作者介紹 風采中學（教育評議會主辦） 中國歷史科老師 王岳資 歷史思與行 一個朝代，一種藝術；有說文人畫 以宋代最好，戲曲盛於元朝；若說到唐 代是詩舞皆絕，同時還有一種工藝品 可以說是唐代盛世的文化載體，那便是 「唐三彩」。 1. 作為一種生活側寫， 今日的唐三彩又可 造出甚麼形象的作 品呢？ 2. 唐三彩作為唐代文 化輸出的象徵，今 日中國又有甚麼可 作為文化輸出的代 表？ 3. 透過文物研究歷史， 在劃破時空界限還 原處境的同時，文 物的研究存在甚麼 局限？身為國人， 又可如何為文物保 育出一分力？ 本欄逢周一刊登，由教育評議會邀請資深中小學老師及校長撰稿，以趣味手法，透過中國朝代的重要事件、史地、器物及人物，甚至朝代人物之超越時空故事，引發讀者對歷史的認識及興趣。 風采中學（教育評議會主辦） 圖書館主任及 中國文學科老師 程志森 3 ‧ 140 ‧ ‧ 7 70 40 715 751 200 300 讀社論學 英文 As the saying goes, "You would rather be born a bad life than have an inappropriate name." The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has said the term "virtual bank" is very unrealistic to create a negative impression. So it is carrying out a one-month consultation with the industry on using the term "licensed digital bank" instead. While this may change public perception, it will be difficult for virtual banks to compete with traditional ones under the harsh operating environment unless they develop innovative financial products. Since the first opened in 2020, there have been eight virtual banks operating for more than four years, but they have been suffering yearly losses, unable to break even. According to recent annual reports, virtual banks lost $2.99 billion last year, down from $3.4 billion in 2022, with MOX suffering the most at $744 million. This has caused concern in the industry about when things will improve. Public wary about no physical branches Of course, one cannot just blame the name. The Chinese name "虛銀" is a direct translation of "virtual bank", but it creates a negative impression of being "void" or "fake". As there has been a significant increase in financial frauds mostly involving online accounts, the Chinese term makes people feel insecure. To address unnecessary concerns and boost confidence, the HKMA has proposed the term "digital bank". Virtual banking is one of the fintech initiatives that the HKMA has been actively promoting. Hopefully retail services provided online or through smartphones will give clients a new experience and more privileges, such as higher deposit interests and lower fees to challenge traditional banking and boost financial inclusion. Dreams may be big, but reality is harsh. The biblical scenario of David defeating Goliath has never occurred. Since the introduction of virtual banking, the number of clients increased from 420,000 at the end of 2020 to 2.2 million last year by 4.5 folds. It is quite impressive, but a careful study will show that the deposits during the same period rose over 1.3 folds from $15.77 billion to $37 billion, an average of $16,800 per account. They accounted for only 0.23 per cent of the more than $16 trillion total deposits, reflecting that virtual banking is not a major line after all. The low popularity is not only due to its name, but more importantly, Hong Kong is very different from the US and Europe where people live in sparsely populated areas and need to travel downtown to find a bank. Virtual banking provides them convenience. Hong Kong, however, is small and densely populated. People can easily find a physical bank branch or ATM. This explains why when the HKMA issued virtual banking licences, many traditional big banks were cautious. Only the Bank of China and the Standard Chartered Bank participated. The r e s t we r e a l l new on l i ne f i nanc i a l institutions. Moreover, traditional banks have smartphone apps for opening accounts in recent years with no minimum deposit requirement and a low threshold for buying funds, so the virtual counterpart edge shrinks. Rent and manpower costs could be saved without physical branches, so virtual banks can offer ultra-high interest rates and special discounts. However, this is a double-edged sword. When customers encounter problems, they do not know where to go for help. Their calls to the customer service hotline are often not answered. Even though virtual banks are subject to HKMA regulation with a deposit protection limited to $500,000, the absence of physical branches has made people wary. Meanwhile, only three of the eight virtual banks provide physical cards that can be used to withdraw money from designated ATMs. However, some virtual banks will be updating their service charges. From July, an ATM withdrawal and a foreign currency purchase made with a QR code will require a $15 fee and one per cent commission respectively. User preference may be affected. Find way out with innovative products In the past few years, virtual banks have been spending extravagantly to attract customers, while their business is not comprehensive, mainly focused on deposits and personal loans. Even though some have insurance products or financial management services, such as zero fund subscription fee and low threshold, there are fewer choices. So they cannot compete with traditional banks. More innovative products are thus needed to jump out of the traditional framework with virtual banks creating a unique position and changing public perception. It will not only bring new opportunities but also enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international financial centre. 翻譯自5月7日《星島日報》社論 （http://std.stheadline.com/） perception (n) ——看法 innovative (adj) ——創新的 void (adj) ——空洞的 fintech (adj) ——金融科技的 privilege (n) ——特權 impressive (adj) ——亮麗的 sparsely (adv) ——稀疏地 extravagantly (adv) —— 浪費地 Vocabulary virtual bank —— 虛擬銀行 financial fraud —— 金融騙案 financial inclusion —— 普惠金融 double-edged sword —— 雙刃劍 Useful Terms The HKMA earlier reminded the public that crypto firms are not banks in Hong Kong. With no supervision by the HKMA, funds placed with them are not protected by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme. Only licensed banks, restricted licence banks and deposittaking companies licensed by the HKMA can carry out banking or deposit-taking business in Hong Kong. Did you know? No David-Goliath myth, virtual banks can't match traditional giants 翻譯︰George 1. The word _____ in the first paragraph is the opposite of "contemporary". 2. Virtual banks have been suffering _____ losses. 3. In the passage, the word _____ means "contracts". 4. People are worried about virtual banks because they have no _____ branches. 5. According to the last paragraph, virtual banks need more _____ financial products. Answers 1. traditional 2. yearly 3. shrinks 4. physical 5. innovative & Q A 唐三彩用途 ■《三彩花瓣式三足盤》 D6 侷芎 01.03.2025 星期五 大放異﹁彩﹂ 的唐三彩 何謂﹁唐三彩﹂ ？ ﹁唐三彩﹂是指盛行於唐代的多彩鉛釉陶器，其造型生動逼真、色澤 艷麗和富有生活氣息，反映大唐的繁榮昌盛，是中國古代藝術寶庫中的 珍品。從考古資料看，唐三彩源自兩漢始，經北朝、隋代至唐代達到鼎 盛。﹁三﹂ 在古語中意為多，所以習慣稱之為﹁唐三彩﹂ 。但實際上，唐三 彩的顏色豐富多彩，種類也很多，有二彩、四彩甚至多彩。當中﹁三彩﹂ 主要使用黃、綠、白種色彩，這些色彩通常採用自然礦物質製成的釉 料來實現。黃色通常象徵財富和權力，綠色則多用於表現自然和生命， 而白色則多用於描繪人物的皮膚和衣物。唐三彩的種類非常豐富，包括 人物、動物、器皿等多種形態。其中馬和人像最為經典，常用作隨葬品。 揭示唐人生活 透過唐三彩的人物造型及動物神態，可側面得知唐人生活面貌。以 下從女性形象、馬及駱駝的神態品種分析，一窺唐人文化。 女性形象： 在唐三彩人物俑中，女俑面容祥和、體態多姿，有着鮮明 的時代風采。唐三彩的女性多為高髻胖體、坦胸寬衣，展現了﹁豐肌秀 骨﹂的時代特色。根據古代資料記載，唐代婦女的髮型多達 餘種，高者 盈尺，低者脫垂，或正或斜，若實若虛，不勝枚舉，甚至有 ﹁雙鬟望月﹂ 之類複雜而具有文化意義的造型，實屬其他時代所罕見。唐三彩女俑把 當時婦女千姿百態的髮型表現得淋漓盡致。由此可見，唐代女性毫不掩 飾、大膽而熱烈地表現自己的美，只有真正盛世才能把純粹女性之美置 於崇高地位。 馬：唐墓中出土數量最多的動物俑是三彩馬，其造型極其生動而逼 真，而且比例準確、線條流暢，甚至可以使人辨認出不少馬的品種，如 中亞的大宛馬及新疆的烏孫馬，這反映了唐人常經絲綢之路跟西方商旅經 商的痕跡。而馬在唐代是力量和速度的象徵，代表強大的威力，無論是 保衛疆土，還是生產勞動；無論是宮廷典禮，還是貴族遊樂，似乎事無鉅 細都離不開馬。唐三彩多以馬的形象作陶器，亦反映了盛唐大國之風，盡 顯大唐之威。 駱駝： 唐三彩的駱駝形象亦反映了胡漢文化融合的現象，以︽唐三彩駱 駝載樂俑︾為例，駱駝昂首挺拔，口向上張着，眼睛炯炯有神，好似在鳴 叫，駱駝的背上有一塊圓形的毛氈，毛氈上有高聳載人的支架放於駝峰 之上，支架上鋪着一條長方形格子花紋的毛氈，毛氈上端坐着 個陶俑 人物，他們分別朝着不同方向，手中拿着不同樂器，樂器包括箜篌、琵 琶、笙、簫、拍板、笛子等，正在全神貫注地演奏樂曲；其中坐在中間 的人物陶俑，體態豐韻，五官精巧，形象逼真，衣裙寬鬆，健康爽朗， 在駱駝上表演肢體舞蹈。漢胡樂器同被吹奏，合樂而歌，雖未能從唐三 彩聽出音樂風格 但陶像定格於此，已反映了漢胡文化融合之況。 國際軟實力代表 唐代的中國與今天無異，甚具國際地位。據︽新唐書︾ 和︽舊唐書︾ 所 述，世界多個國家、亞洲多個國家與唐朝有頻繁來往；據學者統 計，只計算西元至 年間經絲綢之路來朝，只計算波斯、天竺、吐火 羅及粟特諸國，已達次。又︽唐六典︾ 所載，唐朝與多達 個國家有外 交關係。那一個華洋雜處的時代，亦令唐三彩的製作上添加異域色彩。 深目高鼻，濃密捲曲頭髮，或戴具異域色彩的各式尖帽等胡人造型的唐 三彩作品眾多。造型以外，在文化交匯的情況下，唐三彩甚至出現西方 神話故事人物，如︽唐三彩武士俑︾ ，其老虎頭飾造型與站姿，恰若希臘 神話的大力士海格力斯；或西安月登閣唐墓出土的三彩角杯，實為希臘 海特里造型。希臘神話怎樣經絲綢之路傳入中國，又是一個豐富有趣 的故事，於此所見，從唐三彩的異域色彩，見證了唐代多元的國際交流 狀況。 所謂有來就有往，互市興盛情況下，貨如輪轉，唐三彩雖墓品，亦 為工藝品，因此在文化輸出過程中，唐三彩的足跡亦遍布歐亞。有考古 發現，遠至中東今日之伊拉克，其底格里斯河西岸之沙瑪拉遺址，便出 土當時中國遠銷的商品。當中不少國家的許多地方已發現了唐三彩的蹤 跡，較重要的地區如埃及開羅南郊的福斯特、伊拉克巴格達北面的薩馬 拉和伊朗的內沙布爾等。至於亞洲其他地區，如日本亦發現很多唐三彩 作品，如玄海灘的絕島、沖繩之島等古代遺址，或奈良的大安寺、金堂 和講堂遺址裏都有唐三彩。唐三彩以工藝品形式流轉，同步它的技術與 風格，亦促成中國與其他 在藝術創作的交流，影響其他地區創作。 目前有學者認為，唐三彩可能與早期伊斯蘭陶藝創作融合，催生北非所 見的﹁埃及三彩﹂ ；亦有學者指奈良、新羅、波斯的三彩製作，都受唐三 彩影響。唐三彩可以說是盛唐 一種軟實力代表。 從紙本到真貌 唐三彩是一種三維立體的工藝品，其中集合了雕塑、繪畫的元素， 亦講求高度精準的化學理論實踐。因此要透徹了解唐三彩，必須從多角 度探討。北京大學出版社的︽大唐的顏色：唐三彩面面觀︾ 是一部很好的 入門。作者趙宇共通過多方面的研究，以博物館藏品及各種已發表材 料，包括考古報告及文獻，於書中以種類、數量、使用等各層面介紹唐 三彩，讀者可從不同角色了解唐三彩。書中亦解答一般人對唐三彩的疑 問，如用色是否需要統一、如何鑑賞唐三彩作品等等，解答各式問題， 同時附上豐富的彩圖輔助闡述，因此︽大唐的顏色：唐三彩面面觀︾ 適合 師生或親子共讀。若想一睹唐三彩真貌，其實亦不難香港藝術館館藏 中，就有一尊三彩鎮墓獸。此作品造型與色彩別具特色，大眾遊覽藝術 館時，可親身看看唐三彩的的獨特美態。 人的功過終在歷史洪流中消散，卻是一磚瓦比人的音容更歷久不 衰。文化藝術的價值永恆，各類文化作品中的小部分，便能側寫一個 文明進程；唐三彩乃中華文化的鳳毛麟角，已足見唐一代盛世。從發 跡、流轉到延續成為後來的宋三彩、遼三彩等，發掘出來的每件唐三彩 都是中國和人類文明的瑰寶。 裝飾品 精美的唐三彩作品，多為達官貴人家中 的裝飾品，是一種身份地位的象徵。 陪葬品器皿 為古代日常生活器皿，種類如盤、瓶、 壺、盆、枕、碗等，用於不同情境。 這類型作品一般於墓中發現。例如達官 貴人以唐三彩的文官俑陪葬，以文官向 閻王求情，盼有更好的輪迴；傭人俑， 讓達官貴人死後人侍候；鎮墓獸則用 作祈求逝者安息，守護墓地。
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