Title: 挣钱？赚钱？攒钱？ | BestBlogs.dev
URL Source: https://www.bestblogs.dev/article/13b6180044?amp%3Butm_medium=feed&%3Butm_campaign=resources&%3Bentry=rss_article_item
Published Time: 2026-08-02 20:20:00
Markdown Content: 87
挣钱？赚钱？攒钱？
Drawing on the structure of Chinese characters and classical texts, this essay distinguishes between three ways of making a living — earning, saving, and profiting — and uses them to reveal the underlying values and structural attitudes toward merchants in different societies. 
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原创 张佳玮 2026-08-02 20:20 法国
哪一种？
挣钱是提手旁，靠手，靠体力。
赚钱是贝字旁，更依赖盈利。题外话，白话文小说里，“赚”有诓骗之意。吴用智赚玉麒麟、呼延灼月夜赚关胜、吴用赚金铃吊挂，诸如此类。
我故乡无锡话讲“攒钱”，音近普通话的“裁”或“再”，有所谓“攒铜钱”：小本经营，一点点攒起钱来的意思。
大概，挣钱靠 劳动。攒钱是 累聚，细水长流，聚沙成塔。赚钱是 盈利，靠运作。
商人其实也分，古话所谓行商坐贾。坐在家里运作，那是商贾。出门风餐露宿，那是行商。西门庆派宋蕙莲老公出门行商，自己在家坐贾。《水浒》里王婆自己开茶楼，儿子出去学做生意，跟人跑腿，就是行商。
我故乡无锡，手工业和商业发达，百姓精打细算，小本生意获利，就 是“攒铜钱”，勤劳经营，一点一滴。
有意思的是，许多人会刻意模糊行商坐贾，仿佛只要是商人，就是一伙的。还有人会刻意渲染：商人的钱都来得容易，所以活该被抢。
《水浒》里的客商，结队过景阳冈要防老虎，结队走旱路却被晁盖劫了。晁盖叮嘱“只可善取金帛财物，切不可伤害客商性命”，抢完还要问一声“不曾杀人么”。他大概觉得自己是替天行道，可那些被断了本钱的客商，命运并不会因此好转——落草为寇的好汉里，有多少正是因为折了本钱、回乡不得？断人财路，如杀人父母，晁盖们与那景阳冈上的老虎，终究只隔着一层“替天行道”的名头。
凭什么抢商人的钱，就是替天行道呢？就因为他们钱比一般人多一点？似乎来得容易些？
这种对商人的仇视，欧洲中世纪更甚。有说商人都是泥腿子，灵魂要下地狱。许多欧洲农民认定：商人行商牟利，是“另一种形式的高利贷”，应该监禁甚至死刑。许多欧洲民歌还会强调说，商人都不是好东西：买空卖空、巧取豪夺，就该让骑士老爷们去抢商人，抢得好，抢得妙，抢得呱呱叫。
但如上所述，商人，尤其小商贩的钱，大多也不是天上掉下来的。
士农工商。农的收成来自种地。工的收成来自劳动。抬头不见低头见。
商的收入，来自投入成本买货、估算行市物价，做行商也得晓行夜宿，吃碗辛苦饭。
我有个做金融的广东朋友，自叹“揾食”而已。做金融做商务，最后也不过谋生。
骑士老爷们的收入来自于——直白地说——武力。所以掌握武力的老爷很乐意拉着农民和工人去打压商人：农业是根本，自耕农既能上交田赋，又能当劳役，还能作为兵源，很容易听调遣。商人流动性大，没绑在土地上，很难被控制。那就打压一下他们呗。
大概：
工农挣钱。
小工商攒钱。
商贾赚钱。
骑士老爷收税钱。
老爷讨厌商贾和豪强，所以要拉拢和打压。刘邦规定商人不得衣丝乘车，明初强制商人穿异色鞋服，杨坚在隋初明确限制商贾子弟科举。这就是打压商贾，顺便告诉小工农“你们不要去做生意，你们老老实实种地干活。”也告诉商贾“只有我才能保护你们，你们要听话。”
大概在近代之前：
越依赖土地的 农业社会，重农抑商，“挣钱”格外光荣。
手工业行商社会，通商惠工，讨厌商业壁垒，一点一滴的“攒钱”自然而然。
商业立国的国家，保护产权，讨厌占山为王，“赚钱”也就理所当然。
所以看一个地界鼓励怎么 揾食谋生——挣钱、攒钱还是赚钱——情感色彩的不同，以何为耻以何为荣，很大程度上，也能显出那个社会的底色。
Key Quotes
> Cutting off a man's livelihood is like killing his parents; the Chao Gais and the tiger of Jingyang Ridge are, in the end, separated only by the label of 'acting on heaven's behalf.'
> Roughly until modern times: the more a society depended on the land, the more it favored agriculture over commerce, and 'earning a living' was especially honorable. In handicraft and mercantile societies, trade was encouraged and industry supported, commercial barriers were despised, and 'saving up' bit by bit came naturally. In nations built on commerce, property rights were protected, holding the mountains as one's own was despised, and 'making a profit' was taken for granted.
> So look at how a place encourages people to make a living — earning, saving, or profiting — the different emotional coloring, what is considered shameful and what is considered honorable, can to a large extent reveal the underlying character of that society.
Tags
Humanities & Social Sciences
Business Culture
History & Society
Language & Writing
Social Observation
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