中英雙語話史記 第27期:東周
Zhou Dynasty
周朝
Eastern Zhou
東周
In its early days, the Western Zhou Dynasty (The 11th century B.C. to 771 B.C.) was sufficiently powerful to be able to control the vassal states.
西周（公元前11世紀至公元前771年）早期有足夠的實力控制諸侯國，
In particular the states were prevented from fighting each other in order to annex their neighbors.
它們尤其被禁止互相鬥爭以此來吞併周圍的國家。
However, from the time that King Ping moved his court to Luoyi (now the city of Luoyang in Henan Province) establishing the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou influence went into decline.
但是自從周平王將王庭遷往洛邑（今河南洛陽）建立東周，周王朝的影響力下降了。
Although the king retained his position as nominal overlord he was no longer able to control the activities of his vassals.
儘管君主保留了名義上最高統治者的地位，他已經無法控制諸侯的活動了。
Economic imbalance meant some states were stronger than others.
經濟上的不平等意味着某些諸侯國要強於其他的國家，
In turn this led to the stronger states declaring war on the weaker ones and annexing them regardless of the prohibition of such activity by the Zhou.
這使得強國不顧周王朝的組織向弱國發動戰爭吞併它們。
So, from the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the unification by Qin, China was marked by disunity and continuous conflicts.
因此，從東周到秦朝統一全國，中國一直處於割據戰亂的狀態。
Historically, this is recorded as two periods: the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.—476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period (476 B.C.—221 B.C.).
這段時期在歷史上被分爲兩個階段：春秋時期（公元前770年至公元前476年）和戰國時期（公元前476年至公元前221年）。
