美籍華裔作家的尋根之旅

美籍華裔作家徐桓是《偷瓷賊：尋找中國土地下深埋的寶藏》（The Porcelain Thief： Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China）的作者。該書細細敘述了徐桓的返鄉旅程。他穿越古代和當代的中國，探尋外高祖父長期埋藏的瓷器下落，從而發現了理解過去百年來家族史的關鍵。

1938年，日軍抵達長江新港。徐的外高祖父全家世世代代居住在那里。他們只得埋藏寶物，包括大批價值連城的古代瓷器，背井離鄉數十年，辛苦跋涉數千里，經歷了無數峰回路轉的奇遇。徐在鹽湖城長大，只憑家族的傳說，就前往中國，在叔父的半導體芯片廠工作，開始理解以前不明白的家史。他和外祖母的交流激起了他的興趣。外祖母是最后的紐帶，將他和王朝時代的古老中國聯系起來。他開始對瓷器本身感興趣，不限于家族的寶藏。他輾轉大陸和臺灣，著手甄別圍繞家族與中國的傳說和事實，最終補全了家族萬里還鄉的歷史。

本期《聚光燈下》，我們來了解徐桓作為ABC返回中國的一些見聞和他尋根之旅的心路歷程。

Arun Rath （Host）： Unless youve got Long John Silver in your family tree， you wouldnt expect researching family history to involve a search for buried treasure. But thats just part of the wild story Huan Hsu tells in his book “The Porcelain Thief.” Hsus great-great-grandfather was a scholar during Chinas last Imperial Dynasty. He built up an immense collection of extremely valuable porcelain. But the family was forced to flee in 1938 as the invading Japanese army approached.

Huan Hsu： In order to keep his collection safe， he and one of his workmen dug a giant hole in their garden. And it was described to me as deeper than a man was tall and about the size of a bedroom. And they lined that hole with bamboo shelving. They filled this vault to the brim， and then they put a false floor over it and re-planted the garden.

Rath： Huan Hsu knew nothing about this part of his family history when he was growing up. He was an ABC—an American-born Chinese living in Salt Lake City， Utah.

Hsu： I think I was somewhat typical of a child of immigrants in the sense that I was not really interested in being Chinese at all and was much more interested in assimilating. I just thought， like， my parents were from another planet and had come there solely to embarrass me. And…

Rath： I think a lot of the people feel like that.

（Laughter）

Hsu： Yeah， that might not be unique to being Chinese-American. Yeah.

Rath： Well， so how did you get from where you were， which was kind of not wanting to embrace your Chinese heritage to this trip that you describe in this book， where you actually go to China to find out what happened to this buried porcelain collection？

Hsu： Although I wasnt really interested in my family history， I always liked to dig—literally. Like， I dug lots of holes in my moms backyard looking for dinosaur bones or arrowheads or， you know， anything a little kid thinks hes gonna find. And I think that compulsion manifested itself as a writer and as a journalist wanting to dig for stories.

So while I was working for a newspaper in Seattle， I had to go to the Seattle Art Museum for a story. And when I was there， I stumbled into their porcelain room， and I saw this little red porcelain dish in the shape of a chrysanthemum with gold lettering on it. And the museum couldnt tell me what that gold lettering said， so I called my dad to help me translate it. And as we were getting off the phone， he said， well， you know， if youre actually interested in porcelain， you should talk to your mom， because her family had some porcelain.

So I talked to my mom， and she had told me the story of my great-great-grandfathers buried porcelain. And she knew pretty much just that—that my great-great-grandfather was a porcelain collector and had buried his porcelain and couldnt answer any questions that I had in terms of how much there was？ How much was it worth？ When was it buried？ Where was it buried？ Had anybody ever gone to look for it？ So she said， well， you know， the person who would know this is your grandmother who grew up at that house. Eventually， my grandmother said to my mom， well， you know， if he really wants to hear the story， he should just come here. So I did.

Rath： And you go to China. And I gotta tell you， I cant get over how much your experience about being an ABC in China reminded me about my experience of being—I dont know if youve heard this term—ABCD. Its American-born confused Desi. Its for like people of South Asian extraction.

Hsu： Oh， no.

Rath： The first thing that deeply messed with my head when I was in India—white expats in India， when they see each other in the street， they kind of nod at each other. Theyre like—this acknowledgement. And I was kind of surprised they didnt do that with me. And then I realized—wait， no， Im not white. Why would they do that with me？ And you described exactly the same thing in China.

Hsu： （Laughter） So， like， when I think of myself， I dont think of myself as Chinese， I guess. And so， yeah， when I got to China， I found myself really perturbed that I didnt get that knowing glance from other expats when I passed them on the street. And I found myself， like， trying to project my American-ness as much as possible when they were like within earshot. Like， I would speak my English much louder than I needed to. Yeah， I would look for like any excuse to be like， hey， hey， Im American， too.

Rath： And how did Chinese people regard you as an American-born Chinese—as an ABC？

Hsu： The local Chinese love to ask， like， do you feel Chinese or American？ And I guess in America I feel kind of Chinese， and in China I feel really American. I think the younger generation gets it， but the older generation just—they dont accept it， because they just want you to say， oh， yeah， I have Chinese blood. And I love China. And Im really happy to be back in the motherland and things like that.

And I had one guy at a dinner just really push me on whether or not I felt Chinese or American. He just would nt accept， you know， my equivocations. And finally he said， OK， lets say China and America went to war. Which side would you pick up a gun for？ And I was like， ugh， well， in that case， Id just run to Canada. Like， I just…

Rath： （Laughter） So this story is about your quest for buried treasure. Youre trying to find this collection of porcelain that was buried at your familys ancestral home. Ill tease people by saying that you do get there， and you do some digging， literally. But clearly， youre more engrossed in this book by what you unearth about your family—its history and its secrets and how thats wrapped up in Chinas history. So at the end of this， what do you come away learning about yourself？

Hsu： Yeah， I think the whole experience just kind of made me more OK with me. I was always really envious of Americans who could trace their lineage really far back， who could kind of place themselves in a tradition. And so I think going to China and understanding more about where I came from—I mean，this sounds a little cliché—but that kind of gave me a better sense of who I am. And just about everybodys family history is interesting. And I think theyre really precious things that should be remembered.

Rath： Huan Hsu is the author of “The Porcelain Thief： Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China.” Thanks for your time， Huan.

Hsu： Thank you for having me.

阿倫·拉思（主持人）：除非你的族譜里有朗·約翰·西爾弗（譯者注：名著《金銀島》里聲名狼藉的獨腳海盜）這樣的人，否則你不會想到為了搜尋寶藏而去研究家族的歷史。然而那只是徐桓（音譯）在他的書——《偷瓷賊》中所講述的瘋狂故事的一部分。徐的外高祖父是中國最后一個封建王朝時期的一位學者，他收藏了大量極具價值的瓷器。但是隨著侵華日軍的逼近，全家人被迫在1938年離鄉背井。

徐桓：為了保證收藏品的安全，他和他的一名下人在花園里挖了個巨大的洞。……