一位美国女性眼中的当代中国

——雪莲.估伦看中国

    10月11日,我会与陕西师范大学联合主办的[亲历巨变]摄影展览在陕西师范大学图书馆隆重开幕.我会海外荣誉理事雪莲.估伦用自己在过去30年中拍摄的100多幅照片,反映出中国,特别是西安从1977--2007年30年间的巨大变化.我会主席安危,秘书长马珂,常务副秘书长秦泉安出席开幕式,安危主席发表了情深意长的讲话,对多年来雪莲女士为中美友谊所作的贡献给予高度评价和全面总结.讲话结束后,两人紧紧拥抱,情景感人.我们把安主席的中英文讲话稿全文刊登在这里,让所有关心中美友谊的人,特别是青年一代了解中美关系史,并把中美友好的火炬时代相传.

新时期的架桥人

——在《亲历巨变》摄影展览开幕式上的讲话

安 危

 

    三十年，弹指一挥间。世界变了，中国变了，对人类未来举足轻重的中美关系也变了。这一切改变，是因为有邓小平、尼克松这样的政治家，有比尔·盖茨、王永民那样的科学家和发明家，更因为有你、我、他这样普普同同、数以万计的老百姓。雪莲，就是这些普通老百姓中最杰出的老百姓之一。

    我是1979年结识雪莲的。邓小平把雪莲介绍给海伦·斯诺，而海伦·斯诺又把雪莲介绍给我。我们俩通过“斯诺大桥”走到一起，相识、相知，成为真正的朋友。在过去30年里，雪莲亲历了中国的巨变，而我却见证了雪莲为建造中美友谊之桥所从事的每一个项目、每一次活动，以及她为这些项目的实施所付出的努力和艰辛。

    她不遗余力地促进中美两国人民之间在教育、文化、艺术、外贸、经济技术等领域的交流与合作。她把美国各界人士一批又一批地带到中国来，把中国人一批又一批地请到美国去。她来到中国，学习中国，向中国的青年一代介绍美国。她回到美国，对照中国研究美国，向美国人民介绍中国。

    她促进、帮助中美两国的地方政府，建立友好学校、友好城市和友好省州关系，不断地拓展交流渠道，以民间交流促进官方互动，以官方的交流，推动民间交往的发展。

    雪莲是新时期中美两国之间一座特殊的桥梁，她往往能起到官方起不到的作用，能够做到我们许多人想做而无法作到的事情。在这里，我只想提及两件事。

    海伦·斯诺1940年回国后，由于政治上的原因，自上世纪50年代后，她的写作、出版和日常生活，一直处于极大的困境。中国政府以及包括黄华在内的许多中国朋友，都想给这位中国人民的莫逆之交帮一把，但长期以来却爱莫能助。在海伦晚年，雪莲20年如一日，给了海伦诸多方面的种种帮助。“远亲不如近邻”。雪莲作为海伦·斯诺的邻居和朋友，一直自愿地充当着海伦的秘书、助手、代理、汽车司机和监护人。

    1989年至1992年，中国外交出现了极大的困难。面对美国社会突然出现的对华“不来往，不接触”的形势，雪莲作为美国“埃德加·斯诺基金会”常务理事、堪萨斯城·西安友好城市委员会主席，积极参与组织了1990年在密苏里大学举行的“埃德加·斯诺国际学术研讨会”，帮助美国人民进一步了解中美人民友好往来的历史。同时，她提出了一个绝妙的主意：在这次研讨会期间，举办户县农民画展览，并邀请农民画家樊志华现场表演。雪莲当时对我说：“让美国人通过农民画了解中国，是一个大家都能接受的办法。谁也没有理由去反对中国的农民”！结果，这次研讨会和农民画展都非常成功。第二年，樊志华应邀又去堪萨斯城访问、讲学了。

    继埃德加和海伦·斯诺之后，雪莲是第二代美国对华友好人士中最杰出的一位。她是新时期中美友好事业的架桥人，而且是一位特别的架桥人。她高瞻远瞩，却又脚踏实地。她深明架桥沟通的伟大意义，而却非常注意从一点一滴的小事做起。雪莲30年来的对华友好工作有三个特点。

    第一，着眼普通老百姓。众所周知，她的架桥事业，是从西安一对老人王曾吾夫妇开始的。邓万芳、樊志华等一批极其普通的中国人，都是她的好朋友。她先后被授予“户县荣誉农民”、扶风县“安上荣誉村民”的称号，这足以说明她对中国普通老百姓的深厚感情，也说明中国普通老百姓对她的信任和爱戴。

    第二，着眼最普通但却是最重要的事情。比如，师大附小和美国花园路小学之间学生、教师的交流；向蓝田县韩家坪小学捐赠资金、修建“詹姆斯·劳埃德学习中心”等等。

    第三，对华友好，矢志不移，始终如一。30年来，中美关系无论出现什么样的政治气候，雪莲总是风雨无阻，始终如一地从事中美人民的友好事业。她是一位海伦·斯诺式的美国人，是中国人民一位忠实的美国朋友。

    雪莲的丰功伟绩，足以能写一本书，我不能再讲下去了。我想用一首题为《何为友谊》的诗歌，结束我的讲话，并把这首诗献给雪莲和她的图片展览《亲历巨变》。

 

当您悲伤的时候，
    我会擦干您的眼泪。
当您害怕的时候，
    我会减轻您的恐惧。
当您闷闷不乐的时候，
    我会给您带来希望。
当您遇到烦恼的时候，
    我会帮您应付、处理。
当您迷失了方向
    看不到生的希望的时候，
      我会成为您的灯塔
       在您的前方闪闪发亮。
这是我的誓言，
    我保证遵守终生。
也许您会发问：
  “这是为什么？”
     因为您是我的朋友。

 

—————————————————————————
安危，陕西省翻译协会主席、陕西省中美文化研究会会长

 

 

 

A Bridge Builder in the New Era

— Remark by An-Wei at the opening of Witness to Change

Thirty years have passed in a flash. The world has changed, China has changed, and so has the Sino-American relations that is paramount to the future of humankind. These changes have taken place due to political leaders like Deng Xiaoping and Richard Nixon, to scientists and inventors like Bill Gates and Wang Yongmin, and also to thousands upon thousands of common people like every one of us. Sharon Crain is one of the most outstanding individuals among these common people.

I got to know Sharon in the year of 1979. It was Deng Xiaoping who introduced Sharon Crain to Helen Snow, and Helen Snow then introduced Sharon to me. Therefore Sharon Crain and I came to know each other through the Bridge of the Snows and eventually become true friends. In the past 30 years, Sharon has witnessed the great changes in China while I have become an eye witness to her numerous projects and nearly every event as well as the great efforts she has made in building the bridge of friendship between the Chinese and American people.

Sharon Crain spared no effort in promoting the exchanges and cooperation between our two peoples in the fields of education, culture, arts, business, economy and technology. She keeps bringing American citizens of various circles to China group after group, and inviting the Chinese to the United States one after another. She keeps returning to China, learning about China and teaching the young Chinese about the United States of America. Having returned to the United States after each of her visits to China, she keeps studying about her own country by comparison with China and introducing China to the American citizens.

With her lobbying and assistance, the local governments of our two countries were encouraged to establish official relationship of sister schools, sister cities, sister provinces and states. So the exchanges between the governments were accelerated by the people-to-people exchange programs. Thus the channels have been expanded for further exchanges between the two countries and people.

Sharon Crain is a special bridge between China and the United States in the new era. She plays a role which the officials sometimes cannot. She is able to accomplish what we want but sometimes cannot. Here I would like to share two things with you.

Having returned to the United States in 1940, Helen Snow, due to political reasons, had been in great difficulties in her writing, publishing and daily life since 1950’s. The Chinese government and many of her friends like Huang Hua wanted to help this sworn friend, but were unable to do so for a long time. In the last 20 years in Helen’s life, Sharon Crain offered Helen Snow all kinds of help in various aspects. “A close neighbor is more helpful than a relative afar”. As a close neighbor and friend, Sharon volunteered to help Helen Snow as her secretary, coordinator, representative, driver and guardian.

China had been in great difficulties diplomatically between 1989 and 1992. Confronting the situation of “no business, no contact” with China in the United States, Sharon Crain, as a board member of Edgar Snow Memorial Fund and Chairman of the Kansas City-Xi’an Sister City Committee, took an active part in organizing the 1990 Edgar Snow International Symposium in UMKC, with the purpose to help Americans further understand the history of Sino-American people’s friendship. Sharon initiated a wonderful idea to sponsor an exhibition of Huxian farmer’s paintings during the symposium. She said to me, “it is an acceptable way to help Americans understand China through farmer’s paintings. Nobody has any reason to oppose the Chinese farmers!” She also invited Fan Zhihua, a farmer painter from Huxian, to Kansas City to give on-site demonstrations. It turned out that both the symposium and the exhibition was a great success. Fan Zhihua was invited to return to the United States to lecture in the following year.

Sharon Crain is one of the most outstanding individuals among the second generation of Friends of China in the United States after Edgar and Helen Snow. She is a bridge builder for Sino-American friendship in the new era, and a very special one, too. By standing high and seeing far, she is a down-to-earth person, always beginning with small projects for her great goal.There are three characteristics in her friendship work that distinquish hers from others.

Firstly, she always plans her work with focus on the common people. As we all know, she began building her bridge of friendship with an old couple in Xi’an, Mr. and Mrs. Wang Zengwu. She has made a large number of good friends among the common Chinese citizens like Deng Wanfang and Fan Zhihua. She has been conferred the title of Honorary Farmer of Huxian and Honorary Villager of Anshang, which testifies how much she loves the Chinese people and how much the common Chinese trust her and love her.

Secondly, she always plans her work with focus on the small but significant issues. For instance, she has brought together the teachers and students between Fuxiao attached to ShaanxiTeachersUniversity and ParkwayPrimary School and tried to promote the exchanges between the two schools. She worked very hard along with other people in Kansas City to make a major donation and helped build the JamesLoyldLearningCenter for HanjiapingPrimary School in LantianCounty, etc.

Thirdly, she works for Sino-American friendship continuously and unswervingly. No matter what happened between our governments in the past 30 years, she has never stopped or slowed down her friendship work. She is an American of Helen Snow type, and a devoted friend of the Chinese people.

I can not continue my talk any further because Sharon Crain’s accomplishment and her story is more than enough for a big book. I would like to conclude my remark with a poem entitled What Is Friendship, which I would like to present to Sharon Crain and her photo exhibition.

 

When you are sad,
     I will dry your tears.
When you are scared,
     I will comfort your fears.
When you are worried,
     I will give you hope.
When you are confused,
     I will help you cope.
And when you are lost
     and can't see the light,
       I shall be your beacon
         shining ever so bright.
This is my oath,
     I pledge till the end.
‘Why you may ask?’
    Because you are my friend.

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An-Wei, President, Shaanxi Translation Association and Sino-American Society.