9 "When a Man Gets Power, Even His Chickens and Dogs Rise to Heaven"
九 “一人得道，鸡犬升天”
——living with an incorruptible man
——与清官共同生活(1951—1953年)
My mother was now in a new Party cell, made up of herself, Mrs. Ting, and a third woman who had been in the Yibin underground, with whom my mother got on very well. The nonstop intrusion and demands for self-criticisms came to an immediate halt. Her new cell quickly voted for her to become a full Party member, and in July she was given Party membership.
我母亲现在换了一个新的党小组，由她、“挺”夫人和一位原为宜宾地下党的女子组成。母亲和她俩相处甚好，组织生活会已不要“交待思想”，也不在小事上吹毛求疵了。1951年7月，她们投票赞成她转为正式共产党员。
Her new boss, Mrs. Ting, was no beauty, but her slender figure, sensuous mouth, freckled face, lively eyes, and sharp repartee all exuded energy and showed she was a character. My mother warmed to her at once.
她的新上司“挺”夫人长得不漂亮，但很苗条，有张性感的嘴、雀斑脸和生动活泼的眼睛。她还具有刻薄的巧辩能力，浑身洋溢着活力，是位个性很强的女人。我母亲立即对她很有好感。
Instead of sniping at her like Mrs. Mi, Mrs. Ting let my mother do all sorts of things she wanted, like reading novels; before, readin, g a book without a Marxist cover would bring down a rain of criticism about being a bourgeois intellectual. Mrs. Ting allowed my mother to go to the cinema on her own, which was a great privilege, as at the time those 'with the revolution' were allowed to see only Soviet films and even then only in organized groups whereas the public cinemas, which were privately owned, were still showing old American films, such as Charlie Chaplin's. Another thing which meant a lot to my mother was that she could now have a bath every other day.
“挺”夫人不像米女士，米女士一看我母亲就不顺眼，老是对她“横挑鼻子竖挑跟”。“挺”夫人则和我母亲趣味相投，她准我母亲做好喜爱的事，如看小说之类。她俩在同一间办公室，只要没别人在，两人就都偷着看书。那时不成文的规定是只能看马列著作和报纸，违犯者一被发现，就是一顿批评。“挺”夫人还允许我母亲私下去电影院看电影，这在当时也是很不得了的事。1953年以前，政府机关没有休息日，党员、干部们只能集体去看革命内容的苏联电影。而公共电影院仍由私人经营，上映一些美国电影，如卓别林主演的喜剧片。另一件使我母亲很开心的事是可以每隔一天洗一次澡而不再挨批了。
One day my mother went to the market with Mrs. Ting and bought two yards of fine pink flower-patterned cotton from Poland. She had seen the cloth before, but had not dared to buy it for fear of being criticized for being frivolous. Soon after she had reached Yibin, she had had to hand in her army uniform and return to her "Lenin suit."
一天，我母亲和“挺”夫人到商场去买了两码波兰产的质地薄软的粉红色细花布。她已眼馋好久了，就是不敢买，怕人说她轻佻。到宜宾后不久，她上交了军服，仍穿她的列宁装。
Under that she wore a shapeless, undyed, rough cotton shirt. There was no rule saying it was compulsory to wear this garb, but anyone who did not do the same as everybody else would come in for criticism. My mother had been longing to wear a dash of color. She and Mrs. Ting rushed over to the Changs' house with the cloth in a state of high excitement. In no time, four pretty blouses were ready, two for each of them. Next day they wore them under their Lenin jackets. My mother turned her pink collar out and spent the whole day feeling terribly excited and nervous.
里面穿的是做工粗糙、没有腰身体形的土布本色衫衣。虽然没有规定必须穿这种衬衣，但是任何与众不同的人必招非议。我母亲和“挺”夫人兴高采烈地拿着这块布跑到张家大院，没多久，四件漂亮的衫衣做好了，每人两件。第二天，她们把它穿在列宁装里面。我母亲把粉红色领子翻到外面，一整天都感到极度度兴奋和紧张。
Mrs. Ting was even more daring; she not only turned her collar outside her uniform, but rolled up her sleeves so that a broad band of pink showed on each arm.
“挺”夫人更大胆，她不仅把衬衫领子翻了出来，甚至卷起外套的袖子，两只圆润的胳膊上露出一圈美丽的花边。
My mother was staggered, almost awestruck, at this defiance. As expected, there were plenty of disapproving glances. But Mrs. Ting held her chin up: "Who cares?" she said to my mother. My mother was tremendously relieved; with the sanction of her boss, she could ignore any criticisms, verbal or wordless.
我母亲对这种大胆行为又吃惊又佩服。正如所料，她们招来不少异样的眼光。但“挺”夫人昂然不睬，还对我母亲说：“别理他们！”有她这位上司顶着，我母亲也就放心了，她可以不必担心别人用语言或眼神来批评她了。
One reason Mrs. Ting was not frightened of bending the rules a bit was that she had a powerful husband, who was less scrupulous in exercising his power. A sharp-nosed, sharp-chinned, and slightly hunched man of my father's age, Mr. Ting was head of the Party Organization Department for the region of Yibin, which was a very important position, as this department was in charge of promotions, demotions, and punishments. It also kept the files of Party members. In addition, Mr. Ting, like my father, was a member of the four-man committee governing the region of Yibin.
“挺”夫人胆敢无视众议的一个原因是她有位掌权并乐意为夫人用权的丈夫。“挺”先生高鼻梁、尖下巴、背有点驼，与我父亲年龄相仿。他是宜宾地区共产党组织部部长，这是一个非常重要的职务，因为该部门管干部的升降和所有党员的档案。像我父亲一样，“挺”先生也是负责整个宜宾地区的四个领导人之一。
In the Youth League my mother was working with people her own age. They were better educated, more carefree, and more ready to see the humorous side of things than the older, self-righteous, peasant-turned Party-official women she had been working with before.
我母亲在共青团里工作的同事差不多都和她同龄，她们受过较好的教育，思想比较开放。比起她过去一块工作过的那些年龄大、觉得唯有自己才是革命者的农民出身的党员妇女来说，这些年轻人爱说爱笑，不那么死板，她们喜欢跳舞、野餐，谈论政治，也谈论文学艺术。
Her new colleagues liked dancing, they went on picnics together, and they enjoyed talking about books and ideas.
Having a responsible job also meant my mother was treated with more respect, and this increased as people realized that she was extremely capable as well as dynamic.
担任要职意味着我母亲受到尊重，大家认识到她能干又充满干劲，就更加敬重她。
As she grew to be more confident and to rely less on my father, she felt less disappointed with him. Besides, she was getting used to his attitudes; she had stopped expecting him always to put her first, and was much more at peace with the world.
她恢复了自信心，不再像过去那样需要我父亲的支持，怨气也就没有了。此外，她已习惯了不再指望他总把自己摆到首位，失望也就少了。
Another bonus of my mother's promotion was that it qualified her to bring her mother to Yibin on a permanent basis. At the end of August z 95 x, after an exhausting journey, my grandmother and Dr. Xia arrived; the transportation system was working properly again and they had traveled the whole way by regular train and boat. As dependants of a government official, they were assigned lodgings at the state's expense, a three-room house in a guesthouse compound. They received a free ration of basic goods, like rice and fuel, which were delivered to them by the manager of the compound, and they were also given a small allowance to buy other food. My sister and her wet-nurse went to live with them, and my mother spent most of her brief spare time there, enjoying my grandmother's delicious cooking.
因为我母亲地位提升了，也够格接姥姥来同住。1951年8月，我姥姥和夏医生经过一段艰难旅程后到了宜宾。这时交通已恢复正常，他们一路上乘火车和轮船过来。到宜宾后，因为他们是干部家属，由国家付费给他们安排了住处。在地区专署招待所内的一个小院子里，有三个房间、一间厨房，外带厕所。政府免费供应米、油盐和柴火，以及少量零用钱，由招待所所长按月送上门。我姐姐和她的奶妈搬来了。我母亲短暂的空闲时间几乎全花在这里，享受姥姥烧的可口饭菜。
My mother was delighted to have her mother and Dr. Xia, whom she loved with her. She was particularly glad that they were no longer in Jinzhou, as war had recently broken out in Korea, on the doorstep of Manchuria; at one point in late 195o American troops had stood on the banks of the Yalu River, on the border between Korea and China, and American planes had bombed and strafed towns in Manchuria.
我母亲很高兴能把姥姥和夏瑞堂搬来，她很爱他们，也对他们现在远离战火放了心。1950年下半年，美国军队曾一度打到鸭绿江边，美国飞机还轰炸扫射了东北一些城镇。
One of the first things my mother wanted to know was what had happened to Hui-ge, the young colonel. She was devastated to hear that he had been executed by firing squad, by the bend in the river outside the western gate of Jinzhou.
我母亲首先想知道的是汲上校的下落。如晴天霹雳，姥姥说他已被押解到锦州城西门外河湾处决了。姥姥还说是她埋了汲上校。
For the Chinese, one of the most terrible things that could happen was not to have a proper burial. They believed that only when the body was covered and placed deep in the earth could the dead find peace. This was a religious feeling, but it also had a practical side: if the body was not buried, it would be torn to pieces by wild dogs and picked to the bone by birds. In the past, the bodies of people who had been executed had traditionally been exposed for three days as a lesson to the population; only then were the corpses collected and given a sort of burial.
中国人讲究“入土为安”，这是一种宗教般的情感，也有现实的一面：尸体不埋好，就会被野狗撕碎，被乌鸦叼走。过去对被处死者的一种处罚是暴尸三天三夜，然后才埋掉。现在，共产党发出告示，家属立即埋掉被处死的亲人。如果没人认尸掩埋，后事将由政府雇人去做。
Now the Communists issued an order that the family should immediately bury an executed relative; if they could not do it, the task was carried out by grave diggers hired by the government.
My grandmother had gone herself to the execution ground. Hui-ge's body had been left lying on the ground, fiddled with bullets, one of a row of corpses. He had been shot along with fifteen other people. Their blood had stained the snow dark red. There was no one from his family left in the city, so my grandmother had hired professional undertakers to give him a decent burial. She herself brought a long piece of red silk in which to wrap his body. My mother asked if there were other people she knew there. Yes, there had been. My grandmother had bumped into a woman she knew who was collecting the corpses of her husband and her brother. Both had been Kuomintang district chiefs.
我姥姥去了枪决现场，汲上校的尸体和别的十五具尸体在地上倒成一排，被子弹打得尽是窟隆，他们的血把雪地染成暗红色。汲家没有一个人留在锦州，所以我姥姥拿了一块红色大绸包裹他的尸体，雇了一个职业殡仪队为他办了个体面的葬礼。我母亲问姥姥有没有见到其他认识的人，我姥姥说碰到一个人在那里为丈夫和兄弟收尸，他们曾是国民党地区首脑。
My mother was also horrified to hear that my grandmother had been denounced by her own sister-in-law, Yu-lin's wife. She had long felt put-upon by my grandmother, as she had to do the hard work around the house, while my grandmother ran it as its mistress. The Communists had urged everyone to speak up about 'oppression and exploitation," so Mrs. Yu-lin's grudges were given a political framework. When my grandmother collected Hui-ge's corpse Mrs. Yu-lin denounced her for being well disposed toward a criminal. The neighborhood gathered to hold a 'struggle meeting' to 'help' my grandmother understand her 'faults." My grandmother had to attend, but wisely decided to say nothing and appear meekly to accept the criticism. Inwardly, she was fuming against her sister-in-law and the Communists.
出乎我母亲意料之外，我姥姥收尸这件事被她的弟媳妇玉林的妻子揭发了。这个女人一向觉得我姥姥高她一等而心里不快。我姥姥是夏家的女主人、管家，而她不得不做很多家务重活。由于共产党的宣传，她恍然大悟到，原来这么多年，她一直是在受“剥削和压迫”。我姥姥为上校收尸提供给她一个很好的出气机会，玉林妻子告姥姥同情罪犯。邻居们集合起来开了一个批判会“帮助”我姥姥认识“错误”。我姥姥不得不参加，她明智地决定不为自己辩解，很温顺地接受批评，但内心却十分气这个弟媳妇，也气共产党。
The episode did not help relations between my grandmother and my father. When he found out what she had done, he was enraged, saying she was more in sympathy with the Kuomintang than with the Communists. But it was obvious that he also felt a twinge of jealousy. While she hardly spoke to my father, my grandmother had been very fond of Hui-ge and had considered him a good match for my mother.
这个事件也加深了我姥姥和父亲之间的紧张关系。他发了顿脾气，说她同情国民党。但是很明显，他还有另一层嫉妒的心理。我姥姥和我父亲总是话不投机，但对汲上校另眼看街，认为他才是理想的女婿。
My mother was caught in the middle between her mother and her husband; and between her personal feelings, her grief over Hui-ge's death, and her political feelings, her commitment to the Communists.
我母亲夹在她母亲与丈夫之间，实在很难做人，同时，内心又充满矛盾。一方面，她对汲上校之死感到极度悲伤；另一方面，她又忠于共产党。
The execution of the colonel was part of a campaign to 'suppress Counterrevolutionaries'? Its goal was to eliminate all supporters of the Kuomintang who had had power or influence, and it was triggered by the Korean War, which had started in June 195o. When US troops had come right up to the Manchurian border Mao had feared the United States might attack China, or unleash Chiang Kai-shek's army against the mainland, or both. He sent over a million men into Korea to fight on the side of the North Koreans against the Americans.
汲上校的死是“镇压反革命运动”的一个部分，这场运动的目的是扫除一切曾经掌有大权或有号召力的支持国民党政权的人，这是因1950年6月朝鲜战争爆发而引起的。当时美国军队迅速推进到东北边界，毛泽东担心美国人会进攻中国，或帮助蒋介石的军队反攻大陆，或是两者兼有。他派了一百万军队开赴朝鲜对付美国人。
Although Chiang Kai-shek's army never left Taiwan, the United States did organize an invasion into southwest China by Kuomintang forces from Burma; raids were also frequent in the coastal areas, many agents were landed, and acts of sabotage increased. Large numbers of Kuomintang soldiers and bandits were still at large and there were sizable rebellions in parts of the hinterland. The Communists worried that supporters of the Kuomintang might try to topple their newly established order, and that if Chiang Kai-shek tried to stage a comeback they would rise up as a fifth column. They also wanted to show people that they were there to stay, and getting rid of their opponents was one way to impress the concept of stability on the population, who had traditionally yearned for it. However, opinions were divided about the degree of ruthlessness necessary. The new government decided not to be fainthearted. As one official document put it: "If we do not kill them they will come back and kill us."
尽管蒋介石的军队从没离开过台湾，但美国人确实组织了国民党的残余部队以缅甸为基地向中国西南都进攻。偷袭沿海地区的活动很频繁，特务登陆、破坏活动也增多了。许多内地省分先后发生了暴动。共产党担心国民党的支持者在此气候下会试图推翻他们尚未巩固的政权。如果蒋介石发动反攻，这些人就会以第五纵队充作内应。共产党想向民众表示他们将牢牢掌握政权，保持中国安定，他们知道中国人最渴望的就是安定。在镇反杀人问题上，共产党内部存在若干分歧，但中央决定绝不手软。一份官方文件说道：如果我们不杀掉他们，他们就会回来杀了我们。
My mother was not convinced by the argument, but she decided there was not much point trying to talk to my father about it. In fact she rarely saw him, as he spent much of the time away in the countryside, troubleshooting.
我母亲虽然承认这个理论有道理，但心里仍有个疙瘩。不过她不想与我父亲谈。事实上，现在她很难看得见他，他把大的时间都花在各地农村，排解各类问题，即便是回到城市，两人也少有呆在一起。当时共产党的干部一个星期工作七天，从早晨八点到夜里十一点，彼此几乎没有时间说话，女儿也不住在一起，大家在食堂里吃饭，没有什么家庭生活可言。
Even when he was in town, she did not see much of him.
Officials were supposed to work from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m., seven days a week, and one or both of them usually came home so late they hardly had time to talk to each other.
Their baby daughter did not live with them, and they ate in the canteen, so there was almost nothing one could call a home life.
Once the land reform was completed, my father was off again, supervising the construction of the first proper road through the region. Formerly, the only link between Yibin and the outside world had been by river. The government decided to build a road south to the province of Yunnan.
土改一结束，父亲又下乡负责修建该地区的第一条公路。以前，连接宜宾与外界的交通全靠江河。新政府决定修建一条公路通往云南省。
In only one year, using no machinery at all, they built over eighty miles through a very hilly area, with numerous rivers. The labor force was made up of peasants, who worked in exchange for food.
他们仅用了一年时间，在没有任何筑路机器的情况下，建成一条八十多哩长的公路，穿山越岭，跨过河流。筑路大军是由农民组成，以干活来换粮。
During the digging, the peasants hit the skeleton of a dinosaur, which got slightly damaged. My father made a self-criticism and ensured it was excavated carefully and shipped to a museum in Peking. He also sent soldiers to guard some tombs dating from about ~ zoo from which the peasants had been taking bricks to improve their pigsties.
在筑路期间，农民曾挖到一副巨大的恐龙骨，稍微受损了。我父亲因此作了自我检讨，保证日后要小心挖掘。骨架完整出土后，就用船运到北京博物馆去了。他还派士兵去保护一些公元200年的墓穴，以免农民们拿走墓砖去修建家里的猪圈。
One day two peasants were killed by a rock slide. My father walked through the night along mountain paths to the scene of the accident. This was the first time in their lives the local peasants had set eyes on an official of my father's rank, and they were moved to see that he was concerned about their well-being. In the past it had been assumed that all officials were only out to line their pockets.
一天，两个农民被坍方的石块砸死了，父亲沿着羊肠小径步行一整夜来到出事地点。当地农民第一次亲眼见到他这样的大官，都很感动，觉得他真正关心老百姓。过去他们所见的大都是只想中饱私囊的官吏。
After what my father did, the locals thought the Communists were marvelous.
Meanwhile, one of my mother's main jobs was to galvanize support for the new government, particularly among factory workers. From the beginning of 1951 she had been visiting factories, making speeches, listening to complaints, and sorting out problems. Her job included explaining to the young workers what communism was and encouraging them to join the Youth League and the Party. She lived for long periods in a couple of factories: Communists were supposed to 'live and work among the workers and peasants," as my father was doing, and to know their needs.
父亲在农村和农民生活在一起。共产党干部要求与工人、农民实行三同(同吃、同住、同劳动)，并了解他们的需要。从1951年开始，母亲也与工人“三同”。她住进了工厂，做演说，听意见，解决问题，鼓动工人支持新政府。她向青年工人解释什么是共产主义，鼓动他们申请加入共青团和共产党。
One factory just outside the city made insulating circuits.
Living conditions there, as in every other factory, were appalling, with scores of women sleeping in a huge shack built of straw and bamboo. The food was woefully inadequate: the workers got meat only about twice a month, even though they were doing exhausting work. Many of the women had to stand in cold water for eight hours at a stretch washing the porcelain insulators. Tuberculosis, from malnutrition and lack of hygiene, was common. The eating bowls and chopsticks were never properly washed and were all mixed up together.
城外有家工厂生产绝缘瓷管。工人住在低矮潮湿的窝棚里，二十名女工睡在一张木板搭成的通铺上，上面只铺张竹席。饭吃不饱，每月仅能吃到两次肉。女工们站在冷水里不停地洗瓷瓶，一站就是八小时。缺乏营养、劳动条件恶劣使传染(特别是肺结核病)大肆横行，饭碗和筷子又不认真清洗消毒，加上“碗筷不分家”，更使疾病流行。
In March my mother began to cough up a little blood.
She knew at once that she had TB, but she kept on working. She was happy because no one was intruding on her life. She believed in what she was doing, and she was excited by the results of her work: conditions in the factory were improving, the young workers liked her, and many pledged their allegiance to the Communist cause as the result of her. She genuinely felt that the revolution needed her devotion and self-sacrifice, and she worked flat out, all day, seven days a week. But after working without a break for months, it became obvious that she was extremely ill.
3月时，我母亲开始咳嗽，并咳出了血。她明白自己得了肺结核，但她仍然坚持要工作，她因没有人对她的生活琐事横加干涉而感到轻快。更重要的是她相信她所做的事，为自己的工作成果而欣喜。由于她的努力，工厂的状况日渐改善，青年工人们信任她。许多人在她鼓励下宣誓忠于共产主义，她感到革命需要她的奉献和自我牺牲。她每星期工作七天，连续几个月不休息，结果肺上出现了四个空洞，而在夏季她又怀了我。
Four cavities had developed in her lungs. By the summer she was also pregnant with me.
One day in late November my mother fainted on the factory floor. She was rushed to a small hospital in the city which had originally been set up by foreign missionaries.
11月下旬一天，她昏倒在工作地上，当好被送到一家从前外国教会建立的医院。这里仍有一个欧洲牧师和几个修女，身穿宗教服装。
There she was looked after by Chinese Catholics. There was still one European priest there, and a few European nuns, wearing religious habits. Mrs. Ting encouraged my grandmother to bring her food, and my mother ate an enormous amount- a whole chicken, ten eggs, and a pound of meat a day sometimes. As a result, I became gigantic in her womb and she put on thirty pounds.
我母亲由中国天主教徒照顾。“挺”夫人鼓励我姥姥送东西给她吃，而她的食量也十分惊人，有时一天可以吃掉一整只鸡，十个鸡蛋，外加一磅肉，蔬菜、水果、米饭还没算在内。结果我在她肚子里长得很大，她的体重增加了三十磅。
The hospital had a small amount of American medicine for TB. Mrs. Ting charged in and got hold of the whole lot for my mother. When my father found out he asked Mrs. Ting to take at least half of it back, but she snapped at him: "What sense does that make? As it is, this is not enough for one person. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask the doctor. Besides, your wife works under me and I am making the decisions about her." My mother was enormously grateful to Mrs. Ting for standing up to my father. He did not insist. He was obviously torn between concern for my mother's health and his principles, according to which his wife's interest must not override that of the ordinary people, and at least some of the medicine ought to be saved for others.
医院里有少量医治肺结核的美国进口药物，“挺”夫人出面把全部的药都拿来给我母亲，我父亲得知后要求至少送一半回去。但“挺”夫人厉声反驳：“这样做有什么意义？所有的还不够治一个人！如果你不信，去问医生好了。而且，你妻子在我手下工作，你管不着！”我母亲非常感谢“挺”夫人能顶住我父亲。我父亲不再坚持了，他本来也左右为难，不知怎么办才好。妻子的健康对他非同小可，但他内心又很不安：别的病人怎么办呢？为什么自己的妻子要比他们更重要呢？这实在和他的原则相冲突，所以不要他作决定也好。
Because of my huge size and the way I grew upward, the cavities in her lungs were compressed and started to close. The doctors told her this was a compliment to her baby, but my mother thought the credit should probably go to the American medicine she had been able to take, thanks to Mrs. Ting. My mother stayed in the hospital three months, until February 1952, when she was eight months pregnant. One day she was suddenly asked to leave, 'for her own safety." A friend told her that some guns had been found in the residence of a foreign priest in Peking, and all foreign priests and nuns had fallen under extreme suspicion.
由于我的个头大，母亲肺上的空洞受挤压而开始复合。医生告诉她这得益于胎儿，但母亲认为应归功于美国药，而她能够享用此药还得感谢“挺”夫人。母亲在医院里呆了三个月，直到1952年2月才出院。这时，她怀孕八个多月了，突然要她出院，说是为了她的“安全”。一位官员告诉她，北京有个外国教士的住处发现了枪支，所有的外国神父和修女都受到怀疑。
She did not want to leave. The hospital was set in a pretty garden with beautiful water lilies, and she found the professional care and the clean environment, which were rare in China at that time, extremely soothing. But she had no choice, and was moved to the Number One People's Hospital. The director of this hospital had never delivered a baby before. He had been a doctor with the Kuomintang army until his unit had mutinied and gone over to the Communists. He was worried that if my mother died giving birth, he would be in dire trouble because of his background and because my father was a high official.
我母亲不想离开，医院屋里屋外十分清洁，有个优美的花园，盛开着美丽的百合花，护理又尽职精心。当时在中国难得有这样安静、舒适的场所。但是她只能服从，搬到市第一人民医院。院长曾是国民党军医，随部队投降了共产党。他担心我出世时，我母亲腹腔内的急剧变化会使她肺的空洞重新张开，发生大出血，如果我母亲有个三长两短，他自身的背景和我父亲的高位可能带给他灾难。
Near the date when I was due to appear, the director suggested to my father that my mother should be moved to a hospital in a larger city, where there were better facilities and specialist obstetricians. He was afraid that when I emerged, the sudden removal of pressure might cause the cavities in my mother's lung to reopen and produce a hemorrhage. But my father refused; he said his wife had to be treated like anyone else, as the Communists had pledged themselves to combat privilege. When my mother heard this she thought bitterly that he always seemed to act against her interest and that he did not care whether she lived or died.
我快出世前，这位院长建议我父亲，把我母亲转到附近泸州市的一家医院，它的设备较好，有专门产科医生。但是我父亲拒绝了，他说他的妻子应该和普通老百姓一样，不应享受特殊照顾。我母亲得知后伤心的想：他怎么总是不管我的死活呢？
I was born on 25 March 1952. Because of the complexitty' of the case, a second surgeon was invited in from another hospital. Several other doctors were present, along with staff with extra oxygen and blood transfusion equipment, and Mrs. Ting. Chinese men traditionally did not attend births, but the director asked my father to stand by outside the delivery room because it was a special case and to protect himself in case anything went wrong. It was a very difficult delivery. When my head came out, my shoulders, which were unusually broad, got caught. And I was too fat.
我于1952年3月25日出生。院长从另一家医院请来医生，由本院几位医生助阵，并搬来氧气瓶和输血设备。“挺”夫人也来了。按中国传统，男人不能看接生，但是院长要求我父亲等在接生室外面——万一出差错，他可以知道不是院长的责任。接生过程非常困难，我的头出来后，宽肩膀被卡住了，而且我太胖了。
The nurses pulled my head with their hands, and I came out squeezed blue and purple, and half strangled. The doctors placed me first in hot water, then in cold water, and lifted me up by my feet and smacked me hard. Eventually I started crying, very loudly, too. They all laughed with relief.
护士们又推又拉。好不容易我出来了，身上被挤压得青一块紫一声，处于半窒息状态。医生们先把我放在热水中，然后又放在冷水里，再抓着我的脚，头向下举起来，啪啪啪直打我的背。终于，我哭了，声音也特别大。大家笑了，全部松了口气。
I weighed just over ten pounds. My mother's lungs were undamaged.
我体重达十磅多，我母亲的肺安然无恙。
A woman doctor picked me up and showed me to my father, whose first words were: "Oh dear, this child has bulging eyes!" My mother was very upset at this remark.
一位女医生把我抱给父亲看，他的第一句话是，“哎呀！这孩子怎么是个鼓眼儿！”我母亲听了觉得很刺耳，俊英娘娘说：“什么鼓眼儿，是漂亮的大眼睛！”
Aunt Jun-ying said, "No, she just has beautiful big eyes!"
As for every occasion and condition in China, there was a particular dish considered just right for a woman immediately after she had given birth: poached eggs in raw sugar juice with fermented glutinous rice. My grandmother prepared these in the hospital, which, like all hospitals, had kitchens where patients and their families could cook their own food, and had them ready the minute my mother was able to eat.
在中国，身体以及外界一有变化，就得吃某种特定食物。刚生完孩子的女人要吃红糖、糟蛋。像所有医院一样，这家医院有厨房，病人和家属能自己烧饭。我姥姥已在医院做好了这种食物，专等我母亲出产房。
When the news of my birth reached Dr. Xia, he said:
"All, another wild swan is born." I was given the name Er-hong, which means "Second Wild Swan."
当夏瑞堂听到我出生的消息时，他笑着说：“生了一个二鸿！”我于是得名“二鸿”，意思是第二只鸿雁。
Giving me my name was almost the last act in Dr. Xia's long life. Four days after I was born he died, at the age of eighty-two. He was leaning back in bed drinking a glass of milk. My grandmother went out of the room for a minute and when she came back to get the glass she saw the milk had spilled and the glass had fallen to the floor. He had died instantly and painlessly.
给我取名算是夏瑞堂一生中所做的最后一件事。我出世后四天，他就去世了，那年他八十二岁。那天他正在床边喝一杯牛奶，我姥姥出去了几分钟，回来取杯子时，发现杯子掉到地板上，牛奶四溅，他已毫无痛苦地离开了人间。
Funerals were very important events in China. Ordinary people would often bankrupt themselves to lay on a grand ceremony and my grandmother loved Dr. Xia and wanted to do him proud. There were three things she absolutely insisted on: first, a good coffin; second, that the coffin must be carried by pallbearers and not pulled on a cart; and third, to have Buddhist monks to chant the sutras for the dead and musicians to play the mona, a piercing woodwind ins manent traditionally used at funerals. My father agreed to the first and second requests, but vetoed the third. The Communists regarded any extravagant ceremony as wasteful and 'feudal." Traditionally, only very lowly people were buried quietly. Noise-making was considered important at a funeral to make it a public affair:, this brought 'face' and also showed respect for the dead. My father insisted there could be no suona or monks. My grandmother had a blazing row with him. For her, these were essentials which she just had to have. In the middle of the altercation she fainted from anger and grief. She was also wrought up because she was all alone at the saddest moment of her life. She had not told my mother what had happened, for fear of upsetting her, and the fact that my mother was in the hospital meant that my grandmother had to deal directly with my father. After the funeral she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized for almost two months.
在中国，葬礼是件极要紧的事，很多人宁可倾家荡产也要办得风风光光，我姥姥很爱夏瑞堂，要为他办一个隆重的丧礼。她首先要一副好棺材；其次要棺材由专人抬，不用大车拉；第三，要有和尚念经和吹鼓手吹吹打打“送行”。我父亲同意第一、第二项，但不同意第三项，共产党认为这类排场是搞“封建迷信活动”。但是，按传统规矩，只能极卑贱的人才会被悄悄地埋掉，要表示对死者尊敬就得热热闹闹大吹大擂。对我姥姥来说，这非同小可。她与父亲大吵起来，争吵中，她当姨太太时留下的休克病发作了，一头倒下，在这一生最悲痛的时刻，她还得独自一人承担，她没有告诉我母亲夏瑞堂的死，害怕影响她的健康。葬礼后她完全垮了，在医院住了近两个月。
Dr. Xia was buried in a cemetery on top of a hill on the edge of Yibin, overlooking the Yangtze. His grave was shaded by pines, cypresses, and camphor trees. In his short time in Yibin Dr. Xia had won the love and respect of all who knew him. When he died, the manager of the guesthouse where he had been living arranged everything for my grandmother and led his staff in the silent tuner al procession.
夏瑞堂葬在宜宾城边一座小山顶上的墓地里，俯视长江，墓前松柏香樟成荫。他在宜宾时间虽短，但赢得了所有认识他的人的热爱和尊敬。死后，他曾住过的招待所所长代我姥姥安排葬礼细节，并带领他的职员参加了无声的送葬队伍。
Dr. Xia had been happy in his old age. He loved Yibin and took tremendous pleasure in all the exotic flowers which flourished in the subtropical climate, so different from Manchuria. Right up until the very end he enjoyed extraordinarily good health. He had had a good life in Yibin, with his own house and courtyard rent free; he and my grandmother were well looked after, with abundant supplies of food delivered to their home. It was the dream of every Chinese, in a society without any social security, to be cared for in old age. Dr. Xia was able to enjoy this, and it was no small thing.
夏瑞堂的晚年很幸福。他深爱宜宾，很欣赏与东北截不同的亚热带奇花异草。他和姥姥受到很好的照顾，有免费的房屋住，还有花园，丰盛的食物送到家里。在一个没有福利保险的社会中，这是每个中国人的梦想——晚年有靠。
Dr. Xia had got on very well with everybody, including my father, who respected him enormously as a man of principle. Dr. Xia considered my father a very knowledgeable man. He used to say he had seen many officials in the past, but never one like my father. Common wisdom had it that 'there is no official who is not corrupt," but my father never abused his position, not even to look after the interests of his own family.
夏瑞堂和每一个人，都相处甚好。他尊敬我父亲，说他有才学，又是个有道德有原则的人，过去见许多官，没有见过像他这样的官。俗话说：“无官不贪”，我父亲不但不滥用职权，甚至不照顾自己家庭的利益。
The two men would talk together for hours. They shared many ethical values, but whereas my father's were dressed in the garb of an ideology, Dr. Xia's rested on a humanitarian foundation. Once Dr. Xia said to my father: "I think the Communists have done many good things. But you have killed too many people. People who should not have been killed."
这两个男人可以一聊就聊几个小时，他们的道德价值观相似。我父亲的表达方式是意识形态的语言，而夏瑞堂的则是人道主义。有一次，夏瑞堂对我父亲说：“共产党做了许多好事，就是杀人太多，杀了不应该杀的人。”
"Like who?" my father asked.
我父亲问：“哪些人？”
"Those masters in the Society of Reason," which was the quasi-religious sect to which Dr. Xia had belonged. Its leaders had been executed as part of the campaign to 'suppress counterrevolution ari? The new regime suppressed all secret societies, because they commanded loyalties, and the Communists did not want divided loyalties.
“比方说那些‘在理会’的师父、师爷。”夏瑞堂指的是他所属的那个宗教帮会组织，会首们在“镇压反革命运动”中被处死了。新政府镇压了所有的帮会，因为他们不想让任何组织分享老百姓的忠心。
"They were not bad people, and you should have let the Society be," Dr. Xia said. There was a long pause.
夏瑞堂说：“他们并不是坏人，你们不应该杀了他们。”接着是一段沉默。
My father tried to defend the Communists, saying that the struggle with the Kuomintang was a matter of life and death.
我父亲显然觉得自己应为共产党辩护，他说：“共产党与国民党是你死我活的斗争。”
Dr. Xia could tell that my father was not fully convinced himself, but felt he had to defend the Party.
夏瑞堂能看出我父亲自己也说服不了自己，但又感到不得不替共产党辩护。
When my grandmother left the hospital she came to live with my parents. My sister and her wet-nurse also moved in. I shared a room with my wet-nurse, who had had her own baby twelve days before I was born and had taken the job because she desperately needed money. Her husband, a manual worker, was in jail for gambling and dealing in opium, both of which had been outlawed by the Communists. Yibin had been a major center of the opium trade, with an estimated 25,000 addicts, and opium had previously circulated as money. Opium dealing had been closely linked to gangsters and provided a substantial portion of the Kuomintang's budget. Within two years of coming to Yibin the Communists wiped out opium smoking.
我姥姥出院后，和我父母、我姐姐和她的奶妈，以及我和我的奶妈住在一起。我奶妈自己的女儿比我大十二天，由于没钱，迫不得已当奶妈。她的丈夫是个手工匠，因为赌博和贩卖鸦片而被关进牢里——共产党一上台就禁赌禁烟。宜宾曾是鸦片交易的中心，据估计有两万五千人吸毒上瘾，鸦片甚至可当货币流通。鸦片生意通常和黑社会组织有关，国民党财政收入的一部分也靠它，共产党来到宜宾后两年就禁绝了鸦片。
There was no social security or unemployment benefit for someone in the position of my wet-nurse. But when she came to us the state paid her salary, which she sent to her mother-in-law, who was looking after her baby. My nurse was a tiny woman with fine skin, unusually big round eyes, and long exuberant hair, which she kept in a bun.
我奶妈这样的妇女没有社会福利，到我家后，政府付她薪水，才能把钱给她婆婆照看她的孩子。她个子小，皮肤细腻，眼睛分外大而圆，一头浓密黑发梳成圆髻。
She was a very kind woman, and treated me like her own daughter.
她心地很好，待我像自己的女儿一样。
Traditionally, square shoulders were regarded as unbecoming for girls, so my shoulders were bound tightly to make them grow into the required sloppy shape. This made me bawl so loudly that my nurse would release my arms and shoulders, allowing me to wave at people who came to the house, and clutch them, which I liked doing from an early age. My mother always attributed my outgoing character to the fact that she was happy when she was pregnant with me.
民间习俗说姑娘家宽肩膀不好看，削肩才算美丽，所以我的肩膀被紧紧裹住，以便长成削肩。但我总是放声大哭，使我奶妈心疼地松开绑我肩膀的束带，由我在客人面前挥舞胳膊并抓他们。这是我在幼儿时喜爱的举动，我母亲认为我开朗的个性是因为她在怀我时心情愉快。
We were living in the old landlord's mansion where my father had his office; it had a big garden with Chinese pepper trees, banana groves, and lots of sweet-smelling flowers and subtropical plants, which were looked after by a gardener provided by the government. My father grew his own tomatoes and chillies. He enjoyed this work, but it was also one of his principles that a Communist official should perform physical labor, which had traditionally been looked down on by mandarins.
我们住在父亲的办公院里，从前是一个大地主的府邸。院中的大花园有花椒树、芭蕉丛和其他散发香味的亚热带花木。由于没有公职园丁看管，我父亲在花园里种上西红柿和辣椒，他觉得这是一种乐趣，也是一个原则：共产党干部应从事体力劳动，不应像从前的达官贵人那样“四体不勤，五谷不分”。
My father was very affectionate to me. When I began to crawl, he would lie on his stomach to be my 'mountains," and I would climb up and down him.
我父亲非常爱我。当我会爬时，他每每趴在地板上用背当成一座“山”，让我在上面爬上爬下。
Soon after I was born my father was promoted to become the governor of the Yibin region, the number-two man in the area, below only the first secretary of the Party. (The Party and the government were formally distinct, but actually inseparable.)
我出世后不久，他升为宜宾地区专员，是仅次于党委第一书记的第二号人物。党和政府名义上有别，但实际上不分家。
When he had first returned to Yibin, his family and old friends all expected him to help them. In China it was assumed that anyone in a powerful position would look after their relatives. There was a well-known saying: "When a man gets power, even his chickens and dogs rise to heaven." But my father felt that nepotism and favoritism were the slippery slope to corruption, which was the root of all the evils of the old China. He also knew that the local people were watching him to see how the Communism would behave, and that what he did would influence how they regarded communism.
当我父亲刚到宜宾肘，他的亲属和老友都指望沾光，在中国，任何一个有权势的人理应先照顾他的亲属。俗话说：“一人得道，鸡犬升天。”但我父亲认为这是腐败的象征，是旧中国罪恶的渊源。他也知道，当地民众正瞪着眼睛看他如何行事，他所做的一切都事关共产党的声誉。
His strictness had already estranged him from his family.
我父亲不帮亲友任何忙，让人觉得他“六亲不认”。
One of his cousins had asked him for a recommendation for a job in the box office at a local cinema. My father told him to go through the official channels. Such behavior was unheard of, and after this no one ever asked him for a favor again. Then something else happened soon after he was appointed governor. One of his older brothers was a tea expert who worked in a tea marketing office. The economy was doing well in the early 195os, production was expanding, and the local tea board wanted to promote him to manager. All promotions above a certain level had to be cleared by my father. When the recommendation landed on his desk, he vetoed it. His family was incensed, and so was my mother.
他的一个哥哥要他介绍到电影院当收票员，他说：“这事应由劳动部门安排。”这种绝情的答复闻所未闻，从此以后大家庭再没人找他帮忙了。在他被任命为地区专员后，又发生了另一件事。他的另一个哥哥是茶叶专家，在茶厂工作。五十年代早期经济发展情形好转，生产扩大，管理部门推荐他为专区工商科副科长。当时规定，一定级别以上的擢升，须由我父亲审批。推荐资料放到他桌上时，却被他否决了。他全家人都很生气，我母亲也发火道：“又不是要你提拔他，人家靠自己本事，你不帮助他情有可原，但你也不能压制他呀！”我父亲说，他哥哥没有足够能力，可能是人家看在他专员兄弟的面子上。
"It's not you who is promoting him, it's his management!" she exploded.
"You don't have to help him, but you don't have to block him either!" My father said that his brother was not capable enough and that he would not have been put forward for promotion if he had not been the governor's brother. There was a long tradition of anticipating the wishes of one's superiors, he pointed out.
The tea management board was indignant because my father's action implied that their recommendation had ulterior motives. My father ended up offending everyone, and his brother never spoke to him again.
推荐部门很愤怒，因为我父亲的话意味着他们的推荐动机不良，结果我父亲两面不是人，他这个哥哥从此不再和他说话了。
But my father was unrepentant. He was fighting his own crusade against the old ways, and he insisted on treating everyone by the same criteria. But there was no objective standard for fairness, so he relied on his own instincts, bending over backward to be fair. He did not consult his colleagues, partly because he knew that none of them would ever tell him that a relative of his was undeserving.
我父亲并不后悔，他认为把个人、家庭置于社会之上的传统危害极大，要堵死。他不让亲人享有任何特权，跟外人一样公开对等。但什么叫公平，没有客观标准，于是他靠自己的直觉去做，唯恐亲人得到不该得的好处。他甚至不和同事们商量，部分原因是他知道他们没有一个人会说他的亲友不够格。
His personal moral crusade reached its zenith in 1953 when a civil service ranking system was instituted. All officials and government employees were divided into twenty-six grades. The pay of the lowest grade, Grade 26, was one-twentieth of that of the highest grade. But the real difference lay in the subsidies and perks. The system determined almost everything: from whether one's coat was made of expensive wool or cheap cotton to the size of one's apariment and whether it had an indoor toilet or not.
他对传统的挑战在1953年达到高潮，那年所有的共产党干部被分成二十五级，最高一级薪金是最低一级的二十倍。级别不同，各种待遇都不一样，服装质地是高级毛料还是低廉的棉布，住房的大小，能否有室内厕所等等，都视级别而定。
The grading also determined every official's access to information. A very important part of the Chinese Communist system was that all information was not only very tightly controlled, but highly compartmentalized and rationed, not only to the general public who were told very little but also within the Party.
这个级别制还决定了每个干部所能接触到的信息。共产党不仅控制信息，而且按级别高低来分配。比方说，有的文件只传达到“地师级”，有的则可传达到“县团级”。
Although its eventual significance was not apparent, even at the time civil servants could feel that the grading system was going to be crucial to their lives, and they were all nervous about what grade they would get. My father, whose grade had already been set at 11 by higher authorities, was in charge of vetting the rankings proposed for everyone in the Yibin region. These included the husband of his youngest sister, who was his favorite. He demoted him two grades. My mother's department had recommended my mother to be Grade 15; he relegated her to Grade 17.
尽管级别制的重要意义在当时还没完全显现出来，但干部们已能隐约感到这对他们的生活会有重大影响，他们都很紧张地等待评定结果。我父亲已经被上级定为11级，此时被指定审批宜宾地区干部的级别，其中包括他最喜欢的小妹妹的丈夫。当基层报上给他定的级数时，我父亲决定降他两级。大家庭中人人都很生气：人家老老实实工作，和你妹妹结婚就该少两级吗？然后轮到我母亲，我母亲的单位推荐她为十五级，我父亲大笔一挥，把她也降两级，定成十七级了。
This grade system is not directly linked to a person's position in the civil service. Individuals could be promoted without necessarily being upgraded. In nearly four decades, my mother was upgraded only twice, in 1962 and 1982; each time she moved up only one grade, and by 1990 she was still Grade 15. With this ranking, in the 1980s, she was not entitled to buy a plane ticket or a 'soft seat' on a train: these can be bought only by officials of Grade 14 and above. So, thanks to my father's actions in 1953, almost forty years later she was one rung too low on the ladder to travel in comfort in her own country. She could not stay in a hotel room which had a private bath, as these were for Grade 13 and above. When she applied to change the electric meter in her apartment to one with a larger capacity, the management of the block told her that only officials of Grade 13 and above were entitled to a bigger meter.
一个人的级别并不直接和他的职务有关，职务升了不一定会升级。在以后的近四十年里，我母亲只在1962年和1982年升过两次级别，每次只升了一级。四十年终于扳回了我父亲扣去的两级。八十年代，她的级别使她无权购买飞机票或火车上的软卧，因为只有十四级以上的干部才准买。她不能住旅馆的单人套房，这是十三级以上的干部享用的。当她想把屋里的电表储存安数换大一点时，住屋管理员告诉她，只有十三级以上的干部才准用大电表。
The very acts which infuriated my father's family were deeply appreciated by the local population, and his reputation has endured to this day. One day in 1952 the headmaster of the Number One Middle School mentioned to my father that he was having difficulty finding accommodations for his teachers.
这些使我父亲全家都大为恼怒的事，却深受当地民众的赞扬，他的好名声持续至今。1952年一天，市第一中学的校长向我父亲汇报工作时说，他正愁着教师们没地方住。你父亲立即回答说：
"In that case, take my family's house it's too big for only three people," my father said instantly, in spite of the fact that the three people were his mother, his sister Jun-ying, and a brother who was retarded, and that they all adored the beautiful house with its enchanted garden. The school was delighted; his family less so, although he found them a small house in the middle of town. His mother was not too pleased, but being a gracious and understanding woman, she said nothing.
“那么，就住我家大院好了。这么大个院子才住了三个人！”他不管三个人实际上是谁：她的母亲、姐姐俊英和他一位智能不足的弟弟。学校喜出望外，他家里的人却很伤心。这栋带有迷人花园和竹林的老屋，在过去最困难时也没舍得卖。尽管我父亲为他们三人在城中找了一栋小房子，他母亲心里还是不痛快。但她很豁达，心地又善良，所以也没多加计较。
Not every official was as incorruptible as my father.
Quite soon after taking power, the Communists found themselves facing a crisis. They had attracted the support of millions of people by promising clean government, but some officials began taking bribes or bestowing favors on their families and friends. Others threw extravagant banquets, which is a traditional Chinese indulgence, almost a disease, and a way of both entertaining and showing of fall at the expense, and in the name, of the state, at a time when the government was extremely short of funds; it was trying to reconstruct the shattered economy and also fight a major war in Korea, which was eating up about 50 percent of the budget.
并不是每位干部都像我父亲那么清廉。共产党掌权后不久，发现面临的危机。他们先前正是因为号称要建立清廉政府，所以才吸引了成千上万民众的支持，但是现在一些共产党干部却开始受贿，为自己的亲友捞取好处。一些共产党员还大开宴席，既是请客，也是炫耀。花费都由公款支付，而当时正是政府资金极为短缺的关头，一方面要重建破碎的经济，一方面朝鲜战争又吃掉了国家预算的一半。
Some officials started embezzling on a large scale. The regime was worried. It sensed that the goodwill which had swept it into power and the discipline and dedication which had ensured its success were eroding. In late 1951 it decided to launch a movement against corruption, waste, and bureaucracy. It was called the "Three Antis Campaign." The government executed some corrupt officials, imprisoned quite a number, and dismissed many others.
由于一些干部开始大规模贪污，共产党政府担心老百姓的拥护、共产党员的纪律及献身精神都会消蚀殆尽。1951年底，政府决定发起一场反贪污、反浪费和反官僚主义的“三反运动”。政府枪毙了一些贪官，也关了一批人，还撤掉了很多人的职务，甚至有一些长征老红军因牵涉到大规模贪污或贿赂案中而被处决，以杀鸡儆猴。这一场疾风暴雨后，共产党干部在二十多年里少有贪污腐败的事情发生。
Even some veterans of the Communist army who had been involved in large-scale bribery or embezzlement were executed, to set an example. Henceforth, corruption was severely punished, and it became rare among officials for the next couple of decades.
My father was in charge of the campaign in his region.
There were no corrupt senior officials in his area, but he felt it was important to demonstrate that the Communists were keeping their promise to provide clean government.
我父亲负责宜宾地区的三反运动。这里没有发现贪污的官员。但我父亲说，为了让老百姓看到共产党搞廉政是说话算话，哪怕是一丁点儿越规行为都得公开自我检讨，像用公家电话处理私人的事情，或用公家信重复写私人信件。从此，干部们变得十分谨慎，甚至不敢用公家的墨水写私信，他们都带着两支笔——公家跟私人的，不时换来换去。
Every official had to make a self-criticism about any infraction, however minor: for example, if they had used an office telephone to make a personal call, or a piece of official notepaper to write a private letter. Officials became so scrupulous about using state property that most of them would not even use the ink in their office to write anything except official communications. When they switched from official business to something personal they changed pens.
There was a puritanical zeal about sticking to these prescriptions. My father felt that through these minutiae they were creating a new attitude among the Chinese: public property would, for the first time, be strictly separate from private; officials would no longer treat the people's money as their own, or abuse their positions. Most of the people who worked with my father took this position, and genuinely believed that their painstaking efforts were directly linked to the noble cause of creating a new China.
我父亲的道理是，共产党得从小事着手，在中国建立一套全新的道德标准：公共财产和私物要完全分清楚，有权的不把国库当作自己的钱包。他的同事也都这么认为。
The Three Antis Campaign was aimed at people in the Party. But it takes two to make a corrupt transaction, and the corrupters were often outside the Party, especially 'capitalists," factory owners and merchants, who had still hardly been touched. Old habits were deeply entrenched.
三反运动是针对共产党内部，但腐败往往是一个巴掌拍不响，党外有贿赂者，特别是“资本家”、工厂主和商人，他们那时还未被革命触及。
In spring 1952, soon after the Three Antis Campaign got going another, overlapping campaign was started. This was called the "Five Antis' and was aimed at capitalists.
The five targets were bribery, tax evasion, fraud, theft of state property, and obtaining economic information through corruption. Most capitalists were found to have committed one or more of these offences, and the punishment was usually a fine. The Communists used this campaign to coax and (more often) cow the capitalists, but in such a way as to maximize their usefulness to the economy.
1952年春天，三反运动展开后不久，另一个“五反运动”也开始了，这次是冲着资本家来的，反“贿赂、漏税、诈骗、盗窃国家财产和收买官员获得取经济情报”。结果发现许多资本家都犯有一项或多项这样的违法行为，惩罚通常是罚款。共产党利用这场运动对资本家软硬兼施，一方面使他们就范，一方面利用他们搞经济，关押的人并不多。
Not many were imprisoned.
These two linked campaigns consolidated mechanisms of control, originally developed in the early days of communism, which were unique to China. The most important was the 'mass campaign' (qiun-zhongyun-dong), which was conducted by bodies known as 'work teams' (gong-zuo-zu).
发动这两次相关联的运动的方式是共产党早期就发展起来的：由“工作组”领导的“群众运动”。“工作组”是临时组织，主要由政府工作人员组成，共产党官员领队，由中央到各省再到基层，层层委派。一般来说，只有在某次运动中已经审清的人才可以担任那次运动的工作组成员。
Work teams were ad hoc bodies, made up mainly of employees from government offices and headed by senior Party officials. The central government in Peking would send teams to the provinces to vet the provincial officials and employees. These, in turn, formed teams which checked up on the next level, where the process was repeated, all the way down to the grass roots. Normally, no one could become a member of a work team who had not already been vetted in that particular campaign.
Teams were sent to all organizations where the campaign was to be conducted 'to mobilize the people." There were compulsory meefngs most evenings to study instructions issued by the top authorities. Team members would talk, lecture, and try to persuade people to stand up and expose suspects. People were encouraged to place anonymous complaints in boxes provided for the purpose. The work team would investigate each case. If the investigation confirmed the charge, or revealed grounds for suspicion, the team would formulate a verdict which was sent up to the next level of authority for approval.
工作组下到单位去“动员群众”，几乎每晚都开会，组织学习中央最高决策机构发布的文件指示。工作组成员通过个别谈话、会议演讲，鼓动、劝说大家站出来揭发可疑的人和事，并鼓励人们写匿名信投到专门设置的信箱中。工作组调查每个案子，然后裁决，送上一级审批。
There was no genuine appeal system, although a person who came under suspicion could ask to see the evidence and would usually be allowed to make some sort of defense.
中国没有真正的申诉体系，但被怀疑的人可以要求看证据，可替自己辩护。
Work teams could impose a range of sentences including public criticism, dismissal from one's job, and various forms of surveillance; the maximum sentence they could give was to send a person to the countryside to do physical labor. Only the most serious cases went to the formal judicial system, which was under the Party's control. For each of the campaigns, a set of guidelines was issued from the very top, and the work teams had to abide strictly by these. But when it came down to individual cases, the judgment and even the temperament-of the specific work team could also be important.
工作组有权作判决，包括公开批判、撤职，以及各种不甘落后监督。最重的判决是把人送到农村做体力劳动。只有很严重的案件才由正式的司法系统审理，当然这仍不离党的控制。在每次运动中，上级发布一连串的指导方针，工作组必须遵照执行。但是到了个人的案件时，工作组的公正与否，甚至工作组成员的个人好恶、脾气等，都会影响案件的处理。
In each campaign everyone in the category which had been designated as the target by Peking came under some degree of scrutiny, mostly from their work mates and neighbors rather than the police. This was a key invention of Mao's to involve the entire population in the machinery of control. Few wrongdoers, according to the regime's criteria, could escape the watchful eyes of the people, especially in a society with an age-old concierge mentality.
每次运动，中央决定审查范围，然后动员群众——包括这些人的同事、邻居、亲朋好友——对范围内的人揭发批判，而不由公安机关做此工作。这是毛泽东的一大发明——把全体民众都卷进控制体系中，“罪犯”难逃来自四面八方警戒的眼睛，特别是在一个有管他人事习惯的社会中。
But the 'efficiency' was acquired at a tremendous price: because the campaigns operated on very vague criteria, and because of personal vendettas, and even gossip, many innocent people were condemned.
此“高效率”的代价也高：由于审查标准、政策往往含糊，群众中又夹杂着各种私人恩怨，以及流言蜚语，因此许多人无辜受害。
Aunt Jun-ying had been working as a weaver to help support her mother, her retarded brother, and herself.
俊英娘娘一直靠织布养活自己、母亲和傻弟弟。
Every night she worked into the small hours, and her eyes became quite badly damaged from the dim light. By 1952 she had saved and borrowed enough money to buy two more weaving machines, and had two friends working with her. Although they divided the income, in theory my aunt was paying them because she owned the machines. In the Five Antis Campaign anyone employing other people fell under some sort of suspicion. Even very small businesses like Aunt Jun-ying's, which were in effect cooperatives, came under investigation. She wanted to ask her friends to leave, but did not want them to feel she was giving them the sack. But then the two friends told her it would be best if they left. They were worried that if someone else threw mud at her, she might think it was them.
每天她都工作到清晨两、三点钟，视力因煤光昏暗而受损。她把积蓄和借来的钱凑在一起买了两台手工织布机，请了两位朋友和她一起干活，赚了钱均分。俊英娘娘拥有机器，所以也算雇主。在五反运动中，每个雇主，不管雇人多寡，都属运动对象。俊英娘娘这样的小工作坊，虽属全作性质，也落人调查范围之中。她很为难，既想要她的朋友离开，又不想让她们感到被解雇了。但是这两位朋友告诉她：一走了之最好，这样要是有人诬告她的话，她就不会以为是她俩。
By the middle of 1953 the Three Antis and Five Antis campaigns had wound down; the capitalists had been brought to heel, and the Kuomintang had been eradicated.
到了1953年中期，三反、五反运动的风头过去了。资本家听话了，国民党被连根除掉，群众大会告一段落。干部们心里都很明白大批群众揭发的资料并不可靠，所以对每个案子都派专人一一调查。
Mass meetings were coming to an end, as officials had come to recognize that much of the information which emerged at them was unreliable. Cases were being examined on an individual basis.
* * *
In May 1953 my mother went into hospital to have her third child, who was born on 23 May: a boy called Jinming. It was the missionary hospital where she had stayed when she was pregnant with me, but the missionaries had now been expelled, as had happened all over China. My mother had just been given a promotion to head of the Public Affairs Department for the city of Yibin, still working under Mrs. Ting, who had risen to be Party secretary for the city. At the time my grandmother was also in the hospital with severe asthma. And so was I, with a navel infection; my wet-nurse was staying with me in the hospital. We were being given good treatment, which was free, as we belonged to a family 'in the revolution." Doctors tended to give the very scarce hospital beds to officials and their families. There was no public health service for the majority of the population: peasants, for example, had to pay.
1953年春，我母亲被提升为宜宾市委宣传部部长，“挺”夫人升为该市市委书记，仍领导她。5月23日，我母亲在医院产下第三个孩子，是个男孩，取名京明。住的就是那家我母亲怀我时养过病的教会医院，此时已没有外国教士、修女了，全中国的传教士都被驱逐出境了。我姥姥住在另一家医院里，她犯的严重哮喘，我也因肚脐发炎在奶妈陪伴下住了院。病床很少，医生通常把床位让给干部家庭，我们的医疗费也全免。但绝大多数人没有免费医疗，农民看病、吃药、住院都必须付钱。
My sister and my aunt Jun-ying were staying with friends in the country, so my father was alone at home. One day Mrs. Ting came to report on her work. Afterward she said she had a headache and wanted to lie down. My father helped her onto one of the beds, and as he did so she pulled him down toward her and tried to kiss and stroke him. My father backed away at once.
我姐姐和俊英娘娘此时住在乡下俊英娘娘的朋友家。于是家里空荡荡，只剩我父亲。一天，“挺”夫人登门汇报工作。过了一会儿，她说头晕，要躺一躺。我父亲扶她躺到一张床上，她乘势把他拉向自己，想吻他，我父亲立刻挣脱开，快步走出房间，边走边说：
"You must be very exhausted," he said, and immediately left the room. A few moments later he returned, in a very agitated state. He was carrying a glass of water which he put on the bedside table.
“你一定是太累了。”不一会儿，他又进来了，显得很激动。他端来一杯水，把它放在床边的方桌上说：
"You must know that I love my wife," he said, and then, before Mrs. Ting had a chance to do anything, he went to the door and closed it behind him. Under the glass of water he had left a piece of paper with the words "Communist morality."
“你一定知道我很爱我妻子。”在“挺”夫人来不及做任何举动，说任何话时，他又匆匆离去，并顺手把门关好。杯子下面是一张纸条，上面写着：共产主义道德。
A few days later my mother left the hospital. As she and her baby son crossed the threshold of the house, my father said: "We're leaving Yibin the minute we can, for good."
几天以后，我母亲出院了。当她抱着襁褓中的儿子跨进家门时，我父亲劈头第一句话是：“我们得马上离开宜宾，越快越好。”我母亲难以想象何事要这么紧张。他于是告诉她发生的一切，并说“挺”夫人盯上他已有一段时间了。我母亲开始的反应是惊愕多于愤怒，觉得“挺”夫人怎会是这样的人。停顿了一会儿，她问：“为什么要忙着走呢？”我父亲说：“她是个不到黄河心不死的女人，我怕她会再找我。而且她报复心很强，我担心她会伤害你。这很容易，你在她手下工作。”
My mother could not imagine what had got into him. He told her what had happened, and said Mrs. Ting had been eyeing him for some time. My mother was more shocked than angry.
"But why do you want to leave so urgently?" she asked.
"She's a determined woman," my father said.
"I'm afraid she might try again. And she is also a vindictive woman. What I am most worried about is that she might try to harm you. That would be easy, because you work under her."
"Is she that bad?" my mother replied.
“她真的这样坏？”我母亲问。“当然，我听人家说她被关押在国民党监狱里时，曾勾引过看守。你说，她真会对我下手吗？她可是我在这里最好的朋友。”
"I' did hear some gossip that when she was in jail under the Kuomintang she seduced the warder, that sort of thing. But some people like to spread rumors. Anyway, I'm not surprised she should fancy you," she smiled.
"But do you think she would really turn nasty on me? She is my best friend here."
"You don't understand there is something called "rage out of being shamed" [nao-xiu-cheng-nu]. I know that is how she is feeling. I wasn't very tactful. I must have shamed her. I'm sorry. On the spur of the moment I acted on impulse, I'm afraid. She is a woman who will take revenge."
“你不知道，”我父亲说，“有句话叫恼羞成怒，我当时应该做得缓和点，不要扫她的面子扫得太厉害。可是现在晚了，我太冲动了，我很担心她会报复。”
My mother could visualize exactly how my father might have abruptly rebuffed Mrs. Ting. But she could not imagine Mrs. Ting would be that malicious, nor could she see what disaster Mrs. Ting could bring down on them. So my father told her about his predecessor as governor of Yibin, Mr. Shu.
我母亲能想象得出我父亲如何断然拒绝了“挺”夫人，但她不能想象“挺”夫人会狠毒地整她，也看不出“挺”夫人会给他们带来什么灾难。于是我父亲把他前任专员苏先生的事告诉了她。
Mr. Shu had been a poor peasant who had joined the Red Army on the Long March. He did not like Mrs. Ting, and criticized her for being flirtatious. He also objected to the way she wound her hair into many tiny plaits, which verged on the outrageous for the time. Several times he said that she should cut her plaits. She refused, telling him to mind his own business, which only made him redouble his criticisms, making her even more hostile to him. She decided to take revenge on him, with the help of her husband.
苏先生是位贫苦农民，在长征路上加入了红军。他不喜欢“挺”夫人，嫌她太轻佻。他反对她把头发梳成若干股辫子，这在当时的风气下，算是标新立异。他几次要她剪辫子，她都拒绝了，要他少管闲事。苏先生对她更加反感，批评更多，使“挺”夫人益发恨他，决心利用自己丈夫的权位对苏先生展开报复。
There was a woman working in Mr. Shu's office who had been the concubine of a Kuomintang official who had fled to Taiwan. She had been seen trying her charms on Mr. Shu, who was married, and there was gossip about them having an affair. Mrs. Ting got this woman to sign a statement saying that Mr. Shu had made advances to her and had forced her to have sex with him. Even though he was the governor, the woman decided the Tings were more fearsome. Mr. Shu was charged with using his position to have relations with a former Kuomintang concubine, which was considered inexcusable for a Communist veteran.
在苏先生办公大院里有个女工作人员，是已逃往台湾的国民党官员的姨太太。她曾向苏先生卖弄风情，尽管苏是有妇之夫。有关他两人“关系不正常”的闲言闲语不胫而走。“挺”夫人于是要这个女人写报告，说苏先生对她不怀好意，动手动脚，要奸污她。虽然苏是专区专员，但这女子认为“挺”先生一家的权力更大。苏先生被指控“利用职权和前国民党小老婆关系暧昧”，这对共产党的老干部来说，可是不可宽恕的罪过。
A standard technique in China to bring a person down was to draw together several different charges to make the case appear more substantial. The Tings found another 'offense' with which to charge Mr. Shu. He had once disagreed with a policy put forward by Peking and had written to the top Party leaders stating his views. According to the Party charter, this was his right; moreover, as a veteran of the Long March, he was in a privileged position. So he felt confident that he could be quite open with his complaints. The Tings used this to claim that he was opposed to the Party.
在中国，把人打下来的标准做法是同时提出几个不同的指控，使案情更严重。“挺”夫人又找到另一条苏先生的“罪过”。苏曾写一封信给党中央反对一项政策，他自信是按党章办事，又自恃是长征老红军，所以话说得相当直。“挺’’夫人就拿这件事说他反党。
Stringing the two charges together, Mr. Ting proposed expelling Mr. Shu from the Party and sacking him. Mr. Shu denied the charges vigorously. The first, he said, was simply untrue. He had never made a pass at the woman; all he had done was to be civil to her. As for the second, he had done nothing wrong and had no intention of opposing the Party. The Party Committee that governed the region was composed of four people: Mr. Shu himself, Mr. Ting, my father, and the first secretary. Now Mr. Shu was judged by the other three. My father defended him. He felt sure Mr. Shu was innocent, and he regarded writing the letter as completely legitimate.
“挺”先生提出把苏先生开除出党，解除他所有权务。苏先生强烈否认这两件事，他争辩说：第一个指控纯属捏造，他从来没对那个女人有过意；至于第二个指控，他不觉得自己有什么错，他根本就无意反党。控制宜宾专区的党委由四人组成：苏先生、“挺”先生、我父亲和第一书记。现在苏的命运得由其他三人决定。我父亲为他辩护，他深信苏是无辜的，也认为写们给中央是正当的。
When it came to the vote, my father lost, and Mr. Shu was dismissed. The first secretary of the Party supported Mr. Ting. One reason he did so was that Mr. Shu had been in the 'wrong' branch of the Red Army. He had been a senior officer in what was called the Fourth Front in Sichuan in the early 193OS. This army had joined forces with the branch of the Red Army led by Mao on the Long March in 1935. Its commander, a flamboyant figure called Zhang Guo-tao, challenged Mao for the leadership of the Red Army and lost. He then left the Long March with his troops. Eventually, after suffering heavy casualties, he was forced to rejoin Mao. But in 1938, after the Communists reached Yan'an, he went over to the Kuomintang. Because of this, anyone who had been in the Fourth Front bore a stigma, and their allegiance to Mao was considered suspect. This issue was particularly touchy, as many of the people in the Fourth Front had come from Sichuan.
但结果我父亲失败了，苏先生被撤职。党委第一书记支持“挺”先生，鉴于苏先生身上本来就蒙着一层阴影：他三十年代早期在四川当红军“没当对”，当的是张国焘的“红四方面军”。张图焘当时是个风云人物，1935年3月率部与毛泽东和红一方面军在长征中会合，后来对毛泽东的领导提出挑战，却失败了，他离开了长征，部队遭到严重损伤后，又被迫加入了毛的队伍。1938年，红军走完长征到达延安后，他只身逃跑，投靠了国民党。因为这段历史，红四方面军的所有人都被烙上污点，他们对毛泽东的忠诚受到怀疑，因为红四方面军的许多人都来自四川，所以四川对这个问题特别敏感。
After the Communists took power this type of unspoken stigma was attached to any part of the revolution which Mao had not directly controlled, including the underground, which included many of the bravest, most dedicated and best educated Communists. In Yibin, all the former members of the underground felt under some sort of pressure. Among the added complications was the fact that many of the people in the local underground had come from well-to-do backgrounds, and their families had suffered at the hands of the Communists. Moreover, because they were usually better educated than the people who had arrived with the Communist army, who were mainly from peasant backgrounds and often illiterate, they became the object of envy.
在共产党掌权后，这类无言的歧视也落到了一部分毛泽东没有直接领导过的革命队伍头上，包括地下党。再加上许多地下党员出身富有家庭，这些家庭在共产党治下多被清算，压力就更大了。另外，他们比工农干部受的教育多，也成了嫉妒的对象。
Though himself a guerrilla fighter, my father was instinctively much closer to the underground people. In any case, he refused to go along with the insidious ostracism, and spoke out for the former members of the underground.
尽管我父亲自己是游击队军人出身，他直觉地与地下党人关系较亲切。他说地下党里有最勇敢、最无私、文化水平最高的共产党人。他常说：“共产党怎么能有分地下地上呢？”他挑选的干部大多是能干的地下党员。
"It is ridiculous to divide Communists into "underground" and over ground he often said. In fact, most of the people he picked to work with him had been in the underground, because they were the most able.
My father thought that to consider Fourth Front men like Mr. Shu as suspect was unacceptable, and he fought to have him rehabilitated. First, he advised him to leave Yibin to avoid further trouble, which he did, taking his last meal with my family. He was transferred to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, where he was given a job as a clerk in the Provincial Forestry Bureau. From there he wrote appeals to the Central Committee in Peking, naming my father as his reference. My father wrote supporting his appeal. Much later, Mr. Shu was cleared of 'opposing the Party," but the lesser charge of 'having extramarital affairs' stood. The former concubine who had lodged the accusation dared not retract it, but she gave a patently feeble and incoherent account of the alleged advances, which was clearly designed to signal to the investigating group that the accusations were untrue. Mr. Shu was given a fairly senior post in the Forestry Ministry in Peking, but he did not get his old position back.
我父亲也认为把红四方面军的人当作怀疑对象是个大错。他设法为苏先生开脱罪名，首先他劝说苏离开宜宾以避免进一步麻烦。苏先生采纳了他的建议，在我家吃了他临行前的最后一餐。他调到四川省会成都，在那里被任命为省林业局的干部。他从成都写信向北京的中央委员会申诉，把我父亲列为证人，我父亲也写信支持他上诉。后来，共产党专案组澄清了苏先生“反党”的罪名。但是，“与国民党小老婆关系暧昧”的指控则没能完全推翻，那位小老婆不敢改口。但她提供的证词显然软弱无力、前言不搭后语，等于告诉专案组她的揭发并不真实。苏先生在北京林业部占了一个相当高的职位，但未能官复原职。
The point my father was trying to get across to my mother was that the Tings would stop at nothing to settle old scores. He gave more examples and repeated that they had to leave at once. The very next day he traveled to Cheng du, one day's journey to the north. There he went straight to the governor of the province, whom he knew well, and asked to be transferred, saying that it was very difficult to work in his hometown and to cope with the expectations of his many relatives. He kept his real reasons to himself, as he had no hard evidence about the Tings.
我父亲向我母亲讲述此事的目的在于说明“挺”夫人不会善罢甘休。他还举了其他的例子，反复说“走为上策”。第二天一早，他就去了位于宜宾以北一天车路的成都。他直接去见熟悉的省长，要求调到成都工作，理由是在家乡工作难以招架众多的人情关系。他没说出真正的原因，因为他没有足够的证据指控“挺”夫人。
The governor, Lee Daozhang, was the man who had originally sponsored the application by Mao's wife, Jiang, to join the Party. He expressed sympathy with my father's position and said he would help him get a transfer, but he did not want him to move immediately: all the suitable posts in Chengdu had been filled. My father said he could not wait, and would accept anything. After trying hard to dissuade him, the governor finally gave up and told him he could have the job of head of the Arts and Education Office. But he warned, "This is much below your ability." My father said he did not mind as long as there was a job to do.
省长李大章对我父亲的处境表示同情，说他会帮助我父亲调到成都，但他希望能等上一段时间，因为成都所有合适的职缺都满了。我父亲说他不能等，他愿意接受任何安排。一再坚持后，省长让了步，让我父亲做省文教办公室副主任，一边说：“可是屈才呀！”我父亲说这没关系，只要有工作做就好。
My father was so worried that he did not go back to Yibin at all, but sent a message to my mother telling her to join him as soon as possible. The women in his family said it was out of the question for my mother to move so soon after giving birth, but my father was terrified about what Mrs. Ting might do, and as soon as the traditional month's postnatal convalescence was over, he sent his bodyguard to Yibin to collect us.
我父亲紧张得根本没回宜宾，要我母亲马上来成都，但张家的妇女们都反对，说她刚生了孩子不能长途劳累。结果我父亲一俟满月就派警卫来接我们了。我弟弟京明的奶妈和我姐姐的奶妈都不想到成都，因为离家太远。京明的奶妈向我母亲提议留下京明给她照看。我母亲同意了，她对奶妈完全放心。而且京明又太小，不宜旅行。
It was decided that my brother Jin-ming would stay behind, as he was considered too young to travel. Both his wet-nurse and my sister's wanted to stay, to be near their families. Jin-ming's wet-nurse was very fond of him, and she asked my mother if she could keep him with her. My mother agreed. She had complete confidence in her.
My mother, my grandmother, my sister, and I, with my wet-nurse and the bodyguard, left Yibin before dawn one night at the end of June. We all crammed into a jeep with our meager luggage, just a couple of suitcases. At the time, officials like my parents did not own any property at all only a few articles of basic clothing. We drove over potholed dirt roads until we reached the town of Neijiang in the morning. It was a sweltering day, and we had to wait there for hours for the train.
6月底的一天，我母亲、姥姥、姐姐、我和我的奶妈，以及我父亲的警卫在黎明前离开了宜宾。我们挤进一辆吉普车，行李是两只小箱子，那时像我父母这样的干部根本没有自己的财产，仅有几件必须的衣服。我们的车在凹凸不平的土路上颠簸，上午到达内江车站，天气热得让人发晕，我们还得在站上呆几个小时等火车。
Just as it was finally coming into the station, I suddenly decided I had to relieve myself and my nurse picked me up and carried me to the edge of the platform. My mother was afraid that the train might suddenly leave and tried to stop her. My nurse, who had never seen a train before and had no concept of a timetable, rounded on her and said rather grandly: "Can't you tell the driver to wait? Er-hong has to have a pee." She thought everyone would, like her, automatically put my needs first.
当火车进站时，我突然要小便，我奶妈抱着我去站台边。我母亲怕火车开了，就阻止她。我奶妈从未见过火车，也没有时间表的概念，她满不在乎地反而说我母亲，“你不能让司机等一下吗？二鸿要撒尿呀！”她以为每个人都会像她一样，自动把我的需要放在首位。
Because of our different status, we had to split up when we got on the train. My mother was in a second-class sleeper with my sister, my grandmother had a soft seat in another carriage, and my nurse and I were in what was called the 'mothers' and children's compartment," where she had a hard seat and I had a cot. The bodyguard was in a fourth carriage, with a hard seat.
由于我们的身份不同，上火车后，我们得分开坐。我母亲带我姐姐到卧铺；我姥姥在另一节车厢内有一个软座；我奶妈和我呆在“母子车厢”里，这里她有个硬座，我有一张小床；我父亲的警卫则坐硬座。
As the train chugged slowly along my mother gazed out at the rice paddies and sugar cane. The occasional peasants walking on the mud ridges seemed to be half asleep under their broad-brimmed straw hats, the men naked to the waist. The network of streams flowed haltingly, obstructed by tiny mud dams which channelled the water into the numerous individual rice paddies.
暑热中一切好像是慢动作。火车徐徐而行，窗外的稻田和甘蔗田间，偶尔有农民裸着上身，赤着脚，在田埂上走着，头戴宽沿草帽，似乎在半打着盹儿，纵横交错的小溪，时流时止，由小土坎引入织锦般的稻田中。
My mother was in a pensive mood. For the second time within four years, she and her husband and family were having to decamp from a place to which they were deeply attached. First from her hometown, Jinzhou, and now from my father's, Yibin. The revolution had not, it seemed, brought a solution to their problems. Indeed, it had caused new ones. For the first time she vaguely reflected on the fact that, as the revolution was made by human beings, it was burdened with their failings. But it did not occur to her that the revolution was doing very little to deal with these failings, and actually relied on some of them, often the worst.
我母亲陷入沉思。四年来，这已是第二次她和丈夫不得不离开他们依恋的地方。头一次是故乡锦州，这次是我父亲的故乡宜宾。革命似乎没能解决人与人之间的一些问题，反而带来了新问题。她模糊地感觉到：因为革命是人干的，人就把自身的毛病带进了革命。但她一点儿也没想到她卷入的这场革命并没有设法克服这些毛病，反而靠它们来进行控制。
As the train approached Chengdu in the early afternoon, she found herself increasingly looking forward to a new life there. She had heard a lot about Chengdu, which had been the capital of an ancient kingdom and was known as 'the City of Silk' after its most famous product. It was also called 'the City of Hibiscus," which was said to bury the city with its petals after a summer storm. She was twenty two At the same age, some twenty years before, her mother had been living as a virtual prisoner in Manchuria in a house belonging to her absent warlord 'husband," under the watchful eyes of his servants; she was the plaything and the property of men. My mother, at least, was an independent human being. Whatever her misery, she was sure it bore no comparison with the plight of her mother as a woman in old China. She told herself she had a lot to thank the Communist revolution for. As the train pulled into Chengdu station, she was full of determination to throw herself into the great cause again.
下午，火车驶进成都。心情转向对新生活的期待。她知道一些有关成都的故事，这曾是古代三国时期蜀国的首都，由于丝织品久负盛名而被称为“锦城”。它又名“蓉城”，据说满城尽是芙蓉花，一场大雨之后，芙蓉花瓣会淹没整个城市。我母亲当然念过“花重锦官城”的名句。她现在二十二岁，二十年前，她母亲也是这个年纪，但没有自由，是男人的玩物和财产。我母亲现在至少是个独立的人，无论有什么样的痛苦都不能与她母亲的遭遇同日而语。她告诉自己应该感谢共产党革命。火车离成都车站越来越近了，她越来越充满信心，要为伟大的共产主义事业献身。