“第十九届斯诺研讨会”嘉宾发言推送的第二篇来自美国堪萨斯大学政治系主任约翰·肯尼迪的《友谊与时间》。

友谊与时间

（约翰·肯尼迪致辞中文译文）

建立友谊需要时间，培养友谊也需要时间。这需要双方建立信任，学会彼此依靠。这只有个人去亲身经历和面对面交流才能实现。我将谈谈过去25年来，我在中国收获的友谊是如何帮助我了解中国，对我在堪萨斯州教授关于中国的知识大有裨益的。而且，我的中国朋友帮助我透过那些所谓头条新闻和重大新闻，真正理解中国。

自我介绍：我叫约翰·肯尼迪，是堪萨斯大学教授。我教授关于中国的课程。30岁那年，我开始上中文课。高中毕业之后，我成为一名木匠。到了28岁，我开始上社区大学。然后1992年转学到加州大学戴维斯分校，在1994-1996年间我一直生活在中国。到1997年，我去加州大学戴维斯分校攻读博士，2002年毕业。从2003年开始，我就一直在堪萨斯大学担任教职。而自1996年起，我每年都会回中国（除了最近两年）。

每当我想起中国，就会想到我在那里的村庄、大学、学校、小商店和餐馆遇到的人们，以及我在过去25年与那里的人结下的友谊。这些朋友帮我更加深入的了解中国，甚至了解我自己。建立友谊需要时间，培养友谊也需要时间。我在中国收获的友谊，对我教授关于中国的知识大有裨益。

1994-1995年是我在中国的第一年，每天我都在一个小胡同的同一家面馆吃饭。有一天，我正在用筷子吃面条，邻桌的小女孩大声说道，“你看，那个老外在用筷子。”我说，“如果老外不用筷子，那么他就会挨饿。”餐厅里的人都笑了。慢慢地，我与餐馆老板及他的家人熟悉起来，我也认识了小女孩的家人以及许多住在胡同的居民。我认识到了在北京胡同做小生意的确不易。

从20世纪90年代到21世纪初，我透过当地人看到了北京的巨大变化和发展。关于北京的发展状况以及拆除旧社区和老胡同，建造高层公寓的现象，当时引发了公众热议，国际上也有很多新闻报道。我朋友居住的许多胡同和小型社区被拆除，他们搬到了规模更大的商品房小区。这些新闻报道认为这是一个艰难的转变过程，但我看到其中更为复杂的变化。年轻居民欣然接受这种变化，愿意搬进现代公寓和更新更干净的社区。然而，老一辈人怀念以前老胡同的氛围以及邻里之间的亲密关系。随着不断城市化以及社会的发展，我们总要面临一些权衡取舍。我注意到，那些朋友的父母以及我的老龄朋友逐渐适应新兴的公寓楼，他们在小区里打乒乓球，或者白天练太极拳，晚上跳广场舞。

过去几十年里，国际媒体上也有许多关于中国城乡差距和扶贫政策的讨论，但是，我从朋友及其家人那里，才能更为全面地了解到农村的生活。在20世纪90年代以及21世纪初，我曾访问中国大西北的农村。我与农民成为朋友，了解到他们的生活。那里的田地都是一小块一小块的，有的还在山坡上，耕种这些土地很辛苦。而且没有水源，农作物几乎得不到灌溉。然而，这些年，我看到农民不断向城市迁移，许多扶贫项目在大西北农村得到落实。路越修越好，农村市场商品愈加丰富，灌溉设施也有了改善，农民生活质量不断提升。

即使在最贫穷的偏远村庄，我认识的一些农民家庭也搬到了土地更肥沃的地区，住进新房。我亲眼目睹了朋友及其家人的生活中发生的变化。就像北京居民从胡同到公寓楼的转变一样，年轻农民也都急切地想搬到更为现代、耕地更多、更靠近城市的村庄，而老一辈抛舍不下祖辈留下的村落和土地。虽然我读过一些关于扶贫的文章，但朋友的切身经历才让真正我理解这项政策如何提升了数百万农民的生活质量。

埃德加·斯诺在很多文章以及一本著作中，描写了他与中国人的友谊及其在中国的经历。他向英语国家的读者介绍中国和中国的革命。我与中国人的友谊让我得以了解到国际媒体报道之外的中国及这里发生的种种变化，帮助我的学生了解普通中国人视角下的中国，以及这些变化和政策如何影响他们的生活和家庭。

Friendship and Time

John Kennedy

Making friends takes time. Time to build relationships. This means building trust and learning to rely on each other. This can only happen through experience and face-to-face interaction with individuals. I will talk about how the friendships I have made in China over the last 25 years have helped understand and teach about China in Kansas. Moreover, my friendships help me see China beyond the headlines and big news stories.

Introduce myself: John Kennedy and professor at the University of Kansas. I teach classes on China. I took my first Chinese class when I was 30 years old. After high school, I worked a carpenter. Then when I was 28 years old, I started to attend community college. I transferred to the University of California, Davis in 1992 and then lived in China from 1994-1996. I started the PhD program at University of California, Davis in 1997 and finished in 2002. I started teaching at the University of Kansas in 2003. I have gone back to China every year since 1996 (except for the last two years).

When I think of China, I think of the people I have met in villages, universities, schools, small stores and restaurants, and the friendships I have made over the last 25 years. I have learned much about China and myself through these friendships. However, making friends takes time. Time to build relationships. The friendships I have made in China help me teach about China.

During my first year in China in 1994-1995, I ate at the same noodle shop in a small ally (hutong) everyday. One day, I was eating a bowl of noddle with chopsticks and a little girl at the next table said in a loud voice. “Look at the at the foreigner (laowei) using chopsticks”, and I said “if the laowei does not use chopsticks, then the laowei goes hungry.” Everyone in the restaurant laughed. Over time, I got to know restaurant owner and his family, I also got to know little girls’ family and many of the people who lived in the hutong. I learned about how difficult it was to run a small business and social life in a Beijing hutong.

Over the years in the 1990s and into the 2000s, I was able to observe the changes in and development in Beijing through my friendships. There was much public discussion and international news reports on the development in Beijing and the tearing down older communities and hutongs to build high rise apartments. Many of the hutongs and small communities, where my friends lived were being torn down, and they moved to larger apartment complexes. The news reports suggested a difficult transition, but I observed a more complex change. The younger residents were very happy with the change and moving into a modern apartments and newer cleaner communities. However, the older generation missed the sense of community and close contact with neighbors in the hutong. With urbanization and development there is always a trade-off. Over time I noticed my friends’ parents and my older friends were adjusting to the new apartment complex playing pingpong in the court yards and practicing taichi during the day and ballroom dancing at night.

There is much discussion of the rural and urban gap and poverty alleviation in the international headlines over the last several decades, but I learned much about rural live from friends and their families. In the 1990s and 2000s, I visited villages in rural northwest. I made friends with rural families and learned about village life. It was hard working on small farms and plots of land in the mountain sides. No running water and little irrigation. However, over the years I was able to observe rural to urban migration opportunities and the poverty alleviation programs in the rural northwest. Improved roads, rural markets and irrigation increased the quality of life for many villagers.

In some of the poorest remote villages, families I knew were moved to regions with better land and new housing. Over time, I was able to observe the changes my friends and their families were going through. Like the Beijing resident transition from the hutongs to the apartment complexes, the younger generation were excited about moving to a more modern village with more arable land and closer to urban areas, but the older generation had a harder time leaving the traditional village and land. Although I have read about poverty alleviation campaign, observing my friends experience help me understand how the policy improved the quality of life for millions of villagers.

Edger Snow wrote news articles and a book about his friendships and experience. He introduced China and Revolution to an English-speaking audience. My friendships have helped me understand China and the changes beyond the headlines and to teach my students about China from the perspective of everyday people and how the changes and policies influence their lives and their families.

作者：陈 医

编辑：刘鑫慧