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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，当这口钟第一次被奏响时，中国正处于政治混乱、战火连绵的时期。诸侯为争夺霸权，不断挑起战争。
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.
社会普遍动荡不安，诸子百家为理想社会的形态争论不休。而诸子中影响力最大、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.
他极为推崇和平与和谐，有鉴于当时动荡的社会背景，这恐怕并不令人惊讶。
We're told that one of his celebrated sayings was: "Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without."
据说他曾说：“夫乐者，乐也，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.
对孔子来说，音乐是和谐社会的象征，可以让社会更美好。
It's a view of the world that still resonates strongly in China today, and it brings us back to our bell.
这样的世界观在今天仍能得到中国人的热烈响应，也与本文中的铜钟故事紧密相连。
