用英語說中國的周朝

掌握好英語學習方法，自然能提高自己的英語水平，可以把英語融入到日常的閱讀當中。小編在此獻上用英語來了解中國的歷史文化，希望大家喜歡。　

用英語說中國周朝：Decline of Western Zhou 西周的衰落

After the death of King Wu, the Duke of Zhou was in Charge of state affairs for seven years until King Cheng came of age.

周武王去世後，周公旦執政七年直到周成王達到登基的年齡。

The four decades under King Cheng and his son King Kang were marked by political stability and economic prosperity.

成王在位的40年和他的兒子周康王執政的時期政治穩定、經濟繁榮。

Under the next rulers, King Zhao and King Mu, the strength of the dynasty was at its height and wars were fought against the peoples of the surrounding areas.

之後，在周昭王和周穆王的統治下，周朝國力達到鼎盛並與周邊地區多次開戰。

These conflicts intensified with the Zhou side enjoying the initiative.

這些戰事加強了周朝的主動權。

King Mu, powerful and ambitious, is said to have toured the regions far out in the west.

據說強勢又野心勃勃的穆王將國土擴展到了西邊。

After King Mu and throughout the reigns of King Gong, King Yi, King Xiao, King Yi and King Li, the prestige of the dynasty gradually declined and contradictions between the royal house and the people began to surface.

穆王之後，也就是在周共王、周懿王、周孝王、周夷王和周厲王在位期間，王朝的威望逐步衰退，皇族與人民之間的矛盾浮現出來。

King Li exploited the capital residents or freemen more mercilessly than ever and that roused general opposition.

厲王更加殘忍地剝削都城人民和自由民，其殘忍的程度史無前例，這引起了大衆的反抗。

His ministers advised him to stop his oppression, but he refused to listen. Instead, he suppressed all public discussion.

他的大臣勸他不要再壓迫人民但他不聽，反而禁止所有人在公共場合議論。

His tyranny continued for three years then the capital residents could no longer tolerate it and rose in armed revolt.

他的暴政持續了三年，直到人民再也無法忍受，於是他們揭竿而起。

They attacked the royal palace and forced the king to flee.

他們進攻皇宮，將厲王放逐。

Then they surrounded the residence of the Duke of Shao where they had heard that Prince Jing, heir to the throne, was hiding.

接着，人們圍住召穆公的府邸，因爲他們聽說王位繼承人公子靜藏在那裏。

The Duke made his own son take the place of the prince, thus saving the heir who later became King Xuan.

召穆公用自己的兒子替代了公子靜，救了他。公子靜，就是後來的周宣王。

After King Li had fled, the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao, descendants of the two mentioned earlier，took charge of the government;

在厲王被放逐之後，周定公與召穆公，也就是之前提到的召穆公的後代，共同執政，這段時期被稱爲“共和”。

this period was called the Gonghe.

有一個解釋說，因爲其中一個王朝管理者是共國的和公，所以稱“共和”。

One account says that the man in power was Duke He of the state of Gong，hence the name Gonghe.

“共和”元年爲公元前841年，從那時起，我們對於中國歷史的記載有了準確的日期。

The first year of Gonghe was 841 B.C. From that year on, we have accurate dates of recorded Chinese history.

被放逐後的第14年，周厲王死於彘地(今山西霍縣)。

King Li died in Zhi (now Huoxian in Shanxi) 14 years after his flight.

周定公與召穆公讓公子靜登基，是爲周宣王。

The Dukes of Zhou and Shao had Prince Jing enthroned as King Xuan.

在他執政的第一年出現大旱，但是旱災並沒有發展到一個嚴重的地步。

In the first years of his rule severe droughts occurred, but they did not develop into a serious situation.

之後，周宣王對周邊的一些部落和國家宣戰並獲得了勝利，但在與姜戎、條戎和奔戎的作戰中失敗。

Later King Xuan carried out wars against some neighbouring tribes and states and won some victories, but was defeated in wars against the Jiang Rong tribe and against the Tiao Rong and the Ben Rong tribes.

周宣王執政期間國家曾一度繁榮。

For a time during King Xuan's Reign there were signs of prosperity.

但是周王朝與周邊人民的矛盾以及周朝內部各地區的矛盾並誒有得到解決。

But the contradictions between the Zhou state and the neighbouring peoples and the social contradictions in the Zhou-controlled areas were not resolved.

不僅如此，連年的戰爭已消耗了大量的人力和物資。

Moreover, continuous wars consumed much of the dynasty's manpower and material resources.

宣王的繼承人幽王是一個愚蠢的、放任自己的還殘暴的君主。

King You, who succeeded King Xuan, was a stupid, self indulgent and cruel ruler.

現有的矛盾進一步惡化。就像《詩經》中說的那樣“或燕燕居息，或盡瘁事國;或息偃在牀，或不已於行;或不知叫號，或慘慘劬勞;或棲遲偃仰，或王事鞅掌。或湛樂飲酒，或慘慘畏咎;或出入風議，或靡事不爲。”

The existing contradictions grew worse.

大小奴隸主之間的鬥爭也更加銳化，小奴隸主抱怨說：“人民擁有土地，你就拿走它;人民擁有奴隸，你就捉走他們”。

As the Book of Odes pointed out:” Some people leisurely stay at home, some work untiringly for the country, some lie in bed doing nothing, some always have to go to war, some drink and make merry, some are fearful of meeting disaster, some talk nonsense or gossip, some have to do all kinds of work.”

不斷的饑荒和嚴重的地震迫使人民離開家園、顛沛流離。

The struggles between big and small slave owners became sharper with the small slave-owners complaining:” People have land, you take it away; people own slaves, you seize them!”

那些擁有政治敏銳性的人以地震爲託辭警告說“當山谷成爲高山，高山就會變成深谷”。

Uninterrupted famine and severe earthquakes compelled people to leave their homes and wander about.

周王朝面臨着一場危機。

Those who were politically sharp used the earthquakes as a pretext to warn that” high cliffs may turn into deep valleys, while valleys may become hills and mountains.”

周幽王當政期間，周邊的國家不停地進犯。

The Zhou Dynasty faced a crisis.

幽王廢黜了申王后和太子宜臼，扶立他的寵姬褒姒爲皇后、褒姒的兒子爲王位繼承人。

During King You's reign the neighbouring people made continuous attacks.

申王后的父親申國國君聯合犬戎部落、魯國、繒國還有其他一些國家進攻周朝。

因爲諸侯國不願意派援軍，周幽王被殺死在驪山腳下。

用英語說中國周朝：Eastern Zhou 東周

In its early days, the Western Zhou Dynasty (The 11th century B.C. to 771 B.C.) was sufficiently powerful to be able to control the vassal states.

西周(公元前11世紀至公元前771年)早期有足夠的實力控制諸侯國，

In particular the states were prevented from fighting each other in order to annex their neighbors.

它們尤其被禁止互相鬥爭以此來吞併周圍的國家。

However, from the time that King Ping moved his court to Luoyi (now the city of Luoyang in Henan Province) establishing the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou influence went into decline.

但是自從周平王將王庭遷往洛邑(今河南洛陽)建立東周，周王朝的影響力下降了。

Although the king retained his position as nominal overlord he was no longer able to control the activities of his vassals.

儘管君主保留了名義上最高統治者的地位，他已經無法控制諸侯的活動了。

Economic imbalance meant some states were stronger than others.

經濟上的不平等意味着某些諸侯國要強於其他的國家，

In turn this led to the stronger states declaring war on the weaker ones and annexing them regardless of the prohibition of such activity by the Zhou.

這使得強國不顧周王朝的組織向弱國發動戰爭吞併它們。

So, from the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the unification by Qin, China was marked by disunity and continuous conflicts.

因此，從東周到秦朝統一全國，中國一直處於割據戰亂的狀態。

Historically, this is recorded as two periods: the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.—476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period (476 B.C.—221 B.C.).

這段時期在歷史上被分爲兩個階段：春秋時期(公元前770年至公元前476年)和戰國時期(公元前476年至公元前221年)。