经济学人精读 The Economist
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近日刘强东在网上寻找族谱，暴露了中国族谱的空缺问题。一方面，在毛zhu xi时代，某党试图抵制敬奉祖先，很多族谱被毁掉了。另一方面，在近几十年，国家人口的大规模迁徙，使得家族的记录散落各地。但是，这些并不是不能解决的问题。首先，一些在以前被藏起来和带出国外的族谱，可以填补一部分空缺，其次，已经有家族协会重新建立，并开始编辑整理族谱，也将建立在线族谱数据库。希望日后，在网上寻找族谱能够像网上购物一样简单。
Family trees[族谱]
Ancestral longings[祖先的憧憬]
A tech billionaire’s quest exposes gaps in Chinese genealogies[
WHEN Richard Liu asked for help in tracing his family history, thousands of people offered suggestions[当RL在追溯他的家庭历史过程中寻求帮助时，上千人提供了建议]. Little wonder: Mr Liu, the founder of JD.com, a popular online mall, is worth about $10bn[不意外的是，这位刘先生，是一个知名网络购物商城，京东的创始人，身价大约100亿美元]. There are more than 65mpeople in China who share his surname—some would love to connect their family branches to his bountiful[充足的] tree[在中国，有超过6500百万的人和他有相同的姓氏——一些人希望将他们的家族分支与刘富裕的家族联系在一起]. But constructing an accurate lineage[血统，世系]could be tough, not only because of the huge number of Lius[但是，构造出准确的血统是困难的，不仅仅因为刘姓数量众多]. In a country that in recent decades has seen the biggest movement of people in history away from their ancestral homes, genealogical[家系的] records are patchy[散落的，分布不均的][近几十年，这个国家见证了史上最大规模的人口迁徙，人们远离故乡，家族的记录散落各地].
Veneration[敬重，尊敬]of ancestors is part of Chinese culture[敬重祖先是中国文化的一部分]. Traditionally this required the scrupulous[严谨的] updating of genealogies by family elders[传统上，这要求家庭中的长辈严谨的更新家系]. These were recorded in books known as zupu that listed members of each generation—though typically only the men[这些被记录在叫做族谱的册子中，写着每一代的成员——尽管通常只有男性]. Zupu were often kept in ancestral shrines (such as the one pictured, dedicated to a clan surnamed Li in the southern city of Guangzhou)[族谱通常被保存在祖传的神祠中（例如图中这个，是广州南部城市的一个李氏家族专用神祠）.
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But war and migration in the past two centuries have complicated matters[但是，在过去两个世纪发生的战争和迁徙，使得问题变得复杂]. Under Mao, the CommunistParty tried to stamp out[消灭] ancestor worship[崇拜尊崇][在毛时期，某党试图消灭祭奉祖先]. Many zupu were destroyed[很多族谱都被毁掉了]. Mr Liu was born in Jiangsu,an eastern province, and can trace his heritage back to a branch of the Liu family in the central province of Hunan[刘先生出生于江苏，一个东部的省份，能够将他的家族追溯到湖南省中部的刘氏家族的一个分支]. There the trail goes cold because the relevant zupu is missing, say local media[但当地媒体说，这也是追寻停止的地方，因为相关的族谱已经丢失了].
In the West, people trying to trace their lineage often consult websites that provide data from sources such as census records and church registers[在西方，想要追寻他们家系的人通常会咨询提供数据的网站，这些数据的来源有普查记录，教堂注册信息]. Such sites enable users to link their trees with others[这些网站使用户可以将他们的族谱关联到其他人的族谱]. But in China there is little in the way of official historical records that contain genealogical data and are open to commercial databases[但是，在中国，存在很少的包含族谱的数据并且向商业数据库开放的官方历史记录]. Local gazettes[报纸] often provided information about members of prominent families, but were silent about themasses[当地的报纸通常会提供显贵家族的家庭成员信息，但是对大众家庭保持沉默].
Yet not all is lost[但是，不是所有的族谱都丢失了]. Over the past couple of decades, clan associations have re-established themselves and worked to compile[编辑，编制] records again[在过去的几十年，家族协会重新建立，并再次编制记录]. Zupu that were hidden inMao’s day, or taken abroad, have helped to fill in gaps[在毛时代被藏起来的族谱，或是被带出国的族谱，帮助填补了空缺]. Some family elders have“put their collective memory down on paper”, says Huihan Lie, founder of MyChina Roots, a genealogy service[我的中国根，一个家谱服务组织，其创始人HL说，一些家庭中的年长者已经“在纸上写下了他们共有的记忆”]. The paucity[缺乏] of surnames inChina—almost 85% of people share just 100 family names—is not necessarily anobstacle[中国姓氏的缺乏——几乎85%的人共享仅仅100个家族姓氏——并不是一个要紧的障碍]. Given names can also provide clues[名字也能提供线索]. They are usually made up of two characters, with the first one sometimes chosen from a generational sequence of names ordained by the recipient’s clan[名字通常有两个汉字，第一个汉子有时选自，获得名字人的所在家族中，按照世代顺序排列的名字]. Mr Liu knows the sequence for eight generations in his family[刘先生知道他家族的八代人的顺序].
Websites are helping to make the search easier[网站可以帮助让寻找变得更简单]. My China Roots recently received private funding to build an online zupu database, starting with records from southern provinces where they are often more complete[我的中国根最近收到了私人赞助去建立在线族谱数据库，从南方的省份开始，通常这些省份的族谱更为复杂]. Eventually the plan is to include Hunan, where Mr Liu’s search is focused[最终，计划将涵盖湖南省，也就是李先生的寻找焦点]. With luck, searching for ancestors will someday be as easy as online shopping[幸运的是，寻找祖先将会在未来某天与网上购物一样容易].
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词汇总结 VOCABULARY TAKEAWAY
【lineage】
the members of a person's family who are directly related to that person and who lived a long time before him or her
血统；世系
She's very proud of her ancient royal lineage.
她为自己拥有古老的皇室血统倍感自豪。
【patchy】
only existing or happening in some parts
散落的，分布不均的，局部地区的
The varnish is a little patchy on this table.
这张桌子上的清漆有点不匀。
The morning will start with some patchy rain/cloud/fog at first.
英格兰东南部开始会局部降雨／局部多云。
【veneration】
to honour or very much respect a person or thing
尊重；敬重
Robert Burns is Scotland's most venerated poet.
罗伯特．彭斯是苏格兰最受尊崇的诗人。
【scrupulous】
doing everything correctly and exactly as it should be done
严格的，严谨的，小心的
The nurse told him to be scrupulous (= extremely careful) about keeping the wound clean.
护士告诉他务必保持伤口清洁。
【stamp sth out】
to get rid of something that is wrong or harmful
消除，消灭
The new legislation is intended to stamp out child prostitution.
新的立法旨在消除儿童卖淫现象。
【worship】
to have or show a strong feeling of respect and admiration for god or a god
敬奉，崇拜，信仰（上帝或神）
On the island the people worshipped different gods.
【compile】
We're compiling some facts and figures for a documentary on the subject.
我们正在为一部有关这个主题的纪录片汇编资料。
【paucity】
the fact that there is too little of something
缺乏
There is a paucity of information on the ingredients of many cosmetics.
许多化妆品没有提供充足的产品成分信息。
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