Monday, October 31, 2011

方励之:“诽谤邓小平”案始末

说明:前不久,有一本876页厚的书出版,书名“Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China”(邓小平及中国之变换),作者Ezra Vogel (傅高义)。它是迄今篇幅最大的邓小平的政治传记。书里没有披露人所不知的邓氏的秘闻或故事。New York Review of Books 让我写了一篇书评 “The Real Deng”。在写书评时,回忆起一个老故事——“诽谤邓小平案”,顺记如下。

在搜寻引擎上输入“邓小平,方励之,诽谤”几个字,就会读到一则1988年的新闻:“9月30日中共中央军委主席邓小平下令以诽谤罪检控方励之。”

1987年初我被作为资产阶级自由化三代表之一,遭到当局整肃。之后,当局对我的所有活动,包括国内外的学术活动,一直有紧密监视。每次在国内大学作学术演讲,坐在前排的,就有监视人员。任何当过多年教师的人,很容易识别,哪些听众是学生或同行,哪些是外来客。后者因是外行,心中另有所思,表情始终是呆呆的。

在国外,也可能辨别中国派出的特殊任务者。早在1981年夏,我在巴基斯坦Nathiagali国家暑期物理学校(现称暑期物理学院)讲几次天体物理。来了一位光明日报记者,其作风不太像职业记者。北京的许多人知道,光明日报的外派记者中,掺有总参二部的情报人员。Nathiagali是吸引情报人员的地方,因为它是巴基斯坦核设施所在地。本拉登被美军突袭击毙的地点 Abbottabad, 距Nathiagali 约20英里。有一次在休息时间,我冷不防突袭光明日报记者:“你是总参二部的吧?”。该人竟一时愣住,不自觉地点了头。我临走时,该“记者”还托我给他家带回去一点外国货。总参二部有一个家属区在颐和园北,距北大不远。

1988年8月8 - 29日,李淑娴和我去澳大利亚,先在Perth参加第五届Marcel Grossmann广义相对论会议。我讲的题目是宇宙中的非拓扑孤子[1],随后我们又到堪培拉、悉尼,墨尔本等地访问。除学术活动外,中国留学生还邀我介绍国内的情况(图1)。有的学生特别问起北大的小字报。我如实作了介绍。说,有小字报提到,一些中央领导人或他们的子女在国外银行有账号,有存款。


图1,1988年 8月15日在堪培拉与澳大利亚国立大学的中国学生学者等漫谈家事国事天下事。“一些中央领导人或他们的子女在国外银行有账号,有存款”一语,即源于此漫谈中。

我还没有离开澳大利亚,北京的朋友就紧急传话来:邓小平已知道了我在澳大利亚说的话了(果然线人无处不在,工作效率也高,大概是在留学人员中发展的)。邓小平说,方励之在国外的言论,“一些中央领导人或他们的子女在国外银行有账号,有存款”,是对他的诽谤。他要诉诸法律,起诉方励之。

我当时想,这可能是谣言。第一,凡在国外的中国学生学者,大都开有国外银行账号,有存款。这是很正常的事,哪里谈得上诽谤?第二,如果邓小平要整肃我,根本不必诉诸法律。他是最高领导人,办法多得很。何必在法庭上费时费力。

8月29日,我们飞新加坡,去新加坡世界科学出版社(WSPC)谈出版事宜,同WSPC的老板潘国驹教授喝了一次功夫茶,没有非业务活动。在新加坡,没有“诽谤”案的消息。有记者透露,新加坡当局告诉他们,方励之在新加坡期间,不得报导方的消息,只有等方离境后才可见报。果然,在我们离新加坡去香港的飞机上,才看到新加坡报纸的报导。在香港,我还恭维了几句新加坡,说“新加坡还是有民主的”。香港众男女记者听后,哄然大笑 ,不以为然。不难理解,那时候香港尚未回归,香港记者还没有体尝过人民民主专政的滋味。

9月1日到香港,主要活动是应“黄林秀蓮訪問學人基金會”邀请,在中文大学讲学訪問一个月,但我们只停留了一周,9月8日就离境了。在一个欢迎会上,我曾说,物理学家(如牛顿,麦克斯韦等)常常是从错误的基本假定出发,得到正确的结果(动力学方程),而政治家们常常是从正确的基本假定出发得到错误的结果。又令一些人不高兴。

在香港,我们多次被记者围住(图2)。没有记者提到“诽谤案”,可见,消息还没有传到香港。“诽谤案”真的是谣言?香港新华社“记者”的行为证明,不是谣言。9月8日晚,在香港碼頭等喷射船去澳门。在开船前数分钟,突然有两个自称香港新华社“记者”要求采访。手里拿着录音机。劈头就问:你在澳洲是不是讲过“一些中央领导人或他们的子女在国外银行有帐号,有存款”?我答:“有啊”。采访立即结束,转身就走,也没有说一声谢谢。显然不是“记者”采访,而是取证。


图2,1988年9月1日,李和我在香港被记者围住。谈到,相对于中国而言,“新加坡还是有民主的”。香港的非新华社记者们还不知道“诽谤案”。

访问澳门的目的之一,是想去看看四百多年前,给中国带来欧几里德几何学的利玛窦等耶稣会士在澳门的遗迹,很遗憾,荡然无存。有的澳门人甚至不知道利玛窦或耶稣会士是何年代来澳门的。

9月中旬,回到北京,不少朋友很惊奇;“你们还敢回来!”“我们都以为这一次你们不会回来了。”显然,“诽谤案”的小道消息,在北京,已经传开。有的朋友不解,“你们何必回来引颈就戮?”当时,从出国访问转而滞留国外的学者已不少。仅科大原物理教研室的同事中就有3位滞留不归。我们之所以按时返国,是相信在“诽谤案”上,我们有充足的理由和举证。现在想来,不免后怕,充足理由律还不能普适到北京的法庭。

法学界朋友于浩成先生来我家简报“诽谤”案的现状(不是小道消息):邓小平已在找律师咨询诽谤案。党内高层已传达,要对我的诽谤言论予以法律解决。

9月25日,夏伟(Orville Schell)和刘白方夫妇,以及林培瑞(Perry Link),邀请李和我去史家胡同章含之家吃晚饭。我们不认识章,不知为何要请我们去吃饭。我对史家胡同倒很熟悉,因我的一个中学同学在那一带住。那一带是北京的大宅门的密度最高的地段,红的,黑的,新的,旧的,破败的,都有,章家的大宅门是红的,不算很新,但还可以。门面的大小新旧,标志等级地位。按我同学的说法,他知道“每个大宅门里住着什麽蛐蛐儿(蟋蟀)”。蛐蛐儿在北京可是金贵物,也分三六九等级。

吃的什麽蛐蛐儿饭,忘了。请我们去的原因,是章含之向我们证实,诽谤案要正式检控了,已通知外交部了。外交部发言人在准备应对外国记者的提问。

外交部知道的事,国外媒体也就知道了,这就到了本文一开始引用的新闻“9月30日中共中央军委主席邓小平下令以诽谤罪检控方励之。” 随后,全国发行的“参考消息”,也登出文章,点名说方的言论已属诽谤云云。在北京的外国记者,非常兴奋。方励之和邓小平要对簿公堂了。这是中国没见过的事件。“在国外银行有账号有存款”的言论在中国要被起诉,而且是由“中央军委主席下令”。

10月初,一度盛传,北京中级人民法院即将向我发出传票。一时相当紧张。法学界朋友立即帮我延聘律师,组织律师团。有人来信提供法庭辩护论据,也有人准备认真收集领导人及其子女在国外存款的证据。一般情况下,银行账户和存款,是隐私,银行是不让外人调查的。但如涉及重大事件或案件,账户和存款不是完全不可以调查的,甚至可以冻结。加之,方的言论是在国外,可否调查要引用所在国法律,不全依赖于中国当局的意愿,问题变得复杂。

美国马利兰大学国际法教授丘宏达(他的哥哥丘宏义,是我同行,在美国宇航局[NASA] 工作,认识多年)当时曾对此案涉及的法律问题作过分析:

 “中共对诽谤罪的规则列在刑法一百四十五条上,条文是:「以暴力和其他方法,包括大字报或小字报,公然侮辱他人,或是捏造事实,诽谤他人,情节严重者,处三年以下有期徒刑、拘役或剥夺政治权力。」前款犯罪,告诉乃论,但是严重危害社会秩序和国家利益者除外。

“由方励之的状况判断,中共当局可能会以公诉方式,以「严重危害社会秩序和国家利益」为由,将他起诉。一旦被正式提起公诉,按过去案例,百分之九十五以上会被判刑。至于会不会公开审判,中共规定比较弹性。在诽谤罪审判上如果认为对当事人名誉有严重伤害时,可以不公开审判。但是方励之案中,不能适用这种规定。中共会不会引用对国家名誉有重大损害的理由,而不公开审判,就不知道了。

  “方励之是在国外发言,即使罪名成立,本刑在三年以下,按中共刑法规定公民在国外犯罪,本刑在三年以上才追诉。所以中共当局势必援引另外一条规定:「公民的犯罪行为或结果,其中有一项发生在中华人民共和国领域内」,就可以算在域内犯罪。

“这个案子若继续发展下去,在中共是首次创例,一定有特别用意和效果,值得注意。”[2]

然而,等了一个月,传票始终没有到。

11月4日,中共中央统战部六局(知识分子局)副局长陶斯亮来我家家访。正式告知,诽谤案撤诉了,警报解除,但没有解释原因。

后来得知的内情是,中国驻联合国代表团的法律顾问告诉邓小平,方的言论够不成诽谤罪,因为方的言论没有点名邓小平,或任何其他人,而只说“一些领导人及其子女”。这不能用作诽谤言论。谤言罪是“告诉乃论”,即必须有明确的原告人(自然人,而非法人)。如果原告是“一些领导人及其子女”,这原告“一些”将如何出庭?政治局常委以上?政治局委员以上?当时,邓小平不是常委,也不是委员。

为什麼邓小平对“领导人及其子女在国外存款”一语大动肝火,而且要用起诉方式整肃?对比1976年春的另一个故事。那时,中共中央召开打招呼会议,准备点名“批邓”,邓小平听后淡然一笑:“那就点名好了,我早就说过,我是聋子不怕响雷打,死猪不怕开水烫” 。1988年,“国外存款”传闻沸沸扬扬(北大小字报不是唯一的),并没有点名,怎麽就烫到活人了?

不言自明,北大小字报无非暗指,在“先富起来”的“少数人”中,很多(按比例)是共产党内的最高层领导,及他们的家属。邓小平当然懂得“不言自明”对他的杀伤力。务必尽除而后快。为此,显然不能发一个红头文件,标题为“领导人及其子女无外国银行账号及存款之说明”。以诽谤案法律起诉,是最容易引起公众注意的方法,是有效的杀一儆百。

所以,诽谤案的撤诉,并非邓小平的失算。甚至,邓小平原来就没有准备真上法庭,而是尽量传播“邓小平告方励之诽谤”的消息。因为,无论上不上法庭,“邓小平告方励之诽谤”的消息一径传开,“杀一儆百”的效果,就达到了。这就是丘宏达所关心的此案“特别用意和效果”。

2009年,6.4二十周年时,日本产经新闻驻华盛顿记者(曾在北大念书)采访我,他说他看过邓小平在各种大小场合的讲话(当然包括诽谤案)。他说,“我感觉邓小平老盯住你,特别恨你个人,你们是不是有私仇?” 是啊,如果没有私仇,很难解释:“海外存款传闻传者极多,邓小平怎麼只辦方励之的海外談話?”(刘宾雁语 [2])。不过,我确实与邓无私人恩怨,断然否定日本记者的推测:“没有,没有,绝对没有。我同邓小平先生没有任何个人接触,谈何私仇?”

不仅无私仇可言,直到1988年春,我还公开感谢过邓小平本人。那年5月24日有一次宇宙学的通俗报告。Q&A时,突然有人问我对邓小平的看法。我答,“感谢呀,感谢邓先生义务地帮我宣传和推销,感谢邓先生免费收集整理1985-1986年间我的所有非物理的即兴讲话,感谢邓先生免费编辑这些讲话并印刷成册,感谢邓先生免费发行15万册到全国,平均每个党支部一本……”这应当不算是诽谤言论吧。

[1] L. Z. Fang, Non-topological solitons and structure formation in the universe, Proceedings of the Fifth Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity, eds. D. G. Blair and M. J. Buckingham, World Scientific (1989).

[2] 联合报,1988年10 月4 日,03版,国内要闻。

2011, 10 , Tucson

Monday, April 25, 2011

方励之:台湾乙未“第一共和”和先外祖逸事考


图1:台湾民主国国旗。



 图2:“忆台杂记”1924年重印本的封面(左)及版权页(中)。题书名者,吴郁生(1854-1940,苏州人,清代进士)为史氏之师辈。康有为亦出吴氏门下。右为台湾国立图书馆藏“忆台杂记”手抄本首页。



图3:一百多年前的台南周边地图。熱蘭遮城堡(Fort de Zelandia)是荷兰人建,现已损毁。赤崁为郑成功延平王朝首府,现为一级古迹。二鲲鯓有沈葆桢建“億載金城”炮台,亦为一级古迹。现在臺江几近消失。赤崁与二鲲鯓之间只剩有很窄的水面。

图4.2004年12月25日,李淑娴和我凭吊于安平港二鲲鯓“億載金城”古炮台。


·方励之·

今年,2011,家有双百祭。先父,一百岁,按中式(虚)岁计法。先母,也一百岁,按洋式(周)岁计法。方氏家族值班族长于一年前就开始陈情备案,设法要我也能身列盛典,礼行先祖灵前,并一会杭州徽州一带宗亲故旧。心知肚明,族长一案不可能不被“留中不下”。是故,及时写就此考,以供家祭,祖祭,亦为文中述及的死于非命者祭。

             1895年6月4日前后的台湾

1894年(甲午),清日战争,清败。

1895 年(乙未)4月17日,清日签订马关条约,清廷割让台湾澎湖给日本。台湾民众不服,巡抚唐景嵩等官员亦上书要求废约 。

5月8日,清廷不睬台湾民意和官愿,正式批准马关条约。

5月10日,日本海军大将桦山资纪被任命为日本国首任台湾总督,开始着手接收台湾。

5月15日,巡抚唐景嵩与地方士绅发布“台民布告”,要求“肯认台湾自立”,“台民惟有自主,推拥贤者,权摄台政。”[1]

5月23日,唐景嵩与台湾士绅发布“台湾民主国独立宣言”。正式宣告独立建国。国名“台湾民主国” 。洋名“Republic of Taiwan”,故亦可称“台湾共和国” ,台湾“第一共和”等。白额虎国旗如图1。年号“永清”。发行公债及邮票。地方士绅公推唐景嵩为台湾民主国首任总统,台北板桥富商林维源为国会议长。



5月31日,日军在台北县登陆。

6月2日,清廷代表李经芳(李鸿章之子)与日本代表桦木交换公文,完成台湾交割手续。

6月3日, 基隆被日军攻陷,台湾民主国兵败,溃散。

6月4日,总统唐景嵩逃离台北,从淡水港(时称沪尾)乘德国商轮Arthur号,遁走厦门(唐氏终老于桂林)。

台湾“第一共和”,历时13天,亡。

第二共和,或台南共和(Tainan Republic),于1895年6月26日成立,总统为刘永福,同年10月21日亡。

第一共和的6月4日前后,有一位20岁刚出头的年轻人正在台湾。亲历了第一台湾民主国的兴亡。为免遭兵燹荼毒,他也于6月18日从台南安平港登船,逃返大陆老家。不到一年,1896年4月,他的回忆录——两卷集“忆台杂记”出版(图2)。卷首自序中说到写书动机:

余“……以成童弱冠之年……足迹所至不下万里”。“仆虽幸免予荼毒,安归故里。而忆其风土人情,文章政事,时觉怦然有动……”[2]

此“怦然有动”者——史久龙——是我外祖父。两卷集“忆台杂记”,如今仍不时被研究台湾“风土人情,文章政事”者引用 [3]。


                外祖父身世考

外公歿于1951年。去世前,他前后居于南京,上海,杭州等地。这些住所,都曾是我暑期从北京“N下江南”的度假地。因外公外婆无后(以男丁论),待我们异姓孙辈,亲如史姓。外婆,名朱梧卿,晚年用的一枚私章,还是我为她刻的。但是,外公从来不谈“足迹所至不下万里”的见闻,更不说“幸免于荼毒”时的惊险故事。

唯一印象深刻的是,外祖父的眼珠是碧色的。“三国演义”中就有孙权碧眼一说。可能早在汉代,吴越一带已有碧眼基因。外祖父应是吴越一支“正宗”之后。

外公的身世,后经文献考据,才渐渐“大白”。

史久龙,浙江余姚人,字莲荪,别号姚江藕中人。晚清民初仕人。

余姚在杭州,绍兴,宁波一线。盛产刀笔吏(起草官事报告,诉讼文件的写手),常被聘为幕僚。史氏在成童之年(15岁左右)就随先大夫宦游于大江南北。弱冠之年(20岁),被“调”往台湾。1892年11月18日抵台,1895年6月18日离台,在台共两年又七个月。服务于支应局。该局直属巡抚,负责财务,税收,筹款等事务。相当于美国行政当局中的财政部,国税局和商务部。支应局办公室就在今台南赤崁楼(图3)大院中。



台湾建省后,首任巡抚刘铭传(1885-1891),是李鸿章部下。第三任巡抚邵友濂(1891-1894)是李鸿章亲家。邵为浙江余姚人。所以,1890年代,日据之前,台湾省及各县政府中的幕僚或办事人员,有很多安徽及浙江人。胡适的父亲胡传曾于该时任台东县知州(县长) [4]。

史氏返大陆后,力图仕进。清末,科举渐废,但仕进仍须经策论等考试。外婆当年允嫁的条件,就是史氏必须通过考试。史氏于1900年代初考试成功,成婚,并获任四川南部县知县。从外婆到母亲,再到我,都能吃辣,就是外祖为宦四川在家族生活中的留下的印迹。

清廷于20世纪初推行新政,史氏亦曾参与。2007 - 2009年间,“法学研究”等期刊上的文章 [5,6,7],还提及史氏在新政时期的作为:

“光绪三十四年(1908),时当新政开办之际,时任南部知县的史久龙提出一套精简书吏、裁撤差役及明定讼费的改革方案,经督宪批准得以实行。其中,关于讼费一项规定:讼费由理曲者出。”[5]

民国后,史氏一度在江西任知县。民国当局中有浙江绍兴余姚一“帮”,首领之一是邵力子。史氏与邵氏有私谊。听族人讲:母亲婚前专司外公信使,常去邵府遞信传话。

抗战开始,史氏成为寓公,赋闲于宁沪杭一线。

            “忆台杂记”的失传及发现

“台湾民主国”历史虽短,但在亲历者的家族中的影响,却至为巨大。胡适在“四十自述”中称其父为“东亚第一民主国的第一个牺牲者”[8],可见崇仰之情。无独有偶,陈寅恪的舅父俞明震曾在台湾民主国任内務大臣,陈对其舅父的所作所为也倍加称颂[9]。

我受到的影响似正相反。父母应当知道外公在台湾的经历。父亲一度住在史家念书。“忆台杂记”一书在1924年在上海重印过。当时父母均已上中学。但是,数十年间,父母对外祖父在台历史和“忆台杂记”一书,始终闭口不传下一代。可能因为,四十年代以降,“独立” “自主”“台湾建国”等等词汇,无论在大陆或台湾,均属敏感类,它们被父母保护性地过滤了。1948年末,国共内战正烈,父亲就曾下铁令:不许参加任何政党。可惜,那时我已经参加了共产党的地下外围组织(民主青年联盟),保密,不能告诉父亲。母亲不言党政,但说的却是普适原则:“学好数理化,走遍天下都不怕”,受益至今。外婆更不言社稷,只偶尔听她说到“女诫”。如,女子切不可以叠字为名。叠字名,乃娼界盛行,用作妓牌,诸如李师师,苏小小,陈圆圆……外婆的话多是陈言,并不在意,很快忘掉。直到1966年,一名以鞭师为“业”的叠名女子于天安门顶被改名(不够叠名资格?),才又想起外婆的话。

1991年,我首次去台湾,也是首次见到三姨母。1948年之后,她一直寡居于台北。已故三姨父曾在国军军法部门任职,二战后参加过盟军审判日本战犯工作。三姨母同样不言国是,未告外公在台轶事,也未提及“忆台杂记” 。

后果是,我一直不知道外公曾经在台工作,也不知道“忆台杂记”一书。失传了。

直到前不久,遇到十余载未曾谋面的七姨母之女(我母亲是她的四姨母),她知道我们的外公著有“忆台杂记”一书。原因是,史氏家谱一度藏于七姨母家。她还告之,外公的遗物藏于镇江六姨母处,其中有“忆台杂记”原本。六姨父是个海归西医。在60年代之前,海归家庭确是储藏“四旧”遗物的相对“合适”的地方。

我的母亲和诸姨母们都已过世。母亲及七姨母,三姨母,现均葬于杭州,在同一墓园里。史氏家谱已毁于文化大革命。幸好,镇江的部分遗物还在。

最近,一查古旧书目网站,赫然见有“忆台杂记”1924年重印本(图2)。立即托大陆友人复制一册。

再搜索,发现台湾国立图书馆也藏有此书,而且是手抄本(图2)。它是台湾大学教授方豪(1910-1980,杭州人,中央研究院院士)于1965年在台北书摊发现,经校订抄写后付印。方豪称该书“在台似无第二本”,并称该书所记“适在甲午前后,故为台湾近代史重要文献”[10]。大喜,又请台湾师范大学物理系同行,借出该书,制成e-BOOK。

一睹一百一十五年前先外祖青年时代的文字,诚快事也。

“忆台杂记”大体是日志式的见闻报告。史氏当时是支应局的低级职员,且年轻,跑外任务极多。经常有如下语句“…休息二日,东行二十里,逾同安岭,又二十里至南投宿焉,次日复行二十里…”台湾当时与洋人(荷兰,法国等)有生意,使用公制,此处“里”为公里。可见“忆台杂记”作者跑腿儿之勤,日行80华里,次日再行。足迹遍及台湾各个角落,北至台北,基隆;南到打狗(高雄),恒春。加之,史氏为好事之人。故有很多事件目睹亲历。

“忆台杂记”中也有不少即时感愤。对“民主国”的唐景嵩(总统),丘逢甲(义勇统领)等一干高官,无一不有微词。书中可以看到历史的“另类”纪录。试摘几段有关“民主国”的见闻如下(下节引文皆取自“忆台杂记”重印本,圆括号中为注)。

              外公笔下的“民主国”

台湾战事起于澎湖。“忆台杂记”的纪录是:“二月二十七日(1895年3月23日)…忽闻雷声殷殷,自西南来…系敌人攻澎湖…接(台)北电云:敌船中伤小却,是日轰轰之声不息,入夜尤甚,至四鼓方绝。群尚喜,谓敌船被我炮台击走也。二十九日接北电,始悉昨日敌人在前虚攻,而绕道登岸,直至炮台之后,军士见前后受敌,群相哗溃……”可见,台北官方发布的第一个电文——“敌船中伤小却”,实属中了日人“虚攻”之计。“群尚喜”,是被忽悠的结果。

开始招兵。“…时防台中者…甚觉空虚,当事者复下令,能募一营者,无论何人,即为营官。于是广人,湘人,淮人,浙人,闽人纷纷领饷招募乌合之众,布满台北。嗟呼,韩信将兵多多益善,果如是乎?……” 可见,台湾当年已有足够多的来自大陆东南各省的移民,充当营官及兵勇,或“领饷”的“乌合之众”。

台湾立民主国:“二十八日(1895年5月22日),予在府,府尊示以北电云,士绅公举唐薇卿中丞(即唐景嵩)为总统,刘军门(刘永福)为大将军(参谋长联席会议主席),改台湾省曰台湾民主国。定于五月初三(1895年5月26日)恭上总统印。照万国公法为自立之国,以与日本抗衡……”

“署门立黄旗二,大书民主国字样。”当时,黄色为皇权专用。同时代的汉城李氏王朝的宫殿屋顶,一律蓝绿色,不得用黄琉璃瓦。所以,署门黄旗的独立主权含义明显。

“唐薇卿中丞接总统印后,遍出告诫,皆激励民心之言,读之颇觉义高入云。”

史氏并未抄录“ 激励民心义高入云”的告诫,而记录的实况是:“北垣官商民迁移纷纷,各衙署亦几空如洗……窥官场之意,皆持走字诀耳……”

日军登陆战:“…日人初八日(1895年5月31日)由基隆金包里登岸。初九日〔6月1日〕湘军接仗小胜。广军继进而败。后队见败即哗,群相溃逃。唐帅(景嵩)惟时在基隆督阵,见是不可为。于初十日返北部署行囊,十二夜(1895年6月4日夜)遂纵火焚抚署,微服而逃。各官皆只身遁走。时日人之登岸者,不过二,三百人耳。”

“忆台杂记”纪载,当时“湘淮土广诸军,全台总计业逾百营”。一营清军,即使不算有名无实的空额兵,应实有二,三百人。“湘淮土广”,是指湘军,淮军,台湾土著军,及两广军。也就是说,一营清军兵勇,平均而言,不敌两三个日军。

原因之一是,“…林观察前月遣员至台(中)彰(化)一带招勇数营,行至新竹,乎令散军,盖已知割地之信也。于是所散之勇,沿途作匪,以至如火燎原。”还未接敌打仗,军队已经就地解散,兵勇立即转业成了匪勇。

“…次日(6月5日)广勇淮勇溃散至(台)北,杀人焚屋之事,无处无之。库款尚余二十余万,皆被分劫。土匪亦乘之而起。四处蹂躏不堪……”

“外侮内訌,官奔民走…仓皇离乱……”

为躲避兵灾匪祸,“忆台杂记”作者辗转南行,于1895年6月15日到达台南安平港洋行区,见“…各洋行内皆有洋兵数十名驻守。海口复泊英法兵轮数支,保护彼国官商。”洋行区类似于澳门香港等租界地。安定平和,可以休息。

休息三日,作者即于6月18日“午刻乘驳船出口登轮,风浪平和,…戌刻鼓轮以去,予向安平三揖而作别矣。时乙未五月二十六日也。”

至此,我大体明白了,为什麽外公从来不谈“幸免于荼毒”时的惊险经历。他没有亲见过日军,实无“身所经历”抗日故事可言。相反,“身所经历”的皆是湘淮土广军匪混编的荼毒。

结语云:“台湾之民,未受敌人之荼毒,而先膺乱勇之锋刃也”。嗟呼!

               古今多少兴亡恨

1895年的“台湾民主国”被胡适誉为“东亚第一民主国”。就大清版图而言,不可谓不是“第一共和”。“建国宣言”中写有“官吏皆由民选”[11]。并用“公民”一词替代了“百姓”,不可谓不是民主意识。然而,认真接受胡适论断的人并不多。因为,“台湾民主国”还没有制宪,没有议会,也来不及举行公民选举,只有士绅的“公推”“公举”。

  台湾民主国的独立,也还不算认真的独立。它的国号“永清”,其意应是“永为大清”。它的独立,是针对日本而言的:“台民惟有自主”才能“抵抗倭奴侵略”。

   台湾民主国也未跻身于主权国家。它发行过债券,邮票。它也曾照会台北的各国领事馆,呈送“建国宣言”为外交,希望“照万国公法为自立之国”。但是,没有得到过任何国家的正式承认。

   或成或败,或褒或贬,或抑或扬,或是或非,都已百年冷却,凝固,沉淀为历史了。陈寅恪叹曰:“古今多少兴亡恨,都付扶余断梦中”[12]。后来者,只有怅然凭吊了 。

  1931年,“台湾民主国”建国事件近四十年,胡适赋诗感怀:

南天民主国,回首一伤神。
黑虎今何在,黄龙亦已陈。
几枝无用笔,半打有心人,
毕竟天难补,滔滔四十春。

最新的续曲是,2008年,台湾出品一部客家电影“1895”,主题是当年抵抗倭奴的历史。不幸,海峡西岸的“最高真理部”将“1895”一片定级为CCP-X——大陆不宜。 1895这一年份,居然至今仍令一些当权者惧。呜呼。胡适若地下有知,当会再赋“滔滔乙未祭,回首又伤神”了。





2004年12月25日,圣(耶)诞,台师大物理系友人邀李淑娴和我游台南,瞻仰赤崁楼和安平港二鲲鯓“億載金城”古炮台(图4)。当时尚不知先外祖在台湾的非常时刻,在该处留有非常足迹。否则,当三拜祭之,亦当为仓皇离乱年代死于非命者,酒祭三巡。

一个瞬态的,半真半幻的民主和独立,早已是孤魂一缕,若隐若显。

外公的墓地,也早已是——青草不再生长。

参考文献
[1] 连雅堂,台湾通史,卷四,独立纪
[2] 史久龙,忆台杂记,自序,1924年,重印版
[3] 陈维君,清代笔记中的台湾故事研究,台湾中正大学硕士论文,2006。
[4] 胡传,台湾日记与禀启, 其中述及他曾多次去台南支应局,取款提银等。
[5] 赵娓妮,晚清知县对婚姻讼案之审断,中国法学,2007,第6期,92页。
[6] 里赞,晚清州县审断中的"社会":基于南部县档案的考察,《社会科学研究》,
2008,第5期。

[7] 里赞,司法或政务:清代州县诉讼中的审断问题,法学研究,2009,第5期,195页。
[8] 胡适,四十自述, 1932
[9] 曹曦,殷开,饱濡铅泪记桑田,安徽史学,2006, 第3期,115页。
[10] 方豪,台湾史论文选集,1999, 台湾捷幼出版。
[11] 杨碧川,台湾历史词典,台北,前卫,1997,265页
[12] 陈寅恪,寒柳堂集,生活.读书.新知三联书店,2001。
扶餘國,公元前二世纪时建于中国东北,公元5世纪时亡。

农历辛卯(2011),正月。 Tucson。

Saturday, January 1, 2011

韩家亮:谈谈古希腊民主的起源和衰落

·韩家亮·

了解古希腊民主起源和衰落对我们来说具有比较和借鉴的意义。我在这里参照的是一本较权威的历史教科书,《西方的崛起》[1]。它的作者William McNeill是芝加哥大学的荣休历史教授。原书写于1963年。1991年重印时仅加了一篇短文,原文只字未改,这在教科书中是少有的。这本书在史学界评价很高。在我的平装本背面有如下介绍:

“《西方的崛起》获1964年国家历史书奖。《西方的崛起》驶名于它雄心勃勃的广度和知识的精确。在书里, McNeill挑战了Spengler-Toynbee观点即世界文明是许多分别的文明沿着基本独立的经历发展。McNeill辩说人类文化在每一个阶段都相互影响……”

Arnold Toynbee 是世界上非常著名的历史学家。William McNeill挑战了以前他的学说。而Arnold Toynbee反而对这本书有如下的称赞:

“《西方的崛起》是对世界历史以叙述方式我所知最清澈的表达。它的叙述直到西方在现代的优势,也解释了文明从它的诞生地,肥沃月牙地(Fertile Crescent), 向东,也向西扩展……”(注意Toynbee明确指出世界文明最早最发达是在中东月牙地,不是在中国。实际上,早期许多影响世界历史进程的最重要发明是在中东和希腊。)

古希腊民主描述是在书中“古希腊文明成型”这一大节里,主要叙述在书中190页至205页。我们先来熟悉一下几个关键特有名词:polis 城邦, 即 city-state;古希腊由许多相对独立的城邦组成;hoplite 古代希臘的重裝備步兵;phalanx 方陣。

古希腊文明借鉴了中东文明的许多方面。在希腊早期重要城堡Mycenae(约1500B.C.),社会的重要支柱是那时代具有贵族特征的战争。那时的主要战争工具是战车。因为非贵族无法配置起战车,战车这种新的(相对于1500B.C.的希腊来讲)战争技术加强了贵族的权力。所以Mycenae与中东社会相似。有一点不同是Mycenae的航海发达。

城邦诞生在Ionia(1000B.C.?)。城邦是古希腊及古罗马文明生活的基本细胞(194页)。在实体上,它是一个城镇或城市,周围环绕着农业区和牧业区。在政治上,它是一个群落通过长官和法律来统治。在心理上,它是一个自足的由有特权的成年男子组成的群体(不仅外国人,而且奴隶,妇女,儿童都被排处在外)。

希腊社会早期各种力量的均衡使得贵族家庭联合在一起,限制了皇家权威(196页)。贵族权力的上升和皇权的衰落有一段过程。逐渐地,出现一些城邦由贵族议会作重要执政决定。到公元前八世纪时,大多数发达的希腊城邦权力都转移到贵族手中。乡村的自然发展有类似中东文明的趋向,贫富二极分化:即休闲的贵族和饥饿的大众(198页)。军事战术上的一个重要改变限制了贫富分化达几个世纪之久:即方阵的引入。在公元前七世纪下半叶特别是公元前六世纪重裝備步兵 (hoplite)取代了骑兵成为战场上的决定力量。重裝備步兵经过训练使行动一致合拍的方阵(phalanx)在战斗中胜出骑兵和松散组织的步兵。

方阵的引入带来了深刻的社会变化(198页)。当农民—重裝備步兵成了战斗的主力时,贵族的优越就不再存在了。在方阵的训练中,财富和社会地位都不重要,而重要的是力量,勇气,和纪律。社会上形成一种情绪,贵族的张显是坏的,非希腊式的,野蛮的。好的公民是一个生活朴素的独立农人,有足够的土地使他生活体面,有能力配置武器参加战斗。在这样的环境下,富有的希腊公民竞相把财富捐给公共建筑和公共服务。这满有活力的希腊平均主义和内部团结使得希腊与其它文明不同。

作者在202页将希腊与东方作了一个比较。在东方,农民是被动的,他对任何政治变化无动于衷,看不到主人的变动对他有什么影响。而在希腊,农村民众至关重要地主动参与政治。

在公元前七世纪和六世纪,城市有许多商人和艺人,他们联合小农(地太少,无法过体面的生活)成为一股政治势力,因此产生了许多暴君。这里,暴君是通过政变上台,不依法律统治(202页)。多数暴君劫富济贫。这些暴君因为没有统治的合法性加上城邦的支柱步兵阶级对其失去的权力不满,暴君统治极不稳定。

要解决商业化的城邦面临的问题,有两条截然不同的道路(203页):(1)采用寡頭政治在政治上压迫穷人;(2)激进拓展原来基于hoplite的民主。Corinth采取了第一条道路。但它需要外强的军事支持,而且把公民分成对立的两派而使城邦政治瘫痪。Athens采取了第二条道路,在510B.C.推翻暴君后引入了宪法演进和激进民主,使无地的公民也可参与会议和法庭。但在483B.C.前这些穷人政治地位不牢固。在483B.C.Athens大大扩展了它的舰队。穷人可以成为划手,因而对城邦有重要贡献和有当然的发言权。

如果说方阵是希腊城邦基本学校,那么舰队就是希腊民主的毕业学校。如果说家庭农场是有限民主的经济基础,那么商业船队和它的附属工场,仓库,和市场则提供了激进民主的腱。

当然,古希腊民主从不是完全的(203页)。奴隶(城市中有许多)没有任何政治权力。妇女也一样没有政治权力。居住的外地人只有在非常特殊的情况下才可能取得公民权。事实上甚至在500B.C.以后很长一段时间,古希腊公民权还都是封闭的,世袭的,基本上是血统相关的。

古希腊民主的衰落表述在(258-260页)。在古希腊民主全胜期,希腊由分散的主权独立的城邦组成。当一个城邦,如Athens,发展到非常强大,它扩张权力破坏了这样的局面。466B.C. Athens要求其它城邦进贡,实质上它要成为帝国。后来其他城邦联合Sparta打败了Athens。但Sparta对其它城邦比Athens更为任意,不尊重各城邦的主权。后来Thebes和Macedon也是如此。这些内战破坏了城邦的构成。就现在了解的城邦Athens来说,公元前四世纪社会分工开始出现。职业士兵和将军主管打仗。职业演说家和领导者主持议会。金融专家则负责平衡公共帐户。这与公元前五世纪公民一致处理事务大不相同。500B.C.时的紧密交织田园群落演变成松散多的,更大都会,但活力大减的社会。至此古希腊民主体制终结。

这里我想提请读者注意几点。(1)古希腊民主起始是基于权力分散:贵族议会在城邦中的掌权。(2)方阵的军事技术强化了民主(和平等)。(3)Athens的激进民主扩大了公民基础。(4)古希腊民主主要是从实用方面来的。(5)古希腊民主不包括奴隶,妇女,外邦居民。(6)民主可以有不同程度的民主。(7)与民主相对是独裁或寡头统治。

对照现代民主,我们可以看到一些有趣的方面。现代民主的代表之一是美国。美国先在宪法中声称“人被造而平等”。这里平等和公民身份是宗教的,先验的。这与古希腊实用主义起因相对照。早期美国民主也是像古希腊民主一样,排除奴隶,妇女。经过二百多年的逐步演进,不仅奴隶制被废除,妇女,黑人都有了与其他人一样的公民权。导致美国民主进步的一个重要原因基于美国宪法。如果从历史的角度看,这二百年的民主政治进展非常大。由于现在许多民主政权有保障平等的宪法和各种政治机构,像古希腊民主倾覆的事情就不太容易发生。我打算以后详细讨论这些问题。

注释: [1] William McNeill,"The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community", University Of Chicago Press (January 1, 1992)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Cheaper by the Dozen

Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
F-105 Thunderchiefs refueling midair from a KC-135 Stratotanker. The Boeing-built Stratotanker debuted in 1957 and is still in service today.
The military-industrial complex. The chilling phrase conjures up rows of gleaming ICBM's and B-52 Stratofortress bombers and nuclear submarines—or the mad Gen. Jack Ripper in the movie "Doctor Strangelove." Most people know that the phrase comes from President Eisenhower's Farewell Address of Jan. 17, 1961, in which he declared: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." He warned that "only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry" could keep America's "huge industrial and military machinery of defense" from becoming a potential threat to liberty and peace.
For liberals, Eisenhower's speech, especially that encapsulating phrase, turned Ike from a figure of fun into a revered prophet. Even the radical Port Huron Statement, issued in 1962, picked the phrase up. The "military-industrial complex" became a part of the rhetoric of the student movement—and has remained a part of the thought process of America's intelligentsia ever since.
Figuring out what Eisenhower meant by the military-industrial complex—and whether he was right to see it as something to be guarded against—is one of James Ledbetter's many tasks in "Unwarranted Influence." Exactly how the MIC (as we might abbreviate it) operates is the avowed subject of William Hartung's "Prophets of War," a scathing portrait of Lockheed Martin, America's largest defense contractor.
After World War I, it became popular to assert that the world's munitions makers, "the merchants of death," promoted wars to enhance their own profits—the most glaring example of how "capitalism kills." Mr. Ledbetter recognizes that such claims were ill-founded, even absurd: after all, the country that wound up with the biggest and costliest MIC of all was the communist Soviet Union. Still, he cannot resist joining the chorus of those who see the expansion of the Pentagon's budget during the Cold War as a grotesque and menacing development, one that made the world more perilous at the time and makes the future dangerously uncertain now.
What Mr. Ledbetter cannot explain is how this military buildup managed to check Soviet and Chinese expansion around the world, allowed Western Europe to unite and live in peace, and provided a nuclear deterrence without triggering the end of civilization (as critics predicted)—or ever once interrupted the flow of butter as well as guns.
Some would say it was an amazing achievement rather than a source of shame. But not Mr. Ledbetter. Instead, he insists that the MIC has blunted our moral sense and enabled adventurism. In recent years it has led to "the controversial detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the torture revealed in the Abu Ghraib prison; the privatization of security and combat as represented by the Blackwater firm; and the overruns in cost, length of engagement, and American lives" in Iraq.
It is hard to see what this litany has to do with the MIC per se, especially when the Pentagon's weapons-spending programs have steadily shrunk as a percentage of the federal budget to less than 20%, compared with 60% in Eisenhower's day, and when the defense industry itself is far from a dominant force in the nation's economy. Today you could buy all the Big Six defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing, for roughly a 10th of the value of Microsoft. In any case, it is hard to imagine Eisenhower—the man who approved the CIA's overthrow of governments in Guatemala and Iran— losing much sleep over Gitmo.

Unwarranted Influence

By James Ledbetter
Yale, 268 pages, $26
It is true, though—as Mr. Ledbetter shows—that Ike was a bundle of contradictions. He was the son of Mennonite pacifists who went to West Point and became the Army's top expert on logistics and war mobilization. As the supreme commander in Europe he achieved victory by means of planes and weapons from companies like Boeing, Lockheed, Dow and DuPont that he would excoriate as props of the military-industrial complex. The president who pumped America's defense dollars into a nuclear-armed fleet of B-52's took time in his Farewell Speech to dub nuclear disarmament the country's "continuing imperative."
In the end, Mr. Ledbetter is forced to conclude that Eisenhower's worry about the MIC was part of a larger fear—about the growth of an arrogant and expensive federal government and the growth of federal debt. Would building more and bigger weapons systems, Eisenhower wondered, bankrupt the country?
In fact, it is social programs that now have the federal budget firmly in their grip and keep our deficits soaring. One could call the Pentagon's $685 billion measly compared with the continuing costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Today the MIC barely registers at 4% of GDP; in Eisenhower's day it was nearly 10%, even after the Korean War. By Ike's own standards we should be spending at least twice what we are now spending on defense.
For Keynesians eager to push up aggregate demand with more "stimulus" money, defense spending is a win-win: Unlike high-speed rails to Las Vegas and windmill farms, the money spent on weapons and armaments goes directly into real economic goods and into the pockets of defense workers, including those at Lockheed Martin.
This public-private nexus bothers observers like Mr Hartung. Indeed, his picture of Lockheed in "Prophets of War" reads like the stuff of 19th-century muckraker journalism. Not that Lockheed has not encouraged such an approach: In 1974, a scandal broke about Lockheed executives bribing foreign officials, including Prince Bernhardt of the Netherlands and a Japanese prime minister, who wound up with a stiff prison sentence. But more generally Mr. Hartung paints a portrait of a company with tentacles everywhere, from the Pentagon and Congress to agents in foreign governments, a company that feeds the forces of militarism around the world and enriches itself in the process, especially through cost overruns.

Prophets of War

By William D. Hartung
Nation Books, 296 pages, $25.95
Yet profit is of course why businesses exist, even arms businesses (just ask Bofors, peace-loving Sweden's venerable arms giant, bought in 2005 by BAE). And most cost overruns these days have less to do with corruption than with constant new "add on's" and bureaucratic fiddling, including safety-standard requirements, emanating from Washington. This is one reason why a device like the MDARS, a golf-cart-size sensory robot envisaged in 2000 as a cheap way to patrol warehouses and air bases, now costs 50 times more than planned.
Norman Augustine, a former Lockheed Martin president, is Mr. Hartung's bête noire. He portrays him as a "tough behind-the-scenes lobbyist" who has enriched himself and his company at the public trough. Yet it was Mr. Augustine, seeing the absurdity of the government's procurement process, who quipped that in the year 2054 the entire Pentagon budget will be spent to buy exactly one airplane, to be shared on alternate days by the Army, Navy and Air Force. It was not meant as a happy prediction.
As it happens, America's military- industrial complex developed in World War II as a way to save money, not squander it. Industrialists and military men learned that working together on plane and weapons designs made for better weapons at a faster pace, as battlefield experience got incorporated into existing designs. It also speeded the development of technologies that continue to spin off from the MIC, from radar and cellphones to the Internet (an outgrowth of the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency). Everyone complains about a bloated defense budget, yet history shows that a continuous, functioning MIC costs far less in lives and dollars than having to ramp up our military from scratch when a crisis hits.
From 1946 to 1950 a drastic downsizing of our military almost left us helpless to halt a communist takeover of Korea. After Vietnam, we were ill-prepared to confront the Soviets' Third World adventurism and its new interest in sea power. After the fall of the Berlin Wall there was a similar attempt to claim a "peace dividend." Each time the critics of "empire" argued that, at last, we could beat our swords into ploughshares. Those who disagreed were dismissed as alarmists or, more routinely, as shills with a vested interest in the status quo.
But we all have a vested interest in the status quo—a world in which the U.S. military assumes the awesome burden of acting as the world's policeman, from fending off rogue nations and knocking off terrorists with Predator drones to defending the sea lanes and global commons from pirates and assorted bad guys. The task of rebuilding a hollowed-out military is a daunting one. If we manage to appreciate the virtues of the "military-industrial complex," we won't have to face it again.
—Mr. Herman, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is writing a book on the arsenal of democracy.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Companies to Colonies -- Privatizing the business of empire.

BOOKSHELFDECEMBER 9, 2010.

On the morning of June 23, 1757, the armies of Bengal, in what is now eastern India, engaged English soldiers under the command of Robert Clive. The battle took place near a village north of the British imperial stronghold of Calcutta. Siraj- ud- Daula—the ruler of the entire Bengal region—had marshaled forces reportedly numbering 50,000, to Clive's mere 3,000. But Clive's tactical audacity and conspiratorial guile won the day. Having secretly sowed treason in the Bengali ranks, he seized the high ground and cannonaded his disoriented enemy. Siraj-ud-Daula was deposed, murdered and replaced by a puppet prince. Britain secured the riches of Bengal.
More than a century later, in the fall of 1893, a rout of similar dimensions unfolded in the southern African kingdom of Matabeleland. European settlers, already glutted with recently discovered diamonds and gold, invaded the primitive kingdom seeking more. The settlers marched at the bidding of Cecil Rhodes, the diamond oligarch and prime minister of Britain's Cape Colony. Outnumbered perhaps five to one, they enjoyed a complete victory. The Matabele fell by the thousands beneath a hail of machine-gun fire, and their lands were soon rechristened Rhodesia. As the English writer Hilaire Belloc mordantly versified around this time: "Whatever happens, we have got the Maxim gun, and they have not."
Robert Clive and Cecil Rhodes are iconic figures in the annals of imperial history. Few did more to keep the sun from setting on the British Empire. It is thus remarkable to remember that neither man commanded royal troops or acted as an official of the British Government. Both, in fact, owed their power to private companies. They were ardent British patriots, but it was nonetheless the interests of the East India Co. and the British South Africa Co. respectively that they served.
History tends to portray the European empires as the creations of kings and nation-states. But as Stephen Bown's "Merchant Kings" reminds us, private economic interests did as much as statesmen to colonize the globe on behalf of Europe. Particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, when European states struggled to modernize themselves while burdened by the costs of war, monarchs regularly privatized the business of empire. They chartered national trading companies, granting them valuable monopoly rights to do business in far-flung locales—and to outfit private armies, conduct diplomacy and negotiate treaties.

Merchant Kings

By Stephen R. Bown
Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, 314 pages, $26.99
The British and Dutch, with their advanced commercial economies, were particularly fond of the device. The original intent was to organize trade, but the temptation toward direct conquest and rule often raised the "animal spirits" of the trading companies. In an age when correspondence between Bombay and London could take six months, states could do little to tame the companies. The results could be staggering. Private trading interests founded important colonies such as Massachusetts and Virginia. For generations the Royal Africa Co. monopolized the British slave trade. The Dutch East India Co. ruthlessly dominated the Asian spice trade for decades. In Bengal, the English East India Co. governed and taxed nearly thirty million natives long before Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India. Until 1870, England's Hudson's Bay Co. governed nearly 1.5 million square miles of Canada on behalf of a few hundred investors.
This was private colonizing on a scale to make Halliburton and Blackwater blush. Lenin once called imperialism the "last stage of capitalism," but in many respects it was the first. Of course, as Adam Smith observed, the great chartered companies were not free-marketeers but venal monopolists. And unlike trade, the companies' governing efforts rarely turned a profit. The temptation to tax and administer rather than barter usually ruined the bottom line. And the human costs of company rule could be catastrophic. The ruinous taxes collected in Bengal by the East India Co. exacerbated a famine that killed perhaps 10 million Bengalis in the early 1770s. Rhodes's South Africa Co., seeking docile black laborers, laid the legal groundwork for apartheid.
Nevertheless, for a remarkably long run, European trading cartels were major imperial players on three continents. It is fascinating and forgotten history, and we could use a good general account. Mr. Bown, unfortunately, has not provided one. A successful popular writer, he chooses to tell the history of the great trading companies by sketching six of the major personalities who dominated them. Clive and Rhodes are among his subjects, but so too are lesser known figures, such as Aleksandr Baranov, who ruled as "Lord of Alaska" for the Russian American Co., and Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the sea captain who served the Dutch East India Co. with the brutality of a warlord.
Mr. Bown writes smoothly, but he appears to have done no original research and his potted biographies are linked by the barest of thematic threads. He establishes that the grandees of the trading companies were uniformly men of ambition and rapacity, but this is hardly news. He provides no broader account of the political and commercial conditions that propelled the rise of the trading companies. How profitable were these enterprises? Who were their investors and financiers? How and when did they cooperate or clash with the sovereigns who chartered them?
The author does what he can, but the biographical vignettes allow him little space for such questions. "Merchant Kings" is not a robust popular history but a flimsy one, a collection of anecdotes strung together by generalizations. That's a shame, because the heyday of the chartered trading companies may have passed, but the unsavory alliance of bankrupt states and crony capitalists is a topic that never gets old.

Mr. Collins, a professor of history at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, is currently a visiting fellow at Cambridge University.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Islamist Turkey vs. Secular Iran?

Early in the sixteenth century, as the Ottoman and Safavid empires fought for control of the Middle East, Selim the Grim ruling from Istanbul indulged his artistic side by composing distinguished poetry in Persian, then the Middle East's language of high culture. Simultaneously, Ismail I ruling from Isfahan wrote poetry in Turkish, his ancestral language.


Selim the Grim (r. 1512-20) wrote poetry under the name Mahlas Selimi; his arch-rival Ismail I (r. 1501-24) wrote poetry as Khata'i.
This juxtaposition comes to mind as the populations of Turkey and Iran now engage in another exchange. As the secular Turkey founded by Atatürk threatens to disappear under a wave of Islamism, the Islamist Iranian state founded by Khomeini apparently teeters, on the brink of secularism. Turks wish to live like Iranians, ironically, and Iranians like Turks.

Turkey and Iran are large, influential, and relatively advanced Muslim-majority countries, historically central, strategically placed, and widely watched; as they cross paths, I predicted back in 1994, racing in opposite directions, their destinies will affect not just the future of the Middle East but potentially the entire Muslim world.
That is now happening. Let's review each country's evolution:
Turkey: Atatürk nearly removed Islam from public life in the period 1923-38. Over the decades, however, Islamists fought back and by the 1970s they formed part of a ruling coalition; in 1996-97, they even headed a government. Islamists took power following the strange elections of 2002, when winning a third of the vote secured them two-thirds of the parliamentary seats. Ruling with caution and competence, they got nearly half the vote in 2007, at which point their gloves came off and the bullying began, from a wildly excessive fine levied against a media critic to hare-brained conspiracy theories against the armed forces. Islamists won 58 percent of the vote in a September referendum and appear set to win the next parliamentary election, due by June 2011.


Atatürk excluded Islam from Turkey's public life and Khomeini made it central in Iran's.
Should Islamists win the next election, that will likely establish the premise for them to remain enduringly in power, during which they will bend the country to fit their will, instituting Islamic law (the Sharia), and building an Islamic order resembling Khomeini's idealized polity.

Iran: Khomeini did the opposite of Atatürk, making Islam politically dominant during his reign, 1979-89, but it soon thereafter began to falter, with discordant factions emerging, the economy failing, and the populace distancing itself from the regime's extremist rule. By the 1990s, foreign observers expected the regime soon to fail. Despite their populace's growing disillusionment, the increased sway of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the coming to power of hardened veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, as symbolized by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, imbued it with a second wind.
This reassertion of Islamist goals also increased the people's alienation from the regime, including a turn away from Islamic practices and toward secularism. The country's growing pathologies, including rampant drug-taking, pornography, and prostitution point to the depths of its problems. Alienation sparked anti-regime demonstrations in the aftermath of fraudulent elections in June 2009. The repression that followed spurred yet more anger at the authorities.
A race is underway. Except it is not an even competition, given that Islamists currently rule in both capitals, Ankara and Tehran.


Erdoğan and Ahmadinejad, in sync at last.
Looking ahead, Iran represents the Middle East's greatest danger and its greatest hope. Its nuclear buildup, terrorism, ideological aggressiveness, and formation of a "resistance bloc" present a truly global threat, ranging from jumping the price of oil and gas to an electro-magnetic pulse attack on the United States. But if these dangers can be navigated, controlled, and subdued, Iran has a unique potential to lead Muslims out of the dark night of Islamism toward a more modern, moderate, and good neighborly form of Islam. As in 1979, that achievement will likely affect Muslims far and wide.

Contrarily, while the Turkish government presents few immediate dangers, its more subtle application of Islamism's hideous principles makes it loom large as future threat. Long after Khomeini and Osama bin Laden are forgotten, I venture, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his colleagues will be remembered as the inventors of a more lasting and insidious form of Islamism.
Thus may today's most urgent Middle Eastern problem country become tomorrow's leader of sanity and creativity while the West's most stalwart Muslim ally over five decades turn into the greatest source of hostility and reaction. Extrapolation is a mug's game, the wheel turns, and history springs surprises.
Mr. Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
Nov. 30, 2010 updates: Two points that did not fit in the main body of my column
(1) Ankara and Tehran work together ever closely these days but I predict that they will soon be rivals for Islamist leadership. Historical pride, sectarian ambition, and geo-strategic competition all suggest that the current moment of harmony will not last long Look for the Turks to dispute Iranian leadership in such arenas as commercial prowess, military power, and religious potency.
(2) I sketched out this rivalry in a 1994 article in the National Interest, "[Turkey vs. Iran and] Islam's Intramural Struggle," in which I noted "a long, deep, and difficult fight" likely brewing "between two of the great countries of the Middle East, Turkey and Iran." Turks , I wrote, "seem not yet to realize what the mullahs know: that fundamentalist Islam will rise or fall depending on what Turks do, and that Iran and Turkey are therefore engaged in a mortal combat. Will Turks wake up in time to hold their own? Much hinges on the result."

伊斯兰主义的土耳其和世俗的伊朗