美籍华裔作家的寻根之旅

美籍华裔作家徐桓是《偷瓷贼：寻找中国土地下深埋的宝藏》（The Porcelain Thief： Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China）的作者。該书细细叙述了徐桓的返乡旅程。他穿越古代和当代的中国，探寻外高祖父长期埋藏的瓷器下落，从而发现了理解过去百年来家族史的关键。

1938年，日军抵达长江新港。徐的外高祖父全家世世代代居住在那里。他们只得埋藏宝物，包括大批价值连城的古代瓷器，背井离乡数十年，辛苦跋涉数千里，经历了无数峰回路转的奇遇。徐在盐湖城长大，只凭家族的传说，就前往中国，在叔父的半导体芯片厂工作，开始理解以前不明白的家史。他和外祖母的交流激起了他的兴趣。外祖母是最后的纽带，将他和王朝时代的古老中国联系起来。他开始对瓷器本身感兴趣，不限于家族的宝藏。他辗转大陆和台湾，着手甄别围绕家族与中国的传说和事实，最终补全了家族万里还乡的历史。

本期《聚光灯下》，我们来了解徐桓作为ABC返回中国的一些见闻和他寻根之旅的心路历程。

Arun Rath （Host）： Unless youve got Long John Silver in your family tree， you wouldnt expect researching family history to involve a search for buried treasure. But thats just part of the wild story Huan Hsu tells in his book “The Porcelain Thief.” Hsus great-great-grandfather was a scholar during Chinas last Imperial Dynasty. He built up an immense collection of extremely valuable porcelain. But the family was forced to flee in 1938 as the invading Japanese army approached.

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

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

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

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

（Laughter）

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

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

Hsu： Although I wasnt really interested in my family history， I always liked to dig—literally. Like， I dug lots of holes in my moms backyard looking for dinosaur bones or arrowheads or， you know， anything a little kid thinks hes gonna find. And I think that compulsion manifested itself as a writer and as a journalist wanting to dig for stories.

So while I was working for a newspaper in Seattle， I had to go to the Seattle Art Museum for a story. And when I was there， I stumbled into their porcelain room， and I saw this little red porcelain dish in the shape of a chrysanthemum with gold lettering on it. And the museum couldnt tell me what that gold lettering said， so I called my dad to help me translate it. And as we were getting off the phone， he said， well， you know， if youre actually interested in porcelain， you should talk to your mom， because her family had some porcelain.

So I talked to my mom， and she had told me the story of my great-great-grandfathers buried porcelain. And she knew pretty much just that—that my great-great-grandfather was a porcelain collector and had buried his porcelain and couldnt answer any questions that I had in terms of how much there was？ How much was it worth？ When was it buried？ Where was it buried？ Had anybody ever gone to look for it？ So she said， well， you know， the person who would know this is your grandmother who grew up at that house. Eventually， my grandmother said to my mom， well， you know， if he really wants to hear the story， he should just come here. So I did.

Rath： And you go to China. And I gotta tell you， I cant get over how much your experience about being an ABC in China reminded me about my experience of being—I dont know if youve heard this term—ABCD. Its American-born confused Desi. Its for like people of South Asian extraction.

Hsu： Oh， no.

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

Hsu： （Laughter） So， like， when I think of myself， I dont think of myself as Chinese， I guess. And so， yeah， when I got to China， I found myself really perturbed that I didnt get that knowing glance from other expats when I passed them on the street. And I found myself， like， trying to project my American-ness as much as possible when they were like within earshot. Like， I would speak my English much louder than I needed to. Yeah， I would look for like any excuse to be like， hey， hey， Im American， too.

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

Hsu： The local Chinese love to ask， like， do you feel Chinese or American？ And I guess in America I feel kind of Chinese， and in China I feel really American. I think the younger generation gets it， but the older generation just—they dont accept it， because they just want you to say， oh， yeah， I have Chinese blood. And I love China. And Im really happy to be back in the motherland and things like that.

And I had one guy at a dinner just really push me on whether or not I felt Chinese or American. He just would nt accept， you know， my equivocations. And finally he said， OK， lets say China and America went to war. Which side would you pick up a gun for？ And I was like， ugh， well， in that case， Id just run to Canada. Like， I just…

Rath： （Laughter） So this story is about your quest for buried treasure. Youre trying to find this collection of porcelain that was buried at your familys ancestral home. Ill tease people by saying that you do get there， and you do some digging， literally. But clearly， youre more engrossed in this book by what you unearth about your family—its history and its secrets and how thats wrapped up in Chinas history. So at the end of this， what do you come away learning about yourself？

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

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

Hsu： Thank you for having me.

阿倫·拉思（主持人）：除非你的族谱里有朗·约翰·西尔弗（译者注：名著《金银岛》里声名狼藉的独脚海盗）这样的人，否则你不会想到为了搜寻宝藏而去研究家族的历史。然而那只是徐桓（音译）在他的书——《偷瓷贼》中所讲述的疯狂故事的一部分。徐的外高祖父是中国最后一个封建王朝时期的一位学者，他收藏了大量极具价值的瓷器。但是随着侵华日军的逼近，全家人被迫在1938年离乡背井。

徐桓：为了保证收藏品的安全，他和他的一名下人在花园里挖了个巨大的洞。他们跟我描述的是，此洞有一人多深，大如卧室。然后他们在洞内放置竹架，又将这个巨洞回填满，铺上假的地板，重新种上花草。

拉思：徐桓在成长的过程中对于自己家族的这段历史一无所知。他是在美国出生的华人，居住在犹他州的盐湖城。

徐：我觉得我是一个典型的第二代移民，我对自己华人的血统一点都不感兴趣，想得更多的是如何融入（美国社会）。我只是想，比如，我父母来自另一个星球，他们的到来只是为了让我感到尴尬。而且……

拉思：我想很多人都有那样的感受。（笑）

徐：没错，那可能不仅仅发生在华裔美国人身上。是的。

拉思：嗯，那你怎么想到去你的根所在的地方？你并非想从这次你书中描述的旅行中得到你的遗产，而确实前往中国找出这批被埋葬的瓷器收藏品的来龙去脉了。

徐：尽管我对我的家族史不那么感兴趣，但是毫不夸张地说，我一直喜欢挖掘。比如，我在母亲的后院挖了很多洞，寻找恐龙骨或小蘑菇之类的东西，或者，你懂的，任何小孩子觉得能找到的东西。我想那种冲动体现了作为作者和记者想挖掘素材的职业本能。

所以我在西雅图一家报社工作的时候，我必须去西雅图艺术博物馆寻找写作素材。我在那里的时候，不经意间走进瓷器馆内，看到一个红色菊花状小盘子，上面有几个鎏金的中国字。博物馆工作人员无法告诉我鎏金字的意思，于是我打电话给我父亲帮我翻译。但在我们要挂电话的时候，他说：“嗯，你知道，如果你真的对瓷器感兴趣，你应该跟你母亲聊聊，因为她的娘家有些瓷器。”

于是我跟母亲聊，她告诉我有关外高祖父埋藏瓷器的故事。而她大致知道的就是：我外高祖父是一位瓷器收藏家，曾埋藏过他的瓷器。然而她无法解开我心中的重重疑团：埋藏的瓷器有多少？价值多少？什么时候被埋的？埋在哪里？有人去找过吗？于是她说：“嗯，你知道，清楚这件事情的人是你外祖母，她就在那座老宅里长大的。”最终，我外祖母告诉我母亲：“嗯，你知道，如果他真的想听这个故事，他应该亲自来一趟。”于是我踏上了回乡之路。

拉思：所以你去了中国。而我得告诉你，我还没从你作为华裔美国人在中国的经历回过神来，这唤起了我自己的经历，我不知道你听过ABCD这个词没有，意思是在美国出生的迷茫的印度人，用于称呼那些南亚裔的人。

徐：哦，没听过。

拉思：我在印度的时候深深烦扰到我的第一件事就是：在印度的白种人，他们在街上偶遇的时候会互相点头打招呼，他们就像是确认身份一样。而我有点惊讶的是他们没有这样对我，于是我意识到——等等，不，我不是白人。他们为什么要同样对我？这跟你描述在中国的情形完全一样。

徐：（笑）所以每当我想到自己，我想我并不认为自己是中国人。所以，没错，当我到达中国，我发现自己很心烦意乱，我跟其他外籍人士在街上擦肩而过的时候，我没有得到他们会意的眼神。所以当他们在近处听得到的地方，我就尽可能地突出我的美国特点。比如，我会比实际需要更大声地说英语。没错，我会找个借口去表明：“嘿，嘿，我也是美国人。”

拉思：作为美国出生的华人，中国人是怎么看你的？

徐：当地中国人喜欢问这样的问题：“你觉得自己是中国人还是美国人？”而我会这样回答，“我想在美国，我觉得自己是中国人;在中国，我感觉自己真的很美国化。”年轻人会明白其中含义，不过老一辈的人就是不接受，因为他们希望你说，“哦，是的，我身上流淌着炎黄子孙的血，我爱中国，真的很高兴能投入祖国的怀抱，”诸如此类的东西。

有次吃饭，关于我感觉自己是中国人还是美国人这个话题，有个人真的给我添了麻烦。他就是不接受我模棱两可的回答。最后他说：“好吧，假如中国和美国开战，哪一边是你想扛枪保卫的？”我说：“啊，这种情况，我会逃到加拿大。比如，我只是……”

拉思：（笑）所以这个故事是关于你对埋藏的宝藏的寻觅之旅，你在努力寻找埋藏在你家族老宅的瓷器。我会揶揄人们说，你确实到了那里，毫不夸张地说，你还挖地了。但是很明显，你在书中更专注地挖掘你家族的历史和秘密，以及它与中国历史的关系。最后，你离开时对自己有些什么认识吗？

徐：没错，我想整个经历在某种程度上让我与自己更为和解。我曾经总是非常羡慕那些本土美国人，因为他们能远远追溯自己的血统，有自己的家族传统。所以我想这趟回乡之旅让我更清楚“我来自哪里”，我是说，这听起来有点陈词滥调，但确实让我更了解自己的身份。其实，每个人的家族历史都是有趣的，我想它是十分宝贵的财富，应该被铭记。

拉思：徐桓是《偷瓷贼：寻找中国土地下深埋的宝藏》的作者。谢谢你宝贵的时间，桓。

徐：谢谢你们邀请我。

小链接

ABC的常用缩写

ABC是26个英文字母的前三个，用来指一般常识或浅显的道理，有时也用作书名，通常也指一件事情的开始。

America-born Chinese 美籍华裔，尤指父母都是华人但在美国出生不会讲中文或中文很差的美籍華裔

Agricultural Bank of China中国农业银行

America Broadcast Company美国广播公司

Australian Broadcasting Corporation 澳大利亚广播公司

ABC分别代表三个服装大牌Armani、BURBERRY和Christian Louboutin

ABC百科全书（the ABCs）为英语世界中最负盛名的三部百科全书的集合俗称，即《大美百科全书》（Encyclopedia Americana）、《大英百科全书》（Encyclopedia Britannica）及《科里尔百科全书》（Colliers Encyclopedia）