欧亚大陆和濒临地中海的北部非洲,自古以来构成了一个“世界岛”。轴心时代的巴比伦文明、埃及文明、印度文明、希腊文明和中华文明,都孕育于兹,繁荣于兹。20世纪初叶,英国学者麦金德(H.J.Mackinder,1861—1947)认为,相对于世界岛而言,美洲大陆、英伦三岛、澳大利亚、日本列岛,只属于被大西洋、太平洋、印度洋、北冰洋隔绝的边缘地带。——其实,这个世界岛是被丝绸之路连接着的。地中海世界至少在罗马时代就是海陆通道都畅达的。西欧亚大陆乃至南亚 Eurasia and northern Africa on the verge of the Mediterranean have constituted a “world island” since ancient times. Axial era of Babylonian civilization, Egyptian civilization, Indian civilization, Greek civilization and Chinese civilization, have given birth to, prosperous in the hereby. At the beginning of the 20th century, British scholar HJMackinder (1861-1947) thought that the continent, the British Isles, the Australian and the Japanese archipelagos were only isolated from the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Arctic Ocean Edge zone. In fact, this world island is connected by the Silk Road. The Mediterranean world is accessible to land and sea at least during Roman times. Western Eurasia and even South Asia