世界史学界曾经有“四大文明古国”之说,中国名列其间(其他三国为埃及、巴比伦、印度);现在又有“四大文明区”的提法:东地中海文明区(包括埃及、巴比林、亚述、希腊等),南亚次大陆文明区(包括印度、巴基斯坦、尼泊尔等),印第安文明区(包括玛稚、印加等)和东亚文明区(包括中国、朝鲜、日本等),而中国是东亚文明区的主体,正如美国的日本问题专家埃·赖肖尔指出的:“日本人非 The world historians once said that ”China is among the four ancient civilizations“ (China, Egypt, Babylon, India); now there are ”four civilizations“ reference: the Eastern Mediterranean Civilization (Including Egypt, Babylin, Assyria and Greece), civilizations in the South Asia subcontinent (including India, Pakistan and Nepal), Indian civilizations (including Mayu and Inca) and East Asian civilizations including China, North Korea, Japan, etc.), and China is the main body of East Asia’s civilized zone. As pointed out by Egypt’s Reese Shorr in the United States: ”Non-Japanese