论中国古代航海文化底蕴——以郑和下西洋的泉州元素为视点

Cultural Deposits of Ancient Chinese Navigation:Elements of Quanzhou Embodied in Zheng He's Voyage to the West Seas

郑和下西洋是人类航海史上一次规模大影响广的海上交通活动,本世纪以来一直受到学术界的关注,关注的焦点大多集中在郑和下西洋引发的政治、经济、文化诸方面的影响。郑和下西洋虽然被世界各国视为中国航海史上的一次盛举,但是不论其影响多大,似乎都难以改变中国是"内陆文明国家"的观点。从泉州海外交通与郑和下西洋的关系来论述中国古代航海背景与能力,关注的不在于郑和下西洋本身,而在于说明它是在中国古代深厚的航海文化底蕴基础上得以实现的。

Zheng He＇s voyage to the West Seas,a large-scale navigation in world history,has been receiving attention from the academic circles whose focus of study has been on its political,economic and cultural influences.However great these influences are,they are unable to change the fact that China is considered as a＂country of land civilization＂.By exploring the background and skills of ancient Chinese navigation through a survey of the relationship between the overseas communication of Quanzhou and Zheng＇s voyage to the West Seas,this paper focuses on the how the deep cultural deposits laid a solid foundation for his voyage rather than the voyage itself.