点评:Canterbury Shaker Village is an historic site and living museum in Canterbury, NH. It was one of several Shaker communities founded in the 19th century and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993.
The site is now operated by a non-profit organization established in 1969 to preserve the heritage of the Canterbury Shakers.
For more than 200 years, the Canterbury Shakers called this place home. From 1792 to 1992, they created a society built on communalism, gender equity, racial equality, and pacifism. At its peak in 1850, there were roughly 300 shakers living on almost 3000 acres of land. Today, the Village consists of 26 historic buildings on 694 acres.
The Shakers were always celibate; their lives were divided along gender lines, with each gender living and working among their own. They ate separately, lived in separate dorms, worked at traditional gender related jobs in their community, and almost no one broke the rules. Yet their population increased by new converts; children in the non-Shaker community who needed homes, and rarely, a young mother with small children. They kept a school on the property and made sure the children under their care were educated properly.
Incoming adults were subject to training in Shaker ways and given a choice to stay on after that. If they chose to do so, they adopted the lifestyle, including the celibacy of the group.
This living museum impressed me, so that it seemed that a Shaker could walk out from one of the buildings and into our visit.
There were a couple of negatives. We were not allowed access to several buildings, with the biggest disappointment being the dwelling houses. And our guide seemed rude when asked questions, or when people sat or stood where he didn’t want them to. He would not have done well with children, but there were none on our tour.
翻译:坎特伯雷沙克村是位于新罕布什尔州坎特伯雷的一处历史遗址和活态博物馆。它是19世纪建立的几个沙克教社区之一,并于1993年被列为国家历史地标。
该遗址现由一个成立于1969年的非营利组织运营,旨在保护坎特伯雷沙克教的文化遗产。
两百多年来,坎特伯雷沙克教一直以此为家。从1792年到1992年,他们建立了一个以公社主义、性别平等、种族平等和和平主义为基础的社会。在1850年的鼎盛时期,约有300名沙克教徒居住在近3000英亩的土地上。如今,该村由26座历史建筑组成,占地694英亩。
沙克教徒始终保持独身;他们的生活按性别划分,男女各自生活和工作。他们分开用餐,住在单独的宿舍,从事社区内传统的性别相关工作,几乎没有人违反规矩。然而,他们的人口却不断增长,这主要得益于新皈依者;非震教徒社区中需要住所的儿童,以及极少数带着幼儿的年轻母亲。他们在自己的土地上开办了一所学校,确保孩子们得到良好的教育。
新来的成年人要接受震教徒的生活方式培训,之后可以选择是否留下。如果他们选择留下,就必须接受震教徒的生活方式,包括遵守团体的独身制度。
这座活生生的博物馆给我留下了深刻的印象,仿佛震教徒随时可以从其中一栋建筑里走出来,融入我们的参观之中。
但也有一些不足之处。我们被禁止参观几栋建筑,其中最令人失望的是那些住宅。而且,我们的导游在被问到问题或有人在他不希望他们坐下或站下的地方时,显得很粗鲁。他可能不太擅长与孩子相处,但我们这次参观的团里没有孩子。