中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第18期:乾隆

Qian Long (1711——1799) was the reign title of the fourth emperor (1735——1796) of the Qing Dynasty, whose given name was Hong-li.

乾隆(1711——1799)是清代第四個皇帝弘曆的年號。

Under his vigorous military policy, China attained its maXimum territorial expanse; Xinjiang in the west was conquered, and Myanmar and Annam in the south were forced to recognize Chinese suzerainty.

在乾隆強勁的軍事政策下，中國領土面積達到最大。他征服了西部的新疆，南方的緬甸和安南也被迫承認中國的領主地位。

He restricted Western merchants to Guangzhou (Canton) in 1759, and he rejected British overtures for expanded trade and diplomatic ties in 1793.

1759年乾隆將西方商人限制在廣州境內，1793年拒絕了英國擴大貿易和加強外交關係的建議。

Ch'ien-lung was a patron of scholarship and the arts; some of China's finest porcelain and cloisonné were produced for his collections, and vast anthologies were edited, partly to censor seditious references to the Manchus.

乾隆熱愛學問和藝術，中國一些最好的瓷器和景泰藍是專門爲乾隆生產的。大量的文選被編輯成書，部分是爲了審查裏而是不是有反滿言論。

Despite the surface splendor of cultural achievement and imperial expansion，his reign in later years was characterized by growing official corruption, loss of military efficiency，and fiscal imbalance.

儘管文化成就和帝國的擴張表面上看起來富麗堂皇，但是乾隆統治的後期官僚腐敗日趨嚴重，軍隊不振，財政失衡。