China's Terracotta Army

China's terracotta army

中国的兵马俑

China, 2000 years ago Over 2000 years ago, China looked very different from today. The country was divided into seven states, each with its own king, laws and language. These seven states had been at war with each other for over 200 years, fighting for land and power. The seven states of China in 246 B .C .E.

两千年前的中国 两千多年前，中国和现在的样子大不相同，整个国家分裂成七个 诸侯国，每个都有自己的君王、法律和语言。这七个诸侯国彼此之间 已经交战了两百多年，争夺土地和权力。这就是246 公元前的中国七国格局

When the King of Qin, one of the seven states, died in 246 BCE, his son, Ying Zheng, became the new king. He was thirteen years old. Ying Zheng was a successful ruler. He was a king and a soldier with skilled generals, disciplined troops, and better weapons than the other six kings. However, it still took him twenty -five years to conquer the other six states. In 221 BCE, when he was thirty -six, Ying Zheng made himself emperor. Ying Zheng became the first emperor. The first emperor's army had sharper swords than anyone else's.

公元前246年，七国之一的秦国国君去世，他的儿子嬴政成为了 新的秦王。当时他只有十三岁。嬴政是位很有作为的统治者，他既是君王 也是军事家，手下有善战的将军、纪律严明的军队，武器也比其他 六个国家的更精良。但即便如此，他还是花了二十五年才征服了其余六国。 公元前221年，三十六岁的嬴政自封为皇帝。 嬴政就是始皇帝。始皇帝的军队拥有比其他所有人都锋利的刀剑。

China's First Emperor The Emperor wanted to unify all seven states into one country, what we now call China. He made everyone in China use the same coins, weights and measures, write in the same language and obey the same laws. He made travel easier by ordering over 6 ,000 kilometres of new roads to be built, and he visited all parts of his empire in his horse -drawn chariot. A Bronze Coin from the State of China

中国的始皇帝 始皇帝想要把七个诸侯国全部统一 成一个国家，也就是我们现在所说的中国。他要求全国民众使用统一的钱币、 度量衡，书写同一种文字，遵守相同的法律。 他下令修建了6000多公里的新道路，让出行变得更加便利， 他还坐着马车巡视自己帝国的每一片疆土。 一枚来自秦朝的青铜钱币

The Emperor wanted people to remember him long after he died, so he ordered a grand tomb to be built where he would be buried. It looked like a flat -topped pyramid covered with earth. It was over 55 metres high and took thousands of workers over 30 years to make. When he died in 210 BCE, the Emperor was buried in this tomb. Guarding the tomb was an army hidden for 2 ,000 years. This is what the tomb looks like today. It's now covered with trees and bushes.

始皇帝希望自己去世后人们能永远记住他，所以他下令修建一座宏伟的 陵墓，用来安葬自己。陵墓看起来像一座顶部平坦、盖着泥土的金字塔。 它高度超过55米，成千上万的工匠花了三十多年才修建完成。 公元前210年始皇帝去世后，就被安葬在这座陵墓里。守卫陵墓的是一支被隐藏了 两千多年的军队。这就是现在陵墓的样子，上面已经长满了树木和灌木。

The Terracotta Army In March 1974, farmers digging a well near the city of Xi 'an, less than a kilometre from the Emperor's tomb, uncovered a life -sized clay soldier. When archaeologists dug deeper, they discovered three large pits containing thousands more clay figures.

兵马俑 1974年3月，农民们在西安附近打井的时候，距离始皇帝陵墓不到一公里的地方 挖出了一个和真人一样大的陶制士兵。考古学家往更深的地方挖掘后， 发现了三个大坑，里面还有数千个这样的陶俑。