The true story behind the legend of the 47 Rōnin - Adam Clulow

翻译人员: Sabrina Wang 校对人员: Aijia Yang

“Do you remember my grudge from these past days?”

“你还记得我这几天的怨恨吗？”

cried Asano Naganori, lord of Akō domain,

赤穗藩主浅野长矩喊道，

his gaze fixed on Kira Yoshinaka, a senior master of ceremony.

他的目光紧盯着“高家”司仪 吉良上野介。

Asano extended his short sword, charged through the castle corridor,

浅野拔出他的短剑， 冲进城堡的走廊，

and struck Kira.

击中了吉良。

While the wound wasn’t fatal, its consequences would be.

虽然不是致命伤， 但后果不堪设想。

The incident took place in April 1701 in Edo, Japan— modern-day Tokyo.

这一事件发生在1701年4月的 日本江户，现在的东京。

The Tokugawa military government had gained power about a century before.

大约一个世纪前，德川军政府掌权。

This ushered in a period of peace and stability

这开启了战国时代之后的

following the Warring States or Sengoku era,

和平与稳定时期。

which was marked by constant bloodshed and conflict

战国时代的特点是军阀及其武士

wrought by warlords and their samurai.

不断造成流血和冲突。

To secure their rule,

为了确保统治，

the Tokugawa government aimed to tame the samurai class.

德川政府致力于驯服武士阶层。

Individual samurai carried two swords and served a single lord till death,

每个武士手持两把剑，这一生 只为一个领主效忠至死，

but their duties became primarily bureaucratic and administrative.

但他们的主要职责变成了 官僚和行政。

Meanwhile, Tokugawa legal practice stipulated that both sides

同时，德川的法律惯例规定， 如果发生暴力争执，

would be disciplined in the event of a violent quarrel.

双方都将受到惩戒。

However, when officials convened following Asano's attack on Kira,

然而，在浅野袭击吉良之后， 官员们召开会议，

they decided to punish only Asano, the incident’s perpetrator.

他们决定只惩罚肇事者浅野。

They ordered Asano to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide.

他们命令浅野切腹自杀。

But they didn’t stop there.

但他们并没有就此罢休。

They also commanded the seizure of Asano’s castle,

他们还下令查封浅野的城堡，

the disbandment of his house, and the arrest of his younger brother.

解散他的家族，并逮捕他的弟弟。

The news traveled quickly back to Asano’s domain.

消息很快传到了浅野的领地。

Overnight, the roughly 300 samurai in Asano’s retainer band

一夜之间，浅野家臣中的 300多名武士

found themselves dispossessed of their homes and stipends

发现自己被剥夺了家园和俸禄，

and turned into rōnin, or masterless samurai.

变成了浪人，即无主武士。

They didn’t know why Asano attacked Kira— no one did.

他们不知道浅野为什么袭击吉良， 没人知道。

Some have speculated that Asano refused to pay a bribe to Kira,

有人猜测，浅野拒绝贿赂

who was supposed to be guiding him in proper etiquette,

本应指导他正确礼仪的吉良，

so Kira humiliated him;

所以吉良羞辱了他；

others, that Asano had simply “gone mad.”

还有人说，浅野根本就是 “疯了“。

This left the samurai of Akō domain in crisis,

这使赤穗领地的武士们 陷入了危机，

facing a tension that lay at the very heart of the Tokugawa period.

面临着德川时代 核心的紧张局势。

They were a privileged class of warriors

他们是享有特权的武士阶层，

inundated with epic legends of samurai loyalty, heroism, and martial glory.

充斥着关于武士忠诚、英雄主义 和武功荣耀的史诗传奇，

But they were forbidden from using violence—

但是他们被禁止使用暴力，

their traditional role at once celebrated and restricted.

他们的传统角色既受到赞扬 又受到限制。

Some of Asano’s samurai said they should peacefully comply with government orders;

浅野的一些武士说，他们应该 和平地遵守政府的命令；

others, that they should immediately follow their lord into death.

另一些武士则说，他们应该立即 追随主公赴死。

One faction, led by Horibe Yasubei,

以堀部兵卫为首的一派认为，

argued that they must see their lord’s apparent wishes through by killing Kira,

他们必须杀死吉良， 以完成主公的遗愿，

claiming that so long as Asano’s enemy was alive,

因为只要浅野的敌人还活着，

they were dishonored.

他们就是没有荣耀的，

However, the effective leader of Akō domain’s samurai, Ōishi Yoshio,

但是，赤穗领地武士的实际领袖 大石良雄认为

believed that if they complied with official orders,

如果他们服从官方命令，

Tokugawa authorities might show mercy and permit Asano’s brother to succeed him.

德川当局可能会大发慈悲， 允许浅野的弟弟继位。

So, the samurai peacefully surrendered the castle.

于是，武士们和平地交出了城堡。

But their hopes were dashed when Tokugawa officials placed Asano’s brother

但是，当德川官员将浅野的弟弟

in another family’s custody,

交由另一个家族看管时，

leaving them without a path to restore their status.

希望破灭了， 他们失去了恢复身份的途径。

Most accepted the government’s terms.

大多数人接受了政府的条款。

But in the end, 47 of Asano’s samurai, including Horibe and Ōishi, didn’t.

但最终，浅野的47名武士， 包括堀部和大石，没有这样做。

And instead of formally asking permission to take revenge

他们没有通过政府的仇杀系统

via the government’s vendetta system,

正式请求复仇许可，

they began plotting to kill Kira covertly.

而是开始密谋暗杀吉良。

Almost two years after Asano’s death,

在浅野去世将近两年后，

the rōnin, led by Ōishi, broke into Kira’s residence

由大石带领的浪人 闯入了吉良的住所，

and killed 16 of his samurai and wounded 23 others

杀死了他的16名武士， 重伤了其他23人，

before beheading Kira himself.

然后将吉良斩首示众。

They presented Kira's head at Asano's grave,

他们把吉良的头颅放在浅野的墓前，

then surrendered to the Tokugawa officials,

然后向德川官员投降，

justifying their violence by saying they couldn't live under the same heaven

并为自己的暴力行为辩解说， 他们不能与主公的敌人

as their lord’s enemy.

同生共存。

The rōnin’s actions created considerable problems for the Tokugawa government.

浪人的行为给德川政府 带来了相当大的麻烦。

The rōnin had broken the peace and a range of laws.

他们打破了和平和一系列法律。

But authorities also knew the importance of honor and loyalty among samurai.

然而，当局也认识到武士之间的荣誉 和忠诚的重要性。

After weeks of deliberations, officials decided the rōnin could be praised—

经过数周审议，官员们决定 可以颂扬浪人，

but must be punished.

但他们也必须受到惩罚。

They were permitted to commit seppuku,

他们被允许切腹自杀，

which offered them honorable deaths, and they were laid to rest next to Asano.

这使得他们可以荣耀地死去， 然后他们被安葬在浅野旁边。

But their story soon morphed into legend.

他们的故事很快就变成了传奇。

Within weeks, it was dramatized for the stage.

几周之内，它就被搬上了舞台。

And soon after, scholars began debating the rōnin’s actions,

不久之后， 学者们开始讨论浪人的行为

some praising them as perfectly loyal and dutiful samurai;

有些人称赞他们是完全忠诚， 尽职尽责的武士；

others condemning them as delusional criminals.

另一些人则谴责他们是狂妄的罪犯。

Over the next three centuries,

在接下来的三个世纪中，

Japan continued examining and adapting the story—

日本继续审视和调整这个故事，

in theater, film, propaganda, and beyond—

通过戏剧、电影、宣传等方式，

grappling with the tensions between law and culture, past and present,

探讨法律与文化、 过去与现在之间的紧张关系，

and repeatedly relitigating the incident

并在官方做出判决后的

long after an official verdict was rendered.

很长一段时间里 多次重新审议这一事件。