翁禮華：中國財政文化的大寫者

翁禮華，寧波人很熟悉的一個名字，現(xiàn)在已是浙江人很熟悉的一個名字了。

1962年，他考入杭大化學系，1967年畢業(yè)，是鎮(zhèn)海大學生當廠長的第一人。他當廠長業(yè)績顯著，上世紀70年代被評為“文革”后的第一批省勞模。爾后，風正一帆懸，他歷任奉化、鄞縣縣長，浙江省政府辦公廳副主任、省政府副秘書長、浙江省財政廳廳長兼省地方稅務局局長和省國資辦主任。

20年的從政生涯紅紅火火，睿智通達的他認為做官只是一個過程，是發(fā)揮自身價值的一個高級平臺。他不僅把浙江財政工作搞得有聲有色，而且獨辟蹊徑，以經(jīng)濟視角面對歷史，寫出了大氣磅礴的系列財政文化散文，成為令人矚目的專家型、學者型官員。

中國財政歷史源遠流長，浩瀚龐雜，當他把財政思想演繹成一部部著作后，他覺得還不夠承重，于是，在其創(chuàng)意并致力下，中國財稅博物館誕生了。如今，開館伊始，作為一館之長的他，正一心運籌在財政的帷幄中。

中國財政散文第一人

認識翁禮華在14年前，那時他任省政府副秘書長，說話風趣，出口成章，是一位頗具親和力的官員。后來又從媒體上看到不少有關翁禮華“奇人奇事”的文章，尤其是1998年10月23日《光明日報》有關“浙江財政改革”的報道，引起了國務院常務副總理李嵐清的關注。且不說他“財政改革以人為本”開拓創(chuàng)新的政績，也撇開其侃侃而論的“‘沒有’權才能掌好權”的種種為官之道，令人最感新奇的是身居要職的他居然著作等身：《中國歷代賦稅和當前稅制改革》《財政#8226;賦稅#8226;官吏#8226;俸祿——中國歷史漫談》《五十而知天命——財稅改革隨筆》《以經(jīng)濟視角面對歷史——財稅新視野雜談(上、下)》《禮華財政歷史散文》《長河東去》等等，這些書深受讀者的喜愛，并得到行家的贊賞。原財政部部長劉仲藜贊賞他的書“融歷史性、知識性和趣味性于一體”，著名作家黃亞洲說他是一眼“深井”，作品深刻、視覺獨特，在短短的幾年里寫出幾百萬字，令專業(yè)作家望塵莫及。省作協(xié)多次為他的作品舉辦專題研討會，中國作協(xié)主動吸納他為會員，翁禮華被稱為“中國財政散文第一人”。

為官是熱鬧的，為文卻是寂寞的，在紛擾嘈雜的行政工作中，他是如何營造出一方寧靜之地來放牧廣博的思想與文化?前不久，我在杭州拜訪了翁禮華先生。

在翁先生的寓所里，我看到他新出版的厚厚一大疊專著：《縱橫捭闔》《錢財兩面》《錢眼讀書》《運財帷幄》等。翁先生拿起裝幀十分精美的《縱橫捭闔》說：“這曾是一本白皮書，50萬字，共九章，是我專門為浙江大學研究生講授《財政文化研究》課程而撰寫的教材，后來流傳開了，被中國財政經(jīng)濟出版社發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們認為此書可讀性非常強，就編輯出版了。”

對整個中國財政史，翁禮華可謂爛熟于心。他發(fā)現(xiàn)一些行政領導缺乏財稅知識，而現(xiàn)有的財政類書籍又太枯燥、艱澀，連他這樣閱讀興趣甚廣的人都感到“不忍卒讀”，于是，就萌發(fā)了寫書的念頭。

“大管家”寫文章訣竅

天才出自勤奮，翁禮華好學是出名的。在鎮(zhèn)海基層工作時，他晨起常到公園去朗讀英語；在鄞縣縣長任上，星期天獨自一人在圖書館看書看到深更半夜，這是不少鄞州人所熟知的事。

財政廳長是“大管家”，一直很忙，故創(chuàng)作必須在工作之余。他的作息時間通常是這樣安排的：早上6時起床爬山，7時到辦公室洗澡、吃早飯，8時上班；中午休息一刻鐘，然后看報，晚飯后散步幾分鐘，再處理半小時公文。7時半開始創(chuàng)作，11時半離開辦公室，睡眠一般只5個多小時。他見縫插針地寫，如去開會途中的小車里，便拿個本子在膝蓋上寫；出國考察更是大做文章的好時機，去一次國外就能在飛機上、汽車里、旅途的間隙中寫出洋洋數(shù)萬言。“系列財政著作過程，就這么舉重若輕?”佩服之余我不禁問道。翁先生說，當初他感到困惑的是切入點。面對漫漫的中國歷史長河，該如何用簡潔的文字來揭示紛繁復雜的財政文化全貌?后來他從中醫(yī)針灸治病的原理中受到啟發(fā)，刺一穴而動百骸!正如他在著作的自序中所言：“以經(jīng)濟視角選擇若干歷史文化關節(jié)點，運用以小見大、化繁為簡的隨筆形式進行剖析，才能‘窺一斑而知全豹’，以較少的篇幅和較短的閱讀時間來洞察極為深厚的歷史文化，事半而功倍。”

找準了切入點，翁禮華的創(chuàng)作猶如“井噴”，在短短的七八年間寫出了16部著作。這些著作深入淺出，打破了以往財政類書籍晦澀難懂的格局。他的著作留下了明州痕跡，這與他在寧波整整工作、生活20年有關。《運財帷幄》一書中就有專門篇章《寧波幫：與國人交止于信》，文中談到寧波幫創(chuàng)立的一種獨特的信用制度票據(jù)交換制度。他說“寧波幫”講誠信，一向把信譽看作企業(yè)的生命線。他闡述“企”字的部首為“人”，附件為“止”，有儒家經(jīng)典《大學》中“與國人交止于信”的意蘊，即與他人交往要達到有信用的高度。明末崇禎年間鎮(zhèn)海人莊士英遠赴南洋經(jīng)商致富后，回故里建造了一座命名為“止所”的樓房，意思是“知其所止”，即“為人君止于仁，為人臣止于敬，為人父止于慈，與國人交止于信”。“止于信”是“寧波幫”得以成功的訣竅之一。接著，他舉了許多“寧波幫”商人誠信的例子，生動而富有知識性。

第一座財稅博物館

那天在翁先生家小坐后，他說陪你去看看中國財稅博物館吧。當時我很詫異，杭州什么時候冒出了這么個館?

財稅博物館坐落在西子湖畔的吳山腳下，占地27畝，建筑面積1.2萬多平方米。整個建筑外形看上去酷似古代尖足布幣，很有歷史感。

聽翁先生介紹，博物館從1999年2月18日選址到2004年11月9日正式開館，歷時5年多。致力于財稅文化研究的他無疑是這座博物館的動議。筆者問到創(chuàng)意，他回答：“是著作的啟發(fā)。我把思想寫成了書，我也可以把書變成博物館。世界上還沒有一個大型的專題性財稅博物館，但中國文化積淀深厚，有4000多年的財政史，這是世界各國無法相比的優(yōu)勢。”

翁禮華關于建造財稅博物館的建議，得到了當時財政部部長項懷誠和國家稅務總局局長金人慶的支持，最后決定在杭州吳山創(chuàng)建博物館。這座融實體建筑與虛擬數(shù)字化為一體的中國財稅博物館，是中國財稅歷史文化展示中心、學術交流中心和財稅信息中心，它是面向社會各界進行財稅歷史文化知識宣傳、教育和交流的一個平臺。

極其現(xiàn)代化的博物館大廳，自然采光，氣勢恢宏。翁先生指點著邊上的電梯及宮殿式的朱漆柱子說：“建筑融合了古代傳統(tǒng)設計思想和后現(xiàn)代設計理念。”城墻式的門道上方，一枚形似古鼎和錢幣的中國財稅博物館徽標，及周圍墻壁上點綴的幾個抽象圖案的雕刻，營造出了一份濃郁的財政氛圍。

在財稅歷史陳列館中，在展示賣官鬻爵的財政收入時，對于“衣冠禽獸”之定義有個生動解讀。清朝官員在官服的前胸后背有兩塊紋飾，文官的圖案為禽類，如仙鶴、錦雞等，武官的圖案為獸類，如獅子、老虎等。本來衣冠上的禽獸是區(qū)分官員職別大小的標志，后來人們出于對官吏腐敗的不滿，就罵其為“衣冠禽獸”；再如講到歷史上鹽的專賣時，就形象地舉出一個“敲竹杠”，為了不使鹽稅流失，國家對鹽實行專賣。但有人偷偷摸摸賣私鹽，把竹杠節(jié)頭打通，鹽藏在里面。所以古代有緝私隊常會拿木棍敲一下竹杠，聽聽抬籮筐過關口的抬杠是實心還是空心，這就是“敲竹杠”的來歷。財稅博物館吸引人之處，除了故事性還有動感，如展示漕糧運輸時，墻壁上的船都會開動；在民間財富崇拜展館中，還用多媒體形式來反映正月初五迎財神等習俗，這些都是靠高科技手段來實施的。

文如其人，館如其文。讀翁禮華的財政著作與參觀其主持創(chuàng)建的博物館，有一共同感受，那就是生動形象。

參觀后已近黃昏時分，在博物館頂樓的露天大平臺上和翁先生一起喝茶，面對青山、斜陽，他感懷道：人生如白駒過隙，唯有文化是永恒的。從傳承意義上來說，博物館是流芳百世的事業(yè)。

年屆花甲的翁禮華，充實、從容，他說人要有一種愛好，有所追求，就不會空虛。2003年翁禮華從財政廳卸任后，改任浙江省政府經(jīng)濟建設咨詢委員會副主任、財政部中國財稅博物館館長，而且他還是浙江大學特聘教授、財經(jīng)文史研究中心主任，上海財經(jīng)大學兼職教授，從這些頭銜中可以想見他的另一種忙碌了。

臨別時，翁先生送給我一大摞他的著作，他在其中一本的扉頁上題寫了贈言：“把工作做成作品!”

A Scholar Official Well Known in Zhejiang

By Bao Danhong

The name of Weng Lihua used to be well known in Ningbo. Now it is a name well known in Zhejiang Province. From a chemistry major at Hangzhou University in 1962 to county magistrate and the provincial government’s chief finance executive， the capable and knowledgeable Weng Lihua is bound to make his name known in Zhejiang over his 20-plus-year career as a government official. Weng retired from the directorship of Zhejiang Administration of Finance in 2003 when he was 60.

In Zhenhai， Weng Lihua was the first college-graduate turned plant manager. He was honored the model worker in the 1970s. Then he served as magistrates in two counties in Ningbo before going on to work for the provincial government. His career as a government official was highly successful. Regarding his career only as a life process and a platform to give full play to his capabilities， Weng was a successful chief finance officer of the province.

Weng is a scholar. Reading is a habit he has kept up for decades. The story that the county magistrate spent long hours reading at the library on Sundays was well known in Yinxian County. Following a tight work schedule to handle a heavy workload， he managed to spend hours reading and writing every evening. That’s how he was able to work efficiently as a finance administrator in Zhejiang. He began to write books on the history of China’s finance and taxation when he found that many of his subordinates did not were ignorant about how financial and taxation management was done in the past. He has published 16 books over the past eight years. His books are different from those theoretical tomes with jaw-dropping and obscure terms. Written in plain Chinese， his books have good anecdotes and stories from history and offer deep insights into key issues. From these concise discussions， readers can easily have an overall understanding of the history and culture concerning financial issues.

Weng Lihua initiated the suggestion that a national museum be built in celebration of China’s long history of finance and taxation. The Ministry of Finance okayed the proposal and decided to build it in Hangzhou. The work on site selection began in February， 1999 and the China Finance and Taxation Museum officially opened to visitors on November 9， 2004. He drew the inspiration about building a national museum of finance and taxation history from writing a book. 襍ince I can write my thoughts into books， I can certainly turn books into a museum. There has never been a large-scale museum with the history of finance and taxation as its theme in the world. The finance and taxation history of China dates back to four thousand years ago， which makes China’s cultural heritage in this field peerless in the world.?For Weng， there is only one small step from being a good writer to being a successful lecturer. He is a popular lecturer at Zhejiang University， the Central University of Finance and Economy， Beijing University， Shanghai University of Finance and Economy， all being the country’s top-ranking higher education institutions in the field of finance and taxation. One of his books contains lectures he prepared for a graduate course entitled Cultural Study of Financial Administration at Zhejiang University. Weng’s lectures are popular with students. He quotes copiously from various sources. Humorous， knowledgeable， and with unusual hands-on experience in the government’s finance and taxation administration at the provincial level， he is indeed an outstanding lecturer. Some graduates have urged their universities to hire more lecturers like Weng. Some graduates choose his topics for their papers.

Some people even say that his mind works like a computer. When asked whether this was true or not， Weng laughed and said that 襭ractice makes perfect?There was an international seminar on the relation between finance and taxation held in Urumchi， Xinjiang in July 2005， co-sponsored by the World Bank and China’s Ministry of Finance. Participants were government officials from both at home and abroad. According to the schedule， Weng was to give two lectures and the assistant to the financial minister was to give one lecture. But as the latter’s lecture was canceled due to an urgent government business， Weng was asked to give one more lecture for the last-minute emergency. Weng had only 10 minutes to prepare for a topic about the cultural background of the formation of the Chinese government administrative functions and their current transition. As expected， he gave a wonderful lecture and received warm responses and applauses.

Today， he is still a busy lecturer and researcher， and works as a senior advisor to the provincial government. Concurrently he is curator of the China Finance and Taxation Museum in Hangzhou. There is a multimedia lecture hall in the museum. He is sure to give more lectures there.

(Translated by David)