3/46 - Ming Dynasty 1566 大明王朝1566 - Eng Subs 英文字幕 - Super HD 超高清

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Ming Dynasty 1566 (大明王朝1566)
Release date: 2007
Director: Zhang Li
A vivid study of bureaucracy and corruption in imperial China.
Playlist: • Ming Dynasty 1566 大明王朝...
(1) The Zuo Zhuan (春秋左传) is a commentary of the Spring and Autumn Annals (which was authored by Confucius). It was compiled ~300BC, and gives context to much of the history in the preceding 500 years.
(2) 君以此兴，必以此亡, alternatively 君以此始，必以此终. This is a quote from Zuo Zhuan that originally just told a story of King Zhuang of Chu, who was advised to leave the battlefield in the same chariot that he arrived in. Like many phrases from Zuo Zhuan, this was converted into an idiom, and its meaning was extended to be “he who prospers by something must also die by it.”
(3) The term used here is 端午汛, literally “seasonal flood of the Dragon Boat Festival.” It refers to a particular rise in water levels of rivers and lakes in southern China, usually in mid-June.
(4) A weir (堰口) is a type of water work used to control flooding. The most famous in China is the Dujiangyan, built back in 256 BC and still in use. As a giant agricultural empire, China relied heavily on water work technologies, and was also very advanced at it. Here the Xin’an River refers to a stretch of the Qiantang River, which is the most important waterway in Zhejiang.
(5) The power ascribed to ginseng in traditional Chinese medicine can only be described as mystical. And of course, the older the herb, the more potent the effect.
(6) The stepfather-stepson relationship is common as a way of consolidating power and building support between different ranks of eunuchs.
(7) Despite their condition, eunuchs are not devoid of both emotional and physical need. There is even a special term for relationships between eunuchs and handmaids in the imperial palace, called 对食 (literally, to eat together). During the Ming Dynasty, when powerful eunuchs lived far from the capital, it was undoubtedly easier to find companionship.
(8) Wow their names are finally mentioned, so maybe it’s time to explain these two characters. He Maocai (the fatter one) works in the Department of Law (提刑按察司). Zheng Bichang (the skinnier one) works in the Department of Finance (承宣布政使司). Together with the Department of War (都指挥使司), these are three nominally separate provincial powers that report to the imperial court independently. Although in this case they all report to the governor and viceroy, in the absence of governors and viceroys (both of which were considered temporary positions introduced later in the Ming Dynasty), regional power is completely distributed. It really is a pretty elegant system for asserting central authority and preventing local hegemony.
(9) Okay there’s already too many annotations for this episode to go into the imperial examination system. Suffice it to say that Juren is a middling rank achieved in the exams.
Full annotations with links: dinnermonologu...

[@sinolit]

this is great work 很棒。 the subtitles. 字幕 seem to be reliable. they do this great show a credit. Well done and thank-you.

[@kathykat367]

Thank you for translating this. I really love Chinese history. The newer dramas are all just pretty stuff. I like this type of drama.

[@sirrobinofloxley7156]

You know it's about the Silver War, and the potential threat of an invasion by the Spanish Empire, right?

[@kathykat367]

@@sirrobinofloxley7156 I had never heard of a potential Spanish invasion. How would they have kept up a supply line? I know about the later Opium wars, and the Japanese invasions. I just went and read a little about it. China is so vast, I really don't know how they would have pulled it off.

[@警戒-u8p]

嘉靖朝那来的西班牙威胁，应该是日本威胁才对

[@mariacuachon3906]

Thanks again am impressed with the intelligent and incisive dialogue 👍👌

[@andrewlehman6496]

Thanks so much for translating this!

[@sampuatisamuel9785]

❤❤❤

[@陳明女-i4o]

很（敢）的辦法，戴在自己頭上，沒有其他更好的嗎？ 方法都用遍了！已經（無計可施）？