中英雙語話歷史 第84期:明朝(明末農民大起義)

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was corrupt in politics.

明朝後期，政治腐朽。

The emperor often did not go to court and the government was in the control of the eunuchs. The eunuchs practiced graft and accepted bribes, sold and bought positions and scrambled for the rights and interests, which deepened the social crisis.

皇帝經常不上朝，國家大權由宦官掌握，他們貪污受賄，賣官鬻爵，爭權奪利,加深了社會的危機。

In 1594, Langzhong of the Board of the Civil Office, Gu Xiancheng, was removed from his office and returned to his hometown, Wuxi. He taught together with Gao Panlong and Qian Yiben and so on in the Donglin Academy. They discussed the governmental administration, criticized the groups in office. They were supported by most of the scholar-officials and were called the Donglin Party.

1594年，吏部郎中顧憲成被革職還鄉到了無錫，與髙攀龍、錢一本等在東林書院講學,他們議論朝政，批評當權集團，得到部分士大夫的支持，被稱爲“東林黨”。

The Donglin Party disapproved of Shenzong，s dethroning the oldest son to‘ be the successor with the substitute of the younger one, they were against the robbery of the mine supervisors and the tax supervisors. They advocated to open up for the criticisms and suggestions and to restore the governmental administration, so they were hated by the groups in office.

東林黨反對神宗廢長立幼，反對礦監、稅監的掠奪，主張開放言路，改革朝政，遭到當權派的嫉恨。

In 1601, the tax supervisor Sun Long came to Suzhou. He set up barriers, extorted the merchants and decided to levy three qian silver for every loom and three fen silver for every bolt of silk.

1601年，稅監孫隆來到蘇州，設置關卡，勒索客商，還理定每臺織機徵銀三錢，每匹綢緞徵銀三分。

The weaving households stopped weaving to show their protest.

當時機戶一致停業，以示反抗。

The unemployed weavers went to the street on strike under the leadership of Ge Xian. They enclosed the Tax Department and killed the tax official ,and Sun Long was frightened to escape at night.

失業的機工,在葛賢領導下，走上街頭，包圍稅署，打死稅吏，孫隆嚇得連夜逃跑。

The fight against the tax and mine supervisors broke out as well in other more than 10 cities.

其他十幾個城市,也都爆發了城市人民的反稅監、礦監的鬥爭。

The fights are the reflection of the seeds of the capitalism in politics at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

這些鬥爭是明朝後期資本主義萌芽在政治上的反映。

The annexation of land came to the surprising extent at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

明朝後期，土地兼併達到驚人的地步。

The emperor awarded a great amount of land to his gentry, ministers, and the eunuchs.

皇帝常把大量土地賜給貴族、大臣和宦官作爲莊田。

Ming Shenzong once (warded his son the land of two million mu .

神宗一次就賜給他的兒子福王，田地200萬畝。

The landlords and bureaucrats annexed land greatly.

地主、官僚也大量兼併土地。

In the Taihu valley, nine tenths of peasants lost their land.

在太湖流域,十分之九的農民失去土地。

The tax exploitation of the feudal government became more and more serious.

封建政府的賦役剝削也越來越重。

The heavy taxes and the high centralization of the land made more peasants lose their land. They became either tenants, slaves and servants, or tramps and famime refugee, and some were even forced to rise up.

土地高度集中和賦役繁重，使更多的農民失去土地，淪爲佃戶、奴僕，或成爲流民、饑民，甚至被迫起義。

In the late Ming Dynasty,he internal contradiction among the ruling class became more intense, and so were the class contradictions. It was unavoidable for the large-scale peasants uprising to break out.

明朝末年，統治階級內部矛盾加劇，階級矛盾日益激化，大規模農民起義的爆發已是不可避免的了。

Therefore it broke out in Shaanbei.

於是在陝北爆發了大規模的農民起義。

The insurrectionary army fought from place to place in the areas of Henan, Hubei and Sichuan.

起義軍轉戰於河南、湖北、四川一帶。

In 1634, they gathered in Xingyang, Henan and talked over the measures against the government. At the meeting they accepted the suggestions of Li Zicheng, who was a follower of Gao Yingxiang.

1634年各地首領彙集於河南滎陽商量對策，採納了高迎祥部將李自成的建議。

From then on, the peasant war at the end of Ming came to a new stage under the leadership of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

此後，明末農民戰爭在李自成、張獻忠的領導下進入新階段。

In the year of 1643, Li Zicheng founded the new government in Xiangyang and titled himself Xinshun Emperor.

1643年，李自成在襄陽建立政權，自稱新順王。

In the early 1644, he commanded the Great Shun Army to start from Xi，an，go through Datong and Xuanhua，enter Juyong Gate and enclose Beijing. The soldiers guarded the city gave in. Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide.

1644年初，李自成率領大順軍從西安出發，經過大同，宣化，進入居庸關，包圍北京城，守城的明軍投降，崇禎帝自殺。

On March 19, Li Zicheng and his army entered into the city of Beijing and the corrupt reign of the Ming Dynasty was overthrown.

3月19日，李自成帶領大軍進人北京。明朝的腐朽統治被推翻了。

After the Great Shun Army entered the city of Beijing, the national political situation changed greatly. The landlord class was not willing to give up their authority and they attempted to rise up again.

大順軍進人北京後，全國政治形勢發生重大變化,地主階級不甘心失敗，企圖東山再起。

In April 1644, Li Zicheng commanded the army to suppress the rebellion in the east and had a fierce battle with Wu Sangui in Shanhai Gate. However, the Qing army joined in the battle unexpectedly. The peasant army was taken by surprise and suffered a great loss.

1644年4月，李自成率軍東征，在山海關與吳三桂軍隊開展激戰，清軍突然加人戰鬥，農民軍猝不及防，損失慘重。

In 1645, Li Zicheng was attacked by the landlord force in Jiugongshan Mountain of Tongshan County, Hubei and died a hero，s death. At the end of 1646, Zhang Xianzhong died and the peasants uprising at the later period of Ming failed eventually.

1645年,李自成在湖北通山縣九宮山遭到地主武裝的襲擊，壯烈犧牲,1646年底，張獻忠壯烈犧牲。明末農民起義失敗。

The historical importance of the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming ： The peasants uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty is a most large-scale peasant war in the Chinese feudal society. It overthrew the corrupt rule of the Ming Government, stroked the landlord class, adjusted partially the production relationship and created conditions for the development of productive forces in the early Qing Dynasty.

明末農民起義的歷史意義：明末農民起義是中國封建社會中規模最大的一次農民戰爭，它推翻了明朝的腐朽統治，打擊了地主階級，局部調整了生產關係，爲清朝前期社會生產力的發展創造了條件。

The insurrectionary army raised a clarion call to “ average the land and stop the taxv and directed the spearhead of struggle to the feudal land ownership, which symbolizes that the peasant war in our country had entered a new stage.

起義軍明確提出“均田免租”口號，把鬥爭鋒芒直指封建土地所有制，標誌着我國農民戰爭發展到了一個新的階段。