愛因斯坦日記中的仇外情結

Private journals kept by the scientist and humanitarian icon show prejudiced attitudes towards the people he met while travelling in Asia

愛因斯坦是著名的科學家兼人道主義偶像。 近日，普林斯頓大學出版了他的個人日記，在他的日記中出現了很多仇外的描述，不相信吧，接著看下去吧！

The publication of Albert Einstein』s private diaries detailing his tour of Asia in the 1920s reveals the theoretical physicist and humanitarian icon』s racist attitudes to the people he met on his travels, particularly the Chinese.

愛因斯坦在19世紀20年代亞洲之行私人日記的描述中透漏出了對旅途中所見的亞洲人，尤其是中國人的種族主義偏見。

Written between October 1922 and March 1923, the diaries see the scientist musing on his travels, science, philosophy and art. In China, the man who famously once described racism as 「a disease of white people」 describes the 「industrious, filthy, obtuse people」 he observes. He notes how the 「Chinese don』t sit on benches while eating but squat like Europeans do when they relieve themselves out in the leafy woods. All this occurs quietly and demurely. Even the children are spiritless and look obtuse.」 After earlier writing of the 「abundance of offspring」 and the 「fecundity」 of the Chinese, he goes on to say: 「It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary.」

這篇寫於1922至1923年的日記記錄了愛因斯坦對旅行、科學、哲學和藝術的思考，在中國旅行時，這個曾稱種族主義只屬於白種人的人，對他所看到的中國人貼上了了勤勞、骯髒和愚蠢的標籤。他說中國人吃飯不是坐在凳子上，而是像歐洲人在叢林如廁一樣的蹲著，既安靜又沉著，甚至稱當地的小孩都很無精打采，看上去很遲鈍。他之前曾描述過中國是一個口眾多和地大物博的國家。他隨後還在日記中寫道，如果中國取代了別的種族那會是一件憾事，對像我們這個種族的人來說，這種恐懼無以名狀。

Ze』ev Rosenkranz, senior editor and assistant director of the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology, said: 「I think a lot of comments strike us as pretty unpleasant – what he says about the Chinese in particular.「They』re kind of in contrast to the public image of the great humanitarian icon. I think it』s quite a shock to read those and contrast them with his more public statements. They』re more off guard, he didn』t intend them for publication.」

加州理工大學愛因斯坦論文項目高級編輯和副手羅森.克朗茲(Ze』ev Rosenkranz)稱：「我認為這篇日記中的很多評價都讓人很不舒服，尤其他對中國人的評論。這些描述與愛因斯坦偉大的人道主義偶像形象形成了鮮明對比。這些描述讓我很震驚，這和他的公開言論完全不同。這是他在沒有意識的情況下寫的，因為他根本沒有認為這些東西日後會出版。」

Rosenkranz has edited and translated The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein, which have just been published for the first time as a standalone volume by Princeton University Press, including facsimiles of the diary pages. The diaries have only previously been published in German as part of the 15-volume Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, with small supplementary translations into English. A spokesperson for Princeton University said: 「This is the first time Einstein』s travel diary will be made available to anyone who isn』t a serious Einstein scholar.」

克朗茲編輯並翻譯了愛因斯坦的旅行日記。普林斯頓大學首次發表了這篇完整版的日記以及日記的手寫本。這些日記之前在德國一個15冊的論文集上發表過，英文只起了補充性的作用。普林斯頓大學的發言人稱：「這是愛因斯坦日記首次面向大眾公開發行。」

Further passages in the diaries, which are thought to have been written for Einstein』s stepdaughters in Berlin while he and his wife were travelling in Asia, Spain and Palestine, and as an aide memoire, see him writing of the Chinese that 「even those reduced to working like horses never give the impression of conscious suffering. A peculiar herd-like nation [ … ] often more like automatons than people.」 He later adds, in Rosenkranz』s words, 「a healthy dose of extreme misogyny」 to his xenophobia with the observation: 「I noticed how little difference there is between men and women; I don』t understand what kind of fatal attraction Chinese women possess which enthrals the corresponding men to such an extent that they are incapable of defending themselves against the formidable blessing of offspring」.

這篇日記其他地方還寫道，中國人像馬一樣疲於奔命，被動的接受著一切苦難。這個民族的人活得像牲口一樣，他們像機器而不是人類。他隨後還寫到，用克朗茲的話來說，愛因斯坦認為，中國男人很對女人的感情很正常，他們之間的關係是平等的，他不知道中國女人有什麼魅力讓中國男人抵擋不了傳宗接代這樣的誘惑，愛因斯坦的評論中充滿了仇外情緒。這本日記是愛因斯坦和他的妻子在亞洲、西班牙和巴勒斯坦旅行中寫給他柏林繼女的。

In Colombo in Ceylon, Einstein writes of how the locals 「live in great filth and considerable stench at ground level」 adding that they 「do little, and need little. The simple economic cycle of life.」

在錫蘭（現稱斯里蘭卡）的科倫坡，愛因斯坦在他的日記中稱當地人相當骯髒，當地地面散發著惡臭。他還說他們做得少，沒什麼需求，是發展潛力比較小的國家。

Einstein』s perceptions of the Japanese he meets are, in contrast, more positive: 「Japanese unostentatious, decent, altogether very appealing,」 he writes. 「Pure souls as nowhere else among people. One has to love and admire this country.」 But Rosenkranz points out that he also concludes that the 「intellectual needs of this nation seem to be weaker than their artistic ones – natural disposition?」

愛因斯坦對於日本人的看法有著鮮明的區別，他對他們的看法更加正面。他在日記中寫到，日本人是樸素、正直和非常有吸引力，他們的純潔很罕見，是你們一定會喜歡和崇拜的國家。但是克朗茲指出，愛因斯坦還總結出了以下的結論：日本民族對知識的需求量比藝術方面的更低，是否是天性使然？

「Einstein』s diary entries on the biological origin of the alleged intellectual inferiority of the Japanese, Chinese, and Indians are definitely not understated and can be viewed as racist – in these instances, other peoples are portrayed as being biologically inferior, a clear hallmark of racism. The disquieting comment that the Chinese may 『supplant all other races』 is also most revealing in this regard,」 writes Rosenkranz.

愛因斯坦的日記中對日本人、中國人和印度人知識缺乏著墨很多，可以看出他有種族主義。在他把其他種族的人描繪為低下時，這就是種族主義的特徵之一。中國人可以代替其他民族的描述就是有力的證明，克朗茲在寫道。

「Here, Einstein perceives a foreign 『race』 as a threat, which … is one of the characteristics of a racist ideology. Yet the remark that must strike the modern reader as most offensive is his feigning not to understand how Chinese men can find their women sufficiently attractive to have offspring with them. In light of these instances, we must conclude that Einstein did make quite a few racist and dehumanising comments in the diary, some of which were extremely unpleasant.」

他認為外國民族是一大威脅，這就是一種種族主義。在日記中他還作出了「他不了解為什麼中國男人認為本國女性很有魅力，這讓男人想要與之傳宗接代」的惡劣評價。鑒於以上的例子，我們可以說愛因斯坦的日記中有很多的種族主義和非人性化的成分，某些描述還讓人們非常不舒服。

Rosenkranz told the Guardian that although views like Einstein』s were prevalent at the time, they were not universal. 「That』s usually the reaction I get – 『we have to understand, he was of the zeitgeist, part of the time』 – but I think I tried here and there to give a broader context. There were other views out there, more tolerant views,」 he said.

克朗茲告訴《衛報》稱：「雖然愛因斯坦的觀點在當時很流行，但是也有很多人不能接受。我們必須知道，他在一段時間內主導著時代思潮，這是很正常的現象，但是，我認為我會告訴大家那是有局限性的，因為世界上還有很多的更加寬容的觀點。」

In his introduction, Rosenkranz writes how it is important to explore how a humanist icon such as Einstein – whose image was once used for a UNHCR campaign with the slogan 「A bundle of belongings isn』t the only thing a refugee brings to his new country. Einstein was a refugee」 – could have written xenophobic comments about the peoples he encountered.

克朗茲在日記的導言中寫道，愛因斯坦是一個人道主義者，然而他也會對他所遇見的種族發表種族主義評論是值得推敲的。聯合國難民事務高級專員（UNHCR）運動「難民帶到新國家的物品不是唯一的東西。愛因斯坦也是一個難民」標語上曾使用了愛因斯坦的圖像。

「The answer to this question seems very relevant in today』s world, in which the hatred of the other is so rampant in so many places around the world,」 he writes. 「It seems that even Einstein sometimes had a very hard time recognising himself in the face of the other.」

在當今這個世界，怨恨在世界各個角落肆意蔓延，愛因斯坦的種族主義也好像扯上了一些關係，也許愛因斯坦也不能免俗。

來源：Einsteins travel diaries reveal shocking xenophobia