國人天價賣走乾隆瓷瓶 引發愛國惹議

The 18th century piece - branded "one of the most important Chinese vases to be offered this century" - was found at a house in Ruislip, Northwest London, which was cleared by siblings after their parents died. And it was bought by a person for the equivalent of $85.6 million last week, the highest price ever at an auction.

居住在倫敦西北部如斯里普的一對兄妹在父母去世後清理房間時，發現了一個18世紀中國最重要的瓷瓶之一—乾隆時期瓷瓶。上週以大約八千五百六十萬美元（大約5.5億元人民幣）的價格被一人買走，這也是拍賣史上最高的價格。

While many speculated that the unidentified buyer is probably Chinese, as has been the case at recent auctions, a Financial Times reporter, Alexandra Stevenson, concluded that this trend is a new wave of "patriotism" from Chinese businessmen and government-backed cultural representatives keen on getting back national treasures.

雖然很多人猜測，不願意透露姓名的買家很可能是中國人，但是據金融時報記者亞歷山德拉·史蒂文森總結，正如最近的拍賣案例，這股高價購買流失文物趨勢掀起了中國商人和由政府支持的文化代表們的"愛國主義"之情，他們不惜代價熱衷於買回他們失去的國家文物。

This "patriotism" has pushed the price of these treasures to record levels. Emperor Qianlong's vase that sold in Britain had a price more than 40 times higher than the initial estimate.

這股"愛國主義"推動了這些珍品的價格上漲，創下世界紀錄。這隻在英國出售的乾隆時期瓷瓶最後售價高於最初估價的40倍。

Just a month ago, Chinese buyers in Hong Kong snapped up a similar vase for $18 million and another for a record $32 million.

就在一個月前，中國買家在香港以一千八百萬美元購得一隻相似的瓷瓶，以三千二百萬美元購得另一隻瓷瓶。

　　In some experts' eyes, the bronze animal head stolen by British and French troops more than a century ago were not highly appraised. Yet they sold for hundreds of millions of yuan.

在一些專家看來，一個世紀以前被英法聯軍搶走的青銅獸首雖然以數億人名幣出售，但是並未給中國帶來榮耀。

The drive to get back China's lost treasures at all costs is not really a wise move. It has actually given the former colonists a chance to loot China again, this time in the form of cash. The purchase has also in a sense, justified the looting as legal, which will make future efforts to retrieve the treasures even more difficult.

不惜代價找回中國失去的珍寶不是明智之舉。實際上是給前殖民者又一次掠奪中國的機會，只不過這次是以現金的形式。在某種意義上，這次高價購買使掠奪合法化，這將使未來挽回寶物的工作更加困難。

Some of these treasures were bought for investment instead of patriotism. But the insane bidding in overseas auction houses has brought the cost of Chinese relics to ridiculous levels. This will boost already rampant tomb-raiding and smuggling in China.

有些人購買寶物出於投資目的，並非爲了愛國。但是，在海外拍賣行進行的瘋狂拍賣行爲使中國文物價格上漲到非常荒謬的程度。也使中國業已猖獗的盜墓和走私活動愈演愈烈。

According to UNESCO's statistics, there are more than 1.67 million Chinese antiques in about 200 museums in 47 countries, and tens of millions of items lost in private hands all over the world. No matter how hard China tries, it is impossible to buy back every treasure.

根據聯合國教科文組織的統計，中國有超過一百六十七萬件古董流落在四十七個國家的兩百個博物館裏，還有幾千萬文物被私人收藏。不管中國作出怎樣的巨大努力，都不可能將每件寶物悉數買回。