與中國(guó)結(jié)緣的12年

唐銳杰

我對(duì)中國(guó)的興趣始于2008年初，我在高中完成了漢語(yǔ)入門(mén)課程。當(dāng)時(shí)，去學(xué)習(xí)一門(mén)既難懂又難學(xué)的語(yǔ)言，我的同學(xué)認(rèn)為這很不可思議，甚至用他們的話(huà)來(lái)說(shuō)很愚蠢。記得我坐在高中的圖書(shū)館里，看著電腦上滿(mǎn)是奇怪的字符和注音，我才意識(shí)到那是拼音。我立刻被迷住了，那天的晚些時(shí)候，回家我告訴父親自己對(duì)普通話(huà)的迷戀?！翱傆幸惶熘袊?guó)會(huì)統(tǒng)治世界”，父親簡(jiǎn)單地說(shuō)。起初，我懷疑自己學(xué)習(xí)中文的能力，但現(xiàn)在回頭看我一點(diǎn)也不后悔。

在2008年底高中畢業(yè)之前，我申請(qǐng)了英國(guó)幾所頂尖大學(xué)的中國(guó)學(xué)研究項(xiàng)目，包括愛(ài)丁堡大學(xué)、曼徹斯特大學(xué)和諾丁漢大學(xué)。盡管收到了這三個(gè)學(xué)校的邀請(qǐng)，我還是選擇了諾丁漢大學(xué)，以及去浙江寧波的中國(guó)校區(qū)進(jìn)行為期一年的交換項(xiàng)目，這是最吸引我的地方。初到寧波，一開(kāi)始我大部分時(shí)間都待在校園里，不敢冒險(xiǎn)進(jìn)入一個(gè)全新的文化空間。之后在學(xué)校組織的活動(dòng)中，我去了上海和北京這兩個(gè)中國(guó)主要城市進(jìn)行實(shí)地考察，讓我看到了中國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)現(xiàn)代化、快速城市化、可持續(xù)發(fā)展，以及在現(xiàn)代發(fā)展中這個(gè)國(guó)家又是如何保持其傳統(tǒng)文化和價(jià)值觀的。

2011年，我以?xún)?yōu)異的成績(jī)畢業(yè)，并獲得全額獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金到浙江大學(xué)繼續(xù)深造，我很榮幸在中國(guó)最著名的學(xué)術(shù)機(jī)構(gòu)之一，獲得中國(guó)學(xué)碩士學(xué)位。2013年，寧波諾丁漢大學(xué)文化研究專(zhuān)業(yè)向我拋來(lái)橄欖枝并提供全額獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。相對(duì)錢(qián)來(lái)說(shuō)，讀博的機(jī)會(huì)顯得更是一種稀缺資源，完成博士課程、獲得博士學(xué)位是一種精神追求和財(cái)富，于我而言更像是奢侈的生活方式，不是每個(gè)人都可以享受。

雖然我的研究重點(diǎn)一直是中國(guó)的明清和當(dāng)代，但過(guò)去十到二十年時(shí)間里，中國(guó)發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化，特別是中國(guó)的軟實(shí)力，越來(lái)越多的西方學(xué)生通過(guò)孔子學(xué)院的學(xué)習(xí)，對(duì)中國(guó)和漢語(yǔ)感興趣。讀碩士期間我的研究方向是網(wǎng)絡(luò)同性文學(xué)，讀博士期間我的研究方向是同性戀文學(xué)與晚清時(shí)期中國(guó)動(dòng)物和人類(lèi)之間的關(guān)系，志怪小說(shuō)和西方酷兒理論（二十世紀(jì)九十年代在西方火起來(lái)的一種關(guān)于性和性別的理論）之間的關(guān)系，特別是紀(jì)曉嵐和蒲松齡的小說(shuō)。我還記得2013年圣誕節(jié)，在西塘古鎮(zhèn)的一家書(shū)店，我第一次閱讀古文版本的蒲松齡《聊齋志異》。這一類(lèi)的志怪故事真的非常吸引我，它們是中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化的精華，反映了佛教、道教和儒家的信仰，對(duì)任何西方學(xué)者來(lái)說(shuō)，它們都是令人興奮的讀物。

我在中國(guó)的學(xué)術(shù)生活圍繞著浙江展開(kāi)。我現(xiàn)在的家在寧波，一座美麗的港口城市，海風(fēng)傳遞著江南的靈秀，她書(shū)藏古今、港通天下，是七千年河姆渡文化發(fā)祥地，是唐代“海上絲路”的起點(diǎn)。讀碩士期間的學(xué)習(xí)生涯讓我有幸在杭州生活了三年，鄧小平說(shuō)，像杭州這樣美麗的城市，世界上也不多了。白居易說(shuō);江南憶，最憶是杭州。要我說(shuō);此生不枉到此一游。我想那些熱愛(ài)中國(guó)文化的西方青年，如果有幸來(lái)到我們浙江，一定會(huì)和我一樣愛(ài)上這里。

我很榮幸在2020年下半年來(lái)浙江大學(xué)國(guó)際商學(xué)院做訪問(wèn)學(xué)者。國(guó)際商學(xué)院提供的項(xiàng)目立刻吸引了我。我曾參加過(guò)浙江大學(xué)的中國(guó)學(xué)項(xiàng)目，而且這個(gè)項(xiàng)目旨在為年輕學(xué)者提供廣泛的培訓(xùn)，為他們的職業(yè)生涯做準(zhǔn)備。

因?yàn)镃OVID-19新冠疫情大流行，我和妻子、兒子在英國(guó)滯留了9個(gè)月。這是我10年來(lái)離開(kāi)中國(guó)最長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的一次，可能也是我一生中最長(zhǎng)的9個(gè)月。在這段時(shí)間里，我意識(shí)到?jīng)]有中國(guó)我無(wú)法生活。一句話(huà)來(lái)說(shuō)，手機(jī)在手，天下我有。中國(guó)便捷的生活、四通八達(dá)的公共交通、街頭小吃、就餐選擇、旅游目的地、自然美景，但最重要的是在中國(guó)生活的那種安全感令都人懷念。在英國(guó)，晚上自己或帶家人外出時(shí)，我從未感到足夠安全。正如我經(jīng)常告訴我的英國(guó)朋友們的那樣，我在中國(guó)待了這么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，從來(lái)沒(méi)有、甚至一次也沒(méi)有遇到過(guò)危險(xiǎn)，沒(méi)有搶劫，沒(méi)有偷竊。我遇到的所有中國(guó)人都很友好。對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，中國(guó)是世界上最安全的國(guó)家，我的第一手經(jīng)驗(yàn)說(shuō)明了一切。經(jīng)過(guò)70多年的奮斗，今天，在中國(guó)遼闊的土地上，我們看到的是一片生機(jī)勃勃、充滿(mǎn)活力、充滿(mǎn)希望的景象。

如果沒(méi)有我生命中最重要的人——我的妻子和兩歲的兒子，那么我的生活也是無(wú)法想象的。我在2015年遇到了我的妻子，當(dāng)時(shí)我還在攻讀博士學(xué)位?？沼鄷r(shí)間，我在一家顧問(wèn)公司兼職，命中注定，在同個(gè)辦公樓我遇到了我現(xiàn)在的妻子，感謝這份工作讓我結(jié)束了單身汪的生活——兩年后我們結(jié)婚了。不僅在生活上，我的妻子在工作上也給了我很大的支持。我是工作與生活需要平衡的堅(jiān)定信徒。誠(chéng)然，工作可以帶來(lái)許多個(gè)人快樂(lè)，但沒(méi)有人分享這些成就，生活將是毫無(wú)意義的。如果沒(méi)有家人的支持和愛(ài)，我不會(huì)有今天的成就。

我對(duì)中國(guó)的愛(ài)始于研究，現(xiàn)在這種愛(ài)將伴隨著我的一切繼續(xù)在浙江大學(xué)的學(xué)術(shù)生涯。

（作者系中國(guó)學(xué)研究學(xué)者，目前是浙江大學(xué)國(guó)際商學(xué)院的客座教授。）

My interest in China began in early 2008 after completing an introductory Chinese language course during high school. At the time， my classmates thought I was foolish to learn a language that was unintelligible and difficult. I remember sitting in the library of my high school and looking at a computer full of strange characters and pronunciations， which I came to realize was called pinyin. I was instantly fascinated with them and returned home later that day to tell my father of my captivation with Mandarin Chinese. “One day China will rule the world，” my father simply said. At first， I doubted my ability to learn Chinese but looking back I do not have a single regret.

Before graduating high school in late 2008， I had already applied to some of Englands top universities for China Studies programs， including the University of Edinburgh， the University of Manchester， and the University of Nottingham. Despite receiving offers from all three， I chose the University of Nottingham， for a one-year exchange program to the universitys China campus in Ningbo， Zhejiang was offered. But after arriving there， I had mostly stayed on the campus， daring not to venture out into a whole new culture. Later， a field trip took me to Shanghai and Beijing， Chinas two major cities， opening my eyes to its economic modernization， rapid urbanization， sustainable development as well as how amongst all the growth the country maintained its traditional culture and values.

In 2011， I graduated with distinction and was offered a full scholarship for a Master of Arts China Studies program taught entirely in Chinese at Zhejiang University， one of Chinas most prestigious academic institutions， which， unbeknownst to me， would become the place where my academic career would flourish some years later. After graduating from Zhejiang University with merit and fluent in Mandarin in 2013， I went on to be offered a full scholarship for my PhD in Culture Studies at the University of Nottingham， Ningbo.

While my research focus has been on China， both late-imperial and contemporary， for the past decade， there have been changes over time： first on Chinas soft power， and the perception of Confucius Institutes among Western students interested in China and the Chinese language， then on online queer literature in contemporary China and now on the relationship between humans， animals and queer in late-imperial Chinese fiction， with a particular focus on Qing dynasty tales by well-known writers such as Pu Songling and Ji Yun （or Ji Xiaolan）. I still remember picking up an old Classical Chinese version of Pu Songlings Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio as I sat in a Cat Café in the historical town Xitang in Jiashan county during Christmas in 2013. Admittedly my Classical Chinese was not as strong as I would like it to be， but from the little I understood I was immediately drawn by the supernatural and strange creatures and happenings in this work， but perhaps more so by the fact that these figures and events are instructional and moral against the authors own worldly society. Indeed， they are the essence of traditional Chinese culture， reflecting on Buddhist， Daoist and Confucian beliefs， and are a thrilling read for any Western scholar.

What may have become strikingly obvious by now is that my academic life in China revolves around Zhejiang. My home is in Ningbo， a major port and industrial hub in the province. While Hangzhou， the provincial capital city， boasts the West Lake， a personal love of mine due to its historical and cultural significance， Ningbo also has much history and culture： its home to the 1516 landmark Tianyi Ge， one of Chinas oldest libraries， Ningbo Museum， exhibiting regional artifacts dating to the Neolithic Hemudu Culture， and Tianyi Square， a vibrant city-center featuring a musical fountain and bounded by shopping arcades.

At present， I am a visiting scholar at Zhejiang Universitys International Business School， which is part of the universitys newly opened International Campus in Haining， a county-level city. The International Business School， which offers a Master of China Studies program， attracted me straight away. Not only was I once part of the China Studies program at Zhejiang University， the first in China， but this program aims to prepare young scholars for a career in a broad range of sectors where they can implement their knowledge on China and/or East Asia.

But I was able to join the university only in September 2020， having been stuck in the UK with my wife and son for nine months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was my longest time away from China in a decade， and probably the longest nine months of my life， during which time I realized just how much I cannot live without China. Chinas fast pace of life， public transportation， street food， dining out， traveling， natural beauty， but most importantly the general feeling of safety living in China were sorely missed. I have never felt safe enough to take myself or my family out at night in the UK. As I often tell my British friends back home， all this time in China I have never， not even for once， found myself in danger. No robbery. No theft. All the Chinese I have met were friendly， nice， and happy. For me， China is the safest country in the world， and my first-hand experience says it all. After over 70 years of hard work， what meets the eye across the vast expanse of the country today is vigor， dynamism， and promise.

My “survival” in China， or more specifically in Zhejiang， would not be conceivable without the most important people in my life， my wife and two-year-old son. I met my wife in 2015， when I was still completing my PhD and under immense stress， teaching English as a second language to business professionals to earn some money for rent and food.

As fate would have it， on the way out of my teaching building one day， we came across each other and it was love at first sight — we were married two years later. My wife gives me much support both in life and in academic work， presenting me with fresh ideas now and then. I am a strong believer in work-life balance. Work， admittedly， can bring many personal delights， but life would be meaningless without anyone to share these achievements with. I would not be where I am today without the support and love of my family.

My love for China started in research， and this love now goes on with my family and academic career at Zhejiang University.

Thomas William Whyke is a scholar in China Studies. He is currently a visiting professor and will be an Assistant Professor and Academic Director of China Studies at Zhejiang University International Business School later this year. Thomas has published numerous SSCI and AHCI papers in highly regarded international journals， including Journal of the History of Sexuality， Society & Animals， Journal of Homosexuality， Journal of Chinese Humanities， Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences， and Animation： An Interdisciplinary Journal. He wholly enjoys teaching courses to talented undergraduate and graduate students who share his passion for China Studies， including Intercultural Communication， History of Chinese Civilization， Introduction to Contemporary China， and Academic Writing.