And jade was essential for setting him on the sacred path to immortality.

そしてヒスイは、彼を不老不死への神聖な道に導くために不可欠なものだった。

The ancient Chinese didn't have diamonds, but they did have jade as a symbol of imperial authority and sacred power, and it becomes one of the symbols of imperial authority to the extent that the word in Chinese for jade is a picture of a king holding a precious jewel.

古代中国にはダイヤモンドはなかったが、皇帝の権威と神聖な力の象徴として翡翠があった。中国語で翡翠を意味する言葉は、王が貴重な宝石を持っている絵であるほど、翡翠は皇帝の権威の象徴のひとつとなった。

For the Han, jade became the primary ingredient in their recipe for immortality.

漢族にとって、ヒスイは不老不死のレシピの主要な材料となった。

What I have in front of me are jade objects that were used either to cover or to plug the crucial openings in the human body.

私の目の前にあるのは、人体の重要な開口部を覆ったり塞いだりするために使われたヒスイのオブジェだ。

According to ancient Chinese medicine, a person's vital essence could leak out through bodily orifices.

古代中国医学によれば、人の生命力は身体の開口部から漏れ出すという。

If you spoke too much, the vital essence would then concentrate in your mouth and would be depleted in other parts of your body.

しゃべりすぎると、生命力が口の中に集中し、体の他の部分で枯渇してしまう。

If you listened too much, if you looked at something too much, and so life needed to be a life of balance.

耳を傾けすぎたり、何かを見すぎたりすると、人生はバランスの取れたものにならなければならない。

When a king died, it was essential to preserve his vital essence for the afterlife by plugging his orifices with jade.

王が死ぬと、玉で穴をふさぐことで、死後の世界のために生命力を保つことが不可欠だった。

Jade that would be placed over the eyes, plugs placed in one's ears, plugs in the nostril, a plug for the anus as well as a covering for the genitals in order to ensure that the vital breath did not leave the body.

目には翡翠、耳には栓、鼻の穴には栓、肛門には栓、性器には覆いをする。

For the most important orifice, the mouth, the Chinese created a very special plug shaped like a cicada.

最も重要な開口部である口のために、中国人はセミの形をした特別な栓を作った。

The bizarre life cycle of this curious insect made it especially significant to ancient Chinese observers.

この不思議な昆虫の奇妙なライフサイクルは、古代中国の観察者たちにとって特に重要だった。

They noticed how it spends most of its life underground and then at a crucial moment, it digs a tunnel through the earth up to the surface and when it reaches the surface, it sheds its old body and transforms itself.

一生の大半を地下で過ごし、ある重要な瞬間に地表までトンネルを掘り、地表に到達すると古い体を脱ぎ捨て、変身する。

Here you are buried deep in the earth, but we're going to provide you with an exoskeleton similar to that of the cicada, a marvelous jade suit that will keep evil influences away from you, that will allow your soul to exist, to be preserved, and then at the crucial moment, you can leave from your tomb, shed this exoskeleton we've provided for you, and through this body, transform yourself into an immortal.

セミの外骨格のような素晴らしい翡翠のスーツで、邪悪な影響を寄せ付けず、魂を存在させ、保存することができる。