Qin Shi Huang: Unifying China · chapter 5 of 8
One Emperor, One Way
皇帝的新名字
At last the seven lands are one, and the king wants a name bigger than king. Then come one writing, one money, and one width for cart wheels.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 秦国的兵打赢了最后一个国家。七个国家，终于变成了一个。
Qínguó de bīng dǎ yíng le zuìhòu yí gè guójiā. Qī gè guójiā, zhōngyú biànchéng le yí gè.
Qin's soldiers won against the last country. The seven countries had finally become one.
- Li Si 大王，天下都是我们的了！可是现在，大王要有一个新名字。
Dàwáng, tiānxià dōu shì wǒmen de le! Kěshì xiànzài, dàwáng yào yǒu yí gè xīn míngzi.
Your Majesty, the whole land is ours! But now you need a new name.
- Qin Shi Huang 新名字？我不是已经叫“王”了吗？
Xīn míngzi? Wǒ bú shì yǐjīng jiào “wáng” le ma?
A new name? Aren't I already called "king"?
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Qin Shi Huang: Unifying China is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Li Si 别的国家也有很多“王”。大臣们想了很多名字，你要选一个。
Bié de guójiā yě yǒu hěn duō “wáng”. Dàchénmen xiǎng le hěn duō míngzi, nǐ yào xuǎn yí gè.
Other countries had plenty of "kings" too. The ministers thought up many names, and you must pick one.
- Qin Shi Huang 都不够大。我有一个想法：古时候有“皇”，也有“帝”。
Dōu bú gòu dà. Wǒ yǒu yí gè xiǎngfǎ: gǔ shíhou yǒu “huáng”, yě yǒu “dì”.
None is big enough. I have an idea. In ancient times there was "huang" and there was "di".
- Qin Shi Huang 我把它们放在一起：“皇帝”。
Wǒ bǎ tāmen fàng zài yìqǐ: “huángdì”.
I'll put them together: "huangdi", Emperor.
- Li Si 皇帝！好名字！天上地下，没有人叫过这个名字。
Huángdì! Hǎo míngzi! Tiānshàng dìxià, méiyǒu rén jiào guo zhège míngzi.
Emperor! A great name! No one in heaven or on earth has ever been called that.
- Qin Shi Huang 我是第一个，所以我叫“始皇帝”。我的儿子叫二世，孙子叫三世。
Wǒ shì dì yī gè, suǒyǐ wǒ jiào “Shǐ Huángdì”. Wǒ de érzi jiào Èr Shì, sūnzi jiào Sān Shì.
I'm the first, so I am the "First Emperor". My son will be Second, my grandson Third.
- Li Si 一直数下去，数到一万世！
Yìzhí shǔ xiàqù, shǔ dào yí wàn shì!
And on and on, all the way to Ten Thousandth!
- Qin Shi Huang 还有，从今天起，只有我可以说“朕”。别人说“我”，我说“朕”。
Hái yǒu, cóng jīntiān qǐ, zhǐyǒu wǒ kěyǐ shuō “zhèn”. Biéren shuō “wǒ”, wǒ shuō “zhèn”.
And from today, only I may say "zhen". Others say "I", but I say "zhen".
- Qin Shi Huang 朕，朕，朕……听起来有点像小鸭子叫。
“Zhèn, zhèn, zhèn”… tīng qǐlái yǒudiǎn xiàng xiǎo yāzi jiào.
Zhen, zhen, zhen... it sounds a little like a duckling.
- Li Si 不，皇帝。听起来很了不起。
Bù, huángdì. Tīng qǐlái hěn liǎobuqǐ.
No, Emperor. It sounds magnificent.
- Li Si 皇帝，还有一件事。有的大臣想让皇帝的儿子们，去管各个地方。
Huángdì, hái yǒu yí jiàn shì. Yǒu de dàchén xiǎng ràng huángdì de érzimen, qù guǎn gè gè dìfang.
Emperor, one more thing. Some ministers want your sons to rule the different regions.
- Qin Shi Huang 你怎么看？
Nǐ zěnme kàn?
What do you think?
- Li Si 从前就是这样，后来他们打起仗来。我想，应该让官员去管，不要让儿子们管。
Cóngqián jiùshì zhèyàng, hòulái tāmen dǎ qǐ zhàng lái. Wǒ xiǎng, yīnggāi ràng guānyuán qù guǎn, bú yào ràng érzimen guǎn.
That's how it used to be, and then they went to war. I think officials should rule, not sons.
- Qin Shi Huang 好。天下分成三十六个大地方，每个地方的官，由朕来选。
Hǎo. Tiānxià fēn chéng sānshíliù gè dà dìfang, měi gè dìfang de guān, yóu zhèn lái xuǎn.
Good. We'll divide the land into thirty-six big regions, and zhen will choose each region's officials.
- Li Si 皇帝，你看这些钱。每个国家的钱，样子都不一样。
Huángdì, nǐ kàn zhèxiē qián. Měi gè guójiā de qián, yàngzi dōu bù yíyàng.
Emperor, look at this money. Every country's coins look different.
- Qin Shi Huang 有圆的，有像刀的，还有贝壳做的。怎么买东西呢？
Yǒu yuán de, yǒu xiàng dāo de, hái yǒu bèiké zuò de. Zěnme mǎi dōngxi ne?
There are round ones, knife-shaped ones, even shell ones. How do people buy things?
- Li Si 走到另一个国家，钱就不能用了。商人都很头疼。
Zǒu dào lìng yí gè guójiā, qián jiù bù néng yòng le. Shāngrén dōu hěn tóuténg.
Cross into another country and your money is no good. The merchants all have headaches.
- Qin Shi Huang 那就只用一种钱：圆的，中间有一个方洞。
Nà jiù zhǐ yòng yì zhǒng qián: yuán de, zhōngjiān yǒu yí gè fāng dòng.
Then we'll use just one kind: round, with a square hole in the middle.
- Li Si 好主意！还有字。看，一个“马”字，有三种写法。
Hǎo zhǔyi! Hái yǒu zì. Kàn, yí gè “mǎ” zì, yǒu sān zhǒng xiěfǎ.
Great idea! And writing, too. Look, the word "horse" has three ways of being written.
- Qin Shi Huang 这个像马，这个像一只大狗，这个像……一只睡觉的猪？
Zhège xiàng mǎ, zhège xiàng yì zhī dà gǒu, zhège xiàng… yì zhī shuìjiào de zhū?
This one looks like a horse, this one like a big dog, and this one like... a sleeping pig?
- Li Si 有人写信说“我买了三匹马”，别的国家的人，可能看成“三只猪”。
Yǒu rén xiě xìn shuō “wǒ mǎi le sān pǐ mǎ”, bié de guójiā de rén, kěnéng kàn chéng “sān zhī zhū”.
If someone writes "I bought three horses," people in another country might read "three pigs."
- Qin Shi Huang 哈哈！那以后全国，只写一种字。你来定。
Hāha! Nà yǐhòu quánguó, zhǐ xiě yì zhǒng zì. Nǐ lái dìng.
Ha! Then from now on the whole country writes one way. You decide it.
- Li Si 是，皇帝！我会让人写好，教给所有人。
Shì, huángdì! Wǒ huì ràng rén xiě hǎo, jiāo gěi suǒyǒu rén.
Yes, Emperor! I'll have it written out and taught to everyone.
- Qin Shi Huang 还有车。每个国家的车，轮子宽度不一样，路上的车总是坏。
Hái yǒu chē. Měi gè guójiā de chē, lúnzi kuāndù bù yíyàng, lù shàng de chē zǒngshì huài.
And carts. Every country's carts have wheels of different widths, so they keep breaking on the roads.
- Li Si 那就让所有车的轮子，都一样宽。
Nà jiù ràng suǒyǒu chē de lúnzi, dōu yíyàng kuān.
Then let every cart have the same wheel width.
- Qin Shi Huang 好！一样的字，一样的钱，一样宽的车！
Hǎo! Yíyàng de zì, yíyàng de qián, yíyàng kuān de chē!
Good! The same writing, the same money, the same wheels!
- Li Si 皇帝，这是从来没有人做过的大事。
Huángdì, zhè shì cónglái méiyǒu rén zuò guo de dà shì.
Emperor, no one has ever done anything this big.
- Qin Shi Huang 还不够。北方有骑马的人，常常来抢东西。蒙恬！朕要你在山上，建一座长长的墙！
Hái bú gòu. Běifāng yǒu qí mǎ de rén, chángcháng lái qiǎng dōngxi. Méng Tián! Zhèn yào nǐ zài shān shàng, jiàn yí zuò chángcháng de qiáng!
It's not enough. Riders in the north keep raiding us. Meng Tian! Zhen wants you to build a very long wall in the mountains!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What new title does the king choose?
“我把它们放在一起：‘皇帝’”
- Why does Li Si want officials, not sons, to rule the regions?
“后来他们打起仗来”
- Why is the word "horse" a problem?
“可能看成‘三只猪’”
- Which three things does the emperor make the same everywhere?
“一样的字，一样的钱，一样宽的车”
- What worry does the emperor have at the end?
“北方有骑马的人，常常来抢东西”