸蛋上的皱纹熨平了，泛出了一层芙蓉花瓣似的红润。她就像已经得到了准信，某月某日就会给她摘掉“新富农分子”的黑帽子一样。

    铁帽右派和新富农寡妇，背着镇上的革命群众非法同居了。他们就像一对未经父老长者认可就偷情的年轻人，既时时感到胆战心惊，又觉得每分每秒都宝贵、甜蜜。只要在一起，他们就搂着，抱着，发疯似地亲着，吻着。长期压抑的感情一旦爆发，就表现为不可思议的狂热，表现为一种时间上的紧迫。好像随时都可能有一只巨手把他们分开，永生永世不得见面。他们是在抢时间。只有畸形的生活才有畸形的爱。他们明白这种胆大妄为是对他们的政治身分、社会等级的一次公然的挑战和反叛。晚上，他们从来不点灯。他们习惯，甚至喜欢在黑暗里生活。胡玉音总是枕着秦书田的手臂睡。有时睡梦里还叫着“桂桂，桂桂”。秦书田不会生气，还答应，仿佛他真的就是桂桂。桂桂还没有死，还在娇他、疼他的女人。桂桂的魂附在书田哥身上。书田哥常常哼《喜歌堂》给玉音听。一百零八支曲子，两百多首词，曲曲反封建。他曲曲都记得住，唱得出。胡玉音佩服他的好记性，好嗓音。

    “玉音，你的嗓音才好哪。那一年，我带着演员们来搜集整理《喜歌堂》，你体态婀娜，声清如玉，我们真想把你招到歌舞团去当演员哪。可你，却是十八岁就招郎，就成亲……”

    “都是命。怪就怪你们借人家的亲事，来演习节目、坏了彩头……我和桂桂命苦……”

    “你又哭了？又哭。唉，都是我不好，总是爱提些老话，引得你来哭。”

    “书田哥，不怪你。是我自己不好，我命大，命独。我不哭了，你再唱支《喜歌堂》来听……”

    秦书田又唱了起来：
    我姐生得像朵云，映着日头亮晶晶。
    明日花轿过门去，天上狮子配麒麟。
    红漆凳子配交椅，衡州花鼓配洋琴。
    洞房端起交杯酒，酒里新人泪盈盈。
    我姐生得像朵云，随风飘荡无定根……

    胡玉音不觉地跟着唱，跟着和。他们都唱得很轻，铺外边不易听得见。他们有时唱的词不同，曲不同。胡玉音唱的是原曲原词，秦书田唱的是他自己改编过的词曲，大同小异。唱到不同处，他们只是互相推一推，看一眼，却又谁都不去更正谁。谁说他们只有苦难，没有幸福？他们也像世界上所有真诚相爱的人那样，在畅饮着人生最甜蜜的乳汁、最珍贵的琼浆。他们爱唱他们的歌：
    天下有路一百条呦，能走的有九十九。
    剩下一条绝命路呦，莫要选给我姐走。
    生米煮成熟米饭，杉木板子已成舟！
    嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗，嫁块门板背起走。
    生成的“八字”铸成的命，清水浊水混着流。
    陪姐流干眼窝泪，难解我姐忧和愁……

    有罪的人过的日子，就像一根黑色长带，无休无止地向前延伸着。大约是春天过完了，夏天开始的时候，胡玉音开始觉得身子不舒服，心里经常作反，想吐，怕油腻，好吃酸东西。把去年冬下浸的酸萝卜、酸白菜帮子吃了又吃。开初她还没有觉得是怎么回事。后来无意中想到这是“巴了肚”、“坐了喜”的症候时，她都差点晕了过去。真是又惊又喜，想笑又想哭。原先盼了多少年都没有盼来的，都已经时过景迁、不存任何痴心妄想了，“喜”却悄然无声地姗姗来迟了，而且是在这种苟且偷生、好死不如赖活的年月里来了。为什么不早点来？要是在摆米豆腐摊子那年月就巴了肚，生了三个、四个娃娃，新楼屋就不会盖了。多了三、四张小嘴巴要喂要填，她就是困难户了，能向政府要救济，要补助呢。有了后代，桂桂也就不会走了那条路。做父亲的，哪能不为了后代活着？…“八字”先生讲她“命里不主子”，“子”究竟来了，虽然来得迟，来得不是时候。是祸，是福？她诚惶诚恐。但她心甘情愿承担由此而产生的任何痛苦，甚至付出性命。为了不育，人们朝她身上泼过多少污水啊。就是自己，也总是把生育看作为一个女人头号紧要的事。自古以来就是“不孝有三，无后为大”啊。

    胡玉音没有立即把自己“坐了喜”的信息告诉秦书田。这件事太重大了，必须是有了十足的把握、拿定了准信以后才告诉他。她对秦书田越来越温存，有事没事就要依偎着他。常常做点好的给他吃，哄他吃，而自己不舍得吃，就像招待一位立了功的英雄。女人就是这样痴心。同时，胡玉音还像在迎候着一个神圣的宗教节日的来临，清心净欲，不再和秦书田同居，使秦书田如堕五里雾中。她喜欢一个人单独住在老胡记客栈，安安静静地平躺在床上，什么东西也不盖，双手轻轻地、轻轻地在自己的腹部抚摩着，试探着，终于触摸着了小生命寄生的那个角落……她好高兴啊。她眼睛里溢满了幸福、欣慰的泪水。自从桂桂死后，她还从来没有这样兴奋过，觉得活着是多么地好，多么地有意思。真傻，从前却总是想到死，死。“你是聪明的姐”，你算什么“聪明的姐”啊？

    整整过了一个月，胡玉音对自己的身孕有了确信无疑的把握之后，也是她把这个甜蜜的秘密独自享用了一个月之后，才在一个清早，把自己“坐了喜”的事告诉了秦书田。秦书田如梦初醒，这才明白了玉音这段时间既对他亲密又和他疏远的原因。他扫把一扔，竟在当街就“天啊，天啊”地叫着，紧紧地抱住胡玉音，又是笑，又是哭。玉音连忙制止住了他的狂喜，哭笑也不看看是什么地方，什么场合。

    “玉音，我们向大队、公社请罪，申请登记结婚吧！”秦书田把脸埋在玉音的胸前，像梦呓地说，“这本来是我想都不敢想的事情……”

    “人家会不会准？或许，我们这是罪上加罪。”胡玉音平静地回答。她已经把什么都反复想过了，也就不怕了，心安理得了。

    “我们也还是人。哪号文件上，哪条哪款，规定了五类分子不准结婚？”秦书田双手扶着她，颇有把握地说。

    “准我们登记就好。就怕这年月，人都像红眼牛，发了疯似的，只是记仇记恨……管他呢。书田哥，不要为这事烦恼。不管人家怎么着，准不准，反正娃娃是我们的。我要，我就是要！”

    胡玉音说着，一下子扑倒在秦书田怀里，浑身都在颤战，哭泣了起来。仿佛立即就会有人伸过了一双可怕的大手，从她怀里把那尚未出生的胎儿抢走似的。

    自然，这早上的青石板街没有能好好清扫。也就是从这早上起，秦书田承担起了一个男子汉的义务，没再让胡玉音早起扫街。玉音又有点子“娇”了，也要睡睡“天光觉”，像一般“坐了喜”、身子“出了脾气”的女人那样，将息一下子了。秦书田却是在有意无意地做给镇上的街坊们看看：胡玉音已经是秦某人的人了，她的那一份街道归秦某人打扫了。

    七 人和鬼

    王秋赦支书在镇供销社的高围墙下崴了脚，整整两个月出不得门。李国香主任来芙蓉镇检查工作时顺便进吊脚楼来看了看他，讲了几句好好休息、慢慢养伤、不要性急之类的公事公办的话。对他的肿得像小水桶一样粗的脚，只看了两眼，连摸都没有摸一下，毫无关切怜悯之情。“老子这脚是怎么崴的?是我大清早赶路不小心?”若是换了另一个女人，王秋赦说不定会破口大骂，斥责她寡情薄义，冷了血。俗话说“一夜夫妻百日恩”，何况岂止一夜。什么丑话、丑事没讲没做?但对女上级，他倒觉得自己是受了一种“恩赐”，上级看得起自己，无形中抬高了自己的身价呢。女上级来看他一次，就够意思的了，难道还要求堂堂正正一个县革委常委、公社主任，也和街坊婆娘们那样动不动就来酸鼻子、红眼睛?女上级不动声色，正好说明了她的气度和胆识。自己倒是应当跟着她操习操习，学点上下周旋、左右交游的本领呢。

    那天，王秋赦正拄了一根拐棍，在吊脚楼前一跛一颠地走动，活活筋骨血脉，铁帽右派秦书田就走了来，双手捧着一纸“告罪书”，朝他一鞠躬。他倚着拐杖站住了，接过“告罪书”一看，惊奇得圆圆的脸块像个老南瓜，嘴巴半天合不拢，眼睛直眨巴：
    “什么?什么?你和富农寡婆胡玉音申请登记结婚?”
    秦书田勾头俯脑，规规矩矩地回答：“是，王书记，是。”为了缓和气氛，又恭恭敬敬地问，“王书记的脚大好了?还要不要我进山去挖几棵牛膝、吊马墩?”

    王秋赦的胖脸上眉头打了结，眼睛停止了眨巴，眯成两个小三角形。他对这个“铁帽右派”的看法颇为复杂。在那个倒霉的大清早，自己一屁股滑倒在稀牛屎上，是秦书田把他从小巷子里背回家，还算替他保了密，并编了一套话：大队支书早起到田里看禾苗，踩虚了脚，拐在涵洞里，因公负伤。大队因此给他记了工伤，报销医疗费用……但是对于胡玉音呢?对于这个至今还显得年轻的、不乏风韵的寡妇，王秋赦也曾经私下里有过一些非分之想。可是他和女主任的特殊关系在时时制约着他。世事的变化真大，生活就像万花筒。这么个妙可的女人，从一个不中用的屠户手里，竟然又落到了秦书田的黑爪爪里。

    “你们，你们已经有了深浅了?”吊脚楼主以一种行家的眼光逼住秦书田，仿佛看穿了对方的阴私、隐情。

    “这种事，自然是瞒不过王书记的眼睛的……”秦书田竟然厚颜无耻地笑了笑，讨好似地说。

    “放屁!你们什么时候开始的，嗯?”

    “也记不清楚了，我向上级坦白，我们每天早晨打扫青石板街，扫来扫去，她是个寡妇，我一直打单身，就互相都有了这个要求。”

    “烂箩筐配坼扁担。都上手几次了?”

    “不……不敢，不敢。上级没有批准，不敢。”

    “死不老实!这号事你骗得过谁?何况那女人又没有生育，一身细皮嫩肉，还不喂了你这只老猫公?”

    秦书田听到这里，微微红了红脸：“上级莫要取笑我们了。鸡配鸡，凤配凤……大队能不能给我们出张证明，放我们到公社去登记?”

    王秋赦拄着拐棍，一跛一颠地走到一块青条石上坐下来，圆圆胖胖的脸块上眉头又打了结，眼睛又眯成两个小三角形。他看了看秦书田呈上的“告罪书”，仿佛碰到了政策上的难题：“两个五类分子申请结婚……婚姻法里有没有这个规定?好像只讲到年满十八岁以上的有政治权利的公民……可是你们哪能算什么公民?你们是专政对象，社会渣滓!”

    秦书田咬了咬嘴皮，脸上再没有讨好的笑意，十分难听地说：“王支书，我们、我们总还算是人呀!再坏再黑也是个人……就算不是人，算鸡公、鸡婆，雄鹅、雌鹅，也不能禁我们婚配呀!”

    王秋赦听了哈哈大笑，眼泪水都笑了出来：“娘卖乖!秦癫子，我可没有把你们这些人当畜生，全中国都是一个政策……你不要讲得这样难听。这样吧，这回我老王算对你宽大宽大，把你的报告先在大队革委里头研究研究，再交公社去审批。不过先跟你打个招呼，中央下了文件，马上就要开展‘一批两打’、清理阶级队伍运动了，批不批得下来，还难讲哪!”

    秦书田诚惶诚恐，恳求着王秋赦：“王书记，我们的事，全仗你领导到公社开个口，讲句话……我们已经有了，有了……”

    王秋赦瞪圆了眼睛，拐杖在地上顿了顿：“有了?你们有了什么了?”

    秦书田低下了头。他决定把事情捅出来，迟捅不如早捅，让王秋赦们心里有个底：“我们有了那回事了……”

    果然，王秋赦一听，就气愤地朝地上啐了一口：“两个死不老实的家伙!江山易改，本性难移。当了阶级敌人还偷鸡摸狗……滚回去吧!明天我叫人送副白纸对联给你，你自己去贴在老胡记客栈的门口!”

    站在矮檐下，哪有不低头?生活是颠倒的，淫邪男女主宰着他们爱情的命运。第二天，大队部就派民兵送来了一副白纸对联，交给了秦书田。秦书田需要的正是这副对联。他喜上眉梢，获得了一线生机似地到老胡记客栈来找胡玉音。胡玉音正在灶门口烧火，一看白纸对联就伤心地哭泣了起来。

    原来镇上贴白纸对联，是横扫“四旧”那年兴起的一种新风俗，是为了惩罚、警告街坊上那些越墙钻洞、偷鸡摸狗的男女，把他们的丑事公诸于众，使其在革命群众中臭不可闻而采取的一项革命化措施。

    “玉音，你先莫哭，看看这对联上写的什么?对我们有利没有害呢!”秦书田边开导边把对联展开来，“大队干部的文墨浅，无形中就当众承认了我们的关系。你看上联是‘两个狗男女’，下联是‘一对黑夫妻’，横批是‘鬼窝’。‘一对黑夫妻’，管它红、白、黑，人窝、鬼窝，反正大队等于当众宣布了我们两个是‘夫妻’，是不是?”

    秦书田真是有他的鬼聪明。胡玉音停止了哭泣。是哪，书田哥是个有心计的人。

    征得了胡玉音的同意，秦书田才舀了半勺米汤，把白纸对联端端正正地糊在铺门上。

    老胡记客栈门口贴了一副白纸对联，这消息立即轰动了整个芙蓉镇。大人、小娃都来看热闹，论稀奇：“‘两个狗男女，一对黑夫妻’，这对子切题，合乎实际。”“也是哟，一个三十出头的寡婆子，一个四十来岁的老单身，白天搭伙煮锅饭，晚上搭伙暖双脚!”“他们成亲办不办酒席?”“他们办了酒席，哪个又敢来吃?”

    “唉，做人做到这一步，只怕是前世的报应!”

    镇上的人们把这件事当作头条新闻，出工收工，茶余饭后，谈论了整整半个来月。只有仍然挂着个粮站副主任衔的谷燕山，屁股上吊着个酒葫芦，来铺门口看了两回对联，什么话也没有讲。

    街坊邻居们的议论，倒是提醒了秦书田和胡玉音。在一个镇上人家都早早地关上了铺门的晚上，他们备下了两瓶葡萄酒，一桌十来样荤腥素菜，在各自的酒杯底下垫了一块红纸，像是也要履行一下手续仪式似的，喝个交杯酒。虽然公社还没有批下他们的“告罪书”，但估计人家对他们这一等人的结合不会感什么兴趣。真要感兴趣，才是抬举了他们呢。反正生米煮成熟米饭，清水浊水混着流，大队干部和镇上街坊们都已经认可了。物以类聚，人以群分。黑鬼对黑鬼，又不碍着谁。因之胡玉音、秦书田两人的脸上也泛起了一点红光喜气……他们正依古老的习俗，厮亲厮敬地喝了交杯酒，铺门外边就有人嗒嗒、嗒嗒地敲门。

    夫妻两个立时吓得魂不附体。胡玉音浑身打着哆嗦，秦书田赶忙把她搂着，好像能护着她似的……嗒嗒、嗒嗒的敲门声仍在响着，却又听不见有人叫喊，秦书田才定了定神。他咬着胡玉音的耳朵说：“听听，这声音不同。若是民兵小分队来押我们，总是凶声恶气地大喊大叫，脚踢，枪托子顿，门板砰砰砰……”胡玉音这才定了定神，点了点头。男人就是男人，遇事有主见，不慌乱。
    “我去开门?”
    “嗯。”
    秦书田壮着胆子去开了门，还是吃了一惊：原来是“北方大兵”谷燕山!他手上提着个纸盒盒，屁股上吊着酒葫芦。这真是太出乎意料了。秦书田赶忙迎了进来，闩好门。胡玉音脸色发白，颤着声音地请老谷入席。老谷也不客气，不分上首下首就坐下了：
    “上午和下午，我都看见你们偷偷摸摸的，一会儿买鱼，一会儿称高价肉……我就想，这喜酒，我还是要来讨一杯喝。如今镇上的人，都以为我是酒鬼，好酒贪杯……我想，我想，你们大约也不会把我坦白、交代出去……你们呢，依我看，也不是那种真牌号的五类分子……成亲喜事，人生一世，顶多也只一两回……”

    黑夫妻两个听这一说，顿时热泪涟涟，双双在谷燕山面前跪了下去，磕着头。在这个动辄“你死我活”的世界上，还是有好人。人的同情心，慈善心，还是没有绝迹……

    谷燕山没有谦让，带着几分酒意地笑着：“起来，起来，你们这是老礼数、老规矩。是不是要我保媒啊?这几年，我是醉眼看世人，越看越清醒。你们的媒人，其实是手里的竹扫把，街上的青石板……也好，今晚上嘛，我就来充个数，认了这个份儿!”

    黑夫妻两个又要双双跪了下去，谷燕山连忙把他们拉住了，

    倒真像个主婚人似地安排他们都坐好了。

    “我还带了份薄礼来。”谷燕山打开纸盒，从中取出四块布料来，还有一辆小汽车，一架小飞机，一个洋娃娃。“不要嫌弃。这些年来，镇上人家收亲嫁女，我都是送的这么一份礼……你们也不例外。我是恭贺你们早生贵子……既是成了夫妻，不管是红是黑，孽根孽种，总是要有后的。”

    胡玉音心里一阵热浪翻涌，几乎要昏厥过去……但她还是镇住了自己。她又走到谷燕山面前，双膝跪了下去，抽泣着说：
    “谷主任!你要单独受我一拜……你为了我，为了碎米谷头子，背了冤枉啊……是我连累了你，害苦了你……你一个南下老干部……若是干部们都像你，共产党都是你这一色的人，日子就太平……呜呜呜，谷主任，日后，你不嫌我黑，不嫌我贱，今生今世，做牛做马，都要报答你……”

    谷燕山这时也落下泪来，却又强作欢颜：“起来，起来，欢欢喜喜的，又来讲那些事做什么?自己是好是歹，总是自己最明白……来来，喝酒，喝酒!如今粮站里反正不要我管什么事，我今晚上就要好好喝几杯，尽个兴。”

    秦书田立即重整杯盘。夫妻俩双双敬了满满一杯红葡萄酒。谷燕山一仰脖子喝下后，就从屁股后取下了自己的酒葫芦(秦书田、胡玉音这时好恨白天没有准备下一瓶白烧酒啊)：
    “你们这是红糖水。你们两口子喝了和睦甜亲。我可是要喝我的二锅头，过瘾，得劲!”

    你劝我敬，一人一杯轮着转，三人都很激动。谷燕山喝得眼眨眉毛动，忽然提议道：“老秦!早听说你是因了个什么《喜歌堂》打成右派的，玉音也有好嗓子，你们两个今晚既是成亲，就唱上几曲来，庆贺庆贺，快乐快乐!”

    恩人的要求，还有什么不答应的?夫妻两个不知是被酒灌醉了，还是被幸福灌醉了，红光满面地轻轻唱起一支节奏明快、曲调诙谐的《轿伕歌》来：
    新娘子，哭什么?我们抬轿你坐着，
    眼睛给你当灯笼，肩膀给你当凳坐。
    四人八条腿，走路像穿梭。
    拐个弯，上个坡，肩膀皮，层层脱。
    你笑一笑，你乐一乐，
    洞房要喝你一杯酒，路上先喊我一声哥……

    生命的种子，无比顽强。五岭山区的花岗岩石脊上，常常不知要从哪儿飞来一粒几颗油茶籽那么大的树籽。这些树籽撒落进岩缝石隙里，几乎连指甲片那么一小块泥土都没有啊，只靠了岩石渗出的那一点儿潮气，就发胀了，冒芽了，长根了。那是什么样的根系?犹如龙须虎爪，穿山破石，深深插入岩缝，钻透石隙，含辛茹苦，艰难万分地去获取生命的养分。抽茎了，长叶了，铁骨青枝，傲然屹立。木质细密，坚硬如铁。看到这种树木的人，无不惊异这生命的奇迹。伐木人碰上它，常常使得油锯断齿，刀斧卷刃呢。

    一个月后，秦书田、胡玉音被传到了公社。开初，他们以为是通知他们去办理婚姻登记手续。只是秦书田有些经验，多了个心眼，用一个粗布口袋装了两套换洗衣服。

    “秦书田!你这个铁帽石派狗胆包天，干下了好事!”

    秦书田和胡玉音刚进办公室，公社主任李国香就桌子一拍，厉声喝斥。大队支书王秋赦满脸盛怒地和女主任并排坐着。旁边还有个公社干部陪着，面前放着纸笔。

    秦书田、胡玉音低下了头，垂手而立。秦书田不知头尾，只好连声说：“上级领导，我请罪，我认罪……”

    “在管制劳动期间，目无国法，目无群众，公然与富农分子胡玉音非法同居，对无产阶级专政猖狂反扑……”女主任宣判似地继续说。原来昨天晚上，王秋赦来个别汇报、请示工作时，女主任才详细问起了他的脚扭伤的经过。王秋赦便把那一大早从供销社侧门出来，滑倒在一堆稀牛粪上，被早起扫街的铁帽右派发现并背回吊脚楼去的经过讲了一遍。还说秦书田近一段表现不错等等。“我早晓得你上当了!”女主任冷笑了一声骂道，“愚蠢的东西!供销社高围墙侧门的那条小巷子才多宽一点?平日从没有人牵牛从那巷子里过，牛拉屎远不拉、近不拉，偏偏拉在那门口?你那时经常到门市部楼上过夜……肯定被铁帽右派盯住了，才设下了这个圈套!你呀，力气如牛，头脑简单，少了一根阶级斗争的弦!”王秋赦当场被女主任数落得无地自容，恨不得把圆脑壳缩进衣领去。同时也暗暗叹服，这女上级就是比他高强。“阶级报复!明天我就派民兵捉住秦癫子吊半边猪!”王秋赦想到被右派分子算计，吃了两个多月的苦头，就睁大了三角眼，暴跳如雷。“要文斗，不能光想着去触及敌人的皮肉。”女主任倒是胸有成竹，平静地说，“他不是申请和胡玉音结婚，而且已经公然住在一起了?我们就先判他个服法犯法，非法同居!他去劳改个十年八年，还不是我们跟县里有关部门讲一句话?到了劳改队，看他五类分子还去守人家的高围墙、矮围墙!”于是，秦书田和胡玉音就被传到公社来了。

    “秦书田!胡玉音!你们非法同居，是不是事实?”女主任继续厉声问。
    秦书田抬起了头，辩解说：“上级领导，我有罪……我们向大队干部呈过请罪书，大队送了我们白纸对联，认可了我们是‘黑夫妻’……我们原以为，她是寡妇，我是四十出头的老单身，同是五类分子，我们没有爬墙钻洞……公社领导会批准我们……”
    “放屁!”王秋赦听秦书田话里有话，就拳头在桌上一擂，站了起来，“无耻下流的东西!你这个右派加流氓，反革命加恶棍的双料货!给老子跪下!给老子跪下!我今天才算看清了你的狼心狗肺!呸!跪下!你敢不跪下?”

    胡玉音拉了拉秦书田。秦书田当右派十多年来，第一次直起腰骨，不肯跪下，甚至不肯低头。过去命令他下跪的是政治，今天喝叫他下跪的是淫欲。胡玉音仿佛也懂得了他的这层意思，胆子也就大了。王秋赦怒不可遏，晃着两只铁锤似的拳头，奔了过来。

    “王秋赦!要打要杀，我也要讲一句话!”胡玉音这时挡了上去，眼睛直盯住吊脚楼主，面色坚定沉静。王秋赦面对着这双眼睛，一时呆住了。“我们认识有多少年了?我们面对面地这么站着，不是头一回了吧?可我从没有张扬过你的丑事……今后也不会张扬!我今天倒是想问问，男女关系，是在镇上摆白摆明、街坊父老都看见了、认可了、又早就向政府请求登记的犯了法，还是那些白天做报告、晚上开侧门的犯了法?”

    “反了!翻天了!”一时，就连一向遇事不乱、老成持重的女主任，这时也实在没有耐性了，竞降下身分像个泼妇撒野似地骂道，“反动富农婆!摆地摊卖席子的娼妇!妖精!骚货!看我撕不撕你的嘴巴!看我撕不撕你的嘴巴!”

    真不成体统。更谈不上什么斗争艺术，领导风度，政策水平。玷污了公社办公室的几尺土地。但李国香毕竟咬着牙镇住了自己，浑身战栗着，手指缝缝挤出了血，才没有亲自动手。她是个聪明人，林副统帅教导过她：政权就是镇压之权。她决定行使镇压之权：
    “来几个民兵!拿铁丝来!把富农婆的衣服剥光，把她的两个奶子用铁丝穿起来!”

    胡玉音发育正常的乳房，母性赖以哺育后代的器官，究竟被人用铁丝穿起来没有?读者不忍看，笔者不忍写。反正比这更为原始酷烈的刑罚，都确实曾经在二十世纪六十年代中下叶的中国大地上发生过。

    遵照上级的战略部署，公社的“一批两打、清理阶级队伍”运动开始时，秦书田、胡玉音这对黑夫妻立时成了开展运动的活靶子，反革命犯罪典型。在芙蓉镇圩坪戏台上开了宣判大会。反动右派、现反分子秦书田被判处有期徒刑十年。反动富农婆胡玉音判处有期徒刑三年，因有身孕，监外执行。芙蓉镇上许多熟知他们案情的人，都偷偷躲在黑角落流泪，包括黎满庚和他女人“五爪辣”都流了泪。他们是立场不稳，爱憎不明，敌我不分。他们不懂得在和平时期，对秦书田这些手无寸铁的敌人的仁慈，就是对人民的残忍。他们不懂得若还秦书田、胡玉音们翻了天，复了辟，干百万革命的人头就会落地，就会血流成河，尸横遍野。秦书田就会重新登台指挥表演《喜歌堂》，把社会主义当作封建主义来反，红彤彤的江山就改变了颜色，变成紫色、蓝色、黄色、绿色。胡玉音就会重新五天一圩，在芙蓉镇上架起米豆腐摊子，一角钱一碗，剥削鱼肉人民的血汗，再去起新楼屋，当新地主、新富农。

    秦书田、胡玉音被押在宣判台上，态度顽固，气焰嚣张，都没有哭。几年来，他们已经被斗油了，斗臭斗滑了，什么场合都经见过，成了死不改悔的顽固派，反革命修正主义路线的社会基础。秦书田不服罪，不肯低头。胡玉音则挺起腰身，已经耀武扬威地对着整个会场现出她的肚子来了。劣根孽种!审判员在宣读着判决书。公检法是一家，高度一元化，履行一个手续。民兵暂时没有能按下他们的狗头。

    胡玉音、秦书田两人对面站着，眼睛对着眼睛，脸孔对着脸孔。他们没有讲话，也不可能让他们讲话。但他们反动的心相通，彼此的意思都明白：
    “活下去，像牲口一样地活下去。”
    “放心。芙蓉镇上多的还是好人。总会熬得下去的，为了我们的后人。”

    第四章 今春民情（一九七九年）

    一 芙蓉河啊玉叶溪

    时间也是一条河，一条流在人们记忆里的河，一条生命的河。似乎是涓涓细流，悄然无声，花花亮眼。然而你晓得它是怎么穿透岩缝渗出地面来的吗?多少座石壁阻它、压它、挤它?千回百转，不回头，不停息。悬崖最是无情，把它摔下深渊，粉身碎骨，化成迷蒙的雾。在幽深的谷底，它却重新结集，重整旗鼓，发出了反叛的吼叫，陡涨了汹涌的气势。浪涛的吼声明确地宣告，它是不可阻挡的。猕猴可以来饮水，麋鹿可以来洗澡，白鹤可以来梳妆，毒蛇可以来游弋，猛兽可以来斗殴。人们可以来走排放筏，可以筑起高山巨壁似的坝闸截堵它，可以把它化成水蒸气。这一切，都不能改变它汇流巨川大海的志向。

    生活也是一条河，一条流着欢乐也流着痛苦的河，一条充满凶险而又兴味无穷的河。人人都在这条河上表演，文唱武打，红脸白脸，花头黑头。人人都显露出了自己的芳颜尊容，叫做“亮相”。夫人揭发首长。儿子检举老子。青梅竹马、至友亲朋成了生死对头。灵魂当了妓女。道德成了淫棍。人性论、人情味属于资产阶级。群众运动，运动群众。运动群众的人自己也被运动。地球在公转和自转，岂能不动?念念不忘你死我活。权力的天地只有拳头那么大，岂能人人都活?右派不臭，左派能香?史无前例、规模空前的“左”的竞走啊，“左”的赛跑。“右”就像无所不在的幽魂鬼怪，必须撒下天罗地网来擒拿。从穿衣吃饭，香水，发型，直到红唇皓齿，文件报告，无休无止的大会小会，如火如荼的政治洪流，都是为着灭资兴无。直到公社社员房前屋后的南瓜、辣椒是资本主义。应该种向日葵，向日葵有象征性。但谁嗑瓜子有罪。谁说没有资本家?从发展的观点看小摊贩就是资本家。自留地、自由市场就是温床。应当主动出击。寸土必争，寸权必夺。把资本主义消灭在萌芽状态、摇篮里。难道要等着它蓬蓬勃勃、泛滥成灾?户户种辣椒、南瓜卖(南瓜还可以酿酒)，集体田地不是会荒芜?辣椒、南瓜就成为灾害。粮和钱、穷和富有个辩证关系。如果人人都有钱、都富，生活水平都赶上、超过了解放前的地主、富农，饱食终日，谁还革命?谁还斗争?还有什么阶级阵线?干部下乡，蹲点搞运动，依靠谁?团结谁?争取谁?孤立打击谁?还怎么搞人员的政治排队?怎么能没有了这法宝、仙杖啊。贫下中农就是贫下中农，他们应当永远是大多数。他们上升成了中农、富裕中农，天下大乱，革命断送。中国的问题成堆，是一个资产阶级和小资产阶级的汪洋大海。解决问题必须找到一把万能钥匙：斗。自上而下，五、六年一次，急风暴雨，斗斗斗。其乐无穷，上了瘾。你看看：斗，像不像一把古老的铜挂锁的钥匙?中国方块字几经简化，却还保存着一点象形文字的特征。山海关城门，故宫禁苑，孔子文庙，乡村祠堂，财老倌的谷仓、钱柜，乡公所土牢、水牢的铁门，都是一个形状的铜挂锁，一把大同小异的铜钥匙：斗。真是国粹国宝，传世杰作。叫做斗则进，不斗则退、则修。斗斗斗，一直斗到猴年马月，天下一统，世界大同。但马克思主义日月经天，山河行地，光辉永在，决不会被一个膨胀了的“斗”字所简化、缩小、代替。历史有其自身的规律，决定着人类社会万事万物的扬弃、取舍。多么的严峻无情啊!到了公元一九七六年十月，历史就在神州大地上打了一个大惊叹号和句号。接着又出现了一长串的大问号。党的“三中全会”扭转乾坤，力排万难，打破坚冰。生活的河流活跃了，欢腾了。

    应当说，即便是人们在盲目、狂热地进行着全国规模的极左大竞赛的年月，时间的河流，生活的河流还是在前进，没有停息，更不是什么倒流。偏远的五岭山脉腹地的芙蓉镇，也前进了。芙蓉河上的车马大桥建成了，公路通了进来。起初走的是板车、鸡公车、牛车、马车，接着是拖拉机、卡车、客车，偶尔还可以看到一辆吉普车。吉普车一来，镇上的小娃娃就跟着跑，睁大了眼睛围观。一定是县委副书记李国香回“根据地”，来检查指导工作。跟随大小汽车而来的，是镇上建起了好几座工厂。一座是造纸厂，利用山区取之不尽的竹木资源。一座是酒厂，用木薯、葛根、杂粮酿酒。据说芙蓉河水含有某种矿物成分，出酒率高，酒味香醇。一座铁工厂，一座小水电站。这一来，镇上的人口就像蚂蚁搬家似的，陆续增加了许多倍。于是车站、医院、旅店、冷饮店、理发馆、缝纫社、新华书店、邮电所、钟表修理店等等，都相继出现，并以原先的逢圩土坪为中心，形成了十字交叉的两条街，称为新街。原先的青石板街称为老街。

    芙蓉镇成立了镇革命委员会，成为一级地方政府，却又尚未和公社分家，机构体制还有点乱。镇革委会主任就是王秋赦。居民们习惯称他为王镇长。镇革委会下设派出所、广播站，还有几科几办。叫做麻雀虽小五脏俱全。派出所管理全镇户籍人丁，打击投机倒把，兼训练全镇武装民兵，侦破“反标”案件多起。广播站则在新街、老街各处都安了些高音喇叭，后又在各家各户墙上都装了四方木匣，早、中、晚三次，播放革命样板戏、革命歌曲，以及镇革委的各种会议通知、重要决议，还有本镇新闻。本镇新闻内容丰富，政治色彩浓烈，前些年是联系实际批林批孔，批儒评法，对资产阶级实行全面专政，宣传本镇“文化大革命”的丰硕成果，接着是宣传“批邓、反击右倾翻案风’’和“既定方针”。如今呢，还是同一个女广播员，操着同一口夹了本地腔的普通话，按本镇革委会定下的口径，在深揭狠批林彪、“四人帮”的滔天罪行，批极左路线，讲十年浩劫；在宣传抓纲治国、新时期总任务，在号召新长征、“四化”建设。高音喇叭的功率很大，在声音的世界里占压倒优势，居统治地位，便是街道上的汽车、拖拉机、铁工厂的汽锤、造纸厂的粉碎机所发出的声音，都在它的面前黯然失色，退避三舍。新街、老街，街坊邻居们站在当街面对面地讲话都不易听见，减少了交头接耳、窃窃私议，有利于治安管理。

    前进中自然会出现一系列的新问题。没有公路就没有汽车，没有汽车就扬不起滚滚浊尘。如今汽车、拖拉机从泥沙路面上一开过，满街黄蒙蒙的飞灰就半天不得消失，叫做“扬灰路”，系“洋灰路”的谐音。老街还好点。新街的屋脊、瓦背、阳台、窗台，无不落了厚厚一层灰。等到大雷雨天气才来一次自然清洗。新十字街没有下水道，住户、店铺，家家都朝泥沙街面泼污水。晴天倒还好，泥沙街面渗水力极强。一到落雨天，街面就真正的成了“水泥路”，汤汤水水四方流淌。那些喜欢雨天飞车的司机们，更是把泥块、泥水飞溅到街道两旁的建筑物上，墙壁、玻璃门窗无不溅满了星星点点。也好，省钱又省事，免得居民们费布挂窗帘。据说镇长王秋赦和同僚们正在制订市镇建设规划，设想在新十字街两旁各挖一条浅浅的阳沟，好使污水畅通。有人提出要挖下水道。王镇长说：“下水道?阳沟不就是下水道?我们不是广州、上海，不要追求洋派!”而且做出了决议，一俟阳沟的设计图纸画了出来．经镇革委常委会议审议批准，即责成镇派出所集中全镇的地、富、反、坏、“四人帮”帮派爪牙出义务工，限月限日完成。

    工厂和工厂之间也经常闹矛盾，起纠纷，还两厂对垒打过群架。工厂一般都是沿芙蓉河而建，抽水、排水方便，还有水路运输。还便于倾倒各种废料垃圾。但是造纸厂盖在离酒厂四里远的玉叶溪上游开初竟然谁也不曾想到有什么问题。相隔都有四里远啊，又是两条水路，两个厂的青年工人谈恋爱在河边溜溜达达，都要半天，谁还碍得了谁?可是纸厂一开工，排出的碱水白泡泡满河流了下来，汇流到芙蓉河里，哪里管什么四里二十里?酒厂酿出的粮白酒、二锅头带苦涩味，喊老爷。酒厂要求纸厂赔偿损失，纸厂要求酒厂迁移厂址。你们酒厂嫌芙蓉河水不好，我们纸厂可把玉叶溪水当宝。官司打到县委，县委责成镇委解决；官司打到地委，地委责成县委解决，县委又责成镇委解决。镇革委主任王秋赦也没有长三头六臂，他能解决?算老几?酒厂搬迁动辄上百万，一个小小芙蓉镇革委会有权印钞票?还是王秋赦害怕两厂打群架，出人命，才跑到县革委去哭丧，请来杨民高书记、李国香副书记，组织两厂头头办学习班，提高思想。结果却又是按批臭了的孔夫子的“中庸之道”行事，由纸厂出财力，酒厂出人力，用水泥涵管从三里外的峡谷里接来清悠悠的山泉水解决问题。当然两厂头头还背着县里两位书记私下达成了一项谅解：今后纸厂干部到酒厂购买内销酒，次品酒，处理酒，享受酒厂干部的同等待遇。

    至于绿豆色的芙蓉河，玉叶溪，古老温顺、绿荫夹岸、风光绮丽的芙蓉河、玉叶溪，如今成了什么样子?人们已经在议论纷纷。却还暂时排不上镇革委繁忙的议事日程。由于各工厂都朝河里倾注废渣废水，河岸上已是寸草不生，而且在崩塌。沿岸还一排排倾倒了各种垃圾，据说河床水面不要那么宽，可以适当扩大一些陆地面积。人家还搞围湖造田、围海造田呢。各种纸张、纸盒，纸厂的烧碱白泡泡，据说偶尔还有不足月份的私生子，漂浮在平静的河面上。原先河里盛产“芙蓉红鲤”，如今却连跳虾、螃蟹都少见了。

    有人解释说：污染和噪音，是现代化社会进程中的附属品。先进的工业国家，第一世界、第二世界无不如此。据前些年报纸上宣传，日本、美国的天空连麻雀都找不到一只了。英国则要进口氧气。属于第三世界的中国内地、边远山区的芙蓉镇，何以能另辟蹊径?而且也还没有到那种天空里找不见一只麻雀的田地，氧气大约也不缺。麻雀在芙蓉镇地方还是一种害鸟，每年夏初麦熟季节，社员们还要在麦田边扎起一个个的草人来吓唬呢。如果说科学、民主是一对孪生姐妹，封建、愚昧则是圣殿佛前的两位金童玉女。批斗了二十几年的资本主义，才明白资本主义比起封建主义来还是个进步；实际上是根深蒂固的封建主义批斗了年纪轻轻的社会主义呢。

    二 李国香转移

    前些年，北京有所名牌大学，准备开设一个“阶级斗争系”，作为教育革命史上的一大壮举。其实这是见木不见林，小巫不见大巫。阶级斗争早就是一门全国性的普及专业，称之为“主课”，而且办学形式不拘一格，学习方法多种多样，学生年龄有老有少。平心而论，我们的千百万干部又有几位不是从这所专门学校培养、造就出来的，或者说是在这专门学校里严酷磨炼、痛苦反省、刻意自修过来的呢?

    前些年，北京有位女首长，险些儿步吕雉、武则天、慈禧后尘登基当了皇帝。女首长在“批林批孔”前前后后，十分强调培养有棱有角的女接班人。她说：“你们男人有什么了不起?不就多了一条精虫?”真是彻底的唯物主义。女首长恩泽施于四海，在各级三结合领导班子中体现出来。于是原公社书记李国香就升任为县委女书记。一个县委书记才多大一点?九百六十万平方公里的国土上设有数千个县市，各业各界这一级别的干部不下百十万。好些她这种年纪、学历的女同行，都当过地革委、省革委的大头头，名字常上电台广播，照片常登报纸呢。甚至有一位官拜副总理，在日本医学界朋友面前出过“李时珍同志从五七干校回来没有”的笑话呢。还不都是同一所专业学校培养、造就出来的?修的不都是同一门“主课”?革命的需要，能怪某一个人?李国香是因为没有进过紫禁城，所以谁也不能断定她就不是块副总理的材料。

    不过话讲回来，李国香这些年来能够矮子上楼梯，也是颇为不容易的。几次大风大浪的历史转折关头，她都适应下来了，转变过来了。她已经正式结了婚，爱人是省里的一位“文化大革命”初期丧妻的中年有为的负责干部。他们暂时还分居着。李国香还想在基层锻炼两年，进步快些。“四人帮”倒台后，她在全县三级扩干大会上，对极左路线、帮派势力罪行的控诉、批判，使许多人落了泪。一个三十出头的女干部啊，公社女书记啊，竟然被揪了出来，黑牌加破鞋，投在五类分子、牛鬼蛇神的队伍里游街示众；在芙蓉河拱桥工地上搞重体力劳动，为了请求加三两糙米饭，在铜头皮带的威逼下不会跳“黑鬼舞”，就被勒令四脚走路，做狗爬……谁听了不怒火烧胸膛?丧尽天良的帮派体系黑爪牙们就是这样作践党的好干部、好女儿……当然，李国香的“左派整左派的误会”——帮派体系的“左”是打了引号的法西斯的极左，她的左是正统的革命的左，有着本质的不同。还有，李国香下令要用铁丝把新富农婆胡玉音的两只发育正常的乳房穿起来——这是对待当时的阶级敌人嘛，出于革命的义愤嘛，不能心慈手软嘛，对敌人的仁慈就是对人民的残忍嘛。当然，这些她都不便在三级扩干会上控诉揭发。不值一提。跟“四人帮”帮派体系无关。而且在那种年头，谁又能没有一点过头的言论、过火的行为呢?连革命导师都是人，不是神，何况她李国香呢。她也是富有七情六欲的人。

    党的十一届三中全会的前后，县委常委分下工来，由她负责落实全县的冤假错案的平反昭雪，右派分子改正，地富摘帽，改变成分。女同志总是细心些，适宜于做这项工作。冤假错案平反昭雪，理所当然。为无辜死去的同志申张正义、恢复名誉，为存活下来的亲属子女安排生活、工作，义不容辞。一九五七年错划右派改正，这也不难理解，本来都是国家干部，讲了几句错话、写了点错文章也不是阶级敌人嘛，今后吸取教训、加强思想改造嘛，注意摆正和党组织的关系就行了嘛。搞“四化”，提倡科学文化，这些知识分子尚是可以利用之才，为何不用?

    就是对于给农村的地、富摘帽，地富子女改变成分这一项，李国香怎么也想不通，接受不了。今后革命还有什么对象?拿谁来当活靶子、反面教员?离开了阶级斗争这个纲，今后农村工作怎么搞?怎么在大会小会上做报告?讲些什么?阶级斗争是威力无穷的法宝啊，丢掉了这个法宝，就有如一个双目失明的人丢失了手里的拐杖。难道真的到了四十几岁，在政治运动的大课堂里学到的一套套经验、办法，浑身的解数，过时了?报废了?还得像小学生那样去从头学起，去面壁苦吟，绞尽脑汁，苦思苦熬地啃书本，钻研农业技术，学习经济管理?对于这个问题，她连想都不愿意想，毫无兴趣，并有一种本能的反感。一个隐隐约约的可怕的念头钻进了她的脑子里：变了，修了，复辟了。她白天若无其事，不动声色，晚上却犯了睡觉磨牙齿的毛病，格格响。

    李国香是从自身的经历、地位、利益来看待问题的。地委副书记兼县委第一书记杨民高，明察秋毫，及时发现了外甥女的不健康的思想动向，危险苗头。在一个深夜，做了一次高屋建瓴式的谈话：
    “怎么?对党的路线、政策怀疑了?动摇了?这次就转不过弯来了?不行啊!根据我们党的路线斗争历来的教训，适应不了每次伟大的战略性转变的干部，必然为党、为时代所淘汰。这种例子，这种人，你还见少了?县委分工你主管落实政策，你不能个人意气，不能以个人感情代替党的政策，任何时候都要服从党的决议。我们是下级，是细胞，不是心脏、大脑。就是万一将来又说错了，也是错在心脏、大脑。我们离心脏、大脑远着哪。我们只是执行问题，责任不在我们。关于地富摘帽及其子女改变成分的问题，叫摘就摘，叫改就改嘛。万一将来又叫戴，就再给戴嘛。过去叫抓，是革命的需要。今天叫放，也是革命的需要嘛。我们生是党组织的人，死是党组织的鬼嘛……”

    舅舅就是舅舅，水平就是水平。对斗争规律烂熟于心。只有学会了在政治湖泊里游泳的人，才有这种自由。要不然，舅舅怎能当上地委副书记兼县委第一书记?李国香就还没有达到这个水平，还没有赢得这种自由，还是个“三成生、七成熟”的干部。所以她还只是个县委副书记。但她终归会完全成熟的，会学得一手在政治湖泊里自由游泳的好本领。

    杨民高书记对李国香同志这次没能敏捷、及时地跟上形势、服从路线的转变，感到懊恼、担心。不识时务，不辨风向的死脑筋!作为上级，加上骨肉情分，他想得比较远，考虑也颇周全：县委机关里，对外甥女和王秋赦的暧昧关系，近来又有些风言风语。小李子和省里的丈夫继续分居下去，也不是长策。应当跟省里那位“外甥女婿”把利弊摆摆，上下一齐活动，通过组织部门先把小李子再提一下，调到省里去算个正处级。今后再到地、县来检查指导工作，见官大三级，何乐而不为?杨民高书记把自己这意思委婉地(因有个组织原则问题)和外甥女透了透，外甥女心有灵犀一点通，顿然领悟。

    第二天一早上班，李国香从县公安局呈报上来的大叠等待批复的冤假错案里，首先抽出《关于一九五七年错划右派、在押犯人秦书田的改正材料》和《关于一九六四年错划新富农胡玉音的平反报告》两份呈文来。她觉得这两份材料沉甸甸的，像两块铅板，拿着十分吃力。她拿起又放下，放下又拿起，迟疑不决。她转动着手里的铅笔，铅笔也很沉，像一根金属棒。力鼎于钧、断人生死的笔啊，为什么有时大气磅礴、字走龙蛇，有时却枯竭虚弱、万分艰涩?

    摆弄了半天，李国香也没有批出一个字来。她决定先给芙蓉镇革委会王秋赦挂个电话，通个气。

    “什么?给他们平反、改正?”谁想王秋赦这宝贝一听电话，就冲着话筒气汹汹地直叫喊：“我想不通!想不通!你们上头变一变，我们下边乱一片!”

    三 王镇长

    “娘卖乖!搞得我姓王的人不像人，鬼不像鬼!本乡本土的，今后在芙蓉镇还有什么威信、脸面?”

    王秋赦习惯于镇上的人称呼他为“王镇长”，却不知居民们私下里喊他“王秋蛇”。众人嘴难封，耳不听为干净。尽管李国香书记事先跟他挂了电话打了招呼，他接到县委关于给秦书田、胡玉音落实政策的两个材料后，还是心急火燎，暴跳如雷。关上办公室的房门，独自一人擂了一顿办公桌，把一只玻璃杯都震落下水泥地板上打得粉碎。

    其实，王秋赦也是错怪了李国香。党中央三令五申平反历次政治运动积存下来的冤假错案，如春雷动地，春风浩阔，岂是小小的李国香们所能阻挡得住的?

    李国香倒是深知王秋赦的为人心性的。彼此都还有点藕断丝连，“恋旧”。这些年来，王秋赦本来是可以找个女人成家的，可是为了对李国香的感情专一，死心踏地，他做出了牺牲。单单这一点，李国香就心领神会，十分感动。因此隔了几天，李国香又从县委给他挂来一个电话，声音清晰和悦。电话里讲了些什么，因是“专线”，电讯局总机的接线生尚且不敢偷听，其余人就更是不得而知了。但见王秋赦接过电话，跌坐在藤围椅里，额头上冷汗直冒。这回王秋赦没有关起办公室房门来擂桌子，震落玻璃杯，而是在心里咒骂：
    “娘卖乖!有意思，给他们平了反，摘了帽，仍是个内专对象，脑门上还有道白印子，有道黑箍箍……话是这么讲，可你们拉下一摊稀屎巴巴，叫我来舔屁股!你倒好，快要调到省里工作去了，把我丢在这芙蓉镇，来办这些改正、平反、昭雪的冤案假案错案……李国香，你真是朵国香，总是香啊!三十六策，你走为上策。你走，你走，公鹅和金鸡，公牛和母大虫，反正也成不了长久的夫妻……”

    平心而论，王秋赦这些年来和李国香明来暗往，是互为需要，有得有失。有什么可抱怨的呢?而且得重于失。失掉的是什么?自己的泥脚杆子身分，得到的却是芙蓉镇镇长一职。这全亏李国香在杨民高书记面前好说歹说，一力推荐。要依了杨民高同志原来的性子，王秋赦这种扶不上墙的稀牛屎，易反易复的小人，是再也不得起用的。黎满庚就是一例，还不是一九五六年撤区并乡时不听老杨一句话，就一辈子都脱不了脚上的草鞋、背上的蓑衣?王秋赦又怎么啦?若单是论品德、才干，他还赶不上黎满庚一指头呢。但是“批林批孔”那年的春节前的一件事，彻底改变了杨民高书记对王秋赦的看法。

    原来杨民高书记全家，又特别是杨书记本人，每年冬春两季，有个酷爱吃冬笋的嗜好。片儿丝儿，嫩嫩的，脆脆的，炒瘦肉片，焖红烧鸭块、鸡块，炖香菇木耳片儿汤，都是绝不可少的。吃在嘴里格崩格脆，美不可言。冬笋又不是燕窝银耳，海参熊掌，山里土家伙，什么稀罕东西?本来作为一县首长，一冬一春吃个一两百斤冬笋何足挂齿?可巧那年竹子开花结米，自然更新换代，一山一山的都枯死了。冬笋竞和鱼翅一样成了稀罕之物。李国香在一个晚上，口角噙香地向王秋赦提供了表忠进身的机缘。第二天正逢芙蓉镇圩日，王秋赦在女主任的默许下，为了打击投机倒把，维护社会治安，堵塞资本主义，派出民兵小分队，把守圩场的各个进出口，宣布了一次紧急戒严。其时正是年关节下，山里社员们挑了点山货土产，来圩上换几个钱花。谁知圩场路口只准进，不准出。而且每个进圩场的人都要接受佩黄袖章的民兵的检查，凡窝藏在筐筐箩箩里的冬笋一律予以没收，其余一概不问。为什么单单没收冬笋，纯属上级机密，不得过问。一时，满圩场上人人失色，面面相觑。一个小道消息透露出来，一传十，十传百，人们交头接耳，添枝加叶，神色鬼祟慌乱，说是新近山里侦破了一个反动组织，叫笋壳党。反革命分子们把秘密文件匿藏在冬笋壳里进行反革命联络。所以这一圩上撒下了天罗地网，还不知要捕获多少反动组织的头头脑脑、脚脚爪爪呢!那些丢失了冬笋的人，哪里还顾得上那点子经济损失?只恨不得生出一双翅膀来，飞离圩场这是非之地，回到自己的家里去。在家千日好，出门动步难呢。

    “笋壳党”的高级绝密，是谁制造出来的?是民兵小分队的个别不忠分子有意给王镇长出难题?还是纯属赶圩群众的臆造，以讹传讹，弄假成真?倒搞得王秋赦和李国香也面面相觑，十分尴尬，怕事情闹大捅穿了。后来不停地在大会、小会上辟谣、追谣、肃谣，声明这次的芙蓉镇戒严纯系为了打击投机倒把，才算把事情平息了下去。

    再说芙蓉镇收缴冬笋后的当夜，由王秋赦亲自出马，把所获一百多斤珍贵的冬笋分装两只麻袋，用一辆自行车绑了，赶五、六十里夜路送进县城，交在杨民高书记的小厨房里。真是人不知，鬼不觉。杨民高书记第二天早晨起来看见了，皱着眉头把王秋赦批评了一顿：尊敬领导，爱护上级，不要来这一套嘛。奉送农副产品，是不正之风嘛，庸俗嘛。反对法权，负责干部尤其不要搞特殊化嘛。杨民高书记还把两麻袋冬笋提到路线觉悟、反修防修的高度来认识，并当即亲自和王秋赦抬扁担过了秤，按供销部门的收购价格算了账，只是没有立即付款。王秋赦心都凉了半截，只怨李国香的内线情报提供得不确切。杨民高书记的批评，他一直听到“既往不咎、下不为例、今后注意注意”，才觉察到事情有了转机。接着下来，杨书记亲自陪他吃了早饭。早饭当然只是富强粉馒头、豆浆、皮蛋、臭豆腐乳、一小碟白糖，简简单单。席间杨民高书记还关切地问了问王秋赦的工作、生活上有没有什么困难等等。当然，有关“笋壳党’’的传闻，王秋赦是被谣言所中伤，杨民高同志则是受了蒙蔽，只字不知。他只晓得冬笋长在竹山里，山里社员用锄头一棵一棵从土里刨出来的，而且对春竹的生长还很有些影响呢。

    不久，李国香就被杨民高书记召回县里，详细汇报了公社干部队伍的基本情况，当然包括了芙蓉镇大队支书王秋赦近些年来悔改前非、力求上进、对上级领导忠心耿耿等等有关情况。杨书记自然是根据“不能把活人看死”、也“不能把死人看活’，的原则，对王秋赦在“文化大革命”初期搞“三忠于”讲用时的“鹦鹉学舌”，予以谅解。重在现实表现。过了些日子，芙蓉镇上就传出了风声，说是为了培养和重用立场坚定、爱憎分明的基层干部，县委准备提拔本镇大队支书王秋赦为公社革委会副主任。可是世上没有不透风的墙，也是好事多磨。王秋赦为了收缴冬笋，擅自在芙蓉镇实行紧急戒严的事，还是被人告到了省里和地区。十里之郡，必有良才。何况芙蓉镇还是个三省十八县的贸易集镇。究竟是谁个告的?当日赶圩的人鱼龙混杂，什么阶级成分、社会关系的没有?难以一一查实。根据当时政府办事的一般手续，人民群众告到省里的状子，必定批转地区，地区再又批转县里，县里批转公社，都落到了李国香的手里。这些批语，大都也是一样的口气：“请查实情况，予以处理。”“根据党的有关政策查实处理。”“责成党委有关部门处理。”“转所在公社酌处。”……年月日当然不同，是批文当日填写上去的，就是鲜红、权威的印鉴，虽然都是标准的圆形，但也还有个大小之分，印泥颜色也有浓有淡。

    状子还是起到了一定的作用。县委有关部门呈报到地区有关部门的关于提拔、任命王秋赦同志为公社革委副主任的呈文，一直没有批下。连杨民高书记都只好摇头叹气，压制新生力量的顽固势力是何等地根深蒂固啊。后来随着形势的发展，县委决定把芙蓉镇设置为小于公社一级乡镇，就把王秋赦安排为拿工分、吃补贴的新型干部——镇革委会主任。县委职权范围的事，也就无须什么上级批准了。当时学生兴“社来社去”，新干部兴“不拿工资拿工分”，是“文化大革命”后期为着向资产阶级法权挑战而树立起来的新生事物。王秋赦既是新型干部，多在基层锻炼锻。日后前程无量……

    “娘卖乖，斗来斗去二十几年，倒是斗错了?秦癫子不但判刑判错了，就连一九五七年的右派帽子也戴错了!不但要出牢房，还要恢复工作!工资还不会低，比我这一镇头头的收入还高得多……而且，看来杨民高书记对我还留了一手，当了几年镇长，连个国家干部也没给转。还是吃的农村粮，拿工分，每月只三十六块钱的补助……”

    王秋赦在镇革委办公室里，面对着县委的两份“摘帽改正”材料，拿不起，放不下。办?还是不办?拖着，等等看?可是全国都在平反冤假错案，报纸上天天登，广播里天天喊，你王秋赦不过是个眼屎大的“工分镇长”，颈骨上长了几个脑壳?

    “娘卖乖，这么讲，秦书田右派改正，胡玉音改变成分，供销社主任复职，税务所所长平反……还有‘北方大兵’谷燕山哪!带出来这么一大串。十几、二十几年来山镇上谁没有错?就只那个‘北方大兵’谷燕山好像没大错。但若不是十几年来这么斗来斗去，自己能斗到今天这个职务?还不是个鸡狗不如的‘吊脚楼主’?要一分为二哪，要一分为二。”

    王秋赦最为烦恼的还不是这个。他还有个经济利害上的当务之急：要退赔错划富农胡玉音的楼屋，镇革委早就将“阶级斗争展览室”改做了小小招待所。小招待所每月有个一两百元的收入，又无须上税，上级领导来镇上检查、指导工作，跟兄弟单位搞协作，大宴小宴，烟酒开支，都指望这一笔收入。“向胡玉音讲清楚道理，要求她顾全大局，楼屋产权归还她，暂时仍做小招待所使用，今后付给她一点房租，五块八块的，估计问题不大……”

    王秋赦迫在眉梢的经济问题还有一个，就是要退赔社教运动中没收的胡玉音的一千五百元款子。十几年来，这笔款子已经去向不明。前些年自己没有职务补贴，后些年每月也只三十六元，吃吃喝喝，零碎花用，奉送各种名目的礼物……哪里够?你当王秋蛇还买了一部印票机么!

    “娘卖乖!这笔款子从哪里出?从哪里出?先欠着?对了，先欠着，拖拖再说。十几年来搞政治运动，经济上是有些模糊……一千五百元当初交在了谁手里?谁打了收据?哈哈，一笔无头账，糊涂账……胡玉音，党和政府给你平了反，昭了雪，恢复小业主成分，归还楼屋产权，还准许你和秦书田合法同居，你还有什么不满足?”

    话虽这样讲，王秋赦的日子越来越难混了。近些日子新街、老街出现的各种小道消息、马路新闻也于他十分不利，纷纷传说上级即将委任“北方大兵”谷燕山为镇委书记兼镇革委主任。上级并没有下什么公文，但居民们已经在眉开眼笑了。这人心的背向，王秋赦不痴不傻，是感觉得出来的。真是如芒在背，如剑悬颈。如今他也不敢轻易在大会小会上追谣、辟谣、肃谣了。打了几次电话到县委去问，县委办公室的人也含糊其词，没有给个明确的回答。他神思恍惚，心躁不安，真是到了食不甘味、卧不安枕的地步了。他经常坐在办公室里呆痴痴地，脸色有些浮肿，眼睛发直，嘴里念念有词，谁也不晓得他念些什么。他神思都有些迷离、错乱……有一天，他终于大声喊了出来：
    “老子不，老子不!老子在台上一天，你们就莫想改正，莫想平反!”

    四 义父谷燕山

    就是在大劫大难的年月，人们互相检举、背叛、摧残的年月，或是龟缩在各自的蜗居里自身难保的年月，生活的道德和良心，正义和忠诚并没有泯灭，也没有沉沦，只是表现为各种不同的方式。“北方大兵”谷燕山是“醉眼看世情”。那一年，铁帽右派秦书田被判刑劳改去了，胡玉音被管制劳动。老谷好些日子胆战心惊，因为他给这对黑夫妻主过媒。但后来事实证明黑夫妻两个还通人性、守信用，并没有把他老谷揭发交代出来，使他免受了一次审查。要不，他谷燕山可就真会丢掉了党籍、干籍。就是这一年年底的一天晚上吧，刮着老北风，落着鹅毛雪。老谷不晓得又是在哪里多喝了二两回来，从老胡记客栈门口路过，忽然听见里头“娘啊，娘啊，救救我……我快要死了啊”的痛苦呻吟，声音很惨，听起来叫人毛骨悚然。“胡玉音这新富农婆要生产了?”这念头闪进了他脑瓜里。他立即走上台阶，抖了抖脚上、身上的雪花，推了推铺门。门没有上闩。他走进黑古隆冬的长铺里，才在木板隔成的卧室里，见昏黄的油灯下，胡玉音挺着个大肚子睡在床上，双手死命地扳住床梯，满头手指大一粒的汗珠，痛得快要晕过去了。这可把谷燕山的酒都吓醒了。他一个男子汉从来没有经见过这场合：
    “玉音，你、你、你这是快、快了?”

    “谷主任，恩人……来扶我起来一下，倒口水给我、给我喝……”

    谷燕山有些胆战，身上有些发冷，真懊恼不该走进这屋里来。他摸索着兑了碗温开水给胡玉音喝。胡玉音喝了水，又叫扯毛巾给她擦了汗。胡玉音就像个落在水里快要淹死了的人忽然见到了一块礁石一样，双手死死地抓住了谷燕山：
    “谷主任，大恩人……我今年上三十三了……这头胎难养……”

    “我、我去喊个接生婆来!”谷燕山这时也急出一身汗来了。

    “不，不!恩人……你不要走!不要走……镇上的女人们，早就朝我吐口水了……我怕她们……你陪陪我，我反正快死了，大的小的都活不成……娘啊，娘啊，你为什么留我在世上造孽啊!……”

    “玉音!莫哭，莫哭。莫讲泄气话。痛，你就喊‘哎哟’……”谷燕山这个北方大兵，顿时心都软了，碎了。他身上陡涨了一股凛然正气，决定把拯救这母子性命的担子挑起来，义不容辞。什么新富农婆，去他个毬!老话讲：急人一难，胜造七级浮屠。顶多，为这事吃批判，受处分。人一横了心，就无所疑惧了：“玉音，玉音，你莫急。你若是同意，我就来给你……”

    “恩人……大恩人……政府派来的工作同志，就该都是你这一色的人啊，可他们……恩人，你好，你是我的青天大人……有你在，我今晚上讲不定还熬得过去……你去烧一锅水，给我打碗蛋花汤来……我一天到黑水米不沾牙……昕人家讲，养崽的时候就是要吃，要吃，吃饱了才有力气……”

    谷燕山就像过去在游击队里听到了出击的命令一般，手脚利索地去烧开水、打蛋花汤，同时提心吊胆地听着睡房里产妇的呻吟。不知为什么，他神情十分振奋，头脑也十分清醒。他充满着一种对一个新的生命出世的渴望和信心。柴灶里的火光，把他胡子拉碴的脸块照得通红。他觉得自己是在执行一项十分重要的使命，而且带点神秘性。他自己都有些奇怪，竞一下子这么劲冲冲、喜冲冲的。

    胡玉音在谷燕山手里喝下一大碗蛋花汤后，阵痛仿佛停息了。她脸上现出了一种奇怪的笑容，好像有点羞涩似的。然而产妇在临盆前，母性的自慰自豪感能叫死神望而却步。孕育着新生命的母体是无所畏惧的。胡玉音半卧半仰，张开双腿，指着挺得和个大圆球似的肚子说：“这个小东西，在里头踢腿伸拳的，淘气得很，八成是个胖崽娃!全不管他娘老子的性命……”

    “恭喜你，玉音，恭喜你，老天爷保佑你母子平安……”谷燕山这个在战争年代出生入死过来的人，竟讲出一句带迷信色彩的话来。

    “有你在……我就不怕了。不是你，今晚上，我就是痛死在这铺里，邦硬了，都没有人晓得……”胡玉音说着，眼睛蒙蒙咙咙的，竟然睡去了。或许是挣扎、苦熬了一整天，婴儿在母体里也疲乏了。或许是更大的疼痛前的一次短暂的憩息。

    谷燕山这可焦急起来了。他一直在留心倾听公路上有无汽车开过的声音。胡玉音睡下后，他索性转出铺门，顶风冒雪来到公路上守候。哪怕是横睡在路上，他都要把随便哪一辆夜行的车子截住。过了一会儿，雪停了，风息了。满世界的白雪，把夜色映照得明晃晃的。谷燕山双手笼进旧军大衣里，焦急地在雪地里来回走动……这时刻他就像一个哨兵。是啊，当年在平津战场上，他也是穿着这件军大衣，也是站在雪地里，等候发起总攻的信号，盼望着胜利的黎明……日子过得真快，世事变化真大啊!一个人的生活，有时对他本人来说都是一个谜，一个百思不解的谜。二十多年前，他站在华北平原的雪地里，是在以浴血奋战来迎接一个新国家、新社会的诞生；二十年后的今天，他却是站在南方山区小镇的铺着白雪的公路上，等候着一辆过路的汽车，用以迎接一个新的小生命。然而这是一个什么样的新的生命?黑五类的后代，非法同居的婴儿，他的出世本身就是一种罪孽……世事真是太复杂、太丰富了，解释不清。他不时地回过头去望望老胡记客栈。他急切地盼着听到汽车的隆隆声，见到车灯在雪地里扫射出的强烈光柱。前些时他还为了汽车带来的尘土、泥浆而诅咒过。可如今他把汽车当作了解救胡玉音母子性命、也是解救他脱离困境的神灵之物。可见无论是物质的文明还是精神的文明，都是诅咒不得的。

    过了好一会儿，他终于拦下了一辆卡车，而且还是解放军部队上的。一年前附近山洞里修了座很大的军用地下仓库。解放军驾驶员听着这位操着一口纯正北方话的地方干部模样的人解释了情况，就立即让他上了车，并把车子倒退到老街口。

    果然，谷燕山刚把胡玉音连扶带架，塞进了驾驶室，胡玉音的阵痛就又发作了，在他怀里痉挛着，呻吟着。多亏了解放军战士把车子开得既快又稳，径直开进了深山峡谷的部队医院里。

    胡玉音立即被抬进了二楼诊断室。安静的长长的走廊里，灯光净洁明亮。穿白大褂的男女医生、护士，在一扇玻璃门里出出进进，看来产妇的情况严重。谷燕山守候在玻璃门边，一步也不敢离开。诊断室就像仙阁琼楼，医生、护士就像仙姑仙子，他这个俗人不得进入。不一会儿，一位白大褂领口上露出红领章的医生，拿着个病历卡出来找他，直到军医解下大口罩，他才发觉是个女的，很年轻。

    “你是产妇的爱人吗?叫什么名字?什么单位?”

    谷燕山脸块火烧火辣，一时不知所措，胡乱点了点头。事已至此，不点头怎么办?救人要紧。他结口结舌地报上了自己的姓名和单位。女医生一一地写在病历卡上，接着告诉他：“你爱人由于年纪较大，孕娠期间营养不良，婴儿胎位不正，必须剖腹。请签字。”

    “剖腹?”谷燕山倒抽了一口冷气，眼睛瞪得很大。他顾不上脸红耳赤了。他心口怦怦跳着，望着军医领口上的红领章好一刻，才定了定神。自己也是这支队伍里出来的。这支队伍历来都是人民子弟兵，对人民负责，爱人民。十几二十年来虽然有了种种变化，他相信这根本的一点没有变。于是他又点了点头，并从女军医手里接过笔，歪歪斜斜地签上了“谷燕山”三个字。在这种场合，管他误会不误会，他都要临时负起作为丈夫和父亲的责任。

    胡玉音平躺在一辆手推车上，从诊断室里被推了出来。在走廊里，胡玉音紧紧捏着谷燕山的手臂。谷燕山跟着手推车，送到手术室门口。医生、护士全进去了，手术室的门立即关上了。

    他又守在门口，来来回回地走动，心如火焚。他多么盼着能隔着一道道门，听到婴儿被取出来时的哇哇啼叫声啊，胡玉音一定会流很多血，很多很多血……老天爷，这晚上，生活在他的感情深处，开拓出了一个崭新的领域……他感觉到了生命的伟大，做一个母亲真了不起。她们孕育着新的生命，生产新的人。有了人，这世界才充满了欢乐，也充满了痛苦。这世界为什么要有痛苦?而且还有仇恨?特别是在我们共产党、工人农民自己打出的天下、自己坐着的江山里，还要斗个没完，整个没完，年复一年。有的人眼睛都熏红了，心都成了铁，以斗人整人为职业、为己任。这都是为了什么?为了什么?他不懂。他文化不高，不知“人性论”为何物，水平有限，思想不通窍。“一脑壳的高粱花子”，竟也中“阶级斗争熄灭论”、“人性论”的毒害这样深……

    他苦思苦熬地度过了漫长的四个钟头。天快亮时，胡玉音被手推车推了出来。一个用医院洁白的棉裙包裹着的小生命，就躺在她身边。可是胡玉音脸色自得像张纸，双目紧闭，就和死了一样。“死了?”谷燕山的心都一下子蹦到了喉咙口，他眼里充满了泪水。推车的小护士心细，注意到了他脸上的绝望神情，立即告诉他：“大小平安。产妇是全麻，麻药还没有醒………‘活着!活着!”他没有大喊大叫，连生了个男娃女娃都忘了问。“活着!活着!”医院的长廊里静悄悄的，却仿佛回荡着他心灵深处的这种大喊大叫。

    按医院的规定，产妇和婴儿是分别护理的。婴儿的纱布棉裙上连着一块写有编号的小纸牌。谷燕山被允许进病房照料产妇。床头支架上吊着玻璃瓶，在给胡玉音打“吊针”。直到中午，胡玉音才从昏睡中醒了转来。她第一眼就看到了谷燕山。她伸出了那只没有输液的软塌塌的手，放在谷燕山的巴掌上。谷燕山像个温存而幸福的丈夫那样，在胡玉音的手背上轻轻地抚摩着。这时，小护士进来告诉这对“夫妇”，昨晚上生的是个胖小子，爱哭。编号是“7011”。这可好了，胡玉音哭了，谷燕山也眼眶红了，落下泪来。小护士颇有经验：这没有什么奇怪的，所有中年得子的夫妻都会像他们这样哭，高兴得哭。小护士给胡玉音注射了催眠针，并问：“给你们的胖小子取个什么名字?”胡玉音看了谷燕山一眼，也没商量一下，就对小护士说：“谷军。他的姓，解放军的军。”说着，很快就入睡了。

    由于伤口需要愈合调养，加上大雪封山，更主要是由于谷燕山的有意拖延，胡玉音在部队医院里住了五十几天。这段时间里，谷燕山每天早出晚归，往来于芙蓉镇和部队医院。好在这时他是粮站顾问，实际上一直靠边站，没有具体的工作负担。镇上的街坊们都晓得新富农婆胡玉音生了个胖崽娃，是劳改分子秦书田的种。其余，他们都不大感兴趣。就是有几位心地慈善的老娭毑，也只在胡玉音从部队医院回到老胡记客栈后，才偷偷地来看了看投生在苦难里的崽娃，留下点熟鸡子什么的。

    谷燕山却被传到县粮食局和公安局去问过一次情况。但粮食局长和公安局长都是和他一起南下的，属于自由主义第一种：同乡，同事，战友。他们都深知谷燕山是个老实而没大出息的人，虽然糊涂也断乎做不出什么大坏事，又兼“缺乏男性功能”，送个女人给他都白搭，就拿他开了一顿玩笑，没再追究。后来芙蓉镇和公社革委会还继续往县里送过材料，也没有引起重视。就连杨民高书记都嗤之以鼻：窝囊废，不值一提。但组织部门还是给了他个“停止组织生活”的处分。

    这一来，倒是无形中造成了谷燕山从生活上适当照料胡玉音母子的合法性。后来逐渐成为习惯，为镇上居民们所默认。一直到了“四人帮”倒台，一直到娃儿长到七、八岁，谷燕山和胡玉音虽然非亲非故，却是互相体贴，厮亲厮敬。谷燕山说：秦书田也快刑满回家了，再在崽娃的名字前边加个姓：秦。反正娃娃一直是个“黑人”，公社、大队不承认他，不给登记户口。谷燕山却是这“小黑鬼”的“义父”。这情况，被人们列为芙蓉镇地方“文化大革命”中后期的一件怪事。

    “亲爷，”有天，胡玉音拉着娃儿，依着娃儿的口气对谷燕山说，“满街上的人都在传悄悄话，讲是镇上百姓上了名帖，上级批下文来，要升你当镇上的书记、主任。王秋蛇要溜回他那烂吊脚楼去了!其实，新社会，人民政府，本就该由你这一色的老干部掌权、管印啊!”

    “莫信，莫信，玉音!”谷燕山苦笑着摇了摇头，“我连组织生活都没有恢复，还挂着哪。除非李国香、杨民高他们撤职或是调走……”

    “亲爷，都是我和娃儿连累了你……为了我们，你才背了这么多年的黑锅……”说着，胡玉音红了眼眶，抽抽咽咽哭了起来。

    “呵呵，这么多年了，你的眼泪像眼井水，流不干啊……”谷燕山劝慰着。他双手抚着娃儿，也是在劝慰着自己：“如今世道好了。上级下了文，要给你和书田平反了。我么，假若真派我当了镇上的头头，担子也太重啊。这镇上的工作是个烂摊子，都要从头做起。头件事，就是要治理芙蓉河……这些天，我晚上都睡不着……”

    还没上任，“北方大兵”就睡不着了。胡玉音含着眼泪笑了。娃儿也笑了。娃娃忽然嚷嚷说：
    “娘!亲爷!听讲黎叔叔也要当回他的大队支书了!黎叔叔昨晚上还答应给我上户口，我就不是黑人了!”

    五 吊脚楼塌了

    生活往往对不贞的人报以刻薄的嘲讽。

    这些年来，羞耻和懊恼，就像一根无形而又无情的鞭子，不时地抽打在黎满庚身上和心上。他的心蒙上了一层污垢。他出卖过青春年代宝贵的感情，背叛了自己立下的盟誓。在胡玉音划成新富农、黎桂桂自杀这一冤案上，他是火上浇油，落井下石，做了帮凶。他有时甚至神经质地将双手巴掌凑在鼻下闻闻，仿佛还闻到一丁点儿血腥味似的。

    但是，忠诚和背叛，在黎满庚的生活里总是纠缠在一起。他背叛了对胡玉音的兄妹情谊(而且是由纯洁的爱情转化来的)，背叛了站在芙蓉河岸边立下的盟誓，也就背叛了自己的良心。可是，向县委工作组交出了胡玉音托他保管的一千五百元现款，却是向党组织呈上了自己的忠诚。多么巨大而复杂的矛盾!早在一九五六年他当区民政干事时，就是为了对组织忠诚，而牺牲了刻骨铭心的爱情。在组织和个人、革命和爱情面前，他总是理性战胜感性，革命排斥了爱情。他不加考虑地把组织观念看得重于一切，盲从到了愚昧的地步，从来没有去怀疑、去探究过这个所谓的“组织”执行的是什么路线。他没有这个水平。习惯于服从。诚然，他也曾经想过，许多领导同志也出身不好，社会关系复杂，他们却在战火纷飞的年代，把革命和爱情、理性和感性，结合得那样好，那样和谐，甚至举行刑场上的婚礼。他们是在为着同一项事业、同一个目标而爱，而恨。可那是打天下呀，需要流血牺牲呀!打天下当然要扩大队伍，什么人都可以参加，不能把门关得太严，而是要敞开大门……如今是坐天下，守江山。队伍就当然要纯而又纯，革命就需要不断地对内部进行斗争、整肃、清理。查清三代五服，才能保证纯洁性。因而就需要牺牲革命者个人的爱情，以至良心。良心看不见，摸不着，算几斤几两?而且小资产阶级才讲天地良心……就这样，黎满庚出卖了胡玉音，而且把她推进了无情打击的火坑。

    可是今天，历史做出结论，生活做出更正：胡玉音是错划富农，黎桂桂是被迫害致死。黎满庚呀黎满庚，你这个卑鄙的出卖者，你这个自私自利的小人，你这个双手沽着血腥气的帮凶!你算个什么共产党员?你还配做一个真正的共产党员?是党章上的哪条哪款、党的哪一号文件要求你这样做了?你怨谁?能怨谁啊?中国有三干八百万党员，没有几个人像你一样去背叛自己的兄弟姐妹、道德良心啊，没有几个人像你一样去助桀为虐啊。你能怨谁?混蛋，你能怨谁?

    黎满庚经常这样自责自问，诅咒自己。可是，就能全都怨自己吗?他是个天生的歹徒、坏坯、恶棍?对胡玉音，对芙蓉镇上的父老乡亲，自己就没有做过一件好事，就不曾有过赤子之心，没有过真诚、纯洁的感情?显然不是。胡玉音啊，这个当年胡记客栈老板的娇娇女，对他始终是一个生活的苦果，始终在他心底里凝聚着爱、怨、恨。就是她成了富农寡妇，她挂黑牌游街，戴高帽子示众，上台挨斗，自己都没有去凶过她，恶过她，作践过她……为了这，大队党支部、镇革委会，对他黎满庚进行了多次批判教育，批他的右倾，批他的“人性论”和“熄灭论”，直至撤销他的大队秘书职务，只差没有开除党籍。“人性论”啊“人性论”，“人性论”是个什么东西?什么形状、颜色?圆的、方的、扁的?黄的、白的、黑的?他黎满庚只有高小文化，头脑简单，四肢发达，想像力十分贫乏。只觉得“人性论”像团糠菜粑粑似地堵在他喉咙管，嚼不烂，吐不出，吞不下，怕要恶变成咽喉癌哟。他好狼狈啊，有苦难言，有口难辩。左右都不是人。岩层夹缝里的黄泥，被夹得成了干燥的薄片片，不求滋润，只求生存。这世事，这运动，这斗争，真是估不准、摸不着啊，你想紧跟它，忠实于它，它却捉弄你，把你当猴儿耍……

    “可怜虫!黎满庚，你这条可怜虫!”好几年，他都郁郁寡欢，自怨自愧，像病魔缠身。一个五大三粗、挑得百斤、走得百里的汉子，背脊佝偻了下来，宽阔的肩头仿佛负不起一个无形而又无比沉重的包裹。后来就连他的女人“五爪辣”，都被他的神色吓住了，担心他真的得下了什么病。“五爪辣”这女人也颇具复杂性。胡玉音“走运”卖米豆腐那年月，她怕男人恋旧，经常舌头底下挂马蹄，嘴巴“踢打踢打”，醋劲十足。对那一千五百元现款，她大吵大闹，又哭又嚎，逼着男人去告发，去上缴。她甚至幸灾乐祸地有了一种安全感。这一来，男人就对“芙蓉精”死了心。可是接着下来，她一年又一年地看着胡玉音戴着黑鬼帽子扫大街，又觉得作孽。纵是坏女人，也不应当一生一世受这份报应……男人一年四季阴沉着脸，从不跟她议论这些。但她晓得男人害的是什么心病。她有时觉得自己也是亏了心。胡玉音生娃娃那年，她还像做贼一样溜进老胡记客栈去看望过一回，那崽娃好胖哟，红头花色，手脚巴子和莲藕一样，巴壮巴紧。该叫什么?私生子，野崽?不，人家叫军军，有主，判刑劳改去了的右派分子秦书田是父亲。后来小军军一年年长大了，会跑会跳了，“五爪辣”还把他叫进自己屋里来，给他片糖吃。真是贱人有贱命。娃儿眼睛溜圆，样子像他娘又像他爷老倌，很俊。“五爪辣”对这娃儿有点子喜欢。因她后来又养过两胎，仍是“过路货”。如今一共“六千金(斤)”。有时人家问男人有几个崽女，男人总是闷声闷气地举起指头，报田土产量一样：“三吨”。“五爪辣”慢慢地看出来，男人也喜欢小军军。每回小军军一进屋，他就眼角、嘴角都挂上了笑。头回笑，二回抱，三回四回就不分老和少了。看着男人开心，“五爪辣”也高兴。男人再要郁郁闷闷、唉声叹气呆下去，真的惹下一身病来，她“五爪辣”拖着六个妹娃去讨吃，都不会有人给啊!

    “军军，来，给你果子吃!”黎满庚有时给家里的干金们零食吃，也给小军军留一份。“不，娘会骂的，娘不准我讨人家的东西吃，免得人家看不起。”小军军口齿伶俐，没有伸出巴掌来，但眼睛却盯住果子，分明十分想吃。小小年纪，就开始陷入感性和理性的矛盾。“五爪辣”在旁看着，也觉得这娃儿可怜可疼：“军军，你娘儿俩只一个人的口粮，你在家里吃得饱吗?”“娘总是等我先吃。我吃剩了娘才吃。有时我不肯吃，娘就打我，打了又抱起我哭……”讲到这里，娃儿眼眶红了。黎满庚和“五爪辣”听着，也都红了眼眶。他们体会得出，一个寡妇带着这么个正吃长饭的娃儿，两人吃一人的口粮，每天还要受管制、扫大街，是在苦煎苦熬着过日子啊。“五爪辣”自己呢，自男人不当干部后，日子好过得多。黎满庚是个好劳力，除了出集体工工分挣得多，自留地更是种得流金走银，四时瓜菜一家八口吃不赢，圩圩都有卖。“五爪辣”和妹儿们经管猪栏、鸡埘出息也大，像办了个小储蓄所。夫妇两个算是共得患难，同得甘苦。再者娃娃多了，年纪大了，年轻时候那醋劲妒意也消减了，所以家事和睦了。

    千金难买回头看。“四人帮”倒台后，人，都在重新认识自己啊。经过这些年来的文唱武打，运动斗争，人人都有一本账。有过的补过，有罪的悔罪。问心无愧的，高枕无忧。作恶多端的，逃不脱历史的惩罚。

    黎满庚和“五爪辣”，如今常留小军军在家里吃饭，和妹儿们玩耍。“军军，你娘晓得你是在哪里吃饭吗?”“晓得。”“骂没骂?”“没骂，就讲我像小叫花……”看来胡玉音是默许了。有一回，黎家请来裁缝，给六个妹儿做过年衣服，也顺带着给小军军做了一件。比着尺寸做好了，却没有给小军军穿上，而是用张纸包了，叫小军军拿回家去给娘看。不一会儿，军军就穿着那新崭崭的衣服回来了，回来给黎满庚夫妇看。“你娘给你穿上的?”“嗯。娘叫我回来谢谢叔叔和婶娘……”

    开春了，冰化雪消的解冻季节到了。今年春天的春雷响得早，春雨下得急。这天下午，公社党委通知黎满庚和王秋赦去参加公社党委扩大会。会议是公社党委和镇委联合召开的。新来的公社党委书记严厉批评了吊脚楼主给胡玉音和秦书田落实政策时搞拖延战术，留尾巴，至今不归还新楼屋和那一千五百元现款；并代表县委宣布，撤销王秋赦的芙蓉镇大队党支书、芙蓉镇革委会主任两个职务。芙蓉镇大队今后划归镇革委管辖，大队党支部暂时由老支书黎满庚负责，日内进行一次选举。镇党委、革委的负责人，县委另行委任。县委的决定还没宣布完，王秋赦就丢魂失魄地跑了，雨具都没有顾上拿，就光着脑壳跑到风雨里去了。人们拼命鼓掌，大声叫好。一时间，会场上的叫好声、巴掌声，盖过了会场外那风声雨声和动地的雷声。

    党委扩大会开到天黑才散。来去十里路，黎满庚虽戴了个笋壳斗笠，一身还是淋得透湿。可是他身上暖，心里热。自己恢复支书职务，虽然有些抱愧，但撤掉了王秋赦，除掉了镇上一害，这是镇上一大喜事啊。说不定还会有人给他打鞭炮，送邪神。

    “听讲你又当官了?那顶烂乌纱帽，人家扔到岭上，你又捡来戴到脑门顶上?”回到家，“五爪辣”一边看着他换衣服，一边问。

    “哪来的消息，这样子快?”

    “你和王秋蛇去开会，满镇子上的人就讲开了，还来问我哪。我又哪里晓得?反正我不管，自留地归你种，柴禾归你打。要不，我们娘女七个不准你进屋。你也莫想像过去似的，在家里也是‘脱产’干部!”

    “好的，好的，都依你。你放心，这几年我种自留地都种出了瘾……何况今后当这个芝麻绿豆官，也要参加生产了。上级已经批准我们山区搞包产到组，个别的还到户，哪个还会偷懒?”

    “王秋蛇这条懒蛇，从雨里跑回来，满街大喊大叫，你不晓得?”

    “喊什么?”

    “他重三倒四叫什么‘放跑了大的，抓着了小的’，‘放跑了大的，抓着了小的’!还喊‘千万不要忘记啊——’，‘文化革命五、六年再来一次啊——’，‘阶级斗争，你死我活啊——’!这回老天报应了，这个挨千刀的疯了!”

    “他不疯怎么办?春上就包产到组，哪个组肯收他，敢要他?给他几亩田，也只会长草……他吃活饭、当根子的年月过去了!”

    两夫妇正说着，忽然听得窗外的狂阔风雨中，发出了一阵轰隆隆楼屋倒塌似的巨响!

    “谁家的屋倒了?”黎满庚浑身一抖。“五爪辣”脸块吓得寡白。在古老的青石板街上，大都是些年久失修的木板铺面啊，谁家又遭灾了!

    黎满庚卷了裤脚，披了蓑衣，戴了斗笠正准备出门，只听街上有人尖着嗓音，报喜似地叫嚷：
    “吊脚楼倒了!吊脚楼塌了——!”

    六 “郎心挂在妹心头”

    胡玉音独自一人清早起来打扫青石板街，有多少个年头了?她默默地扫着，扫着，不抬头，不歇手。她有思维活动么?她在想着念着些什么?在想着往日里秦书田挥动竹枝扫帚时那舞台上摇桨一般的身影?在回忆他们那一年捉弄那一对掌权男女的开心的一幕?还是在寻找秦书田在青石板街上留下的足迹?这种足迹满街都是啊，密密麻麻，重重叠叠。正是这些足迹把一块块青石块踩得光光溜溜啊。还分得出来吗?哪是书田哥的?哪是自己的?这些足迹是怎么也扫不去的哪，它们都镶在青石板上了，镶在胡玉音的心田上了，越扫越鲜明……对于亲人的思念，成了滋润她心灵的养分。奇怪的是，在这样漫长的岁月里。她尝尽了一个“阶级敌人”应分的精神和肉体的“粮食”，含垢忍耻，像石缝里的一棵草一样生活着，竞再也没有起过“死”的念头。她也学得了书田哥应付这些场面时的那一手，喊她去接受批斗，她也像去队上出工那样平常。不等人家揪头发，她预先把脑壳垂下。不等人家从身后来踢腿肚子，她就会扑通一声先跪下。人家打她的右耳光，她也等着左边还有一下……她也被斗油了，斗滑了，是个老运动员了，该授予她“运动健将”的金牌。——连续十年十几年的极左大竞赛为什么不颁布竞赛成绩，不设置各种金牌、银牌、铜牌?这一来她却少吃了一些苦头。而且每次在批斗会上，她一动不动地朝乡亲们跪着，脸色寡白，表情麻木，不哭，像一尊石膏像。她的两只黑白分明的大眼睛有时抬起头来望望大家，眼神里充满了凄楚、哀怨，表示她还活着。她这双眼睛是妄图赢得乡亲们的怜惜，瓦解人们的斗志?还是在做着无声的抗议：“街坊父老姐妹们，你们看，我就是那个摆小摊卖米豆腐的芙蓉姐子……我就这样向你们跪着，跪着，直到你们有海量，宽怀大度，饶恕了我，放开了我……”的确，每逢镇上开批斗大会有她在台上跪着，会场气氛往往不激烈，群众斗志不高昂，火药味不浓。有的人还会红了眼眶，低下头去不忍心看。

    还有的人会找了各种借口，中途离开会场，尽管门口有民兵把守。

    树上的鸟雀、沟里的花草都有命。胡玉音也有一条命。万事万物都是命。命是注定的。要不，芙蓉镇上比她坏、比她懒、比她刁、比她心肠歹毒的女人都没有倒霉，偏偏她胡玉音起早贪黑、抓死抓活卖了点米豆腐就倒了霉?那些年年在队里超支、年年向国家讨救济的人就是好货?政府看得起、当宝贝的就是这号货?当亲崽亲女的就是这号角色!过去的衙门嫌贫爱富，如今有人把它倒了过来，一味地斗富爱贫，也不看看为什么富，为什么贫，而把王秋赦一号人当根本，当命根。好咧，胡玉音这一世人就当了傻子上了当，下世投胎，也好吃懒做，直扫帚不支，横扫帚不竖，也伸手向政府要吃，向政府要穿，向王秋赦学，吊脚楼歪斜了，竖根木桩撑着，也总是当现贫农，好让上级的人看了顺眼顺心，当亲崽亲女，当根子好搞运动……

    好死不如赖活，赖着脸皮也要活，人家把你当作鬼、当作黑色的女鬼也要活。胡玉音如今有了“心伴”，那个还在坐牢的书田哥，书田哥还给她留下了命根——小军军。她才不死哪，再苦再贱，她都活得有意思，值得。小军军是在她的搂抱、抚摩下长大的，在她没完没了的亲吻里笑啊，闹啊，吃啊，睡啊，呀呀学语，蹒跚起步，长到了八岁啊。勾起指头算，政府判了小军爸爸十年刑，坐过九年了，他快回来了。书田哥在洞庭湖劳改农场，月月都有信，封封信尾上都写着“亲亲小军军”。难道仅仅是“亲亲小军军”?玉音有一颗温柔的妻子的心，男人的意思她懂……玉音月月都给书田哥回信，封封都写上：“书田，军军亲亲你。你要保重身子，好好改造，政府早点放你回来。我和军军天天都在等你，望你。心都快等老了，眼睛都快望穿了。但是你放心，军军在一年年长大，我却还没有一年年变老。我的心还年轻，这年轻是留把你的，等着你的。你放心，放心，放心……”对了，玉音还记得唱《喜歌堂》，一百零八曲，曲曲都没忘，还会唱。也是留着唱给书田哥听的，留着等书田哥出了牢，回到家里一起唱。这个心思，这份情意，玉音啊，你的封封信里，有没有写上?你不要怕，《喜歌堂》不是什么暗语代号，只反一点封建，看守人员会把信交给书田哥看……

    胡玉音每天清早起来，默默地打扫着青石板街。她不光光是在扫街，她是在寻找、辨认着青石板上的脚印，她男人的脚印……“四人帮”倒台后的第二年，大队部、镇革委、派出所都有人吩咐过她：“胡玉音，你可以不扫街了。”但她还是天天清早起来扫。她一来怕今后变，人家讲她翻案；二来也仿佛习惯了，仿佛执拗地在向街坊们表示：要扫，要扫，要扫到我男人回来，我书田哥回来!一个性情温顺、默默无声的女人，那内心世界，是一座蕴藏量极大的感情的宝库。

    今年春上——一九七九年的春上，镇革委派人来找她去，由过去整过她、把她划作富农成分的人通知她：你的成分搞错了，扩大化，给你改正，恢复你的小业主成分，楼屋产权也归还，暂时镇革委还借用。她都吓懵了，双手捂住眼睛，不相信，不相信，不可能，不可能!这是在白日做梦……泪水从她手指缝缝里流下来，流下来，但没有哭出声。她不敢松开捂着眼睛的双手，害怕睁开眼睛一看，真是个梦!不可能，不可能……她作古正经当了十四、五年的富农婆，挨了那么多斗打，罚了那么多跪，受了那么多苦罪，怎么是搞错了?红口白牙一句话，搞错了!而且他们也爱捉弄人，当初划富农的是这些人，如今宣布划错了的也是这些人。这些人嘴皮活，什么话都讲得出，什么事都做得出。他们总是没有错。是哪个错了?错在哪里?所以胡玉音不相信这神话。这是梦。

    直到镇革委的人拿出县政府的公文来给她看，亮出公安局的鲜红大印给她认，她才相信了，这是真的。天啊，天啊，她差点昏厥了过去。她身子晃了几晃，没有倒下。搭帮这些年她被斗滑了，斗硬了。她忽然脸盘涨得通红，明眸大眼，伸出双手去，声音响亮(响亮得她自己都有点惊奇)地说：
    “先不忙退楼屋，不忙退款子，你们先退我的男人!还我的男人，我要人，要人!”

    镇革委的几个干部吓了一跳，以为这个多少年来蚊子都不哼一声似的女人，是在向他们讨还一九六四年自杀了的黎桂桂，是要索回黎桂桂的性命!他们一个个脸色发白，有些狼狈：看看，这个女人，刚给她摘帽，刚给她落实政策，她不感恩，不磕头，而是在这里无理取闹!

    胡玉音伸出的双手没有缩回，声音却低了下来：“还我的男人……我的男人是你们抓去坐牢的，十年徒刑，还有一年就坐满了，他没有罪，没有罪……”

    镇革委的人这才叹了一口气，连忙笑着告诉她：“秦书田也平反，也摘帽。他的右派也是错划了，还要给他恢复工作。省电台前天晚上已经播放了《喜歌堂》。”

    “哈哈哈!都错了!书田哥也划错了!哈哈哈!天呀，天呀，新社会回来啦!共产党回来啦!哈哈哈!新社会又没有跑到哪里去，我是讲他的政策回来啦……”

    四十出头了，胡玉音还从没在青石板街上这么放肆地笑过，闹过，张狂过。披头散发，手舞足蹈。街坊们都以为她疯了，这个可怜可悲的女人。直到她娃儿小军军来拉她，扯她，她才把娃儿抱起，当街打了几个转转，又在娃娃的脸上亲着，才打着响啵回老胡记客栈去了。

    胡玉音回到屋里，就倒在床上哭，放声大哭。哭什么?伤心绝望的时候哭，喜从天降的时候也哭!人真是怪物。哭，是哪个神仙创造的?应该发给生理学大奖，感情金杯，人文学勋章。要不，大悲大喜无从发泄，真会把人憋得五脏淤血。

    第二天清早，胡玉音仍旧拖着竹枝扫把去打扫青石板街。往时她是默默无声地扫着街，如今她是高高兴兴地扫着街。她就有种傻劲，平了反还来扫街，不扫街就骨头痒?才不是呐。做一个女人，她有她的想头，她是要感谢街坊邻居们，这些年来多亏你们发善心，讲天良，才没有把玉音往死里踩。玉音不是吃了你们的亏，你们多多少少还护了护玉音，给留了一条命。玉音不是吃了哪个人的亏，是吃了上级政策的亏……这些年来，胡玉音就是每天清早起来扫街，街坊们才晓得有这个黑女人在，新富农婆还在。既是玉音背时倒霉的时候扫过街，如今行运顺心了也可以扫街。扫街有什么丑?有什么不好?那些在新社会讨饭、讨救济、讨补助的人才丑。听讲北京、上海那些大口岸管扫街的人叫清洁工，还当人民代表，相片还上报，得表扬。

    其实，胡玉音仍旧清早起来扫青石板街，还有个心里的秘密。她晓得，书田哥在千里之外的洞庭湖滨劳改，接到平反改正的通知后，他会连天连夜地赶回来，生起翅膀飞回来。亲生的骨肉还没见过面，一别九年的女人老没老?玉音晓得，书田哥早就心都焦了，碎了。他还有不连天连夜赶回来的?玉音整夜整夜地睡不着。小军军却睡得像个小蠢子，任玉音抱他、亲他都不醒。玉音既是整晚整晚都没听见脚步声、敲门声，没等着书田哥回来，就有了一种预感：书田哥会早晨回来!听人家讲，州里开往县城的客班车是下午到。县城到芙蓉镇还有六十里，书田哥会顾不得在城里落伙铺，他会连夜顺着公路赶回来!是的，连夜赶回来……扫完一条街，天都大亮了，玉音也失望了。她就在心里抱怨：男人家呀男人家，总是粗心大意。你手续没办妥，一下子脱不开身，也该先来封信呀，先拍封电报呀。免得人家整晚整晚、一早一早地望呀，颈骨都望长啦，没良心的!或许书田哥回到县里，就先去办了恢复工作的手续?唉呀，男人家的心，比天高，比天大。玉音不喜欢你去做那个鬼工作，免得又惹祸。你就守在玉音身边，带着小军军，种自留地，养猪养鸡养鸭，出集体工，把我们的楼屋都绣上花边，配上曲子，把日子打发得流水快活……

    这些年来的折磨，也使得胡玉音心虚胆怯，多疑。自给她改正、去帽那天起，她就怕变，怕人家忽然又喊“打倒新富农婆!”陷民兵又突然来给她挂黑牌，揪她去开批斗会，去罚跪……她时时胆战心惊，神经质。她急切地盼着书田哥回来，回来一起过过这好日子!哪怕过上两天三天，十天半月，挺直腰板，像人家那些夫妻一样，并排走在街上，有讲有笑，进出百货商店。书田哥呀，你快些回来，你还不回来!万一有朝一日，我又重新戴上了新富农婆的帽子，你又当了右派才见面，生成的“八字”铸成的命，那就哭都哭不赢……

    这天清早，有雾，打了露水霜，有点冷人。胡玉音又去打扫青石板街。她晚上没有睡好，拖着疲惫的双腿，没精打采。盼男人盼得都厌倦了。一早一晚的失望。她晚上总是哭，天天都换枕头帕。男人不回来，她算什么改正、平反呀!这一切有什么意思、有什么用处呀!她真想跑到镇革委去吵，去闹：我的书田哥怎么还不回来?你们的政策是怎么落实的呀?你们还不去把他放回来?……竹枝扫把刮着青石板，沙、沙、沙，一下，一下，她扫到了供销社围墙拐角的地方，身子靠在墙上歇了歇。她不由地探出身子去看了看小巷子里的那条侧门，当年王秋赦拐断脚的地方。如今侧门已经用砖头砌严实了，只留下了一框门印。管它呢，那些老事，还去想它去做什么……回转身子，拿起扫帚，忽然前边一个人影，提着旅行袋什么的，匆匆地朝自己走来。大约是个赶早车的旅客。哟，这客人，也不问问清楚，走错啦，汽车站在那一头，应该掉过身子去才对呀。但那人仍在匆匆地朝自己走来。唉，懒得喊，等他走到了自己的身边，才告诉他该向后转……竹枝扫把刮着青石板，沙沙沙，沙沙沙……

    “玉音?玉音，玉音!”

    哪个在喊?这样早就喊自己的名字?胡玉音眼睛有些发花，有些模糊，一个瘦高的男子汉站在自己面前，一口连鬓胡子，穿着一身新衣新裤，把一只提包放在脚边。这男子汉呆里呆气，站在那里像截木头……胡玉音不由地后退了一步。

    “玉音，玉音!玉音——!”

    那人的声音越来越大，张开两手，像要朝自己扑过来。胡玉音眼睛糊住了，她好恨!怎么面对面都看不清，认不准人啦。她心都木啦，该死，心木啦!这个男人是不是书田哥?自己又在做梦?书田哥，书田哥，日盼夜盼的书田哥?不是的，不是的，哪会这么突然，这么轻易?她浑身颤战着，嘴皮打着哆嗦，心都跳到了喉咙管，胸口上憋着气，快憋死人了。她终于发出了一声石破天惊的呼喊：
    “书——田——哥——!”

    秦书田粗壮结实的双臂，把自己的女人抱住了，紧紧抱住了，抱得玉音的两脚都离了地。玉音一身都软塌塌，像根藤。她闭着眼睛，脸盘白净得像白玉石雕塑成。她任男人把她抱得铁紧，任男人的连鬓胡子在自己的脸上触得生痛。她只有一个感觉，男人回来了，不是梦，实实在在地回来了。就是梦，也要梦得久一点，不要一下子就被惊醒……

    竹枝扫把横倒在青石板街上，秦书田把胡玉音抱在近边的供销社门口的石阶上坐下来，就像怀里搂着一个妹儿。胡玉音这才哇的一声哭了起来：
    “书田哥!书田哥!你、你……”
    “玉音!玉音!莫哭，莫哭，莫哭……”
    “你回来也不把个信!我早也等，晚也等……我晓得你会连天连夜赶回来!”
    “我哪里顾得上写信?哪里顾得上写信?坐了轮船坐火车，下了火车赶汽车，下了汽车走夜路，只恨自己没有生翅膀……但比生翅膀还快，一千多里路只赶了三天!玉音，你不高兴，你还不高兴?”
    “书田哥!我就是为了你才活着!”
    “我也是!我也是!要不，早一头栽进了洞庭湖!”
    胡玉音忽然停止了哭泣，一下子双臂搂住了秦书田的颈脖，一口一口在他满脸块上亲着，吻着。

    “哎呀，玉音，我的胡子太长了，没顾上刮。”

    “你一个男人家，哪晓得一个女人的心!”

    “你的心，我晓得。”

    “我每天早晨扫街，都喊你的名字，都和你讲话，你晓得?”

    “晓得。我每天早起去割湖草，去挑湖泥，总是在和你答话，我们有问有答。我晓得你在扫街，每早晨从哪块扫起，扫到哪里歇了歇。我听得见竹枝扫把刮得青石板沙沙沙……”

    “你抱我呀!抱我呀，抱紧点!我冷。”

    胡玉音依偎在秦书田怀里，生怕秦书田突然撒开了双手，会像影子一样突然消失似的。

    “玉音，玉音……我的好玉音，苦命的女人……”

    这时，秦书田倒哭起来了，双泪横流：

    “你为了我，吃了多少苦，受了多少罪……今生今世，我都还你不起，还你不起……多少年来，我只想着，盼着，能回到你身边，看上你一眼，我就心甘情愿……万万想不到，老天开了眼，我们还有做人的一天……”

    胡玉音这时没有哭，一种母性的慈爱感情，在她身上油然而生。她抚着秦书田乱蓬蓬的头发，劝慰了起来：
    “书田哥，我都不哭了，你还哭?‘郎心挂在妹心头’。记得我娘早就跟我讲过，一个被人爱着、想着的人，不管受好大的难，都会平平安安……这么多年，我心里就是这么想着、爱着的，我们才平平安安相会了!我们快点起来吧。这个样子坐在供销社阶沿上，叫起早床的街坊们看见了，会当作笑话来讲!”

    秦书田又哭了。他们双双站起来，像一对热恋着的年轻人，依偎着朝老胡记客栈走去。

    “军军满八岁了，对吧?他肯不肯喊爸爸?”

    “我早就都告诉他了。他天天都问爸爸几时回来，都等急了……话讲到头里，你若是见了崽娃就是命，把我晾到一边，我就不依……”

    “傻子，你尽讲傻话，尽讲傻话!”

    七 一个时代的尾音

    芙蓉镇今春逢圩，跟往时不大相同。往时逢圩，山里人像赶“黑市”，出卖个山珍野味，毛皮药材，都要脑后长双眼睛，留心风吹草动。粮食、茶油、花生、黄豆、棉花、苎麻、木材、生猪、牛羊等等，称为国家统购统销的“三类物资”，严禁上市。至于猪肉牛肉，则连社员们自己一年到头都难得沾几次荤腥，养的猪还在吃奶时就订了派购任务，除非瘟死，才会到圩场上去卖那种发红的“灾猪肉”。城镇人口每人每月半斤肉票，有时还要托人从后门才买到手。说来有趣，对于这种物资的匮乏、贫困，报纸、《参考消息》则来宣传现代医学道理：动物脂肪胆固醇含量高，容易造成动脉硬化、高血压、心脏病，如今一些以肉食为主的国家都主张饮食粗淡，多吃杂粮菜蔬，植物纤维对人体有利。红光满面不定哪天突然死去，黄皮寡瘦才活得时月长久，延年益寿……

    时间真像在变魔术!“四人帮”倒台才短短两年多一点，山镇上的人们却是恍若隔世，进到了一个崭新的世代里了啊。如今芙蓉镇逢圩，一月三旬，每旬一六，那些穿戴得银饰闪闪、花花绿绿的瑶家阿妹、壮家大姐，那些衣着笔笔挺挺的汉家后生子，那些丰收之后面带笑容、腰里装着满鼓鼓钱荷包的当家嫂子、主事汉子们，或三五成群，或两人成对，或担着嫩葱水灵的时鲜白菜，或提着满筐满篮的青皮鸭蛋、麻壳鸡子，或推着辆鸡公车，车上载着社队企业活蹦乱跳的鱼鲜产品，或一阵风踩着辆单车，后座上搭一位嘻哈女客……人们从四乡的大路、小路上赶来，在芙蓉镇的新街、老街上占三尺地面，设摊摆担，云集贸易。那人流、人河，那嗡嗡的闹市声哟，响彻偌大一个山镇……圩场上最为惹人注目的，是新出现了米行、肉行。白米，红米，糙米，机米，筐筐担担，排成队，任人们挑选议价。新政策允许社员们在完成国家的征购派购任务后，到市场上出售富余的粮油农副产品。肉行更是蔚为壮观，木案板排成两长行，就像在开着社员家庭养猪的展销会、评比会，看谁案板上的膘厚油肥，皮薄肉嫩。“老表!这头猪总怕有三百上下吧?”“三、五百!再养下去不合算了。”“呵呵，尽是肥冬瓜，精肉太少了，女人家嫌油腻……”“你同志真是人心难足喽，不想想两年前，一月半斤肉票，你家炒红锅子菜哩，如今却嫌肥，怨精肉少了!”真是上哪座岭唱哪山歌。就是不逢圩的日子，新街老铺的猪肉也是从天光卖到天黑。产供销出现了新矛盾：社员要交猪，食品站不收。理由是小镇地方小，没有冷库，私人的猪肉都卖不脱，公家杀猪哪来的销路?和前些年相比，供销关系颠倒了过来……山镇上的人们啊，不晓得“四个现代化”具体为何物，但已经从切身的利益上，开始品尝到了甜头。

    没有近忧，却有远虑。旧的阴影还没有从人们的心目中消除，还有余悸预悸。人们还担心着，谈论着，极左的魔爪，会不会突然在哪个晚上冒出来掐灭这未艾方兴的蓬勃生机。口号和标语，斗争和运动，会不会重新发作膨胀，来充塞人们的生活，来代替油盐柴米这些赖以生存的必需品……阴影确是存在着。吊脚楼主王秋赦发疯后，每天都在新街、老街游来荡去，褴褛的衣衫前襟上挂满了金光闪闪的像章，声音凄凉地叫喊着：

    “千万不要忘记啊——!”

    “‘文化大革命’，五、六年又来一次啊——!”

    “阶级斗争，你死我活啊——!”

    王疯子的声音，是幽灵，是鬼魂，徘徊在芙蓉镇。镇上的大人小孩，白天一见了王疯子，就朝屋里跑，就赶紧关铺门；晚上一听见他凄厉的叫喊，心里就发麻，浑身就哆嗦。已经当了青石板街街办米豆腐店服务员的胡玉音，听见王疯子的叫声，还失手打落过汤碗。新近落实政策回到镇上来的税务所长一家，供销社主任一家，更是一听这叫声就大人落泪娃儿哭，晚上难入睡……吊脚楼主仍旧是芙蓉镇上的一大祸害。

    山镇上的街坊们在疑惧，在诅咒。

    “芙蓉姐子”抚着小军军稚气的头，在担扰：“王疯子冻不死，饿不死，还有好长的寿啊?”

    黎满庚的女人“五爪辣’也在问：“难道他剁脑壳、打炮子的王疯子还想当镇长、支书，赶着我们去做语录操，去跳忠字舞?”

    本镇大队党支部书记黎满庚说：“疯得活该!我们是新社会，有党领导，王秋赦这色人物终究成不了气候。教训深刻啊!”

    镇委书记、“北方大兵”谷燕山正在忙着治理芙蓉河、玉叶溪，他没有发表这方面的言论，只打算立即派人把王秋赦送到州立精神病院去治病，叫做送瘟神。
    县文化馆副馆长秦书田新近回到芙蓉镇来搜集民歌，倒说了一句颇为见多识广的话：“如今哪座大城小镇，没有几个疯子在游荡、叫喊?他们是一个可悲可叹的时代的尾音。”

    一九八〇年七月十八日—八月四日初稿于莽山；九月初整理于全国作协文学讲习所；十月修改于北京朝内大街一六六号。

    芙蓉镇后记

    习作《芙蓉镇》在今年《当代》第一期发表后，承蒙广大读者和首都文艺界师友们的热情关心，给了我许多鼓励和鞭策。我在感激的同时，也觉得十分愧疚。盼着多出现一些反映当代农村生活的作品，大约是促成许多省市的读者给我来信的原因——殊不知我只是个文学战线的散兵游勇而已。还有的读者来信祝作者幸福，仿佛在替我担忧着某种隐患似的。真是些热心肠的同志哥、同志姐哟。

    农村的情况如何，八亿人口的生养栖息、衣食温饱，对我们国家来讲是举足轻重的。特别是当前农村正经历着经济管理体制的深刻变革，九百六十万平方公里的广袤土地，寒带、温带、亚热带、热带，平原、高原、山地、丘陵，水稻、旱粮、瓜果、森林植被，不再按一个模式搞生产运动了，不再搞既违农时、又背地利的“规范化作业”了，实在是我们社会的一个了不得的进步。在新的形势之前，回顾一下过去的教训，展望一下业已来到的良辰，不也是有益处的么?
    记得前些年，我自己就有一个颇为“规范化”的头脑，处世待人，著文叙事，无不瞻前顾后，谨小慎微，惟恐稍有疏漏触犯了多如牛毛的戒律，招来灾祸。是党的三中全会的思想路线解放了我，给了我一些认识生活的能力，剖析社会和人生的“胆识”。然而我的这点在“四个坚持”原则指导下的“胆识”，比起同辈作家和广大读者来仍然是有限得很。我是个南方的乡下人，身处江湖之远，既有乡下人纯朴、勤奋的一面——恕我在这里自诩；也有乡下人笨拙、迟钝的一面——恕我在这里妄言。去年，我有幸参加中国作家协会文学讲习所第五期学习，跟一群来自全国各地的中青年作家朝夕相处。学友才高，京华纸贵，我看到了自己和这些优秀同窗之间的差距。我虽然于五十年代末期即开始学习写作，一九六二年开始发表短篇习作，但起点很低，染有粉饰生活的文学苍白症。“四人帮”倒台后，我们的党和国家进入了一个崭新的历史时期，我们的社会主义文学艺术翻开了崭新的篇页。发展之快，变革之烈，已是恍若隔世。大批中青年作家继承老一辈作家开创的现实主义传统，直面复杂的社会和人生，写出了许多光华耀目、感奋人心的好作品。新的时代提出了新的文学要求。就我来说，面对着这种新的文学要求，既有重新认识生活、剖析生活的问题，也有艺术素养、表现手段的问题。于是我探索着，尝试着把自己二十几年来所熟悉的南方乡村里的人和事，囊括、浓缩进一部作品里，寓政治风云于风俗民情图画，借人物命运演乡镇生活变迁，力求写出南国乡村的生活色彩和生活情调来。这样，便产生了《芙蓉镇》。
    有的朋友出于对我的爱护，指出我的习作写得过于真实。文学的真实当然不是给生活拍摄原始图片，它是经作者思想感情、艺术构思筛选、提炼出来的结晶体。当然，有时文学对于社会生活的真实描写，是会让人害羞和痛心的。我觉得，在今天我们这个特定的历史年代里，害羞是一种颇为可贵的感情，是富有自尊心的表现。它可以成为一种跟过去的过失诀别的心灵的感召力，从而记取那些令人心悸的教训，卸却身上因袭的重负，为振兴中华、实现“四化”奋斗不息。还有，就是对于我们的下一代，也可起到一种引以为鉴的效益。
    《芙蓉镇》是我在创作道路上的一次新的尝试。既是尝试，则难免幼稚，会伴随些谬误。好在鲁迅先师有言：惟其幼稚，正好寄希望于这一面。这是我的自慰，亦是我的自勉。
    借着这次出版单行本的机会，我对曾经支持、关怀过这部书稿写作、修订的前辈作家和编辑同志，对所有给我以鞭策鼓励的读者，以及我家乡民歌的搜集整理者，表示诚挚的谢意。但愿在春的盛会里，这部习作能如一支柔弱的石楠竹，探身于群芳竞彩的文学花园的竹篱边，绽放出有些羞涩然而却是深情的微笑。

    一九八一年五月七日于北京

    话说《芙蓉镇》

    长篇小说《芙蓉镇》在今年《当代》第一期刊载后，受到全国各地读者的注意，数月内《当代》编辑部和我收到了来信数百封。文艺界的师友们也极为热情，先后有新华社及《光明日报》、《中国青年报》、《当代》、《文汇报》、《作品与争鸣》、《湖南日报》等报刊发了有关的消息、专访或评论。这真使我这个土头土脑、默默无闻的乡下人愕然惶然了，同时也体味到一种友善的情谊和春天般的温暖。来信的读者朋友们大都向我提出这样一些问题：你走过什么样的创作道路?是怎样写出《芙蓉镇》来的?《芙蓉镇》“寓政治风云于风俗民情图画，借人物命运演乡镇生活变迁”，你的生活经历和小说里所描绘的乡镇风物有些什么具体的联系?你的这部小说结构有些奇怪，不大容易找到相似的来类比，可以说是不中不西、不土不洋吧，这种结构是怎么得来的?你在文学语言上有些什么师承关系?喜欢读哪些文学名著?小说中“玩世不恭的右派秦书田是不是作者本人的化身’’?接近文艺界的同志讲，你写这部小说只花了二十几天时间，是一气呵成的急就章，是这样吗?
    这些问题，使我犹如面对着读者朋友们一双双沉静的、热烈的、含泪的、严峻的眼睛，引我思索，令我激动。文学就是作者对自己所体验的社会生活的思考和探索，也是对所认识的人生的一种“自我问答”形式。当然这种认识，思考和探索是在不断地前进、发展着的。
    面对后两类问题，我不禁很有些感叹、戚然。因为自己这样一个写作速度缓慢、工作方法笨拙的人，居然被戴上了“才思敏捷”、“日产万言”的桂冠。“平生无大望，日月有小酌。”以我一个乡下人的愚见，一年能有个三两篇、十来万字的收获，即算是风调雨顺、五谷丰登的好年景了，小康人家式的满足也就油然而生并陶然自得了。其实，一部作品的写作时间是不能仅仅从下笔到写毕来计算的。《芙蓉镇》里所写的社会风俗、世态民情、人物故事，是我从小就熟悉，成年之后就开始构思设想的。正如清人金圣叹在第五才子书的卷首所论及的：“然而经营于心，久而成习，不必伸纸执笔，然后发挥。盖薄暮篱落之下，五更卧被之中，垂首捻带、睇目观物之际，皆有所遇矣。”我觉得，不论后人怎样评价金圣叹在《水浒》问题上的功过，他所悟出的这个有关小说创作的道理，却是十分精辟独到，值得后世借鉴的。
    我是怎样学起做小说，又怎样写出《芙蓉镇》来的?这要从我的阅读兴趣谈起。我读过一点书，可说是胃口颇杂，不成章法。起初，是小时候在家乡农村半生不熟、囫囵吞枣地读过一些剑侠小说，志怪传奇，倒也庆幸没有被“武侠”引入歧途，去峨嵋山寻访异人领授异术。接着下来读《三国》、《水浒》、《西游》、《红楼》，读“五四”以来的名作，才稍许领味到一点文学的价值所在，力量所在。至于走马观花地涉猎十八、十九世纪的西方文学，沉迷流连于屠格涅夫、列夫·托尔斯泰、梅里美、巴尔扎克、乔治·桑等等巨匠所创造的艺术世界、人物面廊，则是中学毕业以后的事了。后来年事稍长，生出些新的癖好，鸡零狗碎地读过一点历史的、哲学的著作，中外人物传记，战争回忆录，世界大事纪等等。又因生性好奇好游，却无缘亲眼见到美利坚的月亮、“日不落帝国”的太阳、法兰西的水仙、古罗马的竞技场，只好在书的原野上心驰神往。还追踪着报刊上披露的一则则有关航天、巡海、核弹、飞碟、外星人、玛雅文化、金字塔和百慕大魔三角奥秘的各种消息，来做一个乡下小知识分子“精神自我会餐”的梦……叫做“好读书，不求甚解”，以读书自乐自慰。日积月累，春秋流转，不知不觉中，我就跟文学结下了一种前世未了之缘似的关系。
    就这样，我麻着胆子，蹒跚起步，学着做起小说来了。甚至还坐井观天地自信自己经历的这点生活、认识的这点社会和人生，是前人——即便是古代的哲人们所未见、所未闻的，不写出来未免可惜。我的年纪不算大，经历中也没有什么性命攸关的大起大落，却也是从生活的春雨秋霜、运动的峡谷沟壑里走将出来的。我生长在湘南农村，参加工作后又在五岭山区的一个小镇子旁一住就是一十四年，劳动、求知、求食，并身不由己地被卷进各种各样的运动洪流里，经历着时代的风云变幻，大地的寒暑沧桑。我幼稚、恭顺、顽愚，偶尔也在内心深处掀起过狂热的风暴，还曾经在“红色恐怖”的獠牙利爪面前做过轻生的打算。山区小镇古老的青石板街，新造的红砖青瓦房，枝叶四张的老樟树，歪歪斜斜的吊脚楼，都对我有着一种古朴的吸引力，一种历史的亲切感。居民们的升迁沉浮、悲欢遭际、红白喜庆、鸡鸣犬吠，也都历历在目、烂熟于心。我发现，山镇上的物质生产进展十分缓慢，而人和人的关系则在发生着各种急骤的变幻，人为的变幻。
    “文化大革命”前和“文化大革命”中，我都曾深深陷入在一种苦闷的泥淖中，也可以说是交织着感性和理性的矛盾。一是自己所能表现的生活是经过粉饰的，苍白无力的，跟自己平日耳濡目染的真实的社会生活相去甚远，有时甚至是完全相反——这原因今天已经是不言自明的了。二是由于自己的文学根底不足，身居偏远山区，远离通都大邑，正是求师无望，求教无门。因之二十年来，我每写一篇习作，哪怕是三两千字的散文或是四五千字的小说，总是在写作之前如临大考，处于一种诚惶诚恐的紧张状态。写作过程中，也不乏“文衢通达”、“行云流水”的时刻，却总是写完上一节，就焦虑着下一章能否写得出(且不论写得好不好)。初稿既出，也会得意一时，但过上三五天就唉声叹气，没有了信心，产生出一种灰色的“失败感”。爱人摸准了这个心性，每当我按捺不住写作过程中的自我陶醉，眉飞色舞地向她讲述自己所写的某个人物、某个情节或是某段文字时，她就会笑骂一声“看你鬼神气!不出三天，又来唉声叹气!”果然几天后初稿一完，我也就从妄自得意走到了反面——心灰意冷。直到很多日子过去，才又不甘失败地将稿子拿出来，请朋友看看有无修改价值。我的不少小说，都是受了朋友的鼓励，才二稿三稿地另起炉灶，从头写起。我甚至不能在原稿的天头地角上做大的修改，而习惯于另展纸笔，边抄边改，并把相当一部分精力花在了字句的推敲上。我由衷地羡慕那些写作速度快的同行，敬佩他们具有“一次成”的本领和天分。假若不是社会主义制度的优越性保障了我的基本生活，而到别的什么制度下去参予什么生存竞争，非潦倒饿饭不可。
    一九七八年秋天，我到一个山区大县去采访。时值举国上下进行“真理标准”的大讨论，全国城乡开始平反十几、二十年来由于左的政策失误而造成的冤假错案。该县文化馆的一位音乐干部跟我讲了他们县里一个寡妇的冤案。故事本身很悲惨，前后死了两个丈夫，这女社员却一脑子的宿命思想，怪自己命大，命独，克夫。当时听了，也动了动脑筋，但觉得就料下锅，意思不大。不久后到省城开创作座谈会，我也曾把这个故事讲给一些同志听。大家也给我出了些主意，写成什么“寡妇哭坟”啦，“双上坟”啦，“一个女人的昭雪”啦，等等。我晓得大家没真正动什么脑筋，只是讲讲笑笑而已。
    党的具有历史意义的三中全会的召开，制定了“实事求是、解放思想”的正确路线，使我们国家的政治生活发生了历史性转折。人民在思考，党和国家在回顾，在总结建国三十年来的经验教训。而粉碎“四人帮”以来的文学呢，则早已经以其敏感的灵须，在触及、探究生活的也是艺术的重大课题了。我也在回顾、在小结自己所走过的写作道路。三中全会的路线、方针，使我茅塞顿开，给了我一个认识论的高度，给了我重新认识、剖析自己所熟悉的湘南乡镇生活的勇气和胆魄。我就像上升到了一处山坡上，朝下俯视清楚了湘南乡镇上二三十年来的风云聚会，山川流走，民情变异……
    一九八〇年七—八月间，正值酷暑，我躲进五岭山脉腹地的一个凉爽幽静的林场里，开始写作《芙蓉镇》草稿。当时确有点“情思奔涌、下笔有神”似的，每日含泪而作，嬉笑怒骂，激动不已。短短十五、六万字，囊括、浓缩进了二、三十年来我对社会和人生的体察认识，爱憎情怀，泪水欢欣。从这个意义上讲，说我是花了二十几年的心血才写出了《芙蓉镇》，也不为过分。
    不少读者对《芙蓉镇》的结构感兴趣，问这种“不中不西、不土不洋”的写法是怎么得来的。我觉得结构应服务于生活内容。内容是足，形式是履。足履不适是不便行走的。既不能削足适履，也不宜光了脚板走路。人类已经进入了现代化社会。科学文明的突飞猛进，加快了人类生活的速度与节奏。人们越来越讲求效率与色彩。假若我们的文学作品还停留或效仿十七、八世纪西方文学的那种缓慢的节奏、细致入微的刻画，今天的读者(特别是中青年读者)是会不耐烦的了。而且，我国古典文学作品中，故事发展的节奏和速度都是较快的，读者也读着痛快习惯。

    前面已经说过，《芙蓉镇》最初发端于一个寡妇平反昭雪的故事。那些年我一直没有写它，是考虑到如果单纯写成一个妇女的命运遭际，这种作品古往今来已是屡见不鲜了，早就落套了。直到去年夏天，我才终于产生了这样一种设想：即以某小山镇的青石板街为中心场地，把这个寡妇的故事穿插进一组人物当中去，并由这些人物组成一个小社会，写他们在四个不同年代里的各自表演，悲欢离合，透过小社会来写大社会，来写整个走动着的大的时代。有了这个总体构思，我暗自高兴了许久，觉得这部习作日后写出来，起码在大的结构上不会落套。于是，我进一步具体设计，决定写四个年代(一九六三年、一九六四年、一九六九年、一九七九年)，每一年代成一章，每一章写七节，每一节都集中写一个人物的表演。四章共二十八节。每一节、每个人物之间必须紧密而自然地互相连结，犬齿交错，经纬编织。

    当然，这种结构也许是一次艺术上的铤而走险。它首先要求我必须调动自己二、三十年来的全部的乡镇生活积蓄，必须灌注进自己的生活激情，压缩进大量的生活内容。同时，对我驾驭语言文字的能力，也是一次新的考验。时间跨度大，叙述必然多。我觉得叙述是小说写作——特别是中长篇小说写作的主要手段，叙述最能体现一个作家的语言风格和文字功力。我读小说就特别喜欢巴尔扎克作品中的浮雕式的叙述，自己写小说时也常常津津乐道于叙述。
    《芙蓉镇》在今年年初发表后，有段时间我颇担心读者能否习惯这种“土洋结合”的情节结构，以及整块整块的叙述文字。但是不久后，读者的热情来信消除了我的这种担心，大都说“一口气读了下去”。当然也有些不同的看法，比方一位关心我的老作家基本肯定之余，指出我把素材浪费了，本来可以写成好几部作品的生活，都压缩进十几万字的篇幅里去了。还有，前些时一位文学评论家转告我，《人才》杂志有位同志全家人都看了《芙蓉镇》，十分喜欢，却又说“这位作家在这部作品里，大约是把他的生活都写尽了”。
    还有些读者来信说，《芙蓉镇》就像是他们家乡的小镇，里边的几个主要人物，如胡玉音、秦书田、谷燕山、黎满庚、王秋赦、李国香等，他们都很熟悉，都像是做过邻居、当过街坊似的……今年四月里的一天，我正在人民文学出版社的客房里修订书稿，忽然闯进来一个中年汉子，自报姓名，说是内蒙古草原上的一位中学教员。他说，“老古同志，我就是你写的那个秦书田……我因一本历史小说稿，‘文革’中被揪斗个没完没了，坐过班房，还被罚扫了整整六年街道……”说着，他泪水盈眶，泣不成声。我也眼睛发辣，深深地被这位内蒙草原上的“秦书田”的真挚感情所打动。
    《芙蓉镇》里所写的几个主要人物，都有生活原型，有的还分别有好几个生活原型。社会科学院文学研究所一位从事当代文学研究的同志曾经向我转达过这样一个问题，谷燕山是《芙蓉镇》里老干部的正面形象，是个令人同情、受人敬重的老好人，是否过分强调了他作为“普通人”的一面?我觉得这确是一个值得评论家们进行探讨的问题。毫无疑义，在我们当代的文学作品中已经塑造出了许多感人的老干部形象。这些形象大都是从战争年代的叱咤风云的指挥员们身上脱颖出来的，具有气壮山河的英雄气概和高屋建瓴的雄才大略。而我要写的却是和平时期，工作、生活在南方小山镇上的一位南下老干部。没有枪林弹雨，也不是干军万马大会战的建设工地。谷燕山首先是个普通人，是山镇上百姓们中间的一员，跟山镇上的百姓们共命运，也有着个人的喜好悲欢。然而他主要的是一个关心人、体贴人、乐于助人的正直忠诚的共产党员。他的存在，无形中产生了一种使小山镇的生活保持平衡、稳定的力量。在山民们的心目中，他成了新社会、共产党的化身，是群众公认的“领袖人物”。当然，这样写党的基层领导者形象，特别是毫无隐讳地写了他个人生活的种种情状，喜怒哀乐。或许容易产生一种疑问：在“英雄人物”、“正面人物”、“中间人物”、“转变人物”等有限的几个文艺人物品种里头，他到底应该归到哪一类、入到哪一册去呢?要是归不到哪一类、入不了哪一册又怎么办?由此，使我联想到我们的文学究竟应当写生活里的活人还是写某些臆想中的概念?是写真实可信的新人还是写某种类别化了的模式人、“套中人”?所以我觉得，谷燕山这个人物尽管有种种不足，但作为我们党的基层干部的形象，并无不妥。
    简单地给人物分类，是左的思潮在文艺领域派生出来的一种形而上学观点，一种习惯势力，是人物形象概念化、雷同化、公式化的一个重要原因，在某种程度上对社会主义文学创作的繁荣起着阻碍作用。近些年来我力图在自己的习作中少一些它的束缚，但进展甚微，今后还需要花大力气，做长时间的探索。
    许多湖南籍的老作家，总是要求、劝导我们年轻一辈，要植根于生活的土壤，开阔艺术视野，写出生活色彩来，写出生活情调来。他们言传身教，以自己的作品为我们提供了范例。“写出色彩来，写出情调来”，这是前辈的肺腑之言，艺术的金石之音。要达到这一要求，包含着诸种因素，有语言功力问题，生活阅历、生活地域问题，思想素养问题等等。这决不是说习作《芙蓉镇》就已经写出了什么色彩和情调。恰恰相反，我的习作离老一辈作家们的教诲甚远，期待甚远，正需要我竭尽终生心力来执著地追求。好些读者和评论工作者曾经热情地指出了《芙蓉镇》的种种不足，我都在消化中，并做认真的修改、订正。
    “看世界因作者而不同，读作品因读者而不同”。应当说，广大读者最有发言权，是最公正的评论者。以上所述，只不过是一篇有关《芙蓉镇》的饭后的“闲话”而已。

    一九八一年十一月初于北京

  • 历史文典

    汉谟拉比法典

    约公元前1776年，由古巴比伦国王汉谟拉比（约公元前1792一公元前1750年在位）颁布。共3500行，包括序言、条文（282条）和结语三部分，序言和结语约占全部篇幅的五分之一，条文涉及刑事、民事、贸易、婚姻、继承、审判等方面。

    HAMMURABI’S CODE OF LAWS(circa 1780 B.C.)

    序言：

    When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind.

    Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I, making riches and increase, enriching Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, sublime patron of E-kur; who reestablished Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu; who conquered the four quarters of the world, made great the name of Babylon, rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord who daily pays his devotions in Saggil; the royal scion whom Sin made; who enriched Ur; the humble, the reverent, who brings wealth to Gish-shir-gal; the white king, heard of Shamash, the mighty, who again laid the foundations of Sippara; who clothed the gravestones of Malkat with green; who made E-babbar great, which is like the heavens, the warrior who guarded Larsa and renewed E-babbar, with Shamash as his helper; the lord who granted new life to Uruk, who brought plenteous water to its inhabitants, raised the head of E-anna, and perfected the beauty of Anu and Nana; shield of the land, who reunited the scattered inhabitants of Isin; who richly endowed E-gal-mach; the protecting king of the city, brother of the god Zamama; who firmly founded the farms of Kish, crowned E-me-te-ursag with glory, redoubled the great holy treasures of Nana, managed the temple of Harsag-kalama; the grave of the enemy, whose help brought about the victory; who increased the power of Cuthah; made all glorious in E-shidlam, the black steer, who gored the enemy; beloved of the god Nebo, who rejoiced the inhabitants of Borsippa, the Sublime; who is indefatigable for E-zida; the divine king of the city; the White, Wise; who broadened the fields of Dilbat, who heaped up the harvests for Urash; the Mighty, the lord to whom come scepter and crown, with which he clothes himself; the Elect of Ma-ma; who fixed the temple bounds of Kesh, who made rich the holy feasts of Nin-tu; the provident, solicitous, who provided food and drink for Lagash and Girsu, who provided large sacrificial offerings for the temple of Ningirsu; who captured the enemy, the Elect of the oracle who fulfilled the prediction of Hallab, who rejoiced the heart of Anunit; the pure prince, whose prayer is accepted by Adad; who satisfied the heart of Adad, the warrior, in Karkar, who restored the vessels for worship in E-ud-gal-gal; the king who granted life to the city of Adab; the guide of E-mach; the princely king of the city, the irresistible warrior, who granted life to the inhabitants of Mashkanshabri, and brought abundance to the temple of Shidlam; the White, Potent, who penetrated the secret cave of the bandits, saved the inhabitants of Malka from misfortune, and fixed their home fast in wealth; who established pure sacrificial gifts for Ea and Dam-gal-nun-na, who made his kingdom everlastingly great; the princely king of the city, who subjected the districts on the Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of Dagon, his Creator; who spared the inhabitants of Mera and Tutul; the sublime prince, who makes the face of Ninni shine; who presents holy meals to the divinity of Nin-a-zu, who cared for its inhabitants in their need, provided a portion for them in Babylon in peace; the shepherd of the oppressed and of the slaves; whose deeds find favor before Anunit, who provided for Anunit in the temple of Dumash in the suburb of Agade; who recognizes the right, who rules by law; who gave back to the city of Ashur its protecting god; who let the name of Ishtar of Nineveh remain in E-mish-mish; the Sublime, who humbles himself before the great gods; successor of Sumula-il; the mighty son of Sin-muballit; the royal scion of Eternity; the mighty monarch, the sun of Babylon, whose rays shed light over the land of Sumer and Akkad; the king, obeyed by the four quarters of the world; Beloved of Ninni, am I.

    When Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the protection of right to the land, I did right and righteousness in . . . , and brought about the well-being of the oppressed.

    安努与恩利尔为人类福祉计，命令我，荣耀而畏神的君主，汉谟拉比，发扬正义于世，灭除不法邪恶之人，使强者不凌弱，使我有如沙玛什，照临黔首，光耀大地。

    CODE OF LAWS（条文）：

    关于诉讼审判的规定

    1.If anyone ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he cannot prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
    1.若有人诱捕另一个人，将禁令加在他身上，他却不能证明，那诱捕他的将被处死。
    2. If anyone bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
    2.如果有人控告一个人，被告到河边跳进河里，如果他在河里下沉，他的控告者将占有他的房子。但是如果 河流证明被告是无罪的，他毫发无伤，那么带来指控的人将被处死，而跳进河里的人将占有属于原告的房子。
    3. If anyone bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
    3.如果有人在长老面前提出任何罪名，但不证明他所指控的罪名，他将被处以死刑。
    4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money, he shall receive the fine that the action produces.
    4.若其说服年长者罚之以谷物或金钱,其将获得此因诉讼而生之罚金。
    5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgement.
    5.如果法官试例，作出决定，并提出书面判决书；如果以后误差应出现在他的决定，它是通过他自己的过错，他将付出他所判决的十二倍的罚款，他应被公开去除法官席位，禁止他作出判决。

    关于保护私有财产的规定

    6. If anyone steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen goods from him shall be put to death.
    6.任何窃取寺庙或者皇宫的财产的人将被处以死刑，而从他那里收受赃物的人也一并处以死刑。
    7. If anyone buy from the son or the slave of another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death.
    7.任何在没有证人或者合同文书的情况下，向他人的子女或奴隶购买白银、黄金、男女奴隶、斧头或者是羊、驴以及其他任何东西的人，或者为此负责的人，都将被视为盗贼且判处死刑。
    8. If anyone steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig, or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirty-fold therefore; if they belonged to a freed man of the king, he shall pay ten-fold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay, he shall be put to death.
    8.如果被盗窃的牛、羊、驴或者是猪属于寺庙或者皇室，盗窃者将偿付三十倍的赔偿；如果它们属于国王的公民，盗窃者将作出十倍赔偿；如果窃贼无力赔偿，将以死抵罪。
    9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say “A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses,” and if the owner of the thing say, “I will bring witnesses who know my property,” then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify his property. The judge shall examine their testimony–both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant.
    10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article.
    11. If the owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost article, he is an evil-doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to death.
    12. If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six months. If his witnesses have not appeared within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and shall bear the fine of the pending case.
    [there is no 13th law in the code, 13 being considered and unlucky and evil number]
    14. If anyone steal the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.
    14.拐带他人幼子之人，将被判处死刑。
    15. If anyone take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death.
    15.任何将皇宫以及公民的男女奴隶带出城邑的人将被判处死刑。
    16. If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female slave of the court, or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at the public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the house shall be put to death.
    17. If any one find runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.
    18. If the slave will not give the name of the master, the finder shall bring him to the palace; a further investigation must follow, and the slave shall be returned to his master.
    18.如果这个奴隶拒不说出主人的名字，发现者必须把他带到宫殿， 并做进一步的调查，而且这个奴隶将被遣返给他的主人。
    19. If he hold the slaves in his house, and they are caught there, he shall be put to death.
    19.窝藏他人奴隶并且被抓获者将被处以死刑。
    20. If the slave that he caught run away from him, then shall he swear to the owners of the slave, and he is free of all blame.
    20.若被抓获的奴隶逃跑，而抓获者向奴隶所有者起誓承诺（不是有意放走），则将免于处罚。
    21. If anyone break a hole into a house (break-in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.
    21.如果打破房子的墙壁，强行进入住宅偷窃，偷窃者必须在那个洞前处以死刑和埋葬。
    22. If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
    22.正在实施抢劫的抢劫犯一旦被抓获将被处以死刑。
    23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community, and . . . on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the goods stolen.
    24. If persons are stolen, then shall the community and . . . pay one mina of silver to their relatives.
    25. If fire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the house, and take the property of the master of the house, he shall be thrown into that self-same fire.
    26. If a chieftain or a man (common soldier), who has been ordered to go upon the king’s highway for war does not go, but hires a mercenary, if he withholds the compensation, then shall this officer or man be put to death, and he who represented him shall take possession of his house.
    27. If a chieftain or man be caught in the misfortune of the king (captured in battle), and if his fields and garden be given to another and he take possession, if he return and reaches his place, his field and garden shall be returned to him, he shall take it over again.
    28. If a chieftain or a man be caught in the misfortune of a king, if his son is able to enter into possession, then the field and garden shall be given to him, he shall take over the fee of his father.
    29. If his son is still young, and cannot take possession, a third of the field and garden shall be given to his mother, and she shall bring him up.
    29.若因其子年幼无承担能力，其母将获得三分之一的田地以及庭院，并且抚养幼子成人。
    30. If a chieftain or a man leave his house, garden, and field and hires it out, and some one else takes possession of his house, garden, and field and uses it for three years: if the first owner return and claims his house, garden, and field, it shall not be given to him, but he who has taken possession of it and used it shall continue to use it.
    31. If he hire it out for one year and then return, the house, garden, and field shall be given back to him, and he shall take it over again.
    32. If a chieftain or a man is captured on the “Way of the King” (in war), and a merchant buy him free, and bring him back to his place; if he have the means in his house to buy his freedom, he shall buy himself free: if he have nothing in his house with which to buy himself free, he shall be bought free by the temple of his community; if there be nothing in the temple with which to buy him free, the court shall buy his freedom. His field, garden, and house shall not be given for the purchase of his freedom.
    33. If a . . . or a . . . enter himself as withdrawn from the “Way of the King,” and send a mercenary as substitute, but withdraw him, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to death.
    34. If a . . . or a . . . harm the property of a captain, injure the captain, or take away from the captain a gift presented to him by the king, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to death.
    35. If any one buy the cattle or sheep which the king has given to chieftains from him, he loses his money.
    36. The field, garden, and house of a chieftain, of a man, or of one subject to quit-rent, can not be sold.
    37. If any one buy the field, garden, and house of a chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent, his contract tablet of sale shall be broken (declared invalid) and he loses his money. The field, garden, and house return to their owners.
    38. A chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent can not assign his tenure of field, house, and garden to his wife or daughter, nor can he assign it for a debt.
    39. He may, however, assign a field, garden, or house which he has bought, and holds as property, to his wife or daughter or give it for debt.
    40. He may sell field, garden, and house to a merchant (royal agents) or to any other public official, the buyer holding field, house, and garden for its usufruct.
    41. If any one fence in the field, garden, and house of a chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent, furnishing the palings therefor; if the chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent return to field, garden, and house, the palings which were given to him become his property.
    42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field.
    43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he shall give grain like his neighbor’s to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and return to its owner.
    44. If any one take over a waste-lying field to make it arable, but is lazy, and does not make it arable, he shall plow the fallow field in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and give it back to its owner, and for each ten gan (a measure of area) ten gur of grain shall be paid.
    45. If a man rent his field for tillage for a fixed rental, and receive the rent of his field, but bad weather come and destroy the harvest, the injury falls upon the tiller of the soil.
    46. If he do not receive a fixed rental for his field, but lets it on half or third shares of the harvest, the grain on the field shall be divided proportionately between the tiller and the owner.
    47. If the tiller, because he did not succeed in the first year, has had the soil tilled by others, the owner may raise no objection; the field has been cultivated and he receives the harvest according to agreement.
    48. If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year.
    49. If any one take money from a merchant, and give the merchant a field tillable for corn or sesame and order him to plant corn or sesame in the field, and to harvest the crop; if the cultivator plant corn or sesame in the field, at the harvest the corn or sesame that is in the field shall belong to the owner of the field and he shall pay corn as rent, for the money he received from the merchant, and the livelihood of the cultivator shall he give to the merchant.
    50. If he give a cultivated corn-field or a cultivated sesame-field, the corn or sesame in the field shall belong to the owner of the field, and he shall return the money to the merchant as rent.
    51. If he have no money to repay, then he shall pay in corn or sesame in place of the money as rent for what he received from the merchant, according to the royal tariff.
    51.根据皇家税法，如果欠债者无力偿还债务，则必须利用小麦或者芝麻来代替从商人那里得到的租金。
    54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded.
    54.如果他不能偿还这些小麦，就将他和他的财产都分发给遭受水灾之苦的其他农民。
    55. If anyone open his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss.
    55.如果任何人开挖沟渠以浇灌田地，但是不小心淹没了邻居的田，则他将赔偿邻居小麦作为损失。
    56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of his neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of land.
    57. If a shepherd, without the permission of the owner of the field, and without the knowledge of the owner of the sheep, lets the sheep into a field to graze, then the owner of the field shall harvest his crop, and the shepherd, who had pastured his flock there without permission of the owner of the field, shall pay to the owner twenty gur of corn for every ten gan.
    58. If after the flocks have left the pasture and been shut up in the common fold at the city gate, any shepherd let them into a field and they graze there, this shepherd shall take possession of the field which he has allowed to be grazed on, and at the harvest he must pay sixty gur of corn for every ten gan.
    59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden, fell a tree in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money.
    60. If any one give over a field to a gardener, for him to plant it as a garden, if he work at it, and care for it for four years, in the fifth year the owner and the gardener shall divide it, the owner taking his part in charge.
    61. If the gardener has not completed the planting of the field, leaving one part unused, this shall be assigned to him as his.
    61.如果一个园丁没能完成这个田地的播种栽种，则其将负全责。
    62. If he do not plant the field that was given over to him as a garden, if it be arable land (for corn or sesame) the gardener shall pay the owner the produce of the field for the years that he let it lie fallow, according to the product of neighboring fields, put the field in arable condition and return it to its owner.
    63. If he transform waste land into arable fields and return it to its owner, the latter shall pay him for one year ten gur for ten gan.
    64. If any one hand over his garden to a gardener to work, the gardener shall pay to its owner two-thirds of the produce of the garden, for so long as he has it in possession, and the other third shall he keep.
    65. If the gardener do not work in the garden and the product fall off, the gardener shall pay in proportion to other neighboring gardens.
    [Here a portion of the text is missing, apparently comprising thirty-four paragraphs.]
    100. . . . interest for the money, as much as he has received, he shall give a note therefor, and on the day, when they settle, pay to the merchant.
    101. If there are no mercantile arrangements in the place whither he went, he shall leave the entire amount of money which he received with the broker to give to the merchant.
    102. If a merchant entrust money to an agent (broker) for some investment, and the broker suffer a loss in the place to which he goes, he shall make good the capital to the merchant.
    103. If, while on the journey, an enemy take away from him anything that he had, the broker shall swear by God and be free of obligation.
    104. If a merchant give an agent corn, wool, oil, or any other goods to transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount, and compensate the merchant therefor. Then he shall obtain a receipt form the merchant for the money that he gives the merchant.
    105. If the agent is careless, and does not take a receipt for the money which he gave the merchant, he can not consider the unreceipted money as his own.
    106. If the agent accept money from the merchant, but have a quarrel with the merchant (denying the receipt), then shall the merchant swear before God and witnesses that he has given this money to the agent, and the agent shall pay him three times the sum.
    107. If the merchant cheat the agent, in that as the latter has returned to him all that had been given him, but the merchant denies the receipt of what had been returned to him, then shall this agent convict the merchant before God and the judges, and if he still deny receiving what the agent had given him shall pay six times the sum to the agent.
    108. If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not accept corn according to gross weight in payment of drink, but takes money, and the price of the drink is less than that of the corn, she shall be convicted and thrown into the water.
    109． If conspirators meet in the house of a tavern-keeper, and these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court, the tavern-keeper shall be put to death.
    109．如果在旅店主发现阴谋者，但却没有将其抓获并移送法办，则店主将被处死。
    110． If a “sister of a god” open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink, then shall this woman be burned to death.
    110．如果修女开设酒店，或者进入酒店喝酒，则这个女人将被烧死。
    111. If an inn-keeper furnish sixty ka of usakani-drink to . . . she shall receive fifty ka of corn at the harvest.
    112. If any one be on a journey and entrust silver, gold, precious stones, or any movable property to another, and wish to recover it from him; if the latter do not bring all of the property to the appointed place, but appropriate it to his own use, then shall this man, who did not bring the property to hand it over, be convicted, and he shall pay fivefold for all that had been entrusted to him.
    113. If any one have consignment of corn or money, and he take from the granary or box without the knowledge of the owner, then shall he who took corn without the knowledge of the owner out of the granary or money out of the box be legally convicted, and repay the corn he has taken. And he shall lose whatever commission was paid to him, or due him.
    114. If a man have no claim on another for corn and money, and try to demand it by force, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver in every case.
    115. If any one have a claim for corn or money upon another and imprison him; if the prisoner die in prison a natural death, the case shall go no further.
    116. If the prisoner die in prison from blows or maltreatment, the master of the prisoner shall convict the merchant before the judge. If he was a free-born man, the son of the merchant shall be put to death; if it was a slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina of gold, and all that the master of the prisoner gave he shall forfeit.
    117. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell himself, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and in the fourth year they shall be set free.
    118. If he give a male or female slave away for forced labor, and the merchant sublease them, or sell them for money, no objection can be raised.
    119. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and he sell the maid servant who has borne him children, for money, the money which the merchant has paid shall be repaid to him by the owner of the slave and she shall be freed.
    120. If any one store corn for safe keeping in another person’s house, and any harm happen to the corn in storage, or if the owner of the house open the granary and take some of the corn, or if especially he deny that the corn was stored in his house: then the owner of the corn shall claim his corn before God (on oath), and the owner of the house shall pay its owner for all of the corn that he took.
    121. If any one store corn in another man’s house he shall pay him storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of corn per year.
    122. If any one give another silver, gold, or anything else to keep, he shall show everything to some witness, draw up a contract, and then hand it over for safe keeping.
    123. If he turn it over for safe keeping without witness or contract, and if he to whom it was given deny it, then he has no legitimate claim.
    124. If any one deliver silver, gold, or anything else to another for safe keeping, before a witness, but he deny it, he shall be brought before a judge, and all that he has denied he shall pay in full.
    125. If any one place his property with another for safe keeping, and there, either through thieves or robbers, his property and the property of the other man be lost, the owner of the house, through whose neglect the loss took place, shall compensate the owner for all that was given to him in charge. But the owner of the house shall try to follow up and recover his property, and take it away from the thief.
    126. If any one who has not lost his goods state that they have been lost, and make false claims: if he claim his goods and amount of injury before God, even though he has not lost them, he shall be fully compensated for all his loss claimed. (I.e., the oath is all that is needed.)

    关于婚姻、家庭与财产继承

    127. If any one “point the finger” (slander) at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked. (by cutting the skin, or perhaps hair.)
    128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
    129. If a man’s wife be surprised (in flagrante delicto) with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.
    130． If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father’s house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless.
    130．如果一个男人强迫另一个男人的未婚妻（这个女子仍是处女且居住在她父亲的家中）和他发生性关系，被逮捕后，这个男人将被处以死刑。但是，女性可以免责。
    131. If a man bring a charge against one’s wife, but she is not surprised with another man, she must take an oath and then may return to her house.
    132. If the “finger is pointed” at a man’s wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.
    133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is a sustenance in his house, but his wife leave house and court, and go to another house: because this wife did not keep her court, and went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and thrown into the water.
    134. If any one be captured in war and there is not sustenance in his house, if then his wife go to another house this woman shall be held blameless.
    135． If a man be taken prisoner in war and there be no sustenance in his house and his wife go to another house and bear children; and if later her husband return and come to his home, then this wife shall return to her husband, but the children follow their father.
    135．如果男人在战争中被俘而他的房子中没有食物，而他的妻子改嫁并生下小孩，之后她的原夫回到家中，这个妻子将回到她原来的丈夫身边，但是，孩子们跟随他们（各自）的亲生父亲。
    136. If any one leave his house, run away, and then his wife go to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this runaway shall not return to her husband.
    137. If a man wish to separate from a woman who has borne him children, or from his wife who has borne him children: then he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is given to the children, equal as that of one son, shall be given to her. She may then marry the man of her heart.
    138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the dowry which she brought from her father’s house, and let her go.
    139. If there was no purchase price he shall give her one mina of gold as a gift of release.
    140. If he be a freed man he shall give her one-third of a mina of gold.
    141. If a man’s wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is judicially convicted: if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband’s house.
    142． If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: “You are not congenial to me.” Therefore reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she shall take her dowry and go back to her father’s house.
    142．如果一个女人与她的丈夫争吵，并且说：“我们性格不合。”必须提供相应的证据、理由。如果她没有犯过罪，而且并无过错，但是男性离开和忽视她，则女性免罪，她将拿回她的嫁妆并回到她父亲的家。
    143． If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast in to the water.
    143．若女子犯罪，毁家弃夫，则投之水中。
    144． If a man take a wife and this woman give her husband a maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to take another wife, this shall not be permitted to him; he shall not take a second wife.
    144．如果男人娶妻，妻子为丈夫带来陪嫁女仆，并为他生养孩子，那么这个男人将不被允许纳娶第二名妻子。
    145． If a man take a wife, and she bear him no children, and he intend to take another wife: if he take this second wife, and bring her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed equality with his wife.
    145．如果男人娶妻，妻子却无法为丈夫诞下子嗣，他会想娶第二个妻子；如果他另娶妻子，并带她回家，第二个妻子将不被承认与第一个妻子有同等地位。
    146. If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants.
    147． If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may sell her for money.
    147．如果陪嫁女仆不能给男主人生孩子，那么女主人可以卖掉她。
    148. If a man take a wife, and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second wife he shall not put away his wife, who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives.
    149． If this woman does not wish to remain in her husband’s house, then he shall compensate her for the dowry that she brought with her from her father’s house, and she may go.
    149．如果女人希望离开她丈夫的家庭，那么丈夫对其嫁妆进行赔偿后，她就可以离开。
    150． If a man give his wife a field, garden, and house and a deed there for, if then after the death of her husband the sons raise no claim, then the mother may bequeath all to one of her sons whom she prefers, and need leave nothing to his brothers.
    150．在丈夫去世后，如果他的儿子没有异议，那么他生前赠与妻子的田地、庭院以及屋子可以被妻子全部赠与她最喜欢的儿子，而不需要留给其他兄弟。
    151. If a woman who lived in a man’s house made an agreement with her husband, that no creditor can arrest her, and has given a document therefor: if that man, before he married that woman, had a debt, the creditor can not hold the woman for it. But if the woman, before she entered the man’s house, had contracted a debt, her creditor can not arrest her husband therefor.
    152. If after the woman had entered the man’s house, both contracted a debt, both must pay the merchant.
    153． If the wife of one man on account of another man has their mates (her husband and the other man’s wife) murdered, both of them shall be impaled.
    153．如果一个有夫之妇和一个有妇之夫共谋杀害他们的伴侣（她的丈夫和他的妻子），二人将被刺死。
    154． If a man be guilty of incest with his daughter, he shall be driven from the place (exiled).
    154．如果一个男人与他的女儿乱伦，他将被驱逐出当地。
    155． If a man betroth a girl to his son, and his son have intercourse with her, but he (the father) afterward defile her, and be surprised, then he shall be bound and cast into the water (drowned).
    155．如果一个男人为他的儿子订了一门亲事，且他的儿子与女方已有肌肤之亲，后来他（这个父亲）却染指儿媳，他会被捕且被五花大绑扔进水中淹死。
    156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but his son has not known her, and if then he defile her, he shall pay her half a gold mina, and compensate her for all that she brought out of her father’s house. She may marry the man of her heart.
    157． If anyone be guilty of incest with his mother after his father, both shall be burned.
    157．如果任何人在父亲死后与母亲乱伦，二人将被烧死。
    158. If any one be surprised after his father with his chief wife, who has borne children, he shall be driven out of his father’s house.
    159. If any one, who has brought chattels into his father-in-law’s house, and has paid the purchase-money, looks for another wife, and says to his father-in-law: “I do not want your daughter,” the girl’s father may keep all that he had brought.
    160. If a man bring chattels into the house of his father-in-law, and pay the “purchase price” (for his wife): if then the father of the girl say: “I will not give you my daughter,” he shall give him back all that he brought with him.
    161. If a man bring chattels into his father-in-law’s house and pay the “purchase price,” if then his friend slander him, and his father-in-law say to the young husband: “You shall not marry my daughter,” the he shall give back to him undiminished all that he had brought with him; but his wife shall not be married to the friend.
    162. If a man marry a woman, and she bear sons to him; if then this woman die, then shall her father have no claim on her dowry; this belongs to her sons.
    163. If a man marry a woman and she bear him no sons; if then this woman die, if the “purchase price” which he had paid into the house of his father-in-law is repaid to him, her husband shall have no claim upon the dowry of this woman; it belongs to her father’s house.
    164. If his father-in-law do not pay back to him the amount of the “purchase price” he may subtract the amount of the “Purchase price” from the dowry, and then pay the remainder to her father’s house.
    165. If a man give to one of his sons whom he prefers a field, garden, and house, and a deed therefor: if later the father die, and the brothers divide the estate, then they shall first give him the present of his father, and he shall accept it; and the rest of the paternal property shall they divide.
    166. If a man take wives for his son, but take no wife for his minor son, and if then he die: if the sons divide the estate, they shall set aside besides his portion the money for the “purchase price” for the minor brother who had taken no wife as yet, and secure a wife for him.
    167. If a man marry a wife and she bear him children: if this wife die and he then take another wife and she bear him children: if then the father die, the sons must not partition the estate according to the mothers, they shall divide the dowries of their mothers only in this way; the paternal estate they shall divide equally with one another.
    168. If a man wish to put his son out of his house, and declare before the judge: “I want to put my son out,” then the judge shall examine into his reasons. If the son be guilty of no great fault, for which he can be rightfully put out, the father shall not put him out.
    169. If he be guilty of a grave fault, which should rightfully deprive him of the filial relationship, the father shall forgive him the first time; but if he be guilty of a grave fault a second time the father may deprive his son of all filial relation.
    170. If his wife bear sons to a man, or his maid-servant have borne sons, and the father while still living says to the children whom his maid-servant has borne: “My sons,” and he count them with the sons of his wife; if then the father die, then the sons of the wife and of the maid-servant shall divide the paternal property in common. The son of the wife is to partition and choose.
    171. If, however, the father while still living did not say to the sons of the maid-servant: “My sons,” and then the father dies, then the sons of the maid-servant shall not share with the sons of the wife, but the freedom of the maid and her sons shall be granted. The sons of the wife shall have no right to enslave the sons of the maid; the wife shall take her dowry (from her father), and the gift that her husband gave her and deeded to her (separate from dowry, or the purchase-money paid her father), and live in the home of her husband: so long as she lives she shall use it, it shall not be sold for money. Whatever she leaves shall belong to her children.
    172. If her husband made her no gift, she shall be compensated for her gift, and she shall receive a portion from the estate of her husband, equal to that of one child. If her sons oppress her, to force her out of the house, the judge shall examine into the matter, and if the sons are at fault the woman shall not leave her husband’s house. If the woman desire to leave the house, she must leave to her sons the gift which her husband gave her, but she may take the dowry of her father’s house. Then she may marry the man of her heart.
    173. If this woman bear sons to her second husband, in the place to which she went, and then die, her earlier and later sons shall divide the dowry between them.
    174. If she bear no sons to her second husband, the sons of her first husband shall have the dowry.
    175. If a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry the daughter of a free man, and children are born, the master of the slave shall have no right to enslave the children of the free.
    176. If, however, a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry a man’s daughter, and after he marries her she bring a dowry from a father’s house, if then they both enjoy it and found a household, and accumulate means, if then the slave die, then she who was free born may take her dowry, and all that her husband and she had earned; she shall divide them into two parts, one-half the master for the slave shall take, and the other half shall the free-born woman take for her children. If the free-born woman had no gift she shall take all that her husband and she had earned and divide it into two parts; and the master of the slave shall take one-half and she shall take the other for her children.
    177. If a widow, whose children are not grown, wishes to enter another house (remarry), she shall not enter it without the knowledge of the judge. If she enter another house the judge shall examine the state of the house of her first husband. Then the house of her first husband shall be entrusted to the second husband and the woman herself as managers. And a record must be made thereof. She shall keep the house in order, bring up the children, and not sell the house-hold utensils. He who buys the utensils of the children of a widow shall lose his money, and the goods shall return to their owners.
    178. If a “devoted woman” or a prostitute to whom her father has given a dowry and a deed therefor, but if in this deed it is not stated that she may bequeath it as she pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal; if then her father die, then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and give her corn, oil, and milk according to her portion, and satisfy her. If her brothers do not give her corn, oil, and milk according to her share, then her field and garden shall support her. She shall have the usufruct of field and garden and all that her father gave her so long as she lives, but she can not sell or assign it to others. Her position of inheritance belongs to her brothers.
    179. If a “sister of a god,” or a prostitute, receive a gift from her father, and a deed in which it has been explicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give her complete disposition thereof: if then her father die, then she may leave her property to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers can raise no claim thereto.
    180. If a father give a present to his daughter–either marriageable or a prostitute (unmarriageable)–and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
    181. If a father devote a temple-maid or temple-virgin to God and give her no present: if then the father die, she shall receive the third of a child’s portion from the inheritance of her father’s house, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
    182. If a father devote his daughter as a wife of Mardi of Babylon (as in 181), and give her no present, nor a deed; if then her father die, then shall she receive one-third of her portion as a child of her father’s house from her brothers, but Marduk may leave her estate to whomsoever she wishes.
    183. If a man give his daughter by a concubine a dowry, and a husband, and a deed; if then her father die, she shall receive no portion from the paternal estate.
    184. If a man do not give a dowry to his daughter by a concubine, and no husband; if then her father die, her brother shall give her a dowry according to her father’s wealth and secure a husband for her.
    185. If a man adopt a child and to his name as son, and rear him, this grown son can not be demanded back again.
    186． If a man adopt a son, and if after he has taken him, he injure his foster father and mother, then this adopted son shall return to his father’s house.
    186．如果一个人领养了一个儿子，养子却对其养父母造成伤害，则这个养子将回到他的原来的家庭。
    187. The son of a paramour in the palace service, or of a prostitute, can not be demanded back.
    188. If an artizan has undertaken to rear a child and teaches him his craft, he can not be demanded back.
    189. If he has not taught him his craft, this adopted son may return to his father’s house.
    190. If a man does not maintain a child that he has adopted as a son and reared with his other children, then his adopted son may return to his father’s house.
    191. If a man, who had adopted a son and reared him, founded a household, and had children, wish to put this adopted son out, then this son shall not simply go his way. His adoptive father shall give him of his wealth one-third of a child’s portion, and then he may go. He shall not give him of the field, garden, and house.
    192． If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: “You are not my father, or my mother.” His tongue shall be cut off.
    192．如果情妇或者妓女所生子对他养父或者养母说：“你（们）不是我的父亲，或者我的母亲。”将被割掉舌头。
    193． If the son of a paramour or a prostitute desire his father’s house, and desert his adoptive father and adoptive mother, and goes to his father’s house, then shall his eye be put out.
    193．如果情妇或者妓女所生子希望回到生父的家庭并抛弃了养父母，将被挖出眼睛。
    194. If a man give his child to a nurse and the child die in her hands, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurse another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her breasts shall be cut off.
    195． If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
    195．打自己父亲的人要被砍断双手。

    关于人身保护和“同态复仇法”

    196． If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
    196．挖去别人眼睛的人也要被挖出眼睛。
    197． If he break another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken.
    197．打断别人骨头的人也要被打断骨头。
    198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
    199． If he put out the eye of a man’s slave, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.
    199．挖出奴隶眼睛或是打断奴隶骨头的人要赔偿奴隶价格的一半。
    200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
    200．打掉同等地位者牙齿的人将会被敲掉牙齿。
    201. If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.
    202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
    203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.
    204. If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels in money.
    205. If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.
    206. If during a quarrel one man strike another and wound him, then he shall swear, “I did not injure him wittingly,” and pay the physicians.
    207. If the man die of his wound, he shall swear similarly, and if he (the deceased) was a free-born man, he shall pay half a mina in money.
    208. If he was a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a mina.
    209. If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
    210. If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.
    211. If a woman of the free class lose her child by a blow, he shall pay five shekels in money.
    212. If this woman die, he shall pay half a mina.
    213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man, and she lose her child, he shall pay two shekels in money.
    214. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third of a mina.

    关于劳动、报酬、工具和责任事故的追究

    215. If a physician make a large incision with an operating knife and cure it, or if he open a tumor (over the eye) with an operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall receive ten shekels in money.
    216. If the patient be a freed man, he receives five shekels.
    217. If he be the slave of some one, his owner shall give the physician two shekels.
    218． If a physician makes a large incision with the operating knife, and kill him, or open a tumor with the operating knife, and cut out the eye, his hands shall be cut off.
    218．如果在给人做手术的过程中致其死亡，或是用手术刀挖去人的眼睛，医生将被剁手。
    219． If a physician makes a large incision in the slave of a freed man, and kill him, he shall replace the slave with another slave.
    219．如果医生在自由人的奴隶的身体里做大型手术，致奴隶死亡，他将必须将另一个奴隶作为补偿。
    220． If he had opened a tumor with the operating knife, and put out his eye, he shall pay half his value.
    220．如果用手术刀医治肿瘤的医生将奴隶的眼睛挖出，必须赔偿奴隶价格的一半。
    221. If a physician heal the broken bone or diseased soft part of a man, the patient shall pay the physician five shekels in money.
    222. If he were a freed man he shall pay three shekels.
    223. If he were a slave his owner shall pay the physician two shekels.
    224. If a veterinary surgeon perform a serious operation on an ass or an ox, and cure it, the owner shall pay the surgeon one-sixth of a shekel as a fee.
    225. If he perform a serious operation on an ass or ox, and kill it, he shall pay the owner one-fourth of its value.
    226. If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off.
    227. If any one deceive a barber, and have him mark a slave not for sale with the sign of a slave, he shall be put to death, and buried in his house. The barber shall swear: “I did not mark him wittingly,” and shall be guiltless.
    228. If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface.
    229 If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
    230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.
    231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house.
    232. If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
    233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.
    234. If a shipbuilder build a boat of sixty gur for a man, he shall pay him a fee of two shekels in money.
    235. If a shipbuilder build a boat for some one, and do not make it tight, if during that same year that boat is sent away and suffers injury, the shipbuilder shall take the boat apart and put it together tight at his own expense. The tight boat he shall give to the boat owner.
    236. If a man rent his boat to a sailor, and the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor shall give the owner of the boat another boat as compensation.
    237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and provide it with corn, clothing, oil and dates, and other things of the kind needed for fitting it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is wrecked, and its contents ruined, then the sailor shall compensate for the boat which was wrecked and all in it that he ruined.
    238. If a sailor wreck any one’s ship, but saves it, he shall pay the half of its value in money.
    239. If a man hire a sailor, he shall pay him six gur of corn per year.
    240. If a merchantman run against a ferryboat, and wreck it, the master of the ship that was wrecked shall seek justice before God; the master of the merchantman, which wrecked the ferryboat, must compensate the owner for the boat and all that he ruined.
    241. If any one impresses an ox for forced labor, he shall pay one-third of a mina in money.

    租赁以及佣工和报酬

    242. If any one hire oxen for a year, he shall pay four gur of corn for plow-oxen.
    243. As rent of herd cattle he shall pay three gur of corn to the owner.
    244． If anyone hire an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, the loss is upon its owner.
    244．如果一个人租借公牛或者驴子，然而狮子却在田野中杀死它们，它们的所有者自担损失。
    245． If anyone hire oxen, and kill them by bad treatment or blows, he shall compensate the owner, oxen for oxen.
    245．租用他人的牛却将牛虐待或殴打致死者必须赔偿一头牛。
    246． If a man hire an ox, and he break its leg or cut the ligament of its neck, he shall compensate the owner with ox for ox.
    246．若租借公牛却弄断牛腿或者脖子韧带的人，要赔偿一只牛。
    247． If anyone hire an ox, and put out its eyes, he shall pay the owner one-half of its value.
    247．租借公牛却挖出其眼睛者将赔付牛价的一半。
    248. If any one hire an ox, and break off a horn, or cut off its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he shall pay one-fourth of its value in money.
    249． If anyone hire an ox, and God strike it that it die, the man who hired it shall swear by God and be considered guiltless.
    249．若有人租用公牛，该牛却因非人为原因死亡，租借者向神灵起誓自己没有过错以后可以被免罪。
    250. If while an ox is passing on the street (market) some one push it, and kill it, the owner can set up no claim in the suit (against the hirer).
    251. If an ox be a goring ox, and it shown that he is a gorer, and he do not bind his horns, or fasten the ox up, and the ox gore a free-born man and kill him, the owner shall pay one-half a mina in money.
    252. If he kill a man’s slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina.
    253. If any one agree with another to tend his field, give him seed, entrust a yoke of oxen to him, and bind him to cultivate the field, if he steal the corn or plants, and take them for himself, his hands shall be hewn off.
    254. If he take the seed-corn for himself, and do not use the yoke of oxen, he shall compensate him for the amount of the seed-corn.
    255. If he sublet the man’s yoke of oxen or steal the seed-corn, planting nothing in the field, he shall be convicted, and for each one hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of corn.
    256. If his community will not pay for him, then he shall be placed in that field with the cattle (at work).
    257. If any one hire a field laborer, he shall pay him eight gur of corn per year.
    258. If any one hire an ox-driver, he shall pay him six gur of corn per year.
    259. If any one steal a water-wheel from the field, he shall pay five shekels in money to its owner.
    260. If any one steal a shadduf (used to draw water from the river or canal) or a plow, he shall pay three shekels in money.
    261. If any one hire a herdsman for cattle or sheep, he shall pay him eight gur of corn per annum.
    262. If any one, a cow or a sheep . . .
    263. If he kill the cattle or sheep that were given to him, he shall compensate the owner with cattle for cattle and sheep for sheep.
    264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been entrusted for watching over, and who has received his wages as agreed upon, and is satisfied, diminish the number of the cattle or sheep, or make the increase by birth less, he shall make good the increase or profit which was lost in the terms of settlement.
    265. If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss.
    266. If the animal be killed in the stable by God ( an accident), or if a lion kill it, the herdsman shall declare his innocence before God, and the owner bears the accident in the stable.
    267. If the herdsman overlook something, and an accident happen in the stable, then the herdsman is at fault for the accident which he has caused in the stable, and he must compensate the owner for the cattle or sheep.
    268. If any one hire an ox for threshing, the amount of the hire is twenty ka of corn.
    269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire is twenty ka of corn.
    270. If he hire a young animal for threshing, the hire is ten ka of corn.
    271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he shall pay one hundred and eighty ka of corn per day.
    272. If any one hire a cart alone, he shall pay forty ka of corn per day.
    273. If any one hire a day laborer, he shall pay him from the New Year until the fifth month (April to August, when days are long and the work hard) six gerahs in money per day; from the sixth month to the end of the year he shall give him five gerahs per day.
    274. If any one hire a skilled artizan, he shall pay as wages of the . . . five gerahs, as wages of the potter five gerahs, of a tailor five gerahs, of . . . gerahs, . . . of a ropemaker four gerahs, of . . .. gerahs, of a mason . . . gerahs per day.
    275. If any one hire a ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs in money per day.
    276. If he hire a freight-boat, he shall pay two and one-half gerahs per day.
    277. If any one hire a ship of sixty gur, he shall pay one-sixth of a shekel in money as its hire per day.

    关于奴隶的规定

    278. If any one buy a male or female slave, and before a month has elapsed the benu-disease be developed, he shall return the slave to the seller, and receive the money which he had paid.
    279. If any one by a male or female slave, and a third party claim it, the seller is liable for the claim.
    280. If while in a foreign country a man buy a male or female slave belonging to another of his own country; if when he return home the owner of the male or female slave recognize it: if the male or female slave be a native of the country, he shall give them back without any money.
    281. If they are from another country, the buyer shall declare the amount of money paid therefor to the merchant, and keep the male or female slave.
    282． If a slave say to his master: “You are not my master.” If they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.
    282．若奴隶忤逆主人，一经定罪，主人可以割下他的耳朵。

    THE EPILOGUE（结尾）：

    LAWS of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established. A righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurabi, the protecting king am I. I have not withdrawn myself from the men, whom Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk gave to me, I was not negligent, but I made them a peaceful abiding-place. I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon them. With the mighty weapons which Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to me, with the keen vision with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted the enemy above and below (in north and south), subdued the earth, brought prosperity to the land, guaranteed security to the inhabitants in their homes; a disturber was not permitted. The great gods have called me, I am the salvation-bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good shadow that is spread over my city; on my breast I cherish the inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enclosed them. That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the city where Anu and Bel raise high their head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose foundations stand firm as heaven and earth, in order to bespeak justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, before the image of me, as king of righteousness.
    The king who ruleth among the kings of the cities am I. My words are well considered; there is no wisdom like unto mine. By the command of Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, let righteousness go forth in the land: by the order of Marduk, my lord, let no destruction befall my monument. In E-Sagil, which I love, let my name be ever repeated; let the oppressed, who has a case at law, come and stand before this my image as king of righteousness; let him read the inscription, and understand my precious words: the inscription will explain his case to him; he will find out what is just, and his heart will be glad, so that he will say:
    “Hammurabi is a ruler, who is as a father to his subjects, who holds the words of Marduk in reverence, who has achieved conquest for Marduk over the north and south, who rejoices the heart of Marduk, his lord, who has bestowed benefits for ever and ever on his subjects, and has established order in the land.”

    When he reads the record, let him pray with full heart to Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady; and then shall the protecting deities and the gods, who frequent E-Sagil, graciously grant the desires daily presented before Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady. In future time, through all coming generations, let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument; let him not alter the law of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; my monument let him not mar. If such a ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep his land in order, he shall observe the words which I have written in this inscription; the rule, statute, and law of the land which I have given; the decisions which I have made will this inscription show him; let him rule his subjects accordingly, speak justice to them, give right decisions, root out the miscreants and criminals from this land, and grant prosperity to his subjects.

    Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred right (or law) am I. My words are well considered; my deeds are not equaled; to bring low those that were high; to humble the proud, to expel insolence. If a succeeding ruler considers my words, which I have written in this my inscription, if he do not annul my law, nor corrupt my words, nor change my monument, then may Shamash lengthen that king’s reign, as he has that of me, the king of righteousness, that he may reign in righteousness over his subjects. If this ruler do not esteem my words, which I have written in my inscription, if he despise my curses, and fear not the curse of God, if he destroy the law which I have given, corrupt my words, change my monument, efface my name, write his name there, or on account of the curses commission another so to do, that man, whether king or ruler, patesi, or commoner, no matter what he be, may the great God (Anu), the Father of the gods, who has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the glory of royalty, break his scepter, curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord, who fixeth destiny, whose command can not be altered, who has made my kingdom great, order a rebellion which his hand can not control; may he let the wind of the overthrow of his habitation blow, may he ordain the years of his rule in groaning, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, death with seeing eyes be fated to him; may he (Bel) order with his potent mouth the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his subjects, the cutting off of his rule, the removal of his name and memory from the land. May Belit, the great Mother, whose command is potent in E-Kur (the Babylonian Olympus), the Mistress, who harkens graciously to my petitions, in the seat of judgment and decision (where Bel fixes destiny), turn his affairs evil before Bel, and put the devastation of his land, the destruction of his subjects, the pouring out of his life like water into the mouth of King Bel. May Ea, the great ruler, whose fated decrees come to pass, the thinker of the gods, the omniscient, who maketh long the days of my life, withdraw understanding and wisdom from him, lead him to forgetfulness, shut up his rivers at their sources, and not allow corn or sustenance for man to grow in his land. May Shamash, the great Judge of heaven and earth, who supporteth all means of livelihood, Lord of life-courage, shatter his dominion, annul his law, destroy his way, make vain the march of his troops, send him in his visions forecasts of the uprooting of the foundations of his throne and of the destruction of his land. May the condemnation of Shamash overtake him forthwith; may he be deprived of water above among the living, and his spirit below in the earth. May Sin (the Moon-god), the Lord of Heaven, the divine father, whose crescent gives light among the gods, take away the crown and regal throne from him; may he put upon him heavy guilt, great decay, that nothing may be lower than he. May he destine him as fated, days, months and years of dominion filled with sighing and tears, increase of the burden of dominion, a life that is like unto death. May Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold from him rain from heaven, and the flood of water from the springs, destroying his land by famine and want; may he rage mightily over his city, and make his land into flood-hills (heaps of ruined cities). May Zamama, the great warrior, the first-born son of E-Kur, who goeth at my right hand, shatter his weapons on the field of battle, turn day into night for him, and let his foe triumph over him. May Ishtar, the goddess of fighting and war, who unfetters my weapons, my gracious protecting spirit, who loveth my dominion, curse his kingdom in her angry heart; in her great wrath, change his grace into evil, and shatter his weapons on the place of fighting and war. May she create disorder and sedition for him, strike down his warriors, that the earth may drink their blood, and throw down the piles of corpses of his warriors on the field; may she not grant him a life of mercy, deliver him into the hands of his enemies, and imprison him in the land of his enemies. May Nergal, the might among the gods, whose contest is irresistible, who grants me victory, in his great might burn up his subjects like a slender reedstalk, cut off his limbs with his mighty weapons, and shatter him like an earthen image. May Nin-tu, the sublime mistress of the lands, the fruitful mother, deny him a son, vouchsafe him no name, give him no successor among men. May Nin-karak, the daughter of Anu, who adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon his members in E-kur high fever, severe wounds, that can not be healed, whose nature the physician does not understand, which he can not treat with dressing, which, like the bite of death, can not be removed, until they have sapped away his life.

    May he lament the loss of his life-power, and may the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunaki, altogether inflict a curse and evil upon the confines of the temple, the walls of this E-barra (the Sun temple of Sippara), upon his dominion, his land, his warriors, his subjects, and his troops. May Bel curse him with the potent curses of his mouth that can not be altered, and may they come upon him forthwith.

    THE END OF THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

    Great Charter（《大宪章》）

    1215年6月15日（一说1213）由英王约翰签署的宪法性文件，成为英国君主立宪制的法律基石。《大宪章》（拉丁：Magna Carter）是英国宪法的基础，创造了“法治”理念。时至今日，《大宪章》中的3个条款目前仍然有效：保证英国教会的自由，确认伦敦金融城及其他城镇的特权，以及所有人都必须有合法的审判才能被监禁。

    (Clauses marked (+) are still valid under the charter of 1225, but with a few minor amendments. Clauses marked (*) were omitted in all later reissues of the charter. In the charter itself the clauses are not numbered, and the text reads continuously. The translation sets out to convey the sense rather than the precise wording of the original Latin.)

    JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, Greeting.

    KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honor of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in England, William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:

    + (1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church’s elections – a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it – and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.
    TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:

    (2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds lands directly of the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be of full age and owe a `relief’, the heir shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of `relief’. That is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl’s barony, the heir or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entire knight’s `fee’, and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of `fees’

    (3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without `relief’ or fine.

    (4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we will exact compensation from him, and the land shall be entrusted to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee’, who shall be answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone the guardianship of such land, and he causes destruction or damage, he shall lose the guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee’, who shall be similarly answerable to us.

    (5) For so long as a guardian has guardianship of such land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.

    (6) Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, it shall be’ made known to the heir’s next-of-kin.

    (7) At her husband’s death, a widow may have her marriage portion and inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband’s house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall be assigned to her.

    (8) No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without a husband. But she must give security that she will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.

    (9) Neither we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor’s sureties shall not be distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for lack of means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall be answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor’s lands and rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they paid for him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.

    * (10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.

    * (11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly.

    * (12) No `scutage’ or `aid’ may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable `aid’ may be levied. `Aids’ from the city of London are to be treated similarly.

    + (13) The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.

    * (14) To obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an `aid’ – except in the three cases specified above – or a `scutage’, we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned individually by letter. To those who hold lands directly of us we will cause a general summons to be issued, through the sheriffs and other officials, to come together on a fixed day (of which at least forty days notice shall be given) and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.

    * (15) In future we will allow no one to levy an `aid’ from his free men, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable `aid’ may be levied.

    (16) No man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight’s `fee’, or other free holding of land, than is due from it.

    (17) Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but shall be held in a fixed place.

    (18) Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d’ancestor, and darrein presentment shall be taken only in their proper county court. We ourselves, or in our absence abroad our chief justice, will send two justices to each county four times a year, and these justices, with four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where the court meets.

    (19) If any assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, as many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.

    (20) For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood. In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise, and a husbandman the implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable men of the neighborhood.

    (21) Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and in proportion to the gravity of their offence.

    (22) A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk in holy orders shall be assessed upon the same principles, without reference to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.

    (23) No town or person shall be forced to build bridges over rivers except those with an ancient obligation to do so.

    (24) No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal officials are to hold lawsuits that should be held by the royal justices.

    * (25) Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing shall remain at its ancient rent, without increase, except the royal demesne manors.

    (26) If at the death of a man who holds a lay `fee’ of the Crown, a sheriff or royal official produces royal letters patent of summons for a debt due to the Crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and list movable goods found in the lay `fee’ of the dead man to the value of the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the whole debt is paid, when the residue shall be given over to the executors to carry out the dead man s will. If no debt is due to the Crown, all the movable goods shall be regarded as the property of the dead man, except the reasonable shares of his wife and children.

    * (27) If a free man dies intestate, his movable goods are to be distributed by his next-of-kin and friends, under the supervision of the Church. The rights of his debtors are to be preserved.

    (28) No constable or other royal official shall take corn or other movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily offers postponement of this.

    (29) No constable may compel a knight to pay money for castle-guard if the knight is willing to undertake the guard in person, or with reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken or sent on military service shall be excused from castle-guard for the period of this service.

    (30) No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.

    (31) Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.

    (32) We will not keep the lands of people convicted of felony in our hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be returned to the lords of the `fees’ concerned.

    (33) All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast.

    (34) The writ called precipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect of any holding of land, if a free man could thereby be deprived of the right of trial in his own lord’s court.

    (35) There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.

    (36) In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a writ of inquisition of life or limbs. It shall be given gratis, and not refused.

    (37) If a man holds land of the Crown by `fee-farm’, `socage’, or `burgage’, and also holds land of someone else for knight’s service, we will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to the other person’s `fee’, by virtue of the `fee- farm’, `socage’, or `burgage’, unless the `fee-farm’ owes knight’s service. We will not have the guardianship of a man’s heir, or of land that he holds of someone else, by reason of any small property that he may hold of the Crown for a service of knives, arrows, or the like.

    (38) In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.

    + (39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.

    + (40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

    (41) All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their persons or property, until we or our chief justice have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants are safe they shall be safe too.

    * (42) In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants – who shall be dealt with as stated above – are excepted from this provision.

    (43) If a man holds lands of any `escheat’ such as the `honor’ of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other `escheats’ in our hand that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only the `relief’ and service that he would have made to the baron, had the barony been in the baron’s hand. We will hold the `escheat’ in the same manner as the baron held it.

    (44) People who live outside the forest need not in future appear before the royal justices of the forest in answer to general summonses, unless they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for someone who has been seized for a forest offence.

    * (45) We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.

    (46) All barons who have founded abbeys, and have charters of English kings or ancient tenure as evidence of this, may have guardianship of them when there is no abbot, as is their due.

    (47) All forests that have been created in our reign shall at once be disafforested. River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall be treated similarly.

    * (48) All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn knights of the county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our chief justice if we are not in England, are first to be informed.

    * (49) We will at once return all hostages and charters delivered up to us by Englishmen as security for peace or for loyal service.

    * (50) We will remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard de Athée, and in future they shall hold no offices in England. The people in question are Engelard de Cigogné’, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers, Philip Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all their followers.

    * (51) As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms.

    * (52) To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgement of his equals, we will at once restore these. In cases of dispute the matter shall be resolved by the judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace (§61). In cases, however, where a man was deprived or dispossessed of something without the lawful judgement of his equals by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a Crusader. On our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once render justice in full.

    * (53) We shall have similar respite in rendering justice in connexion with forests that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these were first a-orested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with the guardianship of lands in another person’s `fee’, when we have hitherto had this by virtue of a `fee’ held of us for knight’s service by a third party; and with abbeys founded in another person’s `fee’, in which the lord of the `fee’ claims to own a right. On our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice to complaints about these matters.

    (54) No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.

    * (55) All fines that have been given to us unjustiy and against the law of the land, and all fines that we have exacted unjustly, shall be entirely remitted or the matter decided by a majority judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace (§61 )together with Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he wishes to bring with him. If the archbishop cannot be present, proceedings shall continue without him, provided that if any of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit himself, his judgement shall be set aside, and someone else chosen and sworn in his place, as a substitute for the single occasion, by the rest of the twenty-five.

    (56) If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties, or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgement of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. A dispute on this point shall be determined in the Marches by the judgement of equals. English law shall apply to holdings of land in England, Welsh law to those in Wales, and the law of the Marches to those in the Marches. The Welsh shall treat us and ours in the same way.

    * (57) In cases where a Welshman was deprived or dispossessed of anything, without the lawful judgement of his equals, by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a Crusader. But on our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the said regions.

    * (58) We will at once return the son of Llywelyn, all Welsh hostages, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.

    * (59) With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, king of Scotland, his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears from the charters that we hold from his father William, formerly king of Scotland, that he should be treated otherwise. This matter shall be resolved by the judgement of his equals in our court.

    (60) All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen, observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.

    61. Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault towards anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of this peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons of the foresaid five and twenty, the said four barons shall repair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression (or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the rest of the five and twenty barons, and those five and twenty barons shall, together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained, they shall resume their old relations towards us. And let whoever in the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said five and twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly and freely grant leave to everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never forbid anyone to swear. All those, moveover, in the land who of themselves and of their own accord are unwilling to swear to the twenty five to help them in constraining and molesting us, we shall by our command compel the same to swear to the effect foresaid. And if any one of the five and twenty barons shall have died or departed from the land, or be incapacitated in any other manner which would prevent the foresaid provisions being carried out, those of the said twenty five barons who are left shall choose another in his place according to their own judgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Further, in all matters, the execution of which is entrusted,to these twenty five barons, if perchance these twenty five are present and disagree about anything, or if some of them, after being summoned, are unwilling or unable to be present, that which the majority of those present ordain or command shall be held as fixed and established, exactly as if the whole twenty five had concurred in this; and the said twenty five shall swear that they will faithfully observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it to be observed with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from anyone, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these concessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such things has been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it personally or by another.

    62. And all the will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen between us and our men, clergy and lay, from the date of the quarrel, we have completely remitted and pardoned to everyone. Moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all, both clergy and laymen, and completely forgiven, as far as pertains to us. And on this head, we have caused to be made for them letters testimonial patent of the lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, of the bishops aforesaid, and of Master Pandulf as touching this security and the concessions aforesaid.

    63. Wherefore we will and firmly order that the English Church be free, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all respects and in all places forever, as is aforesaid. An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on our part as on the art of the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and without evil intent.

    Given under our hand – the above named and many others being witnesses – in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

    受命于天的英格兰国王兼领爱尔兰宗主，诺曼底与阿奎丹公爵、安茹伯爵约翰，谨向大主教，主教，住持，伯爵，男爵，法官，森林官，执行吏，典狱官，差人，及其管家吏与忠顺的人民致候。

    　　由于可敬的神父们，坎特伯里大主教，英格兰大教长兼圣罗马教会红衣主教斯提芬；杜伯林大主教亨利……暨培姆布卢克大司仪伯爵威廉；索斯伯利伯爵威廉……等贵族，及其他忠顺臣民谏议，使余等知道，为了余等自身以及余等之先人与后代灵魂的安全，同时也为了圣教会的昌盛和王国的兴隆，上帝的意旨使余等承认下列诸端，并昭告全国：

    　　（1）首先，余等及余等之后嗣坚决应许上帝，根据本宪章，英国教会当享有自由，其权利将不受干扰，其自由将不受侵犯。关于英格兰教会所视为最重要与最必需之自由选举，在余等与诸男爵发生不睦之前曾自动地或按照己意用特许状所颁赐者，——同时经余等请得教王英诺森三世所同意者——余等及余等之世代子孙当永以善意遵守。此外，余等及余等之子孙后代，同时亦以下面附列之各项自由给予余等王国内一切自由人民，并允许严行遵守，永矢勿渝。

    　　（2）任何伯爵或男爵，或因军役而自余等直接领有采地之人身故时，如有已达成年之继承者，于按照旧时数额缴纳承继税后，即可享有其遗产。计伯爵继承人于缴纳一百镑后，即可享受伯爵全部遗产；男爵继承人于缴纳一百镑后，即可享受男爵全部遗产；武士继承人于最多缴纳一百先令后，即可享受全部武士封地。其他均应按照采地旧有习惯，应少交者须少交。

    　　（3）上述诸人之继承人如未达成年，须受监护者，应于成年后以其遗产交付之，不得收取任何继承税或产业转移税。

    　　（4）凡经管前款所述未达成年之继承人之土地者，除自该项土地上收取适当数量之产品，及按照习惯应行征取之赋税与力役外，不得多有需索以免耗费人力与物力。如余等以该项土地之监护权委托执行吏或其他人等，俾对其收益向余等负责，而其人使所保管之财产遭受浪费与损毁时，余等将处此人以罚金，并将该项土地转交该采地中合法与端正之人士二人，俾对该项收益能向余等或余等所指定之人负责。如余等将该项土地之监护权赐予或售予任何人，而其人使土地遭受浪费与损毁时，即须丧失监护权，并将此项土地交由该采地中之合法与端正人士二人，按照前述条件向余等负责。

    　　（5）此外，监护人在经管土地期间，应自该项土地之收益中拨出专款为房屋、园地、鱼塘、池沼、磨坊及其他附属物修缮费用，俾能井井有条。继承人达成年时，即应按照耕耘时之需要，就该项土地收益所许可之范围内置备犁、锄、与其他农具，附于其全部土地内归还之。

    　　（6）继承人得在不贬抑其身分之条件下结婚，但在订婚前应向其宅人之卑属亲族通告。

    　　（7）寡妇于其夫身故后，应不受任何留难而立即获得其嫁资与遗产。寡妇之嫁奁，嫁资，及其应得之遗产与其夫逝世前为二人共同保有之物品，俱不付任何代价。[自愿改醮]之寡妇得于其夫身故后，居留夫宅四十日，在此期间其嫁奁应交还之。

    　　（8）寡妇之自愿孀居者，不得强迫其改醮，但寡妇本人，如执有余等之土地时，应提供保证，未得余等同意前不改醮。执有其他领主之土地者，亦应获得其他领主同意。

    　　（9）凡债务人之动产足以抵偿其债务时，无论余等或余等之执行吏，均不得强取收入以抵偿债务。如负债人之财产足以抵偿其债务，即不得使该项债务之担保人受扣押动产之处分。但如债务人不能偿还债务，或无力偿还债务时，担保人应即负责清偿。担保人如愿意时，可扣押债务人之土地与收入，甚至后者偿还其前所代偿之债务时为止。惟该债务人能证明其所清偿已超过保人担保之额著，不在此限。

    　　（10）任何向犹太人借债者，不论其数额多少，如在未清偿前身故，此项债款在负责清偿之继承人未达成年之前不得负有利息，如此项债务落入余等之手，则余等除契据上载明之动产以外，不得收取任何其他物品。

    　　（11）欠付犹太人债务者亡故时，其妻仍应获得其嫁资，不负偿债之责。亡故者如有未成年之子女时，应按亡者遗产之性质，留备彼等之教养费，剩余数额，除扣还领主应得之报效外，始可作为清偿债务之用。关于犹太人以外之债务，同样依此规定处理。

    　　（12）除下列三项税金外，设无全国公意许可，将不征收任何免役税与贡金。即（一）赎回余等身体时之赎金[指被俘时].（二）策封余等之长子为武士时之费用。（三）余等之长女出嫁时之费用——但以一次为限。且为此三项目的征收之贡金亦务求适当。关于伦敦城之贡金，按同样规定办理。

    　　（13）伦敦城，无论水上或陆上，俱应享有其旧有之自由与自由习惯。其他城市、州、市镇，港口，余等亦承认或赐予彼等以保有自由与自由习惯之权。

    　　（14）凡在上述征收范围之外，余等如欲征收贡金与免役税，应用加盖印信之诏书致送各大主教，主教，住持，伯爵与男爵指明时间与地点召集会议，以期获得全国公意。此项诏书之送达，至少应在开会以前四十日，此外，余等仍应通过执行吏与管家吏普遍召集凡直接领有余等之土地者。召集之缘由应于诏书内载明。召集之后，前项事件应在指定日期依出席者之公意进行，不以缺席人数阻延之。

    　　（15）自此以往，除为赎还其本人之身体，策封其长子为武士，与一度出嫁其长女以外。余等不得准许任何人向其自由人征取贡金。而为上述目的所征收之贡金数额亦务求合乎情理。

    　　（16）不得强迫执有武士采地，或其他自由保有地之人，服额外之役。

    　　（17）一般诉讼应在一定地方审问，无需追随国王法庭请求处理。

    　　（18）凡关于强占土地，收回遗产及最后控诉等案件，应不在该案件所发生之州以外地区审理。其方法如下：由余等自己，或余等不在国内时，由余等之大法官，指定法官二人，每年四次分赴各州郡，会同该州郡所推选之武士四人，在指定之日期，于该州郡法庭所在地审理之。

    　　（19）州郡法庭开庭之日，如上述案件未能审理，则应就当日出庭之武士与自由佃农中酌留适当人数，俾能按照事件性质之轻重作出合宜裁决。

    　　（20）自由人犯轻罪者，应按犯罪之程度科以罚金；犯重罪者应按其犯罪之大小没收其土地，与居室以外之财产；对于商人适用同样规定，但不得没收其货物。凡余等所辖之农奴犯罪时，亦应同样科以罚金，但不得没收其农具。上述罚金，须凭邻居正直之人宣誓证明，始得科罚。

    　　（21）伯爵与男爵，非经其同级贵族陪审，并按照罪行程度外不得科以罚金。

    　　（22）教士犯罪时，仅能按照处罚上述诸人之方法，就其在俗之财产科以罚金；不得按照其教士采地之收益为标准科处罚金。

    　　（23）不得强迫任何市镇与个人修造渡河桥梁，惟向未负有修桥之责者不在此限。

    　　（24）余等之执行吏，巡察吏，检验吏与管家等，均不得受理向余等提出之诉讼。

    　　（25）一切州郡，百人村，小镇市，小区——余等自己之汤沐邑在外——均应按照旧章征收赋税，不得有任何增加。

    　　（26）凡领受余等之采地者亡故时，执有余等向该亡故者索欠之特许证状之执行吏或管家应即依公正人士数人之意见，按照债务数额，将该亡故者之动产加以登记与扣押，使在偿清余等债务之前不得移动。偿清后之剩余，应即交由死者之遗嘱执行人处理。如死者不欠余等之债，则除为其妻子酌留相当部分外，其余一切动产概依亡者所指定之用途处理。

    　　（27）任何未立遗嘱之自由人亡故时，其所遗动产应依教会之意见，经由其戚友之手分配之，但偿还死者债务之部分应予留出。

    　　（28）余等之巡察吏或管家吏，除立即支付价款外，不得自任何人之处擅取谷物或其他动产，但依出售者之意志允予延期付款者不在此限。

    　　（29）武士如愿亲自执行守卫勤务，或因正当理由不能亲自执行，而委托合适之人代为执行时，巡察吏即不得向之强索财物。武士被率领或被派遣出征时，应在军役期内免除其守卫勤务。

    　　（30）任何执行吏或管家吏，不得擅取自由人之车与马作为运输之用，但依照该自由人之意志为之者，不在此限。

    　　（31）无论余等或余等之管家吏俱不得强取他人木材，以供建筑城堡或其他私用，但依木材所所有人之意志为之者不在此限。

    　　（32）余等留用重罪既决犯之土地不得超过一年零一日，逾期后即应交还该项土地之原主。

    　　（33）自此以后，除海岸线以外，其他在泰晤斯河，美得威河及全英格兰各地一切河流上之堰坝与鱼梁概须拆除。

    　　（34）自此以后，不得再行颁布强制转移土地争执案件至国王法庭审讯之敕令，以免自由人丧失其司法权。

    　　（35）全国应有统一之度量衡。酒类、烈性麦酒与谷物之量器，以伦敦夸尔为标准；染色布、土布，锁子甲布之宽度应以织边下之两码为标准；其他衡器亦如量器之规定。

    　　（36）自此以后发给检验状（验尸或验伤）时不得索取或给予任何陋规，请求发给时，亦不得拒绝。

    　　（37）任何人以货币租地法，劳役租地法，或特许享有法保有余等之土地，但同时亦保有其他领主之兵役采地者，余等即不得借口上述诸关系强迫取得其继承人（未成年人）及其所保有他人土地之监护权。除该项货币租地，劳役租地与特许享有租地负有军役义务外，余等皆不得主张其监护权。任何人以献纳刀、剑、弓、箭等而得为余等之小军曹者，余等亦不得对其继承人及其所保有之他人土地主张监护权。

    　　（38）自此以后，凡不能提供忠实可靠之证人与证物时，管家吏不得单凭己意使任何人经受神判法（水火法）。

    　　（39）任何自由人，如未经其同级贵族之依法裁判，或经国法判决，皆不得被逮捕，监禁，没收财产，剥夺法律保护权，流放，或加以任何其他损害。

    　　（40）余等不得向任何人出售，拒绝，或延搁其应享之权利与公正裁判。

    　　（41）除战时与余等敌对之国家之人民外，一切商人，倘能遵照旧时之公正习惯，皆可免除苛捐杂税，安全经由水道与旱道，出入英格兰，或在英格兰全境逗留或耽搁以经营商业。战时，敌国商人在我国者，在余等或余等之大法官获知我国商人在敌国所受之待遇前，应先行扣留，但不得损害彼等之身体与货物。如我国商人之在敌国者安全无恙，敌国商人在我国者亦将安全无恙。

    　　（42）自此以后，任何对余等效忠之人民，除在战时为国家与公共幸福得暂加限制外，皆可由水道或旱道安全出国或入国。但监犯与被褫夺法律保护权之人为例外，关于敌国人民与商人，依前述方法处理。

    　　（43）领有归属土地——诸如自窝林福德，诺定昂，波罗因，兰开斯忒诸勋爵领有者，或其他归属于余等之男爵领地——之附庸亡故时，其继承人不另缴承继税。余等亦不得令其提供较男爵生前更多之役务，一切应依该采地在男爵手中时为标准。

    　　（44）自此以后，不得以普通传票召唤森林区以外之居民赴森林区法庭审讯。但为森林区案件之被告人，或为森林区案件被告之保人者，不在此限。

    　　（45）除熟习本国法律而又志愿遵守者外，余等将不任命任何人为法官，巡察吏，执行吏或管家吏。

    　　（46）一切自英国历朝国王获得特许状创立寺院或握有寺产保管权之男爵（贵族），应悉仍旧例，在该项寺院无人主持时，负保管之责。

    　　（47）凡在余等即位后所划出之森林区，及建为防御工事之河岸，皆应立即撤除。

    　　（48）有关每一州郡之森林，园圃，森林官，园圃守护人，管家吏及其仆役，河岸及其守护人等之一切陋规恶习，应由各该州郡推选武士十二人，于宣誓后立即驰赴各地详加调查，并于调查后四十日内予以全部彻底革除，务使永不再起。调查情形应先奏知余等，若余等不在国内时则先禀知大法官。

    　　（49）凡英国臣民为表示和好和忠忱所交予余等之人质或其他担保品，概须立即退还。

    　　（50）余等应解除热拉尔之戚及下列诸人（名略）及随从彼等来英任执行吏者之职务，并使彼等自此以后，不再在英国担任此项职务。

    　　（51）君臣复归于好后，余等应将携带马匹与武器来英格兰并危害英国之外国士兵，弩手，仆役及佣兵等立即遣送出境。

    　　（52）任何人凡未经其同级贵族之合法裁决而被余等夺去其土地，城堡，自由或合法权利者，余等应立即归还之。倘有关于此项事件之任何争执发生，应依后列负责保障和平之男爵二十五人之意见裁决之。其有在余等之父亨利王或余等之兄理查王时代，未经其同级贵族之合法判决而被夺去之上述各项，现为余等所有，或为他人所有而应由余等负责者，当较照参加十字军者获得展缓债务权利之一般规定办理。但当余等参谒圣地归来后，或因故中止余等之东征时，余等应即公平处理之。惟在余等誓师东征前正在进行诉讼，或由余等之敕令正在审理中者，不在此限。

    　　（53）关于下列事件亦应依照前条规定处理或展缓处理之；

    　　（甲）余等之父亨利王，兄理查王时代所划出之森林，何者应撤除，何者应保留。

    　　（乙）余等在他人采地中之监护权（此项监护权系因某人曾自余等领受军役采地，因而使余等享有者）。

    　　（丙）余等在他人采地中所建立之寺院（该采地之领主声称有管辖权者）。

    　　当余等参谒圣地归来后，或因故中止余等之东征时，余等应立即对上述诸项予以公正处理。

    　　（54）凡妇女指控之杀人案件，如死者并非其夫，即不得逮捕或监禁任何人。

    　　（55）凡余等所科之一切不正当与不合法之罚金与处罚，须一概免除或纠正之，或依照后列保障和平之男爵二十五人之意见，或大多数男爵连同前述之坎特伯里大主教斯提芬，及其所愿与共同商讨此事件者之意见处理之。遇大教主不能出席时，事件应照常进行。但如上述二十五男爵中有一人或数人与同一事件有关（“大宪章重订译本”作“为同一事件之原告”），则应于处理此一事件时回避，而代之以其余男爵中所遴选之人。

    　　（56）如余等曾在英格兰或威尔斯，未依其同级贵族之合法裁判，而夺去任何威尔斯贵族之土地，自由或其他物品，应立即归还之。遇有关于此类事件之争执发生时，应交由“边区”贵族处理，凡属英格兰人之产业，按照英格兰法律办理，威尔斯人产业，按照威尔斯法律办理，边区产业则依边区法律办理。威尔斯人对余等及余等之人民应同样行之。

    　　（57）至关于威尔斯人在余等之父亨利，或余等之兄理查时代未经其同级贵族之合法判

    　　决而被夺去之物，现在余等手中，或虽不在余等手中而应由余等负责者，余等将按照参加十字军者可展缓债务之一般规定处理。但当余等参谒圣地归来后，或因故中止余等之东征时，余等应即予以公平处理。惟在余等誓师东征前正在进行诉讼，或由余等之敕令正在审理中者，不在此限。

    　　（58）余等应立即归还刘埃霖之子及威尔斯人一切人质以及作为和平担保之一切信物与契据。

    　　（59）关于苏格兰王亚历山大，余等将归还其姊妹，质物，自由与合法权利，一如余等对英格兰诸男爵之所为，但属于其父威廉王敕令中所载，而为余等所保有者，不在此限。此一切当依照在英国宫廷中之苏格兰贵族之意见处理。

    　　（60）余等在上述敕令中所公布之一切习惯与自由，就属于余等之范围而言，应为全国臣民，无论僧俗，一律遵守，就属于诸男爵（一切贵族）之范围而言，应为彼等之附庸共同遵守。

    　　（61）余等之所以作前述诸让步，在欲归荣于上帝，致国家于富强，但尤在泯除余等与诸男爵间之意见，使彼等永享太平之福，因此，余等愿再以下列保证赐予之。

    　　诸男爵得任意从国中推选男爵二十五人，此二十五人应尽力遵守，维护，同时亦使其余人等共同遵守余等所颁赐彼等，并以本宪章所赐予之和平与特权。其方法如下：如余等或余等之法官，管家吏或任何其他臣仆，在任何方面干犯任何人之权利，或破坏任何和平条款而为上述二十五男爵中之四人发觉时，此四人可即至余等之前——如余等不在国内时，则至余等之三官前，——指出余等之错误，要求余等立即设法改正。自错误指出之四十日内，如余等，或余等不在国内时，余等之法官不顾改正此项错误，则该四人应将此事取决于其余男爵，而此二十三男爵即可联合全国人民，共同使用其权力，以一切方法向余等施以抑制与压力，诸如夺取余等之城堡、土地与财产等等，务使此项错误终能依照彼等之意见改正而后已。但对余等及余等二王后与子女之人身不得加以侵犯。错误一经改正，彼等即应与余等复为君臣如初。国内任何人如欲按上述方法实行，应宣誓服从前述男爵二十五人之命令，并尽其全力与彼等共同向余等施以压力。余等兹特公开允许任何人皆可作上述宣誓，并允许永不阻止任何人宣誓。国内所有人民，纵其依自己之意志，不愿对该二十五男爵宣誓以共同向余等施用压力者，余等亦应以命令令之宣誓。如上述二十五男爵中有任何人死亡，离国或因故不能执行上述职务时，其余男爵应依己意自其他男爵中推选另外之人代之，其宣誓方法与上述诸人同。此外，上述二十五男爵于受托执行任务时，倘在出席讨论中关于某些事件发生争端，或有某些男爵被召请后，不愿或不能出席时，则出席男爵过半数之决定，或宣布之方案，应被视为合法且具有约束力，一如二十五人全体出席所议决者同。上述二十五男爵应宣誓对前列各项竭诚遵守，并尽力使其余人遵守之，而余等亦不得由自己或通过他人自任何人取得任何物品致使上列诸权利与自由废止或削减。如有此项取得之物，应视同无效与非法，余等自己不得加以利用，亦不得通过别人加以利用。

    　　（62）自斗争开始以来，余等之僧俗臣民与余等之间所发生之一切敌意，愤怒与仇恨，余等已予宽恕并赦宥之，此外，自本朝第十六年复活节起，至和平重建之日止，一切僧俗人民所犯之一切罪过，余等亦已加以宽恕并赦宥之。关于上述各项让步与诺言，余等兹任命坎特伯里大主教斯提芬勋爵，杜伯林大主教亨利勋爵及前述诸主教与班达尔夫君共同草拟敕令以昭信守。

    　　（63）余等即以此敕令欣然而坚决昭告全国：英国教会应享自由，英国臣民及其子孙后代，将如前述，自余等及余等之后嗣在任何事件与任何时期中，永远适当而和平，自由而安静，充分而全然享受上述各项自由，权剂与让与，余等与诺男爵惧已宣誓，将以忠信与善意遵守上述各条款。上列诸人及其他多人当可为证。

    人权宣言

    即《人权和公民权宣言》，1789年8月26日法国制宪国民会议颁布颁布，是在法国大革命时期颁布的纲领性文件。宣告了人权、法治、自由、分权、平等和保护私有财产等基本原则。

    序言

    组成国民会议的法兰西人民的代表们，相信对于人权的无知、忽视与轻蔑乃是公共灾祸与政府腐化的唯一原因，乃决定在一个庄严的宣言里，呈现人类自然的、不可让渡的与神圣的权利，以便这个永远呈现于社会所有成员之前的宣言，能不断地向他们提醒他们的权利与义务；以便立法权与行政权的行动，因能随时与所有政治制度的目标两相比较，从而更受尊重；以便公民们今后根据简单而无可争辩的原则所提出的各种要求，总能导向宪法的维护和导向全体的幸福。
    因此，国民会议在上帝面前及其庇护之下，承认并且宣布如下的人权和公民权。

    正文

    第一条　人生来就是而且始终是自由的，在权利方面一律平等。社会差别只能建立在公益基础之上。
    第二条　一切政治结合均旨在维护人类自然的和不受时效约束的权利。这些权利是自由、财产、安全与反抗压迫。
    第三条　整个主权的本原根本上乃存在于国民（La Nation）。任何团体或任何个人皆不得行使国民所未明白授予的权力。
    第四条　自由是指能从事一切无害于他人的行为；因此，每一个人行使其自然权利，只以保证社会上其他成员能享有相同的权利为限制。此等限制只能以法律决定之。
    第五条　法律仅有权禁止有害于社会的行为。凡未经法律禁止的行为即不得受到妨碍，而且任何人都不得被强制去从事法律所未要求的行为。
    第六条　法律是公意（la volonté générale）的表达。每一个公民皆有权亲自或由其代表去参与法律的制订。法律对于所有的人，无论是施行保护或是惩罚都是一样的。在法律的眼里一律平等的所有公民皆能按照他们的能力平等地担任一切公共官职、职位与职务，除他们的德行和才能以外不受任何其他差别。
    第七条　除非在法律所确定情况下并按照法律所规定的程序，任何人均不受控告、逮捕与拘留。凡请求发布、传送、执行或使人执行任何专断的命令者，皆应受到惩罚；但任何根据法律而被传唤或逮捕的公民则应当立即服从，抗拒即属犯罪。
    第八条　法律只应设立确实必要和明显必要的刑罚，而且除非根据在犯法前已经通过并且公布的法律而合法地受到惩处，否则任何人均不应遭受刑罚。
    第九条　所有人直到被宣告有罪之前，均应被推定为无罪，而即使判定逮捕系属必要者，一切为羁押人犯身体而不必要的严酷手段，都应当受到法律的严厉制裁。
    第十条　任何人不应为其意见甚至其宗教观点而遭到干涉，只要它们的表达没有扰乱法律所建立的公共秩序。
    第十一条　自由交流思想与意见乃是人类最为宝贵的权利之一。因此，每一个公民都可以自由地言论、著作与出版，但应在法律规定的情况下对此项自由的滥用承担责任。
    第十二条　人权和公民权的保障需要公共的武装力量。这一力量因此是为了全体的福祉而不是为了此种力量的受任人的个人利益而设立的。
    第十三条　为了公共武装力量的维持和行政的开支，公共赋税是不可或缺的。赋税应在全体公民之间按其能力平等地分摊。
    第十四条　所有公民都有权亲身或由其代表决定公共赋税的必要性，自由地加以批准，知悉其用途，并决定税率、税基、征收方式和期限。
    第十五条　社会有权要求一切公务人员报告其行政工作。
    第十六条　一切社会，凡权利无保障或分权未确立，均无丝毫宪法之可言。
    第十七条　财产是不可侵犯与神圣的权利，除非合法认定的公共需要对它明白地提出要求，同时基于公正和预先补偿的条件，任何人的财产皆不可受到剥夺。

    Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens by The National Assembly of France

    英文版（潘恩（Thomas Paine）《人权论》）

    The representatives of the people of FRANCE, formed into a NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, considering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human rights, are the sole causes of public misfortunes and corruptions of Government, have resolved to set forth in a solemn declaration, these natural, imprescriptible, and inalienable rights: that this declaration being constantly present to the minds of the members of the body social, they may be forever kept attentive to their rights and their duties; that the acts of the legislative and executive powers of Government, being capable of being every moment compared with the end of political institutions, may be more respected; and also, that the future claims of the citizens, being directed by simple and incontestable principles, may always tend to the maintenance of the Constitution, and the general happiness.
    For these reasons the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY doth recognize and declare, in the presence of the Supreme Being, and with the hope of his blessing and favor, the following sacred rights of men and of citizens:

    One: Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility.
    Two: The aim of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression.

    Three: The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty; nor can any individual, or any body of men, be entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it.
    Four: Political liberty consists in the power of doing whatever does not injure another. The exercise of the natural rights of every man, has no other limits than those which are necessary to secure to every other man the free exercise of the same rights; and these limits are determinable only by the law.
    Five: The law ought to prohibit only actions hurtful to society. What is not prohibited by the law should not be hindered; nor should anyone be compelled to that which the law does not require.

    Six: The law is an expression of the will of the community. All citizens have a right to concur, either personally or by their representatives, in its formation. It should be the same to all, whether it protects or punishes; and all being equal in its sight, are equally eligible to all honors, places, and employments, according to their different abilities, without any other distinction than that created by their virtues and talents.

    Seven: No man should be accused, arrested, or held in confinement, except in cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. All who promote, solicit, execute, or cause to be executed, arbitrary orders, ought to be punished, and every citizen called upon, or apprehended by virtue of the law, ought immediately to obey, and renders himself culpable by resistance.
    Eight: The law ought to impose no other penalties but such as are absolutely and evidently necessary; and no one ought to be punished, but in virtue of a law promulgated before the offence, and legally applied.
    Nine: Every man being presumed innocent till he has been convicted, whenever his detention becomes indispensable, all rigor to him, more than is necessary to secure his person, ought to be provided against by the law.

    Ten: No man ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even on account of his religious opinions, provided his avowal of them does not disturb the public order established by the law.

    Eleven: The unrestrained communication of thoughts and opinions being one of the most precious rights of man, every citizen may speak, write, and publish freely, provided he is responsible for the abuse of this liberty, in cases determined by the law.

    Twelve: A public force being necessary to give security to the rights of men and of citizens, that force is instituted for the benefit of the community and not for the particular benefit of the persons to whom it is intrusted.
    Thirteen: A common contribution being necessary for the support of the public force, and for defraying the other expenses of government, it ought to be divided equally among the members of the community, according to their abilities.

    Fourteen: Every citizen has a right, either by himself or his representative, to a free voice in determining the necessity of public contributions, the appropriation of them, and their amount, mode of assessment, and duration.
    Fifteen: Every community has a right to demand of all its agents an account of their conduct.
    Sixteen: Every community in which a separation of powers and a security of rights is not provided for, wants a constitution.
    Seventeen: The right to property being inviolable and sacred, no one ought to be deprived of it, except in cases of evident public necessity, legally ascertained, and on condition of a previous just indemnity.

    THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
    独立宣言

    In Congress, July 4, 1776,大陆会议（一七七六年七月四日）

    THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
    美利坚合众国十三个州一致通过的宣言

    When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
    在有关人类事务的发展过程中，当一个民族必须解除其和另一个与之有关的民族之间的政治联系，并在世界各国之间，接受自然法则和自然界的造物主的旨意赋予的独立和平等的地位时，出于对人类舆论的尊重，必须把他们不得不独立的原因予以宣布。
    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
    我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。
    That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
    为了保障这些权利，人类才在他们之间建立政府，而政府之正当权力，是经被治理者的同意而产生的。
    That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

    当任何形式的政府对这些目标具破坏作用时，人民便有权力改变或废除它，以建立一个新的政府；其赖以奠基的原则，其组织权力的方式，务使人民认为唯有这样才最可能获得他们的安全和幸福。为了慎重起见，成立多年的政府，是不应当由于轻微和短暂的原因而予以变更的。过去的一切经验也都说明，任何苦难，只要是尚能忍受，人类都宁愿容忍，而无意为了本身的权益便废除他们久已习惯了的政府。但是，当追逐同一目标的一连串滥用职权和强取豪夺发生，证明政府企图把人民置于专制统治之下时，那么人民就有权利，也有义务推翻这个政府，并为他们未来的安全建立新的保障。

    Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

    这就是这些殖民地过去逆来顺受的情况，也是它们不得不改变政府制度的原因。大不列颠国在位国王的历史，是接连不断的伤天害理和强取豪夺的历史，这些暴行的唯一目标，就是想在这些州建立专制的暴政。为了证明所言属实，现把下列事实向公正的世界宣布。

    He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

    他拒绝批准对公众利益最有益、最必要的法律。

    He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

    他禁止他的总督们批准迫切而极为必要的法律，要不就把这些法律搁置起来暂不生效，等待他的同意；而一旦这些法律被搁置起来，他对它们就完全置之不理。

    He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

    他拒绝批准便利广大地区人民的其它法律，除非那些人民情愿放弃自己在立法机关中的代表权；但这种权利对他们有无法估量的价值，而且只有暴君才畏惧这种权利。

    He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

    他把各州立法团体召集到异乎寻常的、极为不便的、远离他们档案库的地方去开会，唯一的目的是使他们疲于奔命，不得不顺从他的意旨。

    He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

    他一再解散各州的议会，因为它们以无畏的坚毅态度反对他侵犯人民的权利。

    He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

    他在解散各州议会之后，又长期拒绝另选新议会；但立法权是无法取消的，因此这项权力仍由一般人民来行使。其实各州仍然处于危险的境地，既有外来侵略之患，又有发生内乱之忧。

    He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands .

    他竭力抑制我们各州增加人口；为此目的，他阻挠外国人入籍法的通过，拒绝批准其它鼓励外国人移居各州的法律，并提高分配新土地的条件。

    He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
    他拒绝批准建立司法权力的法律，藉以阻挠司法工作的推行。

    He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
    他把法官的任期、薪金数额和支付，完全置于他个人意志的支配之下。

    He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.
    他建立新官署，派遣大批官员，骚扰我们人民，并耗尽人民必要的生活物质。

    He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

    他在和平时期，未经我们的立法机关同意，就在我们中间维持常备军。

    He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
    他力图使军队独立于民政之外，并凌驾于民政之上。
    He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
    他同某些人勾结起来把我们置于一种不适合我们的体制且不为我们的法律所承认的管辖之下；他还批准那些人炮制的各种伪法案来达到以下目的：
    For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
    在我们中间驻扎大批武装部队；
    For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
    用假审讯来包庇他们，使他们杀害我们各州居民而仍然逍遥法外；
    For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
    切断我们同世界各地的贸易；
    For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
    未经我们同意便向我们强行征税；
    For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
    在许多案件中剥夺我们享有陪审制的权益；
    For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
    罗织罪名押送我们到海外去受审；
    For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
    在一个邻省废除英国的自由法制，在那里建立专制政府，并扩大该省的疆界，企图把该省变成既是一个样板又是一个得心应手的工具，以便进而向这里的各殖民地推行同样的极权统治；
    For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:
    取消我们的宪章，废除我们最宝贵的法律，并且根本上改变我们各州政府的形式；
    For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

    中止我们自己的立法机关行使权力，宣称他们自己有权就一切事宜为我们制定法律。
    He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

    他宣布我们已不属他保护之列，并对我们作战，从而放弃了在这里的政务。

    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our people.

    他在我们的海域大肆掠夺，蹂躏我们沿海地区，焚烧我们的城镇，残害我们人民的生命。

    He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

    他此时正在运送大批外国佣兵来完成屠杀、破坏和肆虐的老勾当，这种勾当早就开始，其残酷卑劣甚至在最野蛮的时代都难以找到先例。他完全不配作为一个文明国家的元首。
    He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
    他在公海上俘虏我们的同胞，强迫他们拿起武器来反对自己的国家，成为残杀自己亲人和朋友的刽子手，或是死于自己的亲人和朋友的手下。
    He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
    他在我们中间煽动内乱，并且竭力挑唆那些残酷无情、没有开化的印第安人来杀掠我们边疆的居民；而众所周知，印第安人的作战律令是不分男女老幼，一律格杀勿论的。
    In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
    在这些压迫的每一阶段中，我们都是用最谦卑的言辞请愿改善；但屡次请求所得到的答复是屡次遭受损害。一个君主，当他的品格已打上了暴君行为的烙印时，是不配做自由人民的统治者的。
    Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpation, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
    我们不是没有注意我们英国的弟兄。我们时常提醒他们，他们的立法机关企图把无理的管辖权横加到我们的头上。我们也曾把我们移民出这里和在这里定居的情形告诉他们。我们曾经向他们天生的正义感和雅量呼吁，我们恳求他们念在同种同宗的份上，弃绝这些掠夺行为，以免影响彼此的关系和往来。但是他们却对于这种正义和血缘的呼声一直充耳不闻。因此，我们实在不得不宣布和他们脱离，并且以对待世界上其它民族一样的态度对待他们：战即为敌；和则为友。
    We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
    因此，我们，在大陆会议上集会的美利坚合众国代表，以各殖民地善良人民的名义并经他们授权，向全世界最崇高的正义呼吁，说明我们的严正意向，同时郑重宣布；这些联合的殖民地是而且有权成为自由和独立的国家，它们取消一切对英国王室效忠的义务，它们和大不列颠国家之间的一切政治关系从此全部断绝，而且必须断绝；作为自由独立的国家，它们完全有权宣战、缔和、结盟、通商和独立国家有权去做的一切行动。为了支持这篇宣言，我们坚决信赖上帝的庇佑，以我们的生命、我们的财产和我们神圣的名誉，彼此宣誓。

    世界人权宣言（1948——2018 ）

    序 言

    鉴于对人类家庭所有成员的固有尊严及其平等的和不移的权利的承认，乃是世界自由、正义与和平的基础，鉴于对人权的无视和侮蔑已发展为野蛮暴行，这些暴行玷污了人类的良心，而一个人人享有言论和信仰自由并免予恐惧和匮乏的世界的来临，已被宣布为普通人民的最高愿望，

    鉴于为使人类不致迫不得已铤而走险对暴政和压迫进行反叛，有必要使人权受法治的保护，鉴于有必要促进各国间友好关系的发展，鉴于各联合国国家的人民已在联合国宪章中重申他们对基本人权、人格尊严和价值以及男女平等权利的信念，并决心促成较大自由中的社会进步和生活水平的改善，鉴于各会员国业已誓愿同联合国合作以促进对人权和基本自由的普遍尊重和遵行，鉴于对这些权利和自由的普遍了解对于这个誓愿的充分实现具有很大的重要性，因此，大会发布这一世界人权宣言，作为所有人民和所有国家努力实现的共同标准，以期每一个人和社会机构经常铭念本宣言，努力通过教诲和教育促进对权利和自由的尊重，并通过国家的和国际的渐进措施，使这些权利和自由在各会员国本身人民及在其管辖下领土的人民中得到普遍和有效的承认和遵行。

    主要条款

    第一条 人人生而自由，在尊严和权利上一律平等。他们赋有理性和良心，并应以兄弟关系的精神相对待。
    第二条 人人有资格享有本宣言所载的一切权利和自由，不分种族、肤色、性别、语言、宗教、政治或其他见解、国籍或社会出身、财产、出生或其他身分等任何区别。
    并且不得因一人所属的国家或领土的政治的、行政的或者国际的地位之不同而有所区别，无论该领土是独立领土、托管领土、非自治领土或者处于其他任何主权受限制的情况之下。
    第三条 人人有权享有生命、自由和人身安全。
    第四条 任何人不得使为奴隶或奴役；一切形式的奴隶制度和奴隶买卖，均应予以禁止。
    第五条 任何人不得加以酷刑，或施以残忍的、不人道的或侮辱性的待遇或刑罚。
    第六条 人人在任何地方有权被承认在法律前的人格。
    第七条 法律之前人人平等，并有权享受法律的平等保护，不受任何歧视。人人有权享受平等保护，以免受违反本宣言的任何歧视行为以及煽动这种歧视的任何行为之害。

    第八条 任何人当宪法或法律所赋予他的基本权利遭受侵害时，有权由合格的国家法庭对这种侵害行为作有效的补救。

    第九条 任何人不得加以任意逮捕、拘禁或放逐。

    第十条 人人完全平等地有权由一个独立而无偏倚的法庭进行公正的和公开的审讯，以确定他的权利和义务并判定对他提出的任何刑事指控。
    第十一条 一 、凡受刑事控告者,在未经获得辩护上所需的一切保证的公开审判而依法证实有罪以前，有权被视为无罪。二 、任何人的任何行为或不行为，在其发生时依国家法或国际法均不构成刑事罪者，不得被判为犯有刑事罪。刑罚不得重于犯罪时适用的法律规定。

    第十二条 任何人的私生活、家庭、住宅和通信不得任意干涉，他的荣誉和名誉不得加以攻击。人人有权享受法律保护，以免受这种干涉或攻击。

    第十三条 一、 人人在各国境内有权自由迁徙和居住。二、 人人有权离开任何国家，包括其本国在内，并有权返回他的国家。

    第十四条 一 、人人有权在其他国家寻求和享受庇护以避免迫害。二、在真正由于非政治性的罪行或违背联合国的宗旨和原则的行为而被起诉的情况下，不得援用此种权利。

    第十五条 一、人人有权享有国籍。二、 任何人的国籍不得任意剥夺，亦不得否认其改变国籍的权利。
    第十六条 一、 成年男女，不受种族、国籍或宗教的任何限制有权婚嫁和成立家庭。他们在婚姻方面，在结婚期间和在解除婚约时，应有平等的权利。二、 只有经男女双方的自由和完全的同意，才能缔婚。三、 家庭是天然的和基本的社会单元，并应受社会和国家的保护。

    第十七条 一 、人人得有单独的财产所有权以及同他人合有的所有权。二 、任何人的财产不得任意剥夺。

    第十八条 人人有思想、良心和宗教自由的权利；此项权利包括改变他的宗教或信仰的自由，以及单独或集体、公开或秘密地以教义、实践、礼拜和戒律表示他的宗教或信仰的自由。

    第十九条 人人有权享有主张和发表意见的自由；此项权利包括持有主张而不受干涉的自由，和通过任何媒介和不论国界寻求、接受和传递消息和思想的自由。

    第二十条 一 、人人有权享有和平集会和结社的自由。二、 任何人不得迫使隶属于某一团体。

    第二十一条 一、 人人有直接或通过自由选择的代表参与治理本国的权利。二、 人人有平等机会参加本国公务的权利。三 、人民的意志是政府权力的基础；这一意志应以定期的和真正的选举予以表现，而选举应依据普遍和平等的投票权，并以不记名投票或相当的自由投票程序进行。
    第二十二条 每个人，作为社会的一员，有权享受社会保障，并有权享受他的个人尊严和人格的自由发展所必需的经济、社会和文化方面各种权利的实现，这种实现是通过国家努力和国际合作并依照各国的组织和资源情况。
    第二十三条 一、 人人有权工作、自由选择职业、享受公正和合适的工作条件并享受免于失业的保障。二、 人人有同工同酬的权利，不受任何歧视。三、 每一个工作的人，有权享受公正和合适的报酬，保证使他本人和家属有一个符合人的生活条件，必要时并辅以其他方式的社会保障。四、 人人有为维护其利益而组织和参加工会的权利。
    第二十四条 人人有享有休息和闲暇的权利，包括工作时间有合理限制和定期给薪休假的权利。
    第二十五条 一、 人人有权享受为维持他本人和家属的健康和福利所需的生活水准，包括食物、衣着、住房、医疗和必要的社会服务；在遭到失业、疾病、残废、守寡、衰老或在其他不能控制的情况下丧失谋生能力时，有权享受保障。二、 母亲和儿童有权享受特别照顾和协助。一切儿童，无论婚生或非婚生，都应享受同样的社会保护。
    第二十六条 一、 人人都有受教育的权利,教育应当免费，至少在初级和基本阶段应如此。初级教育应属义务性质。技术和职业教育应普遍设立。高等教育应根据成绩而对一切人平等开放。二 、教育的目的在于充分发展人的个性并加强对人权和基本自由的尊重。教育应促进各国、各种族或各宗教集团间的了解、容忍和友谊，并应促进联合国维护和平的各项活动。三、 父母对其子女所应受的教育的种类，有优先选择的权利。
    第二十七条 一 、人人有权自由参加社会的文化生活，享受艺术，并分享科学进步及其产生的福利。二 、人人对由于他所创作的任何科学、文学或美术作品而产生的精神的和物质的利益，有享受保护的权利。
    第二十八条 人人有权要求一种社会的和国际的秩序，在这种秩序中，本宣言所载的权利和自由能获得充分实现。
    第二十九条 一 、人人对社会负有义务，因为只有在社会中他的个性才可能得到自由和充分的发展。二 、人人在行使他的权利和自由时，只受法律所确定的限制，确定此种限制的唯一目的在于保证对旁人的权利和自由给予应有的承认和尊重，并在一个民主的社会中适应道德、公共秩序和普遍福利的正当需要。三 这些权利和自由的行使，无论在任何情形下均不得违背联合国的宗旨和原则。
    第三十条 本宣言的任何条文，不得解释为默许任何国家、集团或个人有权进行任何旨在破坏本宣言所载的任何权利和自由的活动或行为。

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Preamble

    Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

    Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

    Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

    Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

    Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

    Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

    Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

    Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

    Article 1.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
    Article 2.Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
    Article 3.Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
    Article 4.No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
    Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
    Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
    Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
    Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
    Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
    Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
    Article 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
    Article 12.No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
    rticle 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
    Article 14.(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
    Article 15.(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
    Article 16.(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
    Article 17.(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
    Article 18.Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
    Article 19.Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
    Article 20.(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
    Article 21.(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
    Article 22.Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
    Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
    Article 24.Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
    Article 25.(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
    Article 26.(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
    Article 27.(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
    Article 28.Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
    Article 29.(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
    Article 30.Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

  • 沈志华：斯大林与中国内战的起源（1945-1946）

    本文刊载于《社会科学战线》2008年第10期，第115-131页。

    　　战后苏联对外政策与中国内战的关系，是冷战国际史研究的一个重要课题。中国学者起步较早，1992年出版的牛军和杨奎松的两部重要专著，都较多涉及到这个问题，其史料特点是使用了大量当时难得一见的中共中央文电。接着，挪威学者文安立出版了英文专著，更集中地讨论了美苏冷战与中国内战起源的关系。此后，各国学者又有一些新的研究成果问世。本文参与对这个问题的讨论，主要是基于以下两点考虑：

    　　其一，出现了新的档案文献。2000年俄国科学院远东研究所编辑出版了《二十世纪俄中关系：文献与资料》的第4卷第2册，收集的是1945年的档案；2005年又出版了第5卷的两册，收集的是1946年至1950年初的档案。这三本档案集公布的1945-1950年中苏关系档案资料共815件，此外还有作为附录的几十个文件。就中国档案而言，最有价值的是中央文献出版社2003年出版的《彭真年谱》，其中使用了大量以前未曾披露的中共中央与东北局、重庆代表团之间的往来文电。这些有关中国内战时期的档案文献十分重要，对于这段中国历史，特别是苏联与中国内战之间的关系的研究，应该说是不可或缺的。无论最后的结论如何，研究者都有必要依据这些新的档案文献，对过去讨论的问题进行重新审视。

    　　其二，需要观察问题的新视角。以往的研究多是把中国历史作为主线，重点在于论述中共对革命和内战的考虑及其战略、策略的变化，这方面的研究已经比较成熟。但问题还有另一个方面，即作为国际背景的苏联对外政策及冷战格局的变化。中国的革命和内战不是孤立的。战后初期，中共的战略和策略受制于苏联的外交方针和美苏关系的现状；内战后期，中国革命的发展和国内局势的变化则反过来引起了苏联对华政策的转变，进而影响到整个冷战格局的改变。这些现象说明，苏联的战后对外政策及冷战战略和策略与中国的革命和内战之间存在着紧密的联系。研究者需要考虑：在冷战缘起的过程中，苏联对外战略的构想发生了什么变化，这些变化如何影响了其对中国内战的方针；把中国内战的起源和结果作为一个案例，如何解读苏联对冷战的战略构想及其变化。

    　　本文主要考察战后初期苏联对外政策与中国内战起源之间的复杂关系。-

    　　

    　　一、斯大林在中国推行“联合政府”政策

    　　

    　　中国是一个与苏联接壤却无法纳入其势力范围的大国。在战争期间（特别是1941年以后），盟国对中国的支持和援助主要来自美国，也是罗斯福在开罗给蒋介石戴上了一顶“四强首脑”之一的桂冠， 因此，战后中美关系的发展前景是可以想见的。但是，中国又是苏联最大的邻国，两国边境线长达数千公里，因而构成对苏联东部安全的潜在威胁。为了建立东方安全带，斯大林以参加对日战争为诱饵，说服美国与其共同迫使中国签署了一个中苏友好同盟条约，从而达到了把外蒙古从中国分离出去以及在中国东北地区享有独占权益的战略目标。为实现这个战略构想，战后初期苏联对华方针的重要内容，同其他共产党活跃的欧洲国家一样，也是推行“联合政府”政策。

    　　1945年6月，第11-12期《布尔什维克》杂志发表的一篇评论员文章称：战后中国必须有一个“由战时所有民主党派、团体和组织所加强的国家民主阵线；只有这样，……中国才能成为一支强大的、独立的和民主的力量”。这个公开发表的言论实际上反映了斯大林多次与美国人谈话时表达的立场，也就是他在战后提倡的“联合政府”政策。在4-5月间两次与美国驻华大使赫尔利的谈话中，斯大林称蒋介石是“无私的”，是“爱国者”，但应在政治上对中共让步，以求得军令的统一。斯大林还表示，不能认为中国共产党人是真正的共产党人，苏联从来没有，今后也不会帮助中国共产党人。同美国一样，莫斯科也希望看到一个在蒋介石统治下的民主和统一的中国。

    　　显然，斯大林认为在中国出现的应该是以资产阶级政党为核心的联合政府。但中国共产党的主张与此不同。毛泽东在《论联合政府》中提出的中共的一般纲领是建立“新民主主义的国家制度”，即共产党领导的联合政府，推翻国民党的一党专制。对此，莫斯科是十分了解的。然而，中共当时似乎并不清楚斯大林的主张。毛泽东在中共七大的最后报告中指出，“国际无产阶级长期不援助我们”，因为“没有国际援助”，就要“学会自力更生”。不过，从意识形态的角度，中共相信“国际无产阶级的援助一定要来的”。所以，尽管早在6月就听说了有关中苏条约的内容，但中共不相信莫斯科会“承认蒋介石是中国唯一的领袖”。

    　　对于延安来说，苏联出兵东北是一个突如其来的消息，更使毛泽东惊喜的是日本突然宣布无条件投降，这似乎为中共提供了一个与蒋家王朝争夺天下的天赐良机。毛泽东一度认为，通过武力的较量立即实现中共的主张可能是最佳选择。8月9日苏联兵分三路进入东北，中共中央立刻意识到这有可能导致日本投降，第二天便指示各中央局和中央分局：“在此历史突变之时，应立即布置动员一切力量，向敌、伪进行广泛的进攻，迅速扩大解放区，壮大我军，并须准备于日本投降时，我们能迅速占领所有被我包围和力所能及的大小城市、交通要道，以正规部队占领大城及要道，以游击队民兵占小城。”同时要求华中局即日派部队夺取南京、上海、武汉、徐州、芜湖、信阳等大城市和要点，沿津浦、沪宁、沪杭线各中小城镇则由地方部队动员民兵占领，同时宣布江苏、安徽、浙江、湖北省主席和上海、南京市长人选名单。

    　　中央还指出：“不怕爆发内战，而要以胜利的内战来制止内战和消灭内战”。11日，延安总部命令八路军华北、西北部队向热河、察哈尔、辽宁、吉林等地进发。12日，中共又调整了华中部署：在江南不再占领各大城市，只夺取广大乡村及县城，“准备内战战场”，若内战胜利，就原地继续扩展，若内战失利，则转入闽浙赣，创造新局面，但决不退回江北；江北力量则全力“占领津浦路及长江以北、津浦以东、淮河以北一切城市”，并“配合八路军占领陇海路”。 显然，中共的战略是利用苏联出兵和日本投降造成的权力真空，控制广大的原日伪占领区，准备夺取中国的半壁河山。

    　　此时，远在大后方的蒋介石面对突变的形势，看在眼里，急在心上。作为缓兵之计，就在中苏条约签字的当天，即8月14日，他电邀毛泽东赴重庆，共商”“国际国内各种重要问题”。但周恩来一眼便看出，蒋介石“请毛往渝全系欺骗”。20日蒋再次来电催促，中共仍不为所动，继续抓紧进行部署。毛泽东一方面命令晋绥和晋察冀部队配合苏军“夺取张家口、平津、保定、石家庄、沧州、唐山、山海关、锦州、朝阳、承德、沽源、大同”，一方面针对华中局打算在上海发动武装起义的报告答复说：你们的“方针是完全正确的，望坚决彻底执行此方针，并派我军有力部队入城援助。其他城市如有起义条件，照此办理。”

    　　就在中共积极部署，准备夺取华东、华北、西北、东北大部分地方政权的关键时刻，10月20或21日，莫斯科给中共中央发来电报，指出：中国不能打内战，否则中华民族就有被毁灭的危险，毛泽东应赴重庆进行和谈。在斯大林看来，中共拒不和谈而坚持武装夺权的方针，必将导致远东局势的紧张。斯大林既不相信中共的军事实力，也不了解中共的最终目标，但他知道一点：无论中国内战结局如何，都会破坏业已签订且为莫斯科得意的中苏同盟条约及苏美共同构建的雅尔塔体系，从而给苏联在远东的安全和利益带来不堪设想的后果。因此，中共必须像西欧各国共产党一样，在蒋介石领导的“联合政府”的框架内寻求和平与稳定。

    　　对于来自莫斯科的“国际援助”，中共固然没有抱多大希望，但无论如何也没有想到斯大林会下一道“不许革命”的禁令，这不啻向毛泽东头上泼了一盆冷水，中共不得不改弦更张。21日，中共中央致电华中局，取消上海起义计划。22日，中共中央和中央军委联合发出指示：“苏联为中、苏条约所限制及为维持远东和平，不可能援助我们。蒋介石利用其合法地位接受敌军投降，敌伪只能将大城市及交通要道交给蒋介石。在此种形势下，我军应改变方针，除个别地点仍可占领外，一般应以相当兵力威胁大城市及要道，使敌伪向大城要道集中，而以必要兵力着重于夺取小城及广大乡村，扩大并巩固解放区，发动群众斗争，并注意组训军队，准备应付新局面，作持久打算。”同时，总体战略也只能由选择“革命”方式转向选择和谈方式：“我党在和平、民主、团结三大口号下准备和国民党谈判，争取有利于我党及人民的条件”。

    　　至于苏军管制下的东北，中共还是寄予很大希望，仍坚持“迅速争取东北”，只因不明苏联的立场，所以决定先派干部去那里发动群众，建立地方政权和地方武装，是否派军队占领，还要视情况而定。同日，毛泽东给蒋回电：“兹为团结大计，特先派周恩来同志前来晋谒”。23日蒋介石第三封电报再邀，毛泽东次日答复，周恩来先去，他本人“准备随即赴渝”。

    　　战略方针出现如此急转弯，是需要给全党和全军一个交代的，原因当然主要是苏联表明了态度。23日下午，中共中央政治局在延安枣园召开扩大会议，毛泽东详细解释了这个问题。毛在分析了战后进入和平阶段的两种情况（可以占领或无法占领大城市）后指出，由于得不到苏联的帮助，“没有外援不能克敌”，“我们只能在得不到大城市的情况下进入和平阶段”。至于苏联为什么不能帮助中共，毛泽东从国际政治的角度解释说，美苏需要实现国际和平，“苏如助我，美必助蒋，大战即爆发，和平不能取得”。毛还对比了希腊和中国的情况：苏联没有援助希腊，是因希腊为英国所必争，而中国则为美国所必争。如果中共占领南京、上海等大城市，美国必然进行干涉。

    　　显然，毛泽东已经看出，中国不在苏联的势力范围内，并断定苏联进军中国的区域大概会限定在东北三省。所以，中共在关内的一切军事行动都不会得到苏联的援助。于是，出路只有一条：“在全国范围内大体要走法国的路，即资产阶级领导而有无产阶级参加的政府”。而在中国，联合政府的形式“现在是独裁加若干民主，并将占相当长的时期”。目前“我们还是钻进去给蒋介石洗脸，而不要砍头”，将来再“实现新民主主义的中国”。看来，中共是不得不走这条“弯路”了。第二天毛泽东发出的一个指示当是对上述讲话的注释：“时局变化，抗日阶段结束，和平建设阶段开始”；“我党口号是和平、民主、团结”；“大城市进行和平、民主、团结的工作，争取我党的地位，不取军事占领政策”；“力争占领小城市及乡村”；“一切作持久打算，依靠人民”。

    　　8月25日，中共又接到美军中国战区司令官魏德迈的邀请电，遂开会商定，毛泽东、周恩来、王若飞同去重庆谈判。在第二天政治局会议上，毛泽东讲述了中共参加重庆谈判的原则和方针。既然谈判，就需做出让步，中共的原则是“在不伤害双方根本利益的条件下”达到妥协。让步的限度：“第一批地区是广东至河南的根据地，第二批是江南的根据地，第三批是江北的根据地”。但是，在陇海路以北直到外蒙的地区，“一定要我们占优势”，“东北我们也要占优势”。毛说，如果不答应这些条件，就不签字，并“准备坐班房”。“随便缴枪”是绝对不行的，延安也不会“轻易搬家”。

    　　由此可以看出，毛泽东虽然讲的是走法国式的道路——这是对斯大林路线的准确理解，恐怕也是说给斯大林听的，但实际准备实行的谈判方针及其所确定的目标与斯大林的设想有重大区别：第一，斯大林主张的是共产党进入由资产阶级政党掌权的政府，而毛泽东设想的“联合政府”却是要与国民党平分天下，至少来个武装割据。第二，斯大林要求共产党放弃武装斗争，走和平的道路，而毛泽东却坚持无论如何不能放下枪杆子的原则。第三，斯大林设想的“联合政府”是长久之计，而毛泽东却把和平谈判作为一种权宜之计。总之，迫于形势，毛泽东不得不委曲求全，亲赴重庆与夙敌蒋介石谈判，而内心却十分明白，莫斯科的“联合政府”实属一厢情愿，最后解决问题还要靠武装斗争。

    　　在重庆谈判过程中，莫斯科对国共和谈的结果以及中共的实际立场已经逐步有所了解，但除了坚持建立统一政府的原则外，并没有再发表具体意见。8月30日，在重庆的苏联大使彼得罗夫报告说，周恩来在与他会谈时表示，“根据全部情况判断，蒋介石已经下定决心打算解决共产党的问题”，但“我们不可能指望蒋介石会做出过多的让步”，其主张的实际结果“将不可避免地导致中国共产党及其武装力量被消灭的结局”。周恩来强调，中共历来一直进行着反对国民党反动派的武装斗争，如何“从武装斗争急剧地转向和平建设”，干部和群众都没有准备好。因此，需要莫斯科提供情报和意见。彼得罗夫的回答是：“周恩来同志在党政工作方面经验相当丰富”，“将能够正确地评价中国目前的局势并采取正确措施。”

    　　9月6日，美国大使赫尔利告诉彼得罗夫，在谈判中，“毛泽东要求将包括首都北平在内的5个省转交给共产党人，以便使他们能够在那里建立自己的政府和供养自己的军队”。赫尔利声称，英国人支持在中国“分而治之”，而斯大林则告诉哈里曼，“允许在中国建立两个政府”是“愚蠢”的。以此为出发点，赫尔利一再建议苏联和美国共同发表一个支持国民政府得声明。彼得罗夫对此没有响应。同一天，毛泽东也拜访了苏联大使。毛泽东介绍说，谈判表明，蒋介石极力要“继续实行一党专政”，并用武力封锁共产党的地区和军队。

    　　所以，“联合政府”已经谈不上了，他们只同意让共产党和其他党派代表加入国民党领导的政府。对于共产党来说，毛泽东指出，“如果国民党同意将除特区以外的5个省——山东、河北、山西、察哈尔和热河的行政管理权移交给我们的话，那么，我们将会同意放弃华南和华中的解放区”。最后，毛泽东表示中共的让步是有限度的。为此，毛和周恩来、王若飞一再追问，苏联对此持有什么立场，“如果美国将帮助国民党军队消灭共产党军队，苏联将会采取何种步骤”。彼得罗夫只是一味强调：“苏联非常希望看到中国在政治上统一，两党的谈判应该继续下去，并通过相互的让步达成一致意见。”第二天，彼得罗夫又向东北特派员蒋经国表示了同样的看法。

    　　10月10日，就在谈判协定签字的当天，毛泽东再次拜会苏联大使。毛说，将要发表的联合公报表明中共取得了胜利，是将来“进行宣传的某种依据”。但又强调，“蒋介石不会履行达成的协议”，“他会继续进行反共的军事准备”。因此，“中共的军队也正在三个主要方面加紧作应战的准备”。毛接着说，“消灭国民党的几个师”没有问题，中共唯一担心的是美国会公开干涉中国内政，并问苏联人，如果美国出兵怎么办。中共没有明说的愿望当然是希望得到苏联的支持和援助，几天前周恩来就提出了同样问题，当时彼得罗夫未置可否，现在面对毛泽东的提问，彼得罗夫的答复也只是：“必须通过和平的途径妥善调解局面，尽量避免与美国人发生武装冲突”。

    　　目前尚未发现有关重庆谈判更多的俄国档案，不过，苏联使馆的态度应该说是反映了莫斯科的立场。显然，斯大林此时坚持的原则仍然是建立以国民党为主的统一的联合政府，为此，在中国必须避免内战。不过，彼得罗夫作为外交官的谨慎表态也说明，斯大林并不想强迫中共接受某种具体做法，他为自己的实际行动留下了充分的回旋余地。毕竟，提出“联合政府”政策只是一种手段，就目的而言，有一点莫斯科与延安的想法是一致的，那就是必须保证对中国东北的控制。

    　　

    　　二、斯大林左右逢源与中共独占东北的决心

    　　

    　　苏联红军出兵东北当然不仅仅是为了消灭日本关东军，其主要目的是为了使东北地区成为苏联的势力范围和东方安全屏障。作为签署中苏条约的对应条件，斯大林已经向美国人和蒋介石许诺，东北的行政权将交给国民政府，而苏军则在3个月内撤离中国，希望以此换取中国政府的对苏友好立场。但是，无论是从意识形态出发，还是着眼于地缘政治，斯大林对蒋介石及其支持者美国，既不放心，也不信任。所以，苏联不能把对东北的控制完全寄托在已经公开表明的既定政策上，而要把主动权牢牢掌握自己手中。为此，莫斯科至少利用了以下三种途径：

    　　首先，通过大量的宣传鼓动工作在东北地区营造对苏友好的氛围。在军事推进过程中，苏军军事委员会和政治部不断向中国居民发放各种宣传品，开展各种宣传活动。仅远东第一方面军政治部就用中文印制了86种、总数超过470万份的传单。在东北作战的前4天当中，苏联散发和张贴的中朝文标语、传单和宣传画就有9000万份。此外，苏军还在当地出版报纸和定期刊物，吸收和培养大批通晓汉语、朝语、日语的宣传骨干。仅第一方面军总部在8月份就举办了大约200场报告会、座谈会，组织音乐会或戏剧、电影演出160场。

    　　其次，充分利用隶属远东方面军侦察处的原东北抗日联军的中国和朝鲜干部。40年代初，抗日联军在东北的大规模军事活动失败后，周保中、李兆麟、金日成等一批干部率残部陆续退往苏联，组建国际旅，继续坚持战斗。1942年7月，经共产国际批准，这支部队在苏军统制下组成第88独立步兵旅，并在远东哈巴洛夫斯克营地接受训练。对日作战准备阶段，该旅的任务是提供情报和向导。苏联出兵的第二天，旅长周保中便部署该旅准备反攻，与八路军会师，解放东北。8月11日却接到斯大林的电报：“待命”。

    　　日本宣布投降后，周保中又致信苏联远东军总司令华西列夫斯基元帅，建议由第88旅接管长春，并为建立东北民主政府和人民军作准备。如果接受这个设想，周要求苏军将该旅骨干力量交给中共中央或八路军安排。这个建议也遭到拒绝，华西列夫斯基下达了另一个指示：为了扩大苏联的影响，安排这些干部分散随苏军行动，协助占领当局开展政治和行政工作。9月6-9日，第88旅的中国干部受命分四批到东北各大城市苏军指挥部报到。10月，该部队建制被取消。显然，斯大林一方面担心周保中的计划破坏他对蒋介石的承诺，一方面需要把这支由中朝战士组成的部队留给自己用。

    　　最后，也是最重要的，就是借助中共的力量来控制国民党行政当局对东北的接管进程和实际结果。应该说，前两个措施不过都是为了使苏军能在东北站住脚，并扩大苏联在那里的影响，而斯大林明白，苏联的军事力量迟早是要退出东北的。那么，到底把东北的直接控制权交到国共两党谁的手上，才能保证莫斯科的实际控制和势力范围，斯大林是有深远考虑的。就苏联对中国以及东北采取的政策而言，国民政府的东北行营主任熊式辉可算是一语中的：“苏联只要看见中国有联合政府，一切便好谈。”最初，斯大林在国共之间所采取的左右逢源的立场，与中共逐步确立的独占东北的战略确实有些不合拍，以至一度引起毛泽东的失望和不满。不过，国际局势的变化最终还是让他们走到了一起。

    　　由于得知东北的行政权将交给国民党，直到8月26日，中共中央还在犹豫是否派大部队去抢占东北。不过如前所述，控制东北已是既定方针，需要考虑的只是方式。中共中央很快就想出了对策，8月29日中共中央在给北方各分局的指示中说：尽管受中苏条约限制，苏联“必不肯和我们作正式接洽或给我们以帮助”，但条约中也明白规定“所有中国籍人员，不论军民均归中国管辖”，苏联不干涉中国内政。因此，“我党我军在东三省之各种活动，只要不直接影响苏联在外交条约上之义务，苏联将会采取放任的态度并寄予伟大之同情”。同时，“国民党在东三省与热、察又无基础”，且“派军队去尚有困难”，而“红军将于三个月内全部撤退，这样我党还有很好的机会争取东三省和热、察”。

    　　于是，中共中央要求“晋察冀和山东准备派到东三省的干部和部队，应迅速出发，部队可用东北军及义勇军等名义，只要红军不坚决反对，我们即可非正式的进入东三省。不要声张，不要在报上发表消息，进入东三省后开始亦不必坐火车进占大城市，可走小路，控制广大乡村和红军未曾驻扎之中小城市，建立我之地方政权及地方部队”。“热河、察哈尔两省不在中苏条约范围内，我必须完全控制，必须迅速派干部和部队到一切重要地区去工作，建立政权与地方武装”。对苏军只通报情况，既不要正式接洽，也不要请求帮助，总之不要使之为难。高岗在9月3日一封电报中也称：“对东北我党必须力争，中央已有充分准备及具体对策。”

    　　中共军队突然大量出现在东北，一时搞得苏军不知所措。中共军队最初进入东北各地后的不同遭遇，说明了这种情况。冀热辽军区曾克林部进攻山海关时，不仅与苏军联合发出最后通牒，还得到苏军炮火支援，到达沈阳时却受到苏联驻军百般阻拦，被围困在火车上整整一天；进驻沈阳的中共先头军队从苏军转交的日本军火库中获取了大量武器装备，而徒手赶来的后续部队却吃了闭门羹，什么也没有得到；还有些进入东北的部队，不仅得不到急需的通讯器材和印刷设备，甚至还被苏军缴械，并禁止他们在苏军占领区活动。如此等等。造成这种局面的具体原因很复杂，有的显然是出于无产阶级国际主义而表现出对中国同志的支持，有的恐怕是由于对中共所属部队缺乏了解而产生的误会，有的大概是基层指挥员不了解外交方针而擅自采取的行动，还有的肯定是占领当局受制于国际舆论而有意采取的回避态度。总的讲，问题的症结在于，对于莫斯科有意采取的模糊政策，苏联军人和中共领导人最初都没有搞清楚，而他们之间又缺乏沟通和联系。

    　　于是，9月14日华西列夫斯基派代表飞到延安，传达莫斯科的要求，并与中共领导人进行协商。苏联代表在会谈中明确表示：苏军撤离中国前，国共军队均不得进入东北，请朱德命令已进入沈阳、长春、大连等地的中共部队退出苏军占领地区；苏军不久即行撤退，苏联不干涉中国内政，中国内部的问题由中国自行解决。而私下应允，已经进入东北的中共军队，如果不用八路军名义，不公开与苏军接洽，苏军可以“睁一只眼，闭一只眼”，还提出希望中共派负责人前往东北，以便随时联系，协调行动。锦州、热河两省则可以完全交给中共接管。16日，苏蒙联军代表又转告中共中央，“坚决要求八路军主力火速北开”，接收其所占领之内蒙古及东北各地，“确保北面及内蒙地区，以便同外蒙苏联经常保持联系”，苏军可接济部分武器。万不得已时，中共部队可进入外蒙，“但不可向南移”，“不要再让敌人隔断双方联系”。在重庆的苏联大使也向毛泽东、周恩来提出：中共当前的战略重心，应当是集中兵力，“确保张家口、古北口、山海关之线，防蒋进攻”。

    　　只派遣一名校级军官向中共领导人传话，表明莫斯科处事谨慎，仍要留有退路。彭真到沈阳后报告，苏军对银行、工厂、仓库一律派兵监守，不准搬用，对火车、汽车、汽油、广播电台也“绝对全部控制”，还要求中共军队移至城外，均反映了这种情况。尽管如此，苏联的意图却很明显：表面上国共军队都不得进入东北，但允许中共军队卡住进入东北的咽喉要道，一旦苏军撤退，中共便可抢先占领东北。这样，苏联既没有破坏中苏条约，又能保证内蒙、东北地区在自己掌控之中。机不可失，莫斯科的表态促使中共更加坚定了进军东北的决心。

    　　经过14日下午和晚上的讨论，刘少奇主持的中共中央政治局会议决心把全国的战略重点放在东北，把原来准备南下的部队和干部转向挺进东北，并决定建立以彭真为书记的中共中央东北局，随前来延安的苏联军用飞机飞往沈阳，加强对东北工作的领导。17日刘少奇向毛泽东报告：“东北为我势所必争，热、察两省必须完全控制。红军在东北现已开始撤退，据说在12月初将撤完，内蒙红军即将撤退，已三次要求我接防德王府、百灵庙一线。”为此，刘少奇提出“全国战略必须确定向北推进，向南防御的方针”。18日又建议紧急调重兵部署在热、察、冀东及东北沿海地区，阻止蒋军北进，控制东北。19日毛泽东回电：完全同意。到10月初，毛泽东的胃口更大了，中共中央设想的目标是：在华北、东北、苏北、皖北及边区全部实行人民自治，中央军不得开入，仅平、津、青三地可暂时驻一小部中央军，将来亦须退出；华北、东北各设政治委员会统一管理各省，中央政府不得违背自治原则派遣官吏，已派者须取消。

    　　在控制东北的问题上，斯大林最大的担忧在于美国势力渗透到苏联的势力范围，随着国民党军队在美国的援助下不断接近和开进东北，莫斯科的担心越来越加重，态度也越来越明朗。蒋介石非常担心因国军不能及时到达东北，而共军乘苏军撤退之机夺取优势，故早在9月11日就让行政院长宋子文向美国政府请求借船运兵。美国的态度也很积极，代理国务卿艾奇逊第二天便以备忘录形式将此事报告总统。9月18日杜鲁门总统答复：“驻西太平洋陆军和海军司令已下达命令，将按照魏德迈将军所明确指出的日期和港口运送前往满洲的中国军队提供船只”，“参谋长联席会议深信，在中国军队准备好登船前往满洲之日，将有足够的船只为其所用”。9月24-27日，就有消息转开，美军将在天津、大连、烟台、威海、秦皇岛登陆，蒋军将由空运和海运至平津。

    　　10月初，一方面是美国一再要求苏联公开保证遵守门户开放的原则，一方面是国民政府连连发出照会和通知：中国计划在满洲吸引外资，而美国有意投资；要求苏联开始考虑撤军问题；中国政府的第一批军队将在数日内乘坐美国军舰抵达大连。这如何不让斯大林心急？在与立法院长孙科的谈话中，彼得罗夫默认：“美国人在北平、天津、青岛和秦皇岛登陆”，“是导致局势更加严重化的因素”。而斯大林则向蒋经国坦言：“苏联政府不愿让美军进入满洲。这是苏联的地盘”，“无论美军、英军或其他外国军队，都不应当允许他们进入满洲”。既然认定国民党是美国人的傀儡，那么，要遏制第三国势力进入东北，只能依靠共产党。

    　　尽管在重庆，苏联大使对周恩来寻求帮助的提问依然闪烁其词，但在东北的苏联军人却对共产党显得格外坦率和热情。10月3日，一位未透露姓名的苏共中央军委委员在接待中共东北局负责人时，不仅热情称赞中国共产党人，而且高度赞赏中共关于“向南防御，向北发展”，争取控制东北的战略方针。他还认为，“满洲北部不成问题”，建议中共把主力部队部署在山海关方面（15万人）和沈阳周围（10万人），全力阻止国民党军进入东北。为了增强中共方面的信心，第二天苏方就通知中共东北局说，苏军准备把缴获的所有保存在沈阳、本溪、四平街、吉林、长春、安东、哈尔滨和齐齐哈尔日本关东军的武器弹药和军事装备，如数转交给中共，并说明这些武器弹药可以装备几十万人。

    　　10月上中旬，苏联一再拒绝国民政府关于国军在大连登陆的请求，即使蒋介石亲自出面也无济于事。同时，对设立在长春负责接收工作的东北行营，也是百般刁难，设置重重障碍。蒋经国向苏联使馆通报长春之行的感受时抱怨说，苏军不允许他们建立警卫队，拒绝到除沈阳外其他地区进行视察，还下令停止出版东北行营发行的《光复报》。与此同时，苏联却与中共紧密配合，加快了对东北的控制步伐。苏军指挥部下决心“打开前门”，拟把南满和锦州地区的行政权全部交付给中共，并应允在中共来不及接收的情况下，代为保存1个月。甚至在苏军完全控制的大连地区，占领当局也希望中共在那里建立起党政领导机关。10月6日，中共得知蒋军在大连登陆已被拒绝后，估计可能转向营口、锦州和安东，于是请求苏军“一律拒绝，至少拖延一个月至一个半月”。

    　　10天后彭真便报告，蒋军“到营口、锦州两处海岸企图登陆，已被拒绝”，苏方催促中共立即派兵在陆地阻击。因中共军队一时无法到达，苏方还答应再设法拖延几天。而在蒋军准备登陆的安东，不但出现了“民主政府”，还举行集会，呼吁满洲独立，撤消东北行营，甚至断水断电。10月19日，毛泽东从重庆回到延安后，决定按照苏方的要求，改变过去分散占领全东北的方针，而“集中主力于锦州、营口、沈阳之线，次要力量于庄河、安东之线，坚决拒止蒋军登陆及歼灭其一切可能的进攻，首先保卫辽宁、安东，然后掌握全东北”。21日又提出：“竭尽全力，霸占全东北，万一不成，亦造成对抗力量，以利将来谈判。”

    　　10月25日，苏联接到中方正式通知，政府军将使用美国舰队在营口和葫芦岛登陆。于是，苏军再次催促中共军队迅速接防中心城市和工业，逐步接收政权，并建议中共把领导中心移至沈阳，还声称：“如果说过去需要谨慎些，现在应该以主人自居，放开些干。”如蒋军在11月15日前进攻，苏军可协同中共军队给以打击。接到东北局的报告后，毛泽东“甚为欣慰”，即刻指示：“我党决心动员全力，控制东北，保卫华北、华中，六个月内粉碎其进攻，然后同蒋开谈判，迫他承认华北、东北的自治地位”；按照苏方意见“速在安东、营口、葫芦岛三处设防，加强军队配备，即速派兵控制一切重要飞机场，接收各主要城市的政权、工厂、兵工厂及武器弹药”；最重要的是请求苏方“拒止蒋方在两个月内登陆、着陆”。28日，东北局便拟定了东北九省的主席或特派专员名单，准备“以最快速度接收全部政权”。

    　　因受制于外交，苏联无法满足毛泽东的要求，经反复交涉，只得应允蒋军“10月30日在葫芦岛、营口登陆，11月12日进至锦州、海城线，11月20日进至沈阳，苏军则于11月25日撤完”，还同意先头部队在苏军撤离前三天空运至长春和沈阳。不过，苏方也公开声明，苏军数量不多，无法保证登陆部队的安全，而且并不打算限制共产党部队，因为苏联“不会干涉中国内政”。同时，苏方则通知中共，“同意我们在营口、葫芦岛作战，他们不加任何限制”，还同意中共前往沈阳和长春接收工厂、武器装备，并更换除市长外的长春各级政府。为此，11月上旬毛泽东不断发出指示。

    　　针对国民党军队在山海关发动的大规模进攻，毛泽东要求“必务要将这一地区一切可能的力量集中起来，以便在这场具有战略性决定意义的战役中取得胜利”。同时，要求部队“争取时间布置内线作战，决心保卫沈阳不让蒋军进占。一俟苏军撤退，我方即宣布东北人民自治。”在长春，据东北行营的通报，中共调动了大批军队集中在机场附近，约2000人已进出长春市，并示威性地包围了行营驻地。11月12日毛泽东在政治局扩大会议发表讲话：“派十九万军队去东北，这是有共产党以来第一次大规模的军事调动”。“总的来说，蒋一定攻，我坚决打”。“只要有现在的条件，苏联不帮助我们，我们也不怕。”只有此战得胜，“我们才能提出东北自治的问题”。

    　　然而，就在毛泽东准备利用苏联帮助的有利条件放手与蒋介石在东北一战的紧要关头，莫斯科的立场突然发生了变化。11月10日，斯大林从他的休养地索契给莫洛托夫、贝利亚、马林科夫和米高扬发出一封密码电报，指令他们“尽可能快地从延安和毛泽东部队活动区域撤离我们所有的联络官员和其他人员”，而且“越快撤出越好”。原因是“中国的国内战争正处在一个重要的转折点上，我担心我们的敌人将来会指责我们留在这些地区的人是中国国内战争的组织者，虽然我们的人并没有控制任何东西”。这一指令立即得到贯彻执行。

    　　第二天东北局报告：昨日友方突然通知陈云，已允许在苏军撤退前五天内让国民党空运部队到各大城市，并且不准我们在此期间与国民党军队发生冲突。友方一再声明，这是“莫斯科的决定”，东北苏军任何人员无权变动。如果五天中出现冲突，苏方“只能缴我们的械”。友方还一再提出，“莫斯科的利益应该是全世界共产主义者最高的利益”。17日马利诺夫斯基命令中共军队撤出长春、沈阳和哈尔滨，并不得阻碍国民党军队在长春和沈阳着陆。20日又“郑重通知”东北局：“长春路沿线及城市全部交蒋”，中共军队一律退至铁路线50公里以外；只要有苏军的地方，既不准与蒋军交战，也不许中共军队存在，“必要时不惜用武力”驱散；全东北境内，包括锦州至山海关段，均不准作战。同日，苏军驻哈尔滨卫戍司令部要求中共北满分局和军队三天之内撤出哈尔滨，中共部队撤出后，苏军即通知国民党政府，来哈接收。

    　　在重庆，苏联使馆也告诫中共代表王若飞，“为了避免遭到美国和中国舆论的反对”，中共最好不要试图占领长春路，并注意减少与苏联使馆和驻华机构的联系。24日，苏联心安理得地照会中国政府，现在可以毫无阻碍地向沈阳和长春空运部队了，苏军对东北中共军队“未曾予以任何帮助”，并表示苏军可延期一两个月撤离，以利中方接收。驻长春苏军指挥官还向东北行营副参谋长董彦平保证：“决心消除所有的暴民活动，严格保护各政府组织及其工作人员的住宅，并禁止一切对中国政府不利的宣传”。后经双方协商确定，为确保中国政府顺利接收，将苏联撤军完成日期改为1946年2月1日。

    　　苏联的态度为何突然改变？从斯大林密电和苏联参赞谈话的口气看，莫斯科的担心主要在于美国对东北事态发展的不满及其制造的舆论压力。蒋介石对这一点看的很清楚，早在10月19日他就有意向苏联大使建议：采纳美国的提议，召开第二次五国外长会议解决中国问题。11月8日蒋介石又在内部讨论时提出“将东北行营撤至山海关，同时声明不放弃东北，以使苏联违约之真相大白于天下”。一个星期后，国民政府正式向苏联发出照会：由于接收工作无法进行，决定于17日起将东北行营“迁移至山海关”。同时，中国又照会各国使领馆，告苏联阻碍接受工作。随后，蒋介石迅速将这一决定告诉华盛顿，并抱怨苏联人未能执行1945年中苏条约，希望与美国积极协调行动，防止局势继续恶化。

    　　莫斯科面临的压力还不只此，从10月下旬到11月初，在远东，苏联急于插手促成对日和约，反复就盟国对日管制机制问题与美国进行磋商。在近东，伊朗危机趋向国际化，对苏联感到绝望和恐惧的德黑兰政府开始求助于美国和联合国。针对苏联关于修改蒙特勒公约的诉求，美国也开始关注土耳其海峡问题，并提出了国际监督的建议。于是，苏联在一系列国际问题上都需要继续与美国保持一致，并争取美国支持自己的主张，这里当然也包括中国问题。所以，当11月下旬美国倡议召开三国外长会议解决这些国际问题时，苏联不仅积极响应，而且立即开始与美国进行紧密接触和协商。在这样的背景下，12月莫斯科外长会议做出美苏同时从中国撤军的决议，以及国务卿贝尔纳斯对斯大林履行中苏条约抱有乐观态度，就毫不奇怪了。

    　　于是，斯大林再次抛出了“联合政府”政策。在12月30日与蒋经国会谈时斯大林说：“苏联政府已经从延安召回了所有的代表，因为他们不同意中国共产党人的举动”，苏联政府仍然“承认蒋介石政府是中国的合法政府”，并认为中国“不能有两个政府，两支军队”，尽管“中国共产党人不同意这一点”。斯大林还一再辩白，苏联政府对中共的情况不了解，也未向中共提过任何建议，莫斯科对中共的行为不满意，更不能为他们的行为负责。而对中共，斯大林则希望他们放弃已经制定的目标。

    　　1946年1月，苏联使馆告诫中共在重庆的谈判代表，目前提出东北问题还“为时过早”，因为中央政府和来华调停的美国总统特使马歇尔都没有提到这个问题；“中共应该寻找和平解决所有军事和政治问题的道路”。苏联大使还警告周恩来：“在满洲发生战争，尤其是伤及美人，必致引起严重后果，有全军覆没及惹起美军入满的绝大危险。”以至周恩来不得不向苏联人检讨说，“对中共来说，与美国人的关系是一个新问题”，中共领导人认为苏军应该把东北交给中共，是因为“不懂得整个国际形势的复杂性”。而在给中共中央的报告中，周恩来指出：看到中共能以军事力量抵抗国民党进攻以利谈判时，他们就欢呼，看到中共要独霸东北、华北时，他们就惊呼。

    　　毛泽东确实需要再次改变战略方针了。得知苏联态度改变后，中共中央最初决定，一方面“照顾友方信用”，“服从总的利益”，一方面“仍须控制大城市”，重新部署力量，“准备一切条件于苏军撤走后歼灭顽军”。11月19-20日，中共的方针仍然是“在顾及苏联国际信用的条件下力争大城市”，希望苏军能把“锦州、葫芦岛及北宁路之一段”留给我们，并“尽可能推延蒋军进入满洲及各大城市的时间”。但是，11月22日，迫于形势的变化，刘少奇便提出了一个新的方针：“让开大路，占领两厢”。28日和29日，刘进一步明确：“独占东北已无此可能，但须力争在东北的一定地位”，今后工作重心为控制长春铁路以外的中小城市、次要铁路及广大乡村，“建立根据地，作长期打算”。

    　　武力解决不行，只好再次转入和谈。12月7-8日，中共提出准备恢复与国民党的谈判，和平解决东北问题，并希望苏联“居间折冲”。30日，中共公开呼吁：“立即全面无条件的停止内战”。1946年1月国共停战协议公布后，中共中央要求东北局“将部队高度分散”，迅速控制既无苏军驻扎又无国军开进的地区，特别是靠近苏联和蒙古的地区。到2月，随着和平谈判的进展，中共中央政治局决定毛泽东等人参加国府委员会，周恩来等人参加行政院，并力争周恩来任副院长，还批准了中共出席宪草审议委员会的名单。

    　　尽管很不情愿，但是在力量对比明显不利以及美苏两国的共同压力下，中共不得不暂时放弃进行大规模武装斗争的计划，准备与国民党和解，进入“联合”政府。然而，就在“和平”的曙光似乎将要出现的时候，情况又发生了急剧变化。

    　　

    　　三、苏联从东北撤军与中国内战的开启

    　　

    　　斯大林对华政策的根本目标是确保苏联在东北（还有蒙古）的独占地位，这就是说，是否援助中共，如何援助中共，完全取决于形势是否对苏联实现其在远东的战略目标有利。因此，苏军在1945年底准备撤离东北，把政权交给国民党的时候，仍然与中共保持着联系并秘密给以帮助。12月2日，随苏军行动的周保中等人报告：苏联远东军指挥部“愿意知道我全满实力及对东北方针，苏军表示在撤退前，在可能限度内一定给我物资帮助，但是讲究方法，并尽量制造困难给顽”。看来，即使在压制中共时，苏联人还是留了一手。

    　　果然，当东北局势的发展使莫斯科感到威胁时，苏联的态度又来了一个一百八十度的大转弯。关于苏联对华政策的目标，副外长洛索夫斯基在蒋经国访苏前给斯大林的报告中作了全面论述：第一，中国政府必须承认蒙古人民共和国独立；第二，中国必须保证长春铁路沿线的安全，在目前的混乱局面下，应提议苏联“铁路护卫队保留二至三年”；第三，“不准外国人及外国资本进入满洲”，“我们不能允许满洲成为另一个大国施加经济和政治影响力的场所”；第四，必须在苏联“积极参与满洲经济活动的情况下”实现与中国在东北的经济合作，为此就要控制一批合资公司，特别是船舶公司、航空公司和中长铁路。但恰恰在这些问题上，1946年初呈现出一种对苏联的危险局面。

    　　在中苏经济合作谈判中，为了及早撤军，减缓国际舆论压力，苏联代表一再表示愿意让步，只要中国同意对所有重工业公司实现双方合资经营，苏方就会进一步采取行动，帮助国民政府尽快解决东北的接管问题。而蒋介石在美国的支持下，态度却愈益强硬。1月26日他告诉中方谈判代表张嘉璈，对经济合作谈判采取“紧缩”态度。于是，尽管苏方代表斯特拉科夫斯基一再声称，莫斯科急于签署合作协议，并非要在东北“霸占利益”，而只是“不愿见有第三国再卷入”，但张嘉璈始终坚持强硬立场：战利品问题中方不予考虑，航空公司和轮船公司的问题也不讨论，一切非金属矿业不在合作之列，即使在合作企业，中方亦要求占51%的股份。

    　　在接下来的一个月里，苏方坚持尽快签订经济合作协定，方能最后撤军，中方则强调没有顺利交接行政权，故无法谈经济合作，以至经济谈判陷入僵局。此时，美国也不断向苏联施加压力。2月11日美国同时照会苏联和中国，对中苏经济谈判感到“不安”，认为这“与门户开放原则会有矛盾”，对美国的商业利益和威信“是一种明显的损害”，并表示美国有意参与谈判，在经济合作方面采取“共同行动”。这无疑更加刺激了斯大林敏感的神经。

    　　不仅与政府的谈判步履维艰，中国民间的反苏情绪也突然高涨起来。在雅尔塔会议召开一周年之际，2月11日，美英苏三国同时公布了有关远东问题的秘密协议。苏联同意公布协议，大概是着眼于对南萨哈林和千岛群岛占领的合法性，而美英这样做显然是针对东北问题的。为了进一步逼迫苏联撤军，美英在报纸上公开指责莫斯科违背雅尔塔协议。这在中国引起强烈反响，一时间舆论哗然，广大市民、学生纷纷涌上街头，张贴标语，示威游行，发表演说，抗议苏联在中国东北、新疆和内蒙的行为，要求苏军立即退东北。3月5日，国民党六届二中全会通过了《对苏联提出抗议，严重交涉限期撤退其东北驻军》的提案。

    　　3月6日，中国照会苏联，撤军期限已过，苏军尚未完全撤退，要求苏联政府饬令“即行撤退”。4月1日，蒋介石在第四届第二次国民参政会上发表演说，公开推翻东北停战协定，宣称“东北九省在主权的接收没有完成以前，没有什么内政可言。”东北的局面更加复杂，据苏联驻东北当局报告，国民党与土匪勾结，煽动反苏情绪，捣毁中苏友好协会甚至苏方的机构，苏联军人和侨民不断遭到骚扰、袭击和杀害等等。马利诺夫斯基还认定，张莘夫被害一案，就是土匪“精心策划的，目的在于破坏苏中关系”。面对如此局势，莫斯科只得再次打出中共这张牌。

    　　2月1日彭真报告：“辽阳、鞍山、本溪三处苏军已正式将政权交与我当地民主政府，并由双方签字。该区以南（包括安东）苏军不再交给国民党，对外暂不公布。”除旅顺、金州完全归苏军长期驻兵外，大连的副市长、区长及公安局长也都由中共干部担任。原因在于，该地区的煤铁业及若干大工业，已由苏方接收并开始经营，大连的工业也完全在苏方掌握之中。不仅如此，在2月22日与外蒙领导人乔巴山谈话中，斯大林甚至同意外蒙“可以悄悄地进行”宣传鼓动工作，以准备在兴安岭和内蒙古建立独立的国家。显然，斯大林现在还是希望把政权（无论在东北还是内蒙）交给共产党控制，以此来保证苏联的远东利益。

    　　有史料证明，此时中共中央已经了解到情况的变化，并考虑了新的方针。3月3日周恩来作为军调处的中共代表，与马歇尔、张治中（国民党代表）来到太原视察。当晚，周召集当地高级将领开会，传达了“党中央对当前情况的估计和战略意图”。周“压低了声音，把手攥成拳头向下挥着：中央决定现在谈不了了，要锤！”不过，这离采取实际行动还有一段时间。莫斯科显然有点迫不及待，看到中共没有进一步的举动，便提出了更加直接的建议。3月12日，东北局电告中央，苏军通知将于13日撤离沈阳，希望中共军队“迅速攻入沈阳”，而且“凡红军撤退处都可打”。

    　　然而，考虑到停战协定已经签字的背景以及军事力量的对比，中共中央决定，不仅不去进攻沈阳，沈阳至哈尔滨铁路沿线苏军撤退时亦不去占领，甚至准备让出已经到手的抚顺、本溪、鞍山、辽阳等地，以交换蒋军从热河撤军，并承认中共在东北的地位。看起来，此时毛泽东还没有改变“让开大路、占领两厢”，倚靠苏联、外蒙建立根据地，通过和谈解决东北问题的基本方针。这种稳重的态度与此前莫斯科的立场变来变去大概不无关系。

    　　苏联对于中共的犹豫不决、行动迟缓颇有不满，因而采取了更加强硬的态度。3月中旬东北局报告：苏军批评中共对美国人太客气了，更不应该同意让国民党的5个军开到东北来。又表示，凡苏军撤离之地，包括沈阳和四平，“我可以放手大打，并希望我放手大打”。为此，东北局要求在征得苏联同意后夺取四平街、哈尔滨，并进占其他大城市及长春路支线小城市，逼迫蒋介石谈判，甚至可以考虑夺取长春。与此同时，马歇尔给东北停战小组的指令规定，“小组只能随政府军前进，政府军有权进驻东北之主要地区，长春路两侧各30公里以内，政府军单独管理，苏军撤出地区中共军队不得开入占领等”，而对中共在东北的地位既没有提及，也不愿讨论。毛泽东对此极为不满，当即建议周恩来在谈判中提出：“承认政府军进驻沈阳至长春”，长春以北应为中共军队的驻扎地区。对此必须坚持，即使谈判“全面破裂”，“亦绝对不屈服”。

    　　在这种情况下，中共的方针开始发生重大转变。3月17日中共中央致电彭真和林彪：“国民党还不停战，沈阳以北长春路沿线的苏军撤退区，同意你们派兵进驻，以为将来谈判的条件，时间愈快愈好。”同日，毛泽东在批转周恩来关于商谈东北问题的报告上加了以下两段批示：“请东北局速与友方接洽，将整个中东路（包括哈市）让我驻兵，永远占住，不让国民党进驻一兵一卒。”“东北协定即将签字，请彭、林速即布置一切，造成优势，以利谈判。”又在批转周恩来商谈东北问题三点意见的说明时指示：“请彭、林按照针锋相对、寸土必争与有理、有利、有节之方针，准备与执行小组进行谈判。”当天，东北民主联军一部即收复四平。

    　　3月18日东北局再报：苏方“曾一再谈北满甚为重要，决不能允许国民党接收整个长春路与矿区”，故提议进占哈尔滨和齐齐哈尔。中共中央当天回复表示同意。第二天，彭真又请周保中去长春直接与苏军交涉，“要求他们于最近期间缩小驻区，尽量将次要地点让我军驻防，特别如延吉、敦化、吉林、牡丹江、佳木斯等地”。3月20日，苏蒋关于东北问题的谈判已陷于僵局，中共中央则又进了一步，通知东北局，“如果友人谅解，即可进占长春”。 23日更要求林彪“立即动手大破北宁路及沈阳附近之长春路，愈迅速愈广泛愈好”，“同时立刻动员全军在运动中及其立足未稳之时，坚决彻底歼灭国民党进攻军队，愈多愈好，不惜重大伤亡（例如一万至两万人），求得大胜，以利谈判与将来”。

    　　一切准备就绪，苏军开始了撤退行动。此前，苏方曾以发生瘟疫、冬季交通不便等种种借口延缓撤军，且迟迟不告知撤离时间，从而造成国民党军队沿长春路北进和接收的困难。3月22日，苏联使馆突然通知国民政府，苏军将于4月底撤军完毕。莫斯科的目的，当然是尽可能将东北政权交给中共，为此，双方的配合日益紧密。3月24日中共中央致电东北局，说明现在的方针是“用全力控制长、哈两市及中东全线，不惜任何牺牲”，因此要求速与苏军交涉，在撤退时允许中共军队进占哈尔滨、齐齐哈尔及长春。苏方则通过周保中转告，一旦条件具备，立即通知中共接管长春，同时告诉东北行营接收人员，因要“防疫，不允许办理长春交接手续”。25日中共中央连续致电东北局，因停战小组将于近日到达东北，需即刻与苏方联系，请他们“速从哈、长、齐等市撤退”，中共军队必须在苏军撤退后一二日内控制长春、哈尔滨、齐齐哈尔等地，并以长春为首都。

    　　3月底，苏联因重开经济谈判且似有进展而再次出现反复，以至中共在接管长春、哈尔滨、齐齐哈尔三市的问题出现了一些周折。但事情很快就过去了，莫斯科在撤军的最后时刻采取了两面手法。4月3日，这边是苏联政府答复国民政府，可先行通知各地撤兵日期，并协助中国接防部队；那边是苏军代表接连通知东北局，苏军将于15日和25日分别撤离长春和哈尔滨、齐齐哈尔，请中共军队立即前进至三市近郊待机，并入市侦察，以便届时就近占领。苏方代表还解释说，美国利用国民党接管东北来反苏，蒋介石利用美国来反苏反共，苏联目前因谈判不成受外交限制不能直接插足东北，但希望中共全力坚持东北，使东北问题悬而不决，造成美蒋被动。

    　　为了让中共顺利接收长春，苏联对国民党继续采取麻痹战术。4月13日苏联使馆还信誓旦旦地向中国外交部重申，将通知具体撤离时间，并尽量协助中国政府完成接收任务。第二天，苏军就突然撤出长春，同时用事先约定的密码通知了周保中。早已做好准备的中共军队随即发动总攻，当天便占领了机场两处、市区一部，并于18日控制了全市。4月19日，中共中央指示：东北局应迁长春，并考虑于短期内召集东北人民代表会议成立东北自治政府问题。同时，一方面向四平增兵，再打几个胜仗，一方面“用全力夺取哈、齐二市”。

    　　苏军原计划4月25日撤出哈尔滨，但毛泽东考虑到马歇尔可能在此之前到达沈阳，故于16日电告东北局，速与苏方交涉，让其尽早撤离。18日再次要求陈云和高岗，“速催友方从哈市立即撤去，以利我军马上占领。此事万急勿延。”20日与苏军代表会面，高岗被告知，哈市苏军已定于25日撤离，无法再提前，但中共所需武器已经留下，进城后即可得到。此后，按照计划，东北民主联军25日攻占齐齐哈尔，28日进驻哈尔滨。一则占有了相当的地盘，二则得到苏军提供的武器援助，中共此时的决心是：“一切决定于战场胜负，不要将希望放在谈判上”。4月26日与苏联大使会谈时，周恩来告知，“以前共产党曾同意在满洲问题上对国民党作出一系列让步，但是国民党不愿意停止反对中共军队的军事行动。现在形势发生了根本变化，共产党不会再作出让步。”

    　　然而，此时国共在东北的实力对比正在悄悄发生变化。由于得到美国的大力支持，2月上旬和3月，全部美式装备的国民党精锐主力新一军和新六军，以及第七十一军、第六十六军和第九十四军一部，都相继投入东北战场。东北国民党军正规军的兵力，已由1月份的13.4万人增加到28.5万人。3月13日，国民党军队进占沈阳，随后兵分两路，向南进攻本溪，向北增援四平。此时，林彪的主力部队“已苦战三月，急需休整补充训练，并适当调剂武器”。四平中共守军虽作战英勇，但能够指望的增援部队只有一至两个团。所以，尽管毛泽东这时提出了“化四平街为马德里”的雄壮口号，但私下里却与林彪商议，争取尽快停战和谈。

    　　正在春风得意的蒋介石当然不愿再给中共提供喘息的机会。就在5月3日苏军宣布全部撤离中国的这一天，蒋介石偕夫人宋美龄飞抵南京。两天后，国民政府宣布还都南京。显然是对中共的前途没有把握，看到形势逆转的斯大林此时又回过头来向南京展开微笑。5月8日，斯大林命驻华使馆武官转告蒋经国，说去年蒋介石曾表示愿赴苏访问，现在斯大林欢迎蒋介石前往莫斯科或边境某地进行会晤。蒋介石现在想的是立即消灭共军，对此当然予以拒绝。5月14日，新六军攻占本溪后，大举北上增援四平。18日林彪下令四平守军撤出战斗，国民党军队进占四平后继续北进，23日不战而进入长春。虽然此后国民党军队因战线过长，力所不及，而止步于松花江，从而形成国共两军隔江对峙的局面，但是在关内，蒋介石却命令河北、山东、山西和苏北的国民党军队向中共军队大举进攻，中国的内战于1946年6月全面开启。

    　　

    　　简短的结论

    　　

    　　中国内战的全面爆发无疑标志着莫斯科的“联合政府”政策在亚洲的破产，这大概是斯大林始料不及的。斯大林的本意是支持国民党，利用共产党，通过促成统一的联合政府，保障苏联在远东的安全和利益。但是，他既不了解也不能控制共产党，更没有想到国共之间水火不容，在蒋介石和毛泽东那里，所谓联合政府和停战谈判，都不过是为积蓄力量以利再战而采取的权宜之计。国民党对美国援助的依赖，也加深了斯大林的疑虑，他不得不把重心向共产党一方倾斜。笔者同意这样一种分析：“正是反对美国和国民党政府控制东北的共同利益，使中共与苏联形成了一种战略关系。”不过，苏联关注的中心毕竟在欧洲，而就全局而言，1946年仍然是斯大林推行或极力维护与美国合作的一年。所以，莫斯科对于中国的内战采取了作壁上观的态度，只要与苏联接壤的地区能够保留在共产党的控制下，其他问题斯大林恐怕一时是顾不上，也不关心的。

    　　从上述历史过程还可以看出，战后苏联对华政策确实是多变的，不确定的。有学者用“举棋不定”来形容斯大林的对华政策，认为：“1945年秋天，斯大林的对华政策同他的欧洲政策一样，既没有明确的目标，又缺乏内在的一致性。”笔者不能同意这个判断。表面看起来，苏联对东北的政策似乎有些反复无常，但实际上这恰恰反映了斯大林的一贯作风：目标始终确定而手段经常变换。对于苏联在东北的政策，当时在北满工作的陈云有很深刻的认识：“苏联对满洲的政策基本上包括两方面：一方面，把沈阳、长春、哈尔滨三大城市及长春铁路干线交给国民党；另一方面，援助我党在满洲力量的发展。保持远东和平和世界和平，是苏联这一政策的基本目标。某一时期由于国际国内条件的变动及斗争策略上的需要，苏联对于执行中苏协定的程度，及对我援助的程度会有所变化。但苏联这些政策的本质，是一贯的，不变的。”

    　　至于中国内战与美苏冷战之间的关系，通过国共美苏四方在东北问题上错综复杂的相互关系可以看出，美苏之间本质上的不信任状态，影响了他们对国共两方的立场，而国共之间的生死对立又反过来制约着美苏关系的发展。一方面应该说，如果战后美苏之间存在真诚的合作，那么他们是有能力制止中国内战爆发的。另一方面，中共内战的爆发及其延续，无疑成为美苏之间进行全面冷战的奠基石，也是冷战在亚洲的预演。不过，如同文安立所说，“就冷战观念的形成而言，中国的国共两党始终落在大国的后面。毛泽东和蒋介石直到1946年还相信，同两个大国中的一个结盟并不意味一定要同另一个对抗。”从这个意义上讲，蒋介石和毛泽东都没有意识到，他们之间的争斗在亚洲打开了通向全球冷战的大门。　　

  • 沈志华：朝鲜战争爆发的历史真相

    本文刊载于《二十一世纪》2000年2月号。

    　　 在对冷战和朝鲜战争的研究中，关于朝鲜战争爆发的历史真相，一直是历史学家争论不休、众说纷纭的课题。在90年代以前，国际学界存在着新旧传统学派和修正学派之分。随着朝鲜战争的俄国解密档案陆续公布以后，这些派别之间的界限模糊了，大多数学者认为金日成发动了这场战争，斯大林为北朝鲜开放了绿灯，而毛泽东对此则表示同意和支持。总体来说，这种分析是接近于历史真实的，但是如果只是笼统地坚持这种说法，似乎证实了以往「共谋派」的理论。所以，笔者以为仍然有必要对某些细节进行更为深入的探讨，特别是关于北京在发动这场战争中所处的地位及其所持的立场。　　

    　　 本文拟在整理和分析大量俄国解密档案的基础上，进一步分析苏联、朝鲜和中国在朝鲜战争爆发过程中各自的作用、立场，以及三者之间的微妙关系。　　

    　　 一 金日成积极策划战争　　

    　　 1945年10月10日，金日成率66名在苏联哈巴罗夫斯克受训的朝鲜军官乘坐苏联「普加乔夫」号货轮在元山港上岸，不久后被苏联军政府选中，作为北朝鲜领导人。苏联人之所以要用金日成替换此前扶植的民族主义领袖曹晚植，其实与莫斯科对朝鲜半岛政策的变化有关。　　

    　　 战后初期，苏联与美国在远东地区既有矛盾，又需合作，既要划分势力范围，又要避免直接冲突，朝鲜半岛上三八线的确定就反映这一状况。战后苏联在朝鲜的目标最初是试图通过托管或其它方式，与美国合作在朝鲜建立一个与苏联保持友好关系的统一的朝鲜政府。与美国矛盾日渐加剧后，苏联的目标则转为加强朝鲜北方的政治、经济力量，并在此基础上促进朝鲜民族的统一，从而保证通过全朝鲜普选建立的统一政府实行对苏友好的政策。在朝鲜南北双方先后实行选举，并建立各自的政府后，苏联又提出美苏同时从朝鲜半岛撤军，而且首先实行了单方面撤军，其目的无非是为了表示苏联在远东地区的和平愿望，敦促美国撤军。莫斯科一方面满足于通过共产党对北朝鲜的控制，一方面相信金日成有能力对抗南方，因此可以实现其在朝鲜半岛遏制美国而不发生直接冲突的设想。　　

    　　 然而，自从三八线划定以后，南北朝鲜就一直处于紧张的对立状态。金日成始终认为只有通过革命战争的手段才能解放全朝鲜并实现统一，而李承晚也主张加强军备，积极北进。特别是朝鲜南北双方分别成立了各自的政权机构和苏联占领军撤出朝鲜半岛以后，朝鲜半岛的形势更趋恶化，三八线附近的摩擦和交火事件不断发生。从1949年年初，苏联驻朝鲜使馆不断向莫斯科发出有关南朝鲜可能发动进攻的告急电报。金日成完全明白，要实现自己的目标，必须得到莫斯科的首肯和帮助，于是提出了与苏联建立秘密同盟的要求。在遭到莫斯科婉言拒绝之后，金日成便提出直接面见斯大林，以摸清苏联的意图和态度。但此时斯大林的战略重点还在欧洲，他一方面通过组建共产党情报局和整治南斯拉夫共产党，构造了以莫斯科为中心的社会主义阵营，意在稳定与西方抗衡的阵脚。另一方面，面对美国和西方国家的强硬立场，斯大林在解决柏林危机的过程中采取了忍让和退缩的立场，对双方整体实力的认识迫使苏联放弃与美国公开冲突的做法。在这种情况下，斯大林自然不会同意在朝鲜半岛引发一场可能导致美国干预的战争。在3 月初与金日成的会谈中，斯大林只是轻松地询问了南北双方军事力量的对比情况，以及三八线附近发生小规模军事冲突的结果，并对金日成充满信心的答复表示满意。至于金日成所要求的军事援助，莫斯科只是同意帮助装备在三八线驻防的两个朝鲜警备旅，并决定让苏联海军分队继续留驻清津港协助朝鲜进行防御。到1949年夏季，南北双方的紧张局势进一步加剧，特别是在美国撤军前后，南朝鲜李承晚政权不断发出战争叫嚣，并一再对北方进行军事挑衅和边界侵犯。据苏联大使什特科夫和金日成的通报，「进攻北方的作战计划已经制订」，并将在 7 月发动进攻。但斯大林除了应金日成的不断要求，同意向平壤增加武器装备的援助，以保证北朝鲜不受侵犯外，并没有采取进一步的行动。莫斯科甚至批准了什特科夫提出的在美国撤军后，撤除苏联在清津港的海军基地及在平壤等地的军用机场的建议，以免这些设施被朝鲜人民军利用，从而使苏联在国际局势中处于被动地位。苏联此时的主张是在北朝鲜建立祖国统一民主阵线，通过在全朝鲜进行普选实现和平统一。　　

    　　 金日成不甘心自己的宏伟计划受阻于莫斯科，于是转过来试探毛泽东的态度。1949年5 月，金日成派人民军政治部主任金一秘密访问北平，与中共领导人商谈将中国人民解放军编成中朝鲜师转属人民军的问题，并表露了准备采取军事行动的意向。毛泽东一向主张「枪杆子里面出政权」，自然会支持金日成的想法。不过，在中国的革命战争尚未结束，国家尚未统一的情况下，中共很难赞成北朝鲜的计划。毛泽东答应在需要的时候，可以把中共军队中的两个朝鲜师转给北朝鲜，如果朝鲜半岛发生战争，中共「将提供力所能及的一切援助，特别是上述师的给养和武器」。但是，毛泽东「劝告朝鲜同志」，即使在美国撤军而日本人也没有回来的情况下，也「不要向南朝鲜发动进攻，而是等待更有利的形势」。　　

    　　 尽管如此，金日成还不死心。面对来自南方的威胁，金日成主张变被动为主动，他踌躇满志地认为这是通过军事手段实现朝鲜统一的有利时机。为此，在积极调动军队进行防御部署的同时，金日成于7 月初下令三八线地区的各部队进入战斗准备状态，并「决定将中国人民解放军的朝鲜师调回朝鲜：沈阳师配置在新义州，长春师配置在罗南」。做好准备之后，9 月3 日金日成的私人秘书文日向苏联使馆通报，南朝鲜最近企图夺取瓮津半岛三八线以北的部分地区，并炮击海州市的水泥厂。因此，金日成请求准许对南方采取军事行动，夺取瓮津半岛及其以东到开城附近的部分南朝鲜地区，以缩短防线。如果国际局势允许，还准备继续向南方挺进。金日成相信，他们能够在两周，至多两个月内，占领南朝鲜。苏联驻朝鲜使馆代办顿金应维辛斯基的要求对情况进行了核实后，于9 月14日向莫斯科报告了南北朝鲜军事力量的详细情况、金日成的考虑以及他本人对这一问题的看法。报告说，「金日成认为南朝鲜军队的战斗力不强」，北方军队「在技术装备（坦克、火炮、飞机）、纪律、官兵训练素质，以及士气等方面，均优越于南方军队」。如果进攻顺利，「可以继续向南方挺进」。金日成和外务相朴宪永还认为，当朝鲜发生内战时，美国不会直接出兵干预。但顿金本人认为，金日成计划的局部性战争必然导致朝鲜爆发内战，而北方军队还未强大到足以在速决战中取胜，同时，「不论在军事上还是政治上，持久内战对北方都是不利的」。不过，什特科夫大使却赞同金日成的计划。他认为，「南朝鲜政府的政治地位是不牢固的」，朝鲜半岛的形势对北方有利。尽管不排除「美国人将干预这场冲突并给南朝鲜提供积极帮助」的可能性，而人民军的数量及其拥有的物质力量现在还不能保证完全粉碎南方军队和占领南朝鲜，但他仍然认为，「发展朝鲜南部的游击运动并给予各种各样的支持和领导是可能的和适宜的」，在有利的形势下，可以借口「南朝鲜人在三八线上的挑衅」，「占领瓮津半岛和开城地区」。经过慎重的研究和讨论，莫斯科还是否决了金日成的计划。9 月24日，联共（布）中央政治局做出决议，责成什特科夫严格按照决议的文本向金日成和朴宪永声明：「由于目前北朝鲜的武装力量与南朝鲜相比没有占必不可少的优势，因此不能不承认，现在进攻南方是完全没有准备好的，所以从军事角度看是不允许的。」由于南方的游击运动和群众斗争没有积极开展起来，建立解放区和组织人民起义的工作进行得很少，「从政治方面看，你们建议的对南方的进攻也是没有做好准备的」。此外，进攻瓮津半岛和占领开城地区的局部战役就意味着「朝鲜南北战争的开始」，而战争的持久性「可能给美国人对朝鲜事务进行各种干涉提供借口」。所以，「目前争取朝鲜统一的任务要求集中最大力量：第一，开展游击运动，建立解放区，在朝鲜准备全民起义，以便推翻反动政权和成功地解决整个朝鲜统一的任务；第二，进一步全力加强人民军」。显然，斯大林认为在朝鲜发动战争的条件尚未成熟。斯大林的决定令金日成感到沮丧，但他虽然勉强接受了莫斯科的意见，却还是继续积极备战。10月14日，三八线附近又发生了激烈战斗。北朝鲜第三警备旅攻击侵入三八线以北1.5 公里法音山高地的南朝鲜军队，并占领了这两个高地。由于苏联大使和军事顾问事前参与讨论并默许了这一军事行动，而事后又未向斯大林报告，莫斯科对此极为恼怒，葛罗米柯严厉地指责什特科夫没有「严格地、坚定地」执行「禁止未经中央允许而向北朝鲜政府建议对南朝鲜采取积极行动」的指示以及「中央关于防止三八线形势复杂化的指示」，并对他提出警告。　　

    　　 看来，金日成想要采取军事行动，必须等待莫斯科开放绿灯。　　

    　　 二 斯大林参与策划战争　　

    　　 然而，仅仅两个月以后，斯大林便给金日成发放了走向战争的通行证。　　

    　　 1950年1 月19日莫斯科收到什特科夫发来的报告，在一次小范围的宴会后，金日成借着酒意激动地对苏联使馆人员说，在中国完成其解放事业后，现在的问题就是如何解放祖国南方的人民。「朝鲜南方的人民信任我，并指望我们的武装力量。游击队不能解决问题。南方人民知道我们有一支优秀的部队。最近我夜不能寐，考虑着如何解决统一全国的问题。如果解放朝鲜南方人民和统一祖国的事情拖延下来，那么我就会失去朝鲜人民的信任。」金日成希望「同斯大林会面，讨论南方的形势和向李承晚军队发动进攻的问题」。如果不能同斯大林会面，那么他想去见毛泽东。金日成还指责苏联不允许他进攻瓮津半岛，否则人民军在三天之内就能成功，「如果发动一场全面进攻，几天之内就可以进入汉城」。与苏联使馆人员采取的回避态度不同，这一次斯大林却出人意料地改变了主意。经过一番考虑，1 月30日斯大林亲自回电说：　　

    　　 我理解金日成同志的不满，但他应当明白，他想对南朝鲜采取如此重大的举措，是需要有充分准备的。这件事必须组织得不冒太大风险。如果他想同我谈此事，那么，我随时准备接见他并同他会谈。请把此事转告金日成并且告诉他，在这件事上我准备帮助他。在迄今看到的档案文献中，这是斯大林第一次同意在战争问题上帮助金日成。对此，金日成十分满意，并立即表示随时准备着斯大林的接见。那么，究竟发生了甚么事情，使得斯大林在如此短暂的时间里改变了对朝鲜问题的看法？　　

    　　 研究者注意到，此间发生了一件苏联外交史上的重大事件，即毛泽东访苏和中苏同盟新条约的签订，而这次中苏最高领导人之间谈判的结果是迫使斯大林同意重新签订中苏条约，从而使苏联被迫放弃其在远东以中国东北为基础的政治和经济权益，即中国立即收回大连港，并在2-3 年内收回中长铁路和旅顺港。把蒙古从中国的版图中独立出去，在俄罗斯南部形成广阔的安全地带；恢复沙皇俄国在中国东北的势力范围，保证苏联拥有通向太平洋的出海口和不冻港，这是斯大林确定的苏联战后在远东的两个战略目标，而控制中国长春铁路和旅顺、大连港，正是苏联实现其远东战略的基本途径。除了既成事实的蒙古问题，莫斯科最担心的事情终于发生了：1945年中苏条约所保证的苏联在满洲的权益眼看就要被毛泽东提出的新条约断送掉，斯大林必须采取补救措施。而处于朝鲜半岛中部和南部的元山、仁川、釜山和济州岛的几个港口，早在1945年就是苏联外交部注意的目标了。于是，为了保证苏联在远东地区的战略利益，把整个朝鲜半岛纳入莫斯科的势力范围就势在必然了。恰在此时，美国总统杜鲁门（Harry Truman）和国务卿艾奇逊（Dean Acheson）发表的关于南朝鲜不在美国防御范围的演说，又为斯大林实现对朝鲜政策的改变创造了条件。　　

    　　 毛泽东还没有离开莫斯科，斯大林便集中精力去解决朝鲜问题了。为了加强北朝鲜的军事力量以及人民军的组织和指挥能力，莫斯科同意金日成再组建三个步兵师，并把苏联政府将于1951年提供的贷款用于1950年，以便为新组建的部队购买苏联装备。斯大林还任命瓦西里耶夫中将为朝鲜人民军军事总顾问，替代自苏联从朝鲜撤军后兼任这一职务的苏联大使什特科夫。此后，苏联便开始大规模向朝鲜提供武器装备。3 月9 日，朝鲜照会苏联，「为了给人民军补充装备、弹药和技术器材并加强人民军，请苏联政府于1950年按照以前提交苏联政府的申请单向朝鲜提供1.2-1.3 亿卢布的军事技术装备」，朝鲜则相应地保证向苏联提供价值1.33亿卢布的黄金、白银和钼精矿。随后，金日成提供了所需武器装备的详细清单。莫斯科立即答复，同意朝鲜提前使用1951年的贷款购置武器装备。斯大林还亲自致电告诉金日成，对于「朝鲜人民军所需装备、弹药和技术器材」，苏联政府决定「完全满足您的这一请求」。在进行物质准备的同时，3 月20日，金日成要求于4 月初秘密访问莫斯科，并提出将与斯大林讨论「国家南北统一的途径和方法」及「经济发展远景」等问题。在一份「金日成提请斯大林同志帮助解决的问题」的清单中，明确写道：「关于统一国家（南方和北方）的途径和方法，拟采用武装方式统一。」此外，还提到与毛泽东会晤和同中国签订条约的问题。得到同意后，金日成和朴宪永于3 月30日起程前往莫斯科。　　

    　　 关于斯大林与金日成秘密会谈的具体内容，目前在俄国档案中尚未发现任何文字纪录，研究者引用的都是当事人的回忆。据说，金日成在会谈中报告，朝鲜北方和南方都正在为统一做准备，但形势对北方更有利。朴宪永则以热烈的言语描述了反李承晚政权的抵抗运动形势，他说：「人数达20万的南朝鲜共产党支部已经准备好在北方发出第一个信号时起义，南方人民一直在等待着土地改革和其它在北方已经实行的民主改革。」朝鲜领导人所不放心的只是不知道在统一问题上采取战争形式，朝鲜人民会怎样反应。对此，斯大林讲了拉伯雷（Fran？ois Rabelais）《巨人传》（Gargantua et Pantagruel ）中羊群的故事。他说，人民和羊群一样，他们跟着头羊，而不论头羊走到哪里。莫斯科担心的问题是一旦爆发战争，美国会否出兵干涉。据金日成的译员文日回忆，金日成立即向斯大林保证，美国不会参与这场战争，理由是，这是一次果断的突袭，因为将会有20万南朝鲜共产党员进行起义，加上南方游击队对朝鲜人民军的支持，进攻将在三天之内取得胜利。这样，即使美国有心干预，也没有时间进行军事准备和部署。此外，1966年苏联外交部曾向勃列日涅夫等领导人提交了一份《关于朝鲜战争的背景报告》，其中提到金日成在这次会谈时向斯大林提出了发动战争的战略部署，即朝鲜政府准备分三步实现他们的目标：（1 ）在三八线附近集结部队；（2 ）向南朝鲜发出和平统一的呼吁；（3 ）在南朝鲜拒绝和平统一的建议后开始军事行动。该报告确认，斯大林「对朝鲜人所拟方案的最终认可，是在1950年3 月至4 月金日成访问莫斯科期间」。　　

    　　 总之，完全可以断定，斯大林是在1950年1 月至4 月间决定支持并帮助金日成发动统一朝鲜半岛的战争的。显然，与美国在朝鲜半岛采取防御和退守政策的同时，苏联直接参与了战争的策划和准备。　　

    　　 三 毛泽东接受既成事实　　

    　　 不过，在斯大林和金日成发动战争的日程表上还有一个问题需要处理，即在朝鲜半岛采取军事行动必须征得毛泽东的同意。因为就在几个月前刘少奇秘密访苏期间，斯大林建议，在国际革命运动中，中苏两家都应多承担些义务，而且应该有某种分工，希望中国今后多担负些对殖民地、半殖民地附属国家的民族民主革命运动方面的帮助。斯大林还说，马克思和恩格斯逝世以后，革命中心由西方转移到了东方，而现在又转移到了中国和东亚。因此，中共「应当履行对东亚各国革命所承担的责任」。斯大林不能出尔反尔。　　

    　　 然而，在新中国建立之初，全国工作重心已经转向经济建设，部队正准备大规模复员，至于军事战略目标，只剩发动解放台湾的战役了。当时，中共在东南沿海集中了16个军的兵力，而在比邻朝鲜的整个东北地区，只有几个担任地方警备任务的公安师和一个集体转业、开荒种地的第42军。因此，毛泽东此时无论如何不愿意看到在中国北方邻国发生一场可能导致美国干涉亚洲事务的战争。　　

    　　 对此，斯大林心里是十分清楚的。早在1949年6-8 月中共中央代表团访苏期间，毛泽东就特意让刘少奇将中共解放台湾的计划转告斯大林，并要求苏联提供援助。得知斯大林拒绝了中共的请求后，1949年12月16日毛泽东在莫斯科第一次与斯大林会谈时，再次婉转地提出了同样问题。而且就在毛泽东访苏前夕，斯大林还与毛泽东交换了对朝鲜政策的意见，他们从不同的角度出发，都认为北朝鲜此时不宜采取进攻性的军事行动。毛泽东在去电中说，朝鲜同志想通过武力解决南朝鲜问题，中国领导人曾劝阻他们不要这样做。斯大林回电说，完全同意中国同志的意见，不应在朝鲜开始一场战争，不能用军事手段统一朝鲜。正因为如此，尽管斯大林已经考虑了要在朝鲜半岛发动战争的问题，但他对正在莫斯科作客的毛泽东却只字未提。出于同样的理由，斯大林在与金日成讨论并决定了将采取军事行动以后，明知此事必须征得毛泽东的同意，却不便亲自出面，所以只能劝金日成去见毛泽东。　　

    　　 其实，朝鲜所处的政治地位使金日成比斯大林更懂得在东亚地区采取如此重大的举措，一定要得到毛泽东的支持。于是，在斯大林对自己的意向已经表示赞同的情况下，金日成指示朝鲜驻华大使李周渊拜访毛泽东，提出访华的要求。3 月底，毛泽东在会见李周渊时，表示同意金日成访华。估计到金日成可能要谈进攻南朝鲜的问题，毛泽东在谈话时指出，「如果已经有了统一朝鲜的具体计划，那么会晤必须秘密进行」。毛泽东还谈到，「如果爆发第三次世界大战，朝鲜不可避免也要参战」，因此必须做好军事准备。当李周渊把会谈的情况报告到平壤时，金日成已经起程赴莫斯科了，于是，朝鲜内阁副首相金策委托苏联使馆将这一消息转告金日成。值得注意的是，在李周渊的报告中，并没有提及会谈时毛泽东曾表示同意在朝鲜发动进攻的计划。但金日成在5 月12日会见什特科夫时却通知他，毛泽东会见李周渊时说：「用和平方式是不能统一朝鲜的，统一朝鲜必须要用武力才行。」金日成的说法不可信，他这样做显然是为了打消斯大林的顾虑，以取得莫斯科在发动战争问题上的绝对支持。实际上，金日成对莫斯科谎称中共支持他采取军事行动，已经不是第一次了。例如前面提到的关于1949年5 月金一与中共领导人会谈的情况，联共（布）驻北平代表柯瓦廖夫报告说，中共支持对南朝鲜的进攻实行反击，但劝告朝鲜不要主动进攻。而金日成向莫斯科的通报中却有意含糊其辞，说中共表示将在未来的战争中援助朝鲜。不管金日成有何考虑，毛泽东毕竟到此时还不知道平壤和莫斯科已经就发动战争这样的大事达成了默契。所以，尽管金日成认为他不需要中国的帮助，「因为他的一切要求在莫斯科已经得到满足」，但还是要遵照斯大林的指示去见毛泽东，「通报以武力统一国家的意图和在莫斯科会谈此问题的结果」。　　

    　　 5 月13日晚，金日成一行秘密到达北京，并当即与中共领导人进行了会谈。目前尚未发现有关这次会谈具体内容的档案文献，但根据罗申向莫斯科的报告看，第一次会谈并不顺利，会谈在开始进行的当天晚上便中断了。罗申在电报中说：13日晚23时30分，周恩来到苏联大使馆，要求立即向菲利波夫（斯大林）报告「毛泽东委托转告」的事项。「朝鲜同志通知了菲利波夫同志的如下指示：现在的形势与过去不同了，北朝鲜可以开始行动了；但这个问题必须与中国同志和毛泽东本人讨论。」「毛泽东同志想要得到菲利波夫同志本人对这一问题的说明。」电报最后说：「中国同志请求速速回电。」显然，鉴于金日成所说情况事关重大，且斯大林不久前还明确表示反对在朝鲜采取军事行动，中国领导人心有疑惑，故必须要求莫斯科给以证实。直到这时，斯大林才第一次向中国领导人表明，苏联在这一问题上的态度已经发生了变化。5 月14日维辛斯基转来斯大林给毛泽东的电报：　　

    　　 在与朝鲜同志的会谈中，菲利波夫同志和他的朋友们提出，鉴于国际形势已经改变，他们同意朝鲜人关于实现统一的建议。同时补充一点，这个问题最终必须由中国和朝鲜同志共同解决，如果中国同志不同意，则应重新讨论如何解决这个问题。会谈详情可由朝鲜同志向您讲述。　　

    　　 看似平和的话语，却透着莫斯科的强硬态度。作为东亚地区革命事业的「负责人」，毛泽东自然应支持朝鲜的革命行动。面对斯大林的压力，毛泽东表示同意在解放台湾之前先解决朝鲜的统一问题。　　

    　　 这里还有一个问题需要说明。毛泽东在访苏期间曾批准中国军队中的朝鲜师带装备回国，此事难道不是说明中苏领导人共同策划了战争的准备吗？关于战前中国军队赴朝问题，过去因缺乏资料，不甚明白。现在情况清楚了：就毛泽东的动机而言，朝鲜师回国与朝鲜战争没有关系。在日本占领朝鲜期间，有很多朝鲜人进入中国东北境内，参加了中共的抗日军队。内战时期，中共东北部队中又增加了许多满洲朝鲜族战士。抗日战争结束后，便陆续有朝鲜战士回国，较为集中的是由武亭率领的包括一千名朝鲜籍士兵的一个团。1949年5 月金一到北平时，向毛泽东转交了一封朝鲜劳动党中央的信，请求必要时把中国人民解放军编成中的朝鲜师转属朝鲜政府。毛泽东指出，在解放军的三个朝鲜师中，有两个驻扎在沈阳和长春，另一个正在南下作战。中共随时准备把驻扎在东北的两个师连同全部装备，移交给朝鲜政府。另一个师只有等战争结束后才能从南方回来。金一走后，毛泽东便指示在东北的高岗，准备安排驻扎在沈阳和长春的两个朝鲜师于1949年7 、8 月回国。这两个师，即李德山任师长的164 师（实员10， 821 人）和方虎山任师长的166 师（实员10，320 人），当时均属东北军区建制，于1949年7 月进入朝鲜。毛泽东所说的另一个朝鲜师回国的问题是六个月后提出的。1950年1 月初，林彪给正在莫斯科访问的毛泽东打电报称，这 16，000 余名朝鲜人组成的部队在进军华南后，情绪出现波动，有些人要求回国。因战争即将结束，故希望把他们合并为一个师或4-5 个团送回国。中国方面随即与朝鲜联系，通知金日成，「由于作战行动结束，中国人民军队中现有的朝鲜族部队正在逐渐闲下来，如朝鲜政府愿意，可以转交」。金日成提出把中国军队中现有的朝鲜人按朝鲜师的编制，在中国组成一个步兵师，下设两个团，其余官兵用于补充摩托车团和机械化旅，并派人民军作战部长金光侠到中国洽谈此事。1 月11日主持中央工作的刘少奇同时致电林彪和朝鲜方面，同意朝鲜师回国，部队由朝鲜来人就地改编，4 月间更换夏装回国。1 月28日林彪得到通知，金日成已派人来武汉接收朝鲜部队。　　

    　　 从时间上看，在中国处理朝鲜师回国的问题时，毛泽东是反对金日成向南方发动进攻的，斯大林也没有同意金日成的军事计划。因此，中国军队中的朝鲜士兵回国，决不能说明中国领导人当时就参与了战争的策划。1949年同意朝鲜师回国，是因为毛泽东担心北朝鲜受到南方的攻击，从而出于国际主义立场对朝鲜革命政权表示同情和支持。 1950年批准朝鲜师回国，一方面是因为朝鲜战士有回国的意愿，一方面也是因为中国领导人已经在考虑军队复员和减少军费开支的问题了。因此，怀廷（Allen S. Whiting）很早以前就得出的结论是有说服力的：这些帮助中国革命的朝鲜士兵回国是很自然的事。不过，当最后一支朝鲜师于4 月18日到达元山时，金日成和斯大林在莫斯科已经下决心要进行一场战争了。因此，从客观上讲，三个经过战争锻炼的朝鲜师回国，对于金日成成功地发动突袭，的确起了相当重要的作用。　　

    　　 四 朝、苏联合发动进攻　　

    　　 至此，通向朝鲜战争的道路对于金日成来说已经畅通无阻，需要的只是确认和实施具体的作战计划了。　　

    　　 根据人民军总参谋部作战部长俞成哲的回忆，5 月上旬苏联大量调换了在朝鲜人民军中的苏联军事顾问，用作战参谋替换了那些以个人名义在朝鲜负责军事训练的军人，并为朝鲜军队制订了「先发制人的进攻作战计划」。到 5 月底，朝鲜人民军总参谋部和苏联军事顾问团联合向莫斯科报告，朝鲜人民军向三八线集结的行动已经准备就绪。在金日成的坚持下，军事行动开始的时间确定在1950年6 月25日。接着莫斯科又接到报告说，按照进攻计划，朝鲜人民军每天可推进15-20 公里，预计主要的军事行动在22-27 天之内完成。　　

    　　 6 月25日，北朝鲜军队依照计划大举越过三八线，向南朝鲜发动了进攻。现在披露的6 月26日什特科夫给斯大林私人军事代表扎哈罗夫大将的报告，详细说明了战争开始前后的真实情况：　　

    　　 人民军在三八线地区的集中开始于6 月12日，结束于6 月23日，完全按照总参谋部的计划进行。各部队的调动组织严密，未发生意外。敌军的侦察大约已发现各部队的调动，但各部队的计划及行动开始时间均得到严格保密。　　

    　　 各师作战计划制订及地形侦察过程均有苏联顾问参加。　　

    　　 战役全部准备措施已于6 月24日完成。6 月24日已向各师师长发出（战争开始日代号）和（发起进攻日代号）的命令。各部队均宣读了民族保卫省的政治命令，其中指出南朝鲜军队侵犯三八线，挑起军事进攻；朝鲜民主主义人民共和国政府发布了关于朝鲜人民军转入反攻的命令。　　

    　　 朝鲜人民军官兵以高涨的热情听取了关于反攻的命令。各部队于6 月24日24时进入出发位置。军事行动于当地时间（25日）4 时40分开始。进攻前的炮火准备进行了20-40 分钟，其中包括定位瞄准和10分钟炮轰。随后，步兵开始行动，迅速展开进攻。在开始的3 小时后，个别部队与军团已向前推进了3-5 公里。人民军部队的攻击完全出乎敌军的意料。敌军仅在瓮津、开城与汉城诸方向进行了顽强抵抗。而较有组织的抵抗则在第一天12个小时以后才开始。战斗第一天攻克的城市有：瓮津（瓮津方向）、开城、松隅里。

    （地图1 ：1000000 ，1943年总参谋部印制）

    在春川方向，人民军部队推进了12公里。在东部海岸推进了8 公里。就在第一天，朝鲜民主主义人民共和国海军即有两支登陆部队在日本海沿岸登陆：第一支登陆部队在江陵地区，包括两个营的海军登陆部队和约1 ，000 名游击队员；第二支登陆部队在蔚珍地区，包括600 名游击队员。登陆部队于6 月25日5 时登陆，整个过程进展顺利。游击队登陆部队攻占了蔚珍市及其周围的若干乡镇。在登陆部队登陆过程中，人民军军舰与南朝鲜军队的舰艇曾发生战斗。战斗结果有一南方扫雷舰被击沉，另有一扫雷舰被击毁。朝鲜民主主义人民共和国海军没有伤亡。6 月26日，人民军部队继续进攻，在战斗中不断向南朝鲜领土纵深推进。在6 月26日一天的时间内（从右至左）彻底扫荡了瓮津半岛、开城地区；第6 师的部队强渡海湾并攻占了金浦机场方向的居民点。在汉城方向，第1 、4 师攻占了汶山、东豆川等城市，第2 师攻占了道府春川市。在日本海沿岸一带，部队的推进仍在继续。注文津港已被攻克。与在洪川方向移动的第12步兵师、越过松隅里在议政府方向进攻的第3 步兵师及机械化旅整整一天没有联系。　　

    　　 以上情况充分表明，苏联参与了进攻南朝鲜军事行动的所有策划、准备和实施过程，只是为了避免引起美国的干预和遭到世界舆论的指责，斯大林采取了较为隐蔽的措施。战争爆发前五天，什特科夫报告说，金日成要求苏联提供进攻和登陆需用舰只以及作为驾驶舰只的十名苏联顾问。斯大林立即答复，拒绝这些要求，以免为美国进行干涉提供借口。在进攻开始时，斯大林还下令召回在朝鲜人民军前线部队中的所有苏联顾问。当时赫鲁晓夫询问其中的原委，斯大林回答说：「我们不想留下证据被人家指控我们参与了这件事。」　　

    　　 然而，毛泽东对战争的准备过程和具体计划却毫不知情。或许是考虑到中国正在加紧准备进攻台湾，或许是估计到美国不会干涉从而不需要也不希望中国介入，总之，斯大林和金日成对中国封锁了消息和情报。据一位前北朝鲜高级军需官回忆，在战争爆发前，所有苏联援助的武器都是从海路，而不是通过中国铁路运抵朝鲜的，这样做的目的是不让中国获知朝鲜的准备工作。以至朝鲜战争爆发的最初消息，毛泽东竟是从外国报纸上得知的。战争爆发后第三天，金日成才派一名校官到北京通报情况。毛泽东对此十分不满，事后对师哲说：「他们是我们的近邻，战争爆发也不和我们商量，现在才来打招呼。」　　

    　　 金日成在信心十足、踌躇满志的时候，显然不希望中国插手朝鲜事务，而斯大林在考虑改变对朝鲜半岛的政策时，对于这位新的盟友有两点顾忌：既担心毛泽东在事前反对莫斯科的决定，又担心局势发生困难时毛泽东会置身事外，不听从莫斯科的指挥。所以，斯大林一方面要中国同意发动战争，一方面又对中国封锁消息。经过这样周密的安排，不但可以保证苏联的战略决策被顺利接受，又可以保证苏联的战略目标得以实现。显然，如果战争进展顺利，即使失去东北，其结果还是可以保证苏联在远东的战略利益；如果出现危机和困难，则有中国这个盟友来承担责任，其结果同样可以实现苏联的既定目标。　　

    　　 五 结论　　

    　　 结论一：金日成在1949年就提出通过军事手段推进革命，完成统一大业。然而，此时斯大林在朝鲜半岛的目标是维持三八线现状，避免与美国发生直接的冲突，因此莫斯科严厉禁止金日成发动战争。毛泽东在中国革命尚未取得最后胜利的时候，也表示无法援助北朝鲜的军事行动。　　

    　　 结论二：1950年初毛泽东访苏，迫使斯大林签订了新的中苏条约，其结果是苏联将要失去通往太平洋的出海口和不冻港。为了保持苏联在远东的战略目标，斯大林必须实现对整个朝鲜半岛的控制，以替代在中国东北丧失的战略地位。于是，莫斯科决定积极支持北朝鲜发动突击战，迅速统一朝鲜半岛。　　

    　　 结论三：由于新中国刚刚成立，并且正在准备解放台湾的战役，毛泽东仍然不希望朝鲜在此时发生一场可能给中国安全造成威胁的战争。但是，作为亚洲革命的负责人，毛泽东又无法拒绝金日成的要求，特别是在斯大林已经表态之后，中国只能接受既成事实。　　

    　　 结论四：在毛泽东表示原则上同意金日成采取军事手段之后，朝鲜和苏联对战争的秘密准备已经接近尾声，但却没有向北京透露其军事计划和行动的任何细节。1950年6 月25日凌晨，在苏联大规模的军事援助下，金日成发动了后世所称的朝鲜战争。　　

    　　 这就是近年来俄国解密档案给人们勾勒的关于朝鲜战争爆发的历史画面。

    附：沈志华：中朝关系历史真相

    　　在目前复杂多变的现实国际政治中，朝鲜的行为和变局是中国要应对的最重要的周边问题之一，中国要处理好现实问题，首先应理清历史。从俄罗斯、东欧、美国已解密的档案材料来看，我对1946年~1969年的中朝关系做了总结。

    　　第一阶段，1945—1949年。在各自夺取和建立革命政权的道路上，中国共产党与朝鲜劳动党互相帮助，携手合作，双双加入了以苏联为首的社会主义阵营。在莫斯科的支持和帮助下，金日成稳固了其对朝鲜北方的统治，毛泽东则一举夺得中国大陆的政权。中朝之间形成“唇齿相依”的关系，在历史上传统的地缘因素中，注入了革命和“兄弟”的元素。

    　　第二阶段，1950—1956年。在朝鲜战争时期，中朝领导层之间冲突迭起，关系紧张，中朝关系绝非表面显现出来的亲密友好。实际上，在如何解决朝鲜统一、何时需要中国援助、志愿军由谁来指挥、中朝联军越过三八线后是否继续南进以及朝鲜铁路管理权的归属和停战时机的掌握等一系列战略决策或重大问题上，中朝之间都存在严重分歧和矛盾。尽管此前朝鲜一直依赖苏联的支持和帮助，但是在战争期间中国因其所处地位往往起到主导作用，所以，面对中朝之间的重大分歧和矛盾，斯大林都支持了毛泽东。由此，在金日成的心理上留下了阴影。中国人在朝鲜流了很多血，但并未在中朝领导人和两国之间凝成深厚友谊。毛泽东为了战后继续保持中国在朝鲜问题上的发言权，决定给予朝鲜大规模的经济援助。朝鲜的战后重建工作，主要是在中国、苏联、东欧等社会主义阵营国家的援助下完成的。中国虽然经济实力远不如苏联，且自身亦在战争中遭受严重损失，但援助朝鲜的力度大大超过苏联。金日成对此有感于怀，但在公开场合强调的是“自力更生”，很少谈及中国和苏联的援助。

    　　早在战争后期，金日成便开始树立其统治权威，朝鲜劳动党第三次代表大会全面改组领导结构，引起各派反对。苏共二十大以后，金日成不愿接受莫斯科的新方针。延安派和苏联派联合起来，试图利用苏共对金的不满展开对金日成的批判，1956年8月在中央全会上矛盾爆发，金日成控制局面后，将反对派打成反党集团，延安派部分干部逃亡中国。毛泽东与苏共代表团商量后派米高扬和彭德怀率团赴平壤，强迫金日成收回成命。金日成在北京和莫斯科的高压下被迫承认错误，中朝关系由此陷入严重危机。

    　　第三阶段，1957—1965年。期间，韩国政府面临极大的内部压力，政权频繁更迭，无力向北方发起武装挑衅，美国则专注于推动韩国经济复兴。这一切在客观上为朝鲜经济、社会发展提供了理想的安全环境。从社会主义阵营内部关系看，波匈事件后，中、苏注意力转向欧洲，且两国关系渐趋恶化，朝鲜在中苏之间左右逢源。金日成个人权威得以树立的另一个重要因素是中国立场的改变。苏共二十大以后，中共和毛泽东在社会主义阵营的地位和威望日益崛起，逐渐成为在国际共运中与苏共平起平坐的领导者。为了争取更多的支持者，建立中国的地缘优势，1957年底毛泽东改变对金日成的态度，主动承认错误，并表示同意其国内政策，甚至答应全部撤回在朝志愿军。于是，中朝关系得以恢复。

    　　随着中苏分歧不断加深，双方都有意拉拢朝鲜。中国在极其困难的情况下，向朝鲜提供了大量粮食。赫鲁晓夫则向金日成出示了毛泽东1956年严厉批评金日成的谈话记录。金日成在北京与莫斯科之间搞外交平衡，最有代表性的是朝鲜在1961年同时与苏联和中国分别签订了同盟条约。由于赫鲁晓夫坚持的和平共处对外方针有违朝鲜的外交取向，加上苏联对外援助大大减少，朝鲜在中苏争斗的过程中，倒向毛泽东，积极加入对修正主义的批判。为了拉住平壤，在无力继续提供大量经济援助的情况下，中国从政治利益出发，在处理朝鲜侨民和东北朝鲜族边民跨境流动的问题时，往往依从朝鲜的主张，甚至在中朝边界纠纷问题上做出重大让步，把历史上一直处于中国境内的长白山天池大部划给了朝鲜。此外，毛泽东一再表示，中国东北就是朝鲜的后方，一旦发生战争便交给朝鲜管理。中朝关系由此渐入佳境，并达到最高峰。

    　　第四阶段，1966—1969年。勃列日涅夫执政以后，调整了赫鲁晓夫的对内、对外政策，加大对朝经济和军事援助力度，金日成对苏联的态度随之缓和。接着中国爆发“文化大革命”，极“左”的外交路线把朝鲜劳动党也作为修正主义加以指责和批判，红卫兵又在中朝边界制造了一系列麻烦，引起金日成极大不满，曾向苏联表示决不会屈从“中国路线”。朝鲜迅速倒向苏联，加入反华大合唱。中朝关系由此一落千丈，很快便从高峰跌入谷底。

    　　长期以来，中国对朝鲜的态度都受限于历史造成的“预设性”前提，实际上，我们应该把朝鲜当做一个普通的国家看待。不要谈战略屏障，实际上，二战以后到60年代，远程导弹的发明和普遍的部署运用使传统的地理上的战略屏障已经不具有军事意义。

    　　我并不认为朝鲜对于中国具备什么特殊的意义，相反，正是长期以来中朝关系的两个“神话”造成了中国在对朝关系和国际事务上不必要的束缚。一个是认为朝鲜是一个“正统的”社会主义国家，在制度上符合马克思主义；另一个是认为朝鲜是中国的兄弟国家，与中国有着用鲜血凝成的传统友谊。在这种认识的基础上，中国对朝鲜无条件支持和友好的外交便成为似乎不可动摇的国策，而在外部世界看来，朝鲜的问题就是中国的问题，似乎中国理应承担朝鲜问题的责任。这是中国外交政策的一个困境，应该把朝鲜当成一个普通的国家来对待，建立友好的周边关系是对的，但不该把这个问题看得太过重要，好像不援助、不支持就不行，如果完全被对方牵着走，那么你一个大国的责任何在？一个大国的威信又何在？

    　　作为一个正常国家，它的外交都应有底线。

    　　朝鲜的问题也是因为它一直以来都在社会主义阵营的卵翼之下，受到保护，所以世界不能直接介入。现在冷战结束了，对立集团没有了，理应走向一个大家都独立平等的阶段。现在我觉得是过渡期，时间不会太长。　　

    　　2013.3.4

  • 奥兰多·费吉思《耳语者》

    《耳语者：斯大林时代苏联的私人生活》
    献给  我的母亲伊娃·费吉斯，以及我们消逝的家族记忆

    引言
    第一章 1917年的孩子（1917—1928）
    第二章 大转变（1928—1932）
    第三章 对幸福的追求（1932—1936）
    第四章 大恐怖（1937—1938）
    第五章 大恐怖的余波（1938—1941）
    第六章 “等着我吧”（1941—1945）
    第七章 普通的斯大林主义者（1945—1953）
    第八章 归来（1953—1956）
    第九章 记忆（1956—2006）
    后记及致谢

    引言

    安东尼娜·戈洛温娜8岁时，与母亲和两个弟弟一起，流放到遥远的西伯利亚阿尔泰地区。父亲在俄罗斯北部的农庄集体化运动中，作为“富农”被捕，被送去劳改营3年，家里的财产、农具、牲畜都归了集体农庄。母亲仅得一小时时间来准备长途旅行的行装，戈洛温一家世代居住的房舍被拆，剩下的家人作鸟兽散。安东尼娜的哥哥姐姐、祖父母、叔叔姨妈以及表亲们，四下逃窜，试图躲过此劫。但到最后，多数仍然被抓，或被流放到西伯利亚，或被遣送去古拉格劳改营，其中多人从此销声匿迹。
    安东尼娜先在“特殊定居地”待了3年。那是一个伐木营地，沿河设置了5座木结构营房，安置了1000名“富农”和他们的家人。第一个冬天，大雪压垮其中的两座营房，流亡者不得不在冻土上挖穴而居。大雪切断交通，没有粮食补给，人们只得依靠随身从家乡带来的干粮。多人死于饥饿、严寒、伤寒，尸体多得无法全部掩埋，只好冻成一垛，等到春天冰化，再投入河中。
    1934年12月，安东尼娜和家人自流放地返回，与父亲重聚，迁入佩斯托沃镇的一个单间房，该镇聚居了大批前“富农”和他们的家人。她承受的创伤在心灵中留下深深的痕迹，其中最深的即是她的“富农”出身。在一个处处讲阶级成分的社会里，安东尼娜属于“阶级敌人”，不配获得高等教育及其他就业机会，在斯大林时代不时席卷全国的恐怖浪潮中，很容易遭到迫害和逮捕。这种自卑感积累形成了她所谓的“恐惧感”——“我们是富农，政府可以生杀予夺，没有任何权利，只能在默默无言中忍受”。她在学校里受到其他孩子的欺负，都不敢自卫。有一次，教师找安东尼娜的碴，在全班同学面前说她“那种人”就是“人民公敌，穷酸的富农！遭到驱逐也是罪有应得。我希望你们都在那里死绝”！安东尼娜深深感到不公和愤慨，真想呼喊出来，以示抗议，但更深沉的恐惧却逼迫她缄默不语。
    这种恐惧渗透于安东尼娜的一生，克服它的唯一方法是全身心地融入苏维埃社会。安东尼娜是一名聪明的女子，性格坚强。她下定决心克服自己出身的包袱，努力学习，冀望有一天能在社会中获得平等认可。尽管遭遇歧视，但她学习成绩优秀，信心益增，甚至加入了共青团。共青团领导看重她的主动积极和能力，对她的“富农”出身视而不见。到18岁时，安东尼娜作出一个关乎自己命运的大胆举措：她决定向组织隐瞒自己的出身——这带有极大的风险——甚至伪造有关文件，以便就读医学院。她在列宁格勒的生理研究所工作了40年，从没与朋友或同事谈及自己的家史。她现在声称，之所以成为共产党员（直到该党在1991年遭到取缔），不是因为相信它的意识形态，而是想转移他人的猜疑，以保护自己的家庭。她也许认为，入党将有助于自己的职业生涯。
    安东尼娜对她的先后两任丈夫都隐瞒了自己的过去，而她与他们同居的时间都超过了20年。她与第一位丈夫格奥尔基·兹纳缅斯基是终生朋友，却很少谈及各自的家史。1987年，格奥尔基的姨妈来访时说漏了嘴，安东尼娜方才获悉，他的父亲原是遭布尔什维克处决的沙皇海军军官。这么多年来，安东尼娜竟茫然不知，这位与自己结婚的男人竟和自己一样，青少年时期也是在劳改营和“特殊定居地”度过的。
    安东尼娜的第二任丈夫是爱沙尼亚人，名叫鲍里斯·约翰逊，也来自“人民公敌”家庭，其父亲和祖父1937年被捕，她也一无所知。她自己从不向他透露自身的经历，直到20世纪90年代初。其时，由于戈尔巴乔夫的开放政策，以及媒体对斯大林镇压的公开批评，他们受到鼓励，方才启齿。另外，安东尼娜和格奥尔基也借机袒露了互相隐瞒40多年的秘密，但仍担心共产党的反击，便商定不让当教师的女儿奥莉加知道。他们认为，如果斯大林主义者卷土重来，蒙在鼓里反而能给奥莉加提供某种保护。直到1990年代中期，安东尼娜才逐渐冲破恐惧，鼓起勇气，将自己的“富农”出身告诉女儿。
    《耳语者》揭示了很多被刻意隐瞒的家史，像戈洛温娜家一样，第一次将斯大林暴政下普通苏维埃公民的内心世界公之于众。很多书籍描述了恐怖的外表——逮捕、审判、古拉格的奴役和屠杀——但《耳语者》首次详尽探讨了它对个人和家庭刻骨铭心的影响。在斯大林的统治下，苏维埃人民如何过私人生活？他们真实的思想和感受是什么？绝大多数城市人口寄居在共用公寓，一家乃至多家合用狭小的住所，隔墙都能听到相互的交谈，究竟能有怎样的私人生活？当国家通过立法、监督、思想控制来横加干涉，几乎无远弗届，私人生活到底还有何意义？
    像安东尼娜一样，数以百万计的人因亲属受到镇压而生活在不间断的恐惧之中。他们如何应付这种不安全？一方面，自然感受到苏维埃制度的不公和异化；另一方面，又要设法从中找到安身立命的定位。他们如何获得平衡？为了补救他们的“历史污点”，为了变成社会中的平等成员，他们又作出了何种调整？安东尼娜在反思自己经历时说，她从没真正相信党和它的意识形态，但作为苏维埃专业人士，仍为自己的身份感到骄傲。这意味着，作为一名医生，她接受了该制度的基本目标和原则。也许，她在过着双重生活：公共生活中，她遵循苏维埃的规范；私人生活中，她又受制于基督徒农民的价值观。体验这种双重生活的，有许多苏维埃人士。当然，另外还有不少“富农”孩子，更不用说还有贵族或资产阶级出身的孩子，与自己的过去彻底决裂，在思想和感情上全心全意投入苏维埃制度。
    《耳语者》的主要舞台是家庭道德领域，探讨各式家庭如何应对苏维埃政权的压力。如果学校、共青团等机构向年轻一代灌输的苏维埃新道德和共同目标，与自己的价值观发生冲突，家长如何保存自己的传统和信念？又如何传给下一代？恐怖制度下的生活，对私人之间的亲密造成何种影响？当丈夫、妻子、父母突然变成“人民公敌”而被捕时，家人会作出何种反应？作为忠诚的苏维埃公民，他们如何处理胸中的郁结，是信任自己所爱的人呢，还是相信自己所害怕的政府？在斯大林统治下的道德真空中，情感还有多大能耐？生存的策略是什么？沉默，谎言，友谊，背叛，抑或塑造数百万人生的道义上的妥协和迁就？
    没受斯大林恐怖影响的家庭甚少，按保守的估计，从斯大林接掌党权的1928年到这名独裁者去世的1953年，约有2500万人受到苏维埃政权的迫害。1953年终告结束的，如果不是他在过去四分之一世纪中所开发的制度，至少也是其本身的恐怖统治。这2500万人——遭行刑队处决的人、古拉格政治犯、流放至“特殊定居地”的“富农”、遭到强制奴役和驱逐的少数民族——约占了总人口的八分之一。1941年，苏维埃总人口估计是2亿，换言之，平均每1.5户家庭即有1人。这个数字并不包括死于饥荒或战争的。除了死去或遭受奴役的数百万人，还有数千万斯大林统治下的受害者亲属，他们的人生遭受了惊心动魄的摧残，至今仍在吞食这苦涩的社会恶果。古拉格所造成的多年分离，使家庭难以重聚，使亲情和友情一去不复返，人们再也无法返回“正常的生活”。
    斯大林统治的持续恶果之一，就是造就了一个沉默而顺从的民族，像安东尼娜一样，学会了缄口不谈自己的过去——同样的，有人甚至欺瞒自己最私密的亲友。孩子受到教诲，千万小心，以免祸从口出，不要将家里事讲与外人，在外看到什么，也不要提供自己的判断或批评。“我们孩子必须学会听和讲的规矩。”一名成长于20世纪30年代的布尔什维克中层官员的女儿如此回忆：
    如果偷听到大人的耳语，或是背着我们的悄悄话，我们都很清楚，绝不能转述给任何外人。甚至让大人知道我们已听到他们的悄悄话，都会有麻烦。有时，大人脱口说了什么，然后告诉我们“隔墙有耳”，或“小心你的舌头”，或其他表述，我们马上就懂，他们刚刚说的，本是我们不应听到的。
    另一名女子——其父亲被捕于1936年，记得：
    我们从小就学会了闭嘴。“舌头会给你带来麻烦”——这是大人一直叮嘱我们孩子的，我们在生活中也一直害怕发表意见。妈妈常说，两人之中必有一名举报人。我们害怕邻居，特别是警察……即使在今天，我看到警察仍会怕得发抖。

    在一个被认为口太松就会被捕的社会中，家庭抱成一团以图生存。他们学会过双重生活，掩饰自己有悖于苏维埃规范的信息、意见、宗教信仰、家庭价值、传统和私人生活模式。他们设法避开危险的邻居耳目，有时甚至是自己的孩子，于是就学会了耳语。
    俄罗斯语言中有两个词代表“耳语者”——第一是指怕人偷听而窃窃低语的人（shepchushchii），第二是指暗地里向当局汇报的举报人（sheptun）。个中的区别起源于斯大林年代，其时，整个苏维埃社会全由耳语者们组成，或是第一种，或是第二种。
    《耳语者》并不讲述斯大林，但与他的政治直接相关，在每一页当中，可感受到他的存在。它讲的是，斯大林主义如何融入人们的思想和情感，如何影响他们的价值观和人际关系。本书并不试图解说恐怖的起源，或描述古拉格的兴衰；只想解释警察国家如何在苏维埃社会扎根，让数百万普通老百姓卷入这恐怖制度，或是沉默旁观者，或是合作参与者。如俄罗斯历史学家米哈伊尔·格夫特所叙述的，斯大林制度的真正力量和持久遗产，既不在于国家结构，也不在于领袖崇拜，而在于“潜入我们内心的斯大林主义”。
    历史学家在透析斯大林主义的内心世界这一课题上姗姗来迟，直到最近，大多数研究仍与公共领域有关，譬如政治、意识形态、“苏维埃群众”的集体经验。个人——如真有出现——主要是向当局提出申述的人士（已变成公众人士，不再是私下或家里的个人）。普通老百姓的私人领域，基本上是秘而不宣的，其主要原因是来源匮乏。在前苏维埃和党的档案中，大多数的个人收藏属于政治、科学、文化界的知名人士。收藏中的文件是主人精心挑选后捐赠给国家的，大多涉及这些人的公众生活。在为本书做调查的初期，我们曾浏览数千份个人收藏，但其中披露家庭或私人生活的，实在是寥若晨星。（科学、文学、艺术档案馆内的个人收藏（如SPbF ARAN、RGALI、IRL RAN）有时更加真实坦诚，但包含私人文件最多的部门往往不对外开放。1991年后，有些前苏维埃档案馆收集了普通家庭捐赠的个人收藏——如TsMAMLS，含有莫斯科居民的各式私人文件。） 
    出版于苏联的回忆录，或在1991年前业已公开的苏维埃档案，一般并不披露作者的私人感受，但也有例外，特别是1985年之后在开放政策时期出版的文字。发表在西方的回忆录，不管是来自苏联流亡知识分子，还是斯大林镇压的幸存者，都存有同样的缺陷。它们被广泛认作“沉默者”的“真实声音”，让我们了解普通公民是如何应对斯大林恐怖的。在冷战高峰期的1980年代初，斯大林政权在西方的形象，主要以这些知识分子的幸存叙述为主，特别是叶夫根尼娅·金兹伯格和娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆。她们提供了第一手资料，以证明个人精神是反抗苏维埃暴政的内在力量。 这种道德视野——在1991年的“民主”胜利中获得了兑现和象征——对苏维埃政权倒塌后的回忆录具有广泛的影响力。 (9) 它也深深打动了历史学家，使他们在1991年之后，比以前更倾向于强调人民对斯大林独裁的反抗。对许多幸存者来说，尤其是矢志于自由和个人主义的知识分子，这些回忆录确实揭示了真相。但是，它们无法为千百万普通老百姓代言。不少斯大林政权的受害者，并不同样心怀这种内心的自由或异议。恰恰相反，他们默默接受和内化了该制度的基本价值，尽可能顺从它的公共规则，甚至在犯罪过程中沦作为虎作伥的帮手。
    出现在档案中的日记呈各种形式（作家日记、工作日记、文学年鉴、剪贴簿、每日纪事，等等），初看似乎很有价值。但相对来说，出自斯大林时代的日记，如果不愿作牵强附会的解释，其中袒露出作家真心感受和意见的，仅有极少一部分。在20世纪30年代和40年代，很少人甘冒书写私人日记的风险。一旦被捕——几乎可在任何时间，发生在任何人身上——最先没收的就是日记，如果含有可解释为“反苏维埃”的想法或情绪，便可成为罪证（作家米哈伊尔·普里谢维恩以细小潦草的字迹来记日记，即使用放大镜也难以辨认，为的就是预防被捕后自己思想的暴露）。就整体而言，在苏维埃时期出版的日记，其作者都小心翼翼，字斟句酌。1991年之后，涌现出越来越多的日记——包括苏维埃社会中下层人士的——或来自前苏维埃档案，或归功于人们的自发募集，例如莫斯科人民档案（TsDNA）。 但总的来说，斯大林时代的日记，其数量仍然太少（尚未公开的前克格勃档案中可能还有），无法就普通公民的内心世界得出结论。研究私人生活的历史学家还需要面对“苏维埃语”（Soviet-speak）的问题，很多日记千篇一律，所表达的思想都循规蹈矩。如果不知道写日记的动机（恐惧、信仰、风气），便很难解读这些日记。

    近几年来，部分历史学家将注意力投向“苏维埃主观性”（Soviet subjectivity），研读文学和私人的文本（主要是日记），强调正统意识形态对公民内心世界的主宰程度。 他们认为，要偏离苏维埃政治的公共话语，仅作自身的思考和感受，实际上是不可能的。如果产生了非分的想法或情绪，很可能被当做“自身危机”，而接受自觉自愿的剔除。苏维埃的价值和理念已渗透人的内心，这的确是《耳语者》中众多研究对象的特征。其中仅有极少数人，以自我改进的方式来认同斯大林制度，成为这些历史学家所谓的“苏维埃主观性”的代表。在大多数的情况下，人们意识中的旧价值和旧信仰，或被中止，或受压抑，被本书反映出的苏维埃心态所取代。人们接受这种心态，并不是出于“成为苏维埃人”的渴望，而是出于羞耻和恐惧。就是在这种意义上，安东尼娜决心努力攻读，成为社会中的平等人——以此来克服自己作为“富农”子女的自卑感（即她所经历的“恐惧感”）。对大多数人来说，包括许多斯大林政权的受害者，融入苏维埃制度是生存的出路，也是掩埋疑虑和恐惧的必要途径。如果大声说出，生活便会变得难以为继；相信和参与苏维埃的活动，使他们的痛苦获得意义；如果没有崇高的目标，他们可能会走投无路，陷入绝望。在此借用另一位“富农”孩子的话——“相信斯大林的正义……使我们更容易接受处罚，并带走我们的恐惧”。他本人作为“人民公敌”被流放多年，然而，终其一生却是一名心悦诚服的斯大林主义者。
    与口述历史相比，这种心态在斯大林时代的日记和信件中较少出现——其内容一般得遵循苏维埃的规则和礼貌，承认恐惧是绝不容许的。研究斯大林政权的历史学家，愈益转向口述历史的研究手法。与任何受制于记忆误差的其他学科一样，口述历史也有其方法上的缺陷。在学会了耳语的俄罗斯，对苏维埃历史的追忆又充斥着编造的神话和意识形态，这些缺陷因此变得格外麻烦。数百万人曾因出言不慎而遭告发，锒铛下狱。许多有此经历的老年人，看到手持麦克风（与克格勃挂钩的设备）的研究人员，马上变得格外谨慎。这些幸存者出于恐惧、羞耻、禁欲主义，压抑和遏制自己的痛苦回忆。很多人无法反思过去的生活，因为他们已习惯于逃避令人尴尬的问题，包括做出怎样的道德选择，来界定自己在苏维埃制度中的成功。其他人则不愿承认自己的所作所为，往往以事后诸葛的动机和信仰，作出各种各样的辩解。尽管有这些挑战，在很多方面又恰恰因为如此，处理得当的口述历史，可为专门研究私人生活的历史学家提供巨大的好处。这意味着要对照家庭和公共档案的书面记录，尽可能严格地核查受访者的证据。
    《耳语者》引述的数百份家庭档案（信件、日记、私人文件、回忆录、照片、实物），迄今都被斯大林恐怖时期的幸存者藏匿在俄罗斯各地的秘密抽屉中或床垫下。我们在每户人家仔细采访年龄最长的成员，只有他们方能解说这些私人文件，并将之与基本上讳莫如深的家史挂上钩。与本书相关的口述历史项目，侧重于家庭和个人的内心世界，明显不同于以往的口述历史，后者主要是社会学的，比较关注恐怖时期的外部细节和古拉格的经历。这些资料组成了一份特殊档案，是斯大林时代私人生活的最大文件汇集之一。（ 大多数档案由作者和纪念学会一起取得。该协会成立于20世纪80年代末，专门代表和纪念遭受苏维埃迫害的受害者。这些档案分存于圣彼得堡（MSP）、莫斯科（MM）、彼尔姆（MP）的纪念学会，其中大多数可在网上查到（http://www.orlandofiges.com）。如想了解该研究项目的更多详情，请参阅书末的后记及致谢。） 
    《耳语者》所讲述的这些家庭，代表了苏维埃社会相当广泛的横截面。他们具有各式社会背景，来自俄罗斯各地的城市、集镇、村庄，既有遭受迫害的，也有参与镇压的。他们或在内务人民委员会任职，或是古拉格管理人员。另外还有未受影响的家庭，但从统计学的角度看，其数量极少。

    《耳语者》凭借这些材料，图解了整整一代人的故事。他们生于革命初期，主要在1917年到1925年之间，其经历随苏维埃制度的轨迹波动而变迁。到了后面的章节，本书又为他们的后裔提供发言机会。为了理解该制度的遗毒，多代跟踪的方式很重要。在四分之三个世纪中，苏维埃制度对家庭的道德领域产生了深远影响。尚无其他的极权制度对其臣民的私人生活造成如此深远的冲击——包括共产主义东方（经常与斯大林政权相比的纳粹独裁统治仅持续12年）。本书的与众不同之处，还在于以长远眼光来看待斯大林现象。有关这一题材的现有历史叙述，主要集中于20世纪30年代——仿佛只要弄清1937至1938年的大恐怖，就可把握斯大林政权的本质。但大恐怖只是斯大林统治时期中最为凶残的一段（它占了1917至1955年政治处决案件中的85%），只是一系列浪潮般涌来的迫害之一（1918—1921、1928—1931、1934—1935、1937—1938、1943—1946、1948—1953），每一次都吞噬许多人的性命。古拉格劳改营和“特殊定居地”人口数量的顶峰并不在1938年，而在1953年。斯大林死后几十年，数百万人仍身受其漫长暴政的遗毒。
    在《耳语者》的公开叙述中，交叉编织起来的家史可能太多，读者很难逐一追踪个别的叙述，但可运用索引将它们串连起来。它们可被当做一个共同历史的变种——即给每一家生活打下烙印的斯大林主义。另有几户人家，包括戈洛温娜家，其故事贯穿整个叙述，所以列出了家族树。《耳语者》的中心题材，围绕着联姻的拉斯金家和西蒙诺夫家。他们各自的命运，在斯大林恐怖时期有天渊之别，悲剧般交织在一起。
    康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫（1915—1979）是中心人物，也许是《耳语者》中的悲剧英雄（取决于你的见解）。他出生于遭苏维埃政权镇压的贵族家庭，却在20世纪30年代蜕变为“无产阶级作家”。今天几乎被人遗忘的他，曾是苏维埃文学阵营中的重要干将——获得六项斯大林奖、一项列宁奖，又是社会主义劳动英雄。他是一名很有才华的抒情诗人，他的战争小说颇受欢迎，他的戏剧可能稍有欠缺，流于宣传，但在战争时期，他又是俄罗斯最优秀的记者之一。后来，他成为一名优秀的回忆录作家，诚实地审视自己在斯大林政权中的罪行与道德妥协。1939年，西蒙诺夫与叶夫根尼娅·拉斯金娜结婚。她的犹太家庭从“栅栏区”（Pale of Settlement）搬来莫斯科，她是家中三姐妹中的老幺。但西蒙诺夫很快抛弃了她以及尚在襁褓中的儿子，转去追求漂亮的女演员瓦伦蒂娜·谢罗娃——这段浪漫史激励他写下他最著名的诗篇《等着我吧》（Wait For Me，1941年）。几乎每一名士兵都能熟记于心，冀望打完胜仗，重返自己的女友或妻子身边。从1945到1953年，西蒙诺夫成为苏联作家协会中的重要人物。其时，斯大林的理论家要求苏维埃的文学领袖，参与迫害那些被视为过于自由化的同行，并在艺术和科学领域的反犹运动中摇旗呐喊。这一官方反犹运动的受害者之一就是拉斯金，但西蒙诺夫已涉入斯大林政权太深，无法提供任何援助。也许，他根本就是无能为力的。
    西蒙诺夫是很复杂的，他从自己父母身上继承了贵族的公众服务价值、军人职责和服从精神。在他脑海中，这等同于热心公益、为国牺牲的苏维埃美德，使他在斯大林等级制度中心安理得。西蒙诺夫具有许多令人钦佩的素质，如果说有“优秀的斯大林主义者”，他完全可以当之无愧。他诚实、纯真、有条有理、严守纪律，具有相当的热情和魅力。不管是所受的教育，还是自己的性格，他生来就是积极分子，幼时即迷失于苏维埃制度，面对其在道德方面的压力和要求时又无法脱身。在这个意义上，西蒙诺夫体现了一代人在道德上的冲突和困境——生活在斯大林政权的阴影中——要了解他的思想和行动，也许先要了解他的时代。

    第一章 1917年的孩子（1917—1928）

    一

    1917年10月，叶丽萨维塔·德拉布金娜在布尔什维克总部的斯莫尔尼学院见到自己父亲时竟然都认不出他。上次见面时，她只有5岁，过后不久，父亲便潜入地下活动。12年后的今天，她已把他的模样忘得一干二净，只记得他的党内化名。叶丽萨维塔在斯莫尔尼学院任秘书，非常熟悉数十份法令上的签名——“谢尔盖·古谢夫”，他是负责首都秩序的彼得格勒苏维埃革命军事委员会主席。她沿斯莫尔尼学院无尽的拱形长廊匆匆走过，听到正在休息的士兵和赤卫队员发出嗤笑和口哨。这座贵妇学校营房一般的教室，已改为苏维埃新政府的临时办事处，她的工作就是分发法令。当她告诉其他秘书，这些签名属于她失散多年的父亲，她们都没将之当做一回事。从未有人建议，她应该与他重建联系。在这些圈子中，每一名布尔什维克的个人利益必须服从共同事业。党在为人类解放开展决定性的斗争，你如果仍在记挂私人生活，就会被视为“市侩”。
    最后驱使叶丽萨维塔走向父亲的是饥饿。她在烟雾缭绕的地下室食堂刚刚吃完午餐，走进来一名身材矮小但肌肉健硕的英俊男子，身着军装，戴夹鼻眼镜，尾随一长列党的干部和赤卫队员，在中央长桌旁坐下。两名士兵向饿坏了的无产者们分发菜汤和粥。叶丽萨维塔仍然很饿，坐在角落的小桌旁，观察那名英俊男子一手以汤匙喝汤，另一手执铅笔在尾随者递上的文件上签字。
    突然有人叫他“古谢夫同志”。
    我意识到，这一定是我父亲了，想也没想就站起身来，朝拥挤的餐桌挤过去。

    “古谢夫同志，我需要你。”他转过身来，显得很疲惫，因睡眠不足而双眼通红。
    “我在听，同志！”
    “古谢夫同志，我是你女儿，给我3卢布，我要吃一份午餐。”
    也许，他已筋疲力尽，听到的只是我对3个卢布的索求。
    “当然，同志。”古谢夫说，探手入口袋，掏出一张绿色的3卢布钞票。我接过钱，向他表示感谢，用它买了另一份午餐。

    列宁很喜欢这一则故事，在1924年去世之前，经常叫其时已变得稔熟的叶丽萨维塔·德拉布金娜讲述此事。它在党内变成了一个传奇，生动表现了布尔什维克的个人牺牲，以及对革命事业的无私奉献。斯大林曾说：“一个真正的布尔什维克不应也不能拥有家庭，因为他必须将自己的一切献给党。”
    德拉布金的故事是该项革命原则的典例。1895年，叶丽萨维塔的父亲（本名是雅可夫·德拉布金）尚是学生时就加入了列宁的社会民主党。她母亲费奥多西娅也是党地下工作中的重要成员（娜塔莎），经常带着作为掩护的女儿奔赴赫尔辛福斯（赫尔辛基），为圣彼得堡的革命者购买弹药（叶丽萨维塔的玩具包裹里藏有炸药和子弹盒）。1905年的革命流产后，叶丽萨维塔的父母为躲避沙皇警察而转入地下。5岁的叶丽萨维塔赴罗斯托夫与祖父同住，一直待到1917年的二月革命。其时，新上台的临时政府释放了所有的革命者。 [1] 叶丽萨维塔与母亲在彼得格勒（圣彼得堡当时的名字）重聚，随即加入布尔什维克，成为赤卫队中的机枪手。她在布尔什维克10月25日的夺权中参与强攻冬宫，复又担任其首席组织者雅可夫·斯维尔德洛夫的秘书。这份工作让她走进了斯莫尔尼学院，而她的父亲就在那里工作。
    执政的布尔什维克敦促普通党员以沙俄时的革命家为榜样，牺牲个人幸福，放弃自己家庭，为工人阶级服务。 [2] 他们提倡对“大公无私的革命家”的崇拜，构建全新的道德观，以一切献给党的单一原则取代所有的旧诫。在他们的乌托邦憧憬中，革命家是新人的原型——只为公众利益而活的“集体人格”——未来共产主义社会将由这种新人组成。很多社会主义者把培育新人当做革命的根本目标。马克西姆·高尔基在1917年春天写道：“政治生活的新结构向我们要求全新的灵魂结构。”

    对布尔什维克来说，从根本上实现“集体人格”，需要“砸碎私人生活的甲壳”。列宁的妻子娜杰日达·克鲁普斯卡娅认为，允许“私人生活和公共生活之间存有差别，迟早会导致对共产主义的背叛”。根据布尔什维克的说法，与政治领域截然分开的“私人生活”的理念是荒谬的，因为政治影响一切；所谓的“私人生活”，无不与政治有关。所以，私人领域仍应受到社会公众的监督和控制。布尔什维克将不受国家控制的私人空间视作孕育反革命分子的危险温床，认为必须予以揭露和铲除。

    这次遭遇之后，叶丽萨维塔很少看到父亲，他们各自忙于自己的革命活动。1917年之后，叶丽萨维塔继续在斯维尔德洛夫办公室工作。在内战期间（1918—1920），她参加了红军，先是做医疗助理，后来成为机枪手，参与在西伯利亚、波罗的海、俄罗斯南部向西方列强支持的白军或反革命军队发起的进攻。她在抗击海军上将高尔察克白军的东线战役中，甚至在父亲指挥下投入战斗。其时，父亲在革命军事委员会担任高级职务，充当苏维埃军队的指挥中枢，该委员会以托洛茨基为首。叶丽萨维塔经常听父亲向战士发表演讲，但从没走近他。她后来说，自己认为布尔什维克不应“关注私人事务”。整个内战时期，他们只相遇两次。第一次是在1919年3月斯维尔德洛夫的葬礼上，第二次是同年稍晚在克里姆林宫的正式会议上。到了20年代，父亲和女儿都在莫斯科从事党的工作，见面更加频繁，甚至有一段时间住在一起，但仍然无法亲近。他们分开得太久，无法培养亲情。叶丽萨维塔回忆：“父亲从没对我说过他自己。我现在才意识到，等他去世后[1933年]，别人讲起他，我才开始对他有所了解。”

    内战不仅是对白军的军事斗争，还是对旧社会私人利益的革命斗争。为了应付白军，布尔什维克开发了第一套计划经济（战时共产主义），后来成为斯大林五年计划的原型。他们试图杜绝私人的贸易和财产（甚至计划以配给来取代金钱）；向农民征集粮食来养活城市和军队；征召数百万劳动大军奔赴“经济战线”，包括伐木为薪、建筑道路、维修铁路；强制推行实验性的集体劳动，让人们住进工厂附属的宿舍和营房；向宗教开战，迫害神职人员和教徒，关闭数百座教堂；钳制所有反对无产阶级专政的异见者。在内战的“内部战线”上，布尔什维克发起反对“布尔乔亚”——前沙皇官员、地主、商人、富农、商贩和旧知识分子——的恐怖运动（红色恐怖），因为这些人的个人主义价值观，很容易使自己成为白军和其他“反革命”的潜在朋友。布尔什维克相信，如此凶猛地清洗社会，是通向共产主义乌托邦的捷径。

    到1921年的春天，战时共产主义的政策摧毁了苏维埃经济，把众多农民带到饥荒的边缘，苏俄农民中有四分之一在挨饿。全国各地的农民发动一系列叛乱，反抗布尔什维克政权及其粮食征用制度。列宁自己说，这“比全部白军加在一起还要危险”。在许多农村地区，苏维埃政权实际上已不复存在。农民夺取村庄权力，切断对城市的粮食供应，饥饿的工人举行罢工。彼得格勒附近的喀琅施塔得海军基地，其水手曾在1917年10月帮助布尔什维克夺得权力，现在反过来发动兵变。他们打着无政府主义的起义旗号，呼吁苏维埃的选举自由、“全体劳工的言论自由、新闻自由、集会自由、农民自主耕地的自由”。显然，布尔什维克自己正面对着新兴的革命。列宁在3月初承认，“我们快撑不住了”。托洛茨基曾称赞喀琅施塔得的水兵是“革命的骄傲和喜悦”，此时却亲自指挥向该海军基地发起军事突击。军事力量和无情的恐怖，也被用来对付农民起义。据估计，在镇压起义期间，被监禁或驱逐出境的有10万人，遭枪决的有1.5万人。但列宁意识到，要扭转起义浪潮、促使农民恢复向城市供粮，布尔什维克必须放弃战时共产主义政策并恢复自由贸易。击败白军之后，布尔什维克便向农民作出让步。
    1921年3月，列宁在第十次党代会上引进新经济政策（NEP），以相对宽松的税收来取代粮食征用制，使小规模的私人贸易和制造合法化。它偏重于农业和消费品的生产，置重工业发展于次要地位。列宁这样认为，新经济政策是对小农——执著于私人家庭生产的原则——暂时但必需的让步，以挽救革命，为国家重整旗鼓。他谈到，这一政策将持续“不少于10年，可能更长”。1921年的苏维埃居民，身着缀满补丁的衣服，以破损的器皿烹调，用开裂的杯子饮水，什么都要换新的。市场的恢复给苏维埃经济带来新生命，私人贸易对革命和内战所造成的长期短缺作出迅速的反应。贸易商人设立摊位，跳蚤市场蓬勃发展，农民将食品运来城镇。因有新法律的许可，私人的咖啡馆、商店、餐馆、夜总会、妓院、医院、诊所、信用社甚至小型工厂，如雨后春笋般涌现出来。内战时宛如墓地的莫斯科和彼得格勒，突然生机盎然，嘈杂的贸易商人、忙碌的出租车司机、灯火通明的商店和街道，好像重又回到 1917年之前。

    对许多布尔什维克来说，市场的恢复似乎是对革命的背叛。引进的新经济政策招致广大党员的怀疑（甚至列宁“偏爱”的尼古拉·布哈林，接受过程也非常缓慢，从1921年一直拖至1923年。后来，他反倒成了新经济政策的主要捍卫者），列宁不得不使用他全部的说服力和权威，使之获得党代会的通过。尤其是在城镇工人中，人们普遍认为，新经济政策牺牲了工人阶级的利益，而农民因食品价格上涨而变得越来越富。在城镇工人看来，私人贸易的繁荣将不可避免地导致贫富悬殊和资本主义复辟。他们把新经济政策称作“对无产阶级的新型剥削”，他们的愤怒主要针对“新经济人”，即在20世纪20年代兴旺发达起来的私商。在苏维埃宣传漫画所塑造的大众想象中，“新经济人”以钻石和皮草装扮妻子和情妇，驾驶硕大的进口汽车，在歌剧演出时打鼾，在餐馆里高歌，在昂贵酒吧中大声吹嘘其挥霍于赛马场和赌场的美元财富。新兴暴发户的这种大肆挥霍，衬以20世纪20年代的城市贫困和大量失业，给人们带来苦涩的怨恨。他们认为，革命本来应该终止不平等。
    在“内部战线”上，新经济政策让“资产阶级文化”的残余得以苟延残喘。共产主义曾承诺要予以消灭，但暂时还不能没有。它中止了反对中产阶级和专业知识分子的斗争，因为苏维埃经济需要他们的专长。从1924到1928年，对宗教的斗争也告暂停：不再以先前（或后续的）的频度关闭教堂或压迫神职人员，让老百姓继续保留自己的信仰，不过，反教会的宣传仍在继续。最后，新经济政策为私人生活的旧习惯和家庭传统保留了空间，引起众多布尔什维克的担忧：俄罗斯“小布尔乔亚”的心态和习俗——数以百万计的小商人和小生产者，其数量因新经济政策而日益增多——将会阻挠甚至破坏革命运动。斯大林在1924年宣布：“我们从旧社会继承下来的态度和习惯，束缚着千百万劳动者的心灵，成了社会主义最危险的敌人。”
    布尔什维克设想，建设共产主义乌托邦，就是要与旧的习俗和习惯展开不断的斗争。随着内战的结束，他们准备在“内部战线”上发起新的持久战：通过消灭个人主义（“资产阶级”）的行为和旧社会留下的陋习（卖淫、酗酒、流氓、宗教），来赢得共产主义个性解放的革命战争。布尔什维克中几乎没有分歧，他们认为改造人性的战役将需要几十年的时间，有　争议的只是何时打响第一枪。马克思教导说，意识的改变依赖于物质基础的改变。列宁在介绍新经济政策时承认，在共产主义社会的物质条件实现之前——其过程需要横跨整个历史时代——试图在私人生活中创建共产主义道德制度是不切实际的。但为了推行新经济政策，必须撤离私人领域，这又是多数布尔什维克不愿接受的。恰恰相反，他们越来越倾向于认为，在日常生活的每一战场每一时刻，积极参与都是不可或缺的——在家人、居所、内心中保留旧心态，只会对党的根本思想目标造成重大威胁。他们看到，“小资产阶级”个人主义本性在新经济政策下日益增强，因此要求加倍努力，予以反击。阿纳托利·卢那察尔斯基在1927年写道：“不能让所谓的私人生活领域逃离我们。恰恰需要在那里实现革命的最终目标。”

    布尔什维克投入战斗的第一个舞台是家庭。20世纪20年代，他们坚信“资产阶级家庭”对社会是有害的：它是内向和保守的，是宗教、迷信、无知、偏见的堡垒，提倡自我中心和物质占有欲，压迫妇女和儿童。布尔什维克预计，等到苏俄建成完全的社会主义制度，家庭将会消亡。其时，国家承担家庭的所有基本职能，在公共中心和公寓区里提供托儿、洗衣、食堂等服务。从家务劳动中解放出来的妇女，可自由加入与男子平等的劳动大军；激进派相信，以男性为主的婚姻和相应的性道德都会消亡，将被“爱情的自由结合”所取代。

    以布尔什维克的眼光看，家庭是儿童社会化的最大障碍。苏维埃教育思想家西耶塔·莉莉娜写道：“家庭喜爱孩子，使他变得任性，鼓励他视自己为宇宙的中心。”布尔什维克理论家同意要以“社会主义大家庭”的“理性之爱”，来取代这种“自我中心的爱”。《共产主义ABC》（The ABC of Communism，1919年）所设想的未来社会中，父母讲到自己孩子时，将不再使用“我的”字眼，将会关心社区内所有的孩子。这种变化需要多久方能实现，布尔什维克内部有不同见解。激进派认为，党应采取直接行动，马上着手破坏家庭。但多数人接受布哈林和新经济政策理论家的论点：在苏俄这样的农业国家，在相当长的一段时间内，家庭仍是生产和消费的主要单位，慢慢随着国家向都市社会主义社会的过渡，再逐渐变弱。
    同时，布尔什维克又采纳各式策略——如家庭空间的改造——以加速家庭的解体。为了解决拥挤城市的住房短缺，布尔什维克迫使富裕家庭与城市贫民分享自己居住的公寓——称为“掺沙子”政策（uplotnenie）。在20世纪20年代，最常见的共用公寓由原业主占据主房，让其他家庭搬进偏房。当时，只要符合“卫生标准”（即人均生活空间，它从1926年的13.5平方米降至1931年的9平方米），原业主仍可自由选择合住的房客。很多家庭招入佣人或熟人，以防陌生人抢占。该项政策在意识形态上具有强大吸引力，不仅是新政权宣传的反特权斗争（“反宫殿的斗争！”），更是一次创建集体生活方式的运动。布尔什维克认为，迫使人们住入共用公寓，可让他们在基本思想和行为上更趋向于共产主义。私人空间和财产将会消失，个人家庭（“资产阶级”）将被共产主义的友爱和组织所取代，个人生活将融入社区。自20世纪20年代中期开始，新型住房设计就以这种改造作为出发点。最激进的苏维埃建筑师，例如当代建筑师联盟中的建构派（Constructivists），建议修造废除一切私人领域的“公社房屋”。其中，包括内衣的所有财产由居民共同使用，烹饪和育儿的家务由各团队轮流负责，大家按性别分睡在不同的大型宿舍，另有专为性生活而设的包房。但这类房子实际上造得很少，仅在乌托邦想象和未来小说中广为流传，如尤金·扎米亚金的《我们》（We，1920年）。大多数确实落成的建筑，如建构派莫伊谢·金兹伯格在莫斯科设计的财政部公寓大楼（1930年），并没采用完全的社区形式。它们既有私人的生活空间，又有社区化的洗衣房、澡堂、餐厅、厨房、幼儿园、学校。然而，新建筑的目标仍是敦促大家，从私人家庭（“资产阶级”）转向集体生活。

    布尔什维克也直接干涉家庭生活。1918年的婚姻和家庭新法定下明确的框架，以促进传统家庭的崩溃。结婚和离婚只需向国家提出简单的注册，从而取消了教会的影响力。它向事实上的婚姻（男女同居）和合法婚姻，赋予同等的法律权利。离婚原是富人的奢侈品，现在变得经济方便，大家都可一试。其结果是大幅增长的随意婚姻，以及世界上最高的离婚率——在1926年是法国或德国的3倍、英国的26倍。由于基督教宗法秩序的崩溃和革命年代的混乱，家庭和社区的关系、性道德等，都变得松弛。
    苏维埃政权的初期，革命积极分子的家庭破裂非常普遍，几乎构成了一种职业病。内战时期，布尔什维克圈子中随意的性关系已成事实上的规范，因为任何人都有可能接获通知，立刻奔赴遥远的前线。在整个20世纪20年代，这种轻松随意的态度相当普遍。党的积极分子和共青团的年轻仿效者经常接受教诲，要把自己对无产阶级事业的承诺，放在爱情或家庭之上。与普通的苏维埃青年相比，性乱交在年轻党员中更为普遍。许多布尔什维克将性自由，视作“苏维埃现代化”的标志，不再接受资产阶级道德的约束。有人甚至主张，配偶关系只会促使恋人们脱离集体，减弱对党的忠诚，而性乱交反而可以成为一种抗衡。

    由于党的需求，布尔什维克人不能照料家事，当不好尽职的丈夫和父亲，这是众所周知的。莫斯科的一名布尔什维克人说：“我们共产党人甚至不了解自己家人。你早出晚归，很少看到妻子，几乎从不遇见自己的孩子。”整个20世纪的20年代，党代表大会经常讨论此类问题。普遍认为，与非党员丈夫相比，布尔什维克人更容易放弃妻子和家庭，因为他们对党的忠诚高于对爱情的忠贞。事实上，妻子和母亲的缺失所带来的麻烦，不仅存在于党内，也存在于广泛的苏维埃知识界。其时，大多数知识女子都投入公共生活。

    托洛茨基认为，与其他人相比，布尔什维克人更容易承受家庭破裂的影响，因为他们“在新条件面前暴露得最为彻底”。托洛茨基在1923年写道，作为现代生活方式的先驱，“共产党先锋队只是以更为激烈的方式，较早地经历了”人民大众无法避免的进程。许多党员家庭肯定深切感受到开拓新型家庭的职责——父母双方都从家务中解放出来，投身公益活动——尽管要付出与子女疏远的代价。

    安娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅和丈夫彼得·涅泽夫茨夫都是列宁格勒（列宁逝世后，彼得格勒的新名）共产党的高级干部。他们与3个孩子住在斯莫尔尼学院附近的私人公寓，其中之一是马克斯娜 [3] 。她是安娜第一次婚姻所生的女儿，出生于1923年。马克斯娜很少看到父母，她早晨醒来之前，父母已经离开，要工作到深夜方能回家。马克斯娜回忆：“我觉得缺乏母亲的关爱，总是嫉妒那些母亲无须上班的小孩。”因为父母不在，孩子们由两名女佣照料，都是新近来自乡下的农妇，充任管家和厨师。根据她的回忆，作为最年长的孩子，马克斯娜自4岁起便承担家里的“全部权责”。厨师会问她晚餐吃什么，并向她要钱，去高级干部专用店购买食物。如果女佣打破家规，或“做了我认为是不正确的事”，马克斯娜就会向母亲汇报。但更多的时候，她回忆：“如果做了我不喜欢的，我会直截了当告诉她们。”马克斯娜感到自己肩负责任——她很清楚，母亲喜欢她负起责任——并欣然接受：“母亲说得很清楚，家里发生的事与她无关。对此，我从不怀疑。”

    马克斯娜从小接受新社会价值的熏陶，属于1917年的一代，被父母视作“小同志”。她没有玩具，也没有小孩自由玩耍的空间。马克斯娜回忆：“父母视我为平等人，交谈起来把我当作成年人，教我从小学会独立，一切事情都要自力更生。”她7岁上小学的第一天早上，母亲带她去学校，让她记住路程——将近3公里的复杂旅途——这样，下午放学后，她就可以自己步行回家。马克斯娜回忆：“从那天起，我一直步行去学校。我的脑海里从没闪过应该有人陪我的念头。”马克斯娜步行一小时去市中心的商店，购买了所有的书籍和文具。从8岁起，她自个儿赴剧场，因为有父母的高级干部出入证，可坐在包厢内。马克斯娜回忆：“从来没人告诉我该怎么办，是我把自己带大的。”

    父母在她生活中只是很遥远的身影。到了节日，他们自己旅行去克里米亚的高级度假村，却把孩子们留在列宁格勒。但在思想上，父母实施僵硬的管束，在马克斯娜的回忆中，往往成为烦恼的来源。母亲责怪她钟情于普希金和托尔斯泰的作品，却不读共产党青睐的儿童教育书籍，如弗拉基米尔·奥布罗切夫的科学探险故事《萨尼科夫的大地》（Land of Sannikov，1926年），或格列高利·别雷赫和阿列克谢·潘捷列耶夫的《什基德共和国》（The Republic of Shkid，1927年）。后者讲述的是无家可归的孤儿，如何被送进列宁格勒的学校。母亲将这两本书带回家，马克斯娜尽职地读完，之后放入柜子，全然遗忘。母亲还禁止马克斯娜邀请学校的朋友到家里来，她的理由是：最好不要让他们看到党领导过的舒适生活——尽管仍属适度的，且带有斯巴达风格——特别是与他人的生活相比之下。父母很少称赞或表扬她，几乎从没亲吻或拥抱过她，马克斯娜感情上的唯一慰藉是她生病时前来照料她的祖母。马克斯娜回忆：“我喜欢去她家，能享受大量的关爱。她教我如何缝纫，如何穿珠成项链，为我准备玩具，甚至还给我买了一套木制玩具小厨房，放在她房间的一角，我喜欢待在那里尽情玩耍。”

    1917年后出生于党员家庭的许多儿童，都谈到父母亲情的缺乏。在这一方面，苏维埃精英养育子女的习惯与19世纪俄罗斯贵族相比，没有很大的不同。后者也对育婴室兴致索然，很早就把婴儿托交给保姆、女佣和其他家仆。
    安吉丽娜·叶夫谢耶娃1922年出生于布尔什维克家庭。内战时期，父母都在红军服役，得以相遇相识。1920年返回彼得格勒后，父亲成为参与镇压喀琅施塔得兵变的师指挥官。到1925年，他就读于军事医学院，晚上仍要刻苦学习。母亲任职于贸易委员会，等安吉丽娜出生后，开始在外贸学院学习，同样要在晚上苦读。在安吉丽娜的回忆中，童年主要是在管家的照料中度过的：
    母亲很爱我，既耐心又细心，就是不够亲热。她从不溺爱，从没与我一起玩耍，希望我像成年人一样行事，把我当做成年人……父亲全心投入工作，我觉得自己只会给他们挡道，肯定是父母的累赘。我非常调皮，不喜欢待在家中，竟是在院子和大街上长大的。我8岁那年，父亲出差去莫斯科，带回一个鱼缸。他不让我出去玩，结果我绊倒了鱼缸，所有的鱼儿洒落一地。他用皮管抽我，我便大声叫嚷：“你不是一个父亲，你是一个继母，继母！”

    1923年，玛丽亚·布德克维奇出生于莫斯科党政干部的家庭，父母在苏维埃军队主要出版机构“军事百科全书”供职。父亲与家人分开，单独住一套公寓，这不是因为与母亲的离异，而是因为独居有助于自己的工作。玛丽亚的母亲自己也是苏共内战历史方面的研究员。玛丽亚很少看到父亲，五六岁时甚至怀疑他的存在。她回忆：“我不懂‘父亲’是什么，只知道其他女孩有叫做‘爸爸’的家人，但我几乎从没见过自己的父亲。他会在出国旅行后突然出现，非常热闹，给每人带来礼物，然后再一次消失。”

    艾莱娜·邦纳的父母是列宁格勒的党干部，从清晨持续工作至深夜，很少看到留给祖母照看的女儿。艾莱娜渴望母爱，“假装爱哭”，还经常装病，迫使母亲留在家里。她羡慕那些母亲无须上班的孩子，相比之下，他们“总是显得非常欢快”；而自己的父母，即使在家时，也忙于党的工作，很少关心孩子。艾莱娜回忆，她9岁或10岁时，“父母每晚都在编写小册子，说是关于‘党的建设问题’。很长一段时间，我都以为党的工作就是造房子”。

    邦纳一家住在党务工作者的特殊宿舍，那里曾是列宁格勒的阿斯多里亚酒店。房间装饰简陋，一切摆设都是为了工作方便。大多数党员都生活在类似的简朴环境中，即使高级官员，其生活也很朴素。要等到20世纪30年代，斯大林才以豪华公寓和消费物品奖励他的忠诚部下。从1923到1930年，尼古拉·谢马什科担任卫生人民委员，他家在莫斯科财政部公寓大楼只占一套简陋的小公寓。其邻居回忆道：“他们对资产阶级的舒适或装饰从来不感兴趣。”

    20世纪20年代的布尔什维克理想主义者，将这种斯巴达式生活方式奉若神谕戒律。他们继承了地下工作的禁欲主义，在苏维埃政权的早期，更将之转换成自己的价值观和做人的原则。俄罗斯社会主义知识阶层，其文化和思想的内核，就是对物质占有的排斥。他们努力扫除“小布尔乔亚”的生活遗迹——壁炉架上供赏玩的瓷器、鸣唱的金丝雀、全部盆栽植物、柔软的家具、家庭肖像和其他小摆设——以追求更高层次的精神生活。建立共产主义生活方式的革命激情，向“庸俗的资产阶级舒适”发起攻击，这两者紧密结合。诗人马雅可夫斯基在1921年写道：
    墙上的马克思在注视
    突然
    张开嘴，
    开始呵诘：
    庸俗理不清的纱线缠上了革命
    庸俗生活比弗兰格尔 [4] 更为恶劣
    最好
    拧下金丝雀的首级——
    由此，共产主义
    将不会败于金丝雀。

    根据布尔什维克的美学，热衷于装饰自己居家的是庸俗人士。理想的“生活空间”（苏维埃官员对家的称呼）只需最少的装饰和布置，纯粹以实用功能为出发点，家具最好能节省空间，如两用沙发床。在布尔什维克的想象中，人们在资产阶级社会中因崇拜财产而受奴役，简朴生活反而是一种解脱。在费奥多尔·革拉特珂夫的著名小说《水泥》（Cement，1925年）中，同是党员的一对夫妇牺牲自我，抛离家园和女儿，去帮助重建一座在内战中被摧毁的水泥厂。当丈夫格列勃开始想念老家的舒适时，妻子迅即以更崇高的目标提醒他：“你想要美丽的鲜花在窗台上绽放，床上铺满软枕？不，格列勃。我冬天住在没有暖气的房间，在共用厨房就餐。你看，我是一个自由的苏维埃公民。”
    布尔什维克对个人外表持有同样严苛的态度——时髦的衣服、精致的发型、首饰、香水、化妆品，在在都是庸俗的资产阶级舒适。共产党先锋队的“新人”衣着朴实——类似无产阶级或半军事化的制服——没有任何装饰。在实施新经济政策的阶段，布尔什维克领导人担忧，“布尔乔亚”文化的舒适和诱惑突然袭来，可能腐蚀广大党员，所以要将这种斯巴达态度推崇为思想纯洁的象征。1922年，党在共产主义道德方面的主要发言人阿隆·索尔茨警告说，新经济政策可能会误导党员，让他们相信“自由追求自身品味的个人生活确实存在，甚至还可模仿资产阶级社会认定的优雅”。索尔茨呼吁布尔什维克改变自己的审美观，自行清洗内心的资产阶级本能。在他看来，“想要戒指、手镯、金牙齿的人都是丑陋的，一定会激起党员们的审美愤怒”。
    瓦伦蒂娜·季哈诺娃1922年出生于莫斯科，在布尔什维克领导人弗拉基米尔·安东诺夫―奥夫谢延科的家中长大。1917年10月率队攻坚冬宫的，就是奥夫谢延科。瓦伦蒂娜的母亲在布拉格遇见这位著名的布尔什维克，其时，奥夫谢延科担任苏维埃驻捷克大使。她离开身为出版社编辑的瓦伦蒂娜的生父，1927年与奥夫谢延科结婚。瓦伦蒂娜回忆，20世纪20年代，她家居住的莫斯科小公寓“只有最普通的家具和铁床”，唯一有价值的只是一只孔雀石盒，为母亲所拥有。公寓里没有任何饰物或装饰，父母对此也毫无兴趣。母亲后来成为大使夫人，也不屑于佩戴首饰。禁欲主义在奥夫谢延科的家中占统治地位，这个家是由4个小房间组成的公寓，位于人民委员会第二居住区。那是莫斯科的一个公寓街区，住的全是党的高级干部。瓦伦蒂娜的房间宛如牢房，仅有的家具是折叠床、写字台和小书柜。她回忆，这种简朴的环境都是自觉自愿的，体现了她家的知识分子原则和苏维埃意识形态。她反思道：“我们是苏维埃人，为我们社会的未来幸福而活，不是为满足自身的欲望而活。我们的生活方式具有道德上的纯洁性。”
    柳德米拉·埃利亚舍娃在拉脱维亚的布尔什维克家庭长大。父亲列昂尼德在1917年还是一个少年时，就从里加逃走，在彼得格勒加入布尔什维克。他为自己富裕的犹太父母而感到羞耻和不满，他的父母非常严格和凶狠，而工人运动之所以吸引他，部分原因就在于它的斯巴达生活方式。他在1920年写给妻子的信中承认，他拥护工人运动，就是为了“唾弃我的资产阶级出身”。根据女儿柳德米拉的讲述，列昂尼德对《国际歌》的歌词有亲身体会，我们要把“旧世界打个落花流水”。她说，他需要放弃的不只是他的阶级，“还包括他的家人、他习惯的生活方式、舒适的公寓、郊外别墅（dacha）、精致美食、时髦服饰、网球等”。他教育女儿柳德米拉（生于1921年）和马克斯娜（生于1923年）：如果享用高于工人阶级的财富和舒适，就应感到羞愧。他会教诲她们，即便吃一顿丰盛的早餐也要感到内疚，因为其他孩子更穷，都吃不饱。他会在进餐时说：“人家只能吃面包和鸡蛋，而我们吃鱼或香肠，这实在可耻，我们凭什么要比人家过得更好？”他笃信“党的最高限额”——20世纪20年代限制党员薪酬的制度——并尽量培养小孩量入为出的习惯。女孩们不得购买新鞋，除非旧鞋已经破烂不堪，只在重要的苏维埃节日，才可领到糖果的犒赏。“我们过得很省，”柳德米拉回忆：
    我们的家具很便宜——都购自政府。我们粗茶淡饭地过日子，除了军装、背心、靴子，从没看到父亲穿戴其他的。母亲为上剧场准备了“特殊装备”，另有一两套礼服，仅此而已……上剧院是我们唯一的奢侈——还有大量书籍。

    像1917年的许多其他孩子一样，柳德米拉和姐姐从小就懂得克勤克俭代表道德纯洁，是为大家的美好未来而作出的艰苦奋斗。1936年，她在日记封面上写道：“受苦受难，摧毁了渺小者，锻炼了顽强者。”
    对某些家庭来说，共产党斗士的禁欲主义又成了过于沉重的负担。维金斯基一家是个很好的例子。约瑟夫·维金斯基1884年出生于圣彼得堡，他家虽是犹太家庭，但已俄罗斯化，属于自由派。父亲是一名数学教授，哥哥尼古拉是一名工程师，他与另一位哥哥弗拉基米尔都毕业于圣彼得堡大学法律系。全家因十月革命而被打散得七零八落。父母逃往芬兰；曾是孟什维克的弗拉基米尔，在1917年的临时政府中担任重要职务，移居到柏林后，又成为布尔什维克的顽强对手；家庭成员中留在彼得格勒的，只有约瑟夫和妹妹娜杰日达。像弗拉基米尔一样，约瑟夫曾经也是孟什维克，但他希望重新做人，参加了布尔什维克，并积极投入内战。为了证明他的忠诚，他甚至写信给远在柏林的哥哥——毫无疑问，他知道上司会读到此信——恳求他“重新审视他的政治原则，返回苏俄，投身于共同事业”。哥哥的反革命活动把他吓坏了，约瑟夫更竭尽全力投入党的事业。他写信给尼古拉说：“由于我的历史罪孽，他们只让我当预备党员，但我要承担很多党员的职责。如同一名优秀的共产党员，我随时准备上刀山、下火海。”

    事实上，他被派去叶卡捷琳诺斯拉夫，供职于当地工会组织的法律部门。约瑟夫与妻子亚历山德拉住在潮湿的地下室，置办了少得可怜的家具。亚历山德拉1922年写信给娜杰日达说：“我们找不到更好的居所，每一处都非常昂贵，只有新经济人才负担得起。我们的家庭生活缺乏最基本的用品——亚麻布、服装、针线。总之，什么都缺。”约瑟夫太忙，不关心此类“琐碎的家事”。据他的妻子说，他“除了工作以外，既不切实际，又杂乱无章”。夫妇俩没有钱，因为“党的最高限额”只允许少量的现金薪水，其中大部分又要寄给逃亡在芬兰的母亲。亚历山德拉尽量找散工以贴补家用，她对此耿耿于怀，认为党毁了她的“家庭梦”。她在1922年做了流产，在给娜杰日达的信中，她说她原希望有孩子，最终还是中断了怀孕，她实在是被自己的“虚弱身体拖垮了”，也不想给“疲于奔命为党工作”的约瑟夫添加负担。小两口的婚姻变得痛苦不堪，不时为钱发生争吵。约瑟夫又与另一名女子发生婚外情，在1924年生下一个儿子，经济上要给予支持。他与亚历山德拉的关系更趋紧张。约瑟夫常常出差，或去莫斯科传授劳动法，或去库班参与当地的工会工作。亚历山德拉在1925年写给娜杰日达的信中说：“我很少见到我的约瑟夫。沦落到如此地步，我很是伤心。但这是我们面对的现实，没有一丁点的私人生活，我们必须埋葬浪漫，它只是历史遗迹。”

    二

    布尔什维克把教育当做创建新社会的关键。他们通过学校，以及儿童和青年的共产党组织（少先队和共青团），向下一代灌输新型的集体生活方式。苏维埃教育理论家之一在1918年宣称：

    我们必须将年轻人塑成新一代的共产党人。孩子像柔软的蜡一样，可塑性很大。他们应被塑成优秀的共产党人……我们必须拯救孩子，使之不受其家庭的有害影响……我们必须使孩子国有化，从小就接受共产主义学校的良好影响……责成母亲将孩子交给苏维埃国家——这是我们的任务。 (49)

    苏维埃学校的主要任务，一是要让孩子脱离“小布尔乔亚”家庭，因为它私人生活的旧心态只会破坏社会本能的培植；二是要向孩子灌输共产主义社会的公共价值。教育人民委员阿纳托利·卢那察尔斯基在1918年写道：“年轻人应学会以‘我们’来作思考，抛弃所有的私心杂念。” (50)

    苏维埃课程的指导方针是传播共产主义价值观。从这个意义上说，马克思主义在苏维埃学校中的作用，类似于沙皇学校中宗教的作用。对此，苏维埃教育思想家并不回避。有些实验性学校强调学习要通过实践，而不是理论。即使是在新兴的联合劳工学校——旨在向全体苏维埃学童提供从小学到大学的框架，其教学安排也围绕一系列生产车间（而不是教室上课）。孩子们通过学习技术和工艺的技能，作为攻读主流学科的第一步，尤其是科学和经济。 (51)

    政治灌输主要与积极分子的培养挂钩。宣传中的理想孩子，其形象是一名早熟的政治演说家，善于宣传鼓动。教育思想家认为，光是书本传授不了共产主义，还必须依靠学校的整体生活，再通过课外活动与校外广阔的政治世界结合起来，如庆祝苏维埃节日、参与公众游行、读报、安排学校的辩论和审判。其宗旨是让孩子接触到苏维埃制度的行为、崇拜、仪式，让他们长大后成为忠贞活跃的共产主义者。

    孩子们从小被灌输对“列宁叔叔”的个人崇拜。在幼儿园，他们一旦能手指列宁的图像，便被称作“十月儿童”。列宁逝世后，有人担心新的一代将不清楚他是谁。于是，学校得到指示，纷纷建立“列宁角”。那是一块政治圣地，宣传这位苏维埃国家的创始人，把他当做像上帝一样的伟人。有关列宁和其他革命英雄的传奇故事，成为思想政治教育的重要手段。大多数孩子不懂苏维埃国家的意识形态——只把革命看成“好人”与“坏人”的斗争——却能认同革命者的英雄事迹。

    进步学校办得恰似微型的苏维埃国家：在墙上以表格和饼状图形，列出工作计划和取得的成就；将班级组织成军队；让理事会和委员会的机构来监管学校的日常运行；把苏维埃政治的成人世界介绍给孩子。有的学校鼓励学生组织自己的警察，鼓励他们批评违规的同学，甚至举办课堂上的审判。为了提倡集体服从的风气，有些学校推出政治性的操练，包括游行、歌曲、向苏维埃领导人宣誓效忠。依达·斯拉温娜回忆在列宁格勒的学生时光：“我们在公共假日，整个班级一起游行，为代表学校而感到自豪。经过窗后有人窥视的建筑物时，会故意减慢步伐，齐声高喊：家庭保姆和窗后窥视者——
    恬不知耻！”

    阿列克谢·拉达琴科1910年出生于著名的革命者家庭。他的伯伯斯捷潘是列宁之前马克思主义地下运动的老将；父亲伊万是布尔什维克党的创始成员，1917年之后主管苏维埃泥炭工业（被视为重要的能源）。他家住在莫斯科东面的沙图拉小镇，其宽敞、舒适的住宅就在电厂的附近。电厂功能是将泥炭转化成电力，向苏维埃的首都供电。阿列克谢的母亲阿利西娅来自塔林的小布尔乔亚家庭，祖上有德国和瑞典的血统。她希望获得尊敬，很在乎家庭幸福和个人品味，显现了她中产阶级出身的遗痕。但在意识形态上，她心悦诚服于共产主义理想，即横扫布尔乔亚旧文化以创造新人。她是苏维埃教学理论的前驱，也是克鲁普斯卡娅在教育工作中的亲密伙伴。她将自己儿子的求学当做共产主义教育的实验，其理论主要来自俄罗斯体育创始人彼得·列斯盖夫特和马克西姆·高尔基的著作。她曾于1903年和1904年在圣彼得堡聆听过前者的演讲，又给儿子起了后者的名字（高尔基的真名是阿列克谢·帕申科夫）。她教阿列克谢各种语言；让他学习钢琴和小提琴；鼓励他从事家务和花园里的琐事，以激励他对体力劳动的尊重；安排他参观穷人居所，以培养他的社会良心。自1917年10月起，阿利西娅担任沙图拉的联合劳工学校校长。她将之办成一个公社，既有学术课程，又有农场的劳作，让孩子从一开始就明白何为共产主义生活。
    阿列克谢自小就崇拜父亲和其他革命者，但他体弱多病，又因脊椎病而不良于行，从而躲进了一个书生气十足的幻想世界。他崇拜列宁，把父亲鼓励他向列宁学习的话牢记在心。他在1923年12月听到列宁的病危消息，便在日记中袒露：“如果这有助于挽救他的生命，我愿冲出家门，把我所有的鲜血献给列宁。”列宁去世后，阿列克谢在自己屋内设了列宁角，在墙壁上贴满列宁的照片和熟记的列宁语录。阿利西娅记录下阿列克谢的政治进步，其中有他的日记、学校工作和绘图的样品、自己对儿子教育的评论。正如她自己描述的，她的记录是一份“科学日志”，可作为在家庭和学校实施共产主义教育的指南。阿利西娅鼓励儿子与沙图拉的其他孩子交往——主要来自电厂的民工家庭——在自家大房子里安排各式游戏和活动，让自己感觉已是这些弱势朋友的领袖。阿利西娅在儿子日记本的边缘写道：“遵循你父亲的榜样。他是工人阶级的领袖，你也要学会充当小伙伴的领袖。”阿列克谢在母亲的鼓励下，与学校同伴成立了一个“秘密”组织：世界儿童协会俄罗斯分会的中央局。他们有自己的徽章、自己的革命歌曲（阿利西娅为儿童编写的《开始》）、自制的红色横幅。公共假日时，他们就在沙图拉镇四下游行。 (54)

    1917年的孩子们受到鼓励，自觉地扮演革命家。苏维埃教育思想家受欧洲教育家的影响，例如弗里德里希·福禄贝尔和玛丽亚·蒙特梭利，也相信“寓教于戏”。他们把组织起来演戏当做受教育的过程，让孩子从中汲取苏维埃的集体价值观、社会参与和责任感。苏维埃学校的整个目的，不管是通过墙报和列宁角，还是通过理事会和委员会，都旨在灌输孩子是潜在革命者的观念：一旦有党的呼吁，随时准备奋起挑战——如有必要，甚至针对自己的父母。20世纪20年代，赖莎·贝格在列宁格勒知识分子家庭长大。她如此回忆学校朋友之间的同志友谊和战斗气氛：

    伟大的友谊、信任、团队精神，使我们全班同学紧密团结起来。我们也喜欢老师，无一例外。但在同学和老师之间仍有不间断的斗争，那是一场真正的阶级斗争。我们不需要任何战略或阴谋，但有一条不成文的规矩，即我们同志之间的忠诚是最重要的。我们不可向父母作出任何透露，他们可能会向老师告发。 (55)

    20世纪20年代最流行的大院游戏之一是红军与白军的战斗，很像美国牛仔与印第安人的战斗。俄国内战的战事由孩子们重演，经常使用专为此类游戏而生产的气枪。扮演红军和白军的孩子常常陷入真正的打斗，因为所有男孩都想扮演列宁的角色。其中一人回忆：

    我们都想扮演领袖。每个人都想当红军和布尔什维克，没人愿当白军、孟什维克。只有大人才能中止这一类的争吵——建议游戏开始时先不定下称呼，谁赢了，谁就是布尔什维克。

    另一个游戏是搜索与征用，其中一组（通常是男孩）扮演红军征用队，另一组（女孩）扮“资产阶级投机分子”，或藏匿粮食的“富农”。 (56)

    红军与白军、搜索与征用这类游戏，鼓励孩子接受苏维埃的世界两分法，一个是“好”，一个是“坏”。20世纪20年代，在苏维埃学校中进行的研究显示，孩子们总体上对近代历史的基本事实一无所知（很多学生不知道沙皇是谁）；但苏维埃宣传品、书籍、电影中的旧政权支持者的邪恶形象，却给他们留下深刻影响。这些形象使众多孩子相信，“暗藏的敌人”继续存在。这种信念很容易挑起反对旧政权标志的非理性恐惧、歇斯底里、侵略性。一位年轻女学生问老师：“资产阶级吃小孩吗？”另有一人看到同学穿的衬衫的袖口上有皇冠图案，禁不住在班级上喊出：“瞧，他是沙皇支持者。” (57)

    许多1917年的孩子在少年先锋队里第一次见识政治。少年先锋队建立于1922年，以童子军运动为蓝本。童子军是共产主义俄罗斯保留的最后的独立公共机构之一，它在1920年被苏维埃政府取缔。童子军的精神旨在敦促年轻成员，通过实践活动来培养自己的公共责任感。在20世纪20年代，这种精神继续存在于许多少先队组织（也存在于部分苏维埃精英学校）。到1925年，在10岁至14岁的苏维埃儿童中，约有五分之一加入了少先队。随后几年中，该比例逐渐上升。像童子军一样，少先队有自己的道德准则和礼仪，还有每一名队员都熟记于心的誓言（四分之三个世纪之后，很多人仍能回忆起来）。“我，一名苏联少先队员，当着我的同志们的面庄严宣誓：遵守列宁的戒律，坚决拥护我们的共产党和共产主义事业。”少先队员参与甚多的行军、唱歌、体操和体育活动。他们还有一个呼应口号（呼：少先队员，做好准备！应：时刻准备着！），源于红军。他们编成大队，拥有自己的条幅、旗帜、歌曲和制服（白色衬衫和红领巾）。这是队员感到无比自豪的源泉，似乎成了少先队主要的诱惑。一名少先队员回忆：“我不懂该运动的职责和义务，像其他人一样，只企盼红领巾。”1928年在彼尔姆加入少先队的维拉·米诺苏娃回忆：“我喜欢制服，特别是红领巾。我每天都熨，戴着去学校。这是我唯一漂亮整齐的服饰，每当穿戴起它们，我就自豪，感到自己长大了。”20世纪20年代在莫斯科上学的瓦莱里·福雷德，如此自豪于自己的红领巾，以至在加入少先队后好几天，每晚睡觉都要戴着它上床。 (58)

    苏维埃儿童通过少先队强烈感受到社会的包容和排斥，每个孩子都希望成为少先队员。加入少先队是光荣和令人兴奋的，红领巾是为社会所接受、享有平等地位的重要标记。不能加入少先队的孩子——其中许多人是因为自己的社会出身——感受到深深的羞愧和自卑。玛丽亚·德罗兹多娃被少先队开除了，因为她来自“富农”家庭。她想恢复队籍的愿望如此炽烈，以至在衬衫底下悄悄佩戴红领巾多年。波兰贵族的女儿索菲亚·奥热姆伯罗斯卡娅，上教堂被人发现，因而遭到少先队开除。她讲述了被开除时的情景，依然情难自抑：

    突然，他们在学校走廊的墙报上发布一条公告——快讯：“立刻集合！”孩子们跑出各自的教室，在操场上排成队列，我被要求站在整个大队面前，忍受羞辱。孩子们大声喊道：“看，她去教堂，给我们全大队带来耻辱！她不配佩戴红领巾！她没有资格佩戴红领巾！”他们朝我扔土块，然后试图扯下我的红领巾。我开始哭，并大声叫：“我不给！我不给！”我跪了下来，恳求他们不要拿走我的红领巾，但到最后，还是被拿走了。从那天起，我就不再是一名少先队员了。

    少先队的目标是向苏维埃儿童灌输共产党的价值和纪律，让他们接受党和共青团惯用的“工作计划和讨论制度”。心理学家和教育理论家扎尔金特，是党在人格的社会调整方面的主要发言人。他认为少先队运动的目标，是训练“革命的共产主义战士，彻底避免资产阶级意识形态的毒害”。克鲁普斯卡娅认为，少先队将取代家庭，成为影响苏维埃儿童的主要力量；它将教育少先队员学会勤劳和听话，以达到思想和行动上的纯洁。米诺苏娃回忆：“通过少先队，我变得聪明整洁，按时完成任务，做任何事都非常自律。之后，这一切成为我一生奉行的准则。”

    少先队员又是积极分子，参与各式俱乐部活动——组织示威游行、编辑墙报、从事义务劳动 [5] 、参加戏剧和音乐会——以培养自己的社会积极性和领导才能。瓦西里·罗马什金1914年出生于莫斯科省的农家，他回顾自己在20世纪20年代的学习和少先队活动，还记得当时对公共活动的重视：

    什么是“苏维埃人”呢？它意味着，遵循我们在学校和少先队中所学的，热爱苏维埃祖国，努力工作，树立好榜样。我把这些牢记在心。第三学年[ 1924年]时，我已是学校委员会的主席，后来又成为学校法庭的主席、学校审判中的公诉人、学校工会的副主席。我是一名积极的少先队员，通过少先队懂得了自己对学校和国家的爱，应超过对自己家人的爱。我喜欢我们村校的班主任，把她当做自己的母亲。 (61)

    并非所有的少先队员都像罗马什金一样投入。对许多儿童来说，少先队活动其实只是一种游戏。依达·斯拉温娜是一位著名苏维埃法学家的女儿，她回忆幼时在列宁格勒公寓街区组织自己的俱乐部：

    我喜欢看儿童杂志《莫济尔卡》（Murzilka），其封面上的口号是：“妈妈！爸爸！我们将推翻你们的权威！”这杂志呼吁儿童建立新的生活方式，汇集大家的玩具，把大家组织成像少先队一样的俱乐部。我是我们这一层楼孩子里的头儿，我会大声朗读杂志上的文章，向俱乐部成员解说其中的道理。大楼管理部门让我们借用地下室来聚会，我们在地下室的墙上贴满革命英雄的照片，并在那里寄存所有的玩具。 (62)

    其他少先队员对政治活动更感兴趣。他们受到长辈的鼓励，模仿成年共产党人的行止，扮演官僚和警察的角色。这些早熟的积极分子，携带公文包前来出席“行政会议”，以党的口号发言，做正规的记录，并谴责涉嫌怀有反动思想的老师，甚至还有人在街上充当举报人，协助警方追捕“间谍”和“敌人”。

    到15岁，苏维埃儿童从少先队升至共青团，但不是所有孩子都够格。1925年，共青团有100万成员——约占共青团员合格年龄的4%（从15岁到23岁）——仅是少先队成员相应比率的五分之一。 (64) 加入共青团是加入共产党的前奏，很多工作职位和大学课程只对共青团员开放，或优先择取共青团员。尼娜·维什尼亚克娃记得，加入共青团是一件“头等大事”：

    迄今[她写于1990年]，我还记得共青团员手册中的每一句话——它激起我的万千思绪。我记得，我突然变成肩负重任的成年人……与加入之前相比，我似乎一下子变得能干许多。加入苏维埃的精英行列和取得巨大的成就，一直是我的梦想。现在这个梦想即将成真。 (65)

    诗人叶夫·多尔马托夫斯基1915年出生于莫斯科的律师家庭，1930年从少先队升入共青团。他参加申请入团的会议时迟到了，受到团书记的责备，指责他“显然不够成熟，尚不符合加入共青团的要求，申请加入只是想追求政治前途”。多尔马托夫斯基告诉父亲此事，他的满不在意受到了严厉的批评。父亲警告说：“他们都在看你，你必须证明，随时准备奉献自己。”下一次会议中，一名女孩追问多尔马托夫斯基，他是否“愿为苏维埃政权牺牲自己的生命”。 (66)

    加入共青团，就必须接受共产党的命令、规则、伦理。共青团员对革命的忠诚，应该高于对自己的家庭。他们不再是孩子，而是年轻的共产党人，要像党员一样全身心投入公共生活。共青团是党的后备军，都是年轻的积极分子，志愿为党工作，在反对腐败和滥权的斗争中，随时准备充当间谍和举报人。在20世纪20年代和30年代，这样的任务具有极其广泛的吸引力。革命和内战的理想，深深打动了苏维埃青年，所推崇的就是这样的行动和活力。许多年轻人加入共青团，不是因为信奉共产主义，而是因为身为积极分子，亟想有所作为，却没有施展抱负的其他渠道。共青团员被要求在家长和教师中揭发“阶级敌人”，作为锻炼，还在学校和大学里参与对“反革命分子”的模拟审判。

    他们出生太晚（在1905年至1915年之间），没受到旧社会价值观的熏染；又太年轻，没参与血腥的内战。这些青年积极分子，对革命的“英雄时期”抱有极为浪漫的憧憬。罗马什金回忆：“我们渴望与父兄辈的革命家挂上钩，认同他们的斗争。我们穿得像他们一样，一身军服，模仿农村男孩从红军那里学来的军人口语。”积极分子热烈欢迎布尔什维克的斯巴达文化，他们从小生活在第一次世界大战、大革命、内战的贫瘠中，对刻苦节俭并不陌生。他们更以禁欲主义的激进，杜绝所有个人（“资产阶级”）的财富和快乐，以免革命斗争受损。有的自组公社，聚集大家的钱和财产，以“消灭个人主义”。他们在道德品质上也是绝对主义者，奋力挣脱古老的习俗。 (68)

    20世纪20年代的理想主义共青团员是一个特殊群体——他们将在斯大林政权中发挥重大作用。敖德萨地区的共青团积极分子米哈伊尔·巴伊塔尔斯基，与朋友们组成俱乐部，他在回忆录中谈及当时的主导精神：“人人都是纯真的，如有需要，时刻准备以生命捍卫共产主义。如有炫耀或抱怨，会被冠以‘臭知识分子’的帽子，这是最具侮辱性的标签之一，比它更糟的仅有‘自私自利者’。”在这圈子里，大家都愿把自己献给党的事业。譬如有报道称，某契卡（政治警察）为了革命需要而没收父亲的五金店，没有一人会为此感到震惊。大家都认为，追求个人幸福的思想是可耻的，应予以消灭。正如巴伊塔尔斯基所说的，革命需要我们为明天的美好生活牺牲今天的欢乐：

    我们的希望都寄托于未来。能够亲自参与即将来临的世界革命，甘愿承担其中的全部责任，我们感到无比激动，做任何事，即便是很普通的，也会坚强无比。这好比在等待一列火车，把我们带去别处，投入辉煌的事业。我们愉快地竖起耳朵，寻觅远方火车的汽笛声…… (69)

    青年男女之间的亲密关系被视作一种分心，只会削弱对革命的集体热情，婚姻被斥为“资产阶级”的习俗。列宁格勒红色普蒂洛夫厂一名共青团积极分子在1926年宣布：“维持个人关系的想法是无法接受的，这种想法属于早已消失的年代——十月革命之前。” (70) 巴伊塔尔斯基苦苦追求名叫叶娃的犹太女孩——她是当地的共青团书记，全身心投入工作，很少有浪漫的邂逅。他所盼望的，只是在共青团会议后陪她回家，牵她的手，偷一个吻。他们最终结了婚，生了一个儿子，起名叫弗伊（Vi），以纪念列宁（列宁名字弗拉基米尔·伊里奇的头两个字母）。托洛茨基在1927年被驱逐出党，巴伊塔尔斯基作为“托派反革命分子”也遭到开除。叶娃把对党的忠诚放在首位，她采信了丈夫犯了反革命罪行的认定，宣布与他断绝关系，将他驱出家门。巴伊塔尔斯基在1929年被捕。

    巴伊塔尔斯基以20世纪70年代的眼光回顾过去，认为叶娃仍是好人，对党尽责使她在良心上委曲求全，党员的信仰预设了她对世界上“好坏”的反应。她让自己的个性和理性，屈从于党的“不容置疑”的集体权威。在布尔什维克中间有“成千上万”个叶娃，即使革命渐渐让位于斯大林专政，仍在无条件地接受党的裁判：

    这些人没有变质，相反，他们几乎没有改变。他们的内心一如从前，对外部世界的变化视而不见。他们的不幸在于保守主义（我称之为“革命的保守主义”），体现在他们对革命初期的标准和定义……保持一成不变的奉献。这些人甚至接受劝服，为了革命心甘情愿自认是间谍。许多人相信，这样做是革命的需要，从而可以视死如归。

    三

    斯大林在1924年说：“我们共产党人是具有特殊性格的人，我们是由特殊材料制成的……属于这支队伍非常光荣，再也没有比这更高的荣誉。”布尔什维克把自己看作美德和责任的载体，在社会上与众不同。阿隆·索尔茨在影响甚广的《政党伦理》（Party Ethics，1925年）中，把布尔什维克与沙皇时代的贵族作了比较。他写道：“今天，我们成了统治阶级……我们国家的习俗，将以我们如何居住、穿着、行事、重视何种关系为准。”布尔什维克是执政的无产阶级，与不同的社会阶层进行亲密的交往也是不可取的。索尔茨认为，布尔什维克娶无产阶级之外的女子为妻，就是“坏品味，就像上世纪伯爵娶女佣一样，必须受到相同的谴责”。 (72)

    沙俄的公共生活以贵族的风貌为主。与此相应，党的风貌很快也在苏俄公共生活的方方面面，占据了主导地位。列宁本人曾把布尔什维克比作贵族。事实上，1917年后入党就像社会阶层的攀升，它能带来精英地位、特权、优先获得的官位，以及成为党国的一部分。内战结束时，布尔什维克已占据政府所有的主要职位。随着苏俄生活的各方面陷入国家的控制，官僚机构急剧膨胀。到1921年，苏维埃官僚人数是沙皇时的10倍，共有240万国家官员，超过俄罗斯产业工人的两倍，成了新政权的主要社会基础。

    精英的态度很快在布尔什维克家庭扎根，并传染给他们的孩子。根据1925年在各校进行的控制游戏的研究，大多数苏维埃学生认为，党员的地位理所当然应高于社会其他成员。两个男孩发生纠纷，如果留给孩子们自己决定，他们通常支持父母是布尔什维克的男孩。该研究显示，苏维埃学校已在孩子身上造成价值观的重大变化，以新的等级制度，取代了曾在劳工阶层中奉行的公正和平等。党员的孩子滋长了明显的特权意识。在一次控制游戏中，孩子们在玩火车，男孩想要开车，不愿等待一个小女孩上车。那女孩却说：“火车会等我的，我丈夫在GPU[政治警察]工作，我也在那里上班。”她登上火车后，还要求获得免费车票。 (73)

    这个自封的精英阶层，其资格是“共产主义道德”。布尔什维克把自己定为政治和道德的先锋队，其救世主式的领导意识，要求其成员证明自己拥有这个资格。作为精英，每一名成员必须证明，自己的私人行为符合党的利益和信念。他还要显示，自己是共产主义的忠实信徒，拥有比群众更高的道德和政治的觉悟，诚实守纪，工作勤奋，无私奉献。这并不是传统意义上的道德体系。布尔什维克拒绝抽象的或基督教的道德理念，斥之为一种“资产阶级压迫”。相反，它要求一切相关的道德问题，必须服从于革命需求。一名党的理论家在1924年写道：“在阶级斗争中有助于无产阶级的就是道德，有害于无产阶级的就是不道德。” (74)

    信仰是每一名“自觉的”布尔什维克的道德关键，使之有别于为私利而加入共产党的“野心家”，信仰又是问心无愧的代名词。党的清洗和做秀公审（show trails），被用来探索被告的灵魂深处，以揭露他或她的信仰真相（坦白被视为内心的真实暴露，所以非常重要）。此外，信仰是一个公共问题，并不属于私人。也许，这与东正教传统的公开忏悔有关，却与西方基督教的私下忏悔大相径庭。在西方概念中，良心是与自己内心的对话，但共产主义道德对此是不予承认的。1917年之后，这种意义上的俄语中的“良心”（sovest）一词，几乎从官方使用中全部消失，被soznatel’nost’所取代，表示有觉悟或能力，达到对世界的较高级别的道德判断和理解。它在布尔什维克的话语中还表明已经获得道德革命的较高逻辑，即马克思列宁主义思想。 (75)

    当然，并不能指望所有的布尔什维克都能详细了解党的思想。对普通党员来说，只要参与日常的实践仪式便已足够——誓言、歌曲、仪式、崇拜、行为准则——犹如组织起来的宗教的信徒，只需上教堂表述自己的信念。党的学说是所有追随者的信条，集体作出的判断就是终极的正义。如果领袖指出某党员有罪，后者只得悔改，向党下跪，欢迎党的判决。如果为自己辩护，无疑是对党的意志抱有异议，是罪上加罪。这解释了为何这么多布尔什维克，即使是无辜的，也在清洗中认命。布尔什维克领袖尤里·皮亚特科夫，1927年作为托派而遭开除。过后不久，他的朋友透露一次对话，对这类人的心态有所披露。皮亚特科夫为了能够重返党内，决定放弃许多他秉持已久的政治信仰。他的朋友指责他已变成一个懦夫。但皮亚特科夫辩解，这仅仅表明：

    真正的布尔什维克，随时准备放弃自己多年信奉的思想。真正的布尔什维克，早已把自己的个性彻底融入“党”的集体之中，愿意作出必要的努力，抛弃自己的意见和信念……如果党有需要，他愿相信，黑是白的，白是黑的。 (76)

    皮亚特科夫改弦易辙得如此彻底，然而像其他“叛徒”一样，再也没赢得斯大林的完全信任。1936年，斯大林下令再次将他逮捕。

    清洗的开始，远早于斯大林权力的崛起，其起源是在内战时期。其时，党的队伍迅速增长，领导人害怕中间充斥着野心家和“自私自利者”。早期清洗的对象是整个社会群体：“新生的资产阶级分子”、“富农”，等等。工人阶级出身的布尔什维克一般免查，除非有人在清洗会议中提出具体的指控。到20世纪20年代，清洗方式逐渐出现了转变，变得越来越重视个别布尔什维克的行为和信念。

    伴随这一转变出现的是一个愈益复杂的制度，即专门检查和控制党员的私生活。申请入党的人，必须证明自己坚信党的意识形态，重点放在何时投身于党的事业。只有那些在内战中与红军并肩作战的人，才被视为已经证明了自己的献身精神。党员在一生中，要定期上交简短的自述，或填写履历表，详细解说自己的社会背景、教育、职业，以及政治觉悟的演变。在本质上，这些文件是某种形式的公开招供，党员们以此来重申他们无愧于这个精英的称号。其关键是要显示，他们政治觉悟的提高全亏了革命和党的监护。 (77)

    列宁格勒矿业学院的悲惨事件，更力挺了党对党员私人生活的监督。1926年，有名女学生在学院宿舍里自杀，迫使她走上绝路的是她事实婚姻的丈夫的残忍。康斯坦丁·科连科夫并没被送上法庭，然而因为“对同志的自杀，负有道义上的责任”，他受到了共青团组织的排斥。但地区党组织的监察委员会——很像党的地区法院——推翻了这一决定，认为过于苛刻，代之以“严厉批评和警告”。数星期后，科连科夫和他弟弟抢劫了矿业学院的收银办公室，刺死收银员，刺伤其妻子。专管党的伦理和法律的是中央监察委员会，其资深委员索菲亚·斯米多维奇逮住这一案件，称之为一种“病”，主要症状在于对同志的道德和行为的漠不关心：

    同志的私人生活用不着我的关心。科连科夫将他生病流血的妻子锁起来，学生们只是袖手旁观——好，这只是他的私人生活。他对她使用咒骂和侮辱的语言——也无人干涉。更重要的是，科连科夫的房间响起枪声，楼下房间的学生甚至觉得没有检查一下的必要，认为这也是私事。

    斯米多维奇认为，集体的任务就是以监督和干预的方式，在成员私生活中强制执行道德标准。她主张，只有这样才能促进真正的集体主义和“共产党良心”。

    斯米多维奇设想的监督和举报的制度，不全是1917年革命的新发明。几个世纪以来，举报一直是俄罗斯统治的一部分。向沙皇请愿来对抗滥权官员，在沙皇制度中发挥了重要作用。这益加渲染了“沙皇即是公正”这个流行神话，只有沙皇（在没有法院或其他公共机构的情况下）在保护人民反对“邪恶的仆从”。在俄语词典中，举报（donos）被定义为一种公民美德（揭露非法行为），而不是自私或恶意的行为。该定义在整个20世纪20年代和30年代都得以保留沿用，只不过在苏维埃制度下，举报的文化更披上了新生的含义和强度。苏维埃公民受到极大的鼓励，以举报邻居、同事、朋友甚至亲戚，警惕是每一名布尔什维克的首要职责。已晋升为中央监察委员会高级委员的谢尔盖·古谢夫主张：“列宁教导我们，每一名共产党员都应成为契卡。也就是说，他应该留心察看，积极汇报。”如果认为自己的同志的思想或行为在威胁党的团结，党员也应予以举报。在工厂和兵营，党员候选人的名单张贴在党支部办公室门外，邀请大家写下对候选人的检举，指出他们各自的缺点（如酗酒或粗鲁），然后再到党员会议上讨论。尽管有些党领导人对此举的道德属性表示保留意见，汇报私人谈话愈益成为举报实践中的共同特点。苏共十四大在1925年作出决定，一般不鼓励有关私人谈话的汇报，除非有“威胁党内团结”的嫌疑。 (81)

    在发展于20世纪20年代的清洗文化中，应邀出席举报会议是一个关键。党和苏维埃的组织定期召开清洗会议，党员和干部要答复群众书面和口头的批评。正如年轻的艾莱娜·邦纳在共产国际的宿舍中所看到的，这些会议很容易演变成人身攻击：

    他们打探人家的妻子，有时也会问到他们的小孩。原来有人殴打妻子，狂饮伏特加。巴塔尼娅[邦纳的祖母]会说，体面人不会问这样的问题。遭到整肃的人有时会说，他再也不会打妻子或酗酒了。还有很多人对于自己的所作所为表示“再也不会这么做了”，“什么都明白了”。接下来，很像你被叫进老师办公室时的情景：老师坐着数落你，你得站着，旁边的其他老师露出鄙视的微笑。你赶紧说：“我明白了，以后再也不会重犯。当然，这都是我的错。”但你只是在敷衍了事，只想快点离开，好去参加其他孩子的课间游戏。而这些人更为紧张，其中一些人几乎失声痛哭。看到他们这幅情景，叫人好不舒服。每次整肃都要持续很长时间，有时每晚对付三个人，有时只对付一个人。

    在布尔什维克的私人生活中，不受党领导关注和检举的日益减少。每一个成员都要向集体袒露内在的自我，此种公共文化是布尔什维克所独有的——纳粹或法西斯的运动没有如此的要求，纳粹党或法西斯运动中的个体，只要坚持党的规则和意识形态，仍可享有自己的私人生活——直到中国的“文化大革命”。布尔什维克明确拒绝私人生活和公共生活之间的差别。一名布尔什维克在1924年写道：“有同志说，我现在所做的只与私人生活有关，与社会毫不相干。但我们认为，那不正确。”党员私人生活中的一切都是社会和政治的，他所做的直接影响到党的利益，这就是“党内团结”的含义——个人与党的公共生活的彻底融合。

    索尔茨在《政党伦理》一书中，把党设想成一个自我警戒的集体，每一名布尔什维克都在审议和批评其战友的私人动机和行为。他想象，这样身体力行的布尔什维克，方能借助党的眼睛来认识自我。然而在现实中，这种相互监督的效果适得其反。它鼓励人们展示自己处处符合苏维埃理想，却把真实的自我藏匿在私人领域的暗处。苏维埃制度要求忠诚，惩罚异议，于是这种虚伪变得日益普遍。20世纪30年代的恐怖时期，对几乎每一个苏联人来说，保密和欺骗已成了不可或缺的生存策略，全新的人格和社会因此浮现。就苏联人口的大部分而言，这种双重生活在20世纪20年代已是现实，特别是生活在公众视野中的党员家庭，还有因社会背景或信仰而易受迫害的家庭。人们学会了戴上面具，扮演苏维埃忠诚公民的角色，回到家中再偷偷遵循自己的生活准则。

    在这个社会中，谈话是危机四伏的，家中的闲聊如在家庭之外重复，可能招致逮捕和监禁。孩子们是危险的主要来源，他们天性爱说话，太年轻，又不懂偷听来的谈话中的政治含意，操场便成了举报人的温床。萨拉托夫一名中层布尔什维克官员的女儿回忆：“我们弄懂了祸从口出的道理，家里的事不会告诉任何外人。”

    听和说都有一定的规矩，我们小孩子必须学会。如果偷听到大人的耳语，或是背着我们的悄悄话，我们都很清楚，绝不能转述给任何外人。甚至让大人知道我们已听到他们的悄悄话，都会有麻烦。有时，大人脱口说了什么，然后告诉我们“隔壁有耳”，或“小心你的舌头”，或其他的表述……在大多数情况下，我们凭本能学会了这些规矩。没人向我们解释这些话在政治上是很危险的。不知何故，我们总能猜着。

    尼娜·雅科夫列娃在默默反抗苏维埃政权的氛围中长大。母亲来自科斯特罗马城的贵族家庭，在内战中躲避了布尔什维克；父亲是社会革命党人 [6] ，1921年参与了在坦波夫州爆发的反布尔什维克的农民大起义，之后遭到监禁（他成功越狱，逃至列宁格勒，1926年再次被捕，被判处5年监禁，囚在苏兹达尔的特殊隔离监狱）。尼娜成长于20世纪20年代，她凭本能懂得，不能在学校谈及自己的父亲。她回忆：“母亲在政治方面有意缄默，宣称对政治不感兴趣。”从这种沉默中，尼娜学会了闭嘴。“虽然没人定下说话规矩，但有一种感受，即家里的气氛明确提醒我们，要避而不谈父亲。”尼娜也学会了对直系亲属之外的人不予信任，她1926年写信给父亲说：“我不爱其他任何人，只爱妈妈、爸爸和柳芭姨妈。在我心里，只有家人，没有任何其他人。”

    加林娜·阿达西斯卡娅1921年出生于活跃反对派的家庭。父亲是社会革命党人，母亲和外婆是孟什维克（三人都在1929年被捕）。20世纪20年代，前社会革命党人和孟什维克仍有可能在苏维埃政府工作，加林娜的父母过着双重生活。父亲在新经济政策推动的合作社管理部门工作，母亲在贸易部供职。但在私下里，他们仍保留旧的政治观念。加林娜受到刻意的保护，不碰这个秘密的政治领域，被培养成为“苏维埃孩子”（她加入了少先队和共青团）。“政治是父母上班从事的，或用来写作的。但在家里，他们从不谈政治……把政治视作肮脏的行径。” (86)

    尼娜和加林娜所处的家庭可能有点极端，但她们凭本能学到的沉默规则，却是众多家庭所遵循的。出生于波兰贵族家庭、因上教堂而被少先队开除的索菲亚·奥热姆伯罗斯卡娅，与家人生活在明斯克附近的一个村庄，住在一栋木房子的前半部。她回忆：“在家里，我们从不谈论政治或类似的话题。父亲总说‘隔墙有耳’。有一次，他甚至为我们演示，透过墙上的玻璃隔板，可以听到邻居的谈话。我们懂了，自那以后也开始害怕邻居。” (87)

    柳博芙（柳芭）·捷丘耶娃1923年出生于乌拉尔地区的切尔登小镇。父亲亚历山大是东正教神父，被捕于1922年，关在监狱里将近一年。出狱后，国家政治保卫总局（OGPU，政治警察）向他施压，要他成为举报人，汇报自己教民的活动，但遭到他的拒绝。为此，切尔登苏维埃政府剥夺了他们的公民权利，并在1929年实行配给制度后拒发配给卡给他们。 [7] 亚历山大的教堂又被宗教改革者夺走，后者寻求东正教礼仪的简化，获得苏维埃政权的支持。不久，亚历山大二度被捕，因为宗教改革者举报他在信徒中散播不和言论（指责他拒绝加入宗教改革者的行列）。柳博芙的母亲原在切尔登博物馆从事图书目录的工作，也被辞退；两个兄弟中年龄大的那个，也被学校和共青团开除。他们家的经济来源全靠柳博芙当教师的姐姐。柳博芙回忆她在20世纪20年代的童年：

    父母如果要谈论重要事项，总是去屋外窃窃私语。有时，他们会与祖母在院子里交谈，但从不在孩子们面前——从来没有……他们从不争论或批评苏维埃政权——尽管他们满腹牢骚——但我们从没听到过，哪怕是一次。母亲老是跟我们说：“你们不要参与闲聊，不要多嘴，听到的越少越好。”我们长大的地方，满屋子都是耳语者。 (88)

    四

    许多家庭在20世纪20年代经历了日益加剧的代沟：旧社会的风俗习惯在私人家庭中仍保持优势，论资排辈仍然行得通；但年轻人通过学校、少先队、共青团，越来越接受苏维埃宣传的影响。对老一辈来说，这种情况构成了道德困境。他们一方面希望将家庭的传统和信仰传给子孙，另一方面又想把他们培养成苏维埃公民。

    在大多数家庭中，祖父母是传统价值的主要传承者。尤其是祖母，如果父母是双职工，祖母就在养育子女和管理家务上承担主要责任；如果母亲只是兼职，祖母就承担辅助责任。用诗人弗拉基米尔·科尔尼洛夫的话，就是“在我们的年代，似乎没有母亲，只有祖母”。 (89) 祖母的影响是多方面的，她们通过管理家务，直接影响了孩子的礼貌和习惯。她们向孩子讲述一些陈年往事（1917年之前的），以后既可作为苏维埃历史的参考或抗衡，又促使孩子对学校灌输的宣传生疑。她们为孩子朗读在苏维埃学校很少学到的革命前的俄罗斯文学，或带孩子去剧院、画廊、音乐厅，从而传承了19世纪的文化价值。 (90)

    艾莱娜·邦纳是外祖母带大的。她后来写道：“我生活的中心是巴塔尼娅，而非妈妈。”她父母是党的积极分子，常常不在家。艾莱娜在与外祖母的相处中，找到了她渴望但从父母那里又得不到的爱和亲情。巴塔尼娅提供了道义上的平衡力，以抵消来自父母的苏维埃影响。即使是个孩子，艾莱娜仍能意识到，祖母——一位丰满且“美得惊人，既冷静，又不卑不亢”的女性——所处的世界，不同于父母所处的苏维埃世界。

    巴塔尼娅的朋友和熟人很少来访，我们楼中的居民只有她和小孩子们不是党员，但我经常陪她去拜访别人。我看到她们不同的生活——吃不同的菜，使用不同的家具。（在我家，只有巴塔尼娅一人使用正常家具和一些精致摆设……）她们的谈论也迥然不同，我觉得（这个印象肯定来自父母）她们应属于不同种类，我说不出到底是更糟，还是更好。

    巴塔尼娅保守的道德观，植根于俄罗斯犹太资产阶级的世界。她勤劳、严格、富有爱心，全身心投入家庭。20世纪20年代，巴塔尼娅曾是列宁格勒海关办事处的“特殊人才”——“资产阶级”专家和技术员虽受到很多嘲笑，却很有必要——她在那里担任会计，赚的比艾莱娜父母的“党的最高限额”多。巴塔尼娅保存了节俭持家的老习惯，与艾莱娜父母带入家中的“苏维埃方式”老是发生摩擦。她读很多书，却“顽固地拒读当代文学”，并在原则上不看电影，显示了她对现代世界的不屑。她对新秩序看不上眼，以鄙视的口吻谈论党的领导人，为布尔什维克专政的过分而责怪她的女儿。她真生气时，会用这句话开头：“让我提醒你，在你们那个革命之前……”苏维埃政府禁止东正教中最丰富多彩的忏悔节之后，惋惜旧习俗的巴塔尼娅对外孙女说：“嘿，这都是拜你们的妈妈、爸爸所赐。”毫不奇怪，艾莱娜困惑于家中价值观的冲突。她在接受采访时回忆：“我们孩子的教育问题引起了极大的争执。”

    外祖母从金色儿童图书馆为我借来书籍，包括各种蠢事笑话。妈妈很不以为然，鼓起了嘴，但不敢对外祖母说什么。妈妈也带书籍回来，但决然不同，如写保尔·柯察金的， [8] 还是手稿，我也照读，自己都不知道究竟喜欢哪一种。

    艾莱娜热爱的外祖母，是这个世界上她最尊敬的人。但不奇怪，她仍认可父母和他们的世界：“我总认为爸妈的朋友是我的同类，而巴塔尼娅的却是陌路人。从本质上讲，我已经属于党。” (91)

    20世纪20年代和30年代，阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚在弗谢沃洛德·普多夫金的大多数电影中担任摄影师。在他莫斯科的家中，母亲利季娅·伊万诺夫娜是举足轻重的人物。她出生于敖德萨的希腊商人家庭，在斯莫尔尼学院接受教育，学到了俄罗斯贵族优雅的风度和习惯。她将这些习性带进戈洛夫尼亚家庭，以“俄罗斯维多利亚式”的严酷纪律，掌管一切家事。阿纳托利的妻子柳芭是一名异常漂亮的电影演员，来自车里雅宾斯克的贫农家庭。利季娅瞧不起柳芭的“粗俗”举止，还认为她对昂贵衣服和家具的酷爱，恰恰体现了“苏维埃新资产阶级”（那些加官晋爵的工农）的物质占有欲。柳芭在一次疯狂购物后回家，与利季娅发生了激烈的争吵。利季娅告诉她，她代表了“革命的丑陋面”。利季娅自己仅有简朴的生活习惯，总穿同样的黑色长礼服，深口袋里只有粉盒和带柄眼镜。她在内战末期席卷俄国东南部和乌克兰的大饥荒中幸存下来，尽管阿纳托利的收入应付家用绰绰有余，她仍生活在饥饿的阴影之中。这家人还包括柳芭的妹妹和柳芭的女儿奥克萨娜。利季娅用小笔记本，规划出每一餐需要的食物的确切数量。她有自己中意的商店，如精致的菲利波夫斯基面包店和特韦尔斯卡娅大街上的叶利谢耶夫店，“她会在那里稍稍享受一下奢侈：喝一杯冰镇番茄汁”。回顾童年，奥克萨娜在1985年写道：

    祖母非常谦虚，严守纪律，俨然是个道德家，更可说是个教育家。她总想去做“正确的事”。我记得，她喜欢这样告诉她坚定的布尔什维克儿子：“如果你照我说的做，可能早已建成共产主义了。”她说起话来无所畏惧，从不隐瞒她的所思所为。她坚信，思想应大声说出来、讲清楚，不需要幌子、欺骗、恐惧。她常对我说：“不要交头接耳，这是一种无礼！” [9] 现在我才知道，她这样做，是为了给她孙女树立一个道德榜样——为我示范正确的举止。谢谢你，祖母！

    祖母又是宗教信仰主要的实践者和监护人。苏维埃儿童的洗礼几乎都是她们组织的，有时父母既不知情，也没同意。她们带孩子上教堂，把宗教习俗和信仰传承下去。苏维埃儿童的父母，纵然自己保有宗教信仰，也不太可能将之传给孩子，部分原因是恐惧，万一曝光，譬如说在学校，就有可能给家庭带来灾难。来自工人家庭的弗拉基米尔·福明，出生于列宁格勒附近的科尔皮诺。他回忆：“尽管有父母的强烈反对，祖母仍带我去洗礼，在一个乡村教堂里秘密举行。父母担心如果人家发现我受洗，他们将失去工厂的工作。”

    祖母的宗教信仰，会使孩子与苏维埃学校的意识形态发生冲突。叶夫根尼娅·叶万古洛娃，1918年出生于第比利斯富裕的工程师家庭，大部分童年都与祖父母在雷宾斯克度过。父亲帕维尔是苏维埃矿业理事会的总工程师，经常出差去西伯利亚；而母亲尼娜仍在莫斯科上学，无法承担幼儿的照料工作。祖母是商人的妻子，守旧且虔诚，对叶夫根尼娅的成长影响甚巨。她上学的第一天，祖母给了她一个小十字架，藏在上衣里面，结果被一伙男生发现，并遭到取笑。他们用手指着她大喊——“她信上帝！”给叶夫根尼娅带来极大的创伤。她变得内向，即使受邀加入少先队，她也拒绝了。在她那个年龄，这实在是罕见的抗议行动。后来，她也拒绝加入共青团。鲍里斯·加夫里洛夫出生于1921年，父亲是资深党员，担任列宁格勒郊区一家工厂的经理，母亲是一名教师。鲍里斯由外祖母——象牙富商的遗孀——带大，她的宗教信仰给他留下了深远的影响：

    外祖母有自己的房间——我们共有5间——墙上布满了宗教人物和带有许愿灯的圣像，这是家里父亲允许圣像存在的唯一房间。外祖母去教堂，没告诉父亲就把我带上了。我喜欢复活节仪式，只是嫌时间太长……这座教堂是她唯一的快乐所在——她不去剧院或电影院。她只读宗教书籍，也是我最早学着读的书。母亲也信教，但不去教堂。她没有时间，再说父亲也不会答应。学校教我成为无神论者，但我喜欢教堂的美丽。外祖母去世时，父母已离婚[1934年]，母亲鼓励我继续上教堂。我有时甚至领受圣餐，参与忏悔，一直佩戴十字架，但并不认为自己特别虔诚。当然，在学校里，以及参军[1941年]后，我从不谈及自己的宗教。那样的事必须藏掖起来。

    家庭与学校之间的意见分歧制造了很多冲突。父母说的和老师教的常有矛盾，孩子们因此而感到困惑。一名小男生在1926年写道：“回家听到一种讲法，在学校里又是另外一种，我不知道谁是对的。”宗教问题特别令人迷茫。一位女生感到“两股力量的争夺”：学校教她“上帝是不存在的，但祖母在家里又说确有上帝”。宗教问题分裂了年轻人和老年人，尤其是在农村，那里的老师鼓励儿童挑战老一辈的信仰和权威。一名农村男生在1926年写道：“喝茶时，我与母亲争论上帝的存在。她说，苏维埃政权打击宗教和神父是错的。但我向她保证：‘不，妈妈，你是错的，苏维埃政权是对的，神父是个骗子。’”孩子一旦加入少先队，便信心倍增，自觉成为移风易俗运动的一员。一名少先队员写道：“四旬斋期间的一天，我从学校回家，祖母只给我土豆和茶水。我抱怨，但祖母说：‘别生气，四旬斋还没完。’我回答：‘对你来说，可能有道理，因为你是老人。而我们是少先队员，没有义务遵循这些仪式。’”到了共青团，这种自信更加显著，激进的无神论是“先进”政治觉悟的标志，几乎是入团的先决条件。

    父母必须认真考虑如何给孩子讲述上帝，即使自己有宗教倾向，也往往不想让孩子接受宗教教育。他们知道，孩子长大后如果想取得成功，必须适应苏维埃文化。这种妥协在专业人士的家庭特别常见，家长们明白，实现孩子的理想，还需依赖国家的认可。一名工程师（他父亲是个建筑师）回忆：父母在革命前长大，信上帝，遵循祖父母教导的原则，但他自己从小就必须遵循不同的原则，如他所说的，“既要体面，又要满足所有的社会需求”。类似情形也发生于住在莫斯科的斯卡奇科娃家，父亲彼得和母亲玛丽亚都是图书馆管理员，信教，经常去教堂，但从不引导三个女儿信教，其中一个女儿回忆：

    父母这样认为：一旦宗教被禁后，就不会与子女讲上帝，因为我们生活的社会，将不同于他们所经历的。他们无意让我们过双重生活，特别在我们加入少先队或共青团之后。 (97)

    很多家庭都过着双重生活。他们庆祝苏维埃公共节日，例如5月1日和11月7日（革命纪念日），顺应政府的无神论思想，但在私下场合仍信奉自己的宗教。叶卡捷琳娜·奥列茨卡娅是社会革命党人，20世纪20年代曾被流放到梁赞。她与一对母女同住——母亲是前铁路工人的遗孀，女儿是共青团员，在一家纸厂工作。老妇人是虔诚的教徒，但在女儿的坚持下，只在房子后屋的秘密橱柜中存放圣像，另加帷幕遮掩。如果共青团发现家中有圣像，女儿害怕会被解雇。奥列茨卡娅写道：“在星期日和重要节日，她们会在晚上卷起帷幕，点燃许愿灯，通常先把门锁上。”安东尼娜·科斯蒂科娃在同样神秘的家庭长大，父亲从1922到1928年是萨拉托夫省的一个村苏维埃主席，但在私下仍保留东正教信仰。安东尼娜回忆：“父母都笃信上帝，记得所有的祈祷文。父亲格外虔诚，但很少谈及宗教，除非是晚上在家里的时候。他从不让我们[他的三个孩子]看到他祈祷。他告诉我们，必须学习学校对上帝的解释。”安东尼娜的母亲是一名简单的农妇，在桌子抽屉里藏了一幅圣像。安东尼娜发现它时，已是20世纪70年代母亲去世之后。 (98)

    秘密奉行宗教仪式甚至还发生于党员家庭，且相当普遍。中央监察委员会的报告发现，1925年被党开除的成员中，几乎一半是因为从事宗教活动。在众多党员家庭中，共产主义理想与基督并存；列宁肖像与家庭圣像并排陈列在客厅的“红色”角落或“神圣”角落。 (99)

    在苏维埃家庭中，俄罗斯传统价值的另一载体是保姆，她们是祖母们的天然盟友。保姆受聘于许多城市家庭，特别是双职工的家庭。农村保姆的供应几乎是无限的，特别是在1928年以后。其时，数百万农民为躲避集体化而逃入城市，随身带来了农民的习俗和信仰。

    几乎所有的布尔什维克都雇用保姆来照顾小孩。在国家提供普遍的托儿服务之前，对大多数女党员来说，这是客观上的必需，因为需要外出工作。在很多党员家庭中，保姆们成为苏维埃态度的道德制衡。具有讽刺意味的是，最高级的布尔什维克倾向于雇用最昂贵的保姆；一般来说，她们恰恰最有可能怀揣反动的思想。例如，邦纳家雇过许多保姆，其中有的曾在圣彼得堡谢列梅捷夫伯爵家做事；有的是来自波罗的海的德裔（巴塔尼娅地主朋友的熟人），会教孩子“得体的举止”；有的甚至曾为沙皇家庭做过事。

    保姆能对家庭生活施加深刻的影响。例如，党员安娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅和彼得·涅泽夫茨夫，他们在列宁格勒家中的保姆玛莎来自农村，是一名虔诚的老信徒。 [10] 她在雇主家中遵循自己的宗教仪式，只用自己的盘子和餐具，与他人分开进餐，每天早晚都在自己房间做祈祷，也让孩子们参与繁缛的信仰仪式。玛莎还扮演民间郎中的角色，如她在俄罗斯北部她的家乡所做的，调制草药来治疗孩子的各种疾病。她善良慈爱，赢得了尊重，并在苏维埃当局追查宗教积极分子时，获得了雇主的保护。她的存在导致了那一家的宽松氛围，这非常罕见。安娜的女儿马克斯娜回忆：“家里有个老信徒，我们并不觉得奇怪。其他党员家庭所流行的激进无神论，在我家却不见踪迹。虽然我们自己是无神论者，但从小学会了包容所有的宗教和信仰。”

    伊娜·盖斯特是布尔什维克的孩子，却深受保姆不同价值观的影响。伊娜的父亲阿隆·盖斯特是国家计划委员会的高级经济学家，母亲拉希尔·卡普兰也是经济学家，任职于重工业人民委员会。伊娜的父母均出身于劳动人民家庭，来自法定犹太区。那是沙皇时代犹太人被迫居住的地方，位于俄罗斯帝国的西南角。夫妇俩在白俄罗斯的戈梅利镇相遇，他们内战时期入党，1920年搬入莫斯科共用公寓。阿隆在红色教授研究院学习，拉希尔在纺织工会工作。像许多苏维埃犹太人一样，盖斯特夫妇把希望寄托在工业化上，认为它将结束苏联所有的落后、不平等和剥削。他们第一个孩子伊娜出生于1925年，两个月后雇了保姆娜塔莎，让她搬入他们的新家同住。娜塔莎·奥韦奇尼科娃来自莫斯科以南梁赞省的农民家庭。内战中，布尔什维克的粮食征用毁了她家的小农庄。1921年大饥荒时，娜塔莎逃入首都，但在盖斯特家很少谈及家人。即使只有八九岁，伊娜已经知道，保姆生长的世界与父母的世界大不相同。伊娜注意到娜塔莎在教堂祈祷，听到她躲在自己房间哭泣，看到她梁赞亲戚的贫困——也逃来首都，因是非法入境者，只能待在拥挤的营房——伊娜曾陪她去探视。伊娜喜欢与娜塔莎的侄女一起玩，后者没鞋穿，伊娜便把自己的鞋带去相赠，等到父母询问失踪的鞋时，再谎称自己不小心丢了。伊娜还太年轻，不会在政治上起疑，但已与娜塔莎一家建立了默契的联盟。 (102)

    保姆老家的农民世界基本上还保存着家长制传统。1926年，农民占了苏维埃人口的80%—1.2亿人（总人口1.47亿），分布在苏联61.3万个村庄和偏远的定居点。 (103) 他们仍然依恋个体家庭在家庭农庄上劳作的生活。这成了苏俄个人主义的最后堡垒，在布尔什维克的眼中，又成了通向共产主义乌托邦的主要障碍。

    有些地区，特别是俄罗斯的中部，城市方式已渗入农村，有文化的农民子弟取代父亲，成为家庭农庄的带头人，或脱离庞大的大家族，自组小家庭。但在其他地区，家长制的农民传统仍占主导地位。

    安东尼娜·戈洛温娜1923年出生于农家，在六个孩子中排行老幺，她的村庄奥布霍沃位于莫斯科东北800公里处。这一古老的定居点坐落在森林中间，全由木屋组成。村庄中间有池塘，还有建于18世纪的大教堂。戈洛温一族在奥布霍沃村繁衍良久（1929年，村里59户居民中有20户是姓戈洛温的）。 (104) 1882年，安东尼娜的父亲尼古拉出生于该村，除了当兵3年，参与第一次世界大战，他的一生都在村里度过。像许多其他村庄一样，奥布霍沃村是紧密相连的社会，家人和亲属的关系发挥了至关重要的作用。农民认为自己属于单一的大“家庭”，教育自己子女以亲属名义称呼其他成年人（姨妈、叔叔等）。布尔什维克试图把他们划分成对立的社会阶层——富农（农村资产阶级）和贫农（所谓的农村无产阶级）——却以失败告终。内战期间，他们在苏俄大部分地区都有相似的遭遇。

    尼古拉来自村里的最大家族，勤劳、冷静、成功，在奥布霍沃村备受尊敬。一位村民回忆：“他很安静——不喜饶舌混日子——工作踏实、办事得力，农民都看重这一点。”他从第一次世界大战复员回来，成为奥布霍沃村农民公社的领导人。农民公社是一个古老机构，由农民中的领头者组成，建于农奴制时期，掌管农村生活的方方面面。1861年的“农奴解放宣言”发布后，其自治权力大大加强，从地主手里接管了大部分行政、警察、司法的职能，成为农村行政的基本单位。在俄罗斯的大部分地区，农民公社控制的农地由社区共同拥有，由农民分户耕种。由于是长条耕种的开放制度（长条耕地之间没有分界），农民公社必须规定种植和放牧的分配，并定期按家庭人口重新划分耕地——这一平等原则有助于确保耕者有其地，帮助农民公社缴纳国税。到1917年，农民公社成为农民革命的核心。农村旧秩序崩溃之后，大多数原头面人物（士绅和神职人员）纷纷逃离，俄罗斯农民接管了所有土地——并不等待中央政府或城镇革命党的指示——再通过农民公社和1917年成立的自治村委会（苏维埃），自行分配到户。 (105)

    革命前，尼古拉向村里的神父租地。像俄罗斯大多数农民一样，他也靠租来的耕地养活家人。在俄罗斯，人口过剩和低效农业导致了耕地的短缺。1917年，农民公社没收教属土地，再加上共用土地，一并分给农民。尼古拉根据家里有多少“吃饭的人”（即家庭大小），分得4公顷的耕地和牧场。他现在的土地几乎是他1917年以前耕种的两倍，而且还不是租来的。但在奥布霍沃村，或俄罗斯北部的任何地区，4公顷还是不够生活。这里的土壤贫瘠，又因森林而分散，为了确保每一个村民得到平等份额，又被分割成狭长的一条条，宽不到几英尺，根本不适合现代耕犁。戈洛温的耕地由80条狭长地组成，分布在18个不同的地点——这在沃洛格达地区并非罕见。为了补充收入，农民又涉足贸易和手工业——它们在北部农村经济中一直发挥至关重要的作用，几乎与农业不分轩轾，在新经济政策下，又获得了蓬勃的发展。政府鼓励乡村贸易，更通过合作社予以资助。尼古拉在他农庄的后院办起了皮革工场。安东尼娜回忆：

    我家可以吃饱，但那是我们勤奋和节俭的结果。6个孩子都在土地上卖力，即使是最小的也不例外。父亲的工作时间很长，在工场里制作皮鞋和其他皮革制品。他去市场买牛，一丁点儿都不浪费。他自己宰牛，卖牛肉，鞣制皮革（本地农民都懂这门手艺)，制作皮靴，然后再去市场出售。

    她回忆，热爱劳动是“我们子女所接受的教育的重心”。在最勤劳的农民家庭中，这是非常典型的，孩子们从小就在农庄上劳动。安东尼娜记得，这些农民都为自己的劳作而感到自豪：

    父亲喜欢说，我们要做就要尽量做好——像是行家做的，这就是他所谓的“戈洛温方式”——这是他最高褒奖的用词……到我们上学时，他告诉我们一定要努力学习，学会一门好职业。在他眼里，好职业是医生、教师、农艺师和工程师。他不希望孩子学习制鞋，认为这太辛苦了。他的手艺活真可媲美艺术家，我们这些孩子和访客，都为他的手艺的美妙而深感惊讶。 (107)

    尼古拉还为自己建造了住宅，一座单层刷白的长型建筑，位于奥布霍沃村中间的磨坊附近。它是整个村庄里唯一的砖房，包括一间饭厅和一间卧室，内置从沃洛格达买来的简陋工厂家具和两张铁床。一张供尼古拉和妻子叶夫多基娅睡，另一张供两个女儿睡（男孩子们则睡在饭厅地板上）。厨房是家里唯一的入口，外面有供牲畜遮风避雨的院子，内有牛棚、猪圈、马厩和两个谷仓，另外还有洗澡房、厕所、工具库、工场。院子外，有一园的苹果树。

    尼古拉是个严厉的父亲。女儿安东尼娜回忆：“所有孩子都怕他，但害怕的根源是尊重。母亲喜欢说，‘天上有上帝，家里有父亲’。无论父亲说什么，我们都视为律法，即便是四个男孩也都如此。”在这种家长制家庭里，大人与小孩之间仅有很少的温柔和亲密。安东尼娜说：“我们从来没有亲吻或拥抱过父母，不会以这种方式来表达爱。我们从小学会尊重和敬仰他们，始终依顺他们。”但这并不意味着互相之间没有爱。尼古拉宠爱小女儿，后者还能忆起4岁时的一段温情。父亲穿上他最漂亮的节日棉纱衬衫，以强壮的手臂抱着她去村教堂。

    突然，他拉着我的手，紧紧贴上他的嘴唇。他闭上眼，真情地吻我的手，我迄今还记得。现在我明白了自己在他心里的位置，他多想表达自己的爱。他身穿绣有棕色花朵的新衬衫，那么洁净，那么清香。 (108)

    五

    对旧社会精英来说，如何将家中的传统和价值观传给下一代，变得尤其复杂。想在新社会取得成功，便不能坚持自己的老习惯，而要适应苏维埃的新形势。为了维持新旧之间的平衡，各式家庭采取了不同的策略。例如，可以过双重生活，撤回到私人世界（“内部移民”），悄悄保留旧信念，可能还要欺瞒在苏维埃模式中长大的孩子。

    普列奥布拉任斯基一家就是前精英家庭的典型例子，虽在暗中保留旧生活的一部分，但在很大程度上因应了苏维埃的新形势。1917年之前，彼得·普列奥布拉任斯基，在圣彼得堡普里阿兹卡精神病医院担任神父。拉斯普京抵达之前，皇后亚历山德拉为治疗皇储的血友病，曾向他和其他“招魂者”求助。彼得的妻子毕业于斯莫尔尼学院，曾是皇太后玛丽亚·费多罗夫娜的闺蜜。1917年后，彼得和长子在医院担任搬运工；曾任亚历山大·涅夫斯基合唱团指挥的小儿子参加红军，在内战中战死；长女成为彼得格勒苏维埃的秘书；小女儿玛丽亚放弃音乐会钢琴家的生涯，担任卢加地区集体农庄的稽查员，玛丽亚的丈夫原是歌手，现在普里阿兹卡医院当清洁工。整个20世纪20年代，全家都住在医院后面的办公室，从不抱怨自己的极度贫困，只是静静度日，认真执行新政权布置的各项任务——只有一样例外：每天晚上，他们从秘密藏匿之处取出圣像，点亮许愿灯，以便祈祷；他们上教堂，庆祝复活节，始终保留圣诞树，甚至在1929年之后依然如故。那一年，圣诞树被宣布为“资产阶级生活方式的遗存”而遭禁止。玛丽亚和丈夫要女儿塔蒂亚娜在项链上系上金十字架，但不得让别人看到。塔蒂亚娜回忆：“我从小学会相信上帝，同时又要适应苏维埃的学校和生活。”普列奥布拉任斯基一家生活在两个世界的边缘地带。彼得仍向宁愿以基督教仪式埋葬亲属的人——苏维埃居民中沉默的大多数——秘密提供非正式的神父服务。 [11] 塔蒂亚娜解释说：“我们的生活一直都捉襟见肘，所以外祖父老是去列宁格勒坟场，帮助操持圣礼，赚一点小费。” (109)

    过去的专业精英们则采纳另一种方式，既维持家中的传统生活，又适应苏维埃社会。医生、律师、教师、科学家、工程师、经济学家，可向新政权提供自己的专业技能，以此守护自己的某些特许存在，甚至可以活得相当不错，至少在20世纪20年代如此。其时，新政权仍迫切需要这些“资产阶级专家”的专长。

    帕维尔·维滕贝格是苏维埃地质界的领军人，在开发科雷马和瓦伊加奇岛的古拉格——强制劳改营时，发挥了重要作用。他出生于1884年，在家里九个孩子中排行老八。他们是波罗的海地区的德裔，住在西伯利亚的符拉迪沃斯托克（海参崴）。帕维尔的父亲原籍在里加，因参与1862至1864年反沙皇统治的波兰起义，而被流放到西伯利亚。释放后，他任职于符拉迪沃斯托克电报局。帕维尔曾在符拉迪沃斯托克、敖德萨、里加和德国的蒂宾根求学，1908年来到圣彼得堡前已是一名年轻、严肃的理工博士。他与正在圣彼得堡学医的吉娜·拉祖米哈娜结婚，岳丈是铁路工程师，也是自己的远亲。这对夫妻在圣彼得堡附近芬兰湾的奥尔戈诺高级度假区，买了一套宽大而舒适的木房子。三个女儿相继出生：维罗尼卡生于1912年，瓦伦蒂娜生于1915年，叶夫根尼娅生于1922年，家人之间非常亲近。叶夫根尼娅回忆，帕维尔作为一名父亲，既“细心”，又富有“耐心和爱心”。大家在奥尔戈诺度假区享受“音乐、绘画、阅读的夜晚”，非常幸福，还有夏日闲逸的散步，以及从小照看吉娜的保姆安努沙卡精心准备的简餐。维滕贝格家经常有艺术家和作家之类的访客，例如著名的童书作家科尔涅伊·丘科夫斯基，在他们家度过好几个夏天。整个20世纪20年代，这种契诃夫式的生活始终存在。

    维滕贝格一家深受公共服务精神的影响，这几乎是19世纪知识分子的标志性特征。1917年后，吉娜以学得的医术在邻近的拉赫塔小镇设立医院，向患者提供免费治疗。帕维尔在1917年当选为拉赫塔镇理事会的主席，他组建学校，向穷苦劳动者的子女传授技术。叶夫根尼娅回忆：“他一直在工作，如果没在写作，就在筹划极地委员会的探索，或为地质博物馆组稿。他总是在忙，很少放松。”帕维尔全力以赴投入极地考察和地质事业，虽处起步阶段，但在世界上仍处于领先地位。极地勘探者在苏维埃的书籍和电影中是英雄。20世纪20年代，苏维埃政府投入大量科学预算，对北极区的潜在矿产做了地质调查。帕维尔对政治不感兴趣，但欢迎苏维埃政权的关注，让他在有组织有纪律的环境中追求科学成果。1927年帕维尔写道：“过去10年是极地勘探的英雄时期，未来会有更大的成就。” (110) 过后不久，他就离开奥尔戈诺度假区，前往科雷马勘探金矿。

    以同样方式适应苏维埃政权的另一对精英是作家康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫的父母。西蒙诺夫本人是《耳语者》的中心人物，他也属于1917年的孩子。母亲亚历山德拉是奥博连斯基家族的后裔，那个负有盛名且古老的家族中涌现出不少卓越的官僚和地主，在沙俄帝国中占据显赫的地位。亚历山德拉的父亲列昂尼德像许多贵族一样，早在19世纪70年代就已经商。亚历山德拉出生于1890年，从斯莫尔尼学院毕业，也是“旧秩序”女子，其贵族态度经常与苏维埃方式相悖。她身材高挑，颇有气派，在家里叫“阿林卡”，保留了“正确行为”的旧观念，还将之传给儿子——而他一生的绅士风度众所周知（即使在斯大林政权中取得高级职位后也是如此）。阿林卡期望人们彬彬有礼——尤其是在女性面前，忠于朋友，坚持原则。她的孙子回忆，她简直就是“教育家，在教诲他人如何立身处世时，永远不厌其烦”。 (111)

    1914年，亚历山德拉嫁给年龄几乎两倍于自己的米哈伊尔·西蒙诺夫——时任总参谋部的上校。一年后，康斯坦丁诞生。 [12] 米哈伊尔是军事防御工事的专家，第一次世界大战期间在波兰参战，升为第五军的少将和第四军团的参谋长，却在1917年突然消失。在之后的4年中，亚历山德拉再也没有他的消息。他似乎留在波兰从事一些秘密使命，无法与苏俄的家人接触；或许加入了波兰军队，或许加入了俄国内战中波兰盟友的白军。不管如何，他不愿返回俄罗斯，即使不算反革命，至少也是沙皇的将军，肯定会遭到布尔什维克的逮捕。目前尚不清楚亚历山德拉对自己丈夫的活动知道多少。不管如何，她一直向儿子隐瞒，无疑是为了提供保护。1921年，米哈伊尔从波兰写信给亚历山德拉，恳求她把儿子带去华沙同住，他已成为波兰公民。亚历山德拉一直犹豫不决，她仍看重自己的婚姻誓言，而米哈伊尔已经病重。但到最后，她爱国之心太甚，以致离不开俄罗斯。西蒙诺夫后来回忆：“虽然逃往国外的也有她的朋友和亲属，但母亲对俄国革命后的移民抱有悲哀的不解。她根本无法理解，怎么能背井离乡作别俄罗斯。” (112)

    亚历山德拉加入出身于贵族和资产阶级的年轻女性的队伍，在新苏维埃政府中从事打字员、会计、翻译的工作。1918年秋天，她被赶出彼得格勒的公寓。其时正是红色恐怖的高潮，布尔什维克发起了推翻旧精英的运动。像奥博连斯基那样的“遗民”，即败落的贵族和“资产阶级”，都被赶出自己的家园，财产悉数充公。他们被编入劳动大军，或遭契卡的逮捕和监禁，在反白军的内战中成为“人质”。在好几个月不成功的申述之后，亚历山德拉和小男孩康斯坦丁只得离开彼得格勒，前往梁赞——位于苏维埃首都的东南面，相隔200公里。他们与亚历山德拉的姐姐柳德米拉同住，其丈夫曾是炮兵队长，阵亡于第一次世界大战，他的炮兵团一直以梁赞军区为基地。与其他数以百万计的城市居民一样，他们在内战中逃离饥饿的城市，走向粮食供应地。 (113)

    梁赞在20世纪20年代初只是一座小镇，约有4万居民。其主要机构之一是布尔什维克建立的军校，为内战中的红军培养军官。教职员工中的亚历山大·伊万尼谢夫曾是沙皇军队的上校，在第一次世界大战中两次受伤（三次受到毒气攻击），后被托洛茨基招募入红军，成为一名指挥官。1921年，亚历山德拉与伊万尼谢夫结婚。对奥博连斯基家族的女儿来说，这无疑是下嫁，亚历山大只是一名卑下的铁路工的儿子。亚历山德拉自己时运不济，在丈夫的军人作风中，她觅得了自己贵族原则的影子，尤其是公共服务的理想精神。在这多事之秋，她似乎由此获得了一些慰藉。 (114)

    性情温和善良的亚历山大却是一名完美的“军人”——准时、认真、有序、严于律己。康斯坦丁回忆，他治家就像治军一样：

    我家就在军官兵营，四周都是军人，军事方式规范了我们生活的每一步骤。我家门前的广场上，早晚都有列队行进的军人。母亲和其他军官的妻子，一起参与军队的各式委员会。如有客人来访，谈话内容总与军队有关。晚上，继父制订军事演习计划，我有时陪在旁边相助。家中的纪律很严，纯粹军事化。一切都按照计划，下的命令刻不容缓。你不能迟到，也不可拒绝，必须学会闭嘴。即使最小的谎言，也会受到严厉地斥责。母亲和父亲遵循自己的服务伦理，在家里实施严格的劳动分工。我从六七岁起，就要承担越来越多的责任。我除尘、擦地板、刷碗、削洗土豆、照看煤油炉、外出领取牛奶面包。

    这样的童年生活对西蒙诺夫产生了重大影响。他从小接受的军人价值（如他自己所定义的“服从、自觉、时刻准备克服一切障碍、必须说‘是’或‘不是’、爱憎分明”），使他全力拥护20世纪30年代和40年代的苏维埃准军事制度。

    十三岁时我就懂得：
    说到就是要做到。
    是即是，不是即不是，
    争辩只是徒劳。
    我知道责任的含意。
    我知道何谓牺牲。
    我知道勇气的潜能，
    对怯懦就要不依不饶！
    ——《父亲》，1956年

    西蒙诺夫崇敬继父（“我从没看到他不穿军装的时候”），从小把他看作自己真正的父亲。他从亚历山大的身上继承了责任和服从的军队准则，从母亲和她的贵族背景中获得了公共服务的理念，两者在他身上相得益彰。他童年所读的书籍中充满了苏维埃的军事崇拜，从而进一步加强了这些原则。他深深着迷于俄国内战的传奇故事，例如德米特里·富尔曼诺夫的《夏伯阳》（Chapaev，1925年）。这是每一个小学生必读的“苏维埃经典”。少年时代他心中的英雄都是军人，他的笔记本上涂满了他自己想长成的士兵形象。 (117) 西蒙诺夫很早便意识到，自己需要融入一个等级制度之中，认为自己长大后不只是军人，而要当上为他人负责的军官。同时，他强烈的公共责任和服从意识，又要求他服从上司。如他自己写的，他心目中的“好”等同于“诚实”和“尽责”——这一概念后来成为他拥护斯大林政权的根源。他成长时期的人际关系大都涉及权威人士，作为家中唯一的孩子，他大部分时间都与成人相处，并善于赢得成人的认可。在学校里，他没有密友，也从没弄清友谊中的道德准则，以及对同伴的忠诚。这可能有悖于他身上愈益明显的另一倾向，即努力赢取上级的欢心。而在20世纪30年代和40年代，他诗作中的主题却仍是同志间的友爱（这是他渴求的领域）。西蒙诺夫既聪明又早熟，阅读广泛，学习努力，他加入各式俱乐部，参与戏剧演出，是一名少先队员。除了涂鸦，他的笔记本还显示出他是一个严肃的男孩：花费很长时间来绘制地图和图表，像官员一样列出步骤来筹划自己的任务。 (118)

    西蒙诺夫在世最后一年写成的回忆录认为，他的父母已接受苏维埃政权。他不记得父母有任何议论，或不赞成政府，或后悔没在1917年后移居国外。在他眼中，他的父母认为，作为知识分子中的一员，留下为苏俄工作是责无旁贷的，即使自己的价值观还没有“苏维埃化”，但有责任把康斯坦丁培养成“苏维埃”孩子。但这只是真相的一半。亚历山德拉以政治忠诚的外表，掩饰了她对苏维埃政权的不满。毕竟，新政权给她家人带来了灾难。亚历山德拉的哥哥尼古拉，被迫在1917年后逃去巴黎（因他曾是哈尔科夫省的省长，留下则会被布尔什维克逮捕），兄妹再也没有见上面。其余家人——亚历山德拉、母亲、三个姐妹，都生活在恐惧和贫穷之中，先是在彼得格勒，后搬去梁赞。内战结束后，亚历山德拉的妹妹索尼娅和达丽娅，返回彼得格勒。在1923年母亲死去之后，柳德米拉也跟着回到彼得格勒。亚历山德拉一人留在梁赞，尽力适应苏维埃环境。（她在1944年写信给儿子说：“我出生于另一个世界。在生命的头25年，我生活在奢侈之中……然后，我的生活遭到突如其来的摧毁……我洗刷、烹饪、奔波采购、整天工作。”）她除了传承贵族的价值观，也努力保存宗教习俗。她带儿子上教堂，直到儿子长到12岁（他在后来写给姨妈的信件中，继续在东正教节日以宗教用语向她们问好）。她还告诉他，他的贵族出身太危险，如果想取得进步，必须加以掩饰。 (119) 新经济政策有相对宽松的气氛，但大革命所释放的阶级斗争只是暂告停顿。在和平的表象下面，清洗旧精英的压力持续增加，威胁着像西蒙诺夫那样的人家。

    1927年，母亲将西蒙诺夫带去克列缅丘格城附近的农村，与继父的亲属同住。“热尼娅姑姑”与其丈夫叶夫根尼·列别捷夫住在一起——他是一名老将军，很久以前因腿伤而从沙皇军队退伍，几近瘫痪，全得依赖年轻的妻子。老将军是自由派，心地善良，开朗乐观，对苏维埃政府并没有抱怨。康斯坦丁喜欢与他做伴，因为他有趣，善讲故事。有一天，康斯坦丁去树林散步，回到姑姑家时，房门已被陌生人打开。原来是国家政治保卫总局人员，来抄家寻找反革命活动的罪证，试图对老将军实施拘捕。西蒙诺夫在回忆录中回忆此事：

    我进去时，国家政治保卫总局人员正在掀起床垫四下搜寻，而老人还正在床上休息……那人手指一张凳子对我说：“坐下，小男孩，等在一边。”他的态度说不上是粗鲁，更近于专横。我明白，必须坐下，听从他的命令……两名制服男子在执行搜索，但没有出示搜查令。老人非常生气，咒骂他们，威胁要去控告他们的非法行径。在我看来，热尼娅姑姑还比较镇静，只是担心丈夫的心脏病发作，一直在劝慰他冷静下来，但并不成功。制服男子继续搜索，依次翻阅每本书，察看堆在架子上的刺绣和油布。老人上身靠墙，下身瘫在床上，咒骂不停……最终搜索完了，离开时没有带走任何东西。他们显得克制，没有诅咒或训斥，因为面对的是一名瘫痪老人……在我的意识中，此事并不显得可怕、悲惨、令人不安，或多或少反而有点正常。

    该情节的有趣之处在于西蒙诺夫的感受。他目睹了国家镇压的非法行为，受害者是自己的家人，但如他后来声称的，他并不害怕。他甚至将之视作一种循例（正常）程序。西蒙诺夫在20世纪30年代，以类似心态面对其他亲属的遭捕，包括他的继父和三位姨妈。他视之为“必要”的行为，更加以合理化——应该是弄错了，因为亲戚们肯定是无辜的；但国家必须铲除潜在的反革命分子，在这一点上又无可厚非。 (120)

    1928年，西蒙诺夫随父母迁居到伏尔加河边的工业大城市萨拉托夫，因为亚历山大在当地军校担任教官。全家仍住军营，占用相邻的两间屋，与几户邻居共用一个厨房。西蒙诺夫开始上中学，到1929年14岁时决定放弃中学。他不愿完成父母为他规划的学院教育计划，改上了一个普通教育与技术培训相结合的工厂技校（FZU）。

    像许多旧知识分子的孩子一样，西蒙诺夫急于为自己创造“无产阶级”身份，好摆脱自己的社会出身，以免在苏维埃社会中拖自己的后腿。20世纪20年代后期的工厂技校和更高层次的技术学院，挤满了来自知识分子家庭的孩子。他们拒绝上大学（此时优先招募工人阶级出身的申请人），转向工厂或技校，以取得“无产者”资格，为将来的工作和教育奠定基础。西蒙诺夫将母亲的成分登记为“职员”，其他旧精英的许多孩子也隐瞒社会出身，或选择性使用自己的履历，以获得技校和学院的录取。其中的大多数，在第一个五年计划（1928—1932年）的工业革命中，成为工程师或技术员，生成一种全新的专业身份，让自己从社会阶级的困境中解脱出来——最重要的是他们对苏维埃工业化的贡献。西蒙诺夫拒绝父母为自己选择的学院教育，这一点很重要。这标志着他已抛弃了自己降生时进入的旧文明，转身采纳“苏维埃”新身份。

    西蒙诺夫白天在技校中学车床，晚上去萨拉托夫军火厂当学徒。他后来承认，自己并“没有工业上的真正才能”，只是为了“虚荣”而坚持到底。他写信给住在列宁格勒的姨妈索尼娅，虽然年仅十几岁，却展示了他频繁的社会活动，以及对苏维埃事业的满腔热情：

    [1929年]亲爱的索尼娅姨妈！
    我这么长时间才回复你的问候，望见谅。我从来没有如此忙过。我参加了4个俱乐部：担任其中两个的管理委员和另一个（青年自然学家）的主席。此外，我是[社会主义者]竞赛小组、阅读小组、学校的编辑委员会、化学队[以应付毒气攻击]的成员。我又是互助运动的教练、校管理委员会的成员[向技校行政部门汇报学生的政治活动和不同意见]和“工人援助国际学会”的义工。此刻，我正在帮助校管理委员会下属小组组织反宗教的宣传，还在负责班级的管理委员会。前不久，我被要求在学校内组织一个象棋俱乐部。我想，这些就是我的全部情况。

    很难讲清这些狂热活动的背后到底是什么动机——从小浸润于公共服务精神的少年，现在迸发出充沛的精力；或者，他在打小算盘，冀望通过积极表现来掩饰社会出身，以保障自己在苏维埃社会的地位；或者，完全出于对共产主义理想的热烈信念。不管如何，这就是西蒙诺夫参与斯大林政权的开端。

    六

    商人阶层也找到了自己的方式来适应新政权，特别是在新经济政策出笼之后。1922年，塞缪尔·拉斯金与妻子、三个女儿离开奥尔沙镇来到莫斯科，全家搬进苏哈勒夫卡市场附近的地下室。在新经济政策下，该市场是蓬勃发展的私人贸易的代名词。塞缪尔·拉斯金是一名小商人，经营鲱鱼和其他咸鱼。像许多犹太人一样，他来莫斯科是为了充分利用私人商业的新机遇。他在女儿身上寄托了各式梦想，希望她们通过苏维埃学校和大学，最终变成专业人士。而身为犹太人的自己，1917年以前是不敢作此妄想的。

    1879年，塞缪尔出生于奥尔沙的商人大家族。那是法定犹太区内的一个市场集镇，全是单层木屋，没有自来水，也无下水道。父亲莫伊谢是咸鱼批发商，住在一栋破败的木房子里——房子处在通往什克洛夫镇的交通要道上，夹在两座教堂中间，一座属东正教，另一座属天主教。奥尔沙是多元文化的，俄罗斯人、波兰人、白俄罗斯人、拉脱维亚人、立陶宛人、犹太人都聚居一起（1905年曾有一次小型的反犹屠杀）。拉斯金一家讲意第绪语和俄语，遵循犹太教仪式，上犹太教堂，送小孩去犹太学校，又非常重视孩子的教育，以及子女在俄罗斯社会中的进步。莫伊谢有六个孩子，三个大的（西马、索尔、塞缪尔）在家自学，年幼的三个（法尼娅、雅可夫、热尼娅）设法避开沙皇的限制——禁止犹太人上大学和成为专业人士 [13] ——考上了大学，成为合格的医生。这的确是非凡的成就，尤其对两名女孩法尼娅和热尼娅来说更是如此。 (122)

    塞缪尔跟随莫伊谢经商，1907年与邻镇什克洛夫犹太商人的女儿贝尔塔结婚。夫妇俩生了三个女儿，法尼娅（生于1909年）、索尼娅（1911年）和叶夫根尼娅（1914年），一起住在什克洛夫镇，直到1917年大革命。塞缪尔善良温和，聪明务实。他对文学和国际政治抱有浓厚的兴趣，全心全意拥护革命，视之为犹太人的解放良机。他一直梦想让自己心爱的女儿获得良好的教育，现在有了新经济政策，使他有可能在莫斯科立业安居，梦想成真。

    新经济政策使莫斯科变成一个大市场。1921年后的5年中，城市人口翻了一番。内战时期，私人贸易全被取缔。经历了如此的艰辛之后，大家对市场所能提供的任何东西都积累了巨大的需求。大批人群络绎不绝地来到像苏哈勒夫卡市场那样的街头市场，商人手里什么都有，从废铁、衣服、锅碗瓢盆到艺术品。塞缪尔在博洛特纳亚广场上摆鲱鱼摊，该广场位于莫斯科河南，离克里姆林宫不远，已变成菜市场，向繁忙的餐馆和咖啡馆供货。在鲱鱼生意上，没人比塞缪尔知道得更多。他可以打开一个咸鲱鱼罐头，马上就能确定它的产地——伏尔加河、咸海、阿斯特拉罕或下诺夫哥罗德。

    开始的生活很苦，拉斯金家住在马什昌斯卡娅第一街的地下室，里面徒有四壁，睡的床垫直接铺在地板上，天花板上挂起帘子，将孩子睡觉区与大人的分开，又要与楼上居民共用厕所和厨房。到1923年，塞缪尔的鲱鱼生意日益兴旺，便租下斯列坚斯卡娅街上一栋曾经辉煌的大房子的二楼。该公寓非常舒适，有三个宽敞的房间，一个大浴室。其时的莫斯科，有独用的卫生间和厨房是罕见的奢侈。塞缪尔相当成功，甚至能每月寄钱给住在奥尔沙的父母，帮助侄子马克一家搬来莫斯科。拉斯金一家还定期去莫斯科大剧院，塞缪尔总是租个包厢。 (123)

    到了1923年和1924年，商品的短缺和价格的上涨引发了无产阶级对新经济人及其财富的强烈不满。为了抚慰大众的骚动，市苏维埃政府关闭了30万家私人生意。 (124) 拉斯金一家成为该反弹政策的受害者。塞缪尔的生意得以幸存，但必须向莫斯科苏维埃缴纳一项特别税。像其他小商贩一样，他被定为被剥夺者（lishentsy），不得享受选举权和其他公民权利。塞缪尔默默忍受这些惩罚，几年来，一直在支付他那个铁架商摊的高额“商业租金”——莫斯科苏维埃向私商征收的特别税之一，目的是为了安抚工人阶级对新经济政策的不满。1925年，塞缪尔拒绝了将生意转至伊朗的邀请，那里的鱼工业亟需俄罗斯的专长。他希望三个女儿在苏联长大，充分利用他认为将会出现的众多机遇——结果却是错觉。法尼娅是老大，也最实际，1926年以优异成绩通过学校考试，因父亲属于被剥夺者，读医的申请遭到拒绝，只好去工厂上班，改在夜校学经济。索尼娅认真严肃，口齿伶俐，聪明美丽，但因不幸罹患小儿麻痹症而落下了残疾。像姐姐一样，她也无缘于高等教育，只好在莫斯科索科尔尼基工业学校的夜校学习统计，到1928年又进了钢铁学院。像其他犹太人一样，包括成为工程师的表弟马克，索尼娅全心全意地拥护第一个五年计划的工业项目。该计划承诺，将使落后的农业俄罗斯变得现代化。拉斯金一家当初逃离的，就是那个反犹大屠杀时有发生的落后的农业俄罗斯。叶夫根尼娅（热尼娅）排行老幺，更有艺术气质，攻读家人都心仪的文学。法尼娅回忆，拉斯金一家仿佛“总是在文学辩论中”。因是被剥夺者的子女，索尼娅在1927年申请加入共青团未果。三姐妹、马克和邻近的父母的朋友的孩子，自组了一个阅读小组。他们讨论政治，举办对“文学人物”的模拟审判。有一次，他们举行对《旧约圣经》的审判，为此找到一本《圣经》，共同研究了整整一个月。 (125) 在20世纪20年代和30年代，对文学作品、意识形态、宗教习俗发起公开审判是非常流行的宣传活动。

    在第一代苏维埃犹太人中，拉斯金一家非常典型，都认同俄国革命中的国际主义。因为它承诺将消除民族之间的偏见和不平等，它所憧憬的现代化城市，将为犹太人打开通向一般学校、大学、科学、艺术、职业、贸易的大门。仅经过1917年的一代，俄罗斯犹太人都已变成城市居民，前法定犹太区的犹太人口不是移民，就是老死（第二次世界大战初期，苏维埃犹太人中86%住在城市，其中一半聚居在苏联11个最大的城市）。莫斯科的犹太人口，从1914年的1.5万人，剧增至1937年的25万人（该市第二大的族群）。 (126) 犹太人在苏维埃兴旺发达，在党、官僚、军队、警察的精英中占得很大比例。虽然也有不少犹太人像塞缪尔·拉斯金一样，因自己的社会阶层和私营经济而被剥夺公民权利，但根据此时的回忆录，反犹太主义或反犹歧视相对较少。20世纪20年代和30年代，确有无数的犹太教堂被关闭，那是由于布尔什维克发起了反宗教运动。家庭继续作为犹太宗教生活的真正中心。在大多数家庭中，老一辈执掌传统的祈祷和礼仪，家人同时又遵守苏维埃的公共节日，接受苏维埃的新信念，特别是年轻人。世俗的意第绪语文化，因苏维埃政府的积极推动而获得了蓬勃发展。当时有意第绪语的学校、电影院、剧院，包括莫斯科意第绪语国家剧院。该剧院指挥所罗门·米霍埃尔斯，还成为众多布尔什维克和左翼犹太知识分子的关注对象。在大多数都市犹太家庭中，既有对犹太传统文化的依恋，也有对苏俄文学和艺术的承诺，两者并驾齐驱，进入更为广阔的国际性世界文化。 (127)

    这类复杂的多重身份（犹太人―俄罗斯人―苏维埃人），塞缪尔和贝尔塔都予以保留。他们并不信教，从来不去犹太教堂或遵守犹太教的仪式和节日。贝尔塔只是在苏维埃假日专门烹饪犹太食物。他们会讲意第绪语，但家里说的都是俄语。女儿们听得懂父母讲的意第绪语，但自己讲不好，也没尽心去学，视之为旧时代“奇异的遗物”。对女儿们来说，身份问题比较简单。法尼娅回忆：“我们不想把自己当做犹太人。虽然住在俄罗斯，沉浸在它的文化中，但也不想把自己当做俄罗斯人。我们自认是苏维埃公民。”拉斯金一家认为，教育、勤奋、文化才是获得个人解放和平等的正道。塞缪尔积极关注苏维埃政治，为杰出的犹太布尔什维克的成就而感到无比骄傲，例如托洛茨基。他虽没受过高深的教育，却在家里摆满书籍和报纸，还喜欢讨论政治事件，尤其是国外的，他在这方面的消息还特别灵通。朋友和亲戚星期天前来参加著名的“拉斯金晚餐”，就会与他开起“厨房议会”。据说，贝尔塔所做的犹太美食，在莫斯科是独一无二的。 (128)

    有些犹太家庭，其成为“苏维埃人”的愿望，反映在尽量抑制自己与犹太文化或宗教的藕断丝连上。例如在盖斯特家中，犹太人的习俗微乎其微，只有犹太菜肴、意第绪语的短句、有关沙皇时代反犹大屠杀的家庭传说，以致少年时的伊娜竟意识不到自己原来是犹太人。伊娜的父母是在戈梅利地区相遇的。瑞贝卡·高根1923年在戈梅利的一个犹太家庭出生。她记得自己在列宁格勒的童年已“全然苏维埃化”，父母遵守主要的犹太人习俗，偶尔讲意第绪语，主要是不想让自己听懂。她说，除此之外，全用“现代方式，没有宗教，没有仍保持犹太习俗的祖父母的影响”。 (129)

    依达·斯拉温娜有类似的童年。1921年，她出生于莫斯科杰出的苏维埃法学家的家庭，父亲伊利亚·斯拉温曾在解放白俄罗斯的犹太人一事中扮演重要角色。伊利亚1883年出生于莫吉廖夫城附近的小镇，是贫穷的犹太劳工大家庭的长子，从12岁起就开始在当地药店工作和研究。由于取得了药剂师的资格，他在法律上有权搬离法定犹太区。 [14] 1905年，他登记为哈尔科夫大学法律系的走读生，尽管12岁后就没有受过正规的教育，却在第一年考试中获得第一名，从而正式注册，挤入政府批准的3%犹太学生的配额。大学毕业后，伊利亚得到留校任教的聘用，但有个附带条件，即必须皈依基督教。他谢绝了，自愿回到法定犹太区，在莫吉廖夫城担任律师助理。第一次世界大战期间，德军占领了苏俄西部。伊利亚迁至彼得格勒，在城镇联盟的总部工作，帮助法定犹太区的犹太人迁去俄罗斯各地。1917年后，伊利亚当选为法官，任职于莫吉廖夫、戈梅利、维捷布斯克等地的人民法庭。1921年，他搬至莫斯科，在苏维埃法律机构中继续晋升。伊利亚英俊聪明、善良温和，怀抱高尚理想，并将之投入苏维埃的实践，甚至拒绝自己的犹太身份。

    从1903年起，伊利亚一直是活跃的犹太复国主义者，也是旨在巴勒斯坦建立社会主义的无产者锡安党的著名成员。伊利亚的犹太复国主义，来自他在法定犹太区的生活经历，那里也是无产者锡安党的主要基地。但一旦来到彼得格勒，接触到欧化与社会同化的犹太人，伊利亚开始摆脱犹太复国主义，转向社会民主主义。他赞成革命是国际性的事业，从而认可犹太民族的利益必须服从于阶级斗争。在维捷布斯克镇担任法庭主席时，他甚至维护1919年反犹大屠杀的劳工凶手，所持理由是：这是在向犹太工厂经理表达他们的阶级仇恨。 (130) 1920年，伊利亚离开犹太复国主义运动，短期加入犹太马克思主义者，到1921年再转向布尔什维克。在加入布尔什维克的简历表中，伊利亚承认自己的“政治错误”（犹太复国主义和犹太民族主义）。自那以后，犹太文化从他家中销声匿迹。他教妻子埃斯菲莉学会读写俄语，不许她讲意第绪语，并培养自己的孩子伊萨克（生于1912年）和依达成为不带犹太传统的苏维埃人。依达回忆：

    父亲尽量做得正确，要求自己成为一名理想的布尔什维克。我们没有犹太习俗，从来不讲意第绪语——我们孩子甚至蒙在鼓里。一旦成为布尔什维克，父亲便在家中尽力剔除使他忆起贫民窟和法定犹太区的一切。作为一名国际主义者，他相信苏联各加盟国一律平等，家里只有苏维埃的东西。他所珍爱的宝贝只是列宁陵墓的大理石模型，立在他的办公桌上。 (131)

    随着新经济政策受到进一步的攻击，新都市犹太人的前景变得暗淡。1928年，莫斯科苏维埃再次向小商贩征收特殊营业税。对塞缪尔·拉斯金来说，这真是一个尴尬时刻。新经济政策重新确定了私宅和合作公寓的所有权，所以在那年的早些时候，他向祖博夫广场的建设项目投入资金。建筑商正在这个莫斯科时髦公寓区的庭院建造一栋两层楼房，塞缪尔的投资可让他拥有楼上一套三室公寓。他一直有自置私产的梦想——想让三个女儿在攻读时享有经济保障——所以拒缴这特殊营业税的全部，遂被捕，先是短期监禁于莫斯科，后被流放到下诺夫哥罗德。 (132) 逮捕只是政府从1927年开始在全国范围向私人贸易发起进攻的一部分，最终导致新经济政策的废除。反对新经济政策的运动，与斯大林的崛起和托洛茨基、布哈林的失败紧密相关。后两位是斯大林在党内的主要竞争对手，他们继续支持列宁在1921年引进的混合经济政策。

    在新经济政策上，布尔什维克一直在左右摇摆，但它的无产阶级支持者则表示坚决反对。他们对新经济政策的不信任，更因市场的大幅波动而愈益加强。一旦农村发生商品短缺，农民不愿向城镇输送食品，市场价格就会攀高。第一次市场波动发生于1923至1924年，苏维埃为了安抚不满物价上涨的工人阶级，首次向新经济人发动攻击。到20世纪20年代中期，市场回归稳定，但1927至1928年，收成不好，再加上消费品欠缺，又发生了第二次市场波动。随着工业制品的价格上涨，农民减少了出售给国家仓库和合作社的粮食，因为采购价格太低，农民换来的钱还不够用来购买日常用品。所以，农民不愿卖给国家，宁可自己多吃，喂养牲畜，存储在谷仓，或运去私营市场自售。如何找到应付这场危机的正确方法？新经济政策的支持者意见纷纭。为了维护市场机制以及与农民的联盟（列宁称之为新经济政策的基础），布哈林赞成提高采购定价，但也承认国家因此会增加开支并减少对工业的投资。托洛茨基、加米涅夫、季诺维也夫（联合反对派），在向农民作出更多让步一事上小心翼翼。他们担心这会推迟苏维埃社会主义工业化的实现。在他们看来，国家应采取临时征用，确保粮食存有量和消费品的原料，之后再恢复农业市场机制。斯大林支持布哈林——直到1927年12月他在苏共十五大击败托洛茨基和季诺维也夫，之后他转而反对布哈林和新经济政策。斯大林将粮食危机斥为“富农罢工”，呼吁回到内战时的征购，以支持苏联工业化的五年计划。他在发言中措辞激烈，要求铲除资本主义经济的最后残余（小商贩和自耕农），不允许它们阻扰社会主义工业化的进步。

    斯大林的激烈措辞——呼吁返回革命和内战时的阶级斗争——迎合了党内广大的无产阶级。他们渐渐形成这样的观念：资产阶级正在回潮，打着新经济人、“资产阶级专家”、“富农”的旗号。许多人认为，布尔什维克理想是社会正义，而新经济政策却是一种倒退。他们担心，它将导致资本主义经济的复辟。一名布尔什维克回忆：“我们年轻共产党人从小就养成这样的信念：金钱将被永远废除。如果金钱重现，富人也会重现吗？我们在滑回资本主义吗？我们以焦虑的心情自我追问。”

    斯大林呼吁重返内战时的方法，对年轻共产党人特别有吸引力——他们出生于20世纪的前20年，太年轻，没能参与1917至1921年的革命战争，但一直接受源于内战的“斗争崇拜”的熏陶。另一名布尔什维克（生于1909年）在回忆录中认定，他同代人的好战世界观，使他们易于接受斯大林的观点：必须重新发起反对“资产阶级专家”、“新经济人”、“富农”以及其他“资产阶级走狗”的阶级战争。一名斯大林主义者解释，年轻共产党人曾经心灰意冷：

    我这一代的共青团员——十月革命时仅10岁或更年轻——为自己的命运感到恼火。不管是在共青团，还是在工厂，我们感叹没有重大事业留给我们来完成：革命已经结束，艰苦但浪漫的内战岁月，不会再一次光临；老一辈给我们留下的只有乏味平淡的生活，既没有斗争，也没有激奋。

    阿列克谢·拉达琴科在1927年的日记中写道：

    今日的进步青年没有投身运动的真正兴趣或焦点——现在不是内战时代，只是新经济政策时期——它是革命过程中的必要阶段，但很无聊。大家所关心的只是个人私事和家庭琐事。我们需要新鲜东西来震撼自己，打破这沉闷的氛围（有人甚至在期盼战争）。

    斯大林充分利用这类浪漫概念：内战是“英雄时期”，苏联国家正与国内外的资本主义敌人展开恒久的斗争。他捏造了1927年的“战争恫吓”，让苏联报刊充斥英国“间谍”和“反苏入侵计划”的假新闻，用这种恐惧来呼吁搜捕大批的潜在“敌人”（保皇分子和“遗民”），呼吁人们全力支持五年计划和扩军。他认为，把新经济政策当做工业军备措施则实在太慢了，当做战争中购粮措施又不可靠。与敌人开展不懈的斗争是斯大林五年计划概念的出发点。1928至1929年，为取得党的控制权，他与布哈林展开政治斗争。他指责布哈林竟然相信阶级斗争将随时间的消逝而愈益减少，“资本主义元素”与社会主义制度将获得调和（其实，布哈林认为经济领域的斗争将会持续）。斯大林认为，这种观念将削弱党对资本主义敌人的防御，将让敌人渗入苏联制度，从内部发起颠覆。斯大林坚持认为，随着苏联迈向社会主义，资产阶级的反抗一定会愈益强化，所以要以新的活力，不断“肃清和镇压剥削者的反抗”。 (134) 这像是一个前兆，他在后来的大恐怖时期，也作过类似的呼求，使日益高涨的镇压浪潮变得合理化。这个呼求激励了斯大林一派的力量，保证了对布哈林的胜利。恐怖是五年计划的灵感，并不是它的产物。

    向私商发起的进攻是再一次革命战争的首役，数千名新经济人遭囚禁，或被赶出家门。到1928年底，1926年注册的40万民营企业中，已有一半以上因不堪重税或警方行动而被关闭；到1929年底，存留的仅占十分之一。对被剥夺者的新限制，使新经济政策人的家庭生活更为艰难，没有资格获得配给卡（1928年推出），只好在仅剩的私营商店购买价格急剧上涨的食品。他们的家庭被逐出国家住房，他们的孩子不得上苏维埃的学校和大学，此类事件比以前更为常见。 (135)

    恰好在这场阶级斗争的高潮，塞缪尔·拉斯金从下诺夫哥罗德的流放地返回莫斯科。1929年春，他们一家人搬入祖博夫广场的新家。塞缪尔和贝尔塔住一间，索尼娅住另一间，法尼娅和热尼娅挤在客厅。过不多久，塞缪尔拥有自己住房的梦想彻底破灭。新经济政策取消后不久，就是私有制的废除。莫斯科苏维埃将拉斯金的住房国有化，使之成为共用公寓。一对老夫妇（知名的警方举报人）搬了进来，占了两间大屋，而拉斯金一家不得不挤入一个小间，还要付租金。1929年11月，国家又征用了塞缪尔的鲱鱼生意。塞缪尔第二次被捕，先押在布提尔基监狱几个星期，后被流放到沃罗涅日。他在1930年返回，开始了苏维埃水产业雇员的新生活。 (136)

    塞缪尔失去了一切，像忍受先前的厄运一样，默默承受自己沦落的处境，从没抱怨苏维埃政权。娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆是热尼娅在20世纪50年代的朋友，她在有关斯大林年代的回忆录中这样描述塞缪尔：

    热尼娅的父亲是名小商人。事实上，他是你想象中最小的商贩，养育三个女儿，专做咸鲱鱼生意。俄国革命曾使他欢欣鼓舞，因为它宣布犹太人享有平等权利，使他有机会实现三个聪明女儿接受良好教育的梦想。新经济政策推出时，他当了真，全心全意投入咸鲱鱼生意，以求培养女儿——最后却因付不起税而遭到没收。毫无疑问，他一定打过算盘，如何保住自己的家。他被送去纳雷姆地区或类似的地方，但没有为此或之前的入狱而悲痛欲绝——他入狱时，当局引进了比原始殴打更为精致的折磨“新法”，以对付“没收贵重物品”的案件。第一次流放时，他给妻子和三个女儿写了如此悲痛而柔肠百结的家书，以致她们决定不让任何外人读到。他的一生在反反复复的流放中度过。后来，同样的命运落到他的那些女儿和女婿的头上，各自走上流放和劳改营的风雨路。如果没有身处中心、坚韧不拔的父亲，这家人的命运真可成为典型苏维埃生活的缩影。他是犹太圣徒的典范，像上帝的仆人约伯一样，拥有神秘的灵性和善良。 (137)

    [1] 临时政府由自由派与温和的社会主义者组成，旨在维持俄国直到第一次世界大战结束和宪政大会的民主选举。但工人、农民、士兵组成了自己的地方革命委员会，尤其是苏维埃，以推行激进的社会革命。临时政府的政治权威，很快因此土崩瓦解。列宁的布尔什维克在1917年10月夺取权力，就是以苏维埃的名义。起义前夕的布尔什维克，约有35万名成员，代表了社会民主党（马克思主义）的革命派，该党的温和派孟什维克则支持临时政府。1918年3月，布尔什维克改名为俄罗斯共产党。
    [2] 有大量例证可供选择，如亚历山大·法捷耶夫（未来著名作家的父亲），在1905年为了投身于“人民事业”，弃妻子和三个孩子于不顾。还有抛离丈夫和两名年幼女儿的柳芭·拉达琴科，她在日记中指出，“真正革命家的责任，就是要做到不受家小的拖累”。（RGAE，f.9455，op.3，d.14，l. 56）
    [3] 仿效马克思和恩格斯的名字—1917年以后，革命年鉴创造了众多的苏维埃新名字。其他常见的有：弗拉基列（弗拉基米尔·列宁）、恩格列娜、宁格、马列（马克思和列宁）、马恩列十（马克思、恩格斯、列宁、十月革命）。
    [4] 内战期间俄罗斯南部的白军领袖。
    [5] 义务劳动就是始于内战的周六劳动，征召学生、工人和其他公民“志愿”参加体力劳动，譬如清除街头垃圾。它很快变成苏维埃生活方式的永久标志，呼吁人们投入义务劳动，不止是几天，甚至是几个星期。
    [6] 社会革命党人是1917年俄罗斯最大的党派，凭借农民的支持，在制宪大会中拥有多数席位，1918年1月遭到布尔什维克的取缔。
    [7] 他们属于被剥夺者——主要是旧知识分子、小资产阶级、神职人员，没有公民权和选举权。在20世纪20年代，布尔什维克对他们的歧视日益加重，许多家庭不能住国家配给的住房，领不到配给卡，孩子不能去苏维埃学校上学。
    [8] 《钢铁是怎样炼成的》（1932—1934）是尼古拉·奥斯特洛夫斯基的小说，叙述了苏维埃政权的创建和共青团斗士保尔·柯察金的英勇事迹。它在20世纪30年代和40年代，激励了众多的苏维埃儿童。
    [9] 艾莱娜·沃尔孔斯卡娅1924年出生于罗马，并在那里长大。她使用同样的语句，回忆自己的母亲。艾莱娜的母亲出生于1893年，是俄罗斯1906—1911年的总理彼得·斯托雷平的女儿，她也毕业于斯莫尔尼学院。（根据对艾莱娜·沃尔孔斯卡娅的采访，2006年7月于意大利的切托纳）
    [10] 17世纪50年代的教会改革，使俄罗斯东正教的仪式向希腊正教靠拢，但老信徒仍坚持遵循改革之前的旧规矩。
    [11] 政府提供免费的火葬，以鼓励人们采纳世俗的苏维埃仪式。但根据20世纪20年代早期任职于太平间的一名员工所说，“俄罗斯人或是信教，或是过于迷信，都不愿偏离东正教的丧葬传统”。（GARF, f. 4390, op. 12, d. 40, l. 24）
    [12] 他的教名是基里尔，人们也始终如此称呼他。20世纪30年代，他开始文学生涯，感到基里尔的发音比较尴尬，遂改名为康斯坦丁。为清晰起见，我们在本书中只用康斯坦丁一个名字。
    [13] 法尼娅和雅可夫上了爱沙尼亚的塔尔图大学（当时名叫Iurev），那是1917年前接受犹太学生的少数沙俄大学之一。
    [14] 允许搬离法定犹太区的犹太人包括：一级商会的商人、技艺出众的工匠、大学生和合格的药剂师。

    第二章 大转变（1928—1932）

    一

    1930年8月2日，奥布霍沃村民举办盛宴来庆祝古老的宗教节日伊林（Ilin），一是标志夏季的结束，二是祈祷美好的收成。从教堂回来后，村民聚集在该村最大的家族戈洛温家，分享自制的馅饼和啤酒，孩子在室外撒欢。傍晚时分，村民舞蹈开始，带头的是三角琴手和手风琴手，后面的是排成两行的少男少女，身穿节日棉纱服，离开戈洛温家，沿着村里的街道载歌载舞。 (138)

    这一次过节已经笼罩在激烈争执的阴影之下。苏维埃政府下令成立集体农庄，但村民的意见严重分裂。大多数农民不愿放弃世代耕耘的家庭农庄，不愿与他人共用自己的财产、牛马、农具。在集体农庄里，所有的土地、牲畜、工具归集体所有，合并的大片土地可以使用拖拉机，农民变成赚取工资的劳工，只允许保留小菜园来饲养家禽和种植蔬菜。奥布霍沃村的村民本来就栈恋个体劳动和私人财产的原则，复又听到其他北部村庄的可怕故事，更被吓坏了。譬如，士兵逼迫农民加入集体农庄，实施大规模的逮捕和驱逐，杀人放火，农民逃离自己的村庄或屠宰牲畜以躲避集体化。尼古拉·戈洛温在7月的公社会议上曾告诫大家，“在自己的农庄，我们辛苦是为自己；在集体农庄，我们将再次成为农奴”。 (139) 奥布霍沃村的许多老农，出生于1861年废除农奴制之前。

    尼古拉在1917年领导了农民的土地革命，组织没收了教会土地（那里没有绅士阶层），再通过公社和苏维埃完成了土地的重新划分，使耕地面积与家庭规模相匹配。自耕家庭农庄的数量因土地革命而有所增加，村民尊重尼古拉，经常向他讨教农业上的见解，看重他的智慧、诚实、勤奋、节制、谦虚。他较能吃透苏维埃政府的政策，并作出浅白易懂的解释，从而赢得了村民的信任。他房子外面的老石磨是个非正式的聚会场所，夏日傍晚，村民都聚集于此，聆听尼古拉对本地事件的意见。 (140)

    戈洛温家族是农民传统的捍卫者，其家庭农庄的管理遵照父系家长制，所有孩子都在父亲的指挥下参与农活，从小学会了服从他的至高无上权威（“天上有上帝，家里有父亲”）。像其他农民一样，戈洛温一家相信私家耕作的权利，这本来就是1917至1918年土地革命的指导原则。内战中，尼古拉帮助组织北方的红军。他认为，苏维埃政权将捍卫农民此类权利，所以给予积极的支持（整个20世纪20年代，他家主屋的圣像旁，挂的就是苏维埃军事委员会主席克里门特·伏罗希洛夫的肖像）。但这些权利遭到布尔什维克越来越频繁的攻击，在奥布霍沃村领导集体化运动的，是激进的共青团积极分子。他们在村校召开会议，向奥布霍沃村最富裕的农民发出激烈的指控——主要针对戈洛温家。村民从没听到过如此的宣传，共青团干部的滔滔不绝给很多村民留下深刻印象。在这些会议上，村民被告知他们属于三个相互敌对的阶层：作为无产阶级盟友的贫农、中立的中农，以及作为敌人的富农。 [1] 全由共青团员开列的三个阶层的名单，贴在村校外的告示牌上。村民以前都没有社会阶层的概念，一直以为自己属于一个大家庭。对戈洛温那样的最成功的农民，最贫穷的农民通常是尊重的，甚至于毕恭毕敬，但在村校的会议上，特别在酒精的影响下，也加入了对“富农戈洛温”的控诉。 (141)

    驻在奥布霍沃村的共青团工作队有12名青少年，携带枪支，身着军便服，在村庄里四下活动，令村民望而生畏。他们的负责人是科利亚·库兹明，18岁。他父亲很穷，又好酗酒，他家肮脏破烂的房子就坐落在贫民集聚的村庄尽头。还是小男孩时，科利亚就被家人派去村中其他农户乞求帮助。尼古拉的女儿安东尼娜回忆，他经常来自己家乞讨“火柴、盐、煤油、面粉。这类生活必需品，在库兹明家老是青黄不接，等不及来年”。尼古拉可怜他，让他来自己的皮革工场工作。他工作多年，直到1927年加入共青团，就对戈洛温家反戈一击。 (142)

    在许多村庄，特别是像奥布霍沃村那样的偏远村庄，布尔什维克尚未设立党支部，宣传鼓动工作必须依靠共青团。20世纪20年代中期，农村共青团员的人数是农村党员的4倍。离奥布霍沃村最近的党支部，设在7公里外的乌斯秋扎纳镇。由于奥布霍沃村的苏维埃掌控在戈洛温家族的手中，村里坐立不安的共青团年轻人，便成了开展集体农庄运动的领头人。从1928年秋天起，党领导呼吁大规模的集体化。库兹明和他的伙伴四下串联，鼓动最贫穷的农民加入战斗，以抵制“富农”和教会的反革命影响，还向镇党支部投送匿名控告信。到1929年春，尼古拉遭到奥布霍沃村苏维埃开除，又作为“皮革生意的资产阶级老板”而被剥夺公民权。11月，村共青团和镇官员前来尼古拉家里搜查，向他的“富农”农庄征收800卢布的重税。这项征税只是全国性政策的一部分，为了“榨干富农”和没收其财产，光在沃洛格达一地，就毁了近4000个农户。 (143)

    为了缴税，尼古拉被迫出售两头奶牛、制鞋机械、铁床和一箱衣服。那年冬季，他甚至与他四兄弟中的两位，前往列宁格勒的建筑工地，以赚取额外的现金。这三人意识到农业集体化的不可避免，甚至想离开奥布霍沃村，试探城市生活的可行性。他们睡宿舍的长椅，吃食堂，省下几百卢布寄回家中，但数月后仍决定返回。尼古拉在给家人的信中解释说：“如果什么都要从商店购买，面包、土豆、白菜，这样的日子没法过。” (144)

    尼古拉在1930年春天返回，与共青团的关系也濒临破裂。一天晚上，他与来自邻村的兄弟伊万·戈洛温一起吃饭，坐在厨房窗口的桌旁。聚在屋外黑暗中的库兹明及其追随者，能清晰看到兄弟俩被煤油灯映出的身影。这帮年轻人显然喝醉了，高喊“富农”“走出来”，然后朝窗开枪。伊万被击中头部，当场死于血泊之中。

    数星期后，库兹明又来尼古拉家，还带来两名镇上的党干部。那晚，尼古拉家正好有个聚会，主屋里挤满了朋友和亲属。库兹明指责他们举行非法集会，一边猛烈拍门，一边喊道，“一帮富农，开门，中止你们反苏维埃政权的阴谋！”，并朝天开枪。尼古拉来到门廊上挡着，不让他们进去。库兹明威胁要枪杀尼古拉（有人听到他说：“我要把你打死，像干掉你兄弟一样，没人会来惩罚我”），随即动起手来，却被尼古拉推倒在地，才和伙伴们悻悻而去。几天后，他写信给乌斯秋扎纳镇政治警察（OGPU）的主管，控诉尼古拉是个富农剥削者：

    与十几名富农分子一起，在我们村里散布反苏维埃的宣传。他们声称苏维埃政府在抢劫人民，其目的就是要煽动人们反抗，破坏集体化。

    库兹明很清楚，这足以让他的前雇主被捕，特别是他的控告还获得了两名布尔什维克的支持。他们添油加醋，称尼古拉咒骂苏维埃时“始终是醉醺醺的”。 (145)

    果然在8月2日，即宗教节日结束时，客人们正准备离开戈洛温家，两名官员前来逮捕尼古拉，他被关押在乌斯秋扎纳镇。三人组成的政治警察法庭，裁定他有“恐怖分子的意图”（将库兹明打翻在地），判刑三年，押往白海一座岛屿的索洛韦茨基监狱。安东尼娜最后一次看到父亲，是透过乌斯秋扎纳镇监狱的铁栏。她和母亲、兄弟姐妹步行到镇上，为了能在尼古拉奔赴索洛韦茨基劳改营之前，看上他最后一眼。之后的三年中，父亲身陷囹圄的形象不断出现于安东尼娜的梦魇中。 (146)

    尼古拉被捕几星期之后，奥布霍沃村的农民被迫出席村庄会议，通过决议，废除自己的家庭农庄，移交所有土地、工具、牲畜，以建立集体农庄。

    集体化是苏维埃历史上巨大的转折点。它摧毁了数世纪以来形成的生活方式：家庭农庄、古老的农民公社、独立的村庄、教堂、农村市场。在布尔什维克看来，这一切都是社会主义工业化的障碍。数以百万计的人背井离乡，散布苏联各地，包括逃离集体农庄的、因集体农庄粮产的过度征用而造成的饥荒逃难者、孤儿、富农及其家人。这批流动人口成为斯大林工业革命的主要劳动力，充斥于城市、工业建设基地、劳改营、古拉格（劳改营的主要管理机构）的“特殊定居地”。创立苦役模式的第一个五年计划，推出了一种全新的社会革命（自上而下），巩固了斯大林政权。它打破旧式的关系和忠诚，铲除旧道德，推行（苏维埃）新价值和新身份，使全体民众从属、依赖于国家——住房、教育、就业、口粮——全受计划经济的控制。

    消灭家庭农庄是自上而下的革命的开端。布尔什维克对农民抱有根本的不信任，因在农村缺乏影响力，不得不忍受1917年农民的土地革命，以利用来破坏旧政权。但他们一直公开表示，其长远目标是扫除小农制度，代之以大规模的机械化集体农庄，将农民改造为“农村无产阶级”。马克思主义的意识形态教导布尔什维克，农民是旧社会遗留下的“小资产阶级”残余，说到底，与共产主义社会的发展互不相容。农民与俄罗斯父系家长制的习俗和传统牵连太紧，在自由贸易和私有财产的原则和习惯上受了太深的影响，太倾向于家庭的“自我中心”，以致无法变得完全社会化。

    布尔什维克认为，农民只要控制食物供应，就会对革命构成潜在的威胁。如内战时所显示的，农民如果不把粮食运去市场，就可以把苏维埃政权带到崩溃的边缘。1927至1928年的粮食危机，使斯大林小圈子再度担心“富农罢工”。斯大林为此重新启动粮食征用，为了替这一对策辩护，更营造了“富农在威胁内战”的气氛。斯大林1928年1月前往重要产粮区西伯利亚，敦促当地积极分子对涉嫌囤粮的富农毫不手软。他的战斗口号更配以一系列紧急措施，指示当地政府以刑法来逮捕拒绝上缴粮食的农民，没收其财产（这是刑法的滥用，在政府内遇到相当的抵制）。数十万“恶意的富农”（像尼古拉·戈洛温那样的普通农民）被捕，被送去劳改营，他们的财产遭到毁坏或充公。政府寻求打破“富农罢工”，更将监狱的人满为患转化成一个劳改营网络（很快被称作古拉格）。 (147)

    随着粮食争夺战的愈益激烈，斯大林和他的支持者转向大规模集体化的政策，既加强国家对粮食生产的控制，又一劳永逸地消除“富农威胁”。斯大林在1928年说过：“我们必须制订一套程序，一旦威胁撤回国家的补贴和信贷，集体农庄就会向国家和合作机关交出所有的商品粮。” (148) 斯大林对大规模机械化的集体农庄的潜力，抱有日益增加的乐观。有统计显示，已有的此类农庄所生产的商品粮盈余，远远超过绝大多数家庭农庄所能生产的。

    对集体农庄的热情是这时才兴起的，之前，党对集体化并不十分重视。根据新经济政策，国家只是通过财政和农艺上的援助，鼓励集体农庄的成立。党内普遍认为，集体化只是一个渐进自愿的过程。在新经济政策时期，农民并没有接受集体化的原则，集体农庄的增长实属微不足道。1927年之后，国家通过税收政策，施加更大的压力——向集体农庄提供信贷，向“富农”农庄征收重税——集体农庄因此得到了较为迅速的增长。但它不是土地和财产都汇集在一起的大型公社，而是土地共耕、牲畜农具仍属私人的小型合作社。它们属于非正式的，遂引起了大多数农民的兴趣。第一个五年计划并没有改变政策的迹象，只字不提自愿原则的变动，只预测集体农庄的耕地量将有适度的增长。

    该政策的突变是斯大林在1929年强行通过的，对布哈林是致命的打击。布哈林还想在五年计划中，拼命保留新经济政策的市场机制。该计划的原始版本（1929年春天通过，不过生效日期追溯至1928年）所设定的社会主义工业化目标，虽稍嫌乐观，却尚算合理。但斯大林要求更高的工业增长率，1929年秋天订下的五年计划，其目标大大调高，要在1932年结束时，投资额增加到3倍；煤炭产量翻一番；生铁产量翻两番（原始版本要求增加250%）。广大党员普遍怀有疯狂的乐观，苏维埃报刊提出了“五年计划四年完成”的口号。 (149) 这些乌托邦式的增长率，迫使党接受斯大林的大规模集体化的政策，似乎只有如此，方能获得廉价和保证的粮食供应，以养活迅速扩充的工业大军（还必须保证换取外汇的农产品出口）。

    该政策的核心是党向农民的宣战，农业集体化的矛头直指在俄罗斯根深蒂固的旧观念，譬如农民对村庄和教会的依恋、家庭农庄、私人贸易、私人财产。1929年11月7日，斯大林在《真理报》发表文章《大转变的一年》，称五年计划是在苏联反“资本主义元素”的最后一场伟大革命斗争，让社会主义工业为共产主义社会打下基础。斯大林向高尔基解释，他的“大转变”是指“彻底摧毁旧社会，热火朝天地建设新社会”。 (150)

    从1919年夏季起，数千名党的积极分子被派去农村，鼓动宣传集体农庄的优越性。像奥布霍沃村的村民一样，大多数农民都不愿放弃沿续数百年的生活方式，盲目投入一个未知世界。另一方面，用以说服农民的集体农庄好榜样，却寥寥无几。1929年在西伯利亚工作的一名德国农业专家，将集体农庄描述成“死亡申请者”。它们中很少拥有拖拉机或其他现代设施，经营不善，其管理人员的农业知识匮乏，犯下“浅陋的错误，给集体化的全过程抹黑”。根据政治警察所说，农民担心加入集体农庄将“血本无归”——他们的土地、奶牛、马匹、工具、家园和家人。一位老农说：“讲师来了一个接一个，告诉我们应忘记私人财产，应与他人共享。然而，对私产的热望为何仍在我们的血管中燃烧不已？” (151)

    积极分子无法说服农民，便开始采取强制措施。1929年12月，斯大林呼吁“消灭富农阶级”。从那以后，促使农民加入集体农庄的运动变成了一场大战。党员和共青团员动员起来，全副武装，再加上当地民兵、军队及政治警察的特种单位、城镇工人、志愿学生，他们奔赴农村，肩负的严肃使命是如果办不成集体农庄，就休想回去。上级告诉他们：“最好超越目标，不可功亏一篑。记住，我们不会怪罪你们的过分，但如果你们不够努力——当心！”一名积极分子记得，布尔什维克领导人孟德尔·哈塔埃维奇向伏尔加河地区80名党员发表了如下讲话：

    你们必须以共产党员强烈的责任感挑起重担，没有呜呼哀哉，没有腐朽的自由主义。把你们的资产阶级人道主义扔出窗外吧，成为无愧于斯大林同志的布尔什维克。无论富农代理人在哪里抬头，就在那里把他打倒。这就是战争——你死我活。腐朽资本主义农业的最后残余，必须消灭，不惜一切代价。 (152)

    1930年的头两个月，苏维埃农民的一半（约6000万人，超过10万个村庄）被迫加入集体农庄。在投票参加集体农庄的村民会议上，积极分子耍弄各种恐吓手段。例如，西伯利亚某村的农民，对集体农庄的议案甚不情愿；但到投票表决时，积极分子却带来全副武装的士兵，要求反对议案的人发言，大家噤若寒蝉，于是宣布议案获得了“一致通过”。在另一村庄，农民投票反对集体农庄之后，积极分子要求知道谁投了反对票，并解释说，加入集体农庄是苏维埃政府的命令；没人愿意承认自己反对政府，积极分子便将投票结果改为“一致通过”。在其他村庄，只有少数村民（由积极分子挑选的）获准参加会议，表决结果却对全体村民都具约束力。例如，科米地区的切勒姆霍沃村共有437户农民，出席村民大会的仅52人，18人赞成，16人反对；然而在此基础上，整村加入了集体农庄。 (153)

    发言表示反对集体化的农民，遭到了殴打、折磨、威胁、骚扰，直到最终同意。还有很多人被当做富农逐出家和村庄。将农民赶入集体农庄，与猛烈攻击教会相伴相随，教堂是农村旧生活方式的焦点，在布尔什维克的眼中，又是反对集体化的潜在源头。数千神父被捕，教堂遭到洗劫和破坏，数百万信徒被迫躲在自己家里偷偷保留信仰。反对强行集体化的农村党员和官员，被开除党籍，锒铛入狱。

    在斯大林看来，向“富农”开战与集体化运动是不可分割的。有些布尔什维克提出，可以让“富农”中立化，或使之成为集体农庄的劳动力。但斯大林认为，这样做是没有任何好处的。他辩称：“脑袋已被砍下，你就不要再为头发哭泣了。” (154) 在他的心目中，迫害富农可以一箭双雕：一是消灭反对集体化的潜在力量，二是杀鸡儆猴，敦促其他村民加入集体农庄，以逃避与“富农”一样的厄运。

    有关“富农”的讨论众说纷纭，却没有一个客观定义。该名称用得如此广泛随意，几乎每一个农民都可被冠以“富农”的帽子，从而遭到剥夺。向“富农”开战就是为了制造恐怖，这种含糊性更添加了恐怖的效果。根据列宁主义思想，“富农”是雇用劳工的资产阶级农民，但1929年后，实际上作为“富农”遭受迫害的农民中，符合上述定义的寥寥无几。新经济政策允许农民通过自己的劳动致富，像戈洛温那样的农民，依靠自己的勤劳，在家庭农庄中创造了相当的财富。 [2] 但新经济政策对雇用劳工一直有严格控制，不管怎么说，1927年后的农民纳税大增，多数像戈洛温那样的富有农民，已失去私人财富的大部分。资产阶级农民的“富农阶级”，其实只是一种幻想。所谓的“富农”中，绝大多数是像戈洛温那样的勤劳农民——村中最为清醒、节俭、进步的农民——他们相对较多的财富往往是大家庭的结果，“富农”的勤劳在农民当中又是公认的。一名集体农庄员工在1931年说，反对“富农”的运动意味着，所有“最好、最勤劳的农人”都被赶出了集体农庄。 (155)

    对苏联来说，消灭“富农”是巨大的经济灾难，使集体农庄失去俄国最勤劳农民的专业知识和工作伦理，最终导致苏维埃农业部门的持久衰退。斯大林发动对“富农”的战争，没作经济上的考量——只想剔除集体化农庄的潜在反对力量，因为“富农”是农村的个人主义者，又是农村旧生活方式最强大的领导者和支持者，必须让他们消失。

    “消灭富农”在全国遵循相同的模式。1930年1月，中央政治局委员会定出配额：6万名“恶劣富农”送去劳改营，1.5万名其他“富农”家庭流放去北方、西伯利亚、乌拉尔和哈萨克斯坦。这只是整体计划的一部分，最终将要求剥夺100万“富农”家庭（约600万人）的财产，把他们送去劳改营或“特殊定居地”。国家政治保卫总局负责配额的实施（又将“富农”配额提高到所有农户的3%至5%），其具体执行再分配给地方上的政治警察和党组织（许多地区故意超额，相信这样做能显示自己的高度警惕性，以迎合上级）。 (156) 每村都有地区当局锁定的配额，共青团和党的积极分子开列每村逮捕和流放的“富农”名单，等他们被驱走后，再盘点清算他们家中被充公的财产。

    令人惊讶的是，迫害“富农”的运动仅遇上零星的农民反抗——尤其应考虑到的是，俄罗斯的村庄团结具有浓厚的历史传统（反“富农”运动在内战时期无法分裂农民）。当然也有抵制配额的村民，坚持认为他们之中没有“富农”，或所有的农民都很穷。也有村民拒绝交出“富农”，甚至在积极分子前来拘捕时予以保护。但大多数农民，对于乡亲的突然失踪，只是战战兢兢地接受。在有些村庄，农民举行村民大会来选择“富农”（孤立无助的农民、寡妇、老人特别容易受到伤害）。也有的地方，“富农”是通过抽签选出的。 (157)

    德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基1917年出生于西伯利亚库尔干地区的农民大家庭。他讲述了自己父母如何被选定为“富农”并逐出家园：

    他们没有调查或慎重考虑，只是赶来通知：“你们要走”。驱逐我们的村苏维埃主席谢尔科夫解释：“我收到命令[来自区党委]，找出要驱逐出去的17户富农。我召集贫农委员会，连夜开会，讨论人选。但村里没人富得够格，也没有很多老人，只好拼凑出17家，你们正好被选上了。”他还说：“这不是有意要针对你们家。我也是没办法啊！” (158)

    作为“富农”受到迫害的统计人数很难确定。在“反富农运动”的高峰时期（1929年冬至1930年冬、1931年初的几个月以及1932年秋季），全国的道路上满是被驱逐之人形成的长队，每人携带自己仅剩的财产——可怜的几捆衣服和被褥，或自己拉车拖着这些家当。乌克兰苏梅地区一名目击者看到一长列人群，“朝两个方向延伸，一眼都看不到头，沿途还有人不断加入”，向铁路旁的聚集点行进。那里有载牛的车厢，把他们运去“特殊定居地”。由于铁路无法应付这么多人，许多“富农”必须在简陋的拘留营中等待数月。在如此恶劣的环境中，老人和儿童像苍蝇一般死去。到1932年，已有140万“富农”抵达“特殊定居地”，主要集中在乌拉尔和西伯利亚；另有更多的人走进了附属于古拉格工厂和建筑工地的劳改营；还有人仍在迁徙的旅途中。总而言之，从1929到1932年，被逐出家园的至少有1000万“富农”。 (159)

    这些统计数字的背后是无数的人间悲剧。1930年1月，德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基一家被逐出库尔干地区的巴拉巴，他们已在那里住了整整50年。祖父的房子遭到摧毁——农具、推车、马匹、奶牛转到集体农庄的名下；小件的家用品——如衣服、床单、锅碗瓢盆——则分给村民，家中的圣像全部被砸烂烧毁。德米特里的祖父母，其四个儿子中的三位和他们的家人（总共14人），被禁止与其他村民交往，暂居牛棚，等待镇上的驱逐命令。6个星期后，他们被流放至乌拉尔的木材营地（祖父母在一年之内死去）。德米特里的父亲尼古拉与家人仍留在巴拉巴的老家。尼古拉是内战时期的红军老兵，曾组织村里第一个集体农庄（TOZ），他的农业知识是集体农庄迫切需要的。尼古拉得以保住自己的房子，与他一起的还有妻子安娜和六个孩子。但到1931年早春，他们被告知也“中选”当上了“富农”，加入巴拉巴的第二波驱逐。被押送出村之前，他们只有一小时的时间来收拾简单的行装，然后就走上大草原，并被告知永远不得归来。 “我们失去了一切”，德米特里回忆：

    一小时之内能收拾什么呢？父亲要带走手杖（其中一根饰有银顶），但警卫不准。他们还拿走母亲的金链和金戒指，简直就是大白天抢劫。一切都被留下了——我们的家、谷仓、牲口、床单、衣服、瓷器，只能带上几件随身衣服——父母的、小孩的、兄弟姐妹的——成了我们合家的全部家当。

    瓦伦蒂娜·克鲁波特娜1930年出生于白俄罗斯的贫农家庭，到了1932年，却作为“富农”遭到迫害。瓦伦蒂娜最早的记忆是与父母从燃烧的家中逃出，此次纵火是村里共产党人下的命令，特意选在家人都已睡着的半夜。瓦伦蒂娜的父母差一点没有时间拯救两个女儿，他们带着严重的烧伤，从被火焰吞噬的家中逃出。当晚，父亲被捕，监禁之后流放到西伯利亚的阿穆尔地区，在各式劳改营中度过之后的6年。他们的住房和谷仓被烧；奶牛和猪充公给了集体农庄；庭院里的果树被砍；地里的农作物遭到摧毁；唯一剩下的只有一袋豌豆。瓦伦蒂娜的母亲名叫叶菲米娅，不识字，不准加入集体农庄。她带着两个幼女度日，以前的家现在已是一片废墟。叶菲米娅只能从废墟中觅寻残片，在村边搭起一个小窝棚，帮人做清洁工，勉强维生。瓦伦蒂娜和姐姐都没上学——“富农女儿”好几年都不准上学。她们是在大街上长大的，跟随母亲到处做清洁工。瓦伦蒂娜回忆：“所有的童年记忆都是悲伤的，我记忆最深刻的就是饥饿，从没离开过我。” (161)

    克拉夫蒂娅·罗别尔尤娃1913年出生于伊尔贝伊地区——位于西伯利亚的克拉斯诺亚尔斯克，家里务农，在11个孩子中排行老三。她的母亲1924年死于难产，父亲伊利亚一人带大所有的孩子。父亲积极进取，抓住新经济政策的机遇，由务农转行做园艺。他种植自己年幼的孩子容易照看的罂粟种子和黄瓜，因此被冠为“富农”，遭到逮捕和监禁，后被送去劳改营，把孩子们留给17岁的克拉夫蒂娅照看。父亲的财产全被剥夺：他自己建造的房子现属于村苏维埃；马、奶牛、羊、农具都被集体农庄拿走。好几个星期，孩子们住在澡堂里，直到官员把他们带去孤儿院。克拉夫蒂娅带上最小的孩子，前去克拉斯诺亚尔斯克附近的坎斯克，投靠已成年的姐姐赖莎。走之前，她们向其他村民出售最后的财产。克拉夫蒂娅回忆：“我们只是孩子，没有多少东西。一条毛皮衬里的毯子、一张老羊皮、一个羽绒床垫、一面镜子，都是从自己家里救出的，便是我们拥有的一切财产。” (162)

    向农民开展残酷斗争的男男女女，其动机到底是什么？大多数推行集体化的人是应征的士兵和工人——他们急于执行上级的命令（在某种情况下还从中渔利）。“富农寄生虫”和“吸血鬼”是危险的“人民公敌”这样的反复宣传，再加上上级的灌输，培养了他们对“富农”的仇恨。库班地区一名年轻的共青团领袖回忆：“我们接受培训，不把富农当人，而是当做害虫和虱子，必须予以消灭。”另一名集体化推行者在1980年代写道：“如果没有集体农庄，富农可能早已掐住我们的喉咙，活剥了我们的皮！” (163)

    其他人则因共产主义的狂热而失去理智。五年计划的宣传激发了浪漫的革命热情，他们因此相信，有了布尔什维克，人类的绝对意志可以创造任何奇迹。当年的一名学生回忆道：“我们坚信，我们是在建设共产主义社会，它将通过若干个五年计划得以实现，我们愿意付出任何牺牲。” (164) 这种激起的救世愿望和狂热，其力量在今天很容易被人低估。要知道，年轻的一代从小就接受熏陶，“崇拜斗争”，向往内战的浪漫。这些年轻人愿意相信，继续斗争是他们的天职，借用《国际歌》的话就是要创造“新的更好的人生”。约有2.5万都市积极分子大军奔赴农村、开展集体化运动，其中的一员回忆：“不断的斗争、斗争，更多的斗争！这就是我们受的教育——没有斗争，就没有成果，这是社会生活的规则。” (165)

    根据这好战的世界观，创造一个新社会不但是要与旧社会力量进行一场苦战，而且是不可避免的（对五年计划的宣传加强了这一逻辑，它喋喋不休地谈论，要在社会、经济、国际、国内等“战线”上，发起“运动”、“战斗”、“攻势”）。理想的共产党人以这种方式将“反富农”的恐怖与乌托邦的信念调和起来。有人震惊于野蛮的暴力，有人憎恨自己扮演的角色，但很清楚自己是在做什么（他们无法辩解自己的一无所知，或只是在“奉命行事”）。他们都相信，如果目的正当，可以不择手段。

    列夫·科佩列夫参与了对乌克兰农民的最惨无人道的暴行之一，当年他是个年轻的共产党员，他解释了当年行为的出发点。1932年，科佩列夫自愿参加向“富农”征用粮食的共青团分队，夺走一切食物，不留下一个面包。他在20世纪70年代反思时，尚能记得孩子们的尖叫和农民们的表情——“宛如惊弓之鸟，哀求，充满仇恨，迟钝的冷漠，绝望，激怒，几近疯狂的凶悍”：

    看到和听到这一切，会令人痛苦。更糟糕的是，还必须参与其中……我尽力说服自己，尽力自我解释：绝不能向怜悯让步。我们在实施历史的必然之途，在履行革命义务。我们征粮是为社会主义祖国，是为五年计划。 (166)

    大多数村庄默许对“富农”的迫害，对集体化却有广泛的抵制。从1929到1930年，警方登记了44779起“严重骚乱”。有数百共产党人和农村积极分子被杀害，受到袭击的有数千。这些骚乱包括农民的示威和暴动，对苏维埃机构的袭击，对集体农庄财产的纵火和破坏，对关闭教堂的抗议，简直是回到了内战尾期。其时，烽火四起的农民起义迫使布尔什维克放弃征粮，并引进新经济政策。但这一次，苏维埃政权已经强大，足以粉碎农民的抵抗（事实上，在1929至1930年的农民起义中，有不少是警方故意挑起的，为了引蛇出洞，以镇压“造反的富农”）。农民认识到自己的无能为力，转向传统的“弱者武器”，宰杀自己的牲畜，以防集体农庄征用。从1929到1930年，苏联的牛数量下降30%；从1928到1933年，下降了一半。 (167)

    斯大林眼看苏维埃农村行将变为废墟，便要求暂停集体化运动。他在1930年3月2日《真理报》登出的文章《得意忘形》（Dizzy with Success）中，指责当地官员头脑发热，对农民使用武力，以法令强行成立集体农庄。数百万农民视之为退出集体农庄的许可，纷纷以自己的双脚投了票。从1930年的3月至6月，加入集体农庄的苏维埃农户从58%下降至24%（在中部的黑土地区，从83%降至18%）。但到最后，退出集体农庄谈何容易，要回自己的私有财产、农具、牲畜几乎不可能。不安的休战持续了6个月，到1930年9月，斯大林发起了集体化的第二波浪潮，定出的目标是至少80%的农户加入集体农庄——第一次只是50%——还要在1931年底消灭所有的“富农”。中央政治局指示国家政治保卫总局，在北部、西伯利亚、乌拉尔、哈萨克斯坦的偏远地区，准备1000个“特殊定居地”，每个接收多达300户“富农”家庭。从1930到1931年，流放到这些地方的共有200万人。 (168)

    1930年9月，即在第二次浪潮中，奥布霍沃村成立了集体农庄，取名为“新生活”（Novyi byt），之后就变成了该村的新名字，以取代自1522年起就使用的“奥布霍沃”。村口挂上红旗，表示它已集体化。村庄中心古老的木结构教堂被推倒，木材挪作他用，教堂的钟也被取下拿去熔化，围观的一群农妇边看边哭。

    原先农民的自家土地，现在合并成集体农庄的大田。集体农庄带走耕地的马匹，将村里所有奶牛圈养在集体的奶牛棚，但原来讲好的吸奶器没有兑现，不得不将奶牛退回，由主人自己挤奶，只是每户都需要缴纳牛奶税。共青团干部科利亚·库兹明成了集体农庄主席，他从邻村娶来新娘，搬进了村里最大的房子。那房子是没收来的，原先属于瓦西里·戈洛温——因是“富农”而遭到流放。库兹明也许是全村中经验最少的农民，却负责集体农庄的日常管理。他经常醉酒，喜欢动粗。他们第一个冬天就遭遇了灾难。集体农庄向国家交付了很高指标的粮食和牛奶，但一半马匹死去，每名集体农庄工人每天仅能分得50克的面包。

    有些村民继续抵抗。库兹明率领武装人员前来搬走财产，常常出现愤怒的场景，很多农民宁可逃跑，也不愿加入集体农庄。戈洛温家族作鸟兽散，1929年的奥布霍沃村仍有120名戈洛温家族的人，到1931年仅剩71人（20人逃去他乡，13人成了被流放的“富农”，16人不准加入集体农庄，径自搬去孤立的荒园）。

    尼古拉的直系亲属全被打散，两个兄弟流放，母亲逃到最近的城镇。他的长子被捕，被送去白海运河充当古拉格的劳工；另外两个孩子玛丽亚和伊万，离家出走以避逮捕。妻子叶夫多基娅和三个最年幼的孩子想加入集体农庄，因是“富农分子”而得不到批准，更为乡亲们避而远之，只有与老朋友普日宁家还有来往。安东尼娜记得：“气氛非常可怕，妈妈经常哭泣，我们不再去外面玩，邻居不再来串门。一夜之间，我们都长大了。”叶夫多基娅和孩子获准留在自己家里，保留一头奶牛和一小块土地，再加上亲戚的暗中帮助，得以维持数月。但库兹明抢走了奶牛（牛奶是她们的主要食物来源），生活变得难以为继。1931年1月，库兹明宣布“榨干富农戈洛温家”的政策，村苏维埃向叶夫多基娅征收重税（1000公斤粮食）。安东尼娜回忆：“库兹明和他的团伙不会甘休，不断回来索取，贪得无厌。拿走所有粮食之后，就来没收家里的杂物、农具、大车、家具、锅碗瓢盆，留给我们的只有一张铁床、旧床单和几件衣服。”

    然后是驱逐的命令。5月4日是一个春寒料峭的日子，叶夫多基娅和孩子们被赶出自己的家园，流放去西伯利亚。她们仅有一小时的时间来准备长途旅行的行装。普日宁搬走铁床以便保存。这张床是戈洛温家仅剩的财产，是他们家所有孩子出生的地方，也是他们家族在奥布霍沃村扎根几百年的最后遗存。安东尼娜这样回忆她们离家时的情景：

    妈妈仍保持平静，让我们穿上最暖和的衣服。我们一家四口：妈妈、当时15岁的阿列克谢、10岁的托利亚和8岁的我……妈妈给我裹上羊毛围巾，但前来监督我们的库兹明命令解下围巾，说那也是被没收的物品。妈妈苦苦哀求，因为等待我们的是寒冷的天气和漫长的旅途，但他置若罔闻。托利亚给我一顶带耳瓣的男帽，他曾嫌它破旧，早想扔掉。我虽戴上，但感到羞愧：这是男帽，不是围巾[农村女孩传统的头饰]。妈妈在家庭圣像前鞠躬，划十字，带我们走出家门……我记得像灰墙一般的沉默人群，看着我们走向大车，伫立不动，一声不吭……没人拥抱我们，没人说再见。他们害怕伴随在我们旁边的士兵，对富农表示同情是不允许的，所以只好站在那里，默默地注视……妈妈向人群道别，“妇女们，如果我曾冒犯你们，请原谅”。她一边鞠躬，一边划十字。之后，她转过身来，再一次鞠躬、划十字。如此一共做了4次，跟大家道别。最后，我们坐在车中出发。我记得站列两旁的人群的面孔，都是我们的朋友和邻居——与我一起长大的人，但没人走近，没人告别。他们只是静静地站在那里，宛如排成一条线的士兵。他们心存恐惧。 (169)

    二

    作家莫里斯·兴德斯1931年6月回到自己在白俄罗斯的家乡，近四分之一个世纪之前，他移民去了美国。他看到，作为集体化的结果，人们身上透出“从未有过的懒散。房屋、庭院、围栏一片颓圮，亟须修葺”。圣三一村庄马上就要到了：

    但没有一扇窗户或百叶帘有新油漆的痕迹，没有一个屋顶有新敷茅草的迹象。这种疏忽只是意外吗？我简直不敢相信。集体农庄甚至已传至国外的传闻，给大家带来了迟疑和观望，毫无疑问，更打消了改善家居的任何念头。 (170)

    兴德斯几乎可在所有的集体化村庄得到相同的观察结果。农民曾把家庭农庄视作自尊和立身的根本，现在没有自己的土地和牲畜，也就不再有依恋感；一旦变为集体农庄工人，也就不再有方法或动力来作任何的维护和改善。

    农民在集体农庄工作，所得报酬采用口粮的形式（预计他们还会在自留地上种植蔬菜，饲养猪鸡，贴补家用），一年领取现金一至两次（平均下来，够买一双鞋）。集体农庄的大部分产品，通过强制性的“合同”制度，以低价出售给国家。集体农庄的管理者不得不进一步压榨农民，以挤出日常运行的经费。农民抱怨集体化是“第二次农奴制”。他们的祖先沦为农奴，受地主的剥削，现在自己也被绑在土地上，受国家的剥削。

    在经济上，集体农庄是令人沮丧的失败，只有很少量的拖拉机来取代遭农民屠宰的马匹（最初几年，大量土地的耕耘全靠人力拉犁）。集体农庄经营不善，像库兹明那样的管理者，其当选靠的是对党的忠诚，而不是农业技能。没有任何东西能够取代所谓“富农”的主动性和精力，他们是集体化之前工作最勤奋的农民。集体农庄的新工人对工作没有兴趣，只把注意力集中于自己的自留地，或偷占集体农庄的便宜。集体农庄的众多农民，难以忍受自己私人财产的损失。他们认识自家的马和牛，尽量选用它们来耕地或挤奶。 (171)

    奥莉加·扎普里加耶娃1918年出生于克里沃舍伊诺村——地处西伯利亚的托木斯克地区，家里务农，在六个孩子中她排行老四。1931年，克里沃舍伊诺村集体化。集体农庄拿走她家的大宗财产（3头奶牛、3匹马、农具、大车和两个装满干草的谷仓），只留下鸡和山羊。13岁就辍学下地的奥莉加回忆：“我们没有得到集体农庄的任何补偿，必须依靠自留地、鸡、山羊来维持生活。”该集体农庄没有拖拉机，耕地仍要使用马匹。集体农庄办事处旁边设有特殊的马棚，保管所有的马匹。但奥莉加的母亲，像很多村民一样，担心自家的马在那里受委屈，经常将它们牵回家，以确保它们得到梳洗和喂养。为了铲断农民与牲口之间的关联，该区集体农庄主席采用了调动工作的对策。奥莉加的父亲允许留在克里沃舍伊诺村集体农庄，但奥莉加的母亲和孩子们要去不同的集体农庄——8公里之外，靠近索科罗夫卡村，只能租房而居。奥莉加回忆：“我们在那里工作两年，只看到父亲一两次，因为大家只有一天的休息时间，常常与父亲的休息日错开。”1935年，全家终于在托木斯克获得团圆，父亲在建筑工地的马厩工作，母亲得到一份肉类工厂的工作。他们与其他十几个家庭一起住在宿舍，都是背井离乡的前农民。 (172)

    1930年是个丰收年，1931和1932年的收成非常糟糕。然而，国家在1932至1933年的采购量，反而是1929和1930两个丰收年的两倍多。党的采购计划以1930年的好收成为基础，再加上地方官员为求政绩，虚报了1931和1932年的产量。1932年的实际收成，与官方数字相比，至少低了三分之一（实际上，它是自1921年那个荒年以来最差的一年）。无可避免的后果是普遍的饥荒，始于1932年春天，在第二年达到高峰。生活在饥荒地区的高达7000万人（将近苏维埃的一半人口），死亡人数无法计算，因为其中很多人的死亡并未登记在册。但据最可靠的统计估测，从1930到1933年，死于饥饿或疾病的高达850万人，最少也有460万人。受灾最严重的地区是乌克兰和哈萨克斯坦，那里的农民抵制集体化特别顽强，粮食征收量也特别高。这种巧合使某些历史学家生疑，罗伯特·康奎斯特即认为，饥荒是“故意酿造的”，是以共产主义意识形态为动机，“对男人、妇女、儿童的大屠杀”。这并不完全准确，苏维埃政府无疑要为饥荒负责，但其政策并不等同于“饥荒恐怖”，不能视作康奎斯特等所暗示的种族灭绝。 (173) 看到饥荒的规模，政府也大吃一惊，但没有可向饥民提供的储备粮。它仍向受灾最重的地区征粮，只是到了1932年秋季才减少征购数量，这实在是太微不足道、太晚了。饥荒开始肆虐，政府却尽量隐瞒，阻止人们从受灾地区逃至北方城市。 (174)

    然而，还是有数百万人逃离了土地。加入集体农庄的农民当中，每30人中就有10人永久离开，大多变成了赚取工资的产业工人。到1932年初，数百万人朝外流窜，挤在火车站，拼命逃离饥荒地区。 (175) 城市无法应付这一人群的洪流，疾病到处传染，住房、食品、燃料承受愈益增长的压力。为了寻找更好的环境，灾民从一个城镇移至另一个。中央政治局担心，工业重镇将充满叛逆的饥民，遂实施国内护照制度，限制农民迁入城镇。新法律规定，成人必须拥有在警方备案的护照，方能获得在城镇就业所必需的居留证。1932年11月，该制度在7个大城市推出，第二年又扩展至其他城镇。警察以此来控制人口流动，还把潜在的反政府“社会危险分子”（富农、商人、心怀不满的农民），从城镇中清洗出去。结果，数百万无家可归的农民，在各城镇之间流窜，在工厂和建筑工地非法打工，直到国内护照制度最终把他们逮住。 (176)

    随着年轻农民离开家园、奔赴城市，家庭逐渐解体。那些年间，数百万儿童遭到遗弃。许多农民逃离集体农庄，放弃留在家乡的孩子。“富农”宁肯将子女送给他人，也不愿把他们带上漫长的旅途，前往“特殊定居地”或其他流放场所，因为听说那里的条件恶劣，小孩活不长。一名西伯利亚“富农”解释，“让他们流放我好了，但不会带上孩子，不想贻害他们”。在饥荒受害者中，遗弃儿童的人太多了。母亲将孩子留在人家门口，或送去苏维埃办事处，或遗弃在邻近城镇。孤儿们在建筑工地和街上游荡，在垃圾堆里翻寻人家丢弃的食物。他们以乞讨、小偷小摸、卖淫为生，不少人加入在车站、饮酒场所、繁忙大街等聚乞活动的儿童帮派。有些遭到警方的围捕，被送去“接收中心”，再转运至儿童之家和劳教营。根据警方的数字，从1934到1935年，送到接收中心的共有842144名无家可归的儿童。到1934年底，在俄罗斯、乌克兰、白俄罗斯孤儿院注册的就有329663人，还有更多儿童住在警方控制的特殊家庭和劳教营（劳动和教育相结合的营地）。1935年4月又颁布新法律，将刑事责任的最低年龄降至12岁。自那以后，古拉格系统中的儿童人数开始稳步上升。超过10万名12岁至16岁的儿童，在后来的5年中，被各式法院判了刑事罪行。 (177)

    叶夫多基娅·戈洛温和3个小孩离开奥布霍沃村后，先去了最近的佩斯托沃火车站——约56公里的路程，再在那里的拘留营等待。3天后，她们被装上载牛的车厢，前往西伯利亚的克麦罗沃，整个旅途历时6个星期。车厢里坐满各式家庭，男女老少，年龄各异。每节车厢配备一只木桶，权作厕所，一天清空一次。车厢门打开时，外面的警卫分发面包，一人一条。抵达克麦罗沃后，戈洛温一家被带到暂时看管了数百家庭的疏散中心。那是一片旷野，周围是高高的带刺铁丝网，他们只能睡在自己的行李上。一个月之后，他们被转送至专为“富农”设置的“特殊定居地”沙尔铁地区，地处遥远的西伯利亚阿尔泰地区。

    “特殊定居地”是原始且孤立的营地，大多数仅有简陋的营房，是流放者来了之后自己建造的，可容纳数百人，大家睡在木板上。另有不少“特殊定居地”，“富农”们挖穴而居，或住入废弃的教堂、牛棚、谷仓等。居住条件十分恶劣，摩肩接踵，拥挤不堪。沃洛格达附近的普里卢茨基修道院，住有7000名流放者，没有正常的厕所或盥洗设施，也仅有一个厨房。在沃洛格达当地，2000人挤入一座教堂。一名见证人如此描述2.5万名流放者在科特拉斯劳改营的生活：

    容纳250人的营房里，几乎是一片黑暗。分散的小窗，让光线只能照见低层的铺位。居民使用室外的篝火煮食，公共厕所——只是栅栏圈起的一块地方，水——下面有一条小河，尽管仍在结冰。当地居民锁上水井（“你们会感染我们，你们的孩子已奄奄一息”），并按瓶销售。

    “特殊定居地”严格说来不算监禁（大规模驱逐只是行政命令，不是法庭的执法），从1931年春天起，划归负责劳役的国家政治保卫总局管控。“特殊定居地”的流放者每月必须向警方汇报一次。古拉格系统的主管马特维·伯曼说，定居地的条件比劳改营的还要恶劣。男人在伐木营和采矿区从事繁重的体力工作，妇女和儿童的工作稍轻，只有很少食物（一月领取几条面包），如果生病倒下，就只好听天由命了。1931至1932年的冬季，这样死去的有几十万人。 (178)

    沙尔铁定居地有5座沿河的两层木造营房，其居民（约1000个农民）来自苏联各地，其中最大的群体是俄罗斯人、乌克兰人、伏尔加德裔和西伯利亚人。男子赴邻近的伐木营砍树，每个周日回来。叶夫多基娅的儿子阿列克谢·戈洛温，虽然仅15岁，也名列其中。9月1日，她的小儿子托利亚和女儿安东尼娜开始上学——定居地所有的儿童组成一个班级，教室设在营房之中。女孩被迫剪掉辫子（农家姑娘结婚之前的传统发型）——似乎在抛弃她们从小濡染的农民文化。为了庆祝新学年的开始，定居地指挥官作了讲话，要孩子感谢苏维埃政权——“那么好，那么善良，甚至允许我们富农的孩子上学，长大成为苏维埃的好公民”。早期的古拉格系统，即使像沙尔铁那样的偏远、孤立的定居地，其意识形态的重点仍放在促使不符合“苏维埃人格”的人，通过改造而“重新做人”（perekovka）。

    抵达沙尔铁定居地的第一个冬天异常寒冷，鹅毛大雪压坍了两个营房，迫使许多男孩，包括其时10岁的托利亚，挖地穴而栖。由于没有强壮的男子——他们都在伐木营过冬——只好动员学生清晨起来清理积雪。整个定居地困在深雪中长达数星期，没有粮食补给，全靠从家乡带来的干粮度日。数百人患上斑疹伤寒而倒下，被隔离在单独的营房，因为没有药品，死活全凭天命。叶夫多基娅也患上斑疹伤寒，安东尼娜在回忆录中写道：

    我们每天去看妈妈，站在窗前，可以看到她躺在木板上。她的头发被剃光了，眼睛睁得很大，目光游移。她已失去记忆，根本不认识我们。托利亚一边敲窗，一边流泪，哭着叫：“妈妈，妈妈，不要生病，快起来吧。”

    叶夫多基娅活了下来，但有很多斑疹伤寒患者死去。指挥官决定，因为没时间埋葬所有的死者，只能让尸体冻成一垛，等到春天解冻时，再扔进大河。

    第二年冬天甚至比前一年还要恶劣。流放者得不到食物，这似乎是蓄意为之的政策，要把定居地居民削减四分之三。流放者只好捣碎树皮和马铃薯的烂根，再做成菜饼，结果肠胃急剧膨胀，因此而死去许多人。到了春天，每一个人都患上痢疾。戈洛温一家全靠运气才活了下来。指挥官视察营房时，发现叶夫多基娅正在读福音书。他需要识字人，专管前往岑特拉尔尼―鲁德尼克送信和收信——那是古拉格的采矿定居地，单程就有12公里。她被选上了，每次去送信，就会带上孩子在邻近树林收集的浆果，到岑特拉尔尼―鲁德尼克的市场出售，再买回食物和衣服。安东尼娜回忆：“指挥官当然知道，但装作没看见，因为没有其他人选。”有一次，在邮件中收到一包土豆种子，叶夫多基娅带领一组人去播种。安东尼娜回忆当时的喜悦：

    真像是一个节日！我们很高兴参与种植土豆！不管是成人，还是孩子——我们都很努力。我们是真正的农民，我们的祖先耕耘土地都有几百年了，现在获准重操旧业。妈妈是大队负责人，西伯利亚人斯内吉列夫是我们农庄的主席。我们因为是富农，不能自组集体农庄。妈妈担心，不施肥，土豆恐怕长不好——在种植土豆方面，我们也没有任何经验。到秋天，我们却挖出一个大丰收。那个冬天，再也没人饿死，土豆是我们的救命菩萨。 (179)

    德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基和家人，要在雪地里跋涉几天才抵达第一个流放地。那是一个被人遗弃的大地窖，位于库尔干。几百户“富农”家庭，其中有不少是他的远亲，领不到任何食物或饮用水，只得自生自灭。如果没有库尔干的亲属和别人的食物援助，他们肯定会饿死。整整一周，他们被关在地窖里，睡在自己的行李或光溜溜的地面上。后来他们被装入载牛的车厢，前往彼尔姆北部的乌索勒镇。到了那里，他们在武装卫兵的监护下，行军150公里，到达波日瓦工厂城镇。他们被安置在一个工场里，大家睡在水泥地上。德米特里回忆：“父亲很痛苦，一夜之间老了很多，说他的一生完蛋了……每个人都有同样的感受，即使别无选择，听从吆喝，仍想维持自己的尊严，不愿成为当局的奴隶。”为了在乔尔莫兹镇附近建立“特殊定居地”，德米特里的父亲被派去伐木，其家人与另外3户人家挤住在木工车间楼上的小房间。半年后，他们搬入“特殊定居地”，才与德米特里的父亲重聚。那里有10座营房，每一座可容纳500人睡在木板床上，四周耸立着高高的带刺铁丝网。定居地坐落在松林的中间，男子出外伐木，每周只能回来一次。每日的面包定量仅200克，所以死亡率非常高。但斯特雷勒兹基一家，凭借农民的勤俭得以存活下来：孩子们采集蘑菇，到乔尔莫兹镇出售；母亲晚上悄悄去集体农庄的地里偷土豆；父亲与附近屠宰场的工人达成交易，帮他们建造木屋以换取牛血（不比肉和骨头，当局比较不在乎）。到1933年的大饥荒，每天口粮减至50克面包，“特殊定居地”的居民一半死于饥饿和疾病，但斯特雷勒兹基一家全靠牛血活了下来。 (180)

    斯特雷勒兹基一家很幸运，他们始终能聚在一起。对许多人来说，流放就是家破人亡的代名词。克拉夫蒂娅·罗别尔尤娃的父亲被捕于1930年，她的7位兄弟姐妹被送去各式各样的儿童之家，从此失去联系，音信杳无。克拉夫蒂娅和妹妹纳塔利娅，搬去西伯利亚的克拉斯诺亚尔斯克附近的坎斯克，投靠已成年的姐姐赖莎。克拉夫蒂娅去医生家当保姆，后来因为国内护照制度的推行，作为“富农”的女儿，她不得不逃。她留下纳塔利娅由赖莎照顾，自己赶去伊尔库茨附近的切勒姆霍沃镇，投奔时任高级森林督察的叔叔，并在当地的苏维埃注册于叔叔的名下。1933年11月，叔叔收到克拉夫蒂娅的父亲伊利亚的来信。原来他已经出狱，现住在2000公里之外的塔什特普“特殊定居地”，离中国边境不远。克拉夫蒂娅先乘火车，再搭便车，赶到塔什特普时已是1934年1月，到处是厚厚的积雪。她在那里很长一段时间找不到工作，她的注册文件上没有父亲的名字，没人愿意聘她。但她又不敢透露真相，重回“富农”女儿的身份。最终，塔什特普的苏维埃主席雇她做保姆，并安排她去一家服装厂打散工。有一天，在与主席的嫂子闲聊时，她拿出了两张照片，一张是她的两个兄弟列昂尼德和亚历山大，另一张是她自己与两个姐妹。

    她[主席的嫂子]立刻说：“伦卡[列昂尼德]，我认识他！”我非常惊奇，她竟然认识我的哥哥。我尽量控制自己的情绪，忙问：“他在哪里？他在哪里？”……当时，我很怕自己说漏嘴，很怕让人发觉自己父亲原来是一名流放者。

    克拉夫蒂娅在塔什特普找到哥哥，通过他才发现，父亲就在附属于基洛夫矿区的“特殊定居地”，位于哈卡斯自治州。克拉夫蒂娅回忆道，父亲再婚，与第二任妻子开始了新生活：

    我去探望，抵达时已是傍晚，他们正好从矿区下班回来，还牵回一头奶牛，看到我，既不害怕，也不惊讶。父亲和我打招呼，仿佛前一天刚刚见过我。我与他们一起坐在营房外几分钟，然后我就离开了。

    这是克拉夫蒂娅最后一次看到父亲，他后来再次被捕，枪决于1938年8月。

    许多“富农”家庭逃离“特殊定居地”，冒险在外漂泊。根据国家政治保卫总局的资料，到1930年夏天，从“特殊定居地”逃走已成普遍现象，数以万计的“富农”在外漂泊，逃跑人数在饥荒期间达到高峰。国家政治保卫总局统计，从1932至1933年，逃离“特殊定居地”的竟有422866名“富农”，之后抓获的只有92189人。 (182)

    奥热姆伯罗斯基一家是波兰裔的小贵族，1917年之后，失去了在白俄罗斯的土地，但仍住在自己的村庄奥勒什科韦齐——地处明斯克的普霍韦齐地区。他们继续务农，只是家境降至当地小农的水平。亚历山大和妻子谢拉菲玛有4个孩子，两男两女，最大的生于1917年，最小的生于1928年——那一年，奥勒什科韦齐集体农庄成立。亚历山大向集体农庄交出所有的牲畜和农具，只留一头奶牛自家享用，但他拒绝加入集体农庄，希望像当地其他波兰人一样，移民去美国或法国。然而，谢拉菲玛争辩道：“谁会碰我们呢？我们做了什么错事？我们已交出所有的财产！”亚历山大在1930年春天被捕。几天以后，政治警察又找上门对谢拉菲玛说：“准备行李，你和孩子都将被流放。”谢拉菲玛用毯子裹起几件衣服，设法藏入几件金首饰，再与孩子们挤上大车，赶去另外数百个“富农”家人集聚的教堂。几天之后，她们的男人被带回来相聚，再一起坐上大货车，赶去3000公里之外北方的科米地区定居地。索菲亚回忆，到了那里，他们被告知在空谷仓里安家，“但什么都没有——没有床板，没有刀子、勺子。我们只好在树林里收集树枝，自制床垫”。

    流放者渐渐在定居地为每一个流放家庭造起木屋，就像家乡的村庄一样。奥热姆伯罗斯基家以随身带来的金首饰买回一头牛，重新开始新的家庭生活。但不久，大饥荒来临，生活变得难以为继。他们想出一个逃生计划，因为小儿子在生病，所以决定女人先逃，让亚历山大照顾小男孩，承担再度被捕的风险。谢拉菲玛带上9岁的索菲亚和5岁的艾莱娜，晚上赶路，白天躲在森林中睡觉，主要以浆果为食。谢拉菲玛镶有几颗金牙，有时会拔出来一颗以备急需，用它搭乘农民的大车或贿赂官员。最终，她和女孩们回到白俄罗斯，藏在普霍韦齐地区的娘家，长达一个星期。但她的父母怕得不得了，建议女儿向警方自首。谢拉菲玛只好去见普霍韦齐地区的警察，听了她的逃生经历，他们反而生出同情之心，让她在24小时内再次逃走。谢拉菲玛把艾莱娜留给父母，自己去附近的奥西波韦齐镇，向一对老夫妇租房，让索菲亚入学，自己再赶回科米地区，试图找到丈夫和儿子。索菲亚回忆道：“妈妈走了，没留下一句话——没有说再见，也没提供我何以为生的建议。”

    整整一年，索菲亚与老夫妇同住，没想到这对老人竟是恶人。“他们咒骂我，称我为人民公敌的女儿，并威胁如果不听吩咐，就要把我赶走。我整天哭泣，没有钱，无处可去。”索菲亚实在忍受不了，逃去外婆家，发现他们自己也已被赶出家门，暂住一间旧澡房里。不过，他们还是将她收下，与艾莱娜做伴。

    与此同时，谢拉菲玛抵达科米的定居地，发现亚历山大已经不在。原来，自己逃走的第二天，他又一次被捕，判刑3年，去附近的科特拉斯劳改营服刑。长子安东被警察招募为举报人（他接受训练，窃听定居者的交谈，每一次汇报可换取面包）；幼子萨沙仍然非常虚弱，由学校老师照看。回来后没几天，谢拉菲玛就被捕了，也被送去科特拉斯劳改营，但她再次逃脱，在出工回来的路上从流放者队列中逃走，潜入树林的深处。她长途跋涉3000公里，重又回到普霍韦齐地区，与两个女儿团聚。她们住在亲属为她们购买的小房子里，位于奥西波韦齐镇，生活全靠自己在小菜园的种植，还喂养了一只山羊和几头猪。1937年，萨沙和安东（继续为白俄罗斯警方工作）回来团聚。真正的阖家大团圆在两年之后到来，亚历山大获释于科特拉斯劳改营，返回家园。索菲亚回忆那一刻：

    妈妈跑出去迎接，投入他的怀抱。爸爸说：“妈妈，孩子们在哪里？”妈妈回答：“别担心——孩子们都好，全部四个。”爸爸瘫倒在地，跪着吻她的手和脚，感谢她救了我们大家。

    奥科洛科夫一家的故事更为离奇。1931年5月，阿列克谢·奥科洛科夫作为“富农”，被逐出库兹涅茨克地区的伊琳卡村庄。那是在西伯利亚的西南部，而流放地则是在西伯利亚的北部。他从车队中逃脱，走了一个月，回到900公里之外自己的村庄，才发现妻子叶夫多基娅、7岁的女儿玛丽亚、9岁的女儿塔玛拉以及自己的父母，都被放逐到800公里之外的“特殊定居地”，离纳雷姆地区很近。阿列克谢怀揣伪造的文件，日夜兼程赶到那里。几天之后，他又组织一大队“富农”出逃，包括自己一家，有老有少。他们只在晚上赶路——母亲背着玛丽亚，父亲背着塔玛拉——17:38 2015-11-4以避开在针叶林搜查“富农”逃犯的巡逻队。他们走了10个晚上，有时竟在兜圈子，因为当地的地形实在太复杂，直到水尽粮绝，老人们因体力耗尽而纷纷倒下。到第11个晚上，巡逻队将他们重重包围，还开枪打伤了阿列克谢的肚子。士兵用大车把他们带去附近的村庄，关在一个澡堂。逃犯都要被送回纳雷姆地区，只让老人留下，包括阿列克谢的父母。之后，他们便再也没有重逢之日。

    奥科洛科夫一家再次设法逃脱。前往纳雷姆地区的车队行将出发，叶夫多基娅贿赂一名村民给巡逻队灌酒，她和阿列克谢、两个女儿顺利溜走。他们逃向托木斯克，白天躲起来（可以看到道路远处的警卫和狗），晚上急行军（主要的危险是熊和狼），好几个晚上没有面包或其他食物，正好遇上一个克尔扎基部落。由于天花肆虐，该部落?所有孩子都已死光，部落头人建议，以面包、蜂蜜、小船来交换已能在部落工作的塔玛拉。他威胁说，如果不同意，就要报警。阿列克谢勉强答应，而叶夫多基娅变得歇斯底里，但说服不了丈夫。玛丽亚回忆：“我们在克尔扎基部落整整待了一个星期，以养精蓄锐。”

    妈妈仍然哭泣不止，姐姐开始意识到情况不妙。我们离开那天，爸爸把姐姐带入一个单独的房间，把她锁在里面；然后再将悲痛欲绝的妈妈、我和食物放入船中，我们划船离开。

    走了几公里之后，阿列克谢把船停下，让妻女躲在灌木丛，自己潜回克尔扎基部落搭救塔玛拉。他在4天后返回，身上背着塔玛拉。

    但他们的麻烦远远没有结束，在向北的旅途中他们又碰上了巡逻队，被带到另一所劳改营，营房周围有高高的铁丝网，此处距离托木斯克仅8公里。他们在那里度过了6个月，阿列克谢驾马车向托木斯克城运送蔬菜，叶夫多基娅和孩子像其他囚犯一样，在集体农庄工作。在托木斯克，阿列克谢渐渐认识一名镇官员，对阿列克谢的厄运颇表怜悯，出于良心，他愿意助一臂之力。有一天，阿列克谢将女儿藏在马铃薯麻袋下，驾车去托木斯克，躲在镇官员的家中。不久，叶夫多基娅跳上经过她农地的火车，也赶到镇官员的家。他们穿上那位官员帮助买好的新衣服，坐火车返回库兹涅茨克（此时已改名为斯大林斯克）。阿列克谢在煤矿上班，叶夫多基娅在食堂工作，全家开始了新的生活。“父亲立即着手建造自己的木房子，带一扇窗和一个炉灶。我们住在自己的小小角落，既不伤害他人，也不依靠他人。”

    几个月后，国内护照制度推行到斯大林斯克，阿列克谢决定返回家乡伊琳卡，希望能够获得注册，但刚一到就遭逮捕，被关在劳改营。在斯大林斯克等候音信的叶夫多基娅，终于收到阿列克谢的来信，她担心来信可能已经泄漏自己的下落，便与女儿马上逃至国内护照制度尚未实行的邻镇塔什塔戈尔。不久，阿列克谢设法逃出劳改营，与她们重聚。他建起一个窝棚以避风雨，叶夫多基娅四处打散工。当她意识到自己已怀孕时，只得自行流产——用拳头猛击腹部，再将胎儿拖出。她险些丧命，在床上足足躺了几个月。镇上的医生都不敢施以援手，因为政府早已宣布堕胎是非法的，叶夫多基娅全靠吃草药来治愈自己。

    1934年，国内护照制度抵达塔什塔戈尔镇。阿列克谢再次被捕，被送去斯大林斯克金属制品工厂，充当刑事劳役犯。叶夫多基娅和女孩们也被捕，纯粹是巧合，竟被送去同一家工厂。他们一家住在沿河岸挖出的地穴——共有几百户人家，紧靠工厂的围墙。“屋顶”是与泥浆搅拌在一起的树枝和松针，“墙壁”在下雨天会渗水。阿列克谢自制了基本的家具，还用木头雕出杯子和勺子。他们再次拼凑出家庭生活。他们奇迹般活下来，仍维持一个家，但过去3年的创伤，留下了不可磨灭的烙印，尤其是在女孩们身上。玛丽亚和塔玛拉噩梦连连，充满恐惧，变得内向。玛丽亚追忆道：“经过3年的逃亡生活，我和姐姐已习惯于沉默不言，不会说话，只会耳语。”

    三

    五年计划的许诺是建成一个现代化工业社会。斯大林在1929年说：“我们万马奔腾，迈向工业化和社会主义，扔掉我们俄罗斯古老的落后帽子。我们正在变成一个金属、发动机、拖拉机的国家，要让苏维埃人开上汽车，让农民坐上拖拉机，再让吹嘘自己文明的西方资本家试图赶上我们。” (185)

    其象征就是第一个五年计划的大型建设项目：像马格尼托哥尔斯克那样的工业城，那是在乌拉尔荒坡上平地建起的大型钢铁厂；像莫斯科―伏尔加运河、白海运河那样的运河和铁路，帮助开发新疆域，向蓬勃发展的城市提供基本的生活用品；像第内伯罗斯特罗伊那样的巨型水坝，当时是世界上最大的水电站，1932年它的涡轮机开始启动。对斯大林政权来说，这些“成功”具有重大的宣传价值，因为在当时，对强制集体化和五年计划过高的工业目标，仍有相当顽强的反对意见——不管是党内，还是党外。这些“成功”使得政府更容易激发“社会主义进步”和苏维埃乌托邦将临的信念，这些信念又变成意识形态上的理直气壮，要求人民为完成五年计划而作出一切牺牲。阿纳托利·梅苏诺夫是农民的儿子，后来成为政治警察，在白海运河担任狱警。他在20世纪80年代的回忆录中，解释了这种宣传对数百万“普通斯大林主义者”的影响，包括他本人：

    我对五年计划存有疑惑。我不明白，为何要迫使这么多罪犯，千生万死地去赶建运河，为何赶得这么急？有时，我感到困扰，但有理由相信，我们正在建设伟大的事业，不只是一条运河，而是一个全新的社会，光用自愿的方式是不够的。谁愿主动请缨来参加运河工作？我现在懂得，如此建设社会主义未免太严苛了，几近残酷，但我仍然认为这在当时是有道理的。 (186)

    斯大林的工业革命不同于西方社会的工业化。正如梅苏诺夫的看法，斯大林在五年计划中要求的增长率，如果不用强迫劳役，根本就无法达到，尤其是在寒冷偏远的远北（Far North）和西伯利亚——那里藏有苏联大部分的矿产和燃料。奴役劳工的供应，开始于1929年对“富农”的大规模逮捕和流放，后来成为古拉格系统的经济上需求的理由。该系统开始只是关押政权敌人的监狱，很快变成了经济殖民化的工具——作为廉价且迅速的捷径，以开垦荒野和发展苏联偏远地区的工业资源，那是没人想去的地方——这条理由是古拉格官员之间公开承认的。 (187) 历史学家对古拉格的起源持有不同的见解——有人把它当做斯大林巩固政治权力的副产品，有人强调它只是一个手段，为了孤立和惩治幻想中的“阶级”（比如“资产阶级”、“富农”）和所谓的危险族群。 (188) 这些因素各自发挥作用，但经济动机才是关键，随着政府追求监狱的自力更生而变得愈益重要。

    20世纪20年代，劳改营基本上就是监狱，囚犯参加工作来养活自己。其中最重要的是索洛韦茨基特殊劳改营，1923年由国家政治保卫总局建于同名的白海岛屿上，其前身是修道院，在利用劳役方面成了古拉格的原型。该修道院在沙皇时代监禁持不同政见者，在布尔什维克的手中，又变成了关押所有敌人的普通监狱——包括被取缔的反对党成员、知识分子、前白军，甚至还有“投机倒把者”和普通刑事犯。其中一个囚犯是来自巴勒斯坦的犹太商人纳夫塔利·法兰克尔，因为涉及走私而在1923年被捕。他有感于监狱的效率低下，写了一封有关如何运行劳改营的建议信，投入“意见箱”。不知何故，该信竟然到了快速晋升的国家政治保卫总局主管格里科·雅戈达的手上。法兰克尔很快被带到莫斯科，向热衷于利用囚犯完成经济任务的斯大林，解释如何利用监狱劳力的计划。法兰克尔在1927年获释，并被委以重任：将索洛韦茨基特殊劳改营转化成一个盈利企业。该监狱的人数迅速增长，从1927年的1万人上升到1931年的7.1万人。它赢得合同，在芬兰边界的卡累利阿地区砍伐木材，修建道路，接管工厂。新来的囚犯大多是“富农”，尼古拉·戈洛温就在1930年12月进入索洛韦茨基劳改营。囚犯们根据自己的体能组织起来，口粮分配依照他们的产量，强者生存，弱者瘐亡。 (189)

    1928年，大规模逮捕的对象包括“富农”、教士、商人、“资产阶级专家”、工程师、“颠覆分子”、“破坏者”，以及斯大林强行工业化的其他“敌人”。人数之多，使苏维埃监狱制度陷入瘫痪。中央政治局为此成立专门委员会，研究如何利用日益增长的监狱人口。为首的是司法人民委员N. M. 扬松，成员包括内政人民委员V. N. 托尔马乔夫和国家政治保卫总局主管雅戈达。到底由谁来控制监狱人力，这三人争执不下。雅戈达建议通过新设的劳改营网络，在远北和西伯利亚开发荒野和工业资源，显然获得了斯大林的青睐。那些偏远地区有几乎取之不尽的木材，像帕维尔·维滕贝格那样的地质学家，还在绘制金、锡、镍、煤、天然气、石油的丰富矿产分布图表，借助犯人的劳动，就可发起廉价的开采。1929年4月，该委员会建议实施“实验营地”的新制度，每个营地容纳5万犯人，由国家政治保卫总局监控。委员会强调，集中管理大量的犯人，劳役的成本就可从每人每年的250卢布降至100卢布。两个月后，中央政治局通过决议（关于使用监狱劳力），要求国家政治保卫总局建立一个“劳改营”网络，“以囚犯的劳力来开垦荒野[偏远地区]、开采天然资源”。从那以后，国家政治保卫总局便成为苏维埃工业化的主要推手之一。它控制一个迅速扩展的劳改营帝国，其人数从1928年的2万人，增长到1934年的100万。其时，国家政治保卫总局与内务人民委员会合并，新机构接管政治警察，再通过古拉格系统管辖全部的劳改营。 (190)

    在早期的苦役劳改营中，最大的是贝尔巴伊特拉戈，到1932年已有10万多囚犯，他们被用于挖掘白海运河长达227公里的航道，以连接白海和波罗的海。首次提出这条运河的想法是在18世纪，结果发现，其要求远远超出了当时政府的技术能力。此时重提，变成了宣传五年计划的重要部分，以显示苏维埃制度的优越性。这是一个极其雄心勃勃的计划，因为规划者不打算使用机器，甚至都没有开展妥善的地形勘察。该项目的批评者（他设想雇用的是自由劳工）认为，巨大的建设成本实在划不来，因为白海航运并不频繁。但斯大林坚持认为只要国家政治保卫总局可以提供足够的苦役劳工，运河不但可以便宜建成，而且能实现创纪录的速度——象征党的意志和力量。法兰克尔再次被委以重任，担任建筑工程的主管，将他的“索洛韦茨基特殊劳改营”方法，转用于运河工程。修建运河的许多囚犯，也来自索洛韦茨基劳改营。为了节省时间和金钱，运河深度很快从22英尺降至12英尺，使之仅适用于浅水驳船和客船（1932至1933年工程扫尾时，南部几段是匆匆完工的，仅有6英尺深）。囚犯们只有原始的手动工具——粗制滥造的斧头、锯子、锤子，没有炸药和机器，一切都靠人力——挖土、拖曳巨石、用手推车运土、建造木质的起重机和脚手架，还要沿河建起囚犯的自住营地。他们在严寒中工作得筋疲力尽，仅在1931至1932年的第一个冬季，就有将近2.5万人死去。虽然没有确切数字，但根据幸存者的传言，实际的死亡人数更高。德米特里·维特科夫斯基曾是索洛韦茨基劳改营的囚犯，在白海运河的工地上担任领班，他回忆起当时的情景：

    工作日结束时，工地上留下冻尸。他们的面孔上洒满雪花，其中一人弓着腰背，卧在独轮车下，他的手还拢在袖子里，就以这样的姿势冻死；有人冻死时，头低垂，夹在自己的膝盖之间；还有两人背靠背，互相支撑着，一起冻死。可以想象，他们都是农村小伙子和最好的工人，一来就是近万人。当局试图打散家庭，故意安排儿子和父亲分住不同的营地；一开始就给他们定下挖掘鹅卵石和大石块的高定额的石方任务，即使在夏季你也无法完成。没人能够教他们，或警告他们。他们以乡下人的敦厚实在，全力以赴，很快就筋疲力尽，然后相互抱着冻死。到了晚上，雪橇出去收集他们的尸体。驾雪橇的人把尸体扔上雪橇，发出沉闷的声响。没有及时清除的尸体，到了夏天只剩下骨头，与鹅卵石一起进入混凝土的搅拌机。他们以这种方式，钻进了混凝土，浇铸了白海城最后一座升降台，由此而获得不朽。

    除了对人命的摧残，白海运河还给许多家庭带来巨大的痛苦。

    伊格纳蒂·马克西莫夫和玛丽亚从小青梅竹马，住在诺夫哥罗德省瓦尔达伊地区的杜伯洛沃村。1924年玛丽亚16岁的时候，他们结了婚，一起在伊格纳蒂的家庭农庄工作，直到1927年他们搬至列宁格勒，伊格纳蒂找到一份木匠工作。1929年10月，即女儿娜杰日达出生后5个月，伊格纳蒂被捕（他曾参与1919年反布尔什维克的农民起义），先被送去索洛韦茨基劳改营，后转至白海运河的北部工地。同时，玛丽亚也被赶出列宁格勒，只好带娜杰日达回到杜伯洛沃村，方才发现自己父母的房子已经遭毁，家人都已被流放，村里竟没留下一位亲人。一个老邻居劝告玛丽亚快快逃离，以免自己陷入囹圄。她背起婴儿，越境来到比邻的特维尔省（希望诺夫哥罗德的警察鞭长莫及），遇上第一个村庄第一栋房子就急急敲门，开门的是一对老夫妇。玛丽亚跪倒在地，恳求他们照看女儿，让她逃生，因为没人愿意雇用带婴儿的女子。这对老夫妇心地善良，抚养娜杰日达整整两年。玛丽亚在列宁格勒到摩尔曼斯克的铁路上找到一份厨师工作。这条铁路沿白海运河的北部运行，恰恰就是伊格纳蒂服苦役的地方，但在当时，玛丽亚对此一无所知。到1932年，她才从熟人处获悉，丈夫就在白海城地区的劳改营，即运河与白海的交汇之处。玛丽亚想找到他，便在小纸片上写下寻人启事，每当火车驶过白海城工厂建筑场地时，就从餐车车窗向外投掷。最终，奇迹真的发生了。她收到了伊格纳蒂的来信，他实际上是在凯姆镇附近的劳改营，还要朝摩尔曼斯克的方向继续北上55公里。伊格纳蒂在1932年底获释，流放到阿尔汉格尔斯克，终于在那里与妻女重聚。 (192)

    古拉格不仅向白海运河那样的建设项目提供劳工，本身也是工业化的一部分。古拉格系统第一座工业园区是维舍拉纸浆造纸综合工厂，由众多劳改营组成，位于乌拉尔的维舍拉河畔。该综合工厂始于1926年，当初只是索洛韦茨基特殊劳改营所管辖的伐木营大网络。到1929年夏天，拉脱维亚的布尔什维克爱德华·别尔津负责建造工厂，才在这伐木营大网络中发展了工业。维舍拉河的水质纯度很高，中央政治局因此选择该地生产20世纪30年代初出现的高品质纸张。像《苏维埃大百科全书》（Large Soviet Encyclopedia）那样的著名出版物，都使用维舍拉造纸厂的纸张。到1930年，维舍拉劳改营共有2万囚犯（包括作家瓦尔拉姆·沙拉莫夫），其中1.2万人受雇于伐木营，2000人受雇于小工厂（制造砖块和纤维），其余的参与建造纸浆造纸厂和两处营房定居地，分别处于克拉斯诺维舍尔斯克城和“光之城”（Gorod Sveta），后来都发展成了平民城镇。 (193) 别尔津设想，这些古拉格定居地是“工业发展的实验形式”，其文化机构将提供再教育，使囚犯变成“苏维埃工人”。“光之城”还吹嘘拥有电影和无线电的俱乐部、图书馆、食堂、卫生中心、喷泉花园、野生动物区、露天剧场、辩论场所和柱廊大厅内的“营地总俱乐部”。沙拉莫夫看到这座柱廊大厅，就会联想起帕特农神庙，“只是更为可怕”。 (194)

    在早期的古拉格系统中，维舍拉是非常典型的。以苦役来“重塑”苏维埃新人的想法，并不仅只是宣传，更是许多布尔什维克的信念。即使如此，以造纸出名的维舍拉劳改营，基本上还是一个经济企业。别尔津的经营原则仍基于投资的预期回报，包括以精神和物质上的鼓励来刺激囚犯完成生产计划。1931年11月，别尔津成为远北建设托拉斯（Dalstroi）的首任主管。那是一个劳改营大网络（包括臭名昭著的科雷马劳改营），地处西伯利亚的东北角——占地面积相当于大西洋和北冰洋之间的西欧——世界上最大的黄金储备就躺在它的冻土之下。别尔津以管理维舍拉的经济原则，来经营远北建设托拉斯的众多劳改营：驱使囚犯挖出尽可能多的黄金（到20世纪30年代中期，他手下生产出的黄金已超过苏维埃1928年的黄金生产总量）。 (195) 在别尔津的治理时期（1931—1937），远北建设托拉斯的劳改营的条件远远优于后续时期，许多囚犯甚至会怀念别尔津当政时的情形。沙拉莫夫在他的《科雷马故事》（Kolyma Tales）中写道：

    别尔津尝试——不能说没有成功——解决这个难题：既要开发这一偏远苦寒之地，又要设法改造这些囚犯的灵魂。判处10年徒刑的人，如果积累足够的工作成绩，便可在两至三年之内获释。在别尔津的治理下，食物充足良好，冬天工作4到6小时，夏日工作10小时。虽是囚犯，仍能领取相当优渥的薪金，得以资助家人，一旦刑满释放返回内地，绝无囊中羞涩的窘态……当时的坟场很少，那些科雷马的早期居民，在后来人的眼中，似乎是长生不老的。

    维舍拉本身在1934年被废除，因为克拉斯诺维舍尔斯克的纸浆造纸厂已是工业中心，成为乌拉尔北部的经济重镇，吸引了大量农民进入工厂。

    工业的兴起需要工程师和其他技术专家。伊万·乌戈列茨基赫1920年出生于费奥多尔措沃村的农民家庭——位于乌拉尔的切尔登镇。他父亲因是“富农”，不准加入集体农庄，只好逃到切尔登镇，在河上的驳船工作，专门向克拉斯诺维舍尔斯克纸浆造纸厂运送木材。父亲的哥哥和叔叔也在那里的劳改营服刑。伊万从小就有强烈的上进心，父亲总是叫他学会一门专长。伊万回忆：“我们的居住地很落后，没有任何工业。我的梦想是去彼尔姆，但太远，买不起票……最主要的是学会一门手艺，要不然就真没有前途了。”他14岁之后仍能学习的唯一地方，就是附属于纸浆造纸厂的工厂技校。伊万回忆，那里所有的老师都是维舍拉的前囚犯：

    他们是工程师和其他方面的专家，来自劳改营，教我们学造纸和电工。我学的是电工，后来又在造纸厂工作。我能在任何城市、任何工厂找到工作，因为在那个年代，像我这样的技术工人极受欢迎。我甚至去了彼尔姆，在内河航船的码头工作……我为取得的成就而自豪，父母也为我感到骄傲。 (197)

    数百万的农民子弟来到城镇，为自己努力谋求全新的身份。从1928到1932年，城市人口以每周增加5万人的速度突飞猛进。城市人口增长过快，对消费品的需求与日俱增，国家穷于应付。但在五年计划中，这并不属于苏维埃的优先考虑。所以，1928年之后食品、燃料、各式生活用品均实施配给制。由于私营贸易受到压制，大街上一片灰暗，餐馆和咖啡馆逐一消失，商店橱窗空空如也，人们衣着寒酸。亚历山大·巴尔米讷时任苏维埃外交官，在国外待了4年后，于1930年返回莫斯科，他震惊于首都的经济困境：

    1922至1928年，莫斯科经历了经济好转，如今却显现令人震惊的变化。每一张脸、每一家门面，都充满着无可置疑的痛苦、疲惫、冷漠。几乎找不到还在营业的商店，罕见的陈列橱窗里弥漫着萧条的气氛，除了纸箱和食品罐头，橱窗内什么也没有。店员在张贴“无货”的标签，所带的神情与其说是轻率，毋宁说是绝望。每个人的衣服都是破破烂烂的，其质量真是难以形容，我身上的巴黎西装让我不知所措、无地自容。什么都短缺，尤其是肥皂、靴子、蔬菜、肉类、黄油、脂肪类食品。

    住房情况更是糟糕透顶。1928年，苏维埃城市居民平均只有5.8平方米的生活空间，但多数最贫穷的工人，其居住面积仅有1至2平方米。有一位美国人如此描述莫斯科工人的生活条件：

    库兹涅佐夫与约550名男女，一起住在800英尺长、15英尺宽的木屋中。它容纳500张窄床，填塞床垫的是稻草或干叶，没有枕头或毯子……有些人没有床，只能睡在地板或木箱上。有时，一张床供多人轮班使用，没有提供隐私的帷幕或墙壁……也没有壁橱或衣柜，因为每个人拥有的衣服早已穿在身上。

    很多出身农民的工人，本来就对私人空间抱有极小的期望。在自己村庄时，一家人传统上使用同一口大碗，在炉子旁的长炕上一起挤睡。尽管如此，搬进城镇后必须与其他家庭共享生存空间，对很多人来说，仍然是一大冲击。

    娜杰日达·普霍娃1912年出生于普斯科夫省的农民大家庭，1929年逃离集体农庄，来到列宁格勒工业郊区的科尔皮诺，在伊若拉机器制造厂找到工作。她在工厂附近租了一栋木屋的底层房间的一角，那个房间既大，又不挡风，全靠普里默斯式煤油炉取暖，但配有厨房、厕所和直通院子的入口。娜杰日达就是在此遇上了未来的丈夫亚历山大。他来自雅罗斯拉夫尔省的雷宾斯克地区，也是农民，排行老大，新近才来到科尔皮诺，充当汽车修理工的学徒。房东是他的远房亲戚，让他租用楼上房间的一角。结婚后，亚历山大搬至楼下与娜杰日达同住，给床铺围上帘子，以求点滴的隐私。共有16人住在这一个大房间，其中有一名妓女，晚上常常带回客人；还有一名消防员，清晨4点就要去上班。娜杰日达回忆：“我们都睡不好。消防员睡在隔壁的床位，会在深夜起床，点燃火柴，察看时间。奥莉加[妓女]总是把男人带进带出，还威胁说，如果有人报警，她就会杀了我们，大家都变得神经兮兮的。”冬季，亚历山大在雅罗斯拉夫尔城的亲戚会来借宿，或是找工作，或是出售自制的毡靴，以补充他们集体农庄的收入。“他们都会来——姨妈、叔叔、姐妹、携带妻子的兄弟。”娜杰日达回忆：

    我十分震惊于他们的生活方式——如此的肮脏、原始，一点也不像我在普斯科夫城的生活，我父母的房子总是十分干净。亚历山大的亲戚睡在地板上——为了保暖，女人盖毯子，男人只盖自己的长袍，令我们的房间闻起来像马厩。

    戈洛温一家也走上迁徙到城镇的路。1933年2月，尼古拉终于从索洛韦茨基劳改营获释，但受到警告，不得前往沙尔铁定居地与妻子儿女团聚，否则就会再一次被捕。他只得搬去沃洛格达附近的小镇佩斯托沃，设法在建筑工地找到一份木匠工作。像20世纪30年代早期的其他省城一样，佩斯托沃充斥着逃亡的“富农”，其中有叶夫多基娅的弟弟伊万·索伯列夫——他曾是神父，但布尔什维克关闭了他的教堂。他改名换姓后，开始在伐木业中充任会计。尼古拉升为工地上的工作队长后，就搬进了护林员放弃的小木屋，家庭大团圆渐渐成形。儿子小尼古拉从白海运河来到佩斯托沃，加入父亲的工作队——运河在1933年8月完成，作为对他们辛勤劳动的奖励，1.2万名囚犯获释。当初遭难时，另一个儿子伊万逃离奥布霍沃村，在西伯利亚游荡数年，现在也来到佩斯托沃，同样加入父亲的工作队。下一个是女儿玛丽亚，她在1934年寻来，当初也是潜逃者，作为“富农”的女儿流浪了3年。她担惊受怕够了，遂改名换姓，嫁与一名布尔什维克工人；当他发现她的真实身份后，不但拳脚相加，还将她抛弃。最后在1934年12月，经过数月向乌斯秋兹地区政治警察的书面请求，妻子、安东尼娜、托利亚、阿列克谢得以安全离开“特殊定居地”，与尼古拉重聚。尼古拉安家的护林员小木屋实在太小，但曾在营房度过三载的安东尼娜，却把它当成了天堂：

    这只是一个小房间，放着一张铁床——即我们被逐时，邻居普日宁为我们保存下来的——那是父母睡的床，也是他们的子女出生的床。这就是我们自己的床，确切无误。它的床架上有同样的镀镍小球和床垫，这是我们旧日生活唯一的纪念。

    四

    1932年9月3日，两名男孩被发现死于格拉西莫夫克村附近的森林——位于西伯利亚的西部。据报道，他们是被亲戚刺死的，因为其中年长的15岁男孩帕夫利克是少先队积极分子，向苏维埃举报了自己的“富农”父亲特罗菲姆·莫罗佐夫，所以亲戚施以报复。事实、谎言、政治阴谋相互交叉、纠缠，很难弄清真相。从调查的一开始，苏维埃报刊和警察就把谋杀当做一种政治犯罪：帕夫利克是少先队模范，杀人者是“富农反革命分子”。

    格拉西莫夫克村是一个偏远的森林村庄，靠近塔夫达镇——在乌拉尔的斯维尔德洛夫斯克州的东北方向，相距350公里。这个村的周围都是劳改营和“特殊定居地”，晚上，村民们能听到警卫犬的吠叫。格拉西莫夫克村又是一个悲惨的所在，最穷的农民拥有一头牛，最富的拥有两头，拥有茶炊的只有9户人家。简陋的学校建于1931年的年底，只有一位老师和13本书。如同西伯利亚西部的其他农民一样，格拉西莫夫克村的村民非常独立。为了赢得土地和自由，他们在19世纪从俄罗斯中部东迁至此，故不愿加入集体农庄。1931年8月，没有一家签署协议加入集体农庄，难怪苏维埃报刊斥之为“富农的巢穴”。 (202)

    特罗菲姆·莫罗佐夫头脑清醒、勤劳，家境一般，曾在内战中参加红军，两次受伤。他颇得老乡尊敬，到 1931年秋季，已是第3次当选为村苏维埃主席。有人向政治警察举报他出售假证件给“特殊定居地”的“富农”流放者，他儿子可能就是报案人。与苏维埃报刊的宣传相反，帕夫利克其实不是少先队员（格拉西莫夫克村根本没有少先队组织），但显然有如此的憧憬。他在开学后参与了宣传鼓动工作，便与警方愈益接近。在格拉西莫夫克村，帕夫利克素有举报犯错邻居的名声（村民数年后回忆，一直把他视为“烂小子”）。因为父亲抛弃自己的家庭，喜欢上了另一名女子，他一直怀恨在心。帕夫利克作为长子，必须照顾母亲塔蒂亚娜——她是一个目不识丁的农妇，似乎因特罗菲姆的出走而有些精神失衡，又因妒火中烧，可能曾煽动帕夫利克打小报告。1931年11月，对特罗菲姆的审判在学校举行。据报道，帕夫利克当众谴责父亲的罪行，特罗菲姆随之大喊“我是你的父亲”，男孩告诉法官：“是的，他曾经是我的父亲，但我已不再认他为父亲。我这样做，不是作为谁的儿子，而是作为一名少先队员。”特罗菲姆被送去远北的劳改营，后来遭枪决。 (203)

    帕夫利克基于自己在审判中的表现不凡而变得愈加大胆，开始举报隐藏谷物或反对集体农庄的村民。他的行为得到了9岁的弟弟费奥多尔的帮助。村民对兄弟俩的所作所为异常愤怒。帕夫利克的祖父谢尔盖·莫罗佐夫禁止兄弟俩上门，其他亲戚则试图阻止他们举报。但目前还没证据表明，亲戚参与了谋杀，很可能仅是青少年之间斗殴的结果，包括帕夫利克的堂弟达尼拉，双方曾为马具和枪支发生争执。 (204)

    谋杀事件一旦上了当地媒体，接踵而至的调查立即趋于政治化。达尼拉受到压力，要指控自己的祖父谢尔盖为凶手，支持此一指控的还有另外两名家庭成员：为儿子夭亡愿意指控任何人的塔蒂亚娜，以及帕夫利克的表弟伊万·波图帕契克。后者是一名狂热的斯大林主义者和警察帮手，在此案中表现积极，被吸收入党。最终，莫罗佐夫“富农家族”的5名成员在1932年11月接受审判：帕夫利克的伯父和教父，被控策划谋杀；祖父和堂弟达尼拉，被控是谋杀执行人；祖母，被控将两名男孩骗去树林。从公审的一开始，他们的罪名就仿佛已经获得证实（检察官援引斯大林有关农村阶级斗争日益加剧的讲话，来证明凶手的政治动机），审判不过是一次做秀。5人中的4个被判处“最重的处罚”——由行刑队枪决。不知何故，帕夫利克的伯父命大，逃过此劫。 (205)

    事到如今，全国新闻界已得出自己的结论。格拉西莫夫克村是俄罗斯落后农民的象征，莫罗佐夫家族是家长制“富农”家庭的典型，集体化就是要将之横扫一空。帕夫利克很快成为英雄，一场个人崇拜的宣传活动在1933年秋天推出。高尔基呼吁为这位年轻的烈士建造纪念碑，认为他“懂得血缘的亲属可能是精神上的敌人。对这样的人，决不能姑息养奸”。 (206) 这场个人崇拜无远弗届，故事、电影、诗歌、戏剧、传记、歌曲，都把帕夫利克描绘成一名完美的少先队员，他身在家中，却是党的忠实岗哨。他牺牲自己父亲的无私勇气，应该成为苏维埃全体小学生的榜样。对他的崇拜在道德准则和情感上，深刻影响了整整一代的孩子。他们从帕夫利克的身上学到，与亲人之爱及其他个人关系相比，对国家的忠诚则是更为高尚的美德。举报朋友和亲戚不是可耻的，反而是爱国热忱的表现——这种想法借助于这场个人崇拜，植入千百万人的脑子，成了对每个苏维埃公民的切实期待。 (207)

    莫罗佐夫故事的教训，到底在谁的身上产生了最深的影响？根据采访资料，在父母明确界定道德原则的稳定家庭中，仅有极少数孩子受到影响。不过在今天，我们是以大恐怖时代的背景来理解此类尴尬话题，记忆是靠不住的。现在看来，对在不稳定或受压迫家庭长大的孩子来说，帕夫利克的确是积极向上的榜样。在那些环境中，成年人的影响太弱，无法抗衡苏维埃政权的思想。这场个人崇拜的鼓吹者就是这方面的典型。帕维尔·索洛缅是斯维尔德洛夫斯克地区的记者，他的报道首次引起苏维埃公众对帕夫利克的关注。他自己还是孩子时，就曾逃离残暴的继父，在一系列孤儿院长大成人。高尔基被逐出祖父的家——那是个残酷且落后的所在，男人借酒浇愁，女人向上帝寻求安慰——9岁起就在伏尔加河的工业城镇自生自灭。对具有如此不幸背景的人来说，帕夫利克就是一名英雄，因为他摆脱了自己家庭的“黑暗”生活，提高了自己的政治觉悟，积极投入公共事业，找到更高层次的少先队“家庭”，加入党和苏维埃人民的行列，迈向“光辉灿烂的未来”。帕夫利克的故事尤其对孤儿具有强烈的吸引力，他们从未受到家庭生活的影响，弄不清男孩举报父亲究竟错在哪里。他们由国家带大，一直接受思想灌输，要忠于和感谢把自己从贫困中救出来的国家。他们还被告知，出生于世界上最伟大的国家苏联真是三生有幸，否则就会生活在水深火热之中。

    1932年，米哈伊尔·尼古拉耶夫3岁，因父母被捕而被送进孤儿院，并换了新名字。他从没弄清自己的真名，也不知道父母姓甚名谁、何等人士、为何被捕以及被捕后的去向。儿童之家的政策就是擦去原来的身份，把米哈伊尔之类的孩子，重塑成“苏维埃公民”。米哈伊尔还是小男孩时就深受莫罗佐夫故事的影响，孤儿们很小就开始反复接受此类教育。他认为帕夫利克是一名“真正的英雄”，梦想自己向他看齐，也能“抓到一名间谍”。回顾童年，他认为假如自己与家人一起长大，他少年时代心目中的英雄会有很大的不同：

    与正常儿童相比，我们这些孤儿对生活只有非常贫乏的了解。我们失去家庭活动、厨房饭桌上的对话，以及一切非官方信息。在我看来，那种信息才是最重要的，它塑造了儿童对人生的看法，以及自己与外界的关系。我们的“世界之窗”只是课堂、少先队、墙角的红色电台、《少先队真理报》。它们所有的信息都千篇一律，解读的方法也只有一种。 (208)

    帕夫利克的故事广受欢迎，尤其在年轻人中更是如此，这更加深了家长制农村的旧世界与苏维埃政权的城镇新世界之间的文化代沟，并在许多家庭内造成分裂。农村人口越来越年轻化，越来越有文化。根据1926年的人口普查，农村人口的39%低于15岁（低于20岁的超过一半），20岁出头的农家小伙识字率是父辈的两倍多（同年龄的农家女子识字率高达母辈的5倍）。他们在苏维埃学校接受教育，不再接受父母起人生态度和信仰。许多人通过少先队和共青团，信心倍增，不愿再受父母的控制。他们不愿上教堂、佩戴十字架，拒绝遵循宗教的仪式，往往捧出苏维埃政权作为此类问题的新权威，有时导致与父母起争执。他们越来越向往城市，向往城市里的信息和价值观。在20世纪20年代和30年代，随着城镇的流行文化蔓延至偏远的乡村，越来越多的农村青年不愿留在农村，希望进城。这愈加促使农村孩子认为，与农村相比，城镇的生活方式更好，更有文化。20世纪20年代中期，共青团在沃罗涅日省农业最发达地区的调查发现，85%的共青团员来自农民家庭，但只有3%的共青团员愿意继续务农。大多数的农村孩子想离开农村：或去城市的商店或办公室上班，或上大学、进入工业领域，或参军。 (209)

    梅德韦杰夫一家因老一辈与青年之间的分歧而变得七零八碎。安德烈·梅德韦杰夫1880年出生于奥布洛夫卡村——在莫斯科的东南方，相距570公里——旁边有连结坦波夫和巴拉绍夫的铁路线。他是一名铁匠，冬天帮富裕农家修理金属屋顶，夏天和5位兄弟在父亲费奥多尔的家庭农庄上干活，全家共有17人。费奥多尔是农民大家长，又是虔诚的东正教徒，白发垂肩，全以旧法治家。他的孙女回忆：“我们遵守古老的习俗，大家吃饭使用同一只大碗。祖父以勺敲碗，就是大家开始吃饭的信号。他不开口，没人敢作声。”

    1923年，安德烈与年龄仅有他一半的阿廖娜结婚。她和家人1917年逃离饥饿的彼得格勒，来到坦波夫的乡下。阿廖娜来自贫困的劳工家庭。她的父亲是铁路搬运工，妻子去世后，一人抚养7个孩子，在坦波夫帮做农活，勉强维生。安德烈将年轻的妻子娶进门，1924年女儿尼娜出生。阿廖娜从一开始就发现很难适应夫家的家长制习俗。尽管只上了3年学，她还是当上了村苏维埃的秘书。她开办学校，教村里的孩子——还有许多成人——读书写字。安德烈对书本没有兴趣——梅德韦杰夫家的其他人也一样。阿廖娜从当地集镇把书籍和杂志带回家，培养孩子的阅读能力。1928年，阿廖娜的学校变成共青团扫盲运动中的扫盲点，这是反宗教、反家长制文化的苏维埃运动之一。她又成为共产党妇女部的积极分子，常常要去镇上开会。费奥多尔对她的独立性深感震惊，威胁说要把她赶出家门，也因此经常与安德烈发生争执。安德烈自己是村苏维埃的干部，即使善妒，不赞成妻子单独去镇上，但还是予以支持。

    1929年9月，奥布洛夫卡村成立集体农庄。虽然村里67户家庭中只有29户同意加入，但被认为已经足够。安德烈当选为集体农庄的主席，但费奥多尔拒绝加入，他的奶牛刚生牛犊，不愿放弃。父子之间发生了激烈争吵。尼娜回忆：“如果母亲不拦着，他俩早已把对方杀死了。他们开口大骂，并发誓分道扬镳。”家庭农庄分给了各位成员，安德烈带上自己的一份加入了集体农庄，而81岁的费奥多尔仍然单干。4个月后，老人作为“富农”被捕——缘于村苏维埃的报告，奥布洛夫卡全村共逮捕了12名“富农”。费奥多尔的房子被砸，自己被流放去西伯利亚，但家庭戏剧仍没落幕。安德烈身为集体农庄主席，把前途寄托在农村，但阿廖娜向往城镇，主要是想找到治愈女儿尼娜的好办法。尼娜因病失明，需要特殊的照顾。1930年4月，阿廖娜离开安德烈，与尼娜一起回到列宁格勒，向亲戚的朋友租借了房间的一角。尼娜回忆：“我们只有4平方米，刚好能放一张窄床、床头柜和两把小椅子。我睡椅子，妈妈睡床。”家人分离两年后，安德烈也在1932年10月来到列宁格勒，亲情战胜了他对集体农庄的承诺。梅德韦杰夫一家搬去市中心一个较大的房间，阿廖娜在尼娜的学校教书，安德烈在国家政治保卫总局的工程部门从事屋顶修建工作。 (210)

    像梅德韦杰夫家一样，许多家庭屈服于集体化和城市化的双重压力。集体化只是俄罗斯农民所经历的一系列社会剧变的最后一幕——第一次世界大战、大革命、内战、饿死数百万人的饥荒——但在某种程度上又是最惨痛的。因为它在是否接受苏维埃生活方式方面，迫使父子反目，拆散了许多家庭。究竟有多少儿子真的举报了自己的父亲？这很难说，肯定有，只是没有像苏维埃报刊所报道的那么多。20世纪30年代，报刊给人的印象是，农村中充满了真实生活中的帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫。据报道，一个名叫索罗金的少先队员看到父亲偷集体农庄的粮食，报警把父亲给抓了起来；小学生谢廖扎·法捷耶夫告诉校长，父亲悄悄囤积了大量土豆；13岁男孩普罗尼亚·科利宾举报母亲偷窃集体农庄的粮食（他获得奖励，前往克里米亚的著名少先队度假营阿尔捷克，母亲则被送去劳改营）。 (211)

    少先队鼓励孩子向帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫学习，举报自己的父母。少先队经常参与看管集体农庄的田园，举报窃取粮食的农民。《少先队真理报》登载年轻举报人的姓名，列出他们的功绩。20世纪30年代，在对帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫个人崇拜的高潮中，真正的少先队员为了证明自己的价值，几乎都要揭发自己的亲人。一份省级杂志警告，没有举报自己家人的少先队员，应受到怀疑，如果发现是由于缺乏警惕性，少先队员自己也应受到举报。在这种氛围中，家长们害怕在自己的孩子面前说话也就不足为怪了。一位医生回忆：

    我从不在孩子面前说斯大林的不好。帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫的故事出来之后，你害怕说漏嘴，甚至在自己儿子面前也一样。因为他可能会在学校里无心提及，有关部门就会记下，问男孩“是从哪里听到的”。他会说：“爸爸说的，爸爸不会错的。”你自己还浑然不知，却已陷入了莫大的困境。 (212)

    亚历山大·马里安的父亲就是这样遇上麻烦的。亚历山大的家乡马拉什蒂村在乌克兰的西南部，靠近蒂拉斯波尔城。他是共青团干部，1932年他17岁时曾写信给警方，举报父亲季莫费。亚历山大是集体化的狂热支持者，积极拥护反对“富农”的战争。他在1931年6月8日日记中，称“富农”是“苏联最后且最大的剥削阶级”。季莫费不同意，对集体化牢骚满腹，在儿子面前也不忌讳，马上被儿子举报。季莫费被捕后被送进劳改营。亚历山大在1933年10月的日记中，记下了与共青团同志的交谈。后者声称，既然亚历山大的父亲有“反革命”思想，他就不适宜担任干部一职。亚历山大写道：

    我不得不向他解释，我父亲的被捕是应我的要求。他之所以持有反苏立场，归罪于他在奥地利当战俘的经验[第一次世界大战时]……他带回了对奥地利秩序的钟爱，坚信他在奥地利看到的资产阶级小农庄，才是创造农业财富的关键……他只是简单地把集体化初期的错误当做了动乱，而不是暂时的并发症。他如果知道辩证法，有高度的政治觉悟，就会承认自己的错误并公开认错。 (213)

    这种基于狂热意识的检举可能相当罕见。更为常见的是年轻人被动应付，宁可断绝关系也不检举家人，而且也要等到亲人已经暴露成“敌人”之后才会如此。他们接受学校和少先队的灌输，意识到如不与被捕的亲人划清界限，反而会危及自己的前途。左右这种行为的，往往有复杂的压力和考虑。除非抛弃被捕的亲人，以此证明自己时刻警惕着并且一切忠于苏维埃，否则他们自己可能遭到少先队和共青团的驱逐，不能就读大学或就业。因此有成千上万印在苏维埃报刊上的公式化通告：

    我，尼古拉·伊万诺夫，与我曾是神父的父亲断绝关系。他多年来欺骗他人，宣称上帝的存在。我要切断与他的一切关系，这就是理由。 (214)

    这些背弃可能得到了父母的鼓励。父母很清楚，孩子如果想在苏维埃社会谋求上进，必须与自己脱离关系。例如，1932年，一名来自克列缅丘格城附近传统犹太家庭的16岁男孩，给当地意第绪语的报纸写信，声明脱离自己家庭的落后生活：

    我拒绝成为这个家庭的一部分。我觉得，真正的父亲是共青团，能教我学会生活中的大事；真正的母亲是我们的祖国；苏联社会主义共和国和苏联人民才是我的家人。

    根据后来对他妹妹的采访，男孩是在父亲的坚持下才写下这篇声明的。那个女孩回忆道：

    我14岁那年，父亲把我和哥哥叫进房间，解释说他的生活方式不合时宜，不想我们重复他的错误，譬如遵循犹太人的宗教传统。他说，我们必须去找学校墙报的编辑，宣布我们开始了新生活，不愿与父亲的宗教过去有任何瓜葛。父亲硬要我们这样做，还说，这样做不会给他带来困扰，只会为我们开辟美好的前景。 (215)

    迫使年轻人背弃自己亲人的不仅仅是野心，还有其他因素。此类断绝关系的公开信，大多写于离家上大学或进城工作的前夕。这是新身份的宣言，也是对苏维埃梦想和目标的承诺。20世纪30年代初充满了巨大的机遇和社会流动性：工人的子女有望成为专业人士；农民的孩子梦想进城。苏维埃的宣传对症下药，刻意鼓动这类抱负，把对个人成功的崇拜放到了五年计划的中心位置。电影、书籍、歌曲，都突出无产阶级“普通英雄”的功勋——工程师、科学家、劳动模范、飞行员、勘探人员、芭蕾舞演员、男女运动员——给苏联带来荣耀。年轻人受到鼓励，相信自己只要努力工作也可取得同样的成就，以此证明自己无愧于苏维埃公民的称号。

    最重视这种抱负的往往是“富农”和其他苏维埃“敌人”的子女——这个悖论恰好又是“富农”父亲和他们的儿子之间冲突的症结。子女从小就背上出身不好的烙印，一直希望成为社会上的平等成员，唯一途径就是诀别自己的过去。有些背弃自己的“富农”亲人，有些在自述中避而不谈，还有些声称他们已“死去或消失”。这种否认往往是生存所必需的，但相关的记忆仍可唤起悔恨和羞耻。不是因为这些年轻人曾经举报他人，而是因为他们的生活相对“正常”，追求各自的事业，而父母却消失于古拉格。他们接受苏维埃制度，从中找到了自己的位置，尽管心里很清楚，该制度已将自己的家庭摧毁。

    对这些悔恨情感的表达，没人比诗人亚历山大·特瓦尔多夫斯基更为有力。他1910年出生于斯摩棱斯克省的扎戈列村；父亲特里凡是铁匠，夫妇俩养育了7个孩子，生活中等，尚算舒适。亚历山大年纪轻轻就是共产主义者，1924年加入共青团，成为村里的积极分子。他经常因政治问题与父亲发生争论，曾两次离家出走，因为无法接受家人的农民生活方式。1927年，他加入俄罗斯无产阶级作家协会（RAPP），搬到斯摩棱斯克，在共青团报纸《青年同志》（Young Comrade）上发表了第一首诗《写给父亲和富人》：

    你家没有缺乏，
    你富裕——我观察，
    所有有墙有顶的农舍中，
    最好的是你家。

    1930年的春天，当局向特里凡课以重税。他担心被捕，逃去顿巴斯寻找工作；到秋天，儿子伊万（当时17岁）和康斯坦丁（22岁）相继跟来。他们认为，跑去寻找父亲会减轻母亲的负担。伊万在当年冬天回家，却发现自己已成“富农”的儿子，无法上学。1931年3月，除了亚历山大，特瓦尔多夫斯基一家都被逐出扎戈列村，康斯坦丁（已被关押在斯摩棱斯克）和特里凡（一从顿巴斯归来即被逮捕）也加入了家人的流放行列，前往乌拉尔。在随后两年中，他们在劳改营和“特殊定居地”进进出出，四处潜逃，如果能找到国内护照制度中的漏洞，就在工厂和矿区打打零工。家人时聚时散，直到1932年秋季。其时，特里凡在乌拉尔的下塔吉尔镇工厂找到了一份铁匠工作。

    与此同时，亚历山大在斯摩棱斯克的教育学院学习，努力成为年轻诗人。他的第一首长诗《走向社会主义的大道》（1931年），描绘了集体农庄生活的灿烂图景。他在学院的学生会议上发言，赞成反对“富农”的运动，但他显然对家人的遭遇感到不安。1931年春天，他去拜访地区党委书记鲁缅采夫，希望他能从中斡旋，以减轻他们的磨难。特瓦尔多夫斯基在1954年回忆，鲁缅采夫却说“生活当中，有时必须在家庭和革命之间作出选择”。那次会谈之后，特瓦尔多夫斯基被选为“动摇分子”，苏维埃当局要考察他的忠诚。他在文学会议中，被攻击为“富农”的儿子。他得以躲避厄运，全仗当地作家阿德里安·马克多诺夫为他作了勇敢且积极的辩解（后来自己却入了狱）。

    由于担心自己的职业生涯，特瓦尔多夫斯基刻意疏远家人。1931年春天，父母从乌拉尔的利亚利亚“特殊定居地”给他写信。他们并不指望经济上的帮助——因为他们知道儿子自己也很拮据。伊万在1988年回忆：“他们只希望，他也许想与自己的父母和兄弟姐妹保持联系。”伊万继续讲述了后面的故事：

    亚历山大回过两次信。他在第一封信中答应帮忙，但很快寄来第二封信，内含我难以忘怀的字句：“我的亲人们！我既不是野蛮人，也不是动物。我要你们坚强起来，要有耐心，努力工作。消灭富农阶级，并不意味着消灭富农本身，更不会是消灭孩子……”再后来，就是这么一句话：“……我不能给你们写信……也不要写信给我。”

    当这封信读给伊万的母亲听时，她——低下头，坐在板凳上，陷入深思，然后大声讲出话来。她不是讲给我们听，而是讲给自己听，用来说服自己仍拥有儿子的爱和忠诚。她说：“我知道，我觉得，我相信……他并不容易。我儿子当然是别无选择，人生就像旋转木马，你又能如何呢？”

    两个月后，即1931年8月，特里凡带上小儿子帕夫利克逃离利亚利亚定居地，其余的人都留在原地。一个月后，他们到达斯摩棱斯克，前往苏维埃大楼寻找亚历山大，知道他在那里的编辑部工作。特里凡叫门卫打电话给儿子，他回忆了当时的情景：

    我知道他来信的内容，但我想：他是我儿子！至少可以帮帮帕夫拉希卡[帕夫利克]。一个小男孩，他的亲兄弟，能给他带来什么危害呢？亚历山大出来了。上帝保佑，与儿子见面，怎么会如此担惊受怕的！我在恐慌中看着他，他已长大，修长又帅气！他父亲的儿子！他站在那里，默默地看着我们，然后开口，不是说“你好，爸爸”，而是一句：“你怎么来的？”
    “修罗[亚历山大]！我的儿子！我们正在饥饿、疾病、任意处罚中慢慢死去！” 我回答。
    “那么，你是逃出来的？”他突然问，这似乎不是他自己的声音，他的目光也变得异样，似乎要把我钉在地上。
    我保持沉默——我能说什么呢？只能如此了——我只是为帕夫拉希卡感到遗憾，他只是一个小男孩，希望得到哥哥的爱，没有想到如此的结局！
    “我只能把你们送回原地，免费。”——这是亚历山大的原话。
    我知道，进一步的请求或乞求都已无济于事。我只让他等一等，因为我还要去斯托尔波沃镇向朋友讨债，等我回来后，听凭他安排。他显然有些吃惊。
    “那好，你走吧。”他说。

    特里凡在斯托尔波沃镇找到朋友一起喝酒，帕夫利克在一边睡着了。午夜时分，警察赶来逮捕特里凡，因为亚历山大已把他出卖。
    亚历山大再次看见或听闻家人的消息已是4年之后。在这段时间，伊万认为，亚历山大只能将自己的内疚注入他从未发表的诗里：

    你是谁，兄弟？
    你好吗，兄弟？
    你在何处，兄弟？
    在哪一条白海运河？
    ——《兄弟》，1933年

    1935年，伊万前往斯摩棱斯克找亚历山大。他逃离“特殊定居地”，在莫斯科和其他工业城镇漂泊3年，以打零工为生，但渴望回到自己的故乡，也想让哥哥知道家人的近况。兄弟俩仅有两次简短的会面，亚历山大告诫弟弟赶快离开斯摩棱斯克：“这里没有你要的东西，只会发现不愉快而已。相比之下，生活在这里对我很重要，这里的人都认识我！”
    伊万当时对哥哥存有太多的抱怨，到了晚年，才渐渐理解亚历山大承受的压力：他必须留在人们认识和尊重自己的地方，所取得的成功又能提供某种保护。对哥哥的选择，伊万不无同情：

    我敢说，我的到访激起了他的内疚和自责。他忘不了写给流放中的我们的信，也忘不了他与父亲在苏维埃大楼的见面，我为他感到遗憾。不管我喜欢与否，我不得不承认，他的确是一名真诚的共青团员，自20世纪20年代起，矢志不渝。我现在认为，亚历山大亲眼目睹了伤害自己父母和兄弟姐妹的革命暴力，虽然是不公且错误的，却变成了一种考验，看他是不是真正的共青团员。也许他并不想向别人证明——只想证明给自己。毫无疑问，他以这种方式来自我说服：“每一名富农都是某某人的父亲，他的孩子是某某人的兄弟姐妹。我的家人凭什么与众不同呢？要勇敢，要坚强，决不向抽象的人道主义和阶级利益之外的情感低头。”他的逻辑是：你如果支持集体化，就意味着你也支持消灭富农阶级；在道德上，你没有权利要求自己父亲获得例外的待遇。亚历山大可能在心里为家人哀痛，不过，我们家也仅是众多富农家庭之一而已。 (221)

    五

    1928至1932年的“大转变”，摧毁了维系家庭和社区的旧关系和旧忠诚，创造了以人与国家的关系来定位的新社会。在这个制度中，社会阶级是至关重要的：国家推崇“无产阶级”，镇压“资产阶级”。但阶级又不是固定或僵化的，数百万人离开家园，变换工作，在全国各地搬来迁去，很容易改变或重塑自己的阶级身份。只要有助于上进，大家都学会了编造自己的阶级身份。他们变得越来越聪明，或隐瞒和掩饰自己的不纯出身，或文饰自己的履历，使之显得更像“无产阶级”。

    “自我改造”的概念，在布尔什维克的圈子里是非常流行的。布尔什维克思想的中心，就是要清除旧社会的“小资产阶级”和个人主义的冲动，创造更高层次的人格（苏维埃新人）。一位党领袖在1929年写道：“我们都是过来人，身上仍存有以往的弊病。我们在自己的身上，就有很多工作要做，必须自我改造。” (222) 同时，人们能改变和操控自己的阶级身份，又给党领导带来极大的焦虑。 (223) 他们普遍担心，涌入城镇的大量破产农民和其他“小资产阶级”（“富农”、商人、教士等），将稀释“无产阶级”的纯度——“无产阶级”是他们想象中支持专政的社会基础——党内会充斥隐瞒自己出身的“自私自利者”和冒险家。

    苏维埃报刊上有不少此类骗子故事，最有名的是弗拉基米尔·格罗莫夫。他冒名顶替，自称是熟练的工程师和获奖的建筑师，在1935年被判处10年劳改，去白海运河工地服刑。格罗莫夫使用伪造的文件，获得高薪工作和莫斯科的高级公寓，甚至说服后勤人民委员阿纳斯塔斯·米高扬，向他预支了100万卢布。 (224) 对冒名顶替者的担忧，折射出党领导的深刻焦虑，直接影响了之后的大清洗文化。大清洗中激烈的指控，就是为了要彻底揭露暗藏“敌人”的真实身份。整个20世纪30年代，党领导鼓励人们相信，同事、邻居、朋友、亲戚都有可能躲在假面具之后——这种观念，既毒害了人际关系，又为1937至1938年的大恐怖推波助澜。艾莱娜·邦纳的弟弟在父亲被捕后曾说：“看，人民公敌到底是什么嘴脸，有的甚至伪装成父亲。” (225)

    除了集体化，伴随五年计划的还有一场对“阶级敌人”和“异己分子”的大清洗，以铲除潜在的反对和异议。随着国内护照制度的引入，警方奉命加强措施，把“社会不纯分子”——“富农”、教士、商人、罪犯、“寄生虫”、妓女、吉普赛人及其他族裔（芬兰人、朝鲜人、伏尔加德裔等）——赶出城镇。 (226) 害怕自己受到社会的排斥，驱使数百万人隐瞒自己的出身。在理论上，自我改造是可行的，但过程可能很长，很不确定。隐瞒似乎更加可靠，更是为社会接受的捷径。20世纪30年代初的混乱时期，改变自己的身份相对比较容易，或搬去另一城市，或领取新的档案。假档案很容易获得，或通过行贿，或向每个集镇都有的伪造者购买。如果要漂亮的履历，甚至无需花费钱财。很多人干脆扔掉旧的，换一个苏维埃政府申请新的履历表，填上不同的履历，甚至还可篡改自己的名字和出生地。 (227) 各省的苏维埃官员和警察，其低效和腐败是众所周知的。

    对于女性而言，婚姻是掩饰自己社会出身的又一途径。安娜·杜博娃1916年出生于斯摩棱斯克省的农民大家庭。父亲1929年作为“富农”被捕，被送去波多利斯克的建筑工地——就在莫斯科的南边，妻子和孩子也跟了过去。母亲得到兔场的一份工作，安娜就读于附属于面包厂的工厂技校，原以为可以回归为“正常”人，却没想到安娜姐姐的共青团员朋友，站出来揭发她们在隐瞒“富农”出身。杜博夫一家全遭驱逐，丢失了所有的财产和居住权。父母带着年幼的孩子去了莫斯科以东200公里的勒热夫地区，住在父亲亲戚的草棚内；安娜逃到莫斯科。姐姐嫁给了当地人，她让安娜睡在自己小房间里的地板上。安娜没有居住证，纯属非法居留，却仍在努力追求自己的理想。她从工厂技校毕业，成了布尔什维克蛋糕工厂的糕点厨师，专门从事蛋糕的装饰工作。她的前途开始变得光明，但危险始终存在：“富农”出身和非法居留一旦暴露，她将失去一切。她在20世纪90年代的采访中说：

    那段时间里，每当看到警察，我就很怕。因为在我眼中，他会告诉大家，我有嫌疑。所以我结了婚，只是为了能掩饰我的背景……我丈夫是个贫农，又是共青团员，在莫斯科附近的村苏维埃担任秘书。作为一名共青团员，他的工作就是识别和剥夺富农……我的婚姻只是一种伪装。我没有地方住，结婚之后，才有自己的一小间。上床睡觉时，我会自言自语，亲爱的主呀，我竟睡在自己的床上。

    安娜的丈夫很善良，就是喝酒太多。“我一直在做梦——‘主啊，要是能嫁给一位体面人，那该多好啊。’我和他朝夕相处，即便已经生下女儿，却还在梦想有一位体面的丈夫。” (228)

    被迫过这种双重生活的人，需要不时承受曝光的威胁。有一名前秘密警察上校，还是共产党的模范，一直隐瞒自己的贵族出身。他回忆道：“我一直处在恐惧之中，无时无刻不在担忧，‘假如我的真相突然暴露’，我所努力的、我为自己和家人所建立的、我的生活、我的职业生涯，都会轰然倒塌。”除了恐惧，还有其他相互矛盾的冲动和情感——被动、内向、羞愧、自卑——能在同一人身上，既激起他对苏维埃政权的秘密憎恨，又激起他献身于苏维埃事业的决心，以此克服自己的出身不纯。人陷入如此的双重人格，变得得不知所措，其公众形象完全吞噬了他的内心世界。有人这么回忆：“我开始觉得，我就是我正在扮演的人物。” (229)

    年轻的西蒙诺夫有过类似的经历。他隐瞒贵族出身，在萨拉托夫的工厂技校学做车床工，填在登记表上的身份是“无产阶级”。西蒙诺夫擅自决定进工厂技校，而继父希望他去高等学院或大学攻读——在他父母的旧世界服务阶层看来，那是理所当然的教育轨迹。但十几岁的西蒙诺夫，为新工业社会的前景而感到无比兴奋。他看到，无产阶级是新兴的统治阶级，亟想加入其中。西蒙诺夫回忆：“这是五年计划的开始，其浪漫精神彻底征服了我。我加入俱乐部，讨论该计划和它的不同版本。它对我的吸引力，远远超过我的中学课程。我的继父非常恼火，我在工厂技校的第一年，他几乎都不理我。” (230)

    工厂技校笼罩在激进的、无产阶级的氛围之中。一半学生来自工人家庭，另一半来自儿童之家。作为贵族的儿子，西蒙诺夫在此出格得危机四伏，但他尽量调整，舍弃他少年时的短裤和凉鞋，换上工人的套衫和鸭舌帽，努力与同学们打成一片。西蒙诺夫受无产阶级的吸引，其重要原因在于工人的独立性：“我认为，成人的生活始于他开始上班，赚钱养家。我也要尽快独立，养活自己。” (231) 西蒙诺夫加入产业工人的大军，自然也就独立于家庭之外，不再让其贵族背景拖自己的后腿。

    为了供自己在萨拉托夫工厂技校学习，西蒙诺夫去生产弹药的通用工厂当学徒，上夜班，组装突击步枪的子弹盒。到1931年春天，他的月收入是15卢布，虽然微薄，对家庭预算来说却是一大贡献。特别是在4月之后，继父亚历山大被捕，15岁的西蒙诺夫成了家里唯一的经济支柱。

    那次逮捕进行得有条不紊。敲门声在晚上10点钟响起。由于亚历山德拉感到不适，家人早已上床睡觉，亚历山大要到穿戴齐整，方才让警察进入自己的营房公寓。康斯坦丁醒来，发现继父正在用放大镜核对搜查证：

    搜查持续了很久。他们做得中规中矩，在两个房间里逐一检查全部的物件，甚至查看我有关金属技术的技校笔记、七年级笔记和母亲的一大堆信件——她喜欢写信，也喜欢所有的亲戚和朋友给她写信……等到他们完成搜查，理好文件和信件，好像还开出了一张被没收物件的清单——也可能我弄错了。我想，终于结束了。其中一人从口袋里掏出一张纸，把它递给父亲，这是对他的逮捕令。我当时没想到，事后才意识到，不管搜查结果如何，逮捕从一开始就在计划之中。真不忍心看到母亲的反应，尽管她有坚强的性格。她显然病了，一整夜坐着，持续发烧，浑身颤抖。父亲很平静，认真读完那张纸——再一次从背心口袋拿出放大镜——确定它真是一纸逮捕令，然后他简速吻了母亲一下，并告诉她，一旦弄清误会，他就会回来。他紧紧握着我的手，一言不发，与逮捕他的人一起离开了。 (232)

    像亚历山大一样，西蒙诺夫也认为这只是一场误会。他应该知道，许多专家在萨拉托夫被捕，包括继父任教的军事学院的好几名军官。像众多失去亲人的其他人一样，西蒙诺夫也倾向于把继父的被捕，当做一桩乌龙事件。“我认为，其他人肯定有罪，他们是我的敌人，但我无法将他们与我继父联系在一起。” (233) 这种区别帮助他维持对苏维埃司法制度的信心。政治警察官员有条不紊的行为——不仅体现在亚历山大被捕之时，西蒙诺夫4年前目睹继父的亲戚叶夫根尼·列别捷夫被捕的过程也是如此——更加强了这一信心。

    西蒙诺夫遵照亚历山德拉的命令，向技校老师汇报了逮捕一事。她说，不汇报反而是懦弱的表现。西蒙诺夫没被学校开除，但被告知，最好等到继父获释后再递上他的入团申请表。亚历山德拉和儿子被逐出营房的小公寓，所有家当被扔到街上——包括配有几张板凳的桌子、两个书架、一个衣柜、一张床、第一次世界大战时的军用木箱和西蒙诺夫曾睡过的吊床。那天正好大雨滂沱，邻居收容了正在发烧的亚历山德拉，她的儿子则赶去萨拉托夫郊区寻找新的住所。他租好房间后，又找来一个货车司机帮助搬家。终其一生，他永远记住那一天——他第一次挑起家庭的重担，一刹那间，他长大成人。

    我没齿不忘，没有怨恨，甚至有点自我得意，因为我证明了我能应付一切。我有一种受伤的感觉，主要是为我的母亲……她不能原谅那些将我们赶走的人。毫无疑问，我仍能记住那些人的名字，因为我对母亲的受辱感同身受，即使我还只是一个男孩…… (234)

    西蒙诺夫在继父被捕一事上的反应，不是责备和质疑苏维埃政权，而是更加努力工作，以补贴家用。也许，继父的被捕更加强了他的信念：为了保护自己，他必须夯实自己的无产阶级身份。整个夏天，西蒙诺夫白天读书，晚上打工。他获得晋升，成为二级学徒工，工资翻了一番。这足以供奉母亲，还能每周送两个包裹给狱中的继父。亚历山德拉在一所中学教法文和德文，赚取额外的现金。到秋天，亚历山大出狱了。西蒙诺夫回忆：“他拥抱、亲吻母亲，甚至也吻了我，这很不寻常。他好像起了变化，起初我没注意，后来才明白，他的脸色变得阴冷苍白，不再是以前被太阳晒得黝黑的模样。” (235)

    亚历山大并没透露在监狱遭受的折磨，只称所有的指控都被撤销，因为他在“严峻压力”之下也拒绝认罪。西蒙诺夫回忆，在他看来，这件事的教训在于坚定不移：

    时至今日[1978年]，我自问：那个夏天发生于萨拉托夫的事件，是否影响了我对生活的态度？是否在我十五六岁的心灵中留下了烙印？答案是肯定的，也是否定的。就继父而言，其结果并不出乎意料。他还是原来的他——绝对是思路清晰和认真负责的典范——认识他的人全都相信他的无辜。在那可怕的岁月中，与我们交往的几乎每个人都很友好——那也是我们所期待的。对继父的审讯，由于他的强大和坚毅，其结局也是理所当然的。尽管如此，它却给我带来不安。我想，如果是一位较为软弱的人，如果承受不了同样的折磨，就会有截然不同的结果。这令人担忧的想法，久久停留在我的脑中……更重要的是，我觉得自己已经长大，这可能是潜意识的。我也已证明，自己可以应付一场危机。 (236)

    “富农”子女试图掩盖自己的社会出身，其承受的压力，一点也不亚于资产阶级子女和贵族子女。他们中的大多数，不得就读苏维埃学校和大学，不得加入少先队和共青团，不得参军，不得从事较好的职业。他们往往渴望与家人划清界限，以证明自己是“苏维埃公民”，其实质就是害怕自己受排斥。1942年，20岁的沃尔夫冈·莱昂哈德被流放去哈萨克斯坦的卡拉干达地区，他父亲是1935年抵达莫斯科的德国共产党人。沃尔夫冈在师范学院学习，同学中的大多数是“富农”子女，早在20世纪30年代初，就被流放到这个半沙漠地区。他们幼时吃了很多苦，后来才获准上学，很快就要变成教师。莱昂哈德注意到，这使他们的政治身份发生了大幅度的转变：

    我的大多数同学周末回家，回到卡拉干达周围的[特殊]定居地。他们返校后，谈及自己的父母时，经常义愤填膺。我经常听到他们说：“他们还是不懂！我多次向他们解释集体化的道理，但旧派人永远都不会觉悟！”

    这些富农的子女，刚流放至此时还是幼儿，随着时间的流逝，事实上已成了斯大林主义者。 (237)

    很多“富农”子女最终变为狂热的斯大林主义者（甚至加入国家的镇压机关，开创出一片事业）。对有些人来说，转变的过程涉及一个长期且自觉的“自我改造”，不无心理成本，斯捷潘·波德鲁布尼便是一例。他1914年出生于乌克兰西部文尼察地区的农民家庭，他父亲作为“富农”流放至阿尔汉格尔斯克，他与母亲1929年逃到莫斯科。斯捷潘在《真理报》印刷厂的技校找到一份学徒工，加入共青团，率领工人突击队，编辑墙报（一种宣传鼓动），成为工厂理事会成员，似乎还被警方招募成了举报人。那段时间里，他一直小心翼翼地隐瞒着自己的“富农”出身。他的日记记录了自己的战斗历程：如何清除身上农民老祖宗的病态心理，如何脱胎换骨当上一个苏维埃公民。他尽量阅读正确的书籍，采纳正确的态度，以穿着整齐和学习舞蹈来提高个人修养，在自己身上培养关心公益和保持警惕的苏维埃美德。每年年底，他制订进度表，以便衡量自己“在文化上的进步”（犹如国家机构为五年计划规划每一年的经济进步）。他的“富农”出身，一直是自我厌恶和自我怀疑的根源，一再被视作自己缺点的缘由。他还在思忖，到底能否真正成为社会的平等一员：

    1932年9月13日：我已经几次思索自己的生产工作，为何无法从容应付？为什么对我来说总是这么难？有一个念头，我似乎摆脱不掉，像吮吸桦树液一样在吮吸我的血液——那就是我的心理问题。我难道真的是与众不同吗？这个问题使我毛骨悚然，全身发抖。我现在正处在中游，不上也不下，但很容易滑向两端。

    波德鲁布尼不时担心自己的出身会暴露出来，会在工作单位（充满“敌人”的巢穴）受到批斗，会被解雇，甚至会被捕。最终，政治警察确实查出了他的“富农”出身，但告诉他，只要他“继续积极配合”，就不会有事。很有可能，波德鲁布尼从此开始举报他的同事。他在日记中承认，自己像是一头困兽——厌恶自己扮演的角色，渴望成为“真正的自己”。

    1932年12月8日：我每天的遮掩，我内心的秘密——他们不允许我成为一个具有独立人格的人。我不能有任何的自由思想，不能公开、明确地站出来。相反，我不得不鹦鹉学舌，必须走在不平的路面，朝阻力最小的方向。这真是非常糟糕。不知不觉中，我染上了阿谀奉承者和老狐狸的品性：软弱、卑怯，总是屈服。

    有一位同学，其“富农”儿子的身份暴露之后，却没有遭到处罚，波德鲁布尼称之为“历史性时刻”。这似乎显示，他可以不必再为自己的出身而痛感耻辱。他满心喜悦，怀着对苏维埃政府的感激来拥抱这种个人的解放。

    1935年3月2日：我也能成为苏联大家庭的公民，我热爱使之成为可能的人。我再也不是敌人圈子里的人。我一直害怕敌人，无论何时，无论何处。我再也不用担心我的周遭。像大家一样，我可以对各种事物发生兴趣，做一个爱护自己土地的主人，而不是一个向主人叩头的仆人。

    6个月后，波德鲁布尼被接收为莫斯科第二医学院的学生。他一直梦想在高等学院学习，但心知肚明，他的“富农”出身将是一大绊脚石。《真理报》印刷厂的共青团支持他的求学申请，对他来说，无疑是首肯了他的苏维埃新身份。 (238)

    对于许多“富农”子女而言，渴望被认作苏维埃人，亟想成为社会中有价值之人，与其说与政治或个人身份有关，毋宁说应该归功于自己的努力和勤奋。

    安东尼娜·戈洛温娜非常聪明，精力充沛，积极主动，又继承了父亲尼古拉的强烈个性。她在沙尔铁定居地时，曾是学校里的大队干部，辅导其他学生的阅读。她1934年回到佩斯托沃与父亲重聚，年仅11岁的女孩便下定决心要“努力学习，证明自己的价值”。 (239) 但在新学校，年龄较大的男孩把她当做“富农”的女儿加以嘲弄和虐待（佩斯托沃学校有很多“富农”子女），甚至老师们也会挑剔找碴。有一天，孩子们因行为不端而受训斥。一名资深女教师更是把安东尼娜叫到全班面前，予以特别的惩戒，大声叫嚷：她那种人就是“人民公敌，卑鄙的富农！遭到驱逐也是罪有应得。我希望你们都在那里死绝”！安东尼娜在回忆录（2001年）中，把此事当做她人生中的决定性时刻。她深深感到不公和愤慨，真想呼喊出来以示抗议，但更深沉的恐惧迫使她缄默不语。

    突然，我心里泛起一种感觉：我们[富农]与众不同，我们是罪犯，很多事情都没有我们的份。我现在明白，我当时即有一种自卑感，深深陷入恐惧之手。这个政府可以生杀予夺，因为我们是富农，没有任何权利，只能在沉默无言中忍受一切。

    同学玛丽亚的父亲也作为“富农”被捕，女教师训斥事件发生之后，玛丽亚低声对安东尼娜说：“听着，老巫婆吐出这样的骂人话，我们来写一封投诉信！”安东尼娜很怕，所以由玛丽亚一人执笔写了那封信，但是以两人的名义。她写道，她们的父母是富农，但不能怪罪于子女，衷心希望能有机会，以勤奋学习来证明自己。她们还在信上画了新年树 [3] 作装饰。安东尼娜将信藏在洗衣袋中（母亲承担学校的清洗工作），送去校长办公室。校长颇表同情，把她们叫去他的办公室，告诉她们“私下里，他同意我们的观点，但我们不得外传”。显然，他后来找了那位刻薄的女教师，因为她的态度有所软化，甚至允许这两个女孩参与学校的话剧表演。那部戏讲述农民保姆（安东尼娜饰）在“富农”（玛丽亚饰）家受尽苦难，安东尼娜在回忆录中写道：

    在最后的独白中，我必须说这样的话：“你已吸干了我的生命，我现在懂得，再也不愿同你在一起。我要离开你，去上学！”——讲完这几句，我就离开舞台，随即响起了雷鸣般的掌声。我深深融入这个角色，我的愤慨显得既自然，又逼真。 (240)

    安东尼娜全身心投入学业，她喜欢学校，成绩优秀，好几次出现在学校礼堂的优秀学生榜上。这意味着她有资格参加苏维埃节日的学校游行。安东尼娜喜欢这些游行——不是因为在政治上要求上进（她认为扛旗反而有失身份），而是因为代表自己的学校而感到自豪。她渴望加入少先队，但由于“富农”出身，不能遂愿，她为此而伤心欲绝。她戴上自制的红领巾，赶去少先队聚集的俱乐部，渴望自己能够参与他们的游戏。 (241) 渐渐地，她找到了自己的位置，尽管有“富农”的背景，还是在1939年加入了共青团（共青团委员会看重她的主动精神和能力，对她的出身睁一只眼闭一只眼）。安东尼娜因此变得大胆，鼓足勇气在1939年夏天，隐姓埋名，重访自己的家乡——已改名为“新生活”集体农庄。她发现，她的老家已变成集体农庄的办公室。 (242)

    安东尼娜的信心和雄心在与日俱增，决定不再努力让人接受真实的她，而是为自己编造全新的身份。每当填写新表，她就开始撒谎。她回忆：“我知道自己在做什么，决定重编自己的履历。”从青年起，安东尼娜就过上了秘密生活，不向朋友谈论自己的私事。1940年，她遇上第一个认真交往的男朋友，但闭口不谈自己的家世，因为她害怕对方获悉她的过去可能就会离开。之后的整整50年，她都不让家人知道自己的真实身份，因为她害怕，这既是为自己，也是为家人。回首往事，她记得：

    我必须时刻保持警惕，不能漏嘴，不能暴露。我一开口，就要动脑筋：我忘掉了什么？我说的话会使人生疑吗？无时无刻不是这样……我很怕，就会保持沉默。这种恐惧伴我一生，须臾不离……妈妈总说：“当你与狼一起生活时，就必须学会狼的习性！” (243)

    [1] 从“拳头”一词派生出来的“富农”（kulak），最初被农民用于泛指剥削性质的行业（放高利贷的、出租土地的、投机倒把的，等等）。在他们看来，即使雇用他人的自耕农，也不可算作“富农”。相比之下，布尔什维克以马克思主义的定义误用此词，将富裕农民全部划作富农。他们有一个错误的假设，将农村中的雇人（这在俄罗斯的大部分地区本来就极为罕见）视作一种“资本主义”（而不是农村劳动力短缺的弥补）。所以，富农就等同于资本家了。内战时期，布尔什维克想在农村挑动阶级斗争和征用粮食，便将无地农民（主要是流入城市的）组成贫农协会，以对抗被控囤积粮食的富农。到集体化时，反对加入集体农庄的任何农民——不管是富是穷——都被控为富农。
    [2] 戈洛温家有两个谷仓、几部小机械、3匹马、7头牛、几十只猪羊、两辆大车，还有一些家具，包括苏维埃农村中象征着富裕的铁床和茶炊。
    [3] 1929年圣诞树在苏联遭禁，到1935年才获得恢复，但改称为新年树。苏联的新年节日承继了传统圣诞节的很多活动，譬如家庭团聚、交换礼物以及类似圣诞老人的弗罗斯特叔叔（Uncle Frost）。

    第三章 对幸福的追求（1932—1936）

    一

    1932年，法尼娅·拉斯金娜和米哈伊尔·沃希切斯基结婚。米哈伊尔既是党的干部，又在韦斯宁兄弟建筑师公司担任建筑工程的行政主管，那是莫斯科最重要的建筑公司之一。法尼娅离开位于祖博夫广场的娘家，暂时租房数月，再与丈夫一起搬入时尚的阿尔巴特区。那是一个三居室公寓，不大，总面积只有58平方米，但与绝大多数莫斯科人相比，却显得摩登豪华，拥有自己的厨房、浴室、抽水马桶，甚至还装了私人电话。 (244)

    20世纪30年代初，莫斯科迅速扩展。从1928到1933年，首都人口从200万增至340万，主要是由于大批农民涌入工厂，这使城市的住房承受了巨大压力。1933年以后，莫斯科通过国内护照制度以及大规模驱逐“异己分子”，得以控制城市人口。 (245) 数以百万计的人，梦想就是搬入莫斯科。在苏联，莫斯科是权力、财富、进步的中心。在宣传中，它被描述成社会主义制度下未来美好生活的见证。

    斯大林对首都的“社会主义建设”具有浓厚的兴趣，在1935年签署了一项雄心勃勃的重建莫斯科的总体规划。制订该计划的建筑师有韦斯宁兄弟、列昂尼德、维克托、亚历山大等，接受莫斯科苏维埃的统一指导。该计划将莫斯科规划成一个可容纳500万居民的城市，并在郊区广泛建造新型的住宅区，由公路、环道、绿地、污水处理系统、通信网络和工业世界中最先进的地铁连接起来。计划中一切都是大规模的。满布中世纪窄街和教堂的市中心，被大规模拆除，为建造开阔的大街和广场腾出空间。一条广阔、全新的游行路线，将横穿首都的市中心。特韦尔斯卡娅大街（已改名为高尔基大街）要拓宽至40米，挡道的旧楼只能推倒（许多建筑遗迹，包括建于18世纪的莫斯科苏维埃大楼，只好退出主道，易地重组）。在红场上驱除全部的市场摊位，以便聚集的游行队伍在5月1日和革命纪念日畅通无阻地走过革命的神圣祭坛——列宁陵墓。甚至还有炸毁圣瓦西里大教堂的计划，以便让陵墓前的游行队伍可以排成没有中断的一长列。斯大林的莫斯科被重建成一座帝国大首都——即苏维埃的圣彼得堡，比苏联任何其他城市更为雄伟，更为先进，成为未来社会主义社会的象征（布哈林称总体规划“几近奇迹”，将使莫斯科变成“新的麦加，为人类幸福而奋斗的战士会从世界各地赶来朝圣”）。 (246)

    韦斯宁兄弟在首都的重建上发挥了主导作用，其建筑理论因此而发生了戏剧性变化。20世纪20年代，韦斯宁兄弟一直走在建构主义运动的前列，尝试将柯布西耶的现代主义理想融入苏联建筑。但在重建斯大林的莫斯科时，他们改用了新古典主义和纪念碑式的风格。这代表着艺术和精神上的妥协，他们是建筑师，必须仰仗客户，而国家是其唯一的客户。两兄弟一直参与苏维埃宫殿的筹建，地点就在1932年即已拆毁的救世主大教堂。该宫殿如果建成，将是世界上最高的建筑物（定为416米高，比1931年在纽约落成的帝国大厦还要高出8米），顶上耸立一座巨大的列宁塑像（3倍于自由女神的尺寸）。 (247) 但苏维埃宫殿从未建成， [1] 多年以来，该工地无形中变成了一座纪念碑，让人记得莫斯科的允诺。

    韦斯宁兄弟帮助监督莫斯科地铁的建设——共产主义进步的另一个象征。隧道的挖凿始于1932年，到1934年春天，共雇用7.5万名工人和工程师，其中许多人是农工和古拉格囚犯。挖凿是极其危险的工作，火灾频繁，更因土壤的松软而塌方连连。100多人死于第一条地铁线的建设，它全长12公里，连接索科尔尼基和高尔基公园。20世纪30年代，莫斯科所有的主要建设项目都雇用古拉格劳工（首都附近就有不少劳改营）。25万名囚犯参与了莫斯科至伏尔加河的运河开掘，为的是向首都不断增加的居民人口供水。其中许多人死于体力耗尽，尸体就埋在运河的地基中。斯大林的莫斯科，在许多方面向彼得大帝的首都寻求灵感，像圣彼得堡一样，也是以奴隶尸骨为地基的乌托邦文明。

    第一条地铁线在1935年启用，莫斯科共产党的主管拉扎尔·卡冈诺维奇誉之为无产阶级的宫殿：“我们工人乘坐地铁时，应该是欢快喜悦的，应该想象自己身处一座因社会主义的胜利而光芒四射的宫殿。” (248) 该地铁站像宫殿一般，饰有吊灯、彩绘玻璃、黄铜和镀铬的饰件，墙壁由大理石（20个不同种类）、斑岩、缟玛瑙、孔雀石装饰而成。马雅可夫斯基地铁站（1938年）可与教堂媲美，它的中央大厅以椭圆形的穹顶、马赛克的大理石地板、不锈钢的拱门，造就了明亮崇高的气氛。20世纪30年代后期，韦斯宁兄弟设计了斯大林工厂地铁站，希望获得身处大教堂之内的气氛。落成的地铁站（1943年），以哥特式的大理石高柱、空间和光线的巧妙利用、描绘五年计划“成就”的汉白玉浮雕（包括马格尼托哥尔斯克钢铁中心、斯大林工厂、苏维埃宫殿和莫斯科至伏尔加的运河），完美地实现了这一初衷。 (249) 这些无产阶级宫殿的辉煌，与大多数人生活空间的拥挤和肮脏，形成了鲜明的对比。另一方面，它们又发挥了异常重要的宣教功能（与历史上教会扮演的角色没有两样）。地铁站的华美激励了民众的自豪和崇敬，加强了他们对公共目标和苏维埃价值的信念。

    韦斯宁兄弟也参与兴建私人住宅，被要求设计两居室和三居室的公寓，就像米哈伊尔·沃希切斯基和法尼娅·拉斯金娜婚后居住的。法尼娅回忆：“我们非常高兴，这是我们第一次住上了带有私用厨浴的公寓。米夏[米哈伊尔]有了自己的书房。如有来客，也还有空余的客房。” (250)

    这种对私人公寓的重新重视，象征了苏维埃住房政策的根本转变。20世纪20年代，建造新型集体住房的乌托邦梦想主宰一切，布尔什维克优先考虑“公社房屋”——庞大的共用社区，容纳数千工人及其家人的一长排房间，厨房、盥洗、洗衣设施都属共用，让妇女从家务琐事中解放出来，让居民学会集体生活。当代建筑师联盟中的建构派，一直站在这苏维埃运动的前列，他们要废除一切私人领域，让人们过集体生活。但莫斯科的住房政策在1931年出现大的扭转：尽管苏维埃首都的住房长期紧缺，超过百万的新居民又使之加剧，新政策仍规定，莫斯科的主要建筑类型将是单个家庭单元的豪华住宅。

    这一政策变化显然跟政治和工业新精英的崛起有关，需要提供物质奖励以保证他们对斯大林政权的忠诚。五年计划需要大量的技术人员、行政官员、经理人，遍布所有的经济部门。据国家计划委员会（Gosplan）的主席称，工业部门仅在1930年就需要43.5万名工程师和专家。斯大林的领导机构不信任旧工业精英（属于资产阶级，1928年的苏维埃工程师中只有2%是党员），其中很多专家一直反对工业五年计划极端乐观的目标。在1928至1932年的工业恐怖中，那些专家遭到了大规模地清洗（作为“破坏者”和“颠覆分子”）。其时，五年计划引起的混乱和燃料、原料的不时中断，使工厂不得不关闭。工人们拿不到工资，遂愤起声讨他们的主管。工业管理阶层、经济委员会、规划机构、大专院校、教学机构，清除了身居高位的“资产阶级专家”，为“无产阶级知识分子”的晋升创造了机遇。第一个五年计划是工厂技校的全盛时期，为不断增加的工业职业和行政职位，培养了适当的人选，其中许多人前不久刚刚从农村前来。从1928到1932年，工厂技校的学生人数从180万跃升至330万（将近一半是农民）；14万工人从车间工作晋升为管理人员（其中很多人一边上班，一边培训）；150万工人离开工厂，或担任行政职务，或赴高级院校进修。同时，还有100万工人入党。党领导尝试扩充无产阶级的社会基础以支持和实施党的政策，因而降低了入党要求（在许多工厂，全体员工集体入党）。 (251)

    斯大林需要可靠的支持。“大转变”酿造了社会的混乱和广泛的不满，从而动摇了他的领导权威。党和苏维埃的档案中充斥着来自愤怒的工人和农民的投诉信和请愿单，哭诉“五年计划”造成的苦难。他们写信给苏维埃政府、最高苏维埃主席团主席米哈伊尔·加里宁，甚至直接写给斯大林本人，抱怨集体化和过度征粮的不公、在工厂遇到的麻烦、苏维埃官员和经理的腐败、住房和食品的短缺。 (252) 他们并不是任由命运摆布的顺民，全国各地都有起义和罢工。 (253) 在许多城市的大街上，反苏维埃的涂鸦，几乎与苏维埃的宣传一样醒目。 (254) 在农村，反苏维埃的牢骚体现于一些押韵歌谣之中：

    五年计划，五年计划
    五年计划，十年见效。
    我不去集体农庄：
    那里没有面包！ (255)

    就斯大林的路线而言，党内虽然没有正式的反对意见，却有大量潜藏的异议和不满，主要是针对1928至1932年的巨大人力消耗。到1932年，他们逐渐汇聚为两个非正式的集团。一个由托洛茨基的前追随者组成，来自20世纪20年代的左翼反对派（斯米尔诺夫、托尔马乔夫、艾斯蒙德等），他们召开各种会议，谈及如何把斯大林赶下台。另一个由较温和的右翼反对派残余力量组成，带头的是新经济政策支持者，如李可夫和布哈林，其中特别活跃的是莫斯科的一个前任区委书记留汀。他在1931年3月筹办老同志秘密聚会，其结果是一份长达194页的打印文件，题为“斯大林和无产阶级专政的危机”。该文件详细批判了斯大林的政策、统治方法和个人品性，在党员队伍中私下传阅，直到被国家政治保卫总局截获。所谓留汀政纲的全部重要成员被捕，并于1932年的秋天被开除出党和判刑，其中大多数人在1937年的大清洗中被枪决。其时，更多的老布尔什维克，即1917年的老革命，被控与这个集团相互勾结。 (256)

    留汀集团的暴露增加了斯大林对党内反对派的偏执猜疑。1932年11月，又发生了妻子娜杰日达·阿利卢耶娃的自杀事件，这一切让斯大林精神错乱，使他怀疑每一名随行人员。1933年1月，中央政治局宣布对党的队伍实施彻底的清洗。相关的指令并不提及涉嫌加入反对派的成员，只呼吁把“欺骗党、隐匿真实企图，表面上发誓忠于党、实质上削弱党政策的两面派”驱逐出党，从而挑明党的紧急任务是向党领导靠拢，以铲除持不同政见者。 (257)

    20世纪30年代，党的性质通过吐故纳新发生了渐进的演变。老布尔什维克节节败退，新兴的党员官僚阶层崛起于工业基层，主要是晋升为行政官员的工人。他们是农民和无产阶级的儿子（极少是女儿），在第一个五年计划时期受训于工厂技校和其他技术机构。这一代行政官员成了斯大林政权的支柱，到斯大林统治落幕时，占了党高级领导的很大比例（在1952年的苏维埃政府中，他们在115位部长中占了57位，包括列昂尼德·勃列日涅夫、安德烈·葛罗米柯、阿列克谢·柯西金等）。 (258) 20世纪30年代早期涌现出的精英，一般来讲，比较循规蹈矩，比较听从当初提拔他们的领导干部。他们平均只接受过7年教育，很少能作独立的政治思考，只会借用报刊上党领导的发言，鹦鹉学舌，重复其宣传口号和政治术语。 [2] 他们对马克思列宁主义的实际认识非常浅薄，全以《联共（布）党史简明教程》（1938年）为准。那是斯大林组织编写的党史，他们却背得滚瓜烂熟，完全认同斯大林政权，双方的价值和利益都是一致的。他们急于实施上级的命令，以此推动自己的职业生涯。

    这些新精英的特征在阿尔卡季·曼科夫的日记中得到尖刻的描绘。阿尔卡季是列宁格勒红三角工厂的会计，父亲是律师，自己在工厂上班是为了取得“无产阶级”身份，并能进入图书管理员学院求学。他在1933年日记中描述他的上司——一个25岁的年轻人，像数万青年人一样开始他的职业生涯：

    他不知来自何方，现身于列宁格勒的街头，通过劳工交流所找到一份工厂工作。数月之后，他便加入共青团，成为一名积极分子——也就是说，完成上级吩咐的一切任务——开会积极发言，炫耀他所知道的斯大林和莫洛托夫的文章。于是，他突然晋升为劳工经济学家，转到行政部门工作……他取得的成就，既有一个重要的称号，又有很丰厚的薪水（每月300卢布）。他给人一个成功人士的印象，很满意自己的成绩和地位，脸上挂着甜蜜的笑容，身穿一尘不染的英式白衬衫、领带和黑色新夹克，面带自信甚至傲慢的神态。他虽身居高位，却没有具体工作，净管些琐碎小事：留心员工的行止，检查账目，设置工作的规范。他认为自己什么都要管——为了表达工厂的意见——有时坚持，有时大声嚷嚷，有时施加威胁。他收集信息，填写从来没人查看的无谓的表格和卡片。他热衷于调查车间内的技术革新是否合法，老是在翻阅工人的规则手册。 (259)

    这种行政官员为了物质和政治的奖励，会很容易攻击其在苏维埃等级制度中的对手。1932年，庞大的工业集团特兰斯玛西科技公司的经理，写信给苏维埃主席团主席米哈伊尔·加里宁说：

    苏维埃政权的问题在于，最卑鄙的人反而得心应手，官运亨通——他们刻板地执行最高权威的宏观设计……这种官员从不讲实话，因为不想让领导受窘。看到对手管辖的地区或病房正在遭受饥荒和瘟疫，他却幸灾乐祸。他绝不会动一根手指头来帮助近邻……我在周围看到的，都是可恶的政治权术、肮脏的伎俩和因口舌而被毁的人。举报不止，看不到尽头。你随口吐一口吐沫，都很难不招惹声讨者或骗子们的攻击。我们都变成什么了？都快透不过气了。越是无才的混蛋，他的诽谤就越是寡廉鲜耻。当然，清洗共产党与我无关。我只是认为，尚存的体面人士将会被赶尽杀绝，这就是它的最终结局。 (260)

    托洛茨基的《被背叛了的革命》（The Revolution Betrayed, 1936年）概述了他的“苏维埃热月”理论。他指出，斯大林的权力依赖于庞大的“行政金字塔”，人数约在500万至600万。 (261) 这新兴的执政阶层并未继承老布尔什维克的民主本能，或对斯巴达的崇拜。老布尔什维克因此担忧，新经济政策的资产阶级影响将会腐蚀广大的党员。该执政阶层又希望成为苏维埃的新资产阶级，其兴趣集中于舒适的家居生活、对物质财富的占有以及“文雅”的爱好和举止。他们的社会意识是反动的，紧紧抱住家长制家庭的习俗不放；即便在政治上相信共产主义，在文化品位上仍是守旧的。他们的主要目的是捍卫苏维埃制度，他们物质上的福祉和社会中的地位全靠这个制度。

    反过来，这个制度又确保了他们的满意。之前，消费行业为了赶建新厂新镇而资金短缺，但在第二个五年计划（1933—1937年）中，获得了政府的追加投资。到20世纪30年代中期，食品、衣服、家庭日用品的供应明显改善（当时的数百万孩子都能记得，他们穿上第一双新鞋的时间都是在1930年代中期）。从1935年秋天起，配给制逐步取消。根据苏维埃的宣传，随着商店橱窗的充实，消费者的乐观情绪高涨。照相机、留声机、收音机大批量生产，以满足新兴城市中产阶级的需求。甚至奢侈品的生产（香水、巧克力、白兰地、香槟）也有稳步的上升，其主要顾客是新精英，其价格在苏维埃节日有所下调。以前只有富人享用得起的奢侈品，现在的劳工大众，只要努力工作也能买得起。这样的印象，对维持“美好生活”的苏维埃神话非常重要。新的消费杂志向苏维埃顾客提供日益多样化的时装和家具设计，百货公司和豪华商店的开张获得媒体的大肆渲染。叶利谢耶夫食品店改名为第一食品商店，1934年10月在莫斯科的高尔基大街重新营业。《莫斯科晚报》（Evening Moscow）宣布：“新店将出售1200多种食品。”

    食品部有38种香肠，包括之前从未在任何地方出售的20个新品种。该部门还将出售3种奶酪——卡门培尔奶酪、布利乳酪、林堡芝士——都是商店特地订制的。糖果部有200种糖果和糕点……面包部有50种面包……

    第二天来店里参观的共有7.5万人（有人猜测，大部分只是来看看）。

    对照于革命后前10年布尔什维克的革命禁欲主义，这种对苏维埃消费文化的提倡，可算是意识形态上的急遽撤退。甚至第一个五年计划，仍在呼吁共产党人为党的事业牺牲自己的幸福。到如今，苏维埃领导却发出决然相反的信息：消费主义和共产主义可以兼容。斯大林在1934年争辩，社会主义“所意味的不是贫穷和贫困，而是贫穷和贫困的消亡，并为社会所有成员提供丰富多彩的生活”。斯大林这个想法，起源于1935年的集体农庄劳工会议。当时，他批评尝试取消家庭财产的集体农庄，要求让集体农庄工人保留家禽和奶牛，分得更多的自留地，以刺激他们对集体农庄的兴趣。斯大林还告诉与会代表，“人就是人，想拥有自己的东西”，这不算“犯罪”——想要私人财产是人的本能，“改变人的心理和教人过集体生活还需要很长一段时间”。 (263)

    从革命禁欲主义撤退回来的另一迹象，是党开始重视个人的外观和礼仪。早期布尔什维克认为，关心如此小事是反社会主义的。但从20世纪30年代起，党宣布年轻共产党员必须具有文雅的举止和良好的仪表。《真理报》在1934年宣称：“我们赞成美丽、别致的服装，漂亮的发型，整洁的指甲。女孩应讨人喜欢，香水和化妆是优秀女共青团员的‘必须’，男共青团员剃须更是强制性的。”香水和化妆品的销售，无论是数量还是品种，在20世纪30年代都有显著增长。大家还开会来讨论服装时尚和个人卫生。 (264)

    追求乐趣也成为新的重点。斯大林在1935年宣布：“同志们，生活变得更好了。生活也带来了更多欢乐，而当生活充满欢乐，工作就会顺利。”早期布尔什维克斥为轻浮追求的跳舞，获得斯大林政权的正式鼓励，很快风靡一时，到处涌现新开的舞蹈学校。莫斯科的公园出现了嘉年华会，大街上有了庆祝苏维埃节日的庞大的游行队伍。苏维埃电影界拍摄了一些欢乐的音乐剧和浪漫喜剧。人们还没有很多面包，却有大把的马戏团。

    斯大林政权的巩固与社会等级制度的建立紧密相连，该制度又以物质奖励为基础。对金字塔顶端的人来说，勤奋和忠诚能带来即时的奖励；对底部的人来说，只有奖励的许诺，兑现则还须等待共产主义的实现。所以，该政权又与理想中的社会的建立相连。该社会的核心是新兴的中产阶级，其成员包括党和工业的精英、技术精英、专业人士、军警人员以及艰苦奋斗赢得声誉的劳动模范（the Stakhanovites）。 [3] 该社会等级制度的原则就是对国家的服务。在每一个机构内，第二个五年计划的口号（“干部决定一切！”）旨在扶植国家忠实的仆人，他们的忠心耿耿可获得优渥的回报，例如较高的薪酬、特殊的消费品、苏维埃的头衔和荣誉。

    从20世纪30年代中期起，苏维埃政权鼓励传统的（“资产阶级”）家庭价值观，进一步推动了中产阶级的涌现。这也是一个戏剧性的逆转，因为从1917年以来，党一直在追求反家庭的政策。这一转变部分原因是为了因应“大转变”对人口造成的影响：出生率出现灾难性的下降，严重威胁到国家的劳工供应和军事实力；离婚率增高，遗弃儿童已成普遍现象；家庭变得支离破碎，留给政府来应付残局。回归到传统的家庭价值观，也反映出工业和政治精英的新保守主义，他们中的大多数人不久前还属于农民和工人的阶层。如托洛茨基在1936年所写的，政策变化只是苏维埃政权坦率的认输，它“强攻旧家庭”的乌托邦尝试——铲除私人生活的习俗，培植集体生活的本能——已经一败涂地。

    同样，从20世纪30年代中期起，党对家庭和私人住宅采取了更为宽松的措施。私人生活的概念（chastnaia zhizn’）——即不受国家查控的封闭且独立的领域——仍在意识形态上遭到否定，但个人生活的概念（lichnaia zhizn’）——即接受公众监督的个人或家庭的领域——却得到国家的积极推广。在这种公私分别的配置中，私人和个人的东西只表现在个性上，公共领域仍占统治地位，仍要求了解个人生活的方方面面。实际上的效果是解放出一个四面墙包裹的空间，容许家庭私事的自由表达（消费口味、生活方式、家庭习惯等），但又保留了对私人行为的政治控制，特别是对于共产党人。妇女党报《女工》（Rabotnitsa）在1936年宣称：“党不干预共产党人的日常琐事，也不为之设立标准。它并不要求每一位党员在生活中遵守一定的行为规则，只要求他们在私人生活中的所作所为，以党和工人阶级的利益为重。”

    建设私人住宅作为新的重点，是政策改变的标志。所有主要的部委在莫斯科都有自己的公寓街区，分配给自己的领导。曾在20世纪20年代朴素度日的布尔什维克家庭，现在享受了相对奢侈的生活。他们得到各式奖励，例如新住宅、特供的食品商店、带司机的公家车、郊外别墅，以及在特别的政府度假胜地和疗养院度假。对很多此类家庭来说，20世纪30年代是他们第一次获得自己的生活空间和自主权。向苏维埃精英授予郊外别墅——自20世纪30年代起才有大规模的实施——在鼓励私人家庭生活方面尤为重要。住在郊外别墅，远离警惕之眼和窃听之耳，亲戚们可以畅谈，要是在公共场所，那是不可思议的。此外，简单乡村生活的日常活动——游泳、爬山、采蘑菇、读书、院子里的闲逛——让家人得以暂脱苏维埃社会的约束。

    在家庭内部，斯大林政权提倡回到传统的家庭关系。婚姻变得光荣，婚姻登记处布置得漂亮光鲜，婚姻证书都印在优质纸张上（来自维舍拉），不再是以前的包装纸。戒指作为基督教遗存在1928年遭禁，1936年之后又重现于苏维埃商店。一系列旨在加强苏维埃家庭的办法出笼：收紧有关离婚的法规，大幅提高离婚费，导致离婚率的急速下降；提高孩子的抚养费，取缔同性恋和堕胎。在苏维埃的精英当中，性态度开始回归传统，甚至变得相当拘谨。优秀的斯大林主义者应遵循一夫一妻制，并奉献于自己的家庭。根据对他个人崇拜的宣传，斯大林便是如此的榜样。 [4] 布尔什维克在亲密关系中的行为也受到密切关注。如被认作坏父亲或坏丈夫，因而被开除党籍之事，也时有发生；同时又希望党员妻子，重回在家抚养孩子的传统角色。

    推动家庭成为国家的基本单位，迎来了家庭在思想上的恢复名誉。1935年，一名教育家写道：“家庭是我们社会的主要细胞，其抚养子女的职责来自其培养良好公民的义务。”从20世纪30年代中期起，斯大林政权愈益通过家庭的比喻和象征，来塑造自己的形象——其时，千百万人发现自己虽然身处全新的陌生环境，而家庭的价值体系却是他们所熟悉的。对斯大林的个人崇拜，在那几年蓬勃兴起，把他比作“苏维埃人民之父”，就好比尼古拉二世在1917年以前曾被比作俄罗斯人民的“沙皇父亲”（tsar-batiushka）。各式社会机构，如红军、党、共青团甚至“无产阶级”，都被重新想象为大家庭，通过同志关系来提供更高形式的归属感。在这个家长制的党国，父母的角色此时上升为权威人物，在家里坚持苏维埃的道德准则。《共青团真理报》在1935年宣称：“年轻人应该尊重长辈，尤其是自己的父母。一个人必须尊重和热爱父母，即使他们老派，并不喜欢共青团。”相对于当年对帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫的个人崇拜，鼓励苏维埃儿童举报反对政府政策的父母，这真是戏剧性的变化。到1935年，政府重新诠释对莫罗佐夫的个人崇拜，低调处理帕夫利克的举报，改而强调新的理念，如帕夫利克的努力工作和遵守纪律。 (267)

    这些年中长大的苏维埃精英的孩子，对此非常怀念，尤其是对“正常的家庭生活”。玛琳娜·伊万诺娃1928年出生于高级党员家庭，父亲在列宁格勒东南50公里外的姆加镇担任党委书记。她家在那里有一栋宽敞的乡间房子（dacha），但多数时间住在曾是贵族的祖父在列宁格勒的公寓。玛琳娜回忆：

    那套公寓太豪华了，有10个大房间，我这个孩子可以任意跑来跑去。房间里的天花板很高，窗户很大，可以望见花园……列宾和列维坦的油画[复制品]挂在墙上。三角钢琴和台球桌分别立在两个会客室里……这公寓是我童年回忆中最幸福的所在。我记得熙熙攘攘的聚会，亲戚、朋友，加上他们的孩子，都来我家庆祝新年。孩子们穿上化装舞会的服饰，爸爸装扮成弗罗斯特叔叔，给每个人带来巧克力和礼品，放在新年树的周围。 (268)

    伊娜·盖斯特的父亲阿隆，1932年就任国家计划委员会的农业部门主管，全家就搬进了专为苏维埃高级官员保留的莫斯科著名公寓（河堤大楼公寓），面对克里姆林宫。他们的公寓很大，装饰有政府提供的最新式苏维埃家具，还有一个藏书数千册的家庭图书馆。全家享受有教养的俄罗斯生活，既有共产主义理想，又有苏维埃精英的特权。他们有莫斯科大剧院高级包厢的通行证，还有频繁的假期，可以前往克里米亚和莫斯科郊区的特别度假村。但伊娜最美好的回忆，还是他们在尼科利纳·戈拉的乡间房子里度过的夏日：

    乡间的房子坐落在小山峦的美丽松林中，就在莫斯科河拐弯处的上方。这个地方真是太漂亮了，是莫斯科最美的地段之一……我们的房子就在高高的河堤上，可俯视莫斯科河。那是两层的大房子：舅舅韦尼阿明掩饰不住他的羡慕，称之为“别墅”（villa）。楼上楼下各有三个大房间，还有一个大阳台。房间里经常挤满了人，总是有父母的亲戚来访——主要是我的表亲。周末，父母的朋友从莫斯科过来……我有邻近乡间房子的自己的朋友，我们大部分时间都花在河上。爸爸建了从房子走下河边的楼梯，让祖母更容易走到水边。那是一条蜿蜒陡仄的楼梯，至少有100个台阶。我们离开后，人们仍把它称作盖斯特的楼梯。它的下端有一个小小的木码头，可供游泳，但周围的水奇深，只有与父亲一起，我才被允许在那里游泳。朋友和我都喜欢克尔任采夫乡间房子的码头，那里的水浅，很适合游水。 (269)

    但这种美好的回忆并不是每个人都有的福分。对许多家庭来说，20世纪30年代是紧张气氛愈演愈烈的时期。传统关系的恢复，经常在丈夫和妻子之间制造摩擦。对苏维埃家庭素有研究的托洛茨基认为，斯大林政权背叛了当初布尔什维克革命家的允诺，即把妇女从家务羁绊中解放出来。有关工人家庭中家务分配的统计数字，证明了他的判断。从1923到1934年，职业女性花在家务上的时间是丈夫的3倍，到1936年更升至5倍。对于女性而言，20世纪30年代没有带来任何变化——她们在工厂上班，回到家里再做第二班，做饭、打扫、照顾孩子，平均每晚5小时——男子因工人住宅的现代化，即自来水和煤电的供应，得以解脱于传统的家务（劈柴、挑水、准备火炉），从而有更多时间追求文化和政治。 (270)

    托洛茨基也考虑到家庭中的性别政治：

    有关苏维埃的伟大史籍，其戏剧性章节之一就是苏维埃家庭的解体和破裂：丈夫作为党员、工会会员、军官、经理而蒸蒸日上，在生活中增添新口味；妻子因肩负家务琐事的重压而原地踏步。在两代苏维埃官僚的人生轨迹中，妻子最终遭到遗弃的悲剧比比皆是。同样的现象又在新的一代中出现，最可怕的粗鲁和残酷，恐怕就在官僚机构的顶端——那里相当大的比例是暴发户，很少文化修养，以为自己可以为所欲为。档案和回忆录总有一天将暴露对妻子乃至其他女性的赤裸裸的犯罪，而作恶者凭借自己的高位却无惧起诉，往往还在鼓吹家庭道德和强制性的“母亲的快乐”。 (271)

    弗拉基米尔·马赫纳茨1903年出生于乌兹达村的贫农家庭，位于白俄罗斯的明斯克以南60公里。母亲在生他时去世，父亲在1906年移居美国，把弗拉基米尔交与姑妈抚养。他14岁时逃离家乡，加入赤卫队，参与了1917年10月在明斯克的夺权战斗。之后的4年中，他作为红军，又与内战中入侵苏俄的波兰军队交战。弗拉基米尔在1921年加入布尔什维克，开始在莫吉廖夫农业学院学习，在此遇到并爱上了玛丽亚·乔索娃。玛丽亚1904年出生于克里切耶夫小镇的农民商人家庭，位于莫吉廖夫城以东100公里。她是六姐妹中的老幺，又是家中第一个读大学的孩子。玛丽亚1925年从农业学院毕业，在农学和经济学方面尤其卓越。弗拉基米尔与玛丽亚作为事实上的丈夫和妻子（恰似20世纪20年代的许多苏维埃青年，他们拒绝登记结婚，视之为反抗资产阶级习俗的标志），在莫吉廖夫城同居。弗拉基米尔自农业学院毕业后投入研究工作，1928年搬去莫斯科加入泥炭研究所（泥炭被布尔什维克视作重要的能源），在伊万·拉达琴科的辅导下撰写论文。拉达琴科是布尔什维克的老将，又是列宁的朋友，其时担任该研究所的主管。弗拉基米尔无可挑剔的履历、无产阶级出身、对斯大林工业计划的热情，很快引起莫斯科党组织的关注，1932年便要他与拉达琴科合作，为莫斯科发展新的能源供应。弗拉基米尔成为莫斯科煤气托拉斯——新成立的工业园区——的首任主管，向迅速扩展的首都提供天然气。

    玛丽亚跟着弗拉基米尔来到莫斯科，在农业委员会担任经济学家，直到1933年儿子列昂尼德出生。弗拉基米尔进入莫斯科煤气托拉斯之后，全家即从原先的共用公寓小房间搬到麻雀山（1935年改名为列宁山）宽敞的独用公寓。他们享有斯大林时代新精英的所有特权：带司机的政府高级轿车，银松林专区的私人乡间别墅（dacha），专为党干部保留的秘密商店——难买的消费品在那里一应俱全。列昂尼德描述他早年的记忆：

    虽然记忆零零碎碎，但仍有丰裕的感受，还有神奇童话般的氛围：我骑在父亲结实的肩膀上，看到海洋一般的灯光闪烁，以及大理石的斑斓璀璨（肯定是在莫斯科新落成的地铁站）……　 5月1日，我们还去了红场的列宁陵墓。 (273)

    玛丽亚雇了一名保姆，住在马赫纳茨公寓的储物室里。玛丽亚的意图是想返回农业委员会工作，但弗拉基米尔强烈反对（他告诉玛丽亚“党的高级领导的妻子应该待在家里”），当妻子试图说服时，他大发脾气。像许多男性党干部一样，弗拉基米尔认为，家庭生活应服从于他对党的责任。因为对党来说，他的工作比妻子的更为重要，她的职责就是组织“秩序井然的共产党家庭”，以免除他的后顾之忧。1935年11月，他出差去列宁格勒，在旅途中写信给玛丽亚：

    我亲爱的！我要离开几个星期。我会写信告诉你我的近况和要麻烦你的事项。暂时，我只要这几本书[下附书单]……装饰一下我们的大厅是个好主意，它有点偏暗。就讲这些了。确保我们的小家伙安全健康，照顾好自己，出去时穿得暖和些……忘掉你想回去工作的幻想吧，现在你的岗位就在家里。 (274)

    重回“资产阶级”的物质价值观，有时变成家庭关系紧张的又一来源。阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚是苏维埃电影界的重要人物，他是弗谢沃洛德·普多夫金的摄影师，两人合作密切。普多夫金导演了几部经典电影，例如《母亲》（1926年）、《亚洲风暴》（1930年）、《逃兵》（1933年），五次荣获斯大林奖。戈洛夫尼亚1900年出生于克里米亚的城镇辛菲罗波尔，他两岁时，身为小贵族的父亲就已去世，全靠母亲凭借小额养老金把他和弟弟彼得带大。全家搬到了赫尔松城，两兄弟获得贵族议会的赠款，就读于第一预备学校——相当于普通中学。10月革命后，阿纳托利加入契卡，彼得却加入白军。1920年，阿纳托利率领一小队契卡，向驻扎在附近的白军发起伏击。该白军的首领恰恰是他最要好的同学，其父亲是贵族议会的主席。阿纳托利不忍下手，他让部下畅饮伏特加，自己悄悄越境告诫白军逃走。这段经历——记载于他的日记，从未出现在他的履历中。之后3年，阿纳托利在外漂泊，躲避红军。一开始，他在塔什干定居，有志于成为一名农学家，却遭到农学院的开除，只好逃去莫斯科。1923年9月，他在国家电影技术学院学习摄影，那是苏维埃首都新建的电影学校。他在此遇到并爱上了柳芭·伊万诺娃——一名非常漂亮的年轻演员，来自乌拉尔的车里雅宾斯克城，刚刚抵达莫斯科。她1905年出生于农民家庭，在14个兄弟姐妹中排行老幺。他俩很快结婚，但聚少离多，各忙自己的电影工作。女儿奥克萨娜经常坐火车去赫尔松城与祖母同住，或去车里雅宾斯克城与姨妈做伴。

    1933年，阿纳托利和柳芭分配到第一套公寓——共用公寓中的两个小房间，那是一座附属建筑，坐落在莫斯科市中心住宅区的大院里。其时他们的女儿奥克萨娜7岁，她在回忆录（1981年）中这样描述他们的公寓：

    地板漆成了红色[因为没有地毯]……今天追求物质享受的年轻人，会以为自己走进了一个出售遗弃家具的旧货商店，甚至是一个垃圾场。我们公寓中最珍贵的是斯拉夫式的五斗柜，所有厨房用品都放在一个漆成白色的自制橱柜里，还有两张弹簧床垫、爸爸的写字台、三个带玻璃面板的芬兰式书柜——那是我最喜欢的家具，里面有很多书……我睡一张折叠行军床，位于客厅的一角，躲在瓷器立柜的背后。那张行军床是唯一“属于”我的东西，我会在晚上跟它交谈，我曾以为，我的梦都是它讲的故事。 (275)

    这就是苏维埃电影界两位重要人物的简易居所。其时，柳芭是国际工人救灾电影厂的当家花旦，已演过几部默片。阿纳托利漠视个人财产，经常称自己强烈反对奢侈和优裕是基于“原则”。奥克萨娜回忆：“他拥有相当数量的只有白衬衫和领带。”阿纳托利的朴素植根于自己阶层的价值观（很多重要的作家、艺术家、思想家、革命家来自俄罗斯的破产贵族），以及母亲的节俭习惯。他母亲只有微薄的寡妇养老金，全凭自我牺牲才支撑了孩子的求学。布尔什维克在1917年之所以吸引阿纳托利，正是这种努力工作和纪律严明的精神。他的孙女说，“他的性格中总有契卡的影子。作为祖父，他很严肃，也很严厉，从来没有宠爱过年幼的我”。 (276)

    柳芭则不同，开朗热情，情感丰富。她在家里是最年轻最漂亮的，一直受宠，并渴望享受莫斯科的上流生活。她穿的是昂贵的服装，拥有很多珠宝。1934年，柳芭爱上了国际工人救灾电影厂英俊且富有魅力的主管鲍里斯·巴别茨基，随即抛弃阿纳托利，搬去莫斯科郊外克拉托沃的乡间别墅，与巴别茨基以及他的儿子（沃利克）同住。到秋天，柳芭和鲍里斯回到莫斯科，搬进共产国际酒店（即勒克斯酒店）的宽敞公寓（楼上就是国际工人救灾电影厂办公室）。该公寓非常豪华，沿着走廊有4个铺着木地板的大房间，另有一个大厨房——管家和保姆就睡在那里。奥克萨娜回忆：“这是一座宫殿，一家博物馆，一个童话。”她在1935年也搬去那里。室内装饰由共产国际一名法国工人设计建成，家具——珍贵的古董、青铜花瓶、皮椅、波斯地毯——都是从列宁格勒内务人民委员会的仓库廉价购入的。列宁格勒党的负责人谢尔盖·基洛夫在1934年12月遭到刺杀，依照斯大林的命令，不少贵族和资产阶级被捕，并被逐出自己的住宅，那些家具就是这样被没收来的。奥克萨娜回忆：“妈妈非常自豪于自己的收购，喜欢将买下每一件东西的故事告诉我们。” (277)

    阿纳托利的母亲，即强势的利季娅·伊万诺夫娜，始终坚持自己旧贵族的价值观，认为柳芭沾上了“资产阶级的矫揉造作”，还嘲笑她的衣服和家具“低级趣味”。在利季娅的眼中，它们只是反映出了“苏维埃新精英的物质占有欲”。她认为儿子娶了门不当户不对的女子，一度在激烈争持中称他们俩婚姻的结晶奥克萨娜是“革命中的最大错误”。她相信，柳芭投入巴别茨基的怀抱，是因为他更能满足她的娇贵口味。阿纳托利因柳芭的离去而变得心烦意乱，利季娅解劝他，如果有更大的公寓，或许能诱使她回心转意，但阿纳托利不愿在原则问题上作出妥协。奥克萨娜在回忆录中回顾这些事件，归纳出引起家人争吵的三种相互矛盾的财产观：贵族的旧姿态，布尔什维克革命家的斯巴达式，以及苏维埃新精英的物质享受。奥克萨娜同情母亲，认为她之所以喜欢乡间别墅，与其说是为了占有，毋宁说是在找回童年生活：

    妈妈常说，我们去“我们的乡间别墅”——好像它是属于我们的。我记得这些，是因为爸爸常说他反对私人拥有财产的想法。在那个年代，我没有财产的概念，不能理解母亲拥有自己的东西的心愿。今天，我理解得更深，才知道这不光是财产的问题。妈妈不只是在建造一栋乡间别墅——而是想建立一个家庭。她为家人做出了实在的安排，就像她的农民祖先历来所做的。她爱鲍里斯，她爱我，她爱沃利克，这种爱是她的家庭重心。 (278)

    二

    很少人能享有柳芭·戈洛夫尼亚那样的生活方式。对大多数苏维埃人来说，20世纪30年代是物资短缺的时期。新的官僚阶层，即使可以光顾特殊商店，也得不到丰富的商品供应。据估计，在20世纪30年代的前期，有资格领取特殊供应的家庭共约55500家（苏维埃新权贵阶层的可靠估计），其中住在莫斯科的约有45000家。所获得的特殊供应，仅允许他们比绝大多数人生活得大为舒适，但按西方的标准，他们的生活水准仍然很是平常。下面是莫斯科的市中心政府工作人员家庭每月的配给清单，时间是1932年：

    4千克肉/ 4千克香肠/ 1.5千克黄油/ 2升油/ 6千克鲜鱼/ 2千克咸鲱鱼/ 3千克白糖/ 3千克面粉/ 3千克谷物/ 8罐食品/ 20枚鸡蛋/ 2千克奶酪/ 1千克黑鱼子酱/ 50克茶叶/ 1200支香烟/ 2块肥皂

    这些家庭还可凭政府发给的优惠券，从特殊商店购买衣服和鞋子。如果商店进了高级食品或是生活消费品，他们又享有优先权。但享有如此特权地位的毕竟是少数。大多数斯大林的行政官员，只能过温饱的生活，可能有几套额外的衣服，以及稍大于普通公民的居住空间。曼科夫在日记中不无讽刺地指出：“任何人能梦想的最多是：两三套不同的服装，其中一套是进口的；进口的自行车（或摩托车）；无限制地购买每千克11卢布的葡萄（正好有货时）。” (279)

    货物的分配与社会政治等级制度中的权力或地位有直接的关联。苏维埃精英之下的人，只有很少的财产——大多数人只有一两套衣服，大家能吃饱就已不错了。即便分配这些少量的商品，也有一个严格的排序制度。各式雇员之间存在数不清的等级，以工作场所的地位、技术水平、经验多寡、地理位置为衡量标准。譬如，莫斯科和其他大城市的工资，就要高于省级城镇和农村的。尽管有人人平等的形象和理想，但在事实上，这仍是一个等级森严的社会，即使都是穷人，也存在硬性的等级。

    私人贸易部分地补偿了计划经济的不时短缺。人们在跳蚤市场出售或交换他们的日用品，如果负担得起，还可在政府容忍的少数几家菜市场，购买集体农庄工人在自留地种植的农产品。人们允许在国营商店出售自己的家具和其他贵重物品，或在外汇商店（Torgsin）以首饰和外币交换高级食品和消费品。外汇商店出现于20世纪30年代初，为的是吸收居民的储蓄，向五年计划提供资本。在计划经济的边缘，黑市蓬勃发展。国营商店缺货的商品却在柜台底下以高价出售，或被调给私商（向经理支付贿金的朋友），拿去黑市出售。随即涌现出一种“互惠的经济”，通过后台和顾客的非正式网络（blat），来应付供应的短缺。如果没有这些私人关系，苏维埃经济在许多方面都不能正常运作。办任何事（租房、家用品、铁路客票、护照、官方文件），都需要私人关系——家人、亲戚、同事、朋友，或是朋友的朋友。这种黑市原则也应用于苏维埃的工厂和机构，那里许多商品和服务的提供和交换，也以私人关系和人情为基础。苏维埃的宣传视之为一种腐败（铲除这种非正式小网络的口号在大清洗中发挥了重要作用），很多工人赞同这一观点。但大多数人感到非常矛盾：他们承认这样做在道义上不对，肯定属于不合法，但像每个人一样，都要凭此来满足自己的需求，以应付一个他们知道是不公平的制度。没有非正式小网络，就不可能在苏联过得舒服。正如谚语所说的：“一个人必须要有的，不是一百个卢布，而是一百个朋友。” (280)

    拥挤的城镇中，住房紧缺到如此地步，以致人们几乎愿意做任何事来增加自己的生活空间。由于大量农民涌入工厂，城市住房承受了巨大压力。莫斯科居民在1930年平均每人仅得5.5平方米的生活空间；到1940年，该数字又降至稍稍超过4平方米。新兴工业城镇的情况更糟，因为那里的住房建设远远跟不上人口的增长。 (281) 例如在马格尼托哥尔斯克城，工人阶级的家庭在1935年平均每人仅有3.2平方米的生活空间。大部分工人住在工厂营房，家人被拆散；或住在宿舍，木床周围挂上的帷幕便是所能拥有的唯一的隐私。马格尼托哥尔斯克的一名女工，为自己的宿舍生活描绘出一幅生动的画面：

    宿舍分割成4部分，但没有单独的房间。厨房很小，转身都难，灶台上摆满了锅碗瓢盆。身穿满是油污的工作服的人（钢铁厂没有淋浴设施）、走廊上的小孩，都在排队取水，还有些可怜的“家具”——金属床、床头柜、自制的桌子和架子。

    很多营房有意没建厨房或厕所，迫使居民前去使用公共食堂、公共浴室、洗衣房。但马格尼托哥尔斯克城的大部分工人，显然不赞同私人生活的集体化，反而喜欢住在地棚（zemlianki）里，尽管条件原始，但好歹还有些许的隐私。1935年，马格尼托哥尔斯克城的居民中，约有四分之一居住在地棚里。靠近工厂和矿区的荒地上，布满了大批的地棚区。苏维埃尝试消灭私有财产的最后领域，但工人表现出顽强的抵制。 (282)

    在斯大林的俄罗斯，围绕人际关系的是对居住空间的争夺。根据娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆所说：

    后代人永远都弄不明白，我们的“生活空间”到底是指什么。为了它，无数罪行已经发生。人们与它绑得那么紧，放弃它是永远无法想象的。谁会放弃这珍贵的12.5平方米的生活空间？没人会这么蠢。它像家族的城堡、别墅、不动产一样，传给主人的子孙。讨厌看到对方的丈夫和妻子、丈母娘和女婿、成年的儿子和女儿、成功占了厨房旁边储物室的前佣人们——都要与他们的生存空间结成连理、永不分离。无论是结婚，还是离婚，头等大事就是生活空间的问题。我听闻，抛弃妻子但留下生存空间的男人，被称作完美的绅士。 (283)

    有人假结婚，以此获得一个住所；离婚夫妇仍住同一间房，为的是不放弃各自的生活空间；邻居互相举报，希望能够赢得对方的空间……这样的故事无穷无尽。 (284)

    特维尔省农家遗孀的19岁女儿娜杰日达·斯卡奇科娃，1932年就读于列宁格勒的铁道学院。她住在学生宿舍，与其他几个女孩共用一个小房间。像许多来自农村的新移民一样，娜杰日达未能在列宁格勒登记户籍。由于国内护照制度的推行，她面临被驱逐的危险。她通过一个熟人，找到一名年轻的乌克兰士兵。他在一栋共用公寓中拥有一间房（8平方米），自己即将前去顿巴斯归队。娜杰日达付给了他500卢布与他结婚，便可搬进他的房间。为筹得这笔钱，她母亲卖掉家里最后一头奶牛和其他家什；母女俩一起搬了进去。娜杰日达只见过丈夫一次：

    在他归队前一天的傍晚，我们去与他见面，付完款，就去结婚登记处，再到房管所注册我俩[娜杰日达和母亲]的居住许可。一切顺利，房管所的工作人员朝我们微笑，当然心知肚明——我们钻了空子。他们确认，所有的细节都符合要求。我丈夫第二天一早就走，妈妈和我终于有了自己名下的8平方米……当然，我从没想与他一起过，他是很单纯的乡村小伙子，大字没识几个，过后给我们寄来一两封信——“你好吗？”之类的问候。他把顿巴斯（Donbass）写成了“达巴斯”（Dobas），天哪！这样简单的单词，他都不会拼。 (285)

    苏维埃城市最常见的生活空间是共用公寓，好几户人家共用一套公寓，如果幸运，会有合用的厨房、厕所、浴室（许多城市居民不得不依靠公共浴室和洗衣店）。20世纪30年代中期，莫斯科和列宁格勒的人口中，四分之三住在共用公寓。这种方式的生活，在整个斯大林时期，都是大多数城市居民的常态。 (287) 随着其他的转变，共用公寓的功能也在20世纪30年代发生了实质性变化。20世纪20年代，它的目的是解决住房危机、打击私人生活。现在，它变成了一项重要措施，可让国家的监控进入家庭的私人空间。1928年之后，苏维埃愈益加强其“掺沙子”政策，故意让党的积极分子和忠诚的工人，搬进前资产阶级的家庭，以便监视。

    哈内耶夫斯基一家经历了共用公寓生活的每一阶段。阿列克谢·哈内耶夫斯基来自沃罗涅日城的富裕商人家庭。他在1901年来莫斯科学医，成为一名军医，在第一次世界大战中因表现优异而晋升为中校，并获得贵族头衔。1915年，阿列克谢在莫斯科市中心的普列切斯坦卡大街附近租了一套舒适、宽敞的公寓，与妻子娜杰日达和两个小女儿伊琳娜（1917年生）、艾莱娜（1921年生）及保姆一起生活，一直到1926年莫斯科苏维埃对他实施强行的“掺沙子”政策。最先搬进来的是工人玛法·菲利娜，接着是裁缝瓦西里·卡里亚金一家，最后是老红军尼古拉·沙查诺夫——出身于无产阶级，现已晋升为共产主义学院的教授。当沙查诺夫的第二任妻子与她母亲在1936年搬来时，20世纪20年代仅住三个大人和两个小孩的公寓，已经总共挤进了14个人。他们一起共用走廊、厨房（供两名保姆睡）、厕所和没水的浴室（用作储藏室），唯一可以洗涤的地方是厨房的冷水龙头。哈内耶夫斯基家为避开新邻居，竖起一道门，将自己住的公寓后部隔开。邻居喜欢这道门，因为他们自己的隐私也有所增加。到1931年，地区苏维埃下令要安装浴室——当时正在开展加强个人卫生的苏维埃运动——于是把这道门拆下。但没门的生活证明是麻烦多多，哈内耶夫斯基家和沙查诺夫家老是发生争吵。为此，阿列克谢向地区苏维埃行贿，让他们拆走洗浴装置，使之变回储藏室，再重新装上这道门。不过，沙查诺夫家与哈内耶夫斯基家的关系依然很僵。尼古拉的岳母精神状态不正常，经常在走廊叫骂，指责别人偷她藏在床底下的食物。在这些冲突中，部分原因在于阶级差别。娜杰日达担心沙查诺夫家会偷她的银器，不愿看到他们半裸着出现在走廊，还说他们的气味难闻，要他们勤快清洗。

    许多公寓旧主人认为，搬进的新邻居把他们当做“资产阶级”成员，故意挑刺。1917年以前曾是伯爵夫人的维拉·奥尔洛娃，住在原先只是自家住宅一部分的共用公寓。她和丈夫、女儿搬进一个单间，女儿如此讲述该公寓在20世纪30年代的恶劣气氛：

    共居生活是非常可怕的。住户丈量走廊的每一平方厘米，以及每一小块的公共空间。母亲因为在那里留下一些尚有价值的家具而受到抗议。他们声称，那些东西占了太多空间，应该搬进自己的房间，因为走廊不是母亲的。这些“邻居”计算我们待在浴室里的时间。还有些共用公寓，给厕所[电灯]装上了定时器，以保证大家耗用相同时间的电力。

    与莫斯科和列宁格勒的大多数共用公寓相比，哈内耶夫斯基居住的公寓还不算人满为患。叶夫根尼·马姆林长大的共用公寓，共有16户家庭（54人），每户住在自己的房间，共用一个厨房，还有两个厕所和两个冷水龙头，但没有浴室。 (291) 米诺拉·诺维科娃在莫斯科的共用公寓长大，共有36个房间——每个房间至少住一户人家——全由围绕整栋楼三面的一条走廊相连。她家的房间只有12.5平方米，却住上了10个人。“我们怎么睡觉，真是很难讲清”，米诺拉回忆：

    房间里有一张桌子，那是祖母睡的。6岁的弟弟睡在桌子底下的小帆布床。父母睡在门口的床上，外婆睡在矮沙发上。姑姑和她的表妹用羽毛床垫打地铺。姐姐（当时16岁）、表妹（10岁）和我（11岁）设法挤在她们的中间——我都记不得具体方式了。我们孩子喜欢睡在地板上，可以滑到父母的床底，自找乐趣。我无法想象成年人对此也会生出乐趣。 (292)

    尼娜·帕拉莫诺娃住在列宁格勒一个类似的“走廊系统”，该共用公寓占据整整一层。那栋楼房曾属于一位德国男爵，1925年被贸易学院征用了。1931年，尼娜在列宁格勒铁路管理部门担任会计，与身为船舶设计师的丈夫一起搬入该公寓。它有17个房间，每间至少住一户人家，共有60多人，共用一个厨房、一个厕所、一个淋浴间（只有冷水）。

    在社会阶层的另一端，一座名叫苏维埃第三号楼的政府工作人员共用公寓，位于莫斯科市中心，也有一个“走廊系统”。斯大林的内弟费奥多尔·阿利鲁耶夫，就与其母亲住在那栋楼二层的一个房间。住在楼下9个房间之一的是尼涅利·赖夫施赖德尔，她父亲是老布尔什维克兼政治作家，通常睡在大都会酒店（Metropol Hotel），剩下她、母亲、祖父母和兄妹共6人，合用38平方米的居住空间。使用同一走廊的这9个房间，其居民总数是37人，共用一个大厨房。厨房内的一边是淋浴龙头和浴缸，藏在屏风背后；另一边是一个厕所。在走廊的另一端，还有两个厕所。走出院子，可见一个共用的木棚，储有用于炉灶烧火的柴薪。该公寓当初就被当做集体生活的实验地，但有苏维埃精英想要的服务。它专设了儿童游乐场，在地下室还建了俱乐部和电影院。每一条走廊，都配有清洁工、管家、保姆各一名，费用由住户集体分担。

    共用公寓是共产主义社会的一个缩影。布尔什维克相信，迫使人们分享他们的生活空间，可促使他们在基本思想和行为上更加共产主义化。私人空间和财产会逐渐消失，家庭生活将为共产党人的友爱和组织所取代，私人生活将受到社区的相互监督和控制。每一所共用公寓都有责任的分担，由居民们自己组织安排。公共服务的账单，如煤气、电力、电话，按照使用量（打了多少电话，每个房间内装了多少灯泡）或房间、家庭人口的多少，而作平均分配。维修费用也由集体支付，但经常会有争议，其解决通常需要召开居民大会。公共空间（大厅、入口、厕所、浴室、厨房）的清洁工作，由大家轮流承担（通常张贴在大厅里）。每个人都有洗衣的规定日期，早上排队上厕所也要依照既定的顺序。在这个小型国度内，平等和公平是治理的原则。马姆林回忆：“我们的分配尽可能公平，父亲是我们共用公寓的寓长，算起账来一分也不差，大家都知道自己应付多少。” (295)

    寓长（otvetstvennyi kvartoupolnomochennyi）的职称始于1929年。其时，共用公寓在法律上被确认为一种社会机构，需要遵守具体的规则，向国家承担责任，譬如执行卫生的法规、征收税款、维持治安、向警方汇报居民的私人行止等。 (296) 寓长按规定应由居民选出，但事实上他们大多是自荐，再通过自己的魅力或社会地位，获得居民的同意。尼娜·帕拉莫诺娃记得，他们的寓长“非常严格，管起来活像一个独裁者。我们尊重她，同时也怕她，只有她才能迫使值日的居民规规矩矩做清洁工作”。 (297) 根据1933年的新法律，寓长变成共用公寓的一家之长。他们与警方的联系得以加强，全权领导公寓的清洁工。那些清洁工是臭名昭著的举报人，平时打扫楼梯和院子、巡逻公寓的领地，晚上负责给大院锁门、留意人们的进出。公寓管理制度通过寓长和清洁工，变成了警方监视和控制的基本单位。

    到20世纪30年代的中期，内务人民委员会建起了一个秘密举报人的庞大网络，警方举报人遍及每一个工厂、办公室、学校。 (298) 相互监督的想法是苏维埃制度的基础。这个国家幅员太广，治理不易，布尔什维克政权（与沙皇政权没有不同）还得依靠民众的自我监管。从历史上看，俄罗斯一直拥有强大的集体规范和集体机构，从而为这种政策提供了方便。20世纪的极权政权试图发动民众参与警方工作，通过集体安全来控制统治下的全体人口，其中有那么一两个得以渗透到社会的几乎每一层次，例如东德的国家安全部史塔西（Stasi），但都比不上苏维埃政权60年来的成功。

    在这集体掌控的制度中，共用公寓起了至关重要的作用，居民对邻居的一举一动了如指掌，包括平日的作息表、个人习惯、访客和朋友、买了什么、吃了什么、电话（通常位于走廊上）里说了什么、躲在房间里讲了什么——隔墙非常薄（许多房间中间的隔墙还没跟屋顶连接上）。在20世纪30年代的共用公寓当中，窃听、刺探、举报非常猖獗，大家都受到鼓励，随时提高警觉。邻居会开门查看走廊上的访客，或窃听他人的电话交谈。如果夫妇之间发生争吵，他们会进来当“证人”；如有太多噪音、酒后胡为、暴力，他们就会干预。一般认为，在共用公寓里，“私事”是不存在的，所以人们常说“一人闯祸，大家遭殃”。米哈伊尔·巴伊塔尔斯基记得，他在阿斯特拉罕的亲戚，其共用公寓的隔壁邻居特别警惕：“她一听到开门声，就把自己的尖鼻子伸到走廊，活像一架照相机，记牢你的外貌。那位亲戚还向我们保证，他的访客在她那里都留有记录。” (299)

    在共用公寓的局促环境中，个人财产的争执时有发生——放在共用厨房的食品不见了，自己房间的物件被偷了，晚上有闹哄哄的噪音或音乐。一位居民回忆：“氛围很差，每个人都怀疑别人在偷，但拿不出任何证据，只好在背后窃窃私语。” (300) 每个人都处在紧张状态中，相互的争执不需要很多理由，便会转化成向内务人民委员会的举报。此类争执大多起源于小小的猜忌。由于物品短缺，苏维埃的忌妒文化应运而生，共用公寓又成了这种文化的日常中心。在基于均贫原则的社会制度中，如果某人拥有更多，超过大家，一般会认为他是占了大家的便宜。物质上优越的任何标志——新服装、更好的厨具、特殊食品——都有可能引发他人的仇恨。他们会怀疑这些物品是通过非正常关系获得的。邻居结成联盟，为这些他们眼中的不平等，持续纠缠争斗。一名女子从20世纪30年代至今，一直住在莫斯科一座共用公寓。 [5] 她讲述了自己母亲与一个清洁工的妻子之间的宿仇。母亲在面包店工作，那个清洁工的妻子是众所周知的举报人。每当厨房里出现了蛋糕或面包，清洁工的妻子就以盗窃或破坏的罪名指控她母亲，还威胁说要向有关当局举报。 (301) 米特罗凡·莫伊谢延科是个工人，他帮助列宁格勒共用公寓的邻居修理家具和窗户，或做些零工赚点外快。1935年的春天，他与邻居发生争吵。对方指责他的维修费太高，为此向警方报案，谎称他在地下室工场里窝藏托洛茨基分子。随即，米特罗凡被捕，判刑3年，被送进马加丹附近的劳改营。 (302)

    厨房是许多争吵发生之地。傍晚时分，厨房里人头攒动，很容易头脑发热。厨房虽是共用空间，但在大多数的共用公寓，每家又都有自家的烹饪炉灶、用来吃饭的自家厨桌以及贮存自家食物的地方。贮存处或在橱柜里，或在货架上，或在内窗和外窗的中间——冬天那里的气温与冰箱无异。自家和共用地带的混淆不清，是摩擦不断的源泉，使用别人的炉灶、餐具、佐料足以激发一桩丑闻。米诺拉·诺维科娃回忆：“都不是恶毒的争吵，我们都是穷人，没有值得偷的东西。但空间永远不够，每个人在厨房里都紧张兮兮的，小争小吵是不可避免的。想象一下30名妇女同时做饭的场景！” (303)

    缺乏隐私是紧张的最大来源。即使在自家房间内，也没有某个人的私人空间。一个房间发挥多种功能——卧室、餐厅、客厅、孩子做功课的书房，有时甚至充当厨房。尼涅利·赖夫施赖德尔回忆：

    在我们房间里，没有私人的物件或家具，没有属于某人的架子、椅子、桌子。我的祖父母也没有真正属于自己的东西，只是将他们的床用帷幕围起来，遮挡一点隐私。祖母在自己床底下的木箱中存放一些特殊物品，但她床边的桌子供大家使用。

    许多家庭年幼的孩子睡在屏风、书柜、衣柜的后面，以避开大人和晚上的来客，稍得一点宁静（还可避免他们看到成人脱衣上床）。父母必须等到半夜才悄无声息地做爱。 (304)

    挤在方寸之间，邻居的生活几乎一切尽在目前，无需想象。大家已习惯于在走廊上看到半裸的邻居，还会目睹邻居的最坏行状——醉酒时，或毫无戒备时——没有通常为了自保在公共场合中戴上的面具。他们从门铃的声响获悉邻居来了访客（前门电铃给每个房间配上各自的号码或次序）。发生最私密行为的房间（浴室、厨房、厕所）都是共用的，很容易从留下的证据作出推断。厨房里的晾衣架、浴室里的个人物品、夜间的如厕——可以向邻居披露一切。在这种“公开的隐私”之下，私人生活不断接受集体的审视。 (305)

    邻居之间缺乏隐私，体现于各种形式。有些人憎恨各式的闯入——邻居擅自进入他的房间、在浴室里老听到敲门声、来客总是受到监视。其他人则不满于经常的噪音、不讲卫生、老头对女孩的好色窥视。厕所和浴室永远是摩擦和焦虑的源头。20世纪30年代，艾莱娜·巴伊格罗娃的列宁格勒共用公寓共住了48个人，却只有一个厕所。大家自带肥皂和卫生纸，平时则留在自己的房间。1936年，有一位邻居嫁给了一个黑人。艾莱娜回忆：“他第一次出现时就引起一场非议。人们不愿与他共用一个厕所或浴室，认为他太脏，因为他生得那么黑。” (306)

    私人交谈是一件头痛事。在相邻的房间，能清楚听到邻居的交谈，大家因此学会了窃窃私语。人们非常小心，不与邻居谈论政治（有的共用公寓内，男人们都默不作声）。 (307) 具有资产阶级或贵族背景的家庭，更要小心隐瞒自己的出身。沙皇军官的外孙女阿利娜·多布列卡娃，在莫斯科的共用公寓长大，所有的邻居都是工人及他们的家人，即她所谓的“不友好人群”。家里禁止阿利娜向任何人提及藏在家里的外祖父的照片。她母亲已经入党，找到了一份政府里的工作，以此来隐瞒自己的过去。阿利娜回忆：“如果邻居知道外祖父是何许人，肯定会有更多的不愉快……因此，我们保持缄默，像住在坟墓里一样。” (308) 在共用公寓中交谈可能是非常危险的。在哈内耶夫斯基家，娜杰日达几近失聪，她心存反苏维埃的想法，却直言不讳。她会向女儿解说，沙皇统治下的生活其实更好，越讲声音越大。丈夫阿列克谢害怕隔壁房间的萨佐诺夫家，赶紧提醒她：“嘘，请用耳语。不然我们都要去坐牢了。” (309)

    人们为争取点滴的隐私而战斗。他们把自己的毛巾、洗漱用品、厨房锅罐、盘碟餐具、盐和胡椒，藏入自己的房间；尽量在自己的房间洗涤、烹饪、进餐、晾衣。共用空间也渐渐私有化：各家都会把货架的某层、走廊中的某处、厨桌的某角、门廊里的某个挂钩或鞋位占为己有。这些安排邻里之间都清清楚楚，但如果是走进共用公寓的陌生人，就会手足无措。人们梦寐渴求自己的私人空间，无须面对自己的邻居。叶夫根尼·马姆林的女儿回忆，父亲“渴望自己房间有个相连的小厨房，好让他单独做饭、吃饭，无须踏进共用厨房。但这仅是一个梦想”。对有条件担负租金的人来说，夏季去乡间别墅短住，无疑是一种解脱，可以暂时释放共用公寓的压力。 (310)

    从最好的角度看，共用公寓向居民提供了同志友爱和打成一片的感觉。很多人以怀旧之心，回顾自己在共用公寓度过的日日夜夜，还记得那是邻里分享一切的年代。“战争之前，我们相处和谐”，一位居民回忆：

    大家互相帮衬，没有争吵，在金钱上也从不吝啬——拿到工资，很快花光。那时的日子充满乐趣，一点也不像战争之后——那时，人们开始把钱留给自己，并关上自家的门。

    从某种角度看，这种怀旧与幸福的童年有关。当时，尽管物资短缺，院子里干净安全，很适宜孩子游戏，共用公寓还具有扩展了的“家庭”的气氛。在共用公寓中，孩子之间的交往远远超过父母的。他们一起玩耍，总是在串门，所以更有这种打成一片的感受。20世纪30年代在列宁格勒共用公寓长大的加林娜·马尔克洛娃回忆：

    我们生活得宛如一个大家庭。那些时日，每家都敞开着大门，孩子能在整栋房子里东跑西窜。我们在走廊玩耍，从一个房间跑到另一个房间。同时，大人们聚在一起玩纸牌，或多米诺骨牌。他们不是赌钱，只是为了好玩，总有很多笑声。有很多大人，所以大家轮流玩，没轮上的就站在旁边观战。我们像大家庭一样，一起庆祝苏维埃节日，好吃好喝的都是大家奉献的。过生日很快活，有很多游戏和歌曲。 (311)

    但过分亲近可能使人窒息。20世纪30年代在共用公寓长大的电影导演罗兰·贝科夫记得，当时的生活非常压抑，泯灭了任何个性。贝科夫回忆，共用公寓中盛行“集体法则”，抗议根本没用——只会招致“大家团结起来”，群起而攻之。叶丽萨维塔·切奇克对从小居住的共用公寓抱有同感：

    在一定程度上，我们是走廊上所有成人一起带大的。我有些玩伴，其父母是非常严厉的布尔什维克。我怕他们，在他们面前会感到浑身不自在。现在回顾，我意识到我在成长过程中一直有不自由的感觉，不敢暴露自己的本性，生怕有人看到，生怕有人有所非议。只有等我回到自己的房间，没有他人在身旁，才能卸下这份恐惧。 (312)

    共用公寓会在长期居民的身上，留下深刻的心理创伤。在采访中，许多长期居民承认，非常担忧自己的无依无靠和自生自灭。 [6] 共用公寓几乎造就了新型的苏维埃人格。孩子特别容易接受集体价值和习惯的影响。在共用公寓里，家庭失去了对所抚育的子女的掌控：自己的文化传统和习俗往往不堪一击，被共用公寓的共同原则所取代。米诺拉·诺维科娃反思自己的童年，相信共用公寓的生活已使自己的思维偏向“我们”，而不是“我”。

    一切都是公共的，没有任何私密。我们都是平等的，也都是一个样。我已经习惯于此，以后遇上不同的方式，反而感到迷惑不解。我记得参加第一次野外考察[作为地质学家]，我买了糖果，与大家共享。小组长对我说：“你应该写下花了多少钱，以便以后报销。”那对我来说，是一个非常让人震惊的念头。从童年起，我一直是与大家分享的。

    其他一些在共用公寓长大的人认为，共同生活让他们学得苏维埃政权的公共价值——热爱工作、谦逊、服从、配合。但谨慎和自我意识从未远离，一位居民回忆道：“要不断努力控制自己，使自己融入其中。”

    这种感觉不同于我所经历的镇压、逮捕、监禁、流放，但在某一方面，却更为糟糕。流放中的人仍能保留自我的意识，我在共用公寓里所感受到的，却是内心自由和个性的全然窒息。我每次走进厨房，受到聚在那里的一小群人的审视，就会感到这种窒息，就要启动自我控制。成为真正的自己，那是绝不可能的。 (313)

    三

    苏维埃公民很快开始奋起抗议物品的短缺和不公平。数以千计的人写信给政府，抱怨腐败和低效，并将之归罪于新官僚的特权。然而，同时又有许多公民在忍辱负重，期望自己能亲眼看到共产主义乌托邦。这一想法在20世纪30年代，帮助维持了苏维埃政权。数百万人被说服，为了建设共产主义社会，眼前的日常艰辛是必要的牺牲。今天的勤劳将得到明天的回报，到那时，大家都可享受苏维埃的“美好生活”。

    德国社会学家卡尔·曼海姆在《意识形态与乌托邦》（1929年）中提到，马克思主义革命家倾向于认为，在通向真实而有形的天堂的道路上，要经历“一系列战略阶段”。这个未来既是当前的考虑因素，又规定了历史进程，从而将特殊意义赋予日常生活。苏联有关阶段的思想，源于1917年革命的乌托邦预测；对布尔什维克来说，1917年10月在人类历史上开创了新纪元（犹如1789年标志了雅各宾派创建的新世界）。苏维埃的宣传立足于当下，投射到未来，描绘出革命运动不断向前，最终抵达共产主义乌托邦（历史的进军）。它欢呼五年计划取得的成就便是实证：这个乌托邦已隐现于地平线之上。 (314)

    五年计划在这个乌托邦规划中，发挥了至关重要的作用。该计划的构想是，加快整个经济的步伐，争取社会主义的早日到来（因此有“五年计划四年完成”的口号）。事实上，该计划是在征服时间本身，使之服从于无产阶级的意志。西方的资本主义经济，按严格且合理的时间分配来安排各项工作。但在苏联，工作安排必须遵照五年计划的目标，完成目标总是迫在眉睫。因此，投入“突击”生产、作出短暂而疯狂的努力，实现目标后再作休整，这种做法便不无道理。斯大林主义的经济，以这种“突击”生产为基础来完成五年计划。眼前的艰辛将在共产主义乌托邦中获得回报，又成了整个制度的思想基础。尼古拉·帕托利切夫是第一个五年计划的行政官员，后来升至党的高位。他回忆道：“我们苏维埃人自觉地禁绝享受。”

    我们对自己说：“今天，没有急需的物品，但那算得了什么？我们明天就会有。”我们坚信党的事业，这就是力量！我这一代的年轻人，为这种信念而感到幸福。 (315)

    回首20世纪30年代，很多人还记得，他们当初活着是为了未来，而不是眼前。在1917年之后成长起来的一代人当中——像帕托利切夫一样的年轻人，全身心沉浸于苏维埃政权的价值和理想——这种感觉特别强烈。对于这一代而言，共产主义乌托邦不再是遥远的梦想，而是实实在在、指日可待的现实。在20世纪20年代、30年代苏维埃学生的想象中，共产主义即是当前现实的转化（高产奶牛和忙碌的工厂），绝不是遥远的科幻想象。 (316) 他们如此看待苏维埃的未来，缘于从小接受的苏维埃宣传，以及社会主义现实主义的文学艺术。根据1934年作家协会第一次代表大会，社会主义现实主义的官方定义是“在现实的革命发展中，真实地、历史地、具体地去描写现实”。而艺术家的功能是描绘出一个新世界，不是它目前的形态，而是它在共产主义未来（正在变成的）的样子。

    根据柳德米拉·埃利亚舍娃（1921年生）和妹妹马克斯娜（1923年生）所说，这个共产主义乌托邦的概念，在她们列宁格勒学校的朋友中获得了广泛的认同：

    我们接受教育，期待一个幸福的未来。我记得，妹妹摔破了我们最心爱的瓷娃娃。我们没有钱，但仍去了百货商店，橱窗里有瓷娃娃在陈列。马克斯娜说：“共产主义来临时，我们就能得到这个瓷娃娃了。”在我们的想象中，我们可以看到共产主义。届时，什么都是免费的，大家都会过上最幸福的生活。我们很高兴，都在等待这个美好未来的降临。 (317)

    20世纪30年代，赖莎·奥尔洛娃在莫斯科长大。她回忆起当年“飞速奔向未来”的感受，反而视当时的实际情形为幻象：

    我有一个不可动摇的信念，我在这几堵旧墙中的生存[她长大的地方，即莫斯科特韦尔斯卡娅大街的公寓]，只是在为即将到临的真实生活做准备。新生活将在一栋闪闪发光的白色新房里开始，我会在清晨起来做早操，理想的秩序将统治一切，我所有的英雄业绩也将开始。我同代人中的大多数——不管当时住在哪里，帐篷、地棚、共用公寓或是被视为豪华的私人公寓——都持有这种临时、马虎的生活态度。快点，再快点，朝着宏伟的目标，迈向新的生活。一切都能够且应该改变：街道、房屋、城市、社会秩序、人类灵魂。这似乎并不困难。首先，积极分子在纸上勾勒出蓝图；再推倒旧的（不打破鸡蛋是无法煎蛋的），清除瓦砾；然后在清理出的空地上建起社会主义的美梦。俄罗斯就是如此重建的。我们认为，也可以照样重塑新人。 (318)

    莫斯科是这个乌托邦的建设工地。在共产党人的想象中，“即将”和“现在”都已分不清了。莫斯科是正在建设中的社会主义乌托邦，作为一个象征，享有很重要的地位和意义。这个城市充满了动人心弦的美梦和幻想，挖好的地基成了未来的住宅区，教堂的拆除标志了文化宫的耸立。德国共产党人沃尔夫冈·莱昂哈德在1935年与父母一起抵达莫斯科，他描述了他们使用地图时遇上的困惑：他们手上1924年的地图已经过时，但新地图标出的总体规划的新建筑，实际上要到1945年方能竣工。莱昂哈德写道：“我们出去散步，只好带上两张地图，一张是10年前的莫斯科，另一张是10年后的莫斯科。” (319)

    20世纪30年代的早期，苏联的变化速度令人陶醉。正在创建一个新世界的错觉，导致许多人——包括大量的西方社会主义知识分子——对斯大林政权产生幻想。年轻的法律系学生尼娜·卡明斯卡娅，在父亲被苏维埃银行开除、黑暗现实的证据不断涌现时，依旧相信这个新世界。她在回忆录中记下一首欢乐的歌曲——有关将临的幸福生活，她和朋友们至今依然会唱。这首歌曲象征了她们那一代的乐观，以及对父母辈正在经历的悲剧的漠视：

    信任在我们国家是多么容易，
    呼吸在我们国家是多么自在：
    我们光荣、心爱的苏维埃大地……
    我们苏维埃生活是如此精彩
    未来的孩子
    夜晚可能会在床上哭泣
    因为没能出生在我们这一代。

    许多苏联知识分子也受到这种乐观气氛的席卷，对斯大林政权以进步的名义所犯下的恐怖行径，充耳不闻，视而不见。鲍里斯·帕斯捷尔纳克在1935年4月写信给奥莉加·福雷登贝格说道：

    不管如何，我看得越多，就对正在开展的活动信得越深，这便是事实。虽然很多行为给人野蛮的印象，[但]人们从未如此高瞻远瞩，如此富有自尊，怀揣如此良好的动机，为了如此重要和清醒的理由。

    娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆回忆，她和丈夫诗人奥西普·曼德尔施塔姆有时也怀抱同样的想法。他们曾一度担心，如果“未能关注眼前发生的大事”，革命会把他们抛弃。奥西普1934年向朋友朗读有关斯大林的鼓动性诗篇（《谋杀犯和农民杀手》），随即被捕。娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆观察，相信在共产主义乌托邦名义下的所作所为，要比丈夫的坚持面对现实容易得多：“你不可能以将来的砖瓦，建造今日的大厦。但明白这一道理的人，事先一定抱了注定一死的心态，随时准备面对行刑队。” (321)

    接受这种对未来的憧憬，需要采取一定的姿态，使自己能够顺利滑向与政权的合作。这意味着接受“党是真理源泉”的说法。对许多人来说，这样的信念涉及不间断的思想斗争：一边是观察现实得来的真理，另一边是党的更高层次的革命真理。他们被迫生活在这两种真理中间的夹缝地带——既承认苏维埃体制的失败，又相信未来的美好生活——他们只有通过政治信仰的自觉行为，才能做到这一点。年轻党员列夫·科佩列夫，曾在1932至1933年参与向“富农”施暴，他回想起当年如何努力让自己的道德判断（他称之为“主观真理”）从属于党的崇高道德目标（“客观真理”）。科佩列夫和同伴被他们自己的所作所为吓坏了，但仍在遵循党的路线。如果要作撤退，理由又是他们从小学会鄙视的“良心、荣誉、人道主义”，即所谓的“资产阶级”理想，这会使他们陷入恐惧。科佩列夫回忆道：“我们最害怕的，是丧失自信、放弃我们神圣的信念、陷入疑惑或异端邪说。” (322)

    沃尔夫冈·莱昂哈德也感受到了双重的现实。他加入共青团时，“已意识到现实中的苏联，完全不同于《真理报》所描绘的”。母亲在1937年被捕，朋友和老师也被带走，他自己一直生活在孤儿院。如他所说，西方读者读到他加入共青团时的喜悦，可能会觉得诧异。

    不知怎的，我把这些事件乃至自己的印象和经验，与我的基本政治信念决然分开，仿佛分属两个不同的层次——第一层关于日常的事件和经历，我持批评态度；第二层关于党的伟大路线，即使有犹豫，我当时出于那套大道理，仍认为是正确的。 (323)

    甚至在1937至1938年的大清洗高潮时期，仍有许多坚持信仰的人。他们以抽象的准则（“砍伐森林时，木屑肯定会四处飞溅”；或者，“不打破鸡蛋是无法煎蛋的”），为大规模逮捕作出辩护。

    相信“向共产主义的进军”，需要接受相关的生命成本。党告诉追随者，他们正在国内外与“资本主义元素”进行殊死的斗争，直到共产主义乌托邦的最终胜利。希特勒在1933年的崛起，成了这场斗争的关键转折点。据称，它还进一步证实了斯大林理论的正确。斯大林认为，苏联越接近共产主义，敌人的反抗就会越强烈。党改持更为强硬的立场，迫使怀疑者抛开疑虑，加入反法西斯的斗争（不然就会被谴责为法西斯的走狗）。从1933年起，党内清洗愈演愈烈，仔细审查个人行为，以清除消极的党员和“隐藏的敌人”。有的社会阶层被整体定为“敌人”和“异己分子”，列宁格勒的贵族和资产阶级的残余首当其冲，其中数千人在1934年12月党的领导人谢尔盖·基洛夫遇刺后遭到逮捕和流放。任何“资本主义旧社会的余孽”（前“富农”、小商贩、吉普赛人、妓女、罪犯、流浪汉、乞丐，等等），都因有可能成为共产主义建设的障碍而遭到清洗。从1932到1936年，数万名此类“社会有害分子”遭到警察的围捕和驱逐出境， (324) 其中大多数被送去古拉格。

    四

    1933年8月，国家政治保卫总局的劳改营指挥官谢苗·菲林，安排120名苏联主要作家“组队”前去考察白海运河。运河之旅的想法起源于1932年10月的一次会议，会址是高尔基在莫斯科的住宅。几位著名作家与几位政治局委员一起开会讨论文学任务，斯大林也在场。这是社会主义现实主义理论学说的最早阐述之一，高尔基呼吁以英雄的文学来匹配五年计划的“伟大成就”。将苏联作家比作“人类灵魂工程师”的斯大林，提议以这一运河之旅激发作家的创作灵感，一切均由国家政治保卫总局安排。作家亚历山大·阿夫杰延科不无讽刺地说：“一旦成为契卡的客人，马上进入共产主义。我们有求必应，吃喝全包，一切免费。熏香肠、奶酪、鱼子酱、水果、巧克力、葡萄酒、白兰地——供应充沛。要知道，这还是饥荒的年代。” (325)

    作家们先住进列宁格勒的阿斯多里亚豪华酒店，再坐火车去白海运河，考察大坝和升降台，参观文化中心，观赏囚犯的文艺演出。他们坐在船舶上，能看到正在劳作的囚犯，但不得交谈。对许多作家来说，他们看到的只是营房生活的净化版。塔玛拉·伊万诺娃在1989年回忆：“在我看来，这很明显，只让我们观看‘波将金村’ [7] 。”但是就算作家们半信半疑，也只有很少人敢于表达出来。旅途当中，作家们有机会询问充当向导的菲林。据阿夫杰延科称，唯一询问强制劳役的作家是德米特里·米尔斯基——他曾是王子，内战时期参加白军，后来移民去英国，在那里加入共产党，1932年重返苏联，因为他相信，斯大林的俄罗斯“将在世界历史中发挥巨大作用”，亟想置身其中。米尔斯基的追问使其他作家感到尴尬。他显然对运河建设的保密满腹狐疑，并告诉阿夫杰延科：“这里的每一步、每一座大坝、每一个升降台，都有遮起的秘密。”他似乎是在指埋在那些场所的地下的尸体。米尔斯基即使生疑，仍参与了国家政治保卫总局负责的一个图书出版任务，以庆祝运河的竣工。36名苏联主要作家（包括米哈伊尔·左琴科、维克托·什克洛夫斯基、阿列克谢·托尔斯泰、瓦伦丁·卡塔耶夫）和艺术家亚历山大·罗德琴科（他拍了照片），突击创作、汇编成了《白海运河》（The White Sea Canal）一书，而菲林和高尔基则担任了此书的主编。这本书成了“苏维埃作家准备为布尔什维克事业服务的象征”，在1934年1月分发给苏共十七大代表。它虽是建设运河的历史，但其主题和宣传意义在于：体力劳动具有救赎和解放的功能。据称，罪犯和“富农”通过参与这一伟大的集体工程，“开始认识到自己在社会中的价值”。经过劳役，他们脱胎换骨，变成了社会主义者。 (326)

    参与这种使古拉格合法化的举措，作家们自有不同的原因。毫无疑问，有些人相信斯大林“重新做人”的理想，即通过劳役来改造人们的灵魂。左琴科为《白海运河》写了一个小偷的故事，主人公名叫罗登贝格，在生活中步入歧途，通过运河工地上的劳役而改邪归正。他在给《列宁格勒文学》（Literary Leningrad）写的文章中解释，他相信故事中的真实依据：

    以懒惰、欺骗、偷窃、谋杀为生的人群，我一直饶有兴趣。我也一直关注他们的再教育。说老实话，一开始，我很表怀疑。猜想这个著名的“重新做人”，只是囚犯冀望获得自由或奖金的伪装。但我必须说，我错了。我这次[白海运河之旅]看到了真正的“重新做人”，看到了建筑工人身上的真正自豪，看到了许多同志（他们现在的称号）心理上的确凿变化。 (327)

    高尔基也是一名信徒。他从未到过白海运河，但并不妨碍他对国家政治保卫总局负责的那本书赞不绝口（茫然不知也阻挡不了外国社会主义者的赞扬，例如西德尼和比阿特丽斯·韦伯夫妇。他们在1935年称之为“一项伟大的工程壮举……一次人类再生的胜利”）。高尔基的20世纪20年代是在西方度过的，1928年夏天他第一次回到苏联，之后又有数次在夏季回国，直到1931年开始永久定居。这位“伟大的苏联作家”获得交口称赞，莫斯科著名的里亚布申斯基豪宅配给他作住所，另外还有两座宽敞的乡间别墅、仆人（其实是国家政治保卫总局的间谍）和警察部门的特殊食品。向斯大林提供特殊食品的，也是这同一警察部门。因此，也许这并不奇怪，高尔基看不到五年计划“伟大成就”背后的巨大牺牲。1929年夏天，高尔基在他的国家政治保卫总局向导的引领下，参观了索洛韦茨基劳改营，所看到的给他留下了深刻印象。他写了一篇文章，声称许多囚犯通过劳动得到了改造，非常热爱自己的工作，以至于刑期满了之后仍想留在岛上。高尔基写道：“对我来说，结论是显而易见的，我们需要更多像索洛韦茨基那样的劳改营。” (328)

    另有一些作家出于好奇而参加了这个运河之旅，如米尔斯基。还有人担心，如果拒绝参与这一项目，可能会遭到报复，如作家米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫。文学理论家兼小说家维克托·什克洛夫斯基（他哥哥也被关在劳改营），虽没有参加集体运河之旅，但是自己单独去了。他在国家政治保卫总局组织撰写的那本书以及他的其他几部作品中，拔高了“重新做人”的理念。他甚至还写了关于白海运河的宣传影片的剧本。什克洛夫斯基的写作，似乎不大可能出于真心。（他去白海运河时，国家政治保卫总局的一位官员问他的感觉如何，他反讽道：“就像一只鲜活的银狐，走进了皮草店。”）在他女儿看来，这只是他“为救哥哥而付出的代价”。他哥哥1933年获释，但1937年再次被捕，且永远消失于古拉格。 (329)

    追求职业发展的动机也在发挥作用，阿夫杰延科就肯定与此有关。他出身于无产阶级，参加运河之旅时仍是一个无名小卒。两年后的1935年，他的第一部小说在苏联媒体中获得赞誉。阿夫杰延科后来承认：“此行帮助我攀上顶端，我的生活从此腾飞。我曾是一名工人突击手，投身于文学！一下子，我在苏维埃神庙中跻身享有盛誉的作家行列。”阿夫杰延科经常向《重新做人》投稿——那是国家政治保卫总局内部的白海运河劳改营杂志——称赞劳役是重新做人的好途径。 (330)

    康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫是另一位借助白海运河而一举成名的“无产阶级作家”。1933年，他在国际工人救灾电影厂充任技师——是鲍里斯·巴别茨基手下数百名技师之一。午休时间，西蒙诺夫和其他技师去看普多夫金和戈洛夫尼亚一起拍摄的电影《逃兵》（他声称这一经验激活了他对艺术的兴趣）。西蒙诺夫回忆：“那些年里，我没接受过正规的教育，但读了很多书，尤其是历史书籍。我还尝试写作，这是我人生的第一次。”白海运河的宣传启发了西蒙诺夫，他在笔记本里写下不少关于劳役者重新做人的“歪诗”，不知何故竟引起了国家出版社（Goslitizdat）和国家政治保卫总局的注意。这些诗篇中的精粹《白海运河》，被收入1933年苏联青年作家的诗歌集。1934年4月，西蒙诺夫借这一次成功的东风，向国家出版社申请许可，让他访问运河，收集劳役者重新做人的原材料，以创作赞颂劳改营的诗歌集。国家出版社予以批准，并支付他一个月的花费，在白海运河的梅德韦热戈尔斯克劳改营，担任《重新做人》杂志的记者。囚犯们与他同住一个营房，并不把这位年仅19岁的诗人当做一回事（“当我告诉他们，我在写关于白海运河的诗，他们只是笑笑”）。出于这个原因，在西蒙诺夫看来，囚犯们“与我的关系还算自然”。 (331)

    到1934年的初夏，白海运河的建设已大体完成。西蒙诺夫所观察的劳役者只是在修建道路和相关设施——与1931至1933年挖掘主渠、数万人累死的体力劳动相比，仅属相对轻松的任务。随着工程的结束，劳改营行政部门向劳役者颁发奖金、荣誉、奖牌，并向部分轻罪囚犯宣布提前释放的命令。这些奖励的主要目的是为了兑现“重新做人”的神话，让囚犯努力工作以改造自己（至少给人以改造成功的印象），争取获释或物质上的好处。西蒙诺夫年少天真，易于轻信。他在回忆录中回忆，从白海运河回来，“就准备畅写通过劳动重新做人的新诗”：

    虽然待的时间不长，但我相信，亲眼看到了重新做人的实际发生——如我所相信的——在我们这样的社会，除了劳动，还有什么可以救赎个人罪孽呢？

    西蒙诺夫听到有关一名工程师的故事，留下了特别深刻的印象。该工程师与临时政府有密切的联系（实际上是冬宫最后一位指挥官）——

    根据第58条规定，他就算没被判上10年，至少也判个8年。他在白海运河担任工程师，工作非常努力，因此服刑3年就获释。然后，他自愿担任莫斯科―伏尔加运河某建筑工地的首席工程师。我在旅途当中获得的印象，也佐证了这样的故事。 [8]

    事实上，确有某些专家获释后愿意继续在古拉格系统中工作，但很少是改造的结果。但西蒙诺夫认为，他在白海运河所看到的，符合他所听说的以及在苏联媒体中读到的。西蒙诺夫在回忆录中表示：“在我看来，白海运河工程不只是在建造一条运河，而是一座人道主义学校，使坏人变成好人，使普通罪犯变成五年计划的建设者。” (332)

    就西蒙诺夫而言——他原是一名贵族，自觉参与重建自己的身份，希望变成“无产阶级作家”——重新做人的想法颇能激起他特别的共鸣。西蒙诺夫在回忆录中讲述了自己的感受，“富农和资产阶级破坏者”的重新做人，“对整个社会来说大有希望”，他自己也大受激励，因为它显示了“埋葬过去、走上新路的可行”。1934年，在苏共十七大（胜利者的代表大会）上，前反对派获得重新做人的机会。在他眼中，这也是一大鼓舞。作为一名青年作家，他正在党严密监控的艺术领域努力开创自己的事业。在这次大会上，一直反对斯大林极端政策的党领导人（布哈林、加米涅夫、季诺维也夫、李可夫、托姆斯基、皮亚特科夫等）被允许发言，他们收回了自己的旧有立场，以党内团结的名义，对斯大林歌功颂德。从他们被接受的方式来看，党领导已让他们改过自新。西蒙诺夫看到如此的榜样，心里感到非常舒坦。在他看来，接受悔改的反对派就是一个证明，像他那样的人，即使有不光彩的过去，也会得到党的宽恕。西蒙诺夫明白，自己的重新做人将取决于自己政治人格的重建。他像前反对派一样，必须背弃过去，表明自己是个当之无愧的共产主义者。他有关白海运河的著作，就是为达到这一目标的手段。从运河回来之后，西蒙诺夫第二次申请加入共青团。上一次，由于继父在1931年被捕，他被要求自行撤回申请。这一次，他是应邀申请的，在他眼中，接受他入团真是“一大宽慰”。他在回忆录中记录，1934年是他对未来充满希望的一年：

    我不能代表同龄的其他人，但对我来说，1934年是我青年时期最充满希望的一年。一般认为，国家已经度过困难时期，虽然仍有问题，但无论是精神上还是物质上，生活都将变得更加容易。我很高兴能参与建设这一个新生活……在我眼中，斯大林的正确似乎是不容置疑的——他正在领导我国的工业化，并取得巨大的成功。在我看来，他与对手争辩，指出他们的错误，这都是正确的态度。 (333)

    1934年夏天，西蒙诺夫从白海运河回来不久就写了《地平线》一诗，描述刑事犯在劳改营的重新做人。这首诗受到大刀阔斧的编改——编改者来自国家政治保卫总局所属的文化教育厅，他们认为这首诗非常糟糕（自命不凡、笨拙、喧闹、机械、伤感），但仍有宣传价值，值得发表。 (334) 西蒙诺夫将之收回重写，到1938年易名为《帕维尔·丘尔尼》（Pavel Chyorhy）予以发表。后来，西蒙诺夫看到这首诗会有“恐怖的感受”，坚持将之排斥在他的“作品全集”之外。 (335) 但这首诗对他的职业生涯大有裨益，显示他有能力创作有助于斯大林政权的诗歌。西蒙诺夫受到鼓励，申请就读高尔基文学院。他在国家出版社和政治保卫总局文化教育厅的政治担保人，还愿意为他推荐。 (336)

    高尔基文学院成立于1933年，坐落在特维尔大街上的前赫尔岑宫殿，旨在培养工人阶级自己的作家（直到1936年，仍被称为“工人夜间文学大学”）。上课是在晚上，这就允许西蒙诺夫在国际工人救灾电影厂继续上班挣钱，作为他200卢布助学金的补充。文学院的大多数学生并不是真正的工人阶级出身，他们像西蒙诺夫一样，出生于贵族或资产阶级家庭，先读工厂技校，或在工厂上班，以此取得入学资格。学生中一半是共青团员和共产党员，来自27个不同民族，可算是一个世界大杂烩。 (337) 在众多的犹太学生中，有两名年轻女子先后嫁给了西蒙诺夫：纳塔利娅·季波特是剧院名人之女，1935年与西蒙诺夫结婚；遭殃的新经济政策人塞缪尔·拉斯金的小女儿热尼娅·拉斯金娜1936年入学，1939年与西蒙诺夫结婚。

    西蒙诺夫承认，自己并不特别钟爱文学，只是由于他的出身欠佳，才变成了他的职业。他告诉纳塔利娅：“如果不是因为贵族出身，我才不会对文学发生兴趣，我真正喜欢的是政治和历史。” (338) 他在文学院中不是最有才华的（1936年，他在优秀学生名单上排名第七，排在榜首的是诗人玛格丽塔·奥列格），但以自觉出名，并且组织有方（他精心安排花在工作、阅读乃至社交上的时间），准时完成任务。同学给他的绰号是“铁屁股”，因为他学习非常努力，持之以恒。诗人叶夫根尼·多尔马托夫斯基（优秀学生名单上排名第二）回忆道：“他就坐在那里，写个不停。”奥列格记得，西蒙诺夫一开始就像个干部，通常穿皮夹克，像内战中的布尔什维克；或穿夹克和衬衫，还系上领带。对文学院其他学生的波希米亚文化，西蒙诺夫保持一定的距离，他的业余时间都花在共青团活动上，或撰写书评，而不是用来玩台球。理所当然，文学院的行政部门对他非常重视，把他当做党的忠实信徒，给他布置了许多任务（1937年，他在揭发文学院“反苏维埃分子”的运动中发挥了重要作用）。西蒙诺夫既严肃，又挑剔，与其说像一位年轻诗人，毋宁说像一名文化官僚。他在1945年回忆：

    我没有写出自己的作品，却写了不少对其他人作品的评论。我非常苛刻、急躁。这显示，写出最粗暴、最负面的评论的人，往往是尚没写出或无法写出这样一本书的人。 (339)

    西蒙诺夫是文学院的诗人，正在摸索如何写作才能取悦于自己的政治上级。重新做人的主题，在20世纪30年代已成社会主义现实主义传统的常客，重复出现于他有关白海运河的早期诗歌。但五年计划的希望，以及体现于西班牙内战的英勇斗争，渐渐在他的诗歌中占据显著的地位。同时，西蒙诺夫深受诗歌老师弗拉基米尔·卢戈夫斯科伊（1901—1957）的影响。在文学院年轻诗人的眼中，卢戈夫斯科伊颇有魅力。他的房间里摆满了刀枪，还有来自内战和1931年征伐巴斯玛奇穆斯林起义的纪念品。在《将军》那样的诗篇中，西蒙诺夫尝试探索阳刚、英勇的主题。匈牙利共产主义者马特·扎尔卡（又叫鲁卡契将军），在西班牙内战中遇难，赋予了《将军》一诗灵感。西蒙诺夫的基本价值观来自继父的军人精神，在他看来，像扎尔卡那样的勇敢和自我牺牲，在社会主义与法西斯主义进行殊死斗争的世界中，不但是“人类的美妙素质”，而且是“必需的第一美德”。西蒙诺夫1960年向外国记者解释：“任何人，如果想象我们未来的胜利轻而易举，无须流血，从而流露出沾沾自满，都会受到我们20世纪30年代年轻共产主义者的强烈憎恨。”那是沉浸在斗争观念中的一代——随时准备投入战争的一代。1973年，西蒙诺夫回顾自己的学生时代，为整个时代发言：

    开设文学院的同一年，纳粹上了台。我们的学习年代一直笼罩在阴影之中，那就是即将发生的反法西斯战争。那些年头，在考虑文学和自己的前途时，一定会自然想到，我们迟早会被迫参加这一场隐隐逼近的反法西斯大战——尚未确定的只是手中握的是笔还是枪。

    1936年1月1日，西蒙诺夫的第一首诗《新年祝酒》发表于《消息报》（Izvestiia）。这是青年诗人——当时只有20岁——将获党领导青睐的先兆。在诗中，西蒙诺夫想象一场光明与黑暗的最终搏斗：

    朋友，我们今天提高警惕！
    豺狼正在将共和国围困！
    我们就此举起酒杯，
    在默默祈愿中痛饮
    为站在机枪旁边的人，
    为只与步枪为友的人，
    为懂得“战斗”这一动词的人，
    一个悲哀的动词，必须承认。
    为能够离开缄默房间
    走进未知的大火的人……

    西蒙诺夫为职业生涯拼搏之时，他的三位奥博连斯基姨妈正在奥伦堡的流放地凋零。那是一个地处伏尔加草原东部的城市，在莫斯科的东南方，相距1500公里。她们在基洛夫遇刺之后的大规模镇压中，被逐出列宁格勒。西蒙诺夫喜欢三位姨妈，从小就定期给她们写信。他母亲的大姐柳德米拉，嫁给来自俄化家庭的德裔炮兵队长马克西米·泰德曼——他在第一次世界大战中阵亡，留下柳德米拉和三个孩子，困守于炮兵团驻地梁赞。柳德米拉1922年回到彼得格勒，曾在残疾儿童学校担任教师。她1935年被捕时，三个孩子已经长大，两个跟她去了奥伦堡，长子留在列宁格勒——他在红三角厂担任经理，受到上级的高度重视，得以让自己免受逮捕的噩运。中间的姨妈是达丽娅，又叫“桃莉”，严重残疾，身体左侧畸形，部分瘫痪，使她走路颇不方便。个人的不幸，使她养成了古怪脾气，终身未嫁。她在宗教上很虔诚，几近教条，并不隐瞒自己对苏维埃政权的仇恨，坚持贵族的传统。1927年，桃莉到梁赞拜访亚历山德拉，两人在宗教事项上不断发生争执，西蒙诺夫因此而变成了无神论者（不过，他后来给姨妈写信，仍表达宗教上的情感）。西蒙诺夫在列宁格勒时，曾多次拜访桃莉，但他认为自己只是在尽职。他更喜欢小姨妈索尼娅，经常与她同住。索尼娅长得丰满，西蒙诺夫记得她“圆脸，笑得慈祥”，充分体现了“她的善良和开朗”。与桃莉不同，索尼娅尽量适应苏维埃制度，尽管她的举止、价值观、信仰，仍保有19世纪贵族文化的痕迹。她当初读的是师范学校，却当上图书馆员，在共用公寓里独住一间大房。她对自己的命运既不诉苦，也不抱怨。恰恰相反，西蒙诺夫记得，她是三位姨妈中最具活力、最有意思的。由于没有自己的孩子，她喜欢外甥和外甥女来与自己同住。她对康斯坦丁最为疼爱，因为他是她最年轻的外甥，他的读书热情也是她帮助培养的。她写信给西蒙诺夫：“我亲爱的宝贝基柳雄切克，我希望你长大后，成为我们的依靠和安慰，我们都非常爱你。我希望你永远有足够的食物，就像我们从前的岁月。” (341)

    西蒙诺夫最后一次看到索尼娅是在1933年秋天。他寄宿于她在列宁格勒的住所，在她房间里写下了他一生最初的几首诗。1935年2月，索尼娅、柳德米拉、桃莉被流放到奥伦堡。西蒙诺夫的母亲在莫斯科获悉“三姐妹和从小在圣彼得堡就认识的许多人，都被送去流放地”，西蒙诺夫回忆她当时的反应：

    她坐在那里，手捧信件[她刚收到，来自奥伦堡的]，眼泪哗哗流下。她突然说：“如果我当时与柳利娅[柳德米拉]一起从梁赞回到彼得格勒，现在我自然与她们一同受苦了。”我记得，她说话的方式使我震惊。她讲到，自己没与姐妹同住一个城市，所以逃脱了姐妹正在承受的厄运，语气中满含内疚。然后，她问继父：“也许，我们会被从这里送去流放地？”她说的“我们”，不是指我们一家，而是指她自己、她的出身，以及整个奥博连斯基家族。 (342)

    西蒙诺夫并没解释他为何感到震惊。也许，他惊讶于母亲的内疚，但还有其他原因。西蒙诺夫从小就把自己看作“苏维埃人”，继父的被捕丝毫没有动摇他的信念。恰恰相反，反而增强了他为自己塑立无产阶级身份的决心。他努力改造自己，先成为一名工程师，再充当一名“无产阶级作家”，更加强了他对苏维埃制度的认同。但母亲对姨妈被捕的反应——似乎是有史以来第一次，他听到她以苏维埃的语言把自己称作“异己分子”——迫使他面对现实。

    西蒙诺夫的母亲和继父，每月向奥伦堡邮寄食品和衣服，他也拿出自己收入的一部分来作资助。1936年，亚历山德拉前去看望她的三个姐妹。西蒙诺夫回忆，她很害怕，担心去了再也回不来（许多人担心，如果看望流放的亲属，自己也会被捕）。总是很现实的继父认为最好还是别去，如果去了被捕，就更难向她们施以援手了。但亚历山德拉坚持要去，并宣称“如果不去，就不算是真正的自己了”。亚历山德拉从奥伦堡回来，西蒙诺夫记得：“漫长的旅途和当地可怕的情景，使她筋疲力尽、悲凉凄楚、身心交瘁。但她并没有放弃希望……因为她认为，不会有更坏的遭遇了。” (343)

    然而，更坏的事还是发生了。1937年，索尼娅和桃莉在奥伦堡遭到囚禁，索尼娅被枪决，桃莉后来死在劳改营，存活的只剩柳德米拉一人。西蒙诺夫在人生的最后一年回顾这些事件，还忆起自己对最喜爱的姨妈之死的反应：

    我发现，她已被关押，之后就杳无音信。然后，他们告诉我们，她已死去——但不讲明死于何处和如何死去。我记得，当时之所以感到这种强烈且痛苦的不公，全与她[索尼娅]有关，或主要与她有关。这一感觉永远伴随我的灵魂——我不怕这样说出——这是国家和苏维埃政权对我本人的严重不公，它将永远留存于我的记忆之中。这一感觉让人特别痛苦，因为我知道，如果索尼娅还活着，一旦我能有所作为，第一个想帮的就是她。

    西蒙诺夫的遗憾是基于他以后获得的认知——他一直在与摧残自己姨妈的迫害制度携手合作。他在回忆录中承认，当初获悉她们被捕时的反应是不同的。他为姨妈感到惋惜，但设法找出理由，使她们的遭遇变得合理，甚至合法：

    我已不记得当时[1937年]的想法，不记得如何判断和自我说服的……但我知道，我不可能无动于衷，因为我非常热爱其中的一位[索尼娅]……也许我心想：“不磕破鸡蛋是无法煎蛋的。”与当初的感觉相比，这一托词在今天听来，更具讽刺意味。其时，大革命和打破旧社会，仍萦绕在人们的心头；大家交谈时，不用这一熟语的人犹如凤毛麟角。

    与白海运河的际遇，让西蒙诺夫更靠近政权；但在其他一些人身上，却产生了决然相反的效果。曾是犹太复国主义者的伊利亚·斯拉温是一名重要的法学家，任职于莫斯科的苏维埃法学院。1929年，他被调到列宁格勒，以援建那里的共产主义学院法律系。在同年的清洗中，列宁格勒大学法律系被关闭，它的“资产阶级”学者被开除，取而代之的是共产主义学院法律系。它亟需值得信赖的如斯拉温那样的布尔什维克，以对抗苏维埃法律界的“资产阶级右翼分子”，后者在列宁格勒仍颇有影响。 (345) 斯拉温已成为苏维埃法律领域的领军人物，除了担任司法委员会的顾问，还参与编纂了1926年的《苏维埃刑法》，那是1917年刑法后的第一次重大修改。在列宁格勒，斯拉温家与另外一家分享一套大公寓，他家占了两间房（在莫斯科，他们的共用公寓有15户人家）。后来，他们又搬进一套三室公寓，位于列宁格勒的苏维埃大楼，那里住有很多政府行政官员、科学家、艺术家。伊利亚的女儿依达回忆：

    相对来说，我们享有特权。兄嫂有自己的房间，父母也有自己的房间。同时，父亲又在自己房间内工作。我睡在餐厅，如有客人，就先去父母房间睡觉，等父母要上床了，再把我搬回餐厅的沙发床……但是，没有一丝一毫的奢华——绝对是斯巴达和几近清教徒的生活方式，完全遵循父亲的社会主义理想……我们与穷苦的朋友和亲戚分享额外的配给食品——父亲对此感到羞愧……书籍是我们唯一的奢侈品。

    斯拉温受共产主义学院的委托，写书攻击苏维埃主要法学家的“资产阶级倾向”，从而为政治上司提供自己的贡献。1931年，苏维埃政权对法律学术界发起清洗运动。斯拉温所写的《对苏维埃刑法战线的破坏》（Sabotage on the Front of Soviet Criminal Law），只是其中一部分，篇幅虽短，却很恶毒。他选出几名重要的学者律师，将他们在20世纪20年代的文章与其在1917年之前的相互比较、逐一对照，以揭露他声称的确凿的“资产阶级”观点。斯拉温在政治上坚信旧法律思维必须被铲除，所以谴责这些法学家正企图颠覆苏维埃法制的基本原则。他挑出列宁格勒大学法律系，批评它一直在训练“昨日的神父和白军卫士”，却假扮成“今日的马克思主义者和明日的共产主义者”。受到斯拉温攻击的几名法学家，随即离开他们在列宁格勒和莫斯科的大学教职，被迫奔赴外省，寻找工作。 (347)

    斯拉温家庭档案中有一张伊利亚·斯拉温的照片，时间在1931年，他的周围都是共产主义学院的同事和学生，照片背面写着：“斯拉温同志！深切怀念你——布尔什维克卫队的坚定共产党人、我们的老师、思想战线上的坚强斗士、横扫学术界寄生虫的铁扫帚。”在依达的记忆中，父亲却是一名柔和温情的男子。这两个形象，确实很难调和在一起。也许，斯拉温太软弱，无法抗拒党的要求，被吸进了这个迫害制度。也许，他觉得曾卷入犹太复国主义运动，易受攻击，需要写书来证明自己仍属“布尔什维克卫队”。也许，如依达所认为的，他“陷入迷途”，受了自己的信仰的误导。

    斯拉温相信“重新做人”，1917年之前就已在从事改造人的实验，为莫吉廖夫城地方监狱的囚犯设立工场和文化中心。其时，他只是一名法律助理，但与监狱长关系良好。改造人的想法，重现于他20世纪20年代和30年代的法律著述，特别是他关于同志法庭（tovarishcheskie sudy）的文章。他当时坚决主张，工作场所的法庭可迫使囚犯参与社区服务以改造自己。 (348)

    1933年，共产主义学院领导分配给了斯拉温新任务——写一本书，暂名为“劳役者的重新做人——以白海运河为例”。 (349) 事实上，他被要求为古拉格劳改营赋予法律和哲学上的正当性。也许，斯拉温先前关于“重新做人”的著作起了作用，为他赢得了这一份可怕的差事。但他被选中的主要原因，还是由于他撰写的《对苏维埃刑法战线的破坏》显示，他已做好准备，愿意寻找和构建法律上的论证，来支持现政权的压迫制度。

    相信“重新做人”是一回事，目睹它的实际操作却是另一回事。从1932到1933年，斯拉温去了几趟白海运河和其他劳改营，包括莫斯科至伏尔加的运河、西伯利亚东北部的科雷马劳改营。他所看到的，反而摧毁了他对苏维埃“重新做人”的信念。依达还记得父亲出差回来时的“疲惫和沮丧——好几天哑口无言，好像处于休克状态”。斯拉温访问儿童劳教营时，尤其感到震惊，他看到那里的狱警使用残忍的纪律来“重新锻造儿童，以培养苏维埃精神”。斯拉温实在写不出关于白海运河的书，一推再推，延后数年。好几章的草稿被他撕得粉碎（其中有一章题为“重新做人政策中的法西斯畸变”），因为他渐渐明白，“重新做人”在劳改营中并不存在。

    斯拉温知道自己已陷入困境。基洛夫被刺杀之后，共产主义学院一半的工作人员遭到清洗，斯拉温一直担心下一个入狱的就是自己。依达记得，父母锁上房门：“彻夜不眠，坐着窃窃私语。”党的档案证实，斯拉温的名字在1934年12月被列入政治嫌疑犯名单（“未来的逮捕对象”）。榜上有名的人都曾属于其他党派，只是到后来才加入了布尔什维克。 (350)

    共产主义学院领导施加的压力越来越大，斯拉温无奈，只得呈上有关白海运河的几章草稿。他在这几章中，对古拉格系统的日常运作提出若干批评，却只字不提“重新做人”的政策，因为实在找不到证据。他曾命名为“重新做人政策中的法西斯畸变”的一章，此时改称“重新做人政策中的畸变”。这是很勇敢的举动，斯拉温因此在1935年5月受到共产主义学院编辑委员会的严厉批评，这是一个道德转折点。他深感自己的布尔什维克信念难以为继，与犹太复国主义者中的熟人恢复了联系——这是一个绝望的尝试，借用依达的话，他“想让时光倒流，并弥补他的政治错误”。但斯拉温一定知道，为时已晚。他身陷绝境，完成此书才有可能自救，但他在道义上无法做到，只好不断推诿，他心里很清楚，推迟得越久，入狱也就越近。1937年3月，斯拉温在共产主义学院的党员会议上说：“我完蛋了，我在政治上已经破产。” (351)

    五

    20世纪30年代中期，古拉格人口急剧膨胀。集体化和饥荒的受害者，都被送入劳改营，成为苏维埃工业经济的一部分。从1932到1936年，劳改营、劳教营、“特殊定居地”的人口已达240万人（另有50万监狱人口）。 (352) 这批奴隶劳工在北极区的伐木、建筑、采矿中，发挥了尤其重要的作用，那里根本招收不到自由劳工。即使在古拉格系统内，也有职业生涯的上升通道：既有狱警和管理人员，又有一定数量的囚犯——前者凭借自己的尽职，在内务人民委员会的内部获得晋升；后者只要他们身怀古拉格所需要的技能，并承诺追随或愿意适应党的路线。

    在苏维埃北极矿区的勘探中扮演重要角色的帕维尔·维滕贝格，被捕于1930年4月。他是科学院清洗出的数百位科学家之一，监禁于列宁格勒，因为忍受不了审讯和威胁而渐渐屈服，最终承认属于一个曾帮助组织1927年雅库茨克叛乱的保皇组织（维滕贝格曾赴西伯利亚东北部，勘探科雷马金矿）。审讯人当着他的面站起来打电话，下令逮捕帕维尔的妻子吉娜（季娜伊达），从而迫使他只得屈服。在帕维尔监禁时期，吉娜一直在担心自己会被捕，她与女儿被迫搬入奥尔戈诺度假区乡间别墅中的一个房间，其他房间则由一名政治警察举报人占用，负责张罗没收他们的财产。帕维尔的女儿叶夫根尼娅回忆，她每周陪同母亲前往列宁格勒戈罗霍娃街的政治保卫总局办事处，询问有关帕维尔的近况：

    她会把我，一个年仅8岁的女孩，留在海军部花园的喷泉处（当时没在喷水），让我在原地等候。如果她一去不回，就意味着她也被捕了。我就应从口袋里拿出一张小纸条，按上面的地址自行去找，塔吉娜·勒沃夫娜住在那里，会收留我的。

    1931年2月，帕维尔被判处枪决，临到最后一刻又获缓刑，改判劳改10年。他在奥尔戈诺度假区的房子充公（变成政治保卫总局官员的乡间别墅）。他自己先被送去马伊―古帕伐木营，为白海运河提供木料；后来被送去白海运河北部入海处的劳改营——靠近凯姆镇，充当污水处理的工程师。同时，吉娜带上女儿叶夫根尼娅和瓦伦蒂娜，搬进列宁格勒一座共用公寓的单间（长女维罗尼卡已搬去达吉斯坦）。该共用公寓共住16人，其中有原主人——住在正房的一对老夫妇，还有他们充满“阶级仇恨”的前女仆，住在走廊的帷幕背后。到夏天，吉娜把两个女儿送去基辅亲戚家寄宿，自己前去凯姆镇的劳改营充当志愿医生，旨在靠近丈夫。 (353)

    1931年8月，吉娜刚刚回到列宁格勒，帕维尔就作为地质学家参加政治保卫总局的一支特别考察队，前往瓦伊加奇岛，评估在当地开采贵重矿产的可能。帕维尔很幸运，凭借自己的地质学专长而获得拯救。他虽是囚犯，仍可在自己的专业领域发挥专长，为古拉格服务。率领瓦伊加奇岛考察队的是整个古拉格系统的主管费奥多尔·艾希曼斯，他1930年6月离开莫斯科，亲赴位于喀拉海的这个偏远北极岛，筹办第一个劳改营。1500名犯人中，近一半是地质学家、地形测绘员、工程师，虽然探测到了岛上丰富的锌和铅矿藏，却找不到艾希曼斯真正冀望的黄金和铂金。住在岛上的涅涅茨人（Nenets）为考察队提供运输服务，其古老传说中的“金女”应是一个纯金的图腾娃娃。劳改营条件很差，尤其是在营房建成之前的几个月，大家住在帐篷里，人工开采锌和铅，纪律非常严苛——稍有违规，便遭枪决——许多人死于严寒，该岛冬季的温度通常跌至摄氏零下40度。 (354)

    维滕贝格抵达时，寻获黄金的前景已变得渺茫，这或许可以解释为何叫他也来帮忙。帕维尔很快被委任为总地质师，完成了对瓦伊加奇岛的勘测，到1934年更开启了古拉格的采矿设施，成为北极圈内的第一个采矿区。他在政治保卫总局的内部期刊上发表了几篇有关考察队的文章，甚至为海岛的自然历史作了剪贴记录。尽管是一名囚犯，帕维尔享有特权，他领取特殊口粮，住在专家住宅，甚至有自己的办公室。1932年3月，他的家人获准来访，陪他在夏天勘探瓦伊加奇岛。1933年夏天，吉娜将瓦伦蒂娜托付给列宁格勒的朋友，带上叶夫根尼娅来与帕维尔同住。其时，已在1932年10月取代艾希曼斯的劳改营新指挥官阿列克谢·季茨克兰，允许专家的家人前来团聚。吉娜的家书描述了当时的情形：

    1933年8月26日
    我亲爱的小女儿，维罗尼切卡[维罗尼卡]和柳森卡[瓦伦蒂娜]：
    24日夜深时，我们终于抵达爸爸的住地。路上一共花了6天，其中3天都遇上了彻骨的5级大风。古连卡[叶夫根尼娅]非常勇敢，要知道我们的四周大部分乘客都晕了船……爸爸上了我们的船，将行李搬上他的摩托艇。晚上11点，我们就到了家。爸爸看起来很棒，体重有所增加，脸色极好，没有一道皱纹。他的心情甚佳，充满活力，喜爱自己的工作，一如既往……我们的专家住宅很好，如果你停下来想一想这里已是北纬70度，那么确实算是相当不错。我们有两个赏心悦目的房间，每一间有3扇窗，虽然面向东北和西北，仍然光线充足。房内有一个巨大的炉灶，带烤箱的。所以，我必须改进我几乎全忘了的持家能耐。下一次航船，我会寄上爸爸的照片，你们将亲眼看到这里的条件多好、爸爸长得多壮……我们昨天晚上聚会，欢送返回大陆的[囚犯]，欢迎新来定居的。会上的发言我们都很喜欢；劳动英雄普受好评。看来，瓦伊加奇岛考察队在全苏联社会主义竞赛中获得了第一名。这里有美好的“重新做人”：所有返回大陆的囚犯，都已成为有文化有觉悟的合格工人。真希望我们能有更多这样的“重新做人”……晚会的最后节目是“活墙报”[ 一种宣传鼓动] 和精彩的音乐会。这就是我在此地一天半的见闻……

    在劳改营的樊篱之中，维滕贝格一家的生活渐渐回归正常家庭的作息。吉娜在劳改营的诊所当医生，叶夫根尼娅就读于专家和管理人员的子弟学校。叶夫根尼娅回忆：“我们的生活围绕着妈妈和爸爸的工作。”

    每天早晨，不管气温如何，爸爸总是打上一盆冷水，在我们房间内洗身，吃完早饭后，就去地质部门上班。他下班回来之后，我们共进晚餐。然后，他又要埋首案前。妈妈下班回来总是很累，即使是傍晚的阅读，她都感到吃力。我放学后承担所有的家务，因为我的时间最多。我去食堂领晚餐（两份是志愿劳工的，一份是囚犯的），厨师都是中国人，非常称职，教我如何烘焙。一般来讲，与我们在列宁格勒时相比，这里的食物似乎太丰盛了。 (356)

    这种对古拉格的乐观，到底是真还是假？根据叶夫根尼娅所说，吉娜的乐观乃至对“重新做人”的信念，都是由衷的，不只是写给信件检查员看看的。 (357) 毫无疑问，家庭得以重新团聚，由此而生的幸福感发挥了效用。同样重要的是专家的相对特权，庇护了他们免受劳改营生活的最坏待遇。另一个可能是，他们沉浸于自己的工作，心甘情愿接受让他们维持现状、不致失眠的任何解说。

    1934年，瓦伊加奇岛上发生叛乱，在岛另一端工作的一帮囚犯杀死狱警，发动起义。但他们无处可逃，最终不是被击毙，就是被抓回营地。吉娜是劳改营的医生，必须检查那些俘虏的伤口，以决定他们是否适合继续工作。她看到可怕的殴打的证据，但对“重新做人”的信念丝毫不曾动摇。同样丝毫未变的是她的积极配合，正如她在雇佣合约中所允诺的，她愿意减少囚犯的病假时间，去贯彻劳改营的劳动纪律。吉娜在叛乱善后工作中表现优异，因此获得“突击手”（udarnitsa）的光荣称号，还登上了劳改营的“红书”光荣榜。她帮助囚犯学习文化和一门手艺，认为这将有助于他们改造人格、成为新人、重返社会。她甚至参加党校学习，还写信告诉女儿，非常喜欢所学到的东西。

    据叶夫根尼娅说，帕维尔也愿接受有关古拉格的官方观点。在她看来，他为科学而活，“对政治则兴趣索然。他感谢苏维埃政权让他有机会继续自己的专业，并让家人来瓦伊加奇岛与他团聚”。如果他相信“重新做人”，在女儿看来，那是因为“他天性非常真诚，也许有点天真，具浪漫性格”。在很大程度上，这兴许是真的；只不过这个见解来自深切怀念父亲的女儿。从不同角度看，帕维尔的行为可被视作一种道德上的委曲求全。他的事业显然在劳改营的环境中蒸蒸日上，他所需要的，在那里应有尽有。帕维尔在日记中写道：“在瓦伊加奇岛担任指挥官，该有多痛快。纪律是半军事化的，工人完全听从指挥。”1935年7月，帕维尔因自己的杰出贡献而获得提前释放，整整早了6年。但他希望完成对瓦伊加奇岛的地质研究，所以与行政当局签署了一份合约，以自愿性质继续这项工作。现在看来，这是很关键的转折点。他不再是一个被迫为古拉格工作的囚犯，已经变成了古拉格系统的合作者，以此推进自己的研究。

    他完成瓦伊加奇岛的地质研究后，又去德米特罗夫劳改营，成为莫斯科至伏尔加的运河的地质学家。同时，吉娜和叶夫根尼娅返回列宁格勒，发现“生活变得较为舒适”。她们搬回曾住过的共用公寓——瓦伦蒂娜和维罗尼卡也来团聚，很快分到额外的一间房。在基洛夫遇刺之后的列宁格勒恐怖中，该共用公寓的原主人已经被捕。但她们无法取回自己的旧家具，因为内务人民委员会仍在使用她们在奥尔戈诺度假区的乡间别墅，但她们因此受邀前去内务人民委员会的仓库，自行挑选列宁格勒恐怖时没收来的家具。瓦伦蒂娜和维罗尼卡选了一对古董扶手椅、一张沙发床、一面镜子、一个书柜和一架三角钢琴。 (359)

    帕维尔1936年回到列宁格勒，在随后的两年当中，继续为古拉格的北冰洋行政部门工作，数次率队远征北地群岛地区。1936年，帕维尔写信给叶夫根尼娅说：“如何获得更多的生存空间，让我们作为一个紧密相连的家庭舒服地住在一起，似乎是我无法解决的难题。”他通过在古拉格的工作设法争到了特权地位，但在政治上仍感到不安全，担忧自己的家人。

    你们曾经陪伴我一起受苦受难，理应得到一份舒适的生活。但我却无能为力，叫我情何以堪！我所能做的，就是自建一所小房子，但妈妈听也不愿听。可以帮我的强人，却将我拒之门外。何时我才能恢复1930年之前的影响力，哪怕是其中的十分之一？

    帕维尔努力让自己苏维埃化，上课学习党史，衷心接受个中的“真理”。到1936年的年底，他已经照单全收有关“托派”和苏维埃政权其他“敌人”的教义。帕维尔在日记中写道：“这真是一个耻辱，我从不知道这种事情。要是我早一点知道，阅读历史可以拓宽视野，使自己正确理解党的总路线，也许我的生命便不至于卷入流放和监禁的舛途。我的生活遭到摧残，到底是为了什么？成千上万的人沦为迷途的羔羊，全怪那个混蛋托洛茨基！” (360)

    帕维尔的故事提醒我们，古拉格远远超越监狱营地本身。它是苏维埃工业的主要驱动力之一，雇用了大批专家和技术员——工程师、地质学家、建筑师、研究员甚至飞机设计师——向他们提供独特的机会，让他们发展各自的事业。

    帕维尔·德罗兹多夫1906年出生于切尔尼戈夫地区的农民家庭，父亲在1917年之前便积极参与马克思主义运动。父母都在内战中丧生后，帕维尔来到莫斯科，就读于莫斯科大学经济系，之后又接受电工培训（最后在负责首都电气化的发电站上班）。1925年，帕维尔因参加莫斯科大学的学生组织而被捕，判处3年徒刑，流放到克拉斯诺维舍尔斯克地区。他在那里的伐木营工作，附属于其时仍处设立初期的维舍拉。刑满前一年，即1927年，帕维尔即已获释，自愿选择留在原地，继续他的会计工作。他娶了劳改营邻近农村的女孩亚历山德拉，育有两个孩子，一起住在劳改营的管理员宿舍。1929年，“开明”的古拉格主管爱德华·别尔津抵达维舍拉，帕维尔的命运由此而发生巨变。别尔津大力提倡囚犯“重新做人”，他相信他在德罗兹多夫的身上找到了理想的实例。别尔津赏识帕维尔的才干，特别是他的过目不忘（别尔津喜欢说，帕维尔的脑袋里安有一台计算器）。他在劳改营管理系统中迅速提拔帕维尔，与维舍拉高级官员交谈时，经常提及这位前囚犯，视之为“重新做人”的典型。1929年，帕维尔变成伐木营的首席会计；1930年，又晋升为整个维舍拉的首席会计。之后，他作为亲信，跟随别尔津离开维舍拉，前往西伯利亚的东北部，帮助筹办远北建设托拉斯的劳改营网络。他在新的古拉格中心马加丹，成为远北建设托拉斯规划部门的首席会计，还须督察属下的各个劳改营。他晋升为内务人民委员会的中将，分得一套四室的公寓，大得足以容纳自己一家再加上妹妹一家。他还在莫斯科获得一套公寓，亚历山德拉和孩子可去那里过冬。这家人享有特权，能使用专为斯大林精英保留的特殊商店和疗养院，遇上苏维埃节日时，还可以领到远北建设托拉斯制造的礼物。要知道几年前，他还是古拉格一名普通囚犯，现在已是天壤之别。

    米哈伊尔·斯特罗伊科夫1901年出生于伊万诺沃城附近的老信徒家庭，地处莫斯科的东北，相距300公里。1925年，他就读于莫斯科建筑学院，并与年轻艺术家艾莱娜结婚。他的妻子在工人补习学校（专门培养工人阶级出身的学生，为高等学院做准备）上课，女儿朱莉娅出生于1927年。在女儿呱呱坠地之前，米哈伊尔就已被捕，流放到西伯利亚，因为他属于一个反对布尔什维克农民政策的学生组织。艾莱娜也被工人补习学校开除，只得去纺织厂上班。1930年，米哈伊尔重返莫斯科的建筑学院，两年后再一次被捕，囚在布提尔基监狱两年。米哈伊尔被认为是才华横溢的学生，被逮捕之前尚未完成他的学位论文，由于教授的干预，他获准在布提尔基监狱继续攻读，甚至回到建筑学院作了论文答辩。要是没有政治警察的帮忙，米哈伊尔这样的特殊待遇，肯定是不可想象的。他有两个叔叔在政治保卫总局供职，他的老朋友菲利浦·巴扎诺夫，即艾莱娜的第一任丈夫，也在国家政治保卫总局担任高职。在米哈伊尔服刑期间，巴扎诺夫尽力帮助艾莱娜（意图说服她重回他的怀抱）。1934年，米哈伊尔流放到了阿尔汉格尔斯克。尽管有亲戚在当地，其中一人还曾担任摩尔曼斯克的副省长，但米哈伊尔没去探望，因为不想连累他们。

    米哈伊尔全靠自己的建筑知识获得拯救。在内务人民委员会几个重大建设项目中——工厂和桥梁，他受雇为规划建筑师，附近的劳改营则提供古拉格劳工。他很快成为阿尔汉格尔斯克的总建筑师之一。即便是一名流放中的囚犯，米哈伊尔的生活条件，仍然好过身在莫斯科的艾莱娜和朱莉娅。米哈伊尔赚取高薪，在内务人民委员会的工程师和技术员食堂里每天吃肉。而生活在莫斯科的朱莉娅和艾莱娜，全靠粥和面包度日，她们要靠米哈伊尔汇钱才能买肉。朱莉娅体弱多病，迫切需要营养。1930年的年底，艾莱娜干脆把她送到父亲住的阿尔汉格尔斯克，希望她受益于米哈伊尔相对舒适的生活。朱莉娅上次见到父亲（她唯一的记忆）是在两年前的布提尔基监狱，那次探监造成如此大的困扰，以致6岁的她竟然想到了自杀。米哈伊尔向老妇人艾莱娜·彼得罗夫娜租借了房间的一角，并承包他们的一日三餐。朱莉娅以眷眷之心回忆那这些菜肴——肉片通心粉、裹肉馅的薄煎饼、鸡腿和冰淇淋。

    晚上，爸爸下班回来就会问我：“我们让艾莱娜·彼得罗夫娜做什么菜呀？你想吃什么呀？”我非常喜欢她的美味食物，总是会说[她煮给我们吃的第一道菜]：“通心粉和肉片！通心粉和肉片！”有一天，爸爸实在吃腻了，央求我：“柳森卡，想想别的，我不想再吃了。”但我对其他的菜连想都不想。

    在朱莉娅看来，从1934到1937年，她在阿尔汉格尔斯克度过的岁月，是她一生中最幸福的时期。她在学校里得心应手，茁壮成长。她喜爱芭蕾舞，父亲带她去剧院观摩，并买回留声机，让她在自家小空间随音乐翩翩起舞。艾莱娜将这小空间取名为“爸爸的角落”，仅有7平方米，是米哈伊尔以胶合板自建的，有墙有门，与艾莱娜·彼得罗夫娜的住处分隔开来，给人以单独房间的错觉，米哈伊尔为此感到非常自豪。“爸爸的角落”只能容纳一张单人床和一桌一椅，还有墙上的书架。不管如何，它仍算是一个家。朱莉娅与父亲在此生活，非常愉快。

    1937年1月，艾莱娜也赶来阿尔汉格尔斯克。米哈伊尔的刑期即将结束，她想阖家一起返回莫斯科，但当局不让她在阿尔汉格尔斯克等待，只好带着朱莉娅先回莫斯科。几星期后，即同年3月，米哈伊尔重又被捕，被以“反革命煽动”的罪名判处劳改5年（1938年遭枪决）。艾莱娜对此次逮捕一无所知，只是一直收不到丈夫的音信。到第二年的夏天，她返回阿尔汉格尔斯克，找到艾莱娜·彼得罗夫娜，方才获悉真相。

    维滕贝格家、德罗兹多夫家和斯特罗伊科夫家的遭遇均属特例。古拉格人口的绝大多数，不是充作奴隶劳工，就是羁留在劳改营和偏远定居地枯萎凋零，很少有机会获得正常生活，或缓刑减刑，所付出的代价非常巨大。内务人民委员会的统计数据显示，从1932到1936年，超过15万人死于苏维埃的劳改营。 (363) 而20世纪30年代的中期，通常还被视作1937至1938年大风暴之前的平静（诗人安娜·阿赫玛托娃甚至称之为“素食年代”），这个死亡统计折射出了迥然不同的色彩。对饱受大恐怖摧残的人来说，有关“平静”的想法可能是真的。但如有家人早早陷入古拉格系统，对这样的数百万人来说，30年代中期已是最痛苦的年代。

    阅读这些囚犯寄给家人的信件（写信人无时无刻不在提防审查人员），会惊讶地发现，古拉格大大改变了很多囚犯的价值观和选择顺序——尤其是为自己的理想牺牲甚多的“政治犯”。之前，他们可能在职业中或共产主义的乌托邦中，寻求自己的满足和幸福；现在，劳改营或流放中的多年求生迫使他们重新考量，转而愈加重视家庭的价值。

    塔蒂亚娜·波洛兹（娘家姓米亚赫科娃），1898年出生于坦波夫省鲍里索格列布斯克地区的律师家庭。她母亲费奥克蒂斯塔是神父的女儿，又是社会民主党成员；1903年，布尔什维克与孟什维克产生分裂时，该党与前者站在一起。母亲鼓励塔蒂亚娜投入政治。1919年，塔蒂亚娜加入布尔什维克，在内战的南部战线即邓尼金白军的腹地开展宣传工作，并在那里遇上未来的丈夫米哈伊尔·波洛兹。他是乌克兰社会革命党的领导成员，又在独立的乌克兰政府军事委员会供职。该党是乌克兰境内唯一获得大量农民支持的政党，内战结束后并入布尔什维克。乌克兰接受苏维埃的统治，波洛兹变成乌克兰驻莫斯科的政治代表。塔蒂亚娜在高级党校学习，听取托洛茨基的演讲。1923年，米哈伊尔在苏维埃乌克兰政府中被任命为财政人民委员。他和塔蒂亚娜定居于哈尔科夫城（1934年前的苏维埃乌克兰首府），1924年，他们的女儿拉达在那里出生。

    3年后，塔蒂亚娜先被流放至阿斯特拉罕，1929年再流放至哈萨克斯坦的切尔卡地区。她被控是积极的反对派，与斯米尔诺夫集团有染。在1927年其领导群被开除出党之前，那个集团一直是以托洛茨基为首的左翼反对派中一个重要派别。1929年秋天，米哈伊尔前去看望身在哈萨克斯坦的塔蒂亚娜，恳求她为了其时寄养于外祖母处的女儿，放弃她的反对派活动。据一名也流放于切尔卡地区的反对派同伴说，米哈伊尔曾在她耳边低语，“像是某种秘密信息，令她陷入彻底的沮丧，现出一败涂地的模样”。也许米哈伊尔告诉她，斯米尔诺夫一伙正在与斯大林当局谈判投降条件，以便恢复名誉，重回党内。1929年11月3日，斯米尔诺夫的文章出现于《真理报》，他宣称自己已抛弃托洛茨基立场，全力支持五年计划和“党的总路线”，并呼吁追随者“克服犹豫不决，返回党内”。斯米尔诺夫集团的400名成员随即签署一项声明，转而支持党的总路线，其中就有塔蒂亚娜。她因此获释，从流放地返回自己的家。 (364)

    1930年，全家从哈尔科夫搬到莫斯科。波洛兹成为苏联预算委员会副主席，塔蒂亚娜在汽车工业界担任经济学家。他们带上塔蒂亚娜的母亲费奥克蒂斯塔和一个管家，一起住进专供政府人员使用的著名的河堤大楼，就在克里姆林宫的对面。由于浪漫的革命家一直为理想而活，他们一家并不很看重自己的特权生活。尽管丈夫坚信反对斯大林是徒劳的，母亲又全心拥护斯大林，塔蒂亚娜仍坚守自己的托洛茨基立场。1933年，塔蒂亚娜连同斯米尔诺夫集团的其他成员再次被捕，获刑3年，被送去乌拉尔地区的上乌拉尔斯克特殊隔离营。数月后的1934年，米哈伊尔也被捕，罪名是试图建立资产阶级的乌克兰政府，判处10年，被送去索洛韦茨基劳改营。拉达和外祖母被赶出河堤大楼，搬到莫斯科郊外一个配有家具的公寓。不久，拉达的姨妈奥莉加和她儿子沃洛蒂亚也搬来同住，她的丈夫也在3年前被捕。拉达回忆，费奥克蒂斯塔“尝试教育我尊重和热爱自己的父母”。

    但同时，她又希望我热爱和尊敬苏维埃政权。这不是一件易事，但不知何故，她竟然做到了。外祖母坚信，斯大林自己不清楚逮捕的规模……她认为，既然有这么多反苏维埃政权的敌人，要查出到底谁有罪，确实很难。在我们的房子里，经常能听到“不打破鸡蛋就无法煎蛋”的感叹。 (365)

    从1933到1936年的6月，塔蒂亚娜共写了136封信给费奥克蒂斯塔和拉达，平均每周一封，这是古拉格尚存私人信件中最大收集之一。 (366) 早期信件反映了塔蒂亚娜在政治上的执著，要求给她寄去马克思著作，还会具体评论最新的政治事件。例如在1934年6月，塔蒂亚娜的信件对“切柳斯金号”的船员赞不绝口，因为他们刚刚完成跨越北冰洋的首航——从列宁格勒到白令海峡。不幸的是，这一航程以灾难告终。1934年2月，该船被坚冰撞破，沉没于楚科奇海。好在船员们安营扎寨于冰山之上，最后获得苏维埃飞机的拯救，返回了莫斯科。那里的宣传机构，将之誉为英雄生存的壮举。塔蒂亚娜在6月24日写道，“切柳斯金号”船员向全世界展示了“布尔什维克是何等人物”；4天后她的信又回到了同一主题：

    作为苏维埃公民的骄傲，可能从没像今天这样全面而强烈。这一骄傲来自苏维埃人民的“优良品质”、苏维埃的先进飞机、苏维埃的杰出科学家和船员以及其他一切，来自布尔什维克主义。布尔什维克在冰山上显示出了其思想和组织的至高无上。对儿童教育来说，那该有多大的说服力！

    拉达的政治教育是这些信件中不断呈现的关注点。拉达回忆，“妈妈老是在写如何建设共产主义”。

    她希望我成为一名工程师和作家……她的信件对我影响很大。我虽是外祖母带大的，但我觉得，我也是妈妈通过这些信件抚养长大的。 (367)

    塔蒂亚娜希望拉达成长为一名共产主义者。她费尽笔墨，点评拉达在家里的行为（谎称是在报纸上读到的，以免透露真正的消息来源，即外祖母费奥克蒂斯塔）。

    1935年6月12日
    我的小猴子，我们的家务活做得怎样了？他们在报纸上写，你做家务并不心甘情愿，经常丢三落四的，但也写上了其他讯息。我在《消息报》上读到这样一份电讯：“莫斯科（塔斯社）——11岁的突击工人兼模范学生拉达，今天被要求清洗碗盘、收拾厨房。这个任务完成得很好，碗盘非常干净，一切都收拾得整齐。拉达检查自己的劳动成果，表示满意。她还告诉我们的记者，从现在起，她将以同样的高标准，履行所有的家务职责。”记者当然对你表示赞许，我也有同感。小猴子，按照吩咐去做你的烹饪、清洗、打扫，最重要的是听从吩咐。

    塔蒂亚娜羁留在狱中愈久，她的信件就愈加牵挂家人。米哈伊尔不得与莫斯科通信，却能写信给塔蒂亚娜。由此，夫妇之间的信件成了父女相互了解的唯一途径。拉达在反思母亲的信件时认为，它们让塔蒂亚娜保持家庭联系，而她的生存又有赖于这一联系。拉达在回忆录中写道，那些信“充满乐观，总是提醒我们岁月如梭，也一直在期盼家人重聚的快乐时光”。塔蒂亚娜的许多监狱来信都夹有小礼物——碎布缝的娃娃、玩具动物甚至小衣服——都是她在劳改营中为拉达做的。

    1936年，塔蒂亚娜于上乌拉尔斯克特殊隔离营获释，又流放至乌拉尔斯克城，之后再转至阿拉木图。1936年3月，费奥克蒂斯塔赴乌拉尔斯克城，与女儿共度了两个星期。对塔蒂亚娜来说，这两周的时光实在太珍贵了。她后来描述两人坐在一起的亲密：“我的头靠在你肩膀上，一起回顾逝去的光阴。”费奥克蒂斯塔返回莫斯科后不久，塔蒂亚娜写道：“妈妈！我回到家里，但这已不能算是家了。你不在，就没有‘家’[用英文写的]——再也没有温暖。”4月，塔蒂亚娜搬去阿拉木图，开始寄望于拉达能前来跟她一起生活，因此投入所有的精力为实现女儿的迁移奔走。她这段时间的信中充满了希望和兴奋。拉达写道：“她的倔强和执著聚焦于找到一份工作，以及与女儿同住的小房间。”但到最后，此行还是落空。1936年6月，拉达正要离开莫斯科前往阿拉木图与母亲团聚，塔蒂亚娜却再次被捕，被送去另一个劳改营。拉达回忆：

    我们买了赴阿拉木图的火车票，找好路上可照看我的旅伴，打好包裹，发送电报，告知我的抵达信息。回电却说：“收件人已不住在这里。”只好退掉车票。我留在莫斯科，再也没有见到母亲一面。

    塔蒂亚娜被送去科雷马——那是斯大林古拉格系统中最糟糕的营地之一，并于1937年11月遭枪决。同月，米哈伊尔也被枪决于卡累利阿。他与妻子（托洛茨基分子）的通信，都被记录在内务人民委员会的文件中，足以让他被判处死刑。 (370)

    拉达对父母的去世茫然不知。她尽量不去想，因为不知道他们是否还活着。但有一次，她在梦中看到母亲：

    一开始，我在大洋中一条船的甲板上，手中是两本包有褐色胶纸的教科书。我打开其中一本，看到母亲的笔迹。第一句很奇怪：“当你读到这几行字时，我已在海底……”我继续往下读，记不得读了多少行。突然，恐惧袭入我的心，海水从巨大的管道喷薄而出。我的恐惧骤涨，将我紧紧攫住，直到我惊醒过来。 (371)

    拉达坚信这个梦所传递的“信息”——母亲已经淹死——开始对她朝思暮想。后来，她从科雷马劳改营的幸存者那里听到有关囚犯船沉没的故事，更加确信母亲的厄运。多年来，她一直相信自己的梦；尽管后来收到当局的死亡证明，说母亲是被枪决的，但她仍然认定母亲是淹死的。

    监禁之后转向家庭的狂热社会主义者，不单单是塔蒂亚娜·波洛兹。尼古拉·康德拉季耶夫1892年出生于科斯特罗马省的农民家庭，该省地处莫斯科的东北方向，相距400公里。他在圣彼得堡大学攻读经济学，加入了社会革命党，并在1917年的土地改革中发挥了重要作用。20世纪20年代，康德拉季耶夫是一名杰出的经济学家，向苏维埃政府提供咨询。他全力支持新经济政策，提倡农业和消费品的生产应该优先于重工业，同时还推出了资本主义经济的长周期理论（“康德拉季耶夫长波理论”），并因此闻名于世。随着新经济政策的逆转，康德拉季耶夫被解除一切职务。1930年7月，他被捕，罪名是他属于一个非法的 “农工党”（很可能是子虚乌有的）。斯大林写信给莫洛托夫说：“一定要枪毙康德拉季耶夫和其他几个歹徒。” (372) 但到最后，康德拉季耶夫被判处8年徒刑，始于1932年2月，囚禁在苏兹达尔镇的一个特殊隔离营——14世纪时曾是斯帕索―叶菲梅耶夫修道院。

    康德拉季耶夫的健康状况迅速恶化，频繁进出监狱医院，症状有剧烈头痛、头晕、间歇性耳聋、腿部的慢性风湿、腹泻、呕吐、失眠和抑郁。1936年，他几近失明。然而，康德拉季耶夫仍致力于研究工作，并筹划撰写5本新著。他给妻子叶夫根尼娅写的信超过100封， (373) 几乎每一封都附有小字条，专给出生于1925年的女儿艾莱娜（“阿廖娜”）。康德拉季耶夫内心的离别痛苦，在这些信件中表露无遗，最牵挂的就是自己的女儿。他是一名如此慈爱的父亲，此情此景因而变得愈加凄美。他渴望在女儿的成长过程中发挥积极影响，做不到这一点又成了他内心最痛苦的煎熬。他在1932年3月写给叶夫根尼娅的信中说：“真可怕，她将在我缺席的情况下长大。这带给我的折磨远超过任何其他的。” (374) 尼古拉将所有的父爱，注入写给艾莱娜的信中。她没写回信时，尼古拉就会责备她不够孝顺。尼古拉会不断向她提醒，自己被捕前父女共同生活中的小小轶事。他在信上绘画，给她讲修道院周遭野生动物的故事——小鸟飞来探望，还有他看到的小狐狸。在许多信件中，尼古拉还附上从修道院四周采来的花草。他最主要的注意力集中于女儿的智力发展，给她寄去谜语和字谜，为她开列推荐的书单，要她写读后感。他还鼓励她记日记，纠正她来信中的错误，不厌其烦地提醒她：“书写要工整，凡事都要尽力而为。” (375) 他许多来信的尾部都有小孩写的“爸爸”二字。这就是艾莱娜所拥有的有关父亲的一切。她长大后，成为一名植物学家，是莫斯科大学的教授。也许，父亲的信件最终还是激起了她对植物学的兴趣。

    1935年，为了纪念她的命名日， (376) 尼古拉给艾莱娜寄去一则他自编自画的童话《沙米不寻常的冒险记》（The Unusual Adventures of Shammi），讲述一只小猫寻找理想家园，其间的“人们、动物、植物，都生活在幸福与和谐之中”。沙米与朋友公猫瓦夏一起出发，后者很懦弱，也很勉强。在旅途中，它俩遇上各种动物，都试图劝阻它们，并允诺，如果它俩放弃寻找，就会后福无量。但沙米依然一往无前，反倒吸引了不少追随者——山羊、驴、马、母鸡——它们都在“努力工作并渴望更好的生活”。但很快，它们一伙迷了路，开始互相争论，有的被鳄鱼吞食，有的被森林中的猎人捕杀。

    1938年8月31日，康德拉季耶夫写信给女儿：

    我甜蜜的宝贝阿廖努什卡（艾莱娜）：

    兴许，假期已经结束，你已重返学校。你的夏季过得如何？我很想知道，你是否更加强壮、体重增加、皮肤晒成了褐色？我非常想看看你，亲吻你许多许多次。我自己还是不舒服，仍在生病。我甜蜜的阿廖努什卡，我希望你在这个冬天不会生病，一如既往地努力学习。要阅读好的书籍，做一个聪明乖巧的小女孩，听母亲的话，永远不要让她失望。如果你没把我——你的爸爸——彻底忘了，我也会很高兴。好吧，身体健康！心情愉快！我愿吻你个不停。

    你的爸爸 (377)

    这是最后一封信。不久，9月17日，尼古拉就遭行刑队枪决。

    [1] 它的地基渗水，即使以莫斯科墓地的墓碑来堵塞，仍然无效。儿童们爬过围栏，在地基的积水潭中游泳，或钓鲤鱼。该宫殿的建造因1941年战争的爆发而停工，之后再也没有复工。但它的效果图继续印在火柴盒上，附近的地铁站名（今天的科洛波德站）仍叫苏维埃宫殿，只是工地本身后来变成了游泳池。
    [2] 帕维尔·加利斯基（生于1911年）还记得自己在1932年清洗期间，曾受列宁格勒红色军火厂党主管的质询。加利斯基是神父的儿子，担任工厂墙报的主编，新近入党，家庭背景使他易受攻击。工厂清洗委员会的负责人，既是地区党委主席，又是工厂董事，当场要求加利斯基介绍“列宁的著作《反杜林论》”的摘要（事实上，该著作不是列宁的，而是恩格斯的，它详细阐述了有关马克思主义哲学、自然科学、政治经济学的概念）。加利斯基对此书根本一无所知，但他回忆：“我想，反的意思就是反对。所以我就回答，列宁写这本书就是要批驳这个杜林。他们说：‘正确！干得不错，聪明的小伙子！’”（MSP, f. 3, op. 53, d. 2, l. 6）
    [3] 1935年8月，顿巴斯的矿工阿列克谢·斯达汉诺夫（Aleksei Stakhanov）挖出的煤炭创了纪录，赢得了全国媒体广泛的表扬。他的成就引发了一项群众运动，专门奖励熟练且尽职的工人，因为效率是第二个五年计划规定的目标。斯达汉诺夫运动很快发展成一种“突击劳动”，超出生产配额的人可获得奖金、消费品、较好的住房，甚至可晋升为行政干部（尤其是警察）。就斯大林政权而言，该运动是提高生产标准、降低基本工资的措施。它使工人更依赖计件的报酬，又对经理和官员施加了强大压力。燃料或原材料发生短缺时，或模范工人无法完成指标时，经理和官员就要承担全部的罪责（常被指控为破坏者和颠覆分子）。
    [4] 1935年10月，斯大林探望他在第比利斯的母亲，受到广泛的宣传，由此启动了一场宣传运动，以显示他是家庭观念浓厚的人。斯大林在克里姆林宫花园与他的孩子们在一起的场景也被拍了照，这在以前是绝不允许的（大多数苏维埃人甚至不知道斯大林育有子女）。
    [5] 出于这个原因，她希望匿名。
    [6] 精神科医生发现，共用公寓的长期居民中，有很高比例的人患有精神分裂症和妄想症。
    [7] 俄国将领波将金（1739—1791）为使女皇叶卡捷琳娜二世对他的领地留下好印象，在女皇必经之路旁建起一批繁荣村庄。其后，“波将金村”作为弄虚作假的代称闻名于世。——编注

    第四章 大恐怖（1937—1938）

    一

    1937年7月7日晚，丈夫被捕时，朱莉娅·皮亚特尼茨卡娅都不知作何感想。奥西普·皮亚特尼茨基是老布尔什维克，创立初期就是其成员，又是列宁最信赖的同志之一。1932年1月，列宁的遗孀克鲁普斯卡娅，在祝福皮亚特尼茨基50岁生日的《真理报》文章中，把他描述成一位“典型的革命家，一切奉献给党，全为党的利益而活”。朱莉娅实在想不明白，奥西普何以变成了“人民公敌”。她是一名坚定的布尔什维克，现在却变得手足无措，不知道究竟应该信谁：已将皮亚特尼茨基定为“叛徒和间谍”的苏维埃媒体，抑或自己近20年的爱人？奥西普是她两个孩子的父亲，他被捕后，她都不敢确定是否真正了解自己的丈夫。朱莉娅在日记中写道：“谁是皮亚特尼茨基？一个真正的革命家，抑或一个歹徒？……两者可能都是真的。我实在弄不清楚，这才是最痛苦的。”

    1920年朱莉娅遇上奥西普时，自己还只有21岁，他39岁。朱莉娅出生于弗拉基米尔城的俄罗斯波兰家庭。她母亲是一名波兰贵族，不顾自己阶层的习俗和宗教，没有得到其父母的同意，竟嫁给了一名俄罗斯东正教神父。母亲在朱莉娅6岁时去世，却把自己浪漫和反叛的气质，遗留给了女儿。第一次世界大战期间，热情而美丽的朱莉娅仅16岁就离开父亲的家，成为俄罗斯军队的一名护士。与她结婚的一名年轻将军，消失在1917年的一次战斗中。内战时期，朱莉娅加入布尔什维克，充任红军间谍，潜入时任东线白军领袖的高尔察克海军上将的总部。她最终泄露真实身份，侥幸逃离，来到莫斯科，因精神崩溃而病倒。她在医院中治疗时，遇上了前来探望朋友的奥西普。朱莉娅高度紧张、情绪不稳，又满怀激情，有些诗人气质。由于从小接受严格的宗教教育，她具有强烈的正义感，大大影响了自身的政治观点。据奥西普一位朋友的女儿说，朱莉娅心地善良，待人热诚，很招人喜欢：“在她面前，我们这些孩子总是很安静。她一来，我们就把忧愁抛到九霄云外，她总是充满活力。” (379)

    相比之下，奥西普严肃认真，沉默寡言。他身体结实，五官清秀柔和，是职业革命家的模范。他很谦逊，几近大公无私，很少谈及自己的私生活（很多党内老同志都不知道他已成家）。1917年之前，奥西普就是地下马克思主义者中最重要的积极分子之一，负责在俄罗斯和欧洲之间偷运非法印刷品。他住在国外的时间颇长，尤其是德国，在那里化名为“弗赖塔格”（Freitag，即星期五），翻回俄文便是皮亚特尼察，这也是他名字皮亚特尼茨基的来源（他真正的犹太姓氏是塔尔希斯）。与朱莉娅结婚时，奥西普是莫斯科的党委书记，但很快调到共产国际，负责至关重要的组织部，实际上成了整个共产国际的掌门人。皮亚特尼茨基督导共产国际迅速扩张，试图将革命传播到世界上每一个角落。他的《一个布尔什维克的回忆录》（Memoirs of a Bolshevik，1926年）其实是一本党的工作手册，介绍组织和道德的原则，被翻译成20多种语言。皮亚特尼茨基工作非常勤奋，常常筋疲力尽。他回忆：“我在共产国际工作，从早到晚。” (380) 20世纪20年代中期——仅40岁出头，他的头发已全部变白，然后日益稀疏。

    奥西普的繁忙工作给家庭生活添加了重负，其在河堤大楼的公寓永远是外国宾客满座。他错过了两个儿子的童年——伊戈尔（生于1921年）和弗拉基米尔（生于1925年），还与朱莉娅频起争执，起因就在于自己时常不能在家。20世纪30年代，朱莉娅因党的资产阶级化和斯大林的独裁而愈益感到失望。伊戈尔回忆父母之间的一场争论——肯定是在1934年——她以愤怒的语调，大声朗诵19世纪初诗人德米特里·韦涅维季诺夫的煽动性诗句：

    污物、恶臭、蟑螂、跳蚤
    到处都有其留下的手笔和杰作
    还有这些唠唠叨叨的俄罗斯人——
    而我们必须把这一切称作我们神圣的祖国。

    奥西普吓坏了，担心邻居偷听，赶紧请求妻子：“朱莉娅，小声点！”

    到1935年，由于在共产国际中的地位，世界各地的共产主义者都知道皮亚特尼茨基的大名（英国共产主义者哈利·波利特曾说，皮亚特尼茨基就是共产国际）。这一时期，斯大林的外交政策改成了与西方民主国家加强联系，以遏制纳粹德国（即“集体安全”）；1934年，苏联甚至加入了两年前曾攻击为“帝国主义阴谋”的“国际联盟”，而共产国际必须服从于这一外交政策。保加利亚共产主义者格奥尔基·季米特洛夫接任总书记一职，他率领的共产国际，任务就是与欧洲社会党人建立联盟，鼓励他们与中间派组成联合政府（“人民战线”），以抵制法西斯的威胁。该政策在法国和西班牙取得一定成功，当地的人民阵线政府在1936年当选。但在共产国际当中，仍有人批评这一策略，其中就有皮亚特尼茨基。许多共产党人，包括20世纪20年代以托洛茨基为首的左翼反对派前成员，认为这样做是对国际革命事业的背叛。在他们看来，只有共产主义者和社会主义者组成的“人民阵线”，才能推进国际革命事业，而资产阶级的中间派不在其内。此外，以李可夫和布哈林为首的较为温和的右翼反对派，其前成员对斯大林的滥用权力也越来越反感。这两个团体找到了共同的目标：都把斯大林当做“反革命”。到1936年，共产国际充斥着不满斯大林外交政策的窃窃私语。左派们把斯大林对西方列强的和解，与苏维埃精英的资产阶级化挂起钩来。他们仍然对世界革命的理想充满信心，担心斯大林领导下的苏联，不再是对西方无产者的鼓舞，反而变成既存秩序和安全的守护者。在西班牙内战中，斯大林并没向捍卫共和国的各式左派提供足够的援助，他们因此而大失所望。1936年秋，佛朗哥将军的国民军——在法西斯意大利和纳粹德国的大规模援助之下——挺进马德里郊区。即使是斯大林的忠诚支持者，有时也发现很难认同自己目睹的对革命国际主义的背叛。一名老布尔什维克在1935年向美国驻苏大使威廉·布利特解释：“你必须明白，世界革命是我们的宗教。归根结底，要是我们觉得斯大林在放弃世界革命事业，我们中的每一个人，都会反对斯大林本人。” (382)

    斯大林对共产国际越来越不放心，担心失控。他在1935年8月的第七次代表大会上，对其领导班子作了大规模整顿。皮亚特尼茨基不再从事共产国际的行政工作，而被调去中央委员会一个新设部门，专管党的监督工作。1936年8月，前反对派加米涅夫和季诺维也夫，分别登上做秀公审的被告席。这无疑是斯大林向批评者发出的明确警告：所有政策的决定权只得留给党的最高层。它的矛头直指共产国际，其反对意见被斯大林视作“外国间谍”的挑拨离间。斯大林在1937年2月写信给季米特洛夫：“你们共产国际的所有人都上了敌人的当。”数千名共产国际的官员和外国共产主义者，在1937至1938年被捕。德国、波兰、南斯拉夫、波罗的海的共产党，几乎清洗殆尽。在共产国际的总部，以及许多共产国际官员寄居的莫斯科勒克斯酒店，风声鹤唳，一片肃杀。一名官员说：“很多人已经半疯，因为时时处在恐惧之中，什么事都做不了。” (383)

    皮亚特尼茨基被斯大林斥为托洛茨基分子，后来又被指控卷入了一个“共产国际的法西斯间谍组织，由托洛茨基分子和右派分子所组成”。但他儿子相信，他在1937年6月的中央委员会全体会议上作的勇敢发言，才是他被捕的真正原因。 [1] 很显然，皮亚特尼茨基在中央委员会的新工作中发现了什么，感到无比震惊。对斯大林巨大的个人权力，以及他肆意借用内务人民委员会来消灭政敌，他更是忧心忡忡。据信，皮亚特尼茨基在6月的全体会议上，指责内务人民委员会捏造“人民公敌”的罪证，并呼吁建立特殊委员会，以监督内务人民委员会的所作所为。这无疑是自杀性的发言，皮亚特尼茨基自己也有所察觉。他说完后，大厅里一片死寂，紧张气氛，一目了然。数名党领导人，包括卡冈诺维奇、莫洛托夫、伏罗希洛夫，承从斯大林的指示，试图说服皮亚特尼茨基撤回发言，从而保住自己的头颅。莫洛托夫还恳求他，要为自己的妻儿着想。但皮亚特尼茨基不愿退缩，宣称自己很清楚将会遇上怎样的噩运，但“共产党人的良心”不允许他收回自己的话。据卡冈诺维奇说，皮亚特尼茨基告诉他，他的抗议活动是有意为之的，是有计划的。“他还说，为了党的团结和道德纯洁，随时准备牺牲自己的生命，如有必要，甚至愿意踏过自己妻儿的尸体。”斯大林一听到如此汇报，领导班子马上决定休会。第二天早上，内务人民委员会主管尼古拉·叶若夫率先发言，指控皮亚特尼茨基是沙皇间谍，受资本主义列强的派遣前来渗透共产国际，随即要求就弹劾的动议实施表决。弹劾获得通过，仅3票弃权，其中一票就是克鲁普斯卡娅的。她拒绝相信内务人民委员会对皮亚特尼茨基的指控，直至他被捕（“他是最诚实的人，列宁非常爱护和尊重他”）。 (384) 朱莉娅在日记里记载，从全会回来，皮亚特尼茨基显得“精疲力竭，颓唐神伤”。她问他是怎么回事，皮亚特尼茨基只谈及：“所有的孩子和无辜者，被迫生活在永久的心理重压之下。” (385)

    在随后的两个星期中，皮亚特尼茨基待在家里，把自己锁在办公室。他吃得很少，整天打电话，试图与叶若夫取得联系。朱莉娅无法承受这样的紧张，去了乡间别墅几天——后来甚是后悔。她在1938年3月的日记中写道：“我不清楚他当时所承受的，其实应该留在他的身边。我不够聪明，也不够强大。作为他这样的人的妻子，那就意味着要为他服务，永远坚守岗位。” (386) 在这两个星期中，奥西普为被捕而做准备。他将存款和贵重物品转给朱莉娅，销毁了自己的私人笔记和信件。他是一个经验丰富的革命家，曾多次被捕，知道做出何种准备。7月5日，他被开除出党。从乡间别墅回来的朱莉娅注意到，他如此沮丧，以致考虑过自杀，因为他无法想象没有党的生活。第二天，他们一起去拜访老朋友。奥西普告诉他们，他已改变主意，为了党的团结，愿意接受惩罚：“如果一定要为党作出牺牲，不管这牺牲有多艰巨，我都愿愉快地承担。”奥西普先行提醒儿子们，自己即将被捕。他解释说，他因与党的领导发生了争执而受到指控；但他否认罪名，将尽一切可能证明自己的无辜；如果被捕，那他们都不应期望能够再一次看到自己的父亲。伊戈尔还记得：“他警告我不要与斯大林斗，这是他要告诉我的重点。” (387)

    7月7日晚上刚过11点，内务人民委员会来找奥西普，叶若夫亲自出马。他们闯入公寓，朝朱莉娅扔来一件晨衣，叫她穿上。她开始叫喊，并咒骂他们。叶若夫告诉她：“苏维埃公民与当局代表讲话，不可使用这样的方式。”奥西普为妻子的失态表示歉意，便跟他们离去，随身只带了装有晨衣和牙刷的小手提箱。他们离开时，朱莉娅昏了过去，等她苏醒过来，他们已经不见踪影。她在日记中记下：“我只有一个念头——压倒一切，那就是我再也见不到他了——更感到自己的孤立无助，太可怕了。”第二天，朱莉娅还在上班，内务人民委员会又一次闯入公寓。他们搜寻奥西普的文件，并带走家里的贵重物品。现金、存折、收音机、自行车、大衣、床单、亚麻桌布，甚至像茶杯那样的小东西，统统不见了。通向奥西普办公室的大门被用蜡封住，没人敢于打破，如果真做了，倒会发现大量的书籍，皮亚特尼茨基的家人还能将之出售，来帮助她们应付未来数月的困苦。像所有“人民公敌”家庭一样，他们突然发现，自己陷入了贫困的泥沼。 (388)

    奥西普的命运，很可能在他6月全会的抗议之前就已被裁定。在1937至1938年的大恐怖中——至少130万人因危害国家罪而被捕——共产国际是斯大林的主要目标之一。其中的原因值得研究，因为它是解答大恐怖起源之谜的关键。

    即使以斯大林政权的标准看，大恐怖仍属异乎寻常。它不是惯例的大规模逮捕，比如斯大林统治期间不时席卷全国的那种，而是大批杀戮的既定政策。斯大林不再满足于关押他真实或想象的“政治敌人”，而是下令警方把他们从监狱和劳改营提出，统统枪毙。据不完全统计，仅在1937和1938这两年，至少有681692人，可能更多，因“危害国家罪”而被枪决（姑且借用内务人民委员会的统计数字，在1921到1940年之间判处死刑的政治犯中，这占了91%）。这两年中，古拉格劳改营的人数从1196369人增至1881570人（该数字不包括至少14万死于劳改营的人和数字不详的死于流放途中的人）。苏维埃历史上的其他阶段也见证了对“敌人”的大规模逮捕，但从未有这么多的处决。大恐怖中被捕的人中，超过半数后来被枪决。相比之下，1930年被捕的人中，枪决的不到10%——处决的死刑犯是20201人，那也是斯大林时期的第二处决高峰。在1929至1932年的“反富农行动”中，被捕人数很高（586904人），但只有6%（35689人）遭枪决。 (389)

    大恐怖的起源不易解释，更不易弄清为何如此集中于这两年。为了开始这个理解过程，我们绝不能把大恐怖看成不受控制的意外事件，即随时可爆发的斯大林政权的混乱产物——这是有人提出的解释——而要看成斯大林精心操纵的行为，为了应付他体察的1937年的具体情况。

    有些历史学家把大恐怖的起源，追溯到列宁格勒党主管谢尔盖·基洛夫在1934年12月的遇害——据说，此举导致政权对暗藏的敌人实施杀气腾腾的追捕。但该理论捎出一个疑问，为何大规模的逮捕和杀戮，没在1934至1935年开始？为何在1937至1938年大风暴之前，又出现了两年的平静？在基洛夫遇刺之后，列宁格勒的确有大批的逮捕行动。除此之外，苏联其他地区的政治人物，在1935和1936年并没看到明显的恐怖。事实上，经过了1928至1934年的混乱，政权已在苏联检察长亚历山大·维辛斯基的领导下，有意识地返回了更稳定更传统的法律秩序。又有历史学家把大恐怖，与斯大林担忧国内特别是农村的威胁挂起钩来。他们认为，如果苏维埃选举照原计划进行，如1936年的“斯大林宪法”所允诺的，农村的普遍不满将会转化为政治诉求。但内务人民委员会有关国内不满的报告是不可靠的（“反苏情绪和动乱威胁”往往是内务人民委员会炮制的，以便获得预算和人员的增加）；斯大林或其他领导人是否当真，又是不明确的。不管如何，这些报告并没倾向于认为1937年的国内威胁要大于先前年代。从1928到1932年，也有很多不满和反对的报告，但那些年份的国家处决远远比不上1937至1938年的强度。

    还有其他历史学家建议，最好把大恐怖理解为“几个相关但分离的现象”，每一个都能自作解释，而不是单一事件的组成部分。 (393) 事实上，大恐怖真是不同元素组成的复合物：针对老布尔什维克的“做秀大公审”、政治精英的清洗、城市中的大规模逮捕、“富农行动”，以及针对少数族裔的“国家行动”。分析大恐怖的各个组成部分可能有好处，但不争的事实是，它们都在同时开始，同时终结。这显示，它们只是统一运动中的部件，需要解释的就是这个统一运动。

    要了解整体的大恐怖，关键也许在于斯大林对将临战争的恐惧，以及他所感受的国际上对苏联的威胁。 (394) 希特勒的德国在1936年占领莱茵兰，以及日本人占领满洲里，让斯大林确信苏联正在两条战线上面对轴心国的虎视眈眈。1936年11月，柏林和东京联合起来，签订了反共产国际的协定（法西斯的意大利随后加入），这更加深了斯大林的恐惧。他虽然继续支持“集体安全”，但对苏联与西方联合起来遏制轴心国，并没寄托太大的希望。譬如，西方国家没在西班牙干预，似乎指望以绥靖政策应付纳粹德国；据说在斯大林看来，西方不可告人的目的就是想把希特勒的部队引向东方，引向苏德战争，而不是在西方针锋相对。到1937年，斯大林确信，苏联已与欧洲的法西斯联盟和东方的日本处于战争的边缘。苏联报刊通常描绘苏维埃国家受到四面八方的威胁，又因法西斯在社会每一角落的渗透——“间谍和暗藏的敌人”——而变得衰弱。

    斯大林在1935年告诉作家罗曼·罗兰：“我们来自资本主义各界的敌人正孜孜不倦，其渗透无孔不入。”斯大林的政治观念——如同许多布尔什维克的——深受第一次世界大战的影响，当初击败沙皇政权的反而是大后方的社会革命。他担心，如果发生与纳粹德国的战争，苏维埃政权将面临类似的内乱。出于同样的考虑，西班牙内战更加剧了他的恐惧。斯大林密切关注西班牙的冲突，视之为共产主义和法西斯主义之间“未来欧洲战争的有效的剧情概要”（他的大多数顾问都持同一见解）。 (395) 斯大林将1936年西班牙共和国的军事失败，归罪于西班牙共产主义者、托洛茨基分子、无政府主义者以及其他左翼团体之间的内讧，因而得出结论：在反法西斯战争爆发之前，亟需在苏联进行一次政治镇压，要粉碎的不只是“第五纵队、法西斯间谍和敌人”，而是所有的潜在反对力量。

    现在看来，对“敌人”的偏执性恐惧本来就是斯大林的性格，而这种恐惧又因妻子娜杰日达1932年的自杀、斯大林声称视如兄弟的基洛夫的遇刺，而愈加强化。他女儿斯维特兰娜写道：“也许，斯大林从来就不太信任别人。自他们二人死后，再也不相信其他任何人了。” [2] 斯大林将基洛夫的遇刺，归罪于季诺维也夫派（列宁格勒的反对派），尽管没有证据，他仍下令逮捕列宁格勒前主管季诺维也夫的支持者。其中很多人最终被裁定犯了“道德上的共谋罪”，所依据的理由是，他们造就了反对派气氛，从而鼓励了对苏维埃领导人的暗杀。谋杀后的两个半月中，斯大林在列宁格勒亲自督办调查工作，逮捕了近1000名季诺维也夫派，其中大多数被流放到遥远的定居地。20世纪20年代，季诺维也夫和加米涅夫曾参与联合反对派，与托洛茨基结盟来反对斯大林，此时双双被捕，季诺维也夫被判处10年监禁，加米涅夫被判处5年。一旦内务人民委员会的官员显得手软，不愿逮捕这么多党的忠诚追随者，斯大林便把内务人民委员会主管雅戈达召来，告诫他要提高警惕，否则就“会把你也拉下马”。雅戈达的地位在1935年受到进一步的削弱。其时，负责党内清洗的叶若夫声称，破获了一个“外国间谍和恐怖分子”网络，是托洛茨基和季诺维也夫组织的，已钻进克里姆林宫的心脏，而内务人民委员会对此却茫然不知。斯大林终于对雅戈达失去耐心，让叶若夫取而代之。叶若夫是一个残酷的刽子手，毫无道德良知，愿意在任何场合捏造“反革命阴谋和间谍圈子”的证据，以满足斯大林的偏执狂。好几年来，叶若夫一直在推销这一理论：加米涅夫和季诺维也夫，执行托洛茨基从国外发来的命令，策划了对基洛夫、斯大林以及党领导其他成员的谋杀。以此为基础，斯大林重启了对刺杀基洛夫一案的调查。1936年8月，以叛国罪公审季诺维也夫、加米涅夫及14名其他党干部。结果，他们与涉案的另外160人全都被判处死刑。 (396)

    这是莫斯科首批“做秀公审”，其目的是为了揭露和铲除由前反对派组织的“间谍和恐怖分子”网络。1937年1月的第二批做秀公审，见证了重工业副人民委员格奥尔基·皮亚特科夫、卡尔·拉狄克和15名托洛茨基的前支持者，被裁定犯了工业破坏和间谍罪。1937年4月到5月，8名高级军事指挥官，包括图哈切夫斯基元帅（副国防人民委员）、乌博列维奇将军（白俄罗斯军区司令员）和亚基尔将军（基辅军区司令），被逮捕并遭受酷刑，被控以叛国和间谍罪，在镜头前接受公审。据称，他们获得德国和日本的资助，结果均在同一天被枪决。最后也是最大的做秀公审发生于1938年3月，布哈林、雅戈达、李可夫和13名其他高级干部被判处枪决，罪名是参与了季诺维也夫派和托洛茨基派的阴谋，暗杀苏联领导人、破坏经济并充当法西斯势力的间谍。据推测，因为有雅戈达的卷入，所以需要历时这么长久才予以揭发归案。

    领导人一旦被捕，他的社会圈子里的每一个人都变成嫌疑人物。典型的外省城镇掌控在一帮资深官员的手中——地区党主管、警察局局长、厂长、集体农庄主席、监狱长和地方苏维埃主席——他们在城镇机构中，又各有自己的后台和依附者的网络。只要他们的权力圈子完好无损，这些人便官官相护。只要有人被捕，内务人民委员会查出他们之间的牵连，其圈子里的所有成员，乃至他们的下属，都逃不脱身陷囹圄的厄运。例如，1937年内务人民委员会在乌克兰东部拘捕了尼科波尔城的党委书记：

    随即也逮捕了他的助理、朋友和他在尼科波尔城各地所委任的男男女女。尼科波尔军区司令也落入猎人的口袋，然后是地方检察官和他手下所有的法律助理，最后才是尼科波尔城的苏维埃主席……当地的银行、报纸、商业机构都被“清洗”……甚至祸及共用公寓委员会的经理、消防队长、储蓄机构负责人…… (397)

    领导阶层的恐怖，因此波及每一级党组织、苏维埃机构和社会各界。据估计，从1937到1938年，遭到处决或监禁的党员有116885人。党内的地位越高，就越有可能被捕，因为属下随时准备揭发上司，以取而代之。同期，1934年苏共十七大选出的139名中央委员中，102人遭枪决，5人自杀；此外，还有56%的十七大代表入狱。对红军的摧残更为彻底：在767名高级军官中（旅长以及更高军衔的），412人被处决，29人死于监狱，3人自杀，59人羁留在监狱。 (398)

    斯大林一定知道，受害者中的绝大多数是完全无辜的。但在战争时期，发动一场革命只需要一小撮“暗藏的敌人”。在斯大林看来，为了铲除这些“暗藏的敌人”，逮捕数百万人也是值得的。斯大林在1937年6月说过，如果被捕者中有5%是真正的敌人，“那也是一个好结果”。证据只是次要的考虑。据其时担任莫斯科党领导的赫鲁晓夫称，斯大林曾说：“如果报告[举报]中有10%的事实，我们就应将整个报告当做是真实的。”内务人民委员会的每个人都知道，为了抓住一名间谍，斯大林愿意逮捕数千人。他们很清楚，如果完不成逮捕配额，就会因警惕性不高而自找麻烦。叶若夫警告他在内务人民委员会的手下：“太多好过不够，如果[在一次行动中]多杀了一千人，算不上什么大事。” (399)

    对斯大林和他的支持者来说，大恐怖是在为未来战争做准备。莫洛托夫和卡冈诺维奇至死都在捍卫这一推理。莫洛托夫在1986年解释，“斯大林只是想万无一失（perestrakhoval），大清洗只是一份保单”——领导阶层的必要手段，用以揪出可能会在战争中制造麻烦的“动摇分子、野心家和暗藏的敌人”。莫洛托夫承认确有失误，很多人的被捕是不公正的，但“如果领导畏缩不前，允许内讧，我们将在战争中遭受更大损失——也许会被打败”。

    我们有义务确保战争爆发后没有第五纵队的存在。要说这些人都是间谍，令人怀疑。但……更重要的是，在决定性的时刻，不需要依赖他们……如果图哈切夫斯基、亚基尔、李可夫、季诺维也夫在战争时期加入反对派，就会有残酷的斗争和巨大的损失……每个人都会遭到摧毁！

    在20世纪80年代，卡冈诺维奇以同样的理由来为大恐怖辩护：领导阶层已意识到，战争即将来临，国家需要“抽干沼泽（boloto）”——即“摧毁不可靠者和动摇者”。这并不是卡冈诺维奇的马后炮。1938年6月，他就告诉顿巴斯党组织，战争威胁使大镇压成为必须，如果“内部敌人和间谍”没在“大清洗”中遭到摧毁，“国家可能早已陷入战争的泥沼”。 (400)

    “大恐怖”由克里姆林宫统筹，由内务人民委员会具体执行，以一系列群众运动的形式席卷整个社会，旨在清洗“反社会分子”和战争时可能的“反苏维埃分子”。这些群众运动中最大的一次是臭名昭著的第00447号命令，即“富农行动”。从1937到1938年，它占了一半的逮捕人数（669929人）和过半的处决人数（376202人）。几乎所有的受害者都是前“富农”及其家人，他们刚刚服完标准的8年徒刑，从“特殊定居地”和古拉格劳改营归来。那些徒刑是1929至1930年的集体化运动中判处的，罪名是“反革命煽动”。斯大林担心，不满和怨恨的“富农”会在各地泛滥成灾，一旦发生战争，可能构成威胁。他特别关注内务人民委员会的报告，声称保皇党组织俄罗斯军事总盟（ROVS）正在策划“富农起义”，以配合日本对西伯利亚的入侵。数万被指控的俄罗斯军事总盟成员在“富农行动”中遭到枪决，往往并不算在官方统计之中（例如，阿尔泰内务人民委员会曾针对他们在1937年枪决22108名军事总盟成员，呈送过一份单独报告）。“富农行动”又与地方苏维埃的大批清洗直接相连，这在边境地区特别残酷，如西部各省、顿巴斯、西伯利亚的西部，因为政权最不放心那里的居民。 (401)

    另有大规模的“全国行动”，驱逐和处决苏维埃的少数民族——被视作战争爆发时的潜在“间谍”：德裔、波兰裔、芬兰裔、拉脱维亚人、亚美尼亚人、希腊人、朝鲜人、中国人，甚至从哈尔滨返国的俄罗斯人。俄罗斯人的返国是在1935年之后，其时，日本1932年扶植建立的伪满洲国，从苏联手中买下了中东铁路。斯大林对苏维埃西部地区的波兰裔尤为猜疑，这始于俄国内战时期波兰入侵乌克兰，红军随即对华沙发起反攻，却一败涂地——这一军事失败给斯大林带来羞辱，因为他就是前线指挥，犯了战术上的错误。斯大林把苏维埃波兰裔（包括他认为是波兰裔的很多白俄罗斯人和乌克兰人），当做约瑟夫·毕苏斯基元帅“半法西斯”波兰的第五纵队。苏联领导人担心，波兰会与纳粹德国联合起来，向苏联再一次发起进攻。1937年8月推出的第00485号命令，就是针对波兰裔的“国家行动”。结果，截至1938年11月，近14万人或遭枪决，或被送去劳改营。 (402)

    从1937到1938年，许多人消失，特别是在都市的党和知识分子的圈子里时有发生。逮捕似乎是随意的，黑色警车游荡在深夜的街道，任何人好像都有可能被抓。监狱里的囚犯是全国人口的横截面；大多数囚犯不知道自己为何入狱。到1938年秋季，几乎每一户人家，或自己失去亲人，或认识亲人被押的朋友。人们总是在忧惧深夜的敲门声，睡也睡不好，一听到车子停下就会惊醒。他们躺在床上，静听脚步声渐行渐远，或走上楼梯，或移至走廊上的别家，知道不速之客不是来找自己的，才敢重新睡去。创办列宁格勒木偶剧院的柳博芙·沙波利娜，在1937年11月22日的日记中写道：

    日常生活的快乐。我早晨醒来时情不自禁地想到：感谢上帝，昨晚没事。他们不会在白天抓人，但今夜如何，却没人知晓。这就像拉封丹寓言中的羔羊——每一个人都有足够理由被捕，流放去天晓得的鬼地方。我很幸运，心里一片平静，根本不在乎。但大多数人，却生活在彻头彻尾的恐怖之中。 (403)

    奥西普的儿子弗拉基米尔·皮亚特尼茨基，如此回忆父亲被捕之前河堤大楼的气氛：

    这座阴郁的大楼内，有500多套党的精英干部的公寓，逮捕的事经常发生。我老在院子里和走廊上玩，亲眼目睹过好几次。晚上，天黑了，大楼变得冷清、沉寂。居民们像是在守候灾难，都躲了起来。突然，几辆车子冲进院子，身穿制服或便衣的男子跳出来，走向楼梯口——他们中每个人都知道要去“哪里”。然后，就看到几套公寓的灯亮了。我知道大家住的地方，即可算出谁是逮捕对象。如果公寓里所有的灯都亮了，这意味着正在抄家。那些时日，许多人担心被捕，但不知道何时轮到自己。 (404)

    大家都在等待自己的噩运。许多人拾掇了一个小包，放在床边，等待内务人民委员会的人敲门，随时就可上路。这种消极心态是大恐怖中最引人注目的特征之一，其实有很多逃避的机会——逃离城市，再在黑市上购买假身份，那是最简单也是最有效的，因为内务人民委员会不善于追捕流窜的人口。 (405) 俄罗斯人本有逃离国家迫害的悠久传统——从老信徒到逃亡的农奴——这也是数百万农民逃离集体农庄和“特殊定居地”的战术。但城市居民大多留在原地，没作任何抵抗，只是束手待毙。

    被捕于1943年的电影编剧瓦莱里·福雷德（1922—1998），回首往事，认为大多数人因恐惧而陷入瘫痪。他们相信内务人民委员会的法力无处不在，像是处于催眠状态，实在想不到抵抗或逃跑。

    我在人类历史上想不出类似的情况，只好去动物界寻找例子：震慑于蟒蛇的兔子……我们都好比是兔子，承认蟒蛇吞下我们的权利。不管是谁，一旦处于这样的注视下，便会噤若寒蝉，嘴里塞着对命运的无奈。 (406)

    维亚切斯拉夫·科洛布科夫讲述了他父亲深夜听到汽车在住宅外面停下时的恐慌——他父亲只是列宁格勒的一名工人。

    每天晚上，他都很警觉——等候汽车发动机的声响。如果确有，他就会在床上坐起不动，一副吓坏了的模样。我在黑暗中看不到什么，却能嗅到他的恐惧、手心捏着汗，能感觉得到他浑身颤抖。他听到车声，总是说“他们来找我了”。他确信，自己将因出言不慎而被捕——他曾在家里咒骂布尔什维克。他听到发动机熄火和车门关闭声，就会从床上爬起来，在恐慌中摸索自以为最需要的东西。这些物件始终放在床边，以备“他们”的到来。我记得放在床边的有面包干，他最担心饿肚子。很多个夜晚，父亲几乎彻夜不眠——等候一辆始终没有出现的汽车。 (407)

    面临逮捕的布尔什维克精英显得特别消极被动，他们中的大多数接受党在思想上的灌输。向党证明自己清白的深层次渴望，很容易抵消任何试图抵制的想法。叶夫根尼娅·金兹伯格是喀山一名资深党干部的妻子，自己也是党的积极分子。丈夫被捕后，她也失去工作，无时不在担心自己被捕。金兹伯格回忆，她婆婆是一个“简单的文盲农妇，出生于农奴制时代，却很有深刻的哲理，谈到生活问题时往往一针见血，切中要害”。这个老农妇劝她逃走：

    “常言道，‘眼不见，心不烦’。你跑得越远越好，为什么不去我们的老家波克洛夫斯科耶村庄呢？”……

    “老祖母呀，我做得到吗？我怎么能放弃一切，孩子们、工作？”[金兹伯格回答]

    “但他们已把你开除了。至于孩子嘛，跟我们在一起，是不会吃苦的。”

    “但我必须向党证明我的清白。我是一名共产党人，怎么能逃避党呢？”

    相信自己的清白，让许多布尔什维克变得束手无策。他们设法说服自己，真正有罪的才会被捕，而自己的清白最终会提供保护的。艾莱娜·邦纳回忆，她曾无意中听到都是忠贞党员的父母因亲密朋友的被捕而在深夜交谈。艾莱娜半夜醒来，非常焦虑，因为这一逮捕使她意识到：“快轮到我们的头上了，劫数难逃，而且会来得很快。”

    饭厅里漆黑一团，但父母房内仍有声息。我走近他们的门口，能听到母亲在抽泣。然后，她开始讲话，复又哭起来，我以前从没见过她哭。她不断重复“我的一生”，抽抽噎噎的……爸爸轻声作答，但我听不清。突然，她大声喊出：“我从小就认识斯捷潘，你知道这意味着什么吗？我认识他的时间是认识你的三倍。明白吗？你明白吗？”接下来只有呜咽，还有嘎吱一声，以及拖鞋走在地板上的声响——爸爸已经起床。我从门口跳开，怕他出来。但他开始在房间内踱步——朝窗口五步，再朝床五步，好像一个钟摆。他擦燃一根火柴，妈妈又开始讲话：“告诉我，你信不信？你相信这个噩梦吗？”她停止哭泣。“你相信，阿克斯他……你相信帕维尔他……修卡他……你相信他们都……”她只讲半句，但意思已经很明显。然后，她冷静地轻声说：“我知道，你其实也不信。”爸爸发出一种陌生且哀求的声音：“但是，鲁法―占恩[他对艾莱娜的母亲露丝的昵称]，我怎么敢不信呢？”他停顿一会，又说：“毕竟，他们还没来逮捕你我。” (409)

    还有其他布尔什维克，包括皮亚特尼茨基，如此献身于共产主义信仰，以至于明明知道自己是无辜的，如果党有要求，他们也愿意承认对他们的指控。 [3] 根据共产主义道德，被控危害党的布尔什维克，应该悔改，跪下接受党的判决。这也就是皮亚特尼茨基在被捕前夕所说的：如果党需要有人作出牺牲，他愿意“愉快地承担”。

    许多布尔什维克让家人为自己的可能被捕做好准备，尽力保护家人。卡马河上的运输官员彼得·波塔波夫，在1937年8月被捕的前几天，让家人去下诺夫哥罗德探亲。他女儿回忆：“我们已有5年多没有休过假，他感到前景有点不妙，为我们担心，希望内务人民委员会来抓人时，我们正好不在。”摩尔曼斯克铁路上的资深官员列夫·伊林，预先从列宁格勒的宽敞公寓搬至一座合作小公寓，以避免自己一旦被捕，家人必须与人分享生活空间的难题。他还让从未外出工作的妻子先去纺织厂上班，保证以后能够养活女儿。他恳求妻子与自己离婚，希望能因此脱嫌，逃脱一起被捕的噩运。但她拒绝了，视之为“可耻的背叛”。夫妻之间时常为此发生激烈的争持，直到列夫被捕。 (410)

    双双在1937年被捕的斯坦尼斯拉夫和瓦尔瓦拉·布德克维奇夫妇，试图让14岁的女儿玛丽亚自力更生。他们训练她自己外出购物，教她遇上父母被捕时一言不发，还强迫她阅读报纸上的做秀公审，让她懂得父母双双被捕的威胁意味着什么。玛丽亚回忆：“我什么都懂。父亲与图哈切夫斯基走得很近，在总参谋部一起工作。我们大楼里都是军人，一个个地被捕，所以我明白正在发生的事情。”玛丽亚的父亲7月8日被捕，母亲的被捕是在7月14日。

    那一夜，妈妈觉得他们会来抓人。我们坐在一起，很长一段时间，就我们俩，没有安德烈[玛丽亚的弟弟]。尽管妈妈知道我第二天早晨还有考试，依然到了午夜时分才对我说：“夜深了，你还是去睡吧。”

    第二天一早，玛丽亚醒来发现母亲已经不见了——她就在那个深夜被捕——内务人民委员会的人员也搜过玛丽亚的房间。在她的床头，母亲留下了告别的字条和一些零钱。 (411)

    法学家伊利亚·斯拉温在1937年11月5日晚上被捕，他没写内务人民委员会要的为古拉格劳工在白海运河“重新做人”正名的书。被捕当天，伊利亚还被叫到列宁格勒的党部，接受法学院院长的任命——前院长刚刚被捕。斯拉温得到一种解脱，他原先在期待最坏的结果，现在看来似乎获救了。他心情愉快，回到家里。当天晚上，斯拉温一家庆祝了依达的16岁生日。依达回忆：

    妈妈在餐桌上摆满美食。哥哥为我家墙报“哈利路亚”[斯拉温家的宣传布告栏]编出了特别的“生日版”，还兼任当晚的钢琴师。我穿上讲究的新衣，欢迎学校里的朋友……爸爸处在最佳状态：活像一个小男孩，与我们一起玩耍，跟所有的女孩跳舞，喝了不少，甚至还唱起他最喜爱的歌曲《夜莺》。

    客人走后，伊利亚开始谈论他来年暑假的计划。“他希望我们全家好好聚聚，还谈及一起去高加索和黑海度假。”

    凌晨1点，内务人民委员会光临。依达记得：

    突然，明亮的灯光和陌生人的声响把我惊醒，叫我迅速穿衣服。站在门口的是一名内务人民委员会的军官，只稍稍移开目光，避开匆匆穿衣的我，然后把我带去爸爸的办公室。爸爸坐在房间中央的凳子上，骤然变得苍老。妈妈、哥哥及他怀孕的妻子和我都坐在沙发上。清洁工站在门口，内务人民委员会的军官十分随意，像是在自己家里……

    我只记得那天晚上的一些点滴：

    内务人民委员会的军官（我会永远记住他的名字：贝伊戈尔），环顾父亲的办公室，不时发出感叹：“你有这么多的书。我是一名学生，没有这么多。”他翻看那些书，每当发现题词，就会停下来以拳击桌，大声喝问：“这个作者是谁？”

    然后出现一个几乎哭笑不得的场景。贝伊戈尔叫我拿出我的德文课本，戏剧性地翻到课本尾部，那是一篇卡尔·拉狄克的文章（他显然曾在许多家庭中，向我这样年龄的孩子表演过此幕）。卡尔·拉狄克当时已被捕，但尚未判刑或在报刊上被列为“人民公敌”。贝伊戈尔故作姿态，将那几页撕下，用火柴点燃，装成一名高尚的英雄，说：“谢天谢地，这个证据已被销毁，带走你爸爸时，我就不必把你也带上。”我太害怕了，不敢作声。随即，父亲打破沉默说：“谢谢你。”

    除了这个多管闲事的贝伊戈尔，记忆中铭刻最深的是父亲兀立的身影。我从未见过如此颓丧的他——彻底的垂头丧气、无精打采，对自己承受的屈辱，好像漠不关心。他都不像自己本人了……我朝他看，他脸上全无表情。我的注视，他既没看到，也无感受，只是坐在房间中央——纹丝不动，默不作声。这是他——却又不是他。

    搜查持续了整整一夜，他们从办公室走到饭厅，再到哥哥房间。从碗柜和玻璃书柜取出书籍和手稿，撕下的书页狼藉满地；还从箱子里翻出精心保存的家庭相册，照片也散落一地。这些东西，他们大多拿走了，外加一台照相机、一副双筒望远镜（充当“间谍”的证据）和一台打字机——父亲写所有文章时用的老式安德伍德牌打字机……

    在这漫长的夜晚，他们在翻阅父亲人生经历的章节，父亲在想什么？这足以摧毁他的信仰吗？贝伊戈尔（一条微不足道的蠕虫！）记录他的党员生涯细节，来充作犯罪证据，他会有怎样的恐惧感？

    搜查结束时已是早晨，一切都登记在册，将被没收。父亲被带到走廊，我们跟在后面，父母房间的门已经被封。他们叫爸爸穿好衣服，妈妈已为他准备了一只小箱[内含一副眼镜、盥洗用品、手帕和100卢布的现金]。

    然后，父亲打破沉默说：“再见。”妈妈抱着他恸哭，父亲抚摸她的头，口中不断重复：“别担心，会弄清楚的。”

    那个夜晚打碎了我的心，也打破了我对这个世界的和谐与意义的信念。在我们家里，父亲曾是大家崇拜的对象。在我们眼中，他高高在上，仿若神明。现在他倒下了，让人感到整个世界似乎也已结束。我都不敢看他的眼睛，生怕让他看出我的恐惧。内务人民委员会的军官把爸爸带向大门，我紧跟在后。突然，他回头再看我一眼，一定察觉到我内心的百感交集。我哽咽着朝他扑去。他在我耳边低声说：“小鬼，我心爱的女儿，历史上总会有错误的，但请记住——我们开创了一个伟大的事业。你要做一名优秀的共青团员。”

    贝伊戈尔呵斥道：“安静！”这时就有人走上前来，把我拉开了。

    “告别了，我的亲人，请相信正义……”——他本来还想说什么，但已被他们带走，下了楼梯。 (412)

    依达也可能被捕，这绝对不是内务人民委员会军官的空洞威吓。16岁的她，已经可以像成年人一样遭到逮捕和监禁，甚至枪决。1935年，苏维埃政府把必须承担刑事责任的年龄降至12岁——部分原因是为了威胁囚犯，如果拒绝承认自己的罪行，自己的孩子也会被捕（当年的第二个法令，允许逮捕和监禁犯了危害国家罪的囚犯的亲属）。事实上，这无疑宣告了人质制度的建立。许多布尔什维克，在做秀公审之前的审讯中，都受到逮捕亲人的威胁。例如，加米涅夫就受到威胁要处决他的儿子，于是同意在供词上签字，以换取斯大林不碰他家人的个人保证。季诺维也夫做了相同的交易。伊万·斯米尔诺夫在审讯期间，看到女儿受到警卫的粗暴对待而表示屈服。斯坦尼斯拉夫·科西奥尔顶住了残酷的刑讯，等到16岁女儿被带进房间，当着他的面遭人强奸时，才弃守投降。 (413)

    不管斯大林在做秀公审之前作了何种承诺，一旦这些老布尔什维克遭到处决，他就下令逮捕他们的许多亲戚。加米涅夫的儿子1939年遭枪决（一个小儿子被送去孤儿院，改名为格列博夫）。加米涅夫的妻子1935年被判处刑事流放，1938年重审，1941年遭枪决。季诺维也夫之子1937年被枪决；他妹妹被送去沃尔库塔劳改营，后来也被枪决。他另外三个姐妹、两个外甥、一个外甥女、一个表弟、一个妹夫被送去劳改营，三个兄弟和一个侄子遭枪决。斯米尔诺夫的女儿遭到囚禁，他的妻子1938年于科特拉斯劳改营被枪决。在1936到1938年之间，几乎所有托洛茨基的家人，都遭到内务人民委员会的格杀。他们是托洛茨基的弟弟亚历山大、妹妹奥莉加、第一任妻子亚历山德拉·索科洛夫斯卡娅、儿子列夫和谢尔盖，以及女儿季娜伊达（于1933年自杀）的两位丈夫。 (414)

    斯大林执著于惩罚敌人的亲属，也许是从格鲁吉亚学来的。家族之间的仇杀，向来就是高加索地区政治的一部分。在布尔什维克精英中，家庭氏族与政治忠诚相互交织。婚姻造就联盟，如果与反对派或敌人有血缘关系，也会葬送前途。斯大林认为，家庭应该为其个别成员的行为承担集体的责任。如果某人作为“人民公敌”被捕，他的妻子自动有罪，除非她奋起揭发。因为大家假定她与丈夫持有相同的观点，还会予以保护，至少她缺乏警惕性。斯大林认为，镇压亲属是一项必要措施，可从社会中铲除不满人士。莫洛托夫在1986年被问及为何要迫害斯大林“敌人”的家属，他解释说：“他们必须被隔离开来，不然，就会四下传布各式的牢骚和投诉，整个社会将因此变得士气低落。” (415)

    朱莉娅·皮亚特尼茨卡娅活在对自己被捕的等待之中。奥西普7月7日被捕前不久，她开始写日记，以倾吐自己的焦虑。现在除了恐惧，她还须应付一连串的日常麻烦。她的小儿子弗拉基米尔自6月起一直住在克里米亚的少先队阿尔捷克营，现在需要领回。朱莉娅担心，如果自己被捕前没有安排好亲友收养他，内务人民委员就会把他送进孤儿院。她的大儿子伊戈尔刚满16岁，在父亲被捕前，一直渴望在共青团内有所作为，现在一切都变了，更有被捕的危险。朱莉娅一方面试图应付伊戈尔的复杂情绪——对父亲的愤怒和对自己不幸际遇的悲痛、失望、羞耻——另一方面又要遏制自己类似的困惑。朱莉娅在7月11日的日记中注意到“伊戈尔整天都在床上看书”。

    关于爸爸，以及爸爸以前的“同志”的行为，他不发一言。有时，我会表述怨恨和恶毒的想法，但他作为一名共青团员，不允许我有此类批评，有时还会说：“妈妈，你这样做，叫我实在忍受不了，我可能会把你杀死。” (416)

    朱莉娅的燃眉之急是入不敷出。像在大恐怖中失去丈夫的许多妻子一样，她如此操心于每天的生计，如此受伤于地位的落差，以致没时间思忖自身的安危。 (417) 朱莉娅在搜查中失去存折以及本可出售的贵重物品，现在全靠自己的微薄工资，实在养不活住在公寓里的5位家人（两个儿子，年迈的父亲、继母和他们无业的女儿柳德米拉），再加上一只拳师犬，全家只好每天喝菜汤和麦片粥。她曾是资深布尔什维克的妻子，习惯于特权生活，发现极难适应贫困。她一肚子苦水，顾影自怜，甚至去党部抱怨，却被告知应该锻炼自己适应无产阶级的生活方式。业余时间，她在市内寻找薪资较高的工作，但都无果而终。钢铁建设托拉斯不需要“专家”（那里的官员告诉朱莉娅：“我们不是法西斯德国。”），甚至布提尔基监狱也不需要“她那一种”员工（即“敌人”的妻子）。朱莉娅在日记中写道：“工厂官员看都不看我的资料，也不想问我什么，只瞟一瞟，就说‘没有’。”同事也拒绝帮助，朱莉娅写道：“每个人都躲着我，而那时的我，又多么需要支持啊，哪怕是一丝一毫的关心或忠告。”同时，家里情况不断恶化，紧张气氛日益升温。朱莉娅同父异母的妹妹和继母，经常抱怨食物的短缺，将之归罪于奥西普，甚至想把朱莉娅赶出公寓。几星期后，柳德米拉找到一份工作，与父母搬去另一套公寓，不愿受皮亚特尼茨基一家的“拖累”。柳德米拉说：“如果不能解救每一个人，就让那些能够自救的另谋出路吧。”朱莉娅不清楚柳德米拉和父母是否为自己的行为感到羞耻，但她对此表示怀疑：

    这真是可耻，整整7年，他们受皮亚特尼茨基的供养，一起住在舒适的公寓，柳芭[柳德米拉]上的还是一所好学校。一旦我们遇上了麻烦，他们就想尽快地逃离我和我的孩子们——逃离我们的不幸。 (418)

    他们搬出去没多久，朱莉娅和儿子们就被逐出，搬到楼下较小的公寓，与一户亚美尼亚布尔什维克家庭合住，那家男主人早在春天时就被捕了。朱莉娅感到绝望，自己的人生正在坍塌崩溃，甚至想到自杀。在绝望之中，她去拜访河堤大楼中唯一不怕与她说话的邻居，倾诉自己的苦楚。老太太告诉她，不必为自己感到难过，好多官员现在住着更小的房间。此外，老太太还说，没有皮亚特尼茨基，朱莉娅可以过得更好，因为“你俩本来就相处得不融洽”。现在，她可以只为自己和儿子考虑，不再为丈夫担惊受怕。朱莉娅事后反思这段话，当夜在日记中写道：“这倒是真的，他没花多少时间与我们在一起，总是在工作。那些来占我们便宜的人——几乎每一个人——都看得出，我们之间相处得并不好。” (419) 在随后一年中，朱莉娅对丈夫还产生了其他疑惑。

    二

    作家米哈伊尔·普里谢维恩1937年11月29日的日记写道：

    我们俄罗斯人，就像大雪压顶的树木，不堪生存的重负，亟想与人谈谈心事，实在憋不住了。但一旦开口，遇上第三者偷听——他马上就灰飞烟灭了！大家都明白，一席谈话可以给人带来极大的麻烦，所以与朋友达成共识，刻意保持沉默。我亲爱的朋友……很高兴在拥挤的[火车]车厢里发现我，等到座位空出，就来与我同坐。想说点什么，但在那么多人的面前，又觉得很不方便。他变得紧张兮兮，每次准备发言，就先看看我们这一排的人，再看看对面一排的人，到头来却只是说：“是的……”我的回答也是如此。就这样，整整两个小时，我们从莫斯科一起乘到扎戈尔斯克城：

    “是的，米哈伊尔·米哈伊洛维奇。”

    “是的，格奥尔基·爱德华多维奇。” (420)

    即使在苏维埃时期的最好年月，交谈也是危险的。到了大恐怖时期，几句话不小心，就可能使人永远消失，举报人比比皆是。作家伊萨克·巴贝尔曾经说过：“如今，一个人只能与妻子讲心里话——晚上，把毯子拉过来蒙上头。”普里谢维恩在日记中写道：在朋友当中，他无须担心恶意谣诼或举报、可以畅所欲言的，总共仅有“两三个老头”。 (421)

    大恐怖让苏维埃人民闭上了嘴，非常有效。列泽达·泰西娜的父亲于1936年被捕，她回忆道：“我们从小就学会了闭嘴。”

    “舌头会给你带来麻烦”——这是大人一直叮嘱我们孩子的，我们在生活中也一直害怕发表意见。妈妈常说，两人之中必有一名举报人。我们害怕邻居，特别是警察。迄今，我仍然不敢讲话，也不敢为自己辩护，或是在公共场合发言。我总是让步，没有一句抱怨。这已渗入我的性格，都与我从小受的教育有关。即使在今天，我看到警察仍会怕得发抖。 (422)

    玛丽亚·德罗兹多娃在特维尔省严守宗教戒律的农民家庭中长大。1930年，德罗兹多夫一家逃离自己村庄的集体化，使用假证件，搬至列宁格勒附近的红村。玛丽亚的父亲在家具厂上班，母亲安娜在医院工作。安娜是一名不识字的农妇，深信布尔什维克就是反对基督者，他们的特工能听到、看到她所做的一切，所以不敢出门，也不敢在自己房间之外讲话。当她父亲——一个教堂看门人——于1937年被捕时，安娜更被吓得陷于瘫痪。她不愿出门，害怕讲话，担心邻居偷听。晚上，她不敢开灯，唯恐引起警方的注意。她甚至不敢上厕所，担心自己用作手纸的报纸上印有斯大林的名字。 (423)

    熟人之间达成一个默契，大家均不谈政治。每个人都有可能被捕，然后就会受警方的胁迫来汇报这样的谈话，当做熟人“反革命”活动的证据。在这种气氛之下，主动与最亲密的朋友之外的人讨论政治，只会引起怀疑，反被视作举报人，或寻衅滋事者。

    维拉·图尔金娜记得，她的朋友和邻居均以沉默来回应她父亲的被捕。其时，她的父亲担任彼尔姆省法院主席。

    对面房子住着三个女孩，她们的父亲也已被捕……我们大家尽量避免这一话题，我们所说的只是“他不在，已走了，去了某某地方”……我父亲就是因为“嘴快”而受害——这是我们家人的理解——他过于坦率，直言不讳，说得太多，超越他应该说的。我们相信嘴快是他被捕的原因，这让我们自己更为沉默。 (424)

    沉默的坚忍是失去朋友和亲戚之后的常见反应。艾玛·格施泰因在1937年写到诗人曼德尔施塔姆：“他只字不提被逐和业已死去的朋友。那个时代，没人提……只有眼泪簌簌！那些年的特征就是如此。” (425)

    许多家庭的主调是静默。人们避而不谈被捕的亲属，或销毁那些亲属的来信，或不让孩子看到，希望以此来获得保护。即使在家里，谈论这一类亲戚也是危险的，即所谓的“隔墙有耳”。丈夫谢尔盖·克鲁格洛夫1937年被捕之后，阿纳斯塔西娅和两个孩子搬去一个共用公寓，其邻居供职于内务人民委员会，将两家隔开的只有一道薄墙。塔蒂亚娜·克鲁格洛夫回忆：“能听到一切声响。他们能听到我们打喷嚏，甚至能听到我们最低声的耳语。妈妈总叫我们保持沉默。”整整30年，她们不敢讲话，因为她们相信内务人民委员会的邻居一直在汇报她们的一言一行（事实上，他是在故意制造恐惧，为了想要安静、听话的邻居）。

    父亲被捕后，纳塔利娅·丹尼洛娃跟母亲回娘家住，即奥索尔金家。在新的住处，涉及父亲的谈话都是被禁的。奥索尔金家是个贵族家庭，好几名成员已经入狱，包括纳塔利娅的姨妈马尼娅的丈夫。马尼娅个性坚强，掌管全家的一切。纳塔利娅回忆：“她敌视我的父亲，也许因为他是农民和社会主义者。她似乎觉得，他是罪有应得，被捕也是活该，而且以自己的行为给家庭带来麻烦。她将这一观点强加于我们大家，只有她一人才有权利谈论此事。其他人如想要表示异议，只得窃窃私语。” (427)

    家庭逐渐生成了谈话的特殊规则。他们学会运用迂回的语言，以暗示的方式来表述自己的想法和意见，外人、邻居、佣工即使听到，也会不得要领。艾玛·格施泰因回忆起堂哥的妻子玛格丽塔·格施泰因，她是老资格的反对派，曾来莫斯科与她的家人同住一段时间。有一天，玛格丽塔在谈论反对斯大林的毫无意义，正讲到句子的一半（“当然，我们可以把斯大林抹掉，但……”）：

    门开了，我们的女佣波利亚走进餐厅。我打了一个寒战，吓坏了。但玛格丽塔丝毫不改她的慵懒姿态，以完全相同的语调和语音，接下去说：“所以叶莫奇卡，赶快去买丝绸，不要犹豫。你做得那么辛苦，应该给自己做一件新衣裳。”女佣离开后，玛格丽塔解释说，永远不能给人以措手不及的印象。“不用缩头缩脑，也无须一脸不安、环顾左右。” (428)

    天性健谈的孩子特别危险。许多父母认为，子女知道得越少，大家就越安全。安东尼娜·莫伊谢耶娃1927年出生于萨拉托夫省的农民家庭；1929年，她家被划为“富农”，流放至乌拉尔的“特殊定居地”。他们在1936年返回彼尔姆附近的丘索沃镇，安东尼娜的母亲郑重告诫孩子们：

    她总是说：“你们不能发表意见，否则就会被抓起来。”我们排队领面包，站了整整一晚上。她对我们说：“你们不准发表意见，政府没有面包，不关你们的事。”妈妈还告诫我们，发表意见是一种罪过。每当我们出门，她总会说：“管住你的嘴！” (429)

    维尔格尔姆在莫斯科的匈牙利家庭中长大，他9岁时，即1938年，父亲在一次“国家行动”中被捕。据他回忆，母亲和祖父母并没提供具体的警告或指示教他如何应对，但他能感受到恐惧的氛围：

    我下意识地明白，必须保持缄默，不可讲出心中的想法。譬如，我们乘坐拥挤的电车，心知肚明，必须保持沉默，甚至不能说我在窗外看到的东西……我也觉得，每个人都在这样做。所以，像电车那样的公共场所，总是很安静。如果开口，也只讲一些琐碎小事，例如去了何处购物。从来不谈自己的工作，或其他的严肃话题。 (430)

    奥克萨娜·戈洛夫尼亚记得一次与父亲阿纳托利——电影摄影师——同乘一辆拥挤的莫斯科巴士，她提及“洛德亚叔叔”（电影导演普多夫金）：

    爸爸在我耳边低语：“你在公共场合，千万不要说出人名。”他看到我迷惑而害怕的神情，转而大声说：“看那些小饺子，可不就像是些小耳朵！”我明白他的意思——有人坐在旁边偷听！爸爸的教训对我的人生大有裨益。 (431)

    普里谢维恩在1937年的日记中写道，人们变得如此善于隐藏自己发言中的含义，可能会丧失讲真话的能力。

    7月10日：

    莫斯科的处世之道：不能说任何东西，也不能与任何人交谈。行为的奥秘在于：什么也不说，却要悟出某某信息是什么意思，传递该意思的又是谁。你必须铲除“讲心里话”的任何残痕。 (432)

    阿尔卡季·曼科夫在日记中提到类似的现象：

    谈论公众情绪是毫无意义的。只有鸦雀无声，仿佛什么都没有发生。人们在窃窃私语，或在幕后，或在私下。凡在公共场合表达意见的，都是醉鬼。 (433)

    人们越来越趋于内向，社会领域不可避免地愈益缩小。普里谢维恩在10月9日的日记中写道：“人们完全停止了相互的倾诉衷肠。”社会正在变成一个耳语者的社会：

    社会低层的广大民众，只是忙于工作，悄悄耳语。有些人甚至没有任何想法，无需耳语；对他们来说，“一切本该如此”。另有些人躲在孤独中自言自语，默默遁入自己的工作。还有不少人，学会了保持绝对的沉默……就像躺在坟墓里一样。 (434)

    随着真实沟通的结束，互不信任蔓延至整个社会。人们戴上公共场合的面具，隐瞒真实的自我。表面上，他们符合苏维埃正确行为的公共规范，内心里，却躲进私人思想的领域，不为公众视觉所穿透。在这种氛围中，恐惧和恐怖愈益增长。没人知道面具背后藏的是什么，只能假设，外表是正常苏联公民的人，实质上可能是间谍或敌人。以这个假设为基础，揭发举报“暗藏的敌人”于是变得可信，不仅对普通公众来说是这样，在同事、邻居、朋友眼中也是如此。

    人们只好在真实的私人世界中寻求避难所，还有些人在大恐怖时期开始写日记。尽管有各种各样的风险，写日记能开拓出一个不受解剖的私人领域，也能在祸从口出的时期倾诉自己的疑虑和恐惧。 (435) 作家普里谢维恩在日记中透露出自己最大的恐惧。1936年，他在新年晚会上作了尖锐的评论，受到作家协会官员的攻击，他担心会失去人身自由。他写道：“我非常害怕，这些话会被归档，归档人又是监视作家普里谢维恩品行的举报人。”普里谢维恩由此而撤出公众领域，退入自己的日记世界。他写日记用细小的草体，即便用放大镜也难以辨认，为的就是预防被捕后自己思想的暴露。对普里谢维恩来说，他的日记是“对个性的肯定”——成为一个伸展内心自由、畅诉衷肠的场所。普里谢维恩若有所思地写道：“一种是为自己写日记，挖掘自己的内心，与自己交谈；另一种是以写日记参与社会，秘密表述自己对社会的看法。” (436) 就普里谢维恩而言，这两种功能都在发挥作用。他的日记充满了异议的思考，所针对的有斯大林、苏维埃大众文化的恶劣影响，以及个人精神的不屈不挠。

    1926年，剧作家亚历山大·阿夫尔诺戈诺夫开始写日记，其中有不少自我批评，以及如何提高自己共产主义觉悟的想法。到20世纪30年代中期，他与当?局发生了冲突。他的无产阶级戏剧的心理视角，不再能获得文学当局的青睐，此时占据主导地位的变成了社会主义现实主义的原则。他的戏剧《谎言》（1933年）受到斯大林的攻击，认为剧中缺乏致力于工人事业的共产主义正面英雄。他所属的文学组——以俄罗斯无产阶级作家协会的前主席利奥波德·阿韦尔巴赫为首——被说成是“托洛茨基派文学代理人”，正在蓄谋推翻苏维埃政权。1937年春天，阿夫尔诺戈诺夫被开除出党，又被内务人民委员会逐出自己的莫斯科公寓。他搬到他在佩列杰尔基诺地区的乡间别墅，与妻子女儿过着几乎完全隐居的生活，不与任何人说话。老朋友纷纷与他划清界限。有一天，他在火车上无意中听到两名军官的对话，津津乐道于“日本间谍阿韦尔巴赫”终于被捕，而他的“心腹阿夫尔诺戈诺夫”正在监狱候审。阿夫尔诺戈诺夫日益收缩进自己的内心世界，他的日记也变了样。他依旧批评自己，接受他人的指控，试图成为更纯洁的共产主义者，但有了更多的反省，更多的心理直觉，更频繁地使用“我”字，而不是他以前暗指自己的“他”字。日记本成了他私人感想和感受的秘密避难所：

    1937年11月2日

    我回家后，坐下打开日记本，思索不受政治污染的私密角落，信笔写下。我已被排除在生活主流之外，突然觉得很有必要与人谈论正在发生的一切……只不过，我对沟通的向往只能在日记本中实现，因为没人愿意与我交谈。 (437)

    1937年12月，叶夫根尼娅（热尼娅）·叶万古洛娃开始写日记。那一年她父母双双被捕，日记本成为她倾诉衷肠的场所，帮助维持了她所谓的“内心交谈”，对象就是消失于古拉格的双亲。她在扉页上写道：“有一天，我的亲人会读到这本日记。这一炽烈的愿望不会离我而去，所以我必须尽量使之成为现实。”叶万古洛娃是列宁格勒技术学院的学生，她担心自我将泯没于学院的集体生活，所以日益看重与自我相连的日记。她在1938年3月8日写道：“也许我的表述不够正确。我内心的自我并没消失——人格的内涵永远不会消失——只是深藏不露，我甚至感受不到它的存在。”她认为，自我个性的表达，需要通过与他人的真挚沟通——但现实生活中又没有。同学们把她当做“人民公敌”的女儿，不予信任；她所拥有的，只是自己的日记本。她在1939年12月写道：“有时，除了这本沉默的日记，我真渴望能找到一位真正的朋友，能理解我，能让我倾诉所有的痛苦。” (438)

    像叶万古洛娃一样，阿尔卡季·曼科夫也渴望与他人的沟通。他决定将自己的日记，展示给他在列宁格勒公共图书馆上课的同学。曼科夫的日记充满了反苏维埃思想，却披露给一个自己不很熟悉的人，这真是出于巨大信任的行为，几近愚蠢。他在日记中承认，此举源于“孤独，在这无穷尽的孤独中，我每天鬼混度日”。 (439)

    普里谢维恩也屈服于与人沟通的诱惑。1938年12月，他托朋友帮他找一名秘书，协助他编辑日记。他意识到，“让陌生人走进我的实验室，了解我的全部”，该有多危险啊。那天晚上，他做了一个噩梦：他在穿越一个大广场，突然丢了帽子，觉得自己暴露在光天化日之下，他向警察询问帽子时才突然想起，“曾让一个陌生人介入自己生活中最私密的细节，失掉帽子的掩饰无疑让自己曝了光”，这些分析都一一记在日记中。几天后，前来面谈的女子抵达普里谢维恩的住所，听闻要整理她不认识的人的日记，也感到忐忑不安，于是她建议，开始工作之前，两人应先了解彼此。他们在一起谈了整整8个小时，中间都没有休息，之后很快坠入爱河，一年之内结为夫妇。 (440)

    三

    举报人无处不在——工厂、学校、办公室、公共场所和共用公寓。据估计，在大恐怖的高潮时期，数百万人在举报他们的同事、朋友和邻居。但很难得到精确的数字，因为只有零星的数据和传闻的证据。据一位资深警官说，苏维埃上班族的五分之一，是内务人民委员会的举报人。另一人声称，经常性的举报人占主要城市成年人口的5%（普遍的看法是比这个比率更高）。监视的程度，因城市不同而悬殊较大。据内务人民委员会的前官员称，在管辖严格的莫斯科，每六七户家庭中至少有一名举报人。相比之下，84万人的哈尔科夫，仅有50名举报人（每16800人有一名举报人）。在这两个极端之间，古比雪夫市也许更能代表整个苏联：1938年，40万居民当中，警方声称有1000个举报人。 (441) 这个数字只代表警方经常使用和奖励（包括金钱、就业、住房、特殊配给和免受拘捕）的注册举报人，并不包括数百万在社会每一角落充当警方耳目的“可靠分子”（工厂和办公室的工人、学生积极分子、看守员、门卫等）。 (442) 警方也不计算每天收到的汇报和举报——那都不是内务人民委员会主动要求的——使警察国家如此强大的，正是那些自发行为。每个人都知道，“忠诚的苏维埃公民”应该报告所听到的可疑交谈，“缺乏警惕”所招致的处罚迫使很多人参与此举。

    举报人分成两大类：一类是自愿的，通常出于物质奖励、政治信仰或是对受害者的憎恨；一类是非自愿的，出于警方的威胁或因帮助被拘亲人的承诺而身陷困境。要谴责第二类举报人很难，很多人发现自己陷入进退维谷的困境。遇上如此的窘迫，任何人都有可能屈服于内务人民委员会的压力。

    1943年，作家西蒙诺夫的文学院前同学“X”前来拜访。他在自己父亲被捕后就受到将被文学院开除的威胁，除非他同意汇报所听到的同学的交谈。从1937年起，“X”就成为内务人民委员会的举报人。但他心怀内疚和悔恨，所以来找西蒙诺夫，透露自己曾经汇报他们之间的交谈。西蒙诺夫说，“X”真是“悔恨交加”。他兴许还有点惧怕，因为到1943年，西蒙诺夫已成为著名作家，与克里姆林宫关系良好，可能已经获悉前同学的汇报。“X”告诉西蒙诺夫，如果有人因他的举报而承受苦难，他宁可自杀。他还解释，曾经尽可能让他的汇报避重就轻，但仍觉得这种行为 “使他的生活不堪忍受”。 (443)

    沃尔夫冈·莱昂哈德回想起1939年与一位同学的一次碰面。他一直认为，可与这位女孩进行开诚布公的交谈。他们会一起去莫斯科的公园散步，讨论其时重要的政治话题。她有一天承认，自己屈服于内务人民委员会的压力，正在汇报同学的言论。但她感到悲哀，备受良心的责备，所以想预作警告，虽然还没被要求汇报莱昂哈德的言论，但最好以后两人不再见面。 (444)

    瓦莱里·福雷德回忆了自己如何在1941年被招募为举报人。他是共青团员，在苏联国家电影学院（VGIK）学习。其时，该学院从莫斯科疏散到哈萨克斯坦的阿拉木图。当地的粮食供给形势非常紧张，福雷德涉入一个伪造配给卡的小骗局。一天，他被叫去内务人民委员会的办公室。审讯员对他的配给卡把戏了如指掌，随即警告他，除非他同意举报同学，证明自己是“苏维埃人”，否则将被逐出共青团和电影学院。他在整夜的审讯中受到暴力和公审的威胁，最终低头，签署了愿意配合的协议。审讯员马上笑逐颜开，握起他的手以示友好，还宣称他的配给卡把戏不会再有麻烦——事实上可以依然如故——并给了他一个求援的特殊电话号码，以应付可能的警方行动。他返回宿舍，泣不成声，整整三天无法入睡或进食。最后，他只汇报了三位学生，只是普通情况，并无具体的犯罪事实。收到这些汇报的内务人民委员会军官身材矮小、满嘴金牙，颇不满意。1943年，苏联国家电影学院迁回莫斯科，福雷德才得以逃脱内务人民委员会的惩罚。 (445)

    索菲亚·奥热姆伯罗斯卡娅成为举报人时只有17岁。她出生于奥西波韦齐镇的波兰贵族家庭，离白俄罗斯的明斯克不远。父母在1917年革命后成为农民，又在农业集体化运动中，作为“富农”被流放去了北方的科米地区。1937年，全家返回奥西波韦齐镇，又在针对波裔的“国家行动”中再次被捕，流放到彼尔姆附近的“特殊定居地”。索菲亚决定逃走，她解释说：“我必须逃离，给自己一个机会。”索菲亚进了一所工厂技校就读——获得无产阶级出身的最快途径——然后进入库季姆卡城的医学院，位于乌拉尔，离彼尔姆不远。没人问她有关“富农”的问题，甚至都没查看她的护照。其实，她根本就没有护照。6个月后，她被叫去内务人民委员会办公室。索菲亚回忆：“我以为他们要把我关进监狱，因为我是一名逃犯。”结果她被告知，如果不想因隐瞒社会出身而被医学院开除，必须为内务人民委员会工作。她的任务是与同学们谈论政治事件，然后汇报他们所说的一切，索菲亚因此而领到了自己的护照。由于内务人民委员会的保护，她从医学院毕业，在彼尔姆的救护服务中心享有成功的职业生涯。她回顾往事，并没为自己的行为自责，即使她很清楚自己的汇报导致了许多学生被捕。她认为，自己的行为只是“富农”女儿在斯大林时代谋求生存的必需代价。索菲亚嫁给了内务人民委员会一名资深军官的儿子。在孩子们成长之时，她闭口不谈自己的举报活动；到20世纪90年代，“有了自由气氛，不再心存恐惧”，她才决定和盘托出。

    我决定将这一切告诉我的儿孙们。他们都非常高兴。我的孙子说：“哦，奶奶，你很聪明，能记住这一切。我们将永远铭记——你所受到的迫害，以及我们的父母受到的迫害。” (446)

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格在回忆录中讲到一个年轻举报人的故事。他的布尔什维克父亲在大恐怖中被处决，他的任务是与其他父母被捕的孩子混熟，然后汇报他们吐露出的不满字眼，以及所提及的疑惑和问题。这些报告的结果是他的许多朋友被捕。奥莉加自己在1949年被捕，在布提尔基监狱里遇见那些朋友中的一部分。她询问他们对那个男孩作何感想。很奇怪，他们都表示理解。普遍的看法是，他是个“好孩子，有点天真，相信听到的每一个口号，也相信在报纸上读到的每一个字”。那个男孩的母亲是一个极好又诚实的女子，向奥莉加坚称，她的儿子这样做，所基于的不是恶意，而是最高尚的信念。“她多次谈及他异常善良、聪明、诚实。”也许，那个男孩觉得，为苏维埃事业举报自己的朋友是爱国行为——就像举报父亲的小英雄帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫。 (447)

    毫无疑问，很多人真诚地相信，在大恐怖中写下举报信是在尽苏维埃公民的爱国义务。他们接受关于“间谍”和“敌人”的宣传，主动揭发敌人，即使是自己的朋友。但更重要的是，如果熟人被捕，他们没有参与举报，就要担忧自己会受牵连。要知道，隐瞒自己与敌人的接触，本身就是犯罪；而“缺乏警惕”又是数千起逮捕案件的理由。在普遍恐惧的气氛中，大家都想赶在被他人举报之前，先行下手。这种争先恐后的举报，也许并不能解释大恐怖时期的大量逮捕——内务人民委员会的大多数受害者被捕于“国家行动”和“富农行动”的大批网罗，所依据的是预设的名单，并不依靠举报——但确实解释了为何这么多人成为警察制度的举报人。歇斯底里的公民现身于内务人民委员会和党的办公室，罗列可能是“人民公敌”的亲戚和朋友，写下有关同事和熟人的详细信息，列出自己与他们的每一次见面，因为他们可能与“敌人”有牵连。一位老太太写信给自己工厂的党组织，举报自己的姐姐在担任克里姆林宫临时清洁工时，曾打扫后来被捕的某人的办公室。 (448)

    恐惧促使人们尽量洗清自己——让自己更加清白——抹去与潜在“敌人”的任何接触。在最狂热的举报人当中，很多人自己有“历史污点”（富农、阶级敌人或前反对派的子女）。与大多数人相比，他们更加害怕自己被捕，举报朋友成了自己已是“苏维埃公民”的证明。内务人民委员会就有蓄意谋划的政策，专门向弱势群体招募举报人，经常挑选已在担心自己命运的被捕者亲属。亚历山大·卡尔帕特宁是内务人民委员会前官员，自己在1938年被捕，他讲述了在招募举报人方面所获得的训练：

    你要寻找有可疑背景的人，比方说丈夫已被捕的女子，可使用这样的对话：
    “你是真正的苏维埃公民吗？”
    “我是。”
    “大家都说自己是好公民，你愿意证明吗？”
    “是，我当然愿意。”
    “那么，就向我们提供帮助，要求不会太多。如发现任何反苏维埃的行为或言论，就让我们知道。我们每星期见面一次，你应事先写下你所留意的：说了什么，谁说的，说话时还有谁在场，这就够了。然后，我们就会知道你是不是优秀的苏维埃公民。如果你在工作中遇上问题，我们会帮你。如果你被解雇或降职，我们也会帮你。”
    这就是全部。之后，该女子就会表示同意。

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格在卢比扬卡监狱遇到一名年轻的女数学教师，名叫吉娜，来自高尔基城。吉娜的罪名是没有举报自己的老师，他是辩证唯物主义讲师，每星期一次从莫斯科到高尔基城，与吉娜交谈时曾公开批评斯大林政权。他住在高尔基城的宿舍，所以借用吉娜的公寓来招待朋友，并寄存了一箱书。内务人民委员会搜查时发现，原来都是托洛茨基派的书籍。吉娜认罪，决定向内务人民委员会举报其他“敌人”，以赎罪和“洗刷[她的]良心上的污点”。她告诉审讯员，她的学院另有一名讲座教授，正在做实验时遇上停电，一时又找不到蜡烛，于是：

    她[吉娜]劈开一把木尺，像农夫一样，将之点燃，以供照明。教授以此完成了他的实验，临别时说[对斯大林名言的嘲讽]：“生活变得更好，生活也带来更多欢乐。感谢上帝，我们进入了火把时代！”

    该教授因此被捕。吉娜并没有觉得自己的举报有何不对——只是有点尴尬，因为她必须在对他的审讯中当面作证。奥莉加问，这样一件小事却“摧毁了那位教授的一生”，有何感想？吉娜回答：“政治上没有小事。我和你一样，起初尚不理解他那句话的罪恶，后来才开始懂得。” (450)

    许多举报出于恶意。删除对手的最快方式，就是举报他是“敌人”。社会低层对布尔什维克精英不满，更为大恐怖火上浇油。如果领导办事过于严厉，工人会举报主管，农民会举报集体农庄主席。仆佣经常受聘于内务人民委员会，举报他们的雇主。一位美国记者的俄罗斯妻子马尔库莎·菲舍尔，雇用了一名坚信“敌人”之说的保姆。马尔库莎写道：她“真正代表了普罗大众的心态，把官方的每一句话都当做真理，没有一丁点的政治疑虑”。有些家庭，无时不在担忧自己的仆人。

    1935年，内务人民委员会在许多列宁格勒党干部的家中安置新的仆人，作为基洛夫遇刺后加强监视的措施。列宁格勒高级干部安娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅和彼得·涅泽夫茨夫，被迫解雇了老管家玛莎，即会调制草药的虔诚老信徒。其时仅12岁的安娜的女儿马克斯娜回忆，新管家格鲁谢是一个“令人不愉快的严肃女人，她是警方派来的，以便监视我们”。马克斯娜和她同母异父的弟弟本能地意识到，不可在格鲁谢的面前交谈。马克斯娜回忆：“我们几乎没有与她说过一句话。”格鲁谢睡在厨房，与家庭住房分开；与家人相处多年的保姆米利娅，仍可待在家庭住房。格鲁谢只被视为仆人，不像米利娅或老管家玛莎，她们已被当做家庭的一员。安娜和彼得对斯大林怀有敌意，马克斯娜还记得他们的窃窃私语，怀疑斯大林应为基洛夫的死亡负责。如果玛莎仍在，他们可能会无所顾忌——她的老信徒背景可确保她的沉默——有了格鲁谢，表露这种情绪就会非常危险。1937年7月，马克斯娜的父母被捕（枪决于同年秋季），弟弟被送去孤儿院，马克斯娜和保姆米利娅搬去一个公共公寓，格鲁谢就此销声匿迹。 (452)

    在这种不信任、仇恨和恶意的气氛当中，小小的争执和嫉妒很容易演变成举报。1937年，内务人民委员会的一名军官，找上了来自高尔基城的乡村医生鲍里斯·莫洛特科夫，因为是老朋友，他要鲍里斯帮忙为他的情妇堕胎，但鲍里斯表示拒绝（当时堕胎是非法的）。这名军官便安排一系列举报人，举报他为“反革命”。鲍里斯因此被捕，关押在地区监狱，他的妻子也以莫须有的罪名入狱，被指控涉及当地医院一桩工人谋杀案。 (453)

    性和爱往往在这些致命的争执中发挥作用。大恐怖时期，大量被抛弃的恋人、妻子、丈夫，成了举报人的受害者。尼古拉·萨哈罗夫是一名工程师，父亲是神父，在1937年遭到处决。尼古拉因自己的工业专长而受到重视，自忖这会保护自己不受逮捕。没想到后来有人看中了他的妻子，便举报他是“人民公敌”。另有一位莉帕·卡普兰，因拒绝工厂主管的性要求而惹上麻烦。该主管安排举报人，举报她3年前的言论，其时刚刚发生了基洛夫遇刺案。当时，她得以虎口逃生（举报内容被认为太荒谬），但到了1937年，却被送去科雷马劳改营10年。 (454)

    职业私心和物质奖励，几乎是所有举报人的动力。这些动力往往又以复杂的形式，与政治信仰和恐惧混在一起。成千上万的低级官员举报他们的上级，以此在苏维埃的等级制度上攀爬（政府鼓励他们这样做）。伊万·米安契恩为了促进自己的前途，从1937年2月到11月，在阿塞拜疆举报了不少于14名党和苏维埃的领导人。米安契恩后来辩解说：“我们认为，这是我们不得不做的……每个人都在写。”也许，米安契恩认为是在显示自己的警惕性；也许，他因破坏上司的前途而获得恶意的快感；也许，他因帮助警方而感到自豪。还有一种勤奋忙碌的举报人，给自己的报告仔细编号，签上“我们中的一员”或“游击队员”，以示他们的忠心耿耿。但个人的晋升、更高的薪俸、更多的配给、更大生存空间的允诺，都在发挥各自的作用。公寓住户被捕后，空出来的房间经常被内务人民委员会接管，或由斯大林政权的其他仆从瓜分，如办公室工人和司机。毫无疑问，其中有些人凭借举报以前的住户而获得酬报。 (455)

    伊万·马利金在列宁格勒北边的谢斯得罗列茨克城担任工程师，他技艺高超，素受尊敬。他厂里的工人们称他为“沙皇工程师”，甚至在内务人民委员会将他逮捕之后，仍愿意帮助他的家人。马利金是当地名人，编写过教科书和小册子，并为苏维埃报刊写文章。他们夫妇和两个孩子，一起住在郊区自建的大木房子里。不出意外，他的财富和名气招致了旁人的嫉妒。举报的工厂同事其实是在妒忌他的成功，声称马利金使用自己的房子与芬兰人保持秘密联系，马利金因此而被捕。原来，这项举报还是内务人民委员会的一帮人精心策划的，目的是想迫使马利金以7000卢布的价格向他们出售自己的大木房子（当时刚做的估价几近50万卢布）。那帮人还威胁，如果拒绝出售，还要逮捕他的妻子。到头来，马利金遭到枪决，妻子和孩子都被赶走，大木房子分给了内务人民委员会的军官及其家属， (456) 其后代至今仍住在里面。

    在大恐怖时期，事业中的进展必然涉及道德上的妥协，如果不是赤裸裸的举报，就是与斯大林政权默默勾结。西蒙诺夫的职业生涯正是在这个年代腾飞的，他以非凡的坦率和自责，写出苏维埃沉默的大多数在大恐怖中的携手合作。他在1979年临危时口述的回忆录中自责道：

    让我们直面那个时代吧，你不能原谅的，不但有斯大林，还有你自己。这并不是说，你做了坏事——也许你什么错事也没做，至少在表面上如此——但你已习惯于邪恶。1937至1938年发生的事件，现在显得离奇且狠毒，但对当时二十三四岁的你来说，反而成了一种规范，几乎是习以为常。你身处这些事件当中，对一切都装聋作哑。当你周围的人被枪决、打死或突然销声匿迹时，你却什么也没看到，什么也没听到。

    西蒙诺夫为了试图解释这种冷漠，回忆了自己对米哈伊尔·科利佐夫1939年被捕的反应。科利佐夫是一位很有影响力的作家，他的西班牙内战报道对西蒙诺夫投身的青年文坛产生了很大启发。西蒙诺夫在内心深处从不相信科利佐夫是一名间谍（1949年曾向作家法捷耶夫袒露过这种怀疑），但不知何故，当时却成功地吞咽了自己的疑虑。无论是出于恐惧和怯懦，或是相信国家的愿望，还是躲避异议的本能，他在内心做了调和，以符合斯大林政权的需求。他重新校正了自己的道德罗盘，穿越大恐怖的道德泥沼，得以维护自己的事业和信念。 (457)

    西蒙诺夫不是举报人，但确实曾承受此种压力，苏维埃当局可能希望他作出这方面的努力。1937年春季，西蒙诺夫收到作家协会总书记弗拉基米尔·斯塔夫斯基的邀请，与文学院其他三名青年散文作家一起，前去参加高加索地区的工作度假。他们准备撰写谢尔戈·奥尔忠尼启则的生活经历——他是著名的格鲁吉亚人，在内战中与斯大林并肩战斗，曾担任重工业人民委员，前不久刚刚自杀。他们快要动身时，斯塔夫斯基把西蒙诺夫叫到办公室，要西蒙诺夫坦白“他在文学院[一直在散布的]所有反苏维埃言论”。他希望西蒙诺夫认罪并悔改，从而使自己难以拒绝当局的进一步要求，但西蒙诺夫否认有过那样的谈话。斯塔夫斯基随之声称已掌握“相关资料”，告诫西蒙诺夫“最好还是说实话”。西蒙诺夫回忆，斯塔夫斯基“因我的不够真诚和实事求是，显然变得十分恼火”。斯塔夫斯基的指控和西蒙诺夫的否认持续了好几轮，由于西蒙诺夫的拒不合作，双方呈胶着状态。最后，斯塔夫斯基指责他散布“反革命诗歌”，并禁止他参与这次工作度假。西蒙诺夫逐渐弄清了斯塔夫斯基的“材料”来源。原来，文学院的学生中掀起一股读吉卜林诗歌的热潮，西蒙诺夫因此卷入与一名青年教师的对话。该教师随即询问他对尼古拉·古米廖夫（作为“反革命”枪决于1921年）的诗歌有何看法。西蒙诺夫回答，虽然他更喜欢吉卜林的诗，但也喜欢古米廖夫的部分诗作。在该教师的鼓舞下，他还背诵了几段古米廖夫的诗句。西蒙诺夫回忆起当时的情景，生平第一次感到恐惧。他知道已有被捕的危险，这不仅缘于他对古米廖夫的看法，也因为自己的贵族出身。看来，该教师向斯塔夫斯基汇报，将西蒙诺夫对古米廖夫的喜爱与他的出身联系起来。在那个学期剩下的时日，西蒙诺夫故意躲避那位教师。同一年晚些时候，该教师自己入了狱（为了拯救自己，他最后的努力就是充当举报人，试图坑害西蒙诺夫）。 (458)

    到1937年春天，文学院已进入高度焦虑的状态。像其他苏维埃机构一样，文学院在突然发动的大恐怖面前措手不及，其中更有一种恐慌感，认为惊讶恰恰证明了自己“缺乏警惕性”。在一系列整肃会议上，学生和教师歇斯底里地呼吁，要有更多“布尔什维克的警觉和真正的自我批评”，要从文学院铲除所有的“形式主义者”和“阿韦尔巴赫分子[托洛茨基分子]”。好几名学生被捕，有些是因为自己的诗歌里含有自由或宗教的主题，有些是为了帮鲍里斯·帕斯捷尔纳克（因个人主义风格，已受苏维埃报刊的批判）讲话。大约有十几名学生，交由共青团做工作（即召开学生会议，给予严厉批评，再让他们自己发言，背弃旧作）。其中之一被文学院开除，移交给了内务人民委员会，因为她拒绝背弃自己的父亲——一个过气的诗人。她还勇敢地告诉聚集的指控者，“我父亲是苏联最光明正大的人”，为此她被流放去科雷马10年。

    西蒙诺夫在文学院的好朋友中有两位在大恐怖中遭受迫害：诗人瓦伦丁·波图帕契克，被捕于1937年2月，因为有同学向警方汇报了他的言论；同年4月，作家协会主席团谴责了富有魅力的教师弗拉基米尔·卢戈夫斯科伊，指责他竟然重新发表（1935年）“政治上有害”的20世纪20年代的旧作（关于俄罗斯大自然的浪漫诗）。卢戈夫斯科伊被迫撤回自己的诗，写了10页自卑自责的检讨《我的错误》，承诺清洗“所有的陈旧思想”，“紧跟历史进程”。卢戈夫斯科伊被吓坏了，在之后几年中再也不发表诗作，除了1939年《关于斯大林之歌》的配词。平时的卢戈夫斯科伊轻声细语，态度温和，却作了一系列激烈的政治发言，要让敌人血债血偿。他在10月告诉一群莫斯科作家：“现在正是时候，要把这些坏蛋敌人和托洛茨基分子，从我们国家清洗出去，要用铁扫帚扫除所有的叛国贼，要在我们队伍中肃清这些异己分子。”

    西蒙诺夫的反应也是出于恐惧。斯塔夫斯基办公室事件发生之前，他一直被视作模范学生和苏维埃的衷心拥戴者。到如今，这种声誉却变得疑窦重重。西蒙诺夫回顾斯塔夫斯基事件，感到“惊愕和震惊，与其说是突如其来的危险感……毋宁说是一种感悟：他们不再相信或信任我了”。他接着在文学院一系列整肃会议上，奋起攻击“形式主义者”和其他“敌人”，以此证明自己的价值。 (463) 最不寻常的是他在5月16日文学院公开会议上对朋友叶夫根尼·多尔马托夫斯基的尖刻声讨：

    [文学院里]经常听到，有些人只是乐此不疲地谈论自己。具体讲，我记得多尔马托夫斯基同志在4班会议上的一次恶心的讲话。他没说“文学院和我们”，而说“我和我的文学院”。他的立场是：“像我这样的个人，文学院并没给予足够的重视。成立文学院，就是为了教育两三个天才，就是像我多尔马托夫斯基这样的。做到这一点，就能使它的存在变得合理，富有价值。对于像我这样的人才——多尔马托夫斯基——文学院应该提供最好的，甚至不惜牺牲其他的学生。” (464)

    也许，西蒙诺夫只是在发扬自我批评的精神（包括批评自己最亲密的朋友）——那一直是共青团的风尚，学生应证明自己是忠诚和警惕的。也许，他没有伤害朋友的意思。但很显然，他在嫉妒多尔马托夫斯基因才华而获得的重视，文学院主任经常如此表示（他把西蒙诺夫放在较低等级，只能胜任“教学、新闻、编辑”的工作）。 (465) 西蒙诺夫在这一事件中的指责，对多尔马托夫斯基的损害相对较小。后者1938年从文学院毕业，作为一名记者被派去远东——这一职位远不相称于他的文学才华，被他描绘成一生中最艰难的工作。但他或许已很幸运，因为生活本来可能变得更糟。两人继续保持友好关系，经常在写作中赞美对方，但在西蒙诺夫的朋友当中，总有人怀疑多尔马托夫斯基对他怀恨在心。 (466)

    大恐怖的年代，对许多朋友来说是灾难性的，但对西蒙诺夫来说，却是一鸣惊人的好时机，他成为了受斯大林政权青睐的诗人。1937年，他写了几首诗，奉献给对斯大林的崇拜，包括一首《游行》（Parade），配以管弦乐团及合唱团：

    这是一首有关他的歌，
    有关他的真心朋友，
    他真正的朋友和同志。
    全体人民都是他的朋友：
    你数也数不清，
    就像大海中的浪花水滴。

    西蒙诺夫在《冰之战》（Ice Battle，1938）一诗中，将13世纪俄罗斯王子亚历山大·涅夫斯基率军击败条顿骑士团的民族英雄故事，与苏维埃反对国内外敌人的斗争（也是同年史诗电影《亚历山大·涅夫斯基》的主题，导演是谢尔盖·爱森斯坦）呼应对照起来。该诗是宣传工作的一部分，让苏联为可能的抗德战争做好准备，也是西蒙诺夫第一次真正的文学成就，为他带来了“名誉和声望”——这是卢戈夫斯科伊1938年9月推荐他加入作家协会时引用的赞词。 (468) 西蒙诺夫当初拒绝充当举报人，可能对自己前途造成损害，但凭借之后创作的爱国诗篇，似乎赢得了彻底补救。他得到斯塔夫斯基的全力支持，成为作家协会的最年轻成员。

    在大恐怖的疯狂气氛中，西蒙诺夫对多尔马托夫斯基的背叛，并不是异乎寻常的。一位举报人回忆，内务人民委员会找他举报自己的朋友（他父亲被捕后，那些朋友也嫌弃他），他的良心处于挣扎之中。他自问：“谁是我的朋友？我没有朋友。忠诚吧，我不欠任何人，除非他能从我身上榨取——我只欠我自己。” (469) 恐惧扯断了友谊、爱和信任的纽带，也撕裂了凝聚一个社会的道德关系。人们在混乱中争求各自的生存，相互竞斗，反目成仇。

    叶夫根尼娅·金兹伯格于1937年被捕，遭到许多朋友的出卖。他们被迫在喀山监狱的审讯中当面指控她（内务人民委员会经常安排这样的“对质”），其中就有作家沃洛蒂亚·季阿科诺夫，在她供职的报馆里担任编辑。金兹伯格回忆：

    我们还是老朋友，我们的父亲是同学。我帮他找到这份工作，并且很乐意、很热情地辅导他干好这一行。他比我小5岁，经常说喜欢我，愿把我当做姐姐。

    在对质中，审讯员（俄语都说不好）朗读了季阿科诺夫的声明，举报金兹伯格是报馆“反革命恐怖组织”的成员。季阿科诺夫试图改口，声称他只是说她在编辑部门担任重要职务。但审讯员坚决要求他签署一份声明，证明这一组织的存在。

    “沃洛佳，”我温和地说，“你知道这是个花招，你从没说过这样的东西。如果你签了，就会造成数百位同志的死亡，他们一直待你不错。”

    [审讯员的]眼珠子几乎要蹦跳出来了。

    “你竟敢对证人施加压力！我要直接送你去最底层的惩罚牢房。你，季阿科诺夫，昨天独自一人时，你都签了这些文件。现在，你竟敢反悔！我马上以提供伪证的罪名将你拘留。”

    他做了一个按铃姿势——沃洛佳，像蟒蛇面前的兔子，慢慢写上自己的名字，他的手抖个不停，好像中了风，完全不同于他签署新时代道德准则文件时的大胆利落。然后，他以几乎听不见的声音说：

    “请原谅我，热尼娅。我们刚生了一个女儿，我必须活下去。” (470)

    四

    在大恐怖时代，人们如何因应同事、朋友、邻居的突然失踪？如苏维埃报刊所声称的，他们真以为那些人是“间谍”和“敌人”吗？那些人，他们已认识多年，会相信吗？

    就真正的共产党人而言，党领导告知他们的是毋庸置疑的。这无关乎他们是否相信图哈切夫斯基或布哈林是间谍，而在于他们是否接受自己信奉的党的判决。可信的朋友和战友突然变成“敌人”，随之出现的问题，可以各种方式予以应付。基辅的红军军官阿纳托利·戈尔巴塔夫回忆，图哈切夫斯基和其他高级军官被指控为间谍时，他与军队中的多名同仁不得不作出调整。

    在击溃外国干涉军队和国内反动派时发挥如此重要作用的人物，怎么会……突然变成人民公敌呢？……最后，在反复考虑一系列的可能解释之后，我接受了其时最为普遍的答案……当时很多人都这么认为，“显然，他们出国时，坠入了外国情报机构的罗网”。

    亚基尔将军的被捕，真是一个“可怕的打击”。

    我很熟悉亚基尔，很尊重他。我衷心希望这只是一个误会——“会弄清楚的，他将获得自由”——但诸如此类的说法，也只有最亲密的朋友在小圈子里冒着风险暗自嘀咕。 (471)

    显然，亚基尔愿意接受党的判决，他面对行刑队时的最后一句话是：“共产党万岁！斯大林万岁！” (472)

    斯大林的监狱充满了相信党是正义源泉的布尔什维克。有些对指控供认不讳，为的是保住这样的信仰。为了取得布尔什维克囚犯的供词，酷刑也是经常使用的。据一名前囚犯（不是共产党人）所说，他们投降的关键因素不是刑罚，而是因为：

    大多数坚定的共产党人，愿意不惜一切代价，维持自己对苏联的信念。要背弃这个信念，已非他们力所能及。在某种情况下，长期的根深蒂固的信念，即使已经不靠谱，如要予以放弃，仍需要巨大的道德力量。 (473)

    娜杰日达·格兰金娜1938年在喀山监狱遇到的许多党员，仍然信奉党的路线。她告之以1932年的饥荒，他们却说，“这只是谎言，我只是在夸大其词，以诋毁我们的苏维埃生活方式”。她还告诉他们，她被无端赶出家园，国内护照制度在摧残家庭，他们会说：“没错，但这是对付像你这样的人的最佳方式。”

    他们认为我是罪有应得，因为我反对过激的行为。然而，当同样的事发生在他们身上，却被认为这只是一个错误，会被纠正的——因为他们对上级颁布的任何指示，从不心存疑问，总是欢呼雀跃，贯彻到底……他们被开除党籍时，没有站出来互表支持，要么保持沉默，要么举双手表示拥护。这真成了普遍的精神病状。 (474)

    对广大人民来说，现实有两种：一种是党的真理，另一种是基于经验的真理。但在大恐怖的年代，苏维埃报刊中充斥了做秀公审以及“间谍”和“敌人”的邪恶言行，真能看透宣传的人寥寥无几。要给新闻报道打折扣，要质疑大恐怖的基本假设，这都需要非凡的意志力，通常会牵涉不同的价值体系。就一些人而言，使之采纳批判性观点的是宗教或国籍；就另一些人而言，是不同的党的信条或思想；就其他一些人而言，是他们的年龄（他们在俄罗斯看得太多了，根本不相信清白可以保护任何人免受逮捕）。但30岁以下的人，从小长大只知道苏维埃世界，又没从家里承继到其他价值观，要想逃离宣传并怀疑它的政治原则，几乎是不可能的。

    年轻人特别容易轻信——他们在苏维埃学校里一直接受如此的宣传。里亚伯·比德尔回忆：

    在学校里他们说：“看，他们如此不愿我们生活在共产主义社会——看，他们如何炸毁工厂、造成火车出轨、杀害民众——都是人民公敌的所作所为。”我们的大脑受到不断地灌输，以致没有自己的思考。我们到处看到“敌人”，并被告知，如在街上看到可疑人物，就要予以监视并报警——他很可能是一名间谍。当局、党组织、我们的老师——每个人都说同样的话，我们还能有其他想法吗？

    比德尔1937年离开学校，在工厂找到工作，经常听到工人对“人民公敌”的诅咒。

    工厂遇上故障，他们就会说：“同志们，这里有破坏和背叛！”他们会寻找有历史污点的人，称他为敌人，将他投入监狱，上刑，直至他招供。在公审大会中，他们会说：“看，这就是潜伏在我们中间的混蛋！” (475)

    很多工人相信“人民公敌”的存在，要求予以逮捕，并将之与“主管们”（党干部、经理和专家）联系在一起——他们已将自己的经济困苦，归罪于那些“主管”。事实上，这种对精英的不信任有助于解释清洗为何在部分民众中具有广泛的吸引力。他们将大恐怖视作“主人之间的争吵”，与己无关。这一看法，在大恐怖年代广泛流传的笑话中，获得完美的诠释：半夜里，内务人民委员会猛敲一户公寓的大门，屋里的男主人问：“是谁呀？”“是内务人民委员会，快开门！”男主人一下子心宽了，回答说：“不，你们弄错了——共产党人住在楼上！” (476)

    近亲的被捕不足以动摇大多数人对“敌人”的信念，在许多情况下，反而予以加强。依达·斯拉温娜的父亲于1937年被捕，但她仍坚守自己的共青团信念，直到1953年：

    我不相信父亲是人民公敌，当然认为他是无辜的。同时我又相信，人民公敌确实存在。我确信，正是人民公敌的破坏，才使像父亲那样的好人蒙冤入狱。在我看来，这些敌人的存在是显而易见的……我在报刊上读到有关的报道，跟所有人一样，也对他们恨之入骨。我与共青团员一起去游行示威，抗议人民公敌，高呼：“处死人民公敌！”报纸提供这些口号，让我们的头脑装满了做秀公审。我们读到布哈林和其他党干部可怕的供词，被吓坏了。如果这样的人也是间谍，那敌人真是无孔不入啊。 (477)

    罗扎·诺沃塞尔茨娃的父母于1937年被捕，她从不认为他们是真正的“敌人”，却愿意怀疑布哈林这样的高级干部，如她当时所说，总要“有人为我家的悲惨遭遇承担责任”。在苏维埃外交官家庭长大的弗拉基米尔·伊耶宁，相信对“人民公敌”的所有指控——认为叶若夫是个“伟人”——尽管自己的父亲、姐姐和6位叔叔姨妈都于大恐怖年代被捕。要到1944年母亲入狱，他才开始产生怀疑，他写信给斯大林，声称母亲是完全无辜的；并发出警告，她的被捕证明内务人民委员会已被“人民公敌”接管。 (478)

    甚至斯大林的受害者，也相信“人民公敌”的存在，或承认自己的被捕是罪有应得（犯了“反革命破坏罪”），或推定自己被误定为“人民公敌”。德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基是“富农”的儿子，家人作为“人民公敌”遭到流放，但他自己相信斯大林政权的宣传，在1953年之前一直是狂热的斯大林主义者。他回忆：“与其放弃对斯大林的希望，倒不如继续相信他，认为他只是受了人民公敌的欺骗。这样做，使我们[受迫害者]更容易在惩罚中存活下去。”

    我们从没想到，我们的痛苦得归罪于斯大林，只是感到奇怪，他怎么会不知道自己受了欺骗……父亲说：“斯大林被蒙在鼓里，这意味着我们迟早会[从流放中]获释”……也许，这只是一种自欺欺人。但在心理上，相信斯大林的公正，使人更容易忍受苦日子，并消除我们心里的恐惧！ (479)

    在劳改营度过多年的地质学家帕维尔·维滕贝格，支持对“人民公敌”的大恐怖。1937年2月，他远征北地群岛地区时给妻子写信：

    你问我，是否听到电台上有关皮亚特科夫的公审。我全听到了——现在才明白，自己的身败名裂就因为那些流氓托洛茨基分子——他们试图摧毁我们的[苏维埃]联盟，其见不得人的手段，导致了这么多无辜的党外人士被送去流放。 (480)

    有些人对这么多“人民公敌”的存在存疑。就他们而言，引起怀疑的不是做秀公审（很少人质疑检方的诚实），而是同事、朋友、邻居的突然失踪，似乎很难相信他们有罪。

    不去想它，便是应付这种疑惑的共同对策——避开所有政治，彻底退到私人生活。许多人对政治事件视而不见，设法度过大恐怖年代。甚至还有政治精英，紧闭双眼来应对自己圈子中的失踪事件。米哈伊尔·伊萨耶夫是杰出的苏维埃法学家，又是苏维埃最高法庭的成员，带着妻子和4个孩子住在莫斯科，养尊处优。据妻子玛丽亚的回忆，在整个大恐怖时期，虽然大规模逮捕波及许多朋友，但家里从来不谈论国事。伊萨耶夫似乎对世上发生的事浑然不觉，即使是与自己切身相关的也是如此。他1937年12月写信给女儿，抱怨年老未婚的女管家突然失踪，好几天没来上班，家里乱糟糟的，其“突然消失和毫无预警”显然让伊萨耶夫非常恼火。他弄不懂管家为何消失，还在犹豫是否要将她解雇，丝毫都没想到管家可能已经被捕——确实如此——根本没人替她给她的东家捎信。 (481)

    这些精英家庭的许多孩子受到庇护，对政治事件茫然不知。尼娜·卡明斯卡娅是律师和宪政民主党人的女儿，对政治不闻不问——家里从来不谈政治。甚至在父亲被苏维埃银行解雇之后，尼娜仍然在法学院过着“无忧无虑的学生生活”，她是1937年入学的。多年之后，她与朋友讨论此事。他们都同意，在大恐怖年代仍有愉快的经历，无忧无虑，甚至意识不到当时发生的大事：“我们根本察觉不到攫噬我们父母一代的恐怖和绝望。”尼娜的朋友讲述过1937年的一件事，她参加朋友聚会，很晚才回家，又找不到钥匙：

    别无他法，她只好按门铃叫醒父母。很长一段时间都没有回应，于是她按了第二次。不久，听到脚步声，门打开了，站在面前的是她的父亲。他不像刚刚起床，反倒像刚刚回家，或正要出门，身穿深色的西装、干净的衬衫，配以整齐的领带。看到自己的女儿，他在沉默中注视着她，然后一言未发，打了她一记耳光。

    尼娜认识这位朋友的父亲，他受过良好教育，没有粗暴的倾向。他对深夜敲门的反应，显然基于他对“他们”前来逮捕的恐惧。起初，她的朋友感到震惊：

    她自觉委屈，一下子泪水涟涟，怪罪于父亲。过了一会儿，便将之忘得一干二净。多年之后，她才忆起父亲苍白的脸色、沉默和那记耳光——毫无疑问，这是他有生以来第一次打人。她带着极大的痛苦告诉我这个故事，为她自己及整整一代人的不谙世事深感歉疚。 (482)

    人们以各种方式来应付疑惑，或予以压制，或加以合理化，来维护他们共产主义的基本信念。他们当时并非刻意为之，只是数年之后方才意识到这一点。玛娅·罗德克的父亲1937年被举报为“人民公敌”，因为他无意中说出的一个短语，恰好是托洛茨基在写给苏维埃当局的信件中用过的。父亲被捕后，玛娅曾尝试将大恐怖引起的疑惑，与自己的共产主义信仰调和起来——这是她现在的理解。

    这么多疑惑使我坐立不安，我的反应是迫使自己循规蹈矩。这是当时发生的，不过我要等到今日，才使用“循规蹈矩”一词——这不是一种游戏，而是一种生存策略。例如，朋友阿拉和我都不喜欢斯大林的个人崇拜，但要省悟它可能有错，即使在我们的内心也是根本不可能的。我只知道，自己需要不断改进，以剔除内心的任何疑虑。 (483)

    西蒙诺夫在回忆录中讲述了自己对一个亲戚（舅婆的弟弟）被捕的反应。他是一名资深军官，涉及1937年对图哈切夫斯基和其他高级将领的公审。西蒙诺夫回忆，自己还是小男孩时就崇拜图哈切夫斯基（经常在伯父的莫斯科公寓中遇见），所以对被告的有罪存有疑惑。西蒙诺夫的母亲非常愤慨，坚信那位亲戚的清白。西蒙诺夫因此对相关的证据认真地加以甄别，最终仍决定接受苏维埃报刊的解释。像当时大多数人一样，西蒙诺夫猜想，如果没有确凿的叛国证据，没人胆敢处决如此高级的将领：

    要怀疑那个可怕阴谋的存在是不可能的。任何质疑都是不可想象的——别无选择。我在讲那些时代的精神：除非他们有罪，不然就无法理解。

    西蒙诺夫以同样的逻辑接受了亲戚有罪的认定。该亲戚之前曾被捕一次（1931年），因证据不足而获释；在西蒙诺夫眼中，他的再次被捕必然意味着已经找到了他有罪的新证据（他的继父曾于1931年被捕，却没有遇上麻烦，可作佐证）。 (484) 换言之，西蒙诺夫的解读倾向于加强自己对共产主义的信念，而放弃信念是“不可思议的”。

    还有另一种方式将朋友和亲戚的突然失踪，与苏维埃正义的信念调和起来。那就是告诉自己，好人被捕只是一个“错误”。根据这个道理，要找出真正的“人民公敌”，出错是不可避免的，因为有太多的“敌人”，隐蔽得又太好。基于这种思维，真正的敌人总归是他人——监狱门口排队送包裹的女人的儿子和丈夫——永远不会是自己的朋友和亲戚。

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格回顾丈夫1936年的被捕，如此总结自己的反应：

    不，这不可能。它不可能发生在我和他的身上！当然有传闻[仅是传闻——当时还是1936年初]，要出事了，已有逮捕事件发生。但这一切肯定只与别人有关，当然不会发生在自己身上。 (485)

    奥莉加的丈夫在遭到内务人民委员会拘捕时认为，这只是一个“误会”。像数百万其他人一样，他在告别妻子时说，很快就会弄清楚（“肯定是一个错误”），很快就会回来。他只带了在外过夜的小包裹。斯拉温和皮亚特尼茨基也是如此。

    许多人相信弄错了，便写信给斯大林，吁求释放自己的亲人。安娜·谢苗诺娃从小就是共产主义者，在父亲1937年6月被捕之后，就曾写信给斯大林。她现在回忆道：“我想，几天后，斯大林就会收到我的信，读完后会说：‘这是怎么回事？为何要逮捕一个诚实的人？立即释放他，并向他道歉。’”3个月之后，安娜的母亲也被带走，她又一次告诉自己，“肯定又弄错了”。 (486)

    这一想法，因内务人民委员会主管叶若夫的倒台而获得加强。1938年秋天，身为大恐怖干将的叶若夫因私生活的各式丑闻（并不完全是虚假的）而落马，其中有同性恋暧昧、双性恋狂欢、大肆酗酒、妻子已成英国间谍的虚构故事。但叶若夫落马的真正原因，还在于斯大林愈益察觉到，大规模逮捕不再是可行策略。如果继续下去，不用很久，全体苏维埃人都要入狱了。斯大林明确表示，内务人民委员会不能单单依据举报，不予查证就径自抓人。他还指出，要警惕专靠举报来促进自己地位的野心家。叶若夫的解职是在1938年12月，新主管拉夫连季·贝利亚马上宣布，全面审查叶若夫治下的逮捕案件。到1940年，150万宗案子审查完毕，取消了对45万人的判罪，封存了12.8万宗案卷，3万人获释出狱，32.7万人走出古拉格劳改营。这恢复了许多人对苏维埃司法的信心，让疑惑者把“叶若夫恐怖”看作一时的畸变，而不是制度的滥用。据声称，大规模逮捕都是叶若夫的所作所为，斯大林纠正了他的错误，并揭露了叶若夫的“人民公敌”真面目：一直在逮捕官员，散布不满，以破坏苏维埃政府。1940年2月，最高军事法庭公审叶若夫，他的罪名是策划恐怖分子阴谋，为波兰、德国、英国、日本从事间谍活动，被枪决于他自己专为枪决“敌人”建造的特殊建筑内，离卢比扬卡不远。 (487)

    贝利亚的任命让人松了一口气。马克·拉斯金记得：“我们欣喜若狂，在我们眼中，贝利亚似乎是纯正的理想人物。”像很多其他人一样，他希望“所有的无辜者将获得释放，监狱里只留下真正的间谍和敌人”。 (488) 西蒙诺夫回忆，贝利亚的审查恢复了他对苏维埃正义的信念，消除了他因亲属被捕而可能生出的疑惑。事实上，西蒙诺夫因此而加强了自己的信念：没有获释的，或之后被捕的，一定是有罪的。他如此回顾自己对1939年两个文人被捕的反应——分别是作家伊萨克·巴贝尔和戏剧导演弗谢沃洛德·梅耶荷德：

    尽管这两人在文学界和戏剧界已占据重要地位，尽管他们的突然失踪引起了巨大的震荡——那时已是如此——然而，这两起逮捕来得那么突然，涉及如此不寻常的圈子，又在纠正叶若夫错误的贝利亚当政之下——这一切让我觉得，他们也许确实有罪。在叶若夫当政时期被捕的人中，很多也许是无辜的。但这两人没有受到叶若夫的迫害，现在又是拨乱反正之时，却被突然逮捕。因此，逮捕他们似乎应有很充分的理由。 (489)

    对梅耶荷德和巴贝尔的指控引起许多人的怀疑，其中之一是作家协会前总书记弗拉基米尔·斯塔夫斯基——他曾试图招募西蒙诺夫做举报人。他出生于奔萨省城的工人家庭，如果没有学会在道德原则上的妥协，也不可能晋升至苏维埃文学界的顶层。他身为斯大林的“苏维埃文学界刽子手”，批准逮捕了许多作家，并亲笔写下导致曼德尔施塔姆1938年春天被捕的检举信。 (490) 但在这段时间内，斯塔夫斯基深受怀疑和恐惧的折磨。他在日记中承认自己的绝望，他的日记像普里谢维恩的一样，也用微小潦草的笔迹，别人很难辨认。他为听到的一则故事深感不安，说一个党干部将自己带司机的汽车，改装成一个卖淫场所。该司机说：“我实在弄不懂到底是怎么一回事。”“他只是一个普通男孩，我们中的一员，然后跨过一条分界线，就变成了一头猪，满面污秽。一个普通工人，一辈子都不会这么肮脏。” (491) 也许是由于丧失信心，斯塔夫斯基开始狂饮，发胖，生病，因酩酊大醉而好几天不去上班。他躲避批斗作家的会议，或只作最温和的发言。为此，他终于在1937年11月受到作家协会党委的痛斥：

    斯塔夫斯基同志，身为作家协会的领导，大声嚷嚷要在文学界提高警惕，要开展揭露敌人的运动。但在现实中，他却在帮助隐瞒托洛茨基分子，不发起真正的进攻，不缴除人民公敌和党内异己分子的武器。对自己与敌人保持联系的错误，他仍然默不作声。 (492)

    斯塔夫斯基承受着来自政治主子越来越大的压力，最终在1938年春天被免去作家协会的领导职务。

    像斯塔夫斯基一样，很多人对大规模逮捕存有疑问，但公开反对者极少。无论如何，如皮亚特尼茨基在全体会议上的抗议所显示的，有效反对的可能性极低。不管是团体还是个人，虽然在向党领导写信表达他们对大规模逮捕的愤慨，但几乎都是匿名的。一个无名团体在1938年6月写信给莫洛托夫说：“数十万无辜人士在监狱中凋萎，没人知道为什么……一切都以谎言为基础（我们没有签名，请原谅，因为抱怨是遭禁的）。” (493) 地方上确有一些党员的抗议，特别是老布尔什维克，其政治道德在斯大林崛起之前就已经定形。

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格讲述了一个老布尔什维克的故事，名叫阿尔图宁，是她1939年在科雷马劳改营遇上的。他来自沃罗涅日省，入党前是一名皮革工人，已到中年，但仍英俊，留一把红胡子。他曾经强壮，但因矿区工作而变得孱弱。与奥莉加见面时，他被调到马加丹的妇女工程队，帮助制造工具。他告诉奥莉加：

    这一切开始于1937年，先说这位同志是敌人，再说那位同志是敌人，把他们都开除出党。我们举手表示同意，然后把他们打死，那都是我们自己的同志啊。

    起初，我假装生病，逃避参加会议或举手拥护。到后来，我觉到需要采取行动，再也不能这样继续下去。我们在摧毁党，杀害善良诚实的人。我不相信他们都是叛徒，我认识这些人。

    一天晚上，我坐下写了一封信，誊了几份，一份给当地党组织，一份给斯大林，一份给[党的]中央监察委员会。我写道，我们这是在杀害革命……我把自己的肺腑之言全都倾注入这封信中。我让妻子看，她说：“你这是在自杀，你寄出的第二天，他们就会将你投入监狱。”但我回答：“让他们把我关进监狱吧。我宁可身陷囹圄，也不愿举手杀害自己的同志。”

    嗯，她说得对。我寄信3天后就入狱。他们将我痛打一顿——我被流放来科雷马劳改营，为期10年。

    当被问及是否后悔，阿尔图宁回答确实有一次，当时他的劳动小组因严霜冰封而未能清除森林的树根，自己因此被关了禁闭：

    我突然顾影自怜。其他人没做什么，也判了刑，但我是自投罗网啊。我写的信到底有何作用？什么都不会改变。也许索尔茨[中央监察委员会的负责人]会感到有一丁点惭愧，但老胡子[斯大林]——才不在乎呢！无法打动他。而现在，我原本可以留在家里，与老婆孩子围坐在暖和房间的茶炊旁。一念及此，我就以头撞墙，制止这个想法进入我的脑海。那一整夜，我在牢房内边跑边咒骂自己怎么能有这样的后悔。

    真正有影响的反对是在迫害制度之内。当地法庭的法官，往往能实施有效的减刑，甚至以证据不足的理由不愿受理案件。但在1937年夏季之后，大规模逮捕的几乎所有受害者，改而面对三驾马车的简易程序，即三人特别法庭（通常来自内务人民委员会、检察院和党组织），以便绕开正规法庭。 (495) 即使在内务人民委员会中，也有勇敢人士讲出自己对大规模逮捕的反对，特别是对“富农行动”，因为它让内务人民委员会许多地方官员联想起1928至1933年的血腥混乱。斯大林和叶若夫在1937年7月召开“富农行动”会议，鄂木斯克省内务人民委员会主管爱德华·萨利在会上说他所在的区域：

    只有少量的人民公敌和托派，不值得发起一场镇压行动。总的来说，我认为，事先决定多少人被捕和枪决完全是错误的。

    会议结束后不久，萨利被捕，审判之后遭枪决。

    米哈伊尔·施赖德尔是反对大规模逮捕的另一名内务人民委员会官员。他在20世纪70年代所写的回忆录中，描述自己是一名“纯粹的契卡人”。契卡成立于1917年，其创始人是费利克斯·捷尔任斯基，他的列宁主义理想一直是对施赖德尔的激励。施赖德尔写回忆录是为了辩解自己在契卡的工作，称自己为大恐怖的受害者。根据他的说法，在20世纪30年代，他已观察到内务人民委员会同事的腐败，转而对斯大林政权感到失望。曾是体面、诚实的同志，如今为了自己加官晋爵，不惜使用任何酷刑来折磨“人民公敌”。施赖德尔也因逮捕的规模而感到不安，实在不信有这么多的“人民公敌”。但他不敢透露心里的疑惑，怕被举报，而且很快发现许多同事都有这一恐惧，但没人敢于打破这合谋的沉默。一名广受信任的同事消失了，其战友最多会说他可能是个“老实人”，而没人敢说他可能是无辜的。因为这样做，会承担遭人举报的风险，会被控对清洗运动存有怀疑。施赖德尔回忆：“没人弄得清楚，为何有这么多的逮捕。但没人敢于开口，因为这会引起怀疑是在帮助人民公敌，或是在相互勾结。” (497)

    好几个月，施赖德尔默默看着老朋友和老同事的被捕和枪决，但无法表示反对，他慢慢蜕变成了某种形式的良心抵制者，拒不出席在卢比扬卡院子对内务人民委员会同事的枪决。到1938年春季，施赖德尔被调至阿拉木图，成为哈萨克斯坦内务人民委员会主管斯坦尼斯拉夫·雷登斯（斯大林的连襟）的副手。施赖德尔和雷登斯成为好朋友，两家住在紧邻隔壁，相互串门频繁。施赖德尔注意到，雷登斯对手下的酷刑手段愈益厌恶，他认为雷登斯是一个性情中人。另一方面，雷登斯也感受到，施赖德尔对大恐怖中的操作方式与自己一样抱有怀疑。一天深夜，他俩乘车出城，停车后开始步行。到达司机听不到的地方时，雷登斯对施赖德尔说：“如果费利克斯·埃德蒙多维奇[捷尔任斯基]还活着，我们当中有很多人会因现在的工作方式而被他枪毙。”施赖德尔装作听不明白，如果轻易对此类思想表示赞同，足以保证自己即刻被捕，而他不能肯定他的上司说的话不是一种试探。雷登斯仍在继续，施赖德尔终于弄清他说的都是肺腑之言。随之，施赖德尔也敞开自己不安的灵魂。一旦这种信任获得建立，这两个男人得以倾诉心声。雷登斯感到遗憾的是，所有体面的共产党人都被消灭了，而叶若夫之流却逍遥法外，毫发未损。但仍有更危险的话题，他也不敢涉及。施赖德尔回思这些低声交谈，认为雷登斯对大恐怖的了解，远远超过他所谈及的。“他的地位和当时情境，迫使他和我们一样，即使在知心朋友面前也不点明真相；有些事情，也只好避而不谈。” (498)

    与雷登斯的谈话给施赖德尔壮了胆，他因此而感到懊悔和愤怒。他写信给叶若夫，为内务人民委员会一名老同事以及他妻子的一个表弟（仍是在莫斯科的一个学生）被捕之事抗议，愿意担保两人的清白。几天后，即1938年6月，雷登斯收到叶若夫的电报，命令他逮捕施赖德尔。他在雷登斯的办公室中获悉此一消息，便恳求雷登斯向斯大林求情：“斯坦尼斯拉夫·弗兰采维奇，你很了解我，你毕竟是他的连襟，这里肯定有错。”雷登斯回答：“米哈伊尔·帕夫洛维奇，我会为你缓颊，但我担心恐怕无戏可唱。今天是你，明天无疑就会轮到我。”施赖德尔被关入莫斯科的布提尔基监狱，到1940年7月，被判处10年劳改，外加3年流放。雷登斯被捕于1938年11月，1940年1月遭枪决。

    五

    1937年5月，艾莱娜·邦纳的父亲被捕的那个晚上，母亲叫她去与姨妈安雅和舅舅列瓦暂住，以避开内务人民委员会抄家。14岁的艾莱娜穿越列宁格勒的大街，去敲亲戚家的门。艾莱娜回忆：“门马上开了，他们好像在等我。”随之她向姨妈和舅舅作了解释。舅舅变得惊恐万分，又气又恼，开始询问有关她父亲的工作：

    我不明白他要知道什么，我只想走进他们的公寓。安雅说了什么，列瓦几乎朝她大叫：“安雅，该死的，你总是这样……”他伸出右臂，挡住门道，不让我进去，然后以大声且快速的耳语说：“我们不能让你进来，我们做不到。为什么？你难道不明白吗？”他如此重复好几次，唾沫四溅。安雅又说了什么，我能看到她的嘴在嚅动，但听不到声音，只有列瓦的耳语，却声如呐喊，盖住了一切。我退出来，直到我的背脊顶上了走廊的栏杆。门砰的关上了，我站在那里，无法理解眼前发生的事。然后，我用手抹了一把脸，开始下楼，还没走下楼梯又听到开门声。我转过身来，列瓦就站在门口，我疑惑他是要叫我回去。但他什么也没说，又开始慢慢关门。我朝他喊“坏蛋”，看见他的脸瞬间变得苍白。 (500)

    家人被捕后，受到朋友、邻居甚至近亲的遗弃，这样的故事不计其数。人们害怕与“人民公敌”的家属接触，宁可穿过马路避开他们，在走廊上遇见也不打招呼，禁止自己的孩子与他们的孩子在院子里玩耍。人们收起已经消失的亲属和朋友的照片，有时甚至在全家福的照片上，挖去或涂抹掉他们的面孔。正如索尔仁尼琴所说：

    最温和同时又是最普遍的背叛，是不直接做坏事，只是漠视旁边的倒霉人，不给予帮助，畏缩不前，转身离开。他们已经逮捕你的邻居、你的同事甚至你的密友，你却保持沉默，装作一无所知。 (501)

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格回忆丈夫的被捕：

    人们以特殊的语调跟我讲话，变得怕我。见我走过来，有些人特意穿到马路对面。但也有人对我特别注意，这是他们的勇敢，大家都意识到了这一点。 (502)

    父母1937年6月被捕后，伊娜·盖斯特和妹妹被逐出在尼科利纳·戈拉的乡间别墅。遵从伊娜父母的指示，保姆把她们带去诗人亚历山大·别兹梅斯基的家。他是伊娜父亲的老朋友，伊娜父母原指望他会收留这两个女孩。但诗人开车把她们送到最近的火车站，让她们坐上开往莫斯科的第一列火车。伊娜回忆说：“他太害怕了，不愿牵涉其中。以前，他经常住在我祖母的房子里。现在，他和妻子刚有一个婴儿，恐惧压倒了他的义气。” (503)

    斯坦尼斯拉夫和瓦尔瓦拉·布德克维奇夫妇于1937年7月被捕，女儿玛丽亚和她的弟弟马上被赶出列宁格勒共用公寓的两个房间，转而分配给他们的邻居——一对带3个小孩的夫妇。这两户邻家曾友好相处，直到1937年邻居的妻子向内务人民委员会举报布德克维奇夫妇是反革命分子和间谍（斯坦尼斯拉夫有波兰血统）。她甚至声称，身为历史研究学者的瓦尔瓦拉其实是一名妓女，会把客人带回公寓。弟弟被送去孤儿院，刚刚14岁的玛丽亚只得自生自灭。最初几天，玛丽亚住在学校朋友的家里，后来总算找到一个居所。一名布尔什维克官员的妻子是她家老朋友，建议玛丽亚去询问前邻居有无父母的消息。玛丽亚回到原先所住的共用公寓，却受到敌视：

    我的上帝，他们竟然怕我，甚至不让我走进公寓。你能想象吗？占用我们房间的女人，看到我显得非常恼怒。到底是她丈夫已被逮捕，还是在担心他们会来逮捕她丈夫，我已记不得了。也许，她的家庭也遇上了麻烦。不管如何，他们不愿帮忙。那个女人只是说：“我什么都不知道，没有任何消息，明白了吗？请不要再来这里！” (504)

    邻居一夜之间竟成陌路人。将近30年，图尔金一家与尼基京一家隔邻而居。他们共用一栋三层木楼的底层，位于彼尔姆的苏维埃街和斯维尔德洛夫街相交的角落——图尔金家7口人（亚历山大、维拉和他们的两个女儿，维拉的母亲、弟弟和妹妹）占用右侧的3个房间，四口之家的尼基京享有左侧的3个房间。亚历山大·图尔金是一名老布尔什维克，在彼尔姆的地下活动时期，曾是斯维尔德洛夫的战友。像全家人一样，亚历山大也在莫托韦利哈钢铁厂工作，还是当地报纸的记者，又在地区法庭担任法官。1936年，他作为托洛茨基分子入狱。他的妻子也是该厂工人，对政治不感兴趣，将他的罪行认作“已获证明的事实”。维拉的母亲非常强势，掌管图尔金家的一切，也认为亚历山大有罪。她从客厅的全家福照片上挖掉他的脸，并说：“如果我们当中有一个敌人，就必须将他清除出去。”维拉在事故中受伤（作为“人民公敌”的妻子，无权享受病假），遂被莫托韦利哈钢铁厂解雇，她能找到的唯一工作是在街头报亭卖报。维拉的弟弟妹妹也遭到工厂辞退。其时，妹妹瓦利娅已经怀孕，其丈夫立即抛弃了她，并以政治理由获得离婚批准。家里入不敷出，挣扎于贫穷困苦的深渊，从来都填不饱肚子。据维拉的女儿说，最难承受的还是朋友和邻居的排斥：

    大家都怕我们，害怕与我们交谈，甚至不愿靠近，好像我们身上有瘟疫，会传染给他们……我们的邻居避开我们，禁止他们的孩子与我们一起玩……在1936年[亚历山大被捕时]，还没有人谈及“人民公敌”——只是保持缄默。到1937年，每个人都把我们叫做“人民公敌”。

    尼基京一家也嫌弃自己的邻居。阿纳托利·尼基京在莫托韦利哈钢铁厂担任资深会计，也许是害怕被解雇，便与图尔金家庭断绝一切交往。两家曾在共用厨房一起进餐，两家孩子曾在院子里一起玩耍。现在，他们则各管各家，声气不通。尼基京甚至写信给苏维埃，背弃老邻居，因此而获得奖励，分得原属图尔金家的一个房间。为了腾出这个房间，瓦利娅和婴儿只好搬进弟弟和母亲共用的隔壁房间。阿纳托利的妹妹搬入瓦利娅的房间，重开了一道门，与自己家这边的公寓相通。

    奥西普于1937年7月被捕，皮亚特尼茨基一家承受了同样的排斥。他们被逐出自己的公寓，几乎都没有糊口的钱。朱莉娅转而求助于党内的老朋友，首先找上了奥西普近30年的朋友阿隆·索尔茨。朱莉娅去敲他家的门，被他的管家告知：“他很害怕，如果看到你在这里，他就会把我撵走。他要我告诉你，他不认识你。”朱莉娅然后去找1917年以来的熟人采采利娅·博布罗夫斯卡娅，她也是一名老布尔什维克。起初，她也拒绝，后来同意让朱莉娅进去“谈几分钟”，因为她马上就要去上班。她不愿听朱莉娅的故事，只含泪告诉她：“直接去找有关当局，找叶若夫。不要再去找你的同志，没人会帮你，也没人能帮你。”几天后，朱莉娅在地铁站遇见布尔什维克领导人维克托·诺根的遗孀：“她看看我，一言不发……然后拉佩夫——与皮亚特尼茨基很熟稔的铁路员工——走进车厢，看到我，马上转过身子，脸朝反方向，一路上都是如此。”朱莉娅的儿子伊戈尔和弗拉基米尔，同样遭受了朋友们的遗弃。弗拉基米尔最要好的朋友叶夫根尼·洛吉诺夫也不再去他家——他父亲是斯大林的秘书。事实上，没人再上门。弗拉基米尔在学校里变成受众人欺凌的对象。他回忆：“他们嘲笑我，把我叫做人民公敌，还偷我的东西，诸如书籍和衣服，因为他们知道我不能保护自己。”朱莉娅处在隔离之中，遭到所有朋友的背弃，她开始反思人类关系的脆弱，在7月20日的日记中写道：

    这些日子，人际关系多么可怕啊！我相信，如果有人表示友好，或显示一下友好或“同志”的姿态，都不是出于人情或好心，而是出于物质利益或其他私念。大家都知道，我们失去了一切，没有住的，没有吃的，但没人愿意伸出一个相助的手指。我们正在慢慢死去，但无人问津。 (506)

    如艾莱娜·邦纳所发现的，即使是亲戚，也会嫌弃“人民公敌”的家庭。阿列克谢·叶夫谢耶夫和妻子纳塔利娅是活跃的共产党人。阿列克谢是一名医生，在性病方面担任红军的高级顾问，纳塔利娅是远东木材托拉斯的经济学家。他们和女儿安吉丽娜一起住在远东地区的哈巴罗夫斯克。1937年，阿列克谢和纳塔利娅被开除出党（阿列克谢与瓦西里·布柳赫尔元帅有牵连，后者的远东军是清洗的主要对象，其在中国的化名为加伦将军）。当时15岁的安吉丽娜记得父亲被开除出党后回家的情景：

    他魂飞魄散，回到家，战战兢兢地说：“他们会来抓我。”我只是一个15岁的蠢姑娘，顺口回答：“如果你被捕，这意味着它是必需的。”因为父亲以前总对我说：“如果他们被捕，这意味着它是必需的。”我的这句话一生都回荡在我的耳畔：“它是必需的。”但我实在弄不明白，这到底是什么意思。

    阿列克谢于6月1日被捕，被裁定参与了“反对苏维埃政府的法西斯阴谋”（1938年3月在哈巴罗夫斯克遭枪决）。他被捕后，纳塔利娅和安吉丽娜被逐出自己的公寓。纳塔利娅害怕自己被捕，赶紧带着安吉丽娜逃至莫斯科，希望把女儿留给娘家的亲属。15岁的安吉丽娜面临一个危险：一旦母亲被捕，她就有可能被送去孤儿院。但纳塔利娅的亲戚中没人愿意帮忙，他们都是狂热的共产主义者。纳塔利娅的妹妹是共青团积极分子，被问及能否收留安吉丽娜时说：“让苏维埃政权把她养大吧，我们不需要她。”纳塔利娅的妈妈更为敌视，当面告诉她的外孙女：“我恨你的父亲，他是人民公敌。我也恨你。”好几天，纳塔利娅和女儿只能睡在公园长凳上。到最后，阿列克谢在莫斯科大学学医时的老朋友安德烈·格里加洛夫和妻子收留了她俩。格里加洛夫一家冒着极大的风险将安吉丽娜藏在自己的共用公寓——离克里姆林宫仅一箭之遥。安吉丽娜没有在苏维埃首都的居住护照，但共用公寓的邻居（其中有莫洛托夫的嫂子）都视而不见：因为最好还是与医生为邻。纳塔利娅把女儿留在莫斯科，自己返回哈巴罗夫斯克，几星期后被捕。 (507)

    沙姆苏瓦利和古尔契拉·塔吉罗夫夫妇在巴尔达的鞑靼地区担任教师——该地位于彼尔姆的西南部，相隔140公里。沙姆苏瓦利是革命的积极分子，曾在建立阿克巴什村的集体农庄中发挥主导作用。他作为穆斯林民族主义者被捕于1936年（枪决于1938年），同时遭殃的还有34位巴尔达地区的鞑靼教师和宗教领袖。古尔契拉只得独自抚养6个孩子，老大11岁，老幺才出世几个星期。她是村里少数有文化的人之一（懂得鞑靼文和俄文），所以颇受村民的尊重，获得足够的粮食来养活家人。前来执行逮捕的警察，为逮捕像塔吉罗夫那样的好人而满怀悔恨，主动帮助古尔契拉一家。他送来牛奶，或让孩子们去他家吃饭。他每星期为古尔契拉和囚禁在巴尔达的沙姆苏瓦利传递一次邮件，自己也给沙姆苏瓦利写信：“请原谅我，我别无选择。他们强迫我执行逮捕，我知道你是无辜的。我现在要赎回我的罪，帮助你的家人。”古尔契拉继续在阿克巴什村小学担任教师，只是她教的课经常有内务人民委员会人员的监视，审查她说的话中有无穆斯林民族主义的色彩。

    1937年，由于村苏维埃主席的举报，古尔契拉和6个孩子被赶出自己的家园。全部家当放在一辆马车上，他们走了20公里，来到沙姆苏瓦利的母亲及其长子住的叶克舍尔村。他们有一栋两层楼的大房子，尚有空置的房间。沙姆苏瓦利的母亲受过教育，笃信宗教，房内摆满书籍，但拒绝收容他们。她在儿子被捕一事上责怪古尔契拉，她已听到儿媳妇与那位警察的谣言，也许在怀疑古尔契拉参与了沙姆苏瓦利被捕之事。古尔契拉的女儿列泽达认为，父亲的亲属担心古尔契拉是“人民公敌”，对丈夫的被捕负有责任，还有可能危及亲属。沙姆苏瓦利的母亲告诉古尔契拉，她的房子已经住满，不能让她搬进去，甚至不愿向长途跋涉之后的孩子们提供食物。当天晚上，沙姆苏瓦利的弟弟全家搬进二楼的房间（他是一个商人，正在搬家，刚好卖掉自己在阿克巴什的房子）。受到婆家的拒绝后，古尔契拉和孩子们只好向一名集体农庄工人租得一个村边房间。沙姆苏瓦利的母亲曾来看望过一次，抱怨孩子太吵并从此再没出现。古尔契拉和孩子们在叶克舍尔村一共住了15年，很少看到拒绝往来的塔吉罗夫一家。古尔契拉回忆：“最痛苦的是看到他们走过我们的街道——肯定没人在监听——仍然不跟我们说话，甚至连一声招呼都不打。”古尔契拉的孩子们与他们的堂兄弟，在同一村庄一起长大，但很少相处。列泽达回忆：“我们和他们一起上学，但从没在一起玩，也从没去过他们的家。他们对我们总是很冷淡，我们也以牙还牙。” (508)

    恐惧诱发出人身上最糟糕的东西。但也有同事、朋友、邻居甚至陌生人，甘冒极大的风险，以非凡的善良帮助“人民公敌”的家人。他们收留孩子，提供食物和金钱，安顿被赶出家门的人。还有布尔什维克和内务人民委员会的官员，怜悯受害者的家人，尽力协助他们：或警告将临的危险，或帮助查寻被捕的亲人的下落。 (509)

    1937年3月，建筑师米哈伊尔·斯特罗伊科夫，在流放地阿尔汉格尔斯克再次被捕。他的妻子艾莱娜和10岁的女儿朱莉娅，获得了家庭老朋友康斯坦丁·阿尔采乌洛夫的收留。康斯坦丁自己也属流放者，带着妻子塔蒂亚娜和10岁的儿子奥列格，住在莫斯科西南方向的莫扎伊斯克镇，与莫斯科相隔100公里。他从小学的是艺术，被捕之前曾在苏维埃空军担任飞行员，此时在莫扎伊斯克无法找到工作。所以，全靠在莫扎伊斯克任教的塔蒂亚娜支撑两个家庭。朱莉娅回忆：“为了不让我们忍饥挨饿，他们卖掉一切财物。收留我们是要冒生命危险的。”母亲外出寻找工作，朱莉娅就由阿尔采乌洛夫照看。1937年11月，康斯坦丁受邻居的举报，说他窝藏“人民公敌”的女儿，再次被捕，监禁一段时间后被枪决。他的妻子塔蒂亚娜继续庇护朱莉娅，但小心翼翼，不让恶毒的邻居知道。最终在1938年，塔蒂亚娜把朱莉娅悄悄带去莫斯科，康斯坦丁在那里的朋友同意暂时代为照料，直到她母亲找到工作。艾莱娜那年夏天去接她，把她带到莫斯科以北的小镇普什季诺。康斯坦丁的关系帮她在莫斯科艺术家委员会找到了工作，负责制作苏维埃领导人的画像。艾莱娜最终成为苏维埃领导人的重要肖像画家之一。对这位“人民公敌”的妻子来说，这真是一个具有讽刺意味的结局。 (510)

    奥列格·柳波琴科的父亲是一名乌克兰记者，被捕于1934年，枪决于1937年。住在基辅的奥列格和母亲维拉遭到流放，最后来到莫斯科西南部的小镇马洛亚罗斯拉维茨。他们虽然没有莫斯科的居住护照，却经常去阿尔巴特地区的共用公寓。维拉的家庭曾是梁赞知名的地主，自20世纪20年代起就住在那个共用公寓，况且，维拉的妹妹一直都没离开。从1936到1941年，奥列格和母亲非法住在那里。共用公寓的其他居民都很配合，尽管这也可算作窝藏非法流民，具有被逐或被捕的风险。寓长是一名老契卡，名叫克拉夫蒂娅·科伊丘娜，她对此尤表支持。内战结束时，最开始邀请维拉家人住入该公寓的就是她。其时，她从梁赞来到莫斯科，在街上遇到维拉家人。她在梁赞时就认识奥列格的父亲，知道他被枪决是一桩冤案。她曾是契卡，熟悉他们的做法，她常说：“我们有法律，但没有合法性。”居民委员会主席是一名积极的共产主义者，但也有恻隐之心。她很清楚，共用公寓里住有非法居民。奥列格回忆，他或母亲偶尔走进庭院，或是该主席偶然看见他们从侧门进来，她都会“以严肃的表情，将目光移开，似乎在尽量回避我们”。 (511) 阿尔巴特的住宅区是首都的显赫地区，深受大恐怖的冲击，却有不少非法居民。

    伊利亚·斯拉温于1937年11月被捕，妻子埃斯菲莉和女儿依达被逐出他们在列宁格勒苏维埃大楼的三室公寓，搬进一个共用公寓的小房间，仅8平方米，没有水电，位于列宁格勒的偏远郊区。5个月后，埃斯菲莉也被关入克列斯蒂监狱，判处8年，前往专为祖国叛徒的妻子而设的阿克莫林斯克劳改营（ALZhIR），位于哈萨克斯坦。16岁的依达曾是教授的女儿，过着锦衣玉食的生活，现在突然要自生自灭。她回忆道：“我对日常生活的琐事全然措手不及，不知道面包价格或如何洗衣。”依达在列宁格勒没有亲属，无法养活自己，甚至支付不起房租。最后救了她的是同学和他们的父母，他们轮流收容她，每次仅持续几天（如果时间偏长，邻居就会起疑，就会举报他们窝藏“人民公敌”的女儿）。对他们中的许多人来说，额外的住宿和食物确是实实在在的负担。对依达来说，这种援助的重要性是不可估量的：“他们不仅给了我食物和住宿，更提供了我生存下去所必需的精神支持。”

    依达学习努力，力争通过考试进入十年级。那是中学的最高年级，读完就可申请高等学院。她在朋友的帮助下，找到一份清洁工作来支付小房间的租金。每天，上学的通勤时间是3小时，做清洁工作的通勤时间是1小时。每周两个晚上，她还在监狱前排队，试图找出父母关在何处、是否还活着。

    帮助依达的还有她学校的校长克拉夫蒂娅·阿列克谢耶娃。她是颇受尊敬的老党员，一直在学校里抵制党的清洗，尽一切可能悄悄保护那些父母已被定为“人民公敌”的孩子。譬如，她组织了寄宿制度，所挽救的不止是依达，还有许多其他孤儿。有一次，阿列克谢耶娃勇敢地驳回共青团要开除一名15岁女孩团籍的决定，因为她“没有揭发”自己作为“人民公敌”被捕的母亲。依达回忆，克拉夫蒂娅选择了一个相对简洁的战术。斯大林有一条著名的“指示”：“儿子无须为父亲负责。” [4] 她在遵循该指示时，故意显得“天真”而“迂腐”。

    我们学校里有许多孩子，其父母遭到了逮捕。多亏了克拉夫蒂娅，没人被开除。没有发生在其他学校的那些可怕的会议——孩子在会上不得不背弃自己的父母……母亲被捕后，我去上学。克拉夫蒂娅把我叫到她的办公室，告诉我，我在学校的伙食费用将由家长委员会支付，直到学年的结束。她还建议我写信，以健康理由申请免于考试[从而使依达自动升入十年级]。我回答：“但是克拉夫蒂娅·亚历山德罗夫娜，我的身体很好。”她耸耸肩，微笑着向我眨眨眼。

    依达获得考试的豁免，但生活仍然非常艰辛，多次濒临退学：

    我考虑退学去找工作。克拉夫蒂娅把我叫到她的办公室，告诉我：“你父母将会回来——你必须相信这一点。如果你未能完成学业，让自己成为有用之人，他们将不会原谅你。”这激发了我继续求学的决心。

    依达最终成为一名教师。

    依达·斯拉温娜不是唯一获得校长支持的孩子，她的同学艾莱娜·邦纳也获益匪浅。她的父母在1937年夏天被捕，艾莱娜晚上从事清洁工作，仍不足以支付学费（1938年在中学推出的新规定）。她决定离开学校，找一份全职工，再上不用付费的夜校。艾莱娜将申请表格交给阿列克谢耶娃，请求她的批准。

    克拉夫蒂娅·亚历山德罗夫娜拿过表格，读完后站起身，关上她办公室的门，然后轻声说：“你觉得我会收你的学费吗？去吧！”

    为了获得免费资格，艾莱娜必须向党干部，即共青团组织者，提出申请。他的职责是“留心学生和教师的政治道德态度，把学校里的每个人都吓得要死——俨然是内务人民委员会的代表”。邦纳吓得不敢提出申请，她的学费结果是某个人匿名付的——她相信是克拉夫蒂娅自己。艾莱娜回忆，她班上共有24名学生，父母遭到逮捕的倒有11名。

    我们知道自己是谁，但都不说，不希望引起注意，像正常孩子一样处世行事……我几乎可以肯定，另外10名学生都与我一起读完了十年级——都是我们校长救下的。 (513)

    对于像依达·斯拉温娜那样的孩子来说，在所有的职业当中，教师这一角色最为频繁地担当了他们的保护人，甚至是大救星。许多教师，特别是在斯拉温娜就读的精英学校，都曾接受旧知识分子人道主义的熏陶。依达回忆：“我们的老师中的大多数，都受过良好的教育，富有仁爱之心和自由的思想。”

    我们的体育老师曾是沙皇军官，在内战中投入红色骑兵军的战斗。他能流利使用3种欧洲语言……我们有剧团和诗歌俱乐部，都是我们教师鼓励筹办的。我现在才意识到，这些活动让我们接触到“苏维埃教室”所没有提供的19世纪文学。我们的历史教师马努斯·诺德尔曼，既是精彩的说书人，又是历史的普及者。他不喜循规蹈矩，无论是想法，还是穿着，都有点古怪，趋向于波希米亚风格。他在上课时小心翼翼地避开当时历史课所必需的斯大林个人崇拜。他在1939年被捕。

    父母在1937年被捕时，斯韦特兰娜·切尔卡索娃只有8岁，与叔叔同住，在列宁格勒上学。她的老师维拉·叶利谢耶娃教导其他同学要善待斯韦特兰娜，因为她是“不幸人”（19世纪慈善机构的用词）。斯韦特兰娜回忆：

    我们班上没有人民公敌——这是我的老师讲的。她还有心帮助那些父母消失的孩子，真是不少。例如，有个生活在大街上的男孩，总是脏兮兮的，没鞋没衣服，得不到任何照料。于是，她用自己的钱给他买了一件外套，把他带回家，帮他清洗。 (515)

    维拉·叶利谢耶娃被捕于1938年。

    德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基也曾受到学校教师的善待，从1933年起，他的家人流放至乔尔莫兹镇。他的物理教师拿出自己的钱让他买午餐，因为他家里负担不起。德米特里想要表示感谢，但她把钱塞入他手里时将手指放在嘴上，以示不要出声。她不想让人知道自己一直在帮助“人民公敌”的儿子，以免自找麻烦。德米特里回忆：

    一句话都没有，我从没机会向她道谢。她会在餐厅的外面等我，塞给我3个卢布。我走过时，她也许会低声说上一言二语——鼓励我的话——仅此而已。我从没跟她讲过话，她也没跟我真正交谈过，但我心中充满了极大的感激，她能心领神会。 

    伊娜·盖斯特的学校（第19学校）坐落在莫斯科市中心，靠近苏维埃领导人居住的河堤大楼，学校里有很多在大恐怖中失去父母的学生。如果他们在附近的莫斯科实验学校（MOPSh，很受布尔什维克精英的青睐）上学，就会在父母被捕之后，或遭到直截了当地开除，或被迫发表背弃的声明。但在盖斯特的学校，气氛决然不同，教师对自己的学生采取自由和保护的态度。父母1937年6月双双被捕后，伊娜回校开始新的学期，很长一段时间都不敢告诉教师。伊娜解释，“我们从小长大，都在向帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫学习”，担心也要像这位少年英雄一样，揭发自己的父母。但是，当她最后鼓起勇气坦陈一切时，老师只是说：“好吧，那又怎么样？现在让我们去上课。”伊娜的父亲是备受瞩目的布哈林公审中的被告之一，但她的老师也不在乎。学费制推行之后，她的老师掏出自己的薪水帮她代付（同校的奥西普的幼子弗拉基米尔，获得了另一位教师的资助）。由于有这一批勇敢的教师，第19学校成了“人民公敌”子女的安全港。其他孩子也受到鼓励，保护自己的同学。伊娜忆起一件事，涉及她班上最恶劣的男孩（他是父母从孤儿院领养的，伴有严重的行为缺陷）。那个男孩编制一份名单，列出班级中的25名“托派分子”（即“人民公敌”的孩子），贴在教室墙壁上，结果反而受到班上所有其他孩子的攻击。伊娜还记得一起与图哈切夫斯基公审有关的事件。其时，苏维埃学校奉命从教科书上清除这名“人民公敌”的相片。盖斯特的学校则有不同的对策：

    有些男孩已在丑化课本里图哈切夫斯基的相片，或添上八字须，或加上一对牛角。我们的老师拉希尔·格里加洛夫娜说：“我已告诉女生，现在再告诉你们男生。我给你们每人一张纸，贴到书上，整整齐齐的，盖住图哈切夫斯基的脸，但一定要小心。今天，他可能是坏人，是人民公敌。但到了明天，他和其他人可能又会回来，被我们重新当做好人。到那时，你只要掀起这张纸，一点也不会损坏他的脸。”

    六

    1937年10月14日，索菲亚·安东诺夫―奥夫谢延科在黑海度假胜地苏呼米镇被捕。当时，她还不知道丈夫弗拉基米尔已于3天前在莫斯科被捕。弗拉基米尔是索菲亚的第二任丈夫，而索菲亚也是他的第二任妻子，夫妇俩1927年在布拉格相遇。其时，弗拉基米尔是苏维埃驻捷克斯洛伐克大使（后来改任驻波兰大使和驻西班牙巴塞罗那的总领事）。他是一名老布尔什维克，曾在1917年10月领导向冬宫发起的强攻。1937年，弗拉基米尔被召回莫斯科，改任司法人民委员。其时，夫妇俩依然非常相爱，现在索菲亚的被捕似乎改写了一切。她被带回莫斯科，在牢房中给弗拉基米尔写信，乞求他相信自己是无辜的。但索菲亚有所不知，读到此信的弗拉基米尔，已身陷莫斯科的另一间牢房。

    亲爱的，不知你能否收到此信。不知何故，我觉得，这是我最后一次给你写信。我们总是说，如果有人在我们国家被捕，一定是有充分理由和确凿罪证的——总归是有理由的，你还记得吗？毫无疑问，我的案件中也会有理由，但我被蒙在鼓里。我知道的一切，你都知道，因为我们的生活密不可分，琴瑟和谐。无论发生什么，我将永远感谢我们见面的那天。我生活在你的光环之下，并为之而感到骄傲。在过去3天中，我一直在回顾自己的一生，为死亡做好准备。我想不出任何东西（除了将人与“天使”区分的普遍缺陷）可被视作犯罪，无论是与他人的关系，还是与我们国家和政府的关系……我的想法和你的完全一致——对我们的党和国家，还有人比你更敬业吗？你深知我的心，知道我的行为、思想、文字的真谛。我入狱这一现实，无疑表明我已经有了错——但我不知道……我不能忍受你不再信任我的念头……它蚕食我已整整3天，在我脑子里灼烧不已。我知道，你不能容忍一切不诚实。即使是你，也有可能弄错。似乎，列宁也有失误。所以，当我说没做错事时，请相信我。我的爱人，相信我……还有一件事，现在是瓦莉奇卡[索菲亚第一次婚姻的女儿]申请加入共青团的时候，这无疑会造成障碍。她会把母亲当做一个坏蛋，每念及此，我的心就充满悲伤。我处境中最恐惧的，是人们不再相信我，我无法如此生存下去……我向我爱的每一个人请求宽恕，因为我带来了这些不幸……原谅我，我的爱人。我真想知道你仍愿意相信和原谅我！你的索菲亚。

    大恐怖破坏了凝聚家庭的信任。妻子怀疑丈夫，丈夫怀疑妻子。在各种家庭关系中，率先断裂的通常是父母和孩子之间的纽带。20世纪30年代的孩子，从小学习帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫的英雄榜样，接受谆谆教诲，笃信斯大林、苏维埃政府及苏维埃报刊上读到的每一个字，即使这些文章将自己的父母称作“人民公敌”。孩子一直在承受来自学校、少先队、共青团的压力，一定要背弃被捕的亲人，否则就会在教育和事业中自食其果。

    列夫·采尔莫拉夫斯基18岁那年，即1938年，他父亲——曾是突击工人和军事工程师——在列宁格勒被捕。他自己是共青团员和见习飞行员，一直梦想加入红军。父亲被捕后，列夫没有经受审判就作为“社会异己分子”，被流放到哈萨克斯坦的奇姆肯特城。他在当地的工厂上班，母亲和两个姐姐住在500公里之外的卡扎林斯克地区。1938年9月，列夫写信给最高苏维埃主席团主席加里宁，背弃自己的父亲，同时呼吁废除儿子因父亲的罪行而受惩罚的原则：

    关于我父亲的几句话。母亲告诉我，他作为反抗者，被流放去了北方劳改营。我本人从不相信，因为我亲耳听到他曾告诉他的姐妹他与白军在北方的浴血奋战。他还告诉我们自己以前的战功。基洛夫遭到暗杀时，他哭了……这也许是很聪明的伪装。好几次，他倒是告诉过我，曾去过华沙……我想，父亲应有机会为自己作出解释，但我不愿承受他所铸成的耻辱。我想在红军服务，成为一名享有平等权利的苏维埃公民。我觉得，自己一直在苏维埃学校接受苏维埃精神的教育，配得上这一称号。因此，我的思想显然完全不同于他的。但我必须携带异己分子的证件，这太令人心碎了。 (519)

    父亲和叔叔——都是哈尔科夫的工人——在1937年被捕时，安娜·克里夫科才18岁。她遭到哈尔科夫大学开除，又作为异己分子被共青团踢出。她到处寻找工作，以供养母亲、外祖母和尚是婴儿的妹妹。她在养猪场工作了一段时间，不久遭到解雇，因为他们发现了她父亲的被捕。之后，她就一直找不到其他就业机会。1938年1月，安娜写信给苏维埃副主席兼中央政治局委员弗拉斯·丘巴尔，与自己的父亲断绝关系，恳求丘巴尔帮助她的家人。安娜扬言，如果不能在苏联过上正常生活，就要杀死妹妹和自己。安娜的背弃信颇为极端，因为她极想证明她是忠诚的斯大林主义者，值得救赎。也有可能，她确实憎恨自己的父亲给家人带来这么多灾难：

    我不知道我父亲和他兄弟被控何罪，或判刑多久。我只是感到羞愧，也不想弄清。我绝对相信，无产阶级法庭是公正的。如果他们被判了刑，那就意味着他们是罪有应得。对父亲，我没有作为女儿的感情。对祖国、教育我的共青团，以及共产党，我有苏维埃公民更高层次的义务。我全心全意支持法庭的决定，那是1.7亿无产者的声音，我为它的判决感到欢欣鼓舞。我父亲自己承认，曾被征入邓尼金的军队，在1919年担任白军卫兵3个月，为此在1929年被判刑两年半[在劳改营]。这是我所知道的全部……如果察觉到他反苏维埃的任何举措——尽管他是我的父亲——我也会向内务人民委员会揭发，没有片刻的犹豫。丘巴尔同志！请相信我。称他为父亲，我都感到非常羞愧。人民公敌不配做我的父亲，只有教我无情憎恨全体恶棍和敌人的人民，才能承当这种称号。我满怀希望，无产阶级、列宁的共青团、列宁和斯大林的党，将取代我的父亲，把我当做他们真正的女儿，在人生道路上为我指引方向。 (520)

    有些家长在被捕后，鼓励孩子背弃自己，以免危及他们在社会或事业上的前途。奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格1937年在喀山监狱遇见一位名叫丽莎的女子——她在革命之前的圣彼得堡长大，童年基本上都是在大街上度过的，因为母亲行乞为生。1917年之后，丽莎在工厂上班，入党，嫁给工厂管理委员会一名布尔什维克官员。他们的生活舒适，培养两个女儿成为模范少先队员，大的叫卓娅，小的叫列娅列娅。丽莎告诉奥莉加：“有时，我们在工厂安排儿童之晨的活动。”

    我们的小妞妞卓娅身穿丝绸连衣裙，颈系少先队红领巾，站起来引吭高歌。我丈夫对我说：“在这个世界上，没有比我们卓娅更棒的女孩了。她长大后将成为一名人民艺术家。”我随即会想起自己童年时挨家挨户的乞讨日子……我热爱我们的苏维埃政府，愿为它献出我的生命。

    丽莎的丈夫作为季诺维也夫的支持者被捕。（丽莎说：“如果我早知道他背叛了列宁，我会用自己的双手掐死他。”）不久，她自己也被捕。有一天，丽莎收到卓娅的来信。其时，丽莎正好在给卓娅写信，那天恰好是囚犯获准写信的周六。

    亲爱的妈妈，我现在15岁了，计划加入共青团，我想知道你是否有罪。我一直在想，你怎么可以背叛我们的苏维埃政权？毕竟，我们过得很好，你和爸爸都是工人。我记得，我们生活得不错，你为我们做丝绸连衣裙，买糖果。你真的拿了“他们”[人民公敌]的钱？假如你当初只让我们穿棉布裙，岂不更好。但也许，你根本就是无辜的？在这种情况下，我就不会加入共青团，并将因为你的遭遇而永远不会原谅他们。如果你确实有罪，我不会再写信给你，因为我爱我们的苏维埃政府，恨它的敌人。如果你是其中一员，我也会恨你。妈妈，告诉我真相。我宁可你是无辜的，我就不想加入共青团了。你不开心的女儿，卓娅。

    为了给卓娅写信，丽莎已用掉配给的4页信纸中的3页。她思忖片刻，然后以大写字母在最后一页上写下：

    卓娅，你是正确的。我有罪。加入共青团。这是我最后一次给你写信。祝你和列娅列娅快乐。母亲。

    丽莎让奥莉加看那些信件，然后头撞桌子，哽咽着说：“让她恨我好了，没有共青团，那她怎么活呀——异己分子？她会恨苏维埃政权的。还是让她恨我吧。”奥莉加回忆，自那以后，丽莎“再也不谈自己的女儿，也不再收到来信”。 (521)

    就许多孩子而言，亲人的被捕引起种种疑问。他们作为“苏维埃儿童”所笃信的原则，突然与他们对自己亲人的了解发生了激烈的冲突。

    父亲作为“托洛茨基分子”被捕时，维拉·图尔金娜都不知道相信什么好。父亲在彼尔姆是著名的布尔什维克，母亲和外祖母都相信了他有罪，苏维埃报刊也在登载他的犯罪活动。无论走到哪里，维拉都会听到人们在嘀咕她这个“人民公敌”的女儿。维拉回忆：“父亲成了奇耻大辱的根源。”

    人们对我说，如果他被捕，一定是做了坏事。大家都说：“无风不起浪。”母亲前往内务人民委员会办事处询问父亲的案情，他们回答：“等着瞧吧，他会坦白一切的。”我也设想他有罪，不然，我还能信什么呢？ (522)

    埃尔加·托尔钦斯卡娅是苏维埃的模范学生，热爱斯大林，崇拜帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫，坚信有关“间谍”与“敌人”的一切宣传。虽然父亲于1937年10月被捕，她仍信念不改。父亲是一名老布尔什维克，日益不满斯大林的政策，但从不与女儿谈及自己的政治观点。在列宁格勒托尔钦斯基的家中，像许多其他家庭一样，在孩子面前从来不谈政治。因此，埃尔加对大规模逮捕的理解，全部来自她在学校里学到的——没有其他途径来了解父亲被捕的原因，也无法来质疑它的发生。1938年，埃尔加的两个叔叔也被拘捕。其中一位1939年从劳改营返回，向埃尔加透露自己在内务人民委员会手中所承受的酷刑。但这仍不能动摇她的信念：如果有人被捕，一定是“由于他的所作所为”。1939年，到了16岁，她在共青团的申请表格中老实填写父亲是“人民公敌”，但谎称他已与母亲离婚，这是某种程度的背弃。埃尔加现在承认，她当时非常困惑，不敢存有任何怀疑，对父亲的背弃只是出于无知。“我们都成了僵尸——这是我的想法。我的上帝，我们只是小女孩，一直接受共青团的教育，笃信我们被告知的一切。” (523)

    哑巴吃黄连，加上新闻或信息的缺乏，都加剧了家人的焦灼不安。亲人没有被捕之人的消息，没有证明清白的证据，也就寻觅不到救命稻草来抗衡公众的有罪推定。

    尼娜·科斯特利娜是老布尔什维克的女儿，有一个模范的苏维埃童年，1936年底加入共青团。其时，大恐怖的第一波震撼已开始触及她的政治意识。等到伯伯被捕，尼娜便想弄明白个中的缘由。她在1937年3月25日的日记中写道：

    发生了可怕且难以理解的事件。他们说，米沙伯伯牵涉于某种反革命组织。这是怎么回事呀？米沙伯伯——自革命第一天起，他就是党员——突然变成了人民公敌！

    她家的房东被捕后，尼娜思忖，如果逮捕发生在家里，自己会作何种反应：

    发生了怪事。我思索再三，得出这样的结论：如果父亲也是托洛茨基分子，成为国家的敌人，我不会为他感到遗憾！我虽这样写，但（我承认）仍心存疑惑。

    1937年12月，尼娜的父亲也被开除党籍并解除官职，他估计自己的逮捕即将到来，便写信提醒尼娜：“你必须确信，你父亲从来就不是一个坏蛋……从未以肮脏或卑鄙的行止来玷污自己的名誉”，此信发挥了至关重要的作用。父亲最终被捕于1938年9月，尼娜虽陷入迷茫和绝望，但仍坚守父亲是清白的这个信念。她在日记中写道：

    9月7日

    笼罩我生命的是如此不祥的黑暗。父亲的被捕又是如此沉重的打击……在此之前，我一直理直气壮，意气风发，但现在……现在艾哈梅特夫[一个同学]可以对我说：“我们成了不幸命运中的同志！”想想吧，我是如何鄙弃他以及他那托洛茨基分子的父亲。这个噩梦日夜折磨着我：父亲也是敌人吗？不，这不可能，我不相信！这是个可怕的错误！

    尼娜的父亲在狱中度过两年，等待三人特别法庭的“审判”，最终作为“社会危险分子”被判处5年劳改。1940年11月，他写了第一封家书。尼娜读了美好的来信而深受感动，尽管有劳改营的艰辛，她仍能感受到父亲的精神、力量和热情。但母亲很恼火，只是问：“他是有罪还是无罪？如果是无辜的，为何不去上诉？”下一封来信有效地回答了母亲的疑问，尼娜的父亲写道：“关于我的案情，也毋庸多讲，根本都不能成立，只是一个肥皂泡，却吹得像一头大象。现在不是、过去不是、从来就不是的东西，叫我如何去反驳。” (524)

    在一个家里，父亲和丈夫的角色的突然消失，给家人带来了巨大压力。妻子背弃被捕的丈夫，不是因为她们认为自己的配偶可能是“人民公敌”（这种想法可能存在），而是因为这样做，使生存下去比较容易，得以保护家人（许多丈夫为此而建议妻子背弃自己）。“人民公敌”的妻子承受国家的压力，要公开背弃自己的丈夫，不愿照办的，会面对严重后果。有些妇女作为“人民公敌”的妻子被送进劳改营，或带上孩子，或与孩子分离。其他的被赶出家园，遭到解雇，丧失口粮和公民权利。经济压力也在发挥作用：工资停发、储蓄冻结、房租提高。离婚费用通常是500卢布，为了鼓励妇女背弃丈夫，与囚犯离婚的费用降至只需3个卢布（相当于食堂的一顿饭钱）。 (525)

    顶住这些压力，站在丈夫一边，光凭一点勇气是不够的，还需要非凡的韧性。瓦西里·杜达列夫被捕于1937年，其时，他与伊琳娜的婚姻已持续约15年。20世纪20年代早期，他们相遇于斯摩棱斯克，一起接受教师的训练。瓦西里是内战时期的布尔什维克，后成为奥廖尔城的资深党干部。1933年，他被调去罗斯托夫附近的亚速镇——靠近顿河入海处，担任当地的党主管。伊琳娜在针织厂工作，不热衷政治，但出于对瓦西里的爱而入党，变成了“党的妻子”。瓦西里被捕后，伊琳娜到处找他——不单是在监狱里找，还会去30公里之外的罗斯托夫和巴塔伊斯克的铁路站。每个星期日的晚上，都有满载囚犯的火车驶向劳改营：

    我会走在火车旁的轨道上，希望找到丈夫，让他带点生活用品上路。我看到很多列火车，结满冰霜的货车都已钉牢，甚至顶部的窗口也全以金属条封死，只留下小小的缝隙。从货车厢的内部，我能听到低沉的嗡嗡声。我一边沿着火车走，一边喊叫：“有杜达列夫吗？”嗡嗡声消失了，有时会有答复：“没有”……后来有一天，有个声音回答：“杜达列夫吗？有的。”这是一名火车警卫……我拿出准备好的干净衣服，装入一个小包，交给警卫。他让我写一张纸条，说是“公事公办”。我很高兴，瓦西里现在知道了，我在找他、想他。我一直很害怕，如果没有消息，他会以为我已将他背弃……我在纸条上列出交给警卫的东西，并签署：“我很好，吻你。”几分钟后，警卫把包和纸条还我，纸条的背面已写上瓦西里的笔迹：“都已收到，谢谢。”

    伊琳娜从不怀疑丈夫的清白。内务人民委员会多次传唤她，向她提供犯罪活动的“证据”，要她检举揭发，否则就要予以拘捕，但她每次都表示拒绝。伊琳娜还记得一次工厂的党员会议，她被要求揭露丈夫的反国家罪行。在类似的情况下，大多数妻子只会声称自己从不知悉丈夫的罪行，但伊琳娜却勇敢地否认丈夫犯了罪：

    我独自坐在会议桌的一端，其他人坐在另一端，挤在党干部的周围，没人跟我说话。一位书记通报说，杜达列夫作为人民公敌已经被捕，现在要决定我的命运。党员逐一发言，除了口号，他们没什么好说的。在我的问题上，也没说什么，只指责我欺骗党。他们要我坦白丈夫的罪行，并解释为何要隐瞒，但没人朝我看。我试图保持冷静，字斟句酌，只作简洁的回答。我说，与丈夫住在一起，已超过15年，只知道他是一名优秀的共产党员；我入党就是由于他的影响；我从不相信他参与了任何坏事。这引起很多人的轻声低语，有人喊道：“但他已经被捕！”仿佛这就是有罪的证据。他们一个接着一个，试图说服我站出来揭发杜达列夫的罪行，以履行一名党员的职责，但没人敢于说出对他的指控……只是一再要我揭发杜达列夫为人民公敌。但每一次，我都予以拒绝。

    伊琳娜被开除党籍，失去工厂管理委员会的职位，转到会计部门，从事收入微薄的工作。几天后，镇苏维埃向她的公寓征收大笔税款，所给的解释是，她和丈夫几年来使用了“额外的生存空间”，这是欠下的差额。1938年7月，伊琳娜因“未能检举丈夫的敌对活动”而被捕。同年12月她被释放，得以返回斯摩棱斯克。杜达列夫于1937年被枪决。 [5]

    丈夫被捕后，朱莉娅·皮亚特尼茨卡娅也不知道相信什么好。她愿意想到他的好，但奥西普留下的烂摊子让她耿耿于怀——儿子们也有同感——他给家人带来了不幸。16岁的伊戈尔觉得父亲对不起他，父亲的被捕使他承受了共青团朋友的排斥。12岁的弗拉基米尔指责父亲摧毁了他加入红军的梦想。朱莉娅在日记中写道：“沃尔卡[弗拉基米尔]对父亲深恶痛绝，也为伊戈尔感到惋惜。”弗拉基米尔以前的朋友，现在反而要欺负他。他在学校经常遇上麻烦，更震惊于少先队的一次冲突：少先队队长询问他父亲的情形，因弗拉基米尔拒答而当众宣布：“你父亲是人民公敌，怎么确定你与他的关系，就是你的责任。”

    朱莉娅和弗拉基米尔之间不断发生争吵。有一次，母亲拒绝写信给叶若夫，以索回内务人民委员会抄家时带走的玩具枪和军事书籍，弗拉基米尔因此而大发脾气。他气愤地说：“这真是一个耻辱，至今还没枪毙爸爸，他已是一个人民公敌。”另一次，他从学校回家，得了一个很差的分数，朱莉娅发了脾气，当场咒骂他。她在日记上写，她告诉他：“他的不良行为显示，他就是人民公敌的儿子。”弗拉基米尔一边大哭，一边回答：“我生而为敌人的儿子，那是我的错吗？我不要你做我的母亲了，我要去孤儿院。”朱莉娅威胁他，只让他吃块面包就去睡觉。弗拉基米尔回答，他会“割断她的喉管”。结果，朱莉娅打了他两记耳光。 (527)

    朱莉娅已是黔驴技穷。她被逐出自己的公寓，找不到合适的工作，愈加怀疑自己的丈夫。朱莉娅问自己：“我脑海中只有一个念头——皮亚特尼茨基到底是谁？”

    1937年7月20日

    ……昨天傍晚，我想起了皮亚特尼茨基，心中充满了苦涩：他怎么会让我们陷入如此糟糕的境地？他与那些人一起工作，知道他们的方法，却没有预见到他们会逼迫我们忍受一生的折磨和饥饿……对皮亚特尼茨基怀恨在心，也是入情入理的。他让孩子受到摧残，失去本来就不多的全部钱财。但是，偷走我们所有东西的人，到底又是谁呢？现在的当局等同于随心所欲的恐怖——人人害怕。我都快要疯了，我在想什么？我在想什么？ (528)

    整整6个月，朱莉娅在日记中进行自我审讯，试图弄明白自己的丈夫究竟是什么人。1938年2月7日被告知丈夫已受指控犯有间谍和反革命的罪行，朱莉娅便在日记中写道：

    他到底是谁？如果他是一名职业革命家，如他自称的，也是我17年来所认为的，那么，他就是很不幸的人：他的周围都是特务和敌人，破坏他和很多其他人的工作，他却没看出来……但很显然，皮亚特尼茨基从来就不是一名职业革命家，而是一个职业歹徒和间谍。这解释了他为何如此封闭，如此严厉。很显然，他不是我们想象的人……我们大家——他的妻子和孩子们——对他来说，都毫无意义。 (529)

    伊戈尔1938年2月9日被捕。两名士兵来抓人时，他还在学校的教室里，后来监禁在布提尔基监狱。朱莉娅因担心自己的儿子而陷入彻底的绝望。据弗拉基米尔说，她精神崩溃了——整天躺在床上，经常想到自杀。 (530) 唯一支撑她的是必须为儿子们而活的想法，她在日记中一再重复提及，已成了她的口头禅。她在3月9日写道：“最好还是去死，但我的沃尔卡和伊戈尔，将在这个世界上没有一个亲人。我是他们的一切，这意味着我必须活下去。”然而，朱莉娅有时感到如此沮丧，她能想象的唯一救赎就是断绝一切关系，甚至是与儿子的联系：

    1938年2月17日

    昨晚，我想，已找到了解决方法，但不是自杀。由于我薄弱的意志和深刻的绝望，这原本是最简单最具吸引力的方法……现在改成这一种新的思路：孩子不是必要的，把沃尔卡交给国家，自己只为工作而活——持续不断地工作，停下来只是为了阅读，活得更贴近自然……冷漠以对任何人。这似乎是一个很好的方法——只投身于工作，再也没有会被带走的亲人。我为何要留住沃尔卡，于他何益？我已被埋在大山之下，无法享受正常人的生活，无法帮助沃尔卡。他想要活下去，想要朋友、阳光、温馨的家、有意义的生存，而我——只是反革命的妻子。

    朱莉娅一直在揣摩奥西普和伊戈尔被捕的原因。她不同于弗拉基米尔，无法把奥西普当做“人民公敌”，也恨不起来。她在日记中指出：“沃尔卡在折磨我，因为我无法憎恨皮亚特尼茨基。起初我还以为我终究会恨他的。但到头来，我还是有太多疑惑。”她尝试与弗拉基米尔讲道理，认为父亲“可能是无辜的，他们弄错了，父亲上了敌人的当”。 (532) 但朱莉娅相信“人民公敌”的存在，经常在日记中指出“可疑”人士，更对苏维埃法庭的公正深信不疑。她在布哈林公审时期坚信，枪毙“恶人”是很正确的。她在政治上很天真，要花费很长时间才能弄懂吞噬自己的现实。让布哈林充当摧毁她家的替罪羊，她欣然接受。布哈林和他的共同被告于1938年3月被处决，朱莉娅的评论是：“与党所承受的苦难相比，这些恶人所流的血实在是小小的代价。”

    今天，他们会从地球上消失，但还不足以减轻我的仇恨。我愿给他们一个更为可怕的死法：在反革命分子博物馆里，为他们建立一个特殊的笼子，让大家来参观，怔怔地盯着他们……公民把他们当做动物一样围观，叫他们难以忍受。我们对他们的仇恨将永不休止。让他们看看，我们如何建设更美好的生活，如何联合起来，如何热爱我们的领袖，是那些不是叛徒的领袖。让他们看看，我们如何与法西斯主义作斗争，而他们什么也不做，只是养肥自己，像动物一样，根本不配“人”的称号。

    朱莉娅想象未来的“美好生活，只有诚实人才可生活和工作下去”，由此看到些许的曙光：

    也许，伊戈尔会回家。皮亚特尼茨基嘛，也有可能——如果他是诚实的，当然是说，他没有牵涉这么多敌人犯下的罪行，没有疏于职责，没有上这些爬行动物的当。如果他的意图是诚实的，当然会回家。我多么想知道！皮亚特尼茨基——你会有罪吗？你不赞同党的总路线吗？你是否反对过领导人，哪怕其中的一位？假如我知道真相，我的生活将变得多么容易。至于伊戈尔，我想起了他父亲的话——“真金不怕火炼，经不起考验的，我们也不需要”。 (533)

    朱莉娅决定寄希望于真金不怕火炼，如果奥西普是无辜的，他也能幸存于大恐怖。

    皮亚特尼茨基被囚禁在布提尔基监狱，也是他儿子身陷其中的监狱。1938年4月初，列夫·拉兹贡在一个拥挤的牢房与他相遇（建造时定为可供关押25人，其时关押67人）。拉兹贡看到一名“消瘦、佝偻的老头[皮亚特尼茨基当时56岁]，满脸创伤”。

    他[皮亚特尼茨基]看到我在注视他的脸，便解释说，这些伤疤是审讯人的金属皮带扣所留下的。1937年的头几个月，我曾看到皮亚特尼茨基……现在站在我面前的他，与我以前见过的相比，判若两人，完全无法辨认。只有眼睛，仍保持同样的明亮和活力，只是变得更加悲哀，暴露了他在精神上所承受的巨大煎熬。

    皮亚特尼茨基询问了拉兹贡的案情，以及如何受到牵连的。接下来，拉兹贡反问了他的情况：

    他先是沉默，然后称，对自己的命运不抱幻想。他的案件即将结束，他已做好准备。他还告诉我，他们在审讯中如何无尽无休，如何严刑折磨，如何以死相逼，如何屈打成招。但还没说完，他们又来找他了。 (534)

    4月10日，皮亚特尼茨基被转移到列福尔托沃监狱，从4月12日到7月底的公审，每天晚上都接受系统地拷问。主要审讯人否认使用刑罚，声称皮亚特尼茨基表现得“冷静而克制，但有一次，因某种原因而变得烦躁，要求喝水，拿起水壶后，却用它猛击自己的头部”。 (535) 7月17日，奥西普与137名其他囚犯一起，接受最高苏维埃军事法庭的公审。他被指控为法西斯间谍团伙的首犯之一，由托洛茨基分子和右派组成，潜伏在共产国际。叶若夫送交斯大林一份定罪人的名单，被克里姆林宫总统档案馆保存下来，名单顶端写有一行简短的手令：“枪毙所有的138人。约·斯[大林]。V. 莫洛托夫。” (536)

    朱莉娅对此一无所知。她在布提尔基监狱外排队给儿子送包裹，甚至不知道皮亚特尼茨基也关押在此。越是听不到奥西普的消息，她就越难坚持他是无辜的。每个人都叫她忘记奥西普，只为自己和两个儿子着想。4月12日，即奥西普在列福尔托沃监狱开始重新受刑的那一夜，朱莉娅做了一个噩梦，梦见自己受到一只猫的折磨。她认为这个梦很重要，怀疑儿子伊戈尔是否在布提尔基监狱遭受刑罚（在监狱外排队时曾听到其他妇女讲起类似的传闻）。有关伊戈尔受苦的想法改变了朱莉娅对奥西普的情感，她在日记中记录：

    我的生活已变成无止境地陷落的漩涡。我以耳语与自己对话，对皮亚特尼察[皮亚特尼茨基]和伊戈尔的命运感到彻底的绝望，尤其是我那可怜的孩子。他的第17个春天是在悲惨、黑暗、肮脏的牢房中，与陌生人一起度过的。他是无辜的，这最重要。皮亚特尼茨基已经有过自己的生活——他没有辨认出周围的敌人，或自甘堕落了，这并不让人震惊，因为是他自己要投入政治的。但伊戈尔…… (537)

    已经帮不了奥西普的想法使朱莉娅下定决心，要尽一切可能来帮助尚有很长生命旅程的伊戈尔。她接受了丈夫有罪的可能，但不愿接受16岁的儿子也参与了犯罪。朱莉娅决定背弃丈夫，希望以此挽救儿子。

    她拜访莫斯科的检察官办公室，被告知皮亚特尼茨基已犯了反对国家的重罪，便回答：“如果真是这样，他对我来说已毫无意义。”检察官建议朱莉娅开始新的生活。她回答，她很愿意为内务人民委员会工作。他鼓励她提出正式申请，并允诺会提供支持。朱莉娅把检察官看作自己的同情者：

    我热情地握着他的手，也许流露了太多情感，这是我一直未能控制的——我感到，这个人还是可亲近的。他的任务很艰巨，但又是必需的。作为一个同志，我想表达对他的尊重。对那些从党内铲除蠢猪的同志，我更想给予精神上的支持。我再次强调：尽管自己要忍受痛苦，尽管无辜者可能被牺牲（希望我的伊戈尔不是其中之一），我一定要坚持原则，一定要维护纪律、保持耐心，一定要——绝对必须——找到做出积极贡献的途径。否则，人民中间便没有我的位置。

    朱莉娅一旦决定抛弃丈夫，便开始想到他的坏，她在4月16日的日记中写道：

    哦，我实在无法理解！如果真是这样，我就鄙视他，我恨他卑劣、懦弱的灵魂，我实在是无法理解！……哦，他扮演得多好！现在我才明白，他为何让自己陶醉于这些间谍、挑衅者、官僚的“温暖友情”之中。他肯定没有真正的朋友，基本上是个悲观者，从没向我敞开心扉……也许，他从不爱党，从未把党的利益放在心上？但我们呢，我和孩子，他到底在想什么啊？ (538)

    3个星期之后，伊戈尔被拽上三人特别法庭，被控以组织反革命学生组织——如此荒谬，以致特别法庭都不予受理，但还是以反苏维埃煽动的含糊不清的罪名，判处伊戈尔5年劳改。 [6] 朱莉娅在5月27日被告知儿子的判决结果，顿时变得歇斯底里，要求检察院逮捕自己：“如果他有罪，那么我也有罪。”当晚，朱莉娅反思一连串事件，探索对大恐怖的理解：

    皮亚特尼茨基也许真是坏人，我们将因此变成他的陪葬品。但是，我既不知道皮亚特尼茨基到底是什么人，也不明白伊戈尔究竟犯了什么罪，真是死不瞑目啊。伊戈尔没做什么错事，为什么会被抓走？也许，他只是一名潜在的罪犯，因为他是人民公敌的儿子……也许，这只是对部分居民的强制征调，他们是国家不予信任的，却又能充作劳动力？我不懂，但听起来合乎逻辑。如果确是这样，伊戈尔和其同类再也不会回来。他们将为国家发挥有价值的作用，但不会回归正常生活。不管如何，遭到遗弃是非常可怕的——只得等待，不知所以。

    朱莉娅本人被捕于1938年10月27日，时年39岁。警方实施逮捕时，没收了她的日记，把它当做她和丈夫同谋反对政府的定罪证据。她被送去偏远的坎达拉克夏劳改营，位于摩尔曼斯克的远北地区。弗拉基米尔随她同行，事实上，他病得厉害，刚刚动过手术，是从病床上给带走的。在坎达拉克夏劳改营，朱莉娅出工，帮助建造附近的尼瓦-GES水电站；弗拉基米尔留在营房，由内务人民委员会一名狱警照看，每天喂食两次。过后不久，弗拉基米尔设法逃脱，溜回莫斯科。他借宿于学校朋友的住所，包括叶夫根尼·洛吉诺夫——其父亲在斯大林私人秘书处任职。早先，洛吉诺夫一家鄙弃皮亚特尼茨基一家，但现在有所改变，兴许是良心发现。弗拉基米尔在洛吉诺夫家待了3个月，有一天晚上，他偷听到洛吉诺夫家人的交谈，才知道叶夫根尼的父亲因收留自己而惹上了麻烦。弗拉基米尔不愿让他们为难，主动去莫斯科苏维埃投案，碰上的官员恰好是皮亚特尼茨基1917年10月的老战友，他先叫了三明治招待弗拉基米尔，之后才去报警。弗拉基米尔被带到内务人民委员会的拘留中心，位于古老的达尼洛夫修道院，“人民公敌”的孩子都是从那里被发配去苏联各地的孤儿院。 (540)

    1939年3月，朱莉娅受到3名尼瓦-GES的同事的举报。他们声称她曾说：丈夫的被捕是错误的，丈夫是无辜的，只是认为斯大林不宜担任无产阶级领袖。朱莉娅被裁定犯了反苏维埃煽动罪，判刑5年，被送去哈萨克斯坦的卡拉干达劳改营。伊戈尔正巧也在同一劳改营，隶属于另一个工业部门。不知用了什么方法，朱莉娅得以与他见面。伊戈尔回忆：“我们一起度过了十分美好却又异常悲伤的一天。”最后，她只得悻悻而回[妇女营地]。朱莉娅体力不支，精神失常，根本承受不了劳改营的艰辛。她依然美丽，引起营地指挥官的垂涎（这也许可以解释她何以被允许探访伊戈尔），但她予以拒绝。指挥官恼羞成怒，把她送去大坝建设工地，充当体力劳动者，以示惩罚。她必须站在齐腰深的冷水中，每天挖泥16小时。她因此病倒，死于1940年冬天一个无法确定的时辰。

    伊戈尔从劳改营获释后，在1958年接待了家庭老熟人吉娜。她也是卡拉干达劳改营的囚犯，在那里见过他的母亲。吉娜告诉伊戈尔，朱莉娅已死于劳改营医院，葬身于一个万人坑。1986年，已是80岁的吉娜再次来访，告诉伊戈尔，她上一次的消息并不全部属实，因为去世前的朱莉娅要她承诺，不得透露她临死的可怕细节（吉娜现在承认，当时自己也不敢袒露真相）。但最近，吉娜梦见了朱莉娅——在梦中问询伊戈尔的消息——视之为一个启示：她应将朱莉娅的最后遭遇告诉伊戈尔，她并没死于医院。1940年12月，吉娜去卡拉干达劳改营看望朱莉娅，但没人愿意透露她在哪里。最终，有个妇人手指草原上的羊圈，叫她去那里找。吉娜走进羊圈，羊群当中，躺在冰冻地面上的就是朱莉娅：

    她快死了，浑身烧得发烫，颤抖不已。羊群站在她身边，像是在作警卫，但仍挡不住寒风和飞雪。我在她身边蹲下，她试图抬起身子，但没有力气。我拉起她的手，试图以我的呼吸给她些许的温暖。

    她问：“你是谁？”我把自己的名字告诉她，只说是你叫我来的，你让我帮忙找到她……

    她一下振作起来：“伊戈尔——我的儿子。”她挪动冻僵的嘴唇，低声说道：“我的小男孩，帮他一把。我求求你，帮他活下去。”我让她冷静下来，满口答应我会照顾你，仿佛你的生死全掌握在我的手中。朱莉娅低声说：“请答应我……不要告诉他，他母亲是怎么死的，答应我……”

    她已经神志不清，我蹲在她身旁，也一口答应。

    然后，身后传来狱警的喝问：“你从哪里来的？怎么跑到这里？”那个狱警一把抓住我，将我双手反绑在身后，押出羊圈：“你是谁？”

    我解释，我是工具车间的小组长，只是路过，意外发现这名女子。但我仍被扣留，他们告诉我，不许透露我所看到的：“闭上你的嘴，不准说一个字！”

    朱莉娅死于羊圈。她病倒后被扔在那里，不许任何人探望，后来就葬在她去世的地方。 (541)

    [1] 没有皮亚特尼茨基讲话记录，6月全体会议的速记没能保存下来。但有证据显示，皮亚特尼茨基所说的，已被从记录中抹去（中央委员会档案馆的惯例），以免鼓励其他的持不同政见者。最后一次会议在6月29日闭幕，斯大林最后宣布：“就皮亚特尼茨基而言，调查仍在进行，将在未来几天内完成。”该页底部有斯大林秘书的笔迹：“这一段落是斯大林同志划掉的，因为它不应存入速记机。”（RGASPI, f. 17, op. 2, d. 622, l. 220）在封存的档案（如克里姆林宫的总统档案馆）中，可能还有该事件的其他记录。在相关证据披露之前，皮亚特尼茨基反对老布尔什维克大批被捕的立场的唯一记录，来自他的儿子弗拉基米尔。他声称，根据他父亲在俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB）的个人文件、其他档案馆的零碎证据以及卡冈诺维奇所称的回忆录，他已重新确立了6月全体会议的具体事件。该回忆录的内容是卡冈诺维奇的秘书处主管塞缪尔·古贝尔曼转述给他的。[《反对斯大林的阴谋》（Zagovor），59—70页；对弗拉基米尔·皮亚特尼茨基的采访，圣彼得堡，2005年9月。支持皮亚特尼茨基说法的还有B. Starkov的《老党卫军的自卫》（Ar’ergardnye boi staroi partiinoi gvardii），载于Oni ne molchali，莫斯科，1991年，215—225页]
    [2] 斯大林很可能涉及谋杀基洛夫。这位列宁格勒党领导很受欢迎，要比斯大林温和得多。斯大林有充分的理由担心，基洛夫有可能成为自己强劲的竞争对手。至于斯大林是否在谋杀中扮演角色，还没发现确凿的证据。但斯大林肯定利用了这一谋杀，坚持对内部威胁的强迫妄想，迫害自己的“敌人”。
    [3] 阿瑟·库斯勒的小说《正午的黑暗》（Darkness at Noon，1940年）里的老革命鲁巴肖夫可视为这类人的缩影。由于仍想为国家服务，他在审讯中愿意承认受控的叛国罪——而他明明知道自己是无辜的。
    [4] 1935年12月，在党员和联合收割机手的会议上，一位年轻的联合收割机手表示，尽管自己是“富农”的儿子，但也要为社会主义的胜利而奋斗。斯大林回答：“儿子无须为父亲负责。”记者抓住了这一条虚伪口号，慢慢又演变成了斯大林的“指示”。
    [5] 伊琳娜从未得知他的死讯，她继续寻找，向苏维埃当局写了上百封信，直到自己1974年去世。1956年之后，伊琳娜受邀重新入党，但她拒绝了。
    [6] 1941年，伊戈尔再一次遭指控与其他“人民公敌”的孩子策划了“反革命阴谋”，他的刑期因此延长5年。他在1948年回到列宁格勒，很快又被捕，罪名为“反革命煽动”，判处5年，被送进诺里尔斯克劳教营，实际上服刑8年。

    第五章 大恐怖的余波（1938—1941）

    一

    1937年，安吉丽娜·布舒耶娃和奈莉·布舒耶娃

    1938年7月28日，那是一个温暖的夏日傍晚，奈莉的外祖母去园子里采摘覆盆子，让她照看妹妹安吉丽娜，母亲季娜伊达·布舒耶娃在给弟弟斯拉瓦喂奶，并准备晚餐。父亲被捕于9个月之前，自那以后，仅有4岁的奈莉已习惯于帮做家务。季娜伊达正在哺乳，前门突然打开，出现两名内务人民委员会的士兵。他们告诉她，穿好衣服，带上孩子，前往内务人民委员会在彼尔姆市中心的总部。几分钟后，奈莉的外祖母摘得覆盆子回来，已是人去楼空。

    在内务人民委员会大楼，审讯人将两个女孩安排去儿童之家。他向奈莉解释：“你妈要去远方，参加长期工作，你再也不会见到她。”季娜伊达即刻变得歇斯底里。两名警卫来带走女孩时，她开始尖叫，甚至噬咬拦阻她的其他警卫。奈莉被带走时，回头一瞥，正好看到母亲被抽耳光。两姐妹被送到不同的地方——奈莉去了一个犹太孤儿院（因为她的肤色较深），安吉丽娜去了邻近的儿童之家。内务人民委员会的政策规定，“人民公敌”的家庭要被拆散，孩子要领取新的身份。

    季娜伊达被允许保留斯拉瓦——他得了肺炎，需要母亲的哺乳。整整3个星期，母亲和儿子被关在一间拥挤的牢房。季娜伊达被控不愿检举丈夫，判刑8年，被送去专为祖国叛徒的妻子而设的阿克莫林斯克劳改营——是哈萨克斯坦的卡拉干达劳改网的一部分。1938年9月，她随一大队女囚犯，从彼尔姆赶去阿克莫林斯克。离开那天，她们被迫跪在城市广场数小时，等待马车把她们一批批送去火车站。彼尔姆的居民站在旁边围观，没人试图帮助囚犯。季娜伊达的母亲看到她和斯拉瓦在广场中间，想让警卫给递一件套衫。该警卫说“滚开，老太婆”，用他的枪口把她赶走了。在火车站，大家被塞进载牛的车厢，走了10天，才抵达阿克莫林斯克，一共1500公里的旅程。季娜伊达与普通罪犯关在同一车厢，起初，受到她们的骚扰。她们试图抢走她的婴儿，认为以此可得到提前释放。几天后，她们看到斯拉瓦的病情加重，反而对母亲生出怜悯，嚷着要求警卫为婴儿寻求牛奶。她们抵达劳改营后，季娜伊达被迫将斯拉瓦留在多林卡镇的孤儿院，之后的5年她都没见过自己的儿子。该镇当时是卡拉干达劳改营的行政中心。季娜伊达是一名合格的会计，被安排在营地办事处工作，很受囚犯的羡慕，但她恳求从事最艰苦的农活。季娜伊达向营地指挥官解释：“如果有时间思考，我就会发疯的。我已失去3个孩子，让我在繁重的体力劳动中忘却自己吧。”

    季娜伊达的母亲看到女儿和外孙跪在广场之后，便去寻找安吉丽娜和奈莉，在两个儿子的帮助下，她几星期后就找到了奈莉，但却要等到1940年春天才找回安吉丽娜。其时，安吉丽娜已有4岁，还能记得那一次际遇：

    我的表哥基拉，即维佳舅舅的儿子，就住在孤儿院的附近。有一天，我们孤儿院的孩子在河边走，两两一排，排成长队，我排在最后。基拉和他父母也在河边，他一下就认出我，大声喊：“看，我们的安卡（安吉丽娜)在这里！”每个人都停下，大家都很好奇。孤儿院的带队妇女不让我的亲戚靠近，维佳舅舅与其中之一作了交谈。她说，我的名字叫阿列，也可能叫安吉丽娜，但她们不能确定。

    外祖母开始向孤儿院书写申诉，然后有一天，她来接我……我还记得那一天，她带来一双红鞋，上面有闪闪发光的鞋环，让我穿上。我伸出脚，看看鞋底——它是如此光滑、干净、鲜红。我掸去沾上的灰尘，真想脱下，去舔这鞋底，因为它有这么漂亮的颜色。但外祖母说：“够了，穿好鞋，让我们去找你的姐姐奈莉。”我仍然记得当时的困惑——什么是姐姐？奈莉是谁？我一点都不懂。我们离开孤儿院时，看到门口有一个女孩在等。老太太说：“这就是奈莉，你的姐姐。”我说：“真的吗？”我当时只弄懂她叫奈莉，但弄不懂“姐姐”是什么意思。那女孩走了过来，黑色短发，穿着一件灰色雨衣，嘴巴在嚼着衣领。我问：“她为何咬衣领呀？”外祖母随即骂她：“你怎么又在咬衣领了！” (542)

    安吉丽娜的童年记忆主要是饥饿。孤儿院的日常饮食一直很差（枯干的黑面包和灰色的稀粥），安吉丽娜看到鲜亮的红鞋，第一反应就是把它当做番茄，试图去吃。回家后，与奈莉和外祖母住一起，情况并没有明显的改善。外祖母既老又有病，不能工作。季娜伊达于1938年被捕，过后不久，外祖母也被逐出自己的家，只好搬入共用公寓一个小房间，生活在极度贫困之中。到1941年，彼尔姆（自1940年起，改名为莫洛托夫城）濒临饥荒。许多中央街道改成蔬菜自留地，分配给选定的居民，但安吉丽娜的外祖母与之无缘。安吉丽娜回忆：“我们学会吃各种东西：春天的椴树叶、青草、苔藓，还有晚上从较富人家垃圾箱收集来的土豆皮。”安吉丽娜意识到，受饥挨饿给她带来了耻辱和落魄。在她心里，更多的是饥饿让她沦为低等人，而不是父母作为“人民公敌”被捕——那时她还太年轻，无法弄懂这些概念的内涵。安吉丽娜经常受到街对面工人住宅区一帮男孩的欺负，他们知道，安吉丽娜老是来翻检自家的垃圾箱，在大街上遇见她，总是予以嘲笑。安吉丽娜学会按捺自己，从不回嘴。但有一天，这帮人中领头的，即来自工厂干部家庭、个头最高的那位，故意拿出一块黄油面包给街上的乞丐。安吉丽娜回忆：“他故意做给我看，就是想要羞辱我。我实在忍不住，那黄油面包的样子实在太诱人了，我真想自己要，不忍看到它落入乞丐之手，便朝男孩们大喊：‘你们在干什么啊？那面包上有黄油！’引得他们一场大笑。” (543)

    像许多在大恐怖中失去父母的孩子一样，安吉丽娜并不清楚自己的损失。她都记不起父母了——他们被捕时她只有两岁——不同于仍能记住父母的奈莉。父母消失时，她也没有痛苦的感受。等到学会了阅读，安吉丽娜才想入非非，自编父母去世的幻想，均来自她读过的书籍，尤其是她最喜爱的拿破仑和莫斯科大火的故事。她回忆起战后的一次谈话，其时她约10岁：

    外祖母的朋友来访，谈起我的父母。外祖母在我们房间的墙上挂有她所有孩子的照片。那位女士依次指着每一张照片，问我分别是谁。

    “那是谁？”

    “尼娜舅妈。”我回答。

    “这个？”

    “三亚舅舅”

    “那个？”

    我说：“那是奈莉的母亲。”

    “你是什么意思呀，奈莉的母亲？她也是你的母亲。”

    但我回答：“不，那不是我的母亲，只是奈莉的母亲。”

    “那么，你母亲在哪儿呢？”

    “我母亲死于莫斯科大火。” (544)

    安吉丽娜的生活中真正的母亲形象，便是她的外祖母。她把安吉丽娜和奈莉救出儿童之家，最终让她们与她们的母亲团聚。当时，祖母和外祖母救下孩子的故事司空见惯。从大恐怖的一开始，将受迫害家庭的幸免者维系在一起的责任，往往落到她们的肩上。她们不为人知的英雄行为，实属苏维埃历史上最了不起的事迹之一。

    纳塔利娅·康斯坦丁诺娃和姐姐艾莱娜在大恐怖中失去父母。父亲被捕于1936年10月，枪决于1937年5月；母亲柳德米拉被捕于1938年9月，判处8年劳改，被当做“人民公敌”的妻子送进马加丹附近的劳改营。其时，纳塔利娅10岁，姐姐12岁，都被送进孤儿院，到最后，都获得外祖母的拯救。外祖母慈祥温和，却有钢铁般的意志，与内务人民委员会达成协议。艾莱娜·列别杰娃1879年出生于莫斯科一个商业望族，幼时上学4年，17岁那年结婚，生下7个孩子，其中柳德米拉出生于1903年，排行老四。艾莱娜向内务人民委员会总部提出申诉，要求释放她的外孙女们，但被告知：如果要领出女孩，必须带她们同去流放地；如果让女孩们待在孤儿院，她自己仍可留在列宁格勒。艾莱娜毫不犹豫，领出两个女孩，变卖财产，买了3张火车票，直奔奥伦堡和哈萨克斯坦之间偏僻的草原小镇阿克―布拉克（到达后才获悉，所有流放者的出境火车票本来应由内务人民委员会支付）。

    阿克―布拉克是连接俄罗斯与中亚主要铁路干线上的小站，尘土飞扬，当地7000名居民中的许多人都在铁路上供职，主要是俄罗斯人和哈萨克人，另外还有不少失业的政治流放者。58岁的外祖母肯定找不到工作，列宁格勒的亲属定期给艾莱娜寄来少量的现金和小商品，让她在市场上出售，或进行物物交换，对象是她一直在努力培养友谊的当地妇女。艾莱娜无法租到房间，只好与外孙女住在她买下的小窝棚，后来又隔开与另一户流放家庭合用。那是该镇最古老的房子之一，可追溯到19世纪，其墙砖是骆驼粪做成的，屋顶是黏土的。冬天，她们在土灶中烧烤牛粪取暖。第一年，即1938至1939年，当地发生饥荒，这真是一场生死考验。两个女孩没鞋穿，只能打赤脚去流放者子女的铁皮棚学校上课。铁路职工的孩子另有分隔开来的砖房学校。但姑娘们学习努力，第二年就获准转学到其他学校，甚至还加入了少先队。流放者和铁路职工之间的关系很好，纳塔利娅回忆：“没人把我们叫做流放者。”到了1941年，两名女孩申请加入共青团，才有人指出她们的父亲是“人民公敌”。发言人不是当地居民的孩子，而是来自莫斯科的疏散者，视之为不得入团的理由。 (545)

    纳塔利娅回首自己在阿克―布拉克度过的岁月——即从1938年到1945年，她倾向于认为，尽管经历了这么多艰辛，她和姐姐仍有一个快乐的童年。“我们很幸运，在外祖母的小世界中长大。我们从来没有吃过饱饭，几乎没有一样自己的财产，但我们很愉快，因为我们有外祖母的爱，谁也无法偷走。”学校的朋友经常会问纳塔利娅父母在哪里，她都试图回避。她从来不谈自己的父母，担心人家会猜疑“他们已经被捕，一定做了什么错事”。对纳塔利娅来说，他们的被捕是耻辱和困惑的来源。她不明白他们到底做了什么、为何消失，但从来没有怀疑父母的清白。纳塔利娅认为，在维持这一信念上面，外祖母起了至关重要的作用。如果没有她，她会投降于来自少先队和共青团的压力，会背弃自己的父母，视他们为“人民公敌”。纳塔利娅回忆：“外祖母已看透一切，知道苏维埃政权的实质，不会轻易相信。革命爆发时，她已近40岁。”

    艾莱娜的价值观形成于不同的时代和环境，但她明白，外孙女需要在苏维埃世界中生存下去，所以没将自己的反苏维埃思想强加于她们。她告诉她们，父母都是好人，被捕只是一个错误，总有一天都要回来。她给她们讲述她们的母亲年轻时的故事：当年，她那么美丽，那么热爱网球，吸引那么多英俊的年轻崇拜者，又如何遇上她们的父亲，如何组成幸福家庭。她还告诉女孩们，她们的母亲就像她们现在一样。两个女孩通过这些故事得以了解自己的母亲，甚至能在日常生活中感受到她的存在。艾莱娜说，“外祖母是我们生命中最重要的人，比母亲更为重要……她承担了母亲的职责，甚至在我们回到列宁格勒[1946年]和重逢真正的母亲[1951年]之后仍是如此。” (546)

    对祖辈来说，照顾孙辈可能是沉重的负担。子女被捕和变成“人民公敌”之后，父母经常被剥夺住房、就业、储蓄、退休金和口粮。也不是所有的孙辈都能获得拯救。维罗尼卡·涅夫斯卡娅的母亲于1933年去世，父亲被捕于1936年8月，被送去沃尔库塔劳改营。6岁的维罗尼卡和弟弟瓦伦丁，都被送进孤儿院。父亲的姨妈玛丽亚决定收养维罗尼卡，她已经收到内务人民委员会的警告，如要收养，必须要去基洛夫地区过流放生活，那地方位于玛丽亚现居地列宁格勒的东面，相距1200公里。玛丽亚是一名虔诚的教徒，已经70岁出头，把照看家人的孩子视作自己基督徒的责任。丈夫已经去世多年，她独自一人生活，没有自己的孩子，却发现外甥的子女羁留在孤儿院之中。玛丽亚一直特别喜爱维罗尼卡，为她买礼物，喜欢朗读经典作品给她听，但她已太老太弱，无力照看麻烦、任性的瓦伦丁（他先天膀胱缺陷，小便失禁，需要特殊照顾）。玛丽亚从孤儿院领出维罗尼卡，留下弟弟，之后就再也没有他的消息。到1941年，她们收到一封电报，通知她们瓦伦丁已死于孤儿院的医院——当时只有7岁。维罗尼卡回首往事，认为祖母（她如此称呼父亲的姨妈）实在应付不了瓦伦丁，但又认为祖母心里还是充满悔恨。收到电报几天后，玛丽亚就去世了。维罗尼卡由远房亲戚收留，很快又被转给其他亲属，再被转给他人，没人对一张额外的嘴感兴趣。因此，在随后的5年中，她变成远亲家里不受欢迎的住客，直到1946年赴沃尔库塔与父亲团聚。

    父母的被捕使许多孩子一夜之间长大。尤其是最年长的孩子，突然要履行大人的职责，帮做家务，照料弟妹。1937年夏天父母被捕时，伊娜·盖斯特才12岁，与妹妹纳塔利娅（7岁）、瓦莱里娅（1岁）、表弟伊戈尔（9岁）和外祖母一起住在莫斯科河堤大楼的自家公寓。伊娜一下子要承担许多新职责，如果不算是一名主要家长，至少也变成了一名家长的助手。伊娜写信给内务人民委员会，要求领回自家公寓中已遭查封的财物。她组织安排送给父母的包裹，通宵在布提尔基监狱的门外排队，发现母亲被送去阿克莫林斯克劳改营之后，她又找到一份晚上的工作，给孩子做课后辅导来积攒些钱，以便每月向阿克莫林斯克寄一次包裹——自(1939)年夏天起获得这一准许。父母被捕后不久，盖斯特家的孩子们被赶出自家公寓。4个孩子与外祖母搬进一间出租房，还要与其他8名亲戚合住——都是在大恐怖中失去父母的孩子。仅20平方米的房间住上了13人（12个孩子，加上外祖母）。作为最年长的孩子，伊娜不得不做洗涤工作，还要帮着做清洁和烹饪。从她的新家到学校，伊娜乘坐电车至少需要一个小时，晚上回家后还要洗晾衣衫，因为第二天还要再用，她为此而心力交瘁（照片中的她，黑眼圈十分明显）。伊娜回顾这一段时间，认为这有助于她学得必要的生存技能：

    这是一种训练自我奋斗的生活。我总是在力争生存下去——不只是为我自己，还为瓦留西卡[瓦莱里娅]和纳塔利卡[纳塔利娅]。父母被捕时，我只有12岁。但一夜之间，我仿佛已经长大。我明白，我的童年已经走到尽头。先是我们的保姆辞职——她无法与外祖母相处，照顾婴儿瓦莱里娅变成了我的工作。我记得保姆临走之前说的最后一句话：“你必须每天晚上给她洗澡！她的尿布会变得很脏。”我被吓坏了……发现自己进入了全新的环境，必须承担这大家庭的洗涤工作。我如果不想断送自己一生，还需努力学习，还得抚养伊戈尔和纳塔利卡。纳塔利卡会问，为什么人家都有父母，而我们没有。我告诉她，我们有非常热爱我们的外祖母。在很多方面，我成了纳塔利卡和瓦留西卡的母亲；在其他方面，我自己又还是一个孩子。

    像艾莱娜·列别杰娃一样，伊娜的外祖母也经常向孩子们提及他们的父母，希望他们知道父母并没有抛弃他们，仍然爱他们，将会回到他们的身边。但也有其他祖母们持不同的看法。

    伊拉伊达·法伊韦索维奇的父母是乌拉尔奥萨镇（位于彼尔姆的南面）的理发师。他们于1939年的春天被捕，据说策划了反苏维埃政府的政治阴谋，因为美容院的顾客举报：听到法伊韦索维奇夫妇在抱怨物资的短缺。4岁的伊拉伊达先由邻居收留，然后再转给各式亲戚，没人是心甘情愿的，直到最后才获得外祖母玛法·布留霍娃的拯救。她是个简单的农妇，又是虔诚的东正教徒，一共带大16个孩子，其中5个还不是她自己的。她将被捕一事归罪于女婿，指责他说话太多，因此要求伊拉伊达学会闭嘴。所以，伊拉伊达在“强迫沉默的氛围”中长大，不得讨论或询问父母的事。她的自卑感植根于自己在学校里的孤儿身份，又因这强加的沉默而愈益加深。这一切迫使她深深埋藏内心的恐惧以及对父母的渴望，甚至会在梦中听到父母的声音。伊拉伊达的母亲关押在阿尔汉格尔斯克附近的劳改营，每周给住在奥萨的女儿写信。但玛法收到后，拆都不拆就予以烧毁。玛法把伊拉伊达父母的照片藏起来，让外孙女忘记他们。她对外孙女说：“我们会活下去，就我们两人，不再分离。”

    祖母、外祖母们成了家庭和劳改营之间的重要通讯者，她们既是写信人，又是读信人，维系了父母和子女之间的重要连结。数百万家庭，就凭这种连结，得以幸存于古拉格的分隔。

    奥列格·沃罗比约夫的父母分别于1936年和1937年被捕，他和妹妹娜塔莎获得了外祖母的拯救。外祖母娜杰日达·米哈伊洛夫娜既勇敢又聪明，1905年革命之前，已是第比利斯取得行医资格的首批女医生之一。她听说内务人民委员会将把孩子送进孤儿院，急忙把他们带到图拉的乡村，与孩子的教父母一起将他们藏匿好几个月。后来回到莫斯科，她与丈夫带着两个孩子，在工薪阶层集中的郊区租房而居，搬了好几次家。她认为，与他们以前居住的首都中心相比，这里更为安全。一般情况下，工人对邻居的政治背景不太感兴趣（他们的敌视更可能来自阶级或种族的理由）。为了保护外孙和外孙女，娜杰日达收养他们，替他们改名换姓。每个星期，她写长信给他们的父亲（在索洛韦茨基劳改营）和母亲（在捷姆尼科夫斯基劳改营），介绍孩子们的日常起居：

    1939年1月25日

    ……奥列格热爱上学。外公让他在早上7点半起床——只需说时间到了，他就自己起来。我们打开电水壶，准备新鲜的三明治、蛋、鱼和香肠。他吃时，再配上热巧克力、咖啡、茶、牛奶，然后去上学。他对食物非常挑剔，吃得不多。半截面包卷和一杯牛奶，他就已经饱了。他带去学校的也只有半截面包卷。 (552)

    1940年，奥列格和娜塔莎。照片是为了寄给身在诺里尔斯克劳改营的父亲米哈伊尔而拍摄的

    很多细节不是真的（奥列格记得，没有鸡蛋、鱼、香肠，只有面包，偶尔才有黄油），但这些信件给他的父母提供了安慰，即使他们不在，正常的家庭生活仍在继续，等待他们的归来。

    奥列格的父亲米哈伊尔是一名高级工程师，被捕之前，曾在莫斯科的国防部工作。1940年，他从索洛韦茨基调至北极圈的诺里尔斯克劳改营。国家急切需要像他那样的专业人才，以创建庞大的综合工业，那里不久将成为镍和铂金的主要产地。米哈伊尔作为一名专家，允许收到包裹，每星期可写一次家书。他凭借与娜杰日达的通信，了解到奥列格的心态，从而对他的学习、阅读、兴趣爱好、朋友，提供了作为父亲的忠告。奥列格回忆：“他的信件对我产生了深刻的影响。”

    假设在我成长过程中，他就在我的身边，我对他的遵从可能还比不上我对这些信件的遵从。因为我渴望一个父亲，尽量以想象中他会赞同的标准来要求自己，至少我从信件中知道了他的想法。

    奥列格是幸运的，能与父亲建立联系。信件是父母之爱的书面证明，孩子眼见为实，还能读出父母的无辜。有时，信中夹有绘画、诗歌、枯萎的花朵，甚至小片的刺绣，以传达出受过审查的词句所不能表达的情感。正是这些零碎的东西建筑起父子之情。 (553)

    米哈伊尔在信件中，一直敦促奥列格快快长成一位“小大人”。

    1940年8月25日

    我亲爱的儿子，为什么这么久没给我写信？我知道你在度假……但我促请你，至少每5天要写一封信……在信中附上你的图画，让娜塔莎也写上几句……永远不要忘记，你是她的保护者。她还小，有时任性，你要跟她讲道理。我已经写过多次，你是一个男人，理应保护娜塔莎、外公和外婆，确保他们的安全，直到我回来。你是我的副手，我们小家庭的家长，我所有的希望就寄托在你的身上。

    尽管只有10岁，奥列格觉得收到这封信后，自己已长成大人了。他认为，自己应对娜塔莎负责。这使他不再以孩子的眼光看待这个世界，借用他自己的话即是：“我在一夜之中长大了。”

    二

    布舒耶夫家、盖斯特家、沃罗比约夫家的孩子都是幸运儿——他们获得了亲人的拯救。父母的被捕，让数百万的其他孩子自生自灭。许多人走进孤儿院——适用于未满16岁的孩子——其他的则在大街上游荡，或乞讨，或加入少年帮派。那些帮派在大城市的车站、市场和其他繁华地段，掌控大部分的轻罪和卖淫。1935年通过的新法律，将刑事责任的年龄降至12岁，主要是为了打击儿童犯罪。1935至1940年，苏维埃法庭给10.2万名12到16岁的儿童定罪，其中许多最终被送进由内务人民委员会管理的劳教营。

    有些孩子溜到制度外，自食其力。1936年父母被捕时，米哈伊尔·米罗诺夫只有10岁。他父母本是来自乌克兰的工人，在内战中参加红色游击队；被捕前在党内获得逐步的晋升，先在莫斯科，后在列宁格勒。米哈伊尔的姐姐莉利亚早已离开列宁格勒的家，前往莫斯科学医。因此，米哈伊尔只得独自一人生活。他曾在各式亲戚家寄居一段时间，成为他们的额外负担。他们都是工人，有自己的大家庭，都在为生存而挣扎。1937年9月，米哈伊尔进了列宁格勒少先队之家设立的绘画学校。之前几个月照顾他的姑姑贝拉将此视为摆脱他的良机，就叫他搬去少先队之家的学生宿舍。米哈伊尔失去父亲的所有音信（枪决于1938年），也得不到姐姐的消息，因为她担心如果写信给亲戚，会泄露自己的污点履历，会遭到医学院开除。他唯一保持联系的亲人是身在沃尔库塔劳改营的母亲，经常写信给她。他非常孤独，没有朋友和家人，急切需要母亲的爱（他的信往往以此结尾：“我吻你1000000000次”）。1941年的春天，米哈伊尔被绘画学校开除——理由是缺乏天赋——转而入读工厂技校。他被赶出少先队之家的学生宿舍，只好借住在营房的一个小房间。15岁的他在7月份写给母亲的信中说：“我在此感到非常无聊，没有其他人，每个人都走了，全靠自己。”9月，德国军队包围列宁格勒，米哈伊尔逃到莫斯科。他到达那里时，姐姐已跟随医学院疏散到中亚，其他的莫斯科亲属也不愿收留他，所以只好流落街头。1941年10月，他在莫斯科保卫战中遇难。

    父亲在1937年6月被捕时，玛娅·诺尔金娜才13岁。一年后，内务人民委员会又抓了母亲，玛娅也被列宁格勒学校开除。她在列宁格勒有姨妈和舅舅，但没人愿意收留她。玛娅说：“他们都怕丢掉饭碗，其中有些是党员——他们显得最为害怕，断然拒绝。”大家都以为玛娅将被送进孤儿院，却没有人来找她。于是，她继续住在自家的3间房里，位于市中心的共用公寓。她的亲戚为了抢夺这宝贵的居住空间，让一个舅舅登记为该处居民。但他从没在那里住过，事实上，仍与妻儿住在城市的另一端。玛娅回忆：“我自食其力，完全独立。”这一位14岁的女孩子，会向学校里的老朋友借书，走一小时去姨妈家吃饭，用亲戚给的零用钱购买食品，有时享用共用公寓邻居的残羹剩饭。每天，她会在列宁格勒内务人民委员会总部前排队，希望送包裹给父亲。该处官员收了一段时间的包裹，然后告诉她，父亲已被“判刑10年，不得通信”（这意味着他已被枪决——不过她好几年都不知道）。给身在波特马劳改营的母亲送包裹更加艰辛，需要排队整整两天两夜。玛娅这样的生活，持续到1941年8月。其时，她年满18岁，加入了保卫列宁格勒的人民志愿军。她没有接受正规学校的教育，实在是别无选择。

    卓娅·阿尔谢季耶娃1923年出生于符拉迪沃斯托克。父亲是一名船长，1937年11月25日驾船前去勘察加半岛的彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克，却在途中被捕。同一天，母亲被捕于符拉迪沃斯托克的家中。卓娅只有14岁，但看起来比较成熟，所以没去孤儿院。她继续待在从1926年起就一直居住的共用公寓，自力更生，没有其他亲戚。母亲的妹妹住在哈巴罗夫斯克，只有夏天才能来符拉迪沃斯托克，因为她在此地有一套乡间别墅；父亲的家人都在列宁格勒。卓娅从小享受养尊处优的生活，母亲不上班，全身心照顾这唯一的孩子。现在，卓娅什么都要自理。她自己去学校，在共用公寓的走廊上用普里默斯煤油炉煮食。她在邻居的帮助下卖掉一部分家庭财产（金表，母亲的银戒指，父亲的老望远镜、照相机，书籍，雕塑），来购买食品和附近工厂食堂的饭菜。如此筹得的钱，大部分用于为父亲上诉（被控参与“跨太平洋的反革命组织”）。他从彼得罗巴甫洛夫斯克―堪察加监狱，每周给她写含有复杂指令的信，为她解释法律的晦涩含义和取出银行存款的方式。每周一次，她写回信，报告案件的进展；同样每周一次，她在符拉迪沃斯托克监狱外连夜排队，送包裹给母亲。她的迅速成长，以及对家庭危机的妥善应对，给父亲留下了深刻印象。1940年5月，他写信给在西伯利亚的亚亚附近劳改营的妻子说：

    我已从济济卡[卓娅]那里收到两封信。我觉得对不起她，但也为她的成功而感到由衷的高兴。她生气勃勃，身体健康——不久就有17岁了，完全独立自主。她是一个聪明的女孩，她的勇敢值得大加称赞——她在14岁的年纪，就能完全自力更生，全不害怕。她甚至还能自得其乐。我把她想象成家里的小小女主人，完全掌控着家庭和学校的事务。 (558)

    但从卓娅的角度看，自力更生并不是愉快的经历。她在若干年后说：“有一天，妈妈被捕。第二天，我就开始了我的成年生活。”她不愿在信中让自己面临的麻烦惊扰父母。有人冒充是她父母的朋友，试图来占便宜，帮她卖掉贵重物品，却扣下一半的所得。1939年的春天，在市苏维埃担任秘书的母亲的熟人，把自己的物品搬到卓娅的房间，声称这样做卓娅就无须与他人分享生活空间。事实上，几个星期之后，该女子就报警把卓娅抓起来送到孤儿院，从而鸠占鹊巢。卓娅在孤儿院里绝食抗议，最终通过一名孤儿院工人与哈巴罗夫斯克的姨妈取得联系。她恰好来避暑，刚刚抵达自己的乡间别墅。卓娅不得不在孤儿院住了3个月，等待姨妈设法收回她的房间。16岁生日那天，卓娅终于获准返回。她半工半读，傍晚上课，完成中学的最后一年，然后上了哈巴罗夫斯克铁道学院。1940年冬天，她父亲获刑5年，被送去西伯利亚的劳改营，1942年死在那里；母亲则于1944年获释。

    1937年7月5日身为列宁格勒资深党干部的父母被捕时，马克斯娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅才13岁。马克斯娜的两个弟弟被送去不同的孤儿院——老二阿列克谢（10岁）去了基洛夫附近的儿童之家，老幺弗拉基米尔（5岁）则去了鞑靼共和国的一个儿童之家。像卓娅一样，马克斯娜看上去比较成熟，所以没进孤儿院。相反，她与保姆米利娅搬进了一座共用公寓的小房间。米利娅是一个简单的农妇，以同等程度在帮助和利用她的主人。像20世纪20年代成长于共产党人家庭的其他孩子一样，马克斯娜很小就学会承担责任。父母待她如一名“小同志”，叫她管教弟弟。现在，这种训练正好派上用场：

    米利娅与我在一起，但我掌管一切，包括金钱。我付工资给米利娅，到后来，她开始偷钱。所以，我告诉她不再需要她的服务，不过仍让她睡在我的房间，因为她无处可去。 (560)

    就一名13岁女孩而言，马克斯娜具有惊人的机智。她设法取回父母被捕时遭封存的个人财物，让米利娅拿去寄售店卖出，以维持家用。寄售店是硕果仅存的私人市场，苏维埃公民借此来买卖自己的日常用品。这一自救行动的关键在于党干部兼家庭老朋友鲍里斯·波泽恩（鲍里亚叔叔）的援助，他时任列宁格勒州的检察官，在马克斯娜还是个小女孩时就认识她。波泽恩会派出一名士兵，打开查封的公寓，让马克斯娜拿出钱和财物：父亲的西装和鞋子，母亲的礼服和皮草外套，毛巾、床单。“鲍里亚叔叔”为帮助孤女，承担了很大危险，自己在1939年被捕并遭枪决。

    马克斯娜将这些财物储存在自己房间内，一件接着一件，如果没有卖掉，就会被邻居们逐渐偷走。后来，米利娅又要男友搬来同住。马克斯娜终于鼓起勇气，要两人统统搬走，又在门上加了锁。此后3年中，马克斯娜孑然一身，单独住在自己的共用公寓，通过一位姑妈卖掉最后的财物。父母被捕后，那位姑妈曾不敢与她讲话，但现在却跳出来抓住机会帮助马克斯娜出售财物。马克斯娜住的共用公寓位于列宁格勒一个纯无产阶级地区，她所有邻居都是工厂工人。他们知道，她一人独居——对未成年人来说，这是非法的——但没有去报警（显然，他们愿意她住在附近，以方便他们行窃）。马克斯娜在学校里受到一名教师的欺负，被斥为“人民公敌”的女儿，便转学去了另一所学校，那里的班主任较有怜悯之心，帮助她隐瞒不好的出身。1941年，17岁的马克斯娜中学毕业，所有科目都获高分，进入列宁格勒大学的语言系就读。1942年2月，该大学疏散撤走，她仍留在列宁格勒，在公共图书馆上班。直到城市被德国军队切断之前，她不停地写信给羁留在孤儿院的大弟阿列克谢。阿列克谢在1946年返回列宁格勒，但已深受孤儿院生活的影响。她的小弟弗拉基米尔则消失得无影无踪。

    大恐怖使孤儿人数急速膨胀。从1935年到1941年，生活在俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、乌克兰的儿童之家的人数，从32.9万人增至大约61万人（还不包括孤儿院调给苏维埃农庄和工厂的人员）。 (562) 大多数儿童之家比拘留中心好不了多少，里面都是流离失所的少年、流浪者、“小流氓”、小罪犯、父母于1937至1938年被捕的“奇怪孤儿”（作家伊利亚·爱伦堡如此称呼他们）。这些场所的条件如此恶劣，以致数十名官员向当局写信，对拥挤、污浊、饥寒交迫以及儿童不时承受的虐待和忽视，表达了他们个人的愤慨。“人民公敌”的孩子们更承受特别的苛刻待遇。像马克斯娜的弟弟们一样，兄弟姐妹往往被送去不同的儿童之家，因为政策规定，必须拆散“人民公敌”的家庭。他们被告知，要忘记自己的父母。如果年龄够小，就会获得全新的姓名，以建立新身份。他们经常遭受欺凌和排斥，有时是来自教师和管理员，因为那些人担心：如果显示慈悲，可能会被指控对“敌人”存有恻隐之心。 (563)

    父母被捕后，伊纳萨·布拉特和姐姐梅拉被送去不同的儿童之家，3岁的伊纳萨去了列宁格勒的，11岁的梅拉则去了斯摩棱斯克附近的。两个女孩都不断得到提醒，她们是“人民公敌”的女儿——她们父母的被捕，牵涉于皮亚特科夫和其他“托洛茨基分子”在1937年1月的公审。 [1] 伊纳萨对孤儿院之前的童年全无印象，但记得的两年孤儿院生活，给她的心灵留下了深刻的伤痕：

    那里的条件实在太可怕——我都没法走进厕所：地上满是稀屎，深至脚踝……那栋房子正对一道红砖高墙，好像被困在地狱里……儿童之家的主管总是对我说：“要记住你父母是什么人，不要惹出麻烦，只是静静坐着，不要伸出窥探的鼻子”……我变得内向，把自己封闭起来。后来，我发现很难再回到正常生活。我在孤儿院待得时间太长，学会了对什么都漠不关心。

    梅拉所在的孤儿院有“数十名”政治犯子女。她回忆：

    我们这些父母被捕的孩子，没人敢于谈及自己的家人。他们把我们称作“托洛茨基分子”，总把我们归在一起。我们也形成小团体，之间并无特殊的友谊，只是想团结起来……其他孩子会向我们扔石头，咒骂我们。我们就聚在一起来保护自己。

    1940年，第聂伯罗彼得罗夫斯克第一孤儿院的女孩们，瓦伦蒂娜位于倒数第二排的中间

    梅拉会写信给列宁格勒的外祖母。父母被捕时，外祖母曾拒绝照看她和伊纳萨。她前不久与酗酒施暴的丈夫离婚，住在简陋的地下室里，在列宁格勒烟厂担任质量检查员。她担心，如果照看“人民公敌”的孩子，可能会失去自己的工作。她还认为外孙女在儿童之家可能会过得更好。但梅拉的信使她震惊，她从没想到外孙女会陷于如此恶劣的环境。1939年，她从儿童之家救出两个女孩，带回列宁格勒的地下室，与自己同住。 (564)

    弗拉基米尔·安东诺夫―奥夫谢延科和妻子索菲亚被捕于1937年10月，女儿瓦伦蒂娜其时15岁。1938年2月8日，索菲亚和弗拉基米尔同一天被枪决。弗拉基米尔是瓦伦蒂娜的继父。瓦伦蒂娜的生父是亚历山大·季哈诺夫，印刷工人，来自莫斯科的工人大家庭，后来成为莫斯科青年近卫军出版社的主编，接着去布拉格的国际书店任职。索菲亚就是在布拉格遇见了身为苏维埃大使的弗拉基米尔。瓦伦蒂娜在1934年之前见过自己的生父，但后来失去联系。瓦伦蒂娜说：“我们返回莫斯科时，他没来探望。我没向母亲询问原因，她也没作解释。显然，我父亲不想闯入我们的生活。”索菲亚和弗拉基米尔被捕时，瓦伦蒂娜被带到内务人民委员会的拘留中心——位于古老的达尼洛夫修道院，“人民公敌”的孩子再从那里被发配去苏联各地的孤儿院。瓦伦蒂娜刚到那里就病倒了，父亲亚历山大知道她的处境，但没有伸出援手。他刚刚再婚，也许是害怕这样做会危及他与新娘的关系，到1938年，新娘自己也被捕了。瓦伦蒂娜被从达尼洛夫修道院转至第聂伯罗彼得罗夫斯克一个儿童之家，一直待到1941年才回到莫斯科。瓦伦蒂娜回顾了这一段辛酸生活：

    孤儿院造成的创伤，我从未能克服，这是我第一次与人谈及此事。那是我的成长岁月，需要母亲，也需要父亲。我开始明白，他们都已死去，我的黯然神伤无时不在。在孤儿院，他们给我们新年糖果，有时教师还会大做文章，但我所感受的，只是这种黯然神伤。我形单影只，没有亲人。我是唯一一个没有母亲可以联系，也没有来信的女孩。在我们团体中，只有我一个人的母亲被枪杀[长长的沉默]。我为此一直痛苦不已。 (565)

    她与其他孤女凝结的友谊——救她于绝望之中——又成了孤儿院的可取之处。

    在孤儿院长大，虽有无数恐怖故事，但也有找到爱和“家庭”的实例。加林娜·科舍连娃被送去孤儿院时才9岁。其父亲是波德博洛热地区（位于列宁格勒的东北）的农民，于1937年的“富农行动”中被捕并遭枪决。之后，家庭四分五裂。加林娜和弟弟先被送到基洛夫城，后来又各奔东西。弟弟去了邻近的祖耶夫卡镇孤儿院，她自己去了北部的奥帕里诺镇孤儿院，位于基洛夫城和科特拉斯城之间。加林娜刚刚抵达就患上肺炎。“我从列宁格勒来，身穿夏日的连衣裙，外加白色披肩，没有其他衣服，脚上只是一双凉鞋。我们离开时是夏天，到基洛夫时已是11月。”整个冬天，加林娜病得很重，全靠孤儿院主任的调养。她名叫叶丽萨维塔·伊万诺娃，是西伯利亚当地的年轻女子，她让加林娜穿自己的冬衣，为她自掏腰包向邻近集体农庄购买牛奶，两人关系犹如母女。叶丽萨维塔自己没有孩子，对9岁的加林娜宠爱有加，晚上为她朗读，遇上缺课还帮她补功课。她想收养加林娜，但因生活空间不够而无法获得资格。然后，加林娜的母亲在1945年突然出现。1937年，她逃脱内务人民委员会的监管，带着新出生的婴儿四下隐匿生活。她曾在摩尔曼斯克铁路上担任清除冰雪的工人，直到变成德国军队的俘虏，被送去彼得罗扎沃茨克的芬兰集中营。1944年，她获得苏维埃军队的解救，便到处寻找自己的孩子。加林娜离开叶丽萨维塔和孤儿院时，显得非常伤心。她跟母亲、弟弟搬回波德博洛热地区，1952年又搬至列宁格勒。那些年，她不断写信给孤儿院的叶丽萨维塔。她回忆：“我非常爱她，使我的母亲生羡。我对母亲的爱，都不及对她的一半，我们母女之间的关系本来就平淡如水。” (566)

    尼古拉·科瓦奇1936年出生于索洛韦茨基劳改营。父母1933年获刑10年，被送去白海岛屿监狱。母亲当时已怀上了姐姐艾莱娜，所以获准在监狱里作为家庭一起生活。到1937年1月，内务人民委员会禁止劳改营中所有的同居。尼古拉的母亲流放去了卡累利阿的劳改营（枪决于1937年11月），父亲流放去了马加丹的劳改营（枪决于1938年）。艾莱娜其时正患结核病，被送到列宁格勒南部的托尔马乔夫孤儿院接受治疗。尼古拉被送到北部的奥尔戈诺度假区，那是1917年之前圣彼得堡精英青睐的芬兰湾度假地；内务人民委员会在王子奥尔登堡白色宫殿的一翼为“人民公敌”的孩子建立了孤儿院。

    像尼古拉一样，该孤儿院的许多孩子都没有自己的家庭记忆，却与厨房工人建立特殊的关系，由此而得到爱和亲情，甚至家的感觉。尼古拉回忆道：“有一条通向厨房的后楼梯。”

    我去那里，厨娘会说：“科利亚来了！”她们会抚摸我的头发，给我一块面包。我就坐在楼梯的底部吃，没人看见。那时，大家都饥肠辘辘的——我害怕被人抢走……那些厨娘原是当地的普通妇女，可怜我们孤儿，尽力予以帮助。

    孩子们还拜访当地的老人，帮助耕耘他们的自留地。尼古拉回忆：“这很适合我们。”

    如果帮助一位老大爷，他就会很高兴，会对我们很亲切。他可能会变得很亲热，抚摸我们的头发。我们需要温暖和亲情，需要家庭所能提供的——只是不知究竟是什么。我们没有家庭，也不感到伤心，因为根本都不知道家庭为何物或家庭的存在，我们只是需要爱。

    他们通常在与动物和宠物的相处中找到爱。尼古拉说：“我们有狗、兔、马。”

    孤儿院的围墙背后有一个马场。我们很喜欢去那里，会感到自由自在。有时在夏天，马厩工人让我们带马去河边。我们骑着无鞍马，在河中一起游泳，骑回来时尖声欢叫。城镇的草甸上夏季有赛马，我们总在那里。没人比我们更了解马，我们爱上了马。

    在孤儿当中，相互扶持的非正式小群体发挥了许多家庭的功能。同年龄的男孩会结帮成伙，来应付把他们骂成“人民公敌”的恃强欺弱者；年龄较大的会保护年幼的，在功课和家务上提供帮助，并在晚上啼哭或尿床时予以安慰。孤儿院所有的孩子都很团结，以反抗严厉、有时甚至残忍的教师。 (567)

    尼古拉不知道父母长得如何，也不知道他们已死去，只是在梦中见过母亲：

    我经常梦见妈妈，我想应该是妈妈吧。我没见过她的脸，或她的身影。那是一些很幸福的梦，我和妈妈在天上飞，她拥抱我，帮助我飞，但我无法看到她——不知怎的，她要么在我后面，要么与我并排。我们没有飞得很高——只是在孤儿院附近草地和沼泽的上空。那是一个夏天，她会对我说：“不要怕，我们不会飞得太高或太远。”我们面带微笑，在梦中笑个不停。只有在那些梦中，我才感受到幸福——浑身舒畅的幸福。即使今天，我一想到幸福，仍会想起那些梦，还有那种纯粹的幸福感。

    像很多其他孤儿一样，尼古拉为父母勾画了想象中的形象。他从没梦见过父亲，只是把他想象成一名飞行员——那是20世纪30年代末和40年代时苏维埃的英雄形象。他在梦中渴望有一个家，尽管如尼古拉现在回忆的，他都不知道家庭为何物。直到13岁之前，他还从没见过一个实实在在的家庭，甚至没见过在一起的母子。 (568)

    由于没受家庭的影响，尼古拉和他的孤儿同伴对什么是对和错，自有非常独特的概念。他所谓的孤儿院的“丛林法则”，塑造了他们的道德意识，要求每一个孩子为集体而牺牲自身利益。尼古拉解释：

    如果有人犯了错，我们所有人都有可能因此受到惩罚，那个人就要去向当局坦白。我们宁可让他一人受罚，也不愿让整个群体一起倒霉。如果无法说服他，就会动用体罚，迫使他老实交代。我们不会去举报——出卖自己人是被禁止的——但我们会确保他一定去坦白。

    尽管出卖自己人是受禁的，但孩子和成人之间的关系却适用不同的法则。孤儿们都敬佩帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫。尼古拉回忆道：“他是我们的英雄。”

    我们没有家庭概念，不知道父亲是什么。帕夫利克背叛父亲的事实，对我们来说，毫无意义。重要的是，他抓住了资产阶级一员的富农，在我们眼中成了英雄。就我们而言，这个故事与阶级斗争有关，与家庭悲剧无关。 (569)

    孤儿院的道德体系——强大的集体精神和微弱的家庭联系——使之成为内务人民委员会和红军的主要招募场所之一。20世纪30年代，有数百万儿童生活在苏维埃机构中——孤儿院、军队、劳改营，他们对家庭生活一无所知。孤儿们特别容易接受苏维埃政权的宣传，因为没有父母的引导以及可供选择的其他价值体系。20世纪30年代，米哈伊尔·尼古拉耶夫在一连串儿童之家长大。他回忆，他和孤儿同伴们一直受到灌输：苏联是世界上最好的国家，他们是世界上最幸运的孩子，一切都由国家供给，而领导国家的一国之父斯大林关心所有的孩子。

    如果住在其他国家，我们将死于饥寒交迫——这是我们被告知的……当然，我们相信其中每一个字。我们在孤儿院体验生活，学着去思索和感受——更确切地说，不作自发的思索和感受，接受一切被告知的。我们对世界的想法全来自苏维埃政权。 (570)

    米哈伊尔也深受帕夫利克·莫罗佐夫传奇的影响，梦想仿效他的成就——揭发出一个敌人或间谍，在成为少先队员时，他感到非常自豪。像许多孤儿一样，米哈伊尔把加入少先队，看作被苏维埃社会所接纳的一刻。在那之前，他一直耻于自己的父母，仅有零星的记忆：与父亲一起骑在马上，想象中的母亲坐在灯旁擦枪（让他觉得，她一定是一名党干部）。他不知道父母是谁，甚至不知道他们的名字（“米哈伊尔·尼古拉耶夫”是刚来孤儿院时取的新名字）。他记得四五岁时发生的一件事：他的前保姆来儿童之家探看，告诉他他的父母已作为“人民公敌”被枪决了；然后又说，“像枪毙你父母一样，他们也应该把你枪毙掉”。整个童年时期，米哈伊尔为此而深感羞愧。一旦加入少先队，这个耻辱获得了解除；这是他第一次得到苏维埃制度的承认和重视。作为一名少先队员，米哈伊尔把斯大林当做父亲，既权威，又慈祥。他相信，所有的善意都来自他：“我们有吃有穿、有学可上、可以赴少先队野营，甚至有新年树——这一切都归功于斯大林同志。”这就是他的看法。 (571)

    米哈伊尔所在的孤儿院的孩子们，早早投入了工作。他们从4岁起就帮助洗碗、打扫院子，7岁起去集体农庄的田野劳动，11岁起去纺织厂工作。该纺织厂位于邻近的奥列霍沃―祖耶沃镇——在莫斯科的东面，相距50公里。到1941年夏天，米哈伊尔又被分配到奥列霍沃―祖耶沃郊区的一家金属厂。尽管只有12岁，但孤儿院的医生以体检为基础，宣称他已有15岁（米哈伊尔长得高大，与年龄不相称），并发给他一套新证件——上面说他出生于1926年。当时有一条政策，有意提高孤儿的年龄，让他们够条件去参军或从事工业生产。在之后的两年中，米哈伊尔与孤儿院的其他孩子组成一队，在钢铁厂上班。“我们轮班工作——这一周，晚上12小时；下一周，白天12小时；每周工作7天。”工厂里可怕的真实条件，与宣传中的相比有云泥之别。米哈伊尔以前学的，均来自书籍和电影。于是，他生命中第一次开始怀疑被告知的东西。孩子们身穿工作服，睡在工厂俱乐部的地板上，吃饭都在食堂，没有任何报酬。1943年秋天，米哈伊尔逃离工厂，自愿参军——动机是躲避饥饿，不是爱国主义——成为一名坦克驾驶员，当时年仅14岁。 (572)

    像米哈伊尔一样，尼古拉·科瓦奇加入少先队时也非常自豪，因此而感到已被孤儿院之外的世界接受，可与其他同龄孩子平起平坐了。科瓦奇接着加入共青团，成为党的积极分子，他“最喜爱的书”就是《联共（布）党史简明教程》。他在少年时就加入红军，在远东服役。复员后，他却难以融入平民生活——他在苏维埃机构待的时间太长——转而去内务人民委员会上班，晚上在其附属的精英军校进修。科瓦奇任职于内务人民委员会一个特殊单位，其主要任务是捕获儿童之家的逃犯。

    三

    父母要求14岁的玛丽亚·布德克维奇事先做好准备，以预防父母的被捕。1937年7月，内务人民委员会抓走父母，玛丽亚得以生存下来，孑然一身，住在莫斯科的自家公寓，直到1938年夏天内务人民委员会把她带到达尼洛夫修道院的拘留中心。她虽是自力更生，却有父母的老朋友米利察·叶夫根涅夫娜的帮助。米利察的丈夫是一名布尔什维克官员，被捕得更早，所以米利察揣测玛丽亚的父母可能是受了自己丈夫的牵连，因而觉得对不起玛丽亚。但很快，她又担心，如果继续帮助“敌人”的女儿，自己也会吃不了兜着走，只好向内务人民委员会汇报。他们来抓玛丽亚时，米利察对她说：“不要生我的气……最好还是去儿童之家，之后就会慢慢习惯，不会再是人民公敌的孩子。” (574)

    玛丽亚与其他25名“人民公敌”子女一起，从达尼洛夫修道院，被转至高尔基城附近的孤儿院。孤儿院主任是个慈父般的人，鼓励玛丽亚努力学习，即使出身不好，仍可争取美好的前途。她申请加入了共青团，尽管事先受到警告，获准之前需要背弃自己的父母。她也参加各项活动，主要是在群众集会和游行中强烈谴责“人民公敌”，歌唱对斯大林和党的赞歌。她回忆，之所以加入共青团，是因为坚信这是父母希望她做的：“我怎能拒绝加入呢？妈妈总是说，我一定要成为少先队员，然后是共青团员。不加入是可耻的。”然而同时——她对导致父母被捕的政治事件茫然无知——她又认为，入团可能是错的。她记得曾感受到对父母的愧疚，好像是在背叛他们。但后来，入团仪式并没要求她背弃父母。尽管如此，她仍在参与共青团宣传时觉得尴尬。如她所忆起的，只是让人看到自己在“高歌赞美斯大林，连自己也不太相信口中吐出的歌词”。尴尬的根源是她的直觉：父母的被捕是错的（她甚至在1939年向斯大林书写抗议信）。她为生存和进步所采纳的政治身份，又与这信念发生冲突。作为共青团员，玛丽亚可以就读于列宁格勒理工学院，那是一所占处于领先地位的科技大学，学生中仅有极少数“人民公敌”的孩子。 (575)

    数百万孩子在苏维埃制度和其“敌人”之间的灰色地带长大，内心时常处于争相表忠与抗争冲动的撕扯之中。一方面，家庭出身的污点增强了他们证明自己是社会平等成员的需求。这意味着他们必须遵循苏维埃的理想，加入了共青团，甚至共产党。另一方面，这些孩子不禁会对给家人带来这么多痛苦的制度生出疏远之感。

    父母在1937年夏天被捕后，热尼娅·叶万古洛娃百感交集。她19岁，刚刚读完中学，留在莫斯科继续高等教育的机会因此灰飞烟灭。于是，她搬去列宁格勒，与父亲的舅舅同住。舅公是一名退休的冶金学教授，帮助她进入了工人补习学校，她希望以此升入理工学院。随着申请理工学院的日期越来越近，热尼娅变得忧心忡忡，知道在表格中将不得不揭示父母的被捕。她觉得自己好像一个“麻风病人”，尽管在入学考试中取得高分，仍在担心没有资格进入理工学院。1938年，她被接受为冶金系的新生，该系的竞争不像其他系那么激烈。整个第一学年，热尼娅在日记中承认自己的抑郁症，甚至兴起自杀的念头。反观这一悲伤，她自我解释，这是父母失踪之后自己个性的“自我封闭”。在工人补习学校时，父母的被捕一直是她的耻辱之源，她的同学曾无情地欺负她，称她为“祖国叛徒”的女儿。在理工学院，热尼娅努力证明自己是一名模范学生，以克服这一耻辱。

    有时，她尽力挣脱父母的阴影，享受与同学的相处，追求自己的新生活。但在短暂的瞬间幸福之后，总是涌起内疚感，使她想起身系劳改营的父母。父亲被捕后不久，热尼娅做了一个梦，梦中的父亲竟是一名侵略者。这一直给她带来困扰：

    我父亲从隔壁房间的薄雾中浮现，举起手枪朝我心脏开枪。我没有身体上的痛苦，只有无法遏止的失落感……然后，我发现自己的胸部已被鲜血浸透。

    在理工学院时，有一天晚上，她和朋友一起去溜冰，心情非常愉快，那还是好几个月中的第一次。可当天晚上，她在梦中又看到父亲，第二天早上醒来，满怀“沉重的抑郁”。 (576)

    “奇怪孤儿”中的许多人，回顾自己的少年时代时，都记得有这样一个时刻——他们所衷心盼望的——遭受压迫的耻辱突然消失，他们重被接受为“苏维埃公民”。这种为社会所接受的渴望，几乎是所有“人民公敌”子女的共同心声。只有很少人对苏维埃制度产生厌恶，或干脆反对。

    对依达·斯拉温娜来说，重被接受的时刻发生于1938年的夏天，与母亲的被捕相隔不久（父亲被捕于1937年）。其时，体育教师来邀她参加学校的游行。依达是一名运动员，身材健美，自14岁起就以体操运动员的身份参加学校游行，但在父亲被捕后，她被逐出了游行团队。她在回忆录（1995年）中追忆了当时的喜悦：重被接受为“海陆空”体操表演的体操兼跳伞选手，参加游行，庆祝苏维埃体育界所取得的成就。

    我尚记得采访人在游行运动员照片中认出我时的诧异。 [2] 他们问，母亲刚被发配去劳改营，我怎能参加游行？现在回想起来，我当然承认年轻时的自私。我才16岁，忍受不了痛苦，渴望幸福和爱，但还有比这更重要的原因。参加游行是在表达一个深切的愿望：我想在破碎的世界中重返完整。我再次感到，自己从属于一个庞大的“我们”。我与大家行进在方阵中，高唱让人骄傲的歌曲《我们没有国界》（We Have No Borders）。在我看来，我与任何他人一样，都是完全平等的祖国代表。我对[歌中的话]深信不疑，“我们将高举苏维埃旗帜，超越世界和世纪”。我跟大家并肩站在一起！我的朋友和教师再一次对我表示信任——这意味着，或者是我就因此认为，他们也一定相信我父母的无辜。 (577)

    对于大多数青少年而言，加入共青团象征了从“人民公敌”的孩子到“苏维埃公民”的过渡。父亲1938年2月被捕时，加林娜·阿达西斯卡娅17岁。加林娜的父母是积极的反对派，没期望她会成为共青团员。她和母亲从老家列宁格勒，流放到雅罗斯拉夫尔城。加林娜强烈地感到遭受迫害的耻辱，试图予以克服，决定申请加入共青团。她给学校共青团委员会写信，要他们“再看看我的材料”（即审查她的申请，尽管有父亲被捕的污点）。她坦言自己在有意识地自我净化，她公开自己的“污点履历”，希望获得集体的宽恕和救赎。在讨论她的请求的共青团会议上，领导们裁定加林娜“作为人民的敌人没有资格入团”。但有一位同学抗议说，如果阿达西斯卡娅被排斥在外，所有的学生都会离席。加林娜回忆：“党员辅导老师勃然大怒，耳红面赤。”

    他坐在木凳上，大声叫喊：“这是什么？挑衅！缺乏警惕性！”不过到了最后，我还是获准加入了共青团，甚至当选为班级组织者。我们的组织在学校里赢得了第一名[在社会主义竞赛中]。

    就加林娜而言，这就是她被带进集体生活的一刻。她回忆，自己在1941年被捕，“调查官员查阅我的共青团记录时，眼珠子几乎都要跳了出来”。 (578)

    背弃自己家庭的传统和信仰，通常是进入苏维埃社会所必需的牺牲。柳芭·捷丘耶娃1923年出生于乌拉尔北部切尔登镇的一个东正教神父的家庭，排行第四。柳芭的父亲亚历山大于1922年被捕，押在监狱将近一年才获释。政治警察要他成为举报人，汇报自己教民的活动，却遭到拒绝。后来，受政权支持的宗教改革者夺走了他的教堂，亚历山大二度被捕，但于数月后的1929年秋天获释。柳芭的母亲克拉夫蒂娅随即被切尔登博物馆解雇，她的弟弟维克多作为“阶级敌人”的儿子也被学校开除。1930年，亟想保护家人的亚历山大，带儿子搬去乔尔莫兹镇，让活跃于教会的一个工人收养维克多，以此来改善儿子的前途。作为“工人的儿子”，维克托在学校读完七年级，取得教师资格。家中的其他人也搬离让他们家破人散的切尔登镇，去南方100公里外的新兴工业城镇索利卡姆斯克，与克拉夫蒂娅的母亲一起生活。

    柳芭在索利卡姆斯克长大，从小学会了遵守“自己的本分”。

    妈妈经常提醒，我是神父的女儿，要倍加小心，不可与他人交往，不可信任他人，不可谈论自己的家事。我的本分是要保持谦虚，她曾说：“别人能做的，你却不能。”

    她家很穷。克拉夫蒂娅在成人扫盲组织担任讲师，但工资不足以养家糊口，因为没有配给卡。她们勉强生存，多亏了亚历山大的小额金钱援助，他仍在乔尔莫兹镇从事神父的工作。到1937年8月，亚历山大又一次被捕，10月遭枪决。克拉夫蒂娅和孩子们变卖最后的财物，种植蔬菜，苟延残喘。最终，亚历山大的农民教友送来了援助款——他们曾在集体化运动中得到教会的帮助。

    自从父亲移居至乔尔莫兹镇之后，柳芭只见过他一次。她在1937年6月前曾去拜望，几星期后，他就被捕了。柳芭回忆：“我对宗教的无知让爸爸大为不满，他试图教我古教会斯拉夫语，但我没有兴趣。这是我人生中第一节宗教课，也是最后一节。”经年的压迫促使柳芭逃离自己的家庭背景。她在索利卡姆斯克新学校的第一年，就是反宗教宣传活动的靶子。教师一边指向柳芭，一边告诉其他孩子：如果他们接触宗教，就会变得像她一样糟糕。她回忆，自己老受其他孩子的欺负，陷入了“极端恐惧和歇斯底里”的状态：

    我不敢去上学。母亲和外祖母最终决定，不再带我去教会。她们告诉我，最好只有一种教育，让我相信学校里有关宗教的说法。

    柳芭加入了少先队，自豪地戴上标志着受到接纳的红领巾，成为一名积极分子，甚至参加了1938年反教会的示威游行，所举的横幅上写着“打死所有的神父”。柳芭最终成为一名教师——亚历山大的4个孩子中，3人选择了这个职业。将近50年，她教的是反教会的共产党路线。回首往昔，柳芭充满了悔恨，因为自己背弃了家庭的传统和信仰。 [3] “我总想，如果父亲是一名教师，而不是神父；如果像其他女孩一样，也有父亲伴我长大，我的人生会变得容易许多。” (579) 她弟弟维克多曾在共青团会议上正式背弃父亲，相比之下，柳芭所做的只是在苏维埃社会生存下去的绝对必需之事。

    在“人民公敌”的孩子中间，成为苏维埃积极分子是一条普遍的生存策略。这样做，既可消除自己的软肋所引起的政治猜疑，又可让他们克服自身的恐惧。

    叶丽萨维塔·德利巴什1928年出生于西伯利亚的米努辛斯克城，父母在那里过着流放生活。父亲亚历山大·约西列维奇是列宁格勒印刷工人的儿子，从苏维埃政权的一开始，他就是老布尔什维克和契卡官员。他曾是叶丽萨维塔·德拉布金娜（1917年10月在斯莫尔尼学院找到父亲的那个少女）的伴侣，直到爱上格鲁吉亚低级官员的女儿尼娜·德利巴什，两人在1925年结婚。两年后，他因与政治警察的前雇主发生龃龉而被捕（他1926年离开警察系统，在莫斯科学习经济），流放至西伯利亚，其时已怀上女儿的尼娜跟随而去。1918年，尼娜和女儿先回到苏维埃首都；亚历山大获释后也回到莫斯科，在外贸部任职。1930年，亚历山大再次被捕，判刑10年，被送去高尔基城附近的苏赫贝兹沃德尼劳改营，属于韦特拉戈古拉格系统。同时，尼娜也被捕，流放到西伯利亚一系列的“特殊定居地”，到1932年又返回莫斯科。叶丽萨维塔一直与在列宁格勒的父亲的家人一起生活，偶尔去探望身在流放地或已返回莫斯科的母亲，直到1935年。其时，她和尼娜前去苏赫贝兹沃德尼劳改营，与亚历山大同住。尼娜充任志愿者，一家人住在劳改营，叶丽萨维塔开始上学。到1936年4月，叶丽萨维塔的父母再次双双被捕，亚历山大于1937年5月被枪决；尼娜被判刑10年，先被送去索洛韦茨基劳改营，后枪决于1937年11月。

    父母被捕后，叶丽萨维塔获得苏赫贝兹沃德尼劳改营难友的收留，逃过被送去孤儿院的厄运。那位难友在1936年获释，把她带回列宁格勒。叶丽萨维塔住在不同的亲戚家——先是格列高利叔叔（1937年4月被捕），接着是马戈姑妈（7月被捕），再是赖娅姑妈（8月被捕）。于是远房亲戚将她救出列宁格勒，在把她送给在第比利斯的母亲的家人之前，先让她住在莫斯科附近他们的乡间房子里，以避开内务人民委员会。她在这些亲戚当中转来转去，不清楚他们对警方的担忧，开始觉得自己像是一个没人要的小孩。

    叶丽萨维塔的外祖父母是纯朴的老百姓——外祖父出身于农民家庭，外祖母是商人的女儿——但都受过教育，汲取了第比利斯知识界自由基督徒的价值观。叶丽萨维塔没去上学，只接受外祖母的家教——她在1917年以前，曾任第比利斯中学的教师。外祖父母对清洗不抱任何幻想，直截了当地告诉她，父母是无辜的，是好人，却受到了不公的惩罚。尼娜从索洛韦茨基劳改营给父母写过两次信，特地加上给女儿的安慰和鼓励。她最后一封信写于1937年11月2日被枪决之前，交在了执刑人手里。尽管是非法的，他还是将之付邮了。尼娜写道：“爸爸，妈妈，我就要死去，救救我的女儿。”她还告诉叶丽萨维塔，可在夜晚的天空找到自己的母亲，就在大熊星座的旁边。她写道：“当你看到大熊座，就能想起我，因为我就住在那一片星空。”1937年12月，尼娜的弟弟在第比利斯被捕，尼娜的信件和所有照片随之都遭销毁。 [4] 但最后一封信一直深入叶丽萨维塔的心灵，外祖母给她念了十几次。她回忆道：“我一直在等待，等待我的母亲。即使成年后，我晚上出去，也会寻找大熊星座，思念我的母亲。直到1958年[方才发现母亲已被枪决]，我一直视之为她终将回到我身边的象征。”

    舅舅的被捕使叶丽萨维塔留在第比利斯变得危机四伏，此时，大规模的逮捕正席卷格鲁吉亚的首都。她将近10岁，从没进过学校，但在第比利斯，没人愿意收留“人民公敌”的女儿。1938年1月，外祖父母送她上火车，去列宁格勒与大姨妈索尼娅同住。索尼娅任职于基洛夫工厂工会，是党的资深积极分子和坚定的斯大林主义者。在叶丽萨维塔所有的叔舅姑姨当中，索尼娅是大恐怖中唯一没被捕的。叶丽萨维塔回顾那些创伤年代，认为没有真正感受和了解到大恐怖对自己的巨大影响，亲戚们往往不作透露。她到10岁时，已经历了颇不寻常的各式事件——在流放地和劳改营长大，失去父母，避难于十多个不同的家——无论是“正常”的结束，还是“异常”的开始，对她来说都毫无意义。她现在回忆，当时感受到的只是迷惑和沮丧，既含糊又笼统，这植根于“没人要，没人爱”的直观感受。索尼娅的丈夫于1938年1月被捕，姨妈家的公寓因而笼罩着冷峻、紧张的气氛，与外祖父母家的友好热情形成了鲜明的对比，这更加深了叶丽萨维塔的那一直观感受。不久，索尼娅被开除出党，她特地装好一只放有替换衣服和干面包的小包，以备随时可能发生的被捕。叶丽萨维塔越来越内向，生出“对他人的恐惧”。她回忆道：“我害怕每一个人。”她记起一件事，姨妈让她去当地商店买东西，店员找回零钱时多给了5个戈比，她回到家里，姨妈就叫她去退还多找的零钱，并道歉。叶丽萨维塔被吓坏了，不是因为拿了多找的零钱，而是害怕以个人化的方式与售货员（陌生人）交流。

    尽管有丈夫的被捕、几乎所有亲戚遭受的迫害以及自己的被驱逐出党，索尼娅仍是斯大林的坚定支持者。她教导外甥女相信苏维埃报刊上的一切，接受父母有罪的可能。她还声称，她父亲曾属于一个反对派组织，因此被捕，成为“人民公敌”，但尼娜很可能是无辜的。叶丽萨维塔回忆：“索尼娅很少提及我父母，我不敢向她询问父母之事，担心她会说出非议他们的话。我懂得，有关这一主题的谈话是禁止的。”也许索尼娅认为，如果外甥女对自己家庭的命运想得太多，可能会避世绝俗，更加疏离于苏维埃制度。在姨妈的鼓励之下，叶丽萨维塔先加入少先队，再加入共青团。每一次，如索尼娅所规劝的，她都掩饰真相，声称父母被捕于1935年（在清洗“人民公敌”之前）。叶丽萨维塔回顾自己的入团经历：

    我陷入深深的恐惧——好像重又回到父母被捕、自己孤身只影的岁月——我害怕外面的世界，害怕一切的事物和人际关系。我不敢与人接触，唯恐他们问起我的家人。世上最为可怕的，就是在共青团会议上老是提出的出身问题。

    她渐渐克服自己的恐惧，被接受入团更增强了她的信心。她回忆道：“在我生命中，我第一次不再觉得自己像一匹害群之马。”她学习成绩优秀，这让她在同学之间享有真正的权威。她变成积极分子——先当选为学校的共青团书记，后成为她所居住的列宁格勒地区共青团书记。她回首往事时认为，她的积极性救了自己，让自己获得一定程度的主动：

    当我加入共青团，成为“我们”中的一员，当我与同代人打成一片，成为他们的领袖，我就不再害怕了。我可与当局进行谈判，为他们的事业力争。当然，我也是在为自己力争。因为，越显得坚强，就越能抑制自己内心的恐惧。 (580)

    对于在“特殊定居地”和其他流放地长大的“富农”孩子而言，唯有拥抱苏维埃事业，才能克服他们的出身之耻。到20世纪30年代后期，与“富农”父母一起流放的许多孩子已经成年。内务人民委员会收到这些青少年的无数请愿，要求获释，重返苏维埃社会。有些人写了正式声明，背弃自己的家庭。20世纪30年代初，只有很少申诉获得成功：一些“富农”的女儿被允许离开流放地，与享有全部权利的苏维埃公民结婚。除此之外，政府认为“富农”的孩子只会污染社会，降低士气。然而，从1938年的年底起，出现一个大转折，新政策强调“富农”孩子的“重新做人”和恢复名誉。一旦达到16岁，他们就可离开流放地，恢复公民权利——但一定要背弃自己的家庭。 (581)

    德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基就是这样一名“富农”的孩子，他1917年出生于库尔干地区，在集体化运动中，与家人一起流放至乌拉尔北部乔尔莫兹镇附近的“特殊定居地”。德米特里在定居地长大，伴随着“富农”出身所带来的耻辱。他回忆道：“我感觉像一个弃儿，不是一个完整的人。由于父亲的流放，我受到了莫名其妙的玷污，变成了坏人……我并没像敌人一样感到内疚，但总觉得自己低人一等。”教育是他的唯一出路。父亲老是说：“学习呀，学习，孩子们。教育是苏维埃政权可以给你的一件好事。”德米特里学习努力，成为定居地中第一个读完十年级的男孩，1937年因勤奋而加入共青团。他最终被接受为一名平等人，感到“自豪和高兴”，很快成为一名积极分子。德米特里将自己的进步归功于党的理想，视党为更高形式的社区，其成员“公平且优等，洋溢着同志之情谊”，从中能赢得他的救赎。依照父亲的建议，德米特里前去拜访“特殊定居地”的内务人民委员会指挥官，为自己赴大学深造恳求帮助。指挥官涅沃林为人善良，对这位聪明青年的处境感到惋惜。他已经知道德米特里在学校取得的成就，清楚地看出这位青年值得帮助。涅沃林颁发给德米特里一本护照和100卢布——相当于“特殊定居地”每月工资的两倍多，让他随身带上内务人民委员会的推荐信去彼尔姆，帮助他注册成为大学的物理系学生。

    德米特里从未隐瞒自己的“富农”出身。他在入学表格中填写自己的出身，因此受到其他同学的欺负。他最终决定离开，以为越远越好，希望找到一个不受出身影响的学校。他先是就读于斯维尔德洛夫斯克矿业学院，然后搬去更为东部的鄂木斯克，成为农学院学生。但在那里，他的出身仍是一个困扰。到第一学期的第6个星期，系主任告诉德米特里，他必须退学，因为学校已收到驱逐“富农”、神父和其他“社会异己分子”子女的命令。他非常沮丧，决心先去仍有亲戚的库尔干地区。除了返回“特殊定居地”，似乎无路可走。德米特里前去看望他以前的老师——他在赴流放地之前曾是该村校的学生。那位教师还记得他，邀请他回校担任物理教师。德米特里虽没有高等学院的学位，但在实际上，真正必需的资格是熟悉斯大林的党史，即《联共（布）党史简明教程》，这又是德米特里最爱读的书籍。他教了一年书，1939年夏天回去看望仍在乔尔莫兹镇的父母。他从父母的来信中得知，“特殊定居地”的条件有所改善。但出乎意料，比涅沃林严厉的定居地新指挥官却将他逮捕，没收了他的护照，并威胁要把他送进劳教营。再一次，德米特里因自己的优秀成绩而得救。乔尔莫兹镇学校校长记起了他的得意门生，呼吁内务人民委员会手下留情，声称他急需教学人才。于是，德米特里获准留了下来。他在随后两年中任教于定居地学校，直到战争爆发时被征入劳动大军，前去伐木营（1942年4月之前，“富农”的儿子不得参与军队的前线战斗）。

    德米特里即使在苏维埃政权的手中饱受磨难，仍是一名苏维埃爱国者，坚信共产党事业的正义性，亟想成为它的成员。他解释说：“我做梦都想入党。”

    我只想获得平等人的认可，入党就是为此。我绝不是为了职业发展而申请入党的。就我而言，党是诚实和奉献的象征。他们是共产党人，既诚实又正直。我想，我应该名列其中。

    他在1945年提出申请，却遭到拒绝，当时带给他巨大的失望（他60年后重述此事时，仍双手颤抖，情绪激动，哽咽难言）。到1956年后，党改弦易辙，试图吸收曾受斯大林迫害的团体的成员，他才得以加入渴望20多年的平等同伴的行列。 (582)

    四

    季娜伊达·布舒耶娃被判刑8年，在专为收容祖国叛徒妻子的阿克莫林斯克劳改营服刑，地处哈萨克斯坦。5年之后，她从核心的监狱区域调至外围的定居地，那里的条件稍佳，有时可与家人同住。季娜伊达写信给她在莫洛托夫城的母亲。她虽然亟想与女儿团聚，即安吉丽娜和奈莉，但不希望她们承受劳改营的艰辛，“糟蹋她们的人生”。然而，莫洛托夫城挤满了难民，他们来自饱受战火蹂躏的苏维埃领土，长期的饥荒随之发生。像布舒耶夫一样的“人民公敌”，没有食物配给或自留地，更是生活在水深火热之中。季娜伊达的母亲决定，最好让女孩们与母亲团聚。她无法想象劳改营的条件还会比莫洛托夫城更差。

    为了让孩子进入阿克莫林斯克劳改营，先要把她们还给孤儿院。季娜伊达等女儿取得国家收养者的身份，再要求把她们转至劳改营。安吉丽娜和奈莉回到孤儿院3个月，再由外祖母领出，坐火车从莫洛托夫城前往哈萨克斯坦，抵达阿克莫林斯克时，已是1月份的一个傍晚。季娜伊达到火车站迎接，发现她们正坐在上有遮顶的月台躲避暴风雪。她自己身穿棉袄、长裤、毡靴，即囚犯的标准冬衣。其时9岁的奈莉看到母亲，便奔跑过来，双手搂着母亲的脖子。但两岁就与母亲分离的安吉丽娜当时太小，已记不起来。她在恐惧中往后退缩，脱口说：“那不是我的妈妈，那只是身穿冬衣的农民伯伯。”季娜伊达经历了5年的苦役，已失去女性气质的外貌，再也不是安吉丽娜从家庭照片上看到、在脑海中想象的理想母亲。

    阿克莫林斯克劳改营是古拉格系统中专收女犯的最大的3座劳改营之一（其余两个是西伯利亚的托木斯克劳改营和摩尔多瓦共和国的捷姆尼科夫斯基劳改营）。为了满足政权对“人民公敌”妻子监狱的急切需求，它匆匆造成，于1938年1月接收第一批女犯。她们中的大多数，被安置在内务人民委员会控制的孤儿营的前营房。到1941年，估计有1万名妇女在劳改营。像布舒耶娃一样，她们中的大多数从事农活，或在纺织厂制作红军制服。哈萨克斯坦的劳改营，与远北和西伯利亚的相比，条件还算不错。但对阿克莫林斯克劳改营的女犯来说——尤其是那些习惯于舒适生活的苏维埃精英——劳改营生活还是非常艰苦的，特别是在最初几年。一开始，它被定为高度机密的刑事机构，为了开展反“叛徒妻子”的镇压运动，还实施了极具惩罚性的“特殊管理”。监狱的核心区域，大大不同于营房定居地，围上了铁丝网和 望塔，还有牵狼狗巡逻的狱警。女囚们早上4点就要起来上工，睡觉前最后一次点名是在午夜。许多囚犯回忆，狱警们不善于计数，往往要女犯一再起床，以便重新核查。女犯一定要履行工作配额方能领到口粮。如果连续10天完成不了配额，就会被送去“死亡营房”等死。一名前狱警回忆：“每天早上，死者被运走，埋在营房外的万人坑。”对许多囚犯来说，最难忍受的是不得与亲属通信（特殊管理规定）。1939年5月之后，“特殊管理”取消。阿克莫林斯克劳改营改为“普通劳改营”，条件开始有所改善。营房定居地逐步扩大，越来越多的妇女在监狱区域服完刑或因勤劳而获得提早释放，都转至定居地。 [5] 居住条件变得比较容易承受，不再有铁丝网。狱警护送妇女去上工，晚上回来计算人头，除此以外，基本上让她们自管自。在劳改营指挥官谢尔盖·巴里诺夫的鼓励下，定居地的俱乐部有了活泼的文化生活。相对来说，他在人们的记忆中是一个善良正派的人。劳改营的女子当中有不少资深布尔什维克和红军指挥官的妻子和亲人，包括作家、艺术家、演员、歌手，甚至有莫斯科大剧院的独奏家。据阿克莫林斯克劳改营的副指挥官米哈伊尔·尤西佩科说，第一批囚犯中有125名医生、400名合格护士、40名女演员和350名钢琴家。哈萨克斯坦内务人民委员会主管的副手米哈伊尔·施赖德尔，回忆自己访问阿克莫林斯克劳改营时的寝食不安，那里关有太多前同事的妻子，“我又帮不上忙”。劳改营主管向施赖德尔保证，阿克莫林斯克劳改营的囚犯享有良好的条件，但在他眼中，似乎仍是一个“可怕的场所”，与其他古拉格劳改营不相上下，这不是因为客观条件，而是因为有那么多与子女分离的母亲。

    在这一方面，布舒耶夫一家比较幸运。季娜伊达的儿子斯拉瓦，刚到阿克莫林斯克劳改营时被送进了孤儿院，等到母亲调至外围的定居地后回来与她团聚，现在又加上奈莉和安吉丽娜。她们睡在营房内一长列双层的木板床上，安吉丽娜记得：

    其他女室友重新安排床位，让我们占据一个角落，像一个家庭那样生活。我们两人睡在上层，两人睡在下层，再加上一个床头柜和一个角落货架。这都是我们私用的，可以储藏自己的面包和果酱……我们去食堂领饭菜，回来坐在木板床边一起吃……没人会偷我们的东西……我们营房中有4个家庭，各占一个角落，享受些许的隐私。大家都同意，这样的安排很好。

    安吉丽娜和奈莉就读于劳改营学校，甚至加入了劳改营组织的少先队。这是当局鼓励的，为了在“人民公敌”的孩子中培养苏维埃精神。劳改营没有红领巾，所以少先队员只得自制，他们用劳改营中到处都是的像蜂群一样的蚊子的血，来染红一条条棉布。

    然而，阿克莫林斯克劳改营的大多数妇女与家人只有很少的联系。阿克莫林斯克劳改营一旦成为普通劳改营，其囚犯就可依据1939年的古拉格法律与亲友通信：一般囚犯允许每月获得一封信和一个包裹；如是“反革命罪”囚犯，像阿克莫林斯克劳改营大多数妇女一样，允许每3个月获得一封信和一个包裹。但在现实中，收到的信件数量，全取决于狱警的一时兴致、劳改营的内部规矩和劳改营的地理位置（有些劳改营太偏远，根本就收不到任何邮件）。伊娜·盖斯特讲述了如何设法邮寄包裹给身在阿克莫林斯克劳改营的母亲。普通邮局不接受寄去劳改营的包裹，为此而设立了特别投寄站，但又不公布它们的地址（劳改营的存在是苏维埃当局不予承认的），人们不得不依靠监狱外排队中传播的信息。1938年，发自莫斯科的所有邮递都被叫停了，伊娜只好去莫斯科西南100公里之外的莫扎伊斯克镇。她挤在人群中，想方设法将包裹交到一节指定的车厢，该次特别列车专门运载囚犯去哈萨克斯坦。 (586)

    对阿克莫林斯克劳改营的妇女来说，剥夺通信权利无疑是某种形式的酷刑。有时，她们以敢于表达自己的不满而被人传诵。法学家伊利亚·斯拉温的妻子埃斯菲莉·斯拉温娜，1938年抵达阿克莫林斯克劳改营，惊恐地发现大批少女——许多比她16岁的女儿依达还要年轻——不知何故，竟也在劳改营。埃斯菲莉担心，依达可能也已沦入某地的劳改营，但她没有通信权利，全无女儿的音信。事实上，依达在积极应对困境，她在列宁格勒借宿于许多学校里朋友的家，设法寄出包裹，只是没能到达母亲之手。埃斯菲莉因此绝食，这是阿克莫林斯克劳改营抗议的主要方式，其囚犯——大多数是党员，或布尔什维克的妻子——在总体上忠于苏维埃政权，兢兢业业做事，毫无怨言。埃斯菲莉不参与政治，不关心丈夫的法律事务，唯一在意的就是家人。她拒绝进食，因此被关进惩罚区。数星期后，她的身体濒临崩溃，劳改营的行政当局终于同意让她接收家人信件。埃斯菲莉的绝食也许并不是决定性的因素，因为很难想象劳改营当局会在意个别囚犯的死亡。他们本来已在准备把阿克莫林斯克劳改营，由“特殊管理”改为“普通劳改营”，使囚犯有资格收到亲人的信件。当局也有可能考虑到，埃斯菲莉绝食而死可能引起其他囚犯的反应。在通信这个问题上，囚犯情绪已经高涨，兴起了频繁的投诉。劳改营当局让步后没几天，内务人民委员会的列宁格勒总部召来依达，告诉她可以给母亲寄送一个包裹。包裹在1940年初的冬日抵达，当时阿克莫林斯克劳改营中几乎没人收到过信件，更不用说包裹了。埃斯菲莉的胜利使她成为名人，数百名妇女聚集在她的营房，检视她包裹里的珍贵物品，这鼓励了其他囚犯也向劳改营当局提出抗议。 (587)

    随着通信管控的放宽，阿克莫林斯克劳改营的妇女将满腔热情注入自己的信件，往往还附上小礼物，以表达对儿女的爱。阿克莫林斯克劳改营一名囚犯回忆：“我们多么希望孩子拥有我们专为他们制作的小玩意。” (588)

    叶夫根尼是莫斯科高等技术学院校长，被捕于1937年12月（枪决于1938年），其妻子狄娜·延尔逊―格罗佐恩卡娅1938年获刑被送去阿克莫林斯克劳改营，当时他们5岁的女儿格特鲁德和弟弟被姨妈收养。狄娜是一名训练有素的农艺师，在劳改营的农业管理方面是个资深人物——古拉格系统中的“模范囚犯”，担任专家工作，与劳改营当局合作，以换取小小的好处，但在劳改营却是生死攸关的。 (589) 与其他囚犯相比，狄娜允许发送和接收的信件更为频繁。她经常给女儿寄去自己手工制作的小礼物——小衣服、玩具，或是绣有动物的美丽毛巾——格特鲁德非常珍惜，一生不减。她回忆道：“我一直将它留在床上，无论是在学生宿舍，还是我住过的其他场所。在我心中，它等同于我想象中童话般的母亲。她不在身边，我只能构思一个母亲形象，非常善良美丽，只是住得很远。” (590)

    与渴望有一个母亲相对的，是渴望拥有一个孩子，即使是在劳改营。1937年，乌克兰印刷工人哈娃·沃洛维奇21岁，被送去远北地区的劳改营。她感到孤立、孤独，渴望有个自己的孩子，感受孩子的爱带来的喜悦。这是许多女性在劳改营中的渴望，她在充满感慨的回忆录中如此叙述：

    我们对爱、温柔、爱抚的需求如此强烈，甚至达到了精神错乱、以头撞墙、意欲自杀的程度。我们都想要一个孩子——所有人中最亲爱最亲近的，我们甚至愿意为之放弃自己的生命。我克制自己已有相当长的一段时间。但我真是渴望能亲手怀抱的小生命，在孤独、压迫、屈辱的漫长岁月里，又可有所寄托。

    哈娃与一位不愿透露姓名的人发生恋情（“我并没选择他们之中最好的”），生下一个有着金色卷发的小女孩，取名为埃莉诺拉。劳改营没有为母亲准备特别的设施，在哈娃分娩的营房中，3位母亲合住一个小房间。

    臭虫像沙粒一般从天花板和墙壁上纷纷掉落下来，我们整个晚上都用在了从婴儿身上掸走那些臭虫。白天，我们必须出工，找一位当天不用出工的老妇人暂时照看。我们留给婴儿的食物，那些妇女却拿起来，若无其事地放进自己的嘴里。

    当上母亲，给了哈娃一个新的生活目标和信念：

    我既不相信上帝，也不相信魔鬼。但现在有了小孩，我最热切最强烈的希望是要有一个上帝……我向上帝祈祷，如果不会与女儿分离，他可延长我的磨难一百年。我祈祷，我能带着她获释，即使成为一个乞丐或残废。我祈祷，我能将她抚养成人，即使我必须拜倒在人们脚下，以乞求施舍来做到这一点。但上帝没有回应我的祷告。我的宝宝刚刚开始走路，还没听到她咿呀学语、叫出美妙暖心的“妈妈”，我们就在冬天的凛冽寒风中，衣衫褴褛地挤进一个货运车厢，转去“母亲劳改营”。我那胖嘟嘟的金色卷发小天使，很快就变成了苍白的小幽灵，眼睛下生出蓝色阴影，嘴唇上长满疮。

    哈娃先是被安排在伐木队工作，后来去了锯木厂。通过贿赂儿童之家的护士，她获准在规定时间之外前去探望，即早上点名之前和自己的午饭时间。她所发现的令人不安：

    我看到护士早晨叫小孩起床。她们或推或踢，迫使小孩钻出冰冷的床被……她们以拳头推搡，嘴里时不时发出粗鲁的咒骂，脱下小孩的睡衣，用冰凉的水给他们擦洗。娃娃们甚至不敢哭，他们呼哧呼哧地吸气，像个老头一样，间以低沉的嚎叫。这个可怕的嚎叫，来自各张小床，有时竟持续数天。有的小孩大到足以坐起或爬行，就躺在床上，弓起膝盖顶住自己的胃，发出这些奇怪的声音，活像鸽子的咕咕鸣叫。

    一名护士要负责17个小孩，她会找窍门加快工作进度：

    护士从厨房带来一碗热气腾腾的粥，分到单独的盘子。她抓住最近的一个小孩，把他的双手扭向后面，用毛巾绑住，然后开始一勺一勺，将热粥灌进他的喉咙，不留吞咽的时间，像是在填喂小火鸡。

    只有护士自己的孩子，她们才会给予妥善的照顾。哈娃声称，他们是“仅有的能活着看到自由的孩子”。埃莉诺拉生起病来，浑身上下都是瘀青：

    我永远都不会忘记，她如何以瘦小的双手抱住我的脖子，呻吟着：“妈妈，回家！”她还没忘记那个臭虫缠身的贫民窟。在那里，她第一次看到太阳光，与母亲在一起……

    小埃莉诺拉……很快意识到，她对“家”的诉求是徒劳的。我去看她时，她不再伸手要我，甚至会在沉默中转向别处。在她生命的最后一天，当我抱起她时（他们准许我以母乳喂她），她睁大眼睛，盯着远方某处，以弱小的拳头打我的脸，抓咬我的乳房，再手指自己的床。晚上，我背回一捆柴火时，她的小床已经空出。我发现，她赤裸裸地躺在停尸间成人尸体的中间。她在这世界上总共活了1年零4个月，死于1944年3月3日。 (591)

    包含女囚犯的大多数劳改营办有儿童之家。1944年，阿克莫林斯克劳改营的儿童之家，共有400名4岁以下的小孩，几乎百分之百都是在劳改营怀孕出生的。在其他劳改营，有些妇女亟想怀孕，以便脱离艰辛的劳动、分得较好的食物，甚至获得赦免。携带婴儿的妇女获得赦免一事，确有发生， (592) 却并不适用于阿克莫林斯克劳改营的大部分女囚，因为她们犯的是“反革命罪”。她们中的大部分怀孕产子，与上述的另外两种动机也是不相干的。据阿克莫林斯克劳改营的前囚犯说，这400名婴儿中的大多数，都是女囚遭狱警强奸的结果，特别是劳改营副指挥官米哈伊尔·尤西佩科。他在以后的生活中喜欢吹嘘，他“在阿克莫林斯克劳改营，享受了数千美丽的女人，都是倒台的党领导的妻子”。

    女犯和看守之间的性关系，并不总是基于强奸或渴望怀孕。有些女性为了获得狱警的保护而顺从对方的性要求。与一人发生性行为，好过遭多人强奸。在男女混杂的劳改营（但有男区和女区的分隔），女性也与模范囚犯发生性关系，后者的特权地位往往带来较多的食物和衣服，或厨房和办公室的珍贵工作。除了丛林法则，很难解释这些性关系的原因——到底是模范囚犯具有保护、骚扰或威胁女性的力量，抑或是女性的性魅力，女性数量大大低于模范囚犯的——但从女性角度看，她们的动机通常是为了生存。

    叶夫根尼·米赫拉兹是第比利斯歌剧院的总监，于1937年被捕。他的妻子克捷万·奥拉赫拉什维利获刑5年，在阿克莫林斯克劳改营服刑。 [6] 克捷万不知道丈夫的命运（枪决于1937年），也没有两个孩子蒂娜和瓦赫坦的消息。后者在一系列孤儿院长大（成年后又被送去劳改营）。克捷万年轻貌美，在阿克莫林斯克劳改营吸引了众多狱警和古拉格管理人员的注意，包括谢尔盖·德罗兹多夫。她在1942年获释后，便与德罗兹多夫结了婚，他们的儿子尼古拉出生于1944年，合家住在卡拉干达。德罗兹多夫在那里的哈萨克斯坦劳改营管理部门担任官员。

    柳德米拉·康斯坦丁诺娃是纳塔利娅和艾莱娜的母亲，毕业于圣彼得堡的斯莫尔尼贵妇学院。她的第一任丈夫在列宁格勒的普尔科沃天文台担任地震专家，被捕于1936年。柳德米拉被判刑8年，被送去马加丹附近的劳改营。1938年，柳德米拉遇见狱友米哈伊尔·叶菲姆夫。他是一名农民出身的机械师，刚刚服完所谓“流氓罪”的3年刑期（因参与酒后争吵而被捕），但决定留下，成为劳改营的志愿工。他有自己的家，位于官员和狱警的定居地。他对柳德米拉产生了兴趣。起初，她拒绝了他的追求，因为仍在期待总有一天会返回丈夫身边（不知道他已被枪决）,重归他们的家。后来柳德米拉因肾脏感染而病倒，米哈伊尔给她送来金钱、情书和食物。柳德米拉并没获得完全康复。随着时间的推移，她慢慢放弃了与丈夫重逢的希望，并假定他已死去。她愈益依赖米哈伊尔，也得到热情的回报。柳德米拉获准离婚（与“人民公敌”离婚很容易）之后便与米哈伊尔结了婚，1945年获释后两人一起定居在顿河畔罗斯托夫城。

    劳改营的妇女不只是向古拉格官员寻求保护。劳改营外的强大保护人，有时也能决定女犯的命运。阿克莫林斯克劳改营中有一名囚犯是电影制片人阿纳托利的前妻柳芭·戈洛夫尼亚。柳芭在1938年4月被捕，判处5年的劳改。4个月之前，她的第二任丈夫鲍里斯·巴别茨基被捕，于1939年遭枪决，他曾是莫斯科国际工人救灾电影厂的主管。柳芭后来以为，她的被捕缘于她曾在内务人民委员会的列宁格勒仓库购买家具（这些家具是从大逮捕受害者的家中没收来的，她感到深深的内疚，离开劳改营后，就将之全部卖掉）。但在事实上，她被捕只是因为她是巴别茨基的妻子。他陷入一个丑闻，导致了苏维埃电影界几十人被捕。格列高利·亚历山德罗夫的电影《快乐伙伴》（Veselye Rebiata），其流行插曲不知何故传到美国，被制成唱片，广受欢迎，导致1937至1938年对国际工人救灾电影厂的间谍指控。

    柳芭被捕时，来自3次不同婚姻的3个孩子被内务人民委员会从她共产国际酒店的公寓带走。柳芭与巴别茨基的儿子阿廖沙才两岁，被送去莫斯科市中心的孤儿院；巴别茨基第一次婚姻的13岁儿子沃利克，以及柳芭与阿纳托利的11岁女儿奥克萨娜，则被内务人民委员会送去古老的达尼洛夫修道院拘留中心。该修道院的许多牢房已挤满孩子，其中一间扣押着奥克萨娜和20名其他女孩。沃利克被带到一个12岁以上孩子的特殊区域，由于已达刑事责任的年龄，将被送去内务人民委员会管理的特殊劳教营。他还做了指纹采集，拍了脸部照片，以建立他的犯罪记录。

    几个星期后，奥克萨娜的父亲阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚出现在修道院。奥克萨娜回想起在庭院中看到父亲的一瞬。他身穿皮大衣，背朝着她。即使相隔很远，但她一下子就认出他，并开始从自己的窗口大声叫喊“爸爸！爸爸！”阿纳托利走向大门正要离开，因为拘留中心的主管声称奥克萨娜不在那里。一辆黑色玛丽亚——内务人民委员会用来抓人的臭名昭著的货车——正好从阿纳托利旁边开过，驶出修道院的大门，发动机的噪音盖住了他女儿的呼喊。奥克萨娜变得绝望，意识到这是最后的机会，再一次声嘶力竭地呼喊。这一次，阿纳托利转过了身子。她又继续大叫，并将手伸出窗户的铁窗棂，上下挥舞。阿纳托利抬头扫视大楼，但有那么多的窗户和那么多探视的面孔，戈洛夫尼亚很难找到自己女儿的脸庞，但到最后，凭借他摄影师的眼睛，终于锁定她的所在。他赶回主管的办公室，奥克萨娜很快被传唤到场。她告诉父亲，沃利克也被带到修道院。接她出去相对比较简单，因为在法律上她仍是阿纳托利的孩子。但要拯救已被视作成人的沃利克，又不是阿纳托利自己的孩子，则需要内务人民委员会熟人的帮忙。经过数小时的谈判和几次打电话给卢比扬卡，沃利克终于获释。至于阿廖沙，阿纳托利实在无法找到他的下落。但奥克萨娜记得，内务人民委员会的车把她和沃利克送到修道院之前，曾在某处卸下阿廖沙。她便与父亲沿着她当时离开共产国际酒店后的路线，顺利找到那家孤儿院。奥克萨娜回忆，阿纳托利“走了进去，半小时后重新出现，阿廖沙就在他的手臂中了”。

    3个孩子都在阿纳托利的家中避难，那是莫斯科市中心共用公寓中两个小房间，他与高傲的母亲利季娅·伊万诺夫娜同住。一年后，即1939年9月，沃利克的母亲来找他，两人消失于农村。柳芭的姐姐波利娜将阿廖沙带去巴别茨基在克拉托沃的乡间别墅。他们再加上波利娜的妹妹维拉和父亲，住两个小房间；第三间最大，住着另外一户人家。波利娜在莫斯科工作，有时到阿纳托利的公寓借宿。她两次丧偶，没有自己的孩子，坚忍地承受艰辛的生活。妹妹被捕之后，她被逐出自己的家，并丢掉莫斯科马里剧院的秘书一职；她又去莫斯科剧院博物馆担任客房服务员，工作一段时间之后又被解雇，最终改在工厂里操作机器。

    整整一年，柳芭毫无音信，因为阿克莫林斯克劳改营的“特殊管理”禁止囚犯写信给亲戚。然后在1939年春天，随着“特殊管理”的取消，一封电报送到波利娜手上。她马上给妹妹回信，两人开始了忙碌的信件往来，几乎所有内容都与家事和抚养小孩有关。据奥克萨娜说，她们也提及其他事项，只是隐藏于暗语之中，以避开审查。波利娜一片赤诚，几乎每个星期都给柳芭写信。她寄去金钱、书籍、衣服，以及从杂志上剪下的文章和孩子的照片，尤其是阿廖沙的。

    阿纳托利也写信给柳芭，但并不经常，他的信自有不同的风格。他给她送去金钱、食品包裹、电影放映机手册，让她能学到实用技能。第一年，柳芭在建筑工地上班，搬运木料时摔倒，导致手掌骨折。劳改营指挥官巴里诺夫因此调她去做轻活，在收到阿纳托利的请求后，更允许她管理俱乐部电影院。这并不是柳芭从巴里诺夫那里获得的唯一特权。波利娜因害怕自己被捕，带上阿廖沙逃去了哈萨克斯坦的江布尔城，结果她竟于1942年1月死在那里。远房亲戚把阿廖沙送入孤儿院，然后发电报通知阿克莫林斯克劳改营的柳芭。柳芭获准前往几百公里之外的江布尔城——位于阿克莫林斯克的南部，从孤儿院领出阿廖沙，把他带回阿克莫林斯克劳改营的营房定居地，与自己同住。这对于一个囚犯来说是一个非同寻常的通融，批准请假的巴里诺夫冒了极大的个人风险。很有可能，柳芭的美貌在赢得这些通融时发挥了作用，但她的难友并不认同这样的看法，反而强调阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚的影响。阿纳托利在写给柳芭的信件中，明显没有对审查的恐惧（他的许多信件还批评了苏维埃电影当局）。阿纳托利写信表达自己对柳芭的爱，原谅她的离开，恳求她在释放后回到自己身边（“可能不会像你以为的那么久……我相信，如果我向当局提出请求，还是有办法的”）。柳芭此时尚不清楚巴别茨基的命运，便挡住了他的攻势。但阿纳托利不甘罢休，向她介绍自己电影的成功，即《米宁和波扎尔斯基》（Minin and Pozharsky，1939年）和《苏沃洛夫》（Suvorov，1941年），自己获得的大奖（1940年的劳动红旗勋章和1941年的斯大林奖），自己享受的富裕生活，以及自己在克里姆林宫出席的宴会。他打出情感牌，对柳芭强调他们的女儿多么需要她：“我在等你，祈祷你能回来，即使只是为了奥克萨娜。你知道，我不是一个好的父亲，太忙了。我们的女儿已到这样的年龄，特别需要母亲的教导，她在我面前很害羞。”阿纳托利一定知道巴别茨基已不可能再回来。他想让柳芭知道这一点，并试图让她明白最好还是与他在一起。他自己认为，或是想给柳芭这样的印象：只要她愿意回到他身边，他还拥有使她尽快获释的影响力。

    五

    1939年1月，作家康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫与塞缪尔·拉斯金三个女儿中最小的热尼娅·拉斯金娜结婚。自1936年以来，他们就是文学院的同学，其恋情开始于一年前的春天。其时，西蒙诺夫与另一位同学纳塔利娅·季波特仍在婚姻之中。但那些日子，在莫斯科学生界的波希米亚圈子中，民事婚姻没有太多的实际意义。热尼娅说，西蒙诺夫以一首浪漫诗（即《五页》，最初却是为纳塔利娅写的）开始对她的追求。也许所有的年轻诗人，都会回收利用自己的旧情诗，以发动新的征服。就西蒙诺夫当时与女性的关系而言，这种做法非常典型。他性急，笨拙，很容易坠入爱河，在性经验上颇为青涩。 (600)

    热尼娅小巧玲珑——几乎是袖珍型的，五官精致，但吸引西蒙诺夫的显然还有她的精神素养。她慷慨，耐心，对朋友掏心掏肺，几乎与每一个人都能处得稔熟（继承于父亲的罕见秉性），并以自己的善良影响他人。热尼娅是文学院的学生会秘书。1937年文学院清洗会议中，西蒙诺夫曾举报多尔马托夫斯基，她却勇敢地站出来为两名外国学生辩解——他们太软弱以致不能保护自己——她觉得，他们的作品受到了教职员不公的批评。 (601) 西蒙诺夫吸引热尼娅的究竟是什么，很难确定。但她一旦爱上他，一生不变。毫无疑问，吸引她的有：他的英俊潇洒、他的诗人天赋、他的聪明才智、他的阳刚之气，以及他鹤立鸡群的领导才能。

    婚礼之后8个月，即1939年8月，他们的儿子阿列克谢出世。经过艰难的分娩，热尼娅和阿列克谢一起留在医院隔离病房好几天。西蒙诺夫给热尼娅写信：“我的小宝贝，我非常爱你。我确信，我们生活中的一切都会变得美好。”

    我跟医生谈过，他说一切都很好，小宝宝会慢慢康复。请写信告诉我，你最喜欢我们儿子的哪一方面……今天，我开始写一首新诗。现在起，我每天都要写……我亲爱的，多想听到你的声音，多想看到你无疑是面黄肌瘦的小脸……请问一下，我可否给你送来犹太牛肝酱。 (602)

    他们的儿子出生后不久，西蒙诺夫接受了作为战地记者的第一项任务。《英勇红军报》（Geroicheskaia Krasnoarmeiskaia）派他去蒙古哈勒欣河，报道日本控制的满洲与苏联的冲突。他从苏维埃军队集结之地蒙古写信给热尼娅，随信还送上新诗《照片》：

    我去旅行，没带上你的照片，
    即便没有，只要牵记，仍可见面。
    到第四天，乌拉尔已抛离得很远，
    乌拉尔呀，我不愿让好奇的邻居窥见。

    哈勒欣河战役（在日本被称为“诺门罕事件”），是1932年日本侵略中国东北和建立伪满洲国以来，一直在酝酿的边界战争的大决战。斯大林一直在担忧日本对西伯利亚和蒙古的帝国野心。蒙古在名义上是中国一部分，但从1921年以来，一直处于苏维埃的影响之下。蒙古和日占区之间一旦因边界争议而爆发小规模的冲突，斯大林便派出他的精锐部队：5.7万步兵、集结的炮兵部队、500辆坦克、苏维埃空军的最好飞机，全部听从红军后起之秀格奥尔基·朱可夫将军的指挥。苏维埃军队把关东军从日本坚持的边界哈勒欣河推回到俄国认定的边界诺门罕，即向东挺进了16公里。日本惊讶于密集的红军坦克和炮火，要求于9月16日签订停火协定。苏维埃声称获得了巨大胜利，似乎证实了红军的战无不胜——苏维埃宣传机器的说法。然而，实际情形并不那么鼓舞人心。西蒙诺夫凭亲身经验体察到，苏方的损失远远大于政府所承认的（红军声称死伤共9000人，但实际人数却高达2.4万人，其中7000人阵亡）， (604) 凄惨可怕的景象纷至沓来。西蒙诺夫对军事新闻的审查感到沮丧，想通过自己的诗歌来提供较为真实的画面。《坦克》一诗讲述一排苏军士兵，在来之不易的战斗胜利中遭受了重大损失。士兵留下的已遭摧毁的坦克，在诗人眼中，成了他们英勇牺牲的丰碑。西蒙诺夫的政治上司恰好是弗拉基米尔·斯塔夫斯基，他阻止了该诗的发表。他曾是作家协会领导，还在1937年训斥过西蒙诺夫的“反苏”言论。他告诫西蒙诺夫，应该提供对战争的乐观瞻望，来积极配合自己肩负的宣传任务。为此，斯塔夫斯基建议他在结尾处，以一辆全新的坦克来替换已遭摧毁的。 (605)

    与日占区的边界冲突，更加强了斯大林对腹背受敌的恐惧，担心同时卷入反轴心国的两场战争。1939年春季，希特勒的军队开进捷克斯洛伐克，并没受到英国或法国的激烈反对。这两个国家仍在安抚希特勒，在斯大林看来，这无疑是在鼓励纳粹和日本向苏联发起侵略。尽管法国和英国仍在继续与苏维埃政府的谈判，以联手抵抗纳粹对东欧和波罗的海的侵略，但捷克斯洛伐克危机向斯大林显示，西方列强并不真诚行事。整个1939年的春天，英国和法国以波兰不愿让苏维埃军队越界作为借口，拖延与苏维埃的谈判。他们只希望苏联能在外交上阻止纳粹，但还不愿与苏联签署军事协定。与此同时，德国人却向苏维埃政府暗送秋波，因为如要发动计划中的入侵波兰，苏联的中立是不可或缺的。他们提出，把东欧划分成两个势力范围，让苏联获得波兰东部和波罗的海地区。到8月，斯大林不愿再等英法两国。他相信，欧洲战争迫在眉睫，苏联无法抵抗纳粹德国，特别是在那么多苏军驻在满洲的时刻。他认为没有其他选择，只得与希特勒达成协议。1939年8月23日，斯大林与希特勒德国签订了臭名昭著的《苏德互不侵犯条约》，说服他的是那些1939年的突发事件，而不是许多人以为的长远规划。苏维埃领导人认为，该协定提供了喘息的时间，让苏联武装自己，也能在东欧和波罗的海地区创建起有效的缓冲地带。斯大林在两大势力——在他眼中都是反苏的西方资本主义列强和法西斯国家——的交战中保持中立，希望看到这些国家在漫长冲突中相互耗尽，反有可能激起当地的革命（宛如第一次世界大战激起了俄罗斯1917年的革命）。他告诉共产国际：“如果他们打得精彩，相互削弱，我们并不反对[战争]。” (606)

    德国获得了苏维埃的中立，9月1日入侵波兰西部。两天后，英国和法国向德国宣战。不久，按照《苏德互不侵犯条约》中将东欧分为德区和苏区的秘密协议，红军进入波兰东部。苏联进占波兰之后，又开始向波罗的海国家和芬兰施压，要求它们接受领土变更和苏联军事基地的进驻。爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚和立陶宛决定妥协，签署了《国防互助条约》，让苏联红军占领他们的领土。内务人民委员会的有关部门，伴随入侵的苏维埃军队，实施了相应的逮捕和处决：1.5万波兰战俘和7000名其他囚犯在斯摩棱斯克附近的卡廷森林，遭到内务人民委员会枪决；至少有100万“反苏维埃分子”被逐出波兰和波罗的海地区。芬兰却不愿俯首臣服，拒绝了苏维埃越境设立军事基地的要求。苏维埃在1939年11月向芬兰发动进攻，由于有先前在满洲、波兰、波罗的海的胜利，觉得自己稳操胜券。结果，对芬兰的战争却一再败北。苏维埃军队没做冬季战斗的准备，又无法攻破芬兰的坚强防御。4个月内，12.6万苏军阵亡，近30万苏军受伤。后援大军最终突破芬兰防线，迫使芬兰人求和。 (607)

    对于西蒙诺夫乃至世界各地众多共产主义者来说，《苏德互不侵犯条约》无疑是意识形态上的一大冲击。反法西斯斗争是共产主义团队精神和合理性的基石。西蒙诺夫在20世纪70年代回忆：“我这一代——希特勒1933年上台前后，我们当中刚满18岁的人——始终生活在将与德国开战的等待之中。对我们来说，那场战争开始于1933年，而不是1941年。”就这一代人而言，西班牙内战显得特别重要。一个原因是，他们太年轻，错过了激发他们英雄梦想的俄国内战；另一原因是，他们热切地相信，西班牙内战只是共产主义和法西斯主义之间终极大战的揭幕，大战的高潮将是苏维埃和纳粹德国之间的殊死搏斗。西蒙诺夫回忆：“在哈勒欣河，这场大战不再是虚拟的，不再是我们预料中的未来事件，而是我们亲眼目睹的。”西蒙诺夫听到《苏德互不侵犯条约》的消息时身在蒙古的哈勒欣河，脑海中充满了苏维埃军队与日本军队的血腥战斗。他最初认为，这是一条务实的策略，可以保证德国不会“在我们背后发起致命一击”。他甚至欢迎苏维埃入侵波兰和波罗的海地区，视之为反对德国军事扩张的必要举措。但在道义上，他却感到困惑。他觉得，该协议背叛了欧洲，背叛了共产主义对抗暴君、保护弱者的承诺。他特别不舒服的是意识形态的新秩序：对纳粹德国的批评突然变得不被接受。西蒙诺夫回忆：“他们仍是相同的法西斯分子，但我们再也不能写出或说出对他们的批评。” (608)

    这种内在冲突显现于西蒙诺夫的文学作品，特别是他第一个重要剧本《我城一少年》（A Young Man from Our Town），写于1940年秋天，其时他刚从哈勒欣河返回。该剧讲述一名性情急躁的年轻红军军官，名叫谢尔盖，曾是共青团积极分子，从西班牙内战返回俄罗斯后，又志愿去哈勒欣河参战。《我城一少年》呼吁人们拿起武器，反对法西斯主义，似乎在唤起观众对纳粹德国的敌意。但西蒙诺夫回忆，由于希特勒和斯大林的条约，这些情绪变得不便明确表述出来。1941年3月，该剧在列宁共青团剧院首演，只是让演员在朗读有反德含意的台词时赋予更多情感，以表达他们对该条约的反感。 (609)

    该剧还引出另一冲突，比较私密。主人公的原型是西蒙诺夫在文学院的朋友，即诗人米哈伊尔·卢科宁（1918—1976年），曾参与对芬兰的战争。卢科宁只比西蒙诺夫小3岁，却被认为是不同时代的苏维埃诗人，主要原因是他出生于1917年之后。他出身于无产阶级家庭，身上没有旧文化的印记，即大革命之前的知识分子文化。而西蒙诺夫的同辈，却躲不开这样的标签。西蒙诺夫将卢科宁理想化了：这位年轻诗人，曾在斯大林格勒的拖拉机厂工作，1937年加入文学院，体现了“苏维埃和无产阶级作家”的理想。西蒙诺夫一直以此为自己的努力方向。1939年，西蒙诺夫把《我城一少年》的草稿交给剧作家阿希诺戈诺夫过目，后者喜欢此剧，但认为它的主人公应有一个姓。西蒙诺夫一时有些茫然，不知取什么姓好。阿希诺戈诺夫便问，假如能有选择，西蒙诺夫希望给自己取什么姓。也许阿希诺戈诺夫看出，西蒙诺夫已在主人公身上倾注了自己本想拥有的全部素质。西蒙诺夫没有片刻的犹豫，即刻回答希望自己的姓是卢科宁。基于此，他便以“卢科宁”命名他剧本中的主人公。但卢科宁本人并不高兴：“如果我写关于足球运动员的剧本，把他叫做西蒙诺夫，你会作何感想？” (610)

    《我城一少年》的女主角也有作者的个人偏好，那是特意为瓦伦蒂娜·谢罗娃写的。她是苏维埃银幕和舞台的明星，西蒙诺夫为她神魂颠倒，无可救药。他第一次看到瓦伦蒂娜，是在列宁共青团剧院的演出当中。其时，他从哈勒欣河回来不久，虽然已婚，知道很难赢得她的芳心，但还是向该剧院呈上了《我城一少年》，以图接近瓦伦蒂娜。戏中，女主角是瓦伦蒂娜的再现——不是她现实生活中的形象，而是西蒙诺夫希望她应该展现的形象（信赖他人、有爱心、有耐心、宽容）。剧中的主人公谢尔盖·卢科宁，也是西蒙诺夫希望自己应该展现的形象（比现实中的自己更阳刚、更勇敢、更苏维埃化）。这两个文学形象的原型，即理想中的瓦伦蒂娜和西蒙诺夫，频频出现于他20世纪40年代几乎所有的诗歌、剧本和小说。

    瓦伦蒂娜年轻、漂亮，又是著名的寡妇和电影明星，但有一段易受攻击的秘史。她父亲瓦西里·波洛维克是水利工程师，来自乌克兰东部的哈尔科夫地区。1930年，当时瓦伦蒂娜13岁，瓦西里在工业清洗中于莫斯科被捕，被送进劳改营，之后于1935年获释，到1937年再次被捕，判处8年，在索洛韦茨基劳改营服刑。所有这一切，都得到瓦伦蒂娜母亲的精心掩盖。她是莫斯科卡梅尔尼剧院的著名女演员，瓦伦蒂娜在那里度过童年，扮演过所有重要的小女孩角色。母亲将瓦伦蒂娜的乌克兰的姓“波洛维克”，改成俄罗斯的姓“波洛维科娃”，设法抹去所有乌克兰的痕迹。瓦伦蒂娜从小长大，否认父亲的所有信息（以后几年中，她还声称从小到大从没见过父亲）。直到1959年（他从索洛韦茨基劳改营获释的15年之后），她才鼓起勇气与他见面，而且是出于他的主动。 (611)

    瓦伦蒂娜在1935年加入共青团，很快迷住了该组织领导人亚历山大·科萨尔耶夫。他偏爱年轻女演员是尽人皆知的，又在掌控莫斯科列宁共青团剧院，很容易遂愿。科萨尔耶夫极力推动这位年轻漂亮门生的事业，自己却在共青团领导人的大清洗中落马，被捕于1938年11月（后来被枪决）。斯大林指责他们未能在共青团内部深挖“反革命分子”。科萨尔耶夫被捕前不久，斯大林曾在克里姆林宫宴会中趋前与他碰杯，并在他耳边低语：“叛徒！我要杀了你！”守护神的被捕，使瓦伦蒂娜陷入严重困境，当初因科萨尔耶夫而被抛弃的前男友，妒火中烧，趁机举报她为“反革命”。她被要求出席戏剧工作者联盟的清洗会议，自作解释，并回答父亲被捕一事，为了避免被逐，还必须发表背弃声明。 (612)

    到最后，搭救瓦伦蒂娜的是她的新任丈夫，即著名的飞行员阿纳托利·谢罗夫，她与他相遇于科萨尔耶夫安排的宴会。在苏维埃的英雄神殿中，飞行员的地位非常突出。象征苏联军事实力和进展的尤其是空军，激发许多年轻男子加入军队的也是飞机的魅力。谢罗夫以英俊、利落、健康的“俄罗斯”外貌和完美的无产阶级出身，变成了极富宣传效应的理想人物。他在西班牙内战中的功绩是传奇性的，遇到瓦伦蒂娜时，已是全国闻名的英雄和名人。他是最受尊敬的飞行员之一，深受克里姆林宫的喜爱。第一次见面后的第10天，他们即举行了婚礼，搬进新近腾出的豪华公寓——原属叶戈罗夫元帅，因牵连于图哈切夫斯基公审而被捕。他们享受斯大林精英的奢侈生活，深夜出席克里姆林宫的派对和酒会。但灾难降临于结婚一周年纪念日，阿纳托利在一次空难中丧生，发生事故的细节不甚清楚，只知道谢罗夫和他的战友波利纳·奥西佩科在恶劣天气中低空飞行。两名飞行员获得国家级荣誉，下葬于克里姆林宫墙旁。4个月后，即1939年9月，瓦伦蒂娜产下阿纳托利的儿子，以父亲的名字命名。她作为军事英雄的遗孀，深受苏维埃领导人的保护，有助于她在电影界的崛起。她第一个重要角色，即卖座电影《性格女孩》（A Girl With Character，1939年）中的女主角，是专为她打造的。斯大林也成了她的倾慕者之一，在自己60大寿的克里姆林宫宴会上，特地向两个著名飞行员（阿纳托利·谢罗夫和瓦莱里·契卡洛夫）的遗孀敬酒，她们当时都坐在边远桌子的尾部。然后，斯大林邀请瓦伦蒂娜到自己所在的桌子与他碰杯。她的手颤抖得厉害，以致洒了酒。据瓦伦蒂娜说，斯大林捏了捏她的手，平静地说：“别担心，不要紧。镇静点，谢罗娃同志，我们会支持你的。” (613)

    到1940年夏天，西蒙诺夫爱上瓦伦蒂娜，为她神魂颠倒。但是她保持冷淡，仍沉浸在丈夫去世的悲痛之中——她还有自己的宝贝儿子，也不想鼓励西蒙诺夫这个也有同龄幼儿的已婚者。西蒙诺夫、热尼娅和阿列克谢当时住在祖博夫广场上的拉斯金公寓。热尼娅虽然还没充分觉察丈夫对这位漂亮女演员的激情，但也不可能对他经常不归家视而不见。 (614) 整整一年，他们的婚姻不即不离，西蒙诺夫追求着他的新浪漫，但效果不佳。西蒙诺夫并不是通常吸引瓦伦蒂娜的那种人，他的殷勤献得太辛苦，他过于严肃、枯燥，缺乏她以前的追求者的风度和信心。他们要比西蒙诺夫更为成功，更有权势。在《我城一少年》的第一次彩排中，西蒙诺夫征询谢罗娃对此剧的评论。她当着大家的面说，这只是“一部拙劣的剧本”。即使如此，也阻止不了他的追求。他向她频频赠送礼物，为她量体裁衣创作相关的剧本角色，最重要的是送诗给她，包括回收利用的：

    我去旅行，没带上你的照片，
    相反，我抒写有关你的歌唱。
    我的诗源于内心的悲伤
    想念你
    把你也一起带上……

    他凭借自己的笔，渐渐消磨了她的抵御。但谢罗娃屈服于他的激情，最终答应嫁给他还要等到1943年。其时，他的情诗《等着我吧》，让西蒙诺夫一跃而成苏联最受喜爱的诗人，并在克里姆林宫享有真正的影响力。通过《等着我吧》一诗，西蒙诺夫和谢罗娃变得家喻户晓。该诗激励了千千万万的人，在战争中不畏艰辛，战斗到底。但没人知道他们的婚姻所达成的政治目的，以及被西蒙诺夫抛弃的前妻和幼儿。 (615)

    [1] 他们的父亲帕维尔·布拉特是列宁格勒军事政治学院的政治经济学家，母亲尼娜是工程师兼地质学家。
    [2] 依达接受BBC电影《斯大林之手》（The Hand of Stalin，1989年）的采访。
    [3] 共产主义政权倾塌后，柳芭成为教会的积极成员，出版了有关父亲生涯的书籍[L. 捷丘耶娃，《一名东正教神父的生涯》（Zhizn’pravoslavnogo sviashchennika），彼尔姆，2004年]。
    [4] 叶丽萨维塔没有母亲的照片，直到20世纪90年代初她收到前克格勃档案馆所存的她母亲的档案。
    [5] 战争于1941年6月爆发后，在监狱区域服刑的犯人，被迫继续于营房定居地生活和工作。因此，在1938年获刑3年的囚犯，要等到1945年才能从阿克莫林斯克劳改营获释。
    [6] 贝利亚当时担任格鲁吉亚首都的党领导，亲自给叶夫根尼上刑，并执行枪决。克捷万是登捷时·阿布拉达兹的电影《忏悔》（Repentance，1984年）中克捷万·巴拉泰利的角色原型。

    第六章 “等着我吧”（1941—1945）

    一

    1941年6月，列昂尼德·马赫纳茨在他外祖父母的家里度假，那是在白俄罗斯的克里切耶夫小镇，离苏波边境600公里。那年夏天，莫斯科的气温居高不下，让人窒息。他父母自己无法脱身，便让他离开首都，独身一人来此度假。列昂尼德的父亲弗拉基米尔是莫斯科煤气托拉斯的主管，负责向苏维埃首都供应天然气，由于需要向党领导呈交一份万一发生战争的能源预案，不得不留在莫斯科。外祖父母的房子坐落在克里切耶夫镇的边缘，已能看到厚密的橡木林和广袤的牧场。这是一栋朴实的小木房，在整个苏联西部地区非常普遍，附有养猪的小院和栽满苹果树的花园，房主大都是小农、工人和商贩。

    6月22日的凌晨，星期日，德国庞大的入侵部队向苏联发起总攻击，位于西部边疆的克里切耶夫镇没有任何防御计划，因为苏维埃领导对战争全无准备。像克里切耶夫镇一样的其他城镇，对将临的入侵没有一丝预感。一直到了那天中午，莫洛托夫方才在电台上以嗫嚅的声音宣布开战。之后3天中，电台是克里切耶夫镇唯一有关战争的消息来源。然后在6月26日，没有来自苏维埃当局的任何警报，克里切耶夫镇遭到德国飞机的狂轰滥炸。一场浩劫降临小镇，居民纷纷逃进树林，牛和猪四下狂奔，大街上尸体横陈。

    列昂尼德的母亲玛丽亚，在一片混乱中赶到克里切耶夫镇。她在入侵的第一天离开莫斯科，期望在被德国军队杀死之前救出家人。此时，弗拉基米尔恰好出差，视察列宁格勒地区，要到6月底才能返回莫斯科。所以，玛丽亚只得单枪匹马，设法赶到已在遭受猛烈空袭的斯摩棱斯克，但搭乘不到驶向苏维埃前线的西行列车。玛丽亚只好朝西南方向徒步120公里，4天后抵达克里切耶夫镇，一路上都是反方向撤离的士兵和平民。列昂尼德回忆：“她到达时蓬头垢面，几近全身漆黑，满是灰尘和污垢，因长途跋涉而筋疲力尽。”

    克里切耶夫镇的居民匆匆收拾财物，朝东逃难。第一批逃走的包括该镇将近一半人口的2000名犹太人，他们忧心忡忡于听闻的纳粹暴行。接着出走的是共产党人，对入侵的德军存有同样的恐惧。马赫纳茨一家，作为资深苏维埃官员的亲属，必须尽快逃走。玛丽亚希望丈夫会来找自己，因此耽误了家人的出逃。7月16日，即德军占领克里切耶夫镇的前一天，她仍没有弗拉基米尔的消息，只好先给莫斯科写信，再用马车载上细软，带着列昂尼德和父母沿乡间小路缓慢向东移动，以避开专炸主要公路的德国飞机。她不知道，弗拉基米尔正坐在专职司机的轿车中火速赶来。列昂尼德判断：“他离开斯摩棱斯克，疾驰在公路上，与我们失之交臂时相隔不过几公里。”弗拉基米尔到达克里切耶夫镇时正好看到德军进镇，从索兹河对岸的草地，可看到镇上木屋熊熊燃烧，也能听到尖叫和枪声。他以为家人将遭屠杀，试图过河，徒步前去营救，但受到撤下来的苏维埃军队的拦阻。他猜想，家人可能已经遇难，只好回到莫斯科，没想到第二天就收到了妻子的来信：她会去克里切耶夫镇以东的布良斯克地区，再转去有亲戚可投靠的斯大林格勒。玛丽亚认为，那里会比莫斯科更为安全，因为有传闻说莫斯科很快将落入德军之手。回到莫斯科反而变成了弗拉基米尔的自我毁灭。不久，他因“失败主义言论和散播恐慌”的罪名而被捕，判处劳改10年。他曾与莫斯科煤气托拉斯的同事交谈，言及自己在前线亲眼目睹的混乱。战争爆发后的头几个月里，这样的谈话导致多人被捕，因为苏维埃当局在拼命压制有关军事灾难的消息。莫斯科的内务人民委员会将马赫纳茨的被捕，编造成市主要能源官员的“托派阴谋”，逮捕了数十人。弗拉基米尔很想让妻子知道自己的下落，但要等到秋天——他在赴西伯利亚的漫长旅程中，从火车窗口扔出一封信，上面写有妻子在斯大林格勒的地址。一位农民路过捡起，将之付邮：

    我的亲人们！我还活着，什么都好。客观情况不允许我早点给你们写信。不用为我担心，照顾好你们自己。玛丽亚，我的爱人，你将会很辛苦，但不要放弃希望。我正去西伯利亚，我是无辜的，等我，我会回来的。 (616)

    德国的攻击如此强悍迅猛，把苏维埃军队打得措手不及。斯大林忽略了德国准备入侵的情报，甚至把确认庞大德军在边境集结的最后通报，也当做英国引诱苏联参战的伎俩（竟把带来此条消息的情报人员，当做“英国间谍”拉出去枪毙了）。苏维埃的防御彻底乱了阵脚。《苏德互不侵犯条约》签订之后，苏联的旧防线已被放弃，另在新占领的波罗的海地区匆匆建起的新防线，几乎没有重炮、无线电设备、布雷区，根本挡不住德军先锋的19个装甲师和15个摩托化步兵师。苏维埃增援部队冲向前线，以堵塞豁口，但遭到德军坦克和飞机的沉重打击，制空权早已落入德军之手。到6月28日，即入侵后的第6天，德军以巨大的钳形运动，一方面穿越白俄罗斯，占领苏维埃境内300公里的明斯克；另一方面在北部，穿越立陶宛和拉脱维亚，直逼列宁格勒。

    康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫亲眼目睹了白俄罗斯阵线的混乱。战争开始时，他作为军报记者，前往第3集团军政治部报到——地处苏波边境的格罗德诺城附近。他搭乘列车在6月26日一早抵达鲍里索夫城，但通向明斯克的铁路线正在遭受狂轰滥炸。西蒙诺夫找到一名司机，用汽车把他送去明斯克，但很快遇上撤退的苏维埃溃军。德国飞机从头顶飞过，以机枪扫射地面上的部队，并朝大路投掷炸弹。士兵们纷纷逃入树林。一名军官站在大路中间叫喊，如果他们不转身，他就要开枪了，但士兵们根本不予理睬。树林里挤满了士兵和平民，尽量躲避盘旋于树林上空、不断朝下扫射的德国飞机。西蒙诺夫自己也险些丧命，一架被击中的德国飞机坠落，撞死他身边好几个人。它飞得如此之低，就在树林之上，他都能看到德国飞行员的脸。天黑之后，他才跌跌撞撞回到大路，找到一名政工人员，“一个胡子拉碴的年轻人，头戴船形帽，身穿冬大衣，不知何故却手持铁锹”。西蒙诺夫介绍自己是记者，打听去往前方总部的方向。该军官说：“什么总部？你没看到这里发生的事？” (617)

    西蒙诺夫随军队一起撤回斯摩棱斯克。一路上都是士兵和平民——妇女、儿童、老人，其中很多是犹太人——全部向东，各种类型的大车，还有背上家当的徒步逃难者。7月初，他经过什克洛夫和奥尔沙——“安静的农村小镇”，住有很多犹太家庭，包括他妻子的亲戚拉斯金家。他在什克洛夫镇停下要水喝，一名惊惶失措的犹太人问他应否逃离。西蒙诺夫劝他们留下，并声称德军抵达什克洛夫镇之前，就会被红军击溃。几天后，德国人占领什克洛夫镇，杀死几乎所有的犹太居民，共约6000名男子、妇女和儿童，枪杀后全部埋入镇外的土坑。7月16日，德国攻下奥尔沙城，着手建立犹太人聚居区。到1943年，那里的大多数犹太人都被运去纳粹死亡集中营。也有一些人设法跑走，加入红军，例如在奥尔沙行医的塞缪尔·拉斯金的弟弟雅可夫。

    西蒙诺夫回顾1941年的灾难事件，逐渐省悟到其根源就在斯大林政权。20世纪50年代，他开始写战争巨著《生者与死者》（The Living and the Dead，1959年）时已经想通，责任都在斯大林——不单是他不了解情况，没在1941年积极备战；更重要的是他的恐怖统治，制造了这么多的恐惧和不信任，以致苏联在自卫中根本无法统一行动。西蒙诺夫当时没看到这一点——他给什克洛夫镇犹太人的建议，便是他相信宣传的确凿证据——但从1942年起，他开始在战争日记（后来成为《生者与死者》的素材）中面对这些令人不安的想法。他越来越清楚，苏维埃军队在1941年的根本缺陷是1937至1938年的军队清洗所营造的气氛。他看到，大恐怖破坏了军官的权威，使他们在作出军事决策、采取主动行动时不愿承担责任，以逃避上级的处罚和在旁监视的政委的举报。他们被动地等待总是姗姗来迟的上级命令，无法随机应变，以改善战场上的军事形势。 (619)

    当然在战争年代（或在1956年“解冻”之前的任何时候），这些想法是不可公之于众的。西蒙诺夫写在日记中的，不可能在红军主要报纸《红星报》上登出，他从1941年7月起担任该报的记者。战争一旦爆发，审查愈益加强。战争开始后第3天，就成立了苏联新闻社（Sovinformbiuro），以控制所有报刊和电台的报道。政府试图向公众隐瞒军事灾难，操控新闻，以鼓舞士气。像西蒙诺夫那样的记者，即使要写前线的挫折，其写出的报道也应有积极和乐观的精神。他们所写出的，几乎总是受到审查员的删减或修改。

    西蒙诺夫当时面临一个特别为难的处境。7月19日，即在德国占领斯摩棱斯克3天后，他抵达莫斯科，成了从白俄罗斯前线返回的第一名记者。首都居民对军事灾难的程度一无所知，为了避免造成恐慌，斯摩棱斯克沦陷的新闻遭到封锁（直到8月13日，苏维埃军队的反攻失败，方才发布这一消息）。莫斯科人不断向西蒙诺夫询问有关军事形势的问题，但他不能如实回答，否则像马赫纳茨一样，就会有“失败主义言论和散播恐慌”的风险。所以，他决定缄口不言，将自己的抑郁深藏心底。他在日记中指出：“与他很亲近的人误以为那是他筋疲力尽的征状”。西蒙诺夫的新闻报道，尝试在他所看到的事件中努力寻找正面意义。他回忆：“要写实际上发生的，似乎是不可能的。不仅因为它不会见报，还因为我的内心”不愿接受如此黑暗的结局，亟想在灾难中找到一丝希望。他所专注的事件，发生于撤回斯摩棱斯克的混乱之中。西蒙诺夫看到两名男子，一名上尉和一名下士，在撤退的人潮面前，反而逆流而上，奔赴前线。他们的排只剩下两人，其余的都已葬身于德军的轰炸。在西蒙诺夫眼中，驱使这两名男子的似乎是先天的爱国义务。随着时间的推移，他从中找到未来苏维埃胜利的种子。 (620)

    苏维埃媒体不能提供任何可靠的消息，谣言满天飞，人们开始恐慌。有人称：政府已经逃离，总参谋部里有叛徒，苏维埃领导已决定放弃莫斯科和列宁格勒。甚至还有传言称，开始于7月中旬的德军对莫斯科的轰炸，其带队人竟是著名的苏维埃飞行员西吉兹蒙德·列瓦涅夫斯基——1937年，他驾驶一架飞机想飞越北极直达美国，却从此销声匿迹。记者韦尔日比茨基在日记中记录了在莫斯科街头与一位充满活力的老人的对话。老人说：“为什么没人在电台上给我们讲话？他们应该有所表示——不管是好是坏。但我们全蒙在鼓里，必须动脑筋自作猜测。”斯大林未在公众场合现身，更加强了这种不确定感。很显然，在战争爆发的最初几天，他经历了某种程度的精神崩溃：把自己锁在乡间别墅，对一切都不感兴趣。他回到克里姆林宫是在7月1日，两天之后，才向全国发表他的第一场战争讲话，其间不时停下喝水，像是处于痛苦之中。斯大林把苏维埃人民称作“我的兄弟姐妹们，我的朋友们”，呼吁他们为“生死攸关的斗争”而团结起来，将之形容为一场“整个苏维埃国家的战争”。这是斯大林第一次以兄弟之间、包罗全民的字眼来界定苏维埃人民，不再提阶级斗争或意识形态。西蒙诺夫回忆该讲话留给自己和前线战士的印象：“已有很长一段时间没人那样与我们讲话了。这些年来，我们因缺乏友谊而深受危害。我记得，那个讲话中，让我们感动得热泪盈眶的是这几个字——‘我的朋友们’。” (621)

    即使斯大林的讲话激奋人心，战争的突然爆发见证了公开评论的大爆炸，其中也有针对苏维埃政权的批评，诱因可能是不确定感，也可能是恐惧的解脱。10月18日，德军离首都仅几英里，韦尔日比茨基在日记中写道：“仅在不久之前，听到如此的对白，肯定会因此走上审讯法庭。”这种不满情绪，多半来自农民和工人。他们所批评的是：对战争准备不足，劳动纪律过于严格，口粮减少，强制征兵，党领导纷纷飞到后方，让普通百姓面对侵略。在战争的头6个月，列宁格勒一半党员飞走。工人的反苏情绪如此强烈，有的甚至期盼德国胜利的前景。战初几个月发生了许多工人的罢工和示威，仿佛标志着向1917年革命氛围的回归。1941年10月，伊万诺沃地区的党领导试图平息示威游行的人群，罢工领袖向工人们高呼：“不要听他们的！他们什么都不知道！他们欺骗我们已经23年了。”在工厂会议上，工人不怕将战争的爆发和前线的失败归罪于共产党人。根据内务人民委员会的监测，许多工人和农民欢迎入侵，因为这会推翻苏维埃政权。普遍认为，害怕德国人的只有犹太人和共产党人。 (622)

    政府向“散播恐慌者”宣战，以对付这公开的反对。数千人因随意谈论前线的战情（“失败主义”）而被捕，许多人被枪决。罗扎·韦托诺夫斯基在开战第3天被捕，被控以叛国罪。她抵达牢房时才发现，她只是因言获罪的众多妇女之一。“这个说，德国军队更为强大；那个说，我们的庄稼收成不好；另一个说，我们像奴隶一样在集体农庄工作。”这些妇女大都是普通的工人和农民。伊琳娜·舍博夫―涅费多维奇，7月30日被捕于列宁格勒。一星期之前，她在疫苗学院的党员同事检举她“制造恐慌和散布谣言”。其实，她所做的只是告诉朋友斯摩棱斯克遭到轰炸，而且她是从苏联新闻社广播那里听来的。她被判处7年，送去哈巴罗夫斯克市附近的劳改营，1946年死在那里。伊琳娜的丈夫和女儿一直不知道她的遭遇，只猜测她死于列宁格勒的轰炸之中。到1994年，他们才获悉她死亡的真相。 (623)

    7月20日，斯摩棱斯克沦陷后，斯大林就任于最高统帅部，委任自己为国防人民委员。他派前国防部长铁木辛哥元帅指挥西线的反攻，以夺回斯摩棱斯克。有一段时间，德军放缓了朝莫斯科的挺进，部分原因是德军重心已转向南方，意在攫取乌克兰的沃土、矿山、工业。希特勒深信经济是胜利的关键，控制这些资源可帮助第三帝国立于不败之地。8月，希特勒集中力量攻克乌克兰，这让红军在斯摩棱斯克——莫斯科的战线获得进展。9月6日，苏维埃军队短暂收复斯摩棱斯克的郊外，但因缺乏基本的军事装备而不得不后撤。在北面，德军在9月25日抵达拉多加湖，有效围困了列宁格勒。希特勒为了保存北方集团军以便发动莫斯科之战，决定对列宁格勒围而不攻，企图饿死它的居民。从严格的军事意义看，直接决定战争命运的是莫斯科和南部的战事，而不是列宁格勒。但作为沙俄帝国和革命的发源地，又作为俄罗斯的欧洲价值和文化的堡垒，列宁格勒具有巨大的象征意义。这有助于解释苏维埃最高司令部的拒绝放弃，以及大多数居民的留守。1941年秋，列宁格勒几乎所有的食品和燃料的供应都被切断（到1944年1月解围，死于疾病或饥饿的也许有100万人，即战前人口的三分之一）。与此同时，德军在南方的挺进也放慢下来，因为苏维埃军队的大部驻扎于此，以保卫乌克兰的工业和食品的丰富资源。德国精心策划的巨大的钳形夹击运动，包围了基辅及其东部腹地，苏维埃军队拼死抵抗数星期，近50万士兵阵亡或被俘。德军终于在9月19日攻克基辅，尽管还有不少巷战。基辅沦陷，列宁格勒被困，希特勒从10月起，开始集中力量前去攻打苏维埃首都。他发誓，莫斯科将被完全摧毁，其遗址将会变成一个人工大湖。 (624)

    由于德军迅速席卷苏联各地，数以百万的家庭各奔东西，不少亲友羁留在沦陷区。入侵开始时，许多儿童仍在夏令营，在德军到达之前赶不回去与家人团聚。几十年后，父母仍想通过公共机构和广告来找到他们。数千名儿童，或在孤儿院，或在全国流浪，或加入儿童帮派或红军组织（据估计，多达2.5万名儿童在战争时期跟随军队一起行军）。

    1941年，尤里·斯特雷勒兹基12岁，生活在列宁格勒的孤儿院。父亲于1937年被捕，母亲流放到列宁格勒和莫斯科之间的维什尼―沃洛察克镇。战争爆发时，孤儿院疏散到高尔基城附近的阿尔扎马斯城。尤里在旅途中跳下火车，擅自跑掉。他不满孤儿院生活，加入了专门偷窃铁路旅客的儿童帮派，很快又产生反感，便去自首。警方把他交给内务人民委员会，他们派他去阿尔扎马斯的军用机场充任学徒。驻扎在那里的工程师，把他当做福星收养，送给他酒和香烟，替他与本单位的姑娘们牵线。1942年的春天，该地20位工程师调到第比利斯，把他也带上了。尤里早就恳求带队的战士们允许自己随行。他知道自己出生于格鲁吉亚首都，只不过家人在他年幼时就离开该市。他还记得，自己还是一个小孩的时候曾去那里探望自己的教父母，而父母被捕后，姐姐又搬去那里与教父母同住。在赴第比利斯的旅程中，战士们把尤里窝藏起来。他没有旅行证件，如被发现，就会被捕。尤里回忆：

    他们待我很好，为了把我带走，冒了很大的风险，但没人抱怨，还让我分吃他们的口粮。他们爱我，怜悯我的无家可归。快到斯大林格勒时，我们的列车被拦下检查。两名内务人民委员会的警卫要求看我的证件，听说没有，就要拘留我。但战士们坚持我是他们中的一员，不愿把我交出去。到最后，这两名警卫同意让我走，代价是100克[伏特加]。

    到了第比利斯，尤里与战士们分手，在城市中乱转，希望能认出教父母的住宅。后来，他去了城市办事处，获得自己出生证的副本，以此作为开端，经过一系列的文件追踪，最终找到教父母。自那以后，尤里、姐姐与身为工程师的教父母得以团聚一处。尤里长大后也成为一名工程师。 (626)

    苏联西部地区的人口疏散也把家庭拆散，撤到后方的共有800万儿童。优先考虑的是从面临德国威胁的各城市抢先运走工业设施，共拆除3000座工厂运去东部——伏尔加河、乌拉尔乃至更远——从1941年6月至12月，共动用100多万节火车车厢，工厂的工人和家属也随设施一起东迁。此外，还有各式机构及其工作人员，例如政府、公共机构、大学、研究院、图书馆、博物馆、剧团和乐队。 (627)

    对于许多家庭而言，疏散一事喜忧参半。纳塔利娅·加巴耶娃11岁那年，从列宁格勒疏散到鄂木斯克城，住在属于艺术家联盟的儿童之家。身为画家的母亲留在列宁格勒，为了就近照顾丈夫谢尔盖。他曾是流放者，现住在列宁格勒附近的夏宫，在农学院工作。1941年，他搬去列宁格勒冬宫的地下室，陪伴已从博物馆退休的年老多病的父亲。另外，他每天还要去遥远的郊区，探视已与父亲离婚的生病的母亲。纳塔利娅回忆自己是一个“被宠坏的少女”，从鄂木斯克给母亲写“吓人的信件”，乞求她来与自己做伴。“我在一封信中甚至威胁，如果母亲不来，就要自己步行回到列宁格勒。”1941年9月，她遂了心愿，母亲赶到鄂木斯克。她是在德军建立封锁线之前逃离列宁格勒的。谢尔盖因她不在身边而饱受苦难。围城的第一周，他就病倒了，他写信给朋友诉说他想看到纳塔利娅的渴望。1941年10月，他本来有机会搭乘最后的航班之一离开列宁格勒，但临时又改变计划。作为父母的唯一支柱，他不忍心自己只身离开。谢尔盖明白，周围的人都已奄奄一息，自己也不会幸存于围城之战。1942年1月1日，他写信告诉他母亲，死前的唯一愿望就是想再看纳塔利娅一眼。5天后，德军炸弹直接命中冬宫，他在空袭中死去。纳塔利娅一生都为父亲的去世而感到愧疚。她觉得，母亲如果留在列宁格勒，有可能帮他存活下来，因此自己也是有责任的。纳塔利娅回忆：“我从小就深受这个问题的折磨：如果父母面临可怕的危险，我的力量只能救出其中之一，我会选择哪一个？我无法回答，尽量从脑海中将之驱逐，但它一再去而复返。” (628)

    玛丽安娜·福尔瑟1941年才4岁，出身于阿尔汉格尔斯克城的知识分子家庭。父亲尼古拉既是艺术家，又是音乐家；母亲维拉·杰美恩是教师，娘家人都是列宁格勒著名的教育家。他们都是囚犯，1929年相遇于索洛韦茨基监狱，又一起流放到阿尔汉格尔斯克；儿子格奥尔基生于1933年，女儿玛丽安娜生于1937年。1941年1月，尼古拉因“反苏维埃煽动”的罪名被捕，判刑10年，被送去阿尔汉格尔斯克附近的劳改营。维拉1942年死于斑疹伤寒。祖母阿纳斯塔西娅·福尔瑟一直在阿尔汉格尔斯克与他们一家同住，便接过照看玛丽安娜和她哥哥的责任。战争的第一年，阿尔汉格尔斯克的粮食供应大幅减少，几成饥荒地区，两个孩子相继病倒。到1942年春天，玛丽安娜饿得十分虚弱，以至于无法行走，夭亡似乎是早晚的事，这让阿纳斯塔西娅实在承受不住。她咨询的医生名叫吉娜·格林讷，是著名的结核病专家，建议她将孙女送给有能力抚养的人家，兴许还能救得一命。一开始，阿纳斯塔西娅拒绝了这个建议，盼望尼古拉早早从劳改营获释。等她发现他已被枪决（1942年9月），才勉强接受了那位医生的建议，将孙女送人，自己带着格奥尔基去投靠西伯利亚伊尔库茨克城的朋友。她写信给列宁格勒的杰美恩家庭：“请原谅我，求你们不要骂我。我把马琳卡[玛丽安娜]送人了，这是救她生命的唯一出路。”阿纳斯塔西娅没有其他选择：玛丽安娜身体太弱，吃不消赴伊尔库茨克的旅程，在阿尔汉格尔斯克又没有其他亲人可以照料。阿纳斯塔西娅与杰美恩家一直保持联系，但因列宁格勒围城，无法向他们移交玛丽安娜。

    收养玛丽安娜的是约瑟夫和奈莉·戈尔登施泰因夫妇，来自乌克兰东南部马里乌波尔城的犹太大家族。约瑟夫是苏维埃空军中的资深共产党人，1942年被派驻阿尔汉格尔斯克。1942年9月底，德军进袭马里乌波尔，约瑟夫飞回去想救出自己的家人，但事与愿违，他反而亲眼目睹了可怕的大屠杀。他走近自家的房子，听到从院子里传出的惨叫声，只能从远处眺望，希特勒的军队将他19个亲属排成队列，包括他的3个孩子，再挨个朝他们的头部开枪。戈尔登施泰因夫妇承受如此惨烈的创伤，亟想身边有个可以疼爱的孩子，甚至是——特别是——像玛丽安娜那样的恹恹病人，他们也愿意给予关爱，助她恢复健康。

    玛丽安娜的外祖母维拉·杰美恩写信给已在伊尔库茨克的阿纳斯塔西娅，询问收养者的名字和地址。但此时发生了一个大错：阿纳斯塔西娅写下的名字不是戈尔登施泰因（Goldenshtein），而是戈尔施泰因（Goldshtein）。等到列宁格勒的围城解除之后，维拉一家便开始寻找玛丽安娜。但戈尔登施泰因夫妇已迁至第比利斯，其在阿尔汉格尔斯克的踪迹均已消失。1946年，格奥尔基返回列宁格勒，决心留下上大学。他只有13岁，太年轻，记不起收养者戈尔登施泰因的真名实姓，也从没向杰美恩一家提及失踪的妹妹。格奥尔基让祖母留在伊尔库茨克，答应会去接她，但事实上他一次也没回去。他的祖母1957年死于当地的残疾人之家。 (629)

    戈尔登施泰因夫妇很善良，把玛丽安娜当做自己女儿一样爱护。他们知道，她的父母作为“人民公敌”被捕，她的父亲已被枪决。为了保护玛丽安娜（也许也为了保护自己），他们决定隐瞒一切，不让玛丽安娜知道生身父母的信息，但鼓励她成为像她父亲一样的音乐家（事实上，她长大后成了教师，像母亲一样）。戈尔登施泰因夫妇属于第比利斯的共产党军事机构，玛丽安娜在这优越环境中长大，接受了它的许多价值和习俗。她始终认为戈尔登施泰因夫妇是自己的父母，称呼他们“妈妈”和“爸爸”。但到11岁左右，她才开始意识到自己曾属于另一个家庭，潜藏于记忆深处的痛苦童年重又浮现。发生于少先队野营中的一起事件，似乎成了催化剂：其他孩子要去森林探险，却把玛丽安娜摒除在外，称她为“弃儿”。玛丽安娜开始慢慢拼凑自己在阿尔汉格尔斯克生活的碎片，但从不向戈尔登施泰因夫妇提及。她越来越感到自己不算“家人”，更把她内心的不满，也许还有她青春期的反叛，归罪于严厉的戈尔登施泰因夫妇，也归罪于她认为将自己抛弃的生身父母。玛丽安娜解释：

    每天晚上，爸爸都会检查我的学校功课。如果不够完美，我就不能上床睡觉……妈妈病得太重，无法保护我，她患了结核病。我13或14岁时，就要做所有的家务……父母生我的气时，我会思忖：如果我住得离阿尔汉格尔斯克不远，就会逃走，去找我的祖母[玛丽安娜不知道她已死去]。父母可能对我不满，但祖母肯定不会对我如此生气。然后，我又会想起，我其实没有真正的父母。这让我哑口无言，欲哭无泪。 (630)

    1941年10月1日，斯大林下令将政府机构，从莫斯科撤到伏尔加河边的古比雪夫城。随着轰炸的日益猛烈，莫斯科市内的恐慌四处蔓延。10月16日，有报道称，德军已突破在维亚济马镇的苏维埃防线，离首都只有几天的行军路程。火车站内外一片丑陋场面，大家都想搭上火车，朝东逃难。韦尔日比茨基报道，有人愿意支付2万卢布搭乘从莫斯科到喀山的汽车。恐慌的部分原因是基于对内战饥荒的记忆，事实上，粮食供应形势迅速变得让人绝望。所有商店前都排着长长的队，并发生广泛的抢劫，连大规模的逮捕都无法遏制。韦尔日比茨基在10月1日的日记中总结了民众的情绪：

    这种乱七八糟、普遍逃亡、偷盗猖獗、头脑中的混乱，究竟是谁造成的？人们谈论此事的公开方式，如在3天之前，肯定会导致他们被捕。排队，长龙般的排队，大家都紧张兮兮，提心吊胆。歇斯底里已从领导蔓延到群众。人们开始想起并计算所有的侮辱、压迫、不公正、官僚的欺凌和阴谋、党员的蔑视和嚣张、好大喜功的命令、剥夺、欺骗、报刊的自吹自擂。听到这一切，真是可怕，人们都在直抒胸臆。充斥着这一类情绪的城市，能坚守得住吗？ (631)

    同一天，斯大林发表电台广播，作出坚守莫斯科的承诺，这是决定性的转折点。人们奋起承担首都的防卫，与其说是出于对苏维埃政权的效忠，毋宁说是出于对莫斯科城的爱国主义。莫斯科人仍记得，当时，所有的居民都聚在城市中心——郊区几乎空无一人——似乎是由于自卫的集体冲动，或是共同抗敌的下意识需求。25万平民帮助挖掘壕沟，把食物和药品运上前线，再把负伤的士兵接回自己的家。成千上万的公民志愿军与正规军并肩作战。那些正规军也是临时组合的，既有从白俄罗斯前线撤下的残部，也有一到莫斯科马上参战的西伯利亚援军。在朱可夫将军的领导下，苏军纪律逐渐得到恢复。作为战斗新精神的象征，斯大林决定像往常一样，仍于革命纪念日（11月7日）在红场举行阅兵游行：军队方阵迈步经过列宁陵墓，直接开上前线。据莫斯科指挥官K. R. 西尼洛夫说，那次游行在扭转公众情绪上发挥了关键作用。游行前，他收到的信件大多是失败主义的，很多人想放弃莫斯科，不让居民暴露在危险之中；游行后，人们普遍表达的却是愤慨和反抗。 (632)

    这几星期孤注一掷的战斗决定了战争的结局。11月中旬，德军深深陷入冬季的淤泥和积雪之中，在马不停蹄挺进5个月后业已精疲力竭，俄罗斯的冬季让他们措手不及。他们遭受了入侵以来第一次巨大的人员伤亡。12月，苏维埃发动反攻，到4月，已把德军推回斯摩棱斯克。保卫莫斯科的胜利，大大提升了苏维埃的士气。人们开始对胜利抱有信心，不过，国家仍面临可怕的处境。到1941年底，它一共损失300万兵员，相当于开战时总兵力的一半以上；苏维埃工业的大部分已遭摧毁；仍有9000万苏联公民生活在德军占领区，将近苏维埃战前人口的一半。但莫斯科的生存是至关重要的，希特勒的军队未能攻占苏维埃首都，也就不再有击败苏联的切实的机会。

    二

    西蒙诺夫投入战斗时，胸前口袋装有瓦伦蒂娜·谢罗娃的照片，她的模样紧贴他的心脏。1941年的下半年，瓦伦蒂娜疏散到了斯维尔德洛夫斯克城，他给她寄去一封接一封的情诗。诗人爱上的其实是他在诗歌中想象的女人：

    我想说，你是我的妻子，
    不是因为可以宣称，我拥有你，
    也不是因为我们的真正关系
    长期以来遭人猜疑，众所周知。
    我既不夸奖你的美丽
    也不炫耀你已斩获的名利。
    我心满意足，一名温柔亲密的女子
    悄悄走进我的屋子。

    西蒙诺夫却没写信给自己的妻子。1941年9月，热尼娅·拉斯金娜与儿子阿列克谢、父母塞缪尔和贝尔塔、两位姐姐法尼娅和索尼娅，都疏散到乌拉尔的车里雅宾斯克城。三姐妹在车里雅宾斯克拖拉机厂工作，那是改组转而制造坦克的工厂中最大的，该城因此获得别称“坦克格勒”。索尼娅和热尼娅在采购办事处上班，而法尼娅是规范制订者（负责制订工人的生产目标和报酬率）。拉斯金一家住在两室公寓中的一间，剩下一间住着另外一户人家。法尼娅回忆，房间“虽然局促，但很温暖，相互友好，非常亲切”。西蒙诺夫的父母也疏散到了乌拉尔的莫洛托夫城。与西蒙诺夫不同，他们与热尼娅保持联系，喜欢这个儿媳妇。到12月底，西蒙诺夫得到几天新年假期，他没到车里雅宾斯克或莫洛托夫，却去了附近的斯维尔德洛夫斯克，想拜访瓦伦蒂娜。但她拒绝见面——她即将返回莫斯科——于是，他只好飞到克里米亚，那里刚刚发动了一场主攻，试图从德军手中夺回刻赤半岛。 (634)

    瓦伦蒂娜继续抵制西蒙诺夫的求爱，她的感情另有他属。她似乎与斯大林的儿子瓦西里有短暂的恋情，然后又爱上了战争英雄罗科索夫斯基将军。1942年春天，他俩相遇于莫斯科一家医院，她在作慰问演出，他在疗养战伤。罗科索夫斯基是内战时期的老兵，1937年被捕，1940年获释于布提尔基监狱，与妻女定居在基辅。战争爆发后，他被斯大林召回莫斯科，接过斯摩棱斯克附近第4军团的指挥权，参与了1941年秋天保卫莫斯科的关键战役。基辅被德军占领时，他与妻子失去联系。罗科索夫斯基相信——或愿意去相信——他已是单身，可以展开对谢罗娃的追求。他以为再也不会见到妻子了，但在他与谢罗娃相遇的两个月之后，妻子和女儿在莫斯科出现。原来，德军占领乌克兰首都之前，母女得以逃出基辅。妻子在莫斯科很快听说了丈夫和电影女演员的浪漫邂逅，不过，西蒙诺夫仍然锲而不舍。这段爱情三角关系，已成为苏维埃精英中的八卦传闻，被美其名曰“苏联”（USSR，即谢罗娃、西蒙诺夫、罗科索夫斯基的联盟）。 [1] 罗科索夫斯基的妻子决心阻止丈夫的移情别恋，便向斯大林提出抱怨。后者也不赞成他的重要将领因儿女情长而魂不守舍。1942年7月，斯大林下令罗科索夫斯基接管莫斯科南面的布良斯克方面军，必须全神贯注于战争事务。整个夏季，瓦伦蒂娜试图重温浪漫的旧梦。她已爱上英俊的将军，不顾一切飞到前线前去探望。但因有斯大林的干涉，罗科索夫斯基不愿见她。瓦伦蒂娜省悟到自己对将军的热情将得不到回报，于是对不断赠送礼物和诗歌的西蒙诺夫有所软化。她跟他上床，但仍说不爱他。有时，她还以残忍、侮辱的方式来利用他，甚至曾让他传递自己的情书给身在前线的罗科索夫斯基。 (635)

    其时，西蒙诺夫和瓦伦蒂娜的“浪漫”已变成一连串抒情诗的主题，家喻户晓。甚至在他们的恋情尚未成真时，在苏联人的文学想象中，却已是既成事实。

    这些诗歌中最有名的是《等着我吧》，写于1941年夏季，其时的西蒙诺夫距离赢得瓦伦蒂娜的芳心还很遥远：

    等着我吧——我会回来的。
    只是你要苦苦地等待，
    等到那愁煞人的黄雨
    勾起你的忧伤满怀，
    等到那大雪纷飞，
    等到那酷暑难挨
    等到别人不再把亲人盼望，
    往昔的一切，一古脑儿抛开。
    等到那遥远的他乡
    不再有家书传来，
    等到一起等待的人
    心灰意懒——都已倦怠。

    等着我吧——我会回来的，
    不要祝福那些人平安：
    他们口口声声地说——
    算了吧，等下去也是枉然！
    纵然爱子和慈母认为——
    我已不在人间，
    纵然朋友们等得厌倦，
    在炉火旁围坐，
    啜饮苦酒，把亡魂追荐……

    你可要等下去啊！千万
    不要同他们一起，
    忙着举起酒盏。
    等着我吧——我会回来的：
    死神一次次被我挫败！
    就让那不曾等待我的人
    说我侥幸——感到意外！

    那没有等下去的人不会理解——
    亏了你的苦苦等待，
    在炮火连天的战场上，
    从死神手中，是你把我拯救出来。
    我是怎样死里逃生的，
    只有你和我两个人明白——
    只因为同别人不一样，
    你善于苦苦地等待 [2] 。

    西蒙诺夫写出这些情诗，只为瓦伦蒂娜和自己，从没想到发表，因为他心里明白，它们缺乏社会主义现实主义诗歌所必需的“社会价值”。西蒙诺夫在1942年说：“我认为，这些诗句只是我的私事。”但他待在前线战壕时，曾朗诵给其他士兵听。他们或抄写下来，或记在心中，想从诗句中寻找感情上的共鸣，更鼓励西蒙诺夫向《红星报》投稿。1941年12月，西蒙诺夫回到莫斯科，他的几首诗先是在电台播放，再在《真理报》刊出。其中的《等着我吧》，获得了最为广泛的回响。这首诗在报刊上转载数百次，更被士兵和平民誊抄下来，四处流传，竟有了数百万个私人版本。随即，它又成了风行一时的流行歌曲。1942年，西蒙诺夫创作了电影剧本《等着我吧》，由瓦伦蒂娜扮演女主角，各地剧院纷纷推出舞台版本。士兵们将此诗抄写在他们的相簿和笔记本上，或珍藏在自己口袋里，以作护身符。他们还将反复吟唱的叠句，刻在坦克和卡车上，甚至自己的胳膊上。给自己心上人写信，一时找不到合适的词语，就会引用该诗的字句，以表达内心情感。心上人的回信，也会引述同样的承诺。一名女子写给前线的爱人道：“我的宝贝沃洛坚卡，好久没有收到你的来信。但我会等着你，你会回来的。”士兵们模仿《等着我吧》，经常加入自身经历的细节，写出自己的情诗。 (637)

    该诗获得巨大成功，主要原因是它表达了数百万士兵和平民的内心思绪和情感。一边是自己的生存欲望，另一边是与心上人的团聚，这首诗将这两者紧密相连。1942年5月，一队士兵写信给西蒙诺夫：

    每当你的诗在报上出现，我们团就有极大的兴奋。由于报纸的份数有限，我们会把它剪下，抄成副本，相互传诵。我们都想读到你的诗，喜欢讨论你的诗，已把《等着我吧》记在心里，它所表达的正是我们的感受。我们在家乡，都有妻子、未婚妻、女朋友。我们希望，她们会等下去，直到我们凯旋归来。 (638)

    该诗所体现的普世爱情，人人都在设计自己的独特版本——即战争背景下“你和我”的故事。对爱情的向往，只是其中的一半。该诗也提及对离别的妻子和女友的忠贞，士兵们满怀忧虑。许多士兵的歌曲对此表示担心，有一首最流行的，源于女子在男子出征后所吟唱的小曲，却在部队中获得共鸣。士兵一边唱着它，一边上战场：

    我有很多话，想对你说，

    却没吐出一个字。

    你悄悄却坚定地对我耳语：

    “除了我，不爱其他相识！”

    ……

    你去出征，不用担心，

    我会真心待你，

    你将凯旋归来，我的阿兵哥，我将把你紧紧抱在怀里！

    《等着我吧》的各式变奏也强调忠贞。来自乌拉尔的一队士兵唱道：

    我将等你，我亲爱的，

    坚定等待我们的再会。

    我等待，为乌拉尔的冬季，

    也为春天的花开……

    另一版本更添加了新的意境，如传统俄罗斯民歌中的夜莺：

    我等待，知道你会回来。

    来吧，秋天的凄风苦雨，

    我将等你，我甜蜜的夜莺，

    坚信我们的幸福欢愉。 (639)

    士兵们对不忠于前线丈夫的妻子非常苛刻。随着战争的持续，对不忠的疑神疑鬼，给越来越多的家庭带来压力。部分原因是，大多数女子不得不活在战争的现实生活中，够不上苏维埃女子的理想标准（耐心等待的女友和忠诚的妻子），即宣传影片、戏剧、《等着我吧》之类诗歌所塑造的形象。 (640)

    士兵们对不忠之妻的强烈愤慨，西蒙诺夫自己也曾卷涉其中。1943年9月，他隶属于布良斯克方面军的第3军团，其指挥官之一不幸阵亡。几天后，收到一封那位指挥官的妻子的信，来自莫斯科东北部的维丘加镇。她在信中告诉丈夫，她要出走，因为已爱上了别人。士兵打开信，感到应该作答，要西蒙诺夫代为执笔，讲出他们的心声。西蒙诺夫尚未下笔，就被派去前线的另一部门。两个月之后，他在哈尔科夫为《红星报》报道纳粹对犹太人的谋杀，忽然想起自己对士兵的承诺。西蒙诺夫仍有该女子的名字和地址，但决定不直接回信，而是写了一首诗《给维丘加女子的公开信》，让士兵的情绪有广为人知的机会。他向维丘加的党委书记解释，士兵当初曾告诉他如何给这位不忠的妻子回信，他的诗只是列举了他们的原话。 (641)

    我必须通知你

    收件人并没诵吟

    你毫无羞耻

    邮寄出的信。

    　　

    你丈夫没有收阅此信，

    你粗俗的话语没让他伤心，

    他没有退缩或失去理智，

    他也不后悔前尘。

    ……

    你前夫已经阵亡。

    一切都好，与你新人图存。

    死者不能将多余的话

    写入伤害你的信。

    活着吧，没有畏惧或内疚，

    他写不了，也就没有回音

    他不会从战场赶回你的小镇

    看你携手他人，厌故喜新。 (642)

    诗人玛格丽塔·奥列格说，《等着我吧》以及收在诗集《友与敌》（With You and Without You，1941—1945年）中的其他诗歌，其广受欢迎的关键在于它们以强烈的个人色彩表达了普世感受。西蒙诺夫战时的诗作充满了激情和爱情，这样的诗，苏维埃读者已很少看到。战争爆发之前，公和私一直作为文化和政治上的对立面。20世纪20年代和30年代，以公为本的苏联诗歌界，容不得任何亲密或私人的主题；言必称“我们”的诗歌（在描绘代表苏维埃公民的斯大林时，言必称“他”），均以伟大的集体革命为主题（曼德尔施塔姆甚至宣布，抒情诗已不适合苏维埃艺术，因为新的历史时期，不再对个人命运产生兴趣）。战时的苏维埃文化，却看到了公和私的逐步融合。诗歌变得更加私密，表现个人的主题，谈及人的情感和关系，并给自己带来了新的地位和权威。诗人谢米昂·基尔萨诺夫写道：

    战争不适合赞歌

    其大部也不适合书本，

    但我想，人民需要

    这公开日记本中的精神。

    ——《责任》，1942年

    1944年，瓦伦蒂娜与西蒙诺夫在列宁格勒前线参观

    这种审美转变的第一个重要标志，就是《等着我吧》。它唤出了一个独立于国家之外的私密世界，其创作基于个人感情，却成了千万民众的必需。到处都是战斗的噪音，譬如军官的吆喝和政委的吼叫。但人民需要诗歌，来与自己沉默的情感进行交流；也需要词语，来表达他们心中的悲伤、愤怒、仇恨、恐惧和希望。一队士兵在1945年写信给西蒙诺夫说：“你的诗活在我们的情感当中，教我们如何与人相处，尤其是女子，因此深受我们的喜爱。你独自一人说出了我们内心最深刻的想法和希望。” (643)

    除了对个人的影响，该诗的宣传效用也是显而易见的。像《等着我吧》那样的诗歌，在鼓舞士气的苏维埃运动中是强有力的武器。它们所表达的情感，有助于促进一种原始的爱国主义。它以家庭、同志友谊、爱情为中心，更为民族大团结的苏维埃概念提供了基石。据传，斯大林曾说，《等着我吧》一诗本来只应印两份（“一份给他，一份给她”），但政权很快抓住机会，充分利用该诗的声望。据红军政治部主管亚历山大·谢尔巴科夫说，由于西蒙诺夫的诗人价值，克里姆林宫甚至考虑将他调离危险之地。党领导因为他诗中暗示殉难的一节（其实只是针对瓦伦蒂娜的浪漫姿态）虚惊一场。谢尔巴科夫特地奉命劝他格外小心。《等着我吧》获得成功之后，西蒙诺夫迅速晋升到苏维埃文化机构的顶端。他赢得了1942年的斯大林文学奖，1943年再次夺魁，因而获得莫斯科一套豪华公寓，坐落在列宁格勒公路上（他之前来莫斯科都住在《红星报》编辑部），并且人生第一次雇起了女佣。他变得富裕，因为他的新闻工作和诗歌都有丰厚报酬，他在前线又无处花钱，他的个人开支大多是公费的。只有寄钱给热尼娅当做儿子的赡养费，或资助父母时，才需要动用自己的版权收入。 (644)

    西蒙诺夫的名气和财富愈益上升，在瓦伦蒂娜面前，变得更具吸引力。她一直偏爱有权有势的男人，好为自己的污点履历寻求保护伞。由于西蒙诺夫的鼎助，瓦伦蒂娜获得了多部电影和戏剧的主要角色。到1943年春天，苏维埃报刊经常报道这一对魅力四射的情侣，有时还在前线并肩出现。《等着我吧》中分离两地的恋人，在现实生活中却获得了团圆。对政权来说，这正是鼓舞军队士气的良机，不可错过。但在事实上，两人要到1943年10月才缔结连理。所有证据显示，瓦伦蒂娜同意嫁给西蒙诺夫只是结婚前不久的事。其时，西蒙诺夫仍是热尼娅·拉斯金娜在法律意义上的丈夫（没有离婚记录），不过他俩分离已有3年。婚礼本身是仓促安排的，只有少数客人，包括斯大林的女儿斯韦特兰娜和儿子瓦西里，他们带来斯大林的个人祝福。仪式结束后，西蒙诺夫立即奔赴布良斯克前线。除了两次简短的团聚，这对新婚夫妇在战争结束之前无法看到对方。第一次是在1943年，瓦伦蒂娜上布良斯克前线看望西蒙诺夫；第二次是夫妇俩一起参观列宁格勒附近的前线。即使在战争结束后，瓦伦蒂娜和西蒙诺夫仍然过着相当独立的生活。他们在列宁格勒公路上的大楼里各有自己的公寓和女佣，只不过处于同一层。瓦伦蒂娜开始酗酒，经常在白天喝醉。根据她朋友塔蒂亚娜·奥库涅夫斯卡娅的回忆录，瓦伦蒂娜结婚后郁郁寡欢，全凭饮酒度日（西蒙诺夫趁机让她上床）。人们可能会质疑奥库涅夫斯卡娅回忆录的可靠性，因为她对前夫鲍里斯·戈尔巴塔夫，即西蒙诺夫的密友，抱有深仇大恨，甚至对西蒙诺夫本人也耿耿于怀。 [3] 也有可能，瓦伦蒂娜确实在某一时期——譬如视他为苏维埃文化界中重要人物之时——爱上了西蒙诺夫，她的酗酒自有另外的原委。但毫无疑问，他们的婚姻像是暴风骤雨，远非苏维埃当局向公众宣传的幸福家庭。相互之间有不休的争论，但也有热烈的卿卿我我，至少可在西蒙诺夫从前线写给瓦伦蒂娜的情书和诗歌中看到。但直到1950年玛丽亚出生，他们才有孩子。其时，瓦伦蒂娜已屡屡背叛西蒙诺夫，有过不少外遇。 (645)

    不是每个人都那么喜爱《等着我吧》。有人认为，它太感伤，它的私密情感并不适宜大众的关注， (646) 西蒙诺夫的母亲亚历山德拉就有此感。她的保留态度，一方面出于对瓦伦蒂娜的厌恶和对儿子不愿顾家的反感，另一方面出于她的贵族矜持，反对情感的轻易袒露。她特别在乎诗中的这一句“纵然爱子和慈母认为——我已不在人间”，她认为，这表明作者对她和苏联的其他母亲缺乏尊重。在莫斯科举行的诗歌朗诵会上，西蒙诺夫向坐在前排的瓦伦蒂娜朗诵《等着我吧》，大厅里人山人海，亚历山德拉也身列其中。之后，她在1944年12月从莫洛托夫城写信给儿子：

    基鲁尼亚！我们今天在电话上稍作交谈，更促使我想把这封信写完……因为它包含了我最近兴起的思念和牵挂。你的生活处于这样一种境况，很难跟你进行坦率的交谈。我们坐在专职司机开的汽车里，作断断续续的交流，无法诉说心里话，以及我所感受和思考的东西。但我觉得，仍须努力。

    所以，我亲爱的，我要讲出痛苦的真相，我要告诉你，你的私人生活令我担忧。我当时读到就有此感，之后很长一段时间，更痛苦地忍受这种感觉……那天晚上，我一下子明白了很多……

    在我看来，西蒙诺夫做了一件大事，让青年们走近爱情，以清晰明了的话语谈论爱情，这在我们的文学和诗歌中是全新的。现有的主人公的爱情和生活，都趋向于僵硬刻板……他在创作时，从自己的私密感情中汲取了灵感。但随着谣言的兴起，人们开始变得好奇。那天晚上，大厅中的观众并不是富有思想的人前来聆听和反思，而是一群暴民。他们没有任何迟疑，纷纷站起，争先恐后，为了更清楚地看到“那个女人”——他们打量、评判、羡慕，但并不十分喜欢她。你又让她暴露在这群暴民的面前，替她卸了装。我并不认为她喜欢这样的经历……这些戏剧性的表演，不能弥补你的错误，反而有损于你的形象。我很痛苦地看到，如你近年来所做的，你让这些肮脏的闲人环绕左右。你既找不到自身的力量，也找不到对生活的洞察，来看透他们……你和她，她和你，这是我们过去几年中所听到的……在我看来，这些庸俗的表演中，只有利己主义和任性妄为，并没有真正的爱情。 (647)

    能如此写信的只有母亲，没人能给西蒙诺夫如此严厉、尖锐的训斥。亚历山德拉对“体面”和“正确行止”自有严谨的看法，宛如一名教育家，还会毫不犹豫告诉他人该怎么做。她不赞成儿子与瓦伦蒂娜的婚姻，1944年5月曾写信给丈夫亚历山大，声称“她自私、任性、喜怒无常，我简直无法忍受”。她不喜欢儿子“爬进”苏维埃精英的方式，根据她的祝贺信的口气看来，她也不大在乎他获得的斯大林奖和其他荣誉。她指责他自私，忽略她，对她把他抚养长大所作的牺牲不知感激。亚历山德拉有一种倾向，喜欢加以夸张，像其他母亲一样，也希望从儿子那里得到更多关注，但她的训斥确有道德上的基础。亚历山德拉在一封直白的信中，责备儿子两个月不给自己写信（“然后，突然收到一张两行字的便条，还是你秘书打的字……太不像话了！”[原文]），还指责他只顾自己与瓦伦蒂娜的舒适和幸福，却让她和亚历山大生活在贫困之中：

    我们在车里雅宾斯克城的都是穷人，而你享受的舒适是你自己赚来的。你以前只能从历史书籍，或长大时从我讲述的早年生活中找到这种舒适。那个时候，你的福祉曾是我唯一的快乐。我出生于另一世界，在人生的开初25年[1890—1915年]，一直生活在奢侈之中，甚至无需自己穿衣脱衣。然后，我的生活遭到突如其来的摧毁。但我开始了新生活——我要为你着想。我洗刷、烹饪、奔波买东西，整天工作，都是为了你。坦率地说：我认为我的生活水平应有我抚养长大的儿子的一半，应生活在一个舒适的房间，有地方盥洗。这是我此前的付出应得的权利。 (648)

    使她不以为然的主要原因还在于：亚历山德拉一直在记挂热尼娅和她的孙子阿列克谢。阿列克谢体弱多病，定期复发结核病，却遭到父亲的忽视，只能生活在甚少露面的著名父亲的阴影之下。亚历山德拉在1944年写信给西蒙诺夫说：“醒醒吧，基鲁尼亚，你到底怎么了？”

    宽容得体曾是你幼时的标志，现在都到哪里去了？如果只看你在前线的行为，你依然保有。如果看你的私人生活，以及你对本应是最亲近的人的态度，你已弃之如敝屣……阿廖沙[阿列克谢]的幼儿园里有一个男生，他父亲只是一名水手，每天晚上都去接自己的儿子——他只是个普通的男孩。阿廖沙的精神素质正在迅速成长……你只要多关心阿廖沙一点，就可学做一个精神上更为富有的好人……有一天，他从幼儿园回来宣布，他有世界上最好的奶奶，最好的妈妈；然后，思忖片刻后再说：“世界上最好的爸爸。”基鲁尼亚，你的儿子依然相信你，在他可爱的稚嫩心灵中，对爸爸的信任依然存在。他希望有个爸爸，一个真正的爸爸，你还有时间来实现这一愿望。相信自己，我的儿子，就像阿廖沙相信你一样。回归自己，真正体面的自己。相信自己，相信你生命中永远最宝贵的工作，相信一直在爱护、信任你的我们。全神贯注于你的意志——你一直为此感到骄傲。如果想再次成为真实的自己，你现在更需要坚强的意志。 (649)

    如果说在战争期间西蒙诺夫与母亲的关系有所恶化，他与继父亚历山大的关系反倒变得更加密切。亚历山德拉在1944年写信给西蒙诺夫：“看来，在你的心目中，爸爸和我的位置互换了。你对他的爱，超过了你对我的爱。我理解个中的原因——在战争时期，你需要他——我尊重这一选择。” (650) 亚历山大是个军人，所抚养的继子既认真听话，又遵守纪律秩序——那些军人价值是20世纪30年代西蒙诺夫认同斯大林政权的核心。但年轻时的西蒙诺夫，强烈地感受到自己不好的出身，一直以为自己的地位不稳。而在战争时期，论资排辈的标准，与其说是社会出身，毋宁说是对国家的贡献，他因此而在体制中找到了自己的位置。

    对西蒙诺夫来说，投身军旅本身就是惊心动魄的。他在1942年晋升为中校，以优雅潇洒的风度，行使他的权威。作家伊拉克利·安德罗尼科夫记得，他是“一名举止优雅的真正的俄罗斯军官，身穿制服，脚蹬锃亮的皮靴，腰佩手枪，一脸的冷静和自信。他牙齿洁白，面孔黝黑，戴的军帽微微偏向一侧”。战争年月是他一生中最幸福的时光。西蒙诺夫在1942年写道：“我迅速习惯了军装和军人生活，以至于很难想象战后我该做什么。届时，我无须写军事报道，无须上前线，不再有数十个军团中成千上万的朋友。”玛格丽塔·奥列格回忆，他在战争时期疯狂般地忙碌。“他奔赴所有的重要前线，匆匆赶回莫斯科，赶紧写出报道，再赶去最危险的战场。他在莫斯科的时间，永远不超过一天左右，往往只有数小时，足以与朋友一起相聚喝酒。”通过战争岁月，西蒙诺夫变得更加沉着冷静，证实了自己的勇敢，在性方面也信心倍增。他有许多情侣，包括玛琳娜·切奇涅娃——王牌轰炸机飞行员和苏联英雄勋章获得者。据他后来的情侣说，西蒙诺夫对身穿军装的女子情有独钟，喜欢在他缴获来的纳粹旗帜上做爱。

    战争塑造了西蒙诺夫的整个世界观，他的价值观基于军事标准。他后来谈及：“军队像一座学校。在军队服役，让人们一生都记住要履行自己对社会的责任。没有这种严格意义上的责任感，就不能算是一个完整的人。”西蒙诺夫在履行自己职责时，仔细、勤奋，严守规则，几近冷酷无情的地步。他与人交往又会有霸气。在许多方面，他自己的行为模式变成了他的笔下人物，被引进俄罗斯的散文：即聪明的军官，懂得当局命令的内在逻辑，认真付诸实现。战争结束后，他仍倾向于以战争时期的表现来评判他人：

    不要抹黑他人的名字

    但要了解其在黑暗中的行止

    一九四一年的冬天

    给了我们一把真正的标尺

    如你愿意，它将一直有用，

    不可让它滑离我们的手指，

    笔直铁硬的标尺，

    可用来检查他人的百态千姿。 (652)

    西蒙诺夫将这把严厉的标尺应用于卢戈夫斯科伊，即自己的文学院老师，一位富有魅力、曾经鼓舞整整一代人的苏维埃诗人。1941年的一起事件，使卢戈夫斯科伊丢魂失魄。其时，他在前线服役，遇上猛烈的炮轰，撤下后，穿越曾遭袭击的小镇，在被炸毁的家园中碰巧看到数名妇女和儿童支离破散的肢体。卢戈夫斯科伊因此而精神崩溃，被疏散到塔什干城。许多朋友对卢戈夫斯科伊表示同情，包括作家米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫的遗孀艾莱娜·布尔加科娃，力争解除对卢戈夫斯科伊诗歌的禁令（早在1937年即被定为“政治上有害”），但以失败告终。索尼娅和热尼娅·拉斯金娜，也向卢戈夫斯科伊伸出援手，以真挚的感情和友谊给他写信。

    1943年，刚从车里雅宾斯克回到首都的热尼娅写道：“你一定要来莫斯科，这里的人需要你。有需要，大家都会赶来的。我们不是一般外人，而是你的朋友，你总不能拒绝朋友吧。”如果他返回，搬进拉斯金在西夫切夫―弗拉热克大街的公寓，索尼娅甚至允诺与他结婚（“我将以家庭的舒适来簇拥你”），而该公寓的3个小房间已挤进8个人。但西蒙诺夫没有这样的同情，认为卢戈夫斯科伊撤到塔什干，即是懦弱的标志，不再把他算作自己的密友。

    这场战争使西蒙诺夫成为“斯大林主义者”。他开始坚信斯大林，让斯大林成为自己生活的中心；在现政权的政治和军事的等级制度中找到自己的位置；衷心接受现制度的价值观和党的领导。战争爆发时，西蒙诺夫还只是候补党员，1942年转为正式党员。他后来解释说，他入党是为了想在战争事项上享有发言权——认为这是他作为军官的责任——他不认为没有党的领导仍能赢得战争。党本身“就是集体力量，能够在战争条件下，作出必要的决策和牺牲”，他想成为这支力量中的一员。西蒙诺夫认同党，特别是其领导人，甚至让自己留起“斯大林风格”的胡须，头发背梳，嘴叼烟斗。据多尔马托夫斯基说，西蒙诺夫并不抽烟斗，只是把它当成一种“生活方式”。

    西蒙诺夫主要通过写作来为党服务。他是一名优秀的战地记者，至少可与瓦西里·格罗斯曼和伊利亚·爱伦堡平分秋色。格罗斯曼因后来创作的小说，在西方读者中更为知名，例如《生存与命运》（Life and Fate，1980年代在西方出版），也是更为优秀的小说家，可能在道德上表现得更加勇敢。这与一般意义上的勇敢有所不同。西蒙诺夫从没逃避过激烈的战斗，报道了下列1942年的所有主要战役：在刻赤半岛，苏维埃试图从德军手中夺回克里米亚，到了春天反成一场灾难；在布良斯克前线，红军7月丢失沃罗涅日，德军得以推向东南部，攫取乌克兰和顿河的粮食供应，以及高加索的油田；在斯大林格勒，德军在8月发动第一次攻击，为了夺取这座苏维埃据点，投入了激烈的巷战；在高加索北部，德军12月将苏维埃部队推至南部的克拉斯诺达尔城和奥尔忠尼启则。他唯一没作报道的是遭到两年围困的列宁格勒，但他去了摩尔曼斯克和阿尔汉格尔斯克的港口——1942年夏天，西方盟国根据租借法案提供的补给，开始通过英国的船舶抵达那里。

    西蒙诺夫作为一名军人，亲身经历了哈勒欣河的血腥战斗。他既能从士兵的角度，也能从执行上级命令的军官的角度理解战争。他的战争报道以直接观察和人道主义著称，但也欣然接受政权分配的宣传任务。他所有的战争报道，其目的就是要鼓舞士气和加强纪律，培养对斯大林的爱，促进对敌人的恨。他写道，苏维埃爱国军队是为斯大林的荣耀而战。他从敖德萨发出报道：“我们苏维埃军队，依靠铁的纪律和布尔什维克组织，紧密团结起来，给予敌人以沉重的打击。如伟大的斯大林所教导的，他们在战斗中没有恐惧，没有疲惫……为我们的敖德萨！为祖国！为斯大林！”在西蒙诺夫的报道中，斯大林的领导永远是对苏维埃军队的激励和鼓舞。例如他写到一名在斯大林格勒前线遇见的军官：“我们的伟大领袖在莫斯科办公室，指挥我们伟大事业的全部细节。他这位普通上校，因此获得了斯大林的部分天赋和精神。这种想法成了他所有力量的源泉。”1941年11月7日，他在纪念革命纪念日的诗中表达了同样的思想：

    斯大林同志，听到我们了吗？

    大家都清楚，你必然已听见我们。

    在这可怕时刻，既不是儿子，也不是母亲，

    我们记得的第一人就是您。

    西蒙诺夫对斯大林的信念是真诚的，在以后的岁月中他从没表示否认。他在回忆录中承认，他的这首诗将巨大的意义赋予斯大林，但这是他的真实思想，“没有丝毫的夸张”。

    他的战争报道为政权敦促军?队顽强战斗的运动服务。1941年8月，苏维埃防线分崩离析，斯大林颁发无情的第270号命令，指责所有投降或被俘的都是“祖国的叛徒”。好几个高级将领被捕并遭枪决，包括西方面军司令德米特里·巴甫洛夫将军。他曾在战争爆发的最初几周竭尽全力，试图守住阵地，以稳住前线。被俘将士的妻子也是逮捕的对象（甚至连斯大林之子雅可夫的妻子也被捕，被送进劳改营，因为雅可夫于7月被德国人俘虏）。西蒙诺夫接受并在1941年的报道中争辩——苏维埃防线分崩离析是“某些将领的犯罪行为所引起的。他们充其量是一帮懦夫，而在最糟的情况下则可能是德国间谍，枪决也是理所当然的”。他还兜售这样的说法：最勇敢的战士，其阵亡的可能性反而最低——这只是神话一般的宣传，以鼓励军队在几乎注定一死的情境中战斗到底。

    除了向斯大林政权提供直接的服务，西蒙诺夫还在战地报道中追求另一目标，体现在他未发表的笔记和观察心得中，后来用于他伟大的战争小说《生者与死者》。他是一名苏维埃爱国者，又是苏联胜利的坚定信徒，想从人民的行动、思想、情感中找出必将胜利的征兆。他在1941年6月苏维埃撤退的混乱中找到了第一个征兆，那就是两名下级军官逆流而上走回明斯克前线，以寻找自己的上级。西蒙诺夫无法忘怀这一幕——在他眼中，它象征着普通老百姓的爱国主义精神——后来，他想方设法为苏维埃胜利建立民粹主义的构思，写作当中一再返回这一幕。但在当时，他对敦促人民坚持战斗的强制力量仅有模糊的感觉。

    三

    西蒙诺夫1942年9月抵达斯大林格勒，恰好是巷战最激烈的时刻。最后的苏维埃捍卫者留守在北部的工厂区、火车站周围和市中心的小山上。在德军的坦克、大炮、飞机的轰炸下，他们的周围一片瓦砾。苏维埃士兵与德军精锐，争夺每一条街道、每一栋残缺的建筑物。他们的非凡毅力，使西蒙诺夫无比惊讶。德军甚至将他们推回河岸，但苏维埃士兵仍不愿放弃城市，不愿撤退到苏维埃主力集结的伏尔加东岸。正是这一种决心——无法以军队纪律或意识形态来作解释的一种精神——扭转了大决战的局面。

    斯大林格勒防卫委员会主席丘伊亚诺夫在9月16日的日记中，记下所听到的一席对话，一方是新近赶到的增援部队，另一方是撤离燃烧中的城市的一名受伤士兵：

    “城里的情况如何？”[增援部队问伤兵]

    “谁也弄不清。瞧，”他以未受伤的手臂指向伏尔加河——“整座城市都在起火。”

    “为什么烧这么久？”援军惊讶地问。

    “一切都着火了：房屋、工厂、土地，所有的金属都在融化……”

    “那人呢？”

    “人？他们都挺在那里！挺在那里，继续战斗！……”

    苏维埃军队的钢铁决心确实是战争的决定因素，不应作为有意宣传的神话而受到忽视。然而，它的来源却从来没有令人满意的解释。为何这么多苏维埃士兵，全然漠视自己的生命，投入莫斯科、基辅、斯大林格勒和其他苏维埃城市的浴血奋战？

    恐怖和胁迫提供了一部分解释。战前的恐怖制度重新实施，以驱使士兵战斗到底。苏维埃防线分崩离析时，德军正在威胁斯大林格勒。1942年7月28日，斯大林颁布了臭名昭著的第227号命令（不准撤退一步！），要求部队捍卫每一平方米的苏维埃领土，“直到流尽最后一滴血”；“惊惶失措者和懦夫”，如想推卸责任，则要面对最严厉的处罚。 [4] 因此而设立了特殊的阻击单位（zagradotriady），以加强既有的内务人民委员会。他们获得的命令是，监督苏维埃前线的后方，如有迟迟不愿冲锋或企图逃跑的士兵，格杀勿论。在战争期间，约有15.8万名士兵被判处枪决（另有许多士兵遭枪决却并无正式的宣判或死亡记录）；约43.6万名士兵入狱；42.2万名士兵要用“自己的鲜血来赎对祖国犯下的罪”，被编入从事最危险任务的特别刑事营，譬如扫雷和向德军防御工事发起攻坚。但第227号命令的作用，以及恐怖制度对军队的整体影响，不应被过分夸大。强制执行该项命令往往是在绝望之时，如斯大林格勒战役。其时，仅在几星期之内，13500名苏维埃士兵遭到枪决。除此之外，指挥官和政工人员经常忽略此项命令。他们从经验中学到，大规模的严厉处罚无助于军队的团结和效率。事实上，此项命令推行之后，军队的逃兵持续增加。斯大林也不得不承认，在激励士兵坚持战斗方面，恐怖手段并不有效，还要开发其他的说服方法。

    向苏维埃人民发出爱国主义呼吁还是卓有成效的。绝大多数苏维埃士兵是农民的儿子，他们效忠的对象不是将毁灭带给农村的斯大林或共产党，而是自己的家园和家人，以及自认的“祖国”。斯大林1941年9月向埃夫里尔·哈里曼指出，俄罗斯人民的拼杀是“为自己的家园，并不是为我们”。为了吸引他们，苏维埃宣传逐渐抛弃苏维埃符号，改用更能影响士兵的俄罗斯母亲的古老形象。因此，在1941至1942年的军事灾难时期，斯大林的画像不再是无处不在（到1943至1945年，他又重新成为国家的头面人物和苏维埃胜利的推动者）；苏联国歌原是《国际歌》，现由新国歌取代；新颁发的苏维埃勋章，饰以俄罗斯历史上的军事英雄；教会被授予新生，国家取消了许多战前的政治控制，以交换教会领导人对战争给予精神上的支持。这个政教交融的结果是宗教信仰和苏维埃信念的奇妙组合。记者拉尔夫·帕克曾在莫斯科铁路站看到一名即将奔赴前线的西伯利亚士兵，他在听喇叭里的广播，认出了斯大林的声音，他手上给自己划着十字，嘴里高呼“斯大林！” (659)

    苏维埃宣传还充分利用了仇恨和报复的民心。到1941年冬天，德军的入侵给那么多苏维埃家庭带来苦难，只需煽动一下对敌人的愤慨，就可驱使人们投入战斗。年轻的士兵和人种学者列夫·普什卡廖夫，对红军指战员的文化和信念作了详细的研究。他发现，促使士兵浴血奋战的最重要因素就是对德国人的仇恨，超过其他一切。这种情感的力量如此强大且不可预测——包含了压抑已久的愤怒，所针对的还有战争之前已在承受的痛苦——而宣传机构需要加以巧妙地操控，将它导向外国敌人。诗人可以发挥至关重要的作用，向此项仇恨运动贡献文学才华的有好几位苏维埃作家，西蒙诺夫只是其中之一，此外还有伊利亚·爱伦堡和阿列克谢·苏尔科夫等。在呼吁民众拿起武器投入战斗的宣传中，最有名的诗歌是西蒙诺夫写于1942年7月的《杀死他！》，它基本上重申了第227号命令战斗到死的精神——其时是战争的紧要关头，德军正威胁伏尔加河和高加索。军官向即将投入战斗的士兵朗读此诗，以灌输反抗精神和战斗到底的决心：

    如你珍惜

    敞开胸脯喂你的妈妈，

    她的乳汁早已干涸，

    只能供你的脸颊躺下；

    如你无法忍受噩梦，

    法西斯站在她的身边，

    抽打她布满皱纹的脸庞，

    以手指缠绕她的长辫；

    ……

    如你没有忘记父亲，

    曾用手臂当你的摇篮，

    他曾是一名好战士

    倒毙在喀尔巴阡山的雪原， [5]

    倒毙是为了伏尔加和顿河，

    也为了你未来的家园；

    如你不能忍受噩梦

    他在坟墓中反侧辗转，

    他十字架上的士兵像

    被捣毁在地面

    再由德军踏上一只脚

    全都在你母亲的眼前。

    ……

    那就杀死一个德国人——保证杀死一个！

    尽快杀了他！

    每次看到他，

    每次都要保证杀了他！

    西蒙诺夫的戏剧《俄罗斯人》力争取得同样的效果。它发表于1942年7月底的《真理报》，之后又在苏维埃各地的剧院上演。这出戏非常单薄，却非常及时，其主题——所有俄罗斯人联合起来，同仇敌忾——捕获了当时的反抗情绪（它于1943年赢得斯大林奖）。《星期日泰晤士报》的亚历山大·韦斯，其时正好派驻莫斯科，目睹了莫斯科艺术剧院的演出：

    第3幕结束时，帷幕缓缓下降，至少有10秒钟的死寂，因为那幕戏最后一句台词是：“看，俄罗斯人是怎样死的。”观众席中已有许多妇女在哭泣。 (660)

    胁迫、爱国主义、同仇敌忾，一一发挥了作用。但在士兵的战斗意愿中，最重要的因素也许是对牺牲的崇拜。苏维埃人民以20世纪30年代的心理投入战争。他们生活在频繁的革命斗争中，总被要求为伟大事业作出牺牲，他们已为战争做好准备。如西蒙诺夫所指出的，战争时期的艰辛和匮乏——生活水平急剧下降，家破人亡，日常生活中止——苏联民众已有准备。他们以五年计划的名义，早已承受了这一切。 (661)

    随时准备作出个人牺牲是苏联最重要的武器，尤其在战争第一年，绝对是苏联得以生存的不可或缺的因素。其时，苏联挣扎着，试图从1941年夏天的灾难中恢复过来。普通士兵和平民的英勇行为，以自身的巨大牺牲，来弥补军事指挥的失败和几乎所有权威的瘫痪。“1941年的一代”（出生于1910年代和1920年代早期的人），其牺牲精神尤为壮烈。他们从小就熟知为国奉献一切的苏联英雄：屡破纪录的飞行员、劳动模范、北极勘探者、内战军人和赴西班牙的共产主义斗士。这么多年轻的志愿者效法前人的壮举，踊跃投入战争，将1941年拿起武器的号召，与内战的英勇传统和1928至1932年的五年计划联系起来——那是苏维埃历史上的两大浪漫时期，据称，其时的伟大事业在集体的努力和牺牲下得以实现。诗人大卫·萨莫伊洛夫（1941年21岁时入伍）写道：“内战——属于我们的父辈。五年计划——属于我们的兄长。但1941年的卫国战争——属于我们自己。”许多士兵把自己视作这个连续体的一部分，从中觅得战斗的力量。少尉列昂尼德·库林在1943年写给妹妹的信中说：“我在沿着父亲的脚步走，他死于1919年的内战。”

    他为我的生活而战。现在，我为你的孩子的生活而战……索尼娅，关于死，我想得很多——到底可不可怕？如果你知道，你是为美好的未来和我们的孩子的幸福而死，死就一点也不可怕。但你死前，必须杀掉十几个德国人。 (662)

    从战争的第一天起，1941年的一代就无私奉献，英勇战斗，甚至有点鲁莽，付出了极为可怕的生命代价。出生于1923年的男兵中，只有3%活到了1945年。 [6] 年长的男兵更为谨慎——希望幸存下来。维亚切斯拉夫·康德拉季耶夫出生于1920年，在战争中多次受伤，他回忆起老兵对新兵的帮助：

    他们打得更巧妙，更清醒，不仅自己不会横冲直撞，也会阻拦我们这些新兵的冲动，他们比我们更懂得生命的价值。我就有这样一个保护者，已44岁，经常告诉我，即使在战争中，也必须爱惜自己的生命。 (663)

    丽塔·高根1941年参军时年仅18岁。在红军和游击队服役的妇女共有100万人——相当于所有苏维埃战斗人员的8%（另有更多妇女扮演辅助角色，譬如运输、物资、医疗）——丽塔是其中之一。 (664) 丽塔1923年出生于列奇察的犹太家庭，那是白俄罗斯一座工业小城。她说，她家是“苏维埃式的现代家庭”。父亲是工厂经理，母亲是会计，丽塔和妹妹从小就受“苏维埃时代精神”的熏陶，没有犹太人的习俗、信仰，也不受祖辈的影响。学校、少先队、共青团塑造了丽塔的世界观。她回忆：“我把少先队和共青团视为一种孩子组成的军队，路见不平，就会奋起开展斗争。如果在学校里看到男生欺负女生或小男孩，我会对他很凶，以致他会向老师抱怨。”激励她的精神，来自阿尔卡季·盖达尔的流行儿童读物《铁木儿和他的队伍》（Timur and His Team，1940年）。它讲述一队少年民兵，在莫斯科附近的一个乡间别墅里，帮助守卫奔赴前线的红军军官的家园。铁木儿的故事鼓励了许多青少年的军事抱负，他们在少先队和共青团受到的训练（组织起来的游行、操练、半军事化游戏、纪律严明、服从权威），本来就是参加红军的准备工作，即使是女孩，也不例外。宣传机构推崇苏维埃武装妇女的正面形象，把妇女军事化当做男女平等的标志。

    战争爆发时，丽塔正在读学校的最后一年，她与家人疏散到斯大林格勒，后来在一所学校担任会计。但她亟想参与直接有助于战争的工作，便向当地共青团提出恳求，要上军事学校。但共青团予以拒绝（说她18岁，太年轻），只把她送去一个弹药厂，帮助组装飞机零件。1942年夏天，苏维埃报刊介绍了年轻女志愿者的壮举：她们中很少人曾碰过枪，刚走出校门就担任狙击手和高射炮手，参与斯大林格勒的防御战。丽塔决心以她们为榜样，再次向共青团提出申请，又一次遭到拒绝，被告知要坚守工厂岗位。她回忆：“我气坏了。我自愿参战，还明确表示，时刻准备牺牲自己的生命，却被当做一个小女孩。我跑回家，大哭一场。”丽塔组织了一群年轻的女共青团员，一起离开工厂，申请进入一所军事学校。该校正在培训电报和电台的操作人员，为发起“天王星行动”（Operation Uranus）做准备，即1942年11月针对斯大林格勒周围德军的苏维埃反攻。丽塔分到摩尔斯电码信号员的班级，学完后又与其他女孩一起被派到西南方面军的前线总部——地处斯大林格勒和沃罗涅日的中间。12月下旬，她参与“小土星行动”（Operation Little Saturn）。西南方面军和沃罗涅日方面军的联合部队，突破防线，穿插到驻在顿河的德军的后方。丽塔回忆：“我们在方面军前线总部的直接上级是一个老先生，曾在第一次世界大战中的沙皇军队任职，不知如何应付我们女生，同我们交谈时非常客气，绝无生硬的命令。但他是一流的专家，保护我们免受其他军官的骚扰，那些人只想从我们身上满足性需求。”1943年1月，丽塔驻扎在哈尔科夫附近的前线观测点，没想到德军竟然突袭上来。她想带着无线电设备逃走，第一次品尝到生死搏斗，她近距离打死两名袭击者才得以脱身，但也严重受伤。康复之后，她作为报务员又曾在好几个方面军服务。1944年7月，她在科涅夫元帅的乌克兰第一方面军担任炮手，与利沃夫附近的德军作战，最终在1945年1月，随第57军抵达布达佩斯。

    丽塔反思自己抗击德军的决心，可算作“1941年的一代”的代表：

    我才18岁，刚离开学校，以苏维埃英雄的理想眼光看待世界。他们是为祖国作出巨大贡献的无私先驱，我在书中读到过他们的功勋。这一切如此浪漫！我一点也不清楚战争究竟是什么，只想积极参与，那是英雄的事业……我并不视之为“爱国主义”——只把它当做自己的义务——我可以也应该尽一切努力，来战胜敌人。当然，我也可以留在兵工厂，度过整个战争时期，但我一直希望能够亲临大事件的风口浪尖：这是我从小学到的少先队和共青团的态度。我是一名积极分子……没有想到死亡，所以不怕，因为我在为祖国而战，就像我的苏维埃英雄一样。 (665)

    西蒙诺夫在《日日夜夜》（Days and Nights，1944年）中试图解释的也是这一精神，该小说基于他当年日记所记录的对斯大林格勒战役的观察。在西蒙诺夫看来，促使士兵战斗的既不是恐惧，也不是英雄主义，而是更为本能的东西，与保卫自己的家庭和社区有关。这种感觉因敌人的迫近而愈益强烈，让人们释放出能量和主动性：

    斯大林格勒的防御基本上是一个路障链，连在一起便成了一个大战场；分隔开来，每一个路障又必须依赖自己小团体的众志成城。他们很清楚，必须站稳脚跟，守住阵地。如果德军在某处突破，整条防线都会受到威胁。 (666)

    如斯大林格勒所显示的，如果知道自己浴血奋战是为了什么，自己的命运又与之紧密相连，这样的士兵才是最厉害的。列宁格勒和莫斯科，先后得出了相同的证明，地方爱国主义是强大的动力。如果把一个特定社区和人际关系网的防卫（而不是“苏维埃祖国”的抽象概念）认作苏维埃事业，人们更愿意投入战斗，更愿意牺牲自己。苏维埃的宣传援引了保卫“罗迪纳”（rodina）的概念（即家园，既指地方上的，也指全国性的），旨在充分利用这一情绪。

    战时的民族团结只是一个苏维埃神话。事实上，战争时期的苏维埃社会是内战以来最为分裂的。苏维埃国家加剧了民族分裂，让某些少数民族充当替罪羊，如克里米亚的鞑靼人、车臣人、伏尔加德裔，将他们流放到不受欢迎的地区。战争前，反犹主义基本上处于休眠状态，战争时期反而四下传播，尤其蓬勃发展于希特勒军队的占领地区。那里居民中的大部，直接受到纳粹种族主义宣传的影响。而类似的偏见，又由苏维埃士兵和撤离西部地区的人士带入哈萨克斯坦、中亚、西伯利亚。许多人将斯大林政权的滥权迫害归罪于犹太人，又借用纳粹的宣传，称布尔什维克都是犹太人。据《红星报》主编大卫·奥滕贝格所说，士兵们常说犹太人“推卸自己当兵的责任，逃去后方，在舒适的苏维埃办公室上班”。 (667) 一般来讲，在大众政治意识中，兵役责任的不平等与普遍的不平等逐渐挂起钩来；前线军人和后方“老鼠”之间的鸿沟，更成了民众和精英之间愈益扩大的分歧的焦点。

    虽然没有真正的民族团结，但人民确有团结起来保卫自己的社区。到1941年，400万人志愿参加公民国防。他们自愿挖掘战壕，守护建筑物、桥梁、道路，一旦遭到袭击时，还运输食品和药品上前线，撤回伤者，或直接参战。在莫斯科，公民国防有16.8万名志愿者，来自30多个民族，另有50万人帮助修筑防御工事。在列宁格勒，到1941年9月，已有13.5万男女参加公民国防，另有10.7万名工人参与军事活动。 (668) 他们的爱国主义高涨，却没有获得适当的训练，所以虽然奋勇作战，但在初期战役中死伤惨重。

    对军队的凝聚和战斗力来说，同志友谊也是至关重要的。据军事理论家称，如果自己属于可以信赖的战友团体，即“弟兄们”，士兵往往会在战斗中表现得格外勇敢。 (669) 从1941到1942年，红军伤亡率非常之高，以致其小的战友团体大多历时很短。前线步兵的战斗时间，平均下来不超过数星期，不是阵亡，就是受伤。从1942到1943年，部队开始稳定下来。士兵们发现，相互之间的同志友谊变成了激励他们坚持战斗的决定因素。这些友谊的亲密无间，自然是来自他们共同面临的危险。小团体内的相互信任和支持，又是他们生存的关键。一位士兵给阵亡的战友的未婚妻写信说：“前线生活让人迅速亲近。”

    在前线与他人共度一两天，就会发现他全部的素质和情感。如果是在平民世界，你一年也弄不清。再也没有比前线友谊更深厚的，它牢不可破，甚至死亡本身也无法将之打碎。

    1937年，伊万·布拉金和家人

    退伍军人以理想主义和怀旧之心，回顾战时友谊的亲密无间。他们声称，当时的人有“更宽大的胸怀”，“遵循灵魂行事”，自己不知怎么也变成了“更好的人”。与充满妥协和应急的共产主义制度相比，小团体内的同志友谊仿佛具有更纯真的道德关系和原则。他们经常谈及，从战友团体当中找到了一种“家”的感觉，那是他们战前生活中所缺乏的（之后也渐渐消失了）。 (670)

    到1943年1月，“天王星行动”和“小土星行动”将德军赶回斯大林格勒以西360公里的顿涅茨河，更把其25万先锋部队团团包围。被困的德军，既要抵御他们的苏维埃敌人，又要应付寒冷和饥饿，但仍作出了激烈的抵抗——他们非常害怕变成俘虏——他们损失了一半以上的兵力，最终在2月2日投降。苏维埃人欢呼这次胜利是重大的转折点，大大鼓舞了士气。爱伦堡写道：“在此之前，人们只是对胜利抱有信念。到了现在，已经毫无疑问，胜利有了保障。”苏维埃军队从斯大林格勒，推进到库尔斯克，集中了40%的士兵和四分之三的装甲部队，在7月击败德军的主力。库尔斯克战役决定性地摧毁了德军在苏维埃土地获胜的奢望。红军把士气低落的德军赶向基辅，9月份抵达乌克兰首都郊外，最终在11月6日夺回基辅，恰好赶上第二天莫斯科的革命纪念日庆典。 (671)

    红军指战员的勇气和韧性是苏维埃军事胜利的决定性因素，另一因素是在灾难性的第一年之后红军权力结构的转型。斯大林终于承认，党的干预（他自己就担任最高统帅）使军事指挥的效率降低，最好让指挥官享有一定的自主权。1942年8月，朱可夫被任命为最高副统帅——让斯大林退居幕后，不再掌管军队的日常管理——为党和军队的新关系放出了信号。战略规划和战争运行，逐步从军事委员会的政治家手中，转至总参谋部。后者此时扮演领军角色，只需随时向党领导汇报。政委和其他政工的权力，本是20世纪30年代大清洗的遗产，现在在军事决策过程中受到大幅度的削减，在低层部队中干脆消失，让指挥官掌管一切。军事指挥不再受党的严密控制，发展了全新的自信。自主鼓励了主动，遂造就了一支稳定的军事专家队伍。他们的专业素养，对1943至1945年的胜利是至关重要的，为了加强专业精神，党领导在1943年1月恢复沙皇的肩章制度。那曾是旧政权受人憎恨的符号，摧毁于1917年。同年7月，“长官”的称号也起死回生，以取代一律平等的“同志”称呼。肩章的金穗带从英国进口，英国官员因此而感到愤慨，在他们看来，那是无用的俗艳装饰，但在事实上，金穗带自有它的重要性。 (672) 各式勋章作为对军事专家的奖励，也发挥了利害攸关的作用。从1941到1945年，共有11万枚勋章授予苏维埃军人——相当于美国授出的8倍。战斗结束之后，苏维埃士兵只需等待几天就可领到奖励，而美国士兵往往要等6个月。为了鼓励战功卓著的士兵申请入党，党组织专为军人降低了要求。

    工业经济中的变化也促进了苏维埃的军事复兴。1941至1942年，与敌人相比，红军的装备很差，因此蒙受了巨大损失。到1942至1943年，坦克、飞机、汽车、雷达、电台、火炮、枪支、弹药的生产，都有显著的改善，从而组建了新的坦克师和机械化师，打得更加有效，兵员牺牲更少。苏维埃工业的迅速重组，让计划经济（斯大林制度的基础）获得茁壮成长。没有国家的强制，不可能在如此短促的时间内完成必要的调整。成千上万的工厂和工人被疏散到东部；几乎所有的工业生产都面向军事需求；或建新铁路，或作新调度，将东部的新工业基地与军事前线连接起来；工厂实施戒严法，以加强劳动纪律和提高生产力。新颁布的工作纪律，严厉惩罚疏忽、旷工、擅自离岗、迟到（上班迟到20分钟以上就算“劳动战线的逃兵”）。战争年代，法庭判定的这些罪行竟高达750万件。 (673) 大多数工厂内，每周工作70小时已成常态。由于担心早上迟到，许多工人干脆都在工厂吃睡。实施综合的配给制度，既可降低成本，又可保证人们坚守工作岗位（要在那里领口粮）。最后，通过大规模的逮捕，动员庞大的古拉格劳工队伍，以提供国家急需的燃料和原料。

    在苏维埃的战争努力中，最不为人所知的是所谓的“劳动大军”（trudovaia armiia），所征入的人数超过100万，执行自由劳工不愿做的各项任务。官方文件从来不提“劳动大军”，只委婉谈及“劳工服务”和“劳工储备”。这两个词掩盖了背后的强制特征，其实他们就是无偿劳工，其处境等同于古拉格囚犯。他们在狱警看管下列队出工，从事同样的苦力（采伐林木、建筑、车间劳作、农活）。与古拉格囚犯不同，劳动大军中很多人从没经过法庭的逮捕或判刑。其中的大多数只是被驱逐的少数民族，遭到内务人民委员会和军队的围捕。尤其是苏维埃德裔，战争一爆发，就被从伏尔加河地区流放到西伯利亚和哈萨克斯坦。劳动大军也包括大量的克里米亚鞑靼人、车臣人、卡尔梅克人、芬兰人、罗马尼亚人、匈牙利人和朝鲜人。

    鲁道夫·戈特曼1922年出生于克里米亚的路德教德裔家庭。戈特曼一家被定为“富农”，1931年流放去了阿尔汉格尔斯克城附近的荒野。战争爆发时，内务人民委员会把鲁道夫当做“德国人”抓起来（事实上他祖先自1831年以来，一直住在俄罗斯），再送到顿巴斯的煤矿。在那里，他被征入劳动大军，与100名来自“德国人”家庭的年轻男子，前去乌拉尔北部的索利卡姆斯克食品加工厂。1942年秋天，他们改赴附近的伐木劳改营，从事伐木工作，晚上睡在营房木椅上，只有极少量的口粮。由于要在严寒中工作，第一个冬天就有超过一半的劳动大军成员死去。监管他们的内务人民委员会狱警，对“德国”男孩毫不手软，斥责他们为“法西斯败类”。鲁道夫因受伤被送去医院，反而捡得一条小命，否则肯定会死于体力耗尽。在之后的14年中，他一直留在劳动大军，曾在工厂、苏维埃农庄、建筑工地工作，甚至奔赴高加索地区，为斯大林、莫洛托夫、贝利亚建造乡间别墅。1948年之前，他没有得到任何报酬，也不准离开劳动大军；直到1956年古拉格囚犯获得普遍大赦，他也沾上了光。 (674)

    征入劳动大军的不只是“非俄罗斯人”，原“富农”也在劫难逃。伊万·布拉金来自乌拉尔的苏克孙地区，1943年秋天被动员加入劳动大军。10年前，他作为“富农”流放到“特殊定居地”，附属于彼尔姆附近的克拉斯诺卡姆斯克纸浆造纸厂。伊万因工厂的化学溶剂几乎失明，又因风湿病而几近瘫痪，却被送去科特拉斯城附近的伐木劳改营。他在造纸厂工作，因没领到足量的口粮而有所抱怨，却因此受到惩罚，被征入劳动大军。但他无法适应伐木劳改营的重活（几乎看不清要伐的树木），很快在严寒中病倒。他给在克拉斯诺卡姆斯克的家人写信说：“我的腿肿得厉害，都穿不上裤子了。”劳改营的食物很糟，不足以维持他的体力，工作又非常辛苦。1943年秋季的一天，伊万实在筋疲力尽，瘫倒在地，被送去医院。他在那里慢慢恢复，1944年1月写信告诉家人，他的双脚终于显示出“生命迹象”。他希望很快出院，作为一个伤残病人，他将能获准回家。但从科特拉斯劳改营到1000公里之遥的苏克孙地区，冬季的旅程太危险了。伊万害怕在春天之前动身，担心万一他“因寒冷空气而头晕目眩，倒在冰上”。但他下了决心，一旦体力恢复，就要跋涉回家。“我只需一双大毡靴就能回家。”伊万1944年2月从劳改营获释，根本不宜开始漫长的旅途。他再没回到家，离开医院仅几百米，脚下一滑，就在结冰的路面上倒下冻死了。 (675)

    古拉格劳工也在战时经济中发挥了重要作用，他们生产了苏维埃弹药的15%、大部分军服和大量粮食。从1941到1943年，劳改营人口有所下降，因为50万名囚犯获释，奔赴前线参战以“赎罪”；但从1943年底起，又有大幅增加，因为苏维埃军队挺进德军放弃的领土，内务人民委员会紧随在后，逮捕了几十万涉嫌投敌者和反苏民族主义叛乱者。战争期间，对古拉格劳工的剥削愈益酷烈。在采矿和伐木劳改营，为增加燃料的供应，囚犯们被驱赶到了死亡边缘，其口粮又降到最低限度。1942年，古拉格劳改营的死亡率达到惊人的25%——换言之，这一年每4个古拉格工人当中就有1人死去。 (676)

    除了伐木劳改营和矿区，一种新型古拉格经济在战争时期获得蓬勃发展。内务人民委员会掌控了大型工业区（古拉格城市），其中的工厂和建筑工地长期配备囚犯劳工。地处北极圈的诺里尔斯克综合企业，就是新型古拉格经济的一个典例。那里镍、铂、铜的储量非常巨大，早在20世纪20年代就被地质学家发现。但要到1930年，工业化使珍贵矿石变得必不可少，才完成第一次大勘探。诺里尔斯克拥有世界上已知镍储量（用于生产高级钢材）的四分之一、已知铂储量的三分之一。由于有大量煤炭可用作冶炼和运去喀拉海的能源，该区的自然条件非常有利于开采和加工矿石。另一方面，该区几乎无法居住，冬季气温能下降到摄氏零下45度，暴风雪持续不停，一年中倒有数月暗无天日。到夏季，地面变成沼泽，蚊子肆虐，奔赴诺里尔斯克的没有一个是自愿的。

    1935年，该区的发展移交给内务人民委员会的古拉格管理部门。该部门专门在偏远地区管理大型的建设项目，尤其是民用部委不愿经营的（负责冶金的重工业部拒绝接受诺里尔斯克项目），名气越来越大。诺里尔斯克劳改营和采矿综合企业，刚开始有1200名古拉格囚犯，挖掘冻土时只用手镐和推车。到1939年，尽管更多的人在同一时期死去，囚犯人数仍上升到1万人。但莫斯科的古拉格管理部门，仍对进展的缓慢表示不满。1939年，诺里尔斯克的首任主管弗拉基米尔·马特维耶夫被捕，被送进劳改营15年。接替他的是马格尼托哥尔斯克采矿综合企业的前主管阿夫拉姆·扎韦尼亚金，这项任命是政权重视诺里尔斯克项目的标志。对高级钢材的军事需求，使诺里尔斯克的镍产在战争中变得至关重要。诺里尔斯克的工作强度加剧，从1941到1944年，A组囚犯（从事生产或建筑的）每月休息不满3天（许多前囚犯，根本不记得还有休息日），所有的囚犯每天工作11小时，再恶劣的天气也要出工（他们在暴风雪中攀扶绳索，步行上班）。扎韦尼亚金引进奖励制度，超额完成任务的“劳动模范”（1943年，5人当中即有1人）可获得好处——较好的宿舍、衣服、口粮甚至少量金钱。他还增加自由工人和“志愿者”的数量（战争结束时，约有1万人），让他们就任管理和专家的职位。但增长最大的是监狱劳工数量，到1944年已达10万人。 (677) 诺里尔斯克的囚犯来自苏联各个角落，特别是乌克兰、北高加索和波罗的海地区。在那里，大肆搜捕“民族主义者”和“与敌合作者”，就是为了向古拉格提供劳工。通往诺里尔斯克的漫长旅程先要乘火车去克拉斯诺亚尔斯克——那是西伯利亚行政区的首府，位于诺里尔斯克劳改营的南部，相距2000公里。囚犯在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克上船，沿叶尼塞河，到诺里尔斯克综合企业的港口杜金卡下船，然后再坐火车抵达劳改营。诺里尔斯克周围的北极荒原极为辽阔，根本就没有必要为劳改营搭建铁丝网。正常心智的囚犯都不会尝试逃走，事实上确实没人这样做过（尽管有不少传说称，有人横渡北冰洋，逃至5000公里之外的阿拉斯加）。 (678)

    瓦西里娜·德米特鲁克15岁时被送到诺里尔斯克。她出生于乌克兰西部捷尔诺波尔地区的农民大家庭，她与数十名妇女一起，被指控为乌克兰民族主义游击队的同情者。1943年，红军重新夺得她的村庄，附属的内务人民委员会把她们带去当地小镇（红军征召了村里所有的年轻男子），予以审讯和殴打，直到女孩供认“叛国罪”（她们中许多人都弄不懂这一指控是什么，因为不懂俄语）。之后，她们上了军事法庭（再一次使用俄语），被判处在诺里尔斯克劳改营服刑10年。她们参与兴建诺里尔斯克机场。尽管天寒地冻，她们唯一的住所只是一顶大帐篷，同住的还有数百名以同样方式来到诺里尔斯克的乌克兰妇女。 (679)

    安娜·达尔维娜作为“志愿者”被送到诺里尔斯克。当时她年仅16岁，还在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克以东120公里的乌伊阿尔镇学校念书。克拉斯诺亚尔斯克地区共有约1000名所谓的“共青团志愿者”，在1943年9月被强迫送到诺里尔斯克。安娜回忆：“一大群人在诺里尔斯克火车站欢迎我们，还有合唱团和乐队。”

    走出火车时已经很冷。来时还穿着凉鞋，到了这里看到地上已有积雪。当地人很穷，衣衫褴褛。他们给我们发了毛毯和毡靴，把我们当做志愿者。他们被告知，我们都是阵亡士兵的孤儿。但事实上，我们都是被军队抓来的，别无选择。我们面对一场战争，军队需要我们中的每一人充当劳工，不管身体有多虚弱。 (680)

    1943年，18岁的谢苗·戈洛夫科来到诺里尔斯克。他出生于北高加索的斯塔夫罗波尔地区，在11个兄弟姐妹中排行老二。他家是哥萨克，在集体化运动中被定为“富农”，因此失去所有财产。谢苗的父亲和哥哥均是红军，1941年6月都阵亡于斯摩棱斯克附近。作为幸存的最年长的男性，谢苗成为一家之主。他放弃学业，在集体农庄担任拖拉机驾驶员，以此养活母亲和9个弟妹。德军在1942年9月占领北高加索，谢苗随即加入红色游击队，但不幸被俘。德军强迫他加入辅警，否则就要枪毙他的家人。4个月后，红军夺回该地区。谢苗作为“与敌合作者”被捕，流放到诺里尔斯克。他从事采矿和工厂的各式工作，很快成为大队长，甚至当上劳动模范。作为古拉格劳工，他因为对战争的贡献而赢得好几枚奖牌。 (681)

    奥莉加·洛巴切娃是著名的矿物学家，1944年被送来诺里尔斯克。她丈夫于1938年被捕，稍后，自己也因“反革命煽动罪”获刑8年，最终沦落到西伯利亚的劳改营。她在劳改营里生下一个儿子，被送去孤儿院。1943年秋天，奥莉加被内务人民委员会选为专家，分配到诺里尔斯克矿区。整整6个星期，她被囚禁在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克以西350公里的马林斯克镇，等待来自西伯利亚各劳改营的其他地质学家和采矿专家。之后，奥莉加转去克拉斯诺亚尔斯克，准备北上，却被医疗委员会定为不适宜旅行（她得了肺炎），反被送去东面400公里的泰舍特劳改营。在囚犯的眼中，泰舍特是“死亡集中营”，有很多等死的残疾人和老人。她来到泰舍特不久，再次被内务人民委员会选中，即使有肺炎，仍被送去诺里尔斯克。为了加快速度，她和工程师、电工、冶金专家、建筑者，在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克搭乘内务人民委员会的专机。奥莉加最后在技术部门担任地质研究员，与大学里的许多朋友重聚。 (682)

    这些大学的朋友中就有叶丽萨维塔·德拉布金娜，即1917年10月在斯莫尔尼学院食堂认出失散多年的父亲谢尔盖·古谢夫的年轻姑娘。1936年12月，叶丽萨维塔作为“托派”被捕，判处5年，在雅罗斯拉夫尔监狱服刑。到1939年，她的刑期延长至15年，被送来诺里尔斯克劳改营。前3年，她在煤矿上班，随后转到技术部门，从事进口书籍和手册的翻译工作。叶丽萨维塔基于内心的爱国精神，工作起来活像一名真正的劳动模范。她觉得，通过在劳改营的工作，也在为苏维埃经济作出贡献。从1941到1945年，她前后4次申请参军奔赴前线，均遭拒绝。尽管如此，叶丽萨维塔仍因自己的勤奋工作在专家区获得自己的房间，与丈夫亚历山大·达尼埃茨同住。亚历山大的父亲是受镇压的老布尔什维克，被捕于1938年。夫妇俩以前在列宁格勒时就是朋友。他们在诺里尔斯克的邻居记得，两人很安静，养了一条狗。德拉布金娜因矿区事故已成聋子，很难与人应酬。他们有朋友的小圈子，自组了马克思主义学习小组——劳改营图书馆里有马克思和列宁的著作——但对外人非常小心。1945年，圈子中有人被捕，后来以“反革命煽动罪”遭到枪决。他们因此怀疑，为内务人民委员会工作的囚犯已渗透到他们的圈子，便解散学习小组，转入地下，只是在遛狗时，才与朋友在通向墓地的道路上偷偷见面。叶丽萨维塔和丈夫精通几种语言，他们在家里都用

    法语交谈，以防隔壁房间的偷听。 (683)

    四

    20世纪40年代末的一天，阿赫玛托娃与娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆在列宁格勒散步，突然感慨地说：“想想吧，我们生活中最美好的岁月却是战争时期。这么多人死去，人人都在挨饿，我儿子参加强制劳役。”20世纪30年代的恐怖，给阿赫玛托娃那样的人带来了巨大的痛苦。在他们眼中，战争反而成了一种解脱。帕斯捷尔纳克在《日瓦戈医生》的尾声中写道：“战争爆发后，真正的恐怖和死亡的威胁，相比于谎言的不人道，反而成了一种福分。它又成了一种解脱，因为它打破了一纸空文的魔咒。”这一解脱是溢于言表的，人们以战争前不可想象的方式处世行事。他们出于必需，寻回自己的主动性——相互交谈，相互帮助，不再担忧可能的政治危险。从这种自发的活动中，又涌现出了全新的国民意识。出于这个原因，人们以怀旧的心态来回忆战争年代，视之为“充满活力的时期”。借用帕斯捷尔纳克的话即是，“每个人都觉得，社区意识得到了欢快且不受拘束地复苏”。 (684)

    对作家维亚切斯拉夫·康德拉季耶夫来说，那种从属感是那个时代的特征：

    我们为那些年感到骄傲。对前线生活的怀旧，使我们大家都激动起来。并非因为那是我们喜欢回顾的青春年华，而是因为我们当时觉得，自己成了真正意义上的公民。这种感觉，之前没有，之后也没有。 (685)

    复苏的责任感随处可见，不管是个人，还是集体。尤其是从1941到1943年，斯大林政权的基础因德军的入侵实际上已土崩瓦解，人民不得不依靠自己的智慧来作出相应的决策。当时担任军医的历史学家米哈伊尔·格夫特，将那几年视作“自发的去斯大林化”时期：

    就在我们的眼前——受命运摆布的个人，面对死亡，却出乎意料地找到了自由，做起自己的主人……作为目击者和历史学家，我可以证明：1941和1942年众多的情形和决定，其实是自发的去斯大林化的进程……我们仍是俄罗斯人和苏维埃人，但在那些年头，普世的人道精神也沁入我们的心田。

    阿达·列韦多娃在医疗机构度过战争年代。在她看来，这种自发的去斯大林化体现在一种权力移交上——从刻板地控制医院的共产党官员，转到医生和护士的手中。“有太多的实例，当事人即刻作出生死攸关的决定，等不及当局的授权。我们顾不得正式的规章制度，不得不采取行动，或作出即时的调整。” (686)

    大家感到自己有助于战争援手。他们认为自己可以有所作为，这种参与感又衍生出公民自由和个人责任。赫德里克·史密斯记录了70年代初一位科学家的对话。该科学家说，战争是“我们人生中最美好的时期”，然后向惊愕的朋友们解释：

    因为在那段时间，我们觉得与政府贴得很近，超过了我们人生的其他任何时候。不再是他们的国家，而是我们的国家。不再是他们要求我们做这做那，而是我们自己想做。不是他们的战争，而是我们的战争。所保卫的是我们的国家，这是我们自己的战争援手。

    据曾是沙场老将的康德拉季耶夫说，即使最不起眼的小兵，平时不断受到指挥官的虐待和鄙视，一旦在战场上发起进攻，即变成了他自己的将军：

    没人可以指挥你，你掌控一切。防御时也是一样，全靠自己的智慧和勇气……否则，德军就会突破进来……你觉得，仿佛俄罗斯的命运就在你的手中，如果没有你，一切可能变得不同。平时在我们社会中，什么都不取决于个人。但在战争中就不一样，每个人都觉得自己直接参与了胜利。 (687)

    “1941年的一代”从小就崇拜斯大林和党。对他们来说，新兴的自由无疑是对制度的一大冲击。文学史家拉扎尔·拉扎列夫回忆：“1941至1942年的军事灾难，迫使我们第一次质疑斯大林。”1941年，他从中学直接上了战场：

    战争之前，我们没有任何质疑。我们相信所有关于斯大林的宣传，相信党是正义的化身。但我们在战争第一年所看到的，迫使自己去反思那些被告知的东西，因而开始怀疑自己的信念。 (688)

    朱莉娅·奈曼写下《1941》一诗，其时的氛围已预示1956年（赫鲁晓夫“解冻”的第一年）的价值观变化：

    那些莫斯科的日日夜夜……雪崩似的鏖战……

    数不清的挫折、失败、消耗！

    然而，那年的战友披露了全部真相：

    在那闪光的年代，它像火炬一般闪耀！

    遁词一一坠落，恰似纷纷剥落的石膏，

    泄露无遗的原委，昭然若揭的实效；

    透过灯火管制和迷彩伪装

    我们看清了同志的面目——露出了马脚。

    我们曾用来测量的暧昧标尺——

    表格、问卷、资历、级别、倚老卖老——

    都被唾弃，我们现在只衡量真相：

    那年的标尺是信念和勇骁。

    我们曾经历和目睹这一切，

    记忆犹新，神圣照旧，仍然记牢

    监视哨、屋顶、防空气球，

    当年莫斯科爆炸中的乱嚣，

    穿上迷彩服装的建筑物，

    空袭的交响乐和解除警报的信号——

    到最后，显得货真价实的却是

    我们公民的骄傲，纯粹闪亮的骄傲。 (689)

    随着公民对新的自由的索求，党在意识形态上的影响力和对斯大林的个人崇拜，都不可避免地受到削弱。在战争年代，党员人数几乎翻了一番，但已失去战前的革命精神，因为最为坚定的布尔什维克在1941至1942年的战斗中丧失殆尽。到1945年，600万党员中一半以上是军人，其中的三分之二都是在战争中新近加入的。这些党员，大大不同于20世纪30年代斯大林主义的党。他们更加务实，思想不那么僵化（甚至没有受训于马列主义），不愿以阶级觉悟看待世界，更不耐烦于官僚主义。 (690) 《真理报》总结这一新气象，在1944年6月主张，“评判党员的个人素质”，与其看他的阶级出身或思想的正确性，“倒不如看他对战争努力的实际贡献”。这与党的战前原则形成了鲜明的对照。在军队里入党的拉扎列夫说，布尔什维克思想在战争中几乎没有发挥影响，战前的口号鼓吹对斯大林和党的崇拜，但到此时，已丧失了说服力和针对性：

    有传说称，士兵发动攻击时高呼“为了斯大林！”，但在事实上，我们从没提到斯大林。我们冲锋时，叫喊的是“为了祖国！”，其余的打仗口号都是骂人的脏话。

    战争带来了反斯大林的打油诗和歌曲，下面是1942年的一首：

    亲爱的约瑟夫·斯大林！

    时至今日你已丢弃塔林！

    我们为吃的而日坐愁城！

    你也将失去列宁格勒城！ (691)

    许多人在战争时期解脱了对政府的恐惧。他们被迫不顾政治后果，径自采取行动，这也许是他们人生中的唯一一次。战争的“真正恐怖”攫夺了他们的全部注意力，而内务人民委员会的潜在恐怖，反而变得不那么张牙舞爪，或相对来说比较容易应付。在赫德里克·史密斯记录的交谈中，一名犹太科学家忆起战争年代的逸事：

    我在喀山自己的房间睡觉……半夜里，契卡的人来把我叫醒，我却不怕。想想吧！他半夜敲门，把我吵醒，而我却一点也不怕。如果发生在30年代，我早就吓得半死。如果发生在战后，斯大林逝世之前，那也会把人吓得胆战心惊……但在战争期间，我绝对不怕，那是我们历史上的独特时期。 (692)

    在很大程度上，新兴的自由感来自1941年之后政权放宽对政治和宗教的控制，得益最多的是“人民公敌”的子女。他们如愿意或胜任在战时急需的领域中工作，污点履历不再是一大障碍，与战前没法比。虽然没有官方政策，但如果有亟需完成的招工和招生，务实的官员通常会对申请人的社会背景视而不见。

    叶夫根尼娅·施特恩1927年出生于莫斯科的布尔什维克官员家庭。父亲两年后作为“德国间谍”被捕并遭枪决；母亲获刑5年，被送去科雷马劳改营。叶夫根尼娅只得去西伯利亚的阿尔泰地区，与外祖母同住。1943年，她回到莫斯科，与姨妈一起生活，获准成为学校的借读生。她的老师们赏识她的潜质，刻意予以保护。1944年夏季的一天，叶夫根尼娅经过莫斯科大学，看到一张告示，通告高中生前去申报该校的物理系。她从来都不喜欢物理，也不特别擅长，但很清楚，这是她进入苏联最著名的莫斯科大学的良机。在姨妈的鼓励下，她决定试试。叶夫根尼娅回忆：

    我仅16岁，在申请表格[一定要填写的]中并没提及父母的被捕，只填写父亲已死……我想，他们还是会收我的，因为想学物理的人太少了，而当时，即1944年，又急需物理学家。 (693)

    战争年代向安东尼娜·戈洛温娜提供了类似的机会，她就是那位掩饰自己出身的“富农”的女儿。安东尼娜的志向是上列宁格勒医学院，曾在1941年提出申请，尽管高中成绩完全符合医学院的要求，仍被拒绝。如她所相信的，原因很可能是她的社会出身。战争的爆发结束了她的梦想，因为列宁格勒已陷入围困之中。安东尼娜在佩斯托沃镇的村校担任助教，到1943年再申请斯维尔德洛夫斯克大学。该校一名学生曾是她的老同学，建议她去试试，因为该校需要医生，已放松了录取标准。尽管有“富农”出身，安东尼娜还是考上了这所大学，很快成为其最优秀的学生之一。教授们全力支持她，为她的社会出身保密。她回顾道：“这是我人生的第一次，全凭自己的能力来取得进步。”列宁格勒的围城解除后，安东尼娜在1944年1月申请列宁格勒儿科研究院，以继续深造。她没有列宁格勒居民的护照，虽然斯维尔德洛夫斯克大学的老师们帮她写了热情的推荐信，但“富农”出身仍使她丧失资格。其时，列宁格勒急需儿科医生，以照看围城造成的数万名孤儿病人。建议录取安东尼娜的官员声称：“这个时候，拒收这样的学生，不啻是在犯罪。”由于没有护照，安东尼娜无法正式注册为儿科研究院的学生，只好名列14名“非法居民”之中（出身都不好），一起住在地下室。作为“非法居民”，安东尼娜不能领取助学金、借出图书、在学生食堂就餐。她晚上非法打工，充当女服务员来养活自己。1945年，这14名学生总算变得合法，领到护照，正式注册。儿科研究院的主管是一名务实的共产党人，代表他们向列宁格勒党委提出请求，坚称列宁格勒急需这些学生。对安东尼娜来说，正式注册大大加强了她的自信，减轻了她在战前感到的恐惧，让她认真考虑苏维埃政权的性质，以及带给她家人的影响。 (694)

    政权在宗教领域的让步带来了更广泛的影响。从1943到1948年（到那时，最重要的让步已被收回），政府放宽了对教会的控制，宗教生活因此出现了急剧的复苏。数百座教堂重新开放，上教堂的人数大大增加，宗教的婚礼、受洗、葬礼都有显著的复兴。

    伊万·布拉金的家庭与教会有密切联系，他亲戚中有几个神父，妻子拉丽莎也是神父的女儿。20世纪30年代，他们作为“富农”遭到剥夺，流放去了克拉斯诺卡姆斯克，这些家庭关系都被加以严密地遮掩。伊万和拉丽莎不上教堂，不戴十字架，将圣像藏在箱底，门廊上通常置放圣像的地方则挂上了斯大林肖像。为了避嫌，他们鼓励子女加入少先队和参加反宗教活动。到1944年之后，全家又皈依宗教，所有孩子都在附近村庄的教堂里受洗。该教堂是在1944年重新启用的，村民先行募集了受洗池的捐款。拉丽莎从箱底拿出她最珍贵的圣像，挂在房间一角，一半有窗帘的遮掩。她进出房间时，都要在圣像面前画十字。女儿维拉回忆：

    渐渐地，我们开始庆祝宗教节日，妈妈告诉我们个中的道理。她会准备一份特别的菜肴，这在战争期间并不容易。她总是说：“我们餐桌上有食物，因此是忏悔节。如果没有，那就是大斋期。”我们庆祝圣诞节、主显节、圣母领报节、复活节及三位一体节。 (695)

    战争年代最引人注目的兴许是新的言论自由。人们公开讲述自己亲人的不幸，袒露内心的感受和意见。要是在以前，这种做法绝对不可想象。人们还投入政治辩论。战争的不确定性，包括苏维埃政权的生存与否，消除了他们对谈论政治甚至批评政权的恐惧。

    维拉·皮罗茨科娃回忆1942年回到家乡普斯科夫：“每个人都在公开讨论政治，没有任何恐惧。”她记录了一对姐妹之间的争论：姐姐22岁，前线军官的妻子；妹妹17岁，“激烈的反共人士”。当姐姐否认劳改营的存在时，妹妹一脸蔑视：“你竟不知道？全国老百姓都晓得，就你一个人不知道？你只是不想知道，躲在你军官老公的背后，自欺欺人地认为一切都很好。”另一个场合中，妹妹批评姐姐对失业的视而不见，尽管几个亲属在战前一直找不到工作。“你怎会不知道呢？除非你结婚之后，完全忘了娘家，不在乎我们穷人了。”维拉评论，那位姐夫战前与大家一起住时，没人敢如此讲话，都担心他的举报。 (696)

    购买食品的排队长龙是政治讨论和抱怨的温床。愤怒和挫折让大家团结起来，鼓励他们勇敢说出（所以排队长龙中总是有潜伏的举报人和警察）。一组举报人混入莫斯科商店外的各式排队，他们在1942年4月的汇报中说：“商店用品卖光后，能听到公开的反苏议论。”买煤油的队列中，有一名老汉这么说：“到处都是党员寄生虫，都是混蛋！他们拥有一切，而我们工人什么都没有，只有用于绞刑的脖子。”其中一个女人添油加醋：“这就是为什么我们面对一个烂摊子。”莫斯科另一排队中的举报人，汇报了下列对话：

    德罗宁[士兵]：我们现在的生活如果与1929年前的一样，岂不更好。集体农庄的政策一旦生效，什么都完了。我自问——我们打仗，到底图个什么？有什么需要捍卫的？

    西佐夫[士兵]：我到现在才明白，我们其实只是奴隶。像李可夫[布尔什维克领导人]那样的人，想为我们做点好事，却被他们撤了。为我们着想的人，还会有吗？

    卡列林[木匠]：他们告诉我们，德国人衣衫褴褛，虱子满身。德国人确实到了我们的村庄，就在莫扎伊斯克附近，我们却看到他们天天吃肉、喝咖啡……

    西佐夫：我们都在挨饿，但共产党人说一切都是欣欣向荣。 (697)

    舌头有了明显的放松。罗扎·诺沃塞尔茨娃回忆起1942年与一名莫斯科鞋匠的相遇。父母被捕的5年后，她刚返回首都，在被捕一事上从没质疑过苏维埃政权。她相信父母是无辜的，但也准备接受“人民公敌”确实存在，以及清洗“异己分子”的必需，这是她1938年的想法。对这位鞋匠的造访使她的想法完全改观，他在修鞋时大骂苏维埃政府，把所有的悲惨都归罪于它，并透露自己在20世纪30年代遭到了不公的逮捕。他面对罗扎这样的陌生人，却以这种方式交流，显然不考虑其中的危险。他的坦率——她以前从未遇到的——使她人生第一次“停下来，认真思索这些事”。 (698)

    军人之间也是批评和辩论的重要舞台。前线士兵组成的互信的战友团体，是畅所欲言的安全环境。一位老军人回忆：“我们大骂领导，为何没有飞机？为何炮弹不够？混乱的起因在哪儿？”另一位老军人记得，士兵不怕讲出心里话：“他们很少顾忌……天天把脑袋挂在裤腰带上的士兵什么都不怕。”1945年春天，拉扎尔·拉扎列夫从前线回来，待在古比雪夫医院：

    像其他士兵一样，1945年的我，嘴很快，想什么就讲什么。我谈起军队中我认为是丑闻的事，医院里的医生就警告我“要看住我的舌头”。我很惊讶，像其他士兵一样，已为苏维埃国家拼死拼活了，应该有发言的权利……我经常听到来自农村的士兵抱怨他们的集体农庄，声称赢得战争后，有必要将之废除。言论自由已达如此地步，发表意见已成家常便饭。 (699)

    基于这样的言论，新政治社团的轮廓开始应运而生。人与人之间的交往和信任愈益增长，帮助塑造了复苏的公民精神和国民意识。这种转变的中心所在，是价值观的根本变化。战前，由于普遍不信任的气氛，没有党的领导，社团便无法形成。所有公民义务的履行，都要依靠国家的指令。但在战争期间，公民义务涉及实打实的东西，即保卫祖国。它让人们聚在一起，独立于国家的控制，塑造了一套全新的公共态度。

    很多人对此变化发表过见解。作家普里谢维恩在1941年日记中指出：“战争开始之后，人们互相变得亲近，为祖国的担忧团结了每个人。”他还认为，战争中兴起的民族精神已经抹掉了阶级的分化。他在1942年写道：“我现在才懂得，‘人民’不是可见的东西，而是我们内心深处的东西。‘人民’不单是农民和工人，甚至不单是普希金、陀思妥耶夫斯基、托尔斯泰那样的作家，而是我们大家的内在。”其他人通过工作场所中新的团队精神，来感受这个战时的民族大团结。阿达·列韦多娃在列宁格勒医疗机构的同事之间发现了新的“亲密”，打破了旧的职业等级制度：

    医疗机构变成了我们的大家庭，教授和普通工人的界限完全消失。大家感到是在承担共同的事业和责任，为了我们的机构、病人和同事。这让我们变得亲密无间。幸存于列宁格勒围城的人，都能感受到这种民主精神（就是如此），即我们属于一个大家庭。战争结束后，它仍与我们同在。

    一个步兵排的指挥官声称，战争使他重新思考人的价值和关系：

    在前线，能很快发现他人身上最重要的品质。战争就像一个测验，所测试的不只是膂力，还有人性。卑鄙、懦弱、自私，顷刻之间就会显露。如果不能依靠理智，那么凭直觉也可以在很短的时间内弄清他人的真实面目——要是在和平时期，那需要很多年才能完全弄清。

    难怪在很多人的眼中，战争变成了一种精神净化。前几年，“谎言的不人道”扼杀了所有的政治讨论，现在则受到猛烈的冲洗。拉扎列夫评论道：“战争迫使我们重新思考自己的价值观和轻重缓急，使我们普通士兵看到了不同的真理，甚至想象新型的政治现实。” (700)

    随着战争接近尾声，苏维埃大军开进欧洲，士兵见证了不同的生活方式，这种反思变得愈益普遍。1944年初，苏维埃已集结600万军队，超过东线德军数量的两倍。1944年6月，盟军发动对法国北部的侵入。与此同时，红军击溃白俄罗斯前线的德军主力，7月3日夺回明斯克，穿越立陶宛，8月底抵达普鲁士边境；乌克兰前线的苏维埃军队，席卷波兰东部，直扑华沙；在南部战线，德军很快崩溃，红军横扫罗马尼亚和保加利亚，1944年9月抵达南斯拉夫。苏维埃的进攻冷酷迅猛，到1945年1月底，乌克兰方面军已深入到西里西亚；朱可夫的白俄罗斯方面军已达奥得河，柏林在望。

    很少苏维埃士兵去过欧洲。他们中的大多数是农民子弟，参军时只有狭窄的世界观、苏维埃农村的习俗和从宣传中得来的世界形象，他们对将要发现的毫无心理准备。西蒙诺夫观察到：“欧洲和我们苏联在生活水准上的对照，无论是在情感上还是在心理上，都是一大冲击。它改变了数百万军人的看法。”士兵们看到，普通百姓住着更好的房子；尽管有战争和红军抢劫，商店里依然货物充沛；他们在赶去德国的途中看到的私人农庄，即使处于荒芜之中，仍远远胜过苏维埃集体农庄。任何宣传都无法让他们漠视亲眼目睹的证据。

    与西方的碰撞，帮助塑造了士兵们对自己祖国的期望。农民士兵们相信，随着战争结束，集体农庄将被一扫而光。军队里流传许多此类的传言，大部分涉及朱可夫对部队的承诺。士兵们给家人写信，无数次地重复此事。这些期望传遍整个农村，导致了农民对集体农庄的一系列罢工。其他士兵还谈到重新开放教堂、更多的民主，甚至废除党支部。导演亚历山大·多夫任科记得与军车司机的一席讨论，他是一名“西伯利亚小伙子”，时间在1944年1月。该司机说：“我们生活得不好，你知道，大家都在期待生活中的变化和改善。我们所有的人都在等待，只是没有挂在嘴上。”多夫任科在日记中记下：“听到这些话，我感到非常惊讶。人民强烈希望有不同的生活，随处可以听到，唯一听不到的地方就是我们的领导人圈子。” (701)

    军官站在这项军队推动的改革运动的前列，公开批评苏维埃制度，期望改变。1945年，一名中尉写信给最高苏维埃主席团主席米哈伊尔·加里宁，要求在“最高苏维埃主席团下次会议上，考虑一系列改革”。他去过纳粹在波兰的迈丹尼克集中营，看到德国独裁的后果，于是要求苏联也结束任意的逮捕和监禁。他说，苏联有它自己的迈丹尼克集中营。他还要求撤销集体农庄，因为手下士兵告诉他，那是一场灾难。此外，还有士兵要他向主席传达其他的不满。 (702)

    很自然，党领导对心怀改革主张的军人回国不无忧虑。对喜欢回顾历史的人来说，它与1812至1815年的反拿破仑战争有明显的比照。其时，归国的军官人员把西欧的自由主义思想带回沙俄，随即激发了1825年的十二月党人起义。1945年2月，白俄罗斯第二方面军出席会议的积极分子强烈呼吁，要坚决抵制西方的流毒：

    1812年战争之后，我们的士兵看到法国的生活，拿来与沙俄的落后生活作比。当时，法国的影响是进步的……十二月党人看到了反沙皇独裁的必要，但今天不同。也许东普鲁士的庄园优于集体农庄，这种印象可能导致落后人士得出结论：庄园经济胜过社会主义经济。但这是一个倒退，因此，必须对此展

    开无情的斗争。 (703)

    西方思想对党员的影响引起了特别的担忧。1945年，苏联党员的一半以上都是在籍军人。党领导假设，他们的复员，势必将危险的政治改革思想传染给平民组织。

    事实上，这些思想早已在民众中传播，尤其是在关心政治和受过良好教育的阶层。与英美的结盟，让苏维埃社会在战争结束之前就深受西方的影响。在多年的隔绝之后，苏维埃城市此时已充斥着好莱坞电影、西方书籍、租借法案下的美国进口货。数百万人见识了真正的西方生活——兴许不如好莱坞所标榜的，但远远超越20世纪30年代苏维埃宣传中的惨淡。餐馆和商铺在莫斯科的街道重现，或许在暗示可能恢复像新经济政策那样的局面。这一切均在推高人们的期望：一旦战争结束，苏联的生活将变得更加容易，将对西方更加开放。1944年夏季，作家兼宣传专家弗谢沃洛德·维什涅夫斯基，在对外文化关系协会发表讲话：

    战争结束后，生活将会变得非常愉快……与西方将有更多的交流和接触，每个人都可阅读自己喜爱的，将有学生交流，苏维埃公民到国外旅行也会变得更加容易。

    知识分子公开讨论政治改革，不再担心审查（也许是党领导批准的，故意提供这样的诱惑，以维持人们的斗志，直到战争结束）。西蒙诺夫回忆：“大部分知识分子赞成自由化，在意识形态上普遍感到乐观。”对其中大多数人来说，自由化意味着与政府开展有关改革的“对话”。很少人愿意向共产主义专政提出公开挑战，大多数人只希望在政治决策中能有更多的参与，在内部做工作，使制度更加开放。诗人大卫·萨莫伊洛夫表达了这样的心态：

    在我们的心目中，公民责任包括为政治任务服务。我们相信这些任务的效用……我们感到，如果承担了公民使命，就有权利获得政府的诚信……政府的所作所为，需要有一个解释，让我们懂得其中的道理。我们当然不希望政府随心所欲，而自己只是盲目的执行人。

    甚至经济改革也是可以接受的讨论主题。莫斯科的斯大林工厂是苏联最大的汽车制造者，其主管伊万·利哈乔夫提倡在工业经济中引进国内市场，让地方掌握较多的财政自由，通过高工资来刺激工人的生产率——它会从根本上改变计划经济的性质。一些经济学家也公开批评计划制度，提出在战后重返市场，以刺激生产。 (704)

    人们在这开放气氛中变得理直气壮，甚至在私人生活方面，也质疑起苏维埃政权的原则和价值观。

    埃尔加·托尔钦斯卡娅在战前是个少年斯大林主义者，她记得让她反思政治信仰的一起具体事件。在1941年的列宁格勒保卫战中，她作为共青团的积极分子，与一群大学生一起被送去城外挖掘战壕，晚上就睡在战壕中。其中一人对客观条件不满，向领导提出抱怨，结果遭到了惩罚、欺负、共青团会议上的举报，最终被捕入狱。对埃尔加来说，这种迫害是一大觉醒。她父亲被捕于1937年，她曾相信政权关于“人民公敌”的宣传，以为他一定做了错事。如今，她亲眼看到有人无缘无故被捕。她加入一组学生，抗议对朋友的逮捕，却无济于事。从那以后，她以不同的眼光看待共青团和共产党：它们不是民主机构，只是滥用权力的精英小集团。她甚至想退出共青团，不再参加它的会议。新看法也影响了她对共用公寓的态度。整个列宁格勒围城时期，她都在那里住：

    这是一个愉快的公寓，相互之间很少争吵。但有一个女人，住在后面的房间，老是与酒鬼丈夫吵，还会遇上家庭暴力。后来，她加入共产党，突然变得非常重要。她接管了我们的房间，有了面包和家具，要啥有啥。但事实上，我曾当面告诉她，并不赞同党的做法。我记得很清楚。我很可能因此被捕。 (705)

    马克斯娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅在列宁格勒公共图书馆工作，自从父母被捕以来，一直在共用公寓独自生活。内务人民委员会传召她去总部，逼迫她参与对一名退休沙皇军官的举报，使她猛然觉醒。那位退休军官为了取暖，喜欢待在图书馆帮着做些琐事。由于马克斯娜的拒绝，内务人民委员会的审讯员转而把矛头指向她，说这没什么奇怪，因为她自己就是“人民公敌的女儿，是在同病相怜”。这种侮辱激起了马克斯娜心中无比的愤慨，既出于内心的正义感，也出于捍卫无助军官和父母的必要，她作出了勇敢却可能是愚蠢的反抗：

    我气得撕心裂肺，对他说，没人证明我父母就是人民的敌人，而他讲这种话，本身就是犯罪。在我看来，一切都豁然开朗了。但想想吧，我竟说出口！只是年轻气盛才让我这么勇敢！他一跃而起，向我走来，似乎想揍我。毫无疑问，他已习惯于打人。我站起来，抓住自己的板凳准备自卫。如果没有那条板凳，他一定会动手的，他慢慢冷静下来，在桌旁坐下，询问我的证件。

    几天后，马克斯娜收到了内务人民委员会的命令，勒令她离开列宁格勒，但她不肯就范。马克斯娜回忆：“列宁格勒就是我的家，就是我的全部，离开是不可思议的。我想，为何要走？我只有这一小小角落[共用公寓内]，让他们来抓我好了，我才不会离开。”第二天，马克斯娜得到了资深图书管理员柳博芙·鲁比娜的帮助。她是一名勇敢的党员，在战争期间和战后保护了许多列宁格勒居民避开内务人民委员会的恐吓。鲁比娜认识马克斯娜的继父——原区委书记——认为他是个好人。她自己在20世纪30年代的大清洗中，失去了一个弟弟、一个妹妹（在1948至1953年的反犹恐怖中失去更多亲人）。马克斯娜回忆，她直言不讳，“批评斯大林和其他领导人时毫不顾忌。在她眼中，那些人都是‘爬行动物’”。鲁比娜在自己办公室里为马克斯娜设立了简易床铺，让图书馆人员别向警方透露她的下落。把人藏起来是一个很勇敢的举动，很可能使鲁比娜入狱。但她在同事中德高望重，马克斯娜躲了将近一年，却没有人透露半点风声。马克斯娜回忆：“她照顾我，把我当做自己的孩子。”对马克斯娜来说，她们在办公室里的交谈仿佛是政治教育课，让她与父母的价值观重新连接起来，而父母从未如此畅所欲言过：

    鲁比娜是个非凡的人，既勇敢又坚强，满心共产主义理想，热衷于为大家伸张正义。她对我开诚布公，无话不谈——不仅仅是关于斯大林。她有一次告诉我，集体化是可怕的错误，毁了国家。她谈到，白海运河和其他建设项目全靠囚犯建成……她还谈及[1937至1938年的]逮捕，说我父母都是无辜的。我不理解的东西，她会逐一解释。有时她会谈整整一宿。她知道，我不会背叛她，不会向人透露一个字。她对我说的都是心里话。 (706)

    五

    西蒙诺夫赶到柏林，为了战争的最后一役。他在5月3日的日记中写道：“坦克，更多的坦克，装甲车，喀秋莎火箭炮，数千辆货车，各种口径的大炮。”

    在我看来，不是某师或某军团，而是整个俄罗斯武装部队，从四面八方攻进了柏林……在硕大却没有品位的威廉一世纪念碑面前，一组官兵正在拍照。一次5人、10人、百人；有的挎枪，有的没有；有人筋疲力尽，有人在哈哈大笑。 (707)

    5天后，西蒙诺夫在卡尔霍斯特镇报道德国投降条约的签署，然后返回莫斯科，参加胜利庆典和游行活动。

    莫斯科的市中心挤满了士兵和平民，赶来参加5月9日的庆祝活动。塞缪尔·拉斯金的侄子马克，看到美国大使馆外的鼎沸人群而变得目瞪口呆。他们聚集在马涅斯广场上，高举自制的标语牌，表示对盟国的支持，看到美国外交官和士兵（其中多人还拿着威士忌酒瓶）从窗户和阳台向外挥手致意，更发出欢愉的狂呼。在他看来，这是自1917年以来最近似于“争取民主的街头游行”的一件事。之后，马克返回位于西夫切夫―弗拉热克大街的拉斯金公寓，参加家人的庆祝活动。拉斯金一家——塞缪尔、贝尔塔、法尼娅、索尼娅、热尼娅和她儿子阿列克谢——1943年都从车里雅宾斯克返回莫斯科。马克回忆：“我们为胜利干杯，为斯大林干杯（这是官方规定的），大家心中充满了喜悦。”那天晚上，莫斯科市中心有更多的人向一国之父斯大林的巨幅肖像致敬。该肖像升起在克里姆林宫上方，由投影机照亮，周围数英里之内都可看到。 (708)

    6个星期后的6月24日，红场上举行正式的胜利游行。朱可夫元帅骑在一匹白色阿拉伯骏马上，在瓢泼大雨中率领部队和坦克迈进广场，军乐队奏起格林卡的爱国赞歌《荣耀归你》（Slavsya！）。两百名士兵携带纳粹旗帜，游行至列宁墓前，转身面对斯大林，将旗帜掷到地上。在高级指挥官的盛大宴会上，斯大林发表了著名的祝酒词，献给“几千万简单、普通、谦虚的人……他们是伟大国家机器中的小小螺丝钉（vintiki），如果没有他们，我们的元帅、各方面军和军团的指挥官，都分文不值”。 (709)

    苏维埃人民以普遍的喜悦迎接胜利。仅在这一时刻——或许在斯大林的整个统治时期仅有这个时刻——才有真正的民族团结。甚至古拉格劳改营的囚犯，也以爱国热情迎接战争的结束。他们认为自己也作出了贡献，毫无疑问，更在期待自己的大赦。一名阿克莫林斯克劳改营囚犯，在5月9日晚上写给儿子的信中说：“我的一生从没吻过那么多人，纯粹是出于快乐和幸福。”

    我甚至吻了男人。我们分离7年半以来，这还是头一次，我全然忘却了自己的悲哀和痛苦。定居地[监狱区域的外围]的人们奏起了手风琴，还有年轻人在跳舞。好像我们并不是羁绊于此，而是与你同在。 (710)

    士兵逐渐回国，许多男女为适应平民生活而承受巨大周折。从战场回来已是残疾人的有200万，他们领取微薄的津贴，很难找到工作，受到苏维埃当局犯罪般的忽视，很多人最终沦为大街上的乞丐。更多的人自战场返回，患有心理创伤，如战斗造成的心理压力、对战争心有余悸以及精神分裂等。但这些疾病，很少获得苏维埃医学界的承认，退伍军人自己又过于坚忍，不愿报告自己的状况。究竟有多少患者，一直无法弄清。 (711)

    就其他人而言，回归“正常生活”带来了诸多的失望。不再有家园和亲人，难以与朋友和亲戚沟通战争经验，不再有同志友谊，前线战友之间的相互理解不复存在——这些导致了战后岁月的普遍抑郁。康德拉季耶夫在20世纪90年代写道：“我的大多数老战友，要么酗酒致死，要么在战争结束时自杀——最近还有人自杀。”

    我们觉得毫无用处，成了废人……斯大林只把我们比作一台机器中的“小小螺丝钉”，我们感到受了侮辱，这绝不是我们在前线时的感受。我们曾认为，我们手中掌握了俄罗斯的命运，相信自己是公民，以身作则。

    康德拉季耶夫反思那些年，写道：

    我们打败法西斯，解放欧洲，归来时却没胜利者的感觉。或者说，这种感觉仅持续很短一段时间，即我们对改革仍抱有希望时。这些希望落空后，我们陷入了失望和冷漠的深渊。开始，我们还以为是战时疲惫所引起的。我们是否真正明白，我们拯救了祖国俄罗斯，同时也拯救了斯大林政权？也许，还不甚明白。即使看到这一点，我们还是会以同样方式誓死作战的。在自家的极权主义和希特勒的版本中间，我们宁可选择前者。因为，忍受自家人的暴力，要比忍受外国人的，更为容易。 (712)

    安东尼娜·马兹娜及她女儿玛琳娜和玛琳娜·伊利纳（左），1944年摄于奇姆肯特

    家庭的重组比士兵在家书中想象的更为艰巨。情侣不愿等待；女人与士兵一厢情愿的想象并不相符；分离和重聚的压力导向婚姻的解体。1944年夏天，西蒙诺夫写了剧本《无可避免》（So It Will Be），讲述一名军官从前线返回莫斯科，妻子和孩子早已消失于德军占领区，他断定她们已经遇难，所以与教授的女儿结婚，重建新的生活。剧本的中心思想是战后的当事人必须随遇而安，与《等着我吧》的主题，竟相差十万八千里。

    战争结束正好遇上古拉格囚犯的第一批大释放。1937至1938年判刑8年的数百万“政治犯”，期满释放恰好是1945至1946年（1945年之前期满的囚犯，其获释必须等到战争的结束）。各个家庭开始重新拼凑，妇女们带头奔赴全国各地，寻找自己的丈夫和孩子。前囚犯的居住地有严格的限制，大多数不得逗留在主要城镇。所以，为了全家团聚，不得不搬去苏联偏远的角落。有时，他们能找到的唯一居所仍是古拉格区域。

    尼娜·布拉特1945年获释于马加丹劳改营，历程1.6万公里，才从雅罗斯拉夫尔孤儿院（女儿在外祖母死后的归宿）接回女儿伊纳萨，与自己一同住在马加丹劳改营。她在何处定居的问题上别无选择，释放时的限制是“100城之外”。这意味着作为前囚犯，她不得在所列的100个城镇定居。 (713)

    玛丽亚·伊利纳的征途更为艰险。她曾是基辅大型纺织工厂的主管，作为“人民公敌”的妻子被捕于1937年（丈夫是一名高级党干部），判处8年，流放到摩尔多瓦的波特马劳改营，到1945年获释，就去寻找自己的孩子。她被捕时，2岁的女儿玛琳娜和两个儿子弗拉基米尔、费利克斯，都被送去遣散中心。他们的外祖母爱莫能助，她已在照看1936年被捕的姨妈的几个孩子。弗拉基米尔抵达遣散中心后不久就满了16岁，结果作为“人民公敌”获刑5年，被送去马加丹劳改营。费利克斯去了基辅的孤儿院；玛琳娜去了附近的布恰孤儿院，1939年又转去乌克兰首都以南200公里的切尔卡瑟孤儿院。玛丽亚从波特马劳改营写信给苏联各地官员，打听孩子的下落，但找不到弗拉基米尔——他死于马加丹劳改营，而且没有记录，时间约在1942年之前。玛丽亚花了整整18年时间才找到费利克斯，他在战争爆发后，随孤儿院一起撤到哈萨克斯坦西部的捷列克蒂地区。她在1943年获悉，费利克斯12岁时逃离孤儿院，好几个月在外流浪，结果到了2500公里之外西伯利亚的伊尔库茨克地区，在偏僻的切勒姆霍沃小镇的一个工厂找到一份工作。

    玛琳娜的运气不错。切尔卡瑟孤儿院的医生安东尼娜·马兹娜有个妹妹，凑巧也在玛丽亚的劳改营。通过她，玛丽亚从孤儿院员工那里，定期了解自己女儿的健康状况。玛琳娜抵达布恰孤儿院后不久就患上猩红热病，几近死去。她转到切尔卡瑟孤儿院后，获得安东尼娜的精心调养。安东尼娜甚至把玛琳娜带回家，与自己女儿（也叫玛琳娜）同住，直到恢复健康，再回到孤儿院。安东尼娜给她送来食品、酥糖、甜食，告诉她这都是母亲送来的，但往往不是真的——来自波特马劳改营的只有不定期的小额汇款（尚有一些食品包裹来自外祖母，直到战争爆发）——但医生懂得，小女孩如想活下去，需要有点希望，需要相信自己有一位慈母。玛琳娜回忆：“我对母亲一点印象都没有。”

    我不懂什么是母亲，但孤儿院里的大龄孩子，经常会谈论自己的母亲，赞美她们的慈爱——她们会谈及战前的快乐，从不挨饿，总有面包、黄油、甜食——在我脑海中，这些甜食、巧克力、酥糖，成了我想象中理想慈母的符号……这不是别人给的甜食——而是“妈妈的甜食”。 (714)

    1941年，切尔卡瑟孤儿院疏散到哈萨克斯坦南部的奇姆肯特，由于有孤儿院员工的来信，玛丽亚仍与女儿保持联系。玛琳娜还太小，不会自己写信（她要等到10岁才开始上学），所以由保育员代写，并加入标准的措辞，以维护孤儿院的正面形象：

    1944年1月1日，奇姆肯特

    向玛丽亚·马尔科夫娜致敬！

    我代你女儿玛琳诺奇卡给你写信：“妈妈，我仍记得你。你会马上回家吗？我非常想你。我的生活很好，他们让我们吃得不错。我会唱歌跳舞，不久就要上学了。妈妈，寄一张照片给我吧。再见，我吻你，你的女儿玛琳诺奇卡。”

    我问她，还有什么要说的，她说这就够了。她身体健康，过得愉快，受到我们小集体中所有孩子的爱护……我们也定期写信给她在基辅的外祖母。私人摊位的照相费是22个卢布……如果想要，请寄钱来……

    保育员亚历山德拉·扎哈罗夫娜·格拉西姆丘克 (715)

    孤儿院在1945年迁回，但没去原先的切尔卡瑟，而搬至利沃夫附近一个大庄园遗址，在乌克兰与波兰的交界处。安东尼娜消失了，玛琳娜仍在等待母亲的出现。她回忆：“我从没见过她的照片，不知道她长什么样。但我觉得，就像别人等待上帝一样，我在等待母亲，我的救世主。”其他的母亲陆续来到孤儿院，领走了自己的孩子。“我对他们极为嫉妒，一直在梦想，下次会轮到我。”玛琳娜并没意识到，这些孩子与自己不同——她们的父母不是“人民公敌”，与子女的分隔只是由于战争——但她听到保育员在孤儿院的“窃窃私语”，记得“人民公敌”一词，知道它是指“不能谈论的坏事”。整个1945年，玛琳娜不断写信给母亲。她已在孤儿院读二年级，可以自己动笔写信。通常情况下，老师告诉孩子写什么，包括一些标准措辞，让父母知道她们在孤儿院很快活。但玛琳娜的信表达了决然不同的情绪，她在8月17日写信给母亲：

    妈妈，你好吗？妈妈，请给我写信，只要一封就够了，让我知道，你已收到我的信。我已给你写了7封，也许你一封也没收到。妈妈，我很好，没生病。这里已是冬天，很冷。即便如此，我们还要上课。妈妈，来看我，或尽快派人来接我，我在这里已经住腻了……其他女孩不会打我，但也有互相打架的。妈妈，我想你会在春天来接我。

    玛琳娜不知道与母亲在一起将意味着什么，只是在孤儿院感到很不愉快。她推测，像其他孩子一样，她也是因战争而与母亲分离的，现在战争结束了，母亲就会来接她，然后，她就能享受其他孩子讲述的战前与大人共度的幸福生活。 (716)

    1945年底，玛琳娜的母亲从劳改营获释，但不准返回基辅，寻找孩子时，只得借宿在各地的朋友家。她侄女的丈夫是党内积极分子和历史学家，介绍她与诗人巴甫洛·狄青纳联系。狄青纳属于乌克兰首都的斯大林精英团体（私下仍对现政权不满），帮助她发现了玛琳娜的下落。玛琳娜还记得母亲的到来，所乘坐的汽车由专职司机驾驶，那通常都是政府官员使用的。一群孩子聚集在入口处，看看谁来接这位幸运的女孩。

    “有人来找你了。”每个人都来告诉我……我走了出来，看到一名陌生女子，竟然手足无措。如果奔上去拥抱她，我害怕因此而受到惩罚。我知道，保育员并不喜欢孩子热情拥抱来接他们的人，这样做，有损于孤儿院的名声。我们必须让来客觉得，这里一切都好，我们都舍不得离开……其实我也很害羞。妈妈后来说，见面时没有喜悦，我好像有点诚惶诚恐。我确实害怕一切……我记得当时曾想，可能不会把我带走，因为没人告诉我她是我的母亲。我不知道她是母亲，从没见过，甚至从没看到一张母亲的照片。她已经不年轻，头上戴着旧头巾，仿佛是借来的，使她显得庄重。她打扮得不像贵妇人，没有皮草、帽子、漂亮的装饰。她看上去贫穷潦倒，落落寡欢，活像一个老太太，不像一个母亲，至少不是我所想象的。我脑海中的母亲该是怎样呢？衣冠楚楚，年轻漂亮，容貌出众，活力四射……但这个女人，却头发斑白。 (717)

    玛琳娜的母亲把女儿带到利沃夫城，住入酒店，早餐吃软面包和可可饮料。玛琳娜第一次体验如此的奢侈，终生不忘。几天后，她们回到切尔卡瑟，住在集体宿舍的一个小房间。玛琳娜继续上学，但要克服她们之间的隔阂却非常困难。玛琳娜回忆：“最初几个星期，我与母亲都无话可谈。”

    我是一个野孩子，来自孤儿院，不喜说话。她并不强迫我，反而有点怕我……也许她在我身上看到了野性的端倪，在思忖应对的好方法……母亲后来说，我不但害羞，而且胆怯，犹如惊弓之鸟。她叫我时，我都不会走近，自己也从不主动去麻烦她。很长一段时间，我只会叫“您”[“你”的敬称]，不会叫“妈妈”。内心堵着一道墙，阻止我开口。我必须要强迫自己叫“妈妈”——花了很长一段时间。

    她们一起住了12年，一直没能培养亲密的关系，她们受伤太深，无法向对方打开心扉。玛琳娜的母亲死于1964年，从没告诉女儿自己在劳改营的经历。玛琳娜回忆：“她太害怕了，以致不敢告诉我。我也太害怕了，以致不敢提问。”她所发现的母亲在劳改营的经历，都来自玛丽亚在古拉格的朋友。1955年以前，她甚至不知道自己另外还有哥哥。其时，费利克斯再次出现，玛丽亚也知道了弗拉基米尔已死去。玛丽亚沉浸在深深的沮丧之中，变得完全龟缩，对过去一字不提。玛琳娜记得：“我们虽住在一起，却几乎鸦雀无声。”

    这太可怕了。直到今天，我始终不明白她为何这么害怕畅所欲言？我觉得，她不想拖累我，希望我幸福，不让我痛心疾首于我家在苏联的遭遇。她知道，我们所承受的一切都是不公正的，但不愿让我也有同感。 (718)

    [1] 这里的三角关系被称为“Union of Serova, Simonov and Rokossovsky”，也可缩写为USSR。——编注

    [2] 此处的《等着我吧》，采用的是中国作家协会资深翻译家苏杭的译文。——译注

    [3] 根据1998年出版的回忆录，她在1937年嫁给身为知名作家、《真理报》记者的戈尔巴塔夫，希望获得保护（她父亲作为一名沙皇军官曾在1925年入狱，到1937年，又与她的祖母一起被捕，被送进劳改营。当时她正在拍电影，却因此被解雇，再也找不到其他的表演工作）。在之后的10年中，这对夫妇享受着苏维埃精英的奢华生活，经常出席克里姆林宫的招待会。塔蒂亚娜的美貌，受到内务人民委员会主管拉夫连季·贝利亚的垂涎。1947年，她被贝利亚强奸多次，此丑闻在苏维埃领导人圈子中众所周知。奥库涅夫斯卡娅在回忆录中声称，戈尔巴塔夫并没保护她，因为他刚刚晋升为中央委员，不想制造麻烦。塔蒂亚娜变得狂野，心直嘴快，在克里姆林宫招待会上肆意酗酒，举止轻率。戈尔巴塔夫担心妻子被捕，恳求她申请入党以自救，却遭到她的拒绝。据奥库涅夫斯卡娅说，戈尔巴塔夫为了明哲保身，遂向当局提供她的活动证据。塔蒂亚娜被捕，以间谍罪获刑10年，被送去科雷马劳改营（她经常出国，与外国男子的风流韵事时有所闻，包括南斯拉夫总理约瑟普·铁托）。奥库涅夫斯卡娅的被捕，成为西蒙诺夫夫妇频繁发生争执的起因。奥库涅夫斯卡娅在回忆录中表达了对西蒙诺夫的深刻敌意，称他和戈尔巴塔夫都是讨厌的党内野心家。她还回忆了与西蒙诺夫的首次见面，那是1937年在佩列杰尔基诺地区。她声称，他曾试图强行与她上床，把他描述成（戈尔巴塔夫的朋友中）“最叫人讨厌的人，粗鲁、迟钝、缺乏优雅、肮脏、邋遢”。但这个形象，与西蒙诺夫在他人眼中的儒雅可敬，大相径庭。[T. 奥库涅夫斯卡娅《塔蒂亚娜的一天》（Tat’ianin den’），莫斯科，1998年，第65—66页]

    [4] 1988年之前，苏维埃公众一直不知道这项命令，它的公开属于开放政策的一部分。它当初传达至苏维埃军队各单位是在1942年。

    [5] 第一次世界大战时期，俄罗斯军队曾在喀尔巴阡山投入战斗。

    [6] 在戈洛温家，尼古拉的4个儿子有3个死于1941年的战斗：伊万（当时34岁）、尼古拉（28岁）和阿纳托利（21岁）。

    第七章 普通的斯大林主义者（1945—1953）

    一

    布舒耶夫一家1945年12月从阿克莫林斯克劳改营返回彼尔姆。季娜伊达和3个孩子——奈莉、安吉丽娜、斯拉瓦——搬入苏维埃街上一座共用公寓，与季娜伊达的母亲、弟弟托利亚、弟媳妇以及弟弟的两个幼儿，挤在一个11平方米的小房间。季娜伊达和3个孩子睡一张单人床，托利亚和妻子带着女婴睡另一张床，外祖母和托利亚的另一个孩子同睡。当时10岁的安吉丽娜回忆：“我们挤在一起，真是一场噩梦。我都不知道如何熬过来的。”布舒耶夫一家从劳改营回来时，所有财产仅够装一个口袋。当时12岁的奈莉回忆道：“我们一无所有，只有被褥和身上的衣服。母亲常说：‘我都不知道能否看到我们每人都有自己的床铺的一天。’”她们居住的社区一派败落，自战争爆发以来从没任何修缮，水电全无，房顶坍塌，污水处理系统失效，到处可见害虫。

    彼尔姆远离战场，未遭轰炸，但像后方许多城市一样，因大量撤入者给住房、食品、燃料带来极大压力而陷入困境。主要街道变成了种植蔬菜的自留地，市区没有汽车，只有工厂附近有几辆卡车跑动。城市的木道、长凳、围栏及绝大部分的树木都已消失，变成了柴火。 (719)

    1946—1948年，布舒耶夫一家所住的角落房间图示，位于彼尔姆的苏维埃街77号的一座共用公寓

    在第二次世界大战中，没有其他国家比苏联承受的损失更惨重。 [1] 根据最可靠的估计，从1941到1945年，2600万苏维埃公民丧命（其中三分之二是平民），1800万士兵受伤（苏维埃当局承认的数字远远低于此数 [2] ），400万人失踪。战争给苏联人口带来的后果是灾难性的，18岁到45岁之间的男性死了四分之三。战争结束时，这个年龄段的女子是男子的两倍。在激烈战斗的地区，如斯大林格勒、沃罗涅日、库尔斯克、克拉斯诺达尔，这个比例高达3∶1。农村的不平衡尤其严重，许多农民士兵选择不回去，留在城镇落户，因为那里的工厂需要人手。有的村庄，当初离家奔赴前线的士兵竟一个也没回来。自那以后，苏维埃农业从没获得真正的恢复，集体农庄里只有妇女、儿童和老人。 (720)

    战争对物质条件的破坏是空前的：7万个村庄、1700座城镇、3.2万家工厂、4万英里的铁路，均遭摧毁。在德军占领地区，一半住房受损或遭毁。1945年，尚算不上受损最严重的莫斯科市，其90%的建筑物没有暖气，48%的建筑物没有自来水和下水道。从整体来说，战争造成2000万人无家可归。农村的生活水准逐步下降，大批农民因此迁入城市，更加重了城市的住房危机，苏维埃当局却步履蹒跚。甚至到20世纪50年代，仍有数百万人生活在废墟、地下室、窝棚和地穴中。

    西蒙诺夫1947年成为斯摩棱斯克地区的苏维埃代表，收到数百份要求解决住房的申诉信，很典型的一封信来自1946年转业的一名党员军官。他一家6口，包括3个幼童和年迈的母亲，住在卡卢加城一间没有暖气的地下室，屋顶漏水，墙壁渗水。1941年，他们在斯摩棱斯克的房子被炸，自那以后就一直蜗居于此。他申请新的住所足足花了两年，却面对苏维埃当局的不理不睬；在西蒙诺夫的帮助下，他终于获得了将被安置于斯摩棱斯克的允诺。但由于官僚机构的拖延，最后完成搬家，仍要拖至1951年。 (721)

    战后的苏维埃经济处于灾难之中。1945和1946年的两次歉收，将苏联带到饥荒的边缘，至少有1亿人营养不良。从1946到1948年，确有饥荒发生。在受灾最严重地区，譬如乌克兰，约有200万人死于饥饿。 (722) 消费品的生产在战争中基本停顿，工业生产全部面向军需。尽管宣传机构允诺将有美好的生活，但冷战的现实意味着：在未来10年中，苏维埃工业的主要优先仍是钢铁、能源和军备。基本生活用品非常短缺，特别是像彼尔姆一样的省城，大家都衣衫褴褛，脚登破破烂烂的鞋靴。

    季娜伊达·布舒耶娃在国家保险机构的办公室找到工作，但口粮不足以果腹，于是她设法让奈莉也去上班，当一名办公室的信差。这意味着她们可拿到第二张配给卡。即便如此，布舒耶夫一家也仅能吃上面包、汤和土豆，但买不起肥皂。国营商店里根本没有肥皂，只能去农村买，全是农民非法制造和销售的。家里3个孩子只有一双鞋，轮流穿了去上学。季娜伊达的工资不够为孩子买衣服，只好去市场买碎布来自己缝制，孩子因此不好意思出门。安吉丽娜回忆，姨妈有一次邀请她们上剧院，那已是多年以后的1950年，物质条件有所改善，孩子各有自己的衣服和鞋子，但仍有尴尬的羞涩。

    我们去不了剧院，太羞愧了。我脚上是一双花边帆布凉鞋，四季不换，仅花了3个卢布；身上是妈妈1946年为我做的棉布连衣裙，但买不起外套。我要到1957年才有自己的外套，那是黑色呢子的，质量非常低劣，且是二手货。 (723)

    1945年9月，党中央专门设置一个委员会，调查乌拉尔和西伯利亚地区国防工厂的一系列罢工和示威——当时有许多此类的工人抗议运动。该委员会的结论是：罢工主要原因是住房和消费品的长期短缺，损害了工人的尊严。对于鄂木斯克174号工厂1.2万名工人的罢工，委员会是这样汇报的：

    工人及其家人急需衣服、鞋子、亚麻布。1945年，每个工人平均分到0.38件衣服和0.7双鞋。1944年，450名儿童因为鞋子和衣服的短缺而无法上学。今年，处于这种窘态的儿童上升至1300人。许多工人衣衫褴褛，无法在公共场所抛头露面。工人的家里没有餐具、厨具、勺、杯、碗、凳子、脸盆、足够的床位以及其他必需品。分配口粮会有长时间的拖延，其中大部分又是替代品。工人几乎都领不到肥皂、盐或煤油。 (724)

    人们因战时经验而壮胆，不再害怕表达心中的不满。1945至1946年，仅俄罗斯共和国的内务人民委员会，就收到50多万封苏维埃公民的信件，抱怨国家的宏观形势。一名工人甚至在愤怒的信件中大胆写下自己的名字和地址：

    这就是我们得到的！这就是斯大林的第4个五年计划中，你们所谓的国家在物质生活上对劳动人民的关心！我们现在才明白为什么没有召开这些问题的讨论会——因为，它很容易演变成反抗和起义。所有的工人都在问：“我们打仗，到底图个啥？” (725)

    在战争的尾期，人们坚信苏联的生活将有好转。作家伊利亚·爱伦堡写道：

    大家都在期望，一旦赢得胜利，就会看到真正的幸福。当然，我们知道，国家受到了摧毁，变得贫穷，必须努力工作。我们对金山银山不抱幻想，只是相信，胜利将带来正义，人的尊严将战胜一切。

    对改革的期望，更强烈的独立意识，对美好生活的憧憬（来自与欧洲的碰撞和西方书籍、电影）……这一切激发了新兴政治团体的振奋和躁动。人们经过了战争洗礼，抛弃旧日的恐惧，交谈得更加自由。在退伍军人俱乐部、学生会议场所、咖啡馆、啤酒厅，人们尽情享受自己在战争中初尝的自由，谈论必须提高人民生活水平。即使在最高层圈子中，变化也被认作是政治上的不可或缺。一位资深将军在私人电话交谈中告诉另一位：“千真万确，大家都在公开表达对生活的不满，到处都可听到。”这是内务人民委员会在1946年的窃听录音。政治局委员阿纳斯塔斯·米高扬在回忆录中提及，他当时相信，随着战争的结束，苏联将返回20世纪20年代的新经济政策。 (726)

    反斯大林的意见很少公开发表，但在非官方交流中大家都心照不宣，使一定的社交、种族和职业的团体，以及囚徒、流放者因此团结起来，有时甚至是整座城市都对政权抱有敌意。列宁格勒战时的围城经验，培植了该市居民反莫斯科的强烈情绪。在他们的眼中，这既是公民独立的标志，又是反克里姆林宫的象征。这种异议巧妙地体现于围城的传说、献给受害者的公共纪念碑以及俚语、笑话、轶事之中。

    玛丽安娜·戈登1945年从撤退地车里雅宾斯克回到列宁格勒，其时17岁。她的父亲在整个围城期间一直留在列宁格勒。他是苏维埃贸易代表团的翻译，又是一名活跃的神智学者，在20世纪20年代和30年代，曾多次入狱。这次回来，玛丽安娜注意到，父亲在表达对斯大林政权的厌恶时已变得更加开放。她回忆起父亲1945年的一次评论，如果是在战前，即使在家里，他也绝不允许自己如此不慎：

    收音机响着，父亲躺在床上看书，我在擦地板。歌唱家[尤里·]列维坦出场，唱起一首当时无处不在的歌曲《光荣属于斯大林同志！我们伟大的领袖》。爸爸说：“玛丽安娜，掐死这个汉斯·萨克斯！” [3] 他只是要我关掉收音机，但我仍大吃一惊。到那时为止，或多或少，我已接受了斯大林同志是胜利缔造者的解释。尽管有疑惑，但我一直在努力克服，爸爸的话却加深了我的怀疑。 (727)

    怀疑和异议在战后的学生社团里获得了突出的发展，公开的反对更为常见。战争期间长大的一代学生，与1941年之前长大的相比，思想更为独立。在战争中，许多年轻人已接触到成人世界，经常听到对政权的批评。尽管他们中的大多数仍然相信共产主义理想，但他们的亲身经历使自己养成了特殊的独立个性，并与苏维埃的宣传和共青团的循规蹈矩保持一定的距离。瓦伦蒂娜·亚历山德罗娃的父亲是布尔什维克的官员，被捕于1938年；她自己1947年进了列宁格勒理工学院，她描述了自己同学中的价值冲突：

    我们追随那个时代的精神，肯定是爱国者，我们伟大的祖国刚刚赢得战争。我们把自己当做青年近卫军，并以此名义成立了一个俱乐部。 [4] 但我们反对在社会上亲眼目睹的腐败——某女孩学习不好，但得到好成绩，因为她是模范工人或模范工程师的女儿，诸如此类。我们不喜欢的还有许多其他类似的情形：强制我们参加党史讲座；教师让我们在练习簿封面上写下各自的共青团员证号；对我们的宣传努力缺乏诚意。在我们看来，共青团似乎是野心家的集聚地，我们避而远之，在理工学院内自组小圈子，聚在一起喝酒，讨论各种政治思想。如果有人听到谈话内容，我们可能会被捕。我们之间的危险谈话，让我们团结得更加紧密。在我们圈子里，反对斯大林的个人崇拜是我们团体的标志。有人喝了几杯后会变得非常大胆，讽刺地提出干杯：“为斯大林同志！”大家都笑成一团。 (728)

    这样的非正式学生团体有很多，大多数只是讨论小组，鼓励大家既阅读官方批准的书籍，又作出独立的思考。另有更加政治化的团体，信奉某种形式的共产主义新生，来对抗他们看到的“野心家”对共青团的主宰，通常受到内务人民委员会的监视。这些团体很小，只有很少的学生成员，所表达的意见却得到许多年轻人的赞同。譬如，在车里雅宾斯克城，内务人民委员会发现一个学生小组，他们出版自己的年鉴，登载神秘诗歌和政论文章，呼吁在共青团内恢复列宁主义的革命精神。1946年9月，地方党委的一份报告发现，这些态度在车里雅宾斯克的学生中得到了广泛的认同，学生们都感到共青团高高在上，未能满足他们对外国文学、性问题和哲学的兴趣。 (729)

    1945年，艾莱娜·舒瓦洛娃与母亲从疏散地返回列宁格勒，开始上大学。20世纪30年代，由于父亲与他身在德国的母亲仍有书信来往，全家流放到沃罗涅日城。艾莱娜的父母于1939年离婚，在流放中长大的耻辱已给艾莱娜留下烙印，借用她自己的话，使她变得更加“内向”，并“在心中抗拒苏维埃制度”。母亲是专绘斯大林肖像的艺术家，家里没外人时，常对斯大林作为一国之父进行嘲讽，更加深了艾莱娜心中的抗拒。她从小由母亲带大，要“相信上帝，始终讲真话”，感到自己越来越疏远于大学环境，不得不隐瞒自己的过去。对她来说，开放和直率成了她坚持自己个性的代名词。她与两个最值得信赖而且均有污点履历的朋友，自组一个讨论小组。她回忆：“我们的初衷是相互之间必须完全坦诚，我们在朋友家的共用公寓召开第一次会议，讨论如何吸引新成员，只想发展‘自己类型’的——而不是循规蹈矩的。”但该小组半途而废，因为艾莱娜将之透露给自己的外祖父，他是前沙皇官员，吓了一跳，劝她赶快停止。他还透露了一个家庭秘密，以劝阻她的计划：艾莱娜的父母在20世纪30年代受到处罚，不只是因为与德国居民通信，更是因为参加了一个秘密的宗教团体。 (730)

    柳德米拉·埃利亚舍娃1940年进入列宁格勒大学。她的父亲两年前被捕、遭枪决，曾是一名资深的布尔什维克和列宁格勒著名的神经学家。1941年，柳德米拉跟随大学疏散至萨拉托夫城，1944年回到列宁格勒，于1946年毕业。至此，她已形成了反斯大林政权的见解。对她的思想具有重大影响的是列宁格勒大学校长亚历山大·沃兹涅先斯基。他是一名杰出的政治经济学家，通过招生，拯救了不少“人民公敌”的子女。他充满道德勇气和人道精神，既有魅力，又长得英俊。柳德米拉回忆，沃兹涅先斯基是“我理想中的苏维埃人，我甚至写信向他倾心吐胆。在某种程度上，他代替了原是我理想人选的父亲”。沃兹涅先斯基的讲座让柳德米拉对马克思有了更多的了解，马克思的早期作品更成了她的福音和反斯大林政权的道德基础。柳德米拉反思：“马克思是一位伟大的人道主义者。”

    我听了沃兹涅先斯基的讲座，攻读了马克思的著作，才开始懂得：真正的社会主义，即共产主义思想，与我们在斯大林统治下所经历的，完全是南辕北辙。我们的任务是返回到真正的社会主义，像父亲那样的人，在那里是不会被捕的。

    柳德米拉供奉的是马克思的肖像，而不是斯大林的，她每天都会在肖像前，一边画十字，一边自言自语，像是在做祈祷：“卡尔·马克思，教我如何生活吧！”她与大学朋友组成一个马克思主义学习小组，每周在公共图书馆聚会一次。像19世纪地下革命者一样，学习小组中的友谊全以政治原则为基础。柳德米拉回忆一个典型事件：

    有一天在公共图书馆，我们几个人站在楼梯上交谈。有人说：“苏共十九大的召开，为何遇上这么长的延迟？这肯定违反了党的规章制度！”苏共十八大[1939年]之后，已超过5年[苏共十九大的最后召开是在1952年]。在我们眼中，这似乎违背了党的民主原则[从1917到1925年，规定是每年一次；从1956到1986年，每5年一次]。然后，这位女孩说：“斯大林肯定知道得最多最好！”我看看她，心想：“这就够了！”对我来说，她作为一个“人”已不复存在。 [5]

    学习小组开始阅读课堂教材之外的文学作品，像后来的持不同政见者一样，也想找出一种“道德准则”。如柳德米拉所说的，有了它，“即便在一个全然否定道德准则的社会，我们仍可活得更加诚实，无需口是心非”。

    从马克思那里我们学到了但丁。马克思引用了他的座右铭“走自己的路，让别人去说吧”。我们经常讨论这一条，得出的结论是，虽然不可完全忽视他人的意见，但应尽量遵循自己的道路，无须牺牲自己的原则，无须追随大流，人云亦云。 (731)

    斯大林很快排除了政治改革的可能，1946年2月9日，他在战后第一次重要讲话中直接挑明，苏维埃制度不会有任何缓和。当时的大背景是愈益紧张的冷战气氛。斯大林呼吁苏维埃人民加强纪律，作出更大牺牲，克服战争的破坏，迎接资本主义制度必将带来的全球冲突（只要资本主义存在，就会有战争，苏维埃必须做好准备）。斯大林要求部下，在有关民主的谈论广为传播之前，就要发起“猛烈的进攻”。审查制度收得更紧，特别是针对战争回忆录，其中的集体经验往往提倡改革。 (732) 内务人民委员会获得加强，在1946年3月改组为两个独立机构：一个是内务部，以后专管国内安全和古拉格系统；另一个是国安部（克格勃的前身），以后专管反间谍和外国情报的工作。因为政权的敌人其实是“外国间谍”，国安部的任务也延伸到国内监控。战后几年虽然没有达到20世纪30年代的恐怖水平，但每年仍有几万人被捕——被控在冷战中站在西方一边的犹太人和其他民族——由法庭裁定犯了“反革命罪”。 (733)

    战争结束后，斯大林立即在军队和党的领导阶层推行新的大清洗。所谓的“自由”改革派，形成了敌对的权力中心，对斯大林的个人权威构成了挑战。斯大林的首要任务是铲除军队高级领导人，他们因1945年的胜利而享有巨大声望，其中的朱可夫元帅更成为改革派的寄托。 [6] 国安部开始监听高级指挥官的电话交谈，专为朱可夫建立了一个档案，因为他的声望气势已达不能容忍的地步。他是德国的苏维埃占领区的军事长官，在柏林举行的记者招待会上，他揽下了苏维埃胜利的主要功劳。斯大林申斥他的大言不惭，把他召回莫斯科接受军事委员会的审讯。会上，有政治局委员谴责他给苏维埃国家带来了波拿巴式的威胁（但除了一名将领，其余的都为他说了好话）。依照斯大林的命令，朱可夫被降职为敖德萨军区司令，后来又被送去乌拉尔，担任一个卑微官职（原本可以更糟，因为有谣言称，朱可夫试图发动反斯大林的军事政变）。朱可夫的名字消失于苏维埃的报刊，更被剔出伟大卫国战争的苏维埃历史，而斯大林成了胜利的唯一指挥者。其他普受欢迎的军事英雄，一一难逃类似的命运：前参谋长安东诺夫元帅，外放去了外高加索军区；罗科索夫斯基、科涅夫、沃龙诺夫、瓦图丁等人，被删出官方的战争记录；从1946到1948年，还有数名高级指挥官，以莫须有的叛国罪名，遭到处决或监禁。 (734)

    斯大林还把矛头指向列宁格勒的党领导。这座城市亟想摆脱莫斯科的控制，它充满了文学艺术的活力，以19世纪的欧洲价值观为基础，逐渐成为知识分子改革愿望的堡垒。列宁格勒的党领导既不是自由派，也不是民主派，只是技术官僚，相信苏维埃制度的合理化。其中一些已在战争期间晋升到莫斯科的高位，得力于列宁格勒前主管安德烈·日丹诺夫的提携。战后，日丹诺夫负责党组织，还掌管意识形态和外交政策。他在1948年死于心脏病时，政治局成员中的列宁格勒人多得不成比例。其中有尼古拉·沃兹涅先斯基和阿列克谢·库兹涅佐夫，他们曾被广泛认作斯大林的潜在接班人。像他的兄弟、列宁格勒大学的校长一样，尼古拉·沃兹涅先斯基也是政治经济学家，年轻有为，充满活力，英俊潇洒。作为国家计划委员会主席，他是苏维埃战时经济计划的主要策划人。1945年之后，他按照新经济政策的思路， [7] 试图让苏维埃工业的重建更趋合理化。当年，为振兴遭受内战破坏的国家，新经济政策曾立下汗马功劳。库兹涅佐夫是负责安全事务的中央委员会书记，但他的声誉鹊起主要归功于他在列宁格勒围城时的军事业绩。这是他在列宁格勒普受欢迎的主因，却成了不断刺激斯大林的根源。

    1949年，斯大林委派格奥尔基·马林科夫，前去检查列宁格勒的党组织工作。他是共产党书记处的主管，又是沃兹涅先斯基和库兹涅佐夫的死敌。马林科夫的借口是调查区党委操纵选举的指控，真正目的是要打破列宁格勒的权力基础，首当其冲的是“列宁格勒保卫战博物馆”。该馆的展品把围城的历史，当做全市人民勇敢的集体行为，基本上独立于党的领导之外。结果，博物馆关闭，负责人被捕，珍贵的个人文件和回忆录全遭销毁，仿佛是在抹去该城的独立、英勇的印记。1949年8月，在所谓的“列宁格勒案件”中，库兹涅佐夫、沃兹涅先斯基和其他几位特立独行的列宁格勒官员，包括列宁格勒大学校长，全都被捕，遭到莫须有罪名的指控（从英国间谍到花天酒地）。沃兹涅先斯基等人在1950年10月的秘密审判中被判有罪，同一天遭枪决。

    与战后政治压制配对的是计划经济的卷土重来。斯大林在1946年2月9日的演讲中警告，国际形势的紧张不会减缓；同年推出了新的五年计划，以巨大的建筑项目来恢复国家的基础设施。工业生产的目标定得如此离奇，如果要完成，每一名工人都必须成为劳动模范。苏维埃的宣传连哄带骗，要大家再作出一段时间的牺牲，并一如既往地允诺，辛勤工作将获得廉价消费品的奖励。然而，对于大多数人而言，很难相信如此的允诺。少数的基本家用品，即使可以买到，也价格奇贵，无疑在降低实际的工资收入。为了应付通货膨胀，政府在1947年推出货币改革，10卢布旧币只能交换1卢布新币，从而大大消减了农民的消费力。战争期间，对小额贸易的限制有所放宽。农民出售蔬菜和手工制品，积累了一定储蓄，然而遇上这次货币改革，却变成竹篮打水一场空。 (735)

    在战后的苏维埃经济中，由于斯大林和其“厨房内阁”的命令，强制劳役发挥了日益重要的作用。随着战争的结束，可供国家开发的无偿劳动力得到了快速增长。除了古拉格囚犯和征来的劳动大军，还有200万德国战俘、100万其他轴心国家战俘，主要用于木材采伐、采矿、建筑，其中怀有技能的，偶尔也会受雇于苏维埃工业部门。在有些工厂，德军战俘在生产过程中变得不可或缺，拘留营干脆就建在工厂之内，管理人员更试图阻止战俘的遣返。古拉格人口也在增加，1945年的特赦释放了很多人，但从1945到1950年，劳改营又收进100多万新囚犯，主要依靠对“民族主义者”的大肆搜捕（乌克兰人、波兰人、白俄罗斯人、拉脱维亚人、立陶宛人和爱沙尼亚人）。他们的领土被红军夺回，却从没真正融入苏维埃的政权体系。古拉格系统扩展成一个庞大的工业帝国，拥有67个综合企业、1万个单独劳改营和1700个殖民营，到1949年共雇用240万名劳工（战前是170万）。就总体而言，从1945到1948年，估计苏维埃工业劳动力的16%—18%是强征的劳工。他们主要在寒冷和边远的地区开采贵金属，当地的自由劳工，即使能找到，也是非常昂贵的（因此，强制劳役对苏维埃经济的贡献，远远高于统计数字所提出的）。奴役劳动也参与了20世纪40年代末的大型建设项目。那些项目，至少在官方眼中，象征了战后的信心和苏维埃制度的成就：伏尔加至顿河的运河、古比雪夫水力发电站、贝加尔至阿穆尔的铁路、北极铁路、莫斯科地铁的延伸，以及列宁山上的莫斯科大学。那些年，7栋像婚礼蛋糕一样的大厦（“斯大林的大教堂”），以铺张的“苏维埃帝国”风格在首都地区耸立起来，莫斯科大学就是其中之一。 (736)

    战后几年也看到古拉格和民用经济的逐步相融。每年约有50万古拉格劳工外包给民用部门，主要集中在建筑工地或民用部门抱怨劳动力短缺的地方。另有大约同样数量的自由劳工，大多数是专家，在古拉格的工业部门领薪工作。古拉格系统越来越趋向于物质奖励，即使在应付强制劳工时也是如此。劳改营的居民变得愈益不羁，难以控制。1945年的大赦涉及约100万囚犯，主要是刑事犯，他们的刑期或减少，或废除。劳改营留下的多是“政治犯”——不再是20世纪30年代充斥劳改营的知识分子类型，而是曾上过战场的年轻人，例如外国战俘、乌克兰和波罗的海的民族主义者——他们敌视苏维埃政权，不怕动用暴力。没有奖励，这些囚犯干脆拒绝完成指标，看守囚犯的成本也高涨成了天文数字。到1953年，内务部在劳改营雇用25万狱警，古拉格的维持费用两倍于古拉格劳工所创造的收入。内务部的几位高级官员，对强制劳工的划算与否深表怀疑，甚至在酝酿对策，或废除古拉格某些部门，或将囚犯转换成另一类平民。这些想法获得了贝利亚和马林科夫的支持，最终仍没得到认真地讨论，因为斯大林是古拉格系统的坚定支持者。 (737)

    诺里尔斯克综合企业是战后古拉格经济和民用经济相融的良好榜样。从1945到1952年，其囚犯人数增长3倍，从10万升至将近30万。大多数新来者，不是从“过滤营”（通过审讯，筛选出“与敌合作者”）挑出的、来自欧洲和前纳粹占领区的苏维埃战俘，就是从波罗的海地区和乌克兰围捕而来、权作“民族主义者”的士兵和平民。同时，自由劳工的人数也有稳步增长。如果加上获释后自愿留下（或被要求留下）的领薪囚犯，在诺里尔斯克综合企业1949年的总人数中，约有三分之一是自由劳工。最后，还有一大批作为志愿者的共青团积极分子，以及自愿前来团聚的囚犯家人。 (738)

    列夫·内托1925年出生于爱沙尼亚共产主义者家庭，他们家早在1917年就搬到莫斯科。父亲是拉脱维亚步枪队成员，在帮助列宁夺取政权时，起了至关重要的作用；母亲成为外交部官员，给儿子起了自己心目中的英雄托洛茨基的名字。1943年，列夫参加红军，分到内务人民委员会的特殊游击队，被派去德军防线后的爱沙尼亚作战。1944年，列夫被敌人抓获，囚禁在拉脱维亚的德温斯克地区，后来被送去德国法兰克福附近的战俘营。1945年4月，全体战俘被迫西行，列夫和其他囚犯得以从队列中逃脱，获得美军的解救。列夫在美军营地中待了两个月，虽受到不必返苏的劝说，仍在1945年5月回到苏联。其时，他20岁，很想上大学，但一走进苏维埃边境，先被送去过滤营，接着被送进红军。之后3年中，列夫在新近夺回的乌克兰西部充当一名普通战士。1948年4月，他在罗夫诺城被捕，被指控为美国间谍。内务人民委员会审讯员予以酷刑逼供，指控他在战争期间向德军出卖游击队，并威胁要逮捕他的父母。列夫因此签署了认罪书，被判处25年劳役，外加5年在诺里尔斯克流放。 (739)

    玛丽亚·德罗兹多娃1945年4月在柏林遭到红军逮捕，被送去诺里尔斯克。4年前，即17岁那年，玛丽亚与父母还住在列宁格勒附近的小镇红村时，沦为德军的俘虏。她被带去爱沙尼亚，在一所野战医院充任护士，然后去了柏林，成为纳粹高官的家仆。德军多次想征募她为间谍，但都受到抵制——她因此承受多次殴打——但她的伤疤不足以打动苏维埃的军事法庭，仍以“叛国罪”判她去

    诺里尔斯克10年。 (740)

    斯大林对苏维埃经济的战后重建自有一套想法，在他眼中，诺里尔斯克的贵金属扮演着重要角色。为了刺激诺里尔斯克的劳工，劳改营管理部门采用越来越多的劳动积分和货币奖励。到1952年，对诺里尔斯克的大多数囚犯来说，现金工资已成为规范，每人平均每月赚取225卢布，约等于正常民工的三分之一。在诺里尔斯克，伙食和住房算是“免费”的。许多志愿工赚取特别（“北部的”）工资，远远高于他们在古拉格系统之外所能赚到的。 (741) 诺里尔斯克开发了奇怪的混合体：这是一个监狱，囚犯却在领工资。但尊严的丧失，以及被迫在不人道的条件下生活和工作，光靠薪酬是无法弥补的，造反闹事只是一个时间问题。

    二

    战后几年受过教育的苏维埃新“中产阶级”得到巩固发展。从1945到1950年，大学和高级学校的学生人数增加一倍。技术和管理的新专业阶层崛起，在此后数十年内，成为苏维埃制度的主要官员和受益者。这些新精英不同于20世纪30年代的苏维埃干部：他们教育水平更高，眼光更灵活，更稳定。他们的专业资质，不但保住了自己在苏维埃制度中的高级职位，而且确保自己不会因出身不好或思想不纯而遭到剔除。在苏维埃精英的治理原则中，专业能力已开始取代无产阶级价值。

    创造这个专业阶层是斯大林政权的既定政策。它承认，苏联需要一个广泛可靠的工程师、行政官员、经理的阶层，既要与资本主义经济竞争，又要为苏维埃制度的安定提供坚实的社会基础。1945年以后，如果不想被政治改革的广泛需求压垮，便需要忠心耿耿的中产阶级的支持；而赢得忠诚的最直接手段，就是满足人们的资产阶级愿望。这一新兴的苏维埃资产阶级所获得的奖励，就是安全和高薪工作、私人公寓及舒适家庭的天伦之乐。战后初期，仅有少数消费品可满足他们的愿望，但像20世纪30年代一样，却作出了“美好生活”的大量允诺。苏维埃的宣传、电影、小说，描绘出个人生活的幸福形象，只要努力学习、勤奋工作，大家都能达到。在战后的电影和小说中，个人致富变成了勤劳和忠诚的公正报酬；追求私人幸福、家庭生活、物质享受，变成了新兴的正面（“苏维埃”）价值。 (742)

    拓展高等教育体系是创造这个中产阶级的关键。20世纪50年代初，苏维埃大学有170万在读学生，高等技校和学院有200万在读学生。 (743) 学生群体基本上是一个混合体，既有知识分子的儿女，更多的是苏维埃精英的子弟，还有不少出身卑微、战争中参军晋升、此时获得优待的年轻人。他们脱颖而出，升为管理和技术的精英，其成就并不归因于阶级出身或政治狂热（例如20世纪30年代的行政官员），而归功于苏维埃学校和大学的教育。他们对制度的认同，与自己的专业身份紧密相连。身为工程师、技术员、经理、计划制订者，自身的专业定义就是要确保苏维埃制度的行之有效，所以欣然接受计划经济和计划社会的合理性。尽管在政治上，或许因为自己家人受到迫害，他们有理由反对斯大林政权。

    为了在职业道路上取得成功，至少在表面上，必须遵循政权的要求。一名工程师在1950年解释：

    如想取得进步，必须充满活力、坚持不懈，还要做到闭嘴并戴上面具……如果某人能高声呼喊“斯大林万岁！”……并顺口唱出歌曲《我找不到呼吸更自由的国家》，那他一定会成功。

    据接受本书采访的逃亡者说，苏维埃行政官员中最常见的，不再是20世纪30年代的共产主义信徒和积极分子，而是那些野心家，虽然不相信党及其奋斗目标，却认真执行它的各项命令。 (744) 通过这些普通的斯大林主义者，即尽心尽职的数百万技术专家和低级官员，苏维埃政权趋于常规化，其行为变得官僚化，当初导向大恐怖的革命冲动，逐渐转化成忠心耿耿的专业精英的四平八稳。

    掩饰一直是苏俄必要的生存技能。但在战后，阶级出身和政治热情逐渐让位于外表的遵循和顺应，戴上面具的艺术能耐达到了炉火纯青的地步。曾生活于战后波兰共产主义制度下的切斯瓦夫·米沃什认为，人们已习惯于在公共场所故作姿态，开始显得极其自然：

    他与自己的角色相识太久，已变得天衣无缝，以至于不再能区分什么是模拟的自我，什么是真实的自我。所以，即使是最亲密的亲友，相互交谈时也会把党的口号信手拈来。真实的自我与必须扮演的角色一旦合二为一，岂不带来解脱，可让自己放松警惕。在适当的时刻作出适当的反应，已是真正的自动行为……这种规模的表演，在人类历史上非常罕见。 (745)

    在公共角色中完全丧失自己的毕竟还是少数，分裂的身份也许更能代表苏维埃的心态。就像一名演员时时关注自己的表演，大多数公民明确地意识到私人自我和公共自我的差别。为了维持这两个身份的井水不犯河水，他们设计出很多对策：如何压抑具有潜在危险的想法和冲动，如何应付会让自己问心有愧的道德困境。

    20世纪40年代末和50年代初的年轻专业阶层，与20世纪30年代的父母相比，面临着全新的难题。从父母身上继承了污点履历的人群中，只有很少人笃信现行制度（与父母辈截然相反），但多数人被迫从中找出一条对策——复杂的战略性游戏，涉及掩饰（自欺）、循规蹈矩和道德妥协。许多人在职业道路上所面临的第一个道德选择，即是在招工和申报大学的履历表中，是否透露自己亲人的被捕。讲真话会有遭拒的风险，不讲真话，万一被当局识破，可能会有更严重的后果。

    伊琳娜·亚历山德罗娃1946年进入列宁格勒理工学院，在经济学系注册时就隐瞒了父亲的被捕。然而，到了第二年，在旅行考察之前的另一张表格中，又披露了真相。伊琳娜认为：“时代变了，大家变得更加自由；出身对于人民公敌家庭，不再带有任何的耻辱。”事后回顾这些事件，她认为自己受了朋友的影响，而那些朋友，都来自从没受过迫害的家庭。理工学院的共青团组织收到第二份表格后，组织了同年级全体学生的“清洗会议”，要她解释当初为何“隐瞒社会出身”。共青团的领导指责伊琳娜的行为“卑鄙可耻”，犹如她的“人民公敌”父亲，也算是一种“反苏维埃态度”。会议通过了一项决议，建议理工学院开除伊琳娜。伊琳娜的得救，全靠一名身为系副主任的讲师。他曾于20世纪30年代初的工业清洗中被捕，最近才从前线复员回来。伊琳娜回忆：“那时，从前线回来的士兵仍掌控理工学院的道德基调，不容许清洗文化的回潮。他们牢牢掌控学生和宿舍，确保积极分子没在欺负像我这样的人。”该讲师保住了伊琳娜，甚至让她继续参加旅行考察；伊琳娜最终以优异成绩毕业于理工学院。但到1949年，由于“列宁格勒案件”，该讲师本人在理工学院的大清洗中遭到开除。 (746)

    1947年，伊娜·盖斯特（中）与两个朋友在莫斯科大学

    许多人认为，在表格中声明父母的被捕是“为人诚实”的表现。他们遵循苏维埃的方式长大，相信私人生活应接受公众的监督，生活在真实当中才是最重要的。其他人则认为，否认父母的逮捕，相当于以自我中心的理由作出背叛；反过来，接受继承于父母的污点履历，在某种程度上是对他们保持信心的表现。伊娜·盖斯特1944年注册为莫斯科大学的学生，总是填写父母被捕的真相，因为她害怕如果只透露一半的真相或撒谎，等于滑到了背弃他们的边缘。

    我对此很恐惧……我担心，在父母一事上撒谎无疑是在放弃他们……公开声明自己是人民公敌的女儿，我觉得，反而是在保护自己，省得别人来逼迫我背弃自己的父亲。即使知道他已死去，在我看来，那仍是一个非常糟糕的举动。 (747)

    有些人为了不危及自己的职业生涯，选择隐瞒自己的污点履历。他们心中有许多辩解的理由：父母并不是真正的人民公敌，所以不算是在隐瞒罪行；父母本来就希望他们在社会中获得上进；这种隐瞒是成为诚实苏维埃公民的唯一途径。因此，列昂尼德·马赫纳茨1949年申请莫斯科电影学院时，称父亲弗拉基米尔（被捕于1941年，判处在西伯利亚劳改营服刑10年）只是在战争期间“消失了，无迹可寻”。 (748) 弗拉基米尔·弗拉索夫干脆扔掉自己的姓（济科尔），改用姨妈奥莉加·弗拉索娃的姓。当初，父母被捕后，他是在列宁格勒的姨妈家长大的。1948年，弗拉基米尔在一个秘密的军事基地找到工作。他回忆道：

    我在每一份表格中填写同样的信息。姐姐帮我准备一张答案纸，可随时参照，每次都能提供统一连贯的答案。我总是填上虚假但一致的出生地点和日期，总是说从小就失去父母，“没有父亲的任何消息”。至于母亲，我总把她叫做尼娜·伊波利托夫娜[假名字]。我还虚构了一个故事：她曾在战争中赢得3枚勋章，从未结过婚，但有个来自巴黎的情人，名叫鲍里斯·斯捷潘诺维奇，自己当时太小，只记得他是一个艺术家，画了很多母亲的素描。我一直编造这个故事，直到1980年。其时，我终于让已86岁的母亲“寿终正寝”。 (749)

    这种谎言只有在苏联，即世界上最官僚最低效的国家，才能存活这么长久。

    那些想忘记自己过去的人，与其受迫害的父母的关系，一定会发生大的变化。就像伊娜·盖斯特所担心的，放弃这样的父母始终是一种诱惑。安吉丽娜·布舒耶娃早在阿克莫林斯克劳改营时就加入了少先队，1946年她与母亲、姐姐一起归来，后来在彼尔姆成为共青团积极分子。她亟想成为“平等的苏维埃公民”，克服家庭出身的耻辱，享有与其他公民一样的权利。1951年，安吉丽娜在彼尔姆的教育学院注册入学，很快当上共青团书记。她热爱斯大林。她的父亲1937年被捕，母亲1938年被捕，还有后续的家破人离，但她不愿相信这一切都是斯大林的过错。母亲持有不同的看法——在20世纪50年代的早期，这仍是危险的想法——所以，家里从不谈论过去。安吉丽娜尽量不去思考父亲的遭遇，只有通过拒绝想他才能朝前看，才能在彼尔姆的工厂追求自己的前途。她从不与身为工厂党干部的丈夫，谈及自己的父亲：

    我们在家里常说：“知道得越多，就老得越快！”或者“知道得越少，活得越容易！”在1991年从工厂退休、开始领取退休金之前，我从没跟任何人谈起我的父亲。 (750)

    列昂尼德·萨尔特科夫1927年出生于神父家庭，父亲于1937年被捕。他是5个孩子中的长子，感到有责任帮助母亲。母亲身为邮政员，收入微薄，难以养家糊口。他虽然很聪明，读完四年级之后，却因自己的污点履历而被学校开除。列昂尼德当过各种临时工，最后隐瞒父亲的被捕，设法进了工厂技校。如他所回忆的，他想成为一名工程师，在政权高度重视的职业中表现突出，以证明自己是“一流的苏维埃公民”。1944年，列昂尼德在车里雅宾斯克的军火工厂找到一份电气工程师的工作，晚上还在技术学院攻读。他在所有的表格中都填报父亲于1942年去世，暗示他死于战争年代。列昂尼德解释：“没人会去审查那样的日期。”

    我一直坚持这个版本——直到1958年。其时，我当上军火工厂“秘密小组”的特殊部门负责人，觉得应该厘正档案……我害怕，在这个“秘密小组”里工作，他们会审查我的履历，一旦发现我一直在撒谎，就会指控我是一名间谍。

    列昂尼德要到1963年才得知父亲的遭遇（枪决于1938年）。在那之前，他一直坚称自己对父亲的下落茫然不知。他坦言：“我的唯一兴趣是如何攀登职业阶梯。为此，我不得不保守过去的秘密……父亲被捕的真相会抹黑我的声誉，摧毁我的前途。”列昂尼德1965年入党，最终成为自己工厂的党委书记，手下有1500名党员。他是一名狂热的斯大林主义者，为斯大林的逝世而悲痛欲绝。他的办公桌上一直供有斯大林的相片，直到他1993年退休。列昂尼德不相信斯大林应为自己父亲的被捕负责（至今仍坚持己见）。与此相反，他感谢斯大林让自己从不起眼的乡村神父的儿子，成长为工厂的高级主管。 (751)

    为职业生涯而忘记过去，使许多家庭关系受损。1946年，尤里·斯特雷勒兹基以高分毕业于第比利斯的高中。他想回从小长大的列宁格勒攻读理工学院的工程系，却遭到拒绝，原因是他在申请表格中承认了父母作为“人民公敌”被捕。尤里设法在列宁格勒的多家工厂找到兼职工作，这使他能成为理工学院夜校的借读生，但不能参加期末考试，无法拿到毕业证书。1948年，他在列宁格勒共产党出版社担任非正式的技术设计师，其时，该出版社刚从德国引进新技术。尤里在安装新式机械中发挥了重要的作用，但由于是非正式雇员，没有得到任何奖励或认可。事实上，新式机械一旦正常运行，他就被解雇，因为他在填写表格时坦露了父亲的被捕。尤里在之后的3年中当了一系列的临时工。1951年，他的母亲从哈萨克斯坦的流放地返回列宁格勒。她因丈夫的死亡和漫长的流放而备受煎熬，无法找到工作，生活得非常辛苦。尤里不但没去探望她，而且不愿予以资助。自己的苦涩经历使他变得自私，他在接受采访时承认：

    我成为自我中心者，以铁石心肠对待他人，甚至是自己的母亲。我不去想她，把她彻底忘掉。我把她看作一种负担，眼不见，心不烦。这很可耻，却又是真实的。

    1953年，尤里向普尔科沃天文台申请高级技术员的工作，这一次，没有透露自己的污点履历——改写成父母双亡——因此而中选。 (752)

    有些年轻人拼命为自己的职业生涯着想，心甘情愿充当内务人民委员会的举报人。安全机关喜欢从“人民公敌”的子女中招募举报人，知道那些人很脆弱，其中很多人亟想证明自己是有价值的苏维埃公民。

    塔蒂亚娜·叶拉金娜1926年出生于列宁格勒的商人家庭，1917年以前这家人曾非常富有。基洛夫遇刺案发生之后，叶拉金一家1935年被流放去了哈萨克斯坦。1945年，塔蒂亚娜申请在莫斯科大学攻读数学，虽然成绩很好，但因“异己分子的社会出身”而遭到拒绝。于是，她改上了莫斯科的交通工程机电学院，该校急需优秀学生，对她的家庭出身关注较少。在莫斯科上学是塔蒂亚娜的梦想，她开始上课后不久，机电学院宣布开展一场清洗运动，以铲除“社会出身不受欢迎者”。塔蒂亚娜因此逃到列宁格勒，进入电气工程学院。学校当局很高兴如此优秀的学生前来申请，对她的污点履历故意视而不见。在她学习的最后一年，学生必须参与发电站的“秘密”工作；同时，铲除不可靠者的运动也愈演愈烈。她被选中来举报同学的活动：

    他们说，这没有什么可耻。不知何故，我设法说服自己：他们讲得不错。他们告诉我，如果听到学生散布学院的负面消息，或在发牢骚，即使是私下交谈，都要立即汇报，而且不能让受举报的人知道。

    塔蒂亚娜使出浑身解数，尽量少作汇报，只转述听到的传言，并不提及具体的名字。但是，要她提供更具体信息的压力愈益增大。如果她拒绝，像前一年的一些人一样，可能会被电力部分配去偏远的北极地区。其时，电力部正在呼吁电气工程学院的毕业生支援边疆。她在最后一次考试前提交报告，导致3名学生被捕。她分到一份莫斯科的好工作，在水电托拉斯上班。 (753)

    瓦伦蒂娜·克鲁波特娜一直靠举报来推动自己的职业生涯。她1930年出生于白俄罗斯的农民家庭，她家在农业集体化的运动中被打成“富农”。家里的房子和农场都被摧毁，父亲被送去流放地，留下母亲和两个幼女，栖身于以废墟材料建成的窝棚。由于是“富农”的女儿，不得上学，瓦伦蒂娜的童年与母亲一起从事各式低薪杂活。她们先搬去伊尔库茨克，然后再到阿巴坎城——位于西伯利亚的阿尔泰地区。在阿巴坎时，她和母亲重又见到父亲。经过多年的劳改营苦役，父亲体病心伤，只能在一所学校担任看门人，母亲也在同一学校当清洁工。瓦伦蒂娜13岁时才开始上学，之前都不识字。她回忆：

    基本上，我只是一个街头野孩子，衣衫褴褛，蓬头赤脚……我童年的全部记忆，全以饥饿为主……我害怕挨饿，更害怕贫困。这种恐惧支配了我的一生。

    在学校里，瓦伦蒂娜强烈地感受到“富农”出身所带来的耻辱。她对父母的贫穷、白俄罗斯背景、愚昧无知（父母都是文盲，不会讲俄语），感到越来越强的羞愧。她下定决心，一定要努力学习以自救，先后加入少先队和共青团。她解释，只有这样，才“有希望逃离自己从小忍受的贫穷和饥饿”。瓦伦蒂娜长大后，相信斯大林“是历史上最伟大的人”，完全接受党有关“间谍”和“敌人”的宣传。她甚至想成为一名律师，以便帮助政府追捕那些坏人。她回忆：“像斯大林一样，对所有被送去古拉格的人，我一点也不感到遗憾。”

    1948年，18岁的瓦伦蒂娜离家出走。她先去会计学院读书，再去萨哈林岛（库页岛）的海军基地担任实习会计，享受保留给军人的较高的工资和口粮。瓦伦蒂娜嫁给一名海军军官，成为海军基地中的可靠员工，在行政大楼工作，能看到所有人员的档案。由于这一条件，内务部招募她来举报其他军官的妻子。她的任务是赢得这些女子的信任，然后再汇报她们的私生活和个人意见：

    在某些情况下，我会主动接近，要求她们制作我想购买的小玩意。许多妇女喜欢在闲暇时做些缝纫和针织的手工活。在另外一些情形中，我会与她们交朋友，去她们的住所喝茶。还有的时候，我去她们的工作场所拜访。我的控制人提供购买这些活计的金钱（我保留了很多，主要是外套和罩衫，都是我的“客户们”自己制作的）。他也给我钱购买蛋糕或其他礼物，以便我打开局面，赢得那些女人的信任。关键是拉上关系，这倒也不难。只是有一个规则：与人谈及重要内容时，一定要单独相处。只有如此，她们才会畅所欲言。

    瓦伦蒂娜担任举报人好几年，写了几十份举报，涉及的人后来都遭到拘捕。她获得优渥的报酬——足以汇大笔款子给年迈的父母，足以在阿巴坎城购买房子，足以供自己和丈夫于1959年退休（她那年39岁）。在采访中，她仍坚持说，她是被迫的，有违自己的意愿，认为自己也是压迫的受害者：

    拒绝是不可能的，他们对我父母和富农出身了如指掌……我知道，他们曾囚禁我父亲。我害怕他们也会因此囚禁我……此外，如果我拒绝合作，我的丈夫可能会遭殃。

    另一方面，瓦伦蒂娜坚持认为，她所举报的人是真正的人民公敌，即“被裁定有罪的间谍”。她对自己的所作所为没有任何悔恨，事实上，她为自己在“反间谍”工作中的成就而感到自豪。 (754)

    三

    1945年之后，西蒙诺夫的职业生涯攀升到崭新的高度。他从战场返回，凭借自己的战场报道，佩戴了满胸的勋章。在斯大林青睐的知识分子核心圈子中，西蒙诺夫又是颇受信任的党员。1946年5月，世界徘徊在冷战的边缘，克里姆林宫向美国派出一个资深记者代表团，让西蒙诺夫带队。他在克里姆林宫听取外交部长莫洛托夫的简述，斯大林布置的任务是说服美国人：苏联并不要战争。此行让西蒙诺夫第一次领略政府的特权，动身前收到的巨额经费使他感到震惊。也许，他感受更多的是自己与他知道的普通老百姓的巨大差距所带来的不安。然而，即便如此，那种感觉也只是短暂的。西蒙诺夫陶醉于西方的享受，在美国被当做一位国际名人。他的小说《日日夜夜》已是美国的畅销书，大家都知道他的诗歌《等着我吧》，他的剧作在纽约、波士顿、华盛顿、旧金山的剧院上演。西蒙诺夫自己与许多名人合影，包括加里·库珀、利翁·福伊希特万格和卓别林，后来都成了他固定的通信人。 (755)

    美国之旅只是西蒙诺夫战后初期的若干出访之一。每一次，他都身负苏维埃政府的重任。1947年，他访问伦敦，汇报了吸引重要作家（包括约翰·普里斯特利和萧伯纳）支持苏维埃事业的可能性。 (756) 他在赴美国的途中逗留巴黎，想说服流亡的俄罗斯作家伊凡·蒲宁返回苏联。其时，蒲宁是唯一一个赢得诺贝尔文学奖的俄罗斯人，因厌恶革命而于1920年逃离俄国，一直在国外生活。他已有70多岁，但斯大林希望爱国之心和怀旧之情还能说服他返回故乡。1945年，许多流亡者受到苏联良好形象的诱惑，有些确实决定回归故土。西蒙诺夫在巴黎一系列时髦餐馆与蒲宁见面，以苏维埃政府的钱支付账单。西蒙诺夫强调自己的贵族血统，热情洋溢地赞美苏联的生活，受到邀请在蒲宁家中用餐时更提议一次“聚餐”。瓦伦蒂娜·谢罗娃专程从莫斯科飞来，带来俄罗斯的美食（鲱鱼、肥猪肉、黑面包和各式伏特加），以增强老人的故土之思。瓦伦蒂娜甚至为他唱了俄罗斯民歌，但蒲宁并没软化自己的反苏维埃态度，拒绝叶落归根，甚至不愿作短暂的访问。 (757)

    1946年，作家协会按政治局的模式重组，总书记是亚历山大·法捷耶夫，3名副总书记中就有西蒙诺夫。作家科尔涅伊·丘科夫斯基在1946年11月16日的日记中注意到：“作家协会的领导人都冷若冰霜，正襟危坐。最糟糕的是吉洪诺夫，可以聆听几个小时而脸上不露任何表情……法捷耶夫和西蒙诺夫也严肃刻板，一定是由于坐惯了主席台。”当选为作协领导的两星期后，西蒙诺夫接任《新世界》（Novyi mir）的主编工作，那是一份苏联最古老最著名的文学刊物。1950年3月，他离开《新世界》，改任苏联主要文学报刊《文学报》（Literaturnaia gazeta）的主编。斯大林特地要他利用社论，对冷战时期的文化政治勾画出另一种独立视角，表面上显得不同于克里姆林宫立场，以满足文学知识分子的愿望，而实质上却不偏离针对西方的强硬政策。这显示，斯大林完全信任西蒙诺夫，才委以如此微妙和尴尬的任务。 (758)

    西蒙诺夫晋入苏维埃的精英阶层，外表上也出现了戏剧性的变化。他放弃战争年代的“军人外表”，开始穿上量身定做的优雅的英国西装，或较为随便的美国高领毛衣、驼毛外套、战后风行的短盖军帽。西蒙诺夫长得高大英俊，颇像欧洲的绅士，对生来就熟稔的贵族礼仪更是游刃有余。他喜欢寻欢作乐，愿意充当慷慨的主人，对待手下，特别是秘书和司机，非常仗义厚道。他为女士开门，帮助她们穿脱外套，以骑士式的吻手礼迎接女宾。 (759)

    西蒙诺夫的生活方式也经历了巨大的变化，他拥有好几个住所：在莫斯科郊外的著名文学度假地佩列杰尔基诺拥有一栋宽敞的乡间别墅，是1946年向作家革拉特珂夫买的，价钱是25万卢布，当时可算是一笔巨款；在苏呼米附近的古尔里普希村有一栋房子，可俯瞰黑海，购于1949年；在莫斯科高尔基大街上，有一套宽敞的公寓，1948年后与瓦伦蒂娜同住。夫妻俩雇用两个女佣、一个管家、一个当秘书，还有为他们驾驶从美国进口的豪华轿车的私人司机。该公寓里摆满高雅、昂贵的古董，墙上挂有珍贵的画作，包括一幅库兹马·彼得罗夫―沃德金的作品，肯定来自被充公的私人收藏。该公寓又是莫斯科的文学和戏剧界精英聚会的时尚场所。西蒙诺夫自己酷爱烹饪，有时会为聚会制作精致的菜肴，但更多的时候，会叫附近著名的阿拉格维格鲁吉亚餐馆的主厨带人来他的公寓安排宴会。 (760)

    在《新世界》工作人员的眼中，西蒙诺夫以“封建领主”的气派著称。任职于诗歌部门的利季娅·丘科夫斯卡娅，对其时31岁的新任主编的年轻外貌，留下了深刻的印象；同时她又注意到，他强大的信心给自己带来了成熟人士的权威。工作时，西蒙诺夫非常严肃；向下属发出指示时，一脸的深思熟虑，口叼石楠烟斗（西蒙诺夫的办公桌上总备有半打不同的烟斗），像是在模仿斯大林。据丘科夫斯卡娅说，西蒙诺夫与《新世界》工作人员打交道时，显得傲慢霸道。她在日记中把编辑部比作19世纪的大庄园，一帮“爪牙和走狗”随时听候领主的使唤。她尤其厌恶西蒙诺夫对待两位诗人的居高临下的态度，他们是她1946年拉来向《新世界》投稿的。一位名叫尼古拉·扎博洛茨基，刚从8年刑期的劳教营返回。西蒙诺夫同意发表他的一首诗，之后又出于政治原因逼迫他加以修改。另一位是帕斯捷尔纳克，苏维埃文坛中的巨人，当时已有56岁，在年龄上满可充任西蒙诺夫的父亲。帕斯捷尔纳克的一首诗已被接受，将在《新世界》上发表，作者只是想预支稿费，但遭到西蒙诺夫的拒绝，视之为含蓄的威胁：如果不预支，作者就会要求退稿。他告诉丘科夫斯卡娅，“威胁我”是不道德的，“我已为他做了这么多。如果我在他的位置，绝对不会这样行事的”。西蒙诺夫为了教训帕斯捷尔纳克，决定不发表这一首已接受的诗。在丘科夫斯卡娅的眼中，西蒙诺夫的行为令人震惊，因为它显示，他赞同国家权力对艺术独立的支配。她自己是作家（科尔涅伊·丘科夫斯基）的女儿，从小就接受旧知识分子价值观的熏陶。她在日记中写道：“他[西蒙诺夫]想当一名保护人，要求他人感激涕零。”

    但人们不需要施舍，只希望得到尊重。发表扎博洛茨基的诗，不是因为他曾在劳改营待过8年，而是因为他写的是好诗。西蒙诺夫有责任支持帕斯捷尔纳克，这不是在施与恩惠，而是在尽自己的责任。他是负责诗歌出版的，在这一领域，帕斯捷尔纳克应是他最须重视的……西蒙诺夫不明白，预支稿费给帕斯捷尔纳克，他是在为俄罗斯文化尽责，为人民尽责。他却把它当做个人恩惠，而帕斯捷尔纳克应该感恩戴德。 (761)

    像战后斯大林政权中所有的当权者一样，西蒙诺夫也能够行使巨大的影响力。他作为《新世界》的主管和作家协会副总书记，对苏联几乎所有作家的职业生涯，都握有生杀大权。他如果勇敢地站出来，以自己的影响力与当局交涉，便可在多方面施以援手——获得住房或工作，甚至保护他们不遭逮捕——该制度的运作就是如此。西蒙诺夫收到无数个人请求，来自同事、朋友、朋友的朋友、泛泛之交、战争期间遇上的士兵。他当然无法一一相助，只能有所选择，从中可以见微知著。

    例如，他特别保护和关心自己的私人秘书尼娜·戈登。她30来岁，小巧玲珑，颇有魅力，1946年到《新世界》上班，曾在作家米哈伊尔·科利佐夫身边工作——后者的西班牙内战文章曾给青年时期的西蒙诺夫带来灵感和启发。她的丈夫约瑟夫·戈登出身于贵族家庭，是一名电影编辑，被捕于1937年，判处5年，在马加丹附近的劳改营。1942年，约瑟夫获释上前线参战。西蒙诺夫提拔尼娜为自己的私人秘书时，她坦承了丈夫的政治污点。其时，约瑟夫生活在梁赞的流放地，从事工程师的工作。尼娜谢绝这个提拔，但西蒙诺夫不依她，甚至自告奋勇要出面写信给内务部为约瑟夫说情——但她坚决拒绝，因为不愿利用他的好心。她在《新世界》上班，确实给西蒙诺夫带来了不愉快的后果。1948年，约瑟夫获准访问莫斯科几天，出乎意料地出现在编辑部。《消息报》的一名记者碰巧也在那里，留心了看上去像流放者的约瑟夫。第二天，充任内务部耳目的《新世界》的特别行动科（每个苏维埃机构都有自己的特科），把尼娜叫去问话，想知道尼娜为何隐瞒丈夫是政治流放者，并威胁要汇报她缺乏警惕。西蒙诺夫听到此事后怒不可遏，认为自己的主编权威受到了侵犯。特科只给了尼娜一次训斥，没有进一步的惩罚，另外发布了一条规定：“可疑人物”一律不准进入办公室。 (762)

    如果说西蒙诺夫在个人领域经常待人厚道，甚至勇敢地向当局力争，那么在公共领域就没有这么敢做敢当了。在战后的镇压氛围中，许多作家向他求助，西蒙诺夫的反应小心谨慎。他有的帮，有的不帮，全凭自己的好恶，永远都深思熟虑，不想危及自己的地位或引起他人的怀疑。例如在1946年9月，西蒙诺夫为文学院的老同学、诗人波图帕契克写了一封推荐信，帮助他加入作家协会。他没提波图帕契克的被捕（1937年）和在科雷马劳改营的苦役，只将“7年参军”当做没有作品发表的理由，从而避免自己在为前“人民公敌”讲情的印象。波图帕契克1946年的申请遭到作家协会的拒绝，到1961年再次提出申请，即赫鲁晓夫解冻的高峰时期。这一次，西蒙诺夫直言不讳地在推荐信中指出，其出版于1960年的第一本诗集，之所以没在20年前问世，唯一原因就是“他遭受了不公正的逮捕”。 (763) 西蒙诺夫也写信支持发表诗人雅罗斯拉夫·斯梅利亚科夫的作品，后者是一名坚定的共产党人，又是拉斯金一家的密友，于1934年被捕，在劳改营待了5年，在战争中作战勇敢，复员后重回古拉格，在莫斯科附近的煤矿工作。 (764) 但其他求助的作家就没有这么幸运。西蒙诺夫拒绝帮助他文学院的老师、诗人卢戈夫斯科伊——他曾在1941年的最初战役中失魂落魄，战争年代是在塔什干的疏散地度过的。卢戈夫斯科伊回到莫斯科后，写信给西蒙诺夫，请求他帮助寻找新住所。卢戈夫斯科伊与妻子住在一个共用公寓，但他脆弱的心理状态亟需隐私。他写信给自己的学生：

    我不再年轻，已是一个病人，忍受不了共用公寓的生活，隔壁房间住了一家6口……我长期神经紧张，整天提心吊胆，如果以后被送进疯人院，也不会令人意外……向人求助是很为难的……但你是仁慈之人，从而鼓励我向你启齿。原谅我吧！我爱你，也为你感到骄傲。 (765)

    西蒙诺夫没作答复，在他看来，卢戈夫斯科伊并不值得帮助。第一，他已有一套公寓；更重要的，他在战争中不够勇敢——在西蒙诺夫的眼中，那是不可饶恕的罪过。

    西蒙诺夫坚信勇于承担战斗牺牲的苏维埃理想，这在某种意义上解释了他与斯大林战后镇压活动的种种纠葛。首先，他参与了日丹诺夫原则的运动，那是在艺术和科学领域中肃清“反苏维埃”倾向的官方镇压，领军人是斯大林的意识形态主管安德烈·日丹诺夫。

    日丹诺夫原则的运动源于1945年的军事?胜利。该胜利导致排外民族主义在苏维埃领导阶层中的高涨，既为苏维埃的胜利而感到自豪，又极力推崇苏联在文化和政治领域的优势（其实是指俄罗斯优势，斯大林将之描述为苏联最重要的团体）。苏维埃―俄罗斯的民族主义，取代了战前的国际主义，成为政权的统治思想；荒谬地号称苏维埃科学在马克思列宁主义思想的指导下取得了非凡成就。民族自豪感导致了一系列的欺诈和怪诞，譬如：伪遗传学家特罗菲姆·李森科声称，已开发出一种适应北极霜冻的小麦新品种；飞机、蒸汽机、收音机、白炽灯泡——无一不是苏维埃人士发明或发现的。随着冷战的启动，斯大林呼吁要以铁的纪律，清洗文化事务中所有反爱国的元素——即亲西方的元素。他认为，从18世纪初彼得大帝建立圣彼得堡以来，俄罗斯的知识分子就崇洋媚外——即西方的科学和文化。如果苏联要抵抗西方，必须治愈这个“病根”。

    按照斯大林的命令，日丹诺夫发起了激烈的运动，以肃清西方对苏维埃文化的影响。 [8] 对于斯大林而言，该项运动的出发点就是列宁格勒。他从不喜欢这座欧洲城市，其独立于莫斯科的倾向在战争中获得了大大加强。镇压开始于1946年8月14日，中央委员会颁布一项法令：《星》和《列宁格勒》两份期刊要接受审查，因为发表了两位著名的列宁格勒作家的作品，分别是米哈伊尔·左琴科和安娜·阿赫玛托娃。克里姆林宫挑出这两位，旨在向列宁格勒的知识分子显示：他们必须向苏维埃政权低头。阿赫玛托娃在战争期间享有巨大的道德号召力，其诗歌自1925年以来很少在苏联发表，但她在数百万俄罗斯人的眼中，仍象征着人民的坚毅和尊严，激励了列宁格勒的民众幸存于围城之战。1945年，牛津大学哲学家以赛亚·伯林抵达莫斯科，担任英国驻苏大使馆的一等秘书，他曾听闻战争期间的阿赫玛托娃——

    从前线收到大量的来信，引用她的诗歌——有已发表的，也有未发表的，绝大多数是以手稿形式在私下传阅。这些来信要求诗人签名，或帮助确认诗歌的真实性，或对各式问题提供意见。

    左琴科相信，中央委员会的法令之所以获得通过，是因为斯大林听说阿赫玛托娃在听众爆满的莫斯科理工博物馆举办了一次诗歌朗诵会，读完后又引得掌声雷动。斯大林问：“是谁安排了这样一次起立鼓掌？” (766)

    左琴科也是独裁者身上的一根刺，他是硕果仅存的苏维埃讽刺作家——马雅可夫斯基、扎米亚金、布尔加科夫都已死去——该文学传统是斯大林所不能容忍的。向他发起攻击的直接导火索是童话故事《猴子奇遇记》，1946年发表于《星》杂志，讲述一只猴子逃离动物园，沐猴而冠，接受做人的训练。但在事实上，斯大林激怒于左琴科的故事已有多年，在《列宁和卫兵》（1939年）中的哨兵身上看到了自己的身影。左琴科将之描绘成一个粗鲁、猴急的“南方人”，留着小胡子，被列宁当做一个黄口小儿。 (767)

    西蒙诺夫作为作家协会的领导成员，别无选择，只好投入这场运动。他任《新世界》主编后的第一期，就刊出中央委员会的法令，外加日丹诺夫的讲话全文。该篇讲话视阿赫玛托娃为“贵族沙龙的空虚诗歌的旗手之一，格格不入于苏维埃文学”，并斥责她是“半个修女，半个妓女，或更确切地说，一个妓女和修女的混合体，既在作孽，又在祈祷”（苏维埃评论家过去用过的短语）。 (768)

    也许，母亲一家所认同的列宁格勒知识分子，西蒙诺夫现在却参与对他们的迫害，他有点于心不忍。但他拒绝让心中可能存有的同情拖自己的后腿，因为他懂得，自己对国家的责任更为重要。西蒙诺夫在人生最后一年回顾这些事件，承认自己投入是因为相信“需要做出点事”，来抵消知识分子当中“思想涣散的气氛”。如果不加以遏止，在苏联正需为冷战的思想斗争做好准备的时候，却会引发“危险的对自由改革的期待”。这便是他当年的理由，如他在写给中央委员会的信中所说的：

    在思想战线上，前所未有的激烈斗争正在全球展开。尽管如此，仍有人在散布“呼吸空间”的理论——即我们应坐在咖啡馆里畅谈改革。顺便提一下，他们中的大多数并不需要呼吸空间，因为他们在战争中只付出了极少的艰辛；事实上，大多数都没有参与……如果他们想要，我们可以提供呼吸空间，干脆叫他们中止在苏维埃艺术领域的工作。与此同时，剩下的人会坚持自己的工作和战斗。 (769)

    对逃避“战斗”的知识分子的蔑视——西蒙诺夫的长期观点——尤其解释了他对左琴科的敌意。对待阿赫玛托娃，他的态度截然不同。他并不喜爱她的诗歌，甚至没有真正的了解，但对日丹诺夫使用的粗暴语言颇有反感。在他看来：“所有人都不该以这种方式，对在战争中与人民同舟共济的人指指点点，就像阿赫玛托娃所做的。” [9] 相比之下，左琴科在塔什干的疏散地度过战争年代。苏维埃报刊斥责这位讽刺作家的懦弱，声称他逃离列宁格勒，以躲避前线的战斗。西蒙诺夫相信有关懦弱的指控，因为他不知道事情的真相，或是不愿去寻找真相。其时40多岁的左琴科体弱多病，战争开始时遵循当局的命令，方才离开列宁格勒。西蒙诺夫对没有参战的每个人，都予以苛刻的衡量标准，左琴科自然也不例外。他还将这种苛刻投射到其他知识分子身上，因为他们竟意识不到，必须积极投入冷战的思想斗争。最了解西蒙诺夫的戏剧评论家亚历山大·博尔切戈夫斯基指出，西蒙诺夫急于谴责像左琴科那样的人，完全是出于偏见。他写道，西蒙诺夫倾向于——

    不信任那些人——尤其是知识分子，他们在后方度过战争年代，并没有分担前线战士的流血牺牲。这种宽泛的猜疑——丝毫不去察看每一个人的独特经历——完全忽视了数百万人在后方的非凡努力，以武装数百万的前线战友争取最后的胜利。 (770)

    西蒙诺夫加入了对左琴科的攻击，但不愿涉及对阿赫玛托娃的诽谤。《真理报》要他撰写谴责这两人的文章，西蒙诺夫答称只能针对左琴科一人，最后完稿的文章几乎全部聚焦于这位散文作家。几个月之后，西蒙诺夫获悉有关左琴科疏散的真相，又从作家尤里·杰美恩那里得知左琴科很勇敢，曾在第一次世界大战中奋勇作战。他认识到自己的过错，便作出了弥补的努力：向日丹诺夫推荐左琴科写于1943年的《党派故事》（Partisan Tales），虽然并不认为是上乘作品，但也亲自帮助编辑，不料遭到日丹诺夫的拒绝。1947年5月，西蒙诺夫在与斯大林开会时，再次提及发表一事，并解释说左琴科已陷入困境，亟需帮助。为一名不受苏维埃领导人青睐的作家，越过日丹诺夫，直接寻求斯大林的帮助，这是一个非常勇敢的举措。斯大林告诉西蒙诺夫，可运用自己的主编职权做主，但刊出后，他会去读，随后再就西蒙诺夫的决定发表自己的意见。如西蒙诺夫所回忆的，“斯大林的幽默中带有一丝威胁”，但他还是坚持不懈，《党派故事》问世于1947年9月的《新世界》。 (771)

    尽管作出了弥补的努力，西蒙诺夫后来还是拒绝向左琴科表示同情。1954年，一组英国学生来到列宁格勒，要求与阿赫玛托娃和左琴科见面，出席会议的还有几名列宁格勒作家协会的党员。愚蠢的学生们并不掩饰自己的反苏维埃态度，询问阿赫玛托娃和左琴科如何看待1946年8月中央委员会的法令。阿赫玛托娃回答，该法令完全正确。毫无疑问，她害怕任何其他回答的后果。但左琴科不够小心，答称该法令是不公正的，强烈反驳那些声称他怯懦的指控。作家协会的党领导立即指责左琴科犯了“反爱国的行为”，并派出以西蒙诺夫为首的代表团，赴列宁格勒去“做他的工作”。左琴科在几近歇斯底里的自我辩护中宣称：他的写作生活已经完蛋，他本人已被摧毁，只恳求控诉者让他在平静中死去。但西蒙诺夫拒绝左琴科的请求，以清洗会议上检察官的方式痛打落水狗。西蒙诺夫宣布：“左琴科同志希望得到我们的同情，但他什么也没学会，他应该感到羞耻”，再一次隐射他的战争记录和1945年之后的“反爱国”行为。 (772)

    对阿赫玛托娃和左琴科的攻击之后，紧接着的是一系列镇压措施，针对艺术和科学领域中的“反苏维埃分子”。现代西方艺术国家博物馆被关闭；在苏维埃音乐界反对“形式主义”和其他“西方腐朽影响”的运动，导致好几名作曲家（包括肖斯塔科维奇、哈恰图良和普罗科菲耶夫）上了官方黑名单，他们的音乐创作被控为“与苏维埃人民和他们的艺术品味格格不入”。1947年1月，政治局颁布法令，指责中央宣传鼓动部长格奥尔基·亚历山德罗夫的《欧洲哲学史》（1946年），低估了俄罗斯对西方哲学传统的贡献，亚历山德罗夫很快卸职。同年晚些时候，即1947年7月，中央委员会发表了充满不祥征兆的公开信，指斥尼娜·克柳耶娃与其丈夫格列高利·罗斯金：“在反动的外国资产阶级西方文化面前顶礼膜拜，奴颜婢膝。而这种文化，根本不配我们苏联人民。”这两位科学家遭到指控：在1946年访问美国时向美国人透露了癌症研究的资料。他们回国时，被拖上“荣誉法庭”，要在800名观众面前，回答充满敌意的提问。那是一个新成立的机构，专门审查苏维埃各机关中的反爱国行为。 (773)

    随着冷战愈演愈烈，对外国人的恐惧四下弥漫。美国记者哈里森·索尔兹伯里回忆，他作为外国记者在1949年返回莫斯科（1944年到过苏联），但以前的熟人没人认他，甚至写信给老相识爱伦堡和西蒙诺夫，也杳无回音。在索尔兹伯里看来，1944年的苏联虽然贫穷，但与20世纪30年代相比，却处处洋溢着崭新的自由风气和冀望胜利的激昂氛围。到1949年，苏联又返回恐惧状态。

    俄罗斯人和外国人之间的人际关系，遭到了彻底的分割。反过来，这反映了苏维埃政府严重的仇外心理，以及他们调教俄罗斯人的高效。如想拿到奔赴西伯利亚的单程火车票，或更遥远的地方，最有把握的方法——如果不是最快的——就是与外国人产生瓜葛。

    1948年12月22日，法捷耶夫在作家协会讲话。最左边为西蒙诺夫，他身旁是爱伦堡。肖像下的旗帜上写着：“光荣属于伟大的斯大林！”

    与外国人的简短接触，可能会导致以间谍罪名逮捕。苏维埃监狱中，挤满了曾出国旅行的人。1947年2月，通过了一项法律，规定苏维埃公民和外国人的婚姻属于非法。警方监视酒店、餐馆、外国使馆，专门寻找与外国男人交往的苏维埃女孩。 (774)

    以色列建国于1948年5月，在冷战中又与美国结盟。之后，始终忠于苏维埃制度的200万苏维埃犹太人，被斯大林政权描绘成潜在的第五纵队。斯大林虽然厌恶犹太人，却是在巴勒斯坦建立犹太国的早期支持者，希望它成为苏维埃在中东的卫星国。但是，这个新建国家的领导人后来被证明是敌视苏联的，斯大林越来越怕苏维埃犹太人的亲以色列情绪。果尔达·梅厄出任第一位以色列驻苏大使，在1948年秋季抵达莫斯科，使斯大林的担忧愈益加剧。她无论去哪里，都受到苏维埃犹太人的欢呼。赎罪日（10月13日）那天，她去拜访莫斯科犹太教堂，数千人排列在街道两侧，许多人高喊“以色列人民，存活下去！”——对世界各地的犹太人来说，这只是复国的传统肯定；但对斯大林来说，这是“犹太资产阶级民族主义”的危险迹象，会颠覆苏维埃国家的权威。 (775)

    梅厄得到的热情欢迎，促使斯大林加紧推动已开展数月的反犹运动。早在1948年1月，既是莫斯科犹太剧院的导演，又是犹太人反法西斯委员会领导人的所罗门·米霍埃尔斯，死于内务部安排的一场车祸。犹太人反法西斯委员会成立于1942年，旨在吸引西方犹太人对苏维埃战争的援助，但对许多成员来说，包括杰出的作家、艺术家、音乐家、演员、历史学家、科学家，更为广泛的目标是提倡苏联的犹太文化。要实现这一目标，战后初期相对来说还算有地利人和。1946年，米霍埃尔斯荣获斯大林奖，意第绪语戏剧经常在电台上播出。犹太人反法西斯委员会还投入一个重大项目，以纪念纳粹对苏维埃犹太人的杀害：让瓦西里·格罗斯曼和伊利亚·爱伦堡编纂一个文件总汇，取名为《黑皮书》（The Black Book）。斯大林原希望利用犹太人反法西斯委员会来博得中东的新犹太国家的好感，但现已看清，新犹太国家很有可能与美国结盟，便一改故辙。国安部奉命网罗资料，把犹太人反法西斯委员会打成一个“反苏维埃的民族主义组织”。《黑皮书》的出版无限期推迟，对米霍埃尔斯的谋杀发生之后，犹太剧院也被关闭。1948年12月，犹太人反法西斯委员会的百余名成员被捕，屈打成招，承认自己的“反苏维埃活动”，或遭枪决，或被送进了劳改营。 (776)

    在苏维埃的文学界，对犹太人的攻击采纳了反“世界主义者”运动的形式。该词最初是19世纪文学评论家维萨里昂·别林斯基所创造的，泛指缺乏或拒绝民族风格的作家（“无根的世界主义者”）。它在战争年代重现，其时，俄罗斯民族主义和反犹情绪均有高涨。例如，1943年11月，法捷耶夫攻击犹太作家爱伦堡来自“那个知识分子小圈子，以庸俗的世界主义理解国际主义，不愿克服自己的崇洋媚外”。 (777) 1945年之后，该词更频频出现于苏维埃的文艺出版物。

    1948年12月10日，法捷耶夫向斯大林转交一封不知名记者（纳塔利娅·别吉切娃）的来信，引出了反“世界主义者”运动。该信当初是写给内务部的，声称在文学机关中有一组“敌人”，列出了7位评论家和作家，作为这个“反爱国小集团”的负责人，其中6人是犹太人。在斯大林的重压之下，法捷耶夫12月22日向作家协会发表对一组戏剧评论家的攻击，点名批判了别吉切娃举报的6位犹太人中的4位（奥特曼、博尔切戈夫斯基、古尔维奇和尤佐夫斯基）。法捷耶夫声称，他们“企图抹黑我们的苏维埃戏剧”。这是相对温和的讲话：法捷耶夫显然不愿扮演斯大林的打手的角色。他曾是体面人，被迫作出道德上的妥协，而沦为一个战战兢兢的酗酒者。斯大林继续施加压力，让《真理报》反过来攻击法捷耶夫对“世界主义者”的心慈手软，并散布谣言——他在作家协会的领导地位将被取代。法捷耶夫无法再作抵制，表示拥护1949年1月29日《真理报》的匿名文章（《关于一个反爱国集团》），其措辞让人忆起大恐怖。它控告某些戏剧评论家就是“无根的世界主义者”，指责他们在策划“资产阶级的文学阴谋”，以破坏苏维埃文学中“民族自豪”的健康原则。 (778) 所有被点名的都是犹太人，执笔人几乎可以肯定是党的打手兼《真理报》记者大卫·扎斯拉夫斯基。在1921年加入布尔什维克之前，扎斯拉夫斯基曾是孟什维克和活跃的犹太复国主义者。他为斯大林写了好几篇打手文章，用以赎罪和攀升为苏维埃精英。 [10]

    《真理报》的文章出笼之后，苏维埃其余报刊也发表了一系列攻击，反对“无根的世界主义者”。斯大林主义者们竞相谴责“反爱国团体”，声称它们在破坏苏维埃的诗歌、音乐、艺术和电影。 (779) 在这些恶毒文章中被点名批判的犹太人面临非常严峻的后果，许多人失去工作，或被驱逐出党和协会，生计都没有着落。有些被捕，少数人明哲保身，或承认自己的“错误”，或与“无根的世界主义者”划清界限。法捷耶夫点名批判的4位戏剧评论家中，只有约翰·奥特曼一人被捕。《苏维埃艺术》期刊发表了一篇丑陋文章，充满仇恨和稍作掩饰的反犹太主义，向他发起攻击：“我们以苏维埃人民的名义宣布，奥特曼一类的坏人，像行尸走肉一样，在污染苏维埃文化。为了净化空气，我们必须摆脱他们散发出的腐臭。”奥特曼在作家协会中受到阿纳托利·索夫罗诺夫的谴责，后者是一名反犹太运动的狂热支持者，在法捷耶夫因酗酒而长期缺席的作家协会，变得举足轻重。奥特曼遭到党和作家协会的开除，于1953年3月斯大林死亡之夜被捕。法捷耶夫和奥特曼是多年的好朋友，当初坚持要奥特曼去帮衬犹太剧院的米霍埃尔斯，并解释说：“他需要一个顾问，就像一名政委，你就把它当做党的命令。”奥特曼在审讯时被问到怎么会去帮衬米霍埃尔斯，却只字不提法捷耶夫。他知道，如果提及作家协会领导人，可能会保住自己，但不想把法捷耶夫牵连进所谓的“犹太复国主义者的阴谋”。毫无疑问，奥特曼希望法捷耶夫予以报答，从中干预搭救自己。结果，法捷耶夫什么也没做，甚至缺席了开除奥特曼的作家协会的会议，没人能在莫斯科找到他（西蒙诺夫认为，他以狂饮来逃避责任）。奥特曼再也没能从法捷耶夫的背叛中恢复过来，1953年5月出狱，心如死灰，两年后去世。 (780)

    西蒙诺夫也被拖入“反世界主义者”运动。开初，他试图保持温和路线，既不公开抗议这一运动，也不配合索夫罗诺夫和其他强硬派。西蒙诺夫不是一个反犹太主义者，作为《新世界》的主编，他主持发表了好几位犹太作家的作品。他前两位妻子都是犹太人，特别是第二位妻子热尼娅·拉斯金娜，其堂哥鲍里斯·拉斯金在别吉切娃当初交给内务部的举报信中，被点名为“苏维埃文学的敌人”。西蒙诺夫的温和立场，激怒了党和作家协会内的强硬派。西蒙诺夫有许多敌人，嫉妒他“斯大林宠臣”的地位，让他年纪轻轻就攀升到苏维埃机构的顶端。此外，中央委员会的某些成员认为，斯大林的保护使西蒙诺夫桀骜不恭于其他党领导。为了在他和斯大林之间挑拨离间，这些强硬派指责西蒙诺夫试图保护“世界主义者”。最恶毒的指控来自《苏维埃艺术》的主编维克托·弗多维琴科，他给马林科夫送去一份名单，列出80多名犹太人，声称是作家协会中的犹太复国主义组织。其实，大部分指控是针对西蒙诺夫的，指责他包庇犹太复国主义者。弗多维琴科还把矛头指向《新世界》的编辑人员，声称里面有许多犹太人（“那些六亲不认的人”），尤其指责亚历山大·博尔切戈夫斯基——他是一名戏剧评论家，曾因批评赫鲁晓夫最喜欢的作家亚历山大·科尔涅伊奇克的一出戏而蒙受耻辱。西蒙诺夫却非常喜欢他，称他为“一个安静、谦虚的人”，将他从乌克兰调来莫斯科。据编辑部成员纳塔利娅·比安基说，他的文学见解在《新世界》是必不可少的：“西蒙诺夫没有他，几乎不能作出决定，他的口头禅就是‘让我们看看，博尔切戈夫斯基有什么要说的’。”弗多维琴科声称，博尔切戈夫斯基没有“一篇作品足以使他有资格留在《新世界》”，而他在《新世界》的影响力，纯粹是出于西蒙诺夫对犹太人的同情。他指出，西蒙诺夫曾与犹太人结婚，还有很多犹太朋友。

    像法捷耶夫一样，西蒙诺夫最终还是向强硬派的压力低了头。他害怕失去自己在斯大林精英阶层的位置，认为必须加入反对犹太人的运动，以证明自己的忠心耿耿。他给《真理报》主编写信，反驳强硬派说他偏爱犹太人的指控，同时又远离博尔切戈夫斯基和其他《新世界》的犹太评论家。克里姆林宫敦促西蒙诺夫，以《真理报》匿名文章（《关于一个反爱国集团》）的精神为基础，再扩充成作家协会上的一次主旨演讲。法捷耶夫已堕落成一具烂醉如泥的残骸，索夫罗诺夫对接手此事颇为热切，但马林科夫认为，恰恰因为其著名的温和立场，西蒙诺夫反而可赋予“反世界主义者”运动更多的权威。法捷耶夫也在敦促西蒙诺夫接手，并警告说，如果谢绝，索夫罗诺夫就会顺手牵羊。索夫罗诺夫是强硬的反犹太主义者，野心勃勃于作家协会的领导权，希望取代克里姆林宫的首选西蒙诺夫，成为法捷耶夫的继任者，一旦得逞肯定还会从作家协会逐出更多的犹太作家和评论家。西蒙诺夫为了不让权力落入索夫罗诺夫之手，同意发表这一次主旨演讲，在1949年2月4日的作家协会全体会议上，他作出了这次发言。西蒙诺夫的第一位妻子，即犹太作家纳塔利娅·索科洛娃（娘家姓季波特），在日记中描述他谴责“反爱国小集团”时的可怕气氛：

    讲话持续一个半小时，中间略作休息，然后又继续一个半小时。人们聆听着，面色紧张，一脸警戒，没人说话，除了偶尔的低语：“他点了新名字吗？”……“你听见没有？”……“又一个世界主义者？”……“新的世界主义者？”有些人像我一样，列出所有被点的名单。 (783)

    西蒙诺夫在后来的那些年中坚持认为，他发表主旨演讲，是为了防止极端的索夫罗诺夫掌控“反世界主义者”运动。他虽然懊悔自己的角色，但仍坚持，他承担领导责任是为了缓和这个反犹太作家的运动。在他朋友的回忆录中，这一点得到了证实。马林科夫打电话来说，斯大林希望西蒙诺夫发言。其时，戏剧评论家博尔切戈夫斯基恰好在西蒙诺夫的高尔基街公寓。博尔切戈夫斯基回忆，西蒙诺夫放下听筒，“伤感地看着我，再朝窗外凝视，不到10分钟便作出决定”。然后，他开口了：

    “我将作演讲，修罗[亚历山大]。我自己来作，而不是让给别人，可能会更好。”他既然已经同意发言，便想寻找理由来辩护自己的“积极参与”，意欲在这不诚实的运动中，找到诚实的见解。“一切的凶残和粗鲁必须终止。我们必须学会不同层次的争辩，使用文明的语言。我们过去有，现在仍有形式主义和建构主义辩护士的问题。他们想让我们成为西方文化的奴隶，我们必须谈论这一切。” (784)

    西蒙诺夫在演讲中，并不局限于揭发浅陋粗糙的犹太复国主义阴谋，而是想让“反世界主义者”运动，融入更为广泛的政治和智力的背景。他后来在一系列苏维埃报刊的文章中，更补充发挥了自己2月4日的演讲，指责“世界主义者以[让-保罗·]萨特取代马克西姆·高尔基，以[亨利·]米勒的色情取代托尔斯泰”。 (785) 冷战气氛无疑左右了他的思路：必须捍卫苏维埃的“民族文化”，反对“无根的世界主义者对美帝国主义……以及美元的卖身投靠”。除此以外，很少有证据表明，西蒙诺夫的参与给反犹太人运动带来了文明化，他的语言仍是煽动性的。他声称，“反爱国小集团”是一场阴谋，参与者是苏维埃文化的“罪犯”和“敌人”，绝不是单纯的“唯美主义者”，他们有“激进的资产阶级和反动的计划”，在冷战中为西方服务。他把许多问题归咎于犹太人自己，责怪他们不愿融入苏维埃社会，又在战后接受了“犹太民族主义”。他解雇了《新世界》所有的犹太编辑人员，甚至代表作家协会给斯大林写信，要求将不活跃的作家排斥于作家协会之外，长长的名单当中都是犹太人。

    列入该名单的有他的朋友博尔切戈夫斯基，已被挑选出来，当做“反爱国小集团”的主要领导人之一。从“反世界主义者”运动伊始，西蒙诺夫就与他逐渐疏远，他心里很清楚，最终将被迫谴责自己一手提拔起来的朋友。他接到马林科夫的电话，同意发表有关“反爱国小集团”的主旨演讲，随即就向博尔切戈夫斯基解释：“这样做，我将处于更有利的地位，将能帮助他人，这才是眼前最重要的事情。”西蒙诺夫还警告他不要出席全体会议，在这位戏剧评论家行将离开时，又补充说：“如果你来，我会觉得，必须以更强烈的词句来谴责你。”博尔切戈夫斯基既没有读西蒙诺夫的演讲，也没有读后续的文章。他被西蒙诺夫称作“戏剧界的破坏者”、苏维埃文学的“资产阶级敌人”、“文学败类” [11] 。他信任西蒙诺夫——视之为自己的朋友——淡然声称，西蒙诺夫只是在被迫演出“仪式性的思想舞蹈”。

    博尔切戈夫斯基遭到党和作家协会的开除，失去《新世界》的工作，也被他担任文学组负责人的红军剧院解雇。博尔切戈夫斯基和家人——母亲、妻子及年幼的女儿——都被踢出自己的莫斯科公寓。有一段时间，他们借住在朋友的场所，或睡在地板上，或寄宿于他们的乡间别墅（甚至住过西蒙诺夫在佩列杰尔基诺地区的乡间别墅）。博尔切戈夫斯基曾是20世纪30年代的幸存者，早学会了荣辱不惊，从容应对。他入不敷出就卖掉财产（主要是书籍），再向朋友借钱，包括西蒙诺夫。西蒙诺夫借钱给他，如博尔切戈夫斯基所理解的，“以减轻自己的良心责备”，并不让他偿还。

    从1949到1953年，即博尔切戈夫斯基的禁令终告解除之时，西蒙诺夫一直心怀内疚，尽量去看望这位朋友，但从不谈及自己当年的演讲。在博尔切戈夫斯基看来，他们相遇时，西蒙诺夫会“以焦灼的眼光看我，仿佛认为他需作一番解释”。西蒙诺夫1950年7月支持出版《俄罗斯国旗》（The Russian Flag），那是博尔切戈夫斯基关于克里米亚战争的爱国小说。西蒙诺夫在送交给审查官的报告中写道：“这本书颇有造诣，严肃认真，很有必要。我深信，它深刻的爱国主义内容将会打动读者的心灵……众所周知，博尔切戈夫斯基曾犯有严重错误，属于反爱国的性质。但他已付出代价，并承认自己的错误。”这本书终于在1953年获得了出版许可。

    博尔切戈夫斯基在50年后的2003年接受采访，谈到西蒙诺夫对自己的伤害，仍淡然处之，只是说“人们慢慢都会习惯于痛苦”。但据他的妻子说，在最后几年，他越来越受1949年事件的困扰。 [12] 他在回忆录中得出结论，西蒙诺夫找不到公民的勇气，在作家协会中对抗反犹主义强硬派，以捍卫自己的朋友和同事。他并不觉得西蒙诺夫的所作所为是出于恐惧，或没有良心。相反，他认为，西蒙诺夫的驱动力是个人野心，尤其是一种政治上的奴性：他太忠于斯大林，太迷恋于斯大林的权力光环，以致无法坚持更为坚强的立场。

    战后的“小恐怖”大大不同于1937至1938年的大恐怖。它发生的背景，不是浩劫将临，魂飞魄散的人殊死一搏，愿意以背叛和举报来拯救自己和家人；而是一个相对平稳的状态，人的道德情感不再因恐惧而遭受剥夺。实施战后迫害的是像西蒙诺夫一样的职业官僚和行政官员，他们并不一定非得参与其中。西蒙诺夫可能没有被作家协会开除的风险，更不用说被捕了。如果他拒绝将自己的声音加入对犹太人的谴责大合唱，在最坏的情况下，他可能会失去作家协会的领导职位和《新世界》的主编工作。当然，他当时可能担心得更多。但问题是，像西蒙诺夫那样的人还有选择余地。他们满可以像数百万人一样追求自己的职业生涯，但躲避政治责任的陷阱，所损失的最多只是特权和物质奖励。那些无法采取公开立场的人，自有更平静的方式避免参与有悖于自己道德原则的政治决定。博尔切戈夫斯基认为，1949年背叛他的人，可以选择不发言，可以不来出席作家协会的全体会议，可以假装生病，并不会受到党的纪律制裁。在博尔切戈夫斯基看来，这一时期的迫害和参与者的作为，都植根于无孔不入的对斯大林政权的顺从——即普通斯大林主义者的定义所在。他写道：

    无法以恐惧来解释1949年的现象，不单是那一年的——或者，如果确是恐惧，那也是早已溶入人类灵魂的那种……[更为确切地]毋宁说是帮闲们凑热闹式的奴性。他们拥有的勇气和道德少得可怜，以致无法违抗最基层官员的半官方指令。 

    当然，在类似西蒙诺夫的主事官员中，也有人拒绝参与“反世界主义者”运动。例如，科学院主席谢尔盖·瓦维洛夫就默默顶住了巨大压力，没在科学院揭发“反爱国小集团”，并阻止自己下属解雇犹太科学家（他的哥哥尼古拉是遗传学家，1940年被捕，1943年饿死在狱中）。在作家协会中，也有人拒绝参与反犹太人运动，譬如主席团党委书记鲍里斯·戈尔巴塔夫。他是西蒙诺夫的好朋友，自身就是犹太人，比西蒙诺夫更有后顾之忧：他的妻子1948年被捕，以“外国间谍”的罪名判刑10年，他本人也难逃政治怀疑的阴影（1937年，戈尔巴塔夫被控在第一本小说《我们的城镇》中，散播“托派”观点。那是一部无产阶级的史诗，描绘五年计划如何在顿巴斯开展。最终，他勉强逃脱被开除党籍的厄运，但他的弟弟仍作为“托派分子”被捕，枪决于1938年）。然而，尽管面对作家协会斯大林强硬派的沉重压力，甚至被指控为“反爱国小集团的犹太同情者”，他仍拒绝参与对自己同胞的迫害。为此，他被迫放弃在党内和作家协会的职位。博尔切戈夫斯基回忆1949年与他见面，地点在西蒙诺夫的佩列杰尔基诺地区乡间别墅。戈尔巴塔夫失去了斯大林的信任，“心碎欲绝，被打入冷宫”，却保住了道德上的尊严和原则。

    西蒙诺夫是一个更复杂甚至更悲惨的人物，显然深受良心的责备。“反世界主义者”运动，在某些方面令他不安，甚至厌恶，但他深深陷入斯大林制度不能自拔。他继承于贵族家庭的军人精神和公共服务价值，与苏维埃制度的道德范畴和急迫需求如此紧密相连，以致在判断或规范自己行为时，往往别无选择。西蒙诺夫拥有格外强烈的公共责任感，这界定了他的世界观。西蒙诺夫曾说：“如果没有公共责任感的自律，就不能成为一个完整的人。”他生来就是一名积极分子，从不称病缺席，以逃避艰难的道德抉择。在西蒙诺夫看来，避免承担公共责任，等同于怯懦。他也不愿与犹豫不决、软弱无能、拖拖拉拉的人打交道——他把这一切都认作人类的缺点。他钦佩人的理性和富有逻辑，这也是他文学创作中英雄人物的道德素质——即与他相似的人，只是更勇敢，能从客观证据中得出正确结论，采取果断行动。

    西蒙诺夫将责任感提升为至高无上的美德，由此决定了自己政治上的顺从。他对党的路线历来谦恭服从，将它混淆为公共美德，对斯大林无比敬畏。他战后的笔记本，密密麻麻写满了斯大林著作的提要、斯大林发言的语录、斯大林的短语和思想，以便他随时学习，提高自己的政治素养。 (794) 西蒙诺夫迷恋斯大林的权力，觉得他无处不在，认为斯大林几乎在观察自己所做的一切。斯大林是他的靠山、保护者、老师、向导、评论家、忏悔听取者，在他的想象中，有时又成了他的狱卒、拷问者和刽子手。

    源于这位苏维埃领袖的最轻微的批评，会把西蒙诺夫驱入苦难的深渊。1948年，西蒙诺夫的中篇小说《祖国炊烟》（Dym otechestva）受到《文化与生活》（Kul’tura i zhizn’）的野蛮攻击。这是一份宣传鼓动部的主要杂志，背后有斯大林撑腰。西蒙诺夫得出结论，斯大林肯定“极不喜欢这一故事”。他既惊恐，又沮丧，实在弄不清错在哪里，这还是他最心爱的作品之一。他后来告诉朋友：“创作时，我以为自己在向党也是在向斯大林本人履行职责……在我眼中，他是战争结束两年后至高无上的权威。”小说的中心人物是一名共产党老军人，1947年从国外返回苏联，确信自己已尽了对国家的职责，只想在战后的艰辛中重建私人生活。那篇小说准确刻画了当时的普遍心态，绝对是一部爱国小说，对苏联和美国之间作了很多比较，均有利于前者，但也有些坦率的对白，特别是当时避而不谈的1946至1947年的饥荒（直到赫鲁晓夫的解冻，苏维埃文学才得以直面这些社会问题）。这是引发党的责难的关键所在，西蒙诺夫为之感到震撼。与此同时，法捷耶夫的小说《青年近卫军》（1947年）也受到攻击，也是斯大林发动的，也刊登于这份主要杂志，从而引起猜疑这位暴君正在筹划对作家协会领导班子的清洗。西蒙诺夫亟想了解斯大林为何不喜欢自己的作品，亟想作出修改来投合他的喜好，所以拜访日丹诺夫征求意见。但这位斯大林的意识形态大管家，一点忙也帮不上——他反而非常喜欢这篇小说——于是，西蒙诺夫下定决心，“不会再版《祖国炊烟》”。

    不久，西蒙诺夫收到日丹诺夫秘书的电话，问他关于克柳耶娃和罗斯金的剧本何时才能脱稿。这两位科学家已被抹黑，斯大林指控他们向西方卑躬屈膝。在1947年5月的克里姆林宫会议上，斯大林曾向法捷耶夫和西蒙诺夫提议，以此题材创作一部小说。他认为，需要更多的爱国文学作品，来揭批知识分子对西方的崇拜。西蒙诺夫表示同意，但认为这个题材更适宜于戏剧。当时，西蒙诺夫正在写《祖国炊烟》，所以作了推延，尽管他曾去日丹诺夫的办公室看了有关资料，但他知道这是一项严肃的政治任务，视之为一种拖累。在西蒙诺夫看来，宣传鼓动部的攻击还记忆犹新，现在却接到日丹诺夫秘书的来电，这无疑是一个明确信号：如果及时提供斯大林在等待的剧本，斯大林就会原谅他在中篇小说中的失误。他不顾一切，亟想赎罪，在1948年初的几个月写出《外国阴影》（Alien Shadow）的第一稿。这是一部粗劣的宣传剧本，有关一名苏维埃微生物学家，因迷恋西方而背叛自己的祖国。西蒙诺夫作出可耻的政治献媚，将第一稿送交日丹诺夫审阅，再照他的指示，转交莫洛托夫和斯大林审阅。斯大林打电话给西蒙诺夫，提供如何改写的明确指示。他表示，西蒙诺夫应该强调剧中科学家的利己主义（斯大林：“他认为，他的研究是自己的个人财产”），又应该在结尾处突出政府的善良，让卫生部长落实斯大林的命令，原谅犯错的科学家，让他继续从事研究工作。斯大林说：“这是我对剧本的意见，你需要作出调整，如何去写则是你的事。一旦你作了调整，剧本将获得通过。”西蒙诺夫按照斯大林的建议，重写了剧本的结尾，将第二稿送交斯大林，作再一次的审批。西蒙诺夫回忆：“在胁迫之下，我写得很辛苦，逼迫自己相信这样做的必要。当初如能足够坚强，抵制这种自残，我可以选择不写。30年后的今天，我仍为自己的缺乏勇气而感到惭愧。”

    这个事件以悲喜剧的形式落下帷幕。该剧本发表于《旗帜》（Znamia）杂志，连同其他几个剧本一起，获得斯大林文学奖的提名。作家协会的秘书处先行讨论它们的优缺点，再递交斯大林奖委员会。在西蒙诺夫也在场的秘书处会议上，几位同事批评剧本的结尾（斯大林的建议），所持的理由是“原谅科学家，不作任何惩罚，这显得过于软弱，过于慷慨，几乎是政治上的投降”。西蒙诺夫闭口不提他与斯大林的电话交谈。“我默默端坐，倾听同事们指责斯大林的自由主义。”该剧本后来获得斯大林文学奖。 (797)

    西蒙诺夫习惯于自我批评和自我审查。他写了许多信，向苏维埃领导承认错误。他曾写下好几个故事的草稿，然后锁在抽屉里，因为他知道，将无法通过审查员这一关。1973年，德国作家克里斯塔·沃尔夫问他，是否由于承受着压力，不得不写自己知道在政治上可以被接受的作品。西蒙诺夫承认自己身上的两重性，有时是作家，有时是审查员，一生都在互相斗争。他甚至承认，当怯懦占据上风时，会非常厌恶自己。 (798)

    偶尔，作为作家的西蒙诺夫也会奋起反叛作为审查员的自己，诗人也会为自己的政治良心发出悲呼。例如在1946年10月，即日丹诺夫原则的运动高潮，西蒙诺夫给《小火苗》（Ogonyok）杂志的主编阿列克谢·苏尔科夫，写去一封火冒三丈的信。之前，他曾向该杂志投送诗稿，受到苏尔科夫的删改，被删除的人名中有外国人（以爱国的名义），也有在政治上被抹黑的苏维埃人。西蒙诺夫表示，绝不赞同如此的做法，无论是在实质上，还是在原则上。献给老朋友大卫·奥滕贝格的一首诗也被删节，西蒙诺夫对此尤为不满。1943年，奥滕贝格不愿遵循克里姆林宫开除手下犹太同仁的命令，而被解除《红星报》的主编一职。奥滕贝格甚至勇敢地写信给党领导，对某些军队和许多后方地区的“肆无忌惮的反犹主义”，表述了心中的不满。西蒙诺夫坚持：“我想保留这首诗，希望它保持完整。这是献给我所敬爱的人的，我希望它维持原样。” (799)

    也许，随着自己愈益牵涉对苏维埃犹太人的文学迫害，西蒙诺夫将更多意义注入自己献给奥滕贝格的诗。他一方面参与斯大林政权的镇压，另一方面又往往承受良心的责备。无论是作为一个作家，还是作为一个人，这种冲突都几乎把他摧毁。所担负的政治责任给他的身体和精神带来了巨大压力，这从他的容貌变化上就有明显的体现：1948年，33岁的西蒙诺夫似乎还是个年富力强的青年男子；仅仅5年之后，他已头发斑白，活脱脱是人到中年。他的手患上了神经性的皮肤病，只有酗酒才能让他镇静下来。 (800)

    在人生最后一年写成的回忆录中，西蒙诺夫忆起一件事，特别困扰他的良心，迫使他面对现实：斯大林的暴政全靠像他那样的官员的懦弱帮腔。那件事发生于1952年克里姆林宫的一次会议，为的是评选斯大林文学奖的得主。基本上，大家都已同意将此奖授予斯捷潘·左罗宾的小说《斯捷潘·拉辛》（Stepan Razin）。但马林科夫表示反对，称左罗宾在战争中表现欠佳，让自己做了德军俘虏。但在事实上，大家都知道左罗宾展现了非凡的勇敢，甚至在集中营里还率领一群抵抗战士坚持斗争。马林科夫发言之后，会场上一片死寂。斯大林站了起来，在房间里踱起方步，从一个个在座的政治局委员和作家协会领导人身边走过，大声问道：“我们应该原谅他吗？”这既是自问，又在让大家考虑，仍是一片寂静。斯大林继续来回踱步，再一次问：“我们应该原谅他吗？”依然是一片沉默，没人开口。斯大林还是在踱步，第三次问道：“我们应该原谅他吗？”最后，还是他自己作了回答：“让我们原谅他吧。”每个人都知道，一个无辜的人的命运悬在半空：他要么赢得斯大林奖，要么被送去古拉格。虽然与会的所有作家，至少都认识左罗宾，但没人胆敢为他辩护，尽管有斯大林的一再敦促。如西蒙诺夫所解释的：“在我们眼中，这不是原谅或不原谅一个罪人，而是要不要发言，辩驳这样的指控。”它来自马林科夫那样的高官，显然已被斯大林当做真相。在斯大林看来，他已是罪人，问题只是原谅与否。西蒙诺夫回忆这一事件，得出这样的结论：斯大林一直知道对左罗宾的指控，故意提名该书，让自己有机会安排这一出“小戏”。他很清楚，没人会有勇气为左罗宾辩护，他的目的就是想显示，只有他一个人才能决定他人的命运。 (801)

    四

    “反世界主义者”的运动打开了苏维埃反犹太主义的闸门。反犹太主义在俄国历史悠久，1917年后依然存在，特别是在城市的较低阶层中。对犹太商人的憎恨，就是大家不满新经济政策的重要因素，斯大林在攀升到权力高层时曾充分利用这样的大众憎恨。社会的低层民众对20世纪30年代的清洗抱有普遍的冷漠，部分原因就在于，他们认为大恐怖主要受害者的党干部都是犹太人。但从总体来看，战前的苏维埃政府把反犹主义当做沙皇时代的遗物，给予了认真的清除。相对来说，苏维埃犹太人并没受到歧视或敌对的骚扰。这一切却因德军的占领而发生变化。纳粹宣传在乌克兰和白俄罗斯煽起了反犹太主义的潜在力量，非犹太人口中有相当比例默默支持对犹太人的摧残，还作为帮凶参与围捕犹太人——或就地杀害，或送进集中营。甚至在苏维埃后方的偏远东部，由于西部士兵和平民的涌入，带来了对犹太人的憎恨，反犹太主义也有爆炸性的上涨。 (802)

    战后，俄罗斯的民族主义成为斯大林政权的统治思想。犹太人重被认作“异己的外人”、潜在的“间谍”和“敌人”、以色列和美国的盟友。博尔切戈夫斯基回忆，在“反世界主义者”运动的借口之下，“杀掉犹太佬（Yids）”的气氛四下蔓延：

    “无根”、“世界主义者”、“反爱国”都是黑色百人团 [13] 常用的字眼——用以遮掩“犹太佬”一词的面具。如要脱下面具，直说那甜美的原始字眼，却又充满风险。黑色百人团仍是胆小鬼，反犹太主义会受到刑法的严厉处罚。 (803)

    扩大反犹运动的官方语言同样是遮遮掩掩的。从1948到1953年，数万苏维埃犹太人遭到逮捕、解雇，被大学开除、逐出家园，但从不讲明（从没在文书中提到）其原因就是因为他们的种族。至少根据官方政策，这样的歧视在苏联是非法的。

    战前，在俄罗斯主要城市的犹太人中，大部分只隐约意识到自己是犹太人。他们的家庭，已抛弃传统的犹太小镇生活，转而拥抱苏联的城市文化。他们放弃了犹太宗教和犹太种族，转而接受以苏维埃国际主义原则为基础的新身份。他们认为自己是“苏维埃公民”，融入苏维埃社会，攀升到1917年以前遭禁的位置，只是在家里仍保留犹太人的风俗、习惯、信念。战后的反犹运动，迫使他们重又把自己当做犹太人。

    盖斯特一家是典型的犹太人，离开栅栏区，在苏联找到新家。阿隆·盖斯特被捕于1937年，之前曾是苏维埃政府的领导成员，担任副农业人民委员，妻子拉希尔·卡普兰是重工业人民委员会的高级经济师。女儿伊娜和纳塔利娅从小就学做苏维埃公民，沉浸于俄罗斯文学的普遍文化和理念之中，几乎意识不到莫斯科家中的犹太人痕迹——仅有他们吃的食物、苏维埃节日期间的家庭礼仪以及外祖母叙述的反犹大屠杀旧事。1944年，伊娜注册为莫斯科大学物理系学生，晚上在教授的实验室打工，以此自给并帮助母亲。1945年，伊娜的母亲获释于阿克莫林斯克劳改营，在莫斯科东北100公里之遥的科尔丘吉诺镇定居。1948年，伊娜的妹妹申请莫斯科大学遭拒。伊娜想找出原因，党委书记叫她到申请表格当中去找。原来，纳塔利娅在民族一项填了犹太人。 [14] 伊娜说，这是她首次意识到自己的犹太出身。一名考分较低的俄罗斯男孩取代纳塔利娅，进了莫斯科大学，后来成为一名教授。

    1949年4月，伊娜在大学为自己毕业论文答辩时遭到逮捕，被裁定为“人民公敌的女儿”，判处5年，流放去哈萨克斯坦。她在那里的波罗沃耶地区找到一份教师工作，那是一个荒凉、偏远的草原小镇。两个月之后，纳塔利娅也被捕，因为她在莫斯科师范学院加入共青团的申请表格上，没填上父母的被捕。她是在1948年被接纳成为该校学生的。她保留了一张父亲的照片，而不是公开背弃他，这在审讯员看来，无疑是“社会危险分子”的认罪。纳塔利娅也被判处5年，流放去哈萨克斯坦。结果在波罗沃耶地区，她、伊娜和赶来相聚的母亲团聚在一起。 (804)

    维拉·布龙施泰因1893年出生于乌克兰西部的犹太家庭，1907年尚是小女生时，就在敖德萨加入布尔什维克，成为地下革命活动的积极成员，曾参与布尔什维克1917年10月在莫斯科的夺权。她与一名俄罗斯工人结婚，1926年生下女儿斯韦特兰娜，1928年离开丈夫（原来是一个反犹太主义者），因为他威胁要举报她为“托派分子”。维拉在国家档案馆工作，又在红色教授学院攻读历史，继而成为历史教授；从1938年起，她向莫斯科伏龙芝军事学院的士兵，讲授斯大林的《联共（布）党史简明教程》。维拉和女儿未受大恐怖的波及，一直享受着苏维埃精英的舒适生活，直到1948年。其时，维拉因前夫的举报而遭逮捕，被裁定犯了“反革命活动”罪，判处5年，被送去波特马劳改营。斯韦特兰娜此时已是莫斯科大学的学生兼共青团积极分子。她面临被开除的威胁，更承受越来越大的压力，要她揭发其他学生和教授为“犹太民族主义者”。但她予以拒绝，不愿相信有关“犹太复国主义阴谋”的宣传。她很天真，甚至写信给斯大林，抱怨大学里犹太学生受到的歧视。此举导致自己在1952年被捕，判处10年，被送去维亚特卡劳改营。 (805)

    奥莉加·洛普提娜―爱泼斯坦1913年出生于犹太家庭。全家人在1917年之后，离开法定犹太区，搬至波尔塔瓦。20世纪30年代初，她本人搬到列宁格勒，与来自法定犹太区的犹太人鲍里斯·爱泼斯坦结婚，成为列宁工厂的会计；儿子马克出生于1937年。战争期间，奥莉加和儿子疏散到车里雅宾斯克。1944年，鲍里斯阵亡于白俄罗斯前钱。1945年，再婚的奥莉加和新丈夫，带着马克回到列宁格勒。这座城市的住房长期紧缺，幸亏奥莉加的弟弟在内务部工作，帮助找到共用公寓中一个小间。他们的邻居大多是工人，抱强烈的反犹态度，经常会在争论中表露出来。马克回忆：“那座公寓像是一个种族仇恨的火药桶，随时都会爆炸。”

    邻居经常酗酒，每当有什么投诉，就会向我们发泄粗口、诅咒、威胁，叫我们搬去巴勒斯坦。然后，妈妈就会对纯俄罗斯人的继父说：“科利亚，为什么不去管管你那帮部落主义者？”公寓内的气氛恶劣，有时威胁变得煞有介事，母亲就会上访党总部[在公寓对面的斯莫尔尼学院]，但她的投诉从来没有效果。

    马克在学校里被人欺负，其他孩子都拒绝坐在这位“肮脏的犹太佬”旁边。他住的大楼，大门上画有“犹太佬”的字眼。奥莉加多次向学校当局抱怨，甚至写信给党的领导，都无效。向内务部提出投诉，也不再有任何意义，因为她的弟弟连同许多内务部的犹太雇员，都因列宁格勒案件而被逮捕。奥莉加出于焦虑而生病，从1949到1953年，连续几次心脏病发作，几乎成了残废人。第二任丈夫死于1955年，之后，她完全依赖儿子。母子俩继续生活于同一公寓，周围是同样的反犹邻居，直到奥莉加在1987年去世。马克65岁时才结婚，方才搬走。 (806)

    反犹运动也大大影响了拉斯金家庭。1943年，拉斯金一家从战时疏散地车里雅宾斯克返回莫斯科。塞缪尔和贝尔塔住在长女法尼娅在阿尔巴特区的公寓，再加上热尼娅的儿子阿列克谢和妹妹索尼娅（热尼娅仍住在祖博夫广场的自家公寓）。塞缪尔重操贸易旧业，向国营的食品商店系统供应咸鱼。法尼娅继续在拖拉机工业的管理部门工作。索尼娅在莫斯科庞大的专造汽车的斯大林工厂上班，很快晋升为金属和技术供应的主管。这是一项非常重要的工作，战后的斯大林工厂引进了新技术和高级钢材，大批量生产轻型汽车和卡车，索尼娅对工作非常投入。她的丈夫恩斯特·扎伊德勒是匈牙利共产主义者，曾在共产国际工作，1937年12月被捕并遭枪决，没有子女。热尼娅担任电台编辑，竭尽全力照料体弱多病的阿列克谢，不愿向西蒙诺夫求助，伸出援手的反而是自己的父母。西蒙诺夫的父母时有帮忙，1947年带阿列克谢去海边度了长假，帮助调养他的结核病。 (807)

    西蒙诺夫只花很少的时间在阿列克谢身上，每年只有一次或两次见面。他的母亲亚历山德拉经常需要提醒他别忘了给阿列克谢写生日贺信。1952年，阿列克谢13岁生日那天，西蒙诺夫的电报未能送到儿子手中，他只得补写了一封信：

    亲爱的阿廖沙！

    我一直不舒服，也没在莫斯科。我到今天才意识到，由于误会，我为你生日而写的电报竟没有送出……我对你的未来充满信心，随着岁月的流逝，我希望你会长大、成为我的一个“小朋友”。过去的一年使你更加靠近这一目标……我每周两次走过莫斯科大学的新大楼；我一直认为，你总有一天会在那里上课。然后，你会踏上你的工作征程——奔赴国家派遣你去的地方。欢乐的召唤在等待着你，以及像你那样的数百万儿童。心怀喜悦，向往这一天；工作愉快，欢迎这一召唤…… (808)

    对这封信的拘谨刻板，阿列克谢并无不适之感，父子之间的交往历来如此。由于只有很少的通信，他珍惜其中的每一封。父亲的信通常是打字机打的，这意味着它们是父亲口述给秘书的，都是谆谆教导的口气，与其说是父亲写给儿子的家信，毋宁说是党干部的公函。下面这一封写于1948年的夏天，其时，阿列克谢仅8岁：

    亲爱的阿廖沙：

    我收到了你的信和绘画。至于绘画，在我看来，还真不错，特别是那只小公鸡。但目前还不是骄傲的时候，记住，父亲在你这个年龄可以画得更好。所以你必须加倍努力，迎头赶上。我希望你对争取高分的允诺，不只是纸上谈兵，而会很快变成现实。我将会为此而感到非常高兴。 (809)

    阿列克谢记得父亲经常告诉他，“血缘”在他看来没有特殊的意义，这是他的“民主原则”之一，同事、下属、家人都一视同仁。阿列克谢承担了父亲这些原则的代价。他不明白，颇受他人欢迎的著名父亲，留给自己的时间却这么少。父亲仅有几次来接他出去；阿列克谢每次都感到尴尬，长时间保持沉默，但父亲从没注意到他的不安。1947年春天，西蒙诺夫从美国带回一套西装（棕色的外套、短裤和一顶帽子），送给儿子。阿列克谢并不喜欢短裤——穿上时，会遭到院子里其他男孩的嘲笑，甚至殴打——所以将它藏进抽屉。几星期后，一辆政府轿车来到祖博夫广场的公寓前，要接阿列克谢去看一年都没见面的父亲。阿列克谢的外祖母贝尔塔特意让他穿上棕色西装，以示他很喜欢父亲的礼物。其他男孩聚在院子里查看轿车，众目睽睽之下，阿列克谢走出了家门，坐进轿车，被带到西蒙诺夫包房招待朋友的大酒店。父亲让7岁的男孩面对人群，“报告”过去一年在学校的成就，听完之后再推出一个惊喜：白衣白帽的厨师走进来，手捧盛有“惊喜蛋饼”（由冰淇淋做成）的大银碟。阿列克谢留下来吃“蛋饼”，父亲则与朋友们交谈应酬。在阿列克谢眼中，父亲似乎是“全能和神奇”的。西蒙诺夫后来转向儿子，问他是否喜欢身上的西装，阿列克谢给了一个很礼貌的回答。过不多久，阿列克谢又被送回家——如他所回忆的，“等待下一次与父亲的见面，也许1个月，也许6个月，取决于他政府工作的繁忙程度”。 (810)

    至于对阿列克谢的忽视，除了母亲亚历山德拉，唯一敢于批评西蒙诺夫的就是索尼娅。1947年10月，索尼娅写信给西蒙诺夫。阿列克谢又一次发病，急需拉斯金一家无法获得的营养品和药物：

    我不得不第二次提醒你，应对儿子负责（仅是第二次？），这是很令人讨厌的。你让自己变得漠不关心，其程度令我吃惊。相信我，如果不是出于你的孩子的必需，我和热尼娅都不会来找你。要你帮忙，我们都感到颇不自在——完全是你的缘故——但是我们也不能因此就任凭阿廖沙受苦受难。如果处于不同的情形，我会把你彻底忘掉，甚至会阻止你的儿子去爱一个不愿为他牺牲两小时的父亲。关于这一点，我以前曾向你提过。 (811)

    1950年5月，索尼娅被捕，单独关在莫斯科的列福尔托沃监狱，因斯大林工厂一案而接受审讯。该厂的犹太工人被指控为美国从事间谍活动，这源于1948年该厂工人组队前往莫斯科的犹太剧院。斯大林工厂有相当数量的犹太工人，大多是工程师和行政人员，向来支持犹太人反法西斯委员会和以色列建国。他们的文化活动，更得到了工厂副主管亚历山大·济蒂诺夫的鼓励，他还让美国驻苏大使前去参观。这已足够让国安部炮制出一个“斯大林工厂反苏维埃集团，成员是犹太资产阶级民族主义者”，向美国透露工业机密。推动调查的是赫鲁晓夫，他自1949年12月起，担任莫斯科的市委第一书记，很有可能是在执行斯大林的指示。斯大林已在担忧犹太人的“间谍”和“阴谋者”无处不在。受军事法庭的定罪，济蒂诺夫成为后来被枪决的14名“领导者”之一。这个工厂的100多名犹太工人，外加其他工厂的数百名犹太工人，被送去各个劳改营。 (812)

    索尼娅被判处25年的苦役，送去远北地区的沃尔库塔劳改营。法尼娅和热尼娅在塞缪尔和贝尔塔的面前隐瞒了苦役期限，只说是5年，因为担心真相会使他们绝望。索尼娅去了沃尔库塔的砖厂，以她一贯的充沛精力和主动性投入工作。即使身在古拉格，她仍完全致力于苏维埃的工业事业。索尼娅获得奖励，成为劳改营的图书馆员，那是一个让人称羡的工作，但在家书中，她经常流露自己的无奈：如果不是整理书籍，而是充任资深的工业家，她本可为国家作出更大的贡献。

    索尼娅的被捕给塞缪尔的健康状况造成很大影响。据法尼娅说，在她流放期间，塞缪尔似乎承受了巨大的悲伤。索尼娅被捕时，塞缪尔71岁。以前，他一直非常开朗愉快，充满旺盛的生命力。女儿被捕后，他变得年迈体衰，再也无法以原先的步调工作。不过，家庭传统仍然继续，其后5年中的每一个星期日，家人和朋友仍像往常一样，为著名的“拉斯金晚餐”而聚在一起，贝尔塔继续准备可口的犹太菜肴，塞缪尔继续举行他的厨房议会。西蒙诺夫从未出现，但他的父母经常露面。法尼娅回忆：“他们与众不同，来自不同的阶层，与我们的父母倒相处融洽，他们喜爱热尼娅和阿列克谢。”晚餐的开幕祝酒词始终相同：“为了她的归来！”如果索尼娅的信恰恰在过去一周收到，就会被大声念出，聚集的客人展开讨论，总是会掉眼泪。每个人都会向索尼娅表示问候，由热尼娅执笔写入回信。

    20世纪50年代初，许多劳改营的条件开始有所改善。古拉格管理员想方设法促使囚犯作出更大努力，像索尼娅那样的模范员工，每周一信并不出奇。审查员仍然检阅通信，但依据较为宽松的规则，囚犯和亲人的交流可能有久违的坦率。有时，索尼娅甚至获准给家里打电话——家人太激动了，以致语无伦次。在一次这样的电话之后，热尼娅写信给索尼娅：

    我亲爱的姑娘，对我们所有人来说，尤其是妈妈和爸爸，这是何等的高兴，你简直无法理解。这使他们更容易坚持到你归来。爸爸浑身颤抖，第一分钟内简直说不出一句话。他们听到你声音时的幸福感，无法以言语来表述……阿列克谢——长……得这么高，你都快认不出他了——跟你说话时显得紧张，所以他的声音听起来怪怪的。他谈及有关剃须的蠢话，随后又为之沮丧起来。

    1952年，热尼娅去沃尔库塔探望索尼娅。允许亲属探视囚犯是古拉格系统放宽政策的一部分。热尼娅是沃尔库塔首批探访者之一，离家前夕，要求西蒙诺夫前来祖博夫广场的自家公寓。阿列克谢无意中听到父母的对话。热尼娅很害怕可能会遭到劳改营的拘留（囚犯亲戚中普遍存在的恐惧），便要西蒙诺夫作出庄严的承诺，无论发生什么，都要将儿子留在塞缪尔和贝尔塔的身边，直到她归来。热尼娅是生活中的外交官，具有非凡的能力，与各种人都能友好相处，不作自己的评判。但在这个问题上，她却非常坚定——这是一个原则问题：阿列克谢不能与西蒙诺夫一起生活。

    热尼娅从不为自己向西蒙诺夫提出要求。1951年，电台行业出现了对犹太人的大清洗，她也被解雇，很长一段时间找不到工作。她向几十家文学杂志和报纸查询工作机会，并送上自己的文章，以图发表，但从没向西蒙诺夫求助。不过，为了索尼娅，她什么都愿做。其时，热尼娅的大部分精力都投入争取索尼娅的获释，她写信给所有的有关当局——包括判处索尼娅的军事法庭、负责审查该案件的军事检察官甚至《真理报》编辑部，以伸张正义。到最后，热尼娅才转向西蒙诺夫。过去6个月当中，她数次与他见面，希望得到相关的信息和建议。但西蒙诺夫不愿介入，热尼娅写信给索尼娅说：

    你无法想象科斯佳[西蒙诺夫]的变化，我们曾熟悉的他已不复存在。过去几年中，我很少见到他，每次见面永远都不会超过几分钟。所以他的新性格，让我大大吃惊——你一定也会有同感……原因不在于他的年纪越来越大（他仍算年轻），也不在于他因经验而变得更聪明，更不在于他的高级地位和收入。不，这是完全不同的东西……科斯佳承诺，我们将得到需要的信息。我认为，值得等待，因为这些信息很可能是可靠的，但他迄今未做。毫无疑问，他太忙了……他本可做得更多，但——愿上帝与他同在——让他去过安静舒适的生活吧。我已不再尊重他。

    但从西蒙诺夫的角度考虑，即使他想出手干预，可能也无济于事。当然，这也是拉斯金家其他人的看法，所以继续以热情和尊敬相待。在罕见场合中，他们见到他，从不提索尼娅的事。法尼娅解释：“我们知道，他与斯大林走得很近，可以讨一个人情。但我们中没人提起——我们只是不想让自己走到这一步。”

    反正，西蒙诺夫已纠缠于斯大林的反犹运动，即使想帮拉斯金一家，可能只会让自己陷入困境。西蒙诺夫1950年接管《文学报》，就收到克里姆林宫的指示，要在“反世界主义者”运动中，向它的立场靠拢。以前的主编太软弱，斯大林现在要依靠西蒙诺夫将这份富有影响力的报纸改造成党的先锋队，在苏维埃文化中开展“反资产阶级异己分子的斗争”。西蒙诺夫一走马上任，就以“工作表现差和政治错误”的名义，开除了该报11名工作人员（全是犹太人）。在他的掌控下，该报定期发表文章和社论，积极开展“思想斗争”，以反对“世界主义者和对西方的奴颜婢膝”，个中的反犹太主义昭然若揭。在反世界主义者运动的初期，西蒙诺夫曾是“温和派”，此时看来，正在变成强硬派一员。他一直坚持这个立场，直到斯大林政权的终结。1953年3月24日，即斯大林逝世的两个多星期之后，西蒙诺夫还代表作家协会的秘书处，写信给中央委员会，列举需要开除的犹太作家（称之为累赘）。之后，他还写信给中央委员会，坚持要清洗他的老朋友和战友亚历山大·克里维斯基——其时担任《文学报》的国际部编辑。根据举报信，清洗的理由是“某些履历事实”，以及克里维斯基对犹太民族主义者缺乏警惕。 (814)

    警惕就是西蒙诺夫试图展示的。反犹太主义者似乎得到克里姆林宫的支持，发起了一系列攻击。西蒙诺夫面临越来越沉重的压力，只好作出惯常的应对：拼命证明自己的忠心耿耿。反对西蒙诺夫的运动始于1951年，牵涉到犹太作家可否使用笔名的公开争论。斯大林在讨论斯大林文学奖的会议上询问，作家奥列斯特·马尔采夫为何不用自己的犹太名字（罗温斯基）；并提出建议，从今以后，在所有正式表格中，使用俄罗斯笔名的人必须在括号内列出自己的犹太名字。 [15] 这其实是沙皇时代的官方习惯，当时的犹太人和革命者被视作一丘之貉，但1917年之后，这种做法被认作反犹主义，已经废弃。自1949年以来，苏维埃报刊开展了有关笔名的广泛讨论，其中的强硬派敦促重启披露犹太名字的旧制度。1951年2月，《共青团真理报》刊登了米哈伊尔·布本诺夫的文章（《笔名仍有必要吗？》）。这是一篇卑劣的文章，带有公开反犹的色彩。布本诺夫嘲弄犹太作家的笔名，指责他们是“逃避社会的变色龙”。西蒙诺夫以《文学报》主编的名义作出回应，声称使用笔名是私人选择，他援引20世纪20年代的相关法律，并签上自己的名字“康斯坦丁（基里尔）·西蒙诺夫”。这是一个勇敢的举动。《共青团真理报》随即登出声援布本诺夫的文章，执笔者是赫赫有名的《静静的顿河》作者米哈伊尔·肖洛霍夫。西蒙诺夫怀疑，真是肖洛霍夫写的吗？他很想打电话单独问他，究竟承受了何等压力，但到最后还是放弃了。相反，他在《文学报》写了第二篇文章，指责肖洛霍夫和布本诺夫只是在作“廉价的煽情”，并声称就此停笔，不再多写一字。 (815)

    但其他成千上万的人继续发表各自的见解，新闻界收到雪崩般泻来的读者来信，有些人支持西蒙诺夫——其中有许多犹太人，其余的则选择匿名。但是，大多数来信赞同布本诺夫。在他们看来，在苏联没有使用笔名的必要，“不管是哪一个种族，大家都一律平等”，除非犹太人有不可告人的秘密。许多来信具有强烈的反犹色彩，指责西蒙诺夫充当“犹太人的辩护人”。 (816)

    此时还兴起一个反西蒙诺夫的谣言运动，有传言称他是犹太人。作家协会的主要成员阿列克谢·苏尔科夫，对反犹运动持反对态度，在1952年的年尾来找西蒙诺夫。他告诉西蒙诺夫，过去一年中，他曾参与中央委员会高层官员的几次讨论，因为收到一系列的举报，揭露西蒙诺夫是“秘密犹太人”。有人称，他的真名是西蒙诺维奇，实际上是“奥博连斯卡娅伯爵夫人”庄园上犹太工匠的儿子，嗣后获得伯爵夫人的收养。还有人称，他是来自圣彼得堡受过洗的犹太人的儿子。他们还纷纷指点他的“犹太外表”和化名（以康斯坦丁代替基里尔）。一开始，西蒙诺夫不予理会，认为这些谣言极其荒谬：他母亲是公主，不是伯爵夫人，更没有庄园。到后来，资深党员弗拉基米尔·奥尔洛夫的举报，也提及“西蒙诺维奇”的传言。他指责西蒙诺夫在《文学报》提拔犹太编辑人员，其目的就是要将之改造成“犹太复国主义者组织”。1953年1月，威胁气氛愈益急迫。苏尔科夫再次造访西蒙诺夫，透露作家弗拉基米尔·克罗日科夫告诉自己，已有证据表明，莫斯科有一个文学团体，与东欧、苏联各地的犹太民族主义者都有联系。据克罗日科夫所说，这个团体的负责人就是西蒙诺夫。苏尔科夫告诉西蒙诺夫这一切，冒着极大的个人风险，因为克罗日科夫曾要他发誓保密。苏尔科夫警告：“有一些王八蛋正在四下挖你的墙脚，为你挖掘坟墓。” (817)

    在这一段时间，反犹活动也抵达高潮，最后一幕是荒谬的“医生事件”，起源于1948年。当时，同时也为国安部工作的克里姆林宫医院医生利季娅·季马舒克，在日丹诺夫死前两天写信给斯大林，声称有关医生疏忽了日丹诺夫的严重病症。该信并没引起注意，被束之高阁。3年后，斯大林却用它来指控克里姆林宫医生属于一个“犹太复国主义者的阴谋”，涉嫌谋杀日丹诺夫和其他苏维埃领导人。给日丹诺夫治病的医生都不是犹太人，为了将日丹诺夫的死亡与犹太复国主义者连接起来，斯大林只得另想计策。医生阴谋的凭空捏造，全靠雅可夫·埃廷格尔医生的屈打成招。他是杰出的诊断专家，曾向亲友说出自己的反苏维埃思想，于1950年11月被捕。埃廷格尔供认自己是犹太民族主义者，还受到国安部主管维克托·阿巴库莫夫的保护，后者于1951年7月被捕。之后，数百名医生和国安部官员被捕，受尽折磨后纷纷招供。斯大林凭此编造出一个巨大的跨国阴谋，内有医学界、列宁格勒党组织、国安部和红军中的苏维埃犹太人，外有以色列和美国。整个国家似乎要返回1937年的氛围，让犹太人扮演“人民公敌”的角色。1952年12月，斯大林在中央委员会的会议上说“每一个犹太人都是潜在的美国间谍”，从而使全体犹太人成为他的恐怖运动的对象。成千上万的犹太人遭逮捕，被逐出工作单位和家园，成为“无根的寄生虫”，从主要城市流放到苏联的偏远地区。斯大林下令在远东建造庞大的新劳改营，收留所有的犹太人。在整个苏联地区，人们都在诅咒犹太人。病人拒绝看犹太医生，迫使他们歇业，很多人只好出卖体力挣钱。有人造谣惑众，称医生在自己病房杀害婴儿，孕妇因而躲避医院。人们写信给报刊，呼吁苏维埃当局“清除寄生虫”，“从聚有太多犹太猪的那些大城市，把他们赶出去流放”。 (818)

    然而，就在这个歇斯底里的高峰期，斯大林死了。

    五

    斯大林中风了，不省人事躺了5天，死于1953年3月5日。如果第一天就把医生请来，他可能还有救。但在医生事件的恐慌之中，斯大林小圈子里没人敢自作主张。斯大林的私人医生曾说他需要休息，反而被上了酷刑。如果斯大林从昏迷中醒来，发现床边的医生，可能会视召来医生的决定为不忠的表现。 (819) 这真是一个恰到好处的讽刺，斯大林因自己的政治而迅速去世。

    斯大林逝世的当晚，西蒙诺夫参与克里姆林宫的苏维埃领导会议，列席会议的是300名最高苏维埃和中央委员会的成员。大家都知道局势的严重，大多数代表早早来到斯维尔德洛夫厅。西蒙诺夫回忆：“我们互相知晓，互相认识，在工作场合相遇过多次。”

    我们并肩坐在那里，互相对视，但没人说话，没人向任何人问起任何事。在我看来，甚至没人觉得有开口的必要。[会议]开始之前，大厅里一片寂静。如果没在那里亲自坐了40分钟，我都不敢相信，300余人挨得这么近，却能不发出一点声响。

    最后，主席团 [16] 成员入席，宣布斯大林已奄奄一息。西蒙诺夫得到的强烈印象是，除了莫洛托夫，这个小圈子的其他成员都为此松了一口气：这可从他们的脸上看到，也可从他们的语调中听出。 (820)

    西蒙诺夫从克里姆林宫直奔《真理报》办公室，正与主编交谈时，收到斯大林的死亡通知，尽管已有预料，这一消息仍令他震惊。西蒙诺夫回忆：“我内心打了一个寒战，自己生命中的某部分已经结束，说不清楚的新部分开始了。”那一刻，他突然觉得，需用诗歌来记录自己的思绪。他不知道是否写得出，但他确定自己无法做其他任何事。他回到家里，开始动笔：

    我写了最初两行，突然，出乎意外地，一下子泪流满面。我现在仍可否认，因为我并不喜欢眼泪，不管是自己的，还是他人的。但只有那些眼泪，才能正确表达我当时经历的震撼。我哭，不是因为悲伤，也不是因为对死者的遗憾。它不是多愁善感的眼泪，而是震撼过后的眼泪。发生了一场革命，其影响如此巨大，必然有身体上的反应，在这种情况下，沉淀成了俘获我几分钟的痉挛哀泣。

    西蒙诺夫后来与同行们交流，发现他们也有同样的感受。许多人追随他的榜样，写下对斯大林死亡的衷心哀悼。看起来，以广为不同的方式经历斯大林统治的人，都感到震惊和悲伤。斯大林去世的当晚，西蒙诺夫写道：

    无法用语言来表达

    难忍的痛苦和悲泣，

    无法用词句来叙述

    如何为你哀悼，斯大林同志！

    20世纪30年代背弃自己家庭的“富农”之子特瓦尔多夫斯基写道：

    在这大悲痛时刻

    我无法找到哀辞，

    来充分表达

    全体人民的损失……

    供人瞻仰的斯大林遗体

    甚至在大恐怖时期入狱两年的奥莉加·贝戈尔兹，也为虐待自己的人写下挽诗：

    我们的心脏在出血……

    我们自己的最亲爱的人！

    抱着你的头颅，

    全国都为你流下斑斑泪痕。 (821)

    向大众公布斯大林死讯是在3月6日，3天后举行葬礼。当中这段时间，他的遗体停放在红场附近的圆柱厅供人瞻仰。前来表示敬意的真是人山人海，首都的中心挤满了来自苏联各个角落的送葬者，数百人死于踩踏事故。西蒙诺夫中选担任斯大林遗体的护卫，有机会观察普通百姓走过遗体时的反应。他在3月16日的日记中写道：

    我不知如何准确地描述现场——如何以文字表达。并非每一个人都在哭喊，也并非每一个人都在抽泣。但不知何故，每一个人都展示了深刻的情感。大家排队走过，第一次看到灵柩中的斯大林的一刹那，我都能感受到他们内心的某种精神痉挛。 (822)

    这种“精神痉挛”，整个苏联都能感受得到。马克·拉斯金没有理由热爱斯大林，但听到死讯时仍泣不成声。他为自己的感伤感到惊讶，归因于斯大林曾在他的生活中发挥了巨大影响：

    我成年后的时光都在斯大林的阴影下度过的——列宁死于1924年，当时我16岁——我所有思想，都是在斯大林时代形成的。我等待他的指示，所有的疑问向他提出，他也给了全部的答案，既简洁，又精确，没有丝毫的怀疑余地。 (823)

    在拉斯金的同龄人或更年轻的人眼中，斯大林是他们的道德基准。不管他们在斯大林统治下的际遇如何，在他去世后，一定会有迷失感，其自然反应就是他们的悲伤。

    有些大恐怖的受害者也对斯大林的死亡感到真正的悲哀。季娜伊达·布舒耶娃听到这个消息时，也泪流满面，尽管她丈夫于1937年被捕，自己最美好的时光却在阿克莫林斯克劳改营度过。女儿安吉丽娜追忆母亲那一天回家时的情景：

    母亲、姐姐、外祖母，她们都哭了。外祖母说，如果死的是自己，而不是他，岂不更好。她比斯大林大4岁，热爱他，经常给他写信。她认为，允许自己写信给女儿[身处劳改营]的是斯大林，从而使得全家破镜重圆……外祖母不断地说：“如果我死，他活，岂不更好。”我没有反驳——我也热爱斯大林。但到今天[2003年]，我只想对她说：“外祖母，你都在说些什么呀？”她自己承受这么多苦难：女儿被捕，外孙女被送进孤儿院，女婿遭枪决，作为神父的丈夫也受迫害……但她却愿意牺牲自己的生命来拯救斯大林。 (824)

    但对观念在早年即已形成的老一辈人来说，斯大林的死亡同样可以成为欢庆的理由。

    斯韦特兰娜·斯比特涅娃1937年出生于西伯利亚阿尔泰地区的巴尔瑙尔。父亲在她出生之前即已被捕，枪决于1938年。母亲来自鄂木斯克，1917年之前她的家人一直在那里参与社会民主运动。母亲的16名亲属在大恐怖中被捕，除了斯韦特兰娜的外祖母，其余的要么被布尔什维克枪毙，要么在劳改营丧生。斯韦特兰娜对此知之甚少，从小就学做苏维埃的模范女生，像所有女生一样，热爱斯大林。宣布他去世的那天，她从学校回来，头发上系有黑色缎带，学校里办的哀悼仪式——孩子们以棕榈叶和白色百合花装饰斯大林的肖像——深深打动了她。她回忆：“我们全都哭了，认为这已是世界末日。”回家后，斯韦特兰娜爬上屋顶，那是她喜欢独处的地方，结果发现外祖母也在那里：

    她坐在那里，静静地哭，以我从没见过的方式划十字。看到我哭肿的眼睛，她说：“别担心，亲爱的，我因幸福而哭。因为他杀了我的家人：儿子、兄弟、丈夫、父亲——斯大林把他们都杀了——只留下我和你母亲。”这是我第一次听到这些。然后，我们两人坐下来一起哭，既为欢乐，也为悲伤。 (825)

    对绝大多数苏维埃人民来说，无论斯大林的死亡意味着什么，却都不是摆脱恐惧。事实上，反而可能增加他们的恐惧，不知道未来将有怎样的灾难。娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆讲述了她与她的裁缝的对话，那是少数几个与她分享感受的人之一，时间在斯大林去世后不久。

    1953年3月6日，基辅高尔基坦克工厂举行悼念仪式

    我问她：“你嚎叫什么呀？他究竟给你带来什么？”她解释，在某种程度上，人们已学会了如何与他相处。现在怎么办，又会发生什么，谁能知道呢？事情可能变得更糟……她有一定的道理。 (826)

    鲍里斯·德罗兹多夫与父母同住在马加丹；父亲曾是别尔津的亲信，1951年获释于劳改营。鲍里斯回忆：“斯大林去世时，大家都吓坏了，父亲也在害怕。人们担心贝利亚将上台，大家都怕他。与古拉格系统相连的是贝利亚和内务部，而不是斯大林。很多人还以为斯大林根本都不知道劳改营的真相。”

    维拉·布拉金的母亲崇拜斯大林，即使自己作为“富农”遭到流放，即使丈夫征入劳动大军累死于1944年。维拉回忆：“斯大林去世时，母亲并没摘下他的肖像，仍挂在墙上，紧挨父亲的照片。”在村民大会上：

    每个人都在哭泣……人们将斯大林与战争的胜利、物价的降低以及配给供应的终止连接在一起，认为生活将会慢慢好转。现在则担心，将会变得更糟。

    许多农民产生类似的焦虑。“富农”的女儿克拉夫蒂娅·罗别尔尤娃回忆：“战争期间，我们的生活变得异常困难。但在最近几年[斯大林去世前]，生活有所改善。斯大林逝世时，我们不知道会发生什么，大家都很害怕。” 她是在劳动大军中度过战争岁月的，然后在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克附近的集体农庄工作。

    担心斯大林的去世将导致新一轮的大规模逮捕，使许多家庭坐立不安，尤其是曾在大恐怖中失去亲人的家庭。埃尔加·托尔钦斯卡娅记得：

    我们家的普遍反应是，“接下来会是怎样？”我们害怕政府，不知道应该期待什么。我们提心吊胆，它可能以更多的逮捕来

    报复斯大林的死亡。

    等到“医生事件”被揭露为政府的向壁虚造，恐惧气氛才开始减弱。揭示真相的决定似乎来自贝利亚，3月5日接管权力的“集体领导”以他为首——他不赞成反犹太主义运动，如果确实发生了“医生事件”引起的国安部清洗，他自己会是潜在的受害者。尽管安全警察的出身使广大民众对他心怀恐惧，贝利亚却是某种意义上的政治改革家。他想废除古拉格系统（以经济效率低下的理由），结束苏维埃警察的酷刑，扭转乌克兰西部、波罗的海地区、东德的苏维埃化，铲除苏联对斯大林的个人崇拜——他认为，这样一个计划将为自己的独裁统治赢得广泛的支持。4月4日，贝利亚取消对“医生事件”的调查。《真理报》宣布，“不正当调查”的负责人已经被捕，将承担“刑事责任”，但大众的舆论五花八门。根据《真理报》收到的工人来信样本，许多人继续相信：权力机构的幕后仍有“难以捉摸的敌人”；医生的平反本身就是“犹太人影响”政府高层的标志（“斯大林同志不在了，我们的政府就向犹太人低了头”，等等）。但也有人激怒于对犹太医生的恶意中伤，要求对不公正的逮捕作出解释。 (830)

    对托尔钦斯基家来说，“医生事件”的结论是巨大的解脱。他们视之为强有力的证据，所有的“敌人阴谋”都是国家捏造的，不必再担心新一波的逮捕。埃尔加逃脱恐惧的羁绊，信心大增，开始仗义执言，反击一直欺负自己的人。埃尔加在列宁格勒的民族博物馆担任助理，有一个资深同事，名叫玛丽亚·涅斯捷罗娃。她是狂热的斯大林主义者，又是“可怕的反犹太主义者”，极力支持“反世界主义者”运动，举报了博物馆数十名犹太员工，其中有些因此被解雇。在“医生事件”的集体歇斯底里之中，涅斯捷罗娃对犹太人的指控变得更加肆无忌惮。譬如，她告诉大家，犹太医生接生的婴儿都呈蓝色，就是因为他们的血液已被犹太人吸走。埃尔加明白，与显然憎恨自己的涅斯捷罗娃争执，毫无意义；她更害怕失去自己的工作，所以一直保持沉默，宁愿退避三舍。“医生事件”的真相暴露出来之后，埃尔加一改常态，起而与她针锋相对：

    我打开天窗说亮话，挑明她是在胡言乱语，她讲的一切都是鹦鹉学舌，来自排队购物者的八卦……玛丽亚开始威胁我：“你知道我的厉害吗？你给我闭嘴！”然后，我不知从哪里找到回嘴的勇气：“得了吧，别威胁我，我根本就不怕你。” (831)

    为斯大林的死亡而感到喜悦的人，大多过于谨慎，不会在公共场合流露，任何的高兴必须遮掩起来。克拉斯诺达尔城的工人季娜伊达·贝利科娃回忆，斯大林去世时，镇上的许多知识分子，包括医生、教师甚至党干部，都难以掩饰自己的兴奋。“克拉斯诺达尔城的追悼会更像一个节日，他们摆出悲伤的面孔，但眼中却闪烁着兴奋，互相打招呼时却有微笑的暗示，他们内心的喜悦昭然若揭。” (832)

    盖斯特家人听到斯大林去世的消息时，仍在哈萨克斯坦的流放地。伊娜在担心受到“医生事件”的牵连，担心自己再一次被捕。3月6日，她母亲拉希尔从商店买回一公斤白糖。以前，店内从来没有白糖出售，但由于某种原因，那一天却有供应。定居地的居民没人敢去买，担心被视作庆祝的证据。但拉希尔却认为遇上了好运，应该无妨。女儿们看到她买的糖，反而吓坏了。伊娜回忆：“我们赶紧抱住可怜的妈妈，一下子变得歇斯底里。她怎能在这种日子买糖呢？人家会作何联想呢？可怜的妈妈！恐惧已让我们失去了理智。” (833)

    在古拉格劳改营和殖民营，斯大林的去世受到毫不掩饰的欢迎。当然也有例外，有的劳改营特别警惕，或有举报人的存在，阻止囚犯们流露他们的真情。一般来讲，斯大林去世的消息都遇上了自然迸发的喜悦。因塔劳改营的尤里·敦斯基和瓦莱里·福雷德，3月6日与他们的朋友诗人斯梅利亚科夫见面，准备组织一次午夜聚会。他们无法获得任何酒类（每个人都想在那一天小酌），只好买来一包糖果，“统统吃光……好像我们是参加茶会的小孩子”。在维亚特卡劳改营，维拉·布龙施泰因和难友们听到消息后，便放下工具，开始载歌载舞，“我们要回家了！我们要回家了！”囚犯们普遍认为，一旦斯大林死去，自己将获得释放，充满了希望和期待。奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格听到这个消息时，仍在哈萨克斯坦的卡拉干达流放地。她捂住脸，不让同事看到自己的欣喜。她开始颤抖，浑身充溢着紧张的激动：“要么现在，要么永不。一切都要改变。要么现在，要么永不。” (834)

    有几个劳改营，其囚犯的期望极为殷切，到头来却没获得开释，因而发动了大规模的抗议和暴动。1953年的春季和夏初，诺里尔斯克和沃尔库塔的劳改营都爆发了大型的罢工和抗议。1953至1954年，许多其他的劳改营也有规模较小的示威。 (835) 这些“奴隶起义”是重要的转折点，不仅促成了苏维埃领导早已质疑的古拉格系统的废除，更是反抗斯大林暴政的第一次大规模抗议。

    诺里尔斯克起义是古拉格历史中最大的一次，涉及戈尔拉格监狱的6个营区、近2万名犯人。那里是诺里尔斯克的采矿工业综合企业，工作要求特别苛刻。戈尔拉格监狱的大多数囚犯，是前红军士兵、外国战俘，以及来自乌克兰和波罗的海的民族主义者。其中很多人曾在1943至1945年抗击苏维埃军队，为此而服25年刑期。他们敌视斯大林政权，随时准备反抗，没有后顾之忧。一大批囚犯在卡拉干达劳改营参与武装起义之后，在1952年秋天被转移到戈尔拉格监狱。这些叛乱分子的涌入，对诺里尔斯克劳改营的政治心态，造成了激进的影响。戈尔拉格监狱的各区纷纷成立了专设的“罢工委员会”。囚犯列夫·内托所在的第4区，甚至出现了秘密的阅读讨论俱乐部，自称为“民主党”（又叫真正的列宁主义者）。这些囚犯研究列宁有关地下工作的思想，沿武装斗争的路线把自己组织起来。

    斯大林的去世更增强了他们获释的希望。但贝利亚宣布于3月27日的特赦只适用于判刑少于5年的囚犯（主要是刑事犯）。戈尔拉格监狱的条件变得更加糟糕，每天工作时间延长，囚犯被迫在风刀霜剑中出工，而口粮又减少至最低限度。狱警开始残酷对待囚犯，让刑事犯向“政治犯”故意挑起械斗，然后趁机再以暴力镇压“政治犯”。从3月到5月，20多名“政治犯”遭到狱警的杀害。发生叛乱的还有其他劳改营，其中的狱警挑衅几乎肯定是为了保住古拉格系统。贝利亚已明确表示，他想废除古拉格系统，释放最危险人物之外的全部囚犯。如果无法证明释放“政治犯”将对社会造成危险，成千上万的古拉格狱警和管理员将会发现自己的工作没了。

    戈尔拉格监狱罢工委员会和地下组织中的各式囚犯，意见分歧。有人赞成起义，也有人认为这是自寻死路，最后的决策是武装起来，实施自我防卫。在车间里筹备武器的内托回忆：“我们以零碎钢料自制刀具。”虽然没有起义计划，但在这高度紧张的氛围中，这只是一个时间问题，进一步的挑衅，随时都会导致造反。 (836)

    对列夫·内托来说，这些事件是自己政治上觉醒的高潮，那是一个漫长过程，始于1944年——其时，列夫空降于德军后方，受命在爱沙尼亚组织游击队斗争。他出生于莫斯科的爱沙尼亚家庭，一直把自己当做苏维埃俄罗斯人，只是具有爱沙尼亚的背景。他完全出于爱国心而去执行这一项任务，但在父母的故乡所亲眼目睹的（红军参与抢劫、强奸、纵火），使他重新思考：苏维埃军队究竟是不是爱沙尼亚的“解放者”。当地居民称苏维埃军队为“斯大林的土匪”，他无言以对，只得同意。

    列夫遭到德军捕获，与数千名其他苏维埃俘虏一起被囚禁在战俘营。这也是一个觉醒时机。他始终相信——如苏维埃所宣传的，没有苏维埃战俘，只有逃兵。但他回忆，在这里：

    像我一样，成千上万的普通人成了苏维埃政权的炮灰……我开始厌恶斯大林和苏维埃制度，他们一直在欺骗我，不把我们[士兵]当人。

    到1945年春天，他待在美国军队管理的战俘营，有机会对照苏维埃制度和美国人的态度：

    美国人每次参加作战行动，回营后交出枪支，第二天再去领不同的枪支。但[在苏维埃军队中]我们每人负责自己的枪支，如有遗失，就会被拖进法庭，或监禁，或枪决。美国人更重视个人价值，但在我们这里，个人是分文不值的。

    列夫返回苏联后，先去过滤营，再重新入伍。1948年，他被当做外国间谍遭到逮捕，被送来诺里尔斯克。他在此遇上了民主党领袖费奥多尔·斯米尔诺夫，后者促使他将斯大林政权视为对马克思主义原理的背离。民主党的形成，全靠非正式的信任和同志间的友情。 [17] 举报人永远是潜在的危险，所以没有白纸黑字，如想参加，必须有现成员的介绍，并为新人负责。在这种环境下，像列夫那样的囚犯，才能发展和表达自己的政治身份。 (837)

    起义发生于5月25日，因为狱警朝出工的囚犯队列开枪，抗议的罢工迅速蔓延到戈尔拉格监狱所有区域，包括女囚区，但大本营是在第4和第5区。那里的囚犯——西部乌克兰人、波兰人、波罗的海人——激进好战，业已组织起来。他们的武器有斧头、刀具、丁字镐，但主要是靠绝食，向劳改营当局施压。内托回忆：“我们的口号是‘不自由，毋宁死’。我们希望获释，决心以死相搏来争取自由。我们认为，宁可死于战斗，也不愿在这种不人道的处境中苟活下去。”这是斯大林的奴隶证明自己是公民的时候。叛乱分子把自己锁在营房里，升起黑旗，以抗议对难友的任意杀戮。每一区域各有自己的罢工领袖，但很快成立罢工总委员会，向当局提出要求。内托担任各区域之间的通讯员、协调者，那是一项非常危险的任务，在各区域之间跑来跑去，随时都有被枪杀的危险。 (838)

    罢工者的要求都与尊重和尊严有关。即使有世界末日般的口号，罢工者的要求其实相对温和，绝对没有反苏维埃。 (839) 他们要求狱警叫他们的名字，而不是囚服上应被删除的编号；要求拆除营房窗口上的铁窗棂；要求狱警终止殴打囚犯，杀人的狱警要受到惩罚；要求一天10小时正常工作，而不是大多数囚犯被迫从事的15小时轮班；要求与亲属自由通信，而不是一年两次。罢工委员会知道，当地的主管无法做主，便拒绝与诺里尔斯克当局谈判，要求直接与莫斯科政府谈判。几天后，即6月5日，贝利亚派出他的高级官员，前来与罢工领导人交涉。这是一个很不平凡的先例。以前，克里姆林宫都以暴力来回应囚犯的要求。贝利亚的使者答应将罢工者的要求转达给政府，但呼吁迅速复工，还称他们的工作对国家很重要，获得了高度重视。这是一个很聪明的策略，因为罢工者最希望自己的劳动得到认可。借用内托的话语即是：

    我们已作出很大的牺牲，为国家提供镍，为此而感到自豪。我们听到的这些感谢词句——那可是出自贝利亚的代表之口——好比是精神食粮，振作了我们的精神，使我们更愿妥协。只要他们把我们当人对待，当人交谈，我们愿意作出更进一步的牺牲。 (840)

    罢工者中出现了分歧，有人想继续罢工，有人愿意复工，希望通过合作来争取莫斯科作出让步。事实上，激进者很难真正坚持下去，更不用说获得胜利。他们被隔离在监狱区域，周围有士兵的包围，很难获得诺里尔斯克其他囚犯的支持。所以，诺里尔斯克的首席检察官在广播系统上发表讲话，要他们散开，承诺不予惩罚。大多数囚犯听从了指挥。狱警把他们分成小组，带走首要分子，允许其余的返回营房。但仍有几千人不愿就范。7月7日在第6区，1000名女子围绕一面黑旗组成人圈，里外一共4圈。士兵试图来拖人，她们就发出尖叫、吹起口哨，持续整整5个小时，最后被救火水龙头冲散。在第5区，1400名囚犯拒绝离开，与士兵展开近距离搏斗，士兵开枪打死了20名囚犯。据报道，最顽强的抵抗发生于第3区，几百名罢工者把自己锁在营房，与士兵对峙，一直坚持到7月10日。意想不到，这些叛乱分子的带头人竟是谢苗·戈洛夫科。他是北高加索地区的青年哥萨克，突然燃起内心的勇气，领导了这一场殊死的搏斗。他回忆道：“我都没有意识到自己还有这样的勇气。一开始，士兵来敲门，扬言要开枪，我很害怕，一直在祈祷上帝。但是，一旦成了带头人，就不再有恐惧。”在军队接管劳改营之前，估计有500名囚犯被杀，270人受伤。 (841)

    罢工遭到了镇压，但劳改营从来没有真正的安定，囚犯对人类尊严的要求终究是压抑不住的。从1953到1954年，规模较小的罢工和示威仍不时发生，直到政权最后承认古拉格系统难以为继，开始释放囚犯。

    [1] 从比例看，波兰遭受的损失可能更大。但从绝对数字看，苏联人的生命和财产损失远大于波兰。

    [2] 苏维埃当局认为，有工作能力的受伤军人不算是战争伤残者。它鼓励受伤的退伍军人寻找工作——坚强起来，有助于恢复——支付小额的退休金给300万退伍军人。（B. Fieseler, ‘The War Disabled in the Soviet Union 1945–64’, paper presented at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London, September 2006）

    [3] 瓦格纳歌剧《纽伦堡的名歌手》中的主角。

    [4] 亚历山大·法捷耶夫的《青年近卫军》是一部基于现实的小说，荣获了1946年的斯大林文学奖。它讲述第二次世界大战期间一个地下青年组织，活跃于被德军占领的乌克兰地区。

    [5] 那个人（仍然在世）后来成为列宁格勒大学的党史系主任。

    [6] 在1945年6月24日莫斯科的胜利阅兵式中，朱可夫骑一匹阿拉伯白色骏马，带领部队走进红场。但有一个传说称，斯大林曾打算亲自带队，却在排练中被那匹骏马甩下。这个传说可能不是真的，却表达了让朱可夫推翻斯大林的普遍愿望。

    [7] 沃兹涅先斯基并不提倡混合经济的恢复，只赞成取消国家对价格的控制，使之更好地反映供求。他还主张扩大合作社企业，对纺织业那样的消费行业追加投资。这两项措施，当初曾为新经济政策的初期成功作出了重要贡献。

    [8] 经常有人认为，日丹诺夫是温和的政治家和开明的改革者，只是在1945至1946年，随着与西方关系的恶化而输给了斯大林统治集团的强硬派，例如马林科夫。根据这种说法，强硬的文化政策是日丹诺夫的竞争对手所强加的。但档案显示，日丹诺夫并没有独立的政治思想；统治集团的政策只是在追随斯大林发出的各式信号；斯大林利用日丹诺夫，将遵奉党的反西方立场的僵化意识形态，强加于苏维埃的一切艺术和科学。

    [9] 西蒙诺夫基于同样的理由，奋力为作家瓦西里·格罗斯曼辩护。格罗斯曼的剧本《如果我们相信毕达哥拉斯学派》（If We Are to Believe the Pythagoreans），1946年9月遭到《真理报》的猛烈攻击。西蒙诺夫写抗议信为格罗斯曼辩护，所持的理由是评论家不该使用辱骂的语言，来批评战争时期一直在前线作战的作家，即使他犯了“严重的思想错误”。（RGALI, f. 1814, op.9, d.1384, l. 2）

    [10] 扎斯拉夫斯基很可能执笔写了1936年臭名昭著的《真理报》文章“Muddle Instead of Music”，谴责肖斯塔科维奇的歌剧《穆森斯克郡的马克白夫人》（Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk）。他曾在1929年举报自己的哥哥是“托洛茨基分子”，以证明自己对党的忠诚。经由法捷耶夫的倡议，并得到斯大林的同意，扎斯拉夫斯基和爱伦堡的名字，被从犹太人反法西斯委员会的成员名单上删去。过后不久，即1948年12月，其他成员均遭逮捕。（RGALI, f.2846, op.1, dd.75, 101, 187, 310, 311）

    [11] “文学败类”（literaturnye podonki）一词最先出现于中央委员会1946年8月14日的法令，用在左琴科的头上。

    [12] 亚历山大·博尔切戈夫斯基死于2006年5月，享年94岁。

    [13] Black Hundreds，沙皇时代反犹的俄罗斯民族主义者。

    [14] 纳塔利娅并不是在强调自己的犹太出身。在所有正式文件中，民族或族裔出身是必须交代的问题。

    [15] 马尔采夫（罗温斯基）实际上是俄罗斯人，与众所周知的《消息报》犹太主编罗温斯基同姓（斯大林可能把他们混淆了）。后者因自己早期小说受到反犹太主义的攻击，而把自己名字从罗温斯基改为马尔采夫。

    [16] 1952年秋天，斯大林为清洗党的领导阶层预作准备，以25名成员的主席团取代政治局。

    第八章 归来（1953—1956）

    一

    1956年，拉斯金一家在莫斯科附近的伊林斯科耶乡间别墅。左起：热尼娅、贝尔塔、索尼娅、塞缪尔和法尼娅

    索尼娅·拉斯金娜经过长时间的延误，终于在1955年11月，从沃尔库塔劳改营归来。拉斯金一家去雅罗斯拉夫尔火车站迎接她回家。除了曾去劳改营探望她的热尼娅，其他人在过去5年中都没有与她照过一次面。最终，索尼娅的火车到站。她从乘客人群中浮现，走出自己的车厢，看起来非常疲惫，面黄肌瘦，走向自己的家人。她站在塞缪尔和贝尔塔的面前，放下包裹，跪在月台上，恳求父母原谅她给家人带来的不幸。

    像许多从斯大林劳改营归来的人一样，索尼娅为自己被捕所造成的伤痛而满怀内疚。她在沃尔库塔时为了寄钱回家，宁愿自己饿肚子，因此骨瘦如柴。归来后，她只想为家人而活。她已44岁，没有丈夫或孩子，愿为父母的福利和姐妹的子女，奉献自己的一切。她的外甥阿列克谢回忆：“她愿为我们做任何事，如有需要，她可以放下一切，或奔赴商店搜寻药物，或应付各种各样的差事。她对家人的奉献几乎是宗教性的，充满了自我否定和自我牺牲的精神，尽管她自己根本就不信教。” (842)

    1953年3月27日的大赦继承了沙皇死后释放囚犯的俄罗斯传统。100万囚犯从劳改营获释，相当于古拉格总人口的40%。除了少于5年刑期的囚犯，大赦还适用于经济罪囚犯、带小孩的妇女、青少年及已达退休年龄的老人。政治犯不在其列，其案件要由苏维埃检察院逐个审查。这个过程可能需要数年，尤其是像索尼娅那样的案件，其“反苏维埃阴谋”的定罪当初曾牵涉党的高级领导人（在她的案件中是赫鲁晓夫）。到1955年4月底，苏维埃检察院审查了237412名政治犯的上诉（还不到自1953年3月以来所收到上诉的四分之一），只有4%的相关囚犯获释。 (843)

    这些决定既无规律，又没有理由。例如，索尼娅卷入的斯大林工厂案件源于“犹太复国主义者的阴谋”，据说是莫斯科犹太剧院的前主管所罗门·米霍埃尔斯策划的。但米霍埃尔斯自己已在1953年4月3日获得死后的平反，之后在苏维埃报刊中，他经常被称赞为忠心耿耿的爱国人士。但同年11月，总检察长通知索尼娅，找不到复查她案件的理由。因塔劳改营一名囚犯——当初也因斯大林工厂案件被捕，收到一个类似的答复，他对此愤慨不已。答复信上只有一句话：“没有理由对案件进行复查。”按理他要签字，再把它寄回，以确认当事人已收到答复。他向难友抱怨，“这完全没逻辑”，如果米霍埃尔斯是无辜的，为何自己却是有罪的。一名难友回答：“现在先签字——他们稍后会再给你一个逻辑。” (844)

    释放囚犯该走多远，苏维埃领导阶层的内部也有分歧。斯大林去世后不久，贝利亚就提出“只要不对社会造成严重危险”，就大赦所有的囚犯，包括170万政治流放者。在斯大林死后掌权的政治局集体领导中，贝利亚是举足轻重的人物，他的权力基础在内务部和国安部。他与马林科夫（部长会议主席）、伏罗希洛夫（最高苏维埃主席团主席）共同处理国家事务。赫鲁晓夫（中央委员会总书记）坚决反对贝利亚，一开始就在尼古拉·布尔加宁（新任国防部长）的支持下运筹帷幄。党和军队的高级领导人，肯定对贝利亚的计划抱有疑虑。该计划除了要废除古拉格系统，还要在乌克兰西部、波罗的海、东德这些新近附属的领地上放松苏维埃政策。1953年春天，贝利亚要求东德领导阶层推动一系列改革。但柏林的共产党强硬派，在付诸实施时拖泥带水，导致了东柏林大街上一周的示威游行，只得借助于苏维埃坦克的镇压。贝利亚回到莫斯科后，因此遭到赫鲁晓夫、布尔加宁、莫洛托夫甚至马林科夫的指责。6月26日，他在克里姆林宫的政变中就擒，策划者是赫鲁晓夫和苏维埃首都的高级军官。他被囚在莫斯科军区总参谋部的地下掩体中，接受秘密审判，最后在1953年12月枪决（甚至有可能在审判之前已被打死）。政变一举没有法律依据，对贝利亚的指控极其模糊（他所做的都获得了集体领导的赞同），对他的判决甚至在审判之前就已在党内公布。但没有一位领导人反对政变，或质疑它的合法性。他们养成了斯大林的服从党的领导的传统习惯，只是一群俯首帖耳的官吏，一旦意识到顶层的权力变更，便迅速调整自己的原则。政变后的赫鲁晓夫变得信心倍增。西蒙诺夫回忆起公布枪决贝利亚的12月24日中央全会，赫鲁晓夫对“抓获”贝利亚“称心满意”，给他留下深刻的印象：“从他的叙述中，你能得出结论，赫鲁晓夫本人在此发挥了主要作用……他发起了策划，相比之下，他比其他领导人显得更加具有眼光、才华、活力，更为果断”，其他领导人别无选择，只好就范。 (845)

    尽管马林科夫是苏维埃政府的正式首脑，但在领导集体的内部，赫鲁晓夫的权力日益增长。政变与政策无关，只是赤裸裸的权力斗争。赫鲁晓夫曾支持贝利亚的计划，此时据为己有，从1953年的年底起推出了一系列改革，以加强“社会主义法制”。该名词在整个苏维埃时期一直出现，却从来没有当真。他要苏维埃检察官审查自1921年以来所有的“反革命”案件，特别是列宁格勒案件。他的对手马林科夫，曾在此案中担任斯大林的主要心腹。1954年4月，在列宁格勒案件时期与马林科夫密切合作的数名国安部官员被捕，显然对马林科夫构成威胁。赫鲁晓夫所收集的不利于马林科夫的证据，暂时还秘而不宣——他仍需集体领导的支持——到了1955年初，才开始起而争夺党的领导权，先让马林科夫承担列宁格勒案件的“道义责任”，再让他从部长会议主席的位置降尊纡贵，改任电站部部长。

    赫鲁晓夫利用对斯大林罪行的揭露来加强自己的地位，打击集体领导中的对手（他1955年对付马林科夫的手法，将在1961年的党代表大会上，转用于卡冈诺维奇、莫洛托夫和伏罗希洛夫）。这是一场非常危险的游戏，因为赫鲁晓夫自己也深陷20世纪30年代的大规模镇压，先是1935至1938年的莫斯科市委书记，再是乌克兰党中央第一书记，负责逮捕了至少有25万人。如果与自己的利益发生冲突，赫鲁晓夫就会限制检察官的复查，斯大林工厂案件就属此列。由于赫鲁晓夫当初的牵涉，有关囚犯的上诉就遇上了长期的拖延，唯恐揭出对他不利的证据。1954年6月，索尼娅·拉斯金娜得到消息，她的上诉将在8月获得答复；到了8月，又被告知，还要等到9月。9月后来变成10月、11月。她又在1955年2月获悉，将在3月底完成复查，但案件的最后审定是在1955年9月。 (846)

    像其他党领导一样，赫鲁晓夫也害怕斯大林受害者的突然释放。他在回忆录中写道：“我们吓坏了。我们担心，解冻可能会酿成滔天大洪水，将无法控制，反把我们都淹没了。”担任政治局委员30多年的米高扬认为，宣布所有“人民公敌”无罪在政治上是不可能的，因为这将显示“治理国家的不是一个合法政府，而是一群歹徒”。党领导对加快释放政治犯并无真正的兴趣。检察院的官员也很不情愿承认当初起诉政治犯时的错误，更不用说承认他们在斯大林恐怖时期曾捏造证据。1954年，为两方面的利益服务，苏维埃检察院的工作人员削减了三分之二，更延长了程序上的耽搁。 (847)

    拉斯金一家是幸运的家庭之一。他们能返回家庭生活的老节奏，等到索尼娅从劳改营归来，变得更加亲密无间。索尼娅应邀回到斯大林工厂担任旧职，经过几个月的申请（向检察机关提出的）和力争（与苏维埃官员的），终于收到平反证书，撤销对她的所有指控，恢复她的公民权利，发给她少量金钱，作为她在劳改营荒废5年的补偿。索尼娅在莫斯科郊区分到共用公寓中的一个小间，像拉斯金一家住过的其他场所一样，供各式亲属合用。周日晚上，祖博夫广场上著名的拉斯金晚餐照常进行，公寓里总是挤满家人和朋友，包括西蒙诺夫在文学院的老师、诗人卢戈夫斯科伊，他已被视同家庭一员。阿列克谢在索尼娅归来时已经16岁，他回忆起拉斯金家中的气氛：

    这是一个非常热情、好客的场所，完全遵循外祖父[塞缪尔·拉斯金]的理念。他的行事规矩是：走进我家大门的任何人，都会受到家庭成员式的欢迎。有一次，我想测试一下。连续几个周日，我从大街上带回各种各样的女孩，但没人说一个字，包括道德观念上非常严厉的母亲，因为这是塞缪尔的规矩。 (848)

    亲属从劳改营归来，使许多家庭更加亲近。数年的分离使人们更珍惜天伦之乐，甚至是曾经只为政治而活的布尔什维克。露丝·邦纳在1937年被捕之前，对自己两个孩子的抚养兴趣索然，全身心投入党的工作。她从阿克莫林斯克劳改营写信给十几岁的女儿艾莱娜，敦促她努力学习，但措辞相当冷漠，譬如“帮助你的外祖母，做一名模范共青团员”。她所关心的是请求米高扬（老朋友）搭救1937年被捕于共产国际清洗的丈夫，在信中一再坚持“他一直忠于党”。露丝获释于1946年，但不得返回列宁格勒，只好定居在列宁格勒向南135公里的卢加城。她在艾莱娜的朋友即那些青年诗人的帮助下，得到一份作家协会少先队营地的女舍监工作。艾莱娜曾在战争年代充任军队护士，现已返回列宁格勒，在医学院攻读儿科。她与几位女友（包括依达·斯拉温娜）合住一个房间；冬季少先队营地关闭时，露丝会来探望。起初，她们之间的关系很紧张。艾莱娜在回忆录中追忆：“我能感受到，她不能分享我们战后的欢乐，也不赞成我们的生活方式。”

    现在我明白，每个人都有自己的经历。她有丈夫的死、监狱、劳改营，我有自己的损失，还有当初看来是决然不同的生活。我们两个都不知道如何敞开心怀，而且我也不愿意。妈妈仍把我当做她离家时的14岁小女孩，我为此而感到恼怒。她的询问简直让我发狂：“你去哪里？”“什么时候回家？”

    采访中，艾莱娜在反思那些年份时承认：“我经常希望母亲离我远远的，但又不能把她赶走。不过，我可以退学，逃去别处，自己谋生，只要能躲开她。”艾莱娜的女儿塔尼娅1950年出生后，露丝的关注有了戏剧性的变化。艾莱娜回忆：“我们找到了共同的关注点——她外孙女的成长——这使我们更加接近。”从那一刻起，露丝不再对政治有真正的兴趣。她在1954年获得平反，搬回列宁格勒，后又重新入党，但再也没有扮演积极的角色。艾莱娜认为，她保留党籍“主要是为了我们，更重要的是为了外孙”。 [1] 艾莱娜回忆：“只有孙辈[塔尼娅和她弟弟阿列克谢]才是重要的，她为他们保存了这么多的热情和内在光辉，真叫人吃惊。”露丝逐渐重新发现了自己的母亲的价值，即艾莱娜心爱的外祖母巴塔尼娅，当初负责照顾外孙女，以便露丝自己投身于党的工作。艾莱娜·邦纳反思母亲性格的骤变，回忆起了1987年12月露丝的葬礼：

    我从橱柜拿出台布来布置守灵的供桌，首先拿出的是一块彩色刺绣的厚台布……它的下面即是那块粉红色的！现在，经过无数次洗涤，只透出些微的粉色。妈妈那漂亮、精细的缝纫针脚，反以明亮的粉红映入眼帘。我简直不敢想象：我身为党干部的母亲，曾经反对资产阶级，信奉最高纲领主义，在叶戈尔卡或我的面前从不允许自己使用甜言蜜语，竟然摇身一变，帮我缝补台布，缝制衣服，打扮塔尼娅，成为“狂热”的外祖母和曾外祖母，视外孙和曾外孙为“窗口最重要的烛光”和自己受苦受难的理由。我也无法想象：她喜爱和照看窗台上的盆栽花卉，让它们长得茂盛；她带着一定的自豪和挑战前去退回党员证，不是对党的示威，也不是要算老账……她走出了这难能可贵的一步，转而将自己鲜活的疼爱，全部奉献给我们。与抽象的概念和原则相比，这种疼爱更高级更伟大。她在去世前不久说，你必须以美好和善良的方式走完一生。 (849)

    家庭在斯大林统治下承受了巨大压力，但仍保存着坚持下去的神奇能力。在多年的恐怖之后，人类生存几乎所有的传统支柱——邻里社区、村庄、教堂——均遭到削弱或破坏，唯有家庭，如雨后春笋，仍是社会中的稳定单元。对于许多人而言，家庭成了他们可信赖的唯一关系、唯一能找到归属感的所在。为了能与亲人团聚，他们甘愿承担超常的辛劳。

    很少人作出像瓦伦丁·穆拉夫斯基那样重大的牺牲。他1928年出生于列宁格勒的无线电工程师家庭，父亲作为“人民公敌”被捕并遭枪决之后，瓦伦丁、妹妹狄娜和母亲1937年都流放去了乌兹别克斯坦，1940年再回到列宁格勒。战争时期，他们疏散到斯塔夫罗波尔附近的切尔克斯克城，沦入德军之手，被送去奥地利和德国的多家工厂做工。1945年，狄娜在纽伦堡附近的工厂做事，获得美军的解放。她与一名美国军官结婚，移民去了美国。瓦伦丁则返回列宁格勒，与母亲团聚。战争的经历使他重新思考苏维埃制度以及父亲被捕的真正原因；德国的经历又使他得出结论，生活在西方会有更多的自由。他在给妹妹的信中对此直言不讳，结果在1947年被捕，接受审讯。国安部要他去说服妹妹回到苏联，却遭到瓦伦丁的拒绝。他因此被控以“反苏维埃宣传”，判刑3年，流放去克拉斯诺亚尔斯克附近的劳改营。他母亲于1948年被捕，缘于与狄娜通信，判刑10年，被送去阿克莫林斯克劳改营。瓦伦丁于1950年获释后，去黑海沿岸的阿纳帕——靠近克拉斯诺达尔城，与一名姨妈同住。他找到水泥厂的一份工作，但很快被征召入苏维埃海军，分配去塞瓦斯托波尔港口，被迫服役4年。他娶了一位来自塞瓦斯托波尔的19岁女孩，他们的女儿出生于1953年。

    1954年，瓦伦丁从海军退伍，决定搬去母亲的流放地哈萨克斯坦，而不是自己的家乡——列宁格勒，并带上了妻子和女儿。瓦伦丁放弃了在列宁格勒的美好前途，他在海军的表现突出，退伍时有很漂亮的评语。但良心告诉他，应该帮助自己的母亲。她已61岁，身体虚弱，更因多年的劳改营生活，在精神上受了很大刺激。瓦伦丁回顾自己的决定，将之归因于从小学得的做人原则：

    母亲老是告诉我要讲道德，要诚实，要堂堂正正做人，就像19世纪伟大的俄罗斯作家所提倡的，特别是赫尔岑。我们年轻时，她曾朗读他们的作品给我们听……我结婚时告诉妻子，我不会隐瞒母亲羁困于劳改营的事实，只会尽一切可能来帮她……别无选择，帮她是我的道德职责。

    瓦伦丁决定跟随流放的母亲，部分原因是受了十二月党人妻子的影响。那些贵族妇女，在1825年12月起义失败后，追随自己的丈夫，义无反顾地奔赴西伯利亚的政治流放地。他自己承认，他的决定可能含有持不同政见的意味，故意躲避苏维埃制度和列宁格勒的美好前途。这一切又源于他自己所受到的伤害和对非正义的愤愤不平。 (850)

    瓦伦丁在哈萨克斯坦草原的大型集体农庄担任联合收割机的司机。苏维埃政府当时正投资于新技术，作为“处女地运动”的一部分。该运动在哈萨克斯坦和西伯利亚开垦出大片干旱草原，改为种植小麦的农田，开初乐观，最终却贻害无穷。1954年推出该运动时，瓦伦丁所在的集体农庄是先锋之一，不少于19万公顷的牧场成了犁刀下的试验品。瓦伦丁带着妻子和女儿住在条件原始的营房中，位于一个偏僻的草原定居地。每周一次，他要走100公里的长路，去探望在阿克莫林斯克劳改营的母亲，为她带去衣服和食物。照顾年迈多病的母亲和草原上的艰苦生活，给瓦伦丁与妻子的关系，增添了难以忍受的负担。妻子不愿作出如此巨大的牺牲，1956年离家出走，回到克里米亚的娘家。瓦伦丁既要照看3岁的女儿，又要照顾自己的母亲。同年，母亲从劳改营获释。瓦伦丁把她带回列宁格勒，一起住在共用公寓的小房间，自己在列宁格勒的地铁工地上充当劳工。1957年，母亲去世，8年的劳改营生活把她给毁了。两年后，妻子归来与瓦伦丁重聚，又生了两个孩子，到1964年再次出走。瓦伦丁全靠自己带大3个孩子。 (851)

    玛丽安娜·福尔瑟与家人的团聚是最不寻常的。1942年，她才4岁，病得厉害。祖母束手无策，只好把她送给戈尔登施泰因夫妇，自己带了玛丽安娜的哥哥格奥尔基，前去伊尔库茨克谋生。战争之后，格奥尔基回到列宁格勒母亲的娘家，由于失去了与戈尔登施泰因夫妇的所有联系，甚至不知道其正确姓名，他无法找到玛丽安娜。玛丽安娜在第比利斯跟随戈尔登施泰因夫妇长大，一直把他们当做生身父母，完全记不得自己的家人。但是，她十几岁时，事情开始发生了骤变。

    1949年，玛丽安娜第一次怀疑戈尔登施泰因夫妇不是自己的父母。其时，少先队营地的其他孩子取笑她是弃儿，遂勾起了她对自己幼年的痛苦回忆。她对祖母仍存有模糊的印象，甚至还记得有一个哥哥。随着年龄的增长，她开始反叛戈尔登施泰因夫妇的严明纪律，愈加珍惜这些遥远的记忆，并为自己失散多年的家描绘出一幅近乎神话的图景。玛丽安娜还记得曾住过阿尔汉格尔斯克的一家医院，便开始寻找自己的哥哥：

    我当时16岁——那是1954年。我写信去阿尔汉格尔斯克的医学院，在信封上写收信人是：第一年级，第一组，按字母顺序的第一位女学生。我告诉这位女孩：小时候，我曾住在阿尔汉格尔斯克的帕夫林·维诺格拉多夫大街，还有个哥哥；知道这一切的应该还有一位女医生，能否麻烦找到她？你信不信，这个女孩还真的找到了她！这位女医生告诉女孩，我的祖母和格奥尔基一贫如洗，饥寒交迫。她还通过熟人发现，我哥哥正在列宁格勒学习物理。这位女孩写信告诉我这一切，我因此极其兴奋，马上写信给列宁格勒的所有学院，要求他们帮助寻找一个名叫格奥尔基的学生，曾在阿尔汉格尔斯克住过。原来，他是在理工学院学习，回信给我，还附上了照片。 (852)

    玛丽安娜与戈尔登施泰因夫妇，1960年摄于第比利斯

    1954年的夏天，格奥尔基来到第比利斯，与玛丽安娜共度3个月。他还记得，他们的重聚是一个欢乐的时刻，虽然隐约能感觉到妹妹的嫉妒。他回忆：“我与祖母一起生活，她却被送给了陌生人。”戈尔登施泰因夫妇是好人，把玛丽安娜当做自己的女儿，从没将真相告诉她，部分原因是保护她免受父母被捕的影响，现在看来，主要原因是害怕她知道真相后会离家出走。据格奥尔基说，他们的“唯物主义价值观”，既不同于他父亲一边的艺术家和音乐家，又不同于母亲一边列宁格勒的文化精英。1954年秋季，玛丽安娜在列宁格勒的杰美恩家度过一星期。他们让她看了所有亲戚的照片，包括她幼时在阿尔汉格尔斯克的照片，但没告诉她父母被捕并死于劳改营，只搪塞说他们死于战争。玛丽安娜回顾这一次探访，认为杰美恩一家和戈尔登施泰因一家肯定有默契，故意对她隐瞒真相。这确有可能。 [2] 哥哥格奥尔基很清楚父母的命运，也对她隐瞒。玛丽安娜尝试解释哥哥的沉默：“对他来说，真相只会添加麻烦。唯一重要的是努力学习，以获成功。”他当时是列宁格勒大学的物理系学生，后来当上了教授。 (853)

    玛丽安娜就读于第比利斯的轻工业学院，后来在格鲁吉亚首都任教。她一直不知道父母的真实故事，直到1986年她收到邀请，出席在阿尔汉格尔斯克城的父亲的画展，父亲的老朋友和老同事向她袒露了一切。玛丽安娜在严格的共产党家庭长大，一直以为父亲是死于战场的士兵，到此时年近50岁，方才获悉父亲原是被枪决的“人民公敌”。这无疑是极大的震撼，使她睁开眼睛，直面苏联的迫害历史。她曾怀抱天真的想法，因为自己家庭没受影响，向来漠不关心。她讲述道：“我觉得对不起这些人（我的生身父母）。”

    我很同情他们，也想知道，如此奉公守法的好人，怎会遭受如此不公的迫害……我实在弄不明白。我的意思是，如果他们有犯罪嫌疑，为何没有调查？为何法庭不能正常运作？我开始质疑苏维埃制度。以前长大时[在戈尔登施泰因夫妇的抚养下]，对此都是全盘认同的……我渐渐明白，即使从3岁起就与亲生父母分开，我还是承继了他们的价值观。 (854)

    斯大林去世后的岁月，除了囚犯的归来，还见证了数万儿童走出孤儿院和儿童之家。他们中的许多人虽已长大，却都不知道自己的亲人。

    1953年，16岁的尼古拉·科瓦奇离开孤儿院时，对家庭生活一无所知。他记不得自己1岁时就被枪决于劳改营的父母，也没有被送去不同孤儿院的姐姐的印象。他最早的家庭生活经验发生于哈萨克斯坦，他被共青团派去参与“处女地运动”的第一次收获（为了1954年的收获，共青团共招募了30多万志愿者）。拖拉机大队一名老工人干部，把尼古拉当成了自己的孩子，带他回家同住。他的妻子和3个孩子，都把尼古拉当成家中的平等成员。尼古拉回忆：“这只是一个普通的俄罗斯家庭，3个孩子比我小，都爱我。我与他们一起玩游戏，也爱他们。”尼古拉与他们在一起整整住了18个月，直到1957年参军。他说：“我以前都不知道什么是家庭。”

    我观察这个家庭的运作和各式关系的相处，这个经验非常有用。后来，我读到的心理学家称，小孩子长大会像自己的家人。我还是孩子时，没有家庭，成年后才知道家庭生活。我很幸运，遇上这些了不起的人。我结了婚[1962年]，组织起自己的家庭。如果没有在克拉斯诺亚尔斯克的经历，我不可能取得这些成就……它让我懂得尊重和相爱——他们总是互相帮助，总是为对方考虑——我之前从没见过，在孤儿院肯定是看不到的。 (855)

    父亲1946年来孤儿院领她出去时，叶丽萨维塔·帕里佩琴科对他一无所知。父亲被捕于1935年，其时，她还只是一个婴儿。父亲在哈萨克斯坦的劳改营和流放地整整度过10年，她一直没有他的音讯。母亲已死于劳改营，又没有其他家人，叶丽萨维塔别无选择，只好跟随父亲去阿拉木图城，他在那里担任地质学家。他们住在地下室，整个住所由好几个家庭合用。她虽还是一个少年，却承担了所有家务。父亲沉默寡言，难以相处，已经受了劳改营岁月太多的伤害。对叶丽萨维塔来说，与他沟通，把他当做父亲，实在太难了，因为自己身边从来没有过男性（孤儿院的所有员工都是女子）。像许多从劳改营回来的家长一样，叶丽萨维塔的父亲对她管得很严，如果不知道她去哪里、跟谁在一起，就不准她晚上外出。父女之间发生频繁的冲突，都想以自己的意志强加于对方。叶丽萨维塔记得有一次：“我们面对面坐在桌旁一个多小时，因为我拒绝吃面包，我们都很固执。”父亲从来不谈自己的过去，她也从来不谈孤儿院的生活。所以，虽在一起生活，却形同陌路。1953年，叶丽萨维塔搬至列宁格勒，申请了内务部的工作。父亲曾作为“人民公敌”遭到逮捕，她竟一无所知。他发现女儿的申请后，立即赶来列宁格勒，将自己的污点履历，告诉她未来可能的雇主。他担心，她可能会因填表作假而受到惩罚。应父亲的要求，内务部同意不把他的污点履历告诉叶丽萨维塔。所以，1959年之前，她一直不知道他曾被捕。 (856)

    与父母分离的子女，很自然会在自己的心目中构建父母的形象，往往与重逢后的现实情形大相径庭。

    父亲亚历山大·萨加茨基于1936年被捕，当时的加林娜·施泰因8岁。 [3] 加林娜在成长过程中，对身为列宁格勒经济学教授的父亲一无所知。父亲被捕之后，母亲也遭供职的图书馆解雇。她切断与丈夫的一切牵连，恢复了自己娘家的姓氏。战争期间，加林娜与母亲一起疏散到西伯利亚，开始燃起对父亲的渴望。她回忆：

    每个人都在谈论他们“前线的爸爸”，或是战斗英雄，或英勇牺牲。我开始感到自己的欠缺，没有父亲，甚至不知道他是谁、身在何方、从事哪种职业。我不知道他长得如何，因为妈妈已销毁了他所有的照片。

    加林娜写信给列宁格勒的地址局，希望找到父亲的弟弟，但被告知，他已死于列宁格勒围城之战。她放弃了找到父亲的希望，直到1947年的机遇把她重新引上寻父之路的正轨。其时，加林娜在列宁格勒大学攻读生物学，有一天在图书馆排队，突然听到有学生提及萨加茨卡娅的名字。原来，那个学生在谈论本校一位马列主义课讲师，加林娜因此去演讲厅的门外等候：

    一位面容姣好的中年妇女走出演讲厅。我很紧张，一再为我的冒昧向她道歉，然后问：“有没有可能，您是亚历山大·巴甫洛维奇·萨加茨基的亲戚？”她沉默半晌，然后说：“你是加林娜吗？”原来，她是我父亲的第一任妻子。 (857)

    加林娜的父亲在诺里尔斯克劳改营，被判10年劳改，1948年获释后，又去古拉格定居地流放5年。加林娜写信给他，回邮地址用的是列宁格勒中央邮局的信箱。她解释：“我不想让母亲担忧。”

    我每天都去邮局，查看有无父亲的回信。我从秋季[1947年]开始，到了冬天仍旧没有答复。最终，我在1948年4月决定再上一次邮局，如果还是没有，就想作罢。结果非常幸运，全亏了这最后一次的努力。他们在柜台上递给我4个厚厚的信封，纸质粗糙，都是手工制成的。每个信封里有一封长信，写在淡蓝色的信纸上。

    第一封回信充满了感情：

    1948年4月4日　诺里尔斯克

    第一封信

    （我于4月6日同时寄出3封信）

    我亲爱的女儿加丽娅！

    你的信让我充满喜悦……我一生中最大悲剧之一，就是与我心爱的孩子分隔得这么久。你写道：“我的信，毫无疑问，会是一个惊奇。但我希望，无论如何，它是一个愉快的惊奇。”我的回答：第一，惊奇——确是如此；第二，愉快——不止于此——它简直是一大欢喜。我甚至在你的遣词造句中，即“无论如何”，找到了自己的影子！假设我在写你这样的信，也会使用同样的措辞。在你身上看到自己的痕迹，使我不觉莞尔……相信我，加丽娅，你已找到你的父亲。我失去你这么多年，但对你的爱，却从来没有间断。 (858)

    亚历山大与加林娜，1956年摄于列宁格勒

    加林娜通过信件与父亲开启了一段热切的交流，把他想象成书本上读到的浪漫英雄：“我崇拜勇敢的人、大胆的科学家、无畏的探险者，以及像父亲那样存活于逆境的人。在日常生活中，我还从没遇见这样的人士。”在早期信件中，父亲很符合她的理想。他的来信炽热、情感流溢，富有吸引力，充满他的生活细节、他的阅读、他近年来的观念转变。加林娜爱上了这个文字中的人物。她回忆：“对这些年来一直向往的父亲，我在心目中构建出了一个幻象。”

    他似乎就是那种人：我可以敞开胸怀，畅所欲言；他总会耐心聆听，给我建议，等等。我开始了一种全新的生活，全身心地投入。尽管我比较内向，沉默寡言，但现在看来，像他一样，我终究还是情感丰富的人。现在我明白，对我来说，在信件中表达情感，要比在现实生活中容易得多。 (859)

    1956年，亚历山大来列宁格勒看加林娜，但面对面的交往却令人失望：无法重建他们在通信中培植起来的心心相连。亚历山大刚刚从诺里尔斯克的流放地获释，又得到党内的平反，忙于重启自己的政治生涯。加林娜认为，他太投入党的工作，以致无法与她沟通。她回忆道：“我得到的印象是，他已不再对我感兴趣。”

    我甚至觉得，他不赞成我的所作所为。我记得，他曾对我说：“你怎会变成这样一个懒妇。”他为何有如此想法？因为我对毛泽东的诗词没有兴趣，因为我没读他推荐的政治文章。我对政治不感兴趣，但他却须臾不可离开。

    1956年，亚历山大搬到了列宁的诞生地，即伏尔加河旁的乌里扬诺夫斯克。他在大学里教政治经济学，为各种期刊撰写相关的文章。加林娜回忆：“父亲痛恨斯大林，却是坚定的列宁主义者。尽管遭受了这么多痛苦，他仍继续相信，无捷径可走。他蒙受了不公平的待遇，但苏维埃历史还是正确的。”这种对共产主义理想的坚定信念，对他自己的生存很有必要，却成了与女儿沟通的障碍。加林娜持怀疑态度，而且不愿加入政治辩论。“与一位信徒争论，能有什么结果？他的见解完全是僵化的。政治是他生命的中心，却成了我们避而不谈的话题。”1958年，加林娜去乌里扬诺夫斯克探望父亲，这是她唯一一次探望，除了询问彼此工作的套话，两人几乎无话可谈。出于义务，加林娜继续给父亲写信，直到20世纪60年代初。但她承认：

    真的没什么可说，再也不愿向他打开我的心扉，像我早年所做的。他写给我的信简直就像政治报告，所涉及的不是他曾出席的党员大会，就是他曾读过的书籍，没有一星半点的个人色彩。我已失去梦想中的父亲。 (860)

    二

    布拉特·奥库德扎亚在“自传体故事”《我梦中的女孩》（The Girl of My Dreams，1988年）中，叙述了自己如何遇见从劳改营返回的母亲。先行被捕的是父亲，他是来自格鲁吉亚的共产党干部。接下来是母亲，被捕于1937年，判处10年，流放去了卡拉干达劳改营。其时，这位未来的诗人和作曲家只有12岁，由在莫斯科的外祖母抚养，后来又去了第比利斯与父亲的家人同住。1941年，他17岁，高中还没有毕业，就主动请缨上前线。他1945年从军队复员回来，随后成为第比利斯大学的学生。他的母亲在古拉格系统内足足待了18年，到1955年才从劳改营归来。

    奥库德扎亚在该书中重温了母亲归来之夜。故事叙述者是个学生，即“一名无辜的年轻人”，与室友合住一个单间公寓。他很幸福，因为坠入了爱河。他生活中唯一的悲伤是母亲的缺席，他珍藏了一张母亲年轻时的照片，有“一双棕色的杏仁大眼”，还一直记得她温婉的笑容和柔美的声音。一天，他收到一封电报，“请接501次车，妈妈”。他在赴火车站的途中想象，他们的重聚将会非常快乐、简单：

    我接到她，在家里吃饭，就我们两人。她说说她的生活，我讲讲我的。应该为此承担责任的人的动机，我们既不分析，也不想弄懂，过去的事就让它过去好了。现在，我俩再次团聚……然后，我带她去电影院，好好放松一下。

    但现实决然不同于想象。载运囚犯的501号专列一再误点，他午夜再去火车站时，才得知该专列已经提前抵达了一个小时。他找到正走向自己公寓的母亲，互相拥抱，一起默默走回家。在他的公寓里，她坐在厨房的桌子旁，不停地抽烟。他抬头注视她的眼睛，没有看到“一双棕色的杏仁大眼”，只看到：

    她的眼神既冷淡，又渺茫。她朝我看，但又没真正看到我。她的面容凝滞，像是石雕，她的嘴唇微微张开，她晒黑的手放在膝盖上，软弱无力。她一言不发。

    她不能与人对话，不明白儿子所表达的。他问她，要不要吃点东西，她回答：“什么？”他再一次询问，她回答：“我吗？”她不问儿子的经历，只喃喃自语；讲出的孤立单词，都是自己劳改营附近的地名。她害怕儿子的室友，问他是否也是从劳改营归来的，并怀疑他是举报人。她也害怕出门，儿子拉她去电影院，坐了才几分钟，电影还没开始，她就走了。 (861)

    从劳改营归来的人身心交瘁。在古拉格待上几年，就足以让一个人未老先衰。有些囚犯老得太快，等到回家时，亲属都认不出。伊万·乌戈列茨基赫33岁那年获释于科雷马，返回切尔登镇。他在接受采访时，回忆自己的回家经历：

    我1953年11月返回，已13年没看到自己的家人。弟弟仍住在我家的老房子，恰好不在，去取干草。弟媳妇不知道我是谁，我们坐下喝茶，她开口说，我看上去很像她的丈夫，我便告诉她，我就是他的哥哥，但让她在丈夫回来时不要点穿。我想给他一个惊喜。弟弟带着干草回来了，先把干草倒入牲口棚，再来加入我们的行列……他看到家里来了客人——茶炊放在桌子上，旁边还有一瓶伏特加……弟媳妇对他说：“你知不知道他是谁？”他回答：“不知道，他是谁呢？一个路过的老人家？”然后，他朝我问：“你去哪里，老人家？”他一点都认不出我。我们坐在那里，一起喝茶……[伊万控制不住，呜咽起来，结束了采访。]

    从劳改营归来的人，有的落下残疾，有的身患慢性病。弗鲁扎·马蒂内利的丈夫曾是达拉戈古拉格综合企业的主管，直到1937年被捕。她自己从哈萨克斯坦劳改营返回莫斯科时，已成残疾人。她在劳改营中遭受了酷刑和殴打，伤痕累累。女儿艾莱娜在1960年母亲去世前，从不知道这些殴打。其时，医生看到死者身上的伤疤和瘀青，向女儿提出询问。艾莱娜回忆：“他们说，从未见过受伤如此严重的身体，甚至心脏都已被打得移了位。”

    他们问：“你母亲进过劳教营吗？”他们无法想象，身负如此重伤，母亲竟然还能存活下来。那时，我才终于明白，从劳改营返回的母亲，为何如此粗鲁残忍，总说粗话，有一次发脾气竟殴打我们，乱摔家什。我曾问她，是否在劳改营遭到殴打，但她拒绝回答，只称“有些事是不能谈论的”。之后，我就再也不问了。

    艾莱娜发现，与母亲一起生活变得越来越难。母亲从劳改营归来后，狂热信教，并呈现精神错乱的迹象。艾莱娜的儿子出生于1953年，从小就有残障。弗鲁扎会对这位外孙动粗，还会打碎他的玩具，窃取他的糖果，再与其他食物一起藏在自己的被窝里。艾莱娜实在无法应付母亲的怪诞行为，只好在1958年搬去列宁格勒。 (863)

    格特鲁德·延尔逊―格罗佐恩卡娅把身处阿克莫林斯克劳改营的母亲，想象成“善良、美丽的人，只是生活在远方”。这个形象来自她从母亲那里收到的信件和小礼物，例如那块自制的绣有动物的漂亮毛巾。格特鲁德14岁时，母亲自劳改营获释，允许在莫斯科100公里以外的地区定居。她选择弗拉基米尔城的附近，她在那里找到了一份工作，充当集体农庄的农艺师。她离开阿克莫林斯克劳改营前往弗拉基米尔，途中经过莫斯科，格特鲁德与伯父一家住在那里。格特鲁德到车站接她：

    突然，一个女人走下火车，身穿羊皮衣，手提胶合板箱子和背囊。她的头发全被剃光了，身上散发出可怕的气味，她已在旅途中过了一个星期。我们把她带回家，她叫我帮她洗澡……我在厨房炉灶上烧水，帮她脱下衣服，真是臭气熏天。她全身都有虱子，衣服里还有蟑螂，让人触目惊心。我不禁连连倒退，不能接受这个女人就是自己的母亲，而只是视为外人。 (864)

    埃斯菲莉·斯拉温娜1943年获释于阿克莫林斯克劳改营，不得返回列宁格勒或任何其他的主要城市。已在新西伯利亚担任教师的女儿依达伸出援手，把她安排在学校空置的办公室。依达记得母亲的外观：

    她非常消瘦，肤色暗褐，受了哈萨克斯坦烈日的暴晒，更呈现疟疾的所有症状。她一点也不像过去的自己，已经不是我所熟悉的母亲。她病得很重，几乎步履维艰，什么都要依靠我。

    1944年，埃斯菲莉搬去莫斯科。他儿子在莫斯科是专搞研究的科学家，获得许可让母亲与自己同住。依达嫁给了新西伯利亚的一名教师，1945年也回到列宁格勒，与其他5家一起住在一个共用公寓。埃斯菲莉为了照看依达经常生病的新生儿，搬去与女儿住在一起，但这却是非法的。1949年，埃斯菲莉再一次被捕，因为违反了国内护照条例（她没有居住在列宁格勒的登记许可），被流放到东南方110公里之外的马拉亚―维舍拉镇。那里的居住条件很可怕，她无法照料自己，没有工作，又受到当地居民不断地骚扰，在他们眼中，她这个“政治犯”等同于“法西斯”。她搬到马拉亚―维舍拉镇6个月之后，又一次被捕，这次作为“反社会分子”被送去西伯利亚西部的沙德林斯克镇。她只好租用郊区最便宜的房间，没有工作，生活上全靠依达的每月汇款。1951年，埃斯菲莉终于获准回到列宁格勒。照看她的依达回忆：“她已经丧魂失魄。”

    几乎所有的时候，她都默不作声，不敢说话；即使开口，也只是窃窃私语。你要哄出她的每一句话，但一旦说出，她马上又会后悔。她从来不讲劳改营的经历，我尝试让她开口，弟弟也作出类似的努力，但都无济于事。她不敢出家门，如果在街上看到警察，就会奔向某栋大楼入口处，躲在里面不敢现身，直到确信警察已经消失。这一点也不符合她的个性，以前的她一向非常坚强自信。她从劳改营归来后，判若两人，她的信心和健康一去不复返。她归来后的头三年里就中风两次，失去了活力和社交能力。她谁也不想见，生命的最后几年都是在床上度过的。 (865)

    阿克莫林斯克劳改营在季娜伊达·布舒耶娃的身上留下了不同的伤痕。她获释时，女儿安吉丽娜才10岁，在安吉丽娜看来，母亲因此而变得冷漠严峻。季娜伊达不喜欢谈论过去，什么都退避三舍。安吉丽娜回忆道：“很难与她相处。”

    她老是沉默寡言，从不透露自己的想法和感受。我为此责怪于她，我希望她开口。也许她想保护我们，不让我们知道她受过的罪……她总是与我们保持很大的隔阂，从不流露亲情，从不抚摸我们的头发，从不把我们搂在怀里。在她看来，当好一个母亲，就是要确保我们子女吃饱、上学、不生病——其他就没有了。在精神或情感上，她无能为力；事实上在劳改营之后，她想掏也掏不出来了。

    安吉丽娜将母亲的情感枯竭归咎于劳改营。当年，季娜伊达要求从事体力劳动，不让自己有空暇思念失去的孩子。封闭自己成了一种生存机制，也被继续用来应付归来这一难题。这种生存本能，还表现在她的执迷性进食上，她总是随身携带面包，喜欢囤积粮食，半夜也会起来吃点东西，因为她害怕挨饿。 (866)

    柳芭·巴别茨卡娅1947年从阿克莫林斯克劳改营返回莫斯科，因为没有定居首都的许可，所以是非法的，她只是想来寻找工作和亲友。她的第一任丈夫电影摄影师阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚，早先曾劝她回到自己身边，但此时与一名年轻的制片助理有染（可能是内务人民委员会的雇员）。制片助理名叫塔蒂亚娜·洛博娃，仿佛对他施加了邪恶的影响，使他疏远了所有的亲戚，尤其是女儿奥克萨娜。在女儿看来，这种恋情无疑是背叛。柳芭在体力上已筋疲力尽，其电影明星的外貌也已荡然无存，莫斯科的大多数老朋友都避而远之。奥克萨娜回忆：“人们只要认出她是戈洛夫尼亚的前妻、被枪决的巴别茨基的遗孀，就设法穿过马路，避而远之。”最终向柳芭提供援助的，是女演员柳博芙·奥尔洛娃。她是柳芭的老朋友，可能是出于内疚，因为她丈夫电影导演格列高利·亚历山德罗夫与内务人民委员会关系密切，当年曾涉及对国际工人救灾电影厂的举报，导致了巴别茨基的被捕。奥尔洛娃收留柳芭，建议她去找地质部副部长米哈伊尔·古列维奇，因为他能帮助柳芭找到工作，并获得莫斯科的居留许可。奥尔洛娃还解释“他一直都在爱你”，并马上打电话给古列维奇，将听筒塞入柳芭手中。古列维奇问了柳芭人在哪里，然后说：“等着，我马上就到，我们结婚吧。”多亏了他们的婚姻，柳芭获得在莫斯科居住和工作的权利，古列维奇则因此被免职。

    柳芭1938年被捕时，女儿奥克萨娜才11岁，现在归来了，相隔9年，小女孩已成为妻子和母亲。奥克萨娜回忆：“我们之间的关系非常糟糕，裂痕已经存在——有了这么多的痛苦、爱、嫉妒，又与隔阂混杂在一起；既渴求亲密和相互了解，同时又无法找到沟通语言。”柳芭想要控制奥克萨娜的生活。1948年，女儿与美国外交官发生暧昧关系，她很害怕，威胁女儿要向内务部举报，除非女儿提出分手。奥克萨娜的丈夫阿尔伯特·里希特来自德裔犹太人家庭，曾是海军军官，驻在敖德萨，已因“间谍罪”被捕，判处10年，去了马加丹劳改营。因此，新的举报很可能导致女儿本人被捕。最终，柳芭利用古列维奇的关系，让奥克萨娜充任助理，参加赴西伯利亚的地质考察队，中止了这段婚外情。

    柳芭从劳改营返回，性情大变。母亲的温柔和亲情荡然无存，取而代之的是全新的严厉和麻木。她在外孙们的面前，从不袒露温情；如果小孩摔倒或受伤，会要他们自己爬起、停止哭泣，因为人生中会有“使[他们]真正哭泣、更为可怕”的伤害。柳芭把劳改营的习惯带回家，如与食物有关，会显得非常自私，甚至贪婪；她脾气暴躁，有时几近残忍、暴虐；在感情上拒人于千里之外。她的外孙女回忆：“她床下有一个手提箱，里面装满冬衣和干粮，以备再一次的被捕。她很怕夜间的电话和门铃，在街上看到警察也会吓一跳。”这些劳改营的伤痕镌刻在她的性格当中，她1983年临死前在最后的笔记本上写道：“从劳改营获释的人，甚至会害怕自由。一旦受过一次深刻的伤害，就会很容易再一次受伤。” (867)

    很多人从劳改营归来，带回了神经过敏的习惯和偏执。艾莱娜·切尔卡索娃回家后，仍计算自己走的步伐，这是她在捷姆尼科夫斯基劳改营养成的习惯，以此提高劳动效率，避免不必要的体力消耗。去劳改营之前，艾莱娜从没工作过，劳改营繁重的劳动使她经常筋疲力竭、饥肠辘辘。特别是战争年代，古拉格囚犯的工作摊派量提高，艾莱娜往往因无法完成任务而只能分到更少的面包。为了节省能量，她教会自己尽量少走路。亚历山德拉·菲利普娃也从劳改营带回类似的偏执：猜疑别人偷吃自己的食物。她与女儿住在共用公寓，经常会把食物藏在房间的隐秘之处，之后自己吃了，却忘得一干二净，等到后来寻觅不得，就会指责女儿或邻居偷吃了。亚历山德拉与女儿的关系越来越僵，最后竟逼女儿搬走。 (868)

    米哈伊尔·尼古拉耶夫在儿童之家长大，不知道自己的父母是谁。他在军队中度过青少年时期，后来又在各式劳改营待了15年。他在每一个机构都遇上过抢夺食物的争斗——永远是抢夺最满的杯子或盘子——学会了全不考虑他人，能抢到就是赢。他36岁那年获释于劳改营，由于从没在正常家庭中生活过，对于正常家庭生活什么都不懂。据爱上并嫁给他的维克托林娅·施韦策尔回忆，他身材高大，长相英俊，留一把大胡子，在莫斯科的文学界中被称为“来自火星的野人”。她把他引介给自己的家人，却为他的餐桌礼仪感到莫大的震惊。她不明白，他怎么可以不先向他人敬食，自顾自抢吃餐桌上所有的食物。她很长一段时间都缄口不言，终于有一天忍不住责备他怎可抢夺最后一个橙子，而没有照她家习俗留给孩子。维克托林娅回忆：“米哈伊尔回答：‘我实在不懂，没人教过我，你为什么不给我解释？’”“他并不贪心，正如他自己所说的，他只是吝啬而已”，可能更由于自身经历而变得自私自利。她在接受采访时回忆，那时她才意识到，自己爱上了一个所知甚微的男人。“必须学会再一次爱上他。这一次，他是真正的米夏，出身于孤儿院。这样，我才能真正了解他，帮助他回归正常生活。” (869)

    从劳改营归来的人，往往很难与亲人重建亲密关系。他们在古拉格生活多年，能期望怎样的“正常家庭生活”呢？对这些人，没有辅导或精神分析；对他们身体和行为上的失调，也没人给予帮助；甚至他们一直承受的心理创伤，也得不到承认。同时，从劳改营归来的人又不甚了解自己家人这些年来忍受的紧张和恐怖。双方——从劳改营归来的和在家等待的——都有遭排拒和疏离的感觉。

    由于种种原因，劳改营的幸存者发现很难开口谈论自己在“里面”的经历，即便在家人面前，也会把自己封闭起来。有些人不讲是害怕惩罚（囚犯获释时被告知，不得在公共场所讨论自己的经历。其中许多人因此而担忧，即使在私人场所也不敢袒露）；其他人不讲是不想制造负担，或担心亲人不会或无法理解自己的遭遇。家长特别不敢告诉孩子，因为不愿让子女游离于苏维埃制度之外，或惹上麻烦，引起当局的注意。

    即使在谈论已成为常态的家庭，父母仍在叙旧时持谨慎态度。奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格从科雷马劳改营归来后发现，自己不在时，儿子已经长大，成了共青团的积极分子，对斯大林无比崇拜。她在一天晚餐时询问斯大林生病一事是否属实：

    当然没人知道，但儿子却有一个意味深长的回答：“我不知道他是否生病了，但如果他真的病了，而我的血液能够救他，我很乐意为他而死。”我明白，这算是给我的教训和警告，我只得闭上自己的嘴。

    阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格的劳改营经历，使她对政权持怀疑态度，但她明白，即使希望儿子知道自己所经历的，也不能说出口。她回忆：

    我在“里面”所发现的，不敢向他倾诉。也许能够让他明白，国家有很多过错，他的偶像斯大林远非完美。但儿子只有17岁，假如我解释一切，假如他被说服了，就无法欢呼斯大林的名字，无法写信给斯大林，无法在课堂上称赞我国的公正平等。假如他做不到这一切，可能早已死去。也许，他会设法过双重生活，但我不想让他这么辛苦。我害怕与他坦诚相见，但不知何故，我渐渐打动了他，他会认真仔细地端详着我。几个月后，他对我说：“妈妈，我爱你。” (871)

    比较普遍的交往，恰恰与此相反。从劳改营归来的父母，仍持守着20世纪30年代布尔什维克理想，却发现子女已形成了决然不同的想法和态度。在赫鲁晓夫解冻的相对宽松的气氛中，政治审查逐步放宽，苏维埃媒体重新评估斯大林时代。年轻人背离政治，开始追求个人幸福。赫鲁晓夫的时代经济繁荣，私人房屋的街区如雨后春笋，消费品更多，又从西方引进了新技术、新时尚、艺术和音乐。不可避免，共产党员们因此担忧，每当政权放松对私人领域的管制，个人主义就会抬头，社会行动主义、集体主义和其他苏维埃价值，会消亡于年轻一代的手中。所以有不断的呼吁，鼓励苏维埃青年加入共青团，成为“积极分子”，参与像“处女地运动”那样的集体活动。 (872)

    玛丽亚·伊利纳从波特马劳改营归来，在女儿玛琳娜的面前就遇上这种代沟。她于1937年被捕，之前是基辅大型纺织厂的主管，丈夫曾是党委书记，直到在同一年遭到逮捕和枪决。玛丽亚1945年获释，在一家乌克兰孤儿院找到女儿玛琳娜。上一次见面时，女儿才2岁，现已10岁。之后的12年中，母女住在一起，先是在切尔卡瑟，后来在莫斯科，直到1958年玛丽亚孤身一人搬回基辅。玛丽亚死于1964年，此前，母女俩每到假日都会互访，但相互关系已经非常糟糕。玛丽亚掌控女儿的生活方式，希望她以被捕前的自己为榜样，成为一名模范共产党员。她在1956年获得平反，重返党内，积极宣传党的事业。据她女儿说，“父母年轻时奉行的共产主义理想，她必须坚持到底。否则她会无法忍受，因为她已作出太大的牺牲”。

    玛丽亚全身心投入女儿的政治教育，制订读书计划——包括苏维埃和俄罗斯的经典著作，旨在培养正确的共产主义思想和态度。例如，托尔斯泰的《安娜·卡列尼娜》是不好的，因为安娜非常自私，“对女人来说，最主要的不是爱情，而是同志友谊，以及对社会的责任”。

    她要我变得坚强果断，勇敢无畏，成为少先队和共青团的积极分子……她要我像苏维埃文学中的英雄一样，成为自己的主人，克服身上的缺点，不断提升自己。在妈妈看来，这是最重要的——成为自己的主人……她总是告诉我，即使自己不喜欢的事，也一定要去做。

    玛丽亚以各种方式加以干涉。女儿想学文学，成为教师，母亲却让她入读著名的莫斯科动力工程学院。玛琳娜加入共青团，成为工程学院的团委主席；获得工程师资格之后，在莫斯科的研究部门上班。玛丽亚想让她入党，设法安排该部门的党委书记向女儿发出入党邀请，自己再亲自出马，对女儿做劝服工作。但玛琳娜有不同想法，像很多朋友一样，她受到自赫鲁晓夫解冻后的自由气氛的鼓舞。她在思想上变得自信、独立，对政治的怀疑越来越强烈。她认为，入党将会有太多要求——远远超过她愿意投入的。这些想法得到了丈夫伊戈尔的支持，她是在工程学院读三年级时结婚的。伊戈尔对苏维埃制度持批判态度，经常与玛丽亚发生争论。对这种政治辩论，玛琳娜毫无兴趣，她拒绝党和政治，不是因为反思了家人的悲剧，而是因为想忘记过去，以开始“幸福生活”。她的主要兴趣是音乐、电影、跳舞、交友，并得到伊戈尔的鼓励。他担任工程师，收入不错，梦想着把妻子留在家里。玛琳娜关注自己的个人形象，却老是遭到母亲反对。母亲坚持共产主义信念和斯巴达态度，决不容忍这种“小布尔乔亚”的闲情逸致。玛丽亚自己整齐清洁，也有漂亮身材，但从劳改营归来之后从不重视自己的相貌，甚至不在乎自己的外表。她收入微薄，买不起衣服或化妆品。但她女儿认为，她对此兴趣索然的另一原因是：劳改营的经历使她陷入抑郁，特别是在1955年之后，其时她终于发现儿子弗拉基米尔已死于古拉格。玛琳娜说：

    她经历了这么多，以致自暴自弃，从不对镜顾盼，从不使用香水或化妆品……只有一次，她买了一件合身的大衣。从后面看，她还很年轻，身材高挑，双腿修长，脚踝精致。男人往往会在街上超越我们，为了回头瞟她——他们无法理解，从前面看的她却判若两人，头发灰白稀疏，脸上留有伤疤。

    由于缺钱，玛丽亚卖掉了合身的大衣，只穿棉外套，跟古拉格囚犯穿的式样差不多。

    弗拉基米尔·马赫纳茨——负责全市煤气供应的莫斯科煤气托拉斯的前主管，在泰舍特劳改营度过14年后，于1955年6月返回苏维埃首都。他的儿子列昂尼德已22岁，一直不满意自己的“污点履历”。他出生于苏维埃精英的特权环境，父亲被捕之后，只好与母亲生活在可怕的贫困之中。母亲没有自己的收入，他们住在共用公寓的一个小间，却遭到警方好几次突击检查，以搜寻“人民公敌亲属”的罪证。列昂尼德急于改善自己的处境，在申请莫斯科电影学院时，隐瞒了父亲的被捕。父亲回来时，列昂尼德正游走于电影界的波希米亚圈子——在解冻后的自由气氛中得以蓬勃发展。他还与国安部挂上钩，他的未婚妻塔玛拉是纳夫塔利·法兰克尔的养女。1929年，法兰克尔首创了古拉格系统的构想，此时隐居于苏维埃首都，对列昂尼德产生了浓厚的兴趣。

    弗拉基米尔坚持要对妻儿行使权威。他的归来肯定会与列昂尼德发生冲突，这位年轻人突然多出一个严厉的父亲，在他眼中，弗拉基米尔“很难相处”：

    他沉默寡言，喜怒无常，不愿谈论劳改营的经历，在感情上自我封闭。他把自己在劳改营养成的习惯和恐惧带回家，还期望我们作出配合。他不愿与当时仅46岁的母亲同睡一张床。我还记得，她有一天含泪对他说：“在你看来，我已不再是一个女人！”

    尽管在劳改营待过那么多年，弗拉基米尔仍是一名坚定的列宁主义者。他坚持认为，20世纪30年代初的斯大林政策——强迫性的农业集体化和五年计划的工业化——基本上都是正确的，他自己曾在实施这些政策时发挥了主导作用。在他看来，只是到了20世纪30年代的后期，斯大林才不再是一名共产党人。对弗拉基米尔来说，归来的过程是一次时光的倒流。他重新入党，党员资格追溯到1921年。他重新进入原先的工作领域，1956年被任命为莫斯科燃料和能源局的副主管。他甚至配备了有专职司机的汽车和乡间别墅，仍在银松林专区，离原先拥有的那栋不远。被捕后发生的社会变化，对弗拉基米尔没有产生任何影响。那一代的农民在20世纪30年代初的斯大林工业革命中跃起而成为苏维埃的精英，他是其中一员。他在政治上激进，但社会态度依旧保守（列昂尼德出生后，他就叫玛丽亚辞职，因为他认为“资深党干部应有一位全职太太”）。现在，弗拉基米尔满心盼望自己再次成为一家之主，颇不满意列昂尼德的晚归，部分原因是劳改营使他严重失眠。父子之间不断发生争执，有一天晚上，列昂尼德参加派对，半夜才回，他们先是争吵，后来竟至动武。弗拉基米尔狠狠一拳打在儿子的脸上，列昂尼德冲出公寓，直奔法兰克尔的住所，一直住到1958年他与塔玛拉结婚。列昂尼德回忆，与弗拉基米尔关系破裂之后，法兰克尔成了他生活中的父亲角色。法兰克尔反对赫鲁晓夫的解冻，与国安部保持紧密联系。后来，国安部委任列昂尼德为电影导演，拍摄他的第一部电影，那是一部有关冷战中苏维埃间谍的宣传故事片。

    劳改营幸存者的普遍感觉是自己的经历难以言说、交流。他们与没去过劳改营的人，始终存在一条不可逾越的鸿沟。玛丽亚·德罗兹多娃在诺里尔斯克整整度过20年的监禁和流放生涯，1962年返回红村的家人身边。她写道：“我能告诉他们什么呢？”

    我是活着回来了。但那里的生活，如何被押送去诺里尔斯克，我实在无从说起。他们怎能理解“押送”一词的真正含义？不管我描述多少细节，他们都难以理解。没人能理解我们所经历的，只有亲身体验过的人，才会真正懂得和同情。 (875)

    像许多前囚犯一样，与家人相比，玛丽亚感觉与诺里尔斯克劳改营里的朋友更亲近，获释后仍然与他们经常见面。一名前囚犯写道：“劳改营中形成的友谊是一生的友谊。”许多古拉格幸存者认为，劳改营难友的相互扶持，往往胜过家里的亲友。在社会上，前囚犯经常是偏见和恶意的受害者，遂建立起相互信任和依靠的特殊纽带。他们不与家人谈论劳改营，却与古拉格朋友倾诉衷肠。他们互相通信，节日见面，互相拜访，安排重聚。索尼娅·拉斯金娜有个大型联络网，成员都是她在沃尔库塔劳改营的老朋友。她在莫斯科的公寓总有老朋友借宿，其中有些人就像是拉斯金家庭的成员，出席拉斯金家所有的纪念日。瓦莱里·福雷德回忆起自己在因塔劳改营的老朋友：“难友精神非常了不起。没有任何做作，没有漫长劝说，我们尽量互相帮忙。”福雷德认为，古拉格大作家瓦尔拉姆·沙拉莫夫是错的，因为他曾写道，囚犯在劳改营的经历一无是处。他自己与制片人尤里·敦斯基的终身友谊与合作，借助在因塔劳改营的共同经历而获得大大加强。福雷德回忆：“我感谢劳改营，它教会我友谊的含义，并给了我这么多朋友。”

    有些囚犯归来时，带回了在“里面”遇到的新丈夫或新妻子。特别对女子来说，这些“古拉格婚姻”的动机往往是为了生存。但另有一些，确实基于囚犯间的理解和信任。

    矿物学家奥莉加·洛巴切娃，1946年获释于诺里尔斯克劳改营后，留下充当志愿工。她嫁给了地质学家弗拉基米尔——来自萨拉托夫大学的学生志愿者，比自己要年轻20岁。1956年，他们一起回到塞米巴拉金斯克城。奥莉加被捕前，由于第一个丈夫米哈伊尔的被捕，她曾在那里流放。奥莉加不知道米哈伊尔的下落，长期杳无音信，只好推定他已死去，正是基于此，她才同意嫁给弗拉基米尔。但事实上，米哈伊尔被判处10年，送进卡拉干达劳改营。在那里，他娶了难友索菲亚·奥克兰德。她是一名年轻漂亮的匈牙利犹太人，1948年更为他生下个女儿。奥莉加和米哈伊尔的儿子深思道：“劳改营中的他们也渴望爱情和友谊，最终与别人聚在一起。这不是他们的过错，只是我的父母都爱上了年轻的对象，互相背叛。”1956年，米哈伊尔带上新妻子和女儿搬到阿拉木图城，设法找到奥莉加，甚至去塞米巴拉金斯克探望。他想说服她回到自己的身边，但奥莉加不肯原谅她的前夫，因为他在再婚之前，都没有试图找到她。 (877)

    柳德米拉·康斯坦丁诺娃也嫁给了自己在劳改营遇到的人。米哈伊尔·叶菲姆夫是来自诺夫哥罗德的农民，强壮、英俊，1934年因“流氓罪”被送到科雷马劳改营，帮助建造马加丹小镇。到1937年，叶菲姆夫已服完自己的3年刑期，但没钱返回诺夫哥罗德，所以作为志愿者留在马加丹。1938年，柳德米拉遇见他时，正好在棉花厂充当囚犯工，而叶菲姆夫则在建造该厂的通风管道。自1937年以来，柳德米拉一直在科雷马劳改营。她的丈夫被捕于1936年，之后就音信全无。她遇上叶菲姆夫后不久，因为肾脏感染而病得很重。叶菲姆夫替她买特殊药品和食物，照顾她恢复健康。1944年，她获悉，外祖母从孤儿院救出女儿纳塔利娅和艾莱娜，又在偏远的草原小镇阿克―布拉克流放地抚养她们长大。一年后，纳塔利娅、艾莱娜与外祖母返回列宁格勒，叶菲姆夫就开始给她们寄包裹和金钱。柳德米拉1945年秋天从劳改营获释，决定留在马加丹，因为叶菲姆夫无资格搬去列宁格勒。1947年，她与叶菲姆夫结婚。丈夫被捕至此已有10年，一直没有消息。她向苏维埃当局打听，仍无结果，只好推测他已死去。 [4] 1945年获得离婚许可之后，她在给母亲的信中写道：“你不能让对方永远等待，人需要生活在现实世界当中。”

    柳德米拉不爱叶菲姆夫。在给母亲的信中，她将他描述成“科雷马最初患难日子中的好同志”，强壮、善良、乐于助人。俩人的持久友谊以古拉格的共同经历为基础，即使获释后，她仍依赖他的情感支持。1948年，柳德米拉与叶菲姆夫搬到新切尔卡斯克城，离顿河畔罗斯托夫不远，她在那里一直住到1992年去世。每年一次，她赴列宁格勒看望女儿和母亲。有时，叶菲姆夫也会同行，但对继女来说仍是疏远人物，她们称呼他时，一直客套地使用通常用于陌生人的“您”。纳塔利娅回忆：“只是在妈妈死前不久，我才开始使用[非正式的]‘你’。”艾莱娜和纳塔利娅一直与亲爱的外祖母住在一起，直到她1968年去世。她们再也没有与母亲重聚一堂，像家人一样一起生活。 (878)

    伊利亚和亚历山德拉·法伊韦索维奇夫妇，在彼尔姆以南的乌拉尔小镇奥萨开理发店。他们均被捕于1939年，因为有顾客举报他们抱怨物资短缺。伊利亚被判刑10年，进了高尔基城附近的劳改营；亚历山德拉判处5年，在阿尔汉格尔斯克附近的劳改营。他们的女儿伊拉伊达由外祖母抚养，直到亚历山德拉1945年归来。4年后，伊利亚也被释放。亚历山德拉耐心等待他的归来，这一天终于来到。房子里坐满了亚历山德拉的亲戚，亚历山德拉为伊利亚的归来准备了特殊的聚餐，但伊利亚没有出现。相反，他的妹妹利达从彼尔姆赶来告诉他们，伊利亚已与年轻的新妻子到达她的家。亚历山德拉带着女儿去看他，伊拉伊达还记得当时的情景：

    门开了，就是父亲——我们已有10年没见到他。他给我一个拥抱和亲吻……尼娜[他的新妻子]站在房间当中。妈妈开始哭泣，利达试图让她平静下来，劝说道：“如果10年没有看到对方，你能指望什么呢？”妈妈仍在哭。父亲把我拉近，仿佛在说，他也无能为力。我想，他那天喝了很多酒，已经醉了。妈妈开始咒骂：“你毁了我的一生！你毁了我们的家庭！”她不停地喊……“为什么不给我写信，叫我不要再等？”

    尼娜和伊利亚，在斯维尔德洛夫斯克附近他们家屋外，1954年

    亚历山德拉因此而精神崩溃，在精神病医院住了4个月。伊利亚和尼娜在斯维尔德洛夫斯克附近的小镇定居，住入一个旧澡堂。他们是在劳改营认识的。尼娜是来自列宁格勒的犹太医生，在医院工作，救了伊利亚的命。他外出伐木，没有食物，筋疲力尽，失踪好几天才被送到医院，已有严重的冻伤。尼娜的悉心调养使他逐渐恢复健康，这位医生最终还爱上了病人。伊利亚从劳改营归来已是残疾人，走路都需要尼娜的帮助。他每年去奥萨一次，探望亚历山德拉和伊拉伊达，有时也会写信，但互相再也不亲近。尼娜死于1978年，伊拉伊达尝试说服父亲回到母亲的身边，但他又娶了别人。亚历山德拉一直没有再婚，对伊利亚的背叛，始终耿耿于怀。她女儿说，她仍然爱着他，床边还放有他的照片，一直到死。 (879)

    季娜伊达·莱维娜是乌克兰少先队创始人之一，1904年出生于犹太家庭。她于1937年被捕，判刑8年，被送进科雷马劳改营。丈夫丹尼尔是工程师，作为人民公敌的亲属被捕，流放去了土库曼斯坦3年（他获释后参军，在前线受伤，再疏散到西伯利亚）。父母被捕时，女儿拉丽莎才4岁，由外祖母照看，住在基辅与别人合用的共用公寓。1945年，丹尼尔从西伯利亚归来，同时带回了新妻子里贾纳和他们的小女儿。他们搬进两个小房间，与丹尼尔的三个姐妹同住。拉丽莎搬去与他们住在一起，与同父异母的妹妹相处得很好，但遭到里贾纳和姑妈的忌恨。拉丽莎说，丹尼尔担心如果自己仍是人民公敌的丈夫，从流放地归来时就有可能再次被捕，所以选择离婚，与季娜伊达划清界限。但季娜伊达的母亲视女婿为好色之徒，认为他只是利用妻子的被捕，趁机娶了年轻漂亮的里贾纳，所以拒绝上门拜访。拉丽莎因此连外祖母都见不到，在父亲家的处境变得愈加困难。

    季娜伊达1946年获释之后，依规定只能住在基辅附近的小镇兹韦尼戈罗德卡。有一天，她出现在母亲的公寓，带了个名叫瓦莱里的小男孩，介绍他是自己的儿子。季娜伊达在科雷马劳改营时，听闻了1941年9月纳粹在巴比雅对犹太居民的大屠杀，担心自己家人都已遭殃，遂下定决心再生一个孩子（当时已经37岁）。她在1942年生下瓦莱里，但一直拒绝透露孩子父亲的名字（她把这个秘密带进了坟墓），但每个人都揣测他是一个狱警。1949年，季娜伊达作为“反社会分子”再次被捕（正是反犹太人运动的高潮），被判刑3年，送往波特马劳改营（后来又流放到哈萨克斯坦的江布尔城）。瓦莱里由外祖母照管，但几个月之后，老妇人过世。拉丽莎恳求父亲向瓦莱里伸出援手，觉得自己有责任保护这个行为有异的同母异父的弟弟：“有一种东西迫使我去爱他。我感觉到一种责任，来自我的内心。我没有家人，我想保护他，把他当做自己的亲人。”但是，丹尼尔的姐妹仍把瓦莱里送进了孤儿院，认为狱警的儿子应由国家来照看。瓦莱里消失了，直到1953年他从位于乌克兰西部的乌日哥罗德孤儿院写信给拉丽莎。拉丽莎前去认领，再把他带去身处江布尔城的母亲那里，合家三口在那里住了两年。拉丽莎回忆：

    当时，我基本不了解母亲，从没真正与她在一起生活过。那段时间，从1953到1954年，是我第一次与她共同生活……她在我身上倾注了无限的爱……我不知所措，很不习惯……但我很快找到了家庭亲情的喜悦。

    1955年，季娜伊达爱上了在江布尔城流放的另一个犹太人，他的家人都死于巴比雅。他帮助照看瓦莱里，视同己出。他们在1956年喜结连理。流放解除之后，他们回到基辅，开始了新的家庭生活。 (880)

    就有些囚犯而言，家庭生活已经不再有可能。他们太害怕了——包括自己的失望，担心成为他人的负担，无法与人沟通。

    纳塔利娅·伊斯纳尔1893年出生于圣彼得堡的律师家庭。20世纪20年代，她在莫斯科艺术剧院和斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基的歌剧工作室，从事图像艺术和舞台设计工作。1932年，她与第一任丈夫离婚，嫁给格列高利·阿别孜高兹，他是教育艺术人民委员会的低层官员。1937年，阿别孜高兹遭到逮捕和枪决。纳塔利娅也被捕，获刑8年，被送去阿克莫林斯克劳改营。她于1946年获释，却留在多林卡镇，在内务部的政治部担任装饰艺术家，参与劳改营的宣传艺术和戏剧。纳塔利娅在莫斯科和列宁格勒都有亲属，还有第一次婚姻的一个女儿。但她选择留在古拉格定居地，而不是返回家人身边。多年羁绊于劳改营使她心碎，再也无法复原。纳塔利娅写信给莫斯科的小姑：

    清水塘（Chistye Prudy）15号，27号公寓

    艾莱娜·莫伊谢耶夫娜·阿别孜高兹

    亲爱的，值得庆幸的是，柳德米拉·亚历山德罗夫娜[在阿克莫林斯克劳改营的朋友]将亲手把这封信送给你。终于，我能以你能够理解的方式，作出详尽的解释。从我获得自由那天起，至今已有6个星期。然而，这却是我的第一封信，如何解释呢？不得不承认，经过漫长的分隔，我们之间已有不可逾越的鸿沟，这是很痛苦的。在这短暂的所谓自由时期，我已认识到，再也不能感受到与你的亲近。每当想及要回来见你，我就会因下列的担忧而望而生畏：我将没有用处，我将手足无措，我将帮不了你。我已失去当母亲的信心，这么多年下来，已变成一个决然不同的人——变得更加冷静。我要工作，努力让自己学会随遇而安，没有家人也能生存下去。我要彻底剔除这种家庭情感，使它再也不会渗入我的内心。除了工作，我什么也不需要……柳德米拉·亚历山德罗夫娜会告诉你一切，有关我的生活、性格、外表，等等。她是我在这个世界上最亲的人，胜过任何家人，因为她一直与我在一起，经受了劳改营同样的坎坷。遇到一个百分之百的好人，真叫人欣喜若狂……我觉得，我的内心已失去你。我不再需要家庭——这种情感已在我的心中死去……这不是一件坏事，事实就是如此…… (881)

    三

    索尼娅的释放证书。上有索尼娅监禁的时间，最高法庭军事委员会“因证据不足”而终止关于她的案子的决定，并允许她回莫斯科居住

    索尼娅·拉斯金娜获释于沃尔库塔劳改营时，领到两样东西：一张由劳改营两名管理员签署的释放证书，一张返回莫斯科的二等火车票。索尼娅在莫斯科有家人、工作、公寓等着她回来，其他囚犯就没那么幸运。他们无处可去：家庭已经破裂或搬走；住房已经消失或充公；禁止返回曾经生活过的城市。许多前囚犯无法回到大城市，被迫谋求边缘性的生存，寻找能获得居民登记的任何临时住所。苏维埃当局一向不太情愿向前“罪犯”提供这样的居住权。阻止他们返回自己的城镇和家园的，既有法律上的障碍，又有制度化的歧视。克服这些障碍和歧视的斗争，也是长期且复杂的。

    1953年，78岁的柳德米拉·泰德曼（娘家姓奥博连斯卡娅）从流放地奥伦堡回到列宁格勒。她是西蒙诺夫三个姨妈中最年长的，自1935年起，就住在奥伦堡，也是唯一幸存于流放困顿的（桃莉和索尼娅均死于奥伦堡）。她经过多次上访，终于从市苏维埃获得许可，搬回被捕前自己和子女的共用公寓。当她搬回时，居民委员会却予以拒绝，理由是她家原有三人，现只剩一人，不可自己独居。好几个星期，柳德米拉排队上访派出所、当地住房部、市苏维埃及其他各种办事处，为了争取独居的权利。她写信给西蒙诺夫：“最令人厌恶的是，各部门的人都以为我是个骗子。他们声称，我[在市苏维埃的住房许可上]列出补充的名字，是想骗得更多的生存空间。”当局不让她一人独居，也不愿修改住房许可，并声称“他们是不会弄错的”，使这个案子一拖再拖。她足足等了好几个月，才获准搬回自己的老家。 (882)

    西蒙诺夫的私人秘书尼娜·戈登遇上了同样的麻烦。她的丈夫约瑟夫再次被捕，作为惩罚，被送去克拉斯诺亚尔斯克。到1951年，尼娜随他而去。1954年，夫妇俩返回莫斯科，在找到自己住所之前，只好借住在西蒙诺夫那里。尼娜和约瑟夫都是莫斯科人，即使借助于西蒙诺夫的影响力，仍无法登记为居民。西蒙诺夫帮这对“诚实勤劳、近年来却遭受如此不幸的夫妇”出面，写信给市苏维埃和莫斯科民兵组织的主管。最终，他们获得在莫斯科居住一年的许可，然后搬进西蒙诺夫帮忙觅得的房间。约瑟夫在高尔基电影制片厂找到工作，尼娜回来为西蒙诺夫做事。但他们的居住许可，不知何故，很快就被作废。夫妇被告知，必须在一个月之内离开首都。西蒙诺夫只好再一次写信，这次是给莫斯科内务部的主管：

    结论非常简单：一个没犯过任何罪行的人，已在监狱和流放地荒废多年，终于重拾曾被冤枉夺走的工作。现在，他又要被迫离职，再一次离去。他的妻子，为了与丈夫在一起，曾放弃过自己的工作。而现在，如想留在丈夫的身旁，必须再一次放弃工作，离开自己生长的城市。这不仅是不公正的，而且是不人道的。

    多亏了西蒙诺夫的申诉，夫妻俩获准在莫斯科暂住。他们在后来的4年中，换住过8个不同的房间和公寓，最后终于遂愿，注册成为永久居民。1958年，西蒙诺夫帮助他们挤入待建公寓的轮候名单，那是为高尔基电影制片厂工人兴建的，但一再的延误，迫使约瑟夫和尼娜不得不寻找更多的临时住所。直到1966年，即约瑟夫去世前不久，夫妇俩才终于分得自己的一小套公寓。 (883)

    寻找工作和住所，都困难重重。苏维埃官员普遍不信任前囚犯，许多雇主继续持怀疑眼光，视他们为潜在的惹是生非者和“人民公敌”。1953年3月的大赦公布之后，离开劳改营的先是普通罪犯，再是政治犯，但苏维埃大众不作区分。他们将1953年后犯罪和“流氓行为”的增多，归罪于古拉格囚犯的释放（1956年匈牙利起义之后，将重新浮现的“内部威胁和敌人”，也归罪于古拉格囚犯的释放。其时的苏维埃报刊，更作了推波助澜的宣传）。许多前囚犯即使获得平反，在申请工作时仍遭到拒绝。平反一事本身往往成了雇主们产生偏见和猜疑的起源。他们都不想冒险聘用几年前还是“政治犯”的人。一名前囚犯回忆，哈尔科夫的工厂主管当面直言，“尽管我已获平反，但在他眼里，仍有见不得人的过去”。在赫鲁晓夫1956年在苏共二十大上公开谴责斯大林之前，公众对待归来的古拉格政治犯的态度，要么是不信任，要么是敌视。人们不敢与来自劳改营的前“敌人”有任何瓜葛。看到这些归来的囚犯，往往会唤起尴尬的回忆，甚至会在许多公民的心中激起内疚和羞耻。他们的生活相对舒适，他们的同胞却在劳改营中憔悴凋零。对归来的前囚犯，大多数人倾向于采取眼不见、心不烦的态度。以前在斯大林的统治下，他们也只字不提失踪的数百万人。列夫·科佩列夫回忆，从劳改营归来后，与避开斯大林清洗的成功人士相处，反而觉得不舒服，他宁可与“某种程度上的倒霉人士”交往。他至少可以肯定：这样做，没有与以配合迫害获致成功的人为伍。 (884)

    寻找工作和住房如此艰难，以致部分前囚犯不得不重返劳改营。1953年之后，许多劳改营以特殊经济区的形式仍在运作，雇用名义上的自由劳工，主要是获释囚犯。他们领取工资，但行踪接受法律限制，不得随意离开偏远的定居点。有些人选择留在劳改营或定居点，因为他们觉得，还没做好重回社会的准备。有些劳改营，前囚犯一直留住在旧营房，直到20世纪60年代。甚至还有例子，前囚犯故意触犯小罪，为了回到劳改营，至少能有面包吃。 (885)

    伊万·乌戈列茨基赫1953年从科雷马劳改营返回家乡切尔登镇，无法找到工作和住所，警方也就拒绝向他颁发享有居住权的必要护照。他只得动用当初在科雷马当电工时的储蓄，到处游走，寻找工作。首先，他去了莫斯科，想亲眼看看红场，以遂心愿。但他身上缀满补丁的劳改营棉外套，引起了警察的注意，很快被驱逐出去；他本来就没有资格进入莫斯科。接着，他去布良斯克地区的小城新济布科夫——位于首都的东南方向，他的前妻与新丈夫带着两个孩子就住在那里——结果找不到工作。然后，他去顿巴斯寻找煤矿上的工作，但无处可住，没有居民登记，便无法得到他人的雇用。他在日丹诺夫和塔甘罗格遇上同样的麻烦。经过几个月的绝望寻觅，他来到了亚速海附近的国营农庄，那里所有的工人都挖地穴而栖。即使在这里，他也找不到工作，农庄官员一看他的科雷马释放证书，就予以拒绝。伊万最终决定返回科雷马劳改营，在途中却意外得到了一份工作。他在克拉斯诺卡姆斯克稍作停留，去探望居住于前劳改营营房的弟弟一家，正巧遇上附属砖厂的官员。他最初的申请也遭拒绝，但一块手表的贿赂让那位官员改变了主意。伊万在砖厂一直做到1981年退休。 (886)

    从1953到1957年，估计共有61.2万名前囚犯获得苏维埃当局的平反，其中多人是在死后追认的。根据苏维埃领导人的说法，平反过程是还原真相的过程——为了重建对1917年公正原则的信心——从表面上看，确有理想主义的成分。但从争取权利的老百姓的角度看，实际情况又有很大的不同。对他们来说，这意味着一系列持久且屈辱的上访。他们必须排队，填写表格，与往往充满敌意的官员争斗。前囚犯要写十几封信，其上诉才会获得苏维埃当局的恩准，这是司空见惯的。不过，1956年之后，司法审查和平反的进程有所加快。有时，上诉人会被传唤去内务部或司法部的办公室，这类地方很容易引发前囚犯的恐惧。他们相信自己将被送回劳改营，因此穿上冬装，由哭泣的亲属陪同。一点也不奇怪，这种恐惧和障碍打消了不少的平反申请（很可能是当局的初衷）。相关的司法审查和官方程序，开展得非常勉强，苏维埃官员有明显的动机来敷衍了事。他们中的许多人，当初靠捏造证据整肃“人民公敌”而立功晋了级，现在却要披露其中的不公，岂不要让自己上被告席？抓住稻草以求自保的尝试五花八门，有些甚至是非常卑微可笑的。例如，一个退伍军人1947年因“反苏维埃宣传”而被判处劳改10年（他讲过“反苏维埃”的笑话），在1954年提出上诉，赢得减刑5年，遂立即获释。调查官在审查时，判定他的笑话不是反苏维埃的，但为了维持原诉（从而无需推翻原案，无需予以平反），声称其中之一有可能被理解为反苏维埃的。 (887)

    最后，即使获得平反，也得不到相应的道歉，更不用说在劳改营浪费的宝贵年华。在大多数官员眼中，前罪犯的平反并未抹去他的所有罪行。一名克格勃上校在1960年提醒一位前囚犯：“平反并不表示你无辜，只是你的罪还不够严重，但总归是有保留的！” (888)

    就许多人而言，尤其是那些前党员和笃信1917年革命价值的人，对平反的需求如此强烈，以致任何障碍都无法予以阻止。承认其公民价值，关乎他们人格尊严的根本。出于同样的原因，许多人希望重新入党，只有重新领到党员证，才会感到自己重又成为十足的苏维埃公民。一名“人民公敌”的遗孀，在阿克莫林斯克劳改营度过12年，她还记得收到丈夫的养老金和恢复党籍通知时的自豪。作为党员的遗孀，她可以得到普通受迫害家庭无缘的特殊好处（因此对平反者的地位持有扭曲的看法）。在她看来，最重要的是，这些优势是她重返社会的象征：

    我觉得终于再一次成为完整的人，在政治上和作为一个公民都是如此。更重要的是，我在某种意义上是“今日英雄”。获得平反的党员，其社会地位得到了提升；各式排队，无论是宿舍和假期的分配，还是财政补助和其他种种，都享有优先权。 (889)

    对其他人来说，平反的重要性还在于，它给他们的生活和信仰重新带来意义。他们尽管遭受了不公正，仍坚守自己的苏维埃理想。这种信仰使他们的生命，乃至他们的牺牲，充满了意义。许多人甚至认为，他们在劳改营辛苦劳作，也为苏维埃事业作出了贡献，因此而感到骄傲。列宁农学院的学者亚历山大·杰格佳廖夫，在20世纪70年代向记者阿纳托利·朱可夫作出如此解释：

    我在劳改营亲手挖出那么多贵金属，如果留给自己，早已是百万富翁了。这是我对共产主义制度的贡献。我在严苛条件下存活下来的最重要因素，就是我对列宁主义党和其人道原则的信念坚定不移，永不磨灭。党给了我力量，让我可以忍受这些考验；党振奋我们的精神和觉悟，帮助我们坚持斗争。恢复党籍是我一生中最大的幸福。 (890)

    另一类人追求平反，因为他们相信，这将能洗刷他们名字上的耻辱。玛丽亚·德罗兹多娃获释于诺里尔斯克劳改营，但在获得平反之前，并没觉得自己已是真正的自由人：“只有平反之后，我才能正视他人的眼睛，满怀荣誉和自豪，没人再会骂我。” (891)

    对图尔金一家来说，平反是一大解脱。1936年，来自彼尔姆的老布尔什维克兼记者亚历山大·图尔金，作为“托派分子”被捕。自那以后，家人一直被当做“人民公敌”的亲属。20多年来，亚历山大的妻子和两个女儿一直认为，亚历山大确实犯了反对国家的罪行：这也是解释老朋友和邻居敌视的唯一办法。亚历山大的岳母更从客厅的全家福照片上，挖去他的脸（“如果我们当中有一个敌人，就必须将之清除出去”）。从此，家人再也不提他的名字。后来，亚历山大的妻子被告知丈夫是无辜的，提出申诉后，又收到他的平反证书，这对这个家庭来说无疑是一大解放。最终，她们可以不带任何耻辱感来谈论已失去的丈夫和父亲。 [5] 亚历山大的女儿维拉回忆：“一旦人们获悉我父亲平反了，便开始软化对我们的态度。这对我们确实很重要，因为我们也曾怀疑他有罪，原来我们都错了。” (892)

    不是每个人都视平反为足够的结果。有些人认为，他们一直知道自己是无辜的，并不需要已被证明是不公正的制度的平反。这种观念常在老党员中间听到，他们是列宁的追随者，视斯大林为“反革命”。诺里尔斯克起义领导人之一的列夫·内托，1956年从劳改营获释，他干脆拒绝申请平反，视之为“原则问题”。他为起义中的战友辩解：“我们都认为，并不需要国家的宽恕。国家迫害我们，本身就是罪行，这是一个自我尊重和自身尊严的问题。” (893)

    对许多党员及其家人来说，光是平反，没有恢复党籍，还不算伸张了正义（恢复党籍意味着他们可得到国家的额外补偿）。但恢复党籍的过程非常缓慢，特别是在地方省份，当地的许多党组织，仍在老领导的管辖之下。他们当初捏造证据，整肃“人民公敌”，攀爬至高位；如今要承认自己的错误，岂不自找麻烦！1936年，亚历山大·图尔金是彼尔姆作为“托派分子”而受到不公正逮捕的30位布尔什维克之一。当他1956年获得平反的时候，当地媒体就提出给他们恢复党籍的问题，但是尽管有他们的家人的努力，恢复党籍一事还是被党组织压制住了。它的重新浮出水面，是在20世纪80年代的开放政策时期，然而市级领导仍然处处设绊。到1991年苏联自身解体时，这30名布尔什维克当中仍无一人得以恢复党籍。 (894)

    如果没有恢复党籍，前囚犯的平反赔偿便微不足道，很多人干脆谢绝接受。季娜伊达·布舒耶娃在1957年获得平反，领到两个月工资——是以1938年被捕时的币值计算的——以赔偿她在阿克莫林斯克劳改营的8年。她还领到了另外的两个月工资，赔偿其1938年遭到枪决、现因“缺乏证据”而获得平反的丈夫。她用这笔钱买了一件大衣，让两个女儿共用；给儿子买了一套西装；还有一张桌子外带6条板凳，用来布置彼尔姆苏维埃配给的一间屋的住房。 (895)

    奥莉加·阿达莫娃―斯柳兹贝格在1954年为自己和丈夫申请平反，等了两年才收到一份普通的证书，声称她的案件已得到复查，因缺乏证据已告撤销。她写道：“为了这个错误，我付出的代价是20年零41天的生命。”她自己的补偿是两个月工资；她死去的丈夫的补偿也是两个月工资，此外另加上11卢布50戈比，因为丈夫死时身上还持有115卢布。她是在莫斯科最高苏维埃大楼的等候室收到这份证书的，前来领取类似证书的还有另外20名妇女。其中有一名乌克兰老人，被告知她儿子的赔偿金额时，一下子变得歇斯底里：

    乌克兰老妇人开始大叫：“我不要你们的钱来换我儿子的血。你们自己留下吧，凶手！”她撕毁证书，将之掷于地上。

    发放证书的士兵走近她说：“冷静下来，公民。”

    这位老人又叫喊起来：“杀人犯！”并朝他的脸吐唾沫。她在狂怒中竟噎得回不过气来。一位医生带着两名助理，跑进来把她带走。每个人都默默无言，一脸压抑，四下都有努力克制的呜咽声。我发现自己也无法遏制感伤……我回到警察再也不能将我驱走的公寓，没人在家，可以尽情大哭。我哭泣，为我的丈夫，37岁，正是精力和才能的高峰，却死于卢比扬卡的地窖；为我的子女，从小变成孤儿，身为人民公敌的子女，受尽污辱；为我的父母，死于悲伤；为自己20多年所受的酷刑；为活不到平反而长眠于科雷马冻土的朋友。 (896)

    数以百万计的人奔赴劳改营后，一去不返。亲属很少被告知他们的下落，在1953年之后，更面临一个漫长且痛苦的等待：或等他们的归来，或等他们的噩耗。在很多情况下，要给这个等待画上句号，还要等到20世纪80年代的开放政策时期，甚至苏维埃政权崩溃的1991年。

    季娜伊达·布舒耶娃一直不知道丈夫已在1938年遭枪决。直到1992年去世，她仍不知道他是否依旧在世：如已死去，她会为他哀哭；如还活着，只是选择不再回家，她可能认为他一直是有罪的。 (897)

    阿夫纳西娅·博托娃一直相信丈夫可能还活着，直至自己1981年去世。丈夫1937年在附属于彼尔姆火车站的工程车间工作，上班时遭逮捕，被送去巴姆拉戈劳改营。那是专为建造贝加尔―阿穆尔铁路的古拉格综合企业。后来，他又被送去马加丹附近的劳改营。他女儿尼娜在1989年获悉，他在那里筋疲力尽，死于1940年11月。但阿夫纳西娅对此一概不知，只在1941年1月收到丈夫的一张便条：“到目前为止仍然活着，这里的气温是零下50度。”40年来，这张褪色的小纸条支撑着阿夫纳西娅的一线希望：她的丈夫将会回来。 (898)

    直到自己1982年亡故，艾莱娜·切尔卡索娃一直坚信丈夫还活着。丈夫弗谢沃洛德是列宁格勒矿业学院的地质学家，1937年被捕，1938年2月被判处死刑。行刑之前，弗谢沃洛德获准给妻子打电话，告诉她将永远不再见面，但没透露自己行将枪决的消息，只说自己的判决是“无权通信”，这无疑是行刑人的指示。像劳改营囚犯的数百万亲属一样，艾莱娜不知道，“无权通信”就是古拉格中死决的代称。过了1953年，她推测他的刑期应已结束，开始寻觅。她查询了列宁格勒的内务部总部，又写信给莫斯科的苏维埃检察院，但没有任何信息。艾莱娜拜访内务部总部后不久，一位陌生女人来访，自称她与弗谢沃洛德曾在同一劳改营，几年前还见过他，鼓励艾莱娜相信丈夫依然在世。 (899)

    这是内务部的伎俩，用来欺骗遭枪决囚犯的亲属。苏维埃官员想方设法掩盖杀人真相，其主要目的是为了遮掩1937至1938年的大量死亡。他们将其时处决的囚犯的死期，改成后续的年份，通常选在战争年代；并伪造发给亲属的死亡证书，声称那些囚犯死于心脏病发作，或其他疾病，但事实上都是在多年前死于枪决。

    依达·斯拉温娜1955年申请父亲的平反，获得成功，除了平反证书，她还收到了列宁格勒注册局发出的死亡证书，称她父亲死于1939年4月的心脏病发作。依达感到困惑，因为苏维埃当局曾在1945年告诉她，父亲当时还活着。她上访列宁格勒的内务部总部，被告知应以死亡证书为准。10年后，即1965年，她向莫斯科的克格勃询问，得到同样的答复。依达一直相信这个说法，直到1991年她有机会看到父亲在克格勃档案馆的资料，才发现他被捕3个月之后就已被枪决，即1938年2月28日。在档案中，她还发现克格勃1955年的命令：出于“国家安全的原因”，必须误导依达，让她相信父亲死于1939年的心脏病发作。 (900)

    伊琳娜·杜达列娃从不放弃找到丈夫的希望。她丈夫是南部亚速小镇的党委领导，1937年8月30日被捕，10年过去了，一直音信全无。伊琳娜认为他的刑期将满，便开始写信给内务部；还向罗斯托夫地区被捕的其他囚犯的亲属，打听所有劳改营的名字和地址，也一一写信相询。不久，丈夫在亚速小镇的党内同事来访，声称曾在劳改营看到她的丈夫，活得很好。伊琳娜继续向有关当局写信，仍被告知，她的丈夫还活着，还在劳改营服刑，只是“无权通信”。1953年之后，她写得更加频繁，推测丈夫肯定已被释放，因为从没听说超过15年的苦役。她以为会被告知，丈夫的刑期出于某种原因又延长了。最后在1957年，伊琳娜收到证书，说她的丈夫病死于1944年。这是伊琳娜所知道的一切，直到她1974年去世。1995年，她的女儿加林娜查阅克格勃档案中有关父亲的文件，当中注明，他在被捕的当晚被执行枪决。 (901)

    四

    “现在，被捕的人要回来了。两个俄罗斯人，各自注视对方的眼睛。其中一人曾把那些人送去劳改营，另一人则刚刚归来。” (902) 诗人阿赫玛托娃以这些词句，预示一场即将上演的变剧。囚犯们从劳改营返回，遭遇当初举报自己的同事、邻居和朋友。

    1954年，玛丽亚·布德克维奇回到列宁格勒的一套共用公寓，父母带着她和弟弟曾住在这里，直到1937年被捕。他们的两个房间已被隔壁邻居占据，那是一对抚养3个小孩的夫妇，其中的妻子曾与布德克维奇一家非常友好，临到1937年大逮捕时却突施冷箭。她指控玛丽亚的父母是“反革命分子”和“外国间谍”（玛丽亚的父亲是波兰裔），甚至宣称玛丽亚的母亲是把客人带回自家公寓的妓女。到1954年，当年的那个女人已垂垂老矣，身体瘦弱，头披长长的白发，一人独居。她的孩子们已经长大，搬离公寓，她的丈夫1941年被送去劳改营。玛丽亚需要这个女人签署一份文件，证明她一家曾住这里。她最近收到枪决于1937年的父母的平反证书，因此需要这份文件为逮捕时没收的住处和个人财产申请补偿。那女人听到玛丽亚说起自己的名字，脸色一下子变得煞白，她说：“没想到你竟还能回来。”玛丽亚解释访问的目的，保证不会来争夺生活空间。那女人邀请玛丽亚坐下，开始查看需要签署的文件。玛丽亚环顾四周，仍能认出母亲收藏的瓷器、父亲从明斯克带回的皮沙发，还有靠垫、灯具、桌椅。这一切，她从小就很熟悉。那女人签完文件，叫玛丽亚挨着她在沙发上坐下，低声说：“有一件事，我必须告诉你。”那女人告诉玛丽亚，自己丈夫被捕后不久从劳改营写了一封信，她出于恐惧而不敢保留。他在信中说，他的牙齿在审讯中全被打掉，思忖自己活不下去，所以叫她不要等，早早改嫁。她的丈夫再也没能从劳改营回来。她解释，之所以告诉玛丽亚这一切，只是想让玛丽亚明白，她自己也已承受很多苦难，觉得对不起玛丽亚的父母。 (903)

    1948年，尤里·施塔克尔贝格被控属于列宁格勒大学一个“犹太民族主义学生团体”，并遭到逮捕。据称，该团体是反苏的“间谍小圈子”，其组织者兼资助者是一名德国男爵。尤里被指控企图成立一个秘密印刷所，在大学里散布反苏维埃的宣传。这些指控没有根据，仅基于虚幻的编造和4名大学同学签名的举报信。现在看来，他们当初的动机主要是仇外心理，之所以挑上施塔克尔贝格，是因为他的外国姓氏（也有可能知道，尤里的父亲曾因“传播德国宣传”的罪名于1941年12月被捕）。1949年3月，列宁格勒法庭判处尤里25年苦役，把他送去巴姆拉戈劳改营（他的父亲1942年即丧生于此），帮助建造铁路桥梁。1956年，他从高处摔下，身受重伤，作为残疾人而获释。他先是住在卢加城，后来终于回到列宁格勒，在公共图书馆上班。尤里应克格勃的邀请，查看了自己的审判记录，遂得知举报人的名字。他为此一一拜访了那4个同学。尤里回忆：“他们心知肚明，我已知道他们的所作所为。”

    其中一名女生告诉我：即使我现在回来了，但无关紧要，什么都没变，因为我当时是一个混蛋，现在还是一个混蛋……她还说，我应被拉出去枪毙。另一个男的——过去一直是挑衅者，而且举止愚蠢——带我去他的家，给我看大门口一大捆纸。这是寄售的那种，有时会在大商店出售。他说：“如果你想要，自己拿吧。也许，现在正是你开印刷所的好时候。”我笑而不答，但我的脊椎骨直打哆嗦。我真想告诉他，这捆纸尺寸太小，并不适合印刷机，但我一言未发。 (904)

    易卜拉欣·伊兹梅尔―扎德被捕时是巴库医学院的资深医学教授和系主任，1938年被控属于一个“反苏维埃阿塞拜疆民族主义组织”。他从科雷马劳改营获释后，返回巴库城，在同一所医学院做些基层工作。早在20世纪30年代，他从事的是尖端性研究，现在，只是在应付日常的临床工作。1955年，阿塞拜疆前党领导米尔·巴吉罗夫因涉及1938年巴库的大恐怖而接受审判，易卜拉欣充当控方的证人，得以查阅自己的档案。易卜拉欣发现，他最喜爱的学生当时却在悄悄地举报自己，后来官运亨通，升为他现工作部门的负责人。易卜拉欣在科雷马劳改营时，这位学生经常拜访他的妻子和女儿，被当做家庭成员之一。易卜拉欣归来后，这位学生冷淡许多，很少再来，特别是会与他一起坐下聚餐的晚上。他和家人之后因无法躲避，又与这位学生见面数次，虽没挑明，但大家对出卖一事都心照不宣。有一天，医学院的政治部主任来到伊兹梅尔―扎德的家，希望易卜拉欣签署一份文件，说明他家并没心存不满，会继续与这位学生保持友好关系。易卜拉欣拒绝签署，如果没有旁人的劝阻，真想把这位主任赶出家门。他女儿说，易卜拉欣为此受到了极大打击，更羞愧于被迫在这不够格的负责人手下做事。被要求签署这样的文件，无疑成了最后一根稻草。 (905)

    1953年，奥布霍沃村的共青团前负责人科利亚·库兹明，也搬到沃洛格达附近的佩斯托沃小镇。他曾在1930年的集体化运动中指控戈洛温家为“富农”，而戈洛温一家从西伯利亚流放地归来后，也定居于此。指控之前，科利亚是戈洛温家的常客，甚至受雇于尼古拉·戈洛温的皮革作坊。当时，尼古拉可怜这位全村最贫穷人家的少年。斯大林去世后不久，科利亚前来探望，请求尼古拉夫妇宽恕自己，不单指对他的指控，也包括他在尼古拉弟弟被杀一案中的责任。尼古拉和妻子叶夫多基娅笃信宗教，不仅予以原谅，还邀请他搬来佩斯托沃。他们的女儿安东尼娜，此时在列宁格勒附近的科尔皮诺城行医，不赞成父母的慷慨，想说服他们改变主意。她的理由是：“他杀害了伊万[尼古拉的弟弟]，摧毁了我们一家。怎可原谅这样的人？”但叶夫多基娅认为：“真正的基督教徒应原谅自己的敌人。”科利亚定居于戈洛温家的隔壁，为过去的行为感到羞耻，经常帮戈洛温家跑腿，试图赎罪。周六，他与尼古拉一起上公共浴池；周日，与尼古拉夫妇一起上教堂。叶夫多基娅于1955年去世，3年后轮到尼古拉，科利亚·库兹明也于1970年去世。他们都埋葬在佩斯托沃的同一块教堂墓地。 (906)

    还有很多前囚犯对当初举报自己的人表示了宽容。但不像戈洛温家那样，他们这种宽恕极少植根于宗教，而是基于一种豁然开朗：几乎任何人，在正常情况下无论有多好，但在内务人民委员会的强压之下，都会变成举报人。所有经历过监狱和劳改营的人，都会有此同感。记者伊琳娜·舍尔巴科娃回忆莫斯科纪念学会（专为受迫害者设立的）在20世纪80年代晚期的一次会议：

    一位大约在1939年被捕的女子，以完全平静的声调对我说：“那边那个男人，曾举报过我。”接着她又若无其事地跟他打招呼。她看到我脸上的困惑，便解释说：“当然，我们当时只有18岁，他父母是受迫害的老布尔什维克。他们[内务人民委员会]也想招募我。当然，他自己之后也受了迫害。”我觉得，她之所以这么说，不是不愿关注过去，或想把它忘却，而是已看透这个制度对人民惯用的可耻伎俩。 (907)

    到20世纪80年代，懂得这一点自然变得较为容易。随着时间的推移，痛苦的回忆逐渐软化，受迫害者了解到更多的历史，对苏维埃制度也有了更客观的认识。不过，避免责怪个人的趋势在20世纪50年代即已明晰。苏维埃的海外流亡者，显然不愿敌视普通的党员干部，因为他们知道，那些人本身也无能为力，兴许自己也是该制度的受害者。 (908)

    并不奇怪，斯大林的囚犯的归来，在有愧于心的人中引起了巨大的恐惧。娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆回忆：“所有的杀人犯、挑衅者、举报人都有一个共同特征：他们从没想过，他们的受害者竟然还会归来。”

    他们都以为，被送去另一个世界或劳改营的人，将从地球上永远消失；他们从没想到，那些幽灵还能借尸还魂，来找掘墓人算账。因此，在平反时期，他们变得恐慌失措。他们想着，时光倒流了，那些所谓的“劳改营渣滓”，突然再次披上肉身，启用自己的名字。他们一下掉入恐惧的魔掌之中。

    一个“可怜的女举报人”，不断收到检察官办公室的传唤，要她撤回曾对那些已经亡故和依然活着的人所作过的各项证词。曼德尔施塔姆回忆，每一次传唤之后，她就会跑去她曾举报的家庭，申辩自己“从没说过当事人的坏话，上帝是她的证人。现在去检察官办公室，只是为了帮那些死人说好话，以便他们尽快恢复名誉”。曼德尔施塔姆的结论是：

    那女人从未有过近似于良心的东西，但这也已超过她所能忍受的，她不久便中风，全身瘫痪。在某一时刻，她肯定怕得要死，以致相信这些平反是严肃、认真的，所有的造谣者和其他爪牙都会面临审判。 (909)

    曼德尔施塔姆还讲述了一名内务部高级官员的故事。他任职于塔什干城，斯大林死后，便开始领取退休金，但“偶尔还会受到传唤，去见侥幸从劳改营归来的前受害者”。他实在无法忍受，最后自己上吊而死。曼德尔施塔姆看过他写给中央委员会的自杀信。这位官员写道，他一直在为党努力工作，从没想到：

    自己服务的对象可能不是人民，而是“某种形式的波拿巴主义”。他试图把责任推卸给别人：他所审讯的人签署各式假口供，从而误导办案官员；来自莫斯科的官员迫使自己改用“简化的审讯程序”并完成定罪配额；最后但并非不重要的是，那些举报人自愿提供各式指控，迫使秘密警察对这么多的人采取行动。

    这位内务部官员的自杀受到遮掩，秘而不宣，他在自杀前点了太多官员和举报人的名。但他的女儿，决意要责怪迫使她父亲自杀的人。曼德尔施塔姆指出：

    她的愤怒针对激发这些噩梦的人：“他们应为办事人设想！当时担任官职的人，并没有发起这些迫害，只是在执行上级的命令。” (910)

    自杀的还有另一位斯大林心腹，即酗酒成瘾的亚历山大·法捷耶夫，他曾是作家协会的主管，但在1954年丢掉乌纱帽。他很长一段时间患有抑郁症，斯大林的去世更使他精神错乱。他写信给另一位作协成员：“我的病根不在肝里，而在脑中。”法捷耶夫向西蒙诺夫坦称，作为一名作家，他已“破产”，放弃了自己最后一部小说。那是一部社会主义现实主义的小说，有关党与工业破坏的斗争，以20世纪30年代的审讯资料作为借鉴。他已意识到，如他向朋友所解释的，其道德宗旨是错的，因为工业破坏根本就子虚乌有。他领导下的作家协会，参与了对作家的迫害，法捷耶夫为此而追悔莫及。他在给丘科夫斯基的信中写道：“我竟是这样一个恶棍。”他尤其对老朋友约翰·奥特曼感到歉疚，奥特曼于1955年去世，即他从监狱中释放出来的两年后。法捷耶夫在“反世界主义者”运动中曾举报奥特曼，后者在1949年入狱时，自己又袖手旁观。奥特曼死后，法捷耶夫沉溺于饮酒买醉。他向一个朋友坦承，他批准逮捕了许多明知无辜的作家。 (911)

    1953年后，法捷耶夫试图赎罪，他请愿当局释放那些被送去劳改营的作家，并为他们平反。他给马林科夫和赫鲁晓夫写信，呼吁党放松对文化领域的思想控制，但遭到忽略，后来又被撤职。到1956年，法捷耶夫已成孤家寡人，在文学知识分子的眼中，只是一个顽固守旧的斯大林分子，其帮助受迫害作家的努力却鲜为人知。开枪自杀之前，即1956年5月13日，他曾写信给中央委员会。这封信在1990年之前一直雪藏于共产党档案之中：

    我看不到有生存下去的可能，因为党领导的傲慢无知，摧毁了我奉献一生的[苏维埃]艺术事业……我们最好的作家，由于当权者对犯罪的默许，已被消灭殆尽，或是在巅峰未至前即已殒折……作为一名作家，我的生命已失去所有的意义。灵魂在这邪恶的生存中遭受恶意、谎言、诽谤的蹂躏。我离开这样的人世，只会感到解放和喜悦。 (912)

    到底要做一名优秀的共产党人，还是做一个好人，两者之间的冲突使法捷耶夫悲不自胜。许多受害者都知道他天性善良。但他在斯大林政权中服务多年，所作出的妥协和调和，逐渐摧毁了他的良心、身份，乃至活下去的意愿。 (913)

    西蒙诺夫和儿子阿列克谢，1954年

    尽管法捷耶夫对文学现状态度悲观，苏维埃作家在解冻的初期却发挥了主导作用。由于政权不再对作家行使直接的否决权，文学便成为关注的焦点，既强调个人和私人的生活，又拒绝斯大林官僚的横加干涉。苏维埃作家逃离社会主义现实主义的公众主题和英雄人物，开始努力塑造家庭和社会中的真实人物。那个年头最大胆的虚构作品是爱伦堡的《解冻》（1954年），它有意作出挑衅，仿佛在试探新气象究竟能走多远。这部小说讲述一名专制的工厂主管，即“小斯大林”，变得越来越腐败且惨无人道，为了扩大生产、努力完成五年计划的配额，而挪用职工的住房资金。妻子对他的铁石心肠实在忍无可忍，春季的解冻预示更美好的新生活，使她鼓起勇气离他而去。解冻刚刚开始的1954年，其时的政治气氛还不容许苏维埃读者讨论小说中的反斯大林主义，再说它本身也不甚明显。所以，读者关注那部小说的另一主题，即艺术家的独立，体现在一名画家身上，仅属于次要情节。该画家以制作国家需要的产品，换取舒适的生活，但与不愿向制度妥协的其他画家相比，他承认自己的平庸。

    《解冻》的发表分裂了苏维埃文学界。登载该小说的《新世界》和《旗帜》属自由派，希望它标志着新时代的开端，作家终于可以坦诚相见，与其反映现政权的利益，毋宁发挥塑造私人感性的真正作用。1954年，在莫斯科图书馆有关自己作品的讨论会上，爱伦堡坚持认为，艺术的目的是表达“情感文化”、促进“个人对同胞的理解”。 (914) 苏维埃政府的保守派震惊于这些自由派言论，开始组织一系列针对解冻自由作家的反攻。1954年8月，他们解雇了《新世界》的主编特瓦尔多夫斯基——他是个诗人，也是“富农”的儿子。批判爱伦堡的任务，落到了西蒙诺夫的头上，他取代特瓦尔多夫斯基，接任《新世界》的主编。之所以选择西蒙诺夫，是因为他被视作温和保守派，与索夫罗诺夫那样的斯大林主义强硬派相比，更具权威性。西蒙诺夫在《文学报》的两篇长文中，向《解冻》发起攻击，认为它对苏俄的描写过于黑暗，它的次要情节的结局又过于简单。西蒙诺夫认为，当好一名艺术家和为国家服务，鱼与熊掌，两者可以兼得。 (915)

    西蒙诺夫继续留在斯大林主义的阵营，直到1956年他开始接受改革精神。像生活在斯大林阴影下的许多人一样，西蒙诺夫因斯大林的去世而晕头转向。一开始，克里姆林宫政治的走向很不明朗，也有可能重返大恐怖。在这种不确定气氛中，像西蒙诺夫那样的高官，坚持斯大林逝世前的政治立场来明哲保身，那是合情合理的。西蒙诺夫回忆：“那些年头，我对斯大林的态度不断演变，在各种情感和观点之间左右摇摆。”1953年的大部分时间，他的主要感受是“为损失一个伟人而感到的深切悲痛”。这促使西蒙诺夫在《文学报》的惊人悼词（《作家的神圣职责》）中主张：“苏维埃文学的最高任务，就是为世界上所有国家和子孙后代，描述不朽的斯大林的伟大和天才。”这篇文章激怒了赫鲁晓夫，坚持要把西蒙诺夫调离《文学报》。整个1954年，西蒙诺夫仍忠实于自己的斯大林主义者的出身，在办公桌上放置一张自己特别喜爱的斯大林像：斯大林在凝视伏尔加至顿河的运河——恰恰也是古拉格劳工的纪念碑。斯大林在世时，西蒙诺夫从没在自己办公室或住所里悬挂他的肖像，现在这样做是为了表达对“叛徒”和“野心家”的愤慨。那些人在斯大林活着时高歌自己对领袖的爱戴，等他一死就大加谴责。西蒙诺夫回忆：“促使我[摆放画像]的不是斯大林主义，而是近似于高尚的或知识分子的荣誉的想法。”西蒙诺夫不愿背弃自己的过去，他还在1955年的诗集中收入一首委实可怕的《斯大林颂歌》。它写于1943年，以前一直没有发表，诗中称赞斯大林是人类历史上最伟大的人。 (916)

    西蒙诺夫在批判爱伦堡之后，又向自由派解冻中的其他先锋作家，发起一系列攻击。他在1954年7月《真理报》的重要文章中，谴责文学界对社会主义现实主义传统的排斥，愈益趋向讽刺文学。西蒙诺夫特地点了乌克兰剧作家亚历山大·科尔涅伊奇克的名，批评他放弃了剧院的重要职责，借用西蒙诺夫的界定，即“教育苏维埃人民如何去爱护和珍惜苏维埃制度”。 (917)

    作为《新世界》的主编，西蒙诺夫也反对弗拉基米尔·杜金采夫的爆炸性小说《不是单靠面包》，这份来稿想以连载的形式在《新世界》发表。这是有关发明家的故事，主人公是一名物理教师，致力于改善苏联人民的生活，但由于小腐败和苏维埃官场的低效，他的独具匠心遭到了扼杀和破坏。在西蒙诺夫1956年发表它之前，坚决要求杜金采夫缓和对官僚主义的攻击，因为他担心这部小说可能引发对整个制度的质疑。即使有了西蒙诺夫要求的改动，这本书仍被改革者欢呼为反对当权派的攻坚生力军。该小说的第一次公开讨论，吸引许多人来到作家协会，学生们为了听到辩论甚至攀援水管爬到二楼窗外，最后只好请来骑警驱散人群、维持秩序。 (918)

    《新世界》拒绝发表帕斯捷尔纳克的《日瓦戈医生》，西蒙诺夫对此负有直接责任。1956年9月，他代表该杂志的编委会写信给帕斯捷尔纳克，解释出于政治考虑的反对意见。这部小说以俄国革命和内战为背景，是史诗般的人生戏剧。1958年，苏维埃领导人发起运动，迫使帕斯捷尔纳克拒绝接受诺贝尔文学奖，就反复引用了该信。 [6] 西蒙诺夫对这部小说评价甚低，曾写信给儿子说，这是“一部庸俗主义的作品，既卑鄙，又刻毒，有的地方更是赤裸裸地反苏维埃”。西蒙诺夫的观点是，小说提出的核心问题——俄罗斯知识分子接受1917年10月革命的决定是否正确——在帕斯捷尔纳克的笔下，其答案只能是否定的：知识分子决定跟随布尔什维克，却背叛了自己对俄罗斯人民、俄罗斯文化和人类的职责。在西蒙诺夫看来，这种偏见不仅使之成为一部反苏维埃小说，而且侮辱了整整一代专业人士，包括自己的母亲和继父。他们留在苏俄，为布尔什维克工作，不是出于政治选择，而是因为他们首先是俄罗斯爱国者。 (919)

    随着解冻的深入，赫鲁晓夫的改革者在苏维埃领导阶层占了上风。西蒙诺夫在莫斯科文坛上成了日益孤立的人物。改革的自由精神，与拒绝改变观点的斯大林主义信徒，无法相容。西蒙诺夫在1956年写道：

    主编可以要求删除

    我诗句中的斯大林，

    但无法帮助我赶走

    我灵魂中的斯大林。

    赫鲁晓夫在1956年苏共二十大上发言谴责了斯大林。之后，西蒙诺夫开始驱赶内心的斯大林，过程非常缓慢。 (920)

    赫鲁晓夫的讲话是一道重要的分水岭，在恐怖制度的缓慢消亡过程中，其重要性超过斯大林的去世。自1917年以来，这个恐怖制度一直在统治苏维埃人民。赫鲁晓夫的讲话显示，苏维埃政府终于与斯大林的恐怖统治划清界限，人们的恐惧和对未来的不确定也开始渐渐离去。

    苏共二十大是斯大林去世后的首次大会，1956年2月14日在大克里姆林宫召开。1355名投票代表与会，期待高层领导解释斯大林之后的路线，论定已死领袖的地位。揭露和谴责斯大林的罪行这个决定是由领导集体作出的——但究竟到何程度，曾有激烈的争论。早在2月9日，另一个特别委员会曾就1935到1940年之间的党员迫害，向中央委员会提交调查结果，让高层领导大吃一惊——无论是逮捕和枪决的庞大规模，还是这恐怖浪潮所依托的证据捏造——临到苏共二十大的前夕，才决定在封闭的秘密会议上向大会代表披露真相。讲话文稿是集体起草的，但赫鲁晓夫是披露真相的主要推手，并充任2月25日的发言人。

    赫鲁晓夫的动机很复杂，但仍是勇敢之举，因为其他的党领导人，如卡冈诺维奇、莫洛托夫、伏罗希洛夫，显然都犹豫不决，不愿揭露自己曾扮演重要角色的现政权的罪行。赫鲁晓夫在2月9日的讨论中呼吁采取大胆措施：

    究竟是什么样的领袖，会摧毁每一个人？我们必须勇敢地讲出真相……我们曾与斯大林一起工作，但这并不连累我们。随着真相的浮现，我们必须予以公布。否则，我们就在赞同他的行为……我们可以响亮发言，不以为耻，无需害怕，绝不满足于心胸狭窄的诡辩。

    披露真相也有利于赫鲁晓夫对权力的觊觎。他利用揭露斯大林的罪行，打击或威胁主要的竞争对手，并在欢迎解冻和政治改革的社会群体中，建立起自己的支持基础。但最重要的，像党的其余领导人一样，赫鲁晓夫也许还在担心，如果不公布斯大林的罪行，人民将会接过发言权。在解冻的气氛中，党的批评者将会指责高层领导人人有责。最近刚从劳改营归来的一名党内老同志，向赫鲁晓夫提出警告：“要么，你在即将举行的代表大会上告诉他们；要么，你会发现自己也在接受审查。”赫鲁晓夫的讲话，特地提及这位老同志的证词。赫鲁晓夫给人一个印象：党领导只是在最近，经由2月9日的调查结果，才发现大恐怖的真相。他得以将责任推到斯大林的头上，以“不知情”的理由洗脱其他领导人的嫌疑。为了达到这一目的，赫鲁晓夫为1935年以来党的不公提供了开脱罪责的解释：斯大林个人应负全部责任，其他领导人反而成了他“滔天罪行”的受害者（即使是托洛茨基和布哈林的追随者，也罪不该死）。没有怪罪苏维埃制度的问题——只有“克服个人崇拜”的问题。整个讲话的目的是要重新恢复列宁主义。 (921)

    赫鲁晓夫以保密的需要来结束他的讲话：

    这个议题不得传到党外，更遑论媒体。这就是为何我们要在封闭会议中谈论此事……我们绝不向敌人提供弹药，绝不袒露我们的伤口。我相信，大会代表都明白这一点，都会遵行不悖。

    他发言完毕，会场中一片死寂。大会代表之一亚历山大·雅可夫罗夫——后来成为戈尔巴乔夫开放政策的领军人物——回忆当时的情景：

    我坐在楼座上，记得很清楚，赫鲁晓夫发言之后，把我紧紧攫住的，如果不是绝望，那就是一种深沉的忧虑。大厅中的寂静简直是高深莫测，没有椅子的吱吱嘎嘎，没有咳嗽，没有窃窃私语，没人注视旁人——或出于对刚刚发生的事件的猝不及防，或出于紧张和恐惧……我们都低下头，鱼贯离开会议大厅。

    离开大厅走进玄关的大会代表中就有西蒙诺夫。他站在那里良久，陷入了震撼和混乱，一边吸烟，一边与中央委员会文化顾问伊戈尔·切尔诺乌索夫交谈。切尔诺乌索夫回忆：“我们已知道很多，但真相以如此方式坍塌于眼前，仍被惊得目瞪口呆。这是真相的全部吗？” (922)

    [1] 塔尼娅和弟弟阿列克谢在1978年移居美国后，她立即要求退党——那正是克里姆林宫反对艾莱娜·邦纳和她第二任丈夫安德烈·萨哈罗夫的高潮期。艾莱娜·邦纳1956年入党，1968年苏维埃入侵捷克斯洛伐克之后，她就停止缴纳党费。露丝·邦纳担心孙辈的福利，悄悄地帮她代缴到1972年（根据对艾莱娜·邦纳的采访，波士顿，2006年11月）。

    [2] 玛丽安娜的表姐卡蒂娅·布龙施泰因（娘家姓杰美恩）当年18岁，对此未予证实。

    [3] 加林娜使用母亲的姓氏。

    [4] 她到1989年才发现，丈夫在1937年即遭枪决。

    [5] 图尔金家收到平反证书的同时也获悉，亚历山大被捕几星期后就死于劳改营，时年52岁。

    [6] 《日瓦戈医生》被偷运出苏联，1957年首次出版于意大利，成为国际畅销书。帕斯捷尔纳克获得1958年诺贝尔文学奖，但面临作家协会的压力和苏维埃报刊的民族主义谩骂，被迫拒绝接受。

    第九章 记忆（1956—2006）

    一

    赫鲁晓夫的“秘密讲话”没能保密太久。讲话的一份笔录被印成小册子，发给苏联各地的党组织，在所有工作场所读给共产党人听。苏共二十大之后的数周内，在苏维埃的工厂、办公室、大学、学校聆听该讲话的，有700万党员和1800万共青团员。该讲话也被送到东欧的共产党政府，东德领导人瓦尔特·乌布利希企图遮掩，不让东德人民知道。但波兰领导人将它发表，副本抵达《纽约时报》，登在6月4日的头版，再从西方反馈到东德和苏联的其余民众。 (923)

    该讲话使共产党陷入混乱。苏联各地的党组织发生了激烈讨论，有些党员责怪领导人未能早说，其他党员批评赫鲁晓夫选了个尴尬的时机。1956年6月，中央委员会因担忧广大党员中的异议，发出一个秘密通告，要求当地党领导以清洗甚至监禁的方法，钳制越线的批判。 (924)

    在党外，无畏之士视赫鲁晓夫的讲话为讨论和质疑一切的信号，知识分子率先发言。毕业于莫斯科大学的柳德米拉·阿列克谢耶娃回忆：“苏共二十大结束了我们对苏维埃制度的暗自质疑。”她后来加入持不同政见者的群体，移居美国。

    青年男女开始克服内心的恐惧，分享各自的见解、信息、信仰、疑惑。每天晚上，我们聚在狭小的公寓里背诵诗歌，阅读“非官方”文章，交换各自的故事。这一切揭示了我们国家中发生的真实景况。 (925)

    对许多从古拉格归来的囚犯来说，赫鲁晓夫的讲话打消了他们的恐惧——现在，他们开始说出真相。拉丽莎·莱维娜回忆道：“苏共二十大是我们内心解冻的开始。”她的母亲季娜伊达1956年从流放地返回列宁格勒：

    关于她在劳改营的生活[1937到1946年在科雷马劳改营，1949到1953年在波特马劳改营]，母亲几乎一言不发……但苏共二十大之后，她终于开口。相互的交谈越多，我们思想的变化就越大——更持怀疑态度。我们之间的关系也有所改变——家人从母亲的恐惧中解脱出来，相互之间变得更加亲密。 (926)

    斯大林囚犯的子女一直背负“污点履历”的包袱，突然受到鼓舞，可以倾诉自己内心的不平。赫鲁晓夫的讲话传达给工人党员时，安吉丽娜·叶夫谢耶娃正在列宁格勒的兵工厂上班。有人预先通气，她设法不让党干部察觉，偷偷溜进去旁听。宣读结束时，安吉丽娜变得情绪激动，失声呜咽。她回忆：

    没人知道我失态的原委。我有完美的履历表，甚至当选为市苏维埃代表。没人知道我父亲1937年作为人民公敌被捕，我从没泄露给任何人。我总担心他们会查出我的秘密。我听到这个讲话时，觉得自己挣脱了这一恐惧。这就是我哭的原因，实在控制不住自己。从那以后，我开始倾诉过去的真相。 (927)

    利季娅·巴布什金娜的父亲枪决于1938年，在她看来，自己从父亲消失时就怀有的不公正之感，终于在赫鲁晓夫的讲话中得到了官方的确认。1956年之前，她太害怕，即使在母亲和外祖母的面前，也不敢谈论自己的感受。她们自己也对此讳莫如深，主要因为在兵工厂上班，担心自己的污点履历一旦暴露就会遭到解雇。有时，她们的沉默让利季娅父亲的清白产生怀疑。赫鲁晓夫的讲话之后，利季娅不再有如此的困惑。她鼓起勇气，不但向母亲打听父亲被捕一事，而且向同事诉说自己的感受。她在斯摩棱斯克附近一家服装厂工作，有一天晚上，她在工厂宿舍里告诉其他女孩，斯大林才是“真正的人民公敌”，因为他下令逮捕像她父亲那样的无辜公民。其他女孩害怕起来：“小声点，小声点，你这样讲话，他们会把你抓起来！”但利季娅不受劝阻：“让他们来吧。我会响亮、清楚地告诉他们，我只是在重复赫鲁晓夫所说的。让他们听听就会明白，这一切都是事实。” (928)

    但这样的言论仍属罕见。即使在1956年之后，绝大多数普通老百姓仍过于怯懦，他们对斯大林政权仍记忆犹新，不敢作出像利季娅那样的公开批评。对赫鲁晓夫解冻的普遍理解——是一个全国性辩论和政治探索的时期——很大程度上是由笔健的知识分子的回忆录所塑造的，几乎没有代表性。在城市知识分子当中，开放的交谈可能已成为规范，他们利用解冻来直面大恐怖的历史。但对苏维埃大众来说，对塑造他们生活的力量，一头雾水，一无所知，坚忍和沉默仍是应对过去的常见方式。

    1957年，奥萨镇的理发师亚历山德拉·法伊韦索维奇第一次向女儿伊拉伊达讲述自己的被捕，以及在阿尔汉格尔斯克附近的劳改营生活。其时，她仍羁留在劳改营附近。她刚刚收到的平反证书，让她有勇气向伊拉伊达倾诉自己的过去。伊拉伊达回忆她们的交谈：

    她告诉我，她已收到新护照[平反之后的]，她的入狱记录全被“抹掉”了，她是无辜的，因此可以开口。但她吐露的只是，我父亲入狱是因为“嘴快”[他被人听到在抱怨商品的短缺]……她入狱是因为他是她的丈夫。她还说，很多人死于劳改营——“他们像苍蝇一样一个个倒下死去”——他们生了病，得不到任何人的照料。“他们把我们当狗一样对待。”这是她所说的一切。

    季娜伊达·布舒耶娃（中）和女儿安吉丽娜、儿子斯拉瓦，1958年

    在之后的25年中，直到她1980年去世，亚历山德拉对自己的被捕和劳改营生涯，再也没向伊拉伊达吐露一个字。每当女儿提出疑问，她只会说：“我有了新护照。我是清白的。” (929)

    季娜伊达·布舒耶娃从来不提劳改营，没有告诉子女她自己或丈夫被捕时的细节。她丈夫枪决于1938年。即使在她生命的最后几年，即20世纪80年代后期，每当有人问起她的过去，季娜伊达就会提高警惕，自我防卫。安吉丽娜回忆：

    在我们家中，没人谈论母亲被捕的原因，或为什么没有父亲，这已是一个封闭的话题。苏共二十大后，我想了解更多，但妈妈总是说“知道得越少，活得越容易”，或是“知道得越多，老得越快”。她有许多这样的表达方式来打断对话。

    娜杰日达的父亲伊格纳蒂·马克西莫夫之墓，奔萨城，1994年

    据她的女儿说，季娜伊达对政治毫无兴趣，“决不允许自己牵涉其中”。她从劳改营带回的恐惧，促使她对苏维埃政权讲的一切，采取“无条件接受”的立场。她看到了宣传与现实之间的矛盾，亲身体验了政权的不公，但像千百万普通苏维埃公民一样，从未“认真反思”所观察到的现实。接受苏维埃的现实是一种应对机制，帮助她活了下来。 (930)

    娜杰日达·马克西莫夫年幼时对自己的家史一无所知。她的父亲是来自诺夫哥罗德地区的农民，曾在列宁格勒当木匠。20世纪20年代，他两次被捕，到1932年娜杰日达3岁时，他再一次被捕，与家人一起流放到阿尔汉格尔斯克。娜杰日达就在那里度过童年，但对家人为何生活在北极圈毫不知情。父亲在1938年又一次短暂入狱（娜杰日达以为他出差了），之后合家搬去奔萨城定居。1946年，娜杰日达入读列宁格勒医学院，后来成为医生。要到母亲去世前不久的1992年，娜杰日达才发现父亲曾多次被捕，以及他曾在监狱、劳改营、“特殊定居地”度过8年。她在报纸上看到父亲的名字，连同祖父和叔叔的名字。那是一份前政治犯的名单，在苏维埃政权崩溃之后获得了死后的平反。娜杰日达让母亲看这份名单，她起初的反应是：“都是陈谷子烂芝麻的事，还提它干嘛？”但在娜杰日达的坚持下，母亲披露了一切。父母本想保护她，不让她知道，她也就没有义务来坦白自己的污点履历。娜杰日达解释：

    我的一生，每次填写表格，在有否亲属受到镇压一栏，我总能填上“无”。我不知道父亲的事，所以问心无愧，毫无焦虑。如果我知道，又强迫自己撒谎，就会顾虑重重。我敢肯定，这就是我一直没遇上麻烦的原因。

    塔玛拉和母亲卡帕托莉娜，1948年

    她的父母即使在1956年之后仍保持沉默。他们仍然认为，把自己的过去告诉女儿，万一她又转述给朋友，万一政治环境骤变，那岂不太危险了！因此，如她自己所承认的，娜杰日达在63岁之前很少关注斯大林政权的受害者——未受大恐怖影响的其他苏维埃公民，毫无疑问也会有这种冷漠。反思自己在20世纪30年代和40年代的生活，娜杰日达回忆道：

    我听说过镇压，但没留下任何印象。例如，1946年，我们在奔萨地区的邻村发生了大规模逮捕，但不知何故，没来碰我们。我不理解，甚至也不想去弄懂到底发生了什么……今天，我发现很难解释得通——在这些事件发生的同时，自己的生活却自成轨迹，丝毫不受影响。不知怎的，我做到了避而远之。 (931)

    塔玛拉·特鲁比娜50多年没有找到父亲的下落。母亲卡帕托莉娜所能提供的是，他作为志愿工前往远东的建设工地，一去不返，销声匿迹了。1935年遇见工程师康斯坦丁时，卡帕托莉娜是个年轻的医生，受共青团的委派来到符拉迪沃斯托克附近的小镇苏城，在古拉格管理机构工作。而康斯坦丁是囚犯劳工，在附属于古拉格的建设工地上班。1938年，康斯坦丁被捕，卡帕托莉娜不清楚丈夫的下落，只知道他被送去远北建设托拉斯的某个劳改营，位于西伯利亚的东北部。卡帕托莉娜把年幼的塔玛拉留给在彼尔姆的母亲，自己返回科雷马劳改营，继续医生的工作。她与康斯坦丁的婚姻尚未登记，又继续使用娘家的姓氏，所以好几年得以隐瞒自己的污点履历。最终她工作部门的古拉格指挥官查出她与康斯坦丁的瓜葛，但劳改营的医生人手紧缺，遂决定为卡帕托莉娜保密。30年来，卡帕托莉娜继续在内务人民委员会和内务部担任医生，在1965年退休之前，最终晋升为克格勃医疗部门的上校。她一直怀抱希望，在科雷马劳改营巡回诊病时可能会找到康斯坦丁，或得到他的信息。她觉得，帮助像他那样的囚犯，如她所解释的，至少还可与失去的丈夫保持间接的联系。然而在1956年，她被告知真相：康斯坦丁已于1938年11月遭枪决。

    将近20年，卡帕托莉娜生活在持续的恐惧之中，担心自己的同事会发现她丈夫是“人民公敌”，甚至害怕与家人谈及康斯坦丁。因此，他已遭枪决的新信息——她视之为他可能犯了重罪的证据——使她性格更加孤僻，沉默寡言。尽管女儿询问得越来越频繁，她仍只字不提。塔玛拉回忆：

    妈妈从不提及父亲，但保留了他所有的来信[20世纪30年代的]，还有几份电报，只是从不让我看。她总是把谈话引向其他话题，只会说：“我不知道他做了什么。”最多再添上一句：“使他陷入困境的，也许是他的舌头。”

    塔玛拉的母亲死于1992年。之后，身为克格勃高级官员的舅舅，让塔玛拉写信给他在符拉迪沃斯托克的同事，询问有关康斯坦丁的信息。她收到的答复是，父亲属于一个“托派组织”，枪决于1938年，但没提及他在劳改营的监禁。于是，如同母亲所告诉她的，她仍认为康斯坦丁是一名奔赴远东的志愿工，他失宠于苏维埃当局只是1938年的事。2004年，塔玛拉在彼尔姆为本书接受采访时，才获悉整个故事的来龙去脉。她看到文件，证明父亲是古拉格一名长期囚犯，她起初仍拒绝相信，坚持认为其中有错。因为在心态上，她不愿把自己视为苏维埃制度的“受害者”。在现实中，她是个教师，享有成功的职业生涯，视自己为苏维埃机构的一员。塔玛拉承认，她也许应将自己的成功归功于母亲的沉默，如果她知道父亲的真相，可能会在争取前途时犹豫不决。 (932)

    在所有的极权主义社会，压抑自己的创痛记忆，已被广泛视作受迫害者的心理自卫。但在苏联，斯大林的受害者更有特殊的原因来忘却过去。例如，没人知道赫鲁晓夫的解冻能够持续多久，很快回到镇压也有可能。事实上，解冻是短暂和有限的。在整个赫鲁晓夫时期，现政权让大家明白，对斯大林迫害的讨论不可导向对整个苏维埃制度的批评。即使在20世纪60年代初，即赫鲁晓夫解冻的高潮期——其时，斯大林的遗体被从列宁陵墓移出；像卡冈诺维奇、莫洛托夫、马林科夫那样的斯大林强硬派，被开除党籍；索尔仁尼琴有关古拉格的《伊凡·杰尼索维奇的一天》（1962年）的出版，使对斯大林政权的评价发生了根本变化——对数百万已死或遭到迫害的人士，仍然没有官方的承认、公共纪念碑、政府道歉及适当的赔偿。就是对受迫害者的平反，也进行得非常勉强。

    1964年，列昂尼德·勃列日涅夫取代了赫鲁晓夫，解冻时期的相对宽松戛然而止，审查制度变严。在苏维埃胜利20周年之际，斯大林作为“伟大的战争领袖”的荣誉得到恢复，独裁者的半身塑像又出现于克里姆林宫墙附近的他的坟墓旁。1966年2月，地下出版物作家尤里·丹尼尔和安德烈·西尼亚夫斯基，上了做秀审判的被告席。为此而组织起来的抗议，催生了“持不同政见者”运动，却受到了勃列日涅夫的钳制。向异见分子发起新的迫害，是阻止讨论斯大林罪行的强大威慑。数以百万计的人对斯大林政权记忆犹新，本有可能认真评判苏维埃制度，如今只能按兵不动。他们害怕给人留下自己同情异见分子的印象，而后者一再谈及斯大林的罪行，变成了反对勃列日涅夫政权的另一种形式。人们再一次压制自己的记忆——拒绝谈论过去——在表面上加入苏维埃忠诚而沉默的大多数。

    在斯大林的前囚犯当中，再次被捕的威胁确实存在，这足以保证1956年之后几十年的噤声。大恐怖的结束可能拔掉了克格勃的獠牙，但它仍有诸多严酷的惩罚手段，其无处不在的监控能力，更给敢想敢说敢做的人带来恐惧，因为他们的行事方式随时可被视作反苏维埃。

    伊娜·盖斯特1977年在莫斯科的茨韦特梅塔夫托马蒂卡实验室担任工程师，她接到克格勃特工的电话，请她去卢比扬卡。伊娜回忆：“不用说，我开始全身发抖，脑筋也完全不好使了。”她立刻回想起自己在1949年4月的被捕，当时她在莫斯科大学作论文答辩，也以类似的方式受到传唤。她还想起妹妹在1949年6月的被捕，以及1937年自己12岁时父母被捕的景况。伊娜随即回答，她恰好在做实验，不能马上就去。克格勃官员告诉她，将在半小时后再来电话。伊娜马上疯狂地打电话给朋友，一是要警告他们，他们可能也会受到传唤，二是万一她回不了家，好让他们知道她去了哪里。克格勃的电话又响了，但伊娜仍拒绝去卢比扬卡。因此，该官员开始在电话上问起她与列夫·科佩列夫的交往。科佩列夫是古拉格前囚犯、异见分子、作家，很快将被苏联政府驱逐出境。科佩列夫认识数百名莫斯科人，伊娜只是其中之一，他还在她的房子里开过朗诵会。不知何故，克格勃发现此事，也许窃听了她的电话，更可能是朗诵会中混有举报人。伊娜吓坏了，接下来的几天中，随时准备被捕。她担心克格勃的搜查，将保存在自己公寓的异见分子的文学作品统统扔掉，也取消了新的朗诵会。伊娜没有被捕，这起事件并无进一步的发展。但这个电话激起了她痛苦的回忆，所留下的焦虑和恐惧搅扰她多年。伊娜反思：“我的一生，一直挣扎于这种恐惧之中，总是很怕。”恫吓她的到底是什么，很难说。她解释：“这不是具体的东西，更像是一种自卑，一种模糊的缺陷。”

    斯大林的前囚犯广泛带有这种焦虑。季娜伊达·布舒耶娃就生活在不断的焦虑之中，甚至在20世纪60年代和70年代，依然一直担心自己再次被捕。直到1981年，她收到新护照，上面没有她曾在劳改营的标记，她的恐惧才开始退却。即便如此，据她女儿所说，她“一生都在担忧恐怖的回潮，直到她死去那天”。玛丽亚·维特克维奇1945年被捕，在诺里尔斯克劳改营待了10年，迄今仍然害怕。她解释说：“我无法摆脱恐惧。”

    我成年后一直深感恐惧，现在[2004年]会感受到，临死那天也会感受到。即使现在，恐怕还有人在跟踪我。50年前我获得平反，我没做过任何丑事。宪法说，他们不能干涉我的私生活，但我还是害怕。我知道他们有足够的资料可以把我再次带走。

    斯韦特兰娜·布龙施泰因1952年被判刑10年，在维亚特卡劳改营度过3年，1955年获释，迄今仍会做关于劳改营的噩梦。她如有精力填写文件、在美国大使馆门口排长队，早就会尝试移居美国。她相信她的恐惧会在那里消失。

    斯大林的大多数受害者遭受威胁，被迫沉寂，坚忍地压抑自己伤痕累累的记忆和情感。瓦尔拉姆·沙拉莫夫在《科雷马故事》中写道：“人们用遗忘的本事来谋求生存。”曾吃尽苦头的人不愿谈论自己的生活，很少哭泣。伊娜·盖斯特深思道：“迄至今日，我都不会哭泣。斯大林的时代，大家都不哭。从那时起，我的内心一直保留禁止自己哭泣的决心。”

    这种坚忍引起众多历史学家的注意。英国历史学家凯瑟琳·梅里戴尔在有关苏俄的死亡和记忆的书中提到，俄罗斯人已习惯于压抑自己的情感，避而不谈身受的苦难——不是无意识的回避（否认），而是有意识的战略或应对机制——人们可能会思忖：“心理创伤的概念真与俄罗斯人的大脑毫不相干，只是外来的异想天开，就像进口机器，一遇上西伯利亚的严冬酷寒就会失灵。”

    精神病学认为，开口说话对创伤的受害者颇有疗效，而受到压抑的情绪只会延续创伤、愤怒和恐惧。 沉默持续得越久，这些受害者越有可能觉得自己已被秘而不宣的记忆围困了，压垮了。坚忍可能有助于人们的生存，但也会使他们被动认命。造就一个坚忍、被动已成规范的社会，就是斯大林的持久成就。

    在坚忍或认命方面，没人能超过尼古拉·利列耶夫。尼古拉出生于1921年，18岁被红军征召入伍，1941年当了德军俘虏；作为囚犯，他先在爱沙尼亚的一个农场工作，后来又进过德国各个矿区和工厂。1945年，尼古拉返回苏联，被捕后获刑10年，被送去科米劳改营。尼古拉1955年获释，但不准回到家乡列宁格勒，于是定居于卢加，直到1964年。他在2002年写下回忆录《不幸者活不下去》，以下面这段开场白拉开序幕。他坚称，其中没有丝毫的讽刺和黑色幽默：

    我一直非常幸运，特别在我人生的困难时期。我很幸运，父亲没有被捕；学校教师待我不错；没有参与芬兰战争；从未中弹；铁窗生涯中最艰难的一年是在爱沙尼亚度过的；没有死于在德国挖矿；被苏维埃当局逮捕时，没因当逃兵而遭到枪决；审讯时没受酷刑；没有死在前往劳改营的押送队列中，尽管我身高1.8米，体重只有48公斤；我在苏维埃劳改营时，古拉格恐怖已在减少。我不因自己的经历而感到辛酸，我已学会接受既有的生活。

    二

    1956年，西蒙诺夫与女演员瓦伦蒂娜·谢罗娃离婚，娶了第4任妻子拉丽莎·扎多娃——当时已怀了他的孩子。拉丽莎是艺术史学者，其父亲是苏维埃陆军司令部的第二把手。她嫁给第一任丈夫、诗人谢苗·格鲁津科时，父亲就曾大发雷霆；谢苗死于1953年。当她宣布将嫁给西蒙诺夫时，父亲扬言要把她和她的3岁女儿逐出家门（“一个诗人还不够吗？”）。拉丽莎是个认真严肃的女人，与瓦伦蒂娜相比，比较冷静。她负责西蒙诺夫的私人生活，成为他的亲密伴侣，但激发不出他的浪漫诗兴。 (939) 也许，他现在只想追求生活中的秩序和宁静。

    与瓦伦蒂娜的分手，像西蒙诺夫与她的其他关系一样，动荡不定，风起云涌。他们的女儿玛莎（玛丽亚）出生于1950年，之后，两人的关系开始分崩离析。向来是借酒浇愁的瓦伦蒂娜，已变成慢性的酒精中毒者，她的美貌褪色，她的剧场生涯持续低落。她在马里剧院招惹的一系列丑闻，数次受到当局的训斥，最后在1952年被解雇。瓦伦蒂娜的行为让西蒙诺夫颇为尴尬，他当时在反犹太人运动中，正承受斯大林强硬派愈益增强的压力。西蒙诺夫与瓦伦蒂娜不断争吵，她的酗酒和火暴脾气更加厉害，因为她觉得他正在准备离她而去。1954年，他搬出高尔基大街的公寓，瓦伦蒂娜已知道他与拉丽莎的交往。为了挽救婚姻，西蒙诺夫在莫斯科苏维埃剧院，为瓦伦蒂娜觅得一出戏的主要角色，并承诺如果她能“振作起来”，他会回到她的身边。但瓦伦蒂娜已做不到这一点，他也肯定清楚。她是病人，需要帮助。

    1956年的春天，西蒙诺夫终于决定与瓦伦蒂娜离婚，因为拉丽莎告诉他，她怀了孕。他如果拒绝与她结婚，就会承受另一桩丑闻，但瓦伦蒂娜不想离婚。像他们的许多朋友一样，她认为自己在最需要支持的时候，却遭到丈夫的背弃。这也许并不公平。在苏联，对酒精中毒的了解甚少，酗酒往往被称作俄罗斯民族性格的一部分。如果没有医学上的治疗，西蒙诺夫根本帮不上忙。瓦伦蒂娜陷入绝望，喝得更凶，结果只好住院。恰好在此时，离婚获得法律的批准，瓦伦蒂娜因此而精神崩溃。在随后的4年中，她5次被迫住入精神病医院。这一阶段的大部分时间，玛莎只好与瓦伦蒂娜的母亲住一起。这位小女孩因酗酒的母亲和父亲的缺失而深受困扰。 (940)

    1960年，瓦伦蒂娜所住医院的精神科主治医生季娜伊达·辛克维奇写信给西蒙诺夫，指责他造成了瓦伦蒂娜的精神崩溃：

    瓦伦蒂娜·瓦西列夫娜将自己完全奉献给了你……她人生的方方面面都在你的手中——她作为女人的自尊、她作为戏剧和电影演员的事业、她的成功和名利、她的家人和朋友、她的孩子、她的物质财富……然后你出走了。你的离去摧毁了一切！她失去所有的信心、她与剧场和电影界的关系、她的朋友和家人、她的自尊……酒是她唯一拥有的，唯一可依靠的，但没有你，却成了对现实的逃避。

    西蒙诺夫在1969年回顾这些事件，在写给卡蒂娅（拉丽莎第一次婚姻的16岁女儿，自1956年以后一直与西蒙诺夫一起生活）的信中承认，与瓦伦蒂娜离婚时，他对酗酒的妻子已“没有一丝一毫的尊重，更不用说友谊了”，他唯一的“遗憾”是没在“多年之前”就离她而去，为此只能责备自己。 (941)

    西蒙诺夫始终拥有这种冷酷和理性的能力，如果自己不赞成某人，或核算下来某人已没有用处，就会将其人逐出他的生活。20世纪30年代和40年代，政治忠诚被认为高于个人忠诚，西蒙诺夫曾切断许多关系。出于这个原因，1956年之后，他的苦心钻营反过来困扰他时，他的身边也无亲密的朋友。也许这表明，在公众生活中充当斯大林主义者，又不让该制度的道德伦理影响个人关系，无疑是在缘木求鱼。

    西蒙诺夫离婚后，有意识地在生活中铲除一切与瓦伦蒂娜的关联——尽管他在金钱上继续帮她，直到她1975年去世。他买了新公寓和乡间别墅，把女儿玛莎排除在其他家人之外，遇上生日聚会、家庭纪念日、读书会或电影酒会，从不邀请她参加。他在1969年写信给卡蒂娅，解释为何她与玛莎最好各奔前程，因为卡蒂娅要求知道为何她不能与玛莎见面。 [1]

    今有一名19岁女孩[玛莎]，由母亲带大，其习以为常的看法和规则，与我的大相径庭——因此，她虽有我的姓，但在精神上却同外人一般。我并不把她当做我生活的一部分。多年来，我倾注很多的时间和精力，确保她基本上有个正常生活。这几乎是无法完成的任务，因为她与母亲一起生活。后者20多年来酗酒成性，治愈了再喝，喝了再治。

    我从没想要你去认识这个女孩，或跟她见面，或者与她发生任何关系，因为这会使得她和你都很不愉快。我并不认为你现在有理由去认识她，你俩都不需要。生活中会有作出困难决定的时候，一个人必须承担责任，做他认为是正确的，而不是把负担转嫁给他人。 (942)

    要到20世纪70年代，西蒙诺夫对玛莎的态度才开始软化，之后，她才现身于各式家庭活动。

    对西蒙诺夫来说，与拉丽莎的婚姻和他们的女儿亚历山德拉的出生，意味着新生活的开始。西蒙诺夫1957年3月写信给儿子阿列克谢说：“至于你的妹妹，她今天已出世8周了。”

    她正在褪去暗色，慢慢变得红润起来——我们对她的期望是：她会很坚强，对生活有健全的认知；她会以一个人应该的方式走路、吃饭、说话——总之，她会有所成就并具备良好的品行。

    他的家庭幸福正值赫鲁晓夫的解冻时期。对西蒙诺夫来说，1956年的变更代表一种精神解脱，尽管一开始他对否定斯大林仍有保留意见。阿列克谢回忆，1956年后：

    父亲变得更加轻松愉快，不再因工作而不堪重负、压力重重。他的双手一直患有神经性皮肤病，我从小就记得，现在得以恢复正常。政治上的解冻似乎融化了他的心，他对亲近的人更加周到热情，因此开启了新生。 (943)

    1957年8月，拉斯金一家在莫斯科一个餐厅设宴庆祝塞缪尔和贝尔塔的金婚纪念日。庆祝活动是塞缪尔的侄子鲍里斯·拉斯金安排的，他是一个著名的幽默讽刺作家。打印出来的请帖和餐厅里的装饰，都是嘲讽性的苏维埃宣传口号，譬如“50年的幸福——轻而易举的负担！”“你们的家庭联盟是一所共产主义大学校！”西蒙诺夫虽不赞成嘲弄苏维埃政权的笑话，但也参与了庆祝活动，还分担了费用。1956年之后，西蒙诺夫改善了与拉斯金一家的关系。他与热尼娅保持朋友关系，向她提供经济上的帮助，并常听取她在文学事务上的意见。西蒙诺夫还把经手的诗歌和散文的稿件，转送给时任解冻期刊《莫斯科》编辑的热尼娅，以推进她的职业生涯。 [2] 西蒙诺夫对前妻的关注，可能有内疚的因素。他逐渐接受解冻精神，如果将自己在苏维埃文学界的作用与热尼娅的相比——她帮助发表异见作家的作品，是地下出版物的无畏拥护者——肯定会在道德上感到困扰。1964年的一个晚上，家人和朋友聚在莫斯科北部的机场地铁站附近热尼娅的新公寓，为她庆祝50岁寿辰，有些作家朗诵了特地为她而作的诗歌。现场的氛围是温暖幽默的，充满了对热尼娅的爱戴。西蒙诺夫作了一次尴尬的发言，拖沓冗长；面对一屋子钦佩她的道德勇气、宽宏大度、舍身相助的作家，他明显变得颇不自在。7岁的女儿亚历山德拉反成了他的救星，她走进房间，朝西蒙诺夫奔来。他一把抓住她，叫她“赶快祝贺热尼娅阿姨”。亚历山德拉接过麦克风：“亲爱的热尼娅阿姨，50岁生日快乐，快叫阿廖沙[阿列克谢]剃掉胡子！” (944)

    就阿列克谢而言，解冻标志了自己与西蒙诺夫的新关系的开始。1956年，16岁男孩写信给父亲，谈到以往的隔阂（他与瓦伦蒂娜住一起时），并希望将来能走得更近：

    我信任你，不只是把你当做父亲，也当做优秀、睿智、值得尊敬的老朋友。这种信念是我力量的源泉，而且，假如能帮到你，哪怕只有一点点，我也会很高兴。请记住，你的儿子虽然很年轻，也不强壮，但会永远支持你……我们很少谈及你的私生活——我想只有一次……在你的房子里，我从来没有自由自在的感觉——并没有明显的原因。只是，如果你“外出”，有些谈话我就觉得很难应对。如果你不在，我就避免上你家。我与玛莎的关系也很麻烦——我不能把她当做妹妹……现在，这都无关紧要了。我觉得，事情会有所不同。你变得更加平和，更加愉快，这太好了。我相信，我会成为你新妻子的朋友——她给我的感觉已经很好，我们将变得更加亲密。父亲，我在你的屋子里，将不再是一个客人。 (945)

    1956年夏天，16岁的阿列克谢完成了学业，在父亲的鼓励下，他加入科学考察团，前往西伯利亚东部的雅库茨克地区。就阿列克谢而言，远征是为了证明自己已是个男子汉。父亲曾在相仿的年纪离开学校，开始在工厂上班，这成了他的榜样。阿列克谢在第一封给母亲的家书中写道：“告诉爸爸，我不会让他失望的。”他在给父亲的信中，将自己的远征比作第一个五年计划时父亲在工厂的“人生大学”。西蒙诺夫的回信送来阿列克谢之前从未见过的温情和随意。西蒙诺夫在阿列克谢一生都会珍惜的一封信中写道：

    在这类信件中，父亲通常会给儿子忠告。一般来讲，我并不想这样做——但在你冬季远征之前，我确有一条忠告。毫无疑问，你可能听说过，或从我相关的写作中想象得到，我在战争期间并不怯懦。这里是我想要对你说的：根据我对人类尊严的理解，以及自己作为男人的骄傲，我做了自己应做的。但请记住，如果你现在满意于拥有一个鲜蹦活跳的父亲，而不只是一块墓碑或某种回忆，那是因为我从不冒愚蠢的风险。在所有真正危险的情况下，我从不逃离，但我非常仔细、克制、小心。你应该很清楚，我为何告诉你这一点……

    现在，我的朋友，我必须赶去作家协会，告诉年轻作家该写什么，不该写什么——同时，你可帮我添加脱漏的标点，改正我的语法错误。好吗？

    吻你，我可爱的小子，捏你的小爪子。父亲。1956年8月31日。 (946)

    阿列克谢和康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫，1967年

    9月，西蒙诺夫在雅库茨克地区与阿列克谢团聚了三天，享受原始环境和远征队的同志友情，使他忆起自己在战争时期的生活（热尼娅向阿列克谢解释：“他非常高兴，因为他仍可背上背包，踏上征途”）。人生中第一次，他与儿子一起坐在篝火旁，边喝酒边谈自己的生活、对政治的见解、对未来的憧憬。西蒙诺夫在文学界感到孤独，反而在儿子身上，找到了一个知己和忠实支持者。热尼娅遇见归来的西蒙诺夫后，写信给阿列克谢：“他对你的各方面都洋洋得意，满意你的成长，无论是体格上，还是精神上。他还满意伙伴们对你的评价看法。”至于阿列克谢，他从没见过父亲如此开心和兴奋：“他滔滔不绝地谈苏共二十大、他的新家庭、他的女儿、他的新房子、他的新小说《生者与死者》。在他看来，他完全可以脱胎换骨，过全新的生活。”在雅库茨克地区的三天中，阿列克谢爱上了西蒙诺夫。这些年来想象的父亲终于成为现实，与父亲的新关系更给自己带来了独立和成熟，自己也取得了蒸蒸日上的发展。他从雅库茨克地区给西蒙诺夫写信，解释自己对文学和人生的看法，并以成人的口吻征询父亲的意见。他在1957年2月写道：“我对将临的见面满怀期待，我有这么多东西要告诉你、询问你，光靠写信是不够的。” (947)

    但阿列克谢与父亲的亲近关系持续时间很短。他们在雅库茨克地区取得的亲密无间，无法在莫斯科重演，西蒙诺夫根本就没时间，把父子隔开的是政治。解冻的民主精神征服了阿列克谢，但他的父亲即使不算全然反对，也仍持怀疑态度。阿列克谢太年轻，在政治上太不成熟，以致无法对父亲的政治观念提出清晰的反对意见。例如，克里姆林宫在1956年血腥镇压匈牙利起义时，他便没有什么真正的思考，他的父亲则支持派遣坦克，去镇压布达佩斯的反苏示威。然而，阿列克谢怀抱潜在的抗议意识，也许与拉斯金家庭的历史有关。阿列克谢在1956年申请第一本护照，在每个苏维埃公民都要填写的民族一栏上，尽管有资格填报父系的俄罗斯人，他却决意要用母系的“犹太人”，这将使他的生活变得非常困难。多亏了拉斯金家人协调一致的努力——尤其是塞缪尔和贝尔塔的坚持——才劝服他打消这个念头。在阿列克谢看来，认同自己的犹太出身是持不同政见的自觉行为，故意扬弃苏维埃政权的价值观。他在其他事物上的见解，也流露出同样的态度。他厌恶共青团的虚假和伪善，深受杜金采夫《不是单靠面包》打动，那是一部猛烈攻击苏维埃官场的小说。阿列克谢还写信给作者，直言那是天才作品，又是苏联政治改革所急需的。他的信尾签名用了继祖父的姓（“阿列克谢·伊万尼谢夫”），而不是父亲的姓，以免牵涉父亲。西蒙诺夫批评该小说容易引发反苏维埃情绪，在它于《新世界》发表之前，迫使杜金采夫缓和了对官僚主义的攻击。对解冻的改革派精神，西蒙诺夫的谨慎态度远远超过儿子。1957年2月，他写信给阿列克谢：“如果往后退一步，看看我们的国家和人们的精神面貌，可以毫不夸张地说，自1953年以来，我们已取得巨大进步。但是，如果有作家认为，有责任挑起不必要的叛乱，那我对他没有任何的同情。” (948)

    西蒙诺夫自己的去斯大林化，进展得十分缓慢。苏共二十大的真相披露，使他既兴奋又震撼，过了好长一段时间才予以接受。对于西蒙诺夫而言，斯大林政权的道德考验在于其在战争中的表现。他在创作伟大的战争小说《生者与死者》（1959年）时，就开始面对战争所提出的道德问题，即该政权对生命的肆意糟蹋。这部小说涉及许多从未见于公众讨论的问题：大恐怖对军事指挥的巨大破坏，战争初期席卷苏联的混乱和困惑，互不信任的气氛，不称职军官白白牺牲了众多生命等。西蒙诺夫凭借自己的日记和战争记忆，通过一系列生动场景重现战争历史，其中的官兵面对各种障碍，想方设法应付突发事件，以履行自己的职责。他展现了人们因战争经验而改变，在敌人面前变得更加坚强团结，暗示这种个人精神就是苏维埃胜利的根本原因。以前，西蒙诺夫一直把斯大林的领导当做战争的关键因素。但在《生者与死者》中，他开始重新评估斯大林的作用，逐渐转向民粹主义的观念——他将在生命的最后岁月作进一步的阐述——赢得战争的是苏维埃人民，尽管有斯大林的欠缺，仍然完成了这一艰巨任务。如西蒙诺夫所揭示的，斯大林在军界的腥风血雨，造成了混乱和不信任，直接导致了1941年的军事灾难；像他小说中主人公那样的普通人，却以爱国主义精神和主观能动性，扭转乾坤，转败为胜。西蒙诺夫曾在日记中触及这一类想法，那些从1941到1945年的日记，充满了对战争的观察。1953年之前，他也与朋友讨论过，包括作家拉扎尔·拉扎列夫。但西蒙诺夫1960年在伏龙芝军事学院的文学之夜承认，他“缺乏足够的公民勇气，不敢在斯大林在世时公布这些想法”。 (949)

    对斯大林，西蒙诺夫一生都有一种感情依附。他自己的历史和身份，与斯大林政权紧密相连，以致无法彻底否定斯大林的遗产。出于这个原因，西蒙诺夫也无法全心全意地拥护赫鲁晓夫的解冻——在他眼中，这似乎是对斯大林的背叛，不管是作为个人还是作为领袖，同样也是对自己过去的背叛。他无法否定自己，也就无法否定斯大林。即使在赫鲁晓夫解冻的高潮，西蒙诺夫仍坚持斯大林专政的多项教条。1956年的匈牙利危机中，他就坚持强硬派立场。西蒙诺夫1957年从加尔各答写信给阿列克谢说：“数千人丧生于匈牙利事件，但英国在印巴分治中洒下更多鲜血，而且不是为了人民的利益[西蒙诺夫认为，这是苏维埃在布达佩斯采取行动的动机]，而是为了挑起宗教仇恨和叛乱。” (950)

    1956年之后，西蒙诺夫在自由改革派的眼中，是一名顽固守旧的斯大林主义者，但在顽固斯大林主义者的眼中，又是一名危险的自由主义者。但实际上，在整个赫鲁晓夫时期，他只是一名温和的保守派。他承认斯大林的错误，看到适度的政治改革的必要，但他继续捍卫斯大林在20世纪30年代和40年代创建的苏维埃制度，视之为人类进步的唯一坚实基础。他在给阿列克谢的信中说：“我们在通向共产主义的道路上犯了错误，但在承认错误的同时，不应动摇我们的信念：我们的共产主义原则仍是正确的。” (951)

    勃列日涅夫在1964年上台，西蒙诺夫温和的保守主义获得了官方的青睐。赫鲁晓夫的去斯大林化政策逐步被逆转，克里姆林宫反对任何真正的政治改革，不管是在苏联，还是在华沙条约组织国家。从20世纪60年代中期起，西蒙诺夫成为苏维埃文学当权派中的元老。他的著作获得广泛出版，并在苏维埃学校和大学中列作标准的课外读物。他经常出现于苏维埃媒体，并作为苏维埃文学的官方代表而周游世界。即使以苏维埃精英的标准看，他都是在享受特权生活。

    1970年5月9日，即苏维埃1945年胜利的25周年，西蒙诺夫接受《社会主义工业报》的记者采访，澄清自己对战争结束以来苏维埃历史的立场：

    我花了很多时间学习伟大的卫国战争的历史。我现在所知道的大大超过我在战争刚结束时所了解的。当然，我的理解也发生了很多变化。但我的主要感觉是，我们当年的事业是正义的。今天，你周游全国看到各地的建设，看到已完成的和正在做的，就会有这种感觉。在战争中，条件非常艰苦，许多人丧失生命，我们的人民承担了必须作出的牺牲。假如他们在那个艰难奋斗中失败了，我们的国家就不会是今天的模样，就不会有其他的社会主义国家，就不会有反殖民统治、争取独立和自由的世界斗争。所有这一切，之所以成为可能，全靠我们的胜利。 (952)

    对西蒙诺夫那一代人来说，战争是他们人生中具有决定性的事件。他们大约出生于1917年大革命时代，在20世纪30年代渐趋成年，基本价值观全由斯大林政权所塑成，在勃列日涅夫时代陆续退休。到20世纪60年代和70年代，他们怀念战争年代，视之为自己青春时代的顶峰。那时讲的是同志友爱、同甘苦共患难；那时的“人品变得更好”，因为大家必须互助互信；那时的生命有更大的目标和意义，因为在他们眼中，国家的命运似乎取决于他们对战争的个人贡献。这些老兵把战争岁月当做齐心协力取得伟大成就的时期，大家都为胜利作出巨大牺牲。他们回顾1945年，视之为苏维埃历史和记忆中几近神圣的时空存在，借用老兵兼作家康德拉季耶夫的话即是：

    对于我们这一代人而言，毫无疑问，战争是我们人生中最重要的事件。这也是我们今天的认识。因此，我们不愿以任何方式来贬低我们的人民在那可怕、艰苦、难忘的岁月中的伟大成就。我们对所有阵亡的士兵的记忆如此神圣，我们的爱国情怀如此纯洁、如此深沉。 (953)

    俄罗斯母亲雕像，是马马耶夫库尔干战争纪念馆的一部分，位于伏尔加格勒

    纪念伟大的卫国战争，等于在向世人提醒苏维埃制度的成功。在忠诚公民的眼中，包括西蒙诺夫，1945年的胜利使苏维埃政权和1917年之后的一切变得合情合理。但大众对战争的记忆——被当做人民战争——又代表了对苏维埃专政的潜在挑战。战争恰恰又是“自发的去斯大林化”时期，它不同于其他时期，苏维埃人民被迫为自己的行动负责，自发组织起来投入战争，往往没有高效的领导，或党的掌控。正如战后政权所担心的，这种自由和自主的集体记忆如果引发政治改革的思想，就会造成危险的局面。

    许多年来，战争的记忆一直在苏维埃政权的公众文化中遭到淡化。1965年之前，胜利纪念日甚至不是苏维埃的法定节日，只是听由退伍军人团体自行操办庆祝活动和游行。政府严格审查有关战争的出版物，在政治上控制战争小说， [3] 并从公共图书馆撤走战时报纸。1956年之后，对战争回忆的管控得到部分放宽，二战老兵的回忆录出现于出版物中。年轻时曾参与战争的作家纷纷发表往事回忆和小说，以自身经验来描绘现实中的士兵——通常被称为“战壕中的真相”——成为政治宣传版本的道德制衡。 [4] 但这些出版物已处在赫鲁晓夫解冻允许的边缘：党愿意将军事挫折归咎于斯大林，但不允许对官方叙事的挑战；仍坚持认为，共产党的纪律和领导是胜利的保证。1962年，政治局的意识形态主管者米哈伊尔·苏斯洛夫告诉格罗斯曼，其战争小说《生存与命运》的出版至少还要等200年（它最终于1988年在俄罗斯首次出版）。那部小说的原稿送交《旗帜》杂志后，即受到了克格勃的截获。

    勃列日涅夫政权对战争记忆实施更加严密的控制，利用苏维埃的胜利纪念日来展示人民的忠诚和政权自身的合法性。1965年，胜利纪念日成为苏维埃的法定节日，党的全体领导出席排场讲究的庆祝活动，亮点是红场上的阅兵式。新的武装力量博物馆开幕，浩如烟海的展示品将战争记忆提高到崇拜的水平。两年后，克里姆林宫墙的附近建起无名战士墓，迅速成为苏维埃国家的圣地，苏维埃的新郎新娘都会例行到此致敬。伏尔加格勒（以前的斯大林格勒）完成于1967年的哀悼纪念场地上，站立着一座巨大的俄罗斯母亲雕像，手持宝剑，身高52米，是世界上最高的。正是在这一时期，不断重复的“两千万人死亡”进入苏维埃的政治宣传，成为救世主一般的象征，诠释苏联为解放全世界所付出的无可比拟的牺牲。

    西蒙诺夫自己曾是一名军人，亲眼目睹过太多的战争现实，无意参与对公共记忆的操纵。对战争的意义和苏维埃胜利的原因，他已思考多年，这种思索更成了他对斯大林和苏维埃制度的道德反思：耗费这么多生命来赢得战争是否合理？鞭策人们坚持到胜利的到底是强力，抑或是更深层的东西，即与政治无关的爱国主义精神或坚忍耐力？西蒙诺夫在人生的最后10年，广泛收集士兵的回忆录和证词，到逝世时的1979年，已积累大量回忆录、书信和几千小时的录音采访。 [5] 其中许多证词用于“七个章节的诗意电影”《大兵出走》（A Soldier Went，1975年），每一篇章反映士兵经验的不同侧面，对士兵的采访和西蒙诺夫的作品朗诵交替出现。在某种程度上，这在当时是非常了不起的。战争的恐怖与士兵的痛苦，在电影中变成了活生生的东西。那些士兵被描绘为普通人，在最困难的情况下表现出勇气和韧性。该电影的最长章节之一阐述了士兵的受伤，其中有一名步兵，受伤7次，仍继续朝柏林挺进。这部电影是献给普通军人的——数百万受到忽视的无名英雄，以勇气和耐力赢得了苏维埃的胜利——它出自一名作家之手，其战争著作往往采取军官的视角。据该影片的导演玛琳娜·巴巴克（西蒙诺夫当时的情人）说，西蒙诺夫这一尊崇行为带有强烈的个人动机，因为“西蒙诺夫认为，自己在生活中从没表现出足够的勇气”。巴巴克回忆：“西蒙诺夫坚持，他自己不应在电影中出现。他还说，自己不配站在一名士兵的旁边。” (954)

    这部电影还是遇上了麻烦，军方对其中坚韧不拔的现实主义和民粹主义的战争理念，均不以为然（审查员坚持增加一个篇章，以献给作为战争领袖的勃列日涅夫）。勃列日涅夫的领导班子认为，所有纪念人民在战争中受苦受难的尝试，都是对政府的挑战。从20世纪60年代中期开始，西蒙诺夫的许多战争著作，或被禁止出版，或以删减后的版本出现。他始于1941年的战争日记，成书为《战中百日》（A Hundred Days of War），计划在1967年出版，尽管向党领导发出了个人请求，仍得不到苏维埃审查员的批准（该书最终出版于1999年）。同样的命运降临于西蒙诺夫的另外一部文集，关于朱可夫及其1941至1945年的战争日记——《战争中的不同时日》（Various Days of War），大幅削减后才于1977年出版。 (955) 他的纪录片《如果你珍惜自己的房子》（If Your House Is Dear to You），经受了与审查员的长期斗争和大刀阔斧的删减，才于1966年问世。而他的小说《军人不是天生的》（1964年），即《生者与死者》的第二部，其电影版遭到苏维埃审查员如此拙劣的阉割，以致西蒙诺夫在最终版本中撤下了自己的小说原名和作者署名。1967年，该影片上映时改名为《惩罚》（Retribution）。

    与审查员的斗争，更使西蒙诺夫下定决心要找出战争和斯大林政权的真相。从这时起，他的笔记本充满了与斯大林见面的回忆。他自我审问，跻身于这位独裁者的侍从行列时，自己对斯大林的罪行究竟知道多少，不知道（或不想知道）多少。他对斯大林的谎言和谋杀了解得越多，就越想与自己的过去划清界限。西蒙诺夫于1966年写道：“曾经有一段时间，我虽有疑问，但仍热爱斯大林。时至今日，明白了我所知道的一切，我既不爱他，也不能再爱他。如果我早已知道我现在才明白的，我当时就不会爱他。” (956)

    西蒙诺夫在生命的最后几年，愈益懊悔自己在斯大林政权中的所作所为。他仿佛在赎罪，尽力推介在斯大林时代受审查或迫害的作家和艺术家的作品。西蒙诺夫受妻子的鼓励，成为苏维埃前卫艺术的收藏家和拥护者（他为长期被遗忘的艺术家弗拉基米尔·塔特林，举办了回顾展览会）。他在争取出版奥西普·曼德尔施塔姆、科尔涅伊·丘科夫斯基、弗谢沃洛德·伊万诺夫的作品中，发挥了主导作用，还努力策划了雅洛斯拉夫·哈谢克的《好兵帅克》的俄文翻译。他资助曾遭受迫害的作家——包括博尔切戈夫斯基、维拉·帕诺娃、娜杰日达·曼德尔施塔姆——并在住房、就业、重新加入作家协会等方面，仗义执言。 (957)

    1966年，西蒙诺夫开启一个过程，其顶点便是《大师与玛格丽特》一书的发表。它是米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫颠覆性的社会讽刺杰作，描述一个魔鬼来到莫斯科，通过无政府式的恶作剧，引出人们身上最恶劣的本性。它在斯大林活着时根本无法出版，1940年作者去世，之后一直藏匿于抽屉中。1956年，西蒙诺夫成为负责布尔加科夫文学遗产的委员会主席，因为作者的遗孀艾莱娜·布尔加科娃是自己母亲的老相识。西蒙诺夫将《大师与玛格丽特》的手稿，交给热尼娅·拉斯金娜。其时，她任职于《莫斯科》杂志，需要激动人心的文章来增加订户数量（直接影响到该杂志的地位和财政补贴）。文学解冻之后，《莫斯科》已变成一份相当沉闷的出版物。但热尼娅能否让此书通过正在收紧的审查，西蒙诺夫深表怀疑，甚至建议艾莱娜·布尔加科娃接受某种删减，以求发表。整个周末，《莫斯科》主编叶夫根尼·波波夫金都在乡间别墅阅读这份手稿。他向热尼娅坦承，尽管知道这将使自己成名，但仍心有余悸，建议热尼娅将手稿转交《莫斯科》另一位曾当过审查员的编辑——他与文学审查委员会关系不错，改任编辑后所呈送的手稿，从未遭到审查员的拒绝。凭借这位前审查员的帮助，布尔加科夫的手稿获得通过，只作了相对轻微的删减，从1966年11月起，在《莫斯科》分期发表。该杂志的11月号（15万份）过夜即售罄，大家纷纷订购随后两年的杂志，为了争睹布尔加科夫神奇小说的后续连载。在苏维埃读者的眼中，这在勃列日涅夫初期的压抑气氛中，似乎是一大奇迹。热尼娅和西蒙诺夫为他们的成功而感到振奋，将审查员所删减的片断，汇集粘成一个剪贴簿，以纪念这个历史性事件。他们一共做了三本：西蒙诺夫、热尼娅和艾莱娜·布尔加科娃各留一本。 (958)

    西蒙诺夫对这些举措的支持成了他在政治上的公开宣言。他参与抢救受压制的艺术和文学作品，与苏维埃政权的自由派结成了同盟。他自觉投入这些努力（他已没有苏维埃机构或杂志的任何公职），赢得了艺术家和作家的尊敬，并当选为文学委员会和类似组织的主席，例如60年代和70年代的中央文学家之家（the Central House of Literature）。以亲西方和反苏维埃的自由派的眼光来看，西蒙诺夫并没变成一位持不同政见者。但是像勃列日涅夫时代许多共产党改革者一样，他愿意接受苏维埃制度的政治文化发生根本变化。西蒙诺夫并没公开批评勃列日涅夫政府，但在私下里反对它的许多政策——至少包括1968年8月对捷克斯洛伐克的入侵，以镇压亚历山大·杜布切克改革派政府的“布拉格之春”。1968年的危机是西蒙诺夫的政治观念演变中的重大转折点，使他变得激进。他开始质疑，一党制以勃列日涅夫统治下的停滞形式存活下去，是否可能？乃至有必要？他的儿子认为，西蒙诺夫如能多活几年，肯定会欢迎戈尔巴乔夫的改革。

    当然，他作为一名资深党员只能走到这一步。譬如，他唯有彻底打破他的党员模式，方能站出来支持索尔仁尼琴，但他还做不到。我不知道他当时在想什么，不知道他为了克制自己又在强迫自己作何斟酌。但我知道，他在政治上一直在演变。对我来说，这是他最卓越的品质——他永远具有改变的能力。 (959)

    西蒙诺夫最后几年政治观念的发展，与审视自己的过去有密切联系，他愈益后悔自己在斯大林统治下的行为。他认识到自己的错误，对塑造自己行为的政治制度也持越来越强烈的批评态度。据当时最接近西蒙诺夫的拉扎尔·拉扎列夫说，他的痛悔有时如此强烈，几近于自我厌弃。拉扎列夫回忆，西蒙诺夫会在公众场合鞭挞作为作家和作为人的自己。西蒙诺夫以自嘲、自我讽刺闻名，他的朋友和崇拜者，视之为他个人魅力的一部分。但有时他们必然意识到，他的自我批评竟来自他更深层的冲动。1965年，中央文学家之家为他举办50岁生日庆祝会。有700多名宾客出席，整个晚上都是对西蒙诺夫的赞誉之声，反而令他显得有点不耐烦。晚会结束时，他因情绪激动而明显有些颤抖，他走近麦克风，作了下列异乎寻常的发言：

    在这样的场合——有个人活到了50岁——当然，大家主要是记起他的好。但我想对这里的客人，即聚集于此的同志们说：我一生中做的许多事，自己都会感到惭愧；我所做的，并不是每一件事都好——我明白这一点——我的处世行事，并不总是遵照最高的道德原则——既不是公民的最高原则，也不是人类的最高原则。在我的人生中，有的事情，现在回忆起来感到颇不满意；有的场合，我当时的行为缺乏足够的毅力和勇气。我知道这一切。可以这么说，我现在说出来，并不是为了悔改，那是个人的私事；而是为了要记取教训，方可免犯同样的错误。我将尽量不再重复过去的错误。从现在起，不惜一切代价，我将不重复我以前的道德妥协。 (960)

    西蒙诺夫，1979年

    这种悔恨随着时间的推移而愈演愈烈。他为20世纪30年代写的关于斯大林和白海运河的文字而自责，懊悔参与斯大林政权的战时宣传，亦步亦趋于斯大林的谎言，以“犯罪行为”和“叛国罪”谴责1941年下令撤退的苏维埃将军。对自己1946年到1953年在作家协会的可耻行径，他也追悔莫及——回忆起那些年份，就会感到痛苦。他在有关法捷耶夫的文章中写道：“如不掩饰自己的感情，有很多事是不堪回首的；另有更多的事，甚至难以解释。”在他生命的最后几年，西蒙诺夫一直在作自我审视，尝试弄懂自己在作家协会的行为。他审问自己的记忆，为自己在“反世界主义者”运动中的角色写下个人的观察，几易其稿，至今仍锁在他的档案中。然而，他从未试图捍卫或辩护自己在那些年中的所作所为。拉扎列夫回忆，1970年的一个夜晚，大家在西蒙诺夫的房子里庆祝他的55岁生日。作家亚历山大·克里维斯基传阅西蒙诺夫1946年的一张照片时，建议在座客人借用一首著名歌曲的歌词（“如今的他，依然一如当初”），来向主人敬酒。拉扎列夫对其中的寓意——西蒙诺夫仍是斯大林主义者——不以为然，提出下一轮祝酒，应该为主人的勇气干杯，因为他“并不害怕改变和告别过去”。接下来是一场激烈的争论：西蒙诺夫是否已经改变？改变一事到底是好还是坏？第二天，拉扎列夫打电话向西蒙诺夫道歉。但是，西蒙诺夫并没感到任何的不妥。拉扎列夫回忆：“恰恰相反，他说，那场争论很有教育意义，因为它帮助他定下决心：一个人有所改变，只要变得更好，当然是好事。” (961)

    西蒙诺夫在20世纪70年代的活动，大多出于想将功赎罪，弥补自己的过去。斯大林主义者当年对犹太作家的攻击，他仍记忆犹新，于是他带头发起了一场对莉利亚·布里克的勇敢辩护。她是马雅可夫斯基后期诗歌的缪斯，却遭到苏斯洛夫手下评论家的强烈攻击。他们以公开反犹的姿态，要求在马雅可夫斯基的人生叙述中抹去布里克的存在，以剔除这位伟大的苏维埃诗人的犹太因素。西蒙诺夫后悔自己1954年对爱伦堡的攻击，组织出版了爱伦堡的战争新闻报道，其中收录了西蒙诺夫写于1944年的一篇文章，称颂爱伦堡是所有战地记者中最好的。这本书问世于1979年，即西蒙诺夫去世前不久。西蒙诺夫在医院里收到出版社送来的一册书后，打电话给编辑此书的拉扎列夫，称自己非常高兴和欣慰，因为他已与爱伦堡“讲了和”。 (962)

    但在文学界知识分子的改革派中，还有不少人对西蒙诺夫痛改前非的自由主义持怀疑态度。在他们看来，一位资深斯大林主义者从根本上改造自己，似乎不大可能。西蒙诺夫为某种自由事业挺身而出时，总有人怀疑其中的虚伪。索尔仁尼琴写道：“西蒙诺夫是一个多面人，既是崇高的文学殉道者，又是受人尊敬的保守派，同时与所有官方机构保持联络。” (963)

    有时，西蒙诺夫的表现又与自由主义的倾向大相径庭。例如，他参与了克里姆林宫对文学年鉴《大都会》（Metropol）的迫害。它的编辑是维克托·叶罗费耶夫、叶夫根尼·波波夫、瓦西里·阿克肖诺夫，同时又由阿尔季斯公司（Ardis）在美国出版（日期和地点仍用“莫斯科，1979年”）。《大都会》并不是持不同政见者的出版物，如叶罗费耶夫所宣称的，只是一个“在停滞情况下与停滞作斗争的尝试”。勃列日涅夫政权的年迈领导人，震怒于这种对出版物控制的挑战，向《大都会》编辑施以报复。叶罗费耶夫和波波夫遭到作家协会开除，《大都会》的其他作家自行退出作家协会以示抗议，或设法移民逃离苏联。苏斯洛夫将西蒙诺夫拖入对《大都会》的迫害，还施加压力，要他谴责《大都会》的“反苏维埃”。西蒙诺夫本已牵涉其中，他22岁的女儿亚历山德拉，爱上了维克托·叶罗费耶夫的弟弟安德烈。安德烈是一名年轻的艺术史学家，刚与亚历山德拉订婚，两人经常出没于波希米亚朋友圈子，成员都是苏维埃精英的子女（安德烈的父亲是一名高级外交官），穿得像嬉皮士，喜听叛逆的摇滚乐。《大都会》的文学丑闻一经爆发，西蒙诺夫就想中止两人的恋情，决定让自己和家人远离叶罗费耶夫一家。他们与持不同政见者乃至其外围人士的牵连，可能构成对西蒙诺夫的危险。也许，如安德烈所认为的，他希望亚历山德拉嫁入更依顺苏维埃政权的家庭。也许，他害怕《大都会》案件引出更多麻烦（它招致了西方的强烈抗议），亚历山德拉会因此吞食与叶罗费耶夫一家交往的恶果。西蒙诺夫与苏维埃政权打交道，内心的恐惧永远存在——尽管在他的暮年，他已是苏维埃政权的重要人物，似乎不应再有恐惧。西蒙诺夫在苏斯洛夫的办公室，编写了针对《大都会》的文学报告。他所谴责的“反苏维埃的持不同政见者”，不仅有维克多，还包括安德烈。亚历山德拉从安德烈那里获悉此事，不愿相信，反而指责他是在诋毁自己的父亲，遂取消婚约。但到后来她才发现，原来他说的是实话。 (964)

    西蒙诺夫由慢性支气管炎引起的死亡过程，既缓慢又痛苦。克里姆林宫的医生不愿为他的治疗方案承担责任（“医生事件”之后的几十年中，那是苏联的普遍问题），并没有对症下药。西蒙诺夫生前的最后几个月曾多次进出医院，但他仍在反思自己的过去：为何没在斯大林恐怖时代向求救于自己的人提供更多的帮助。他最后的笔记是一个剧本的草稿（《四个自我》），以对话的形式，展示现在的自己和不同历史时期的三个“自我”。他让自己上了被告席：

    “那么，熟人出现在你的面前，需要你的帮忙，你怎样作答？”

    “这取决于具体情形。他们有时会打电话，有时会给我写信，有时会当面开口。”

    “他们会要求什么？”

    “这也取决于具体情形。有时，他们要我干预，去帮助别人；他们会说那人有多好。有时，他们写信给我，说他们不敢相信自己的熟人有罪，或说他们不敢相信他犯了被指控的罪——他们太了解他了，以致无法相信。”

    “他们真的写过这样的信？”

    “有时是这样的，但更多时候，他们写道，他们知道此事与己无关，也无法判断真伪，或许那是正确的，但是……然后，他们尝试写下所熟悉的当事人的全部优点，希望有所帮助。”

    “你曾试图帮忙吗？”

    “嗯，我有几次没作答复，两次吧。第一次，因为我从不喜欢当事人。不去帮助一个既不喜欢又不熟悉的人，我认为自己是正确的。另外一次，我认识当事人，在前线时就和他在一起，曾经非常喜欢他。但是他们在战争期间把他抓起来，我认为他是有罪的，可能涉及某种阴谋，但没人提及这样的事——大家都避而不谈。他写信给我，我没有回答，也没有伸出援手。我不知道对他说什么好，所以一再拖宕。然后，他获释了，我感到很惭愧。更何况，我事后发现，我认为比我更软弱更怯懦的另一位同志却作了回答，还在尽量帮助其他许多人——给他们寄包裹和金钱。” (965)

    西蒙诺夫最后几次住院时口授了自己的回忆录《通过我这一代人的眼睛》（Through the Eyes of a Person of My Generation），但至死都没完成。 (966) 西蒙诺夫的回忆录是另一次与早先自我的交谈，他承认，不可能知道自己在过去某时的真正想法，所以只能通过与自己记忆的对话，来寻求自己人生的真相。他努力解释自己对斯大林的心结、自己与斯大林政权的合作、斯大林主义的性质，审问自己时毫不退缩——评判自己时冷峻严厉。

    西蒙诺夫去世于1979年8月28日，他的骨灰撒在莫吉廖夫城附近的昔日战场，那是1941年6月数千人战死安息的地方。世界各地的报刊报道了“斯大林最喜欢的”伟大苏维埃作家去世的消息。20世纪80年代，西蒙诺夫的作品仍在苏维埃的学校和大学里被视为经典读物，并被译成多种文字。苏维埃政权解体后，他的文学声誉下跌，作品的销售量急剧下降。年轻的俄罗斯读者渴望新鲜事物，他的文风似乎有点过时，也太“苏维埃”化了。

    三

    1956年后，在某种程度上参与斯大林罪行的数百万人，继续过着他们的“正常”生活。他们中有的作为内务人民委员会官员或狱警直接参与其中；其他的作为各地的官僚间接参与。他们大多数人都能逃避内疚，自觉或不自觉地设法忘记自己的过去，借助意识形态或其他虚构的遁词来为自己的行为辩护，或是以“不知情”或“只是奉命行事”的理由来申辩自己的无罪。 (967) 很少人有勇气以西蒙诺夫那样的诚实，来直面自己的罪责。

    根据大多数人的估计，1956年之后，生活在苏联的约有100万前劳改营狱警。那些愿意讲述自己过去的前狱警中，很少人流露出悔恨或自责。列夫·拉兹贡回忆起20世纪70年代在莫斯科医院遇到一个名叫尼亚佐夫的西伯利亚鞑靼人。尼亚佐夫原在哈巴罗夫斯克附近的比金中转营担任警卫，监督了数千囚犯的枪决。他的故事很简单。他是个看门人的儿子，在小学里就是横行霸道的小恶棍，到十几岁成了小偷和帮派歹徒。他受警方的招聘，先在鄂木斯克当狱警，后转到古拉格担任警卫。哈巴罗夫斯克和符拉迪沃斯托克之间的比金中转营，是古拉格系统中许多“特殊营地”之一，那里的囚犯关押几天之后即遭枪决。从1937到1940年，即比金中转营的短暂存在时期，估计有1.5万至1.8万人枪毙于此。而尼亚佐夫参与了其中的多数，开枪之前和之后都领到了伏特加。据拉兹贡说，尼亚佐夫多年之后被告知受害者都是无辜的，但他没有任何悔恨，也没有任何内疚。尼亚佐夫告诉拉兹贡，他一直睡得很好。战争期间，尼亚佐夫参加红军，打到德国，在那里参与了银行抢劫。1945年之后，尼亚佐夫负责一个军事仓库的安全，靠盗窃和诈骗变得富裕起来，结果遭到新任党领导的解雇，他因此突发心脏病住进医院，在那里见到了拉兹贡。 (968)

    伊万·柯察金是阿克莫林斯克劳改营的狱警。他是贫农的儿子，只受过4年农村教育，16岁那年参军时，即1941年，都不会读书写字。战争结束后，他的部队转而执行古拉格的各项任务。从1946到1954年，柯察金受雇为阿克莫林斯克劳改营的狱警。他在1988年接受采访时已经知道，向劳改营输送劳工的大规模逮捕都是不公正的，但对自己的行为没有任何悔悟。他以自己半生不熟的意识形态、来自生活的道德教训、对囚犯的阶级仇恨，来为自己的参与辩护：

    伊万·柯察金，1988年摄于卡拉干达

    我问你，苏维埃权力是什么？它是一种强制机构！懂了吗？比如说，我们坐在这里，两名警察来敲门，然后说：“跟我走！”仅此而已！这就是苏维埃权力！他们可以把你带走，投进监狱——无需任何理由。不管你是不是敌人，你无法说服…他人相信你的清白。就是这么回事。我接到命令，看管这些囚犯。我应相信这个命令，还是相信你呢？也许我觉得对不起你，也许我根本不在乎，但我又能做什么呢？你杀猪时，听到尖叫声，你会觉得难过吗？即使我觉得对不起，我又能帮什么忙呢？战争时期，我们从前线撤下来，不得不抛弃受伤的士兵，知道他们只有死路一条。我们感到非常抱歉，但又能做什么呢？我在劳改营看管那些带着生病的孩子的母亲们，她们哭个不停，但我又能做什么呢？她们因自己的丈夫而受到惩罚，不过，那与我无关，我有工作要做。他们说，儿子无须为父亲负责，但妻子要为丈夫负责。如果丈夫是人民公敌，那妻子又会养育出怎样的儿子？劳改营中有许多小孩，但我又能做什么呢？他们的日子不好过，也许没这样的母亲，反而更好。那些敌人是真正的寄生虫，他们出国旅行，总在炫耀他们的音乐、乡间别墅、精美服饰。穷人饥肠辘辘，没有油腥，过得比动物还要糟糕。那么，到底谁是人民公敌呢？我为何要为别人哭泣呢？此外，我的工作没有伤害他人，只是在为政府服务。 (969)

    米哈伊尔·尤西佩科，1988年摄于卡拉干达

    20世纪80年代的开放政策时期，公众媒体就古拉格管理员的作用展开了辩论。许多前狱警写信给前囚犯，要求他们确认自己在劳改营时的善良和正派，以便留下历史记录，其中之一就是米哈伊尔·尤西佩科。他1905年出生于阿克莫林斯克的贫农家庭，只完成三年的农村教育就遇上第一次世界大战，由于父亲的出征，他被迫辍学打工。父亲一去不复返。20世纪20年代中，尤西佩科充任农场工人，以此养活母亲和弟弟妹妹。他在1931年的饥荒中失去妻子和两个孩子，从1934年起，在哈萨克斯坦的古拉格劳改营行政中心的卡拉干达从事党务工作。不久，他获得内务人民委员会的招募，担任阿克莫林斯克劳改营的副指挥官。尤西佩科在5年任期内，即从1939到1944年，涉嫌强奸了众多女囚，但没有刑事调查，只有满天飞的谣言。赫鲁晓夫的解冻年代，这些谣言似乎给尤西佩科带来了麻烦。从1961到1988年，尤西佩科写信给数百名前囚犯，包括获释后死去的女囚的子女，要求她们帮写声明佐证他的良好行为。22名女子写了证词，证明他的善良和正直，肯定好过阿克莫林斯克劳改营的其他狱警（据说，写证词的女子中有几个是他的强奸受害者）。1988年，《列宁变化报》（Leninskaia smena）上有关阿克莫林斯克劳改营的一篇文章，暗示他犯有性侵犯的罪行。为此，尤西佩科将那些证词转寄给全国和当地的报纸，以及哈萨克斯坦的党组织，还附上长篇生平介绍，旨在“澄清历史真相”。尤西佩科声称，他“一直晓得”囚犯是无辜的；“从一开始就表以深切的同情，与囚犯讲话时从没趾高气扬，并尽量纾缓她们的负荷”；让她们收发超过规定的信件和包裹；甘冒危及自己地位乃至生命的“大风险”，去呈交提前释放的申请报告。尤西佩科写道：“我很容易遭到指控，说我同情人民公敌，那我就完蛋了。但我当时相信，现在也相信，我做的是好事。”他要报纸登载前囚犯的证词和自己的生平叙述，不但想证明自己的问心无愧，而且想表明他也反对“斯大林镇压”（开放政策时期杜撰出来的专用名词），也是受害者。 (970)

    许多前古拉格官员，为自己的过去编造相似的故事。远北建设托拉斯规划部门的首席会计兼督察官帕维尔·德罗兹多夫，被捕于1938年，判刑15年，被送去马加丹的劳改营。他于1951年获释，留在马加丹充当志愿工，很快接去妻儿。根据帕维尔告诉儿子的故事，他这位前首席会计只是不起眼的专家，在掌管劳改营的远北建设托拉斯中，并无真正的权威。这个故事有一部分是真实的，因为他的靠山爱德华·别尔津——远北建设托拉斯的负责人，在1937年被捕之后，帕维尔就降职为普通会计。过后不久，他自己也被捕。帕维尔在赫鲁晓夫时期末开始收集资料，准备写自己在远北建设托拉斯的回忆录，他想以此纪念别尔津，视其为有远见的经济改革者和开明的人道主义者。但是，他与远北建设托拉斯前囚犯的通信，却使自己深感不安。他没有意识到，或在某种程度上故意漠视了他主持规划部门时手下囚犯受苦受难的程度。帕维尔多次发生心肌梗塞，遵照医嘱，他放弃了撰写回忆录。过去的真相实在太困扰他了，以致他无法面对，最终死于1967年。他的儿子继续相信父亲是无可指责的官员，在远北建设托拉斯担任会计，其时的主管别尔津采纳了“相对人道和进步的方式”，父亲也是斯大林政权的受害者。 (971)

    虚构与记忆交织在一起维系每个家庭，而这在苏联更发挥了特殊作用，那里数百万人的生活被冲得七零八落。心理分析认为，创伤受害者如将自己的经验纳入更宏大的叙事中会大有裨益，可从中获得意义和目的。纳粹反犹战争的受害者找不到救赎的叙述，而斯大林镇压的受害者却有两个集体叙述来安置自己的人生，为自己的苦难找到某种意义。第一是生存叙述，体现于古拉格前囚犯的回忆录文学，个人痛苦被幸存者的人文精神所超越。第二是苏维埃叙述，个人痛苦在共产主义理想、伟大的卫国战争胜利、苏联的成就中获得救赎。

    赫鲁晓夫解冻后几十年内出版的古拉格回忆录，给普通人如何铭记斯大林时代的家史，带来了强大冲击。它们的影响力在一定程度上与创伤受害者如何处理自己的记忆有关。如心理分析所显示的，有创伤记忆的人往往会屏蔽过去的一部分。他们的记忆变得支离破碎，只是一系列杂乱无章的情节（如父母的被捕、被逐出家园的时刻），而不是一个线性的编年表。他们尝试回忆自己的人生时，特别是在记忆力下降的老年时期，往往借鉴自己读到的或听闻的，来填补自己记忆中的空白。 (972) 亚历山大·多尔根是美国领事馆职员，1948年因“间谍罪”遭逮捕，被送去哈萨克斯坦的劳改营。他在20世纪70年代写出回忆录，开篇就解说了记忆中的欠缺：

    我的故事的大部分是我确实记得的，其他的则是一定应该发生过的。有些情节、面孔、话语、感觉，已深深烙入我的记忆，不管隔开多长时间，我都不会忘记。但也有些时候，我因他们不让我睡觉而变得精疲力竭，或饥火烧肠、遭受毒打、持续高烧、生病吃药，以致一切都变得模糊不清。我现在只能构想出一定应该发生的，以填补这些时期中的空白。

    多尔根声称有非常好的记忆力。但从乘坐囚犯火车离开莫斯科，到开始在哈萨克斯坦劳改营采石场上班，这中间有两个星期的时间，他“实在没有留下任何印象”。 (973)

    为了填补这些空白，人们会借用他人的记忆。斯大林时代业余回忆录作者所描述的许多场景，与有关大恐怖的著名书籍极为相似，譬如叶夫根尼娅·金兹伯格的《进入旋风》（Journey into the Whirlwind，1967年），或索尔仁尼琴的《古拉格群岛》（1973年）。这两部书都是先在西方出版，在俄罗斯的正式问世要等到20世纪80年代末。但它们通过地下出版物，早已在俄罗斯广为流传，帮助促进了当年民间回忆录的繁荣。 [6] 目前尚不清楚，这些回忆录中的场景是作者自己的记忆，还是作者猜测已发生的，或想象“一定会发生的”，因为别人也写了类似的情节。伊琳娜·舍尔巴科娃在20世纪80年代采访了许多古拉格幸存者，她如此解释记忆的借用：

    几十年来，古拉格的生活催生了无穷无尽的流言、传说、神话，最常见的涉及据信早在莫斯科时就被枪决的著名人物——据称，却被人在遥远的劳改营里看到了。同样的主题和细节，反复出现于这样的故事。例如，至少有4名妇女向我描述完全相同的场景：多年以后，她们终于有镜子来查看自己的面容，所看到的第一形象，竟是自己的母亲。早在20世纪70年代，我就觉察到，他们向我口述的事件，与索尔仁尼琴的《古拉格群岛》或其他回忆录印刷品所描述的，竟完全吻合。现在[1992年]，讲述劳改营故事如此普遍，口述回忆的记录已经变得愈加困难。他们倾诉的大量信息，似乎都以牺牲自身的记忆为代价；他们如此投入，以致他们听闻的一切都成了自己的亲身经历。 (974)

    许多古拉格幸存者坚称，他们亲眼目睹了金兹伯格、索尔仁尼琴、沙拉莫夫所描述的场景，见过这些作品所提及的狱警或内务人民委员会审讯员，早在劳改营时就知道这些作家。但相关的文件清楚地指出，这绝不可能。 (975)

    古拉格幸存者以这种方式借用他人的回忆录，有好几个原因。20世纪70和80年代，像《古拉格群岛》那样的书籍，已通过地下出版物四下传阅。斯大林镇压的许多受害者，强烈认同它们的思想立场，认为这是了解劳改营真相的关键，所以搁置自己的独立回忆，让这些书籍代替自己说话。受害者往往对自己的经历缺乏清晰的概念，又没有结构框架或政治背景能让自己的记忆理清头绪。这种差距更增强他们的倾向，要以这些作家连贯、清晰的记录，来取代自己混淆、零碎的回忆。一名历史学家在采访大恐怖幸存者时观察到：

    你若问个看似很简单的问题：“你知道多少人在1937年被捕吗？”回答很可能会使你大吃一惊：“你没读过索尔仁尼琴的书吗？你不知道所有人都被抓走了？”如果你继续问：“但你家有人被捕吗？”很可能是一个停顿：“噢，不，我家没有，但其他人都被抓了。”然后你问：“你住的共用公寓里有多少人被捕？”这次会有一个很长的停顿，接下来是：“噢，我真的记不得了。但是，有一个，伊万诺夫，住在走廊尽头的。是的，我现在记起来了。” (976)

    这个例子显示，从整体看，口述证词比文学化的回忆录更为可靠，尽管后者通常被认作更为真实的记录。跟所有的记忆一样，采访时的证词也是不可靠的。但它不像一本书，它能加以盘问，可与其他证据进行比照，让真实的记忆浮现，去掉那些听闻或想象的。

    已出版的那些古拉格回忆录，不但影响对场景和人物的回忆，而且影响对这段经历的理解。所有关于斯大林恐怖的回忆录，都是幸存者重新构建起来的叙述。 (977) 他们所讲述的，通常是炼狱和救赎的故事——即穿越古拉格的“地狱”再回到“正常生活”的旅程——叙述者通过这些讲述超越了死亡和苦难。这种令人振奋的道德精神，有助于解释这些文学性回忆录的积极影响，促使古拉格幸存者都以同样方式来回忆自己的故事。尤其是金兹伯格的回忆录，已成为幸存者的叙述模式。她的文学结构，更受到无数业余作者的模仿，后者的人生往往与她的相差无几。金兹伯格回忆录的统一主题是通过爱来获得新生——这一主题使她的写作极具感染力，成为文学佳作。金兹伯格解释，她之所以能在劳改营中生存下去，全靠自己对人类的信念；她在他人身上唤起的人性闪光，既帮助了自己的生存，又是她对人类的信念的回应。在《进入旋风》一书中，金兹伯格突出自己在科雷马幼儿园的工作，照顾别人的孩子，令她想起自己的儿子，从而给她坚持下去的勇气。在续集《旋风内》（Within the Whirlwind，1981年）一书中，金兹伯格从幼儿园转至医院，爱上了充当医生的劳改营囚犯；尽管有反反复复的分离，两人得以幸存，不知何故还保持着联系，直到斯大林去世；获释之后，他们仍留在流放地，无法回到俄罗斯主要城市，随即结婚，并收养了一个孩子。 (978) 这种叙述轨迹，在回忆录文学中受到无休止地模仿。这类“家族历史”和“纪录片故事”，在基本结构、形式、道德色彩上，几乎是千篇一律的。其中的统一性十分明显，光用文学潮流是解释不清的。也许，这些回忆录的作者都有过不寻常的生活，感到有必要把自己的命运与同类人的命运连接起来，以同一文学模式来回忆自己的人生。

    苏维埃叙述提供另一种安慰，即让受害者相信他们的牺牲是为了集体的目标和成就。苏维埃的共同目标不只是一个宣传神话，还帮助人们感觉自己参与了实现苏维埃理想的斗争，自己的人生因此获得肯定，从而接受所遭遇的苦难。

    在这方面，伟大的卫国战争的集体记忆是非常有效的。它促使退伍军人认为，他们的痛苦和损失自有更崇高的目标和意义，他们颇感自豪的1945年的胜利即是一个代表。历史学家凯瑟琳·梅里戴尔为研究战争中的苏维埃军队赴库尔斯克采访老兵，发现他们谈起自身经历时没流露半点的苦涩或自怜，全以坚忍的态度接受所有的损失，“不去重温战争的最残忍场面，反而采用已消失的苏维埃国家的语言，畅谈荣誉、骄傲、正当报复、祖国、斯大林、信仰的绝对必需”。如梅里戴尔解释的，对这些退伍军人来说，认同苏维埃战争神话是一种应对机制，能让自己承载痛苦的记忆，顽强地存活下来：

    回忆当年，即战争时期，让人很容易崩溃，很容易陷入恐怖的深渊，那很可能是致命的。坚忍接受和重视手上的工作，才是通向生存的唯一出路。人们使用的词汇，都是务实、乐观的，别的只会勾起绝望。60年之后，他们很容易通过叙述恐怖遭遇，来吸引关注或博得同情。但对这些人来说，这无异于背叛自己的价值观，那关乎他们的集体荣誉和人生原则。 (979)

    从劳改营归来的人，同样也在斯大林主义的理念中找到了安慰：作为古拉格劳工，他们也为苏维埃经济作出了贡献。其中很多人看到自己亲手建成的工厂、水坝、城市，油然生起无比的自豪。这种骄傲的原因有二：第一，他们遇上了冤屈，但仍相信苏维埃制度及其意识形态；第二，也许，他们需要为自己的苦难找到更大的意义。在《旋风内》一书中，金兹伯格讲述了自己重返马加丹的印象，那是她在科雷马劳改营的难友们亲手建起的城市：

    人的心灵真奇怪！我整个灵魂都在诅咒那些始作俑者：在这冻土上建起小镇，以无辜之人的鲜血和泪水，融化它的冻土。然而在同时，我又感受到一种荒诞无稽的骄傲……在我离去的7年当中，它长大了，变得漂亮了，我们的马加丹！简直面貌一新呀。我赞美每一盏路灯、每一段柏油路，甚至文化馆即将演出歌剧《美元公主》的海报。我们珍惜生活中的点点滴滴，即便是最痛苦的。 (980)

    诺里尔斯克，2004年7月

    在诺里尔斯克，城市居民（约13万人）中的老年群体，仍强烈感受着这种自豪。居民的大部分是古拉格前囚犯和他们的后代，少数是劳改营前管理员和志愿工。古拉格撤销后，他们的家庭仍留在这块北极定居地，许多人之所以留下，是因为无处可去。1953年之后，工业综合企业的管理从古拉格转至重工业部，诺里尔斯克的居民完全融入了常规的苏维埃统治机构（学校、少先队、共青团、党组织等等），这有助于培养苏维埃觉悟——在一定程度上，这是地方上的苏维埃爱国主义，基于他们为诺里尔斯克感到的骄傲——以此覆盖古拉格记忆。迄今，该城仍传颂于歌曲和故事中，人们继续歌唱：

    这个小城叫做诺里尔斯克，

    我们在此挖掘铜和镍。

    这里的人有顽强的精神，

    俄国人都知道诺里尔斯克。

    不少书籍和电影纪念在冰霜中建起诺里尔斯克的男女，但往往掩饰其中大多数是囚犯的事实（在这个尝尽折磨的城中，健忘是生存之道，古拉格的记忆仍潜存于大众意识的表面之下）。这个小城的骄傲与北极勘探的浪漫和开拓的精神紧密相连，体现于这样的流行观念：要想存活于诺里尔斯克的恶劣环境，一定要有特殊的精神力量。

    瓦西里·罗马什金，2004年

    这里的人由特殊材料制成。

    意志薄弱的立马逃跑。

    这片严酷土地不属于他们，

    这里的狂风怒号，

    暴风雪肆虐，

    夏天终年无缘看到。 (981)

    还有一个流行信念声称这座城镇的居民拥有特殊的温情和同志友爱，源于他们共同承受的古拉格经验，以及艰苦条件下共同的奋斗图存。但更重要的，这种公民骄傲植根于诺里尔斯克人的劳苦功高，例如小城英雄瓦西里·罗马什金，他在2004年仍与子孙坚守此地。

    瓦西里1914年出生于莫斯科地区的农民家庭，1937年作为“富农”被捕，从1939年起即囚在诺里尔斯克。他始终留在采矿综合企业——先是个囚犯，后来是“志愿工”——直到1981年退休。瓦西里在诺里尔斯克工作努力，多次获得奖牌，还是囚犯时，就以真正的劳动模范出名。他为苏维埃战事作出贡献，因而感到特别的骄傲，他在接受采访时解释：

    这些奖牌都是给[社会主义竞赛]优胜者的——冶金业优胜者，第9个五年计划[1971至1975年]优胜者……那个奖牌是什么，我都忘了……这些是[诺里尔斯克]“综合企业老兵”和“苏维埃老兵”奖牌——是表彰勇敢和敬业的。而这个是给伟大卫国战争老兵的五十周年纪念奖牌，因为当时的综合企业已纳入军事编制……我为自己在战争中发挥的作用感到自豪——我尽了公民的爱国义务。 (982)

    瓦西里在代表老一辈发言，颂扬劳改营对苏维埃经济的贡献。特别是战争时期，他们在严寒中挖出的贵金属，对苏维埃的胜利是至关重要的。他们经常宣称爱诺里尔斯克的“美”，在某种程度上，指的就是这种成就感，这个城市是他们用自己的双手建造起来的（似乎没人注意到，那里的空气里永久充斥着有毒的黄色烟雾，树木都无法存活）。20世纪50年代初，奥莉加·伊亚斯基娜来到诺里尔斯克劳改营，从此再也没有离开。她宣称：“这是一座美丽的城市，是我们的小列宁格勒。” (983) 许多城中心的建筑确实是圣彼得堡（另一个奴隶们建造的城市）的新古典主义风格。诺里尔斯克代表一个惊人的悖论：一个由古拉格囚犯建造和居住的工业城市，其市民的骄傲，却植根于他们向斯大林政权提供的奴役劳动。

    类似的悖论又成了怀念斯大林的基础。这位独裁者死了半个多世纪，对他的怀念却仍在继续，涉及数以百万计的民众，包括他的受害者。研究公众意见的全俄中心（All-Russia Centre），在2005年1月进行了一项民意调查，其结果显示，42%的俄罗斯人希望“像斯大林那样的领袖”重新出现（60岁以上的受访者中，60%支持“新的斯大林”）。 (984) 这种怀念与政治、意识形态的关系并不大，在回忆斯大林年代的老人看来，主要与怀旧情绪有关——那是自己传奇般的青春岁月：商店货物琳琅满目；社会秩序良好；他们的生活围绕简单的五年计划的目标运转，并因此被赋予意义；一切都黑白分明，因为有斯大林在动脑筋，大家只需照办。就这些人而言，怀念斯大林年代的“好日子”，恰恰反映了他们作为退休人员生活的不稳定。特别是苏维埃政权1991年解体以来，许多商品价格的上涨，远远超过他们的购买能力；通货膨胀掏空了他们的积蓄，猖獗的犯罪又让待在家中的老人担惊受怕。

    屈服于这种怀旧的，包括曾占据一定地位的人士——众多的苏维埃官僚、基层工作人员、劳改营狱警、警察、专职司机、铁路职员、工厂和集体农庄的主管、寓长和清洁工，他们回顾当年，在自己的势力范围内犹如“小斯大林”，沿指挥系统拾阶而上，可与这位伟大领袖挂上钩；同时也有普通的公民，他们虽在斯大林政权中没有特别的地位，但自己的生活已与该政权的命运纠缠不清。米哈伊尔·巴伊塔尔斯基回忆，他在20世纪70年代遇到一名老斯大林主义者——曾是20世纪20年代的共青团同事，已在斯大林的工厂晋升为中级工程师。该工程师仍是斯大林的狂热支持者，他虽不想为独裁者辩护（已知道事实），但继续认同斯大林主义的许多假设，包括图哈切夫斯基和其他“人民公敌”有罪。巴伊塔尔斯基得出的结论是，他的老朋友所抱住不放的，不是斯大林的意识形态，而是一种对“火热的青春年代自己曾拥有的素质的自豪”。他不愿背弃20世纪20年代和30年代的信念，因为那些信念已成为自己个性的一部分；也拒绝承认正是这些素质，促使他“在内心中接受了一切，包括枪决他最亲密的战友”。 (985)

    对斯大林的受害者及其后裔来说，这种怀旧也不陌生。列昂尼德·萨尔特科夫的父亲是位神父，枪决于1938年，他自己当上一家工厂的工人和工程师时，曾隐瞒了父亲的被捕。他于1965年入党，最终当上了该厂的党委书记。列昂尼德一生都是斯大林的狂热支持者，哀悼斯大林的去世，在自己办公桌上摆放斯大林的相片，直到1993年退休。他在采访中拒绝认为斯大林应对20世纪30年代的大规模逮捕负责，包括逮捕自己的父亲：

    是的，我父亲遭了难，像许多其他人一样，但斯大林仍比我们今天的领导人强。他是诚实的，即使他周围的人不诚实……不要忘记，多亏了他，我们才赢得了战争，这是了不起的成就。如果今天有人试图打一场类似的大战，没人能保证俄罗斯的胜利，绝对保证不了。斯大林建立我们的工厂和铁路，降低面包的价格，激励大家努力工作。我们都知道，如果学习勤奋，上高等学院，肯定会有好工作，甚至可以自选工厂。一切都取决于自己的勤奋。 (986)

    1937年，在维拉·米诺苏娃17岁时，她那在彼尔姆担任铁路工程师的父亲便遭到了逮捕和枪决。如她自己所承认的，她从那时起，就一直生活在几乎是永恒的恐惧之中，即使在1947年嫁给了彼尔姆的高级党干部。她在2004年的采访中，仍不敢谈论与大恐怖有关的话题，有好几次坚决要求把录音机关掉。维拉以怀旧的心情回顾斯大林的统治时期，那时的“基本生活必需品，大家都能负担得起；与我们今天相比，那时更有纪律和秩序”。维拉50多年来一直在苏维埃铁路办事处担任簿记员，她抱怨说，人们“如今都不想工作”，她声称斯大林的年代较好，因为“每个人都被迫做事”。

    症结在于纪律。你必须将人置于严格的控制之下，如有必要，甚至可以使用鞭子。今天，他们应该借用斯大林的方法，不能让人们上班迟到，随意回家。如果他们想要保住工作，就要被迫按照规矩行事。

    1939年，当伊拉伊达·法伊韦索维奇4岁时，她来自奥萨的理发师父母双双被捕，被送去古拉格劳改营。她在2003年的采访中也认为，斯大林统治下的生活更好。“人们不会在大街上杀来杀去！那时，晚上出去是很安全的。”伊拉伊达认为，在斯大林的时代，政治领导人比较诚实：“当然，有时会有粮食或衣服的短缺，但从整体看，他们兑现了承诺。”像许多在共用公寓长大的老人一样，伊拉伊达也怀念当年的集体主义。她还记得，那是一种愉快的生活，特别是与她退休后的寂寞生活相比：

    斯大林统治下的生活在精神上更为富足——我们过得更为安宁、愉快。大家都很穷，不在乎物质条件，但有很多乐趣——朋友和家人之间一切都是开放的，一切都是共享的。人们互相帮助。我们相互借宿各自的房间，遇上节日，与大家一起上街庆祝。今天，每一个家庭都只为自己而活。

    伊拉伊达说，那时的人对生活寄予了更多的希望和意义：

    我们相信，未来是美好的。我们相信，如果勤勤恳恳地工作，生活将会变得更加美好……我们并不奢想自己在创造人间天堂。但我们认为，正在建造的社会足以保证每个人的温饱，只有和平，没有战争……这个信念是真心实意的，它帮助我们坚持下来。这意味着，为了将来，我们全神贯注于我们的学习和工作，无暇顾及物质条件。我们当年在工作中感到的骄傲，要大于今天的。没有信仰的生活是很难过的，我们今天信什么？都没有理想了。 (988)

    四

    尽管有怀旧，但斯大林受害者的后裔，在独裁者去世几十年之后，仍在继续承受斯大林政权的毁灭性遗产。这不仅仅是失去的亲戚、受损的人生、破碎的家庭，还有代代相传的心理创伤。 (989) [7]

    叶丽萨维塔·德利巴什从1937年被枪决的父母那里，继承了对苏维埃当局的终身恐惧，更传给了自己的孩子。她由在第比利斯的外祖父母和列宁格勒的姨妈相继带大，姨妈本人是狂热的斯大林主义者。叶丽萨维塔十几岁时加入共青团，成为学生积极分子，以此克服自己的恐惧。她努力学习，在学校里获得优秀成绩，1947年进入列宁格勒大学学习语言，但她的恐惧并没彻底消失。她回忆：“我总是感到自卑，因父母的遭遇，自己一直缺乏信心。我的一生，都有这内心的恐惧，那是一种损耗和脆弱的感觉。我感到自己不能算个完整的人，任何时候都有可能受到有权有势者的欺负和侮辱。”她担心自己在列宁格勒被捕，便放弃了继续深造的抱负，逃到库班的宁静小镇克拉斯诺达尔，从事教师工作，直到1954年。其时，她与丈夫回到列宁格勒，找到一份图书管理员工作；她丈夫名叫约瑟夫·利伯曼，是物理系学生。

    约瑟夫来自列宁格勒的犹太家庭，其家人私下里对苏维埃政权持有异议。这与叶丽萨维塔的姨妈的正统政见，形成了鲜明的对照。叶丽萨维塔由此而获得启示，更受到苏共二十大的鼓励，开始对父母失踪的事件持怀疑态度。1958年，她终于发现他们都已遭枪决，这是一个巨大打击，她曾盼望母亲可能还活着，并照着母亲发自索洛韦茨基劳改营的最后一封信所说的，一直遥望夜空中的大熊星座——那是母子团聚的象征。这一发现更加剧了叶丽萨维塔与苏维埃制度的疏离，她和约瑟夫开始与米哈伊尔·莫洛斯特沃夫发起的反对派学生团体走动。1958年，莫洛斯特沃夫被捕，从列宁格勒被送去流放地。后来，夫妇俩又加入约瑟夫·布罗德斯基的圈子。布罗德斯基是列宁格勒诗人，1964年作为“寄生虫”上了法庭，被判刑5年，送到北部的流放地（由于世界各地的抗议活动，在1965年获得减刑）。20世纪60年代后期，夫妻俩又与无法拿到离境签证的苏维埃犹太人建立了密切联系，他们的抗议后来成为人权运动的重要组成部分。

    这一时期，叶丽萨维塔都活在恐惧之中。她为约瑟夫担心，他在完成博士论文多年后仍没拿到博士学位（那是领取学术薪金的资格）——这是对他参与反对派活动的惩罚，还算轻微，却是更重的惩罚将至的威胁。叶丽萨维塔变得愈益内向，担心自己的孩子亚历山大 [8] （生于1955年）和安娜（生于1960年）。叶丽萨维塔只得过着“秘密生活”，吓得要死，害怕自己的持不同政见将会招致逮捕，让子女像自己一样从小就失去母亲。她回忆道：“失去母亲是我一生中最强烈的感受，我为自己的孩子而担忧。”

    据安娜说，叶丽萨维塔作为母亲的保护意识特别强烈，从不告诉女儿自己的家史。安娜回忆：“在我整个童年时期，这都是一个禁忌。”她14岁时才从哥哥那里听说，自己的外祖父母都是在大恐怖时期被枪决的；但询问母亲时，又被告知，外祖父母丧生于战争年代。在开放政策时期之前，叶丽萨维塔一直不让女儿知道真相。安娜小时候完全不知道父母参与了反对派活动：“他们保护我，让我远离他们的活动。”她要到20世纪80年代才意识到，父母的许多朋友都是持不同政见者，布罗德斯基曾来过他们家的公寓，父母读的手稿都是非法的地下出版物。

    母亲始终坚持的是女儿一定要努力学习。安娜回忆：“她一直对我们灌输，我们必须比学校里其他孩子更为勤奋，因为我们的犹太人名字会让我们处处吃亏。”安娜觉得，这真是一种负担，好像自己有责任弥补母亲大学后的放弃深造：“上帝保佑，让我在学校里取得高分。我是被迫变得聪明的——别无选择。”安娜不得与无产阶级背景的孩子来往，因为母亲担心，如果家史泄漏，他们可能会构成危险。安娜回首往事：“现在才意识到，母亲希望我与有文化家庭的孩子交往，他们像我们一样，也受到迫害。”安娜从小学会谦虚谨慎，决不出风头，循规蹈矩，政治上忠诚顺从，参加少先队和共青团。虽然她本能地意识到，这种对当局的亦步亦趋，“纯粹是表面文章”。

    安娜承认自己也有根深蒂固的恐惧，缺乏自信，在社会上自我压抑。她认为，这是母亲幼时教养的遗传：

    我从小就能感受到，但很难说这种恐惧究竟是什么。我害怕与官方的任何接触……那是一种怕受羞辱的恐惧……我从小就学会，如果自己的行为可能受到当局的批评，就赶紧退却……从十几岁开始，我只在自己朋友中敞开胸怀，到了社会上就内向……我害怕与陌生人相处，总是不愿引人注目。

    安娜的恐惧虽然咄咄逼人，却模糊不清、难以界定，因为尚是孩子时，她从不知道家人受到的迫害。第一次获悉污点履历可能引发的后果时，她才恍然大悟，迄今还能清楚忆起那一时刻：她向一位老师谈及自己很想上大学，但老师有所怀疑，他解释说，不是因为她的能力，而是因为“他们通常不会把最高分打给像你[犹太]那样的学生”。安娜随即变得“歇斯底里”，这就是她所一直担心的羞辱。

    为了以后能上大学攻读旅游专业，安娜申请苏维埃护照时不填父亲的犹太民族，改用母亲的格鲁吉亚民族。她加入了共青团，即使看破了它的意识形态，仍坚持参与，唯恐招惹大学当局。她对政治不感兴趣，从不参加持不同政见者的活动。她声称，自己一直知道苏维埃制度的不公，但严格管束自己的思想和兴趣，决不让自己以任何方式引起有关忠诚的怀疑。 (990)

    这种“遗传的恐惧”——安娜如此叫它——以多种方式影响了斯大林受害者的孩子，从他们在学校里的朋友，到他们的职业选择。例如，弗拉基米尔·科萨科夫出生于列宁格勒的旧知识分子家庭，家人在20世纪30年代和40年代的大清洗中吃了不少苦头。他对列宁格勒的围城仍有童年的记忆，因此也留下了深深的心理创伤。20世纪50年代后期，他拒绝了在基洛夫芭蕾舞团担任演员的机会，改去波罗的海工厂上班，那是一个庞大的造船和机械工厂。他回忆，即使在那时，他也担心被攻击为“人民公敌”的儿子，所以要“投身于无产阶级”，以保护自己。 (991)

    20世纪50年代和60年代的初期，阿列克谢·尤拉索夫斯基在哈内耶夫斯基家的莫斯科共用公寓长大。他的外祖父是军医阿列克谢·哈内耶夫斯基，在第一次世界大战中获得贵族地位；父亲是俄罗斯和格鲁吉亚的贵族后裔，祖父及其兄弟都曾以白军身份参与内战。他的父母和外祖母对周遭的无产阶级邻居非常警惕，阿列克谢也深知祸从口出，决不轻易相信他人。他回忆：“我从小就被教导要警惕这个体制。”

    外祖母添加了甚多不合理的色彩，因为她的警告显得荒诞不经，但在小孩的眼中仍颇有说服力。例如，她曾告诉我一个男孩的故事，他一只脚刚刚踏上芬兰大使馆门前的台阶，就马上被捕——永远不见了。这个故事真把我给吓坏了，她这类童话般的故事太多了。

    恐惧使阿列克谢变得极其谨慎。他在莫斯科大学上学时独来独往，与外界的唯一接触就是通过他小学时装配的短波收音机收听英国广播公司（BBC）的节目。他回避共青团和所有政治活动，感觉这一切都很讨厌，他还得出结论，最明智的策略就是避免交友，省得外人怀疑自己的政治忠诚。他40岁之前都奉行着这一策略，此前他受训成为一名考古学者和阿拉伯文化专家。阿列克谢回顾自己的职业生涯，认为自己作出这个选择，也是为了“逃避”苏维埃制度的政治。他认为政治是一个“雷区”，其中的规则和危险变化莫测。他从小感觉的恐惧也在渐渐演变——借用他自己的话即是，变成了对俄罗斯和苏维埃政权的“悲观和怀疑”。他的谨慎也在择偶方面发生作用，安娜是他的三表妹，她的直系亲属也受到斯大林制度的迫害。阿列克谢回忆道：“这当然有帮助，我们来自相同的背景，使我们更加亲近，给我们的关系带来特别的谅解和团结。” (992)

    恐惧的承继直接影响甚多的婚姻。例如，父母被捕的女子，有心嫁给党干部以期获得保护，如此的婚姻非常普遍。维拉·米诺苏娃的父亲1937年被捕并遭枪决，她就嫁给了一名比自己年长一倍的地方党主管。她虽在外表上讨厌对方，但如她母亲所规劝的，她感到能获得物质生活的保障，抚养孩子时可以没有后顾之忧。她回忆：“我结婚时哭得厉害，但母亲不停地催促，‘嫁给他！嫁给他！’我并不爱他，甚至感到厌恶，但我有一个女儿，她长大了，我很爱她。”马克斯娜·卡尔皮茨卡娅的父母在1937年被捕并被枪决，这个十几岁的女孩就在列宁格勒自力更生，后来嫁与列宁格勒一位资深军事科学家和党干部。她把自己的家史一五一十告诉丈夫，让他明白个中的麻烦。她坚持不去登记婚姻，如她所说的：“即使在父母平反之后，我仍让他保留随时离开的机会——只要有一天，他觉得实在难以充当前人民公敌的女婿。” (993)

    许多有污点履历的人，只是在即将结婚时，才向未来的配偶袒露一切。像马克斯娜一样，她们希望在共同生活之前，让对方了解自己的过去。如果讲得太早，可能会把对方吓跑。利季娅·巴布什金娜交友将近3年，最后在1965年举行婚礼的前夕，才鼓起勇气，把父亲作为人民公敌被捕并遭枪决告诉未婚夫（一位坚定的斯大林主义者，来自一个斯大林主义者的军人家庭）。鲍里斯·卡辛也等到婚礼前夕，才把父亲作为“反革命分子”枪决于1938年一事告诉未婚妻。鲍里斯回忆：“这是很大的风险。但我信任她，不想蒙混过关，毁了她的一生。她反应平静，并告诉我，她自己的祖父作为富农也受过迫害，所以她熟悉这类事情。” (994)

    引人注目的是，好多婚姻的双方都来自受迫害家庭，似乎有什么东西把他们牵在一起。1955年，拉丽莎和维塔利·加尔马什，在莫斯科经济统计学院读一年级时坠入爱河。拉丽莎是季娜伊达·莱维娜的女儿；后者在科雷马劳改营度过8年（1946年归来时还带了一个小男孩，其父亲应该是个狱警），然后在波特马劳改营度过3年，最后又去了哈萨克斯坦的流放地。拉丽莎来到莫斯科之前，与母亲一起住在流放地。维塔利1949年被捕时还是个学生，刚获得平反，他来到学院的第一天就遇上拉丽莎。她回忆，相互吸引是因为他们都感到，人生第一次可向信赖的人畅谈自己的过去，对方也能心领神会。拉丽莎还记得：

    演讲厅里，他坐在我一旁。我对他一点也不了解，一无所知。我们开始交谈……当然，知悉他被捕的莫斯科朋友也与他交谈，他最要好的朋友最近刚从劳改营归来。也许，与他们在一起时，他没有那种与我在一起的倾吐衷肠。他的经历突然像竹筒倒豆子一样倾泻出来……之后，我们的关系发展得十分迅速。我们承受着同样的困扰，我们的家史都不简单，这起了很大作用。 (995)

    尼古拉和埃尔弗拉达·梅沙尔金夫妇与他们的女儿玛琳娜、伊琳娜，2003年摄于彼尔姆

    尼古拉·梅沙尔金1956年遇见未婚妻埃尔弗拉达·戈特曼时，并没袒露自己家人1933年作为“富农”被逐出奔萨，当时仍生活在科米地区的流放地。 [9] 他对埃尔弗拉达的家庭也一无所知——她是克里米亚的苏维埃德裔，战争时期流放到了科米地区——仅凭感觉猜测，对方可能也受了斯大林政权的迫害（科米地区有不少流放的苏维埃德裔），从而对她产生好感，频频送上情书。有好几年，埃尔弗拉达不愿向俄罗斯人打开自己的心扉。埃尔弗拉达回忆：“我想，我会找到一个不错的德裔男孩。”但尼古拉坚持不懈，几近30岁的埃尔弗拉达担心自己沦作老姑娘，终于答应下嫁。慢慢地，尼古拉和埃尔弗拉达开始倾吐各自的家史，相同的经历和相互的同情把他们紧紧拧在一起。经过将近50年的婚姻，尼古拉认为，这种相互理解是他们关系中的最重要部分：

    我把这种理解称作团结一心。我一直有这种感觉，即与这个女人团结一心的感觉，因为她也承受着苦难，遭受过迫害。我认为，她也会有同感。我想我们一起拥有的不是爱，而是团结一心，对我们双方来说，这更重要。爱情会远去，但团结一心就只会紧紧相连。 (996)

    在1992年读到要向受迫害者作出赔偿的新法令以前，尼古拉和埃尔弗拉达一直没将自身的污点履历告诉女儿们。之前，他们一直害怕透露家史，一是不想给女儿增加思想负担，二是不想让她们疏远于苏维埃制度。他们总是把涉及过去的话题，转移到比较积极的岁月，譬如双方父亲都作出过贡献的伟大的卫国战争。 (997)

    在这一方面，梅沙尔金一家算不上特殊。即使在苏维埃政权的最后几年，即自由气氛浓烈的开放政策时期，大多数苏维埃普通家庭仍闭口不谈自己的家史，仍不把遭受迫害的往事传承给下一代。开放政策的影响局限于大城市，在外省城镇，例如梅沙尔金家居住的彼尔姆，斯大林的幽灵还在四下徘徊。诗人鲍里斯·斯勒茨基在1986年临去世前，曾写下这样的诗句：

    外省，周边，后方，

    冻得太硬，解冻也束手无策，

    迄今，斯大林仍在那里活着。

    不是死了吗！但尸体仍有余热。 (998)

    苏维埃政权倾塌15年后，外省仍有人不敢谈论过去，甚至对自己的子女也是如此。 (999)

    安东尼娜·戈洛温娜的污点履历，几乎在她的一生中都是高度机密。她向女儿坦白自己的“富农”出身时已是20世纪90年代，离她幼时流放到西伯利亚已有60多年。安东尼娜还向分别同居了20多年的两任丈夫隐瞒了家史。她在列宁格勒儿科研究院的最后一年，即1947年，遇上第一任丈夫格奥尔基·兹纳缅斯基。其时，安东尼娜为了隐瞒自己的过去，已在使用前男友的姓氏。她没有在列宁格勒居住的合法权利，担心万一当局发现她在考上研究院时曾隐瞒自己的“富农”出身，自己又会成为“反社会分子”并遭到再一次的逮捕和流放——那是战后降临于许多前“富农”的命运（包括自己的父亲），其时，政权正致力于各大城市的全面清洗。安东尼娜忆起当时的险境：

    我所有的文件都是假的，很害怕在街上遇上警察检查。我的护照上有很多伪造的公章和签名，有些是我在斯维尔德洛夫斯克州的妹妹代签的……我居住[在列宁格勒]的许可，6个多月之前便已过期。

    安东尼娜·戈洛温娜，2004年

    安东尼娜居住的共用公寓，寓长是一名狂热的斯大林主义者，颇有举报人的名声，已开始对安东尼娜起疑。有一次，邻居拿出一双新鞋，安东尼娜失言说出自己父亲可以做得更好，因为他也是一名鞋匠（这在农村通常是“富农”的手艺）。她因此被吓坏了，唯恐真相暴露。正巧这时格奥尔基·兹纳缅斯基向她求婚，在安东尼娜的眼中，他无疑成了一大救星。与列宁格勒居民、工程师兹纳缅斯基结婚，她就会得到新的姓氏和文件，得以合法地留在列宁格勒。

    安东尼娜在后来的40多年中，一直向格奥尔基隐瞒自己的“富农”出身，相互之间很少谈及各自的过去，说到家人时，总是谎称他们都是贫农。她也向生理学院所有的同事和朋友隐瞒真相（很久以后，她才发现，自己所有的朋友都来自受迫害家庭）。1961年，她甚至入了党（一直到1991年），不是因为笃信它的意识形态（有好几次，她悄悄违反党的纪律，以帮助朋友），而是认为入党可打消他人对自己的怀疑。她想以此促进自己的医学生涯，并为将要申请大学的14岁女儿提供政治上的保护。安东尼娜回忆：“我很担心女儿的未来。”

    我不想让她知道自己的过去，只想让她觉得，她有一个正常的母亲，像她所在的[精英]学校其他女孩的家长一样。那里，所有的父母，至少是父亲，都是党员。

    甚至在1968年离婚之后，安东尼娜仍继续对格奥尔基隐瞒自己的污点履历。她后来嫁给爱沙尼亚人鲍里斯·约翰逊。1987年，安东尼娜接待格奥尔基年迈的姨妈，后者说漏了嘴，透露他父亲原是沙俄海军的少将，忠于沙皇，曾在内战中参加白军。她这才弄清，格奥尔基像自己一样，也一直在隐瞒出身。他早年也是在劳改营和“特殊定居地”度过的，决意成为一名工程师，有意识地取得无产阶级身份。他申请第一份工厂工作时就在表格上编造履历，一生都保存一张答案纸，以确保自己在填写下一份表格时不会出现前后矛盾的破绽。格奥尔基和安东尼娜，凭借某种奇怪的直觉，竟相互找上了翻版的自己。

    鲍里斯·约翰逊也来自受迫害家庭——他的父亲和祖父被捕于1937年——但安东尼娜被蒙在鼓里，另一方面，她也不向对方透露自己的污点履历，直到20世纪90年代初，即苏维埃制度崩溃之时。其时，斯大林政权的迫害受到公开的揭发和辩论，他们因此变得大胆，终于开口谈起自己的过去。与此同时，安东尼娜和格奥尔基也敞开胸怀，道破了彼此隐瞒40多年的秘史。然而，他们仍一致同意，继续对担任教师、谋求上进的女儿奥莉加保密。他们认为，如果斯大林主义者卷土重来，全不知情反而能向奥莉加提供某种保护。有两起事件促使安东尼娜逐渐冲破恐惧，鼓起勇气将自己的“富农”出身告诉女儿。

    第一件发生于1995年，72岁的安东尼娜重访奥布霍沃村，她家曾在那里居住，直到1931年被流放到西伯利亚。她上一次访问奥布霍沃村是在1958年，与哥哥和父亲同行，几星期之后，父亲便去世了。他们的老宅已是一片空地，他们以前经常坐在其上与村民聊天的磨石，周围杂草丛生。他们站着注视那块空地，安东尼娜突然听到身后的声音：“富农回来了！富农回来了！他们以前被赶走，现在又回来了，还穿着漂亮的新衣服。”安东尼娜转身寻找说话人，却无影无踪，这个记忆一直困扰着安东尼娜。她回想道：“我想回到自己的出生地，仍想把它当作自己的老家。我渴望当地人认同我，与我交谈，把我当作他们当中的一员。”

    安东尼娜1995年8月2日回到奥布霍沃村，恰好是父亲1930年被捕的65周年。古老的村庄所剩无几，至今仍有炊烟的只有9栋房舍。像成千上万其他村庄一样，60年的集体化耗尽了奥布霍沃村人的青春和活力。1930年，奥布霍沃村虽贫穷，却是一个充满活力的农业社区，总人口达317人，将近一半是孩子，有自己的教堂、学校和合作商店。许多像戈洛温那样的家庭，还有自己的皮革作坊，生产皮鞋和其他日用品。1960年，奥布霍沃村的人口下降到68人，大多数是老年夫妇和养老的独居者。到安东尼娜1995年重访时，全村仅存13人，其中11人已有60至70多岁。村民早已遗忘了8月2日的古老宗教节日，但俄罗斯农民的好客传统，还不至于彻底消亡。安东尼娜到后不久，村里的妇女以她的名义，在伊万·戈洛温的家中安排聚餐——他是村庄里她家族中的硕果仅存者。最初的紧张气氛一旦烟消云散，村民们开始回忆起安东尼娜的父亲，称他是一个好农民，他的勤奋正是集体农庄所缺乏的。一名老妪回忆道：“戈洛温一家都是诚实、正派、清醒的人，当初把他们抓起来，都是错的。汤妮雅[安东尼娜]，你是我们中的一员，一个真正的农家女，我们需要更多像你这样的人。”

    安东尼娜与过去达成和解的第二个转折事件，发生于西伯利亚阿尔泰地区的沙尔铁地区。1931到1934年，她与家人曾居住于此，因此她特来这个“特殊定居地”故地重游。多年之前，定居地已被撤销，但从路上就能看到，营房的废墟仍屹立在高高的铁丝网之后。安东尼娜在附近徘徊时，遇到一位与自己年龄相仿的当地妇女，她询问可否走进定居地，随即开始了交谈。那名女子透露：她从小就住在这里，“我是富农的女儿，1930年被送来此地，我真正的家园是在巴尔瑙尔”。安东尼娜回忆当时她的反应：

    我感到震撼，从未听人公开说出自己是富农的女儿，像我一样。我从没想到，说出这些话语，可以不带一丝羞耻。更何况，这个女人讲出时明显感到自豪。我的一生，一直在尽力掩盖自己的富农出身。这个女人说话时，我环顾四周，看看旁边有无他人。后来，我开始思索，为何环顾四周察看有没有旁人偷听？我到底怕什么？我突然为自己的胆怯感到羞耻。然后，我大声说出：“我是个富农的女儿。”这是我第一次大声说出这句话，尽管在自己的脑海中，我曾自言自语一千次。周围没人能听到我的话，因为我独处在一条荒道上。但是，我仍感到自豪，自己终于大声说出来了。我走到河边，用河水洁净自己，然后为父母祈祷。 (1001)

    [1] 玛莎·西蒙诺娃2004年在莫斯科接受采访时，并不知道这封信的存在以及信中所表达的情绪。

    [2] 从1957到1969年，热尼娅在《莫斯科》期刊工作，后因“严重的思想错误”（发表了叶夫根尼·叶甫图申科的诗歌）而遭到解雇。

    [3] 非常显著的例外是维克多·涅克拉索夫的《在斯大林格勒战壕中》（1946年）。它生动地再现了普通士兵的战争，避开了通常有关党的英明领导的陈词滥调。令人惊讶的是，它竟在1946年赢得斯大林奖。

    [4] 这一类小说有4部：西蒙诺夫的《生者与死者》、涅克拉索夫的《第二晚》（The Second Night，1960年）、奥库德扎亚的《学生，祝你好运》（Good Luck, Schoolboy，1961年）和瓦西尔·贝卡乌的《死者无疼痛》（The Deed Feel No Pain，1965年）。

    [5] 西蒙诺夫在生命的最后一年，试图在莫斯科郊外的波多利斯克国防部档案馆，建立一个士兵回忆录专辑，但遭到军队高级领导人的反对。（‘O popytke K. Simonova sozdat’ arkhiv voennykh memuarov’, Otechestvennye arkhivy, 1993, no. 1, pp. 63-73）

    [6] 可在纪念学会档案馆中找到数以千计这样的回忆录。该学会是20世纪80年代后期成立的，为了纪念镇压的受害者并录下他们的回忆，遍及苏联各城镇。成立于1989年的莫斯科历史文学协会档案馆（Vozvrashchenie）、开放于1996年的莫斯科安德烈·萨哈罗夫公共中心和博物馆，都有这段时期未发表的回忆录的丰富馆藏。

    [7] 这种心理创伤会以各种方式传递下来，譬如父母的忧虑和恐惧、对子女的过度保护、对子女的期望过高，甚至是一起玩的游戏。匈牙利精神分析学家特列兹·维拉格——专门治疗反犹大屠杀的幸存者及其子女，举了一位幼时经历列宁格勒围城的母亲的例子。那位母亲的两岁的女儿不愿吃圣诞老人的饼干，如有人硬塞给她，就会号啕大哭，以示抗议。那位母亲自己小时候曾听闻列宁格勒围城期间有人杀小孩充饥，留下了心理创伤。维拉格认为，那位母亲以这样的方式将心理创伤传给了下一代——她在女儿洗澡时与女儿一起玩耍，将女婴的脚放进自己嘴中，并念念有词——“现在，我要吃你了”。（T. Virag, Children of Social Trauma: Hungarian Psychoanalytic Case Studies（London, 2000）, p. 43）

    [8] 亚历山大1991年死于登山事故。

    [9] 20世纪90年代，尼古拉去奔萨档案馆做他自己的研究，才发现父母对他隐瞒了一个家庭秘密：他们曾拥有乡村酒馆和面包店——根据苏维埃标准，足以被定为资产阶级。

    后记及致谢

    《耳语者》有一段较长的历史，它的酝酿可追溯到20世纪80年代中期，当时我还在莫斯科做研究生时期的研究。我是专攻俄国革命和内战的，渴望能遇上仍能记得那段岁月的人，结果成了热尼娅·戈洛夫尼亚的好朋友。她是电影摄影师阿纳托利·戈洛夫尼亚的孙女，她的母亲奥克萨娜告诉我很多20世纪20年代和30年代的家族故事，并把我介绍给她的朋友——都诞生于第一次世界大战之前，即她所谓的“和平时期”。之后的几个月中，我拜访了大约十来个她的朋友，大多数是老太太。但她们当时太小，记不起内战时期；现在又太紧张，不愿详尽披露铸造自己人生的那段历史，即斯大林的统治时期。

    我涉猎口述历史的第一次尝试，教我学会了珍惜家庭记忆，以制衡苏维埃历史的官方叙述。1991年之后，我再次考虑就“耳语者”这个主题做一些研究并写出一本书的可能性。其时，有关斯大林迫害的个人回忆录，突如潮水一般汹涌出现，更激起了我的热望。但我的直觉是，就整体而言，老年人仍不愿抛头露面。他们还在等待，以确信共产党人不会卷土重来，这可能还需时多年。从某方面来看，我错了。20世纪90年代初，现在被广泛认作口述历史在前苏联的鼎盛时期，特别是对照于普京时期，威权政府的复辟已驱使许多俄罗斯人回到沉默寡言的旧习惯。从另一方面看，我的直觉又是正确的。在第一个高峰时期，人们亟想记录的只是受迫害的真相，以及逮捕、监禁、平反的细节，而不是塑造自己人生的内心创伤、对背叛的耿耿于怀、对失去的亲情的痛苦回忆。

    到2002年我完成《娜塔莎之舞》（Natasha’s Dance）一书时，觉得征服这个未知领域的时机终于来临。在1953年之前长大的一代正在迅速消失，我由此产生一种紧迫感：通过普通家庭和个人的内心生活来了解斯大林时代，这可能是最后一次机会。为《耳语者》研究项目接受访谈和提供档案的人，其平均年龄是80岁。据我所知，本书完成之前，至少有27人去世（占案例总数的6%）。

    一开始，我的查询范围是俄罗斯国家档案馆和公共档案馆，冀望找到家庭生活的私人文件，然后再去采访捐赠者。这涉及对收藏的信件、笔记本、日记、回忆录进行旷日持久的搜索，结果却徒劳无获。那些文件通常以很难解读的潦草笔迹写成，虽提供了部分信息，但很难得出结论（后来，本书几乎都没用上这批档案）。我在这个研究阶段，获得了下列员工的帮助：卡蒂娅·布宁娜和朱莉娅·莎拉波娃与我一起处理了莫斯科的档案；尼古拉·米哈伊洛夫收集了圣彼得堡档案的资料；尼古拉·库兹明处理了奥廖尔等处的档案。在这早期研究中，我要感谢两位老教授的支持：维克托·丹尼洛夫（1925—2004年）是专门研究苏维埃农民的历史学家，对我的研究产生浓厚兴趣，帮我打开了俄罗斯国家经济档案馆的大门；特奥多尔·沙宁帮我获得了莫斯科社会经济科学院的支持。

    在搜索档案的同时，我也开始访问家庭，倾听他们讲述斯大林时期的故事，询问他们是否保存了私人文件。这个项目凭借口碑得到广泛的传播——仍是俄罗斯最有效的工作方法——我开发的关系在朋友圈子里推介我的工作，渐渐引起浓烈的兴趣。他们要求得到采访，提供家庭回忆录、书信、笔记本等其他珍贵手稿，希望得到发表（也许想卖得好价钱）。要想一一感谢在这个阶段伸出援手的人是不切实际的（他们的名字列在采访名单中），但我特别亏欠下列人士：萨沙·科济列夫欣然同意，帮助采访他在圣彼得堡的熟人和朋友；依达·斯拉温娜接受我的采访，提供了私人档案中许多文件、照片、有关家人的文章和信息；叶夫根尼娅·维滕贝格、阿达·列韦多娃、贝拉·列维蒂娜、奥莉加·拉缅斯卡娅、加林娜·佩特洛娃也接受了采访并提供了家庭档案；列昂尼德·马赫纳茨以晓畅的文笔写下自己的回忆，并提供了珍贵文件；瓦赫坦·米赫拉兹接受好几次采访，安排我与他在第比利斯的家人取得联络；热尼娅·戈洛夫尼亚不仅誊写、扫描了家庭档案，而且提供了她为电影《抛弃》（Izmennitsy，1990年）所收集的访谈和文件——来自阿克莫林斯克劳改营的前囚犯和管理员。她向我解说了苏维埃电影界的复杂历史、传言、阴谋和许多人的品行，并把我介绍给众多拥有斯大林时代吸引人的故事和档案的家庭。

    我通过热尼娅见到阿列克谢·西蒙诺夫，他是我最大的“债主”。我知道阿列克谢是电影导演、记者、人权和新闻自由的活动家（1999年成为莫斯科保卫开放政策基金会的主席），但并不清楚他家的不平凡历史。他母亲一边的拉斯金家的故事，几乎丝毫未见于其著名父亲的传记。为了准备与他的第一次见面，我事先预读了这些传记。他的公寓就在莫斯科康斯坦丁·西蒙诺夫大街的拐角。母亲热尼娅·拉斯金娜去世于1992年，之后，阿列克谢将拉斯金家庭档案珍藏于抽屉中，依据这些材料，他在1999年写出了有关父母的感人肺腑的回忆录《私人收藏》（Chastnaia kollektsiia）。从一开始，他就对我的志趣表示欢迎，并深信我会成为他所说的“家庭历史学家”（the family’s historian）。阿列克谢允许我复制拉斯金档案，又从繁忙之中抽出大量时间，为我解说他家的历史细节，纠正我的误解。阿列克谢是一名了不起的说故事的人，许多采访和谈话在他家的厨桌旁进行，往往持续到深夜。他像变戏法一样，生动地再现了拉斯金家的特殊气氛——阿列克谢和妻子加林娜成功维持了那种温暖和随意——我开始觉得，我不只是一名历史学家，而在事实上成了这个大家庭的一员。我拜访阿列克谢的姨妈法尼娅·塞缪罗夫娜时也有同感，她又叫杜西娅，是拉斯金三姐妹中唯一健在者，与儿子一起住在伊里奇广场附近的新式大楼11层。1990年，她和索尼娅被迫搬离自己在西夫切夫―弗拉热克大街将近60年的家。索尼娅于1991年去世，法尼娅的记忆也日益退化。她97岁时给了我最后一次采访，当我问起老话题时，她突然又忆起先前遗忘的细节，差点成了永久的秘密。出于这个原因，更由于她的魅力，我学会了珍惜与她相处的每一分钟。

    我非常感谢阿列克谢，让我无限制地参阅他父亲在俄罗斯国家文学艺术档案馆的规模巨大的档案。我在先前封存的西蒙诺夫个人档案（第9和第10部分）中获得大批文件，都是学者们从未看到过的。事实上，其中最敏感的材料，甚至连他家人都不知晓。不幸的是，我的发现激活了家庭成员的痛苦记忆。于是，西蒙诺夫文学遗产委员会的主席卡蒂娅·西蒙诺娃（原来姓氏是格鲁津科），2005年10月决定禁绝研究人员参阅这些档案，直到2025年。

    除了西蒙诺夫的档案，我还采访了他的同事、朋友、亲戚，获悉这位作家的不少经历和性格特征。我特别要感谢玛丽亚·西蒙诺娃、拉扎尔·拉扎列夫、尼娜·阿尔希波娃、阿列克谢和索菲亚·卡拉加诺夫、安德烈·叶罗费耶夫、玛琳娜·巴巴克等。另外还要感谢尤纳·莫里茨、维克托·叶罗费耶夫、维克托林娅·施韦策尔、加林娜·克拉夫琴科、阿列克谢·什马利诺夫，他们补充了我对西蒙诺夫世界的理解。

    2003年的春天，我同时对十几个家庭开展研究，觉得需要更多人手来系统地扩充我的工作范围。2003年，我从艺术和人文科学研究理事会和莱弗尔梅信托公司领到两笔主要资助，真是雪中送炭。没有这些英国机构的慷慨支持，便不可能写完《耳语者》，以及完成与本书相连的广泛研究，我在此向他们表示衷心的感激。

    在这两笔赠款的支持下，我聘请了圣彼得堡、莫斯科和彼尔姆的纪念学会去采访斯大林时代的幸存者，誊写和扫描其家庭档案。选择这三个纪念学会并不困难，它们先前已有口述历史的杰出成绩，只是工作性质稍有不同。我要做的，是强调个人的内心世界和家庭关系；他们先前所做的，只专注古拉格的历史。这些学会都拥有众多活跃的成员，涵盖各式家庭，包括在斯大林统治下相当成功的。这虽超出了我们的自然选择范围（受迫害者的群体），但还是从中选出了我的大多数研究对象。圣彼得堡和莫斯科的优势是，有文化的人家大都保存有书面文件。彼尔姆的优势在于，从1941到1945年一直没受德军占领，因此，斯大林时代的记忆不会与战争创伤混淆起来；此外，该地曾布满劳改营和“特殊定居地”，居民中有大量前流放者和古拉格前囚犯。

    圣彼得堡的团队由伊琳娜·菲利格率领，她的睿智的洞察力、建议和评判是这个项目的无价之宝。我享受与伊琳娜一起工作，学到很多东西，将永远欠她的人情。圣彼得堡的团队还有塔蒂亚娜·科西诺娃，她是个富有同情心的听众，像伊琳娜一样，不知何故总能从采访中得到高于预期的收获；还有塔蒂亚娜·莫尔加切娃，她以精湛的技能参与了采访和档案的工作。伊琳娜·菲利格和塔蒂亚娜·科西诺娃还曾率队前往诺里尔斯克。此外，伊尔玛还单独访问了莫斯科、萨拉托夫、彼得罗扎沃茨克、克拉斯诺亚尔斯克、斯塔夫罗波尔，从事采访、收集材料。

    阿廖娜·科兹罗娃以镇静的权威带领莫斯科团队，总能提供周到、睿智的意见。伊尔玛·奥斯特罗夫斯卡娅、奥莉加·比金娜、纳塔利娅·马利欣娜和阿廖娜·科兹罗娃，安排采访时保持着极高的敏感，加丽娅·布韦娜组织档案则十分高效。我对她们表示深深的感谢。

    带领彼尔姆团队的是能干、热情的亚历山大·卡利赫，外加艾莱娜·斯卡列科娃的协助。进行采访的分别是罗伯特·拉特波夫、安德烈·格列比翁希科夫、斯韦特兰娜·格列比翁希科娃、米哈伊尔·切列帕诺夫。我向他们表示感谢，特别是罗伯特和安德烈，他们做了大部分采访，总是卓有成效，并写出很有启发的评论。

    关于本项目的研究方法，需要作出几项说明。研究小组电话采访了1000多人，从而建起数据库，我再从中选出若干家庭。我的主要关注是，确保最终的抽样来自富有代表性的社会各阶层（否则，就会偏向知识分子，特别是莫斯科和圣彼得堡的），同时坚持每个家庭必须有某种档案，以佐证采访中的讲述。这在彼尔姆变得尤其困难，其居民当中有不少背井离乡的前“富农”和斯大林政权的其他受害者。我们电话采访的对象，绝大多数都没有私人文件（许多人甚至没有父母的照片）。但那些确有家庭档案的，很值得深入探讨。

    在第一次采访中，尽管我事先备有一份问卷，并请受访者讲述已从数据库中呈现出来的主题，但他们可以畅谈自己的经历，只受极少的干扰（口述历史的标准做法）。这些访谈通常持续很久，达几个小时，分几天完成。我先分析已整理出来的记录，再决定后续采访的主要方向和进一步提问，以深入探讨特定的主题。通常，每个家庭会有两至三次采访。我与研究小组大约每月开会一次，讨论采访内容，从家庭档案中选出相关材料来作转录和扫描。选择档案比较简单，我们先多多益善——私人文件、日记、回忆录、笔记本、全部的通信——只要它们写于1960年之前，或能对斯大林时代提供启示。另一方面，我们在访谈中遇到许多挑战，其中的大部分，从事前苏联口述历史的研究人员都很熟悉。我们需要设计特殊方法，让受访者反思自己的人生，梳理出直接记忆，避开后来形成的印象和意见，观察以往时摆脱后来的影响，忆起当时的真实想法，克服对陌生人的恐惧。逐步建立起信任是必不可少的，往往要在访问十几次之后，他们才会把珍贵的文件交给我们复制（便携式的扫描仪和数码相机，可在当事人的家里迅速完成这项工作）。

    我由衷地感谢支持本项目的所有家庭，要分别一一向他们表示感谢也是不切实际的（他们的名字都列在采访名单中），但必须感谢下列人士：安东尼娜·兹纳缅卡娅、伊娜·希赫耶娃、马克斯娜·尼基福罗娃、叶丽萨维塔·德利巴什、安吉丽娜·布舒耶娃、瓦伦蒂娜·季哈诺娃、尼娜·费奥菲拉克托娃、玛丽亚·维特克维奇、玛丽安娜·巴尔科夫斯卡娅、格奥尔基·福尔瑟、玛丽亚·库兹涅佐娃、叶夫根尼娅·瓦西列娃、尼古拉·科瓦奇、瓦伦丁·穆拉夫斯基、拉达·波洛兹、安热莉卡·西尔曼、卓娅·季莫菲耶娃、尼古拉·利列耶夫、弗拉基米尔·皮亚特尼茨基、列夫·内托、朱莉娅·沃尔科娃、拉丽莎和维塔利·加尔马什、玛娅·罗德克、加林娜·阿达西斯卡娅、罗扎·诺沃塞尔茨娃、维罗尼卡·涅夫斯卡娅、斯韦特兰娜·赫列斯托娃、维拉·米诺苏娃、尼古拉·梅沙尔金、埃尔弗拉达·梅沙尔金娜、列昂尼德·萨尔特科夫、德米特里·斯特雷勒兹基、伊琳娜·米库耶娃、列泽达·泰西娜、柳博芙·捷丘耶娃、维拉·瓦西里佐娃、纳塔利娅·斯特凡茨娃、伊万·乌戈列茨基赫、索菲亚·奥热姆伯罗斯卡娅、瓦伦蒂娜·克鲁波特娜、塔玛拉·特鲁比娜和维拉·图尔金娜。他们都向本项目贡献了宝贵时间和珍贵资料。我要感谢艾莱娜·邦纳，她参与纪念项目，在波士顿接受了伊琳娜·菲利格的采访，又授权容我引用安东尼娜·W. 布易斯翻译的她的作品《母亲与女儿》（伦敦：Hutchinson出版社，1992年）。

    这些人都是《耳语者》的英雄。本书在真正意义上是他们的书，我只提供了发言机会。对我们来说，这些只是故事，对他们来说，是他们的人生。

    在写作本书的每一阶段，我都强烈地意识到，作为历史学家，我有责任如实转述这些人的故事，并要得到当事人的认可。本书中几乎没有匿名者，除了一两个例外，所有接受采访、提供文件的人士，都同意公开自己的姓名。出于这个原因，后期的部分书稿先行译成俄文，发给有关家庭，让当事人作出必要的修正和建议，这是一个漫长且复杂的过程——因为每个人如何看待自己的传记，往往迥异于他人阅读回忆录、书信、日记、谈话记录所得出的印象——重要的是，本书当事人应该有机会作出纠正。尚无一件案例，我必须被迫改变自己的整体阐释。很多时候，我的见解因当事人的参与而变得更加丰富多彩和尽善尽美。只有一个家庭发生了麻烦，即希赫耶夫家（盖斯特家）：有些家庭成员对伊娜的大女儿所说的内容不以为然，我在最后的版本中予以删除。伊娜阅读并纠正了所有剩下的盖斯特资料，但后来又封存了她在纪念学会的档案。我还要感谢：将本书一部分译成俄文的然娜·博格达诺维奇和纳塔利娅·列什琴科；校阅最后定稿的伊琳娜·菲利格、阿廖娜·科兹罗娃、伊琳娜·奥斯特罗夫斯卡娅；在斯拉温资料一事上提供慷慨协助的列奥·维帕林斯基；校正拉斯金和西蒙诺夫的英文资料的阿列克谢·西蒙诺夫，此外，他还让我懂得，有必要再三思索“康斯坦丁·米哈依洛维奇”光碟视频中的扑朔迷离。

    《耳语者》的研究项目，所收集的大部分材料可在网络中找到（www.orlandofiges.com）。你会在那里发现主要家庭档案的笔录，以及采访录音的片断，部分材料已译成英文。如果没有这个网站，许多档案会因当事人的去世而销声匿迹，因为那些身在俄罗斯的年轻一代，对苏维埃的过去兴趣索然，而且没有太多存储空间来保存这些档案。我要感谢艾玛·毕阿、艾别克·巴拉托夫、张鼎（Ding Zhang），他们帮助设计、架构了这个网站。艾玛在杰里·库厄伊的支持下，试图燃起对视频项目的兴趣，其目的是想为《耳语者》人物的采访录像创建一个影像档案，让大家在网站上浏览。

    这个项目涉及漫长的差旅，好几个月远离家人，史蒂芬妮、利季娅、爱丽丝为此忍受了诸多的不便。我希望，她们现在可看到这是值得的。通过她们的爱和支持，我更加体会到家庭的真谛。

    我要感谢朋友罗伯特·斯基德尔斯基在莫斯科的慷慨款待和阿列克谢·尤拉索夫斯基的善解人意。我还要感谢艾莱娜（海伦）·沃尔孔斯卡娅的邀请，让我在她意大利托斯卡纳的美好的家中潜心钻研。2006年，本书第二稿的大部分就是在那里完成的。

    作为作家，我获得了鼎力支持。我的代理人德博拉·罗杰斯厚道且充满激情，一直在努力帮我；美国的梅拉妮·杰克逊也乐于助人；企鹅出版社的西蒙·文德和大都会出版社的萨拉·贝尔施泰尔，是任何作家梦寐以求的编辑团队，他们以各自不同的方式大大影响了本书——西蒙以热烈的评论和鼓励在旁打气，萨拉以非凡的热情和细心逐字逐句地编辑书稿，我对他们两位都感激不尽。我要感谢担任校对编辑的大卫·沃森、复查俄文名字音译的梅尔·里德、绘制平面图的艾伦·吉利兰、提供额外编辑支持的唐纳德·温彻斯特。我很感谢俄通社―塔斯社图片组的安德烈·博布罗夫，帮我找到了一些很难觅得的照片。

    我要感谢那些指点和提醒我的学者：瓦莱里·戈洛法斯特、卡捷琳娜·格拉西姆娃、斯蒂芬·惠特克罗夫特、卡特里奥娜·凯利、鲍里斯·科龙涅茨基、乔纳森·哈斯拉姆、丹尼尔·毕阿和丹尼尔·皮克。我还亏欠罗伯·佩克斯，他在应对口述历史的挑战上，与我分享了他的心得体会。詹妮弗·戴维斯在处理我和纪念学会的合同上向我提供了很好的法律咨询，在此深深致谢。拉贾·旃达瓦卡以难以历数的方式给了我忠心的支持和帮助。我真希望他还活着，可与我讨论本书。
    最后，我要感谢我的老朋友和同事黒宫広昭（Hiroaki Kuromiya）。他是研究斯大林时代的最好、最认真的历史学家之一，他帮助审读了我的手稿，以严苛的要求剔出了书中任何可能的缺陷。如还存有任何错误，那都是我的责任。
    伦敦   2007年4月

  • 文言历史文本选编

    先秦

    利簋guǐ铭文

    武王{珷}征商，唯{住}甲子{党}朝（公元前1046年1月20日），岁{减}（木星）鼎（当空），克昏{旋}夙{执}（黄昏到次日晨）有{又}（占）商，辛未（甲子日后七天），王在{才}阑{器}师{自}（地名），赐{易}有{又}事（右史）利（人名）金（铜），用作{乍}[先人]檀{理}公宝尊{蹲}彝。

    石鼓文

    石鼓文是先秦时刻石文字，因其刻石外形似鼓而得名。共计十枚，高约三尺，径约二尺，分别刻有大篆四言诗一首，共十首，计七百一十八字。原石现藏于故宫博物院石鼓馆。

    一
    吾车既工（造好），吾馬既同（齐备）。吾车既好（美好），吾马既阜（丰壮）。
    君子員（周围）獵（猎），員獵員游。麀鹿（母鹿）速速，君子之求。
    骍骍角弓，弓兹以持。吾敺（驱）其特（首鹿），其來趩趩。
    [ ]炱炱，即篽即埘。麀鹿趚趚，其来亦次。
    吾驱其朴，其来[ ]，射其猏蜀。
    二
    汧（河）殹沔沔，烝彼淖渊。鰋鲤处之，君子渔之。
    濿（浅水）有小鱼，其游汕汕。帛（白）鱼皪皪，其盗氐鲜。
    黄帛其鯾，有鲂有鲌。其𦚏zhuāng孔庶。
    脔（喂）之毚毚，汗汗搏搏。其鱼维何，维鱮维鲤。
    何以苞之，维杨及柳（编筐）。
    三
    田（猎）车孔安，鋚勒（马辔）冯冯。四众（侍卫）既简，左骖（旗）幡幡，右骖健健。
    吾以跻（登）于（高）原，吾戎（队伍）止陕（地）。宫车其泻（流水），秀弓待射。
    麋豕孔庶，麀鹿雉兔。其逋有陈，其[ ]奔奔。
    太子出阁，亚昊襗，执而勿射。
    多庶（众人）跃跃，君子攸乐。
    四
    銮（君子之）车[ ]，贲髤真[ ]。[ ]弓孔硕，彤（红色）矢[ ]。
    四马其泻，六辔骜。徒驭孔庶，鄜宣搏。
    眚（巡视）车载行，戎徒如章，原隰（低湿之地）阴阳。
    趍趍骆马，射之族族。予如虎，兽鹿如。
    多贤，陈（列）禽，吾获允异。
    五
    癸（日），零雨。流迄滂滂，盈盈渫济（渡河）。
    君子即涉，涉马流。汧殹洎洎，萋萋。
    方舟囱逮，自鄜，徒驭汤汤，维舟以行。

    或阴或阳，极深以桨。于水一方。勿止。
    其奔其吾，其事。
    六
    [ ]猷（弯路），作原作[ ]。道（路）澄我司，[ ]除。
    帅彼陂（坡地）[ ]，草为卅（三十）里。[ ]微，秩秩攸罟（渔网）。
    栗（树），柞（树）棫（树）其。椶（棕树）桕（乌桕）祈祈，鸣。
    亚箬其华，为所游优。盩导二日，树五日。
    ，，而师。弓矢孔庶，。
    以。左骖，滔滔是炽。不。
    具获信复，具盱来。其写，小大具。
    来乐，天子来。嗣王始，故我来。
    七
    ，天虹彼，走。济济马荐，栺栺芄芄。
    微微雉（野鸡）立，心其一。之。
    八
    吾水既清，吾道既平。吾既止，嘉树则里，天子永宁。

    日维丙申（日），旭旭薪薪，吾其周道，吾马既陈。
    秀□康康，驾弇，左骖骜骜，右骖趚趚。
    牝，毋不，四翰骊骊。
    ，公谓大，金及如，害不余佑。
    九
    吴人怜亟，朝夕敬。载西载北，忽牿忽代。
    而初[ ]，献用[ ]。[ ]，[ ]大祝。
    曾受其庸，[ ]种寓逢，中囿孔[ ]，[ ]鹿[ ]。
    吾其[ ]，緟緟大[ ]。[ ]求有，[ ]是。
    十 (多缺失)

    何尊

    唯王初堙(迁)宅于成周，复禀武王礼福自天。在四月丙戌，王诰宗小子于京室曰：“昔在尔考公氏，克逑（仇）文王，肆文王受兹大命。唯武王既克大邑商，则廷告于天，曰：‘余其宅兹中或（国），自之乂民。’呜呼，尔有唯小子亡识，视于公氏，有庸于天，彻命敬享哉！助王恭德欲天，临我不敏。”王咸诰何，赐贝卅朋，用作□公宝尊彝。唯王五祀。”

    西周早期周成王　内底铭文12行122字　1963年出土于陕西省宝鸡市东北郊贾村，现藏于陕西省宝鸡青铜器博物院

    墙盘

    曰古文王，初盩和於政，上帝降懿德大甹，匍有上下，受萬邦。圉武王，遹征四方，達殷民永，不鞏狄虘，伐屍童。憲聖成王，𠂇右绶剛，用肇徹周邦。康王，兮尹意宖魯邵王，廣楚荊。隹南行。穆王，井帥宇誨。寧天子，天子文武長刺，天子無匄。祁上下，亟慕，吳亡昊。上帝司夒，尣保受天子令，厚福豐年，方亡不窋見。青幽高且，才微霝處。武王既殷，史勅且乃來見武王，武王則令周公舍，於周卑處。乙且，匹氒辟，遠猷心子。明亞且且辛，毓子孫，多孷，角光，義其烟祀。文考乙公，，屯無誎，辳嗇戉隹辟。孝友，史墙夙夜不窋，其日蔑历。弗敢抯，對揚天子丕顯休令，用乍寶彜。刺且文考，弋受爾。福褱錄，黃耇彌生，龕事氒辟，其萬年永寶用。

    西周中期（周共王时期）　铭文共284字　高16.2cm、口径47.3cm、深8.6cm　1976年12月15日发现于陕西省宝鸡市扶风县法门公社庄白大队，现藏于陕西扶风周原文物管理所

    宰兽簋

    唯六年二月初吉甲戌，王才(在)周師录宮，旦，王各大(格太)室，即立(位)。(司)土白(榮伯)右宰内(獸入)門立(中)廷，北(嚮)。王乎(呼)内史尹中(仲)冊命宰?(獸)曰:“昔先王既命女(汝),今余唯或?(又申)?乃命，?(賡)乃且(祖)考事，??(司)康宮王家臣妾，奠?(庸)外入(内)，母(毋)敢無??(聞知)。易女(錫汝)赤市(鲅)幽亢、?(攸)勒，用事。”???(獸拜稽)首,?(敢)對?(揚)天子不(丕)顯魯休命，用乍?刺且(作朕烈祖)幽中(仲)益姜寶??(簋)，??邁(獸其萬)年子子孫永寶用。

    西周中期　高36.8厘米，口径15厘米，腹深13厘米，方座边24.8厘米，重13.45千克　1997年7月陕西省扶风县段家镇大同村出土，现藏陕西省周原博物馆

    公乘得守石刻

    監罟（捕鱼）肘(守，避免与后文重字)臣公乘（姓氏）得（名）守丘（战国时期中山国王之陵墓），其臼（年齿）将曼（老迈），敢（盼）謁（请）後來賢者。

    商鞅：弱民

    民弱国强，国强民弱。故有道之国，务在弱民。朴则强，淫则弱。弱则轨，淫则越志。弱则有用，越志则强。故曰：以强去强者，弱；以弱去强者，强。
    民，善之则亲，利之用则和。用则有任，和则匮，有任乃富于政。上舍法，任民之所善，故奸多。
    民贫则力富，力富则淫，淫则有虱。故民富而不用，则使民以食出，各必有力，则农不偷。农不偷，六虱无萌。故国富而贫治，重强。
    兵易弱难强。民乐生安佚，死难难正，易之则强。事有羞，多奸；寡赏，无失。多奸疑，敌失必，利。兵至强，威；事无羞，利。用兵久処利势，必王。故兵行敌之所不敢行，强；事兴敌之所羞为，利。法有，民安其次；主变，事能得齐。国守安，主操权，利。故主贵多变，国贵少变。
    利出一孔，则国多物；出十孔，则国少物。守一者治，守十者乱。治则强，乱则弱。强则物来，弱则物去。故国致物者强，去物者弱。
    民，辱则贵爵，弱则尊官，贫则重赏。以刑治民，则乐用；以赏战民，则轻死。故战事兵用曰强。民有私荣，则贱列卑官；富则轻赏。治民羞辱以刑，战则战。民畏死、事乱而战，故兵农怠而国弱。

    李斯：挟书律[简]

    丞相李斯[对秦始皇]曰：
    五帝不相复，三代不相袭，各以治，非其相反，时变异也。
    今陛下创大业，建万世之功，固非愚儒所知。且越言乃三代之事，何足法也？
    异时诸侯并争，厚招游学。今天下已定，法令出一，百姓当家则力农工，士则学习法令辟禁。
    今诸生不师今而学古，以非当世，惑乱黔首。
    丞相臣斯昧死言：古者天下散乱，莫之能一，是以诸侯并作，语皆道古以害今，饰虚言以乱实，人善其所私学，以非上之所建立。今皇帝并有天下，别黑白而定一尊。私学而相与非法教，人闻令下，则各以其学议之，入则心非，出则巷议，夸主以为名，异取以为高，率群下以造谤。如此弗禁，则主势降乎上，党与成乎下。禁之[则]便。
    臣请史官非秦记皆烧之。非博士官所职，天下敢有藏诗、书、百家语者，悉诣守、尉杂烧之。有敢偶语诗书者弃[处决]市[于市集]。以古非今者族。吏见知不举者与同罪。令下三十日不烧，黥[脸上刺字]为城旦。所不去者，医药卜筮种树之书。若欲有学法令，以吏为师。

    附：《史记·秦始皇本纪》
    始皇闻[方术士侯生、卢生]亡，乃大怒曰：“吾前收天下书不中用者尽去之。悉召文学方术士甚众，欲以兴太平，方士欲练以求奇药。今闻韩众去不报，徐巿等费以巨万计，终不得药，徒奸利相告日闻。卢生等吾尊赐之甚厚，今乃诽谤我，以重吾不德也。诸生在咸阳者，吾使人廉问，或为訞言以乱黔首。”
    于是使御史悉案问诸生，诸生传相告引，乃自除犯禁者四百六十余人，皆阬之咸阳，使天下知之，以惩后。

    秦 金布律

    官府受钱者，千钱一畚，以丞、令印印。不盈千者，亦封印之。钱善不善，杂实之。出钱，献封丞、令，乃发用之。百姓市用钱，美恶杂之，勿敢异。
    布袤（长）八尺，幅广二尺五寸。布恶，其广袤不如式者，不行。
    钱十一当一布。其出入钱以当金、布，以律。
    贾市居列者及官府之吏，毋敢择行钱、布；择行钱、布者，列伍长弗告，吏循之不谨，皆有罪。
    有买（卖）及买（也），各婴（系木签标明）其价；小物不能各一钱者，勿婴。
    官相输者，以书告其出计之年，受者以入计之。八月、九月中其有输，计其输所远近，不能逮其输所之计，……移计其後年，计毋相繆（谬）。工献输官者，皆深以其年计之。
    都官有秩吏及离官啬夫，养各一人，其佐、史与共养；十人，车牛一两（辆），见牛者一人。都官之佐、史冗者，十人，养一人；十五人，车牛一辆，见牛者一人；不盈十人者，各与其官长共养、车牛，都官佐、史不盈十五人者，七人以上鼠（予）车牛、仆，不盈七人者，三人以上鼠（予）养一人；小官毋（无）啬夫者，以此鼠（予）仆、车牛。豤（牛仔）生者，食其母日粟一斗，旬五日而止之，别?（分开喂养）以?（假）之（借出）。
    有债於公及赀、赎者居它县，辄移居县责之。公有债百姓未偿，亦移其县，县偿。
    百姓?（假）公器及有债未偿，其日?（?）以收责之，而弗收责，其人死亡；及隶臣妾有亡公器、畜生者，以其日月?其衣食，毋过三分取一，其所亡众，计之，终岁衣食不?（?）以稍偿，令居之，其弗令居之，其人死亡，令其官啬夫及吏主者代偿之。
    县、都官坐效、计以负偿者，已论，啬夫即以其值钱分负其官长及冗吏，而人与参辨券，以效少内，少内以收责之。其入赢者，亦官与辨券，入之。其债毋敢逾岁，逾岁而弗入及不如令者，皆以律论之。

    官啬夫免，复为啬夫，而坐其故官以赀偿及有它债，贫窭毋（无）以偿者，稍?其秩、月食以偿之，弗得居；其免?（也），令以律居之。官啬夫免，效其官而有不备者，令与其稗官分，如其事。吏坐官以负偿，未而死，及有罪以收，抉出其分。其已分而死，及恒作官府以负债，牧将公畜生而杀、亡之，未偿及居之未备而死，皆出之，毋责妻、同居。

    县、都官以七月粪公器不可缮者，有久识者靡?之。其金及铁器入以为铜。都官输大内，内受卖之，尽七月而觱（毕）。都官远大内者输县，县受卖之。粪其有物不可以须时，求先卖，以书时谒其状内史。凡粪其不可卖而可以为薪及盖?〈蘙〉者，用之；毋（无）用，乃燔之。
    传车、大车轮，葆缮参邪，可?（也）。韦革、红器相补缮。取不可葆缮者，乃粪之。
    授衣者，夏衣以四月尽六月禀之，冬衣以九月尽十一月禀之，过时者勿禀。後计冬衣来年。囚有寒者为褐衣。为?布一，用枲三斤。为褐以禀衣；大褐一，用枲十八斤，值六十钱；中褐一，用枲十四斤，值?六钱；小褐一，用枲十一斤，值卅六钱。已禀衣，有馀褐十以上，输大内，与计偕。都官有用其官，隶臣妾、舂城旦毋用。在咸阳者致其衣大内，在它县者致衣从事之县。县、大内皆听其官致，以律禀衣。
    禀衣者，隶臣、府隶之毋（无）妻者及城旦，冬人百一十钱，夏五十五钱；其小者冬七十七钱，夏?四钱。舂冬人五十五钱，夏?四钱；其小者冬?四钱，夏卅三钱。隶臣妾之老及小不能自衣者，如舂衣。 亡、不仁其主及官者，衣如隶臣妾。

    前223年，黑夫，惊给兄衷的家书

    家书一

    二月辛巳，黑夫（男二）、惊（男三）敢再拜问衷（男一），母毋恙也？黑夫、惊毋恙也。
    前日黑夫与惊别，今复会矣。
    黑夫寄益就书曰：遗（给）黑夫钱，母操夏衣来。今书节（即）到，母视安陆丝布贱，可以为襌裙襦（夏衣）者，母必为之，令与钱偕来。其丝布贵，徒（以）钱来，黑夫自以布此。
    黑夫等直佐淮阳，攻反城久，伤未可智（知）也，愿母遗黑夫用勿少。
    书到皆为报，报必言相家爵来未来，告黑夫其未来状。闻王得苟得…

    毋恙也？辞相家爵不也？书衣之南军毋……不也？
    为黑夫、惊多问姑姊、康乐孝须（嬃）故尤长姑外内（？）……
    为黑夫多问东室季须（嬃），苟得毋恙也？
    为黑夫、惊多问婴记季，事可（何）如，定不定？
    为黑夫、惊多问夕阳吕婴、匾里阎诤丈人（二老者）得毋恙……矣。
    惊多问新负（妇）、妴（婉），得毋恙也？新负勉力视瞻丈人，毋与……勉力也。

    家书二

    惊敢大心问衷，母得毋恙也？
    家室外内同……以衷，母力毋恙也？
    与从军，与黑夫居，皆毋恙也。
    ……钱衣，愿母幸遣钱五、六百，布谨善者毋下二丈五尺。……
    （借）用垣柏钱矣，室弗遗，即死矣。急急急。
    惊多问新负、妴皆得毋恙也？新负勉力视瞻两老……

    惊远家故，衷教诏妴，令毋敢远就若取新（薪）（柴），衷令……
    闻新（占）地城多空不实者，且令故民有为不如令者实……
    为惊祠祀（问神灵），若（显示）大发（废）毁，以惊居反城中故。
    惊敢大心问姑秭（姐），姑秭（姐）、（姑）子彦得毋恙……？
    新地（进）入盗，衷唯毋方行新地，急急急。

    （黑夫、惊为秦国士兵，时三男抽二，士兵需自备内衣）

    前89年，刘彻：轮台诏

    前有司（政府部门）奏，欲益民赋三十助边用，是重困老弱孤独也。而今又请遣卒田轮台。
    轮台西于车师千余里，前开陵侯击车师时，危须、尉犁、楼兰六国子弟在京师者皆先归，发畜食迎汉军，又自发兵，凡数万人，王各自将，共围车师，降其王。诸国兵便罢，力不能复至道上食汉军。汉军破城，食至多，然士自载不足以竟师，强者尽食畜产，羸者道死数千人。朕发酒泉驴、橐驼负食，出玉门迎军。吏卒起张掖，不甚远，然尚厮留其众。

    曩者，朕之不明，以军候弘上书言：“匈奴缚马前后足，置城下，驰言：‘秦人，我匄若马。‘”又汉使者久留不还，故兴遣贰师将军，欲以为使者威重也。

    古者卿大夫与谋，参以蓍龟，不吉不行。乃者以缚马书遍视丞相、御史、二千石、诸大夫、郎为文学者，乃至郡属国都尉成忠、赵破奴等，皆以“虏自缚其马，不祥甚哉”，或以为“欲以见强，夫不足者视人有余”。
    《易》之卦得《大过》，爻在九五，匈奴困败。公军方士、太史治星望气，及太卜龟蓍，皆以为吉，匈奴必破，时不可再得也。又曰：“北伐行将，于鬴山必克。”
    卦诸将，贰师最吉。故朕亲发贰师下鬴山，诏之必毋深入。今计谋卦兆皆反缪。重合侯得虏候者，言：“闻汉军当来，匈奴使巫埋羊牛所出诸道及水上以诅军。单于遗天子马裘，常使巫祝之。缚马者，诅军事也。”又卜“汉军一将不吉”。
    匈奴常言：“汉极大，然不能饥渴，失一狼，走十羊。” 

    乃者贰师败，军士死略离散，悲痛常在朕心。今请远田轮台，欲起亭隧，是扰劳天下，非所以忧民也，今朕不忍闻。大鸿胪等又议，欲募囚徒送匈奴使者，明封侯之赏以报忿，五伯所弗能为也。且匈奴得汉降者，常提掖搜索，问以所闻。今边塞未正，阑出不禁，障候长吏使卒猎兽，以皮肉为利，卒苦而烽火乏，失亦上集不得，后降者来，若捕生口虏，乃知之。
    当今务，在禁苛暴，止擅赋，力本农，修马复令，以补缺，毋乏武备而已。郡国二千石各上进畜马方略补边状，与计对。

    89年 班固：封燕然山（蒙古国杭爱山）铭

    惟（汉和帝）永元元年秋七月，有汉元（汉和帝）舅曰车骑将军窦宪，寅亮圣明，登翼王室，纳于大麓，维清缉熙。
    乃与执金吾（官职名）耿秉，述职巡御。理兵于朔方。
    鹰扬之校，螭虎之士，爰该六师，暨南单于、东胡乌桓、西戎氐羌，侯王君长之群，骁骑三万。
    元戎轻武，长毂四分，云辎蔽路，万有三千余乘。
    勒以八阵，莅以威神，玄甲耀目，朱旗绛天。
    遂陵高阙，下鸡鹿，经碛卤，绝大漠，斩温禺以衅（血染）鼓，血尸逐以染锷（兵刃）。然后四校横徂，星流彗扫，萧条万里，野无遗寇。
    于是域灭区殚，反旆（军旗）而旋，考传验图，穷览其山川。遂逾涿邪[山]，跨安侯[河]，乘（登）燕然，蹑冒顿之区落（部落），焚老上之龙庭。上以摅高、文之宿愤，光祖宗之玄灵；下以安固后嗣，恢拓境宇，振大汉之天声。
    兹所谓一劳而久逸，暂费而永宁者也，乃遂封山刊（刻）石，昭铭盛德。
    其辞曰：
    铄王师兮征荒裔，
    剿凶虐兮截海外。
    夐其邈兮亘地界，
    封神丘兮建隆嵑，
    熙帝载兮振万世！

    汉恒帝时童谣：察举讽

    举秀才，不知书。举孝廉，父别居。
    寒素清白浊如泥，高第良将怯如鸡。

    210年（建安十五年） 曹操：让县自明本志令

    孤（我）始举孝廉（官员的后备），年少，自以本非岩穴（ 隐居山间）知名之士，恐为海内人之所见凡愚。欲为一郡守，好作政教以建立名誉，使世士明知之。故在济南（东汉王国名，今山东济南东），始除残去秽，平心选举，违忤诸常侍（掌权宦官）。以为强豪所忿，恐致家祸，故以病还。

    去官之后，年纪尚少，顾视同岁（同一批孝廉）中，年有五十，未名为老，内自图之： 从此却去二十年，待天下清，乃与同岁中始举者等耳。故以四时归乡里，于谯（今安徽亳县西）东五十里筑精舍，欲秋夏读书，冬春射猎，求低下之地，欲以泥水自蔽，绝宾客往来之望，然不能得如意。

    后征为都尉，迁典军校尉，意遂更欲为国家讨贼立功，欲望封侯作征西将军，然后题墓道言“汉故征西将军曹侯之墓”，此其志也。而遭值董卓之难，兴举义兵。是时合兵能多得耳，然常自损，不欲多之。所以然者，多兵意盛，与强敌争，倘更为祸始。故汴水之战数千，后还到扬州更募，亦复不过三千人。此其本志有限也。

    后领兖州，破降黄巾三十万众。又袁术僭号（称帝）于九江，下皆称臣，名门曰建号门，衣被皆为天子之制，两妇预争为皇后。志计已定，人有劝术使遂即帝位，露布天下。答言： “曹公尚在，未可也。”后孤讨擒[杀]其四将，获其人众，遂使术穷亡解沮，发病而死。及至袁绍据[黄]河北，兵势强盛，孤自度势，实不敌之。但计投死为国，以义灭身，足垂于后。幸而破绍，枭（斩首）xiāo其二子。又刘表自以为宗室，包藏奸心，乍前乍却，以观世事，据有当州。孤复定之，遂平天下。身为宰相，人臣之贵已极，意望已过矣。今孤言此，若为自大，欲人言尽，故无讳耳。设使国家无有孤，不知当几人称帝，几人称王。

    或者人见孤强盛，又性不信天命之事，恐私心相评，言有不逊之志，妄相忖度，每用耿耿。齐桓、晋文所以垂称至今日者，以其兵势广大，犹能奉事周室也。《论语》云： “三分天下有其二，以服事殷，周之德可谓至德矣。”夫能以大事小也。昔乐毅走赵，赵王欲与之图燕，乐毅伏而垂泣，对曰： “臣事昭王，犹事大王;臣若获戾，放在他国，没世然后已，不忍谋赵之徒隶，况燕后嗣乎？”胡亥之杀蒙恬也，恬曰： “自吾先人及至子孙，积信于秦三世矣。今臣将兵三十馀万，其势足以背叛，然自知必死而守义者，不敢辱先人之教以忘先王也。”孤每读此二人书，未尝不怆然流涕也。孤祖、父以至孤身，皆当亲重之任，可谓见信者矣；以及子桓兄弟，过于三世矣。孤非徒对诸君说此也，常以语妻妾，皆令深知此意。孤谓之言： “顾我万年之后，汝曹皆当出嫁，欲令传道我心，使他人皆知之。”孤此言皆肝膈（内心）之要也。

    所以勤勤恳恳叙心腹者，见周公有《金縢》之书以自明，恐人不信之故。然欲孤便尔委捐所典兵众，以还执事，归就武平侯国，实不可也。何者？诚恐己离兵为人所祸也。既为子孙计，又己败则国家倾危，是以不得慕虚名而处实祸，此所不得为也。前朝恩封三子为侯，固辞不受；今更欲受之，非欲复以为荣，欲以为外援为万安计。孤闻介推之避晋封，申胥之逃楚赏，未尝不舍书而叹，有以自省也。奉国威灵，仗钺征伐，推弱以克强，处小而禽大。意之所图，动无违事，心之所虑，何向不济，遂荡平天下，不辱主命，可谓天助汉室，非人力也。然封兼四县，食户三万，何德堪之!江湖未静，不可让位；至于邑土，可得而辞。今上还阳夏、柘、苦三县户二万，但食武平万户，且以分损谤议，少减孤之责也。

    751年 杜甫：兵车行

    车辚辚，马萧萧，行人弓箭各在腰。
    爷娘妻子走相送，尘埃不见咸阳桥。
    牵衣顿足拦道哭，哭声直上干云霄。
    道旁过者问行人，行人但云点行频。
    或从十五北防河，便至四十西营田。
    去时里正与裹头，归来头白还戍边。
    边庭流血成海水，武皇开边意未已。
    君不闻汉家山东二百州，千村万落生荆杞。
    纵有健妇把锄犁，禾生陇亩无东西。
    况复秦兵耐苦战，被驱不异犬与鸡。
    长者虽有问，役夫敢申恨？
    且如今年冬，未休关西卒。
    县官急索租，租税从何出？
    信知生男恶，反是生女好。
    生女犹得嫁比邻，生男埋没随百草。
    君不见，青海头，古来白骨无人收。
    新鬼烦冤旧鬼哭，天阴雨湿声啾啾！

    759年 杜甫：石壕吏

    暮投石壕村，有吏夜捉人。老翁逾墙走，老妇出门看。
    吏呼一何怒！妇啼一何苦！听妇前致词：三男邺城戍。
    一男附书至，二男新战死。存者且偷生，死者长已矣！
    室中更无人，惟有乳下孙。有孙母未去，出入无完裙。
    老妪力虽衰，请从吏夜归。急应河阳役，犹得备晨炊。
    夜久语声绝，如闻泣幽咽。天明登前途，独与老翁别。

    756年 张巡守城

    《唐书·忠义传》：
    张巡守睢阳（河南省商丘市南）城，尹子奇攻围既久，城中粮尽，易子而食，析骸而爨。
    巡乃出其妾，对三军杀之，以飨军士，曰： “请公等为国家戮力守城，一心无二。巡不能自割肌肤，以啖将士，岂可惜此妇人! ”
    将士皆泣下，不忍食。巡强令食之。括城中妇女；既尽，以男夫老小继之，所食人口二三万。
    《新唐书》：
    巡出爱妾曰：…..。乃杀以大飨，坐者皆泣。巡强令食之，远亦杀奴僮以哺卒……初杀马食，既尽，而及妇人老弱凡食三万口。人知将死，而莫有畔者。城破，遗民止四百而已。
    《资治通鉴·唐纪·唐纪三十六》：
    尹子奇久围睢阳，城中食尽，议弃城东走。
    张巡、许远谋，以为：“睢阳，江、淮之保障，若弃之去，贼必乘胜长驱，是无江、淮也。
    “且我众饥羸，走必不达。古者战国诸侯，尚相救恤，况密迩群帅乎！不如坚守以待之。”
    茶纸既尽，遂食马；马尽，罗雀掘鼠；雀鼠又尽，巡出爱妾，杀以食士，远亦杀其奴；然后括城中妇人食之；既尽，继以男子老弱。人知必死，莫有叛者，所馀才四百人。

    781年 大秦景教流行中国碑

    景教流行中国碑颂〈并序〉 大秦寺僧净述

    粤若常然真寂，先先而无元；窅然灵虚，后后而妙有。总玄枢而造化，妙众圣以元尊者，其唯我三一妙身无元真主阿罗诃欤！判十字以定四方，鼓元风而生二气。暗空易而天地开，日月运而昼夜作。匠成万物，然立初人。别赐良和，令镇化海。浑元之性，虚而不盈。素荡之心，本无希嗜。
    洎乎娑殚施妄，钿饰纯精。间平大于此是之中，隙冥同于彼非之内。是以三百六十五种，肩随结辙。竞织法罗，或指物以托宗，或空有以沦二，或祷祀以邀福，或伐善以矫人。智虑营营，恩情役役。茫然无得，煎迫转烧，积昧亡途，久迷休复。
    于是，我三一分身尊弥施诃，戢隐真威，同人出代。神天宣庆，室女诞圣于大秦；宿告祥，波斯睹耀以来贡。圆廿四圣有说之旧法，理家国之大猷。设三一净风无言之新教，陶良用于正信。制八境之度，链尘成真；启三常之门，开生灭死。悬日以破暗府，魔妄于是乎悉摧；棹慈航以登明宫，含灵于是乎既济。能事斯毕，亭午升真。经留廿七部，张元化以发灵开。
    法浴水风，涤浮华而洁虚白；印持十字，融四照以合无抅。击木震仁惠之音，东礼趣生荣之路。存须所以有外行，削顶所以无内情。不畜臧获，均贵贱于人。不聚货财，示罄遗于我。斋以伏识而成，戒以静慎为固。七时礼赞，大庇存亡。七日一荐，洗心反素。

    真常之道，妙而难名，功用昭彰，强称教。惟道非圣不弘，圣非道不大。道圣符契，天下文明。太宗文皇帝，光华启运，明圣临人，大秦国有上徳曰阿罗本，占青云而载真经，望风律以驰艰险。贞观九祀（635年），至于长安。帝使宰臣房公玄龄，总仗西郊，宾迎入内。翻经书殿，问道禁闱。深知正真，特令传授。
    贞观十有二年秋七月，诏曰︰“道无常名，圣无常体，随方设教，密济群生。大秦国大德阿罗本，远将经像，来献上京，详其教旨，玄妙无为，观其元宗，生成立要。词无繁说，理有忘筌，济物利人，宜行天下。”所司即于京义宁坊造大秦寺一所，度僧廿一人。宗周德丧，青驾西升。巨唐道光，风东扇。旋令有司将　帝写真转摸寺壁。天姿泛彩，英朗门。圣迹腾祥，永辉法界。
    按《西域图记》及汉魏史策，大秦国南统珊瑚之海，北极众宝之山；西望仙境花林，东接长风弱水；其土出火烷布、返魂香、明月珠、夜光璧；俗无寇盗，人有乐康。法非不行，主非德不立。土宇广阔，文物昌明。
    高宗大帝，克恭缵祖，润色真宗；而于诸州各置寺，仍崇阿罗夲为镇国大法主。法流十道，国富元休；寺满百城，家殷福。
    圣历年，释子用壮，腾口于东周。先天末，下士大笑，讪谤于西镐。有若僧首罗含，大德及烈，并金方贵绪，物外高僧，共振玄网，俱维绝纽。　
    玄宗至道皇帝，令宁国等五王，亲临福宇，建立坛场。法栋暂桡而更崇，道石时倾而复正。天宝初，令大将军髙力士，送五圣写真，寺内安置；赐绢百匹，奉庆睿图。龙髯虽逺，弓剑可攀；日角舒光，天颜咫尺。三载，大秦国有僧佶和，瞻星向化，望日朝尊。诏僧罗含、僧普论等一七人，与大德佶和，于兴庆宫修德。于是天题寺榜，额戴龙书；宝装璀翠，灼烁丹霞；睿扎宏空，腾凌激日。宠赉比南山峻极，沛泽与东海齐深。道无不可，所可可名；圣无不作，所作可述。
    肃宗文明皇帝，于灵武等五郡，重立寺。元善资而福祚开，大庆临而皇业建。
    代宗文武皇帝，恢张圣运，从事无为。每于降诞之辰，锡天香以告成，颁御馔以光众。且以美利，故能广生。圣以体元，故能亭毒。
    我建中圣神文武皇帝，披八政以黜陟幽明，阐九畴以惟新命。化通玄理，祝无愧心。
    至于方大而虚，专静而恕，广慈救众苦，善贷被群生者，我修行之大猷，汲引之阶渐也。若使风雨时，天下静，人能理，物能清，存能昌，殁能乐，念生响应，情发目诚者，我力能事之功用也。

    大施主金紫光禄大夫、同朔方节度副使、试殿中监、赐紫袈裟僧伊斯，和而好惠，闻道勤行。逺自王舍之城，聿来中夏，术髙三代，艺博十全。始效节于丹庭，乃策名于王帐。中书令汾阳郡王郭公子仪，初总戎于朔方也，肃宗俾之从迈。虽见亲于卧内，不自异于行间。为公爪牙，作军耳目。能散禄赐，不积于家。献临恩之颇黎，布辞憩之金罽。或仍其旧寺，或重广法堂。崇饰廊宇，如翚斯飞。更效门，依仁施利，每岁集四寺僧徒，虔事精供，备诸五旬。馁者来而饭之，寒者来而衣之，病者疗而起之，死者葬而安之。清节达娑，未闻斯美。白衣士，今见其人。愿刻洪碑，以扬休烈。

    词曰︰
    真主元元，湛寂常然。舆匠化，起地立天。分身出代，救度无边。日升暗灭，咸证真玄。
    赫赫文皇，道冠前王；乘时拨乱，乾廓坤张。明明教，言归我唐。翻经建寺，存殁舟航。百福偕作，万邦之康。
    髙宗纂祖，更筑精宇。和宫敞朗，遍满中土。真道宣明，式封法主。人有乐康，物无灾苦。
    玄宗启圣，克修真正。御榜扬辉，天书蔚映。皇图璀璨，率土高敬。庶绩咸熙，人赖其庆。
    肃宗来复，天威引驾。圣日舒晶，祥风扫夜。祚归皇室，祆氛永谢。止沸尘，造我区夏。
    代宗孝义，德合天地。开贷生成，物资美利。香以报功，仁以作施。旸谷来威，月窟毕萃。
    建中统极，聿修明德。武肃四溟，文清万域。烛临人隐，镜观物色。六合昭苏，百蛮取则。
    道惟广兮应惟宻，强名言兮演三一；主能作兮臣能述，建豊碑兮颂元吉。

    大唐建中二年岁在作噩太蔟月七日大耀森文日建立，时法主僧宁恕知东方之众也。
    朝议郎前行台州司士参军吕秀岩书

    此碑唐建中二年2月4日，由波斯传教士伊斯（Yazdhozid）立于大秦寺院中。碑文由景教士景净撰，朝议郎前行台州司参军吕秀岩书写并题额。碑正面刻着“大秦教流行中国碑并颂”，上有楷书三十二行，行书六十二字，共1780个汉字和古叙利亚文的教士题名。

    约806年，白居易：卖炭翁（苦宫市也）

    卖炭翁，伐薪烧炭南山中。
    满面尘灰烟火色，两鬓苍苍十指黑。
    卖炭得钱何所营？身上衣裳口中食。
    可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒。
    夜来城外一尺雪，晓驾炭车辗冰辙。
    牛困人饥日已高，市南门外泥中歇。
    翩翩两骑来是谁？黄衣使者白衫儿。
    手把文书口称敕，回车叱牛牵向北。
    一车炭，千余斤，宫使驱将惜不得。
    半匹红纱一丈绫，系向牛头充炭值。

    809年（唐宪宗元和四年） 白居易：新丰折臂翁

    新丰（陕西临潼县东北）东北老翁八十八，头鬓眉须皆似雪。玄孙扶向店前行，左臂凭肩右臂折。问翁臂折来几年，兼问致折何因缘。
    翁云贯属新丰县，生逢圣代无征战。惯听梨园（新丰系骊山华清官所在地）歌管声，不识旗枪与弓箭。无何天宝大征兵，户有三丁点一丁。点得驱将何处去，五月万里云南（南诏）行。闻道云南有泸水，椒花落时瘴烟起。大军徒涉水如汤，未过十人二三死。村南村北哭声哀，儿别爷娘夫别妻。皆云前后征蛮者，千万人行无一回。是时翁年二十四，兵部牒中有名字。夜深不敢使人知，偷将大石捶折臂。张弓簸bǒ（摇）旗俱不堪，从兹始免征云南。骨碎筋伤非不苦，且图拣退归乡土。此臂折来六十年，一肢虽废一身全。至今风雨阴寒夜，直到天明痛不眠。痛不眠，终不悔，且喜老身今独在。不然当时泸水头，身死魂孤骨不收。应作云南望乡鬼，万人冢上哭呦yōu呦。
    老人言，君听取。君不闻开元宰相宋开府（宋璟），不赏边功防黩武。又不闻天宝宰相杨国忠，欲求恩幸立边功。边功未立生人怨，请问新丰折臂翁。

    806年（唐元和元年） 唐故杨府君神道之碑

    该碑1984年4月出土于陕西省泾阳县扫宋乡（现属云阳镇）小户杨村，现存泾阳县博物馆。杨良瑶（735年（唐玄宗开元二十三年）－806年（唐宪宗元和元年）），陕西省泾阳县人，唐肃宗至德年间（756年-758年）成为宦官，此时已经有妻子和两个孩子，陪侍过唐肃宗、代宗、德宗、顺宗四位皇帝。

    唐故右三军僻仗、太中大夫、行内侍省内给事，赐紫金鱼袋、上柱国、弘农县开国男、食邑三百户杨公神道碑铭并序

    朝请郎、行虔州南康县丞、云骑尉、翰林待 诏陆邳撰
    承务郎、守郴州司兵参军、云骑尉、翰林待 诏赵良裔书
    给事郎、守洪州都督府兵曹参军、云骑尉、翰林待 诏汤陟篆额

    公讳良瑶，字良瑶，其先周宣王子尚父，受封诸阳，寔曰杨侯。晋灭其国，因以为氏。厥后代济勋德，遂为名家。至若王孙以薄葬称，楼船以大功命，敞因谨畏为相，雄由辞赋荣名。洎乎伯起之慎“四知”，叔节之去“三惑”，大鸟集于葬墓，飞鳣降于讲堂。或朱轮十人，或太尉四代，光照两汉，裕垂后昆，氏族源流，远矣盛矣。于是根蒂旁薄，枝叶蕃昌，有望表弘农，有族居天水，则公之先代，本弘农人也。
    及公曾祖， 为唐元功臣（玄宗朝授参与唐隆政变（710年）的禁军将领功臣封号，后避李隆基讳改“唐隆”为“唐元”），官至云麾将军、右威卫中郎将，以功多赏厚，赐业云阳（陕西省泾阳县），至今家焉。遂为京兆人矣。
    祖怀贞，皇许州别驾。
    考彦昱，处士，高标世利，处士园林，公即处士之第四子也。
    公质状殊观，心灵独立，气概感激，慑于时流。少以节义为志行，长以忠勇为己任，故得入为内养，侍玉墀以承恩；出使外方，将天命而布泽。累经试效，益着功劳；诚素既彰，委任方重。
    当永泰（765年）中，慈、隰等州狼山部落首领塌实力继章，掠众聚兵，逼胁州县，不顾王命，恣行剽煞，虔刘晋郊之士庶，震骇虢略之封疆。于时两河初平，四远犹耸，朝廷难于动众，皇上姑务安人。遂遣中使刘崇进衔命招抚，以公为判官。崇进畏懦而莫前，公乃愤发而独往，口宣恩德，气激凶顽，遂使天威挫其锋铓，皇泽流其骨髓，莫不交臂屈膝，弃甲投弓，革面回心，稽颡受诏。既而复命，阙下大惬，圣衷有诏赐绿，仍授文林郎、行内侍省掖庭局监作。由是恩顾稠叠，委任频繁，奉使必适于所难，临事未尝有不当，是用东西南北，匪遑止宁；险阻艰危，备尝之矣。
    大历六年（771年），加朝议郎、宫闱局丞，守职不渝，在公无替；昼日三接，风雨一心；天颜不违，圣眷斯至。当信重之际，罔敢告劳；安梯航之心，何远不届。遂奉使安南宣慰，降雨露于荒外，委忠信于洪波，往返无疑，匪僭程度。复命至于广府（大历九年，774年），会叛军煞将凶徒阻兵，哥舒晃因纵狼心，将邀王命，承公以剑，求表上闻；公山立嶷然，不可夺志，事解归阙，时望翕然。至十二年，迁宫闱令。内官式叙，中禁肃清，由公是拜也。
    洎建中末，遇銮舆顺动，随驾奉天，勤劳匪躬，始终一致。
    兴元初（784年），天未悔祸，蛇豕横途。皇上轸念于苍生，臣下未遑于定策。公乃感激出涕，请使西戎，乞师而旋，遮寇以进，覆武功之群盗，清盩厔之前途，风云奔从而遂多，山川指程而无拥。兴元既得以驻跸，渭桥因得以立功，再造寰区，不改旧物，繄我公乞师之力也。其年二月，迁内侍省内给事。六月，加朝散大夫。此例骤迁，盖赏劳矣。
    贞元初（785年），既清寇难，天下乂安，四海无波，九译入觐。昔使绝域，西汉难其选；今通区外，皇上思其人。比才类能，非公莫可。以贞元元年四月，赐绯鱼袋，充聘国使于黑衣大食（阿拉伯帝国阿拔斯Abbasid王朝，750年取代倭马亚王朝，为第二个世袭王朝，首都巴格达，1258年被蒙古旭烈兀所灭），备判官、内傔，受国信、诏书。奉命遂行，不畏于远。届乎南海，舍陆登舟。邈尔无惮险之容，懔然有必济之色。义激左右，忠感鬼神。公于是剪髪祭波，指日誓众，遂得阳侯敛浪，屏翳调风，挂帆凌汗漫之空，举棹乘颢淼之气，黑夜则神灯（沿海灯塔）表路，白昼乃仙兽前驱。星霜再周，经过万国，播皇风于异俗，被声教于无垠。往返如期，成命不坠，斯又我公扙忠信之明效也。
    四年六月，转中大夫。七月，封弘农县开国男，食邑三百户。功绩既著，恩宠亦崇；若惊之心，日慎一日。
    十二年，加太中大夫，余如故。
    十四年（798年）春，德宗虔虔孝思，陵寝是恤，将复修葺，再难其人。必求恪恭，祗奉于事。唯公惬旨，受命而行，夙夜在公，日月匪懈。不改经制，惜费省劳。焕乎咸新，无乖睿约。及乎卒事，议功莫俦。以其年八月，赐紫金鱼袋、判、傔等，并加绿绶。非例也，特恩及之。其后贵主亲王，监护丧葬，圣情念切者，必委于公。至于以劳受赐，金帛纷纶，亦不可备纪矣。
    十五年，陈许节使云亡，淮西承衅而动，剽掠阳翟，攻逼许昌，汝洛惊惶，关东大恐，天下激发二十万师，韩全义统之，且挠戎律。国家难于易帅，议者知必无功。时，德宗皇帝负扆兴叹，凝旒轸虑，思安东都宗庙，念济河洛苍生，是用命公监东都畿、汝州军事。闻命而三军增气，戾止而百姓咸宁。公知韩全义无才，乌合众难用，淮西城小而固，遐迩易动难安，遂思远图，独出奇策，使押衙东惟悟孙白身志和，深觇寇情，观衅而返，乃具所谋画，遽献表章，请缓天诛，许其悔过。当皇威未霁，事寝莫行。及全义大崩，诏用前计。遂申恩舍罪，罢讨息人。公乃居安虑危，处否思泰，复请完城聚谷，缮甲理兵，用简易而渐谋，不日月而功就，化怯懦为勇健，变藩篱为金汤。于是远近获安，道路斯泰，皆公之尽力竭忠经略所致也。
    至永贞元年（785年），以事既宁辑，恋阙诚深，恳请归朝，供侍近密。夏五月，以本官领右三军僻仗。公素积威望，久著勋庸，警跸诫严，中外悦服。千官以之加敬，九重以之益深。日出彤庭而臣下朝肃，月闲清禁而天子夜安。国朝之环拱得人，于斯为盛。
    公以躬勤之故，衰朽易侵，心神耗消，体貌癯瘠，疾生而医药不救，善积而命运奈何，寒热内攻，风露外迫，遂至不起，呜呼痛哉！以元和元年秋七月廿二日，终于辅兴里之私第，享年七十有一。
    皇上轸悼，士庶同悲。以其年十月十四日，归葬于云阳县龙云乡之原，顺其先志。盖以公之仲弟忠武将军良彩、季弟游击将军光晖、夫人彭城郡君刘氏皆先公而终，坟墓所在，则临终之日，思及平生，友爱念深，遗命不忘之故也。
    公自至德年中入为内养，永泰之岁出使有功，恩渥日深，委信渐重。至若震忠义以清慈、隰，明勇决以伏哥舒，乞师护于南巡，宣化安于北户，使大食而声教旁畅，监东畿而汝洛小康，供奉四朝，五十余载，议勤劳而前后无比，论渥泽而流辈莫先。故得祚土分茅，纡金拖紫，名高史荣，庆传子孙。况公壮年以忠勇自负，长岁以尽瘁勤王。及乎晚途，归信释氏，修建塔庙，缮写藏经，布金买田，舍衣救病，可谓竭臣子人间之礼，尽生死区外之因，孜孜善心，没齿无倦矣。
    长子升，嗣子承议郎、内侍省内谒者监，赐紫金鱼袋、华清宫使希旻，次子操，移孝为忠，光昭令德，祗奉前训，罔极是思。谓福善无征，风树不止，诚感未达，隙驹莫留。想像既难于攀追，德业实惧于堙没，愿琢贞石，纪勒芳猷，见讬为文，敢不书实。

    铭曰：

    云从龙兮风从武，圣功出兮忠臣辅。
    天降公兮竭心府，历四纪兮奉四主。
    鸡常鸣兮忘风雨，躬尽瘁兮心神苦。
    伏哥舒兮刚不吐，抚慈隰兮慑戎虏。
    西乞师兮清中宇，南奉使兮慰北户。
    聘大食兮声教普，监汝洛兮勋超古。
    校功业兮无俦伍，赐赉繁兮莫得数。
    一命偻兮三命俯，恩弥崇兮孰敢侮。
    垂金章兮结绶组，既分茅兮亦祚土。
    琢贞石兮表忠臣，昭令德兮示后人。

    元和元年岁次景戌十月庚申朔十四日癸酉建　吴郡朱士良刻字

    宋，载郭茂倩《乐府诗集》 胡笳十八拍

    我生之初尚无为，我生之后汉祚衰。天不仁兮降乱离，地不仁兮使我逢此时。干戈日寻兮道路危，民卒流亡兮共哀悲。烟尘蔽野兮胡虏盛，志意乖兮节义亏。对殊俗兮非我宜，遭忍辱兮当告谁？笳一会兮琴一拍，心愤怨兮无人知。
    戎羯逼我兮为室家，将我行兮向天涯。云山万重兮归路遐，疾风千里兮扬尘沙。人多暴猛兮如虺蛇，控弦被甲兮为骄奢。两拍张弦兮弦欲绝，志摧心折兮自悲嗟。
    越汉国兮入胡城，亡家失身兮不如无生。毡裘为裳兮骨肉震惊，羯羶为味兮枉遏我情。鼙鼓喧兮从夜达明，胡风浩浩兮暗塞营。伤今感晋兮三拍成，衔悲畜恨兮何时平。
    无日无夜兮不思我乡土，禀气合生兮莫过我最苦。天灾国乱兮人无主，唯我薄命兮没戎虏。殊俗心异兮身难处，嗜欲不同兮谁可与语！寻思涉历兮多艰阻，四拍成兮益凄楚。
    雁南征兮欲寄边声，雁北归兮为得汉音。雁飞高兮邈难寻，空断肠兮思愔愔。攒眉向月兮抚雅琴，五拍泠泠兮意弥深。
    冰霜凛凛兮身苦寒，饥对肉酪兮不能餐。夜间陇水兮声呜咽，朝见长城兮路杳漫。追思往日兮行李难，六拍悲来兮欲罢弹。
    日暮风悲兮边声四起，不知愁心兮说向谁是！原野萧条兮烽戍万里，俗贱老弱兮少壮为美。逐有水草兮安家葺垒，牛羊满野兮聚如蜂蚁。草尽水竭兮羊马皆徙，七拍流恨兮恶居于此。
    为天有眼兮何不见我独漂流？为神有灵兮何事处我天南海北头？我不负天兮天何配我殊匹？我不负神兮神何殛我越荒州？制兹八拍兮拟排忧，何知曲成兮心转愁。
    天无涯兮地无边，我心愁兮亦复然。人生倏忽兮如白驹之过隙，然不得欢乐兮当我之盛年。怨兮欲问天，天苍苍兮上无缘。举头仰望兮空云烟，九拍怀情兮谁与传？
    城头烽火不曾灭，疆场征战何时歇？杀气朝朝冲塞门，胡风夜夜吹边月。故乡隔兮音尘绝，哭无声兮气将咽。一生辛苦兮缘别离，十拍悲深兮泪成血。
    我非食生而恶死，不能捐身兮心有以。生仍冀得兮归桑梓，死当埋骨兮长已矣。日居月诸兮在戎垒，胡人宠我兮有二子。鞠之育之兮不羞耻，憋之念之兮生长边鄙。十有一拍兮因兹起，哀响缠绵兮彻心髓。
    东风应律兮暖气多，知是汉家天子兮布阳和。羌胡蹈舞兮共讴歌，两国交欢兮罢兵戈。忽遇汉使兮称近诏，遗千金兮赎妾身。喜得生还兮逢圣君，嗟别稚子兮会无因。十有二拍兮哀乐均，去住两情兮难具陈。
    不谓残生兮却得旋归，抚抱胡儿兮注下沾衣。汉使迎我兮四牡騑騑，胡儿号兮谁得知？与我生死兮逢此时，愁为子兮日无光辉，焉得羽翼兮将汝归。一步一远兮足难移，魂消影绝兮恩爱遗。十有三拍兮弦急调悲，肝肠搅刺兮人莫我知。
    身归国兮儿莫知随，心悬悬兮长如饥。四时万物兮有盛衰，唯我愁苦兮不暂移。山高地阔兮见汝无期，更深夜阑兮梦汝来斯。梦中执手兮一喜一悲，觉后痛吾心兮无休歇时。十有四拍兮涕泪交垂，河水东流兮心是思。
    十五拍兮节调促，气填胸兮谁识曲？处穹庐兮偶殊俗。愿得归来兮天从欲，再还汉国兮欢心足。心有怀兮愁转深，日月无私兮曾不照临。子母分离兮意难怪，同天隔越兮如商参，生死不相知兮何处寻！
    十六拍兮思茫茫，我与儿兮各一方。日东月西兮徒相望，不得相随兮空断肠。对萱草兮忧不忘，弹鸣琴兮情何伤！今别子兮归故乡，旧怨平兮新怨长！泣血仰头兮诉苍苍，胡为生兮独罹此殃！
    十七拍兮心鼻酸，关山阻修兮行路难。去时怀土兮心无绪，来时别儿兮思漫漫。塞上黄蒿兮枝枯叶干，沙场白骨兮刀痕箭瘢。风霜凛凛兮春夏寒，人马饥豗兮筋力单。岂知重得兮入长安，叹息欲绝兮泪阑干。
    胡笳本自出胡中，缘琴翻出音律同。十八拍兮曲虽终，响有余兮思无穷。是知丝竹微妙兮均造化之功，哀乐各随人心兮有变则通。胡与汉兮异域殊风，天与地隔兮子西母东。苦我怨气兮浩于长空，六合虽广兮受之应不容！

    1365年，无名氏撰合同婚书

    立合同大吉婚书文字人，领（岭）北傀列（哈喇和林）地面，系太子（爱猷识理达腊）位下所管军户脱欢等。
    今为差发重仲，军情未定，上马不止，身缠厥少，无可打兑照期。
    今有弟脱火赤，军上因病身故，抛下伊妻巴都麻，自为只身，难以独居住坐，日每无甚养济。
    今凭媒证人帖哥作媒，说合于亦集乃路（漠南）屯田张千户所管纳粮军户吴子忠家内，存日从良户（从奴隶户脱籍）下当差吴哈厘（奴隶贯主人姓），抛下长男一名唤哈立巴台，说合作为证（正）妻。对众眷言定财钱市斗，内白米壹石、小麦壹石、大麦壹石、羊酒筵席尽行下足。
    脱欢一面收受了，当择定良辰吉日，迎取到家，成亲之后，并不欠少分文不尽钱财。
    如有脱欢将弟妻巴都麻改嫁中，内别有不尽言词，前夫未曾身故慢妹改嫁，一切为碍，并不干吴子忠之事，系脱欢等一面证人无头词。
    如哈立巴台将伊妻不作妻室台（抬）举，罚小麦壹石。
    如巴都麻不受使用，非理作事，正主婚人罚白米壹石，充官用度。
    恐后无凭，故立大吉合同婚书文字为用。
    至正廿五年（1365年）十一月初七日。

    正主婚人 脱欢
    副主婚人 巴都麻
    取吉大利，同主婚人 塔义儿
    知见人李住哥，同主婚人 帖木儿

    1569 题名鼎建碑：戚继光督建长城防御工程

    石碑发现于河北省滦平县金山岭五道梁长城。

    隆庆三年季秋之吉，总督蓟辽保定等处军务兼理粮饷、兵部左侍郎兼都察院右佥都御史、宜黄谭纶，整饬蓟州等处边备兼巡抚顺天等府地方、都察院右佥都御史、潍县刘应节，巡按直隶监察御史、汝阳房楠，整饬密云等处兵备、山东布政司右参政兼按察司副使、太仓凌云翼，总理练兵兼镇守蓟州等处地方、总兵官中军都督府右都督、凤阳戚继光，协守西路副总兵官、鄱阳李超，曹家寨游击将军、平原王旌，大宁都司领秋班、金山林栋，管工霸州同知王建，通州右卫经历孟思宪，千总、寿州沈炤，把总、江陵印璋，鼎建。

    1598（万历二十六年） 赵秉忠殿试卷（状元卷）

    臣对：
    臣闻帝王之临驭宇内也，必有经理之实政，而后可以约束人群，错综万机，有以致雍熙之治；必有倡率之实心，而后可以淬励百工，振刷庶务，有以臻郅隆之理。立纪纲，饬法度，悬诸象魏之表，着乎令甲之中，首于岩廊朝宁，散于诸司百府，暨及于郡国海隅，经之纬之，鸿巨纤悉，莫不备具，充周严密，毫无渗漏者是也。何谓实心？振怠惰，励精明，发乎渊微之内，起于宥密之间，始于宫闱穆清，风于辇毂邦畿，灌注 于边疆遐陬，沦之洽之，精神意虑，无不畅达，肌肤形骸，毫无壅阏者是也。
    实政陈，则臣下有所禀受，黎氓有所法程，耳目以一，视听不乱，无散漫飘离之忧，而治具彰；实心立，则职司有所默契，苍赤有所潜孚，意气以承，轨度不逾，无丛脞惰窳之患，而治本固。有此治具，则不徒驭天下以势，而且示天下以守，相维相制，而雍熙以渐而臻。有 此治本，则不徒操天下以文，而且喻天下以神，相率相勖，而郅隆不劳而至。自古帝王，所为不下堂阶而化行于风驰，不出庙廊而令应于桴答，用此道耳。厥后，崇清净者深居而九官效职，固以实心行实政也。
    后世语精明者，首推汉宣，彼其吏称民安，可为效矣！而专意于检察，则检察之所不及者，必遗漏焉，故伪增受赏所从来也；语玄默者，首推汉文，彼其简节疏目，可谓阔矣！而注精于修持，则修持之所默化者，必洋溢焉，故四海平安所由然也。
    盖治具虽设而实心不流，则我欲责之臣，臣已窥我之怠而仿效之；我欲求之民，民已窥我之疏而私议之。即纪纲法度灿然明备，而上以文，下以名，上下相蒙，得聪察之利，亦得聪察之害。实心常流而治具少疏，则意动而速于令，臣且孚我之志而靖共焉；神驰而慑于威，民 且囿吾之天而顺从焉。凡注厝、规画悬焉不设，而上以神，下以实，上下交儆，无综核之名，而有廉察之利。彼汉宣不如汉文者，正谓此耳。
    洪惟我太祖高皇帝，睿智原于天授，刚毅本于性生。草昧之初，即创制设谋，定万世之至计；底定之后，益立纲陈纪，贻百代之宏章。考盘之高蹈，颍川之治理，必旌奖之，以风有位；浚民之鹰鹤，虐众之枭虎，必摧折之，以惕庶僚。用能复帝王所自立之，称联之理政务尚综核者，欺蒙虚冒，总事空文。人日以伪，治日以敝，亦何以继帝王之上理，后隆古之休风，而称统理民物、仰承天地之责哉？
    恭惟皇帝陛下，毓聪明睿智之资，备文武圣神之德，握于穆之玄符，承国家之鸿业，八柄以驭臣民而百僚整肃，三重以定谟猷而九围式命，盖已操太阿于掌上，鼓大冶于域中，固可以六五帝、四三王、陋汉以下矣！乃犹进臣等于廷，图循名责实之术，欲以绍唐虞雍熙之化， 甚盛心也！臣草茅贱士，何敢妄言？然亦目击世变矣。顾身托江湖，有闻焉而不可言，言焉而不得尽者。今幸处咫尺之地，得以对扬而无忌，敢不披沥以献！

    臣闻：
    人君一天也，天有覆育之恩，而不能自理天下，故所寄其责者，付之人君。君有统理之权，而实有所承受。故所经其事者，法之吴天。用是所居之位，则曰天位；所司之职，则曰天职；所治之民，则曰天民；所都之邑，则曰天邑。故兴理致治，要必求端于天。今夫天 ，幽深玄远，穆然不可测也；渺茫轻清，聩然莫可窥也。而四时五行，各效其官；山岳河海，共宣其职。人人沾浩荡普济之泽，在在蒙含弘广大之休。无欠缺以亏其化；无阻滞以塞其功者，盖不贰之真默，酝酿于大虚，不已之精潜，流衍于无极，故实有是化工耳。
    然则人君法天之治，宁可专于无为，托以深密静摄哉！是必有六府三事之职司为实政者；人君宪天之心，宁可专于外务，强以法令把持哉？是必有不贰不已之真精为实心者。粤稽唐虞之世，君也垂裳而治，贻协和风动之休；民也画象而理，成《击壤》从欲之俗。君臣相浃，两无猜嫌，明良相信，两无顾忌，万古称无为之治尚矣！而询事考言，敷奏明试，三载九载，屡省乃成，法制又详备无遗焉。盖其浚哲温恭，日以精神流注于堂皇；钦明兢业 ，日以志虑摄持于方寸。故不必综核，而庶府修明，无事约束。底成古今所未有之功，乾坤开而再辟，日月涤而重朗。盖以实心行实政，因此实政致弘勋。
    其载在《祖训》有曰，诸臣民所言有理者，即付所司施行，各衙门勿得沮滞，而敬勤屡致意焉。列圣相承，守其成法，接其意绪，固有加无坠者。至世宗肃皇帝，返委靡者，振之以英断；察废弃者，作之以精明。制礼作乐，议法考文。德之所被，与河海而同深；威之所及， 与雷霆共迅，一时吏治修明，庶绩咸理，赫然中兴，诚有以远绍先烈，垂范后世也。
    今我皇上，任人图治，日以实政，望臣工矣！而诞谩成习，诚有如睿虑所及者。故张官置吏，各有司存。而越职以逞者，贻代庖之讥。有所越于职之外，必不精于职之内矣！则按职而责之事，随事而稽之功，使春官不得参冬署，兵司不得分刑曹，此今日所当亟图者也。
    耻言过行，古昔有训，而竞靡以炫者，招利口之羞。有所逞于外之靡，必不深于中之抱矣，则因言而核之实，考实而责之效，使捷巧不得与浑朴齐声，悃幅不至与轻浮共誉，又今 日所当速返者也。
    巡行者寄朝廷之耳目，以激浊扬清也。而吏习尚偷，既使者分遣，无以尽易其习。为今之计，惟是广咨诹、严殿最，必如张咏之在益州、黄霸之在颍川。斯上荐剡焉，而吏可劝矣。教化者，齐士民之心术，以维风振俗也。而士风尚诡，即申令宣化，无以尽变其风。为今之计 ，惟是广厉学官，独重经术，必如阳城之在国学、胡瑗之在乡学，斯畀重寄焉，而士可风矣。
    四海之穷民，十室九空，非不颁赈恤也，而颠连无告者，则德意未宣；而侵牟者有以壅之，幽隐未达；而渔猎者有以阻之，上费其十，下未得其一。何不重私侵之罚，清出支之籍乎？四夷之内讧，西支东吾，非不诘戎兵也。而挞伐未张者，则守圭纨绔之胄子，无折冲御侮之略；召募挽强之粗才，暗驰张奇正之机。兵费其养，国不得其用，何不严遴选之条，广任用之途乎？民氓之积冤，有以干天地之和，而抑郁不伸，何以召祥？则刑罚不可不重也。故起死人、肉白骨、谳问详明者，待以不次之赏；而刻如秋荼者，置不原焉，而冤无所积矣。天地之生财，本以供国家之用，而虚冒不经，何以恒足？则妄费不可不禁也。故藏竹头、惜木屑、收支有节者，旌以裕国之忠；而犹然冒费者，罪无赦焉，而财无所乏矣。
    盖无稽者黜则百工惕，有功者赏则庶职劝，劝惩既明则政治咸理，又何唐虞之不可并轨哉！而实心为之本矣！实心以任人，而人不敢苟且以应我；实心以图政，而政不至惰窳而弗举。不然，精神不贯，法制虽详，无益也。而臣更有献焉：盖难成而易毁者，此实政也；难操而易舍者，此实心也。是必慎于几微，戒于宥密。不必明堂听政也，而定其志虑，俨如上帝之对；不必宣室致斋也，而约其心神，凛如师保之临。使本原澄彻，如明镜止水，照之而无不见；使方寸轩豁，如空谷虚室，约之而无不容。一念萌，知其出于天理，而充之以期于行；一意动，知其出于人欲，而绝之必期于尽。爱憎也，则察所爱而欲近之与所憎而欲远之者，何人？喜惧也，则察所喜而欲为与所惧而不欲为者，何事？勿曰屋漏人不得知，而天下之视听注焉；勿曰非违人不得禁，而神明之降监存焉。
    一法之置立，曰吾为天守制，而不私议兴革；一钱之出纳，曰吾为天守财，而不私为盈缩。一官之设，曰吾为天命有德；一奸之锄，曰吾为天讨有罪。盖实心先立，实政继举，雍熙之化不难致矣，何言汉宣哉！臣不识忌讳，干冒宸严，不胜战栗陨越之至。
    臣谨对。

    1616（万历四十四年） 陈其猷：饥民图

    陈其猷，诸城人，万历四十三年举人，次年二月应礼部试至京师，时山束大饥；乃绘《饥民图》，伏阙上书，其略曰：
    东省饥荒见—-而臣实目所亲见、身所亲尝者也。—–谨具图二十，聊写万一。
    臣尝往稽载籍，宁讵无数百里之蝗、二三年之旱？然夷考当时所称，不过“流离载道，死伤蔽野，易子析骨，十室九空”止矣。从未有白昼剥割，母子残食，平村落为垒块，贬子女如牛羊，沧桑大变如今日者。
    盖齐鲁之民，蓄积不预，一年之丰则称饱，一年之歉则称饥。齐鲁之地，瘠卤相参，入十日之雨则病水，十日之暘则病旱；前年自夏逾秋，霪霖不歇，田庐禾菽尽没水滨，彼时大麦小麦布种者，不十之二三。由是公储私储耗散者，已十之八九；枵腹望岁甚於平时，悬釜待炊，急救一饱。不意大浸之後，转作骄阳，自前年九月不雨，直至逾年十月，所种三分之麦，不得一分；而春来百谷之播，未收一粒。加以蝗蝻之起，平地尺馀。遂使田苗园蔬，野卓荡然，不剩根芽。鸣呼！灾外加灾，岁复一岁，奈之何民不穷且盗死且相食有如图之所绘者乎？—–独是在籍之丁死逃者已十之七，徵粮之承佃者不十之三；故佃三亩者恐难包十亩之税，充一丁者，恐难包四丁之徭。况三亩之牛种来，己无从一丁之朝夕。
    —–所绘“饥民图”，各缀以五言绝句，且为之叙跋，其叙略云：
    臣自正月离家北上，出境行二十里，见道旁刮人肉者，如屠猪狗，不少避人，人视之亦不为怪。于是毛骨懔懔。又行半日，见老妪持一死儿，且烹且哭，因问曰：既欲食之，何必哭？妪曰：此吾儿，弃之且为人食；故宁自充腹耳。臣因此数日饮食不能甘，此时苟有济于死亡，直不顾顶踵矣。乃入京之初，恶状犹横胸臆间。
    越二三日，朋俦相聚，杯酌相呼，前事若忆若忘。既而声歌诱耳，繁华夺目，昨日之痛心酸鼻者，竟漠然不相关矣。呜呼，臣饥人也，饥之情、饥之味皆其习见而亲尝者，犹且以渐远渐隔而忘之。乃欲九天之上、万里之遥，以从来未见之情形，冀其不告而知、无因而痛，不其难乎？

    1628（崇祯元年） 马懋才：备陈大饥疏

    崇祯元年，陕西大饥荒，马懋才奉命调查，写成《备陈大饥疏》，五月十八日送呈崇祯皇帝。
    自去岁一年无雨，草木枯焦。八、九月间，民争采山间蓬草而食，其粒类糠皮，其味苦而涩，食之仅可延以不死。至十月以后而蓬尽矣，则剥树皮而食。诸树惟榆树差善，杂他树皮以为食，亦可稍缓其死。殆年终而树皮又尽矣，则又掘山中石块而食。其石名青叶，味腥而腻，少食辄饱，不数日则腹胀下坠而死。民有不甘于食石以死者始相聚为盗，而一、二稍有积贮之民遂为所劫，而抢掠无遗矣。有司亦不能禁治。间有获者亦恬不知畏，且曰：“死于饥与死于盗等耳，与其坐而饥死，何若为盗而死，犹得为饱鬼也。”
    最可悯者，如安塞城西有粪场一处，每晨必弃二、三婴儿于其中，有涕泣者，有叫号者，有呼其父母者，有食其粪土者。至次晨则所弃之子已无一生，而又有弃之者矣。”
    更可异者，童穉辈及独行者一出城外，更无踪影。后见门外之人炊人骨以为薪，煮人肉以为食，始知前之人皆为其所食。而食人之人亦不数日面目赤肿，内发燥热而死矣。于是，死者枕藉，臭气薰天。县城外掘数坑，每坑可容数百人，用以掩其遗骸。臣来之时，已满三坑有余，而数里以外不及掩者又不知其几矣。小县如此，大县可知；一处如此，他处可知……
    然臣犹有说焉。国初每十户编为一甲，十甲编为一里。今之里甲寥落，户口萧条，已不复如其初矣。况当九死一生之际，即不蠲不减，民亦有呼之而不应者。官司束于功令之严，不得不严为催科。如一户止有一二人，势必令此一二人而赔一户之钱粮；一甲止有一二户，势必令此一二户而赔一甲之钱粮。等而上之，一里一县无不皆然。则见在之民止有抱恨而逃，飘流异地，栖泊无依，恒产既亡，怀资易尽，梦断乡关之路，魂消沟壑之填，又安得不相率而为盗者乎。此处逃亡于彼，彼处复逃之于此，转相逃则转相为盗。此盗之所以遍秦中也。

    1645，王秀楚：扬州十日记

    1645年四月，清军攻打扬州，遇明将史可法抵抗，清军攻破扬州城后屠戮人数达80余万（数字有争议）。本文为史可法幕僚王秀楚逃出后所著。
         己酉（1645年）夏四月十四日，督镇史可法从白洋河失守，踉跄奔扬州，坚闭城以御敌，至念四日（24日）未破。城前禁门之内，各有兵守，予宅西城，杨姓将守焉。吏卒棋置，予宅寓二卒，左右舍亦然，践踏无所不至，供给日费钱千馀。不继，不得已共谋为主者觞，予更谬为恭敬，酬好渐洽；主者喜，诫卒稍远去。主者喜音律，善琵琶，思得名妓以娱军暇；是夕，邀予饮，满拟纵欢，忽督镇以寸纸至，主者览之色变，遽登城，予众亦散去。
         越次早，督镇牌谕至“内有一人当之，不累百姓”之语，闻者莫不感泣。又传巡军小捷，人人加额焉。午後，有姻氏自瓜洲来避兴平伯逃兵，［兴平伯高杰也，督镇檄之，出城远避。］予妇缘别久，相见唏嘘；而敌兵入城之语，已有一二为予言者。予急出询诸人，或曰：“靖南侯黄得功（黄蜚）援兵至。”旋观城上守城者尚严整不乱，再至市上，人言汹汹，披发跣足者继尘而至，问之，心急口喘莫知所对。忽数十骑自北而南，奔驰狼狈势如波涌，中拥一人则督镇也。盖奔东城外，兵逼城不得出，欲奔南关，故由此。是时，始知敌兵入城无疑矣。突有一骑由北而南，撤缰缓步，仰面哀号，马前二卒依依辔首不舍，至今犹然在目，恨未传其姓字也。骑稍远，守城丁纷纷下窜，悉弃胄抛戈，并有碎首折胫者，回视城橹已一空矣！
         先是督镇以城狭炮具不得展，城垛设一板，前置城径，后接民居，使有馀地，得便安置。至是工未毕，敌兵操弧先登者白刃乱下，守城兵民互相拥挤，前路逼塞，皆奔所置木板，匍匐扳援，得及民屋，新板不固，托足即倾，人如落叶，死者十九；其及屋者，足蹈瓦裂，皆作剑戟相击声，又如雨雹挟弹，铿然鍧hōng然，四应不绝，屋中人惶骇百出，不知所为？而堂室内外深至寝闼，皆守城兵民缘室下者，惶惶觅隙潜匿，主人弗能呵止，外厢比屋闭户，人烟屏息。

         予厅後面城，从窗隙中窥见城上兵循南而西，步武严整，淋雨亦不少紊，疑为节制之师，心稍定。忽叩门声急，则邻人相约共迎王师，设案焚香，示不敢抗，予虽知事不济，然不能拂众议，姑应曰唯唯。於是改易服色，引领而待，良久不至。予复至後窗窥城上，则队伍稍疏或行或止；俄见有拥妇女杂行，阚其服色皆扬俗，予始大骇。还语妇曰：“兵入城，倘有不测，尔当自裁。”妇曰诺。因曰：“前有金若干付汝置之，我辈休想复生人世矣！”涕泣交下，尽出金付予。值乡人进，急呼曰：“至矣，至矣！”予趋出，望北来数骑皆按辔徐行，遇迎王师者，即俯首若有所语。是时，人自为守，往来不通，故虽违咫尺而声息莫闻，迨稍近，始知为逐户索金也。然意颇不奢，稍有所得，即置不问，或有不应，虽操刀相向，尚不及人，後乃知有捐金万两相献而卒受毙者，扬人导之也。

         次及予楣，一骑独指予呼後骑曰：“为我索此蓝衣者。”後骑方下马，而予已飞遁矣；後骑遂弃余上马去，予心计曰：“我粗服类乡人，何独欲予？”已而予弟适至，予兄亦至，因同谋曰：“此居左右皆富贾，彼亦将富贾我，奈何？”遂急从僻迳托伯兄率妇等冒雨至仲兄宅，仲兄宅在何家坟後，胕 zhǒu 肘腋皆窭人居也。予独留後以观动静，俄而伯兄忽至曰：“中衢血溅矣，留此何待？予伯仲生死一处，亦可不恨。”予遂奉先人神主偕伯兄至仲兄宅，当时一兄一弟，一嫂一侄，又一妇一子，二外姨，一内弟，同避仲兄家。天渐暮，敌兵杀人声已彻门外，因乘屋暂避；雨尤甚，十数人共拥一毡，丝发皆湿；门外哀痛之声悚耳慑魄，延至夜静，乃敢扳檐下屋，敲火炊食。城中四周火起，近者十馀处，远者不计其数，赤光相映如雷电，辟卜声轰耳不绝；又隐隐闻击楚声，哀顾断续，惨不可状。饭熟，相顾惊怛不能下一箸，亦不能设一谋。予妇取前金碎之，析为四，兄弟各藏其一，髻履衣带内皆有；妇又觅破衲敝履为予易讫，遂张目达旦。是夜也，有鸟在空中如笙簧声，又如小儿呱泣声者，皆在人首不远，後询诸人皆闻之。

         念六日，顷之，火势稍息。天渐明，复乘高升屋躲避，已有十数人伏天沟内。忽东厢一人缘墙直上,一卒持刃随之,追蹑如飞;望见予众，随舍所追而奔予。予惶迫，即下窜，兄继之，弟又继之，走百馀步而後止。自此遂与妇子相失，不复知其生死矣。诸黠卒恐避匿者多，绐众人以安民符节，不诛，匿者竞出从之，共集至五六十人，妇女参半，兄谓余曰：“我落落四人，或遇悍卒，终不能免；不若投彼大群势众则易避，即不幸，亦生死相聚，不恨也。”当是时，方寸已乱，更不知何者为救生良策？共曰唯唯，相与就之。领此者三满卒也，遍索金帛，予兄弟皆罄尽，而独遗予未搜；忽妇人中有呼予者，视之乃余友朱书兄之二妾也，予急止之。二妾皆散发露肉，足深入泥中没胫，一妾犹抱一女，卒鞭而掷之泥中，旋即驱走。一卒提刀前导，一卒横槊後逐，一卒居中，或左或右以防逃逸。数十人如驱犬羊，稍不前，即加捶挞，或即杀之；诸妇女长索系颈，累累如贯珠，一步一蹶，遍身泥土；满地皆婴儿，或衬马蹄，或藉人足，肝脑涂地，泣声盈野。行过一沟一池，堆尸贮积，手足相枕，血入水碧赭，化为五色，塘为之平。至一宅，乃廷尉永言姚公居也，从其後门直入，屋宇深邃，处处皆有积尸，予意此间是我死所矣；乃逶迤达前户，出街复至一宅，为西商乔承望之室，即三卒巢穴也。入门，已有一卒拘数美妇在内简检筐篚彩缎如山，见三卒至，大笑，即驱予辈数十人至後厅，留诸妇女置旁室；中列二方几，三衣匠一中年妇人制衣；妇扬人，浓抹丽妆，鲜衣华饰，指挥言笑。欣然有得色，每遇好物，即向卒乞取，曲尽媚态，不以为耻；予恨不能夺卒之刀，断此淫孽。卒尝谓人曰：“我辈征高丽，掳妇女数万人，无一失节者，何堂堂中国，无耻至此？”呜呼，此中国之所以乱也。

         三卒随令诸妇女尽解湿衣，自表至里，自顶至踵，并令制衣妇人相修短，量宽窄，易以鲜新；诸妇女因威逼不已，遂至裸体相向，隐私尽露，羞涩欲死之状，难以言喻。易衣毕，乃拥之饮酒，哗笑不已；一卒忽横刀跃起向後疾呼曰：“蛮子来，蛮子来！”近前数人已被缚，吾伯兄在焉。仲兄曰：“势已至此，夫复何言？”急持予手前，予弟亦随之，是时男子被执者共五十馀人，提刀一呼，魂魄已飞，无一人不至前者；予随仲兄出厅，见外面杀人，众皆次第待命，予初念亦甘就缚，忽心动若有神助，潜身一遁，复至後厅，而五十馀人不知也。

         厅後宅西房尚存诸老妇，不能躲避，由中堂穿至後室，中尽牧驼马，复不能逾走；心愈急，遂俯就驼马腹下，历数驼马腹匍匐而出；若惊驼马，稍一举足，即成泥矣。又历宅数层，皆无走路，惟旁有弄可通後门，而弄门已为卒加长锥钉固；予复由後弄至前，闻前堂杀人声，愈惶怖无策，回顾左侧有厨，中四人盖亦被执治庖者也，予求收入，使得参司火掌汲之役，或可幸免。四人峻拒曰：“我四人点而役者也，使再点而增人，必疑有诈，祸且及我！”予哀吁不已，乃更大怒，欲执予赴外，予乃出，心益急，视阶前有架，架上有瓮，去屋不甚远，乃援架而上，手方及瓮，身已倾仆，盖瓮中虚而用力猛故也。无可奈何，仍急趋旁弄门，两手棒锥摇撼百度，终莫能动，击以石，则响达外庭，恐觉；不得已复竭力摇撼之，指裂血流，淋漏两肘，锥忽动，尽力拔之，锥已在握，急掣门㧀jí 门闩，㧀木槿也，濡雨而涨，其坚涩倍于锥，予迫甚，但力取㧀，㧀不能出而门枢忽折，扉倾垣颓，声如雷震，予急耸身飞越，亦不知力之何来也。疾趋後门出，即为城脚。时兵骑充斥，触处皆是，前进不能，即于乔宅之左邻後门挨身而入；凡可避处皆有人，必不肯容，由後至前，凡五进皆如是。直至大门，已临通衢，兵丁往来络绎不绝，人以为危地而弃之。予乃急入，得一榻，榻颠有仰顶，因缘柱登之，屈身向里，喘息方定，忽闻隔墙吾弟哀号声，又闻举刀砍击声，凡三击遂寂然。少间复闻仲兄哀恳曰：“吾有金在家地窖中，放我，当取献。”一击复寂然；予此时神已离舍，心若焚膏，眼枯无泪，肠结欲断，不复自主也。旋有卒挟一妇人直入，欲宿此榻，妇不肯，强而後可，妇曰：“此地近市，不可居。”卒复携之去，予几不免焉。室有仰屏，以席为之，不胜人，然缘之可以及梁，予以手两扳梁上桁条而上，足托驼梁，下有席蔽，中黑如漆，仍有兵至，以矛上搠，知是空虚，料无人在上，予始得竟日未遇兵；然在下被刃者几何人？街前每数骑过，必有数十男妇哀号随其後。是日虽不雨，亦无日色，不知旦暮。至夕，军骑稍疏，左右惟闻人声悲泣，思吾弟兄已伤其半，伯兄亦未卜存亡？予妇予子不知何处？欲踪迹之，或得一见；且使知兄弟死所。乃附梁徐下，蹑足至前街，街中枕尸相藉，天暝莫辨为谁？俯尸遍呼，漠无应者。遥见南首数火炬蜂拥而来，予急避之，循郭而走。城下积尸如鳞，数蹶，声与相触，不能措足，则俯伏以手代步，每有所惊，即仆地如僵尸，久之始通于衢。衢前後举火者数处，照耀如白昼，逡巡累时，而後越，得达小路，路人昏夜互触相惊骇，路不满百步，自酉至亥方及兄家。

         宅门闭不敢遽叩，俄闻妇人声，知为吾嫂，始轻击，应门者即予妇也。伯兄已先返，吾妇子俱在，予与伯兄哭，然犹未敢遽告仲兄季弟之被杀也。嫂询予，予依违答之。予询妇何以得免？妇曰：“方卒之追逐也，子先奔，众人继之，独遗我，我抱彭儿投屋下不得死，吾妹踢伤足亦卧焉。卒持我二人至一室，屋中男妇几十人皆鱼贯而缚之。卒因嘱我于诸妇曰：‘看守之，无使逸去。’卒持刀出，又一卒入，劫吾妹去；久之，不见前卒至，遂绐诸妇得出。出即遇洪妪，相携至故处，故幸免。”洪妪者仲兄内亲也。妇询予，告以故，唏嘘良久。洪妪携宿饭相劝。哽咽不可下。外复四面火起，倍于昨夕，予不自安，潜出户外，田中横尸交砌，喘息犹存；遥见何家坟中，树木阴森，哭音成籁，或父呼子，或夫觅妻，呱呱之声，草畔溪间，比比皆是，惨不忍闻。回至兄宅，妇谓予曰：“今日之事，惟有一死，请先子一死，以绝子累；彭儿在，子好为之！”予知妇之果於死也，因与语竟夜，不得间，东方白矣。

         念七日，问妇避所，引予委曲至一柩後，古瓦荒砖，久绝人迹，予蹲腐草中，置彭儿于柩上，覆以苇席，妇偻居于前，我曲附于後；扬首则露顶，展足则踵见，屏气灭息，拘手足为一裹，魂少定而杀声逼至，刀环响处，怆呼乱起，齐声乞命者或数十人或百馀人；遇一卒至，南人不论多寡，皆垂首匐伏，引颈受刃，无一敢逃者；至于纷纷子女，百口交啼，哀鸣动地，更无论矣！日向午，杀掠愈甚，积尸愈多，耳所难闻，目不忍视，妇乃悔畴昔之夜，误予言未死也。然幸获至夕，予等逡巡走出，彭儿酣卧柩上，自朝至暮，不啼不言，亦不欲食，或渴欲饮，取片瓦掬沟水润之，稍惊则仍睡去，至是呼之醒，抱与俱去；洪妪亦至，知吾嫂又被劫去，吾侄在襁褓竟失所在，呜呼痛哉！甫三日而兄嫂弟侄已亡其四，茕茕孑遗者，予伯兄及予妇子四人耳！相与觅臼中馀米，不得，遂与伯兄枕股忍饥达旦。是夜予妇觅死几毙，赖洪妪救得免。

         念八日，予谓伯兄曰：“今日不卜谁存？吾兄幸无恙，乞与彭儿保其残喘。”兄垂泪慰勉，遂别，逃他处。洪妪谓予妇曰：“我昨匿破柜中，终日贴然，当与子易而避之。”妇坚不欲，仍至柩後偕匿焉。未几，数卒入，破柜劫妪去，捶击百端，卒不供出一人，予甚德之，後仲兄产百金，予所留馀亦数十金，并付洪妪，感此也。少间，兵来益多，及予避所者前後接踵，然或一至屋後，望见柩而去。忽有十数卒恫喝而来，其势甚猛，俄见一人至柩前，以长竿搠予足，予惊而出，乃扬人之为彼乡导者，面则熟而忘其姓，予向之乞怜，彼索金，授金，乃释予，犹曰：“便宜尔妇也。”出语诸卒曰：“姑舍是。”诸卒乃散去。喘惊未定，忽一红衣少年掺长刃直抵予所，大呼索予，出，举锋相向，献以金，复索予妇，妇时孕九月矣，死伏地不起。予绐之曰：“妇孕多月，昨乘屋坠下，孕因之坏，万不能坐，安能起来？”红衣者不信，因启腹视之，兼验以先涂之血裤，遂不顾。所掳一少妇一幼女一小儿，小儿呼母索食，卒怒一击，脑裂而死，复挟妇与女去。

         予谓此地人迳已熟，不能存身，当易善地处之；而妇坚欲自尽，予亦惶迫无主，两人遂出，并缢于梁；忽项下两绳一时俱绝，并跌于地。未及起，而兵又盈门，直趋堂上，未暇过两廊。予与妇急趋门外，逃奔一草房，中悉村间妇女，留妇而却予，予急奔南首草房中，其草堆积连屋，予登其颠，俯首伏匿，复以乱草覆其上，自以为无患矣。须臾卒至，一跃而上，以长矛搠其下，予从草间出乞命，复献以金；卒搜草中，又得数人，皆有所献而免。卒既去，数人复入草间，予窥其中，置大方桌数张，外围皆草，其中廓然而虚，可容二三十人。予强窜入，自谓得计，不意败垣从半腰忽崩一穴，中外洞然，已为他卒窥见，乃自穴外以长矛直刺；当其前者无不被大创，而予後股亦伤。於是近穴者从隙中膝行出，尽为卒缚，後者倒行排草而出。

         予复至妇所，妇与众妇皆伏卧积薪，以血膏体，缀发以煤，饰面形如鬼魅，鉴别以声。予乞众妇，得入草底，众妇拥卧其上，予闭息不敢动，几闷绝，妇以一竹筒授予，口衔其末，出其端于上，气方达，得不死。户外有卒一，时手杀二人，其事甚怪，笔不能载。草上诸妇无不股栗，忽哀声大举，卒已入室，复大步出，不旋顾。天亦渐暝，诸妇起，予始出草中，汗如雨。至夕，复同妇至洪宅，洪老洪妪皆在，伯兄亦来，云是日被劫去负担，赏以千钱，仍付令旗放还；途中乱尸山叠，血流成渠，口难尽述。复闻有王姓将爷居本坊昭阳李宅，以钱数万日给难民，其党杀人，往往劝阻，多所全活。是夜悲咽之馀，昏昏睡去。次日，则念九矣。

         自念五日起，至此已五日，或可冀幸遇赦，乃纷纷传洗城之说，城中残黎冒死缒城者大半，旧有官沟壅塞不能通流，至是如坦途，夜行昼伏，以此反罹其锋。城外亡命利城中所有，辄结伴夜入官沟盘诘，搜其金银，人莫敢谁何。予等念既不能越险以逃，而伯兄又为予不忍独去；延至平旦，其念遂止；原蔽处知不可留，而予妇以孕故屡屡获全，遂独以予匿池畔深草中，妇与彭儿裹卧其上，有数卒至，为劫出者再，皆少献赂而去。继一狠卒来，鼠头鹰眼，其状甚恶，欲劫予妇；妇偃蹇以前语告之，不听，逼使立起，妇旋转地上，死不肯起，卒举刀背乱打，血溅衣裳，表里渍透。先是妇戒予曰：“倘遇不幸，吾必死，不可以夫妇故乞哀，并累子；我死则必死子目，俾子亦心死。”至是予远躲草中，若为不与者，亦谓妇将死，而卒仍不舍，屡擢妇发周数匝于臂，怒叱横曳而去。由田陌至深巷一箭地，环曲以出大街，行数武必击数下。突遇众骑至，中一人与卒满语一二，遂舍予妇去。始得匍匐而返，大哭一番，身无完肤矣！

         忽又烈火四起，何家坟前後多草房，燃则立刻成烬；其有寸壤隙地，一二漏网者，为火一逼，无不奔窜四出，出则遇害，百无免一。其闭户自焚者由数口至数百口，一室之中，正不知积骨多少矣！大约此际无处可避，亦不能避，避则或一犯之，无金死，有金亦死；惟出露道旁，或与尸骸杂处，生死反未可知。予因与妇子并往卧冢後，泥首涂足，殆无人形。时火势愈炽，墓木皆焚，光如电灼，声如山摧，悲风怒号，令人生噤，赤日惨淡，为之无光，目前如见无数夜叉鬼母驱杀千百地狱人而驰逐之。惊悸之馀，时作昏眩，盖已不知此身之在人世间矣。

         骤闻足声腾猛，惨呼震心，回顾墙畔，则予伯兄复被获，遥见兄与卒相持，兄力大，撇而得脱，卒走逐出田巷，半晌不至；予心方摇摇，乃忽走一人来前，赤体散发。视之，则伯兄也；而追伯兄之卒，即前之劫吾妇而中途舍去者也。伯兄因为卒所逼，不得已向予索金救命，予仅存一锭，出以献卒，而卒怒未已，举刀击兄，兄辗转地上，沙血相渍，注激百步。彭儿拉卒衣涕泣求免，［时年五岁］卒以儿衣拭刀血再击而兄将死矣。旋拉予发索金，刀背乱击不止，予诉金尽，曰：“必欲金即甘死，他物可也。”卒牵予发至洪宅。予妇衣饰置两瓮中，倒置阶下，尽发以供其取，凡金珠之类莫不取，而衣服择好者取焉。既毕，视儿项下有银锁，将刀割去，去时顾予曰：“吾不杀尔，自有人杀尔也。”知洗城之说已确，料必死矣。置儿于宅，同妇急出省兄，前後项皆砍伤，深入寸许，胸前更烈，启之洞内府；予二人扶至洪宅，问之，亦不知痛楚，神魂忽瞶忽苏。安置毕，予夫妇复至故处躲避，邻人俱卧乱尸众中，忽从乱尸中作人语曰：“明日洗城，必杀一尽，当弃汝妇与吾同走。”妇亦固劝余行，余念伯兄垂危，岂忍舍去？又前所恃者犹有馀金，今金已尽，料不能生，一痛气绝，良久而苏。

         火亦渐灭，遥闻炮声三，往来兵丁渐少，予妇彭儿坐粪窖中，洪妪亦来相依。有数卒掳四五个妇人，内二老者悲泣，两少者嘻笑自若；後有二卒追上夺妇，自相奋击，内一卒劝解作满语，忽一卒将少妇负至树下野合，馀二妇亦就被污，老妇哭泣求免，两少妇恬不为耻，数十人互为奸淫，仍交与追来二卒，而其中一少妇已不能起走矣。予认知为焦氏之媳，其家平日所为，应至於此，惊骇之下，不胜叹息。

         忽见一人红衣佩剑，满帽皂靴，年不及三十，姿容俊爽，随从一人，衣黄背甲，貌亦魁梧，後有数南人负重追随。红衣者熟视予，指而问曰：“视予，尔非若俦辈，实言何等人？”予念时有以措大而获全者，亦有以措大而立毙者，不敢不以实告，红衣者遂大笑谓黄衣者曰：“汝服否？吾固知此蛮子非常等人也。”复指洪妪及予问为谁？具告之，红衣者曰：“明日王爷下令封刀，汝等得生矣！幸勿自毙。”命随人付衣几件，金一锭，问：“汝等几日不食？”予答以五日，则曰：“随我来。”予与妇且行且疑，又不敢不行，行至一宅，室虽小而赀畜甚富，鱼米充轫，中一老妪，一子方十二三岁，见众至，骇甚，哀号触地。红衣者曰：“予贷汝命，汝为我待此四人者，否则杀汝，汝此子当付我去。”遂挈其子与予作别而去。

         老妪者郑姓也，疑予与红衣者为亲，因谬慰之，谓子必返。天已暮，予内弟复为一卒劫去，不知存亡？妇伤之甚。少顷，老妪搬出鱼饭食予；宅去洪居不远，予取鱼饭食吾兄，兄喉不能咽，数箸而止，予为兄拭发洗血，心如万磔矣！是日，以红衣告予语遍告诸未出城者，众心始稍定。次日为五月朔日，势虽稍减，然亦未尝不杀人，未尝不掠取；而穷僻处或少安；富家大室方且搜括无馀，子女由六七岁至十馀岁抢掠无遗种。是日，兴平兵复入扬城，而寸丝半粟，尽入虎口，前梳後篦，良有以也。

         初二日，传府道州县已置官吏，执安民牌遍谕百姓，毋得惊惧。又谕各寺院僧人焚化积尸；而寺院中藏匿妇女亦复不少，亦有惊饿死者，查焚尸簿载其数，前後约计八十万馀，其落井投河，闭户自焚，及深入自缢者不与焉。是日，烧绵絮灰及人骨以疗兄创；至晚，始以仲兄季弟之死哭告予兄，兄颔之而已。

         初三日，出示放赈，偕洪妪至缺口关领米；米即督镇所储军粮，如丘陵，数千石转瞬一空。其往来负戴者俱焦头烂额，断臂折胫，刀痕遍体，血渍成块，满面如烛泪成行，碎烂鹑衣，腥秽触鼻，人扶一杖，挟一蒲袋，正如神庙中窜狱冤鬼；稍可观者犹是卑田院乞儿也。夺米之际，虽至亲知交不顾，强者往而复返，弱者竟日不得升斗。

         初四日，天始霁，道路积尸既经积雨暴涨，而青皮如蒙鼓，血肉内溃。秽臭逼人，复经日炙，其气愈甚，前後左右，处处焚灼，室中氤氲，结成如雾，腥闻百里。盖此百万生灵，一朝横死，虽天地鬼神，不能不为之愁惨也！

         初五日，幽僻之人始悄悄走出，每相遇，各泪下不能作一语。予等五人虽获稍苏，终不敢居宅内，晨起早食，即出处野畔，其妆饰一如前日；盖往来打粮者日不下数十辈，虽不操戈，而各制挺恐吓，诈人财物，每有毙杖下者；一遇妇女，仍肆掳劫，初不知为清兵为镇兵为乱民也？是日，伯兄因伤重，刀疮迸裂而死，伤哉，痛不可言！忆予初被难时，兄弟嫂侄妇子亲共八人，今仅存三人，其内外姨又不复论。计扬之人如予之家水知凡几？其数濒於死，幸死而不死，如予与妇者甚少，然而愁苦万状矣！

         自四月二十五日起，至五月五日止，共十日，其间皆身所亲历，目所亲睹，故漫记之如此，远处风闻者不载也。後之人幸生太平之世，享无事之乐；不自修省，一味暴殄者，阅此当惊惕焉耳！

    1793，乾隆给英王信， 敕英咭利国王谕
    Qianlong’s Letter to George III

    奉天承运，皇帝敕谕，英吉利国王知悉：
    咨尔国王，远在重洋，倾心向化，特遣使[马戛尔尼]恭赍表章，航海来廷，叩祝万寿，并备进方物，用将忱悃。朕披阅表文，词意肫恳，具见国王恭顺之诚，深为嘉许。所有赍到表贡之正副使臣，念其奉使远涉，推恩加礼。已令大臣带领瞻觐，赐予筵宴，叠加赏赉，用示怀柔。其已回[宁波]珠山之管船官役人等六百余名，虽未来京，朕亦优加赏赐，俾得普沾恩惠，一视同仁。
    You, O King, live beyond the confines of many seas. Nevertheless, impelled by your humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilisation, you have dispatched a mission respectfully bearing your memorial. Your Envoy has crossed the seas and paid his respects at my Court on the anniversary of my birthday. To show your devotion, you have also sent offerings of your country’s produce.
    I have perused your memorial: the earnest terms in which it is couched reveal a respectful humility on your part, which is highly praiseworthy. In consideration of the fact that your Ambassador and his deputy have come a long way with your memorial and tribute, I have shown them high favour and have allowed them to be introduced into my presence. To manifest my indulgence, I have entertained them at a banquet and made them numerous gifts. I have also caused presents to be forwarded to the Naval Commander and six hundred of his officers and men, although they did not come to Peking, so that they too may share in my all-embracing kindness.

    至尔国王表内恳请派一尔国之人住居天朝，照管尔国买卖一节，此则与天朝体制不合，断不可行。向来西洋各国有愿来天朝当差之人，原准其来京，但既来之后，即遵用天朝服色，安置堂内，永远不准复回本国，此系天朝定制，想尔国王亦所知悉。今尔国王欲求派一尔国之人居住京城，既不能若来京当差之西洋人，在京居住不归本国，又不可听其往来，常通信息，实为无益之事。且天朝所管地方至为广远，凡外藩使臣到京，驿馆供给，行止出入，俱有一定体制，从无听其自便之例。今尔国若留人在京，言语不通，服饰殊制，无地可以安置。若必似来京当差之西洋人，令其一律改易服饰，天朝亦不肯强人以所难。设天朝欲差人常驻尔国，亦岂尔国所能遵行？况西洋诸国甚多，非止尔一国，若俱似尔国王恳请派人留京，岂能一一听许？是此事断难准行。岂能因尔国王一人之请，以至更张天朝百余年法度。
    As to your entreaty to send one of your nationals to be accredited to my Celestial Court and to be in control of your country’s trade with China, this request is contrary to all usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained. It is true that Europeans, in the service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never permitted to return home. You are presumably familiar with our dynastic regulations. Your proposed Envoy to my Court could not be placed in a position similar to that of European officials in Peking who are forbidden to leave China, nor could he, on the other hand, be allowed liberty of movement and the privilege of corresponding with his own country; so that you would gain nothing by his residence in our midst.

    若云尔国王为照料买卖起见，则尔国人在澳门贸易非止一日，原无不加以恩视。即如从前博尔都噶尔亚[葡萄牙]、意达哩亚[意大利]等国屡次遣使来朝，亦曾以照料贸易为请。天朝鉴其悃忱，优加体恤。凡遇该国等贸易之事，无不照料周备。前次广东商人吴昭平有拖欠洋船价值银两者，俱饬令该管总督由官库内先行动支帑项代为清还，并将拖欠商人重治其罪。想此事尔国亦闻知矣，外国又何必派人留京，为此越例断不可行之请？况留人在京，距澳门贸易处所几及万里，伊亦何能照料耶？若云仰慕天朝，欲其观习教化，则天朝自有天朝礼法，与尔国各不相同。尔国所留之人即能习学，尔国自有风俗制度，亦断不能效法中国，即学会亦属无用。
    Moreover, our Celestial dynasty possesses vast territories, and tribute missions from the dependencies are provided for by the Department for Tributary States, which ministers to their wants and exercises strict control over their movements. It would be quite impossible to leave them to their own devices. Supposing that your Envoy should come to our Court, his language and national dress differ from that of our people, and there would be no place in which to bestow him. It may be suggested that he might imitate the Europeans permanently resident in Peking and adopt the dress and customs of China, but, it has never been our dynasty’s wish to force people to do things unseemly and inconvenient. Besides, supposing I sent an Ambassador to reside in your country, how could you possibly make for him the requisite arrangements? Europe consists of many other nations besides your own: if each and all demanded to be represented at our Court, how could we possibly consent? The thing is utterly impracticable. How can our dynasty alter its whole procedure and system of etiquette, established for more than a century, in order to meet your individual views? If it be said that your object is to exercise control over your country’s trade, your nationals have had full liberty to trade at Canton for many a year, and have received the greatest consideration at our hands. Missions have been sent by Portugal and Italy, preferring similar requests. The Throne appreciated their sincerity and loaded them with favours, besides authorising measures to facilitate their trade with China. You are no doubt aware that, when my Canton merchant, Wu Chao-ping, who was in debt to foreign ships. I made the Viceroy advance the monies due, out of the provincial treasury, and ordered him to punish the culprit severely. Why then should foreign nations advance this utterly unreasonable request to be represented at my Court? Peking is nearly two thousand miles from Canton, and at such a distance what possible control could any British representative exercise?
    If you assert that your reverence for Our Celestial dynasty fills you with a desire to acquire our civilisation, our ceremonies and code of laws differ so completely from your own that, even if your Envoy were able to acquire the rudiments of our civilisation, you could not possibly transplant our manners and customs to your alien soil. Therefore, however adept the Envoy might become, nothing would be gained thereby.

    天朝抚有四海，惟励精图治，办理政务，奇珍异宝，并不贵重。尔国王此次赍进各物，念其诚心远献，特谕该管衙门收纳。其实天朝德威远被，万国来王，种种贵重之物，梯[运]航[运]毕集，无所下有，尔之正使等所亲见。然从不贵奇巧，并无更需尔国制办物件。是尔国王所请派人留京一事，于天朝体制既属不合，而于尔国亦殊觉无益。特此详晰开示，遣令该使等安程回国。尔国王惟当善体朕意，益励款诚，永矢恭顺，以保义尔有邦，共享太平之福。除正副使臣以下各官及通事兵役人等正贯加赏各物件另单赏给外，兹因尔国使臣归国，特颁敕谕，并赐赍尔国王文绮珍物，具如常仪，加赐彩缎罗绮、文玩器具诸珍，另有清单。王其祗受，悉朕眷怀。
    特此敕谕。
    Swaying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and to fulfil the duties of the State: strange and costly objects do not interest me. If I have commanded that the tribute offerings sent by you, O King, are to be accepted, this was solely in consideration for the spirit which prompted you to dispatch them from afar. Our dynasty’s majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under Heaven, and Kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures. This then is my answer to your request to appoint a representative at my Court, a request contrary to our dynastic usage, which would only result in inconvenience to yourself. I have expounded my wishes in detail and have commanded your tribute Envoys to leave in peace on their homeward journey. It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our Throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter. Besides making gifts (of which I enclose an inventory) to each member of your Mission, I confer upon you, O King, valuable presents in excess of the number usually bestowed on such occasions, including silks and curios-a list of which is likewise enclosed. Do you reverently receive them and take note of my tender goodwill towards you!
    A special mandate.

    1839 林则徐：谕英国国王书（Letter to Queen Victoria）

    洪惟我大皇帝抚绥中外，一视同仁，利则与天下公之，害则为天下去之。盖以天地之心为心也。贵国王累世相传，皆称恭顺。观历次进贡表文云：凡本国人到中国贸易，均蒙大皇帝一体公平恩待等语。窃喜贵国王深明大义，感激天恩，是以天朝柔远绥怀，倍加优礼。贸易之利，垂二百年。该国所由以富庶称者，赖有此也。

    唯是通商已久，众夷良莠不齐，遂有夹带，诱惑华民，以致毒流各省者。似此但知利己，不顾害人，乃天理所不容，人情所共愤。大皇帝闻而震怒。特遣本大臣来至广东，与本总督部堂巡抚部院，会同查办。凡内地民人贩食者，皆应处死。若追究夷人历年贩卖之罪，则其贻害深而攫利重，本为法所当诛。惟念众夷尚知悔罪乞诚，将趸船二万二百八十三箱，由领事官义律，禀请缴收，全行毁化。叠经本大臣等据实具奏。幸蒙大皇帝格外施恩，以自首者，情尚可原，姑宽免罪。再犯者法难屡贷，立定新章。谅贵国王向化倾心，定能谕令众夷，兢兢奉法。但必晓以利害，乃知天朝法度，断不可以不懔遵也。

    查该国距内地六七万里，而夷船争来贸易者，为获利之厚故耳。以中国之利利外夷，是夷人所获之厚利，皆从华民分去。岂有反以毒物害华民之理。即夷人未必有心为害，而贪利之极，不顾害人，试问天良安在？闻该国禁食甚严，是固明知之为害也。既不使为害于该国，则他国尚不可移害，况中国乎？

    中国所行于外国者，无一非利人之物。利于食，利于用，并利于转卖，皆利也。中国曾有一物为害外国否？况如茶叶大黄，外国所不可一日无也。中国若靳其利而不恤其害，则夷人何以为生？又外国之呢羽哔叽，非得中国丝斤不能成织。若中国亦靳其利，夷人何利可图？其余食物，自糖料姜桂而外，用物自绸缎磁器而外，外国所必需者，曷可胜数。而外来之物，皆不过以供玩好，可有可无。既非中国要需，何难闭关绝市。乃天朝于茶丝诸货，悉任其贩运流通，绝不靳惜。无他，利与天下公之也。该国带去内地货物，不特自资食用，且得以分售各国，获利三倍。即不卖，而其三倍之利自在。何忍更以害人之物，恣无厌之求乎？设使别国有人贩至英国，诱人买食；当亦贵国王所深恶而痛绝之也。

    向闻贵国王存心仁厚，自不肯以己所不欲者，施之于人。并闻来粤之船，皆经颁给条约，有不许携带禁物之语。是贵国王之政令本属严明。只因商船众多，前此或未加察。今行文照会，明知天朝禁令之严，定必使之不敢再犯。且闻贵国王所邻之兰顿，及嘶噶兰、嗳伦等处，本皆不产。惟所辖印度地方，如孟啊啦、曼哒啦萨、孟买、叭哒拏默拏、嘛尔洼数处，连山栽种，开池制造。累月经年，以厚其毒。臭秽上达，天怒神恫。贵国王诚能于此等处拔尽根株，尽锄其地，改种五谷。有敢再图种造者，重治其罪。此真兴利除害之大仁政，天所佑而神所福，延年寿，长子孙，必在此举矣。

    至夷商来至内地，饮食居处，无非天朝之恩膏，积聚丰盈，无非天朝之乐利。其在该国之日犹少，而在粤东之日转多。弼教明刑，古今通义。譬如别国人到英国贸易，尚须遵英国法度，况天朝乎？今定华民之例，卖者死，食者亦死。试思夷人若无带来，则华民何由转卖，何由吸食？是奸夷实陷华民于死，岂能独予以生？彼害人一命者，尚须以命抵之，况之害人，岂止一命已乎？故新例于带来内地之夷人，定以斩绞之罪。所谓为天下去害者此也。复查本年二月间，据该国领事义律，以禁令森严，禀求宽限。凡印度港脚属地，请限五月，英国本地，请限十月。然后即以新例遵行等语。今本大臣等奏蒙大皇帝，格外天恩，倍加体恤。凡在一年六个月之内，误带，但能自首全缴者，免其治罪。若过此限期，仍有带来，则是明知故犯，即行正法，断不宽宥。可谓仁之至义之尽矣。

    我天朝君临万国，尽有不测神威，然不忍不教而诛。故特明宣定例。该国夷商欲图长久贸易，必当懔遵宪典，将永断来源，切勿以身试法。王其诘奸除慝，以保刈尔有邦，益昭恭顺之忱，共享太平之福，幸甚，幸甚！接到此文之后，即将杜绝缘由，速行移覆，切勿诿延。

    His Majesty the Emperor comforts and cherishes foreigners as well as Chinese: he loves all the people in the world without discrimination. Whenever profit is found, he wishes to share it with all men; whenever harm appears, he likewise will eliminate it on behalf of all of mankind. His heart is in fact the heart of the whole universe.

    Generally speaking, the succeeding rulers of your honorable country have been respectful and obedient. Time and again they have sent petitions to China, saying: “We are grateful to His Majesty the Emperor for the impartial and favorable treatment he has granted to the citizens of my country who have come to China to trade,” etc. I am pleased to learn that you, as the ruler of your honorable country, are thoroughly familiar with the principle of righteousness and are grateful for the favor that His Majesty the Emperor has bestowed upon your subjects. Because of this fact, the Celestial Empire, following its traditional policy of treating foreigners with kindness, has been doubly considerate towards the people from England. You have traded in China for almost 200 years, and as a result, your country has become wealthy and prosperous.

    As this trade has lasted for a long time, there are bound to be unscrupulous as well as honest traders. Among the unscrupulous are those who bring opium to China to harm the Chinese; they succeed so well that this poison has spread far and wide in all the provinces. You, I hope, will certainly agree that people who pursue material gains to the great detriment of the welfare of others can be neither tolerated by Heaven nor endured by men. . . .

    Your country is more than 60,000 li from China. The purpose of your ships in coming to China is to realize a large profit. Since this profit is realized in China and is in fact taken away from the Chinese people, how can foreigners return injury for the benefit they have received by sending this poison to harm their benefactors? They may not intend to harm others on purpose, but the fact remains that they are so obsessed with material gain that they have no concern whatever for the harm they can cause to others. Have they no conscience? I have heard that you strictly prohibit opium in your own country, indicating unmistakably that you know how harmful opium is. You do not wish opium to harm your own country, but you choose to bring that harm to other countries such as China. Why?

    The products that originate from China are all useful items. They are good for food and other purposes and are easy to sell. Has China produced one item that is harmful to foreign countries? For instance, tea and rhubarb are so important to foreigners’ livelihood that they have to consume them every day. Were China to concern herself only with her own advantage without showing any regard for other people’s welfare, how could foreigners continue to live? Foreign products like woolen cloth and beiges rely on Chinese raw materials such as silk for their manufacturing. Had China sought only her own advantage, where would the foreigners’ profit come from? The products that foreign countries need and have to import from China are too numerous to enumerate: from food products such as molasses, ginger, and cassia to useful necessities such as silk and porcelain. The imported goods from foreign countries, on the other hand, are merely playthings which can be easily dispensed with without causing any ill effect. Since we do not need these things really, what harm would come if we should decide to stop foreign trade altogether? The reason why we unhesitantly allow foreigners to ship out such Chinese products as tea and silk is that we feel that wherever there is an advantage, it should be shared by all the people in the world. . . .

    I have heard that you are a kind, compassionate monarch. I am sure that you will not do to others what you yourself do not desire. I have also heard that you have instructed every British ship that sails for Canton not to bring any prohibited goods to China. It seems that your policy is as enlightened as it is proper. The fact that British ships have continued to bring opium to China results perhaps from the impossibility of making a thorough inspection of all of them owing to their large numbers. I am sending you this letter to reiterate the seriousness with which we enforce the law of the Celestial Empire and to make sure that merchants from your honorable country will not attempt to violate it again.

    I have heard that the areas under your direct jurisdiction such as London, Scotland, and Ireland do not produce opium; it is produced instead in your Indian possessions such as Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Patna, and Malwa. In these possessions the English people not only plant opium poppies that stretch from one mountain to another but also open factories to manufacture this terrible drug. As months accumulate and years pass by, the poison they have produced increases in its wicked intensity, and its repugnant odor reaches as high as the sky. Heaven is furious with anger, and all the gods are moaning with pain! It is hereby suggested that you destroy and plow under all of these opium plants and grow food crops instead, while issuing an order to punish severely anyone who dares to plant opium poppies again. If you adopt this policy of love so as to produce good and exterminate evil, Heaven will protect you, and gods will bring you good fortune. Moreover, you will enjoy a long life and be rewarded with a multitude of children and grandchildren! In short, by taking this one measure, you can bring great happiness to others as well as yourself. Why do you not do it?

    The right of foreigners to reside in China is a special favor granted by the Celestial Empire, and the profits they have made are those realized in China. As time passes by, some of them stay in China for a longer period than they do in their own country. For every government, past or present, one of its primary functions is to educate all the people living within its jurisdiction, foreigners as well as its own citizens, about the law and to punish them if they choose to violate it. Since a foreigner who goes to England to trade has to obey the English law, how can an Englishman not obey the Chinese law when he is physically within China? The present law calls for the imposition of the death sentence on any Chinese who has peddled or smoked opium. Since a Chinese could not peddle or smoke opium if foreigners had not brought it to China, it is clear that the true culprits of a Chinese’s death as a result of an opium conviction are the opium traders from foreign countries. Being the cause of other people’s death, why should they themselves be spared from capital punishment? A murderer of one person is subject to the death sentence; just imagine how many people opium has killed! This is the rationale behind the new law which says that any foreigner who brings opium to China will be sentenced to death by hanging or beheading. Our purpose is to eliminate this poison once and for all and to the benefit of all mankind. . . .

    Our Celestial Empire towers over all other countries in virtue and possesses a power great and awesome enough to carry out its wishes. But we will not prosecute a person without warning him in advance; that is why we have made our law explicit and clear. If the merchants of your honorable country wish to enjoy trade with us on a permanent basis, they must fearfully observe our law by cutting off, once and for all, the supply of opium. Under no circumstance should they test our intention to enforce the law by deliberately violating it. You, as the ruler of your honorable country, should do your part to uncover the hidden and unmask the wicked. It is hoped that you will continue to enjoy your country and become more and more respectful and obeisant. How wonderful it is that we can all enjoy the blessing of peace!

    1848，徐继畬shē记述华盛顿文

    钦命福建巡抚部院大中丞徐继畬所著《瀛寰志略》曰：
    按：
    华盛顿，异人也。起事勇于胜广，割据雄于曹刘。
    既已提三尺剑，开疆万里，乃不僭位号，不传子孙，而创为推举之法，几于天下为公，骎骎乎三代之遗意。
    其治国崇让善俗，不尚武功，亦迥与诸国异。
    余尝见其画像，气魄雄毅绝伦。呜呼！可不谓人杰矣哉。
    米利坚合众国以为国，幅员万里，不设王侯之号，不循世及之规，公器付之公论，创古今未有之局，一何奇也！
    泰西古今人物，能不以华盛顿为称首哉！
    （该文咸丰三年[1853年]六月初七，被大清浙江宁波府人张斯桂刻制成石碑，由美国传教士丁韪良携至美国赠予华盛顿纪念馆，镶嵌在华盛顿纪念碑的第十层上）

    1852，洪秀永安突围诏令

    “ 通军男将女将，千祈尊天令，欢喜踊跃，坚耐威武，放胆诛妖。任那妖魔千万算，难走天父真手段。江山六日尚造成，各信魂爷为好汉。高天差尔诛妖魔，天父天兄时顾看。男将女将尽持刀，现身着衣仅替换。同心放胆同杀妖，金宝包袱在所缓。脱尽凡情顶高天，金砖金屋光焕焕。高天享福极威风，最小最卑尽绸缎。男着龙袍女插花，各做忠臣劳马汗。钦此！”

    1857，洪秀全“十该打”条规

    1857年太平天国刊印的《天父诗》，收录了500首洪秀全作品，其中476首是洪写给后妃的。

    服事不虔诚一该打。硬颈不听教二该打。
    起眼看丈夫三该打。问王不虔诚四该打。
    躁气不纯静五该打。讲话极大声六该打。
    有唤不应声七该打。面情不喜欢八该打。
    眼左望右九该打。讲话不悠然十该打。

    1898年左右，义和团传单

    神助拳，义和团，只因鬼子闹中原。
    不下雨，地发干，都是教堂遮住天。
    女无洁意男不嫌，鬼孩不是人所产。
    如不信，仔细观，鬼子眼珠俱发蓝。
    天无雨，地焦旱，全是教堂止住天。
    神也怒，仙也烦，一等下山把拳传。
    非是邪，非白莲，念咒语，法真言，
    升黄表，敬香烟，请来各洞众神仙。
    仙出洞，神下山，附着人体把拳传。
    不用兵，只用拳，要废鬼子不为难。
    挑铁路，拔电杆，海中去翻火轮船。
    大法国，心胆寒，英美俄德哭连连。
    洋鬼子，全杀尽，大清一统并将山。

    1949，国民党昆山县政府：告人民解放军

    一、昆山的民众是善良的，愿你们多加爱护；
    二、我们为了尊重自己的立场，未便照着你们的办法移交，谨致歉意；
    三、我们合理的撤退，愿你们合理的接收；
    四、昆山的民众是无罪的，希望你们作风开明合理；
    五、我们希望昆山三十万群众，今后仍旧生活安乐、精神愉快；
    六、我们的立场虽不同，但工作目标是一致的；
    七、惭愧得很四年了我们在昆山毫无建树，愿你们今后有更进一步的表现，昆山三十万民众是在期待着。
    （现存昆山博物馆）

  • 查尔斯·麦凯《大癫狂—非同寻常的大众幻想与群众性癫狂（部分）》

    第一章  金融大投机之密西西比阴谋

    第一节  约翰·劳的传奇生涯

    满脑子投机钻营赚大钱，
    一些人私下里自组公司，
    不惜发行新股吹大牛，
    好用虚名引诱世人，
    先建立新的信用，再让股票贬值，
    让无中生有的股份变成了资本，
    为了金钱啊，人们聚在一起争吵无休。
    ——丹尼尔·笛福

    有个人，他的品行、经历与发生在1719年—1720年的那场大骗局之间，竟然有着那么密切的关联，以至于我只能以这个始作俑者——约翰·劳的生平琐事，作为密西西比大阴谋的开场白。

    在历史学家们看来，约翰·劳这个人十足是个大骗子，居心叵测的阴谋家、小人，也有人说他是疯子……如此种种，不一而足。这一点也不奇怪，因为他的一个计划，害得那么多人为此赔上身家性命，那些令人痛心的不幸后果被深深地烙印在人们的心中，久久不能平复，也许，叫他骗子、疯子还算是轻的呢。

    但之后人们又发现，如此称呼、指责他是不公正的——约翰·劳既不是骗子，也不是疯子。与其说他设计骗人，不如说他本身才是受骗者；与其说他是罪犯，不如说他是可怜的替罪羊。

    公平的看，约翰·劳本人其实是个最优秀的金融专家。他比同时代的任何人都要熟悉金融问题，而且对信用的理论和原则可谓了如指掌。甚至，他所建立的金融系统会如此快速的坍塌，也并不是仅仅因为他的过错，那些推波助澜、渴望快速攫取金钱财富的人们，协助他建立这个金融货币体系的人们，才是问题的根源所在。

    约翰·劳没有料到整个国家、整个人群竟会陷入如此巨大的贪婪的狂潮中。他也没料到，信心，就像怀疑一样，可以无限制地增长、膨胀；而希望，有朝一日也可以转化为恐慌四处蔓延，最终吞没一切。他又怎么能够预见到，法国人会像寓言中所描绘的那样，在金钱的疯狂驱使下，在野火燎原一般的欲望中，杀掉给那只曾他们下了那么多金蛋的鹅呢?

    他的命运就像第一个冒险划船从伊利湖向安大略湖漂流的人一样。当他出发时，河面上还是如此地风平浪静，水流轻缓，仿佛一块明镜。而这水手的航程是既迅快又惬意。这时候，有谁能阻碍这如飞的一叶扁舟呢?

    然而，只一转眼的功夫，啊呀，谁能料到平静的波浪尽头竟是个大瀑布！水手兀自沉浸在美妙的航行中，对前方的危险一无所知。可当他意识到此时的处境时，哎，已经太晚啦！以前载着他畅游的湖水如今竟成了要命的龙潭虎穴。他想折回原路返航，可是水流实在太湍急，他那渺小、微弱的力量怎么能够对抗这森严巨大的自然之力？时间一点点地流逝，这一人一船距离那雷霆震怒一般的瀑布越来越近。终于，一个浪头拍下，水手连人带船跌进万丈深渊——他的身体、他的小船旋即被嶙峋的岩石撞成碎片。万马奔腾一般的水流裹挟这可怜的碎片坠入谷底，翻滚出一片片雪白的泡沫，很快，这泡沫就消失了，天地间重新归于平静，平静得好像从来就没有发生过这样的惨剧。

    约翰·劳和法国人的关系可能就像这样，约翰是那个可怜的水手，而法国民众，就是像那看似无害却满布漩涡暗流的滔滔湖水。

    1671年，约翰·劳出生于苏格兰首府爱丁堡的一户富裕人家。他父亲既是个金匠又是一个银行家。他做买卖积攒了一大笔财富，并用这笔钱买下了劳里斯顿和兰德尔斯顿两处地产，因此被人称为“劳里斯顿的劳”。

    本章的主人公约翰·劳是家中的长子，刚满14岁就被带到父亲的会计事务所中做了3年学徒。在这里，约翰勤奋地学习着商业知识，也一步步地了解了苏格兰银行业的操作规则。虽然工作艰苦，约翰却乐此不疲——还在年纪很小的时候，约翰就在算术方面上显露出了非比寻常的天赋。这一点让他在这一行里如鱼得水。

    长到17岁时，约翰已经像个又高又壮的大人了。他的身材健美，脸上虽然因出天花而有些瘢痕，看起来却并不影响他英俊的容貌。那副表情总是朝气蓬勃地，看起来充满了智慧，因此十分讨人欢喜，不过，很快他也开始变得不安分起来——在女人堆中约翰备受青睐，可谓无往而不利，女人们都管叫他“俊俏的劳”。为了不负小姐太太们送给他的这个略显轻佻的“外号”，约翰开始着意打扮自己，派头十足又极度地自信。而男士们则对这个油头粉面的小伙子颇为鄙夷，也送了他一个外号：“浪荡子约翰”。在1688年父亲去世后，约翰·劳彻底抛开了会计事务所的繁冗琐事，带着父亲留下的遗产来到伦敦，打算在这个花花世界闯荡一番。

    很快他就变成了伦敦各家赌场中的常客。一方面是因为他那年轻人特有的狂妄和缺少自制，以及喜好排场和奢侈的生活习惯。但另一方面，他表面上虽然喜好挥霍，放肆张扬，却并不是个通常意义上的“花花公子”。出于天赋异禀，对赌博下注他其实在头脑中经过了周详的数学计算，为此他从不随便出手，而是依照计划稳扎稳打——钞票从赌桌上源源不断地滚入他的腰包。为此，他甚至成了所有赌徒的崇拜对象，人们相信跟随他就能在赌桌上翻盘赢大钱！

    这个来自苏格兰的，出手阔绰又潇洒风趣的年轻男子，同在家乡一样，受到了伦敦上流社会社交界，尤其是那些名媛们的欢迎。与在赌场中相似，在情场上，约翰也是个常胜将军，纵横花丛中进退自如。

    然而，物极必反，约翰也有走背运的时候。在伦敦度过了9年放荡、奢靡生活的他，慢慢失去了往日的机敏，开始滑向失控的边缘。他变成了一个名副其实的“赌棍”。在赌桌上，他不在满足于小打小闹，他的赌注押得越来越大，他的装满数字概率的脑袋却越来越迟钝。毫不意外的，在某天他输了一大笔钱，只有抵押地产才能付得起那一大堆令人头痛的债务。没法子，最后他只好看着父亲留下的财产成为别人的囊中物。

    正所谓“福无双至，祸不单行”，就在他为债务危机而弄得自己焦头烂额的时候，一件“桃色事件”又把他拖向另一个深渊。他与一位名叫维丽丝的女子之间牵扯不断的情爱纠葛，招致了一位威尔逊先生的敌意，为了把事情做个干净的了断，两人约定了一场决斗。约翰本不是个胆小鬼，他接受了挑战，并在决斗中成了赢家——威尔逊先生当场毙命。一桩风流韵事一下子变成了刑事案件，当天他就被逮捕归案，威尔逊先生的亲属以谋杀罪的名义起诉了他。法庭本来判他有罪并处以死刑。但考虑到威尔逊先生也有过错，于是约翰落了个过失杀人罪，判决也被减为罚款。这样的从轻处理引起了死者兄弟的不满，重新对他提了上诉。可是，就在被押到“王座法庭”受审后，约翰却神奇地逃之夭夭了。至于他是怎么得手的，至今是个谜，约翰也从未向人提过。

    很多人对这个结果表示不满，甚至还有人为此发起了一个反对司法官员的活动，报纸杂志上也对这一事件做了全面的报道。在报纸通缉文书上，约翰是这样的一个人物：“约翰·劳船长，26岁，苏格兰人士；精瘦，身高约6尺以上，皮肤黝黑，相貌端正，脸上有麻点，大鼻子，声音洪亮……”

    这种漫画式的描绘并没有阻碍他的逃亡之路，约翰终于成功地抵达了欧洲。在这块古老的大陆上，他整整游历了3年，并开始把大部分的精力投入到研究各国货币和金融业务上去。可能是积习难改的缘故，到了夜晚，他照旧是各大赌场的常客。

    后来，他似乎在1700年返回了爱丁堡，并发表了一本名为《组建一个贸易委员会的建议和理由》的小册子。当然，这样的小册子并没能引起人们的注意。

    没多久，他又开始阐发一个新的主张——建立所谓的“土地开发银行”（Land Bank）。按照他的规划，银行所发行的纸币绝对不能超过这个国家的所有土地的价值。或者，在正常的利率下，与土地价值相当。这次，他的提议在苏格兰议会中激起了轩然大波，议员们纷纷加入讨论。其中的一个中立党派甚至还专门提出议案要求政府建立这样一家银行。约翰对这样的结果很是振奋了一阵子。不料，议会最终通过一项决议：通过发行任何形式的纸质货币以加强货币流通，对整个国家来说是很不明智的，那将可能令国家陷入巨大的风险之中。

    这个计划失败了，约翰企图得到司法赦免的努力同样落空了。他失望地离开了苏格兰，继续在欧洲操持着赌博旧业。

    就这样，他在荷兰、德国、匈牙利、意大利、法国等国游荡了近14年之久。这样的漫游使他的眼界大为开阔，此时的约翰几乎对欧洲各国货币、贸易政策了如指掌。他仍然像年轻时一样，坚定地认为如果没有纸币，一个国家的兴盛就只是空谈！

    作为一个技术精湛的资深赌徒，在欧洲各大赌场里约翰都是声名显赫，当时的人们普遍认为他是全欧最擅算计、最会利用错综复杂的概率创造机会的精明人。但别忘了，古语有云“木秀于林，风必摧之”，他的顺风顺水遭到了许多人的妒忌，而且，对于经验浅薄的年轻人来说，他更是一个活生生的“反面教材”。不奇怪地，他很快成了官员们心目的“危险人物”，先是被当局驱逐出威尼斯，接着又被赶离热那亚。在客居巴黎期间，约翰同样引起了法国警察总长德·阿金森的侧目，警察总长大人命令约翰尽快离开法国，最好从此自动消失。

    但约翰的好运却在此时降临了。法国宫廷中几位位高权重的大人物：旺多姆公爵、孔蒂王子和奥尔良公爵等，都是约翰在沙龙里结识的新朋友。一听说约翰将被赶出巴黎，这些好朋友们纷纷仗义相助，因此约翰成功地在巴黎留了下来。

    尤其是奥尔良公爵，这位法兰西皇帝的近亲对约翰那翩翩风采和睿智的头脑十分赞赏，而约翰也被这位公爵大人的远见卓识所吸引，两人之间颇有点“英雄惜英雄”的味道。约翰尽可能地抓住每次见面的机会向公爵灌输自己的金融主张。

    1715年，法皇路易十四驾崩，年仅7岁的太子继承了王位，而奥尔良公爵则被指定为摄政王，辅佐小皇帝主持朝政。此时约翰的位置一下变得极为有利，他的好运气伴随着奥尔良公爵的高升一同来到，并且变得一发不可收拾——那梦寐以求的财富和名位现在是近在咫尺了。

    摄政王既是他的朋友，又对他的货币理论和设想十分熟悉，更重要的是，他有足够的能力以各种方式支持约翰重新稳定创伤累累的法兰西财政。众所周知，在“太阳王”路易十四漫长的统治期间，法国的金融信用已经被皇室贵族们的奢靡无度弄到岌岌可危的地步。

    所以，路易十四皇帝刚刚死去，公众们那压抑已经的愤怒就像火山一样爆发了。在世时被捧上天的皇帝陛下这时却被骂成“暴君”、“死硬派”和无恶不作的“盗贼”。他的塑像被石块砸得稀巴烂，他的肖像在诅咒声中被撕毁，他的名字也成了“自私”、“压迫”、“骄横暴虐“的代名词。

    国家的财政已了崩溃的边缘。上梁不正下梁歪的结果是，除了皇室以外，法国各地的官吏们一样地腐败堕落，从上到下无人不贪，无人不恶。整个社会经济一片混乱。国家的外债总额竟高达30亿里弗（Livre，法国的一种旧货币单位），而国家每年的税收收入总共才有1.45亿里弗，仅政府开支就要花费1.4亿里弗赫。也就是说，每年只剩300万里弗来支付这30亿外债的利息。

    现在，摄政王所要做的第一件事就是想法子彻底扭转极度危险的局面。为此，他组织了一个委员会来研究解决的办法。与会各位大臣纷纷出谋献策。圣西蒙公爵认为，必须立即采取一个大胆而又危险的措施来避免整个国家陷入革命的危机——宣布法兰西政府破产。诺阿勒公爵则坚决反对圣西蒙的建议。他说这种做法既十分冒险又十分不智，很可能会给国家带来毁灭性的打击。摄政王同意了诺阿勒的意见，却没料到后者的这一措施令本已奄奄一息的国家财政雪上加霜！

    法皇下令重铸货币，这样一来货币立即贬值了五分之一：那些拿着1000个金币或银币到造币厂的人最终取回了等额的货币．但货币中金属的重量只有原来的五分之四。借助这种损民利己的勾当，国库一下增加了7200万里弗的收入，而整个商业运作却变得一团糟。不得已政府又下令稍微减少税赋，民众的怒火暂时熄灭了——为了眼前的一点蝇头小利，人们选择对将要落在自己头上的巨大灾祸视而不见。

    同时，根据计划，政府组成了一个裁决法庭调查那些贷款承包商和包税人的不法行为。尽管任何国家内，人们对税收人员都颇有微词，但在当时的法国，人们对税收人员却是咬牙切齿。因此，当这些赋税承包巨头以及手下的各级承包人被法庭传唤交待他们的罪行的时候，法国被空前未有的欢欣喜悦所笼罩。

    这个操生杀大权的裁决法庭因此获得了社会各层面的广泛支持。法庭由国会主席、各委员会领袖、诸司法机关的大法官组成，主席是财政大臣。他们鼓励检举者积极提供线索，并许诺以罚款和没收赃款的五分之一作为对检举人的奖励。而被检举人所有隐匿款项的十分之一也将被作为告密者的报酬。

    这样诱人的法令一经颁布，那些从事不法行为的人们立即惶恐不安起来，他们非法盗用的税款数额是如此地大，以至于没有人会同情可怜他们。接下来一项项的起诉逐一印证了他们的恐惧——巴士底狱很快就被罪犯们塞满了。与此同时，全国各地的大小监狱也都人满为患，里头关押的全是罪犯和嫌疑犯。法庭同时下令，各地的旅店老板或驿站站长谁也不许向试图逃脱的人提供马匹。而任何帮助罪犯或引导他们逃跑的人都将受到严惩，或者罚披枷示众．或者罚做苦役，罪行较轻的则被处以罚款和监禁。

    在整个过程中只有一个名叫塞缪尔·伯纳德的人被判死刑，他是一个外省的银行家兼包税人。这个家伙称得上胆大包天——他竟提出愿意掏出600万里弗作为获得自由的赎金。结果他的如意算盘落空了，等待他的是阴森的绞架。

    相较之下，另一些罪行更大的人则更走运，因为他们把财产都藏匿了起来。于是，政府的态度缓和了下来，在税收的名义下，所有犯法的人被法庭统统判处罚款。这一招并没有令国库增加多少收入，由于法国的行政官员们早已是腐败到骨子里了，这些巨额罚款就像流水一般流入了形形色色的大臣以及他们的妻子、情人的荷包里。而想要避免掏罚款，不法分子们纷纷开始对这些“令人尊敬”的女士们大献殷勤。

    就这样，法庭费心尽力征收到的1.8亿里弗罚款中的8000万被用来还外债，剩下的1亿则毫不意外地成了大臣们分食的盘中餐。几个月后，所有罪行较严重的人都受到了惩罚。不甘如此收场的法庭开始寻找那些社会地位更低下的人作为牺牲品。为了获得诱人巨额报偿，一些人开始在那些正直清白的商人身上动脑筋，莫须有的敲诈、勒索等罪名，落到这些可怜人头上，他们被迫在法庭上说破口舌想尽办法证明自己无罪，但情况往往不那么尽如人意。
    法国社会顿时冤案四起，人民开始怨声载道起来。
    一年之后，为了控制混乱无序的局面，政府不得不解散了法庭，那些无辜遭到指控的人得到了赦免。

    第二节  法兰西皇家银行的诞生

    正当法国财政乱成一锅粥的当口，约翰·劳出现了。没有人会比摄政王更想挽狂澜于既倒，也没有人比他更能体会国家的悲惨状况，可他却讨厌商业贸易，往往不经深思熟虑就签发官方文件，并喜欢把自己分内的事情摊派给他人代劳，身处高位所负担的更大的担子令他感到吃力。为此，他明白，为了不牺牲自己的安逸和舒适，自己必须找个代理人来帮忙处理那么多令人头疼的事务。于是，约翰·劳，这个为自己所欣赏的既有才华又不乏变通的“探险家”，就成了他所倚重的得力干将。这就意味着，约翰此前一直在酝酿却始终得不到施展的伟大计划，终于有了用武之地！

    踌躇满志的约翰一出现在朝廷上，就受到了大臣们最热烈的欢迎。他向摄政王提交了两份备忘录，指出由于流通中的货币量远远不能满足经济运行，所以导致了法币屡屡贬值，而现在，可怕的金融危机已经笼罩了法兰西。仅有金属通货而缺少纸币的辅助．庞大的货币需求量永远都会处于失衡状态，这根本不符合一个商业国家的标准。

    此外，他还专门引述了英国和荷兰的例子来说明纸币的好处和优越性，为此，他提出了许多关于货币信用的实际数据，这一切都是为了一个目的——重建法国的货币信用。当时的法国经济在欧洲诸国中显得十分萧条，应该建立一家专门负责管理财政税收的银行，并以这些税收和不动产为基础发行纸币。他还进一步提出，这家银行应该以法皇的的名义进行管理，但实际上是由议会指定组成的委员会来操控。

    就在这些备忘录尚处于审议阶段的时候，约翰又把自己撰写的有关金融和贸易的论文译成法文刊登在报纸上，以此向法国人显示自己是当代最卓越的金融学家。很快，他就成了法国家喻户晓的人物，同时，摄政王的心腹们也在四处宣扬他如何才华横溢，如何受到摄政王的信任……一下子，所有的人都被这个金融专家给吸引住了，人人都在企盼约翰先生能够重整山河，带领法国走出泥潭。

    l716年5月5日，皇室发布命令，授权约翰·劳与他的兄弟一起，成立一家名为“劳氏公司”(Law and Company)的银行，由这家银行发行的纸币可以用来缴税。银行的资本金为600万里弗，每股500里弗，共1.2万股。其中四分之一可以用金属货币购买，剩余的四分之三以公债的形式供人们购买。

    法国政府还批准了约翰·劳在备忘录中请求的所有特权，一开始人们认为这是不恰当的，后来的事实则会证明，约翰所拥有的这些特权不仅没有被滥用，其实是安全而有利的。

    现在，约翰·劳踏上了一条光明的坦途，可真称得上是吉星高照、平步青云。三十年来累积的丰富的金融知识，令他在处理银行业务时显得如此地从容不迫、游刃有余。他的银行所发行的纸币可以随意购买、兑换．而且发行后还可保证价值不变。这一点可说是惊人之举，人们开始信任纸质货币，最终纸币的价值甚至超过了黄金、白银等金属货币。而后者通常会因为政府的干预而导致贬值。有时候，1000里弗的银币在第一天还与它的名义价值相等，可转天你就可能发现，这1000里弗的价值已经缩水了6%。

    而劳氏公司发行的纸币却始终稳稳地保持着它原来的价值。约翰·老还宣称，如果一个银行家在发行纸币的时候，没有足够的资金担保来满足所有公众的需求，那么，他就只有死路一条。于是，他所发行的纸币日益受到大众的欢迎，价值也迅速上升，甚至比等值的金属货币还高百分之一。

    很快，法国商贸业就成了这项新货币政策的最大获益者。以往凋零的商业开始复苏。纳税时人们也不再那么抱怨连天，纸币在人们心中的信用度逐渐建立起来，如果这种信任度继续保持下去，国家的整个经济体系将会更加稳固，经济也会日渐繁荣。就这样，在一年内，约翰·劳发行的纸币价格超过了面值的15%。而公债，或者说是政府发行的用来偿还路易十四因奢侈造成的欠债的证券，价值则下滑到面值的百分之21.5%。这个种强烈的反差对对约翰·劳太有利了，以至于他一个人吸引了来自整个法国的注意力。相应地，劳氏银行的信誉也水涨船高。一时间，在里昂、罗谢尔、图尔、亚眠和奥尔良等地，劳氏银行的分店纷纷开张。

    对于约翰·劳那惊人你的成功，摄政王显然极为惊奇，在他的头脑中慢慢形成了这样一种观念：纸币既然拥有如此强有力的力量来支持金属货币，那么，当然可以完全取代金属货币为。可他却没想到，货币政策并不是这么简单的，而在这样一个从头到尾都十分荒谬的观念的驱使下，他做出了许多蠢事。

    与此同时．约翰·劳开始着手策划一项可令他的大名“永垂青史的”惊人计划。

    他向摄政王提议(摄政王此时对他已是言听计从了)建立一家公司，这个公司应该拥有与密西西比河广阔流域以及河西岸路易斯安那州做交易的专有特权。传说，新大陆上的这两个地方遍地都是黄金，简直像天堂一般。此外，劳氏银行和法国政府如能独占这个极具吸引力的大市场，无疑将获得空前的暴利，同时成为独一无二的包税人和钱币铸造者。

    第三节  密西西比计划初现端倪

    1717年8月份，政府授予的贸易授权书颁布了，公司得以顺利成立。公司资本随即被划分为20万股，每股500里弗，这些股票可以用公债抵付。尽管面值500里弗赫的公债，市场价格仅相当于160里弗赫。可是，此时投机的狂潮已经席卷了整个法兰西，为了迅速发财致富们谁会在乎这些。

    同样地，劳氏银行所创造的辉煌业绩也令约翰自己飘飘然起来，以至于他认为自己向大众许下的任何承诺人们都会奉为圭臬。此外，摄政王每天都在赋予这位“幸运儿”以新的特权。劳氏银行最终竟垄断了法国的烟草销售市场，独揽了铸造金银币的大权。最后，银行来了个彻底的改头换面，竟成了法兰西皇家银行（the Royal Bank of France）！

    面对这样巨大的成功和民众的赞誉，约翰·劳和摄政王开始忘乎所以起来，他们都忘记了一个致命的原则——约翰本人也曾为此大声疾呼过，这就是：如果一个银行家没有足够的资金储备去支持所发行的货币，那他就只有死路一条。

    当约翰的这家银行刚刚从私营转为皇家中央银行，摄政王就命令它发行了面值10亿里弗的新币。这是他们偏离稳健原则的第一步，对此约翰似乎不应负主要责任。毕竟，当他掌控银行业务的时候，银行发行的纸币从未超过6000万里弗。约翰·劳是否曾反对摄政王主导的这个增币计划，后人对此不得而知。但有一点却是可以肯定的：在这家私人银行摇身一变成为皇家机构之后，摄政王本人就应该承受各种各样的指责和骂名。

    约翰·劳一向明白自己生活在一个专制政权的统治之下，却没有弄明白这样的政府会对像银行信用这样一种复杂微妙的系统施以多么恶劣的干扰。经管后来在切身体验中他明白了这个道理，但已经太晚了，他已不由自主地卷入了致命的漩涡之中——在摄政王的逼迫下，他一步步丢掉了自己的理智和判断。

    在他的支持下，摄政满意地看到整个法兰西被钞票汇成的洪流所吞噬。由于缺乏稳固的基础，这些泡沫一样的纸币迟早会一个个破裂，最后化为乌有。然而，这种潜在的风险此刻已被约翰抛到九霄云外，滚滚而来的财富遮蔽了一切，也包括他那曾经是“全欧最精明”的头脑。

    不久，危险的前景开始逐一显现。

    法兰西议会从一开始对一个外国人插手本国事务极端仇视，同时也对约翰提出的那些大胆的计划表示深深的忧虑。随着约翰在法国国民心中的影响力越来越大，议员们对他的敌视心理也与日俱增。

    为此，一些议员公开反对约翰利用银行大量发行纸币，而造成国内金银货币的持续贬值。为了压制议会，摄政王甚至无缘无故地罢免了法官德·阿格索的职务。此举无疑是火上浇油，尤其是当德·让松——摄政王的亲信之一，被指定接替空缺的法官职位，并同时兼任财政大臣时，议会对约翰的敌意进一步加深了。

    新财政大臣走马上任后放的“第一把火”就是使金银币进一步贬值。这个一心只为讨好主子的家伙最喜欢吹嘘自己那“出色的创造能力”，而为了尽快清偿政府公债，他下令：凡是送4000里弗硬币和1000里弗公债到造币厂的人，都可以得到5000里弗的硬币。这一妙招令德·让松骄傲不已，整日忙于将4000个旧的足值硬币改铸成5000个新的、掺了水分的小硬币。由于对贸易和信用的原则一窍不通，他根本不明白自己所作的一切其实是在给自己的主子拆台！

    议会马上看出了他的冒失以及这种做法的危险性，并再三向摄政王陈情。摄政王对他们的请求却像充耳不闻。无奈之下，议会被迫采取了一个大胆的举措，宣布民众照旧用旧币做支付手段。摄政王闻讯大怒，立即召集御前会议，宣告议会通过的法令为非法。议会坚持不接受，随即又发布了一个法令。摄政王再一次运用特权废除了该法令。然而，议会仍不屈服。1718年8月12日，议会再次通过法案，严禁劳氏银行以任何直接或间接的方式参与征税。同时禁止所有外国人以自己或他人的名义干预国家财政政策，违者予以重罚。议会甚至认为约翰·劳才是最大的祸根，提议将他送交法庭接受审判，一旦定罪．就将他立即处死。

    听到这个噩耗，约翰·劳又惊又怕，仓皇逃到皇官中请求摄政王的庇护。为了一劳永逸的解决问题，他还乞求摄政王采取措施来逼迫议会撤销法案。这时候，正逢先皇的两个儿子曼因公爵和索洛斯伯爵为储位问题闹纠纷，再加上这个突发事件，摄政王一下子乱了方寸。

    最终，他下令将议会的议长和两名议员收监并发配到外省，这才令议会低头。

    这片遮蔽约翰·劳的锦绣前程的黑云就这样被吹散了。逃脱一劫的约翰将全部心力集中在了著名的密西西比计划之上。纵然议会依旧强烈反对，却挡不住公司股价的迅速飙升。

    1719年年初，政府又颁布了一项法令，授予密西西比公司在东印度群岛、中国、南太平洋诸岛以及法国东印度公司所属各地进行贸易的特权。甚至连科伯特一手建立起来的法国东印度公司（the French East India Company），也被并入了约翰负责的密西西比公司。

    后来，由于业务的蓬勃发展，密西西比公司更被世人被称为“印度群岛公司”，并增发了5万股新股。约翰·劳为众多股民描画出一幅无比光辉灿烂的远景，他承诺，每份500里弗的股票每年派发的红利可达200里弗。由于股票可以用公债来购买，所以一支票面价值500里弗仅仅花100里弗就可以买到。这样算下来，每股的投资回报率竟然达120％。如此巨大的利益诱惑更加助长了大众的购买热情——这样的暴利就算是铁石人也无法抵御啊。

    现在，至少有30万人热切地要求申购这5万份新股。约翰·劳那位于甘昆普瓦大街的宅邸，从早到晚被急切的申购人挤得水泄不通。空前巨大的需求注定了很多人的要求得不到满足。由于新股票持有人名单只能在几周后才能最后确定．在这段日子里，民众渴切的情几乎已濒于疯狂的边缘。就连那些平日里假模假样故作高尚的大贵族们也放下了矜持，为那金光闪闪地“钱”途而疯狂了。

    每天，那些公爵、侯爵、伯爵以及他们的夫人们纷纷聚在约翰的家门口的大街上，为早点知道结果一等就是几个小时。最后，像这样等待的平民贵族已是成千上万充斥了整个大街。为防止互相推挤，贵族们甚至在邻街租下套间，以便随时掌握从“财神爷”那儿传来的任何一条财富信息。

    旧股的价格也被带的一路走高，节节往上攀升。整个国家已经跌入了疯狂的黄金梦中不可自拔，申请购买新股的热潮一浪高过一浪。

    为了满足人们强烈的要求，最后，公司认为可以再发行30万新股，每股发行价500里弗。这样一来，摄政王就能够利用公众高涨的热情

    清偿所有的国债——若是在平常，为了这个目的财政必须要想方设法筹集到15亿里弗的资金才行。可现在，全国上下一片狂热，只要政府认可．即使三倍于此的数额人们也情愿付出。

    第四节  金钱的狂热

    约翰·劳现在已经到达了个人成功的最高峰，法国人也在迅速地接近痴狂的顶点。豪门显贵也好，山野村夫也好，每个人都在幻想着一夜之间变成超级大富豪！在上流社会的贵族中，除圣西蒙公爵和威拉斯元帅之外，人们都在忙于炒买般票。不论男女老少，不分贵贱贤愚，人人都想从密西西比债券涨跌造成的差价中分得一杯羹。

    甘昆普瓦大街一时间变成了股票经纪人扎堆的地方。由于街道狭窄难行，再加上天天都有那么多的人聚集，以致这条街上的交通事故不断发生。与此同时，这条大街两边的房子往日的年租金只有1000里弗，而现在已经涨到了1.2万到l.6万里弗。据说，一个在街边摆摊的补鞋匠见状把自己的摊位租了出去，同时向经纪人及其客户提供纸笔，这个点子令他每天净赚200里弗。另一个故事被传得更加离谱，一个驼子利用自己的驼背给那些着急忙慌的的投机商当书桌，为此狠赚了一笔!然而，一批接一批的投机客仍然源源不断地赶来。

    这样的混乱场面也给了巴黎的小偷和无赖以可乘之机，街道上不断发生暴力骚乱，以至于每到夜晚，就会有一队士兵被派来维持秩序。

    约翰·劳这时也发觉自己住在此地太不方便了，于是举家搬到了旺多姆广场。结果，那些嗅觉灵敏的投机商们也很快尾随到那里。宽阔的广场顿时变得同甘昆普瓦街一样拥挤。从早到晚，旺多姆广场就好似一个人山人海的菜市场。各种各样的帐篷和货摊林立其间，供人们买卖股票兼贩卖饮料餐点。赌徒们也把轮盘赌的桌子搬到了广场中央，从熙来攘往的人群手里赚得大量钱财。

    在林荫道上或花园里散步消闲的人越来越少，大家更更热衷于到旺多姆广场消遣度日。这里充斥着人们高谈阔论的的声音，那闹哄哄的场面令官员们叫苦不迭，广场法庭的一位法官曾向摄政王和市政府抱怨说，他在判案时甚至连律师的辩护辞都听不到。

    约翰·劳闻讯后表示，他愿意帮忙解决这个麻烦。为此，他开始与加里格南亲王接洽，打算租下亲王所有的索桑松官邸，这座官邸的后面附有一个面积数英亩的大花园。经过一番讨价还价后，约翰·劳以极高的价格买下了官邸，而亲王自己则留下了那个宽阔豪华的后花园好获取更丰厚的利润。后花园里散布着精美的塑像和喷泉，设计极有格调。

    一俟搬进新居，约翰·劳就派人发布公告，所有人必须在索桑松官邸的后花园中进行交易。为了给股票经纪人提供场地，在花园中的树木之间搭起了大约500个大大小小的帐篷。五颜六色的帐篷之间飘扬着色彩明亮的彩带和旗帜，熙熙攘攘的人群川流不息。鼎沸的喧哗声、刺耳的噪声、音乐声搅和在一起，以及人们脸上流露出的喜怒哀乐掺杂在一起的表情……这一切都是那么地新鲜奇幻又那么地富有魔力，巴黎人为此陶醉不已。

    后来，精明的加里格南亲王在这个花园上赚到的利润堪称天文数字。在这里，每顶帐篷的租金是一月500里弗。花园中至少有500顶帐蓬，亲王每月的纯收入仅帐篷一项就高达25万里弗，也就是超过1万英镑！

    但也有人对这种蔓延在全民中的迷狂保持清醒的头脑。陆军元帅威拉斯，这位正直的法兰西老兵就是其中罕有的一个。看到同胞们正做着愚蠢的事还沾沾自喜，老元帅为此感到非常气恼。有一次，当他乘坐马车路过旺多姆广场时，看到人们仍在醉心于买卖股票，这位暴躁的绅士突然命令车夫停车，接着把头探出车窗，向人群大声疾呼，要求他们停止这种“令人鄙视的贪婪行为”。他足足讲了半个钟头，句句在理，真称得上是义正词严、用心良苦。可是，回应他的却是人们的嘘声和嘲笑声，这些声响汇成激流淹没了他。最后，有人甚至向他扔了个黑乎乎的物件，差点打着他的脑袋。这时，老爷子才狼狈地驾车远遁。从此，他对此事再也不予置评。

    另外，曾有两个更加清醒、安静并富于思辨性的学者——德·拉·莫特先生与特拉松神父，才彼此祝贺对方没有卷入这场奇怪的狂热行动。不料隔天德高望重的神父就上索桑松官邸买股票去了。

    当他出来的时候，恰好撞见碰上为同样目的向里走的老朋友得·拉·莫特。“哈!那是你吗?”神父问。“是的。”拉·莫特回答。说话间快速地从朋友身边擦过。

    当两位朋友再相见时，只顾着对哲学、科学和宗教发表高论，谁也没勇气再对密西西比计划了指指点点了。

    “财神爷”约翰·劳的风头可谓一时无两，连法兰西王国最重要的大人物也要甘拜下风，自叹不如。就连一向贵宾云集的摄政王待客厅如今也变得冷冷清清，门可罗雀，再留不住一位朝臣。贵族、主教、法官们纷纷涌入了索桑松官邸。陆军、海军军官们，养尊处优的女士们，以及一个个拥有世袭爵位或享有特权的人挤满了约翰的会客室，个个伸长脖子，满脸谄笑，只为约翰开金口卖给他们一些印度公司的股票。

    如此火爆的行情却让约翰·劳这阵子疲累到了极点。就算他肯，能见到的申购人却连十分之一也不到。为了见他一面，申购者们绞尽脑汁，出尽法宝，凡是凡人能想到的几乎都叫他们做了个遍！若换了平时，这些爵爷命妇们就算是面见在摄政王时，也甭想叫他们多等半个钟头。此时，只要能博约翰大人一见，就算是要等6个小时他们也心甘情愿，绝不会发一句牢骚。

    这时候，在官邸里伺候的仆人们也大发横财，人们纷纷向仆役手里塞钱，希望仆人们在约翰先生跟前为自己说句话。而那些迷人的、出身高贵的女土们，为了同样的目的暗地里不知送出多少秋波，献出多少甜美的微笑。纵然是如此，仍有许多人一天天地耗在这里，有的甚至一直坚持了两个星期才与约翰先生打个照面。

    当劳先生受邀参加宴会时，高贵的女士们总是将他团团围住，软语温存地求他记下自己的芳名，好让她们买到新发行的股票。在以往这可是求之不得的机会，一向以风流潇洒著称的的约翰先生，此刻却无力也无法消受这种艳福，通常会仓皇溜走。

    世上真是无奇不有，为了见他一面，有人竟然想出了滑稽可笑到极点的法子。由于一连几天等在约翰家门口却一无所获，一位女士干脆放弃了这种干等的笨办法。于是，她向自己的马车夫面授机宜：当她外出时，他得眼观六路耳听八方。一旦见到约翰先生过来，就驾着马车往灯柱上撞，好把她捧下来。

    忠心耿耿的马车夫保证：一定完成主人的重托。于是，主仆二人在城中一直溜达了三天，寻找着那个宝贵的、让她摔下车的机会。就在第三天快结束的时候，天赐良机终于出现了。一看到约翰先生，这位夫人立马揪住缰绳，对车夫嚷道，“快！看在上帝的份上，快翻车！”说时迟，那时快，车夫驾车往路旁的柱子撞去。皇天不负有心人，车子终于翻倒一边，夫人摔在地上尖叫连连。意外就发生在眼前，约翰先生自然是当仁不让，赶紧上前救助。这个聪明的女士随即被带到了索桑松官邸。后来，她觉得自己应当从“惊恐”中恢复过来了，便向劳先生道了歉，并一五一十地说出了自己的“小阴谋”。约翰·劳被逗得前仰后合，却不能不钦佩夫人的胆略。于是微笑着记下了她的名字，承诺会卖给她一笔可观的股票。

    另一个故事的主角换成了德·布莎夫人。当她得知约翰·劳在某饭店里就餐后，立刻驱车前往，并在同时报了火警。一听失火了食客们纷纷夺路而逃。正当大家慌乱成一团的时候，约翰·劳却发现有位女士神色镇定地向自己走来。他立刻觉察到其中必定有诈，就从另一个方向逃走了。

    当时像这样荒唐可笑的趣事可说不胜枚举，尽管其中的一些存在夸大其词的地方，还是可以反映出当时那种癫狂的社会风貌。据说，

    有一天，摄政王当着德·让松、杜波瓦神父和其他几个人的面提到，为了代替自己去摩德纳陪伴女儿，他正在为哪位地位高贵的公爵夫人才是最佳人选而发愁。摄政王又叹道：“可是，现在，我真不知道在哪儿才能找到这样合适的女士。”“您不知道？”其中一人大惊小怪地回答，“我可以告诉您，您只需到劳先生家里去，一准儿能在会客室中找到全法国的公爵夫人。”

    德·希拉克先生是一个声誉素著的医生，他曾买过一些股票。但不走运幸的是，股票三天两头的下跌。最后，殷票又持续狂跌了两个星期。这时医生再也坐不住了，满心满眼里装的全是花花绿绿的股票。这时，碰巧有位一个女士请他去看病。在为那位女士把脉时，他情不自禁地叫道：“跌了，啊呀，它又跌了！”病人越听越焦急，“噢，希拉克先生，”病人说着站起身来，拉铃叫仆人进来，一边嚷嚷着道：“完了，我就要死了。它一直在落!一直在落!”医生惊讶地问，“什么在落？”“我的脉搏呀!我的脉搏!”病人回答。希拉克医生这才恍然大悟：“请保持安静，亲爱的夫人，我说的是股票跌了，而不是您的脉搏。事情是这样的：我买的股票一直在跌，跌得我失去了方寸，以至于自己说了些什么也不清楚了。”

    股票的价格起落无常，有时甚至在几小时内就可以上涨10%到20%。许多出身社会底层的小人物早上起床时还是一贫如洗，晚上回家时已然成了百万富翁了。一位大户有一次生病了，便让自己的仆人到索桑松官邸花园卖掉250股，每股价格8000里弗。仆人到了那儿后发现：股票价格已涨到l万里弗赫一股！这个天赐良机不用白不用，

    仆人当机立断以每股一万的价格把那250股抛了出去。每股净赚2000里弗，共50万里弗，按当时的汇率合计2万英镑。这个胆大包天的家伙冷静地将这笔横财藏进了自己的钱袋，然后把余下的钱交给主人，当天晚上就逃出法国远走高飞了。

    约翰·劳手下的车夫也同样地好运，短短时间里就成了暴发户。在用自己的钱给自己买了辆马车后，他向东家约翰·劳请辞。约翰·劳对此人很倚重，就请他帮忙在离职前再找一个同样精干的代替者，车夫很爽快地答应了。当晚就带来两位以前的同行，请东家任选一个，而剩下的那个则留做他自己的车夫。

    更叫人印象深刻的，其实当属那些一夜暴富的上流社会的人士，这些人的言行往往更愚蠢也更无耻。只消举一个例子，就可以说明当时的社会上充斥着怎样疯狂的贪欲。据圣西蒙公爵记载，有个叫安德列的人，既不学无术又缺少教养，基本上没有一点可取之处。仅仅因对密西西比债券投机成功，就让他在极短时间内就赚得了数不清的财富。正如圣西蒙所形容的：“他为自己堆了一座金山。”

    暴富之后，此人始终对自己的低贱耿耿于怀，一门心思要攀高枝与贵族联姻。他有一个女儿，还是个3岁大的娃娃，这个小女儿现在却成了他改善血统的好帮手。他与门第高贵却已落魄潦倒的德·奥瓦斯家族做了笔交易，宣称：如果他的女儿能嫁进这个贵族家庭做媳妇

    ，那他将会不计一切代价。奥瓦斯候爵这时也不再顾不上什么面子问题了，这一提议被他一口应承下来。他答应说，等这个小女孩长到12岁，他就亲自把她娶过门，但前提是泰山老丈人必须奉上10万克朗的定金，并且每年给付2万里弗，直到小妻子过门为止。当时侯爵已有33岁。双方为达成这个丑恶的协议还一本正经地签了字，画了押。股票投机商在欣喜之余还同意在女儿结婚时另外再陪上几百万里弗以充嫁资。

    这个贵族之家的老族长勃朗卡斯公爵作为见证人，参与了整个谈判过程，当然也分享了所有可能的利益。这件不光彩的事在圣西蒙公爵看来可谓是绝好的笑料。他进而补充说：“这桩不体面的交易起初并没有遭到人们的谴责。直到约翰·劳倒台之后，野心勃勃的安德

    列先生也随之破产，这个计划几个月后也就自动中止了。”但令人不可思议的是，那个“诚实的”贵族家庭却一直没有归还那10万克朗定钱，其虚伪可见一斑。

    像这样的事情尽管让人感到可耻，至多不过是荒唐可笑而已，但另外一些事情造成的结果却是十分可怕的。为随时买卖股票债券，人们不得不随身携带大量钱款上街，于是，大街小巷里到处有抢劫案、凶杀案发生。其中有些案子不但手段残忍令人发指，罪犯还往往具有很高的社会地位。其中的一件就曾令整个法国为之震惊。

    第五节  一桩血腥的凶杀案

    德·赫恩伯爵——德·赫恩亲王的弟弟，与高贵的德·阿莱姆伯格家族、德·里昂家族、德·蒙特莫罗西家族都沾亲带故。伯爵年轻气盛、桀骜不驯，花起钱来大手大脚一点不知道节俭为何物，是个有名的浪荡公子。他有两个朋友．跟他是一丘之貉。一个叫米勒，是皮埃蒙特的一个上尉，另一个是佛莱芒人，叫做勒斯当。三个人在一起制定了一个大胆的计划：抢劫一位非常富有的经纪人，这个人据说经常随身携带大量的金钱和股票。

    三人商议过后决定，先由伯爵假装购买印度群岛公司股票，约那个可怜的经纪人在旺多姆广场附近的一个酒馆里见面。那位从头至尾不曾有过丝毫怀疑的经纪人如时赶到，德·赫恩伯爵也和两个同伙到了那里，并向经纪人介绍说俩人是他的好友。客套了几句之后，德·赫恩伯爵突然跳起来扑向受害者，用短剑在对方的胸口上猛刺了三剑。那人马上倒在了血泊里。

    伯爵立即把公文包里价值10万克朗的密西西比和印度公司债掏了出来。这时，米勒为确保万无一失又拾起短剑连捅了不幸的经纪人几下，直到确信对方已经死亡。然而，他们却没注意到，经纪人在事发之前曾高声呼救，呼叫声最终引来了酒馆内其他顾客的好奇。当人们赶来的时候，在楼梯间放风的勒斯当见势不妙连忙跳窗逃走，他的两个同伴米勒和德·赫恩伯爵被当场抓住。

    光天化日之下发生在酒馆这种公共场所的这桩血案，令整个巴黎上空弥漫着一层恐怖血腥的气氛。第二天，法庭就着手审理了这起凶杀案，由于证据确凿不容置疑，两人被判故意杀人罪，并将以车裂这种酷刑处死。

    消息一传出来，德·赫恩伯爵那些位高权重的亲友们立即把摄政王的待客厅挤了个水泄不通。大家都是要为这个可怜的罪犯求情，求摄政王看在他年少无知的份上法外施恩，并说年轻人的神经不正常。

    摄政王却一直躲着不见客。他已经下定决心，要用法律手段处罚那个胆大妄为到无法无天的凶手。但是那帮求情者一再纠缠不休，怎么也不肯罢手，结果有一天终于见到了摄政王。他们恳请说不要公开处决伯爵，因为这样做无疑是为他们的整个家族蒙羞，以后也会最喜爱人前抬不起头来。

    他们进一步指出：德·赫恩亲王与显赫的奥尔良家族有着姻亲关系，如果任由德·赫恩伯爵被一个地位卑贱的刽子手处死的话，就连摄政王本人也将受到侮辱。摄政王的心意却是不可动摇，他以大作家高乃依的一句名言来做结：“罪恶已经化为耻辱．上断头台又有何用?”

    摄政王进而表示：无论惩罚罪犯时会带来多大的羞辱，他情愿与众人一起分担。见他态度始终不改，他们想到，如果能请最受摄政王尊敬的圣西蒙公爵出马，也许能够说服摄政王。

    门第至为高贵，血统至为纯粹的公爵一听说一个年轻贵族即将被处决，而其死法将与普通人一般无二时大为震惊。他立即去向摄政王陈说利害，说明得罪一个如此人多势众兼资本雄厚的家族会是多么地不智。德·阿莱姆伯格家族在德国拥有规模庞大的产业，而据当地法律，受车裂刑罚的人的亲属将不准担任任何公职，或受雇于任何政府部门，直到与这个人同辈的所有人全部死亡为止。因此，他建议将德·赫恩伯爵改判为斩首。毕竟，在当时的欧洲，人们并不认为一个被砍头的人的家属有什么可耻的。

    摄政王被这番话打动了，正当他的态度有所转变的时候，半途又杀出个程咬金。与被害人的不幸息息相关的约翰·劳的一番进言，又使摄政王更加坚定了自己以前的立场：正义必须得到伸张，杀人者必须接受法律的制裁。

    就这样，德·赫恩伯爵的亲友再也想不出高招了。德·罗贝克·蒙特莫罗西亲王见局面再无改变的可能，绝望之下决定一不做二不休，让那个混小子以死洗刷家族蒙受的羞辱。当下，他设法混进死囚牢，

    给德·赫恩伯爵一瓶毒药，求他喝下去自我了断，也好过被五马分尸在所有人面前丢脸。然而，他的好心却遭到了拒绝。任他怎么解释劝说，德·赫恩始终不肯回头面对他，也坚决不愿领受毒药。亲王拉下脸皮好说歹说、软磨硬泡，一次次地恳求他，甚至哀求他，德·赫恩却是铁了心不理不睬。最后，蒙特莫罗西亲王恼羞成怒，气得再不愿多说一句，转身摔门而去，边走边骂道：“去死吧!好吧，想怎么死就怎么死吧!你这个不识好歹的小子!只配让人吊死在绞架上!”这之后，再没人肯费心多管闲事了。

    德·赫恩伯爵自己也觉得可耻，请求摄政王改判自己斩首之刑。岂料约翰·劳对摄政王施加的影响更大，两人在这件案子上意见是出奇的一致，绝不能为私利而牺牲正义和公理。于是，在宣判两人死刑的第六天，德·赫恩和米勒在格瑞弗广场上被车裂处死。另一个同案犯勒斯当因见机得快而溜之大吉，始终没能归案。

    这一严厉而果决的判决无疑是大快人心的，巴黎人纷纷称赞摄政王贤明。但是，抢劫和杀人的事件并没有因此而停歇，反而有愈演愈烈之势。富裕的经纪人和投机者遭抢后基本上得不到大众的同情。在往常，公共道德的败坏虽然也很显著，但还能没有覆盖整个社会。现在，处于公开为恶的上流社会与为犯罪提供庇护的下层社会之间，相对算比较纯洁的中产阶级，也成了各种“恶”的温床。赌博的恶习像瘟疫一样流播到社会的各个层面，为了金钱，几乎人人都成了职业赌徒。什么公德心，什么真善美，一切都得为赌博让路。

    第六节  全民性癫狂的回光返照

    那段时期，法国人的自信心无比高涨，投机和炒股一度也推动了商业贸易的繁荣，做什么生意都能赚大钱，或者说基本上没有赔钱的买卖。尤其是在巴黎，赚钱的机会遍地都是。来“淘金”的外地人从四面八方涌入巴黎，他们不仅来挣钱的，也是来此地消费的。

    摄政王之母，也就是奥尔良公爵夫人，曾大略地统计过这一时期巴黎的人口数，随着来自各地的人不断增加，这一时期巴黎的总人口竟达到了305万。

    为此，家庭主妇人们不得不利用阁楼、厨房甚至是马厩．在其中尽可能多地安插铺位，以满足源源不断到来的投宿者的需要。各式各样的马车和其他交通工具塞满了大家小巷，连在主要干道上，车辆也必须缓行慢驶以避免发生交通事故。全国的织布机都在昼夜运转，好应付数不清订单。尽管在加班加点的生产，奢华的蕾丝花边、丝绸、宽幅细布以及天鹅绒等纺织品的需求量仍是得不到满足。由于纸币发行量太大，这些物品的价格比平时翻了四番。连带着食品价格也一路高涨，面包、鲜肉和蔬菜的价格高得令人难以想象。劳动者的工资报酬也同样水涨船高。以前每天赚15苏的工匠现在可以赚到60苏。到处都在大兴土木，城镇以前所未有的速度向四周扩张。虚幻的繁华景象充斥这整个国家，看得法国人目眩神迷。此时此刻，再没有人能清醒地意识到，远处地平线上那预示着大风暴即将到来的黑云已当头压下。

    约翰·劳用充满魔法的魔棒制造出如此令人惊叹的奇观，作为他本人来说，自然是获益良多。法国最尊贵的贵族争着与他的妻子和女儿结交，并以此为荣。伯爵和亲王的继承人们也纷至沓来，纷纷表示愿与他结为姻亲。在外省，约翰·劳添置了两处豪华的房产，又与德·苏利公爵家族商谈，想购买罗西尼侯爵的领地。

    可是，约翰·劳的宗教信仰问题成了阻碍他进一步高升的一大障碍。摄政王许诺，如果约翰公开宣布皈依天主教，他将委任其为主管法国财政的审计官。其实，越约翰·劳本身就是个职业赌徒，哪有什么真正的宗教信仰？他毫不迟疑地接受了这个条件。随后，在在默伦教堂里，汤辛神父在一大群教徒面前为他施了坚信礼。成为天主教徒的第二天，约翰·劳就当选了圣罗奇教区的名誉执事。为了表示虔诚，他向教会捐赠了50万里弗。其实，约翰本人对于慈善活动深为热衷，捐钱时的慷慨劲儿无人能及。同样，只要是有人因为日子困苦手头拮据而向他求助，他也总会及时伸出援手。

    这时的约翰·劳成了全法国首屈一指的重要人物。奥尔良公爵对他精明的才干极为倚重，对他提出的各种计划也从不怀疑，凡是大事小情总会第一个要征求他的意见。不过，虽然在法国如此被看重，约翰并没有因此失去冷静的头脑，还保持着以前在生活困窘时的作风。

    他的表现，是那么地朴素、和蔼可亲，令人赞赏。在女士面前，他的骑士风度更是博得了一致的赞誉。那种优雅的做派，和善的天性，令所有人如沐春风，无论何时也不会受人指摘。

    如果说他在某些场合会表现出一丝傲慢的话．那也是针对那些满嘴甜言蜜语、争先恐后向他逢迎献媚的贵族的。一旦那些跳梁小丑们的行径太过露骨的时候，他常会以一种调侃的态度，不着痕迹地贬损他们一下。相反，对于那些偶然来巴黎拜访他的老乡，约翰·劳则是礼数周全，殷勤而又热诚。

    有一次，英国的伊斯莱伯爵阿什博德·坎贝尔，即后来的阿格勒公爵，去旺多姆广场看望他。当时，伯爵不得不穿过那个被法国最杰出人士挤得满满当当的会客厅，才能见到主人的面。这些绅士显贵们正等着与那位伟大的金融家会面，只为了能把自己高贵的名姓留在新股申购名单的最前列。当伯爵挤出重围来到书房时，发现约翰·劳正安静地坐在书桌前，正给父亲留给他的劳里斯顿庄园的园丁写信，内容只不过是安排他种点卷心菜！伯爵跟他的老乡一块儿玩起了皮克牌，在那儿待了很长时间才告辞。事后，伯爵不禁为约翰那洞若观火的理解力和彬彬有礼的风度教养所折服。

    在那段时期，许多贵族利用投机手段赚得盆满钵满，不但改善了之前负债累累的财务状况，也有了足够的钱财重新过上了体面高尚的生活。这个名单可以列一大长串。

    其中有波旁公爵、古尚公爵、福斯公爵、绍纳公爵和安汀公爵、埃斯特雷斯元帅、洛罕亲王、普瓦亲王和莱昂亲王。波旁公爵是路易十四和情妇德·蒙特斯潘夫人生的私生子。他在密西西比股票的投机中一路福星高照。他先以大手笔在尚提利兴建起富丽堂皇的行官。他还是个狂热的赛马迷，为了满足自己的这一爱好，波旁公爵不惜砸下重金建起了许多名闻全欧洲的马厩，又引进了150匹英国顶尖的赛马来改良本地赛马的血统。在皮卡第，他购买了大片的土地，成了奥兹和索姆两地间几乎全部良田的主人。

    能赚到如此巨额的财产几乎全拜股票投机所赐，这也难怪约翰·劳一度成许多人顶礼膜拜的对象。就连法兰西皇帝也没有谁曾领受过如此多的褒举。当时所有的小文人们都在绞尽脑汁地为他唱赞歌，铺天盖地的赞誉汹涌而来。在他们的描述中，约翰·劳就是整个法兰西的救世主、财神爷。他曾说过的每一句话都成了至理名言；他的脸上闪耀着尊贵与无私的光芒；他的每个动作都充溢着智慧与理性。当他出门的时候，无论何时何地，总有一大群人随在后面。为此，摄政王不得不专门拨出派一队骑兵充作他永久的护卫队，在他的马车前鸣锣开道。

    另据记载，这一时期的巴黎，简直成了奢侈品扎堆的大本营。城市的角角落落充斥着高雅华贵、制作精良的工艺品。雕塑、油画、挂毯从外国大量进口，在法国畅销无阻。此外，那些法国最负盛名的家具、装饰品之类的高档玩艺儿，也已不再是王公贵族专用的了。在寻常的商人和中产阶级家庭里，你也随处发现它们的身影。璀璨生辉的顶级珠宝和最受女士们欢迎的貂皮大衣，大量出口巴黎。连世界上最著名的那颗大钻石也被摄政王买下来，以他的名字命名，并成了装饰法皇皇冠的最耀眼的装饰。

    购买这颗巨钻所花的代价竟然高达3200万里弗！说实话，摄政王在这场空前的股票大投机中，并不象一般人想的那样近水楼台先得月。说实话，相较波旁公爵之流，摄政王的致富手段几乎是乏善可陈。所以，第一次见到那颗钻石时，他也十分动心，但理智一再告诫他：放弃这个念头，太贵了，别忘了自己对整个国家负有不容推却的责任。因此他宣布，这区区一块儿石头根本不值得为它花费那么大一笔财政收入。这个振振有词的说法简直叫宫里的仕女们惊讶极了。人们纷纷大呼可惜。连着几天，抱怨声、惊叹声不绝于耳。这颗珍稀异常的宝石即将被带出法国．却没有一个人有能力出高价留下它，哎，这可真叫大家遗憾。

    其实，摄政王私下里也对这块“石头”心动不已，可费尽心思也没想出个解决之道。最后，人们开始游说有着高妙口才的圣西蒙公爵。公爵挺身而出接下了这个义不容辞的任务。他先说服了约翰·劳，约翰·劳随即也加入到说服摄政王的行列中去。摄政王与他一拍即合，立即转变了态度。眼下，怎么杀价怎么说服卖主，就成了精明的约翰先生的分内事了。

    经过一番讨价还价，宝石终于被留在了法国。同时约翰向卖主拍胸脯保证：他将在一定的年限内获得200万里弗的股票．这笔巨款每年5％的利息也包含在内。另外，他还能得到钻石切割时余下的价值客观的碎钻。

    事后，圣西蒙公爵在回忆录中洋洋洒洒地将这件事的前因后果大肆渲染了一番，颇为他在这件事中起到关键作用而自豪。据他说，这颗钻石有一颗青梅那么大，通体纯白，毫无瑕疵，大约重500多格令。最后，他总结到，最终帮摄政王做成这么大一桩买卖，自己感到无上的光荣。换句话说，他很骄傲自己能劝服摄政王无视国家利益，用公众的钱以近乎天价买下这么个华而不实的小玩意儿。

    直到1720年，这样一个危险的金融体系仍在继续保持不断增长的势头。议会一再警告：纸币发行量过大，迟早会导致整个国家的经济系统崩溃。但这些警告对做着发财梦的人们来说，就像是马耳东风。对财政与金融一窍不通的摄政王认为，既然发行纸币获利那么巨大，就值得大力鼓励，也不对这一政策做任何限制。既然发行5亿里弗纸币有那么大的好处，再发行个5亿相比好处更多。

    对摄政王的这种严重错误的概念偏差，约翰·劳并没有加以纠正。就这样，大众极度的贪欲使投机的泡沫越吹越大，幻觉的海市蜃楼令人们失去了理智。印度群岛股票和密西西比股票的价格越涨越高，银行不得不发行越来越多的银行券，去迎合公众交易的需要。

    这就像俄国元帅波将金所作的，为了讨情人叶卡捷琳娜女皇的欢心，他派人用冰块建造了一座富丽堂皇的宫殿。巨大的冰块层层叠叠，巍峨壮观。在冰宫的顶部装饰着精美的涡卷形雕刻。爱奥尼亚式的冰柱围成一道美丽的长廊，高贵典雅，非同凡响。更让人神驰目眩的是最上面那华丽的圆顶，晶莹剔透的冰面在阳光的照射下下熠熠闪光。阳光给它镀了一层金色，却不能把它融化。这座金光闪烁的冰宫矗立在天地之间，就像是用水晶和钻右雕刻成的一般。可是，天气忽然转变，由南方吹来了温暖的和风，这座雄伟壮丽的建筑物开始慢慢地融化了。渐渐地，冰宫越变越小，以至于化为一滩春水。最后，从大地上彻底消失，连一点痕迹也寻不着了。

    约翰·劳苦心经营的货币体系也是如此。只要大众中间蔓延起怀疑的风潮，它就会变慢慢地冰消瓦解，终至于无，就算有人倾尽全力想挽回，也是回天乏术。

    第七节  怀疑风潮愈演愈烈

    第一次小小的警兆发生在1720年。有一次，约翰·劳拒绝按照孔蒂亲王给定的价格卖出印度公司新上市的股票，这可大大驳了亲王的面子。为了报复，孔蒂亲王派人到劳氏银行，要求将一笔巨款折现成硬币。最后，成堆的硬币竟然用了三辆马车才搬走。于是，约翰·劳向摄政王抱怨说，仅仅这一次倒也罢了，要是市民们都有样学样效仿孔蒂亲王的话，那给国家造成的危害就是无法想象的了。摄政王对这般贵族的把戏心知肚明，就派人把孔蒂亲王叫来，疾言厉色地训斥了一顿。同时命令他把兑换来的硬币中的三分之二重新存回银行。亲王被迫遵从这个独断的命令。

    所幸，孔蒂亲王的此番举动并不得人心．也许这与他不招人喜欢有关，人们纷纷遣责他小气又贪婪，一致为约翰受到的不公正对待叫屈。但奇怪的是，这一事件并没有使约翰与摄政王提高警惕。对于潜藏的危险，他们毫不在意，也从没想过要控制纸币的发行量。

    尽管孔蒂亲王的行为是出于报复，但却为一些有心人提供了可资借鉴的标本。只要是脑筋够活络的股票投机者，谁都能正确地预见到：世上没有只涨不降的股价。私下里，早有人行动起来。大券商布登和拉·理查蒂热一小部分一小部分地把他们的纸币兑换成铸币，在神不知鬼不觉地将铸币运送到国外。不止如此，他们还大量购入方便携带的金银和贵重首饰，悄悄地运往英格兰或荷兰。

    一个名叫韦马莱特的投机商，也嗅到了即将到来的大风暴的气息，私底下购买了总价超过100万里弗的金币和银币，把它们装到一辆农用马车上，在上面盖上厚厚一层干草和牛粪。然后，他穿上脏脏破旧的衣衫，把自己打扮成一名普普通通的农夫，把这一车宝贝安全地带到了比利时。没多久，又从那里去了阿姆斯特丹。

    直到那时，任何人都可以随意兑换硬币，这一点没什么阻碍。可是，时间一长问题就严重起来了：用于流通的铸币出现严重的匮乏，全国各地怨声四起。经过一番详细调查，很快找到了原因所在。议会开始就如何进行补救进行了长时间的辩论，约翰·劳也被召来发表意见。他认为，应当立即发布命令，宣布铸币贬值5%。命令很快发布了，却没有收到预期的效果。紧接着，另一项法令又发布了。这一次，铸币贬值的幅度从5%提高到10％。同时，银行业务也受到规范，人们每次最多只能兑取100里弗的金币和10里弗的银币。

    然而，这一切看来都是徒劳的。人们对纸币的信任已经一落千丈，这些新措施死亡施行并没有收到立竿见影的效果。尽管限量兑付现金勉勉强强维护了一些银行信用。

    尽管政府采取了许多措施严格控制贵金属货币的外流，但却抵挡不住大的货币走势，法国国内的金银货币源源不断地流向英格兰和荷兰。而留在国内的那些少量铸币也被小心翼翼地保存或隐藏起来。到了最后，法国境内的铸币甚至到了极度匮乏的程度，连正常的商业贸易也维持不下去了。在这种紧急情况下，约翰·劳开始了一个大胆的尝试：彻底禁止铸币流通。

    1720年2月，政府颁布了一个法令，然而，法令试图想在国人心目中重建纸币的信誉，却是搬起石头砸自己的脚——纸币的信用度一路狂跌至谷底，整个国家因此被逼到了暴力革命的边缘。这项著名的法令禁止任何人拥有超过500里弗的铸币，违者除没收所有铸币资产外，还将被处以高额罚款。此外，法令更严禁任何人购买金银首饰、贵重器皿以及钻石珠宝，甚至鼓励人们踊跃告密，并承诺告密者可以得到被告发者违法金额的一半作为报酬。

    在这种空前罕见的暴政下，法兰西大地上哀鸿遍野。令善良的人们痛心疾首的迫害案件天天都在发生。几乎所有家庭的隐私权都遭到告密者的恶意侵犯。最正直，最老实的人也可能因为拥有一个金路易被宣布有罪。仆役们纷纷倒戈相向，争相出卖自己的主人。有一个市民竟变成了以告密为业的“奸细”，天天打探自己邻居的情况。

    因此而被逮捕坐牢的人数与日俱增，遭充公的产业也是成倍增长，以至于法庭根本腾不出功夫来及时处理这些堆成山的案子——告密者只需说一句：他怀疑某某家藏有铸币，法庭的搜查令马上就能签发。英国大使斯泰尔爵士为此感叹说：“现在的情形下，人们再也不用怀疑约翰·劳皈依天主教是否出自真心诚意了。能够把大量金银变成纸，表示他完全领悟了天主教的精髓，已经懂得如何建造一个新的“宗教裁判所”去迫害平民百姓了。

    人们痛恨的心情有增无减，那些刻毒的咒骂像暴雨一样倾泻到摄政王和不幸的约翰头上，各种讽刺挖苦的绰号纷纷出笼。如今，凡铸币金额超过500里弗的就成了非法货币，而不到最后一步谁也不愿接受纸币。谁也不知道今天的钞票到了第二天所值几何。

    杜克洛斯在《摄政王秘史》一书中这样写道：“世界上从没有哪个政府如此地反复无常——也从没有哪个政府会以如此暴虐的手段施行如此惨无人道的暴政。对那些亲眼目睹当时那种恐怖气氛的

    人来说，对那些重温那段如噩梦一般历史的人来说，在那种情况下居然没有发生暴乱，简直是让人无法想像。同样令人不可思议的的是，那两个罪魁祸首约翰·劳和摄政王，竟然好端端地保全了性命。他俩都在忧心有一天人民会起来造反，而人们的表现却只是停留在抱怨阶段。一种怯懦的绝望，一种愚蠢的恐慌紧紧攫住了所有人的心。人们的精神是如此地卑弱，以致没有勇气去违抗法律。”

    有一段时间．人们好像正在准备发起一场运动。巴黎的大街小巷贴满了煽动性的文章，连最有权势恶毒大人物也收到了印着同样内容的传单。《摄政时期间回忆录》中记录了一份传单的大致内容：“先

    生们女士们——此信的目的是要引起你们的注意，如果情况没有改变的话，“圣巴托罗缪节”的惨剧将会在星期六和星期日重演。你们以及你们的仆人最好不要上街。上帝保佑你们!把信转交给你们的邻居。1720年5月25日，星期六。”

    城市的角角落落布满了秘探，人们之间再没有了信任。存心想制造点事端的小集团在傍晚举行的活动很快就被驱散了。巴黎的和平与安宁很快就恢复了。

    密西西比公司的股票快速下跌，实际上，已经没有人会相信在路易斯安那藏蕴着无尽财富的神话了。为了使公众重新对密西西比计划产生信心，政府府宣布了一个计划，巴黎街头所有的流浪汉、无业游民和无赖地痞统统都被强制服役，像战时征兵一样，人数大约有6000多名之多。政府专门为他们提供了衣服和工具，准备从水路被送往新奥尔良。据说，那里的金矿上急需大量劳动力。

    接着，这些肩上扛着镐和锹的“流浪者大军”排着整齐的队伍，日复一日地从巴黎街头经过，然后被分成一个个小队来到各个港口，等待被装船送往美洲。他们之中有三分之二的人没有上船，而是中途开溜进而分散到法国各地。他们卖掉工具以换取衣食，然后继续过着游荡的生活。不出半个月，这批流浪汉中的一半人又出没在巴黎的大街小巷之中。

    一场闹剧就这样落幕了。不过，虽然如此，这个办法还是使得了密西西此公司的股票稍微有了些起色。许多存侥幸心理的人开始相信，公司又正在大规模开采金矿，金锭、银锭很快就会像以前一样涌入法国了。

    第八节  法兰西的怒火

    在君主立宪制度下，也许会有更多切合实际的方法来重建公众的信心。比如在英国，在接下来的某一时期，由于同样的欺诈和投机给英国人带来了相似的不幸。但这两国政府之间为弥补过错所采取的措施却是多么地迥然相异啊！

    尤为不幸的是，在法国，救苦救难的菩萨却正是肇祸的魔王。摄政王一心想把法国从灾难中解救出来，可他独断专行的手段却使法兰西陷入更深的泥淖中，而且是越陷越深，终至于灭顶。

    政府再次颁布法令：纸币成为一切交易唯一的支付手段。从2月1日到5月底，尽3个月时间内，纸币发行总额就高达15亿里弗，大约合6000万英镑。不过，这回政府的计划又落空了。前车之鉴尚在眼前，人们对于这种无法兑换成铸币的钞票已经不再抱有一点信任了。

    巴黎议会议长拉玛贝特当着摄政王的面说，他宁愿要10万里弗的金银币，也不愿要500万银行发行的纸票子。由于当时人们对纸币已是深恶痛绝，超大规模发行纸币只能使流通中的铸币总额与纸币总额量相差更大，使经济形势越变越糟糕。相反，摄政王一门心思总想让它贬值的铸币，却随着他一次次发布的相关法令而身价百倍。

    2月份，公众普遍认为应该把皇家银行和印度群岛公司合并为一家。议会于是发布了这样一条法令。国家依然是银行发行的纸币的唯一担保者，但是，不经议会批准，银行不能擅自增加纸币发行量。就这样，劳氏银行摆脱了约翰·劳的控制，成为国家专属的机构，摄政王甚至还把银行全部的利润也转给了印度群岛公司。受了这一变动的刺激，在很短一段时间内，密西两比公司和印度群岛公司的股票价格有所上涨．但说到底，公众对国家信用仍然无法产生足够的信心。

    5月初，约翰·劳、德·让松以及所有大臣们一道出席了一次国务会议。会议上，人们估算出流通中的纸币总额约为26亿里弗．而全国的铸币总值加起来也还不到这个数字的一半。对于大多数与会者

    而言，事情明摆着：必须采取某种措施来保证两种通货平衡。有些人提议将纸币的数量减少到与铸币的价值相当，另一些人则建议使铸币升值从而与纸币价值相等。

    据说，约翰·劳对两种方法都不赞同，但他本人也想不出更好的办法。最后，会议通过决议：纸币贬值50％。5月21日，政府发布了一项新法令，印度群岛公司的股票及其银行发行的纸币将逐渐贬值，到年底为止，它们的实际价值将降至面值的一半。然而，议会却坚决反对——这一措施无疑会激起民众最大限度的不满，整个国家将会为此付出代价！摄政王委员会议在7天后被迫宣布此项法令作废，同时又颁布了另一项法令，恢复了纸币原先的价值。

    同一天，也即是5月27口，银行停止兑付铸币的业务。约翰·劳和德·让松被踢出内阁。懦弱无能而又优柔寡断的摄政王将以往所有的过失和罪责全部嫁祸到约翰·劳的头上。可怜的约翰成为了过街老鼠，当他来到皇宫要求晋见时竞被拒之门外。可是，当夜幕降临后，摄政王却又派人召见约翰，让他从一个秘密入口进入皇宫。摄政王低声下气地安慰他，并竭力向他解释自己之所以会如此严厉地对待朋友全都是情势所迫。摄政王的表现是如此地变化无常，乃至于几天后，他又偕同约翰·劳去观看歌剧。两人不但公然坐在一个包厢里，摄政王还当着众人的面对劳优待有加。

    但是．群众对约翰·劳已是恨入骨髓，这样的一番“作秀”只能将约翰推入另一种危险的甚至是致命的境地。当他回家正准备进门时，他的马车被一群暴徒团团包围，石块呼啸着向他袭去。要不是车夫机警地驾车猛冲进院门，家中的仆人及时锁上大门的话，他很可能会被暴徒们拽出去撕成碎片泄愤了。

    虽然这次侥幸逃过一劫，事态却逐渐恶化起来。第二天，他的妻子和女儿看完赛马坐车回家时，也受到一大群歹徒的围攻。摄政王闻讯后派遣了一队彪悍的瑞士骑兵日夜在他家附近巡守。后来，公众的愤怒与日俱增，约翰·劳发现，自己身处的环境是如此的危机四伏，就算有再多骑兵保护也难保万一。为此，他不得不躲到皇宫避难，摄政王成了他最可靠的庇护者。

    1718年曾因反约翰·劳的计划而离职的大臣德·阿格索又被召回帮助政府重建信誉。这时，连摄政王也不得不承认，由于自己不近人情和有失公正，几乎错失了一位最能干的大臣，而在当时腐败的社会中和纷乱的宫廷中，此公大概是唯一的一位出淤泥而不染的清廉之士了。

    自从被罢免后，德·阿格索一直隐居弗兰尼斯的乡间别墅里，整日里埋首研究哲学。纵然日子过得清苦，身心却常是愉快的。慢慢地，他也就淡忘了朝庭里那些尔虞我诈的勾心斗角。约翰·劳和摄政王的一名家臣德·康弗朗斯骑士奉命乘邮车赶赴弗兰尼斯，恭请这位前财政大臣回巴黎。德·阿格索的朋友们竭力他再度出山，尤其是在约翰·劳手下任职。但他却气度宽宏，同意为国家的稳定助一臂之力。

    德·阿格索甫一到巴黎，五名议员就同财政事务委员一起商讨起如何恢复公众信心的事来。6月1日，又一项命令被发布，废除此前那个任何人拥有的硬币数额超过500里弗，就以犯罪论处的旧法令。新法同时规定：公民有权拥有任意数额的铸币。为了回收以前发行的旧钞票，政府以巴黎市一年的税赋作为担保发行了25万份新票据，票据每张价值10里弗，年收益率为2.5%。这次被回收的旧币在市政府门前被公开烧毁。

    6月10口，银行重新开张，这次它已拥有足够的银币来兑换纸钞了。这些措施带来的好处相当大。几乎所有的巴黎人都急火火地赶到银行，把他们手里的小面额钞票兑换成银币。随着银币越来越少，银行只得改用铜币支付。很少听人抱怨说铜币太重，时常能看到一些可怜的人们背着沉甸甸的、装满了铜币的包裹，汗流浃背地穿行在大街小巷，而包裹里装着的不过是兑换来的50里弗铜币。

    银行的周围每天都是人山人海，儿乎每天都有人因挤踏伤亡。7月9日这天，人群异常地密集而喧哗，为防止意外，驻扎在马萨林花园门前的警卫关上了大门，不允许一个人进去。气氛立刻变得紧张起来，愤怒的人们开始隔着栅栏朝卫兵扔石头。士兵们被激怒了，声称如果再不停止攻击，将向人群开火。恰在这时，一名卫兵被石块击中了，他举枪就向人群射击。一个人当场身亡，旁边一个人身负重伤。一场骚乱眼看就要演变为流血冲突，气氛紧张到一触即发。人群随时都向银行发起攻击。

    这时．马萨林花园的大门再次打开了，一队全副武装的士兵冲了出来，枪尖上的刺刀闪耀着冷森森的寒光，虎视眈眈地逼视着人们。原本群情激奋的民众们顿时不敢再轻举妄动，只能以呻吟和唏嘘来发泄自己的愤怒和不满。

    八天后，人潮更是汹涌，银行门前被挤得水泄不通，当天竟有15个人活活被挤死！公众的愤怒之火熊熊地燃烧起来，他们抬着三具尸体，一路浩浩荡荡地向皇宫花园前进，后边跟着的人越来越多，最后竟形成了一支七八千人的游行队伍。他们想以此向摄政王显示：他和约翰·劳的行为给整个法兰西带来了多大的不幸。

    约翰·劳的车夫当时正好驾车停在皇宫的院子里。此人对主人忠心耿耿但性子却有些鲁莽。人群咒骂他的主人令他感到异常恼火，于是就高声回敬道：“你们这帮人都是无赖恶棍，活该被绞死！”这无疑是火上浇油，暴怒的人们立即朝他扑去，他们还以为约翰·劳也在马车上，就把马车砸得粉碎。这位糊涂莽撞的马车夫拼命挣脱重围，勉勉强强保住了一条小命。正当千钧一发之际，一大队卫兵赶到了，带头的军官向大家宣布：摄政王已经做出决定，保证用自己的钱厚葬这些无辜的死者，并要求人群立刻散去。游行队伍就这样静悄悄地解散了。

    与此同时，议会正在举行会议。当听到外面沸沸扬扬的吵闹声后，议长走出去想看看发了什么事。一回来他就告诉大家，约翰·劳的马车被人群砸成了一堆碎片。所有的议员同时站起来，异口同声地大声欢呼。有一个议员对约翰·劳可说是憎恨到了极点．他大声喊道，“那么劳呢？他也被撕成碎片了吗?”

    第九节  法国人的觉醒与约翰·劳的凄惨下场

    在全世界所有的国家民族中，法国人最擅长通过歌唱发泄心中的怨愤和不满，这一点可谓声明素著。为此，有人甚至说，你可以从歌谣里追溯这个国家的全部历史。

    当约翰·劳精心设计、周密筹划的计划彻底失败时，他立即成了法国人心目中的头号恶人，臭名远播四面八方，也自然成了人们讽刺挖苦的绝佳对象。所有的商店里都出现了关于他的漫画，讥讽嘲笑他和摄政王的歌谣在大街小巷回响起。这种歌谣中的大多数一点儿也不含蓄文雅。其中的一首还奉劝人们把他发行的钞票当成最贱的纸用——上厕所用的卫生纸。

    下面这首由奥尔良公爵夫人记录在信笺里的歌谣，是当时最又名也最流行的，广受各界欢迎，据说在巴黎的街头流传了很长一段时间。应该说，这首歌谣的旋律还是很活泼的：
    拉斯（法国人给约翰·劳起的诨名）一来到我们美丽的城市
    摄政王就宣布拉斯很有用
    能帮他重建法兰西。
    啦啦啦!咚咚锵!
    他让我们都成了暴发户，
    哔哔喱！
    伙计们，以野蛮的方式
    这个新教徒，想吸干所有人的钱。
    他首先骗取了我们的信任。
    为此，他放弃了自己的信仰
    啦啦啦!咚咚锵!
    伙计们，拉斯，是撒旦的子孙
    我们落得个沿街乞讨
    他榨干我们钱财
    一个子儿也不留下。
    仁爱的摄政王啊，
    还给我们被抢走的财产，
    哔哔喱!
    下面这一首出自同一时期：
    星期一，我去买股票。
    星期二，我赚了几百万，
    星期三．我买田置地。
    星期四，我买华服美酒，
    星期五，我开了一场跳舞会，
    星期六，我变成了叫花子。

    从当时大量散布的漫画上，可以看出法国人对曾经的那种全民性痴狂已有所悔悟。其中的一幅被保留在《摄政时期回忆录》中。

    作者在漫画里这样描述道：“‘股票女神’端坐在她的华辇上，驭手则是疯狂之神。在前边拉车的是密西西比公司——由长着木腿的动物所代表，还有南海公司、英格兰银行、西塞内加尔公司以及其他各种各样的金融机构。

    为了让车子跑得更快，这些公司的代理人们——此处则为长着长长的狐狸尾巴和狡诈面孔的各种动物，在一旁拉着边套。轮子的辐轴上写着几种股票的名称和价值，随着车轮的滚动，股票不断地上升和下降。

    地上堆着的是被这辆疯狂的马车碾成碎片的各种商品、流水账和分类账。一大群人，不分男女老少、贵贱贫富，统统尾随其后。股票女神挥洒着一张张股票，股票像雪片一样朝人群落下。人们嘴里叫嚷着，互相推挤着，为争抢股票满乱成一团到。在云端还坐着一个恶魔，狞笑着的恶魔向人群吹起了肥皂泡。这些肥皂泡顿时也成了贪婪的人群渴求的目标。他们争先恐后爬到别人的背上，妄想在气泡破裂之前抓到它们。

    前方一座巨大的建筑物挡住了马车的去路，这座建筑物有三个大门，马车要是想继续前进的话，必须得通过其中一个。第一个门上写着‘医院’的字样，第二个门上方写着“精神病院”，第三个门上写着‘乞丐收容所’。”

    另外还有一幅著名的漫画：约翰·劳坐在一口大锅里，锅的旁边，公众疯狂的情绪形成了熊熊燃烧的火焰，锅里的水在火焰的烧灼下沸腾着。狂热的人们把自己所有的金银竞相扔进大锅，兴奋不已地数着兑换来的钞票，约翰·劳则向他们大把大把地分配着这些纸钞。

    同样，激愤之火在法国持续燃烧着着。约翰·劳变得格外地小心谨慎，尽量避免在没有护卫的情况下在公众面前露面。他隐藏在摄政王的王宫里，以免被卷入任何危险中。而当他不得不要冒险出门时，他必定会乔装改扮一番，或者乘皇家马车出行，自然，全副武装的护卫也是少不了的。

    以巴黎市的税赋作为担保发行的那2500万里弗新票据，由于收益率只有2.5％，在持有密西西比股票的大股东眼里并不具诱惑力。因此，票据兑换进行的十分艰难。许多人宁愿保留劳氏公司的股票，理由是尽管现在一路下跌，但总有有一天它的价值会反弹。为了加快兑换的速度，政府于8月15日专门发布命令，凡面值在1000到10000里弗的纸币，除了购买年金和支付银行账单，以及为购买劳氏公司股票而进行的分期付款外，统统不得在市面上流通。

    10月，又一项法令颁布了，宣布11月以后，不论面值为多少，所有的纸币统统不具任何价值，市场上禁止流通。印度群岛公司，也可以说是密西西比公司被剥夺了造币权、代收赋税权以及其他所有的优势和特权，一下子沦为一家单纯的私人公司。

    这一措施的实行无疑是对整个纸币体系的致命打击。约翰·劳已完全失去了在法国金融委员会中的影响力，公司也被逼入死角从此回天乏术。这时，趁着公众为幻觉所诱骗大肆时牟取非法利益的人统统被抓了起来，被予以重金处罚。另一条法令同时被发布，规定原始股东的名单也必须单列出来。如果有人还保留有密西西比公司的股票，就必须把它们存入公司以作保证金。那些已申购股票的人应该如期履约，并以每股l.35万里弗的价格向公司回购。而实际上，每股股票的市价现在仅值500里弗。

    这种赔钱买卖自然没人愿意做，大股东们纷纷打点细软，准备躲到国外去避风头。岂止螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后，政府当即下令：所有港口和边镜管理机构有权逮捕所有权逮捕那些出境者，把他们拘禁起来，直到查明他们是否携有金银珠宝，或是否参与过股票投机活动为止。这一招可谓釜底抽薪，有几个试图逃跑的投机者被判处死刑。而那些留在法国的人，则受到法庭最严苛的审讯。

    在一连串的打击之下，约翰·劳陷入了极端的绝望中。为此，他决定离开这个处处隐藏这危机的国家。刚开始，他只请求离开巴黎回到乡间别墅中隐居——摄政王痛快地答应了。

    这段时期，摄政王正为了财政状况的反反复复忧心忡忡。但他仍对约翰·劳设计的财政体系怀有坚定的信心。他开始意识到了自己的过错，在他的有生之年，他总是盼望着能有机会在一种更坚实的基础上把约翰·劳的财政体系重建起来。在两人的最后一次会面中，据说摄政王这样说道：“我承认自己犯了不少错误。会犯这些错误是因为我是一个人，而所有人都会犯错。但是，我要郑重地告诉你，在我所犯的这些错误中，没有一个是出于邪恶或伪善的动机。”

    约翰·劳离开巴黎两三天后，摄政王派人送给他一封言辞恳切的信，表示只要他愿意，随时都可以离开法国。并说自己已经为他准备好了护照。摄政王同时还说，金钱不是问题，劳需要多少只管开口。

    约翰·劳毕恭恭敬敬地拒绝了摄政王提供的盘缠，乘坐德·普芮夫人名下的一辆邮驿马车，在6个骑兵的护送下去了布鲁塞尔。之后他又去了威尼斯，在那里住了几个月。

    在威尼斯，他成了当地人议论纷纷的话题人物。人们都认为他是个富可敌国的大富翁。但是，再也没有什么这更荒谬的了。约翰·劳在一生中的大部分时间里都是在赌桌胖度过的，但他本人却在这次事件中表现得极为慷慨。他也不是那种为了发大财而不惜牺牲一个国家的利益的卑鄙小人。

    当法国人对密西西比股票的痴狂臻于极致的时候，他对最后的成功从来没有产生过一丝一毫的动摇。他坚信，自己能使法国成为欧洲最富有、最强大的国家。他把自己的财产全部用来购买法国的地产——这一举动足以证明，他对自己的计划充满了信心。在此前的全民大投机中，他没有置办过任何金银器皿或珠宝首饰，也不像那些不诚实的投机者那样把金银转往国外。除了一颗市值约五六千英镑的钻石外，他几乎把所有的钱都都投资在法国的房产上。所以，当他离开法国时，几乎成了一文不名的乞丐。仅这一事实就可以洗刷掉那些常常加诸在他头上的恶名。不过，终其一生，这种不公正的指控就如影随形的跟着他。

    约翰·劳出走国外的消息一传开，他在法国所有的地产以及珍贵的藏书就都被没收了。此外，他的妻子和女儿所应得的20万里弗(约合8000英镑)年金也被剥夺了。当年为了购买这份年金，约翰·劳付出了500万里弗的代价。尽管当年在他如日中天之际，政府曾发布过一项特别命令，宣布个人年金无论何时也不得予以没收。

    对于约翰·劳出逃一事，法国人感到十分不满。不论是民众也好，议会也罢，大家都希望把这个罪魁祸首送上绞架。甚至当那些没有卷入这场金融大风暴的人也个个额手称庆，说约翰·劳这个骗子走得好。

    但那些受到牵连的人导致财产受损的人(他们无疑占最大多数)，却感到十分遗憾。他们认为，约翰·劳对这个国家的危机以及造成此种危机的根本原因具有深入的洞察力，也因此，他可能帮助法国人找到彻底根治“疾病”的良药。

    在一次金融委员会和摄政王会议联合召开的碰头会上，一份文件受到众人的重视。根据这份文件提供的资料，市场上流通的纸币数量竟达27亿里弗。摄政王被要求解释，为何会出现这种货币发行日期与货币发行的授权日期之间不相一致的现象。本来，他应该把这些责任都揽在到自己头上，毕竟，他才是真正的主谋者。但他觉得，约翰·劳也应该在此时出一份力。于是，他说是约翰·劳自作主张自张，在不同时间内发行了12亿里弗的纸币，当他自己发现时，已经太晚了。不得已之下，他就把议会授权法令的日期提前了一些。

    如果他能够把事实的真相说出米，承认约翰·劳之所以会逾越了安全投机的界限，主要是源于自己的贪得无厌和虚荣冒进的话，那么，民众反而更加信任他一些。

    到1721年1月1日为止，法国的国内外债务总额已经超过3l亿里弗，也即是l.24亿英镑，仅利息支出一项就高达319.6万英镑。政府立即组成了一个专门委员会，审查所有国债持有者的情况。这些债券持有者被分为五种：前四种包括那些用自己的真实财产购买债券的人。而第五种则指那些无法举出证据证明自己的交易行为确为真实有效的人。

    第五种人持有的债券被强制销毁，前四种人也将受到更加严格和挑剔的审查。委员会最后出具了一份报告，在报中，他们建议把这些债券的利息减到5600万里弗。因为在调查中发现了许多挪用公款和敲诈勒索的行为。根据这个建议，政府发布了一项相应的法令，并在王国议会上进行了备案和注册。

    接下来，政府成立了一个法庭，专门负责审理财政部门在后来那一段动荡时期内出现的营私舞弊行为。一个名叫法奈特的大臣，克莱门特神父，以及他们手下的两个职员，纷纷卷入侵吞公款投机诈骗的丑闻中，据调查涉嫌投机的金额达100万里弗。两个主谋被斩首示众，两名职员则被判绞刑。后来，这两人又被减轻为在巴士底监狱监禁终身。无数的欺诈案也被连根揪起，当事人视情况被处以罚款和监禁。

    前财政大臣德·让松，如同约翰·劳和摄政王一样，遭到那些深受密西西比股票疯狂所累的人们的仇视和怨恨。他被从内阁大臣的位子上撵了下来，正直的德·阿格索随后接任。但他仍保留了“掌玺大臣”的职位，还可以随时出席御前会议。

    然而，他认为自己还是远离巴黎为妙，最好是在自己的乡间领地归隐一段时间。但他委实不是那种适合退隐的人，整天愁眉不展，满肚子牢骚，性格又是喜怒无常。原本他一直患有某种疾病，这回的打击导致他病情更加恶化，不到一年就驾鹤归西了。不料巴黎人对他实在太痛恨了，就算如此也不愿放过他。当给他送葬的队伍向他的家族墓地——圣尼古拉斯教堂行进时，受到一群暴怒的民众围攻。德·让松的的两个儿子只得离开父亲的棺椁，骑着马落荒而逃，直跑到一条偏僻的小街上才算躲过一劫。

    至于约翰·劳，有时候还幻想自己有朝一日能重返法国，在一个更稳固的基础上重建法兰西财政的信用。有一天，一个噩耗传来：1723年冬天，摄政王正和自己的情妇法莱莉丝公爵夫人围炉夜话时，突然断了气。回法国的最后一线希望也破灭了，约翰·劳彻底断了念头，不得不重操起老本行，继续自己的赌博生涯。在许多时候，他被迫一次次地把那颗钻石——见证过自己巨额财富的唯一证明——送进当铺，不过他那精湛赌技又一次次地帮他把钻石赎了回来。

    因为在罗马屡受债主逼债．他又去了丹麦的哥本哈根。在那里，英国大使告知他，他可以回祖国定居，1719年英国政府就已经颁发了赦令，赦免了他以前谋杀威尔逊先生的罪行。约翰·劳搭乘英国海军司令的船返回了英国——此事曾在上院引发过一些争论。

    柯宁斯柏伯爵抱怨说，像约翰·劳这样一个弃祖国和宗教信仰如敝屣的人，实在不配得到如此的优待。他还进一步表示了自己的忧虑：正当英国上下正被南海公司肆意妄为的董事们搅得焦头烂额的时候，约翰·劳的现身意味着很大的危险。为此，他特别提出了一项动议，但却被上院否决了。因为没有哪位上议院议员赞同他那“贵族式”的忧虑，也没有人怀有同他一样的恐慌。

    约翰·劳在英国住了四年，之后又去了威尼斯长住，并于1729溘然长逝，晚景异常凄凉。以下是人们为他所作的墓志铭：
    “一个著名的苏格兰人长眠在此，
    他的算术天才举世无双，
    他用简单的代数法则，
    把法国弄得病入膏肓。”

    他的兄弟威廉·劳也曾帮他一起掌管劳氏银行和密西西比公司，后来以私舞弊罪被关进了巴士底狱。但始终找不着证据来证明对他的指控。15个月后，威廉·劳被释放，并成为一个在法国历史悠久的家族的创建者，这就是法国鼎鼎大名的劳里斯顿侯爵家族。

    在下一章中，我们将看到，在同一段历史时期，在英国也同样弥漫着一种全民性的疯狂，与曾经困扰法国的那种情形极为相似。但是，由于君主立宪政府的高明决策和理智的应对，发生在英国的这场灾难所造成的恶果要比我们在法国所看的轻了许多。

    第二章  金融大投机之南海泡沫

    ……
    最后，腐败就像汹涌的洪水，冲破羁绊，泛滥成灾。
    疯狂的贪欲蔓延无际，
    就像地平线上初升的雾霭，遮蔽了阳光。
    政客和爱国者，为股票投机四处奔忙心慌慌；
    贵妇与男仆，为股票受苦受累下场全一样；
    法官当上了经纪人；
    主教吆喝快下注，哄得全城人上了当；
    公爵们施展手腕穷忙和，只为赚取半克朗；
    金钱的魔力迷惑了不列颠，
    这一切呀，多么肮脏。
    ——亚历山大·蒲柏

    第一节  横空出世的南海公司

    1711年，著名的牛津伯爵哈利创建了一家公司，其职责是恢复因辉格内阁解散而大受打击的公共信用。此外，公司还肩负着另一项重任，发行总值近l000万英镑的股票，用来偿付陆军、海军债券和其他一些短期债务给国家造成的沉重负债。这是一家纯粹的商业公司，起初，就在公司的名字都还没想确定的时候，就已经有这么一大笔债务落在它的头上了。

    出于回报，政府同意在一定时期内给予这家公司6％的担保利率，并为此提供每年60万英镑的利息。另一方面，政府对该公司经营的酒、醋、印度货物、丝绸、烟草、鱼翅和其他一些商品实行永久退税政策，并赋予他们南海贸易的垄断权。于是，这家经议院批准创立的公司，从此有了“南海公司”这样一个名号。在这次交易里，牛津伯爵起到了穿针引线的重要作用，于是，那些跟在他后面溜须拍马之徒纷纷以“牛津伯爵的杰作”来形容这个了不起的计划。

    在草创之初，南海公司就带给人以难以想象的诱惑力——公众对蕴藏在南美洲东部海岸的巨大财富怀有的热切渴望更令它身价百倍。人人都听说过，在秘鲁和墨西哥遍地埋藏着金矿银矿，无尽的宝藏闪着金光在向人们招手。以至于在大众心目中形成了这样的观念：只要把英格兰的货品送上海岸，成百上千倍的金砖银锭跟着就会绵绵不绝地输送回国内。恰巧就在那个时候，有一则令人激动的传闻不胫而走，在英国各地引发了更广泛的狂热——西班牙准备放弃智利和秘鲁沿岸的四处港口，南海公司则获得了这四个港口的使用权。这一传闻令人们信心倍增。在很长的时间里，南海公司的股票在金融市场上变得越来越炙手可热。

    然而，西班牙国王菲利普五世可没那么傻，他可从没从打算过让英国人利用自己在美洲的港口进行自由贸易。两国开始进行谈判，谈判的的结果最终达成了——双方仅仅签订了一个贩奴合同，英国可以借用西班牙控制的港口向其殖民地运送黑奴，期限是30年。每年英国船只能运送一次货物到墨西哥、秘鲁或智利，并且还严格限制了船舶的吨位和货物数量。另外，西班牙还附加了一个非常苛刻的条款：英国货船必须向西班牙政府交纳25％的利润，对剩下的利润则加征5％的所得税。这一结果使令牛津伯爵及其同党们大失所望．他们对南海公司所抱的幻想也一扫而空。

    但是，公众对南海公司的信心并没有因此产生丝毫的动。，牛津伯爵则是心里打鼓，为了不让人发现事实，他甚至宣称．西班牙允许英国船只在合约的第一年里增加两艘货船。他们还煞有介事地公布了一份清单，上面列满了那片海岸沿线所有港口的名称。可实际上，直到1717年，合约中规定的货船才开始了第一次航程，而一年之后．这项贸易就随着英国和西班牙的断交而自动终止了。

    在1717年的议会会议上，英王发表演说，暗示公共信用需要改善，并建议政府采取措施减轻国内债务造成的压力。5月20日，南海公司和英格兰银行这两家大型金融公司也向议会提出了建议。南海公司要求，以认购或其他方式将其资本金从1000万镑增加到1200万镑，每股收益率为5％，而非6%。英格兰银行的要求也是同样的优厚，听起来对民众很有诱惑力。

    议会经过一番讨论之后，最终通过了三项法案．分别是南海法案、银行法案和通用基金法案。在南海法案中，议会接受了南海公司的建议，准备发行200万英镑的股票，以清偿安妮女王执政的第九年和第十年分别发行的四批彩票基金的本息。

    就这样，南海公司的名号频频出现在公众的视野中。虽然它与南美洲各国的贸易并没有给公司带来什么实质性的收入，但作为一家金融公司来说，它的业务却是日益蒸蒸日上。尤其是股票分外地抢手。恰恰在此时，英吉利海峡的对岸，约翰·劳正在推行着他那著名的、令法国人神魂颠倒的“密西西比计划”。南海公司的董事们看在眼里馋在心上，也准备效法他，在英格兰上演一出同样的好戏。纵使他们早就心里有数：这样的计划和很可能不得善终。但这帮自命不凡的家伙却并不想因此就轻易放弃，他们自以为聪明过人，不会重蹈约翰·劳的覆辙，能够把计划永远地推行下去。

    正当约翰·劳的计划如日中天之际，正当成千上万的人群涌向甘康普瓦大街，在疯狂的热情中走向自我毁灭之际，南海公司的董事们想议会提交了他们那著名的计划——在欧洲这两个最有名的国度里，金块银锭堆成山的虚幻景象在人们眼前幻化成了海市蜃楼。虽说英国人开始这场疯狂游戏的时间比法国人要晚，可人性都是差不多的，一向以理智冷静著称的英国人一旦陷入到狂热的妄想中去，表现也不比他们的邻居好多少。

    1720年1月22日，下院成立了一个委员会，研究国王演讲中提到的关于公共债务的问题，以及南海公司就偿还债务所提的建议。南海公司提交的建议篇幅很长，分为好几个专题，所涉及的国债总额为30,981,712英镑。为了保证自己的收益，南海公司在建议中要求新股的利率为5%，一直维持到1722年仲夏以前。此后则降为4％。委员会对于这个建议表示十分欢迎。

    不过，下院里有很多议员都与英格兰银行有着千丝万缕的联系，他们当然也希望银行从中大赚一笔，这样自己也可以受惠。于是，他们代表银行宣布，在英家此前经历过的诸多困难时期里，英格兰银行曾经做出过卓越的贡献。现在，如果这场即将发动的公共交易能够造福国民的话，那么英格兰银行至少也应当尽自己的一份绵薄之力。

    无端插了这么一杠子，南海公司的建议书在下院搁置了5天，暗地里推波助澜的英格兰银行利用这一时机草拟了一份计划。南海公司怕英格兰银行开出的条件更优惠，就把原计划又作了一番修改，使它看起来更加容易被人接受。其中最大的改动是把原来七年的国债偿还期提前为四年。在这场独家拍卖中，英格兰银行也不甘示弱．重新对先前的计划做了一番更正，又给议会提交了一份新的报告。

    这样一来，两家公司均提出了两份建议书。下院议员们为此进行了讨论。罗伯特·沃普勒先生是代表银行一方发言，而财政大臣艾斯拉比则是南海公司的主要支持者。2月2日，下院做出最后的决定：南海公司的计划对国家更为有利。与此同时，一份与此有关的议案也正在酝酿当中。

    伦敦的各大交易所陷入空前的亢奋之中。南海公司的股票从一天前的130英镑，一下子上涨到300英镑。就在议案进入讨论阶段的时候，股价仍在以不可思议的速度蹿升。

    这时候，议院里几乎只剩下沃普勒先生还在坚持己见。他以严肃而又激切的语气告诫议员们：“（南海计划）将是一次危险的股票投机，英国的工商业精英们将会被股市所主宰。它就像魔鬼撒旦，施放出种种诱人的花样，令人们陷入对金钱的幻想中无力自拔。人们将变得越来越贪幕虚荣，以至于鄙薄用正当的劳动去赚钱。它会把人们引向一条毁灭之路。这个计划在实质上是一种极大的罪恶，其目的是最大限度地激起大众的颠狂，并吧这种狂热持续不断的保持下去。股票的价值将被人随意操控，直到高到看不顶，它那些口头承诺的红利，将永远不可能被兑现。”

    他还以一种先知般的预言补充说，如果这项计划取得了成功，南海公司的董事们就会操控整个政府，变成大英帝国的新主人，这些股市新贵将可能因此控制立法，干预国家行政。而如果它失败了(他对此毫不怀疑)，结果将会激起全国人民最强烈的不满，甚至使国家彻底地崩溃。这是一场由幻觉主导的噩梦，当灾难降临到头上时，人们才就会如梦方醒，然后问自己：这一切竟然是真的么？

    沃普勒的慷慨直言纯粹是对牛弹琴，得不到一丝回应。人们把他看成是个失败的预言家，再不就是把他比作一只嘎嘎叫的不祥的黑乌鸦。但是，只有他的挚友们才了解他高明的见解，把他比作《荷马史诗》中的女预言家卡珊德拉，能够预见到即将发生的灾难。而那些被贪欲冲昏了头的人，只有亲眼见到灾祸的发生才会恍然大悟，相信那预言是真的，可这时早已没有回头路可走啦。高高在上的议员们也是如此，刚开始，他们还能认认真真地倾听沃普勒的发言，但是，当他们听到他疾言厉色地指斥南海公司的阴谋时，纷纷离席退场了。

    两个月后，议案得到下院的批准。在这段时间里．南海公司的董事们发动一切关系——尤其是董事会主席、大名鼎鼎的约翰·布朗爵士，无所不用其极地宣传造势，一下子令股价狂涨。

    夸张到极点的谎言纷纷出笼。在社会的各个角落里，流传着一个个令人兴奋的消息。据说，英国和西班牙再次签定了合约，南海公司将被授权与西班牙所有的殖民民进行自由贸易。另外，波托西拉帕兹那个地方埋藏的丰富矿产将被开发出来，源源不断地运回英国，这下子，英国的银子将变得和铁一样充裕。英国盛产的棉花和羊毛制品，将会吸引墨西哥人以他们全部的金矿来购买。南海公司竟因此变成世界上首屈一指的大公司，而加入南海公司进行海外贸易的人，都将因此变成全世界最有钱的大富豪！在南海股票上每投资100英镑，年末股东将获得超百倍的红利！

    通过运用这些伎俩，南海公司的股价被炒到400镑。接下来却是一轮股市大波动。最终，下院以172票对55票的结果同意通过这项议案，南海股价因此一直稳定在330镑左右。

    与此同时，上院也以前所未见的高效率通过了该议案。4月4日，议案第一次宣读；5日，第二次宣读；6日，对法案进行评议；7日，进行议案的第三次宣读，随即宣告通过。

    在上院里，这项议案也遭到了一些议员的激烈反对。但与前一次差不多，大多数人只把他们的警告当作耳旁风，对此一笑了之——议员们的心魂早被狂热的投机风暴牢牢吸附住了，就如同那些同样给金钱迷得失魂落魄的平民百姓一样。

    在诺斯爵士和格瑞爵士看来，这项议案在本质上就是不公正的。它所造成的后果将是致命的，因为它注定将使大多数不明真相的人血本无归、一贫如洗。而从中坐收渔利的，将是在幕后操纵的极少数阴谋家。沃顿公爵也对这一看法深表赞同，不过在发言时他仅仅是把沃普勒先生在下院中的宏篇大论重新复述了一遍，相比之下，他的提议并没有得到多少重视，甚至连诺斯和格瑞还不如。库柏伯爵也站在他们这一边，这个议案被他希腊神话里的特洛伊木马——在那辉煌的表象之下隐藏的是重重杀机，它必将使人们走向虚幻和毁火的绝路，而此刻人们却对此视而不见。

    桑德兰德伯爵则站在反对者的立场上，声嘶力竭地一一回击那些反对者。在投票表决时，17票反对，83票赞成。这一压倒性的表决结果，显示着这个计划得到了大多数权贵政要的欢迎。于是，就在同一天，议案也得到了英王的御准，就此成为了法律。

    那一天，英国举国上下仿佛都跌入了股票投机的美梦难于自拔。每天，伦敦的鄂雷交易所里人群挤得里三层外三层，就连康希尔大街也给纷至沓来的车马堵塞得水泄不通。人人都跑来买股票，就连“傻瓜也想做一回骗子。”

    第二节  “南海泡沫之歌”

    当时，流行这一首民谣十分谐趣，在英国各地广为流传，称得上家喻户晓、妇孺皆知。名字就叫做《南海泡沫之歌》。
    歌中唱道：
    “星星在混乱的人群头顶闪耀，
    袜带在粗汉鄙夫间缠绕。
    人们买呀卖呀，瞧呀闹呀，
    连犹太人和新教徒的吵嘴也被人喜闻乐道。
    最高贵的夫人们也从四面八方方来到，
    天天坐车一溜烟奔忙，
    为了股票不惜赌博冒险，
    就算押上珠宝也心甘情愿。”

    越来越迫切的发财梦想迷乱了社会的各个阶层，就算是倾尽南海之水，也无法打消这股狂风暴雨般的热情。这时，南海公司又在背后开始了煽风点火的勾当。一张张股票申购单被填得满满当当，一车一车股票被送到交易所，一波波的成交风潮此起彼伏。这些狡猾的阴谋家使尽手段、出尽高招，只为最大可能地哄抬起股票市值。

    出乎人们意料的是，就在议案得到国王的御准之后，南海股票却一路下跌。4月7日这天，南海股票的成交价还是310英镑，不料第二天就跌到了290英镑。

    公司董事们正从这项计划中大获渔利，刚尝到甜头的他们怎么肯甘心看着股票不断下跌？尽管下跌的幅度正在接近股票的原始价格。他们立即派手下四处散布谣言。鄂雷交易所里挤满了前来听人宣讲的听众，蕴藏在南美的巨大财富被这帮人描绘的栩栩如生，仿佛触手可及。虚无缥缈的金矿令人们再一次地心荡神驰起来。

    据说，斯坦霍普伯爵在法国接受了西班牙政府的提议。为了扩大在南海地区的贸易额，同时也是出于增强安全性的考虑，西班牙人想用秘鲁沿岸的部分港口同英国交换直布罗陀和玛洪港。不止如此，南海公司那一年一艘货船的航运限额也将被取消，利润所得的25％也不用上交西班牙国王了。更可喜的是，南海公司也可以自行组建或租下任意数量的船队，而不必向外国统治者交纳半毛钱。

    金砖银锭堆成的财富之山再度浮现在人们眼前，股价又开始快速反弹。4月12日，即上院通过议案之后的第5天．南海公司董事会又发行了100万新股，票面价格100英镑，实际售价则为300英镑。此举吸引了社会各界纷纷抢购，首次认购总额就超过了200万镑。人们可以按照发售价格的1／5支付订金，然后分期付清总价款。几天之内，股票交易价格就上升到340镑，认购价格也相应提高了两倍。

    为了把交易价格抬得更高，4月21日这一天，董事会又宣布，夏季中期发放的股息为10％，所有的认购者都将享受到这一优惠。这个决定不啻推波助澜，认购者们变得更加疯狂。为了趁热打铁，董事会又以比最初高出4倍的价格发行了l00万份新股。人群仍然趋之若鹜，着了魔一般地纷纷投倾囊相就。在数小时内，150万份认购单竟然全部售出。

    英国各地数不清的股份公司纷纷注册成立，就如同雨后春笋一般。很快，这些公司就为自己赢得了“泡沫”的“美誉”。老百姓们的这一想象力可真是再贴切不过了，大街小巷里充满了对“泡沫公司”评头论足的声音。

    这些泡沫公司就如同阳光下的朝露一样，转瞬之间就消逝的一干二净。其中有些只存在了两个星期，甚至更短的时间，便无影无踪了。但这并不妨碍新方案一个接一个地出台，每天都有一两个新的发财计划被介绍给世人。

    在康希尔交易所里，最尊贵的贵族也拉下高贵的面子，变得同唯利是图的股票经纪人没什么两样，追逐金钱成了全国上下共同的目标。甚至连威尔士王子也成了一家公司的主管，据说，在仅仅股票投机一项，他就从中赚得了4万英镑。

    为改建伦敦城和威斯敏斯特大教堂，布里基沃特公爵提出了一项方案，钱道斯公爵又马上实施了另一项。几乎就在同一时间，100多项工程一个个上马，一项比一项更花哨、更耸人听闻。用《政治的国家》这本书里的话讲：“（这伙人）操弄着唬人的骗术，后面尾随着一大群贪婪的傻瓜，到了最后，人们才如梦方醒，揭开这帮家伙的假面具——不过是一堆骗子和泡沫。”据估算，在这场毫无规范可言的游戏中，共有150万英镑被人设骗走，呆愣愣被人牵着鼻子走的傻瓜们变得一贫如洗，而那些不安好心的恶棍则摇身一变成了暴发户。

    在这些方案里，如果是在平常，而且公众还能有清醒的判断的时候实施，可能能够还不至于那么差劲儿。但现在，这些方案被设计出来恶的唯一目的就是抬升股价。一待价格上升，实施者往往第一个就把股票抛出，而第二天，那“伟大的计划”就被他丢到爪哇国去了。

    麦特兰德在《伦敦史》中郑而重之地做了如下记载：曾有一项令人激动、兴奋到无以复加的大工程，最后被证明了只不过是要建立一家“用锯屑制造松木板”的工厂。无疑这是一场天大的笑话。可是，许多证据表明，成百上千个既不高明又不合理的方案，令人们倾家荡产，很快就如船过无痕般地永远消失了。

    例如，有个项目是要制造永动轮，计划需要100万镑资金；另一个项目则是“鼓励英格兰的畜牧业，改良牧师和教堂的用地情况，修缮和重建教区长和牧师的房屋。”相较之下，第二个计划却并不受牧师们的欢迎，相反，前者在英国各地的神职人员中引起了巨大的反响——这个项目就是一帮热衷于猎狐的教区长设立的。这家公司的股份很快就被抢购一空。

    但是，在那些五花八门的计划、项目中最令人感到荒谬可笑的，或者说最能代表当时那种全民性癫狂的，应当首推以下这个计划，它的标题是，“一家有着绝对优势、能带来巨大利益的公司，但是无人知晓人那是什么。”如果不是那几十位可靠的证人言之凿凿的保证这是千真万确的事实的话，相信没有一个人会相信，那时的人们竟然会为这样一个明显就是骗局的计划所欺骗。

    其中还有一个胆大包天却又狡猾到极点的“天才”，轻轻松松地发布了一份募股说明书，就成功地骗取了公众的信任，轻轻松松地把人们竞相送上的钞票收入囊中。在募股说明书上，此人声称：自己设计的一个项目亟需50万镑的资本金，每股面值100英镑，共5000股。认购者只要支付2英镑定金，每年就能得到每股100英镑的红利。同时他又声明，自己不会屈尊纡贵地去通知认购者分享红利，但承诺会在一个月内向全体股东公布所有的内幕，到时人们可以支付其余的98英镑。

    第二天上午9点钟，此君设在康恩希尔大街办公室刚一开门营业，就被蜂拥而至的民众们包围得一根针也插不进。到了下午3点钟交易所闭市时，他发现卖出了至少1000股，而且全都交了定金——短短5小时内，此君净赚了2000英镑。这位“天才大骗子”当然也明白趁早收手才能全身而退的道理，当天晚上就远遁他乡了。从此杳然无踪，空留下一场骂名。

    著名作家斯威夫特，也就是讽刺小说《格列佛游记》的作者，曾经把鄂雷交易所比喻成南海中的一座海湾，并把当时的世情百态做了鞭辟入里的描写：
    “千万张认购单雪片般飞来，
    就像无数条小船在海面上你推我搡，
    每个人都摇着那漏水的小舟，
    一心一意要打捞金子，
    就算淹死也不在意。
    一会儿跌进死亡的深渊。
    一会儿飘飘荡荡上天堂，
    他们跌跌撞撞无方向，
    浑浑噩噩如醉汉一样。
    格拉维悬崖上看来挺安全，
    却生活着一群野蛮人，
    沉船残骸是他们的果腹的膏粱，
    他们躺在那里静待小舟沉没，
    好把死尸鲸吞蚕食。”

    另一个非常成功的骗局即所谓的“环球许可证”。“许可证”只不过是一张方方正正的卡片，就像扑克牌一般，上面有一张印有“环球旅馆”戳记的蜡封条。在卡片的上边还印着“航海服许可证”的字迹。所谓的“环球旅馆”就在鄂雷交易所的邻近，持有此许可证的人从中得到的好处说来好笑，仅仅是在将来的某个时间认购一家新建的帆布工厂的股份。不过，这些许可证却在鄂雷交易所里卖了60畿尼（畿尼：英国旧时的一种货币单位，1畿尼相当于1.05英镑）。这场骗局的主谋者，或者按当时的说法，一个幸运的家伙，后来却因受南海公司董事会挪用公款事件的牵连而受到了严惩。

    不分高低贵贱、男女老幼，人们被这样的泡沫深深裹卷其中，无力自拔。男人们在酒馆和咖啡馆里穿梭往来会见经纪人，女士们也聚在衣帽店和杂货铺里对股票走势发表高论。虽然大家并不见得是真心认同那些五花八门花里胡哨的项目计划，却都抱有相同的目的，那就是通过股票经纪人的投机炒作促使股价上涨，然后从中赚得丰厚的差价。自然，有许多可怜的家伙还在眼巴巴等着他们把那些会生钱的股票早点转让出来呢。

    第三节  迷狂中的清醒

    交易所里满是拥挤的人潮，以至于同时同地同一种股票的成交价在交易所的两端竟会相差10％左右！不过，始终保持冷静观望的态度，不为这表面繁荣所动的却大有人在。在议会内外，也都有人维持着一贯的理智，他们清楚地预言了那就要来临的风暴。沃普勒先生继续向人们发出警告，指出那些潜伏在暗处的种种迹象。

    那为数不多的、同他一样头脑敏锐的人，纷纷对他的见解表示赞同。此举也同样引起了政府的强烈关注。6月11日，议院召开会议时，国王宣布了一个公告，宣布所有的非法交易都是不被容忍的，应当视情况予以起诉。同时，禁止任何经纪人买卖这些违法公司的股票，那些敢于违法者将被处以500英镑的罚款。

    这个公告并没有对那些无赖狡诈的投机商产生立竿见影的恫吓效果，明目张胆的违法交易仍在继续着。7月12日，高等法院的法官们联合发布了一道命令，取消了所有的专利权和特许状的申请请求，并解散了所有的泡沫公司。在命令中列举了所有这些非法项目的名单。

    这份命令的内容如下：
    “1720年7月2日，怀特礼堂。出席者：高等法院法官。
    考虑到那些为了种种目的而成立的股份公司，以及它们所设置那些计划与项目给公众带来了诸多困扰。同时，英王陛下的许多臣民们饱受泡沫公司蒙蔽损失大量的金钱。为了防止此类投机欺诈事件继续发生，高等法院综合研究了贸易委员会、检察长和副检察长的报告，经过缜密的商讨后，决定遵照枢密院的建议撤消下列申请：
    1数人提交的申请书，请求以“大不列颠大渔场”的名义从事渔业贸易的专利权。
    2英格兰皇家渔业公司呈递的申请，请求为更有效地发展捕鱼业务而被赋予更大的权利。
    3乔治·詹姆斯申请书，代表他本人及其他人，请求成立专营公司经营同一类业务。
    4一些贸易商的申请书，请求组建合营公司经营和恢复在格陵兰岛及其他地方的捕鲸业。
    5约翰·兰伯特爵士和其他人提交的申请书，请求合作从事格陵兰岛的贸易业务，特别是戴维斯海峡的捕鲸业务。
    6另一项针对格陵兰岛渔业贸易的申请书。
    7几位士绅和居民的申请书，请求合作购买和建造货轮，以为出租或运输之用。
    8塞缪尔·奥特里姆等人提出的申请书，申请种植大麻和亚麻的专利权。
    9几位商人、船主、造船场场主和帆布商的申请书，请求组建股份公司合作经营业务的特许权。
    10 托马斯·鲍埃德和数百位商人、船主、造船场场主及其他航海产品制造商的申请书，请求授权以合作形式借钱买地，制造帆布和纺线。
    11 对戚廉三世和玛丽二世后期批准的专利感享有权益的人士的申请书，请求制造帆布和亚麻布的特许经营权已经经营特权，不再允许他人经营此项业务，而且请求增加棉花制品和丝绵制品的制造权。
    12 伦敦的几位居民、商贩和其他一些要求对英格兰所有港口的火灾实行保险的英国股票认购者的申请书，请求合作经营此项业务。
    13 伦敦和英国各地一些皇家成员的申请书，请求合作经营英国的一般火灾保险业务。
    14 托马斯·伯格斯和其他一些皇室成员提交的申请书，代表他们以及一些认购了总值为120万英镑的德意志领地内贸易业务股票的其他人士，请求以哈伯格公司的名义成立一家有限责任公司。
    15 木材供应商爱德华·琼斯，代袁他本人和其他人提出的申请书，请求组建公司，以合作形式从德国进口木材。
    16 几位伦敦商人的提出申请书，请求政府颁给他们合作经营盐业的特许经营权。
    17 伦敦的麦克菲德利斯船长，代表他本人和一些商人、织布匠、帽匠、印染匠和其他一些商贩提交的申请书，请求授与特许权，允许他们筹措到足够的资金以购买土地，并种植和培育一种叫做“茜草”的植物，作为染料使用。
    18 伦敦的鼻烟制造商约瑟夫·加兰多的申请书，请求授予专利权，因为他在弗吉尼亚制造鼻烟而发明了一种制造和保存弗吉尼亚烤烟的方法，并请求在大英帝国的所有领地独享这项专利。

    以下即为宣布为非法并予以取缔的泡沫公司的名单：
    1 从瑞典进口铁矿的公司。
    2向伦敦供应海运煤炭的公司，资本金300万英镑。
    3英格兰各地的房屋建筑和重建公司，资本金300万英镑。
    4细棉布制造公司。
    5英国铝业公司。
    6开发布兰科和圣塔塔加哥斯岛定居点的公司。

    7为迪尔城供应淡水的公司。

    8进口弗兰德斯花边饰带的公司。

    9改良英格兰土地的公司，资本金400万英镑。

    10发展英格兰养马业、改良牧师和教堂土地以及修缮和重建教区长和牧师房屋的公司。

    11大不列颠钢铁制造公司。

    12弗林特郡土地改良公司，资本金100万英镑。

    13购买和开发、建设土地的公司，资本金200万英镑。

    14皮毛类商品贸易公司。

    15霍利岛制盐公司，资本金200万英镑。

    16买卖房地产并提供住房抵押贷款的公司。

    17有着绝对优势，能带来巨大利益，但是无人知晓人那是什么的公司。

    18伦敦街道铺设公司，资本金200万英镑。

    19英国各地的殡葬服务公司。

    20提供有息贷款买卖不动产的公司，资本金500万英镑。

    21大不列颠皇家渔业公司，资本金1000万英镑。
    22海员薪金福利保险公司。
    23为帮助和鼓励勤勉刻苦人士创业而建立的贷款办公室，资本金200万英镑。
    24购买和改良可出租土地公司，资本金400万英镑。
    25从英国北部和美洲进口沥青和海军后勤装备的公司。
    26布料、毛毡和波形瓦贸易公司。
    27购买和改良艾塞克斯郡庄园采邑和征收矿区使用费的公司。
    28马匹保险公司，资本金200万英镑。

    29出口羊毛制品、进口铜、黄铜和铁的贸易公司，资本金400万英镑。

    30药品经营公司，资本金300万英镑。

    31铅矿公司，资本金200万英镑。

    32改进肥皂制造工艺的公司。

    33在桑塔·克鲁兹岛上建造居民定居点的公司。

    34德比郡铅矿勘察、开采公司。

    35玻璃瓶和其他玻璃制品制造公司。

    36永动轮制造公司，资本金1130万英镑。

    37花园改建公司。

    38为保障儿童财产和增加其福利而建立的公司。

    39为在海关装载货物，并为商人进行商务谈判提供方便的公司。

    40北英格兰羊毛制造业公司。

    4l从弗吉尼亚进口胡桃树的公司，资本金200万英镑。

    42曼彻斯特棉花和绳索制造公司。

    43加帕和卡斯泰尔肥皂制造公司。

    44不列颠王国熟铁和炼钢业品质优化公司，资本金400万英镑。

    45蕾丝饰物、麻纱、荷兰棉麻布、细麻布等货物交易公司，资本金200万英镑。
    46大不列颠王国特殊商品贸易公司，资本金300万英镑。
    47向伦敦市提场供牛肉制品的公司。
    48眼镜、马车镜制造公司，资本金200万英镑。
    49康沃尔郡和德比郡锡矿和铅矿公司。
    50菜籽油制造公司。
    51海狸皮进口公司，资本金200万英镑。
    52纸板和包装纸制造公司。
    53毛纺织制造用油和其他原材料进口公司。
    54改善和扩大丝制品加工业的公司。
    55以储蓄、年金和票据为基础提供贷款的公司。
    56以小额折扣支付寡妇和其他人士年金的公司，资本金200万英镑。
    57麦芽酒制造和改良公司，资本金400万英镑。

    58美洲渔场建设公司。

    59购买和改良林肯郡沼泽地的公司，资本金200万英镑。

    60大不列颠纸制品改造公司。

    61伯特莫里公司。

    62麦芽干燥公司。

    63奥罗诺克河贸易公司。

    64科尔彻斯特和大不列颠其他地方的厚毛呢制造公司。

    65为购买航运物资、提供食品、支付工人工资而设立的公司。

    66雇用熟练技工为商人和其他人装饰钟表的公司。
    67改良耕地和耕牛品种的公司。

    68改良马匹品种的公司。
    69另一家马匹保险公司。
    70大不列颠玉米贸易公司。
    71为所有男女雇主提供冒险，以弥补因仆人的过失而造成的损失的保险公司，资本金300万英镑。
    72为收容和养育私生子而建造福利设施的公司，资本金200万英镑。73在不使用火或不产生营养损失的情况下漂白粗糖的公司。
    74大不列颠收收费公路和码头建设公司。
    75为因抢劫或偷盗遭到财产损失的客户提供保险的公司。
    76从铅矿中提炼白银的公司。
    77瓷器和彩陶制造公司，资本金100万英镑。
    78进口烟草，再向瑞典和北欧出口的公司，资本金400万英镑。
    79利用坑煤冶铁的公司。
    80为伦敦城和威斯敏斯特城提供干草和稻草的公司，资本金300万。
    81在爱尔兰开设帆布和包装布制造厂的公司。
    82碎石道渣制造公司。
    83购买和装备镇压海盗的船只的公司。
    84威尔士木材进口公司，资本金200万英镑。
    85岩盐开采公司。
    86把水银变成可锻精制金属的公司。

    虽然政府以严厉的措施取缔了这些泡沫公司，头脑清醒的人们也对其冷嘲热讽起来，但在英国各地，层出不穷的泡沫公司仍是多如牛毛。

    印刷店里堆满了讽刺漫画，报纸上以大幅篇幅刊登着讽刺诗和讽刺文章。有一位创意份儿非凡的纸牌制造商以此为原型制造、发行了一套扑克牌，美其名曰“南海扑克”，这种纸牌现在已经很少见了。在扑克牌上，除了篇幅很小的数字和图案之外，在角落里还印着一家泡沫公司的讽刺漫画，在下面则附有一首打油诗。

    当时有一家最富盛名的泡沫公司——帕科勒机械公司。该公司以制造炮弹和子弹，进而能影响战争进程而受到过疯狂的追捧。于是在一张梅花8的扑克牌上，你可以看到这样一副画面：这家公司正在发射圆形和方形的加农炮弹和子弹，并称它带来了一场战争艺术的革命。而下角的打油诗则以诙谐的手法带出了其中的真谛：
    “这是个空前绝后的发明创造，
    专门用来消灭国内的而不是国外的傻帽蠢材。
    我的朋友，犯不着为这可怕的机器忧心忡忡，
    它只会伤害那些呆在原地等着分红的笨蛋。”

    红桃9则是一幅讽刺英格兰铜业公司的漫画．上面的讽刺诗是这样写的：
    “想把英国黄铜变成金银币的的傻瓜蛋，
    在交易所里十足成了一头蠢驴，
    把金银宝贝上手奉上，
    得来的却是一堆废铜烂铁。”

    方块8则对阿卡地亚殖民地公司做了毫不留情的揶揄，下方配了这么一首打油诗：
    “有个富翁有钱没地儿使，
    拿到北美大陆胡洒乱花。
    让他自欺欺人去认购那些诓人的股票去吧，
    只有蠢驴才会相信他的疯话。”

    整副扑克牌每一张都以相似的风格揭露了某个狡诈的计划，同时对那些受骗上当的人嬉笑怒骂了一番。有人算过，这副扑克牌所记载的工程项目，其资本总额竟然高达3亿英镑。

    第四节  赌徒们的最后一搏

    现在，我们回头再看看那个大海湾——曾经无情地吞噬了轻信而又贪婪的英国人千百万财富的南海大海湾。

    5月29日，南海公司的股价已升到500英镑，这时，近三分之二的享受政府福利的人购买了南海公司发行的公债。在5月这整整一个月时间里，股价始终没有回落的迹象，5月28日这一天的报价竟高达550英镑。四天后，又从550镑一下子暴涨到890英镑。那时，人们大多认为股价可能有继续上涨的余地了，于是许多人趁机赶紧抛售变现。

    正要陪同国王乘火车出访汉诺威的很多贵族随侍，听到消息也都心头惴惴不安，慌不迭地把手中持有的股票抛出了事。6月3日，鄂雷交易所里挤满了急于把股票转手的卖家，不过买家却寥寥无几。这样的情形，令南海股票从890镑的高位上一下子滑跌到640英镑。南海公司的董事们都吃了一惊，急忙命令各自的代理人大量买进。他们的狡计有一次得手了，到了晚间，股民们的信心又开始恢复，股价迅速反弹到750英镑。直到7月22日，南海公司的股价一直保持着平稳。

    南海公司的大小董事们是如何施展阴谋诡计操纵股市价格的情形，我想已经无需再费笔墨大书特书了。到了8月份，股价最终飚升到l000英镑。接下来就开始大幅度的回落——膨胀到极点的泡沫开始一点点破灭了。人们开始对董事们表示不满，尤其是对在认购股份的同时列示股份清单的做法大加指责。而当南海公司董事会主席约翰·布朗特和其他一些股东早已把所持有的股票全部转手的消息曝光后，公众的愤怒就更加强烈了。整个8月份，股市始终维持着低迷的态势。9月2日报价时，南海股票已然掉到700英镑了。

    此刻，事态已经变得异常紧张。9月8日，为了尽可能地挽回公众的信心，南海公司董事会在泰勒礼堂召开了一次股东大会。这天上午9点，礼堂内一片鸦雀无声，礼堂外的过道里挤满了未被获准进入的人群。董事们以及他们的朋友们一致推举公司副主管约翰·弗洛斯爵士主持会议。他想众人宣读了公司董事会的应对政策，接着，又宣读了可补偿基金、不可补偿基金和预付金的处理办法。

    接着，秘书长克拉克斯先生做了一个简短的发言，他向董事们发出了倡议，在现在的局面下，再没有什么精诚团结更重要、更有效的解决办法了。在结束发言时，他向董事会谨慎而高超的管理工作表示感谢，同时希望他们能够继续为维护公司利益而努力。

    亨格福德先生，此公曾因在议会里坚定不移地为南海公司大唱赞歌而受人瞩目，人们还不约而同的怀疑，他很可能事知道许多股市内部机密，并因此大发其财。今天，他又口沫横飞地大发了一通高论。他说，对于其他许多公司的盛衰自己早已见怪不怪了。可是，如南海公司一般在如此短的时间内就创造出如此惊人业绩的，却屈指可数。南海公司的丰功伟绩即使是帝王将相、主教法官也望尘莫及。他们打破了观念差异促使各界力量聚集在一起，为了一个共同的目标而勇往直前。他们即使没有全部消灭，至少也是部分平息了英格兰的动荡和怨恨。通过发行股票，他们令富裕的人群变得更加富裕；乡绅们亲眼见证了自己名下的土地以两倍、三倍地速度大幅增值。

    教堂也因此而获益匪浅，不计其数的牧师和教士从他们兴建的工程中得利。总而言之，他们使整个英格兰更加地繁荣兴盛。而他自己，则大言不惭地希望人们不要忘记他们自己，不要忘了用财富来作为对自己的奖赏和回报。尽管亨格福德的这一段发言引起现场的一片嘘声——这番露骨的夸张言辞听来就像是对事实的嘲讽和讥笑，但礼堂里的董事们和他们的朋友们，以及所有的狠赚了一笔的投机者家却仍对他的谀辞报以了热烈的掌声和欢呼声。

    接着登场的波特兰公爵也发表了一番与之类似的感言。此外，他还对那些因股票投机而蚀光了身家的股民们给予了极大的关切。可笑的是，他自己却是这场大投机中的大赢家。所以，他的惺惺作态看上去倒像是《乔·米勒笑话集》一书中的那个脑满肠肥的参议员。这位参议员大人每当大快朵颐之后，就满足地拍着大肚腩，用满是疑惑的口气问别人：这世上怎么可能会存在吃不饱的饥民？

    会议通过了几项提案，但对公众来说却是反响平平。当晚，股价就跌到了640英镑，次日又跌到540英镑，此后的几天时间里一路跌个不停，最后下滑到400英镑的水平上。

    当年9月13日，众议员布罗德里克先生给米德莱顿参议员的写了一封信——这封信的内容被库克斯详细记录在《沃普勒》一书中。布罗德里克这样写道：“对于南海公司的董事们为什么会在如此短的时间内遭到如此巨大的损失，坊间流传着种种猜测。我本人毫不怀疑，之所以会如此，是因为他们太过于不择手段。一旦发现有利可图，他们开始毫无节制地扩张信用，将货币体系拖到一种不堪负荷的地步。最终，那些无辜的受害者的财产被榨干，而那些从投机中得到最大实惠的人却及时抽身，安然度过了泡沫破灭引发的危机。而那些被贪婪冲昏了头脑的人却把理智丢到了九霄云外，妄想在鼹鼠洞上建起一座高山。千万个家庭将因此破产，甚至于沦落为乞丐——蔓延在人群当中的恐慌和愤懑难以用语言来描叙。股市已经滑入绝境，根本是回天乏术，以至于我再也想不到什么计划或方案能够避免泡沫的破裂。总而言之，下一步可能会发生什么，我根本就没办法去设想着设想，就连稍微假装去设想也不成。”

    10天后，股市依旧在下挫。他又写道：“公司仍然没能做出任何回应，他们已泥足深陷，根本找不到脱身之路。从几位从伦敦城来的绅士那里，我得知了南海公司某董事的大名，如今，这位仁兄俨然已成了大英帝国子民们人人嫌弃的‘过街老鼠’。金匠们纷纷失业，有的开始潜逃，失业人群每天都在增长。我怀疑这些人中的是否有三分之一或四分之一，能够熬过这次的危机。从一开始，我用来评判整个事件的依据就在于这么一句毋庸置疑的箴言：1000万英镑(这已经远远超出了流通中所需的现金限额)的钱绝对不能当成2亿来花。可现在人们却要反其道而行之，那么，我们卓越的国家机器岂能避免垮台的危险。”

    9月12日，在秘书长克拉克斯先生的一再恳请下，南海公司的董事与英格兰银行的董事联合召开了几次会议。在市面上广泛流传着这么一条消息：说英格兰银行已经决定向南海公司注资600万英镑。因此南海股价一下子反弹到了670英镑。可当天下午，人们就获悉这条纯属臆造。股价马上又回落到580英镑，次日又跌至570英镑，随后逐渐滑落到400英镑。

    内阁大臣们也对事态渐渐濒于失控深感震惊。此时，为了避免受到股民的攻击，南海公司的董事们连街也不敢上了。危险的暴徒和暴动令警察们疲于奔命。正在汉诺威巡视的英王不断收到求援信，人们纷纷请求他即刻回到伦敦主持大局。正在乡村的家中颐养天年的沃普勒先生此刻也成了“香饽饽”，人们抢着向他建言，想利用他对英格兰银行董事会成员的影响力，说服银行接受南海公司的债券清偿计划。

    英格兰银行自然极不愿同南海公司牵连在一起，接手这个烂摊子就等于引火烧身，这一点是毫无疑问的。英格兰银行极其勉强地接受了各方的建议，毕竟全国上下一致认定只有它才能力挽狂澜。这时，所有的精通财政金融的知名人士都被召集起来，共同研究解决紧急现状的良策。沃普勒先生提出的一份合同草案，被作为下一步谈判的基础获得了一致的通过。直到此刻，大众那惊恐不安的情绪才稍稍得到了一丝缓和。

    第二天，即9月20日，南海公司在泰勒礼堂再次召开股东会议。会议决定，同意英格兰银行或其他任何人对有关经营本公司的债券的要求，或者与银行达成他们所拟定的任何协议。众多发言人中的一位，普尔特尼先生则指出，看到人民陷入了极度的惊慌之中，实在叫人万分震惊，眼看着人群像惊弓之鸟一样奔走在大街小巷，心理充溢着想象中的灭顶之灾，却对那可能到来的灾祸说不清道不明，这真是一场灵魂的煎熬。正如一句诗所言：
    “漆黑的夜幕笼罩天地，
    狂暴的怒火熊熊燃烧，
    地狱之恐怖也不过如此。”

    两天以后，英格兰银行举行了一次股东会议。银行主管告知向众人，此前他们已经召开过几次会议专门讨论南海公司事件，但董事会还没有做出任何决定。这次会上提出的一项提案还未通过辩论程序就获得了通过，授权董事会同意接手经营南海公司债券，并就发行债券的总值、项目和时间作进行进一步的磋商。

    这样，两家公司都可以在最有利于公众的情况下自由的采取行动。为了重建公共信用，英格兰银行专门以15％的定金，3％的保险费和5％的利息，认购了300万英镑南海公司的债券。第二天一大清早，人们就成群结队的前来认购债券。此情此景使人产生了一种幻觉：似乎债券一下子就能被狂热的人群一扫而光。谁也想不到还不到中午，抢购风潮就偃旗息鼓了。尽管当局采取了一切手段尽可能地要维护股市平稳，可南海公可的股票还是急速地往下跌。说实话，南海公司的信用度在民众的心目中早已荡然无存了。由于担心此前贷出的钱款无法变现，一大批最有名的金匠和银行家只好关起门来溜之大吉。

    剑刃公司，当时是南海公司的主要承兑商，也不得已停止了一切与之相关的付款业务。而这些只不过预示着一场大灾难正要鸣锣开场而已。银行也开始陷入了一场狂暴的漩涡中，挤兑风潮似乎永无止境。上午，来银行抢购债券的人还排成了长龙，下午，银行就不得不以更快的速度大量支付现金。第二天，也就是9月29日恰逢假日，英格兰银行这才有了一丝喘息之机。这场风暴英格兰可谓堪堪躲过一劫，可它昔日的老对手——南海公司却遭到致命一击，终于房倒屋塌一败涂地。南海股票跌到了150英镑，经历过一次又一次的波动之后，又跌到了135英镑。

    英格兰银行终于发现，自己无论如何也无法唤起公众的信心了，更不用说抗拒毁灭的大潮了。况且，试图救市就等于白白搭上自己的性命落得个死无葬身之地的下场。于是，英格兰银行终于想出了一个两全其美的办法。他们决定终止已经执行了一部分的协议，理由是他们并没有义务非履行协议不可。因为，南海公司与英格兰银行之间所谓的一纸合约只不过是份协议草案而已，在一些重要条款上双方根本没做出过任何约定，就算一方要退出协议也不会触犯任何罚条款。

    “就这样”，借用《议会史》的描述就是“人们看到，由一个神奇的泡沫开始，蔓延成一个巨大到不可思议的，令整个欧洲为之瞩目，为之心动神摇的海市蜃楼。在8个月的时间里，这个由人们的贪欲臆造出来的大幻想倏忽而来，一时红到发紫，转瞬间又冰消瓦解。它的根基完全建立在骗局、幻觉、轻信与忿怒之上。一旦幕后的操纵者——南海公司董事会——惯用的那套鬼把戏被拆穿，幻境就会立刻消散，一切都将不复存在。”

    在那可怕的幻觉一天比一天严重的日子里，英格兰到处充满了堕落与犯罪，这一点是显而易见的。为了追查诸多罪行而发起的议会调查发掘出一幕幕人间丑剧，令人见识到这些资质平平的罪犯们的行为之丑恶、道德之败坏竟会到何种程度。对罪行的调查研究最终证明是一件极有意义的事情。国家其实与个人一样，不能不为自己一掷千金的豪赌而接受惩罚。无论如何，迟早都将受到制裁和惩罚。

    著名作家斯莫莱特曾经说过：“这个时代对于历史学家而言，是最不讨人喜欢的。没有一位头脑睿智且富于想像力的读者，会对这样一些枯燥无味的交易记录产生什么阅读兴致。这样的描写里看不到温情，粗糙到毫无修饰，那些对交易细节的描写向人们展示的仅仅是淡而无味的单调画面，以及丑陋、卑劣的堕落与腐败。”

    然而，恰恰相反——斯莫莱特如果稍微有点幽默感的话，他就会发现——这个主题给人们带来的诱惑力甚至比一个小说家所希望的还要多。难道在一个横遭劫掠的人的身上，除了绝望之外就没有温情存在吗？成千上万个家庭被南海大投机害得倾家荡产，一贫如洗；昔日挥金如土、威风不可一世的富商巨贾一朝沦为蜷缩在街角的乞丐；更不要说那往日作威作福、一人之下万人之上的权贵重臣流亡四方，终生难归故土；在英格兰的每一个角落里，都能听到悔恨不堪的自责声与咒骂声……这样一幅悲惨的图景横陈在面前，你能说其中缺乏生气吗?

    人群挣脱理智的束缚，满心满脑子火烧一般的狂热为了追求那金光闪闪的幻象，什么理智、什么判断全部忘得一干二净，如同传说中被鬼火迷得魂灵出窍的雌鹿。最终，他们被引诱到致命的沼泽中去，眼看就要遭受灭顶之灾却还在一力强辩，说这一切不过是一场噩梦。面对着此情此景，难道也能说这幅画面枯燥无味，不具任何启示性吗？

    以他这种观点来描述历史的记载充斥着史籍。诸如：懦弱的大臣为了取悦更加软弱的国王而悄悄地进行着阴谋，残酷的征伐和激烈的围城大战……这样的逸闻琐事被人添油加醋娓娓道来，颠过来倒过去讲上个千万遍也不嫌烦，简直是拿些个陈谷子烂芝麻当成宝。而那些与人类的精神和物质利益息息相关，并且影响极其深远的事件背景却被叙述者随手抛在一边，以敷衍了事的态度一笔带过。为什么大家会抱怨这类作品内容干枯沉闷、晦涩难懂，全在于用这种不具热情和责任感匆匆写就的史书典籍太过泛滥了。

    当大泡沫与大投机横行整个国家的时候，英格兰到处是相似的景象：公众的心态变得越来越不健康，人们不再满足于从事平平常常的、需要一步一个脚印才能慢慢获得成功的工作。在一眨眼间就能毫不费力地拥有无穷无尽的财富，这种不切实际的妄想令他们再也不顾及当下的生活，放肆地挥霍金钱，沉迷于奢华虚荣。从未有过的奢侈之风令人们的道德品质迅速滑向堕落的深渊。就连一个愚昧无知的粗汉也可能通过股票投机一夜暴富，看着这些暴发户那骄肆妄为的行径，怎能不叫真正的君子、绅士们为之折腰！

    金钱所具有的魅惑人心的力量，上可通天地下可通鬼神，自然也可以把一个默默无闻的小人物塑造成上流人士的新偶像。那些被理查德·斯蒂勒爵士嗤之以“微不足道的小人物”的无耻的暴发户们，在随着泡沫一起身败名裂后，就作为反面典型遗臭万年了。在接受议会质询时，受到挪用公款等罪名指控的那些南海公司董事们，显然还没来得及意识到这一点，也因此，这些死不悔改的家伙最终为他们的傲慢无礼、目中无人而尝到了苦果。

    这群“自大狂”中的一个简直是狂妄无知到了极点，此人竟然以恬不知耻的傲慢口吻夸下海口，说自己准备用金子来喂马，结果到后来，他却穷困潦倒到以黑面包就白水果腹的下场。这帮人所表现出的每一个傲慢的举动，说过的每一句可笑可鄙的狂言，都被一一记录下来，回报给他们的则是百倍千倍的贫穷和羞辱。

    第五节  末日审判

    英格兰举国陷入了紧急非常的局面中。国王乔治一世也坐不住了，他当即缩短了在汉诺威的预定日程，即刻踏上归程。11月11日，君臣一干人等回到英格兰。12月8日，议会再次召开会议。这期间，英格兰几乎每一个城镇都在举行公众集会。人们纷纷请愿，要求立法机关以法律手段严惩南海公司的董事们。正是这些可恶的家伙，打着利国利民的旗号，私下里却做着欺诈的勾当，把整个国家推到了毁灭的边缘。令人惊讶的是，这中间几乎没有人认为国家本身与南海公司其实同属一丘之貉，其在幕后推波助澜的罪责同样不可推卸！公众的轻信与贪婪——对金钱和利益的可鄙的欲望——疯狂到极点的贪婪吞噬了英格兰民族所有美好的道德品质。同样没有人指责人们那阻挡不住的痴狂，疯狂的激情促使他们一头钻进了阴谋家们设计好的罗网。这些民族的污点和劣根性，从来没被人提起过。在很多人看来，英格兰的人民是单纯、忠诚而又勤劳的，是一伙强盗毁了他们也毁国家。这伙强盗罪大恶极、绝不容姑息，就算死上一百次也不足以抵消那深重的罪孽。

    这几乎代表了英格兰所有民众的心声，上下两院的议员们也不比公众理智多少。随着南海公司董事们的罪行大白于天下，举国上下一直呼吁对这些罪犯严惩不贷。但国王却在这个节骨眼上发表了一通感言，希望国民们理解南海公司董事们的做法，他们在一定程度上也是不幸的受害者，应当给予适当的怜悯。这番不合时宜的讲话立即引发了一场舆论大战。其中的几位发言者对南海公司董事会做了最猛烈的抨击，而莫勒斯沃思勋爵堪称其中翘楚。

    在发言中，他这样说道：“南海公司的董事们正是眼见这场大劫难的元凶。有人认为，没有有效地处罚他们的法律。这么看来，我们就只好以古罗马人的做法为榜样了。开始，连罗马立法者都没料想到竟会有弑父的罪案发生，无论谁也想象不到一个儿子的竟能如此丧尽天良，双手沾满亲生父亲的鲜血。当他们发现没有一项法律能用来惩罚那些弑父者之后，立即制定了一部新的法律，宣布将那些残暴的凶犯装进麻袋里牢牢缝上口，被丢进台伯河里活活淹死。而这些一手炮制了南海阴谋的恶徒们，同样只配装在麻袋里扔进泰晤士河。”

    相形之下，其他人的发言则要温和一些。沃普勒先生表现的则更加慎重，在他看来，当前最重要的就是恢复公共信用。“如果伦敦城发生大火的话，凡是聪明人都应该先去帮忙扑灭火头，以防止火势继续蔓延。等把火都扑灭了，再着手搜寻纵火犯也不晚。同这是一个道理，公众信心已经严重的伤害，正躺在那儿流血不止，政府应当迅速采取补救方案去挽救它。以后，有的是时间去惩罚这些狡诈的‘刺客’。”

    12月9日，国王此前的讲话得到议会的响应，并通过了一份宣言。经过修改和补充，宣言里添加了如下内容：议会不仅要想方设法尽快安抚国民，还要对肇祸的元凶们严惩不贷。

    调查的工作进行的极为神速。南海公司董事会被勒令向议会递交一份记载有他们从事过的所有往来交易的账簿。同时，下院通过了一项议案，建议专门制定一部法律防止这种邪恶的股票投机行为再次上演。说到底，南海危机之所以会发生，并在公众中造成难以收拾的恐慌心理，主要是由于股票投机者所使用的阴谋诡计。因此，重建公共信用和制定相关法律法规，必须双管齐下。

    沃普勒先生也站出来说道，就如自己以前所表示的那样，经过认真思考他已经制定了一项旨在重建公众信用的计划。但这项计划能否得以真正实施，还必须立足于一个基本的前提。这就是此前与南海公司签定的公共债务认购单、货币申购单以及其他一些相关契约文书，现在是否仍然具有法律效力？并继续保留下去?这一问题引起了一番激烈争论。最终，议会以259票对117票的表决结果通过了议案，规定所有的契约、合同的法律效力不变，除非因为南海公司股东大会宣布无效，或者是通过正常的法律程序被废除。

    第二天，沃普勒先生向下院的一个委员会递交了一份恢复公众信用的计划书，大致内容是，由英格兰银行出面接收900万英镑的南海股票。与此同时，东印度公司也在一定条件下接收同样的数量的股票。下院毫不犹豫地接受了这项计划，虽然期间有一些议员反对，但下院仍然命令这两家公司接受这一安排。自然，这桩苦差事这两家大公司谁都不愿接受，在各自的股东会议上，人们纷纷表示激烈地反对，但这么做并不能改变既有的决定。最后，两家公司终于同意接收那些棘手的南海债券，并向委员会提交了各自的报告。在沃普勒的监督下，委员会又提交了一项提案，在上下两院审议时均得以顺利通过。

    议会同时还收到委员会提交的另一份提案，并获得了几乎所有有影响力的议员们的一力支持。其内容是限制南海公司董事、主管、副主管、会计、出纳以及职员的行动，规定他们出境时间不得超过一年，并彻查他们的财物状况，以防止他们私下转移或转让财产。一干人等里，辛潘先生尤其对南海公司秘书长克拉克斯先生看不顺眼，一心要证实大街上流来传去的，关于这位先生如何在南海公司账目上大做手脚的传闻。于是他下定决心要踩一踩克拉克斯的痛脚。他说，自己很高兴看到英国议会重又恢复了以往的生机，如此团结一心地为保护公众利益而努力。自然，有必要保护南海公司董事及职员的们人身及财产安全。“但是”，他话锋突然一转，望着克拉克斯先生说：“有一些人，他们尽管身居要职，却寡廉鲜耻不顾公义。总有一天，这些人的嘴脸将会被世人看清，他们犯下的罪行比起南海的董事们更加卑劣！”

    这番指桑骂槐的话一出口，克拉克斯变得如坐针毡，站起来愤愤地回答说，如果议会里有人怀疑他涉嫌南海事件，那么，他将给予大家一个满意的答复。不论议院内外，他会随时候教。他这番慷慨激昂的话引起周遭一片哗然。上议员莫勒斯沃思起身大声反击道，他，上院议员莫勒斯沃思，虽说已是年过花甲，还是有足够的勇气迎接来自任何人的挑战，其中自然也包括克拉克斯。他相信，还有很多年轻人与自己站在同一阵线，不论在哪里，他们都与克拉各斯先生针锋相对，斗争到底！

    于是乎，议会里的秩序再度失控，议员们纷纷起来发表各自的见解，每个人都是那么地激动，叫喊声充斥了整个会场，连发言人要求保持安静的呼吁也变得几不可闻。最后，基本上只剩下莫勒斯沃思和克拉克斯这两个“挑事者”还坐在自己的位子上。混乱的场面持续了好几分钟，最后，议员们几乎众口一词地，甚至于粗暴地要求克拉克斯不要挑战大家的耐性，就此前那一番有失水准的言论做出合理解释。

    克拉克斯辩解说，自己的并没有挑起争端的意思，只不过是想让一些对自己有意见的议员满意而已，他将对自己的行为做出解释。如此，混乱的场面方告平息。议会继续就以什么样的方式岁南海公司进行调查这一问题展开了辩论。辩论的结果是，任命一个由十三人组成的秘密委员会清查南海公司的一切事宜，该委员会还被授予调阅文件、传唤人员和发布文件记录的权力。

    上议院对此事的进展同样十分重视。罗彻斯特主教甚至把南海计划比作一场危害整个社会的大瘟疫。沃顿公爵则表示，议会不应当表徇私枉法，偏袒某一方。就他个人而言，如果自己的朋友也卷入了这件案子，那么，即使是最亲密的朋友，他也会公而忘私立即跟那人一刀两断。南海公司的那帮阴谋家以最为无耻的方式敲诈、剥削着民脂民膏，把整个英格兰搞得到处乌烟瘴气、怨声载道。理所当然要接受法庭最严厉的惩罚。上议员斯坦霍普也说，为了弥补公众的损失，要悉数没收这些罪犯的财产，不管他是不是董事会成员。

    这期间，群众的激忿已然高涨到了极处。就像库克斯在《沃普勒》一书中所说的那样，南海公司董事们的名字，现在变成了种种欺骗和罪恶的代名词。雪片般从英格兰各地发来的请愿书，以及城市乡镇里此起彼伏的游行请愿活动一天也没有停止过。民众纷纷要求对这些疯狂敛财的坏蛋们施以重刑。就在这股风潮中，有些不赞成以极端手段惩罚罪犯的温和派人士人，甚至也因此被人指责为同谋犯。一心一意想发泄自己的怨恨的人们，不断给他们寄来匿名信，或者以最恶毒的语言公开嘲讽和辱骂他们。这其中，财政大臣艾斯拉比、克拉克斯等几人尤其成了大家指责谩骂的主要目标。

    饱受舆论压力的上院立即做出决定，对所有嫌疑人进行一番彻底的调查。1月2l日，所有与南海计划有牵连的经纪人都被勒令向议会上交一份账目清单，标明自1719年圣米迦勒节以来，借助于他们之手买卖股票的财政或税务部门官员的名单，以及这些官员的股份申购和交易信托情况。从这些账目清单里可以发现，南海公司发行的大量股票都被秘密转入了艾斯拉比的名下。南海公司的五位董事，其中还包括爱德华·吉本（英国著名历史学家、《罗马帝国衰亡史》的作者吉本的祖父）在内，统统被监禁起来。

    斯坦霍普伯爵向议会提出了自己的建议，促使议会在此基础上做出一致的决定：在南海公司案件审查期间，以及其他某些时间内，在没有对真实的偿付能力做有效评估或不能提供充分担保的前提下，由南海公司的任何董事或机构承揽股票交易及发放贷款的，以及帮助任何政府官员或议员购买股票的行为，都将被认定为情节严重、影响恶劣的贿赂、贪污行为。几天后．议会又通过了另一个决议案，其中规定，凡南海公司董事或职员以秘密方式将自己持有的股份返卖给公司的，同样构成了诈骗和破坏信托罪。而由产生的影响对公共信贷造成了极大的危害。艾斯拉比因其不可推脱的责任辞去了财政大臣的职务，同时被从议会中除名。接下来将由法庭做他的犯罪行为进行进一步的法律制裁。

    当时，南海公司的一名会计奈特先生，因为知晓大量公司董事们曾进行的危害性极大的秘密事件，在狗急跳墙的董事们的指使下携带着许多重要的账目文件逃往国外。经过一番乔装改扮，他先坐一条小船，而后又雇了一艘大船，神不知鬼不觉地逃到了法国的加莱港。这个消息被秘密委员会呈报给议会。议会审议后一致决定，向国王递交两份报告。一是请求国王发布悬赏告示，重金缉捕奈特；二是请求国王立即下令关闭所有的港口，防止南海公司其他的职员再度逃亡。墨迹还未干，这两份报告的就由议会的莫修先生呈送了国王。

    当晚，英王就御准发布告示，悬赏2000英镑缉捕奈特归案。下院也命令锁闭议会大门，把钥匙放在桌子上。罗斯将军——秘密委员会的委员之一，向议会通报说，大量能证明南海计划罪责最隐秘、最邪恶的证据已经被找到，那就像是一心要把英国拖入地狱的恶魔的企图。在时机恰当的时候，秘密委员会会把这些证据交给议会处理。委员会同时还认为，为了更深入地查清真相，非常有必要限制南海公司董事和重要职员的人身自由，并没收所有重要的文件。这个动议毫不奇怪地获得了议员们的一致赞成。议员兼南海公司董事罗伯特·查普林爵士、西奥多·简森爵士、索布里基先生、埃勒斯先生，以及其他董事们纷纷被分别传唤，并被建议如实交代各自的腐败行为。

    西奥多·简森爵士和索布里基先生急不可待地为自己大声地辩解着，尽力要为自己开脱罪责。议员们耐着性子听完他们滔滔不绝的狡辩，然后命令他们先退下，之后一致通过动议，宣布两人违反了信托欺诈罪，给国民带来了巨大的损失，并严重损害了公众信用。鉴于两人一直抱着拒不合作的态度，决定将他们立即逐出议会，交由警察机构羁押。四天之后，罗伯特·查普林爵士和埃勒斯先生也被逐出了议院。议会随即上书国王，请求他诏令各驻外大使，协助当局缉捕奈特。不允许他向任何国家寻求庇护，一旦发现就将他引渡回英国。国王立即准许了这个提议，当晚，信使们便纷纷动身去往欧洲各国。

    公众普遍认为，被羁押的南海公司董事中的一位——约翰·布朗特爵士，就是这桩惊世大阴谋的幕后主使人，因此他被人称作“阴谋之父”。有关他的情况，我们可以从诗人蒲柏写给阿伦·洛德·巴瑟斯特的信中一探究竟。约翰·布朗特并不是个虔诚的英国国教信徒，但他却公开宣称自己是一个信教者。他常常以高昂的姿态和滔滔的雄辩抨击时代的奢华与腐败，议会与党派的不公与软弱。对权臣望族的贪婪更招来了他激烈的攻击和批判。他原来只是个小小的办事员，后来摇身一变成了南海公司的董事，还成为公司里表现最活跃的管理者。不知道是不是从前的这段经历让他形成了挑战贪婪的权贵的习惯，这一点我们只是妄加揣测。但他一定是亲眼目睹了许多上层人物的丑陋秽行，这也许正是驱使他铤而走险的原因之一。

    布朗特先生从监牢中被押解到上院法庭接受审判，经过很长一段时间质询，他始终保持缄默。关于法庭提出的几个关键问题，他说下院的一个委员会已经审查过了，他自己也忘了当时回答的具体内容了，所以在法庭上的供词可能会有所出入。这一次审判中，他拒绝回答同样的问题。他所做的这番振振有词的声明，其实就是对自己所犯罪行最好的说明，议院里因此产生了一阵骚乱。法官又一次强令他回答，有没有卖给任何政府官员或上下两院议员任何数量的股票，好促使南海议案早日获得通过。他却铁了心拒不作答。他说，他怀着迫切的心情希望尽可能地尊重议会的决定，但若是议会一味要自己承认自己有罪，那将是徒劳的。经过数次尝试，议会想使他重新回忆的做法均告失败，于是，布朗特被议会斥退。

    于是，在布朗特先生的同情者和反对者之间爆发了一场激烈的论战。同情者众口一词地说，一向平易近人的约翰·布伦特爵士之所以会一直保持沉默，是因为政府从众施压。斯坦霍普伯爵则对这种传言表示强烈的反对。沃顿公爵的反应则更加激烈，当他演讲之际，情绪是如此地激动，突然间，他觉得一股热血涌上头顶，头脑眩晕不止，一阵昏天黑地之后，他不得不匆匆离开议院回家休息。大夫即刻给他做了杯吸手术，第二天上午，又给他放了一次血，他才稍稍恢复了一些。到了傍晚时分，他忽然陷入了昏迷，在病榻上辗转了一段时间后，突然间撒手人寰。这位著名国会议员的猝死，在英格兰引发了巨大的哀痛。英王乔治一世更是悲痛欲绝，把自己反锁在密室里长达几个小时，以此痛悼这位忠心耿耿的重臣。

    南海公司的会计奈特先生，终于在离列日城不远的蒂勒蒙特落网了。逮到这个家伙的人是侨居布鲁塞尔的英国人利兹先生的一个秘书。由于受到布拉班特公国的庇护，英国虽多次向奥地利法院要求引渡奈特，却都遭到了拒绝。奈特本人也要求留在布拉班特接受审判。布拉班特公国是乔伊斯约的成员国之一，依据这项协约的规定，布拉班特享有一项特权：凡是在该国的土地上被逮捕的罪犯，都应在当地受审。布拉班特公国对自己所拥有的这项特权奉行不移，拒绝把奈特交还给英国。英国司法当局始终不懈地与之进行继续交涉，但这时候，奈特却从关押他的安特卫普监狱逃走了。

    2月16日，议会接到了秘密委员会提交的第一份报告。在报告里，他们说目前的调查工作困难重重，有许多时候是进退维谷。接受调查的每一个人都是满嘴谎言乃至于胡搅蛮缠，竭尽全力粉饰其辞，试图趁机混淆视听。在他们交出的账目中，许多项日都是假造的，在重要项目下没有股东的名字，涂改修饰过的痕迹触目皆是，有些帐页则整页整页地被撕毁。他们还发现，有些非常重要的账本已经被整个地毁尸灭迹了，剩下的不是被转走就是被藏匿起来。从一开始，审查人员就发现，涉案的材料包罗万象，人员背景也是层次不齐。他们只能尽可能地一一加以求证。面对数千人所拥有的总额以十亿计的财产状况，有的可以遵照法律规定来执行，有时则不得不在不合法的前提下采取行动。

    比如，他们发现，在南海法案通过之前，公司账户上有一笔总值为1259325英镑的账目，在相应的账单上却标示着以547500英镑的价格被卖出。这笔账目显然是有人蓄意编造的，目的是为了敦促议会通过该项议案。仔细核对账目，可以发现这批股票是在不同的时间内被分批售出的，价格从票面价格的150％到325％不等。如此大数额的股票在南海公司尚未得到增股授权之前就已开始了买卖，这一点令秘密委员感到十分惊诧。他们当即决定对全部交易内幕进行更细致的调查。南海公司主管、副主管和几名董事受到了严密的审查。结果更教人吃惊，他们发现，南海公司在做这笔账时根本不曾有过如此巨额的股票，当时可以支配的股票总额充其量也不超过3万英镑。

    经过进一步探查，秘密委员会发现，这批股票是由公司伪装成某位购买商为自己买进的。有关文件里既没有公司支出记录，也没定金或抵押品、保证金的收据。由此可见，之所以会出现这种假账，一定是处于这种原因：如果议案未被通过时，股市自然会下跌，反正是买空卖空公司不必承担任何损失。相反，如果股价上升(南海计划得以顺利实施后，实际中的股价果然一路上扬)，那么中间的差价就可以令董事们坐收渔利。后来，在议案通过以后，奈特先生即对这笔空头帐做了帐户调整，那些伪装的购买商则从南海公司那里得到了现金收益。

    这笔虚造的股票，主要由约翰·布朗特、爱德华·吉本和奈特三人共同掌管，被分别赠给几位政府高官及其关系客户。南海法案的顺利通过就是这些幕后交易的结果。事后，秘密委员会查出，这笔股票是这样被分配的，桑德兰德伯爵5万英镑；肯达尔女公爵1万英镑；普拉顿伯爵夫人1万英镑，她的两个侄女每人各1万英镑；查理斯·斯坦赫普(财政部的一位秘书)l万英镑；剑刃公司5万英镑。

    另外还有一个重大发现，此前一直坚定地要求严惩南海公司董事的斯坦霍普先生，也卷入了案件其中。通过特纳—卡西沃尔公司的名义，他获取了25万英镑的股票差价收益。为了欺人耳目，账本上凡是涉及到他的地方统统都被涂改掉了，有些地方则改成了“斯坦盖普”的名字。而财政大臣艾斯拉比的行为则更令人不齿，他也在南海公司董事之一的特纳—卡西沃尔公司开立了一个户头，帐户上的股票金额高达794451英镑。不但如此，他还建议南海公司把第二批新股认购金额设计成150万磅，而不是原定的100万英镑。这批新增的50万镑股票由公司自己掌握，没有任何担保。第三次的新股发行方式同样可耻，在艾斯拉比先生名下有7万英镑，克拉克斯先生则为65.9万英镑，桑德兰德伯爵16万英镑，斯坦霍普伯爵4.7万英镑。

    这份调查报告的后面还附有6份重要性稍逊一筹的报告。在末一份报告的结尾，秘密委员会宣布，由于案件中重要的当事人奈特无法到案，后续的调查工作难以继续进行下去。

    第一篇报告被印刷出来，第二天上午就被提交给议会审议。报告的内容引发了一场火爆异常的激烈辩论。最后议会通过了一系列决议，宣布将对南海公司董事会成员以及牵涉其中的议员和政府官员进行严厉制裁。这些人所贪污的款项将全部用来补偿那些受他们欺瞒的公众。他们的行为已经到了了腐败的可耻境地，对国民造成了巨大的危害。此外，关于怎样救济和安抚不幸的受害者，议会还要求秘密委员会拟定一份议案。

    查尔斯·斯坦霍普首先被揪了出来接受审判。他自然是竭尽所能为自己辩白。他强调说，在过去几年中，自己一直都把所有的存款存在奈特那里，奈特先生就相当于他的经纪人，而他为自己买进的所有股票都是照原价支付。至于特纳—卡西沃尔公司替他购买的股票，他本人压根儿就无从知晓。况且，凡是未经他本人允许的情况下，人家打着他的旗号做过的任何事情，都不应当由他来负责，特纳—卡西沃尔公司纯粹是将一项莫须有的罪名安在了他的头上。对于那些行事光明磊落、公正无私的人来说，像斯坦霍普这样悄悄把南海公司的25万英镑收入囊中，却假模假样地宣称自己清白无罪，真算得上是一个声名狼藉的混蛋小人。

    由于有人在背后撑腰，仅以三票之差的多数票，他被议会宣判无罪。他的一干亲友们，如斯坦霍普大人，切斯特菲尔德伯爵的公子等，到处活动，一个个地拜访那些持犹疑态度的议员，鼓起三寸不烂之舌拼命诱导他们做出违背良心的选择，或者投否决票，或者干脆不出席表决会议。一大批昏聩懦弱的乡村士绅们被他们那天花乱坠的游说和怂恿弄得昏头胀脑，纷纷放弃了立场。斯坦霍普被无罪释放的消息像插了翅膀一样传遍了英格兰，立即引发了公众的强烈不满。在伦敦，满怀激愤的人群簇拥在一起举行大规模集会，暴乱和骚动眼看就要发生。尤其是在即将审判那个罪行更严重的罪犯的时候，局势变得更加紧急——人们普遍认为罪魁祸首的艾斯拉比也会与斯坦霍普一样受到包庇，从而得不到应有的制裁。

    艾斯拉比，南海事件的罪魁祸首之一，一度高居要职，主管着英格兰财政。这种高贵的地位和所应当肩负的重任，却并没有能使他坚守住正义与诚实。斯坦霍普被宣判无罪的第二天，艾斯拉比接着受审。那一天，情绪激动的人群从伦敦的四面八方赶来，挤满了议会周边的的大街小巷，连门廊上和走道里站的也都是人。人们个个引颈翘首，不安地等待着判决的结果。关于如何定罪，议会为此花费了整整一天时间。此时的艾斯拉比先生发现自己已变得众叛亲离——他的罪行是如此地罪劣，如此地招人恨，以至于没有一个人愿意站出来帮他说话。最后，议会得出了一个无可辩驳的结论：艾斯拉比为了满足自己无止境的贪欲，不顾一切地促成了南海计划的施行。并且，他还同南海公司的董事们沆瀣一气、狼狈为奸，严重搅乱了金融市场的秩序，他们的行为对不列颠王国的公共贸易和公众信用造成了难以估量的损失。鉴于他那不可推脱的罪责，应当被立即逐出议会，并关入伦敦塔。在今后的一年内，他不得离开英格兰国境。这种限制措施可能将延至下一届议会开幕之前。此外，他必须就自己所有的财产如实招供，并以其补偿和救济那些因为他的罪行而蒙受财产损失的人们。

    这个判决真称得上是顺乎民意，大快人心。尽管判决出台时已近午夜12点半，消息还是飞快地传遍了全城。有些人把屋子里弄得烛火通明，借此表示他们的欢欣和庆贺。次日清晨，艾斯拉比被押送到伦敦塔。沿途之上围观的人群挤得水泄不通，他们一边大声喝骂，一边向他投掷石块和垃圾。仅仅这些还不足以令人们解气，于是他们又点起一堆大火，围着火堆手舞足蹈，以此来宣泄自己的喜悦和欢乐。这一天，伦敦城里到处是一派歌舞升平的节日气象。民众们唱着跳着互相庆贺，似乎在暗示他们刚从某种巨大的灾难中走出，并幸运的逃过一劫。此前，由于斯坦霍普事件，人们已经积累了强大的义愤，如今，借着艾斯拉比被判有罪，这种怒气终于得到了完全的释放。

    为了更有效地安抚民心，议会接着又把特纳—卡西沃尔公司的乔治·卡西沃尔爵士驱逐出议会，同样被囚禁在伦敦塔。同时，卡西沃尔还必须赔偿25万英镑的赃款。接下来，议会开始审议秘密委员会提交的报告中有关桑德兰德伯爵的那部分内容。有关于他的指控，主要是基于从约翰·布朗特爵士那里获得的证据。由于桑德兰德伯爵素来是位高权重，身兼议员、枢密顾问大臣等要职，议会方面有许多人使尽全力也要力保他无罪。于是，议员们搜肠刮肚、费尽周章地想要证明：约翰·布朗特爵士的证词不足采信，尤其是这事关一个大贵族的名誉问题。这位大臣的许多朋友此时都为了他东北西走，到处散布消息说，如果桑德兰德伯爵被宣判有罪，那将可能导致托利党赢得政治优势，进而入主内阁。最后，议会以233票对172票的多数宣布桑德兰德无罪。但是，全体国民却一致认定他有罪，对于这个结果，公众显示出极大的愤慨。大规模群众集会再度在伦敦街头出现，不过这一次并没有造成太大的骚乱。

    就在这一天，老克拉克斯突然猝死在家中。而原定在第二天，议会就将审理他的案子了。这种巧合令人们普遍相信，他是服毒畏罪自杀的。但也有人认为，他并不是死于自杀。事实上，就在五周前，他那在财政部担任秘书的儿子，因为染上天花而不幸夭亡。老年丧子的打击对他而言不可谓不沉重，所以，这些天来老克拉各斯一直沉浸在痛悼之中不可自拔。正是为了这个宝贝儿子，克拉克斯才不惜昧着良心、出卖荣誉，疯狂地聚敛财富。为了金钱他甚至豁出去了一切。然而，儿子一死，他此前所有的努力眼看着灰飞烟灭了。另一方面，他在南海阴谋犯下的罪行渐渐地暴露出来，这更叫他惊惧难安。随着精神压力越来越大，劳克克斯最终突发中风而死。在他身后，留下了总值150万英镑的巨额遗产。这笔钱后来被收归国库，用于补偿那些因南海阴谋而倾家荡产的人们。

    第六节  疯狂的终结

    南海公司的董事们一个接一个地受到法庭的审判。为了安抚那些不幸的受害者，这些“阴谋家”们苦心积虑聚敛的大笔财产被没收，总额竟高达240万英镑。议会视各人的情况而定，分别为他们保留一部分财产，以利于他们洗心革面、重新做人。其中，约翰·布朗特爵士原本拥有的财产有18.3万英镑，最后只剩下5000英镑；约翰·弗洛斯爵士的财产从24.3英镑减到了1万镑；西奥多·简森爵士原先拥有24.3万英镑，现在得以保留5万英镑；爱德华·吉本以前的10.6万英镑财产，现在只余1万英镑；约翰·兰伯特爵士的家产约7.2万英镑，获准保留5000英镑。其他一些罪行较轻的从犯．得到了比较宽大的处理。

    被没收了大部分家财的爱德华·吉本先生之孙，历史学家小爱德华·吉本，在《我的生活与写作》这本回忆录中，对发生在自己祖父时代的这一事件做过详尽的记录和描述。他承认自己并不是一个客观公正的见证者，但是，人们可以发现这样一个事实，任何一位作家都会在自己的作品里表达各自不同的观点和立场。同样，相对于那个灾难性时期里人们所怀有的各种偏见，这位伟大的历史学家所做的有关记述就很有参考和警示价值。单从“兼听则明，偏听则暗”这句古训来讲，他的意见也是值得重视的。

    他写道：“1716年，我祖父被推举为南海公司的一名董事。他的财产账簿表明，在他担当这个致命的职位之前，就应经拥有了36万镑的财产。但是，1720年的那场大灾难一下子改变了他的命运，他30年辛苦劳动的成果在一夜之间烟消云散，什么也没剩下。关于南海事件，关于我的祖父和他那帮董事兄弟们究竟是罪犯还是无辜的受害者，让我来充当裁判者，既不称职，也难免有失客观。当今时代的平衡法必定会谴责那些法庭所做出的粗暴而又武断的判决。这个国家刚被从一场发财梦中唤醒，人们或者说议会，就开始大声吵吵着四处寻找替罪羊了。然而，一个公认的事实是，尽管所有人都认为南海公司的董事们罪大恶极，但这个国家却还没有任何法律条款来制裁他们。莫勒沃斯上议员那苛刻的言辞并没有被采纳，但却引发了一个严厉的法案——一个具有追溯性的法律条文，用来惩罚那些潜在的、可能发生的罪恶。立法机关限制董事们的人身自由，想要获得自由就必须付出巨额保证金。还在他们的人格上强加了一个可耻的记号。他们被迫发誓，把自己的钱财上交，一分也不能少，而且也不能转往国外。”

    “他们对这项惩罚措施大为不满。每一个英国国民都享有为自己申辩的权利，他们请求为自己申诉．然而这一要求却被拒绝了。那些压迫者并不要任何证据，也不听他们的申辩。刚开始，有人提议给每位董事留下八分之一的财产．好让他们应付日后的生活。但却遭到强烈反对，在他们看来，在财富应与罪恶想匹配的原则下，这个比例对许多人来说都嫌太轻，而对另一些人来说可能又嫌太重。于是乎，根据每个董事人品和行为，他们遭到论斤称量般地区别对待。但这并不是一次公正和理智的调查，33个英国人的财产和名誉成了人们茶余饭后津津乐道的谈资。审判程序是如此潦草，由一个没有法律效力的多数投票和几个最卑鄙的秘密委员会委员主宰一切。委员们一句恶意的言论或是一次沉默的投票，都可能转化为乖戾的怨毒或是个人的私愤。给董事们的剩余津贴就这样在言笑之间被改来改去。这种侮辱性的笑话令董事们感到更加难堪和痛苦。”

    “一份语焉不详的报告中说，某位董事曾经牵涉到一项计划，而该计划使一些人受到了损失。这就成了于是就成了判定他有罪的证据。另一个人之所以获罪，只因为他曾大发过一番谬论，说他要用金子来喂马。还有一位在当时声名显赫的财政部人官员，则为他过分的骄傲而摊上了罪名。他居然敢拒绝回答那些高高在上的大人们的种种有关个人隐私的提问。所有董事都在缺席法庭辩论，因此也就不可能为自己做申辩的情况下被判有罪，并被处以在武断的惩罚和没收财产。董事们毕生积累的家当中的大部分都被席卷一空，用来填补政府亏空。这种光明正大的掠夺必然是得到了全能的议会的庇护。”

    “我的祖父并从未想过能得到比他的同僚们更为宽厚仁慈的处置。他的保守主义原则和他与托利党之间的密切联系，无疑使他更受当权者的憎恨。他的名字出现在一份可疑的秘密报告中。纵使他的才干为人所共知，但也没法子求得无知大众的宽恕。在对南海公司董事们采取的首次行动中，吉本先生是第一批遭关押的人之一。而最后的判决也令他从此恶名远扬。他向议会宣誓后上交的财产，除去所继承的祖产之外，总计为106543英镑5先令6便士。议会曾许诺给他两种金额不同的补偿，各为1.5万英镑和l万英镑。当两者需要二选一时候，问题就来了，议员们一致决定那数额较小的1万镑就是他应得的津贴。就这样，在一片废墟之上，我的爷爷，以他偌大的年纪，凭着他那议会也无法夺走的技能和一点存款，骈首砥足、白手起家，重新建立起一座新的不屈的命运之厦。16年辛勤劳动终于得到了丰厚的回馈。还有什么理由叫人不相信，这第二座大厦不比第一座更好呢?”

    在南海公司董事会成员受罚之后，立法机关面临的第二个问题就是怎样恢复公共信用。人们发现，沃普勒先生的此前的计划并不充分，而且已经落到名誉扫地的地步。

    1720年年底，南海公司全部的股票本金被重新计算了一遍。人们发现，其股票总额高达3780万英镑。其中，分派给全部所有者的金额只有2450万英镑，剩下的1330万英镑则被公司以法人的身份所拥有——这就是他们利用公众狂热获得的全部利润。从这些非法利润中，议会拿出800万英镑作为给一般所有者和认购者的分红，红利为每100股33英镑6先令8便士，这一做法已经是相当宽厚了。议会针对南海公司做出了进一步规定，曾向南海公司借款的债务人，如果向其转付过股票或其他抵押品的，可以不附带任何偿付和追索要求。除此之外，只需偿还借款总额的10％即可。当股价暴涨时，南海公司曾以这种方式借出过110万英镑。而此时，股价已经回落到正常水平，这样，公司所回收的债务就只有11万英镑了。

    但是，要想彻底恢复公共信用，还需要很长一段时期的过程。英格兰的公共信用就像是希腊神话里所说的，安着一双羽毛和蜂蜡制成的翅膀想飞越海洋的伊卡路斯一样，飞得太高太接近太阳，粘接着翅膀的蜂蜡一点点融化，最终，他从云端掉入了大海，在汹涌的浪涛中苦苦挣扎。彼时他方才醒悟，自己只能生存在坚实的土地之上。从此以后，他再也不妄想着要一飞冲天了。

    从那以后，在英格兰国内贸易高度繁荣的时候，又曾出现过几次过度投机的风潮。一个成功的计划往往会引得人们群起而仿之。在一个商贸立国的国家里，像这样的成功范例总会招来公众盲目的模仿，从而将那些心中只想着利益得失的人们拖入不见底的深渊，而要想逃出生天，则是难上加难。

    1825年，在英国人的记忆里，同样是一个难忘的恐慌年份，与当年由南海计划造成的泡沫公司性质一样的各种名目的企业、公司，再度沉渣泛起。风光了一阵子之后，留下的仍然是一片泡影。而这一次，也同1720年南海危机时一样，骗子们利用人们的贪欲诈取了大把的金钱，而当秋后算账的那一天来临时，他们照旧难逃法律的罗网。

    另外一次发生在1836年，类似的商业投机再一次卷土重来，差点一发不可收拾。所幸，在灾难恶化之前政府采取了果断措施，英格兰商业再次逢凶化吉。在1845年之前，南海阴谋一直都是英国历史上因大众狂热而引起大规模商业投机风潮的最典型事件。这本书的首次发表时间，大约是在铁路大恐慌（1845年—1846年）爆发期间。

    第三章  金融大投机之郁金香狂热

    哦，公民们，这就是狂热的报应！
    ——卢梭

    第一节  颠倒众生的“绝世奇花”

    据说，“郁金香”这个名词其实是源自土耳其语，本意指螺旋贝，后来则用来指代一种类似螺旋贝的阿拉伯式头巾。

    16世纪中叶，郁金香花被人引入西欧。康拉德·杰斯纳当时曾说过，郁金香在西欧将会产生很大的价值——不料他一语成谶，此后不久，郁金香就在西欧世界引发了一场疯狂的骚乱。

    康拉德说，他第一次看到郁金香是在1559年，是在当时极有名的珍宝收藏名家——赫瓦特律师的奥格斯堡花园里，赫瓦特的一个君士坦丁堡的朋友送给他一个郁金香球茎。当时，郁金香在奥斯曼帝国都城君士坦丁堡早已是风靡一时了。在这之后的10—11年时间里，郁金香变成了富商显贵们争相抢购的珍贵收藏品。其中尤以荷兰和德国两国为甚。阿姆斯特丹的富翁们为了得到它甚至不惜重金派人直接到君士坦丁堡抢购。

    英国的第一棵郁金香，是1600年被人从维也纳带回来的。直到1634年，郁金香的名声一年年的水涨船高。当时在人们的头脑中甚至曾存在着这样的观念：如果一户有钱人家没有收藏郁金香这种奇花异卉的话，那只能证明这家人缺乏品味，情趣低俗。

    当时的许多著名学者，包括蓬皮乌斯·德·安吉利斯和雷顿的利普苏斯在内，都是郁金香的狂热爱好者。这股社会风潮很快想每个阶层蔓延，中产阶级的人士们也加入到这支庞大的收藏大军中来，郁金香成了他们梦寐以求的“仙花”。这股不可阻挡的欲望潮流很快也征服，中下层人们的心，商人、小业主，甚至连经济状况不那么殷实的人也开始竞相攀比，互相炫耀谁家拥有的郁金香品种更多、更珍稀，谁肯为买花而一掷千金。哈拉姆的一位商人为了购买一株稀有的郁金香，甚至不惜散去一半的家财。不过却因此而名噪一时。实际上他的所作所为并不是为了转手卖高价，而只是为给自己家的花房增光添彩，并以此换得人们的羡慕的眼光。

    人们可能会认为，这种花的身上必然隐藏着什么了不起的、迥出群辈的特异之处，才会令素以精明谨慎著称于世的荷兰商人如此垂青，简直要把它捧上了天。说句老实话，郁金香既比不上玫瑰那般地娇艳，也缺乏玫瑰那醉人的芳香，更不要说花期之短了——它的“长相”甚至连甜甜的豌豆花也不如。

    柯雷曾经以优美的诗句大声赞美过郁金香，他这样吟道：
    “郁金香啊，这天降的奇花，
    她妩媚多姿，鲜艳欲滴，
    勃勃生机孕育其中，
    给予人们无比的欢欣。
    世上所有未曾见过的色彩，
    你都可以从她身上找到。
    每一个新品种的诞生
    都令她愈加婀娜俏丽。
    紫色和金色常伴她左右，
    就好像精美华丽的云裳。
    她只想博得众人的青睐，
    那华丽绚烂的美貌，
    足以令群芳失色。”

    这首诗写得纵然不是那么合乎韵律，却也不乏优美的诗意。贝克曼在他的大作《发明的历史》一书中，也曾以极其精确的笔墨想人们展示出了郁金香的美丽，或许，比柯雷的诗句更令人感到赏心悦目。他说：“这世上几乎再没有任何植物比郁金香更加绚丽多姿了。诸多的意外、弱化甚至于疾病，都不能改变它顽强的生命力，郁金香经过种种杂交、培植，依然保持着鲜艳美丽的外表，甚至于品种花色越来越丰富。未经人工培植的郁金香因为处在自然状态中，往往颜色单一，叶片肥大茎干细长。而一旦经过细心培植之后，便旧貌换新颜，深受养花人的喜爱。之后，郁金香花瓣的颜色变得越来越淡，色彩却越来越丰富；花蕊逐渐缩小，呈现出层次分明的样子；它的叶子则呈淡淡的绿色。这时的郁金香，一下子变成了百花的代表，越来越显得娇贵不凡。这在同时也意味着：郁金香成了温室中的珍品，生命力不再像在野外时那么顽强。就算你用最高超的技艺给它最精心的照管，也不能保证一定能将它移植成功，甚至于难以成活。”

    培育和种植郁金香给许多人带来了数不清麻烦和困扰，但他们对此却甘心情愿、乐此不疲，就好像慈爱的母亲总会更加疼惜一个多病的孩子一样。我们必须申明，在这种娇嫩的花儿身上投注如此多的激情，浪费如此多的精力和财力显然是不明智、不正常的。

    1634年，郁金香狂潮席卷了整个荷兰王国。荷兰人此时就好像陷入了集体癫狂之中，甚至于此前一直困扰着荷兰人的工业问题和人口问题，也被大家丢到一旁不管不顾了。当时，无论是富户名流还是市井小民，人人争着抢着加入郁金香买卖的大潮。随着郁金香狂潮愈演愈烈，其价格也成倍的上涨。到1635年之前，许多人宁愿出10万弗罗林（荷兰的一种货币单位）的巨资只为购买40颗郁金香球茎。那时，出于方便交易的需要，人们不得不在郁金香买卖的过程中发明了一种新的计量单位——珀瑞特——一个比“喱”还要小的重量单位。

    有一种叫做“可爱的里夫肯”的郁金香品种，仅仅400珀瑞特重，却被炒到了4400弗罗林；而另一种重量为446珀瑞特的“可爱的范·德·艾克”郁金香，价格则为1260弗罗林；一颗重106珀瑞特的“查尔德”球茎，叫价1615弗罗林；名为“总督”的球茎，也是每400珀瑞特，开价3000弗洛林；在众多的郁金香品种中，最昂贵的当数“永恒的奥古斯都”，就算是最低价也高达每200珀瑞特5500弗罗林。能得到一颗“永恒的奥古斯都“，竟成了荷兰人辗转反侧、思之如狂的追求，就连一颗品质不那么优良的球茎也能卖到2000弗罗林。据说，知道1636年年初，全荷兰一度只有两颗“永恒的奥古斯都”，还都不是最好的品种。其中的一颗为阿姆斯特丹的一位商人所有，另一颗则在哈拉姆。为了得到它们，人们纷纷急不可耐地出高价竞购。一个人情愿将自己名下的一块12英亩的地产来换取哈拉姆的那颗“永恒的奥古斯都”。阿姆斯特丹的那一颗则被以4600弗罗林买走，除了金钱之外，还附送有一辆新马车，两匹骏马和整套鞍具。

    那个时候，一位名叫蒙汀的作家曾写过一本长达1000页的书，细致入微地对这场郁金香狂热做了如实描写。在书中，列举一份商品价格清单，他们全是用来换购一颗名为“总督”的郁金香球茎的：
    2拉斯特小麦448弗罗林
    4拉斯特黑麦558弗罗林
    4头肥牛480弗罗林
    8头猪240弗罗林
    11只羊120弗罗林
    2桶果酒70弗罗林
    4桶啤酒32弗罗林
    2桶黄油192弗罗林
    1000磅奶酪120弗洛林
    1张大床100弗罗林
    1套衣服80弗罗林
    1只银酒杯60弗罗林
    总计2500弗洛林

    对于很多当时不在荷兰的人来说，如果碰巧赶在这一狂潮达到顶峰之际来到荷兰，很可能会因为自己的少见多怪而陷入了尴尬境地。

    《布莱恩威勒游记》一书中就曾记载过这么一段趣闻，说起来简直叫人笑得直不起腰来。有一次，一位因拥有罕见的珍品郁金香而洋洋自得的富商，偶然间从一个水手口中得知了一个好消息，一批贵重货物正要启程被运往列文特。这笔生意在富商看来是势在必得，于是，他把水手交到账房里，准备好好酬谢他一番。作为奖赏，富商慷慨地给了他一条红鲱鱼做早餐，然而，水手却好像格外嗜好吃洋葱。当他看到富商的办公桌上放着一个同洋葱头差不多的东西时，只觉得这“洋葱头”跟桌子上的丝绸和天鹅绒混在一起实在太不搭调。于是，他趁人不备，“嗖”地一下把它塞进了自己的口袋里。一门心思想拿它配着红鲱鱼大啖一番美餐。接着，他就径自回到码头上去享受早餐了。

    等富商发现那棵价值3000弗罗林(或者说280英镑)的“永恒的奥古斯都”郁金香时，已经太晚啦。为了找到它，所有人都被动员起来，一个角落也不放过。也不知道搜寻了多少遍，郁金香球茎却是踪影全无。富商心中甭说有多懊恼了。猛然间，有人想起了那位水手，他也在账房里呆过一阵子。一句话惊醒了梦中人，焦急万分的富商一阵风一样冲到码头上，一伙惊慌失措的仆从们也紧紧地跟在他身后。等他们跑到码头时，发现那个水手正安安静静地坐在一堆缆绳上，津津有味地品尝着最后一瓣“洋葱”呢。这个头脑简单的家伙做梦也想不到，自己享用的这顿美餐竟如此地代价高昂，它足够让船上所有的的人享受12个月的清闲日子。或者，就像那位莫名其妙损失了一大笔的富商形容的那样：“数额足可以为奥兰治亲王和斯坦索德的整个宫廷举办一场豪华晚宴了”。

    在历代秘闻野史里，我们可以看到很多一掷千金或是挥金如土的例子。比如，罗马大将安东尼为了使自己的情人——埃及女王克娄帕特拉——美丽的容颜更为娇艳，而把珍珠磨成粉末溶入酒中；理查德·威庭顿爵士曾为了取悦亨利五世而大肆铺张；当女王伊莉莎白一世主持皇家交易所开幕礼时，托马斯·格雷沙姆爵士也曾在美酒中掺入进钻石，恭贺女王健康长寿……

    相比较而言，这个傻乎乎的荷兰水手享有的这顿早餐，足以和上述的任何一位名人平分秋色，甚至是有过之而无不及。因为，那些名臣武将们的珠宝既没给美酒增加什么不一样的美味，也没给他们的健康带来什么实质上的好处。而这位水手老兄，却自有其与众不同之处。“郁金香配红鲱鱼”这道菜色，简直是空前绝后兼鲜美无比，除了他再没有第二个人有福气品尝得到。最后，这个不幸的家伙被当作抢劫犯，着着实实吃了几个月的牢饭。

    另一个英国旅行家的故事听上去则更加荒诞离奇。这位绅士也是一位业余的植物学家。有一次，他在一个荷兰富翁家里做客，偶然发现了一颗郁金香球茎。这种植物他此前从未见过，这自然引发了这位业余植物学家的极大兴趣。当下，他就决定做个实验。他掏出随身携带的小刀，把这颗郁金香球茎的外皮一层层地剥了下来。为了看个究竟，在他剥到一半时，他又手起刀落把它一切两半，反反复复地研究和记录着这颗奇怪的球茎的每一个特征。

    正在这时，郁金香球茎的主人猛地向他扑来，眼光中闪耀着愤怒的火焰。当主人厉声质问他是否知道自己做了什么错事时，可怜的旅行家满头雾水地回答道：“我在剥一只奇怪的洋葱呀!”“你是个该死的蠢货!”荷兰人情不自禁的大骂道，“它就是‘可爱的范·德·艾克’!”“谢谢。”英国人一边说一边在笔记本把这奇怪的洋葱名儿记录下来，接着他又问：“这些奇怪的洋葱头在你的国家很常见吗？”“你这该死的魔鬼！你该下地狱！”荷兰人恨得咬牙切齿，一把揪住这个惊诧莫名的植物学家的衣领，“走吧，到了市政官那儿，你就全明白了！”说完，这位荷兰人不由他辩解，硬是把他拽到大街上，身后立即跟来了大群看热闹的市民。当英国人被带到市政官那里时，这才恍然大悟，那颗被他拿来做实验的郁金香球茎竟然值4000弗罗林!他这才慌了神儿，可是大错已经铸成，无论他怎样解释辩白，末了还是被关进了监狱，直到他筹集到足够的抵押品赔偿对方的损失后，才得以重获自由。

    第二节  狂潮与深渊

    1636年，珍稀郁金香的抢购风气愈来愈高涨。阿姆斯特丹、鹿特丹、哈拉姆、雷顿、阿克马、霍恩以及其他城市的一批股票交易所中，纷纷出现了郁金香投机现象。股票经纪商们天生就对种种投机事件特别敏感，于是，他们开始大规模地进行郁金香交易，利用他们在股票市场中磨练出来的各种手段操纵这郁金香价格的涨跌。

    最初，这种类似于赌博的把戏吸引了许多人投身其中，乐此不疲。每个人都是信心满满，投机让他们获得了许多好处。郁金香批发商们更是这场赌博的大赢家，他们兴致勃勃地通过操纵“郁金香股票”的升降坐收渔人之利。通过在价格低时低价买进，价格高时高价卖出，许多人在一夜之间成了百万富翁。金光闪闪的诱饵高高地悬在人们的眼前，这种诱惑可真叫人心痒难搔。人们争先恐后地一个接一个涌向郁金香交易市场，密密麻麻地挤在一起，就好像围着蜜罐嗡嗡叫的苍蝇一样。

    每个人在巴望着这股郁金狂潮能永远的持续下去，这样以来，世界各地的富翁们将蜂拥而至。不论面对多么高的天价，都有人毫不犹豫地把郁金香统统收入囊中。到那个时候，荷兰的祖德茨海滩上来自欧洲各地的富豪们将冠盖云集。从此，“贫穷”这个字眼将在荷兰这块乐土上销声匿迹。这样的热潮谁能抵挡得了？贵族、市民、农夫、机械师、水手、贩夫走卒、女仆，甚至连打扫烟囱的清洁工和洗衣妇也都加入到郁金香投机之中。不管贫富，人们争着把自己的财产兑换成现金，然后一股脑儿全投入到郁金香买卖中。这还不够，许多人为了凑足本钱把自己的房产也贱价出售或抵押，导致荷兰的房地产市场一片混乱。很多外国人也被这场狂潮弄得昏头胀脑，各种资本从世界的各个角落涌入荷兰。

    各种生活必需品的价格也随之一路上涨。房屋、土地、马匹、马车，以及其他奢侈品的价格一度居高不下。连着几个月，荷兰仿佛成了财神爷制造中心，凡是来这儿的人都能平步青云，一夜间飞黄腾达。郁金香交易也发展到了极之广泛和复杂的程度，为了方便交易，政府不得不重新制定了一套法律规范来指导交易者。另外，政府所指派的公证员和办事员也开始全程参与到交易过程之中。

    在一些地区，人们基本上对新出台的公证条例所知甚少，但大名鼎鼎的“郁金香公证处”却是家喻户晓的。在一些小城镇里，由于没有交易所，一些郁金香交易者们干脆集中在一些热闹的酒馆饭铺里做起了生意，人多的时候，甚至能吸引二三百人来参加这种奢华的聚餐。为展示自己的“宝贝”，一盆盆开得正旺盛盛的郁金香摆在酒馆的桌子上、过道里，奇花异卉争奇斗艳，足以使人心旷神怡、悦目骋怀。

    不过，一些较为精明谨慎的人终于开始发现，源自人们人们头脑中的狂热绝不可能永久持续下去。随即，富人们不再热衷于购买天价郁金香，而是以高昂的价格把花卖出。看情形，最后因郁金香而破产的人大有人在。这样的说法一夜之间传遍了荷兰，越来越多的人开始恐慌起来，纷纷抛售自己拥有的郁金香。郁金香的价格迅速暴跌，从此欲振乏力。信心被担心和忧心所取代，公共信用一落千丈。这在交易商们心里造成的恐慌尤其巨大。例如，起初某甲计划以每颗4000弗罗林的价格从某乙那里买进10棵“永恒的奥古斯都”，6周之后双方进行交割。不料，6周过后，郁金香的市场价已经降到300或400弗罗林了。某乙预备按时交花，某甲却因价格相差太大而不想履约。就算是卖主说明自行降价也不行。

    每一天，这样的违约事件都在荷兰各地上演着。全荷兰的人们都变得惊恐不安起来，大家纷纷意识到，自己将可能陷入贫困的深渊却求救无门。他们开始大批量抛售郁金香，可现在，即使有人把花价降到以前的四分之一，也没有人肯接受啦。痛苦的叫喊和呻吟在荷兰的土地上回响，人人都在抱怨、咒骂，指责别人成了一种习惯。

    而少数考以前的投机发了大财的人，此时正在悄悄地瞒着所有人把财产转移到国外，或者投资到英国和其他国家的产业上。对于许多曾依靠郁金香投机摆脱了贫穷的人来说，他们前脚刚刚踏出苦难生活的泥沼，可跟着又被打回其中，再也无力挣脱生活所给予他们的枷锁。众多豪绅富户转眼间倾家荡产沦为街头的乞丐。曾经的高官显贵此刻也只能眼睁睁地看着自己的财产一点点消失，百年家业毁于一旦的事情成了家常便饭。

    当第一次恐慌逐渐平息以后，一些城市的郁金香持有者们立即集合起来商讨对策，看能采取什么措施来挽回公共信用。在会上，众人一致认为，目前应该把全国各地的交易商代表召集在一起，前往阿姆斯特丹与政府进行协商，共同制定应对策略。最初，政府方面拒绝参与此事。官员们建议郁金香交易商们在内部制定一些计划，彼此协商解决。

    为此，交易商代表们聚在一起开了几次会。可末了，谁也提不出更好的办法去安抚那些被骗局折腾得倾家荡产的人们，另外，又有谁能有那么大的财力一一补偿损失公众受到的损失？数次会议中充满了抱怨和叱责，火药味儿十足，有几次甚至发展为疾风暴雨式的争吵。终于，在阿姆斯特丹经纪人联合会的主持下，代表们勉勉强强达成了一项协议。其主要内容包括：在郁金香狂热的高峰期——1636年11月以前——签订的郁金香买卖合同一律视同无效；在此日期之后签订的合同，如果买家想终止合约，必须给卖家支付10％的补偿费。

    这一决定本意虽好，却招致了买卖双方的一致抗议。既没有令卖方感到舒心，而那些信守合同准备买花的卖主更觉得十分憋屈。过去，一颗被炒到6000弗罗林的郁金香球茎，现在的开价只有500弗罗林，算上规定的10％的补偿费，也仅仅比这个价格高出100弗罗林。为了讨回公道，法庭里挤满了前来提出违约告诉的郁金香交易商，可是原告、被告却闹成一团，谁也不愿服从法庭的判决——法庭对于种种涉嫌赌博性质的合约一律不予承认。

    最后，海牙省议会不得已接手了这些案件。人们坚信，这个以精干著称的组织能够凭借其果决的作风，迅速找到解决问题的方法，一举重振摇摇欲坠的公共信用。可是，最终的结果却像是悬在天边的那轮明月，看得见却摸不着。在人们热切的期盼中，议员们日复一日的开会商讨。就这样一连拖了三个多月，议会方面才终于做出决定：只有当议会取得更为完善的资料，那时他们才能做出最后的判定。不过，他们同时也建议说，为维护合同法，卖方有必要按照合约规定的价格出售郁金香给买方。而如果买方因感觉损失太大拒绝接受的话，双方也可以经协商以公开拍卖的方式出售郁金香，并由原先的买家负责弥补其中的差价。

    说到底，这其实就是此前经纪人联合会提出的解决方案的翻版，而事实已经证明，在荷兰没有人肯遵从。同样，在此时的荷兰也没有一个法庭能够强迫买方付款。在阿姆斯特丹，事态发展到后来渐渐变得越来越失控了，可法官们却仍然铁了心冷眼旁观，拒绝插手到任何案件中。因为，根据法律规定，赌博合同所产生的债务纠纷法院不予受理。

    就连政府也都束手无策，到了这种地步，这桩悬案也只好被摆在一边了。公共信用短时期内无法恢复，那些不幸的郁金香业主也只好自认倒霉，尽量保持克制和乐观，承受着这场狂潮带给他们的巨大损失。那些见机得较快，从投机中及时抽身的人也得保全了自己。不过，整个荷兰的商业却为此付出了极高昂的代价，甚至于元气大伤，直到多年以后才得以慢慢恢复。

    当时的英国人也差一点就步上了荷兰人的后尘。1636年，伦敦交易所也逐渐放开，允许人们公开交易郁金香。精明的批发商们想尽一切办法要把郁金香炒到最高价，最好是炒到跟在阿姆斯特丹一样高的价位。而在巴黎，批发商也不约而同地制造了一场郁金香狂热。尽管两地的投机商最终并没有得到他们心目中的高额回报，但这一阵子的狂轰滥炸，还是受到了一定效果。郁金香被许多人投以关注的眼光，自然也有很多人为了它花费了不少金钱。在某些阶层的人士中间，郁金香的地位超过了其他一切花卉，一首首赞美郁金香的美丽与芬芳的诗作纷纷出炉。

    然而，郁金香虽然引起过一次人为的灾祸，却仍是荷兰人心目中的宠儿，就算到今天仍是如此。对于收购郁金香这件事，荷兰人是如此地乐此不疲，再高的价钱也抵挡不住他们的那洋溢的热情。如同富裕的英国人为自己拥有的优良赛马和名画而大肆吹嘘一样，富有的荷兰人也以赞美自己拥有的郁金香珍品为荣，二者同样的不厌其烦。

    在当今的英国，有一种情形令人十分费解：一颗郁金香的价钱竟然比一棵橡树还要贵。据说，如果你拥有一颗“泰里斯的拉拉”（这是一种极其少见的黑色郁金香，花色就像黑天鹅的雏鸟一般润泽），那你可就发大财了，它的价值相当于12英亩谷物的价格。

    据《大不列颠百科全书》第三版修订说明中的权威说法，在17世纪的苏格兰，一颗郁金香的最高价格是10畿尼。从那时起郁金香的价格一路下滑。到了1769年，当时在英国最昂贵的郁金香品种是“堂·奎瓦多”和“瓦伦蒂尼亚”，前者价格为2畿尼一颗，后者则为2.5基尼一颗。这在当时可能就算是最低价了。而到了1800年的时候，郁金香的正常价格涨到了每颗15畿尼。1835年，一颗名为“范妮·坎姆伯小姐”的郁金香在伦敦拍卖时竟创下了75英镑的高价。而尤其令人惊讶的是，一位住在切尔西国王路上的园丁，给他拥有的郁金香标出了这样的天价——每颗200畿尼！

    第四章  盲目的圣物崇拜

    一件破烂不堪的古董，
    锈迹斑斑的破烂头盔，
    叮当作响的将军铠甲，
    铁钉铆住的三层软垫。
    历史更远的亚麻铜器，
    追溯到洪荒年代宅前。
    ——彭斯（Burns）

    只要人们心中还存在情感，那么他们对圣物的珍爱就会永远存在。这是一种发自肺腑的，最善良的也是最容易让人激动的爱，无论是多么冷酷无情的人都不能藐视它，无视它。谁能忽视了忠贞不渝的亡妻生前悬在眉宇间的那绺头发，又有谁会不珍视长眠于九泉之下的爱子生前挂在脖子上的小挂件呢？这些都是亲人眼中的圣物，每个人都清楚其中蕴涵着无与伦比的情感。从人类的亲情上来分析，这是试图将活着的人对逝去的亲人的那份挂念从坟墓里“挖掘”出来，这是一种十分珍贵的感情。对于一个早就被人遗忘的生者而言，如果他偶然间在一本书里发现已故亲友写的一些文字，那该是多么宝贵的东西呀！

    如果写下一种思想、一种观念或者是一个名字的手已经变得冰凉，那这本书必然是无价之宝。除了这些让家人珍爱的圣物，还有一些纪念品也是让人们无法割舍的：被人们所欣赏以及崇高美德神圣化的东西，比如一本莎士比亚（Shakespeare）亲手签名的蒙田文集；保存在安特卫普的一把椅子，因为那是鲁宾斯（Rubens）在创作不朽之作《来自十字架的祖先》时坐过的；佛罗伦萨博物馆里收藏的一架望远镜，由于它是当年帮助伽利略（Galileo）完成伟大发现的工具……

    圣物崇拜主要起始于人们有表达爱的需求，付出爱的欲望。源自这种单纯的情感，不知有多少家人、后代表现得迷信和荒诞！人们景仰伟人以及伟人留下来的东西，但他们同时却忽略了这些只是缅怀先贤的一个组成部分。他们对圣徒的颚骨、圣徒的脚趾甲、国王擦过鼻涕的手帕，以及那些吊死过犯人的绳子等圣物趋之若鹜时，已经把自己变成了傻瓜。他们只是一味地从祖先的坟墓里挖掘陪葬品，完全不分有名还是无名，美名远扬还是臭名昭著。无论是大圣人还是犯罪分子，无论是大哲学家还是大骗子，无论是大英雄还是杀人恶魔，无论是忠臣还是贼子，都一样受到顶礼膜拜。他们穿越整个地球，踏遍整个世界，找寻着所有逝者的遗物。

    现在的圣物崇拜开始于十字军东征前不久。那时，第一批朝圣者把上千件圣物带回到欧洲，不知道他们花光所有财物换回来的这些圣物是真的还是假的。人们最推崇的圣物莫过于十字架上的木头了。这种推崇犹如寡妇的头油，永远不会减少。在罗马天主教教堂里，人们传言，是康斯坦丁大帝的母亲海伦太后在去耶路撒冷朝拜的时候，最先发现了“真正的十字架”。狄奥多斯皇帝把这个十字架上的一大块木头送给了米兰大主教圣·埃布鲁斯，大主教用宝石装饰了这块木头，并将之供奉在米兰最大的教堂里，但后来却被匈奴人掠走了。匈奴人在取下镶嵌在木头上的宝石后，竟然把木头给烧毁了。在11世纪和12世纪，欧洲所有大教堂几乎都能见到据说是从真正十字架上砍下来的木头。如果把这些木头集中到一起，足够建起一座教堂了。能够看一眼它们，对一个罪犯来说是最大的幸福，更不要说拥有一块了！如果要想拥有这样一块木头，就必须有足够的勇气去应对可怕的危险。人们普遍认为，这些木头不但可以用来避邪，而且还可以用来治愈顽疾。圣徒们年年都会到供奉着这些木头的教堂里去朝拜，教堂也因此会有不菲的收入。

    救世主的眼泪也是一件极负盛名的绝美圣物。信徒们完全不顾是谁用怎样的方法将它们保存下来的，他们聪明的双眼完全被基督徒给蒙蔽了。只要说这是救世主的眼泪，信徒们就会对之推崇备至。圣母马利亚和圣彼得的眼泪也不难拿到，它们被精心地封存在小匣子里，就好像是虔诚的信徒们将之珍藏在自己的心里一般。除了眼泪，还有别的精致的圣物，那就是耶稣和殉道者的血滴，还有就是圣母马利亚的乳液。头发和趾甲也是十分受欢迎的圣物，它们都能卖上很高很高的价格。

    在11、12世纪，数以千计的朝圣者年年都会到巴勒斯坦去买假冒圣物，并在自家的店铺里销售，多数信徒除此之外再也没有什么其他的生财之道。事实上，很多脚趾甲都是从一些恬不知耻的牧师的臭脚丫上修剪下来的。这些趾甲在被剪下来不到半年的时间里，就会被披上某个圣人或信徒的“外衣”，摇身一变成为某个圣人或者是某个圣徒的脚趾甲，这样就可以卖上如同钻石般的高价了。让人吃惊的是，圣彼得的趾甲出人意料地多产。克莱芒议会时代，在欧洲圣彼得的脚趾甲多到可以装一大麻袋了。尽管圣徒的脚趾甲多得近乎荒唐，但人们却对这些脚趾甲是长在伟大圣徒们神圣的脚上的这个问题深信不疑。

    直到今天，尚贝里的大教堂里也还有一些趾甲在展出。这些展出的圣物让不远千里前来朝拜的信徒们目不暇接。巴黎皇家港有一棵荆棘总是被人精心地照看着，神学院的信徒们更是肯定地说，这棵荆棘是耶稣基督圣首所在的那片荆棘中的一棵。至于它是如何跑到这里来的、是谁把它栽培下来的这些问题，至今没有人能做出合理的解释。这棵荆棘在不同教派的长期纷争中已经远近闻名，更让它闻名遐迩的是它在彼埃尔小姐的身上创造了奇迹——她只是吻了它一下，就治好了长期折磨着她的眼病。到过罗马的旅游者都知道圣梯，也称为圣阶。据传，这是从耶路撒冷朝拜回来的海伦皇后带着“真正的十字架”在比拉多的住所里发现的。

    据传，当年耶稣被带到罗马总督府时，就是从这架云梯上去和下来的。因此，信徒们就认为，脚踏这架云梯就是对神灵的不尊敬，甚至是一种亵渎。也正是这样，他们便怀着无比崇敬的心情将之悬挂在空中。朝圣者必须先虔诚地亲吻它之后，才能用虔诚的膝盖跪在这云梯上爬上爬下。

    欧洲人依然狂热地痴迷于宗教圣物。在西班牙、葡萄牙、意大利、法国以及比利时的罗马天主教教堂里，都还或多或少地供奉着一些圣物，即便是最穷的乡村教堂里，也会吹嘘自己拥有罗马历史上无数的圣人腿骨，虽然这如同天方夜谭般荒诞。尚贝里教堂也在不无夸张地吹嘘说，它那里有查理曼大帝

    各个国家，历朝历代的人们非常渴望拥有圣物，为了拥有一件名人，甚至是大罪人的物件，人们挖空心思，绞尽脑汁。理查德一世当政时，伦敦的平民领袖威廉·郎伯德（William Lambert）在史密斯弗尔德被处以绞刑，当时就有不少人想方设法想要得到他的一绺头发，甚至是他衣服上的一块碎布。艾塞克斯、肯特、索夫克、索塞克斯和周围各郡的妇女们纷纷涌向伦敦来抢走一把他绞刑架下的土。在这些人看来，威廉·郎伯德的头发可以避邪，他衣服上的布可以用来治病。

    再从近一点的年代来看，还有一个那不勒斯渔夫马萨尼罗的遗物的故事。他在暴动之后，被暴动支持者们推到了权力的顶峰。但让人没想到的是，他却比以往的任何暴君都要更加残暴。最终，他被暴民们就像打死一只疯狗一样，打死在马路上。随后，他的无头尸在泥沼里沤了很长时间，夜晚被抛到了护城河里。次日，不知道为什么，人们对他的感情突然来了个一百八十度的大转弯。人们手握火把，找他的遗骸，找到之后还给它穿上了皇袍，隆重地埋在了教堂里。一万名武装士兵和一万名送葬者参加了葬礼。这个渔夫生前穿的衣服还被众人撕成碎片，被当做圣物收藏。他生前住的那间小屋的门板也被妇女们拆下来劈成碎块后，或是刻成肖像，或是制成保存圣物的小匣子和其他的纪念品。他简陋的小屋里的家具也变得比奢华的宫殿里的装饰物更受青睐，他去过的地方也被当成了圣地，人们在那里收集泥土装在小瓶子里，以天价出售或当做护身符随身携带。

    在处死残暴的布瑞威尔夫人时，巴黎人也表现得同样疯狂。马萨尼罗的罪行并未让他的个人形象受到损害，这一点倒是容易让人理解。但发生在布瑞威尔夫人身上的事，除了让人厌恶和鄙视之外，就没有其他什么感觉了。据说，她曾经毒死过7个人。她被判处在格瑞威广场上烧死，并将她的骨灰撒在风中。让人们惊讶的是，在她服刑那天，她还打扮得雍容华贵、美丽端庄。很快，人们便把对她咬牙切实的咒骂演变成了惋惜。接踵而至的是，人们的这种惋惜很快又演变成了崇拜。更让人瞠目结舌的是，她当天晚上就被奉为圣人。她的骨灰被人们一点一点地收集起来，就连烧焦的木头也被哄抢。因为人们相信，她的骨灰能够避邪、驱赶巫术。

    在英国，也有不少人钟情于小偷、杀人犯以及其他重罪犯的遗物或与他们有关的东西。绞死这些罪犯的绳子常常以每英尺1基尼的价格被人买走。绞死过多德博士的绳索、绞死被判叛国罪的佛特劳埃先生的绳索、绞死杀害维尔先生的凶手修泰勒的绳索无一例外地都卖了好价钱。1828年，凶手为考德的玛利亚·马顿谋杀案也引起了公众的极大热情。威尔士、苏格兰，甚至爱尔兰的人们都纷至沓来，参观埋藏过受害者尸体的小房子。人们在离开时都想带点纪念品回去，因此房门上的木块，屋顶上的瓦片，尤其是死者生前的衣物都被拿光了。她的一绺头发竟然卖了2基尼，买到的人还认为自己占了个大便宜。

    1837年，格林那斯在坎伯威尔巷杀害了汉纳·布朗。案件发生后，人们像潮水一般涌向坎伯威尔巷，这使得警察也不得不前来维持现场的秩序。人们都迫不及待地要从这个暴徒的房间里拿走一样东西来做纪念。要不是警察动用了武力，房子的门窗和桌椅当时就会被洗劫一空。

    再早一些时候，还有一个被判绞刑的罪犯的手的传说。人们认为，患有瘰病的人如果被这个罪犯的人手搓一下，就会马上痊愈。这个愚蠢的传说让新兴门监狱的刽子手大发横财，他因此赚到的钱是他之前想都不敢想的。因为大家都认为，这是一只包治百病、能够辟邪消灾的妙手。就是这样一个让人恶心的东西，在查理二世时期却要花10基尼才能买到，但人们居然一点也不觉得它贵。

    1838年春，就在疯狂的汤姆（或叫考特内）即将被枪毙时，圣物搜寻者又开始蓄势待发，准备冲上去抢一件这个特殊人物的东西做纪念。外科医生剪下他的长胡子和头发后，交给了他的信徒。这些信徒将这些胡须和头发奉为至宝。而且还不只是他的信徒这样，就连住在坎特伯雷的富翁和他的邻居们也将他的头发当做无价之宝。他被击毙时倒向的那棵树的皮也被人们疯狂地一条条剥下拿走；一封有他签名的信也需许多金币才能换到；他钟爱的坐骑也和他的主人一起出名了。很多人成群集队地从150英里以外的地方赶到布格顿，竟然只是为了看一眼他被枪毙的地方，或摸一下“马耳他的疯狂骑士”的马背。要不是看管很严，他的尸体也会被从坟墓中挖出来，其骨头也会被当做纪念品拿走。

    在现代的欧洲，最让人们顶礼膜拜的莫过于莎士比亚的桑树、拿破仑的柳树和他在滑铁卢写公文时用的桌子了。比较而言，莎士比亚的桑木鼻烟壶更为稀有，尽管市场上有无数用这位大诗人种的树制成的东西，而且有各种各样打着莎士比亚旗号的木头制品，但毋庸置疑，大多数都是冒牌货。至于“拿破仑在滑铁卢写作公文时用过的桌子”，也大多是冒牌货，因为拿破仑在滑铁卢写作公文时用过的桌子早就被毁坏了。没有一个是真的，就会冒出一打假货。事实上，很多人只是收藏了一根木棍，有的人把自己拿到的那点纪念物刻成别针或是其他饰物，更多的人则是将它制作成了烟灰缸。这些木头在法国被制成精美的糖果盒。不过，无论被制作成什么，都被那些一提起拿破仑就眉飞色舞、双目熠熠生辉的人当做了珍宝。滑铁卢战场上的弹壳、阵亡士兵军服上的纽扣，至今依然备受欧洲人宠爱。就好像旧桌子毁掉后又制作了新桌子一样，人们又开始热衷于如法炮制当时的子弹。很多人还拥有了一颗他们自以为是曾在那个值得纪念的日子里为世界和平做出过突出贡献的子弹——那是在滑铁卢之战12年之后，人们在战场的遗址上挖矿时挖出的首个军火库里弄来的。所有的圣物崇拜者们，你们一定要看好自己的钱包，不要那么轻易地将钱花在滑铁卢村成群结队的导游们的身上！

    在路易·菲力普政权将拿破仑的遗体搬走之前，站在圣赫勒拿岛上孤零零的拿破仑坟墓前，很多旅游者会从拿破仑坟墓前的柳树上折下树枝，将它们带回欧洲的各地去种植。其后，它们和它们的母亲一样长成了大树。因此，圣物的信徒们也就分不清哪一棵才是最初的那一枝树枝长成的，但他们还是对这些大树充满了虔诚。在伦敦的周围，直到现在也还有好几棵这样的大柳树。

    推崇圣物和别的事情一样，有可取的方面，也有不可取的方面。那些真正的伟人的遗物，或者那些关于伟大事件的纪念品，永远都不会褪色，它们对人们会永远充满诱惑力。它们会吸引人们去想象、去探索，它们能够净化人们的心灵。估计很多人都会同意考雷说过的那种美好愿景，他想“坐在用弗兰西斯·德雷克爵士环球航行时乘坐的船的残骸制作成的椅子上创作：

    “我自己现在也偏爱安静，
    和一把椅子差不多，
    但我哪能坐着一辆
    车轮破旧的马车去旅游，
    还眼睁睁地看着它急刹车。”

    第五章  骗子、谎言与近代预言家

    期望把红尘俗世变为一座地狱，
    好使自己的灵魂飞升入天国。

    第一节  耸人听闻的末世天劫

    在许多国家里普遍存在着一种恐惧——对世界末日的恐慌。这其中最值得一提的当属10世纪中期的基督教世界。在当时的英国、法国以及德国等欧洲国家出现了无数的宗教迷狂者。这些人振振有词地宣称声称，《圣经·新约·启示录》中预言的千年大劫就要到来，上帝之子耶稣将在云端对芸芸众生进行末日审判，裁决一切罪恶与善行。这种荒诞不经的说法在产生之初虽然一度受到教会的劝阻，却仍然无可避免地在大众中迅速蔓延开来。

    据传说，最后的审判将以圣地耶路撒冷为起点。于是，公元999年，一大群朝圣者长途跋涉开始向东方进发，准备早日赶到圣城好迎接主的到来。朝圣者越聚越多，很快就组成了一支人数庞大的朝圣大军。其中的大多数人为了虔诚的信仰，不惜变卖掉全部的家产，离开欧洲好去寻觅那最后的栖身之地。另一方面，因为世界的末日就要来临，人们再也无心祈祷了，许多教堂建筑遭到毁弃，连教士们苦口婆心的宣讲也遭到冷遇，往常庄严神圣的布道辞此刻听起来也变得有气无力起来，甚至连上教堂也会被人嗤之以鼻。骑士、市民、杂役，不管身份高低、阶级贵贱，一个个拖家带口，踏上了慢慢旅途。他们一边走一边高唱着圣歌。眼中满含着恐惧，仰望苍穹企盼着能借着上帝之子那神圣的光辉来抵挡灾难的降临。

    等到公元1000年时，更多人加入了朝圣者队伍。他们中的大多数深深为将要到来的恐怖和灾难所困扰，以至于种种自然现象都被他们看作是上帝对他们发出的警告。行进途中隆隆作响的雷鸣和划破天际的雪亮闪电也能令他们长跪不起，人们深信那是上帝的召唤，那声音无可置疑地昭示着：末日审判的那一天马上就要到来。在人们的头脑中闪现着这样的一幕：在电闪雷鸣中大地裂为两半，死亡的阴影将笼罩一切。就连夜幕中划过的每一颗流星，都将会驱使着耶路撒冷的信徒们奔涌上大街小巷，悲泣祈祷着请求主的宽恕。而那些行走在漫漫长途中的朝圣者的表现也无不如此。正如诗句所言：

    “主啊，你可是在宣告大地即将倾覆，
    世间万物将再次排序，
    所有一切将不复存在，
    好像从空中飘飘坠下的纸牌。”

    神甫和牧师也充满了恐惧感，每一颗流星的消逝都会引起一番大惊小怪的说教，现在，人们每日话题的中心就是眼看要到来的最后审判。

    一直以来，慧星的出现都被古人视为一种凶兆以及灾祸的化身，这种观点在现代也在某些地方存在着。不过，这时慧星已不再被看成是世界解体的一种征兆，而是其毁灭的原因。1832年，一次关于彗星的最严重警告震惊了整个欧洲，尤其是在德国，天文学家预告说：地球将要被彗星撞毁。为此，许多人成天生活在惶恐不安之中，唯恐地球和自己都被撞个粉碎。有些人为此而停止了一切活动，工作或者生意也都显得不那么重要了。

    尤其是在大瘟疫流行的时候，那些迷狂者的预言总会招来一大批信徒，人们纷纷相信——世界末日将要来临。越是在灾祸不断的日子里，人们越是容易轻信这样的谣言。1345年—1350年，这5年时间里，整个欧洲大陆陷入一片愁云惨雾之中，人们普遍地认为世界末日就要降临在自己眼前。在德、法、意等国的大城市里，算卦看相、预卜吉凶的江湖术士随处可见。这帮唯恐天下不乱的家伙也纷纷预言：10年之后，大天使的声音将响彻人间，主也将在天上给这个世界做最后的宣判。

    1736年，名震四方的大预言家卫斯登预言说：这一年的10月13日，整个地球将要毁于一旦。这则预言在伦敦市民中造车过了极大的恐慌。谣言一传十、十传百，像失去控制的大火迅速在整个城市上空蔓延，人们成群结队地在13号这天逃遁到艾灵顿、哈姆斯戴德和去他的乡间田野——好方便观看伦敦城的覆灭以及——“世界末日的开始”。在《斯威夫特杂文集》第三卷中的一篇文章《在谣传世界末日审判那天伦敦所发生一切忠实纪事》一文中，斯威夫特对这桩“愚蠢的事件”做了一番讽刺意味十足的描写。

    在亨利八世统治时期，类似的恐惧和类似的情形也同样上演过。

    1761年，接连发生的两次地震再一次向伦敦居民发出了警告，这是流传的预言说第三次地震将会毁灭掉所有的一切。这第一次地震发生在2月8日，地震造成的损失不算太大，只是把利姆豪斯和波普洛几户人家的烟囱给震倒了；而第二次则发生在3月8日，主要发生在伦敦北部地区以及向哈姆斯戴德与海格特的延伸地带。地震间隔恰恰是一个月，这样的一个巧合于是给了人们这样一个印象：第三次地震也会在4月8号这天到来。恰在此时，一个在治安队任职的士兵拜尔——此人曾有精神分裂症病史——坚信4月份还将发生一次大地震。自从他得出这个结论后，整个人就彻底发疯了。他在大街上四处游走，嘴里反反复复念叨着一句话：4月5号这一天伦敦城将要天塌地陷。

    而大多数人则认为，4月1日发生地震其实是更具可能性。成千上万的人有志一同的确信，这一预言迟早会成为现实。于是，他们纷纷想方设法移居到他处以躲避不可测的劫难。随着那个可怕的日子一天天逼近，紧张的气氛也越来浓重，更多轻信的人急匆匆地离开都市去方圆20英里内的村庄避难，然后忐忑不安地等待着伦敦的毁灭。

    在艾灵顿、海格特、哈姆斯戴德、哈洛和布莱克海斯的等地，受惊的难民挤满了大街小巷，为了能得到一个容身之处，他们不得不向房主支付昂贵的房费。而剩下的那些付不起房钱的人，只好唉声叹气地留在伦敦，直到预期的灾难到来的前两三天才逃到郊外的旷野里，满含这恐惧，等待着那天降的巨雷把他们的城市夹劈成碎块，然后再随着扬起的烟尘被抛向半空。

    恐怖的日期一旦开始临近，就连那些一星期前还对预言嘲讽不已的人，也顾不得什么脸面了，赶紧收拾起包袱追着避难人群落荒而逃了。当时，民众都认为躲在河流上是最安全的，于是港口里所有商船上一霎时挤满了喧闹的人群。从4号到5号，连着两个晚上人们都是在甲板上度过的。大家此时都在等待一个瞬间的到来——圣保罗大教堂在震动中颤抖，威斯敏斯特教堂的砖石被狂中飞卷起来，又在烟雾中被狠狠甩落……

    可是，等到最后什么都没有发生，伦敦城依然坚如磐石。第二天，大多数逃难的人就泱泱地返回伦敦的家中了，事实证明，那个所谓的预言简直就是个大笑话。不过还是有一些人认为应该在外地多待上一周，直到确定一切都已安全无虞后再返回伦敦才是更加稳妥。那个疯疯癫癫的拜尔不久之后也遭到人们的冷遇，就连此前曾轻信过他的话的人也认为他是个不折不扣的疯子。为了挽回颜面，拜尔试图做出新的预言，可这回再没人肯上当受骗了。数月之后，他被送进了精神病院。

    1806年，末日浩劫的恐慌再一次攫住了利兹和它周边很多人的心。这次事件有一个十分诡异的背景。在利兹城附近的一个村子里，有人发现：一只母鸡下的蛋上竟然清清楚楚地浮现着“基督将至”这几个字，这可真是前所未有的奇闻！风闻此事，人们成群结队的前来参观，趴在鸡舍旁小心翼翼地鉴赏着这些非同寻常的“神蛋”。大家一致认为，这是上天给凡人的警示，受末日审判的那一天为时不远啦。

    这个消息令所有人感到绝望，就像陷身风暴中心的水手时刻担心着船要沉到海底一样，一些原来不敬神的人立即改头换面，成了虔诚的宗教信徒。他们开始疯狂地祈祷，自以为是的想借此来洗去过去的罪孽。这个把戏很快就露馅了。一天早晨，几个好奇的人听说了传闻以后也想去鸡舍看个究竟，正巧，碰上母鸡它在下“神蛋”。很快，事情便水落石出。哪里有什么“神蛋”？原来，鸡蛋上的字迹是被人用腐蚀性的墨水涂写过的，然后再被人硬塞回鸡屁股里面。当真相传开之后，那些不久前还在虔心祷告和忏悔的人不禁苦笑了——地球依然像以前那样转动着。

    第二节  米兰大瘟疫与“魔鬼投毒”事件

    1630年，发生在米兰的那场大瘟疫至今影响深远，罗伯蒙特在《地中海国家的瘟疫》一书中做过详细的描述。在那场灾难中，占星家和骗子们的预言受到了人们的热烈追捧。在瘟疫流行的前一年，就曾有人预言说过，1628年会一颗巨大的慧星出现。占星家们对此议论纷纷，莫衷一是。有人认为这是一场大战将要发生的征兆，另一些人认为彗星代表着饥馑和荒年。大多数人则一口咬定，彗星那苍白的颜色无疑预示着一场瘟疫就要到来。而在那些瘟疫肆虐米兰的日子里，这种被事实证明了的预言使得他们名声大振。

    那些早在几百年前就已经在民间广为流传的预言，早就在百姓们当中产生了极深远的影响，以至于许多人竟把宿命论当成了一种信仰。占星家们称，这场瘟疫必将给人类带来三重毁灭性的打击。这种充满绝望的预言简直叫所有人为之心惊胆寒。

    有一古老的诗句说：1630年，所有的米兰人将会被撒旦毒杀。4月的一个早晨，在瘟疫尚未达波及整个米兰城之前，一个人偶然注意到：在米兰的几条主要大街上，几乎所有的房屋、门柱上都有着奇怪的、像海绵一样的污点，其中还不断有腐烂的脓液溢出。人们得知此事以后，立刻炸开了锅。全城人竞相奔走相告，警钟也随即当当地敲响了。大家想尽各种办法想找出制造这种异象的元凶，可始终是白费力气。最后，不知是谁记起了那句古诗中蕴含的预言。提议说，这是撒旦降至的讯号，大家如果全都赶去教堂祈祷，那么魔鬼的诡计就不可能实现了。不过，也有很多人认为，这是有人在勾结外部势力王米兰城投毒。还有人把它看做是一种超自然的灵异力量。

    与此同时，致命的瘟疫也在悄悄地扩散着。再加上这件奇事，人们的怀疑和惶恐心理愈加强烈，以致认为自己身边的每一样东西都已沾染上了毒药——井水，田地里的作物和树上的果实，凡是能被人接触到的东西无不如此，甚至于墙壁，街上的人行道以及房门把手……通通变成了不可触碰的禁忌。难以控制的怨恨蒙蔽了人们的心，魔鬼的使者成了他们一心要找寻的目标。怒火同样蒙蔽了人们的眼睛，为了免受愤怒的人群的攻击，很多人只好撒谎说自己看见过魔鬼的使者把魔药涂在门上——否则就会被众人的怒火烧得尸骨无存。

    很多无辜的人就是因此而送了命。有一位七八十岁的老人，视为虔诚的信徒，经常去圣安东尼奥教堂的做礼拜。有一天，他像往常一样来到教堂，刚想用衣襟拂拭一下座位，就听到旁边有人大喊：“他在涂毒”！说时迟、那时快，一群女信徒冲过去将虚弱的老人牢牢抓住。她们大声诅咒着这个“魔鬼”，揪住着他的头发把老人拖了出去。可怜的老人就这样一路跌跌撞撞地被人拖到法庭上，人们指望着能通过他找到魔鬼的使者，可没想到孱弱的老人还在在半路上就给折腾得一命呜呼。

    不只是他，还许更多无辜的人同样惨死在暴怒无知的群众手中。这其中有个叫毛拉的人，是当地的一个药剂师兼理发师。在这股黑白颠倒的风潮中，有人指控说他就是魔鬼的同谋，二者结伴在米兰施毒。他的屋子被狂躁的人群紧紧包围住，更要命的是，人们还在他的房间里找到许多配制好的化学药剂。可怜的毛拉声称那是自己准备用来预防传染病的制剂。可是其他的医生鉴定过后却都宣称这些药品是毒药。这下次毛拉就算跳到黄河里也洗不清了，他被五花大绑吊在架子上。起初，他还费尽口舌想要证明自己的清白。可最终他却在恶毒的折磨之下被屈打成招。他承认自己是魔鬼的同谋，还想勾结国外的势力毒死全城的人。此外，他还坦白了自己是如何作案的——趁人不注意悄悄在门上涂上药膏，在往泉水中洒上毒药。在威逼之下，他还不得不供出了几个同伙的名字，几个人无辜的人也被牵连进来。最后，毛拉和他的同伙们被判处绞刑。他的房子被人给粗暴地推倒，并在废墟上树立起一根石柱，上面刻着毛拉等人犯下的罪行，好以此来警示更多的人。

    正当此类的奇闻异事在米兰接连不断的发生的时候，可怕的瘟疫也在四面八方扩散着。就在人们聚集在一起观看罪犯被行刑时，毫无预料的瘟疫感染了一个人又一个人。不过，这并没有改变什么，民众因病痛而产生的狂躁以及对谣言的轻信程度，与瘟疫的蔓延一样以惊人的速度增长着。不管是多么荒诞不经、离奇古怪的故事，在大众中间都有着广阔的市场。

    其中的一个故事就在众人口耳相传中流传了很长的时间。故事大意是：一个黑漆漆的夜晚，米兰大教堂外已是冷清清的见不到多少人影，只有故事的主人公还在街上闲逛。忽然，一辆马车在他身边停了下来。豪华的马车由六匹白色的骏马牵引着，车后跟着无数穿黑袍骑黑马的侍从。马车上端端正正坐着一个陌生人，此人高大英挺、气质超群。夜风拂过，他那一头乌黑的长发也随之起舞。在他的脸上显露出一种轻蔑的神情。不过这对他的相貌并为造成什么影响，看起来反而更加地高贵不凡，不由得令人肃然起敬。

    当陌生人的眼光投注在米兰人身上时，他竟感到无限的寒意，这就更叫他不寒而栗起来。米兰人说，自己以前从未见过如此深肤色的人。他随即意识到，自陌生人一定是来自另一个世界。对米兰人的惶恐陌生人似乎有所觉察，于是，他和蔼而又不失威严地请让他上车。米兰人此刻根本已经失去了任何抵抗力，还没等他转过身来，就发现已经身在马车上了。马车风驰电掣一般开始飞驰起来，呼啸的狂风迎面而来，最后，在一条大街上停住。米兰人惊奇地发现：大街上熙熙攘攘的人流照旧，却好像没有一个人注意到陌生人一行那神秘之极的车马。由此他得出了一个结论，普通人是看不见他们的。

    这一大队人马在一家商店旁停了下来。商店里面竟然别有洞天，就像是一座巨大的、废弃的宫殿。米兰人同那高贵的陌生人一起走过走了进去，途中他们经过了几间光线暗淡的房间。米兰人发现，其中一间房间的中布满了巨大的大理石柱，石柱上全是有关鬼神在人间制造祸乱的浮雕。虽然整座建筑大半为黑暗所笼罩，不过偶尔会闪现出一丝光亮。凭着这些微的闪光，米兰人勉强辨认出有许多骷髅穿梭其间。这些可怕的骷髅吵吵闹闹地斗着嘴，相互追逐打闹着，或是玩着做山羊的游戏。建筑物的后方，出现了一大片荒凉的土地。在那中央树立着一块黑色巨石。泛着毒气的河水从巨石下方蜿蜒流淌着，发出恐怖的回声。腐臭的毒水缓缓流过田野，污染了米兰所有的泉眼，所经之处全部化为贫瘠的不毛之地。

    陌生人带领着他看完这一切，又把他引到另一个大房间里。这里堆满了亮闪闪的金银珠宝，简直就是凡间的天堂！陌生人想他许诺，如果米兰人选择跪在他脚下向他行礼膜拜，并愿意把一种传播瘟疫的魔药涂抹在米兰全城的房屋上，这些金银珠宝就是他的了。这时，米兰人才彻底弄明白：这个陌生人其实就是魔鬼！想到这一点，他立即开始祈祷，祈求上帝赐予自己抵抗魔鬼诱惑的力量。魔鬼听到他寻求神助的话语，知道了他是在拒绝自己的引诱，于是勃然大怒。米兰人只觉得一阵震耳欲聋的雷声响彻云霄，接着是一道道霹雳般的闪电。他吓得抖成一团，然而一瞬间，却发现自己已经回归凡尘，正站在教堂的走廊上。

    这个米兰人把自己的这番神奇经历一字不拉地向人们述说着，日复一日的讲述令所有人对此深信不疑。有人锲而不舍地想寻找那所神秘的房子，但最后都铩羽而归。而米兰人指出几座类似的建筑物也都被警察搜查了一遍，不过，传言中的魔鬼瘟神却踪迹杳然，自然也没有发现什么鬼屋和毒泉。可人们对这个传说却依然是坚信无疑。还有一些饱受恶疾之困扰的人，由于病魔的折磨而处半疯狂的状态中，于是也纷纷附和那个米兰人的说辞，站出作证说他们也见过那陌生人，听过那辆奇异之极的马车驶过的声音，说那辆来自幽冥的马车三更半夜穿街越巷时发出的隆隆声比雷声还要惊人。

    令人难以置信的是，有很多人主动站出来向大家供认：他们也被魔鬼诱惑了，米兰城里的毒就是他们施放的。于是，全城顿时陷入更加疯狂的骚乱中。这骚乱的范围越来越大，迅速波及开来，就像瘟疫一样到处蔓延。狂乱的呓语和幻想，再加上病痛和精神错乱……越来越多的人经不起这疯狂的重压而自动站出来坦承自己的罪行。他们喋喋不休地谴责着自己的罪恶，这种风魔般地忏悔举动令许多人丧了命。

    1665年发生在伦敦的大瘟疫，同样也在英国人中造成了相似的混乱，人们以同样的狂热聆听着庸医和盲目的信众的妄语。丹尼尔·笛福说，的那时英国人被似真似幻的预言和无穷无尽的假想所包围。五花八门、光怪陆离的幻梦和有关巫婆的传闻甚嚣尘上，简直就是独步古今，古代历书的记载和那些神秘的预言更令人们恐惧到了极点。在瘟疫发生的前一年曾有慧星出现，当时就有人警告说，饥馑、瘟疫和火灾也将相继到来。于是，当瘟疫的迹象刚一在伦敦露头，那些“热心肠”的信徒就开始在街头到处散布言论，宣称伦敦将在几天之内毁于一旦。

    第三节  莫名其妙的“伦敦大洪水”

    1524年，伦敦城一度被一个虚妄的预言所主宰。当时，整座城里满是卜算者与占星术士，每天来找他们算命和预卜吉凶的社会各阶层人士络绎不绝。那是因为在1523年6月上旬，一个惊人的预言在伦敦引发了一场轩然大波。一个术士预言：1524年2月1日，泰晤士河水位将会猛涨引发大洪水，洪水将把整个伦敦夷为平地，成千上万的居民以及他们的住房将遭到灭顶之灾。盲从的人们将这个预言视如圣经一般神圣。一个月接着一个月，在千百遍重复之下，几乎所有的盲从者都对这个预言坚信不疑，甚至还有很多家庭急急忙忙收拾行装迁居到肯特和埃塞克斯两郡。

    1524年年初，移民的数量在一天天地增加。就连在伦敦城里工作的人也撂下了工作，拖家带口、成群结队地步行到15英里以外的乡间去避难。上流阶层的人们也纷纷乘马车或其他交通工具来到同一地点躲避洪水。到1月中旬时分，至少有2万人逃离了伦敦——一座注定将要被邪恶摧毁的都市。许多大户人家搬到了海格特、哈姆斯戴德、布莱克海斯等地的高处去居住。另有一些人在北部的瓦尔勒姆修道院以及泰晤士河南岸的克洛伊顿搭起帐篷度日。圣·波尔索纽斯修道院院长——布尔顿，竟大手笔地教人在哈罗德山上修建了一座城堡，里面储存的物资给养足够两个月之需。

    1月24日，也就是预言中的大洪水来临的前一周，布尔顿率领他的同僚和亲眷们浩浩荡荡地迁到城堡中。由马车装载着的一艘艘木船跟这人群一同到来，这些木船上还都配备有技术精湛的船手，万一洪水漫到这里，人们就可以坐在船上到的地势较高的地方避难了。很多富裕的市民见状艳羡不已，也提出请求想留在此地避难，不过精明而富有远见的修道院长却不答应，只有他的亲友知交以及那些给他们运送食品的人才能在此居住。

    终于，2月1日——决定伦敦命运的一天到来了。太阳依旧在东方升起，可骚动的人群却喧哗不休。人们早早等在高地上，观望着正在上涨的河水。他们一致断定：河水只可能慢慢地上涨而不可能突然决堤，因此当水位超过警戒线之后再转移到安全地带也还来得及。不过，大多数人还是十分谨慎的，他们认为躲到10—20英里以外才算真正的安全。自然，纵使有再多愚蠢的人在它耳边吵吵嚷嚷，泰晤士河也绝不会放在心上，它仍如往常一样静静地流淌着。潮水有规律地上涨着，到了傍晚又准时下落，就如同此前的千万年一样波澜不惊。当夜幕降临时，占星术士们的脸上苍白一片，就如同那些自认为受人愚弄的市民们的脸色一样。到了晚上，河水照旧平静，根本没有一丝想要冲破堤防卷走一切事物的迹象。然而，还是没有人敢放心大胆的去睡觉。为了避免洪水臣夜晚人们不注意的时候悄然而至，成千上万的人留在河边等待着、观望着，一直守候到第二天天亮为止。

    第二天，关于以前那个错误的预言，大大小小的预言家们进行了一场严肃的讨论。所幸，最终他们想出了一个看似合理的说辞好减轻民众的愤怒。他们称，因为一个数字的误差，使他们错误地把这次洪水的日期提早了整整1个世纪。而且，天上的星辰还在正常运行，作为同大家一样的凡人来说，他们会出这样的纰漏也算在情理当中。不过有一点是可以确定的，当代的伦敦人是安全无虞的，大洪水冲击伦敦城的具体时间不是1524年，而是在1624年。这一宣告使波尔索纽斯修道院的布尔顿院长放心地拆除了他的“临时堡垒”。于是，一大批疲倦的“难民”们得以安全返回伦敦。

    第四节  受人尊敬的预言家们

    时至今日，修道院院长斯丹顿嬷嬷的预言仍然为英国乡村很多地方的人所深信。在乡下，她享有极为崇高的声望，几乎是英国所有最流行的预言的权威发布者。不管哪种阶层的人，文盲也好，受过一点教育的人也好，社会各个阶层的人统统把她的话视作“金口玉言”。据说，斯丹顿其人出生在亨利七世时期的纳雷斯堡，为了增强使自己预测未来的力量得到增强，她选择把灵魂出卖给了魔王。虽然在生活中她曾经被人看做是一个女巫，不过斯丹顿却幸运地逃脱了一般女巫可能遭遇到的厄运。后来，在约克郡的克利福德附近，她得以安享晚年，并在睡梦中悄然离世。当地人在教堂后院里为她树立了一座纪念碑，以下是铭刻在石碑上的墓志铭：
    从不说谎的她在此地长眠，
    她的魔力并未从此消失，
    那些预言将继续在世间流传，
    她的大名也将因此而流芳百世。

    “她从未浪费过一天时间，”在她的传记中作者这样写道：“她未曾讲述过任何奇怪的事情，她需要的只是最严肃的思考。人们从英格兰的四面八方蜂拥而来，她名声远扬，众人纷纷前来聆听她的教诲。这些人中，有青年人、老年人，也有富翁和穷汉，更多的则是妙龄少女。人们各自为了那些未来可能发生的事以及与之有关的疑问来到她的身边，然后，再带着她所给予的解答满意地离开。”

    在传记的其他部分，还记载着她在贝弗利修道院院长那里所作的一番预言。在其中她预测到亨利八世将查封修道院；亨利与安妮·波琳结婚；发生在斯密斯弗尔德的异教徒大火；苏格兰女王玛丽被执行死刑等一系列大事件。此外，她预见到来自苏格兰的詹姆斯一世即将接替英国王位，并说道：“灾难即将从寒冷的北方到来。”

    在后，她还做出了另一个预言。这个预言也许在她的信徒的眼中没有能够实现，或许，在本世纪将会有实现的一天。
    这个预言说：
    “巨大的声音回响在天地间，
    当血水与洪水融汇在一起。
    三对雄狮彼此咆哮拼杀。
    波浪轰鸣赛过响雷。
    荣耀归于国王，
    欢乐属于百姓。
    纷争的年代行将结束，
    和平重现在这片土地。
    富足的日子就要来到，
    人们放下武器开始新生活。”

    尽管斯丹顿嬷嬷的声誉素著，可是在英国众多的预言家当中，她的地位并不算是最高。梅林——亚瑟王的导师、强大的魔法师梅林的作为预言家的地位，当属最崇高、最显赫的。这一点无人可比。

    “梅林和他的预测术何人不晓？
    无论岁月更替，
    梅林的思想冠绝今古。
    他的预言无处不在，
    在世间辗转千年，
    直至预言本身归于无迹，
    一切才会真正终了。”

    在斯宾塞那充满了神韵的诗句，精到地描摹出了这位英格兰最著名的预言家的风貌。

    与古往今来所有的神奇人物相比，梅林的魔法显然更具神通。在众多传闻中，他能令天地俯首，日月星辰领命。转瞬间又能令昼夜颠倒、日月无光。而他的一身虎胆，更令所有的敌人望而却步；一提到梅林的大名，敌人无不望风披靡。就算到了今天，邪魔外道们听了他的大名也是噤若寒蝉。先知曾预言过，梅林不是肉身凡胎，也不是那年华有尽时的帝王将相或其他任何人。他所生活的那个充满着仙女和精灵的世界，象征着一种凡人难以企及的虚幻而美妙的人生境界。

    关于梅林的这首诗，在今天已然代表了人们对梅林这个介于仙凡之间的奇人最普遍的看法。而至于他是否是一个真正的名人，还是由那些盲从者根据头脑中那如诗如梦诗的幻想杜撰出来的，如今仍然是众说纷纭。这样的奇人异士也可能真的存在，而其所具有的丰富的知识和洞察力远超过他的实际年龄的看法似乎也算符合情理，就好比弗莱尔·伯坎，此人一生中所掌握的知识同样超乎寻常，就算普通人穷尽一生也无法望其项背。

    乔弗雷，这位出身于莫芒斯的作家首先用拉丁文把有关梅林的诗歌及预言翻译成了散文。梅林，不仅是乔弗雷崇拜和敬仰的人物，同样也为大多数的资深编年史作家们所推崇。查理一世统治时期，在一部由托马斯·霍华德编撰出版的编年史中，关于梅林的生平经历以及他那充满神奇色彩的推测和预言，都有着精彩的记述和演绎。在这部编年史们中，你也可以发现几则假预言，看样子它们都是出自霍华德本人的手笔。不过，由于霍华德的写作手法过于逼真、过于确定，乃至于没人会对那些流传久远的有关梅林的故事发生一丝一毫的怀疑。当谈及英国著名的君主“狮心王”理查一世时，哈霍华德这样写道：

    狮心王镇压了那些造反的撒拉森人，
    给自己赢回了许多光荣的战利品。
    玫瑰（象征英国）和百合（象征法国）最初和睦一致
    却为了分赃不均而虎视眈眈。
    狮心王在海外一路高奏凯歌，
    英格兰国却变得乌烟瘴气。
    狮子将受困于牢笼，
    付赎金再经千难万险，
    才得以重见天日。

    托马斯·霍华德的开诚布公，让他又大胆地将后来发生的那些事原原本本地告诉给读者。现在，让我们来看看，在他的笔下，“篡位者”理查三世是怎样一副德性。他的笔触真是相当犀利：

    一个驼子天生丑，
    满口都是大板牙。
    活像得罪了真善美之神。
    出世脚丫先落地，
    甫出娘胎就遭人骂。
    他本来身居贱位，
    却踩着没膝的鲜血，
    一步一步往上爬。
    荣华富贵与皇位
    令他不顾一切去追求。
    一旦黄袍加身，
    他那可敬的尊荣，
    即便是丑八怪也一样招人夸。
    他自以为已经大权在握
    岂料从国外来的仇敌就要杀回英格兰。

    在这次事件之后的另一个预言说道，从罗马回来的前太子亨利八世将要成为英格兰国王。关于这位君主，预言中有这样的词句：“当他发怒时绝不饶恕任何一个男人，而当他欲火中烧是时也绝不会姑息迁就任何一个女人”。所以，到了他唯一的继承人——伊丽莎白一世时代，“同性恋和赌博也跟着出现了”。

    霍华德大师所处的时代所发生的事件比较接近梅林的预言。梅林死后，众多其他预言家纷纷以梅林的名义预言着英格兰将要发生的事情，这些预言甚至还被散播到欧洲大陆。哈霍华德接着又给读者们留下了一道不解之谜，他：

    “当大麻成熟等待收获的时候，
    英格兰人要小心项上的人头。”

    这个预言是如此的可怕，甚至有人想到应该把他给绞死——那个时代，如果预言无法应验，预言家将面临的就只有死亡。

    关于这则预言他做过如下的解释：“HEMPE这个单词由五个字母组成，而亨利八世则生有五个子女，将二者联系在一起，这个预言就很容易破解了。H指英王亨利八世；E指他的儿子，王储爱德华；M指的是玛丽公主，她在爱德华之后继承了英国王位；P则代表了西班牙国王菲利普，他是玛丽的丈夫，通过往事联姻与玛丽共享英国王位；最后的那个字母E，当然就是后来的指伊丽莎白一世女王陛下了。女王的驾崩所导致的王位继承权问题，可能会在英国造成大量的纷争。”

    后来的事实证明，他所预言的王位纷争并没有发生。霍华德只好无赖的狡辩说：“纵然是如此，事实仍然证明了预言的准确性。在詹姆斯一世国王接任英国国王之后，宫廷内外死亡事件不断发生。不光是在伦敦，整个英格兰在7年后准会发生大乱子。”他的这番话倒与潘特弗兰克特·皮特曾经的一番狂言十分相似，此公曾大胆地预言说，约翰王将遭到废黜，而且不久之后就会死去。不过，约翰王还好端端地活在人世可皮特本人给判处绞刑吊死了。

    在《英国编年史》一书中，科洛顿也对一位所谓的“预言家”做了一番趣味横生的描述。“与此同时”，他写道，“这些英格兰的信徒们替自己树立了一个新偶像——一个所谓的“先知”——彼得·维克弗里德。此人是约克郡人，早年间做过一段时间教士。是一个游手好闲的浪荡子，也是一个利欲熏心的商人。此刻，这位跳梁小丑大模大样地上场了。他首先骗取了众多凡夫俗子的信任，口沫横飞地宣扬说耶稣基督曾两次在他面前显灵。头一次是在约克郡，耶稣幻化成小孩的形状撞进他的怀里；而另一次则是在布姆弗莱特。基督降临之时，口中发出出一连串的低唤声：‘和平、和平、和平’。此外，他还领受了耶稣的一番教导。这番奇妙的经历被他添油加醋地告诉了主教大人。他还以众生万物起誓，只要忠心侍奉耶稣基督，就能领会到天堂的极乐和地狱的哀苦。英格兰王国里将会再次发生变乱，不过，他始终为耶稣而活。”

    “这个道貌岸然的伪预言家还预测到，约翰王的在位时间不会超过下一个耶稣升天节——也就是在1211年5月的某一天（复活节40天之后的那个星期四），而巧的是，那一天正是约翰王加冕13周年的纪念日。那么，还在龙椅上的国王该怎么办？是罢黜还是被送上绞刑架，还是吧皇权拱手出让？关于这些，在先知彼得看来都无足轻重，具体该如何解决也该由英明的国王自己应对，他就算知道结果也不会泄露天机。不过，可以肯定的是是，下一朝的天子既不是约翰王也不是他的子孙。”

    当约翰王听到这个传言时，仅仅说了一句：“哼，该死的巫师，一派胡言。”言罢一笑置之。没成想言者无心听者有意，这个荒谬绝伦的预言被冷落多时的王太子听到了。为防落下把柄授人以口实，太子下令禁止彼得出国，也不许他再胡说八道信口开河。不过要想叫一个整天游手好闲的混混闭嘴，从此不再惹是生非可那么容易。为维护国王的名誉，一干重臣们私下里将彼得悄悄逮了起来，并以诽谤罪将他关入大牢。这一切做得神不知鬼不觉，就连国王也是一无所知。

    然而一波未平一波又起，关于国王的流言蜚语每天都在增加，其中多为荒诞不经的无稽之谈。其中却不乏有心人的刻意安排，同时，一些对现今的政权抱持着深切敌意的人也混杂在其中。群众中总是流传着似曾相识的语句：‘彼德·沃克菲尔德这样说’，‘他曾经做过那样的预言’……如此的喋喋不休，却在人们的口中不厌其烦地散布着。这位先知所说的一切谎言，人们一概坚信不疑。彼得所预言关于耶稣升天节的预言虽然过去了，可它造成的余波还在荡漾。

    有人于是规劝国王：这个荒谬的预言已经为陛下带来了足够多的困扰，此人如此善用言辞蛊惑人心，下院已经有议员在反对朝廷了。同时，在出访欧洲高级教士的推波助澜下，彼得的这个谣言已经越过大西洋传到了法国皇帝的耳朵里，这令他产生了想要侵占英国的野心。要想避免不必要的祸患，应该迅速做出决断。约翰王于是下令将先知彼得及其党羽一并处于绞刑，免得谣言再度死灰复燃。

    第五节  大名鼎鼎的魔法师梅林

    让我们把话题转回到梅林身上。即便是在当今，他的事迹仍在英格兰被广为传颂。伯恩斯曾说过一句名言，形容的是另一位家喻户晓的名人。现在，拿他的这句名言来评价梅林可说是再贴切不过了：

    他的大名宇内皆知，
    法力无边，声威传遍四方。

    起初，他那非同凡响的名声只不过局限在他的出生地，不过，很快就在欧洲的大多数国家里变得脍炙人口起来。1498年，罗伯特·德·伯斯兰写过一本以他为主角的小册子，并在巴黎印刷出版，书名为《生活、预言和奇迹》，其中充满了光怪陆离的魔幻情节与奇思妙想。作者说，梅林的父亲就是魔王撒旦。甫一出世，小梅林就会说话。这种奇怪的场景吓了他母亲一跳，梅林却促使母亲——一个纯洁的年轻女人向他保证，她会把他抚育成人。这正应了梅林家隔壁一个素性不良的邻居的预言。而当地的法官听说了这件奇事后也觉得其中大有蹊跷。于是就把梅林母子唤来讯问。当娘儿俩按时来到法庭上时，这个年幼的预言家的超常智慧着实让他费了一番心力。当法官问他，是否知道他的父亲是谁时，小梅林朗声答道：“是的，我的父亲是撒旦。我拥有同他一样强大的力量，我洞悉这个世界过去、现在和未来所有的一切。”这番掷地有声的话顿时叫法官赞叹不已，并报之以惊喜的掌声，立场登时改变成了梅林的第一个崇拜者。于是，他理智地作出决定，往后再也不去打扰这位令人敬畏的预言家及其母亲的生活。

    在一些早期的传说中，位于英格兰威尔特郡索尔兹伯里平原上的巨石阵，就是魔法师梅林那神奇巨大的力量的象征。据说，在梅林的指挥下，这些巨大的石头在空中盘旋翻滚。为了纪念被萨克逊人残酷屠杀的300位不幸的不列颠部族首领，他特意从爱尔兰把这些巨石召唤来，把它们安放在索尔兹伯里平原上，并将它们排列成现在所能看见的样子。这个巍然耸立的巨石建筑群代表了人们永恒的记忆。

    在卡默森附近的阿布戈威利，预言者居住过的洞穴、湖泊，以及和他们施法念咒的场景仍然历历可见。诗人斯宾塞在他的大作《仙后》中，对此所作的描述是多么地美轮美奂!那些美妙动人的词句是如此地异彩纷呈。假若没有斯宾塞那枝生花妙笔，那些名震不列颠的伟大先知和他们那神奇的预言都将不会流传到今天。

    让我们从《仙后》中摘出一段来，看看梅林在其中是怎样的神通广大：

    睿智过人的先知梅林，
    胜利的果实永远属于他。
    他远离红尘，潜游太虚，
    一探世间究竟，
    在那里，见不到一丝生命的踪影。
    无论何时他总会劝告那些，
    围绕在他身边的精灵。
    如果你们曾漫游世界，
    去看那可怕的风景。
    ……
    湖上的仙后请他赴约，
    她是他魂牵梦绕的心上人儿。
    她让那些精灵劳工逃走，
    而他们等他回来，干活不敢放松。
    就算不能忍受这劳动的艰辛。
    但难敌梅林的威力无比的法术，
    他们俯首帖耳不敢妄动，
    昼夜不停在那儿辛勤工作，
    直到让铜墙铁壁高高耸立。

    第六节  奇人尼克松

    在英国的其他预言家中，有一位与斯丹敦嬷嬷同处一个时代，也有人管他叫“白痴”。此人名叫罗伯特·尼克松。据时下流行的资料看，尼克松的家世平平无奇。他出生在维尔罗伊尔附近的德勒莫尔林区，从小家境贫寒。虽然父母手把手地教他各种耕作技术，可他实在是太过无知和愚蠢了，到后来在干农活方面是一窍不通。乡亲们只好一致公认：小尼克松是个彻头彻尾的傻瓜蛋。由于这个缘故，没人注意到他还拥有一种奇异的预见能力。也因此，早年间他做出的许多预言就此散落在乡间为人所淡忘了。

    尼克松虽然鲁钝，却也有可取之处。一次，在他身上发生了一件引人瞩目的事情，使得一举成为一位声名显赫的杰出预言家。话说罗伯特·尼克松某天在地里劳动的时候，突然停了下来，脸上现出一种奇特而又惊骇的表情，嘴里不住地喊道：“啊呀，迪克！天哪，亨利!喔，错啦，不对，迪克!呵呵，总算对了，亨利，是亨利，亨利得了天下啦!”这番语焉不详的言语叫那些跟他一起在田里耕作的人大惑不解，谁也不晓得他这种大喜若狂的举动是怎么一回事。不过，到了第二天就真相大白啦。原来，尼克松所说的一番疯话是一种谶语，其实是在暗示：在伯斯华兹战役中，英王理查三世在一场蓄意谋杀中身亡。亨利七世随即被继任英国国王。正当尼克松说出这一预言的时候，一位信使急匆匆来到，向群众证实了这个消息。

    这个年轻的预言家的大名很快就在英格兰传开了。不久后，连国王也知晓了尼克松的事迹，希望能跟这位预言家做面对面的交谈。于是，一位皇家信使奉旨将罗伯特·尼克松带往皇官。不过，这位信使却饶了很多弯，花了好大一番工夫方才寻到罗伯特·尼克松的家。在这之前，尼克松已经通过自己那不可思议的力量预知了这一点。他就像个疯子一样在街上乱撞，嚷嚷着亨利王已经派人来接他入宫，他不能违抗圣命，可他感觉到自己会死于饥饿。开始，他所说的这些神神叨叨的话并没有人太在意，也没有在人群中造成什么恐慌。可到第三天，国王派来的信使果然到了，还把尼克松带到了皇宫里。这下子，此前的一切都被证实了，在当地民众的心里烙下深刻的印记。子人们心目中，尼克松——先前的傻小子，原来竟是他们的预言家，是本地最伟大的天才！

    才一到皇宫，尼克松便发现，亨利王神色忧悒，好像正为什么事情所困扰。原来，宫里丢失了一颗十分名贵的钻石。亨利王于是想请预言家占卜一下，看看钻石丢在哪里。实际上，这是国王给尼克松出的一道难题。他亲手把钻石藏了起来，想考验一下这位预言家是否如传言中的那般神奇。不料，尼克松却仅仅以一句古老谚语做了回答：“谁把东西藏起来，谁也一定能找到。”这话叫亨利王大感震惊，原来自己做得一切都被预言家看透了。从那一刻起，国王打心眼里认定了尼克松拥有的预言天才，还命人把预言家所说的一切都记录下来。

    留在宫里的这段日子里，尼克松不时地跟人抱怨说，如果让他一直呆在皇宫的话，有一天他会被活活饿死。亨利国王却想把他留在身边，为了安抚他，国王特意颁布命令，说尼克松想要吃什么想吃多少随他愿意。尼克松这下可以放开肚皮吃了，他的生活过得滋润异常，不长一段时间之内他就吃得膘肥体壮，壮得好似一个豪门家的管事，胖得活像一个总督。

    有一天，亨利王要出去打猎。尼克松赶紧跑到宫门外拦住王驾，扑通一声跪在地上，乞求国王不要留下他，免得他被饿死。国王一听只觉得好笑，并没有放在心上，只是安排了一个官员好好照顾尼克松的生活起居。随后，大队人马就向森林进发了。一等国王离开，宫中的仆从们就开始对尼克松冷嘲热讽起来，说他是个一文不值的蠢货。尼克松自然十分恼火，于是又向那官员抱怨。那位自作聪明的官员为了帮他免受讥嘲之苦，就自作主张把将他尼克松关在国王的密室里。为了保证他吃饱，每天还派人给他送四次饭。

    可就在这个当口却发生了一桩意外，国王派来信使传这位官员立即去温彻斯特行宫候命。官员一刻也没耽误地打马启程，却忘了派人照料可怜的尼克松。三天后，这位官员才回来。这时他才想起被困在密室中的那位预言家。当他慌忙进入密室后发现，尼克松正躺在地板上——已经饿死了，一切正应了预言家此前的做出的预言。

    在尼克松的种种预言中，已经应验的有这么几个，它们发生在老王位觊觎者詹姆斯·爱德华时期：

    “一个伟人来到英格兰，
    在王子们中间取得胜利。”

    “乌鸦啄食着贵族的血肉，
    北方起义只为反抗南方的压迫。”

    “来自北方的雄鸡仓皇逃遁，
    那骄傲的羽毛被人连根拔除，
    他会讥咒自己来到这个世上。”

    对这些预言推崇备至的人无不认为，预言中提到的情形正如正午的阳光一般不容质疑。第一个预言的含义是：库罗登战役中，坎特伯雷公爵打败了爱德华王子；第二个预言寓意着上院议员德文特·伍德、帕姆里努和罗瓦特被处决；第三个是指觊觎王位者詹姆斯·爱德华从不列颠海岸撤退到法国。

    下面的这些预言显然也很耐人寻味：

    “在七、八、九之间，
    奇迹将在英格兰闪现；
    在九到十三中间
    不幸会一一浮现。”

    “可怕的大战就要爆发
    无数财力和人力将会白白耗费。
    英格兰人将重振精神，
    在镰刀和美酒面前。”

    “外国侵略者要入侵英国，
    他们头上的盔帽覆着冰雪。
    灾祸和饥荒随之而来，
    穿着裙子的人被屠杀。”

    “洪水将把奈特维基城冲毁。”

    对于前面那两段预言，至今也没有人得出确切的结论，不过却在政治斗争中的某一份文件被人牵强附会地解释了一番。第三个预言说，头盔覆盖着冰雪的国家将侵略英格兰，这明显是在说英格兰将要与俄国开战。至于最后一段里提及的城镇将要被大水冲毁，却没个人相信。那些预言家在做出一个个预言时，基本上都处于一种安静平和的心态中，可没说清楚那些可怕的灾祸究竟哪年哪月才会发生。不过，我们则认为，要确认这些预言的真假，恐怕从今天算起得过上约两百年时间才能一一证明。

  • 汤因比《人类与大地母亲》37-82

    第三十七章 中华、贵霜、安息和罗马诸帝国

    （公元前31－公元220年）

    从公元48年至公元3世纪初以后。旧大陆文明中心所在地，几乎在政治上全部被囊括在四大帝国之中。它们的版图，以连绵不断的带状，从太平洋到大西洋岸，穿过大陆向各个方向扩展。

    因此，在旧大陆的这一历史发展时期，规模巨大的政治统一，成为一般的法则。尽管如此，在印度次大陆，仍存在着违背这个一般法则的明显表现。公元48年贵霜帝国的建立，使印度西北部得到政治上的统一，也将印度的这部分地区在政治上同大夏统一起来。它使自公元前2世纪初以来困扰印度已久的政治混乱状况，开始发生显著的变化。然而，同公元前3世纪的印度相比，公元1世纪的印度在政治上仍然显得支离破碎。公元前3世纪的印度，除了最南端以外，在政治上整个次大陆都处于孔雀王朝政府的控制之下。

    公元1世纪，从前属于孔雀王朝的心脏地区即今天的比哈尔和北方诸邦，都在巽加王朝的统治之下。在这一地区，巽加王朝于公元前183年取代了孔雀王朝。孔雀王朝过去的首都华氏城，今为巽加王朝的首都。虽然在公元前2世纪中，有一个希腊国王曾一度占领华氏城，但贵霜帝国却从没有向东南方扩张到那么远。此外，孔雀王朝原来在德干高原的更为广大的领土，现在处于另一个后起的王朝统治之下。这就是安得拉王朝（又称萨塔瓦哈纳王朝，公元前230－公元225年）。它象巽加王朝一样强大。但次大陆的南端，象过去一样仍为许多小国统治着。公元40－150年间，曾被安息－塞人从印度河流域赶向东南方的塞人，在乌贾因建立了国家，并得到了安得拉王朝在马哈拉施特拉邦的地盘。塞人在乌贾因和马哈拉施特拉的领地，是贵霜帝国的自治管辖区。但次大陆的绝大部分，仍然处于贵霜帝国的疆土之外。未包括在任何一个帝国之中的另一块旧大陆文明中心地区，就是尼罗河上游。前面已经提到，法老时代埃及南部的政治版图，在中王国时期已经推进到尼罗河第二瀑布上游；在新王国时期到达了纳帕塔，即第四瀑布的下游。公元前11世纪新王国崩溃以后，纳帕塔成为后继国家之一库什的首都。库什在公元前8世纪和前7世纪，度过灭亡的危机幸存下来，并把埃及世界在政治上重新统一起来，把埃及本身置于库什王国的统治之下。在一个至今尚未搞清的时间，库什王国向尼罗河上游扩张，越过纳帕塔，到达了阿特巴拉河和第六瀑布交汇处的右岸，即到达了麦罗埃地区。大约在公元前6世纪，库什王国的首都也从纳帕塔移到麦罗埃。

    比起纳帕塔，麦罗埃具有3个优点。麦罗埃地区尚有降雨，而在纳帕塔则完全依赖人工水利工程供水；麦罗埃有丰富的铁矿石，为冶金工业的发展提供了可能性；第三，首都设在麦罗埃的国家，既占有交通之利，又具有农居之宜（1973年被干旱所毁）。这一地带向西延伸，处于北部沙漠和南部的热带雨林之间，从白尼罗河西岸，一直到大西洋的非洲海岸。

    虽然库什王国未能吞并埃及，但它一直成功地保持独立，没有被第一波斯帝国、托勒密帝国和罗马帝国所吞并。公元3世纪，库什王国似乎是毁灭于非洲蛮族努比亚人之手。

    与此同时，大约自公元前7世纪以来，阿比西尼亚高原北端，就被来自也门（阿拉伯半岛的南端）的移民占领。也门和它在非洲的殖民地均处于四个帝国的版图之外。

    所以，四大帝国并没有把旧大陆文明中心所有已开化了的地区都包揽无余。但是，它的确已将其中绝大部分囊括在自己的版图之中。

    四大帝国相互间的政治关系，主要由政治地图的形态所决定。罗马帝国和安息帝国与中华帝国没有共同的边界，贵霜帝国与罗马帝国也没有共同的边界。由于中华帝国与罗马帝国处于欧亚大陆的两端，因而它们之间并不经常发生直接的关系。诚然，两大相距甚远的帝国中的居民，只是模模糊糊地感到了另一帝国的存在。然而，贵霜帝国和安息帝国，它们各自与所有其他帝国，包括不是直接邻居的遥远帝国，都有相对紧密的联系。这两个帝国都是处于中间地带的大国。它们的商人都是中华帝国和罗马帝国间那种横穿大陆的间接贸易的中间人。如果不是发生彼此间的战争的话，罗马帝国和贵霜帝国就发生彼此间的商业和文化交往。中华帝国与安息帝国间的交往，同样是令人愉快的。但是，罗马人与安息人之间、安息人与贵霜人之间、贵霜人与中国人之间，也发生过一些战争。可这些战争既不长久，也未造成毁灭性后果，更没有导致政治地图发生任何永久性变化。

    公元前102－前40年间，西汉王朝几度攻占大宛。东汉王朝在公元73－102年间，继续不断地攻占此地。公元2世纪，大宛和塔里木盆地，都成为中国和贵霜帝国之间的争议地区。锡斯坦是贵霜帝国和安息帝国的一块争议地区，亚美尼亚则是安息帝国与罗马帝国之间的争议地区。公元63－66年，根据协定，亚美尼亚的国王由安息阿萨息斯王朝派人担任，但是，担任亚美尼亚国王的阿萨息斯人选的头衔，却要使来访的罗马人满意，并在那里由罗马皇帝主持授权仪式。

    安息帝国和罗马帝国沿幼发拉底河及其西段弯道的边界，自从公元前64年庞培把叙利亚变成罗马的行省从而得以确定后，就再没有发生大的长久性的变动。安息人侵入过叙利亚，但他们公元前53年在卡里大败克拉苏军队之后，并没有成功地永久占领此地。公元前36和前34－前33年间，马可·安东尼率军入侵幼发拉底河以东地区，一直打到北部米底（阿塞拜疆）的东北部。公元114－117年，罗马皇帝图拉真企图把亚美尼亚、美索不达米亚和巴比伦尼亚并入罗马帝国的版图。但罗马帝国的这两次军事冒险，都以惨重失败而告终。公元117年，图拉真的继承者哈德良，把罗马帝国的东部边界撤回到幼发拉底河一线。但他保留了罗马帝国进入波斯湾尽头的通道。图拉真曾率军打入波斯湾尽头，并一度占领了那里。哈德良允许西亚国家巴尔米拉自治，并鼓励巴尔米拉在安息帝国西南边界建立不引人注意的贸易站。

    四大帝国由3个通道相互连接起来。尽管人们使用这些通道，但不论是军队、外交使节、商人或者教士，却很少走完中华帝国和罗马帝国之间漫长通道的全程。这两大帝国相距太远，因而主要靠中间人来保持相互间的联系。中间人手递口传他把货物和信息分程传送过去。

    最北边的通道，从中国长城的边防站，穿过欧亚大平原，延伸到已成为罗马保护国的黑海北岸一带的希腊殖民地。一条短些但更累人的陆路，就是”丝绸之路”。这条路从华北平原上的东汉京城洛阳，穿过塔里木盆地，翻过天山，到达乌浒河和药杀水两条河上游之间扎拉夫尚河谷的粟特。从粟特向西，这条路一分为二。不愿踏上安息领土的旅行者，可以经过花刺子模、里海以及高加索山脉和亚美尼亚高原之间的地槽，到达黑海东岸地区。那些甘愿受安息关卡人员和警察折磨的旅行者，可以走向地中海叙利亚海岸的任何港口。最近的路，是经过巴尔米拉和佩特拉这两个”商旅之城”中的一个，再穿越叙利亚沙漠。巴尔米拉是从安息到地中海，与沿波斯湾阿拉伯岸诸港出发这两条路的交叉点；佩特拉则是从安息出发与从也门出发的两条陆路的交汇点。

    对于商业活动来说，海路风险最大，但又获利最多。中经瓦迪图米拉特，连接红海港口苏伊士和尼罗河三角洲最东部的运河，可能是由托勒密二世完成，或者也许仅仅是由他修整的。这条运河，提供了地中海和红海之间的水上直达通道。托勒密帝国具有强大的海陆军力量时，始终控制着红海，并据守着现为厄立特里亚海岸上的滩头堡。它在那里的目的之一，就是俘获非洲象，以用这种象同对手塞琉西帝国的印度象进行搏斗。但在这一时期，定居希腊的埃及人，甘愿把埃及和印度之间的水上贸易让给赛伯伊也门水手。公元前2世纪末，托勒密政府开辟了从埃及的红海港口直通印度河三角洲的航线，使自己回避了赛伯伊人。不知何时，一位在南部海城航行的希腊水手，弄清了季风的季节和方向（”希帕罗斯”也许不是一位希腊历史上的水手的名宇，而是不知其名的希腊小商船船长们所能驾驭的季风的形象化绰号）。

    埃及希腊人对季风规律的发现，使他们从埃及到印度河三角洲的”穿梭旅行”时间大为缩短，也使他们能够直接驶过曼德海峡和印度南端之间的公海，甚至能绕过锡兰，在印度东部海岸的阿里卡马杜尔建立一个货物集散中心。阿里卡马杜尔恰好位于今天的本地治里城的南部，从这里进入内地比西部任何港口都容易得多。

    希腊人在埃及和印度之间的水上交通，在公元1世纪中叶似乎达到了鼎盛时期，也就是说，由于贵霜没有进行侵扰，印度西北部与大夏在政治上实现统一，因而使印度西北部内地所进行的贸易活动更加安全。在同一世纪，印度水手也效法希腊人，学会了径直穿过阿拉伯海的技艺。印度水手可以从印度东部海岸的港口，直接驶过孟加拉湾，到达马来半岛。有些印度船员把船开到克拉地峡，把货物运上岸，然后在暹罗湾和中国海岸将陆路送来的货物装船继续航行。另外一些印度人进行不间断的、环形航行，从孟加拉湾出发，经过马六甲海峡，来到中国海。如同希腊人渡过阿拉伯海以及更广阔的海域一样，印度人穿越孟加拉湾和更远的水域的航行，也是与战争无关的活动。他们的船不是战舰，而是商船；水手不是征服者，而是商人。

    国际贸易必须通过国际语言和文字媒介来进行。公元前31年至公元225年，旧大陆文明中心西半部分，即从贵霜帝国领土到大西洋东岸，流行着3种国际语言，每种语言都以自己的文字书写形式来表达。

    这一地区流行的第一种语言，是阿拉米语。这种语言书写所用的字母系统，象希腊字母一样，来自腓尼基语。这种语言在第一波斯帝国中，曾成为应用最广泛的官方交流媒介。在波斯帝国的希腊人后来建立的国家里，阿拉米语让位于希腊共同语，后者成为官方通用语言。然而，在波斯帝国的塞琉西希腊后继者国中3个后来由伊朗人建立的国家（即安息、法尔斯和粟特）中，阿拉米语重新作为官方用语，并且运用古波斯文的3种变体重新成为文学的媒介：在这一文字发明中，用阿拉米字母书写的阿拉米词语，显然被当作表意符号，然后把它们当作似乎有同样意思的伊朗词语来读。与此同时，公元前最后一个世纪末，阿拉米语几乎完全取代迦南语和阿卡德语，成为原来讲闪米特语的”新月沃地”人的日常用语。阿卡德语在公元前第二千纪中，曾经作为小亚细亚、埃及以及”新月沃地”的国际语言，但此时却几乎完全被遗弃。甚至在巴比伦尼亚，这时也很少有学者去阅读用楔形文字书写的阿卡德语。在叙利亚，迦南语（”希伯来语”）仅仅在礼拜仪式上使用（例如，巴勒斯坦的犹太团体把它作为礼拜仪式语言）。只有在地中海西部地区幸存的腓尼基殖民城邦中，迦南语才仍然是人们日常使用的语言。

    希腊人的统治结束后，希腊语仍为官方所采用。取代希腊人成为幼发拉底河东部政治统治者的安息人、安息－塞人和塞人，都依照大夏的希腊统治者和印度的希腊统治者的先例，发行印有两种文字的钱币，其中一种是希腊文。贵霜皇帝颁发的钱币上，印有希腊字母组成的文字，当然这种语言并非希腊语，而是塞语、伊朗语的一种变体。在大夏这个土著伊朗人与外来希腊人关系格外友好的伊朗国家里，人们用希腊字母来表示当地的伊朗语。例如，贵霜皇帝迦腻色迦（约公元120－144年在位）建造的庙宇中就有这样使用希腊字母的铭文。发现这个庙宇遗址的现代考古学家，把它命名为锡尔克果塔尔。

    在幼发拉底河以西、罗马人取代希腊人统治的地区，用西部希腊（”罗马”）字母书写的拉丁文，是官方的语言文字。但是，帝国政府、其地方代表和代理商，却使用希腊语来同母语是希腊的或者把希腊语作为文化生活语言的罗马公民和被征服者进行交流。除在意大利东南部以外，希腊语已成为意大利的日常用语，排斥了拉丁语。在小亚细亚，希腊语继续占统治地位，排斥非希腊语言。然而，在环西地中海（除讲希腊语的西西里人和拿不勒斯人外）以及跨越亚平宁大陆欧洲部分到多瑙河和莱茵河一带的罗马统治地区里，拉丁文却成为传播古希腊文化的媒介。

    用贸易和语言可以传递其他文化要素–例如宗教和作为宗教表现自身的媒介之一的观赏艺术。旧大陆文明中心从公元前334年至公元220年的宗教历史，是下一章的主题。在目前情况下也许值得注意的是，在公元1世纪和2世纪里，希腊的观赏艺术以及印度的观赏艺术和社会机构，又向新的地区发展。在此期间，在今天的柬埔寨和越南南部，掀起了印度化的第一个高潮；希腊观赏艺术，也同时在贵霜帝国赢得了新的地盘，尤其是在帝国的都城咀叉始罗。咀叉始罗位于地处大夏和比哈尔之间道路上的犍陀罗地区。它的希腊化来自两个方向——从大夏越过兴都库什山脉，以及从亚力山大里亚渡过阿拉伯海。来自这两个源头的希腊影响，力量为什么如此强劲，这两胜希腊化潮流何时开始涌出来的，直到今天，这些问题仍然扑朔迷离。

    印度文化渗透到东南亚，希腊文化渗透到犍陀罗，都是”和平渗透”的例子。希腊观赏艺术在犍陀罗和罗马帝国，有着十分相似的风格。但是，在罗马帝国的一些行省，希腊文化的传播披上了拉丁外衣，希腊化是紧随罗马军事征服之后开始的。

    从公元48年到公元3世纪初，四大帝国囊括了绝大多数旧大陆文明中心。但是，这些帝国彼此的经历以及由此造成的结构，都各不相同。

    中国的东汉王朝（公元25－220年）和公元1世纪至224年的安息帝国，分别是西汉王朝和公元前141－约前31年的安息帝国的翻版。这两个地区都曾经存在过一个相对动乱的时期，但这两个帝国都没有因此而发生具有进步意义的体制变革。过去的政权，经过暂时分崩离析之后，又重新建立起来。重新恢复的政权，并没有焕发出新的活力，反而大为削弱。然而，公元48年贵霜帝国的建立，以及由公元前31年屋大维（奥古斯都）在亚克兴角打败安东尼和克娄巴特拉而导致的地中海世界以往革命和内战世纪的终结，都是真正的新的开端。中国的秦朝第一次取代战国，以及随后建立的西汉王朝政权又取代秦朝，也都标志着新的真正开端的产生。

    在结构上，贵霜帝国和安息帝国有强烈的相似之处，而东汉与罗马帝国则不甚相似。但在这两个中央集权的帝国中，却都存在政治上权力高度分散问题。帝国的很大一部分领土，掌握在自治的地方总督或小国君的手中。他们对帝国政府的宗主权，有时只是表面承认，实质上自行其是。此外，帝国政府及其附属国的权力，实际上都受到了贵族权力的限制。后者直接控制农民，也就是说，直接掌握一切租税来源。

    从理论上讲，东汉政权是中央集权的和官僚式的，而实际上官僚也是土地所有者。土地所有者作为文官的职责与他们作为财产私有者的利益相冲突，而他们则把自己的职责从属于自己的利益。要使中国社会不致崩溃，就必须进行农村土地改革，可是过去西汉王朝和王莽之所以都无法进行这种改革，原因就在于此。唯一能够按照皇帝的旨意实施必要改革的人，却是官僚－土地所有者，他们的强烈私利，只会使这种改革依然化为泡影。

    公元25年东汉王朝建立，公元36年镇压农民起义后，官僚－土地所有者的势力达到了全盛时期，他们滥用职权的行为也更为露骨。在用人方面，任人唯亲，而不是任人唯贤。文官考试也不象以前那么公正可靠了。佃农交给地主的租，与地主自己必须纳的税，根本不成比例。中国北部是中国文明的摇篮，现在又成为紧靠长城的地区。由于华北注册纳税者数量的下降，从而导致了人头税、劳役和兵役的增加。一段时期的无政府状态和内战（公元9－36年），并非注册纳税者数量减少的全部原因。北方的自由农民大量潜逃。有些自由民到大地主的庄园里寻求庇护。作为地主的依附者，他们的经济负担要比作为帝国政府的自耕农轻一些。另一些自由农迁到南方。帝国政府在南方的控制要松一些，那里还有许多处女地等待人们开垦。

    公元2世纪中叶以后，中国官僚地主的权力首次受到宫廷中的宦官的挑战。184年后，道教领导发起的几次农民起义，也打击了官僚地主的势力。然而，胜利者既不是宦官也非农民，而是军阀。军阀同样多为大地主。公元2世纪后半叶的中国，发生了汉尼拔战争以后罗马共和国所发生过的事。由农民提供的兵员越来越少；取而代之的是从贫民中招募的职业军队；职业军队成为将军们的私人军队，因为士兵依赖将军付给他们报酬为生。公元220－222年，东汉王朝终于公开分为3个王国，3位事实上早已瓜分帝国的将军成为三个国王。

    从原则上讲，和同一时期的安息和贵霜帝国相比，公元前31年至公元235年间的罗马帝国，与东汉帝国的共同之处更少。从理论上看，东汉王朝是一个中央集权的官僚制国家，尽管理论上的政体在实践上并没有完全实现。在醉心于权力分散方面，罗马帝国与两个中央集权帝国类似。罗马的”权力机构设置”，总是避免直接负责管理领土。不然的话，如果摧毁这些领土上原来的政府，政治上就会出现真空现象。奥古斯都坚持这一罗马传统，非常愿意恢复地中海世界的秩序。而以往的共和制罗马政府把地中海世界推向了无政府状态的深渊。公元前31年以后，奥古斯都及其继承者，沿袭黎凡特地区先由塞琉西统治，后来（公元前67－前62年）由庞培掌管的先例，试图把罗马帝国作为自治城邦的联合体组织起来。帝国政府要将自己的责任限定在以下两个范围内：第一，阻止和预防帝国内各城邦相互间继续发生战争；第二，保护它们免遭帝国边疆以外敌人的攻击。

    同东汉王朝一样，罗马帝国也缺乏人力。公元前8世纪希腊世界开始的人口激增状态，公元前3世纪在马其顿消失了，公元前2世纪在讲希腊语的国家消失了，公元前1世纪又在意大利消失了。罗马帝国历史的第一阶段（公元前31年至公元235年），帝国域内只有一个民族即犹太民族，在数量上得到明显地增长。公元前586年，尼布甲尼撒在犹大王国大肆清剿，因此，犹太人口一度锐减。但从那以后，犹太人中来了大批从前的以色列王国的居民（以色列王国是犹太的近邻）。犹太人开始向外扩散：最初进入巴比伦尼亚，然后进入埃及，最后扩散到整个希腊世界里。在巴比伦尼亚和公元前63年起在罗马，最早的犹太散居者是被驱逐出国的人们。但大多数犹太散居的人是自愿出走的。在外散居的犹太人成为雇佣军和商人。犹太人公元66－70年和132－135年在巴勒斯坦、公元115－117年在塞浦路斯和昔兰尼加举行反对罗马帝国政府的起义过程中，伤亡很惨重（他们的非犹太人邻居也受到伤害）。考虑到这个因素，就更会感到犹太人的人口的持续增长之显著了。在最后提到的这次起义中，犹太地方团体不仅暂时控制了昔兰尼加，而且把昔兰尼加当作入侵埃及的基地。

    奥古斯都沿着雇佣的职业军队能够防守的地带，将罗马帝国的边疆固定化了。当时的雇佣军队数量很少，少到帝国不断减少的人口仅可以保持军队的战斗力，也少到使其能够被纳税者所养得起的程度。奥古斯都削减了庞大的军队数量（由他本人及其消灭的对手所征募的），减少到防守新的边疆所需求的最少数量。他没有为纵深防御或储存作准备。假使必须集中一支机动兵刀来镇压帝国附属国的某个地方起义，或者进行内战，那就只有调遣当时据守帝国某段似乎没有受攻击的危险边界的边防军了。上面提到的犹太人3次起义和公元69年及193－197年的两次内战，都需要罗马集中大量的机动兵力来对付。

    在南方，罗马帝国发现沿撒哈拉沙漠和阿拉伯沙漠北缘，有着”天然的边疆”。沙漠之间沿尼罗河而下，直通努比亚下游的狭道，并不难据守。在欧洲大陆，奥古斯都的养父尤利乌斯?凯撒，把罗马帝国的边疆扩张到莱茵河；奥古斯都又把边疆延伸到多瑙河；公元70－138年间，奥古斯都的继承者封锁了莱茵、多瑙两河上游之间的缺口，在莱茵河上游的柯布伦茨和多瑙河上游的雷根斯堡之间，修造了一道人工防御土墙。将不列颠岛更大部分征服并并入帝国之中后，海边又构筑了类似的人工防御土墙。公元122年以后，哈德良皇帝修造了从泰恩河到索尔韦一带的防御墙；公元142年以后，泰特斯?安东尼?庇护皇帝修筑了从福斯河的弗恩到克莱德河间的防御墙。同中国长城的长度和体积相比，罗马的这些人工防御土墙既短又不牢固。罗马的防御土墙，只是不列颠的大海和欧洲大陆提供的天然壁垒的补充。可是，河流壁垒的”天然性”是靠不住的。虽然在可以航行的季节里，罗马帝国的小舰队游戈于两条大河中，但不管什么季节，人们都能轻而易举地渡过河去，尤其在天寒地冻的冬季，两条河结出厚厚的冰层时更是如此。况且，莱茵河至多瑙河的界线，是黑海和北海之间最长的界线。

    奥古斯都试图通过把边界从莱茵河向前移到易北河，来缩短罗马帝国在欧洲大陆的河流边界。但是，由于帝国的人力在前两个世纪的经济和政治革命中大为减少，因而不足以完成这样一个任务。如果要顺利完成这个任务，就会导致必不可少的军事人员数量的锐减。公元6－9年亚得里亚海和多瑙河之间新征服的潘诺尼亚人的起义，和公元9年新征服的德意志人对莱茵河与易北河间3个罗马军团的歼灭，使奥古斯都的这项工程无法实施。发生上述事件后无法继续进行易北河边界工程，表明此时罗马帝国的人力资源的匮乏（这一点恰与汉尼拔战争之前和战争中人力资源的丰富形成强烈对照）。人力资源方面的缺陷，还在继续表现出来。罗马帝国开始了对不列颠的征服和兼并，但无法完成这一任务。与汉武帝一样具有雄才大略的罗马皇帝图拉真，于公元101－106年成功地征服并吞并了达契亚（特兰西瓦尼亚）。但是，他在公元114－117年却无法将帝国的东部边界向前扩展，即使已到达了里海和波斯湾海岸边，也不得不很快后撤。

    罗马帝国最大的政治成就，就是把被征服者逐渐转化为罗马帝国公民。这一政策从公元前4世纪开始推行，它是罗马首先把意大利半岛、最终把整个地中海四周地区成功地并入共和国中的原因之一。这一政策并非始终得到贯彻。曾经有过犹豫和暂时中断实行的时期。尽管如此，这一过程还是在公元212年臻于完成，此时，除了剩下一小部分从前被帝国剥夺了公民权的人以外，所有的人都被赋予（或者说强加）罗马的公民身份。

    罗马授予被征服的异族人以公民权的慷慨大度，与公元前5世纪雅典的心胸狭窄，恰成鲜明的对照。这一强烈对照，在一定程度上说明了为什么正是罗马而不是雅典完成了地中海地区政治统一的原因。然而，政治身份的平等，并不能补偿经济和社会的不公正。罗马推动其领土扩张的其他有效政策是，保障富人的既得利益，反对穷人的要求。公元前31年至公元235年间的罗马帝国，伴随着政治上公民权范围不断扩大的，是富人与穷人之间的鸿沟的不断加宽。法律规定的不平等增加了，除了所有权的不平等外，还存在收入以及精神和物质生活标准的不平等。在这一时期，旧大陆文明中心两端的两大帝国里的社会不公平，都在不断地加深。

    前面已经提到，汉朝儒家官僚地主不能使自己的私人利益服从于他们的公共职责；在东汉政权统治时期，这个地位牢固的”体制”的道德缺陷，比由于这种道德沦落而垮台的西汉时期，更加露骨和无耻。尽管如此，汉朝儒家文官机构，在当时的世界上仍然是最好的。如同长城远远胜于建在德意志和不列颠的罗马帝国的小土墙一样，汉朝文官机构也大大优于奥古斯都建立的罗马文官机构。

    罗马城邦，是用远远不足的行政管理人员来开始其扩张的生涯的。和公元前最后一千年地中海地区大多数城邦（埃特鲁斯坎、希腊和腓尼基）一样，罗马是由每年选出的一小批非职业政府官员统治的。但是，选举产生的官员数量的增长及其临时在位者的任职期限，根本不能适应罗马不断扩张所带来的行政管理要求。罗马政府补救这一行政管理不足的主要手段，就是让公民的私人团体帮助提供军需品和征集赋税。这些团体拥有管理当时希腊世界的所有专长。他们雇佣了有教养的奴隶和自由民来完成这些管理任务。

    奥古斯都从其养父尤利乌斯?恺撒那里受到启发，竭力使这些私人团体无法靠损害罗马政府、罗马公民及附属国的利益，来谋取不正当的私利，但他照样沿用这些组织。他大规模地建立了一种由奴隶和自由民组成的”恺撒户”，作为他个人的行政管理基础。对于原来按政府规定垄断最高两个级别的、薪水丰厚的文官职位的罗马贵族”权力机构”及其门客，奥古斯都也给予了补偿。罗马这一官僚机构，没有中国官僚机构那样强的内聚性。尤其是，它没有遵循一种官方的世袭的哲学，并由此而凝聚在一起。当然，奥古斯都的这个帝国文官机构中，使用的是由狼崽变成的牧羊狗；但它比安息和贵霜两个中央集权大国那种原始的、临时凑合起来的帝国行政管理机构，还是要强得多。

    最后，罗马帝国的文官系统不得不承担一项奥古斯都原来没有为它设想的任务。对于构成帝国政权细胞的城邦，奥古斯都一直没有打算直接实行地方行政管理，他只是想对它进行监督。因此，开始时帝国机构的人员数量一直很少。奥古斯都和平的缔造者没有预见到，帝国各个城邦的公民，当他们向邻国发动战争的历史特有的主权被剥夺之际，就会丧失对由他们的社团组成的地方政府的兴趣。公元2世纪初期（地中海世界的一个虚假的表面的黄金时代），地方政府开始陷入混乱，帝国的中央政府不得不对这一广大地区的行政工作，不情愿地直接进行干预。

    公元1－2世纪期间旧大陆文明中心大多数地区都已分裂的各个帝国，在公元3世纪又遭到一场灾难的突然侵袭。

    罗马帝国忍耐并奇迹般地度过了半个世纪（公元235－284年）的大混乱。这场混乱本身，则是在此之前虚假黄金时代（公元96－180年）令人惊异的结局。在罗马帝国这个令人绝望的半个世纪里，帝国的货币贬值到毫无价值；外域的入侵者在帝国的领土上横行，大肆劫掠；公元250年，德西乌斯（249－251年在位）皇帝战败，并被哥特人杀死；公元260年，瓦莱里安（253－260年在位）皇帝与波斯打仗时战败被俘，并于监禁期间死去。就象公元220－222年的中华帝国一样，帝国本身分裂成为3个彼此独立的部分。罗马的财政极度崩溃，一度以货代款缴税，贸易也开始以物物交换的方式进行。这在地中海世界，是一场非常罕见的经济倒退。因为，这里公元前7世纪就发明了造币，在此很久以前，就已经一直使用金银作为交易的度量和媒介。

    公元224年的伊朗，一个小国国王在法尔斯突然篡夺了皇权。这是公元前550年一次类似政变的重演。公元前6世纪中叶，米底皇帝阿斯提亚格斯突然被推翻，他的波斯诸侯居鲁士取而代之。公元224年，波斯诸侯阿尔塔薛西斯推翻了安息皇帝阿尔达班五世，并取而代之。伊朗和伊拉克的帝国新主人们，把下了台的前任们称之为”鸡零狗碎的君王”，以示对他们的轻蔑。然而，实际上安息帝国松散的结构又被第二（萨珊）波斯帝国接了过去，本质上没有发生任何变化。与阿萨息斯在安息帝国最后阶段衰朽不堪的行为相比，萨珊对其邻国的行为更加富有进攻性。但是，在运用中央政府对地方贵族的权威方面，萨珊也不比阿萨息斯强多少。

    萨珊对罗马帝国的侵略，在公元284年罗马帝国复兴以后，引起了严重的不利后果。公元298年，罗马政府迫使萨珊皇帝纳尔萨，把沙普尔一世（公元242－273年在位）过去割让的全部罗马领土退还回来，并达成关于把底格里斯河上游左岸5个亚美尼亚省份割让给罗马帝国的协议。萨珊成功的侵略，结果又走向了自己的反面。阿尔塔薛西斯从阿萨息斯皇帝阿尔达班五世那里夺取了整个帝国，他又通过征服贵霜帝国而扩大了新建立的帝国的版图。然而，他也许只不过把自己的宗主权强加于贵霜帝国之上，却没有完全消灭它。因为，位于喀布尔河谷贵霜帝国的残余部分幸存下来，或者重新出现。贵霜帝国这个残余部分，经受了公元5－6世纪民族大迁徙中匈奴人的猛烈侵袭，直到11世纪才最后灭亡。

    公元220－222年，东汉帝国分裂为3个征战不已的部分之后，除了公元280－304年间出现过一次短暂的重新统一科，中国从公元220－589年一直处于政治上的分裂状态之中。从公元220年开始，中华世界出现了自从公元前221年政治上初次统一以后最长的政治分裂时期。

    在政治层面上，从公元48年开始的差不多2个世纪里，旧大陆文明中心的绝大部分都被囊括在四大帝国之中，它预示着将来在整个地球上一切文明中心政治上出现统一局面的可能性。四大帝国本身是短命的，尽管后来它们又以一系列的化身重新出现在地图上（中华帝国的化身是最为庞大的）。然而，四大帝国在自己短暂的生涯中，却在宗教层面上，为人类历史留下了最伟大的印记。

    第三十八章 旧大陆文明中心诸宗教与哲学的相互影响

    （公元前334－约公元220年）

    “痛苦是知识的代价”。这一格言是雅典戏剧诗人埃斯库罗斯在公元前458年创作的一出戏剧中的台词。这一年，雅典正在两条战线上发动一场不计后果的战争。这种鲁莽行动预示着一个”混乱时代”的即将来临。这样的时代使人遭受苦难，但也给人以智慧。它是公元48年到220年间并存于旧大陆文明中心的四大帝国中每一帝国得以建立的前奏。古代希腊世界的”混乱时代”从公元前431年延续到公元前31年；西南亚和埃及的这一时代从公元前745年延续到公元前522年，经过一段喘息，又从公元前334年重新开始，直到公元前31年；印度的”混乱时代”从公元前约500年延续到公元前322年，喘息片刻后又从公元前约200年重新开始，延续到公元48年；中国的”混乱时代”从公元前506年延续到公元前221年。

    在第25章，我们已经对5位伟人进行了一些叙述。早在公元前6世纪，他们就对人类共同遭受的苦难作出了各自的反应。

    他们每个人都同本社会的传统宗教发生了决裂。这种决裂有时是猛烈的，有时又是较为审慎的，但每一种决裂都是革命性的。”以赛亚第二”象7个世纪以前的阿肯那顿一样毫不妥协地宣称，只有一个唯一的神存在。（犹太国王约西亚已在犹大王国废除了除耶路撒冷神殿以外的其他一切圣地，并将从前与耶和华共享祭祀的一切男女神祗逐出圣殿。这种做法为”以赛亚第二”铺平了道路。）琐罗亚斯德将传统的伊朗众神殿中所有的神祗一概贬为魔鬼，只有”伟大的灵魂”阿胡拉?玛兹达除外。毕达哥拉斯专横地试图改变古希腊的生活方式，以致于激起了一场反革命。在印度，佛陀和大雄（耆那教的创建者）对印度传统的雅利安众神殿中的诸神和种姓制度一概弃之不顾。孔子宣称（他也可能确实相信）他正在恢复中国传统制度的本质；但是，当他将”高贵”解释为一种道德品质，而不是世袭特权的时候，他实际上是发动了一场道德上的革命。

    所有这5位预言家都摆脱了传统宗教的社会结构，并与自然现象背后的”终极精神实在”建立了直接的个人联系。5人之中只有琐罗亚斯德和”以赛亚第二”2人认为这种”终极实在”是一个与人同形的人格，他与其他被降格、被遗弃的男女神祗只在两个方面不同：他是独一无二和无所不能的。而且，在琐罗亚斯德的神学中，甚至阿胡拉?玛兹达的这两种品性，在他对尚未征服的邪恶势力进行的战争取得最后胜利之前，也只是潜在的。

    随着旧大陆人类苦难的不断延续和日益加剧，就导致了与这种”终极实在”建立联系的需要。这种”终极实在”不仅应是直接的，而且应在感情上使人得到满足。这就要求保留或者恢复这样一种观念，即”终极精神实在”必须具有人格，与人同形，至少具有人的某种品性。崇拜者渴望成为一个信徒，渴望对”终极精神实在”的仁慈和力量建立信念，这种渴望又与人类对这种”精神实在”关心信徒的幸福、无疑将会把他们从邪恶中解脱出来的向往正相一致。满足这种感情上的需要，只能是在两种人格之间建立一种关系：一方是人类，另一方就是神。

    在中国、印度和古希腊世界，”终极实在”的本质与人同形的观念，在哲学家面前早已一蹶不振。感情上对苦难的反应现在要求恢复”终极实在”传统的人的品性。琐罗亚斯德教和犹太教中一直保留着这种观念。在印度和中国，当地哲学自相矛盾地产生出了一些新的宗教，使有神论得到了复兴。而且，它们不很明确地倾向于一神论，而不是象犹太人那样成为不妥协的一神论者。在地中海区域，在相互竞争的各种地区宗教中，有神论也以模糊地主张一神论的印度式和中国式的宽容风范得到了复兴，只有最终的胜利者不是这样。获得最终胜利的基督教继承了母教犹太教宽容的一神论，但它吞没和同化了被战败的宗教对手，就此而论，它又背叛了犹太教的一神论。所有这些成败的宗教都不是犹太人的宗教。

    在大约2个世纪中，四大帝国曾经次第相连，横跨整个旧大陆。公元3世纪，四大帝国相继崩溃。但到3世纪，旧大陆人类长期的精神努力却产生了历史性的后果。在四大帝国中的每一个帝国，当地的宗教和哲学都培育出一种全然不同的新型宗教。新型宗教来自旧的宗教，历经选择、传播和调合。传播新型宗教的代理人是那些移居国外的人们。最早的移居者是那些遭到放逐的人，随后是帝国创建者派往被征服国家的驻军，最后还有商人。永久或暂时迁居他处的人们尽可能地带去了他们祖传的生活方式，在所移居的地区，他们自动地成了这种生活方式在异国多数居民中的传播者。移民们也可能有意识地、熟练地担任了传播他们所带去的精神财富的工作。最后，新型宗教受到各自的教士们的尊崇，并由传教士传到更远的地方。这些教士和传教士是职业性的，尽管宗教活动不一定是他们的全部工作。

    人们需要有某种宗教来帮助他们的心灵对付一个混乱的年代。在有些地区，当地宗教显然无法满足人们的这种普遍要求。外来宗教的传播、改变及其与当地现存宗教的融合就显得至为重要。这些处于精神饥渴状态的地区是两个彼此远离的地区，即希腊世界和中国。

    新型宗教的传播可以满足当地的要求。一些新的交往手段的出现使得宗教传播更为便利。这是战争、灭绝政策、帝国主义和世界性贸易的积极后果。长长的海陆通道将旧大陆诸文明中心的四面八方联结起来。出现了各种”混合语言”：例如雅典的希腊共同语，阿拉米语，三种萨珊时代的波斯语，印度方言，公元2世纪在北印度、3世纪在德干地区取代了各地方言的新梵语，以及一种汉语共同语（汉字和口语的标准化形式），公元前221年中国获得政治统一后，全国各地的官员商贾都使用这种语言。第三种交往媒体是造型艺术。这种媒体种类众多。四大大帝国次第相连、并肩共存的年代中尤其有效。在这个政治上相对稳定、和平的短暂年代，旧大陆诸文明中心之间处于一种不同寻常的相互传导的状态中。

    在由给人以感情满足的新型宗教而产生的选择、扩散、改变和调和的过程中，古希腊的方式尤其成效卓著。在地中海流域，希腊的语言、希腊造型艺术和希腊哲学一道，对与基督教相互竞争的各种宗教，以及最终征服和吞噬了这些宗教的基督教本身进行着”加工”。希腊文化在东部方向并没有以任何形式使遥远的印度直接感到自己的存在；但在印度西北部，希腊式的造型艺术却为大乘佛教提供了一种载体，正象在地中海流域它为基督教以及基督教的那些失败的竞争者提供了载体一样。当大乘佛教从印度西北部通过乌浒河–药杀水流域和塔里木盆地传到亚洲东部的时候，它的艺术载体也同时得到了传播，希腊文化因此也以这种造型形式间接地对亚洲东部产生了影响。在另一个方向，希腊艺术和希腊哲学作为基督教的附属物，不断地向西欧和西北非进行着渗透。因此，近代以前的各种区域性文明中只有希腊文化在某种穆度上使旧大陆从东海岸到西海岸的诸文明中心都感到了自己的存在。

    混乱时代及其后果有史以来第一次不仅把旧大陆诸文明中心的核心地区，也把彼此远离的各地相互结合起来。在此以前，各个区域文明彼此分离、单独生长，每种文明都养成了自己的生活方式。宗教就是其中的一个组成部分。但是，尽管每种区域文明的一般风格互不相同，在宗教方面，它们却全都从人类历史的前文明阶段继承了一系列共同的”原始偶像”。如果将宗教因素同该区域文明的其他组成部分分开来看，这种共同的精神遗产使得一种区域文明中的宗教因素能够与另一种区域文明的宗教相互适应、彼此吸收。与区域文明中的某些世俗因素不同，宗教因素与其他的区域文明并不是完全不相容的。

    在这些共同的宗教”原始偶像”中，最古老、无疑也最有力量的也许就是母亲之神。她是最古老的人像造型的主题。在这种母亲偶像中，母亲的身份并不与童贞互不相容，因此它一定是形成于人们发现父亲的身份之前–也就是说，在人们尚未认识到一位女性不与一位男性性交就不可能怀孕的时候。进入意识黎明期后，人们一定已经认识到母亲的身份意味着孩子的诞生，但对于母亲必须有一个男性配偶、孩子必须有一个父亲的认识却不是原始的认识。起初，母亲遮蔽了孩子的光彩，而父亲或者是不存在的，或者至多是一个模糊的影子。母亲的力量对任何与她有关的男性都是可怕的，结果，一些意志坚强的男神都选择了独身生活。阿吞、阿舒尔、耶和华和密特拉就是典型的例子。

    在不同的区域文明中，母亲、孩子和父亲所具有的力量相对来说有所不同。同一种文明在不同的历史阶段也有不同。这使形形色色的”神圣家庭”群像中的每一种都对那些具有不同的祖先群像的民族具有吸引力。在不同区域文明中具有某些共同的图景，一种文明在某方面有所欠缺，可以从另一种文明中得到补偿。

    母亲的形象是各种各样的。她可以是人类的母亲，也可以是任何生物的母亲。同时，她还可能是大地，大地是众生之母。在所有这些方面，母亲通常都身负养育后代的重望，但母亲虽然一律都有生育能力，却并不都是仁慈的。中美洲的大地女神，众生和人类的母亲科亚特利库埃，古希腊的母亲女神赫卡忒和印度的母亲女神时母，既能创造性地和仁慈地、也能破坏性地和恶意地使用自己的力量。小亚细亚的母亲女神赛比利则摧残着她的孩子或配偶、或者也许是孩子和配偶合二为一的阿提斯。

    如果有时连母亲之神都可以变得凶猛野蛮，那么气象之神成为一种道德上自相矛盾的力量就更是不足为怪了。因为天气反复无常、变幻不定，这种反复不定的变化既可以造成水旱之灾，毁坏庄稼，也可以在一定的季节提供或控制雨水，带来丰收（所谓”一定的”，是指它满足了农民的需要）。气象之神很适合由一位男神充任，很容易把他与父亲之神等同起来；因为父亲的情绪也与气象之神一样说变就变，毫无理性，时而从仁慈宽厚变为粗暴愤怒，时而又从粗暴愤怒变回到仁慈宽厚。这与母亲通常对孩子的温柔态度截然不同。

    相反，太神之神每日每年的运行则是有规律的，太阳之神本身也是公正的。他公平无私地将光和热给予一切生命，我们能以比对大地母亲，更不用说比对气象父亲更大的信任来依靠太阳。但是，由于太阳耳闻目睹着大地上发生的一切，他心中保留着一本人类道德的帐目。

    其他星体就不象太阳这样令人放心了。行星象天气一样反复无常；恒星则是无情的；人的命运是由星体的影响未决定的；而这种影响可能是有害的。

    种子在某个季节死去，以便变成农作物而获得再生。播种的人类要收获这些农作物。人类是这种生殖力的信徒，他们是靠食其肉饮其血为生的。这种力量作出自我牺牲来向人类提供食物，无疑是人类的恩人。使它们作出自愿牺牲是一种罪过，这种罪过要落在它们的受益者人类的头上。这种力量年年死而复生，充满神秘，这给它的人类信徒以一种希望，即自己在死后也会获得再生。但是，这种自我牺牲的力量不也是有罪的鸣？难道它不是在折磨着它的人类信徒，使他们在一种狂热的激动中把各种生物，也包括人类在内，撕成碎片，茹食其肉吗？

    另一个原始偶像是救世主。我们可怜的人类在任何时候都需要他，在混乱的年代更是如此。还有一个偶像，就是上帝在人类身上的化身。法老就是上帝的化身。至少早在古埃及第五王朝开始的时候，人们就认为每一位法老都是由于神在法老母亲耳边威严低语而受孕诞生的，这个过程中没有父亲的介入，也没有任何人神交情的行为。有谁能够知道，在人类和前人类人科的进化史上，上帝的化身这种原始偶像是从什么时候开始产生的？

    各种原始偶像并不互相排斥。上帝的化身、救世主、种子之神和太阳之神可能是彼此相同的。母亲之神可以是一位处女，她的生殖能力无需借助于任何人类配偶，她的孩子因此也可以没有父亲。母亲之神同样也可以是一位妻子，无条件地忠于丈夫和孩子。每种偶像的性别也无一定之规，只有一个偶像除外。母亲当然不能是一位男性，而气象之神很少是女性，但在古埃及的宗教中，大地是男性，而天空是女性。在大多数宗教中，太阳是男性；但太阳是遵守规则、公正无偏的，一个男性如果如此，岂不荒谬。赫梯城邦的太阳女神阿丽娜，日本皇室的祖先、太阳女神无照大神和德语中的”太阳”一词都是阴性，这才更合逻辑。

    至此，我们已经对能够在混乱时代满足人类精神需要的新型宗教可能的素材进行了概述。现在我们来叙述一下它们的实际成果。为便于弄清实际情况，我们将一个地区接一个地区地依次叙述。

    在中国，当人们感到需要一种虔诚的宗教之前，祖宗的”规矩”实际上已经消声匿迹。可能在孔子时代以前，”天”就已经失去了原有的人格内函。根据汉武帝时期登上权力舞台的儒家学者－官员－领主阶层的说法，”天命”是赋予一个皇朝以统治权的委任状。其实，天命就是一种人命，由这个新的统治阶级授予，也可以由他们收回。在中国建立这种虔诚宗教的唯一现成的素材，就是在文化上尚未得到开化的各地流行的大众崇拜。公元前221年中华世界在政治上实现统一，已经为这种崇拜相互之间的融合以及与”钦定”哲学的融合铺平了道路。

    汉武帝使儒家学说成为官吏的任职资格。它已不再是孔子和孟子的那种哲学，成了一种冒牌的东西，被不恰当地掺入了大众宗教的因素。道家学说的掺假则更多。道家哲学一贯主张停止参与公共事务。在儒家学说吃不开的时候，正适合道家的繁荣发展。例如，道家学说在汉朝伊始刘邦治下处于优势，公元2世纪，当儒家学说3个世纪萎靡不振的经历已经表明它滥用了自己在行政权力中的垄断地位时，道家学说再次进入全盛时期。但是，在道家学说得以复兴，成为一种深奥的哲学的同时，它也培育了一种大众宗教，这种宗教并被有效地组织起来，为公元184年发生的向东汉政权发出挑战的两次流产的农民起义提供了精神鼓舞和领袖。

    这种土生土长的中国哲学变形为一种宗教，是中国人自己发展的还是受到起源于印度，从上座部佛教哲学发展出来的虔诚宗教大乘佛教鼓舞的结果？到公元2世纪大乘佛教已经渗入了中国，因此并不排除存在着上述第二种可能性。无疑，后来当大乘佛教涌入中国达到高潮的时候，经过农民起义的失败幸免于难的道教确实模仿了大乘佛教的教义和组织，为这种印度系数的不速之客制造了一种土生土长的中国翻版。

    大乘佛教在印度的发展是一个渐进的过程，而且，它在社会和制度方面始终如一，未曾出现过背离现象。佛教僧侣制度（僧伽）由上座部佛教结合大乘佛教，它一直是佛教各派制度的基础。另一方面，在教义上，这种发展的累积效果却造成了一种变形。

    上座部佛教的僧侣必须通过自己的努力达到个人的涅盘，因为他虽然受到佛陀指示和示范的感悟，却不能请求佛陀本人给予精神帮助，因为佛陀本人一旦达到涅盘，就不再可能被人接近。涅盘也是大乘僧侣的最终目标，但对这些僧侣来说，更重要的目标却是成为菩萨，而且他在进行这种努力的时候，可以向已成正果、有求必应的诸位菩萨寻求帮助。在一位菩萨的帮助下，大乘教徒就有了实现直接目标的希望，这个目标不是达到涅盘，而是进入天堂。

    佛陀指示人们进行精神修行，一位菩萨，就是一个精神修行的能手。他已经到达了涅盘的门口，只要他愿意，立即就可以进入涅盘。但是他（象佛陀本人那样）却向愿地作了另一种选择，推迟进入涅盘，以便帮助他的同伴。从’原始偶像”方面来说，菩萨就是救世主。一位阿婆卢吉低舍婆罗菩萨在中国改变了性别，摇身变成一位大慈大悲的女性神灵观音菩萨。在中国自东汉政权垮台后，出现了一种对母亲女神的迫切需要，观音菩萨不期而至，适时地担任了这个角色。菩萨无私的同情心唤起了大乘佛教徒的耿耿忠心，并推动他们努力追循菩萨的榜样。事实上，大乘佛教就是混乱时代应运而生的那种虔诚宗教。

    大乘佛教可能是在公元后最初2个世纪内成形，在印度西北部定形的。在那里，当地佛教哲学中的说一切有部比南部的上座部更易于向大乘佛教的方向发展。在同一个时代，印度教也在经历着相应的变化，它虽然是逐步发生的，但也导致了一种变形。在这里，在制度方面也同样始终如一，没有发生背离现象。这里制度上的联系是婆罗门种姓制度。尽管这种宗教的变革复杂多样，婆罗门依然保持着对印度教的控制权。

    在吠陀时代的印度教中，象在罗马人的原始宗教中一样，众神和崇拜者之间的关系很平淡。如果正确地举行仪式，众神实际上有义务给予适当的回答，对双方来说，主要的考虑是自身的利益。新型印度教实际上是一种新家教，其中的湿婆神和毗湿奴神就是大乘佛教中的菩萨的对应物。也许早在公元以前很久，这2个印度教的神祗就已经受到人们的崇拜，尽管可能是以别的名义。改变这种崇拜的新特点是在他们和信徒之间引进了一种感情上的联系。毗湿奴与阿弥陀佛菩萨一样是一位救世主，他也是有化身的神祗，他最普遍的化身是罗摩和黑天，但他同样可以化身为佛陀。湿婆具有原始偶像中气象之神、植物之神和母亲之神在道德上自相矛盾的特点。他既能创造，也能破坏；他从未有过化身；他的人类信徒听凭他为所欲为的摆布。湿婆是自然总体背后的”精神实在”。他并不特别关心人类的幸福，但人们发现了湿婆，就不得不接受他，因为人本身就是湿婆所代表的大自然的一部分。

    在伊朗，琐罗亚斯德富于战斗性的一神论放了哑炮。正象印度的婆罗门攫取了对毗湿奴和湿婆的虔诚膜拜一样，他的革命性宗教也被世袭的伊朗祭司麻葛阶层所攫取。在伊朗，琐罗亚斯德死后，正如古代埃及在阿肯那顿死后一样，多神论又应长期以来的需求而获得了再生。阿胡拉?玛兹达的精神品性由于自身的力量而化成了众多的女神。而且，一位受人敬爱的前琐罗亚斯德教女性水神安娜希塔成功地使自己再次站稳了脚跟。这些都是琐罗亚斯德教转变为一种感情宗教的步骤，但这些最初的步骤却后继乏力，即使被麻葛阶层掺了假的琐罗亚斯德教也从未完全赢得伊朗人的心。

    在黎凡特地区，即使将底格里斯－幼发拉底河流域包括在内，在面积上并不比印度或中国更大。但是，在这一地区政治上被统一在波斯帝国、以及最后被统一在罗马帝国版图之内以前的时代，黎凡特在文化方面的同一性却远远小于印度次大陆或中国。伊朗以西这块相对狭小的地区至少生长着5种文明：苏美尔－阿卡德文明、古代埃及文明、叙利亚文明、安纳托利亚文明和古代希腊文明。而且，这5种文明尽管并肩而立，彼此相连，却又风马牛不相及，从外部风格到内在精神都大相径庭。因此，当混乱时代的经历要求有一种能在感情上使人满足的宗教之际，它们之间的相互影响就非常活跃。这种影响是由于上述5种区域文明之一希腊文明显而易见的精神贫困而引起的。的确，后亚历山大时代的希腊世界并不象同时代的中国那样缺少土生土长的精神源泉。由亚历山大于公元前334年入侵波斯帝国而在黎凡特地区开创的新时期里，至少有两大希腊宗教仍然保持着活力：埃勒夫西斯秘仪和对狄俄尼索斯的崇拜。埃勒夫西斯派的得墨忒耳就是大地母亲；她的女儿科瑞就是死后葬入地下，又得到再生的种子之神。加入秘仪保证使人死后在极乐的另一个世界获得永久的幸福。狄俄尼索斯是古希腊与湿婆相对应的神。他体现了大自然在道德上的反复无常、自相矛盾。在尼亚历山大时代的希腊历史上，埃勒夫西斯秘仪流传了下来，而对狄俄尼索斯的崇拜获得了积极的再生。

    与此同时，人们的私生活宣称，根据权利它反对公共事业所提出的要求，埃勒夫西斯秘仪和对狄俄尼索斯的崇拜都迎合了人类的这种精神需要，而不管他们的主顾是本国公民还是异族人，是自由人还是奴隶，是男人还是女人。在雅典，当然也有对狄俄尼索斯的公开崇拜，雅典戏剧就是其中的一部分。埃勒夫西斯秘仪也处在雅典城邦的庇护下，但埃勒夫西斯这个地方本身不是一个雅典那样的主权城邦。它是一座圣城，恰好处于雅典城邦的领土上，由于它是一个非政治性的圣城，任何人都可以进入这个城市。至于对狄俄尼索斯的崇拜，它在后亚历山大时代的复兴是私人宗教事业的成就，迎合了当时人们的精神需要。狄俄尼索斯在后亚历山大时代广为扩张的希腊时代得以复兴，所借助的不是政府的力量，而是私人教徒们的力量；这种狂热的宗教成为一种私人事务后竟拥有如此众多的信徒，使得一些政府陷于窘境。托勒密四世（公元前221－203年在位）是后亚历山大时代政治上最杰出的酒神信徒。他要求自己领土上的酒神信徒进行登记。罗马政府则在公元前185－前181年打垮了意大利的酒神信徒。

    在亚历山大推翻波斯帝国之后的黎凡特地区，以及在政治上并入罗马帝国的整个地中海地区，各种宗教都在相互竞争，竞相谋求成为整个这一地区普遍通行的宗教。基督教赢得了这场竞争。它所使用的方法在古代埃及神学中早有预示。埃及人相信，一个法老死后，他的灵魂之一，一个可以分开的灵魂就升入天堂，在那里吃掉已经住在那里的其他神祗。法老吃掉这些神祗对手，并把他们的力量据为已有。基督教就是模仿了神话中升入天堂的法老的行为，将竞争对手的力量据为己有。基督教吃掉了叙利亚、埃及、安纳托利亚和希腊的男女诸神，并且把它们的力量变成自己的力量。

    在争夺母亲之神角色的竞争中，至少出现了5位候选人。她们是埃及的伊希斯、弗利吉亚的赛比利、以弗所的阿耳忒弥斯、埃勒夫西斯的得墨忒耳和一位女神的化身–加利利一位犹太木匠的妻子玛利亚。玛利亚由于表现出一种希腊化的伊希斯的性格、形象和品质而赢得了胜利。公元前204年，罗马政府由于从佩辛努，或者是从帕加马引进了赛比利而减轻了汉尼拔战争造成的痛苦。当时，她的本土形象用黑石雕成，由阉人祭司侍奉。当痛苦减轻后，这个从弗利吉亚匆匆迎请进来的客人就在罗马她的流行范围之内陷入了隔绝。另一方面，伊希斯在漂洋过海以前就已经希腊化，成为与得墨忒耳遥遥相对的光彩照人的女神。伊希斯以这种形象成功地征服了罗马帝国。

    在埃及本土，伊希斯是已经死去并已成为木乃伊的俄赛里斯神的忠实的妻子。但这位女神在本地的丈夫是无法带走的。共同为托勒密担任宗教事务顾问的埃及祭司曼内托和埃勒夫西斯派希腊祭司提摩两奥斯将俄赛里斯和一个埃及神祗的牛形化身阿庇斯合二为一，为伊希斯造出了一个可以带走的配偶萨拉庇斯。宙斯的黯然失色（他和中国人的”天”遭到了同样的命运）留下的精神真空，使萨拉庇斯得以跻身希腊的众神殿；但是，萨拉庇斯优美的希腊化形式使他成了希腊的医疗之神阿斯克勒庇俄斯多余的复制品，而且萨拉庇斯也没有机会取代宙斯成为希腊世界的父亲之神。夺走这一角色的是犹太人专横的民族之神耶和华。

    伊希斯不仅是一位忠实的妻子，还是一位温柔的母亲。她将儿子何露斯养育成人，成为复活的俄赛里斯的斗士和救护者。在埃及以外的黎凡特地区争夺儿子之神角色的角逐中，何露斯未能有机会击败玛利亚的儿子耶稣。

    保留下来的对于耶稣的最早记载，是已经相信耶稣象法老一样没有人父、由神授孕于其母的那些信徒的著作。在耶稣那里，这个神祗不是拉神而是耶和华。（耶和华的力量就是他的精神；因为耶和华的品质象阿胡拉?玛兹达一样因自身的力量而具有神性，能够减轻一神论的精神威严）。根据基督教经卷，耶稣本人否认关于自己在某些方面具有神性的猜测。根据那些记载，耶稣至少有两次表示他与上帝不是一回事。但是，若以印度人的观念来看，他也可以是一位上帝，因为他是一个消灭了自我的人，剥去大多数人都有的、掩蔽了潜在的”终极精神实在”的面纱。根据印度教思想中的非元论学派，这种”终极实在”构成一切现象的基础，只要每个人除去自私自利的面纱，它就会大放光芒。”终极精神实在”通过耶稣所显示的这种直接幻像，也许就是打动耶稣的非犹太人信徒，使他们向他顶礼膜拜的那种感受；但是，如果耶稣本人活了下来，被人们当作上帝来欢呼，他无疑将会否认他作为一个犹太人所不能接受的状况。像同时代的其他犹太教教士一样，他也可以把自己称作耶和华的儿子。但照犹太人的说法，耶和华之子的这种身份是一种彼此亲密、互相信任关系的象征性表示。耶稣是一个正统的犹太人，他的地理和种族地平线仅限于巴勒斯坦犹太人地区。当他派出门徒去远方传道的时候，他指示他们仅向犹太人宣讲。

    耶稣同辈的犹太人没有指责过他离经叛道。由于耶稣不与从前的犹太法权威们达成共识便自行解释犹太律法，他与洁利赛人发生了争吵。耶稣个人不按常规所作的解释大都与循规蹈矩的同辈犹太教教士的解释相一致。当罗马地方当局由于耶稣允许耶路撒冷犹太民众拥戴他为弥赛亚（即犹太民族的君王和解放者）而将他判处死刑的时候，撒都该人同意这样做。撒都该人有理由认为，处决一个鲁莽的犹太人是防止发生一次犹太人暴动的合法保证，这种暴动遭到镇压，将会牺牲许多犹太人的生命。我们可以推测，耶稣本人没有提出异议；因为耶稣在很多方面与洁利赛人是一致的，而洁利赛人与哈希芒家族及其后继者奋锐党人不同，他们拒绝拿起武器，去反抗允许犹太臣民按照正统的犹太思想信奉犹太宗教的本国或外来的政府。

    在基督教会的正统神学中，玛利亚的儿子耶稣和耶稣的父亲耶和华使玛利亚本人黯然失色了。初看起来，伊希斯似乎由于变形为玛利亚而消失了，因为当伊希斯踏上希腊世界以后，就把她的丈夫和儿子留在了埃及。但是，在新教教派以外的大部分基督教世界中，”上帝之母”玛利亚其实就是一位女神。伊希斯正是以这种基督教的化身，仍然保留着她的前基督教的力量。

    耶和华与宙斯一样，最初是一个气象之神，由于宙斯不参与竞争，叙利亚北部战略重镇窦利彻（杜鲁克）罗马化的气象之神朱庇特?多利刻努斯就成了与耶和华争夺这一角色的唯一对手。窦利彻地处交通要道之上，从埃及到小亚细亚的南北通道与从幼发拉底河西部弯道到地中海东岸的东西通道在此交汇。所以，窦利彻是罗马军队开往罗马帝国东部边界，来自东部边界和沿东部边界行动的必经之地。结果造成朱庇特?多利刻努斯在罗马军队中的广为流行。他在赫梯当地的崇拜者让他站在一头小牛背上，手里挥舞着气象之神的闪电和双斧。罗马军队中的信徒则给他穿上罗马军装，他一身戎装随着军队沿多瑙河而上，又顺莱茵河而下，并漂洋过海，一直来到哈德良皇帝在不列颠修筑的长墙。

    多利刻努斯与他的对手耶和华相比占有一项优势。他有一个女性配偶，对等地面对着他站在一头雌鹿的背上。士兵们的妻子也在丈夫身边对多利刻努斯崇拜起了一定作用。但多利刻努斯对罗马军队的吸引力只是昙花一现。它在公元2世纪才开始，到3世纪就告结束了。朱庇特?多利刻努斯比萨拉庇斯更有活力，却无法与耶和华相匹敌。

    在争夺死而复生的种子之神的角逐中，埃及的俄赛里斯由于变成了木乃伊而失去了资格，安纳托利亚的阿提斯则由于自阉而名落孙山；苏美尔－阿卡德的塔慕斯与苏美尔－阿卡德众神殿中几乎所有的神灵一道日薄西山；叙利亚的阿多尼斯参与了角逐，与狄俄尼索斯、埃勒夫西斯的科瑞和伊阿科斯并驾齐驱；但在这场竞赛中仍是耶稣成了胜者。他的一些信徒相信，他们曾看到他在被钉上十字架以后的第三天得到了复活，还在一系列其他幻像中看到了他。到圣保罗为科林斯人撰写他的第一篇使徒书的时候，基督教社团中已经出现了以蔬菜、面包和酒为代用品食耶稣之体，饮耶稣之血的独特仪式。仪礼上的套语也已经定型。是耶稣而不是狄俄尼索斯或阿多尼斯，在他的一系列其他胜利之外又争得了死而复生之神的角色。

    耶稣在争夺救世主角色的角逐中还遇到了更多有力的对手。他最艰苦的斗争是夺取上帝化身的角色。

    争夺救世主角色的有何露斯，他曾征服了他的残杀兄弟的叔父塞特；还有一位伊朗神祗密特拉，他曾被琐罗亚斯德贬入魔鬼行列，但又从伊朗辗转来到小亚细亚，并由于与太阳之神和决定命运的众星宿结盟而重新获得了神性。密特拉的运气和多利刻努斯一样是由罗马军队带来的。罗马军队把密特拉从幼发拉底河一直带到泰恩河和索尔韦；但他的好运也是来去匆匆转瞬即逝。它开始于公元1世纪，到4世纪，密特拉就在一场与耶稣进行的战斗中遭到大败。

    密特拉对信徒提出的道德要求非常严格，在这方面他与耶稣不相上下。但他至少在两个决定性的问题上处于劣势。密特拉不是一位自我献身的无辜的牺牲品，而是一个令人厌恶的屠夫（或许除非他所宰杀的牛是他本人的幽灵）。其次，密特拉厌恶女人。他没有母亲，还过着独身生活；对他的崇拜与对多利刻努斯的崇拜和基督教不同，只有男性才可以向他顶礼膜拜。耶稣和密特拉一样是独身的，但耶稣有一位象伊希斯一样的母亲，而且在追随者中间也有圣洁的妇女。因此在基督教教会生活中，妇女也占有一席之地。

    是耶稣而不是密特拉成为地中海诸民族的救世主。他们希望救世主是一位同辈的凡人，也希望这位凡人救世主成为人类中没有财产的多数人的代表，他们在极大程度上遭受着人类共同的苦难命运。这一角色的得主是一个显然无权无势的木匠，而不是一个有权有势的君主。当托勒密一世国王接受了罗得岛人授予他的”救世者”称号的时候，如果有人向他预言，有朝一日，在托勒密王朝行将寿终正寝的时候，这个称号将被一个工匠，托勒密王朝在亚洲的那些臣民的一个后裔所继承的话，他一定会大为震惊的。

    争夺上帝化身这一角色的角逐则最为激烈。上帝化身的原型是法老。罗马皇帝不但是罗马元老院和人民的元首，他也是一个法老。每一位罗马皇帝都是埃及的上帝化身的合法继承者（直到奥勒利安放弃了这一埃及人的遗产），将皇帝奉若神明顶礼膜拜，成了将整个帝国结合在一起的粘合剂，正如在3000多年的时间内，它曾把埃及的双重君主制结合在一起那样。罗马帝国政府一旦容忍任何地方的臣民拒不将皇帝敬若神明，就会对罗马人带给希腊世界的宝贵的政治统一和无价的和平造成损害。

    罗马政府确实容忍了它的犹太臣民拒不将皇帝敬若神明的做法。但这种特殊的恩惠所涉及的范围是有限的，因为犹太人是一个种族共同体。如果帝国将这种恩惠扩展到基督教徒身上，那就太危险了。因为基督教会不受种族限制，它的公开目标就是使全人类都皈依本教。也不可能让基督教徒明确承认他们自己的三位一体的神明不是唯一真正的上帝，却让他们对皇帝顶礼膜拜。这种做法就等于放弃基督教的本质。罗马政府和基督教会的抵牾冲突是不可避免的。基督教在这场战斗中取得了令人惊异的胜利。

    基督教不愿加以吸收，也无法加以摧毁的一个宗教对手是巴比伦的占星术。

    在公元前334年到公元220年间，旧大陆文明中心兴起了三大虔诚宗教：有神论的印度教、大乘佛教和基督教。大乘佛教和基督教是进行传教活动的宗教，其信徒渴望使一切世人都皈依自己的宗教。另一方面，有神论的印度教，象琐罗亚斯德教和犹太教一样，是一个特定社会的宗教，与这一社会的其他制度和结构相联系，虽然印度教的社会发源地非常广阔，就象是整个世界在这个社会中的缩影。

    基督教起初只是犹太教的众多派别之一。犹太人基督教徒是最早的基督教徒，他们无疑相信耶稣被处死后获得了再生。不管是什么样的感受使邵稣的信徒们产生了这样的信念，这种信念本身无疑是真诚的。正因为真诚，它也是令人振奋的。在耶稣坡钉上十字架后，基督教徒的第一个反应是幻灭。正是这种真诚的信念，使他们从幻灭中恢复过来。犹太人基督教徒几乎只是在象征的意义上，才相信那个死而复生的同辈犹太人就是上帝的儿子，因为如果他们确实相信这一点，他们就不会一直跟犹太教徒们呆在一起。事实上他们确实和这些犹太教徒呆在一起，直到自己归于泯灭为止。

    一位犹太基督教徒保罗干出了一件惊人的业绩–将非犹太人的基督教从犹太教中解脱出来。非犹太人可以自由地信奉这种宗教而无需遵守犹太人的律法。同样惊人的是，这种没有犹太人的基督教最终成功地使罗马帝国的所有居民都皈依了该教，只有犹太人本身和犹太人的亲密伙伴、信奉耶和华的撒马利亚人除外。

    保罗派基督教将各种非犹太人的地区性宗教加以吸收而打败了它们，其代价是削弱了基督教从犹太教继承下来的多神论。在保罗派基督教中，正像在麻葛派琐罗亚斯德教中一样，唯一真正上帝的各种品性–在这里是耶和华的话语和耶和华的精神，被提高到相互平等的神性的地位．耶稣与法老、恺撤、罗摩和黑天一样成为上帝的化身。耶稣的生身母亲实际上也成为了一位女神–“上帝之母”。

    基督教会也从其组织的效率中获得了力量。黎凡特地区的各种宗教与佛教的僧侣制度一样，是没有中央组织的。信奉这些宗教的各地教众在行政上相互独立，他们的共同之处只在于拥有同样的教义和仪式。基督教也在各地拥有自己的教众。他们在地理上与罗马帝国的各个城邦是一致的。但基督教在更大程度上模仿了罗马帝国，在整个帝国规模上使它的地方组织从属于一个教会统治集团。它这种组织上的成就是独一无二的。亚历山大的继承者托勒密、塞琉古和利西马科斯的世俗帝国已经烟消云散，但它们又在基督教主教制度的形式中得到了复兴。罗马主教（”教皇”）的长老地位得到了他的东部同僚的承认，但教皇声称自己对罗马主教辖区以外的全体教会成员拥有至高无上的专制权力，这一点却没有被他们接受。

    从犹太教的一个派别转变为一种世界性的基督教会，这确实十分令人震惊。但印度的上座部佛教哲学变形为一种世界性的大乘佛教，这也是同样惊人的。大乘佛教作为一种传教的宗教，其力量在于它的信徒愿意与教化所及的地区先前已经存在的各种宗教达成妥协。大乘佛教的上座部前身中，没有任何东西能妨碍大乘佛教的宽容大度，以同生共存而不是以征服异教为目标。另一方面，基督教的犹太教前身却成了基督教神学家和传教士们的绊脚石。基督教不能使自己与其他宗教同生共存，它只能或是消灭对手，或是将它们吸收，而且，它只能在可以不动声色的时候才能吸收它们。但基督教所吸收的远比它所消灭的更多。事实上，它的传播方式很象大乘佛教的方式，尽管它的官方代表对这一点是难以接受的。

    大乘佛教和基督教的兴起与传播，是人类历史上的新转折。这些重大事件发生在旧大陆文明中心的舞台上，但它们的最后影响却是全球性的。

    第三十九章 中美洲文明和安第斯文明

    （约公元前400－公元300年）

    第21章已经谈到在中美洲和安第斯世界，文化的生长已达到文明的水平。中美洲文明的创造者是奥尔梅克人；安第斯世界文明的创造者是查文艺术风格的发明者和传播者。中美洲至少有一个遗址，即座落在特万特佩克地峡的圣洛伦索，放射性碳测定其可辨认的奥尔梅克风格的文明最初出现是在公元前1250年左右；但在更靠近大西洋海岸的拉文地和特雷斯萨波特斯，奥尔梅克文明的繁荣时期是在公元前800－前400年，与安第斯世界的查文”地平线”同时代。如果我们采用安第斯历史纪年体系的两种计算方法中的一种，那么，在紧随其后的约公元前400－公元300年，这两个地区的文明同时达到鼎盛阶段。不过还有一种计算方法却将安第斯文明的鼎盛时期提早了约600年，即定在公元前300年左右。

    中美洲文明的纪年体系是比较可靠的。中美洲有一个未间断的纪年体系，其发明者可能是奥尔梅克人。但肯定被中美洲历史上的古典时代（约公元300－900年）的马雅人所完善。这种被现代考古学家称为”长期计算法”的纪年体系已经与公元纪年体系相对应，其方法是用放射性碳测定从马雅寺庙门庭上横木取下来的大量的树木样本的年代，并将其与雕刻在马雅建筑物上的”长期计算法”的年代联系起来。

    人们已知道安第斯各民族已有了自己的纪年方法。证明安第斯纪年体系的唯一证据，除了放射性碳测定的证据之外，就是安第斯文明遗址上人造物（如房屋和陶器）堆积的层次差别。考古学家通过计算这些堆积物的厚度，保存在这些分层次的堆积物中连续性风格的数目以及前后风格之间的差异程度，从年代学的角度来解释这些分层。不过，采用放射性碳测定堆积物样本的内容虽然可以验证这种猜测性的纪年体系，但这些放射性测定法所得出的年代跨度是在约公元前400年到公元1438年之间，它们与考古学家的估计毕竟相差太大。例如，安第斯文明的鼎盛阶段，即所谓安第斯历史的”古典”或”开花”时期，根据放射性碳测定应定在约公元前300年到公元500年之间，而根据堆积物分层的计算则应定在约公元400－1000年。

    这种差异令人困惑不解；根据我们目前的知识水平，尚不可能精确地判断这两个互相矛盾的年代哪一个正确。依据堆积物的分层确定年代是主观性的假设，其结果可能是错误的。另一方面，用放射性碳测定安第斯文明的年代所依据的样本数量并不多，孤立地用放射性碳确定年代可能与根据堆积物分层猜测年代一样不准确。除非我们了解被测物体的历史，否则就不能毫不怀疑地运用放射性碳测定年代。例如，在一座房屋里发现的一根横梁可能是从另一座更古老的房屋里取来的，如果是这种情况，那就无法得出发现这根横梁的那座房屋的正确年代。运用放射性碳确定的年代只有以数量为保障才是可靠的；而迄今为止，我们掌握的说明安第斯文明年代学的测定数量仍然非常少。因而，关于在公元1438年左右结束的8个半世纪的安第斯历史，我们目前所能采用的最好办法就是暂时接受现有的放射性碳测定的年代，但在心理上要有所保留，认识到随着测定数目的增加，结果可能会更接近依据地层分层法的估计，而与目前所作的为数不多的放射性碳测定所得出的偶然结果差距会更大。

    安第斯文明与中美洲文明是互相独立地生长的，虽然它们互相有影响（安第斯世界的玉米是从中美洲传来的，中美洲的冶金术则来自安第斯世界），但没有令人信服的理由能说明为什么这两个文明的连续阶段应该是吻合的，或者，如果它们是吻合的，为什么这两个吻合的文明又是同时代的。不过，中美洲历史的奥尔梅克阶段和安第斯历史的查文阶段事实上是很接近的一对，在年代上也几乎同时。而且，在前哥伦布的美洲历史的最后阶段，中美洲阿兹特克国家的扩张几乎是与安第斯世界印加国家的扩张同时开始的。它们的开始年代分别是公元1428年和1438年。依据地理分层而不是依据放射性碳测定的安第斯历史的年代，安第斯历史的”开花”时期正好又与中美洲史上的相吻合阶段的”古典”时期是同时的。当然并没有令人信服的理由能说明这两个文明相吻合的阶段为什么是同时的。在本章中我们确定安第斯文化”开花”阶段的正确年代是约公元前300年到公元500年，而不是约公元400年至1000年。

    在中美洲，奥尔梅克文明最早是出现在特万特佩克地峡和邻近的大西洋沿岸，但它从那里向西北传播到墨西哥高原、向东南传播到太平洋沿岸。有一些考古学证据显示奥尔梅克人是凭借武力向外扩张的，但是奥尔梅克文明在圣洛伦索和拉文他相继毁于暴力则表明奥尔梅克人使用愤怒的被征服民族的强迫劳动，搬运建造他们巨大艺术作品的大量材料。但是奥尔梅克人既受到憎恨，也被人模仿。大西洋沿岸西北端的奥尔梅克城址特里斯萨波特斯一直存在到大约基督纪元开始，该城被毁的年代是”长期计年法”中目前所知的最早的年代。那年相当于公元前31年。在特万特佩克地峡以东的恰帕德考佐有一个被确定的年代相当于公元前36年；在高原（即南部）危地马拉的埃尔包尔，有一个年代相当于公元36年。所以，奥尔梅克人最重要的发明在中美洲已经传播到了奥尔梅克人可能征服的疆界之外。

    在约公元前100年到公元150年之间，永久性的宏大建筑开始出现在马雅地区的两个低地。中马雅地区的佩腾现已被茂密的热带雨林所覆盖；北马雅地区的尤卡坦则比较干燥贫瘠。在中马雅地区主要的祭祀中心策卡尔所发现的可确定年代的石碑，其最早年代是公元292年。所以中美洲文明到达中部和南部马雅地区的时间要比它到达南部地区（危地马拉高原）为晚；但是，一旦在中部马雅地区站稳之后，它便形成了一些别具一格的特征。其中之一是架有屋顶的拱形会堂；另一特征是祭坛和石碑合而为一。迄今为止唯一被释读出来的中美洲符号是表示年代的符号（一种是在连续的”长期计年法”中表示年代的符号，一种是以52年为一循环周期的纪年符号）。有人猜想那些仍未能释读的符号是一种文字；如果它们是文字，即就是一种苏美尔式的表意符号和表音符号的结合。中美洲的象形文字和”长期计年法”不是马雅人的发明，而是当佩腾的马雅人在采用它们之后，使它们进一步得到发展和完善。

    中美洲文明在马雅低地的显著发展可与同一时期它在墨西哥高原的发展相媲美。座落在通向湖泊盆地河谷一边的特奥蒂瓦坎不仅仅是一个祭祀中心，虽然它的太阳和月亮金字塔是除了乔卢拉人工山之外两座最大的中美洲建筑物。特奥蒂瓦坎同约1500年之前的圣洛伦索一样也是一座真正的城市。特奥蒂瓦坎座落在一块长方形的平地上，它的人口稠密，居民的生计部分是依靠集约化耕种附近的一片农田，部分是依靠制造商品出售给居住在大西洋沿岸热带低地地区的各民族。

    在特奥蒂瓦坎和马雅低地，中美洲文明的”古典”时期始于公元300年左右。安第斯文明相应的”开花”时期也在本章论述的范围之内，既然我们暂时接受它的年代在约公元前300年至公元500年间（这一年代是由目前已经做出的为数不多的放射性碳测定所确定的）。查文风格的扩展并没有越出安第斯世界的范围。它既没有达到东南部的沿海地区，也没有达到东南部的高地。即使在它所达到的地区，在它传播开来之后在各地就出现了多样化的转变。这种转变在文化上是富有成果的，正是在这后查文阶段安第斯文明达到了顶点。它杰出的技术和艺术成就表现为它的陶器和纺织品。这一阶段的两个最重要的地区都位于沿海低地。它们是西北部的奠奇斯河流域和东南部的帕拉卡斯半岛与纳斯卡河流域。莫奇斯的陶器可与希腊历史上”古典”时期的雅典陶器相媲美；而帕拉卡斯半岛和纳斯卡河流域的毛织品比任何现代纺织品都更精美，这一地区的棉织品即使在现代的孟加拉和兰开夏郡也难以被超过。在查文阶段安第斯世界已经掌握了冶金术，它在后来的”实验”阶段和”开花”阶段继续得到发展，但材料仍然仅限于黄金，产品是装饰品，而不是工具或武器。制作金器的方法是锻打而不是浇铸，尚没有制作银器和铜器。但在冶金方面，安第斯文明要领先于中美洲文明。中美洲从未独立地发明冶金术，直到后古典时期之前，中美洲还没有掌握冶金术；即使在古典时期，冶金术仍是从厄瓜多尔和秘鲁传来的产物。

    第四十章 旧大陆文明中心的西端

    （220－395年）

    在第37章，我们已经对公元48年到220年之间横跨整个旧大陆文明中心的四大帝国进行了一些叙述。这片广阔的地区由于最终在政治上统一为四大强国而为宗教传播事业开辟了道路。第38章叙述了从公元前约334年到公元220年间各地区宗教为征服人们的心灵而进行的角逐。角逐的结果是3个新宗教的兴起：有神论的印度教、大乘（与上座部相对）佛教和保罗派（与犹太派相对）基督教。三大宗教都是虔诚的宗教，在这一点上彼此相同。有神论印度教徒信奉湿婆神和毗湿奴神；大乘佛教徒信奉菩萨，他们不是神祗，而是潜在的佛；基督教徒则信奉耶和华、耶稣（对非犹太人基督教徒来说他也具有神性）以及耶稣的母亲，当她获得”上帝之母”称号时，也已经变成了一位女神。信奉的对象不同，精神则是一致的。

    上述几个虔诚宗教的兴起，以及菩萨、耶稣和玛利亚的被神化，反映了人们需要一种超人力量的帮助。当人们意识到自己不是所处环境的主人，就产生了这种需要。在某些时候和某些地方，人民及其统治者曾感到有足够的信心把信任寄托在现世的神的化身身上–例如最初4个王朝的历任法老，亚历山大及其最初的几位继承者，尤利乌斯?凯撒、奥古斯都以及奥古斯都在公元274年以前的继承者们。公元274年，一个现世的神的化身奥勒利安皇帝改变了自己的地位，这标志着他和他的臣民承认，这样的神已经不再适合当时的情况。在这罗马帝国发生危机的第四十个年头，奥勒利安用”不可征服的太阳”来代替自己作为帝国的监护神。从此以后，他不再作为一个神，而是作为一个至高无上的神在尘世上的代理人来进行统治。

    在旧大陆文明中心历史的下一个阶段，即约公元220－395年，四大帝国的命运发生了不同的变化。第37章已经指出，伊朗和伊拉克的阿萨息斯安息帝国在公元224年被萨珊波斯王朝征服并接管，贵霜帝国被萨珊帝国征服并被纳入帝国版图（虽然贵霜帝国的一个残部在萨珊帝国领土上再度兴起并一直存在到后者灭亡之后）。中华帝国和罗马帝国各自发生了分裂并暂时陷入无政府状态–中华帝国分裂了370年（公元220－589年），罗马帝国分裂了50年（公元235－284年）。因此，在公元3世纪中期，伊朗帝国是最为强盛的。它经历了一次朝代变迁，随后向东部进行了扩张，第二任萨珊皇帝沙普尔一世3次取得对罗马人的胜利，在第三次胜利中（公元260年）他俘获了整个一支罗马军队，包括瓦莱里安皇帝本人；但沙普尔随后就在罗马帝国方面发起的一次反攻中被击败。这次反击发生在叙利亚和美索尔达米亚之间的沙漠中，发动者是位于绿洲中的半自治商业城邦巴尔米拉的王子奥登纳图斯。

    在图拉真将巴比伦（伊拉克）并入罗马帝国的企图遭到失败后，以及伊拉克和伊朗在公元224年被萨珊王朝从阿萨息斯王朝手中接管之前，巴尔米拉于公元117－224年间在经济上进入全盛时期。战胜沙普尔一世后，奥登纳图斯，随后还有他的妻子芝诺比阿企图使巴尔米拉成为罗马帝国在黎凡特地区的继承国。芝诺比阿不是阿拉伯绿洲上的第一个野心勃勃的王后，也不是最后一个，但巴尔米拉在公元274年遭到奥勒利安的征服并被摧毁。其间的另一个王国亚美尼亚则更为成功。亚美尼亚先后得到巴尔米拉和罗马的帮助，使自己免遭并入萨珊波斯帝国的命运，从公元298年到387年，它在阿萨息斯王朝一支旁系的统治下一直保持着独立。这支旁系从公元66年起在罗马帝国宗主权下占据着亚美尼亚的王位。

    接连几任军人皇帝使罗马帝国获得了重新的统一和复兴。这些皇帝都出自亚德里亚海东北海岸和多瑙河南岸之间军事力量强大，但文化落后的伊利里亚诸行省。奥勒利安（公元270－275年在位）就是其中的一个。其中最伟大的两位皇帝是执政21年（公元284－305年）的戴克里先和执政31年（公元306－337年）的君士坦丁一世。从公元235年到284年，除了一位皇帝外，其他皇帝在位期限都很短，多数皇帝都死于非命。戴克里先和君士坦丁则得以寿终正寝。这两位皇帝通过改造而重建了罗马帝国。君士坦丁完成了戴克里先所开创的事业，并挽回了戴克里先企图强使帝国实现宗教统一的失败。他的办法是完全改变了戴克里先及其年轻的同朝皇帝加莱里乌斯对基督教会的政策。

    公元284年到337年间，戴克里先和君士坦丁创建了一支灵活机动的陆军，以便更好地保卫帝国（君士坦丁也用它来进行内战，打击竞争者）。他们重新稳定了通货（是军费所使用的金币，而不是穷人使用的小铜币），重新丈量了土地，并重新确定了农产品的税额。他们征召了许多职业人员义务履行公职。他们用按照等级制度组织起来的官僚填补了诸城邦市政自治政府垮台后留下来的行政真空，这些城邦政府曾是罗马帝国的细胞。他们还进行了迁都。

    曾经建起了整个帝国的城邦罗马，作为意大利半岛或一个以海上实力为基础的环地中海帝国的首都，可以说占尽了地利。但是，它的地理位置却不利于保卫沿幼发拉底河、多瑙河和莱茵河一线延伸的帝国边疆，它还远离帝国的经济重心黎凡特地区。戴克里先把新都建在小亚细亚半岛西北角附近的尼科迪墨亚（伊斯密特）。君士坦丁将它向西稍稍移动一下，建都于拜占庭，该城位于一个易于防守的半岛的顶端，是一个天然良港，地处博斯普鲁斯海峡的欧洲海岸南部。拜占庭（君士坦丁堡，现名为伊斯坦布尔）是两条水陆通道的交汇点，水路连接地中海和亚述海海角，陆路联系萨瓦河和多瑙河汇合处的辛吉杜努姆（贝尔格莱德）和幼发拉底河西部弯道之西的杜鲁克，它是朱庇特?多利刻努斯的故乡。

    公元3世纪中期罗马帝国的低谷是瓦莱里安的儿子加列努斯在位时期（公元260－268年）。萨珊波斯帝国的短暂高峰是沙普尔一世在位时期（公元242－273年）。在旧大陆文明中心西端这个骚乱的时期，两位最伟大的人物是受加列努斯保护的埃及新柏拉图主义哲学家普罗提诺（公元205－270年）和伊朗一种新的传教宗教的创立者，出生于伊拉克。受沙普尔一世保护的摩尼（约公元216－277或226年）。

    这两位先知都曾为探寻异域的智慧而勇敢地随军远行。如果他们都在同一次罗马与波斯的战争中得到一次机会。那就是公元243－244年的那场战争，那样，他们就将会在两军对垒的战场上互不相识地彼此相遇。两人都在沉思着那些曾经困扰琐罗亚斯德和柏拉图的古老的问题：人类所居住的这个不完善的世界与存在于现象之中、之后和之外的”终极实在”之间的关系是什么？这种”终极实在”是善的吗？如果是，那么作为人类经历和人类行为的悲剧的恶又源于何处？

    这两个人的背景中都有基督教的成份。普罗提话使用希腊语言写作，而他的老师阿摩尼乌斯曾经是一个基督教徒。摩尼的父亲曾在伊拉克皈依一个名叫”洗礼派”的派别，但他们全家是从米底的哈马丹搬到伊拉克的。在米底，主要的宗教是麻葛派的琐罗亚斯德教。摩尼自称是琐罗亚斯德、佛陀和耶稣的继承者。普罗提诺是一个反对诺斯替教的柏拉图主义者，但他的弟子，新柏拉图主义敌对教会的创立者扬布利科斯却象摩尼一样深深地陷入了诺斯替教。摩尼将诺斯替教与二元论结合起来，他的二元论与琐罗亚斯德教不同，是一种绝对的二元论。根据琐罗亚斯德教教义，光明与黑暗之间（善与恶之间，目前进行的战争是暂时的，其结果将是善神阿胡拉?玛兹达战胜邪恶的对手安格拉?曼纽而取得永久的胜利。在摩尼看来，光明是与黑暗混合为一的，它最终将会彻底从黑暗中摆脱出来，但光明和黑暗这两种相互对立的原则却是永恒的，它们也就是字面意义上的光明和黑暗，而对普罗提诺来说，也如对琐罗亚斯德一样，光明和黑暗是一种精神影象，分别代表着善与恶；而且在普罗提诺看来，与善相比，恶不是一种积极的精神力量，它是某种只有消极意义的东西：它不是”与善对抗”，而是没有善。

    在公元约220－395年间旧大陆文明中心的西端，两个最重要的事件不是发生在政治方面，而是发生在宗教方面。其一是一个好战的琐罗亚斯德教教士卡提尔击败了摩尼，成功地使麻葛派的琐罗亚斯德教成为萨珊波斯帝国的官方宗教。其二是基督教首先于约公元285－290年在亚美尼亚，其后于公元312－395年间在罗马帝国取得了对除占星术外其他一切宗教的胜利。

    萨珊皇室的家世与哈希芒家族不同。他们在成为王公之前就已经是祭司。萨珊家族是斯塔克尔城的女神安娜希塔庙的世袭祭司，该城位于法尔斯，它取代了波斯第一帝国的礼仪中心波斯波利斯。琐罗亚斯德教产生以前的伊朗女性水神安娜希塔被不恰当地与麻葛派琐罗亚斯德教的阿胡拉?玛兹达连在了一起，因此，萨珊家族对琐罗亚斯德教的忠诚比伊朗以往任何一位统治者都更为明确，只是不及琐罗亚斯德自己的庇护人希斯塔斯普（他不是大流士一世的父亲希斯塔斯普，而是一个同名的国王，大约在两代人以前，他的统治领地可能是在乌浒河－药杀水流域）。

    波斯第一帝国的阿契美尼德统治者宣称忠于琐罗亚斯德唯一真正的神阿胡拉?玛兹达，但他们并不把自己称做琐罗亚斯德所创立的宗教的信徒。阿萨息斯人宣称信奉麻葛派的琐罗亚斯德教，但他们象阿契美尼德人及其马其顿希腊继承者一样，对所有在他们的臣民中拥有信徒的宗教都宽容以待。沙普尔一世为手下要人们的灵魂而资助琐罗亚斯德教的祭火坛，却不谋求将自己家族的祖传宗教强加给非琐罗亚斯德教徒。不仅如此，沙普尔还允许摩尼在沙普尔的领地内宣传他的新宗教。

    摩尼曾经到过印度。这可能是公元241年的事。这一年沙普尔还是王储，他从贵霜人手中征服了印度河流域。前面已经谈到，摩尼曾随一支波斯军队进行远征，这支部队后来曾入侵罗马帝国。这些远征分别使摩尼对佛教和基督教获得了第一手了解。他宣称自己是琐罗亚斯德、佛陀和耶稣的继承人，是”先知的象征”，明确而彻底的启示的接受者，是”巴比伦的真理之神的使者”，并宣称他是圣灵的化身；他渴望不仅劝化萨珊波斯帝国的居民，而且劝化所有的人类。摩尼赢得了信徒们的忠诚，他是一位组织天才，他的教义也被证明是具有吸引力的。巴比伦（伊拉克）的确是旧大陆文明中心的心脏，当地的语言是古叙利亚语，它以阿拉米语当时的形式，通行于整个新月沃地；因此巴比伦成了他行动的中央基地。摩尼从巴比伦派出了他的传教使团，不仅派往萨珊帝国的东北边界和西北边界，而且派到了埃及。摩尼教的传播速度远远快于此前300年中基督教的传播。

    但是，摩尼关于建立一个以伊拉克为中心的世界性宗教的设想却与卡提尔的意图势成水火。后者希望使琐罗亚斯德教成为萨珊帝国的国教，或者至少在帝国的伊朗部分做到这一点，并想扑灭当地其他一切宗教的活动。卡提尔是锁罗亚斯德教的教士，他在沙普尔一世的第三位继承者瓦赫拉姆二世在位期间（公元277－293年），把僧侣统治推到了顶蜂。他担任了萨珊王朝祖传的斯塔克尔的安娜希塔神庙的祭司，同时也是当地祭火坛的祭司。卡提尔在沙普尔一世的第二位继承者瓦赫拉姆一世（公元274－277年在位）面前也是说话算数的。在卡提尔的煽动下，瓦赫拉姆一世逮捕了摩尼并将他投入囹圄，摩尼殉教而死。摩尼教在埃及的发展也在公元297年招致罗马皇帝戴克里先颁布了野蛮的镇压令，此事发生在戴克里先向基督教宣战之前6年。戴克里先斥责摩尼的信徒为波斯人的”第五纵队”，而全然不顾波斯政府已将摩尼处死、到297年它已对本国臣民中的摩尼教徒进行了20年的迫害这一事实。迫害行为对摩尼教所起的作用正象对基督教一样。它不但没有使它消沉，反而刺激了它的发展。

    在罗马帝国，德西乌斯于公元250年，瓦莱里安于公元257-260年，最后也是最凶猛的一次是戴克里先和加莱里乌斯于公元303－311年，都企图将基督教置之死地。这等于是默认；若不如此，帝国就将落入基督教会手中。公元303－311年大迫害的幕后策划者不是戴克里先本人，而是加莱里乌斯。戴克里先不愿看到基督教的强大，但他也低估了基督教会的力量。这两位皇帝都是来自伊利里亚的士兵，在伊利里亚以及来自伊利里亚的士兵中，基督教几乎没有抬头的余地。伊利里亚士兵们心中的神祗是奥勒利安的”不可征服的太阳”，朱庇特?多利刻努斯，密特拉以及原始的罗马诸神。

    黎凡特地区的反基督教人士更为正确地估计了基督教会的力量。在这里，基督教徒为数众多（尽管也只占人口的少数）。普罗提诺的弟子扬布利科斯试图组织一个以诺斯替教对新柏拉图主义的解释为基础的敌对教会。在这里，地中海世界一切非基督教的男女诸神都被动员起来，在”不可征服的太阳”率领下反对基督教诸神。这是中国的道教在地中海地区的翻版。它受到两位罗马皇帝马克西米努斯?戴亚（公元310－313年在位）和君士坦丁的侄子，曾经信仰基督教的尤里安（公元361－363年在位）的庇护，但它注定要遭到失败。基督教会早在新柏拉图主义敌对教会之前就已将地中海诸神加以吸收。耶稣早已变成了俄耳甫斯、萨拉庇斯和”不可征服的太阳”；玛利亚已经变成”上帝之母”伊希斯。至于新柏拉图主义哲学，扬布利科斯好战地将它加以滥用，但遭致流产，这比它最终与基督教神学的结合更使普罗提谛望而生厌。

    公元311年，加莱里乌斯在他弥留之际，很不情愿地撤回了他和戴克里先颁布的反基督教敕令，并许诺给予罗马帝国境内所有居民以信仰自由，不管他们是基督教徒还是非基督教徒。公元312年，君士坦丁一世皈依基督教。他的转变十分突然，令人惊讶，也许他本人也会这样认为。因为在公元306年，君士坦丁从他的父亲君士坦提乌斯一世皇帝那里不但继承了对高卢和不列颠的统治，也继承了对”不可征服的太阳”的崇拜。公元312年君士坦丁侵入意大利，该地与西北非当时处在君士坦丁的姐夫马克森提手中。在罗马西北郊外一次战役中，马克森提战败身亡。在这次战役前夜，君士坦丁梦见他看见了由希腊语的”基督”名字头两个字母组成的交织字母，同时还有几个闪闪发光的拉丁文单字：”以此标记你将战胜”。君士坦丁梦见，基督指示他将这个交织字母写在自己的铠甲上，并将它漆在士兵的盾牌上。君士坦丁照着去做了，结果赢得了这次在他的三次内战中最为关键的一战。在这几次内战中他每次都成为胜利者。

    君士坦丁的皈依公开而真挚，但他并不放弃对奥勒利安劝君士坦提乌斯一世的”不可征服的太阳”之神的忠诚，尽管他最后还是把”太阳’和基督混为一谈–基督教会也早已含蓄地将这二者混在了一起。他也不放弃他作为罗马国家政治首脑而获得的非基督教高级祭司长职务大祭司长的地位。保持最高祭司之职与信奉基督教发生了矛盾，但受君士坦丁庇护的基督教会当局对此绝口不提，君士坦丁本人也一直没有正式成为基督教会的成员，直到公元337年他才在病榻上接受了洗礼。而且，君士坦丁对基督教教义的了解甚不全面，不仅在公元312年他皈依基督教的时候如此，而且在他的一生中一直如此。虽然他在世俗事务方面是个精明的政治家，但他对基督教会政治事务的干预表明，他在这一方面完全是个外行。

    人们有时指责君士坦丁怀疑一切、玩世不恭、狡猾伪善，他信奉基督教是政治上的权宜之计。对他的皈依作出这样的理解是因为没有搞清他所处的时代。在公元235年社会崩溃以后的地中海世界不存在怀疑论者。罗马帝国的居民中没有任何人相信，自己在这个可怕的时代可以没有神的帮助而生存下去。君士坦丁在宗教上是真诚而热情的，在这一点上，他是他那个时代和那个地方的典型代表。普罗提诺、摩尼、扬布利科斯、戴克里先、加莱里乌斯、马克西米努斯?戴亚和尤里安都以不同的方式表现出了宗教上的真诚和热情。君士坦丁对宗教的笃信程度毫不次于普罗提诺，但不同的是他的信仰很粗劣。基督教的上帝通过显示力量而赢得并保持了君士坦丁的忠诚。这个上帝向迫害基督教会的那些罗马皇帝降下了灾难。加莱里乌斯、马克西米努斯?戴亚和李锡尼的命运就是例证。也是这个上帝使君士坦丁赢得了三次内战的军事胜利。在公元312－324年的12年中，基督教的上帝使君士坦丁从台伯河长驱直下博斯普鲁斯海峡，并使他成为整个罗马帝国独一无二的统治者。而他在306年起家的时候，只不过是阿尔卑斯山和比利牛斯山后一些偏远落后省份的统治者而已。

    基督教的上帝通过赐以好运来酬劳君士坦丁的忠诚，君士坦丁对此感激至深。但上帝显示神力使他深为感激的同时，也引起了他的畏惧。他害怕如果自己未能完成对他的庇护之神的义务，例如未能有效地调解基督教会团体之间的分裂，上帝将把加莱里乌斯、马克西米努斯?戴亚和李锡尼那样的命运加在他的身上。那些迫害过基督教徒的皇帝也曾对非基督教神祗的不满有过同样的恐惧。

    君士坦丁皈依基督教的动机，在道德方面来讲远远比不上阿育王的皈依怫教。阿育王的皈依是由于他对发动侵略战争的罪行心生悔悟，此后他再未发动过战争。君士坦丁则是出于对三次内战接连取得胜利的感激。

    君士坦丁向马克西米努斯?戴亚施加压力，迫使他在黎凡特停止了对基督教的迫害；他还劝使李锡尼与自己一起在各自的领地内对基督教实行进一步的宽容。由此，他使加莱里乌斯的宽容敕令得到了加强。君士坦丁从未迫害过他的非基督教臣民，但他确实曾给基督教会以宝贵的特权。他的侄子，曾信奉过基督教、后又反对基督教的尤里安也对新柏拉图主义的敌对教会表现了同样的偏爱。罗马皇帝在公元311年以后，对自己信奉的宗教以外的其他宗教宽容以待是极其勉强的，这与阿育王对他的非佛教臣民和邻国的宽厚仁慈、迦腻色迦对不同派别的婆罗门教徒和佛教徒的公平对待正好相反。

    在罗马帝国，甚至这种开始于311年的不稳定的宽容也只是昙花一现。格拉提安皇帝（公元367－383年在位）拒不担任大祭司长之职，并开始通过关闭庙宇、剥夺财产等方法消灭罗马帝国的非基督教宗教。狄奥多西一世（在东部于公元379－395年在位，在西部于392－895年在位）最终完成了这种消灭。

    同时，罗马和波斯两大帝国仍是并肩共存。一场旷日持久的罗马－波斯战争（公元337－360年）以毫无结果而告结束。公元362年尤里安对波斯帝国的入侵以尤里安之死和公元363年罗马的一次灾害而告终。尤里安的继承者约维安以将美索不达米亚东北部罗马帝国边界要塞尼西比斯以及5个亚美尼亚边界行省割让给波斯为代价，才使罗马远征军解脱出来。这5个行省是公元298年并入罗马帝国的，割让这些地区使亚美尼亚王国处在波斯人的随意摆布之下。公元378年，一支罗马军队于阿德里安堡在西哥持人手下遭到一次毁灭性的失败，其毁灭性的程度与从前罗马帝国在阿利亚、坎尼和卡里遭到的历史性失败相比毫不逊色。罗马人现在不得不把剩余的军事力量用来进行一场不可能打赢的战斗，以拯救他们在欧洲的领地，在亚洲前线则不得不向波斯帝国进一步割地求和。公元387年，两个帝国达成协议瓜分亚美尼亚王国，该国五分之四的领土划给了波斯。这是罗马帝国为保持自己在黎凡特地区的生存所付出的代价之一。

    波斯帝国成长中的基督教社团命运的变化，反映了两大帝国关系的曲折波动。琐罗亚斯德教教会没有使罗马帝国的任何人归附本教，也没有使亚美尼亚的任何人自愿归附本教。琐罗亚斯德教会与基督教会和摩尼教会不同，并不谋求劝化全人类。它的目标一直象卡提尔所希望的那样，使本教不仅成为波斯帝国的”国教”，而且至少在伊朗诸省成为独一无二的宗教。但是，即使在帝国的伊朗臣民中，麻葛派琐罗亚斯德教的吸引力也显然比不上摩尼教和基督教；而且，只要两大帝国彼此敌对，基督教在波斯帝国的传播就会引起萨珊帝国政府和琐罗亚斯德教教会当局的双重反感。这不仅仅是对具有排外思想的琐罗亚斯德教教会的冒犯。罗马帝国在公元312年以后，逐渐将基督教当作”国教”，使得信奉基督教的波斯帝国臣民受到嫌疑，被看作是一支罗马人的”第五纵队”，正如埃及的摩尼教徒更是毫无道理地被戴克里先怀疑为波斯人在罗马的”第五纵队”一样。在萨珊波斯帝国的起家之地，基督教徒只是一些散居居民，尽管他们的人数越来越多；但在约维安于363年割让给沙普尔二世的尼西比斯和5个亚美尼亚边界省份时，当地居民则全部都是基督教徒。基于这些原因，萨珊皇帝沙普尔二世（公元309－379年在位）于339／340年开始了对本国基督教徒的迫害。在他去世以前，这种迫害始终未停。但他的第二位继承者沙普尔三世（公元383－388年在位）与罗马皇帝狄奥多西一世交上了朋友。两大帝国相互关系的缓和，不仅使两国有可能在公元387年通过协议瓜分亚美尼亚王国，而且使得波斯帝国同意容忍基督教在本国的存在。这是罗马－波斯两国协商谈判的结果。波斯帝国停止了对基督教徒的迫害，波斯的基督教会行政组织也形成了统一。而且，公元410年在底格里斯河畔的塞琉西亚举行了一次波斯基督教会会议之后。波斯皇帝伊嗣埃一世（公元399－420年在位）重申了他在此前已经颁布的一项宽容法令。

    第四十一章 印度文明

    （约224－490年）

    首任萨珊波斯皇帝阿尔达希尔一世在位期间（公元224－242年）于公元241年推翻了贵霜帝国。此前，德干的萨塔瓦哈纳（安得拉）王国崩溃。这两次相继发生的政治突变导致印度次大陆出现了持续一个多世纪的政治真空。自公元前4世纪德干地区并入库揭陀帝国以后，这一地区在大约600年间一直是一个政治整体，起初是与北印度联合，公元前232年阿育王死后摩揭陀帝国发生分裂，这一地区又成为一个独立的政治单位。在这个普遍的政治空位期内，最稳定的是半岛的南端地区。阿育王未曾征服的一些王国这时期仍然存在。西印度于公元1世纪在贵霜皇帝宗主权下建立的两个塞人辖地，至少有一个也仍然存在。这两个塞人封邑中靠南边的一个占据着马哈拉施特拉，它曾经侵犯过萨塔瓦哈纳的领土，可能在同该王国的斗争中屈服了。靠北边的辖地占据着乌贾因周围的马尔瓦，在贵霜帝国垮台时仍然存在，因此成为一个独立的国家。

    非政治活动方面有更大的连续性，保存至今的犍陀罗视觉艺术，形象地表达了西北印度大乘佛教的发展；在朱木拿河上游位于贵霜领土上的秣菟罗，土生土长的印度艺术风格接受了希腊的影响，但没有受到希腊风格的支配。这里一直是这一艺术流派的故乡。在语言文学方面，公元后的最初3个世纪，一种新的梵语逐渐取代了从原始梵语中发展起来的方言，成为刻写铭文的语言。在这3个世纪中，南印度还兴起了泰米尔语文学。

    阿育王的铭文大都是用方言刻写的，只有刻写在塞琉古一世割让给旃陀罗笈多的前阿契美尼德领土上的铭文例外。无疑，孔雀帝国的行政语言也是这种方言。上座部佛教经文使用的巴利语即是孔雀时代的方言之一。在这一时代，原为次大陆的印欧语系入侵者使用的原始梵语，除婆罗门教仪式以外肯定已不再使用，除了在原来是口传心授，后来形成文字的《吠陀》和《奥义书》中以外，肯定也已无人读写。新梵语与同时代出现的新雅典希腊语一样，是一种矫揉造作的语言。湿婆教、毗湿奴教和大乘佛教的经文就是用这种语言写成的，《罗摩衍那》和《摩诃婆罗多》这两部印度史诗最后成形时使用的也是这种语言。尽管《摩诃婆罗多》的原始主题显示，这一史诗至少在公元前一千年代的最初几个世纪就开始成形了。但人们一般都认为，这两部史诗是在公元前200年到公元200年之间完成的，梵语复兴对新生的泰米尔语文学的影响证明了它的活力。德干地区使用的语言到现在一直是达罗毗荼语。不过德干的阿育王铭文全都是用起源于原始梵语的方言刻写的。但对泰米尔语文学产生影响的印欧语系语言却不是这种方言，而是新梵语。

    公元3到4世纪，印度文明继续向次大陆以外扩展。印度文明早在公元1世纪就已开始向东南扩展，4纪时向这一地区扩展的力量得到进一步的加强。整个大陆东南亚除了公元前140年以后并入中华帝国的越南北部外，这时都成了印度文明区域内的一部分。这种印度化的媒介是贸易和宗教，而不是军事征服，东南亚民族也不只是被动地接受印度文化。它们使这种文化明显地带上了东南亚的色彩，尽管这种色彩也不是非印度化的。同时，佛教从印度西北部通过乌浒河和药杀水流域以及塔里木盆地从陆路传入中国，在这里，大乘佛教使上座部佛教说一切有部的影响黯然失色；新梵语写成的大乘经卷译成了中文；大乘佛教的有形媒介，犍陀罗的希腊一印度艺术风格对中国、从而也对朝鲜和日本的视觉艺术产生了革命性的影响。

    印度次大陆的自然地理状况，使印度诸帝国自然而然地把朱木拿河－恒河流域现属比哈尔邦和北方邦的这一地区当作自己的基地。从公元前5世纪建国到公元前2世纪崩溃，这一地区一直是摩揭陀帝国的中心。但是，从公元前2世纪，到公元3世纪贵霜帝国被推翻，北印度的政治重心却不是朱木拿河－恒河流域，而是印度河流域。公元4世纪、北印度的政治结构又突然恢复了常态。这时，与公元前5世纪一样，南北比哈尔在政治上再次携起手来。这次不是通过征服，而是通过王室的联姻。而且，统一的比哈尔再次获得力量，从其有利的战略位置上向外扩张。

    笈多王朝的创建者与其公元前4世纪的前驱，孔雀王朝的旃陀罗笈多同名。我们相应地以公元320年作为4世纪旃陀罗笈多的笈多王朝时代的创始之日，但笈多帝国的真正创始人是这位创建者的儿子沙摩陀罗笈多（约公元330－380年在位）。沙摩陀罗笈多在德干一次引人注目的袭击战中登场，他的不朽功绩是扩大了朱木拿河－恒河流域笈多王朝版图。创建笈多帝国的决定性步骤是旃陀罗笈多二世（公元380－418年在位）采取的。大约在公元395年，他征服了建都乌贾因的塞人辖地。随后，他向西推进到海岸地区，由此为笈多帝国打开了一扇通向阿拉伯海之窗。

    笈多帝国在南方和西北方的扩张都没有达到孔雀帝国那么远的地方。笈多帝国的南部边界是温德亚山脉和纳巴达河；西北部直接统治的地区以昌巴尔河和朱木拿河上游为界，旁遮普只有东南部的一半处在它的宗主权下。没有关于笈多帝国和萨珊帝国发生冲突的记载。可能有一个贵霜帝国不稳定的残余，出现在二者之间，形成了一个缓冲国。

    笈多家族是信仰婆罗门教的印度人，但他们象孔雀家族和贵霜王室一样容忍一切宗教。在笈多政权统治下，公元4至5世纪的印度文明在雕塑、用新梵语创作的世俗文学（特别是戏剧）和天文学方面达到了顶峰。希腊－罗马世界的落日余晖通过印度的西部窗口射进了笈多帝国，但这只是微光一现。笈多时代辉煌的印度文明是土生土长的。笈多帝国是被来自欧亚太平原的匈奴游牧民族的入侵摧毁的。印度文明的”黄金时代”也被这一入侵打断。匈奴人的第一次袭击发生在公元455年，随后又发生过多次，尽管匈奴人在公元528年被击退，但他们并没有被驱逐出去。

    第四十二章 公元4－5世纪来自欧亚大平原的匈奴冲击波

    据历史记载，欧亚大平原东端最早的占领者，是操突厥语的游牧民族。中国人称之为匈奴，而中国西部受它侵扰的其他定居民族称之为匈族人。公元前4世纪，中国的秦、赵、燕三国的最北端，延伸到了欧亚大平原的南边。公元前307年，赵国统治者募集了一支按游牧民族风格装备起来的骑兵队伍。公元前4世纪末，这三个中华边疆小国沿着与欧亚大平原接壤的边界筑墙，以防御游牧民族的侵袭。

    游牧生活方式不仅把人们训练得能征善掠，而且使他们组织严密，治理有方。对于人类和人类驯化的动物来说，没有计划和纪律，就无法在草原上生活下去。因此，当秦始皇于公元前221年在政治上统一了中国，并将地区性的边墙整修加固成一条连绵不断的长城之时，匈奴则在长城边上组织起一个帝国与之对峙。公元前209－前203年间，中国出现的短暂而剧烈的无政府状态，为匈奴提供了进攻的良机。公元前174年，他们还向西扩张，迫使其西面游牧邻居开始了迁徙运动：月氏人迁到了乌浒河－药杀水流域，塞人迁到了印度。公元前128年，中国的汉武帝向匈奴发动了反攻，试图消灭匈奴，或者至少永久性地征服他们。但是，汉匈百年战争（公元前128－前36年）却未分胜负。公元前52年，离中国最近的部分匈奴向中国皇帝称臣。但是，中国取得的这一胜利是表面和暂时性的。同时，其余的匈奴部落通过进一步向西迁徙，避开以长城为基地的中国军队的打击，从而完全逃脱了中国的控制。

    直到当时为止，匈奴尚未向中国以外的任何定居社会发动过任何进攻。可是，在公元4世纪和5世纪里，他们不仅向中国再度发动进攻，而且侵入了乌浒河－药杀水流域、印度、伊朗和欧洲。这是欧亚大平原的这个游牧民族发动的第五次冲击。然而，与其所有前辈不同的是，匈奴人这次冲击行动在各个方向同时展开。

    公元304年，匈奴的一个部落入侵中国，于311年攻下洛阳，312年攻下已灭的汉朝的第一个首都长安，并于316年灭了西晋（建立于280年，它在政治上重新统一中国）。这支匈奴部落对中国成功的再度入侵，为其他蛮族的大举进攻开辟了道路。别的蛮族，包括另外的匈奴部落、藏人、通古斯人或蒙古人。西晋王朝寿命短暂，整个华北，蛮族胜利者建立的小国林立。

    公元375年，在大平原的另一端，另一支匈族部落袭击了住在伏尔加河与顿河之间讲伊朗语的阿兰人，推翻了来自斯堪的纳维亚讲日耳曼语的东哥特人在第聂伯河流城建立的帝国，并把想在罗马帝国领土上寻找避难地的西哥特人，赶到了多瑙河下游的南岸。匈奴人向最西部发动的这些进攻，最终导致西哥特人和罗马人之间的冲突。公元378年，罗马人在阿德里安堡遭到毁灭性的打击。匈族人带着被征服的阿兰人和东哥特人一道向西挺进，并让其他讲日耳曼语的蛮族人打头阵。

    匈奴人在匈牙利大草原上安营扎寨，这是欧亚大平原来的人建在大陆欧洲半岛腹地的一个营地。从公元395年起，罗马帝国就发生分裂，它的东部比西部显得更有活力。西部匈奴的军事首领阿提拉，因而集中力量进攻西罗马帝国。把西罗马作为打击目标是失算的，但在阿提拉可能进攻的两个罗马目标中，这一个更为脆弱。公元451年，他进攻高卢，但在奥尔良被西罗马军队和西哥特人联合击败。西哥特人期望西罗马政府允许他们在西南高卢居住，因而极力防止匈奴人占领西哥特人从罗马得到的领土。公元452年，阿提拉进攻北意大利，但尚未进军罗马城就撤退了。453年，阿提拉去世。被他降服的日耳曼人和撒马利亚人举行起义。匈奴人在西方的部族大举东撤，从匈牙利大草原一直追到欧亚大平原通往黑海北部的西海湾地区。

    因此，西罗马帝国没有成为匈奴人的战利品。相反，它成了讲日耳曼语的蛮族人的战利品。这些蛮族人逃避了匈奴的征服，或者虽被他们征服，但又在阿提拉死后举行了起义。公元406年，大批苏维汇人、汪达尔人、阿兰人和勃艮第人，渡过莱茵河进入西罗马领土。410年，西罗马政府承认它无力为不列颠提供防御，同时，它也无法挽救罗马本身，以避免其于同一年被逃避匈奴人的西哥特人所攻占。所以。向西入侵的匈奴人让其他的蛮族人交了好运，把西罗马帝国让给了他们。匈奴人最终在罗马帝国只获得不多的领土。公元681年，一支保加利亚游牧部族（阿提拉所率匈奴人后裔的一部分），在多瑙河下游和海缪斯（巴尔干）山脉南麓之间的东罗马领土上、为自己赢得了一块永久立足之地。

    公元484年，这支匈奴人击退并杀死萨珊波斯皇帝佩罗兹，在波斯同盟发动的战争中崭露头角。这场战争始于公元359年，结束于波斯人攻取罗马要塞阿米达（迪亚巴克尔）。到了484年，这个厌哒人（阿布达利人）部族已经占领了乌浒河－药杀水流域的上流地区。粟特和巴克特里亚曾经是贵霜帝国的属地。第一位萨珊皇帝阿尔达希尔一世统治的波斯，于241年征服了贵霜帝国，似乎把这两个地区并入萨珊波斯帝国。我们不知道，这些省份在厌哒匈奴人占领前就逃脱了波斯的控制，还是在以484年波斯惨败告终的军事较量之前，厌哒人直接从波斯帝国的手中将它们夺过去的。

    在这次惨败之后，波斯帝国不得不向厌哒人进贡，一直到哥士娄一世科斯洛埃斯（531－579年在位）在位期间。在哥士娄一世在位期间，波斯帝国于公元558年或563－567年间，对厌哒人进行了报复。哥士娄当时在突厥人中找到了同盟者。后者是曾在匈奴人的后方称雄于草原的一支游牧部族。波斯人和突厥人联手推翻了厌哒人的帝国，并沿乌浒河瓜分了它的领土。波斯帝国因而获得乌浒河南段大夏的部分领土（托卡里斯坦，即现在的阿富汗乌兹别克斯坦）。但是，厌哒人的其余部分，则在兴都库什山脉南部的查布尔斯坦（阿拉霍西亚）幸存了下来。

    在从草原出发、穿过草原南边帕米尔高原和里海之间地段的匈奴人马中，厌哒人是先头部队。值得一提的是，这支先头部队455年入侵印度，摧毁了笈多王朝，并对笈多王朝统治下一直处于”黄金时代”的印度文明，进行了大破坏。528年，这支匈奴人被最后赶出境外。

    匈奴人的大举入侵，使被侵略地区经受了一次严峻的考验。东罗马帝国和萨珊波斯帝国最为成功地迎接了这一挑战。尽管东罗马帝国没有抵挡住阿提拉的进攻，尽管厌哒人把波斯帝国打得大败，但是，这两个帝国都没有被征服；它们以进贡的代价换取了生存。波斯帝国能继续生存下去，不能说不是一件令人惊讶的事。因为，484年军事惨败导致的马兹达起义，表明了公元6世纪波斯帝国所患社会痼疾的严重性。在同一世纪里，西罗马帝国也在受着同一种社会疾病的折磨。可与波斯帝国不同的是，西罗马帝国分崩离析了。

    西罗马帝国瓦解了，而东罗马帝国却依然完好无损。它确实使东罗马帝国抛掉了一个包袱。因为，在地中海西部地区及其非洲和欧洲内地，希腊－罗马文明自从公元3世纪崩溃以后，就根本没有复兴过。在希腊－罗马世界的最后阶段中，只有黎凡特地区的社会生活还能正常地进行着。匈奴人的侵略，对印度和中国的影响不象对西罗马帝国那样严重，但他们所受的打击比东罗马帝国和波斯帝国更为惨重。在印度和中国，匈奴人的入侵并不仅仅是滚滚而过的暴风雨，侵略者还在这两个次大陆永久地居住下来。在印度西北部，匈奴人现在依然以拉杰普特人为代表。这些部族很快皈依印度教，并融入刹帝利种姓之中，就象过去侵入印度的欧亚游牧部族一样（例如塞人和钵罗钵人）。在中国，蛮族入侵者最终也被同化了。但是，匈奴对中国的打击格外沉重。渭河流域和黄河下游，是公元4世纪及后来被匈奴和其他蛮族占领的中国土地。这一地区曾经是中国文明的发祥地。同它相比，西罗马帝国崩溃时，希腊－罗马文明所失去的地区，仅仅是可以牺牲掉的殖民兼并地。然而，由于面积广大，中国和印度次大陆得以避免崩溃之灾。在这个国家里，当侵略者从北部攻入时，逃难的人们都可以跑到南方未得安宁。大自然和人类的工程，保护了中国的南部。在淮河和长江下游，还有人工运河，这些河网水路，对更加习惯于在华北平原生活和征战的欧亚游牧民族的骑兵，形成了巨大的障碍。

    第四十三章 罗马帝国与波斯帝国

    （395－628年）

    公元388年，罗马皇帝狄奥多西一世再度统一罗马帝国。公元895年，狄奥多西的两个儿子阿卡狄乌斯和洪诺留，同样再度瓜分了罗马帝国。公元260年，波斯皇帝沙普尔一世打败并俘虏罗马皇帝瓦莱里安。从此以后，罗马帝国经常分裂（其中有些分裂是自愿进行的，有些则是被迫的）。但每次分裂之后，帝国最终还是重新获得统一。公元395年，人们毫无理由期望这一年的自动分裂将长久维持下去，然而，这一次帝国东西部的命运则是截然不同的。

    公元406年以后，来自匈奴、讲日耳曼语和伊朗语的民族向西进军，不断涌入西罗马帝国，并逐渐占据上风。410年，西哥特人攻陷了罗马城。455年，罗马又遭汪达尔人的洗劫。在476年前的很长时间里，西罗马帝国政府就已经十分虚弱。西罗马帝国最后一位皇帝，在拉韦纳（5世纪西罗马帝国的避难首都）被他的步兵首领鲁吉人奥多亚塞废黜。罢黜西罗马帝国皇帝，使帝国形式上重新获得统一。君士坦丁堡皇帝芝诺（474－491年在位）成为全罗马帝国的最高统治者。西罗马帝国灭亡了，而东罗马帝国继续存在，尽管沿多瑙河下游的边疆所受北方的压力，要比帝国在黑海和北海之间的其他欧洲大陆边疆大得多。此外，罗马帝国东部边疆的近邻，并不是好战的蛮族集团，而是与罗马帝国有着同样发展水平的波斯帝国。

    显然，395年后罗马帝国两大部分命运上的差异。并不是由于它们各自边疆所受压力程度上的不同而形成的。它们之间的社会和经济状况的差别，以及君士坦丁堡政府相对成功地采用适宜的治国方略挽救了危局，这些才是根本原因所在。

    君士坦丁堡政府很快认识到，不仅已无法挽救西罗马帝国，同时，牺牲掉它也是必要的。东罗马帝国为挽救崩溃中的西罗马帝国的唯一大规模干预行动，是468年出动海军远征，攻击西北非洲的汪达尔占领军，但遭到惨败。君士坦丁堡政府认可了西罗马帝国政府476年最终灭亡的既成事实。488年，通过对东哥特军事首领狄奥多里克入侵意大利、消灭奥多亚塞行为的默许，从而使这伙一直掠夺骚扰东罗马帝国西北部省份的武装匪徒的祸水它移。狄奥多里克在拉韦纳自封为君士坦丁堡政府统治此地的副总督。这种分裂对双方都很适宜。508年，皇帝阿纳斯塔修斯一世为法兰克军事首领克洛维授勋，表彰他打败西哥特人的功绩。当然，克洛维征战中立的第一功，是清除了罗马在高卢的残余统治力量。直到518年，东罗马政府才给予叙利亚和埃及优先获得意大利的权力。它的外交政策从其宗教政策中反映出来，这个问题将在下一章中提及。

    西罗马政府的致命错误之一，就是让大土地所有者担任行政机构中的重要职务，因而使他们把经济上自己控制的地产，转化为实际上独立的领地。当帝国政府让他们服役时，这些地主宁愿背叛政府来保护自己的那部分财产。他们很容易向那些在西罗马帝国建立国家的蛮族军事头目妥协。东罗马政府不断将政治上危险的地主撤职，并把高级文官到低级文官，都换上中等阶级的专业人员，其中有许多人是法学家。这些专业人员也会腐败，但他们是爱国的。因为他们认识到，自己的私利要求保存东罗马国家。

    至少有两个东罗马皇帝，即马西安（450－457年在位）和阿纳斯塔修斯一世，通过对帝国财政管理实行更为严格的控制，而大大减少了官员们的腐败现象。此外，在5世纪很长一段时期里，通过剥夺东罗马帝国高级官员对下属的任命权，而大大限制了这些人的权力。马西安和阿纳斯塔修斯一世采取的严格的行政措施，重振了由于468年海军远征惨败而大伤元气的东罗马帝国的财政。士兵以及国库，都得益于对军队财务官员腐败行为的遏制。阿纳斯塔修斯一世不让市政委员会成员向人们征税，并没有使纳税人得到多少益处。他任命帝国官员直接向纳税者个人收税。但由于这些官职被拍卖，因而把领薪水的官员变成税务投机商，使他的措施收效甚微。

    在西罗马帝国，步兵首领迫使其同伙附属于自己，从而取得了专制权力。在东罗马帝国，两位军事长官权力不相上下，他们三位地方上的同事也有同等权力。528年，皇帝查士丁尼一世又在亚美尼亚设立了第四位地方军事长官。东罗马军事长官的部下也被置于文官的控制之下，他们的私人卫兵虽没取消，但人数也大大减少。

    不仅如此，东罗马帝国军队中的蛮族雇佣军，也被从各级指挥职位上撤下来，换上东罗马帝国的公民。在君士坦丁堡，400年清除掉了哥特人盖那斯，471年又清除了阿兰人阿斯帕尔。皇帝利奥一世（457－474年在位）是一个讲色雷斯语的贝斯人，他的继承者芝诺来自托罗斯的伊索里亚高地。查士丁一世（518－627年在位）来自巴尔干半岛北部拉丁化地带的南端。

    在5世纪期间，伊索里亚人从”狼”转变成”护羊狗”，真是一项了不起的成就。404和405年，伊索里亚人仍在袭击比他们稍为规矩些的邻伙。贝斯人利奥给伊索里亚以大量财富，从而压制住了阿兰人阿斯帕尔。正当伊索里亚人试图效法外来蛮族人滥用权力时，它自身已于491－496年被阿纳斯塔修斯一世置于帝国政府的有效控制之中。在6世纪里，巴尔干半岛北部的伊索里亚人、贝斯人和拉丁化民族（弗拉克人），都为查士丁尼一世提供了军队。查士丁尼一世用这批军队，收复了地中海西部地区原属西罗马帝国版图的土地。

    狄奥多西二世（408－450年在位）修造的君士坦丁堡土城墙，代替了君士坦丁一世最早建造的土城墙。阿纳斯塔修斯一世建造的长城更为宏伟，它从海岸的一端延伸到另一端，把君士坦丁堡的欧洲腹地包围其中。他在德拉修筑了比尼西比斯要塞更坚固的城堡。363年，约维安曾经被迫把尼西比斯割让给波斯帝国。阿纳斯塔修斯还在西奥多西奥波利斯（埃尔祖鲁姆）修筑城堡，以保卫曾为亚美尼亚王国的罗马领土。

    公元5世纪，西罗马帝国极其虚弱，甚至连精明强干的皇帝（例如马约里安，457－461年在位），都没有办法阻止西罗马帝国走向灭亡。而同一时期的东罗马帝国却十分强大，它得到了充分显示其能力、活力和治国方略的机会。从414至518年间，东罗马帝国的幸运还在于它有杰出的统治者。狄奥多西一世的儿子及其在东罗马帝国的继承人阿卡狄乌斯，与他哥哥和西罗马帝国皇帝洪诺留相比，显得格外出色。阿卡狄乌斯的儿子狄奥多西二世却不太出色。他在位时间长达42年（408－450年）。然而，他却不理朝政，因而由他姐姐普尔喀丽娅于414年开始执政，并直到她453年去世前的大部分时间里，都继续在幕后操纵朝政大权。普尔喀丽娅与哈特谢普苏特女王和芝诺比阿同样性格坚强，但她的治国才能却超过后两人。普尔喀丽娅的丈夫马西安，以及马西安的继承人利奥和芝诺，都是出色的皇帝。阿纳斯塔修斯一世更为杰出。从奥古斯都公元前31年在亚克兴角的胜利，到1453年君士斯丁十一世死于君士坦丁堡的圣罗马努斯门，罗马朝廷中杰出的皇帝辈出。而阿纳斯塔修斯一世可以与其中最为出色者相提并论。

    在后人眼中，查士丁尼一世比阿纳斯塔修斯一世稍高一筹。查士丁危受过良好教育，精明强干。他是行伍出身的查士丁一世的侄子。查士丁一世原为弗拉克的农民，应征为士兵后地位不断升迁。甚至在查士丁518年引退之前，查士丁尼也许就已开始参与查士丁的政事。查士丁尼本人在位年代从527至565年，所以，他实际上执掌了47年的大权。因此，518年东罗马政府外交政策和宗教政策的转变，决策者也许就是查士丁尼，而非查士丁。查士丁尼为自己是讲拉丁语的少数人之一而自豪，因为东罗马的大多数人讲的是混杂的希腊语。他渴望重新统一原东西帝国的全部版图，或许只是高卢除外。

    533－534年，西北非被征服，查士丁尼一世的杰出将领色雷斯人贝利萨留，消灭了汪达尔人在西罗马帝国领土上建立的国家。非洲战役一举成功，但后来为使这块重新征服的领土平定下来，却十分艰难并旷日持久。为了根除东哥特人在意大利和伊利里亚的统治，战争持续了26年（535－561年）。这场罗马与东哥特人间的战争，使意大利变成一片荒凉废墟，耗尽了阿纳斯塔修斯一世曾使之充盈的国库，并且，由于赋税繁重，一直繁荣富裕的地中海东部沿岸诸省，迅速陷于贫困萧条之中。同东哥特人进行战争的教训，并未吓住查士丁尼一世，因为他又于550年对西哥特人在西班牙的领地发起进攻，直到554年占领了那里的一个滩头堡后才停止进攻。

    查士丁尼的征服战争，使君士坦丁堡罗马帝国在整个地中海四周以及从顿河、奥龙特斯河和尼罗河入海口到直布罗陀海峡，都取得了海上优势，但同时又给东罗马帝国造成了严重的后果。仅仅是468年的一次海上战役，就在一定程度上带来了不利影响。查士丁尼一世统治的后果，反过来证明其君士坦丁堡前任的谨慎是十分英明的。在他之前的皇帝们，除向西方发动过一次军事冒险之外，从没用过兵。

    查士丁尼一世对西方的征服没有维持多长时间。仅在他攻陷东哥特人在意大利的最后一个堡垒7年之后，伦巴德人就于568年侵入意大利。查士丁尼在法律和建筑领域里的成就，才是意义深远的。529－533年间，查士丁尼一世的法学家，不仅将正在实施的罗马法律加以归纳整理，使之便于操作（尽管不一定最合理），而且把过去1000年来提出的极为浩繁杂乱的法学观点系统化。在建筑方面，查士丁尼并没有掀起一场革命，但他喜爱建筑，并为之作出了贡献。他委任特拉利斯的安提米乌斯和米利都的伊西多尔这两位天才的数学家和工程师，在君士坦丁堡设计和建造了一个建筑佳作–圣索菲娅（神圣智慧）大教堂。

    希腊世界最初的标准建筑式样，是带一个三角山墙屋顶的长方形房屋。这种正厅外面饰有圆柱（柱子或者只建在房前，或者建在四边）的房屋，被用作前基督教时代希腊、埃特鲁斯坎和罗马男女诸神的殿堂庙宇。随着圆柱从房外移入屋内，在后亚历山大时代这种房屋变为教堂。这种教堂在成为基督教堂的标准式样之前，还曾被用作进行一些世俗活动。但是，公元2世纪的意大利，一种新型水泥的发明，为建造带小圆屋顶的圆形建筑提供了技术手段。这种风格的最早建筑物，是罗马城哈德良皇帝的万袖庙。在拉韦纳的圣维塔利斯教堂和君士坦丁堡的圣塞尔吉乌斯以及巴克乌斯教堂建筑中，圆顶叠在八边形的基座之上。这种设计曾使建筑学家大伤脑筋。这些建筑作品都是由查士丁尼一世和他的王后狄奥多拉监造的。圣索菲娅教堂的圆顶，则是由形成正方形的四根方柱支撑的。

    君士坦丁堡的圣索菲娅教堂，足与雅典的帕特农神庙相媲美。相比之下，伊克蒂诺的艺术，不如安提米乌斯和伊西多尔的艺术精美。正厅的主要特色就是，线条绝对垂直和水平，绝对得甚至有些造作，而柱子则是绝对的圆柱体。但在大自然中没有什么绝对完美的几何形状；这些形状（不管是真实的还是虚构的）是由人的大脑设计构造出来的，并由人的双手强加在人类的非人的环境里。在拜占庭按照圣索菲娅风格建造的教堂中，流行着圆顶和半圆顶，以再现大自然物体的曲线。它们并不试图统治大自然，而是试图获得与大自然的某种和谐。用中国道教哲学家的眼光看来，拜占庭教堂要比希腊神庙更令人赏心悦目。

    古希腊人并不轻视自然曲线。他们是自然主义地再现人体美的杰出大师。从原始几何风格开始，古希腊花瓶不管其造型经历了多少演变，总是以曲线美巧夺天工。古希腊人也知道如何把精心设计的曲线应用到建筑上面。但他们所设计的曲线，在建筑上却给人以十分直率的视觉效果。拜占庭建筑师所修造的绝妙房宇，没有用过于直率的线条，而是用类似于古希腊雕刻家和陶工所设计的曲线，这同古希腊建筑师的设计则大为不同。

    查士丁尼一世的圣索菲娅教堂至今犹存，他的法官们所制定的法典至今有效。但是，他对西部的暂时征服，却在他死后仅37年，就使他的帝国陷入困境。而他谨慎的前任们，却将帝国安然带出险象环生的5世纪。550年，即查士丁尼与东哥特人长期而痛苦的战争结束之前，从弗拉克当地征集到意大利作战的军队，在进军途中击退了来自多瑙河北岸的入侵者。572－591年罗马和波斯战争期间，东罗马帝国军队云集亚洲境内的帝国东部前线。此时，阿瓦尔人和斯拉夫人，未遭阻击就侵入了帝国的巴尔干诸省。604－628年间，罗马帝国和波斯帝国发生了更为艰苦的战争之际，斯拉夫人再次骚扰，这次，他们没有再离开此地。

    东罗马帝国的对手萨珊波斯帝国，也面临着东罗马帝国极力避免或与之斗争的痛苦的折磨，而西罗马帝国在5世纪正是于这些痛苦中灭亡的。萨珊帝国与它的前身阿萨息斯王朝一样，没有让贵族独占高级官职。特定的官位是特定的贵族家庭的世袭特权。此外，琐罗亚斯德教在萨珊波斯帝国的势力非常大，就象基督教在君士坦丁堡和狄奥多西的罗马帝国的地位一样。与以前的阿萨息斯时代相比，在萨珊时代里，琐罗亚斯德教也带有强烈的伊朗民族主义色彩。黎凡特地区的正统基督教也是如此。5世纪，当埃及人、叙利亚人和亚美尼亚人的民族主义，在抵制卡尔西顿会议决议的过程中寻找到神学的表达时，正统基督教也逐渐浸透了希腊的民族主义。

    440年，萨珊皇帝伊嗣埃二世要求他的所有非琐罗亚斯德教教徒臣民信奉帝国确认的宗教。他迫害不信奉国教者，直到457年去世时为止。佩尔萨门尼亚的反抗最为激烈。（大约400年，表达亚美尼亚语言的字母系统的发明，以及由此促使亚美尼亚文学的勃兴，都大大提高了亚美尼亚人的民族意识。）亚美尼亚人的起义于451年被镇压下去。但在波斯军队被厌哒人打得大败之后，亚美尼亚人于481年再度起义。484年皇帝佩罗兹战败身亡后，萨珊帝国政府被迫对亚美尼亚基督教采取完全容忍的态度。一位亚美尼亚贵族马上被任命为佩尔萨门尼亚的省长。

    同时，伊拉克讲叙利亚语的基督教徒，也由于431年罗马帝国宣布聂斯脱利派的基督教义不合法，而得到益处。聂斯脱利教徒逃到讲叙利亚语的尼西比斯避难。尼西比斯从363年起，就属于罗马－波斯边界上的波斯一边。作为逃避罗马帝国政府迫害的避难者，聂斯脱利人在波斯土地上受到欢迎。482－486年间。萨珊帝国讲叙利亚语地区的基督教会，为报复罗马皇帝芝诺482年偏好基督一性论派的统一声明，而接受了聂斯脱利派的基督教形式。此后，波斯帝国就有了国家基督教，以便同波斯帝国讲伊朗语地区的琐罗亚斯德国教相抗衡。但它所信奉的教义，既为基督一性论派所排斥，也受到罗马帝国正统基督教教徒的反对。接受聂斯脱利派的基督教教义，并没有保证波斯帝国的基督徒免遭进一步的迫害，但由于消除了人们关于他们是罗马派来的”内奸”的怀疑，从而使他们获得了更为安全的处境。

    波斯484年的军事失败，不仅使它开始对萨斯帝国非伊朗基督教徒实行宽容政策，而且为伊朗本身发生激烈的社会革命开辟了道路。因为，伊朗达官贵人的巨大财富与大众的贫困之间的巨大鸿沟越来越大。佩罗兹的第二个继承人喀瓦德一世（488－496年，499－531年在位）上台之初，一场饥荒将社会危机推到顶点。玛兹达乘机宣传自己的主张。他是当时摩尼教的一派首领。此派创立时间，仅比摩尼创立本教晚30年。它的教义在许多方面不同于正统摩尼教。但到了玛兹达时代，这一摩尼教派已明确提出社会正义的要求。它主张共产共妻（人们对这后一点很反感，玛兹达的敌人更是拼命攻击这一要求）。

    玛兹达关于光明与黑暗的解释，赢得了人民的拥护，皇帝喀瓦德一世也成为此教的信奉者，因而兴起一场削弱达官显贵财势的社会革命。玛兹达教损害了伊朗贵族的社会地位。对于琐罗亚斯德教教徒来说，此教不仅损害了他们的社会地位，而且与他们的教义格格不入。当伊朗贵族和琐罗亚斯德教教徒联合起来反对萨珊皇帝时，喀瓦德一世显然不是对手，496年他被罢黜并监禁。但是，喀瓦德一世后来逃到中亚厌哒人那里，并于498或499年，依靠厌哒人的一支军队，夺回了波斯帝国的王位。与此同时，玛兹达的势力和影响继续保持上升势头，他的共产主义继续被实施。但是，528或529年，喀瓦德一世在他的一个儿子哥士娄（已被立为他的继承人）的煽动下，开始不承认玛兹达教。在这一关头，琐罗亚斯德教和聂斯脱利教的首领都反对玛兹达教，他们配合哥士娄取缔了玛兹达教。哥士娄屠杀了大批玛兹达教教徒，处死了玛兹达本人。

    别号”不朽者”的哥士娄一世十分精明，而且比起前任来，更为滥用皇权。由于在其父统治后期，他一直主张镇压玛兹达教派，从而博得了琐罗亚斯德教教徒们的欢心。所以，他不必担心琐罗亚斯德教教会与贵族结盟反对他。相反，他成功地赢得了这两者对他的权威的认可。哥士娄把玛兹达镇压下去时，玛兹达革命已经进行了40余年，达官显贵又恢复了元气。

    尽管哥士娄一世取缔了玛兹达教，并在即位后继续限制贵族的权力，但他承认，他必须采取积极措施来解决或减轻导致玛兹达革命的社会不公问题，他必须对使贵族得以控制王权的机构加以改革。哥士娄似乎从戴克里先之后的罗马历史中得到了启发。他重新估定土地税和人头税。他按生产率的高低征收土地税，按生产工具的精良程度课人头税。在伊朗阿拉伯哈里发的后萨珊政府时期，农村的乡绅负责征集农村诸税。哥士娄或许也把这一权力交给了乡绅。在他竭力抑制贵族时，乡绅成了皇帝的天然同盟军。哥士娄还撤销了总司令这个职位，代之以4个地方司令官。看来他好象认识到了东、西罗马帝国命运不同的一个重要原因。

    572年，哥士娄一世与东罗马帝国发生战争。战争延续到590年，以哥士娄一世的儿子和继承人霍尔密兹德四世的罢黜和处死而告终。丧失民心的战争，给贵族提供了重新恢复势力的机会。一个反叛贵族篡夺了皇位。但东罗马皇帝莫里斯，把霍尔密兹德四世的儿子哥士娄二世立为皇帝。作为报答，哥士委二世于591年与莫里斯媾和，把佩尔萨门尼亚的西半部割让给他。莫里斯终于可以把东罗马军队调回欧洲，向阿瓦尔人和斯拉夫人发动反攻。反攻极为成功，到602年，罗马人自3世纪撤出达契亚以来，第一次再度出现在多瑙河下游北岸。但是，莫里斯发出关于军队冬季到多瑙河以外驻扎的命令，导致了军队的哗变。莫里斯被赶下皇帝宝座，并被处死。帝国也陷入一片混乱之中。

    604年，哥士娄二世借口为恩人莫里斯复仇，率军侵入东罗马帝国。自从公元前53年罗马人与其伊朗近邻爆发第一次冲突以来，还没有哪次战争比这次双方的冲突更为残酷。波斯军队至少有两次入侵到博斯普鲁斯海峡亚洲岸边。626年，东罗马帝国海军竭尽全力，使波斯人企图与从海峡欧洲一侧围攻君士坦丁堡的阿瓦尔人会合的计划破产。波斯军队占领了叙利亚、巴勒斯坦、埃及和昔兰尼加。自从公元前331年以来，波斯人还从未西进得如此之远。而东罗马人在最后的反攻中，也向东挺进到公元117年以来罗马军队未曾去过的地区。628年，东罗马皇帝希拉克略几乎已推进到了泰西封。随后，就象572－591年的战争那样，这次战争以当时的萨珊皇帝的罢黜和处死告终。

    628年，两个大国在互相承认战前领土状况的前提下媾和。波斯帝国当即陷入极端无政府的状态，就象东罗马帝国在602－610年间所经历的混乱情形一样。但与东罗马帝国不同的是，波斯帝国再也没有从无政府状态之中恢复过来。

    628年，这两大帝国都精疲力尽。622年由先知穆罕默德在麦地那建立的伊斯兰阿拉伯国，却渔翁得利。穆罕默德崛起之快，可以同沙普尔一世260年战胜瓦勒利安之后，巴尔米拉王子的迅速兴起相比。633年，穆罕默德的第一个继承人艾卜伯克尔向北方的两个邻居同时发起进攻。波斯帝国被灭；东罗马帝国再次幸免于难，但其领土日益缩小，缩小到只有小亚细亚、君士坦丁堡，加上地中海北岸的一些大陆滩头堡以及一些岛屿。

    第四十四章 西方基督教世界

    （395－634年）

    在旧大陆文明中心所有遭受来自欧亚大平原匈奴冲击的国家中，西罗马帝国受到的打击最为惨重。受匈奴人西侵的影响，过着游牧生活的撒马利亚民族和过定居生活的东日尔曼民族被迫向西迁徙。大约在406年左右，匈奴人侵入西罗马帝国边疆。到了476年，甚至连当时在西方仅仅徒有虚名的帝国政体，此时也已被消灭了。西罗马帝国的灭亡主要不在于蛮族入侵的强大力量，而更多地归咎于帝国内部的衰弱。这种衰弱同时体现在社会和行政管理两个方面。西罗马帝国的弊端和导致中国汉朝灭亡的弊端同出一辙。在与大奴隶主和军事首领争夺权力的较量中，帝国政府失败了。奴隶主们把属于帝国政府的财富–隶农的”剩余”产品装进了他们自己的口袋，而军事首领则轻而易举地集结军事力量，他们成功地使自己成为政治上的统治者。

    在西方帝国崩溃的前夜，先后出现了两位伟人，他们是圣安布洛斯和圣奥古斯丁。他们两人对西方基督教世界产生了深远的影响，而这种影响比他们所生活和工作过的帝国的灭亡所带来的影响还要长久。在372－397年间，圣安布洛斯是米兰的主教。他死后第七年－404年，西罗马帝国把首都从米兰迁到了拉韦纳，拉韦纳靠它的沼泽地带成为一个坚不可摧的天然要塞，他死后第九年－406年，受到匈奴压迫的东日尔曼流亡者，突破了西罗马帝国的莱茵河防线。奥古斯丁在395－430年间担任西北非希波地方的主教，他死于汪达尔人入侵非洲的第二年。注达尔人渡过莱茵河后第二十三年，即429年，经过西班牙到达非洲。430年，他们包围了奥古斯丁主教所管辖的那座非洲城市。

    这两位西方教士有着非常不同的社会背景。在他们被任命为基督教传教士之前，他们从事务不相同的世俗职业。安布洛斯是一位最高级文职官员的儿子。至于安布洛斯本人，他也是从做文职官员起家的，而且毫无疑问，他本可以做到他父亲那样的高官，但是他却转入了另一个活动领域。在这一领域，他能够而且确实更善于行使权力。奥古斯丁出身于西北非内地的一个小镇塔加斯特的一个中产阶级家庭。奥古斯丁起初是家乡的一位修辞学教授。尽管这种职业无论从理性还是从社会意义来说都非常乏味，然而奥古斯丁却干得很出色。奥古斯丁从塔加斯特升迁到迦太基，又从迦太基升迁到罗马，随后又被提升到米兰。388年，奥古斯丁在米兰从摩尼教皈依基督教，这样他在自己的知识领域里，找到了一条把自己的天赋奉献给教士生涯的道路。

    安布洛斯靠自己的勇气和坚强的意志支配了另一个强有力的人物，这就是皇帝狄奥多西一世。安布格斯通过拒食圣餐向狄奥多西一世施加压力，直到狄奥多西按他的要求去做为止。狄奥多西很顺从，因为他是一位虔诚的基督徒，而且他也不得不认真考虑基督教的公共舆论（在当地基督教徒的坚决要求下，安布洛斯成了米兰的主教）。安布洛斯巧妙地运用他的权力，让皇帝狄奥多西苦修，以赎他曾两次发动大屠杀之罪；他恶毒地运用权力，以阻止皇帝惩罚一个曾摧残过一名犹太教徒的基督教主教；384年，他又鼓动皇帝拒绝了罗马元老院议长西马丘斯把胜利女神祭坛重新搬回元老院议事堂的请求。这个胜利女神祭坛是在382年被狄奥多西的前辈格拉提安搬走的。西马丘斯在他的请愿书中写道：”如此伟大的一个神秘事物是不可能仅仅通过一种简单方式来接近的。”西马丘斯心中的神秘事物是存在于现象背后的”终极实在”，以及这种”终极实在”与人类之间的关系。安布洛斯没有答应西马丘斯要求宽容的这种请求。安布洛斯的目的就是禁止罗马帝国疆域内的所有异教习俗。他是通过说服帝国政府行使它的权力来达到这样的效果。狄奥多西在391－392年期间执行了安布洛斯的政策。最终在帝国幸存下来的异教习俗只有占星术和犹太人、撒马利亚人对耶和华的礼拜。

    奥古斯丁也是一个不容异说的人。他把大量时间和精力花在同多纳图斯派与贝拉基派的论战上。多纳图斯派表示。在进行道德论战时，他们决不向同时代的基督教徒妥协。在303－311年间，基督教各派之间彼此已经和解。但是，多纳图斯派却并不因此而约束自己，因为他们本身已参加到当地非洲人的活动中去，这种活动是不具有宗教色彩的社会政治的活动。贝拉基坚持认为人类意志至少应有一定程度的自由。人类有义务运用这种自由行善弃恶。这位不列颠神学家像伊朗人那样坚持认为，人类的道德责任无论在何时何地都是有益的，即使在贝拉基和奥古斯丁那一代的西方世界也不例外。此时，在西方罗马帝国，社会正在走向崩溃，圣奥古斯丁则坚持认为，人的优点还不足以使他通过自身的努力得到拯救。因为对人的拯救，上帝的”恩典”是必不可少的。在非宗教的日常生活里，拉丁语”gra－tia”一词的使用，从偏爱的意义上讲，意味着一种特别强烈的人类的”喜爱”。奥古斯丁同贝拉基派的争论导致他提出这样一种观点：由于上帝的绝对权威，甚至连人类一部分人得到拯救和另一部分人被罚入地狱都是预先决定好的。奥古斯丁根据一个罗马皇帝的肖像勾勒出上帝的画像，这个皇帝被过多的权力冲昏了头脑，而滥用权力。

    奥古斯丁留给后世的最有价值的文学遗产是两部非神学的著作。在他的《忏悔录》里，他运用自己所精通的拉丁语，撰写了一部心理自传。在他的《上帝之城》里，奥古斯丁把一部曾引起争论的小册子加以发挥和深化，循着一条可供选择的途径，对”伟大的神秘事物”进行了深入探究，而人类的思维循着这一途径便能触及这个”伟大的神秘事物”。奥古斯丁这部书的写作源于这场论战，而这场论战又是由西哥特人于410年洗劫”罗马之城”这个事件所引起的。君士坦丁坚信并声称，他的军事胜利是基督教上帝对他皈依基督教的恩赐。410年以后，异教徒对此反驳道，410年罗马的衰落是异教诸神对391－392年罗马镇压异教崇拜而施予的惩罚。奥古斯丁着手准备驳斥这种观点，并开始探索人类世俗生活和他所同时参与的天国之间的关系。

    奥古斯丁专注于写作之际，正是北部蛮族入侵之时。其中的一些入侵是很突然的。例如，410年西哥特人对罗马的突然袭击；455年汪达尔人对罗马的突然袭击；以及此前406－408年这3年间，汪达尔人与阿兰人、苏维汇人一道，向从莱茵河东岸到比利牛斯山脉南侧广大地区的推进。相比之下，盎格鲁人，撒克逊人和朱特族人对不列颠的局部占领，伦巴德人对意大利的局部占领，却都是一个逐渐吞食的过程。就象公元前第2千纪的最后二、三百年中，古以色列人和犹太种族的人对迦南的局部占领那样。在大不列颠，”哈德良长城”早在公元383年就不起什么作用了，但在不列颠的一些要塞地方，罗马驻军仍坚持驻扎了40年之久。日尔曼入侵者对不列颠土地的永久占领，也许大约在420－440年间之前尚未开始，这一占领过程用了2个世纪左右的时间。

    遭受蛮族占领和罗马人反击损失最大的国家是意大利。那时，意大利已经成为整个罗马帝国的中心，而且是帝国西部文明程度最高的地区。535－561年间的罗马－哥特战争已经标志了东罗马帝国的瓦解。在这场战争中，占领意大利的东哥特人被消灭了，但遭受损失最大的却是当地的意大利人。5世纪，西哥特人和汪达尔人对意大利的入侵尽管耸人听闻，但只是偶然的和短暂的。470年，西罗马帝国政府的解体是平静的，而东哥特人的入侵就如同日尔曼民族大迁移那样，战争是在两支蛮族之间进行的。直到535年意大利还保持着政治上的统一，以及经济上和社会上或多或少的完整。535－561年间的战争是意大利历史的转折点。意大利人最终在东罗马统治下，重新统一了国家，然而仅仅7年之后，568年伦巴德便闯入了意大利。从568年起，意大利在政治上分裂了，这是自公元前264年以来，意大利的第一次政治分裂。公元前264年，古代罗马人完全征服并统一了意大利半岛。伦巴德人比东哥特人更为野蛮，已经饱受535－561年战争蹂躏的意大利遭受了更为悲惨的灾难，在对意大利缓慢的征服过程中，伦巴德人在那些仍然为东罗马军队坚守的地区遇到了顽强的抵抗。

    与此同时，486年，即东哥特人的军事首领狄奥多里克从伊利里亚向意大利进军的两年前，一位法兰克地方的军事首领，出身于墨洛温家族的克洛维已经开始在高卢建立起帝国。法兰克人尚未皈依任何基督教派，而以后克洛维却在他一生的某一时刻，作为一名天主教徒领受了洗礼。克洛维选择基督教中的天主教形式，无疑是因为这是他的罗马臣民的宗教，或许还因为在他的近邻，敌对的日尔曼帝国的缔造者们，都是阿里乌教派的信徒。486年，克洛维成了卢瓦尔河沿岸西哥特人的邻居。496年，他占领了莱茵河上游地区的阿勒曼尼，于是又成为东哥特人的邻居。

    东日尔曼人接受基督教阿里乌派是他们皈依基督教时的一个偶然结果。他们占领西罗马领土，并在那建立了后继王国之后，占领者很高兴拥有了自己民族的家教，从而与他们天主教的罗马臣民区分开来。然而，这种区分却导致了感情的疏远，而且当法兰克作为天主教力量出现后，其更成为信奉阿里乌教派的日尔曼人的严重障碍。并且，阿里乌教派的日尔曼人自己也逐步地被他们臣民的宗教强烈感染了。这些臣民无论在文明程度还是在数量上都超过了他们。对于汪达尔人（他们例外未成为固执的阿里乌教徒）或东哥特人来说，天主教尚未来得及对他们施加影响。这两个民族在改换宗教的问题尚未提出之前，就在东罗马人的反攻中被消灭了。但是，在586年，西班牙的西哥特国王理查德放弃了阿里乌教派，自愿地改信了天主教。伦巴德人在7世纪的意大利，也进行了同样的改宗，但却勉强得多，缓慢得多。

    到了586年，西哥特人被局限于西班牙已长达80年之久。507年，克洛维在武耶击败了他们，并把他们从所占领的全部领土上驱赶到比利牛斯山脉的北部，仅据有比利牛斯山脉东端和罗讷河口之间的沿海地带。这样，克洛维到了他死的那一年，即511年，已经统一了除普罗旺斯之外的整个高卢地区。普罗旺斯此前已经为东哥特人从西哥特人手中夺走。克洛维在法兰克人聚居的所有地区建立起他的王国。531－534年，克洛维的继承者吞并了图林根和勃艮第。522年，他们把自己的宗主权强加给巴伐利亚。墨洛温人正在建立以北高卢为中心的一个新帝国，来填补西罗马帝国在西欧遗留下来的、尚未解决的政治空白。如果6世纪末叶克洛维的后代没有把墨洛温王朝的疆土作为私有财产，在相继的几代里加以不断瓜分的话，那么法兰克帝国也许可以取代西罗马帝国。这些瓜分以及随之而来的内战，劫掠了高卢，并使分裂的法兰克领主们丧失了战斗力。

    在6－7世纪交替之际，东罗马帝国仍然保持着它在西地中海地区以及东地中海地区的海上控制权。它还控制着地中海的所有岛屿，不仅包括西西里岛，而且还包括西北非。西北非是它们当中最大的一个，而且的的确确是一个岛屿，因为撒哈拉沙漠这个沙海把它与非洲其他地区隔离开了。东罗马帝国还控制着意大利东北部的前沿基地，这个前沿基地以拉韦纳为基础连同威尼斯泻湖中的岛屿。就围绕罗马城的东罗马领土的飞地而言，君士坦丁堡政府把它留给了教皇，让教皇尽力防御，保护这块远离东罗马领土的地区。在伦巴德人入侵意大利时，幸存的迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯并不比公元前5世纪的阿吉尔?罗曼努斯的规模更大。

    公元5世纪和6世纪，西方基督教世界各个地区都明显地陷入了危急的困境。然而，即使在最黑暗的时刻，一些天主教教会的西方代表人物也显示出他们的精神力量。教皇利奥一世（440－461年在位）对451年在卡尔西顿举行的基督教普世会议的决议产生了决定性影响。452年，教皇利奥一世在劝使匈奴首领阿提拉结束对意大利北方入侵的罗马使团里扮演了领导角色。利奥一世的教皇任职与圣巴特里克对爱尔兰的传教活动是同一时期。不列颠籍的罗马人巴特里克与非洲籍的罗马人圣?奥古斯丁同属一个社会阶层。巴特里克曾被爱尔兰入侵者抓住并遭奴役。他从爱尔兰奴役下逃离出去，又作为一名基督教传教士（约432－461年）自愿回到爱尔兰。6世纪，基督教在爱尔兰生根。爱尔兰的基督徒采用了隐居和共同修道这两种禁欲的生活方式。

    同时代的圣?本尼狄克在卡西诺山上制订了他的禁欲法规。本尼狄克大约在529年开始他的工作。这时，意大利还处在和平时期；他大约死于547年，而这时的意大利已处在罗马－哥特战争的艰苦状态。然而，本尼狄克的禁欲主义不仅幸存下来，而且还得以传播。本尼狄克的工作由教皇格列高利一世（590－604年在位）继续下去。格列高利把他在罗马的住所变成了本尼狄克式的修道院，自己也成了一名僧侣。此后，他成为君士坦丁堡的第一位罗马教皇的使者，随后做了教皇。

    作为教皇，格列高利不得不用教皇在西西里土地上的农产品供给罗马的人民。他还得就东罗马政府利益同富于挑衅的伦巴德人协商。而在597年，当伦巴德人紧逼罗马大门时，格列高利试图派一个传教团去劝化偏僻的肯特人的朱特王国。在格列高利死后，这一传教使命由一支被派到诺森伯里亚的盎格鲁人王国的传教团最终完成。罗马传教士保罗在627－632年期间担任约克的主教。但在634年，他的职位被来自艾欧纳的爱尔兰传教士艾丹取代。艾欧纳是苏格兰西海岸的一个小岛。艾丹在远离诺森伯里亚海岸的林迪斯芳（霍利岛）建立了一所修道院。

    在爱尔兰，禁欲生活的传入引发了迅猛的传教活动。圣?科伦巴大约于563年在艾欧纳岛上建立了爱尔兰修道院。他于597年死于艾欧纳。这一年，教皇格列高利派他的传教团从罗马到了肯特。大约在590年，另一名爱尔兰传教士圣?科伦班穿过爱尔兰到了不列颠，从不列颠到了欧洲大陆。科伦班在吕克瑟伊的勃艮第建立起一所修道院。这所修道院成为法兰克领土交通网的关键之地。610年，他到了康斯坦斯湖。613年，他穿过阿尔卑斯山脉，在意大利西北博比奥建立了一所修道院。615年，他在那里去世。634年，在诺森伯里亚任职的爱尔兰传教士艾丹填补了632年成为一名流亡者的罗马传教士保罗遗留下来的空白。在诺森伯里亚，罗马人与爱尔兰人传教的区域交错重合，于是罗马人的基督教会和爱尔兰人的基督教会之间的对抗便不可避免了。

    第四十五章 基督教会的建立与分裂

    （312－657年）

    在311－312年期间，基督教会的命运经历了一次突如其来的巨变。在它经受了8年来罗马帝国政府最残酷的一次迫害之后，加莱里乌斯皇帝临终前首次认可了基督教会，尽管他是很不情愿的。在这之后的18个月里，教会又受到获胜的皇帝君士坦丁一世的充分支持。此时，君士坦丁已控制了半个欧洲。这番经历本可以使教会的性质经受住任何历史阶段的考验。然而，从3世纪开始，随着成员、财富的增加和权力的扩大，教会也发生了蜕变。它使得教会的最高层人物变成了利欲熏心的人。217年，为了罗马主教一职，发生了一场卑鄙的争夺战。在250年，257－260年，303－311年间，教会也成了迫害对象。比起在基督教纪元最初的2个世纪中，教会所受到的短期残酷的局部性的迫害来说，这一时期的迫害，就显得更为有计划、有预谋。教皇卡利斯图斯一世在罗马主教任期（217－222年）上的令人厌恶的行径，因迦太基主教西普利安在258年殉难之事而显得微不足道了。

    加莱里乌斯迫害教会，君士坦丁青睐教会，他们的目的是一样的。两个都热切希望维持帝国的统一。自从奥勒利安把帝国置于异教万神殿里至高无上之神”不可征服的太阳”的庇护之下，便认识到要想维护罗马帝国的统一，甚至要想维持帝国的存在，必须得到一个已确立的宗教的支持。在3世纪末叶之前，萨姗波斯帝国选择了琐罗亚斯德教，亚美尼亚王国选择了基督教，来作为它的国立宗教。加莱里乌斯承认，基督教会力量之强已超过了他自己。而这种断言又得到了进一步证实。君士坦丁由于梦见十字架，靠上帝的帮助旗开得胜之后，他决心把基督作为”不可征服的太阳”，把基督教确立为罗马帝国大一统的宗教。

    人们满怀信心地期待着业已确立的基督教能够有效地推动罗马帝国的统一。基于这一点，一直到311年，教会都相当成功地维护了自身的统一。自从耶稣死后不久，基督教会建立起来，之后，教会的内部矛盾便不断地威胁着它的生存，又不断地被克服。或者通过调解，或者把论战中的弱方镇压下去，革除教籍，从而使这些纷争得到平息。在311年，东起奥斯罗伊那和亚美尼亚，西到不列颠，非犹太人的天主教会是一个统一的整体。可现在，教会在其后期，突然因某种格外强大的压力而解体了；教会历来的统一没能经受住这次考验。如今，教会内部的宗派分裂代替了原先罗马帝国人民内部异教徒和基督教徒的对立。而罗马帝国政府，自从君士坦丁皈依之后，一直期待着教会的统一能够支持帝国的统一，但最终发现自己无力劝说相互纷争的基督教各帮派，让它们之间和平相处。自从君士坦丁312年皈依之后，直到他337年死去，教会的内部分裂一直困扰着他，并一直困扰到君士坦斯二世（641－668年在位）时期。在君士坦斯二世统治时期，君士坦丁堡帝国政府和教皇之间的争执，是由穆斯林阿拉伯人从中解决的。阿拉伯人把帝国从一性论的基督教臣民中解脱出来；把帝国政府从不切实际的责任中解脱出来，从而同时安抚了两个势不两立的基督教宗派。

    311－312年之后，基督教会无法控制的内部分裂一直阻挠着君士坦丁一世和他的后继者们。事实上，这也是不可避免的。当基督教被罗马帝国认可之后，当基督教徒因而在帝国人口中占了大多数时，罗马帝国政府便再也不能象先前那样控制基督教会了。此前，基督教徒还只是少数人。这并不奇怪，基督教只不过是犹太教的一个宗派，它继承了犹太教不愿妥协的传统。

    而且，在新形势下，基督教会的争端与社会、政治争端趋于一致。天主教与多纳图斯教派之间的冲突，演变成了努米底亚和迦太基之间，隶农和奴隶主之间的冲突。虽然阿里乌神学最终在帝国失败了，但它成了入侵帝国的蛮族人的特征。阿里乌教派一度在帝国取得优势时，这些入侵者皈依了基督教。关于”三位一体”学说的争论演变成亚历山德里亚–托勒密王朝的前政治首都与安条克–塞琉西王朝的前政治首都之间基督教会的权力之争。关于”三位一体”中圣子的人性和神性关系的一系列争论，则演变为罗马帝国政府和它的讲叙利亚语、科普特语的臣民之间的斗争。由亚历山大大帝建立起来的，靠罗马势力维持的希腊人的支配地位面临着挑战。同时，帝国政府也在寻求保护自身的统治权。顺便提及，基督教会的第二和第四次普世会议为君士坦丁堡教廷维护自身利益提供了机会。第二次会议（381年）使人们认识到君士坦丁堡教廷的地位仅次于罗马。在第四次会议（451年）上，君士坦丁堡教皇取得了对托罗斯山脉西北面的整个小亚细亚半岛和整个巴尔干半岛最东部地区的宗教管辖权。

    4世纪和5世纪的基督教会论战，并非仅仅打着世俗争端的幌子。在这点上，它们逐渐趋于一致，而那些使基督教徒分化的伦理、神学和管辖权的争端则是实实在在的。这些争端所激起的宗教情感，质朴并得到广泛传播。为什么在这个时期，基督教会的事务会和帝国的世俗事务交织出现呢？这有一个很实际的原因，即基督教会已成为罗马帝国的统治机构，因而帝国各民族、各地区、各阶层和团体都受到了基督教会的影响。

    首先展开的是道德方面的争论。与公元初年那次迫害一样，在303－311年间的宗教迫害中，也有许多基督教徒叛教，而其他人则坚持下来了。其中有些人付出了生命的代价。是把这些叛教的基督教徒连同那些坚定的基督教徒一同重新接纳到教会里来呢，还是让他们永远遭受辱骂呢？教会成员中大部分仍在职的幸存者，采取了比较宽宏大量的、人道的、具有政治家风度的立场，他们赞同原谅这些意志薄弱的人。在大多数地区，基督教团体中坚持不肯原谅他们的人只占少数，而且最终也都被驳回了。可是，在西北非，这些反对和解的人始终不肯妥协。他们对待那些本身历史很清白的和平使者的态度，就象对待那些曾叛教的基督教徒一样充满了敌意。因为和平使者希望原谅这些叛教教徒们的那段不光彩的历史。西北非的这场争端很快就激化了。313年，君士坦丁皈依之后，他深感有必要对此进行干预。君士坦丁相信基督教会的内部分裂会惹怒上帝，如果皇帝不能有效地结束这种局面，那他连同教会都将会冒失宠的危险。君士坦丁努力想把非洲四分五裂的宗派拉到一起，先是调解，后是强制，但始终未能如愿。

    317年到657年间发生的神学争论是无所不及的，甚至触及了《马太福音》、《路加福音》和《约翰福音》中有关耶稣信仰的问题。当然，这些争端早在312年以前就开始了，而且自从2世纪起，便有基督教徒已经能够从古希腊哲学的角度来讨论神学。例如，伊里奈乌斯大约在185年写的《反异端》一书。基督教会的建立，起初受到人们欢迎，但后来就带有强制性了。它把基督教的神学争端变成了帝国的公共事务。而且，少数受过希腊文化教育的帝国公民，总的来说，一直对基督教教义很敏感，直到从希腊哲学角度来表述这些教义。由于这两个原因，312年后，一场关于基督教神学的坦率而详尽的争论使在所难免了。而且基督教徒厌恶妥协的态度使这些讨论变得更加执拗、尖刻。

    当《马太福音》、《路加福音》和《约翰福音》撰写出来的时候，一些非犹太人的基督教徒已经相信耶稣就是上帝。根据《马太福音》和《路加福音》，耶稣没有人父，他是由童贞女因圣灵降孕而生的。根据《约翰福音》，耶稣就是上帝旨意的化身。这时，犹太教已认为这个半独立身份的耶稣是由圣父的旨意和圣灵创造的。而琐罗亚斯德教则认为这是由阿胡拉?马兹达从不同方面来创造的，但这就削弱了上帝的整体性和独一性。而犹太人恰恰是要塑造上帝的这一点，基督教徒不会也不能不承认他们从犹太教那儿继承了一神论，但是他们既承认了一神论，又怎么能够同时信奉耶稣和耶和华呢？

    据记载，耶稣曾说他自己是”上帝之子”。我们可以从隐喻的角度来理解这个说法，而且除耶稣外，其他一些正统的犹太教教士也曾把自己称为上帝之子。《马可福音》的说法是：上帝对耶稣宣称，他已收养耶稣作为圣子了。但其他3部福音则暗示说：耶稣就是上帝的儿子，从第五王朝起，法老具有了父亲的资格。不管从某一种或其他几种可能的角度来看，不管耶稣是否是上帝的儿子，但无疑他是一个人。如果他真的是上帝之子，那么我们不仅要问：圣子和圣父之间是什么关系？而且我们还要进一步问：圣子的神性和人性之间有什么关系？我们还要问：耶稣的母亲，玛利亚又是什么身份呢？她是人，不是女神。是不是可以因她儿子的神性就把她称为”圣母”（东正教赞美玛利亚的赞美词）呢？

    在反问这些问题时，基督教神学家们所使用的字眼已超越了人类经历所及的范围。因为早在公元前5世纪末叶之前，他们的口头和书面语言都是希腊语。说希腊语的人很热衷于玩文字游戏，就好象这些文字是现实存在的东西似的，哪怕它们是既无思想对应物又无现象对应物的陈腐之词。324年，君士坦丁一世，试图解决西北非关于叛教教徒地位的争端。他受挫之后，却发现他还得调解关于圣子和圣父关系的争论。这场争论发生在亚历山大城主教亚历山大和曾是亚历山大城的一个教区神职人员阿里乌之间。君士坦丁写信给这两位辩论者，说他们之间争论的问题根本就不该发生。到了648年，君士坦斯二世干脆禁止当时有关基督教神学争端的任何深入讨论，不管它是认为基督身上存在两种意志和作用，还是认为只存在一种意志和作用。

    324年、648年及其间的任何争论言词，或许是，或许并非毫无意义。但是，这些争论言词无疑激起了强烈的宗教感情，这种感情激化导致了武力冲突。在431年和449年的以弗所宗教会议上，埃及的修道士和基督教的兄弟会成员实施了恫吓行为；在第二次会议上，埃及人给君士坦丁堡主教弗拉维安以致命的人身伤害。从君士坦丁一世到君士坦丁二世，所有的皇帝都依次证明了自己无力安抚这些神学家们。325年，君士坦丁一世不得不在尼西亚召集基督教第一次普世会议，并主持了这次会议。为此，他杜撰了一个希腊单词homoousios（”本体相类”），这是他原先十分痛恨的一类字眼。阿里乌的对手，曾在328年接替亚历山大任亚历山大城主教的亚大纳西看来取胜了。然而381年，狄奥多西一世又不得不在君士坦丁堡召集基督教第二次普世会议，即便那时，阿里乌引起的争论也未能平息。哥特传教士尤尔菲拉斯（约311－383年）向东部日耳曼人传播基督教的阿里乌教派。君士坦斯二世和皇帝瓦林斯都是阿里乌教教徒，而且尤尔菲拉斯又是他们的同代人。可能出于这些原因，尤尔菲拉斯便幻想着要长期、系统地传播阿里乌教。当东部日耳曼人侵入帝国时，便把他们的阿里乌基督教一并带了过来。至于君士坦斯二世为了保持安定而下的禁令，却激起了教皇马丁一世疾声厉色的抗议。教皇被逮捕并遭受了肉体折磨，然后被放逐到克里米亚。

    阿里乌并未否认圣子也是神。在他生活的时代（约250－336年），对于耶稣神性的信仰流行于非犹太人的教堂。基督嗣子论的信徒们只能在基督教世界边远偏辟的大自然中才得以幸存，例如在幼发拉底河上游两个支流间的山脉里，比利牛斯山脉里和阿斯图里亚斯山脉里。但阿里乌坚持认为，圣子既然是由圣父创造的，就不可能与圣父是同代人，就不能等同于圣父。尼西亚宗教会议把圣父、圣子和圣灵摆在绝对平等的位置上。同时又重申它们共同构成一个上帝。这种一神论和”三位一体”学说的结合仅只是咬文嚼字而已。尼西亚宗教会议的实际结果，是把圣子提到了第二个至高无上的神的地位。到这时，基督教的一神论已是名不符实。

    圣子神性的加强是埃及人观点的一个胜利。（虽然阿里乌是亚历山大城教会的一个神职人员，他的神学却是安条克基督教神学。）在431和449年的以弗所宗教会议上，埃及人获得了进一步的胜利。431年，他们给君士坦丁堡主教聂斯脱利定了罪。因为他反对把玛利亚当作圣母，从而一再强调耶稣的人性。聂斯脱利派基督教徒被骂成”二性论者”（就是，相信圣子有两个不能统一的性质）。聂斯脱利的失败是安条克神学院在帝国境内的一次决定性的失败。崇尚一性论的皇帝阿纳斯塔修斯一世在489年关闭了以弗所以聂斯脱利思想为主导的神学院。但聂斯脱利神学教义在尼西比斯寻求到了庇护。尼西比斯自363年起就已处在罗马帝国的东部边境之外。因而，聂斯脱利教派同比它更激进的阿里乌教派一样，在帝国之外幸存下来。

    到了449年，埃及人比他们在431年时候更加得势。他们进一步强化了一性论教义，说圣子只有一个性质，即他的神性，尽管他孕育于人体。但是451年在卡尔西顿，废除了449年以弗所宗教会议通过的法令，宣布圣子有两重性，郎神性和人性，二者统一于一体。现在，埃及人遭受到了聂斯脱利教派的命运，他们被责骂为分裂教会的人。

    埃及人虽然遭到了谩骂，但是他们不会被革除教籍或遭到迫害。在埃及，一性论是源于人们对神学的嗜好。这种嗜好是一种群众性的运动，而且还发展到了邻国叙利亚。叙利亚曾是强调上帝人性神学的故乡。一性论也吸引了亚美尼亚人。亚美尼亚教会在491年接受了一性论，而且当罗马帝国政府在518年从一性论者变成卡尔西顿决议的信徒时，亚美尼亚教会并没有追随它。亚美尼亚人另外提出了一种基督教观点，既不同于罗马的观点，也不同于波斯人的观点。一性论者把卡尔西顿决议的信徒诬蔑为二性论者、聂斯脱利秘宗和麦尔基派（”罗马帝国政府的走狗”）。从451年起，帝国政府只好既努力取悦于信奉非一性论的臣民、又努力取悦于信奉一性论的臣民。它不敢疏远一性论，因为信奉一性论的埃及和叙利亚是东罗马帝国的主要经济支柱。

    482年，皇帝芝诺《统一法》的公布导致了484年东罗马帝国和教皇的分裂。518年，芝诺和阿纳斯塔修斯一世崇尚一性论的政策被查士丁一世推翻了。这无疑是他的侄子、后来的继承者查士丁尼的提议。一性论者在政治上开始不满，查士丁尼本人大约在543年被迫作出毫无意义的妥协姿态：身为聂斯脱利信徒，却回过头来申斥已流行了60年的神学学说。

    从518年直到633－641年期间（叙利亚、巴勒斯坦和埃及在此期间都被穆斯林阿拉伯人占领了），东罗马帝国的一性论臣民处于逆境之中。幸运的是，他们中涌现出了3位杰出的斗士；皮西迪亚人塞维鲁，从512年518年，他一直是安条克的主教；查士丁尼的皇后狄奥多拉（查士丁尼早在527年就位之前即与其结婚，她死于548年，享年约50岁）；詹姆斯?巴拉达尔斯，他是狄奥多拉的一性论门徒之一。根据罗马帝国东部边境一性论的阿拉伯教区委员哈里斯的提议，543年詹姆斯?巴拉达尔斯被任命为埃泽萨主教，他以毕生的精力不断奋斗，通过委任各级一性论神职人员，使一性论教会得以生存下来。

    狄奥多拉在帝国境外，为一性论又扩展了一块新的阵地。大约540年，她对她的丈夫采用了先发制人的手段，使努比亚改信她所信仰的宗教教派，以取代她丈夫所信仰的宗教教派。位于努比亚东南，今天埃塞俄比亚北部的阿克苏姆王国，大约在4世纪中叶皈依了基督教。6世纪，阿克苏姆和努比亚一样，也接受了一性论，东罗马帝国对此只得默认。阿克苏姆控制了埃及和印度之间的海岸线，它的统治者扮演着为罗马帝国的利益而与也门进行调停的角色。君士坦丁堡不可能为了一个神学问题而与阿克苏姆发生政治上的争执。

    311－312年间，罗马帝国基督教会命运改变的结果之一，是把殉教者变成了禁欲主义者，扮演起基督教教团中动人的英雄的角色。在帝国内部，基督教徒再也不可能被异教徒杀害。这时期需要一种新型的基督教英雄，禁欲主义者便应运而生，满足了这种心理上的要求。埃及隐士（”隐退者”）圣安东尼（251？－356年）比起法老时代的任何埃及人都更加著名，更受人尊敬。但是，未来的光荣并未属于隐士安东尼，而是属于另一个埃及人帕科米乌斯（290－345年）。此人在上埃及泰本尼西创建了第一个基督教禁欲主义者的互助会。在那里，禁欲主义者们生活在一起，组成一个有严明纪律的集体。早在帕科米乌斯出生之前约8个世纪释迦牟尼创建僧侣集团之际，类似的佛教组织便已在印度存在了，但在旧大陆文明中心的西端，帕科米乌斯建立的这群修道院却的确是一个新鲜事物。

    在创建这种机构的过程中，帕科米乌斯对整个基督教世界的生活产生了长远的影响。4世纪的卡帕多西亚人圣巴西勒（约320－379年）受帕科米乌斯的启示，为希腊语世界创造一种较之帕科米乌斯的形式要和缓一些的集体禁欲生活形式。大约529年，圣?本尼狄克起码是从圣巴西勒那里得到了部分启示，他在罗马东南面的卡西诺山，组建了一个修道院，制订了条规。这些条规后来成了拉丁语世界的准则。6世纪中，修道院在拉丁语世界西部边境之外的爱尔兰扎下了根。巴西勒式和本尼狄克式的条规都受到帕科米乌斯条规的影响。他们从埃及的典范中派生出来，坚持集体生活，严守纪律和努力工作。

    巴西勒和本尼狄克的宗教历史与释迦牟尼相类似，他们都是从隐士的禁欲主义生涯开始，然后成为修道院团体的创建者。巴西勒和本尼狄克从圣安东尼的禁欲主义形式向帕科米乌斯禁欲主义形式的转变，是他们各自精神体验的反应，也是帕科米乌斯才智的一种证明。帕科米乌斯创建集体性的修道院机构是一项卓越的业绩。因为普遍说来，埃及人和爱尔兰人一样，更受隐士生活方式的强烈吸引，而事实上，这种生活方式的吸引力是那种集体生活方式所不能提供的，隐居修道是一种让自身得以解脱的宽限期，而一个人的自由又为他发挥自己杰出的宗教才能提供了机会，尽管这也使他面临着陷入枯燥无味的自我禁欲主义或自私自利的表现欲中的危险。在任何实行禁欲主义的时空中，一个禁欲主义者的声望通常取决于他禁欲的程度。虽然上埃及的帕科米乌斯式的修道院很快就闻名于基督教世界，但这种集体性的修道院生活形式并不那么引人注目，反倒是西部荒漠中的隐士更为出名。圣安东尼成为他那个时代中旧大陆文明中心西端最有成就的人。其次是圣西米恩这个”基督教苦行者”，他之所以得到这个称号，是因为他在一根大柱顶上生活了47年。一个基督教苦行者固然能够激发民众，但集体修道生活对社会的影响则更为深远，也更为富有成效。

    第四十六章 印度文明

    （490－647年）

    在印度次大陆历史上的多数时期，印度人对宗教比对政治和经济更为关心。印度人自己对次大陆历史的记载反映在丰富的印度宗教文学中。但它们的年代却很难确定，甚至各种文学流派的编年次序也不是都能搞清楚的，文学对世俗事务的反映也只是附带的和断断续续的。我们对印度世俗历史的了解，在很大程度上依赖于来自希腊、中国、穆斯林世界和西方的外国观察家的记载，直到上个世纪，印度才出现一批用近代西方方法研究和写作的历史学家。401－410年间在印度朝圣的中国僧人法显的记载，是了解笈多王朝的重要史料；另一个中国佛教朝圣者–635－643年间在印度的玄奘，则是了解戒日王在位时期（606－647年）的资料来源，尽管也有一个印度作者对戒日王在位期间的历史也进行了记载，他和玄奘一样与戒日王是同时代的人，也是他的一个臣民。

    公元455年以后，次大陆历史上的决定性因素是匈奴人和其他欧亚游牧民族，例如瞿折罗人的民族大迁徙。匈奴人的第一次入侵发生在455年。刚刚继位不久的笈多帝国皇帝塞犍陀笈多击退了这次入侵，但匈奴人的入侵并未停止，在它们的冲击下，塞犍陀笈多在480年死去后，笈多帝国就崩溃了。

    入侵者和较早占据次大陆的民族之间的斗争此起彼伏。528年，匈奴人被赶到克什米尔。但在558年左右或563－567年间，乌浒河－药杀水流域的厌哒匈奴王国，被波斯人和突厥人合力推翻。胜利者瓜分了厌哒人的领土。可以推测，那些已经在印度取得了落脚之地的匈奴人由于厌哒难民的到来而加强了力量。至少，这种后果表明，在这次民族大迁徙中侵入印度次大陆的欧亚游牧民族是为数众多的，起码在阿拉伯穆斯林于711年征服信德和木尔坦的时候，北印度已经处在一个新兴的世俗统治阶层拉杰普特人（意为”众王之子”）统治之下。他们可能就是游牧入侵者印度化了的后裔。

    戒日王的父亲，朱木拿河上游的萨维斯伐罗（塔尼萨）国王再次遏止了侵略者。戒日王本人在606－612年间成功地重新统一了北印度。这一伟绩，使北印度在戒日王生前过上了太平日子，但戒日王的帝国则不过是复多帝国的效颦之辈。戒日王的主要优点在于他对宗教的宽容。他本人是一个湿婆教徒，一个太阳崇拜者，又是一个佛教徒。

    公元前232年，在北印度阿育王死后发生政治分裂的较量中，德干地区曾统一在萨塔瓦哈纳（安得拉）王朝的统治下。公元490年左右发多帝国崩溃后，历史好象又重演了。543年左右德干地区统一在遮娄其王朝统治下，620年当戒日王企图向纳巴达河以南扩张自己的帝国时，被遮娄其王朝的补罗稽舍二世击败。但是，遮娄其王朝本身又于642年被一个南印度的竞争对手帕那瓦王朝击败。帕那瓦人居住在半岛东岸的甘吉（康吉弗兰），他们可能是钵罗钵人，即公元1世纪初期占据印度河流域的安息人–塞人的后裔。642年以后的200年间，德干地区一直陷于分裂，小邦林立，彼此攻伐，混战不已。

    在大约490－647年期间，南印度唯一政治稳定的地区是潘地亚王国。在半岛南端几乎与世隔绝的领土上，它得以一直生存下来。同一时期印度南部唯一的一种稳定的文化特征是泰米尔语文学的持续发展，这种文学起源于公历纪元的早期。

    公元455年匈奴人发动入侵后，印度次大陆就陷入了政治灾难之中。但这并未阻碍印度文明越过次大陆本土继续向外扩展。笈多帝国建立后，大陆上的东南亚和印度尼西亚的印度化过程进一步加强了。公元5世纪印度出现了一次向这些地区移民的新浪潮。人们推测，其原因之一是匈奴人对印度的压力。在大陆上的东南亚，中国文明的领地仍然局限于现在的越南北部地区。在西藏，7世纪前半期中国文明和印度文明的影响相互竞争，而印度文明占了上风。

    尽管西藏与中国文明和印度文明双方的中心地区都离得很近，但可怕的自然屏障把它与这些地区隔离开来。直到公元7世纪以前，来自双方的影响几乎都难以渗入这一地区。西藏于607年首次实现了政治上的统一，这也许是在效仿589年中国的重新统一。641年，藏王松赞干布同时迎娶了一位中国公主和一位尼泊尔公主。这时的中国在政治上是处于上升状态。639－640年间，唐朝第二个皇帝唐太宗对紧邻西藏北部的塔里木盆地进行了征服。647年戒日王去世时，他的宫庭中正好有一个中国使臣。一个篡位者夺取了戒日王的王位，并虐待这位使臣和他的随从。于是这位使臣逃到尼泊尔，那时它处在西藏的宗主权下。应使臣之邀，松赞干布派兵进入印度，击败并生擒了篡位者，把他作为囚犯送往中国。但是印度文明却由于为藏语创造了一种印度式的文字而吸引住了西藏人。是这种文字而不是汉字被用来将大乘佛教的梵文经卷译成藏语，这样一来就在文化上把西藏紧紧拴在了印度身上。从此以后，中国文化的影响尽管一直没有离开西藏，却从来没有取得过至高无上的地位。

    第四十七章 中国的政治分裂和她对佛教的容纳

    （220－589年）

    正如我们在第35章曾谈到的那样，当汉武帝（公元前140－前87年在位）把垄断中华帝国官职的权力交给经过竞争性考试而被选中的儒生时，他试图向智能之士大开进仕之门。然而，结果却使得儒生官员们滥用手中的权力，获得了大量的私有地产。中华帝国的创建者秦始皇和它的第二位创建者汉高祖刘邦，消灭了战国时代的领主贵族。因为他们认为，如果允许大土地所有者存在，他们就会与新建立的统一政府竞争，占有中国农民的”剩余”产品。只要中国占主导地位的经济是农业，农民的”剩余”产品就是国家岁入的主要来源。在使自己成为大规模的土地占有者的过程中，汉武帝的儒生官僚们重新创造了一个臣民社会阶级，他们甚至有足够的力量向统一了的国家统治者挑战。

    官僚地主势力的联合是可怕的。他们可以地租的方式将大部分农民的剩余产品装入自己的口袋，而不是从政府的税收和徭役中得到它应得的份额。官僚地主在损害自己应尽的政府职责的情况下，追逐个人利益，造成公元9年西汉王朝的灾难。王莽试图维护帝国政府和农民的权益（他们利益一致，与官僚地主的利益相对立），但他失败了。东汉王朝不过是在西汉王朝的废墟上重新确立了这一体制。这一体制由于公元18－36年中国内乱中人口的减少而得以暂时存活，但是汉帝国固有的社会弊病最终也把东汉王朝带入了灾难。

    东汉帝国于公元220－222年分裂为3个国家，这使得中国社会的弊病更加严重。由于连年的国内战争，一直没有解决的土地所有制问题更加难以解决了。公元265－280年，中国重新统一。但是，新建立的晋王朝，显然象它的前任者们一样，未能解决土地所有制问题。紧接着，它于290年陷于分裂。304年及其以后，北部中国为来自欧亚大平原东端的游牧蛮族军事集团所侵入和征服。令人惊奇的是，这次大灾难并没有很快将中国压倒。

    公元3世纪中国的形势，与同时代希腊－罗马的形势相似。就象地中海地区那样，中国也存在着精神上的真空。儒家学说由于儒家官僚滥用权力而信誉扫地。他们对个人私利的追逐已经两度毁灭了帝国政府。2世纪末年，正当东汉王朝处于垂死的痛苦中时，少数智者对儒家学说感到厌恶而转向了与之竞争的道家哲学，民众则为寻求解脱而转向一种名义上归于道家的流行宗教。但是，由道教所激起和引导的农民起义为握有私人职业军队的军阀所粉碎。这些军阀成了”三国”的建立者。道家哲学的信徒们也使自己信誉扫地，这倒不是因为他们像儒家竞争者们那样滥用了权力，而是因为他们逃避应该承担的权力责任。他们宁愿退人琐碎的私人生活的享受中去。在采取这种消极方式的过程中，他们忠实于道家的传统。道家学说在其产生的战国时代，曾反对实际的经济活动和政治活动。它的理想是前文明时代社会的质朴和纯真。

    无论在公元前4世纪或在公元3世纪，这一消极哲学都未能迎合中国知识分子的精神需求。中国在3世纪所需要的是解决土地所有制问题，或者，在这一解决失败之后，能为失败者提供一个比道家学说更好的满足精神需求的避难所。5世纪时，鲜卑拓跋族最终有效地解决了土地所有制问题。拓跋族是入侵的蛮族军事集团之一，他们在中国北部建立了以魏命名的王朝。与此同时，在3世纪及其以后，中国的精神真空也为大乘佛教所填补，就象同时代的希腊－罗马世界的真空为基督教所填补一样。

    自2世纪起，大乘佛教就从乌浒河－药杀水流域经由塔里木盆地渗入了中国的西北部。东汉王朝曾于公元73年再度占领塔里木盆地和位于药杀水上游的大宛。他们与贵霜人为控制中亚这些地区发生了冲突。贵霜人早在公元48年就建立了一个横跨兴都库什山脉的帝国。贵霜帝国与东汉帝国的直接接触至少达一个世纪之久，直到2世纪末叶，两个帝国各自丧失了自已的控制力时为止。直接接触的一个世纪，包括贵霜皇帝迦腻色迦在位的时期（公元120－144年）。迦腻色迦是大乘佛教的保护人。这时的相互接触并不总是敌对的。中国与贵霜的战争之路也是从洛阳到粟特的丝绸之路，以及反方向的从粟特到洛阳的大乘佛教传入之路。确实，中国与河间地区自公元前128年就断断续续地保持着相互之间的联系。那一年，汉武帝的使者张骞在河间地区找到了贵霜人的祖先大月氏。

    公元2世纪和3世纪，大乘佛教进入中国的道路敞开着。佛教传教士们是热情的，他们预期的汉族皈依者在精神上则是饥饿的，因而对他们也是易于接受的。限制性因素不是自然的，而是精神的。中国人与印度人的思想、语言和文字是截然不同的。在这两个文明世界的每一个世界内，有特色的思想、语言和文字都是紧密相连的。到这时，汉语已经成了一种不再发生曲折变化的单音节语言，传达这一语言的”字”已不仅仅是文字，而是中国人生活态度的贴切表述。汉字所表述的一切东西都显得简要而具体。但是，印度思想抽象而又冗杂，新梵语又是多音节而极富于曲折变化的，大乘佛教的经文最初就是由新梵语记载传达的。

    据说，这些经文的最早翻译者们，曾竭尽全力。把梵文经文变成汉文词语，其结果不仅使佛教经文变了样，而且也使中国读者无法理解。2世纪末叶，在洛阳译经的一位翻译者是安息王子，我们只知道他的汉文名字是安世高。最优秀的翻译者之一是鸠摩罗什（344－413年），他的父亲是印度人，母亲是塔里木盆地的库车人。那时，塔里木盆地的方言与梵语一样，届印欧语系。鸠摩罗什曾在克什米尔学习说一切有部佛教学说，又在喀什学习过大乘怫教。大约382年，他成了一支中国突袭部队的俘虏。他第一次被抓是在甘肃。401年，鸠摩罗什从甘肃到达了长安。随后的8年里，他在专业助手的帮助下，翻译了大量的经文。

    另一些译经者是中国人。在5世纪、6世纪和7世纪，一些中国的取经僧侣或由陆路或由海路到达印度，在那里学习梵文，获得大乘经文的原稿，回国后又将这些原稿由梵文译为汉文。两位著名的中国取经者和译经者是法显（他于399－414年间出国云游）和玄奘（他于629－645年间出国云游）。他们在印度的游历，找们曾在前面的章节中提及。

    正是由于这些译经家，中国佛教徒逐渐获得了大乘佛教经文的汉文版本。汉文版本对梵文原有的含义进行了再加工。然而，在中国扎下根来，流传于民间的大乘佛教，实质上却是重新创造的有中国特色的佛教类型。这些佛教种类之一的净土宗，宣扬通过相信菩萨和阿弥陀佛得到解脱。另一个宗派是禅宗（梵文是Dhyana，日文是zen），宣扬通过修行顿悟。这两个学派为鸠摩罗什同时代的中国人所创建。与诚实谨慎的译经者们相比，将大乘佛教中国化的人取得了更大的成就。

    对中国人来说，佛教徒的修行至少与佛教思想一样，都是外来品。佛教传入中国以前，中国不知道寺院，更不知僧侣为何物。道家哲学是中国固有的最接近于佛教的思想方法。道家不赞成文明的兴起，远离公众事务，但他们的观念不是来世的。他们所描绘的仅仅是从复杂的工商社会退回到远古村社小国寡民那种相对简朴的生活中去。然而，将佛教经文译成汉文的第一批译经者却大量引用了道家术语，因为汉语中缺乏其他能够比较近似地表述佛教思想的同义语。无论是道家哲学还是民间的道教，为了保存自己反对佛教，都开始借用佛教的概念和教会形式，这是因为佛教已经在中国确立。两种宗教一或两种哲学一之间的关系是既排斥又联系的。它们各自的信徒相互竞争，因为他们感到了相互之间的密切关系。

    土地所有制问题对于中国社会和政府是至为关键的。显然，如果那时的中国不是恰好处于长期末能解决土地问题的最困难时刻，佛教就没有多少传入中国的可能性。无法解决土地所有制问题带来的恶果，是政治上的分裂和随之而来的蛮族入侵。从公元185年开始，在300年的时间里，中国的各个阶层都处于一种受到惩戒的情绪之中。在这种情绪中，他们比通常更易于寻求一种外来宗教以获得解脱。但在中国北部，只要社会状况和政治形势一出现转机，民间道数和儒生就会联合起来，发起遏制佛教的运动。应他们的要求，佛教组织被置于政府的监督之下，通过一个模仿儒家世俗行政机关的宗教官僚机构进行监督，而且，438年、446-452年和574-578年发生了灭佛运动。

    4世纪的北部中国与5世纪罗马帝国的西部行省相比，政治的分裂，自相残杀的战争，经济的崩溃和社会的混乱，都更为剧烈。继西晋而建立的一些蛮族国家，就象继西罗马帝国而建立的那些国家一样，只有当征服者成功地吸收了他们臣民的文化时，才繁荣起来。在北部中国，无论是汉族农民或是汉族大土地所有者，都是顽强的。尽管为草原游牧族所征服，但他们抓住可耕地不放，并坚持耕种土地；尽管儒家学说因被废黜的儒生官僚地主滥用而声誉扫地，但儒学传统仍然在佛教的冲击下生存了下来。

    可能是蒙古人种的鲜卑拓跋氏于338年重新统一了中国北方，在黄河向北大转弯的西北处建立了一个继西晋王朝而起的地方性国家。386年，拓跋皇族命名该王朝为北魏。到439年，拓跋魏已经消灭了北部中国的所有其他蛮族国家。5世纪上半叶，他们至少有5次设法入侵塔里木盆地。493-494年，北魏孝文帝（471－499年在位）将首都从山西北部的发源地迁到了洛阳。大约与此同时，他有计划地使他的部族成员汉化，并使部族首领的地位与北魏境内汉族大土地所有者的地位相同。拓跋氏的统治家族进行了强制性的汉化，结果则是北魏王朝最终未能实现征服南部中国的愿望，并导致了王朝的覆没和帝国的分裂。但是，中国北方于577年再次统一，并于581年由隋朝的建立者隋文帝（581-604年在位）所接管。隋文帝又于589年成功地征服南方，统一了中国。

    虽然北魏王朝未能统一中国，但它却把解决土地所有制问题的方法传给了隋和唐。485年，杰出的孝文帝向每一个体格健壮的成年农民提供了最低的土地占有数额。他也建立了农民共同负责缴纳租税的组织。孝文帝没有进一步冒险确立大土地所有者地产的最高数额，但他至少制止了损害农民占有土地和帝国政府岁入的大地产的扩张。535年到581年，北魏王朝的后继者，通过组织受过训练的农民民兵，巩固了农民和政府的利益。中国北方农民地位的恢复是北南政治统一的序曲，也成为中国文明恢复活力的序曲。

    于589年实现政治统一的中国，无论在人口的地理分布上，或是在资源的地理分布上，都与此前那个统一的中国大不相同。统一的中国于304年及其以后不断受到北方蛮族的入侵。中国文明的原有核心是在黄河下游及黄河西部支流的渭河流域，商代和西周，中国的疆域只达到淮河流域的北部边缘，不包括广大的长江流域的任何地区。然而，在随后的战国时代，居住于淮河流域、长江下游地区、以及长江下游东南山区的人民相继汉化，随后又逐渐在战国期间各国之间的政治关系中扮演了积极的角色。中国的第一个政治统一者秦始皇，兼并了今天华南的整个地区及今天的越南北部。公元前111年，汉武帝巩固了中国对于北越的兼并，只有越国的沿海岸的一块飞地仍保持政治上的独立。尽管如此，但甚至在原先的楚国和吴国的疆土内，文化上也一直是落后的，在这些国家南部和西南部的广大地区，一直是人口稀少，农业不发达。

    开始于304年的蛮族对北方中国的侵扰，启动了规模空前的向南方移民的运动和开发南方经济的运动。虽然北方的汉族农民和大土地所有者固守着他们的土地，有足够的力量使蛮族征服者汉化，并且最终统一全中国，但在304年至589年，仍有大批移民从北方向南方迁徙。317年，一位逃难的晋朝宗室公子在南方重新建立了晋帝国（东晋）。东晋处于淮河下游和长江下游沼泽地和水网的保护之下。这些沼泽地和水网对于蛮族的阻碍，要比旧大陆文明中心另一端的环绕拉韦纳的小型沼泽和环威尼斯岛的泻湖有效很多。

    淮河下游和长江下游一旦具有排灌能力，便成为稻米的高产区。长江流域与今天中国东南沿海和华南沿海之间的分水岭两侧的地区，多为丘陵，有些地方多山。但整个南方降雨量丰富，居民不会因干旱而受得饥荒的威胁，这与中国北方，即使是肥沃的黄土地区居民的处境形成鲜明对比。此外，南方的本地人绝大多数易于屈服和同化，这与北方草原上的游牧族邻人也形成鲜明对比。罗马帝国的西北部行省具有与中华帝国南方省份同等的经济地位。西北欧为地中海东部诸国和岛屿提供了大量肥沃的有良好灌溉条件的保留地，但是罗马人很难征服这一地区。而且，当罗马人最后抵御蛮族入侵者时，这一地区表现得更为顽强。从533年到561年，东罗马帝国的皇帝查士丁尼一世试图从地中海东部的一个军事基地上重新统一罗马帝国。但他的成功只是部分的和短暂的；其代价则是使地中海东部甚至更远的意大利变成一片废墟。

    从317年到589年，中国南部为5个相继的王朝所统治。它们抵挡了北方的蛮族，并且维持了对于整个南方，甚至包括今天的北越的统治。589年，中华帝国以相对较低的代价重新统一。在重新统一的中国，无论是人口或是农业重心，都有着向南转移的倾向。南方的稻米开始取代北方的粟米和小麦，成为主要的食物来源，供给统一帝国的首都，甚至供给中国所有的人口。

    中国长时期的混乱和分裂，并没有使中国文化丧失信誉，也没有阻止它向中国以外地区的扩散。304年及其以后北方蛮族的入侵，为朝鲜人提供了于313年摧毁汉族殖民基地的机会，那是汉武帝于公元前109-前108年征服朝鲜之后设置在那里的。在朝鲜的西北角，这个殖民基地在整整4个世纪中都存在着。朝鲜本土分裂为3个国家，其中不包括南部海岸为日本人所占据的滩头堡。3个国家中最北部的高句丽于372年接受了中国式的佛教，并在大约同一年使它的行政系统中国化。

    中心位于大和（位于主要岛屿本州的西南角）的日本帝国，公元3世纪时已经存在并正在向外扩张。或许早在公元前3世纪，中国文化就已开始渗入和影响日本。公元5世纪和6世纪，中国文化的影响由于朝鲜人大量移入日本而强化。这些朝鲜人自称是汉人的后裔。无论他们是否真是汉朝时到朝鲜居住的汉人的后裔，他们确实随身带来了中国文明。早在公元5世纪，日本人就已开始了解汉字。那时，中国文明，包括佛教，经由朝鲜传入了日本。而且，在587年之前的半个世纪里，日本人选择了朝鲜形态的中国化了的大乘佛教。589年以后，当政治上重新获得统一的中国恢复了汉武帝开创的行政体制时，日本人才开始借用中国的政治制度。

    第四十八章 中美洲文明和安第斯文明

    （约300－900年）

    如同从约公元前400年至公元300年那个时期一样，这一时期中美洲的纪年体系多少是可信的，至少考古学家们对此持有一致意见。而对于相关的安第斯文明时期的年代顺序也同样持有一致的看法，但是对于从查文时代结束（约公元前400年）到印加帝国建立（约公元1438年）这段长达18个半世纪的安第斯历史的确切年代则仍然存有争议。放射性碳测定法（迄今为止测定的样本太少，所以很不可靠）将安第斯文明的”绽放”时期定在约公元前300年至公元500年，将其后的蒂亚瓦纳科时代定在约公元500年至1000年。依据地层学的测算则将”兴盛”时期定在约公元400年至公元1000年，将蒂亚瓦纳科时期定在约公元1000年至约公元1300年。本章同第39章都假定放射性碳测定的年代大致是正确的，也就是说，公元300年左右安第斯历史上的”兴盛”时期正接近尾声，而蒂亚瓦纳科阶段的大部分时期都在公元500年至公元900年之间。

    在中美洲世界，”古典”阶段在约公元300－600年达到鼎盛。在这3个世纪中，蒂亚瓦纳科城持续保持繁荣，马雅型的中美洲文明不仅在中马雅地区而且在尤卡坦都扎下了根。特奥蒂瓦坎在这3个世纪中从文化上统治了马雅的3个地区–尤卡坦、中部地区和高地，甚至可以认为特奥蒂瓦坎对整个马雅地区还行使着某种政治控制。在公元600年前建于尤卡坦的”古典”马雅祭祀中心中有一个是座落在西尤卡坦的奥克斯金托克，该地建筑物就不是马雅的风格，而是特奥蒂瓦坎的风格。另一方面，同样也建于公元600年之前的座落在东尤卡坦的科班祭祀中心，就直接受到中马雅地区”古典”建筑的影响。

    大约在600年，特奥蒂瓦坎突然毁于暴乱。（尚没有考古学证据能证明谁是破坏者），但我们可以猜想，同后来南墨西哥文明的破坏者一样，他们也是来自北墨西哥沙漠的蛮族入侵者。）在乔卢拉，可以从一座人造山的最初4个连续堆积层中发现特奥蒂瓦坎的影响，而后来的堆积层却具有它们自己独立的风格。乔卢拉离特奥蒂瓦坎比较近：在中美洲世界的边缘，特奥蒂瓦坎的影响大约于600年消失。乔卢拉也在800年左右遭到毁灭，该城的征服者被认为是北方的蛮族。

    马雅并没有卷入从北方成功地征服乔卢拉和特奥蒂瓦纳的那场灾难。但到了9世纪，中马雅地区的”古典”城址也相继被废弃。其原因尚不清楚，这成了中美洲最大的历史之谜。虽然有证据表明特奥蒂瓦坎是经未知者之手用暴力毁坏的，但对于蒂卡尔、瓦哈克通以及中马雅地区”古典”时期其他许多宏大的祭祀中心被废弃的原因，尚找不到任何线索。在最引人注目的”古典”马雅艺术作品中有一批气势辉煌，但又使人毛骨耸然的壁画，它们座落在乌苏马辛塔河中游西岸，考古学家定名为”波纳姆帕克”的一个遗址上。这些壁画是在9世纪初绘成的，正好在中马雅地区开始废弃的前夕。

    “波纳姆帕克”壁画描绘的场景是战胜者对战俘犯下的亚途式的暴行，这些壁画本身就表明中部地区的”古典”马雅社会是因为陷入了自相残杀的恶战而自我毁灭的。但是，该地区被废弃的”古典”遗址并役有显示我们在圣洛伦索、拉文他、特奥蒂瓦坎和乔卢拉的考古学证据所证明的故意破坏的迹象。中马雅地区的证据否定了这些遗址是在9世纪被废弃的。关键在于竖立记年石碑的”古典”习惯在这些地方都相继中断了。最具有说服力的假设（虽然并不止这一个假设）是农民不再相信”宗教机构”担负宇宙工作的能力，特别是祈求雨神降足雨水以保丰年的能力。失望的农民可能切断了对”宗教机构”的粮食供应，拒绝继续履行维护和修整宏大建筑物所必需的繁重劳役。但是即便这一假说能说明中马雅地区”古典”遗址的废弃，它也无法解释为什么马雅风格的中美洲文明（以一种退化的、最终混杂的形式）能够在干旱多石的尤卡坦继续生存。

    根据安第斯历史的两种年代体系，”兴盛”时期持续到公元500年之后。根据以地层学而不是放射性碳测定为基础的年代体系，”兴盛”时期是从约公元400年至1000年，大约与中美洲文明的”古典”时期同时代。由于本书暂时采纳了放射性碳测定所确定的年代体系，因而在第39章已经简述了安第斯文明的兴盛时期；在此我们必需要勾画蒂亚瓦纳科－瓦里时期的概貌，虽然很可能安第斯历史的这一整个阶段处在本章年代的下限之外。

    同查文文化一样，蒂亚瓦纳科－瓦里文化也起源于高地（后一种文化的两支分别源于不同的高地地区）。后一种文化也从高地发源地传播到高地的其他地区以及沿海平原。这两种安第斯文化的另一共同点是它们的视觉艺术中都同样具有一种独特的风格，这种风格看上去体现了一种具有传教使命的宗教。但有证据表明蒂亚瓦纳科文化依靠暴力强加给了秘鲁沿海地区，而在查文文化中却缺乏这种证据。蒂亚瓦纳科位于的的喀喀湖东南角的东南方约13英里的地方。它似乎是一个并不住人的祭祀中心。它那巨大的砖石建筑比同时代瓦里和古代查文的建筑更加宏伟壮观。蒂亚瓦纳科风格在蒂亚瓦纳科本地似乎在”兴盛”时期已经形成，虽然直到”兴盛”时代结束后它才传播到秘鲁其他地区。如果蒂亚瓦纳科文化向沿海的传播是通过武力征服实现的，那么这可能就是导致”兴盛”时期结束的事件之一。

    第四十九章 先知和政治家穆罕默德

    （约570－632年）

    伊斯兰教是由天才人物先知穆罕默德与阿拉伯半岛的历史共同创造的。自从阿拉伯的骆驼被驯化之后，即在距穆罕默德的时代近2000年之前，阿拉伯半岛就一直没有断绝过商贾行旅的踪迹，来自北方毗邻的新月沃地的思想观念、制度习俗如涓涓细流不断地向半岛渗透。这种渗透的作用日积月累，到穆罕默德时代，精神力量在阿拉伯半岛的积聚已达到一触即发的程度。不过如果没有穆罕默德应运而生予以引导，这一精神力量也许并不会进发。反过来说，如果穆罕默德生在阿拉伯半岛的时代成熟之前，即使他再有远见卓识和决心勇气，都可能会无济于事。

    阿拉伯半岛是一块次大陆，面积与欧亚大陆的印度半岛和欧洲半岛同等大小。但与这两个半岛不同，阿拉伯半岛气候干燥，只有西南角（也门和阿西尔）一隅的高原能接触到季风，这些高原与红海非洲一边今日埃塞俄比亚境内的厄立特里亚－阿比西尼亚高原极为相似。穆罕默德的家乡麦加位于延伸到红海阿拉伯岸边的高原的较低处，正好处在季风范围之外。麦加并不是终年无雨，它有一眼终年不断的泉水，因而适宜人居住；但泉水的水量非常小，根本不允许麦加城的居民以农业或饲养家畜为生，而后一行业在人们的记忆中，一直是阿拉伯半岛四分之三的可居住地区居民谋生的唯一手段。环绕在麦加泉水周围的这个城镇社区必须要以贸易为生，而这种贸易又必须要有某种宗教约束的保护，以防止以放牧为生的游牧民在诱惑之下向城里的商队征收过重的通行税。

    自从骆驼被驯化以来，也门到巴勒斯坦和叙利亚的陆路一直保持畅通。这条交通要道经过麦加；当一座神庙（克尔伯）在麦加泉水的附近建成并取得声望之后，麦加人可以从一年一度的贸易集市中获取利益，那些兼是朝圣者的商人云集麦加的集市作短暂休息；他们完全不必担惊受怕，因为扰乱它将会亵渎神明。

    虽然阿拉伯半岛的人口过去和现在都一直稀少，但加在一起的总数却并不算少，因为半岛地域辽阔，无边无际的荒原从西部高原缓缓而下，一直延伸到波斯湾的阿拉伯岸边和幼发拉底河流域。在阿拉伯半岛，直到20世纪当人类从地表之下开采出石油之前，大自然对人类一直都很吝啬。在此之前，阿拉伯半岛的居民，除了也门之外，始终免不了忍饥挨饿，当文明骑着骆驼向阿拉伯半岛缓缓渗透的同时，人口也从阿拉伯半岛向外喷发。

    闪米特语的各支都起源于阿拉伯半岛，它们被来自半岛的移民人流传播到阿拉伯半岛之外。一种也门人的闪米特语不知何时传播到了厄立特里亚－阿比西尼亚高原。阿卡德语传播到底格里斯－幼发拉底河盆地，迦南语进入巴勒斯坦和叙利亚，接着阿莫里特语和阿拉米语相继进入新月沃地的两端；最后说阿拉伯语的移民又开始追踪早期说闪米特语的人的后尘。公元前8世纪，第一次载入史册的阿拉伯人离开阿拉伯半岛的大迁徙遭到了亚述人的阻拦。公元前2世纪，塞琉西的君主未能挡住阿拉伯人第二次的迁徙。到这一时期，阿拉伯移民已在叙利亚和美索不达米亚建立了永久居留地。公元632年穆罕默德死后的大规模迁移以及后来11世纪的迁移波及到了整个肥沃新月地带和北非。今天，阿拉米语的分支、阿拉伯语在新月沃地的直接先驱–古叙利亚语在该地区几乎消失；起源于法老时期古埃及语的科普特语在埃及已经消失，只在宗教仪式中还在使用；在西北非，本地的柏柏尔语在阿拉伯语到达之后，则一直被局限在高原和沙漠的偏僻之地。

    到穆罕默德的时代，思想观念和制度风俗流向阿拉伯半岛的势头也已很强烈。公元2－3世纪在美索不达米亚东北部的阿特拉和巴尔米拉的绿州及阿拉伯沙漠的最北端受到崇拜的三女神也传播到了汉志（阿拉伯半岛西北部高地）。犹太教最初可能是在公元66－70年和132－135年罗马－犹太战争之后由难民带来的，它在泰马、海拜尔和耶斯里卜（即麦地那，先知穆罕默德之”城”）的绿洲以及也门赢得了皈依者。基督教在也门也赢得了皈依者。公元6世纪，也门被吸引到东罗马与波斯帝国之间的商业和政治竞争之中。大约在523年之前和528－571年，也门曾受到阿克苏姆王国的统治，阿克苏姆王国信奉基督教，后成为东罗马帝国的卫星国。从约571年至630年，也门在波斯人的统治之下在公元6世纪的最后25年中，驻也门的阿克苏姆总督曾试图进军麦加。

    在穆罕默德生活的年代（约570－632年）罗马人和波斯人之间爆发了两次最后的、并且是耗费最巨的战争。一次是在572－591年，另一次是在604－628年。每个帝国都征调阿拉伯人充当民防队员，部署在与敌对帝国对峙的边境上。波斯帝国阿拉伯边境地区的首府位于希拉赫，就在未来的设在库法的穆斯林阿拉伯军营附近。加萨尼阿拉伯王朝守卫着东罗马帝国在叙利亚的前线。在罗马－波斯战争中，阿拉伯人为交战双方充当雇佣军。他们不仅赚到了钱，而且也受到了军事训练并获得了作战经验。他们用一部分赚来的钱添置装备–如购买胸甲和驯养战马。饲养品质优良的动物是阿拉伯人的绝技；在阿拉伯半岛，阿拉伯人过去和现在一直骑在被驯化的骆驼背上谋生；在穆罕默德死后，阿拉伯马又载着阿拉伯征服者来到了卢瓦尔河、伏尔加河和药杀水。

    所以，到穆罕默德的时代，黎凡特地区和伊朗的文明正从四面八方向麦加接近，穆罕默德本人就接触到了东罗马帝国的文明。当阿拉伯人不充当东罗马人和波斯人的雇佣兵时，阿拉伯人就作为商人和他们做生意。穆罕默德本人就曾被其未来的妻子、麦加一位女商人赫蒂彻雇佣，率领着商队来往于麦加和大马士革之间。他极有可能是在591至604年之间的和平时期从事这种商业旅行的。可以肯定，在波斯国王哥士娄二世开始入侵并成功地占领了美索不达米亚、叙利亚、巴勒斯坦和埃及之后，麦加与东罗马帝国的贸易变得很不稳定。穆罕默德首次接受到真主启示的经历发生在约610年。这时他已娶赫蒂彻为妻，在麦加成家立业。

    穆罕默德的宗教经历采取了天使长哲布勒伊来显灵的形式。穆罕默德听到哲布勒伊来向他传达神谕，听到哲布勒伊来命令他将这些神谕转达给麦加城里的居民。起初，穆罕默德对这些经历的可靠性并不十分确信，执行起来有些顾虑。但是这些经历持续不断，而且命令的语气越来越强烈，因而穆罕默德最终还是相信和服从了。由穆罕默德转达的启示的核心是，只存在一个真主（安拉，相当于说古叙利亚语的基督徒用来称呼上帝的安拉哈）。一神论此时在阿拉伯半岛已很流行，正如公元4世纪初的罗马帝国一样，君士坦丁一世就在312年皈依了基督教。根据穆罕默德的教义，真主对于人首要的要求就是”顺服”（伊斯兰）。真主规定的戒律之一就是富人和强者要接济帮助穷人和弱者–比如寡妇和孤儿。当穆罕默德确信自己真正担负重要的使命之后，他就如耶稣一样，”以一个具有权威的人”的身份宣讲启示。

    这些启示在麦加就同在拿撒勒一样受到欢迎。麦加当时是一个寡头统治的绿洲城邦。统治麦加的寡头古来氏部落与公元2－3世纪时的巴尔米拉的寡头一样依靠贸易为生。他们富有成效而又毫无怜悯之情地经营着私有的经济王国；他们知道自己商业上的成功依赖于他们圣殿的声望；他们担忧如果穆罕默德一神论的号召占据上风，万神殿克尔伯就会失去影响，麦加的贸易也会因为丧失必不可少的宗教约束而蒙受损失。古来氏人很可能还因穆罕默德不容置疑的权威语气而受到进一步冒犯。尽管穆罕默德也是古来氏人，但他并不是古来氏部落”权力机构”核心圈子中的成员。

    穆罕默德冒着危险传教12年，他赢得了一些改宗者。这些人也遭遇到了危险，以至最终穆罕默德授权他们在基督教的阿克苏姆王国寻求避难。公元622年穆罕默德时来运转，命运发生了重大转机。来自农业的绿洲国家耶斯里卜的使臣出人意料地邀请他移居耶斯里卜，接管该城的政府。耶斯里卜当时正因政治纷争而四分五裂，而耶斯里卜人自己又克服不了这些纷争。622年穆罕默德与一位同伴艾卜伯克尔逃离麦加。这两位逃亡者避开了追踪，到达耶斯里卜英明地承担起了自己的政治使命。耶斯里卜人对他的能力并没有判断错误。虽然当时穆罕默德的行政经验仅限于管理一个遭受迫害的小教派，但是他已证明自己完全能胜任新的时代。穆罕默德应邀作为耶斯里卜的统治者行使着更大的行政管理职权，他使耶斯里卜的两派互相和解，并让他们与追随他来到耶斯里卜的改宗伊斯兰教的麦加人和睦相处。古耶斯里卜人中大多数的非犹太人似乎很愿意成为穆斯林，他们共同的新宗教成了联结当地人与难民的牢固纽带。

    主权国家可以进行战争。穆罕默德既然已成为一个统治者，立即毫不犹豫地向自己的麦加同胞宣战。穆罕默德的政治处境与遭到拘捕时的耶稣大不相同。耶稣是罗马帝国的臣民，如果他要成为反叛者，那他的反叛活动将会使许多犹太人丧生，而且也不可能取得军事上的胜利。穆罕默德却具有成功的可能，而且他确实赢得了胜利；但是，他是作为一名统治者和交战的一方面取得成功的，这种成功对于伊斯兰教的后果就同君士坦丁一世改宗对于基督教的后果一样。它使得宗教与政治和战争缠绕在一起。

    在耶斯里卜，穆罕默德要发动对麦加的战争显然处在有利的战略地位，因为耶斯里卜位于麦加与叙利亚的陆路交通要道上。穆罕默德劫掠麦加的海队，即便是在一年一度的休战期间也不住手。630年麦加投降之后，穆罕默德给他的古来氏部落同胞以宽厚的待遇。他对克尔伯神殿和朝觐大加利用，把它们纳入到伊斯兰教的制度之中。到632年他去世时为止，其政府的主权在整个阿拉伯半岛都得到了承认，势力远及南部边境上的游牧地区，这一地区的阿拉伯部落当时都效忠于东罗马帝国或波斯帝国。政治上臣服于穆罕默德国家的条件之一即是皈依伊斯兰教。但这在大多数场合都是敷衍了事的，麦加也同样如此。穆罕默德在622－632年之间进行的战争与同时代的罗马－波斯战争（604－628年）相比，规模实在太小，但在北部的一次大战和在阿拉伯半岛的数次小的战役，其综合作用的后果却是巨大的。

    提供分享战利品的机会是穆罕默德使其成份杂乱的国家保持统一和效忠的手段之一。麦加人成了穆斯林社团掠夺欲望最早的牺牲品；但更有利可图的是抢劫耶斯里卜的犹太人部族以及后来的海拜尔犹太人。

    穆罕默德知道犹太人和基督徒是”有经人”，也就是说他们拥有包含信息和戒律的圣典。他们相信，穆罕默德也深信不疑这些圣典是上帝发布的启示。穆罕默德相信正降示于他的《古兰经》是真主最后的启示–是专门向阿拉伯人宣示、因而也是使用阿拉伯语的一部最终的启示。既然在《古兰经》以及犹太人的圣典和《福音》中，一神论都是启示的基本真理，穆罕默德也就理所当然地可以指望得到耶斯里卜已经信奉犹太教的阿拉伯部族的同情和支持。但是如果穆罕默德指望耶斯里卜的犹太人仅因为《古兰经》是真主向说阿拉伯语的人降临的启示就放弃犹太教而改宗伊斯兰教，那他就太天真了。穆罕默德不可能不知道犹太人一直坚持不愿放弃犹太教而信仰基督教。

    耶斯里卜的犹太人同耶斯里卜的异教徒一样，都没有响应穆罕默德让他们成为穆斯林的号召，但是这些犹太人对自己的不圆滑粗心大意满不在乎。他们指出《古兰经》在提及《托拉》中的经文时犯了不少错误。这些错误十分显著但又无关宏旨。对穆罕默德来说，这种冷言相拒显然对他造成了伤害。他的手段是野蛮的，与犹太人冒犯他的程度完全不成比例，而且达到了肆无忌惮的程度。耶斯里卜的犹太人是少数派，同时又很富有。穆罕默德听任耶斯里卜社团中的穆斯林多数派不受约束地抢劫和驱逐耶斯里卜的犹太人。耶斯里卜最后一批穆罕默德的受害者甚至不被允许离境，即使他们除了求和已一无所有。他们不仅被抢劫一空，而且男人们还遭到屠杀，妇女和儿童则沦为奴隶。

    因此，掠夺、战争和屠杀成了穆罕默德为伊斯兰教赢得胜利的主要手段。基督教徒和佛教徒（虽然不太经常）也犯下过同样的罪行；在犹太教经典中，这些罪行被归结于摩西和约书亚。但佛数与基督教的创立者至少没有为其追随者树立这些坏的样板。

    第五十章 伊斯兰教国家的扩张

    （633－750年）

    当穆罕默德去世之时，伊斯兰教和伊斯兰教国家是否能生存下去似乎都存在疑问。阿拉伯人从穆罕默德的成功中得出了与穆罕默德本人同样的结论，这一结论与君士坦丁一世从自己在312年的股利中得出的结论也毫无二致。无论是在公元4世纪或7世纪，在印度以西的旧大陆文明中心，尚不存在无神论者，尽管当时或许有极少数有神论者关于上帝或诸神以及自然和行为的概念已不再那么原始粗糙。穆罕默德的皈依者和臣民相信穆罕默德的神安拉全能至大，但他们对伊斯兰教要他们履行的责任（如礼拜和施舍及完纳天课）却感到厌烦。穆罕默德死亡的消息在耶斯里卜和麦加以外的阿拉伯半岛地区引起了一场范围很广的反叛，反叛的领导人都是当地的男女先知，他们声称已为自己的人民赢得了安拉的恩惠。

    这场反叛被耶斯里卜和麦加的联合部队成功地扑灭了。耶斯里卜人尽力要保住自己的绿洲成为帝国首都的特权。耶斯里卜凭借着它成为先知之城的地位而获得了这一特权。那些没有迁徙到麦地那的麦加人，尽力要维护麦加经济上极有价值的神殿和朝觐活动，而且穆罕默德已将它们纳入到伊斯兰教的制度之中。反叛者被精明能干的古来氏人战败。633年古来氏人就像他们的先行者巴尔米拉人在260年时的行为一样，证明自己能够胜任不熟悉的领域–领导政府、指挥战争和进行外交，正如他们能够胜任自己祖先的商业活动一样。633年保住了伊斯兰教有伊斯兰教国家的古来氏人中有一些是新近而且十分勉强的皈依者：新生的伊斯兰教国家最能干的军事将领哈立德?伊本?瓦立德和领导伊斯兰教国家的穆罕默德的第五任继承人就是其中的例子。即使这样，如果已故先知的哈里发（哈里发意为”继承者”）艾卜伯克尔没有为反叛者们找到代替反叛的有吸引力的另一种选择，麦加和麦地那的联合部队可能还不足以重新降服阿拉伯半岛的其余部分。

    或者是出于自己的主张，或者是根据伊斯兰教国家非正式的执政委员会（艾卜伯克尔即由该委员会选举的）的建议，艾卜伯克尔邀请反叛者调转武器，在伊斯兰教国家的领导下，进攻毗邻阿拉伯半岛的两个北方帝国。这两个帝国已精疲力尽地从604－628年罗马－波斯的殊死战争中脱身，它们很容易成为整个阿拉伯半岛联合部队攻击下的捕获物；尽管这两个帝国在自己的臣民看来经济上已经破产，但在阿拉伯人的眼睛中，它们仍然是一件可观的战利品。艾卜伯克尔在这方面从穆罕默德身上得到了指点。他向人们提供瓜分掠夺物的机会而谋求人们的效忠，而被贫穷困扰的阿拉伯人对掠夺有着难以满足的欲望。这种威逼与利诱的结合，成功地使阿拉伯反叛者从反叛转到对外征服。

    伊斯兰国家征服的速度和范围令人吃惊。到641年穆斯林阿拉伯人已从东罗马帝国手中征服了叙利亚、美索不达米亚（杰济拉）、巴勒斯坦和埃及。到637年他们从波斯帝国手中征服了伊拉克，并在651年征服了将东北部的梅尔夫都包括在内的整个伊朗。653年亚美尼亚人和格鲁吉亚人（前罗马和前波斯帝国的亚美尼亚和格鲁吉亚臣民）在优惠的条件下向伊斯兰教国家投降。从647年到698年，阿拉伯人从东罗马人手中征服了西北非洲，在710－712年间，他们继续扩张，灭掉了西哥特王国，除了西班牙的西北角之外，他们征服了西哥特统治的全部地域，包括西哥特人在西南高卢残余的领地。与此同时在711年，阿拉伯人征服了信德和南旁遮普，并向北达到木尔坦。

    在661至671年期间，阿拉伯人征服了托卡里斯坦（今天的阿富汗乌兹别克），该地曾经是厌哒匈奴从波斯帝国抢夺来的领土的一部分。这次征服具有重要的战略意义。它使伊斯兰教国家横跨在经乌浒河－药杀水流域中印陆路交通线上。706－715年，阿拉伯人进一步征服了河间地带，该地曾是遭厌哒帝国劫掠的突厥草原帝国的一部分。阿拉伯人曾一度遭到挫折，但在河间地带他们恢复了进攻。他们象在西北非一样坚持了下来。739－741年他们最终征服了整个河间地带。但在另外4条战线上，他们受到无法克服的阻击。

    阿拉伯人在征服小亚细亚方面未能扩大他们对叙利亚征服的成果。741年他们在阿马努斯山一线停顿下来。阿马努斯的”马尔代特人”在阿拉伯人看来是”反叛者”，但对于东罗马帝国来说，他们却是忠诚不二的臣民。677年阿拉伯人曾在黎巴嫩获得一个暂时的立脚点，他们此后曾将自己的边疆越过阿马努斯山，推进到托罗斯山脉，但是他们从未在这条线以外获得永久性的立足点。第五位哈里发穆阿威叶一世（661－680年在位）认识到，为了征服小亚细亚和消灭东罗马帝国，阿拉伯人必须占领君士坦丁堡；要占领君士坦丁堡，他们必须要从东罗马人手中夺得地中海的制海权。669年穆阿维叶建立了一支舰队，674－678年他的军队从海陆两路包围了君士坦丁堡；但这次围攻成了阿拉伯人的一场灾难。东罗马的舰队装备了喷火器（”希腊火炮”）和发射这种火器的装置，由一位流亡的叙利亚技师负责操纵。717－718年阿拉伯人第二次对君士坦丁堡的围攻也同样是一场灾难性的失败。732年阿拉伯人进攻高卢失败。在到达卢瓦尔河之前，他们在普瓦捷受阻。737－738年他们在征服伏尔加河与顿河之间的哈扎尔的游牧帝国时再次遭到失败。

    穆斯林阿拉伯人的征服就这样达到了其极限，但这些征服迅速突然、范围广阔，其原因与汪达尔人和亚历山大大帝的征服活动完全一样。这些入侵者攻击的都是军事上已经虚弱的帝国，但这些帝国的交通网又完好无损，使得入侵者可从中获利。阿拉伯人在7世纪的征服抵销了亚历山大于公元前4世纪在同一地区征服活动的影响。阿拉伯人结束了希腊人在黎凡特地区的优势地位。这一地位到633年为止已经维持了963年之久。

    阿拉伯人得益于东罗马帝国统治下的一性论基督徒的立场。这些人并不对统治者的变更感到遗憾；萨珊波斯，帝国统治下的聂斯脱利教派对自己先前的伊朗主人也并不抱有真正的忠诚。信奉琐罗亚斯德教的伊朗人很快放弃了维护其政治独立地位的战斗，尽管他们是波斯帝国的统治民族，琐罗亚斯德教又是他们民族的宗教。在西北非洲，柏柏尔人对征服东罗马帝国属地的阿拉伯人友好亲善。柏柏尔人曾经是多纳图斯教派的骨干，君士坦丁一世皈依基督教使得他们与罗马帝国的统治一直格格不入。

    另一方面，在居民效忠于东罗马帝国和卡尔西顿形式的基督教的小亚细亚，阿拉伯人受到了顽强抵抗，并始终被阻挡在外。在河间地带，阿拉伯人也遭到阻碍（虽然只是暂时性的），那里的居民当时都是大乘派佛教徒。亚历山大在河间地带也曾遭到过顽强的抵抗。在呼罗珊和托卡里斯坦（以前的安息和大夏），当地的伊朗居民对阿拉伯人以礼相待，就与他们在大夏的祖先在阿契美尼德王朝的波斯帝国被亚历山大征服后与希腊人和睦相处的情形一样。在所有时代，毗邻欧亚平原的广阔世界边疆地区的所有居民，在防范游牧民族方面都有着共同利益。

    阿拉伯人的征服还得益于《古兰经》的一条训戒。该训戒宣称如果”有经人”服从伊斯兰政府，同意交纳一笔附加税，他们将得到宽大和保护。这一训戒的好处从犹太人和基督徒延至琐罗亚斯德教徒，最后还惠及印度教徒。阿拉伯人将在非穆斯林臣民中征收税收的工作交给现有的当地税务官掌管。在先前萨珊王朝的版图上，这些税务官叫德赫坎（乡绅）。这些官员们用希腊文或钵罗钵文书写的帐簿，一直保存到哈里发阿布杜勒?马立克统治时期（685－705年）。阿布杜拉?马立克把它们改成阿拉伯语，他的继承人瓦利德一世在埃及终止了官方使用科普特语，先前科普特语一直是与希腊语并用的。但是当地的税务官员，虽然现在他们必须要在工作中说阿拉伯语，却获准保留了职位，他们并没有被阿拉伯人取代。

    守卫伊斯兰国家属地的阿拉伯人驻军分布在各个兵站，有些兵站位于边境，有些兵站则在阿拉伯半岛和新月沃地南部边缘的交界处。大多数兵站都是新设的，全部在城外或城市附近。虽然阿拉伯人的兵站吸引了非阿拉伯人的定居者，但在伊斯兰教帝国史上的最初阶段、征服者与被征服者之间的社会接触很少，伊斯兰教的传播远远落后于伊斯兰教国家版图的扩张。在阿拉伯半岛，伊斯兰教是强制性的义务，而在各个属地，改宗伊斯兰教不仅没有强制，而且也并不受到真正的鼓励。

    驻守在各个属地上的穆斯林阿拉伯人驻军并没有传教士的热情。他们对待自己宗教的态度很像继承西罗马帝国的日耳曼国家中的阿里乌派基督教大师的态度。他们把宗教当作一种民族标志来佩戴，用来把自己与臣服的基督教和琐罗亚斯德教居民区别开来。对于伊斯兰帝国的臣民来说，改宗伊斯兰教在经济上颇有吸引力，是可能获得穆斯林”统治集团”相对优惠的纳税人地位的一种途径。但是正是由于这种地位的税赋较轻，伊斯兰的财政部反对人们改宗伊斯兰教，而且在发生改宗之后，仍力图宣布它在纳税方面的作用无效。747－750年的内战，就是改宗者用武力对自己权力的维护：他们要求享有与生来就是阿拉伯人的穆斯林平等的法律地位。在这场内战中，除了在西北非的西端和西班牙，哈里发的倭马亚王朝在各地都被阿拔斯王朝取代了。这次革命的发动者和领导者来自位于伊拉克库法的阿拉伯人兵站，但是起义最先是在呼罗珊爆发的。在呼罗珊地区，改宗者人数特别多，他们与当地阿拉伯士兵一定居者的社会融合已达到异乎寻常的程度。然而，最早对反叛的鼓动作出响应的呼罗珊人却不是当地的伊朗人，而是一群定居在当地的阿拉伯人。这些阿拉伯人对在倭马亚人统治之下自己地位的下降而愤愤不平。

    747－750年内战的表面问题是王朝的更替，它实际上是一场争论中的偶然事件，这场争论的焦点就是作为伊斯兰教国家元首的穆罕默德政治地位继承问题。穆罕默德本人没有儿子，也没有指定任何继承人。他的堂弟和女婿阿里宣称自己是合法的继承人，因为他和妻子法蒂玛是穆罕默德最近的亲属。如果阿里能成功地使其主张为人接受，那伊斯兰教的哈里发职位就成了穆罕默德家族的特权。这和耶稣死后犹太人基督教社团的领导权成为家族事务一样，当时接任社团领导的是耶稣之弟雅各而不是耶稣的亲近使徒彼得。但是，在穆罕默德死后，管理阿拉伯穆斯林国家的职责是由一个非正式的指导委员会承担的。在选举穆罕默德的政治继承人之时，该委员会忽略了阿里，而使他一连三次感到失望。在第三次空位时，阿里获得了任命，但结果却证明他在政治上不能胜任。661年阿里被刹杀后，穆罕默德的政治遗产被穆罕默德最激烈、最不可宽恕的古来氏敌手之一的儿子穆阿威叶一世所夺取。

    穆阿威叶一世的母亲名叫希恩德。与穆罕默德的结发妻子（他先前的雇主）一样，她也是麦加的一位女商人。希恩德和她的儿子穆阿威叶与穆罕默德并不沾亲带故，除非所有的古米氏人都被认为是血统相同。穆阿威叶在同龄的古来氏人中是最能干的一个。阿里在政治上根本不是他的对手。阿里和儿子侯塞因（即穆罕默德的外孙）都惨死于暴力。穆阿威叶建立了一个王朝，这一王朝于601－750年在巴格达、于756－1031年在西班牙行使统治。但是倭马亚王朝从未成功地赢得对其合法性无可争议的承认。

    因而，在伊斯兰教国家的政治结构中，穆罕默德一死立即出现了一个裂缝。这一裂缝从未合拢过。最热情地投身于747－750年反倭马亚王朝革命的人就是忠诚于阿里及其继承人的人。但是阿里党人在这一时期同样遭到挫折，情况与阿里在其短暂而又不幸的哈里发任期（656－661）内没有什么两样。有”屠夫”之称的艾布?阿拔斯749年在库法成功地被承认为哈里发，取代了叙利亚的最后一任倭马亚哈里发迈尔万二世。与倭马亚人不同，艾布?阿拔斯是阿里和阿里堂兄先知穆罕默德家族的成员，但他不是阿里与其妻子法蒂码的后裔，而是阿里与穆罕默德的叔父阿拔斯的后裔。而阿拔斯同倭马亚家族的阿布?苏富扬及其子穆阿威叶一样，都是最后一刻才皈依伊斯兰教的麦加人。

    第五十一章 东罗马帝国的复兴

    （628－726年）

    当穆斯林阿拉伯人向东罗马帝国和波斯帝国同时发起挑战时，他们激起了两种完全不同的反应。东罗马帝国进行了抵抗，并且生存了下来，尽管生存空间有所缩小；而波斯帝国却屈服投降，最终解体。不过，尽管方式不同，波斯人和东罗马人还是在考验自己的共同经历中恢复了活力。

    阿拉伯人的琐罗亚斯德教臣民比他们的各种教派的基督教臣民更乐于和更迅速地接受了伊斯兰教。在伊朗，琐罗亚斯德教派最后沦为一个规模不大的少数派，仅限于几个孤立的飞地之中。一小批移居到伊朗西部的难民仍然保存着琐罗亚斯德教。钵罗钵语（中古波斯语）的单词是由古叙利亚字母拼写的，但却当作表意符号来表示对应的波斯语单词。琐罗亚斯德教的礼仪和经典一直使用这种书写波斯语的笨方法，但改宗伊斯兰教的波斯人却采用阿拉伯字母、依照字母顺序来书写波斯语，并在波斯语汇中融合了大量的阿拉伯语词。这些改系者为未来的行政官员和诗人们创造了一种新波斯语。

    东罗马帝国仍然保存了它在托罗斯山脉西北的小亚细亚领土，并且以海峡尽头的君士坦丁堡作为桥头堡。塞浦路斯在674－678年阿拉伯人围攻君士坦丁堡失败后，通过条约获得中立，但包括从克里特岛到巴利阿里群岛在内的其他地中海岛屿仍然操诸于东罗马之手。尽管东罗马政府实际上未能控制它在西北非占领的海岛，但它并没有丧失西西里岛和威尼斯湾中的小岛；而且，在君士坦丁堡以西的欧洲大陆，它仍然维持着一连串的沿海据点，这些据点从塞萨洛尼基一直向西延伸到拉韦纳和罗马。

    公元前5世纪时的西西里和公元6世纪末叶前的小亚细亚，希腊语已经完全取代了本地的非希腊方言。东罗马帝国在海缪斯（巴尔干）山脉和多瑙河下游之间的曾经说拉丁语的居民，最初被十丁抽一地征入东罗马军队，后又被多瑙河对岸的蛮族入侵所淹没。这些入侵开始于公元3世纪，7世纪时达到高潮，整个巴尔干半岛的内陆都被斯拉夫人定居者永久占据。这些人甚至还占据了伯罗奔尼撒半岛的大部分。在北方，残存的拉丁语居民躲进了深山，沦落为散居在外的牧羊人（弗拉克人）。

    斯拉夫人定居者赶走了大批的东罗马公民，但他们对帝国本身并不构成军事威胁。君士坦丁堡、塞萨洛尼斯及其他沿海城市的城墙挡住了斯拉夫人。居住在这些城市附近的新的斯拉夫人农村居民在政治上尚未统一。他们形成了许多分散的小的”斯拉维尼亚”，并且处在东罗马帝国的支配之下。只要东罗马帝国还有多余和必要的军事力量，它随时可以征服他们。这一形势在680－681年发生了不利于东罗马帝国的变化，当时一支说突厥语的保加利亚人（前匈奴人）被臣服于说突厥语的草原帝国的哈扎尔人向西驱赶，定居在多瑙河下游和黑海西岸一带。保加利亚人是欧亚平原的游牧民族，他们既擅长于驯养动物，又是治理人类的专家。在制服了最近的”斯拉维尼亚”之后，保加利亚人建立了国家，并成为这一国家的统治阶级。保加利亚人到达巴尔干半岛开始了保加利亚国与东罗马帝国争夺对内陆”斯拉维尼亚”政治控制权的竞争，这些”斯拉维尼亚”正听天由命地等待着被具有实力的任何一个强国占领。

    这些人口迁移和统治权变化的后果之一就是希腊语成为东罗马帝国的民族语言：现代希腊语成为日常生活的普通用语，而古雅典城邦的共同语则成为卡尔西顿派（别称正统派或大公派）基督教会的公共管理和礼拜仪式用语（只在帝国境内残存的部分拉丁语地区是例外）。从公元前2世纪到公元3世纪，罗马一直是一个使用两种语言的城市，君士坦丁堡在公元330年建成后的最初2个世纪内也同样如此。但是6世纪的君士坦丁堡只通用希腊语。拜占庭基督教世界和西方基督教世界虽然仍然信奉同一种教义，但两者之间的语言障碍已经开始出现。

    东罗马帝国的希腊在受到了4世纪时卡帕多西亚基督教教父们的推动。本书第45章已经提到了凯撒利亚的圣巴西勒将帕科米乌斯的集体修道制引进希腊语世界。圣巴西勒、他的兄弟尼塞的圣格列高利和他们的朋友纳西盎的圣格列高利都出身于小亚细亚边缘地区富有的上等阶层家庭。这一地区4世纪时，在日常生活中可能仍然使用一种非希腊语的本地语言。巴西勒和纳西盎的格列高利曾在雅典大学学习，并见到了未来的皇帝尤里安（与他们一样，尤里安也生长在小亚细亚内地）。这3位卡帕多西亚的教父用2世纪非基督教的所谓”高级文化修养的”演讲所使用的新雅典希腊语，创作了大量的文学著作。这些卡帕多西亚基督教父的希腊风格比尤里安更为优雅；而且与尤里安不同的是，他们作品的素材无瑕可击。卡帕多西亚的教父们被后来描写世俗和宗教题材的希腊语作家当成了典范。对这些卡帕多西亚教父们著作的赞美和模仿，阻碍了现代希腊语在文学中的使用，尽管这种语言到7世纪时已成为希腊语世界的流行语言。

    633－641年阿拉伯人的征服活动使叙利亚在政治上脱离了东罗马帝国，但自从黎凡特地区的居民持续地改宗基督教后，叙利亚文明就一直影响着希腊文明。说希腊语的基督徒并没有在文化上拥有对说叙利亚语的宗教同伴的优越感。在基督学争论开始在神学上和政治上使希腊人和叙利亚人彼此疏远之前，希腊人从叙利亚那里接受了某些持久性的文化赠礼。拜占庭风格的音乐和礼拜诗歌是所有东正教民族的共同财富，其创作者就是一位改宗卡尔西顿派基督教的叙利亚犹太人作曲家罗曼努斯（约480－550年）。罗曼努斯的赞美诗是用古雅典的共同语写成的，但节拍和旋律却是叙利亚式的，对于希腊语诗歌和音乐来说，这是一个令人鼓舞的新起点。

    前面已经提到叙利亚的工匠为东罗马帝国装备了一种可怕的新式武器，从而使东罗马帝国在674－678年免于毁灭。利奥三世（717－741年在位）也是一位具有叙利亚血统的人。利奥正好在保卫君士坦丁堡，抵抗阿拉伯人的第二次围攻（717－718年）的时刻成了皇帝。受到削弱的东罗马帝国成了说希腊语的地区，但它通过吸收优秀的非希腊语成份而获得了一种新的生命力。利奥三世建立了一个叙利亚王朝。希拉克略（610－641年在位）的父亲是亚美尼亚人，担任过东罗马帝国在西北非行省的总督。在阿拉伯伊斯兰教国家深入到托罗斯山脉以南的帝国领土之后，帝国大为减少的人口便得到了大量的亚美尼亚和叙利亚难民的补充，这些难民宁愿作为卡尔西顿教派生活在东罗马基督教的统治之下，而不愿意作为一性论教派生活在阿拉伯穆斯林的统治之下。

    对东罗马帝国来说，7世纪是一个差不多从未断过麻烦的时代。602年的兵变和皇帝莫里斯的被谋杀使帝国陷入无政府状态。604年，波斯人开始侵犯帝国的亚洲行省，而来自多瑙河下游北岸的斯拉夫民族大迁移又席卷了整个巴尔干半岛的腹地。当阿拉伯人在633年发起进攻时，帝国还来不及从604－628年东罗马人与波斯人最后一次、也是最惨烈的战争中恢复过来。这次进攻的高潮是674－678年阿拉伯人围攻君士坦丁堡。这次危机刚刚度过，欧亚平原上的游牧民族保加利亚人又于680－681年在多瑙河南岸建立了一个永久性的立足点。不可思议的是，这一系列灾难造成的帝国人口的锐减竟为经济恢复扫清了道路。

    这次经济恢复采取的形式和中国5世纪时华北的经济恢复一样。农民有了自己的土地，能够与大地主和帝国的税吏抗衡。在5世纪时的中国，我们有北魏孝文皇帝采取措施保护农民的记载；在7世纪时的东罗马帝国，我们的证据是据认为是在7世纪末颁布的一部《农民法》。这部法律显示农民正在耕种荒地，修建水磨。我们可以断定，农民还没有因赋税负担太重而减少自己土地的规模和生产能力。我们还可以断定，当时在东罗马帝国境内，大地主还没有强大到足以霸占所有无主土地的程度。无疑，就同在中国一样，东罗马帝国的大庄园并未消失，但是，以牺牲小土地所有者的大庄园的扩张至少受到了限制。

    在6世纪的华北，农民被武装起来，参加训练，担任民兵。在7世纪结束前的东罗马帝国，一支主要是依靠被分配土地的产品而维持的农民民兵则逐渐构成了帝国军队的主体。我们发现这支民兵组成为4个军团，这些军团的名称表明它们在阿拉伯人的进攻之前，已被部署在幼发拉底河上游和多瑙河下游一线。为了守住帝国的核心，它们甚至不惜将守卫帝国外围领土的任务交给当地人自己解决，而集中驻守在小亚细亚。这些军团在小亚细亚腹地建立的拓居地，无疑成了重新移居这一地区的第一步。各军团司令后逐渐成为其部队驻守地区的行政长官，戴克里先－君士坦丁时代的行省为了世俗的目的而被废止，它们只保留在帝国的教区地图上。这些军团和相应的行政区后被称作锡玛塔（这一名词可能意指东罗马官方簿记上的”登记处”或”登记项目”）。从642年开始，小亚细亚饱受打家劫舍的阿拉伯人之害，但这种动乱不休的状况有利于受到训练的武装农民。农民可以守卫地们分得的土地；而敌人的抢劫则使帝国的税务官逃之夭夭，并使大农庄园成为对富人无利可图的投资。对于东罗马的农民来说，两害相权取其轻，与税务官或积聚土地谋利的投资者相比，打家劫舍的阿拉伯人还是危害较小的祸害。在小亚细亚就同在中国一样，只要农民能够继续保持自己的土地，社会就能持续不断地复苏。

    第五十二章 西方基督教世界

    （634－756年）

    634－756年间，西方基督教世界的地域中心继续向西北移动，这一趋势成为基督教世界在这一历史时期的显著特点。法兰克王国在高卢的崛起，从政治发展水平上表现出了这种趋势；它的缔造者克洛维以基督教尼西亚会议和卡尔西顿会议的方式对基督教的皈依，以及罗马教廷对不列颠领土的获得，从基督教会自身的发展水平上表现出了这种趋势。在这些年代中，人们可以看到，在阿尔努尔夫家族的统治下，法兰克王国又重新焕发出勃勃生机。阿尔努尔夫家族（回溯加洛林家族便知）在墨洛温王朝扮演着宫相（宫中的主要行政官员）的角色。在这些年代中还可以看到，教皇统治的基督教会权威在不列颠诸岛更加巩固，并不断扩大它的地理范围，而且通过英格兰传教士的积极作用，进一步扩展到了欧洲大陆的西北部。在同一时期，西方基督教世界的农业中心（在这一时期，这个地区与当时任何地方一样，农业是经济活动的基本形式），从地中海西部沿海地区向北移动。

    这个地区是地中海式的气候，并不十分有利于农业生产，除了几块比较肥沃的地区，例如，尼罗河冲积地带、底格里斯河冲积地带、幼发拉底河冲积地带，以及印度河冲积地带，或者象地中海及其回流–黑海的北部腹地。迦太基及后来罗马的农学家运用科学手段使地中海绝大部分地区的农业潜力得到挖掘。而且他们的工作无论在西北非，还是在南部西班牙，都没有因阿拉伯人的征服而被搁浅。另一方面，建筑师、造船的工匠、伙夫这些人为了弄到烧浴室的燃料不断地对地中海地区较易进入的森林滥砍乱伐，使森林资源耗毁殆尽。这种大规模的砍伐不仅造成这个地区木材短缺，而且还使森林变成了荒山秃岭，减少了这一地区的农业用地和牧场面积。然而，北欧仍拥有大片森林，而且即使这些森林都被砍伐光了，当地的气候、自然地理条件也会对这片土地加以保护，不致于使地表裸露。

    罗马帝国先吞并了波河流域，接着又吞并了阿尔卑斯山北面的大片领土，这样就把西部地中海流域北部腹地的大片可开发的肥沃土地划入希腊–罗马的文明版图。为了开垦这些土地，早在西罗马帝国崩溃之前，便已开始发展农业技术。其中，关键是要发明出一种新犁，比原先耕作软土地时使用的那种犁，在功率和效率上都要提高一步。

    然而，在农业技术发展的现有水平上，北欧的农业产量仍不可能超过地中海地区。地中海地区麦田、葡萄园、橄榄园的丰收对北部蛮族产生了极大的经济诱惑力。他们在身后匈奴人的驱动下，沿着莱茵河突入罗马境内，接着又践踏了西班牙和西北非。无疑，他们本也可以占领埃及和伊朗的更为富饶的灌溉地区，然而，东罗马帝国和波斯帝国一直牢牢控制着埃及和伊朗，使得北部蛮族始终无法染指。到了7世纪，扩张的穆斯林阿拉伯国家夺得了这两个财源。

    同时，高卢到卢瓦尔河南部这一地带对法兰克人产生了强大的吸引力，6世纪和7世纪，墨洛温家族成员在对法兰克王国连续不断的瓜分中，任何有资格的人除了他在北高卢的份地外，还可以在米迪地区得到一块份地。高卢是法兰克的主要拓居地，因而成了它的力量中心。与此同时，为了发展农业。罗马人首先得到北高卢和不列颠东南部、中部的肥沃土地；接着，前罗马领土上说日尔曼语的野蛮的拓居者又夺走了这片土地。如果说日尔曼人和阿拉伯人对前罗马和波斯帝国的占领导致了农业倒退的话，那么，这也只是暂时的。北部地区土地资源的连年开发，尚未产生任何惊人的成果，然而，它的意义却是深远的。因为这片新土地拥有广阔的范围和很高的潜在生产力。

    基督教会领地的重心和罗马教廷道德－政治的势力范围，在634－756年间，也同样向西北移动。穆斯林阿拉伯人对西北非的占领，对伊比利亚半岛绝大部分的占领，对比利牛斯山脉和罗讷河口之间高卢地区的地中海沿岸的占领，并没有夺去教皇对这些地区基督教臣民的管辖权。但在伊斯兰教统治下，西北非的基督教，象伊朗的琐罗亚斯德教一样，由于皈依伊斯兰教而失去了信徒，而且比基督教在从前的西哥特王国或在黎凡特地区的肥新月沃地失去信徒的速度更快。西北非的基督教会，自从多纳图斯教派信徒与天主教徒绝裂后，一直屡遭不幸，却为维护教皇在西方基督教世界的权威扫清了道路。基督教在西地中海的北部地区生根之前，已在西北非广大地区根深蒂固。只要西北非教会还能保持团结向上，它就不会心甘情愿地承认罗马基督教会的至尊至上。

    另一方面，东罗马帝国政府大约在732或733年，给予罗马教廷一次沉重的打击，它把意大利的”靴尖”、西西里和整个东伊利里亚从罗马教廷手里移交给君士坦丁堡教廷管辖，并把西西里的原属圣?彼得教产的岁收从教皇手中转进了帝国国库。但在东罗马帝国政府看来，对教皇的这种经济上的惩罚，并不能弥补政府在亲自处罚教皇格列高利二世和三世的问题上表现出的无能。717－718年，为了抵御阿拉伯人，保卫君士坦丁堡，皇帝利奥三世（717－741年）强征附加税，以解决军费开支，结果遭到了西部臣民的抵制，格列高利二世竟公然反抗利奥三世，支持臣民的抵制运动；接着，臣民又抵制利奥在726年发布的关于禁止教堂放置画像的命令，格列高利二世再次与利奥作对，支持臣民。教皇格列高利二世（715－731）年、和他的继位者格列高利三世（731－741年）相继革除了那位利奥三世在君士坦丁堡任命的软弱顺从的主教的教籍。这2位教皇就是以此表明他们在教会上和政治上的独立自主。但从基督教会已失去的土地和岁收来看，教皇统治还是付出了高昂的代价。尽管东伊利里亚的内政如今已操诸于教皇和皇帝都鞭长莫及的异教徒斯拉夫人和保加利亚人手中，但东伊利里亚仍包括塞萨洛尼基、基克拉泽斯和克里特。

    就在罗马教廷丧失东南部领土之前，它便已经在西北部获得了领土。634年，诺森伯里亚王国－罗马帝国在太不列颠最北端的英格兰的后继国，已被爱尔兰教会从罗马教廷手中抢走。它在664年又被罗马教廷重新夺回来。继罗马教廷在英格兰取得这次胜利后，在8世纪，苏格兰、威尔士、布列塔尼和爱尔兰的凯尔特教会相继归顺了罗马教廷。669－690年间在英格兰，流亡的希腊僧侣塔尔苏斯的狄奥多尔重新组建了罗马天主教。狄奥多尔曾被教皇任命为坎特伯雷大主教。本尼狄克式的禁欲生活已在7世纪的英格兰根深蒂固。在诺森伯里亚地区贾罗的那座本尼狄克式修道院，有一名叫比德的僧侣，他于731年出版了著名的《英格兰人教会史》一书。

    690年，一位诺森伯里亚的英格兰僧侣威利布罗德－克勒门特作为一名传教士去了欧洲大陆，到了弗里西亚。其后，在716年左右，一名西撒克逊的英格兰僧侣温弗里德－卜尼法斯受教皇保护，在图林根、黑森和巴伐利亚等地作为一名传教士开展活动。墨洛温法兰克王国的加洛林王朝宫相为威利布罗德和卜尼法斯提供了政治庇护。741－747年间，经奥地利（东法兰克）宫相卡洛曼提议，卜尼法斯在罗马范围内重新改革组建了法兰克教会。但在法兰克政府里，卡洛莫和他的继承者们像东罗马皇帝一样，小心翼翼地不敢对其管辖下的基督教机构说三道四。

    不过，加洛林王朝和教皇统治觉得有必要相互支持。自687年以来，加洛林家族事实上已成为法兰克王朝的统治者，他们还想获得法律上的认可。750年，丕平三世”矮子”请求教皇来裁决这个问题。751年或752年，他怀揣一位教皇给他的、正合他心意的祈祷文，召集法兰克人集会，这次集会废黜了有名无实的墨洛温国王，选举丕平为国王。丕平的当选，通过卜尼法斯举行的涂圣油仪式而确定下来（这种仪式摹仿于《旧约全书》中所记载的古以色列人的习俗）。同时在751年，当教皇扎迦利正要对丕平的请求作出满意答复之际，伦巴德人已占领了东罗马帝国在意大利的前沿阵地拉韦纳。

    东罗马人不可能重新占领拉韦纳，并且也未做这样的努力。第一次征召他们的武装力量是为了保卫帝国的本土，以抵御阿拉伯人和保加利亚人的侵袭。很明显。伦巴德人现在正随时可以占领罗马，除非教皇能找到一位代理人，这位代理人所能提供的军事援助，从某些方面而言，连君士坦丁堡也不再能提供。至今，教皇统治还没有在政治上把它自身同东罗马帝国分离开。而在753－754年间，教皇司提反二世或三世越过阿尔卑斯山脉，请求丕平军事干涉意大利。在754年，他亲自为丕平行涂圣油礼，同时还为丕平的儿子查理（未来的查理大帝）和卡格曼举行了徐圣油礼。在755年和756年两年里，丕平两度越过阿尔卑斯山，击败了伦巴德人，除了阻止他们占颌罗马之外，还迫使他们最终放弃拉韦纳四周的前罗马领土。尽管君士坦丁五世皇帝请求丕平归还这块土地，但丕平并未使他如愿，却把这块领土献给了教皇。

    第五十三章 东亚

    （589－763年）

    从589年开始，中国享有了至少一个半世纪的统一、强盛和繁荣。这与此前开始于185年东汉政权崩溃的分裂和灾难时期，形成了鲜明的对比。589年，中国的北方和南方重新统一，这是自304年蛮族入侵北方以来的第一次。统一之后，重新采用了汉武帝通过考试儒家经典征募帝国行政人员的体制。统一后的中国，重又向本上边界以外的地区进行扩张。

    这些成就的取得是成于北魏孝文帝为每一户农民提供了生存所需的最低限额的土地。他的后继者则通过组织农民民兵扩大了这一划时代改革的效果。隋朝的建立者隋文帝正是运用这个手段征服了中国南方，并于589年实现了南北方的合并。农民民兵也使唐朝的第二位皇帝太宗（626－649年在位）．得以征服中亚。北魏和它在北方的后继王朝并未冒险去限制大土地所有者的地产。隋朝却于589年以后这样做了。他们规定了大土地占有的最高限额，其数量与占有者的身份等级相一致。无论是隋还是后继的唐，都没有没收大地产。毫无疑问，限制大地产的规模，保证农民占有最低限额的土地，只是一个从来未能在实践中完全实现的理想。根据记载，在唐朝初期，帝国岁入的五分之四仍来源于向农民征收的人头税。很显然，8世纪几乎使帝国倾覆的灾难，正是帝国政府在8世纪上半叶不再能继续向农民提供所规定的最低限度的土地的结果。

    这种情形的出现有几个原因。一个原因由于628年重新确立了国内的法律和秩序，致使农户数量增加。虽然南方的开发和北方向南方的移民仍在进行，但是，人口的迅速增长，却远远地无法满足为他们提供最低限额的土地。第二个原因是隋朝恢复了通过考试征募文职官员的制度。新的儒家官僚集团，表现得象他们西汉时（汉武帝统治时期及其以后）的前辈们一样。官僚们为了获得土地，再次利用了他们的官职。这使得可供农民保有最低限额土地的数额大为减少。这也引起了新兴的大部分兴起于南部和东部的儒家官僚地主阶层与西北地区的旧的大土地所有者之间的冲突。旧的大土地所有者衍生于汉代官僚地主的后裔和304年及其以后蹂躏北方的蛮族入侵者的后裔之间的互相通婚。唐玄宗（712－756年在位）曾努力阻止和扭转这些不利因素的发展，但未能成功。各种灾难于751年开始降临在帝国身上。

    隋朝于589年重新统一了中国，但它几乎与公元前221年第一次统一中国的秦王朝一样短命。隋朝的第二个皇帝隋炀帝（604－618年在位），就像中国的第一位统治者秦始皇那样肆无忌惮，其对于臣民的勒索繁重而令人难以容忍，结果激起了埋葬隋王朝的大起义。中国因此而陷入了12年的内战和无政府状态（617－628年），直到新的唐王朝重新确立了统一和秩序。唐朝象汉朝一样受益于被推翻的前一朝代所取得的成就。他们在实际上恢复了被推翻的体制，但采取了比较温和圆滑的方式，从而不致引起强烈敌对的反作用，正是这种反作用使隋朝皇权落地。

    隋朝最繁重而又不得人心的公共工程是大量强制征发丁壮开凿大运河。隋朝创造了大运河。它起于长江以南东部沿海的杭州，最初修成的一段使长江与洛阳附近的黄河相联接。隋炀帝又增修了一条流向北方的支流。正是沿着后来修成的大运河北段，军队和物资被运往隋炀帝在朝鲜北部的战场。在没有铁路和飞机的时代，大规模的开凿运河，对于连接中国的南方和北方来说，是必不可少的。中国的大河流向都是由西向东，需要运河承担由南到北的水路运输。结果，当唐代的宫廷和中央政府机构变得臃肿庞大时，其隋朝先辈们开凿的大运河不失时宜地把南方的大米运到了首都长安。长安位于黄河支流的渭河流域，是隋朝在与西汉首都长安毗邻的地方建立的。

    隋炀帝向北开挖的大运河支流，并未能使他征服朝鲜三国中最北部的高句丽。唐朝在新罗的帮助下，成功地于660年攻克百济，于668年攻克高句丽。新罗随后将唐朝军队逐出朝鲜，统一了整个朝鲜，并将其置于自己的统治之下。统一的朝鲜在名义上接受中国为宗主国。另一方面，政治统一也给朝鲜注入了新的活力，使之汉化，并使佛教得以发展。

    中国的重新统一晚于欧亚太平原上游牧民族的重新统一。552年，突厥建立了一个草原帝国，其规模与公元前2世纪匈奴建立的帝国相当（匈奴人和突厥人都讲突厥语方言）。突厥草原帝国于581年破裂，唐太宗于630年征服了东突厥。637年，汉族和畏兀儿人（也是一支讲突厥语的草原游牧民族）协力彻底摧毁了西突厥。尽管如此，此时的中国却不得不认真对付吐蕃，而且，阿拉伯人也已经走上了战争之路。

    607年，西藏获得了政治统一。在吸引西藏进入自己的文化轨道的竞争中。中国文明不如印度文明成功。然后，吐蕃与中国争夺对于塔里木盆地的控制。661－671年，阿拉伯吞并了吐火罗。所以，唐代就象西汉时一样，中国在陆上向印度和西南亚的推进受到了挑战和限制。然而，中国向西推进的短暂的军事行动再次打开了西方文化进入和影响中国的道路。中国的佛教徒仍然通过陆地或海洋与印度的佛教徒发生联系。琐罗亚斯德教大约于525年在中国取得了立脚点，有记载说聂斯脱利派基督教传教士于635年在长安传教，摩尼教似乎在7世纪结束之前就已传到了中国。哥士娄一世吞并吐火罗之举，肯定是促使萨珊波斯帝国境内的这3种主要宗教在几乎整个6世纪向东扩散的原因。此后，阿拉伯对萨珊帝国的征服，肯定进一步刺激了这种向东方的扩散，因为，毫无疑问，阿拉伯的征服引起了难民向东方的流动。

    隋代和唐代的皇帝们都醉心于佛教。也都容忍了其他的外来宗教。然而，儒家经典的复兴和儒家重新建立帝国行政机构的实际目标，却使得儒家逐渐掀起了一场反对所有的，包括佛教在内的外来宗教的运动。

    同时，在唐代初期，长安是旧大陆文明中心所有城市中最具有世界意义的城市。这方面，长安超过了同时代的君士坦丁堡。但是，初唐的中国视觉艺术和诗歌则是有中国特色的。彩陶图案生动地反映了日常生活。诗人李白（701－762年）与杜甫（712－770年）与倒霉的玄宗皇帝是同代人。唐帝国和中国文明，不仅为朝鲜，而且为更远的日本所赞赏和效仿。5世纪时，日本国向中国南方的一个王朝派遣了使者。607年以后，常有使者被派往长安。608年，隋朝的一位使臣陪同日本使团回国。646年，日本国政府引进的（至少在名义上）行政制度，包括向农民授田，都是对中国的效仿。710年，日本在奈良建立的都城，实际上是缩小了伪长安的翻版。日本和朝鲜效仿中国，显示了中国的威望。但是，8世纪中叶，中国遇到了一系列的灾难。751年，阿拉伯人在大宛北部即今天苏联中亚的塔拉斯河畔打败了中国人，其成为中国对塔里木盆地以西地区的军事行动和政治影响的终结。同一年，泰族国家南诏（在今天中国的云南省）击退了汉人的进攻。泰人和朝鲜人、日本人一样，模仿了唐朝的制度。这使他们得以建立国家，保存自己，甚至反对统一的中国，并可能最终采取攻势。这是一件怪事，因为在此以前，长江以南的蛮族表现得很容易为汉族人征服和同化。755年，出身于粟特突厥的将军安禄山发动了叛乱。这场叛乱直到763年才被平息，结果是人民和土地均遭到蹂躏。根据官方的统计数字，764年中国的人口比754年减少了三分之一。

    第五十四章 伊斯兰教世界

    （750－945年）

    750年的革命改变了伊斯兰教国家的性质。从633到750年，这个国家一直听任享有特权的穆斯林阿拉伯人占支配地位，他们统治了大量的非穆斯林臣民和为数不多但却不断增加的改宗伊斯兰教的非阿拉伯人。穆斯林阿拉伯人的”支配地位”现已被仍然是享有特权的少数派穆斯林的”支配地位”所取代。但是它已成为一个包括各个民族的穆斯林共同体。这一伊斯兰教共同体（乌玛）还有可能是普世性的。它可以进一步包括伊斯兰教国家的所有居民和整个人类。750年阿拉伯人”支配地位”的放弃在813年得到进一步的肯定。在这一年第五位阿拔斯哈里发哈伦?赖世德之子马蒙尽管已经继承了帝国的伊朗部分，但仍然出兵吞并了由其兄弟阿明继承的，居住着绝大多数阿拉伯居民的帝国的西部领土。

    对于伊斯兰教国家来说，结束伊斯兰教共同体与阿拉伯民族的同一性，其代价是将政府转变成萨珊波斯人的专制形式。阿拉伯人具有无政府主义的思维习惯，不仅阿拉伯的游牧部落是这样，而且在阿拉伯半岛的绿洲和在驻扎着占领者的阿拉伯部落民的各地兵站中定居的阿拉伯人也同样如此。希腊编年史家狄奥凡（写于约810－813年）把伊斯兰教国家的元首称作”议事会主席”。这一称呼准确地描述了最初4位哈里发的地位。他们的倭马亚继承人在与自己的同胞阿拉伯人的关系方面也并不是专制君主。他们的政治和军事力量依赖于阿拉伯人的支持。阿拉伯人派性极强，动辄发怒。他们必定受到了倭马亚家族的穆阿威叶及其继承人的调教和劝诱。阿拉伯人地位的下降，免除了对阿拔斯家族行使权威的约束。在非穆斯林面前，非阿拉伯穆斯林现在赢得了与阿拉伯人平等的地位，但他们并未继承随意对待政府的特权（阿拉伯人自己也失去了这一特权）。

    阿拉伯语并未随着阿拉伯人的地位而下降。在阿拔斯王朝统治之下，阿拉伯语继续是伊斯兰教国家的官方语言，当然也是阿拉伯诗歌的语言，虽然阿拉伯诗人和阿拉伯语法的学者现在并不一定都是具有阿拉伯血统的人。813至833年间担任哈里发的马蒙，依靠伊朗人的军事和政治支持，但他推动了将希腊哲学和科学著作翻译成阿拉伯语的工作。这些著作有些是从希腊文原文直接翻译的，有些是根据现有的从希腊文译成古叙利亚文的译本转译的。到7世纪末，伊斯兰教国家的非阿位伯人官员已必须要掌握两门语言。9世纪时的翻译家就是从这一阶层中产生的。这种传播的重要渠道之一即是位于美索不达米亚的城市哈兰。该城一直到9世纪还保存着一种希腊化形式的前基督教和前伊斯兰教的巴比伦宗教。另一渠道是位于胡齐斯坦（古埃兰）的容迪沙普尔，它是由萨珊王朝皇帝沙普尔一世建造，用来囚禁他从叙利亚抓来的俘虏的。它后来成为一个聂斯脱利派的医学院的所在地。

    大量的从希腊语和古叙利亚语翻译成阿拉伯语的著作表明，当时已有一批思想上十分活跃的阿拉伯语读者。这种新生的阿拉伯文化的中心是巴格达，它位于底格里斯河的西岸，距萨珊波斯帝国及其先驱安息阿萨息斯王朝的前都城泰西封很近。巴格达作为阿拔斯哈里发帝国的首都始建于762年。与一个半世纪之前的长安一样，巴格达也变成了一座世界性的城市。通过9世纪在巴格达城思想和智力的发酵，阿拉伯语进一涉精练优雅，从而有资格成为从乌浒河－药杀水流域，到大西洋的整个伊斯兰世界的文化混合语。

    阿拉伯语还开始取代当时在伊斯兰帝国流行的其他一些语言而成为日常生活的用语。在这方面，阿拉伯语未能挤走波斯语。波斯人保留了他们的古代语言，尽管他们采用阿拉伯字母来书写这种语言并用阿拉伯语外来词来丰富他们的语汇。这种新波斯语（法斯语）后成为一种伟大文学的表达工具。阿拉伯语代替其姐妹语–闪米特语中的古叙利亚语要更容易一些，到阿拉伯人征服时，古叙利亚语已成为新月沃地所有农民的母语。阿拉伯语还逐渐传播到埃及，取代了科普特语，并且更为迅速地传播到西北非，取代了各种柏柏尔语言。柏柏尔人的文化较落后，他们很容易就接受了阿拉伯语和伊斯兰教。但是，在本章涉及的整个时期，新月沃地和埃及的农民却仍然忠诚于基督教。在这一时期，他们很少采用阿拉伯语。

    9世纪伊斯兰社会中的思想骚动，受到了要为伊斯兰教配置精神机构这种需要的刺激。伊斯兰教帝国中的非穆斯林臣民已经具有这类机构。伊斯兰教显然需要能够让伊斯兰社团在一个庞大帝国足以保持统治地位的法律和神学体系，而这个帝国又包容着若干古代成熟文明的故乡。使阿拉伯人成为”有经人”的渴望，一直是穆罕默德的动机之一。

    伊斯兰教律法必须要建立在穆罕默德的教导之上，但原始材料并不充分。《古兰经》由许多条精神上的训诫组成，这些训诫又与作为麦地即伊斯兰教社团政治首脑的穆罕默德发布的专门性行政规定混杂在一起。《古兰经》中的法律材料必须要挑选出来，然后再把有关穆罕默德言论的传统报道补充进去。这些报道必须要经过证实。此后仍然存在的空缺部分，则必须要由类比推理和引用地方上的习惯法来填补。这种习惯法在前罗马帝国的疆域内可能就意味着是罗马法的地方版本。在750至900年之间，圣训传说分门别类被汇编成集，伊斯兰教律法的四大学派正式确立。对于与什叶派（即阿里家族的同党或追随者）穆斯林相区别的逊尼派（正统派）穆斯林来说，所有四大教法学派最终都被认为是有效的。当地的穆斯林社团可以自由地选择服从它喜爱的任何学派。

    伊斯兰教神学受到了基督教的影响，这部分是因为已经存在着一个精心论证的基督教神学，部分是因为对上帝独一性和统一性的信仰已使两个宗教都产生了同样的问题。认为《古兰经》是受造而非自存的教义，是阿里乌派关于基督教三位一体中的第一和第二位关系的概念在伊斯兰教中的翻版，这一教义于827年被哈里发马蒙确立，随后又在847年被哈里发穆塔瓦吉尔废除。在颁布这些神学通告时，这两位哈里发滥用了权力，因为哈里发只是穆罕默德在政治领域的继承人而已。在神学领域由穆斯林公开讨论的问题，就同犹太人一样，应当由律法专家们的一致意见来决定。纯粹的一神论犹太教和伊斯兰教，不需要用希腊哲学的语言起草的信经。但是，穆斯林通过翻译接触到希腊哲学，促使一系列穆斯林思想家将希腊哲学与伊斯兰教融合在一起。在945年以前的100年中，相继出现了巴士拉的哲学家金迪（死于873年）和具有突厥血统的穆斯林哲学家法拉比（死于950年）。

    750年的革命标志着伊斯兰教帝国扩张时期的终结，同时也是其分裂时期的开端。尽管阿拉伯人是伊斯兰教国家享有特权的主人，但他们仍常常陷入内战之中。考虑到这一事实，人们不能不为这一事实感到惊奇：他们不仅设法创造和保持了他们庞大的征服对象，而且直到倭马亚政权倒台之前还进一步将其予以扩大。阿拔斯家族未能成功地继承伊斯兰帝国的全部版图。756年倭马亚家族一位幸存的流亡者赢得了伊比里亚半岛逊尼派穆斯林社团的效忠。在757至786年之间、有3个哈瓦立及派的国家建立于阿尔及利亚和阿特拉斯山脉南部一侧的柏柏尔人地区。（哈瓦利及派即”分裂派”，是因阿里与穆阿威叶妥协而与阿里分裂的一派。）788年一个阿里派小王国建立于摩洛哥。800年建立于伊夫里奎亚（突尼斯）的逊尼派阿拉伯人的艾格莱卜王朝仅在名义上效忠于阿拔斯家族，它于909年被一支柏柏尔人部落支持的”法蒂玛”王朝所取代。法蒂玛王朝否认阿拔斯家属的合法性，企图将整个伊斯兰教世界都置于自己的统治之下。

    对于阿拔斯家族来说，在他们统治下的伊朗地区，宗教和政治的反叛更为严重，而伊朗一直是他们权力的源泉。伊朗人因为在精神上对萨珊帝国的琐罗亚斯德教的教会感到不满，才接受了摩尼教及其分支玛兹达教。阿里家族的代理人阿布?穆斯里姆曾发动推翻倭马亚王朝的起义，他在伊朗唤起了人们的期望：继之而来的将是一个同宗的什叶派穆斯林的，或许甚至是一个玛兹达教派的或琐罗亚斯德教的政权。在749年阿拔斯人抢占哈里发职位之时，在754年第二位阿拔斯哈里发曼苏尔（754－775年在位）处死帮助阿拔斯人夺取王位的阿布?穆斯里姆之时，伊朗人极度不满，民怨沸腾，爆发了一连串的起义。术士辛巴德领导了755／756年的起义，乌斯塔德西斯领导了766－768年的起义。”蒙面先知”穆卡那领导了777－783／784年的起义。实际上在阿拔斯时代，非伊斯兰的宗教和非正统形式的伊斯兰教遍布于伊朗和伊拉克。

    一个穆斯林要成为神秘主义者，既诱人又危险。922年哈拉智因宣称自己与真主合一而被处以死刑。玛兹达教徒巴贝克领导的起义在伊朗西部从816年坚持到838年。从869年到883年在底格里斯－幼发拉底河下游流域垦荒的黑人奴隶参加了哈瓦立及派领导的起义。伊朗位于厄尔布尔士山脉和里海南岸之间的地区一直未被阿拉伯人征服，但它最终也皈依了伊斯兰教，不过不是逊尼派伊斯兰教而是什叶派中的裁德派。从864至928年，这一地区在裁德什叶派统治之下。自932年开始，布瓦希德人横行于伊朗西部，他们属于什叶派中与裁德派不同的另一支教派，起源于里海沿岸独立地带的西北角。945年他们占领了巴格达，将阿披斯王朝的哈里发变成了他们的傀儡。

    自从哈里发穆阿台绥姆执政（833－842年）以来，阿拔斯人已经成了他们自己的突厥奴隶卫队的傀儡。这些人是最初将阿拔斯王朝推上王位的伊朗呼罗珊人的继承者。（虽然突厥人的草原帝国已于581年分裂，并在630－637年灭亡，突厥人还是生存下来，许多突厥人部落继续占据着大部分欧亚平原。）阿拔斯哈里发的突厥奴隶卫队，至少已在名义上皈依了逊尼派伊斯兰教。从874至995年统治托卡里斯坦、乌浒河－药杀水流域和呼罗珊的伊朗萨曼人就是改宗逊尼派伊斯兰教的琐罗亚斯德教徒的后裔。他们与西北非的艾格莱卜人一样小心谨慎地在口头上归顺于阿拔斯哈里发名义上的统治权。945年巴格达城被什叶派的伊朗布瓦希德人攻占，暴露了阿拔斯人对逊尼派穆斯林社会的统治权纯属是沙上之塔。

    这种虚构的统治权事实上早在929年就已经站不住脚了。在这一年倭马亚王朝流亡在伊比利亚半岛那一支的当政代表阿卜杜勒?拉赫曼三世自称”哈里发”。这样一来逊尼派伊斯兰教社会的版图便发生分裂，分别统治两地的统治者都声称自己是穆罕默德合法的政治继承人。因此到这一时期，其臣民中包括逊尼派穆斯林社团的统一的伊斯兰教国家已不复存在，更不用说还存在着许多与正统派伊斯兰教分道扬镳的政治上独立的小国。

    在750至945年之间，除了一次例外，穆斯林唯一的胜利是由西方的穆斯林政府或私人冒险家所取得的。在陆地上，流亡于伊比利亚半岛的倭马亚王国不断缩小。到803年，它不仅失去了比利牛斯山脉北部的最后一批据点，而且还丢失了南部的加泰罗尼亚。但是，在826或827年，被驱逐出倭马亚西班牙的穆斯林反叛者征服了东罗马帝国的克里特岛。827－902年艾格莱卜人从东罗马帝国手中征服了整个西西里岛，后者在该岛仅剩下一个据点。9世纪查里曼帝国的解体使得西西里和西班牙的穆斯林有机会从海上进攻意大利。他们占领了阿尔卑斯山的许多关隘，并几乎成功地从西部基督教世界的外阿尔卑斯山地区袭击了意大利。868－876年当东罗马帝国进行干预时，他们几乎已经经阿普利亚和达尔马提亚抵达保加利亚。

    751年，即阿拔斯人推翻倭马亚王朝的第二年。阿拔斯人在塔拉斯河对中国人取得了一次历史性的胜利。如果中国人打赢这一仗，他们很可能会使中国和佛教重新占据乌浒河－药杀水流域。如果这样的话，一位于巴尔赫的佛教”新寺院”世袭住持的后裔们，也就不会成为管理阿拔斯帝国达40年（直到803年为止）之久的”巴尔马克家族”了。”如果穆斯林在751年战败，那么这些野心勃勃的托卡里斯坦人也绝不会皈依伊斯兰教。我们可以猜测，在中国755－763年的大动乱之后，为了在重整中国唐王朝的财政中发挥领导作用，他们很可能会从琐罗亚斯德教重新皈依佛教。

    实际上，伊斯兰教在中亚并未退缩，相反它得到了进一步传播。在阿拔斯哈里发穆克塔迪尔统治期间（908－932年），尽管阿拔斯王朝在政治上已衰落到最低点，但一支生活在欧亚大平原深处伏尔加河和卡马河汇合处地区的讲突厥语的民族–伏尔加河畔的保加尔人，仍请求穆克塔迪尔向他们派遣一队传教士。这些保加尔人当时肯定已皈依了伊斯兰教。这批传教士于922年到达了他们的首都保尔加。960年，当时占据大宛北部一带草原（751年阿拔斯人曾迫使中国人撤离这一地区）的葛逻禄（”雪人”）突厥人，改信他们在河间地带的邻居所信奉的逊尼派伊斯兰教。这些邻居已不再是阿拔斯人；他们基本上是独立的萨曼人。葛逻禄人扩张到了塔里木盆地，并随身带来了伊斯兰教。因此，尽管曾经统一的伊斯兰教国家．四分五裂，而伊斯兰教本身却在统一的伊斯兰教国家力量鼎盛时期的疆域之外赢得了皈依者。

    第五十五章 拜占庭文明

    （726－927／928年）

    在674－678年和717－718年阿拉伯人对君士坦丁堡两次围攻中幸存下来的东罗马帝国，比其南部邻邦伊斯兰教帝国和查理大帝（768－814年在位）建立起来的法兰克帝国都要小。在9世纪解体之前，加洛林帝国一直是东罗马帝国的西北邻邦。因而，在719至925年期间，东罗马帝国政府的外交政策一直很谨慎。788年，伊林娜女皇支持一位伦巴第人对帕维亚王位提出要求，企图将法兰克人驱逐出伦巴第。这次不成功的尝试只能算是一次毫无特色的冒险。

    在这一时期，东罗马政府一般只致力于追求两个目标：保持它仍然占有的领土，尽可能多地将它从保加利亚的侵犯下解救出来的”斯拉维尼亚”与巴尔干半岛的腹地相连。在这一时期与保加利亚争夺巴尔干半岛腹地的战争，是对东罗马政府军事资源的第一次消耗。在826年或827年穆斯林征服克里特岛之后，东罗马政府一次又一次试图恢复该岛；由于穆斯林在干地亚的要塞控制了爱琴海海域，因而它成了刺向帝国心脏的一把匕首。东罗马政府还顽强地（虽然并不成功）抵抗了伊夫里奎亚穆斯林对西两里岛的征服（827－902年）。当西西里的穆斯林占领阿普利亚并围攻位于亚德里亚海岸的拉古萨，东罗马皇帝巴西尔一世（867－886年在位）在868－876年进行了强有力的干预，并将阿普利亚并入了东罗马帝国。

    这样做并未背离保持守势的外交政策。在失去了西西里岛之后，东罗马帝国需要找到另一个屏障来防止西北非和西西里的穆斯林与亚德里亚海对岸的保加尔人联合起来。在863年消灭了马拉蒂亚的埃米尔深入到小亚细亚东北部的远征军之后，东罗马仍然保持了谨慎的政策。这次事件成为托罗斯和安蒂托罗斯山脉一线东罗马－阿拉伯前线的转折点。但东罗马人过了63年才于926年发起反攻。在此期间他们在小亚细亚唯一的攻击行为是袭击非正统的保罗派基督教徒，后者在马拉蒂亚穆斯林的支持下已在东罗马帝国东北边疆的迪夫里伊建立了一个据点。东罗马人与保罗派的战争从约843年持续到约878年。

    在罗马与保加利亚的战争更为激烈。皇帝君士坦丁五世在21年的战争（755－775年）中未能消灭保加利亚。紧接着这次较量之后，两国在9世纪时又为争夺斯拉维尼亚的控制权展开竞争。在804－805或805－806年，帝国制服了伯罗奔尼撤半岛上的大部分斯拉夫人。809年，保加利亚摧毁了帝国西北部的要塞塞迪卡。皇帝尼斯福鲁斯一世（802－811年在位）在爱琴海和亚德里亚海之间安置了亚洲希腊人和突厥人移民，企图以此来阻挡保加利亚人前进，但他在一次军事失利中丧生。当904年边界确定之后，环绕塞萨洛尼基腹地的边界离东罗马帝国这一十分重要的城市只有22公里。

    从726年到843年，东罗马帝国因一场激烈的内部冲突而陷于瘫痪。冲突起因于在基督教会内是否陈列和膜拜圣像。这种做法违反了基督教从犹太教继承来的十诚的第二条；它使得基督教徒成为犹太教和穆斯林攻击的现成目标。但这一习俗几乎是与基督教会非犹太人的分支同时形成的，因此如果要放弃这一做法，基督教就很难赢得非犹太人的改宗者。

    倭马亚哈里发耶齐德二世（720－724年在位）据说曾下令销毁境内基督教会和公共场所中陈列的圣像。但并不清楚耶齐德的行动是否与东罗马皇帝利奥一世出于相同的考虑，利奥一世在726年也颁布了具有同样效果的敕令。利奥的行动满足了驻扎在小亚细亚的军队的要求，但却遭到了罗马教廷教会臣民的强烈反对。罗马教廷的辖区当时包括基克拉泽斯群岛、克里特岛和希腊内陆说希腊语的基督教居民的飞地。大约在732－733年，东罗马帝国政府回击了这次反抗，它把罗马教廷所有的说希腊语的教会臣民都转给君士坦丁堡教廷管辖。

    843年，东罗马帝国的内部冲突以有利于圣像崇拜者的妥协而结束。各方一致同意三维（立体）圣像应该继续受到禁止，而两维（平面）圣像则应被认可，不过不能把圣像本身当成崇拜的对象，而应把它们看成是它们所代表的人物–人、天使或神–的象征。东罗马帝国内的这次要协消除了致使君士坦丁堡教区与罗马教区产生不和的根源。教皇的教会臣民并不是毫无异议地支持教皇的立场。787年，东罗马帝国的圣像崇拜者在尼西亚召开的第七次普世会议上赢得了一次重大胜利。这次普世会议的决议虽被教皇批准，但在794年却遭到在法兰克福召开的加洛林帝国主教会议的谴责。按照道理，君士坦丁堡主教应在787年和843年将732－733年左右移交的教区归还给罗马。但实际上两次都未能归还。

    东正教世界内部冲突结束之后，出现了一次文化复兴。这次文化复兴的推动人物是佛提乌（858－867年和877－886年的君士坦丁堡主教）。而拜占庭文化的传播和扩大则得益于塞萨洛尼基的两位学者兼传教士君士坦丁－西里尔和其兄美多迪乌斯的努力。君士坦丁第一次传教就前往哈扎尔人之中，哈扎尔人讲突厥语、曾臣属于已经灭亡的突厥草原帝国，他们在欧亚平原的西端创造了自从公元前3世纪西徐亚帝国崩溃后这一地区最文明的帝国。哈扎尔人很早就与东罗马帝国结盟对抗波斯人和阿拉伯人。860年，即在君士坦丁－西里尔向哈扎尔人传教的同年，这一联盟又面临着新的共同敌人瑞典人。860年，一支瑞典人的海盗舰队从俄国来到东罗马帝国，差一点就占领了君士坦丁堡。不过君士坦丁－西里尔向哈扎尔人的传教并不成功。到860年哈扎尔的哈强克家族已经十分坚定地信奉了犹太教（哈扎尔人信奉犹太教可以免除一些政治纠纷，而无论采用东罗马帝国还是伊斯兰哈里发帝国的国教，都可能会陷入这些纠纷）。但在863年，应斯拉夫人大摩拉维亚公国（今捷克斯洛伐克和匈牙利）统治者的邀请，君士坦丁－西里尔和美多迪乌斯来到了这一距离较远的斯拉夫语系国家，并且带去了格拉哥里字母表。这一字母表是由君士坦丁－西里尔发明的。用来表达定居在塞萨洛尼基内地斯拉夫人的方言。

    大摩拉维亚位于西伊利里亚的北部。这一地区无争议地属于罗马教廷主教区。君士坦丁－西里尔和美多迪乌斯与2个世纪前塔尔苏斯的狄奥多尔一样忠诚于教皇。教皇批准了他们的著作，但却遭到法兰克教会的反对，法兰克教会从政治上将这一著作解释为东罗马帝国对法兰克帝国势力范围的一种侵犯。法兰克帝国当时正趋于解体，但法兰克教会却依然存在。就象在794年一样，这时的法兰克教会推行的政策与罗马教廷的政策相抵牾。855年，法兰克教会成功地摧毁了斯拉夫语系的摩拉维亚传教团。传教团内幸存的教士（君士坦丁－西里尔死宁869年，美多迪乌斯死于885年）成了流亡者，其中有些人到达保加利亚。他们在保加利亚发现了一块新的传教区。在这里传教一定会结出硕果，因为他们在这里受到了欢迎。

    在东罗马和阿拉伯人在小亚细亚的边界战争于863年发生重大转折之后，864年保加利亚改宗了东正教基督教。870年，保加利亚的沙皇鲍里斯－米哈伊尔发现效忠于罗马教廷更不利于保加利亚的政治独立，便坚定了他对君士坦丁堡教廷的效忠。既然君士坦丁堡主教是东罗马帝国的政治臣民，那承认该主教在教会的至上权可以被看成是默认帝国的政治宗主权。885年，鲍里斯接纳了流亡的说斯拉夫语的教士，从而无需窝藏说希腊语或拉丁语的外国教士便可建立起一个保加利亚的民族教会。

    在斯拉夫语成为保加利亚的民族语言之后，保加利亚向西南部的扩张，加强了处在以前曾说突厥语的保加利亚国创建者统治之下的斯拉夫语居民在政治较量中的力量。885年之后，保加利亚发明了一种新的更简单的字母（它被错误地说成是”西里尔字母表”）来代替君士坦丁－西里尔本人发明的格拉哥里字母。保加利亚人以及所有后来改宗东正教的斯拉夫人和一部分在达尔马提亚群岛改宗罗马基督教的斯拉夫人都以塞萨洛尼基内陆地区所说的斯拉夫方言作为宗教礼仪用语。

    保加利亚的改宗使君士坦丁堡与罗马的关系一度紧张。保加利亚的中心地区处在君士坦丁堡主教区的范围内，但保加利亚在809年之后扩张的领土却位于有争议的东伊利里亚地区。但是，大摩拉维亚讲斯拉夫语的教士在885年到达保加利亚，最终确定了保加利亚信奉卡尔西顿基督教的东正教形式。

    863年的确是非同寻常的一年。在这一年，东罗马皇帝迈克尔三世消灭了马拉提亚埃米尔的远征军，君士坦丁－西里尔和美多迪乌斯到达大摩拉维亚；也正是在这一年君士坦丁大学重新恢复。鲍里斯沙皇的次子和第二位继承人汗西米恩沙皇曾就学于君士坦丁堡，他深深迷恋着拜占庭的希腊文化；913年，当帝国的皇冠由一个毛孩子君士坦丁七世波菲罗格尼图斯继承时，西米恩计划将东罗马帝国与保加利亚统一起来，并作为比君士坦丁七世年长的两位国王之一而抢夺帝国的王位。西米恩的计划出了差错。东罗马舰队的海军司令罗曼努斯一世莱卡帕努斯抢在了他的前面。在从913年开始直到927年西米恩去世为止的一场战争中，西米恩证明自己无法用武力强行实现自己的意志。西米恩没有海军，也未能获得穆斯林海军的配合。因此，小亚细亚始终处在他的势力范围之外，他既不能困死又不能利用风暴占领君士坦丁堡及东罗马帝国在东南欧领土上其他一些有城墙的沿海城市。在西米恩死后，罗曼努斯一世与西米恩的继承人彼得订立了和约。他宣布彼得是皇帝，并且是他的大主教之一，同时还将孙女玛丽亚嫁给彼得作皇后（陪嫁一笔年金）。926年，罗曼努斯一世率领东罗马向东方穆斯林发动了拖延多时的反攻。927－928年异常寒冷的冬天使东罗马帝国内部农民、大地主与帝国政府间的力量失衡。对于拜占庭世界来说，926－929年的事件与860－864年的事件具有同样重大的意义。

    第五十六章 西方基督教世界

    （756-911年）

    公元756年，加洛林王朝统治下的法兰克王国，前途显得颇为乐观。统治者丕平三世代替了已被废黜的墨洛温王朝的最后一个君主，被承认为合法的法兰克国王。756年即在他统治的第二年，丕平成功地侵占了伦巴第，强迫伦巴第王接受了他的和平条款。伊比利亚半岛上的伊斯兰属地，在同一年成为一个独立的地方王国，而在此前，直到750年它还是从大西洋沿伸到乌浒河－药杀水流域的幅员广阔的伊斯兰帝国的一部分。这个王国由倭马亚王朝的流亡成员进行统治，该王朝是在747－750年被占据现今已经分裂的伊斯兰帝国其余地区的阿拔斯王朝推翻的。丕平的儿子查理二世和卡洛曼二世在768年继承了丕平的王位，771年卡洛曼过早去世，查理（即查理曼）成为唯一的国王，大权

    在773－774年，查理曼吞并了伦巴第王国，随之拥有了法兰克国王和伦巴第国王的双重头衔。作为”罗马人的贵族”，他又在事实上吞并了他和他的父亲正式为教皇保留或收复的前东罗马帝国在意大利的领土。教皇缺乏必要的权力对拉韦纳周围前东罗马的领土进行有效的控制，虽然他对这片地区的统治权是由法兰克人而不是由东罗马帝国政府给予的。作为要求法兰克人帮助收复拉韦纳地区（教皇从未对它进行过统治）的结果，教室现在甚至又把自568年以来历代教皇为了东罗马帝国政府的利益实际行使着的对迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯的统治权交给了法兰克人。当时，由于伦巴德人的入侵，东罗马帝国在意大利的领土分裂成许多彼此孤立的地区。

    北意大利人接受了773－774年北意大利和高卢的政治联盟。伦巴德人本来就是法兰克人的近支，在公元7世纪，他们也放弃了阿里乌教派而改信天主教，成为与法兰克人同教派的人。伦巴德人从前属于罗马的臣民也和法兰克人在高卢地区前属罗马的臣民是近支，而且，在这两个地区，占人口大多数的从前的被征服者也和从前的征服者联合起来。在法兰克的北部边疆，仍然是异教徒的撒克逊人更加激烈地反对法兰克人的征服，虽然撒克逊人和伦巴德人一样，也是法兰克人的近支。这场战争的发展就和查士丁尼一世对东哥特人的战争一样，查理曼用了32年（772－804年）的时间，才征服了大陆上的撒克逊人。战争初期取得了虚幻的迅速前轻易的胜利，但本久就遭到了猛烈的反击，法兰克人损失惨重。在778年，即撒克逊人第一次反击的那年，查理曼又轻率地在西班牙开辟了第二战场。当他从西班牙撤退以对付撒克逊人时，由罗兰（法兰克对付布列塔尼的边区总督）率领的后卫队被巴斯克人歼灭了。巴斯克人和布列塔尼人（不堪忍受盎格鲁－撒克逊人征服不列颠的流亡者）都是小民族，但他们很难对付。法兰克人的邻居，居住在匈牙利境内飞地的草原国家的阿瓦尔人，也是从前属于土耳其游牧领主的一群逃亡者。查理曼在保加利亚人的帮助下，于791－805年间消灭了匈牙利大平原上的阿瓦尔人。在这4个不同地区的战争始终对查理曼的资源造成了难以承受的累积的压力。查理曼的后代，就象查士丁尼一世的后代一样，为这野心勃勃的领土扩张政策付出了沉重的代价。

    查理曼为了征服莱茵河与易北河之间的地区于772年发动了战争，这距离奥古斯都大帝实施同一件伟业已有784年，离他放弃这一计划也有758年。查理曼成就了奥古斯都的未竟之业。他强迫撒克逊人改信罗马天主教，以强化对他们的征服。大陆上的撒克逊人皈依西方基督教以后没有出现反复。但是，在征服一个蛮族邻居的同时，查理曼招致了另一个邻居的反抗。当查理曼把复兴的和扩大的罗马帝国的北部边界很进到丹麦的南部边界时，丹麦人对帝国沿海地区实施海上攻击，进行报复。这就是下一章将要论及的斯堪的纳维亚人掘起的开端。

    公元800年，在罗马的圣彼得大教堂，教皇利奥三世为查理曼加冕，称之为”罗马人的皇帝”。我们不知道利奥三世这样做是否是由于查理曼的提醒和要求，但毫无疑问，查理曼得到帝国皇帝的称号在外交上则是必要的。只要他一日没有被君士坦丁堡的罗马皇帝（他对这个头衔的权利是不可置疑的）承认为皇帝。他的威信就一日处于危险之中。君士坦丁政府以承认查理曼为筹码，以对东罗马帝国有利的条件全面解决了长期悬而未决的领土争端。有关的谈判在811－812年间进行，在查理曼死后的814年得到批准。

    恢复已灭亡的西罗马帝国的名字，要比恢复它的实体容易得多。查理曼缺乏足够的受过教育、经验丰富的人员供他支配，以管理他吞并的广大地区。只要帝国是在一个强有力的、受人尊重的统治者的完整的统治之下，他的巡回检查官制度就使他能对他的地方行政官员保持一些控制。查理曼还从诺森伯里亚聘请了天才的阿尔昆做他的教会和文化顾问。查理曼本人还有一个优势，即他是他的能干的父亲丕平三世和祖父查理?马特尔的继承者。他的兄弟卡洛曼的早夭，在政治上对他来说也是有利的。但是查理曼的儿子和继承者”虔诚者”路易控制不住局势。加洛林人也继承了墨洛温人政治上灾难性的行动，他们把法兰克王国当作私有财产，在相互敌对的后嗣之间进行分配。843年，虔诚者路易的三个儿子瓜分了加洛林帝国，胖子查理（881－888年在位）时期的重新统一也终无成效。在西法兰克，即法兰西，加洛林王朝一直存在到987年，但是加洛林人的这些后继者也和墨洛温王朝的懒王们同样无能。

    在9世纪结束之前，过去受到查理曼的巡回检察官监督的地方行政官员，已成为事实上独立的世袭的统治者，教皇也重新成为迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯事实上的统治者。无论地方统治者还是徒有虚名的加洛林封建领主们都无法对付连查理曼也为之头痛的斯堪的纳维亚人的海上袭击。到9世纪，斯堪的纳维亚海盗和西班牙、西北非洲的海盗一起进攻已经分崩离析的加洛林帝国的地中海沿岸地区。在846年和849年，非洲穆斯林入侵者渡海发动了进攻，差一点和455年的汪达尔人一样，占领罗马。罗马本来是加洛林帝国的一部分，在843年被分给名义上的皇帝洛泰尔一世。但是是教基利奥四世。而不是洛泰，在849年加强了台伯河右岸教区（圣彼得大教堂就在其中）的防御，从而拯救了罗马。

    896年以后，在斯堪的纳维亚海盗和西方穆斯林海盗继续海上进攻的同时，马札尔骑兵也从陆上进攻。（欧亚混血的马札尔游牧民族被更加凶悍的佩切涅格人赶往西方，于896年定居在已经灭亡的前居住于今日匈牙利境内飞地草原国家的阿瓦尔人所遗留下来的空旷地区。）

    9世纪和10世纪野蛮人的入侵，要比5－6世纪的入侵对西方基督教世界造成的灾难更为深重。查理曼恢复西罗马帝国的努力似乎起了反作用。然而，从内部看来已破烂不堪的西欧社会，在降临于斯的野蛮人眼中却又一次极富吸引力。在911年，西法兰克的加洛林王”傻瓜”查理被迫默许一批斯堪的纳维亚海盗在今日的诺曼底永久居住，条件是他们皈依基督教。显然，查理曼所从事的文化事业比他建立帝国的伟大事业更为成功。诺曼人强行进入了西欧，但他们又成为西欧文明的俘虏。他们把加洛林国家的这块土地据为已有，却又满怀热慎地接受了这块土地上的语言、生活方式、风俗习惯和宗教。

    910年，即斯堪的纳维亚人在诺曼底定居的前一年，加洛林人的一个后代在勃艮第的克吕尼建立了一个修道院。勃艮第过去就是早期基督教世界相互联系的地理交汇点，而且，早在3个世纪前，圣?科伦巴就在勃艮第的吕克瑟伊建立了爱尔兰修道院。诺曼底和克吕尼的修道院并未能很快开花结果。对于西方基督教世界来说，这标志着时代的转折，但在修道院建立之初，这一点是很难断定的。10世纪上半叶，西方基督教世界处于最低潮。在随后的100年中，诺曼人和克吕尼人表明，西方基督教世界正从查理曼早熟的野心勃勃的政策所带来的重压下摆脱出来走向复兴。

    第五十七章 斯堪的纳维亚人的崛起（793－1000年）

    斯堪的纳维亚人在公元793年以后的崛起和633年以后阿拉伯人的崛起一样地突然、猛烈和出人意外。而且，象阿拉伯人的崛起一样，斯堪的纳维亚人的崛起也有明确的原因。直接的原因是爆发于蛮族变动不定的边界之外的一场大规模战争，它又一次使交战国筋疲力竭，也又一次使它们成为令人艳羡的猎物。与此同时，根本的原因则是长期以来野蛮和文明相互作用的刺激。

    斯堪的纳维亚在冰河时代末期就有人类居住。旧石器时代初期的狩猎者，随着冰盖的后退而前进，最后在斯堪的纳维亚地区定居下来。在公元前三千纪结束之前，农业革命西北方向的先躯者们就已开始在丹麦和瑞典南部的肥沃土地上进行耕作。这样，到维金人崛起的时候，农业人口至少已在斯堪的纳维亚南部定居了3000年。尽管他们在公元前的最后2个世纪不断地从斯堪的纳维亚向南迁移，他们此次的崛起，也和793－1066年的崛起一样，只不过是斯堪的纳维亚历史中的一个偶然插曲。同时，南方的先进文化分成几个阶段进入斯堪的纳维亚，对其所产生的影响也是潜移默化的。斯堪的纳维亚各民族与南方文明关系的盛衰，对其人民心理上的影响也是不确定的；查理曼对大陆撒克逊人的征服更使这种状况陷于危机。这次崛起密切了西方基督教世界的北部边疆与斯堪的纳维亚的联系。

    虽然奥古斯都大帝在公元14年放弃了把罗马帝国的边疆推进到易北河畔的努力，在公元后的最初3个世纪中，希腊－罗马文明仍然生机勃勃地在斯堪的纳维亚传播。这种文化联系由于5世纪东日耳曼人和法兰克人的民族大迁徙，以及西罗马帝国的被推翻而一度中断。由于撒克逊人的介入，斯堪的纳维亚与外界隔绝，后来又托庇于自称为西罗马帝国后嗣的基督教日耳曼国家的保护。撒克逊人被法兰克人征服并被迫改宗基督教以后，斯堪的纳维亚人猛然发现他们又和南方文明有了联系，而且联系得比以前更为密切。查理曼在斯堪的纳维亚人心目中的形象可由下面一件事表现出来：在斯堪的纳维亚，马格努斯是作为人名普遍使用，而不是作为一项头衔。

    斯堪的纳维亚人对这段动荡历史的反应是进攻性的，他们的进攻包括了大片地区。在880年，瑞典侵略者渡过波罗的海，泛舟涅瓦河，商定了水陆联运的分界线，又沿伏尔加河顺流直下，最后到达里海东南角的阿巴斯昆。在西北方向，从987年到1025年，斯堪的纳维亚人在北美大陆的东北部海岸建立了几个居民点。他们从格陵兰到达他们所称之为”文兰”的地方。他们又自冰岛渡海而过，于985至986年占据了格陵兰的西部沿海。自874年以来，冰岛上也一直有挪威人居住。居住在格陵兰和文兰的斯堪的纳维亚人是迄今已知的从旧大陆渡过大西洋到达美洲的最早的人类。

    维金时代的斯堪的纳维亚海盗各有不同的命运。有些海盗始终没有定居。这些海盗对他们的受害者的影响是消极的。但是海盗自己也受到他们的冒险经历和他们掠夺回家的战利品的经济和文化价值观念的影响。海盗的最早的受害者是建在加洛林帝国和不列颠沿海岛屿上的基督教修道院。（例如，林迪斯芳修道院和艾欧纳修道院就分别于893年和895年遭到洗劫。）有些海盗在西方基督教世界定居，作为对他们改变信仰的回报。我们已提及911年他们在诺曼底的定居。实际上早在878年，经过阿尔弗烈德国王的协商，斯堪的纳维亚人就在英格兰的”丹麦法”施行区居住。有些斯堪的纳维亚人先是毫无理由地强行在爱尔兰沿海居住，但最后他们也都改信了基督教。其他斯堪的纳维亚人也在已经有了人类居住、但当地居民仍是异教徒的地区居住下来。这一部分人中最重要的居住者就是罗斯人，俄罗斯就是由他们而得名。他们在语言上被他们讲斯拉夫语的臣民同化了，在他们东罗马的牺牲者的影响下也改信了东正教。最后还有一部分人在过去无人居住的地方居住-一例如格陵兰。在冰岛，在斯堪的纳维亚人以前就有爱尔兰基督教修道士居住。在文兰他们与一个土著民族相遇，或许是被强迫驱赶了出来。

    在旧大陆，维金人手下的基督教徒和穆斯林人手下的受害者，在军事上无法和他们的进攻者相比。英勇的、多才多艺的阿尔弗烈德国王被迫以一定条件允许侵略者居住，33年后”傻子”查理接受了这些条件。基督教的政策就是使斯堪的纳维亚人皈依基督教从而驯服他们，基督教传教士在这方面的工作也是迅速的、勇敢的和锐意进取的。历史上记录下来的维金人侵袭加洛林帝国沿海的最早日期是799年。问鼎丹麦王位的哈拉尔国王于826年在英格尔海姆”虔诚者”路易的宫中领受了洗礼，又把一位法兰克传教士圣?安斯加尔带回国。圣?安斯加尔在丹麦工作了2年多，直到他的保护人哈拉尔国王被驱逐。然后他又去瑞典传道2年。831年在汉堡建立了一个由圣?安斯加尔任主教的大主教辖区。汉堡在845年遭到维金人的洗劫，大主教所在地迁移到不来梅。汉堡－不来梅大主教把整个斯堪的纳维亚作为自己的主教辖区。

    东罗马教会的反攻和法兰克人同样冒险。860年罗斯人进攻君士坦丁堡，其结果只是于867年在第聂伯河边的乌克兰罗斯人的作战基地基辅设立了一个东正教的主教，874年又设立了一个大主教。957年，基辅的统治者奥尔加大公夫人去君士坦丁堡访问了东罗马皇帝君士坦丁七世波菲罗格尼图斯，她可能已经在基辅受过洗礼。她的儿子斯维亚托斯拉夫放弃了这个新宗教，但是基辅的基督教团体仍然保存了下来。斯维亚托斯拉夫的儿子弗拉基米尔于989年皈依了东正教。作为奖赏，他迎娶了巴西尔二世的妹妹安娜作为妻子。

    丹麦国王哈拉尔?哥尔姆侵占了撒克逊皇帝奥托二世的领土，他以奥托给与他和平作为交换条件，在974年改信了罗马天主教。奥拉夫?特里格维森国王（995－1000年在位）强行在挪威推行罗马天主教。在这里，也和在斯维亚托斯拉夫统治时期的基辅一样，对改变信仰的反抗是强烈的。当大约1008年奥拉夫?斯科托科努命令强迫改信基督教时，瑞典的反抗也和挪威一样地强烈。但是在1000年，即奥拉夫?特里格维森在和另一个信奉天主教的斯堪的纳维亚国王－丹麦的斯文作战中战死的那一年，冰岛人自愿地集体改信罗马天主教。他们的动机是政治性的。他们担心，如果他们仍然分裂为天主教和非天主教两派，他们脆弱的共和制度就会瓦解。在维金时代斯堪的纳维亚人在外建立的社区中，冰岛共同体是相互联系最紧密的。在改宗基督教以前，斯堪的纳维亚的诗歌正是在冰岛被全部保存下来的，冰岛传说中的男女英雄们都是从前基督教时代直到并包括改信基督教的那一代人中的冰岛人。然而，前基督教时代冰岛文学都是经12和13世纪冰岛的基督教徒之手编辑之后流传下来的。挪威在9世纪时发明了一种新的诗歌形式。在文化上，冰岛和挪威是维金时代斯堪的纳维亚世界第一流的国家。政治上，维金时代的瑞典给世界历史留下了更深刻、更为持久的影响。在诺夫哥罗德和基辅定居的罗斯瑞典人是俄罗斯国家的缔造者，而且，当989年俄罗斯改宗东正教时，局限在旧大陆欧洲半岛一隅的西方基督教世界，已处于东正教世界的包围之中。在922年之前的某一时期，东正教世界又被得到伏尔加河的保加利亚人忠诚支持的伊斯兰世界所包围。但是，俄罗斯人在数量上则是伏尔加保加利亚人无法企及的。这样，公元989年俄罗斯的改宗东正教就为东正教世界最终向北扩展到北冰洋沿岸，向东扩展到北太平洋沿岸开辟了道路。

    第五十八章 印度和东南亚（647－1202年）

    到647年戒日王去世时，印度文明已经强烈地显示出同化外邦的能力。公元前二千纪以来，雅利安入侵者将他们自己，以及他们的语言强加给印度北部，并把他们的制度传遍整个印度次大陆。但他们没有逃脱被征服者的文化吸引力。同样的命运也击倒了一个又一个从西北部入侵印度的征服者–例如目空一切地蹂躏了孔雀帝国断壁残垣的希腊人，以及凶猛地击溃笈多帝国的匈奴人。有些希腊人皈依了佛教和印度教；匈奴人则由于加入了刹帝利种姓而并入了印度社会。在印度文明和中国文明对大陆东南亚和印度尼西亚进行文化征服的竞赛中，印度文明几乎整个占领了这片广大的地区，只有越南北部除外。在这两种文明于公元7世纪上半期对西藏进行文化征服的竞争中，印度文明也再一次成了胜方。由于一种印度宗教，即大乘佛教传入中国本上，并通过中国传入朝鲜和日本，印度文明取得了一次最伟大的文化胜利。

    穆斯林是第一个不受印度文明同化的入侵者。有的佛教徒和印度教徒皈依了伊斯兰教，但没有穆斯林皈依佛教和印度教。伊斯兰教在印度次大陆作为政治上的统治者站稳了脚跟，但由于不受印度文化的同化，一直是一种异己势力。外族入侵产生的这种新的后果，打破了印度人生活中宗教和文化上的一致性，这样一来就改变了印度历史的进穆。的确，印度教与琐罗亚斯德教和基督教相比，在穆斯林统治下显示了更强的生存能力。在印度，大量皈依伊斯兰教的现象只发生在那些当地居民大多是无种姓者的地区，穆斯林征服者则发现，尽管印度人不是多神论者，就是一元论者，他们必须把不皈依伊斯兰教的印度人当作”有经人”来对待。因此，根据严格的穆斯林律法，印度人是不值得宽容的，但这种律法却无法实行，因为被征服的印度居民人数众多，颇具教化，又是必不可少的。

    穆斯林对朱木拿河－恒河流域和孟加拉地区的征服最多只用了10年（1192－1202年），或许仅用了7年（1192－1199年）。他们在这些年间征服印度的步伐甚至比7世纪征服西南亚的步伐还要快。而印度在12世纪末蒙受军事和政治灾难是不足为怪的，更引人注意的倒是印度次大陆大部分地区居然在这么长的时间内没有受到穆斯林的征服。前面已经提到，在戒日王死后，一个中国使臣曾从西藏兴师远征，击败了一个篡夺戒日王王位的人。印度在军事上的虚弱程度可想而知。从647年到1192年，印度以及大陆东南亚和印度尼西亚的大部分印度化地区一直处于分裂之中，昙花一现的地区小国鳞次栉比，没完没了地相互混战，加剧了印度世界在政治上的分裂和混乱状况，分散了它们的力量。在991年、1001年以及1191－1192年，北印度彼此混战的各国也确曾联手抵抗穆斯林的侵略，但每一次，这种联合行动都为时过晚，难以避免失败的命运。印度诸国从未建立过永久性的政治联盟，哪怕是地区性的联盟来抵御穆斯林的不断侵犯。而穆斯林的侵犯，也象中国使臣在戒日王死后兴师远征那样过于轻而易举，这似乎是个不祥之兆。

    711年，统一的倭马亚伊斯兰国家征服并吞并了印度河下游以及向北直到木尔坦的地方。印度人发起了猛烈反攻，伊斯兰国家在印度土地上建立的这块孤立无助的飞地似乎难以保住，但穆斯林一直未能被逐出这个地万。突厥穆斯林伽色尼王朝的埃米尔赛布克特金在991年战胜印度诸王的暂时联合以后，在开伯尔山口以东白沙瓦地区取得一个立足点。1001年赛布克特金的继承者马哈茂德获得胜利后，取得了伽色尼王朝领地以东直到拉合尔的地区。马哈茂德还吞并了印度河流域从木尔坦向南直到海滨的已经成为伊斯兰国家飞地的领土，1001－1024年间，他还越过其永久征服地的东部边界，远征朱木拿河－恒河流域和古吉拉特。这是北印度其他地区里1192－1202年间遭到取代伽色尼王朝的古尔人征服的前奏，他们是来自中央阿富汗高地的蛮族，伽色尼的马哈茂德在1010年刚才征服过他们，并使他们皈依了伊斯兰教。

    由于印度人之间常常互相发生冲突，穆斯林对印度领土的渐次征服就变得更为容易。在北部，戒日王的直接政治继承者是拉杰普特人（”众王之子”，其王族祖先是5世纪南下印度的匈奴人）的各个部族。大约从750年起，拉杰普特人和建国于孟加拉的巴拉王朝对朱木拿河－恒河流域展开争夺，直到双方都被穆斯林古尔人推翻。在德干地区，620年曾经阻止过戒日王南征的遮娄其王朝与位于半岛东南部泰米尔地区的帕那瓦人展开斗争，直到757年遮娄其人被拉什特拉库塔人暂时取代，897年帕那瓦人则被朱罗人永远取代为止。

    朱罗人在983－1035年间达到顶蜂。他们比647－1202年间的任何其他力量都更接近于完成对印度世界的统一。在其国力强盛的半个世纪中，朱罗人确实统一了印度大陆的整个东南部向北直到通格拉巴德拉河和哥达瓦里河下游一线。他们吞并了东北部更远的羯陵加，甚至对孟加拉的巴拉人领土发起袭击。朱罗人还向海外扩张。他们吞并了锡兰和马尔代夫、安达曼和尼科巴群岛，1025年袭击了苏门答腊的室利佛逝王国，1068－1069年袭击马来半岛。尽管如此，遮娄其人于973年推翻了曾经推翻他们的拉什特拉库塔人，然后与朱罗人展开争夺，就象当年第一遮娄其王朝同帕那瓦人展开争夺一样。这一争夺直到旨在控制南印度的竞争双方筋疲力竭时为止。遮娄其帝国于1190年垮台，朱罗王朝在1216年垮台。朱罗人在鼎盛时期曾经建立起一套有效的行政制度，但它未能保存在到朱罗帝国垮台的时候。1216年以后，南印度为穆斯林的入侵敞开了大门。从1202年起，他们就已经成为整个北印度的主人。

    在苏门答腊，建立于7世纪末期的室利佛逝帝国取得了对马六甲海峡两岸的控制权。室利佛逝政权从g世纪末开始达到鼎盛，直到1025年被朱罗人的远征削弱。在爪哇，建立于8世纪后半期的夏连特帝国统治了柬埔寨，袭击占婆，并取得了室利佛逝的王位，将其变成夏连特王朝的分枝。夏连特王朝于9世纪末衰落，但这个爪哇人的国家和它在当地的继承者阻止了苏门答腊的室利佛逝帝国对印度尼西亚的统一，尽管室利佛逝控制了马六甲海峡和巽他海峡，这使室利佛逝掌握了从海上控制印度洋和中国海之间通道的两个关键地带。

    大陆东南亚已知的最早居民，操南方语族的孟－高棉语支诸语言（现在柬埔寨和缅甸部分地区仍讲这些语言），印度的蒙达诸语言也属于这个语族。占婆地区（现在的越南中部）的占人所操的是同源的澳斯特罗尼西亚（马来）语族中的一种语言。但自公元2世纪，即有记载的东南亚历史的最早年代以来，东南亚在文化上受到来自西部的宗教和艺术影响的入侵，在人种上受到来自北方的移民的入侵。印度和锡兰是西部文化影响（印度教的、佛教的和穆斯林）的来源。北方的移民是讲东亚大陆单音节语族诸语言的人。这些移民和被他们驱往南部的操南方诸语和澳斯特罗尼西亚诸语的居民一样，受到印度文化影响的强烈感染，只有越南人采纳了中国文化和中国式的大乘佛教，尽管他们在政治方面成功地抵抗了与中国的永久合并。在公元前111年第二次被中国吞并后，越南人在公元939年又一次获得了政治独立。

    越南人很早就在现在的越南北部定居。公元前214年左右，该国第一次被中国吞并。越语属于单音节语族的汉泰语支。缅甸人的语言属于这一语族的藏－缅语支，他们在850年左右到1050年之间某个时候从西部移入现在的缅甸地区。在现属上缅甸的蒲甘王国的缅王阿奴律陀在位期间（1044－1047年），缅甸人征服了缅甸的其他地区。这里的居民是孟人，孟语和印度宗教与文化的孟语译文直到1167－1173年以前一直在该国北部流行。在那里，一支操缅语的居民早已在此定居。

    从975年开始，占婆与越南不断交战；从1145年起，又与柬埔寨不断交战。大陆东南亚的这些战争是印度尼西亚的室利佛逝和夏连特帝国之间、印度的朱罗和遮娄其人之间、巴拉和拉杰普特人之间的斗争的翻版。大陆东南亚与印度一样，地区小国之间没完没了的战争是由于来自外部的军事干涉才告结束的。13世纪东南亚遭到蒙古人的入侵，同时，一部分地区被来自南诏（今中国云南省）的泰人占领。

    7世纪后半期到13世纪前半期，印度文明的军事和政治史读起来就象是一个傻瓜讲的故事。其实在大多数时间和地方，战争与政治的历史大都如此，但印度世界这些活动，特别是这一时期的这些活动显然是毫无意义的。意义重大的领域是宗教和造形艺术。在印度社会，宗教除了包括仪式和精神体验外，还包括了社会组织和习惯法。

    我们如果从军事和政治方面转向宗教方面，就会发现这一时期印度文明的历史是有意义的。这一方面的头等大事是佛教在次大陆上的逐渐退却。在这里，佛教的最后堡垒是孟加拉的巴拉王国，孟加拉于1199或1202年遭到古尔人穆斯林侵略者征服，使佛教在印度受到致命的打击。在这里，他们有意摧毁佛寺。其实，如果印度的佛教不是在过去的六七百年间已经处于衰落状态，也许它还是可以经受这次打击，免遭灭顶之灾的。耆那教的命运正与佛教相反。耆那教从未扩展到东亚或东南亚，但另一方面，它在印度也从未遭到灭绝，尽管它从未超出一个小教派的规模。

    上座部佛教的遭遇与耆那教相同，虽然它曾在塔里木盆地与大乘佛教相争，但当大乘教派进入中国后它就退出了竞争。另一方面，上座部在次大陆–不是次大陆本土，而是锡兰–保持了一个立足点。1190年，一些孟人和高棉的上座部僧人访问锡兰，并将僧伽罗式上座部佛教移植到了缅甸。对东南亚来说，这一事件的意义与10年之后穆斯林的军事征服对北印度来说同样重大。占统治地位的少数穆斯林外族入侵者，由于当地人的皈依而得到加强，它使印度第一次处在他们无法进行文化同化的主人统治之下。

    在宗教和艺术方面，印度与东南亚互相交战的地方小国的君民，收到了具有永久意义和价值的结果。

    巴拉王国不仅把大乘佛教在7世纪传入西藏，而且在8世纪传到更远的爪哇。大乘佛教在爪哇没有存在多长时间，但它留下人类最美丽的艺术作品之一婆罗浮屠这座永久性的丰碑。772年，夏连特王朝的创建者在这里把一座小山丘围建成一座卒堵波。装饰在盘旋上升的台阶上的浅浮雕，描绘了大乘佛教整个神话和玄学世界的图景。这一精美的艺术作品的自然背景与它的建筑和雕刻同样美丽。耸立在一边的陡峭的山脉，与另一边一望无际的翠绿稻田遥相辉映。婆罗浮屠使创立了这个丰碑的短命的夏连特帝国得到了永生。

    柬埔寨王国创建于公元6世纪，并一直存在到20世纪70年代。它在吴哥有机会给后代留下了大量杰出的建筑作品。其中的杰作是吴哥窟，这是国王苏耶跋摩二世（1113－约1145年）建造的一座庙宇，不论是从建筑设计的对称性，还是从使梁柱显得活泼的图案的生动性来说，都堪与雅典卫城的帕特农神庙相媲美。

    在南印度的斯拉瓦纳?比尔戈拉，耆那教徒也创造了佛教子弟在中爪哇的婆罗浮屠创造的那种业绩。他们都使大自然向人类的艺术俯首称臣。在婆罗浮图，大自然是被耐心处理的；在斯拉瓦纳?比尔戈拉，大自然则是被压服的。983年，他们将依山而建的寺院背后的两座山峰铲去一座，使它成为一位宗教英雄的巨型塑像。这座巨像就是山体的一部分，周围的山体都被剥离开来。山岩坚硬、陡峭、酷热，岩面烧焦了攀援者的脚底。这座耆那教的纪念碑毫无美感可言，但它的庄严雄伟却足以令人敬畏不已。在这一方面，无论吴哥窟还是婆罗浮屠都无法与之相比。

    朱罗人未能建立一个永久的帝国，但他们留下了永久的纪念碑。在朱罗王朝的鼎盛时期，印度寺庙建筑的南部风格达到了顶峰。

    647－1202年间的印度，最有影响的两个人物不是战士，不是统治者，甚至不是建筑师或雕刻家，而是两位哲学家：商羯罗（约788－838年）和罗摩奴阇（约生于1028年，活到12世纪）。这两位伟大的导师都是南印度人，商阉罗的家乡在半岛东南端的喀拉拉，罗摩奴阇出生于泰米尔地区，但整个次大陆都是他们的传道场。当时的印度各种姓间存在着社会屏障，但对圣贤来说不存在任何地理上的屏障，他们也不受政治世界和语言世界的限制。

    商羯罗和罗摩奴阇都很关心一个早在公元前6世纪就已有人讨论的问题：自然现象之中和背后的”终极精神实在”的本质是什么？这种”精神实在”与人类之间的关系是什么？商羯罗是一个不妥协的一元论者。他认为人类不同于最终的客观实在，自然现象的世界是虚幻的。如果事实确实如此，那么个人以及个性也就必然被算作虚幻的自然现象之一。在作为整体的客观实在中，无法容纳一个个人的神祗或一个个人神祗的个人信徒。罗摩奴阇批评了商羯罗的哲学。他主张一种”修正的一元论”，这可以使作为人类的罗摩奴阇感觉到对毗湿奴神的个人忠诚。罗摩奴阇指责商羯罗是一个秘密的佛教徒。他说得不错。商羯罗的哲学是以大乘佛教的形而上学为前提的，这种形而上学是大乘佛教无视佛陀对形而上学思辨的反对而想象出来的。罗摩奴阇对商羯罗的批评又是以商羯罗的命题为前提的。罗摩奴阇和商羯罗都支持印度教对佛教的反动，在这一点上两人是一致的。但是，如果没有佛教向他们提供思想武器，这两位新印度教的哲学家就不可能发起他们对佛教的战争。

    第五十九章 东亚（763－1126年）

    中国文明，甚至唐王朝，都在中国于755－763年所经历的混乱和劫掠中幸存了下来。当时，中国社会的一个组成部分是经由儒家经典的竞争性考试而征募的文职官员，正是他们使得中国社会幸存了下来。文职官僚花费了一定的时间重新确立它的统治。宋朝又复兴了这一制度。大灾难前夕建立的翰林院，激发了文职官僚们的群体意识和个人野心。文职官僚以反对革新，同时反对分裂为代价，强固了中国社会的结构。

    780年，税收的主要方式发生了变化。唐政权暂时瓦解的一个主要原因，是自5世纪后期以来行之有效的制度崩溃了。按照这一制度，政府授给农民土地，并强迫个人以缴纳赋税和服徭役作为回报。780年以后，则只征土地税，不再征收人头税。政府未能防止农民的土地为地主所攫取。农民成了佃户，他们的经济地位恶化，而政府岁入却并未受到损失。

    政府能够强迫地主缴纳新的土地税，因为，新的土地所有者阶级平均占有的土地规模，尚不足以大到使他们象悠闲的出租人那样生活。现在的土地所有者阶级大致等同于复兴的儒家官僚，这个阶级的生计部分地依赖于它的成员作为政府官员而获得的俸禄。这便为政府提供了一个把这些官僚土地所有者控制起来的手段。

    自蛮族入侵和政治分裂的时期（304－589年）以来；在削弱佛教寺院和尼庵在中国赢得的权力和财富方面，儒家官僚和道家及道教徒有着共同的利益。中国文明中，早于佛教的儒家学说，在思辨上不能与大乘佛教相匹敌。但在755－763年的大灾难之后的那一代人中，却产生了新儒家学派的第一批代表人物韩愈（768－824年）和李翱（约卒于844年）。这些新儒家，就象同时代印度的印度教新一元论者商羯罗一样，实际上都是隐蔽的佛教徒。他们重新恢复了儒家学说的活力，其方式是在儒家学说中注入大乘佛教的精神，以及把注意力集中于那些有助于他们作出佛教式解释的儒家著作上。这些著作是《孟子》和五经之一《礼记》中的《大学》章。儒家学说的改观，使中国在精神上不再依赖于现存佛教组织机构。842－845年，帝国政府切实实行了儒家和道家在经济和社会方面对佛教的一贯批评意见。佛教僧侣和尼姑被大量淘汰还俗，成为赋税承担者，寺院和尼庵的大量财产也被没收。以旧大陆文明中心西端犹太教－基督教－伊斯兰教的标准来看，中国842－845年对佛教的迫害是温和的，但以东亚的标准来看，它又是严厉的。

    这次迫害并没有消灭中国的佛教。不仅在深奥高级的层次上，而且在大众化的层次上，佛教教义与儒家学说和道教教义都已经不可分解地缠绕在一起。在大众化的层次上，这种缠绕的程度甚至更高。在儒家和道教的掩盖下，佛教教义继续对中国人的精神理智生活发生着重大影响。然而，842－845年的宗教迫害不仅仅局限于佛教，也殃及了其他的宗教。这些宗教与佛教不同，它们是新近从外国传入的。在这场严峻的考验中，摩尼教、琐罗亚斯德教和基督教的聂斯脱利教派都未能在中国生存下来。不过，迫害这些宗教，没有与迫害佛教同样正当的经济和社会的理由。它们的信徒数量和财产价值相对都很小。

    摩尼教由于畏兀儿突厥人而在中国享有特权。自唐朝初年以来，畏兀儿突厥人一直是中国的同盟者，曾帮助唐王朝渡过了755－763年的危机。他们后来选择了摩尼教为国教。但在840年，畏兀儿人被黠戛斯人从欧亚大平原今天蒙古的领土上驱逐了出来，进入了中国和塔里木盆地。842年，中华帝国政府开始压制中国的摩尼教。

    唐朝政权从763年一直苟延残喘到874年。在中国诗人白居易（772－864年）的诗歌中，在日本佛僧圆仁（他于838－847年在中国求法）的日记中，我们获得了这个世纪中有关中国国家事务的第一手材料。两位作者都是842－845年中国迫害佛教和其他非本土宗教的见证人。但他们又都反映，在这个时期，中国的统治既有效而又仁慈。然而，作为唐政权对755－763年灾难反应的各种改革，却未能阻止其最终崩溃。唐王朝于909年灭亡；来王朝，统一中国的下一个统治王朝，直到960年才建立。事实上，统一政权的空白期从874年一直延续到979年，而且，中华帝国并没有完整地重新统一，它在四面八方都丧失了边缘领土。

    建立于713年，位于满洲东部的渤海国，象朝鲜的新罗国一样，承认唐朝的宗主地位。926年，渤海为契丹所灭。契丹是欧亚大平原上的游牧族，其用语大概是蒙古语。946年，契丹人宣称自己是中国的统治者，以辽王朝的名义进行统治。尽管他们未能实现他们所宣称的对中国的统治，但他们却于1004年迫使宋朝承认了他们对于长城东端以南的16个边界州的所有权，并迫使宋朝向他们进贡。1038年，党项族仿效了契丹的先例。党项是藏族的一支，唐朝曾允许他们居住于中国的西北地区。他们以”西夏”作为王朝的名称（夏是传说中中国第一个王朝的称谓）。1044年，宋朝不得不以同意进贡的代价向党项换取和平。南方曾是中国的扩张遇到抵抗最少的一个方向。但在939年，由于北越的脱离，中国在南方的领土永久性地缩减了。从公元前111年开始，北越一直是中国不可分割的一部分。

    宋代统一中国的统治者们陷入了进退维谷的境地。他们首先关注的是防止帝国再次因为地方军阀的兴起而分裂。他们成功地避免了这种分裂，其代价却是牺牲军事实力，这使宋朝在处理他们与富于进攻性的蛮族邻居的关系时，处于不利的地位。政权体制仍然需要彻底地改革。文职官僚中出现了一位目光锐利、精力充沛、富有多气的改革家王安石（1021－1086年）。1069至1076年，王安石进行了一系列根本性的改革，而且这些改革措施在整个宋神宗统治时期（1067－1085年）都得到了贯彻实施。王安石之所以能够推行这些改革，是因为他得到了皇帝的信任。宋神宗死后，王安石的改革措施于1085－1086年被全部废除，尽管这些措施是整治宋代社会弊病的良方。

    王安石失败的原因，与公元前14世纪埃及法老阿肯那顿改革和公元前2世纪意大利罗马格拉古改革失败的原因一样。王安石不得不与思想十分保守的官僚共事。在不受传统精神的束缚这一点上他是孤独的，他的自由思想触怒了精神上墨守成规的同僚们，并使他们深感不安。无疑，他的激进措施无论怎样都会使保守主义者疏远，但王安石固有的挑战性格却加剧了保守者们的反对。他所树立的敌人中包括一些真正而杰出的人，他应该求得他们的支持。废除王安石改革方案的大臣就是著名的史学家司马光。

    王安石感到，学究式地学习儒家经典，对于官员执行实际的政务来说，是不恰当的方式；在学究式的学习中，学生的目的是迎合思想迂腐的主考官。王安石采取的补救方式是，对经典作新的官方解释，改革政府的考试制度。如果宋神宗活得更长一些，这些教育改革措施可能会培养出一代思想开放的新官僚。与此同时，王安石还不得不通过旧学派培养出来的同僚们进行改革。尽管有这一障碍，他还是成功地将他的计划付诸实施。他安排政府向农民提供利息低于私人高利贷者的低息贷款。他用募役的方式取代徭役，并通过按产量而不是按面积来征收土地税的方式来筹措募役费，把大部分负担强加于那些最能担负得起这些费用的土地所有者身上。王安石的这些财政措施是755－763年以后唐朝所进行过的改革的复活。王安石重建了农民民兵。这一措施曾是隋朝重新统一中国和使中国恢复青春活力的先行措施。

    王安石的改革措施是及时的。它们由于私人间的恩怨而被废除，但不到40年这一弊政就得到了报应。1114－1125年，女真族推翻了契丹。女真族是通古斯语系的一支民族，居住于契丹王朝的东北部，在前渤海国领土之外。1115年，女真族建立金王朝，1126年，攻克宋朝首都开封（位于洛阳以东的黄河岸边），俘获了当时的皇帝及其前任皇帝。由于遭受这一打击，宋帝国丧失了长江以北的全部领土。王安石的政敌们又回过头来把这一灾难的责任推到他的身上，对1126年灾难的公正评价是，如果王安石的改革能假以时日并开花结果，灾祸是能够避免的。

    在军事和政治方面，中国755年至1126年的历史是一段灾难频繁的历史，780年的改革和1069－1076年的改革，未能改变历史进程。然而在文化方面，这一时期的中国历史却是硕果累累。就象304年及其以后蹂躏中国北部的蛮族一样，10世纪、11世纪、12世纪的后起蛮族，也强烈地为中国文明所吸引。除了自身采纳中国文明，他们还在自己统治的领土上传播了中国文明，而这些领土又从未纳入过中华帝国的版图。因而，中华帝国的收缩由于中国文明的扩张而得到了补偿–不仅在中华帝国周边兴起的国家如此，在朝鲜和日本也是如此。

    这一时期，中国文明与以前的时代相比，具有更大的吸引力。它在当时的成就是多方面的。新儒家哲学的产生是由程颢（1032－1085年）、程颐（1033－1108年）兄弟推动的，他们都是王安石的同代人（程颢先与王安石合作，后来又反对他的某些措施）。二程完成了由他们的先驱者韩愈开创的变革。除了《礼记》中的《大学》和《中庸》两章，程颐实际上废黜了汉代注释的五经。他确立了新的四书注本，即在《大学》和《中庸》之外又加上了《孟子及和《论语》。《论语》大致是孔子答弟子问的汇编。程颐的新儒家学说成了文官教育的标准观点，而且它的形而上学成份也为儒家学说提供了一个新的尺度。但它并不鼓励儒生、考官和官僚们独立思索。

    在艺术方面，唐宋时代的中国人也不受过去时代的拘羁。他们欣然接受了随大乘佛教传入中国的希腊－印度的观赏艺术。他们将观赏艺术转化为中国式的，并发展了他们自己的独特的艺术风格。中国的山水画在宋代达到了顶峰。中国的彩釉瓷器也是如此（制造彩釉瓷器是中国本土的工艺）。唐代取得了雕板印刷的成就。诗人白居易的著作大概印行于800－810年（那时诗人还在世）。而且，在他逝世之前，他的诗歌就已流传于日本。对大乘佛教经典成批印行的需要（既有俗人的需求，也有僧侣的需求），以及应试者对儒家经典大批印行的需要，部刺激了书籍印刷的发展。翰林院于932－953年印制了一部130卷，并配有注释的儒家经典。那时。中国在政治上还处于混乱之中，宋代最初的60年间，印行了成千上万卷的佛教经典和道教经典。其中许多套经典输入了朝鲜和日本。

    发明于6世纪被用于燃放爆竹的火药，至12世纪它已被用于战争。航海和海上贸易是由印度人和穆斯林首创的。879年，当广州为中国起义者洗劫时，那里有大量的外国商人，他们遭受了惨重的损失。不过，与印度和穆斯林世界贸易关系的中断是暂时的。在这一贸易中，中国人发挥了越来越积极主动的作用。中国的南部海岸，当它第一次并入中华帝国的版图时，在中国人的眼里，它被看作是地球的尽头。然而现在，它却开始取代甘肃成了中国的前门。起传导桥梁作用的欧亚大平原，为传导作用更佳的海洋所取代。海洋成了中国与旧大陆其他部分联络的主要媒介。

    在朝鲜，唐代中国的卫星国新罗，与中国本身的瓦解同时，于9世纪末期陷入无政府状态。但朝鲜的王朝中断期更短，仅从889年延续到高丽王朝重新统一朝鲜的936年。高丽王朝建立于918年。

    在日本，模仿唐代中国的雄心勃勃的企图逐步走向失败。710年和794年，按照唐朝首都长安的形制，建起了奈良和京都，尽管规模稍小。从理论上说，整个日本帝国都是按照中国的模式管理和征税的。但是，日本不可能聚集起足够而受过中国教育的官员，以满足把理论转化为实践的需求。中国通过竞争性的书本考试征招文职官员的制度，从来未适用于日本。以天皇的名义统治各国的国司，实际上成了独立、世袭的诸侯，就象同一时代旧大陆另一端查理曼帝国各省省督伯爵的后裔们一样。

    然而，日本的和平时期却延续了250多年。这一时期始于646年正式采用唐朝式的制度。在这250年的进程中，中国文明，包括中国式的大乘佛教，都在日本深深地扎下了根，成了那里根深蒂固的东西。尽管日本人不能使这一外来文明保持其原有风貌，他们却能够而且确实把它转化成了日本式的，就象中国人把印度输入的佛教转化为中国式的一样。

    712年到791年，产生了3部日本编年史。那时，日本国的首都是奈良。这3部历史都是用汉文写成的。尽管大多数汉字是作为中国式的表意文字使用的，所表达的是汉语的意思，但有些汉字却是作为音素使用的，传达的是日语单词的音节的声音。9世纪，为了达到根据语音书写日文，依据汉字创造了两个音节表，从而汉字具有了语音的价值。这一发明，使得书写日语而又不在语音上使用其他汉字或不在表意上使用任何一个汉字成为可能。但对于书写日语，汉字与两个音节表相结合，仍然被当作表意文字来使用。这部分是由于汉字的威望，部分是因为它们清晰地表达了汉语的语词。日本人使用汉语语词丰富了他们自己的词汇。许多借用来的汉语语词，在它们日本语的发音上是没有区别的，因而，在某一日语音节表中，这一发音的语音表述也是没有区别的。但是，同一语词，在作为表意文字使用的原有汉字中，却是不能相互混同的。由于这些原因，在日语的书写中，坚持了使用汉字，以之作为表意文字。

    汉语表意文字与日语音节音素的混和，与钵罗钵文的手稿同样复杂。在这部手稿中，根据阿拉米语字母表写成的阿拉米语词，被用作表意文字，表示用伊朗语方式发音的伊朗语语词。然而，日文这一难以使用的文字，却为一部成熟于11世纪初期的深奥微妙的日本文学作品提供了表达思想情感的工具。这部杰出的作品是女官紫式部的《源氏物语》。

    中国人曾经认为，他们的文明是世界上唯一的文明。然而，到了1126年，中国成了半个世界的”中央王国”，为一些文化上的卫星国所拱卫。这些卫星国都在一定程度上采纳了中国文明，但又将其转化为与众不同的东亚型汉文化。此外，东亚作为一个整体，已经与旧大陆的其他部分相互影响。起源于印度的一种宗教，即大乘佛教，已经经由中国传播到了日本、朝鲜，以及今天称为北越的那个国家。而且，所有的东亚国家，通过海洋和陆地，不仅与东南亚和印度保持着联系，而且与印度次大陆另一边的伊斯兰世界保持着联系。

    第六十章 中美洲文明和安第斯文明（约900－1428年）

    对于这一时期如同对于以前的历史时期一样，考古学家们在用基督纪元的年代确定中美洲历史事件的年代方面意见是一致的；但是，对于这一时期安第斯历史事件的年代却未取得一致意见。前文已经提到安第斯历史各阶段相对的年代序列是没有疑问的，但是用公元纪年体系来表示的认约公元前400年到约公元1438年的绝对年代，即依据放射性碳测定年代和依据地层学估算的年代之间却存在着很大差异。依据放射性碳测定的年代体系（本书暂时采用这一体系），安第斯历史”兴盛”时期在公元500年左右结束，蒂亚瓦纳科文化在公元900年正走向它的末日。因而安第斯历史的这两个阶段已在第48章予以论述，虽然根据地层学的年代体系，”兴盛”时期到900年还未结束，整个蒂亚瓦纳科文化的衰落是在1000－1300年间。

    在中美洲世界，”古典”时期（约300－900年）是在衰落中结束的。在墨西哥高原，特奥蒂瓦坎（约600年）和乔卢拉（约800年）先后被来自新开垦地区以北的沙漠地带的蛮族攻占和毁坏。在马雅地区，马雅形式的中美洲文明在此达到鼎盛的中部地区，在9世纪已被相继废弃。10世纪初，另一支北方蛮族托尔特克人已经侵入沙漠南部的农耕地带。这些托尔特克人和他们的前辈还有所不同，他们不仅仅是破坏者。他们接触的中美洲文明足以使他们创造具有自己特点的中美洲文明。虽然他们位于墨西哥湖以北的首都图拉无法与特奥蒂瓦坎相比；但该城的建筑和雕塑却有惊人的成就。

    托尔特克人和他们在中美洲历史上后”古典”时期的后继者都是好战的武士。他们并不是中美洲世界最早的穷兵黩武者。奥尔梅克人就是好战的武士，依据”波纳姆帕克”的残忍壁画提供的证据来判断，9世纪时乌苏马辛塔河流域的马雅人也是穷兵黩武者。但是在后”古典”时期，中美洲的军国主义已经强烈到成为中美洲生活主要特征的程度。

    在中美洲历史上后”古典”阶段的初期，从安第斯世界传来了冶金术。这一技术通过海路、可能是经厄瓜多尔沿岸传到了墨西哥西海岸。在同时代的安第斯世界，铜（后来还有青铜）被用来制造工具和武器，但除了太平洋沿岸高地上的塔拉斯科人之外，安第斯冶金学家们在中美洲的学生在这方面并未遵从他们老师的意愿。他们制造金银饰品的技艺日益精湛，但是当阿兹台克人在16世纪与西班牙人相遇时，他们仍然在使用石头和木头制作的武器。值得注意的是向阿兹台克人这样一个尚武的民族，竟然从未模仿自己的邻居和对手塔拉斯科人让自己的工匠去制造剑和矛。

    图拉同乔卢拉、特奥蒂瓦坎、拉文他、圣洛伦索一样也毁于暴力。这一命运在12世纪下半期降临在图拉城。与此同时，图拉城的建城者托尔特克人托皮尔京，被另一支敌对的托尔特克人赶了出来，据认为是逃向了大海。传说他有一天将从海上归来的预言被传给了托尔托克人的后继者阿兹台克人。托皮尔京似乎从海上来到尤卡坦西海岸，并在此为自己征服了一个微型帝国，该帝国的首都是奇琴。根据尤卡坦马雅人的记载，在987年或此前不久，一个名叫”库库尔肯”的征服者从西方的海上来到了尤卡坦。在马雅语中”库库尔肯”意指”长羽毛的蛇”，这也是被驱逐的托尔特克国王托皮尔京的绰号”魁扎尔科亚特尔”的意思。魁扎尔科亚特尔是墨西哥一位神祗的名称，其形状就是被看成是托皮尔京的长羽毛的蛇。（托皮尔京的过错在一支托尔特克人看来，也许是他对该神的虔敬行为，因为该神要求人忏悔性修行，而不赞成人祭牺牲。）

    库库尔肯－魁扎尔科亚特尔在西北尤卡坦建立的国家，从约987年持续到约1224年。该地融合了托尔特克人和马雅人的建筑、视觉艺术、宗教、生活方式和习惯。托尔特克人的精神生活，表现为对人祭牺牲的执着追求。如果托皮尔京真的就是库库尔肯，可能还不致残忍到为了取悦较凶恶的那部分托尔特克人而嗜血成性的程度，但是他在尤卡坦开创的托尔特克－马雅混合文明却比在托尔特克征服者到来之前的马雅更为残忍嗜杀。座落在奇琴的一座装饰有人头盖骨壁缘的平台就是西尤卡坦托尔特克统治者残忍性的纪念。同样能证明这种残忍性的还有从奇琴的”肯诺特”底部挖掘出的人类遗骸。（肯诺特是一种水池，人祭牺牲者的尸体被掏空之后就扔进这水池中。）

    在建立和统治奇琴的托尔特克人消失以后，奇琴被一支流浪的马雅人伊察人占领。伊察人的首领模仿奇琴的托尔特克建立者也称自己为库库尔肯，他于1283年左右在奇琴和尤卡坦西海岸中间建立了马雅潘城。这是马雅地区最早的有城墙的城市，从约1283年至约1461年，该城一直是西北尤卡坦的都城。在此之后马雅潘城因毁于一场内战而被废弃。

    在尤卡坦历史上的伊察时期就同先前的托尔特克时期一样，本地马雅式的中美洲文明混杂了来自墨西哥高原的成份；在一系列相继在马雅潘行使统治的伊察人中，有一支部落就是在一伙墨西哥移民雇佣军的帮助下夺取权力的。

    虽然马雅潘四周有城墙，但它并不象没有城墙的特奥蒂瓦坎那样座落在一块平地上。而秘鲁西北海岸的昌昌城则座落在一块规模与巴比伦和尼罗河流域的亚历山大城相当的长方形平地上。

    根据安第斯历史在蒂亚瓦纳科文化衰落之后的两种不同的年代体系，这一后蒂亚瓦纳科时期是在1000－1430年之间。在这一时期，安第斯世界在政治和文化上都不是统一的；在沿海低地，它在政治上至少分裂成3个国家，每一河流的下游地区都形成了一个独立的政治单位–奇穆、奎兹曼科、钦查，这些国家使前蒂亚瓦纳科”兴盛”时期的国家相形见绌。

    如果我们将安第斯历史与希腊历史联系在一起考察，我们会发现自己很容易将安第斯历史的”兴盛”时期与公元前334年之前的4个世纪的希腊化历史等同起来；在这4个世纪中，希腊世界标准的政治单位是城邦。在安第斯历史上的”兴盛”时期，就同在希腊历史上的”古典”时期一样，艺术也达到了鼎盛阶段。后蒂亚瓦纳科时代的安第斯沿海国家相当于波斯帝国的继承者、由波斯人的马其顿希腊征服者建立的那些国家。

    在安第斯历史的这一阶段，安第斯沿海城市都是些建于众多河流汇合处的帝国首都。每一国家的居民都集中居住在首都，灌溉网经过了修整，河流中的水被引来灌溉人口稠密的城市附近的水浇地。奇穆的首都昌昌规模就特别巨大，以至考古学家把安第斯历史的这一阶段定名为”城市化”或”城市建筑”时代。这么大的城市规模是很有特色的。在”兴盛”时期，莫奇河流域就没有出现过昌昌那么大规模的城市；但在质量上莫奇河流域”城市化”时代的陶器和无法与”兴盛”时代莫奇卡的陶器相比。”城市化”时代并不富于诗意，它的杰出成就不是制造装饰花瓶，而是制造金属工具。

    昌昌城是一排巨大的长方形建筑物，四周围有高大厚实的泥砖墙。这些城墙的目的似乎并不是为了防御。奇穆国的防线是在其边疆–例如是在延伸到福塔莱萨流域低地地区的帕拉蒙加，该地大约位于流经奇穆国境内诸河流域的最东南部。

    昌昌城是”城市化”时代安第斯世界最大的城市，实际上也是利马城兴起前人们所知道的最大城市。但是”城市化”时代安第斯世界最令人敬仰的神殿是在奎兹曼科地区的帕查卡马克，该地名即得名于该地受到崇拜的神。帕查卡马克是一位普世神，他的神庙受到来自各地的朝圣者的朝拜。

    第六十一章 伊斯兰教世界（945－1110年）

    在继承阿拔斯哈里发王朝的众多国家中，布瓦希德统治者于945年攻占巴格达清楚地表明，始于9世纪的阿拔斯帝国的解体已不可逆转。布瓦希德王朝并不是未经哈里发同意就自封为阿拔斯领土事实主人的始作俑者，但它却是占领阿拔斯占统治地位的行省伊拉克，并直接控制哈里发制度本身的带头羊。布瓦希德人是来自吉兰的伊朗人，他们对阿拔斯哈里发的支配标志着伊朗人政治势力在伊斯兰教国家中的不断增长和阿拉伯人势力的衰落。这一趋势在747－750年使阿拔斯人得以夺取哈里发宝座的革命中已明显地表现出来，后来在813年哈里发马蒙对其兄弟阿明的胜利中再次得以显示。但是，布瓦希德人不仅是伊朗人而且也是什叶派；因而，从宗教方面来说，他们在945年进入巴格达似乎预示着747－750年革命的倒退而不是完成。什叶派参加这场革命，是希望革命的结果将使阿里党人取代倭马亚人。在当时他们未能如愿以偿。而2个世纪之后的现在，他们贻误已久的希望似乎终于走上了得以实现的道路。

    在西北非，艾格莱卜人已于909年被一个声称源于阿里和法蒂玛家族的代表所推翻。艾格莱卜人是逊尼派阿拉伯人，他们只在名义上承认阿拔斯人的宗主权。法蒂玛人也是阿拉伯人，但他们的军队是库塔马赫的柏柏尔人。法蒂玛人极想取代阿拔斯人，他们的胜利实际上是柏柏尔族和什叶派中伊斯玛仪（七伊玛目）派的胜利。914年他们企图征服埃及，但没有成功。不过到969年，他们成功地征服了埃及。与此同时在890年，与法蒂玛人同属七伊玛目派的什叶派社团卡尔马特派试图在伊拉克建立一个国家。903－906年阿拔斯人成功地将卡尔马特人从新月沃地驱逐出去，但卡尔马特人在阿拉伯半岛的东北部、哈萨和巴林岛建立了稳固的根据地。依靠这一根据地他们不仅劫掠了伊拉克，还袭击了麦加。930年，他们从克尔伯神殿抢走了黑石。从864至928年统治伊朗里海沿岸的另一支什叶派裁德派，于897年在也门建立了第二个国家。伊斯玛仪派的什叶派在977年和985年获得了对木尔坦和信德一部分地区的控制权。到985年，仍然处于逊尼派有效统治下的伊斯兰教世界的主要部分只是位于河间地带和呼罗珊的阿拔斯人的继承者萨曼伊朗人的国家和位于伊比利亚半岛的流亡的倭马亚哈里发王朝。倭马亚人和什叶派一样，在政治上对阿拔斯人持敌视态度。在985年伊斯兰教世界仿佛正在伊朗人和柏柏尔之间被分割；如果它要重新统一，那统一者将会是伊斯玛仪派的什叶派法蒂玛人。

    而且，伊斯玛仪派的什叶派和伊朗人在文化和政治方面都处在上升阶段。诗人菲尔多西（939－1020年）、哲学家伊本?西那（阿维森纳）（980－1037年）和科学观察家比鲁尼（973－1048年）都是伊朗人。自约970年起，”精诚兄弟会”，在巴士拉的一个伊斯玛仪派社团，开始创作一部百科全书。973年，法蒂玛的伊斯玛仪派在他们的新都开罗爱资哈尔清真寺创立了一座神学院。从整体上看，阿拔斯帝国政治上的分崩离析有利于文学艺术的发展。地方宫廷的增加促使潜在的庇护人数目的增加。

    伊朗版本的伊斯兰教文明在伊朗扎下了根，它通过新波斯文学而不朽。但是，在11世纪结束之前，在985年时被认为是合理的其他一些期望却落空了。到1085年，逊尼派政府在除埃及之外的伊斯兰教世界各地都重新掌权；而且，虽然埃及仍处在什叶派法蒂玛王朝的统治之下，但法蒂玛统治下的埃及逊尼派穆斯林臣民并没有采用他们统治者的伊斯兰教。1085年，阿拔斯王朝仍然坐在巴格达的王座上，仍在受到监护。但从1055年起，它的主人已不再是伊朗的布瓦希德人，而变成了逊尼派的突厥塞尔柱人。突厥人取代了伊朗人，成为除了阿拉伯半岛之外的伊斯兰教世界亚洲部分的主人。

    什叶派未能抓住656－661年和747－750年的两次机会。在969－1055年间，它又一次丧失了机会。法蒂玛人和卡尔马特人彼此并不合作。虽然双方都属于伊斯玛仪教派的什叶派，但卡尔马特人关心的是社会正义，而法蒂玛人关心的主要是维护自己世袭的神权。法蒂玛人与卡尔马特人的性质也各不相同。至于布瓦希德人，他们与前两派都隔得很远。布瓦希德人虽是什叶派，但不属于伊斯玛仪派。他们宁当阿拔斯的主人也不愿做法蒂玛的臣民。在布瓦希德人看来，这是他们唯一的选择。什叶派中的非伊斯玛仪派的各派和穆斯林社会的多数派逊尼派，在一点上意见一致：都不愿落在伊斯玛仪派的统治之下。伊斯玛仪派对未能成为伊斯兰教世界的主人心怀不满，于1090年左右组织秘密团体阿萨辛派进行报复。他们早期的受害者之一是取代布瓦希德人的伊朗宰相、逊尼派塞尔柱突厥人尼扎姆?穆尔克。

    对于伊斯兰教世界的居民来说，11和12世纪是动乱的年代。统一的伊斯兰教国家的解体造成了国内法律和秩序的大混乱。巴格达的布瓦希德人政权以及后来取代它的塞尔柱人政权，多少减轻了这种混乱，但这只是暂时和局部的。伊斯兰教世界现正受到基督教入侵者的折磨；更悲惨的是，它还受到迁移不定的游牧蛮族的骚扰，虽然这些蛮族名义上已皈依伊斯兰教。

    东罗马人在961年夺取了克里特岛，在965年夺取了塔尔苏斯，在法蒂玛人占领埃及的同一年969年夺取了安条克。在其后的100年中，法蒂玛人和东罗马人为争夺叙利亚而互相竞争，但都没有成功，最后双方都被人赶走。驱赶他们的对手最初是1098－1099年的塞尔柱突厥人，后来是西方的基督教十字军。诺曼底人在1060至1090年间征服了西西里。卡斯提人在1085年占领了托莱多。

    得到释放的游牧民族–突厥人、阿拉伯人和柏柏尔人造成了范围更广的痛苦和破坏。999年，继承阿拔斯王朝的萨曼伊朗人国家沿着乌浒河一分为二，一部分为962年在今天阿富汗的伽色尼建立的一个突厥人王朝所统治，一部分为葛逻禄突厥人所统治，后者在960年皈依了伊斯兰教。自从9世纪初以来，突厥人作为士兵–奴隶一直源源不断地进入伊斯兰世界，他们学会了如何乘机反抗自己的主人。999年，一大批自由的突厥人游牧部落葛逻禄人首次大规模地定居于伊斯兰教地区。紧跟葛逻禄人之后的是古兹人，他们被基尔察克人赶到了西边。1040年，一支已经改宗伊斯兰教的古兹人在塞尔柱家族的成员率领下打败了另一支突厥人伽色尼人，占领了呼罗珊。塞尔柱人的野心是建立一个属于自己的帝国，在这方面他们暂时取得了成功。1055年他们取代了布瓦希德人而成为在巴格达的阿拔斯人的主人。跟随塞尔柱人的游牧民需要的是牧场和战利品。塞尔柱人与新结识的伊朗人和定居的阿拉伯臣民共谋，让游牧的突厥人通过。1064年他们放这些人前去亚美尼亚，1071年之后又把他们放到了小亚细亚。但是在这些迁移的游牧民族开始破坏这些基督教国家之前，他们已在沿途摧毁了伊朗。

    1047年，法蒂玛人为了报复法蒂玛西北非总督区脱离王朝，放出了两支阿拉伯游牧部落。西北非的橄榄园曾经保证了这一地区在迦太基人和罗马人统治时期的繁荣，它们躲过了汪达尔人的征服和阿拉伯人的首次征服。但是，由阿拉伯人第二次征服造成的破坏却不可修复。这并不是一次军事行动，而是游牧民族大规模的迁移。这些向西跋涉的阿拉伯游牧部落并未到达大西洋，来自西撒哈拉的柏柏尔游牧民挡住了他们的去路。这些柏柏尔人的领袖是一个叫作”穆拉比教团”的宗教兄弟会。他们是清教徒式的逊尼派信徒。1086年和1090年，他们进入西班牙，废黜了好几个未能阻挡卡斯蒂利亚人前进的西班牙倭马亚王朝的继承者。直到此时西班牙穆斯林才为时已晚地发现，他们信仰基督教的西班牙同胞与此相比并不那么邪恶。

    在地中海西部平原和叙利亚，伊斯兰教的政治边疆已被西方基督教入侵者向后推进。但与此同时，这一边疆在印度和小亚细亚仍在继续向前推进。伽色尼的突厥人王朝征服了从未置于萨曼或阿拔斯人统治之下的非伊斯兰的领土。伽色尼的马哈茂德将整个印度河平原都置于逊尼派穆斯林的统治之下（他在印度河流域进行战争的同时，还消灭了木尔坦和信德的伊斯玛仪什叶派穆斯林政权）。塞尔柱人对伊朗和伊拉克的统治虽然昙花一现，但他们在东罗马帝国的心脏小亚细亚建立的一个逊尼派穆斯林国家却存在了231年（1077－1308年）。

    突厥人是经伊朗进入伊斯兰教世界的。但在他们进入之前伊朗人已经创造出了一种光辉灿烂的伊朗版本的伊斯兰教文明。突厥人保留了他们祖先的语言，但接受了这种伊朗形式的伊斯兰教文明。正是这种形式的伊斯兰教向东南传播到印度，向西北传播到东正教基督教王国。自11世纪起伊斯兰教牺牲这两个邻近文明的扩张，这比它在西方的长期退缩和在叙利亚的暂时退缩要更为广泛。

    所以，在统一的伊斯兰教国家解体的同时，伊斯兰教的版图也在显著地扩张。在理论上，统一国家是宗教的强制性的政治框架；但理论被经验否决了。这证明伊斯兰教无需一个统一政府的支持也能生存和传播。这一经历具有两个重大的影响。它一方面改变了穆斯林关于真主性质以及穆斯林礼拜者与真主关系的性质的概念，另一方面它在已经消亡的统一伊斯兰教国家的后续国家中，引起了非穆斯林臣民的第一次大规模的改宗浪潮。

    这种大规模改宗的政治动机是很明显的。曾经统一的伊斯兰教国家的非穆斯林多数派臣民，以前受到强加给他们的伊斯兰教和平的庇护。当伊斯兰教的统一国家解体之后，其臣民–无论是穆斯林还是非穆斯林–需要寻找某种替代性的庇护。他们认为伊斯兰宗教比伊斯兰国家具有更顽强的生存力量，于是便推动了日益解体的国家的非穆斯林臣民采用他们前统治者的宗教。与作为一个动乱时期未能度过难关的国家的前臣民相比，如今作为一个穆斯林，更能为个人提供更大的安全感。改宗伊斯兰教的动力现已不仅仅是争取赋税和政治上的平等，而是对生存的一种令人极度痛苦的关切。

    能够使人生存下去的伊斯兰教是逊尼派正统形式的伊斯兰教。什叶派的布瓦希德人认识到逊尼派对群众的号召力，一直避免废除阿拔斯人的哈里发制度；因为哈里发制虽然已不再是统一的逊尼派穆斯林国家的有效政府，但它仍然是逊尼派穆斯林共同体心理和社会统一的制度性的象征。而且，与伊斯玛仪的什叶派截然不同，逊尼派对人的需要更为关心。穆罕默德所体验的真主一直是《五经》中以色列人的上帝。他是不可接近、无法解释的。因而，在正统的逊尼派穆斯林看来，神秘主义者跨越真主与人之间鸿沟的努力是令人怀疑的。这种做法似乎象是对真主超越性的一种亵渎和侵犯。无疑，生活在11世纪的质朴的穆斯林，并不了解《五经》中的上帝已被以色列的先知和犹大及其继承者法利赛人和基督徒变形为上帝父亲。但是，这个慈爱而又可爱的上帝正是统一的伊斯兰教国家的前臣民在国家陷于分裂之时所渴望的上帝。正当他们有这种需要的时刻，一位来自呼罗珊的伊朗学者加扎利（1058－1111年）满足了他们的需要。

    同奥古斯丁一样，加扎利是一位自愿放弃其职位的教授。但与奥古斯丁不同，加扎利并没有参与有争议的教会政治。他力图通过直接体验与真主的神秘关系而深入研究神秘主义。为此他退隐了11年之久（1095－1106年）加扎利并不排拒逊尼派的正统教义，但他将神秘主义融入其中，从而使其人格化。所以，当逊尼派穆斯林最终沿着加扎利的路线前进时，逊尼派伊斯兰教经历了一次转折，获得了一次新生。加扎利赢得其宗教同伴的信任是因为他否定和反对两个不得人心的运动，一个是伊斯玛仪的什叶派，另一个是理性主义哲学。伊斯玛仪派之所以不得人心，是因为他们是偷偷摸摸的暴力革命者；理性主义哲学家不得人心，是因为人们感到自由思想对于一个充满危险的时代来说，是一件太费钱的奢侈品。以抛弃这两个坏东西为代价，加扎利为逊尼派伊斯兰教拯救了神秘主义；如果神秘主义真的也被抛弃了，那逊尼派在人类思想中，或许也就没有立足之地了。

    第六十二章 拜占庭世界（927／928－1071年）

    这一阶段拜占庭历史上的两个重要事件是989年俄罗斯人改宗卡尔西顿派基督教的东正教派和1071年东罗马帝国的军事崩溃。帝国的崩溃给希腊人带来了灾难性的影响。在7世纪，东罗马帝国事实上已成为希腊人的帝国，尽管它仍保持着罗马的名称。所以，从1071年起帝国遭受的挫折也就是希腊民族的挫折。但是，到1071年时，拜占庭文明的命运已不再完全与希腊民族和东罗马帝国的命运休戚相关。此时的拜占庭社会除了希腊人之外，还开始包括3个说斯拉夫语的民族–保加利亚人、塞尔维亚人和俄罗斯人，以及格鲁吉亚人和高加索的阿兰人。

    如果孤立地看，这一时期东罗马帝国军事史上的兴亡胜败似乎有点荒谬，但从经济和社会背景上考察，这些变迁便很容易理解。从926年到1045年，东罗马帝国的军事史记载了连续不断的、虽然并不总是轻易得来的胜利。11世纪50年代的转折和1071年东罗马帝国在亚美尼亚和阿普利亚两条战线上的惨败，其根源在于此前帝国农业政策的一系列失败。这些失败始于929年（更有可能是922年），最终以1028年政府承认失败而结束。回过头来看，东罗马乡村贵族的成员于963、970、976－979、987－989和1057年在小亚细亚一系列的反叛已构成了塞尔柱和达尼什曼德的突厥人军事首领及追随他们的游牧部落占领小亚细亚内陆地区的序曲，这一地区先前是由东罗马贵族的大庄园占据的这些大庄园的扩张损害了组成东罗马民兵的广大农民的地产。

    只要东罗马还坚持守势，这支由农民组成的民兵就能够在阿拉伯人的进攻面前成功地据守小亚细亚。武装起来的农民实际上成了防御战的有效工具。由于他们保卫的富饶土地是属于自己所有的财产，因而具有认真履行军事职责的强烈动机。帝国国库的损失并不算大，因为农民主要依靠自己的土地为生，他们交纳的赋税要大于服军役的收入。但是这些农民组成的民兵并不能同样胜任以征服和永久占领帝国之外领土为目标的进攻性战争。

    在926年之前的3个世纪中，东罗马的军事行动一直是防御性的，农民民兵保卫的是自己的财产。但即使在这一时期，也已经很难劝诱民兵们投入大量时间积极地参加勤务和训练。加入民兵的农民除了要为自己提供军事装备和为家人提供生活必需品之外还要交纳赋税，因此他们关心的首要事情就是种好地，养好牲口，生产更多的东西。当时的税率很高，税务官对待农民一直非常严厉苛刻，并且常常欺骗农民。他们的行径使农民疏远了帝国政府。7世纪时阿拉伯人征服小亚细亚失败的原因之一就在于当地居民心甘情愿地为自己的国家而战斗。而从1071年起，小亚细亚的农民就与叙利亚和埃及的农民在633年时一样，愿意容忍，甚至在有些场合是欢迎外来入侵者。

    小亚细亚东部的农民与东山再起的土地贵族之间的关系是非常矛盾的。农民的军事才干为大地主带来了好运。尽管在东罗马帝国于961年和965年先后重新征服克里特和塔尔苏斯之前，穆斯林在海陆两路对东罗马领土的侵犯一直没有平息，但在863年就已经发生了有利于东罗马帝国的转折。从这一年起，小亚细亚的治安状况不断改善；结果，土地成了更加具有吸引力的投资。赋税的压力迫使农民出卖土地，尽管他们拥有的土地是对服军役的补偿物，在法律上是不能转让的。由927／928年异乎寻常的严冬引起的饥荒，使得富人能够以低得可笑的价格收购穷人的土地。但是如果农民在资金方面没有受到沉重赋税的巨大压力，这次暂时性的危机尚不致被利用到如此程度。

    利用927／928年危机的丑闻昭然于世后，导致了帝国的农业立法。这次立法活动在1028年最终失败，它成为东罗马帝国政府与小亚细亚东部大地主之间争夺农民”剩余”产品使用权的斗争。东罗马帝国国民生产总值的绝大部分是由农民的生产提供的。因此，中心问题是农民每年的”剩余”是应该以税收的形式为政府所占有还是应该以地租的形式为大地主所占有。对于农民来说，这是在两种灾害之间的选择。作为”自由农”，农民忍受着残酷无情的赋税负担；而作为大地主的佃农，农民则将与帝国税务官打交道的负担交给了地主，但这样做的代价则是让自己听任地主的摆布。

    政府的目标是要让大地主退出他们自927／928年以来不正当地、时常也是非法地占有的土地。这场斗争在巴西尔二世统治时期（976－1025年）达到了高潮。976－979年和987－989年小亚细亚的贵族发起了反对巴西尔二世的起义。巴西尔的报复十分严厉。1003／1004年，他下令由富有的纳税人集体承担对税区征收的税务总额，并免去穷人的纳税责任。1028年在大地主的压力之下，这项法令被巴西尔的弟弟、懒散的同僚和幸存者君士坦丁八世废除。巴西尔在死后的失败与中国的王安石在1085－1086年的失败出于同样的原因。在东罗马帝国就同在中华帝国一样，想成为改革者的人可利用的唯一力量就是既不忠诚又不老实的官员，他们的个人利益就在于破坏他们本应当尽责执行的改革措施。

    巴西尔二世既与自己的政府官员严重失和，又与在小亚细亚东部反叛的贵族臣民剑拔弩张尖锐对立。他试图保护农民免遭这两伙恶棍的欺侮，虽然他的最终目的不是为了农民，而是为了国家的利益。而政府官员与小亚细亚的贵族也势不两立，因为在正常情况下，如果坐在帝国王位上的皇帝不具备巴西尔二世的能力，那这些官员就要以当朝皇帝的名义进行统治。这样一来，贵族的目标不是夺取帝国政府，就是脱离帝国政府。贵族与农民之间则怀着既恨又爱的矛盾情感。他们都一致憎恶帝国的税务官，因为贵族虽然能够逃避自己的纳税义务，但他们认为赋税的压力降低了农民民兵的军事效率，一个贵族的权力取决于他们是否能担任务行省民兵军团的司令。而担任了这一职务也就能担任行省的总督。

    农民对贵族的感情也是复杂的。他们憎恨贵族抢夺土地，但又感激贵族支持他们抗击税务官，并钦佩贵族的军事才干。这种钦佩促使农民不仅在保卫帝国的战争中，而且在推翻帝国的起义中都跟着贵族走。963年至1057年间小亚细亚的5次起义，如果没有农民的支持本来不可能象实际上发生的那样可怕。这些起义演变成了农民反对税务官的叛乱。963年的起义将一位贵族尼斯福鲁斯二世福卡斯推上了帝国王位；1057年的起义为另一位贵族伊萨克一世康尼努斯赢得了同样的奖赏。其他3次起义最后都没有成功，但巴西尔二世在位期间只镇压了其中的2次，而且这2次都得到了外国雇佣军的帮助，一次是979年雇佣了伊比利亚人（即格鲁吉亚人），一次是988－989年雇佣了俄罗斯人。

    用外国的和本地的雇佣军取代农民民兵是1071年帝国崩溃的原因之一。东罗马军队中始终有一批专门靠服兵役谋生的职业雇佣兵，但是在3位前后相继的野心勃勃的征服者尼斯福鲁斯二世福卡斯（963－969年）、约翰?齐米斯西斯（969－976年）和巴西尔二世统治之前，这类耗费钱财的武装人数并不多。当时，人们一致赞成要把农民民兵由兼职的士兵改为专职的农业劳动者和完全的纳税人。巴西尔二世和政府官员一致希望能解除小亚细亚农民的武装，因为他们认识到农民民兵是桀骜不驯的贵族军事力量的源泉。尼斯福鲁斯二世在许多互相矛盾的考虑面前无所适从，他内心希望能保住农民民兵，因为这些人是他的战士和追随他的同乡。但另一方面，他又渴望获得一支职业军队，以从事民兵无法胜任的征服活动洞时，他也不愿限制追随他的贵族兼并土地。1071年，倒霉的皇帝罗曼努斯四世狄奥根尼不得不以雇佣军来抗击塞尔柱人。这些雇佣军士兵的唯一兴趣就是挣钱。

    尼斯福鲁斯二世对于穆斯林劫掠者在克里特和西里西亚的大本营的征服，对于东罗马帝国来说是很有价值的。约翰?齐米斯西斯和巴西尔二世征服保加利亚是重大的军事胜利，这场战争从971年持续到1018年（中间曾短暂休战）。它取得了君士坦丁五世在755－775年东罗马－保加利亚战争中未能取得的成果。但是，971－1018年战争的后果，对征服者和被征服者都是灾难性的。在167年间，保加利亚因此而丧失了政治独立（1018－1185年），东罗马帝国经受了一场它再也无法从中恢复的财政、经济和社会危机。财政危机的表现就是东罗马金币的贬值。自从戴克里先和君士坦丁一世恢复东罗马金币以来，它一直保持着独特的价值。但尼斯福鲁斯一世福卡斯却发行了贬值的金币用于国内流通，而原先的金币在君士坦丁九世统治期间（1042－1055年）已经贬值。

    1040－1046年标志着东罗马历史的转折，其意义与860－865年和926－928年的两次转折同样重要。1040年，东罗马重新占领了锡拉库萨（该城于878年失守），但1041年诺曼底冒险家占领了东罗马在阿普利亚领土上的重要城镇梅尔菲。1045年，东罗马完全吞并了除小公国卡斯之外的整个亚美尼亚。但1046年塞尔柱人开始蹂躏现已不再由亚美尼亚军队保卫的亚美尼亚。

    1071年，诺曼底人占领了巴里，完全征服了东罗马在阿普利亚和卡拉布里亚的领地。同年，塞尔柱将领艾勒卜?艾尔斯兰在曼齐刻尔俘虏了东罗马皇帝罗曼努斯四世狄奥根尼。此后，塞尔柱人占领了7世纪以来一直是东罗马帝国心脏的小亚细亚腹地。

    1071年之后，东罗马帝国在东南欧的领土面积自7世纪以来首次超过了它在亚洲的领土面积。保加利亚人在1041年曾举行反叛，但遭到了镇压。在1071年之后，保加利亚人继续是东罗马帝国的臣民，塞尔维亚人仍然处于东罗马的宗主权之下。但希腊人在欧洲仅仅是一个占统治地位的少数民族，而小亚细亚的所有居民自6世纪以来一直讲希腊语。在东南欧，东罗马政权已岌岌可危。

    因此，从希腊人和东罗马人的观点看，在1071年之前的一个半世纪中，拜占庭的历史是一部失败的历史；但是从斯拉夫人和东正教会的观点看，它又是一部胜利的历史。

    东正教自约867年后在俄罗斯曾是一个少数民族的宗教；但是当基辅大公弗拉基米尔于989年接受洗礼时，东正教便成了俄罗斯国家的国教。弗拉基米尔受洗之后，娶了一位希腊公主即巴西尔二世的妹妹安娜为妻。但是，拜占庭文明既是通过希腊人、也是通过保加利亚人的渠道传播到俄罗斯的。东罗马帝国是拜占庭文明的源泉，但是在向俄罗斯宣传这一文明的过程中，保加利亚人具有语言上的优势。虽然保加利亚和俄罗斯这两个国家分别是由讲突厥语的匈奴人和讲条顿语的瑞典人建立的，但这两个国家大多数居民都讲斯拉夫语。当两国改宗基督教的时候，大多数民族已使用这种语言。当俄罗斯改宗时，它的王公们带回了希腊的艺术家和建筑师，但俄罗斯人在宗教礼仪和文学中却采用了马其顿斯拉夫语方言，所用的书面语言也是西里尔字母表。这种字母表是在保加利亚发明的，它取代了君士坦丁－西里尔发明的较复杂的格拉哥里字母表。以这种语言为媒介，许多原文是以希腊语写成的作品，都被以一种保加利亚文的形式引进到了俄罗斯。到1071年，俄罗斯在政治上已趋于分裂，但在地理上却正在扩张，它的扩张将拜占庭文明推进到了白海沿岸。

    俄罗斯通过希腊和保加利亚的渠道接受东正教，为东正教开辟了新的前景。没有任何证据显示保罗派（显然是基督教的一种异端形式）或鲍格米勒派（一种反基督教的宗教）也同时进入了俄罗斯，而这两个教派在东罗马帝国和保加利亚已构成对东正教的挑战。保罗派起源于亚美尼亚，并在东罗马小亚细亚的东北角取得了一些地盘。君士坦丁五世在约755－757年首先将保罗派教徒（可能是亚美尼亚的保罗派）安置在色雷斯，后来约翰?齐米斯西斯于972年将他们安置在重新征服的地区，这些地区在809年之后曾被保加利亚从东罗马帝国手中夺走。鲍格米勒教是由一位名叫鲍格米勒的东正教神父（他的名字意谓”爱上帝者”或”为上帝怜悯的人”）在927年至954年间创建的。

    鲍格米勒派是保加利亚农民对保加利亚”官方”接受东正教后急剧转变的一种反应。除了受原来保加利亚世俗贵族的压迫之外，农民现在又受到贪婪而又声名狼藉的基督教教士的剥削。鲍格米勒派否定了基督教，但却采纳了基督教修道制度的禁欲主义和独身生活方式，以作为对基督教会背叛其口头理想的一种抗议。最初的鲍格米勒派教徒认为世界是由撒旦创造的。但他们同时还认为撒旦是上帝圣父的长子；圣父本人就是善，他派遣自己的次子耶稣废黜撒旦并拯救人类。

    与色雷斯的保罗派截然不同，鲍格米勒派是更为热情的传教士。在1018年保加利亚并入东罗马帝国之后，鲍格米勒派传播到了东罗马；与此同时，在另一个方向，它在东正教世界与西方基督教世界之间有争议的波斯尼亚河地区也扎下了根，并从这一地区传播到伦巴第、托斯卡纳和朗格多克。在除俄罗斯之外的所有卡尔西顿派基督教国家中，鲍格米勒派都得益于基督教教会”权力机构”的坏名声和不得人心。

    大约在1167年前不久，鲍格米勒派在保加利亚的特拉哥维奇亚地区建立了一个激进教派。这些特拉哥维奇亚的鲍格米勒派教徒认为善和恶的本性是互相等同的和永恒的。这种激进的鲍格米勒派可能是保加利亚农民对进一步剧变的一种反应。1018年东罗马帝国吞并保加利亚及巴尔干半岛内陆其他地区，扩大了鲍格米勒派开展传教工作的地域，而971－1018年东罗马－保加利亚战争和1041年对保加利亚起义的野蛮镇压，则加剧了保加利亚农民的苦难。

    在1071年两场灾难之前的一个半世纪中，东罗马帝国的经济和社会结构正趋于解体。其标志是帝国政府农业立法的失败。但就在同一时期，帝国境内也出现了神秘主义的复兴和视觉艺术的繁荣。与巴西尔相比，巴西尔的同时代人、”新神学家”圣?西米恩（949－1022年）对拜占庭生活更具有长远的影响。视觉艺术的繁荣发展并未受到1071年军事灾难的阻碍。拜占庭艺术家擅长于微型艺术，如镶嵌工艺品、牙雕或金属图徽。其风格都类似令拜占庭时代的希腊人神往的古希腊风格；但11和12世纪的拜占庭视觉艺术并不仅仅是对古希腊原作的单纯模仿。古希腊艺术给拜占庭艺术家带来了创造具有自己独特风格作品的灵感，当这种拜占庭艺术从君士坦丁堡被移植到基辅和诺夫哥罗德时，在这个新天地里，它开始以新颖的方式得到发展。到1071年，俄罗斯已成为拜占庭文化与东正教的希望之乡。

    第六十三章 西方基督教世界（911－1099年）

    在军事上，这个时期西方基督教世界命运的兴衰与同时代东罗马帝国的经历恰恰相反。在查理大帝814年去世之前，西方基督教世界就已受到斯堪的纳维亚海盗的袭击。直到955年奥托一世战胜马扎尔人时，它一直处于防御状态。在896－955年间它所蒙受的异族入侵的灾难达到了顶点。因为，在这60年间，马扎尔骑兵深入到西方基督教世界的内陆地区，这些地区过去很少受到斯堪的纳维亚海盗和穆斯林海盗的威胁。在11世纪下半期，形势变得对西方基督教世界有利了，同时东罗马帝国的形势则开始发生逆转。

    考虑到先前的社会和文化的逐渐变迁–例如，居住在英国”丹麦法施行区”和法国诺曼底的斯堪的纳维亚人接受了西方基督教文明，克吕尼修道院遵守本尼迪克修道规章影响的传播–东西方基督教世界军事上的突然变化使是可以理解的了。斯堪的纳维亚居民的同化，表明西方基督教的生活方式对尚未信仰东正教、伊斯兰教或犹太教的各地蛮族很有吸引力。克吕尼修道院对西方修道制度的改革，说明了西方基督教文明具有吸引力的原因。这次改革正是西方基督教社会在其他各社会领域和在宗教上一样富有活力的象征。

    在君士坦丁－西里尔和美多迪乌斯在另一个斯拉夫邻邦大摩拉维亚传道时期（863－885年），基督教在波希米亚获得了一个立足点。可能两个世纪以来，在波希米亚，斯拉夫的宗教仪式就和最终在那儿盛行的拉丁仪式共存。也和在俄罗斯一样，斯拉夫民族的礼拜仪式也帮助了基督教在波兰的传播。在966年，即撒克逊皇帝奥托一世取得对马扎尔人的决定性胜利11年后，波兰也改信了西方天主教。马扎尔人在970年至1000年之间改信了天主教。丹麦在974年，其他斯堪的纳维亚国家在10和11世纪之交也改变了信仰。这些国家中有些改宗遭到了抵抗，例如挪威、瑞典和匈牙利。但是抵抗没有成功，因为，在这个时期，在西方无主教世界周围仍为异教徒的邻国看来，西方基督教文明已变得无法战胜了。

    在11世纪下半期，西方基督教也取得了对东正教和伊斯兰教世界的优势。在1041年至1071年间，诺曼人冒险家征服了东罗马帝国在阿普里亚和卡拉布里亚的领土。在1060年至1090年间，他们从穆斯林人手中夺去了西西里岛。阿普利亚人是讲意大利语的居住在伦巴底的教皇属民，对他们来说，诺曼人的征服并非是不合适的。但是对卡拉布里亚和西西里信仰东正教的希腊人和西西里岛上的穆斯林人而言，诺曼征服实质上就是异族的压迫。在1085年，西班牙西北部独立的基督徒征服了托莱多。这个城市位于伊比利亚半岛中部，在穆斯林征服以前曾是罗马帝国的属国西哥特王国的首都。在1098年至1099年，西方基督教远征军又从塞尔柱人手中夺取了安条克，而埃泽萨则从法蒂玛人手中夺走了耶路撒冷。

    这次远征–第一次十字军东征，是一次耗资巨大，从后勤上和战略上都很重要的行动。一群西方基督教冒险家达到了尼斯福鲁斯二世福卡斯和约翰、齐米斯西斯从未能达到的目的，尽管他们可以支配东罗马帝国的全部财富。1066年诺曼人对英格三的征服也是具有同样意义的军事行动，但它和西方天主教征服地中海区域不同，它并未能使西方天主教的领土扩大，因为诺曼征服以前的英格兰就已属于天主教的范围。然而，诺曼对英格兰的征服表明，到1066年，西法兰克，即法兰西，已经跃居西方天主教世界边远地区的前列。军事威力只是法国总的优势的一个方面。

    西方基督教历史上的11世纪后半期和希腊文明史上的公元前8世纪后半期相似。在长时间的孕育之后，文明突然繁荣起来。这个时期西方基督教文明在吸取同时代更加先进的文明的成果和复兴它自己的古希腊－罗马文明上表现出旺盛的生命力。

    1088年及其以后，直到公元751年仍处于东罗马统治下的意大利城市波洛尼亚发现了查士丁尼罗马法的全文，随后掀起了研究罗马法的热潮。在10世纪结束前，在波伊提乌翻译的亚里士多德逻辑学著作的拉丁文译本湮没了450年之后，法国学者欧里亚克的吉尔伯特又在西欧对它进行了研究和阐释。在西亚新月沃地发明的水磨，又被安置在西欧阿尔卑斯山区奔腾的溪流上。可能在中国或欧亚大平原上发明的有效的挽马方法，早在10世纪时就被西方基督教世界采用。第一次十字军东征时西方基督徒的军械中出现了弩弓，而中国人早在战国时代（公元前506－前221年）就已经用它来武装自己了。

    在11世纪，西方突然抛弃了由西罗马帝国的蛮族征服者所带入的罗马式军事装备，而采用了5世纪时阿兰人带入高卢的更为有效的撒尔马特人的军械。巴约挂毯上描绘的诺曼骑士，可以在克里米亚和塔曼半岛公元1至2世纪的坟墓里有关撒尔马特骑兵的绘画上找到他们的原型。但是在11世纪西方人对他们模仿来的军械作了一个改革（许多改革中的第一个）。他们用可以提供最大的防护面积，而表面积又最小、重量最轻的鸢形盾代替了又圆又小的撒尔马特盾。这些11世纪的骑士十分清楚他们的价值，以致到11世纪中期，新的骑士们就在老骑士们的诱导下形成了一种世俗的友爱精神。

    西罗马帝国灭亡以后，西方继续用希腊时代的古典格律进行拉丁诗的创作，韵律仍以长短音节的区别为基础。而拉丁语的特点是重者的存在，这种古典的希腊式作诗法就成为令人讨厌的枷锁。基督教赞美诗作者们把拉丁语从这种束缚中解放了出来。他们创造了重读的拉丁诗。在大约11、12世纪之交，当时生动的浪漫文学作品之一的史诗《罗兰之歌》从拉丁语世界破土而出，直到今天它还标志着拉丁语系文学发展的一个新阶段。

    10世纪时西欧政治的特征是查理曼帝国的部分重建，如今是撒克逊而非法兰克作为其中心。东法兰克的撒克逊国王奥托一世于955年战败了马扎尔人，于962年在罗马加冕为皇帝。他把勃艮第和意大利并入他的德意志领土，但是西法兰克（法兰西）仍然保持了独立。与8世纪加洛林王朝取代墨洛温王朝时一样，无法再进行有效统治的加洛林王朝也在10世纪时被能得到更多支持的一个新王朝所取代。11世纪时诺曼人又在比法兰西和德意志王国规模稍小的国家建立了有效的君主政体。诺曼人对新获得的领土的组织管理成就，超过了他们征服英格兰、阿普里亚、西西里和安条克的成就。

    西西里的诺曼王国实行贵族统治，是东罗马帝国和伊斯兰哈里发的属国。它的建立导致了南意大利新兴的城邦国家的毁灭，但是在北意大利，威尼斯在11世纪结束以前，事实上已独立于东罗马帝国。11世纪初期还处于继袭的查理曼帝国地方公侯或是一些地方主教统治之下的伦巴底各城市，也在随后的100年中获得了自治。这些城邦国家的政府实行寡头统治，但他们却是共和制的。伦巴底的两个海上城邦，比萨和热那亚，事实上都是作为独立的力量参加11世纪下半期西方基督教世界对地中海地区发起的进攻的。

    这样，11世纪在西方出现了两种对立的政治结构形式：各城邦国家的共和制和各王国的君主制。到1100年，西方这两种不同的政治结构形式都要比自西罗马帝国衰落和崩溃以来在这个地区出现的任何政治统治更为有效。

    11世纪在北意大利出现的城邦制政治结构形式，同一时期也在佛兰德出现了。这两个地区同时出现了迅速的人口增长，贸易和工业的发展也与之相伴而来。早在992年，巴西尔二世就给予威尼斯商人在东罗马帝国的特权，以支持威尼斯人的航海事业。后来威尼斯人又夺取了希腊人在希腊领海内的贸易。随着一系列”十字军”王国在叙利亚沿海的建立，北意大利的海上城邦也赢得了在那里的特权。这些远在海外的西方基督教的滩头阵地，依靠热那亚、比萨和威尼斯的船队与西欧保持联系。总的来讲，西方是从伊斯兰和东正教世界的损失中受益；但是在西方人中间，主要的受益者还是北意大利人。

    西方基督教世界于910－1099年在宗教上的觉醒可从一系列进行宗教改革的努力中反映出来，它开始于910年在勃艮第的克吕尼新型的本尼狄克特修道院的建立。克吕尼改革运动扩展到整个西方基督教世界，奉行克吕尼式本尼狄克特修道规章的修士，都加入了一个与克吕尼修道院保持联系并服从其领导的组织。但是，到11世纪结束时，克吕尼式宗教仪式不再令人满意，于是在1098年，在勃艮第的锡托建立了另一个新型的修道院。圣本尼狄克特本人和基督教修道制度在埃及的开创者帕科米乌斯一样，致力于使修士的宗教活动和经济活动保持平衡。克吕尼运动精心规定了本尼狄克特修士的宗教生活。但是对佃农来说，遵奉克吕尼宗教仪式的修士和他们的邻居及其社会对应者世俗地主一样，是一个沉重的负担。锡托会修士以成就灵魂上的更加苦修和物质生产上的更加丰富为目的。他们要求归还原野，但是和底比斯原始的帕科米乌斯修士不同，他们也雇佣所谓教士的兄弟们，即这个制度中第二等级的成员作为工人。锡托会修士利用田野生产铁和羊毛。他们在经济上取得了成功，同时也播下了资本主义生产方式的种子。

    在11世纪西方基督教的改革家们进行了3项革新。他们要求世俗僧侣（即不是修士的牧师）过独身生活，并试图禁止教会职务的买卖，禁止由世俗当局进行教职授予仪式。非修士僧侣独身生活运动最终成功了，但它也遇到了激烈的反抗，因为这在西方教会和任何其他地区教会的实践中都是史无前例的。有关授职权的斗争最后于1122年以妥协告终，这也是合理的，因为世俗职务和教会职务通常都是由教会显贵担任。禁止由地方世俗监护人买卖圣职，教皇从中大获其利，他拥有了教职任免的特权，使它们不能被无偿使用。宗教改革的总的影响就是使僧侣不再隶属于世俗贵族而是隶属于教皇的领导，从而使僧侣成为西方基督教社会中一个特权集团。

    在11世纪僧侣独身生活、禁止圣职买卖、禁止世俗当局进行圣职授予的运动，是由教皇制度的改革作为先导。教皇制度是西方基督教世界最重要的制度。11世纪中期的教皇制度改革，出乎人们意料，一时引起了轰动。对于其后果的认识，也是充满了争议，莫衷一是。

    在地理上，自从穆斯林从罗马人手中夺走西北非和利奥三世夺走东伊利里亚以来，罗马城就位于西方基督教世界的东南边缘。这时西方基督教世界的地理中心是勃艮第，那里距离索恩河、塞纳河和摩泽尔河的上游最近，也最靠近莱茵河的西南角。它是阿尔卑斯山外西欧联系的中心，圣科伦班在吕克瑟伊和安娜格里的修道院，后来克吕尼和锡托的新型修道院，以及著名的位于克莱尔沃的锡托会的修女院，都是建立在这个地区。由于966年以后的半个世纪中，西方基督教主要朝东北方和北方两个方向扩展，罗马的地理位置就显得更加遥远。诺曼人对罗马东南方向的征服也只是起了微不足道的抵销作用。从这样一个遥远的角落对西方基督教世界进行宗教管理简直是一个壮举。

    罗马是西方基督教世界主要的共同的圣地、神殿和朝觐地。它的作用正和同时期安第斯世界帕查卡马克圣殿及过去希腊世界德尔斐的阿波罗神庙相类似。但是罗马也是迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯地区贵族们的私有财产。自568年伦巴德人入侵意大利以来，除了阿尔卑斯山外帝国的建立者丕平三世和查理曼短暂的干涉之外，在大多数时间里，迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯不得不自己保护自己。罗马贵族们十分清楚，罗马的神圣和教皇的权威是他们合法的额外收益。然而在西方基督教世界其他地区看来，罗马贵族对罗马城和罗马教皇的利用则是一个耻辱。

    这种把西方基督教着作一个整体的观点的最初的拥护者，是重新恢复帝国称号的德国人。奥托一世、奥托三世和亨利三世都曾废黜过出生于罗马的教皇，任命他们自己的、出生于阿尔卑斯山外的人担任教皇职务。奥托三世任命的最有名的教皇是法国学者欧里亚克的吉尔伯特，即教皇西尔维斯特二世（999－1003年在位）；亨利三世任命的最有名的教皇是他的表兄阿尔萨斯人布鲁诺，即教皇利奥九世（1048－1054年在位）。在亨利三世的鼓励下，利奥九世把代表整个西方基督教世界僧侣集团的利益，而不仅是代表迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯贵族利益的著名的僧侣们都吸收进了罗马教廷。但是教廷的这些新主人认为，是他们而不是皇帝，应该对处理有关教皇的事务拥有最后的发言权。领导改革后的教廷对当时的皇帝和罗马地方贵族进行斗争的智囊人物，是后来成为教皇格列高利七世（1073－1086年在位）的希尔德布兰德，他即使不是生于罗马，至少也是被罗马人收养的，但他并未成为迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯贵族们的朋友。1057年以后，教皇不再由罗马贵族或西罗马皇帝任命，而由代表整个西方基督教世界的红衣主教团选举产生。（红衣主教团的这个特权直到1179年才最后确定下来。）教廷在1057年到教皇乌尔班二世去世的1099年之间，成为一个有效的管理机构。但是改革了的罗马教廷也和罗马贵族以及重新恢复名号的西罗马皇帝一样，犯下了一个致命的大错：它的目标是权力，因此，为了追逐这个目标，罗马教廷于1054年与君士坦丁堡主教米恰尔、色路拉里乌斯，于1075年又与西罗马帝国皇帝亨利四世决裂。教皇制度和西方教会的改革总的来说是一个崇高的理想，改革者们本人的愿望也是很真诚的。然而，结局却是悲剧性的。这次改革带来的不是和平，而是战争。

    第六十四章 伊斯兰教世界（1110–1291年）

    在12和13世纪，伊斯兰教不仅生存了下来，而且还在继续扩展。这的确是一个相当可观的成就。因为伊斯兰教世界在政治上已经解体，并面临着外来势力的攻击：起初是在地中海地区受到西方基督教徒的进攻，然后在亚洲又受到蒙古人的进攻。西方基督教徒反击伊斯兰教所取得的唯一永恒的政治成果是在伊比利亚半岛和西西里，在这两个地区，穆斯林居民苟延残喘在基督教的统治之下。而对蒙古人来说，他们则未能征服叙利亚和埃及。在成吉思汗家族3个最西部封地上的统治者及其游牧部落的追随者皈依了伊斯兰教：位于欧亚平原西半部的金帐汗国是在1257年（完全皈依是在1313年），伊朗和伊拉克的伊尔汗国是在1295年，河间地带和塔里木盆地及其附近草原的察合台汗国是在1326年（虽然意见并非完全一致）。在蒙古人征服欧亚平原西半部之前，占据这一地区的基布察克突厥人游牧部落一直是异教徒，他们北部的伏尔加保加利亚人只是一个孤立的穆斯林社团。1237年蒙古人在进入俄罗斯和欧洲的途中劫掠了伏尔加河流域的保加尔城。但结果伊斯兰教不仅没有在这一地区被消灭，反而能够无限地扩大地盘。992年到1202年穆斯林征服北印度、从开伯尔山口扩张到孟加拉的过程，前面已经提及。在西方，穆拉比教团未能重新征服托莱多，该地在1085年落入基督教徒之手。但在相反方向，穆拉比人却于1086年在今天的北尼日利亚为伊斯兰教在西撒哈拉以南赢得了一个立脚点。

    1098－1099年叙利亚海岸西方基督教滩头阵地的建立，以及深入到幼发拉底河以东地区的位于埃泽萨（乌尔法）的据点，对伊斯兰教世界构成了严重的威胁。参加第一次十字军的冒险家为数极少（或许不到2000人）；在1099年征服耶路撒冷之后，留下来守卫被征服地区的人更少。但是，他们设法统一了被占领区。在10世纪曾抗击东罗马皇帝尼斯福鲁斯二世（福吉斯）和约翰?齐米斯西斯的特里波利于1109年向法兰克人投降。1116年耶路撒冷的法兰克人国王鲍德温一世占领了亚喀巴和亚喀巴湾中的格里尔岛，从而切断了伊斯兰教世界亚洲和非洲部分的陆路通道。

    伊斯兰教的这种局面被塞尔柱人雇佣的一名突厥军官伊马德?丁?赞吉恢复了过来。赞吉在1127年被任命为摩苏尔的总督。到1144年他已吞并了阿勒颇、霍姆斯和十字军的前哨埃泽萨。1154年赞吉的儿子努尔?丁占领了大马士革。1161－1170年他在与耶路撒冷国王阿马里克争夺对法蒂玛埃及的控制权的斗争中获胜。1171年努尔?丁的库尔德族军官撒拉丁灭掉了法蒂玛王朝，重新确立逊尼派为埃及的官方宗教。努尔?丁的帝国在他1174年去世时已经解体，但撒拉丁在阿拔斯哈里发的恩准下为自己重新征服了这一帝国。1187年他在加利利的海廷击败了法兰克人，重新夺得了耶路撒冷。第三次十字军东征（1189－1192年）未能赶走撒拉丁，尽管腓特烈一世和英法两国国王都参加了这次东征（但腓特烈中途淹死）。萨拉丁的帝国在其创建者于1193年去世后仍然保存了下来，并且在1250年萨拉丁王朝灭亡后依然存在。就在1250年，法兰克人试图第三次重复耶路撒冷国王阿马里克占领埃及的英勇业绩，但仍以失败告终。埃及现已成为伊斯兰教的堡垒和要塞。

    1250年，萨拉丁王朝的一队突厥军事奴隶从王朝手中夺取了萨拉丁的遗产。如今，继承权不是由父亲传位于子嗣，而是由前奴隶的统治者传给了奴隶。在此之前德里也建立了一个具有同样结构的政权。势力达到旁遮普东南的北印度的征服者穆罕默德?古尔任命了一位奴隶总督。1215年当古尔王朝被塞尔柱人的前封地花刺子模的统治者灭掉后，这位总督的第二位奴隶继承者便成了古尔在印度的领土的统治者。

    河间地带和东北部伊朗，在阿拔斯王朝及其伊朗人继承者萨曼王朝的统治下曾一度繁荣，但在11世纪初却饱受了由塞尔柱王朝的武将率领的土库曼人游牧部落的大量涌入之苦。1141年河间地带被一支流浪的契丹人（黑契丹人）占领。他们在1124－1125年被女真人赶出华北和满洲。黑契丹人并不是穆斯林，他们是一支开化的民族。河间地带在他们统治下遭到的损失要小于花刘子模的统治者造成的灾难。后者于1210年将黑契丹人赶出了河间地带。当1220－1221年蒙古统帅成吉思汗蹂躏花刺子模王国时，整个伊斯兰教世界的东北部都遭到了破坏，变成了荒无人烟的地带。

    成吉思汗的入侵使伊拉克免除了花刺子模人的入侵威胁。向花制子模的入侵很可能会同成吉思汗劫掠河间地带产生同样的灾难。东部的一支塞尔柱人在1194年被其前封地花刺子模灭亡，使得阿拔斯哈里发纳绥尔（1180－1225年在位）实际上获得了独立。他利用自己的行动自由重新占据了伊朗的西北部，在道义上支持萨拉丁及其继承者，并把一种流行的运动”法图瓦赫”改造成在阿拔斯庇护下的骑士制度。

    “法图瓦赫”是使伊斯兰教得以经受住蒙古人征服的几项新的伊斯兰教制度之一。另一项制度是苦行僧组成的兄弟会，其中最早的兄弟会是卡迪里教团，它由吉坦的阿布杜?卡迪尔仅立于12世纪。大多数苦行僧兄弟会的创立者都来自伊斯兰教世界的东北部。他们的宗教习俗采取了诱人心醉神迷的形式，无论他们是否是伪装的土库曼的萨满，他们都对改宗伊斯兰教的土库曼人产生了影响。这些土库曼人奉行他们所采用的宗教不仅仅是名义上的。最著名的苦修僧教团的创立者札拉丁?鲁米即是米列维教团的创始人。1207年，正当花剌子模和蒙古人的旋风席卷这一地区之前不久，他生于托卡里斯坦的巴尔赫。他在塞尔柱拉姆苏丹国的首都库尼亚赫度过了一生（1207－1273年）中的大部分时光，并在此用新波斯语写下了他神秘主义的诗歌。另一位波斯诗人设拉子的萨阿迪（约1184－1291年）并没有隐居，而终日云游四方。他成为伊斯兰教世界历史上最动荡的世纪中的百岁老人。

    塞尔柱人的帝国在小亚细亚（拉姆）的分支比幼发拉底河以东的帝国的主体具有更顽强的耐力。塞尔柱人的拉姆王国经受住了第一次十字军的风暴；1176年，它挫败了东罗马帝国为时已晚的重新征服该地的努力；它在1243年战败于蒙古人之后仍幸免于灭亡，尽管它不得不服从蒙古人的宗主权。拉姆在小亚细亚建立了一个定居的说突厥语的社会，它的文明是伊朗式的伊斯兰教文明。拉姆的苏丹设法将塞尔柱人带来的土库曼人游牧部落驱赶到伊斯兰教世界与东罗马帝国的边界，并将13世纪从蒙古逃来的游牧部落也迁移至此。与马木路克的埃及和叙利亚不同，虽然拉姆以后战败于蒙古人，被置于蒙古人的宗主权之下，但在伊斯兰教历史上这一关键时刻，它仍为伊斯兰教提供了一个庇护所。

    因此，当1256年执政的蒙古大汗蒙哥委任其弟旭烈兀汗完成成吉思汗征服伊斯兰教世界的末竟事业时，伊斯兰教得以在1258年伊拉克遭到毁坏、巴格达被攻陷和劫掠、阿拔斯哈里发王朝被灭亡之后生存下来。

    1261年，萨拉丁王朝的奴隶（马木路克）继承者显示出蒙古人并不是战无不胜的：他们在巴勒斯坦歼灭了旭烈兀汗常胜军的先锋卫队。被杀的蒙古将军是一名聂斯脱利派的基督徒，与他在一起的有西里西亚亚美尼亚的基督教国王和安条克的基督教王公。但驻守在阿卡的法兰克人让马木路克的军队通过。马木路克人挡住了伊朗和伊拉克的蒙古人伊尔汗国对叙利亚的3次入侵，并且在1291年占领了西方基督教在叙利亚剩下的最后一个滩头阵地阿卡。

    在伊尔汗国版图内的西方基督教徒和聂斯脱利派的基督教徒都希望西方基督教王国与蒙古帝国的伟大联盟能征服整个伊斯兰教世界和消灭伊斯兰教本身。教皇和法国的使臣到达靠近欧亚平原东端的蒙古大汗的首都哈刺和林。蒙古人虽然向西方基督教徒提出了一些建议，但这一计划并投有什么结果。蒙古帝国西部地区的统治者宁愿选择伊斯兰教而不是基督教。在1295年伊尔汗加赞改宗伊斯兰教之后，他的穆斯林臣民对他的基督教臣民进行了报复。在伊斯兰教世界的亚洲部分，当11世纪土库曼人在塞尔柱人的率领下进行民族大迁移时，基督徒已开始大规模地改宗伊斯兰教。现在这种改完又获得了新的推动力；在新月沃地的人口中曾经占有多数的聂斯脱利派和一性论派基督教徒在人数上正大大减少，最终成为四处散居的游民。

    在伊斯兰教世界的另一端，被西方基督教徒征服地区的穆斯林人口也大大减少，最终竟完全消失。来自西撒哈拉的游牧部族柏柏尔族穆拉比教徒和取代他们的来自阿特拉斯山脉的高原柏柏尔穆瓦希德人，都未能成功地挡住西方基督教徒在伊比利亚半岛的军事进展。1236年科尔多瓦陷落，1248年塞维利亚陷落。此后，穆斯林在伊比利亚半岛的统治仅限于格拉纳达周围的偏僻之地。但是，穆瓦维希人却成功地将西西里的诺曼人从沿海滩头驱逐出去，自12世纪40年代穆拉比人衰落之后，诺曼人一直占据着伊夫里奎亚的滩头阵地。

    不过，从军事上说，在11世纪的大潮之后伊斯兰教文明涌动的西部地区并不是非洲，而是伊比利亚半岛。在这一地区，科尔多瓦倭马亚哈里发王国的解体与巴格达阿拔斯哈里发制度在伊朗的崩溃具有同样的文化推动作用。在伊比利亚半岛，地方宫廷数目的增加，扩大了潜在的文学艺术庇护人的数目。在继承科尔多瓦的哈里发的众多小邦中，诗歌创作极度繁荣。在基督教征服安达卢西亚的前夕，伊比利亚半岛为伊斯兰教贡献了一位哲学家伊本?拉希德（阿威罗伊）（1126－1198年）和一位神秘主义者伊本?阿拉比（1165－1240年）。前者与伊本?西那（阿维森纳）齐名，后者肯定加扎利对神秘主义的论证是逊尼派伊斯兰教正统教义可接受的一部分。伊比利亚半岛对伊斯兰文化的贡献与伊夫里奎亚对西方基督教文化的早期贡献具有相同的命运：尽管这些贡献创造者进行创造活动所在的地区遭到肢解，但他们的业绩仍然保存了下来。

    第六十五章 拜占庭世界（1071－1240年）

    1071年，东罗马皇帝罗曼努斯四世狄奥根尼被塞尔柱军事首领阿勒卜?艾尔斯兰战败并俘虏；1081年小亚细亚贵族亚历克塞一世康危努斯登上东罗马帝国皇帝宝座。在以这2次重大历史事件为起迄点的10年中，东罗马当局将东罗马帝国的心脏小亚细亚送给了突厥人，尽管东罗马人的祖先为抗击阿拉伯人对这一地区的进攻已坚持不懈地战斗了3个世纪。就和同一时期的中国一样，无休无止的内部纷争导致了东罗马帝国在这10年中的急剧没落。到1081年，东罗马帝国的大部分地区都遭到了东方的塞尔柱人、西方的诺曼人和北方的佩切涅格人和古兹人的蹂躏。（古兹人从欧亚太平原西端和多瑙河下游进入东罗马帝国，他们是塞尔柱土库曼人的异教同宗，他们同样受到另一支突厥人游牧民族基布察克人西迁的压力。）

    亚历克塞一世（1081－1181年）是戴克里先和希拉克略的名符其实的继承人。同他们一样，亚历克塞一世从毁灭中拯救了帝国，并且找到了两个能干和精力旺盛的继承人约翰二世（1118－1143年在位）与曼努埃尔一世（1143－1180年在位）。但是这三位皇帝都未能成功地阻止大地主经济和政治势力以牺牲帝国政府利益为代价的增长，也未能击退来自小亚细亚的塞尔柱和达尼什曼德突厥人。游牧的土库曼人行踪不定；基督教的希腊农民疏远了帝国。农民深受游牧部落之害；但是只要拉姆苏丹国的塞尔柱统治者能够成功地保护农民免受追随塞尔柱人的游牧部落的骚扰，农民就会认为突厥人穆斯林苏丹的压迫比东罗马帝国政府的压迫还要轻。

    亚历克塞一世必须要对付第一次十字军。伊斯兰世界对付土库曼人的办法是将他们迁移到东罗马的亚美尼亚和小亚细亚；亚历克塞对付西方十字军骑士的办法，则是将他们引向叙利亚。但亚历克塞和十字军的目标是相反的。亚历克塞宁愿招聘十字军作为雇佣兵把突厥人驱逐出小亚细亚，但十字军的目标却是耶路撒冷，他们并不希望成为东罗马帝国的代理人或仆从。结果，双方都未能实现目的。东罗马帝国从未恢复小亚细亚腹地；十字军虽占领了耶路撒冷，但他们从未能成功地征服叙利亚腹地。因此，在与广阔的伊斯兰内陆地带对峙的陆地防线上，十字军未能在叙利亚建立稳固的滩头阵地。拉姆的塞尔柱人能够在小亚细亚建立一个拥有定居人口的有组织的国家，而赞吉、努尔?丁和撒拉丁则能够包围叙利亚海岸的法兰克人滩头阵地，将法兰克人驱逐出耶路撒冷。

    当帝国在小亚细亚腹地的领土仍然完好无损、帝国政府与大地主争夺对农民的控制权的斗争尚未彻底失败之时，尼斯福鲁斯二世福卡斯和约翰?齐斯米西斯及巴西尔二世的目标就已经超出了帝国的能力之外；但是曼努埃尔二世却推行了一个更为野心勃勃的扩张政策，从而浪费了精力，白白消耗了东罗马帝国已经萎缩的资源。虽然曼努埃尔不可能保持帝国对塞尔维亚的支配权，但他仍然与匈牙利进行战争。他干预腓特烈一世巴尔巴罗萨与北意大利城邦之间的战争，企图收复帝国在阿普利亚的失地。曼努埃尔于1180年死后，帝国的崩溃在一场超级灾难中达到顶峰。

    曼努埃尔与西方基督教徒的关系一直很友好，但他的大多数同胞并未能分享他的亲法兰克人的情感。东罗马政府在先前2个世纪中为谋求意大利沿海城邦海军援助而出让的经济特权，使得意大利人能够从希腊人那里赢得东罗马帝国的国内贸易。1182年君士坦丁堡发生了屠杀西方商人的事件。西西里的诺曼人进行了报复，占领和劫掠了塞萨洛尼基。1180年塞尔维亚摆脱了东罗马帝国的宗主权。自1018年以来已成为东罗马帝国臣民的保加利亚人于1185年进行反叛，重新建立了独立国家（这次是与弗拉克人合作）。与保加利亚人1041年的反叛不同，1185年的反叛未能镇压下去。1185年塞浦路斯脱离东罗马，但1191年又被西方十字军骑士、英格兰的理查一世占领。1192年理查一世又将塞浦路斯作为一种慰劳品交给了耶路撒冷的法兰克国王吕济尼昂家族的盖伊，后者于1187年赶走了撒拉丁，而第三次十字军又未能让他重新获得任命。

    1203－1204年，一场重大灾难震撼了东罗马帝国。君士坦丁堡两次受到威尼斯人和法国”十字军”联合远征军的进攻，第一次是以一个要求继承东罗马皇位的人的名义，第二次则是袭击者自己的主张。这是君士坦丁堡自330年建城以来首次在敌人的进攻面前陷落。该城遭到了野蛮的抢劫，胜利者们彼此之间订立了瓜分帝国的协议。但他们最终无力实行其全部计划。威尼斯取得了最大的成功，在瓜分战利品时她挑选克里特岛和其他一些海岛以及分布在大陆沿海战略要地的滩头堡垒。不复存在的东罗马帝国的继承者、希腊人诸王国，在西北小亚细亚、小亚细亚北部海岸的东端、特拉布松周围以及伊庇鲁斯建立了独立国家。君士坦丁堡被分给了一位法兰西的十字军，他获得了皇帝的头衔。

    继之而来的事情表明，拥有君士坦丁堡现已成为一种负担而不是财富。从330年到1204年，君士坦丁堡在军事上一直是东罗马帝国坚不可摧的堡垒，但自从633－642年失去了叙利亚、巴勒斯坦和埃及之后，它也成为一个社会和经济负担。从那时起，君士坦丁堡作为首都对于帝国已经缩小的规模来说就显得太大了；这一负担在1071年丢失了小亚细亚腹地之后进一步加重。1204年由法兰西皇帝夺取的一小块帝国领土井不足以维持君士坦丁堡；对于从1204年至1261年居住在此的法兰西皇帝们来说，君士坦丁堡自始至终犹如荆棘丛生之地。

    与此相反，继承帝国的本地希腊人国家却比帝国自巴西尔二世死亡之后的任何时期都显示出更大的活力。西北小亚细亚和伊庇鲁斯的希腊人国家互相之间以及与法兰克人都处在竞争状态，在反对所有希腊人和法兰克人对手的斗争中，亚洲国家成了胜利者。（地处偏僻的希腊特拉布松帝国没有卷入这场斗争。）西北小亚细亚的希腊人国家，自称是东罗马帝国的合法继承者。它的统治者自称为帝国皇帝，其合法性得到君士坦丁堡东正教主教的承认；这位主教临时驻节在流亡帝国的首都尼西亚。尼西亚的东罗马帝国比3位康尼努斯家族的皇帝统治君士坦丁堡时期（1091－1180年）的东罗马帝国，更为成功地抗击了塞尔柱突厥人的拉姆苏丹国。尼西亚帝国向东部和南部扩展和推进边疆，直接损害着拉姆的利益。它在经济上很繁荣，在文学和视觉艺术领域显示出特色。1235年尼西亚皇帝约翰三世瓦塔特泽斯夺取了位于达达尼尔海峡欧洲沿岸威尼斯人的滩头堡垒加利波利，从而在欧洲获得了一个立脚点。1234年他与保加利亚结盟；1235年尼西亚的希腊人和保加利亚人共同从陆路围攻君士坦丁堡。从1235年后，法兰西人的君士坦丁堡帝国已被尼西亚的希腊人帝国包围。法兰西人的君士坦丁堡与西方基督教世界保留下来的唯一交通线就是海路，但援救它的法兰克人必须要经受达达尼尔海峡两岸的夹击（海峡两岸现都落入尼西亚的希腊人之手）。

    到1237年，东南欧的东正教国家都处于上升阶段。复兴的保加利亚帝国和尼西亚的希腊人帝国都显示出能超出法兰西人统治的君士坦丁堡帝国的实力。在教会事务方面，先前处于东正教世界边缘地区的塞尔维亚一直是东正教会与罗马教会之间有争议的地区，它现在也明确地选择了东正教。尼西亚希腊人的帝国政府非常明智地认可了保加利亚主教地位的恢复，并为塞尔维亚设立了一个自治的大主教职位。但是东南欧的东正教国家与高加索的东正教国家在领土范围和人口规模两方面都已逊色于俄罗斯，甚至在建筑、视觉艺术和文学等领域，希腊人、保加利亚人和格鲁吉亚人都受到了俄罗斯人的挑战。

    在俄罗斯改宗基督教之后最初的50年中，教会的历史是模糊不清的，对历史资料的解释也存在着争议；但有一点很清楚：从1039年起俄罗斯已成为君士坦丁堡主教的教区。获得俄罗斯之后，君士坦丁堡主教的管辖区大大地扩大了，因为俄罗斯地域广阔，而且还在向北部和东部扩张。1169年俄罗斯宗主国的王公所在地由第聂伯河畔的基辅，迁到了伏尔加河支流克利亚济马河畔的弗拉基米尔。

    格鲁吉亚人、阿布哈兹人和阿兰人都是东方正教会的基督徒，但是当同属东正教的希腊人在11世纪上半叶征服格鲁吉亚人的一性论派亚美尼亚邻国时，他们仍然维持了独立；而且，格鲁吉亚在1071年也没有被卷入东罗马帝国的灾难。她在塞尔柱人的进攻面前幸免于灭亡，并在12世纪时与继承短命的塞尔柱帝国的穆斯林国家瓜分了亚美尼亚。在女王塔玛统治期间（1184－1212年），由格鲁吉亚直接和间接统治的领土从黑海沿岸扩展到高加索的里海沿岸。

    蒙古人从欧亚大草原的突然出现，以不同的方式影响了拜占庭世界各个部分的命运。格鲁吉亚是第一个遭遇不幸的东正教国家。1225年它遭到四处闯荡的花刺子模王公札兰丁的劫掠，1236年又遭到蒙古人的破坏。蒙古人强迫格鲁吉亚接受自己的宗主权。1237年和1240年蒙古人在经伏尔加河畔的保加尔到欧洲的途中蹂躏了俄罗斯（1240年基辅遭到劫掠）。蒙古人的宗主权强加给了最东边的各俄罗斯公国，但西南部的加利西亚（哈利克兹）、西北部的普斯科夫和诺夫哥罗德仍然保持着独立；而且诺夫哥罗德开始包围蒙古帝国及其俄罗斯附属国，在它们的北面向东扩展到了乌拉尔山脉以外。尼西亚的希腊人帝国则得益于1243年蒙古人打败和征服塞尔柱拉姆苏丹国。

    1180－1204年东罗马帝国的灾难和1237－1240年俄罗斯的灾难既没有阻碍拜占庭文明的发展，也没有挡住它的传播。教堂建筑使塞尔维亚人被错定于东正教世界，这些教堂都装饰有拜占庭风格的壁画。12世纪弗拉基米尔和苏兹达尔的教堂建筑将希腊、亚美尼亚和格鲁吉亚的特色都结合在了一起。尼斯塔斯?科尼亚提斯给我们留下了记载1204年君士坦丁堡陷落的生动感人的第一手资料，他是留下从959年到1204年东罗马历史连续记录的一系列历史学家中的最后一位。哲学家迈克尔?普塞洛斯记录了976－1077年的历史，在记录事实和日期方面，他比自己的前辈利奥?蒂阿科努斯更马虎草率，但对人物的分析却很敏锐。这些拜占庭的希腊人写作所采用的语言是学究气的古雅典共同语，但是希腊语并不是这一时期东正教世界历史著述的唯一语言。俄罗斯最早的编年史是12世纪早期用马其顿的斯拉夫语言创作的，当时它是一种仍在使用的语言。

    第六十六章 西方基督教世界（1099－1321年）

    11世纪后半叶，西方基督教文化空前繁荣。到了12、13世纪，西方基督教文化在社会的各个领域都显示出越来越重要的作用。然而，在14世纪的前25年中，西方基督教文化开始走向衰落。在黑死病于1348年横扫欧洲大陆之前，11世纪以来的人口激增趋势便已减弱。1261年希腊人收复君士坦丁堡，1291年穆斯林收复阿卡，宣告了西方基督教自第一次十字军东征以来对黎凡特地区入侵的失败。1303年法兰西国王派人刺杀了教皇卜尼法斯八世，从此结束了自格列高利七世以来教皇对西方基督教世界的霸权地位。

    在许多著作中，对12、13世纪西方基督教文化的繁荣，从正反两方面均有所反映：最具名昭著的事件便是1204年十字军占领并洗劫了东正教中心君士坦丁堡；于1208－1229年又洗劫了清洁派的朗格多克；对波罗的海南岸斯拉夫领土的霸占在12世纪达到顶峰；教皇顽固地对腓特烈二世及其继承人进行战争。这2个世纪的西方基督教文化历史不仅反映在许多著作中，而且还通过4位伟人的经历反映出来：阿西西的圣徒方济各?贝尔纳多尼（1182－1226年），哲学家圣托马斯?阿奎那（1225－1274年），佛罗伦萨的诗人但丁?阿里盖里（1265－1321年）和来自佛罗伦萨的乡村画家乔托?邦多尼（1267－1337年）。这4位伟人都是意大利人。但西方基督教雕刻艺术却在13世纪的法国达于巅峰，这就是被称作哥特式的中世纪建筑。这种建筑式样实际是从小亚细亚塞尔柱突厥人那里传入的。今天，人们有幸仍能在阿尔卑斯山两侧的欧洲所有国家看到的遗址，可以说明这一点。这些遗址比较完整地体现了中世纪西方基督教社会的理想。

    现存的许多优秀的哥特式建筑，是仿照塞尔柱旅行商队的客栈式样而建，这些建筑多在阿尔卑斯山北麓。这并不奇怪，因为在意大利，尽管它在6世纪时也蒙受了不少苦难，但它并不象西方基督教世界其他地区那样彻底地与希腊罗马文化决裂。因此，在意大利人们仍乐于建造罗马风格的建筑，并不轻易地抛弃它。而且在拉韦纳和威尼斯这样的东罗马帝国的边远地区，也有许多教堂是由东罗马建筑师按照拜占庭风格建立的。例如，现存的完工于1071年的圣马可大教堂，便是根据以前君士坦丁堡的圣徒教堂而建。然而，令人惊诧的是，与其紧邻的总督府却是哥特式的，更为引人注目的是乔托竟然摆脱了拜占庭传统的影响，成为现代西方自然主义绘画风格之父。

    但丁采用当时意大利民谣形式创作了《神曲》，一改过去以拉丁语六音步诗律创作的习惯，对此后西方世界的诗人采用民族语言写作诗歌产生了很大影响。但丁在使用民族语言过程中，意识到自己是受了阿尔卑斯山外诗人的影响。对一名意大利人来说，要摆脱拉丁语及其文学的束缚，比把奥克语和奥依语作为母语的诗人，要困难得多，更不用说与把罗曼语和条顿语作为母语的诗人相比了。中世纪的意大利人仍拘泥于祖先的拉丁语中。他们写作时一方面离不开严格的拉丁语格律，另一方面在表现手法上又尝试着以民族语言来表现，以此求得平衡。12、13世纪一些优美的拉丁诗歌就是采用这种风格创作出来的。那些摆脱了希腊－罗马语言影响的诗人，与同时代的希腊人相比，取得的成就更高。他们的大胆尝试，使他们的创造性获得了解放。到但丁时代，意大利已成为西方文明的启蒙地区。西方基督教世界的其他地区用了2个世纪的时间才达到意大利1300年所达到的文化水平。

    在1300年前的2个世纪中，整个西方基督教世界的经济迅速发展。人口进一步增长，生产力水平提高，技术上也更加进步。

    这一时期西方人口的增加可由下列事实加以证明：耕种的土地明显增多；城镇的数目增加，规模扩大；向被征服地区殖民。在有关城墙的历史的记录中，可以了解这一时期城镇面积的扩大。有许多这样的情况：1100年修建的城墙，被1250－1350年间修建的新的城墙所取代，以包围更大的城市面积。意大利北部和佛兰德仍是城镇密集的地区。

    在毛纺织生产上，佛兰德在12世纪一直处于领先地位，直到13世纪末，佛罗伦萨才赶了上来。佛兰德的发展，得益于原材料供应的便利：本地原料丰富，又有来自低地国家和英格兰的大量原料供应。意大利城镇，尤其是沿海城市的发展，得益于西方基督教世界与黎凡特地区之间的海上贸易。12、13世纪期间，意大利商人和佛兰德商人每年聚会于香摈的4个定期集市，这里成了一个方便的中转地。

    人口的增加，城镇数目的增多，及对波罗的海沿岸地区的殖民，改变了农村的社会生活结构。9和10世纪，西方社会的动荡不安使得大庄园迅速蔓延，小土地所有者急骤减少。人口的下降又使庄园主将庄园的部分耕地出租给佃农耕作，佃农每周必须抽出几天在庄园主的领地上劳动，产品也归庄园主所有。在劳动力短缺的情况下，这种方法能更好地保证庄园内土地的利用，但这种制度经济效益不高，社会效果也不佳。与雇佣劳动力相比，农奴或奴隶只做极少部分的工作。因此人口增多时，庄园主便以货币地租代替劳役地租，农奴也感到货币地租比劳役地租剥削量为经，而更乐于接受之。如果庄园主不付给农奴应得的报酬，农奴便逃往城里到工厂做工，或是逃向易北河东部的殖民区（这里开始是一块自由民的乐土，然而最终却成为欧洲农奴制度的堡垒）。

    波罗的海地区乡村和城市都已殖民化。面向波罗的海的第一座德国城市是吕贝克，建于1143年；但泽建于1200年；里加建于1201年；雷瓦尔建于1219年。波罗的海成为德意志的一个湖，斯堪的纳维亚和俄国成为其贸易的后方。曾使基督教世界丧胆的斯堪的纳维亚人，到13世纪已屈服于日耳曼的沿海城邦，就象希腊人、穆斯林屈服于意大利城邦那样。波罗的海在某种意义上已成为小地中海。在1250－1350年的100年间，佛兰德各城不再从德意志、法兰西进口谷物，而改从波罗的海进口。

    技术的进步抵销了人口增长带来的压力。尽管可耕地的扩大侵占了大片的牧场，造成肥料的减少，但是农作物的轮作制度使三区轮作制代替了二区轮作制，减少了土地休耕的比率。此外，把握耕耘与播种的时机也更多了。使用挽马的深耕法到1200年已趋于完善。12至13世纪，西方基督教世界的水车数目有所增加，而风车的安装则开始于1162－1180年间。

    与风能、水能、人力不同的是，矿产是非替代性物品。自从公元前四千纪冶炼术发明以来，一种又一种的矿产相继被采光用尽。公元10世纪，德意志和波希米亚成为西方基督教世界重要的矿产来源。但到了14世纪，表层和浅层矿藏已开采殆尽，要采掘深层的矿藏，必须使用更先进、也更为昂贵的采掘技术。

    教皇和国王争夺权力的斗争一直是12和13世纪西方基督教世界政治生活的主旋律。斗争的第一个回合以在授职权问题上的妥协于1122年宣告结束，自此权力政治披上了伦理道德的外衣。而在第二个回合中，教皇与复苏的西罗马帝国争夺对意大利（已成为西方基督教世界的重要地区）的控制权，权力斗争的性质赤裸裸地表现出来。在这些斗争中，获利的是意大利北部城邦和法兰西，帝国和教皇都是失败者。

    1158－1183年间，霍亨斯陶芬王朝的皇帝腓特烈一世企图把专制帝制强加给伦巴底诸城邦，遭到了失败。教皇支持城邦为争取自治而反对帝国的斗争。因为教皇在对抗阿尔卑斯山外的帝国权力时，这些城邦能起到屏障的作用。为此，教皇不仅容忍了伦巴底和托斯卡纳地区诸城邦的自治，而且容忍了丕平三世和查理曼赐给教皇的所有意大利领土上的城邦的自治。在12和13世纪，教皇的最大野心是统治整个基督教世界。这个野心勃勃的目标高于对任何某一地区的统治。因此，教皇在这个时期不仅允许罗马涅（即前东罗马帝国总督在拉韦纳周围的领土）地区各城邦的自治，而且允许包括罗马本身在内的迪卡特斯?罗曼努斯的城邦自治。教室和意大利的一些城邦结成经济和政治同盟。1250－1300年间，佛罗伦萨的银行代表罗马教廷为教皇收税，从中赚取利润。

    教皇的另一同盟者是法兰西。法兰西的目的是要削弱神圣罗马帝国的权力。在皇帝与教皇的斗争中，从乌尔班二世（1088－1099年在位）到英诺森四世（1243－1254年在位），历代教皇都把法兰西作为避难所。1194年，腓特烈一世的儿子及继承人亨利六世，征服伦巴底诸城邦，并自称为两西西里王国的统治者，补偿了其父失败带来的损失。自此，霍亨斯陶芬王朝使教皇和意大利北部城邦陷入西西里和德意志帝国的两面夹击之中。亨利六世的儿子及继承者腓特烈二世（1230－1246年在位）是一个天才，他精通两西西里王国具有世界主义的希腊和阿拉伯文化，并同样精通属于西方文化的意大利诗歌。但是他所引起的人们的反抗及他的早死，使他的才干末能充分发挥出来。

    教皇发动了对霍亨斯陶芬家族的战争，以反对腓特烈对整个意大利的觊觎。在这场斗争中，乌尔班四世（1261－1264年在位）和克雷芒四世（1265－1268年在位）最终取得了胜利。然而，他们的胜利是在说服一位法兰西王公－路易九世（1214－1270年在位）的兄弟，安茹的查理，让他出兵征服腓特烈二世的继承者们统治的两西西里王国的条件下才取得的。在征服了一个世俗权力的同时，教皇又将自己置于了另一个世俗权力的支配之下。1303年，法兰西王权结束了教皇对西方基督教世界的统治，就象当初教皇借助法兰西的帮助击败了神圣罗马帝国的势力一样。

    就神圣罗马帝国来说，征服意大利战争的接二连三的失败，使它也失去了对本土德意志的有效控制。在10世纪和11世纪，东法兰克（德意志）国王要比西法兰克（法兰西）国王对其臣民实行的统治更为有效。到1303年，法兰西国王腓力四世（1285－1314年在位）已赢得王国内僧俗两界显要人士的支持，公然反对教皇卜尼法斯八世称霸世俗的西方基督教世界的狂言。而此时德意志帝国的贵族们已成为事实上的统治者，他们敢于向皇帝挑战，而又不冒任何风险。

    法兰西国王权力加强的同时，德意志君主的权力却相对削弱，这是由两地封建制度的历史差异造成的。同农奴制一样，封建制度也是一种社会关系，其土地使用权的转让是通过个人劳役实现的（封建义务是服军役，而农奴制义务则是经济性质的）。转让土地时，封建主与他的臣属订立契约，这种契约实际减少的是封建主使用土地的特权，而不是封建主对土地的所有权。而当封建领地成为世袭租佃时，封建主对土地的所有权便彻底丧失。世袭租佃早在9世纪时便在西法兰克出现，但从10世纪末以来，法兰西国王开始逐渐加强其权力。在东法兰克，世袭封建领地出现的时间较晚，却在13世纪加快了步伐。原因就在于德意志国王顽固地梦想统治意大利王国的失败。他这种根本力所不及的控制阿尔卑斯山北麓的梦想，其结果是放松了对本土的控制。帝国皇帝的称号成为一项沉重的额外负担，而法兰西国王却并无这个负担。

    在国王和教皇的斗争中，斗争的双方都丧失了一部分权力：国王失去的是政治权力，教皇失去的是道义上的权力。但是正是道义上的损失引起了政治权力的损失。因为自从格列高利七世起，教室一直寻求通过建立道德权威来间接行使政治权力。这种道德权威的丧失伴随于教皇企图称霸整个西方基督教世界的过程，在教皇对帝国的战争中尤为明显。

    为了与帝国作战，教皇需要金钱，为此发明了令人痛恨的增加收入的方法。它在整个西方基督教世界建立起一套行之有效的向僧侣征税的行政制度。这种征税十分有利可图，一些世俗封建主也借机从中渔利，而意大利银行作为教皇的财政代理人更是发了大财。另一税收来源是罗马教廷作为最终上诉法庭（更确切地说，在属于他们本省的由教会律师负责的诉讼案中是作为初审法庭）收取的费用。查士丁尼一世民法典的发现，因基督教法规的编纂而并未显示其重要性。当腓特烈一世宣称他作为查士丁尼的继承人应该享有的权力时，他遭到了亚历山大三世（1159－1181年在位）和卢西乌斯三世（1181－1185年在位）两位教皇的反对。这两位教室都是以教会律师开始其教士生涯的。

    教皇对权力的贪婪，并为达此目的而使用财政、法律手段，使西方基督教的高尚人士感到震惊。位于克莱尔沃的锡托派修女院院长圣贝尔纳（1090－1153年）反对教皇的法规主义和贪婪。圣贝尔纳也不是毫无瑕疵，他性情暴躁，感情冲动。他尤其不能容忍任何宗教上的异端，不论是哲学家阿伯拉尔煽动性的言论、朗格多克清洁派的禁欲主义，还是异教的波罗的海沿岸斯拉夫人（他以雄辩的口才号召组织十字军征服这些异教徒）和穆斯林（他鼓动对黎凡特进行第二次十字军东征）。他自己也卷入了反对教皇的各对立派别的争吵中。他并未给自己谋求更高的教职，显而易见他是献身于宗教的。他出身高贵，然而他放弃了尘世的幸福，而成为严格的锡托会的一名修道士。正是为了主义他牺牲了个人利益，因此他成为同时代西方基督教世界中最受尊重、最有影响的人物。他对教皇背离其圣职原则的批评是权威的，也是最具诅咒性的。

    圣贝尔纳是狂热的正统派（西方基督教的正统观念，而非东正教的）。12和13世纪中其他谴责教皇的人，令人震惊地接受了基督教的异端教派或是反基督教的保加利亚宗教鲍格米勒教（在西方以清洁派或巴塔里亚会而出名）。这些反对教皇罪恶运动的领导人在甘愿忍受贫困上是一致的。他们这样做是出于自愿，他们生来并不贫困。和圣贝尔纳一样，他们牺牲个人利益而选择了贫困，以自己的楷模来反对教皇的世俗化，反对基督教法规的世俗化。（11世纪西方宗教改革家们为西方基督教僧侣的独身生活制订了准则，但并未强迫世俗教职人员放弃对财产的占有，也来强迫修道院放弃集体占有的财产。）

    阿西西的圣方济各是一个成功的布匹批发商的儿子，他公然蔑视其父，抛弃享乐，而与清贫为伴。他和加尔都西会修士或清洁派的”选民”一样进行苦修。他过着福音书上所描写的基督般的生活。当他的第一位信徒，金塔瓦里的贝尔纳，请求方济各允许他过同样的清苦生活时，方济各十分高兴，因为他认为基督似的生活才是人类应该过的生活。与此，他也接受了谦卑的思想。他从来没有要批评教皇的念头，那怕是隐晦地；也不愿发起什么反教皇的运动；更不想担任什么新兴教派的领袖。象基督那样，才是他献身的目标。然而，即使如此，他也未能免于和清洁派与韦尔多派同样的命运。因为他乐于清贫事实上就是对教皇的谴责，虽非故意，却更具破坏性。教皇英诺森三世（1198－1216年在位）和他的孙子、他的第二个继承人红衣主教乌戈利诺（即后来的教皇格列高利九世，1227－1241年在位）认为方济各对基督的真诚模仿，使罗马教廷陷入困境。他们非常清楚地知道来自整个西方基督教世界的越来越高涨的对罗马教廷的指责。他们决定支持方济各，而不是以他为敌。这是一个明智之举，尽管其动机并不纯正。

    圣方济各如果在和罗马教廷的第一次冲突中殉身，那他就会免于以后的精神煎熬，而不是活下来蒙受耻辱，目睹由红衣主教乌戈利诺和他的同伙埃利亚经手而成的方济各会法典与他本人提倡的基督式的生活背道而驰。结果方济各陷入精神和肉体上的极大痛苦之中，就象他当时选择清贫和谦卑时一样。如果乌戈利诺和埃利亚狡猾的手段末能使方济各陷入痛苦的境地，那么方济各精神就不会比方济各本人更长久。在他死后700多年的今天，这种精神仍然流传，尽管受到他的制度的保护者小兄弟会规章的限制，但并未失去其价值。

    制度化赢得了持久性。这是人类社会的一个耻辱，但是对后代来讲，某些具有较高精神价值的东西的制度化，比那些稍纵即逝的精神财富的丧失对人类的危害要小些。圣方济各没有认识到这个严酷的事实，但是乌戈利诺和埃利亚意识到了。他们以此作为行动的规范，他们挽救了方济各精神中的一些东西，也给自己带来了耻辱。

    圣方济各的同时代人，”布道兄弟会”的创始人卡斯提人圣多明我（多明我?德?古斯曼，1170－1221年）走了一条简便的道路。他同样安于清贫。两位圣徒都反对贪婪，但圣多明我的精神比圣方济各的精神易于制度化。西方基督教世界新兴的城市，因方济各和多明我会的教堂、图书馆和讲演厅的广泛分布，而在精神上受益匪浅。尽管如此，在圣方济各看来，房屋和书籍是令人讨厌的东西，他认为这些东西中存有对基督式生活的危险障碍。埃利亚从未失去圣方济各对他的信任。如果圣方济各能预见到埃利亚之所以如此热衷捐款是为了借他的名义建造教堂的话，他一定会万分痛苦。这些建筑和乔托绘画的优美都无法消除他的痛苦，因为这些东西违背他早已献身的清苦和谦卑。

    埃利亚和乌戈利诺知道应为方济各修道会做些什么。圣方济各早就预言一个西方基督教徒应该做什么。在圣方济各以前的那个时代，一个卡拉布里亚人，菲奥雷家族的乔凡尼?代?乔阿基尼（约阿基姆，1145－1202年，他出身贵族，和圣贝尔纳一样，后来又成为锡托会修士）预言动乱高潮过后，1260年将要开创天国降临人间的第三阶段，圣灵时代将继圣子时代而出现，如同基督降生时圣子时代在圣父时代之后出现一般。1260年确是非常重要的一年。1260年，教皇如果没有法兰西的军事帮助，很明显就不会从腓特烈二世的继承人手中夺取两西西里王国。然而，圣灵时代益没有降临，如果圣方济各精神能够盛行的话，这个时代或许才会来到。菲奥雷的约阿基姆在他活着时，作为圣方济各的后来者，接触教皇英诺森三世非常方便。他的一些著作在他死后于1254年出版了新版本，这使他遭受了抨击，因为这些著作曾使罗马教廷惊恐万分。1323年教皇宣布基督和其使徒没有财产的说法是不确切的。这样，方济各会的神圣使徒们，因支持圣方济各效仿基督的观点，都未能幸免圣方济各和菲奥雷的约阿基姆所没有蒙受的一死的恶运。

    城市生活和富裕使人类远离了大地母亲。在圣方济各时代，这两种弊病都开始困挠西方基督教世界。后世应感激圣方济各，不仅因为他提倡清贫的生活，更因为他那种对所有生命的内在的同情心。从流传甚广的传说故事中，我们了解到圣方济各与鸟类和动物建立了一种良好的信任关系，虽然传说并非权威性的对历史事实的记录。这种人与动物之间的相互信任关系，在印度以西的欧洲大陆是很难见到的。圣方济各的赞美诗如同一个日本神道教徒一般赞美上帝赐与人类大地母亲，赐与人类动物和植物。圣方济各本人的赞美诗原文至此突然中断了。赞美上帝赐予人类不事报复的性格和肉体灭绝的诗节，都是后人附会的思想。赞美上帝赐予人类阳光的诗篇可能是阿肯那顿信徒的杰作，赞美上帝赐予人类各种元素的诗篇可能出自琐罗亚斯德教徒之手。那些来自一神教的犹太人之口的传说则显得尤为珍贵。

    第六十七章 东亚（1126－1281年）

    宋王朝1126年的军事崩溃始终是可耻的。女真侵略者攻占了位于黄河流域的整个中国文明的发源地，包括宋朝的首都开封。宋帝国之所以避免了被全部征服，并不是由于它的军队勇猛，而是由于女真骑兵遇到了天然障碍，即包裹着淮河和长江下游河道的迷宫式水网，以及多山的穷乡僻壤。按照官方的说法，流亡的宋王朝的新首都临安（杭州）只是暂时的避难所，但宋朝再也未能成功地收复北方。

    尽管如此，宋王朝在南方存在了153年（1127－1279年）；临安成了人类文明中心最大的、给人印象最深和最吸引人的城市之一。在江山破碎的宋帝国境内，人口、农业生产力、城市化、贸易（国际和国内）和财政设施都有了显著增长。纸币最初由私人银行发行，然后由宋朝中央政府发行。宋代中国艺术和工艺的发展已在第59章中提及。在南宋帝国存在的一个半世纪里，它比领土范围和军事力量达到高峰时的汉帝国或唐帝国的人口更为众多，也更为繁荣昌盛。南宋时期中国文明的一个严重倒退，是妇女地位的下降。缠足习俗的引进是一件令人不快的事情。

    1126年的灾祸也没有阻止新儒家哲学的发展。为了显示儒家学说是大乘佛教的合法的取代者，新儒家们不得不步入了与自己志趣不合的形而上学领域。在这一领域里，程氏兄弟相互分手了。就程颐而言，人性是”终极实在”的表现之一；就程颢而言，人性与”终极实在”是相互同一的。程颐的形而上学为朱熹（1130－1200年）有系统地完成，而程颢的立场却为朱熹同时代的陆九渊（陆象山，1139－1193年）接受。朱熹是一位卓越的擅长系统化的学者，就象托马斯?阿奎那一样。也许在一定程度上由于这一原因，尽管程颢和陆九渊学派的优秀代表人物层出不穷，但对于文职官僚候补者和他们的主考官来说，朱熹的体系却成了儒家学说的官方定本。然而，与新儒家的整体共识相比，他们在形而上学上的分歧是不甚重要的。他们全都对道教和佛教怀有敌意（尽管他们被迫窃取了大乘佛教的一些发明），而且他们也都感到，道德比形而上学更重要。他们全都谴责佛教圣贤脱离尘世社会生活，认为这是反社会的。例如，程颢和朱熹，不仅获得了各自的学衔，而且还耗费他们生命的一部分时间作一名现职文官。如果中国的新儒家能够意识到现代西方的争论，他们肯定会反对圣?方济各和菲奥雷的约阿基姆?菲奥里的观点，而赞同卡迪纳尔?乌戈里诺和伊利亚的政策。

    在日本，935－1185年间发生了权力和财富从京都的异国情调皇室向地方贵族的逐渐转移，以及随之而来的国内和平转变为国内混乱。首都的社会秩序越来越经常而野蛮地被附近佛教寺院的武装力量的入侵所扰乱。宗室出身的两大地方豪族平氏与源氏之间的内战，于1185年以源赖朝的胜利和他以镰仓为基地对全日本实行实际统治的确立而告结束。镰仓位于关东（主要岛屿本州中一块最大的稀见平原）西南端以外。皇室和它的深奥精致的文化被允许在京都存在，但是京都政府的实际权力却被剥夺了。事实上，至少早在858年，京都的皇室就已为属于藤原家族的摄政者所控制。1199年源赖朝死后，镰仓幂府将军的摄政权于1203年为北条家族获得。北条氏一直掌权到1333年，并把源赖朝所创立的政体有效地维持到1284年。

    从1185年到1284年，日本被有效地统治着，这在以前是从未有过的。国民生产总值增加了，尽管分配的不公平也同时增加了。日本在这时有一个强力的政府是幸运的，因为蒙古人于1274年入侵了日本，在1279年完成了对宋帝国的征服后，又于1281年再度入侵日本。这两次战争中，风暴帮助了英勇的日本人，严重破坏了侵略者的船舰。1274年，蒙古远征军人数很少，仅仅经过一天的战斗就结束了它的进攻。1281年，侵略军的规模很大，进攻持续了两个月之久。打退蒙古人对日本的这两次袭击，同公元前5世纪打退波斯对欧洲希腊的两次袭击、穆斯林阿拉伯两次围攻君士坦丁堡的失败一样，对人类历史有着重大影响。镰仓的军人政府，比京都的文人政府更适合日本12世纪和13世纪的文化与社会状况。源赖朝和北条氏的摄政者们在镰仓坚守着幕府政体，他们的一些同代人在宗教领域中也扮演着相应的角色。通过中国和朝鲜传入日本的最早的大乘佛教种类是深奥难解的形而上学–尽管这些教派的一些僧侣在他们于日本土地上的实践中变成了粗野的穷兵黩武者。12和13世纪，佛教以简洁的形式呈现于日本人面前，在较为广泛的范围内被理解和认同。1191年，佛教禅宗的一支传入了镰仓。禅宗通过严谨的修行冥想达到精神上顿悟的方式，吸引着武士们。浩然（1135－1212年）和亲鸾（1173－1262年）号召民众全神贯注地重复菩萨阿弥陀佛的名字，作为死后获准进入”净土”（阿弥陀佛的天堂）的护符。日莲（1222－1282年）全神贯注于口诵《妙法莲华经》。他更近似于公元前9世纪的以色列先知以利亚和以利沙，而不是任何佛教先圣。日莲反对所有的其他佛教宗派，积极介入政治，陷入了与幕府的纠纷，但他却由于宣传抵抗蒙古而赢得了盛名。直到20世纪70年代，所有这些12世纪和13世纪简洁的日本佛教派别，仍有为数众多的信徒。

    第六十八章 蒙古人和他们的后继者

    蒙古人是一个人数很少的草原游牧民族，他们的祖传牧场位于欧亚大平原的最东北角。公元13世纪，他们突然从欧亚大平原上兴起。到1241年，他们已经攻克了他们面前的所有地区，向西推进到了奥得河和亚得里亚海的东北岸。1260年，他们侵入叙利亚。1297年，他们占领了上缅甸。蒙古人的进攻性征服开始于欧亚大草原的东端，深入到了所有毗连的定居人口居住的地区。1203年，当铁木真（约1162－1227年，1206年以后称为成吉思汗）成为最高统治者时，蒙古人的进攻性征服就在统一的指挥下策划和进行了。直到1259年，成吉思汗的孙子和第三位继承人蒙哥去世，这一征服才告停止。

    到1259年为止，蒙古大汗在其欧亚大平原东部的首都哈刺和林，或直接或通过使臣统治着一个以前从未有过的庞大帝国。那时，从东到西，蒙古帝国从太平洋的西北岸一直延伸到伏尔加河的源头和多瑙河下游的北岸；从北到南，从贝加尔湖延伸到越南北部。蒙古帝国还没有完全占有宋代中国的全部领土。但是，只有欧洲大陆、非洲大陆和阿拉伯半岛、印度半岛最终逃脱了蒙古人的短暂统治。蒙古人成为唯一成功地征服了整个中国的欧亚游牧民族。

    蒙古帝国在这一规模上的政治统一是短暂的（1241－1259年），但也是史无前例的。在这一政治统一未遭破坏之前，它也是强有力的。蒙古帝国使得许多区域性文明发生了迅速的相互接触，而在此前，这些文明在其发展中很少把它们彼此联系在一起，甚至很少知道同时代的其他文明，它们与同时代的其他文明只是通过传导性的欧亚大草原被潜在地联系在一起。

    公元4世纪和5世纪，匈奴人曾先于蒙古人在欧亚大草原上兴起，涌向四面八方，并把自己的统治暂时地强加于周围的一些定居民族的身上。与拔都的疆域相比，阿提拉的疆域向西更远地伸进了欧洲。厌哒匈奴人侵入了印度，并在那里建立了永久性的立足点，而蒙古人则避开了印度。其他的匈奴人与非匈奴的蛮族共同在中国北方继西晋王朝之后，建立了一系列国家。但是，这些都是匈奴族不同部分的不相关联的事业。从来没有这样一个时刻，被匈奴人征服的所有地区在政治上统一起来。然而在另一方面，从1241年到1259年，用政治术语说，整个欧亚大平原的”陆地海洋”成为了蒙古人的”陆地内湖”，环绕四周的是各种定居居民在蒙古帝国统治下的一统天下。在这些年代里，欧亚大平原始终被有效地管辖着，效率很高的驿站组织使大平原的传导能力由潜在变为现实。

    驿站组织的首要目的，是使蒙古贵族一接到通知就能参加在哈刺和林举行的蒙古部族大会。这一设施同时也从四面八方把从属的定居民族的君主，战争的俘虏、自愿的冒险者（有技能的工匠、商客、蒙古行政官职的候选人）以及来自独立国家的使者，送到了哈刺和林。例如，在1254年，西里西亚亚美尼亚的海顿国王动身前往哈刺和林。而在他之前，他的兄弟康斯特布尔?森帕德特已于1247－1248年间先他而去。西里西亚亚美尼亚曾心甘情愿他屈从于蒙古人的统治，它也是唯一真正试图抓住机会，利用蒙古人和西方基督徒的联合统一行动，以粉碎伊斯兰世界的黎凡特地区的基督教国家。1245－1247年，一位名叫卡皮尼的天主教圣方济各会的修道士，作为教皇英诺森四世的使者，往返于里昂与哈刺和林之间。1253－1255年，另一位圣方济各会的修道士勒伊斯布鲁克的威廉，作为热衷于十字军东征的法兰西路易九世的使者，从阿卡来到哈刺和林，然后回国。可是在这两个来自西方基督教世界的使团之后，无论西方人还是蒙古人都未继续采取任何有效措施。而伊斯兰世界尽管一度曾处于它有生以来从未遇到的巨大危险之中，但它仍然幸存下来。

    穿越那一度秩序井然的欧亚大平原的使团的往返，其文化上的作用远较政治上的成果重要得多。勒伊斯布鲁克的威廉描述了复活节后不久他在哈刺和林所见到的大群的基督徒，他们来自许多不同的地区、不同的教派和不同的民族。1251年，忽必烈（成吉思汗之孙，他的第四个汗位继承人）奉其兄、当时的大汗蒙哥之命征服宋朝。1279年，忽必烈作为蒙哥的汗位继承人，完成了这项任务。公元4世纪时，蛮族曾征服了中国北部。如同他们的蛮族前辈一样，蒙古人也不情愿通过信奉儒家学说的中国文人来治理中国。4世纪时中国北部的蛮族征服者得到了佛教徒、汉族及异族人的支持，而中国的蒙古人（元）王朝的忽必烈及其后代则得到了穆斯林与基督徒的支持。

    忽必烈征服宋帝国的战略，与公元前4至3世纪秦国征服楚国时所采用过的战略是一样的。在直接进攻宋朝的国土之前，忽必烈从四面包围了它。1253年，他征服了泰族人的国家南诏，并把它并入了中国的云南省。忽必烈在那里的代理人，是来自中亚的蒙古人统治下的穆斯林。他们在云南建立的穆斯林社区一直留存至今。1275年，在中国有3万名来自高加索北部山地信奉东正教的阿兰人在忽必烈手下服务。威尼斯人马可?波罗普作为一名行政官员，在中国为忽必烈供职约达17年之久（约1275－1292年），而来自河间地区的穆斯林赛典赤?瞻思丁则在1274－1279年之间为忽必烈供职。他为忽必烈组建了中国的一个新省–云南省。与同一时期穆斯林的影响不同，中世纪基督教在中国的影响有如昙花一现。无论在云南还是在中国西北部，伊斯兰教都扎下了根。与此相应，作为1220－1257年间蒙古人征服伊朗的后果，中国的艺术则长久地影响着伊朗的艺术。

    忽必烈在中国的穆斯林和基督徒的兵士与行政官员来自远方，但蒙古人从他们的征服事业开始时起，就从当地征用有才能的人和工匠，而这也被认为是他们所以能取得轰动一时的成功的原因之一。象穆斯林阿拉伯世界和斯堪的纳维亚的骤然兴起一样，蒙古人的兴起也是突发性的。然而，同样与前者一样，其也是邻近文明的刺激性影响在此前长期持续传播所突然产生的后果。

    最迟从公元前4世纪开始，欧亚大平原东端的游牧民族就已同中国北方的燕国发生了直接的接触。如果用一道线把中国与北方大平原划分开，那么从公元10世纪开始，在这道线的西北段跨境而建的藏族－汉族国家西夏，在这道线的东北段跨境而建的契丹（辽）帝国，以及它的后继者女真（金）帝国，就成为文明传播的途径。通过这些途径，中国的文明越过那些半中国人建立的帝国的草原边疆，传播到了独立的游牧民族之中。

    如同东罗马帝国一样，金国的皇室通过利用一个游牧民族惩治另一个游牧民族的办法，来控制与它为邻的欧亚游牧民族。鞑靼人是蒙古人在东南方的近邻，金国曾利用他们来惩治蒙古人。大约在1202年，金国又利用克烈部族来惩治鞑靼人。克烈部族是信奉聂斯脱利派的基督徒，也是蒙古人西南方的游牧族近邻。在这场斗争中，一个较小的蒙古首领的儿子，铁木真是作为克烈部可汗的下属盟友来为其效劳的。1203年，铁木真打败了克烈部而将其并入他自己的部落。金国插手于各游牧族政治势力之间，使铁木真得以开始建立起他自己的独立势力。

    然而，铁木真和他的孙子忽必烈一样，谨慎地使自己不落入汉族人手中。但铁木真认识到了知识和智慧的力量。他从善如流，而这也是他获得成功的一个原因。他能在非汉族人中选拔顾问和官吏。1203年之前，在他手下就已经有一些穆斯林商人了。蒙古人自己和鞑靼人仍然信奉萨满教，但鞑靼人东南方的汪古部，以及克烈部北方、西北方的乃蛮部和蔑儿乞部则从1009年起就已信奉了聂斯脱利教派。铁木真于1203年消灭了克烈部之后，其他的这几个信奉聂斯脱利教派的游牧族于1204年联合起来反对他。而铁木真则逐一打败、并吞了他们。乃蛮部的可汗被杀死，他的畏兀儿人掌印官（秘书）塔塔统阿转而为铁木真效劳。畏兀儿－突厥人是乃蛮部的西南邻族，也是西夏帝国的西北邻族，他们大概在1204年乃蛮部被打败后不久，就自愿地归顺了铁木真。

    畏兀儿人与哈扎尔人一样，曾经是游牧民族。他们讲突厥语，并且欣然接受了各种各样非游牧民族文明的成份。在763年，畏兀儿人就已信奉了摩尼教，但他们当中也有聂斯脱利教徒和佛教徒。他们使用的文字用古叙利亚字母拼写。他们用这种字母转记自己的突厥语，并把用古叙利亚文写成的摩尼教、聂斯脱利教的祈祷文和圣经转记下来。当时已被称作成吉思汗的铁木真，命令他的掌印官采用与叙利亚文的写法转记蒙古语，并且把蒙古人的习惯法（札撒）书写下来。当成吉思汗于1215年攻占了金国的都城大兴府（即金中都，今北京）后，他得到了从前在金朝供职的契丹族官员耶律楚才为他效力。耶律楚才与塔塔统阿一样，心甘情愿地转而为成吉思汗服务。一度沦为女真人臣仆的契丹人，并不觉得他们应忠实于自己已经战败的前主人。

    成吉思汗的财富，就是他的畏兀儿人、契丹人和穆斯林谋士们的才能，就是那在马背生活中反复灌输到游牧民族战士心中的尚武精神和军事纪律，还有他个人叱咤风云的胆略以及他在战时和平时选用人才为他效力的可靠判断力。他的禁卫军象亚历山大大帝的禁卫军一样，有如一所参谋大学。他作为统帅从中挑选人材，亲自考验他们，派他们去执行重要的任务。成吉思汗的个性和组织能力，加上蒙古人的好战性格以及从蒙古人和鞑靼人的近邻逐渐吸取的文明气息，所有这些，就是蒙古人在其领袖成吉思汗的激励下取得惊人的军事、政治成就的原因。

    成吉思汗经历的最艰苦的一战，也许就是1203－1204年他吞并战争的第一战，通过这场战争，他把所有其他生活在欧亚大平原东部的游牧民族都并入了他的蒙古人部落。1205－1209年，成吉思汗征服了西夏国，从1211年起，又开始了征服金国的战争。1218年，他打垮了屈出律。屈出律是原乃蛮汗之子，逃亡后，篡夺了地跨天山山脉的黑契丹的统治权。1220－1221年，成吉思汗征服了花刺子模沙皇的领地（除花刺子模以外，还包括粟特、吐火罗和阿富汗）。1227年成吉思汗去世后，朝鲜于1231年被征服，对金国的征服也于1234年完成了。

    1236－1241年的一系列战争，又为蒙古帝国增加了欧亚大平原的整个西半部，还有伏尔加河畔的保加利亚人以及俄罗斯各公国（仅诺夫哥罗德、普斯科夫和加利西亚除外）。1243年，拉姆的塞尔柱人被击败，并成为蒙古人的属国。开始于1251年的对宋帝国的征服，于1279年完成。与此同时，南诏于1253年被吞并，越南北部（一度）于1257－1258年被吞并。伊拉克和伊朗的西南部在1256－1258年间被成吉思汗的孙子旭烈兀征服（1258年巴格达陷落并遭到洗劫，阿拔斯哈里发帝国至此灭亡）。在东南方更远处，占婆（越南北方南部的一个印度化的国家）于1283－1285年间成为蒙古人的属国。缅甸北方在1287－1303年间也被占领。

    蒙古人周围的游牧族各部并未因这些征服战争而受到什么损失。他们既没有失去自己的牲畜，也没有失去自己的牧场，不过是改换了主人而已。而另一方面，对那些定居地区的蒙古人的牺牲者来说，蒙古人的征服则意味着种族灭绝的灭顶之灾。最残酷的几次大屠杀发生在1220－1221年成吉思汗征服花刺子模的战役中、1231－1241年拔都西征的战役中以及1258年旭烈兀在伊拉克进行的战役中。从1215年到1241年间，耶律楚材千方百计使他的蒙古主人相信，屠杀那些潜在的赋役提供者是与蒙古人的利益相矛盾的。然而，在1242－1246年的汗位出空时期，耶律楚材已经不久于人世了。

    象从前的帝国缔造者们一样，蒙古人也并非是战无不胜的。1274年、1281年两次渡海远征日本的失败，上文中已经提到了。1292年渡海远征爪哇也遭到类似的失败。1260年，在叙利亚的土地上，蒙古人遭到更为惨重的失败，阿尤布王朝的继承者马木路克王朝，大败旭烈兀的前卫。1281年，1299－1300年，1303年，旭烈兀的继承人，控制着蒙古帝国在伊朗和伊拉克的封地的伊儿汗国的几代汗王，一再被叙利亚的马木路克王朝打败。妨碍蒙古人实现其征服人类世界野心的另一件事，是1264年发生在伊儿汗旭烈兀与钦察汗别儿哥之间的内战。别儿哥是包括大平原西半部在内的广大封地上的可汗。这块封地是1236－1241年间由术赤（成吉思汗的长子）之子、别儿哥之兄和前代可汗拔都为术赤家族争得的。别儿哥的金帐汗国与马木路克王朝结盟。热那亚人则通过从金帐汗国的领地向马木路克王朝输送奴隶而获利。这一联盟使他们的力量超过了其对手伊儿汗。

    继蒙哥之后于1260年登上大汗之位的忽必烈是旭烈兀之兄，他也受到了来自两方面的挑战。其一是在1259－1264年间，来自他们另一个弟弟阿里不哥；其二是在1259－1308年间，来自窝阔台汗的孙子海都和海都之子察八儿。1260－1267年间，忽必烈把他的都城从哈刺和林迁到北京。此后，又在1271年为他的王朝取了个汉语的名称–元朝。于是，蒙古帝国变成了一个真正中国人的帝国，然而它却比此前任何一个真正中国人的帝国都拥有更为广大得多的西方属国。但是，金帐汗国对大汗（也叫作元朝皇帝）的忠诚则仅仅是名义上的，大汗在其直接控制的领地上的权威，也受到海都和他的儿子的怀疑。

    另外，蒙古人和中国人相互仇视。蒙古人是第一批没有被中国文明征服的外来征服者。1368年，当元朝被推翻，它的驻防军被驱逐到长城遥远的另一边他们祖辈生活的草原上时，蒙古人撤退了，但是却仍然未被中国化。这与流亡的契丹人的情况形成鲜明的对比。契丹人在被赶出中国之后，在穆斯林的中亚建立了一个中国化的政权，并维持了将近一个世纪之久。契丹人在中国东北边疆统治的地区从未超过16个州的范围。而蒙古人则在1279－1368年间统治了整个中国，并且从1215年起就在中国北方控制着一个根据地，它与契丹人曾经控制的根据地一样大。蒙古人建立的元朝在中国留下了一个积极的永久性的纪念。1289年，忽必烈完成了延伸大运河，使其从杭州北抵北京的工程。中国的蒙古人政权也一度起过消极作用，但它却为产生一个永久性的积极后果开辟了道路。在元朝的统治下，儒家传统的文学陷入极端艰难的逆境之中，于是两种新的文学形式–用当时的市民语言写作的小说和戏剧得以形成了。其中的一些作者就是儒家弟子。尽管他们耻于承认自己是那些如此粗俗的小说和戏剧的作者，但这两种新的文学形式却为市民群众所喜闻乐见。一直到蒙古人被赶出中国，儒家的传统得以恢复之后，它们仍然流传下来。那些羞涩的小说和戏剧的创作者们为中国文学所作的贡献，与他们托斯卡纳的同时代人但丁为西方文学所作的贡献，与阿肯那顿为法老统治下的埃及文学所作的贡献，都是同样重要的。

    无论是中国的文明抑或俄国的东正教文明，都未能征服中国的蒙古族统治者和俄国大部分土地上的蒙古族君王。而另一方面，无论是伊朗、伊拉克的蒙古族征服者，还是操突厥语的金帐汗国的蒙古首领，都被伊斯兰教所征服了。这是被征服的定居者的文明，对于征服他们的草原游牧族军事力量在文化上的胜利。

    在蒙古人于1368年被赶出中国之前，伊朗和伊拉克的蒙古伊儿汗王朝于1335年灭亡了，拔都的后继者们的统治也于1359年结束了。这些后继者们直到那时为止都是金帐汗国的统治者。在14世纪上半叶，金帐汗国与察合台汗的定居的臣民们，公开声称要反抗他们的蒙古征服者。

    金帐汗国的西南疆界，同时也是草原的游牧生活方式的疆界，被来自匈牙利的罗马尼亚人定居者，从多瑙河下游的北岸推回到德涅斯特河的西岸。这些定居者建立了瓦拉几亚和摩尔多瓦公国。在德涅斯特河与第聂伯河之间，从波罗的海内地的丛林一直到黑海的北岸，一度曾遍布着异教的立陶宛人。1386年，立陶宛人改信西方的基督教，并因一种个人间的结合而与波兰联合。但这个新的西方基督教大国首先被卷入了阻止信奉西方基督教的条顿骑士侵略的斗争中，因而错过了成为金帐汗国的继承者的机会。

    1371年，俄罗斯各公国的王公们拒绝向地处伏尔加河畔萨莱的金帐汗国可汗的宫廷进贡和表示尊敬。1380年，当时的蒙古可汗被莫斯科大公打败。但金帐汗国的实力尚未耗尽。1381年，莫斯科被一个新的蒙古可汗脱脱迷失攻陷。脱脱迷失是被帖木儿（跛者）扶上汗位的。俄罗斯人未能成功地将他们自己从金帐汗国的统治下解放出来。他们也还不能期望继承金帐汗国的遗产。

    金帐汗国与察合台汗国的当然继承者是帖水儿（跛者），他是一位突厥人的勇士，是察合台汗位于河间地带的领地上定居居民的首领。1362－1367年，帖木儿从察合台汗的统治下解放了河间地带。在1369－1380年间以及1383－1384年间，他在察合台汗追随者的故乡大草原上惩罚他们。到了1380年，他还解放了位于锡尔河下游的花刺子模。花刺子模是金帐汗国封地的一部分。1383年，当帖木儿的被保护人脱脱迷失试图为金帐汗国重新夺回花刺子模时，帖木儿于1391年和1395年两次侵略基布察克草原，以此来回敬脱脱迷失。在后一次战役中，帕木儿穿过大草原袭击了俄罗斯。帕木儿是第一个未受惩罚地袭击了欧亚大草原西半部的定居人首领。大流士一世及时地后撤了。亚历山大的将军索皮隆则死在了那里。

    1405年，帕木儿死于前往中国的途中。假如他不曾将其绝大部分精力消耗在对伊斯兰世界内部的进攻上，不曾将蒙古人式的残暴手段用于这些进攻中，那么，他或许已经重新组织起了那个蒙古帝国的残渣碎片，并且从撒马尔罕对其进行统治了。在公元15世纪，帕木儿的后裔们对文化人和占星术士表示出仁慈和恩惠，以此来多少改变帖木儿留下的残暴形象。但是他们在军事上和政治上是懦弱的。他们的祖先帖木儿拼搏一生，留下了一个尚未得出答案的问题：在旧大陆文明中心腹地的版图上，谁将成为蒙古人的继承者？

    第六十九章 伊斯兰教世界（1291年－1555年）

    1555年的伊斯兰教世界要比1291年时大得多。它的主要部分在政治上分属于3个大帝国：黎凡特地区的奥斯曼（奥托曼）土耳其帝国、伊朗的萨非帝国和印度的帖木儿（莫卧儿）帝国。这一重大的变化在伊斯兰教世界于1220年（成吉思汗入侵河间地带的年代）至1405年（帕木儿去世的年代）之间所经历的动乱中发生。

    1555年，德干高原（北印度的穆斯林统治者在1294年开始征服德干）被置于穆斯林的统治之下，其势力向南达到吉斯德纳河与通格拉巴德拉河一线。与此同时，东南欧也被置于穆斯林的统治之下，其范围包括了除最西端匈牙利之外的整个地区。伊斯兰教世界的这些扩张，同先前它进入印度一样，都是用武力取得的。在整个印度以及在东南欧，被征服人口的大多数一直没有改宗伊斯兰教。但是，在伊斯兰教世界的中心，12和13世纪大规模的改系已使占这一地区人口多数的非穆斯林降为少数派。所以，在几个方向上伊斯兰教世界是通过改宗而不是通过征服扩大的。

    例如，努比亚在1291年之前，一性论派基督教已经存在了约8个世纪；但由于从14世纪开始阿拉伯部落从埃及不断渗透的结果，努比亚也逐渐改信伊斯兰教。即使是保留了自己祖先语言的那些努比亚人，也采纳了伊斯兰教。在西部苏丹，伊斯兰教从它在撒哈拉以南取得第一个立脚点的11世纪起，就一直不断地吸引着改宗者。在15世纪的马来半岛和印度尼西亚，伊斯兰教就同其先驱者印度教和佛教一样，以和平的方式赢得了改宗者。在这一地区，伊斯兰教并没有取代1000多年来一直起作用的印度文化的影响，伊斯兰教仅仅在表层上覆盖了印度教。在中国，云南和甘肃的穆斯林民族是在蒙古人统治时期形成的，在短命的蒙古人政权结束后，这些民族依然存在。

    在1555年并存的3个伊斯兰教帝国中，奥斯曼帝国最古老。它的核心在1300年已经形成。1353年，它在后来据以发迹的欧洲取得第一个立足点。到1402年它已在1071年前由东罗马帝国控制的大部分亚洲及欧洲地区建立了直接或间接的统治。1402年，奥斯曼在小亚细亚的力量被帖木儿粉碎，并分裂为3支互相竞争的势力。但是它的欧洲及部分亚洲领土，被苏丹穆罕默德一世（1402－1421年在位）重新组合在一起。他的不朽之作是建于布尔萨的美伦美奂的大清真寺。君士坦丁堡的”征服者”穆罕默德二世（1451－1481年在位）巩固了奥斯曼帝国的领土和制度。谢里姆一世（1512－1520年在位）改变了帝国的面貌，他将帝国向东部和南部扩张，使奥斯曼帝国继承了马木路克王国和东罗马帝国的版图。1555年在苏莱曼一世的统治下，帝国达到了鼎盛时期，并且这一鼎盛阶段持续了一个时期。

    萨非帝国是在1500－1513年突然兴起的。但到1513年，它在东北部已达到与乌兹别克游牧部落对峙的极限。乌兹别克人是金帐汗国在西西伯利亚的一支，他们在15世纪从帖木儿人那里一点点地征服了乌浒河－药杀水流域。萨非帝国的创建者沙?伊斯玛仪威胁着奥斯曼帝国达4年之久（1511－1514年），他重复了1402年帖木儿带来的那场灾难。但在1514年的凡湖东北部的查尔德兰战役中，奥斯曼人给萨非人以狠命的一击，直到1655年萨非帝国还没从这次打击中舒缓过来。1516年奥斯曼人吞并迪亚巴克尔，1534－1536年吞并伊拉克。尽管如此，1555年萨非人仍然占有除了西北角之外的整个伊朗。

    1555年，帖木儿的胡马雍再次征服德里王国。胡马雍的父亲巴伯尔在1512－1513年间企图从乌兹别克人那里重新征服其家族先祖在河间地带的领地失败后，曾于1526年征服过德里。1512－1513年巴伯尔与伊斯玛仪治下的萨非结盟，但在1513年，由于在另一端受到谢里姆一世治下的奥斯曼帝国的威胁，伊斯玛仪与乌兹别克人媾和，条件是伊斯玛仪占有呼罗珊，乌兹别克人占有河间地带和托卡里斯坦。巴伯尔不得不退回到喀布尔，等待机会从印度得手，以补偿在恢复河间地带时所遭到的失败。

    这3个帝国的建立堪称是一种杰作。一个国家如果没有农业、工业和商业的纳税人，如果没有一支训练有素而又忠诚不贰的军队，它显然无法生存。但是，自11世纪中期以来，伊斯兰教世界一直遭受着穆斯林游牧部落的入侵。西北非和安达卢西亚受到游牧的柏柏尔人和阿拉伯人的蹂躏；伊拉克和杰济拉（美索不达米亚）受到另一支游牧的阿拉伯人的蹂躏；乌浒河－药杀水流域、伊朗、亚美尼亚和小亚细亚则在游牧的土库曼人的铁蹄之下。前文已经提到这些土库曼人有两次移民浪潮。第一次是11世纪由塞尔柱人领头的大迁移；第二次是13世纪为躲避蒙古人的大迁移。由于这些穆斯林游牧部落的出现，由于蒙古游牧部落犯下的暴行，以及后来帖木儿于1380年至1450年间在伊斯兰教世界的中心犯下的暴行，定居居民的生产力和纳税能力严重受损，一落千丈。

    帖木儿和他的军队并不是游牧民族；他们是定居在河间地带的穆斯林；但是帖木儿的行为和蒙古人一样残暴，除了1395年对俄罗斯的那次入侵以外，其他所有的受害者都是穆斯林。在严厉惩罚察合合汗国和金帐汗国穆斯林游牧部落的同时，帖木儿1393年劫掠了巴格达，1398／1399年劫掠了穆斯林在北印度的首都德里，1401年劫掠了阿勒颇和大马士革，1402年肢解了奥斯曼帝国在亚洲的领土。帖木儿的行径是破坏性的，没有任何积极作用。1402年他死后，他自己的帝国日益没落，走到了尽头，使政治上重建伊斯兰教世界的工作，落在了更具有建设性的人肩上。

    在帖木儿去世之际，伊斯兰教世界中仍然继续”运转着”的国家仅剩下了埃及和叙利亚的马木路克王国与德干高原的巴赫马尼王国。伊拉克尚未从1258年的蒙古人征服中恢复元气。在这之前，伊拉克与埃及在经济上一直并驾齐驱。它是旧大陆文明中心的两大产粮区之一。1358年，伊拉克的灌溉网荒废失效，并一直未能得到修复。

    同埃及一样，北印度也躲过了蒙古人，但它未能躲过帖木儿。早在帖木儿毁灭性的入侵之前，德里王国已经无法保持穆斯林印度的完整。在北印度，穆斯林征服德干之后（这一征服始于1294年），德里国王穆罕默德?伊本?图格鲁克在1327－1329年曾试图将统一的伊斯兰教印度帝国的首都，从德里迁到德干高原的代奥克尔，但这一努力后来半途而废。在他迁回德里之后，他的帝国解体。大约在1336年，吉斯德纳河和通格拉巴德拉河一线以南的半岛最南端，在反穆斯林的印度教维查耶那加尔帝国中统一起来。1347年，在这条线以北的德干高原的伊斯兰教地区形成一个独立的伊斯兰教帝国，统治者是巴赫马尼王朝。从1482年到1512年，巴赫马尼南国分裂成5个彼此纷争的小国。

    1564年，这5个穆斯林小国中的4个结成同盟与维查耶那加尔对抗。1565年它们成功地推翻了这个最后的印度教独立国家。此后，在政治方面，印度教在整个次大陆的几乎所有地方都销声匿迹了，但在其他方面，印度教仍然生机勃勃，富于活力。它对伊斯兰教的冲击作出了创造性的反应。在15世纪，迦比尔用印地语诗歌表现了自己对印度教和伊斯兰教中所描绘的”终极精神实在”的直觉。迦比尔成了锡克教和锡克社团创立者那纳克（1469－1539年）的先导。帖木儿人的莫卧儿皇帝阿克巴（1556－1605年在位）有一位印度教臣民杜尔西达斯，他用当时北印度大多数居民所使用的印地语改写史诗《罗摩衍那》。这一史诗在说印地语的人中已耳熟能详，就同新波斯语四大诗人的诗集为说波斯语（新波斯语）的人所熟知一样。

    1405年，马木路克王朝的埃及仍然保持原样。蒙古人和帖木儿先后侵入埃及的缓冲地区叙利亚，但没有到达埃及本土。埃及的灌溉网仍在正常运转。埃及的人口比较稠密，生产力、纳税能力和文明程度也较高。治理和保卫埃及的是一支装备精良、训练有素、纪律严明的军队。军队的士兵是从基布察克和高加索招募来当兵打仗的奴隶。埃及的居民已不断从一性论派基督教改宗为伊斯兰教，基督教徒最终成了少数派；但是在马木路克人统治下，同先前的伊斯兰教政权一样，埃及的基督教徒作为收税官继续在公共事务中发挥重要的作用。所以，在马木路克的埃及，负责治理和保卫穆斯林多数派居民的是入境的外国人，负责征税的是非穆斯林的本地人。

    在埃及马木路克和印度穆斯林统治者版图之外的伊斯兰教世界的亚洲部分，1300年之后的问题是，面对游牧的土库曼人的大规模存在，如何重建稳定的政治结构。有可能成为这一地区新的伊斯兰教国家的创建者的，就是这些游牧部落的领袖。这些部落民的军事才能构成了其领袖力量的基础，这些领袖人物必须要始终依靠他们，除非他们能够找到可靠的替代者。在这之前，部落领袖必须要尽力处置好追随自己的游牧民，使他们驯服，领着他们前进，最终诱使他们放弃自古以来四海为家的游牧生涯，变成农民和工匠。

    在小亚细亚，12世纪时的塞尔柱拉姆苏丹已部分解决了这一问题。这些苏丹将他们在亚洲的土库曼人追随者，安置在拉姆和缩小的东罗马帝国之间的交界地区，在那里向非穆斯林发动圣战（吉哈德）。塞尔柱苏丹在他们王国的中心已建立起一个定居的社会。它所需要的人才部分是本地的前基督教徒，部分是在土库曼人经过自己国家时幸免于难的说希腊语的农民，部分是来自伊朗的移民。但在13世纪，拉姆的塞尔柱人也经历了一系列的挫折。流亡的东罗马帝国在1204年西方基督教冒险家攻占君士坦丁堡之后，将首都建在尼西亚，开始注意东罗马帝国在亚洲的残余领土，甚至再次扩张，损害拉姆塞尔柱人的利益。于是土库曼游牧部落向西迁移的第二次浪潮又冲击到了拉姆。1243年，拉姆苏丹国被蒙古人打败，成为蒙古人的附属国。1271年，拉姆爆发的一次反蒙古人的起义，受到野蛮的镇压，蒙古伊尔汗国对拉姆的控制进一步加强。与此同时，尼西亚的希腊人于1261年重新占领君士坦丁堡，则转移了他们对小亚细亚领土的注意力。结果，在1261年至1300年之间，土库曼人获得了对差不多整个小亚细亚的控制权，东罗马帝国和塞尔柱拉姆苏丹国都相应受到损失。在1335年伊尔歼灭亡之前，小亚细亚这一定居的突厥人国家已经灭亡，它或者亡于本地的土库曼人，或者亡于蒙古伊尔汗国的军事将领，或者亡于这两者的合力。取代这一政权的是另一些当地土库曼部落的统治，这些土库曼人过去曾经是臣属伊尔汗国的游牧民。

    土库曼人的部落就这样接替了伊尔汗人和拉姆的塞尔柱人的位置，他们的领袖们全都渴望成为拉姆那样的定居王国的统治者。在这些野心勃勃的领导人中最成功的是奥斯曼人。到13世纪末，这些奥斯曼人已被拉姆的塞尔柱人苏丹安置在萨卡里亚河下游的一个重要地带，直接面对3座希腊人的城市伊兹米特、尼西亚和布尔萨。1326年，奥斯曼人占领布尔萨，1331年占领尼西亚，1337年占领伊兹米特。攻占伊兹米特打开了通往博斯普鲁斯海峡亚洲沿岸的道路；攻占布尔萨则为1344年向西征服下一个土库曼人王国卡拉西开辟了道路。卡拉西已经占据了博斯普鲁斯海峡的亚洲沿岸。当1353年奥斯曼人在欧洲夺得滩头据点加利波利时，他们正在步尼西亚的希腊皇帝们的后尘。这些希腊人在1235年侵犯色雷斯，到1247年已从陆路包围了君士坦丁堡。而奥斯曼人在1361年攻占阿德里安堡（埃迪尔内）之后，也采取了同样的行动。

    奥斯曼人建立自己权力的手段，部分是通过驯服自己的土库曼部落民，部分是通过争取少数具有军事价值的改宗和旨在从基督教国家征服的领土上笼络许多具有经济价值但并未改宗的基督徒，即从事生产劳动的工人和纳税人。这些征服使奥斯曼人获得了充足的定居基督教臣民，其规模相当于印度穆斯林帝国的创立者所拥有的定居印度教臣民。由土库曼部落的首领们在小亚细亚其他地方所建立的王国，都不具有这一经济力量的资源。萨非王朝也不具备这种资源。

    为土库曼人的首领驯服土库曼人的是穆斯林宗教（苦行僧）教团的代表，但对于世俗的穆斯林帝国的创建者来说，这是一种危险的权宜之计。苦行僧们受到土库曼人的欢迎是因为他们代替了前伊斯兰教时期土库曼人的萨满。但这些穿着穆斯林服装的萨满，在逊尼派穆斯林宗教”统治机构”的眼里却是异端。他们常常不是驯化土库曼人，而是重新煽起土库曼人闹事的传统。例如，在1402年奥斯曼帝国一度被帖木儿推翻后，苏丹穆罕默德一世尚未完成帝国的重建，杰尔米扬王国希马尔的谢赫贝德尔丁便于1416年在保加利亚东北部和小亚细亚西部（再次臣服的亚洲土库曼公国萨鲁汉和艾登）奥斯曼的领土上同时发动了大规模的起义。贝德尔丁是一位伊斯兰教的律法学者，同时又是一名非正统派和具有革命精神的神秘主义者。他号召穆斯林和基督教徒联合起来跟随他反抗奥斯曼人的统治。贝德尔丁的起义被镇压了下去，但他的教派却一直存在到17世纪。1416年参加起义的大多数人都是心怀不满的土库曼人。

    小亚细亚非奥斯曼的土库曼人部落，对14世纪被奥斯曼人征服心怀不满，对被帖木儿暂时解放后又再次臣服于奥斯曼人更是耿耿于怀。1511年，奥斯曼帝国几乎再次被小亚细亚十二伊玛目什叶派土库曼人一次大规模的起义推翻，这些土库曼人都是萨非帝国的创建者沙?伊斯玛仪的同党。这次反叛在1512－1513年被谢里姆一世野蛮地镇压下去。萨非王朝最早的军队就是由从奥斯曼统治之下的小亚细亚土库曼王国中逃出来的什叶派军团所组成。尽管萨非帝国的国王是苏非教团当然的精神领袖，而整个”红头兵”（因其头巾为红色而得名）部落军团的军人都是这个教团的成员，在1524年沙?伊斯玛仪死后，这些”红头兵”仍成为伊斯玛仪继承人的心腹之患。

    奥斯曼帝国的创建者不依靠任何土库曼部落，甚至不依靠他们自己的部落。他们鼓励土库曼人前往奥斯曼帝国在欧洲不断扩张的领土；但是，为了守住他们在欧亚的领土和保持一支能从事野战的部队，奥斯曼人依靠其他地方的人力资源。他们利用从非世袭封地上收取的税收，维持了一支由封建骑兵组成的民兵组织。在这种制度下，无论是提供赋税的佃户，还是接收赋税的骑兵，都有国家明文规定和强制执行的权利。此外，依照阿拔斯王朝和阿尤布王朝的先例，奥斯曼王朝也保持了一支由奴隶组成的常备军。起初，这些士兵象阿拔斯和阿尤布时期的奴隶兵一样是从国外买来的，或者是从战俘中招募的；但在14世纪末叶，奥斯曼人开始招募本地农民中的基督教男童，以充实国王的奴隶近卫军。这些男童大多数是塞尔维亚、克罗地亚和阿尔巴尼亚人。穆拉德二世（1421－1451年在位）发展了这种虽不人道但却非常有效的制度。

    最初，这些应征的本地奴隶只被用来充当士兵（”theejaniz－aries”的字面原意是”新军”）。奥斯曼的文职行政人员首先是从帝国自由的穆斯林臣民中招募的。穆罕默德二世开始从他的奴隶中招募一部分行政官员。我们可以断定，当时已有一种做法将招募来的男童分为”本国男童”和”外国男童”。本国男童担任国王的侍从，他们受到长期的完整教育（包括智力、体力和军事教育），从而有资格胜任高级军官职务（最低也要担任近卫骑兵）。外国男童最后则成为近卫步兵。

    帝国这两种等级的奴隶的训练，竞争非常激烈，淘汰率也很高。所有奴隶近卫军的成员都领取薪金，虽然薪金高低并不相同。改宗伊斯兰教并不是强制性的，因为这种改宗不可避免。生为自由人的穆斯林奥斯曼的臣民，包括帝国奴隶之子，不得参加帝国的奴隶近卫军。所以，当帝国的行政权被奴隶近卫军垄断之后，生为自由民的穆斯林奥斯曼人便被排除在他们自己国家的政府之外。政府如今处于受过精心教育和严格训练的前基督教奴隶的控制之下，而这正是奥斯曼帝国成功的主要原因之一。

    萨非王朝得名于祖先谢赫萨非?阿尔丁?伊沙克（1252－1334年），他出生在阿塞拜疆东南角的阿德比尔。他是一个宗教教团而不是一个国家的创建者，也没有证据显示他是一个什叶派教徒。在他的后裔和继承人中第一个肯定属于什叶派的人，是他的孙子哈瓦加?阿里。此人是十二伊玛目派的什叶派教徒，并不属于不得人心的七伊玛目派，该派10世纪曾受到法蒂玛王朝和卡尔马特派，后来又受到暗杀派的压制。伊朗西部的暗杀派于1257年被蒙古大将旭烈兀消灭。第一位参与政治和战争的萨非家族成员是沙菲阿尔丁的曾孙、沙?伊斯玛仪的祖父谢赫朱奈德。他就任谢赫职位的1447年正好是帖木儿之子和继承人沙阿?罗赫去世的那一年。此后不久，帖木儿帝国便解体了。朱奈德娶”白羊”土库曼人首领乌宗?哈桑的妹妹为妻。”白羊”土库曼人是帖木儿人在阿塞拜疆和迪亚巴克尔的继承人。

    “白羊”土库曼人有一位伊朗籍的宰相。1502年，沙?伊斯玛仪取消了白羊土库曼人雇佣的这一官职，并由自己接管了宰相的职权。但沙?伊斯马仪本人及其”红头兵”的追随者同白羊土库曼人一样，也是讲突厥语的。实际上在这一时期阿塞拜疆的全部居民都讲突厥语。在沙?伊斯玛仪之前，十二伊玛目什叶派的主要中心，位于伊拉克西南部和阿米尔山（今黎巴嫩共和国的南端）。伊朗是逊尼派占优势。最著名的四大新波斯语诗人–菲尔多西、萨阿迪、哈菲兹和贾米，全都是逊尼派教徒。但是，沙?伊斯玛仪把十二伊玛目什叶派强加给其所有的臣民。伊朗人以令人惊奇的驯服接受了强加给他们的新宗教，而且这一新宗教最终还成为新的伊朗民族主义的独特标志，尽管讲突厥语的帝国创建者沙?伊斯玛仪的本意，只是要扩大他的版图，宣扬他祖先的宗教。

    到1555年，奥斯曼帝国已处于国王奴隶近卫军的治理之下。在伊朗，沙?伊斯玛仪的孙子和第二位继承人伊斯玛仪听凭他的”红头军”土库曼军队的摆布。帖木儿的胡马雍正率领一支来自伊斯兰教世界各地的冒险家大军再次征服北印度。胡马雍和他的父亲巴伯尔都是逊尼派，但两人都寻求过什叶派萨非帝国的援助。穆斯林在印度的”优势地位”被其印度教臣民远远地超过了，以至它无力陷入国内的教派纠纷之中。在伊斯兰教的印度，任何教派支持穆斯林都总能受到欢迎。

    在印度以西的伊斯兰教世界，1500－1513年十二伊玛目什叶派帝国出人意料地创建于伊朗和伊拉克，结果使黎凡特地区的逊尼派与中亚的逊尼派隔绝开来。1475年，奥斯曼帝国吞并了热那亚人在克里米亚的殖民地，奥斯曼的宗主权得到金帐汗国的后继者、克里米亚”鞑靼人”国家的承认。但莫斯科的俄国皇帝伊凡四世（雷帝）在1552年和1556年先后吞并了喀山和阿斯特拉罕，切断了奥斯曼帝国与乌浒河－药杀水流域的逊尼派乌兹别克汗国之间穿越欧亚大平原的交通要道。1516－1517年，奥斯曼帝国征服和吞并了埃及的马木路克王国，但在1498年至1515年之间，葡萄牙人已经夺取了印度洋的制海权。尽管奥斯曼人和马木路克人一样，占有从内线作战的优势，但他们并不比马木路克人更成功，后者在1508－1517年也曾试图从葡萄牙人手中夺得海上霸权。1538年，一支奥斯曼的舰队在从葡萄牙手中夺取第乌时失利；1538年，曾先后与马木路克和奥斯曼人联盟的古吉拉特穆斯林苏丹，被迫与葡萄牙人缔和。1551年，奥斯曼人放弃了与葡萄牙人争夺对印度洋制海权的努力。

    1542年，奥斯曼人和葡萄牙人的滑膛枪手在阿比西尼亚各自作为当地互相敌对的穆斯林和基督教徒的援军而交战。阿比西尼亚自从穆罕默德迁徒耶斯里卜之前向一些追随穆罕默德皈依伊斯兰教的麦加人提供庇护以来，在国际事务中很少发挥作用。穆斯林阿拉伯人后来对埃及的征服，使得努比亚和阿比尼西亚的一性论派基督教徒与基督教世界的其他地区相隔绝。虽然从14世纪起努比亚开始改宗伊斯兰教，但一性论派基督教却在阿比尼西亚存留了下来。自7世纪开始，（来自也门的）在阿比尼西亚高原的讲闪米特语的定居者的语言向南传播。一性论派基督教也随着语言同时传播。但是，基督教必须要与犹太教竞争，犹太教在这一地区已在基督教之先建立了立脚点。自13世纪起，阿比尼西亚的基督教王国已经压倒了高原上的犹太教，但伊斯兰教却传播到了高原东部和南部的山脚处；1529－1542年，来自东南部的穆斯林几乎征服了整个基督教的阿比西尼亚。她的命运几乎被1542年奥斯曼人的滑膛枪手对葡萄牙人的胜利所决定，但奥斯曼人很快就撤退了；1543年阿比西尼亚的基督教徒在葡萄牙幸存者的帮助下取得了决定性的胜利。阿比西尼亚遭到破坏，人口锐减，它的大部分地区遭到了从东南部和南部大规模迁往高原的加拉人异教徒移民的蹂躏。

    1555年，伊斯兰教三大帝国统治了从阿尔及利亚到北印度的旧大陆的文明中心。奥斯曼帝国是三个帝国中建国时间最长、结构最好的，但它仍未能在1492年保住伊比利亚半岛最后一个穆斯林滩头阵地，使格拉纳达王国免遭西方基督教的卡斯提和阿拉贡联合王国的征服。奥斯曼人也未能吞并西北非最西部的穆斯林国家摩洛哥。奥斯曼人不仅未能阻截摩洛哥沿岸大西洋海域中的葡萄牙人，而且还在古吉拉特沿海被葡萄牙人战败。此外，奥斯曼人也未能抢在俄罗斯人之前，占据从喀山到黑海的伏尔加河，并因而与他们在乌浒河－药杀水流域的逊尼派同胞失去了联系。

    尽管如此，伊斯兰教世界仍然立下了丰功伟绩，克服了蒙古人造成的灾难。而且，它的恢复不只限于政治方面。在1300至1555年间，伊朗产生了四大新波斯语诗人中的两个：哈菲兹（死于1389年）和贾米（1414－1492年），西北非产生了探索人类历史结构的杰出历史学家伊本?赫尔东（1332－1406年），尽管西北非终其一生都处于政治动乱之中。必须指出的是，这3位伊斯兰教文化的代表人物都不是奥斯曼人，最后两位伟大的新波斯语诗人也都生卒于萨非征服和伊朗改宗之前。

    第七十章 东正教世界（1240－1556年）

    小亚细亚西北部的尼西亚希腊人帝国和巴尔干半岛的希腊人和斯拉夫人的东正教国家，避开了1237－1240年席卷俄罗斯和1243年淹没塞尔柱拉姆苏丹国的蒙古浪潮。在巴尔干半岛只有保加利亚遭到劫掠。但到1556年东正教世界这两翼的命运却发生了逆转。1556年奥斯曼人成了南方的东正教各民族（包括14世纪建立瓦拉几亚和摩尔多瓦公国的罗马尼亚人）的主人。另一方面，到1556年俄罗斯的东北部分摆脱了金帐汗国的霸权；莫斯科的统治者成了弗拉基米尔的大公，吞并了东俄罗斯的所有公国。1547年他获得了沙皇的头衔；并且征服了两个仅存的继承金帐汗国的国家喀山（1552年）和阿斯特拉罕（1556年）。

    1240年，尼西亚帝国正在兴起，它于1235年在欧洲赢得了一个滩头阵地，1259年它在马其顿的佩拉戈尼亚击败了由一个对立的希腊人国家与两个法兰克人王国结成的同盟。这个希腊人国家是东罗马帝国在希腊西北部领土的继承者，而这两个法兰克人国家则是法国人的摩里亚公国和霍亨斯陶芬王朝治下的两西西里王国。此后，尼西亚的希腊人于1261年从最后一位法国人皇帝之手夺取了君士坦丁堡。但是，这些巨大胜利的结果却是虎头蛇尾的。1288－1299年，塞尔维亚征服了尼西亚希腊人帝国在1246年夺取的马其顿地区的北半部。1345年塞尔维亚王公斯蒂芬?杜香占领了塞雷斯；1346年他加冕为”塞尔维亚人和罗马人皇帝”。到这一时期，位于塞萨洛尼基界外的整个马其顿都落入了希腊人之手。尼西亚希腊人于1261年重新征服君士坦丁堡的代价，是将亚洲领土丢给了土库曼部落，而奥斯曼人就是其中距离最近、威胁最大的一支。到1346年，复兴的东罗马帝国已注定要灭亡。剩下的问题只是由塞尔维亚人还是由奥斯曼人成为它的继承者。

    东罗马帝国的衰落并没有削弱拜占庭艺术和拜占庭宗教事业的生命力。14世纪初，伊斯坦布尔的霍拉教堂中的镶嵌画并不比同时代佛罗伦萨艺术家乔托的绘画逊色。与此同时。希腊圣山上出现了东正教神秘主义的复兴，神秘主义者通过默祷寻求与神性的合一（自亚历山大的圣西大纳西开始的这种合一，一直是虔诚的东正教徒所宣称的目标）。在14世纪，追求这种神秘主义合一的方法是印度式的形体瑜伽。它在神学上的正统性遭到了西方基督教神学家和部分东正教神学家的怀疑。但在1351年，静修在一次东正教会会议上被宣布为正统。政治和神学是互相牵连的。1351年东正教的这次声明是对西方基督教攻击静修的回击，同时也是教皇约翰六世坎塔库泽努斯在1341－1347年东罗马内战中获胜的结果。

    这次内战使复兴的东罗马帝国最终灭亡。与战争相伴而来的是一场社会革命和神学争论。帝国在帕里奥洛吉王朝的长期统治期间（1259－1453年），农村大庄园的不断扩大和农民处境的日益恶化都达到了令人难以忍受的程度。约翰六世站在大地主一边，引起了农民激烈的反抗。革命者（”狂热派”）在从1342年到1350年的大部分时间中一直占据着塞萨洛尼基。这一期间，大地主在帝国的残余领土上遭到了野蛮的报复。

    希腊人在14世纪关于静修的争论中所表现的反西方的感情，早在第一次十字军东征时期就很明显。1204年西方基督教徒攻陷君士坦丁堡，及意大利沿海的共和国不断夺取希腊人领海内的国内贸易，进一步加深了这种反西方的感情。迈克尔八世帕里奥洛加斯，即那位重新征服君士坦丁堡的尼西亚皇帝，认识到如果没有西方基督教的友好亲善和军事支持，他们恢复的东罗马帝国就不可能生存下去；为此需要花费的代价是东正教会承认罗马教廷在教会事务中的至上地位。迈马尔八世本人在1274年承认了教皇的至上地位，约翰五世在1369年、约翰八世在1439年的佛罗伦萨会议上也都这样做了；1453年，东罗马的最后一位皇帝君士坦丁十一世在与罗马教会的宗教感情交流中去世。

    1439年在佛罗伦萨皇帝与东正教教会代表团的绝大多数成员（只有一人除外）签署了合并条例。但这次也和前几次一样，广大的东正教僧俗群众却反对根据罗马的条件进行合并。在1361年奥斯曼人占领阿德里安堡之后，君士坦丁堡已经与外世隔绝，只剩下经过达达尼尔海峡的海上通道，而在陆路上一直处在封锁之下。从此以后，所有的希腊人都清楚地看到，如果他们得不到西方基督教徒根据西方条件的救助，最后一批政治上独立的希腊人飞地势必要落到奥斯曼人之手。希腊人有意让自己处在奥斯曼的政治统治之下，因为他们感到与教皇的教会统治和热亚那与威尼斯的商业统治相比，这还是较轻的祸害。

    受《古兰经》约束，穆斯林政府有义务要允许服从的基督教臣民信奉自己的宗教。而西方基督教国家，除了威尼斯例外，都很难令人相信它们不强迫它们的东正教臣民承认教皇的至上地位。尚没有落入西方统治下的希腊人，不愿意为逃避穆斯林的统治付出这样的代价；而且，即使他们接受西方的条件，他们也怀疑西方基督教徒向他们提供军事援助的可能性。总而言之，希腊人感到愤愤不平：在希腊人的眼中，西方人不仅在文化上低希腊人一等，而且也是教派林立纷争不断，但他们现在却在财富和权力两方面都远远超过了希腊人。

    1439年佛罗伦萨合并条例的签署人之一，是俄罗斯东正教会的大主教伊西多尔。他得到了奖赏，被选为罗马的枢机主教。俄罗斯大主教仍然是君士坦丁堡主教的下级，伊西多尔本人则是希腊人。俄罗斯的主教们否决和抛弃了伊西多尔，1448年他们选举了一位土生土长的俄罗斯人担任主教。这次选举并没有得到君士坦丁堡主教的同意，是由莫斯科的弗拉基米尔大公与立陶宛大公及其在西俄罗斯的下属基辅王公共同发起的。但是俄罗斯的教士阶层并不反对君士坦丁堡主教凌驾于俄罗斯东正教会主教之上的权力，所以至少在名义上，整个俄罗斯仍然处在主教教会的管辖之下，尽管各个本地的俄罗斯公国的政治地位差别很大。

    莫斯科公园是在1328年以为金帐汗国服役而兴起的。莫斯科以金帐汗的名义惩罚了1327年反叛金帐汗的特维尔公国。1332年莫斯科王公伊凡?卡利塔受到其蒙古主人的奖赏，担任弗拉基米尔大公。他继续留在自己的城市莫斯科，因而，俄罗斯东正教会主教也将莫斯科作为主教所在地。金帐汗国利用莫斯科公国作为刽子手来对付其他俄罗斯公国固然对金帐汗国很方便，但也很短见。莫斯科逐渐一个接一个地吞并了处在金帐汗国宗主权之下的其他俄罗斯公国。与尚未处在莫斯科统治之下的其他俄罗斯公园的政权截然不同，莫斯科政权是专制的。

    西北部的两个俄罗斯人国家普斯科夫和商业城邦诺夫哥罗德仍然保持着独立。诺夫哥罗德是北德汉萨同盟的成员，控制了从挪威东部边缘到鄂毕河口的北冰洋沿岸的大片领土。1478年莫斯科吞并了诺夫哥罗德，1510年吞并了普斯科夫，这使得莫斯科公园的面积、财富和权力增加了一倍。

    在15世纪，莫斯科实际上是因金帐汗国的解体而获得了自由。大约在15世纪中叶，金帐汗国分裂成为4个小国：喀山、克里米亚、阿斯特拉罕和卡西莫夫，卡西莫夫建立于1452年，是莫斯科的附庸国。克里米亚的鞑靼人在1475年接受了奥斯曼的宗主权，他们在1502年消灭了金帐汗国的最后残余。于是，莫斯科最终吞并喀山（1552年）和阿斯特拉罕（1556年）便是不可避免的了。

    1386年立陶宛的异教王公亚盖沃当选为波兰国王，同时也从异教改宗为罗马王主教，这一事件为俄罗斯人带来了一个问题。自1237–1240年蒙古人闯入以来，立陶宛人已经乘俄罗斯退却之机将立陶宛的宗主权强加给西俄罗斯诸公国，只有1352年被波兰吞并的加利西亚是个例外。立陶宛人让西俄罗斯的王公保持自治，不干预其臣民的东正教。立陶宛人将其政府所在地定在白俄罗斯的东正教城市维尔纳。因此，异教的立陶宛政权并不令西俄罗斯人反感，它成了避免遭受金帐汗国统治这一更大祸害的保障。但这一形势后来却恶化了；1386年西俄罗斯人的立陶宛宗主变成了一个罗马天主教徒和波兰国王；1404年立陶宛占领了斯摩棱斯克，扩大了它在俄罗斯的领地。但处在立陶宛和波兰统治下的俄罗斯公国中的贵族，却感激他们在这一政权下享有的特许权，因为如果沦于自己的同胞莫斯科俄罗斯人的统治之下，即完全不同的专制就会被强加到他们头上。

    因此，在1556年莫斯科的俄罗斯沙皇尚未成为西俄罗斯的主人；但它已具有很大的权势，并且打开了向东扩张的大门。与此相反，同一时期的希腊人在政治上却处于逆境。君士坦丁堡在1453年落入奥斯曼人之手。在奥斯曼帝国于1461年吞并特拉布松帝国之后，希腊人残存的全部领土都处在奥斯曼或西方基督教的统治之下。但是，奥斯曼的统治强加给希腊人，也使希腊人在教会事务和经济方面得到了好处。

    奥斯曼苏丹穆罕默德二世把自己的非穆斯林臣民–东正教徒、格鲁吉亚人和犹太人组织成自治的社团（米勒特），每一社团都由一位宗教事务上的头面人物领导，他是奥斯曼的臣民，在奥斯曼帝国政府面前为自己的宗教同伴的行为负责。每一个社团首领的管辖范围，都不超出奥斯曼帝国本身的疆界。君士坦丁堡主教依据职权也就是全部奥斯曼东正教徒米勒特（拉姆米勒特）的首领；结果，在1516－1517年奥斯曼征服马木路克帝国之后，作为奥斯曼－米勒特首领的君士坦丁堡主教，不仅成了他自己教区臣民的民政首脑，而且也成为他的同事安条克、耶路撒冷和亚历山大的东正教主教教区臣民的民政首脑。君士坦丁堡主教还管辖居住在东格鲁吉亚、阿兰和俄罗斯的非奥斯曼的教区臣民。君士坦丁堡主教教区领地的俄罗斯部分非常广阔，并且还在继续扩展。而且，政治上分裂的俄罗斯人唯一的统一纽带就是他们作为君士坦丁堡主教教区臣民对东正教会的共同忠诚。因此，在1556年君士坦丁堡主教和莫斯科的沙皇同样是东正教世界的强有力人物，尽管主教本人是穆斯林统治者的政治臣民。与此同时，希腊人与北意大利人的经济竞争已发生了有利于希腊人的转变。从10世纪末到15世纪初，意大利人不断削弱希腊人的势力，经济上在黎凡特地区一直占优势地位。但是奥斯曼吞并热那亚人在君士坦丁堡北郊皮拉的殖民地（1453年），1463－1479年土耳其－威尼斯战争（一连串战争中的第一次）以及克里米亚战争（1475年）使意大利人在经济和政治上都遭到损失。尽管有来自西班牙的犹太难民的竞争，但胜利者仍然是奥斯曼的希腊人。新兴的奥斯曼希腊人富商正好与君士坦丁堡主教及其机构配成了一对。虽然希腊人的这两支力量的地位都岌岌可危，但结合在一起却行使着相当可观的权力。

    第七十一章 西方基督教世界（1321－1563年）

    在1050－1300年的250年间，西方基督教世界维持了宗教和文化上的统一，经济也获得了发展，人口和生产都有增长14世纪初物质上的增长减缓，1348年及其后的黑死病侵袭，使人口和耕地大幅度减少。另一方面，到1563年西方基督教世界赢得了全球性的海上控制权，但它东南部的陆上疆界同时也从1300年踞有的范围向后退缩。而且，到1563年，西方基督教世界已变成一个分崩离析互相倾轧的大家族，这种情形既表现在宗教方面，又表现在政治方面。宗教和政治两个方面的分裂在很大程度上同时发生，加剧了基督教世界的内部分裂。到如今已分裂为君主国、公国和城市国家的西方基督教世界的地方统治者们看来，决定其臣民的宗教效忠关系如同政治效忠关系一样，乃是统治者的特权。

    1348年以前，西方基督教世界就已出现经济上的衰退；黑死病把衰退变成了灾难。这种瘟疫沿水路由热那亚人在克里米亚的商业据点传至马赛，进入基督教世界。这种瘟疫一定起源于欧亚大平原或者欧亚太平原更远的某一地区。在西方基督数国家中，黑死病不是局部性的瘟疫，首次在欧洲流行便使至少三分之一的人口死亡，而且不待生存者恢复抵御能力便连续发生。西方基督数世界的人口和耕种的土地，直到16世纪初大概还没有恢复到130O年所达到的水平。这些经济后果具有革命性意义。劳工缺乏使农民获益匪浅，虽然好处并不如他们所期望的那么多，那么恒久。农业劳动力的枯竭，佛兰德、英格兰和佛罗伦萨羊毛纺织业的发展，打破了耕作与养羊业之间的均势，养羊业得到发展。

    在技术领域，14世纪西方基督教世界已传入了火器；1440－1490年西方的船只在建造和设备安装上已有飞跃性改进；15世纪下半叶，印刷技术在所有的西方国家被普遍采用。火药和印刷术是中国人的发明。13世纪蒙古人在征服来帝国的战争中使用过火药。9世纪以后印刷术即已在中国应用。

    中国印刷者使用活字印刷早于西方人，但是众多的汉字使活字印刷比雕板印刷更为不便。在朝鲜，大规模使用活字印刷开始于1403年，1446年朝鲜官方采用表音书写体字，这种表音书写体字用来表达朝鲜语，只需少量的符号。这项大有可为的发明在朝鲜是死产儿，它为中国语言文字的悠久传统威望所抑制。15世纪的西方印刷者则不受此樊篱的局限；无论是拉丁语还是各种地方语言都能用26个拉丁字母的书写体来麦达；凑巧的是，拉丁字母的古典大写体和加洛林时代的小写体，由于14世纪意大利学者的身体力行而重新复兴起来，非常理想地适用于活字印刷。西方人立即用希腊文、希伯来文和阿拉伯文印刷书籍。我们不知道谷登堡的印刷技术是他独立的个人发明，还是受中国人的启迪。欧亚大平原是个传播载体，14世纪它向西方基督教世界传送了黑死病的病菌。可以设想，100年之后它同样可以传送印刷术。

    西方人掌握印刷术只是关系到西方内部的事，而掌握火器使用方法和新式船只制造方法，却关系到全球形势。15世纪西方船队对全球海洋的征服将在第75章讨论。在西方人到达的范围内，对于西方人以外的还没有掌握火器或者没有迅速掌握火器的各民族，火器使西方海上探险者获得了决定性的军事优势。中国人已经掌握了火器；奥斯曼人、莫斯科人、印度北部的帖木儿征服者以及日本人都迅速地学会了掌握火器。阿兹特克人和印加人则灭亡了。

    15世纪下半叶印刷术在西方基督教世界的运用，推动了文化的繁荣。这种文化的繁荣开始于意大利北部，16世纪时扩展到基督教世界的其他国家。1266年安茹的查理前往征伐西西里王国，1494年法国的查理八世跨过了阿尔卑斯山。在此期间，意大利北部摆脱了外部的入侵。在1266年以前的年代中，意大利北部不断受到外敌入寇和瘟疫的侵袭。在1266－1494年这段时间里，意大利北部在西方基督教世界内创造了自己的区域性的亚文化。在西方基督教世界，8世纪文化繁荣起源于诺森伯里亚，12世纪文化大发展是在法兰西，14世纪意大利成为文化发展上的执牛耳者。

    15和16世纪之交，意大利文化和阿尔卑斯山以北的文化存在着明显的、巨大的差异，只要观察一下威斯敏斯特大教堂中王亨利七世的私人祈祷处中佛罗伦萨雕刻家皮特罗?托里贾里（1472－1522年）的作品与英国人在拱顶和高耸的雕像上的工艺，就能清楚地看出其中的差别。虽然两派艺术都宏伟壮丽，处于同一时代，但表达的思想却是迥然各异的。

    这种明显的差异是因为14世纪以后意大利北部出现了希腊-一罗马风格的复兴运动–这种复兴不仅仅限于雕刻和建筑，也表现在绘画和文学方面。雕刻家、画家和建筑师均以保存下来的希腊–罗马作品为范本而刻意效仿。用拉丁语写作的作家们试图再现西塞罗的语言，而不是圣哲罗姆或圣阿奎那的语言。14世纪，北部的意大利人开始掌握希腊语和古希腊的文学。从公元3世纪到6世纪时，希腊语和古希腊文学在西方就已过时。彼特拉克（1304－1374年）和乔万尼?薄伽丘（1313－1375年）只是粗略地掌握希腊语，但是，1439年一个希腊代表团到佛罗伦萨参加宗教会议时，所遇到的北意大利学者的希腊语却已十分娴熟，他们彼此能够讨论基督教产生前的希腊文学和哲学。为此，意大利文化繁荣在16世纪被称为”文艺复兴”，意思是希腊罗马文化的再生。倡导者被称为”人文主义者”，意思是基督教以前的希腊罗马文化的研究者和崇拜者，以此与西方基督教神学的研究者和信徒相区别。

    但是，在这个意义上使用的”文艺复兴”这个称谓，乃是不恰当的；因为希腊罗马文体的复兴仅仅是西方文化第二次自然发展繁荣的伴随物和衍生物。只是这一次文化繁荣与11世纪第一次自然发展繁荣形式不同。西方文化的第二次繁荣不是发端于伊拉斯谟（1466－1536年）以西塞罗式的拉丁语写作达到臻境之际，而是肇始于但丁决定用托斯卡纳语方言写作《神曲》之时。在此之前，但丁已经用托斯卡纳语写下了早期的诗歌。阿尔卑斯山以北的文学家们早已使用奥克语或奥依语创作诗歌，但丁只是步其后尘而已。

    近代早期的西方人对希腊罗马文化的关系是矛盾的。当希腊罗马的榜样鼓动近代人在仿效中创造出新的文化内容，成为当时西方生活方式的有益财富时，它起到了刺激促进作用；但是当希腊罗马文化诱使近代人仅仅模仿”古人”时，它的影响趋于衰微。菲力波?布鲁内莱斯基（1337－1446年）研究了罗马的哈德良先哲词后，在建筑佛罗伦萨的穹厦时，使自己的作品得以丰富。（布鲁内莱斯基未能有机会与同时代的奥斯曼人于1421年在布尔萨建造的稍微低矮些的希腊式穆斯林建筑进行交流和比较。）维琴察的安德烈亚?帕拉迪奥（1518－1580年）研究了罗马的废墟和维特鲁威论建筑的论文后，创造了独特的古典建筑风格，丰富了近代西方世界的生活色彩。在另一方面，当西吉斯孟多?潘多尔弗?马拉泰斯塔（1417－1468年）于1447年将里米尼的一座教堂东施效颦般地改造成为希腊式庙宇时，却干了一件蠢事。同时，尼科拉?马基雅弗利（1469－1527年）创造性地运用研究李维著作的成果，写出了指导近代政治和战争的实用手册，而伊拉斯谟则匠心独具地运用所掌握的西塞罗式拉丁语，向当时有限的拉丁语读者阐述了他关于道德、社会、政治和思想方面问题的见解。但是，由某些缺乏伊拉斯谟天才的人文主义者用学究气十足的拉丁语写成的文学作品，却显得肤浅简薄。

    中世纪的西方逻辑学家对拉丁语的掌握，则要健全得多。他们以西塞罗为榜样，不惮于使用新创的词汇。与人文主义者对立的宗教改革家路德，比之西塞罗式的人文主义者伊拉斯谟更多地继承了但丁的传统（同时也是彼特拉克和薄伽丘的传统）。他用方言演说，拥有比伊拉斯谟更多的听众。用托斯卡纳语写成的《神曲》，宣告了近代西方文化繁荣时期的来临，路德将《圣经》译成德文，则为文化繁荣时期建树了丰碑。

    直到15世纪中叶，近代西方文艺复兴的中心仍是意大利北部；在意大利北部，它的中心是托斯卡纳；而在托斯卡纳，则首推佛罗伦萨。但是，新的西方文化风格既不是佛罗伦萨也不是意大利的独创专利。1494年意大利再次受到外敌入侵，意大利人学究气十足地把入侵者蔑称为”蛮族”，声称新的西方文化风格乃是他们的独创，以此来回答外敌的入侵。

    佛罗伦萨之于近代西方文化繁荣的贡献，如同雅典之于公元前480年以后古希腊文化繁荣的贡献同样突出。但丁、彼特拉克、布鲁内莱斯基、柏拉图主义者马西利奥?菲奇诺（1433－1499年）、集银行家、专制君主和艺术家与学者的庇护人于一身的洛伦佐?德?梅迪契、马基雅弗利和托里贾尼都是佛罗伦萨人。薄伽丘是半个佛罗伦萨人，半个法国人。列奥纳多（1452－1519年）的诞生地芬奇，处于皮斯托亚境内，列奥纳多出生前一个世纪此地曾被佛罗伦萨合并。阿莱佐是考古学先驱波焦?布拉乔利尼（1380－1459年）的诞生地，当波焦还只有4岁时，此地就完全被佛罗伦萨合并。卡普拉斯是米开朗琪罗?邦那罗蒂（1475－1564年）的出生地，它处于阿莱佐辖区内，是台伯河发源地之一。安杰洛?安布罗吉尼（波利齐亚诺，1454－1494年）来自锡耶纳地区的蒙蒂帕希诺，乔见尼?皮科来自位于艾米利亚雷焦和库德纳交界地区的小公园米兰多拉。洛伦佐?德?梅迪契把这两位学者吸引到了佛罗伦萨。巨匠拉斐尔（拉斐洛?桑泽奥，1483－1520年）不是佛罗伦萨人，他诞生于翁布里亚的乌尔比诺，并在此长大成人。

    但是，无论佛罗伦萨还是整个意大利北部，都不是近代西方文化繁荣的唯一中心。在经济上佛兰德可与意大利北部相匹敌，同时作为第二个文化中心，在文化上也可与意大利北部相提并论。菲耶索莱是可与佛罗伦萨并驾齐驱的古城，也是第一个被划入骤然崛起的佛罗伦萨版图的邻邦。该城市有一位弗拉?安吉利科（1387－1455年），佛兰芒人简?凡?爱克（1390－1441年）与地互为伯仲；作为拉丁语学者和政治家的鹿特丹人伊拉斯谟可与他那个时代或其他任何时代的意大利人相媲美。从托斯卡纳到尼德兰，到处都有文化以及商业的落脚之地。

    与托斯卡纳和翁布里亚相比，位于亚平宁山脉东端到阿尔卑斯山之间北意大利的亚得里亚海岸，与尼德兰在地形和气候上更为相似。这种地理环境上的区别，在威尼斯画派的艺术风格上得到了反映。丁托列托（雅各布?罗布斯提，1518－1594年）和保罗?韦罗内塞（1528－1588年）与同时代的佛兰芒人皮特?勃鲁盖尔（1525－1569年）齐名。从亚得里亚海到北海，纽伦堡是中转站，与米开朗其罗和拉斐尔同时代、生于纽伦堡的匈牙利人阿尔布莱希特?丢勒（1471－1528年），可与除四大巨匠之外的任何意大利艺术家相提并论而毫不逊色。这四位巨人象国王一般盛名远扬。以致他们的教名远播四海，他们的姓氏却鲜为人知了。（第四个巨匠是威尼斯画家提香［1477－1576年］。）

    正如意大利北部的情形一样，在阿尔卑斯山以北的西方国家中，城市国家也是近代西方文化发展繁荣的摇篮，但是到1563年这些邦国中的人民也大量地加入了这一文化运动。大学数量的增加可以说明这一切。从1350年到1500年西方基督教世界的大学数量增长一倍多，中欧建立起了23所大学（23所中最早的是布拉格大学，建于1347年）。

    政治方面，大约1300年以后的250年中，13世纪神圣罗马帝国皇帝腓特烈二世的遗愿得以实现。11世纪末查士丁尼法典在西方重新发现。1194年，腓特烈二世的父亲亨利六世夺取了东罗马帝国治下的西西里王国。这一切激起了腓特烈二世的雄心，他不仅想成为德意志的专制君主，而且也想成为整个意大利乃至阿尔卑斯山以北西方大帝国的专制君主。腓特烈二世没能征服北部意大利的各城市国家，但却启发了北部意大利的统治者们奋起效尤。他们取得了成功，因为他们追求的目标比腓特烈二世小得多。14、15世纪，意大利北部绝大多数城市国家为自治公国所取代。其中有的公园（如米兰）拥有不止一个城市。有的城市虽仍然是共和政体（如威尼斯），如把其他原先是独立的北方城市置于其统治下，便可成为一个帝国。

    结果，意大利的独立城市数量增加，而城市的规模却在缩小。即使15世纪来已有相当程度发展的最大的北意大利城市（如米兰、威尼斯、佛罗伦萨和教皇国），与1563年活跃在政治舞台上的意大利之外的西方各王国的潜在力量相比也是弱小的。意大利之外的各王国包括：从10世纪以后即已出现的法兰西王国和英格兰王国；卡斯提和阿拉贡联合王国（二者于1474－1479年合并）；多瑙河畔的哈布斯堡王国。哈布斯堡王国出现于1526年，是由哈布斯堡家族继承奥地利王位、波希米亚王位和被土耳其推翻的匈牙利王国的王位联合形成的。匈牙利王国从前曾经是西方基督教王国东南部独挡一面的前哨站，先是反对东罗马帝国，接着又反对土耳其帝国。15世纪西方各王国远较意大利北部各公国和共和国为先进。这些王国中产生了能力卓越的政治家，如法国的路易十一（1461－1483年在位）、费迪南德和伊莎贝拉（卡斯提和阿拉贡的统治者，1479－1504年）及英国的亨利七世（1485－1509年在位）。

    到1563年，共和制城邦仍在西方基督教世界中占有一席之地。威尼斯仍是一个强大国家，在意大利本土和黎凡特地区享有绝对统治权；热那亚仍然统治着里维埃拉的意大利部分和科西嘉；瑞士是共和制联邦；德意志城市完全享有主权，尽管名义上并不如此，其中纽伦堡和奥格斯堡两城市是国际贸易和金融中心。哈布斯堡王朝曾一度依赖奥格斯堡的富格尔家族的贷款维持经济运转。摆脱罗马教会的统治之后，在新教运动中起领导作用的是德意志的奥格斯堡和斯特拉斯堡两城市，瑞士的苏黎世、伯尔尼和巴塞尔三城市以及瑞士联邦的盟邦日内瓦。

    与此相反，为了对抗北德汉萨同盟，斯堪的纳维亚3个王国结成的联盟却因1512－1513年瑞典的退出而瓦解。1386年立陶宛和波兰结成的联盟，曾在1501年和1569年得以巩固，但它也未能使波兰－立陶宛成为一个强大的国家。不过，十分明显的是，15世纪西方国家的主要形态是君主国，而不是城邦，也不是由一个联盟、一个专制君主或一个宗主共和国统治下的城邦联盟。到1563年，曾经是西方城市国家中心地带的伦巴第和佛兰德，终于成了各君主国逐鹿争雄的战场。

    意大利北部各邦由于相互掣肘而受制于西方基督教世界的其他强国。1477－1482年，法兰西和哈布斯堡王朝瓜分了勃艮第王朝的属地以后，米兰所使用的用以阻止意大利政治统一的力量制衡术，被应用于更为广阔的范围。1525年查理五世（1519－1556年在位）在击败并俘虏法国的弗兰西斯一世之后，几近于将整个西方基督教世界置于其控制之下。但是，由于法国强烈的民族情感，政治上德国宗教改革分裂力量的阻击，他的宏愿功败垂成。1556年查理五世退位，他的理想破灭了。但是在他和他的兄弟费迪南德统治下，查理五世完成了领土的合并，其包括哈布斯堡在奥地利继承的版图、波希米亚王室的土地和匈牙利的弃地；包括西方基督教世界两大经济中心之一的尼德兰在内的前勃艮第的版图；欧洲第二个权势中心的北意大利的米兰；两西西里王国；在查理五世统治时期，领地超出了海格立斯灯塔成为”日不落”帝国的西班牙。

    1563年西方基督教世界距离政治上的统一还很遥远。如同15世纪意大利各邦互相掣肘一样，西方各国也正在勾心斗角、互相牵制。甚至在西方各国中最强大的国家，其权威也只是区域性的，而且在彼此竞争。但是自1303年法国的腓力四世羞辱教皇卜尼法斯八世之后，这些敌对的地方性世俗国家，不管国力大小，在西方基督教世界的事务中都拥有了最后的决断权。

    从1309年到1378年，各任教皇定居于阿维尼翁，并不是因为14世纪时阿维尼翁比罗马更接近于西方基督教世界的交通中心，而是因为法国王皇想把教皇置于法国境内以便于控制。1378－1417年的教会大分裂，震惊了西方基督教信徒。在这时期，教皇职位问题不仅是道德和教义上的问题，它关系到教皇职位是继续作为法国的政治财富，还是再次成为意大利人的政治财富。各地世俗政权和教皇都贪婪地征收税款；自13世纪以来，教廷千方百计地征收税款，同时各世俗政府也更多地染指教廷在它们统治范围内征收的钱财，并以此为条件才允许教廷把剩余的钱财装入口袋。

    教会大分裂的丑剧，导致了康斯坦茨宗教会议（1414－1418年）和巴塞尔宗教会议（1431－1449年）的召开。这两次宗教会议都试图把西方基督教会的教皇政府，从绝对集权的君主政体改造成为一个为议会宪章限制的君主政体。在这种有限度的君主政体中，各主教区的高级教士、宗教团体和大学的代表拥有最后的发言权，但是这种努力归于失败，它之所以失败，是因为地方世俗政权并不支持。如果宗教会议发起的这场运动能够成功，那么也许它将加强西方教会的势力，而这决不是各世俗政权所愿意看到的。一些世俗政权随心所欲地向教皇敲诈勒索，另一些世俗政权虽不再在西方教会行使”至上权力”，但却在以何种条件才能允许教皇职位继续存在下去的问题上斤斤计较。各地世俗政权都明白，从1303年以后，她们在自己的统辖范围内享有至上权力。而教皇这时的”至上权力”实际上仅被限定在他暂时行使统治权的辖区内。这些辖区有阿维尼翁周围的一小片飞地和”由查理大帝捐赠”的意大利土地的一部分。在1353－1363年间，教皇只对”由查理大帝捐赠”的土地享有实际上的统治权。所以教皇实际上只是一区区地方的小君主。

    在1303－1563年的250多年中，西方基督教世界主要的政治变化是，权力和税收从教皇和西方教会的各级机关（如修道院）转到了地方世俗政府。教廷从一个全面统辖整个基督世界的普世机构，衰败成为西方世界中无足轻重的地方公园。由于在同日益强大的地方政权斗争时吃了败仗，教皇失却了西方基督教民众对它的精神上的忠诚，教会的权威衰落，甚至在那些仍然遵奉它的西方国家也是如此。约翰?威克里夫的生卒年代（1329－1384年）极接近于教廷的阿维尼翁时期。如果奥康姆的威廉（1303－1349年）以及帕多瓦的马西利乌斯（1290－1343年）这两位敢于挑剔教皇制的人不是早死（奥康姆的威廉死于黑死病），那么他们的有生之年也与教廷的阿维尼翁时期差不多。扬?胡斯（1369－1415年）生命短暂，但并非死于疾病，而是为人所寄，他生活的时期很近于教会大分裂时期（1378－1546年）。

    这些人物以及更著名的人物路德（1483－1546年）、茨温利（1484－1531年）和加尔文（1509－1564年）的活动说明，公侯们的保护和庇佑仅仅是促成宗教改革的条件。受君王们保护的改革家本身并不是公侯。他们是单枪匹马的个人，如果没有民众的支持和君王、寡头执政者的庇护，那么在西方基督教世界的大部分地区，他们的事业也许都会流产失败。法国的腓力四世和英国的亨利八世向教皇挑衅时，都是雄居一国至高无上的主宰，并获得了臣民包括地方教士的支持。对于单枪匹马的个人，向教皇发起挑战，即使教皇已不再是炙手可热，威望显赫，那么也需要非凡的勇气。所以，路德首先于1517年在维联贝格（此时维腾贝格大学建校仅15年）、接着又于1521年在沃尔姆斯会议上挺身而出时，其行为可谓惊世骇俗。因为，同教廷决裂所产生的强烈震动迅速传播开来。胡司的捷克伙伴追随胡司的榜样，是因为他们早已敌视教皇和德国人；路德的德意志伙伴追随路德，是因为他们早已敌视教皇。不等罗马教廷的反宗教改革扭转乾坤，路德教义犹如燎原烈火迅速传遍德意志，远处波及至东南方哈布斯堡王朝统治下的蒂罗尔和施蒂里亚。苏黎世、斯特拉斯堡和日内瓦市民的民族情绪促使茨温利、布塞尔（1491－1551年）和加尔文粉墨登场。

    路德是宗教改革的先锋。如果没有他的登高一呼，那么追随他的改革者也许没有勇气同教廷决裂。但是，路德教传播的范围并没有超出德国和在文化上依附于德国的斯堪的纳维亚半岛。另一方面，加尔文教虽然从未成为占主导地位的新教派别，并且最后在它的家乡法国也遭到失败，但它的传播远远超出了它的避难地日内瓦城。加尔文新教和苏黎世的茨温利新教汇合后，向西传播至匈牙利和波兰－立陶宛，西北至德国西北部、尼德兰北部、英格兰和苏格兰。加尔文教占据了路德教盛行的德国西部边缘，在爱德华六世（1547－1553年在位）统治时期，在部分地区排挤了亨利八世时期的罗马国教，在英国生根。加尔文教在匈牙利部分地被反宗教改革运动击败，在波兰－立陶宛则被完全击败，但是，在德国西北部、尼德兰北部和苏格兰仍有它的据点。

    新教宗教改革引起了一系列的政治变革。新教在实际上肯定了德国诸侯和城市的独立地位。（在官方关系上，他们仍然是”德意志民族神圣罗马帝国”的臣民）但是，相应的社会变革并未发生。1348年西方基督教世界发生了一场黑死病，随后英国和法国爆发了不成功的农民起义，佛兰德和莱茵河沿岸城市及佛罗伦萨发生了流产的产业工人暴动。1450年、1525年英国和德国再次爆发不成功的农民起义。1534－1536年，在一位天主教诸侯统治地区明斯特的威斯特伐利亚，一些富于斗争精神的再洗礼教徒建立了一个共产主义的共和国。在反对这些革命性的社会运动中，路德和新旧数世俗政府密切协作。1525年他声言反对农民，支持诸侯。

    从原则上讲，路德认为，路德教教会应放弃干预政治。在路德看来，路德教国家中的政治乃是世俗政府的天地。相比之下，加尔文关于教会和国家之间关系的观点与教皇格列高利七世甚至卜尼法斯八世的观点更为相近。加尔文并不要求加尔文教会操纵政府的事务，但他却要求世俗的日内瓦市政府按照加尔文教会的标准进行统治。1538年他因坚持这种要求，在进行了两年统治（1536－1538年）之后被驱出日内瓦。1541年，加尔文被请回来，从此之后直到1564年去世，他在日内瓦立定了脚根。

    1494－1495年佛罗伦萨多明我派教士吉洛拉莫?萨伏那洛拉被授权执政。与1536年加尔文执掌日内瓦政权同样，萨伏那洛拉推行改革民众道德的措施。他死于1498年，不是被驱逐后又凯旋而归，而是被送上火刑柱烧死。在15世纪的西方基督教世界，意大利北部是最发展的地区；但即使是在这里，萨伏那浴拉所要完成的任务也不成熟，为了推行不成熟的理想，他曾施以残忍的惩罚手段。1517年路德谴责教皇滥用权力。在此之前，意大利已有一批教俗人员在主教乔凡尼?彼特罗?卡拉法的领导下，从教会内部开始改革教会。他们象阿西西的圣方济各一样，固守贫穷，过着圣洁的生活，做着行善积德的事。他们不是萨伏那浴拉和路德一类的改革者，而是圣方济各一类的人。他们没有引起教廷的批评和谴责，因此，卡拉法本人被推选为教皇（保罗四世，1555－1559年）。

    谴责和反抗教皇权威，同罗马教廷断然决裂，在这方面新教的创始者们是革命的，但是，正如他们的罗马天主教前辈和同辈人一样，他们本身也是独裁主义者和不宽容他人的人。虽然他们按照个人的判断和良心来反对教皇，但是他们决不允许改信新教的国家中有良心的自由，这方面比之天主教有过之而无不及。这些革命家们声称，《圣经》的权威超过教皇和宗教会议的权威。为了使每一个德国读者都能直接得到《圣经》，路德亲自将《圣经》译成了德文。每个基督徒都可以自己对《圣经》中的陈述和训谕作出解释，路德、茨温利和加尔文都利用这个权利阐释自己的神学理论；但是他们都不允许其信徒拥有同样自由解释的权利。

    16世纪新教和天主教教士同各政府达成协议，认定政府有权决定臣民的宗教信仰（教随国定）。异端分子必须离开，否则就有被处死的危险–也许是被活活烧死。再洗礼派是16世纪唯一的在原则上被容忍的教派。16世纪能容忍一些不同教派进行活动的国家有：威尼斯，波兰－立陶宛（这两个信仰罗马天主教的国家容许东正教臣民信仰自己的宗教），奥斯曼统治下的匈牙利的一部分，以及由奥斯曼人和哈布斯堡王朝交替统治的特兰西瓦尼亚自治公国。1571年以后，在特兰西瓦尼亚天主教，路德教、加尔文教和一神教4个教派均被认为合法，可自由活动。

    从13世纪的战争到教廷和腓特烈二世及其继承者去世，敏感的基督教徒越来越疏远教廷的教规。14和15世纪西方的某些基督教徒的精神活动已经从参加教会规定的宗教活动，转向个人心灵同上帝之间的交流。

    正如公元前6世纪释迦牟尼的同时代人那样，德国的多明我托钵僧梅斯特?爱克哈特（1260－1327年）也经历了自我与”终极精神实在”的统一。爱克哈特的这种神秘体验，与把”终极实在”看作是人类的神圣对应物的宗教，彼此间是不可调和的；因为，如果两个人不抛弃其独特的个性就不可能超越他们各自的独立性。爱克哈特和西方基督教会之间产生了分歧。同时代的圣山上的正统神秘主义运动（静修派）也受到了西方神学家们的责难，尽管静修派早在1351年即在一次东正教会议上得到认可。

    共生兄弟会（现代虔信派）由尼德兰人杰哈德?格鲁特（1340－1384年）所创建。格鲁特是前加尔都西会的修士。在西方基督教正统派看来，共生兄弟会不是异端，也不是反社会的。共生兄弟会从事各种活动，成员多从事教育事业，热心介绍使用印刷机，为古典学术的复兴作了准备。其信徒中最为桀骛不驯也最为著名的是伊拉斯谟。共生兄弟会过着虔诚的宗教生活，这种宗教生活尽管是正统的，但却类似不按西方教会规章行事的爱克哈特神秘主义。现代虔信派最有影响的作品《效法基督》的作者或编者坎普滕的托马斯（1379／80－1471年）作为一个奥古斯丁派修道院的修士，渡过了一生中的最后15年。

    15世纪西方基督教徒为对于死亡的恐惧所侵扰（与此形成对比的是，法老统治下的埃及人则预言死后永恒的快乐），并为十字架上基督所遭到的肉体痛苦所震慑。西方尤其是阿尔卑斯山以北国家同时代的画家、雕塑家和雕刻家，都以极端的现实主义手法表现这些主题。就其心境而言，路德是位豁达乐观的人，这种末世的可怖氛围使他对自己的罪孽冥想深思，并抛弃了依靠个人努力解脱罪孽的想法。他最终的信念是，基督把自己献给圣父上帝，从而具有了拯救人类的力量，只有信仰这一点才能够而且一定能够得救，从这一信念中，路德因此而获得了慰藉。

    这是大乘佛教在基督教中的翻版。大乘佛教认为菩萨阿弥陀佛能使信众死后进入”静土”，相信这一点就有可能得救。佛教中”静土”的说法于10世纪传到日本，12与13世纪之交被普遍接受。在日本历史上这是一个痛苦的社会和心理的过渡时期，就象西方基督教世界在15、16世纪之交一样。奥古斯丁修士路德把罪人救赎的责任由罪人自己转到基督的身上，在这方面他和其对手多明我修士台彻尔有相似之处，台彻尔把罪人得救的责任推到教皇身上。不过台彻尔不象路德那样把行动建立于信仰之上，他做的是金钱交易，完全为利益所驱使。但无论是路德还是台彻尔，都象圣方济各或坎普滕的托马斯一样，以一种更为简便的替代方式取代了对基督的艰辛的效仿。

    对相信”静土”的大乘佛教徒来说，菩萨阿弥陀佛是大慈大悲的。对路德和加尔文来说，基督教徒、犹太人和穆斯林所信仰的上帝却是不可思议、无所不能的暴君，因为上帝赞成穆罕默德和犹太经典（基督教《旧约》）中前先知书作者的主张。在穆罕默德的信念中，至少上帝给予人类一系列的警告，以使人类择善避恶免受惩罚。路德和加尔文教理中的上帝，则武断地命定了一些人得救，另一些人受惩罚。这是圣奥古斯丁对圣保罗神学的阐释。路德是奥古斯丁派修士，圣保罗理所当然成为他反对教皇权的保护伞，因为保罗是唯一可与教皇制度的创始者和庇护人圣彼得等量齐观的人。

    命定论似乎同因信得救论是水火不相害的，因为信仰是人的行为而不是上帝的行为。这两位新教创建人的两个基本信条只有在这样的前提下才能相互和谐一致，这就是：人类是一个能动体，如果他完成了信仰中的事业，那么这项事业如同他们所完成的其他事业一样，都是命定的。大乘佛教信徒认为，依靠对阿弥陀佛的信仰可以得救，它和上座部佛教对”业”的信仰更易趋同；因为，”业”虽是命定，但它是一种人为的命定，可以通过转世后的作为变好或变坏。

    新教徒废弃了教皇治下的西方基督教会的一些礼仪，这种做法在新教之前已有先例。842－845年，中国曾解散佛教寺院和尼姑庵，没收其财产，勒令僧徒还俗。在西方基督教世界，法国的腓力四世于1307－1314年曾没收圣殿修士会在法国的财产，并无情地迫害其成员，英国的爱德华二世也曾如法炮制。8、9世纪东正教世界曾禁止过偶像崇拜。11世纪西方世俗基督教士禁止结婚，1439年佛罗伦萨宗教会议上，为了迎合与西方教会不同、主张教士可以结婚的东仪天主教，教士独身的规定一度被废弃。捷克饼酒同领派，曾恢复俗人”两种形式”的交流权利。茨温利否定基督的肉和血在”圣餐面包和酒”中的”真正临在”；加尔文认为圣餐中基督的肉和血的临在只具有精神上的意义；但路德却认为是肯定的，新教各宗都仍承认，西方天主教在基督教信条中加入了”及圣子”一语。

    新教徒对犹太－基督徒－穆斯林信仰的上帝的描绘，特别是他们把命定论中令人惊悸的行为推到上帝身上，使西方的基督教人文主义者如伊拉斯谟和托马斯?莫尔爵士（今天被称为圣人）敬而远之。这些学者承认并抨击教廷在生活中的恶习和弊端，但在他们看来，这些恶习与路德的教义和灵魂相比还稍逊一筹。事实上新教神学是从伊拉斯谟的理性和圣托马斯?阿奎那的唯理主义的一次倒退。但是，除了路德之外，新教的其他创始者同时也是人文主义者。茨温利和加尔文是热情的古典学者。路德的同事腓力?梅兰希顿是维膝贝格大学的希腊语教授。梅兰希顿也和非路德派人文主义者一样，对路德命定论教义表示疑虑。路德死后，地劝说路德教会将苛刻的教义缓和一下（路德原来的教义最终还是盛行开来）。虽然在新教创建人中，路德因为不同时也是人文主义者而落落寡合，但路德仍不失为一位伟大的学者。即使他从未奋起反抗教廷，他将《圣经》译成德文的功业也足以使他英名不朽。

    罗马天主教反改革运动的领袖们，由衷地欢迎人文主义。圣依纳爵?罗耀拉（1491－1556年）为了准备他毕生的事业而接受大学教育，他创立的耶稣会（建于1540年），就象上一个世纪的共生兄弟会一样，诚挚地相信教育的作用并付诸实践。但是，圣依纳爵是作为一名军人开始工作的，耶稣会的主要特点是纪律和献身于教廷事业的精神。正如11和13世纪的情形一样，16世纪的一位伟大人物把教皇从因以前的恶行而即将遭受的灭顶之灾中拯救了出来。圣方济各的精神同格列高利七世和圣依纳爵的精神是对立的，但教廷从这3位救星所共有的忠诚中却获益良多。从1545年到1563年，特伦托宗教会议时断时续地召开，它肯定了教皇对罗马天主教其他部分的君主地位，但同时也指出了教会的恶行。假如这些改革措施的颁布和实行，能够在也应该在1414－1517年之间的某个时候颁布和实行的话，路德或许永远也不会被激怒，并进而做出使他因此而名垂千古的事业。

    第七十二章 东南亚（1190－1511年）

    1190－1511年间的3个世纪中，东南亚在政治上、人种上和宗教上经历了巨大的变化：蒙古人的袭击遭到失败；操大陆东亚单音节诸语言的民族–尤其是泰族不断向南定居并建立了政治统治；僧伽罗人的上座部佛教及伊斯兰教逐渐传播；最后，来自西方基督教世界的葡萄牙航海者又不期而至。

    蒙古入侵者在东南亚陆海两路却未能取得成功。他们在1257年、1285年和1287年三度占领了现属越南北部的地区，但越南人每一次都迫使他们节节后退。1285年，蒙古人通过越南北部征服占婆的企图也被占人击败。1287年，蒙古人的确成功地占领了上缅甸蒲甘王国，但他们在1303年退出这一地区。在大陆东南亚，与1261－1303年间在叙利亚一样，当蒙古人遇到坚决的军事抵抗时，在后勤上处于不利地位的形势下，他们被这一战场与他们远在欧亚大平原东北边缘的基地之间的遥远距离击败了。蒙古人于1292－1293年对爪哇发动的海上远征，与1274年和1281年对日本进行的海上远征一样，也遭到了灾难性的失败。

    信奉大乘佛教的爪哇胜利者，于1293年建立了满者伯夷帝国。这是印度尼西亚最后一个前伊斯兰时期的帝国。苏门答腊的长寿帝国室利佛逝在击退蒙古人的斗争中没有发挥任何作用。泰族人对它在马来半岛上的领土施加军事压力，这使它遭到了削弱。满者伯夷帝国在爪哇的兴起，以及1295年前后伊斯兰教传入苏门答腊西北部，使它进一步遭到削弱。但没有明确的证据表明苏门答腊是否落入了满者伯夷统治之下，或是否成了它的附属国。

    满者伯夷帝国在大约1513－1528年间被皈依了伊斯兰教的一些爪哇小国联合推翻。一位苏门答腊夏连特的王子拜里迷苏刺，娶王朝一位公主为妻，他于1403年建立了马六甲城，这座名城位于以它命名的马六甲海峡靠大陆一端的海岸上。到1414年，拜里迷苏刺皈依了伊斯兰教，取名穆罕默德?伊斯坎达尔?沙，马六甲也成为伊斯兰教传入印度尼西亚的基地。从8世纪起，来自波斯湾沿岸各港口的阿拉伯和伊朗穆斯林水手就在伊斯兰世界和中国之间的海洋上航行，建立商业基地，并沿途在大陆和岛屿沿岸对当地居民进行劝化。在印度尼西亚，这一进程由于马六甲城的建立和皈依而得到了新的推动。然而，与印度次大陆的经历形成对照的是，在东南亚大陆和岛屿，伊斯兰教的统治不是通过武装力量强加的。伊斯兰教在这里的传播是当地统治者及其臣民自愿接受的，但这种皈依只是浮浅的。印尼人把信奉伊斯兰教与保留他们在过去1000年中接受的印度文化相互融和起来。在伊斯兰教的外表下，他们传统的印度主义仍然保持着活力。《摩诃婆罗多》仍然比《古兰经》更能温暖印尼人的心房，激发他们的想象力。

    1190年传入缅甸的僧伽罗上座部佛教，于13世纪从孟人和缅甸人那里传给掸人、泰人、老挝人和柬埔寨人。上座部佛教与这些民族的当地宗教相互交融，成为每个民族的大众化的国教。这样，它就把大乘佛教和印度教从这里驱逐了出去。大乘佛教和印度数很早以前就从印度传入了东南亚，但也只局限在少数上层人物的圈子里。上座部佛教取代这些早期东南亚的印度宗教，使东南亚大部分地区仍然处在印度文化的势力范围内。印度文化只是在印度尼西亚和大陆马来亚丧失了地盘，在那里，它的表面被涂上了一层伊斯兰教色彩；另外还有东部海岸，向南扩张的越南人带来了中国的儒教和大乘佛教。

    16世纪早期北方民族向南方的扩散改变了东南亚的人种地图。1535－1539年间，缅甸人在伊洛瓦底江下游完成了始于11世纪的对孟人的征服。越南人于939年摆脱中国对他们的祖国，即现属越南北部的地区统治以后不到40年，就开始发动对占婆的袭击。到1000年，越南人已经吞并了占婆最北部的3个省份。1312年他们取得了对占婆其他地区的宗主权。1471年越南吞并了除南部一块残余地区以外的占婆全部地区，17世纪又征服了这块地区，并向南方继续推进，以柬埔寨为牺牲，占领了湄公河三角洲，并向那里殖民。幸存的占婆人则成为了穆斯林。

    泰人、掸人和老挝人所讲的语言非常接近，同属大陆东南亚单音节语族中的汉－泰语文。建国于现属中国西南省份云南的泰人王国南诏，于8－9世纪在缅甸人到达以前征服了伊洛瓦底江流域，并向中国发起袭击，他们袭击的地区包括现在越南北部，当时那里是中国的一个行省。此后，泰人移民开始进入萨尔温江和湄公河流域，并在湄南河源头地区定居。1253年，南诏被蒙古征服。这个泰人的故乡随后就被汉化，伊斯兰教在这里扎根，而这种发展在13世纪后半期向泰人南移提供了新的推动，他们进入湄南河流域和马来半岛北部，而湄南河流域的孟人和柬埔寨的高棉王国便成了他们的牺牲品。

    如果泰人象越南人那样带来了中国文明，他们向南方的扩张就将改变中国文明和印度文明的边界，扩大中国文明的范围。但是泰人皈依了1190年就已扎根缅甸的上座部佛教。这使泰人落入了印度文明的疆域之内。

    因此，到1511年葡萄牙人占领马六甲的时候，东南亚已经形成4种宗教并存的局面。其中两种宗教即上座部佛教和伊斯兰教相对来说是较晚传入此地的。上座部征服了几乎整个大陆东南亚，只有越南、占婆的残余部分和马来半岛最南端除外。越南人是中国流派的大乘佛教徒。占人和大陆马来人成了穆斯林。海岛马来人表面上成了穆斯林，但实际上仍然是印度教徒。巴厘岛上的马来人仍然是虔诚的印度教徒。在婆罗洲、沿海地区的马来人成了穆斯林，但在广大的内地，他们仍然是异教徒。

    第七十三章 东亚（1281－1644年）

    1279年，中国有史以来第一次完全处于异族征服者的统治之下，除了在越南北方之外股有残存下任何一个政治上独立的中国人的政权。越南北方曾经是中国的一个省，但早在939年即已脱离了中国。从那时起，它使自己独具特色的当地形式的中国文明得到了发展。中国在1279年的经历，类似印度的维查耶那加尔帝国1565年降落时的经历。只不过与穆斯林军队越过旁遮普征服印度的进程（1202－1565年）相比，蒙古人对中国的征服要迅速和彻底得多。

    日本在13世纪的经历与中国不同。1281年，日本成功地击退了蒙古人对她的第二次进攻。那是蒙古人对她的两次进攻中更为可怕的一次。正是镰仓的北条家族的有力统治，才使得日本免遭蒙古人的统治而保持了自由。但是在击退蒙古人之后，随之而来的却是北条氏政权的衰落和覆灭。1281－1614年间，是日本政治史上到那时为止无政府状态最为严重的时期。另一方面，蒙古人1279年完成的对中国的征服，再度带来了中国政治上的统一–尽管这是在异族统治之下的统一。自从中央集权的唐朝在874年终于瓦解之后，这种政治上的统一就逐步地受到了削弱。从1279年到1911年，这一重建的中国政治上的统一一直维持下来，尽管重新统一的中国事实上只是在大约1382一1631年间是处在中国本土居民的统治之下。

    在蒙古人的统治下，政治上重新统一起来的中国，变成了短命但却庞大的蒙古帝国的重心。蒙古大汗忽必烈（1260－1294年在位）于1260－1267年把他的都城从哈刺和林迁到了北京，又于1289年完成了把大运河从杭州延伸至北京的工程。大运河的延伸，使得把北京所需的稻米经内河从中国南方运到北京成为可能。1271年，忽必烈建立了一个新的中国王朝–元朝，它将由忽必烈的家族世代继承。

    在蒙古帝国的西部封地中，占有伊朗和伊拉克的伊儿汗国，是忽必烈的弟弟旭烈兀在忽必烈的率先赞同下建立的，因此它与中国有着最紧密的联系。伊朗的视觉艺术和陶艺受到中国长期的影响，也正是因为这个缘故。在前蒙古人的时代，中国的技术（例如造纸术）已经通过伊斯兰世界向西传播到了基督教国家。

    中国的蒙古统治者与他们的处于各个社会阶层的中国臣民之间，依然存在着隔阂。蒙古人在中国任用信奉基督教或伊斯兰教的异族行政官员，而听任那些不被任用的儒生们用小说和戏剧这两种文学形式自然地延续中国的文明。中国人与蒙古人祖传的生活方式的不同，造成了他们相互间的反感，也阻碍了双方文化上的同化。于是蒙古人在中国的统治也就不可避免地是短暂的。遍及全国各地的反抗开始于14世纪40年代。在中国的彼此争斗的造反者当中，朱元璋（1328－1398年）独成霸业。这位中国历史上第四次统一天下的帝王，象第二次统一天下的帝王刘邦一样，出身于中国南北方之间淮河流域一个地位卑微的家庭。1368年，洪武皇帝朱元璋建立了明朝。到1382年，他不仅把蒙古人从中国的长城之内驱赶出去，并且消灭了所有国内的汉族竞争者。

    洪武皇帝在1356年攻下了南京（南方的都城），他仍将南京作为再度统一后的中国的都城。但是到了1421年，他的第四个儿子，也是第二代王位继承人的永乐皇帝（1403－1424年在位），把都城搬回到北京。北京曾经是元朝以及元朝之前的金朝（女真人建立）的都城，在那之前还曾是辽代（契丹人建立）的南部。遭受蒙古人征服和统治的经历，造成了中国人对异族的畏惧和憎恨。北京地处中国长城以内部分的最东北隅，距离南方的稻米产区极为遥远，选择这样一个为他们所痛恨的蛮族征服者的都城作新都，这表明永乐皇帝及其后继者们最为关心的事，就是对付始终存在的蒙古人的威胁。

    蒙古人已经被赶出了中国，但他们仍然生活在故乡的大草原上，他们可以从那里再度进攻中国。极西部的蒙古人厄鲁特部尤富侵略性。永乐皇帝在大草原上进行了5次战役，但是就象西徐亚人曾避开大流士一世，匈奴人曾避开汉武帝和他的帝位继承者们一样，蒙古人成功地避开了永乐皇帝的追杀。1449年厄鲁特的汗王也先打败并俘虏了当时的明朝皇帝，并且包围了北京。但是，就象君士坦丁堡的城墙挡住了保加利亚的西米恩一样，北京的城墙也挡住了也先汗。明朝在1449年遭到的军事上的大失败，并未导致与宋朝在1126年以及东罗马帝国在1071年的失败相同的悲惨结局。

    明朝再度恢复了通过对儒家经典的竞争性考试来选拔文官的制度（这套制度最初是由汉武帝在公元前2世纪时创设的。6世纪末，由隋朝第一次恢复）。这套制度后来变成了一种僵死的形式，它一直保持到1905年取消科举考试和1911年废除皇帝统治时为止。在当时的官府中为官的儒生数量，与那个庞大帝国的人口和面积相比，总显得微不足道。实际上协助他们完成任务的，是地方上那些未受过儒家教育的刀笔吏。地方上取得了各等级功名的士绅也与他们合作。这些人自愿地处理地方政务，而不领官俸。（他们是当地的地主，其地租收入既要用来养家，又要用来从政。）

    成功地通过科举考试并非获取功名的唯一途径。这种功名可以被作为一种荣誉授予某人，也可以用钱来买。无论是怎样获得的，它都能使获得者受到高度的尊敬，同时也给获得功名的人强加上一项没有明文规定的责任–或是作为一个食俸禄的政府官吏，或是作为一个无官俸的拥有土地的地方士绅–以尽自己的公共职责。

    土生土长的中国人重建了自己的王朝。与元朝之前历代的统治者们相比，明朝的统治者更加崇奉、也更加依恋中国的文化传统。在1403－1407年间，永乐皇帝发起编纂了一部百科全书，它的修改本数达22877卷，分装成11095册，这还不包括60卷的内容目录。这部巨书以手写本的形式保存下来。印刷这部巨书甚至超出了中国的技术和经济能力。

    《永乐大典》着眼于过去，但明代的中国文学和哲学却仍是有生气的。大量的小说和戏剧不断涌现出来，12世纪时由朱熹公式化了的儒家学说仍然受到挑战。它以自己无可比拟的系统性和完整性，一直保住了作为考试科目之一的地位。新的儒学派别的分裂，到朱熹时并未结束。这种分裂始自11世纪时程颢、程颐兄弟的分歧，而朱熹则发展了程颐的学说体系。

    王阳明（王守仁，1472－1529年）是程颢学说体系最卓越的拥护者。在王阳明看来，人的心与万事万物之理彼此都是同一的。而在朱熹看来，理是由体现为人和物的气聚结而成的，这些气又独立于任何人的心而存在。这两个抽象的观点之间显然存在着重大的差别，人们也能觉察出这两个新儒学派别都受到了佛教哲学的潜在但却是重大的影响。然而，中国所有的思想家，在中国历史上的所有时期，更为关心的都是道德规范和人的活动，而不是抽象的哲学思辨。只有道家是唯一的例外。

    在那些其观点仅仅带有佛教色彩，但却并未受到西方哲学影响的伟大的中国思想家中，王阳明是最后的一位。第一批葡萄牙航海家已于1514年，也就是王阳明去世前15年，到达了中国。

    在一批又一批征服中国的异族人中，接受儒家生活方式最少的是蒙古人，最多的则是满洲人。所以，对于饱学的中国臣仆来说，蒙古人最难接近，而满洲人则最易于相处。满洲人并非欧亚大平原上的游牧民族。如同金朝的建立者一样，他们来自东北的深山密林中，是女真族的猎人和靠采食野生植物为生的初民。明朝的永乐皇帝曾通过把女真人的部落编入几个辖区，由他们所敬重的本部首领进行管理的办法，把满洲并入中国。

    在进占中国本土之前，满洲人曾自动地使自己汉化。1599年，满洲政权的创建者努尔哈赤采用了蒙古人加以改造的古叙利亚字母来记录女真（满洲）语言，此后汉文的古籍也被译成了满文。但识字很快的满洲人就宁愿直接阅读和书写汉字的方块字。努尔哈赤曾创建了一支由3个民族组成的军队，它包括汉人、蒙古人和满洲人的部落。1618年，他占据了辽东，那是汉族人居住的长城向外突出地区的一部分。1626年，他迁都于中国本土的盛京（今名沈阳），并任用了一些汉族的行政官员。

    努尔哈赤之子皇太极在1636年把他的王朝命名为”清朝”。1644年，当北京被一名起义的汉族人率众包围时，明朝的最后一位皇帝在那里自杀了。同年，满洲人占领了北京。一位汉族的将帅帮助了满洲人。一些汉族的文臣们也支持满洲人。他们宁愿选择满洲人的政权，也不愿接受一位刚刚推翻了明朝的汉族篡位者的统治。随后满洲人建立了对中国其余部分的统治，但并非没有受到抵抗。直到1683年，满洲人才占领了台湾。然而，对各个阶级、阶层的中国人来说，满洲人对中国的征服，与4个世纪之前蒙古人对中国的征服相比，其造成的物质上的破坏和心理上的创伤，都要更轻一些。

    在日本，1331年由后醍醐天皇（1318－1339年在位）策划的一次流产的政变，导致了北条家族的统治被推翻和镰仓幕府本身在1335年的灭亡。1338年，幕府的所在地迁至京都，实权也落入足利家族手中。但是这个新的政权从未能有效地统治整个日大。1185年，源赖朝曾建立起对整个日本的统治，1281年，在击退了蒙古人的第二次入侵之后，镰仓幕府的北条政权曾维持了这样的统治。足利家族掌权后，这样的统一政权就不复存在了。

    足利幕府甚至未能立即控制京都周围的地区。被足利尊氏从京都驱赶出来的后醍醐天皇，重新当上了傀儡皇帝，在京都以南的山区维持着一个独立的政权。这种王朝分裂的局面从1336年持续到1392年。与此同时，各地的大名变成了事实上独立的诸侯王。1467－1477年持续10年之久的一场内战–应仁之乱，把京都的街道变成了战场。在此之后，足利氏的统治权力丧失殆尽。日莲宗和神道教这两个佛教派别为他们自己在各地扩充实力，并与当地的世俗诸侯王联合在一起。从1532年到1536年，在京都地区爆发了佛教势力之间的战争。一方是神道教和日莲宗的信徒，另一方是属于旧宗派的寺院僧兵。在这场佛教寺院间的战争中，交战双方都倾其所有力量投入战斗。

    足利幕府时期（1338－1573年）政治上的无政府状态，与中国统一前的战国时期相似。令人费解的是，与这种状态相伴随的，却是经济上、文化上所焕发出的勃勃生机。日本人对蒙古人未获成功的海上进攻的还击，一度成为针对中国沿海的海上私人冒险事业。从元朝到明朝，日本人的这种刺激性的活动延续下来。1404年，足利政权承认了中国对日本名义上的家主权，并且勉强同意了中华帝国政府试图强加在中日间贸易额上的限制。而实际上，日本的民间海盗商人漠视两国政府间的协定，与一些中国平民相勾结，继续从事他们的活动。

    在日本国内，经济活动在增加，物质生活水平在提高，自12世纪后半期以来即被把持在地方武士阶层手中的垄断权力，也受到了两股势力的削弱，其一是在日本内战中其地位日渐重要的农民武装，其二是新出现的工业和商业的行会以及自由的城市。地处今日大皈以南的桥市，就是这类自由城市的典型。然而，这一时期也是日本贱民阶级开始产生的时期。

    文化方面，禅宗作为日本大乘佛教的一种形式，尤为贵族武士所偏爱。足利时代不仅经历了对于禅宗的经久不衰的兴趣，而且，在这一时代的末年–最为无政府状态的年代，它还经历了茶道的形成和完善。统治者是把茶道作为与武士们日渐增长的残暴性相对抗的一种文化模式加以提倡的。在视觉艺术领域，足利时代日本产生了模仿中国宋朝风格的山水画大家，还产生了花道（一种独特的日本艺术）。更为辉煌的文化成就，是大约产生于1350年至1450年的一种戏剧形式–能。此类剧目的情节是传统的和为观众所熟悉的，演员都戴着面具，动作、台词、声调、演唱和配乐都别具一格。14世纪这种日本能剧，在上述所有方面都是公元前5世纪希腊雅典狂欢节戏剧在东亚的翻版。

    日本政治上的无政府状态在16世纪达于极点。此后，国家在3个军阀前后相继的努力下重新在政治上统一和稳定起来。这三个军阀是：织田信长（1534－1582年）、丰臣秀吉（1536－1598年）和德川家康（1543－1616年）。这些建立统一功业的人用火器与他们的对手作战。火器是在1542年或1543年由首批踏上日本土地的葡萄牙人带到那里的，它在最初传入日本的20年间就被普遍地应用于战争中了。

    织田信长在1568年攻占了京都，并于1573年消灭了那里的足利幕府。1582年，他被一位反叛他的家臣杀害，但织田信长的另一位家臣丰臣秀吉立即打败并杀死了反叛者。到1590年时，丰臣秀吉成了整个日本的主宰。他与德川家康合作，于同年将后者安置在关东。1592－1593年以及1597－1598年，丰臣秀吉两度侵略朝鲜，但朝鲜进行了强有力的反击。丰臣秀吉准备把侵略朝鲜的战役作为侵略中国的序幕。他死于1598年3月。他的死与1405年帖木儿（跛者）的死一样，为中国的明朝减缓了严重而迫在眉睫的危险。德川家康在1600年的关原大战中获胜，从而赢得了在丰臣秀吉权力继承问题上的那场斗争。1603年，德川家康从京都毫无实权的皇室那里取得了将军的称号。1615年，德川家康攻陷了一直由丰臣秀吉之子丰臣秀赖固守的大阪城，此举使他成为全日本无可争辩的主宰。

    德川家康有效地掌握着事实上的统治权，最大限度地保全了面子，最小限度地进行政治上的变革。这类似于汉朝的刘邦和奥古斯都，而与秦始皇和凯撒则形成鲜明对比。京都的天皇被允许继续保留名义上的统治权，但是德川家康在江户（今名东京）的幕府，却如同当年在镰仓的源赖朝和北条政权那样，控制着日本的经济重心关东。地方上的诸侯（大名）并没有被废黜，但却因德川政权的巧妙安排而变得顺从和虚弱了。这种巧妙的安排是为了防止他们联合起来反对德川政权，也是为了逐渐地在经济上搞垮他们。德川政权统治下（1600－1868年）的日本的政治地图，与公元前264年到公元前90年的意大利半岛的政治地图是相似的。

    1622年到1641年间，基督教的传播在日本几乎完全被禁止，日本被与人类文明中心的其余部分隔绝开来，这种做法加强了德川幕府对日本的控制。第75章将谈及这方面的内容。

    第七十四章 中美洲文明和安第斯文明（1428－1519年）

    在15世纪，中美洲社会与安第斯社会在政治上几乎同时被一个包含该社会版图大部分的帝国所囊括。在每一个场合，建立帝国的工作都是由一个来到当地时间相对较迟的民族完成的；这个民族后来才将其政治统治扩大到最初的地域之外。阿兹特克人（别称墨西哥人）从北部沙漠来到了墨西哥谷；印加人起源何处现已不为人所知，但考古学证据显示他们并不是最早占据库斯科的人。据我们所知，阿兹特克人是中美洲世界第一批征服者，他们在此创造了一个几乎覆盖全境的帝国。在安第斯世界，假如查文和蒂亚瓦纳科风格的建筑、视觉艺术及文化的其他物质载体的广泛传播，伴随着地理上与这两个安第斯文化的先前阶段并存的政治统一，那么印加帝国就可能具有光驱者。不过考古学并未提供说明这种政治状况的证据。

    以图拉为首都的托尔托克帝国于12世纪的崩溃，为阿兹特克人在15世纪建立帝国提供了机会。早在公元600年左右特奥蒂瓦坎城毁灭之际，墨西哥高原南端的湖区就开始成为容纳解体的文明社会难民的收容所。在托尔托克帝国崩溃之后，湖区接受了另一批大量涌入的难民；但北方的蛮族劫掠者接踵而至。结果到13世纪中期，湖区出现了许多政治上独立的城邦共同体，这些共同体具有混合的民族成份和多样化的义化。它们彼此之间的主要联系是纳瓦语，这种语言起源于北方的蛮族，到13世纪已成为墨西哥流域大多数居民的语言。

    阿兹特克人是一支四处游荡的蛮族，他们闯入湖区的时候该地已经为稳定的城邦共同体所占据。与后”古典”时期的中美洲居民一样，阿兹特克人极度喜好战争和非战争的人祭牺牲。他们是不受欢迎的闯入者，在14世纪下半期他们最终定居在特斯科科湖西南湾一些无人居住的小岛上。

    阿兹特克人改造了这一新的恶劣环境，使之适于人居住。他们清除了茂密的水草，在捆扎结实的木筏上堆上土壤，再覆盖一层湖底的淤泥，使之成为既容易耕种又肥沃多产的粮田。在物质匮乏的压力下，阿兹特克人成了熟练的农学家和城镇规划师。结果他们也成了将商业与军事情报工作结合在一起的长途跋涉的商人。阿兹特克人采纳了中美洲人精确的历法体系，他们将自己祖先的宗教与当地前辈的宗教结合起来，创造了一种象印度教那样复杂的诸神体系和宗教仪式。同印度教徒一样，阿兹特克人也认为时间是一个个前后相继的时代，每一时代都包含了许多年。他们还创造了一种由表意符号和双关音素构成的文字，它比传统的中美洲雕刻文字更为方便灵巧；阿兹特克人还创作了一些反映内心世界的优美诗歌。但自始至终阿兹特克人都醉心于人祭牺牲和战争：他们用令人恐怖的方式将活生生的牺牲者的心挑出来，认为战争是捕获为其宗教所需的大量献祭用的牺牲者的必要手段。人祭牺牲的必然结果是形成吃人肉的习俗。

    征服中美洲的西班牙人看到人祭的场景时十分恐惧。（自公元前206年迦太基迦南人的统治结束之后，这种仪式在西班牙便不再流行，尽管西班牙人在战争中仍然继续屠杀自己的同胞，并且处死宗教异端。）西班牙人证明了自己的诚意：他们迫使自己在中美洲最早的同盟者停止使用人祭，不惜冒疏远他们的危险。在大西洋彼岸的战争中，基督徒和穆斯林也象中美洲人一样渴望捕获战俘，但他们夺取战俘的目的不是为了向神祗提供牺牲，而是要赚取赎金充实自己的腰包。在中美洲捕获战俘的动机并非出于经济利益，它源于这样一个信仰，即如果不用人的心脏持续不断地供奉神祗，那么这些神祗就会丧失自己保存现有宇宙的能力。

    贪婪使得西欧基督教的好战者更人道地对待战俘。但是同样的贪婪也驱使他们为得到关于隐藏宝藏的情报而严刑拷打阿兹特克和印加人战俘。西方基督教徒16世纪在新世界、以及在此之前于1204年劫掠君士坦丁堡的行动中已表现出极大的贪婪。这种贪婪到20世纪70年代随着他们的技术发展而同步增长，使他们得以放纵自己无休无止的欲望。到70年代他们的自我放纵使生物圈受到无法居住的威胁：他们污染它，耗净它不可替代的自然资源。西方人实际上是采用一切恶劣的手段使人类陷入中美洲人曾经担忧的灾难。在中美洲人看来，西班牙人对人祭牺牲的否决是赤裸裸地滥用强权。既应该通过西方基督教徒的眼光，也应该通过中美洲人的眼光看待中美洲人和他们的西方基督教征服者之间的争端。

    阿兹特克人是通过充任帝国的建立者、阿兹卡波察尔科城邦统治者的雇佣军而获得军事和政治力量的。阿兹卡波察尔科城邦于1230年被来自特奥蒂瓦坎难民的后裔、蛮族特帕内克人所占领。1428年，两个阿兹特克人岛上城邦之一的特诺奇蒂特兰的阿兹特克人侵占了他们曾作为雇佣军帮助建立起来的位于湖区的特帕内克帝国。这一行动的幕后策划者是特拉卡勒尔，他曾担任特诺奇蒂特兰连续3位统治者的政治顾问。（特诺奇蒂特兰的阿兹特克统治者与阿拉伯倭马亚哈里发一样，其正式称呼不是”国王”而是”谘议会主席”。）特拉卡勒尔的第一步行动是吞并了特诺奇蒂特兰的另一个阿兹特克人城邦和北方近邻特拉特洛尔科。同时，他还与两个当地城邦特斯科科湖东岸的阿科卢安人国家特斯科科和湖西岸的特拉科潘结成了同盟。

    在特诺奇蒂特兰霸权之下的力量集中，使得阿兹特克人能够建立起一个帝国。到1519年，即科尔特斯登陆的那一年，该帝国已经横贯中美洲，地域扩大到东西海岸，控制了特万特佩克地峡的大西洋一端和太平洋一端；而且在地峡以东，该帝国还包括了延伸到今天墨西哥和危地马拉边界以西的太平洋沿岸。

    这个阿兹特克－阿科卢安帝国极其广阔，但它并非无所不包。湖区东部的城邦国家特拉斯卡拉在政治上虽不是阿兹特克－阿科卢安同盟的对手，但特拉卡勒尔故意让其保持政治独立，安排这两个力量悬殊的对手举行定期的”花季战争”，在这种战争中双方的目的都是捕获双方维持人祭牺牲所需的战俘。帝国境内还有其他一些飞地，帝国同盟曾试图征服这些飞地，但没有成功。阿兹特克－阿科卢安帝国最显著的军事失利是未能征服其西部邻居塔拉斯科人，后者与阿兹特克人一样也拥有青铜武器。

    那些沦入阿兹特克－阿科卢安统治之下的民族的处境十分艰难。控制这些被征服民族的方法，部分是在他们的居住区设立永久性要塞，而更多地是采用恐怖手段。在强迫之下，这些民族不得不交纳沉重的贡赋，它包括用于人祭的男孩和女孩、食物、纺织品、宝石、金银以及其他珍贵的物品。组成帝国的城邦国家–无论是占统治地位的少数派，还是被统治的多数派，都具有完善的国内社会和政治法规，但帝国的行政机构却很原始：走乡串户的阿兹台克商人兼任情报官员，帝国政府在被征服地区的主要代表是税务官。

    大约在1428年，中美洲的阿兹特克帝国创立10年之后，印加人开始把自己的统治扩大到安第斯世界。在库斯科的第八位印加人统治者华通?图帕克之前（通常被称为维拉科查–这一名称原是称呼印加人造物神的，华通?图帕克用来借称自己），库斯科仅仅是安第斯高地许多本地国家之一。维拉科查向东南方扩展其版图，而当地其他国家也同时向外扩张。在库斯科西部，昌卡人征服了印加人的近邻和同宗克丘亚人。大约在1438年，昌卡人进攻库斯科；维拉科查和他们继承者退到了偏远地区，但维拉科查的另外两个儿子库西?尤潘基（亦名帕查库提）和罗卡在奋不顾身的巷战中保卫了库斯科，使其免于陷落。

    在赢得这场关键性的胜利之后，帕查库提获取了印加王位，开始对外征服，他不仅吞并了战败的昌卡人的领土，而且还吞并了安第斯世界其余部分。他的副手最初是其弟卡帕克?尤潘基，从1460年起改为帕查库提自己的儿子和继承人托帕?印加?尤潘基（1471－1493年在位）。

    印加帝国的创立者们最初征服和吞并了高地的其他部分，东南达到高原上的的喀喀湖盆地，西北达到今天厄瓜多尔的首都基多。从高地出发，托帕?印加又进入厄瓜多尔海岸，向一些海岛派出海上远征军，侵入和征服了3个沿海国家中最靠北面、面积最大、人口最多的奇穆，并且越过了奇穆未设防的北部边界。奇穆的抵抗与厄瓜多尔高地上卡尼亚尔人和基多人的抵抗相比更为微弱，奇穆以南的这两个沿海国家大概在奇穆投降后不久就屈服了。

    大约在1471年托帕?印加的父亲退位，托帕?印加成了皇帝。在此之后，他曾经派兵远征安第斯山大西洋一边热带森林中的民族，但并未获得成功。的的喀喀湖一带高原上被征服民族的一次反叛，使得托帕?印加回过头来征服了这些民族，并进一步征服了今天的玻利维亚、阿根廷西北部高地以及今天智利的全部，向南达到马乌莱河北岸。托帕的儿子和继承人提图?库西?瓦尔帕（瓦依纳?卡帕克，约1493－1525／1527年在位）征服了北厄瓜多尔高地，但该地的抵抗十分激烈，以至这位皇帝不得不留在这一偏远的交战地区治理着自己庞大的帝国。他生前再也没有返回库斯科，尽管库斯科不仅是印加帝国的政治中心和首都，而且也是帝国的交通枢纽。

    印加帝国的面积要超过阿兹特克帝国，但人口规模可能并未相应地超过阿兹特克帝国，因为它的许多领土并没有人居住。在面积上，印加帝国与第一波斯帝国、中华帝国和罗马帝国相当。但是印加人没有有轮子的运载工具，尽管他们比阿兹特克人的装备要好一些，有一种运物牲口美洲驼，但美洲驼的最大载重量与驮马比起来要少许多。印加人不象阿兹特克人那样已经有了文字符号。他们只有绳结语：结绳记事。这些结绳符号颜色不同，绳结环绕的次数也不相同；这些差别具有不同的意义，但只有专家才能理解这些意义；专家的本领是通过口授掌握的，并且通过口授将自己的知识传授给继承人。绳结语并不是不解自明的，而一种文字则对任何掌握了一种书写符号体系的人来说，它的意思都是相同的。但就是凭着这种不完善的记忆方法，印加人仍然尽可能仔细地管理着自己庞大帝国的人口和资源。

    尽管地形十分困难，印加人的运输手段都很好。高原上有高高的山口和深深的峡谷。沿着海岸，可灌溉的河流平原彼此之间都被广阔的沙漠相隔。用藤类植物制成的绳索吊桥连接着跨越峡谷的道路。在道路的沿途间或还有一座座备有生活设施的旅舍。商旅的驿马运送着旅客和货物。帝国的形状呈狭长的带状。有两条平行的大道，一条穿越高原–那简直是一个工程奇迹，即使它只能算是一条小道。第二条大道与海岸线平行。在从高原流向大海的河网地带还有连接其他路段的叉路。

    为了得到额外的行政官员和军官，印加帝国授于被友好合并的外族中的贵族成员以印加人的地位，从而扩大了印加统治阶级。印加军队则招募被征服的敌人入伍，比如征召尚武好斗的昌卡人和卡尼亚尔人。控制被吞并地区的方法是大规模地迁移人口。大量的顺民被迁移到心怀不满的被征服民族之中，并且将后者的一部分放逐到效忠帝国的居民聚居地区。但在这样做的同时，又要设法使这些移民与他们原来的社团保持联系，并且将他们安置在气候与其故乡大致相同的地区。（在安第斯世界高原和沿海平原气候差异相当大。）维持帝国统一更为有效的措施，是将被征服民族的本地神祗永久性地安顿在库斯科，由他们本民族的祭司照看这些神祗，在被兼并地区建立供奉印加太阳神的神庙。

    印加帝国向被征服居民征收的贡赋似乎比阿兹特克帝国要轻；但是就同在印加帝国和奥斯曼帝国一样，贡赋还包括儿童和物品。被征服部落酋长的儿子被带到库斯科与印加贵族的儿子一同接受教育。作为贡品而强制征召的少女一部分被分配给印加皇帝和达官贵人做妻子，一部分被分配给女修道院式的实行独身制度的机构。这些类似佛教尼姑和基督教修女的妇女有时被作为牺牲，但是在印加帝国并没有成为常规的大规模的人祭牺牲，而在这一时期人祭牺牲在中美洲已成为惯例，并且成为所有被阿兹特克人征召的纳贡儿童的命运。接受印加教育的非印加贵族的儿子相当于同时代奥斯曼帝国的征募少年，而奥斯曼的领饷骑兵则相当于印加帝国应募当兵的奴隶亚纳科纳人。

    克丘亚语是印加人和克丘亚人的母语。在印加帝国建立之后，克丘亚语成为帝国多语种居民的混合语。的的喀喀湖周围高原居民所使用的艾马拉语成为帝国东南部的第二种混合语。帝国的这些语言和帝国的人口政策及帝国的道路成为强有力的纽带。尽管如此，用如此简单的物质手段将如此广大的地区和人口统一在一起确实是一种奇迹。托帕?印加已将帝国扩张到对印加帝国的创立者来说逻辑上可行的极限。瓦依纳?卡帕克过度扩张了他所继承的帝国。结果，当瓦依纳?卡帕克过早去世之后，北方的军队与帝国行政首都库斯科城的印加贵族之间就爆发了一场内战。前者支持皇帝的私生子阿塔瓦尔帕，后者支持瓦依纳?卡帕克的合法儿子瓦斯卡尔。北方军队经过多年的艰苦战争最终获得胜利。它占领了库斯科，俘虏了瓦斯卡尔。就在这一时刻，皮萨罗第三次在南美洲太平洋沿岸登陆。

    第七十五章 人类文明世界的联接（1405－1652年）

    在约1400－1550年这150年间，人类对于人的居住地及其在宇宙中的位置的传统认识发生了变化。人类的足迹几乎踏遍了所有大洋之滨，人类文明世界的范围突然间扩大了。与此同时，波兰天文学家哥白尼的革命发现，使为数不多但仍在逐渐增多的人确信，人类文明世界的范围与宇宙的范围相比，突然间也变得狭小了。

    自大约4500年前最早的区域文明出现以来，人们一直把地球这颗行星视为宇宙的中心；而每个地区的文明都有关于自己是位于地球中心的观念。东亚人认为，中国是处于大地”中央的王国”；印度人则认为，大地中心位于今天的北方邦和比哈尔邦；在穆斯林教徒眼中，麦加圣地是中心；犹太教徒和基督徒则认为中心位于耶路撒冷。到公元15世纪已经熄灭了的诸文明，同样持有自我中心论。在古希腊人看来，人类文明世界的中心是德尔斐；法老统治下的埃及人认为，大地的中心位于尼罗河三角洲的顶端；苏美尔人则把底格里斯–幼发拉底河流域谷地的尼普尔城视为大地的中心。

    相互毗邻的区域性文明的彼此接触，或是敌对的，或是友好的。幅员辽阔但昙花一现的蒙古帝国，使东亚和西方基督教世界暂时通过欧亚大平原而连接为一体。至少在公元前7世纪，人们就进行过从东向西的环非洲航行。公元10世纪末11世纪初，斯堪的纳维亚人就沿格陵兰西岸进行过开发，无人知道他们已经迈进了那无垠的”新大陆”的门槛。但就我们所知，在哥伦布（1451－1506年）于1492年横渡大西洋之前，是没有航海家在这一低纬度地区从任何一个方向横渡大西洋的。如果有船只横穿太平洋从东亚到达”新大陆”或从相反的方向横穿太平洋的话，那么这些穿越太平洋的航行则是既非有目的的活动，又是极为偶然的。1498年，瓦斯科?达?伽马是第一位赢得从西向东环非洲航行成功荣誉的航海家。公元前5世纪，波斯皇帝薛西斯的使者进行过这一探险，但没有成功。确凿无疑的是，”维多利亚号”是第一艘完成了环球航行（1519－1522年）的船。它是费尔南多?麦哲伦船队5条船中的幸存者。

    麦哲伦”维多利亚号”船的船员们证明了公元前3世纪希腊天文学家厄拉多塞根据推理所断定的”航海”的含义。厄拉多塞对地球圆周长度的计算是近乎正确的。而哥伦布的猜测则是大谬不然。但这一猜测却给了他开始探险大西洋的勇气。（从欧洲到日本的最大圆周距离是10600海里，而哥伦布的计算要比这少3000海里。）另一位公元前3世纪的希腊天文学家阿里斯塔克的猜测是；地球是太阳的卫星，除了1年绕太阳1周外，它每24小时沿地轴自转1周。阿里斯塔克的发现，受到公元前2世纪希腊天文学家们的反对。但是，时至公元1512年，一位西方人，尼古拉?哥白尼（1473－1543年）发现了真理。他在1540年出版的《要释》一书中，阐明了这一发现；在1543年出版的《天体运行论》中，进一步翔实地论证了这一发现。

    哥白尼对太阳系星体间真实关系的发现，加之”维多利亚号”在行星地球水面上的环行，对人类的生活产生了各种各样的影响。在1492－1522年这30年间，曾经分别集中于北京、贝拿勒斯、麦加、耶路撒冷、特诺奇蒂特兰、库斯科的人类文明中心，连接成为统一的人类文明世界，其规模是此前任何区域文明都不可比拟的；但是，尽管这些旧有的文明中心在某些方向已经同人迹未至的陆地和不知其深广的海洋相连，但是，人们即使根据先验判断，这个新的、统一的全球文明世界也是有限的。

    1493年，教皇亚历山大六世，把西方基督教世界之外的整个地球纵向分割，分别给了西班牙和葡萄牙。1493年，这两个巨大的全球性西方基督教国家达成条约。同意将这条分界线确定在比教皇分割线偏西270里格的位置。他们认可的这条界线位于巴西（一群葡萄牙人在1500年曾在那里迷失），在葡萄牙的势力范围内。1529年，两国又达成的新条约改变了对葡萄牙人有利的位于太平洋的分界线经度。葡萄牙人得到了摩鹿加群岛，西班牙人则拥有了菲律宾群岛。即使仅仅从理论上讲，这两个海上列强得以瓜分的那部分地球，在面积上也小于以前曾出现过的人类文明世界。这无论从以前哪一个地区性的中心来看，都是如此。这个统一了的人类文明世界的地平线，已经呈现在人们眼前。

    此外，这个统一的人类文明世界过去是、现在仍是”生物圈”的精粹部分。”生物圈”是包裹着地球这个行星表面的，由陆地、水和大气构成的薄层。地球本身现已成为太阳的一个卫星。地球不再是位于中心位置的恒星，人们认为它不过是诸多”行星”（移动的星）中的一颗，现在看起来，过去对那些行星的命名都是不恰当的，因为包括地球在内的所有这些行星，都在沿固定轨道绕太阳作周期性运动。至于太阳，人们已经证明它是诸多恒星之一，就象太阳距地球很遥远一样，无数其他的恒星距地球更是极其遥远的。地球不过是一个恒星系中旋转运动的一颗小小的宇宙之尘，尽管如此，一位观察者仍会说，恒星系广袤无垠，它或许远远超出人们借助伽利略（1564－1642年）建造的最大倍数的望远镜可以达到的视野。地球这颗宇宙之尘的表面是有限的，而这颗宇宙之尘的四周则是广袤无垠的，既没有可见的也没有可以论证的边界。这就是那个时代人们勾勒的宇宙的新图景。在那个时代，在人类成繁衍生息的地球上，人类的文明世界已联结为一个整体。

    人类文明世界的联结是突然的，它使以前在互相分离的区域中生活的人类的命运骤然改变，要么带来了福祉，要么带来了灾难。对于阿兹特克、印加以及西方基督教世界的奴隶贸易者所到的西部非洲来说，它纯粹是一场空前的浩劫。阿兹特克帝国和印加帝国的一些居民一度曾欢迎自己从最近强加于他们的地区性帝国的建立者那里解放出来，不料，他们却发现，他们并没有获得解放，而仅仅是更换了一批统治者而已。尽管对于中美洲民族来说，西班牙取代阿兹特克人的统治或许并非是不好的变化，但对于安第斯山民族来说，西班牙取代印加人的统治，则的确使他们的景况变得更糟。

    在欧洲人的家园即西方基督教世界的范围内，对海洋的统治改变了财富和实力的平衡，这种变化有利于濒临大西洋和北海沿岸的国家，不利于波罗的海和地中海沿岸国家。就象马其顿帝国的希腊人洗劫波斯皇帝的珍宝那样，西班牙征服者盗劫了印加皇帝的珍宝，把它们熔化，铸成金币，以此获得经济财富。贵金属的涌入，虽没有抵销其他商品生产的增长，却引起价格的上涨；在每个西方国家，各个社会阶级的命运都受到程度不同的影响。西欧民族的航海先驱者–葡萄牙人和西班牙人受到的冲击是最为激烈的。但是，在16世纪末之前，物价飞涨的浪潮已经掠过了西方基督教世界的东部边界，正在搅扰奥斯曼帝国的经济。一位观察者根据20世纪70年代同样规模的价格上涨来推测，自1519年科尔特斯登上中美洲大陆以后的16世纪，社会上一些人因人为的因素而陷于贫困，另一些人则发财致富，结果导致了混乱、焦虑和不满的增长。这一事实可大致说明，在16世纪西欧人以宗教和理性的名义所犯下的某些如此凶残的暴行的原因。

    大西洋鲱鱼是在1417年把产卵地从波罗的海迁到北海的，亨利派遣第一支海上探险队南行的时间是1420年，而中国永乐皇帝派遣第一支船队西行的时间则是1405年。因此，在公海航行方面，中国人比鲱鱼要早12年，而亨利亲王的航海家们则比鲱鱼要晚3年。

    永乐皇帝的海军将领–云南籍的穆斯林太监郑和，在1405－1433年间曾七下西洋。他到过波斯湾的咽喉之地霍尔木兹，到过亚丁，至少两次到过红海口；其船队的个别船只曾到过非洲东海岸。在这一系列船队中，中国船只的规模、数量以及船员的总数都是葡萄牙船队所不可比拟的。在第一次航行中（这次到达过印度），中国人派出了62艘船，载有28000人。这些船带有罗盘（中国人的一项发明）和防水船舱。最大的船约有400英尺长。

    在15世纪后期葡萄牙航海设计家的发明之前，这些中国船在世界上是无与伦比的，所到之地的统治者都对之肃然起敬。如果坚持下去的话，中国人的力量能使中国成为名副其实的全球文明世界的”中央王国”。他们本应在葡萄牙人之前就占有霍尔木兹海峡，并绕过好望角；他们本应在西班牙人之前就发现并且征服美洲的。

    1433年之后，中国人中断航海的原因，历史上没有记载。明王朝并没有被迫在海上和陆上的军事努力之间作出选择。确实，永乐皇帝的当务之急是在北方前线防御来自欧亚大平原的入侵。他曾5次亲征蒙古人。但是，中国有足够的资源用于同时支持两条战线的作战。大概是中国丰富的资源使统治者失去了海外探险和扩张的兴趣。等到1793年，当英国工业革命已经稳步发展之时，清朝乾隆皇帝仍向英国使节表示，大清帝国在经济上是自足的。而西欧的统治者受国家贫穷的刺激，鼓励并且支持海外冒险。15世纪的中国商人象当时西欧的商人一样精明能干。但他们很少得到从事私人商业活动的机会，因为他们是官僚统治国家的臣民。他们的统治者和官员认为，关心商业会有失尊严。在近代中华帝国，人们对贸易的天然爱好和习性因政府缺少对国民天性的同情而被扼杀。这与中世纪东罗马帝国的情况相似。当20世纪70年代我们回首往事时就会看到，这种官方的偏见颇有一些（不容置疑的，欺骗性的）先知先觉的味道。

    葡萄牙人是不屈不挠的。1487年，巴特洛缪?迪亚斯绕过了好望角。1498年瓦斯科?达?伽马登上了印度西海岸。阿方索?德?阿尔布克尔克1510年占领果阿，1511年占领马六甲，1515年占领霍尔木兹（中国并未永久性地占领这里），从而把印度洋置于葡萄牙人的控制之下。阿尔布克尔克的海洋战略计划可与13世纪蒙古在广大的地理范围内的陆上战略计划相媲美。1514年，一艘葡萄牙船到达广州。1542或1543年一艘葡萄牙船到达日本的小岛–种子岛（该岛与九州的南端隔海相望）。1503－1551年间，葡萄牙军队打败了穆斯林军队，这对于争夺印度洋的控制权是至关重要的。

    葡萄牙人的巨大胜利是创造性和勇气的回报。1440－1490年这50年间，葡萄牙的造船工匠设计的一种独特构造和帆装的海船在海上称雄400年；在1840－1890年的50年间，即该船的历史行将结束之时，人们又将它加以完善。在它整个漫长的全盛期，这种船型仅以这种船本身而著称。它有3根桅杆（只在它历史的初期和末期时是4根桅杆）和一套混和的帆装。前桅杆和主桅杆挂有方形的帆，它给船以动力；后桅杆挂有三角帆，它使船具有机动性以及根据风向航行的能力。在17世纪末，这些优点又锦上添花。荷兰人用船头和船尾的帆取代了后桅杆上的三角帆，在前桅杆和第一斜桅之间装上了船首三角帆。在16世纪初，人们在船两边的上下甲板之间开了舷洞，以便于一排枪炮可以向外射击。与在19世纪取代了这种古典的航海帆船的那种机械推动的船不同，它能连续航行几个星期或几个月。因为它的动力是用之不竭的风，而无需补充燃料。

    西班牙人也是坚韧不拔的。1492年，哥伦布首次登上美洲。1513年，瓦斯科?奴涅斯?巴尔沃亚到达巴拿马海峡太平洋一侧的海岸。巴拿马的西班牙城始建于1519年。1519－1521年，埃尔南多?科尔特斯征服了阿兹特克帝国。1532－1535年，弗朗西斯科?皮萨罗征服了印加帝国。

    西班牙人以少胜多，征服了这两个由穷兵黩武、狂妄自大的人统治的帝国。西班牙人在这两个国家的运气是绝好的。

    科尔特斯在某年某日到来，这在墨西哥人的宗教历法上早有预言。这个历法预言，魁扎尔科亚特尔神将要兑现其诺言，在人间再现。他曾附在12世纪被推翻的托尔托克人的国王身上。如果位于特诺奇蒂特兰城的阿兹特克人的皇帝莫克特苏马二世没有把科尔特斯误认为魁扎尔科亚特尔神再现的话，他是不会屈服于外国入侵者的。而科尔特斯确实没有资格去取代莫克特苏马在阿兹特克的王位。并且，如果科尔特斯不曾在塔瓦斯科偶然结识一位墨西哥女孩，那么他在墨西哥事实上将会是既聋又哑，政治上也将陷于一片黑暗。因为这位女孩不仅通晓纳瓦特尔诺和马雅语，而且异常机智，熟悉墨西哥人的心理。西班牙人给她取了一个新名字：多纳?马里纳。

    而皮萨罗在进入印加帝国内地时，正值内战结束不久，胜利者阿塔瓦尔帕尚来不及巩固其统治。如果在第一次探险（1524－1525年）时就进军内地，皮萨罗就会同印加皇帝瓦伊纳?卡帕克发生冲突。他当时还活着，还是印加帝国至高无上的君主；他把帝国的重兵集结在北方，而不是布置在远离东南边境的都城库斯科。如果在第二次探险时，皮萨罗攻打内地，就有可能同还活着的卡帕克皇帝相遇。1532年皮萨罗无意地偶然决定冒险进兵。这是自1438年帕查库提打败昌卡人以来，我们所知道的所有外国入侵者所选择的战机中最为顺利的一次。

    被征服地区的内讧，使西班牙人坐收渔利。阿兹特克人同其臣民势不两立，同其邻国关系不佳。而印加人几乎是同样地为人厌恶，其内部也是剑拔弩张。被打败的瓦斯卡尔派并没有同取得胜利的非法篡位者阿塔瓦尔帕那一派言归于好；历史上的都城库斯科对崛起的基多城的竞争忿忿不平。这些内讧为西班牙提供了可乘之机。但这仅仅是因为西班牙人很快意识到了这一点并且利用了它们。科尔特斯招募特拉斯卡拉人进攻阿兹特克人，皮萨罗招募卡尼亚尔人和瓦斯特尔的余部去同阿塔瓦尔帕一派作战。皮萨罗虽然没有马里纳那样的当地人为他充当政治顾问，却表现出他具有与科尔特斯同样的政治洞察力。

    尽管如此，西班牙人的王牌仍是他们的装备、冒险性和凶残。当受害者从可怕的入侵者出人意料的进攻所造成的暂时混乱中舒缓过来时，便进行了英勇抵抗。阿兹特克人一直战斗到死，几乎被灭绝。印加人反侵略斗争此起彼伏；直到1572年，在蒙大拿，在安第斯山的大西洋一侧的山地，他们仍在战斗，那里的热带森林为他们提供了天然屏障。他们在那里的最后一个避难地马丘比丘到1911年才被人们发现（仍保持着原样，但已长期无人居住）。但是，在西欧人眼中的”新大陆”，即使是最英勇、装备最好的当地人也无法抵挡火药、钢铁制成的刀剑以及马匹（尽管在人类从亚洲东北部来到这里之前，北美洲的马已处于进化过程中，但美洲人没有见过马）的进攻。西班牙人在战略要地建立自治城市，并在那里驻扎富有经验的老兵和欧洲人与美洲印地安人的混血儿，以此来保证他们的征服。这是在效法马其顿帝国的希腊人在征服第一波斯帝国时的做法。

    象19世纪的斯堪的纳维亚人那样，16世纪的西班牙是靠两种东西前进的。当他们必须弃船登陆时，他们就骑上马。他们在美洲骑马走过的距离并不逊色于蒙古人在欧洲大陆行进的距离。

    在16世纪末期，西班牙人在美洲的业绩正由俄国人在亚洲北部重演。在1568－1569年，土耳其人打算吞并阿斯特拉罕并在顿河和伏尔加河的最接近处开挖一条运河，但未获成功。这表明他们没有能力打通在乌浒河–药杀水流域奥斯曼帝国和土耳其人的同胞逊尼派穆斯林之间的俄国人的障碍。这道障碍现在因哥萨克人（”哥萨克”在土耳其语中是”挖掘者”的意思，即来自游牧部落的外人）而得到了加强。这些人是乌克兰信仰东正教的船夫。金帐汗国在14世纪因立陶宛人的袭击而向东退到黑海北岸之后的某一时候，他们第一次定居于第聂伯河中的一个岛屿。1571年，一支哥萨克人沿顿河定居，或许在同时，另一支哥萨克人沿乌拉尔河定居。

    1581年，一位哥萨克族的俄国冒险家叶尔马克从西向东跨越乌拉尔河，并且征服了刚刚皈依了伊斯兰教的、操土耳其语的西伯利亚的汗国。与征服美洲的西班牙人相同，叶尔马克的追随者们拥有火器，而丧生在火器下的西西伯利亚人则没有。他们乘船沿河而下，通过西伯利亚森林，他们发现并走出了一些运输路线，于1637或1638年到达太平洋的西北岸。在经过贝加尔湖畔的信奉佛教的蒙古布利亚特人住地时，他们遭到有力抵抗。这些俄国人征服了布利亚特人，并于1651年在他们国家中建立了伊尔库茨克城。与此同时，俄国人已侵入到阿穆尔河流域，1643年，一伙俄国入侵者到达了满洲境内的阿穆尔河右侧的支流松花江。

    在这里，俄国人碰到了满族人，他们也已掌握了火器。在征服了中国之后，满族人向西驱退了俄国人，并且在1658年把他们限制在阿穆尔河最西边的河源处。这个界限位于俄国人占领地的东南面。1689年的条约肯定了这一边界。在阿穆尔河流域，俄国人远离后方，而满族人则离后方很近。从逻辑上讲，满族人的优势是决定性的。俄国人同满族人第一次冲突的日期–1652年具有历史性的意义。当这两个非游牧的但又是流动地建立其帝国的民族在阿穆尔河流域较量之时，欧亚大陆的游牧民族第一次发现他们被定居的军队完全包围了。

    1634－1635年，满族人开始把宗主权强加在东部的蒙古人身上。在此之前，这些蒙古人曾进入中国内地并且同俄国人较量过。布利亚特人是处于俄国人统治之下的仅有的东部蒙古人。与此同时，在1576－1577年，东部的蒙古人皈依了藏传大乘佛教，而西部的蒙古人也很快地效法。西部的蒙古人（厄鲁特部、准噶尔部、卡尔梅克部）如今栖息于阿尔泰山山脉和天山山脉之间的隘口两边。这里是扼守从欧亚大平原东部通往中部通道的战略要地。大约在16世纪末17世纪初，卡尔梅克部蒙古人向西涌去。他们开辟前进道路，通过操土耳其语的哥萨克穆斯林地区，进入欧亚太平原中部，并且在1613年越过了伏尔加河下游地区。而这一年正是俄国人”混乱时期”（1604－1613年）的最后一年。这些卡尔梅克部移民在伏尔加河下游和顿河下游之间安营扎寨，处于俄国人和奥斯曼帝国之间的无人区。那个地区，对于不信奉东正教和逊尼派伊斯兰教的佛教徒来说，在政治上是最合适的地区。

    17世纪结束之前，葡萄牙人和西班牙人已经是江河日下。1578年，葡萄牙人在摩洛哥遇到军事上的失利。1580年，葡萄牙人同腓力二世统治的西班牙联合起来。1588年，西班牙军队企图征服英国，但以海军的失败而告终。这次失败的惨重可同蒙古人1281年在日本、1292年在爪哇的灾难相比。此后，即使西班牙和葡萄牙联袂，他们的海军力量也无力保护其跨越东西两半球的海上帝国不受伊比利亚军队的侵犯及其心怀妒意的西北欧邻国–荷兰、法国和英国的蚕食。

    这3个冒险性的民族已经占据了加勒比海的许多岛屿，这些岛屿正在遭受劫难。1606年，英国殖民者在弗吉尼亚登陆；1620年到达新英格兰。1605年，法国在阿卡迪亚进行殖民活动，并于1608年建立了魁北克城。1612年，荷兰人建立了新阿姆斯特丹（今天的纽约）。西班牙丧失了其幅员辽阔的”西印度帝国”（即美洲）的一些重地。葡萄牙的损失更为巨大。1641年，荷兰人从葡萄牙人手中夺走了马六甲；1658年，占领了锡兰海岸。1609－1623年间，在争夺葡萄牙占据的印度尼西亚时，荷兰人打败了英国人。在1621－1654年间，荷兰企图征服巴西。但是，这个野心勃勃的冒险规模太大，超出了荷兰军事资源的能力。

    对于葡萄牙人来说更为不祥的征兆是，他们被亚洲人和非洲人驱逐了出来。的确，从长远的观点看，这对于所有建立帝国的西欧列强来说，都是不祥之兆。在英国海军的缓助下，伊朗萨非王朝皇帝沙阿?阿拔斯（1588－1629年在位）在1622年从葡萄牙人手中夺回了霍尔木兹。1632年，阿比西尼亚（今天的埃塞俄比亚）人在没有任何外国帮助的情况下，驱逐了葡萄牙人和所有欧洲的耶稣会教士，并把自己同人类文明世界的其余部分隔绝开来。几乎是同时，日本人作出了同样举动。早在1587年，丰臣秀吉就下令驱逐基督教传教士。1614年，德川幕府发布敕令，禁止基督教在日本活动。1622－1638年间，基督教在日本受到残酷迫害。1637－1638年，日本基督徒举行起义并遭镇压（在某些荷兰海军的帮助下）。接踵而至的是，1638年日本驱逐了葡萄牙商人。于1636年公布的一道禁止日本人出国的敕令成为这场运动的先导。在1603年获准进入日本的荷兰人被允许留在日本，但被限制在长崎港口的一个人工岛–出岛。

    阿比西尼亚人和日本人因同样的理由感到不能容忍葡萄牙人的存在。葡萄牙人是狂热、虔诚的罗马天主教徒。他们热衷于传播天主教和从贸易中攫取利润。1626年，在阿比西尼亚的耶稣会成员，引诱当朝的皇帝承认教皇在基督一性论教派的教会统治区有至高无上的地位，哄骗皇帝彻底废除当地的基督一性论教派的礼拜仪式，这些仪式中还包括一些犹太教的内容（犹太教先于基督教传入阿比西尼亚）。尽管阿比西尼亚人感激葡萄牙人在16世纪使他们摆脱了穆斯林人的奴役，但此后葡萄牙人企图把罗马天主教强加给他们，招致了他们的愤怒。在日本，自从1549年第一位耶稣会传教士圣方济各?沙勿略到达九州以来，已有大批人自愿皈依罗马天主教。但是，西班牙人于1571年征服了菲律宾群岛，随后于1580年同葡萄牙人一道主宰了菲律宾，这就使丰臣秀吉和继之而来的德川幕府害怕西班牙人会把皈依天主教的日本人作为他们企图征服日本的”第五纵队”。这就是日本人自愿地采取自我封闭、同文明世界和其他地区保持一定距离的预防手段，以提防西欧人威胁的原因。这同阿比西尼亚人的做法如出一辙。

    日本政府允许荷兰商人留在日本的原因在于，荷兰人使日本人相信：他们的兴趣仅在贸易，他们并不想使日本人皈依他们所信奉的基督教加尔文教派。英国商人也审慎地避免表现出要同化其非西欧的贸易伙伴的意图，甚至连信奉罗马天主教的法国人尽管在一定程度上效法挑衅性的葡萄牙人和西班牙人的所作所为，旨在使罗马天主教传教士成为法国在政治上的代理人，但在这个问题上也极力谨慎从事。

    随之而来的由西方商人和帝国的创建者们掀起的层层浪潮所带来的西方文明，是形态各异的。以西班牙人和葡萄牙人为代表的第一个浪潮，力图完整地输出西方文明，包括他们本民族的宗教。而在任何文明中，本民族的宗教都是该文明整体的核心。所有具有力量的非西欧民族都成功地抵抗了西班牙和葡萄牙人的这一企图。所以，荷兰人–法国人–英国人掀起的，在不信基督的异教地区传播西欧文明的第二个浪潮，输出的仅是经过筛选的西欧文明。荷兰和英国的私商和官方都对传教士的活动皱眉蹙额、表示不满。从17世纪开始在人类文明世界中渗透的、这种删节了的西方文明中最重要的因素，不是宗教，而是技术。其中，第一位的也是最重要的是为战争服务的技术。

    在日本，罗马天主教在九州海岸之外的一些小岛上秘密生存的状况，直到1873年才结束。因为，那年废除了对被确认是秘密基督徒的死刑。到了那时，秘密的教徒们所信奉的罗马天主教，已经把土生土长的日本流行的信仰和仪式融为一体。在西班牙的海外殖民地，也发生了同样的事情。在那里，被征服的人人多被强迫信仰天主教，所以这种信仰实际上是名存实亡的。

    所有西欧国家的帝国创立者们都很相象。他们要么剥削海外的受害者，要么就消灭他们。西班牙征服者的贪欲和残忍，为他们旗鼓相当的竞争对手们所仿效，但是，只有西班牙人面临由征服所产生的必须迅速而明确地处理的道德问题。早在1514年，西班牙殖民者的受害者们，就在多明我修道团的男修士中找到了一位坚韧不拔的斗士，他名叫巴托洛梅?德?拉斯?卡萨斯，他促使西班牙政府颁布法律，制止最恶劣的胡作非为。尽管处于对立面的掌握军队的征服者一再反对，这项法律仍得到部分实施。西班牙人和葡萄牙人以与皈依天主教的教徒通婚的办法，来缓和对受害者的压迫。在他们看来，宗教的共同性是超越种族差别的精神纽带。皈依天主教对减少征服者与被征服者之间隔阂的作用，生动地体现在后来西班牙议会的新西班牙保护女神–瓜达卢佩城的圣母–的色彩和服饰上。

    葡萄牙人一登上黑非洲海岸，立即开始把非洲黑人变成奴隶。所有后来的西欧帝国创立者们都干下了这种罪恶的勾当。当西欧人获得海外领土后，他们就把从非洲掠来的黑奴运到那里，强迫他们劳动，以代替被灭绝或大量杀戮的当地人。这些奴隶的死亡率是很高的，而贩卖奴隶的商人们的利润则与此成正比。那些被贩运到外国的非洲黑奴中的幸存者，应当感谢他们种族的生命力，应当感谢他们能够在美洲繁衍后代，这使他们得以与贩运他们的西欧白种人一道，去分享他们所获得的”新大陆”。

    人类的迁移以及不同人种之间的繁衍，并不是人类文明世界的联结对生物圈的动物群体和植物群体所产生的唯一影响。毫无顾忌地把人工驯育的动植物，从以前曾经互相隔绝的两半球的一边移到另一边，会得到很多有益的收获。但也会造成细菌和病毒的有害传播。天花病毒尾随哥伦布的航波，通过人的载体西行到了美洲。如果说天花就是夺取印加皇帝瓦伊纳?卡帕克生命的疾病的话，那么，这些病毒就是皮萨罗率领入侵南美洲的为数不多的侵略者的肉眼看不见的先锋。反过来说，性病在西欧首次为人所知是1495年，即在哥伦布首次登上美洲的3年之内。这大概是”新大陆”惩罚”旧大陆”入侵它的错误的回报。16世纪期间，西欧出现的始于1519年的大灾难所造成的代价，无疑是对西班牙人掠夺阿兹特克人和印加人的金银，以及后来他们雇佣美洲土著劳动力开来美洲矿藏并把它们运回欧洲的报应。这样，人类文明世界连为一体的结果之一便是：天花、性病和通货膨胀。这3位可怕的来客，每一位都拥有一个帝国，它曾使查理五世那幅员辽阔的帝国相形见绌。也就是在这些新的帝国中，太阳从未在那里升起过。

    第七十六章 西方文明（1563－1763年）

    在1563－1763年的两个世纪中，西方文明发生了一次伟大的思想和宗教革命。这是自从西方社会在罗马帝国的废墟上就地崛起之后，最伟大的一次革命，它超出了先前任何一次变革。此时，西方的思想家们已不再不加鉴别地继承先辈们的遗产。他们决意今后要通过对各种现象的独立观察来检验被继承的学说，要进行独立的思考。他们也尽力与少数异教徒和平共处。他们不再感到有责任或冲动去把大多数人的信仰和习俗硬性强加给所有的人。这两大革命并非一蹴而就，而是在曲折中前进的。1686年，丰特奈尔发表了《宇宙万象解说》，乔尔丹诺?布鲁诺为了这个学说于1600年付出了生命的代价；而丰特奈尔却长命百岁，直到1757年安然死在床上。1687年，牛顿（1642－1727年）发表了《自然哲学的数学原理》，并且没有受到任何基督教会当局的封禁勒令，幸免了伽里略1633年的厄运。另一方面，路易十四于1685年撤销了《南特敕令》，这一法案曾授予法国的少数新教徒以信仰自由。

    西方人长期遭受权力的奴役，当然现在他们已从中解放出来了。在15世纪末叶以前，所有异教都遭到了罗马帝国政府的强行镇压。在罗马帝国西部的一些继承国，比如1391－1492年间的西班牙和1497年的葡萄牙，所有未能在国外找到政治庇护的犹太人都被迫皈依了基督教。13世纪以来，古希腊时代的希腊哲学家亚里士多德的学说被强加给西方基督教神学家和哲学家。15世纪以后，又把西塞罗时代和奥古斯都时代拉丁文作家的风格，强加给了当代西方的拉丁文作家。

    在教义中篡改了”及圣子”句的西方基督教的权威，尚未受到反叛天主教会罗马教皇统治的新教徒的指责。新教徒用《圣经》这一权威经典取代了罗马天主教庭的权威。新教的主教象罗马天主教的主教一样，不容异端学说，把他们自己对西方基督教教义的观点强加给他们的臣民。西方基督教世界的内部分裂只是加剧了两派的竞争，与统一时期的他们的罗马天主教前辈们相比，他们的行为之狂热、恶劣都有过之而无不及。

    对古典拉丁文作家风格的模仿，比起先前西方基督教思想家对亚里士多德的理性顺从，显得更加肤浅。另一方面，在西方，古希腊时代希腊数学和科学著作的出版激发了人们的独立思维，后来的科技发明和地理发现推翻了许多物理现象的古典解释。在这个领域，古代知识的复兴走上了新的历程。

    西方人从他们希腊–罗马祖先的理性僭主政治中解放了自己。这一点在丰特奈尔的《闲话古人与今人》（1688年）和威廉?沃顿的《古代与当代学问的反思》（1694年）中被戏剧化地表现出来了，但论战的序幕是由让?博丁（1530－1596年）拉开的，弗朗西斯?培根（1561－1626年）和勒纳?笛卡尔（1596－1650年）进一步推动了这场战斗。在这之后，现代派赢得了决定性的胜利。此外，胜利者不得不承认赞美路易十四的人并不是比荷马更好的诗人，他们没有署名，所以他们的赞美诗也就不再流行，尽管基督教宣称基督教文明超过了任何前基督教文明。近代西方成就的这些斗士，在自然科学、技术和哲学这些领域中赢得了胜利。

    西方的”宗教战争”使基督教信誉扫地。它开始于1534年，时断时续，直到1648年。这些战争既狂热又伪善。那些好战的君主本是出于政治上的动机和目的，却要戴上宗教定罪的面具。那些主张扩张教会势力的人，用他们愚昧无知却发自内心并充满仇恨的热情，把这些好战君主的仇恨煽动起来。1660年，一些有志于自然科学的人在英格兰创建了皇家学会，他们的目的不在于要颠覆基督教，而是要从道义上更新它。他们的政策是要将当代人的思想感情从既缺乏教育意义，又缺乏说服力的神学争论中转移出来，使他们把注意力转到有关自然现象的问题上，并不带偏见地讨论这些问题，通过观察或实验，有说服力地回答这些问题。

    在这场”宗教战争”中，同时还有另外一些评论家和牺牲者。他们确实在寻求削弱基督教对西方人心灵和精神控制之路。由于这仍是一个危险的游戏，因此他们只能秘密地工作，只有在基督教世界之外的地区例外。比如，日尔曼人在日本巧妙地避开了基督教会的活动，不断地为同人提供安全保证。丰特奈尔在他为科技界故人所作的讣告辞中写下的格言，似乎无法为基督教义所宽容。在1688年出版的《神谕的历史》中，他更加大胆了。皮埃尔?培尔是一个流亡在荷兰北部的法国异教徒，他于1695－1697年在鹿特丹出版了《历史与批判词典》一书，这简直就是狄德罗与达兰贝尔合著于1751－1765年间在法国出版的《百科全书》的原型。培尔仿效同时代西方希腊和拉丁语作家们所采用的注释式的版本。这些注释用小的字体印出来，看似不引人注目，但往在却占去了大部分篇幅。他的原文似乎是一剂镇痛药，但如果作者在那些语意深奥的注释中所表达的意图，恰恰被读者理解为是嘲讽挖苦之意的话，那么他对于原文的注释，便颇有某些颠覆的意味了。

    大约过了80年以后，爱德华?吉本在写作《罗马帝国衰亡史》一书时，也采用了培尔的写法。但这并未能使它免受责罚。此书发表于1776－1788年间，其中对于罗马帝国皈依基督教所作的解释并不怎么高明。在西方国家中，英国率先确立了宗教信仰自由，但是真正做到不计较异教的信仰和观点，却是个缓慢的过程。约翰?韦斯利（1703－1791年）早在1739年就开始热衷于传教活动，当时，吉本（1737－1794年）还是一个婴儿。与吉本同代的法国人伏尔泰（1694－1778年）和百科全书派更加直言不讳，并且没有受到惩罚。尽管如此，在18世纪，伏尔泰仍觉得住在法国与瑞士交界的瑞士一边是比较明智的。

    在17世纪的法国，布莱兹?帕斯卡尔（1623－1662年）把对基督教詹森教派炽热的信仰与科学天才结合起来；波舒哀主教（1627－1704年）出版了《世界史教程》一书。和凯撒城的优西比乌斯（约264－340年）一样，波舒哀在这本书里也阐述了人类的历史，但他的意图是要为人们提供一个独一无二的、万能的上帝，即犹太教的上帝耶和华。伏尔泰写了一部关于人类文化和社会历史的书，来反驳波舒哀。在这部历史书中，他把中国人而不是犹太人置于头等重要的地位，而中国的文化是通过耶稣教会的传教士才为西方人所认识的。

    在西方建立宗教信仰自由的历史进程中，作为其文学的里程碑的是《论宽容的信札》（1689年以后）和《政府论》（1690年）。这两部著作是由遣返回国的英国流亡者约翰?洛克（1632－1704年）所著。实践的里程碑是利奥波德一世的作为，他是罗马天主教多瑙河哈布斯堡王国的君主。他在1690年向原来归附于匈牙利王权的所有基督教教徒和至今仍在奥斯曼帝国统治下的所有人民发表了一项声明，授予他们宗教自由的权利和部族自治权。这种自由和自治仍在哈布斯堡王朝的统治下，又要符合奥斯曼帝国的标准。1690－1695年，利奥波德为流亡的塞尔维亚东正教团提供了庇护权，条件是维持他们在哈布斯堡的领土上对一个奥斯曼非伊斯兰教社团（米勒特）的特权。最近到1664年，在”三十年战争”（1618－1648年）中被哈布斯堡王朝重新占领的波西米亚王室领地之一的西里西亚人民，直到1664年都一直公开表示，愿意让奥斯曼征服者来解放他们。在其间的25年里，多瑙河哈布斯堡王朝出于与俄国竞争的需要，转而采取了宗教自由的政策。它与俄国竞争，为的是从政治上忠于奥斯曼东正教。由于在1682－1683年对维也纳的第二次围攻惨遭失败，奥斯曼帝国正在失去对奥斯曼东正教的控制。

    西方人赢得信仰自由与赢得理性独立一样，是一个缓慢的过程。在法国，1685年撤销了《南特敕令》；在中国，耶稣教会传教士为了争取立足之地，不得不采取一些迂回措施。他们学习掌握儒家文化，介绍西方天文和军事技术的一些实用知识，允许皈依宗教的人继续在世俗仪式中用传统的中国方式膜拜他们的祖先。通过这些措施，耶稣教会的活动终于在中国立住了脚跟。利马窦（1552－1610年）是耶稣教会在中国的创始人，由于他精通儒家文化，因而被中国儒家学者吸收到他们的社团里，在那里他取了一个中文的笔名。耶稣会教士将”救世主”译为”天”。不肯让步的罗马天主教当局破坏了耶稣教会的工作。他们禁止中国的皈依者用传统的仪式来膜拜祖先，并坚持”救世主”应被翻译成”天帝”的说教，以表明基督教的上帝并不是超人的，而是与人同质的。罗马教会挑起了一场和大清帝国政府之间为时30年（1693－1723年）的论战，作为其结局，基督教在中国遭到了禁止和压制。罗马教廷没能从1587－1638年间在日本的经历中吸取教训。在欧洲，多瑙河哈布斯堡王朝承认东正教教徒的信仰自由42年之后，信仰新教的基督教徒在1731－1732年间被驱逐出了毗邻的萨尔茨堡主教管区。

    在西方国家里，彗星的出现被看作是上帝创造的一个奇迹，用以警告那些即将受到惩罚的人。但这种迷信思想在17世纪消亡了。不过，1680年彗星的出现仍然引起了恐慌。1682年，培尔发表了《彗星出现的不同见解》一书，宣称1680年出现的彗星和所有其他彗星一样，都是很平常的自然界现象。当1682年另一颗彗星出现时，天文学家埃德蒙?哈雷认为它与1456、1531、1607年出现的彗重没什么两样。他测算出了它的轨迹、周期和速度。哈雷也同样测算了1680年出现的彗星。另一种西方迷信是对巫术的迷信，这种迷信思想的消亡更为困难。从西方基督教世界第一次对这种迷信公开提出挑战，到这种巫术最后一次在那里作怪，200年（1563－1762年）过去了，其间数以千计无辜的人们被羞辱地处死。

    对于权威不容异说的褊狭和迷信的抵制，在理性和道德上都是一次胜利，它造成了西方社会文化和社会结构的空缺。这些空缺伴随着各个生活领域中程度不同的成功，或多或少为一些审慎的替代物所填补。

    那些曾煽动起象1572年使徒巴多罗买日的巴黎大屠杀和1649年德罗赫达大屠杀的宗教辩论，成功地被数学和自然科学引起的兴趣取代了。人们希望把数学化了的科学系统地运用于科技，从而提高人类的福利。这种愿望激发了人们对数学和自然科学的兴趣。列奥纳多?达?芬奇很早就表述过这种愿望。弗朗西斯?培根也抱有这个愿望，而这个愿望又激励了培根的门徒–“皇家学会”的奠基人们。威廉?哈维（1578－1657年）是帕多瓦大学一名英国学生，他于1628年发表了他的《心血运动论》；罗伯特?波意耳（1627－1691年）将化学科学从炼丹术中解放出来；伊萨克?牛顿使西方的物理学和天文学发生了革命；查尔斯?林奈创立了生物圈里植物群和动物群的系统划分，林奈相信他所划分的种和属的不变性，在他看来，大自然是静态的，林奈的同代人乔治?路易斯?勒克莱尔和孔德?德?布丰（1707－1788年）发现了证据，证明迄今为止自然界在时间上，已经经历了一个漫长的过程，他期望这一过程能在未来继续下去。

    在哲学领域，由于对亚里士多德权威的抵制所造成的空缺，尚未被人文主义者们对柏拉图的崇拜所填补。17世纪的西方思想家试图找到一个明确的突破口和一个崭新的开端来填补这个空白。勒纳?笛卡尔从认识论角度作了尝试。即使对于那些对笛卡尔已穷尽了真理的论断提出质疑的后继者们来说，他的《方法论》（1637年）一书也一直是理性的标志。约翰?洛克则对认识论加以实验性探索。斯宾诺莎（1632－1677年）和莱布尼茨（1646－1716年）试图为形而上学奠定新的基础。在社会学领域，托马斯?霍布斯（1588－1679年）通过对心理学王国所作的初步探索，巩固了他关于社会契约的假设。洛克也从事这一领域的工作，但未能达到这个深度。詹巴蒂斯塔?维柯（1668－1744年）在他的《新科学》一书中，开辟了文化历史领域的新天地。正是因为他的工作太新颖了，同时代的人反而未能对这项工作的重要性给予正确的评价。古希腊的周期循环理论启发了维柯，但维柯在古希腊大师们的基础上又进了一步，他掌握了两种文化：古希腊文化和西方基督教文化。在他的知识范围内，他用更丰富的知识武装自己，写出了西方第一篇关于文明比较研究的论文。

    由于教皇对西万”基督世界”的管辖，由于拉丁语在外交、研究、甚至在众多方言的各种诗歌中，都被作为通用语言使用，这些对中世纪的西方基督教世界结成统一的整体起了很大作用。教会的”基督世界”在一定程度上已被文学和科学的”文学界”取代了。这一概念的发明者是伊拉斯谟，然而是培尔于1684年首次在期刊《新文坛》中采用的。公共邮政事业发展了，为私人通信提供了方便，同时也解决了自身的费用支付问题。这些推动了文学工作者和科学工作者之间的知识交流。在私人通信中诞生了定期出版的时事通讯，又进一步产生了报纸。在西方，第一本印刷期刊的发行是在1609年，第一份日报的发行是在1702年。到了17世纪，除了帕多瓦大学和苏格兰大学这样极个别的学校之外，西方绝大多数大学都失去了他们在中世纪的活力和创造力。一些新的高等院校的创建，填补了部分空白。这些院校是由地方主权国家政府建立或支持的。在18世纪的巴黎，这些大学也得到了上流社会的夫人们举办的私人沙龙的支持。

    西方皇室家族和西方贵族之间的社会网络关系，也部分地填补了罗马天主教”基督世界”的建立所留下的空缺。这是西方社会中最高等级的两个社会阶层，它们通过跨越国界的联姻和对跨越了民族障碍的各种方言的需求，紧密地结合在一起。即使在西方基督教世界分裂之际，西方皇室家族和西方贵族也保持着团结。以国家公共利益为借口的宗教改宗得到了宽恕。纳瓦拉一个加尔文教派的国王为了成为法兰西的亨利四世，竞改信了罗马天主教。荷兰北部加尔文教主教威廉和汉诺威路德教派的选侯乔治，各自为了成为英格兰国王威廉三世，英格兰和苏格兰联合王国的国王乔治一世，结果成为英国新教圣公会信徒。在苏格兰，加尔文教已得到认可，威廉三世只需披上一层新教的外衣即可；但是，四个乔治和威廉四世则不得不在汉诺威继续充当路德派教徒的同时，又得在苏格兰充当加尔文派长老会教徒，在英格兰充当新教圣公会教徒。

    早在12世纪，西方各民族正在使用的地方方言就已开始出现在诗歌中。这些方言诗歌与同时代的拉丁文诗歌一起流行于世。在这些拉丁文诗歌中，方言的风格是以拉丁文的形式表现出来的。当方言在诗歌中完全占据了统治地位时，它的首要影响便是促进了文学的丰富繁荣，从而为天才的发挥提供了温床。这种情形可以散文的代表人物拉伯雷（1494？－1553年）和诗歌的代表人物莎士比亚（1564－1616年）为例。西方的宗教改革时代，也是西方一个伟大的诗歌时代。摒弃宗教迷信和迫害在文化上的代价，是诗歌向散文方向的发展，这一发展不是表现在韵律上，而是表现在风格上，其过渡的媒介便是方言。

    16世纪，阿尔卑斯山北面的西欧诗人，像他们的意大利前辈和同时代意大利人那样，以古典拉丁文和希腊文文体为楷模进行写作。法国的代表人物是约阿希姆?德?贝莱（1522－1560年），皮埃尔?德?龙萨（1524－1585年）和”七星诗社”中其他5位成员。他们在英国的同仁是先躯者托马斯?怀亚特爵士（1503？－1542年）和萨里伯爵亨利?霍华德（1517？－1547年）。接踵而来的是伊丽莎白时代的那群杰出诗人和1660年英格兰和苏格兰君主制度复辟之前的他们的后继者们。莎士比亚和弥尔顿（1608－1674年）是这一时代的英格兰、苏格兰诗人中最杰出的两位。由于这两位巨匠光彩照人，结果使这一时代其他本来很杰出的诗人都显得黯然失色。启蒙运动开始之后，西方的诗人们使审慎地变成了散文家。在17世纪法国的戏剧家中，最先开始这种基调和风格的变化。他们是高乃依（1606－1684年）、莫里哀（1622－1673年）和拉辛（1639－1699年）。这些天才将韵文和朴素的文体结合起来。同时代的法国散文作家，比如帕斯卡尔，为他们提供了一种新的语言工具。

    17世纪逐渐风行的这种法国散文体简洁、明了、准确。它比任何”古典”拉丁文体或希腊文体都更适合于印欧语言。这种语言此时已远及英国，而罗曼语系语言此时已从固定结构变为分析结构，这种分析结构可分为虚词、介词、助动词，以代替那种使用不方便的在动词、名词词根上加前缀、后缀的方法。这种新的法国散文体还放弃了拉丁语、突厥语中用许多从句堆砌起来的句型结构；这种新的法语句型结构把主句和从句排列起来而不用连接词，作者把简单的短句间的逻辑关系留给读者凭直觉去推测。

    法国文体的革命给英国文学带来了巨大冲击，在英国，这种来自外国的冲击，非常猛烈，而且改革者具有充分的自我意识。例如，德莱顿就很自信地认为，他的文体，无论散文或诗，都在弥尔顿的基础上有了进一步的提高。

    法国写作风格传播到其他西方国家，法国新教徒因受宗教迫害而移居国外，这些使法国在西方世界赢得了一种文化上的支配地位。其表现在除音乐以外的其他所有领域。而此时，在音乐领域，德意志夺走了意大利的领导地位。”三十年战争”后，在北部德国庞大的巴赫家族使曾庇护过他们的君主的声名黯然失色。约翰?塞巴斯蒂昂?巴赫（1685－1750年）和弗里德里希?亨德尔（1685－1759年）是他们那代人中最出色的德国人。普鲁士大帝腓特烈二世（1740－1786年在位）使他的又小又穷的小王国发展壮大，跻身于列强之列，他还设法为柏林歌剧院筹措资金。除去这些，腓特烈在军事之外的最重要的抱负，就是要写出即使往法国文学圈中也可占一席之地的法文韵文。吉本也是先用法文写作，然后再象但丁那样，使用母语写下他的名作。在1667－1713年的西部战争中，法国未能使它的政治优势超过他的文化优势。北尼德兰首当其冲，纠集一些弱小的西方国家，艰难地将法国挫败了。

    在法国与勃艮第–哈布斯堡王朝第一个回合的权力较量中，法国处于弱势。1525年，它很快就屈膝投降了。这两个罗马天主教强国之间的较量，被称之为”宗教战争”的内战打断了。其中最早的是1534－1555年德国发生的战争；接下来的是1562－1598年的法国内战，1569－1609年的尼德兰内战，1618－1648年德国第二次内战和1642－1648年的英格兰内战。

    所有这些内战，都不同程度地为外国干涉打开了门户。其中程度最轻的是英国内战，最严重的是德意志的”三十年战争”。早在1534－1555年的德意志内战中，信奉天主教的法国即已支持信奉新教的德意志主教，反对哈布斯堡王朝的皇帝查理五世。在”三十年战争”中，法国与信奉新教的瑞典，携手阻止了哈布斯堡王朝征服信奉新教的德意志。法国的政策是由身为罗马教会红衣主教的两位政治家来实施的，他们是于1624年开始掌权的黎塞留（1585－1642年）和他的直接继承人马扎然（1604－1660年）。

    在”三十年战争”中，法国是最大的受益者，其次是多瑙河的哈布斯堡王朝。它重新占领并保持住了波西米亚的王室领地。瑞典因投入了一场力所不能及的冒险而使自己精疲力竭。西班牙崩溃了，它未能有效地利用法国在1562－1598年间的瘫痪局面。1580年，葡萄牙和西班牙联合起来，力图把西班牙推上权力顶峰，但那时，尼德兰的战争牵制了它的力量。这不仅是尼德兰新教徒与天主教徒的内战，而且是尼德兰新教徒反对西班牙统治的一次民族起义。由于与西班牙的政治联系，葡萄牙的海外帝国不得不去打击荷兰人的进攻。西班牙在1621年试图再度占领尼德兰北部，结果却加剧了西班牙的资源消耗。继1588年英格兰打败西班牙海军之后，1639年，荷兰人又进一步歼灭了西班牙舰队。在陆地上，在旧大陆，1640年葡萄牙人和加泰罗尼亚人的反叛削弱了西班牙的实力。

    尽管西班牙丧失了它的海上霸权，但它庞大的海外殖民体系几乎未遭到什么损失，白银继续从安第斯山脉和墨西哥的银矿源源不断地运过来。但这些财富已无力挽救它的衰落。西班牙农业耕地面积已无法与法国相比，游牧部落大面积的畜牧业占地，阻碍了西班牙的农业发展。因而，西班牙象瑞典一样，由于人口不足而无法扮演它想要扮演的角色。西班牙、瑞典和德国的衰竭为法国提供了机会，它也抓住了这个机会。早在1552年，法国就已获得了洛林的3块绊脚石：梅斯、图勒和凡尔登。在”三十年战争”中，她又得到了阿尔萨斯。

    法国在1667－1713年的战争中幸存下来，就象多瑙河哈布斯堡王朝在”三十年战争”中获得幸存一样。甚至在1685年前后大部分新教徒移居国外时，法国也得以幸存。这些新教徒毕竟只是法国人中的一小部分。法国太繁荣了，这点损失并不能对它产生什么影响。不象当年西班牙驱逐犹太人和伊斯兰教徒那样，结果却削弱了西班牙自身。另一方面，法国这些有技术又勤劳的新教徒移民的增加，却加强了法国当时乃至未来的对手们的力量。这些对手包括北部尼德兰、英格兰，而首要的是勃兰登堡，以及符腾堡、好望角的荷兰殖民地和南卡罗来纳的英国殖民地。

    而且，在1667－1713年战争的后期，在英格兰和荷兰力量联合之后，在1740－1748年和1756－1763年的一系列英法战争中，在同英国争夺对西班牙帝国以北的北美的控制权和对印度的控制权时，法国都失利了。英国在1690－1763年间，从法国人手里夺走了北美洲，又在1746－1761年间夺得了印度（除了几个很小的独立飞地之外）。1767年，休谟让吉本尝试用英文写作。他预言北美将被讲英语的人占领，而在美国独立战争爆发后，休谟的预言得到吉本在其用英文撰写的一篇文章的赞同。

    虽然法国在北美和印度的角逐中失败了，但在1627年后强大起来的西方国家中，法国和多瑙河哈布斯堡王朝是近一个世纪以来仍能维持这种地位的仅有的两个国家。西班牙的势力在”三十年战争”中被它的同伴挤垮了；尼德兰北部因1667－1713年的战争而衰落；瑞典在1700－1721年同俄国的战争中败北并从此衰落。到1721年，尼德兰人的地盘已被英国人所占，瑞典的地盘为俄国和普鲁士所占。多瑙河哈布斯堡王朝再一次顺利推进，他们继承了西班牙哈布斯堡在伦巴第地区和南部尼德兰的统治权。在奥斯曼帝国于1682－1683年间对维也纳的第二次围攻失利之后，哈布斯堡王朝作为回报继续向东扩展。

    从宗教改革运动到为追逐政治权力和经济利益而公开进行的战争，到17世纪中叶，伴随西方复兴而来的是战争暴行的缓和。西方国家之间的战争仍在继续，但已不再是彼此怀有敌意的人和宗派之间的极端斗争，而是身着制服、有严明纪律的、职业性的政府雇佣军之间的”适度竞争”（吉本语）。这样一来，平民百姓的生命和财产便有可能少受损失。军队被要求实行军粮自给，不再靠国家供养。平民百姓面临的仅只是国家统治者们的改朝换代，这就使他们可能免遭掠夺、驱逐和屠杀之苦。西方国家的政府并不总是能够使新的人道规范付诸于实践。战争本身就是残酷的，停止战争才是唯一的对策。试图想使战争人道化的天真想法根本不可能比部分的减缓战争有更好的效果。法国在1674年和1688年先后两次对莱茵河的巴拉丁进行了蓄谋已久的掠夺。一个设防的城市，如果它的驻军拒绝投降，它便会被强行攻占。得胜的敌军自认为对当地居民进行洗劫是他们的权利。但在1688年至1792年之间，就西方世界整体而言，战争的残酷性还是成功地被减少到相对较低的程度，而早在15世纪，北部意大利的局部地区的战争残酷程度就已降低到了这种水平。

    第七十七章 东正教世界（1556－1768年）

    自从989年俄罗斯皈依东正教以来，东正教世界便由两部分组成，一是它在东南欧、小亚细亚和高加索地区的旧有领地，一是俄罗斯的新领地，在空间上，它与旧有领地之间横隔着黑海北部欧亚大平原的西端。尽管为这种地理障碍所分隔，俄罗斯仍被一种共同的宗教而与东正教世界联合在一起，并且，她还从希腊文和保加利亚文的《圣经》文本中接受了拜占庭文明。尽管如此，俄罗斯仍是独立的，并仍在不断扩展。在1552－1637年或1638年期间，它从伏尔加河上游地区向东扩张到了太平洋西北岸。它的扩张既未被奥斯曼人所阻止，也未被卡尔梅克人所未退。

    对比之下，整个东正教世界的南半部此时却既附属于奥斯曼帝国，又附属于西方基督教的统治。在奥斯曼帝国日益发展壮大的过程中，东地中海地区的西方基督教殖民帝国成了它的牺牲品。例如，希俄斯这个1346年以后一直由一家热那亚的特许公司统治着的岛屿，于1566年为奥斯曼帝国吞并，1645－1669年奥斯曼人又从威尼斯人手中夺取了自1204年以后就一直置于其统治之下的克里特岛。但是，这些主仆关系的变化仍然使南部的东正教徒们处于臣属状态。少数奥斯曼希腊社区得到了一定限度的地方自治权；但是，在奥斯曼的版图之内，却只有6个完全享有自治权的公国，其中4个是高加索的格鲁吉亚人聚居地．另外2个是位于多瑙河下游北岸的罗马尼亚公国瓦拉几亚和摩尔多瓦。

    尽管如此，希腊人的情况并未象想象中的那样糟糕，而俄罗斯人也未象想象中的那么顺利。虽然俄罗斯向东方的扩张已跨越了欧亚大平原的北部高原，但她仍面临着欧亚大平原西端的游牧民族的侵袭；克里米亚汗国是金帐汗国的后裔邦国中最靠西南端的一个邦国，它的幸存受惠于1475年沦为奥斯曼帝国的附属国。1671年，克里米亚的鞑靼入侵者放火焚烧了莫斯科。而且，莫斯科是个内陆城市。除去摩尔曼斯克之外，俄罗斯仅有的不冻港位于里海北海岸，虽然里海很大，但它充其量只是一个”湖”，而且，即使摩尔曼斯克，也不易从俄罗斯腹地进入。奥斯曼帝国在顿河口的要塞亚速，堵住了莫斯科人进入亚速海并进而进入黑海、地中海和大西洋的通道。

    莫斯科经波罗的海和北海进入大西洋的通道也被阻塞了。于1478年为莫斯科吞并的前俄罗斯诺夫哥罗德共和国，在芬兰湾顶端也曾据有一段不长的海岸线，但是1558－1583年间，伊凡雷帝（1530－1594年）试图扩展它，反而丧失了这一波罗的海沿海地区。在莫斯科的一段无政府状态期间（1604－1613年的”混乱时期”），瑞典人于1611年占领了诺夫哥罗德，并于1610－1612年期间，占领了波兰人统治的莫斯科。1618年的和解给莫斯科带来的仍是瑞典对于通向波罗的海之路的阻碍，波兰－立陶宛的整个东部边界如今再次逼近莫斯科，向前推进到15世纪时的位置。

    从989年至1589年，东正教世界中的整个俄罗斯都处于君士坦丁堡大主教的基督教会管辖权之下，因此，虽然自从1453年之后，君士坦丁堡的最高主教成为奥斯曼帝国的一名臣仆和奥斯曼领土上的一名义职公务人员，但是他的基督教领地的大部分，仍然处于奥斯曼帝国的边界之外。尽管如此，1589年时的莫斯科大主教仍高傲地保持着独立的基督教主教职权的地位。作为回报，波兰－立陶宛王国政府于1594－1596年，强迫其统治下的绝大多数东正教徒改宗为东仪罗马天主教徒。成功地抵制了与罗马教会合并的，只有那些为第聂伯河的哥萨克人所控制的波兰－立陶宛王国的乌克兰臣民。而在1648－1654年期间，当第聂伯河的哥萨克人在政治上从波兰－立陶宛转而效忠莫斯科时，君士坦丁堡大主教甚至丧失了他北方教区的最后一批教民。

    正如15世纪那样，东正教会对西方基督教充满敌意。它厌恶与西方的新教徒发生关系，尽管这些人曾追随着东正教徒共同抵制过罗马教廷对至高无上的基督教教权的要求。君士坦丁堡的主教并未与波兰的新教徒携手抵制波兰－立陶宛的反宗教改革，这也就成为其末能成功地阻止那些在波兰－立陶宛统治之下的基督教臣民中的绝大多数人被强迫改系为东仪天主教徒的原因之一。西里尔?卢卡里斯于1620－1635年和1637－1638年间任君士坦丁堡主教，他倾向于加尔文教派，但只有极少数地在希腊正教牧师中的学生追随他信奉此道。18世纪的一位希腊教育学家尤金?乌尔加里斯（1716－1806年）曾遭到希腊基督教当局的宗教迫害，其原因就在于他曾在德意志受过教育并且精通当代西方哲学。

    东罗马帝国于1453年灭亡之后，君士坦丁堡的主教职位为奥斯曼希腊的僧俗大众提供了一个重整旗鼓的集合点；然而，在此后的两个世纪中，希腊的东正教徒并不象僧侣们那样笃忠，他们逐渐地对西方产生了好感。在16世纪，奥斯曼希腊的商人们已经在与西方的贸易中攫取了实惠，这一点我们已有所提及。当1682－1683年奥斯曼帝国对维也纳的第二次围攻归于失败以后，接踵而来的是多瑙河畔的哈布斯堡王朝向东方对奥斯曼帝国领地的扩张，奥斯曼希腊在地中海地区的海上贸易却也因此从其与中欧的陆路贸易中得到补偿。

    与西方建立了商业或政治交往的希腊人，同时也受到西方文化的诱惑。奥斯曼帝国以及威尼斯王国的希腊人在帕多瓦大学中求学，威尼斯统治下的克里特人以流行的西方风格，创造出了一种现代希腊语的口头文学。这种克里特希腊文学的创造，因1669年干地亚的陷落而为克里特自己所打断，但是克里特难民们却把他们的文学遗产带到了爱奥尼亚群岛，并在威尼斯的统治之下保存了下来。当17世纪在奥斯曼帝国与西方基督教国家的长期战争中，形势开始变得对奥斯曼帝国不利的时候，奥斯曼希腊人对西方的认识和了解，在政治上对他们则是十分有益的。此时，奥斯曼帝国政府发现，它需要一些能够胜任与西方人谈判的外交家。1669年，土耳其政府的台尔果曼官职（相当于外交部的官员），被封经给受过西方教育的奥斯曼希腊人。从1711年以后，对两个罗马尼亚公国瓦拉几亚和摩尔多瓦的统治权，被授予希腊的奥斯曼臣民。奥斯曼政府受到允许这两个公国由信基督教的王公治理的条约之约束。1711年，摩尔多瓦地方的王公在其公国受到彼得大帝侵袭之际，背叛了奥斯曼帝国。奥斯曼人认为，他们可以信赖他们的希腊臣民，因为这些人定居于奥斯曼帝国，并因此而听凭奥斯曼人的支配。这两个罗马尼亚公国是富有的，除授王公以官职，无论对被任命者，还是对那些希腊候选人不得不去贿赂的土耳其官员们来说，都是有利可图的。

    希腊人诱使奥斯曼政府于1766年废除了佩奇的塞尔维亚主教教座，又于1767年致使奥赫里德的巴尔干大主教教座被取消，而使这两处非希腊人的东正教会置于由君士坦丁堡主教任命的主教控制之下。到此时为止，处于”官方”地位的受过西方教育的奥斯曼希腊人，在奥斯曼帝国的非希腊基督教臣民的政府中，一直是级别较低的合作者。希腊人开始梦想着，有朝一日他们会成为奥斯曼人的高级别合作者，甚而成为他们的遗产继承人。

    在17和18世纪中，东正教世界历史中的一个重要事件是彼得大帝（实际在位1682－1725年，取得合法王位1694－1725年）领导的俄罗斯西方化的革命。这一历史进程并不是彼得发动的。在这之前，西方的影响就已通过白海的阿尔汉格尔港以及乌克兰的东正教会渗透到俄罗斯。阿尔汉格尔是在莫斯科丧失了她在芬兰湾的海港之后，于1585年建立的，而乌克兰在其处于波兰－立陶宛统治时期，就已受到了西方的影响。到彼得时代，莫斯科城外已建立了一个西方居民的定居点，那里成为彼得常去的地方。俄罗斯的西方化既不是彼得发动的，也不是由他完成的。1700年，他中止了莫斯科主教的教权，并于1721年以一种宗教会议取而代之，这种会议成为国事活动的一个组成部分。但是，他却未能根除俄罗斯人民中农民大众对宗教的虔诚。他把莫斯科的君主制度从传统的拜占庭风格，转变为风行的西欧式风格，但他并未因此而丧失它的权力和政治专制。

    彼得继承了一个庞大的帝国，但这帝国却没有一处不冻港。他下决心寻求走向海洋之路。他的前辈伊凡雷帝已曾这样做过，而彼得继承的正是伊凡未竟的事业。彼得为俄国在波罗的海赢得了一个海港，他于1696－1711年又夺取了亚速。彼得获得了成功，因为他认识到，在当今世界上，如果不掌握西方的陆军和海军技术，俄国就连瑞典这样的二流国家也无法战胜，而如果俄国的行政管理和她的工业经济部门不首先实现西方化，建立一支西方式的俄国陆军和海军只不过是纸上谈兵。

    彼得在技术方面的热情和天赋，即使在同时代的尼德兰人身上也不多见。在英格兰，皇家学会的奠基者们早在30年前就已认识到，技术专家和科学家之间的相互学习是极为必须的。彼得是一位长于实践的技术专家，他总是亲手进行技术制作。这一点对于一个奥斯曼君主来说，是理所当然的，掌握一些实用的手艺，是接受君主教育的必修科目；然而这并不是一位拜占庭式的莫斯科专制君主的传统，因为莫斯科王朝的缔造之父乃是一位莫斯科大主教。

    彼得天生爱好高度的个人自由，这一点似乎与继承莫斯科的沙皇之位，成为一种难以预料的巧合。它还是另一种巧合，即彼得恰巧出生于这样一代人之中：由于当时西方的思想革命，他们成为接受了西方技术的第一代非西方人，他们在接受西方技术的同时，并没有被迫生吞活剥地接受包括宗教在内的全部西方文明。也许再早一个世纪，俄国进行西方化努力的结局，就会象日本和阿比西尼亚那样，不仅不能取得哪怕是部分的成功，反而会引起激进的反西方的反动。因此，彼得的个人品格在他所处的时空环境中，对于人类的历史进程便具有特别重要的意义。

    第七十八章 伊斯兰教世界（1555－1768年）

    在1555年至1707年的一个半世纪中，伊斯兰教三大帝国–奥斯曼、萨非和帖木儿人的莫卧儿–并存于世，覆盖了伊斯兰教世界的大部分。奥斯曼帝国比萨非帝国早建国约200年，比帖木儿人的莫卧儿帝国早建国约250年（如果我们把蒙古人之后的第三个伊斯兰教帝国的建国日期从1555年胡马雍再次进入德里、而不是从1525－1526年其父巴伯尔侵入印度算起的话）。在1555年，奥斯曼帝国达到鼎盛，并处在由盛转衰的转折点。在阿克巴（1556－1605年）和查罕杰（1605－1627年）统治时期，印度帖木儿人的莫卧儿帝国也达到鼎盛。沙阿?阿拔斯一世统治时期（1588－1629年）则是萨非帝国的鼎盛时期。

    奥斯曼帝国的衰落是由同时发生的通货膨胀和国王的奴隶近卫军势力日益膨胀而引起的。通货膨胀产生了经济危机，并使得公务雇员因发现薪金购买力下降而发生了骚乱。这种经济的和社会的动乱是由于大批来自美洲西班牙帝国银矿的白银流入旧大陆文明中心而引起的。这种白银流入超出了奥斯曼帝国的控制。但是，如果国王奴隶近卫军的纪律没有遭到破坏，那奥斯曼帝国中后来发生的骚动本来不会那么激烈。而造成奴隶近卫军军纪涣散的原因，则在于人们越来越不严格执行这样的规定，即帝国奴隶们的儿子作为天生的自由民和穆斯林，没有资格从事其基督徒出身的当奴隶的父亲的职业。

    最初，这一规定的唯一例外是近卫军骑兵的儿子继承父业。苏莱曼一世（1520－1566年在位）已开始将这一特权扩大到近卫军步兵的儿子。这种特许权在1566年受到谢里姆二世的肯定。穆拉德三世（1574－1595年在位）使所有的穆斯林自由民都有资格当兵。结果，从1566年到1598年，工资册上近卫军步兵的数目从约12000人增加到101600人，其中还不包括不领工资等待空额的候选人。充任高级行政官员的征募少年仍从基督教儿童中招募，但这一做法在17世纪被逐渐放弃，奥斯曼政府现在不得不在不奴役基督教臣民或迫使他们改宗的情况下利用他们的才能。同时，近卫军的步兵已不再是一支有效的军事力量，而变成了捣乱的城市暴徒。

    但是，奥斯曼帝国的军事力量并没有立即崩溃。曾在1623年被沙阿?阿拔斯一世为萨非帝国恢复的巴格达，又于1638年被奥斯曼帝国的穆拉德四世（1623－1640年）再次征服。1682－1683年，奥斯曼人得以第二次包围维也纳城。但攻占维也纳的再次失败，使奥斯曼人招致自1402年巴耶塞特一世被帖木儿推翻以来所遭受的最严厉的报复。1689年，哈布斯堡帝国反攻到了瓦尔达尔河上游地区。虽然奥斯曼人在1690年重新集结，但他们不得不在1699年将奥斯曼匈牙利和克罗地亚割让给哈布斯堡君主，将伯罗奔尼撤半岛割让给威尼斯，在1700年将亚速割让给俄国（该地已于1694年被俄国人占领）。但奥斯曼帝国在1711年恢复了亚述，并在1715年恢复了伯尼奔尼撒及泰诺斯岛。1768年，奥斯曼帝国仍占有波斯尼亚和贝尔格莱德，并对多瑙河下游以南的两个罗马尼亚人的公国行使着有效的宗主权。事实上，就其从似乎是不可逆转的灾难中恢复过来的能力来看，奥斯曼帝国仿效了其前辈东罗马帝国。

    而且，奥斯曼帝国在军事和行政上的衰落，并没有损害它在建筑方面的创造力。1609－1618年建于伊斯坦布尔的苏丹艾哈迈德一世清真寺就是一座富丽堂皇的宏伟建筑。即使把它与索菲亚大教堂相比也毫不逊色。但是，除了布尔萨的穆罕默德一世的绿清真寺以外，奥斯曼的任何公共建筑物都比不上1612－1637年建于伊斯法罕的沙阿?阿拔斯的国王清真寺和1632－1653年建于阿格拉的沙阿?贾汉的泰姬陵。国王清真寺不仅本身美丽壮观，而且它与王宫附近更古老的美丽建筑物也特别协调和谐。在建于1569－1576年的阿克巴的新城法特普尔西克里，也有许多漂亮的建筑物。但法特普尔西克里很象雅典的卫城，它只是许多虽然美丽但风格各异的建筑物的汇集，而不象伊斯法罕王宫的各个建筑那样彼此协调。

    帖木儿人的莫卧儿帝国和萨非帝国不仅仅是在建筑上超过了同时代的奥斯曼帝国。在沙阿?阿拔斯一世和阿克巴两位皇帝统治时期，他们这两位统治者，其眼界是同时代奥斯曼君主中的任何皇帝都无法与之相比的。

    阿克巴认识到，如果不能赢得印度教臣民的赞同，印度的穆斯林政权就不可能长期存在。1564年，他取消了对非穆斯林征收的人头税。1567－1568年，他占领了齐图尔（这一城市象坚不可摧的磐石那样抵御了大炮的轰击），从而向匈奴人和古吉拉特人的后裔拉杰普特人显示了实力。但是，在威慑住拉杰普特人之后，阿克巴又与他们和解了。这是个聪明的做法，因为在马拉塔人和锡克人兴起之前，拉杰普特人最骁勇善战，而且自12世纪穆斯林征服朱木拿阿和恒河平原后，拉杰普特人集中的拉贾斯坦在印度教徒保持自治的所有地区中，距离德里最近。

    但是，阿克巴与印度教臣民的和解不仅仅是出于政治考虑，它部分是受到这样一种欲望的鼓舞，即要打破历史上高级宗教之间的传统界限。阿克巴主持召开了有伊斯兰教、印度教、琐罗亚斯德教和罗马天主教的代表参加的一系列的辩论。1582年，似宣布了自己的新宗教”丁一伊拉赫教”（”神圣宗教”），它希望这一宗教能够超越各个宗教而使所有的旧宗教统一起来。

    占用阿克巴主要的时间和精力的事情，自然是帝国的组织和扩张。阿克巴得益于孟加拉的阿富汗皇帝希尔?沙?苏里的行政和财政能力，后者曾在1539－1540年将阿克巴的父亲胡马雍驱逐出印度。希尔?沙在短暂的统治期间内创建了非常好的行政和财务机构以及邮政局，这些财富都由阿克巴继承了下来。

    沙阿?阿拔斯一世没有阿克巴那么幸运。他必须从根本上重建萨非帝国的结构。他继承的财产，包括被其祖先沙?伊斯玛仪强迫改宗什叶派的说法斯诺的城市和农村居民，及一支难以驾驭的外来土库曼人的军队（其成员是逃离奥斯曼和马木路克帝国的什叶派难民）。他之所以使土库曼人就范，部分原因是赢得了其中一部分人的效忠，部分原因是模仿奥斯曼君主的奴隶近卫军，建立了一支包括步枪手和炮兵团的新的军队。他们比奥斯曼的近卫军虽要逊色，但由于奥斯曼帝国已经衰落，因而阿拔斯一世的新式军队完全能够成功地收复1514年以来萨非人丧失给奥斯曼人的大部分领土。1622年，阿拔斯一世还借葡萄牙人之手恢复了霍尔木兹，并且用建在大陆的新港阿拔斯港取代了霍尔木兹。

    1598年，阿拔斯一世为帝国在伊斯法罕建成了一个新首都。这座新都位于奥斯曼军队的进攻范围之外，但离帝国东北角萨非的阿富汗臣民却又很近。同生活在萨非帝国与奥斯曼帝国之间有争议的交界地区上的库尔德人一样，阿富汗人也是尚武的高原民族；他们的母语是非波斯语的伊朗语。这两个民族都没有屈服于沙?伊斯玛仪接受十二伊玛目什叶派的压力，对萨非政权的态度都不友善。在1722年，一队阿富汗人起义者还占领了伊斯法罕。萨非帝国解体之后，奥斯曼帝国和俄罗斯帝国于1724年约定瓜分它们衰落的邻邦所丢弃的西部行省。但是，在1729年，有一位呼罗珊土库曼人士兵纳迪尔?库里又将阿富汗人赶回他们自己的高原，并最终恢复了俄国人和奥斯曼人占领的前萨非帝国的全部领土。

    在另一方向，纳迪尔则采取了攻势。1739年，他劫掠了德里；1740年，他占领了直到药杀水南岸的乌兹别克。1736年他给自己加冕为沙阿，并试图让伊朗再次改宗为逊尼派。但是，奥斯曼政府拒绝了他要求宗教联合的条件，他的伊朗臣民坚持效忠于两个世纪以来一直作为自己民族宗教的什叶派。1747年纳迪尔沙遇刺身亡，伊朗重新陷入政治动乱。

    帖木儿人的莫卧儿帝国已经解体。阿克巴的第二任继承者沙阿?贾汉（1628－1658年在位）放弃了阿克巴与印度教徒和解的政策，并且进攻德干高原独立的穆斯林小国。沙阿?贾汉的继承者奥朗则布（1659－1707年在位）走得更远，1675年他处死了锡克教第九代古鲁得格?巴哈都尔；他迫使莫卧儿人的盟友拉杰普特人于1680－1681年拿起武器反抗他。

    1689－1691年间，奥朗则布将他的宗主权伸展到印度半岛的南部。同时，他自己也遭到了印度教徒一次严厉的反击。马拉塔人占据了西高止山脉的许多天然要塞，并且找到了一位民族领袖施瓦吉（1627－1680年）。1670年，行踪不定的马拉塔人轻骑兵首次在莫卧儿人的领土上征收贡赋。1674年，施瓦吉本人自立为独立的印度教统治者。在1707年奥朗则布死后，莫卧儿帝国的解体更加迅速。1737年马拉塔人到达德里附近；1739年纳迪尔沙阿劫掠德里；1757年，阿布达利部落的阿富汗人艾哈迈德?沙阿?杜拉尼–他是继承纳迪尔沙阿短命帝国的阿富汗王国的创始人–劫掠德里，并在1758－1761年的较量中击败了马拉塔人。

    对于下一阶段的印度历史来说，英国人战胜法国人比阿富汗人战胜马拉塔人更具有决定性的意义。甚至英国人在完全除掉竞争对手法国人之前，已经采取第一个行动使自己成为莫卧儿的继承人。1757－1765年，英国东印度公司已在担任莫卧儿帝国政府行省收税人的幌子下，成为孟加拉、比哈尔和奥里萨的实际统治者。

    莫卧儿帝国在印度的继承者是英国东印度公司和英国国王。但是，由艾哈迈德?沙阿在1747年建立的横跨兴都库什山脉的阿布达利人的阿富汗国，直到20世纪70年代仍然占有曾经属于莫卧儿和纳迪尔沙阿的一部分领土。在伊斯兰世界的另一端，摩洛哥努力保持着对奥斯曼帝国和西班牙帝国的独立。1579年，摩洛哥人消灭了一支葡萄牙人的侵略军。1591年，他们越过撒哈拉沙漠，在西部苏丹为自己征服了一个殖民帝国。这一战绩比同一时期哥萨克越过乌拉尔山的战绩更为辉煌。

    摩洛哥人和哥萨克人一样常胜不败，因为他们装备有其敌手所没有的火器。火力优势（掌握火炮和步枪）也可以用来说明奥斯曼人对萨非人的军事优势。摩洛哥人在西苏丹的军事实力和基本上独立的奥斯曼领地阿尔及利亚、突尼斯和的黎波里塔尼亚中的奥斯曼人少数统治者在地中海的海上实力，大都得益于当地穆斯林所招募的掌握了同时代西方基督教国家军事技术的外国人。这些应募者包括来自西班牙的穆斯林难民、改宗的西方基督教战俘和谋求在本国所达不到的升迁机会而变成”土耳其人”的西方移民。

    人们已经注意到，彼得大帝对瑞典人的胜利，实际上是对他将俄国技术提高到同时代西方水平的一种奖励。然而，西方技术尚未达到可以战胜装备虽不精良但占有有利地形的敌手的程度。莫卧儿人的大炮，尽管部分是由西方雇佣军所操纵，但仍征服不了马拉塔人在高止山脉的天然要塞。奥斯曼人一直掌握着能与西方人、俄国人和伊朗人的武装力量相抗衡的军事实力，但却无法避免瓦哈比教派在阿拉伯半岛中部的兴起。阿卜杜勒?瓦哈比（1703－1792年）是逊尼派伊斯兰教中清教徒式的罕百里教派的狂热信奉者；1745年他在被沙漠与奥斯曼帝国隔开的阿拉伯半岛中部使沙特家族的当政者改宗，从而为这一小块绿洲上名不见经传的统治者带来了好运。到1773年，信奉瓦哈比教派的沙特人已征服和统治了阿拉伯半岛中部的其他地区。

    第七十九章 东亚（1644－1839年）

    在所有非西方的区域文明中，东亚文明是最后经历现代西方文明强力冲击的。这种冲击强烈得足以在被冲击文明的历史进程中产生革命性的作用。在1622年至1641年期间，日本几乎将自己完全地封闭起来。日本臣民被禁止出国，获准继续留住日本的外国人只有中国与荷兰的商人，而且他们只能使用日本的一个港口。在中国，西方人仍然可以经商，可以住在澳门的葡萄牙人居留地以及与广州相邻的一个小岛上。但是，自1760年以后，西方的商人们就不再被允许前往中国的任何其他港口，中国臣民公开信奉基督教也受到禁止（如同日本臣民在1597年和1616年曾受到禁止一样）。此后，固执的中国基督徒受到迫害。基督教在中国受到的镇压，不象它于1612年至1638年间在日本受到的镇压那样严厉。但是，从1723年开始，中国也把她自己同西方隔绝开来，尽管这种隔绝不象日本和阿比西尼亚的自我隔绝那样严厉。

    1644－1839年间，中国与西方的贸易额，不仅在绝对数量上，而且相对于中国的财富和人口来说，也已超过了日本。尽管如此，中国在那一时期却不象日本那样需要保持与西方的商务关系。实际上，中国在经济上依旧是自给自足的。最后终于在中国顺利增长的对外贸易是强加给中国政府的，是违背它的意愿的。那是中国为在1839－1842年间的英中战争失败而付出的赔偿。至于日本，它的国民总产值在其经济上自我封闭的时期（1641－1853年）有了巨大的增长。

    文化方面，清（满洲）朝统治下的中国与明代的中国一样，仍然是内向的和守旧的。中国曾经经历过草原游牧民族蒙古人的征服和统治，在明代，内向与守旧是对这种经历的文化上的反应。满洲人与蒙古人不同，作为非游牧民族的蛮族，他们真挚而成功地接受了中国的文化。有清一代，继续盛行不变的中国非传统文学形式只有小说和戏剧。它们是中国历史上元（蒙古）代的遗产，经历了偏爱古风古韵的明代而得以生存下来。

    清代中国的儒家学者使这种古风古韵找到了自己必然的归宿。这些学者们既抵制当时各种各样的新儒学–由官方确立的朱熹的一套儒家学说，也反对王阳明的学说。这些清代学者们的目的是要发掘并重建汉武帝时代的儒学。那时，儒家学说首次作为中国皇帝的官方哲学得到”确立”。清代的学者对流行的注解儒家经典学说的释文进行了批评。他们的学问，可以与当代西方前基督教时期希腊和拉丁文学研究者们的学问相媲美。但是，清代的学者们却没有觉察到，汉代的儒家学说与孔子和孟子最初的哲学思想相比，已经有了多么大的差距。

    当以朱熹和王阳明为代表的新儒学在中国受到责难时，朱熹的一套儒家学说却在日本得到了德川家康以及德川幕府的后继者们的提倡。这是因为他们相信儒家的伦理道德说教将使他们自己的政治权力得到加强。德川家族出于同样的原因，而不赞成王阳明的新儒学，然而王阳明却在德川时代的日本拥有信徒。德川时代，也有一些信奉儒学的日本人追随其中国的同时代人，追求恢复汉武帝时的儒家学说。

    尽管儒学受到德川家族的偏爱，佛教却没有受到压制。德川家光将军（1623－1651年）的确曾下令日本的每个世俗臣民都进行登记，表明他与某个佛教寺院有施受关系，并以此作为他不是基督徒的证据。此外，社会上对各个佛教派别的自发的忠诚依然存在。这些佛教派别已经在文化上日本化了。与此同时，对于神道教的兴趣和感情也再度复苏。由于它是日本固有的宗教，而非中国的或印度－中国的舶来品，因而吸引了那些具有国家主义观念的日本人。

    清朝（满洲）的皇帝康熙（1672－1722年在位）和乾隆（1736－1769年在位）效法明朝的皇帝永乐，收集了流传到那时的历朝历代的汉文典籍，编成一部丛书。康熙的这部丛书尽管收罗宏富，但却是所收典籍的摘录。它于1728年被印成了5000卷。乾隆的丛书是未经删节的，多达3600卷。这部丛书的7部校订本加上原本，都是手抄的。汇编这样一部汉文典籍，为乾隆提供了一个机会，他可借此发现并禁毁那些在政治上引起他反感的书籍。康熙还出了一部字典，乾隆则编有数部百科全书，在那些书中，他提出了自己对于中国各项政治制度的见解。

    清朝成功地完成了3项军事任务，即镇压南方反抗满洲人的敌对活动，制止俄国人在阿穆尔河流域的推进，粉碎草原游牧族西部蒙古人（准噶尔、厄鲁特、卡尔梅克）在西北的统治势力。1658年阻挡住了俄国人的那条边界，在1689年和1727年的中俄条约中得到了确认。西蒙古人在结束于1839年的那个时代里，一直是满洲人军事上最可怕的对手。

    在16世纪的最后25年中，西蒙古人效法他们在东方的同族人，转变信仰皈依了西藏大乘佛教的密宗。黄帽派改变了蒙古人的信仰，1641－1642年，西蒙古人中的一部在打败了支持敌对教派红帽派的西藏人之后，把黄帽派的领袖达赖喇嘛在拉萨扶植起来，并把他置于蒙古人的统治之下。1670年和那时以后，西蒙古准噶尔部的军事首领噶尔丹吞并了讲突厥语的穆斯林居住区，那里就是今日中国的新疆省区（塔里木盆地及其东北方某些重要的战略地区）。1696年，噶尔丹进犯当时已处于满洲宗主权保护下的东部蒙古，但是他败于康熙的炮队手下。噶尔丹的入侵得到了西部蒙古人在拉萨的西藏同情者的支持。这就在准噶尔人和满洲人之间引发了一场由谁来控制达赖喇嘛的竞争。1750年，满洲人赢得了这场竞争。

    随后，乾隆皇帝进攻了地处天山与阿尔泰山之间的准噶尔人的故乡。1755－1757年，他大败准噶尔人，1758－1759年，他又征服了今日新疆境内的准噶尔人从前的穆斯林属国。尽管阿拉伯大草原上的瓦哈比人直到第一次世界大战之后都仍然具有爆炸性，准噶尔人的草原帝国却成为欧亚大平原上最后一个具有爆炸性的帝国。满洲帝国与俄罗斯帝国这两大农耕国家的军队都已装备了火器。这两大农耕帝国1652年在阿穆尔河流域的冲突，业已勾划出了对欧亚大平原的包围，从那时起，欧亚大平原上游牧民族的命运便已经注定了。

    满洲人对于西蒙古主体部分的胜利，在1717年得到了确认。那一年，卡尔梅克人的一部分由西向东，从俄国迁人满洲帝国境内。早在大约1613年，卡尔梅克人就已迁移到伏尔加河与顿河下游之间的地区。留在伏尔加河西岸的西部卡尔梅克人的残部是无足轻重的。俄国与土耳其之间的凯纳甲湖和约（1774年）中规定，奥斯曼帝国将其对于克里米亚汗国的宗主权让与俄罗斯帝国。1783年，俄罗斯帝国直接吞并了克里米亚。它是残存下来的最后一个金帐汗国的继承国。与此同时，蒙古人对佛教的皈依也减弱了这个民族的好战性格，佛教还为青年男性打开了一条去做独身僧人的生活之路，从而减轻了这个民族受到的人口压力。与上述因素相联系的欧亚草原游牧民族命运的改变，迫使他们沉默下来，并从旧大陆文明中心的生活中除去了一种生气勃勃的因素。这种因素曾在将近4O00年的历史中一直扮演着主角。

    1757年以后，中国就摆脱了欧亚游牧蛮族对它的威胁，它在这种威胁之下至少已忍耐了2000年之久。从那以后，乾隆就陷入了南向的进攻性战争中：对缅甸的战争（1766－1770年）、对越南的战争（1788－1789年），以及对尼泊尔的战争（1790－1792年）。然而，乾隆的军事扩张却如同奥朗则布的军事扩张一样，掩盖了当时其帝国内部社会与经济方面的弱点。

    在这些弱点中，最为严重的是在至1839年为止的100年间中国人口的惊人的增长。记录下来的人口数或许并不准确，但是毫无疑问，在那100年间，人口的增长超过了此前100年间中国的食物供应的增长。食物供应曾由于从美洲引进的粮食作物而得到增加。这类粮食作物可以种植在从前因不适于水稻生长而被闲置的土地上。但是，这样的土地有一部分是在山坡上，它们最后终因其上覆盖的自然林木被砍伐殆尽而裸露出来。在乾隆朝的末期，中国农村人口的人均实际收入肯定已经开始下降了。

    德川政权统治的最初100年间，日本的人口可能是以50％的速度在增长。到1721年为止，它的人口达到了将近3000万。但是，从那时起，直到日本自我封闭时代结束的19世纪60－70年代，其人口几乎没有发生变化，尽管农产品在持继增长，日本经济的商业和工业部分也在持续扩大。德川时期日本的人口并未随其财富的增加而成比例地增长，这是因为，财富的分配变得越来越不平均。与农业生产率的提高相伴随的，是农业的商业化，这就把大多数的农村人口变成了城乡的无地而贫困的仰赖工资维持生活的人。德川政府强迫封建领主（大名）和他们的家臣（武士）过他们所无力维持的生活，要求他们每年都在德川幕府的所在地江户（今日的东京）居住一段时间。这是德川家族控制他们的策略之一，他们因此而被处心积虑地搞垮了。

    受益的是商人。这是一个被人看不起的新阶级。他们顺理成章地避开了对农业土地征收的重税。日本的不断增长的财富于是落入了商人们的手中。被从农业中排斥出来的昔日的农民，变成了商人工场中的雇工；大名和武士则沦为商人们的债务人。在20世纪70年代仍为世界最大的企业之一的三井公司，在大约70年的发展中崛起，于1691年成为德川幕府和皇室双方的官方银行家。

    1793年，英王乔治三世的一名专使向乾隆递交了一封英王写给乾隆的信件。这位皇帝的复信显示出，他心目中的中国依然是世界上最有势力的”中央王国”，自给自足，坚不可摧。乾隆显然并不了解，自从550年前西方人第一次出现于中国之后，军事力量的天平就已向有利于西方的一侧倾斜了。另一方面，在日本至少有一个人–林子平（1738－1793年）已经多少意识到了这一点。他于1786年出版了一本名为《海国兵谈》的书。林子平为俄国人在北太平洋海面上的活动而感到不安。那时，与荷兰人同种的英国人、法国人和美国人，尚未出现在日本南方的地平线上，俄国人被看作是仅有的西方人。

    第八十章 生物圈（1763－1871年）

    在1763-1871年这风云变幻的百余年间，最为重要的事情就是人类控制自身和征服人类之外的自然界的能力，获得了突飞猛进的长足发展。人类能力的这种发展是通过社会进步与技术创新相结合而取得的。产业工人和士兵们服从于严格的纪律，操纵和使用能力空前的机器和武器从事劳动和作战，并且被组织起来以加快工作的节奏。他们的工作效率和作战能力因此而得到了提高。17世纪末叶，西方开始出现纪律严明的职业军队。18世纪末叶，练兵场上强制性的军事化组织已被采用到民用工厂里，而被发明用于镗火炮炮筒的技术则应用于蒸汽机活塞的加工。虽然技术和经济革命的爆发并非一定能精确地确定政治革命或战争爆发的日期，但在非军事领域里，人们把人类能力的这种突然增长称为革命，却是当之无愧的。

    18世纪中后期开始于英国的技术和经济革命，转移到了农业、畜牧业和工业。1871年，这一革命超出了英国，席卷欧洲大陆，并且叩响了北美和日本的大门。时至20世纪70年代，这一革命仍有方兴未艾之势。尽管这场革命似乎仍未完结，但是当我们今天回首往事时却可看到这样一个事实：工业革命使人与生物圈的关系发生了颠倒。

    毫无疑问，人类已经在生物圈上留下了他的印迹。但迄今为止，象生物圈中的其他芸芸众生一样，人类仍无法超越生物圈为他提供的生存空间的限制。凡是那些试图超越生物圈所容许的生存界限的物种，都曾经使自己陷于灭种之灾。事实上，连同人类在内的一切物种，迄今为止都生活在生物圈的恩惠之下。而工业革命却使生物圈遭受了了由人类所带来的灭顶之灾。人类植根于生物圈并且无法离开它而生存，因此，当人类获得了使生物圈无法为人类所生存的能力时，人类的生存便受到了自身的威胁。1871年，英国人的这一成就便得到其他西方国家的效仿。

    这使得整个西方暂时支配了西方之外的人类文明世界的其他地方。西方人对世界的统治成为1763－1871年期间第二件重要的事件。第三件重要的事件，是一些非西方国家对西方压迫的反抗。如果按照事情相对重要的次序来列举的话，第四件也是最后一件重要的事件，则是西方的国内事务。工业革命被认为是必然要发生的事件。虽然它开始于西方国家，但它对于生物圈来说却是意义重大的。

    英国人发动农业和工业革命，其目的在于使物质财富的生产得到最大限度的增长。这是合乎时宜的。因为，就在上一代人生活的时期，英国和一些别的西方国家的人口，开始以加速度的方式增长，其与17世纪以来中国人口增长的速度相似。可是，改革家们的目的，并非要满足大众的需要，而仅是使他们个人得到实惠。他们把国民生产总值提高到激动人心的高度，但同时既扩大了国民生产总值分配方面的不平等，又加剧了作为生产资料的土地和工厂的所有权在分配方面的不平等。

    某些传统的但又相当缺乏效率的劳动方式，诸如小规模的自给自足的农业及其与小规模的工场劳动（主要是纺绩和编织）的结合都被永久地淘汰了。农业和工业生产，如今已被组织于由复杂而花费昂贵的设备装备起来的大规模生产单位之中。这些同时发生的变化，造成农村人口涌向新兴的工业城市。同时，它也剥夺了大多数迁居者所拥有的、在以前可能保存其经济独立性的庇护所。随着人口的急速增长，仅以出卖劳动力为谋生手段的雇工的比例，同雇主和自谋生计的人的比例相比，呈骤然上升之势。

    生活和劳动条件以及收入和财产分配方面的这些变化，以不公正和痛苦为代价而使国民生产总值得到增长。在评价什么才算是公平分配前的公共土地的问题上，不存在客观的标准。因为那些公共土地已经被人们根据一系列议会法案圈占并且居为私有。企业家、投资者和雇工如何平等地分配工厂利润也是个争论不休的问题。然而，毋庸置疑的是，圈地使许多乡村小土地所有者继续以土地为生成为泡影；而昔日的农民成为工人之后，依靠工资能够生活的人则是微乎其微的。

    这些就是物质财富生产的增长给人类带来的自相矛盾的和不幸的结果。造成这种社会弊端的原因在于那些掀起工业革命的企业家们的动机。他们的动机是贪欲，而贪欲则使人们摆脱了传统的法律、习惯和意识形态的束缚。苏格兰教授亚当?斯密1776年出版了一本有影响的著作《国民财富的性质和原因的研究》。该书认为，如果每个人都自由追逐自己的经济利益，结果将带来全社会最大的经济繁荣。亚当?斯密提出这个观点的前提却为人们所忽视，而无论如何，这个观点本身却是令人难以置信的。通过更为自由地满足贪欲来促进生产将会伴随浪费与混乱的竞争，而在无政府状态下的经济竞争中，成功者只是少数，而牺牲者却是多数。

    产业工人成为一个同社会疏远的新阶级。这个社会产生了它，却并未给它以公平的待遇。产业工人用以自卫的唯一武器，就是联合起来由工会代表劳方，集体同雇主谈判。这种集体谈判赖以成功的必要条件，就是工人们坚如磐石般的团结。因此，为了反对雇主加诸于他们的暴政，工人们迫使自己服从于他们自己的专制。游离于工人队伍的”工贼们”则是被胁迫着顺从工人的意志的。在英国，劳工联合在1799年是为法律禁止的，到1824－1825年成为合法。阶级斗争伴随着工业革命，从英国发生并蔓延到其他国家。

    作为工人的雇主和敌对者，企业家们总的说来是冷酷无情的，但他们也很机智、大胆、不屈不挠。理查德?阿克赖特（1732－1792年）比詹姆斯?瓦特（1736－1819年）更有代表性。他通过申请发明（可能不是他自己的）专利而发财走运。发明家瓦特则幸运地找到了许多合作者，而他们凭借瓦特的天才为自己捞取了一些实利。发明家中的大多数人对工业革命具有举足轻重的影响，而实利却落入更讲求实效的企业家之手。其中的许多人还从经验出发探究发明的方法。瓦特则与众不同：他把科学和技术卓有成效地结合起来。他在格拉斯哥大学的灵感结出了伯明翰的马修?博尔顿工厂的硕果。瓦特并未受过大学教育，但在知识方面得益于同化学教授约瑟夭?布莱克（1728－1799年）的友谊。19世纪的大学里的化学家，尤其是德国大学的化学家们已开始直接而系统地将科学应用于工业生产过程。

    瓦特对蒸汽机的决定性的改进，是使它可用于工业生产、牵引和抽水等工程。这些是人们最初使用蒸汽机的范围。1807年，第一艘汽轮下水；1829年，第一列蒸汽机车奔驰在铁轨上。蒸汽机是一种机器，而机器的使用是工业革命引人注目的技术特征。工具同人是与生俱来的，但它仅仅是人的体力的扩大，并没有取而代之。例如，使用投枪、铲、桨或弓，可以使人类手臂的力量增大，但它们只有在为人类所使用时才能发生作用。机器把人类从体力劳动中解放出来。机器可从事人类的体力所不可及之事，并且可以从事在规模和速度方面都非人自身体力可为之事。当人造出了机器之时，他只须开动它、操纵它，让它按生产程序来工作。舢板是由使用桨而增大了的人的臂力推进的。帆船是由风来推进的，舵手只需把握航向而无须耗费体力来推进它。所以，帆船是一种机器。根据同样的定义，与弓相比，枪也是一种机器。

    大约在英国工业革命开始前5000年，人类就已经发明了帆船；但在工业革命之前，人们对与工具不同的机械的使用却是极为罕见的事。今天，人们对机器已习以为常；人们用于机器的非生命的物理能种类，也不仅限于风、流水、火药和蒸汽。1844年，电话的发明使电被成功地用于传递信息。金属工具的发明曾使一个新的行业一锻铁业应运而生，而蒸汽机的发明则创造了另一个新的职业－技师。

    风力和水力有两个长处，它们既清洁又取之不竭。蒸汽必须燃烧燃料才能产生。烟就是烧煤的一个副产品，它具有污染性。这是令人一目了然而且令人厌恶的东西，但它却为人们看作为仅仅是某种地方性的灾害而被姑息。直到工业革命爆发200年之后，人类才省悟到：机械化所带来的影响正在对生物圈造成威胁，使它不仅在局部地区而且在全球范围内正在成为不可生存之地，不仅不适于所有生物的生存，尤其不适于人类的生存，因为，人类须臾不可离开而又无可替代的自然资源正在被消耗殆尽。

    工业革命之前，人类即已给生物圈造成了创伤。例如，人们肆意砍伐以前曾滋养地壤并使之避免流失的树木，造成山地严重的水土流失。人类砍伐森林的速度快于它们的更生速度，他还过量开采了完全是不可复生的金属。但是，在大规模地把非生命的自然物理能用于机器之前，人类还不具有把生物圈破坏和剥夺到山穷水尽、不可救药地步的力量。当时，空气和海洋确实是无穷无尽的，木材和金属的储备远远超出人类消耗它们的能力；人们开采完了某种矿物，砍光了一片森林，总还有另一些未开采的矿藏和未被砍伐的森林在等候人们开发。然而，工业革命一旦开始，人类便使生物圈，包括人类本身遭受到前所未有的威胁。

    工业革命之前，西方人已经开始成为人类其他部分的统治者。在16世纪，西班牙人已经征服中美洲和安第斯山的民族，并且毁灭了他们的文明。1757－1764年间，英国东印度公司实际上已成为孟加拉湾、比哈尔和奥里萨的统治者。1799－1818年间，英国人征服了一直到萨特累季河东南的印度次大陆的所有地区。他们在那里可以为所欲为。因为他们拥有制海权并且在1809年同锡克教帝国的建立者兰季特?辛格签定条约，双方同意以苏特莱杰河为各自统治范围的界线。1845－1849年，英国继续征服并吞并了旁遮普的锡克帝国。与此同时，1768－1774年，俄国对奥斯曼帝国取得了决定性的胜利。1798年，法国人一度占领了埃及；1830年他们开始征服阿尔及利亚。1840年，3支西方军队和俄国人把桀骛不驯的埃及奥斯曼总督穆罕默德?阿里从叙利亚和巴勒斯坦驱逐了出去。1839－1842年，英国人戏剧般地打败了中国。1853年，一支美国海军舰队迫使日本德川幕府接受它的来访。日本人认识到，他们无力抵御这种以武力为后盾的不受欢迎的来访。

    西方军队和那支西方化的东正教俄国军队的这些军事胜利，是以一些偶尔的失败为代价赢得的。17世纪，葡萄牙人被武力驱逐出日本和埃塞俄比亚。1839－1842年，一支入侵阿富汗的英国军队遭到覆灭。但是，时至1871年，西方军队和俄国军队已主宰了整个世界。

    甚至在英国工业革命前，俄国沙皇彼得大帝就已经看到，非西方国家拯救自己摆脱西方统治的唯一途径，就是效仿西方军队的模式，创建新型军队；彼得大帝时代，俄国已经创建了这种军队。彼得还懂得，西方式的军队必须以西方式的技术、经济和管理为支柱。1757－1853年间，西方军队和西方化的俄国军队取得的对非西方化国家的辉煌的军事胜利，促使那些身受威胁的国家的统治者去步彼得大帝的后尘。

    英国工业革命开始后的百余年间，西方化的著名政治家包括：在原属阿布达利－阿富汗帝国的旁遮普建立起锡克王国的兰季特?辛格、1805－1848年奥斯曼帝国君主在埃及的总督穆罕默德?阿里、奥斯曼帝国君主马哈茂德二世（1808－1839年在位）、泰国国王蒙库（1851－1868年在位）和以天皇名义联手削除了德川幕府并把政权操诸自己手中的日本政治家们。这些西方化了的政治家对人类文明世界历史的更为伟大的影响，是同时代的西方人所不及的。他们把西方人的统治限制在一定范围之内，同时在这些非西方国家中以宣传近代西方人的生活方式方法进一步维持这种限制。

    上述所有这些西方化了的人物所取得的成就是令人注目的，而其中日本明治维新的领导者们则获得了巨大的成功。他们本身都是拥有特权（尽管已经破落）的传统武士阶级的成员。在进行了仅有的小规模的抵抗之后，德川幕府便屈服了。大多数武士默然同意以和平的方式没收其特权。新招募的西方式军队轻而易举地粉碎了1877年少数武士的反叛。这支军队由农民组成，而在1868年之前，农民一直被禁止携带武器。

    穆罕默德?阿里和马哈茂德二世的活动，开始时并不那么一帆风顺。同彼得大帝一样，他们发觉自己是在取消了传统的军队之时才着手建设西方式的军队的。1698－1699年，彼得大帝除去了莫斯科的弓箭手；穆罕默德于1811年革除了埃及的奴隶兵；马哈茂德二世则于1826年废除了奥斯曼帝国的近卫军。西方式的新型军队，在作战中都使自己获得了荣誉。穆罕默德?阿里于1819年着手建立新型防军，1812年建立海军。1825年，他从埃及农民中招募的、训练有素的军队在为其宗主马哈茂德二世再次平息希腊暴乱的成斗中，几乎取得了胜利。那些希腊暴民虽然骁勇，却只是些乌合之众。法国、英国和俄国于1827年消灭了埃及和土耳其的舰队，迫使穆罕默德?阿里的儿子易卜拉欣于1828年让出希腊。他们的干涉使希腊人得到解救。1833年，易卜拉欣征服了叙利亚，其目的仅在于防止俄国人干涉马哈茂德的利益，进军伊斯坦布尔。穆罕默德?阿里的军队比马哈茂德的军队更具战斗力，因为他早已开始付诸努力使它完善。1826年，马哈茂德取消了近卫军。在此之后，他便开始建立新型军队的工作。在1828－1829年俄国与土耳其战争中，他从农民中招募的新型军队作出了艰苦卓绝的抵抗。这是1768－1774年、1787－1792年和1806－1812年3次俄国－土耳其战争中，旧式奥斯曼军队无法与之相比的。

    兰季特?辛格与同时代的穆罕默德?阿里一样，聘用前拿破仑军队的军官为教官。尽管英国人在1845－1846年和1848－1849年连续击败辛格的受过西方式训练的部队，但同以前征服旁遮普之外的整个印度相比，在这两次战争中，英国人付出了更大的努力和更为沉重的代价。

    在少数西方顾问和教育的帮助下开始使非西方国家西方化的统治者们，并不仅限于做上述那些事情。他们必须在自己的臣民中找到或培养一个由本国人组成的受过西方教育的阶级。这个阶级能够用大体与西方人相同的语言来同西方人打交道，并且成为西方人同那些仍未西方化的本国同胞联系的纽带。在17世纪和18世纪，奥斯曼王朝在其希腊臣民中找到了这样一个新的、合乎需要的、随时可用的阶级。这些人在西方受过教育或同西方人有商业联系，因而对西方了如指掌。俄国的彼得大帝、埃及的穆罕默德?阿里以及在印度的英国人，也必须创造这样一个必需的中间阶级。在俄国，人们逐渐称这个阶级为”知识分子”。这是一个由法语词根和俄语词尾构成的混合词。在那些沦为由西方人统治的国家以及通过自身西方化而自立并成功地维护了政治独立的国家中，都出现了知识分子阶层。如同这个世纪中的工业企业家和挣工资的产业工人在英国登台亮相一样，这种非西方化的知识分子是一个新的阶级。到20世纪70年代，它至少已在人类历史上留下了一个深深的印记。

    知识分于是由官方为了自己的目的而扶植或创造的，但它很快就认识到自己在本社会中所处的至关重要的地位。无论如何，它实际上已是一个独立的阶层。1821年，前奥斯曼帝国的希腊贵族亚历山大?伊普希兰蒂对奥斯曼帝国的入侵使奥斯曼王朝认识到，希腊的知识分子是不可靠的。1825年，受过西方教育的一些俄国军官密谋推翻沙皇尼古拉一世。他们虽然失败并遭到镇压，但这却成为某种不祥之兆。这种征兆不仅出现于俄国，而且出现在许多正在西方化的国家。

    在两个世界的夹缝中生存，这便是知识分子的功能，它是一种精神上的磨炼。在19世纪的俄国，这种磨炼唤起了一种达到那个时代世界巅峰的文学。屠格涅夫（1818－1883年）、陀思妥耶夫斯基（1821－1881年）和托尔斯泰（1828－1910年）的小说已成为全人类的共同财富。

    同英国工业革命和西方在当代对非西方国家的冲击相比较，西方1763－1871年的国内文化状况和政治事务居于次要地位。如果不从总体背景来分析它们的话，它们似乎显得有些奇特。在这100年间，德国人占据了西方文明的艺术鳌头。伊曼努尔?康德（1724－1804年）是西方最伟大的哲学家。歌德（1749－1804年）是西方这一时代最杰出的诗人。这位德国伟人使两位灿烂一时的英国人黯然失色。他们是雪莱（1792－1822年）和济慈（1795－1821年）。莫扎特（1756－1791年）和贝多芬（1770－1827年）使西方古典音乐达到极盛。值得一提的是，在西方近代史上，德国在文化方面的显赫地位，是同其政权和经济繁荣程度成反比的。三十年战争结束之后，德国的音乐之花盛开怒放；第二帝国建立之后，它们却都枯萎凋零了。

    在科学领域，爱德华?詹纳（1749－1823年）在1798年证明，通过接种可以使人获得对天花的免疫力；路易?巴斯德（1822－1895年）于1857年发现细菌的存在。如果人类没有把握它们的奥秘，这些危害人类和家畜的东西比食肉动物还要猖獗，而那些食肉动物早在上古旧石器时代就已被人类所征服。当这些细菌被人类认识之后，人类也就能够并且已经成功地对付它们了。在今天的生物圈内，除了人类自身之外，不存在能置人类于死地的敌人。科学在技术方面的应用，已经使人类变得越来越可怕。科学应用于预防医学，造成生物圈内人口的加速增长，因为死亡率降低的速度高于因避孕而导致的出生率的降低。同是在1798年，詹纳发现了能有效地预防天花的牛痘；托马斯?罗伯特?马尔萨斯发表了《人口论》，这部著作启发了查理?达尔文（1809－1882年），他提出了”生存竞争”的概念，而这个概念则成为《物种起源》（1859年）的副标题。

    在达尔文时代之前一个世纪，布丰就已经对犹太教的传统学说提出异议。犹太教认为，全能的上帝发号施令，在一瞬之间创造了所有生物物种，它们是独特的不可改变的实体。布丰认为，千姿百态的现存物种都是一个变化过程的结果。这一理论观点被查理?赖尔（1797－1875年）及时地应用于地质学方面的研究。达尔文也曾读过赖尔的《地质学原理》（1830－1833年）。达尔文的观点动摇了正统的基督教学说；而”选择”和”适者生存”的概念则表明它是犹太教关于”选民”神话的翻版。虽然达尔文取消了造物主上帝这个前提，但取而代之的是假定非人的自然界的选择活动。这一假定是以一系列观察到的、而非理论阐明了的变异为根据的。

    达尔文的革命性成就不在于他对生物变化的机械论的说明，而在于他表明生物圈中的生命是动态的而非静态的。达尔文的生物学成就论证了黑格尔（1770－1831年）在哲学上已经提出的理论。黑格尔用”正题、反题、合题”诸思辨概念，把处于时间变化过程中的生命描述为繁衍后代的性行为的现象，而这些后代则赋有从父母双方得来的特征。孟德尔（1822－1884年）发现了遗传规律。他力图用大量概念来系统表述这些规律，并在1864－1866年发表了自己的成果。但是达尔文一直不知道这些发现，直到1900年之后，它们才受到人们的重视。

    在军事和政治领域，在这个世纪里，人们看到的成就有：美国独立战争（1776-1783年）的胜利；南北战争中（1861-1865年）美国的复兴以及美国从东海岸到西海岸横跨北美的领土扩张（1783－1853年）。在这100年间，人们也可看到，拿破仑领导法国重温旧梦，在1797－1815年力图将西方世界在政治上一统于法国统治之下，而在此之前路易十四曾于1667－1713年的战争中这么做过。拿破仑失败的后果是1859－1870年意大利民族国家的诞生以及1866－1871年德意志民族国家的问世。于是，在这100年间，一批具有主权和独立的民族国家崛起，西方世界的这种政治组织使西方更上一层楼，并使在政治上统一西方的企图遭到进一步失败。

    拿破仑曾一度为法国赢得了比路易十四时代广大得多的领土，但就在法国这连续两次军事冒险的间歇时期，西方世界的面积同它所吞并的面积相比，已变得极不相称。1700年，路易十四勉强统治的西方世界，远远小于1800年拿破仑所最终统治的西方版图。与此同时，俄国、印度以及北美都被划入西方的范围。从军事的角度来说，俄国的地理范围实际上是无限的。西方的海外吞并变得具有至关重要的经济意义。在拿破仑战争期间，这些海外吞并之所以处于英国经济的支配之下，是因为英国的海军对于法国海军占据了优势。

    过去英国在北美的殖民地已经赢得了政治上的独立，但他们发现同英国进行贸易往来是有利可图的。西班牙和葡萄牙统治下的美洲的臣民，在因拿破仑入侵伊比利亚半岛而偶然获得自由之后，就是这么做的。海外世界的物质资源，是英国进行战争的主要支柱，也是同拿破仑争雄的胜利之果。时至1823年，过去西班牙在美国的领地，以及葡萄牙的属国巴西，都在赢得了政治独立之后，相继依附于美国。但在经济方面，拉丁美洲国家已经成为，美国也继而成为英国机器大工业产品海外市场的一部分。

    1823年，美国总统门罗发表了一个著名学说，即由美国来保护新兴的拉丁美洲国家的独立。门罗主义同英国的利益是一致的。英国对拉丁美洲的野心仅仅是为了经济利益。因此，美国禁止欧洲军队从政治上插足英国在拉丁美洲的经济势力范围，恰使英国人坐收渔翁之利。

    1763－1871年间，西方世界爆发的几次革命在性质上是迥然不同的。英国工业革命是技术、经济和社会的革命，而非政治革命，尽管它产生了一个非革命性的政治结果，即1832年通过议会改革法案，开始把英国政权从乡村土地贵族手中转移到城市中产阶级手中。把以前英国在北美的殖民地转变为美国的那次革命，不是技术、经济和社会革命，而仅仅是政治革命。1789年爆发的法国大革命是政治、经济和社会革命。它把政权从皇室转移到城市中产阶级手中，把农村土地所有权从贵族转移到大部分农民手中。与此同时，英国乡村小土地持有者要么分化为挣工资的农业工人，要么被抛出农村而成为靠工资生活的城市工厂的产业工人。相形之下，美国农村拥有土地的人得以幸免，他们遍布于西部未开垦的处女地上。在美国西部，来自欧洲的没有土地的农村移民紧步他们的后尘。除去美国南方诸州的众多非洲黑奴和法国为数稀少的城市工人之外，美国保留了一个非为某一雇主工作的阶层，这一阶层在法国则是新产生的。

    把非洲人变成奴隶并把他们贩卖给美国的欧洲移民们，这是哥伦布发现西欧人眼中的”新大陆”所带来的一个罪恶结果，正如美洲前哥伦布时代的土著人被欧洲人征服或消灭的那个恶果一样。1763－1871年，绝大多数美洲国家从法律上废除了奴隶制。海地是在1793－1803年，法国的全部殖民地帝国是在1848年，英国殖民地是在1833年，美国是在1863年，而巴西则是在1871－1888年间逐步废除的。废除黑奴制，海地付出了10年革命和战争的代价；美国付出了1861-1865年内战的代价。但是，无论是以和平方式还是以武力方式废除奴隶制，都留下了经济和社会方面的后遗症。

    在美国和法国，直到1871年，靠工资为生的产业雇工在人口中仍然为数甚少。美国开垦荒地以及法国使农民获得大量土地，使这两个西方国家避免了大量的农民移入城市当工人。而英国出现农民涌入城市的情况，正是圈地法的结果。但是，在美国、法国和英国等国，产业工人仍同中产阶级政权离心离德，无论是和平方式或暴力手段都未能改善他们的地位。

    中产阶级是1789年法国革命的发动者。他们引起了城市无产者的不满。但无产者对改变其困境一筹莫展。迄今为止，他们在这方面是效法其英国对手而行动的。法国中产阶级也一扫对私人自由经济经营的限制，而他们以前则对社会中经济上的弱者提供某些保护。”放任主义”的口号、即”取消对工业生产的限制，废除商品流通税”的口号是法国人的一个创新。在英国实行禁止结社法前8年，法国已于1791年实行了类似的法律。法国巴黎的无产者把政治革命变成社会革命的企图在1795年、1848年和1871年遭到了武力镇压。法国城市工人被中产阶级和农民的联合行动挫败。英国产业工人寄希望于工团主义，寄希望于政治改革的进步，到1832年他们已经取得了不小的成功。1837－1848年的宪章运动已产生了纯粹的政治纲领。尽管宪章主义已经风平浪静，但1867－1872年英国仍实行了进一步的政治改革。然而，就象美国在法律上解放奴隶那样，英国产业工人阶级所享有的部分公民权力使受益人大为失望，因为它对于工人的状况没有产生任何重大而直接的改进。

    产业工人的苦难情况和中产阶级对这种社会不公正的默许，引起卡尔?马克思（1818－1883年）的愤慨，促使他创造了第四种犹太教。马克思主义，象佛教一样，在理论上是无神论的；但象达尔文主义一样，马克思提出了一个替代犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教的上帝耶和华的东西。达尔文的替代物是自然，他相信自然选择的活动使”适应的物种”保存下来。马克思用来取代耶和华的是”历史必然性”，它的”选民”是工业无产阶级。马克思宣告名副其实的正义革命的不可避免性，以此来安慰处于现时困境中的无产者。在这场革命中，无阶级社会的建立将结束无产者和中产阶级的冲突。

    马克思并没有活着看到社会不公正得到纠正，但同时代日内瓦的一位慈善家亨利?邓南特（1828－1910年）却于1864年促成了在第一个日内瓦公约中规定：救援伤兵以减少他们的痛苦，并且发起成立了国际红十字会。

    在1763－1871年的一个世纪中，英国不仅在西方而且在整个世界的善事与恶行中，都扮演了主角。在西方的近代历史中，在同法国争夺北美和印度统治权的斗争中，英国始终是获胜者。正是这一胜利，使英国为它从前的北美殖民地脱离英国主权，成为一个拥有沙俄帝国那样巨大的地理范围的独立的美国开辟了道路。此时，英国有史以来第一次在政治上统一了整个印度次大陆，并且在1857－1859年东印度公司的印度士兵反叛之际仍成功地保护了这一地位。在拿破仑遭到了打击之后，英国和俄国、西班牙一起分享了荣誉与责任。拿破仑力图在政治上统一西方世界的最后一次努力归于失败，它宣告：在工业革命正在用过去无法比拟的毁灭性武器武装各个国家的时代，西方仍将由一些彼此分离的地区性主权独立国家组成。1839－1842年，英国进攻并且打败了中国。英国给予这个政权以致命打击。在此前2000年的大部分时间里，这个人口众多的中国政权，曾经是和平与稳定的。这些都是英国的丰功伟绩，但它在这一时期的最大业绩则是开创了工业革命。在这一革命的进程中，为了博取人类的欢心，英国打破了生物圈和人类之间的力量平衡，而这最终将使生物圈在人类的力量作用下，变得不适于所有生命物种的生存，其中也将毫无例外地包括人类自身。

    第八十一章 生物圈（1871－1973年）

    到20世纪70年代，生物圈仿佛已处于濒临覆灭和被污染的危险之中。或许它已基本被它自身的创造物和居民－人类弄得不再适于任何生命物种的生存。回首往事，我们可以看到，人类征服生物圈的力量始终在不断地增长。当人科变为人类之际，他就已经失去了一切固有的自然肉体方面的武器和装备，但却获得了能够进行思维和筹划的自觉的理智，并同时获得了两个自然器官－大脑和双手，这是他借以进行思考和筹划以及运用身体行动达到预期目的的物质工具。

    在上文我们已经指出，工具同人类的意识是孪生兄弟。制造和使用工具的能力，使人类能够在旧石器时代早期的生物圈的竞技场上自立。旧石器时代早期是比人类有记载的历史要长得多的一个时期。自从旧石器晚期以来，大约从70000－40000年之前，人类就一直在侵害生物圈的其他部分。但人类成为生物圈的主宰只是工业革命开始后的事情，至今不过200年。在这200年中，人类已使他的物质力量增大到足以威胁生物圈生存的地步；但是他精神方面的潜能却未能随之增长。结果是两者之间的鸿沟在不断地扩大。这种不断扩大的裂隙使人忧心忡忡。因为人类精神潜能的提高，是目前能够挽救生物圈的生物圈构成要素中唯一可以信赖的变化。并且，在生物圈中，人类自身也不愿意被现在的那种贪得无厌、永无止境的欲望所毁灭。

    在20世纪70年代，人类对生物圈劫掠性破坏的后果，正不断地从许多征候中显示出来。生物圈中的人口正在加速度增长，而这些不断增长的人口又不断地向大城市集中。由于人类的大多数仍处于贫困之中，因此城市增长的主要形式便是寄生性的贫民区的增加。在贫民区里，居住着无业的、甚至没有就业可能的、来自乡村的移民，而乡村则是自新石器时代初期发明了农业之后，人口的大多数繁衍生展的所在。城市的触角，以横穿大陆的高速公路和飞机航线的形式，伸向全球。生产工业日用品、食品和有机原料的少数工厂，通过日益尖端的和大功率的机器生产过程正在不断地污染生物圈的水层和空气层。时时充斥于水层和空气层中的污染物，甚而有时并不是植物和因有意识的毁坏性的军事活动而被杀死的动物（包括人类和非人类的动物），而是和平活动的废弃物。

    作为一个整体，生物圈的海祥和大气会受到作为生物圈的微不足道的产物–人类的活动的致命性污染吗？对于这一问题，在1871年，或许近至1944年人类取得原子裂变的技术成就之前，人们始终持怀疑态度。人类使整个生物圈不再适于生存的能力，在使数不胜数的野生物种灭绝中已得到明显的表现，而这其中，人类和其家养的动物也不能幸免。有些物种则正在受到人类活动的意想不到的后果的损害。

    城市空间的扩大，于本书作者–一位出生于1889年的人的一生中，发生了巨大的变化。我亲眼目睹了自1922年以来安卡拉和雅典是如何从小城镇发展为特大城市的。自1929年以来，下关海峡附近曾经是生机盎然的日本农村，已消失在稠密的街道和房屋之中。自第二次世界大战以来，我生于斯长于斯的伦敦，象日本的一些地方一样，已变得面目全非。二次大战后，伦敦曾被德国炸弹化为废墟的地方，已布满了用于交通工具的高架车道，而这则是英国人亲手而为的。

    对于一个1889年诞生于伦敦一个中产阶级家庭的人来说，1914年8月成为1871－1973年这100年中的断裂点。同1871－1913年相比，1914－1973年成为全人类自相残杀的苦难时代。两次世界大战，每次都是罪恶，都是空前的灾难和浩劫。土耳其人迫害亚美尼亚人，德国人迫害犹太人，印度教徒和印度穆斯林互相残杀，一切都犯下了灭绝种族的罪行。阿拉伯的巴勒斯坦人、西藏人、占南部非洲人口多数的非洲土著人都成为受害者。在北爱尔兰仍在进行着一场惨无人道的战争，人们称之为”宗教战争”。象非西方的移民从农村进入贫民区那样，西方中产阶级在生活方式上的堕落也是令人注目的。与1914－1973年这些有害的年代相比，在那些1914年已经成年并且活到了70年代的西方中产阶级的记忆中，1871－1913年显然是一个黄金时代。然而，如果从整体上回味1871－1973年的历史，在1871－1913年间曾一度流行的这种乐观主义情绪显然是没有根据的。

    一位出生于1889年的英国中产者认为，从他开始认识周围世界时起到1914年8月，这段时间人间的天堂即将来临。产业工人将会从人类的工业总产值中得到丰裕的收入；德国的议会责任制内阁行将完善，而在俄国已即将确立；仍处于奥斯曼土耳其人统治下的基督教徒即将赢得政治独立；然后，千年王国就会到来。在这一新的黄金时代，基督教帝国的非基督教臣民仍将处于基督教统治之下，但同他们丧失政治独立之前的混乱生活条件相比，他们的处境将得到改善。

    西方人并不希望看到战争被消灭；某些西方人，诸如德国和巴尔干国家的某些人不仅期望战争连绵不断，而且积极地促使战争的爆发。但是，即使是最好战的德国所想象的战争也只是俾斯麦式的速决战，而不是类似于旷日持久的拿破仑战争或1618－1648年德国那毁灭性的三十年战争，或是不久前才结束的那场浩劫性的1861－1865年的美国内战。

    1894－1895年的中日战争、1898年的西美战争、1899－1902年的南非战争以及1912－1913年的巴尔干战争，实际上都是局部的和短暂的，即使1877－1878年的俄土战争和1904－1905年的日俄战争也仅是地区性的，并没有使全世界卷入。中国发动的反对腐朽没落的满清政权的太平天国起义（1850－1873）和其他一些起义，都造成了巨大的劫难和生灵涂炭，这些起义也无一不遭到了镇压。西方人并不完全了解同一时代中发生的这些事情，不了解东方民族特有的生灵苦难。在东方，当时的各个民族始终没有接受强加于他们的基督教的统治秩序。对于一个象本文作者这样，出生于1897年前后的英国中产阶级的孩子来说，那一年，正是英国举国欢庆维多利亚女王统治60周年的日子，仿佛他所诞生的那个世界已超乎于历史之外，因为历史意味着”开化”民族留在身后的不公正、暴力和苦难都已是过去的事情了，它们将不复重演。人们就是如此天真地看待这一切的。西方文明才是”文明”。它是唯一的文明。它的兴起及在全世界的统治是必然的，它的功德也是值得大加赞扬的。”文明”已经扎下了根。这就是历史如今已经陈腐了的原因。

    成为乐观主义者的根据的那些成就，确乎是令人难忘的。但这些成就中的每一个都不是尽善尽美的，自身就孕育着产生未来灾难的种子。在20世纪70年代，这些瑕疵已是洞若观火了，但在1871－1914年间，它们并不是那么容易被人们发现的。

    例如，1861年俄国解放农奴、1863年美国废除黑奴、1871年巴西开始废除持续统治的奴隶制，这些看来是通向千年王国大路上的光辉里程碑。但是，解放俄国农奴并没有满足他们巨大的拥有土地的要求；法律上对黑奴的解放，并没有消除种族歧视、种族差别和种族冲突。说到在法律上解放产业工人，这些也还没有产生马克思主义的普遍的社会革命。但在西方国家，他们相对的经济地位正逐渐得到改善；这种生活条件方面的改善是同工人劳动的体力条件的改善相伴随的。而随着每一个技术方面的新进展，机械性的工作越来越使人在精神上遭受痛苦。传送带和装配线的发明，增加了生产，降低了成本，却付出了精神上的代价，它把男人们和女人们变成了”被科学地管理”着的机器上的齿轮。现在产业工人的经济状况有所改善，但却被雇来干类似划桨奴隶那样的工作。他们同这个社会仍是貌合神离的，因为这个社会让这个新阶级为服务于中产阶级的目的而存在。

    1870－1871年，德国和意大利民族国家的确立似乎使人类世界的政治结构得以稳定。地区性的主权民族国家现在被视为标准的政治单位。自1871年以来，除了1904－1905年日俄战争之外，没有发生两个或两个以上的大国互相厮杀的任何其他战争。1877－1878年沙皇俄国同土耳其的战争以及1904－1905年同日本的战争，英国自始至终都未卷入。1865－1885年，俄国吞并了乌浒河－药杀水流域和从土库曼到阿富汗的西北边界地区。这一次，俄国避免了同英国的战争冲突。在1881－1904年间，所有非洲国家中只有两个国家尚未处于西欧控制之下；而在1871年它们险些直接或间接落入英国的势力范围，在法国、德国、比利时或葡萄牙争夺非洲领土时，他们之间没有发生战争。阿比西尼亚（已更名为埃塞俄比亚，最初是指今天苏丹的东部）参加了非洲领土之争；1896年它使意大利遭到可耻的失败。利比里亚是被解放了的美国黑奴的殖民定居地，它的幸存要归因于它实际上是美国的保护国。所有其他非洲国家和民族都丧失了其独立。在1894－1895年中国大败于日本之后，英国、俄国、德国以及法国开始瓜分中国。而此时他们已在瓜分非洲。在东亚，如同在非洲那样，他们在划分势力范围时互相避免陷入战争。

    这些似乎是维持大国之间和平的吉祥之兆。在1890年解除俾斯麦职务之后，德国皇帝威廉二世开始作出挑衅性姿态。但是从表面上看来，由于大国之间的合作，人类文明世界似乎继续平安无事，并且秩序井然。这8个大国中，只有3个是欧洲之外的国家，即俄国、美国和日本。虽然欧洲国家是主权国家，但笔者于1911年发现，除了罗马尼亚和土耳其之外，没有一个国家要求旅行者携带护照。在希腊农村我能够把金币和法国金币兑成银币，因为它在法国、意大利和希腊都能通用。政治上的边界既未妨碍货币流通，也未给私人活动带来麻烦。

    尽管如此，不祥之兆已经出现。法国对1871年被迫向德国割让领土一事仍然怒气未消；这些地区的居民并没有对第二德意志帝国俯首听命。德意志帝国政府把割来的国土作为”第二帝国的疆土”来管理，而未敢给予它第二帝国组成部分的自治国地位。俾斯麦经常被”统一”的梦魇所缠绕。在他下台后，这个梦魇很快成为了现实。1892－1893年，法国和俄国通过军事会谈达成协约；1904年法国和英国签订条约；1907年俄国和英国达成协约。1898年，德国开始同英国争夺海上霸权。而欧洲五国和俄国则正在共同制定战争动员以及随之而来的海陆军行动的战争计划。

    自1870－1871年意大利和德国民族国家完全建立以来，人们逐渐认识到，这就是自然、正常和合法的政治单位。但这一看法是不稳妥的，因为，虽然西欧诸民族（包括使用2种语言的比利时人和使用4种语言的瑞士人）现在都保护着自己的民族国家，但东欧诸民族却还没有做到这一步。例如，波兰人还没有自己的独立国家，他们还是俄国、普鲁士以及奥地利人的臣民。希腊、保加利亚、塞尔维亚和罗马尼亚的民族国家可望得到”未收复的国土”。这些领土仍处于奥斯曼帝国或哈布斯堡王朝的统治之下。作为8个强国之一的、多民族的哈布斯堡君主国，已成为世界上的反常现象，因为民族国家已成为世界上标准的政治单位。在沙俄帝国，大约有1／3的人口不属于大俄罗斯民族。德意志民族国家包括有少数未同化的波兰人、丹麦人和法国人。意大利在同哈布斯堡王朝的遥远边界一侧，仍有”未收复的国土”（该术语源于意大利语）总之，”民族自决原则”在1871年在西欧实现之后曾给西欧带来政治稳定，而今却成为东欧人的具有爆炸性和破坏性的理想。

    第一次世界大战爆发前夕，当民族国家已成为人所共识的准则之际，东欧国家走上西欧民族国家模式的努力归于失败，使得人类文明世界的政治结构趋于紧张。但是，假定在1914年之前，所有”未收复国土”因选择了民族国家而统一，所有的属地都变成了主权民族国家，这个结构也仍然会是不稳定的。人类文明世界仍会在政治上不断被瓜分为彼此独立的地区，因此，在人类的政治要求和经济利益之间仍存在着不可解决的冲突。

    地区性民族国家是西方人的政治理想，也成为越来越多的采用西方体制的其他民族的政治理想。西方民族依恋民族主义的力量，已从他们先后成功地挫败了查理五世、腓力二世、路易十四以及拿破仑打算把政治统一一再强加给西方基督教世界的企图中得到显露。西方在狄奥多西一世和查理大帝时代曾一度拥有这种政治统一。但是，自15世纪西方人掌握了从中国人、葡萄牙人和西班牙人得来的航海技术而使人类世界连为一个整体以来，民族国家的政治理想一直是某种经济上的时代错误。由葡萄牙人和西班牙人开始的人类文明世界在经济上的统一，因英国工业革命而得到了长足进步。

    迄今为止，世界贸易交换的商品大多是奢侈品；作为工业革命的结果，商品交往逐渐包括了越来越多的生活必需品。开创工业革命的英国企业家们把赢得的利润投入扩大再生产，使英国成为”世界工厂”。此后，英国在全球范围内出口产品，进口原材料和食品。及至1871年之后，德国、美国以及其他国家后来居上，夺去了英国的霸主地位，此时，世界贸易已波及全球范围。

    人类文明世界在经济上一体化的开端，是以葡萄牙人发明远洋帆船为标志的；它的完成则以1864年国际电报联盟和1875年国际邮政联盟成立为其标志。到那时为止，人类已经变得依赖于经济上的全球一体化，但仍不愿在政治范围内放弃民族分立。尽管从1914年以来，它已经导致了战争浩劫，但这种不相适应的状况仍在继续。接踵而来的是，人类事务已混乱到无以复加的地步，致使整个人类社会陷于瘫痪。只有极少数人可能幸免，他们是自给自足，没有卷入世界市场的农民、猎人以及靠采集食物为生的人。

    1840－1890年这半个世纪内，近代西方帆船在建造、装备和速度方面都达到了顶点。此后，它被工业革命产生的竞争者–蒸汽船取而代之。这也是西方音乐”古典”派日暮黄昏的时代。18－19世纪之交，贝多芬的作品已使它达到极点。西方近代绘画此时已过鼎盛时期；1600年以后，绘画的王位已由西班牙人和荷兰人从意大利人和佛兰德人手中夺走。瓦特对蒸汽机的决定性改进，使”古典”的帆船丧失效用。绘画的自然主义流派因摄影的发明而相形见拙。在1871－1913年这表面平静和繁荣的43年中，画家和作曲家已经审慎地放弃了悠久的传统，正在积极探索丰富多彩的表达形式。显然他们感到艺术的”古典”风格已经寿终正寝，如同燃尽的煤炭或衰老的中国王朝。处于20世纪70年代，如果回首往事可以看到，西方艺术家们在风和日丽的时候，就已经预见到在下一代人的时期内西方社会将遭受暴风骤雨的侵袭。艺术家的心灵触角对将要到来的事情的征兆，往往具有高度的敏感性。

    如果我们试图开列出1871－1973年这一时期人类的经历及活动的清单的话，我们必须记下的第一笔，就是那些不胜枚举和影响巨大的发现和发明。在过去的300年中，西方人作出了许多著名发现和发明。但在本世纪即将结束的1973年，西方人已经超越了以前在这些领域里所取得的成就。弗洛伊德（1856－1939年）用人心理中的下意识因素，来说明人的有意识的行为。爱因斯坦（1879－1955年）证明，牛顿物理学仅在有限的范围内同现实是一致的。他认为观察是一种相互作用，从而使物理学进入了一个更为广阔的天地。观察者本身即是物质世界的一部分，而他正是通过时间和空间来观察物质世界的运动的。约瑟夫?约翰?汤姆孙在1897年作出的关于电子的存在及其本质的发现表明，”原子”一词是使用不当的。”原子”已被证明并非不可再分的实体，它是一个缩小了的太阳系。欧内斯特?卢瑟福（1871－1937年）在1904年就预言了原子结构。他于1919年发现了原子核并成功地轰开了它。詹姆斯?查德威克1932年有关中子存在及其本质的发现，揭示了原子核的结构。同时，在尼尔斯?玻尔（1885－1962年）的倡导下，物理学领域的这些发现使物理学家们明白了一条认识论的真理。对同一事物，如果用两种不仅是不同而且是互不相容的方法去体验的话，是不可能同时被体验到的，尽管这两种方法都是持之有据和必不可少的。

    在科尔特斯登上中美洲大陆之前，橡胶已被用来制造供某些危险的体育比赛使用的球，而石油则一直是东罗马帝国的致命武器”希腊之火”的秘密成份。在1871－1973年间，这两种原材料已分别用于轮胎制造和作为内燃机燃料。这使建造实用的汽车和飞机成为可能。航空成就使人成为曾一直是由昆虫、飞鸟和蝙蝠占居的那部分生物圈的成员。

    人在地理和历史探险方面同样取得了伟大成就。西方人到达了这个星球的两极，登上了地球的卫星–月球；他们不仅发现了米诺斯文明、迈锡尼文明和印度文明，弄清了使用”乙种线形文字”表达语言的是希腊人，而且发掘了由8个互相衔接的层次构成的特洛伊古城。

    在过去的100年中，最重要的发现和发明在医药和外科领域。麻醉药（发现于19世纪40年代）应用的进步使外科医生能够实施前人无法想象的手术。器官移植是这一进步的最高成就。人们发现蚊子是黄热病和疟疾的传播者。这些发现使人们分别在1881年和1897－1899年制造出预防这两种疾病的药。滴滴涕发现于1942年。它使人掌握了消灭害虫的另一种武器。而害虫是同人竞争主宰生物圈的一类重要的非人类对手。

    西方人的这些发现和发明，是人的勇气、想象力和理智的伟大功绩。但它们对人类事务的影响却是双重的。例如新兴的西方航空技术同中国人发现的古老的炸药相结合，使好战者让炸弹从天而降。这种盲目性武器的使用，使得好战者同文明人之间的区别荡然无存。而自从17世纪末期以来，人们费了九牛二虎之力才建立起这种区别。在1897年发现电子之后不到50年，1932年发现中子之后不到13年，两颗由核裂变而释放出威力无比的能量的炸弹落在广岛和长崎。汽车使人的行动今非昔比，却付出了把城市的触角伸向农村，使马路和街道拥挤不堪的代价。到了1973年，汽车和飞机排出的废气，使得生物圈里的空气令人窒息。

    医药和外科的巨大进步使人的死亡率下降，寿命延长，这是具有对社会和环境产生不利影响的善行。死亡率的降低不超过出生率的降低，使生物圈中人口数量加速增长。医学为延长个人生命提供新的可能，使绝望的生命起死回生。在这种或那种特殊情况下，需不需要延长某人的生命就成为摆在医生、病人、病人的亲朋好友面前的一个以前做梦都不曾想到过的伦理问题。

    工业革命之前，政府的两个基本职能就是对内维持法律和秩序，对外御敌。工业革命强加于机械化工厂中的工人–一个新的社会阶级身上的非人的工作和生活条件，迫使政府拥有第三种职能：提供社会福利。1802年，英国实施了第一个保护工厂工人的立法。1883年和1889年，俾斯麦扩大了德国政府活动的社会范围，通过为因年老或其他原因而造成的疾病、意外事故和残废的工人提供保障的立法。在第一次世界大战爆发之前，英国人曾效法了德国的这些合乎人道的新措施。

    承认政府拥有为其公民提供福利的责任，这是政治领域有益的道德进步。在世界上大多数工业化国家，政府现在除了继续是一个执法和御敌的组织之外，已成为一个福利组织。然而，福利国家仍是一个有争论的问题。要为占人口多数的穷人的利益提供公益服务，就要求通过逐渐提高富人纳税的方法来增加额外的国民收入。可以想见，少数人会反对福利立法，漠然待之，并且会提出诘难。这是一个道德和心理学的问题。这个诘难是，福利国家会使受益人堕落。在20世纪70年代，这个似是而非的诘难被事实所部分地证实。一些国家广泛实行了公共福利保障。但在那里，谋生是人的责任这一情感已经淡薄，工作质量标准下降；更为失败的是，生活平均标准的提高却伴随着诚实正直标准的下降。另外，还存在着少数穷人。他们中的一部分是来自比较贫困的国家的暂时或永久的移民。他们的生活条件特别是居住条件，仍在令人震惊地恶化。

    在私人经济仍占主导地位，政体仍是”民主制”（即议会制）的那些国家里，福利立法和工会组织的协作已使大多数产业工人按照自己的意愿，使他们同中产阶级之间的力量天平倾向于他们。那些在为人们日常生活提供必需品的公益事业工作的工人，在讨价还价的谈判中扮演了特殊而重要的角色，例如。码头工人、矿工以及在供电、供热、供水和清除垃圾的工厂工作的工人。相形之下，教师职业的谈判力量是弱小的。虽然从长远的观点看，教育工作者的社会价值至少同其他职业工人是同样巨大的，但他们的罢工不能对社会生活发生直接的、使之瘫痪的影响。

    具有巨大的直接谈判力量的商人，是私人企业经济制度的急先锋。他们反对限制众人具有谈判自由的建议。他们为了自身利益自然希望发展自己日益增长的力量。这是同放任主义哲学相吻合的。中产阶级的企业家最早搬来了放任主义哲学，这是一种对产业工人有害的东西。但是，现在，一个显而易见的观点是：世界范围内的劳动的进一步机械化，如果没有政府干涉（即社会主义，这是被产业工人吹得天花乱堕的一种意识形态）的进一步增强的话，将会使生活对于每一个人都是不能接受的。

    虽然在一些议会政权的国家中，具有决定性谈判地位的职业中的工会，正在维护其权力，但在苏联，产业工人和农业工人都处于独裁政权的统治之下。苏联政府拥护马克思的意识形态，但并未同其沙文主义先辈的行径分道扬镳。列宁（弗拉基米尔?伊里奇?乌里扬诺夫，1870－1924年），本世纪的一位伟人，推翻了一个以武力为基础的政权，强加给人们一个同样特性的更为强大的政权。在以尽可能快的速度使俄国技术现代化方面，列宁及其克里姆林宫的后继者也是以彼得大帝为榜样的。1917年俄国十月革命是由布尔什维克（多数派）发动的。布尔什维克是知识分子中少数马克思主义者中的一派，它同农民结成联盟。俄国农民希望获得土地所有权。法国农民在1789－1797年的法国革命期间获得了土地所有权。但共产主义的俄国却很快把土地国有化，如今正在大规模的单位内集中耕种。它所遇到的反抗与英国圈地法案实行时并无二致。英国圈地法案促进了生产。但在俄国，迄今为止，这一政策一直遭到农民的积极反抗。

    苏联以其独裁的方式使之成为福利国家。这种福利国家与当今英国相仿，而同俄国过去的沙皇政权相异。例如，人们的文化水平得到极大提高，财富得以更为顺利地分配。但是，一切诸如此类的国家无论其意识形态的色形如何，都仍然是制造战争的工具。1914－1918年和1939－1945年进行的两次世界大战在死伤人员和破坏程度上超过了中国1850－1873年的内战。一切战争包括俾斯麦的有限目标的速决战，都是残暴的。灭绝种族（即大批屠杀文明人）加剧了20世纪两次大战的残酷性。在第一次世界大战中，土耳其对亚美尼亚人实行过种族灭绝；在第二次世界大战中，德国人大批屠杀过犹太人。

    在两次世界大战中，只有土耳其人在1919－1922年反抗第一次世界大战的新的战胜者，以及英国人在1940－1941年抵抗暂时得胜的德国人。这两个事件大概可以使后代在回首往事时，不会因表现出人类的邪恶和愚蠢而感到羞愧。虽然敌我悬殊、在胜败存亡问题上前途未卜，但这两个民族却具有反抗精神。他们都幸运地找到了自己的领袖–穆斯塔法?凯末尔?阿塔图克和温斯顿?丘吉尔，他们激励人民起来挽救危亡。

    阿塔图克不仅领导土耳其人民在维护生存的战争中取得了胜利，而且带领人民进行了西方化的革命，完成了穆罕默德二世未竟的事业。象列宁一样，阿塔图克是知识分子阶层的一员，这个阶层推翻了那曾使它在这个国家赖以生存的政权。在行动上，阿塔图克也象列宁那样，为实现急迫的任务，诉诸于无情地使用武力。圣雄甘地（1869－1948年）也是知识分子的一员。他也完成了政治革命。但他的战略是非暴力不合作。他的经济目标不是使印度完全同工业化的世界相结合，而是割断印度同它现存的经济联系。圣雄甘地的同胞们并没有响应他的号召返回到前机器工业生产的时代中去。事实上，在实践甘地理想时他们失败了，并且没有避免使用暴力。1947年英国放弃统治时，以前的英国印度帝国被划分为印度联邦和巴基斯坦；印度教徒和穆斯林在各地互相残杀。总之，这是在印度次大陆消灭了西方帝国主义所付出的代价。

    那么，西方帝国主义留下的历史足迹是什么呢？这就是直到本世纪1973年这个时期文明世界历史的显著特征吗？

    统治非西方民族的西方人，一直因暴行而感到内疚，例如，1919年英国人在阿姆利则屠杀印度人以及给幸存者以巨大羞辱的行径。但是，伴随着这些帝国覆亡的是获得解放的帝国公民的暴行。1947年印度次大陆穆斯林和印度教徒的互相残杀。实际上又引起了操乌尔都语和操孟加拉语的穆斯林在孟加拉地区的互相残杀。当印度军队在孟加拉同巴基斯坦军队开战之前，在原英印帝国最早的这两个后继国家的西部边界，一直存在着敌对情绪，在越南、南部苏丹、布隆迪、刚果、尼日利亚，西欧殖民帝国的垮台所留下的真空，打开了内战和自相残杀的大门。这些暴力冲突就是政治解放的代价。帝国从来就是为了帝国建立者的目的而强加于臣民的，但是，只要这种具有强制性的外国政权存在，其一个附带性的成果就是给臣属的民族带来国内和平。

    到1973年，除了葡萄牙在非洲大陆拥有殖民地之外，仍处于西欧国家统治之下的非欧洲领土已经剩下为数很少的一些滩头堡和岛屿。然而，在南部非洲，欧洲籍的政治上独立的移民们，仍然统治着非洲臣民。在巴勒斯坦，土生土长的巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人的家园和财产遭到移居而来的以色列人的剥夺。此外，在许多非洲国家，西欧人的统治被那些欺凌邻国的当地非洲人所取代。昔日的沙俄和中华帝国对非俄国和非中国的亚洲人的统治，在共产主义政权的建立中得到幸存。同西欧国家的朝生暮死的海外帝国相比，这两个大陆国家的陆上帝国的寿命则更为长久。

    我们已经论及了人类文明世界在政治上分化为地区性主权国家和它在技术和经济方面的全球一体化之间的矛盾。这种矛盾正是人类当今困境的症结所在。人们需要某种形式的全球政府来保持地区性的人类共同体之间的和平，来重建人类与生物圈其余部分之间的平衡，因为这种平衡已被作为工业革命结果的人类物质力量的空前增长而打破。

    然而，在全球范围内从事这项事业的艰巨性和非人格性是令人胆怯的。而肩负挽救人类种族生存责任的一代人仍然正在危害人类的生存，因为他们正在把生命整体打碎为数量更为繁多而且规模更为狭小的分隔空间。地区性主权国家在数量方面的增长受到同时在数量方面增长的”惩戒”的挑战。这种进一步分化正在导致商业的难于管理性和信息的难于理解性。这种不解决问题的行为并没有消除这种过剩现象；相反，人们仍允许这种现象继续扩大，它可能彻底为人类所无法控制。

    人类所面临的危机与两次世界大战时同样严重，前景令人困惑。显然，人类期望在生物圈内继续生存20亿年，其前提是人类的行为使生物圈不致为期过早地不适于生存。但是，现在人类拥有使生物圈在不远的将来即变得无法生存的物质力量，因此，生活在地球上的人们会由于人为地破坏生物圈、毁灭人类自身及其他一切生命形式的大灾难而无法生存。这并非是不可能发生的。显然，这里提供了两种可能性，但它们肯定不是仅有的两种选择。

    未来是难以预料的，因为它还没有成为现实。其潜在的可能是无限的，所以人们不能根据过去来推断未来。毋庸置疑，过去发生的一切事情，如果条件相同，仍会重演。但是，过去发生的事情并不一定会重演，它仅仅是许多未知的可能性之一；有些可能性是不可预料的，原因在于人们不知道过去的先例；在1763－1973年这200多年间，人们获得了征服生物圈的力量，这一点就是史无前例的。在这些使人迷惑的情况下，只有一个判断是确定的。人类，这个大地母亲的孩子，如果继续他的弑母之罪的话，他将是不可能生存下去的。他所面临的惩罚将是人类的自我毁灭。

    第八十二章 抚今追昔，以史为鉴（1973年）

    未来尚未降临，过去已不复存在，因此，当我们合上史册的时候，过去了的事情都已是无可改变的了。然而，这不可改变的过去并不总会到处重复再现。处于不同的时空之中，它便会异彩纷呈，而我们所获知的信息的增减，也会改变其面貌。我们对过去事情的相互关系、对它们相应的重要性、对它们的意义的看法，都因现实的瞬息万变而不断改变。同一国家的同一个人，先是在1897年观察同样的过去，然后于1973年再观察它，使会描绘出两个迥然不同的图画。如果在2073年的中国再去观察那完全一样的过去，肯定会得出更加不同的看法；再如果在2173年的尼日利亚再去观察它的话，无疑会作出更为千差万别的描述。

    在本章，为了说明问题，本书作者将拣出他在1973年所看到的有关过去记录的一些突出且意义重大的事件，以及在他看来如果在今后的另一个地方观察历史的话，可能重演的现象（这是一个冒险的猜测）。

    自我们的祖先成为人类以来，在迄今为止几乎是全部的历史阶段中（除去最后大约1／16的时期），都生活在旧石器时代。旧石器时代早期，人类采集食物和狩猎的地带肯定是狭小的，种群之间彼此相隔很远。从技术和经济角度考虑，人口集中就意昧着要有人饿死。在旧石器时代早期，技术几乎是静止不前的，每一个群体都很小，小到其所有生活于其中的成员都能够互相熟识。这就是延绵至今的人类社会生活的背景。

    大约在4万年前，至多不早于7万年前，人类在技术方面出现了相当突然和快捷的进步。虽然我们不了解它的原因，但考古学成就已确证它的存在。旧石器时代早期的工具，已被该时代晚期经过改进的一系列工具所取代。从那时起，技术持续进步，但它的发展却是时断时续的。技术发明接连不断地出现飞跃，但中间伴有停歇。到目前为止，主要的技术飞跃年代是旧石器时代晚期（改进了工具、弓箭，驯养了狗），新石器时代（工具得到更好的改进，与之相随的是驯育了更多种类的动植物，发明了纺织、编织和制陶工艺），公元前第五千纪（航海、车轮、冶金和文字）和始于200年前，现仍在发展的工业革命（机械化方面的巨大进步）。这表明，技术进步不是不间断的，而是积累的。为人所知的技术失传是罕见的。在爱琴海地区，书写方法失传于公元前第12世纪，但这只是例外的情况。

    技术是人类活动得以进步的唯一领域。从旧石器时代早期到机械化技术的进步，令人叹为观止。尽管人在社会性方面的进步是由技术进步给人带来的社会条件的变化所导致的，但是这方面的进步同技术进步之间是不相称的。

    到目前为止，人的一系列技术成就中最重要的是新石器时代对狗之外的动物的驯养，以及农业的产生。农业和畜牧业为后来的所有技术进步包括工业革命奠定了基础，也为迄今为止曾经产生和消亡了的一切文明的生活方式奠定了基础。

    新石器时代的村社，在规模上大于前农业的采集食物和狩猎群体，但它还没有大到其成员相互间的个人关系必须要建立公共机构来维持的程度；新石器时代的技术进步也还没有复杂到需要一定程度的专业化分工以及在两性生理差别之外的劳动分工。此外，虽然新石器时代的村社是定居式的，但它们彼此之间却被连绵的人迹未至的荒野所隔断。这样，尽管在旧石器时代晚期和新石器时代之间技术和生活的经济条件发生了巨大变化，但是，人类在漫长的旧石器时代早期的社交方式却得以延续，以满足新石器时代人们生活方式的需要。这就是公元前400年中国战国时代道家哲学家们，以怀恋的方式力图返回新石器时代生活方式的原因。在那个时代生活的经历使他们感到：后来的技术进步带来的社会后果是不幸的。直到1000多年之后，在中国，文明的生活方式才取代这种生活方式。

    1973年，生活在新石器时代风格的村社中的农民，仍然占现存人类的多数。但是，他们正在快速地离开农村进入遍布各个城市的贫民区。同时，与此相反，农业和畜牧业中正在实现机械化，而机器的发明最初是用于工厂加工非生命材料的。此外，在过去的5000年中，人类文明世界中的农民，一直担负着供养文明的上层建筑的重担。

    这之所以成为可能，其原因就在于，在公元前四千纪，技术的进步开始使生产出来的产品除了满足最低限度的生存需求外有了剩余，而此时人类从旧石器时代延续下来的社交方式已被证明，已无法以道德和行善的方式分配使用这些剩余产品了。部分剩余产品被滥用于战争；而其余的剩余产品则被因社会公共事务而产生的少数社会成员不平等地占有了。

    公元前四千纪的技术进步，使一些专门从事某一职业的人（矿工、铁匠、种植者、鼓动家、大规模公共事务–例如兴修水利的组织者）应运而生。与大多数没有技术专业的劳动者相比，专业人员对剩余产品生产的贡献要大得多；经济报酬的有差别分配，尽管失去了脉脉温情，而且从根本上讲似乎是不公正的，但无论如何，这似乎又是不可避免的。因为人如同其他生物一样，天性是贪婪的；旧石器时代早期社会交往水平对人类欲望的强制性遏制，已经不再适应于新的技术和社会的情况了。剩余产品分配的”差异”，表现为巨大的不公正，并且这些差异还有助于形成世袭职业。这样，社会不公正和战争，便成为集体富裕的代价。文明的这两个先天的社会疾病，至今仍然折磨着人类。

    自从人类文明破晓而出，人类的技术进步和社会行为之间便始终存在着矛盾。技术的进步，特别是1773年至1973年这最近200年间的进步，极大地增加了人类的财富和力量，人类作恶的物质力量与对付这种力量的精神能力之间的”道德鸿沟”，象神话中敞开着的地狱之门那样不断地扩大着裂痕。在过去的5000年间，这种巨大的”道德鸿沟”，使人类为其自身种下了极为惨重的灾难。

    人类精神方面的不健全已给社会进步造成障碍，因此也给技术进步带来障碍。因为，随着技术在规模上的扩大和复杂化，它也增加了对财富生产者社会合作的要求。自从现行的工业革命开始以来，机械化已带来了技术进步的第二个限制。机械化正在使工业生产更为物质化，并以减少人对精神需要的满足作为代价，这就造成工人的不安定和工作质量标准的下降。

    在人类文明的黎明时期，底格里斯河、幼发拉底河和尼罗河下游诸流域星罗棋布的水利排灌设施，使生产规模得以扩大。这就需要技术操作规模的扩大，并进而要求打破以社会成员之间的个人关系为基础的社会交往的限制，使社会共同体的力量得到巨大增长。在技术需要迫使这些早期文明的建立者们超越前文明共同体的狭小限制，把人的力量更多地集合在一起时，他们发明了一种新的社会制度：非个人的机构。它们能够维系更大的共同体，因为它们能使个人之间并不相识的人们合作行动。但是，这种机构化了的社会关系既缺少人情味又是脆弱的。在这种社会关系中，人类再也感受不到那种在家庭中才能感受到的私人之间的温情。机构总是要面临失去控制和破碎的危险，接踵而来的便是，掌握权力、负责维持制度的个人总是面临诱惑，即取消自愿合作，恢复强制。因为，社会机构时常无法唤起人们进行自愿合作。

    自从文明产生以来，人类一直是通过国家来控制社会机构的。这里的国家是复数而非单数。因为，迄今为止，还没出现过能担当得起领导全球所有现存人类责任的那种唯一的国家，总是有许多国家相伴共存。文明时代的国家彼此间不是隔绝的，它们互相发生着冲突。而这种冲突会突然引发战争，而战争则一直是文明的痼疾之一。

    国家的通常类型是地区性的主权国家，并且有许多同类的其他国家与之并存。今天，全球大约有170个这样的国家。其政治结构同公元前三千纪苏美尔的国家相同。

    地区性主权国家是一种难于掌握的机构。它们是两头落空。一个城邦国家（这不是指某个民族国家，也不是指许多城邦国家组成的联盟或许多民族国家的联盟），如果过于大，就不能使其社会基础建立在那种使人具有家庭感的个人关系之上。另一方面，最大的地区性国家仍只是许多同类国家中的一个；它有发动战争的能力，却不能提供和平。无论在何时何地，都有许多地区性主权国家互相并存，它们之间经常发生战争。这种战争状态总是要由武力建立的某个帝国带来的强制性和平作为结局。这个帝国消灭了战争中的地区性国家，拥有象人类文明中心那么大的幅员辽阔的疆土。法老的埃及文明是在该文明产生之际，以武力在政治上统一的唯一例子，它没有经过地区性国家之间持久的预备性的战争较量。它的重要意义是，在迄今出现的所有文明中，这种文明是最为稳定和持久的。

    当今世界上的地区性主权国家，都没有维持和平的能力，也不具备把生物圈从人为的污染中拯救出来，或保护生物圈的非替代性自然资源的能力。政治方面的这种全球性的无政府状态再也不能继续下去了，因为人类文明世界在技术和经济方面已经成为一个整体。在过去的5000年中，人们所一直需要的，在过去100年中在技术上一直可行的（虽然在政治上还不可行），是一种全球性的政治体。这种政治体应由新石器时代的村社那种规模的社会细胞构成，因为在这种规模之内，每一个成员即是世界之国的一个公民，而他们个人之间仍便于彼此沟通。尽管如此，人们今天已不能用野蛮的、毁灭性的军事征服的传统方式来实现人类文明世界的政治统一了。1945年，尚未实现政治统一的人类世界，曾遭到新发明的核武器的突然侵袭。人类文明世界是不能通过使用这种致命的武器来实现统一的。毁灭，而不是统一，将是世界核战争不可避免的结果。

    苏美尔、希腊、中国以及中世纪意大利的历史记载说明，一个主权国家群体仅仅是一种昙花一现的政治结构。在人类拥有核武器的时代，政治统一只能是自愿地进行。显然，人类现在只能是勉强地接受它，所以，似乎可能的是，这种统一将推迟到人类自身酿成更大的灾难之时。这种灾难将使人们最终默然同意建立全球政治体，因为它给人们带来的危害会小些。

    在历史的这一刻，我们人类也许会对昆虫社会发生兴趣，产生羡慕之情。它们遵从自然，彼此间在广大的范围内互相合作。单个的蜂、蚂蚁或白蚁，使自己服从于其共同体的利益并为之而献身，它们的自我牺牲既不是自愿的，也不是外部强迫的。这是昆虫心灵机制的本能。对于人类这种双重属性的动物来说，要把旧石器时代所参与的那微乎其微的社会交往，扩大为一种扩展了的、包括整个生物圈在内的人类社会交往，那将是很困难的。因为，与白蚁、蚂蚁和蜂不同，人类不仅是一种先天具有社会心理的生物，而且还具有意识所驱使的灵魂，因此，他能够而且必须在善恶面前作出选择。

    幸运的是，人的社会交往并未限制在满足前文明时代人类社会的个人关系的狭小范围。一个人在他发现任何一个处于苦难中的同类时都会有怜悯之心，即使用一句部落语言来说，这个人是一个”外人”。一个人会对任何一个病人和迷路的孩童产生恻隐之心，并会给这些落难者以帮助。在诸如中华帝国、罗马帝国那样的国家里，统治者把自己的统治视为对整个人类世界的统治；其臣民总是把自己看作一个世界国家的公民，而不是外来征服者的牺牲品。传教士们打算把福音传遍整个人类，中国哲学家墨子则宣扬，人类应该相爱，并以无私的忠诚来为一切同类谋幸福。孔子思想最权威的解释者孟子曾反驳道，墨子的教条是无法实现的。孟子拥护孔子维护等级礼制的理想。但是，经验说明，由个人相识而激发的爱和仅仅根据一般的人性需要而产生的对所有同类之爱，并不是社会交往共同和唯一的表达方式。在印度，爱的范围受到种姓障碍的限制，但这种范围仍扩展到了包括对与人为伴的各种生命物的爱。在工业革命时代的人类文明世界中，人类之爱应该扩展到生物圈中的一切成员，包括生命物和无生命物。

    这些，就是一位出生在1889年的英国观察者在1973年作出的思考。那么，笔者的人类同胞们又在思索些什么呢？对于过去，人们究竟有多少了解？追溯历史，人们将如何从中吸取教训从而朝气蓬勃地生活呢？

    显然，几乎没有人愿意承认，在过去的5000年中，地区性主权国家制度在满足人类的政治需要方面曾一再失败；同样也没有人愿意承认，在一个全球性社会中，这种制度必将被再次证明是昙花一现的，而且这次将比以前更为确凿。尽管第二次世界大战结束以来，人类文明世界在政治上彼此分隔的各部分在技术和经济领域越来越密切地相互依赖，但地区性主权国家的数量也同时增加了一倍多。

    中国人曾经把中华帝国视为”普天之下，莫非王土”的天朝大国，他们今天正在思考着自己的国家作为全球竞技场上处于战争状态国家中的一员所发挥的作用。可以肯定的是，中国正在忘掉自己历史上那残酷的一页：那时，中国自身成了地方诸侯国家的战争竞技场。另一方面，中国人似乎对自公元前221年政治统一以来的历史十分敏感，因为他们正尽力避免国家机器同农民的疏远。而农民，自汉武帝即位以来，便成为”中国的悲哀”。

    公元前2世纪，汉武帝在中国首倡以政绩征募文职官吏的制度，并通过考试对候选人员的能力进行评判。中国皇帝的文职官吏是人类文明世界中的佼佼者；他们长期平安有序地管理着这么庞大的人口，这是其他国家的文职人员所不可企及的。但是，他们也一次次地失去民心，他们为了自己个人的特权而滥用权力，从而一次次地把中国带入灾难。中国的领袖们正在采取措施防止悲剧的重演。与中国过去的改革家们相比，中国领导人是否能获得更大成功，人们将拭目以待，但至少他们目前行动的魄力便是一个良好的征兆。

    如果中国人真正从中国的历史错误中吸取教训，如果他们成功地从这种错误的循环中解脱出来，那他们就完成了一项伟业，这不仅对于他们自己的国家，而且对处于深浅莫测的人类历史长河关键阶段的全人类来说，都是一项伟业。

    生物圈包裹着地球这颗行星的表面，人类是与生物圈身心相关的居民，从这个意义上讲，他是大地母亲的孩子们–诸多生命物种中的一员。但是，人类还具有思想，这样，他便在神秘的体验中同”精神实在”发生着交往，并且与非此世界具有的”精神实在”是同一的。

    人类具有思想意识，他能明辨善恶，并在他的行为中作出选择。在伦理领域，人类行善或作恶的选择为他记下了一部道德帐册。我们不知道每个生命短暂的人在其离开人世时能否了结这笔帐，抑或是象印度教和佛教认为的那样，这笔帐能通过潜在的无限轮回得以延续。对于构成人类社会的现世的个人之间的关系网来说，这本帐簿还具有开放性，并且，只要人类允许生物圈继续成为可生存之地，它便将继续开放。

    人类将会杀害大地母亲，抑或将使她得到拯救？如果滥用日益增长的技术力量，人类将置大地母亲于死地；如果克服了那导致自我毁灭的放肆的贪欲，人类则能够使她重返青春，而人类的贪欲正在使伟大母亲的生命之果–包括人类在内的一切生命造物付出代价。何去何从，这就是今天人类所面临的斯芬克斯之谜。