近二十年来英语学术界有关中国海上丝绸之路史研究的新趋向

Latest Trends in English-language Research on China's Maritime History

最近,对中国海上丝绸之路史的研究,西方学术界出现了“范式转变”的潮流。以往的研究,学者们沉溺于欧洲中心论或中国中心论的研究模式,常将中国与西方简单地二元对立。然而,当代学者正试图跳出这种旧的研究藩篱,不再将中国古代海洋视为边缘或次要的区域,而是将欧洲人视为众多外来者中的一个群体,从而探索西方是如何遵守和适应亚洲本已建立起来的成熟模式和惯例。这种新趋势,为开辟新的课题铺平了道路。如今,亚洲海洋史研究的范围非常宽广,如海洋考古、港口城市、航线、贸易和文化网络、移民、地方宗教信仰、海洋法、外交、海防、海盗和走私等,均有涉及。

Recently,there has been something of a"paradigm shift"whereby China's maritime past is no longer viewed as a peripheral history or as a minor tradition.The use of a wide range of sources from archaeological findings to literary texts,official documents,dairies,stone inscriptions,and pictorial materials,to ethnographic fieldwork and linguistic evidence,hallmark this new research.As the new Asian maritime history moves away from Eurocentric and Sinocentric models and simple East-West dichotomies,scholars now are more likely to explain how the West conformed and accommodated to well-established Asian patterns and practices.Europeans were simply one group among many others.New trends have paved the way for a variety of new research agendas.Today the scope of China's maritime history is boundless:maritime archaeology,port cities,sailing routes,trade and cultural networks,diasporas,local religious cults,maritime law,diplomacy,coastal defence,piracy and smuggling.