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编者按：伟大的国度、伟大的时代需要伟大的记录者，每位像王杰克这样平凡而不普通的人，都应该值得时代回忆与尊重。中国人民大学重阳金融研究院执行院长王文第26篇专栏文章《普通中国人的光荣与梦想》，于2月25日在《环球时报》英文版“Wang Wen on Changing World”专栏刊出，原英文标题为《China’s glory and dream reflected in an ordinary man’s unusual life》，现将中英文内容转发如下：
这几天，我的心情很糟。不只是因为公事，研究如何在后疫情时代的中国发展与公共安全；也因为私事，我的好友、女儿的干爹王杰克在19个月的昏迷之后，不幸走完了他64岁人生。
王杰克是过去四十年中国与世界互动进程中的一个平凡却又不普通的个人案例。我希望通过专栏记录下这位崇尚自由、热爱美食、推广中医者的光荣与梦想。
他1956年生于山东，少时随父亲逃荒去了韩国。在釜山念完中学后，留学日本获得法学学位，后又到美国某大公司工作，1970年代末被派到台湾。1984年，改革开放后，他决定回大陆投资。他常自我调侃，这样的经历很容易成为顶级国际间谍。
13年前，我认识他时，他已是北京多家中医院的拥有者，还在北京最繁华地段开了多年的日餐厅。那家日本料理不算大，但很有名气，东亚不少国家的著名人物都是那里的常客。当时还是一名记者的我，慕名去品尝，还报道了那家日餐厅里的国际化现象。
可惜，当时为了筹备北京奥运，街道须拓宽，日餐厅被迫拆除，尽管数位日本与韩国议员还专门写信希望能够保留。有人甚至出主意，可以让西方媒体报道这次强拆事件，奥运会前把声势闹大，这样就能阻止被拆的厄运。杰克私下告诉我，不想给北京办奥运添麻烦。于是，他默默承受了损失。后来，他在北京T3航站楼国际航班区域又开了一家更大的日本料理餐馆。让我感动的是，有一次出国经过，他为我准备了一份丰盛日餐带上航班，惹得周围乘客抗议，为何没有给他们上同样的食物？
更令惊叹的是，他在北京多处投资中医院，邀请了许多退休老中医坐诊，深得患者信赖。他希望，未来再多一些钱时，还要开若干家孤儿院。社会慈善，是他最热衷的，也是他认为中国最应从美国学到的事物。他身体力行地做了多年的慈善。他是极其简单而又内心矛盾的人。他崇尚自由，不想结婚，没有子嗣，享受着自由主义者的独身生活。他对中国治理体制有不少抱怨，常常找我吐槽那些不方便、不公平的事情。但他对中国未来却满怀着希望，不想离开北京，更不愿到韩国、日本或美国定居。他总说，等我女儿这代中国人长大了，中国一定会比美国更强大、更自由、更美丽。可惜，他没有等到那个时候。2018年5月6日，我在杰克床前大声呼唤时，抢救四天的医生已准备放弃治疗。但他还有知觉。钱财不能救治他的突发脑梗，只能延续他的呼吸。而在今年疫情期的离世，似乎显示着他更愿承担这个国家的苦难。或许对他而言，离世是一种解脱，但对亲友而言，却是无尽的悲痛与感叹。在过去的一个多月的疫情期，在中国，突然爆发了许多类似悲欢离合的生死故事。2000多人被病毒夺去了生命，成千上万个家庭承载着悲痛与感伤，10多亿民众共担着抗击疫情的应急使命。这里面当然有英雄，也有孬种；有勇敢，也有胆怯；有苦难，也有辉煌；有焦虑，也有希望。如美国记者威廉•曼彻斯特在《光荣与梦想》一书中精雕细刻地记录1932年至1972年间的美国的社会纪实那样，中国过去四十年的每一个片段同样在政治、经济、文化以及社会生活中有着全景式的故事与变化。可惜的是，无论中国媒体，还是西方媒体，都还没有记录下这个复杂而又多元的伟大时代。一些西方媒体过于贬损中国的苦难与不足，而中国媒体则过于描述正面与辉煌。伟大的国度、伟大的时代需要伟大的记录者，每位像王杰克这样平凡而不普通的人，都应该值得时代回忆与尊重。﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
China’s glory and dream reflected in an ordinary man’s unusual life
I'm feeling down in the dumps, not only because of my work - I've been doing research on how to boost China's development and enhance public health in the post-epidemic era; I am also grieving my friend Wang Jieke's death. After being in a coma for 19 months, his 64 years on earth came to an end.
Wang was one of those ordinary but unusual individuals who witnessed China's interactions with the world for the past four decades. I would like to record, through my article, the glory and the dreams of Wang, a person who had always pursued freedom, loved gourmet food, and was an advocate of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Born in East China's Shandong Province in 1956, he fled to South Korea with his father later to escape the poverty. After completing high school in Busan, he obtained a law degree in Japan and then worked for a well-known company in the US. In the late 1970s, he was sent to the island of Taiwan on a mission. When reform and opening-up began, he returned to the Chinese mainland in 1984 to start a business. He often teasingly told friends that by virtue of his experience, he could easily play the role of an international spy. When I met him 13 years ago, he was already the owner of several TCM hospitals in Beijing and a Japanese restaurant in one of the city's most prosperous area. That restaurant, although not spacious, gained quite a reputation. Many celebrities from around East Asian countries were frequent visitors there. As a journalist, I was interested in the fame his restaurant has won and wrote a report about how it had become an international phenomenon.
Unfortunately, his restaurant had to be pulled down to make way for a street widening in advance of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Some, including several lawmakers from Japan and South Korea, suggested Wang should invite Western media outlets to report it as a forced demolition so that he could save the restaurant. But Wang told me privately that he was not willing to cause trouble for the Beijing Olympics and he silently suffered the loss.
Wang invested in many TCM hospitals in Beijing and invited several retired doctors to provide medical service, which won the trust of patients. He also hoped to start a few orphanages if he could earn enough money. Charity was his passion and something he thought China could learn from the US. He earnestly practiced what he advocated for years.Wang was a simple man, but had the mindset of a contrarian. He advocated freedom, never married, didn't have children and enjoyed being liberal. He complained about China's governance system, and often ridiculed the inconvenience and unfairness he encountered. Yet he was full of hope for China's future. He was unwilling to leave Beijing and reluctant to resettle in South Korea, Japan or the US. He always said that by the time my daughter was an adult, China would be more robust, more liberal and more beautiful than the US. It is a pity that he didn't get to see that happen for himself. He went into a coma on May 6, 2018 after the physician treated him for four days. His wealth could only keep him breathing. He died as the country is plagued by the COVID-19 outbreak.Perhaps death was a relief, but for his relatives and friends it is endless grief. Over the past month or so, a number of stories have been written about joy and sorrow in China. More than 2,000 people have died of the novel coronavirus. Tens of thousands of family members are living with sorrow and grief, and 1.4 billion Chinese are sharing the emergency mission and battling the epidemic.There are always heroes and cowards. This is a time when courage and timidity, misery and glory, and anxiety and hope coexist. As US reporter William Manchester carefully reported in his book The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972, China also has its own compelling stories in the domains of politics, economy, culture and social life over the past four decades.Unfortunately, neither Chinese nor Western media outlets have accurately recorded this era of complexity and diversity. Some Western media outlets exaggerate China's suffering and shortcomings, while Chinese media outlets emphasize the positivity and splendor. Great reporters are needed by all great countries. The lives of all ordinary but unusual individuals like Wang deserve to be remembered and respected.
中国人民大学重阳金融研究院（人大重阳）成立于2013年1月19日，是重阳投资董事长裘国根先生向母校捐赠并设立教育基金运营的主要资助项目。
作为中国特色新型智库，人大重阳聘请了全球数十位前政要、银行家、知名学者为高级研究员，旨在关注现实、建言国家、服务人民。目前，人大重阳下设7个部门、运营管理4个中心(生态金融研究中心、全球治理研究中心、中美人文交流研究中心、中俄人文交流研究中心)。近年来，人大重阳在金融发展、全球治理、大国关系、宏观政策等研究领域在国内外均具有较高认可度。