At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was corrupt¹ in politics.

明朝后期，政治腐朽。

双语阅读之中国历史:明末农民起义

The emperor often did not go to court and the government was in the control of the eunuchs. The eunuchs practiced graft² and accepted bribes³, sold and bought positions and scrambled⁴ for the rights and interests, which deepened the social crisis.

皇帝经常不上朝，国家大权由宦官掌握，他们贪污受贿，卖官鬻爵，争权夺利,加深了社会的危机。

In 1594, Langzhong of the Board of the Civil Office, Gu Xiancheng, was removed from his office and returned to his hometown, Wuxi. He taught together with Gao Panlong and Qian Yiben and so on in the Donglin Academy. They discussed the governmental administration, criticized the groups in office. They were supported by most of the scholar-officials and were called the Donglin Party.

1594年，吏部郎中顾宪成被革职还乡到了无锡，与髙攀龙、钱一本等在东林书院讲学,他们议论朝政，批评当权集团，得到部分士大夫的支持，被称为“东林党”。

The Donglin Party disapproved⁵ of Shenzong，s dethroning the oldest son to‘ be the successor with the substitute of the younger one, they were against the robbery of the mine supervisors⁷ and the tax supervisors. They advocated to open up for the criticisms and suggestions and to restore the governmental administration, so they were hated by the groups in office.

东林党反对神宗废长立幼，反对矿监、税监的掠夺，主张开放言路，改革朝政，遭到当权派的嫉恨。

In 1601, the tax supervisor⁶ Sun Long came to Suzhou. He set up barriers, extorted⁸ the merchants and decided⁹ to levy¹⁰ three qian silver for every loom¹¹ and three fen¹² silver for every bolt of silk.

1601年，税监孙隆来到苏州，设置关卡，勒索客商，还理定每台织机征银三钱，每匹绸缎征银三分。

The weaving households stopped weaving to show their protest.

当时机户一致停业，以示反抗。

The unemployed¹³ weavers¹⁴ went to the street on strike under the leadership of Ge Xian. They enclosed the Tax Department and killed the tax official ,and Sun Long was frightened to escape at night.

失业的机工,在葛贤领导下，走上街头，包围税署，打死税吏，孙隆吓得连夜逃跑。

The fight against the tax and mine supervisors broke out as well in other more than 10 cities.

其他十几个城市,也都爆发了城市人民的反税监、矿监的斗争。

The fights are the reflection of the seeds of the capitalism¹⁵ in politics at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

这些斗争是明朝后期资本主义萌芽在政治上的反映。

The annexation¹⁶ of land came to the surprising extent at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

明朝后期，土地兼并达到惊人的地步。

The emperor awarded a great amount of land to his gentry¹⁷, ministers, and the eunuchs.

皇帝常把大量土地赐给贵族、大臣和宦官作为庄田。

Ming Shenzong once (warded his son the land of two million mu .

神宗一次就赐给他的儿子福王，田地200万亩。

The landlords and bureaucrats¹⁸ annexed¹⁹ land greatly.

地主、官僚也大量兼并土地。

In the Taihu valley, nine tenths of peasants lost their land.

在太湖流域,十分之九的农民失去土地。

双语阅读之中国历史:明末农民起义

The tax exploitation of the feudal²⁰ government became more and more serious.

封建政府的赋役剥削也越来越重。

The heavy taxes and the high centralization of the land made more peasants lose their land. They became either tenants²¹, slaves and servants, or tramps and famime refugee, and some were even forced to rise up.

土地高度集中和赋役繁重，使更多的农民失去土地，沦为佃户、奴仆，或成为流民、饥民，甚至被迫起义。

In the late Ming Dynasty,he internal contradiction among the ruling class became more intense, and so were the class contradictions. It was unavoidable for the large-scale peasants uprising to break out.

明朝末年，统治阶级内部矛盾加剧，阶级矛盾日益激化，大规模农民起义的爆发已是不可避免的了。

Therefore it broke out in Shaanbei.

于是在陕北爆发了大规模的农民起义。

The insurrectionary army fought from place to place in the areas of Henan, Hubei and Sichuan.

起义军转战于河南、湖北、四川一带。

In 1634, they gathered in Xingyang, Henan and talked over the measures against the government. At the meeting they accepted the suggestions of Li Zicheng, who was a follower²² of Gao Yingxiang.

1634年各地首领汇集于河南荥阳商量对策，采纳了高迎祥部将李自成的建议。

From then on, the peasant war at the end of Ming came to a new stage under the leadership of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

此后，明末农民战争在李自成、张献忠的领导下进入新阶段。

In the year of 1643, Li Zicheng founded the new government in Xiangyang and titled himself Xinshun Emperor.

1643年，李自成在襄阳建立政权，自称新顺王。

In the early 1644, he commanded the Great Shun²³ Army to start from Xi，an，go through Datong and Xuanhua，enter Juyong Gate and enclose Beijing. The soldiers guarded the city gave in. Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide.

1644年初，李自成率领大顺军从西安出发，经过大同，宣化，进入居庸关，包围北京城，守城的明军投降，崇祯帝自杀。

On March 19, Li Zicheng and his army entered into the city of Beijing and the corrupt reign²⁴ of the Ming Dynasty was overthrown²⁵.

3月19日，李自成带领大军进人北京。明朝的腐朽统治被推翻了。

After the Great Shun Army entered the city of Beijing, the national political situation changed greatly. The landlord class was not willing to give up their authority and they attempted to rise up again.

大顺军进人北京后，全国政治形势发生重大变化,地主阶级不甘心失败，企图东山再起。

In April 1644, Li Zicheng commanded the army to suppress the rebellion in the east and had a fierce battle with Wu Sangui in Shanhai Gate. However, the Qing army joined in the battle unexpectedly. The peasant army was taken by surprise and suffered a great loss.

1644年4月，李自成率军东征，在山海关与吴三桂军队开展激战，清军突然加人战斗，农民军猝不及防，损失惨重。

In 1645, Li Zicheng was attacked by the landlord force in Jiugongshan Mountain of Tongshan County, Hubei and died a hero，s death. At the end of 1646, Zhang Xianzhong died and the peasants uprising at the later period of Ming failed eventually.

1645年,李自成在湖北通山县九宫山遭到地主武装的袭击，壮烈牺牲,1646年底，张献忠壮烈牺牲。明末农民起义失败。

The historical importance of the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming ： The peasants uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty is a most large-scale peasant war in the Chinese feudal society. It overthrew²⁶ the corrupt rule of the Ming Government, stroked the landlord class, adjusted partially²⁷ the production relationship and created conditions for the development of productive forces in the early Qing Dynasty.

明末农民起义的历史意义：明末农民起义是中国封建社会中规模最大的一次农民战争，它推翻了明朝的腐朽统治，打击了地主阶级，局部调整了生产关系，为清朝前期社会生产力的发展创造了条件。

The insurrectionary army raised a clarion²⁸ call to “ average the land and stop the taxv and directed the spearhead of struggle to the feudal land ownership, which symbolizes²⁹ that the peasant war in our country had entered a new stage.

起义军明确提出“均田免租”口号，把斗争锋芒直指封建土地所有制，标志着我国农民战争发展到了一个新的阶段。