Beginning of the Silk Road

开辟丝绸之路

As an interconnected series of routes, the Silk Road (丝绸之路） is through Southern Asia traversed by caravan¹ and ocean vessel², and connecting Chang’an, China with Antioch, Syria, as well as other points.

作为一个使不同地区相互连接的道路，丝绸之路穿过了南亚，无数商队和远洋船舶在其上形式，它将古中国的长安与叙利亚的安提俄克以及其他一些地方连接起来。

Its influence carries over on to Korea and terminates eventually in Japan.

它的影响力遍及韩国甚至达到日本。

The continental³ Silk Road diverges⁴ into North and South routes as it extends from the commercial centers of North China, the North route passing through the Bulgar-Kypchak zone to Eastern Europe and the Crimean peninsula, and from there across the Black Sea, Marmara Sea and the Balkans to Venice；

陆上丝绸之路分为南线和北线，它自中国北部的商业中心沿北线穿过保加利亚钦察地区到达东欧和克里米亚半岛，再从哪里穿过黑海、马尔马拉海和巴尔干半岛到达威尼斯；

the South Route passing through Turkestan-Khorasan, through Iran into Mesopotamia and Anatolia, and then through Antioch in Southern Anatolia into the Mediterranean⁵ Sea or through the Levant into Egypt and North Africa.

南线穿过土耳其斯坦-呼罗珊地区和伊朗到达美索不达米亚和安纳托利亚，在经过安纳托利亚南部的安提俄克到达地中海或者是经过黎凡特到达埃及和南非。

These exchanges were critical not only for the development and flowering of the great civilizations of Rome, China and India, but they laid the foundations of our modern world.

这些交流不仅对于罗马、中国和印度文明的发展与形成异常重要还为我们的现代世界奠定了基础。

While goods and religious ideas may have travelled the whole way, ancient trade was probably conducted over sections of the routes and it is probable that merchants and travellers very rarely, if ever, covered the whole distance between Europe, or the Middle East, and China, by land.

当物品和宗教信仰在丝绸之路上传播时，古老的贸易可能也在这条路线上进行着，也许很少有商人和旅行者能够由陆路走遍丝绸之路上的每一个地方——欧洲或是中东和中国。

These routes can be traced back to Han Dynasty, from 138 B.C, Emperor Wu dispatched Zhang Qian(张骞） twice as his envoy⁶ to the Western Regions,

这些路线可以被追溯到公元前138年的汉朝时期，汉武帝派遣张骞作为侍者出使西域两次，

and in the process pioneered the route known as the Silk Road from Chang’an, through Xinjiang and Central Asia, and on to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

并在过程中自长安起，穿过新疆和中亚，以地中海东岸为终点开辟丝绸之路。

Following Zhang Qian’s embassy and report, commercial relations between China and Central as well as Western Asia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century B.C， initiating⁷ the development of the Silk Road.

根据张骞的使团和报告，因为在公元前1世纪左右，中国派出大量使团以发展丝绸之路，中国和中亚与西亚之间的商业关系繁荣发展。

In 97 A.D. the Chinese general Ban Chao (班超） went as far west as the Caspian Sea with 70 000 men and established direct military contacts with the Parthian Empire, also dispatching an envoy to Rome.

公元97年，将军班超带领70000人马西行远至里海，与帕提亚帝国建立了直接的军事联络，还向罗马派遣了使者。

Several Roman embassies to China soon followed from 166 A.D.

罗马紧接着自公元166年其向中国派遣使团。

Good exchanges such as Chinese silk, African ivory, and Roman incense⁸ increase the contacts between the East and West.

对于中国丝绸、非洲象牙和罗马香料的交换加强了东西方之间的联系。

Contacts with the Kushan Empire led to the introduction of Buddhism⁹ to China from India in the first century.

与贵霜帝国之间的联系使得佛教在一世纪时传入中国。

The height of the importance of the Silk Road was during the Tang dynasty, with relative internal stability in China after the divisions of the earlier dynasties since the Han.

丝绸之路的重要性在唐朝达到顶峰，唐朝时，中国在历经了自汉朝时起的分裂状态后达到了国内相对的稳定。

In the seventh century, the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang (玄奘） crossed the region on his way to obtain Buddhist¹⁰ scriptures¹¹ from India.

七世纪时，玄奘穿过此路去印度求取佛教真经。

The art and civilization of the Silk Road achieved its highest point in the Tang Dynasty.

丝绸之路的文化与文明在唐朝时达到新高度。

Chang’an, as the starting point of the route, as well as the capital of the dynasty, developed into one of the largest and most cosmopolitan¹² cities of the time.

长安，作为路线的起点同时也是唐朝的首都，发展成为了那时最大也最具国际化的城市之一。

After the Tang, however, the traffic along the road subsided¹³, along with the grotto¹⁴ building and art of the period.

然而，唐朝以后，丝绸之路上的旅行、石窟建筑和艺术都沉寂了下来。

The Five Dynasties period did not maintain the internal stability of the Tang dynasty, and again neighboring states started to plunder¹⁵ the caravans¹⁶.

五代时期没有维持住唐朝时的国内稳定，因此邻近的地区再次开始抢劫旅行队。

China was partially¹⁷ unified¹⁸ again in the Song dynasty, but the Silk Road was not as important as it had been in the Tang.

中国在宋朝时期再次得到统一，可那时的丝绸之路已经不如唐朝时期那么重要了。

From its birth before Christ, through the heights of the Tang dynasty, until its slow demise¹⁹ six to seven hundred years ago, the Silk Road has had a unique role in foreign trade and political relations, stretching far beyond the bounds of Asia itself.

从它比基督还要早的诞生，再经历了唐朝的巅峰，最后在6、700年前缓慢的衰败，丝绸之路在国际贸易中具有无可替代的地位，它延伸的范围远超亚洲境内。

It has left its mark on the development of civilizations on both sides of the continent.

它在亚欧文明的发展中留下了自己的印记。

However, the route has merely fallen into disuse; its story is far from over.

但是，丝绸之路几乎已经被淘汰，而它的故事却尚未结束。