BBC
調查：孔子學院——瑞典關門，倫敦沉默
2015年 1月 14日
孔子學院被美國學術界人士視為是中國政府在美國高等教育當中建立據點，向西方施加「軟性影響力」。1月7日，歐洲第一所孔子學院——瑞典斯德哥爾摩大學孔子學院宣佈將於今年六月正式關閉。這使原本就備受爭議的孔子學院再次引起各界關注。
為此，BBC中文網記者對位於倫敦的幾所孔子學院展開了調查，希望能獲得更多相關信息。
名目眾多
根據主管孔子學院的中國政府部門「漢辦」的官網公開的信息顯示，目前英國共有24所孔子學院，92個孔子學堂。
除了以大學命名的孔子學院外（如曼徹斯特大學孔子學院、謝菲爾德大學孔子學院），還有以城市命名的如「英國倫敦孔子學院」（由倫敦大學亞非學院承辦），以及以領域命名的如「倫敦中醫孔子學院」（由南岸大學承辦）、倫敦商務孔子學院（由倫敦政經、英國石油公司、匯豐銀行等聯合承辦）等等。
據了解，孔子學院採取中外高校合作辦學的模式。
一般情況下由一所中國大學與一所外國大學合作，共同組成理事會，由中國對口大學以及國家漢辦聯合輸送漢語教師，也有少數本地華人僑胞教師被聘用。
例如，即將關閉的斯德哥爾摩大學孔子學院是與復旦大學合辦；倫敦政治經濟學院（LSE）與清華大學合辦；倫敦大學教育研究院孔子學院與北京外國語大學合辦等等。
採訪受阻
BBC中文網的記者試圖採訪倫敦幾所孔子學院的相關負責人，但各孔子學院的負責人，無論中國人還是外國人，都以各種理由「搪塞」，無法得到正面的回應。
記者隨即走訪了位於倫敦政治經濟學院校園內的倫敦商務孔子學院，發現原來佇立在某教學樓裏的孔子雕像竟然不翼而飛。記者詢問樓裏的安保人員孔子雕像的去處，安保人員的答覆是因為空間狹小轉移到了其他樓裏。
記者去保安人員給出的位置，但並沒有發現孔子雕像。當天記者逛遍了整個校園，也沒見孔子雕像的蹤影。
記者隨即去了孔子學院中文課程的教學樓Twin Tower,發現樓內設有門禁，必須刷卡才能進入。
記者以想要在孔子學院學習中文的學生名義向樓內前台人員諮詢，得到的答覆是必須通過學校語言中心進行諮詢，不能直接接觸漢語老師，也不能向學習中文的學生詢問課程內容與質量。
外界質疑
孔子學院發展十年以來曾經遭到國際各界的質疑。
去年10月，繼加拿大多倫多市教育局決定終止與中方合作開辦孔子學院後，美國芝加哥大學也宣佈終止其孔子學院的續約合同。
美國眾議院外交事務委員會於去年12月4日舉行聽證會，認為中國對美國大學的影響威脅到了學術自由。
也有國際媒體批評指出，孔子學院是中國政府意識形態輸出的工具。這一說辭被中國官方否認，並指出，孔子學院與英國文化委員會（British Council）本質一樣，就是傳播中國文化以及中國開展與世界各國多種形式文化交流活動的橋樑。
學生反應
記者在倫敦政經校園內隨機採訪了幾位外國同學對在孔子學院學習中文的看法。大部分外國同學表示很有興趣學習中文，並認為學習中文對以後的職業發展有好處；也有外國同學表示學習中文單純是為了趕時髦，或者只是為了正確說出中國美食的名字。
問及關於孔子學院的相關問題，有一位來自德國的同學表示，在他的價值觀裏孔子代表的儒家思想是宗教的一種，帶有鮮明的意識形態色彩。他認為漢語教學沒有必要非得打著「孔子」的旗號，也沒有必要所有機構都帶上「孔子學院」的帽子。
還有一位來自美國的學生說，他根本不關注是不是孔子學院，他更關心中文教學的質量和內容。他說，除了漢語本身，他還能參與一些有趣的活動，是他繼續學中文的動力。
也有一名在倫敦的中國留學生向BBC中文網記者透露，他之前申請過以色列特拉維夫大學孔子學院的志願者，得到的回應是必須聯繫中國人民大學的相關負責人，特拉維夫大學無權決定能否招收留學生志願者來做中文教師。
以前曾經就職於英國某孔子學院的一位中文老師對BBC中文網記者說，她認為孔子學院「束縛」過多，教師發揮的空間非常局限，與她預期中相差甚遠。後來便辭職轉而去了倫敦當地一所小學繼續教漢語。
不過，一位來自美國某孔子學院的中文老師否認了外界「意識形態輸出」的說辭。「我們除了教漢語外，頂多涉及一些文化、社會、經濟和商業領域的課程，根本不涉及意識形態。老外也不是傻子，哪兒那麼容易被洗腦」。
官方回應
各界對於前幾日斯德哥爾摩大學關閉孔子學院的猜測，官方也給了相關回應，稱「此舉與政治無關」。
中國官方媒體新華社的消息稱，個別學校停辦或退出是正常現象，各國語言推廣機構這種情況也是非常普遍的。
根據孔子學院總部最新發佈的消息，目前仍有７０多個國家２００多所大學正在積極申辦孔子學院，開展各種形式的漢語教學以及文化交流活動。
撰稿：季昃雯 責編：李莉
My views on the Confucius Institutes Reply to a question from a Chinese journalist
According to information of December of last year, 475 Confucius Institutes and 851 Confucius Classrooms for pupils in secondary schools have been established in 126 countries in the last ten years. These Confucius Institutes are meant to play a major role as a Soft Power promoting efforts to ease the way for the globalization of Chinese culture. Unlike the independent Goethe Institutes and the Alliance française, the Confucius Institutes are associated with already existing universities and high-schools in the host countries. As I see it, this is where the problem rests. I personally feel that the association of the Confucius Institutes with host universities threatens to nullify their own aims. The conflicts that have arisen between Confucius Institutes and their host universities mostly seem to originate in diverging views on what topics can and what cannot be part of the curricula. If the Confucius Institutes were wholly independent, they would of course be free to exclude such topics from their curricula as may not be freely discussed in China.
In the last two years the American Association of University Professors and the Canadian Association of University Teachers have recommended that their associated universities cancel or refuse to renew contracts with Confucius Institutes for the sake of safeguarding the academic freedom of the universities. Negative views on these institutes are also spreading in Europe.
My own Alma Mater, Stockholm University, decided on December 20 of last year not to renew its contract with the Confucius Institute established there in 2005, as the first Confucius Institute in Europe.
My own attitude toward the Confucius Institutes is based partly on the fact that a number of university departments of Chinese in the Western world, after having established contact with a Confucius Institute, have turned into centers for the teaching of elementary Chinese, to the detriment of serious research. My attitude is also based on my belief that the HANBAN Headquarters of the Confucius Institutes are less well informed about the cultural essentials of China. Some years ago, the HANBAN decided to initiate a re-translation into English of The Five Confucian Classics (易，书，诗，礼，春秋), to serve as textbooks for the indoctrination of Western readers.
易 is an ancient handbook of divination, written in a deliberately obscure language lacking literary quality and exceedingly hard to penetrate even for scholars who have made a special study of the text. Poor translations of the work have served and still serve as a New Age Bible for generations of hippies. 书 is a collection of archaic documents, mostly fictitious speeches, by prominent members of the archaic society of China, which very few Chinese can read with full understanding; 诗 is an anthology of poetry, containing 305 poems from the first half of the first millenium before our era. Except the folk poems in the section 國風,“Guofeng”, large portions of the text could not be appreciated without lengthy learned commentaries. Bernhard Karlgren has presented a scholarly translation of the whole text, and Arthur Waley a literary translation of the text. 礼 consists of collections of dry as dust notes on rites and rituals of feudal China, mostly of little or no literary value;
春秋 is an annalistic chronical of one of the feudal states (Lu) in the period 722-481 B.C., totally void of literary quality.
This initiative in my opinion reveals a lack of knowledge not only of Western Sinology, but also of the researches by generations of eminent Chinese scholars in the fields of philology and textual criticism from the 漢 Han dynasty to the present day. It also reveals a total lack of appreciation of the appropriateness of these texts as an introduction to Chinese culture.
Suggested content of a HANBAN handbook:
Selections from the 國風 “Guofeng” section of the 詩經 Shijing, containing folk songs;Selections from 孟子Meng Zi, 論語Lunyu, 荀子Xun Zi, 列子 Lie Zi, 莊子Zhuang Zi and 墨子Mo Zi;Selections from the 左傳Zuozhuan;
Selections from 楚辭，九歌Chuci, Jiuge:Selections from 司馬遷Sima Qian, 史記 Shiji;Selections of 漢Han poetry;Selections of南北朝 Nanbeichao (420-581) poetry;Selections of 唐Tang poetry and 宋Song lyrics;Selections of Buddhist sermons from the Tang and Song periods，such as 慧能，六祖壇經 ;One Yuan drama;Selections from 明Ming and 清Qing novels.
It seems to me that such a handbook would be far more useful than a re-translation of the 五經。
I would not be fair to myself, nor to the HANBAN for that matter, if I refrained from referring to an incident that took place on the eve of the opening of the European Association for Chinese Studies Conference in Portugal in July of last year, when Mrs 許琳Xu Lin, the Executive Director of the HANBAN, ordered four pages to be torn off from the Conference program which referred to a gift of books from the Central Library in Taiwan and to the support given to the European Association for Chinese Studies by the 蔣經國基金會Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. Her high-handed action, which was deeply regretted and condemned by sinologists all over the world, has no doubt greatly influenced Western sinologists’ negative attitude toward the Confucian Institutes.
I much regret that many Chinese authorities choose to consider any views that deviate from their own as inimical, aiming at harming China and offending the Chinese people. This has caused many of my colleagues, less outspoken than myself, to prefer to keep silent instead of entering into serious discussions that could have led to positive results.
I wish to assure you that I have the highest regard for the manifestations of Chinese culture, ancient and modern, with which I have come into close contact. I am also grateful that, as a translator, I have been given the opportunity to share with my compatriots some fifty volumes of Chinese literature, ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary, which I myself have found especially rewarding.
Göran Malmqvist
January 12, 2014
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