登陆注册
6939500000013

第13章

In 1433, Zheng He passed away at sea. With a huge royal fleet, and Zheng He's hair, boots and hat onboard, his lieutenant set forth into the setting sun at Liujiawan of Taicang. Emperor Xuande issued an immediate order to put a stop to the voyages, the flags of the great Ming Dynasty completely disappearing from the seas. The Ming prohibition on maritime trade would immediately become even more pervasive.

In order to protect the imperial authority, the country both opened, and closed its doors to the outside world.

After extensive research, it has been concluded that Zheng He's voyages would have reached the Americas 87 years earlier than Columbus, and would have circled the Cape of Good Hope 93 years earlier than Vasco da Gama. And so, if proven, an entire nation's pride will be heard once again throughout the lands. But from an objective point of view, the significance of Zheng He or Columbus discovering the new world, and Vasco da Gama's opening of the Far East trade route is simply not of the same class.

Columbus went in search of the New World with a business objective. Before his trip began, he signed a famous agreement with the King of Spain, promising a share in any fortune his discovery may lead to. He would receive the title of commander and governor, as well as one-tenth of any profit made. His partnership with the King of Spain was one protected by law, a completely foreign concept to the Eastern notion of "masters and slaves." This sort of contract would become a defining feature of the industrial revolution.

In 1497, Vasco da Gama circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope, through his east-bound journey into the Indian Ocean opening up the trade route from Europe to the Far East. The Portuguese were the first European traders to take this route through India, Malacca, and eventually China and Japan. Along with merchants, missionaries also utilized this route in order to propagate their ideologies. This was the beginning of an unprecedented era in the history of humankind…

American scholar and author of The History of Civilization Ralph Burns once stated: "Overseas exploration voyages were an essential precursor to and stimulus for the industrial revolution…The consequences of colonial establishment would be impossible to estimate. For starters, the barren, confined Mediterranean would become a global enterprise."

CHINA's MIGRANT history is fundamentally different from the West. China has no history of colonization for exploiting natural resources. "Gold rush" migrations were also a rare occurrence throughout history. Most large scale migration of Chinese has been driven by famine or war. Chinese migrants were either victims of natural disaster, or refugees. These are the victims of history, and sometimes, they would become unexpected rewriters of it.

From the end of the Song Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, central China would be the victim of war after war and countless military disasters in a time of outside invasion. This led to the decline of central China's civilization and economy, as well as a wave of migration to Guangdong. Migrants spread, redrawing the map of Chinese civilization that is slowly shifting toward the South. The intersection of indigenous, Western and South-east Asian cultures would give birth to a diverse new central Chinese culture. Without this, there would have been no "journey to the north" of ideology, culture, government or military only a few hundred years later.

Xiangshan is blessed with a location on the estuary of the Pearl River, its fertile lands known by locals as sha (sand) or shatian (tidal field) of Xiangshan. These vast barren area became thriving migrant inland settlements. The mass of southbound migration had a profound impact on the culture, economy and social demographics of Xiangshan.

Historically, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macao were all parts of Xiangshan. As a migrant settlement, Xiangshan developed its own distinct and unique culture. Starting from 1152, the seed of Xiangshan culture was planted in the Song, developed in the Ming and Qing, and matured in recent times. Its own identity was defined by a concentration of Cantonese, Fujian and Hakka cultures.

Ancient Xiangshan County was established in the Song Dynasty, and had its first crucial developmental steps in the same period. After the first emperor of Song Dynasty Zhao Kuangyin's rise to the throne in 960, in addition to a focus on increasing productivity, he also ordered the return of empty land reclaimed since the Tang Dynasty from 618 and its following five dynasties to the farming population. Soon after, he further added that reclaimed land would become property of farmers who developed it, and only tax would be solicited, not rent. These two reforms set the foundation for Xiangshan's development, not only fostering a productive agricultural industry, but also the excavation of minerals and precious metals.

On the 13th day of the first lunar month of 1279, Song's Deputy Prime Minister Wen Tianxiang was sent to Xiangshan by the Yuan army, and forced by the Yuan army's commander-in-chief Zhang Hongfan to write a letter to persuade the Ming military commander Zhang Shijie to surrender. Wen Tianxiang immortalized this in his poetic response:

Waves of destruction,

Terror surrounds.

Rivers and plains vanish with the wind,

Our livelihoods wrenched with raindrops of terror.

The coasts scream fear,

The oceans sigh.

We are born to die,

But not in vain.

同类推荐
  • The Oriental Express 东方哈达:中国青藏铁路全景实录

    The Oriental Express 东方哈达:中国青藏铁路全景实录

    《东方哈达:中国青藏铁路全景实录》采取“上行列车”与“下行列车”交错并行的叙述结构,把历史和现实贯穿在了一起。讲述了孙中山、毛泽东、邓小平、江泽民在修建青藏铁路上的决策细节、青藏铁路修筑中的难题以及筑路人鲜为人知的故事。
  • 汉译英翻译能力研究

    汉译英翻译能力研究

    本书绝无大而无当的空论,细节照顾得非常周到,从词语搭配、句法结构、语义结构,到审美篇章,乃至百科常识、专业背景,均在翻译能力的总框架下得到关照。作者还讨论了学界争论已久的教学翻译与翻译教学,也触及了翻译经验与翻译能力的关系等议题。本书可称得上是汉译英翻译能力研究领域的扛鼎之作。相信无论是理论研究领域的学者,还是教学前沿的教师,或是翻译专业的学生,都能从本书中各取所需,从中获益。
  • 用耳朵听最优美的散文

    用耳朵听最优美的散文

    这本《用耳朵听最优美的散文》以“用耳听”为学习理念,精选了130多篇精致散文,均用词精准简洁,语句流畅优美,将引领学习者进入趣、情、爱与理的博大世界,使其更加充满信心地去追求梦想。每篇文章并配有导读语、词汇注释、长难句解析、背诵指数及外教精心录制的录音。本书将为学习者展现一个美丽新世界并使其英语学习更上层楼。
  • Z. Marcas

    Z. Marcas

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • The Last Chieftain 妹娃要过河

    The Last Chieftain 妹娃要过河

    故事发生在兵荒马乱年代长江三峡边的一个土家山寨。伍娘是一个哑女,但聪颖过人舞技绝世;无意中撞进山寨的外乡人李安因偷吃土家祭祀的供品受到重罚;土司覃尧看似罚他却是救他,并许诺将伍娘许与李安。伍娘出嫁前夜按照祖先赋予的初夜权,将自己奉献给了神。土司覃尧作为神的化身得到了伍娘但与此同时才发现自己原本深爱着这个女子,从此陷入深深的痛苦。李安不能接受山寨的习俗,将对伍娘的喜爱化成了厌恶和仇恨,不断给纯洁无辜的伍娘以伤害,土司覃尧却因信义而只能默默地忍受煎熬无法相助,火焰一般的爱恨情仇之间,美丽的伍娘以她的生命完成了最后的舞蹈。李安逃离山寨,覃尧在长江边堵住了他,命运将指向何方?
热门推荐
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 明月炉

    明月炉

    那场烈火,燃尽了那雕梁画栋的流光殿,也燃尽了人间最后一朵富贵花。那漫天的殷红,像烧着了天空,皎皎明月,如置身熔炉。很多很多年后,她孤身漫步在同样熙攘的街道,人流在她身旁不断穿梭,凡尘橘黄色的灯光点亮了亘古的寂寂长夜,她依旧会想起,那青衣少年站在灯火阑珊处,像临世的谪仙踏着人世滚滚烟尘而来,他说,你拿了我的祖传玉佩,以后就要嫁给我哦,小公主。那双眼,盛着世间最干净的笑意。
  • 重生浪潮之巅

    重生浪潮之巅

    当这个时代到来的时候,锐不可当,万物肆意生长,尘埃与曙光升腾,江河汇聚成川,无名山丘崛起为峰,天地一时,无比开阔。于是重回1990年的方辰,一头扎进了时代的浪潮中。这一年岁月正好。群号:705270966
  • 百世异闻录——河神篇

    百世异闻录——河神篇

    我得事先说明一下我现在的处境,我成了千千万万穿越者之一,你以为死后穿越就能改变我死的命运吗?不不不,死了穿越还是会死,穿越也改变不了死的命运。所以我穿越成了一水鬼。
  • 独家盛宠小娇妻

    独家盛宠小娇妻

    初次见面,她以为他喜欢的是男人。而他却将她按在怀里,在她耳边轻笑,“特意激怒我,想邀请我?”她眨了眨眼,迷蒙的水眸看着眼前的男人。“可是,大叔,你好像有点老。”于是,等她被男人死死的吃住,委屈的时候,她才知道,这个男人的确很老,是个货真价实的老司机!
  • 公子请出戏

    公子请出戏

    无人所知的荒墓,带出一个充满秘密的失忆男子,夜千邪无奈陷入一场诡秘风波,是选择抽身离去,明哲保身,还是放弃好不容易得来的自由,再次陷入危险之中……
  • 腹黑总裁的美女保镖

    腹黑总裁的美女保镖

    镜头一:稀里糊涂被夺去了初夜,始作俑者振振有词:“你强要了我,得对我负责!”“女人强要男人?说出去也没信”“女上男下式,还说不是?”。镜头二:“你到底喜欢我哪一点,我改还不行吗?”“我就是喜欢你不喜欢我,你改啊。”镜头三:“老公,我像什么呀?”“你像孙悟空。”“啊?我像只猴子?”“你永远逃不出我如来的手心。”
  • 大明星奇缘

    大明星奇缘

    娱乐圈中不乏各种非常有趣的故事,想知道大明星是如何产生的么,各位看官们,赶紧来看吧!保证越看越有趣,最终爽到极点!
  • 幽默故事大全集(优秀小学生必读)

    幽默故事大全集(优秀小学生必读)

    《幽默故事大全集》是一本适合小学生在课业之余阅读的幽默小故事总汇,有助于缓解孩子的学习压力,让孩子收获更多的快乐。滴水藏海,笑中见智,这里的每一篇小幽默都蕴藏着一定的道理,或生活哲理,或人生感悟,或科学奇趣。孩子在阅读幽默故事的过程中,体验到的不仅是欢乐愉悦,还能收获知识、启迪心灵,有助于孩子的健康成长。
  • 在他怀中撒个娇

    在他怀中撒个娇

    【甜宠短篇】【1V1SC】外人都知道莫青宴高冷矜贵,冷漠疏离,不近女色,都以为他下一步就要吃斋念佛。只有洛千柔知道莫青宴占有欲特别强,男明星不准看,小裙子不准穿……条件多得让她心里烦。她插着腰,提出分手。莫青宴冷冷一笑,将她按在沙发上,低沉着嗓音,问:“你确定?”为了得到他,布下天罗地网,现木已成舟,怎么可能轻易放手?莫青宴:我的愿望,垄断你。