Domestically, which translation of The Wealth of Nations is better

Shaanxi People's Publishing House's version translated by Yang Lao.

Categories: Education, Science, >> Science & Technology.

Problem description: I know of three versions:

One is translated by Guo Dali and Wang Yanan;

The first is translated by Tang Risong, Huaxia Publishing House; (2005-1) One is translated by Yang Jingnian, Shaanxi People's Publishing House; (2006-5) Which version do friends who have read The Wealth of Nations think is the best? Or there are other better versions!

Analysis: The earliest translation was translated by Mr. Yan Fu in 1902, called "Yuan Fu".

In 1930, Guo Dali and Wang Yanan's translation was first translated as The Wealth of Nations, and in 1972, when it was reprinted, it was renamed "A Study of the Nature and Causes of National Wealth". This translation is the most widely disseminated and influential in our country.

I think it's Yang Jingnian's version that is good, after all, the old man is the leader of China's development economics.

The following two versions are more authoritative:

The first is an earlier edition by the Commercial Press, translated by Guo Dali and Wang Yanan in 1930 (Wang Yanan was the president of Xiamen University) and reprinted in 1972. Last year, because the prime minister said that he liked "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", Adam Smith's book was enthusiastically praised by the publishing industry, and Shanghai Joint Publishing took advantage of the situation to republish this edition earlier this year.

The second is Shaanxi People's Publishing House, translated by Yang Jingnian. The translator is a 100-year-old professor at Nankai University, and the book cites Schumpeter's notes and introductions, which are relatively rich in content and are sought after by many readers If you are an ordinary reader, you can choose the People's ** Publishing House, translated by Hu Changming, the language is concise and vivid, easy to understand, and the version that is most in line with the reading habits of modern people. The other versions are worse.

Of course, if you read the original English version, it is the most authoritative.

The first time I read The Wealth of Nations was in high school, and I was deeply struck by the words in the book.

I'll excerpt a few sentences:"We don't get dinner from the good deeds of butchers, brewers or bakers, but because they value their own interests. "

The food we need is not the favor of the butchers, the winemakers, or the bakers, but only from their own interests, and we do not ask for their love for others, but from their self-love. Let us not tell them that we are necessary, but that it is good for them. "

Man is by nature, and always will be, a selfish animal. "

never begging for mercy from others, but appealing to their self-interest; Never talk to others about your own needs, but only about what is good for them" "The propensity for exchange is motivated by self-interest and gives rise to a division of labour. "

Wealth is the right to exchange labor. "

Everyone constantly strives to find the most advantageous use of the capital at their disposal. Of course, he had his own interests in mind. But his concern for his own interests will, or rather, inevitably lead him to favor the most socially beneficial uses.

It's like "an invisible hand" guiding him to try to achieve something he doesn't want to achieve. "

The book "The Wealth of Nations" is sensational but eloquent, easy to understand and extremely meaningful. In fact, before this, I didn't think carefully about the daily life in life, and I didn't think about what forces drive us to work and live all the time. I have always believed that working hard to contribute a little bit to the world is what we should do in life, and it is also the strength that supports us in life.

However, it was not until I finished reading "The Wealth of Nations" that I realized that the real power comes from man's selfish nature, but this selfish nature of man will not hinder the development of society, on the contrary, if it is handled properly, it will greatly promote the development of society, and man's subjective self-interest will lead to objective altruism. Confucianism Cheng Zhu Lixue always warned people to contribute to society, not to be opportunistic, and to destroy people's desires with heavenly principles. It can be said that the social norms and ideologies that we have been exposed to since childhood are completely contrary to the ideas that The Wealth of Nations is trying to express.

That's why I was shocked when I read this book.

I believe that friends who have read this book will also feel this way. Douban also has a high evaluation of "The Wealth of Nations", and the score can be regarded as an affirmation of it. Now that we have become accustomed to the market economy, the mainstream values of society have always emphasized the development of human individuality, and the selfish nature of human beings is slowly expanding, I don't know whether it should be affirmed or worried.

The Wealth of Nations is second only to Leviathan in terms of read, but compared with economics textbooks, it is very easy to understand. It was published a little earlier than the Philadelphia Conference. In order to understand the basic principles of economics, let's turn back the time a little, and the basic principles of economics should be universal anyway.

Adam Smith repeatedly referred to "our North American colonies" in his book. He said that the highest wages were not in the richest places, but in the places where they got rich the fastest, and that as a result, wages were higher in the North American colonies than in any part of England.

The reason for this is that there is always a shortage of manpower in places that are growing fast. How can you make it most efficient? Division.

Smith said there were three benefits to this: increased proficiency, no wasted time and effort when making changes, and machine application. The more specialized the division of labor, the higher the production efficiency, and the more things you can get in exchange for others.

Therefore, even if there are two things that are the first in the world, you must give up the second best and let the second person do it, otherwise it will be your own loss. But if the market is not developed enough, the division of labor will not be complete. And the proportion of the division of labor exchanging with each other is **.

** Although determined by the degree of scarcity, it is necessary to create it through labor.

It turns out that for difficult articles, I read them once and then go aside. Now I know that this is too inefficient, and you should read a chapter or paragraph repeatedly, and then read the rest after you have fully read it.

The principles it expounds are still valid in today's and tomorrow's society, and can enable all who read it to understand the mysteries of how the world works, so as to live a better life.

It is a book that explains the principles of the operation of the world economy, and later macroeconomics and microeconomics can see some shadows in it.

Its great thing is that it created a precedent in economics almost in one book, and made future generations look at it, and Adam Smith is the equivalent of Darwin in biology.

Introduction

The Wealth of Nations, whose full name is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, is an economic work written by the classical British economist Adam Smith for nearly ten years, first published in 1776.

The Wealth of Nations holds that human nature is self-interested, and the pursuit of personal interests is the only motive force for people to engage in economic activities. At the same time, people are rational, and as rational economic beings, people can obtain the greatest personal benefits in their economic activities. If this economic activity is not interfered with, then, guided by the "invisible hand" of the ** mechanism, people will not only maximize their personal interests, but also advance the public good.