Question A history related sentence 「相国に遷都……向こうの準備が整いきらないうちに、何とか袁家の二人を引きずり出して……やっと、戦う場を作れたんだから」

[zeroh4nter]

hope some JP experts or native could translate/help me understand what this character said, in a novel inspired by Three Kingdoms novel in China.

Story: 董卓 in this novel is a good character (and a girl ). She's standing with her close friend /military strategist 賈駆 on top of the city wall of Luoyang - capital of Han empire. They're talking before the final battle with the Anti董卓 Alliance army. At this time of the novel, 董卓 had been appointed by the Emperor to be 相国 (State's Chancellor ).

董卓「この戦い、負けられないよね」
賈駆「……ええ」
董卓「相国に遷都……向こうの準備が整いきらないうちに、何とか袁家の二人を引きずり出して……やっと、戦う場を作れたんだから」(I don't know much about China history during this era, so if you can please also explain since this dialogue related to ancient history of China)

 

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa zeroh4nter-san!

董卓：This battle cannot be lost...
賈駆：Yes...
董卓：I became prime minister(相国), the capital was also moved, and the two 袁 members were able to be lured out successfully. We were ready before the enemy was ready to fight...(That's why I can't afford to lose).

The battle between 董卓 and 袁紹 is a historical fact. But this dialogue has nothing to do with ancient Chinese history.

NANGI

 

[zeroh4nter]

Konnichiwa zeroh4nter-san!

董卓：This battle cannot be lost...
賈駆：Yes...
董卓：I became prime minister(相国), the capital was also moved, and the two 袁 members were able to be lured out successfully. We were ready before the enemy was ready to fight...(That's why I can't afford to lose).

The battle between 董卓 and 袁紹 is a historical fact. But this dialogue has nothing to do with ancient Chinese history.

NANGI

excuse me, but how can you translate this sentence やっと、戦う場を作れたんだから into "We were ready before the enemy was ready to fight...(That's why I can't afford to lose)." when i don't see any subjects like in English (I/you/we/they....) ? All i can see here in this sentence's grammar is :
1/やっと、 = Adverb : "Finally"
2/戦う場を作れたん = Noun + Passive Verb : "A battlefield has been made" (again, like i said no subject to made clear to the reader who exactly made this battlefield >? and What battlefield ? )
3/だから = "Because"

Hope you or someone could explain my confusion

 

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa zeroh4nter-san!

In Japanese, the subject is often omitted, especially in everyday conversation. Therefore, it is pointless to try to find the subject in a sentence.

To know who said what in Japanese, you need to understand the content of the sentence well.

Who is the prime minister?

Who moved the capital?

Who is ready for the battle?

I read your short description and thought it was the 董卓. However, if it's not 董卓, my translation is wrong.

What battlefield? I thought it was a defensive battle for the castle(the final battle). Because you wrote "She's standing with her close friend /military strategist 賈駆 on top of the city wall of Luoyang - capital of Han empire. They're talking before the final battle with the Anti董卓 Alliance army."

From the short description, it's hard to imagine anything more.

NANGI

 

[zeroh4nter]

Konnichiwa zeroh4nter-san!

In Japanese, the subject is often omitted, especially in everyday conversation. Therefore, it is pointless to try to find the subject in a sentence.

To know who said what in Japanese, you need to understand the content of the sentence well.

Who is the prime minister?

Who moved the capital?

Who is ready for the battle?

I read your short description and thought it was the 董卓. However, if it's not 董卓, my translation is wrong.

What battlefield? I thought it was a defensive battle for the castle(the final battle). Because you wrote "She's standing with her close friend /military strategist 賈駆 on top of the city wall of Luoyang - capital of Han empire. They're talking before the final battle with the Anti董卓 Alliance army."

From the short description, it's hard to imagine anything more.

NANGI

Okay after i re read the previous part of this conversation, the leader of Alliance army(袁紹) said something like this in the military meeting : " If we not speed things up (to get to the current capital Luoyang) ,that fake State's Chancellor (董卓) will complete relocate the capital (to new location/ province) "
袁紹「……半年も一年も、こんな所で足止めされているわけにはいきませんの！」
袁紹「早くしなければ、あのエセ相国が遷都を終わらせてしまうではありませんの！！」
俺たちの予想通り、明日の予定を決める軍議は大荒れだった。
曹操「そうは言うけれど、今日の攻略に失敗したのは麗羽ではないの」
袁紹「失敗ではありませんわ！ 小手調べですの！！そして……だからこそ理解いたしましたの」

So the Alliance so far always has been the active side (always attack) while 董卓 and the Imperial army always have to defend (being passive). And this time when 董卓 said やっと、戦う場を作れたんだから = " I/we have created a battlefield" , i think she meant : "We're having advantage this time because we're on the active side /we created this battlefield for our enemy"

What do you think as a native ? Feel free to point out my mistake

 

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa zeroh4nter-san!

I can't properly answer your question because I don't know the details of the story. I'm just answering your questions about Japanese language.

Yes, "戦う場を作れた" means " I/we have created a battlefield" in literal. This translation is correct.


By the way, "場を作る" has a different meaning from "make/create".

example.
"私は会見の場を作るために汗を流した"
I worked hard to arrange the venue for the meeting.

In this case, it means not only arranging the venue, but also various other preparations such as coordinating schedules and arranging transportation and etc....

If the following two sentences have the same meaning, your translation is perfect.

"I worked hard to create the venue for the meeting."
and
"I worked hard to arrange the venue for the meeting."


"作る" has many meanings, create, make, build, prepare, set up and etc...

Which word do you think is appropriate? Sorry, I'm good at Japanese, but I'm not good at English. And I don't know the details of the story. Therefore, I cannot answer any questions about the interpretation of the story.


Furthermore, as an idiom, "場を設ける" is more common than "場を作る". Both phrases have the same meaning, but in Japanese, the correct usage of the phrase is "場を設ける".

This also applies to the example sentence. "私は会見の場を設けるために汗を流した" is more appropriate.


Based on the first question, "戦の舞台を設ける" would be a very literary expression more than "戦う場を作る".

The reading of "戦" is "いくさ：Ikusa". "戦：Ikusa" and "戦い：Tatakai" have the same meaning, but "戦" is used as an older expression.

This explanation(設ける and 戦) has nothing to do with the original question. But if you want to learn Japanese, this explanation might come in handy someday.

NANGI