在马六甲寻访郑和的足迹
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.
马来西亚马六甲——郑和是中国明朝的宦官，也是一位航海探险家，他率领着满载瓷器的船队抵达了非洲和阿拉伯半岛，把长颈鹿带回了中国，同时也在东南亚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.
其中一个热带基地就位于马六甲，现在它是马来西亚西海岸边上一座规模不大的城市，保留着粉红色的葡萄牙殖民时期建筑、中国商人的宅邸，以及印度教和佛教寺庙。
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世纪时，它是贯穿中国与印度洋西部沿岸的海上通路的中间点。郑和船队的水手在马六甲海峡修建了房屋和仓库。从中国出发的船员，只有十分之一回到了中国。
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，在马来西亚及其有着很多华裔人口的邻国新加坡，一些学者和企业界人士，努力要让郑和的名字成为马六甲的代名词，正如他的名字一直与中国紧密连系一样。马六甲至少有两家宾馆以他的名字命名。在老城区的一个十字路口，矗立着一艘中式帆船的巨大复制品，上面覆盖着广告牌。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，郑和文化馆才是郑和热再次兴起的真正体现。它是一处不规则的红色二层建筑物，前面有八个门面。其目的是向游客明确介绍郑和的生平和那个时代，其中包括他在马来西亚停留期间。这个文化馆的魅力和声誉传回了郑和的祖国：去年，中国共产党最高层官员贾庆林参观了这家文化馆。“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.”
“郑和对马六甲帝国贡献良多，”文化馆创办人陈达生说。他是新加坡学者和企业家，也是国际郑和学会会长。“如果没有明朝的支持，马六甲的历史就会改写。”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.”
中国科学院海洋研究所的历史学家郑一钧说，郑和给这片区域带来了中国的生活方式。“在马六甲当地的历史，这种影响很明显，”他说。“在这段时间里，人们开始穿中式服装。中国人也和当地人通婚。两种文化发生融合，中国人成为了当地社会的组成部分。”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.
郑和文化馆是在官厂旧址上修建的，它在河的西岸设有库房和粮仓。曾陪同郑和三次下西洋的马欢是名阿拉伯语翻译，根据他的记录，有一道内墙保护着库房，外墙则围绕整个建筑，带有四个瞭望塔。带着铃铛的卫士在夜间巡逻。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.”
根据J·V·G·米尔斯(J. V. G. Mills)的翻译，马欢还写道，镇上有“老虎变成的男人；他们进入集市，混迹于人群中；他们被认出后，遭到了捕杀。”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.
郑和文化馆正式开放是在2005年，郑和首次下西洋的600周年。从1405到1433年间，郑和七次下西洋。在最后一次回国途中，62岁的郑和与世长辞。同船船员用白布将尸体包裹好，抛入海中。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.
郑和文化馆兴建的时候，工人在工地发现了五口古井。其中两口中有明代文物，包括瓷器碎片。其中一口井位于文化馆大堂的咖啡厅。井的内壁以花岗石块衬垫。“在郑和去过的各个地方，都发现有这样的做法，”陈达生说。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.
提到郑和，可以引起人们的强烈反应。很多中国人对他心怀崇敬，称他是一位先驱者，让中国暂时性地成了海上强国。在西方，郑和的功业一直是人们争论的话题，这在很大程度上是拜加文·孟席斯(Gavin Menzies)的畅销书所赐。这本2002年出版的《1421：中国发现世界》(1421: The Year China Discovered the World)遭到了很多历史学家的批评，因为它在证据很不充分的情况下，就断言郑和的海上行程远远超出了东非，到达了美洲，比克里斯托弗·哥伦布(Christopher Columbus)还早数十年。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.”
但没有人会怀疑郑和到过马六甲，他至少五次抵达这里。“郑和在这里的时候，就住在这栋建筑里，”文化馆导游戴维·霍尔(David Khor)说。“他建起了马六甲。之前它是个又小又落后的地方。”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.
陈达生说，在马六甲，95%以上的清真寺都深受中国建筑的影响。更重要的是，郑和与当时的中国统治者明成祖协助了马六甲当地人抗击暹罗王国。“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.”
“明成祖承认当地的部落首领是王国的统治者，”中国历史学者郑一钧说。“在此之后，暹罗就不敢再侵犯马六甲了。马六甲人认为是郑和帮助他们获得了独立，将他铭记在心。”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.
马欢写道，郑和赠给部落首领“双台银印、冠带袍服”。然后，在当地“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.”
文化馆里的展品呈现了郑和故事的其他层面。1431年，在最后一次前往非洲之前，郑和向福建的一座寺庙赠送了一口钟，以祈求一路平安。一个玻璃柜里陈列着那个时代把男孩变成宦官的工具：一把匕首、一根绳子、一支蜡烛和一个缸子（用来盛放割下的私处）。“没有麻醉剂，没有止痛药，”霍尔说。“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.
郑和出生于中国西南部一个显赫的穆斯林家族。13岁时，他被来犯的明军俘获，成了一名宦官。之后，郑和侍奉朱棣，也就是后来的明成祖。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.
对中国人而言，郑和的声誉在于其充当了明朝的和平使者，寻求与遥远的王国建立邦交。随着当今中国的崛起引发与其他一些亚洲国家的摩擦，一些学者以郑和为例，证明中国在历史上向来以世界和平为目标。“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.”
“欧洲人通过长途航行掀起了腥风血雨，一路强取豪夺，”厦门大学历史学教授庄国土说。“郑和跟他们有着本质的差别。”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.
不过，另有一些学者认为，郑和的航海实际上是由士兵进行的军事远征，代表的是明王朝奉行的扩张主义。“它们是带有战略目标的军事任务，”新加坡国立大学(National University of Singapore)的学者韦杰夫(Geoff Wade)在该校亚洲研究所(Asia Research Institute)于2004年发表的一篇论文中写道。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.
韦杰夫说，郑和在马六甲筑造的城寨证实了探险行动的军事本质。“要用这些庞大的舰队维持周边地区的‘大明’统治，打开通过印度洋前往非洲的通道，在今天的东南亚一带修建中途集结地是有必要的，”他写道。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.”
但陈达生说，这种军事化的、“混乱的”、痴迷于西方所说的“零和博弈”的全球秩序，是今天才有的。他说如今“你必须征服你的对手，而不是本着郑和精神去寻找一种共同受益的解决方案。”
