龙安志

　　香港回归中国前，我写了一本书，叫做《红色资本》。这本书的基本观点与香港回归中国的悲观者相反。因为我注意到，中国内地的资本早已融入香 港经济，以不同的形式存在于香港不同行业内，金融的、地产的、银行的、保险的、航运的、能源的等等，我将之称为“红股”。这样的“红股”在20世纪90 年代初就开始在香港出现了，换句话说，香港经济有相当部分已在 1997 年前“回归”，而无需等到 1997 年。因为“红股”的存在，香港回归不会“玩 完”，北京方面对此早有“落墨”，改革开放中的中国需要香港，香港对中国而言太重要了，北京一定会想办法不让香港经济倒退。故此，我看好香港。

　　就在这个时候，我听到了一首歌，叫做《我的 1997》。这首歌的歌词非常有意思，可能表达了相当一部分中国内地人对香港回归中国的一些想法、 一些期待和一些好奇，代表了中国内地老百姓对香港即将回归的普遍看法。这样，在我的这本书中就引用了艾敬这首《我的 1997》部分歌词。当然，唱这 首歌的艾敬也被我关注，因为这歌创作者和演唱者都是她，让我觉得这女孩很有意思，不同于一般的流行音乐歌手。

　　没想到，我的这本《红色资本》出版没多久，艾敬就主动找我来了。原来是她的一个朋友告诉她，说我在自己的这本书中引用了《我的 1997》歌词。 这样，我们就认识了。

　　艾敬的歌非常好，她还有一首《中国制造》《Made in China》 ,很棒。在我看来，艾敬就是中国的 Joan Baez。Joan Baez 是 20 世纪 60 年代美国的 一个歌手，对我来说是非主流音乐里一个很有影响力的歌手。

　　1981 年我就到中国来了，在我知道的中国流行音乐或叫做音乐界中，艾敬是最为前卫的一个。她懂得任何艺术形式都只是工具，但里面所含的其实 是哲学，如何使用工具都只是一种方法，问题是方法不是一切，思想才是核心。

　　艾敬的轨迹是从老家沈阳到了北京，然后到了广州，跟着又先后到过日本、美国、英国生活和工作，开放、转型中的中国给艾敬以开放的眼光，并成 功地自我转型。比如，当全世界许多国家，包括美国都到中国投资来了，艾敬却出去了，去了纽约。她就住在苏豪区，在苏豪沉下去。纽约苏豪是美国艺 术家来纽约寻梦的落脚点，孕育了不少的艺术家，在那里，艺术家们留下来许多艺术馆、画廊，因此，要真正认真地认识苏豪、了解苏豪不能走马观花、 蜻蜓点水，必须在这里沉下去。艾敬那首《Made in China》是一首了不起的歌，正是在这个阶段创作的，这里面有她特别的人生体验，你也能感觉到这首 歌背后的含蕴。不久，艾敬再一次来到纽约，来到苏豪，但这次她却架起了画架，静心的学画、绘画。经过她不懈的努力，终于有了今天的成就。如果你 细心观察，她的画作不会出现那些重复自己或是为了迎合一般外国人对中国心态的创作，和她的音乐一样，她总是那么独特。

　　艾敬可能在中国是唯一的，没有第二个。

　　IN CHINA AI JING IS PERHAPS THE ONLY ONE LIKE THIS

　　LAURENCE J. BRAHM

　　Before Hong Kongreverted to China I had written Red Capital. I was not at allpessimistic about 1997. I noticed that Chinese capital had already become apart of Hong Kong’s economy. In various forms Chinese capital existed in HongKong industries such as finance, real estate, bank, insur- ance, shipping andenergy, etc. I call this Chinese capital the “red shares”. The “red shares”started to appear in Hong Kong at the beginning of 1990s. So in another word, agood part of Hong Kong’s economy had already reverted back to China before1997. Because of these “red shares” Hong Kong will not die after 1997. Beijingunderstood this very well and had formulated its policy accordingly. Chinaunder reform needed Hong Kong. Hong Kong was too important to China and Beijingcould not afford to let Hong Kong’s economy slide backward. That is way I wasoptimistic about Hong Kong。

　　Then I heard My 1997.Its lyrics were interesting. They showed the attitude of most ChineseMainlanders toward Hong Kong’s reverting back to Beijing--their thoughts,expectation and curiosity—and were therefore representative. So I quoted someof the lyrics of My 1997 in my book. Of course I also paid attention tothe singer of the song. She not only sang the song but also wrote it herself. Ithought she was interesting, different from others。

　　What I had not expectedwas that soon after I published Red Capital, Ai Jing came to see me. Afriend of hers had told her about my quoting her song in my book. We met。

　　Ai Jing’s songs arevery good. Made in China is also excellent. To me, Ai Jing is theChinese Joan Baez. Joan Baez is an American singer in the1960s who was quiteinfluential in non-mainstream music。

　　I came to China in1981. In the Chinese pop music world, Ai Jing is the most avant-garde. Sheunderstands that, whichever form it takes, art is only a tool. Its substance isactually philosophical. How to use a tool requires a method. But method is noteverything. Idea is。

　　Ai Jing went from herhometown of Shenyang to Beijing, then Guangzhou. In between she was in Japan,American and England where she lived and worked. China had opened up and was intransition, which gave Ai Jing a broad perspective. She successfully made aturn. Many countries, American included, came to invest in China. But Ai Jingleft. She went to New York and lived in Soho. She settled down in Soho. Soho ofNew York City is where many American artists stay when they come to New York toseek their dreams. Professionally many artists grew up there.          The artists left in their wake museumsand galleries. So in order for Ai Jing to know and understand Soho, she had tobe more than a random tourist. She had to set- tle down and take her time. Madein China was written around this time. Her unique experience was in thesong, by which one was touched. Ai Jing came back to Soho, New York a secondtime soon afterward. But this time she set up her easel and started to paint.She is successful today only be- cause of her hard work. She paints not torepeat herself or to please foreigners who have certain views on China. Likeher music, she herself is unique。

　　In China Ai Jing isprobably the only one like this. There is not another。

　　龙安志， 美国纽约人。一个在中国生活了 31 年的律师、作家。曾将自己的青春和梦想与中国联系在一起， 为了认识中国而留下来，因为在中国创业而富有，因为融入中国而触摸到了中国心灵。先后出版了许多令人难忘的作品， 其中《中国人的世纪》、《朱镕基传》、《中国第一》等一系列著作，为对外介绍中国起到了积极的作用。进入 21 世纪后， 他开始将关注的目光转向了中国的西藏，并出版了《寻找香格里拉》、《香巴拉》等游记作品。

　　LAURENCE J. BRAHM is a New Yorker. A lawyer and writer, he haslived in Beijing for 31 years. His youth and dreams were linked to China. He

　　stayedin China in order to know the country and made his fortune in China being anentrepreneur. Through blending in he obtained a glimpse of China’s soul. Hisremarkable books include China’s Century, Zhu Rongji – TheTransformation of Modern China and China As No.1. These books haveplayed an important role in presenting China to the rest of the world. Heturned his gaze to Tibet in the 21st century and wrote travel notes such as Searchingfor Shangri-la and Shambhala Sutra。