TED经典演讲：读书能打开心灵之窗

TED经典演讲：读书能打开心灵之窗

So I was trained to become a gymnast for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s. When I was in the first grade, the government wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes, all expenses paid. But my tiger mother said, "No." My parents wanted me to become an engineer like them. After surviving the Cultural Revolution, they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness: a safe and well-paid job. It is not important if I like the job or not.

七十年代时我在中国湖南练过两年体操。七十年代时我在中国湖南练过两年体操。当我上小学一年级时，政府想让我转学去体校，当我上小学一年级时，政府想让我转学去体校，一切免费。我那位虎妈说“不行”。我父母希望我长大象他们一样当工程师。我父母希望我长大象他们一样当工程师。作为文革的幸存者，他们坚定认为获得幸福的唯一可靠途径是一个安定高薪的工作，至于我喜不喜欢那个工作并不重要。

But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer. That is me playing my imaginary piano. An opera singer must start training young to learn acrobatics, so I tried everything I could to go to opera school. I even wrote to the school principal and the host of a radio show. But no adults liked the idea. No adults believed I was serious. Only my friends supported me, but they were kids, just as powerless as I was. So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained. My dream would never come true. I was afraid that for the rest of my life some second-class happiness would be the best I could hope for.

但我的梦想是成为黄梅戏演员。那是我在弹假想的钢琴。戏曲演员必须从小开始学身段功夫，戏曲演员必须从小开始学身段功夫，我想尽了一切办法想去黄梅戏学校，甚至写信给戏校校长和一个电台节目主持人。但没有一个大人喜欢那个主意，没有一个大人相信我是认真的。只有我的小伙伴们支持我，但他们也是小孩，和我一样无能为力。十五岁时，我知道自己要学戏已经年纪太大，我的梦想已不再可能实现。我担心在余下的一生里，自己的命就是得到些二流幸福而已。自己的命就是得到些二流幸福而已。

But that's so unfair. So I was determined to find another calling. Nobody around to teach me? Fine. I turned to books.

老天不公啊! 我暗下决心要为自己寻找另一个使命。周围无人赐教?没什么大不了，我从书中学习。

I satisfied my hunger for parental advice from this book by a family of writers and musicians. ["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]

《傅雷家书》满足了我对长辈教诲的期盼，写书的傅家是一个作家、音乐家荟萃的家庭。

I found my role model of an independent woman when Confucian tradition requires obedience. ["Jane Eyre"]

我从《简爱》这本书中找到了独立女性的榜样，尽管儒家传统教人听话顺从。

And I learned to be efficient from this book. ["Cheaper by the Dozen"]

我从《效率专家爸爸》这本书中学会高效率。

And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.

这几本书燃起了我对出国深造的渴望。

["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]

(《三毛全集》、南怀瑾的《历史的经验》)

I came to the U.S. in 1995, so which books did I read here first? Books banned in China, of course. "The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life. That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it. The Bible is interesting, but strange. (Laughter) That's a topic for a different day. But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany: "You shall honor your father and mother." "Honor," I said. "That's so different, and better, than obey." So it becomes my tool to climb out of this Confucian guilt trap and to restart my relationship with my parents.

我1995年来美国，在美国我首先读什么书呢? 当然是中国的禁书。《大地》讲的是中国农民的故事，真实得不方便宣传。懂了。《圣经》很有趣但也很奇怪， (笑声) 那个话题他日再聊。但十诫中的第五诫给了我灵感：“你应荣耀你的父母”。我心里一动，“荣耀”不等于而且远胜于“服从”! 它成为我爬出儒家负罪感的工具，它成为我爬出儒家负罪感的工具，让我重建与父母的关系。

Encountering a new culture also started my habit of comparative reading. It offers many insights. For example, I found this map out of place at first because this is what Chinese students grew up with. It had never occurred to me, China doesn't have to be at the center of the world. A map actually carries somebody's view. Comparative reading actually is nothing new. It's a standard practice in the academic world. There are even research fields such as comparative religion and comparative literature.

来到一个新文化环境也促成我比较阅读的习惯，来到一个新文化环境也促成我比较阅读的习惯，它让人读得更深刻。举个例子，第一次看到这幅地图时我觉得它有些怪, 因为这才是中国大陆学生从小到大使用的世界地图。我之前从未意识到原来中国不一定非要位于世界地图中央，原来地图带着某种视角。比较阅读并不新鲜，它是学术界里的标