丝绸之路，概括的讲，是自古以来，从东亚开始，经中亚、西亚进而联结欧洲及北非的这条东西方交通路线的总称。丝绸之路在世界史上有重大的意义。它是欧亚大陆的交通动脉，是中国、印度、希腊三种主要文化交汇桥梁。

Generally speaking, the Silk Road is the general name of the East-West transportation route that starts from East Asia and connects Europe and North Africa through Central Asia and West Asia since ancient times.TheSilk Road is of great significance in world history. It is the transport artery of Eurasia and the intersection bridge of China, India and Greece.

张骞

           Zhang Qian

 张骞（公元前164年―公元前114年），中国汉代杰出的外交家、旅行家、探险家，丝绸之路的开拓者。西汉建元二年（公元前139年），奉汉武帝之命，张骞率领一百多人出使西域，打通了汉朝通往西域的南北道路，即赫赫有名的丝绸之路。

Zhang Qian (164-114 BC), an outstanding diplomat, traveler and explorer in the Han Dynasty, was a pioneer of the Silk Road. In the second year of Jianyuan(139 BC) in the Western Han Dynasty, under the order of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian led more than 100 people to the western regions and opened the South-North road leading to the western regions in the Han Dynasty, the famous Silk Road.

张骞被誉为 “第一个睁开眼睛看世界的中国人”、“东方的哥伦布”。他将中原文明传播至西域，又从西域诸国引进了汗血马、葡萄、苜蓿、石榴、胡麻等物种到中原，促进了东西方文明的交流。

Zhang Qian is known as “the first Chinese to open his eyes to the world” and “Columbus of the East”. He spread the civilization of the Central Plains to the western regions, and introduced such species as Ferghana horse, grape, alfalfa, pomegranate and flax from the western regions to the Central Plains, which promoted the exchange of eastern and western civilizations.

我国海上丝绸之路的形成及发展至今已经有几千年的历史了，从先秦时代的少数海上活动，到秦汉以后的规模化海上贸易，从生存化的海上迁徙，到经济化的贸易往来，我国的海上丝绸之路经历了一段不寻常的历程。

      The formation and development of China's maritime silk road has a history of several thousand years. From a few maritime activities in the Pre-qin Period to large-scale maritime trade after Qin and Han Dynasties, from maritime migration for survival to economic trade, China's maritime silk road has experienced an unusual course.

海上丝绸之路的形成

The Formation of the Maritime Silk Road

在秦汉时期，对于刚刚统一成为中央集权的封建国家来说，社会安定与发展成为当时统治者最重视的问题。在此时期， 社会生产力有了很大的进步，其中造船技术和航海技术相对于之前而言得到了飞跃式的发展。在此基础上形成了从中国南海到印度洋的中国史上也是世界上第一条远洋航线，被称为海上丝绸之路。

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, social stability and development became the most important issues for the feudal state which had just been unified into a centralized state. During this period, social productive forces made great progress, among which shipbuilding technology and navigation technology were developed by leaps and bounds compared with before. It was during this period that all the navigation routes along the Chinese coast were unimpeded.On this basis, China formed the first ocean route in the world, which was from the south China sea to the Indian Ocean in the history and known as the Maritime Silk Road.

公元6世纪，隋朝统一了全国， 隋炀帝继位之后，发展了海外贸易，并与通经国家和地区友好往来。

In the 6th Century AD, the Sui Dynasty unified the whole country. After Emperor Sui Yang inherited the throne, he developed overseas trade and made friendly exchanges with countries and regions which had economic relations with each other.

唐朝延续了南北朝前期发展的兴旺之势，生产发展、海外贸易空前发达。在政府的保护之下，商船在南海和印度洋来往，络绎不绝。广州、泉州、宁波、扬州更是成为当时的国际四大贸易港。相比之前中原王朝海上丝绸之路航线的规模，唐代的海上丝绸之路航线更加繁盛兴旺。

 The Tang Dynasty, with great development of production and oversea trade, continued the prosperity of the early development of the South and North Dynasties.Under the government protection in this dynasty, merchant ships came and went in an endless stream in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Ningbo and Yangzhou became the four international major trade ports in that time. Compared with the scale of the Maritime Silk Road of Central Plain Dynasties before, the Maritime Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty was more prosperous.

在公元10世纪中叶，宋朝结束了五代十国的分裂格局。宋朝占据了江南地区，并借助地理位置的优势，继续发展海外贸易。陶瓷和香药贸易量的加大,海上丝绸之路又有“陶瓷之路”、“香药之路”之称。

       In the middle of the 10th century, the Song Dynasty ended the division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and completed the unification of the long period of chaos.The Song Dynasty occupied the south part of China and continued to develop overseas trade with the advantage of its geographical position. The trade volume of ceramics and perfumery increased until it became dominant status. the Maritime Silk Road is also known as the “Ceramic Road” and “Incense Road”.

 元朝政府对于海外贸易依旧十分开放，并且有很多的鼓励政策。除了商贸往来，西方基督教士也纷纷在这一时期从海上丝绸之路来到中国。

The government of Yuan Dynasty was still open to foreign trade and had many incentives, and set up the specialized division named Shibosi in Guangzhou in order to promote the development of national marine. In addition to business and trade, the western Christians also came to China from the Maritime Silk Road in this period.

在中国历史上明朝曾多次由政府组织的庞大船队往返于海上丝绸之路，对海上丝绸之路带上的国家进行友好访问与通商贸易活动。明朝的造船业与前代相比发达很多，在各地出现了很多著名的造船厂当时郑和船队以海上为贸易基地，派出船队分赴各地进行贸易。

In the history of China, there were many large fleets, which were organized by the government of the Ming Dynasty, traveled to and from the Maritime Silk Road, and had friendly visits and trade activities to countries along the Maritime Silk Road. The shipbuilding industry in the Ming Dynasty was much more developed than that of the previous generation. Many famous shipyards appeared in various places. At that time, Zhenghe'sfleet took the sea as its trading base and sent the fleets to various places for trade.

到了明宣德年间，由于倭寇侵扰，明朝曾中断海外贸易，重申海禁。嘉靖年间，倭寇对中国沿海的侵扰加剧，海禁更严。嘉庆之后，随着国力日衰，海上丝绸之路昔日盛况不再，在清朝后期快速走向衰落。

During the reign of Emperor Xuande of the Ming Dynasty (1426—1435), the overseas trade was interrupted due to invasion by Japanese pirates. And the maritime ban was reaffirmed.After the reign of Jiaqing, with the decline of national power, the Maritime Silk Road was not as prosperous as before and it declined rapidly in the late Qing Dynasty.

“一带一路”倡议是通过陆上丝绸之路经济带和海上丝绸之路两个部分来推动跨国经济发展。

The Belt and Road Initiative is intended for promoting multinational economic development through two component plans, the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road.

2013年 9 月和 10 月，中国国家主席习近平在出访中亚和东南亚国家期间，先后提出共建“丝绸之路经济带”和“21 世纪海上丝绸之路”（以下简称“一带一路”）的重大倡议，得到国际社会高度关注。

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia in September and October of 2013, he raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (hereinafter referred to as the Belt and Road), which have attracted close attention from all over the world.

恪守联合国宪章的宗旨和原则。遵守和平共处五项原则，即尊重各国主权和领土完整、互不侵犯、互不干涉内政、和平共处、平等互利。

The Belt and Road Initiative is in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. It upholds the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

沿线各国资源禀赋各异，经济互补性较强，彼此合作潜力和空间很大。以政策沟通、设施联通、贸易畅通、资金融通、民心相通为主要内容，在这五方面加强合作。

Countries along the Belt and Road have their own resource advantages and their economies are mutually complementary. Therefore, there is a great potential and space for cooperation. They should promote policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds as their five major goals, and strengthen cooperation.

以上内容来自中国人民大学出版社出版的《中国文化概览》，仅供学习交流之用。