纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 064大卫对瓶（3）

 

Seven hundred years ago most of Asia and a large part of Europe were reeling from the invasions of the Mongols. We all know Genghis Khan as the ultimate destroyer and the sack of Baghdad by his son still lives in Iraqi folk memory. Genghis's grandson Qubilai was also a great warrior¹, but under him Mongol rule became more settled and more ordered. As Emperor of China, he supported scholarship and the arts, and he encouraged the manufacture of luxury goods. Once the Empire was established, a 'Pax Mongolica' ensued, a Mongolian peace which, like the Pax Romana, ensured a long period of stability and prosperity. The Mongol Empire spread along the ancient Silk Road and made it safe. It was thanks to this Pax Mongolica that Marco Polo was able to travel from Italy to China, and then return to tell Europe what he'd seen. And one of the startling things he'd seen was porcelain².

The David Vases are so-called because they were bought by Sir Percival David, whose collection of over one and a half thousand Chinese ceramics³ is now in a special gallery at the British Museum. We've put the vases right at the entrance to the gallery, to make it quite clear that they're the stars of the show. David acquired them from two separate private collections, and was able to reunite them in 1935. They're big, they're just over two feet (60 cm) high and they're about eight inches (20 cm) across at the widest, with an elegant shape, narrowing at the top and the bottom, swelling⁴ into a full central body. Apparently⁵ floating between the white porcelain body and a clear glaze⁶ at the top, lies the blue, made of cobalt and painted in elaborate patterns and figures with great assurance. There are leaves and flowers at the foot and at the neck of the vases, but the main body of each vase has a slender Chinese dragon flying around it - elongated⁷, scaled and bearded, with piercing claws and surrounded by trailing clouds. At the neck are two handles in the shape of elephant heads. These two vases are obviously luxury porcelain production, made by artist-craftsmen delighting in their material.

七百年前，几乎整个亚洲以及欧洲的大部分土地都曾遭受蒙古军队的侵害。我们都知道成吉思汗是终极毁灭者，他的儿子对巴格达的洗劫至今留在伊拉克人的记忆中。他的孙子忽必烈也是一位骁晓勇的武士，但他治下的蒙古王朝开始变得稳定有序。作为中国皇帝，他支持学术与艺术的发展，鼓励奢侈品生产。帝国建立之后，“蒙古和平”得到了保障，一如罗马和平，带来了长期的稳定与繁荣。蒙古帝国的疆域随古老的丝绸之路延伸，保障了沿途的安全。多亏蒙古的和平，十三世纪中期，马可波罗才能从意大利来到中国，并最终回到故乡，向欧洲人讲述他的见闻。

让他惊叹的物品之一便是瓷器。实际上，英语中的瓷器"porcelain”一词便来自马可波罗对他在忽必烈治下的中国旅行的笔记。意大利语中的“porcellana”意为小猪，是紫贝壳的俗称，因为这种贝壳确实像一头蜷起的小猪。这种紫贝壳，这种“porcellana”,是马可·波罗在向读者描述他在中国见到的坚韧优质、带着贝壳般光泽的瓷器时所能想到的唯一的相似物。自此之后，我们便将其称为“小猪”，“porcelain”,有时候也直接称作“china”。我认为，世界上再没有哪个国家的称谓可以这样与它的代表性输出商品彼此替代。

大卫对瓶的名称源自它的最后一任主人珀西瓦尔大卫爵士。他的一千五百余件中国瓷器藏品如今都陈列在大英博物馆的一间特别展厅里。我们将这对瓷瓶摆放在展厅入口处，是为了突显它在这一系列藏品中的特殊地位。大卫从两个不同的收藏家手里分别购得这两只瓷瓶，并于一九三五年让它们重聚。它们形制高大，高度超过六十厘米，最宽处直径达二十厘米，造型优雅，上下窄，腹部圆。在洁白的胎质与外层透明的釉色之间是用钴颜料描画出的青花图案，图案设计精美，笔法自信。

瓶颈与瓶足饰以花、叶图案，瓶身上则是一条飞舞的中国龙，龙身纤长覆鳞，胡须张扬，龙爪锋利，还有祥云环绕。瓶颈两侧各有一象首耳。一望即知，这对奢华的瓷器是独具匠心的艺术家的倾心之作。

 

1 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

2 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

3 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

4 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 glaze   

v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情

参考例句：

• Brush the glaze over the top and sides of the hot cake.在热蛋糕的顶上和周围刷上一层蛋浆。
• Tang three-color glaze horses are famous for their perfect design and realism.唐三彩上釉马以其造型精美和形态生动而著名。

7 elongated   

v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
• A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》