纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 034中国汉族漆杯(3)

High-quality lacquer was brilliantly smooth and virtually indestructible. Fine pieces like our cup required up to 30 or more separate coats, with long drying and hardening times between each, and so it could have taken up to about a month to make. Hardly surprising, then, that they were inordinately¹ expensive-you could buy more than ten bronze cups for the price of one in lacquer-so lacquer cups were strictly² reserved for top management, the Imperial governors controlling the frontiers of the Empire. Although the Han Chinese and the Roman empires covered roughly the same land area, a census³ conducted in China, only two years before our cup was made, came up with the wonderfully precise figure of a population of 57,671,400 individuals. Here's Roel Sterckx again:

高级漆器的表面十分光滑，同时又非常坚固。如本文中的耳杯这样的精品漆器需要涂抹三十多层漆。每抹完一次便需耐心等待它干燥变硬， 因此制作周期需要一个月之久。毫不奇怪，它的价格十分昂贵，一只漆杯的价格相当于十只青铜杯，因此仅限驻守边疆的将领等位高权重的人使用。汉朝的领土与罗马帝国大致相当，但人口更多。漆杯制作前两年的一次人口普查得到了五千七百六十七万一千四百人的精确数字。胡司德说：

"One of things we need to keep in mind, of course, is that the Chinese Empire is immense, and that it straddles a hugely diverse geographic⁴ region. And in the case of the Han, we're talking about a distance that stretches from North Korea to Vietnam. Contact between people is obviously not always very obvious, and so the circulation of goods, the circulation of imperially sanctioned objects, together of course with texts, is part of that symbolical⁵ assertion of what it means to be an empire. You might not see people who are part of the same empire, but you might actually-by witnessing the goods that are produced across the empire-feel, or have a sense of belonging to, that greater imagined community in many ways."

我们必须了解，中国幅员辽阔，人口众多。汉朝的领土从朝鲜一直延伸到越南。但民众间的交流并不频繁，因此商品的流通、皇室专用物品的流通以及统一的文字，便成为帝国统一性的象征。你也许无法同帝国其他部分的百姓碰面，但各地产物的流通能让你找到身属一个庞大帝国的认同感。

1 inordinately   

adv.无度地，非常地

参考例句：

• But if you are determined to accumulate wealth, it isn't inordinately difficult. 不过，如果你下决心要积累财富，事情也不是太难。 来自互联网
• She was inordinately smart. 她非常聪明。 来自互联网

2 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 symbolical   

a.象征性的

参考例句：

• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real. 今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。
• The Lord introduces the first symbolical language in Revelation. 主说明了启示录中第一个象徵的语言。