【中英对照】中国传统文化经典名人故事

Coun tries and Statesssic An ecdotes of Traditi onal Chin ese Culture

Cla —、江山社稷

1.大禹治水 King Yu Tamed the Flood

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2.Long time ago, it was said that a deluge en gulfed a huge area of land claimed many lives, so King Shun sent Yu to con trol the flood.

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3.Talk ing with seniors, Yu drew less ons from the past water-c on trol experie nee. After the field survey, he made up a feasible pla n. Then he led people to divert he floods, and duri ng this

time, though he actually passed by the door of his own home fo r three times, he didn ' t go in.

With 13-year persiste nt efforts un der his leadership, 9 large rivers were fin ally dredged leadi ng floods into the sea.

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7. While harnessing the floods, Yu, along with others, helped people rebuild their homes, fallowed lands and resumed product ion. In this way, he gave the com mon people a peaceful and conten ted life and achieved an immortal feat. At that time, to commemorate Yu the Great, the whole country was called “ the City of Yu ” ; and for his feat, a mausoleum called

was built i n his honor by the later gen erati ons.

2.贞观之治 Reign of Zhenguan

Reign of Zhenguan (627-649 AD) was the golden and prosperous age of early Tang Dyna sty under the reign of Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin. He is typically considered one of the greatest emperors in the whole Chinese history. Emperor Taizong ' reign was regaded ad the exemplary model against whicj the emperors of later generations were measured, and was considered required study for future crown princes. During his 23-year reign, the nat ion enjoyed stability and prosperity with the fourishing economy and powerful troops, and the people lived in peace.

The emperor put people in the first place. He saw people as water and emperor as boat, and believed that the water could bear the coat and swallow it as well (民，水也；君，舟 也。水能载舟，亦能覆舟。 )Taking the downfall of Sui Dynasty as a negative example,

Emperor Taiz ong appo in ted people on their merits and put them in the most suitable plac e, besides, he encouraged the free airing of views, accepted criticism with modesty and ga ve important position to the capable chancellors such as 房玄龄、杜如晦和魏征 and so on.

He made a peaceful society by takibg a series of policies, such as putting great emphasi s on agriculture, cutting taxes upon farmers, taking the policy of recuperation and strictly enforcing thrift.

Because his era n ame was Zhen gua n, the grand times un der his rule was gen erally recog n ized as Reign of Zhenguan, which laid a solid foundation for the peace and prosperity of later Tang Dynasty.

After a long time deposition, feudal china ushered on the age of integration in such fields as politics, economy and culture during the 60-year reign of Emperor

Qia nlo ng.

3.Sleepi ng on Brushwood and Tast ing Gall 卧薪尝胆

In the Spring and Autu mn Period, the State of Wu defeated the State of Y ue, and took the King Gou Jia n and his wife pris oner. For several years, Gou Jia n laboured as salve in Wu. Whe n he was released and returned to Yue, Gou Jian was determined to take revenge for losing his state. In order that he would nec\ver forget his humiliation, Gou Jian slept on a pie of brushwood and tasted gall before every meal in order to remi nd him of the shame and reven ge. After ten years of careful preparati ons, he attacked and fin ally conq uered the State of Wu.

This idiom is used to describe in spiri ng on eself to accomplish an ambiti on.

春秋战国时代，越国被吴国打败，越往勾践和妻子雅鱼被俘虏，咋吴国做了几年奴役。 后来

勾践被放回越国，他立志要要报亡国之仇。 从此每天夜里睡在稻草上， 每天吃饭前吃一个苦

胆，以提醒自己不忘记过去的耻辱和仇恨。经过十年艰苦奋斗，越过终于雪耻战胜吴国。

4.Jing Ke Assassinated the King of Qin 荆轲刺秦

During the warri ng States Periods, the Prince of Yan sent a famous assass in ator Jing K e to kill the King of Qin.

Jing Ke, together with another warrior,left for Qin with the head of 樊於期，a defector of Qin and the map of 督康，the most fertile land of Yan. Approaching the River Yi, Jing Ke sung a heartbroken song impassionedly, "the River Yi is cold as the wind bl

ows , the hero will never return after this departure.

Knowing that the envoy from yan brought both the head of 樊於期 and the map of 督 康， the King of Qin felt very happy and ordered to meet Jing Ke at Xianyang Palac e right away. Seeing the king, Jing Ke talked with ease. He handed the map to the ki ng. No sooner had the king fully unrolled the map than Jing Ke took out the dagger h idden in the map and grabbed the king ' sleeve trying to stab him. The king tore the s leeve and jumped by the nearby screen heading out. Nobody could do anything to hel

)The king man aged to pull out his long sword

and chopped off the left leg of Jing Ke who fin ally died at Qin ' palace.

Though the assass in ati on failed, Jing Ke took his place in the history book forever due to his bravery

战国时期， 燕国太子丹派著名刺客荆轲前往刺杀秦王。

荆轲与另一勇士一起，带着秦国叛将樊於期的头颅和燕国最肥沃的土地督康地图向秦国出发。 临近易水，荆轲慷慨悲歌：风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复返。

秦王听说燕使者把叛将的头颅的督康的地图送了了，于是很高兴，立即下令在咸阳宫接见荆 轲。一见秦王，荆轲谈笑自若，在将地图献给秦始皇时，趁始皇展开地图之际，荆轲抽出藏 在图中的匕首一把打着始皇衣袖，向他刺去。始皇扯断衣袖（

楼主其实并不解，皇帝衣服材料应该很好吧， 怎么一扯能断？当真神力啊还是衣料不好啊？） 跳过旁边的屏风往外跑。众人却毫无办法（朝堂上都是文官）秦王好不容易拔出长剑，将荆 轲左腿砍断，杀死在殿上。

荆轲虽然行刺失败，但荆轲却因自己的英勇而被永载史册。（明知不可为而为之 ~~）