乃服衣裳
nǎi fú yī shang
"and also clothes and garments"
So we've got writing and clothing coming into being at roughly the same time. I don't think that tracks historically, but whatever.
This line struck me as funny because three of the four characters mean "clothes," both by themselves and in conjunction with other characters. 衣服 is what's used in modern Chinese; 衣 on its own can mean "upper garment" (per Kroll's dictionary) as well as "to wear" or "to put on." 裳, when pronounced "chang," means "lower garment" or "skirt." 衣裳 means—you guessed it—"clothes," since you now have upper and lower garments.
I don't think the phrase that's run between lines 19-22 actually requires a post of its own, since I explained the grammatical framing earlier, but just so it's all in one place, here you go:
龍師火帝 鳥官人皇 始制文字 乃服衣裳
"In the time of the dragon masters and fire emperor, the bird officials and the sovereign of men, Chinese characters began to be made, and clothes began to be worn."
You'll note that I translated line 22 differently than I did before. I think it sounds better this way when considered as part of a phrase.
More tomorrow, folks!
微臣
史大偉
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