美国国家公共电台 NPR Chinese Dissident Finds Struggles, Independence In America After Immigrating

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Flushing, the neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., is home to the largest population of Chinese immigrants in any city outside Asia. One of those immigrants is Zhuang Liehong. He arrived in 2014 from a small village in southwestern China called Wukan. He's the central character of a new book called "Patriot¹ Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown." I went up to Flushing to meet him.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken).

CHANG: Zhuang, when you first arrived here and you saw Flushing, what went through your mind when you were taking it all in?

ZHUANG LIEHONG: (Through interpreter) Arriving in Flushing, it feels like a city in China. Other than the buildings and Chinese store signs, just look at the pedestrians² on the streets. They're mainly Chinese people.

CHANG: Was there anything surprising about Flushing when you first arrived?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) Here in Flushing, there are signs for the Democratic Party on street corners. There are supporters with brochures. There are also Christian³ people doing outreach on the streets. All of this doesn't exist in China. It's not possible.

CHANG: It's not possible. Zhuang would know. In 2014, he fled Wukan just as the Chinese government was cracking down on it. The people of Wukan were demonstrating against government officials for selling communal⁴ land to developers. People close to Zhuang were hauled away to prison. One friend died under police custody⁵. He and his wife Little Yan devised a plan to sneak⁶ into the U.S. as part of a tour group. Once the tour group got to the U.S., the couple quietly broke away and hopped⁷ a flight to New York. Zhuang knew only one person in New York - Lauren Hilgers. She's a journalist who had visited Wukan village to report on the uprisings. And Hilgers is the author of the new book "Patriot Number One."

LAUREN HILGERS: As soon as he got to my house, he was very intent on getting to Flushing and starting a life. And he had all of these goals. He wasn't going to stay in my house forever.

CHANG: Turns out she was right. Zhuang has a place of his own now. He drove us there. He actually drives a lot. He's an Uber driver now. His home is tucked away on a suburban-looking street still in Flushing. There are manicured front lawns, leafy sidewalks, driveways. It's the very picture of middle class.

ZHUANG: Come in.

CHANG: But in the basement beneath one of those homes there's a different story.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Laughter).

CHANG: Zhuang, his wife and two young sons are crammed⁸ into this basement. They all sleep together in one small bedroom. They share a bathroom and a tiny kitchen with two other people who also rent space down here. There's scarcely any room to move around. But Zhuang still insists on certain dignities when people visit...

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER POURING)

CHANG: ...Like brewing⁹ tea.

ZHUANG: (Foreign language spoken).

CHANG: Kung fu tea.

ZHUANG: Yeah, kung fu tea. (Through interpreter) We have this traditional virtue¹⁰ of becoming friends through drinking tea. So whenever a friend arrives, you have to make tea for them.

CHANG: So, Zhuang, you came to the U.S. more for political reasons rather than economic ones. Can you tell me, what did you hope to find when you came to the United States?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) I wasn't hoping that the U.S. would give me some preferential treatment. I only wanted to escape the possibility of being persecuted¹¹ in China. The pressure in Wukan was that at any moment you could be arrested. At any moment you could be convicted, grabbed and thrown into prison.

CHANG: One of the most fascinating things I learned reading your book, Lauren, is that Chinese people apply for and get asylum¹² more often than any other group of immigrants in the U.S. Why is that?

HILGERS: There's a lot of sympathy for Chinese people because the reasons that they apply for asylum have to do with forced abortions¹³; the one-child policy, which strikes quite a chord here; political trouble, which I think after Tiananmen Square also was very well-publicized here.

CHANG: What I found so interesting in this book is that many of the men in Flushing were men who were in a way financially dependent on the women in their lives. I remember in the beginning, Zhuang, you found it very hard to see your wife go out and get her own job, especially at the nail salon¹⁴. Why did you not want her to go out and work and have her own life?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) That period of time in the beginning I couldn't work and couldn't have an income because here in America it's very difficult for a man without skills to find a job. To solely¹⁵ rely on her to work I didn't feel good either.

CHANG: Why did it make you uncomfortable?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) There's also this Chinese traditional idea. To let your wife go out and work you wouldn't feel good inside. And you do lose face.

CHANG: What helped you get through that difficult time?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) Nothing. No one helped. Here it's very difficult if you don't know English. Plus, women here can easily find jobs, but it's difficult for a man here. So Little Yan at the time often said I like to eat, but I'm too lazy for work. I used to be very angry at this because this really hurts my dignity.

CHANG: Lauren, I'm curious. How common - in studying Chinese immigration, how common is it to see men and women exchange roles when it comes to earning money for the family?

HILGERS: I kind of understand this to be almost a trope of immigration, these sort of women that do backbreaking work and support family and are really practical. A lot of times men will go out and work in restaurants outside of the city and women will stay here and work. So I think women really shape the community in a way.

CHANG: Another thing I learned after reading your book is that Asian immigrants are the fastest-growing immigrant population in the U.S., far exceeding immigrants from Latin America. But it just feels like the political conversation in this country about immigration is not focused on Chinese immigrants. Why is that, you think?

HILGERS: Well, I think the situation over a hundred years ago Chinese immigrants were considered villainous. And the first sort of exclusionary¹⁶ immigration act was focused on Chinese people. They were considered very lazy, a bad influence. They would attack our women. There are echoes of it now, just it's no longer Chinese people we're talking about.

CHANG: Zhuang, back in Wukan you measured success by the political impact that you had. How do you measure success in your life now here in Flushing?

ZHUANG: (Through interpreter) To have my own stable life for my family. We don't necessarily need to be rich. But in Wukan, there is no democracy, rule of law, freedom and equality. Wukan needs this, and the whole China needs to have it. If China doesn't change its policies, Wukan will never truly have free rule of law, democracy and equal society. It's impossible. So I cannot say that I've succeeded.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHANG: That was Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese dissident who lives in Flushing, Queens. He's the subject of Lauren Hilgers' new book "Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

2 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

7 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

8 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

9 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

10 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

11 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

12 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

13 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

14 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

15 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

16 exclusionary   

adj.排斥（性）的，排除在外的

参考例句：

• Play not finish, uncle fidgeting, cut exclusionary. 戏未演完，叔父坐立不安，仓皇退席。 来自互联网
• Procecutor: I am asking you to recognize the absurdity of the exclusionary rule. 检察官：我是在请求您认识到这个排除规则的荒谬性。 来自互联网