中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第8期:呂不韋
Lü Buwei (died 235 B. C.，Szechwan Province，China) was a Chinese statesman，minister of the state of Qin，one of the small feudal kingdoms into which China was divided between 771 B. C. and 221 B. C..
呂不韋，公元前235年死於四川，政治家，秦國承相。秦國是公元前771年至221年中國的封建小國家之一，位於中國西北部。Under Lü's clever management，the state of Qin，in northwest China, engulfed many of its neighbouring states，and by the end of Lü's ministry，China was well on the way to unification.
在呂不節的英明管理下，秦國吞併了很多鄰國。在呂不韋統治的末期，中國已經走上統一之路。
Originally a merchant，Lü used his influence to have one of the princes of Qin declared the heir apparent to the throne.
最初呂不韋是個商人，他利用自己的影響使得秦國的一個公子成爲王儲。
And when the prince fell in love with one of Lü's concubines，Lü relinquished her, even though she was rumoured to be pregnant at the time.
後來這位公子愛上了呂不韋的一個小妾，於是呂不韋就把這個小妾送給了這位公子，儘管據傳這名小妾已經懷上了呂不韋的孩子。In return for these favours，the prince，when he became ruler of Qin，made Lü minister of state，a position he continued to hold after the ruler died and the concubine's son Cheng，or Ying，formally acceded to the throne in 246 B. C..
爲了報答呂不韋，這位公子登上王位後讓呂不韋當了丞相。公元前246年，國君去世後，呂不韋的小妾所生之子贏政正式登上王位，呂不韋仍然做着秦國的丞相。Implicated in a revolt against the boy emperor in 238 B. C.，Lü was banished from the capital.
公元前238年，呂不韋涉嫌反叛年輕的秦王於是被驅逐出都。Accused of involvement in a second plot, he was again banished，this time to the present-day central Province of Szechwan，where he is said to have ended his life by poison.
後來呂不韋又一次被控反叛秦王，於是再次被逐。這次呂不韋被流放到現在中國中部的四川省。據說，呂不韋在四川服毒自盡。Calling himself Shi huang-ti (“First Sovereign Emperor")，Cheng completed the unification of China begun by Lü and founded the Qin Dynasty.
贏政自稱始皇帝，完成了呂不韋開始的統一中國的大業建立了秦朝。While serving as minister，Lü engaged a number of scholars to produce an encyclopedia of knowledge. The result was the first expertly arranged，full-length book，the famous Lü-shih Ch'un Ch'iu ("The Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü")，a compendium of folklore and pseudoscientific and Taoist writings.
在作丞相期間，呂不韋組織了許多學者編寫一本百科全書，最後寫成第一本體例完備的大型圖書”，即《呂氏春秋》。《呂氏春秋》是一本民間傳說、僞科學著述和道家著述的綱要。
