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

絲綢之路：歷史上第一條「全球資訊網」— 夏農·海瑞斯·卡斯泰羅

譯者: Tiger Xie 審譯者: Regina Chu

A banker in London sends the latest stock info

倫敦的一個銀行家， 發送最新的股票資訊

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

給他在香港的同僚，不到一秒。

With a single click, a customer in New York

單擊一下，紐約的一個顧客

orders electronics made in Beijing,

訂購北京製造的電子設備，

transported across the ocean within days

數日後，跨越大洋

by cargo plane or container ship.

通過貨機或貨櫃船送來。

The speed and volume at which goods and information

貨物和資訊在今天世界上

move across the world today is unprecedented in history.

移動的速度和數量， 是歷史上空前的。

But global exchange itself is older than we think,

但全球交換現象本身， 比我們想的要古老的多

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

追溯到 2000 年前， 沿着一條绵延 5000 里

known as the Silk Road.

俗稱為「絲綢之路」。

The Silk Road wasn't actually a single road,

絲綢之路實際上， 在過去不是一個單行的路線，

but a network of multiple routes

而是一條多路線的網絡。

that gradually emerged over centuries,

經過幾個世紀後，逐漸地出現

connecting to various settlements and to each other

連接各種聚集地，且互相之間

thread by thread.

線線連接起來。

The first agricultural civilizations were isolated places

第一個農業文明，是與世隔絕的地方

in fertile river valleys,

在土地肥沃的河流山谷裡。

their travel impeded by surrounding geography

他們的旅行，遭受到周圍地形的阻礙

and fear of the unknown.

且對未知心有恐懼。

But as they grew,

但是隨著他們發展，

they found that the arid deserts and steps on their borders

他們發現乾旱的荒漠及邊界上的足跡，

were inhabited, not by the demons of folklore,

住的不是傳說中的惡魔，

but nomadic tribes on horseback.

而是馬背上的遊牧部落。

The Scythians, who ranged from Hungary to Mongolia,

斯基泰人，疆域從匈牙利到蒙古，

had come in contact with the civilizations of

過去曾接觸到希臘、埃及、

Greece, Egypt, India and China.

印度、中國的文明。

These encounters were often less than peaceful.

這些相遇在過去，很少是和平的，

But even through raids and warfare,

但即使透過突襲與戰爭，

as well as trade and protection of traveling merchants

和做買賣與保護行商

in exchange for tariffs,

以徵收關稅，

the nomads began to spread goods, ideas and technologies

遊牧民族開始在沒有 直接聯絡的文明間

between cultures with no direct contact.

傳播貨物、思想和技術。

One of the most important strands of this growing web

這個增長的網絡中最重要一條線路

was the Persian Royal Road,

是波斯御道，

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

由大流士一世 於公元前 5 世紀完成。

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

跨越 2000 哩， 從底格裡斯河到愛琴海，

its regular relay points allowed goods and messages

它的固定驛站讓貨物及資訊

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

只需單旅走完全程的 十分之一時間即可送達。

With Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia,

在亞歷山大攻陷波斯後，

and expansion into Central Asia through capturing cities like Samarkand,

進而通過佔領撒馬爾罕， 來擴張到中亞地區，

and establishing new ones like Alexandria Eschate,

從而建立新的路線，如絕域亞歷山卓

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

形成希臘、波斯、印度 文化和貿易的網絡，

extended farther east than ever before,

空前地擴張到遠東地區，

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

奠定了中國和西方之間橋樑的根基。

This was realized in the 2nd century BCE,

這是公元前 2 世紀實現的，

when an ambassador named Zhang Qian,

那時候有個外交大使張騫，

sent to negotiate with nomads in the West,

被派遣往西域和遊牧民族談判

returned to the Han Emperor with tales of

待返到漢武帝時，

sophisticated civilizations, prosperous trade

帶回高度發展文明的故事， 繁榮的貿易

and exotic goods beyond the western borders.

和西域邊界外的異國風貨物。

Ambassadors and merchants were sent towards

外交大使和商人被派遣去

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

波斯和印度， 以絲綢和玉石交換馬匹和棉花，

along with armies to secure their passage.

隨從帶軍隊來確保他們的通道。

Eastern and western routes gradually linked together

東方和西方的路線逐漸連接到一起

into an integrated system spanning Eurasia,

成為一個橫跨歐亞大陸的整合系統，

enabling cultural and commercial exhange

使得文化和商業的交換

farther than ever before.

空前地更為深遠。

Chinese goods made their way to Rome,

中國貨物運到羅馬，

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

造成黃金外流， 而導致限制絲綢禁令出臺

while Roman glassware was highly prized in China.

而羅馬玻璃器皿 在中國受到高度讚賞。

Military expeditions in Central Asia

中亞地區的軍隊探險活動

also saw encounters between Chinese and Roman soldiers.

也發現了中國和羅馬 士兵間相遇的證據。

Possibly even transmitting crossbow technology

十字弓箭技術甚至可能是從此

to the Western world.

傳播到西方世界。

Demand for exotic and foreign goods

由於對異國風和國外的貨物的需求

and the profits they brought,

以及它們所帶來的利潤，

kept the strands of the Silk Road in tact,

讓絲綢之路繼續存在

even as the Roman Empire disintegrated

即便羅馬帝國分裂

and Chinese dynasties rose and fell.

和中國王朝崛起和衰落。

Even Mongolian hoards, known for pillage and plunder,

甚至金帳汗國，以搶殺掠奪著名，

actively protected the trade routes, rather than disrupting them.

也積極地保護商貿路線， 而不是擾亂他們。

But along with commodities, these routes also enabled

而伴隨著商品交換，這些路線也使得

the movement of traditions, innovations, ideologies and languages.

傳統、發明、意識形態 和語言得以傳播。

Originating in India, Buddhism migrated to China and Japan

發源於印度的佛教， 移植到中國和日本，

to become the dominant religion there.

並成為主流宗教。

Islam spread from the Arabian Penninsula into South Asia,

伊斯蘭教從阿拉伯半島 傳播到東南亞，

blending with native beliefs

和當地信仰混合在一起，

and leading to new faiths, like Sikhism.

而產生新的信仰，如錫克教。

And gunpowder made its way from China to the Middle East

火藥從中國傳播到中東，

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

鍛造了鄂圖曼、薩非 和蒙兀兒帝國的未來之路。

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

某種意義上講， 絲綢之路的成功也導致它的衰落

as new maritime technologies, like the magnetic compass,

當新的海事科技，如磁羅盤，

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

傳到歐洲後， 使得長距離陸路路線被廢棄。

Meanwhile, the collapse of Mongol rule

同時，蒙古统治的倒塌，

was followed by China's withdrawal from international trade.

随後中國從國際贸易中撤退。

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

但即使這些古老路線和網络無法持續

they had changed the world forever

它們也永遠改變這個世界，

and there was no going back.

而且歷史不會逆轉

Europeans seeking new maritime routes

歐洲開始尋找新的海事路線，

to the riches they knew awaited in East Asia

通往他們過去所知的東亞富饒之地

led to the Age of Exploration

地理大發現時代到來

and expansion into Africa and the Americas.

擴張到非洲和美洲。

Today, global interconnectedness shapes our lives like never before.

今天，全球互聯性空前地 塑造了我們的生活。

Canadian shoppers buy t-shirts made in Bangladesh,

加拿大購物者購買孟加拉產的 T 恤

Japanese audiences watch British television shows,

日本觀眾觀看英國電視臺節目，

and Tunisians use American software to launch a revolution.

突尼斯人用美國軟體來發動革命。

The impact of globalization on culture and economy is indisputable.

全球化對文化和經濟的 影響是毫無爭議的，

But whatever its benefits and drawbacks,

但是無論它的收益和弊端，

it is far from a new phenomenon.

它絕不是一個新現象。

And though the mountains, deserts and oceans

雖然高山、沙漠和海洋

that once separated us

曾經將我們分開，

are now circumvented through super sonic vehicles,

如今通過超音速飛行器來繞過，

cross-continental communication cables,

通過跨大陸的通信電纜，

and signals beamed through space

通過跨越空間的信號來繞過，

rather than caravans traveling for months,

而不是旅行數月的駝隊。

none of it would have been possible

而這一切絕無可能

without the pioneering cultures

如果沒有先驅文化

whose efforts created the Silk Road:

努力創造絲綢之路：

history's first world wide web.

歷史上第一個全球資訊網。