The Grace of Kings - A Study Guide 蒲公英王朝

蒲公英王朝 - The Dandelion Dynasty。

The article is a study guide on the book entitled “The Grace of Kings” by Ken Liu. The sequence of presentation here is as follows:

(1) We shall start with a brief biography of the author, Ken Liu.

(2) We shall review the background with which this story of the seven empires of Dara Island was based - the history of China during that waring period of around 500 BC.

(3) Then we shall introduce to readers the main characters of the story.

(4) We shall present a summary of plot in the story.

(5) We shall have two puzzles - a word code puzzle and a word search puzzle - providing a vocabulary list for students.

(6) Finally, we give a list of simple test questions for readers.

本文为刘肯所著《王者之恩》一书的学习指南。这里的介绍顺序如下：

(1) 我们将从作者 Ken Liu (刘宇昆) 的简短传记开始。 (2) 我们将回顾这个达拉岛七帝国故事的背景——公元前 550 年左右的战争时期中国的历史。 （3）接下来我们将向读者介绍故事的主要人物。 (4) 我们将呈现故事情节的概要。 (5) 我们将有两个谜题——一个单词代码谜题和一个单词搜索谜题——为学生提供一个词汇表。 (6) 最后，我们为读者列出简单的试题。

Ken Liu 刘宇昆 immigrated to America from China with his parents when he was eleven years old. He was born in 1976 in Lanzhou 兰州, the capital city of Gansu Province 甘肃省 in North-west China, along the banks of the Yellow River 黄河 (Huang He).  He graduated in English Literature, Computer Science and also in Law.  He began writing short stories in 2002 and he published this book The Grace of Kings in 2015.

Amongst the popular writings of his is the Legend of Luke Skywalker, written for the Star Wars movie.  He also translated into English the works of many Chinese authors such as Liu Cixin 刘慈欣 (The Three Body Problem 三体问题), Hao Jingfang 郝景芳 (Vagabond 流浪汉), Chen Qiufan 陈楸帆 (The Mao Ghost 猫的鬼魂) and Xia Jai 夏笳 pen-name of Wang Yao 王瑶 (The Monk of Lingyin Temple 灵隐寺僧).

Ken Liu刘宇昆十一岁时随父母从中国移民到美国。 1976年出生于中国西北甘肃省甘肃省省会兰州黄河沿岸。他毕业于英国文学、计算机科学和法律专业。他于 2002 年开始写短篇小说，并于 2015 年出版了这本书《蒲公英王朝》。在他的流行著作中，有为《星球大战》电影而写的《卢克·天行者传奇》。他还将刘慈欣（三体问题）、郝景芳（流浪汉）、陈楸帆（毛鬼猫的鬼魂）和夏杰夏等许多中国作家的作品翻译成英文◎ 王瑶王瑶笔名（灵隐寺僧）。

In the period around 500 BC, China’s Zhou Dynasty was weak. One of the great philosophers of world history, Confucius, was preaching a message of loyalty and humanity. The many near relatives of earlier Zhou Dynasty emperors had divided the country into many smaller kingdoms. These were states in their own rights and only loosely acknowledging the authority of the sitting Zhou Emperor. These states also developed their own centralised bureaucracies and well-organised armies. They also had sophisticated tax systems to pay for the running of the administrations. As regards technology and economic advances, the growth of towns and a flourishing of the merchant class saw the introduction of metal coinage with the invention of cast iron. In such troubled and unsettled times Confucius (551 - 479 BC) called people back to their ancient duties of honour and obedience to their elderly seniors.

公元前500年左右，中国的周朝很弱。世界历史上最伟大的哲学家之一孔子正在宣扬忠诚和人性的信息。早期周朝皇帝的许多近亲将这个国家分成了许多较小的王国。这些都是自有权利的国家，只是松散地承认在位周皇帝的权威。这些国家还发展了自己的中央集权的官僚机构和组织良好的军队。他们还拥有复杂的税收制度来支付政府的运作费用。关于技术和经济的进步，城镇的发展和商人阶层的繁荣见证了铸铁的发明和金属铸币的引入。在这样动荡不安的时代，孔子（公元前 551 - 479 年）号召人们回到他们古老的义务，尊重和服从年长的老人。

The Grace of Kings is a fiction based on some facts of the warring states of ancient China. The fictitious country known as The Islands of Dara was a collection of islands the biggest if which measured around 950 km from north to south and around 500 km in its extreme from east to west. Initially there were seven empires - Faca, Rima, Han and Gan on the far north of the main island, the north-western islands headed by Xana, and Amu and Cocru on the south of the main island. The novel started with the parade to celebrate the fourteenth year of the reign of the first emperor of the Xana Empire, Emperor Mapidere. At that parade there was an assassination attempt of the Emperor.

《蒲公英王朝》是根据中国古代战国的一些事实改编而成的小说。被称为达拉群岛的虚构国家是最大的岛屿的集合，从北到南约 950 公里，从东到西最远约 500 公里。最初有七个帝国——主岛最北部的法卡、日马、汉和甘，以夏纳为首的西北岛屿，以及主岛南部的阿姆和科克鲁。小说以庆祝夏纳帝国第一位皇帝马皮德雷皇帝在位十四周年的阅兵式开始。在那次游行中，有人企图暗杀皇帝。

The main characters of the story are: (1) Emperor Mapidere, the first Emperor of the united seven kingdoms of Dara. He used to be the King of Xana. (2) Kuni Garu, the hero of the story, who joined force with (3) Mata Zhudu, in a rebellion against Emperor Mapidere. Mata Zyndu was of noble status being the last son of the Zyndu Clan of the Cocru kingdom. Each of his eyes had two pupils and thus he could see much further than anyone. (4) Jia Matiza, the wife of Kuni Garu, and was a skilled herbalist. (5) Rin Coda, a childhood friend of Kuni Garu. (6) Cogo Yelu, a clerk in Zudi city government and a friend of Ani Garu. (7) Lady Risana, an illusionist and an accomplished musician.

There were the six kings of the kingdoms of Amu, Cockru, Faca, Gan, Han and Rima - all conquered by King Reon of Xana who crowned himself Emperor Mapidere of the Islands of Dara.

There were the eight Gods of the kingdoms - Kiji of Xana; Tututuka of Amu; Kana and Rapa of Cocru; Rufizo of Faca; Tazu of Gan; Lutho of Haan; and Fithoweo of Rima.

故事的主要人物有： (1) 马皮德雷大帝，达拉联合七国的第一任皇帝。他曾经是夏娜的国王。 (2) 故事的主人公 Kuni Garu，与 (3) Mata Zhudu 联手反抗 Mapidere 马皮德雷 皇帝。 Mata Zyndu 是 Cocru 王国 Zyndu 氏族的最后一个儿子，具有高贵的地位。他的每只眼睛都有两个瞳孔，所以他看得比任何人都远。 (4) 嘉玛提扎，Kuni Garu 的妻子，是一位熟练的草药师。 (5) Rin Coda，Kuni Garu 的青梅竹马。 (6) Cogo Yelu，祖地市政府文员，阿尼嘎茹的朋友。 (7) 里萨娜夫人，一位魔术师和多才多艺的音乐家。还有六个国王 - 阿姆、科克鲁、法卡、甘、汉和日马王国的六位国王都被夏纳的里昂国王征服，他加冕为达拉群岛的马皮德雷皇帝。有八位诸国的神——夏娜的基吉；阿姆图图图卡； Cocru 的 Kana 和 Rapa；法卡的鲁菲佐；甘的他祖；哈恩的卢托；和 Rima 的 Fithoweo。

Emperor Mapidere. Kuni Garu. Mata Zyndu. Rin Coda.

Jia Matiza. The attempted assassination of the Emperor.

• This is a dystopian novel. Ken Liu, the author, classified this novel as the genre ‘silkpunk’ the first book in this category. He defined ‘silkpunk’ as “…a blend of science fiction and fantasy…[drawing] inspiration from classical East Asian antiquity. My novel is filled with technologies like soaring battle kites that lift duelists into the air, bamboo-and-silk airships propelled by giant feathered oars, underwater boats that swim like whales driven by primitive steam engines, and tunnel-digging machines enhanced with herbal lore.”

这是一部反乌托邦小说。作者 Ken Liu 将这部小说归类为“丝绸朋克”类型，是该类别中的第一本书。他将“丝绸朋克”定义为“……科幻与奇幻的融合……[汲取]东亚古典的灵感。我的小说充满了技术，例如将决斗者举到空中的战斗风筝，由巨大的羽毛桨推动的竹丝飞艇，由原始蒸汽机驱动的像鲸鱼一样游泳的水下船，以及以草药知识增强的隧道挖掘机。”

Charming and wily bandit, Kuni Garu’s playfulness and good-hearted nature was displayed in the opening chapter of the story. He persuaded his best friend to cut school again to go to a witness the parade of the Emperor Mapidere, and as Rin indicated, these escapades had always ended up in Rin being beaten by their teacher and Kuni managing to talk his way out of being punished. However, when the parade turned into a failed assassination attempt of the Emperor, Kuni saved Rin’s life, shielding him with his body while hot oil rains from the sky.

Fearless and stern Mata Zyudu was the son of a deposed duke. His aristocratic family was slaughtered on Emperor Mapidere’s orders. He grew up under the direction and training of his uncle (the two remaining members of the family who had to change their names to survive) in a rigid a regimental manner, preparing to take revenge. What Mata hated about Emperor Mapidere was not so much the cruelty shown to his family, but that Emperor Mapidere took away power from aristocrats and became a dictator, mercilessly killing many to tighten his grip of the Empire.

Kuni Garu的顽皮和善良的本性在故事的开篇中得到了体现。他说服他最好的朋友再次辍学去见证皇帝 Mapidere 的游行，正如 Rin 所指出的，这些越轨行为总是以 Rin 被老师殴打而告终，而 Kuni 设法说服自己摆脱了惩罚.然而，当游行变成了暗杀皇帝的失败企图时，Kuni 挽救了 Rin 的生命，并在热油从天而降时用身体保护了他。Mata Zyudu 的贵族家庭在 Mapidere 的命令下被屠杀。他在叔叔（家中剩下的两个不得不改名以求生存的成员）的指导和训练下，以严格的团状方式长大，准备报仇。马塔讨厌皇帝马皮德雷，与其说是对家人的残暴，不如说是马皮德从贵族手中夺走了权力，成为独裁者，无情地杀戮许多人以对抗他对帝国的控制。

The Big Island: The Third Month in the Fourth Year of The Reign of Righteous Force - Chapter 12. A force of twenty-thousand men joined the combined force against the new young Emperor Erishi, after the death of the evil Emperor Mapidere. King Thufi, the rightful heir of the Cocru throne, was restored to his actual throne. A man named Shilue, the last grandchild of the last King of Faca, claimed back the throne of Faca, and he gathered ten thousand troops to join the crusade. King Dalo arose in the Gan kingdom and Amu reestablished itself. Rima also started claiming freedom from Xana. Only Haan was the only one of the six kingdoms to remain under Xana control. A council of war was established in Caruza, the city on the southern coast of Cocru.

In the uprising against the Emperor, both Kuni and Mata (an unlikely combination) the two worked together and became the best of friends. They fought against a vast conscripted armies and they overthrew the Emperor Erishi, Emperor Mapidere’s weak heir. Then they found themselves the leaders of two rivalling sides with different ideas on how the world should be run. Honourable and ruthless Mata was often at odds with the fun loving and merciful Kuni. Come to think of it, a leader of a nation does have some difficult choice to make. “Should I be ruthless against offenders or should I be lenient, friendly and merciful?” It is worth pondering on this topic for a while.

Then came Gin Mazoti, an orphan girl born to a prostitute and survived her childhood on the streets to become a great military strategist. She was awesome. Read about what she had done from Chapter 34 on.

大岛：义军四年三月 第十二章 - 在邪恶的皇帝马皮德雷死后，两万人联手对抗年轻的新皇帝叶石。 Cocru 王位的合法继承人 Thufi 国王恢复了他的实际王位。法卡末代国王的最后孙子施略，夺回了法卡的王位，集结万军加入讨伐。达罗王在甘国兴起，阿姆重新建立了自己。 Rima 也开始要求从 Xana 获得自由。只有哈恩是六个王国中唯一一个仍处于夏娜控制之下的王国。在科克鲁南部海岸的城市卡鲁扎（Caruza）成立了一个战争委员会。

在反抗皇帝的起义中，Kuni 和 Mata（不太可能的组合）两人一起工作并成为最好的朋友。他们与庞大的征召军队作战，并推翻了马皮德雷皇帝软弱的继承人埃里什皇帝。然后他们发现自己是两个敌对双方的领导人，对世界应该如何运作有着不同的想法。可敬而无情的玛塔经常与爱玩乐和仁慈的库尼发生争执。想想看，一个国家的领导人确实有一些艰难的选择。 “我应该对违法者无情，还是应该宽容、友好和仁慈？”这个话题值得思考一段时间。
然后是金·马佐蒂 (Gin Mazoti)，一个妓女所生的孤女，在街头度过了童年，成为了一名伟大的军事战略家。她太棒了。阅读从第 34 章开始她所做的事情。 

The Word Code Game: Each number represents a letter in our alphabets. Find the words that make up this grid, given that (1) 8 = ” I “; 11 = ” A “; and 18 = ” E “; (2) The following six words from the book are inside the grid: HYPNOTIC; IMPERIAL; MIEN; PAVISE; REALIZED; TAILWIND.

文字代码游戏：每个数字代表我们26个英文字母表中的一个字母。给出线索(1) 数字 8 = 字母 " I ";  11 = 字母 "A"; 和 18 = 字母 "E"; 给出线索(2) 格子里面有书中以下六个字：HYPNOTIC 催眠；IMPERIAL 帝国;MIEN 面；PAVISE 帕维斯; REALIZE 实现；TAILWIND 顺风。

Vocabulary: 词汇：

Hypnotic: Sleep inducing drug. 催眠药。

Aback: Towards the rear; at the back of. 朝向后方；在后面。

Shoyu: A type of Japanese soy sauce. 一种日本酱油。

Ajuga: A type of plant with blue flowers. 一种开蓝色花的植物。

Mien: A person’s appearance or manner, especially as an indication of his or her character or mood. 一个人的外表或举止，尤指他或她的性格或情绪的表现。

Exempt: Free from an obligation or liability imposed on others. 免于强加于他人的义务或责任。

Cayo: The name Cayo is a boy’s name of Spanish, or Latin origin meaning “rejoice”. Cayo 是一个男孩的西班牙语名字，或源自拉丁语，意思是“欢欣鼓舞”。

Eke: Manage to make a living with difficulty. 艰难地谋生。

Tailwind: A wind having the same general direction as a course of movement (as of an aircraft). 顺风 与运动路线（如飞机）具有相同方向的风。

Yen: The basic monetary unit of Japan. 日本的基本货币单位。

Realized: Became fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly. 完全意识到（某事）是事实；了解清楚。

Vats: A large tank or tub used to hold liquid. 用来盛装液体的大罐或浴缸。

Quaff: Drink (something, especially an alcoholic drink) heartily. 尽情地喝（尤其是酒精饮料）。

Pavise: A pavise is a large convex shield of European origin used to protect the entire body.  pavise 是一个源自欧洲的大型凸面盾牌，用于保护整个身体。

Humanoid: Having an appearance or character resembling that of a human. 具有与人类相似的外观或性格。

Hijacked: Unlawfully seize (an aircraft, ship, or vehicle) in transit and force it to go to a different destination or use it for one’s own purposes. 非法扣押（飞机、轮船或车辆）在运输途中并强迫其前往不同的目的地或将其用于自己的目的。

Nervine: (Of a medicine) used to calm the nerves. （药的）用来镇静神经的。

Imperial: Relating to an empire. 与一个帝国有关。

Earthen: (Of a pot) made of baked or fired clay. （锅的）由烘烤或烧制的粘土制成。

==========. ==========. =========.

The Answer to Word Code Puzzle is shown here. 此处显示了 Word Code Puzzle 的答案。

The words in the grid are: ABACK; AJUGA; CAYO; EARTHEN; EJECT; EKED; EXEMPT; HIJACKED; HUMANOID; HYPNOTIC; IMPERIAL; KIT; KNIT; MEETING; MIEN; MUFFINS; NERVINE; PAVISE; QUAFF; REALIZED; SHOYO; TAILWIND; VATS; WIZS; YEN.

Now with these twenty-five words, we can use the website https://wordmint.com to generate more puzzles for your friends to solve. Below are just two examples of the WORD MAZE puzzles generated:

现在有了这二十五个字，我们就可以使用网站 https://wordmint.com 生成更多的谜题供您的朋友解决。以下是生成的 WORD MAZE 拼图的两个示例：

Acknowledgement for the Word Search Grids: WordMint. https://wordmint.com/puzzles/3622596 and https://wordmint.com/puzzles/3622637

Test Questions for Readers:

(1) Imagine you are the new Emperor of The Islands of Dara. How would you design a society where everyone is equal. What is the meaning of ‘equal’ to you? Equal in wealth, equal in education, equal in opportunity, or what? but it is up to you to decide what?

(2) Abraham Lincoln had once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity (see the meaning of ‘adversity’ below), but if we want to test a man’s character, give him power.” What is your reaction to this quote?

Adversity: (n.) great difficulty. People in poverty face much adversity, such as lack of food and safe housing.

(3) What is a revolution? What are the circumstances that can spark off a revolution?

读者测试题：(1) 想象你是达拉群岛的新皇帝。你会如何设计一个人人平等的社会。对你来说“平等”是什么意思？财富平等，教育平等，机会平等，还是什么？但由你来决定吧？
(2) 亚伯拉罕·林肯曾经说过，“几乎所有的人都能忍受逆境（见下文‘逆境’的含义），但如果我们想测试一个人的品格，就给他力量。” 你对这句话有什么反应？逆境：(n.) 极大的困难。贫困人口面临许多逆境，例如缺乏食物和安全住房。
(3)什么是革命？什么情况可以引发一场革命？