中英双语话史记 第37期:秦的暴政

Qin Dynasty

秦朝

The Despotic Rule of Qin

秦的暴政

The First Emperor not only unified the country’s territory, he also unified the laws, the written language, currency, and a system of weights and measurements.

秦始皇不仅统一了中国，还统一了法律、文字、货币和度量衡。

The writ of the Qin Empire spread far and wide, giving rise to its international name “China”，which was a transliteration of “Qin”.

秦朝的法令广为流传，它因此获得了一个国际名号“China”，这是“Qin”的音译。

Unification of the country freed the people of incessant wars.

国家的统一使人们免于接连的战争。

The despotic rule of the emperor， however， plunged them into another abyss of suffering.

然而君主的暴政将他们推入了另一个苦难的深渊。

Qin law was harsh and merciless, embodied by many gruesome punishments.

秦朝的法令是严酷且残忍的，具体表现为很多可怕的惩罚。

The death penalty could be carried out by tearing apart the convict alive by typing his four limbs and head to five wagons pulling in five directions, or slashing him into halves by the waist, cutting open his belly, or boiling him in a big pot, etc.

死刑的执行可能是将罪犯的四肢和头绑在五匹马车上向五个方向活生生地拉死，也可能是从腰部将其砍成两段又或是剖开犯人的腹部或将他放入大锅中煮沸。

Other punishments included the cutting off of a foot, a nose, or the inscription and inking of marks on the face, etc.

另外一些惩罚还包括砍掉一条腿或鼻子、在脸上刻字或刻图案等等。

Even petty mistakes could bring on severe punishment.

就算是小错也可能带来严厉的惩罚。

Also, when a man got into trouble, his family, friends, and colleagues could all be incriminated.

如果一个人犯了错误，他的家人、朋友和同事也同样会被治罪。

As the First Emperor believed only in power politics, his ministers vied to cater to his whims by wantonly meting out punishment.

因为秦始皇只相信强权政治，官员们争先通过肆意行刑来迎合他的喜好。

Harsh laws and cruel officials made life near impossible for the people.

严酷的刑法和残忍的官员让人们几乎难以生存下去。

The terracotta warriors and horses in the tomb of the First Emperor and the Great Wall built on his orders are regarded as wonders of human civilization.

秦始皇陵里的兵马俑和在他指令下修建的长城被认为是人类文明的奇观。

They also stand as testimony to the sweat and blood shed by the builders.

但它们同样是建造者血汗的证明。

Research has shown that it would have taken two months for five to six people to construct each life-size terracotta soldier or horse.

研究显示，建造每一个真人大小的陶俑需要耗费五到六个工人两个月的时间。

It boggles the imagination as to how many people had to toil for how long to produce the tens represent merely one of the numerous large-scale projects carried out during his reign.

我们简直难以想象有多少人在其在位间会要做多久的苦工来建造他数以万计的大规模工程中有代表性的一个。

The population was about 20 million back then, with more than 2 million people subject to forced labor every year!

那个时候的人口大概有20000000，每年却又超过2000000的人被迫去做苦力。

Moreover, the First Emperor did everything to control peopled thinking.

不仅如此，秦始皇用尽一切办法来控制人们的思想。

For instance, he ordered the burning of all books in 213 B.C, with the exception of the few that were sanctioned by the government.

比如，他在公元前213年下令焚毁所有书籍，除了被政府许可的。

The next year he ordered the killing of more than 460 Confucian scholars by burying them alive.

一年后，他下令活埋超过460名儒学学者。

These atrocities caused immeasurable damage to Chinese culture.

这些暴行对中国的文化造成了难以估量的损害。

The First Emperor died during an inspection tour in the 7th month of 209 BC.

秦始皇死于公元前209年7月的一场巡视。

His second son usurped the throne to become to Second Emperor.

他的二儿子篡权夺位，成为了秦朝的第二任皇帝。

He imposed an even more barbarous rule.

秦二世实行了更为残暴的统治。

The peopled dissent and anger were now brewing like the lava inside a volcano atop of which the dynasty stood.

人民的反对与仇恨就像是这个朝代所站立在的火山内部将要喷涌而出的岩浆。