张文宏医生上海纽约大学毕业典礼致辞:合作与牺牲是我们战胜所有困难的武器(中英)
上海纽约大学2021届本科生毕业典礼致辞
复旦大学附属华山医院感染科主任
张文宏医生
Life is really full of uncertainty. I never imagined that I would get the Medal of Honor from NYU Shanghai.
生活真是充满了不确定性,我从来没想到有一天能获得上海纽约大学颁发的奖章。
There are a lot of rumors about me, and one of them is that I graduated from an American University, but I didn’t. I came from a very remote small town in southeast China. I hope your chancellor did not invite me here because of these rumors. Actually Chancellor Tong gave me the invitation several months ago. At first, I did not accept the invitation because I was not so sure that I would be the right person to stand here to give the graduation speech.
网络上关于我的传闻很多,其中一个传闻说我毕业于美国的大学,其实我并不是,我在中国东南地区的一个偏远小镇长大。我希望你们的校长不是因为听信了这些传闻而邀请我来这里。童校长几个月前和我联系过几次,我一直没有接受他的邀请,因为我不是很确定我是不是适合站在这里致辞。
One small story I want to tell you today is that one small thing changed my idea about [whether] to accept or not. One day, Professor Tong came to my office, and he took a portrait of me in NYU Shanghai graduate school clothes. The portrait was painted by one of the graduate students. And in that painting, I saw a different self. I was young, handsome, and upbeat. So at that moment, I liked the painting very much, and it's still in my office. And I made the decision that I will come here to do the graduation speech today. I think it's an honor to know that today, you brought me here - it was not just the chancellor's idea, I think. So I really appreciate that you gave me the certainty that I can come here and give this speech, and that helped me to make the last decision.
我想讲讲当初是什么改变了我的想法,决定接受这次演讲邀请。有一天,童世骏教授来办公室找我。他给我送了一幅画像,画上的我穿着上海纽约大学的学术袍。这幅画是你们的同学画的。我从画里看到了一个不一样的自己——年轻、帅气,神采奕奕。我非常喜欢这幅画,现在还一直放在我的办公室。于是我决定接受邀请担任演讲嘉宾,因为这幅画让我知道是你们让我来的,而不只是校长的想法,这让我倍感荣耀。所以我很感激大家给了我确信今天站在这里演讲,让我在最后一刻决定接受这个邀请。
作者:马菁
Actually, I came from a remote town, a southern city in China, 34 years ago, to Shanghai for college. I always think about how I grew up like the person who today stands here from very long years ago. In my remembrance, I know that my hometown in very ancient China, long years ago, actually, the name of my hometown was named “百越”[“One Hundred Yue States”]. In ancient China, many people migrated here, different nations migrated here in southeastern China, and the language in different villages is totally different. However, they had to communicate with each other, then there was some very ancient language that grew up there. So it looks like NYU Shanghai, I think. In ancient China, lots of people from different nations came on the same side, together, to communicate.
我从小在中国南方的一个偏远小镇长大,直到34年前来到上海读大学。我常常思考,现在的自己和多年前在家乡时相比有哪些变化。我的家乡历史非常悠久,在中国古代被称为“百越之地”,意思是说很多民族迁徙到这里,不同的村落语言都不相通。但因为人们沟通的需要,这里诞生了非常古老的语言。所以我觉得它和上海纽约大学很像。古时候,许多来自不同国家的人相聚在这里沟通交流。
Just about 2,000 years ago, before China's first unified empire, the great Qin Empire, not the Qing dynasty, was founded - before that, our land was finally incorporated into Chinese civilization. So it's very amazing that today the China, we are a big group, people from everywhere and civilization here is merged. But amazingly, 125 years ago in 1896, the place began to introduce modern secondary school education to the small town. The students there began to learn English and math. That is the time for Qing dynasty. 125 years ago, the people there, the youth there began to learn English and math there. At that moment, Chinese education and modern education began to join together in this remote small town. I graduated from the high school there, and when I graduated 34 years ago, I wanted to go further, to see the wider world.
大约是在两千年前,中国出现第一个统一的帝国大秦帝国之前,我的家乡被一个叫做楚国的诸侯国吞并,从此纳入了中华文化。如今的中华大地也汇聚了来自各地的人们、融合了各种不同文明。在125年前也就是1896年,我的家乡就开始引入现代化的中学,那里的学生开始学习英语与数学,那是清朝的时候。从那时起,古老的中华文明和现代文明开始在这个偏远小镇交融。我就在这个中学毕业。毕业的时候一直想走的更远,看见更大的天地。
I went to Shanghai Medical College, which until today, is a famous and prestigious medical college in China. Today the name is Fudan Shanghai Medical College. When I graduated, I began to be a physician and started my favorite career as a doctor. At that time, I made the choice for interest, but not for salary, because until now, Chinese doctors’ salaries have lagged far behind those of our American peers. While at the same time, those of the Chinese business elites are already very close to its American peers, including the guest speaker who was standing here last year. He is likely to earn more than most of his American peers.
毕业后我来到了上海医科大学,直到今天它都是中国最知名的医学院之一,现在已经更名为复旦大学上海医学院。从医学院毕业后,我就开始做临床医生,开始从事我喜欢的医生职业。那时候选择医生的职业就是因为喜欢,而不是收入,因为直到今天,中国的医生收入和美国同行相比还是有很大的差距。中国商业精英的收入和美国同行已经非常接近,包括去年来这里演讲的嘉宾,他的收入可能超过绝大多数的美国同行。
So this is the question: How would you make the choice in the future? It's not related to salary, I think. It should be related to your interest. This is the first experience I hope to bring to today's graduating students: After graduation, when you will find a career that suits you, you will feel it, just like me. I majored in infectious disease in medicine, specializing in the treatment of disease caused by microorganisms which live with us together in the world, just like the coronavirus, bacteria, everything. But sometimes, disease will be caused by such microorganisms. This major is a huge privilege, as it allows me to learn the role of humans. We’re just one of the species in the world, and I can look at the world as a whole. Each time I diagnose a new disease, I can learn more deeply about nature.
所以这是一个值得思考的问题:你未来会选择从事什么职业?我觉得这个选择与收入无关,而取决于你个人的兴趣。这是我想给在座的毕业生们分享的第一个心得体会:毕业以后,当你找到你适合的职业的时候,你会有感觉。就拿我来说,我从事的是医学中的传染病学专业,专门治疗人类与环境中微生物相互作用所引发的疾病,包括冠状病毒、细菌等等引发的疾病。这个专业让我经常可以看到人类作为一个物种在世界中的位置,让我将世界看作一个整体。每次诊断一种新的疾病,都会让我对自然界有更深的认识。
Due to the ever changing [nature] of both nature and the human immune system, I will feel very anxious because it's so complicated. But I can feel that I am suitable for this job, for this task. So I think this feeling is not different from finding the right girlfriend or boyfriend, like you. If you always feel that it's awkward in the future, I think it may not be your final suitable Miss Right or Mr. Right - I think the career is the same.
由于自然界千变万化,人类免疫系统变幻莫测,面对新的疾病的时候,未免经常会焦虑,但是能够感觉到自己适合做这件事。所以我觉得这种感觉和你找到对的男女朋友没有区别,如果你总是觉得别扭,可能还不是你最终合适的Miss或 Mr. Right——选择职业方向时也是如此。
Secondly, today I will communicate with you that the world is full of uncertainty, just like Chancellor Tong mentioned. However, what I would say is that every time we struggle with the uncertainty, we will gain the power to grow up.
我想给大家分享的第二点体会是我们的世界充满不确定性,刚刚童世骏校长也提到了这点。但我想说的是,我们每次与不确定性斗争的过程中都会获得成长的力量。
So here I will mention about the COVID-19 last year. In January last year, our medical team dispatched four groups of doctors to assist Wuhan in fighting COVID-19. At the time, everything was full of uncertainty. We didn't know about the disease very much at the very beginning. And the initial mortality of the disease is very high. Lots of people died. It was hard to predict what the future would be like. Thus, we were afraid at first when we received the signal for help.
这里我想说说去年的新冠疫情。去年1月,我们团队派了四批医生援助武汉,和新冠病毒作战。那时一切都充满了不确定性,我们对这个疾病还非常不了解。最初的死亡率很高,很多人不幸病故。我们都很难预测未来会怎样。接到求援信号的时候,我们最初是心怀恐惧的。
However, the professional honor of the doctors or nurses made many of my colleagues in our team eventually sign up, and they boarded the train to Wuhan. The time was Chinese New Year's Eve that day. They were all both ordinary doctors, and meanwhile, they were heroes. When they first went to Wuhan, the situation was very bad, but the power of teamwork finally defeated our fears and uncertainty.
但是医生的职业荣誉感让我们团队里的医生和护士最终都报了名,登上了去武汉的列车。那一天是中国的除夕夜。他们都是平凡的医生,也都是英雄。刚去武汉的时候,情况非常糟糕,但是团队合作的力量最终战胜了恐惧和不确定性。
I stayed in Shanghai at that time to lead the clinical team to fight the virus here. Throughout the whole process, nevertheless the emergency of local cases in Pudong district here, the normal course of NYU Shanghai were not affected. Plenty of people appreciated my contribution to Shanghai. But I would like to say that the pandemic control in Shanghai is entirely from the cooperation of the team. Without the team in Shanghai, it's very hard to imagine that we would completely control the pandemic virus within 24 hours once there's a case, and we guarantee the city running well at the same time. So this is Shanghai style. I think it just depended on the cooperation of the team, the CDC works, the doctors, and everyone in this fight.
我留在上海领导上海的临床救治团队。从那时候开始到现在,包括浦东出现本土病例的时候,上海纽约大学一直正常上课不受影响。很多人表扬我对上海的贡献,但是我要表达的是,上海今天可以从容面对疫情,完全是来自团队的合作。如果没有团队的合作,我们很难想象要如何在出现病例后的24小时内,锁定病毒行踪,保证整座城市的正常运转。这就是上海速度。我认为这完全取决于团队合作——包括疾控中心、医生,以及参与此次抗疫的每一个人。
I believe that in the future we would definitely encounter greater challenges of uncertainty. Cooperation and sacrifice are still our weapons to overcome all difficulties. The spirit of cooperation and teamwork cultivated by New York University Shanghai will become the fundamental power for you to overcome all difficulties in the future.
我相信,对于未来,我们一定会碰到更大的不确定性的挑战,合作与牺牲仍然是我们战胜所有困难的武器。上海纽约大学培养的合作精神与团队精神将会是你们未来战胜一切困难的重要力量。
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have discussed the prevention and treatment of the disease with experts from all around the world - from the United States, Europe, and other countries. Everyone was very impressed by the effectiveness of China's non-pharmaceutical interventions, but sometimes they will express different opinions. This is about how to make the balance between the life safety and the individual freedom in the fight against the pandemic.
从疫情开始至今,我和很多美国、欧洲以及世界其他国家的专家讨论疫情的防控策略,大家都对于中国在采取非药物干预方面的成效有很深的印象,也表达了不同看法。主要针对疫情防控期间,如何把握生命安全和个人自由之间的平衡。
They asked me. Why do you make the decision to take the very good non-pharmaceutical interventions in the very early stage, just like taking these mouth covers and good social distancing. I told them that because we saw the inequality of this disease. At that time, actually, we did not know whether these measures would work or not. We just wanted to eliminate inequality. They asked me, “Which kind of inequality?” I told them, the greatest inequality caused by COVID-19 is that the cases of mortality among the elderly are ten times that among the young. That means for the young, it's just a big flu. But for the older [people], it's a killer. Without strict non-pharmaceutical intervention, China might be faced with hundreds of millions of infections and millions of deaths, mostly among the elderly. For this reason, most young people in China followed the government's advice and stayed home, obeyed complete social distance, and they wore masks without enforcement. We experts from the health care express deep respect to the people who are cooperating with these measures.
他们问我,你为什么在早期就决定要采用非药物干预措施,强调佩戴口罩、保持社交距离?我说,因为我们看到了这种疾病造成的不平等。其实在当时我们并不知道这些措施是否管用。我们的理念是消除这个疾病造成的不平等。他们又问,“什么样的不平等?”我告诉他们,新冠疫情造成的最大不平等是老年人中的病死率是年轻人数十倍。这就意味着对年轻人而言,新冠就是一个大号的流感,但是对于老年人来说,却是死亡杀手。如果不采取非常严格的非药物干预措施,最终中国会面临上亿人的感染,死亡人数会达到上百万,而且主要是老年人。基于此,中国大多数年轻人接受了政府的建议,呆在家里,彻底保持社交距离,没有强制实施口罩令,但是人人都戴口罩。我们对配合这些措施的民众表达深深的敬意。
I said, “Staying at home is also fighting the virus together with us. You are fighters.” Doctors and public health experts alone cannot overcome the epidemics in the face of human disease of great inequality. In China, we just want to eliminate the inequality. Therefore, we follow the slogan, “Life first, people first.” We are filled with joy now that all the elderly here are far away from the fear of the virus.
我说,“你在家不是隔离是战斗!你们都是战士。”面对存在极大不平等性的人类疾病,仅仅依靠医生和公共卫生专家是无法战胜疫情的。在中国,我们希望能够消除这种不平等。因此,我们喊出了“生命至上,人民至上”的口号。当看到身边的老年人不再恐惧时,我们的内心充满了喜悦。
Today, the COVID-19 epidemic is under good control in countries around the world that have received vaccines. The older people begin to come out to the society. The United States has started NBA games again, and nearly 20,000 people who have received vaccines have started coming to the stadium to watch the games, which let us feel filled with confidence again in humans, and the hope rises in science.
今天,在世界上普遍接受过疫苗接种的国家,疫情开始得到较好的控制,老年人开始走出家庭,来到社会,美国也恢复了NBA球赛,注射过疫苗的近两万人开始到现场看球,这让我们再次对人类充满信心,对科学充满期待。
But science alone is not enough, I think. As you know, recently, we have landed a human spacecraft on Mars, but we still cannot change the spread of poverty and infectious disease in many countries. The imbalance in vaccinations, medical supplies in different countries actually affects the ultimate global successful control of disease. Historically, global pandemic prevention and control required global collaborations. With the eradication of smallpox in 1979, a global effort to vaccinate against it was a highlight in the history of the World Health Organization. But today it seems it is different. At that time, despite World War Two and the Cold War, mankind had won the great battle against this common enemy, the virus.
但我认为,世界仅有科学是不够的。如诸位所知,我们已经实现了人类飞行器在火星上的登陆,但是我们仍然不能改变贫穷和传染病在落后国家的蔓延。不同国家之间疫苗接种和医疗供应的不平衡实际上会影响全球范围内战“疫”最终的成功。历史上,全球性感染病的预防和控制需要全世界的通力合作。1979年,人类最终消除了天花,这是世界卫生组织成立以来的高光时刻。但如今情况似乎有所不同。人类历经二战,冷战尚未结束,但是人类取得了针对病毒这个共同敌人的伟大战役的胜利。
Now, more than 40 years later, COVID-19 is a global public health event that occurred at the time of great globalization. Globalization is not the cause of the pandemic. While the failure to control it is precisely because of the division of mankind, perhaps the problem of globalization can only be solved through human solidarity. I believe that the future of humans depends on whether the young people of the world can finally come together.
如今历史翻过了40多年,新冠病毒疫情是人类全球化取得巨大成就时发生的一场全球性公共卫生事件。全球化并非造成瘟疫蔓延的原因,不能控制瘟疫的原因恰恰是人类的分裂。也许全球化的问题也只能通过人类的团结才能予以解决。我相信人类的未来取决于世界上的年轻人是否最终能够走在一起。
And I think that that’s the main reason why I think New York University, Shanghai is more than any other famous university. In addition to NYU Shanghai, NYU in New York or Fudan University in Shanghai, all graduates just like you, will put your own lives into the world this year. Whether a university is great or not, I think, depends on whether it's graduates can contribute to the world’s equality and development. Today comes at a time of global challenges of uncertainty. And I believe that the future of the world will be brighter because you graduated.
因此,我想这也是上海纽约大学的意义超越了其他著名大学的主要原因。当然,无论是上海纽约大学,或是纽约大学,还是复旦大学,像你们这样的毕业生,都会把自己的人生融入这个世界之中。一所大学是否伟大,最终还是取决于它的毕业生是否能够为世界的平等和发展做出贡献。今天恰逢全球面临挑战和充满不确定之时,我相信世界的前途都会因为你们的毕业而变得更加光明。
Thank you very much!
谢谢大家!
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