我的根
Familial Context

父亲季之源是崇明人。崇明位于长江口，是一个由长江上游带来的泥沙堆积而成的小岛（故名冲积岛），离上海近，归上海管。My father, JI Zhiyuan, was born and bred in Chongming. Chongming is an ‘alluvial’ island（i.e. one formed by water-borne sediments from upstream）in the estuary of the Yangtze. It is very close to Shanghai and is considered part of Greater Shanghai.

跟别人提起我的籍贯，我通常这么说：就是那个岛，背靠上海滩，坐守长江口，远看像一条绿色的缎带，是中国第三大岛。When I try to explain to people where my father was born, Most of the time I would say, “You know, that island near Shanghai, in the river mouth of the Yangtze. From a distance, it looks like a green sash. It's China's third largest island.”

听我对中国岛屿的概况如数家珍，听者往往若有所思，然后问我：中国的第一大岛和第二大岛又是哪两个呢？Since I've mentioned the size ranking of Chinese islands, many would stop and think, then ask: ‘Which two islands are bigger than Chongming then?’

答案是：台湾岛和海南岛，老大、老二。I would say, ‘Taiwan and Hainan, in that order.’

台湾同胞听了，可能先愣一下，因为他们对台湾“只是”中国第一大岛这样的概念不太习惯，但这毕竟是不争的事实，所以恼也不是，怒也不是，只能客气而勉强地笑笑，“嗯嗯”两声敷衍过去。If the person I am talking to is from Taiwan and the idea that Taiwan is just an island of China（and the biggest island, no less - oh wow!）is a little alien to them, they might freeze for a split second and then, slightly flustered or majorly peeved, put on a polite or forced smile while making some non-committal noises roughly equivalent to ‘uh-huh’.

内地同胞（如果他们上地理课时脑子开小差，但依稀仿佛有点印象的话）听了，也许灵光一现：“哦，对哦！”A mainlander（if he or she slept through their geography lessons at school, but has read about it in some obscure social media post）would suddenly see the light: ‘Oh, yeah.’

对中国地理和政治一窍不通的老外听了，往往会作恍然大悟状：“啊，原来如此。真有意思！”A foreigner who doesn't know the first thing about China's geopolitical complexity would say, ‘Hmm, I see. Fascinating.’

但倘若这位外国友人对中国的情况一知半解，他很可能会咧着嘴，意味深长地冲我笑笑，说：“哈哈，没错！”甚至还会拍拍我的肩。If, however, this lao wai has some knowledge of China, chances are he or she would break into a knowing grin and say, ‘Ha-ha, yes, of course’, accompanied, possibly, by a pat on my shoulder.

我只在崇明岛生活过两年，当时我很小，但那两年里发生的事情，至今记忆犹新。I spent two years on that island in my early childhood, but I still remember to this day many of the things that happened in that period.

母亲钦萍是宜兴人。My mother, QIN Ping, was born in Yixing. 介绍宜兴，简单多了。如果对方问起宜兴在哪里，或者他们的表情显示他们正在脑海里搜索宜兴在中国版图上的位置，我就会给他们一个提示：“紫砂茶壶……”对方十有八九就会接茬：“哦，那个宜兴。”Yixing is much easier to explain. If I am asked where Yixing is, or when my interlocutor appears to be searching their mental map to ‘geotag’ the place by that name, I would drop a hint, like a virtual pin on the ‘map’: ‘Purple clay teapots... ring a bell?’ Nine times out of ten, ding... a light would flash on in their head: ‘Oh, that Yixing.’如果对方是老外，那就再补充一点细节吧：“那个用泥巴做传统茶壶的城市，离上海不远。”If they are foreigners, a little more detail wouldn't hurt: ‘The town where the classic clay tea sets are made, not too far from Shanghai.’这点信息，想必足矣，因为如果他们连泥巴烧制的茶壶都不知道，那么再费口舌恐怕也是徒劳无功。That would be sufficient information for them. If they have never seen or even heard of the ‘classic clay tea sets’from China, what good would any extra trivia do? 说实话，宜兴我没去过，挺惭愧的。Truth be known, I have never been to Yixing, I am embarrassed to admit. 不过我已经承诺自己了：有生之年肯定会去，绝不抱憾终身。But all is not lost: Visiting Yixing is definitely on my bucket list.

认识我的人多半以为我是南京“杆子”。I'm known to many of my friends as the ‘chap from Nanjing’. 但那仅仅因为我生在南京，多年后又在那里上了大学。But that's only because I was born in Nanjing and, many years later, went to university in that city. 我在南京的经历，按下不表，至少本书暂且略过。I'll leave the me-and-Nanjing stories till later. In fact, I don't think I'll cover them in this book.

现在说说我长大的地方——江苏兴化。Moving on to where I grew up... it's a place called Xinghua. 所谓我“长大”的地方，就是我童年生活最久的地方。光阴荏苒十二载。By ‘where I grew up’, I mean the place where I spent the better part of my childhood. I lived there for 12 years in total.

兴化三部曲，分别是三岁前、五岁至十岁、十岁至十四岁。这三个阶段的轨迹，可比作钟摆，来回振荡：县城、乡下、县城。My life in Xing-hua can be divided into three phases: up to age three; five to 10; and 10 to 14. A dotted line that connects these phases would describe the trajectory of a pendulum swing: three years in the county town, five years in a village and four years back in the county town. 有心人或许会纳闷：“三岁至五岁呢？人间蒸发了？难不成被外星人拐走了？”An observant reader might be wondering: What happened to you age three to five? Where did you disappear to? Were you a victim of alien abduction? 当然不是，据说外星人绑架只是一种幻觉。那两年，我呆在父亲的老家崇明，上文提过的吧？No, I wasn't.（Apparently, alien abduction is just a figment of imagination.）I was in Chongming, my father's hometown. I have already mentioned it, haven't I?

与父母合影。（摄影：钦群）With my parents.（photo by Qin Qun）