香港南华早报：建筑学家对他的书被禁感到困惑

香港南华早报2010年8月27日报道—《一叶一菩提》被禁

建筑学家对他的书被禁感到困惑

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Priscilla Jiao

一位著名的建筑艺术学家最近说：“我不知道为什么新闻出版总署要封禁我的书”。73岁的萧默先生表示，他现在正在香港寻找一家出版社，来出版他的回忆录《一叶一菩提——我在敦煌十五年》，这本书描述了他1963年至1978年在甘肃敦煌文物研究所的经历，包括“文化大革命”的十年。

自从2004年8月章诒和的《伶人往事》被禁以后（译者按，记者记忆有误，《伶人往事》被禁于2007年，2004年同名作者被禁的是下面提到的另一本书），这似乎是又一个引人注目的禁令。萧默，湖南人，中国艺术研究院研究建筑艺术历史与理论的退休研究员。他说，他只感到可笑。他的书在四月出版了，到这个月早些时候，当他在网上书店欣喜地发现他的书几乎已经卖完了，要求重印时，他的出版商却接到了这样一条命令：“停止发行，不许宣传，不许重印”。

出版商在8月4日和8日通过电子邮件告诉他说，中宣部审问了为什么要出版这本书和出版的整个过程，编辑只得写了自我批评，几天以后，他们收到了出版总署的禁令，但现在可以确定，到7月，已经发行了5000册。

“读者的反映是很有趣的，”他说：“他们认为我主要表现的是文化大革命期间社会的正面，一些基层领导利用他们手中的权力来保护人们。”

“我非常努力地避免使用暴力语言，而充满幽默感。”

“这是表现文革的一个全新的角度和突破，我一点儿也不知道它为什么也会被禁。”

值得注意的是，这本书实际上已经在《传记文学》杂志上连载过了。

“这确实违反法律，”他说：“我甚至都不知道应该去抱怨谁，他们是隐身的。”

学者和传记文学作者辛子陵为这本书写了序言。

“这本书写得很平和，甚至包含了很多佛教思想。”辛说：“没有理由以这种方式来处理这本书，这项禁令违背了历史趋势。”

萧认为这项禁令可能是书里没有指名的A女士和B先生的作用：“唯一的可能性是我在书中冒犯了一些正当权的文革得利派。”

他现在准备在香港出版他的书。

萧先生出版了18种专著和19种编著，1961年毕业于清华大学，主修建筑学，在新疆工作两年后来到敦煌。曾经是建筑艺术研究所所长。

2007年大陆的章诒和又被封禁了一本书，作者试图对法院提起诉讼，但被北京高级法院拒绝了。她是一位著名右派章伯钧的女儿，她写的是对她的家人和朋友半个世纪前的回忆。

萧先生对记者说，他虽然很同情章的遭遇，但他不会提出诉讼。“我是一个很理性的人，我不会把我的出版商拖进来，我知道他们正在承受巨大的压力,”他说。

他的书正在修改和增加内容，准备再版，他说，在香港再版，他的读者会很有限，他觉得他的书可能会被盗版。

中央党校杜光教授写文章坚决支持他，向文化专制进行斗争。

“许多有意义的学术著作已经在香港、台湾和其他国家发表了,”他写道,“表现了先进文化。很幸运，我们仍然有香港。”

昨天，相关方面拒绝了接受采访的要求。

Book ban puzzles architect-researcher

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Priscilla Jiao

A highly respected researcher in architecture whose book was recently banned said he had “no idea at all” why the General Administration of Press and Publication (Gapp) banned it. Xiao Mo , 73, said he would now seek a Hong Kong publisher for his memoir, To See the World in a Leaf: 15 Years in Dunhuang, which depicts his experience working at the Dunhuang Research Institute for Cultural Relics in Gansu from 1963 to 1978 – a time that covered the Cultural Revolution.

It appears to be the first high-profile ban since 2004, when eight books were banned, including Zhang Yihe’s Past Stories of Actors, according

to Xiao, a researcher in architecture art history and theory and a native of Hunan .Xiao, a retired researcher with the China Art Academy, said he elt “furious and thought it ridiculous” when his publisher received a directive of “no distribution, no publicity and no reprint” from Gapp. Early this month, Xiao was delighted to find out that his book, published in April, had almost sold out on online bookstores and requested a reprint from the ublisher.

His publisher told him in e-mails on August 4 and 8 that the head of the publishing house was interrogated by officials of the Central Publicity Department as to why the book had been published and about the whole process of publishing. Some editors were forced to write self-criticisms. A few days later, they received the order from Gapp banning the reprint. An editor at the publishing house confirmed the ban and said the order came in July after all 5,000 copies had been distributed.

“The feedback I received from readers was that the plot was very intriguing,” Xiao said. “I’m only focusing on positive humanity during the Cultural Revolution, when some grass-roots leaders tried their best to protect people with their power.

“I tried very hard to avoid violence and even used my sense of humour.

It’s a whole new angle and a breakthrough in covering the Cultural Revolution.

I have no idea at all why it was banned.”

What puzzles Xiao the most is that the book had already been serialized in Biographical Literature in 2008, a monthly magazine under the Ministry of Culture.

“This certainly breaks the law and violates my right to publish,” Xiao said. “I don’t even know to whom I should complain. They are invisible.”

Scholar and biographer Xin Ziling wrote the preface for the book.

“It’s very rational, peaceful and even contains many Buddhist thoughts,” Xin said. “There’s no reason for it to be treated this way. The ban goes against the historical trend.”

Xiao said the ban may have been based on “Mrs A and Mr B”, the only two characters he did not name in his book. “The only possibility I could figure out might be that my book might have offended some people who had benefited from the Cultural Revolution and were promoted and are still in power,” Xiao said.

He now plans to name the two if he finds a publisher in Hong Kong.

Xiao has written 18 books and cowritten 19 books on architecture.

Upon graduating with a major in architecture from Tsinghua University in 1961, the university assigned him to work in Xinjiang and two years later went to Dunhuang.

He was also head of the Institute of Architectural Art.

In 2007 mainland author Zhang Yihe tried to take censorship authorities to court after a book by her was banned, but the Beijing Higher Court rejected her petition.

Zhang is the daughter of Zhang Bojun , a prominent rightist targeted in a campaign half a century ago. Three of her volumes of recollections of family members and friends have been banned on the mainland.

Xiao sympathised with Zhang but said he would not broach that subject. “I am a very rational person, and I won’t drag my publisher into this dispute as I know they are already under enormous pressure,” he said.

Xiao would revise his book and add to it for the second edition, he said. Even if the book was published in Hong Kong, its impact would be greatly limited, Xiao said, adding he thought his book would be pirated on the mainland.

Du Guang ,a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, wrote in support of Xiao on fighting cultural autocracy.

“Many meaningful academic works have to be published in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries,” he wrote. “Some advanced culture has been completely strangled. It’s lucky we still have Hong Kong.”
Gapp did not respond to an interview request yesterday.