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When those bells were first played in the fifth century BC, China was in military and political disarray, essentially just a collection of competing fiefdoms, all battling for supremacy.
公元前一千五百年，當這口鐘第一次被奏響時，中國正處于政治混亂、戰火連綿的時期。諸侯為爭奪霸權，不斷挑起戰爭。
There was widespread social instability, but also lively intellectual debate about what a society ought ideally to be, and by far the most famous and influential contributor to these debates was Confucius.
社會普遍動蕩不安，諸子百家為理想社會的形態爭論不休。而諸子中影響力最大、最有名的一位便是孔子。
Perhaps not surprisingly, given the insecurity of the times, he places a very high value on peace and harmony.
他極為推崇和平與和諧，有鑒于當時動蕩的社會背景，這恐怕并不令人驚訝。
We're told that one of his celebrated sayings was: "Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without."
據說他曾說：“夫樂者，樂也，人情之所不能免也。”
For Confucius, music was a metaphor of a harmonious society, and its performance could actually help bring that better society about.
對孔子來說，音樂是和諧社會的象征，可以讓社會更美好。
It's a view of the world that still resonates strongly in China today, and it brings us back to our bell.
這樣的世界觀在今天仍能得到中國人的熱烈響應，也與本文中的銅鐘故事緊密相連。
