紐約時報評選年度漢字 “管”字界定中國社會

Anyone who’s studied Chinese for more than a few months becomes a folk etymologist. Look: the Chinese character for “good” combines “woman” and “child”! China must be a society of patriarchal homebodies!
任何學過幾個月漢語的人都能成民俗詞源專家，不信你看：漢字“好”由“女”和“子”組成，一雙兒女湊成好，可以看出中國社會一定強調家族觀念。

Anyone who’s studied Chinese for more than a few years tends to give it up. The history and evolution of Chinese characters is such a messy accretion of historical sediment and false cognates that even scholars of Chinese take its etymology with a grain of salt.
任何學過幾年漢語的人都會想要放棄。中國漢字的歷史和變革摻雜了太多歷史的沉澱和似是而非的同源詞匯，就算是中國的學者對本國的詞源學研究也還是有所保留。

But language is telling, and as I translated a novel about official corruption over the past year, one character began to emerge as the linchpin of the book’s discussion of power and those who wield it. That character is 管, pronounced guǎn, with a “scooping” tone.
不過語言都是在講故事。我在去年翻譯過一本關於官員腐敗的小說。書中主要討論權力和弄權者，有一個漢字作爲文章的關鍵主題浮出了水面：漢字“管”，第三聲，讀起來有一種“挖東西”的語調。

Originally meaning “pipe” or “flute” — the feathery bit at the top is the bamboo radical, indicating a section of bamboo culm — guǎn later evolved into a verb meaning “to manage” or “to be in charge of.” If I were given only one word to capture Chinese society, guǎn would be it.
這個漢字的本意是“管道”或“長笛”，上面是竹字頭，表示是竹稈的一部分。“管”字後來發展成動詞，意思爲“管理”或“負責”。如果讓我用一個單詞來界定中國社會，我會選這個字。

Guǎn appears wherever authority is wielded. Besides its base meaning of being in charge, it shows up in “jurisdiction” (管轄, guǎnxiá), “management” (管理, guǎnlǐ), “supervisory control” (管制, guǎnzhì, sometimes a euphemism for a police lockdown) and “butler” (管家, guǎnjiā).
涉及到行使權力的地方都會用到這個字。根據“負責”這個基本意思，“管”字可以出現在下面這些動詞短語中：管轄，管理，管制，管家。

“Who’s in charge here?” (這歸誰管, zhèguīshéiguǎn) is the first — alas, often the only — question asked to solve problems. Just as a king “beats” (guǎn again) a queen in a deck of cards, he who guǎns has the final say.
有問題需要解決，第一句問的話便是：“這歸誰管？” 就像在撲克牌中王“管着”後一樣，管這件事的人有最終的決定權。

A common misconception about power in China is that it is totalitarian in nature — brutal, faceless and systematic. While that reality certainly exists, the majority of interactions with authority in China are of the kind embodied by the character guǎn: paternalistic, moralistic and personal. Authority can sometimes be bargained with and nudged. The image evoked is that of a local magistrate in imperial times, bending an ear to a peasant’s complaint and promising to take matters into his own hands.
人們普遍將中國的權力運行誤解爲集權主義：冷酷無情、沒有個性、系統規律。雖然這些可能的確存在，但同中國官員交往的方式還是體現在“管”字上：家長式作風、道德說教和事必躬親。有時候你可以跟官員討價還價、嘮叨抱怨，這讓人馬上想起封建帝王時代的這樣一幅圖景：地方官員側耳傾聽農民的抱怨，承諾自己將親自處理。

In the traditional Confucian view of society, power relationships in the state are mirrored by those in the family; guǎn appears just as often in the home as in government. Pushover parents are “unable to guǎn” (管不了, guǎnbùliǎo) their unruly children. A decade later those children will loose the angst-ridden teenager’s cry: “don’t guǎn me!” (別管我, biéguǎnwǒ). Later still, when China’s tottering social welfare programs are unable to “take care of” (guǎn) the elderly, those now grown-up children may recall their filial responsibilities.
用傳統的儒家的社會觀點來看，國家的權力關係也反映在家庭中，“管”這個詞出現在家庭中的機率也很頻繁。父母會向頑劣任性的孩子示弱“管不了”；過上個十年，孩子們長到焦躁不安的青春期，會對父母喊出“別管我”；再往後，中國的社會福利制度無法“照顧”（管）老年人，長大成人的孩子將要履行孝順父母的責任。

Besides its overtly political meanings, guǎn appears constantly in daily speech. A spiller of secrets is unable to guǎn his mouth. You can tell a busybody, “don’t guǎn other people’s business” (別管閒事, biéguǎnxiánshì), or wash your hands of a matter by saying “I won’t guǎn it anymore” (我不管了, wǒbùguǎnle). The word has even been abstracted from its literal meaning to play a role as a conjunction, appearing in the term for “regardless” or “no matter” (不管, bùguǎn).
除了明顯的政治含義外，管這個字也經常出現在日常對話中。愛說祕密的人“管”不住嘴巴；那些好事者你可以讓他們“別管閒事”；對某件事甩手不幹，你可以說“我不管了”。“管”字甚至可以從字面意思進一步引申爲連詞，出現在“不管”這樣的短語中。Jackie Chan’s unfortunate 2009 statement that “Chinese people need to be controlled” sounds a little different when you consider that in Chinese he used the term guǎn rather than the word for “control” (控制, kòngzhì). Instead of advocating a police state, he was implying that the Chinese people need to be told what to do because they don’t know what’s best for them. Only marginally less distasteful a comment, perhaps; still, the distinction is worth making.
香港功夫明星成龍曾經在2009年發表過很有爭議的觀點，他表示“中國人是需要被管的”。用“管”字而不是用“控制”，這句話聽起來可能意思就不同了。成龍的這句話，並不是支持極權國家的論調，他是在暗示中國人需要別人告訴他們該做什麼，因爲他們不知道什麼對他們來說是最好的。雖然也許這個觀點還是會有些讓人感到不快，但“管”和“控制”之間的區別還是要分清楚的。

Contrast guǎn with zhì (治), the more abstract term for “rule,” which appears in China’s hot-button debate about the difference between “the rule of law” (法治, fǎzhì) and “the rule of man” (人治, rénzhì), as well as in official terms like “Autonomous Regions” (自治區, zìzhìqū) and “to punish” (處治, chǔzhì). This high-low distinction is evident in urban safety, where the police are in charge of “keeping the peace” (治安, zhì’ān) while employees of “city management” (城管, chéngguǎn) beat street vendors and migrant workers.
與“管”字相對的是“治”，這個字是“統治”的抽象術語，經常會出現在中國的關於“法治”和“人治”的熱門辯論中，也會出現在官方術語“自治區”、“處治”等中。“管”和“治”之間的區別在公共安全方面體現得很明顯，警察負責維護“治安”，而“城管” 則會對街邊小販和農民工拳打腳踢。

Hovering over guǎn and all its permutations is a gentle anxiety about a society ungoverned. “No one’s in charge!” (沒有人管, méiyǒurénguǎn) is a phrase spoken in tones of disapproval, even horror. It’s not only Jackie Chan who believes that Chinese society needs watching over. To a certain mindset, in China everything is someone else’s business.
在“管”及其組成的詞句中彰顯着對無序社會一種淡淡的焦慮。“沒有人管”暗含着不贊成甚至恐懼的意味。認爲中國社會需要監管的不止是成龍一個人。從某種心態來說，在中國，一切事都是別人的事。

【外媒涉華報道創中式英語】

中國符號正在走紅世界，外媒在報道一些中國新聞時，會創造中國專屬的英文詞彙。如 leading dragon 領頭龍（中國經濟在全球的地位），Peking Pound 北京鎊（中國人所花的英鎊）， 來看看文中都有哪些中式英語吧！

管制 supervisory control

法治 the rule of law

人治 the rule of man

治安 keeping the peace

城管 city management