History vs. Genghis Khan - Alex Gendler

譯者: Kevin Kevin 審譯者: Ming Gui Tan

He was one of the most fearsome warlords who ever lived,

他史上最讓人 不寒而栗的軍閥之一

waging an unstoppable conquest across the Eurasian continent.

征服歐亞大陸簡直是 所向披靡

But was Genghis Khan a vicious barbarian

但成吉思汗到底是個 冷酷無情的野蠻之徒呢？

or a unifier who paved the way for the modern world?

還是統一蒙古 為未來奠定基礎的明君？

We'll see in "History vs. Genghis Khan."

一起來看看"歷史vs成吉思汗"怎麼說

"Order, order. Now who's the defendant today?

肅靜，肅靜。被告是誰?

Khan!"

汗！

"I see Your Honor is familiar with Genghis Khan,

看來庭上對成吉思汗 有所了解，

the 13th century warlord whose military campaigns killed millions

一個13世紀時帶領軍隊 殺戮百萬

and left nothing but destruction in their wake."

離去後只見瘡痍滿目 的軍閥。

"Objection. First of all, it's pronounced Genghis Kahn."

反對！首先，他的名字是念成： 成吉思汗（非『更其思可汗』）

"Really?"

是嗎?

"In Mongolia, yes.

在蒙古的話， 是的，沒錯。

Regardless, he was one of the greatest leaders in human history.

無論如何， 他是人類歷史上最偉大的領導者之一

Born Temüjin, he was left fatherless and destitute as a child

原名鐵木真 幼時喪父 一無所有

but went on to overcome constant strife to unite warring Mongol clans

爾後化解蒙古族之間的衝突 統一蒙古

and forge the greatest empire the world had seen,

並造就了 史上最偉大的帝國

eventually stretching from the Pacific to Europe's heartland."

從太平洋以至於歐洲中心地帶 最終臣服於他的腳下。

"And what was so great about invasion and slaughter?

那入侵和殺戮 有什麼了不起？

Northern China lost 2/3 of its population."

中國北方死了 三分之二的人口呢。

"The Jin Dynasty had long harassed the northern tribes,

金朝長期侵擾北方民族

paying them off to fight each other and periodically attacking them.

以金錢誘使他們互相殘殺 並且定期攻打他們

Genghis Khan wasn't about to suffer the same fate

身為最後同意蒙古的汗 成吉思汗

as the last Khan who tried to unite the Mongols,

不願遭受一樣的命運

and the demographic change may reflect poor census keeping,

而且人口數的變化 可能是因為人口統計落實不良所致。

not to mention that many peasants were brought into the Khan's army."

再說許多農民 都加入了汗的軍隊。

"You can pick apart numbers all you want,

你可以任意 挑選數據，

but they wiped out entire cities, along with their inhabitants."

但事實就是他們 殲滅城市 屠殺居民。

"The Khan preferred enemies to surrender and pay tribute,

汗喜是喜歡敵人 投降獻貢

but he firmly believed in loyalty and diplomatic law.

但他深信忠誠和外交法律

The cities that were massacred were ones that rebelled after surrendering,

那些被他屠殺的城市 皆為先前投降後再反叛

or killed as ambassadors.

或殺死他的使者的。

His was a strict understanding of justice."

他崇尚嚴酷的法治。

"Multiple accounts show his army's brutality going beyond justice:

很多的說法證明 他軍隊的殘酷超越了正義範疇：

ripping unborn children from mothers' wombs,

殺取孕婦腹中的孩子，

using prisoners as human shields,

把囚犯當做盾牌使用，

or moat fillers to support siege engines,

或拿來填滿護城河 支撐攻城器械，

taking all women from conquered towns--"

將被征服的城中 所有的女人--

"Enough! How barbaric!"

夠了！有夠野蠻！

"Is that really so much worse than other medieval armies?"

這樣真的比中世紀的軍隊更好嗎？

"That doesn't excuse Genghis Khan's atrocities."

這並不能免除成吉思汗的惡性。

"But it does make Genghis Khan unexceptional for his time

但卻能證明成吉思汗 是當代的傑出者

rather than some bloodthirsty savage.

好過一些只會殺戮的野人。

In fact, after his unification of the tribes abolished bride kidnapping,

事實上，當他統一所有部落時, 他廢除搶親（蒙古習俗），

women in the Mongol ranks had it better than most.

蒙古婦女的地位也因此而提升。

They controlled domestic affairs,

她們掌握國內事務的權利，

could divorce their husbands,

可以休掉丈夫，

and were trusted advisors.

而且還是 值得信任的大臣。

Temüjin remained with his first bride all his life,

鐵木真只有原配，沒有娶妾，

even raising her possibly illegitimate son as his own."

還把有可能不是親生的兒子 視如己出。

"Regardless, Genghis Khan's legacy was a disaster:

無論如何， 成吉思汗的豐功偉業純屬禍害：

up to 40 million killed across Eurasia during his descendents' conquests.

他的後代為了征服歐亞大陸 殺了4千萬以上的人

10% of the world population.

10%的世界人口呢！

That's not even counting casualties from the Black Plague

這還沒把當年欽察汗國 攻打卡法時

brought to Europe by the Golden Horde's Siege of Kaffa."

把黑死病帶到歐洲 死傷的人數啊！

"Surely that wasn't intentional."

這一定是無心之禍吧！

"Actually, when they saw their own troops dying of the Plague,

其實，當他們看到 自己的部隊死於瘟疫，

they catapulted infected bodies over the city walls."

他們把感染的屍體 投射進城中。

"Blech."

噁(發音詞)

"The accounts you're referencing

你參考的文獻

were written over a hundred years after the fact.

都是事實百年 才寫成文字的。

How reliable do you think they are?

你認為這些有多可靠?

Plus, the survivors reaped the benefits of the empire Genghis Khan founded."

而且，倖存者從成吉思汗 建立的帝國得到了好處。

"Benefits?"

好處?

"The Mongol Empire practiced religious tolerance among all subjects,

蒙古帝國是個 宗教寬容的國家，

they treated their soldiers well, promoted based on merit, rather than birth,

他們善待士兵， 按照功勳，而不是族群晉升士兵，

established a vast postal system,

確立了龐大的郵政系統

and inforced universal rule of law,

實行了統一的法律，

not to mention their contribution to culture."

更不用說他們對文化發展的貢獻。

"You mean like Hulagu Khan's annihilation of Baghdad,

你是指旭烈兀殲滅巴格達,

the era's cultural capital?

當代的文化之都這件事嗎?

Libraries, hospitals and palaces burned, irrigation canals buried?"

圖書館、醫院和宮殿都被燒毀 灌溉溝渠皆被填滿？

"Baghdad was unfortunate,

巴格達確實不幸，

but its Kalif refused to surrender,

但那是因為哈里發拒絕投降

而且旭烈兀之後也被伯克汗 以肆意破壞的罪名遭受懲罰。

and Hulagu was later punished by Berke Khan for the wanton destruction.

It wasn't Mongol policy to destroy culture.

破壞文化並不是蒙古的政策

Usually they saved doctors, scholars and artisans from conquered places,

他們通常保護征服地的醫生、 學者和藝術家，

遣派各地，

and transferred them throughout their realm,

讓他們的知識四處傳播。

spreading knowledge across the world."

"What about the devastation of Kievan Rus,

你怎麼解釋基輔羅斯的毀滅

搞到當地人在復興時期 傳遍西歐時

leaving its people in the Dark Ages

even as the Renaissance spread across Western Europe?"

還淪陷於黑暗時代當中？

"Western Europe was hardly peaceful at the time.

當時的西歐並不安寧。

絲綢之路因為蒙古的穩固 而再次蓬勃，

The stability of Mongol rule made the Silk Road flourish once more,

allowing trade and cultural exchange between East and West,

促進了東西的文化與貿易 之間的交流

and its legacy forged Russia and China from warring princedoms

留下的勢力也讓 四分五裂的中國和俄羅斯

into unified states.

變成了統一的國家。

In fact, long after the Empire,

事實上，百年以來，

Genghis Khan's descendants could be found

成吉思汗的子孫

among the ruling nobility all over Eurasia."

散落在歐亞權貴家族之中。

"Not surprising that a tyrant would inspire further tyrants."

暴君啟發暴君，不意外啊！

"Careful what you call him. You may be related."

注意你的用詞 你可能是他們的一份子

"What?"

"什麼鬼?"

"16 million men today are descended from Genghis Khan.

至今，1600萬男生是成吉思汗的後代。

That's one in ever 200."

每200人就有1人。

For every great conqueror, there are millions of conquered.

每一個的征服者 都有上百萬臣服於他的人。

Whose stories will survive?

是誰會被寫入歷史？

And can a leader's historical or cultural signifigance

統治者在歷史和文化中的影響

outweigh the deaths they caused along the way?

能夠蓋過他們造成的傷亡嗎？

These are the questions that arise when we put history on trial.

這都是我們在審視歷史會出現的疑問。