Ming Dynasty encyclopedia sells for more than $9 million at auction — 1,000 times the expected price
中国明朝百科全书拍出超 900 万美元天价，为估价的 1000 倍
Two rare volumes of an ancient Chinese encyclopedia sold for more than €8 million ($9 million) at auction Tuesday, more than 1,000 times the estimated price.
在周二的拍卖会上，两册珍稀的中国古代百科全书以超过 800 万欧元（900 万美元）的价格售出，成交价是估价的 1000 多倍。
The encyclopedia, known as the Yongle Dadian, was originally commissioned by the Yongle Emperor, the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty, who reigned from 1402 to 1424.
这部名为《永乐大典》的百科全书最初由明朝的第三位皇帝——永乐皇帝朱棣（1402 年至 1424 年在位）下令编纂。
More than 2,000 scholars worked on the encyclopedia between 1404 and 1408, according to a press release from Beaussant Lefèvre, the Paris-based auction house that made the sale.
本次拍卖在位于巴黎的博桑—勒费福尔拍卖行进行。拍卖行发布的一则新闻稿称，1404 年至 1408 年间，有超过 2000 名学者参与了该百科全书的编纂工作。
The Yongle Dadian is the largest encyclopedia in the world, and originally consisted of 22,877 chapters.
《永乐大典》是世界上最大的百科全书，最初共有 22877 卷。
In 1562, the Jiajing Emperor, the 11th Ming ruler, ordered two copies of the encyclopedia to be made, but the original was lost due to the many wars, thefts and fires that occurred under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the auction house said.
拍卖行表示，1562 年，嘉靖皇帝（明朝第 11 位皇帝）曾下令誊写两份《永乐大典》副本。不过，《永乐大典》正本在历经明朝（1368 年-1644 年）的多次战乱、偷盗和火灾后下落不明。
While the two volumes sold Tuesday are copies, they are extremely rare, with only 400 known volumes, or 4% of the original encyclopedia, left in existence, according to Beaussant Lefèvre.
博桑—勒费福尔拍卖行指出，尽管周二被拍出的两册均为嘉靖副本，它们仍极其珍稀，因为目前已知存世的《永乐大典》 仅 400 册，占原作的 4%。
The books, which measure 20 inches by 12 inches, were written in red and black ink on paper. While printing techniques had been developed at the time, the encyclopedia was written by hand due to its length.
这两册书长 20 英寸，宽 12 英寸，用朱、墨两种颜色的墨水书写在纸张上。尽管印刷术在当时已经发展成熟，但鉴于《永乐大典》的长度，人们仍然选择手抄。
One volume is about the lakes of China and the other informs readers about funeral rites. Together, they were bought by an unnamed buyer for €8.128 million including fees. Before the auction, they carried a price estimate of €5,000-€8,000.
（本次拍卖的）其中一册是关于中国的湖泊的，另一册则向读者介绍了丧葬仪式。两册一起被一位未透露姓名的买家以 812.8 万欧元（含佣金）的价格拍走。拍卖开始前，这两册书的估价为 5000-8000 欧元。
The British Library has 24 volumes of the encyclopedia, equivalent to 49 chapters.
英国的大英图书馆藏有 24 册《永乐大典》，相当于 49 卷。
主编：木子
品控：木子
审核：Karen
Photo credit: LW Yang / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
重点词汇
encyclopedia
/ɪnˌsaɪ.kləˈpiː.di.ə/
n. 百科全书
相关词汇：Wikipedia（维基百科）
文化拓展：encyclopedia 来自希腊语，由希腊单词 enkuklios 和 paideia 组成，意思分别是“普通的”和“教育”。希腊语词组 enkuklios paideia 表示“通才教育”。这个短语随后被拉丁语借用，合并成了一个新的单词，表示一本覆盖各科知识的书。
auction
/ˈɑːk.ʃən/
n. 拍卖；拍卖会
例句：The house is up for auction. = Put the house up for auction.
搭配短语：put sth. up for auction
词性拓展：auction（v. 拍卖）
例句：The costumes from the movie are to be auctioned for charity.
estimated
/ˈes.tə.meɪ.tɪd/
adj. 估计的，估算的
相关词汇：estimate（v./n. 预期，估计）
搭配短语：estimated time of arrival
commission
/kəˈmɪʃ.ən/
v.（正式地）安排……做，委托……做
词性拓展：commission（n. 委员会；委托，授权；佣金，提成）
例句：One of his first commissions was to redesign the building.
reign
/reɪn/
v. 当政；统治
词性拓展：reign（n. 当政期；君主统治时期）
搭配短语：during the reign of the Yongle Emperor
press release
/ˈpres rɪˌliːs/
n.（向媒体发布的）新闻稿
相关词汇：press（n. 报刊，媒体）；release（n. 公开，发布）
英文释义：an official statement issued to newspapers giving information on a particular matter
auction house
/ˈɑːk.ʃən ˌhaʊs/
n. 拍卖行
相关词汇：house（n. 房子；公司，机构）
搭配短语：a publishing house（出版社）
搭配短语：a fashion house（时装公司）
technique
/tekˈniːk/
n. 技能，手艺，工艺
词义辨析：technique, technology
technology 表示技术，其特点是新、现代；technique 也表示一门技术，但侧重那些需要学习相关技巧才能掌握的手艺、工艺、技巧等等。
technology 英文释义：new machines, equipment, and ways of doing things that are based on modern knowledge about science and computers
technology 搭配短语：advanced medical technology（先进的医疗技术）
technique 英文释义：a particular way of doing sth, especially one in which you have to learn special skills
technique 例句：We use many techniques of problem-solving.（在数学中，我们会用到很多不同的解题技巧。）
rite
/raɪt/
n. 仪式，典礼
unnamed
/ʌnˈneɪmd/
adj. 不知姓名的，未透露姓名的
词义辨析：unnamed, anonymous
两者的含义有些重叠，都可以表示“匿名的”。anonymous 的意思很丰富，既可表示客观上不知道名字的，也可表示当事人主观上不愿意透露名字和身份的情况。另外，anonymous 还有一个意思，表示没有特色的、平淡的。
anonymous 搭配短语：an anonymous little town（一个普普通通的小镇）
unnamed 是一个普通用词，表示“没有名字的”，包括客观上不知道当事人的名字、没有提及他的名字、或者还没有命名，词典对其的解释是：whose name is not given or not known。
unnamed 搭配短语：unnamed comets（还未命名的彗星）
carry
/ˈker.i/
v. 带有，具有；包含；携带
英文释义：to have something as a quality or feature
例句：Each bike carries a ten-year guarantee.
equivalent
/ɪˈkwɪv.əl.ənt/
adj. 相等的；等同的