美国《华尔街日报》统计了1000年来世界上最富有的50人，其中有6名中国人，他们分别是成吉思汗、忽必烈、刘瑾、和坤、伍秉鉴和宋子文。
现翻译如下：
成吉思汗（Genghis Khan ）(1162-1227)
Occupation: Conqueror
职业： 侵略者
Source of wealth: Looting
财富来源： 战利品
Assets: Almost five million square miles of land
资产： 五百万平方公里的
Claim to fame: Lived to humiliate his enemies
成名原因： 过着羞辱敌人的生活
If wealth were measured by lands conquered, Genghis Khan would rank as one of the wealthiest people ever. He began his career by uniting feuding Mongol tribes and then went on to seize almost five million square miles covering what is now China, Iran, Iraq, Burma, Vietnam, and most of Korea and Russia. Genghis Khan, whose name means "Universal Ruler," conquered as much for the sheer fun of it as for the spoils. He rode a horse and slept in a tent. "The greatest joy," he proclaimed, "is to conquer one's enemies, to pursue them, to seize their property, to see their families in tears, to ride their horses and to possess their daughters and wives."
如果财富用占领的土地来衡量的话，成吉思汗将被排列为从未有过的世界最富有的人，他的职业生涯开始于联合不和的蒙古部落，然后开始占领了将近五百万平方公里的土地，包括现在的中国，伊朗，伊拉克,缅甸，越南，和大部分的朝鲜，俄罗斯。成吉思汗，他的名字代表的含义就是“世界统治者”，大部分的征服只是为了个人爱好中纯粹的乐趣，他骑在马上和睡在帐篷里。“最大的快乐，”他声明，“就是去征服敌人，去追赶他们，去抢夺他们的财产，去看他们家人的眼泪，去骑他们的马和占有他们的女儿和妻子。”
忽必烈（Kublai Khan）(1215-1294)
Occupation: Conqueror and heir
职业： 侵略者和后嗣
Source of wealth: Inheritance
财富来源： 继承
Assets: Gold and jewels
资产： 黄金和珠宝
Claim to fame: Inspired Xanadu
成名原因： 改革华夏
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, failed in military campaigns against Japan, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, but he established the Yuan dynasty in China and built a sumptuous court of gilded cane at Ta-tu (now Beijing). Marco Polo marveled at the jeweled splendor of Kublai Khan's summer palace, Shang-tu -- the inspiration for the "Xanadu" of English poet Coleridge's work. Polo was also amazed by the indulgent feasting and hunting, and by Kublai Khan's ships, which were large enough to carry 1,000 men and "made the passengers feel as if they were on dry land." Kublai Khan zealously promoted paper money, forcing its use under penalty of punishment and confiscating everyone else's gold and silver.
忽必烈，成吉思汗的孙子，在对抗日本，东南亚和印尼的军事行动中失败，但是他建立了中国的元朝，而且在Ta-tu（现在的北京）建造了奢华的镀金宫廷。马可波罗对忽必烈避暑宫殿中散发的珠宝光辉啧啧称奇。shang—tu——英文诗人柯尔律治的杰作，就是来自“xanadu（夏都）”的灵感。马可波罗也十分惊讶于奢华的宴会和狩猎，而且在忽必烈的船上，大的可以容纳一百多人的，使人感到好像站在干地上，忽必烈热中促进了纸钱使用, 在处罚之下强迫它的使用而且没收其他人金子和银子。
刘瑾（Liu Jin） (1452-1510)
Occupation: Court eunuch
职业： 朝廷宦官
Source of wealth: Graft
财富来源： 贪污
Assets: Gold and silver
资产： 黄金和白银
Claim to fame: Inspired morality tales on the danger of greed
成名原因： 在道德激励故事中危险的贪婪
A fabulously wealthy court eunuch of China's Ming dynasty, Liu Jin abused his office to amass a great fortune. When he was finally executed for treason, he was found to have 12 million ounces of gold and 259 million ounces of silver. By comparison, the treasury of the imperial palace had only 30 million to 70 million ounces of silver when the dynasty fell. However, reports of Liu Jin's wealth might have been grossly exaggerated, since chroniclers used his story to warn what can happen when an imperial eunuch annoys enough people.
一个在明朝时传说最富有的宫廷宦官，刘瑾滥用职权收敛了大量的财富，当他最后因为叛逆被处以极刑的时候,他被发现有一千二百万盎司的黄金和二亿五千九百万盎司的白银。作为比较，当明朝落下帷幕时，国库中只有三千万到七千万盎司的白银，然而，刘瑾的财富的报告可能非常被过分渲染，因为编年史编者使用这个故事来警告当一个宦官掌权时能发生什么。
（和珅）Ho-Shen (1750-1799)
Occupation: Chinese emperor's right-hand man
职业： 皇帝身边得力的人
Source of wealth: Graft, kickbacks
财富来源： 贪污，回扣
Assets: Gold, silver, furs
资产： 黄金， 白银 ，裘毛
Claim to fame: So greedy he stole food from soldiers
成名原因： 贪婪的要从士兵那里偷东西吃
Handsome, witty, self-confident and incredibly corrupt, Ho-Shen entered the court of Emperor Kao-tsung in 1772 as a bodyguard but quickly became the aging emperor's confidante. He strengthened those ties by marrying the emperor's youngest and favorite daughter, giving Ho-Shen the power to make or break other officials. Because nobody dared to refuse his demands or bring charges against him, he became fabulously wealthy. Serving as customs superintendent, Ho-Shen had easy access to luxury goods; he also persuaded the increasingly senile emperor to prolong a bloody military campaign, pocketing vast sums allocated to the army while the soldiers starved. When the emperor died in 1799, his heir immediately arrested Ho-Shen and confiscated his silver, gold and precious stones. Ho-Shen, who died in prison, had at least 60 million ounces of silver, 70,000 furs and a gold table service of 4,288 pieces.
英俊、富于机智, 有自信的和难以致信的腐败, 在1772年和珅进入了皇帝乾隆的宫廷当一个侍卫但是很快地变成了老皇帝的知己。他娶了皇帝最小也是最喜欢的女儿为妻进一步巩固了这层关系，致使他有能力拉拢党羽和排除异己。因为没有人敢拒绝他的意思或着拿权利来对抗他，他变得不可思议的富有。作为赋税管理者，和珅已经非常容易得到珍贵的物品;而且他还劝说日益年老的皇帝延长一次血腥的军事行动，当士兵正在挨饿的时候，把数量巨大本因分配给军队的军饷装入囊内。当皇帝在1799年驾崩时,他的继承人马上抓住了和珅,把他的白银，金子和宝石。和珅死在监狱，至少有了六千万盎司的白银，七万裘毛和四千二百八十八块金砖。
（伍秉鉴）Howqua (a.k.a. Wu Bingjian) (1769-1843)
Occupation: Trader
职业： 贸易人
Source of wealth: Import，export, money-lending
财富来源： 进口 ，出口 ，钱庄
Assets: Millions of silver dollars
资产： 千万银元
Claim to fame: Richest businessman in the world in his time
成名原因： 在他那个时期最富有的商人
Howqua's father was one of a handful of Chinese merchants permitted to trade silk and porcelain with foreigners. Howqua's family accepted payment only in silver; they didn't see any foreign goods they wanted. In 1789, Howqua took over the business from his father. He lent enormous sums to foreign traders (up to a million silver dollars at a time) in exchange for a share of the shipments. He was also a public benefactor, donating 1.1 million silver dollars toward reparations after the First Opium War. Howqua was so widely known in his time that his portrait still hangs in several Salem, Mass., and Newport, R.I., mansions built by American merchants who traded with him.
伍秉鉴的父亲是允许与外国人交易丝和磁器的少数中国商人之一。伍秉鉴家只接受白银的付款;他们并不是所有的外国商品都想要。在1789年，伍秉鉴接管了他父亲的生意。他借出大量的数目给外国商人（每次百万银元）以交换部分的船只出货。他也是公认的慈善家，捐赠第一个鸦片战争后的一百一十万向赔款的银元。在那个时期，伍秉鉴名声远播，他的肖像仍然在一些和他有过生意来往的Salem, Mass., and Newport, R.I.-----美国人建造的官邸悬挂着。
（宋子文）T.V. Soong (1894-1971)
Occupation: Financier, government official
职业： 金融家 ， 政府官员
Source of wealth: Banking, fraud
财富来源： 银行业， 欺诈行为
Assets: Blue-chip stocks, cash
资产： 蓝筹股 ，现金
Claim to fame: Used Chinese treasury to invest in General Motors Corp.
成名原因： 用中国财政库的资金投资美国通用汽车公司
An official of the Chinese Nationalist Government from 1927 to 1949, Soong was said to be the richest man in the world during the 1940s. If not the wealthiest, he was surely one of the most powerful. The son of a prominent Methodist industrialist, Soong graduated from Harvard University and quickly rose in the financial world as a banker. In 1923, he financed the Nationalist party of Sun Yat-sen, his brother-in-law. Soong established the Central Bank of China, which became the government treasury in 1924 when Soong was appointed the minister of finance. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek -- Sun Yat-sen's rival and Soong's other brother-in-law -- rose to power, and Soong served as his finance minister. He was appointed minister of foreign affairs in 1942, and became a master at mustering Washington's support for China. Using his easy access to the Chinese treasury, he made large personal investments in foreign stock, including holdings in General Motors Corp. and DuPont Co. A wartime dossier on Soong states that he "started out his public career with rather limited resources and [by January 1943] had amassed over $70 million" (worth about $660 million in today's dollars). When the Soviets captured mainland China in 1949, Soong moved to San Francisco, where he kept a lower profile.
从1927—1949作为国民党政府官员，宋子文被认为是40年代时期世界上最富有的男人。如果不是最有钱，他也当然被认为是最有权利的人。作为一个有功效的企业家之子，宋子文从哈佛毕业之后迅速成为一名银行家进入金融行业。在1923年，他给姐夫孙中山的民族组织提供经费。他创立了中央银行，后来在 1924年他被任命为财政大臣后成为了国库。在1927年，蒋介石--孙中山的竞争对手，宋子文的另一个妹夫，变的有权利起来。宋子文成为他的财政部长。在1942年被任命为外交部大臣,成为华盛顿集团在中国的雇主。使用他在中国财政部的权利，把他大部分的个人财产投资到外国的股票,包括持有世界通用汽车和多特公司的股票
原文地址:http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ca774b501000d9q.html