《穿越陕甘》英文版
Plunder
The accusation that Aurel Stein had by then degenerated into being nothing more than a looter - and an avaricious one at that - can be viewed from alternative perspectives. Had Wang Yuanlu not shown him the Dunhuang Caves when he did, the Taoist would have traded that knowledge with some other foreigner sooner rather than later. This was in fact what happened, as the French Sinologist Paul Peillot, who arrived shortly after Stein’s departure surveyed the remnants of the collection. Helped greatly by the fact that he had proficient Chinese language skills - which Stein did not - Peillot was able to scan thousands of scrolls and make a bulk purchase at the equivalent of £90.
从那时起，人们就指责斯坦因是个强盗，而且利欲熏心。但我们也可以从另一个方面来看这个问题。即便王圆箓没有带斯坦因去敦煌，他迟早也会和其他的外国人去做这笔买卖。后来也证实了这一点。斯坦因离开后不久，法国汉学家保罗·伯希和（Paul Peillot）就来检漏了。得益于自己娴熟的汉语（在这一点上斯坦因不行），伯希和仔细浏览了成千册的经卷，用相当于90镑的批发价全买下了。
If it were not for Stein and Peillot, the fate of the Dunhuang scrolls may have been bleaker. Albert von le Coq (1860-1930), a German who led expeditions to explore the Buddhist and Manichaean caves of Xinjiang, justified his own removal of 360 kilos of icons and wall-carvings by observing that for much of its history, the religious and ethnic diversity of the Silk Road had been the cause of volatility, even conflict. Writing about Chinese Turkestan, he cited anecdotes concerning Muslims who had discovered wall frescoes bearing images of the human face and made the decision to destroy or rebury them rather than risk being associated with artifacts which were anathema to their faith. A more general problem, Le Coq sensed, was that scrolls and banners could fall into the hands of uneducated farmers, who might recycle the inks and paints into fertilizer to spread across the land.
要是没有斯坦因和伯希和，敦煌经卷的命运也许会更加凄凉。德国人阿尔伯特·勒科克（Albert von le Coq 1860-1930）曾率队探险新疆的佛教和摩尼教石窟，并堂而皇之的盗走了360公斤的圣象和壁画，通过对这些文物的历史研究，他认为“丝绸之路”上的多元宗教和民族 是这一区域发生动荡和冲突的主要主要原因。在写到中国的新疆时，他引用的例子是有穆斯林发现了带有人面的壁画时就会损毁或埋掉，而不是冒险将这与艺术联系在一起，因为这是与自己的信仰相悖的咒逐。勒科克意识到一个更加普遍的问题是，经卷和横幅有可能落到目不识丁的人手里，这些人会把上面的墨和色彩当做肥料撒到地里。
Whether perceived as looters or saviours, Stein, Peillot and Le Coq did perform decisive actions which have had ramifications. Somewhat like Chiang Kai-shek’s removal of antiquities from the Chinese Mainland to Taiwan in 1949, they may very well have safeguarded their booty from the future iconoclasm of the Cultural Revolution. As to the current status of the Dunhuang Manuscripts and other treasures collected by Aurel Stein a rumble of controversy continues to be heard from time-to-time. In the 1980s, a Unesco resolution urged the repatriation of these artifacts to their country of origin, though no legal challenge has as yet been brought against the holders of the collections. When asked to offer a Chinese opinion on the matter in 2003, Yasha Ke of the Chinese Embassy responded: “When the time comes I think the Chinese authorities will request the return of these relics […]. It’s hard to say when that will be. Little by little, we expect to see the return of items taken from Dunhuang. They should go back to their original place.”
不论是强盗还是保护者，斯坦因、伯希和与勒科克的所作所为的确产生了影响。就像蒋介石在1949年把大陆的古董运到台湾一样，从而使这些文物安全的躲过了后来的“文化大革命”之劫。至于斯坦因收集到的敦煌经卷和其它宝藏今天的现状，人们还时不时会听到有争议的的吵闹声。在二十世纪八十年代，虽然没有法律条款来约束藏品的拥有者，但联合国教科文组织做出决议，督促让这些文物回到自己的国家。2003年，当有人问中国人对此的看法时，中国大使馆的柯亚沙说：“在时机成熟的时候，我认为中国政府会要求归还这些文物.........要到什么时候还很难说，一点一点的来，我们期望看到归还从敦煌被拿走的文物，这些文物应当物归原主。”
Representatives of the institutions concerned seem confident that the manuscripts will stay put. Whatever the political implications of them holding treasures from overseas, they have proved themselves to be dutiful custodians. The British Library is a prime mover in the International Dunhuang Project, which has over the past twenty years undertaken the massive task of digitizing and translating into several modern languages the manuscripts taken from Mogao, so that they might be accessed online. As of November 2013, a breathtaking 416 622 images have been digitized, thus allowing the common web user an opportunity to survey the Gansu trove without having to trek hundreds of kilometres to a cave in the desert. Enthusiasts are even encouraged to “sponsor a sutra” – offer financial donations in order that the work of the project can continue unabated.
相关机构的代表似乎有信心保留文物，不管他们拥有海外宝藏的政治含义如何，他们已经证明了自己是有责任的监护者。大英图书馆是国际敦煌项目的主要推动者，过去二十年来，该馆把莫高窟的经卷大规模的数字化，并翻译为几种现代语言，以便人们从网上得到资料。 截止2013年11月，已经有416,622幅图像被数字化，从而使普通的网址访问者不到千里之外的大漠，也可以有机会一睹甘肃的石窟。有些热心人甚至鼓励“赞助一部经”——即捐献资金以便这个项目能延续下去 。
Does all of this put the matter of the custody of these artifacts to rest? Well, the inexorable expansion of “Silk Road Tourism” at the beginning of the twenty-first century may provide the catalyst for calls to repatriate Stein’s largesse. Near the beginning of this article I cited what could be considered a generic tour within the Chinese territory of this historic route. However, the range and style of trip is becoming ever more variegated. For instance, one sought-after tour operated by an Australian travel agency promises that for premium price of a little over 6000 AUS dollars travellers can spend seventeen days in the company of art historian Edmund Capon on a west-to-east itinerary from Kashgar to Xi’an. Capon was the Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1978-2011 and authored catalogues to exhibitions showcasing the Han Dynasty jade burial suits and the Terracotta Army of Qin Shihuang. The popularity of such art-focused excursions could in time fuel the demand to see more of the original relics in situ rather than just having to rely upon images and replicas. I remember my own chagrin, for example, when on visiting Lintong for the first time five years ago I was told that the Qin Dynasty bronze cranes I wanted see were unavailable because they were at present a part of an international touring exhibition. Added to these simple observations, we ought to take into account the apparent explosion of domestic Chinese interest in seeing public institutions dedicated to history being established. According to figures released by the Xinhua News Agency, in the ten years from 2001 to 2011 the number of museums in Mainland China mushroomed from 2200 to 3589. By 2020, it is estimated that there will be the equivalent of one museum to every 250 000 Chinese citizens. Whether, and with what, all of this additional exhibition space will be filled remain pertinent questions.
所有这一切能平息对这些艺术品的监护问题吗？二十一世纪不可阻挡的“丝绸之路旅游热”也许会为归还被斯坦因带走的文物增加催化剂。在本文开始的时候，我曾提到过在这一旅途上中国境内的专项游，现在旅游的区域和方式更加多样化了。比如，澳大利亚一家旅行社推出的一个大受欢迎的项目许诺只要六千多澳元，游客就可以在历史学家埃德蒙德·卡彭的陪同下，用十七天的时间从西向东，从喀什旅行到西安。卡彭从1978年到2011年任新南威尔士艺术馆的主任兼馆长，是介绍汉代玉器陪葬和秦始皇兵马俑展览手册的作者。这类艺术为重头戏的旅游会激发人们一睹丝路珍品原物的愿望，而不是只看图片和复制品。
比如，我就记得自己五年前第一次去临潼时的窝火。当时有人对我说看不到我想见到的秦朝青铜鹤，因为这件文物眼下正在一次国际巡回展览中被展出。除此之外，我们也要考虑中国国内的现状，很明显越来越多的人想参观公共历史博物馆，根据新华社的数据，从2001年到2011年的十年间，中国大陆的博物馆如雨后春笋，从2200家骤升到了3589家。到2020年，据估计每25万人就会有一家博物馆。这些多出的展馆空间能否或者说用什么来装饰依旧是个大问题。
Of course, following the route of the Silk Road for leisure and surveying its treasures in an air-conditioned museum or on an Apple laptop is a totally different kind of expernce from pursuing this beaten track for trade or exploration. The exploits of Aurel Stein have become the stuff of legend because he identified lost oases and returned with what he considered to be an “embarrassment of riches.” In order to capture a more tactile sense of the Silk Road we should perhaps turn our attention to abandoned expeditions or forays through the desert where affairs went awry. A substantial, yet neglected, body of memoirs survives which render northwest China in its rawest, most unforgiving terms. One particular favourite of mine, owing in no small part to its strong local connections, is Through Shên-Kan: the account of the Clark expedition in north China, 1908-9 (1912). This brief, though remarkable book, came about when Robert Sterling Clark (1877-1956), the heir to the Singer sewing machine company, expressed his long-held desire to tour the sparsely-populated provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, collecting zoological and natural history specimens.
当然，沿着“丝绸之路”寻乐、在有空调的博物馆和苹果手提电脑上观看宝藏与沿着这条古道探险和经商有天壤之别。斯坦因的探险已成了历史传奇，因为他找到了消失的绿洲，带着“令人尴尬的财富”荣归故里。为了对“丝绸之路”有更 深的感触，我们也许该把注意力转向大漠中还未开发的探险地，或者是进军那些还 没有探险到位的地区。一个很重要但却被忽视了的备忘录用最刺痛和不可饶恕的语言描述中国的西北。那就是《<</span>穿越陕甘:1908-1909年克拉克中国北部考察之旅》，我喜欢这本书，并非是因为与当地的关系。这本不长但却很了不起的书出版了，是因为“胜家缝纫机公司”的继承人罗伯特·斯特林·克拉克（Robert Sterling Clark 1877-1956）要完成自己长久以来的一个夙愿，那就是穿越人烟稀少的山西、陕西和甘肃，沿途收集动物和自然历史标本。
Owing to the paucity of English-speaking guides, let alone native people to trek through the then highly-dangerous zones, Clark turned to his long-term friend Arthur de Carle Sowerby (1885-1954) to facilitate his wish. Quite apart from being a naturalist of international standing Sowerby was a distinctive individual. The son of missionary parents and born and raised in Taiyuan, he was possessed of a deep affinity with the landscape and peoples of the country of his birth, which as he matured into adulthood became suffused with an almost stereotypically British bulldog spirit. On the proviso that his hometown in Shanxi should be their point of departure, Sowerby was engaged to join the team financed and headed by Clark. They passed through the hills into Shaanbei, surveying several rarely-visited towns and cities. Along the way, more than one mishap threatened the safety of the group. As Sowerby noted on a sojourn close to Mizhi:-
由于导游的英文蹩脚，更不用提有当地人在那时愿意穿越这些非常危险的地方，克拉克求助他的老朋友苏柯仁（Arthur de Carle Sowerby 1885-1954) 。苏柯仁并非具有国际视野的博物学家，他是一个自由分子，其父母是传教士，他在太原出生和长大，对自己出生的这片国土和这里的人很有感情。他长大后，身上有一股十足的英国“斗牛犬精神”。在所订的条款中，他们将从他的故乡山西出发。苏柯仁加入了由克拉克资助和率领的探险队，他们穿过陕北的山区，考察了几个无人问津的小镇和城市。一路上，危机性命的灾祸接连不断。苏柯仁在描述到达米脂附近时写到：
During our stay we were fortunate in escaping what might have been a nasty accident; one of Clark’s trunks had its bottom burnt through, having been placed on the kang immediately over the fireplace; the smell of burning wood was noticed just in time for the explosion of a case of Express cartridges in the trunk to be prevented. The maximum and minimum thermometer was stolen through the night, but on investigation it was “discovered” by one of the inn servants some twenty feet away from the window-sill, where it had been placed.
(Clark and Sowerby, Through Shên-Kan, p. 26).
在那里，我们有幸躲过一劫。把东西刚一放到壁炉旁边的炕上，克拉克的一件行李箱着火了，幸亏及时嗅到了木头着火，才避免了引爆箱子里的一盒子弹。晚上，最高和最低温度计被人偷走了。但经过打听，才被旅馆里的一个伙计在二十英尺外的门槛那里被“发现”了，温度计本来就放在那里的。
——摘自《穿越陕甘》 克拉克 苏柯仁 著 第26页
In spite of no shortage of forward planning, the expedition soon became beset with greater maladies. Upon running out of funds, an extended stay in Xi’an became necessary, whilst money was being transferred from bank accounts in Shanghai. The travellers limbered on into Gansu and made some observations which no twenty-first century tourist could replicate:-
除了不缺前行的计划，探险队不久就遇到了更大的麻烦。由于缺乏资金，探险队不得不延长在西安的时间，等待上海的银行汇钱过来。探险队继续前进到甘肃，沿途的考察二十一世纪的旅游者都难以重复。
On July 24th the expedition left Ching-ning, and after passing through a deep gorge penetrating a range to the north of the city, entered a broad and fertile valley, where the rich crops of cereals afforded a pleasing contrast after the meagre productions of the famine-stricken wilds west of Ching-ning. There was no sign of opium, and this was partly explained by the fact that the inhabitants of the valley were all Mohammedan. Indeed, on this journey it was noticed that, wherever the ordinary Chinese tilled the soil, the best land was devoted usually to the cultivation of the poppy; whereas the Mohammedans used all their lands for cereals, hemp, and other useful products.
(Clark and Sowerby, Through Shên-Kan, p. 71-2).
7月24日，探险队离开静宁，穿过城北一条很深的峡谷，进入到一个宽敞而肥沃的山谷，这里长势良好的谷物喜人，与静宁西部受灾的贫瘠作物对比鲜明。没有鸦片的影子，部 分原因是因为这儿的人都是摩尼教徒。在我们
一路上走过的地方，我们注意到普通人家耕种的土地，最好的通常都种鸦片。摩尼教的人种的全是谷物、大麻和其它有用的产品。
——摘自《穿越陕甘》 克拉克 苏柯仁 著 第71-72页
This atrophied land, suddenly proved the downfall of their mission. Now close to the genuine Silk Road, their Indian surveyor Hazrat Alli, was brutally murdered. The written account does not go into detail about the circumstances of the killing, though the ethnic tensions of that region would lend credence to the theory that he was confronted and slain by local Han vagabonds. Clark and Sowerby could venture no further.
这块衰退的土地，一下子成了这次使命的低谷。在即将踏上真正的“丝绸之路”时，队里的印度勘测员阿里被人野蛮的杀害了。这一地区种族之间的紧张关系，让人相信他是被当地的汉人流浪汉给杀了，但书中没有描述杀戮的具体情况，克拉克 和苏柯仁不敢冒险前行了。
A century on, this past era of empire, ambition, and discovery appears a world away. The Silk Road has in so many respects been tamed, branded and packaged for public consumption. Being no longer the exclusive preserve of the merchant or the gentleman traveller it has lost something of its prestige. However, even on the road less travelled by there remain the footprints of those who have gone before and in rare cases these can prove to be an indelible, troublesome stain.
一百年来，过去的帝国时代、抱负和发现如同发生在另一个世界。“丝绸之路”在许多方面有了进步，成了大众消费的品牌。不再是商人和有钱绅士的专属，丝路的声誉也不在显赫了。然而，即便是在人烟稀少的旅途上，依旧有前人的足迹，而这些足迹中偶尔也有令人烦恼和不可磨灭的污点。（全文完）
青春就应该这样绽放 游戏测试：三国时期谁是你最好的兄弟！！ 你不得不信的星座秘密