丝绸之路不是一条路

我最近看了一本书，是讲丝绸之路历史的。看完以后我才知道，丝绸之路其实不是一条路。

I recently read a book about the history of the Silk Road. After I finished it, I found out the Silk Road actually isn't one road.

什么意思？我们上学的时候都学过，丝绸之路是专门把丝绸从中国送到很远的地方的一条路，对吗？

What do you mean? In school we all learned that the Silk Road was a road built specifically to carry silk from China all the way to some very far place. Right?

我以前也以为丝绸之路是一条路，其实丝绸之路是很多条路线。有的路线要走很远的路，有的要坐船，走海洋。这些路线连在一起，才叫丝绸之路。

I used to think that too, that the Silk Road was one road. Actually the Silk Road is many routes. Some routes went a very long way over land, some went by boat across the ocean. It's these routes linked together that get called the Silk Road.

原来是这样。那做生意的人是不是自己一个人，从开始走到最后，把东西一直送到很远的地方？

I see. So did the traders themselves personally walk the whole way, from the start all the way to the end, carrying goods all the way to that very far place?

大部分做生意的人，只走这条路线的一段，不是从开始走到最后。一个人把东西送到下一个地方，那里的人再送到更远的地方，东西才能走完这整条路线。

Most traders only travelled one segment of the route, not the whole way from start to finish. One person would deliver goods to the next place, the people there would send them on to a place further away, and that's how goods made it along the entire route.

好，那至少丝绸是最重要的东西吧？丝绸之路，听名字就知道丝绸最重要。

Okay, but at least silk was the most important thing, right? It's called the Silk Road, so you can tell from the name that silk mattered most.

名字是这么叫的，但是丝绸不一定是最重要的。这些路线上传播的东西很多，做纸的技术、宗教，还有植物，都跟着这些路线传播到很远的地方。

That's what the name says, but silk wasn't necessarily the most important thing. A lot of things spread along these routes: papermaking technology, religion, and plants too. They all travelled a very long way along these routes.

宗教也能传播？宗教怎么走这些路线？

Religion can spread too? How does religion travel these routes?

当然可以。佛教就是这样传播到中国的。做生意的人，还有信佛教的人，都走这些路线，佛教就跟着他们，从一个地方传播到另一个地方。

Of course it can. That's exactly how Buddhism spread to China. Traders, and people who believed in Buddhism, both travelled these routes, and Buddhism travelled with them, spreading from one place to another.

这么说，丝绸之路不只是贸易的路线，也是宗教传播的路线？

So you're saying the Silk Road wasn't only a trade route, it was also a route religion spread along?

对，我觉得可以这么说。除了贸易和宗教，还有一件事情，很多人不喜欢听，但是也是真的。

Right, I think you could put it that way. Besides trade and religion, there's one more thing, something a lot of people don't like to hear, but it's also true.

什么事情？

What thing?

疾病也跟着这些路线传播。做生意的人走得越远，遇到的人越多，疾病也传播得越远。这不是不好的事情，这是真正的历史。

Disease spread along these routes too. The farther traders travelled, the more people they met, and the farther disease spread as well. That's not a bad thing to say, it's just real history.

这个我没想到，但是听起来是真的。人和东西一起走，疾病当然也会一起走。

I hadn't thought of that, but it sounds true. If people and goods travel together, of course disease travels along with them too.

还有一件事情很有意思。丝绸之路这个名字，不是那个时候的人自己叫的。这个名字是十九世纪才有的，是后来的人想出来的。

There's one more thing that's interesting. The name 'the Silk Road' wasn't what people at that time called it themselves. This name only came about in the nineteenth century. It was people who came later who came up with it.

真的吗？那个时候做生意的人，不知道自己走的路叫丝绸之路？

Really? So the traders at that time didn't know the road they were walking was called 'the Silk Road'?

对，他们可能只知道自己走的那一段路线，叫别的名字。丝绸之路是十九世纪的人，为了方便，才把这些路线放在一起，用了丝绸之路这个名字。

Right, they probably only knew the one section of route they themselves travelled, called by some other name. 'The Silk Road' is a name nineteenth-century people gave it, for convenience, after grouping all these routes together.

听你这么说，丝绸之路真的不是一条路，是很多条路线，也不只是贸易，还有宗教、技术，甚至疾病，都在这些路线上传播。那你觉得，为什么大家还是喜欢说丝绸之路是一条路？

Hearing you explain it this way, the Silk Road really wasn't one road. It's many routes, and it wasn't only about trade either. Religion, technology, even disease, all spread along these routes. So why do you think everyone still likes to say 'the Silk Road is one road'?

我觉得因为一条路比很多条路线更容易记住，也更容易讲故事。但是真正的历史，本来就比故事复杂。

I think it's because 'one road' is easier to remember than 'many routes', and easier to tell a story about. But real history is naturally more complicated than a story.