006 丝绸、陶俑与长城

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" Hey, Grandpa. What are these toy soldiers?"

“嘿，爷爷，这些玩具兵是什么呀？”

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Laurie was looking through an archaeology book in Grandpa's study

劳里正在爷爷的书房里翻阅一本考古书。

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" Those aren't toys, Laurie," Grandpa said, looking at the picture

“那些可不是玩具，劳里，”爷爷看着照片说。

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" Those are life-size clay soldiers!

“那些是真人大小的陶土士兵！

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And they're on duty for eternity, guarding the tomb of the first emperor of one of the oldest civilizations in the world — China!

他们永远在站岗，守护着世界上最古老文明之一——中国的第一位皇帝的陵墓！

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Take a look at the next photo."

看看下一张照片。”

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Laurie turned the page and saw an archaeologist carefully dusting the top of one clay soldier's head

劳里翻过一页，看到一位考古学家正仔细地为一个陶土士兵的头顶掸去灰尘。

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The archaeologist and the statue were nearly the same size!

考古学家和雕像几乎一样大！

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" They are big!" she exclaimed." And there are so many of them!

“他们真大呀！”她惊叹道，“还有那么多！

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Who was this emperor? He must have been really important to have all these soldiers made just for him."

这位皇帝是谁？他一定非常重要，才能专门为他制作这么多士兵。”

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" Well, as emperor, you can pretty much get whatever you want

“嗯，当了皇帝，你基本上想要什么就能得到什么。

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But, yes, he was important. Known as Qin Shihuangdi, he was the first emperor of China and the emperor of the Qin dynasty

但是，没错，他很重要。他被称为秦始皇，是中国第一位皇帝，也是秦朝的皇帝，

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which lasted from 221 BC to 207 BC

秦朝从公元前221年持续到公元前207年。

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In fact, the romanized name ' China ' is believed to come from the Qin dynasty

事实上，英语里的‘China’一词据信就来自秦朝。

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Chinese civilization had been around since about 1600 BC, but Shihuangdi was the first ruler to unite the land into an empire ruled by one government

中华文明大约从公元前1600年就存在了，但秦始皇是第一位将这片土地统一成一个由单一政府统治的帝国的统治者。

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He was a cruel leader, but he did a lot for China

他是个残酷的领袖，但他为中国做了很多事。

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He ordered that the same measuring, writing, and money systems be used throughout the empire, which helped trade

他命令在全国使用统一的度量衡、文字和货币系统，这促进了贸易。

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He also organized the building of many roads, canals, and the longest structure ever built — the Great Wall of China."

他还组织修建了许多道路、运河，以及有史以来最长的建筑——中国的长城。”

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" How was he cruel?" Laurie asked

“他怎么残酷了？”劳里问道。

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" Building these enormous projects, especially the Great Wall, required a lot of hard work

“修建这些巨大的工程，尤其是长城，需要大量的艰苦劳动。

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Shihuangdi forced his people to work for him

秦始皇强迫他的人民为他劳作。

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They often worked long hours on difficult jobs

他们经常长时间从事艰苦的工作。

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Many actually died during the building of the Great Wall

在修建长城的过程中，许多人死去了。

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He also believed that in order to rule a large empire, a ruler must make strict laws

他还认为，要统治一个大帝国，统治者必须制定严格的法律。

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One law punished scholars who thought or wrote about things the emperor believed were harmful or not useful to his empire

有一条法律专门惩罚那些思考或撰写皇帝认为对其帝国有害或无用的内容的学者。

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These included literature, philosophy, and of course criticism of his rule

这些内容包括文学、哲学，当然还有对他统治的批评。

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He also famously burned all history books because he thought they might make people question his authority. Can you believe it?"

他还因焚烧所有史书而闻名，因为他认为这些书会让人质疑他的权威。你能相信吗？”

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" Wow. Without history books how would we learn about the past?" Laurie asked

“哇。没有史书，我们怎么了解过去呢？”劳里问道。

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" Well, written history helps, but there are other ways of discovering the past

“嗯，文字记载的历史是有帮助，但还有其他发现过去的方法。

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Archaeology, for example! Luckily for Chinese historians, Shihuangdi's style of rule didn't last long

比如考古学！对中国历史学家来说幸运的是，秦始皇的统治方式没有持续多久。

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Soon after his death in 210 BC, his empire collapsed and the Han dynasty began

公元前210年他去世后不久，他的帝国就崩溃了，汉朝开始了。

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Han rulers looked to China's past for ideas about the future

汉朝的统治者从中国的历史中寻找关于未来的理念。

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They returned to the ideas of Confucius

他们回归了孔子的思想。

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He was an ancient scholar who believed that rulers should lead by good example only —

他是一位古代学者，认为统治者只应当通过良好的榜样来领导——

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not by forcing people to obey strict laws — and that people should respect their elders

而不是强迫人们遵守严苛的法律——而且人们应当尊敬长辈。

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His philosophy later spread throughout Asia, and his influence on Asian culture and society can still be seen today

他的哲学后来传遍亚洲，对亚洲文化和社会的影响至今仍能看到。

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Unlike the first emperor, Han rulers prized scholars

与第一位皇帝不同，汉朝的统治者重视学者。

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In fact, during the Han dynasty, a system was created to make sure that only the best scholars would receive government jobs

事实上，在汉朝，建立了一种制度，确保只有最优秀的学者才能获得政府职位。

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Anyone who wanted to work for the government had to take an extremely difficult test

任何想为政府工作的人都必须参加一场极其困难的考试。

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China had the first government full of scholars!

中国有了第一个完全由学者组成的政府！

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And nearly two thousand years later, this practice of making government employees pass tests was adopted by American and European governments too

大约两千年后，这种让政府雇员通过考试的做法也被美国和欧洲政府采纳了。

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The Han rulers continued to worry about foreign invaders, however

然而，汉朝的统治者仍然担心外族入侵，

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so they kept building Shihuangdi's Great Wall and created more roads for soldiers to travel on

所以他们继续修建秦始皇的长城，并开辟了更多供士兵通行的道路。

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With improved roads, trade continued to grow

随着道路的改善，贸易持续增长。

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The famous Silk Road, one of the greatest international trading routes in history, developed during the Han dynasty

著名的丝绸之路，这条历史上最伟大的国际贸易路线之一，在汉朝时期发展起来。

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Goods such as silk, tea, pottery, and spices traveled out of China to India, the Middle East, Russia, and Europe along that route

丝绸、茶叶、陶器和香料等商品沿着这条路线从中国运往印度、中东、俄罗斯和欧洲。

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The exchange of ideas and culture between the East and the West also began along the Silk Road."

东西方思想和文化的交流也沿着丝绸之路开始了。”

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" Was the road made out of silk?" Laurie asked

“这条路是用丝绸铺成的吗？”劳里问道。

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Grandpa chuckled." No, but a lot of silk traveled along it

爷爷轻声笑了。“不，但有很多丝绸沿着它运输。

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Silk, you see, was invented by the Chinese

你看，丝绸是中国人发明的。”

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Evidence shows they were making it as early as 1300 BC, but no one outside of China knew about it until centuries later

证据表明，他们早在公元前1300年就开始制作丝绸了，但直到几个世纪后，中国以外的人才知晓它。

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Once people of other countries touched the beautiful fabric, they loved it and wanted it for themselves

其他国家的人一触摸到这种美丽的织物，就爱上了它，想要据为己有。

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But the Chinese were determined to keep their silk-making process a secret

但中国人决心保守丝绸制作工艺的秘密。

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If foreigners wanted silk, they'd have to pay or trade

如果外国人想要丝绸，他们必须付钱或用东西来交换。

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So silk was carried out of China along the Silk Road

于是，丝绸就沿着丝绸之路被运出了中国。

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Actually many things that were invented in ancient China would later travel to the West

事实上，中国古代发明的许多东西后来都传到了西方。

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There's paper, for one. And the wheelbarrow, the compass, and the first machine to detect earthquakes!

比如说，纸就是其中之一。还有独轮手推车、指南针，以及第一台检测地震的仪器！

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The Han dynasty valued knowledge and learning, and they encouraged scientists to study and develop new things

汉朝重视知识学问，鼓励科学家研究和发展新事物。

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They also valued the arts. The Han dynasty is known for its beautiful and unique pottery, poetry, and sculpture

他们也重视艺术。汉朝以其精美独特的陶器、诗歌和雕塑而闻名。

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Chinese civilization really flourished during this period

在这一时期，中华文明真正地繁荣起来。

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The dynasty lasted longer than any other — about four hundred years —

这个朝代比任何一个都持续得更久——大约有四百年——

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and the Chinese consider it so important that even today they call themselves people of the Han."

中国人认为它极其重要，以至于直到今天，他们还自称为“汉人”。”

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" Laurie?" Mom suddenly called." Have you seen my red silk blouse?

“劳里？”妈妈突然喊道。“你看见我的红丝绸衬衫了吗？

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I want to wear it when I go out tonight."

我今晚出门想穿它。”

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" You mean your Chinese red silk blouse?" Laurie shouted back

“你是指你那件中国红丝绸衬衫吗？”劳里大声回应。

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" No, I don't have a Chinese blouse, Laurie."

“不，我没有中国的衬衫，劳里。”

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Now Mom's voice was coming from outside the door

现在妈妈的声音从门外传来。

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" What are you guys talking about in there anyway?"

“你们俩到底在里面聊什么呢？”

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" Oh, all kinds of things! Silk, clay soldiers, a great wall!" Laurie answered

“哦，什么都有！丝绸、泥人军队、一堵巨大的墙！”劳里回答。

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She turned to Grandpa and handed him back his book

她转向爷爷，把他的书还给了他。

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" I'd better go help Mom find her blouse. Thanks again, Grandpa

“我最好去帮妈妈找衬衫了。再次谢谢你，爷爷。

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See you in another place at another time!"

换个地点，换个时间再见啦！”