陪酒不是“文化”，是恶习

近日，阿里女员工酒后被侵犯事件引发关注。

去年8月，厦门国际银行新员工不喝领导敬酒被打耳光。

这两天，这种畸形的“陪酒文化”再一次引发热议。

无注释原文：

China and its centuries-old drinking culture

SupChina

It was the slap heard around banquet tables across China.

In mid-August, employees of Xiamen International Bank’s Beijing branch were hosting a business banquet. A person surnamed Yang, a new employee at the bank (Yang’s identity, like all others involved in this incident, has been kept confidential), agreed to attend, but warned the branch manager that, for personal reasons, they would not drink. Despite this, once seated around the Lazy Susan, Yang was called on to drink by a bank leader. Yang declined, again explaining they could not drink.

Three rounds of baijiu into the banquet, with everyone other than Yang fairly tipsy, another bank manager came over to Yang and boxed Yang’s ears. This other manager said that, despite being allergic to alcohol, he still took the toasts, so what made Yang special? Soon, with coworkers yelling at Yang, Yang left. Yet still, some coworkers chased after Yang, hollering all the way to the restaurant escalator.

The reaction

The incident sparked a strong reaction, with the bank announcing it would investigate the matter. A few days later, the bank said it had fined the two managers involved, though the coworkers who chased Yang to the escalator were apparently not punished.

Online reaction was even more swift. Most people on social media were supportive of Yang. Although some blamed Yang for not knowing how China’s banqueting culture worked, the vast majority praised Yang and expressed their wish that Chinese drinking culture could become more refined. One person commented: “After drinking, the ancients had sophistication and could write poetry. Today, all people do when drinking is talk big.”

Commenting on the same site, another person linked the problems of China’s drinking culture to the fortunes of the nation: “If every employee chose to slap back, then this would bring about the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.”

Newspaper commentators also sounded off. One writer suggested that China’s traditional drinking culture had been perverted, pining for their imagined versions of drinking culture in imperial China, when figures like Lǐ Bái 李白 (701-762 CE) and Táo Yuānmíng 陶渊明 (circa 365-427 CE) wrote poetry while drinking. He suggested that Chinese drinking culture needed to change to a “refined drinking culture,” the kind seen in the Dream of the Red Chamber.

Another editorial voiced a similar complaint: “But in ancient times, true drinking culture was a kind of refinement, completely different when compared with today’s wild drinking culture. The ancients drank alcohol, but that which they esteemed was not getting drunk, dead drunk, but rather it was a tipsy mood [that they esteemed].”

The missing factor

Of course, there’s a flaw to this line of thinking. A key reason “the ancients” did not usually get wildly drunk is because they were not consuming the same degree of alcohol as people do today.

Distilling technology did not arrive in China until around the 12th century, meaning that no one in China before that time could have consumed anything that was more than 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). In other words, Li Bai never drank anything much more alcoholic than wine. Why was it that ancients did not esteem getting dead drunk? Because it was a lot harder. Today, 80% of all alcohol in China is consumed in the form of baijiu (which is often in the 35% to 60% ABV range) or other similarly high-alcohol spirits. There is clear evidence that high-alcohol spirits are linked to higher death rates and bad behavior.

The numbers demonstrate how the rise of wealth in China tracks closely with the rise in alcohol consumption. In 1952, China drank 0.4 liters of pure alcohol per capita. By 1979, that number had risen to 2.5 liters, and in 2009, it had jumped to 4.9 liters. A 2017 World Health Organization report estimated that Chinese people today drink 7 liters of pure alcohol per capita, with that number expected to rise to 10 liters per capita by 2030. The report also suggests China will overtake U.S. alcohol consumption per capita, estimated to decrease to 9.5 liters of pure alcohol per capita by 2030.

Furthermore, researchers have found that alcohol abuse has grown from essentially nonexistent in China in 1980 to a serious problem today, with levels of alcoholism on par with the West. As wealth has increased, Chinese tipplers have had more opportunities to purchase high-octane alcohol like baijiu.

Many in the country wonder why drinking today seems so much wilder than drinking of yore. The answer is that Chinese people today are drinking much more (in terms of amount of alcohol consumed). People may see themselves as drinking like Li Bai, but they are not drinking what Li Bai drank.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译仅供参考，并非一一对应

含注释全文：

China and its centuries-old drinking culture

SupChina

It was the slap heard around banquet tables across China.

这是响彻中国各地宴会桌上的耳光。

表示“（用手掌）打，拍，掴”，英文解释为“the action of hitting sb/sth with the flat part of your hand”举个🌰：

He gave me a hearty slap on the back.

他热情地在我背上拍了一下。

表示“（正式的）宴会”，英文解释为“a large formal meal for many people, often followed by speeches in honour of someone”。

In mid-August, employees of Xiamen International Bank's Beijing branch were hosting a business banquet. A person surnamed Yang, a new employee at the bank (Yang's identity, like all others involved in this incident, has been kept confidential), agreed to attend, but warned the branch manager that, for personal reasons, they would not drink. Despite this, once seated around the Lazy Susan, Yang was called on to drink by a bank leader. Yang declined, again explaining they could not drink.

8月中旬，厦门国际银行北京分行的员工正在举办一个商务宴会。一个姓杨的人是该银行的新员工（杨某的身份和所有涉及此事件的人一样，都被保密），他同意参加，但告诉分行经理，由于个人原因，他不会喝酒。尽管如此，一围着餐桌坐下来，杨某就被银行的一位领导叫去喝酒。杨某拒绝了，再次解释说他不能喝酒。

表示“保密的”，英文解释为“Information that is confidential is meant to be kept secret or private.”举个🌰：

She accused them of leaking confidential information about her private life. 

她指责他们泄露了有关她的私生活的保密信息。

此处they用以代替he或she，指性别不详的人，英文解释为“used instead of he or she to refer to a person whose sex is not mentioned or not known”举个🌰：

If anyone arrives late they'll have to wait outside.

谁要是迟到，他就得在外面等着。

表示“餐桌转盘（餐桌上木质或塑料的圆盘，转动可使就餐的人都能取到食物）”，英文解释为“a circular piece of wood or plastic on a base that is put on a table and can be turned around so that everyone can reach the food that is on it”。

Three rounds of baijiu into the banquet, with everyone other than Yang fairly tipsy, another bank manager came over to Yang and boxed Yang's ears. This other manager said that, despite being allergic to alcohol, he still took the toasts, so what made Yang special? Soon, with coworkers yelling at Yang, Yang left. Yet still, some coworkers chased after Yang, hollering all the way to the restaurant escalator.

酒过三巡，除杨某外，其他人都喝得很醉，另一位银行经理走过来，打了杨某一记耳光。这名经理说，尽管他对酒精过敏，但他仍然敬了酒，那么，是什么让杨某搞特殊呢？很快，在同事们的大骂下，杨某离开了。然而，一些同事还是追骂着杨某到餐厅的电梯口。

表示“(一) 巡（饮料）”，英文解释为“If you buy a round of drinks, you buy a drink for each member of the group of people that you are with. ”举个🌰：

They sat on thesnd clubhouse terrace, downing a round of drinks.

他们都坐在那个俱乐部会所的露台上，豪饮着一巡饮料。

表示“除…以外”，英文解释为“except”举个🌰：

I don't know any French people other than you.

除了你，我不认识别的法国人。 

tipsy /ˈtɪpsɪ/表示“微醉的”，英文解释为“If someone is tipsy, they are slightly drunk.”举个🌰：

I'm feeling a little tipsy.

我觉得有点微醉了。

表示“打某人耳光”，英文解释为“to hit sb with your hand on the side of their head as a punishment.”

表示“过敏的”，英文解释为“If you are allergic to something, you become ill or get a rash when you eat it, smell it, or touch it.”举个🌰：

I'm allergic to cats.

我对猫过敏。

1）作名词，表示“祝酒；干杯”，英文解释为“an expression of good wishes or respect for someone that involves holding up and then drinking from a glass of alcohol, especially wine, after a short speech”举个🌰：

Champagne corks popped and the guests drank a toast to the happy couple.

香槟酒瓶砰地打开了，客人们举杯为这对幸福的伉俪干杯。

🍸比如，G20杭州峰会欢迎宴会上致辞最后提到：Now, please join me in a toast: 现在我提议，大家共同举杯，

2）当然toast也可以直接作动词，举个🌰：

We toasted the happy couple.

我们为这对幸福的伉俪干杯。

holler /ˈhɒlə/ 表示“喊叫”，英文解释为“If you holler, you shout loudly.”举个🌰：

The audience whooped and hollered.

观众们欢呼着，叫喊着。

The reaction 反应

The incident sparked a strong reaction, with the bank announcing it would investigate the matter. A few days later, the bank said it had fined the two managers involved, though the coworkers who chased Yang to the escalator were apparently not punished.

这一事件引发了强烈的反应，银行宣布将调查此事。几天后，该银行说它已经对两名涉事经理进行了罚款，但追赶杨的同事显然没有受到惩罚。

spark表示“引发”，英文解释为“If one thing sparks another, the first thing cause the second thing to start happening.”举个🌰：

My teacher organized a unit on computer science that really sparked my interest.

我的老师编排了一个关于计算机科学的单元，它真正激发了我的兴趣。

此前，《后浪》和「青年」一文的标题中就用到：Bilibili's May 4th Youth Day video sparks discussion on social media 引发热议。

类似的还有：

📍stir表示“激发，激起（强烈的感情）；引起（强烈的反应）”，英文解释为“to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction”，举个🌰：

The poem succeeds in stirring the imagination.

这首诗能够激发起想象力。

📍provoke也表示“激起，引起”，英文解释为“to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one”，如：provoke debate/discussion 激起辩论/讨论。

📍spur 鼓动；激励；鞭策；刺激；鼓舞”，英文解释为“If one thing spurs you to do another, it encourages you to do it.”举个🌰：

It's the money that spurs these fishermen to risk a long ocean journey in their flimsy boats.

是金钱驱使这些渔民驾驶单薄的小船冒险出海远航。

🎬电影《龙之心3：巫师的诅咒》（Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse）中的台词提到：To spur the clans to war. 激励部族发起战争。

📍trigger表示“发动；引起；触发”，英文解释为“to make sth happen suddenly”举个🌰：

Nuts can trigger off a violent allergic reaction.

坚果可以引起严重的过敏反应。

Online reaction was even more swift. Most people on social media were supportive of Yang. Although some blamed Yang for not knowing how China's banqueting culture worked, the vast majority praised Yang and expressed their wish that Chinese drinking culture could become more refined. One person commented: “After drinking, the ancients had sophistication and could write poetry. Today, all people do when drinking is talk big.”

网上的反应甚至更加迅速。社交媒体上的大多数人都支持杨某。虽然有些人指责杨某不了解中国的酒桌文化，但绝大多数人都赞扬了杨某，并表示希望中国的饮酒文化能够变得更加高雅。一个人评论说，“古代人喝酒后，有了雅兴能做诗词赋。现在人不都是在酒桌上吹牛吗。”

表示“迅速的”，英文解释为“A swift event or process happens very quickly or without delay.”举个🌰：

Our task is to challenge the U.N. to make a swift decision. 

我们的任务是敦促联合国做出迅速的决定。

表示“把…归咎于；责怪；指责”，英文解释为“to think or say that sb/sth is responsible for sth bad”举个🌰：

Police are blaming the accident for dangerous driving.

警方把事故原因归咎于危险驾驶。

表示“彬彬有礼的；举止文雅的”，英文解释为“If you say that someone is refined, you mean that they are very polite and have good manners and good taste.”如：refined and well-dressed ladies 举止文雅、衣着考究的女士们。

表示“有教养，世故，老练”，英文解释为“the process or result of becoming cultured, knowledgeable, or disillusioned”

Commenting on the same site, another person linked the problems of China's drinking culture to the fortunes of the nation: “If every employee chose to slap back, then this would bring about the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.”

在同一网站的评论中，另一个人将中国的饮酒文化问题与国家的命运联系起来。“如果每个员工都选择扇回去，中华民族的伟大复兴就实现了。”

rejuvenation  /rɪˌdʒuːvəˈneɪʃn/ 表示“更新；复苏；复壮；回春作用”，英文解释为“the action or process of giving new energy or vigor to something.”

Newspaper commentators also sounded off. One writer suggested that China's traditional drinking culture had been perverted, pining for their imagined versions of drinking culture in imperial China, when figures like Lǐ Bái 李白 (701-762 CE) and Táo Yuānmíng 陶渊明 (circa 365-427 CE) wrote poetry while drinking. He suggested that Chinese drinking culture needed to change to a “refined drinking culture,” the kind seen in the Dream of the Red Chamber.

报纸评论员也发声了。一位作家认为，中国的传统饮酒文化已经畸形，对想象中的古代中国的饮酒文化充满怀念，当时李白（公元701-762年）和陶渊明（公元365-427年）等人在喝酒时写诗。他建议，中国的饮酒文化需要转变为“雅酒文化”，即《红楼梦》（the Dream of the Red Chamber）中的那种。

表示“（尤指未经邀请）大发议论，言辞激烈地发表意见”，英文解释为“to express your opinions forcefully, especially without being asked for them”举个🌰：

He's always sounding off about how he thinks the country should be run.

他总是大发议论，表明自己对治理国家的看法。

表示“反常的；变态的”，英文解释为“not thought to be normal or acceptable by most people”举个🌰：

She was having difficulty following his perverted logic.

她很难理解他那反常的逻辑。

表示“怀念；思念；渴望”，英文解释为“to want or miss sb/sth very much”举个🌰：

She was pining for the mountains of her native country.

她对祖国的青山思念不已。 

表示“帝国的；皇帝的”，英文解释为“belonging or relating to an empire or the person or country that rules it”如：Imperial China 中华帝国。

Another editorial voiced a similar complaint: “But in ancient times, true drinking culture was a kind of refinement, completely different when compared with today's wild drinking culture. The ancients drank alcohol, but that which they esteemed was not getting drunk, dead drunk, but rather it was a tipsy mood [that they esteemed].”

另一篇社论也表达了类似的抱怨。：“在古代，真正的酒文化是一种雅趣，与现在“酒桌文化”中的野蛮劲儿相比，完全是两回事。古人喝酒，推崇的不是喝醉、烂醉，往往是“微醺”的意境。”

表示“表示，表达，吐露（感情或意见）”，英文解释为“to tell people your feelings or opinions about sth”举个🌰：

A number of parents have voiced concern about their children's safety.

一些家长对他们子女的安全表示了担心。

1) 表示“把…看作；认为”，英文解释为“to think of sb/sth in a particular way”举个🌰：

She was esteemed the perfect novelist.

她被认为是最完美的小说家。

2) 表示“尊重；敬重”，英文解释为“to respect and admire sb/sth very much”如：a highly esteemed scientist 深受敬重的科学家。

The missing factor 缺少的因素

Of course, there's a flaw to this line of thinking. A key reason “the ancients” did not usually get wildly drunk is because they were not consuming the same degree of alcohol as people do today.

当然，这种思路有一个缺陷。“古人”通常不会狂醉的一个关键原因是，他们没有像今天的人那样喝相同度数的酒精。

表示“（理论或论点中的）欠缺”，英文解释为“A flaw in something such as a theory or argument is a mistake in it, which causes it to be less effective or valid.”举个🌰：

There were, however, a number of crucial flaws in his monetary theory.

然而，他的货币理论中有很多关键性的欠缺。

Distilling technology did not arrive in China until around the 12th century, meaning that no one in China before that time could have consumed anything that was more than 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). In other words, Li Bai never drank anything much more alcoholic than wine. Why was it that ancients did not esteem getting dead drunk? Because it was a lot harder. Today, 80% of all alcohol in China is consumed in the form of baijiu (which is often in the 35% to 60% ABV range) or other similarly high-alcohol spirits. There is clear evidence that high-alcohol spirits are linked to higher death rates and bad behavior.

蒸馏技术直到12世纪左右才传入中国，这意味着在那之前，中国人不可能饮用任何酒精含量超过20%（ABV）的饮品。换句话说，李白从未喝过比葡萄酒酒精浓度更高的酒。为什么古人不推崇喝到烂醉如泥？因为这要难得多。今天，在中国喝的80%的酒都是白酒（通常在35%至60%的酒精含量范围内）或其他类似的高浓度烈酒。有明确的证据表明，高浓度烈酒与较高的死亡率和不良行为有关。

1）表示“蒸馏”，英文解释为“to make a liquid stronger or purer by heating it until it changes to a gas and then cooling it so that it changes back into a liquid”；

2）表示“提炼，浓缩”，英文解释为“to get or show only the most important part of something”举个🌰：

Over 80 hours of footage have been distilled into these 40 minutes.

80多个小时的片子被提炼压缩成了40分钟。

alcohol by volume的缩写，表示“酒精含量；标注在欧盟国家的酒类饮品包装上用于计算应纳税额”，英文解释为“the number of ml of ethyl alcohol present in each 100 ml of an alcoholic beverage when measured at 20°C; displayed on the packaging of alcoholic drinks in EU countries and used to calculate the amount of tax payable.”

表示“烈酒”，英文解释为“a strong alcoholic drink”举个🌰：

I don't drink whisky or brandy or any other spirits.

我不喝威士忌和白兰地，也不喝其他烈性酒。

The numbers demonstrate how the rise of wealth in China tracks closely with the rise in alcohol consumption. In 1952, China drank 0.4 liters of pure alcohol per capita. By 1979, that number had risen to 2.5 liters, and in 2009, it had jumped to 4.9 liters. A 2017 World Health Organization report estimated that Chinese people today drink 7 liters of pure alcohol per capita, with that number expected to rise to 10 liters per capita by 2030. The report also suggests China will overtake U.S. alcohol consumption per capita, estimated to decrease to 9.5 liters of pure alcohol per capita by 2030.

这些数字表明，中国财富的增加与饮酒量的增加密切相关。在1952年，中国人均饮用0.4升纯酒精。到1979年，这个数字上升到2.5升，而在2009年，它已经跃升到4.9升。世界卫生组织2017年的一份报告估计，今天的中国人人均饮用7升纯酒精，预计到2030年这个数字将上升到人均10升。该报告还表明，中国将超过美国的人均酒精消耗量，美国估计到2030年将减少为人均9.5升纯酒精。

表示“每人的；人均的”，英文解释为“for each person”举个🌰：

Per capita income rose sharply last year.

去年人均收入猛增。

表示“（数量或程度上）大于，超过”，英文解释为“to go past something by being a greater amount or degree”，举个🌰：

Our US sales have now overtaken our sales in Europe.

我们在美国的销售额现已超过了我们在欧洲的销售额。

🎬电影《巫山历险记》（Race to Witch Mountain）中的台词提到：They will overtake our vehicle in less than one minute. 不到一分钟就能追上我们。

Furthermore, researchers have found that alcohol abuse has grown from essentially nonexistent in China in 1980 to a serious problem today, with levels of alcoholism on par with the West. As wealth has increased, Chinese tipplers have had more opportunities to purchase high-octane alcohol like baijiu.

此外，研究人员发现，酗酒在中国已经从1980年的基本不存在发展到今天的严重问题，酗酒水平与西方国家相当。随着财富的增加，中国人有更多机会购买白酒等高浓度的酒。

表示“与…同样”，英文解释为“If you say that two people or things are on a par with each other, you mean that they are equally good or bad, or equally important.”举个🌰：

The water park will be on a par with some of the best public swim facilities around.

这个水上公园将与周围那些最好的公共游泳场所一样好。

tippler /ˈtɪplər/表示“嗜酒者，酒徒”，英文解释为“someone who often drinks alcohol.”

表示“令人兴奋的；强烈的；优质的；高辛烷值的”，英文解释为“You can use high-octane to emphasize that something is very exciting or intense.”如：a high-octane performance 一场令人情绪高涨的演出。

Many in the country wonder why drinking today seems so much wilder than drinking of yore. The answer is that Chinese people today are drinking much more (in terms of amount of alcohol consumed). People may see themselves as drinking like Li Bai, but they are not drinking what Li Bai drank.

中国的许多人想知道，为什么今天的饮酒似乎比以前的饮酒要疯狂得多。答案是，今天的中国人喝得更多（就消耗的酒精量而言）。人们可能认为自己像李白那样喝酒，但他们喝的不是李白喝的酒。

表示“往昔；过去”，英文解释为“Of yore is used to refer to a period of time in the past.”举个🌰：

The images provoked strong surges of nostalgia for the days of yore. 

这些影像勾起了对昔日时光的深深怀念。

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2020年：《三十而已》你觉得怎么样？

2019年：今日发布！鸿蒙来了！

2018年：过了这个点，地球真的要变蒸炉了

2017：垃圾管理 |  经济雪人

2016：英首相梅姨寄语里约奥运运动健儿

2015：Nagasaki memorial 70 years…

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