经济学人下载:日本之自身观&海洋观解读

Banyan

The great wave
滔天巨浪

A look at how Japan views the sea—and itself
日本之自身观&海洋观解读

Jun 2nd 2011 | from the print edition

AT AROUND the age of 70, Katsushika Hokusai, still bounding with artistic energy, created “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”, a series of ukiyo-e, or woodblock prints. His most famous, since reproduced on everything from Tintin books to tea cups, is “Beneath the Wave off Kanagawa”, painted around 1830.

葛饰北斋70岁上下之时，艺术细胞仍然丝毫未减，创作了《富士三十六景》系列浮世绘（也叫做木板水印画）。而他最有名的作品莫过于1830年左右创作的《巨浪下的神户川》了，从丁丁书到茶杯上都可见这部巨作的影子。

Most Westerners, when viewing it, focus on the wave itself, which towers over Mount Fuji in a show of almost implacable force, all the more terrifying considering the three fragile boats under it. Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, wrote in “A History of the World in 100 Objects” that the picture reflected frightened fishermen and an insecure, cloistered Japan about to be forced by American gunboats into the modern world. But Japanese art critics differ—and they have a point. In the picture the boatmen look more serene than fearful, as their vessels slice through the waves. Their stillness in the face of danger is all the more poignant in Japan, as they have a job to do. They are racing to deliver fresh fish to market, and yet they remain, as far as many Japanese see it, in delicate balance with nature.

面对这幅画，大多数西方人关注的都是浪花本身，巨大的浪花高高地盖过富士山脉，显示出近乎无法抵挡的威力，再想想三艘岌岌可危的小船还摇曳在巨浪下，那就更加令人心惊胆战了。大英博物馆主任麦克格瑞格在“100物件看世界历史”中如是写道：这幅画展现了在美国炮舰的逼迫下，受到惊吓的日本渔民连同有失稳固而又与世隔绝的日本国一起被迫走向现代化。但是日本艺术评论家对此提出了不同的看法，他们也有自己的道理。图画中，小船在巨浪中摇曳之时，渔民表现出的平静大于恐慌。因为还有工作要做，所以面对危险，渔民沉着冷静，而这一情况出现在日本就更是令人心酸了。渔民们争先恐后地将鲜鱼运到市场，而在许多日本人看来，渔民一直与自然保持着微妙的平衡。