What it was like to grow up under China's one-child policy | Nanfu Wang

翻译人员: Lipeng Chen 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

My name is Nanfu.

我叫男栿。

In Chinese, "nan" means "man."

中文里，“男”的意思是“男人”。

And "fu" means "pillar."

“栿”的意思是“支柱”。

My family had hoped for a boy,

我的家人希望有个男孩，

who would grow up to be the pillar of the family.

有日长大，成为家庭的支柱。

And when I turned out to be a girl,

当他们发现我是个女孩时，

they named me Nanfu anyway.

他们还是给我起名“男栿”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I was born in 1985,

我生于 1985 年，

six years before China announced its one-child policy.

那时中国实行“一胎政策”已有 6 年。

Right after I was born,

我出生之后，

the local officials came and ordered my mom to be sterilized.

当地官员到我家来， 要求我母亲节育。

My grandpa stood up to the officials,

我的祖父与官员起了争执，

because he wanted a grandson to carry on the family name.

因为他想要一个孙子来延续香火。

Eventually, my parents were allowed to have a second child,

最终，我的父母 被允许再生一个孩子，

but they had to wait for five years

但是他们得等五年，

and pay a substantial fine.

而且还要付很多罚款。

Growing up, my brother and I

我和弟弟长大时身边都是

were surrounded by children from one-child families.

一孩家庭的孩子。

I remember feeling a sense of shame

我还记得那种羞耻感，

because I had a younger brother.

只因为我有一个弟弟。

I felt like our family did something wrong for having two children.

我觉得我的家庭 因为有两个孩子而做了错事。

At the time, I didn't question

那时，我没有思考

where this sense of shame and guilt came from.

这种羞耻感到底从何而来。

A year and a half ago, I had my own first child.

一年半前，我有了 自己的第一个孩子。

It was the best thing that ever happened in my life.

这是我生命中最棒的事情。

Becoming a mother

成为一名母亲

gave me a totally new perspective on my own childhood,

给了我审视童年的全新视角，

and it brought back my memories of early life in China.

也让我回想起在中国的早期生活。

For the past three decades,

过去的三十年，

everyone in my family had to apply for a permission from the government

我家里的每一个人 都得向政府申请许可，

to have a child.

才能生养一个孩子。

And I wondered

我想知道，

what it was like for people who lived under the one-child policy.

“一胎政策”下的人们是怎样生活的。

So I decided to make a documentary about it.

所以，我决定为此拍一部纪录片。

One of the people I interviewed

我采访的人中

was the midwife who delivered all of the babies born in my village,

有一位是产婆， 接生了我所在村庄的所有孩子，

including myself.

包括我。

She was 84 years old when I interviewed her.

当我采访她时，她已经 84 岁了。

I asked her,

我问她，

"Do you remember how many babies you delivered throughout your career?"

“你记得你一共接生了多少孩子吗？”

She didn't have a number for deliveries.

她没有关于接生的确切数字。

She said she had performed

但她说她一共实施了

60,000 forced abortions and sterilizations.

六万台堕胎和节育手术。

Sometimes, she said,

她说道，有时，

a late-term fetus would survive an abortion,

周数大的胎儿会在堕胎中幸存下来，

and she would kill the baby after delivering it.

然后她就会在接生后杀死胎儿。

She remembered how her hands would tremble

她还记得当她做这件事的时候，

as she did the work.

双手会不断颤抖。

Her story shocked me.

她的故事震惊了我。

When I set out to make the film,

当我开始制作这部片子时，

I expected it would be a simple story of perpetrators and victims.

我只预想这是个 关于罪犯和受害者的简单故事。

People who carried out the policy

执行政策的人，

and people who are living with the consequences.

和生活在政策阴影下的人。

But that wasn't what I saw.

但这不是我看到的。

As I was finishing my interview with the midwife,

当我结束对产婆的采访时，

I noticed an area in her house

我注意到她房子的一角

that was decorated with elaborate homemade flags.

挂满了鲜艳的锦旗。

And each flag has a picture of a baby on it.

每张锦旗上有一个孩子的照片。

These were flags that were sent by families

这些锦旗是那些她帮助过的

whom she helped treat their infertility problems.

有不孕不育问题的家庭送来的。

She explained that she had had enough

她解释道，她受够了

of performing abortions and sterilizations --

堕胎和节育手术——

that the only work she did now was to help families have babies.

她现在所做的只有帮助家庭怀上孩子。

She said she was full of guilt

她说她因执行“一胎政策”

for carrying out the one-child policy,

而深感愧疚，

and she hoped that by helping families have babies,

并希望帮助家庭怀上孩子

she could counteract what she did in the past.

能够弥补她过去的行为。

It became clear to me she, too, was a victim of the policy.

我清楚的意识到，她也是政策的受害者。

Every voice was telling her

（那时）每个声音都告诉她

that what she did was right and necessary for China's survival.

她所做的对中国的生存 是正确且必要的。

And she did what she thought was right for her country.

而她做了她认为对祖国正确的事情。

I know how strong that message was.

我明白这种宣传的力度。

It was everywhere around myself when I grew up.

我长大时，这种宣传无处不在。

It was printed on matches,

这些口号被印在火柴盒上，

playing cards,

纸牌上，

textbooks, posters.

教科书上，海报上。

The propaganda praising the one-child policy

赞扬“一胎政策”的宣传

was everywhere around us.

无处不在。

[Anyone who refuses to sterilize will be arrested.]

[拒绝节育的人会被逮捕]

And so were the threats against disobeying it.

同样的还有不遵守政策的后果威胁。

The message seeped into our minds

这种宣传渗透进了我们的思想，

so much so that I grew up feeling embarrassed

以至于我在成长过程中因为有一个弟弟

for having a younger brother.

而感到羞耻。

With each person I filmed,

在我记录的每一个人身上，

I saw how their minds and hearts can be influenced by the propaganda,

我看到了他们的心智 是如何被宣传影响，

and how their willingness to make sacrifices for the greater good

以及他们主动为更大利益 而自我牺牲的意愿

can be twisted into something very dark and tragic.

是如何被抹黑和扭曲成悲剧。

China is not the only place where this happens.

中国不是这类事情发生的唯一国度。

There is no country on earth where propaganda isn't present.

地球上没有一个国家不存在宣传。

And in societies that are supposed to be more open and free than China,

在本该比中国更加开放和自由的社会，

it can be even harder to recognize what propaganda looks like.

辨别出政策宣传甚至更难。

It hides in plain sight as news reports,

它隐藏在新闻报道中，

TV commercials, political campaigning

电视广告里，政治选举中，

and in our social media feeds.

还有我们的社交媒体里。

It works to change our minds without our knowledge.

它可以在我们不知情的情况下 改变我们的想法。

Every society is vulnerable to accepting propaganda as truth,

每个社会都可能 把宣传口号当作真理，

and no society where propaganda replaces the truth

而用宣传取代真理的社会

can be truly free.

是不可能真正自由的。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）