歐洲與中國(guó)誰(shuí)更先進(jìn)？ 《忽然》連載2.1
《忽然》系列為蘇粉必讀項(xiàng)目
7.2 歐洲文明為何總是先鋒
7.2 Why Was Europe Always the Pioneer?
我們現(xiàn)在來(lái)看看相對(duì)的歐洲，當(dāng)然這需要先去回顧一下前面的2.1與2.2。
相對(duì)于中國(guó)的“西來(lái)說(shuō)”，歐洲文明主要來(lái)自“東方”的古埃及或西亞乃至東歐， 他們的人類也來(lái)自東方，所以對(duì)于歐洲人而言是“東來(lái)說(shuō)”。歐、亞是人類的兩 只大犄角。整個(gè)肥碩的身軀就是地中海與其周邊大陸。
In contrast with the “western origin” of Chinese civilization, European civilization is of “eastern origin” considering that it mainly came from the places in the east such as ancient Egypt or West Asia. It is believed that even humans in Europe were from the east. Europe and Asia are comparable to “two big horns” of human civilization,and the big body is the equivalent to the civilization of Mediteranian Sea with continents around it.
歐洲與東亞相比，不僅有早期的地緣便利，而且有地理之便。
Compared with East Asia, Europe enjoyed advantages both topographically and geographically as it stood close to Africa and the Mediterranean in early times.
中國(guó)是個(gè)多山內(nèi)陸國(guó)，而歐洲則是個(gè)多水地區(qū)。整體的歐洲地理形態(tài)是個(gè)大 半島，四面環(huán)水。在這個(gè)大半島內(nèi)到處水網(wǎng)密布，中間也沒(méi)有阻隔交通的天險(xiǎn)， 水路交通就是歐洲的主要內(nèi)部工具。所以，水是歐洲文明的命脈。而歐洲的靈魂 又在地中海，兩者勾連，歐洲這個(gè) 水國(guó)如虎添翼。
In contrast, China is a mountainous inland country far away from the Mediterranean Sea while water is abundant in Europe which could be likened to a golden pool.
中國(guó)則相反，不僅遠(yuǎn)離文明核心地中海，而且內(nèi)部缺水。
(東亞帝國(guó)與地中海帝國(guó)所代表的文明來(lái)自兩個(gè)根本不同的地理形態(tài)。一個(gè)屬水， 一個(gè)屬土。/ The civilization represented by the East Asian Empire and the Mediterranean Empire came from two fundamentally different geography, of which one was made up by water while another by inland. )
在整個(gè)歷史時(shí)期，假如說(shuō)馬與水上文化構(gòu)成了西方文化的基本元素，而高山 與內(nèi)陸農(nóng)業(yè)則構(gòu)成了中國(guó)文化。從流通速度上看，歐洲是個(gè)快社會(huì)，中國(guó)是個(gè)慢 社會(huì)。最終歐洲形成了一個(gè)開(kāi)放的商業(yè)社會(huì)，中國(guó)是個(gè)相對(duì)封閉的農(nóng)業(yè)社會(huì)，都 是地理的恒定作用結(jié)果。西方內(nèi)部的發(fā)展代謝速度一直遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于東方，這是西方 為何能首先進(jìn)入工業(yè)革命的潛在主因。
If horses and waterways used to constitute the whole history of the West, Chinese culture was on the whole featured by mountains and agriculture. The former grew into an open commercial society while the latter a sheltered agricultural one in the long run. These differences may help explain why the West should take the lead in industrialization.
不過(guò)，今天人類的交流方式已經(jīng)再次改變，畜力時(shí)代早已結(jié)束，超越地理限制的飛機(jī)與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)使我們進(jìn)入到一個(gè)全新的時(shí)代。歐洲的地理優(yōu)勢(shì)在今天已經(jīng)不 復(fù)存在，以往那些地緣地理、交通不便地區(qū)，都可能在新的科技條件下獲得一個(gè) 大幅度的文明補(bǔ)漲機(jī)會(huì)。中國(guó)就是其中一個(gè)得益者。
However, the present human communication mode has changed again with the development of the internet. Today, geographical advantages seem to be of no avail and those regions without geographical conveniences in the past might get a substantial opportunity under the new circumstance today. And China is one of the beneficiaries modern technology.
（金磚國(guó)家/BRIC）
文明猶 如一個(gè)有生 命的生物體， 它在一個(gè)地 區(qū)消費(fèi)完當(dāng) 時(shí)的原始能 量之后，會(huì)繼續(xù)尋找新的能源(以往人類消費(fèi)的能源有赤道、溫暖氣候、人口、 地理、海路、河流、土地、馬匹、文化與技術(shù)、煤炭、石油、市場(chǎng)等等)。當(dāng)年文明曾經(jīng)在地中海東部沿岸做過(guò)長(zhǎng)期的衡量與選擇，最終文明龍頭沒(méi)有穿越厚重 的內(nèi)陸進(jìn)入東亞，斷然回到地中海，經(jīng)過(guò)一段時(shí)間的盤(pán)桓之后一路向西，這主要 可能就是因?yàn)樗返墓?jī)。在近代，水路在繼續(xù)書(shū)寫(xiě)著奇跡。但美洲如此大的一個(gè)吸引力，一個(gè)正在成長(zhǎng)的市場(chǎng)，才是點(diǎn)亮歐洲西北歐的主要原因。
Civilization is comparable to a living organism that would keep on looking for something new for survival such as equator, warm climate, population, geography, sea routes, rivers, land, horses, culture and technology, coal, oil, market and so on. After the zenith of civilization stayed a while around the Mediterranean coast, it left the ancient Gold Pool for the Atlantic Ocean. However, this monster seems to have been addicted to waters till today.
1620 年，五月花號(hào)從工業(yè)文明的發(fā)源地英國(guó)啟程到達(dá)美國(guó)，這些移民開(kāi)始 點(diǎn)燃北美文明之火，這背后依然是水的作用。假如英美中間是陸地，就沒(méi)有今天 的美國(guó)輝煌。 經(jīng)過(guò)幾個(gè)世紀(jì)的積累，至 20 世紀(jì)中葉，左右逢源、兩面臨海的美 國(guó)開(kāi)始稱霸世界，也可以說(shuō)它依然得益于地緣地理。
In 1620, the Mayflower set out from Britain, the birthplace of the industrial civilization, and arrived in America. Those immigrants began to ignite the fire of civilization in North America. After centuries of accumulation, the United States surrounded by oceans began to dominate the world at it came to the middle of the 20th century.
（ 英國(guó)五月花號(hào) / the Mayflower ）
左右逢源的美國(guó)，實(shí)際上其地理形勢(shì)與5000 年前的西亞一樣，兩面環(huán)水。 / With seas around America today is somewhat like the West Asia of 5000 years ago.
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