Gravitational Wave

Lately the report of the detection of the Gravitational Wave caught attention of many people.  Einstein worked out the theory of General Relativity in which he generated equations and predicted the existence of the Gravitational Wave in 1915.  It took almost 100 years to detect its existence.  Maxwell worked out the famous Maxwell Equations in 1864 and predicted the existence of the Electromagnetic waves.  It took less than 25 years to detect its existence.  It may be interesting to draw some similarities and differences between these two subjects and their impact to the future of our physical world.

It is generally agreed among most scientists that the three greatest scientists in the history are Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein.  If we try to find out why they are so great, one thing stands out clearly.  That is the fact that they are the integrators of various scientific disciplines.  They were able to work out something such as equations that explain many phenomena in a concise and unified manner with mathematical aesthetics. 

Newton worked on optics and mechanics which combined most of the works by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and many others.  He also discovered the ordinary white light is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow.  With his work on the laws of reflection and refraction of light, he designed and built the first reflecting telescope.  Up to today, we still use it to observe the universe.  His most famous equations are:

F = m * dv/dt;   The second law of motion in mechanics
F = G (M*m)/r^2;   The law of Universal Gravitation

Maxwell worked out the famous Maxwell Equations in 1864 and predicted the existence of the Electromagnetic (EM) waves.  Heinrich Hertz was able to create and detect the electromagnetic waves in 1887.  From then on, Marconi and a host of others worked on the applications of the EM wave in communication.  Morse Code was already in extensive use in the telegraph during 1880 decade.  It was a matter of time to use it in radio transmission.  With the technology of encoding message on the carriers with modulation, the field of communication flourished.  Armstrong's super-heterodyne radio set reached almost every corner of the world.  The impact of Radio, EM Communication without wire, to the world was tremendous.  With less than 50 years, the earth was transformed from a wire to wireless world.  The navigation in ocean and air are the beneficiaries of the technology.  The most famous Maxwell Equations are:

∇ x E = - ∂B/ ∂t;    Generation of electricity from the change of magnetism
∇ x H = J + ∂D/ ∂t;   Generation of magnetism from current and electricity
∇² A = 1/v² * ∂²A/∂t²;   Wave equation of EM wave
 v = 1/sqrt (με);   Speed or velocity of EM wave

General relativity generalizes special relativity and Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time.  Einstein's greatest achievement is the work of Unified Field that combines electricity, magnetism, light and gravitation in one field.  From this frame of work, he predicted the existence of the Gravitational (GV) Wave.  As of today, it is hard to imagine the GV Wave will have the similar effect and impact to the world as EM wave.  Gravitational waves are generated by the bulk motion of large masses, and will have wavelengths much longer than the objects themselves.  Gravitational waves are weakly interacting, making them extraordinarily difficult to detect.  

Although we can detect GV wave, we have no way to generate GV wave in lab.  So we can't use GV wave as a tool or vehicle to create some new applications.  However, GV wave can travel unhindered through intervening matter of any density or composition.  So the GV wave may open a window that provides some breakthrough in the future the way we view the universe.  Time will tell certainly.

It may not be meaningful to rank which one is the greatest among the three.  It may be more meaningful to rank which one is the most influential in our civilization.  Michael Hart in his book 'Top 100' lists in this order: Newton is #2, Einstein is #10 and Maxwell is #29.  Most scientists don't question the rank of Newton.  But how can Einstein's influence on our world be way over Maxwell?  The life of most people in the last 100 years have not really changed much or influenced by the theory of relativity.  Judging from the impact of radio communication to our society, Maxwell's influence should be way ahead of Einstein.  There is one explanation to this.  In most cases, many men have contributed to the development of an important idea, as was obviously the case in the development of the theory of electricity and magnetism.  The magnitude of the influence is distributed among Maxwell, Faraday, Gauss, Ampere and Henry.  Though Einstein does not deserve 100% of the credit for the invention of the theory of relativity, he certainly deserves most of it.  In other words, the theories of relativity are primarily the creation of a single and outstanding genius.  

Christian & Wine in China

Why Christian in general has anything special to wine?  Well, the question to ask is "What do Christian and Wine have in common in China?".  You may wonder there must be something special to Chinese wine or something unique to Chinese Christian.  You are right, there is something common between Wine and Christian in China, it is 'confusion' and it has nothing to do with Confucius.  Both confuse a lot of people not only in China but also people in the world who deal with Chinese.  It is the language and the way Chinese define Christian and Wine.  The definition defined in dictionary is one thing, how Chinese people understand and interpret the word is another thing.  Now let's take a look at the word and its translation.

From English dictionary and its Chinese translation:

Wine: alcoholic drink made from the fruits or plants.  葡萄酒 .

Whiskey: strong alcoholic drink made from various grains, esp. rye and barley.  威士忌酒

Brandy: strong alcoholic drink made from wine.  白蘭地酒.

Liquor: an alcoholic drink.  酒類

Liqueur: a kind of strong and sweet alcoholic drink.  芳香的烈酒

Cocktail: a mixed alcoholic drink.  雞尾酒.

From Chinese dictionary:

酒: 用米麥等和酒麴發酵釀成的麻醉性飲料.

Most Chinese people understand and interpret:

酒: liquor, any kind of alcoholic drink. 

For example, in Chinese poem, most of time you see '酒', it means any kind of alcoholic drink or liquor, such as 高粱,紹興,紅露.  Another example, the translation of 'New wine in old bottles': 裝在舊瓶中的新酒.

So 酒, 狭義的是 wine, 廣義的是 Liquor.  Chinese most of the time ignore  狭義 or 廣義, and consider wine as liquor and it is misleading.  It can cause some embarrassment in a potluck party when you agree to bring a bottle of wine, instead you bring in a bottle of whiskey.

Now let's take a look at Christian and its Chinese translation:

Roman Catholic: 天主教, 

Eastern Orthodox: 東方正教

Protestant: 新教, 抗議教

Christian: 基督徒 or 基督教的

Most Chinese people understand and interpret:

Christian: 基督徒 that includes Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.

天主教: Catholic

基督教: Protestant; few people use 新教 or 抗議教, they simply call it 基督教.

So 基督教 狭義的是 新教 (Protestant) , 廣義的是 天主教 + 新教 + 東方正教

Here is the analogy:

Wine (酒): 基督教 or 新教, protestant (狭義)

Liquor (酒類): 基督教 (天主教 + 新教), Christian (廣義)

Now we know 基督教 and 酒 have something in common in China.  With its 狭義的 and 廣義的 definition, it confuses a lot of people.  One way to remove the confusion is to create a new word for Wine: 草頭加酒, or 洒 (酒少一横). Meanwhile for Christian, 既然所有基督徒都信天主,為什麽祇有 Catholic 稱 '天主教', it is misleading.  let's create some new translation:

Roman Catholic: 基羅教 (罗馬教會派)

Eastern Orthodox: 基正教 (希臘正教派)

Protestant: 基新教 (耶稣新教派)

Christian: 基督徒

We need to be creative when it comes to the language and its translation.  Language itself has life, it evolves with the society and the people who use it.  If it never changes, it will be like Latin, an obsolete language.  A good language should remove words and expressions which confuse its users as much as possible.

From Balboa to Lewis & Clark

From 15th century to 19 century, for about 400 years, while the expedition of Chen Ho of Ming Dynasty came to a screeching halt, the west started an age of discovery, exploration and expedition one after the other. First Diaz found the southern tip of the continent, the cape of good hope. Followed with Columbus expedition to the west and found a new land. Then Vasco da Gama found a new passage to go around the cape of good hope to India. Eventually Balboa led a team of explorers reaching a mountain top of Panama and saw the immense Pacific, called South Sea at that time. He was the first white man to see Pacific from the Europe side. Balboa passed through Panama Isthmus, a short cut to reach Pacific. Since then Spain dominated and monopolized the trade route between Europe and the South/Central America. 

Meanwhile other countries like English, France and Holland were scrambled to find new passage through the northwest. First John Cabot sailed for England. He was born in Genoa, same city as Columbus. He sailed with a small ship Mathew with 18 sailors in 1497. He didn't find India or China. Instead he found Newfoundland and the North America. In 1520, Magellan passed the tip of South America, sailed into Pacific and eventually reach Philippine. With this success, many Europeans were eager to do something similar through the northwest. In 1524, John Verrazano sailed for France, went northwest and found Hudson River and Long Island. In 1534, Another French navigator, Jacques Cartier followed the similar route and found Gulf of St. Lawrence, sailed inland to Quebec. However, he failed to find a new passage to China either. For consolation, he claimed what he found the land as New France and gave it to the King of France. In 1607, Hudson sailed for a trade company of England, . He entered Arctic Ocean and got stopped by the frigid ice. The Dutch East Indian Company heard the news and hired Hudson immediately to find another passage to the east in order to compete with Portuguese. Hudson sailed a ship called 'Half Moon' in 1609, he found the Hudson Bay and Hudson River. But China was nowhere to be seen. Spanish was lucky to pick the route to Central America, especially Panama Isthmus, a short cut to Pacific. In North America, the situation is complete different. It is a land mass of 4,000 miles across and most rivers go south that hampers the travel from the east to west. No ship can take advantage for such a long land travel. It was not until 1803, when Thomas Jefferson got a great deal to buy Louisiana Territory from Napoleon. The Louisiana Territory is much larger than the current Louisiana State. It is actually about the same size of the United States at the time of 1800. In other words, the United States suddenly becomes twice in size with half of it without people living there except Indians. The Louisiana Purchase may be the largest peaceful transfer of territory in recorded history. It helped turn the United States into a great power and was an event of far reaching importance. 

Thomas Jefferson is a great statesman and a visionary. He is well versed in the new idea of John Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau. He drafted the Declaration Of Independence and well read in books about exploration. Jefferson had read Captain James Cook's A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean , and Le Page du Pratz's The History of Louisiana, all of which greatly influenced his decision to send an expedition. Jefferson also wished to discover a practical route through the Northwest to the Pacific coast. At that time Alexander Mackenzie's Voyages from Montreal (1801) informed Jefferson (who read the book at Monticello in 1802) of Britain's intent to control the lucrative fur trade of the Columbia River, and convinced him of the importance of securing the territory as soon as possible. He realized the importance of the exploration of this new land just purchased and anxious to find a new passage to the Pacific. With this he can be sure the America can claim the new territory with confidence and the country will span two oceans eventually. 

The Lewis and Clark Expedition may not be the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States. Robert Gray did two expeditions around 1792, found and named Columbia River. British navigator George Vancouver organized several explorations around the same area between 1792 and 1795. Gray did not publish any journal or details about his findings. Vancouver did use his findings and published the results. This is the reason why we hear the city Vancouver and the region of British Columbia in Canada these days. It is part of the credit of Vancouver to the British Empire. If it were not the expedition of Lewis and Clark, the current Washington and Oregon States might have become part of Canada. This shows how important the vision of Jefferson was at that time. His Louisiana Purchase and his finance to initiate the expedition changes the course of history.  With the study of history and hindsight, Thomas Jefferson is almost equivalent to Prince Henry, the Navigator of America.

The Lewis and Clark departed in May 1804, from near St. Louis making their way westward through the continental divide to Columbia River and to the Pacific coast. The perilous journey lasted from May 1804 to September 1806. The primary objective was to explore and map the newly acquired territory, find a practical route across the Western half of the continent, and establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and establish trade with local Native American tribes. The journal and record of Lewis and Clark are detail enough to be very valuable in later time. 

From 1400 to 1800, for about 400 years, China went from Chen Ho's expedition to a country which almost has nothing to do with the navigation and exploration. Worse off, the court of Ming Dynasty burned and destroyed most valuable records of Chen Ho's expedition which lasted from 1403 to 1433. A whole thirty years of record disappeared from the thin air. To many Chinese, this is really heart broken, especially when they get the chance to read James Cook's A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile the west tried every way they could to find new passages to the east. The result is that they discovered all the new lands and claimed them for their nations to eventually dominated the world affairs. The Age of the Great Discovery brought new order and established a new political formation of the modern world we live in today. 

My Father-In-Law

My father-in-law was very influential among his many relatives and friends. His recent passed away caused a lot of reaction and discussion among many of his social circle. The first time I met him was in 1970. It was the time of my wedding day with Christine. He was then 49, a rather young businessman with ambition. He held a celebrated wedding reception in down town Dallas, Statler Hilton. I remember I was working on my doctorate dissertation and many of my advisers attended the dinner. He ordered some rather sumptuous thick steaks and wines for the party. We all had a very memorable gathering at the time. We then rented an Impala Duster, drove from Dallas to Disneyland in LA. I remember the interstate highway 10 is straight and wide. In some section of the highway, I drove at 110 miles per hour speed. Imagine at that time, there was no seat-belt law. He was very nervous about my driving style. But it was too late as he already wrote a bill of sale as he always said that he handed me Christine in the wedding chapel.

My father-in-law was a man of high energy type. He walked faster than most people of his age. I still remember the episode at Oakland in 1980's. He liked to walk around Lake Merritt. On that sunny afternoon, he walked way ahead of me and left me in the dust. It was a humiliating experience for me. His early career was quite successful in the steel business by dismantling or scrapping some good old ships, commercial or military. Before 趙耀東 took over 中鋼公司, my father-in-law ran the show for several years. He was very proud of what he had done in 高雄 at that time. In the reunion of the 50th Anniversary of our NTUEE64, we had a trip around the island. When we arrived 高雄 and had a harbor cruise tour. Christine was so moved and nostalgic when she saw the new and improved harbor and those shipyards used to dismantle scrapped ships. She was in tear and said it should have been a great experience if her dad gets another chance to see this harbor and do the job once more. 

Once in 1970, my father-in-law bid the Queen Elizabeth II (good old British pride, Britannia Rules) in Florida with Tong How Yuen (董浩雲), a shipping tycoon and magnate. That was a big news at that time. Tong later talked him out of the deal as Tong wanted to build a University-On-The-Sea (海上大學). His argument was that building a university is much more meaningful than creating a pile of steel scrap. Profit or not, we should create something valuable for the History. Tong won the bid and towed the good old Queen Elizabeth II to Hongkong. Unfortunately, the ship caught fire while moored in Hongkong. Rumor said the communist was the culprit as Tong wanted the ship flying the flag of the Republic of China, not People Republic of China. This shows the difference of only one word can change the course of the world history.

理性開明時代

理性是一種包容和沒有偏見的思想. 

開明是一種信念,相信用理性和科學方法可以促進人類文明,達到至善的社會和世界. 

文藝復興以後，歷史上又出現另一個光輝的時代，那就是通稱的'理性時代', Age of Reason (1620-1720). 無獨有偶,在理性時代之後又出現了一個更光輝而燦爛的時代,那是'開明時代', Age of Enlightenment (1720-1790). 大部分歷史書把這兩個時代連起來講,因為年代太接近,可以一以貫之。光看年代不太清楚這兩個時代究竟有什麼不同。最好的方法是列举這些時代的名人，然後去了解和探討其間的不同及因素。 

Age of Reason (1620-1720), 代表人物: 

Bacon (1561–1626), Galileo (1564-1642), Hobbes (1588-1679), Descartes (1596-1690), Pascal (1623–1662), Spinoza (1632-1677), Leibniz (1646-1716), Locke (1632–1704)

這個時代注重在哲学思想和方法論. 這時期影响最大的是笛卡兒 (Descartes). 

他的名言: 

Cogito Ergo Sum (Latin)

I Think, Therefore I Am. (English)

我思故我在 (Chinese)

Age of Enlightenment (1720-1790), 代表人物: 

Newton (1642-1726), Berkeley (1685-1753), Voltaire (1694-1778), Hume (1711-1776), Montesquieu (1689-1755), Rousseau (1772-1778), Diderot (1713-1784), Ben Franklin (1705-1790), Lavoisier (1743-1794), James Cook (1728-1779), Adam Smith (1723-1790)

這個時代側重在科学應用到社會,地理,歷史,經濟及政治哲学. 這時期影响最大的是 牛頓,伏尔泰和亞當斯密 (Adam Smith). 這時期影响最大的是伏尔泰 (Voltaire) .

他的名言: 

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. 

Age of Reason brought together the fruits of Renaissance and the concept of Reason.

Age of Enlightenment brought together the ideas of the Reason and the Scientific Revolution.

為方便起見，以下的討論可以同時適用在理性和開明時代，姑且稱之"理性開明時代"

This age generated some constructive and destructive power that shaped the new world. The ideals of liberty and reason helped to shape the government of the new country created by that revolution-the United States of America. The same idea also caused the downfall of the French Monarch and created the French Revolution.

We already mentioned the Masters of Renaissance, let's talk about the scholars of the Reason and Enlightenment. First, there were scientists who led the way out of the Renaissance; Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo showed that the idea of an Earth-Centered universe was wrong. Descartes had created a scientific philosophy for seeking truth. Everything had to be tested by the standard of reason. This idea was the basic to the Enlightenment. The epitome of the scientific revolution was Isaac Newton. He discovered the gravitation and the relation between force and matter. He published his master work, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. He unified all the previous scientific findings in this book.

Armed with the legacy of Renaissance and the concept of Reason, a new breed of the scholars began to influence the world. They are called Philosophes. They set forth the idea that people could apply reason to all aspects of life just as Newton had applied reason to science. At the heart of their mind were five ideas:

1. Reason: was the absence of intolerance, bigotry, or prejudice in one's thinking.

2. Nature: was good and reasonable. There were natural laws of economics and politics just as there were natural laws of motion.

3. Happiness: a person who lived by nature's laws would find happiness.

4. Progress: They believed in progress for society via scientific approach. They believed society and humankind could be perfected.

5. Liberty: Through reason, the philosophes believed, society could be set free.

Voltaire and his scholarly friends honoured reason as if it were a kind of divine force. They think, through the power of reason, society would make steady progress toward liberty and justice.

黄仁宇寫了一本書"萬曆十五年",英文名 "A Year of No Significance" (無足輕重的年代). 萬曆十五年乃西元 1587年,正是文藝復興的末尾和理性時代的開始. 在這時期,西方經文藝復興的洗禮,在文化上已凌駕東方,可是相差还不太遠. 可是從 1620 年後,西方開始以快速的脚步把東方遠遠抛在後面,其最大的原因就是東方缺乏理性和開明的思想. 中國的理学在宋朝已發跡,到明朝王陽明更發揚光大. 可是中国理学太著重儒学的改造和新的銓釋,又在缺乏科学的支持和應用,開明思想没法深耕,所以在政治经济和一些民生有關的新观念没法產生. 尤其是在政治思想上,東方一直没有突破,其呆滞一直延續到二十一世紀. 勉強可以提到是明朝黄宗羲的'明夷待訪錄'. 可是他的開明思想祇是在纸上,一直没受到社會的重視,更不用提其影响力了. 至於兩千三百年前孟子的'民本君轻'思想,一直是口號而已. 天子的观念在中國根深蒂固,專制思想没有消失,一直到二十世纪才稍有改变. 但天子雖去,專制政杈思想和制度还在继续,不知何日真正的民本政治才能在中國發揚光大.

文藝復興

在人類的歷史進程中，大部分是在求生存和戰爭，能夠在文化上大放異彩,百花齊放的時日並不太多，也可說是少之又少。在西方首先是希臘城邦的興起，其成就是五百年的文化奇蹟。幾乎同時，中華文化正值春秋戰國時代，各家思想斉放，爭奇鬪艶，是文化的盛世。從此以後，西方進入了文化冬眠期，一直要到十四世纪時才现曙光。東方則有漢唐盛世，可是思想統一，並不是百齊放的文明異彩。

自從罗馬帝国衰亡,蛮人入侵，教會勢力興起,西方文明遁入黑暗時期。當時教會控制思想，神聖罗馬帝國掌握欧洲軍事，一直到十四世紀以後,神聖罗馬帝國衰頹和教皇移居 Avignon 以後，義大利北部方出現了一些自治的城邦如 Milan, Genoa, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Venice 等等。這些城市類似希臘城邦，地方不大,但有足夠的勤奮市民，因经商而致富. 他們大多有一技之長，有創新和獨立的精神。在這种背景和環境下，意大利北部從西元 1300 到 1600,創造了一個文明盛世,史稱 '文藝復興' (Renaissance).  Renaissance 是 Rebirth, 是希臘文明的重生, 所以 '文藝復興' 嚴格說来,並不是正確的翻譯,應該是''文化復興".  從這裡我們似可以比較中西方的文化景观. 在1300年以前，中国经歷漢唐盛世而西方是在黑暗時代,整体来說中華文化比西方强盛而輝煌. 到文藝復興以後中国進入明请朝代,西方始慢慢追上中國. 所以文藝復興在中西文化比较上或競爭上是一個重要的轉折点。這是西方追上東方的 Turning Point. 西方真正超越東方而把東方遠抛其後,則是要等到另一個文化轉折点，那是 '理性時代' 和 '開明時代'，(Age of Reason and Age of Enlightenment) 大约是 1650-1790. 這是後話，讓我們先檢視文藝復興的意義和精神。

中古时期，希臘文明在宗教的控制下幾乎绝跡，文藝復興的人們想找回希臘古文明,在這進程中他們不但找回一些寶贵的文化遗產,也創造了一些新的文明。文藝復興的人們不但在心智上和藝術上有驚人的創造力,更重要的是人們对自己和周遭世界皆有一個和以前中世纪完全不同的看法。那是对現世的尊重和享受人生也不亵贖神的旨意。

文藝復興從義大利北部興起,以 Florence 最為重要. 初期三傑是 Giotto (壁畫), Dante (文学), Petrarch (詩人). 這時期強調的是: Celebration of the Individual, Love of Classical Learning and Enjoyment of Worldly Pleasures.

中期四傑是: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Machiavelli. 前三名是人類藝術史上三位巨星,永遠照耀,到現在还在影响著人們。尤其是 Michelangelo 在 Sistine Chapel 畫的 '創世纪'，每年皆有百萬人去观赏. Machiavelli 寫了一本書 "The Prince" (王子論). 其影响深遠到現在很多政府首腦皆要研讀的一本名著，就好像军事將领皆要研讀孫子或克勞塞维兹的兵法一樣。另一位值得一提的是 Gutenberg (古騰堡). 他的印刷術在 1454 年後,席捲全欧,普及智識和促進思想的解放，這是直接促成以後的理性和開明時代。

文藝復興後期是把新思潮往北欧傳播，並促成新航路的冒險活動,其结果是驚天動地而影响非常深遠。

反观中國在1300-1600 年時是元朝和明朝時期，除了明成祖時的郑和七次下西洋外,並無在文化上有驚人之擧. 最可惜的是明成祖去世後,所有有關鄭和航海的活动皆被束之高閣. 更令人扼腕的是所有有關鄭和的航海資料一律銷毀,從歷史上蒸發,消失. 當時從政的儒家學者和思想在此和文藝復興的思維大相逕庭,背道而馳. 從此以後西方凌駕東方,開始以雷挺萬鈞之势,席捲世界。

賽金花

珍珠與金花,那個漂亮? 答案是兩者皆燦爛奪目,令人目眩神迷. 珍珠过後,現在我們來談金花.

賽金花 乃清末名妓,其初名为趙彩云,又名傅彩云,安徽黟县人. 幼年被卖到苏州的所谓“花船”上為妓。1887年 適逢前科狀元洪鈞回鄉守孝,对彩云一見倾心，遂纳為妾,洪时年48岁,傅彩云年僅15岁,可謂老夫少妾。不久,洪鈞奉旨為駐俄罗斯帝国,德意志帝国,奥匈帝国,荷蘭四国公使，其原配夫人畏懼華洋異俗,遂借誥命服飾给彩云,命她陪同洪鈞出洋. 後随洪鈞歸国,不久洪病死。1894年,傅彩云被洪府遺棄,無以為生,乃至上海重操舊業,改名“曹梦蘭”. 後至天津,改名“赛金花”. 1900年八国联军攻陷北京时,居北京石頭胡同為妓,曾与部分德国军官有过接觸,尤其是她和瓦德西在柏林有一面之緣,使她和八國聯軍有一段互動,施展她的影響力。1903年在北京因涉嫌虐待幼妓致死(真相不明)而入獄,解返苏州后出獄再至上海. 晚年生活窮困潦倒, 1936年病死于北京. 以上是她簡略的一生.

所以賽女士原姓趙,賽姓乃她後來自封,與賽珍珠女士之名有異曲同工之妙. 總之她們的名字真是金光燦爛, 光彩奪目,令人遐想不已. 比起珍珠女士, 金花身世可憐多了. 她小時父親病故,母親不能養她,賣給妓女院,從此一生一世不得翻身. 想來令人唏噓, 妓女這一行是社會的底層,是人類文明的第一行業.,可是不管妓女多風光有名,總是被大眾輕視,甚或不齒. 奉勧天下父母親,不管情況怎麼艱苦,千萬不要逼女兒為娼.,這是最不明智的投資. 話說回來, 天下父母鮮有擇娼為業, 實乃無以為生啊. 這是社會制度不健全和陰暗的一面. 想起台湾以前的養女制度,那也是令人悲傷的社會現像. 說起來也是一種另類的悲慘世界. 金花女士碰到貴人,搖身一變為狀元夫人,羨煞其他妓女. 可是好景不長,洪鈞先生撒手西歸,金花女土居然被洪府掃地出門,其理由不外是前妓女的身分不被見容, 哀哉,真是人間妓女冷暖情. 

賽女士有一段堪稱幸福風光的日子. 洪鈞娶她為妾,事事依她,在他保護之下,洪夫人也不敢太欺負她. 她的轉運則是洪鈞奉派出使西洋,洪夫人不願意在番邦生活. 這正中賽女士的下懷. 她在家中有時受氣, 閒言閒語,对前妓女總是不好受. 於是她毛遂自薦,要伴洪公出使西洋. 這有奌類似文成公主的故事. 唐初李世民把兄弟建城和元吉解決掉,其族人皆被殺或賣為奴. 唯有元吉之妻女被留下來,此女後被封文成公主. 所以文成在宮中並不快樂,因為她是失敗的族人之一,免不了別人有閒言閒語. 机會終於來到,西藏松贊干布 來唐娶親, 所有大牌公主皆拒之,唯文成公主認為是新生的机運. 金花女士出洋當公使夫人,正中下懷.求之不得. 周旋於番邦貴人之社交圈,三年有奇. 居然脫胎換骨,落落大方,學會德文和英文,並有机會和德皇威廉二世及英國維多利亜女皇握手寒喧. 在以後八國聯軍攻佔北京,居然大派用場,充分發揮她的影響力. 厂史風雲際會,時代創造英雄(雌),如是焉.

賽女士在柏林時曾受邀在宮庭認識瓦德西元帥,相談甚歡,這是一面之緣,卻在拳乱時,影響了好多人的生命和生活. 瓦德西是德皇威廉二世的大將軍 (Field Marshal),可說是毛奇 (Moltke) 將軍的継承人. 德文 Alfred Graf von Waldersee. Waldersee (瓦德西) (英意譯 Forest Lake, 中文可譯’ 森林湖’. 德國人对湖情有獨衷, Immensee (茵夢湖) 就是一本浪漫的小說. 話說瓦德西元帥, 1900年時奉派指揮八國聯軍,來華興師問罪. 老福爺慈禧西奔, 不顧百姓. 當此生靈塗炭時,賽女士看不慣德國兵在大街小巷胡作非為,用德語罵出,一語驚人. 又道出和瓦將軍是老相好,一時德國兵全愣住了. 從此以後,她進出紫禁城,如魚得水,遇見瓦將軍,重敘舊誼. 就在這段時日, 他至少做了三件大事. 一是聯軍掠奪小民的事馬上減少很多, 二是幫助北京商人和聯軍做民生和聯軍的伙食 生意, 三是和克林德夫人及瓦將軍談妥拳乱的責任歸屬條件. 克林德乃是被義和團殺害的德國公使. 一時好多滿清 王公貴族和李鴻章皆来求她幫忙,稱她為賽二爺,比老福爺衹差一級,真是時勢創造英雌,一奌不假. 坊間不少 傳言說賽女士和瓦將軍在慈禧的金鑾殿,曾有一段風光的日子,這些也許是文人雅士的一些綺想,沒有資科佐証. 尤其是德國人更是不相信. 不管如何,電影照演,罗曼史飘飘,無遠弗界,沛然不能抵禦.

世事難料,八國聯軍離開後,金花女士的保護傘不見了,她的影響力也一下跌到谷底. 衹因為她是妓女, 再也沒人看得起她,以前的功蹟也沒人提起,真是冷暖人間冷暖情. 連以前她幫助过的從良妓女也不認她, 真是今人唏噓不已,為她叫屈. 賽女士後来還嫁过兩次,結果丈夫皆先她而去. 失去男人保護的舊時代女性 很難自力更生,她衹好三番兩次重操舊業,越陷越深. 1936年,時代的傳奇女性 賽金花終於殞世, 身無分文,也無親朋奔喪. 後人也沒在北京替她立碑,紀念或感謝她在拳乱時期的貢獻. 鳴呼,感嘆國人缺乏对從良妓女的寬容和禮義之邦應有的德行.