最后的漂流「Last Descents」

文大川（Travis Winn），职业漂流探险家，出生在美国的一个漂流之家，有着超过15年漂流经验。2006 年，他与朋友成立“最后的漂流”(Last Descents)项目，带城市里的中国人去看中国的江河。

最后的漂流「Last Descents」

文大川是一席的第五位讲者

2012.08.26 北京

今天我要说说河流，跟技术距离很远，跟北京距离也很远。我还很小的时候，我的父母就把我放进河边的船里。这把伞底下的就是我，当时我才六个月大，我的童年是在没有闸坝、自由流动的河流边度过的。

So today I'm gonna talk about rivers, very far from technology, very far from Beijing, something wet instead of something so dry. When I was very young, my parents put me in a boat on the side of a river. That's me under the umbrella, I'm six months old. For my childhood, I grew up along the side of free-flowing rivers.

这是我们全家在河边度假的照片，我在中间位置，那时我应该十二岁，旁边是我七岁的妹妹。我们在科罗拉多河的支流岸边，玩着扮牛仔和印第安人的游戏。

They were family vacations, I'm in the center of the picture, I think I'm twelve, with my seven-year-old sister and we are playing cowboys and Indians along the banks of the tributary of Colorado River.

生活在河边，身处大自然，在这些静谧的地方与家人一起游玩成长，这样的生活对我人生影响深远。后来发生的一件事决定了我那以后的人生轨迹，我大概十岁时，父亲应中国科学院之邀来到中国，通过漂流来做地理考察。

Being along the river, being out in nature, being able to play and be with my family in these calm, peaceful places had a profound impact on me. Something happened and controlled the direction of my life as you'll see Around the time I was ten, My father came to China at the invitation of Chinese Academy of Sciences to use rafting as a tool to do geologic research.

到大概2008年时，我们完成了对大部分流淌在青藏高原上河流的探索，包括中国西部的大多数大河，有澜沧江、怒江、长江、黄河还有雅鲁藏布江及其它支流，有些河流是我们考察的，有些是其他人。

By about 2008 we had explored most the rivers draining the Tibetan Plateau most the big rivers in Western China, Lancang River and Nu River, Yangtze River and Yellow River, also the Yarlung Tsangpo River, and many of the tributaries. Not all rivers had been run by us, they've been run by other people.

不过那时候，组织这些考察的大多是西方的科学家、探险家，很少有中国探险家或科学家。我是在十九岁时才意识到这一点，当时我在四川西部的一个游泳池里，教我的新朋友如何划桨和驾船。

But, throughout that time, most the people running those trips had either been Western scientists or explorers very limited groups of Chinese explorers and scientists. And when I was nineteen, I started to realize that I was in a swimming pool in Western Sichuan in Chengdu and something happened.I was teaching my new friends how to how to paddle, just to use the boats.

他们说：这很棒，中国没有人能有机会做这个，我们可以进行各种户外运动，但却从来没有享受过河流，你可以留下来帮我们享受河流吗？我心生感慨，在中国如此伟大而重要的国家，怎能无福消受自然河流？我的人生从此得以改变。

And they said, wow this is great, very exciting. No one in China has the opportunity to do this. We can all kinds of outdoor activities, but for this, enjoying rivers,it's out of possibility. Can you stay and help us enjoy rivers? And for me, I thought, wow, how is is possible that such a big and important coutry in the world has no way to enjoy natural rivers? My life and work were changed from then on.

我经常问一个问题考别人，这是哪儿，这是什么河？答案是：这是虎跳峡，大多数人不知这是金沙江，就算他们知道这是金沙江，也不知道这其实是长江主流，我想这也能证明，我们离自然的河流有多远。

So normally, I like to ask people as a test: Where is this? And what river is it? And it is Tiger Leaping Gorge, Most people don't know that is the Jinsha River or if they do, they don't know that it's the mainstream of the Yangtze, which demonstrates, I think, how far away we are from these wild rivers.

今天我只谈如何享受河流。显而易见，健康的河流有很多种好处，包括环保。但我不打算讲那些，我只打算讲如何享受这些河流，以及亲近这些河流是什么样的感觉，因为我觉得，如果你不能亲身享受这些河流，便无法理解它们的好。

Now, today I'm just talking about how to enjoy a river. Obviously the values of healthy rivers from an environmental perspective are many-fold. I'm not going to talk about that. What I'm gonna talk about is just enjoying them what is it like to be in touch with them. Because in my mind, unless you can connect with these wild places on a personal level, you can't begin to understand its benefits.

图中是金沙江漂流的起点。远处有座山，玉龙雪山，河对岸有另一座山。在纳西族的家园流传着一个故事，讲的就是这些山和水的故事，金沙江以及附近的澜沧江、怒江在故事中是三姊妹，周围众山则是兄弟。

And this is where you start floating on the Jinsha River. In the background there's a mountain Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. And there's another mountain across the river, This area is home to the Nakhi people, There's a story where the mountains are related to the river, The Jinsha River and other two rivers in that area, Lancang and Nu are sisters in this story and the mountains are brothers.

起初，三条河都是向南而流，后来，「山兄弟」看管着金沙江，就是最调皮的三个姊妹之一。一天，玉龙雪山睡着了，哈巴雪山当晚本来是要值更的，但他也累了，睡过去了。于是，金沙江从她山哥哥之间一涌而过，冲出了虎跳峡，往上海奔去。

Originally, the three rivers were all flowing south and then. But the brothers were keeping watch over the Jinsha River, who was So Jade Dragon Snow Mountain was asleep Haba Snow Mountain was supposed to be watching that night. But he got tired and fell asleep, and so the Jinsha River ran off between her brothers created Tiger Leaping Gorge and ran off to Shanghai.

于是我们也就有了中国母亲河之一，长江。有意思的是，这个地理传说跟科学事实惊人地吻合。等下我会仔细说，中国河流的特别之处之一便是那些与地形地貌有关的传说，在这些地方流传的传说中也有很多科学的成分。

So now we have as our one of the mother rivers of China, Yangtze. Interestingly, the geologic story connects with the truth from the scientific perspective oddly as we'll see there's a connection. So something that's unique about rivers in China is just that there are stories about the landscape and there are local stories. There are also a lot of very interesting scientific things.

谈到漂流，人们可能会想到这会很刺激。没错，漂流是很刺激，当你顺流而下，浪花要把你吞没，让你觉得有点失控，但似乎又还是可控的，随着地球引力往下流漂去，穿过重重山峡，诚然是种很特别的感觉，如果你是独自驾舟，那就更有挑战性。

So maybe one thing people think about going down the river is how exciting it is sort of sense of excitement. It's true; it's exciting, to float down the wild river, to be embraced by these big waves maybe out of control, kind of being in control, kind of being out of control to be moving with this live force of the planet downstream through these deep canyons is a very very special feelings. It can be a very challenging experience if you are paddling yourself.

但对我而言，漂流最大的魅力与价值，就是在大山大谷之中静静地在水上荡桨，并意识到自己的渺小，领悟人类在大自然中应处的位置。人类是渺小的，是自然的一部分，自然不是等着被人征服的。

But for me the biggest attraction, value is to be able to be just on this quiet water in these very big, wild canyons and to realize how small you are and to realize people's proper place in nature that they are small and part of nature Nature is not there for us to conquer.

即使只是看看两岸岩石的样貌，看看江水如何蚀刻了这些石头，留下了如此美丽的图案，这些过程可能跟人类历史一样悠久，并且意识到那些超越日常生活的强大力量，摆脱科技的束缚，看看另一个地方的人们是怎样过着简单得多的生活，也是很有魅力和价值的。

Even just looking at rocks along the side of the river and to see just the formation of the rocks for the rocks to look this way. For the water to have carved them out to have this beautiful and fluting pattern may have taken just as long as human beings have been alive on this planet. So just sort of to realize that there are greater, bigger forces at work than the things we see in our day-to-day life and get away from technology to see a place where people live a much simpler life and this something where I think.

这也是中国河流独一无二的特点之一。当你来到这些地方时，你会意识到你不仅身处大自然，也在人群当中。你可以跟人交谈，听听关于这方土地的传说。

Rivers in China are very unique is that when you get out to these places you realize that certainly you are in nature but also there are people. You can talk to these people and hear stories about the landscape.

这是金沙江畔普米族自治县的一村落，沿着金沙江，约有六大族群，还有其他小部落。漂流的时候与同伴相处时，人就远离了电脑、科技的打扰，交往变得纯粹，仰望星空，天人交会，是在城市里办不到的，在城市看不见这样的星空。

This village is a Pumi ethnicity village on the banks of the Jinsha Along the Jinsha, I think there are six major ethnic groups and many smaller ethnic groups. And of course, as you go down the river, you sort of as you spend time with people together you sort of you get away computers and all of this technology interaction becomes much simpler. And of course, you see skies you start to connect with the heavens in the way that would be impossible in the cities cities in anywhere in the planet you can't see stars like these.

有时一觉醒来，你会大吃一惊，大清早起来就见到一群羊来探营，真不知是我们更吃惊，还是牧人更吃惊，不过我们会很开心地聊天，你还会发现你并不是孤身独行。

And sometimes you wake up to be surprised. You woke up in the morning and there was a herd of goats running through our camp, and I'm not sure if we were more surprised or if the goat herder was more surprised, but anyway we had a very very nice talk, And you also realize that you are not the only people on the river.

这位先生正在赶集，大家会变得兴奋，做些平时不会做的事情，例如一起烧火煮饭。这样平凡的生活也令人兴奋，人与人之间变得更加亲密，特别的事于是发生了，这两位新人喜结连理，再好的教堂也比不上金沙江两岸高耸的石壁更适合举办婚礼。

This gentleman is on his way to a market. And as people start to get sort of excited about being together and doing things that normally you would not do as large groups of people making meals, just doing these simple things. They start to get more intimate, and sometimes very special things happen. These two got married, I cannot personally think of a better cathedral than the cliffs along the Jinsha River as a backdrop for a wedding.

沿途还有不少地方可以停留或者游览。这是保山市，有七百年历史了，这里是纳西族定居地，距离丽江很近，宋末忽必烈曾经率军至此，争取纳西族支持来征服大理国。

There are places you can stay or visit. This is the city of Baoshan, a seven-hundred-year-old city along the Nahki city, close to Li River. This is the place where Kublai Khan went here to endorse the support of Nahki people to help conquer Dali in Song Dynasty.

这是条鱼，金沙江、长江及其支流是25种特有鱼类的家园。也就是说，这些鱼只在长江有，别的地方都没有，这是「石巴子」。

This is a fish. The Jinsha River and its tributaries are home to 25 endemic species of fish, so that means fish that only live in the Yangtze live nowhere else on the planet. It's a Shibazi.

像我刚才提到的，这三江之所以这样流是有地理学解释的。.地理理论是这么说的，怒江、澜沧江、长江三江原本是同一条南流的河，后来印度板块向内挤压形成喜马拉雅山和青藏高原，地势改变了，喜马拉雅山东面受挤形成东南亚，三江因此分流，长江于是往东走。

Geologically, the reasons these rivers are here is actually. Theory has it that these three rivers, Nu River, Lancang River and the Yangtze all used to flow south together to form one river and that as India pushed into Asia to create Himalaya Mountains and Tibetan Plateau that geologic surrounding terrain changed the east side of Himalayas squeezed out to form Southeast Asia. The rivers separated their paths and the Yangtze River started to flow east of course the story is very long and much more complicated than that.

实际的情况当然要复杂得多，不过地理学解释跟纳西族传说是相互呼应的。漂流时你能见到岩石变化的历史和它们是如何变化的。这些岩石本来是平的，但后来构造抬升产生变化，形状便发生改变了，想象一下，就像一匹布被挤得压在了一起。

But the geologic story corresponds with the Nakhi story and as you float on the river you can see the history of the rocks changing and how they have changed. So these rocks used to be flat. But as the geologic uplift, changes occurred The shape they've changed. Imagine, like.a fabric sort of being pressed together.

漂流彷佛在逛博物馆，你可以读到一处地方的一段历史。另外，岩石里有化石，这是海百合的茎，有2.5亿年历史，地球的历史被刻画在石头上，地球上生物的历史也是如此。

It's like a museum as you flow through the river you can read the history of this part of the planet. Also, in the rocks, there are fossils. This is the stem of a crinoid, It's about 250 million years old, so the history of the planet is recorded in the rocks as you pass by life on the planet.

不过，事情正在起着变化。这张照片摄于2008年，第一个变化就是那条不是漂流的船，这些船在考察地理条件，接下来你可以看到，从前建着漂亮乡村房屋的地方现在是一片废墟，乡民都搬迁走了，原因是要建水电站了，河上要起大坝。

But something has been changing along these rivers. This picture was taken in 2008, the first thing that happen is there is a different boat in the river. These boats are coming along to check the geologic conditions and the next thing you notice is that. Originally where there were nice houses and villages they have been reduced to rubble, And people have all left and moved away And this is because The time has come to build dams The rivers are being dammed.

这是梨园水电站，阿海水电站，从自然河流变成今天的样子，只花了一年到一年半的样子。当你还没反应过来时，新的建设又接踵而至，不久这些地方就成了这样。

This is Liyuan Dam and Ahai Dam, and from being natural rivers to being like this, just happens in the course of one year or one and a half. Most of the investment that follows these projects comes down, before you even start to see any change near the side of the river, and soon they look like this.

这些水电站绝非孤例，它们都是一群群出现的。当这些闸坝蓄水后，原来的幽深之地发生改变或沉入水底，这个地区的灌木本在这里，水平面上涨了很多，并且还会继续涨，原来是耕地的地方也被水淹了。

The thing about these dams is that they happen in large groups. So there are many groups of dams stacked up on each other. And they start to fill up these very wild places started to change and they go underwater. So these bushes here are up here so the water level has risen very high and it will continue to rise and where there were once fields also go underwater and there is less land to farm.

我要说的是，这不仅仅金沙江是这样，长江也是这样，所有支流都是这样，整个流域都是这样。不仅在这里是这样，湄公河、怒江乃至黄河都这样，中国西部都是这番景象。

And the thing is that this isn't just happening along the Jinsha River. It's happening along the Yangtze River, It's happening along all of the tributaries, and all across the river basin and it's not just happening here. It's happening along the Mekong River, Salween River and even the Yellow River and it is happening all across Western China.

最后，我想以一个故事来结束演讲。这是幅岩画，画在住古村的一块岩石上，画的是「署神」，纳西族所信仰的神灵，传说为人类的兄弟，署神和人类共同降于世界，地球就是我们的母亲，署神是我们的兄弟。署神常跟水有关，通常头如蛙，身如鱼，尾如蛇。

And I just want to end with a story. This is a petroglyph painted on a rock near Zhugu Village. It's a God named Shu a Nakhi god, That is supposed to be the brother to humanity. So both humanity and Shu are born to Mother Earth. Mother Earth is our mother, Shu is our brother. Shu is often associated with water, Usually its head is a frog, the body is a fish, and the tail of a snake or something like that.

传说中，人类一毁灭地球，署神就会报复，以实现平衡，署神会掀起地震，引发旱灾和洪灾等灾难，有意思的是，这正是过去十年我们所看到的。所以当你和纳西族聊天时，对于现在全球环境变化的原因，他们的解释便是署神在报复。

And the story goes that, when human has destroyed the planet, Shu will revenge, sort of create balance. So Shu will cause earthquakes will cause droughts and floods and all of these things that. Interestingly we've seen in these last ten years, So when you talk to Nakhi people Their explanation of cause of what is happening in the world environmentally is the activities of Shu.

无论你信不信署神，我都想问一个问题，我们想要怎样的未来？是一个看不到地球母亲，无法尽情欣赏她的美，无法漂流的未来，或是不知道我们的水从何而来的未来，那就是我们愿意接受的未来吗？如果不是，我想我们须实现某种平衡。

Whether or not you believe in Shu, I would ask everyone one question, which is what kind of future do we want? Do we want a future where we don't have the chance to see our Mother Earth and all of her beauty to float along the rivers and know where our water comes from? Is that the future that we are willing to accept? And if it is not the future we are willing to accept I think there is a balance to be had.

我们所能发掘的能源是够用的，实在没有必要见河便起坝，那并不是个好主意。所以我想让大家思考一下这一点，并起码知道，短期内，中国西部仍然有没有闸坝、自由奔腾的河，人们若能行动起来，这些河便有可能一直流到我们的子孙后代。

We have enough resources at our hands, where energy can be met through other ways. We don't need to dam every river that we have and it indeed may not be a good idea. So I hope everyone can think about this and can at least know that for the time being there are still free-flowing rivers in Western China, and if people act perhaps there will be for our children.

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