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前一阵，明星读信节目《见字如面》（Letters Alive）几乎刷屏朋友圈。
从年轻演员林更新到张涵予、归亚蕾等一众老戏骨，他们或铿锵有力、或旖旎婉转、或诙谐打趣的朗诵，仿佛将观众带回书信传情的那个年代，见证了不同时代的情爱、战火、风骨和气度。
这档节目在豆瓣最火的时候，一度冲到过9.8分，目前跌下来，也差不多稳定在了9.0分。
Hailed as “serious” show in a field dominated by mainly entertainment programs, Letters Alive got high marks. At one point, it scored 9.8 out of 10 on Douban.com, a popular Chinese platform, and is now sitting at nine.
据不完全统计，《见字如面》全部12期的全网总播放量已超过2亿。
Letters Alive, a 12-episode culture program showcasing the enduring charm of written correspondence, included appearances from stars such as Lin Gengxin, Zhang Hanyu and Kuei Ya-lei. Eleven star performers reading 90 remarkable letters has been watched 200 million times on the major streaming sites. There’s a studio audience as well.
虽然节目已经播完了，但双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）仍在回味。
其实，《见字如面》节目里有好多遗书、绝命书、诀别书，很适合在清明时节雨纷纷的意境里，点一盏幽香，沏一壶清茶，细细咀嚼此生永别的滋味。
通过联系节目组，双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）获悉，遗书在所有书信中能占到14%的比例，而且几乎期期节目多有。
连节目组的老大们，也忍不住开始通过这些书信，重新审视中国人的生死观。
《见字如面》的总编剧张子选说，他们当时为了找到这些遗书，除了在网上四处搜罗，还买来了几乎所有能买到的书。
Up to 14 percent of the letters read on air were written towards the end of the writer’s life. The majority are from Communist revolutionaries and military officers, with the rest penned by famous people who either committed suicide or suffered from serious diseases.
For producers, the overwhelming response to the program has not only been uplifting but has also highlighted a trend that they want to explore further.
张子选回忆说，在打响一场战役前，遗书就会大规模成批量出现。尤其是在抗日战争和解放战争期间，每一场生死攸关的大战前，上至军队将领，下至普通士兵，都会写好遗书，这是上战场前的“标配”。如果侥幸生还，下一场战役前，还要接着写。
重新聆听那些写于上战场前的遗书，总觉得书写者的语气淡定从容，不仅仅像是置生死于度外，也似乎是面对命运无常的抽离之感。
张子选说，中国自《四书五经》以来的正统教育，大多避讳谈论死亡。儒家所倡导的还是入世的积极人生。
Zhang Zixuan, the program’s chief editor who led the selection of letters from more than 10,000 entries, has read many wills and death-bed letters.
He said the crew selected the letters from online resources or handwritten copies, and the team discovered that military officers and soldiers regularly wrote final letters before big battles.
“China’s mainstream education actually avoids talking about death, with such clues seen clearly in ancient school texts influenced by Confucius philosophy. It values the meaning of life and urges people to optimistically strive for this life,” Zhang said.
"Most Chinese would not prepare for death even after being seriously ill for a long time," he said.
“But wartime is an exceptional time and probably creates the largest number of wills in every era,” Zhang said.
“Warriors were ordered to write the last letters to their families. And the survivors would write other ‘last letters’ for the next battle if they didn’t die in the last.”
但他也提到一个很有意思的观点，那就是庙堂之高与江湖之远，对死亡的态度是不同的。
张子选长于西北农村，自小时，便见多了乡野对于死亡的仪式感。
他说，当地的老太太会把棺材放在房间里，每年到阳光晴好时，拿出寿衣来晒晒。
所以，死亡之于乡野，是人生，是日常；而于朝堂，是避讳，是模糊其辞。
而中国人鲜有留遗嘱、或是登讣告的传统，也是与这种死亡教育的缺失有关。
总导演关正文被双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）问到这个话题时，觉得又新鲜又感慨。
在他眼里，留遗书的人分两种，一种是可以生而选择死的，另一种是已到弥留之际或绝望中自行了断的。
前一种，有战斗到最后的陈京莹、有16岁以身殉国的夏完淳，这些革命烈士或古代义士，让关正文更为动容。
陈京莹留给父亲的遗书，字里行间都是家国的深沉感情。
夏完淳追随父亲，为反清复明舍身取义前，留下的铁血文字中，也有着对母亲、对怀孕妻子的内疚。
《见字如面》执行总导演刘宇，对“生死观”有着更为入世的认识。
他认为，遗书是和你在世间所关心的人、所爱护的人说再见的一个庄严仪式。所以，即使没有写这个的习惯，也不妨提前有所准备，不要让死亡来得太突然、太意外，让周边的人觉得措手不及。
提前留下对身后事的叮咛，何尝不是一种负责任的人生态度。
Liu Yu, executive director of the program, said a last letter is “a solemn ceremony to say farewell”.
“For family and friends, a last letter is an important legacy,” Liu added.
He said many Chinese don’t write wills or publish obituaries, and that they should write such letters to make sure that their children and loved ones follow their wishes after they are gone.
双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）也联系到杨雨教授，嗯，就是《见字如面》来自中南大学的那位特别有气质的美女拆信嘉宾。
杨雨对“中国人的生死观”这个命题，有着高屋建瓴的概括。
她认为，中国人自古以来，还是畏惧死亡，哀痛在意之人的离世，但这种畏惧之心可以通过信仰的执著和坚守来抵御，哀痛可以通过文化的传承、物质的转移来实现“子子孙孙无穷尽也”来化解。
她也提到，庄子在妻子死后，“击鼓而歌”的典故，也说明了中国人在儒家正统之外，还有道家这样一种面对生死的超然洒脱之态。
Yang Yu, a professor of ancient literature at the Changsha-based Central South University, as well as a guest commentator on the TV show, said Chinese mainly regard death as an inevitable end of life.
“Deeply influenced by Confucius philosophy, they can use faith to resist the fear of death, as well as the wish to pass on their knowledge and wealth to blood relations,” she said.
Using the example of Zhuang Zi, an ancient philosopher who played a drum to laugh and sing after his wife’s death, Yang said Taoists take death as a natural process to see a return to life’s origin.
双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）读完夏完淳的《狱中上母书》，也是唏嘘不已。
勤奋的双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）通读节目所选的遗书，还读了这些遗书的古文原文，那质感、风采，实在比明星的白话通俗版好太多。
下面，双语君（微信ID：Chinadaily_Mobile）特别挑选了几份遗书，献上独家双语版，和大家一起用心感受一下。
一直拿着国家的俸禄，也就没有了退路
陈京莹写给父亲
1894年9月
兹接中堂来电，召全军明日下午一点赴高。未知何故，然总存一死而已。儿幼蒙朝廷造就，授以守备。今年大阅，又保补用都司，并赏戴花翎。沐国恩不可谓之不厚矣。兹际国家有事，理应尽忠，此固人臣之本分也，况大丈夫得死战场，幸事尔。父亲大人年将古稀，若遭此事，格外悲伤，儿固知之详矣。但尽忠不能尽孝。忠虽以移孝作忠为辞，而儿不孝之罪，总难逃于天壤矣。然秀官年虽尚少，久莫能待，而诸弟及泉官年将弱冠，可以立业，以供菽水也。伏望勿以儿为念，且家中上下和睦为贵，则免儿忧愁于地下矣。若叨鸿福，可以得胜，且可侥幸，自当再报喜信。幸此幸此。
We’ve just received a telegram from his excellency Li (Li Hongzhang, then supreme official of the navy), who has ordered the troops to sail to Korea at 1 pm tomorrow. We don’t know what we will do, but I’m ready for death. I have benefited from the motherland as a youngster. Now it’s my duty to fight for it. Besides, it will be a glorious moment if I die in the battlefield. I know you (his father) will be very sad if I die, which I can picture now. But if I choose to be loyal to the country, it means I cannot take the responsibility to be a dutiful son at the same time ... My son is still very young. But what comforts me is that my younger brothers will soon become adults and have their own families and take care of you and mother. Please don’t mourn me all the time, otherwise, I will not stop to worry about you under the earth.
母亲，您不孝的儿子今天就要死了
夏完淳写给母亲
1647年（清顺治四年）
不孝完淳今日死矣。以身殉父，不得以身报母矣……淳死之后，新妇遗腹得雄，便以为家门之幸；如其不然，万勿置后。会稽大望，至今而零极矣。节义文章如我父子者几人哉？立一不肖后，如西铭先生为人所诟笑，何如不立之为愈耶......新妇结褵二年，贤孝素著。武功甥好为我善待之，亦武功渭阳情也......人生孰无死，贵得死所耳。父得为忠臣，子得为孝子，含笑归太虚，了我分内事。
I will soon die. As I’ve decided to devote my life to my father and the country, I cannot serve you, mothers (his father’s first wife and his biological mother). I married two years ago, my wife’s piety and virtuousness is known in the family. If she (at the time pregnant) delivers a boy, it will be a fortune for the family. But if not, please don’t adopt a son for me. Every man will die. If a man dies for what is right, he will become immortal. My father died as a man loyal to his country and I will die following him. I will smile to face it (execution). Let me just finish what I should do.
这一次，爸爸决定要躲好久好久
邱文周写给女儿
2001年
爸爸和你玩了好多次捉迷藏，每次都一下子就被你找出来。不过这一次，爸爸决定要躲好久好久。你先不要找，等你十六岁的时候，再问妈咪爸爸躲在哪里，好不好? 爸爸要躲这么久，你一定会想念爸爸，对不对？不过，爸爸不能随便跑出来，不然就输了。如果还是很想爸爸，爸爸就变魔法出现。爸爸的魔法是：趁你睡觉的时候，跑到你梦里大玩游戏。因为是魔法，不是真的出现，所以不犯规，爸爸不算输……要记得，爸爸一直都在陪着你。
Every time daddy plays the hide-and-seek game with you, you are always the quick winner. But this time, daddy decides to hide for a long, long time. Please don't be eager to look for me... but you must miss daddy, right? But I cannot show up, otherwise I will lose. If you really miss daddy, I can use magic to appear. But my magic is to sneak into your dreams and play games with you. Just remember, daddy will be always there with you.
又是一年清明时，说说你最想念谁？你有怎样的清明情思？而你又有怎样的生死观呢？
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