[转帖] 密歇根大学储藏室惊现罕见文革剪纸

http://article.yeeyan.org/view/Chiuvon/229603
密歇根州安阿伯市——学者经常通过筛选千里之外异国落满灰尘的档案发现学术瑰宝。不过，有时他们打扫一下校园卫生也能发现宝贝。

That's what happened recently at the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan. Staffers who were tidying up a storage room found a stunning collection of rare propaganda papercut images from the Cultural Revolution---a period of massive political upheaval in China that began in 1966 and lasted about a decade.

这就是最近在密歇根大学中国研究中心发生的事情。[url=]一名尝试清理储藏室的员工发现了一套以文化大革命为主题的精美宣传剪纸集。[/url]文化大革命是在中国始于1966年，并且持续了约十年的群众政治动乱。

With incredible detail, the long-forgotten papercuts portray the euphoria and zeal of the era as well as the violence and destruction that left the Chinese economy in shambles. The beautifully preserved poster-size images are painstakingly cut out of red paper in the tradition of the age-old Chinese handicraft, more commonly used to make decorations for weddings, Lunar New Year celebrations and other festivities.

这些被遗忘的剪纸以惊人的细节描绘出那个时代的欢快、狂热以及导致中国经济崩溃的暴力和破坏。这些保存完整的海报大小的图案被煞费苦心地用传统中国手艺剪成。这种手艺曾被普遍用来制作婚礼、春节或其他节日的装饰品。

One papercut shows the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and his hand-picked successor, Lin Biao, standing up in a convertible car and waving to his cheering youthful followers, or Red Guards. In another image, Red Guards burn books while trampling on a Buddhist statue and other symbols of the feudal culture that Mao sought to wipe out. One papercut shows rallying workers threatening to stab political enemies with giant fountain pens that look like spears.

一幅剪纸的图案是晚年的毛泽东和他钦点的接班人林彪站在一辆敞篷车上，对他兴高采烈的年轻追随者们——或者说“红卫兵”们——挥手。在另一幅图案中，红卫兵焚烧书籍，践踏佛像和其他毛力争扫除的封建文化象征。一幅剪纸上画着集会的工人威胁用像长矛一样的巨大钢笔刺穿敌人。

Wang Zheng, an associate professor of history at U-M, said she plans to use the papercuts in a book she is writing about the Cultural Revolution.

密歇根大学历史系的副教授王政（音）说，她打算将这些剪纸用在她正在写的一本关于文化大革命的书里面。

"What struck me as extremely valuable is that this papercut set has 15 images total, and these 15 papercuts actually present a historical narrative," Wang said. "I've never seen such a large coherent narrative presented visually."

王政说：“让我吃惊的是这套剪纸有十五张，以及这十五张剪纸实际上表现出来的历史叙述性。我以前从没见过这么大型连贯的叙述以视觉形式呈现。”

The Center for Chinese Studies, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this fall, has no clear record of who left the papercuts.

中国研究中心今年秋天将迎来成立50周年纪念。该中心并没有关于谁将这些剪纸留在这里的记录。

But the center's director, Mary Gallagher, associate professor of political science, said the images were part of a large collection of material donated by the late scholar Michel Oksenberg, who taught at U-M for two decades beginning in 1973. Oksenberg is believed to have collected the paper cuts while doing research in Hong Kong in the early 70s, Gallagher said.

但是研究中心主任、政治系副教授玛丽·加拉格尔（Mary Gallagher）说剪纸是已故学者迈克尔·奥克森博格（Michel Oksenberg）捐赠的史料集的一部分。迈克尔·奥克森博格自1973年起，在密歇根大学执教二十年。加拉格尔说，据信，奥克森博格于七十年代早期在香港进行研究时收集了这批剪纸。

The set was probably made between 1970 and 71---during the middle of the Cultural Revolution---because they feature Lin Biao, Wang said. Lin was later accused of plotting a coup against Mao and branded a traitor after dying in a plane crash while fleeing the country in 1971.

王说，这套剪纸很可能制作于文革中期的1970年至1971年，因为剪纸中突出了林彪。林后来被指控谋划反对毛的政变，他1971年出逃时死于空难，之后被定为叛徒。

Wang said the papercut collection is also significant because it was produced at a small art academy in the southern province of Guangdong---far from the center of power in Beijing. It's unlikely that the collection was authorized or commissioned by the Communist Party's central leadership, she said.

王说，因为这套剪纸集重要性还在于，它产自远离权力中心北京的南部省份广东省的一个小艺术学院，不太可能经过中央领导的授权或委托。

"This large art set was kind of spontaneously produced by the local artists. They didn't have to follow Mao's command," she said. "In other words, we can use this to see how the very common, very average artists understood the Cultural Revolution at the time."

她说：“这套艺术品从某种程度上来说是当地艺术家自发创作的。他们不用听从毛的命令。换句话说，我们可以通过这套艺术品观察那时的普通艺术家是怎么理解文化大革命的。”

Wang is trying to track down the artists in China and hopes to interview them to gain more insights about the era.

王尝试寻找这些中国的艺术家，希望采访他们，以获得更多关于那个时代的见解。

China's revolutionary art is in high demand by collectors, and prices for papercuts vary a great deal in auctions and websites, said Xiaobing Tang, a U-M professor who studies modern and contemporary Chinese literature and visual culture.

密西根大学研究中国现当代文学和视觉文化的教授唐晓兵（音）说，收藏者非常喜欢中国的革命艺术品，在拍卖会和网上，剪纸的价格变化很大。

Tang said that U-M's papercuts are likely more valuable than others found online because they are more complex and refined.

唐说，因为密歇根大学发现的剪纸更为复杂精妙，所以可能比网上的剪纸更有价值。

"I would not be able to give the collection an appraisal," he said, "but I can well imagine that each papercut may fetch over 1,000 RMB ($155) if it finds a serious collector."

他说：“我无法做出估价，但是我确信，如果找到严肃的收藏家，每张剪纸都能卖到1000元人民币。”

There are no immediate plans for a public display of the actual images because of concerns about preserving the delicate pieces. However, the public can learn more about the collection at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/ccs1ic or view high-resolution scans of the papercut images at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/ccs1ic?med=1;sort=ccs1ic_id;type=boolean;view=thumbnail;rgn1=ic_all;q1=ccs1ic.

考虑到这些精美作品的保存问题，目前并没有进行实物展览的计划。但是，公众可以通过http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/ccs1ic了解更多关于剪纸集的信息，或者在http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/ccs1ic?med=1;sort=ccs1ic_id;type=boolean;view=thumbnail;rgn1=ic_all;q1=ccs1ic浏览这些剪纸的高分辨率扫描图。