BEIJING -- "When China wakes, she will shake the world." Napoleon's famouscomment on China has had China-watchers scratching their heads for two centuries as to what exactly he meant. Was it a warning to Europe of a potential threat from the East? Or was he reflecting upon the fascination of his time with Chinese culture and its silks and ceramics?
北京——“当中国觉醒时，她将震撼世界。”两百年来拿破仑这句针对中国的著名评论让中国观察者们抓破脑壳却不得其要义。拿破仑这句话究竟是在警告欧洲要当心来自东方的潜在威胁，还是借这句话反省他那个时代对中国文化以及中国的丝绸和陶瓷的痴迷？

 

We may know the answer soon. China is awake and stirring. News of building projects and economic initiatives across the globe, including in its remote areas, are a testimony. So are some of the statistics. Take these at random: a Chinese billionaire is said to be created every week; China's space program is aiming for Mars; China hasover 20 million students in higher education and some quarter of a million students in the United States. It can even boast the ultimate sign of wasteful conspicuous consumption -- Chinese students in the U.S., children of the elite, driving luxury cars.
答案可能不久就会揭晓，因为中国清醒了，还挺让人激动。中国在世界各地（包括距离中国遥远的地方）进行着各种建设，而且她的各种经济举措也遍及全球，这些都是证据。当然还有一些统计数据作为证据。随便看看以下这些统计数据：据说在中国每个星期都会产生一个亿万富翁；中国的空间计划正在瞄准火星；中国有超过2000万大学生，还有好几十万在美国学习。甚至在美国的中国学生，以及精英阶层的后代们极具浪费的摆阔消费（比如驾驶豪车）都可以算作“中国觉醒”的终极信号。

 

On the surface no two peoples are so different. . . Every American emphasizes his or her individuality in style. There is usually a swagger and lilt in the walk. It is as if the individual is saying, 'I'm at the center of my universe. I matter.' In contrast, the Chinese walk with a slower pace, dress to blend and carry themselves as if to say, 'I am just one person, but I represent over one billion people who are like me.'
还没有两类人从表面上观察就具有如此大的差异……每一个美国人强调的是他或她的品味的个体特征，所以通常他会昂着头大跨步地走路，同时轻快地随着音乐摇摆，仿佛这个个体在说：“我的宇宙我做主。我说了算。”与之相反，中国人用一种更缓慢的步伐走路，衣着随大流，这些外部特征让他仿佛在说：“虽然我只是一个人，但是我代表着超过十亿像我这样的人。”

 

Chinese films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000, established the fact that the new China could produce technologically and artistically sophisticated films that could win awards in the West and yet still proudly celebrate its own cultural traditions.
诸如《卧虎藏龙》（2000）这样的中国电影也在表达着这样的意思：即虽然新中国可以从技术和艺术两个方面创造出在西方赢得奖项的精致电影，但是这个国家依然在歌颂它自己的文化传统。

 

The scale of China's dramatic success has settled one great contemporary philosophic debate -- the superiority of Capitalism over Marxism, which the Chinese say in private is now as dead as a dodo -- while opening another. Which is better, an open democratic system, however noisy and unpredictable, or a highly centralized and controlled one? The U.S. and other democracies argue for the former; China is the living example of the latter.
中国引人瞩目的成功规模，已经解决了“超越马克思主义的资本主义优越性”这场巨大的当代哲学辩论——现如今中国人私底下都说马克思主义已经像渡渡鸟一样死掉了。不过虽然解决了一个，但是又开启了另一个：即一个开放的民主系统（不管是否吵吵闹闹以及变幻莫测）和一个高度集中并受到控制的系统，哪一个更好？美国和其它民主国家为支持前者而辩护，而中国目前则生活在后者提供的模式中。