20080617/系列报道(6-3)：都江堰，中国－亘古不变的印记

都江堰，中国－亘古不变的印记

《多伦多太阳报》记者Thane Burnett, 2008-06-17 编译: 安婆婆编辑部

早在耶稣诞辰之前，就已经有水流通过这条人工水利渠道在南桥下奔腾不息了。当来自加拿大的地震志愿者Sherry Yang看到这座长约１英尺雄伟古建在这场毁灭性的412四川地震后依然耸立的时候，她流泪了。

时光倒流回27年前，Sherry的父亲－－一个在当地颇有影响力、并受人尊敬的人，当着当地群众的面，亲手在桥上刷写了桥名。

Sherry是一位祖籍四川的多伦多医院退休技师，在四川地震后从加拿大回国参加一些救援工作。但是今天，她是更多地是为了追寻着往日的回忆来到了这座老城。

在亲眼见到了依然耸立的毫发无损的大桥，并看到父亲当年手绘的桥名在木雕的儿童和守护神龙中还依然清晰可见后，Sherry说，“我一直很担心，从来没想过它还依然屹立。”

大桥将奔腾的岷江水分流，并导入几千公里外的农田。这个用于疏导水流的精密水利系统建造于火药发明前，意味着这条分流渠道仅仅是靠火和水从岩床中开通的。这座桥的意义远远不止是让人们可以穿越汹涌的水面，而是人类智慧的重要象征。

于去年去世的Sherry父亲比任何人都清楚这个意义，在中国几乎所有的象征物都向人们传递着强烈的信息。尤其是在这样一个困难的时刻。

Sherry说，“大桥已经建成很久，历经灾劫，依然完好。这就像中国，中国必定能从灾难中走出来，并且继续发展。”

她的父亲坚信普通人民团结起来的力量和能量，必定能克服困难，创造更美好的明天。

这项公元前256年的工程，这条精密的水路，动用了几万名工人才完成。但是和现在众志成城努力重建这个经历8.0级地震的灾区的士兵们和普通人们进行的工程相比，它是渺小的。

还记得在美国经历911之后，美国上下对于消防员和警察的爱戴之心油然而生，而在中国，解放军将会是拥有13人口的中国人民的共同骄傲。

绿色的解放军制服在灾区人民的眼中无异于是超人的紧身装，是对灾区人民精神上的极大宽慰。

昨天，一队解放军行军路经新兴县(Xin Xing)，肩上扛着的都是铲子和斧头，而不是来福枪，当地的群众都望着有如神人般的士兵们。

看着解放军的一字纵队，一位33岁的Xiong Yi Rong说，“他们救了我们，救了我们的镇子。只有共产社会才能有这样的解放军。”

其他地方也不时有着这样的天灾，包括新奥尔良的洪水，但是这些天灾使得国家分崩离析，而在中国，天灾却使人们以非常特殊的方式团结起来，比即将到来的奥林匹克运动会更为使人团结。

整个四川省星星点点布满了鼓舞人的标语、横幅和布告牌，告诉人们，整个国家民族已团结一心来面对的灾难。大家都是中华民族大家庭中的一员。最常见的图案是一只手伸出去紧紧握住另一只手。

电视上播放的的音乐从Lawrence Welk的军人音乐到发型前卫的流行乐手的音乐都是对于抗震救灾工作的礼赞，以前经常充斥荧屏的人们喜爱的肥皂剧已不再是主角。

飘扬的旗帜占据了大片原本属于小鸟们的空间，整个四川已成了红旗的海洋。

重建工程的志愿者和工作者们可以免费从高速公路通行，甚至在城市的繁忙的交通中也有属于他们的快速通道。

如果你没有穿上我爱(红心)中国的T恤，在这里的感觉就像是在家中洗衣那般闲适。

不管是形式上还是实践上，中国人在地震后终于找到了坚实的目标。

在这里的人们，甚至是一个来自加拿大的志愿者，记着父亲的言教，要帮助人们坚强起来，重新振作。

A symbol of China’s resilience

By THANE BURNETT

Tue, June 17, 2008

DUJIANGYAN, China — The symbols here are timeless.

Since before Jesus made his mark on earth, water has rushed below the covered South Bridge along one of the world’s first man-made irrigation channels. Canadian earthquake volunteer Sherry Yang starts to cry as she stares at the ornate ancient foot-bridge that still stands after the May 12 earthquake destroyed so much else in Sichuan province.

It was only 27 years ago, a whisper in the bridge’s lifetime, that Sherry’s father — for many years a powerful and respected man in the region — hand painted the name of the bridge high above the heads of the masses below.

A retired Toronto hospital research technician originally from Sichuan, Sherry is back in China to help organize relief efforts from Canada. But on this day, she returned to the old city on a more personal journey.

“I was so worried,” she explains as she finally sees the undamaged bridge — and her father’s still clear handiwork, which sits among carved wooden children and protective dragons. “In my heart, I never knew if it would (still) be here.”

The great bridge spans water split from the fast moving Min River; helping to drain it into thousands of kilometres of farmland. The sophisticated irrigation system which carries the currents along was constructed before the invention of gun powder, so the channel was carved by using fire and water to crack the great bedrock.

The bridge that rests above this water is an important symbol and does far more than simply get people across the fast moving waterway.

Sherry’s father, who died last year, understood this better than most. Here in China, almost all symbols carry a strong message to the people. Especially during difficult times.

“That the bridge has been around for so long, and still remains,” Sherry explains. “It’s like China… that it will also survive and go on.”

POWER OF THE PEOPLE

Her father believed strongly in the value and power of ordinary people coming together to pull off something lasting and extraordinary.

The complicated waterway itself — a marvel of 256 BC engineering — took tens of thousands of workers to complete. But it pales when compared to the efforts under way now — again by soldiers and ordinary people — to pull the region back after the 8.0-magnitude quake.

Remember the sense of national adoration given to American fire fighters and police after 9/11 — now keep multiplying that civic pride 1.3 billion times.

A green Chinese military uniform is as close to Superman tights as any mortal needs to wear in this disaster zone. Yesterday, as a line of soldiers marched drill-like through the hollow remains of the town of Xin Xing — shouldering shovels and pick axes rather than rifles — locals gathered to look at them in wonder.

“They saved us … saved our town,” said 33-year-old Xiong Yi Rong, as the men marched by in single file. “Only the communist system could have done that.”

Some disasters, including the flooding of New Orleans, have a way of pulling a country apart. In China, the earthquake has, in every practical way, brought these people together — arguably more than even the upcoming Olympics have.

The entire province is dotted with motivational slogans, banners and billboards, pointing out that the country beats with one heart during times like these. We all are a family of one, they remind. The dominant symbol has become hands reaching out to clasp other hands.

Musical tributes — from singing Lawrence Welk-type military men to spiky-haired pop artist — compete with favourite soap operas on television. Flags take up more local airspace than birds. The entire province is adorned in red fluttering fabric.

Reconstruction volunteers and workers are given free passage through highway tolls and even their own fast lane to sidestep city traffic.

And if you’re not wearing an ‘I (Heart) China’ T-shirt here, it’s likely at home in the wash.

Symbolically and practically, the Chinese have discovered strong purpose in the aftermath of the earthquake.

For the people here — even a Canadian volunteer who remembers the lessons of her father — it’s helping them make it to the other side all right.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Burnett_Thane/2008/06/17/5900681-sun.php