由出口商品的变迁看古代海上丝绸之路的兴衰

The Exploration of the Rise and Decline of the Maritime Silk Road from the Historical Change of Major Export Commodities

从16世纪后期到19世纪末20世纪初,经由海上丝绸之路出口的主要中国商品由作为传统手工业制成品的丝织品、瓷器变为生丝、茶叶等中间产品与农副制品,再到生丝、茶叶出口的衰落,呈现出一条渐次明显的衰变轨迹。而不同商品出口的衰落,又都离不开西方(包括日本)对中国商品生产技艺的长期学习。可以说,正是由于中国经济文化发展的停滞与西方的锐意进取,最终造成中国由一个向世界出口高端制成品的先进国家变为只能向西方提供初级产品的落后国家,导致古代海上丝绸之路走到了终点。由此,保持强大而先进的经济文化就成为今天重建海上丝绸之路的题中之意。

From the late 16th century to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century,the main Chinese commodities exported via the Maritime Silk Road have changed from the finished products of traditional handicraft industry such as silk fabrics and porcelain to the intermediate products and agricultural and sideline products such as raw silk and tea,followed by the decline of the export of raw silk and tea.This change demonstrated a gradual and obvious trajectory of the decay.The decline of different commodity exports is inseparable from the long-term learning of Chinese commodity production techniques by the west(and Japan).It can be said that the stagnation of China’s economic and cultural development and the aggressive progress of the west(and Japan)eventually led to the historical transformation of China from an advanced country that exported high-end manufactured goods to the world to a backward country that could only provide primary products to the west(and Japan),leading to the end of the Maritime Silk Road.Therefore,maintaining a strong and advanced economy and culture has become the theme of today’s reconstruction of the Maritime Silk Road.