E65 御史：披肝沥胆，贞良死节

E65 御史：披肝沥胆，贞良死节
2023.09.29
夏鹏
难度：CSE7
课程导读

上节课我们讲到，王安石威吓朝廷百官，对批评自己的御史一律撤职。这些行为使政府组织的基础受到了破坏，也触动了政体最敏感部分。今天这节课，我们将继续来了解什么是监察机构？以及它在当时的政权组织机构中扮演着怎样的角色？一起进入今天的课程内容。

英文原文

The issue of the purge of the censorate was in itself enough to cause the withdrawal of support and the resignation of the government leaders.

The imperial censorate was an old institution in the Chinese government, whose purpose was to represent public opinion and constantly check and criticize the ruling regime.

It was held as essential to a good government that free criticism should be made readily available to the emperor so that the state of public opinion could be properly reflected.

In consequence of its position, the censorate had tremendous powers and responsibilities and could overthrow an administration when the censors attacked it hard enough.

It was a somewhat lax and not too well defined method for bringing about changes in the government personnel and policies, acting in somewhat the same way as the modern press.

The difference in ancient China was that there was no legal protection for the censorate or for the lights of the opposition, but only the established tradition that a "good" emperor should be liberal toward criticism; whether he cared for such a good reputation was up to the emperor himself.

If he did not choose to exercise moral restraint, he could constitutionally degrade, punish, torture, or kill the censors and their entire families. Many did so.

The censors were placed in the impossible position of having the official duty to admonish both the government and the emperor himself without any constitutional protection of their personal liberties.

But as in modern times there are always editors with a sense of responsibility to the public who are brave enough to defy a totalitarian regime at the risk of imprisonment and death, so there were always censors who braved corporal punishment, flogging, and even death to carry out their duties to the people.

This is particularly true of the Eastern Han and the Ming periods, when there were censors who, having written their protests against a vile premier and knowing that they were only courting death, hanged themselves before they sent in their letters of protest.

These censors went up to battle like soldiers; as soon as one fell, another rose to take his place.

Good emperors who loved a good name would be careful in their treatment of these censors, earning great fame and popularity for themselves, but bad administrations were anxious to silence the censors just as modern dictators find it necessary to muzzle the press.

生词好句

1.in itself
本身（by itself, per se）

2.withdrawal of support
丧失支持
拓展:
withdrawal v. 取回；撤兵；撤回
deposit v. 存钱

3.resignation
英 [ˌrezɪɡˈneɪʃn]美 [ˌrezɪɡˈneɪʃn]
n. 辞职
拓展:
resign v. 辞职

4.the imperial censorate
皇家御史台

5.institution
英 [ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃn]美 [ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃn]
n. 机构
拓展:
institute n. 学院
MIT 麻省理工学院

6.the ruling regime
统治政权

7.It was held/considered as essential/necessary ...
......被认为是重要的/必要的

8.make readily available
随时随地

9.tremendous power
极大的权力

10.overthrow
英 [ˌəʊvəˈθrəʊ]美 [ˌoʊvərˈθroʊ]
v. 推翻

11.somewhat
英 [ˈsʌmwɒt]美 [ˈsʌmwɒt]
adj. 有一些（to some extent）

12.lax
英 [læks]美 [læks]
adj. 松弛的（loose）

13.established tradition
既定传统

14.liberal
英 [ˈlɪbərəl]美 [ˈlɪbərəl]
adj. 开放的 （open）

15.constitutionally
英 [ˌkɒnstɪˈtʃuːʃnli]美 [ˌkɒnstɪˈtʃuːʃnli]
adv. 按照宪法地 （legally）
拓展:
constitution n. 宪法

16.admonish
英 [ədˈmɒnɪʃ]美 [ədˈmɒnɪʃ]
v. 劝诫，警告（reprimand, warn）

17.totalitarian
英 [təʊˌtæləˈteəriən]美 [təʊˌtæləˈteəriən]
n. 独裁

18.imprisonment
英 [ɪmˈprɪznmənt]美 [ɪmˈprɪznmənt]
n. 囚禁

19.corporal
英 [ˈkɔːpərəl]美 [ˈkɔːpərəl]
adj. 身体上的 （bodily）
拓展:
corpse n. 身体（body）

20.flog
英 [flɒɡ]美 [flɒɡ]
v. 鞭打（whip）

21.This is particularly/especially true of ...
尤其是

22.vile
英 [vaɪl]美 [vaɪl]
adj. 糟糕的（evil）

23.earn great fame and popularity
留名青史

24.silence
英 [ˈsaɪləns]美 [ˈsaɪləns]
v. 使闭嘴

25.muzzle
英 [ˈmʌzl]美 [ˈmʌzl]
v. 压制