据说中国的富豪在被慈善会冷落后都很小气

It should have been the social event of the year. The setting was said to be a full-scale replica of the Chteau Lafite, complete with Greek statuary, a moat and its own wild duckpond. The hosts were world famous. The guestlist featured 50 of China's richest business people.

这本应该是本年度社会上的大事件了。现场场景据说是仿拉菲酒庄得并且同规模相当，包含希腊雕塑，以及附带了一条护城河。客人可都是闻名世界的主儿。客人名单上有中国最富裕的50个商人。

Yet several billionaires snubbed Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – apparently fearful of demands to open their wallets at the charity-promoting banquet – and in doing so have provoked a debate about their apparent stinginess.

然而亿万富翁们都对比尔盖茨和巴菲特不怎么感冒，很明显是怕到时候要他们为这个慈善会“放血”，这样一来就促使他们为他们很明显的小气儿进行一场辩论。

Critics argue that China's new rich have ignored their social responsibilities in the rush for wealth. Among the most scathing is one of last night's guests, Chen Guangbiao, who says Gates has inspired him to leave his fortune to charity when he dies.

评论家们认为中国的新贵们在追求财富的同时忽视了他们的社会责任。在昨晚最尖刻的评论家之中有一个客人，陈光标，他说盖茨鼓励他在弥留之际将财产留给慈善事业。

"This makes me so mad. How did we get so rich? We've had favourable economic policies and China's working class helped us get there. I think we need to repay society," he told NPR – even threatening to leak the names of those who had turned down the invitation.

他告诉国际公共广播，“我都快疯了，我们是怎么富起来的？我们有很有利的经济政策而且是中国的工人阶级帮我们达到现在的水平的。我认为我们现在应该回报社会。”他还甚至有意要公开那些拒绝此次邀请的人名。

Defensive tycoons retort that giving should be a private choice and dismiss American philanthropy as little more than a tax-dodge.

大腕们反驳道捐献应该是私人的选择并且反驳，美国的慈善家只不过是为了逃税而已。

Zong Qinghou, named by the Hurun Rich List as China's richest man with a $12bn fortune, told Phoenix television he had a previous engagement and said real philanthropy was creating wealth and jobs.

胡润富行榜上以120亿人民币独占鳌头的宗庆后，告诉凤凰台说他先前已经有一个这样 一次经历了而且他认为真正的慈善是创造财富和就业。

"If I want to donate, I will; if I don't want to, I won't be persuaded to either. I don't think donating a lot of money is real philanthropy. It is just a way to get around the high inheritance tax and other taxes," he said.

他说“如果我想捐，我会捐的。如果我不想，也没有人会说服我的。我不认为捐一大堆钱就是慈善，只会传播一下你有很高的财产继承税和其他的税”。

Gates and Buffett, who have asked US billionaires to commit to leave most of their wealth to charity, wrote to guests to assure them the dinner was not a fundraiser. They said they merely wanted to promote charity development.

盖茨和巴菲特呼吁美国的亿万富翁们把他们大多数的财产都捐给慈善事业，还给客人们写信使他们到晚宴不是来筹集资金的。他们两个说他们仅仅是想促进慈善事业的发展而已。

Experts have suggested the rich fear exposing their wealth lest it attract envy, criminals and perhaps too much scrutiny of its origins. Even when they give, they prefer to do so privately.

专家们建议那些害怕暴露财富的富翁们就怕他们的财富会吸引妒忌之心，这恐怕是犯罪和太多的监视的源头了吧。即使当他们想捐时他们也更喜欢私下里行动。

Wang Zhenyao, director of the Centre for Philanthropy Research at Beijing Normal University, said high public expectations were another deterrent.

北京师范大学慈善研究中心主任王振耀说，过高的公共期望是另一个原因。

"Many people think that no matter how much rich people donate, it is just not enough. That's wrong thinking: philanthropy is a voluntary act. In China there are now many rich people who fear to donate, because it will attract people's criticism," he said.

他说“有些人认为无论富人们捐多少，反正就是不够。错误的想法：慈善是个自愿的行为。在中国有很多富人恐惧募捐，因为这样会招致人们的批评。”

But charitable giving is unquestionably on the up. According to the Hurun philanthropy list, the 50 most generous donors gave an average of $25m last year – eight times the average of the first list in 2004.

但是公益性的捐献毫无疑问的呈上升趋势。根据胡润慈善统计这50个最富有的捐献者去年捐了2500万人民币，是2004年第一次统计时的8倍之多。

And experts say China is seeing a revival of a domestic idea, rather than the introduction of a foreign one.

而且专家们还说中国正在面临本土思想的复兴，而不是对国外思想的介绍。

"There is a history and tradition of philanthropy in China pre-dating 1949, but if you look after that the sector is underdeveloped. The Communist party basically nationalised philanthropy," said Shawn Shieh, visiting professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

北京外国语大学的客座教授Shawn Shieh说：“在1949年之前这是一个慈善的传统历史，但是你往后看，这块根本没有发展。中共差不多将其国有化了。”

It re-emerged when the government began establishing foundations and charities in the 1980s, with new regulations in 2004 paving the way for private foundations.

它的首次出现时二十世纪九十年代，但是政府正着手建立慈善基金会，到2004年的时候新的规定为私人基金会铺平了道路。

"One obstacle is the mindset of the nouveau riche, the idea that they should think about giving their money to society. In the past, these entrepreneurs, if they donated money, donated it to government foundations as a way to improve their relations with officials or [for] public relations, showing they are working with government," said Shieh.

Shieh说：“障碍之一就是那些暴发户们的思维模式，这个让他们考虑把钱捐给社会的想法。在以前这些企业家如果捐钱，他们会把钱捐给政府用以改善他们与官方和群众的关系，向大家展示他们和政府在合作。”

"The second obstacle has been systemic – reflected in the lack of regulations that would promote the sector in an effective way. You have regulations but private foundations have restrictions placed on them; they can't publicly fund-raise, for example."

“第二个障碍就是体制，反映出缺少以有效方式提升这一领域发展的规范。你有规定，但是私人基金会在这之上又有诸多限制；例如他们不能公开的筹集资金。”

Yet despite the difficulties non-governmental organisations face, tiny grassroots groups are springing up as well as private foundations.

尽管这些非政府组织面临着许多的困难，但是草根组织和私人基金会还是如雨后春笋般呈茁壮之势。

And, although no data is available, Liu Youping, deputy director of the China Charity Donation Information Centre, suspects that – as in many countries – ordinary people give a higher proportion of their incomes than the wealthy do.

而且，尽管没有可用的数据，中国慈善捐赠信息中心副主任怀疑和大多数国家一样，一般民众和富人相比会将他们收入的更高比例捐献出来。

While the Americans wooed their mega rich peers, a less glitzy dinner was due to take place in a Beijing restaurant last night.

当这两个美国人正在给他们的百万富翁们不停的抛媚眼的时候，稍逊一筹的一个晚宴也即将在北京的一个饭店上演。

A website designer who calls himself Lao Wu had rallied artists, doctors and academics under the slogan "Common people's philanthropy is challenging the Gates and Buffett banquet."

一个自称为老吴的网页设计师纠集了艺术家，医生，学者们打出了这样的标语“平民慈善叫板盖茨和巴菲特的晚宴。”

"Charity is not just about rich people. More ordinary people should get involved," he told Beijing Times.

他告诉北京时报：“慈善不仅是富人的事，更多的普通民众也应该加入进来。”

Additional research by Lin Yi

Lin Yi 贡献的：

The big givers

大手笔者：

Yu Pengnian topped the Hurun philanthropy list of China's biggest givers for five years - by giving away his whole fortune of $1.2bn (760m). The 88-year-old began as a street hawker, and made his fortune in hotels before spending it on health (funding 150,000 cataract removals) and other good causes.

余彭年以五年捐赠其总身家的12亿人民币问鼎胡润慈善排行的舵把子。这个起步于街道小贩的88岁老人发家与酒店事业，之后在健康（因为白内障手术而花去约15万）和其他好的缘由上略有花销.

Chinese critics have argued it is unnatural not to leave his wealth to his family. His response: "If my children are competent, they don't need my money. If they're not, leaving them a lot of money is only doing them harm."

中国评论家一致认为不把财产留给家里简直太不正常了。他的回答是：“如果我的孩子有能力，他们不需要我的钱，如果他们没能力把钱留给他们则是害了他们。”

Chen Guangbiao, a 42-year-old recycling entrepreneur, has pledged to give all his money to charity when he dies. Many say he should help his brother and sister, a security guard and dish-washer respectively; he says he has tried to aid them, unsuccessfully.

陈国标，一位年仅42岁的再生资源公司企业家宣言死后将会把所有的财产捐献给慈善。许多人说他应该帮助他的当保安的兄弟和洗碗工的妹妹；他说他已经努力帮过他们了，但是没有成功。

Yet Chen's drive and charitable impulses were forged at home. Two of his siblings starved to death – but at times his mother shared the family's food with beggars.

陈的动力和慈善雄心是在家里铸造出来的。（在他小时候）他的另两个同胞被饿死了，但是他妈还是不时的会和乞丐一起吃饭。

Although Jet Li cannot rival the wealth of the top tycoons, he confirmed he would meet Gates and Buffett: the action movie star is one of China's best-known philanthropists thanks to his One Foundation.

虽然李连杰不能和顶级的大腕竞争，但是他许诺他会见盖茨和巴菲特的。借助于他自己的“一基金”这位功夫影响现在是中国家喻户晓的慈善家之一了。

He recently highlighted the difficulties such groups face when he said its future was uncertain due to its blurry legal status, telling state broadcaster CCTV that soon "it will be questioned by those who seek more transparency and professionalism in China's charity development".

他说由于基金会模糊的合法地位，它的未来还不确定，这时他强调了类似组织所面临的困难，他告诉中央人民广播电台说：“在中国慈善业发展中，基金会会很快被那些寻求透明和职业水准的人士所质疑。”

添加新评论

相关文章：

欧洲同性恋者受艾滋病毒感染的威胁使医生震惊

越南的教育

为何辛辣食物吃起来是热的？

单性学校并非解决之道

报道称印度拒绝RIM公司对电子邮件的解决方案