nián wǒ jīng guò wáng shì xiāng xiān shēng de jiè shào

1995年，我经过王世襄先生的介绍

In 1995, I was introduced by Mr. Wang Shixiang

bài zài sūn jī xiān shēng de mén xià

拜在孙机先生的门下

And became a student of Mr. Sun Ji

cóng shì míng wù xué yán jiū

从事名物学研究

To study the name and description of objects

dāng shí sūn xiān shēng gěi wǒ chū tí shuō zhè shì shěn cóng wén xiān shēng

当时孙先生给我出题，说这是沈从文先生

Mr. Sun set a question for me, saying it was raised by Mr. Shen Congwen in the 60s

liù shí nián dài tí chū lái de yīng gāi zuò shī jīng míng wù yán jiū

六十年代提出来的，应该做《诗经》名物研究

That we should study the name and description of objects in Shijing (the Classic of Poetry)

chǔ cí míng wù yán jiū hóng lóu mèng míng wù yán jiū

《楚辞》名物研究、《红楼梦》名物研究

In Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) and in Hongloumeng (Dream of the Red Chamber)

dàn shì tā tí chū lái zhè gè wèn tí yǐ hòu

但是他提出来这个问题以后

But since he raised it

yī zhí méi yǒu rén qù xiǎng yīng

一直没有人去响应

Nobody ever responded to it

wǒ shì dì yī gè shí jiàn zhě

我是第一个实践者

I’m the first one to do it

wǒ yī kāi shǐ cóng sūn xiān shēng nà ér dé dào de bā zì zhēn yán

我一开始从孙先生那儿得到的八字真言

I started with the motto from Mr. Sun

fā xiàn wèn tí jiě jué wèn tí

“发现问题、解决问题”

‘To find problems and to solve problems’

wǒ bǎ tā kuò chōng wèi míng wù yán jiū de fāng fǎ

我把它扩充为名物研究的方法

I expand it into the method of studying the name and description of objects

wù sè zhè běn shū lǐ tóu xiě le shǒu shì

《物色》这本书里头写了首饰

The book Wu Se depicts jewellery

xiě le jiǔ qì xiě le qī hé ér

写了酒器，写了漆盒儿

Wine containers, lacquer boxes

hái yǒu yī zhāng luó diàn chuáng

还有一张螺钿床

And a bed inlaid with shells

zuì hòu yòu yǒu yī piān zuò wèi fù lù shì xī mén qìng de shū fáng

最后又有一篇作为附录，是西门庆的书房

And at the end there’s an appendix about the study of Ximen Qing

wù sè yī cí chū zì wén xīn diāo lóng

“物色”一词出自《文心雕龙》

The word ‘Wu Se’ originates from Wenxindiaolong (or the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)

tā yǒu hǎo jǐ zhòng de hán yì

它有好几重的含义

It has several layers of meaning

xún xún mì mì zhè yě shì tā de yī gè yì sī

寻寻觅觅，这也是它的一个意思

One is looking for something

hái yǒu wù de chéng sè zhè yě shì yī gè hán yì

还有物的成色，这也是一个含义

And the appearance of objects is one meaning as well

wǒ wèi shén me huì duì jīn píng méi gǎn xīng qù

我为什么会对《金瓶梅》感兴趣

Why am I interested in Jinpingmei

dāng shí yě shì shòu le huáng rén yǔ wàn lì shí wǔ nián de qǐ fā

当时也是受了黄仁宇《万历十五年》的启发

I was inspired by 1587, a Year of No Significance by Huang Renyu

jiù shì wǒ xiǎng xiě chóng zhēn shí liù nián

就是我想写《崇祯十六年》

I wanted to write about 1643

nà me jiù cóng zhè gè shēng huó shǐ shàng kāi shǐ xiě

那么就从这个生活史上开始写

So I began with the history of manners

nà shēng huó shǐ shàng zuì hǎo de zuì yǒu biǎo xiàn lì de jiù shì jīn píng méi

那生活史上最好的，最有表现力的就是《金瓶梅》

Then the best and the most expressive novel of manners is Jinpingmei

jīn píng méi de zuò zhě yǒu xiě fēng sú shǐ de zhè gè yì shí

《金瓶梅》的作者，有写风俗史的这个意识

The author was conscious of writing the history of manners

zài hěn duō qì wù miáo shù shàng xiě shí xìng hěn qiáng

在很多器物描述上写实性很强

And depicted objects realistically

bǐ rú nà gè luó diàn chuáng

比如那个螺钿床

Like the bed inlaid with shells

tā shuō nà gè liǎng biān dōu shì gé shàn rán hòu ān zài chuáng lǐ biān

它说那个两边都是隔扇，然后安在床里边

The book says it has partitions on both bedsides

lóu tái diàn gé huā niǎo líng máo

楼台殿阁、花鸟翎毛

Towers, balconies, temples, pavilions, flowers, birds and feather

tā běn shēn duì yú wù de miáo xiě de yǔ yán wǒ yě tè bié xǐ huān

它本身对于物的描写的语言我也特别喜欢

I like the description of objects in the book very much

jiù shì bǎ yī gè yī gè dōng xī gěi nǐ zhè me shuō shàng lái

就是把一个一个东西给你这么说上来

It just names things one by one

shén me me lián jiē cí yě méi yǒu

什么么连接词也没有

Without any conjunction

duì yī jiàn qì wù de miáo shù

对一件器物的描述

The description of one object

shí jì shàng shì wǒ suǒ zuò de míng wù xué hěn hé xīn de bù fēn

实际上是我所做的名物学很核心的部分

Is actually a core part of my study

zuì nán zuì nán shì dìng míng

最难最难，是定名

And the most difficult is naming

tā zuì zǎo shén me shí hòu yǒu de zhè gè míng zì

它最早什么时候有的这个名字？

When did the object gain the name for the first time?

zài bù tóng de shí dài tā shì bù shì zhǐ tóng yī jiàn dōng xī

在不同的时代它是不是指同一件东西？

Does it refer to the same thing in different dynasties?

rán hòu tā de měi yī gè wén yàng

然后它的每一个纹样

And every pattern on it

tā shì zhí wù de shì dòng wù de hái shì shén me

它是植物的？是动物的还是什么？

Is that a plant? Or an animal?

chuān xīn hé zuì zǎo zài

穿心盒，最早在

Chuanxin Box was first mentioned

gǔ shī wén míng wù xīn zhèng de shí hòu jiù tí dào tā

《古诗文名物新证》的时候就提到它

In A New Perspective On the Name of Objects in Ancient Poems and Proses

xiàn zài néng kàn dào de zuì zǎo de shì táng dài de

现在能看到的（最早的）是唐代的

Now the earliest we can see is from the Tang Dynasty

rì běn dà hé wén huá guǎn cáng de nà yī jiàn

日本大和文华馆藏的那一件

It’s collected in the Museum of Yamato Bunkakan, Japan

hái méi yǒu gěi tā dìng chū míng chēng lái

还没有给它定出名称来

And it has no name

sūn jī xiān shēng jiù shuō

孙（机）先生就说

Mr. Sun (Ji) said

zhè gè yīng gāi shì jīn píng méi lǐ tóu de chuān xīn hé

这个应该是《金瓶梅》里头的穿心盒

It should be the Chuanxin Box mentioned in Jinpingmei

hòu lái bù duàn fā xiàn hěn duō xīn de xiàn suǒ

后来不断发现很多新的线索

Later a lot of new clues were revealed constantly

jī běn shàng néng gòu bǎ tā cóng táng

基本上能够把它从唐

And basically I can link them all

yī zhí dào qīng gěi chuàn qǐ lái le

一直到清给串起来了

From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty

hái yǒu jú huā zài hěn duō dì fāng jiù shuō chéng shì xiàng rì kuí

还有菊花，在很多地方就说成是向日葵

And chrysanthemum are often taken as sunflowers

ér xiàng rì kuí shì shí liù shì jì cái chuán dào zhōng guó

而向日葵是十六世纪才传到中国

But sunflower was spread to China in the 16th century

yī zhí dào qīng dài kě néng wǎn qī cái jìn rù dào zhuāng shì lǐng yù

一直到清代可能晚期才进入到装饰领域

And might entered into the field of decoration until the late Qing Dynasty

nǐ kàn zhù xiàng xiàng rì kuí de shí jì shàng dà bù fēn shì jú huā

你看著像向日葵的，实际上大部分是菊花

What look like sunflower is actually chrysanthemum on most occasions

qīng rén zuò nà gè kǎo jù xué fēi cháng chū sè

清人做那个（考据学）非常出色

People in the Qing Dynasty were excellent (in textual criticism)

qián jiā xué pài nà wǒ jiù yuǎn yuǎn gǎn bù shàng rén jiā

乾嘉学派，那我就远远赶不上人家

The Qianjia School, and I’m far behind them

dàn shì wǒ de yōu yuè tiáo jiàn shì tā méi kàn dào de dōng xī wǒ néng kàn dào

但是我的优越条件是他没看到的东西我能看到

But my advantage is that I can see things they couldn’t see

zhè gè jiù shì wǒ néng chāo yuè qián rén de tiáo jiàn

这个就是我能超越前人的条件

This is where I surpass them

wǒ gěi zì gè ér tí chū de mù biāo shì

我给自个儿提出的目标是

The goal I propose for myself

wǒ miáo shù de měi yī jiàn qì wù dōu shì yào wǒ kàn dào shí wù

我描述的每一件器物都是要我看到实物

Is that I need to see each object that I descript

néng gòu ràng wǒ shàng shǒu

能够让我上手

That I can really touch it

wǒ kàn dào tā de bèi miàn cè miàn

我看到它的背面、侧面

And I can see its back and sides

cóng bù tóng de jiǎo dù kàn dào tā de zhè gè jié gòu

从不同的角度看到它的这个结构

And see its structure from different angles

yǒu shí hòu duì zhù yī jiàn dōng xī

有时候对著一件东西

Sometimes I can face toward one thing

shén zhì zhè yī tiān dōu zài kàn tā lái lái huí huí

甚至这一天都在看它，来来回回

And even watch it all day long, repeatedly

zài kàn wán zhǎn lǎn yǐ hòu pāi le zhào piàn zài diàn nǎo lǐ fàng dà

在看完展览以后拍了照片，在电脑里放大

I go to exhibitions and take photos and enlarge them on computer

wǒ lǎo bàn ér tā shuō nǐ duì zhù zhè fā shén me dāi ne

我老伴儿，他说你对著这发什么呆呢？

My husband asked ‘why are you sitting here staring blankly?’

jiù shì yī zhí zài kàn zhè jiàn qì wù tā dào dǐ shì shén me me wén yàng

就是一直在看这件器物它到底是什么么纹样

I was just trying to figure out what on earth does the pattern of the object have

wǒ xiàn zài zhèng zài xiě zuò de zhōng guó gǔ dài jīn yín qì shǐ

我现在正在写作的中国古代金银器史

I’m now writing the history of golden and silver ware in ancient China

wǒ shì lì zhēng yào yǐ shàng dōu zuò dào shí wù guò shǒu

我是力争要95%以上都做到（实物过手）

I strive to really handle 95% of the objects

shén zhì jiù shì wèi le kàn wǒ xiě yī gè

甚至就是为了看我写一个

Just to have a look at the Buddhist relics container I was writing about

sòng dài de shě lì róng qì zài yǎn zhōu bó wù guǎn

宋代的舍利容器在兖州博物馆

In the Yanzhou Museum

gēn wǒ lǎo bàn ér hái yǒu lǎo bàn ér dài zhù tā de péng yǒu

跟我老伴儿还有老伴儿带著他的朋友

I, my husband and his friend

qū chē wǎng fǎn liǎng qiān lǐ dào yǎn zhōu

驱车（往返）两千里到兖州

We drove two thousands kilometers there and came back

kàn zhè jiàn dōng xī shí jì shàng zhǐ kàn le fēn zhōng

看这件东西实际上只看了40分钟

I actually only saw the container for 40 minutes

wǒ wèi cǐ shì bù xī yī qiè dài jià

我为此是不惜一切代价

I do it at all costs

zhè xiē nián lái kě yǐ shuō wǒ guò shǒu de gǔ dài jīn qì shì shù qiān jiàn ba

这些年来可以说我过手的（古代金器）是数千件吧

I have handled several thousand pieces( of ancient golden ware) in the past years

zhì shǎo

至少

At least

wǒ duō nián dōu shì zhè yàng jiǔ diǎn bàn shuì jué

我多年都是这样，九点半睡觉

I’ve been like this for many years, going to bed at half past nine

sì diǎn zhōng qǐ chuáng bù wǔ xiū

四点钟起床，不午休

And getting up at four, without noon break

kàn shū xiě dōng xī kàn zhǎn lǎn

看书、写东西、看展览

I read, write and go to exhibitions

hěn dān chún

很单纯

Really simple

wǒ xiǎng zuò de shì hěn duō zhè zhǐ néng shì sì gè zì

我想做的事很多，这只能是四个字

There’re so many things that I want to do

rì duǎn xīn zhǎng

日短心长

Days are short but I have a long list of wishes

yīn wèi yī gè rén de shēng mìng jiù zhè me zhǎng

因为一个人的生命就这么长

Because a man’s life short

ér qiě yǒu chuàng zào lì de shēng mìng kě néng huì gèng duǎn

而且有创造力的生命可能会更短

And a creative life might be even shorter

zhǐ yào nǐ yī jìn qù qù zhǎo wèn tí

只要你一进去，去找问题

As long as you get in there and find problems

chén jìn zài lǐ biān ér

沉浸在里边儿

And you immerse yourself in it

zhè jiù shì rén shēng zuì dà de kuài lè

这就是人生最大的快乐

It’s the greatest happiness in life