多源演化与制度选择:晚清时期“破产”概念新词义的形成

Multi-source Evolution and Institutional Selection:Formation of the New Meaning of"Bankruptcy"in the Late Qing Dynasty

与古代事实性“破产”不同,现代“破产”更多建立在财务统计意义之上,与债务存在特定联系。“破产”现象从“实”到“虚”的转变,奠定了现代“破产”概念新词义形成的社会经济基础。19世纪中后期,源自本土新词“倒”字词群、泰西译词“报穷”和日语借词“破产”三类词汇,均具有成为现代“破产”概念新词义载体的潜质,且有着不同适用空间。起初,日语借词“破产”并不占优势,但借助清末商事立法,被统合到国家法律制度建设之中,才逐渐占据主导地位。同时,“破产”与部分具有“生命度”的抽象名词搭配,还延伸出“事情失败”的比喻义。概括看,晚清时期“破产”概念新词义是以社会经济变革为前提,以多元知识交融为源泉,以制度变革进行统合,以词法结构转变为延伸,逐渐演化而成。

In contrast to the factual bankruptcy in ancient times,the modern concept of bankruptcy is primarily rooted in financial statistics and specifically tied to debt.This shift from the concrete to the abstract has laid the socio-economic foundation for the emergence of the new meaning of"bankruptcy"in the modern era.In the second half of the 19th century,various terms such as the indigenous term"dao"(倒),the Western translation"bao qiong"(报穷),and the Japanese loanword"pochan"(破产)all had the potential to represent the new connotation of the modern bankruptcy concept,each with its own applicable context.Initially,the Japanese loanword"bankruptcy"did not hold a prominent position.However,with the support of the late Qing commercial legislation,"bankruptcy"gradually became integrated into the national legal system,eventually assuming a dominant role.Additionally,when paired with certain abstract nouns that imply vitality,the term"bankruptcy"also extends metaphorically to signify the failure of endeavors.In summary,the development of the new meaning of the bankruptcy concept takes the socio-economic transformation as its precondition,the assimilation of diverse knowledge as its source,the institutional changes for integration,and syntactic structure transformations for extension.