在馬六甲尋訪鄭和的足跡
MALACCA, Malaysia —When Zheng He, the seafaring eunuch explorer of the Chinese Ming dynastic court, guided boats packed with porcelain to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, he brought giraffes back to China and founded stockades along the shipping lanes of Southeast Asia.
馬來西亞馬六甲——鄭和是中國明朝的宦官，也是一位航海探險家，他率領着滿載瓷器的船隊抵達了非洲和阿拉伯半島，把長頸鹿帶回了中國，同時也在東南亞航道的沿岸修建了城寨。One of those tropical bases was here in Malacca, now a modest town of preserved pink Portuguese colonial buildings, Chinese merchant homes and Hindu and Buddhist temples on the west coast of Malaysia.
其中一個熱帶基地就位於馬六甲，現在它是馬來西亞西海岸邊上一座規模不大的城市，保留着粉紅色的葡萄牙殖民時期建築、中國商人的宅邸，以及印度教和佛教寺廟。
In the 15th century, this was the midway point on the maritime crossing between China and the lands along the western rim of the Indian Ocean. Here, sailors from Zheng He’s fleets built homes and storehouses on the Straits of Malacca. Only one-tenth of the crew members who set out from China returned to their homeland.
15世紀時，它是貫穿中國與印度洋西部沿岸的海上通路的中間點。鄭和船隊的水手在馬六甲海峽修建了房屋和倉庫。從中國出發的船員，只有十分之一回到了中國。
Some scholars and business people in Malaysia and neighboring Singapore, which have significant ethnic Chinese populations, now want to ensure that Zheng He’s name is as synonymous with Malacca as it is with China. At least two guesthouses in Malacca bear his name, rendered as Cheng Ho in Malaysia. A large replica of a junk, or Chinese ship, covered with billboards rises from a crossroads in the old town.
目前，在馬來西亞及其有着很多華裔人口的鄰國新加坡，一些學者和企業界人士，努力要讓鄭和的名字成爲馬六甲的代名詞，正如他的名字一直與中國緊密連繫一樣。馬六甲至少有兩家賓館以他的名字命名。在老城區的一個十字路口，矗立着一艘中式帆船的巨大複製品，上面覆蓋着廣告牌。But the real centerpiece of the Zheng He revival is a sprawling two-story red building called the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum built on the grounds of eight former shop houses. It aims to give visitors the definitive narrative of the life and times of Zheng He, including his sojourns in Malaysia. The museum’s appeal and reputation extend to Zheng He’s motherland: Last year, Jia Qinglin, a top Chinese Communist Party official, visited.
但是，鄭和文化館纔是鄭和熱再次興起的真正體現。它是一處不規則的紅色二層建築物，前面有八個門面。其目的是向遊客明確介紹鄭和的生平和那個時代，其中包括他在馬來西亞停留期間。這個文化館的魅力和聲譽傳回了鄭和的祖國：去年，中國共產黨最高層官員賈慶林參觀了這家文化館。“Cheng Ho’s voyages contributed a lot to the Malacca Empire,” said the museum’s founder, Tan Ta Sen, a scholar and entrepreneur in Singapore who is president of the International Zheng He Society. “Without the support of the Ming, Malacca’s history would have been rewritten.”
“鄭和對馬六甲帝國貢獻良多，”文化館創辦人陳達生說。他是新加坡學者和企業家，也是國際鄭和學會會長。“如果沒有明朝的支持，馬六甲的歷史就會改寫。”A Chinese historian, Zheng Yijun, at the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Zheng He brought the lifestyle of the Chinese to the area. “It is evident in the local history of Malacca,” he said. “Around that time, people started wearing Chinese style clothing. The Chinese also married local people. The two cultures merged and the Chinese became part of the local society.”
中國科學院海洋研究所的歷史學家鄭一鈞說，鄭和給這片區域帶來了中國的生活方式。“在馬六甲當地的歷史，這種影響很明顯，”他說。“在這段時間裏，人們開始穿中式服裝。中國人也和當地人通婚。兩種文化發生融合，中國人成爲了當地社會的組成部分。”The museum was founded on the site of the old government depot, which had warehouses and granaries on the west bank of the river. An account by Ma Huan, an Arabic-language translator who accompanied Zheng He on three expeditions, said an inner wall protected the warehouses, while an outer wall with four watchtowers surrounded the entire compound. Guards with bells did night patrols.
鄭和文化館是在官廠舊址上修建的，它在河的西岸設有庫房和糧倉。曾陪同鄭和三次下西洋的馬歡是名阿拉伯語翻譯，根據他的記錄，有一道內牆保護着庫房，外牆則圍繞整個建築，帶有四個瞭望塔。帶着鈴鐺的衛士在夜間巡邏。Ma Huan also wrote, according to a translation by J. V. G. Mills, that the town had “tigers which turn into men; they enter the markets and walk about mixing with people; after they have been recognized, they are captured and killed.”
根據J·V·G·米爾斯(J. V. G. Mills)的翻譯，馬歡還寫道，鎮上有“老虎變成的男人；他們進入集市，混跡於人羣中；他們被認出後，遭到了捕殺。”The museum officially opened in 2005, timed to the 600th anniversary of the start of Zheng He’s seven voyages to the Indian Ocean, which took place from 1405 to 1433. Zheng He died at age 62 as he returned home on the last of those. Shipmates wrapped his body in a white shroud and flung it into the ocean.
鄭和文化館正式開放是在2005年，鄭和首次下西洋的600週年。從1405到1433年間，鄭和七次下西洋。在最後一次回國途中，62歲的鄭和與世長辭。同船船員用白布將屍體包裹好，拋入海中。As the museum was being built, workers found five ancient wells on the site. Two had Ming artifacts, including shards of porcelain. One of the wells sits by the lobby cafe. The interior of the wells were lined with granite blocks. “This type of practice can be found throughout places visited by the admiral,” Mr. Tan said.
鄭和文化館興建的時候，工人在工地發現了五口古井。其中兩口中有明代文物，包括瓷器碎片。其中一口井位於文化館大堂的咖啡廳。井的內壁以花崗石塊襯墊。“在鄭和去過的各個地方，都發現有這樣的做法，”陳達生說。Mention of Zheng He can evoke strong reactions. Many Chinese speak of him with reverence, citing him as a pioneer who temporarily established China as a sea power. In the West, his legacy has been the subject of debate, largely fueled by a best-selling book by Gavin Menzies, “1421: The Year China Discovered the World.” Many historians have criticized the book, published in 2002, for asserting with scant evidence that Zheng He traveled well beyond East Africa and reached the Americas decades ahead of Christopher Columbus.
提到鄭和，可以引起人們的強烈反應。很多中國人對他心懷崇敬，稱他是一位先驅者，讓中國暫時性地成了海上強國。在西方，鄭和的功業一直是人們爭論的話題，這在很大程度上是拜加文·孟席斯(Gavin Menzies)的暢銷書所賜。這本2002年出版的《1421：中國發現世界》(1421: The Year China Discovered the World)遭到了很多歷史學家的批評，因爲它在證據很不充分的情況下，就斷言鄭和的海上行程遠遠超出了東非，到達了美洲，比克里斯托弗·哥倫布(Christopher Columbus)還早數十年。But no one doubts his presence in Malacca, which he visited at least five times. “He stayed in this building here,” said David Khor, a museum guide. “He built up Malacca. Before, it was small and backward.”
但沒有人會懷疑鄭和到過馬六甲，他至少五次抵達這裏。“鄭和在這裏的時候，就住在這棟建築裏，”文化館導遊戴維·霍爾(David Khor)說。“他建起了馬六甲。之前它是個又小又落後的地方。”More than 95 percent of the mosques in Malacca have a strong Chinese architectural influence, Mr. Tan said. More important, Zheng He and the Yongle Emperor, the ruler of China at the time, helped the native people of Malacca stand up to the kingdom of Thailand.
陳達生說，在馬六甲，95%以上的清真寺都深受中國建築的影響。更重要的是，鄭和與當時的中國統治者明成祖協助了馬六甲當地人抗擊暹羅王國。“The tribal chief was recognized by the Yongle Emperor as the ruler of his kingdom,” said Mr. Zheng, the Chinese historian. “With that recognition, the Thai didn’t dare invade Malacca anymore. Zheng He is remembered by the people of Malacca as the one who helped them gain independence.”
“明成祖承認當地的部落首領是王國的統治者，”中國歷史學者鄭一鈞說。“在此之後，暹羅就不敢再侵犯馬六甲了。馬六甲人認爲是鄭和幫助他們獲得了獨立，將他銘記在心。”Zheng He bestowed on the chief two silver seals, a hat, a girdle and a robe, Ma Huan wrote. Then he placed a stone tablet on the site before building the stockade.
馬歡寫道，鄭和贈給部落首領“雙臺銀印、冠帶袍服”。然後，在當地“建碑封域”。Artifacts in the museum recount other aspects of the Zheng He story. A bell, presented by Zheng He to a temple in Fujian Province of China in 1431, before his final trip to Africa, was a supplication for a safe journey. A glass case houses the tools used during that era to turn a boy into a eunuch: a dagger, a rope, a candle and an urn (to store the private parts). There was “no anesthetic, no pain killers,” Mr. Khor said. “Very painful.”
文化館裏的展品呈現了鄭和故事的其他層面。1431年，在最後一次前往非洲之前，鄭和向福建的一座寺廟贈送了一口鐘，以祈求一路平安。一個玻璃櫃裏陳列着那個時代把男孩變成宦官的工具：一把匕首、一根繩子、一支蠟燭和一個缸子（用來盛放割下的私處）。“沒有麻醉劑，沒有止痛藥，”霍爾說。“非常痛苦。”Zheng He was born into a prominent Muslim family in southwest China and was made into a eunuch after being captured at age 13 by an invading army of the Ming court. Zheng He then served Zhu Di, who later became the Yongle Emperor.
鄭和出生於中國西南部一個顯赫的穆斯林家族。13歲時，他被來犯的明軍俘獲，成了一名宦官。之後，鄭和侍奉朱棣，也就是後來的明成祖。For the Chinese, the reputation of Zheng He rests on his role as a peaceful envoy of the Ming who sought to build diplomatic relations with far-flung kingdoms. As modern-day China’s rise leads to friction with other Asian nations, some scholars cite Zheng He as evidence of China’s historical goal of global peace.
對中國人而言，鄭和的聲譽在於其充當了明朝的和平使者，尋求與遙遠的王國建立邦交。隨着當今中國的崛起引發與其他一些亞洲國家的摩擦，一些學者以鄭和爲例，證明中國在歷史上向來以世界和平爲目標。“The Europeans started a storm of blood with their long voyages, robbing and pillaging along the way,” said Zhuang Guotu, a history professor at Xiamen University in southeast China. “Zheng He was fundamentally different from them.”
“歐洲人通過長途航行掀起了腥風血雨，一路強取豪奪，”廈門大學歷史學教授莊國土說。“鄭和跟他們有着本質的差別。”Other scholars have argued that Zheng He’s voyages were military expeditions carried out by soldiers representing an expansionist Ming Empire. “They were military missions with strategic aims,” wrote Geoffrey Wade, a scholar at the National University of Singapore, in a 2004 paper published by the university’s Asia Research Institute.
不過，另有一些學者認爲，鄭和的航海實際上是由士兵進行的軍事遠征，代表的是明王朝奉行的擴張主義。“它們是帶有戰略目標的軍事任務，”新加坡國立大學(National University of Singapore)的學者韋傑夫(Geoff Wade)在該校亞洲研究所(Asia Research Institute)於2004年發表的一篇論文中寫道。Mr. Wade wrote that the stockade built by Zheng He in Malacca was proof of the military nature of the expeditions. “To enable these great fleets to maintain the Pax Ming in the immediate region and sail through the Indian Ocean to Africa, it was necessary to create staging posts in what is today Southeast Asia,” he wrote.
韋傑夫說，鄭和在馬六甲築造的城寨證實了探險行動的軍事本質。“要用這些龐大的艦隊維持周邊地區的‘大明’統治，打開通過印度洋前往非洲的通道，在今天的東南亞一帶修建中途集結地是有必要的，”他寫道。But Mr. Tan said it is today’s global order that is militarized, “chaotic” and obsessed with what the West calls “zero-sum games.” These days, he said, “one must conquer your opposition instead of finding all-win solutions in the Cheng Ho spirit.”
但陳達生說，這種軍事化的、“混亂的”、癡迷於西方所說的“零和博弈”的全球秩序，是今天才有的。他說如今“你必須征服你的對手，而不是本着鄭和精神去尋找一種共同受益的解決方案。”
