秦時明月:千年之前的大秦帝國(下)

Original Great Wall

5.古老的長城

More than 20,000 kilometers (12,430 mi) long, the Great Wall of China is one of the most famous works of human engineering. But the wall we know today wasn't the first of China's great walls.

中國的長城綿延超過20000千米，它是人類工程中的結晶之一。但是我們今天所看到的長城並不是最早期的長城。

During the Warring States period, the Qin kingdom began building walls to protect their territory. Although massive, the early walls were a far cry from the modern stone structure. Instead, their builders used a method called earth-ramming. Soil was hauled to the building site, mixed with a binding agent, and then tightly packed. Once the soil dried, it formed the earliest iteration of the Great Wall of some places, the wall was up to 4.5 meters (15 ft) tall, making it an incredibly formidable obstacle for the time. Much like the later wall, the earth-rammed structure followed some pretty inhospitable terrain, meaning that any troops marching against the Qin would have to scale mountains and ridges as well as contending with the wall. Later, when Qin Shi Huang had a unified country to protect, he would begin joining the sections of wall, forming the oldest version of the wall we know today.

戰國時期，秦王爲了保護自己的疆土開始建造長城。雖然工程浩大，但是早期的城牆和我們現在看到的的石結構相去甚遠。當時的建造者採用了一種稱作版築夯土牆的方法。他們將泥土拉到建築物邊上，混上一種黏合劑，然後壓緊。等泥土幹了，就形成了萬里長城的最初的構造。在一些地方，城牆高達4.5米（15尺），這讓長城成爲當時難以跨越的雄關。與後來修築的長城一般，秦長城依山就險，這意味着任何向秦國進攻的軍隊在需要攀登山脈和山脊的同時，還要對付這巍峨的城牆。後來，當秦始皇一統六國需要保護全國疆域時，他開始連接長城的各個部分，最終修築成最原始的長城。

Dragon Boat Festival

4.端午節

Still held today, the Dragon Boat Festival is an extremely ancient celebration with roots in the Warring States period (although some argue that the true roots of the festival go back even further). According to legend, the festival is held in the memory of a poet and philosopher named Qu Yuan. A high-ranking member of the court of the Chu State, Qu Yuan spoke out in favor of uniting with rival states in order to oppose the power of Qin. His temerity got him exiled from the court, but he continued to write, becoming one of the most influential poets of the era. It was said that when he heard that Chu had fallen to the Qin, he drowned himself in the Miluo River.

延續至今的端午節是一個古老的節日，它的起源可以追溯到戰國時期（也有人認爲這個時間可能還要早一些）。相傳，這個節日的出現爲了紀念中國的詩人和哲學家屈原。屈原是楚國變法派的主要成員之一，他對外堅決主張聯齊抗秦。然而，魯莽的個性最終使他被放逐，不過，這無法停止這位浪漫主義者創作的步伐。最終，他成爲春秋戰國時期最富影響力的詩人之一。據說，在秦王攻下楚國後，絕望的屈原選擇了在汨羅江投江自盡。

The legend claims that when word spread of the beloved poet's fate, the people immediately took to the river to search for his body. Hence, a boat race is held every year on the anniversary of his death. Along with the boat race, the festivities also include a type of dumpling called the zongzi, which also dates back to the poet. At the time, it was believed that only those whose physical bodies were intact would be allowed entrance to the afterlife. It's said that while some searched for the poet's body, others threw zongzi into the river in the hope that anything that might seek to devour his corpse would eat the dumplings instead.

傳說中，得知他們深愛的詩人的死訊後，人們紛紛趕到江邊尋找他的屍體，賽龍舟也成爲了每年人們祭奠屈原之死的儀式。除了賽龍舟，在端午節當然少不了要吃糉子。糉子，也是一種與屈原之死有關的食物。當時的人認爲，人死後，只有保持屍身的完整才能夠進入輪迴。據說，在江中尋找屈原的屍體同時，人們把糉子丟入河中，這樣，江中的生物在吃飽糉子以後，就不破壞屈原的屍體。

Dazexiang Uprising

3.大澤鄉起義

The rebellion against the Qin Dynasty started almost immediately after the death of Qin Shi Huang and the ascension of his son Hu Hai. While the legalist philosophy certainly had some benefits, like rewarding those who worked hard and putting experienced people in positions of power, it could also be incredibly cruel, with those who failed punished harshly, regardless of the circumstances.

秦始皇死後，秦二世胡亥即位，起義軍揭竿而起。當時，遵守規則的人確實會獲得一些好處，比如說他們會因爲辛勤的工作而獲得獎賞、有經驗的人甚至會被授予官職，可是，這樣的制度設計也是極爲殘忍的。因爲人們會因爲沒有完成工作而受到嚴厲的處罰，而此時，客觀因素是不會被統治者考慮的。

Missing a deadline was considered breaking your word, and under Qin rule that meant being put to death. In 209 B.C. (about a year after Qin Shi Huang's death), a group of 900 peasant soldiers were on their way from the Huaihe River area to what is now Beijing. Severe rains and floods held them up, and it wasn't long before they realized that they weren't going to make their deadline. Knowing that they faced certain execution, the peasants killed their officers and declared their own kingdom. Two men—Chen Sheng and Wu Gang—took charge, sending their peasant army up against the mighty Qin forces. Naturally, they were soundly defeated and eventually murdered by their own forces. But other rebellions soon broke out, and the short-lived uprising marked the beginning of the end for the Qin Dynasty.

錯過了規定的期限的行爲會被認爲不守信，在秦律中，這是要被處死的行爲。公元前209年（秦始皇死後一年），九百名民夫被押解到淮河流域（現在的北京）去駐守。天遇大雨，道路不通，衆人被困。隨後，他們意識到他們已經不可能按時到達目的地。發現自己必死無疑，於是這些民夫殺害了看守他們的軍官，然後建立了自己的王國。陳勝和吳廣兩個人成爲這次起義的首領，他們帶領農民起義軍隊伍去反抗強大的秦朝軍隊。很自然地，起義軍被秦軍打得土崩瓦解，最終都被秦軍殺害。然而，其他的起義軍如雨後春筍一般出現，這場短暫的起義開啓了秦王朝覆滅的進程。

Burning Of Books And Burying Of Scholars

2.焚書坑儒

Aside from his incredible tomb, Qin Shi Huang is perhaps most famous for his burning of religious and historical texts and his order to bury alive 460 Confucian scholars. In 1958, Mao Zedong even referenced the notorious act, stating: “People always condemn Emperor Qin Shi Huang for burning books and burying alive Confucian scholars, and list these as his greatest crimes. I think, however, he killed too few Confucians.” According to the story, Qin Shi Huang ordered that every work of pre–Qin Dynasty history be turned over to the authorities for destruction. It's usually painted as a massive inquisition that resulted in the loss of pretty much all historical and cultural works predating the period. That's probably something of an exaggeration, but there is some evidence that Qin Shi Huang ordered books to be burned to prevent scholars speaking “of the past in order to criticize the present.”However, the burying of the scholars doesn't appear in the historical record until hundreds of years later. Furthermore, it was recorded by Confucians, who had every reason to paint the legalist dynasty in a negative light. For this reason, the event is now viewed skeptically by historians, although it's impossible to disprove entirely.

除了宏偉的秦始皇陵，秦始皇最出名的要數焚書坑儒了，他曾下令活埋460名儒家學者。1958年，連毛澤東都提到了這一著名事件，他說:“人們常因焚書坑儒批評秦始皇，將該事件列入其罪狀之中，我卻覺得，他殺得還不夠多”。據稱，秦始皇曾規定：所有先秦書籍都必須上交銷燬，這常被渲染爲官方扼殺先秦歷史文化作品的大規模審查。其實，這麼說有點過了，但的確有證據說明秦始皇曾下令焚燒書籍，以防學者鍼砭時弊。然而，直至幾百年後，焚書坑儒才被記入歷史，記錄者卻是儒家學者們，他們可以肆意抨擊這個以法學爲尊的朝代。正因爲這個原因，史學家們哪怕沒辦法完全推翻這一史實，也始終對此持懷疑態度。

Warriors Might Have Been Real People

1.兵馬俑可能源自真人

The thousands of terra-cotta warriors that have been excavated are all incredibly unique. They have different facial features, distinct details on their armor, and a variety of weapons. For a long time, it was thought that they were simply mass-produced in pieces, something that's easy enough to do with terra-cotta. A handful of craftsmen would have been responsible for eyebrows, while another group would have been responsible for hats, and another group would have assembled all the individual pieces.

出土的幾千個兵馬俑都十分獨特:他們有不同的面部表情，所持兵器各異，連兵器上的細節都各不相同。長時間以來，人們都以爲兵馬俑都是用一塊塊陶土批量生產出來的，況且，以陶土爲材料，批量生產也很容易:一組工匠做睫毛，一組做頭套，另一組負責組裝。

That would have been impressive enough on its own, but new research suggests that the statues were actually based on real people. The breakthrough came when University College London researchers realized that, much like our fingerprints, our ears are unique to us. So they looked at the construction of the auricular ridges on each statue. And they're all different. The implications are staggering. As if the massive production line needed to complete the army wasn't enough, it now appears that every statue was based on a real soldier alive at the time of Qin Shi Huang. So far, the researchers have only compared a relatively small number of ears, but the findings definitely warrant further study. If the ears continue to be unique, we might find we're looking at the real features of an army that lived, breathed, and fought more than 2,000 years ago.

即使像這樣生產，這也夠令人震撼了。但最新研究發現:秦兵馬俑是以真人爲藍本的。取得這一突破的是倫敦大學學院，學者發現:耳朵和指紋一樣，因人而異，所以他們開始關注兵馬俑耳朵的輪廓。每個兵馬俑耳朵的輪廓都不一樣!這一結論令人震驚。似乎完成一個軍隊陶像的生產流水線還不夠令人驚歎，而以活生生的秦始皇時代的士兵爲藍本的兵馬俑纔算奇蹟。目前，科學家只對比了一小部分兵馬俑的耳部輪廓，但給足了科學家繼續研究的信心，如果接下來看到的輪廓還不一樣，那我們就可以看到一個軍隊的所有特點，這個軍隊曾在2000年前呼吸過，生活過，戰鬥過。

翻譯：小飛俠 來源：前十網