中英雙語話史記 第50期:西漢衰亡
Decline of Western Han Dynasty
西漢的衰落Emperor Wudi's expansionist policies strengthened the empire, nevertheless they drained the imperial treasury.
漢武帝擴張主義的政策在使帝國變得更加強大的同時卻耗盡了國庫。This resulted in sharp increases in taxes and tight control over the economy.
這使得稅收大幅上漲，經濟被嚴格控制。
In the long term, this had the effect of undermining the dynastic influence.
長此以往，王朝的統治被削弱了。When Emperors Zhaodi and Xuandi were in power, potential social crises began to surface despite economic growth.
漢昭帝與漢宣帝執政時，儘管經濟上漲，潛藏的社會危機開始浮現。During the last decades of the Western Han Dynasty, a series of child emperors occupied the throne.
在西漢的最後一個十年，一連串幼年天子佔領了皇位。These necessitated regencies and power fell into the hands of eunuchs and empresses’ relatives.
這使得攝者王成爲必須，大權落入太監和皇后外戚手中。This led to corruption and greater class division resulting in frequent peasant uprisings.
這導致了腐敗與更大的階級差異，農民起義頻繁爆發。Ultimately, the Western Han Dynasty fell after the infant Emperor Ruzi Ying succeeded to the throne.
最後，漢朝在幼子孺子嬰繼承皇位後滅亡了。In 8 AD Wang Mang, one of the empress’s relatives, deposed Ruzi Ying and proclaimed himself emperor of the Xin Dynasty (8----25 A.D.).
公元8世紀，王莽——皇后的親戚之一，廢黜了孺子嬰並稱自己是新朝（公元8世紀至25世紀）的皇帝。
Although condemned as a usurper, Wang Mang was a learned Confucian scholar.
儘管王莽被譴責是一個篡權奪位之人，他卻是一個博學的儒家學者。He wished to retrieve the glory of Han by adopting policies described in the Confucian classics.
他想要通過採用儒家典籍中所描繪的政策來重獲漢朝時的光輝。He renamed offices, outlawed slavery, limited land holdings and monopolized both industry and commerce.
他爲政府機構重新命名、取消奴隸法、禁止土地所有制並壟斷了工業和商業。He also reduced court expenses.
他還減少了朝廷的支出。However, Wang Mang’s unpopularity due to the issue of new coins, nationalization of gold reserves and frequent declarations of war finally led to more serious social turmoil.
但是，由於王莽發行新貨幣、黃金儲備國有化以及不時的宣戰而引起的民心不足造成了更嚴重的社會騷動。In 17 A.D, a nationwide rebellion broke years later, in 23 AD Wong Mang was killed by rebels.
公元17年，一場全國範圍內的叛亂爆發了。六年後，也就是公元23年，王莽被反叛者殺死。Very soon after, Liu Xiu, a member of the Han imperial family, reestablished Han supremacy through what has become known as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25----220 A.D.).
不久之後，大漢皇室的一員——劉秀，重新建立了漢朝政權，也就是我們所知道的東漢（公元25年至220年）。
