为何中国没有像欧洲那样四分五裂？与欧洲相比，是什么使得中国保持统一？ [美国媒体]

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Why didn't China break up like Europe? What makes China stay united compared to Europe?

为何中国没有像欧洲那样四分五裂？与欧洲相比，是什么使得中国保持统一？


-------------译者：roroho-审核者：hht288------------

obin Daverman World traveler upxed May 21 2015
Unification of Language.

语言文字的统一

There used to be many small countries during the Warring States period in 250 BC.

在公元前250年的战国时期，中国当时有许多个小国。



And the countries have been separated for a while that the written and spoken language started to diverge similar to how language diverged in Europe. Below is an example of the character for "horse" in different states.

而且由于这些国家已经分开有一段时间了，文字和口语都开始出现差异，类似于欧洲语言的差异。下面是“马”字在不同国家写法的例子。



In the short-lived Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC) the Emperor forced standardization of the language. Common language enforced common culture and shared history. 

在“短命”的秦朝时期（公元前221年至公元前207年），秦始皇要求全国书同文。共同语言强化了共同的文化和共同的历史。

Imagine what Europe would be like if everyone speaks the same language...

想象一下，如果每个人都说同一种语言欧洲会变成什么样子……

Jay Liu I've been told I'm Chinese... Answered Feb 19 2016
Europe and China represent two extreme ends on the spectrum of political cohesion.  Europe is an example of an extreme lack of political cohesion whereas China is an example of extreme abundance of political cohesion.

欧洲和中国在政治凝聚力上分别代表着两个极端。欧洲是一个极端缺乏政治凝聚力的例子，而中国是有极强政治凝聚力的典型。

True both regions have seen period of both hegemony and Balkanization Europe had the Roman Empire and China had its period of Warring States but both periods are exceptions to their respective regions.  Europe is generally falling apart into smaller chunks whereas China is generally coalescing into a bigger whole.

诚然，这两个地区都曾经历过霸权扩张和巴尔干化的时期，欧洲有罗马帝国，中国有战国时期，但两个时期都是各自地区的例外。欧洲通常会分裂成许多更小的国家，而中国大多数时间里都是合并成一个更大的统一国家。
（译者注：巴尔干化=地方政权等在诸多地方之间的分割，及其所产生的地方政府体制下的分裂，即“碎片化”（Fragmentation））

So why is this?  What is the fundamental reason?

那么为什么会这样呢？其中的根本原因是什么？

It's geography.

是地理原因。

The entirety of Europe is one big alluvial plain. It contains some of the most fertile land in the Old World and has attracted migrants for millennia. Once inside Europe these migrants have no choice but to settle and stay there are no lands farther West after all. In other words Europe is where the countless migrations come to an end it is the "last stop" of the Old World. The map below shows the common routes of migration into Europe. 

整个欧洲坐落于一个大的冲积平原。欧洲拥有古代世界里一些最肥沃的土地，并且数千年来都吸引着移民的迁入。一旦进入欧洲，这些移民就别无选择，只能定居下来，毕竟再往西走就不是陆地了。换句话说，欧洲是无数移民最终停下的地方，是古代世界里的“终点站”。下面的地图就显示了移民进入欧洲的通常线路。



-------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

Europe's position ensures that there are always going to be waves upon waves of newcomers into the region stacking on top of each other.  The end result is that Europe is the most ethnically diverse region on planet Earth.

欧洲的地理位置使得总是会有一波又一波的新外来者进入这一地区，并且彼此交织叠加。最终的结果是，欧洲成了地球上最具民族多样性的地区。

Geographically Europe is also filled with convenient natural boundaries that divide it into little cubicles were these diverse ethnic groups can settle and remain relatively protected from each other. 

从地理上看，欧洲也布满各种便利的自然边界，将其分割为小区块，使得这些不同的种族可以定居并彼此保持相对隔离保护。

These 2 major factors of natural boundaries and diverse ethnicity makes it very very hard to build a pan-European empire and to make it last.  The Romans managed to pull it off for a while only because they had the benefit of the Mediterranean to facilitate communications.  But even the Romans were no match for the westward migrations of the Germanic tribes and Huns of the 4th and 5th Centuries AD.

由于自然边界的存在和彼此分隔的民族这两个主要因素，使得建立一个泛欧洲帝国非常非常困难，并且难以持续。罗马人成功地使其帝国延续了一段时间，只是因为他们受益于因拥有地中海而带来的便捷交通交流。但是，即使是罗马人也无法阻挡日耳曼部落，以及公元4世纪和5世纪时匈奴人的西迁。
（译者注：匈奴人=说蒙古语或土耳其语的亚洲游牧民族，公元前300年之前占领亚洲和欧洲许多地区，公元4—5世纪入侵罗马帝国）

China is quite the opposite of Europe in terms of geography and these difference are what cause China to naturally trend towards unification.

中国在地理上与欧洲完全相反，而正是这些差异导致中国必然走向统一的大势。

"China Proper" that is Han China or modern China without Tibet Xinjiang and Manchuria is bounded by nearly impassable natural barriers. These barriers made is very unlikely for China to be the target of mass migrations.  People can neither enter nor leave therefore China trends towards ethnic homogeneity.

“中原”是指汉族人居住范围内的中国，就是现在中国不包括西藏、新疆和东北九省在内的地方，周围都是几乎不可逾越的自然屏障。这些屏障使得中国不太可能成为大规模移民的目的地。人们既进不去也没法离开，因此中国趋于民族融合同化。



On this map I've roughly fenced off China Proper with the gray barriers.  To the west there's the Gobi Desert the Himalayas and the jungles of northern Vietnam.  To the north there's the frigid steppe land of Mongolia and Manchuria.  This is not a perfect barrier but it did ensure that the only kind of people who would cross from it would be nomads usually in very small numbers so never enough to displace the Han Chinese.  Certainly the Germanic tribes that usurped the Roman Empire would not have been able to cross such barriers.

在这张地图上，我粗略地用灰色条块分隔了一下中国。灰条块西部是戈壁沙漠、喜马拉雅山脉以及越南北部的丛林。在北面，有寒冷的蒙古和满洲里草原。这并不是一圈特别完整完美的屏障，但它确实确保了唯一能跨越这一界限的是少量的游牧民族且通常人数都很少，因此永远不足以取代汉族人。当然，篡夺罗马帝国的日耳曼部落是不可能跨越这些屏障的。

Within China Proper the geography further promotes political unity.  Unlike Europe there's no Rhine Danube Pyrenees or Alps.  All China has is the Yangtze which has never been able to divide the country for long because the northern kingdoms always conquer the south usually in less than a century.  Unlike the back and forth balance of power between France and Germany the north of China is always dominant over the south ensuring that the country will always trends towards unification.

在中原地区内部，其地理优势又进一步促进了政治团结。与欧洲不同的是，这里没有莱茵河、多瑙河、比利牛斯山或阿尔卑斯山。中国就一条长江，这使得中国不会分裂太久，因为通常不超过一个世纪北方帝国就会征服南方。不同于法国和德国之间权力的来回拉锯平衡，相对于南方，中国北方始终居于主导地位，确保了国家永远是趋向统一的。

Rohit Patnaik Answered Apr 12 2015
"It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite and anything long united will surely divide."

“天下大势，分久必合，合久必分。”

- Luo Guanzhong Romance of the Three Kingdoms

——罗贯中《三国演义》

 -------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

Ever heard of a guy called Tom Abercrombie? He used to be a senior staff writer for NGC back in the days when NGC was still great (or I was still not that bitter; take your pick). I remember little of his writings (his photographs were always the primary draw for me)- but one line he wrote still stands out in my mind- 'The past is another land'...

听说过一个叫汤姆·亚贝克隆比的人吗？他曾经是美国国家地理频道的高级写作人员，那时国家地理频道还是不错的（或者我那时还没有那么挑剔吧；你自己决定吧）。我不太记得他的作品了（他拍的照片是主要吸引我的地方）——但他笔下有一句话依然印记在我的脑海里 ——“过去是另一片天地”……



The Geographic was witness to a century—arguably the most telling in human history—and we were fortunate to have spent nearly half of it there.

美国《国家地理》见证了一个世纪里 —— 可以说是人类历史上最生动的故事—— 我们很幸运近一半的时间有它陪伴。

Geography determines History. History determines Geography. The interplay between the two is the basis of Humanity's countless civilizations.

地理位置决定历史走向。历史发展巩固地理区位。两者之间的相互作用是人类无数文明的基础。

There is nothing new under the Sun; and the idea that the Chinese & the Europeans should've evolved quite different societal systems because somehow they are somehow inherently different lies in the realm of hilarity. If I was more politically-correct I might've been tempted to call 'racism'- but Chauvinism to be frank is not racism.

阳光普照之下无新奇；有观点认为中国人和欧洲人已经进化出完全不同的社会制度，某种程度上来说，这是由于他们天生就秉性不同。如果我政治立场更正确点，我可能会被诱惑称这为“种族主义”—— 但坦白说沙文主义不是种族主义。

The question OP has asked has been the subject of multiple works throughout history. Not least of them Jared Diamond's books. Diamond argued that central to the concept of Imperiogenesis- the birth of Empires- is Irrigation & Food production. His principal argument is that while large riverine networks foster the growth of irrigation systems & later on the bureaucratic systems necessary to manage them; saline waterbodies retard the spread of civilization & consequently are barriers to Imperiogenesis.

前面提出的这个问题一直是历史上多部着作的主题。尤其是贾里德·戴蒙德写的书。戴蒙德认为，帝国起源——帝国的诞生——这一概念的核心要素在于灌溉和粮食生产。他的主要论点是，当大型河流网络促进了灌溉系统的发展，其后必须发展出相应的官僚体系来管理这些系统；咸水体会阻碍文明的传播，因而阻碍了帝国的形成。

 -------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

Thus Europe being the centre of a radially-oriented riverine system and cut up by multiple inland-sea systems is less conducive to Empire building than topographically one China with its twin East-West oriented River valleys.

因此，欧洲处于一个放射导向的河流系统的中心地带，同时被多个内海系统所分割，这相比于由两条东西走向的大河形成河谷地形的中国，更不利于帝国的构建。

Like most of Diamond's ideas these are indeed thought-provoking & interesting- but fall short when it comes to actual quantitative testing. In cases like Diamond's East-West/ North-South ecological spread idea (I can personally think of only four cases where this pattern didn't hold true) this doesn't really matter- but in this particular case he may have been mistaken.

类似戴蒙德的大多数观点，其确实是发人深思且有趣的——但考察下真实的历史就会知道是不太契合的。正如戴蒙德在某些案例中表达的关于东西或南北走向生态传播的观点（我个人认为只有4种情况下这种模式不成立），这并不重要 —— 但在这个特殊的情况下，他可能是错误的。



Pictured:- Not Dragons.

图片说明：—— 不是龙。

After all Europe is nothing but the Western tip of Eurasia.

毕竟，欧洲只不过是欧亚大陆的西端。

In the vast majority of cases irrigational systems did not necessarily correlate to administrative unity- whereas the importance of Communication systems was paramount. The Volga basin was never known for its irrigation systems or bureaucratic structures- nevertheless it served as the core for multiple empires in succession. Vietnam was historically united over Coastal control. The Spanish controlled Italy for centuries. The Eastern Roman Empire lost the entire Anatolian Heartland and yet remained the premier European power for over 300 years.

在绝大多数情况下，灌溉系统不一定与行政统一相关——相反通信系统的重要性才是最突出重要的。伏尔加河流域从不以灌溉系统或官僚结构而闻名——尽管如此，它还是相继成为多个帝国的核心。越南在历史上被沿海控制而纳入统一。西班牙控制了意大利几个世纪。东罗马帝国失去了整个安纳托利亚中心地带，但仍然作为欧洲的主要力量维持了300多年。

In this aspect we find that 'historically united' China- with its multiple mountain ranges East-West riverine drainage and North-South cultural/ Biotic split- is actually less conducive to traditional Empire building than the Mediterranean biome that connects Europe- & indeed history tells us that the Mediterranean biome was 'united' for most part of history- under the successive Roman Vandal Eastern Roman Arab Spanish Turkish French and finally British control. It can be argued that Southern Europe remained united for a longer period than China. Northern Europe- a entirely different biome altogether- on the other hand was united only thrice since the fall of the Western Roman Empire- under the Carolingians Napoleon & the Third Reich. 

在这方面，我们发现“历史上统一的”中国—— 山脉众多，东西向河流密布、南北文化或物种区隔——实际上比起连接欧洲和地中海的生物群系，更不利于传统帝国的建立—— 而且历史确实告诉我们，地中海生物群落在大多数历史时期是“统一”的——连续被罗马人、（德国）汪达尔人、东罗马人、阿拉伯人、西班牙人、土耳其人、法国人，最后是英国人控制。也就可以认为，南欧比中国保持统一的时间更长。另一方面，北欧——完全是另一个不同的生物群落——自从西罗马帝国灭亡后，只有三次分别在（法国）卡洛林人、拿破仑和第三帝国（德国纳粹）的统治下才统一起来。

 -------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------



Southern Europe is distinctly different from the Northern half

南欧与北欧截然不同

Churchill's 'soft-underbelly simply doesn't exist. The Pyrenees the Alps & the city of Vienna possess such defensive capabilities and confront invaders with such logistical difficulties that I doubt even a modern army can successfully break through them without extraordinary odds in their favour.

丘吉尔的“软肋”根本就不存在。比利牛斯山脉、阿尔卑斯山脉，以及维也纳城都拥有这样的防御能力，而且在面对侵略者时后勤补给困难，如此使我甚至怀疑即便是现代军队在没有特别保障的情况下，仅靠他们自己能否成功地突破这些障碍。



Though some say that whole World belongs to China...

尽管有人说整个天下都属于中国……

Now that we have dealt with some of the misnomers associated with the answer let's analyze this properly under the following headings:-

既然前面我们已经解释了一些与答案有关的用词不当，那么就让我们按照以下标题顺序正确适当地分析一下 :-

1- Civilizational:

1-文明：

It has been proposed that the two very first dynasties of 'unified China'- the Xia & the Shang may have been two entirely different peoples. Even as late as the Qin the Chinese (if something called that even existed) had no standardized language writing systems or trade networks. Unlike India where it was the plains of Punjab or the Indo-Gangetic plains that have traditionally served to unite the country it was North-East China that has served as the nucleus of any pan-Chinese Empire (the Wei river valley or Beijing or Manchuria). 

有人曾提出，“统一中国”最早的两个朝代——夏朝和商朝可能是两个完全不同的民族。即使是在秦国时期，中国（如果当时有这种称呼的话）也没有统一标准的语言、书写体系或贸易网络。传统上，旁遮普平原或是印度-恒河平原造就印度的国家统一，而中国与印度不同，中国的北部东部地区（渭河流域，北京或满洲）才是所有泛中国帝国的核心。

Colder weather has historically fostered populism in societies and thus ensured easy rise of Nationalism- & militarization. Resource scarcity promotes meritocracy and egalitarianism. 

在历史上，更寒冷的天气易于助长社会上的民粹主义，进而促成民族主义和军事化的兴起。资源的稀缺能推动贤能统治和平等主义。



No wonder Boromir is so popular among the proles in the fanbase....

难怪波罗米尔在粉丝们心中是如此受欢迎.....
（译者注：博罗米尔是冈多现任摄政王德内豪的长子，现在刚铎的首都米纳斯蒂利斯就在德内豪治下。自从最后一位国王尔诺于第三纪2050年在米纳斯魔窟失踪（传言被戒灵所杀），刚铎人就失去了他们的王。在护送魔戒过程中受到魔戒诱惑，曾试图夺取佛罗多·巴金斯持有的魔戒。后与强兽人激战，受到重伤，死在阿拉贡怀里。）

In these aspects it isn't surprising that Northern China had a greater appetite for foreign conquest than the other three civilizations I spoke about.
Also the constant inflow of fresh expansionist nomadic blood into Northern China kept it from sinking into civilizational inertia and created an atmosphere of constant warfare & entropy that naturally had to spill over into associated territories.

基于上述原因，中国北方民族对外国征服的欲望，比我所提到的其他三个文明都要大，这也就并不那么奇怪了。此外，源源不断的新扩张主义游牧血液流入中国北方，使其免于陷入文明的惯性，并创造了一种持续的好战且无序的氛围，自然地将其领土扩散到相连的领土之上。

 -------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

2- Military:

2- 军事：

In Northern China cavalry reigns supreme. In the South it is imperative that any would-be conqueror maintain strong riverine navies as well as coastal patrols. The connected nature of the coastline backed with the Grand Canal's logistical capacity allow the fast transportation of men & material throughout the land.

在中国北方，骑兵占统治地位至高无上。在南方，任何潜在的征服者都必须保持强大的内河水师和海岸巡逻队。连绵的自然海岸线，加上大运河的物流运输能力作为后盾，使得人力和物资可以快速运输贯通整个内陆。

While Europe has several of the same factor associated with warfare the absence of strong centralization- to be elaborated on later- as well as the lack of interconnected waterbodies- whether man-made or nature- retard the creation of a all-conquering force. Thus every single potential pan-European conquering force since the Romans themselves has been shockingly one-dimensional (with the possible exception of Spain). Gustaf Adolf's artillery corps the Nazi armoured divisions Revolutionary France's infantry the Polish cavalry First Reich's sheer feudal élan the British Empire's world-conquering navies- were all impressive- but were hardly as multi-dimensional as the average Qi army.

虽然欧洲有一些类似的与战争相关因素，但缺乏强有力的中央集权——在后文会详细阐述——以及缺乏相互连接的水体——无论是人造开凿的还是自然形成的——都阻碍了全面征服力量的生成。因此，自罗马人以来，每一个潜在的泛欧洲征服者惊人得都只是单一兵种很强（西班牙可能是个例外）。古斯塔夫·阿道夫的炮兵部队，纳粹的装甲师，大革命时期的法国步兵，波兰的骑兵，（德意志）第一帝国庞大的封建先锋，大英帝国征服世界的海军——都令人印象深刻——但都几乎不像均衡的秦军那样兵种多且强。

Thus Northern China- backed by its strong bureaucracy powerful cavalry impressive navies- & constant warfare with foreign barbarians- was fitted for civilizational conquest in a way its two counterparts simply weren't. A dramatized illustration of this can be seen in one of the best Chinese movies Red Cliff:-

因此，中国北方有强大的官僚主义、强大的骑兵、令人印象深刻的海军作后盾，并且持续经受外部野蛮民族的战争考验，在某种程度上已经适应了文明的征服，而其两个对手就根本没有适应。其中一个戏剧化的例子就是中国最好的电影之一《赤壁》了。



General Cao Cao demonstrating how to conquer China...

大将军曹操示范了要如何征服中国......

 -------------译者：roroho-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

3- Climatic:

3-气候：

If one looks at a World map the primary thing one should mark about Europe is how warm it is. North Korea Kazakhstan & Canada lie on roughly the same latitudes as England and regularly face winters on a scale few European nations south of Norway do. The North Atlantic Drift allows civilization to prosper in Europe in a way it doesn't in Northern China- which in itself is barely much better off than the nomad-controlled wastes of Siberia & Mongolia.

如果查看世界地图，首要了解的是要知道欧洲是多么温暖。北朝鲜、哈萨克斯坦以及加拿大的纬度与英格兰大致相同，通常在挪威以南的几个欧洲国家的冬季也非常寒冷。北大西洋暖流使欧洲文明得以繁荣，在某种程度上，中国北方并不存在这种状况，中国北方并不比游牧民族控制的西伯利亚和蒙古的荒凉之地好多少。

Thus Northern China had to evolve bureaucratic structures to ensure the distribution transportation and storage of grain on a scale & time frx Europe & Southern China simply didn't have to. The resource-rich lands of the latter also fostered a level of decentralization Northern China simply could not afford. 

因此，中国北方必须发展官僚结构，进而才能大规模长时间地保障粮食的分配、运输和储存，而欧洲和中国南方根本不必这样。后者资源丰富的土地也助长了权力分散，而中国北方根本无法承受。

The Centralization of Power automatically fosters external aggression & civilizational arrogance- & the unification of China was merely a side-effect of such sentiments among the Northerners.

中央集权会自然导致对外侵略和文明傲慢——那么中国的统一仅仅是北方人这种性情的一种副作用。



Climatically Italy has more in common with Northern Iran than with France. Is it any wonder that the Roman legions met their match with Parthian Persia than in the forests of Gaul?

在气候方面，与法国相比，意大利与伊朗北部更相似。罗马军团会与帕提亚波斯遭遇对战，而不会与高卢在森林里相遇，这有什么奇怪的吗?

 -------------译者：风起云团-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

4- Foreign:-

4- 外部势力：-

Southern China's primary economic & military influences were from Indo-China & Eastern India. Both these zones are extremely resource-rich areas with very strong & old bureaucratic structures & high civilizational inertia. Thus while Southern China received several economic & cultural benefits- it received few military or political advantages owing to the insular nature of stable nations.

对于中国南方地区而言，其经济和军事最大的影响来自印支半岛及印度东部。这些地区均为资源丰富的地区，并且当地旧官僚体系制度非常强大，并且拥有很高的文明惰性。因此，中国南方地区在经济与文化发展上取得了很大的成就，但在军事实力和政治体制上，由于（相对于北方地区而言）国家独立性更加稳定，而没有得到较好的增长。

On the other hand Northern China not only was at the forefront of nomadic invasions but also had to constantly deal with the machinations of the Korean & Japanese courts keep the Yellow sea clear for trade and defend entire East Asia from nomadic invasions- all the while on resource levels far less than the rest of China. It was only natural for the North to sweep Southward- whereas Northern Europe insulated from external influences by the vast expanse & power of the Ottomans Russians & Arabs- didn't have the same driving forces until late in its history.

另一方面，中国北方地区不仅直接面对北方游牧民族的入侵，还必须时常提防着朝鲜和日本私下里耍的阴谋诡计，以此来保证黄海地区的贸易通畅。并且还要防御来自整个东亚游牧民族的入侵——所有这些还建立在该地区资源水平远低于中国其它地区的基础上。北方能够横扫南方是自然而然的，只是在其历史末期时才找到相同的驱动力，这一点可以鉴于北欧，其由于外部因素而被隔离于其它国土广袤且强大的国家，如奥斯曼帝国，俄罗斯及阿拉伯。



The Southern arms of the Silk Route passed through waters patrolled by navies of sovereign nations. The Northern arm of the Silk Route passed through what was pretty much Terra Incognita for most part.

丝绸之路的南线主要覆盖区域为有海上力量巡逻的主权国家水域。而丝绸之路北线则经过了大量未知地域的地带。

-------------译者：风起云团-审核者：龙腾翻译总管------------

5- Engineering:-

5- 土木工程：-

This is what makes the Chinese unique in all of Human civilization. The Egyptians built the pyramids to recreate the Milky way on Earth. The Chinese built the Grand Canal to forge a nation where none could've existed.

正是这一点使中华文明不同于其他的人类文明。古埃及人建造金字塔是为了在地球上重建一条通天之路。而中国人修建大运河则是为了在一个本无法生存的地方建立国家。

The Grand Canal arose after China was united but later became such an instrumental factor in Chinese civilization that it was this man-made body not China's twin river systems that provided the principal transportation & communication artery. It was the Grand Canal that provided stable bureaucratic systems during the yearly floods. It was the Grand Canal that facilitated North-South transport and buttressed the Coastal defences. It was the Grand Canal that served as the primary guarantor of Imperial control & bureaucracy as well as the main road for the flowing of cultural ideas and the unification of China.

中国在统一之后便开始修建大运河，后来这几乎成为了中华文明的一大利器，这条完全由人工开凿，不属于中国双子河（长江，黄河）水系的运河，成为了（为南北方）提供交通及交流的重要动脉。也正是因为大运河的缘故，（中国）能在连年洪灾的情况下依旧保持稳定的官僚体系。大运河还促进了南北的交通往来及为沿海防御提供支持。大运河既为维持帝制和官僚体制提供了保障，同时又是促进思想文化交流，维持国家统一稳定的主要通道。

Maintaining the Grand Canal was not only a obligation of large (invariably Northern powers as the North's food supply depended on the canal) Chinese forces but its very existence hindered the stable existence of smaller powers.

维建大运河，让中国不仅在国力上有所增加（北方的食物供应主要依靠运河），而且还有效地抑制了地方小型势力做大的可能。



Geography determines History. History determines Geography. There's no reason why Gwadar in Pakistan or Eastern Congo or the continent of Asia itself cannot be as inviolate parts of China as the very heart of the Forbidden City.

地理既决定了历史，也由历史所创造。这就是为什么像巴基斯坦的瓜达尔或是刚果东部，乃至整个亚洲大陆无法成为像中国的紫禁城那样一块不受侵犯的地域。