红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

一本书对人最大的影响，莫过于改变了读者的视角（perspective），或者叫“世界观”。对我来说，《第六次灭绝：一部非自然历史》（“The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” by Elizabeth Kolbert）就是一本这样的好书。上一次给我带来这种变化的书，是《枪炮、细菌和钢铁：人类社会的命运》(“Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” by Jared Diamond）。两本书的风格，因为作者的背景而有所不同：《枪》书的作者是学者，所以学术性更重一些；这本书的作者是记者和专栏作家，所以语言更加生动、幽默和感性，颇有简·奥斯丁，或是更准确的说，《纽约客》(“New Yorker”）的文风。 然而这幽默是黑色的。全书十三章，每一章都讲述了一个或一类物种灭绝或濒临灭绝的悲壮、悲烈或悲惨的故事。作者以她大师级的驾驭语言的能力，绘声绘色地带着读着去感受她的每一次科考旅行。叙事如同电影蒙太奇一般在现实和历史之间自由切换，而又不失凌乱。连自然科学史也被讲得惊心动魄，充满了肥皂剧般的峰回路转，让人手不释卷。 全书以大量的证据，让读者不得不意识到，我们正在目睹地球历史上第六次物种大灭绝，而且无可争辩，我们人类自己就是这场大灭绝的罪魁祸首。这场大灭绝，不单指当前争论不休的全球变暖——那仅仅是人类最近几百年的“罪行”而已，在地球历史上不过是沧海一粟——而是自从智人（Homo sapiens）诞生的那一刻就开始了。从此，人类就是那疯长的杂草，在极短的时间内将足迹踏遍了地球上几乎每一个角落，成为地球物种中无可争议的霸主。 但是当我们回过头来看几亿年前地球物种的霸主时，就会发现它们无一例外地没有活到今天，无论它们当时是多么地成功。那么有什么理由相信人类就可以逃脱这个命运？就不是地球上曾经称霸一时，独孤求败的过客？地球的资源是有限的，一个物种越成功，其他物种就越快走向灭绝。无论这个强势物种是否主动消灭其他物种，最后的结局都是一样，区别只有灭绝的速度，而且在地球历史的度量下都如白驹过隙。 一个生物物种可以存在很长时间，但是个体却只能存活很短。在我们个体活着的每分每秒，所作所为，真的是由自由意志支配的吗？人类所赖以自豪的人性，真的...

作为四川人，我从小就知道西藏和藏族。每次天气预报，报完了熟悉的大城市之后，就会听见三个“自治州”的名字：甘孜，阿坝和凉州。其中，甘孜和阿坝就是“藏族自治州”，也就是藏民的聚居地。偶尔会听到跟藏民打交道的故事，甚至在成都的闹市里见到一两个藏民，但也仅此而已。 大学毕业的时候，在一个同窗好友的怂恿下，跟另一个来自青海的同学，一行三人，去了一趟西藏。我现在才意识到四川的藏区属于藏人所说的“康区”（Kham），青海大部分地区属于藏人所说的“安多”（Amdo）。那个发起的同学是北京人，但非常迷恋西藏。所以我们这三个人还都跟西藏有缘。 虽然我们去的地方不多，西藏还是给我们三个年轻人巨大的文化冲击（culture shock）。我们从来没见过这么独特的风土和人情。回来的时候，我们简直成了英雄。因为那个时候，去西藏旅行还是一件非常不容易的事。 来北美这么多年，偶尔又会在DC或者Ottawa见到“雪山狮子”旗，看见藏族年轻人为西藏独立争取路人的同情。 又一年一个同学约我去Rutgers听达赖喇嘛演讲，我觉得机会难得，欣然同往。当时整个橄榄球场座无虚席，俨然有佛经里“如是我闻，一时，佛在舍卫国祗树给孤独园，与大比丘众千二百五十人俱”的气势。 至于演讲的内容，对于已涉猎经藏的我来说，没有太多的新意。不过毕竟中规中矩，不负达赖喇嘛藏传佛教教主的地位。与如今国内以传播佛教为名，实则贩卖与佛教不着边际的心灵鸡汤的“高僧”“大师”“活佛”相比，盖不可同日而语。 后来逛书店的时候，看见越来越多达赖喇嘛出的书。多为佛教基本，稍加应用于现代社会。对老外可能有醍醐灌顶之效，对我却是老生重弹。我感兴趣的是西藏历史，而不是藏传佛教。 于是听说了这本新鲜出炉的"The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong: The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet"。 这是达赖喇嘛的亲哥哥、顾问，曾历任西藏流亡政府外相、首相的嘉乐顿铢的回忆录。由于他与达赖的特殊关系，即使他没有官职，也常常充当达赖的私人联络人。再加上他能说流利的汉语和英语，因此参与了很多与各个利益集团，特别是中国政府的幕后谈判。一个七旬老人，回顾他自己亲历的西藏历史，说出以前不愿、不敢或不能说的真相，别有一番沧桑。 读完以后我最大的感受是西藏...

I bought Justin Trudeau 's memoir "Common Ground"  the second day it came out and finished it in a gulp. I even entertained the idea of going to the book signing event at Indigo Place Montréal Trust  and telling him in person that I will vote for him in the coming election if I have the chance. Unfortunately it was canceled, presumably due to safety concern after the terrible event happened in Ottawa . I have been so frustrated by the Conservative government that I keep wondering who they represent exactly and how the hell they can win elections at all. If I get a dime every time I disagree with their policy, I'd be a millionaire by now. I believe the only reason they are still in power is the lack of a viable alternative; that is, Canadians are stuck with them. After Justin became the leader of the Liberal Party, I finally saw some hope. From the media coverage of his MP days, I feel that he is the kind of person that is not afraid of calling BS when he sees i...

Book review: "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution" by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending Like Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" , this book heralds a scientific way of studying history. History is not science. At least not yet. One proof is that nobody has been able to predict the future with the same degree of success as Newtonian Dynamics does, say, the lunar eclipse. In fact, the more you study history, the more you understand how fickle it is and feel hopeless in predicting anything. However, with the method of natural experiment  and great advance in molecular biology, I see hope. This book convincingly argues that human evolution did not stop after modern human expanded from Africa. On the contrary, there are strong evidences that we evolved at faster and faster pace. People from different places are not only different culturally, but also biologically. Our culture affects ...

Book review: "Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicilian Clan" by André Cédilot and André Noël, translated by Michael Gilson If you ever drive to Montreal, from either Ontario or the United States, you will surely notice that the moment you enter Quebec, the road becomes extremely bad. It only gets worse once you start living in Montreal. "Crumbling" is the only appropriate word to describe its infrastructure. If you ever wonder why, the answer can be summarized in one word: mafia. Originally written in French by two veteran investigative reporters of La Presse , the largest French daily newspaper in Montreal, "Mafia Inc." is, in my humble opinion,  the best book to learn the rise and fall of the most infamous Sicilian crime family in Canada, the Rizzutos. One episode of their story has been immortalized on the silver screen in "Donnie Brasco (1997)" . The authors took pain not to romanticize the life of the mafiosi, a...

Book review: “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War" by Stephen R. Platt 秋天有两种：一种是丰收喜悦之秋，一种是伤感可悲之秋。太平天国之秋，毫无疑问是第二种。 《天国之秋》改变了很多我对于太平天国的认识和评价。作者一上来就对太平天国运动的性质作了一个中肯的评价，认为西方史学界长期以来称之为“太平叛乱”，以及中国史学界以太平天国为原始共产主义而称之为“太平革命”或“太平起义”，都失之偏颇。唯一恰当的称谓，当为“太平内战”。 ("The Taiping were indeed rebels, but to call the entire war the Taiping Rebellion is to cast the rebels forever in the wrong, and to blame on them for defying their legitimate rulers and destroying what one might surmise was otherwise a peaceful and stable empire." "...just as it is unfair to suggest that the Taiping were solely responsible for the devastation of the war, it is likewise an exaggeration to claim they were building some kind of peasant utopia.") 作为西方人写中国史，作者不可避免地更关心西方历史与这段中国历史的联系。全书令人信服地论证了，发生在十九世纪中国的太平内战，已经不再是一个孤立的事件，而是跟欧洲和美国历史有实质性的联系。简而言之，因为美国内战导致大英帝国在美国的贸易锐减，英国害怕同时因为中国内战而失去另一个巨大的贸易伙伴，而违背一贯的中立政策，干预了中国内战。虽然直接干预并不多，而且政策还有反复，却鬼使神差地影响了...

Having had great pleasure in reading "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli , I can't help but writing down some thoughts I had in mind. With all due respect, Machiavelli's advice to a new prince may seem novel to the Greco-Roman world but are almost trite to the Sino-centric world. For example, Cesare Borgia's plan of letting Remirro de Orco, an extremely cruel person (酷吏), do all the dirty job of purging the unruly lords in the newly acquired Romagna then cutting him in half to please the people, which Machiavelli praised as an excellent example of political maneuver, was in any Chinese princes' playbook since probably the beginning of written Chinese history. What was new to me was Machiavelli's proto-scientific treatment of politics, which draws conclusions on logical analysis of the actual results of each political decision. For example, "it is better to be feared than loved." Modern political science's reliance on polls and data is sim...