雙語科技百科(地理) 第26期 絲綢之路
The Silk Road
In the Han Dynasty，China established extensive contacts with various nationalities and kingdoms outside its domain through the Silk g Qian pioneered this route. During the reign of Emperor Wu，the Huns in the North often harassed the frontier of the Han Dynasty，and controlled dozens of small kingdoms in the Western Regions.
漢代，中國通過“絲綢之路”與域外各民族建立了廣泛的交往。這條線路的開闢，首先要歸功於張賽。漢武帝時，北方匈奴常常襲擾漢朝邊境，還控制了當時西域的幾十個小國。In 138 BC.，Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian with a delegation of over 100 people on a diplomatic mission to the Western Re-gions to seek allies against the g Qian was captured by the Huns just as he left the Han territory，and was held prisoner for a dozen years. During this period，he learned the Hun language，and got to know well the geography of their territory. Escaping from the Hun encampment, Zhang Qian made his way back to Chang’an，with only one companion left of the 100 who had set out.
公元前138年，漢武帝派張賽帶100多人出使西域，聯絡大月氏，準備左右夾攻匈奴。沒想到剛出邊境，張賽就被匈奴抓住了。在被扣留期間，他學會了匈奴語，掌握了匈奴的地形。十多年後，張鴦逃了出來。當年與他同去的100多人，只剩下兩人回到長安。
In 119 BC，Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian on a second diplomatic mission to the Western Re-gions. This time，he had an entourage of 300，with tens of thousands of cattle and sheep anda large amount of g visited many countries，and these coun-tries sent envoys to return their visit to the Han then on，the Han Dy-nasty had frequent contacts with the countries in the Western Regions，later setting up a Western Regions Frontier Command in today’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Re-gion，which was under the administration of the central government. The Silk Road was another outcome of Zhang Qian’s journeys.
公元前119年，漢武帝再次派張賽出使西域，這次隨行的有300多人，帶去了上萬頭牛羊和貨物。他們訪問了許多國家，這些國家也派了使臣帶禮物回訪。從此以後，漢朝和西域的往來越來越多。後來，漢還在今天新疆地區設了西域都護府，歸中央政府管理。張賽出使西域，開闢了中西交流的“絲綢之路”。The Silk Road started from Chang’an in the east and stretched westward to reach the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the Roman Empire. Trade caravans from China carrying large amounts of silk fabrics exchanged merchandise with traders from Persia，India and Greece, and brought home walnuts, grapes and carrots from abroad. In the fol-lowing several centuries，Sino-Western exchanges mainly characterized by the silk trade were mostly carried on through the Silk Road.
“絲綢之路”東起長安，向西到地中海東岸，轉至羅馬帝國。漢朝的商隊，運大量的絲織品同波斯人、印度人、希臘人交換商品，同時帶回了外國的核桃、葡萄、胡蘿蔔等。此後的許多世紀，以絲綢貿易爲主的中西交流大多經過“絲綢之路”進行。
