中英雙語話歷史 第31期:漢朝(政治與經濟)
Politics：In his later years, Emperor Wudi squandered Money, exhausting the treasuries accumulated in the eariy period.
In order to increase the financial income, he formulated harsh laws and raised taxes, which put a heavy burden on the people.
爲增加收人，武帝制定重法，加稅、加捐，人民負擔加重。In addition to frequent natural disasters, large quantities of peasants became impoverished and went into exile. Therefore, peasant uprisings broke up constantly throughout the country.
加上災荒頻繁，導致大批農民破產流亡，各地農民起義不斷髮生。
Confronted with the social crisis, Emperor Wudi decided tQ stop wars to develop agriculture in 90 B. C..
面對社會危機，公元前90年，武帝停止用兵,發展農業生產。He even went to the fields personally, showing his determination to attach importance to production and his care for people * s life.
他還親自下地表示今後要重視生產和百姓生活。With all of these measures, the country became stable ually.
這樣，國內才逐漸安定了下來。In 87 B. C. , Emperor Wudi fell ill on the inspection tour, and died soon.
公元前87 年,武帝外出巡遊，不久後病死。Only a few days before his death, Emperor Wudi named his son Liu Fuling to his successor. Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie, and Jin Midi built a triumvirate to assist the young emperor (posthumous Han Zhaodi) in government.
臨死前幾天，他立劉弗陵爲太子，命霍光、上官桀、金日磾三人輔佐太子。Emperor Zhaodi who was then only eight years old was assisted by Grand General Huo Guang, Chancellor of Military Affairs.
昭帝劉弗陵繼位時年僅8歲，遵照武帝遺詔由霍光輔政。Facing the intensified conflict in the later years of Emperor Wudi, the new ruler and his regents had to rely on fiscal austerity in order to stabilize the state treasury and to appease the rebellious peasants.
針對武帝末年國內矛盾激化的情況，昭帝及其佐臣依靠節省財政開支的辦法，穩定國庫，平撫暴亂農民。Taxes were lowered, and peasant labour was reduced, which lifted the yoke on the peasants.
昭帝多次下令減輕人民負擔，減輕賦稅，減輕農民的重壓。Meanwhile, the imperial court managed to improve the relationship with Xiongnu, so large-scale wars stopped, which also benefited the economic recovery.
與此同時,改善與匈奴的關係，停止大規模的戰爭，有助於國內經濟的恢復與發展。Due to the proper internal and external policies, the contradictions left in the later period of Emperor Wudi were under control, and the declining trend of the Western Han was reversed.
由於內外措施得當，武帝后期遺留的矛盾基本得到了控制，衰勢得以扭轉。In 74 B. C. , Emperor Xuandi ascended to the throne.
公元前74年，宣帝繼位。He paid great attention to improving the local administration, maintaining that the method of running country should be combined with hegemony1 s and the king * s way, and objecting to the monopoly of Confucianism.
他注重加強地方治理,認爲治國之道應以“霸道”“王道”雜治，反對專任儒術。So during his reign, “officials were qualified to their positions, and the people were contented with their trades”.
爲此，宣帝統治期間“吏稱其職，民安其業”。In 72 B. C. , the emperor allied with Wusun to attack Xiongnu, and then taking opportunity of the Xion-gnu’s internal splitting established a friendly relationship with Khan Han Chan Yu.
公元前72年，宣帝與烏孫聯合攻打匈奴，後趁匈奴內部分裂之機，與呼韓單于建立友好關 系。The Han Empire and the Xiongnu were on good terms in the next 40 years or so and the frontiers came to peace gradually.
此後40多年中匈關係良好，邊境地區逐步寧息。The time of Emperor Xuandi is often compared with the peaceful and prosperous time of the Emperors Wendi and Jing-di.
宣帝之治常被與文景之治相媲美，史稱“宣帝中興”。Nevertheless, all of these positive measures couldn * t compeletly solve the problem that bureacrats and aristocrat annexed lands thoroughly.
然而宣帝推行的一系列積極政策並不足以從根本上解決官僚貴族兼併土地的問題。In 48 B. C. , when Emperor Yuandi came to the throne, the social conflicts intensified further, and the country couldn* t recover after that, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Western Han.
公元前48年，元帝繼位後,社會矛盾進一步激化，終於使西漢王朝一蹶不振。In 6 B. C. , Wang Mang, a nephew of the empress of Emperor Yuandi, usurped the throne and three years later founded the Xin Dynasty.
公元前6年，王莽篡位，3年後建立新朝。No long afterwards, peasant uprising broke out all over the country ,resulting in Wang Mang * s downfall and the restoration of the Han sovereignty. Chinese historians call this period as the Eastern Han.
不久全國爆發農民起義，王莽垮臺，漢室恢復，史稱東漢。The rise and reign of the Wang Clan: Avdling himself of the political corrup-tion in the later years of the Western Han, Wang Mang, the founder of the Xin Dynasty ,usurped the throne through consort clans monopolizing power.
王氏家族的崛起和篡位:新朝的創立者王莽是利用西漢末年政治腐敗，通過外戚專政來奪取皇位的。Wang Mang was the nephew of the empress of Emperor Yuandi, Wang Zhengjun. When Emperor Pingdi was on the throne, Empress Wang assumed the reign of the government as grandmother. Wang Mang was designated Chancellor of Military Affairs, who was also in charge of civil administration throughout the country.
王莽是漢元帝皇后王政君的侄子，平帝時王政君以太皇太后臨朝稱制，王莽取得大司馬大將軍的職位，總攬朝政。After the death of Emperor Pingdi, Wang Mang placed a two-year old baby, Ruzi Ying in 9 A. D. , on the throne.
平帝死後,王莽立年僅兩歲的孺子嬰爲帝。No more than three years, he dethroned Ruzi Ying, and proclaimed himself emperor, changing the reign motto to Xin, which marked the end of the Western Han Dynasty.
不到3年，王莽便於公元9年廢孺子嬰，自立爲帝，改國號爲 “新”。西漢亡。Wang Mang pushed forward new policies and carried a series of reforms, hoping to retrieve the glory of Han by adopting policies described in the Confucian classics. He decreed that farmland be renamed as “royal land’’，slaves “private belongings”，and both prohibitted from buying and selling. Five largest markets were set up to manage business, control prices rigidly and strengthen taxes, implement economy monopoly. Currency system was changed several times, which made a multitude of currency items and complicated the exchange, which resulted in a social and economic chaos. So was the official system. Wang Mang also launched wars against Xiongnu, and ethnic minorities on the border of the northeast and the southwest.
王莽在全國範圍內推行“託古改制”的新政:他下令天下農田改稱“王田”，奴婢改稱“私屬”，禁止買賣;設立五均，管理工商業，嚴格管制物價和加強稅收，實行經濟壟斷;屢次改變幣制，貨幣名目繁多，換算複雜，造成社會和經濟的極大混亂；更改官制名稱，濫加封賞;又發動對匈奴和對東北、西南邊境各族的戰爭。Heavy taxes and labor corvee, together with harsh penalty, made the complaints to be heard everywhere. In addition to natural disaster in successive years and roaring prices, a nationwide peasant uprising finally broke out.
沉重的賦役，殘酷的刑罰，使人民怨聲載道，加上連年災荒，物價飛漲，終於引起全國性的農民大起義。The peasant rebellions in the later years of the Xin Dynasty first began in the north, and then spread to the Yellow River valley and Yangtze River valley. The first great insurrection was that of the Lulin region (in modern Hubei) led by Wang Kuang and Wang Feng in 17. This group of peasant insurgents is referred to as the Green Wood Army.
新末民衆起義首先發生在北方邊郡地區，接着在黃河流域、長江流域也爆發了農民暴動。而第一次大規模的農民起義是公元17年發生在湖北綠林地區的王匡、王鳳領導的綠林起。這支起義隊伍史稱綠林軍。Shortly after the first rebellion of the Lulin peasant, Fan Chong led an uprising at Ju (modern Juxian County in Shandong).
綠林起義不久,琅邪人樊崇也在莒(今山東莒縣）領導了農民起義。With its headquarters in Mountain Tai, his army quickly grew to be several tens of thousands.
起義軍後來以泰山地區爲根據地，展開鬥爭。隊伍很快發展到幾萬人。They were called the army of Red Eyebrows because they had their brows painted red as a mark of identification.
因其將眉毛染成紅色以識別身份，故被稱爲“赤眉”。Meanwhile, scores of big and small insurgent groups rose on the great plain in present-day Hebei and Shandong provinces north of the Yellow River. At Nan yang (modern Nanyang in Henan Province) Liu Xiu and his elder brother Liu Yan, both were the descendants of the Han royal family, hoisted the banner constructing the Han Dynasty.
與此同時，黃河以北的河北、山東等廣大地區，大大小小數十支起義隊伍也在迅速崛起。西漢皇室宗親劉縯、劉秀兩兄弟亦打着光復漢室的旗幟，在南陽起義。Scared with the successive victories of the rebellious armies, Wang Mang hurriedly dispatched his generals Wang Xun and Wang Yi at the head of a crack unit of 420 000 to launch yet another offensive war on the Green Wood army.
起義軍節節勝利王莽十分恐慌，急派王尋、王邑，徵調精兵42萬人，迎擊起義軍。Initially, they had 100 000 soldiers besiege the Kunyang city.
先以10萬人圍攻昆陽。The insurgent leader, Wang Feng with about 9000 men held fast to the city, while Liu Xiu broke through the tight encirclement and went enlisting reinforcement elsewhere.
起義軍將領王鳳自率約9000人堅守昆陽城，派劉秀率小部突圍，收集各縣起義軍回救昆陽。He mustered a unit of several thousand men, and then raided on the Wang * s headquarters, which disturbed the enemies greatly.
劉秀收集了數千人，突人王莽軍的指揮中心，莽軍大亂。The Green Woodmen defending the Kunyang city also came out to join in a converging attack on Wang Mang ’s men，who ran over each other in a helter-skelter retreat. Consequently，Wang Xun was killed，and Wang Yi fled in a fluster.
城內守軍乘勢殺出，莽軍大敗，死傷無數，王尋被殺，王邑狼狽逃竄。This is the famous battle “Kunyang Campaign”，which is one of the well-known examples in the annals of war showing how a small army can o-vercome a big one.
這就是軍事史上以少勝多的著名戰例之一“昆陽之戰”。The Kunyang campaign dealt a crushing blow to Wang AAang both in military affairs and in politics. Liu Xiu also gained the prestige through the Kunyang battle.
昆陽一役在軍事和政治上 給王莽以沉重打擊，劉秀亦因昆陽之戰揚名。In 23, the Green Woodmen installed Liu Xuan as emperor, a member of the Han royal house, using the reign title of Gengshi.
公元23年，王匡、王鳳等立漢室宗親劉玄爲皇帝，國號“漢”，年號“更始”。However, Liu Yan disagreed with it, intending to proclaim himself emperor, so Liu Xuan and Wang Kuang killed him.
劉縯極力反對立劉玄，自己很想稱帝，劉玄和王匡殺掉了劉縯。Liu Xiu dared not to resist openly due to the weak forces, and outwardly showed his willingness to submit to the insurgents.
劉秀因兵力薄弱，不敢公開反抗，表面上表示忠順於起義軍。Liu Xuan appointed him as general, sending him to go to Hebei to enlist services of the rebellious armies there.
劉玄封劉秀爲將軍命他去河北招募起義軍。Taking opportunity of it, Liu Xiu led the army to Hebei to conquer fields with an intention to enlarge in his own influence.
劉秀乘機北上，率軍到河北各地，圖謀發展自己的勢力。Some changes were taking place within the ranks of the rebellious army as well as in the characteristic of the peasant uprisings.
起義軍內部逐漸分裂，農民起義的性質正悄然變化。In 24，the Green Wood army broke into Chang ’an，where people were also ready to rise in revolt.
公元24年，綠林軍攻破長安。此時,長安城裏的起義已蓄勢待發。Wang Mang fled to Jiantai, but was killed by a rebellious merchant Du Wu. His death ended the Xin Dynasty.
王莽逃到漸臺,被起義商人杜吳殺死，王莽的反動統治至此結束。In the same month, another detachment of the Green Woodsmen took Luoyang.
同時，另一支綠林軍攻克洛陽。Following the fall of the Xin Dynasty, the Gengshi regime made Luoyang its capital.
新朝覆滅後，更始朝定都洛陽。It sent emissaries to persuade the Red Eyebrows to surrender.
劉玄派人勸赤眉軍歸降。When Fan Chong came to Luoyang with a score of his generals, the Gengshi authorities failed to unite with them.
樊崇率手下入洛陽，但雙方並未達成聯合的一致意見。Conflicts began to appear between Gengshi and the Red Eyebrow, and they had to appeal to arms.
更始朝與赤眉軍間開始出現矛盾，最終不得不訴諸武力。In 25，the Gengshi regime moved its capital to Chang’ an. Later，the Red Eyebrow army captured Chang*an, and killed Liu Xuan.
公元25年更始朝遷都長安,後赤眉軍破城，殺劉玄。Meanwhile, Liu Xiu was successful in his activities in Hebei.
此時,劉秀在河北進展得相當順利。He gradually detached himself from Liu Xuan and extended his own influence, so that in 25, he proclaimed himself emperor and is known in history as Emperor Guang Wu.
他逐步擺脫了劉玄的控制，擴大自己的勢力。公元25年，劉秀稱帝，史稱漢光武帝。When the Red Eyebrows entered Chang’ an, it had been utterly dilapidated.
赤眉軍進人長安後，長安已殘破不堪。Around it was the forces of landlords everywhere, hoisting the banner of Han, they set up separatist regimes to fight against the Red Eyebrows.
長安城外到處是地主的武裝,都打着 “漢”的旗號，割據一方，與赤眉軍相對抗。Occupying Chang’ an for a period of time, the Red Eyebrows were starved out systematically and withdrew to the west in search for supplies, yet were caught in a heavy snowstorm with many soldiers dying of starvation and coldness. They were forced to come back to Chang’ an.
赤眉軍在長安日久，缺乏軍糧，就離開長安向西尋找給養。又遇大雪，士卒因飢寒而死的極多，赤眉軍又回到長安。At that time，Liu Xiu’s troop had marched into the Guanzhong Region and attacked them repeatedly.
這時，劉秀軍隊已進人關中，一再進擊赤眉軍。With many soldiers woundedand killed, the Red Eyebrows suffered severe losses, and its strength weakened.
赤眉軍的士卒死傷慘重，勢力大大削弱。In 27, Liu Xiu wiped out the Red Eyebrows and the remnant forces of the Green Woodsmen. Thus Liu Xiu deprived the fruits of the peasants uprising and eventually re-founded the Han house, a period began that is later called the Eastern Han or Later Han in contrast to the Western Han or Former Han because the capital, Luoyang, was to the east of the Western Han capital of Chang* an.
公元27年，劉秀最終消滅赤眉軍和綠林軍的殘餘勢力，從而搶奪了農民革命的勝利果實，恢復漢室，定都洛陽，後稱東漢或後漢,因爲洛陽在西漢都城長安以東而得名。
