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Comment by 史識 庫 2 hours ago

嫣然《絲路上的南海東籬》
Yan Ran: Eastern Fence on the Maritime Silk Road

《簽字》

一紙紅印，指尖按下。
他不識字，只見掌心張開成海。
吏員說——去一年，回來便有錢。
誰知那一印，
是與故鄉的告別書。
墨未乾，船已鳴笛。
浪花蓋過了人聲。

文史札記：契約華工多由牙行招募，以拇指按印為信。合同往往以外文書寫，內容不明。赴古巴、秘魯、東南亞的華工出洋後，常遭欺詐與拘禁，形成十九世紀的「華工貿易」或「豬仔買賣」現象。當時文件中稱此為「contract coolies」。

旁註：命運從印泥開始紅，結束時卻無人簽收。

Signatures

A red seal pressed—
the fingertip descends.
He cannot read,
only sees his palm unfold into a sea.

The clerk said—
Go for a year, come back rich.
Who knew that print
was a farewell letter
to his home.

Ink still wet,
the ship already crying out;
waves drown every voice.

Historical Note: Coolie contracts were signed with thumbprints, recruited by brokers. The documents—foreign, unreadable—bound men to Cuba, Peru, or Southeast Asia. Many were deceived, confined, and sold under what became known as the coolie trade or piglet trade of the nineteenth century.

Marginalia:
Fate began in red ink—
and ended with no one to sign it off.
已故柯昭興留给我們的攝影佳作 The Unforgettable Photographic Masterpieces of the Late Harry Quah

溫柔的追憶——每一幅畫面仍在呼吸，
每一道光影都留存著他目光的溫度。
A gentle remembrance—each frame still breathing,
each shadow holding the warmth of his gaze.