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发帖数: 18037 | 1 http://loco-loca.blogspot.com/2009/06/taiwanfromforeignersight.
台湾的爱与寂寞~一位瑞士记者眼中的台湾
以下文章转载自南方电子报，经本人汇整订正及修改编排贴出，此篇可做全文转贴，仅
需列出本站文章连结即可，谢谢合作，感恩阿
原作者∶David Signer
翻译者∶T.Y. (Jade) Lee
德文修正∶颜敏如
和去年（2006）一样，是在完全出乎意料之外的情况下接到他的电话–David Signer，
苏黎世Weltwoche周报国际版的编辑。不同的是，这次不再需要我提供采访名单及有关
台湾的讯息，而是传来一份中文译稿，希望我能代发。
Signer去春在台北采访后，写了篇报导刊登在瑞士德语区，有67年历史，政治立场倾右
的高品质读物「世界周刊」上。约一个月后，该文即被译为荷兰文。我曾写了篇文字对
这份报导做重点介绍。半年后的现在，终于有了中译文的出现，而中译的原委，请看下
面译者自己的说明。
David Signer给我德文原稿的篇名是「Taiwan」，发表时，「Leben im roten Bereich
生活于警戒之境」是周刊主编所下的标题，到了荷兰则成了「Love and Loneliness in
Taiwan台湾的爱与寂寞」。有趣的是，瑞、荷两地不同的标题，显示这两份媒体对同
一篇文章的不同阅读角度，却对于报导内容有了提纲挈领、画龙点睛之效。
我以德语原稿对照，订正中译文时，发现有些部份并未译出。后来才知道，译者所参照
的，未发表的英译并不完全。我除了把中译文的句子、标点做了更动之外，经过和
Signer商量，还将未译出的部份一并补足。现在读者看到的将是完整的报导。
Signer赴台之前，看了台湾导演的电影、读了台湾作者的翻译小说、搜集有关资料、向
我提出问题。这种种事前的周详准备工作，就是要把自己「沈浸」其中，就是要尽量提
供瑞士读者，台北较真实的一面。我们不但可以从他的报导读出一位敬业新闻工作者的
用心，更应自问，台湾的媒体何时能资助优良写手对其他国家做深入报导。而他所提出
的，台湾如何使自己无可取代，则是值得朝野深思的议题。
以上作者为颜敏如
下篇原文章刊登于2006年七月一日荷兰的报纸
写在翻译前 ∶
这篇原文Love and Loneliness in Taiwan的作者David Signer是曾在台湾待过两个星
期的一位瑞士人，在欧洲所发表为荷文、德文的文章。笔者知道此文章是一位欧洲友人
口述给我听的。当时我听到此文章时，对欧洲人以自己文化来看台湾的观感时震慑住了
。但思之再三却又时感惊讶又时感戚戚。我请友人为我翻译为英文，我们也去函询问
TROUW该报转译中文发表在网上的可能性等等，接著去函给原作者，原作者应允中文翻
译公开发表后，笔者开始著手，但因为私人因素所以延迟了工作。
作者David Signer ，1964年生，是一位欧洲的人类学家，专研人类学与社会学。走访
过中东、非洲各国，对文化有深入的研究。其以欧洲人的文化背景与观点来看台湾，读
者可以得见作者著实下了番工夫去了解台湾的历史背景、政治经济与教育现况，尤其是
其以不偏不倚的人文立场客观地看台湾的现象。在翻译过程中，笔者与原作者通过mail
。他告诉笔者无意为文使任何人不悦，但是以一个外国文化来看台湾，在某些特定事情
上确实让他吃惊。笔者不是专业翻译者，且转译了两次不同语言，字字计较地去深入了
解作者的写作感情与文化背景是我努力的。
在您读过这篇文章后，是否也正思索著作者所述的某些点正巧也碰触到深爱台湾的你我
的寂寞与爱呢？
T.Y. (Jade) Lee于 Jan. 5, 2007
How is Taiwan? There is no country in the world where the people make so
many working hours as in on – 2282 hours a year. Over 30% of the people
work more than 62 hours a week.
世上没有任何一个国家的人像台湾一样，工作时数每年高达2,282小时，30%的人每周工
作超过 62小时。
Taiwan is the second densest populated country in the world. Only in
Bangladesh live more people per square kilometer. Although Taiwan is smaller
than Switzerland it belongs to the 20 most successful industrial countries;
Taiwan is market leader in notebooks and there is no country that has more
mobile phones (1.14 per citizen of Taiwan).
台湾人口密度高居世界第二，只低于孟加拉。虽然台湾面积小于瑞士，却是20个最成功
的工业国家之一。台湾是笔记型电脑制造的领导先驱，有世界第三大外汇存款，也是手
机密度最高的地区（平均每人拥有1,14支手机）。
Furthermore there are only three countries that have less sex than the
Taiwanese, and according to the French magazine "Elle", Taiwanese women are
the unhappiest women in the world. Taiwan has also the most near sighted
people. So how does this all relate to each other?
然而，只有三个国家的性生活是少于台湾，且根据「Elle」杂志研究指出，台湾女性是
世界上最不快乐的。台湾同时也是最多戴近视眼镜的国家。这些现象之间彼此有何关联
呢？
Twenty years ago Taiwan changed from a dictatorial country to a democracy
and speeded up the modernization in a fast pace. And now we see the strong
Confucian working-moral besides gay-clubs and piercing studios. Colorful
Taoist temples along side big glass skyscrapers and supermarkets that are
open 24 hours a day. Since Tsjang Kai-sjek, the rival of Mao, fled to Taiwan
in 1948, Taiwanwas seen as a rebellious province. Taipei as capital, with
all direct surrounded sub cities, has a population of around 8 million
people and is in a sense a post modern version of Peking .
20年前台湾从独裁转型为民主，现代化与自由化同时快速进行。也因此，严谨的儒家工
作伦理与同志酒吧、刺青商店同时存在。多彩的道家庙宇，就在电子产业的玻璃维幕高
楼及24小时营业的超市旁边。自从毛泽东的对手蒋介石1948年退守到台湾，中国就一直
把台湾视为叛逆的一省。如果自由化继续进行，二十年后的中国可能就像现在的台湾。
而连同附近城乡合计约有800万人口的台北，就是北京现代化后的愿景。家庭是台湾社
会变迁中特别引起注意的生活范畴。
In many households the man and woman both have a job, they not only make
long working hours, but also even in different cities. They only see each
other in the weekends. The children are often raised by the grandparents who
display a worldview that has almost nothing to do with current reality. For
Taiwanese there is almost nothing more important than good education for
their kids, therefore they are overloaded with courses and extra classes
after regular school often till late in the evenings.
在许多家庭中，夫妻两人不只是长时间工作，甚至在不同城市工作，且保有各自的住处
，只在周末见面。由祖父母带大的小孩，其价值观也因此来自几乎是与现实脱节的世界
。对台湾人来说，没有任何事比给孩子更好的教育来得重要，因此孩子们常常在晚间也
必须承受许多额外的课程。
In Taipei I visit a surgeon at his home. His 6-year-old daughter is taught
English at school, but she has extra classes English in the evenings besides
painting, dance and piano lessons. With proudness she plays classic piano
parts without music paper. In August the whole family goes to the USA to
improve her English even more at a summer camp.
我在台北时拜访了一位外科医生，他六岁的女儿已经在学校学英文，但是在晚间，她除
了必须再学英文之外，还有画画、舞蹈和钢琴。她很骄傲地不用乐谱就弹得出古典曲子
。八月，他们全家会到美国去，让女儿参加两周的暑期营队，以增进英文能力。
I ask the father if he is not afraid that the pressure on the kids might be
too high. From Japan more and more stories are heard of children who commit
suicide because of the shame of failing an exam. "Yes, sometimes all the
effort is for nothing," says the surgeon. "Sometimes the musical wonder kids
play virtuously when they are 14, but when they become 25 the difference
fades between the kids who started only at the age of 10". The father also
mentions the competition between the parents that cannot be avoided.
我问这个父亲，难道他不怕给孩子太多压力？不是常听说，日本孩子因考试失败感到羞
耻而自杀吗？「是的，有时所有努力会化为乌有。」医生说，「比如有些钢琴神童，十
四岁就能将琴弹得很完美，但到了25岁时，他们弹琴的技巧则无异于从十岁才学起的水
平。」这父亲也提到在他的周遭环境中，父母与父母之间无法避免的竞争，他甚至用了
「全副武装」这样的字眼。
And on top of that there is the 1 child policy – in Mainland China>
obligatory, inTaiwan based upon choice and quite common. So of course there
is more money and energy spent on the child to stimulate it even more. The
emphasis upon educating and performance of the kids is characteristic for
all Confucian countries like country-region China, Japan, Korea and
Singapore
一胎化在中国是政策，在台湾则成了可以自由选择的目标，和大家庭比起来，当然就会
把更多时间和金钱花在提升唯一的孩子身上。强调教育与成就是深受儒家思想影响国家
的特质，例如中国、日本、韩国和新加坡。
But in Taiwan the people want the world to show that they are the better
than China . From 1895 till 1945 Taiwan was occupied by Japan, after that
period it belonged to China. After the Second World War when Mao's army
defeated the nationalistic army of Tsjang Kai-sjek, they fled with 1,5
million citizens (mostly of them high developed and upper class), 500.000
soldiers, and the national treasure to Taiwan. Mao as well as Tsjang Kai-
sjek saw themselves as the one and only representation of China. The
official name of Taiwan is still "Republic of China".
台湾不仅也是如此，更由于历史背景因素，台湾人希望展现给世界的是一个更好的中国
。从1895年到1945年台湾被日本占据，接著被中国接收。二次大战后毛泽东战胜国民党
的蒋介石，蒋介石带著150万人民众（大多数是有高教育水准的上层阶级）、50万军人
和国家宝藏来到台湾。毛泽东和蒋介石都自视为中国的唯一代表。至今台湾的正式官方
名称为「Republic of China」。
The USA armed Taiwan as a buffer against communistic China and Tsjang Kai-
sjek never gave up his goal to conquer China again up to his death in 1975.
Taiwannowadays has a population of 24 million people, China 1,3 billion. The
island country is economically a world power but politically isolated.
Taiwan does not even have the status of "observer" in the UN and is only
recognized as a country by 27 other countries like Palau, Kiribati and ,
Swaziland .
美国高度武装台湾以对抗共产主义的中国大陆，蒋介石直到1975年过世为止，不曾改变
他收复中国的目标。台湾有2,400万人口，大陆13亿，这个海岛有世界超强的经济，但
是在政治上却是孤立的，台湾甚至没有联合国观察者的身份，只被27个国家所承认，像
是帛流、吉里巴斯共和国和史瓦济兰等。
This is because China refuses any political relations with countries that
recognize Taiwan as an independent country, and who does, especially today,
want China as an opponent?
这是因为大陆拒绝和承认台湾的国家有外交关系，特别是今天，谁承认了台湾就无异与
大陆为敌。在台湾可以感受到中国以一种矛盾的方式存在。
Continuously Taiwan experiences the presence of China like a big brother you
want to push off but always keeps the lead no matter the distance. Taiwan
always stipulates that it respects human rights, nobody will die from
starvation, there is freedom of thought and press, Taiwan is progressive,
democratic, liberal, cosmopolitan, post-industrial and post modern; the
better China. But is seems like the citizens of Taiwan situate themselves in
a jumbo jet: if the pace slows down below a certain speed, then it will
crash.
在台湾可以感受到中国以一种矛盾的方式存在。中国就像一个大哥，台湾想要和他保持
距离，可是这位大哥却又权威性地不肯离开。台湾尊重人权、没人苦于饥饿、有言论与
媒体自由；台湾进步、民主、自由、国际化、后工业化、后现代化；总之，是一个更好
的中国。在台湾可以察觉到一种清醒、一种警觉，这情形让人想起以色列。这个中东国
家除了强调它的合法性之外，也要表现得比敌对的邻邦更好。可是台湾人民则更像是一
架使劲飞翔的喷射只要把速度减慢到某个程度，就会坠落。
Sheena Chang is editor at the China Times. Her daughter of four is having
extra courses in English. Sheena is keen on getting her daughter to a
national University. These are better than the private universities and even
cheaper. This leads to the fact that especially children born from highly
educated and rich parents, who can afford the extra courses, can enter the '
better' Universities. The fee is low there and children of the lower class
have to pay extra for the 'lesser" Universities.
Sheena Chang是中国时报的编辑，女儿四岁时已经上英文的课外补习。她希望女儿能读
国立大学。国立比私立大学更好而且更便宜。这导致一个吊诡的现象∶特别是受高等教
育且较有钱的父母，他们能提供孩子额外的课程学习，让孩子能进入收费少的「好」大
学；而低社会阶层的孩子则只好去「坏」的大学。久而久之，自然会加深贫富悬殊与城
乡差距。
Sheena Chang comes with another Taiwan-record: nowhere in the world kids
sleep less than in Taiwan. She calls people like her 'pm-people', coming
from post meridian. 'I am going to work at 2 pm (14:00) and return at 10 pm
(22:00)'. Most people working in the IT business work at night, because
their customers in Europe and USA are then in their daytime. The children of
these 'pm-people' stay up till midnight with them: they eat together, watch
TV and play computer games. But the kids in contrary to their parents have
to get up at 7 am to get to school.
Sheena Chang还展示了另一个台湾纪录∶根据她的统计，世界上没有一个地方的孩子睡
眠像台湾孩子那么少。她把自己和与她同样的人称为「pm people」。「我从下午两点
开始工作，在晚上十点回家。」大部份资讯科技产业的人在晚间工作，因为这刚好是欧
美客户的白天时间。「pm people」的孩子和他们一起熬到午夜，一起吃东西、看电视
、玩电玩。但是和大人们相反地，孩子又必须在早上七点起床。
She tells the story so business-like that I carefully ask if that does not
hurt the health of the kids. 'Maybe so', she says, 'but it makes them also
stronger. This way it makes them stronger to cope with pressure later. The
biggest concern is the grandmothers who spoil the kids. They only stuff them
with food, but don't teach them anything.'
她这种不带情感的客观陈述，让我小心地问，这样不会损害孩子的健康吗？ 「也许是
。」她说，「但这让孩子有更强的抵抗能力，也能学会处理将来的压力。最大的问题是
，祖母宠坏孩子，她们只喂给食物但不教任何事。」
One evening I meet a psychiatrist in a hot spring spa ( besides visiting
karaoke bars one of the favorite free time fun activities for Taiwanese). At
10 pm he says he has to go home to help his daughter with her homework. 'At
this hour?' I ask surprised. 'Sure, tomorrow she will have chemistry exam,
and I will take over the theory with her once more.'
某晚我和一位精神科医生一起泡温泉（就在卡拉ok旁边。卡拉ok是台湾人喜欢的娱乐活
动之一）。晚上十点时，他说他必须回家去帮女儿复习功课。「在这个时间？」我很惊
讶。「当然，明早九点她有化学考试，我得帮她再复习一次。」
A Swiss woman who lived in Taiwan for a long time says: 'the only thing that
counts for these people is food and making money. Love and sex are not
important. If somebody says 'I love you', then it means nothing, but if he
gives you a big piece of his meat then you know you are important for him.'
一个长时间住在台湾和中国的瑞士女人告诉我∶「对这些人来说，重要的是钱和吃，爱
与性不重要。如果有人说我爱你，那是没有意义的。但是如果他给你一块盘子里的肉，
你就知道，你对他来说很重要。」
The Taiwanese eroticism is not easy to understand. The people are prude;
besides the city center of Taipei you hardly see any couples hold their hand
or exchange other tender behavior. But at the other hand if you look at the
sales girls of betel nuts, they sit in their bikini in a glass box, which
you can recognize easy by the green neon-star along side the road. You stop
your car, she comes out, bends over in front of the window so you can have a
good look at her décolleté, she walks wiggling her bum to the get
the order and gives you the nuts with a tempting smile. The euphoric
feeling and the sweating that comes after chewing the betel nuts, makes the
happiness complete.
台湾人的情欲是不容易了解的，人们不善于表现情感。除了台北市中心之外，很难看得
到成双成对的人手牵手或是交换温柔情感。但另一方面，却可以看到槟榔西施穿著比基
尼泳装坐在玻璃橱窗里。由于有个绿色心形霓虹灯，所以远远就可以认得出来。你停下
车，她走出来，弯下身躯面对你打开了的车窗，你可以从她深裁的前襟看到里面。她踩
著高跟鞋，扭动臀部，走回去拿你订的东西，然后带著诱惑的微笑递给你槟榔。嚼槟榔
后出汗与晕眩的快感则是完全的快乐。
These nuts cost two times as much when bought from these girls than normal,
but especially the taxi and truck drivers don't care to pay the difference.
These sales girls are mostly found in the countryside; the mayor of liberal
Taipei tries to ban them from the city center.
这些槟榔西施以双倍的价钱卖出槟榔，计程车和卡车司机则视为当然。槟榔西施通常散
布在看不到温柔的乡间，自由台北的市长则试著阻止她们在市中心营业。
Also traditional healers sell their wonder medicines accompanied by sparsely
clothed girls. But the most funny is the performance of these 'sexy girls'
at weddings and even funerals. You can see a long row of cars and trucks; on
one of them is the coffin with the deceased, on another there are the hired
mourners, and on a third you see the dancing 'sexy girls'. It seems that
the audience, including children, experiences no conflict between the table-
dance atmosphere and the mourning about the deceased. 'The surviving
dependents pay a lot of money for such performances in order to have a lot
of people attend and honor the deceased', so people tell me.
还有，卖传统中药的人把情欲当成促销的工具，同时提供神奇的中药及「轻装」的女孩
。最让人惊奇的是，这些「性感女孩」也在婚礼甚至葬礼上出现！那通常是由汽车和卡
车组成的车阵，其中一部车上是亡者的棺木，另一部是哭号的女人，在第三部车上，则
可以看到跳艳舞的性感女郎。包括孩子们在内的观众群，显然不认为，一场「桌上热舞
」的气氛与对死者的哀伤有任何冲突。「家属付许多钱给这样的表演，才能让许多人来
参加葬礼并怀念亡者。」这是当地人所告诉我的。
By the official prude it is hard for love couples, and even spouses, to find
a private space. One of the favorite places to get some intimacy was the
MTV, cabins where you can watch movies. But at a certain moment the police
intervened, the cabins could not be closed anymore and a guard could at any
moment intrude the cabin. So the love couples changed to the parks and the
KTV's: buildings with lot of rooms where you can sing karaoke as a couple or
as a group. But also here a waiter could enter any time. At least each room
has a surprising big closable toilet. Nowadays the motels are doing good
business, they are quite cheap, 20 euros for three hours. But there is one
disadvantage, they are mostly situated outside the center, so you need a car.
因著窄小的空间，情侣或甚至是夫妻要有个独处的地方，并不容易。直到上学年龄，孩
子都还和父母亲睡在一起。长久以来，MTV是个深受喜爱的，可以私密约会的地方。在
包厢中依自己的喜好选择要看的电影。不知从什么时候开始有了检查制度，包厢不再可
以关门，检查人员随时可以进入，所以情侣改到公园或KTV。KTV是有许多房间的建筑，
情侣或是亲朋好友可在里面唱卡拉OK，也可以点饮食，但是服务人员依然可以随时进来
。不过每个包厢中又有一个引人注意的，很大，且可以上锁的洗手间。人们对Motel的
需求已有好一段时间，可以相当便宜地在那里筑起爱之巢，三小时约二十欧元。缺点是
离市中心较远，需要自己有车。
It's easier to find a nice restaurant. In Taipei there are thousands of food
facilities. Even on the top of the chimney of the garbage burning
installation you can find a rotating restaurant, called 'star tower'.
相较之下，要找个好的餐厅就容易得多了。在饮食方面，台北有著地理上的优势。日本
、中国、韩国、泰国、美国、欧洲及台湾原住民的菜肴错综交织。台北有无数个餐馆，
甚至于焚化炉烟囱顶端都还有旋转餐厅，叫做『摘星楼』。
Apparently there is a close relation between food and sex according to the
Taiwanese. Continuously you hear what good the different dishes will do for,
in general, men. Especially local dishes like: cow eyes, bee larvae,
swallow nests (the spittle of birds), grasshoppers, dried elk penis, shark
fin, sea cucumber, mushrooms, dried human afterbirth, unborn chicken from
the egg (raw), ginseng, bear bone, duck tongue, sea horse, but above all
snake. On the Huaxi night market a market salesman hangs a still living
snake on a rope and cuts it open in full length, he catches the blood in a
glass and offers the audience to have a taste. After that he also removes
the gall bladder and squeezes it out in a glass. The gel slimy substance is
said to work extensively on the libido, as the salesman demonstrates by
moving up and down chopsticks between his legs.
对台湾人而言，食物与性之间显然有某种紧密的关系。每上两道菜就可以听到，「这是
特别对男人重要的食物」。这些地方上的珍馐，包括牛眼、幼蜂、燕窝、炸蟋蟀、鹿鞭
、鱼翅、海参、香菇、胎盘、未孵化的生鸡蛋、人蔘、熊掌、鸭舌、海马、尤其是蛇。
周末在华西街夜市可以大开眼界∶一条挂在绳子上面活生生的蛇，被人完整地将皮剥下
来，滴在杯中的蛇血则提供观众品尝。然后杀蛇人也取出蛇胆，把胆汁挤入杯中，黏黏
软软的胶状物据说很健康，能提高性欲；宰蛇的人还用筷子在他两腿间清楚地示范。在
他后面是些老饕就著露营的小桌子，正在喝蛇汤、龟汤。
The women however will not get happier by it.
不过女人并不因此而快乐。
For instance take Chang Mei-Ling. She is in her mid thirties, studied French
litterature and works for a French company. She is single. Everything that
would be in man's favor is in her disadvantage, a good education, good job,
high income, all in her disadvantage. And besides that she is taller than
average. A man in Taiwan wants to be better educated than his wife, have a
better income, and to be at least one head taller. She herself would like to
have a husband like that. But there are not many that will meet these
criteria, besides the fact that she has hardly time for a relation.
Chang Mei-Ling，三十多岁，单身，读罗马语言学系并在法商公司工作。她说，高教育
、好职业、高所得等等在男人身上加分的条件，在她却成了减分；此外她也长得相当高
。但是台湾男人要教育程度比太太高，收入比太太高，而且也要比太太高过一个头。她
自己或许也同样这么希望。而能够符合这些条件的少数人往往有许多工作，所以没时间
去找另一半。
Chang Mei-Ling has been married before. She wanted children, he did not. He
said that he wanted to earn a million first. They hardly saw each other.
When she noticed he had a love affair with a colleague she divorced. '
Everything you do here is for the purpose of making a career' she says. '
Most Taiwanese men are like that. Some try to change for their woman, but
after a while they get fed up by her because they have the feeling that the
woman has taken away something from them.' Her parents were always out for
business when she was a kid. Mostly the oldest daughter took the
responsibility for the younger kids. 'That is why we are so clever and
independent', says Chang Mei-Ling. 'Because we grew up alone'.
Chang Mei-Ling曾有过一次婚姻，她要小孩，但他不想要。他说要先赚到一百万美金。
他们很难得见到面，当她发现，他和女同事有暧昧的关系时，她便离婚了。「这里所有
的事情都是为了事业。」她说，「大部份的台湾男人都如此，一些人为了女人试图改变
他们自己，但一段时间以后他们便放弃了，因为他们觉得，女人从他们身上带走了一些
东西。」当她还在孩提时，她的父母总是力图打拼事业，家里通常是长女负责照顾弟弟
妹妹们。「这就是为什么我们这么伶俐和独立。」她说，「因为我们是在没有父母照应
下长大的。」
When she goes out she only attends business dinners and karaoke nights with
her customers. She does not care about shopping nor expensive brands of
clothes; she spends her money on traveling – last year she went with her
mother to a 5 star hotel on an island in the pacific ocean - and her
collection of plushy pigs.
下周Chang Mei-Ling会参加一个「驱动旅行」。她的公司请最好的十二个员工去夏威夷
。她还和家人住在一起，外出的活动就只是和客户吃饭或去卡拉OK。她不像大部份坐办
公室的女人去逛街或买高价的名牌衣服，而是把薪水花在小猪毛绒玩具的收集及旅行上
。去年她和母亲到一个太平洋上的小岛去渡假，住在五星饭店里。
She says 'you think that our society is so colorful and free but it looks
like that because we don't have roots. Our parents were immigrants, they
were lost when they came here and nowadays they don't understand anything
anymore. We are all orphans, and our children will be like that as well.'
She also says 'Many people don't work till 10 pm because they have to, but
because of inner emptiness. They dream to have earned to retire at the age
of 50, and when they reached it they die of boredom.'
有一次她说∶「你以为我们的社会是如此多彩多姿与自由？其实它只是看似如此，因为
我们没有根。我们的父母移民来台湾，却没有家的感觉，今天他们不再试图去了解来由
。我们都是孤儿，我们的孩子也会一样。」她也说∶「许多人工作到晚上十点，他们必
须如此，是因为内心空虚，他们梦想在五十岁时存够钱以便退休，然后死于无聊。」
Compared to the hypermodern state of Taiwan, Europe looks ancient. Half of
Taipei has a wireless Internet zone; even in the MRT you can check your
email. The mayor of Taipei wants to make Taipei the first wireless city in
the world. Many people have a GPS system on their mobile; they might feel
lost but they can at least localise themselves geographically.
台湾社会的差距与不同时代面貌并存的情形令人感到困惑。一种超现代，而让欧洲显得
老态龙钟的情形是，台北一半面积都已是无线区域网路的范围，甚至在捷运里也能收发
电子邮件。台北市长要建造世界上第一个无线网路城市。许多人的手机有GPS系统，即
使迷路了也可以从手机中找到方位。过马路时，绿灯里一开始有个小小的人闲适地走著
，在他上面是倒数计时器，然后那小小人越走越快，直到最后像发疯似地狂奔。
In many taxis you will find screens in the headrest of the front chairs, so
you can follow the news during your trip. This efficiency you experience
everywhere. A Taiwanese lady told me that she was once at a German wedding.
She experienced it as awful, it took ages. Even a wedding is supposed to
happen fast.
在许多计程车里，你还可以在前座椅的头靠上看电视，所以才不会浪费时间，就是讲求
效率。一个台湾人告诉我，她曾在德国参加婚礼。「你觉得怎么样呢？」「真可怕。好
像永远不会完！」对她来说，甚至连婚礼都要讲求快速。
There are restaurants where every table has a screen where you can watch
hundreds of programs while eating, and in a lot of hotels there are rooms
where the room and bathroom are split by a glass wall. Not to watch your
spouse taking a shower but the other way around, so you can even watch
television from the bath.
有些餐厅中的桌子有电视萤幕，可以边吃边看百种节目。许多饭店房间里的卧房和浴室
用玻璃分隔。是要让人从床上就可以看到美女入浴？不，正相反，你甚至可以从浴室或
厕所里看电视！
Another technical wonder is the 508-meter high skyscraper "Taipei 101"; it
has the fastest elevator in the world; at 60 kilometers an hour you are
taken up to the 80th floor in a few seconds. But you hardly notice it; the
cabins are under regulated pressure.
另一个惊奇科技是508公尺高的台北101，它拥有每小时60公里，世界上最快的电梯，在
几秒内就可以抵达80层楼高，你却没什么感觉。电梯内有压力平衡的装置。
「我们必须一直是最好的」，Chang Ming-Lei简单明了地做评论。
The 'Taipei 101' is constructed according the Feng-Shui principles; that is
the traditional knowledge of architecture that adjusts to the invisible
flows and ghosts at a certain place. According to this knowledge it is
forbidden to have the entrance exactly facing the exit; otherwise you take
the risk that the visitor of the building will enter it and immediately will
exit it. According to the Feng-Shui principles it is bad for the
inhabitants of a building if a street directly points at your apartment
block. To deflect these bad influences an 8-cornered mirror will avoid the
bad influence. It will reflect back the negative.
台北101是依照风水理论建筑而成的，那是以传统原理避免无形冲煞的知识。根据这样
的知识，入口和出口处不可相对，否则就会有访客进入大楼后又立刻出门的风险。根据
风水理论，居住在路冲的大楼中是很不好的，可是对一楼的商店却有好处。转化负面的
影响是把八卦镜挂在窗上。台湾人很小心，尽量避免生活上不好的事情发生。街上到处
是监视器和紧急纽，大部份的阳台装设铁栏杆，不过有个居民对我说，发生火灾时，这
些铁栏杆却让人无法逃走。这人还说，八卦镜的作用就像光线，可以转移不好的东西或
反射回去。
'Taipei 101' is build up from 8 segments, and each of the consists of 8
floors; 8 is the lucky Chinese number. Four is the unlucky number that is
why there is no 4th floor. The 101 looks like a piece of segmented bamboo.
Bamboo – flexible and easy to bend, but still strong – is an old symbol
for resistance and fortune. 'Taipei 101' is build with a 660 tons steel
sphere as a damper within, so that in the case of an earthquake the building
will not break but swing only, like a bamboo stick in the wind.
台北101由每节八层楼的节段所构成。八是中国人的吉祥数字，四是不吉祥的，所以没
有四楼。台北101看起来像是一节节垂直重叠内插的竹子，中空而有弹性，却仍然坚固
，象征坚毅与进步。内部有个660吨重的钢球，地震时会晃动却不断裂。就像在风中伫
立的竹子。
Another surprise you can see in this hyper capitalistic society – more and
more I hear 'Only the one who is to lazy or has to many children is poor' –
is the burning of money. However it is not real money, but 'money papers'
that are specially made for ritual offerings, produced and sold for that
purpose. The owners burn it in metal cans in front of their stores and pray
for good business. For environmental reasons nowadays there is also "money"
available that does not smoke that much, but it is somewhat more expensive.
我不断听人说∶「只有懒惰和孩子多的是穷人。」这个超资本主义社会里，在店前烧钱
的那些人也是个惊奇点。这种钱不是真正的钞票，而是看起来像钱的纸钞。他们在商店
前的铁桶里烧纸钱，祈求好财运。不久之前出现所谓的「环保纸钱」，烟较少，
但卖价也就更贵。
In the middle of the IT city of Taipei you can find an overload of Confucian
, Taoist and Buddhist temples that serve as oracle places. For example there
is the City of God temple; in large numbers, young women with Gucci or
Louis Vuitton handbags put flowers and fiancée cookies on the altars on
Saturday morning before shopping. Here the god of marriage is residing, and
the young women use oracle sticks to ask questions about their upcoming
spouse.
在资讯科技产业大本营的台北，有许多孔庙、道宫和庙宇，这些往往也是取得神谕的地
方。和瑞士教堂不同的是，年轻人也来庙宇。例如周六中午，许多带著Gucci或LV皮包
的年轻女人在购物前到庙里来，供上鲜花和订婚饼。这里也有管姻缘的神，女人就在那
里求签求问她们的未来。
One night I visit a temple. In front of it there is a movable shrine on
wheels. 'God can be placed in there and moved around, for example on someone
's birthday', people tell me. 'Now God is in China, but tomorrow he will be
back and there will be a procession.
有一晚我到一个庙里，在庙前有一种可以行驶的神龛。「神过生日的时候，把神放进车
里，到处开著走。」有人这么告诉我，「现在神在大陆，明天回来，到时候会有游行。
」
The procession is a big spectacle with lots of firecrackers, red bangle
torches, riding light organs, fireworks, drums and screeching loudspeakers.
The 'God' is a colorful painted wooden figure in a chair with long bars that
is carried around the neighborhood rocking up and down on the shoulders of
the bearers.
第二天的游行是个盛大的热闹场面，有鞭炮、红色孟加拉火把、可行驶的、装饰灯光的
电子琴、闪烁不停的强光、烟火、钹、鼓、吵杂的扩音器。神是彩色的木雕，坐在左右
晃动的长轿子里，被抬著到处走。
And all this in an atmosphere of bright neon light. The stars in the
procession are Hsie and Fan who are normally the guards of the temple annex
statues. Hsie has a black face, Fan has a down hanging tongue as long as the
man who wears the costume, and he looks through a hole in his shirt.
Everything from the torso up the performer wears on his head.
轿子有刺眼的霓虹灯管，电源是由一个在后面推著的，发出难以忍受哒哒声的发电机所
提供。范、谢两人通常是庙里的守护神，在游行队伍里却成了主角。
谢，有张黑脸。范，有长长外吐的舌头，而且身体高得让打扮成他的人只能从衣服上的
洞向外看，并且要挺胸，以头来保持平衡。
The appearance can be explained by a legend. Hsie and Fan once wanted to
meet on a bridge, Hsie was somewhat early and was watching the water below
the bridge and fell over in the water when he lost his balance. When Fan
arrived he found his friend dead and Fan strangled himself with his bare
hands. That is why his tongue is so far out of his mouth, while Hsie became
black in the water. In Taipei people say that the spirits of the two roam
the Manka region with heavy chains and eat the tramps and thieves. And yes
in the Manka neighborhood there is less crime than in the other regions of
the city.
这两人的外表可由民间传说来解释∶范、谢曾约好在桥上相见，谢早到了，在等候时，
因看桥下的水身体失去平衡而跌入水中。当范抵达时，发现他的朋友早已死去。痛苦之
余，范用双手勒死自己。这是为何他的舌头吐出这么长来，而谢的脸在水中成了黑色。
台北人说，这两人夜里带著铁链在艋舺附近巡逻，看到了小偷就把他们吞掉。艋舺一带
的犯罪率的确比其他地区低。
Taipei has different monuments for their country heroes like Tsjang Kai-sjek
and Sun Yat-sen. One of these places is a huge memorial hall with a more
than living height statue, guards in official uniform and a lot of free
space around the immortals mark the distance between them and every day life
. It's amazing how the people of the city interact with these places.
台北有好些纪念国家英雄的地方，中正纪念堂和国父纪念馆也在其中。这两个建筑物内
有巨大的厅堂和大于常人的塑像，塑像前面站有卫兵，塑像四周空旷，彷佛让不朽者和
平常人的生活有了适当的距离。令人惊讶的是，居民如何对待这种强烈要求展现崇敬的
地方！
If you go there at 5 in the morning, when the city is still silent, you will
be surprised by a grotesque carnival. From many loudspeakers you will hear
all kinds of music at the same time, marching music, hip-hop, Chinese
classics, country, tango and new-age noise.
只要在整个城市还相当安静的清晨五点去到纪念馆，会突然看到某种型态的嘉年华会。
从许多不同的扩音器传出进行曲、嘻哈、国乐、乡村、探戈等等不和谐的刺耳声音。
Hundreds of people are gathered. Some performing taichi, others do sword
fighting, some dance in the morning mist. A man and a woman of age throw
over a pink frisbee. There are people in kimono, in cheerleader look, a
rapper with oversized trousers and a shirt with hood. Many people there are
of age and ask, "how old do you think I am?". Mostly they are twice as old
as they look.
有的团体练太极拳，有的练剑，有的就在晨曦中跳社交舞。一对银发夫妇互丢粉红色飞
盘。这里有几百个人。有人穿和服，有人穿得像啦啦队，也有人穿像唱饶舌歌的人，有
特大的裤子和鸭舌帽，背后还印著「Gung Fu New Fashion very good」。好多人都已
经上了年纪，他们对我说∶「你猜猜我几岁？」大多数人的年龄看起来比实际年轻一半
。
You can also see younger people dancing Salsa. All this happens at the foot
of the 'Taipei 101'. Businessmen in suit and tie hurry through the kungfu
fighters and shadow boxers. Nothing of this is organized, a lot of people
come regularly, but the groups change constantly.
也有年轻人练习目前最流行的萨尔萨舞。这些热闹场面都发生在台北101底下。上班族
穿西装打领带，急行穿梭在练习功夫和太极拳的人群中。没有人去组织这些活动，有的
人虽规律地来参加，团体却也常有异动。
At 7 o'clock the guards appear in parade marching steps. They raise the
national flag and the national hymn starts. In a split second everybody
stops with what he is doing and takes the formal pose when the national hymn
is heard. It takes a few minutes and then everything goes on as nothing
happened: Chinese ballet, aerobic, rock-n-roll and chi-gong. And meanwhile
in the park Sun Yat-sen, 'the father of the nation', one time in bronze
another pose in stone, looking straight forward to all the fuzz.
七点，卫兵踢著正步出现。他们在国歌声中升旗。霎那间每个人都停下来，做敬礼姿势
。几分钟后，纸伞舞、有氧舞蹈、摇滚、气功等又再度开始。石雕的、青铜的孙逸仙（
也就是「国父」）正坐在公园四处，恬淡地看著这一切。
Peng Wu Chih is one of the most famous taichi- and kungfu masters in the
country. He was the last apprentice of the famous martial arts master Liu
Yun-Qiao (who was the head of security organization under Tsjang Kai-sjek).
He took care of Yun-Qiao in his last months of his life, when he was so weak
that he only could lecture using his chopsticks.
在一个下雨的午后，我去拜访了Peng Wu Chih，他是台湾著名的太极和中国功夫教链之
一。Andy Hug也曾经是他的学生。他原本是医生，后来改学中医，最后专注于亚洲各种
武术。他是功夫大师Liu Yun-Qiao（蒋介石的首席护卫）的最后一个学生，在Liu Yun-
Qiao生命中的最后几个月照顾他，而Liu Yun-Qiao在最虚弱时也只能用筷子教他。
One of the specialities of Peng Wu Chih is 'rapid taichi'. He claims that
taichi originally was not, as nowadays, done in a turtle slow movement but
fast. In between the main course and desert at a restaurant he gives a small
demonstration. It only takes a few seconds. Dr. Peng loves speed in general
. Before we step into his car he says, "buckle up, because I drive like
James Bond", and he does not exaggerate. He talks about 'chi', the life
power and says: "meditation is not to withdraw from the world environment,
but being present in it. Get to your opponent in half a second where others
need two seconds. Never lose your midst, not even when you are busy.' One
time he holds my wrist, not firm, but I feel an immense power. He could kill
me in a split second.
快速太极是Peng Wu Chih的一个专长，他强调，原始太极并不像现在的龟速慢移，而是
快速的。在餐厅中主菜和点心之间的空档，他在桌子旁边示范给我看。整套拳只花了几
秒钟就完成。Dr.Peng喜欢速度，也因此而成名。在我们上车之前，他说∶「扣紧安全
带，我开车像007」。这当然是有那么点夸张。他谈到「气」– 生命的力量，说∶「冥
想不是从世界撤回，而是留在那里。对手需要两秒，你必须在半秒内便完成。再忙，也
不可失去中心点。」有次他握住我的手腕，不紧实，但我感到那无穷的力量，就像是踩
下法拉利的油门∶只要愿意，他可以在瞬间杀了我。
One of his apprentices says: 'during the first lesson he said to me: I will
kill you, and he did. During the teachings I died inside; he destroyed my
value scale. The most important in martial arts is awareness, and therefore
you have to get rid of your past.'
一个他的学生说∶「在第一堂课他告诉我说∶我要杀了你！他也做到了！在这堂课里，
我的内在死了，他毁了我的价值观。武术最重要的是谨慎专注，所以你必须摆脱你的过
去。」
Peng Wu Chih ends the meeting with a short anecdote: "two people die and god
asks them what they wish in a next life. The first says, "I want to get
lots of money", the other one says "I want to give lots of money", the first
is reborn as a beggar, the second as an millionaire."
Peng Wu Chih 以一个小故事结束谈话∶「两个人死了，上帝问他们，希望来世有什么
？第一个说∶我要有许多钱！第二个说∶我要给许多钱！第一位转世成为一个乞丐，第
二个成了百万富翁。」
On the 1st of May I am in search of demonstrating people, but in vain.
Taiwan does not know of demonstrations of workers. Taiwan is the dream of
every neo liberal: up to a short time ago there was nothing like income
insurance (for that matter, officially there were no people out of a job),
no sickness insurance, no pension insurance, no social service. Everything
is insured from private arrangements or by family. Some workers even give
holidays to their company as a gift. Furthermore it seems that there are no
building regulations; Taipei is the dream of every architect but also a
nightmare, everything is possible (highlight: a building formed like a woman
's handbag).
我在五月一日寻找示威的群众，却徒劳无功，这里没有工人示威这回事。台湾是新自由
主义者的梦想，不久前都还没有失业保险（因为几乎没有失业人口–至少官方是这么说
）、没有健康保险、没有退休保险、没有社会福利。每件事都由家人自己安排。有些人
甚至把一部份休假「送」给公司。建筑法规似乎也不太明确。对于建筑师而言，台北既
是梦想也是恶梦，因为什么都可能（女人手提包形态的建筑。业界的高潮！）。
During the visit of the Chinese president Hu Jintao to the USA Falun Gong
people in Taipei organised a demonstration. This spiritual movement is
forbidden in China. Lately a doctor witnessed that he had been in a Chinese
concentration camp. He says that tenth of thousands of Falun Gung people
have to do hard labor. He also records that these people are operated on and
taken away organs, while they are alive, and sold for transplantation
purposes.
虽没有工人示威，却恰巧是中共国家主席胡锦涛在华盛顿期间，所以台北法轮功有个游
行活动。这个亚洲最大的精神性组织，在中国是被禁止的。最近有个医生公开说，他曾
在中国的一个集中营里工作，数万名法轮功成员不但必须做苦役，有些还被活生生地把
器官取出来卖掉。
Anti-Chinese propaganda or not, such news remind the Taiwanese over and over
again that their welfare is highly vulnerable; like a small garden on an
overhanging rock. Up to 10 years ago Taiwan still had higher expenses on
their military defense system than China, while nowadays China is spending
triple the budget of Taiwan. 600 rockets are pointed towards Taiwan, and
every year another 75 are added. A politician who mentions the taboo word "
formal independence" in Taipei - and in some place in Peking someone might
push the red button.
是反中国的宣传吗？无论如何，这样的新闻吓坏台湾人，也让他们记得，自己的富裕生
活不时遭受威胁，就像是站立在悬岩上的小花园。直到十年前台湾仍有比中国还高的国
防费用，但今天中国却有台湾三倍之多。600枚飞弹指向台湾，每年还要再加上75枚。
只要台北在「正式独立」的禁忌议题上有一个政治上错误的用字，或许在北京就会有人
按下红色按钮。
Even lately China paid the small island nation of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean
the amount of 150 million dollar to change their diplomatic affairs from
Taipei to Peking. Taiwan can hardly cope with this process. Taiwan can only
try, behind the political scene, to keep them indispensable in economical
way. But that takes a lot of energy and is a lonely task.
最近中国付给太平洋的小岛诺鲁一亿五千万美元，让他们放弃台北而和北京建交。台湾
很难跟得上，只能试著在正式关系之外，让自己（特别在经济上）无可取代。这就要花
更多的精力并且也是寂寞的工作。
On the last day we drive to a "children's recreational center". It looks
like an Asian Walt Disney park. A luxurious place, however there were no
children, not one. 'Nowadays they prefer to play at home on their computer',
a supervisor tells us; another supervisor says "most kids have courses at
night"; and the guard at the entrance says: 'The parents don't have time to
come over here with kids.
最后一天我们开车去「儿童育乐中心」，那是种亚洲华德迪士奈乐园，是一个美丽的、
花了相当多钱建造的地方，却看不到游玩的儿童。一个都没有！「现在的小孩喜欢在家
玩电脑」，一个管理员告诉我们。另一个则说∶「大部份的孩子晚上都还有课。」门口
守卫说∶「父母没时间带孩子来。」
On the way back I see a scenery while driving: an empty playground where a
man in suit is making a phone call while the rain starts dripping.
在回程的路上我捕捉到一个景象∶无人的游乐场中，一个穿著西装的男人坐在秋千上打
著手机，而雨滴也开始落下。 |
