The Silk Road: Connecting the ancient world through trade - Shannon Harris Castelo

丝绸之路：史上第一个“互联网” — 莎伦·哈里斯·卡斯特罗

翻译人员: Zhiting Chen 校对人员: Geoff Chen

A banker in London sends the latest stock info

一位伦敦商人把他最新的股票信息

to his colleagues in Hong Kong in less than a second.

在不到一秒的时间内发送到了 他在香港的同事。

With a single click, a customer in New York

美国纽约的客户点下鼠标，

orders electronics made in Beijing,

就下了订单购买 北京制造的电子产品，

transported across the ocean within days

几天内就通过货运飞机 或是海运集装箱

by cargo plane or container ship.

把货物从大洋的一端运到了另一端。

The speed and volume at which goods and information

当今全球的货物和 信息流动的速度和总量，

move across the world today is unprecedented in history.

都是史无前例的。

But global exchange itself is older than we think,

但是全球商品交流的历史 要比我们想象的古老的多，

reaching back over 2,000 years along a 5,000 mile stretch

2000年前， 沿着一条5000英里长的道路，

known as the Silk Road.

即著名的丝绸之路， 这一活动就已经开始。

The Silk Road wasn't actually a single road,

丝绸之路并不只是一条道路，

but a network of multiple routes

而是许多交错纵横的路线。

that gradually emerged over centuries,

这些路线是在几个世纪中 逐渐出现的，

connecting to various settlements and to each other

一条条的路线通向不同的栖居地，

thread by thread.

也将它们相互连接在一起。

The first agricultural civilizations were isolated places

最原始的农业文明发源于偏远的，

肥沃的河谷之中，

in fertile river valleys,

their travel impeded by surrounding geography

周围地势的不便以及对未知的恐惧

and fear of the unknown.

阻碍了当地人的交往。

But as they grew,

当地人在这里居住过一段时间后，

they found that the arid deserts and steps on their borders

他们发现他们在干旱的沙漠 和边界周围所住着的，

were inhabited, not by the demons of folklore,

不是民间传说里的魔鬼，

but nomadic tribes on horseback.

而是马背上的游牧部落。

The Scythians, who ranged from Hungary to Mongolia,

从蒙古到匈牙利遍布的西塞亚人

had come in contact with the civilizations of

早就跟希腊，埃及，印度

Greece, Egypt, India and China.

以及中国有所接触。

These encounters were often less than peaceful.

这些接触通常都不是和平的，

But even through raids and warfare,

但即便是通过突袭，战争，

as well as trade and protection of traveling merchants

贸易，以及以保护往来商人为条件

增收税务，

in exchange for tariffs,

游牧民族将货物，思想和技术

the nomads began to spread goods, ideas and technologies

扩散到了那些 没有直接接触的文明之间。

between cultures with no direct contact.

在这个不断扩大的网络当中，

One of the most important strands of this growing web

was the Persian Royal Road,

最重要的一条就要数波斯御道了。

completed by Darius the First in the 5th century BCE.

这条御道是在公元前五世纪， 由大流士一世完成的。

Stretching nearly 2,000 miles from the Tigris River to the Aegean Sea,

它从底格里斯河一直延绵至爱琴海， 全长约2000英里。

its regular relay points allowed goods and messages

货物和信息在其中继点 通行所需的时间

to travel at nearly 1/10 the time it would take a single traveler.

仅是单个旅客所需时间的十分之一。

With Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia,

随后亚历山大大帝征服了波斯，

and expansion into Central Asia through capturing cities like Samarkand,

通过占领例如撒马尔罕这种城市， 其疆域一直扩展到了中亚，

and establishing new ones like Alexandria Eschate,

此外他还建立了 例如苦盏城这样新的城池，

the network of Greek, Egyptian, Persian and Indian culture and trade

希腊，埃及，波斯以及印度 这些国家的文明和贸易网络

extended farther east than ever before,

向东延伸的程度达到了历史之最，

laying the foundations for a bridge between China and the West.

这为中国和西方之间的 沟通桥梁打下了基础。

This was realized in the 2nd century BCE,

直到公元前二世纪，

一位名叫张謇的大使，

when an ambassador named Zhang Qian,

被派往前去跟西方的游牧部落谈判，

sent to negotiate with nomads in the West,

这位大使回到中国之后， 向当时的汉朝皇帝

returned to the Han Emperor with tales of

sophisticated civilizations, prosperous trade

讲述了许多有关 其边界西部地区古老的文明，

and exotic goods beyond the western borders.

蓬勃的贸易，以及奇异的货物的故事。

Ambassadors and merchants were sent towards

接着许多大使、商人 相继被派往波斯和印度，

Persia and India to trade silk and jade for horses and cotton,

用丝绸和玉交换他们的马和棉花。

along with armies to secure their passage.

当时随从的还有军队， 以保证他们旅途的安全。

Eastern and western routes gradually linked together

东方和西方之间的道路逐渐形成了

into an integrated system spanning Eurasia,

一个跨欧亚的网络，

enabling cultural and commercial exhange

这一网络使得欧亚之间的 文化和商业交往程度

farther than ever before.

达到了当时的历史之最。

Chinese goods made their way to Rome,

中国的货物来到了罗马，

causing an outflow of gold that led to a ban on silk,

造成大量的黄金外流， 因此罗马禁止了丝绸交易。

while Roman glassware was highly prized in China.

罗马的玻璃器具 在中国也十分受欢迎，

Military expeditions in Central Asia

中亚的远征军

also saw encounters between Chinese and Roman soldiers.

看到了中国和罗马军队的相遇。

Possibly even transmitting crossbow technology

石弓技术

to the Western world.

传到西方。

Demand for exotic and foreign goods

对于异国货物的需求，

and the profits they brought,

贸易带来的利益，

kept the strands of the Silk Road in tact,

使得这条丝绸之路一直保存完好，

even as the Roman Empire disintegrated

尽管罗马帝国分崩离析，

and Chinese dynasties rose and fell.

中国的朝代盛衰兴废。

Even Mongolian hoards, known for pillage and plunder,

即使是那些以抢劫和掠夺 臭名昭著的蒙古囤积商人，

actively protected the trade routes, rather than disrupting them.

也积极地保护这些贸易通道， 而不是破坏它们。

But along with commodities, these routes also enabled

随着商品经济的发达，这条道路

the movement of traditions, innovations, ideologies and languages.

同时也使得文化，创新技术， 思想和语言得以流通。

Originating in India, Buddhism migrated to China and Japan

发源于印度，佛教传播到了中国和日本

to become the dominant religion there.

成为亚洲地区最盛行的宗教。

Islam spread from the Arabian Penninsula into South Asia,

伊斯兰教从阿拉伯半岛传到南亚，

blending with native beliefs

和当地的信仰融合

and leading to new faiths, like Sikhism.

形成新的宗教，比如锡克教。

And gunpowder made its way from China to the Middle East

火药从中国传到中东

forging the futures of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughul Empires.

形塑了土耳其帝国，萨法维帝国， 与马拉塔帝国的未来。

In a way, the Silk Road's success led to its own demise

某种程度上说， 丝绸之路成功地终结了自己。

as new maritime technologies, like the magnetic compass,

新的航海技术，像是磁罗盘，

found their way to Europe, making long land routes obsolete.

传往欧洲，使得陆地上的长程公路被淘汰了。

Meanwhile, the collapse of Mongol rule

与此同时，元朝瓦解后，

was followed by China's withdrawal from international trade.

中国从国际贸易版图消失。

But even though the old routes and networks did not last,

即便旧的道路和贸易网络没能长久，

they had changed the world forever

它们也永久改变了世界，

and there was no going back.

没有倒退的可能了。

Europeans seeking new maritime routes

欧洲人寻找新的海上航道

to the riches they knew awaited in East Asia

想要寻找东亚的财富

led to the Age of Exploration

导致了其在非洲和美洲的

and expansion into Africa and the Americas.

探索和扩张。

Today, global interconnectedness shapes our lives like never before.

今天，全球各国相互联络 无时无刻不在影响着我们的生活。

Canadian shoppers buy t-shirts made in Bangladesh,

加拿大消费者购买 在孟加拉制作的 T 恤，

Japanese audiences watch British television shows,

日本观众观看英国电视节目，

and Tunisians use American software to launch a revolution.

突尼斯人使用美国的软件来组织革命。

The impact of globalization on culture and economy is indisputable.

全球化对文化和经济的影响 是无可争议的。

But whatever its benefits and drawbacks,

但随之而来的好处与缺点，

it is far from a new phenomenon.

也不是新鲜事了。

And though the mountains, deserts and oceans

尽管山川，沙漠，海洋

that once separated us

那些曾经隔断我们

are now circumvented through super sonic vehicles,

被超音速机械，

cross-continental communication cables,

海底电缆

and signals beamed through space

和穿越空间的信号传输包围，

rather than caravans traveling for months,

不再是商队跋涉数月了，

none of it would have been possible

上述一切都不会发生

without the pioneering cultures

如果没有先进的文化

whose efforts created the Silk Road:

这样的先进文化创造了丝绸之路：

history's first world wide web.

世界上第一个连接世界的互联网。