经济学人466:平遥古城 票号的幽灵

 　　Pingyao

　　平遥古城

　　In banking¹'s shadow

　　票号的幽灵

　　A former financial hub now begs for the patronage² of tourists

　　曾经的金融中心，如今向光顾的游客乞食

　　The town Mao forgot

　　免遭太祖毒手的小城

　　ITALIAN cities such as Florence and Venice have long made a mint from the architectural wonders built when they were financial centres. China has been slower to capitalise on the physical remains³ of past commercial glory in Pingyao, an urban backwater in inland Shanxi province, which was China's banking hub in the 19th century. Today tourists flock to the walled city, with its unusually well-preserved houses built between the 17th and 19th centuries. But restoring its former wealth remains elusive⁴.

　　像佛罗伦萨、威尼斯这类曾经是金融中心的意大利城市留有大量辉煌的建筑，人们也早就开始利用这些遗迹赚钱。中国的平遥是位于内地省份山西的闭塞小城，19世纪时曾是全国的金融中心，平遥往日商业辉煌的遗迹之前也开发得相对慢。如今这座城墙高耸，拥有大片保存良好的明清建筑的小城迎来了熙熙攘攘的游客。但要重现往日的富裕，仍是不太可能的。

　　平遥古城.jpg

　　The most-visited attraction in modern Pingyao is the Rishengchang Draft Bank, which in 1823 became the first in China to issue cheques. The city lay on the path of a lucrative⁵ trade route. The bank's manager spied a business opportunity when he saw silver shipments passing each other in opposite direction. He replaced pricey security, wagons⁶ and pack animals with a clearing house.

　　日昇昌票号是如今平遥最吸引人的景点，1823年，这家票号开出了中国第一张支票。平遥小城坐落在财源滚滚的贸易路线上。票号经理从来来往往运送白银的商队中觉察到了商机。他以这样一间提供结算服务的铺子，取代了代价不菲的镖师，马车，牲畜。

　　The bank spawned⁷ around 50 competitors across Shanxi (nearly half in Pingyao) with hundreds of branches across the empire. At the time Chinese bankers were held in lower esteem⁸ than peasants and tradesmen. They tried to keep staff honest by making them pledge their homes and even to surrender their families as slaves if they committed fraud; investors⁹ had no control over the banks' daily operations.

　　在日昇昌的刺激下，山西省内诞生了约50家类似的票号（半数都在平遥），数以百计的分庄遍布整个帝国。在那时的中国，票号掌柜的地位比农民商人都低。为了确保伙计的诚信，掌柜会让伙计当掉自己的房子，一旦发现有欺诈行为，会把伙计们的家人卖作佣人；同时票号的出资人无权掌控日常的经营。

　　But it was not the staff that did for the banks. They collapsed¹⁰ soon after the Qing dynasty's demise¹¹ in 1911. The government withdrew its remittance¹² business, currency unification removed the need for the silver trade between cities and competition grew from modern banks.

　　但最终不是伙计们毁了票号。1911年清朝灭亡后，票号很快便都倒闭了。政府取缔了票号的汇款业务，白银流通因统一的纸币而失去需求，来自现代化银行的竞争日益激烈。

　　Pingyao's ensuing poverty proved to be its saviour¹³. Its picturesque¹⁴ grid¹⁵ of traditional imperial houses survived when most elsewhere succumbed¹⁶ to Mao's hatred¹⁷ of the old and his successors' love of the new. Now it has reinvented itself. Around 1.5m people visited Pingyao in 2013, up from around 50,000 in 1997 when UNESCO named it a world heritage site.

　　而后的穷困反倒拯救了这座小城。当全国上下都屈服于太祖对旧物的憎恨，以及后继者们对新物的狂热的之时，平遥安然躲过了这一切，风景如画，星罗棋盘的旧帝国式建筑群也得以保存。如今平遥又重拾自我。2013年共有约150万人来到平遥，当1997年联合国教科文组织认定其为世界文化遗产时，这个数字只有五万。

　　Hope that the streets would again be lined with silver are overblown. The benefits of the tourist boom are spread only narrowly. A small, spruced-up central area thrums with visitors enjoying the curved rooftops, traditional fa?ades, red lanterns and, strangely, Mao memorabilia. Beyond the centre, many streets look like slums: roofs slump¹⁸, walls are crumbling¹⁹ and waste is carried away by a horse rather than sewers²⁰. Few can afford to fix up their homes, even with financial support from the government and the California-based Global Heritage Fund, a charity that is helping²¹ to preserve some of China's historical sites.

　　期盼平遥的街巷又一次镶金带银，是过于乐观了。旅游繁荣只是让小范围收益。小小的，打扮整齐的中央区中游客来往，欣赏着建筑的坡顶，古朴的外观，红灯笼，以及一些诡异的太祖纪念品。中央区之外，许多街道看着像贫民窟：屋顶塌陷，墙体摇摇欲坠，污秽甚至不是排进下水道，而是由马匹运出。尽管政府有财政支持，意在保护中国某些历史遗迹，总部位于加利福尼亚的全球文化遗产基金会也有捐助，但也几乎没人有钱来修缮一下自己的家。

　　To declutter the town, four-fifths of the city's population have been moved outside the city walls since 1997. But the new town's hotels and karaoke halls are often empty. A high-speed rail link that opened in July running from the nearby provincial²² capital, Taiyuan, to Xi'an (home of the crowd-pulling Terracotta Army) should draw the crowds. But ease of access also means ease of retreat: most sightseers come only for the day. Making money from moving people around China may prove harder than profiting from the movement of silver.

　　为整理市容，自1997年起，平遥城五分之四的人口已迁出城外。不过在面貌一新的古城，旅馆与KTV却经常空空如也。七月开通了从省会太原到西安（兵马俑所在地）的高铁，会为平遥古城带来游客。但人方便过来，也方便出去：观光客们一般就在城里逗留一个白天。从人来人往中赚钱，的确比运输白银更为艰难啊。

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

5 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

6 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

7 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

8 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

12 remittance   

n.汇款，寄款，汇兑

参考例句：

• Your last month's salary will be paid by remittance.最后一个月的薪水将通过汇寄的方式付给你。
• A prompt remittance would be appreciated.速寄汇款不胜感激。

13 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

14 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

15 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

16 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

17 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

18 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

19 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

20 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

21 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

22 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。