中英雙語話歷史 第13期:商朝(重要帝王)

Tang of Shang：At the end of the Xia Dynasty, the Shang tribe became powerful gradually. Witnessing tyrannical activities of Jie, and the alienation of the popular will, Tang was determined to overthrow Xia.

商湯:夏朝末年，商族逐漸強大，眼見夏桀暴虐，失去民心，湯決心滅夏。

Meanwhile, Jie feared that the might iness of Shang might be a threat, so he summoned Tang to the capital and imprisoned him in Xiatai.

同時，桀擔心湯勢力壯大而威脅自己，便將湯召人夏都，囚禁在夏臺。

The Shang tribe immediately sent a lot of money to Jie and bribed his favorites as well. Therefore, Tang was released.

商族又送桀以重金，並賄賂桀的親信，使湯獲釋歸商。

After this, he tried to win people’s support with benevolent policies.

湯以仁厚收攬人心，爭取人民的支持。

First，heenumeratedJie，simmoraty, calling on vassal states to desert Jie and submit to his authority. Then，to those who refused to follow his advice, he launched successive wars to eliminate Jie's power.

其一，湯歷數夏桀的暴虐無道，號召夏的附屬小國背棄桀，歸附商;其二，對不聽他勸告者，就先後出兵攻滅，以剪除桀的羽翼。

The more he fought, the stronger he was, while Jie became isolated.

商湯越戰越強，夏桀陷於孤立的境地。

Later, Tang moved the capital to Bo, and the preparation to attack the Xia Dynasty was finally made.

湯還遷都於亳，以此爲前進的據點，準備最後攻滅夏朝。

Tang adopted Yi Yin’s suggestions to stop paying tribute to the Xia Dynasty in order to sound out the strength of Jie.

湯還採納伊尹的建議，停止朝貢夏朝以試夏桀的實力。

Soon, Jie ordered Jiuyi tribes to dispatch troops to go on a punitive expedition on Tang. This indicated that Jie was able to maneuver the army of Jiuyi, so Tang and Yi Yin apologized to Jie at once, and resumed paying tribute.

桀命令九夷族發兵征討商，這說明桀還能調動九夷族的兵力，湯和伊尹就馬上請罪,恢復向夏桀的進貢。

A year later, Jiuyi tribes could not bear the inhumane control of Jie and rebelled one after another; Jie’s power was greatly weakened.

一年後，九夷族忍受不了桀的殘暴統治，紛紛叛離，使桀的力量大爲減弱。

Tang and Yi Yin took the opportunity of it, calling on all tribes to crusade against Jie. Consequently ,Jie was defeated at the battle of Mingtiao (East of the present-day Fengqiu in Henan). Tang established the second slave dynasty—the Shang Dynasty, and the capital was Bo.

湯和伊尹見時機成熟，就由湯召集部衆，出兵伐夏，在鳴條（今河南封丘東）一舉攻滅了夏桀，建立了中國歷史上第二個奴隸制王朝——商朝，定都亳。

During his reign, Tang lightened taxes and encouraged production to appease the morale.

湯建立商朝後，減輕徵賦，鼓勵生產，安撫民心。

His influence spread to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and many outlying tribes became vassal states.

商的勢力擴展至黃河上游，許多部落成爲其屬國。

The Shang Dynasty became another powerful dynasty.

商最終成爲又一個強大的奴隸制王朝。

Tang had been the tribe leader for 17 years and the king of the Shang Dynasty for 13 years after he founded it.

湯爲部落首領17年，建商後稱王13年。

He died of illness.

後病故。

Yi Yin：The establishment of the Shang Dynasty had a close connection with the assistance of Yi Yin.

伊尹:商湯建朝與伊尹的輔佐是分不開的。

Yi Yin, the prime minister, had been a dowry slave of Tang’s wife working in the kitchen.

伊尹，宰相，曾是湯的妻子陪嫁奴隸，在廚房幹活。

He was very capable. In order to have Tang notice his ability, he sometimes cooked the meal delicious, sometimes salty or tasteless deliberately.

伊尹很有才能，爲了讓湯發現自己，故意有時把菜做得很可口，有時卻或鹹或淡。

When Tang blamed him for this, Yi Yin took the opportunity to utter his opinion about administration, and Tang was shocked. Realizing his talent, Tang freed Yi Yin and assigned him as the prime minister.

有一次，湯就此事責問他，他就乘機向湯談論了自己對治理國政的見解。湯大爲驚奇，知道他是一個賢才，就免除他奴隸的身份，任爲右相。

Since then，under the design of Yi Yin, Tang made an active preparation to overthrow the Xia Dynasty.

自此，在伊尹的謀劃下，湯積極準備滅夏。

After the death of Tang, Yi Yin assisted Tang’three children ruling the country.

湯死後,伊尹輔佐湯的3個孩子爲天子。

King Tai Jia did not obey the decree made by Tang in his three-year reign, and Yi Yin persuaded him for many times, but failed. Consequently, Yi Yin shut him in Tonggong Palace, hoping him to have a self-reflection, and governed the state himself.

太甲在位3年期間，不遵守商湯立下的法令，伊尹多次勸告無效，於是,伊尹把太甲關進桐宮，希望他反省，自己親自執政。

Living in the Tonggong Palace for three years, Tai Jia eventually regretted and went straight. Then, Yi Yin restored him.

太甲在桐宮住了3年，終於悔過自新，伊尹又把政權交給他。

TaiJia became benevolent and diligent, so the people began to live a stable life, and all vassal states admired him very much.

太甲改惡從善， 勤政修德，人民生活安定，各屬國都很欽佩。

Living for more than a hundred years, Yi Yin had been the prime minister for twenty years, laying a solid foundation for the stabilization of the Shang Dynasty. He became the first capable official in Chinese history.

伊尹活了100多歲，當了20年國相，爲商王朝的穩定打下了堅實的基礎，成爲我國歷史上第一個著名的賢相。

Pan Geng： After the establishment, the Shang Dynasty moved five times in three hundred years due to the deluge of the Yellow River, or civil strifes.

盤庚：商朝建立後的300多年中共搬遷5次,或避黃河氾濫之天災，或避內亂之人禍。

Among them，the most famous one was Pan Geng’s move to Yin (the present-day Anyang in Henan). Once settled, the Shang Dynasty had never moved, so it is also called Yin Geng was the nineteenth king.

其中最著名的是盤庚遷都。商定都殷(今河南安陽）後，再未遷移過，故商朝亦盤庚是商朝的第19任君主。

He removed the capital to Yin after a fierce struggle.

一番激烈鬥爭後，他遷都於殷。

Kings succeeded Tai Jia all lived a decayed life. They were superstitious and paid little attention to state affairs.

太甲後的歷代君, 王生活逐漸腐化，迷信鬼神,不知發展生產。

With the internal struggle for power and conflicts among the nobility intensified，arms were frequently appealed to.

王室內部爭權奪利,矛盾日趨尖銳，經常兵戈相見。

At the same time, some vassal states did not obey the command, each going his own way and fighting with each other.

與此同時，一些屬國也不再聽從商朝的指揮，各行其道，相互爭鬥。

Pan Geng succeeded in peril.

危難之際，盤庚繼位。

He was a sagacious and virtuous ruler. When analyzing the situation，he believed that the capital should be moved to Yin, but the notion offended the interest of the majority of nobles, and encountered strong while, the common people were in dread of migration, and reluctant to leave their hometown.

他是個賢明有德之君，分析形勢後，他認爲應遷都於殷。可是這一打算卻觸犯了大多數貴族奴隸主的利益，遭到了強烈的反對;而百姓因畏懼遷徙之苦，亦不願離開故土。

Determined, Pan Geng finally led his officials and civilians to trudge from the north of the Yellow River to Yin, in the south of the Yellow River.

但是盤庚決心已下，終率領官民經過艱難跋涉，從黃河北遷都至黃河南面的殷地。

When settled, the state began to practice Tang’s policy, so that the political situation tended to be stabilized, the declination held back, the goal to make the country strong was achieved, and a new economic and cultural prospect also came forth.

遷殷以後，“行湯之政”，政治局勢趨於穩定，遏制了商的衰亡之勢，達到了遷都圖強的目的,社會經濟和文化也隨着出現了一個新的發展局面。

Wu Ding：Wu Ding, the best ruler after Pan Geng, left behind him a much-told story in history.

武丁:武丁是盤庚以後最好的國王，歷史上曾留下他借夢求賢相的佳話。

He is supposed to have spent his early years among the common people, being familiar with their hardship；therefore, he formed a simple living habit. Additionally, he made friend with a slave, Fu Yue, who was twenty years older than he was.

武丁兒時曾在平民中生活過，不僅養成了簡樸的生活習慣，還同一個比他大20歲，名叫傅說的奴隸交上了朋友。

Though a slave, Fu Yue was bright and capable.

傅說雖是奴隸，但聰明能幹，文武全才。

When he became the king, Wu Ding intended to have Fu Yue as prime minister, but feared that the other officials would not agree because of Fu Yue's identity.

武丁即位後想請傅說做宰相,但礙於其身份，又恐大臣不答應。

It is said that Wu1 Ding had not uttered a word for three years. One day, he suddenly said that in the dream the forefather Tang had asked him to invite Fu Yue to be the prime minister.

相傳武丁三年不說話，後自稱先祖湯託夢給他，讓他請傅說爲相。

Then he described the appearance and locality of Fu Yue, ordering officials to look for him. Fu Yue was found among the criminals eventually.

說出傅說的面貌和所在後，令百官到處去尋找，終於在罪徒中找着了。

Since the Shang people trusted ghost, the nobility dared not to object when Fu Yue was appointed as prime minister.

殷人信鬼，傅說做宰相，貴族們不敢反對。

Thereafter, there were some innovations in politics, the state became stable, and the Shang Dynasty restored.

其後，商在政治上進行改革，國家日趨安定,商朝因而復興起來。

King Zhou of Shang ：King Di Xin, the last king of the Shang Dynasty is called Zhou, one of the notorious despots in Chinese history.

商紂:商朝最後一個國王帝辛，叫做紂,是歷史上有名的暴君。

Quick-witted and Quick-tempered ,Shang Zhou in his early reign showed the abilities which surpassed the ordinary man.

他機智敏捷，卻又脾氣暴躁。早年間，其統治能力超乎常人。

He headed the troops to fight a long time war with the Dongyi tribe, during which he won the battle frequently.

他曾親自率兵與東夷進行了一場持久戰，在戰爭中屢屢獲勝。

After the victory over Dongyi, he spread the advanced technology and culture of Shang to the Huaishui River and the Yangtze River valley, so he was a king who had made achievements and contributions.

平定東夷後,他把商朝先進的生產技術和文化傳播到淮水和長江流域一帶，是個有成就、有貢獻的君主。

However, the constant war exhausted the state power, and tadded to the people’s burden.

但是，長期的戰爭消耗了商朝的國力，加重了人民的負擔。

Meanwhile, the triumph developed Shang Zhou’thought of being proud and seeking for enjoyment, which made him become another notorious tyranny after Xia Jie.

而戰爭的勝利，又滋長了商紂居功自傲和貪圖享樂的思想，使他成爲我國曆史上繼夏桀之後的又一個臭名昭著的暴君。

In the later years, he was given over to drinking and women, preferring these to the proper governance of the country, and ignoring almost all the state affairs. His viciousness was beyond measures.

在其統治後期,商紂沉湎酒色，荒淫無度，置朝政於不顧。

Apart from this, he tried every means to extort money form people, so that countless jewellery and treasure piled up in Lu tai (Shang Zhou’s palace).

大肆搜刮民財，無數珍寶堆滿了鹿臺。

Shang Zhou favored a beautiful consort Daji, and committed all manners of e-vil and cruel deeds with her.

寵信美女妲己，與她一起行兇作惡。

His brother Wei Zi tried to persuade him to change， but got rebuked.

他的哥哥微子前來進諫，卻反遭指責。

His uncle Bi Gan similarly remonstrated with him, but Shang Zhou had his heart ripped out so he could see what the heart of a sage looked like.

他的叔叔比干來勸他，商紂卻把他的心挖出來看看是什麼樣子。

When his other brother Ji Zi heard this，feigning madness，he went to remonstrate with the kingly brother but，was imprisoned.

他另一哥哥箕子雖然裝瘋指責他，也沒能免遭囚禁。

At that time，the Shang Dynasty was in imminent,danger.

此時的商王朝已是岌岌可危。

When King Wu of the Zhou launched a punitive expedition on Zhou, he was utterly isolated.

武王伐封時，商王朝衆叛親離，軍隊倒戈。

With his army changing the side in the war，Shang Zhou fled to the capital，set light to Lutai and committed suicide by burning himself.

商紂逃回商都，在鹿臺自焚而死。