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俞孔堅(jiān)?土殤
——《景觀設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)》2015年第6期“主編寄語”
Elegy to Soil
By Kongjian Yu
一提到土,我的腦海里立刻會交替出現(xiàn)兩個(gè)生動的畫面:一個(gè)來自于我記事不久的兒時(shí)經(jīng)歷,另一個(gè)來自遙遠(yuǎn)的歷史。
這第一個(gè)畫面是一群披麻戴孝的男女,在一個(gè)深深的土坑中,大家圍繞著一口棺材一面哭嚎,一面轉(zhuǎn)圈;每個(gè)人都從身邊抓起一把把松土,撒向棺材的頂部。棺材里躺著我的長輩。我也被夾在這流動著的人群之中,一圈一圈地在這深坑中走著。我非??謶?,恐懼死亡,恐懼自己遲早也將進(jìn)入這黑暗的地下。這種恐懼伴隨著我成長,直到40多歲之后,這種對土的恐懼才慢慢消失,因?yàn)?,它將是所有人類最公平的、不可逃避的歸宿:入土為安!
這第二個(gè)畫面是2 600多年前,晉國二公子重耳及其擁戴者——一群地道的亡命徒,跋涉于黃土溝壑之間的情景。他們不忍饑渴和疲憊,向當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)人乞討。農(nóng)人盛了一碗土給他們,意為不勞動哪有飯吃!重耳大怒,人群中卻有智慧人士告訴他:趕緊司跪拜大禮,接受這最珍貴的禮物,因?yàn)檫@是獲得國家與土地的吉祥之兆。果然,不久之后,重耳重回晉國,成為國君,擁有一切。大地重現(xiàn)生機(jī),社稷得以昌盛。
土,人類一切的來源,也是人類一切的歸宿。關(guān)于這一點(diǎn),在東西方的觀念中都是一樣的。上帝用土造人,最終又將人類生命還給土地。千百年來循環(huán)往復(fù),未嘗改變。不但如此,土令我生活和成長在其中。小時(shí)候,媽媽曾經(jīng)將黃土敷在我的創(chuàng)傷處,使它不被感染,并很快痊愈;我曾經(jīng)從河溝里挖出泥土,做成坦克和種種動物,然后在太陽下曬干,成為最心愛的玩具;我曾經(jīng)將雙腳深深插入泥塘里,感受泥鰍在腳底下的蠕動;當(dāng)我離開故土?xí)r,我甚至帶上一包黃土,遠(yuǎn)渡重洋……
仔細(xì)思考,這土也是世界上最不可描繪、最復(fù)雜和內(nèi)涵最豐富的存在:它既是作為家園和國家的領(lǐng)土,也是作為生產(chǎn)資料的土地,還是作為作物生長的介質(zhì)——土壤。也正因如此,土,可以喚起人類所有復(fù)雜的情感:熱愛、憤怒、恐懼、感恩、內(nèi)疚、嫉妒……人類最偉大和最卑鄙的行為,都會因這土而產(chǎn)生。所以,人類用“母親”兩個(gè)字來表達(dá)土地;甚至超越“母親”的表達(dá),而必須用“神”來形容——是的,土地是神!
非常有意思的是,人類關(guān)于土的理解和情感,最終可以通過手中的那捧土來表達(dá)!這便是土壤,一種曾經(jīng)唾手可得、最尋常的東西。土壤的科學(xué)定義是由巖石風(fēng)化而成的礦物質(zhì),它是礦物和有機(jī)物的混合物??茖W(xué)家告訴我們,在良好的水熱條件下,每一立方厘米的土壤的生成,需要300年的時(shí)間。這曾經(jīng)無處不在的土壤,對于人類而言其存在的價(jià)值不亞于空氣和水,卻是最不被珍惜和善待的存在!
它們被肆意從山坡上剝離,只因?yàn)樗鼈兟癫赜忻旱V、金屬,或是其他可以為人類牟取暴利的物質(zhì);它們被肆意覆蓋上水泥,只因?yàn)橥寥捞胀?、太尋常;它們被肆意污染和毒化,以至于不能夠再支持任何生命的存在…?/span>
我關(guān)于土的情感第一次受到傷害是20多年前在美國的時(shí)候,當(dāng)時(shí)我租居的宅子前有一方土地,于是便想開墾種些蔬菜。不想,鄰居立刻警告說,這里的土壤里可能有鉛污染,最好不要種蔬菜,甚至不要讓兒童接觸!一個(gè)號稱最發(fā)達(dá)的國家里,怎么連土壤都是危險(xiǎn)的!此后,全美國境內(nèi)關(guān)于兒童因鉛中毒的報(bào)道不絕于耳。
20年之后,再看我的祖國,土壤已完全不是我兒童時(shí)的景象:在過去的20年中,我曾走進(jìn)城市中心廢棄的廠區(qū),滿地污水橫流,土壤帶著危險(xiǎn)的顏色;我曾經(jīng)誤入郊區(qū)的工業(yè)廢渣堆放場,那里散發(fā)著死亡的氣味,周邊的樹木已全部枯萎;我曾經(jīng)踏進(jìn)遠(yuǎn)郊的田野,作物枯黃、毫無生氣。農(nóng)人告訴我,年復(fù)一年的化肥施用,早已使土壤板結(jié),幾乎無法繼續(xù)耕種;我想去遠(yuǎn)方的河谷與山林中尋找一片凈土,不想沿途卻看見河岸的沃土已經(jīng)被梯級電站水庫所淹沒,山坡上的土壤已被灰色的水泥所覆蓋。夢中那方神圣的土地,卻已滿目瘡痍!
此時(shí),我在想,當(dāng)重耳再手捧那一碗黃土,他又該作何感想!此時(shí),我如再用這腳下的黃土療愈我受傷的肌膚,結(jié)果又將如何?我那地下長眠的祖先,他是否還感到寧靜和安全?
譯:張健 凱瑟琳?德?阿爾梅達(dá)
Whenever there is a mention of soil, two vivid scenes always appear in my mind: one from my earliest memories, the other from a distant history.
In the first scene, a group of men and women in mourning apparels were crying and walking around a coffin in a deep pit; each of them grabbed and sprinkled soil on top of the coffin, in which lain one of my elders. I was among the crowd too, walking round and round in the pit. I was very scared, scared of death, scared of the ultimate end of myself being buried in this darkness of underground. The fear accompanied me through my growth. This fear of soil has slowly gone until my forties because I realized it is the most equitable and inescapable fate of human beings — to lay in soil and rest.
The second scene dates back to more than 2,600 years ago: Chong’er, the second prince of Kingdom Jin, crawling in the loess gullies with his partisans, a tribe of bravos. Dying of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, they begged the local farmers for food. One of the farmers offered them a bowl of soil, implying that one gets no food without working hard. Chong’er was furious. But a wise partisan told him that that was the most precious gift and Chong’er should perform the prostration ceremony for the local, because soil symbolized Kingdom and land. Before long, as expected, Chong’er returned to Kingdom Jin and became the king to rule everything. Life and prosperity were brought back to the Kingdom.
It is recognized both in Eastern and Western ideologies that soil is not only the matrix of all human activities, but also their end result. God forms man out of dust, and ultimately returns man back to earth. For thousands of years this circle continues. Moreover, soil becomes a valuable part of my personal life experiences and memories. When I was young, my mother used to apply loess on my wound to keep away infections and make me healed; I used to make tanks and various animals with mud, and once they dried up in the sun, they became my favorite toys. I also used to put my feet deep in a pond, and feel the wiggle of loaches. When I left my homeland, I even took a pack of loess from home to accompany my travels overseas.
In Chinese, “土” (earth) may be one of characters with the most indescribable, complicated, and richest meanings — it is not only the territory for state and homeland (領(lǐng)土), the land as a means of production (土地), but also the medium in which we grow crops — soil (土壤). Precisely because of it, soil arouses all kinds of complex human feelings: devotion, anger, fear, appreciation, shame, jealousy.... Both the greatest and most despicable acts of human beings may be generated from soil. Therefore, “Mother” is the word that a man calls the ground beneath his feet; or “God,” the word beyond the connotation of “Mother” — indeed so, land is God!
Interestingly, a man can express his understanding and feelings for soil by a handful of dirt in his hands. It is soil, a ubiquitous, common thing. The scientific definition of soil is the minerals generated from weathering stone, it is a mixture of minerals and organic matter. Studies inform us that in ideal hydrothermal conditions, the formation of each cubic centimeter of soil takes 300 years. Soil, as valuable as oxygen and water to human beings, is yet the least appreciated and well-treated existent!
It gets stripped off from mountain slopes, only because it contains coal, metals, or other substances that can bring huge profits to people; it gets covered by concrete, only because soil looks too ordinary and plain; it becomes so contaminated and poisoned that no life can exist in it any more....
The first time my feelings for soil got hurt was over 20 years ago when I lived in the United States. In front of my rented house, there was a piece of land where I intended to reclaim and plant some vegetables. Unexpectedly, I was immediately alarmed by the neighbor that the soil might be lead-polluted and it would be too risky to plant vegetables or crops, or let kids touch the soil! In the reputed “most developed” country, how could the soil be dangerous? Since then, I have constantly heard reports of lead-poisoned children all over the United States.
20 years later, when I look at my own homeland, the soil no longer looks the same as it did in my childhood: over the past decades, I had visited abandoned factory campuses in cities, where polluted water flows with the soil in unusual colors. By accident, I went to an industrial waste dump in suburb, where exuded putrid smell and none of the trees alive. I also used to step in farmlands far away from the city, where the crops were withered and inanimate crops. Local farmers told me that the use of chemical fertilizer year after year has rendered the soil harden and unarable. When I sought for the pure land in the secluded river valley and mountain forest, all I found was the riverside fertile soil replaced by hydropower station, and mountain slopes covered by grey concrete. The dreamt, sacred land has now become nothing but devastation!
At this moment, I am wondering what would Chong’er have in his mind if he had that bowl of soil in hands again? What would happen to me if I tried to heal my wounds by loess again? The elder of mine, resting underground, would he still feel peaceful and safe?
Translated by Angus ZHANG Catherine De ALMEIDA