汉语文献中的阿曼港口

Umani Ports in Chinese Sources

宋朝(960~1279)建立以前,中国的地理学家似乎对印度洋的不同地区兴趣不浓,不过,印度洋通往中国的航线可能在汉朝(公元前206~220)后期就已经建立起来。伊斯兰教兴起前后,从印度洋西部直接前往中国的航运甚至已经进行了几个世纪。人们知道那里的国家叫波斯(Pars/Fars),后来被大食(阿拉伯)所代替———这是中国史官非常熟悉的一个事实。当宋朝被女真人所迫将都城迁到港口城市杭州,陆上交通线又部分地被不友好的国家阻断,他们越来越多地转向海洋,从此中国逐步成为一个航海大国,并发展出可能在当时最发达的航海技术。

Though Uman was already known to Chinese geographers in the pre-Ming period,exact information can be only gathered after the sea expeditions had started in 1405'Due to the fact that most of the archival material of these expeditions was destroyed in later decades of the same dynasty,the sources remain very limited'More substantial information is given from Dhofar and Lasa,whereas the exact location of the latter place remains disputed'Nevertheless we may assume that the information about Uman went much more into depth as we can suggest by scrutinizing the Zheng He's map.