名人认知系列 文人骚客17：The Patriotic Poet: Qu Yuan 爱国诗人：屈原

The Patriotic¹ Poet: Qu Yuan

爱国诗人：屈原

An outstanding statesman and patriotic poet in the state of Chu during the late Warring States period, Qu Yuan (339BC-278BC) was born in Dan Yang, Hubei Province. Qu Yuan lived through three reigns³ of Chu — Wei, Huai and Qingxiang, though the prime of his life was during the reign² of King Huai, which was the dawn of national unification.

屈原，战国末期楚国人，杰出的政治家和爱国诗人。湖北丹阳人。屈原一生经历楚威王、楚怀王、顷襄王三个时期，主要活动在楚怀王时期。这个时期正是中国即将实现大一统的前夕。

A descendant of nobility and master of governance and eloquence⁴, Qu Yuan was once deeply trusted by King Huai. He assisted King Huai in political reform and social invigoration, and advocated to ally with the state of Qi to contend with the hegemonic state of Qin in a bid to unity⁵ the nation, and for a time Chu was prosperous with strong army and that overawed the neighboring states.

屈原出身贵族，明于治乱，娴于辞令，故早年深受楚怀王宠信。屈原为实现楚国的统一大业，对内积极辅佐怀王变法图强，对外坚决主张联齐抗秦，使楚国一度出现了富国强兵、威震诸侯的局面。

However the conflicts with the corrupt⁶ aristocrats⁷ on internal and diplomatic policies, slanders⁸ from Qu Yuan’s peer ministers led to the King’s snub. Qu Yuan was banished⁹ from the capital Ying Du and removed to Han Bei until the 30th years of King Huai. King Xiang continued to surrender to Qin, and exiled Qu Yuan again to the south of the Yangtze River. Destitute¹⁰ and vagrant¹¹, Qu Yuan drifted among River Yuan and River Xiang. In the 21th year of King Xiang when Chu，s capital Ying Du was captured by Qin, Qu Yuan with all his bitterness drowned himself in Miluo River. Qu Yuan sacrificed his life to his political ideal, which featured “the perfection of ruling” of sage¹² rulers and virtuous¹³ ministers. Taking people as the foundation for ruling featured another aspect of his political ideal, and this is clearly exemplified in his literary masterpieces such as Li Sao (Lament) and Jiu Zhang (Nine Elegies), in which the recurrence¹⁴ of the “people” showed his concern over the people’s sufferings.

但是，由于屈原在内政外交上与楚国腐朽贵族出现了尖锐的矛盾，屈原遭到小人诬陷被怀王疏远。后屈原被逐出郢都，到了汉北，怀王三十年，屈原回到郢都。 顷裏王即位后继续执行投降政策，屈原再次被逐出郢都，流放江南，辗转于沅、湘二水之间。顷襄王二十一年，秦国攻破郢都，屈原悲愤难抑，遂自沉汨罗江，身殉自己的政治理想，其特点就是“美政”即圣君贤相的政治。他的“美政”的另一基本内容就是民本思想，这在他的作品中有很清晰的表述。他在《离骚》、《九章》等作品中反复谈到“民”的问题，表达了他对民间疾苦的关心。

It was believed that Qu Yuan committed suicide on the lunar May 5th. According to folklore¹⁵, his death threw people in Chu into deep grief and they thronged¹⁶ to Miluo River to mourn. Fishermen sailed their boats around in search of his corpse¹⁷, and threw rice rolls and eggs into the river to wish that the minister’s body would not be gnawed¹⁸. And so the custom was developed in memory of Qu Yuan the patriotic poem on the lunar May 5th when people make pyramidshaped rice rolls wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with color threads, which was called Zong Zi, go for dragon-boat race, and drink realgar wine.

屈原去世的日子，据说是五月初五。传说在他死后，楚国的百姓异常哀痛，纷纷来到汨罗江边凭吊屈原。渔夫们划船在江上来回打捞他的尸体。他们拿出饭团、鸡蛋等食物丢到江里，以免那些鱼龙虾蟹咬屈原的尸体。后来人们用竹叶或苇叶包饭团，外缠彩丝，这就 是后来的粽子。以后每年的五月初五，就有了赛龙舟、 吃粽子、喝雄黄酒的风俗，以此来纪念爱国诗人屈原。
 

1 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

2 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

3 reigns   

n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期

参考例句：

• In these valleys night reigns. 夜色笼罩着那些山谷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Queen of Britain reigns, but she does not rule or govern. 英国女王是国家元首，但不治国事。 来自辞典例句

4 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 slanders   

诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We condemn all sorts of slanders. 我们谴责一切诽谤中伤的言论。
• All slanders and libels should be repudiated. 一切诬蔑不实之词，应予推倒。

9 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

11 vagrant   

n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的

参考例句：

• A vagrant is everywhere at home.流浪者四海为家。
• He lived on the street as a vagrant.他以在大街上乞讨为生。

12 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

13 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

14 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

15 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

16 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

18 gnawed   

咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• His attitude towards her gnawed away at her confidence. 他对她的态度一直在削弱她的自尊心。
• The root of this dead tree has been gnawed away by ants. 这棵死树根被蚂蚁唼了。