香料与世界

Spice and the World

地理大发现多多少少源于寻找东方宝物——主要是香料——的驱动,在这样的驱动下,欧洲构造了自己的殖民地图。而这一欲望具有历史的维度,它源于希腊、埃及、罗马文明对于香料的钟爱,作为占领者和野蛮人的欧洲人不过继承了这种感情,并在自己的宗教、饮食、医药领域发扬。另一边的中国,香料和佛教一起大量传入,在以奢侈品的方式存在数百年之后,因为海洋贸易和朝贡,以及明政府的经济政策被推送到民间社会。

Around 1500, the world experi- enced an explosion of exploration which greatly transformed the world for the next several hundreds of years. During this time, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and other seafaring entrepreneurs sought new routes to India＇s Malabar Coast and the Indonesian archipelago. The objective of their ef- forts was mainly spice specifically pepper, cinna- mon, nutmeg, clove, and a few others. In the en- suing years, the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Dutch would all seek to dominate the spice trade, employing an astonishing amount of blood- shed and brutality to achieve their aims. They were undermined only by pirates, who would occasional- ly plunder the spice boats, relieving them of their precious cargo.