张彦 2016年8月15日
Sim Chi Yin for The New York Times
杨伟东一直在通过一系列视频访谈纪录中国。
北京——在中国首都郊区一个空了一半的住宅小区里，杨伟东正在进行一场不切实际的斗争：通过史诗般的系列视频访谈来记录中国的心灵。
现年50岁的杨伟东身体结实，戴着一副玳瑁眼镜，脸上露出顽皮的笑容。在进行这场探索之前，他过着相当寻常的生活。他在北京长大，亲眼目睹了1989年的天安门广场抗议和大屠杀，但他适应了这个体制。他在颇具声望的清华大学教授室内设计和建筑课程，私下里的业务让他获利丰厚。与此同时，他还在市区的潮流地带开了一家时髦的咖啡馆。
然而，家庭悲剧降临了。90年代，因为公开表示自己拒绝给中国运动员使用兴奋剂，曾在国家体委（后更名为国家体育总局——译注）工作的母亲薛荫娴以揭秘者的身份出了名。2007年，北京奥运会前夕，多名官员造访薛荫娴家，警告她不要公开谈论中国使用兴奋剂的情况，声称这会让整个国家难堪。当时，她的丈夫刚接受了脑部手术，正在修养，却与那些官员发生了对峙。家人说他被那些官员推倒在地（但他们说他是自己跌倒的），导致头部再次受伤，三个月后离世。
父亲的死释放了杨伟东内心的某种东西。突然之间，他有了一个强烈的愿望：弄清楚中国到底是怎么形成了这种威权主义政治社会制度。
"父亲去世后，我不知道为什么会这样，"杨伟东在今年夏天回家期间说。"我觉得社会有问题，因此决定找出为什么。"
于是，他开始了一项非凡的行动，意在记录中国人对自己国家的政治和社会的想法。自2008年3月开始以来，杨伟东已拍摄了405名思想界人士、艺术家、音乐家、作家、历史学家——在深入思考中国未来的任何人。一些人对政府持批评态度，另一些人支持共产党，但所有人都有自己的看法。
"这是对现代中国的心态进行的一次调查，"香港图书发行人鲍朴说。"他的问题和他的家庭面临的压迫有关。抱的是'这是我的项目，我要完成它'这种心态。为此，我非常敬重他。"
杨伟东表示，刚开始，他引来了怀疑的目光。带着一支专业摄像和录音队伍的这个人是谁？他是政府间谍吗？后来到了2011年，他在香港出版了六卷访谈录中的第一卷（他说，因为中国内地的出版社拒绝了）。书中记录了他的105场访谈。该系列简单地命名为《立此存照》，这反映了他的目标：不是提出宏大的结论，而是让人们在国内罕见的那种讨论中公开表达对中国国情的看法。
自那时以来，杨伟东成了巴黎学者魏简(Sebastian Veg)所说的"草根知识分子"中的一员。这个群体的规模正在逐渐扩大。不同于以往评判国事的知名中国作家，杨伟东等人是通过非官方渠道来发表自己的观点的，比如通过地下电影或在微信等热门社交媒体平台上发表的文章。
"这些人是在非正式地讨论政治和社会议题，"在巴黎社会科学高等学院(School of Advanced Studies in Social Science)担任教授的魏简说。他正在写一本有关该主题的书。"它表明社会正在变得多元化，其他人正在加入这场全国性的讨论。"
杨伟东提出的55个问题都是一样的，大部分都非常开放（"对你来说，'为人民服务'意味着什么？"、"你怎么理解劳动？"、"你怎么理解恐惧？"）。他说自己最终的目标是让这些视频成为一部纪录片的组成部分。但他说，他首先希望达到500场访谈的目标——即便到了那时，他也不确定该怎么处理所有这些资料。（他说，为了确保安全，副本已被送往国外。）
最令人难忘的回复往往由最后一个问题引出："在当前的社会中，你最需要什么？"他得到的回复有时平淡无奇，有时则引人深思。
"我最需要公平，"演员许毛毛说。
"我现在没什么需要，"已故知名地质学家陈尔寿当时说。
"我最需要自由，"被放逐的专栏作家长平说。
"我最需要言论自由，"经济学家、政治改革倡导者茅于轼说。
"我需要时间，"知名记者兼历史学家杨继绳说。
"中国最需要的是科学，"致力于学术打假的作家方舟子说。
"讲真话，"退休官员姚监复说。
"我需要钱，"被软禁的异见记者高瑜说。
这个项目已经把杨伟东及其家人置于巨大的压力之下。他和妻子杜兴原本有两套公寓，但不得不将其卖掉，以支付剧组人员的工资。他们现在租住在某住宅小区一套有些破旧的公寓里。
杜兴在杨父去世前不久嫁给了杨伟东，自从那时起，她的生活水平便逐渐下降，人身自由也逐渐受到限制。如今，这位现年45岁的前高尔夫俱乐部经理加入了她丈夫的项目，负责掌镜及声音处理，因为他们已经雇不起剧组人员了。她还负责拍照，帮忙做些采访记录。
"我父母问我过得怎么样，我们还要不要孩子，"杜兴说。"有正常的生活当然很好，但目前来看是不可能的。"
现在则尤为如此，因为他们的工作已经受到国家安全部门的密切关注。杨伟东将这归因于书籍的出版，他认为出书让政府盯上了他。他现在常常被跟踪，他还说自己频繁地遭到搔扰。举个例子，他曾设计陶器，希望用出售陶器所得支撑自己的项目，但他说窑主受到了当局的骚扰，不接他的活儿。
此外，官员们会定期到访，他还收到了正式的旅行禁令，不得离开北京。这是他于去年首次被拘留带来的后果。当时，他把自己在政府办公楼前裸体抗议当局禁止他和母亲前往香港的照片传上了网，随后被拘留三个月，但从未遭到起诉。杨伟东说，当局之所以不让他们前往香港，是不希望薛荫娴再度就兴奋剂问题进行控诉，而国际奥委会当时即将决定是否在北京举办2022年冬奥会。（此后，北京申奥成功。）
尽管家里麻烦不断，杨伟东的母亲一如即往地支持他。她最近两次中风，不像以前那样行动自如，每天要睡好几个小时的午觉。但清醒之际，她依然思维敏锐，令人生畏。她还相信中国运动员仍在服用兴奋剂。
"他们不让我离开，说是会影响国家安全，"薛荫娴说。"所以你觉得他们还在服用兴奋剂吗？"
当然，其他一些人这样认为。最近，有爆料者告诉伦敦《泰晤士报》(The Times)，游泳项目中存在系统性用药问题，进而促使世界反兴奋剂机构(World Anti-Doping Agency)展开了调查。中国的反兴奋剂机构随后承认存在与兴奋剂有关的违规行为，但否认掩盖相关信息。
薛荫娴说，服用兴奋剂是中国和俄罗斯等国的这类体育机器的通病。尽管对当前的情况没有直接了解，但她说，对一个以为国争光所带来的合法性为依托的威权体制来说，这是不可避免的副产品。"他们甚至不会告诉相关运动员，"她说。"他们只告诉运动员那是营养补充剂。"
她对儿子的项目怎么看？
"我告诉人们他现在是一个勘探者，"薛荫娴笑道。"他正在探寻中国的宝藏。"
A Father's Death Sets Off a Quest to Delve Into China's Soul
The Saturday Profile
By IAN JOHNSON AUG. 12, 2016
At first, Mr. Yang said, he was viewed with suspicion. Who was this man who showed up with a professional camera and sound crew. Was he a government spy? Then, in 2011, he published the first of six volumes of interviews in Hong Kong (because mainland Chinese publishers refused, he said). Covering 105 of his interviews, the volumes are simply titled "For the Record," reflecting his goal: not to come up with grand conclusions but to let people speak out on China's national condition, in the sort of debate that rarely happens in the country.
Since then, Mr. Yang has become part of a growing scene of what the Paris-based academic Sebastian Veg calls "grass-roots intellectuals." Unlike the big-name Chinese writers of the past who pronounced on national affairs, people like Mr. Yang make their arguments through unofficial channels, such as underground films or articles published on popular social media outlets like WeChat.
"These people are unofficially discussing political and social issues," said Mr. Veg, a professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Science in Paris, who is writing a book on the topic. "It shows how society is pluralizing and how other people are joining the nationwide debate."
Mr. Yang uses the same 55 questions, most of them very open-ended ("What does 'serve the people' mean to you?" "How do you understand labor?" "How do you understand dread?") His ultimate goal, he said, is to use the videos as part of a documentary. But he says he first wants to reach 500 interviews — and even then he is not sure what to do with all the material. (Copies have been sent abroad, he said, for safekeeping.)
The most memorable answers often come in response to his last question: "In the current society, what do you need most?" The answers are sometimes banal, other times profound:
"I need fairness," said Xu Maomao, an actor.
"I need almost nothing now," said Chen Ershou, a famous geologist who has since died.
"I need freedom the most," said Chang Ping, an exiled columnist.
"I need freedom of speech the most," said Mao Yushi, an economist and advocate of political overhauls.
"I need time," said Yang Jisheng, a prominent journalist and historian.
"China needs science most," said Fang Zhouzi, a writer who debunks myths.
"I need to tell the truth," said Yao Jianfu, a retired official.
"I need money," said Gao Yu, a dissident journalist who has since been placed under house arrest.
The project has put Mr. Yang and his family under severe pressure. He and his wife, Du Xing, once owned two apartments but had to sell them to pay for the film crews. They now rent a slightly beaten-up apartment in a subdivision.
Ms. Du married Mr. Yang just before his father died, and since then she has experienced the slow erosion of their standard of living and personal freedoms. A former manager of a golf club, the 45-year-old now joins her husband on his project, operating the camera and tending to the sound because they no longer can afford a crew. She is also a photographer and helps document some of the interviews.
"My parents ask me how my life is and will we have children," Ms. Du said. "It would be nice to have a normal life, but it doesn't seem possible now."
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That is especially true now that the public security services have taken a close interest in their work. Mr. Yang traces this to the publication of the books, which he believes made the government aware of him. He is now regularly followed, and he says he often faces harassment. For example, he designed pottery in hopes of selling it to support his project, but he says the authorities harassed the kiln owners so that they would not take his work.
Officials also stop by for regular visits, and he is under a formal travel ban, barred from leaving Beijing. That is the result of his being detained last year for the first time. He was held for over three months but never charged after he posted online a picture of himself naked in front of a government office protesting a decision preventing him and his mother from traveling to Hong Kong. Mr. Yang said they were not allowed to travel because theInternational Olympic Committee was about to decide whether Beijing should win the 2022 Winter Olympics and did not want Mrs. Xue to repeat allegations of doping. (Beijing subsequently won the bid.)
Throughout the family's problems, Mr. Yang's mother has been a constant supporter. Having recently had two strokes, she is less mobile than before and sleeps for several hours every midday. But when awake she is still a sharp, formidable presence. She is also sure that Chinese athletes are still doping.
"They prevented me from leaving, saying it would affect national security," Mrs. Xue said. "So do you think they still dope?"
Certainly, others do. Recently, other whistle-blowers told The Times of London that doping is systemic in swimming, prompting an investigationby the World Anti-Doping Agency. China's antidoping agency laterconfirmed doping-related irregularities but denied covering up the information.
Mrs. Xue said doping was endemic to sports machines like the ones in China and Russia. Although she has no direct knowledge of the current situation, she said it was an inevitable byproduct of an authoritarian system reliant on the legitimacy of producing national glory. "They don't even tell the athletes," she said. "They just tell them it is nutritional supplements."
And what of her son's project?
"I tell people that he is now a prospector," Mrs. Xue said with a laugh. "He is mining China for treasures."
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