保罗米德勒新书讨论：中国商业文化的多元角度审视(上) [美国媒体]

Paul Midler’s ‘What’s Wrong With China’ Reviewed: A Fresh, Critical Look At China’s Business Culture

保罗米德勒新书讨论：中国商业文化的多元角度审视



Editorial Reviews:

编辑观点：

Viewed from a distance, China appears to be a stable economy growing at a healthy pace. Looking more closely, however, we discover a flawed civilization stalling under the weight of its own culture. What's Wrong with China is a personal book about a great nation at a crossroads.

从远处看，中国似乎是一个稳定的经济实体，以健康的速度增长着。然而，再仔细地一看，我们发现一个有缺陷的文明在其自身文化的重压下停滞不前了。该书是一本关于正站在十字路口的伟大国家的个人着作。

"There is more to fear from a weak China than one that is strong" we are told, implying that its main problems are either macroeconomic or political. What's Wrong with China takes the reader behind the scenes and down the rabbit hole to show that the nation's most fundamental problems are actually social in nature.

有人告诉我们，“我们应该担心的是一个疲软的中国，而非一个强大的中国”，这意味着它的主要问题要么是宏观经济问题，要么是政治问题。中国的问题是什么呢，读者要透过表象和层层迷雾才能发现，这个国家最根本的问题实际上是社会性质的问题。

More than a century ago, China watchers worried about the imminent "crack-up" of the country. Today we find ourselves again preoccupied by such a possibility, though this time around the stakes are much higher. Given the size of China's economy and the extent of its integration into the global system, the country's difficulties are now our own, whether we like it or not.

一个多世纪前，中国问题分析家们担心中国即将“崩溃”。今天，我们发现自己再次被这种可能性所困扰，尽管这一次的风险要高得多。考虑到中国的经济规模和融入全球体系的程度，中国的困难现在已经变成是我们自己的了，不管我们喜欢与否。

No one writes about China like Paul Midler. Drawing from years of on-the-ground experience and research, he mixes penetrating observations with amusing historical references, weaving a tapestry that is both engaging and illuminating.

没有人像保罗·米德勒那样描写中国。根据多年的实地经验和研究，他把敏锐的观察和有趣的历史参考混合在一起，编织出了一块既吸引人又有启发性的织锦。

China is an enigma, a Gordian knot, an impenetrable riddle that requires a different approach. What's Wrong with China is a collage of ideas, a grab bag of themes and theories, not the least of which is the author's supposition that Chinese culture is rooted in a deep informalism that cannot be eradicated.
Business and politics are inextricably tied, so the book necessarily touches on global affairs. We must let go of many preconceived notions, Midler warns, as he addresses facets of the "China puzzle" that typically receive little or no attention.

中国是一个谜团，一个棘手的谜团，一个无法逾越的谜团，需要一种不同的方法（来解读）。本书是一堆想法的拼接，是主题和理论的集合，尤其是作者的假设，即中国文化植根于一种无法根除的深奥的形式主义。

Business and politics are inextricably tied, so the book necessarily touches on global affairs. We must let go of many preconceived notions, Midler warns, as he addresses facets of the "China puzzle" that typically receive little or no attention.

商业和政治是密不可分的，因此这本书必然涉及到全球事务。米德勒警告说，我们必须放弃许多先入为主的观念，因为他谈到了“中国难题”的各个方面，这些问题通常很少或根本得不到关注。

What's Wrong with China offers especially useful lessons for those doing business in China, but this is no how-to guide. Rather than tell us how our affairs should be conducted in this strange land, Midler describes how things are done, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.

该书为那些在中国做生意的人提供了特别有用的教训，但这不是指导你如果去做的。米德勒没有告诉我们应该如何在这片陌生的土地上处理我们的事情，而是描述事情是如何运作的，让读者自己得出结论。


ByBrian Allenon February 19, 2018
So, here's the distilled version of the authors wisdom - ALL "mainland" Chinese:
1) Lie constantly, and are extremely good at it - they don't even know what "truth" means
2) Cheat constantly, you can't trust them ever
3) Are emotionally manipulative, more reason to never EVER trust them
4) Are apparently impervious to pain, so no need to worry about hurting them
5) Are only responsive to verbal and physical abuse
And if you don't believe him, he's got PLENTY of quotes from missionaries from the 18th and 19th centuries to back him up!

所以，这些就是作者智慧的精华——从整个中国“大陆”所凝结出来的：
1）经常撒谎，而且极其擅长——他们甚至不知道什么是“真理”。
2）经常作弊，你永远不能信任他们
3）情绪操纵，更有理由不相信他们了
4）显然很能承受痛苦，所以不必担心伤害到他们
5）只会对语言和身体方面虐待作出反应
如果你不相信他（作者），他能从18世纪和19世纪的传教士那里得到大量的引用来支持自己！

ByWiley Unoon December 28, 2017
"What's Wrong with China" describes China’s challenges and shortcomings as seen by Paul Midler, a consultant who has spent decades helping companies make sense of China and its culture. This book includes a plethora of personal anecdotes and critical conclusions about China and its people. Some readers may find this book controversial.
Midler shares his observations about how the Chinese negotiate and deploy emotional tools when dealing with expat business partners to exact the most profitable situation for their company. There are countless stories of quality fade, broken contracts, misunderstandings, and manipulations that those who have done business in China may identify with.
Despite healthy revenue opportunities, Midler believes that foreign companies doing business in China risk seeing their joint venture partnerships dissolved, market share erased, and brand knowledge stolen by their Chinese counterparts. He posits that the country takes a “China for the Chinese” stance and that there exists "collective narcissism," which he discusses in a chapter called “Sinocentric Thinking” (belief that China is the cultural center of the world).
At the core, Midler wants to promote an honest dialogue about China’s shortcomings. He believes that we can't find solutions if we aren't open and honest about problems. Midler states that China has taken on an unhealthy amount of debt and has grown at break neck speed. This could spell economic downturn which would impact the rest of the world. Perhaps having open dialogue now about faults in the engine could lead to positive fixes to the system.

本书描述了中国的面临的挑战和自身的缺点，保罗·米德勒是一名顾问，他花了几十年时间帮助企业了解中国及其文化。这本书包含了大量关于中国和中国人民的个人轶事以及批判性结论。有些读者可能会觉得这本书有争议。
米德勒分享了他对中国人在与外籍商业伙伴打交道时如何谈判和部署情感工具的看法，以及帮住他们公司判断什么情况最赚钱。在中国做过生意的人可能会认同这些关于质量下降、合同破裂、误解和操纵的故事。

米德勒认为，尽管有机会收入丰厚，但在华开展业务的外国公司可能会面临合资伙伴关系被解散、市场份额被抹去、品牌知识被中国同行窃取的风险。他假设国家以“中国为中国人”的立场，并存在“集体自恋”，他在“中国的中心思维”(相信中国是世界文化中心)一章中对此进行了讨论。在核心问题上，米德勒希望就中国的缺点推动一场诚实的对话。他认为，如果我们对问题不开诚布公，就无法找到解决办法。米德勒表示，中国背负着不健康的债务，并以极快的速度增长。这可能意味着经济衰退，这将影响到世界其他地区。也许现在针对“世界引擎”的故障进行公开对话可能会给全球系统带来积极的影响。

ByAllison Chaiton December 2, 2017
"What's Wrong With China" is not for the faint of heart. Well written, at times humorous, and overall nauseatingly compelling, Paul Midler takes the reader one story at a time through little interactions that add up to one large and fascinating picture. Personally, I have experienced a number of the moments described in this book (and in his other book - "Poorly Made In China") in my business dealings with China and hadn't understood what was happening until reading his books; that's why gas lighting works. Some Americans make it their business to take a defensive posture and defend China by blaming a few rotten eggs while not understanding that the problems faced are endemic to and completely supported by the culture. I have numerous acquaintances from China who loudly proclaim "F*#k China!" and detail exactly the types of situations that Paul Midler has listed to a T. I have both recommended and bought numerous copies of Mr. Midler's other book for colleagues and hopefully after reading this book, hopefully you will too.

这本书可不是写给玻璃心的人看的。写的很好，有点幽默，并且整体很令人信服。保罗·米德勒每次给读者写故事，都会通过小的互动，形成一幅巨大而迷人的画面。就我个人而言，我在这本书(以及他的另一本书-“劣质的中国制造”)中找到了我与中国的商业往来中的许多类似情况，直到读了他的书，我才明白发生了什么；这就是为什么煤气灯也能起作用。一些美国人在商业中总是采取防御姿态，对着中国丢臭鸡蛋还指责他们为自己辩护，同时又不明白所面临的问题是普遍存在的，完全是因为文化的缘故。我认识许多去中国做生意的人，他们大声谩骂“去特妹的中国！”，并详细讲述很多了保罗·米德勒在书中列出的各种情况。我向不少同事推荐购买了米德勒先生的另一本书，希望在读完这本书之后，你们也还会这么做（购买）。

Wee Hongon April 10, 2018
Wow, I wasn't expecting Wiley to publish such a low quality book, which contain "analysis" and observation coming from a so called consultant that amount to nothing but racist and mostly personal (childish at times). The author pretty much tried to generalize all his own personal experiences and encounters with Chinese, based on his own personal values with no further insights. If this is the type of book Wiley can consider publishing, any author or so called consultant on the street in Asia can write as well, if not better, a "personal" book on "What's Wrong with US or West - time to stop blaming others and start looking inwards to do better".

哇，我没想到威利会出版这样一本低质量的书，书中包含了一位所谓的咨询师的“分析”和观察，这无异于种族主义，而且大多是针对个人的(有些地方是很孩子气的)。作者试图根据自己的个人价值观概括自己的所有经历以及与中国人的接触经验，而没有更进一步的见解。如果这就是威利考虑要出版的书，亚洲任何一位作家或所谓的顾问，就算不能超过（本书作者）的话，也可以写一本“美国或西方出了什么问题，是时候停止指责别人了，开始关注（美国）国内并努力做得更好一点吧。

By Astrohkon January 5, 2018
I was intrigued by this book after reading a scathing book review in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Knowing that the SCMP is now owned by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, I see it as pretty much the mouthpiece of the Chinese government and to be honest, I've never read such a vitriolic book critic, EVER. That piqued my curiosity and I wanted to know what struck their nerves. Google the article, it's quite a hilarious read.
The title of the book is a bit of a misnomer as it was a very balanced view of China and was hardly critical of China or Chinese people. Being of Chinese heritage I did not find anything offensive or out of line. Whether he is right or not, I certainly appreciated his opinion and views of China.
If you do business in China, this is a must read as it explains the mentality of the Chinese people and goes through many scenarios which have gone wrong and explains the Chinese reasoning behind it or what the foreigner could do in response. I have spent over 20 years working and living in Greater China and I still learned a great deal from this book.
I also very much appreciated the different versions of historical events like the Opium Wars.

我在“南华早报”上读了一篇严厉的书评后，对这本书很感兴趣。知道南华早报现在归阿里巴巴创始人马云所有，我把它看作是中国政府的喉舌，老实说，我从来没有读过如此尖刻的书评。这激起了我的好奇心，我想知道是什么触动了他们的神经。谷歌了一下相关文章，这是相当有趣的阅读读本。
这本书的标题有点用词不当，因为它是对中国是一个非常平和的观点，几乎没有批评中国或中国人。对中国的传统，我没有发现任何冒犯或越界。无论他是否正确，我当然欣赏他对中国的意见和看法。
如果你在中国做生意，这是必须阅读的，因为它解释了中国人的心态，在外国人经历了许多错误的情景之后，解释了中国人的理由，或者外国人可以做什么来回应。我在大中华区工作和生活了20多年，我从这本书中学到了很多东西。
我也非常赞赏历史事件不同版本的解读，如鸦片战争。

ByMy Commenton February 23, 2018
Midler's book is a must read for anyone thinking of doing business with a Chinese company, planning on traveling there or just contemplating China's impact on the modern world. I only worked in China for a year but was surprised in reading What's Wrong with China how much of what I encountered is echoed and fleshed out through a wide range of examples and historical context in the book.
If I was to compare WWwC to travel books, it is more like the blunt books written over a hundred years ago like Twain's Innocents Abroad or ones by less dream peddling modern travel writers like Theroux and Gimlette than the more common "OMG. place X is so awesome, aren't I wonderful for traveling and OMG the people are so wonderful" approach found in so much of modern travel writing. While one of the religious mantras of the Western world is now "diversity is our strength," noticing the ways that cultures influence human behavior and how societies function is increasingly seen as evil unless wrapped in praise of the cultures, especially in how they are superior to white cultures. This development is unfortunate because if you don't try to get out of your bubble and understand a culture you can't hope to effectively deal with it or really appreciate it and the world becomes a duller, less fathomable place.
My year spent in China was one of the most memorable things I've ever done and it was precisely the type of Chinese culture on steroids patterns I encountered in China and found throughout WWwC that made it so fascinating, albeit at times very frustrating. I left China both very impressed with the Chinese people and their drive to get ahead no matter what setbacks they encounter (especially in comparison to the culture of victimhood forming in the West) and concerned with the impact on the world from the rise of China.

米德勒的书对于任何想与中国公司做生意、计划去中国旅游或仅仅考虑中国对现代世界的影响的人来说都是必读的。我只在中国工作了一年，但在读到中国出了什么问题时，我惊讶地发现，我所遇到的东西有很多在书中是通过大量的例子和历史背景得到回应和反馈的。
如果我把本书和旅游类书籍作比较的话，它的风格更像是一百多年前那种直抒己见的书，比如马克吐温的《在国外的无辜者》。或者是那些梦想着像泰鲁和吉姆莱特这样的现代旅行作家，而不是更常见的那种“我的天啊，XX地方真是太棒啦！这是一场多美妙的旅行不是吗？额滴神，XX的人好友善好好哦！”在很多现代旅行作品中都发现了这种调调。西方世界的宗教口号之一是“多样性是我们的力量”，注意到文化对人类行为的影响，以及某个社会是如何运作的，这越来越多地被认作是邪恶的，除非是对这些文化持赞美态度，特别是它们如何优于白人文化。这种发展史不幸的，因为如果你不试着走出你的泡泡，去理解一种文化，你就没希望可以有效地处理它，或者真正地欣赏它，你的世界只会变得更迟钝，更肤浅。
我在中国度过的一年是我做过的最令人难忘的事情之一，正是我在中国遇到的鸡血模式的中国文化，在这整本书中发现了这种文化，才使它如此迷人，尽管有时也会非常令人沮丧。我离开中国时，中国人民给我留下了深刻的印象，尤其是他们无论遇到什么挫折(特别是与西方形成的受害文化相比)仍然对目标满怀热情特别的印象深刻，同时我也一直关注着中国崛起对世界的影响。

ByRenaud ANJORANon December 17, 2017
This book is, by far, the most insightful analysis of the Chinese culture that I have ever read. It is well written and well documented.
Granted, it mostly looks at “cultural failings” and its analysis clearly comes from a Westerner’s mind. It is one-sided. But that premise is conveyed by the book’s title, so there is no surprise.
I particularly liked the quotes from 19th- and early 20th-Century books by the 'China hands' of the day. Very little has changed in the local culture, it seems. They had described it in a clear and direct manner that is seldom found in blogs but rarely in books.
One thing is for sure: reading this book will get your thinking juices flowing!

到目前为止，这本书是我所读过的对中国文化最有洞察力的分析。它写得很好，也有很好的记录。
诚然，它主要着眼于“文化缺陷”，其分析显然来自西方人的头脑。是片面的。但这本书的标题传达了这个前提，所以这并不令人惊讶。
我特别喜欢书中所引用的描述19世纪到20世纪初那段引言。当地文化似乎没有什么变化。他们用一种清晰而直接的方式描述了它，这种方式几乎不会出现在博客中，书籍中也很少见。有一件事是肯定的：读这本书会让你的思想源泉源源不断！

ByChina Author Forumon May 18, 2018
“In 2009, Jon Huntsman Jr., ambassador to the People's Republic of China, set off a social media storm when he declared that 'there is no such thing as a China expert' and that those who consider themselves as such were 'kind of morons.' His words, delivered in China at a press briefing held by the White House Press Secretary, upset a number of professionals who make their living by providing culture-specific expertise. I had to meditate on it before coming to the conclusion that I agreed with the guy. China is an enigma, a Gordian knot. By definition it is an unsolvable problem, and so of course there can be no deemed experts.”
If any China consultant can claim to be a China expert, it's Paul Midler. Author of the penetrating and hilarious manufacturing memoir Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game, Paul – with over a quarter century of experience doing business between the US and China markets – has returned to the literary world with a lengthy meditation on what makes China so difficult for the Western mind to wrap itself around; why it's politically confounding, historically frustrating, and personally confusing... yet also so endlessly fascinating and charming for many as well.
Not structured as an academic work with a central thesis, Midler feels free to wander – from personal stories and anecdotes, to historical and political events – and digging deep in the archives, sharing many stories and passages from the many memoirs written by expats, officials and missionaries of their years in the Far East – many of which are very politically incorrect by 21st century standards. Every chapter is functionally a separate essay on a different theme, and it can be enjoyed just by flipping through them at random, and need not be taken as a straight read-through. Yet this is far from a collection of “drunken expat rants”- Midler's writing is always tempered by the understanding and affection of long experience.
If any central theme emerges, it's the theme of paradox. Midler's view of China is one of endless contradictions: a totalitarian state that feels as lawless as the wild west; a country of people easily whipped into fanatical frenzy, yet who can remain gently civilized in a state of complete anarchy; a place where the rule of man is often much gentler and more humane than the rule of law; bottomlessly corrupt yet blessed with surprisingly effective and efficient bureaucracy and officialdom; unfathomable etiquette and no manners; and a society that, over the centuries, has engineered itself to somehow both be utterly collectivist and as dog-eat-dog as an Ayn Rand fantasy. What struck me most, though, was that nearly everything that is presented as “wrong” with China, could equally said to be what is “right” with it- the behaviors which give us such trouble are precisely those which give Chinese civilization it's strength. To quote another China observer, “The Han Chinese didn't get to be the all-time world champion ethnic group by being nice guys or by docilely soaking up every foreign idea that came along.”
Likewise, Midler's book quietly challenges many of the assumptions of the “Soothing Scenario” (made famous in James Mann's The China Fantasy: Why Capitalism Will Not Bring Democracy to China) as well as it's flip side. For those not familiar with it, the “Soothing Scenario” is the idea that export capitalism and a generally open attitude towards China will bring about their transformation into a democratic state and a “responsible” partner in the world order. It's flipside is, “if they don't... well, then they'll collapse in stagnation and we'll never have to worry about them again.” Both are very smug and shortsighted views – and Midler seems to suggest that they are both deeply incorrect.
In my own years in China, I found that the country constantly challenged my views on how the world worked, and left my worldview irreparably changed. Midler's view seems similar to mine – unlike many expats (particularly short-termers) who become frustrated with things not working the way they expect, we both have something of the view that China is amazing that it works at all, or has gotten as far as it has. I think this perpetual amusement and curiosity, as well as the expectation of setbacks, kept me from having the “bad China days” that seem to be common among the expat crowd.
I have very few points of disagreement with him, except for one- I don't think that the “quality fade” he points to as a characteristic of Chinese export industry is uniquely Chinese, but tends to always happen in monopolistic or monopsonistic situations, and is generally remedied by expanding competition. In the middle of the 20th century, the US came to so thoroughly dominate automobiles and white goods that our industrialists invented the American version of quality fade – we called it planned obsolescence. Arrogant, short-lived tech monopolies have all gone through the same as well – the “first runs” that gave them their edge eventually gave way to less innovative and poorer quality runs, resulting in stagnation and sometimes failure. In a competitive environment, this is a problem that corrects itself.
But this is a small quibble with an otherwise delightful collection of reflections from a career as a cultural and economic go-between, which I highly recommend to all China watchers...
… just don't ever start calling yourself an expert.

“2009年，驻中华人民共和国大使小乔恩·亨茨曼在社交媒体上掀起了一场风暴，他宣称‘根本不存在中国问题专家这回事’，那些自认为是中国专家的人都是“白痴”。他这番话是在白宫新闻秘书在中国举行的新闻发布会上说讲的，他的话让一些专业人士感到不安，他们通过提供文化方面的专业知识来谋生。我得仔细考虑一下，才能得出结论，但是我确实同意那个家伙的结论。中国是一个谜，一个复杂棘手的中国结。顾名思义，这是一个无法解决的问题，因此当然不可能有任何人能够被成为是专家。”

如果说有任何中国顾问可以自称是中国专家，那就是保罗·米德勒了。保罗撰写了“中国不良制造：局内人对中国生产游戏的描述”这本精辟而滑稽的制造回忆录。保罗在美国和中国市场之间做生意已有了超过25年的经验，他回到了文学界，深思是什么让中国拥抱西方思维如此困难；为什么她在政治上令人如此困惑，她历史如此曲折，以及让个体如此迷惑……然而对许多人来说正因为如此她才这般迷人。
米德勒不是一部带有中心论题的学术着作，它可以自由地游走——从个人故事和轶事，到历史和政治事件——深入挖掘档案，分享他们在远东时代的许多回忆录中的许多故事和段落——按照21世纪的标准，这些回忆录中有许多事情在政治上是不正确的。每一章在功能上都是关于不同主题的单独篇章，只要随意翻阅它们，就可以享受到它，而不需要被看作是一篇直通式的文章。然而，这与“醉酒的外国人的豪言壮语”相去甚远——米德勒的作品总是长期经验中淬炼出打磨出来的。

如果非要说有什么中心主题，那就是悖论的主题。米德勒对中国的看法是永无止境的矛盾之一：一个极权主义国家，它让人感觉像是狂野的西方国家一样无法无天；权威国家很容易陷入狂热的疯狂中去，但谁又能在完全无政府的状态下保持温和的文明；人治往往比法治温和得多也人道得多；无穷无尽的腐败却有着令人惊讶的高效率的官僚主义。还有官场；深不可测的礼节；以及一个几百年来精心设计的社会，不知何故，它既是一个集体主义者，又是一个像艾恩兰德幻想一样的狗咬狗的社会。然而，最让我印象深刻的是，几乎所有在中国被（西方）描述为“错误”的东西，都可以说是“对的”——给我们带来麻烦的行为，恰恰是那些赋予中国文明力量的行为。引用另一位中国观察家的话来说，“汉人没能成为有史以来的世界冠军民族，因为他们是好人，或者是温顺地吸收了每一个外来群体的想法。”

同样，米德勒的书也暗暗地挑战了许多“假设情景”(詹姆斯·曼恩的“中国幻想：为什么资本主义不会把民主带到中国”)，以及它的对立面。对那些不熟悉的人来说，“期待出现的场景”是这样一种观点：出口资本主义和中国普遍开放的态度，将促使他们转变为一个民主国家，并让他们成为世界秩序中一个“负责任的”伙伴。反过来说，“如果中国不这样做他们就会在停滞中崩溃，我们就再也不用担心他们了。”两者都是非常自鸣得意和目光短浅的观点——米德勒似乎认为他们都是严重错误的。
在我自己待在中国的岁月里，我发现这个国家不断地挑战着我关于世界是如何运作的观点，并使我的世界观无可挽回地改变了。米德勒的观点似乎与我的观点相似——与许多外籍人士(特别是短期移民)不同，他们对事情没有按他们预期的方式感到沮丧，我们都有这样的看法：中国的运作方式令人惊讶，并且已经走出这么远了。我认为，这种永恒的娱乐和好奇心，以及对挫折的期待，使我不再有“待在中国的日子很糟糕”这种状态，这似乎在外派人群中很常见。

我和他的意见分歧很少，除了一个——我不认为他所说的中国出口行业的“质量衰退”是中国特有的，但往往发生在垄断或单一垄断的情况下，而且通常通过扩大竞争来补救。在20世纪中叶，美国彻底控制了汽车和白色产品（家电），以至于我们的工业家发明了美国版的质量衰退——我们称之为计划淘汰。傲慢、短命的科技垄断企业也经历了同样的过程——“第一轮”让它们的优势最终让位于不那么有创新且质量较差的运营企业，这导致停滞，有时甚至失败。在竞争环境中，这是一个自我纠正的问题。
但这只算是一次小小的吹毛求疵，把收集文化和经济交流作为事业的过程中的一种愉快的反思，我强烈推荐这本书给所有的中国观察家么。
另外千万别说自己是中国专家。