VOA常速英语:探索：带你揭开150年前中国铁路工人在美国大罢工的真相

A photograph is a window into the past, for Russell Low, these photos also represent his family’s identity.
照片是一扇可以窥视过去的窗户。而对于罗素·洛来说，面前的这些照片也代表着自己家族的身份。

“My family took part in the building, not only of the West, but really the building of America.That railroad that he helped to build really united our country, and it was probably one of the most important achievements for America in the 19th century and we took part in that.”
“我的祖先不仅参与了西方国家的建设，同时也曾为美国的建设增砖添瓦。他帮助修建的铁路促进了我们国家的团结，那段铁路可能也是美国在19世纪最重要的成就之一，我们也贡献了自己的一份力量。”

Low’s great-grandfather, Huang Lai Wah and his brother Jick Wah, like most of the Chinese railroad workers,came from China’s Guangdong province and helped build the railroad that would link the western part of the United States to the East.
洛的曾祖父名叫黄利华，曾祖父的弟弟名为季华，二人就像是大多数中国铁路工人一样，来自中国广东，并一同修建了这条联系美国西部和东方的铁路。

Low believes his ancesters also took part in the labors’ strike of June, 1867.
洛相信，他的祖先们也参与了1867年6月的劳工罢工行动。

“It’s significant because this was the first major strike that any Chinese group ever did.Now there were earlier strikes, but this was a major one, which involved 2,000 Chinese who struck for one week.”
“这场罢工意义非常重大，因为这是所有中国人团体中第一次大罢工。尽管之前也有过罢工运动，但远不如这次范围广，因为当时有2000名中国工人一同罢工长达一周。”

Chinese workers went on strike for more pay, shorter working hours and better working conditions.While historians commonly believe the workers did not get what they wanted,historian SueFawn Chung found new details in an old newspaper article.
当年中国工人之所以罢工，是因为想要争取加薪，减少工作时间以及改善工作条件。历史学家们也都认为，这些工人最终并未得偿所愿，但历史学家钟素芳却在一份旧报纸上发现了新的细节。

“But a month later, they got their, at least their wage increase that they wanted from 35 to 40 dollars a month.And it was sort of the Chinese system of, you know, ‘save face.’‘OK, we’ll let you save face by saying we didn’t accomplish anything, but you’ll give us the 5 dollar increase a month.”
“但是一个月之后，他们得到了，至少工资如他们所愿，从每月35美金上调到了40美金。这就有点像中国的思想体系，就是‘保全面子’，行，我们可以顾全你的面子，跟外界说我们什么也没得到，但是你们得每个月给我们长5美金的工资。”

After building the railroad, Low’s great-grandfather stayed in the US, finding success in the cigar industry, he married Tom Ying.
铁路建完之后，洛的曾祖父留在了美国，后来他在雪茄业大获成功。还迎娶了汤姆·应。

“She was brought here as a child slave. So we went from a railroad worker and a slave girl to the first Chinese graduating from UC Berkley.”
“曾祖母当时是以一名童奴的身份被带到美国来的。一个是铁路工人，一个是女奴，没想到最后竟成为了加州大学伯克利分校的第一批中国毕业生。”

That was just one of their five children, the descendants of Huang number 100.They include war heroes, such as Low’s father, who received a Silver Star for his actions in the Second World War.
这只是他们5个孩子当中的一个。黄家有100名子孙。其中包括战争英雄，比如洛的父亲就曾经因为在二战当中的英勇事迹而被授予了一枚银星勋章。

“If you think about what binds these railroad worker descendants together, and we’ve all met each other,I think it’s this courage of the ancestors.These young men who built that railroad had the right stuff, a determination where they never quit … you had to adapt.They knew how to learn so they could bend like a supple willow tree and never break.”
“如果真要问到底是什么把我们这些铁路工人的后代紧紧联系在一起，我们彼此都已经见过面了，我觉得应该是我们祖先的勇气。这些修建铁路的年轻人身上有着很珍贵的品质，那就是永不放弃的决心……你必须要去适应环境。他们知道应该怎样学习，才能够像杨柳一样，虽然可能会弯曲，但却永远不会折断。”

Those characteristics depicted here by Guangdong-born artist Mian Situ have been engrained through the generations,honoring the legacy of thousands of Chinese who left their homes for the unknown in hopes of a better life in America.
祖籍广东的画家司徒绵将这些特质都在纸上描绘了出来，并被代代相传，以此纪念当年那些成千上万奔赴美国的中国人所留下的宝贵财富，他们怀揣着对更好生活的憧憬，背井离乡，踏上未知的旅途。

Elizabeth Lee, VOA news, San Diego.
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