Pride goes before what? The great adage, “Pride goes before a fall”(1) comes from the most translated book in the world. So when anyone claims to be first this or that, is that being prideful? For example, I’ve lived in academia for decades, so I’m particularly familiar with the academic desire to be the first to do this or that. So is this desire a problem? That could spoil all the fun!

骄傲在什么以先？世界上译本最多的书中有一句著名的谚语:“骄傲在败坏以先”（1）。那么，如果有人宣称自己是某一领域的先驱的话，这算骄傲吗？比如说，我有几十年的学术界经验，非常熟悉在学术上渴望做某个领域的第一人。那么，这种愿望有问题吗？如果有，那不就太让人扫兴了吗？

It’s commonly even wisely said, “The greater the height, the greater the fall.” Warnings like these definitely made me hesitate when I dared to claim to be first whatever. And maybe it wasn’t even polite to claim that!

有一句广为流传的智慧的说法：“爬得高，摔得惨 ”。当我敢宣称自己在任何事情上是最先做到的时候，这类的警告绝对会令我犹豫不决。也许这样的宣称甚至也是不礼貌的！

But it’s really a lot of fun. Phrasing a result as the first whatever sounds really exciting. The first time it was done, the first Asian who did this, the first ethnic Chinese who did that. It definitely all seems to be great fun…I suppose if we don’t go overboard on it!

可是，真的很有趣啊！把结果以“第一个某某”的方式表达出来，听起来都让人兴奋。第一次有人这么做，第一位做这个的亚洲人，第一位做那个的华人等等。确实显得乐趣无穷……只要不太过头！

Indeed in academic research, we are in the business of discovery, to find something new, which by definition means it’s the first time.
的确，在学术研究当中，我们在探索，为了寻找新的发现，顾名思义，这就意味着第一次。

Aren’t we even primed as humans to search and discover? And I suspect we actually are “primed” to search and discover, to be pioneering firsts. But to be precise, being first in time doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better than others, just it was the earliest! So there’s no need to be too proud, just be joyful!

作为人类，我们是不是生来就具有探索和发现的天赋？我猜，我们天生就具备探索和发现的能力，做最初的开拓者。可是，准确地说，在时间上做到第一不见得意味着比其他人好，只是最早而已！所以，不必太过于骄傲，高兴就可以了！

I had some amusement analyzing some so-called first this or that in my own slightly complicated life. I discovered that, while it was fun, the first whatever was usually a pretty simple matter, and little to be too proud about!

我对自己稍微复杂的人生中的所谓“首次”进行了分析，结果比较有趣。我发现，虽然做到“首次”很有意思，但一般来说，这是一件很简单的事情，没多少可值得骄傲的！

It’s mostly a matter of right time, right place, plus right preparation! I discovered, to my gentle surprise, that there was really not much reason to be puffed up at all. Realistically, others could very well have done it if they had been there, in the right circumstances! But still I was glad to be there. Often it was even a “providential moment”, a tian yi, or heaven’s moment, a blessed moment.

主要是要有合适的时间，合适的地点，加上合适的预备！我略感惊讶地发现，其实完全没有什么自高自大的理由。实际上，如果是别人在同样合适的情况下，他们也完全可以做到“首次”！可是，我依然很高兴这个人是我自己。很多情况下，这可以说是一个“天命之时刻”，天意如此，亦或说是蒙福的时刻。

And anyway, someone had to go first. So savor the moment, a satisfying moment! A good smile, a cheerful time to celebrate! But indeed, don’t overdo it!! And remember, we’re usually standing on lots of great, good shoulders.

反正，总得有首次做的一个人。所以，好好享受那令人心满意足的时刻！灿烂的笑容，庆祝的快乐时光！但确实，不要太过分！而且要记得，我们一般都站在很多伟人的肩膀上。

Except for one who had no shoulders to stand on. Historically, Adam was the most dramatic first, and by definition, the earliest pioneer for innumerable roles! He made no claims, yet 50% of the world considers him as the first. You can’t beat that! The first of the firsts.

除了没有肩膀可站的那一位之外。在历史上，亚当是最有戏剧性的先行者，且在定义上，是无数不同角色的最早先驱。他没有做任何宣称，但世界上50%的人都认为他是最先的那个第一。这是无法打败的！第一中的第一。

And uniquely, there were no great shoulders for him to stand on. Time and place were perfect, but there was no real preparation, nor any particular “merit”, since he was just created humbly from the “dust of the Earth”!

而且，唯独他不能站在伟人肩膀上。他有完美的时间和地点，但没有真正的预备，也没有任何“功绩”可言，因为他只是从“地上的尘土”卑微地被创造出来的！

For everyone else, think also poetically of “ancestral genes” from small remote villages. It’s sobering to realize how many things that we are “proud of” today, are directly or indirectly because of our forebears. Often forgotten and unacknowledged, their genes, ancestral village traditions and culture often had great yet subtle bearing on us today. Our lives didn’t start from zero.

对所有其他人而言，也可以满怀诗意地想象一下自己来自偏僻小村的“祖先基因”。发人深省的是，我们今天许多引以为豪的东西都应直接或间接地归功于我们的祖先。他们的基因、古老乡村的传统和文化都常常被遗忘而得不到承认，却对我们产生深远又微妙的影响。我们的生命不是从零开始的。

And in my own story there were even forgotten, fearless, truly pioneering cross-cultural missionaries who traveled thousands of miles to reach my ancestors and change their lives.

在我自己的故事中甚至还有被人遗忘的，勇敢而真正具有开拓性的跨文化宣道人。他们不远千里来到我祖先那里，改变了他们的生命。

“Asian influx time”. The 1960s was a historic American time of large numbers of foreign Asian students arriving especially from Taiwan and some from Hong Kong. There was a strange fervor throughout the country. You could walk into any university, and easily find a Chinese language group studying the most published book in the world. In Cincinnati this happened, and by 1970, we had morphed into the first Chinese church in Cincinnati, practically as simple as that! It was clearly providential, and way beyond us!

“亚洲潮时代”。1960年代在美国是历史性的时代，有大量的海外亚洲学生来到美国，尤其是来自台湾和一些来自香港的学生。当时一种奇异的浪潮遍及全国。你走进任何一所大学，很容易便会发现一群说华语的学生在研读世界上销量最多的书。这也发生在辛辛那提市，而到了1970年，我们已经演变成辛辛那提的第一个华语教会。基本上就是如此简单！这显然是天意如此的，完全超越我们自己的能力！

My helpful visionary secondary school. My organizational skills came in handily. They had been honed unconsciously in an Anglican middle/high school in Hong Kong that was heavily focused on developing leadership and character. (2) I thrived in that environment, and became an executive student leader and organizer, as head prefect in this British “public school” (which is actually private!) A great choice by my parents with no input from me! But a perfect preparation for my life and work.

我上过的有远见的中学。我的组织能力派上了用场。这些技能是在香港一所非常注重培养领导力和品格发展的圣公会中学潜移默化地被磨练出来的（2）。我在这种环境中茁壮成长，当了这所英式的“公立学校”（实际上它是私立的！）的一个级长——成为一名学生干部和组织者。这归功于我父母做的一个非常好的选择，并未征求我的意见！可是，对我的人生和事业而言，这是很完美的预备。

Babies and babies keep rolling out. Timing had a lot to do with my becoming a nutrition expert in neonatology, the care of newly born infants. The field of neonatology itself was literally just being born, and so we first new neonatologists were swept up in the excitement of a new discipline, and the novel research opportunities for understanding our precious babies. Truly as momentous as the actual birth of a baby!

宝宝们一波一波不停地出生。我之所以会成为新生儿学科的营养专家，就是照顾刚出生婴儿的专家，跟时机有密切关系。当时，新生儿学科本身作为一门科学刚刚诞生，于是我们作为第一批新生儿科医生，满怀兴奋地投入到这门全新学科中，利用新的研究机会，了解认识宝贵的新生儿们。当时的感觉，真的就像一个婴儿诞生的重大时刻一样！

Tunnel vision and focus. My mantra to my students was “focus, focus, focus”. As I became fascinated by and focused on calcium research in babies, I naturally became the first whatever in neonatal calcium nutrition. There was actually even “very little competition”! Perfect timing and place, in my view.

隧道视野和聚焦。我对我学生的口号是“聚焦，聚焦，聚焦”。当我被婴儿的钙营养研究所吸引并专注于其中时，我在新生儿钙营养的领域自然而然成为了“首次某某”的那个人。其实当时“竞争很少”！在我看来，当时的时机和我所处的位置是完美的。

My earlier and ongoing training in scientific investigation and statistics fit perfectly with the time and place. Soon I became jokingly, but affectionately I think, “Mr. Calcium”, which doesn’t really sound like my preferred warm and cuddly persona at all!

我之前受过的和正在接受的科研和统计学训练给我提供了完美的时间和地点。人们很快开始戏谑并亲切地称呼我为“钙先生”。这听起来和我所喜欢的热情可爱的形象一点都不相吻合！

What happens when there are only two Asians left? There were only two Asian Chinese doctors on the faculty at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in my early days there. The other one left, and I became the only one remaining, so quickly and naturally I became the “first Asian” this or that, such as Head of a Clinical Division (just requires doing a good job); University Drake Award, the highest academic award (I’m guessing the award committee subconsciously might have decided this role model award should include Asians); Vice-Chairman of Pediatrics (someone’s got to do it) etc. All fun but no need to dwell on these!

只剩两个亚洲人的时候会发生什么？我在辛辛那提儿童医院工作的早期，教职员中只有两位亚裔华人医生。另一位离开之后，我就成为了剩下的唯一一位，于是很快自然而然地成为这个或那个的“第一位亚裔”。例如：临床系系主任（只需要把工作做好就可以了）；学术最高奖 – University Drake奖的获得者（我猜颁奖委员会可能下意识地决定这个榜样奖项应该包含亚裔）；儿科副主任（总得有人做）等等。都是很有趣的，但不必详谈！

Essentially a matter of timing and just being there! Just stick around, things happen!

基本上是时机对和人在场的问题！只要坚持下去，事情就会发生！

Forgetting personal credits. As mentioned, I attended a very fine middle/high school. In particular, there was a huge emphasis on teamsmanship, so as the student leader, I instinctively learned how to organize teams of people for many school efforts. Rather than trying to do everything solo and claiming the entire credit.

忘记个人荣誉。我在前面提到，我曾就读的中学非常优秀。他们特别重视团队精神，所以我作学生领袖的时候，本能地学会了把人组织成团队来完成学校的各种项目。而并不是试图单枪匹马地完成一切，把全部功劳归于自己。

In my academic life, I made a little triangular desk sign with a motto from Charles Barrett at our Medical School, “It’s remarkable how much work can be done if we don’t worry about credits.” This amazingly useful sign stared approvingly at me every day in my office.

我在学术界时，曾制作了一块三角形的桌面标牌，上面有我们医学院的查尔斯·巴雷特（Charles Barrett）的格言：“只要我们不纠结于功劳，我们能够完成的工作量便非常惊人”。这块特别有用的标牌每天都在我的办公室以赞赏的眼光提醒着我。

Inspiring young, first authored papers and papers. So step by step, the teams in my life grew, resulting in acquiring research grant after grant (>30 million USD) and lots of team-written scientific papers.

激励年轻人写出一篇又一篇的第一作者文章。我生活中的不同团队一步步地壮大，获得了一个又一个科研基金（总额超过3000万美元），还有大量团队撰写的科研论文。

Subconsciously I encouraged my trainee fellows by always giving them first-author positions for their publications. It was fairer, and had the additional happy result of extra-high motivation to write and write loads of papers!

我在潜意识中鼓励我培训的学生，每次让他们当文章的第一作者。这样做更加公平，而且带来另外一个令人高兴的结果：他们有了格外大的动力去写出一批又一批的文章！

As team leader of different research teams, I was really quite surprised that I soon (quite unintentionally) became the first Asian this or that in receiving national awards in nutrition research. All probably based simply on the sheer volume of our team papers. Just write more papers, I guess; it’s quite simple!

作为不同科研团队的带领人，我确实比较惊讶地发现自己很快（完全无意地）成为营养研究领域获得这个或那个国家大奖的第一位亚裔。很可能这一切只是基于我们团队的论文数量之多。看来，只要写更多的论文就行——道理很简单吧！

It really just happens. And inevitably the usual sequence in academia seems to be that, step by step, one becomes president of this or that medical society etc. These “honors” are just really part of normal academic development. The fact that I was the first Asian something, was really quite irrelevant. It was just timing and had to happen sooner or later. Just the laws of statistics.

事情真的就顺其自然地发生了。在学术界，一个常规而必然的程序似乎是，一个人一步一步地成为某个医学会的主席等等。这些“荣誉”只不过是正常学术发展的一部分。我是某方面的第一位亚裔这个事实，实际上并不重要。只是时机来了，早晚会发生的。仅仅是统计规律。

Don’t forget moms! In the USA, pediatrics (usually located in children’s hospitals) is usually much stronger in academic research than obstetrics is. Maybe there are just more pediatricians. The obvious obstetrics research gap became a perfect opportunity for multidisciplinary team research into mother and baby. This field officially became a new field of “perinatal and neonatal research”.

别忘记妈妈们！在美国，儿科（一般设在儿童医院）的学术研究通常比产科要强多了。这可能只是因为有更多儿科医生。明显存在的产科研究缺口便成为了跨学科团队进行母婴研究的绝佳机会。该领域正式成为全新的“围产期和新生儿研究”领域。

As leaders in newborn baby research, we believed this new perinatal research field could indeed flourish if we drew together researchers from different academic disciplines at our renowned Children’s Hospital. That’s how we readily created the so-called first Perinatal Research Institute in the country, and likely even in the world. Our medical center was conveniently full of highly dedicated scientists who were readily mobilized for this fascinating effort.

作为新生婴儿研究的领头人，我们相信，只要从我们这间著名儿童医院的不同学科汇集研究员，一定可以让这新兴的围产期研究领域蓬勃发展。我们便这样迅速地创立了所谓全国第一的，很可能也是全球第一的，围产期研究院。我们的医学中心很趁手地集中了许多高度敬业的科学家，很容易被调动到这项吸引人的工作中。

Simply because it was the right time and place, and we could rapidly witness the power of working together across many different disciplines. Since the research field was so fresh, all the work across disciplines was really by definition pioneering. It was literally exciting, and easily spurred even greater vision among the research teams.

这一切仅仅是因为合适的时间和地点，而且我们很快可以见证跨学科合作的力量。因为研究领域是全新的，任何跨学科的工作在定义上就是开拓性的。这非常令人振奋，并且很容易在研究团队中激发起更大的洞见和愿景。

Dramatic opening of “mysterious” China in the 1980s. When China began opening up in the 1980s, after decades of hiding, it was still considered “mysterious, enigmatic, and unknown”, thus a perfect time to enter to offer help in medical care.

“神秘”中国在1980年代戏剧性地打开国门。在1980年代，当中国在隐匿了几十年之后开始开放时，它仍然被认为是“神秘莫测而陌生的”，这是进入中国提供医疗帮助的最佳时机。

In the Christian spirit, an important emphasis is often on helping when needed. Thus, three of us, Richard with key connections, James with strong spiritual heritage, and I were able to “re-pioneer” medical mission teams going into China. (3)

基督教精神重视帮助有需求的人。所以，有人脉的理查德、具备属灵传承的泰勒博士和我三人能够“重新开拓”医疗援助团队进入中国。(3)

I use the unusual term re-pioneer, because way before us, for nearly 150 years, tens of thousands of true medical pioneers had been doing this. But they had to leave China in the 1950s. Now we were building on their great broad shoulders.

我使用“重新开拓”这一特殊的词，因为早在我们之前，在将近150年时间里，已经有数以万计的真正的医疗开拓者一直在这么做。可是，在1950年代，他们不得不离开中国。现在我们在他们的伟大而宽厚的肩膀上继续发展。

As I helped in this re-beginning of medical mission work (in my first early retirement), we chose to work particularly in minority and poverty areas, trying to provide medical help and be role models for local doctors and nurses. This mission, aptly named Medical Services International, drew volunteers from all over the world, and continues today, after 28 years, confirming the validity of a sensitive and humble cross-cultural approach.

我在帮助重新开始医疗援助工作的时候（在我第一次提前退休时），我们选择重点在少数民族和贫困地区工作，试图提供医疗帮助，并给当地医生和护工做榜样。这项被恰当地命名为国际医疗服务的工作吸引了来自全球各地的志愿者，并在28年之后的今天仍在继续，证实了谨慎而谦卑的跨文化做法的有效性。

A program cutely called Bang Bao. Names usually mean something highly significant in Chinese. In perfect timing, in my second retirement effort, after I returned from rural China missions, I focused on training of highly educated China medical scholars.

可爱的“帮宝”项目。在中文里，名字一般都有深刻的含义。恰逢其时，就在我离开中国乡村援助工作回来并准备第二次退休时，我开始专注于培训具备高学历的中国医学学者。

We were able to do this perfectly through the extensive research and clinical departments of our huge Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. This was often because of my many “perfectly timed”, but previously unplanned, academic connections in China. The program was cutely known as the Bang Bao Program, which means “Nurturing the Precious” in Chinese. (4)

通过庞大的辛辛那提儿童医院及其丰富的研究和临床部门，我们完全可以做这个培训。我在中国有很多没有提前预备却通过“恰逢其时”而产生的学术界关系，而它们常常起到了关键作用。这个项目有个可爱的名字叫做帮宝项目，它的中文意思是“孕育宝贝”。（4）

Large numbers of Scholars came to Cincinnati for training. At its peak, we had 100 (!) medical scholars from all major children’s hospitals in China. The China scholars program happened at the right time and place. It was quite amazing, or pioneering, but also seemingly providential! It was quite a shock even to me to see it really happening!

有大量的学者来到辛辛那提受培训。在鼎盛时期，我们有来自中国的各大儿童医院的100（！）位医学学者。这个中国学者项目是在合适的时间和地点出现的。真的很奇妙，或者说是开拓性的，但也似乎冥冥中自有天意！看到事情真的在发生，连我自己都很震惊！

Fun and goals. Don’t get me wrong. Indeed time, place and preparation are usually essential ingredients to bring forth those “firsts”. But, any “credit” we might personally claim is comparatively small. We actually may even have just “come along for the ride”. And, to round out any story, it’s fun often to also include a perspective of, what are the long term, even eternal, impact or potential of any pioneering firsts?

有趣与目标。别误会。确实，时间、地点和预备一般是结出那些“首次”成果的关键要素。然而，相比之下，任何我们个人可宣称的“功劳”都是微不足道的。事实上，我们甚至可能只是来“搭顺风车”的。而且，作为任何故事的正常结尾，把开拓性的第一次所产生的长期或甚至永久影响的角度加进去，做一些思考常常是很有趣的。

Pioneering is truly a lot of fun, really energizing, and often very meaningful. Good cheers to you if you’re doing such interesting work! But stay humble.

投身于开拓性的工作真的很有趣，使人充满活力，而且通常很有意义。如果你正在从事如此有意思的事业，给你喝一声彩！可是同时，请保持谦卑。

Postscript.

The greatest pioneering, yet humble, astronomer.

The universally acclaimed greatest astronomer in history, Johannes Kepler had the right attitude. He declared that his dramatic truly pioneering attempts to discover the great mysteries of the heavens, which were earthshaking in long term impact, were simply trying to understand how the original very first pioneer, the Creator, thought about His universe. A starkly humbling attitude.

后记

最伟大的却谦卑的天文学先驱。

历史上举世公认最伟大的天文学家约翰内斯·开普勒的态度是正确的。尽管开普勒的发现给后世带来了翻天覆地的长久影响，他却声称，他为发现天上的伟大奥秘而做出的真正开拓性的惊人努力，仅仅是企图了解宇宙真正的首位开创者，那位造物主，对祂的宇宙的看法。这种态度明显非常谦卑。

References
1.Proverbs 16:18

2.Wang, FY and Chan-Yeung, MWM. To serve and to lead: a history of the Diocesan Boys School Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2009

3.https://reggietales.org/?s=First+medical

4.https://reggietales.org/cincinnatis-p-g-nurturing-a-precious-legacy-a-bang-bao-story/

参考资料
1.箴言16章18节

2.Wang, FY, Chan-Yeung, MWM. To serve and to lead: a history of the Diocesan Boys School Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2009 （译注：香港拔萃男书院的历史，由香港大学出版社出版）。

3.曾叔叔讲故事：第一次医疗援助服务 https://reggietales.org/?s=First+medical

4.曾叔叔讲故事：辛辛那提的宝洁：孕育珍贵的传承，帮宝项目的故事 https://reggietales.org/cincinnatis-p-g-nurturing-a-precious-legacy-a-bang-bao-story/