《中國知識的價(jià)格》選段

《中國知識的價(jià)格》選段

近年來，我常受邀到國外參加研討會(huì)并主旨發(fā)言，偶爾會(huì)收到課酬。起初，有一些驚喜，慢慢就習(xí)慣了。一二十年前，若能得到國際研討會(huì)邀請，通常學(xué)者們會(huì)忙著向?qū)W校申請各項(xiàng)資助。這些年，一些活躍的中國學(xué)者不僅頻繁得到國際邀請，對方負(fù)責(zé)差旅、食宿等所有費(fèi)用，有時(shí)還會(huì)得到酬勞、享受頭等艙往返待遇等。

I have often been invited to seminars abroad and give keynote speeches in recent years, and was occasionally remunerated, which surprised me at first but then I gradually got used to it. A decade or two ago, if invited to international seminars, Chinese scholars would usually be busy applying for financial aid from schools.But over recent years, some active Chinese scholars have been frequently invited by international organizations that will pay for their travel, accommodation and other expenses, and sometimes even offer them remuneration as well as a first-class round trip.

盡管酬勞不多，但這個(gè)小變化卻具有重大意義，折射的是中國學(xué)者的崛起，也是中國知識的升值，更是中國國家崛起而帶來國際知識體系的重構(gòu)。

Although the amount of remuneration is not big, this small change is of great significance. It reflects the rise of Chinese scholars, the appreciation of Chinese knowledge, as well as the reconstitution of the international knowledge system brought about by the rise of China.

按伊曼紐爾·沃勒斯坦在《否思社會(huì)科學(xué)》一書邏輯，當(dāng)代學(xué)術(shù)界對世界變化的分析，長期局限于19世紀(jì)的西方學(xué)科范式。所謂經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)、政治學(xué)、歷史學(xué)、人類學(xué)、社會(huì)學(xué)的理論假設(shè)與敘事，是基于西方社會(huì)的實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)與行為慣性，逐漸構(gòu)建成了全球約10萬所大學(xué)的院系框架與學(xué)術(shù)譜系。

According to US sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein's book Unthinking Social Science, the analysis of world change in contemporary academia has long been confined to the Western paradigms of the 19th century. The so-called theoretical assumptions and narratives of economics, politics , history, anthropology and sociology are based on the experience and behavioral inertia of Western society, and gradually build up the faculty framework and academic pedigree of about 100,000 universities around the world.

在兩百年的全球?qū)W術(shù)延承中，中國知識分子的地位，尤其是哲學(xué)與社會(huì)科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的學(xué)者，長期處在從屬、被啟蒙、學(xué)習(xí)者的地位。中國大學(xué)的院系劃分、教材標(biāo)準(zhǔn)、研究方法與理論概念多數(shù)都來源于西方。中國的學(xué)術(shù)書店里，多數(shù)書籍是譯著;中國的大學(xué)必讀書目里，多數(shù)是西方著作;中國學(xué)生的學(xué)術(shù)論文寫作中，文獻(xiàn)綜述離不開西方理論。

In the 200 years of global academic development, Chinese intellectuals, especially those specialized in the field of philosophy and social sciences, have long been the learners in a subordinate position.Faculty division, standards of teaching materials,research methods and theoretical concepts of Chinese universities mostly come from the West. In academic bookstores in China, many books are translated from another language. Most of the books on the list of required readings in Chinese universities are Western works. Furthermore, while writing their academic papers, Chinese students can hardly work out the literature review without referring to Western theories.

中國貨物貿(mào)易長期處在順差，但知識貿(mào)易，中國卻是絕對的逆差。沒有任何一位中國學(xué)者的著作能在國際圖書市場上暢銷，在全球各個(gè)大學(xué)的推薦書目中很少有中國學(xué)者的著作，通行于世界的社會(huì)科學(xué)理論鮮有記述中國的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。在這樣的背景下，怎么會(huì)有國際機(jī)構(gòu)愿意為中國學(xué)者的演講出高酬勞呢?

China has had a trade surplus for a long time, but is in absolute deficit when it comes to knowledge trade. There had been no Chinese scholar with an international bestseller to his name. Few Chinese scholars' works were on the list of recommended bibliographies of universities all over the world, and theories in social sciences popular around the world seldom mentioned China.

不過，近些年，事情正在起變化。當(dāng)“一帶一路”不能在西方任何書籍中找到溯源，當(dāng)中國發(fā)展經(jīng)驗(yàn)超越西方理論的解釋力，當(dāng)中國角色在全球治理的作用越來越大時(shí)，世界漸漸發(fā)現(xiàn)了過去被遺忘的中國知識的重要性。一些英文表達(dá)不錯(cuò)的學(xué)者，自然在國際知識市場里有了價(jià)值。

In recent years, however, things have been changing. When the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative cannot be traced to any Western book, when China's development experience surpasses the explanatory power of Western theories, when the role of China in global governance is increasing, the world has gradually come to recognize the importance of Chinese knowledge which was forgotten in the past. Some Chinese scholars fluent in English naturally gain more value in the international knowledge market.

但目前中國知識的價(jià)格仍較低。據(jù)我所知，以名人經(jīng)紀(jì)方式安排全球演講的機(jī)構(gòu)“國際演講局”有份價(jià)目表，諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)、國際暢銷書作家一場演講的價(jià)格通常在5萬-15萬美元。這份價(jià)格表名單中，僅有少數(shù)幾位中國學(xué)者。有一位全球知名的中國經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家曾私下告訴我，他的國際演講最高曾得過2萬美元的酬勞，但僅僅一次。

But the price of Chinese knowledge is still low. As far as I know,the Toastmasters International, which organizes global speeches, has a pricelist. The price of a speech delivered by a Nobel Prize winner in Economics or an international bestseller writer is usually between$50,000 and $150,000. Yet there are only a few Chinese scholars on this price list. A world-renowned Chinese economist told me,privately, that he was paid up to$20,000,but only once.

價(jià)格是市場價(jià)值的反映。當(dāng)下中國知識的國際貿(mào)易，有點(diǎn)像20年前的“中國制造”，價(jià)格低、質(zhì)量不一定高，甚至還有拷貝來的。但這已經(jīng)不容易了。從無人問津到出口國際市場，中國知識已邁出了重大的一步，盡管來得晚了一些。

Price reflects market value. The present international trade of Chinese knowledge is somewhat like those "Made in China" products 20 years ago-low priced, poor quality and some were even knockoffs in other countries. But the present achievement hasn't been easily won. From the stage of being neglected by the world to the phase of being exported in the international market, Chinese knowledge has taken a significant step,albeit a bit late.

中國知識分子仍須努力。許多從中國成功實(shí)踐中得來的中國經(jīng)驗(yàn)，是西方理論所無法解釋的。比如，“要致富，先修路”，還有我曾列舉的“1-1-1-0-0-0”難題，即任何源于西方實(shí)踐的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化與社會(huì)理論，都不能解釋過去40年中國發(fā)展的奇跡現(xiàn)象：同一個(gè)政黨、一代人時(shí)間、10億人崛起、0場戰(zhàn)爭、0場經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)、沒有出現(xiàn)大規(guī)模貧民窟?？上У氖?，中國人目前也不能很好地破解它。

More efforts are needed to be made by Chinese intellectuals. Many of the experiences gained from China's successful practices are beyond the explanation of Western theories. For example,any political, economic,cultural and social theory originating from Western practices cannot explain the "1-1-1-0-0-0" puzzle I have once mentioned, that is, the miracle of China's rapid development over the past 40 years: one political party,one generation, the rise of 1 billion people,0 war, 0 economic crisis, 0 large-scale slum. The pity is, we Chinese ourselves can't well explain the puzzle either at present.

這道猶如數(shù)學(xué)界“哥德巴赫猜想”式的題目等待著中國與世界思想界的貢獻(xiàn)，尤其是中國學(xué)者。越能解釋它，中國知識的價(jià)值就越高，價(jià)格就會(huì)越高。加油，中國學(xué)者!

This puzzle, like the Goldbach Conjecture in mathematics, is still to be resolved by China and the world, especially by Chinese scholars. The better it can be explained, the more value Chinese knowledge will gain and the higher its prices will be. Fighting,Chinese scholars!