小農(nóng)戶退出舞臺(tái)，中國(guó)的村莊會(huì)徹底消失嗎？

SHANHUI, China — This village doesn’t change quickly. The ebb and flow of the planting and harvesting seasons still govern the lives of its 3,000 residents. Some rise at 3 a.m. to cook homemade tofu, a Shanhui specialty, over a coal-burning stove. Most homes remain topped by traditional Chinese tiled roofs, here crowned by carved dragon’s heads, as is local custom.

中國(guó)山會(huì)——這個(gè)村莊變化不大。3000名居民的生活，仍然由播種和收割季節(jié)的循環(huán)往復(fù)主宰著。有些人在凌晨三點(diǎn)起床，在煤爐上煮自制豆腐，這是一種山會(huì)特產(chǎn)。大多數(shù)房屋仍然是傳統(tǒng)的中國(guó)瓦片屋頂，依照當(dāng)?shù)仫L(fēng)俗，在屋脊上雕刻著龍頭。

Zheng Nanda worked the fields that surround this village in the northern province of Shanxi for more than four decades, often behind a plow pulled by cows. He is now in his early 70s and too old for such arduous labor. His children long ago left for jobs in the city and have no interest in farming.So Mr. Zheng became an unlikely agent of change. He has rented almost all of his small plot to other farmers, who work it using modern equipment. The $500 a year he earns in rental income helps keep him comfortable in his neatly manicured courtyard home.

這個(gè)村莊位于中國(guó)北部省份山西，鄭南達(dá)(音)在村莊四周的田地里已經(jīng)勞作了40多年，經(jīng)常是跟在牛后面犁地。他現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)70多歲，因?yàn)樘?，不能再做這種艱苦的勞動(dòng)。他的孩子們對(duì)農(nóng)業(yè)沒有興趣，很久以前就離開這里，到城市去找工作。所以鄭南達(dá)出人意料地成了變革的推動(dòng)者。他把自己幾乎所有的小塊土地都租給其他農(nóng)民，他們使用現(xiàn)代化設(shè)備進(jìn)行工作。他每年收取500美元(約合3400人民幣)的租金，讓他可以在自家精心打理的庭院中過著舒適的生活。

“I won’t want to join my children in the city,” he said. “There is a Chinese saying that ‘fallen leaves return to the roots.’”

“我不想進(jìn)城去找孩子，”他說。“有一句中國(guó)老話說，‘落葉歸根’。”

As young people leave for the cities, more small farmers like Mr. Zheng are leasing their land for others to work. That is a monumental shift for a country where small family farms have dominated the rural landscape for centuries.

隨著年輕人離開鄉(xiāng)村，前往城市，像鄭南達(dá)這樣的小農(nóng)戶開始出租自己的土地，讓他人工作。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，小家庭農(nóng)場(chǎng)一直主導(dǎo)著中國(guó)的鄉(xiāng)村景觀，這是一個(gè)巨大的轉(zhuǎn)變。

Other wealthy countries, like the United States, saw farms grow as the rural population shrank. Only relatively recently has that begun to happen in China. In the 1980s, the government broke up the giant communes favored by Mao Zedong and redistributed the rights to farm individual plots to households. Further changes in government policy in the mid-1990s made those land rights secure enough for farmers and others to have the confidence to rent land on a wide scale. China’s agriculture sector is far from being dominated by big commercial farms, as it is in the United States, but the process has begun.

在美國(guó)等其他富裕國(guó)家，隨著農(nóng)村人口的減少，農(nóng)場(chǎng)也在增長(zhǎng)。中國(guó)直到最近才開始發(fā)生這種情況。在1980年代，政府解散了毛澤東青睞的大公社，重新把使用農(nóng)場(chǎng)小塊土地的權(quán)利分配給家庭。1990年代中期，政府政策的進(jìn)一步變化使得這些土地權(quán)利足夠安全，農(nóng)民和其他人有信心大規(guī)模地租用土地。中國(guó)的農(nóng)業(yè)部門還遠(yuǎn)沒有像美國(guó)那樣，由大型商業(yè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)占主導(dǎo)地位，但這個(gè)過程已經(jīng)開始。

It may sound tragic, as a traditional way of life gives way to modernization, much like the disappearance of the small American family farm. But the transformation is good for China and the entire global economy.Bigger farms become more efficient. Those farmers can make more money. And more people are free to move to the city, creating even more consumers for Ford cars, Starbucks cappuccinos and Apple iPhones.

聽起來可能有些傷感，因?yàn)閭鹘y(tǒng)的生活方式被現(xiàn)代化取代，就像美國(guó)小型家庭農(nóng)場(chǎng)的消失一樣。但這種轉(zhuǎn)變對(duì)中國(guó)和整個(gè)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)都有利。大農(nóng)場(chǎng)變得更有效率。農(nóng)民可以賺更多錢。更多的人可以自由地搬到城市，為福特汽車、星巴克卡布奇諾和蘋果iPhone創(chuàng)造更多消費(fèi)者。

“If everybody farmed, then everybody wouldn’t have that much land,” said Zheng Yunshou, a 51-year-old Shanhui farmer. “But if one household out of 10 does all the farming, then they can make enough for themselves, and the other nine can also make enough by working elsewhere.”Mr. Zheng has already accepted that he may be the final farmer in his family. His plot of less than three acres is too small to generate sufficient income, so he spends half his time loading coal and iron ore at a local steel mill to earn extra cash.

“如果所有人都種地，那個(gè)人就不會(huì)有那么多地，”51歲的山會(huì)農(nóng)民鄭云壽說。“但是，如果十家人里有一家把所有地都種了，他們就能為自給自足，其他九家也可以到其他地方工作賺錢。”鄭云壽已經(jīng)接受了他可能是家中最后一個(gè)農(nóng)民的現(xiàn)實(shí)。他的地不足三英畝，實(shí)在太小，賺不到足夠的錢，所以他花一半的時(shí)間在當(dāng)?shù)匾患忆撹F廠裝運(yùn)煤和鐵礦石，賺取額外收入。

His son still lives at home, but he prefers his job operating an excavator at construction sites to toiling at his father’s cornfield. Mr. Zheng’s daughter has left for a far-off city, where she “does something with computers,” he said.

他的兒子仍住在家里，但是和在父親的玉米地上勞作相比，他更喜歡在建筑工地操作挖掘機(jī)這份工作。鄭云壽的女兒去了一個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)的城市，在那里，她“用電腦做事”，他說。

“I’m not sad about it,” he added. “The farm will not be sufficient to support my son.”

“我不覺得難過，”他補(bǔ)充道。“種地養(yǎng)不起我兒子。”

As these small farmers bow out, Zheng Chenggong, 27, is taking their place. (As in many rural villages in China, residents of Shanhui share a handful of surnames.) Twenty years ago, his father tilled a small plot of about two acres. Since then, Mr. Zheng and his parents have amassed more than 160 acres by renting plots from the local government and other villagers who have given up.

當(dāng)這些小農(nóng)戶退出舞臺(tái)之際，27歲的鄭成功(音)正在取代他們的位置。(和中國(guó)許多農(nóng)村一樣，山會(huì)的很多人是同姓的。)20年前，他父親耕種著一塊約兩英畝的小地塊。從那以后，鄭成功和父母通過租用當(dāng)?shù)卣推渌麠壐迕竦耐恋?，積累了超過160英畝的土地。

The result is a thriving business cultivating corn and carrots. Mr. Zheng invested in planters, pesticide sprayers and other equipment, including a new, shiny red harvester, parked in a lot behind his modest home. Piles of corn are stored in a warehouse next door. During autumn, he employs over 100 people from about 10 villages to harvest his carrots.By farming on such scale, Mr. Zheng can make money smaller farmers can only dream about — roughly $80,000 a year. Much of it is reinvested in more land and equipment.

其結(jié)果是玉米和胡蘿卜的生意興隆。鄭成功投資了播種機(jī)、農(nóng)藥噴灑機(jī)和其他設(shè)備，包括一臺(tái)漂亮的全新紅色收割機(jī)，停在他簡(jiǎn)樸的家后面一塊地上。成堆的玉米存放在隔壁的倉(cāng)庫(kù)里。在秋季，他雇用了來自大約10個(gè)村莊的100多人來收獲胡蘿卜。通過這種規(guī)模的耕種，鄭可以賺取小農(nóng)戶做夢(mèng)也想不到的錢——每年大約8萬(wàn)美元。其中大部分用于對(duì)更多的土地和設(shè)備進(jìn)行再投資。

“In 10 years’ time, a lot of land will be rented to big farmers like me,” Mr. Zheng said.

“10年之內(nèi)，很多土地會(huì)被租給我這樣的大農(nóng)戶，”鄭成功說。

That opportunity has drawn others. Over the past 10 years, Zhang Mianhuan, 59, has increased the size of his farm 10 times, to more than 30 acres, on which he grows corn and sorghum. On his old, small plot, he pocketed a measly $300 a year — barely enough to get by. Now, he earns about $9,000.

這樣的機(jī)會(huì)也吸引了其他人。過去10年里，59歲的張綿環(huán)(音)將他的農(nóng)場(chǎng)規(guī)模增加了10倍，達(dá)到30多英畝，種植玉米和高粱。在他過去那塊小小的土地上，他每年只能賺300美元——幾乎難以維生?，F(xiàn)在，他的年收入約為9000美元。

“Farmers think, ‘The more land the better,’” Mr. Zhang said. “It means more income.”The seismic shifts in rural China could threaten community spirit. One afternoon in Shanhui, the farmers congregated in a central square, chatting under the shade cast by awnings and a traditional wooden pavilion. A few hours earlier, many had celebrated the wedding of a young local woman, feasting on roast lamb, fried chicken and local tofu, and toasting one another with plastic cups filled with baijiu, a favorite, sinus-clearing alcohol. (Typically, the bride will leave the village to join her new husband in a nearby town.)

“農(nóng)民覺得，‘地越多越好’，”張綿環(huán)說。“地多收入就多。”中國(guó)農(nóng)村的巨大變化可能會(huì)威脅到社區(qū)精神。一天下午在山會(huì)，農(nóng)民們聚集在一個(gè)中央廣場(chǎng)，在遮陽(yáng)篷和傳統(tǒng)木制涼亭的遮陰下聊天。幾小時(shí)前，許多人來慶祝當(dāng)?shù)匾幻嗄甑幕槎Y，他們享用了烤羊肉、炸雞和當(dāng)?shù)囟垢?，用塑料杯子裝著白酒，互相敬酒，這是一種辛辣的烈酒，非常受歡迎。(通常情況下，新娘將離開村莊，住到附近城鎮(zhèn)的丈夫家里。)

The changes separate families. Zheng Chengsheng, 66, had to stop farming two years ago after he was badly injured in a motorbike accident. Now he rents out his family plot, allowing him to support himself and his wife. His three children all work in cities. His daughters make it back to Shanhui only during the Chinese New Year holiday, while his son lives in a nearby town.“I would prefer my son to come back. Then he can be by my side,” he said. “My wife and I are concerned that we’ll be by ourselves when we’re older. It is a common worry here.”

這些變化讓家人分離。兩年前，66歲的鄭誠(chéng)盛(音)在一起摩托車事故中受重傷后，不得不停止耕作?，F(xiàn)在他出租自己的家庭土地來養(yǎng)活自己和妻子。他的三個(gè)孩子都在城市工作。兩個(gè)女兒只在中國(guó)農(nóng)歷新年假期回到山會(huì)，兒子住在附近的一個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)里。“我想讓我兒子回來。這樣他就能陪在我身邊，”他說。“我老婆和我都擔(dān)心，等我們更老的時(shí)候，我們要靠自己。這里這種擔(dān)憂很普遍。”

In some villages, farms are getting larger and the population is dwindling at an even faster pace than in Shanhui. But that does not necessarily mean China’s village will completely die out. China’s population is so large that hundreds of millions of people will most likely remain in the countryside even as cities swell. That means many areas of China may not develop the sort of supersize industrial farming common to places like America’s Midwest.

在一些村莊，農(nóng)場(chǎng)變得越來越大，人口減少的速度甚至比山會(huì)還要快。但這并不一定意味著中國(guó)的村莊將完全消失。中國(guó)人口如此之多，即使城市在膨脹，仍可能有數(shù)億人留在農(nóng)村。這意味著中國(guó)的許多地區(qū)可能不會(huì)發(fā)展那種在美國(guó)中西部常見的超大型工業(yè)化農(nóng)業(yè)。

“China’s situation is completely different and cannot follow the U.S. model,” said Li Ping, a senior attorney at Landesa, a nongovernmental organization that helps secure land rights for the world’s poor. “Village size will be somewhat shrunk, but the village will still be there.”

“中國(guó)的情況完全不同，不能按照美國(guó)模式來，”農(nóng)村發(fā)展研究所(Landesa)高級(jí)律師李平說。農(nóng)村發(fā)展研究所是一個(gè)幫助世界上的窮人守護(hù)土地權(quán)利的非政府組織。“村莊的規(guī)?？赡芏喽嗌偕贂?huì)縮小，但村莊仍將存在。”

The residents of Shanhui think so, too. Though they assume the population will shrink, they remain convinced the village will become wealthier.“Everything will just get better,” said Zheng Nanda, the retired farmer, a typical sentiment shared by the villagers. “We don’t need to worry about anything.”

山會(huì)的居民也這么想。盡管他們認(rèn)為人口會(huì)減少，但他們?nèi)匀幌嘈糯迩f會(huì)變得更富裕。“一切都會(huì)更好的，”退休了的農(nóng)民鄭南達(dá)(音)說，這是村民們的典型看法。“我們沒什么可擔(dān)心的。”

Whatever the future holds for Shanhui, many villagers feel little nostalgia for their poorer past.

不管山會(huì)的未來如何，很多村民對(duì)他們更為貧窮的過去沒有什么留戀之情。

As the sun sets and the air cools, Wang Yulin, 61, tends to his fresh corn seedlings in a field on Shanhui’s outskirts, as he has done for decades. But with his three children off working in cities, he realizes that one day, he will probably have to give up his farm.

夕陽(yáng)西下，空氣漸涼，61歲的王玉林(音)像過去幾十年一樣，在山會(huì)郊外的一塊地里照料他的新鮮玉米幼苗。但他三個(gè)孩子都在城里工作，他知道有一天，他或許將不得不放棄他的農(nóng)場(chǎng)。

He greets the prospect with a shrug. “You can’t make much money farming,” he said.

面對(duì)這樣的前景，他聳了聳肩。“種地賺不了多少錢，“他說。