陶瓷之谜第 2 课

With the death of Khubilai Khan, the Mongol empire went into rapid decline,忽必烈逝世后 蒙古帝国迅速衰落
and in the year 1368, a former peasant and Buddhist monk - Zhu Yuanzhang -rose through the ranks to lead a rebel army which captured Beijing. 1368年 出身农家的还俗僧侣朱元璋 以一介军官扶摇直上 成为叛军首领 并率兵攻下北京

He declared himself first emperor of the Ming dynasty, 他自立为明朝第一任皇帝
and claimed the title of Hongwu, 年号洪武
meaning 'vast military power'. 即军容盛大之意

On the legendary silk road, Trade between east and west continued,而在传奇色彩浓厚的丝路 东西贸易依旧络绎不绝
but with the memory of foreign occupation fresh in their minds, 由于被外族统治的耻辱 仍记忆犹新
Ming emperors became increasingly inward looking, 明朝皇帝日益倾向于闭关自守
fortifying the great wall, 在整修长城之馀
and eventually ordering the great overland trade routes closed! 甚至下令关闭陆上贸易通道

Trade continued by sea, however. 但东西贸易仍透过海路进行
Arab traders obtained rare specimens of porcelain from Chinese, 阿拉伯商人在东非海岸
South East Asian and Indian merchants on the East coast of Africa. 向中国，东南亚和印度商人 搜购罕见的中国瓷器
The Arab traders then carried the porcelain in their dhows up the Persian Gulf; 然后以单桅帆船载运 沿波斯湾北上

then overland to the Eastern Mediterranean, 再经由陆路抵达地中海东岸
where Italian Merchants from Venice and Genoa 威尼斯和热那亚的 意大利商贾在此
traded large sums of gold for the magically painted pieces, 不惜重金抢购精工描绘的瓷器
and took them back to Italy as precious treasures. 当作稀世珍宝带回意大利

When medieval Italian merchants first saw pieces of Chinese porcelain, 中世纪的意大利商人 首次见到瓷器时
they couldn't believe that they were man made. 无法相信它是由人工制造
The only thing that they could compare them to was a cowry shell, 唯一能与之媲美的 只有宝贝贝壳
because a cowry shell has that same exquisite smooth surface as a piece of porcelain. 因为两者有着同样 细致光滑的表面

Now, in Italian a cowry shell is called a Porcellino... 意大利文称宝贝贝壳为 Porcellino
a little pig, because it kind of looks like a little suckling pig... 意指小猪 因为它看起来像小乳猪
hence, our word 'porcelain'. 所以他们称瓷器为 Porcelain