修昔底德的战争叙述及其对当代国际关系学的意义

Thucydides’s War Narrative and Its Significance to Contemporary International Relations

当代国际关系的著作在研究战争的时候一般都会详细地叙述战争的来龙去脉、战争的时代背景、战争前后人的反应以及战争的后果和影响。但是,中国古代关于战争的叙述可能难以做到如此详细。尤其是中国史书对战争的叙述往往是见战不见人,只关注战争的结果,即便关注人,也主要是那些决策者和战略家,一般的人是被湮没在历史尘埃之中的。相比之下,古希腊修昔底德的《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》关于战争的叙述则非常详细,不仅详细地描述了战争的过程,而且对战争的决策、人的心理变化等都作了细致入微的刻画。特别是该书通过大量的具有现场感的演说词,给读者以身临其境的感觉,并通过这些演说词的内容揭示了现代国际关系和国际法的诸多原则和机制。因而,它对现代国际关系研究具有重要意义。

When studying war, contemporary works on international relations generally describe in detail the context of the war,the background of the war, the reaction of people before and after the war, and the consequences and influence of the war.However, it may be difficult to describe the war in such detail in ancient China. In particular, the Chinese history books often focus on the outcome of the war rather than the war itself. Even if they focus on the people, they are mainly the decision-makers and strategists. The general people are buried in the dust of history. In contrast, Thucydides’ s History of the Peloponnesian War describes the war in great detail, not only describing the process of the war in detail, but also depicting the decision-making of the war and the psychological changes of people in detail. In particular, through a large number of speeches with a sense of scene, the book gives readers a sense of immersive experience, and reveals many principles and mechanisms of modern international relations and international law through the contents of these speeches. Therefore, it is of great significance to modern international relations.