體制下的骨肉分離 中國寄宿制度觀察

BEIJING — The emotional disintegration of a 17-month-old boy named John as he sought and failed to find comfort from caregivers in a British boarding nursery, captured in a 1969 documentary film, deeply distressed the Chinese women at a seminar last week on early childhood separation.

北京——一個名叫約翰(John)的17個月大的男孩想從一家英國寄宿託兒所尋求安撫未果，因此情緒崩潰。這個故事被1969年的一部紀錄片記錄下來。上週，在一個關於幼兒早期分離的研討會上，這個故事令與會的中國婦女感到非常難過。

It showed in hard-to-watch detail the damage that can be inflicted when young children lose their primary caregivers. John’s anguish was extreme. He cried for days, refused food and withdrew.

該片以慘不忍睹的細節展現出失去主要照顧者可能對幼兒造成的傷害。約翰非常痛苦。他大哭了好幾天，拒絕進食和與人溝通。

One woman at the seminar, which was offered at a Beijing university and attended mostly by mothers and professional caregivers, took off her glasses and hid her face in her hands for a long time.

研討會上的一個女人摘下眼鏡，用手捂住臉很長時間。這次研討會在北京的一所大學召開，與會者大多是母親或職業看護人。

Another stared straight ahead, tearing up.

另一個人眼睛直直地盯着前方，滿含淚水。

A third asked, somewhat frantically, whether John had healed later. The answer — that he had not, entirely — from the teacher, Alf Gerlach, a psychoanalyst at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt, was met with quiet consternation.

還有一位略帶急躁地詢問約翰後來是否康復。講師阿爾夫•格拉克(Alf Gerlach)的回答是，他沒有完全康復。格拉克是法蘭克福弗洛伊德研究所(Sigmund Freud Institute)的精神分析學家。他的回答帶來一片愕然。

Millions of Chinese who attended boarding nurseries and preschools after the Communist revolution in 1949, when large-scale systems of institutional care were established to free parents to pursue revolution or to labor, experienced John’s plight to some degree.

1949年共產主義革命後，中國建立了大規模機構式護理系統，來解放父母，讓他們有時間參與革命或勞動。成百上千萬中國幼兒被送往寄宿託兒所或幼兒園，他們也都在某種程度上經歷了約翰的痛苦。

The generation most deeply affected may be those born in the early decades after 1949, as the boarding system spread unquestioned — those in their 50s and 60s who run the country today.

受影響最深的應該是在1949年之後的前幾十年出生的人——那時寄宿系統在沒有受到任何質疑的情況下推廣開來——而今他們五六十歲，正掌管着這個國家。

But the women at the seminar, who ranged from young adults to middle age, all had stories of losing primary caregivers, or of being forced to separate from their own children because of rules barring parents from staying with their hospitalized children.

但是，研討會上的女性，不管是剛剛成年，還是人到中年，都有失去主要照顧者，或者因爲不允許父母與住院的孩子呆在一起的醫院規定而被迫同孩子分開的經歷。

Boarding school is less common now for those under 6 but is still considered a respectable option. Even Chinese millennials may have been sent as toddlers. It is widespread among children 6 and older.

六歲以下兒童的寄宿託兒所如今已經不是那麼普遍，但仍被視爲不錯的選擇。在中國，就連千禧一代小時候也有可能被送進這種託兒所。這種情況在六歲及以上的兒童中非常普遍。

Hoping to understand more about the development of the system in China, I visited the Beijing municipal archives on Archive Road.

我希望更多瞭解這種系統在中國的發展狀況，於是拜訪了北京市檔案館。

There, documents showed that, at top institutions in the city after the revolution, the caregiver-to-child ratios — John’s problem had been a lack of attention — were initially high. Mostly, the children of the elite were sent away. The children of ordinary citizens were cared for at home.

這裏的檔案表明，革命之後，在北京最好的若干託兒所裏，照顧者與幼兒的人數比（約翰的問題在於缺乏關照）最初是非常高的。大多數情況下，精英階層的孩子們會被送進託兒所。普通市民的孩子們則在家裏接受照顧。

A 1958 State Council document recorded a 1-to-2 ratio in 1956 at a nursery run by the Ministry of Agriculture. But colder times began with the 1958 “double-anti” campaign against “waste and conservatism.”

根據一份1958年的國務院檔案的記載，1956年，在一個農業部管理的託兒所裏，一個看護者只需照顧兩個幼兒。但是隨着1958年“反浪費反保守”的“雙反”運動來臨，冷酷的時代開始了。

Spending on food and board was cut everywhere, the document showed. The caregiver ratio at the ministry nursery went to 1-to-5.5 that year. The authorities promised to get it to 1-to-5.9, in line with “rectification.”

文件表明，在所有地方，用於食物和住宿的經費都被縮減。那一年，在這個農業部的託兒所裏，相關比例變成了一個看護者照顧5.5個幼兒。爲了“整風”，官方承諾將這個比例變成1:5.9。

Conditions in less privileged preschools grew grim as the authorities pushed to institutionalize large numbers of children to free parents to meet higher production quotas during the Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1961.

在1958年到1961年的“大躍進”期間，官方開始推動將大量兒童送進幼兒園的做法，以便把父母解放出來，完成更高的生產定額，因此，在條件相對沒那麼好的幼兒園裏，形勢變得更加嚴峻。

Another document, dated 1960, noted: “The problem now is that the development of boarding nurseries isn’t keeping up with the development of the needs of production.” Facilities were built quickly but were “small and cramped.”

另一份1960年的文件中寫着“主要問題是托兒組織的發展還跟不上生產發展的需要”。設施建設很快，但“非常窄小”。

Only 26 percent were “good.” In Beijing, 400,000 children needed preschool places immediately, the document said. With the able-bodied working in fields or factories, the caregivers were often old or sick. At one preschool, the document said, six children drowned in one summer and three got food poisoning, with one dying.

“良好”率僅爲26%。文件說，在北京，有40萬兒童迫切需要幼兒園。身強力壯的人都在農田或工廠工作，看護人通常都是老弱者。文件顯示，在一個幼兒園裏，一個夏天內有六個孩子溺水，三人食物中毒，其中一人死亡。

Conditions have improved drastically since then, but loyalty to the system remains. An article published one week before school began on Sept. 1, by Shilehui, a website for preschool educators, addressed the issue.

比起那時，幼兒園的條件得到很大改善，但是人們仍然執着於這一體系。在9月1日學校開學一週前，一個名爲“師樂匯”的幼兒園教育者網站上發表的一篇文章就此做出解答。

Hardly any parent likes to send a young child to be boarded, it said. But in the interests of “objectivity,” it listed three advantages: Boarding helps children become more independent and less finicky and make more friends.

文章稱，很少有父母願意送孩子去寄宿。但是出於“客觀”考慮，文章列出了寄宿制度的三個優點：能幫助孩子更加獨立、不嬌氣、交到更多朋友。

Little John’s experience shows it also can have negative emotional outcomes. And the reactions of the women attending the course suggest that many Chinese parents know it.

小約翰的經歷表明，這種制度可能在感情方面帶來負面後果。而參加這個課程的女性的反應表明，很多中國父母明白這一點。