论文部分内容阅读
今年是郑和南海首航600周年纪念日。1405年由明成祖发起,由太监提升为将领的郑和开发了新的远洋航行。这一创举,比哥伦布发现美洲大陆几乎早了一个世纪。郑和的航海船队,由62艘海船和37000官兵及海员组成。他们最远到过非洲东部海岸,沿途走访了亚洲南部沿海三十多个国家,其中不少国家同意向明朝进贡。在以后的28年里,郑和曾六次下西洋。然而,正如其突如其来的开始一样,航海探险活动也嘎然而止了。如何解释拥有优越航海技术的海上霸主,竟不能像后来的西方列强一样,去寻找更远的新大陆呢?本文并非对大多数传统解释提出挑战,旨在说明中国古代天圆地方的观念阻碍了其所有更具雄心的海上探险。
This year marks the 600th anniversary of Zheng He’s first flight of the South China Sea. Initiated by Ming Chengzu in 1405, Zheng He, promoted by the eunuch to generals, developed a new ocean voyage. This initiative, almost a century earlier than Columbus’s discovery of the American continent. Zheng He’s sailing fleet consists of 62 ships and 37,000 officers and men and seafarers. They traveled as far as the eastern coast of Africa and visited over 30 countries along the southern coast of Asia. Many of them agreed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. In the next 28 years, Zheng He has been on the west six times. However, as it suddenly began, sailing expeditions came to a halt. How can we explain that the maritime supremacy of superior maritime technology can not find a farther new continent like the later western powers? This article is not to challenge most of the traditional explanations and aims to illustrate that the notion of ancient Tian Yuan in China hinders its All the more ambitious sea adventures.