《经济学人》中英双语报道：纪念中国的辛亥革命

Commemorating China’s 1911 revolution
纪念中国的辛亥革命
From Sun to Mao to now
从孙中山到毛泽东，再到现在
Uncomfortable comparisons for an authoritarian government
不同权威政府的比较，让人不安
A super centenary Sun suit .
中山装的百年纪念
ONE hundred years ago on October 10th, a mutiny in the central Chinese city of Wuhan triggered the collapse of China’s last imperial dynasty. In Taiwan, which separated from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war and still claims to be the rightful heir of the republic founded in 1911, the anniversary will be celebrated with a parade, including a display of air power. But in China there are mixed feelings. The country is spending lavishly on festivities, too. But its ruling Communist Party is busily stifling debate about the revolutionaries’ dream of democracy, which has been realised on Taiwan but not on the mainland.
100年前的10月10日，中国中部城市武汉爆发兵变，引起中国最后一个封建王朝走向灭亡。内战后，台湾于1949年从大陆分离出去，仍然自称是1911年辛亥革命的合法继承者，百年庆典活动包括游行，展示空中力量。但是，中国对此，喜忧参半。大陆也耗巨资，举办庆典活动。但是大陆的执政党共产党正在展开讨论，探讨辛亥革命的民主梦想，台湾已经实现民主，但大陆却没有。
China and Taiwan have long disputed each others’ claims to be the heir of the 1911 revolution. Sun Yat-sen, regarded as the revolution’s leader, is officially revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. As usual around the time of the anniversary, a giant portrait of him was erected on October 1st in Tiananmen Square, opposite that of Mao Zedong (both wearing Sun suits, as they were known before their rebranding in Mao’s day). But the Communist Party’s efforts to play up the occasion have revealed its nervousness.
长期以来，大陆和台湾对双方究竟谁是辛亥革命的继承者，都颇有分歧。跟往常一样，国庆节在天安门广场会悬挂孙中山的巨幅肖像，以作纪念，对面就是毛泽东像（两人均穿着中山装，这种衣服在毛泽东时代再度推广之前，已经为人们所熟悉）。但是共产党大力宣传辛亥革命，此情此景显示出他们的担心和不安。
In late September, a film about the revolution, “1911”, starring Jackie Chan, a kung-fu actor from Hong Kong, was released. Officials trumpeted the movie but ticket sales have been lacklustre.
9月下旬，由香港功夫影星成龙主演的一部有关辛亥革命的电影，上映了。官方看好这部电影，但票房收入不佳。
The film carefully avoids dwelling on the sweeping political reforms initiated by the final imperial dynasty, the Qing, which precipitated its own overthrow. A popular television series, “Advance toward the Republic”, that focused on those reforms and was aired in 200

3, was cut by censors before the series finished, and banned from rebroadcast. One scene showed Sun addressing politicians six years after the 1911 revolution with a lament that “only powerful people have liberty”. Echoes of China today were clearly too unsettling for the censors.
影片小心避开对最后一个封建王朝，清朝中出现的那场横扫一切的政治变革的思索，那场突如其来的变革推翻了清朝的统治。2003年一个热播电视剧《走向共和》，集中展现那些变革，拍摄完毕前，该剧集被审查做了剪辑，并禁止重播。有一个镜头显示，民国6年，孙中山向政客们发表演说，哀叹；“只有有权有势的人，才有自由。”他的话语在今天的中国依然回响在耳边，审查部门依然如故，没有改变。
In the past year, officials have tried to stop discussion of the 1911 revolution straying into such realms. In November 2010 the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a newspaper in south China’s Hunan Province, got into trouble with the censors after publishing a supplement on the revolution. It quoted from a letter written by Vaclav Havel in 1975, when he was still a Czech dissident, to the country’s communist president, Gustav Husak: “history again demands to be heard”. The newspaper did not explain the context, which was Mr Havel’s lament about the Communist Party’s sanitisation of history. It did not need to. Its clear message was that the democratic demands of 1911 could not be repressed forever.
过去，官员们讳莫如深，试图阻止人们讨论辛亥革命。2010年11月，《潇湘晨报》，南部省份湖南的一份报纸，因发行辛亥革命增刊，而被审查。报纸引用了1975年当时捷克持不同政见者Vaclav Havel，写给该国信奉共产主义的总统，Gustav Husa的一句话：“历史再一次，需要人们倾听。” 报纸并没有解释他为什么要这么说，这句话是Have对该国共产党给历史清洁消毒，肃清历史表示痛惜。不必如此。报纸所传递的明确信息就是，辛亥革命的民主需求，永远不能被压抑约束住。
In recent months, upheaval in the Arab world has made officials even more nervous. In April they banned a symposium on the revolution planned by students at several leading universities in Beijing. A website advertising the event said that it aimed to look not only at “inspirational revolutionary victories” but also at things “hidden deeper” concerning democracy.

近几个月来，阿拉伯世界的暴动让官员们更加紧张。今年4月，官员禁止了由北京几所顶尖学府的学生组织的辛亥革命研讨会，一家负责宣传本次活动的网站称，这次活动既是在回望“振奋人心的革命成果”，也是在探索与民主有关的更深层次的东西。
Two weeks ago the authorities suddenly cancelled the world premier of an opera, “Dr Sun Yat-sen”, which was due to be perf

ormed by a Hong Kong troupe at the National Centre for the Performing Arts close to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. “Logistical reasons” were cited, but Hong Kong media speculated that some of its content—including its portrayal of Sun’s love life—was deemed to be out of line.

就在两个星期前，官方突然取消了香港原创歌剧《中山逸仙》的世界首演，原计划该剧将由香港剧团在北京天安门附近的国家大剧院演出。大陆媒体称其为“后勤出了点问题”，但是据港媒推测，禁演的原因是部分场景（如对孙爱情生活的刻画）明显不符合审查。
But the authorities are not letting their political worries spoil a spending opportunity. In Wuhan, where the revolution began, they announced plans to splurge 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) on 1911-related exhibitions and on a makeover for the city. The Manchu emperor abdicated in February 1912, ending over 2,000 years of dynastic rule. Officials in Wuhan, and elsewhere, have been keeping quiet about the orgy of violence against Manchus that accompanied the upheaval (see article).

然而，官方并没有让他们政治上的担心转化为对消费的提振。在革命的发源地武汉，政府宣布计划耗资200亿人民币（约合31亿美元）举办一场辛亥革命相关展出及城市美化工作。1912年2月满洲皇帝退位，为中国2000多年的封建王朝统治画上句号。武汉和其他地区的官员一直闭口不谈民众反满时的暴力行为，正式这些行为促成了暴动目的达成。
Some Chinese scholars say the revolution did little for China except to usher in chaotic warlordism, followed by authoritarian government. Such accusations have some merit. China did indeed slide into disarray, warlordism and insurrection after 1911. Any hopes of a democratic republic were overwhelmed by efforts to bring the country under control, which the Communist Party achieved in 1949. Li Zehou, a Chinese intellectual, has stirred debate in recent years by arguing that China should have given the Qing reforms more of a chance.

中国部分学者表示，辛亥革命对于中国的作用仅仅是走进了混乱的军阀主义，随后是中央集权政府的建立。这一指控不无道理，中国确实在1911年后陷入了混乱无序、军阀主义且暴乱频发。所有建立民主共和的希望都被将国家至于控制当中的努力所堙没，而这种努力终于在1949年达到目的。近年来，中国学者李泽厚又激起了关于中国是否应当在清朝推行更多改革的讨论。
The Communist Party maintains that the 1911 revolution was justified, but finds itself in a quandary. Another star-studded film released earlier this year to mark its own 90th birthday stirred audiences in an unintended way. The film, covering the period from the revolution of 1911 to the Communist Party’s founding in 1921, prompted numerous comments on Chinese internet forums about th

e lessons it offered for rebelling against bad government. Interesting idea.

中国共产党坚持称，1911年的辛亥革命事出有因，这让它自身深陷矛盾之中。今年早些时候上映的另一部群星云集的电影《建党伟业》，庆祝党诞90周年，潜移默化之中激励了观众。本片讲述了1911年辛亥革命到1921年共产党的成立，引来国内论坛热议无数，网友称，想推翻不良政府，本片提供参考不少。这想法还真是有趣。