<p>The sentence comes from the first chapter of 《姑妄言》, which is an erotic novel. The full sentence comes as below:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>……以千金买笑，白镪缠头，可是穷人做得来的。自然都是膏梁公子，富室娇儿，或是效用的先生，或是加纳的阔老。且这几种人，不但使几个憨钱，且要假装一个名士，必定要嫖名妓，宿美娼。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Firstly, it couldn't be the country of Ghana at all. At the time of the book 姑妄言 (1730), most person in Qing Dynasty could hardly have a way to get know about Britain, France or Spain (except being a merchant selling foreign goods or related to one of the merchants), let alone an African colonial. Also at that time the name &quot;Ghana&quot; just don't exist. Westerns call the colonial part of Ghana &quot;the Gold Coast&quot;, and there is a native Ashanti Empire in the territory of today's Ghana that is not colonized.</p>
<p>Back to the sentence. “先生” means man with high social status, and “阔佬” means rich man. There is a <a href="https://blog.sina.cn/dpool/blog/s/blog_648a9b3e0102yccv.html" rel="noreferrer">Chinese blog</a> that specifically analyse the meaning of “效用” and “加纳” in the book. His/Her answer is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>【加纳】一词原始意思是追加缴纳。明清时期特指官僚仕途中，已有资格候选官者，追加缴纳粟米银两以求得越级选官。</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>【效用先生】。与【加纳大佬】一起指粗俗有钱人捐纳文武官职的人。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In English, “效用先生” and “加纳大佬” both means vulgar upstarts who buy a position in bureaucracy (to make himself have a higher status), “加纳” means &quot;additional payment&quot; in origin, and in Ming and Qing dynasties it mean the action of buying a position in bureaucracy.</p>
<p>My English isn't very good, so I apologize for the possible grammar or vocabulary mistake in this answer.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T01:06:36.007Z
Quote:- "My English isn't very good" You are too 谦虚 :)
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T02:41:21.607Z
Thanks, very informative. I didn't realize the book concerned was an erotic novel, perhaps I hadn't reached that part where there are porn contents. But these two expressions are now obsolete, right? Because it is not easy to find the useful info about them online or from my usual friends here.
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-01T09:36:26.560Z
Actually I just paste 效用先生加纳 into my Bing (Chinese Version) and it comes in the first place
Tec99
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-28T13:10:46.793Z
2023-08-28T13:10:46.793Z
Tec99
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1Rz37.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1Rz37.png" alt="效用的先生，加纳的阔佬" /></a></p>
<p>这是从姑妄言书中来的。This image is from the book 姑妄言.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/%E5%A7%91%E5%A6%84%E8%A8%80%E5%85%A8%E5%82%B3/A5PLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=%E2%80%9C%E5%8A%A0%E7%BA%B3%E9%98%94%E4%BD%AC%E2%80%9D&amp;pg=PT28&amp;printsec=frontcover" rel="nofollow noreferrer">姑妄言</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-25T11:56:36.453Z
2023-08-25T11:56:36.453Z
PdotWang
<p>It is from a book I read, but I do not remember the title of it. It looks something like 儒林外史 or 镜花园 or similar title.</p>
<p>Isn't 加纳 a country in Africa? I hear many local people of Nanning, the city where I am staying, went there for gold mining and earn a good fortune.</p>
<p>Is it likely that since ancient times or the time when the book was written or published, there were Chinese people doing the same in Ghana?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-25T10:28:56.287Z
If you could provide the context it will be much easier to figure it out.
fat penguin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-25T11:50:41.770Z
https://www.google.com/books/edition/%E5%A7%91%E5%A6%84%E8%A8%80%E5%85%A8%E5%82%B3/A5PLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9C%E5%8A%A0%E7%BA%B3%E9%98%94%E4%BD%AC%E2%80%9D&pg=PT28&printsec=frontcover
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-26T00:56:29.120Z
@PdotWang Thanks. That is the book. The place from which I mentioned people went to work in Ghana is a county named Shanglin上林, which is under the city of Nanning南宁. But about the words, I haven't got the answer even after my search online and your direction.
NanningYouth
<word>
What does 效用先生加纳阔佬 mean?
# What does 效用先生加纳阔佬 mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-08-25)

It is from a book I read, but I do not remember the title of it. It looks something like 儒林外史 or 镜花园 or similar title.

Isn't 加纳 a country in Africa? I hear many local people of Nanning, the city where I am staying, went there for gold mining and earn a good fortune.

Is it likely that since ancient times or the time when the book was written or published, there were Chinese people doing the same in Ghana?

**Tags:** word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you could provide the context it will be much easier to figure it out.  
> **username_2**: https://www.google.com/books/edition/%E5%A7%91%E5%A6%84%E8%A8%80%E5%85%A8%E5%82%B3/A5PLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9C%E5%8A%A0%E7%BA%B3%E9%98%94%E4%BD%AC%E2%80%9D&pg=PT28&printsec=frontcover  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thanks. That is the book. The place from which I mentioned people went to work in Ghana is a county named Shanglin上林, which is under the city of Nanning南宁. But about the words, I haven't got the answer even after my search online and your direction.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-08-28. Score: 5

The sentence comes from the first chapter of 《姑妄言》, which is an erotic novel. The full sentence comes as below:

> ……以千金买笑，白镪缠头，可是穷人做得来的。自然都是膏梁公子，富室娇儿，或是效用的先生，或是加纳的阔老。且这几种人，不但使几个憨钱，且要假装一个名士，必定要嫖名妓，宿美娼。

Firstly, it couldn't be the country of Ghana at all. At the time of the book 姑妄言 (1730), most person in Qing Dynasty could hardly have a way to get know about Britain, France or Spain (except being a merchant selling foreign goods or related to one of the merchants), let alone an African colonial. Also at that time the name "Ghana" just don't exist. Westerns call the colonial part of Ghana "the Gold Coast", and there is a native Ashanti Empire in the territory of today's Ghana that is not colonized.

Back to the sentence. “先生” means man with high social status, and “阔佬” means rich man. There is a [Chinese blog](https://blog.sina.cn/dpool/blog/s/blog_648a9b3e0102yccv.html) that specifically analyse the meaning of “效用” and “加纳” in the book. His/Her answer is:

> 【加纳】一词原始意思是追加缴纳。明清时期特指官僚仕途中，已有资格候选官者，追加缴纳粟米银两以求得越级选官。

> 【效用先生】。与【加纳大佬】一起指粗俗有钱人捐纳文武官职的人。

In English, “效用先生” and “加纳大佬” both means vulgar upstarts who buy a position in bureaucracy (to make himself have a higher status), “加纳” means "additional payment" in origin, and in Ming and Qing dynasties it mean the action of buying a position in bureaucracy.

My English isn't very good, so I apologize for the possible grammar or vocabulary mistake in this answer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Quote:- "My English isn't very good" You are too 谦虚 :)  
> **username_0**: Thanks, very informative. I didn't realize the book concerned was an erotic novel, perhaps I hadn't reached that part where there are porn contents. But these two expressions are now obsolete, right? Because it is not easy to find the useful info about them online or from my usual friends here.  
> **username_3**: Actually I just paste 效用先生加纳 into my Bing (Chinese Version) and it comes in the first place  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-08-25. Score: 0

[![效用的先生，加纳的阔佬](https://i.sstatic.net/1Rz37.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/1Rz37.png)

这是从姑妄言书中来的。This image is from the book 姑妄言.

[姑妄言](https://www.google.com/books/edition/%E5%A7%91%E5%A6%84%E8%A8%80%E5%85%A8%E5%82%B3/A5PLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9C%E5%8A%A0%E7%BA%B3%E9%98%94%E4%BD%AC%E2%80%9D&pg=PT28&printsec=frontcover)


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