7.1 落后与崛起的原因 《忽然》连载
《忽然》连载 为苏粉必读项目
抱歉因为技术原因图片或错或缺，不是原配，只做基本示意。
第三个故事：耶利的疑问
The Third Story: Yali’s Question
7. 历史时期各地落后与崛起的原因
7. Rise and Fall of Different Civilizations
上世纪末有一本 著名的人类学著作 《枪炮、细菌与钢 铁》，其中有个名叫 耶利的新几内亚土著 问作者戴蒙德：为何 白人比我们先进？世 界各地的文明发展不 同步，有的地方先进， 有的地方落后，这是 为什么？ 戴蒙德说： “回答这个问题很难， 至今学者们并没有统一的答案。 ”
At the end of last century, Jared Diamond published his Gun, Germ and Steel. A native politician of New Guinea once asked the anthropologist and author of the book: Why is that you white people are more advanced than we? Why was the civilizations of the world developed out of sync with some places advanced and some others backward?
Diamond replied that it was difficult to answer the questions and added that there was not a mature theory about it so far.
从某个角度我们今天的话题就是讨论这个问题的。现在我们继续以中国为例 谈文明发展的规律，最终来解答耶利的疑问。
Of course the anthropologist could not have a ready answer basing on global civilizations originated independently. If we change our idea about the origin of civilizations, we will find the answer and even the laws of civilization. From a certain point of view, we are now doing nothing but talking about the problem. Now let’s continue to take China as an example to discuss the development of civilization and come up with an ultimate answer to the questions.
7.1 中国文明为何集中于北方？
7.1 Why Were Civilizations Concentrated in the North of China?
( 商朝 /Shang Dynasty, 16-11 century BC )
农业文明的出现终结了长达 250 万年的石器时代。定居生活 促进了文明的集聚效应。畜力交 通工具的出现促使信息传播加快。一部人类史就是一部人类信 息传播史。自从马车出现后西亚 与东亚之间的传播时间从新石器时代的 2000 年左右缩短到 1000 年之内，加快近一倍。
The emergence of agriculture brought to an end the Stone Age that persisted for 2.5 million years. Settled life promoted the agglomeration effect of civilization. Animals as tools of transportation also helped accelerate the spread of information. Human history is a history of transmission of human information. The propagation between West and East Asia reduced from about 2000 years during the Neolithic Age to 1000 years with the invention of carriages.
由于信息交流的便利，从此人类文明发展开始出现了加速度。 只用了几千年 时间，人类从农业时代穿越了青铜时代、铁器时代，几百年前跃上一个全新平 台： 工业文明时代到来。
Owing to the convenience in communication, the development of human civilizations began to accelerate. It took only several thousand years for human beings to finish traveling through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Industrial Age. And now we are in the electronic age.
从工业时代到电子时代，只用了几百年时间。人类文明发展在互联网催化下 在继续加速度，明天会如何，我们已经无法预测了。
With the development of the internet, acceleration has been continuing. Today, we even find it hard to predict the development of human civilizations in the future. The whole world has become a small village because of quickened communication. This time, it is the internet that will drastically change the life of human beings.
回顾历史，我们发现， 从地理上有两个条件决定着信息的传播，这就是水 陆之别。
Looking back into the past, we have found that there used to be two geographical conditions that determined the dissemination of information.
水，是整个农业时代的发展命脉，不仅农业灌溉需要水，而且交流信息最快 的工具，或曰途径，就是水。水路比陆路快多了。
Water was the lifeline in the Agricultural Age. Not only did people need water for irrigation but they had to exchange information by water. It is much faster by water than by land.
( 水陆丝绸之路 / Silk Road )
中国地域广大，不仅有南北差异，而且自古就有东西差异。中国东部和南部 为沿海地区，与西部 和北方内陆地区有着 完全不同的历史。
China is a big country with a vast territory. where the north and the south vary widely while the west and the east along the coast also differ.
最早的东亚人就 是从沿海北上的，可谓中国南方曾经是比北方先进的。
The earliest modern humans entered China from the south along the coast. The development of the north of China outshining the south as a turning point happened during the Neolithic Age or at the beginning of the Bronze Age when animal-drawn vehicles helped speed up the pace of development and exceeded the fast waterway. China received abundant civilization from the Eurasian Steppe.
（商朝与周边族群分布 / Shang Dynasty and the nations around ）
中国北方压倒南方的明显转折点是从畜力交通工具出现开始的，也就是青铜 时代开始的，所以处于这个转折期的商朝文明格局就是南北大交汇的一个结果。
秦汉之后中国形势开始变化，内陆黄河流域的农业文明本土化到很高的水 平，超越了北方草原交流带，而且也压倒了沿海和南方，所以中原汉人从此不再 欢迎草原游牧人，竟然开始建立长城来拒斥北方游牧人。
After Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-220 AD), things changed. When the agricultural civilization along the Yellow River very successfully localized and outshone the nomadic civilization on the grassland, Chinese began to hate the nomadic people. It was then that the Great Wall was built.
( 长城分布 / The location of Great Wall )
无论汉人如何抵制，但 中国一半历史时期还是接 受了北方游牧人统治，最后 一个王朝依然是来自东北 的半游牧人。中国史前应该 也是同样的格局。这多半是 气候影响的结果，因为一旦 变冷北方游牧人就会坚决 南下。中国今天的版图多半 是对这些游牧历史的继承。 所以，中国实际上是个隐蔽 的具有游牧人气质的国家， 尤其是华北。
Despite how hard the Chinese tried to resist against, the nomads from the north were still accepted as sovereigns in half of the Chinese history. Including Qing, the last dynasty of China, it was established by the semi-nomadic herdsmen from the northeast. Prehistorically, things should have followed the same pattern in China with regularity. The trend may have been caused by climate changes. Whenever it is cooled down in the north, the herdsmen migrate firmly to the south. Most of the territory of China today is the inheritance of these nomadic history. Hence, Chinese is in fact a nation with a hidden nomadic temperament, especially the Northern Chinese.
（ Emperor Qianlong (1711 AD-1799 AD) in Uniform by Giuseppe Castiglione）
通向西亚与欧洲的丝绸之路自古有之。河西走廊是早期中国人一直极力维护的与西部交流的文明命脉。
The Silk Road leading to West Asia and Europe has there since ancient times. The Hexi Corridor along the Silk Road was so vital a lifeline of Chinese culture that Chinese people were sparing no effort in protecting it throughout their history.
唐宋之交是中国陆路与水路态势根本转变的一个时期。宋后中国人不再向西 仰望，因为西北的丝绸之路被阻塞，宋人不得不开始了相对自力更生的阶段，他 们也开始与海较劲。明时，实际上在日本与中国之间的东海形成了一个小规模的 地中海交流效应，但这里比之真正的地中海相差很远，因为文化底蕴不同。正如 大家看到的，东亚最终还是在近代败于西方海上民族。
（唐代地图显示了河西走廊的特殊存在）
With the founding of the Tang and Song dynasties came another turning point when waterways became growingly important. Beginning from the Song Dynasty (960 AD-1279 AD), the Chinese no longer looked westward and had to heavily rely on the seaway because the landway to the west was blockaded. After the Yuan Empire, particularly during the Ming Dynasties (1368 AD-1644 AD), a certain kind of communication comparable to what used to happen around the Mediterranean appeared between China and Japan on the East China Sea although it did not last long. As we can see, East Asia was eventually defeated by Westerners who were skilled in navigation in modern times.
（ Map of Asia in 13th century ）
中国整体文化气质是一个典型的内陆国。而旧世界实际上是由马上民族与水上 民族统治的。
China is typically an inland country on the whole and the old world was practically controlled by the people on horses and boats.