什么是小资? Enjoy Life, You Petty Bourgeoisie

China's new crop of hedonists indulge themselves, whether or not they can afford it.

不管能否负担得起，中国的新一茬享乐主义族群都在纵情享乐。

By Shepherd Laughlin

文/谢泼德·劳克林 译/王珏 李晓丹 审订/王军

Ma Nuo, a contestant on a Jiangsu dating show, became infamous last year for declaring that she'd "rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle." Outraged netizens took her comments as fresh evidence that China's new rich had sacrificed inner fulfillment for the fleeting pleasures of material wealth. But, in fact, many upwardly mobile Chinese fall somewhere in the middle, chasing personal fulfillment and consumer gratification with equal abandon.

去年，江苏的一档相亲节目的选手马诺宣称，她“宁可在宝马里哭，也不在自行车上笑”，因此臭名昭著。愤怒的网民将她的话作为新证据，证明中国的新富为了追求稍纵即逝的物质财富而放弃精神追求。但事实上，许多向上登攀的中国人介乎中间，对于自我实现和消费满足同样纵情追逐。

The so-called Xiaozi are a distinctly Chinese urban tribe that occupies a space somewhere between the yuppies and hipsters familiar to Westerners. A short list of Xiaozi accoutrements includes coffee, Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood," French cuisine, the Houhai neighborhood in Beijing, European films, Apple computers, the city of Shanghai and Adidas—though a real Xiaozi would never admit to their addictions so bluntly.

所谓的小资显然是中国都市一族，介于西方人熟悉的雅皮士和嬉皮士之间。咖啡、村上春树的《挪威的森林》、法国美食、北京后海一带、欧洲电影、苹果电脑、城市上海和阿迪达斯——均属小资必备，尽管真正的小资从来不会如此直率地承认他们对这些有瘾。

Sipping latté in a Chaoyang Starbucks, Beijing native Wei Yuan explained the Xiaozi ideal to me as it applied to her 33-year-old friend: "Her life is so Xiaozi. She's single, her house is full of art and she travels abroad to buy foreign things." At the next table, a group of three men in their 30s gathered around an iPad for a meeting, but each tapped furiously on their own iPhone 4. Wei told me her friend worked in public relations—a very Xiaozi profession. "Sometimes she says, 'no, I'm not a Xiaozi,' but it's precisely her lifestyle, I think."

在朝阳区的一家星巴克，北京人魏媛（音译）一边喝着拿铁咖啡，一边向我解释小资理想，还说这适用于她一位33岁的朋友：“她的生活就是这么的小资：单身，房子里摆满了艺术品，还到国外买洋货。”在旁边的桌子，三个30多岁的男子围着一台iPad开会，但每个人都在急速地敲着自己的iPhone 4。魏媛告诉我说，她那位朋友干公关——一种非常小资的职业。“有时候她说，'不，我不是小资'，但我想，她的生活方式就是很小资。”

What makes these Xiaozi different from China's rising middle class? According to Helen Wang, who interviewed members of both groups for her book The Chinese Dream, many Chinese "associate the middle class with houses and cars, and Xiaozi with candlelight dinners and a glass of wine." Xiaozi, it seems, like to spend money on high-sensation experiences like travel and fine meals. They may also indulge their penchants for sleek consumer gadgets and well-crafted fashion accessories. One person told me that the typical Xiaozi salary is anywhere from 5,000–20,000 RMB a month, but that living the Xiaozi life is more about attitude than earning power.

是什么使得这些小资不同于中国的新兴中产阶级呢？据王海伦所说，为了写《中国梦》，她采访了这两种群体中的一些人，她说，许多中国人都“把中产阶级与房子和汽车联系在一起，把小资与烛光晚餐和葡萄酒联系在一起”。看来，小资喜欢将钱花在富于感官刺激的体验上，像旅行和美食。他们或许还沉迷于时髦的电子消费装置和设计精美的时尚配饰。有人告诉我说，典型的小资月薪在5000-20000元人民币之间，但是，过小资的生活是一种生活态度，而不是挣多少钱的本事。

In a society where memories of scarcity are none too distant, Xiaozi live for the present. Many Chinese people see home ownership as the mark of an eligible bachelor, but Xiaozi regard such notions with disdain. As real estate prices skyrocket, they prefer to rent and spend any extra cash on escapes to Yunnan or foreign-language novels and DVDs. Such choices may be individually fulfilling, but the "live it up" mentality of the Xiaozi provokes concern from older relatives, who worried about the next generation's financial future. "Young people think they're living in the moment," said Zhuang Shi, a lifestyle editor in Beijing, "but in older people's point of view, they are wasting their time and life, because if they're living in the moment, it means they have no plan for the future."

在当今社会，人们对物质匮乏的记忆犹新，但小资们却只为当下而活。许多中国人都把有房子看成是黄金单身汉的标准，但小资蔑视这种观念。由于房地产价格扶摇直上，他们宁愿租房子，将富余的钱花在到云南旅游或外语小说和DVD上。这样的选择可能满足了个人的需求，但小资“今朝有酒今朝醉”的心态却让老辈人对下一代未来的经济基础有所担心。“年轻人认为自己是为眼前活着，”北京的生活时尚编辑庄施（音译）说，“但老辈人的观点是，他们在浪费自己的时间和生命，因为，活在当下意味着对未来没有规划。”

Most people I spoke with thought that Xiaozi had a negative connotation, but some embrace the term. "Especially in Beijing, maybe 60 percent of people like being called this," says Li Ran, a Beijing native who studies economics at Seoul National University. "To be called Xiaozi means they have money, but you know, over time so many people used that word in a bad way." He turned to his friend, "Actually, she is Xiaozi!" The young woman next to him flinched. She was wearing a bright red, puffy coat and blushed as Li spoke approvingly of her white Honda. Asked what Xiaozi meant to her, she said in English, "Enjoy life!"

跟我聊过的大多数人认为小资有贬义，但还是有些人愿意接受这个说法。“尤其是在北京，也许60%的人喜欢被称为小资。”在首尔国立大学学习经济学的北京人李然说，“被人叫小资意味着他们有钱，但是你知道，过去许多人将这个词用作贬义。”他转向他的朋友，“她其实就是小资！”他旁边的年轻女子有点不好意思。她穿着一件鲜红而蓬松的外衣，李称赞她的白色本田时，她脸红了。当问及小资对于她意味着什么时，她用英语说：“享受生活！”

The term Xiaozi came into its current meaning in the 1990s as China's growing economy permitted new heights of consumer indulgence. Its origins, however, go back to the days of staunch Communism: Xiaozi originally meant "petty bourgeoisie," a term occupying a specific space in the Marxist theory of class.

20世纪90年代，中国的经济增长使放纵消费浪潮达到新的高峰，小资一词有了现在的意义。然而，它的起源可以追溯到坚定的共产主义岁月：小资原意为“小资产阶级”，在马克思主义阶级理论中，该词有特定的含义。

The petty bourgeoisie were city dwellers who may have been government functionaries, owners of small businesses, or intellectuals. Stuck somewhere in between the true capitalist oppressors and the workers, farmers and soldiers who formed the core of the revolution, their status shifted during the early decades of Chinese communism. "The petty bourgeois writers and artists constitute an important force…" said Mao Zedong in 1942 at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art. "There are many shortcomings in both their thinking and their works, but, comparatively speaking, they are inclined towards the revolution and are close to the working people."

小资产阶级是城市居民，他们可以是政府工作人员、小业主或知识分子。他们介于真正的资本主义压迫者和形成了革命核心力量的工农兵两者之间，在中国共产主义的最初几十年，他们的地位发生了变动。“小资产阶级文艺家在中国是一个重要的力量……”1942年毛泽东在延安文艺座谈会上说，“他们的思想和作品都有很多缺点，但是他们比较地倾向于革命，比较地接近于劳动人民。”

Xiaozi today probably have different inclinations. "I think you should leave what Mao said behind," said Shi, who usually goes by Aviva Shey, her English name. "I think what you want to know about Xiaozi is very different from what he meant." True, Mao's ideas about class were based on the way people earned their living, not on taste or lifestyle. But isn't there some kind of important connection here? "Well, I choose not to see it," she told me.

当今的小资可能有不同的倾向。“我认为你应该把毛主席的话放在一边。” 庄施说，她通常用英文名字，叫阿维娃·谢伊。“我想你想知道的小资和他的意思有天壤之别。”的确，毛泽东关于阶级的思想是基于人们谋生的方式而不是他们的品味或生活方式。但是，其中没有某些重要关联吗？“嗯，我宁愿不去看破。”她告诉我。

Watching well-heeled shoppers queue for designer cupcakes in the shadow of a massive new Comme des Gar?ons store in Beijing, it's hard to imagine that a scant 40 years ago, a basic commodity like shampoo might have been denounced as a decadent bourgeois splurge. And yet, during the radical and paranoid days of the Cultural Revolution, any hint that someone gained spiritual or emotional fulfillment from material possessions was suspect.

在高耸的Comme des Gar?ons北京店的阴影下，看着穿着讲究的消费者排队买精致纸杯蛋糕，很难想象，在40年前，像洗头膏这样的基本商品都可能被谴责为资产阶级的腐朽奢侈。更有甚者，在文革激进和偏执的日子里，如果有谁稍稍暗示出通过物质享受而追求精神或情感上的满足，都要受到怀疑。

Today's discussion in China about Xiaozi and their supposed flaws reminds me of nothing more than the debates about "hipsters" that circulated in New York City when I lived there. My former neighborhood was called the unofficial capital of hipster America. It's a place where even the hardware store lends its window to installations by conceptual video artists. Residents are widely mocked for the high price tag of their "countercultural" lifestyle.

今天在中国关于小资及其所谓缺陷的讨论，和我住在纽约时针对四处游荡的“嬉皮士”的辩论没什么两样。那时我住的街区被称为嬉皮士美国的非正式首都。在那个地方，连五金店都向概念视频艺术家出借窗口来展示其装置作品。这些居民“反文化”的高消费生活方式受到很多人的嘲笑。

Is Xiaozi translatable? "Hipster" doesn't quite work; Xiaozi aren't particularly countercultural (except that they often pursue an interest in things that are considered "un-Chinese"). "Yuppie," though dated, seems to be the most accurate English equivalent, but there's an important difference: the typical yuppie can afford the expensive things he buys, while Xiaozi are criticized for spending beyond their means. In the end, it seems the concept of Xiaozi is specific to China and we'll have to leave it at that.

小资可以翻译吗？“嬉皮士”不大准；小资并不特别反文化（但他们的兴趣往往是追求那些被认为“非中国”的东西）。“雅皮士”尽管陈旧，却似乎是最恰当的英文对等词，但是有一个重要的区别：典型的雅皮士买得起他想买的昂贵东西，而小资却被批评为入不敷出。归根到底，小资的概念似乎是中国特有的，对此我们不用太强求。

I asked Shi if she thought she was Xiaozi. "I'm not so blind as to chase material things—balance is key," she said. Then, quickly, I, like last season's hottest restaurant, lost her interest. She was off to other things, "Do you have enough material yet? I have to go wash my hair now."

我问庄施，她是否认为自己是小资。“我还没有盲目到追逐物质享受的程度——平衡是关键。”她说。然后，我就像上季度最火的餐馆一样，让她失去了兴趣。她起身要干别的事情了，“你挖够素材了吧？我得去洗头了。”

Notes注释：

1.马诺：一名来自北京的平面模特，因其在江苏卫视《非诚勿扰》中大胆、犀利的言论而迅速在网络上蹿红，被网友们称作“拜金女”。

2.yuppie雅皮士：指西方国家年轻能干有上进心的一类人，他们一般受过高等教育，具有较高的知识水平和技能。雅皮士风貌（yuppie look）兴起于20世纪80年代。雅皮士的着装、消费行为及生活方式等带有较明显的群体特征，但他们并无明确的组织性。

3.hipster一般翻译为“赶时髦的人，追求新奇的人”。这是一个俚语，最早出现于20世纪40年代，并在20世纪90年代和21世纪初再度流行。经常用来形容对非主流时尚和文化感兴趣的年轻人和刚落户城市的中产阶级成人，这种人尤其喜欢另类音乐、独立摇滚、独立电影以及一些特殊的杂志和网站。

4.《挪威的森林》，村上春树著。讲述了木月与直子、直子与渡边、渡边与绿子间缠缠绵绵的感情纠葛。

5.gadget（尤指电子、机械的）小装置，小玩意儿。

6.live it up〔俚〕过奢侈的生活；（一反常态地）纵情快乐。

7.designer cupcake精致纸杯蛋糕，又译口袋蛋糕、（波纹）纸托蛋糕。

8.日本“另类设计师”川久保玲1969年创立的潮流服装品牌。“COMME des GARCONS”，法文意思是“像男孩一样”。1981年巴黎的女装发布会上引起世界流行舞台的重视，隔年更以有名之乞丐装概念引领当代流行潮流。美国时尚界给予川久保玲“流行先锋”的称号，赞美她不仅在服装设计上开创新意，而且在经营品牌旗舰店上眼光独具。

9.installation（艺术馆或博物馆的）奇特展品，装置作品展，亦作 installation art。