中英雙語話史記 第24期:西周

Zhou Dynasty

周朝

Western Zhou

西周

After defeating the Shang, King Wu founded the Zhou Dynasty, making Haojing his caPital city, near the present city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province.

打敗商朝之後，武王建立了周朝。他定都鎬京，也就是今天的陝西省西安市附近。

Historians call this period Western Zhou Dynasty (the 11th century B.C.—771 B.C.).

歷史學家將這一段時期成爲西周（公元前11世紀至公元前771年）。

The Zhou kings maintained control over their vassals for more than two centuries.

周朝的君主維持了超過兩個世紀對其諸侯國的統治。

Like the Shang, the Western Zhou achieved a flourishing age during its period of rule.

和商朝一樣，周朝在其統治期間達到了鼎盛時代。

However, as generations passed, vassal lords traded and sold land they had acquired from the Zhou kings.

然而，一代代過去了，諸侯們交易、賣出了他們從周王那裏得到的土地。

This gradual change in ownership created larger more profitable estates.

這種所有權上逐漸的變化創造了更大、更獲利的地產。

In turn, this strengthened position of the feudal lords giving them greater autonomy.

反過來，這種諸侯地位的加強給予了他們更大的自治權。

As the Zhou kings were no longer the sole possessors of the land, the ties of kingship and vassalage inevitably weakened.

當週王不再是土地唯一的所有者，王權和諸侯之間的維繫就弱化了。

Added to this, although Zhou was the most powerful kingdom at the time, it actually didn’t rule the whole of China, which then consisted of a number of quasi-independent principalities.

進一步說，儘管周王朝是當時最強大的國家，事實上它並沒有統治整個中國，而且它還是有許多準備獨立的諸侯國構成的。

During the reign of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the central plains had reached the peak of the Bronze Age while the neighboring regions lagged behind.

在商周時期，中原已經達到了青銅時代的頂峯，周圍地區卻落後了。

In search of more wealth, the Western Zhou launched many wars against those kingdoms.

爲了獲取更多的財富，西周對那些國家發動了多次戰爭。

At the same time, the Quanrong, an ancient ethnic group lived in the north-west,constantly harassed the Zhou, becoming the biggest threat to the Zhou Dynasty.

同時，犬戎，一個生活在西北部的古老的民族，不斷攻擊周朝，它也成爲了周朝最大的威脅。

During his reign King You indulged Baosi, one of his concubines, and this engendered a power struggle within the kingdom.

周幽王在位時沉迷於他的一個妃子褒姒，這造成了王朝內權利的鬥爭。

The Chinese idioms “A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold” and “the sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire” have been passed down to us from the King You’s reign.

中國的俗語“千金買笑”和“烽火戲諸侯”自周幽王時期流傳至今。

King You’s neglect of duty finally led to the fall of the dynasty.

周幽王對於國事的疏忽最終導致了王朝的覆滅。

In 771 B.C. when several of the vassals rebelled, the army of the Quanrong ethnic group took its chance, captured Haojing and killed King You.

公元前771年，當許多諸侯國造反時，犬戎族的軍隊趁機奪取了鎬京，殺掉了周幽王。

The Western Zhou Dynasty collapsed.

西周王朝滅亡了。

The next year, in 770 BC, King Ping moved the capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang City in Henan Province).

一年後，公元前770年，平王遷都至洛邑（今天的河南洛陽）。這是東周（公元前770年至公元前221年）的開始。