建筑哲学第 2 课

For more than thirty years he used 700,000 workers- 他花了30年功夫 动用70万工人
probably more manpower than the pharaohs had assembled to build the pyramids - 可能比法老建造金字塔 所用人力更多
to re-construct his kingdom in the private underground world of his tomb, 在地底墓穴中重建他的王国
with palaces and courts for a hundred officials, 宫殿和御院可容纳百名官员
rooms containing countless gems, 房里珠宝无数
rivers of mercury and candles which would never burn out. 水银成河，腊烛终年不熄

They sat you can't take it with you, 虽说人死后什么也带不走
but Qin Shihuang sure tried. 秦始皇却通通想带走
His tomb was guarded by hundreds of terracotta warriors, 墓穴有数百名陶俑守卫
but just as fascinating were the clay model houses that were found inside his tomb.'' 黏土房屋模型也同样叫人称奇

Because of their belief that people had to provide for their ancestors in death, 早期中国人相信 人需为祖先提供死后的物品
the early Chinese buried their deceased with clay models of the structures they depended on in life - 因此在墓穴中 埋入生活所需的各种建筑模型
granaries, houses, watchtowers and the like. 诸如谷仓，房舍，了望塔等
These 2,000 year-old models are the only surviving examples of early Chinese wooden architecture, 这些2千年前的模型是 中国早期木造建筑仅存的范例

and from them we can see how houses were constructed around the time of the first emperor. 我们从中可看出 秦始皇时代的房屋造型
These models show a type of wooden house that incredibly can still be seen today. 至今仍可见这些模型 所展现的木造房屋
So why did the ancient Chinese build in wood rather than stone, like the ancient Europeans?古中国人为何用木造屋 而不似古欧洲人用石材造屋？

The availability of wood in the extensive forests of early China was no doubt a major factor. 中国早期林地广大 无疑是主要原因
The ancient Chinese did know how to build with stone, and how to use the arch... 古中国人懂得运用 石材和建造拱门
and they used the arch extensively for tombs, gates and bridges. 坟墓，大门和桥中充斥着拱门
And yet they rejected the stone arch for building houses, temples and palaces. 但他们建房屋，庙宇或宫殿时 便舍弃石材拱门

To see why we can again find clue from the tomb of the first emperor. 我们可以再从 秦始皇陵中找到原因
Archaeologists recently excavated from the tomb a 2,000 year-old sword 考古学家不久前 从墓中挖出一把2千年前的剑
that is still sharp as a razor. 仍然锋利无比

The reason it is still sharp is because it is coated with chrome - 剑仍然锋利 是因为其外包覆了一层铬
a fact that may not seem too amazing 听来或许并不神奇
until you realize that chromium wasn't invented until 1938 - 但人类直到1938年才发明铬
the same year the tombs were spotted by that American pilot. 也就是美国飞行员 发现陵墓的那一年

This means is that the ancient Chinese developed incredible metal-working skills very early in their history, 这表示中国人很早就 发展出惊人的金尸加工技术
and so they had metal woodworking tools at a very early date. 因此很早就有了 做木工用的金尸工具