夏仁巍：今年夏天我在上海，在觀察者網實習

【翻譯/觀察者網馬力】我喜歡在上海街頭騎車，我喜歡被共享單車的車流簇擁着，被車水馬龍的各種聲音包圍着，同時還與身邊騎車的上海市民爭搶着路面的空間。就在我試圖努力跟上上海街道的節奏時，偉大的非洲裔美國作家詹姆斯·鮑德温（James Baldwin）那先知般的話語再一次迴響在耳邊：“這個世界將不再是白人的了，那個時代將永不再來”。當然，這裏把“白人”換成“西方人”會更準確些。

2017年3月26日，上海人民廣場共享單車儼然成為一道“風景”，外國遊客在人民廣場的共享單車前合影留念

中國的快速崛起令人目眩、讓人着迷而且引人思考，這一世界級的現象具有多重意義——它意味着剝削全人類、主導全球秩序長達500多年的西方的衰落，意味着後殖民時代南方國家的整體崛起，意味着一個自鴉片戰爭以來蟄伏已久的偉大文明的甦醒。未來，是屬於中國的。

我最近剛剛開始在美國斯坦福大學的學習生活，不過在這之前，我絕大部分的人生都是在倫敦度過的。與大多數西方人不同，我一直以來都對中國抱有好感。小時候，我曾多次在北京度過夏天，記得那時我經常去紫禁城附近的北海公園跟北京的老大爺們打乒乓球。北京這座文化厚重的古城在我心底裏留下了非常温暖的回憶。

從那時開始，西方對中國的敵視和輕蔑態度就經常在我心中引起不快。尤其在人權和民主問題上，歐洲人和美國人的固執甚至讓我覺得他們對這個世界的認識實在是過於膚淺。無論在倫敦還是在斯坦福的校園裏，我都曾多次為中國辯護。雖然北京給我留下了很多美好的回憶，我也曾多次為中國講話，可中國的經濟崛起對我來説依然是個較為抽象的概念，我對中國經濟崛起的認識也僅限於書中的文字和圖表中的各種曲線。

今年夏天，我來到位於上海的觀察者網實習。在上海度過的日子改變了這一切，古老北京在兒時給我留下的中國印象完全被顛覆了。上海是迄今為止我到過的最令人感到震撼的城市，這座城市的繁華、活力和對感官的刺激簡直無以復加。這座城市的節奏是如此之快，上班途中，我無數次遇到騎着電動車的送餐員，他們急匆匆地闖過紅燈、跑進電梯、焦急地撥打着電話。當然，上海人的忙碌遠還不止於此。在上海民生現代美術館、在上海當代藝術博物館，我感受到了今日中國的藝術和創新活力，即使與歐美一流的美術館相比，上海的這些展館也絲毫不落下風。當然，上海的魅力還遠不止於此。在這裏我還要提一下在上海體驗到的共享單車和移動支付，對於我的家鄉倫敦來説，這一切頗具未來感，即使對處於硅谷核心的斯坦福大學來説，上海人早已習以為常的這些事物也看起來似乎是來自下一個時代。

上海當代藝術博物館

我被上海這座城市的優雅氣質和經濟活力征服了，我發現自己已經對這個國家產生了愛情，一種慢慢深陷其中的依戀之情。談起上海令人興奮之處，我的腦海中一下子可以湧出好多回憶，這座城市的活力是中國經濟崛起的最好證據。

我曾在上海搭乘高鐵，坐在子彈型列車裏望向窗外，高速公路上的雙向車流被快速甩到身後，那種令人驚訝的平穩的速度感讓我切身體驗到中國經濟引擎的澎湃動力。我從上海搭高鐵到南京，途中路過了蘇州、無錫、常州和鎮江等幾座城市，一路上連綿不斷精心規劃的街道和整齊的建築證明，中國經濟的確已經發生了實實在在的飛越。在中國南方的深圳，去年僅這一座城市建成的摩天大樓就比美國全國同期建成的還要多。當然，作為一個“絕望”的西方人，我不應忘記提一下上海的外灘。當我站在那裏，目光穿過黃浦江望向對面陸家嘴的夢幻世界時，內心不受到一點觸動是不可能的。中國這個古老的國家在甦醒，其光芒已經無法遮掩了。

中國高鐵，代表了中國速度

中國人拒絕了西方向其推銷的民主制度和人權概念，無論西方如何憤怒，中國人這樣做並不會對其歷史性的崛起造成任何消極影響，甚至很可能還提供了助力。這是顯而易見的，你並不必一定是一位政治學者，在西方，任何一個普通的路人都清楚地知道幾十年來在中國到底發生了什麼。當我與上海當地人交流時，我真切感受到了他們對中國政府的尊敬和信任，這在英國或美國是難以想象的。

在西方，我們已經見證了英國脱歐、特朗普當選……所謂“程序正義”、“政治合法性”這些概念到底還有何價值？當然，若你認為我在為中國共產黨的執政合法性作辯護，那麼我很樂意提供下面的事實：美國皮尤中心2014年進行的一項調查顯示，87%的中國受訪者對社會的發展方向感到滿意；在美國，這個數字是21%。這就是執政合法性的真正來源——人民的聲音！當我與中國人聊起中國的政治時，聊天的內容在很多時候都會涉及到中國悠久的歷史和文化。你不必一定是一位歷史學家就能做出這樣的判斷：中國厚重的歷史和獨特的文化是這個國家幾千年來保持統一和穩定的重要原因。

上海的活力是中國崛起的象徵，然而從這一表面現象還可以看得更深一些——我們正在經歷的是人類歷史的深度調整，西方對世界長達500年的主導行將結束，而當下的上海正是展示這一歷史轉折的時空焦點。

浦東陸家嘴

在過去500年裏，西方的崛起以及西方全球霸權的確立是人類歷史的重要章節。16世紀，歐洲人的地理大發現開啓了殖民時代的序幕。談起西方，其定義總是與歐洲勢力早期對美洲的滲透脱不開關係。而在英格蘭發生的工業革命確保了英法德等歐洲強國對全球的主導權，這一主導權在19世紀末、20世紀初達到了頂點。1945年，僅大英帝國就統治了全球近20%的人口。大不列顛，可以説真正做到了“對海洋的主宰”。與此同時，當時的中國卻正在經歷痛苦的“百年屈辱”，這個老大帝國在鴉片戰爭中落敗之後便一蹶不振，逐漸淪為遭到歐美日諸列強分食的半殖民地。作為這部長篇歷史大劇的最新一幕，二戰結束後，歐洲諸強被其移民所建立的國家美國所取代。

不過，如今西方唱主角的時代即將結束了。自16世紀以來，人類將首次見證全球地緣政治和經濟中心由大西洋兩岸向中國所在的東方轉移。已由西方主導500年的世界秩序將被另一種文明引入新的軌道。當我站在上海外灘向東眺望陸家嘴時，當東方明珠電視塔和直插雲霄的上海中心映入我的眼簾時，一種用語言難以表達的喜悦湧動在我心裏。我意識到，數十億發展中國家的人民將迎來更美好的時代，無數人將獲得解放。我從小在倫敦長大，但我身上流淌着馬來西亞人和印度人的血液，我為中國感到自豪！西方曾享有一切，而遭到殖民和欺侮的廣大發展中國家終將迎來自己的時代！

我意識到，在上海看到的中國力量不過是一些現象，在這些現象背後更深層的東西已經超出了我對歷史的理解，無論作為馬來西亞人還是作為英國人，在中國歷史面前，我必須保持謙卑。當我與上海當地的老人談論起今日中國時，他們看到的遠不只是中國的崛起和西方的衰落。在中國人面前，西方兩百年的風光在中國歷史長河中不過是短短的一段。我曾聽到一位上海老人這樣的解釋：中華文明經歷了低谷，如今正從最低處走出來。他沒有提到西方，更沒有提到西方的衰落。這已經超出了我對歷史最宏觀的理解。如果我在倫敦或斯坦福的朋友們瞭解到中國人這樣的想法，他們會做何感想呢？這個國家、這個民族曾歷經苦難，而如今他們崛起之後，內心的自信又是深沉的。

越來越多的外國人對中國文化感興趣

當然，我也注意到，中國人的自信也有不同的層面，也有其侷限。很多中國人仍然仰視西方人，而那些西方人面對來自這些中國人的仰視應該為自己的本來面目感到難堪。最近，美國《福布斯》雜誌刊載了一篇報道《參加西式禮儀課程成為中國富有女性最新的身份象徵》。在中國，陷入對西方事物盲目崇拜最嚴重的城市非上海莫屬。廣告牌上頭髮花白的西方男人所使用的商品是地位的象徵，Kenzo等遍佈街頭的西方品牌讓我意識到，中國人的自信在物質層面尚未完全確立。中國人必須明確一點：西方並非文明和品味的象徵，事實遠不是那樣。

無論中國人如何努力，他們永遠不可能成為“令人尊敬”的英國紳士。事實上，我發現一些中國人對“紳士”的理解讓我感到有些可笑。某些中國暴發户（nouveau riche）雖然有錢，他們對行為舉止、衣食住行都十分在意，生怕自己不符合上流階層的舉止和儀表規範。可這種對“紳士”的理解太過膚淺了，簡·奧斯汀（Jane Austen）若是得知，一定會被氣得從墳墓裏跳出來。所謂“紳士”，應該是那些對社會大眾關切同情的人，他們從不炫耀，他們從不把物質生活視為優越感的來源。

作為一個英國人，我只是覺得不吐不快。中國是一個有着悠久歷史和深厚文化傳統的國家，考慮到這一點，某些中國人對“文明有禮的西方人”形象的執着和迷信就顯得格外怪異。大英帝國建立在生產力和武力基礎上的200年的輝煌怎麼能與中國數千年厚重的文明相比呢？怎麼能與中國古人對宇宙人生和社會歷史深刻的思考相比呢？怎麼能與中國歷朝歷代留給後人的珍貴典籍相比呢？如果中國人不能對自己的古代文化進行深入的理解並建立起真正的自信，那麼中國就永遠不可能成為塑造人類未來的力量。

我期待着，有一天當我走在上海淮海路上，周圍的上海人都穿着中國品牌的服裝，而不以Kenzo或路易威登為榮；我期待着，上海衡山路的酒吧裏演奏着體現中國人靈魂的樂曲，而不是那些西方乾癟的噪音；我期待着，未來上海陸家嘴的高樓體現的是中國設計師的巧思，而不是紐約早期建築設計師筆下冰冷、毫無靈魂的設計。當然，在中國宏大的崛起圖景裏，這些細節不過是這個大時代裏不那麼完美的小注腳而已。

我意識到，在我回到斯坦福之後，我與中國之間的愛情不可避免地會淡化。不過，這一別，可能是我與這個國家之間建立更加深厚感情的開始。能在觀察者網工作一段時間，我非常榮幸。對於崛起中的中國而言，觀察者網可能是唯一能夠提供與這個時代相適應的話語體系的網絡媒體。觀察者網就像這個國家，蒸蒸日上且日益自信。

我預感到，在我結束在上海的生活回到斯坦福之後，西方的一切在我眼中會顯得更加怪異。整個西方世界正變得越來越像一潭死水，媒體向大眾兜售着虛幻的自信——“我們將繼續領導全人類走向未來”，他們對這個世界的認識充滿了誤解，甚至自欺欺人地故意無視這個星球的中心正不可逆轉地向東方轉移。

與之形成對比的是，上海的繁榮、活力以及對未來的樂觀和自信將深深鐫刻在我的腦海中。21世紀將是中國時代的開始，“這個世界將不再是白人的了，那個時代將永不再來”。

（本文為夏仁巍賜稿，原文為英文，觀察者網馬力翻譯。翻頁查看英文）

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I love biking in Shanghai, jostling with the multitudes of Shanghainese cyclists, surrounded by a cacophony of horns and carried along by the limitless, vibrant energy of mobike riders. And as I try to keep up with the frenzied Shanghainese pace - meanwhile yet another ye ye somehow steams past me on his ancient bike - the prophetic words of the great African American writer James Baldwin come to me. ‘This world is white no longer, and it will never be white again.’ Or, to alter it slightly: ’this world is Western no longer, and it will never be Western again.’ China’s meteoric rise is thrilling, enthralling, inspiring, and has so many diverse meanings; the decline of the Western world order that has governed so dominantly and exploitatively for the past few centuries; the rise of the post-colonial Global South; the resurgence of a civilization that has lain dormant since the Opium Wars. The future is China’s. The joy and gusto of a resurgent Shanghai will never leave me. I am slowly, but unmistakably, falling in love with China.

But before the love affair naturally came the long looks and flirting, so it makes sense to start the story in June prior to my time at Guancha. I have lived in London for the whole of my life and have also recently started studying at Stanford University. Unlike most Westerners, I have always been pro-Chinese. I spent many successive summers in Beijing when I was younger, and had a great time playing ping pong with the Chinese ye yes in Bei Hai Gong Yuan. I have very fond memories of my times in Beijing and was deeply impressed by China. The West’s attitude towards China therefore frequently frustrated me. In particular, the Euro-American fixation on human rights and democracy always struck me as simpleminded, so I have naturally found myself often defending China both in London and at Stanford. Regardless of the happy memories and pro-Chinese arguments, China’s rise remained abstract for me, limited to the realm of graphs and books.

As soon as I touched down in Shanghai this month, however, the early stages of the courtship were instantly over. Shanghai is the single most thrilling, vivacious and exciting place I have ever been. The excitement is ineffable, impossible to capture. It is the excitement I feel biking to work, constantly being cut up by over-eager motor cyclists, dashing across every possible red light to keep up with the astonishing pace of the city. But it is so much more than that. It is the energy of the modern art scene, the inventiveness and the Minsheng Art Gallery and Power Station of Art which surely rival any gallery in the West. But again, it is so much more than that. It is not even Shanghai’s endless technological innovation, though it is important to note that bike-sharing schemes like Mobike and a cashless society remain distant dreams for my native London or even Stanford University at the heart of Silicon Valley.

The root of this excitement is ultimately easy to locate: Shanghai’s permanent vivacity is the very embodiment of China’s relentless, dazzling rise. Take the high speed rail from Shanghai station and this fact becomes indisputable. The legions of people gathered at Shanghai railway station frantically running to reach their trains and the mind-bending pace of the high speed rail reveal a country gathering breathless momentum. And if that is not enough already, the sheer and constant density of tower blocks along the route to Nanjing serve as a reminder of China’s newfound economic power. Indeed, more skyscrapers were built in Shenzhen last year than in the entirety of America. And of course, as a hopeless Westerner, I have to mention the Bund. It is impossible to look out across the river at the astonishing array of skyscrapers and not feel moved, inspired by China’s resurgence.

And whatever Western naysayers cry, China’s non-democratic governance or human rights deficiencies are not going to stop its monumental rise. You don’t have to be a political scientist to see this. Just listen to local Shanghainese and you will see a respect for and faith in the Chinese government that would be unimaginable in Britain or America. Indeed, what are Brexit and Trump but crises of legitimacy? And if you think I am gazing at the legitimacy of the Chinese government through rose-tinted glasses, just look at the facts. In a recent 2014 poll of Chinese attitudes published by the Pew Research Center, 87% of respondents noted satisfaction with the direction of the country. The current American Congressional approval rate is 21%. This legitimacy runs so much deeper than anyone in the West could ever contemplate. Talking to locals, conversations about Chinese government always somehow end with references to China’s ancient civilizational history. Once again, you don’t need to be a world class historian to see that China’s vast history is the root of its unity and stability.

Shanghai’s energy is therefore largely down to China’s unstoppable rise. But, for me, there is more to it than that. More fundamentally, Shanghai is imbued with the excitement of shifting historical paradigms, for China’s ascent signals the end of a 500 year long epoch: Western dominance.

The rise and hegemony of the West has been the defining historical drama of the past half-millennium, and can be dated to the 16th century with the European Age of Discovery and the colonization of the New World. These early forays into the Americas were the beginnings of the vast empires that would define the West’s epoch. The industrial revolution in England ensured the Europe’s insuperable hegemony which reached its height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the British Empire ruling over 20% of the world’s people in 1945. Britannia truly ‘ruled the waves.’ Meanwhile, China was suffering its ignominious ‘century of humiliation’, defeated in the Opium Wars and partially colonized. In the final act of this prolonged drama, Europeans powers were supplanted by America as the world’s superpower following the Second World War.

The Age of the West, however, is at an end. For the first time since the 16th century, the world’s geopolitical and economic center of gravity is shifting eastwards. The rise of China challenges the very foundations of a world order built over the course of five centuries. This is the ineffable, inexpressible resurgence that I feel looking out over the river at the Bund, a resurgence that is imbued with centuries of history, with the decline of empires and the emancipation of millions. I can almost sense the gears of history shifting as I look out to the Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower. And as someone with Malaysian-Indian heritage, I feel so deeply proud of China and cannot help but cry enough is enough! The West has had its turn and it is high time that the formerly colonized Global South finally had its chance!

And yet there are still greater depths in the energy I see in Shanghai that I cannot even begin to contemplate, my historical horizons too narrow as an Englishman or as a Malaysian. When I speak to locals about China’s rise, they look so far beyond the decline of the West. 200 years of Western dominance means so little within the broad span of Chinese history. Instead, I hear a grand narrative of Chinese civilization, that the current ascent is merely a recovery from a couple of centuries of decay and a return to the heights of China’s greatness. This is beyond my wildest historical imagination. If only my friends in London and at Stanford were there to hear this!

This country, this civilization is palpably growing in confidence after its disastrous past two centuries. Indeed, you don’t even have to look to China’s foreign policy in the South China Sea and across the Indian border to see its growing self-belief. The breathless streets, endless skyscrapers, formidable nightlife, vibrant art galleries that I have described attest to a country remembering its former confidence and glory.

This self-confidence, however, is still limited. Indeed, the Chinese propensity to still look up to white people and the West deeply saddens me. Forbes, for instance, recently reported ‘Etiquette Classes For China’s Wealthy Women Are The Newest Status Symbol.’ Nowhere is this nauseating love for all things Western more evident than Shanghai. The billboards featuring old white men to denote class, and the ubiquity of posh Western brands such as Kenzo are indicative of China’s incomplete rise. China must stop looking to the West as a beacon of civilization and class. And further, however hard they try, Chinese people will never emulate the ideal English ‘gentleman’ that so many seemingly aspire to. In fact, I find the Chinese understanding of the ‘gentleman’ a bit offensive. The nouveau riche seem to think that the English ‘gentleman’ is all about superficial classy manners, and expensive tastes in clothes and food. This would make Jane Austen turn in her grave. The Austenian English gentleman is someone wealthy but dedicated to society, who is never showy, and treats women with the greatest respect.

But enough with this British nonsense. More than anything, I find the Chinese love for the ‘civilized West’ tasteless given the richness of China’s own socio-cultural inheritance. How can a couple of hundred years of English grandeur possibly compare to China’s two thousand years of history, its emperors and dynasties! And China will never truly be the world’s dominant power until it has deep confidence its own ancient culture; until I walk down Jiangsu road and see people of all stripes wearing Chinese clothes rather than Kenzo or Luis Vuitton; until its clubs and bars play the melodies of its own, Chinese music rather than the monotonous drone of Drake; until its tallest skyscrapers pay homage to China’s own beautiful designs rather than the metallic, soulless future imagined by New York’s earliest architects. Nonetheless, this is but a footnote on China’s dramatic rise.

I doubt that leaving Shanghai in a few days’ time will be the end of my love affair with China. In fact, I think this is but the start of a long, long relationship. It has been an utter pleasure to work at Guancha, perhaps the only news website with a rhetoric fit for a rising China. Indeed, Guancha is very much like China: rising and increasingly self-confident. And I think it will be strange to return to the West after my time in Shanghai. The West increasingly looks and feels like a backwater, selling itself false assurances of its continued dominances, suffering delusions of grandeur and ignoring the inevitability of the oncoming gravitational shift Eastwards. By contrast, the power, energy and dynamism of Shanghai will never leave me.

The twenty-first century will be China’s. The world is Western no longer, and it will never be Western again.