Tales from Five Thousand Years of Chinese History
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Chlneee-EnglUb Readers series Tales ьтжт¥ ck ) from Five Thousand Years o f C h i n e s e H istory (V) W i n d o w Better Link Press m m 8 XT «±TE11¥ (E)» i, ---------- 12 2. .................. 22 в з, ..................30 4 . m m i ............ .............4o 5. ШШ ........ 48 6, Е ? В Й Я .............6 2 7, У:WWlHl 7 6 8 , Ш Ф Ш З Ш Ш ......................... 86 9 , ШШШШ 9 6 I Alisher Nsvoiy 20 lyjw - v . :...; ,,c n U K . To the Reader ......................g About the Book n 1. The Imperial Yellow Robe Is Now His 2. A Cup of Wine Relieves the Generals of Their Command 23 3. Li, the Last King, Loses His Kingdom 4. Zhao Pu Receives a Gift 41 5. Yang, the Invincible 49 6. Kou Zhun Holds off Liao Aggression 7. Di Qing Sees No Shame in His Low Birth ...........77 8. The New Deal of Fan Zhongyan .......... 9. The No-nonsense, Im partial Bao Zheng o i z ............................................... 'OZ fr6i ШШШШ '6 1 t ^ i ...................................................................'s i ................................................................. ii i H ^ S 4 1 = 9 1 $ ( # S S W 4 -M ‘91 z S i .......................... ШШ& '51 г и .............................................................'И t - E i ............................ * S № '£ l 9 = 1 .............................№ 3 3 ? '£ l 8 4 ................ «ЖЕ»ё¥^Ш 'II 901 .......................... '01 10. The Reforms o f Wang Anshi 11. Sima Guang Writes Zi Zhi Tongjian ( "Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for G overnm ent") .......-.......... 119 12. The Plants and Rocks Convoys 13. Fang La Rises in Rebellion ...................... 1 14. Aguda's Defiance at the Fish Feast .......... 15. Li Gang Defends the Capital ................... 16. Two Emperors Are Taken Prisoner 17. Zong Ze Thrice Cries. "Cross the River!" 173 18. Han Shizhong Blocks the Passage of the Jin Army ....................... 185 19. Yue Fei Routs W uzhu’s Army ................... 20. The Traitor. Qin H ui ...................... 211 2 i . - ' m i t r ш т ................... 222 22. fiKW S#TE-fR* 2 3 , f / Ш Ш И ......................... 244 2 4 . 256 2 5 . 5К Е * ? Е ^ Ш Ш 268 2 6 , IE*CW: ..........................278 2 7 . ...................288 2 8 . « ш т 2 9 . -ЯШ6№Л зоб 30 , т ^ т й И Ф 316 21. "A Plausible Case" ........................223 22. Genghis Khan Unifies the Mongols 23. Jia Sidao Sells the Country down the River ....................... 245 24. Wen Tianxiang Raises an Army 25. Zhang Shijie Defends Yashan to the Death ......................269 26. Ode to the Force o f Virtue ................ 27. Marco Polo, a Visitor from Europe 28. Dou E's Grievance Moves Heaven and Earth ........................299 29. A One-eyed Stone Figurine 30. A Monk Turned Grand Marshal -- ш мш тш ъ, шшпшвь. «Х«:ФН-Й1^!Ш ЙЙА=Й»*-*?ҒЙЙЖ ^. Ч5( № # . 'Ы & Ъ ' т п ««й*ат^*»мш ййА 9 а^йш **«-ш м 3 « Ф В Х ^ Ж № 5 :^№ а, ihSft^giEK fX iS. ШЙ?Х i§m *¥6<J|aW , TlW ^att^. fE X tt. ФЯШ *. У, t t f n ^ f f l? X 9 tX.tM Sij*ffi, ШЪТ тт^ьгшшшкбь. ш ^® ^^в1РЛ»ааа Й ^ Й Я Ш Ш ЛЙШ ЯТ Ш ЁЯ ig№ № M SS „ ш ш ш . — ш% To the Reader Acquisition of proficiency in a foreign language calls for diligent practices in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Learning Chinese is no exception. To a student of Chinese, extensive reading exercises are as important as constant exposure to spoken Mandarin. Cultural China: Chinese-English Readers series is an open- ended series of collections of writings in Chinese, mostly essays and short stories by contemporary Chinese writers. Our purpose in putting together this bilingual series is to help you enjoy contemporary Chinese literature and other writings in their authentic, unadulterated flavor and to understand the Chinese society, culture, history, and the contemporary life of the Chinese people as you learn the language and hone your reading skills. A bilingual text will assist you in better savoring these works and in checking your understanding of the Chinese original against the English translation. We hope you will like this volume. — the Editor «±ТЕТ¥(Е)» Й $ -15МШП* 1Ж Й «№ Ж «г5 Ж ^ Ж * б 1Й ( 1900 - 1972 ) 5 6 4 2 : ^ . #ЦТ№ Я-Шй. КШШЁ. S ^ S : ( 1924 - 1996 ) ШЯЦ'Ш тжшя* т ш ±т к’Лъцьж &тп^ $- til-L-MS#. ЖЙМХЖ. й тд й * # тш # м ж $ . «±Т Е ^¥ (Ж)» ?Х^Х#№Ф#1®ТЙ^$Жй$й$8 Ж ¥ й 1 й ж 6 штшшшшх-к.ш to№ :H tortS№ T--«№ИГ. About the Book Tales from Five Thousand Years o f Chinese History is a collection of stories arranged in chronological order, covering a period from ancient times to the pre-Opium-War Qing Dynasty. T he topics were selected by educator and linguist. Lin Handa 11900 - 1972). w ho drew up th e o u tlin e for th e collection and contributed some chapters. Following Lin's death. Cao Yuzhang 11924 - 1996I took over his mantle and completed the work. This combined effort of two consecutive authors has enjoyed wide appeal by virtue of its historical accuracy, well-structured narrative, fluent writing and distinctive style. The bilingual Tales from Five Thousand Years o f Chinese H istory fWcovers a period of history from the foundation of the Northern Song Dynasty to the last years of the Yuan Dynasty. For th e sake of brevity, th e original Chinese work has been slightly abridged in this bilingual edition. и п ш ш « Ш В Р Ш Ш . &ШШ.. й тмшш. шш-кыш. т т . шйеш (s-yin) ш ъ ш ш . &шж **т №Ш ¥ття±я . № itt^*titfiW fg, [ - ш а т ш . т < ж ш ш п . «^ежд-зЕйигаешк. m ~ W . W S fttiB E ^S . Eftfl'tiyi, й^Ж Ж ш + ш ш . mvx, л(п^й#«#иййей*^м. ^ 7С9 6 0 ^ # 1Г, ш т & Е бЖ Г г№ SLAfLfKjEhi^. Ш ШШ*Й*М'£.§.ЙШ. ЖйЖ?Г ЖЕЙШ. I nles From Сhii Inuteriiil Yellow Ret I. The Imperial Yellow Robe Is Now His When Emperor Gong of the Later Zhou Dynasty ascended to throne, he was too young to govern, so his chief ministers Fan Zhi and Wang Pu acted as regents. In a Later Zhou racked by political uncertainties, rumors began circulating among the anxiety-ridden residents of the imperial capital that Zhao Kuangyin was on the point of grabbing the throne. A trusted military commander of Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin had achieved an impressive string of battlefield successes as he followed Emperor Shizong in his campaigns across China. The Emperor placed so much trust in Zhao that he appointed him a commander of the Imperial Army in charge of defending the Emperor and the capital, with the title of Palace Inspector-General. The Imperial Army was the best- trained and most well equipped military unit in the Later Zhou Dynasty. Upon the death o f Emperor Shizong. the control o f the armed forces fell into the hands of Zhao Kuangyin. The history of the Five Dynasties period was replete with instances m which military commanders took over the throne. Speculation about Zhao’s intention to seize power was therefore not at all surprising. In 960 AD. at a grand audience in the Zhou court during the Spring Festival, a messenger brought an urgent war alert to the capital from the frontiers. An allied force of the Northern Han ш . а т й ^ , ш т am t. Z+ЖйШ^Р. ЙЕЖ^ ^#±ш яй»,в.&±шшт-шшт, -штт Ж *6-е, Ш ® й. WXiA: ■‘Ш Й к±Я Ш /А'\\ « (П ^ m s s f r t t . т ш ш пт т . ттштт рш&шттт\ * * m i \ Ж»18йИ-ЖЖ, ъ ш т т т * Я 5Ф-&ЙР)ЙЕ^ШЖ. #«(ПВЙЙ ТШ, «ШВДШШЛ. «Wife: -«(ПВЙОТЙТ. « аШ ХАШ Иг Г, BgBgR^, -вигш ^ж -SS 3 E S -ЖТ-, TW iM ESL - ffiiti-ttEXW№WTЙ )itй«МШЪ Tfl". EEW. Imperial Yrllow Kobe Is Now His Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty had launched an attack on the Zhou borders. Amid the general panic at the court. Fan Zhi and Wang Pu made the decision to dispatch Zhao Kuangyin to repel the attack. When lie received this order, Zhao immediately set about appointing his commanders and mustering his forces, and within two days he led his massive army out of Bianjing. the capital. He took along his brother Zhao Kuangyi and his trusted adviser Zhao Pu. Arriving that evening at the Chenqiao post house about ten miles out from the capital, Zhao Kuangyin ordered his troops to set up camp for the night. The soldiers fell asleep before their heads hit the pillow. In the meantime, some commanders gathered in private consultation. Some said. T he Emperor is so young he won't he able to remember or recognize our contribution in the future even if we risk our lives to fight the battles for him now. It would be so much more worth our while to acclaim Inspector-General Zhao as Emperor!" The idea won general approval among all those present at the discussion, and a representative conveyed it to Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Pu. Before the representative had a chance to finish his presentation, the other commanders had rushed in with their swords drawn and clamored in unison. "We've decided. We must have the Inspector-General as our Emperor!" Keeping their joy in check, Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Pu admonished them to calm their troops and see that the situation did not get out of hand. At the same time, they dispatched a messenger to inform General Shi Shouxin and General Wang Shenqi.