草根架起中美民间友谊之虹

文/ 林泓颖

在杭州国家版本馆的版本捐赠者中，有这样一对老年夫妇：他们根本不懂英文，却和美国总统交上了朋友；他们出身草根，却为两国民间的友谊奔走了二十多年；他们被媒体誉为中美友谊的“民间大使”，是俄勒冈州前议长口中“最受美国人欢迎的中国夫妇”。他们就是杭州中美友谊民间纪念馆的创始人潘杰和范祝华夫妇。

如果被问“你们都已经退休了，还办这个馆干什么”，潘杰夫妻俩一定会乐呵呵地回答：“退而不休，是种乐趣。”二十多年来，他们将自己的退休工资和积蓄几乎都用在了这份“公益事业”上。好在得道多助：政府免费向他们提供办馆场地，志同道合的朋友们尽力协助他们办馆，儿女们也非常支持，关键时刻都会毫不犹豫地出资帮助父母渡过难关。如今坐落于杭州中山北路的中美友谊纪念馆，既是他们“退而不休”的最好证明，也是中美人民之间友好交往的重要象征。

基辛格博士在纽约与潘杰、范祝华夫妇亲切会面，夫妻俩送上中美友谊馆为其准备的80岁生日礼物。（资料照片）Pan Jie and Fan Zhuhua meets Dr. Henry Kissinger in New York. The couple sent Kissinger a present prepared by the China-US Friendship Memorial Hall for his 80th birthday.

缘起创作园

潘杰和美国的缘分，从20世纪80年代就开始了。当时，潘杰还是一个朝九晚五的事业单位工作人员，业余时间酷爱写作，没想到的是，他参加了一场由一对美国夫妇—作家安格尔和小说家聂华苓来杭讲学的活动，因此改变了自己的人生轨迹。这对夫妇在美国创办了一个“国际笔会中心”，通过向社会募捐的形式给作家写作创造条件。潘杰听后深受启发，与前妻金蕾芳效仿“国际模式”，在杭州用两人的工资和微薄积蓄，以西湖边保俶山上的初阳台为象征，筹建了一个专为创作条件有困难的清寒作家提供写作方便的“初阳台文学创作园”。一颗友好交流的种子，落在了这片古老的东方土地上，生根发芽，开花结果，连办10年里，接待了全国各地两百多位清寒作家。放在当时的大背景下，不能不说是中美友谊在缘分牵引下妙不可言的一个结晶，也是他投身于社会公益事业的好起点。

潘杰退休前一直在浙江展览馆从事展览编辑工作，在搜集资料时，突然看到中国“两弹一星之父”钱学森院士在1998年的全国第二次科技大会上的一番振聋发聩的讲话：“展览是人民喜闻乐见的一种教育方式，为什么没有一门展览学？也没有个展览学院？”潘杰想，自己在展览馆工作，可以为创建展览学出点力。于是他在两年内，利用业余时间撰写了《展览艺术—展览学导论》。第一本就寄给了钱学森院士审阅。钱老收到这本书后，喜不可抑，连忙来信对他表彰。他又花了三年时间，撰写了一部七十万字的《中国展览史》寄给钱老。钱老鼓励他继续努力，他立志要为中国展览学进一步奋斗。后来，金蕾芳病故，临终前叮嘱潘杰说：“你以后有条件的话，可以把灵隐的一套破房修缮后，楼下搞一个纪念馆，展出一些关于中美友谊的资料，楼上办创作园。”

潘杰回忆说，前妻的话“讲到了我的心坎上”。因为早些年研究展览史时，他就曾被历史上中美两国友好往来的诸多事迹感动，创办一个这样的纪念馆，不仅可以作为他持续研究展览学的载体，不辜负钱老的殷切期待，还可以提供一个跨国交流的多元视角，以民间交往、文化共荣为纽带，促进两国的友好关系。那时的潘杰不懂什么是“全球化”，但已经有了一个朦胧的感觉。总之，在他看来，这是心之所愿，更是愿意为之付出努力的事。可惜前妻因病撒手人寰，潘杰缺少了最得力的助手，这个计划也只能同创作园一样暂时被搁置了。

幸好“天意怜幽草”，晚晴之年还能遇上与自己情意相投的伴侣—现任妻子范祝华，那个为中美人民友谊而创馆的计划又一次涌上心头。结婚领证的第二天，潘杰就携范祝华来到了浙江省文物管理局。一纸短短的办馆申请书，在潘杰看来，这不仅是前妻九泉之下未尽的夙愿，也是他和范祝华作为新婚夫妻对未来规划的美好希冀。

不到一个星期，申请书就被批准了。那一年是1998年，潘杰已经65岁了。

领了批准文书，就可以正式以纪念馆的名义开展活动了。此后，由范祝华在国内筹备周转，潘杰赴美国搜集有关资料，早期的纪念馆就这样运作起来了。1999年3月，潘杰回国，夫妻俩举办了纪念馆的第一个展览，题目为“中美友好两百年”。飞虎将军陈纳德的遗孀陈香梅女士亲自为展览题词：“中美友谊，日月常新。”甫一开展，各界名人望士纷至沓来，好评如潮。这让潘杰信心大增，同时也让他结识了更多对推动中美友谊怀有热忱的友好之士，也更加坚定了他要把纪念馆继续办下去的信念。

交往美国政要

秉着“多个朋友多条路”的朴素想法，潘杰来到美国后广交好友，甚至给白宫写了信。早在纪念馆开始筹办时，潘杰就给当时的美国总统克林顿写了信，他在信中向克林顿介绍了纪念馆的概况，特别说明纪念馆由民间自发筹办。

念念不忘，必有回响，不久后就收到了白宫的回信。信中，克林顿称潘杰为“一个让人敬佩的老人”，并致以美好祝愿，突如其来的回音让二老兴高采烈。

值得一提的是，寄信地址叫“凤凰谷”，潘杰更是将其视为一种“吉兆”。他读过《诗经》，传说凤凰非梧桐不栖，梧桐非向阳不生。纪念馆可不就是一株向阳的梧桐吗？潘杰坚信，只要他持之以恒地培育友谊之花，今后一定会有更多的凤凰来栖。

果然，“凤凰”接二连三地飞来了。

第二封信在一个暖和的秋日，盖着粉红色邮戳，跨越万里重洋，带着友好寓意的消息来到了杭州，这是时任美国总统小布什的回信。早在他赢得大选时，潘杰就在杭州选了一幅象征“一帆风顺”的丝绸国画，署名杭州中美友谊纪念馆，作为一份饱含美好祝愿的民间礼物寄给了白宫。

谁知小布什上任后并非一帆风顺，很快发生了9 ·11事件。潘杰觉得，事件中牺牲的都是善良的平民和无辜者，其中还包括数十名华人。他们的生命和未尽的心愿永远定格在了那一天，其背后是多少家庭因此陷入了永远的悲伤和痛苦。民间友好交往中最重要的就是将心比心，人道主义不分国界和种族，他在事发当晚，即以纪念馆名义给白宫发了慰问电报，并表达了良好祝愿。小布什阅后深受感动，很快在一张明信片上写下“谢谢你们的亲切慰问，我赞赏你们的良好愿望”，同时签了名。

夫妻俩收到的第三封美国回信，出自小布什的下一任美国总统奥巴马之手。奥巴马自称是平民总统，潘杰是平民，他觉得平民之间可通心，便寄去了象征平民友谊的文化礼物—自己写的一本励志长篇纪实小说《云暗雪山》。他在封底写着“此书献给敢于挑战危机的人”。奥巴马看后，为了表示感谢，总统夫妇一起回信，并写道：“当我们一起努力应对当今世界面临的巨大挑战时，我们希望你们也继续积极参与。”

提到促成中美两国达成共识最具代表性的人物，许多人都会想到美国前国务卿基辛格博士，他被称为“中国人民的老朋友”。上个世纪，他在美丽的西子湖畔，率先打破了横亘在中美两国间的坚冰，后又一手促成中美建交。2001年8月，潘杰夫妇刚好在美国，偶然看到报纸上刊登着基辛格生病入院的消息，特写信以表达对这位“老朋友”的关心。在基辛格博士对中美友谊纪念馆有了初步了解后，夫妻俩又写了一封信，提及将在他80岁大寿那一年，在杭州西子湖畔的中美友谊纪念馆内，为他八十岁生日举办一个主题展览，以感谢他对中美友好作出的卓越贡献。基辛格博士立即回信致谢，并寄来了他的亲笔签名照。但当展览如期展出后，夫妻俩却犯了难：艺术家们为展览创作的22件艺术品，需要他们亲自送去美国，可他们是靠自己的退休工资在支撑办馆开销，而且不懂英文，更不懂正式场合下的各种礼仪，不知道如何才能见到基辛格博士。果然，到了美国后，基辛格出差去欧洲了，他们只得在纽约干等。由于带去的钱用完了，范祝华便去旅美华人家帮忙，来维持夫妇俩的生计。

一个多月后，夫妇俩终于与基辛格纽约事务所里的一位华人顾问取得了联系。2003年10月23日下午3时许，夫妻俩终于在事务所里与基辛格博士亲切会面。潘杰将22件礼品逐一作了介绍，基辛格博士赞不绝口，并予以极高评价，激动地说：“中国人的念旧情怀，世界上没有其他民族可以比得上。”他随即在代表中美友谊纪念馆赠送生日礼品的清单上题了词，感谢中国艺术家们的盛意，并郑重地说：“我永远是中国人民的好朋友！”

1.前美国总统奥巴马来信。 2.前美国总统小布什来信。3.基辛格博士写信感谢杭州中美友谊馆为其赠送80岁生日礼物。1. Letter from former US president Barack Obama. 2. Letter from former US president George W. Bush.3. Dr. Henry Kissinger wrote a letter expressing his appreciation for the 80th birthday present sent by the China-US Friendship Memorial Hall.

此后，基辛格博士一直与潘杰夫妇保持书信联络。2005年，基辛格博士85岁生日时，潘杰夫妻俩在纪念馆内为其立起了一座半身铜像，象征中美人民的友谊长存；基辛格博士90岁生日时，潘杰夫妻俩携女儿一同前往美国与基辛格博士二次会面。就这样，中国的这对草根夫妻，和被誉为“美国历史上最伟大外交家之一”的人成了好朋友。中美友谊纪念馆正如基辛格博士早年在信中所写的那样，成为了“增进美中两国友好和相互了解的桥梁”。

通过这样民间与政要的非官方交往，潘杰感到与美国朋友可以亲切相处。一位旅美多年的中国朋友曾经向他阐述过这样一个观点：从民间交往与文化交流的角度来说，中美之间其实可以找到更多的共通性。而如何在两国人民友好交往中去寻找某种精神上的共识，就成了他今后办馆的一个重要目标，同时也是中美友谊纪念馆努力的方向。

友谊长存

2020年4月，杭州国家版本馆计划落地杭州余杭良渚，面向群众广征藏品。版本馆工作人员了解到潘杰夫妇在创办中美友谊纪念馆过程中有许多珍品值得收藏，便向他俩提出请求。他们知道这一消息后，想法惊人地一致，“办纪念馆不是为了私利，是纯粹想为中美人民间的友谊做一些事情”。他们马上列了一份资料清单，把潘杰多年来为中美友谊所撰写的书籍悉数赠送，而与钱学森院士的往来书信，以及1998年办馆以来他们收到的所有饱含纪念意义的手稿，如三位美国总统和基辛格博士的来信，则全部交予杭州国家版本馆代管。

“以后肯定是要捐掉的。”范祝华说，“如果哪一年纪念馆有困难了，或者我们两个人无能为力了，东西肯定是会捐赠的”。

夫妻俩如今年事已高，潘杰已经89岁了，2019年，他便将馆内日常工作移交给现任馆长赵国平和副馆长胡龙官。赵馆长本身是位成功的企业家，与范祝华同属杭州民进，早年就结下了深厚的友谊。在与潘杰夫妻俩交往的过程中，他为这对夫妇创馆办馆的筚路蓝缕，为促进中美人民友谊而奉献之真诚与无私深深感动，便主动提出帮二老分担纪念馆相关工作，兢兢业业并慷慨解囊的十多年里，他一直是纪念馆的忠实支持者和守护者。

被聘为馆长后，赵国平也不负众望，他和副馆长胡龙官组织了一系列交流活动：接待了美国西华盛顿大学学生的组团来访，开了两次座谈会等。为了表达纪念馆对中美人民友好往来的肺腑之情，潘杰夫妇将在纽约写下的缅怀长诗《不死的火凤凰—献给美国人民》精制成中英文对照的水晶诗碑，与几位馆长一起送给纽约9 · 11纪念馆永久陈列。纽约纪念馆馆长收到诗碑后来信称，这是“代表了中国人民的心”，并决定将此诗碑按最高馆藏标准永久收藏和展出。

受到新冠肺炎疫情影响，纪念馆目前暂时关闭，而赵国平除了在自己企业的厂房内陈列《中美友好二百年》的展览内容外，还计划在办馆的形式上进行改革。他认为，现在是融媒体时代，可运用新媒体等符合当下受众视听习惯的传播方式来扩大影响力，对纪念馆来说非常有必要，并坚信纪念馆的未来必将更加美好。

听过千禧年世纪相交的钟声，又来到复杂多变的所谓“后疫情时代”，潘杰和范祝华坚信，尽管一路走来经历了晴晴雨雨，但中美两国人民向往和平、美好、友善的初衷是不会改变的，因此两国人民的友好交往也应该一直进行下去。如今，火把虽然已经传递给接棒者，但他们仍然会坚持“退而不休”。

The 24-Year Endeavor of an Ordinary Chinese Couple: Building a Bridge of Friendship

By Lin Hongying

This is a story of a Chinese couple, Mr. Pan Jie and Ms. Fan Zhuhua, founders of the China-US Friendship Memorial Hall in Hangzhou, the first of its kind in China. The elderly couple have befriended US presidents without knowing a word of English.Ordinary as they are, they have made efforts over the past two decades to promote China-US friendship. The couple, dubbed“folk ambassadors”, have been spoken highly of by a former House Speaker of Oregon.

基辛格博士来信中附亲笔签名照一张。An autographed photo that Dr. Henry Kissinger sent together with his letter.

From 1998 to 2022, the two self-rehired retirees have spent almost all their pensions and savings on the Memorial Hall, a nonprofit endeavor. Fortunately, the good cause has received abundant support and borne witness to the people-to-people exchanges between China and the US.

It all began in the 1980s, when Pan worked nine-to-five at Zhejiang Exhibition Hall. One day, he attended a lecture given by an American couple, writer Paul Engle and novelist Hualing Nieh Engle, without knowing it would change his life. The US couple had founded the International Writing Program in 1967 to support writers through public donations. Inspired by the“American model”, Pan and his then-wife, Jin Leifang, founded a writers’ workshop for financially challenged writers, which became Pan’s starting point of running a non-profit organization.

One day, a question raised by Qian Xuesen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, caught Pan’s eyes: How come we don’t have exhibition studies since exhibition is a popular way of education? Pan believed he could do something about it, so he spent two years writing a book entitledUpon its completion, he sent the first copy to Qian, who gladly wrote a letter of commendation.Three years later, Pan sent Qian his bookand received words of encouragement again.

Pan’s first wife, Jin, advised him on her deathbed to renovate their old house into a memorial hall and a writers’ workshop. Her advice found an echo in Pan’s heart. The memorial hall could serve as a platform for continuing exhibition studies and promoting China-US friendship. Unfortunately, the plan had to be laid aside because of Jin’s death.

As fate would have it, Pan met his second life partner, Ms.Fan Zhuhua, and his dream was reignited. The day after they tied the knot, the newlyweds submitted an application for a memorial hall. That was in 1998 when Pan was 65. Then, Pan traveled around to collect exhibition materials. March of 1999 saw the launch of the first exhibition entitled “Two Centuries of China-US Friendship”, which received an inscription message from Anna Chan Chennault and garnered much praise. The successful debut boosted Pan’s confidence and made him more resolute in continuing the meaningful cause.

In the early days of the Memorial Hall, Pan tried his best to make friends. He wrote to Bill Clinton, introducing to him the non-governmental Memorial Hall. Shortly afterwards, Pan got a reply from the White House, in which Clinton praised him. The letter came as a pleasant surprise for Pan and his wife.

A few years later, on a warm fall day, they received a letter from the then president George W. Bush, as a response to a gift Pan had sent him to celebrate his victory in the presidential election. On the night of September 11, 2001, Pan sent a cable to President Bush, expressing his condolences to the families of the innocent victims. Deeply touched, President Bush replied with an autographed thank-you postcard.

President Bush’s successor, President Obama, believed the most important title for himself is “citizen” rather than “president”.Pan, who also considers himself an average citizen, sent the president his long non- fiction as a token of friendship. The first couple replied with words of appreciation and inspiration.

The replies from three US presidents convinced Pan that friendly people-to-people exchanges between the two nations are necessary, through which they can find common ground and real consensus. For Pan, this is what the Memorial Hall is all about.

In August 2001, the couple sent get-well wishes to Dr.Kissinger after they learned he had been hospitalized. After sharing with him the stories of the Memorial Hall, the couple wrote the old friend of the Chinese people another letter, telling him they would stage an exhibition at the hall to celebrate his 80th birthday and thank him for his great contributions toward improving China-US relations. Dr. Kissinger responded with a letter of appreciation and an autographed photo. After the exhibition, the couple embarked on a difficult journey to bring the 22 works of art from the exhibition to Dr. Kissinger. Over a month later, on the afternoon of October 23, 2003, the couple presented the 22 gifts to Dr. Kissinger at his office in New York. Dr. Kissinger was deeply impressed and simply thrilled.

Since then, the couple has kept in touch with Dr. Kissinger through mails. In 2005, a bronze bust of Dr. Kissinger was erected inside the Memorial Hall. When Dr. Kissinger turned 90, the couple and their daughter paid him a visit. The story between the couple and Dr. Kissinger has demonstrated the important role the Memorial Hall plays in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two nations.

The China National Archives of Publications and Culture(Hangzhou) in Liangzhu, Yuhang district of Hangzhou, is an institution set up to promote the preservation, exhibition, research and exchanges of the archival heritage. When the archives staff approached the couple for the valuable records marking the founding process of the Memorial Hall, the couple did not hesitate a moment and immediately prepared a list of such records.

Pan, 89 years old now, turned over the routine responsibilities in 2019 to Zhao Guoping and Hu Longguan, director and deputy director of the Memorial Hall. After assuming his role,Zhao has organized a series of exchange activities together with Hu. To express their best wishes for the everlasting friendship of the Chinese and American people, the couple prepared a crystal tablet inscribed with a bilingual poem and presented the gift to the National September 11 Memorial Museum, whose curator recognized it as a token of sincere friendship in his reply and promised to put it on permanent display.

Due to the pandemic, the Memorial Hall is closed. But Zhao has staged an exhibition on China-US friendship in his factory building and is planning to change the way the hall is run. He believes that it’s necessary to increase the impact of the hall via new media and that this meaningful cause holds an even brighter future.

Despite the ups and downs over the past two decades, Pan Jie and Fan Zhuhua are convinced that China and the US should maintain people-to-people exchanges. The 24-year endeavor of the couple has successfully built a bridge of friendship that connects the past with the future.