《中国知识的价格》选段

《中国知识的价格》选段

近年来，我常受邀到国外参加研讨会并主旨发言，偶尔会收到课酬。起初，有一些惊喜，慢慢就习惯了。一二十年前，若能得到国际研讨会邀请，通常学者们会忙着向学校申请各项资助。这些年，一些活跃的中国学者不仅频繁得到国际邀请，对方负责差旅、食宿等所有费用，有时还会得到酬劳、享受头等舱往返待遇等。

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.

尽管酬劳不多，但这个小变化却具有重大意义，折射的是中国学者的崛起，也是中国知识的升值，更是中国国家崛起而带来国际知识体系的重构。

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.

按伊曼纽尔·沃勒斯坦在《否思社会科学》一书逻辑，当代学术界对世界变化的分析，长期局限于19世纪的西方学科范式。所谓经济学、政治学、历史学、人类学、社会学的理论假设与叙事，是基于西方社会的实践经验与行为惯性，逐渐构建成了全球约10万所大学的院系框架与学术谱系。

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.

在两百年的全球学术延承中，中国知识分子的地位，尤其是哲学与社会科学领域的学者，长期处在从属、被启蒙、学习者的地位。中国大学的院系划分、教材标准、研究方法与理论概念多数都来源于西方。中国的学术书店里，多数书籍是译著;中国的大学必读书目里，多数是西方著作;中国学生的学术论文写作中，文献综述离不开西方理论。

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.

中国货物贸易长期处在顺差，但知识贸易，中国却是绝对的逆差。没有任何一位中国学者的著作能在国际图书市场上畅销，在全球各个大学的推荐书目中很少有中国学者的著作，通行于世界的社会科学理论鲜有记述中国的经验。在这样的背景下，怎么会有国际机构愿意为中国学者的演讲出高酬劳呢?

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.

不过，近些年，事情正在起变化。当“一带一路”不能在西方任何书籍中找到溯源，当中国发展经验超越西方理论的解释力，当中国角色在全球治理的作用越来越大时，世界渐渐发现了过去被遗忘的中国知识的重要性。一些英文表达不错的学者，自然在国际知识市场里有了价值。

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.

但目前中国知识的价格仍较低。据我所知，以名人经纪方式安排全球演讲的机构“国际演讲局”有份价目表，诺贝尔经济学奖、国际畅销书作家一场演讲的价格通常在5万-15万美元。这份价格表名单中，仅有少数几位中国学者。有一位全球知名的中国经济学家曾私下告诉我，他的国际演讲最高曾得过2万美元的酬劳，但仅仅一次。

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.

价格是市场价值的反映。当下中国知识的国际贸易，有点像20年前的“中国制造”，价格低、质量不一定高，甚至还有拷贝来的。但这已经不容易了。从无人问津到出口国际市场，中国知识已迈出了重大的一步，尽管来得晚了一些。

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.

中国知识分子仍须努力。许多从中国成功实践中得来的中国经验，是西方理论所无法解释的。比如，“要致富，先修路”，还有我曾列举的“1-1-1-0-0-0”难题，即任何源于西方实践的政治、经济、文化与社会理论，都不能解释过去40年中国发展的奇迹现象：同一个政党、一代人时间、10亿人崛起、0场战争、0场经济危机、没有出现大规模贫民窟。可惜的是，中国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.

这道犹如数学界“哥德巴赫猜想”式的题目等待着中国与世界思想界的贡献，尤其是中国学者。越能解释它，中国知识的价值就越高，价格就会越高。加油，中国学者!

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!