古代中國是超級大國嗎？

Pun Anansakunwat, Read Chinese history for 17 years 學(xué)些中國歷史17年

China has been a global superpower in almost every historical period.
The only exception was the century of humiliation (1850–1949), or during the imperialism era.
In Pre-Qin dynasties, China was ruled (nominally) by Shang and Zhou rulers. Their territories, despite being small compared to present-day China, was larger than its contemporary civilization, such as ancient Greece and ancient Egypt. The technology was at least equal to both civilizations. Almost every nomadic tribe in China proper was subjugated by Chinese states under the Zhou dynasty. The tribal people were sinicized, and became “Chinese.” During this age, Chinese culture flourished. Many ideological groups (Confucianism, Legalism, etc.) spawned in this era.
Chinese civilization in the Spring-Autumn period.
Chinese civilization in the Warring States period, notice that the entire territory of Chinese civilization increased because of the colonization of the outer areas by states, especially Qin and Chu. Qin defeated as many as 25 tribes, and annexed the areas once controlled by nomads.
In Qin dynasty and Han dynasty, China became a unified, centralized empire (completely in the reign of Emperor Wu of Han). China became the end destination of the silk road. Trade and economy were flourished. Unlike Rome that was defeated by the nomads, Han Dynasty managed to defeat the mighty Xiongnu confederacy at its homeland, and repelled these nomads from the Chinese border. Furthermore, the eastern part of Central Asia, and Korea was conquered by Han Dynasty as well.
Map of Han Dynasty: National Geographic Magazine. Han Dynasty later defeated the Yue people in Fujian, and sinicized them.
China (In red) had a large economy since antiquity. Notice that the share of world GDP decreased sharply during the century of humiliation (1849–1949), which paralleled to the imperialist era. The only country that had a larger share of world GDP in antiquity than China was India. However, since AD1, ancient India was not united into a single state as China (Han Dynasty). The closest ones were the Gupta Empire (320CE–550CE).

中國幾乎在歷史的每一個時期，都是全球超級大國。
唯一的例外是1850年到1949年屈辱百年，或者說帝國主義時期。
先秦時期，中國的統(tǒng)治者是商和周（名義上），他們的領(lǐng)土雖然比現(xiàn)在的中國小，但比同時代的其他文明，如古希臘文明和古埃及文明，都要大得多。（當(dāng)時中國的）科技水平，與這兩個文明古國水平差不多。在周朝時期，幾乎所有的游牧部落，都被周朝征服，這些游牧民族被華夏化，成為“中國人”，在這個時期，中國文化蓬勃發(fā)展，許多思想流派（儒家、法家等等）都是在這個時期產(chǎn)生的。
春秋時期的中華文明。
戰(zhàn)國時期的中華文明。
請注意，中華文明疆域的增加是由于國家對外圍地區(qū)的擴展，特別是秦國和楚國的拓張。秦國打?。缤隽耍┒噙_25個小國家，吞并了曾經(jīng)由游牧民族控制的地區(qū)。
秦漢時期，中國成為一個統(tǒng)一的中央集權(quán)帝國（在漢武帝統(tǒng)治時期達到頂峰）。貿(mào)易和經(jīng)濟蓬勃發(fā)展，與被游牧民族打敗的羅馬不同，漢朝成功地擊敗了強大的匈奴，并將這些游牧民族從中國邊境趕走，此外，中亞東部和朝鮮也被漢朝征服。
漢代地圖：來源于國家地理雜志。
漢朝后來在福建地區(qū)擊敗越國，并將他們?nèi)A夏化。
中國自古以來就是一個經(jīng)濟大國。請注意，在1849年到1949年這一百年的屈辱時期，（中國占）世界GDP的份額急劇下降。在古時期，印度是唯一一個，在世界GDP中所占份額比中國更高的國家。但是，自公元元年之后，古印度并沒有像中國（漢朝）那樣，成為一個統(tǒng)一的國家，古印度最接近統(tǒng)一的是笈多帝國（公元320年至公元550年）。

Pothiraju Seetharam
The superpower era only began in the latter part of the 20th century, when a large nuclear arsenal, the ability to project power through an army and/or navy and a large economy was possessed. I''d say they can be called super powers only in the globalised era which is fairly recent.

超級大國時代始于20世紀(jì)下半葉，一個國家擁有大型核武庫，有能力通過軍隊或者龐大的經(jīng)濟實力投射力量，（才能被稱為超級大國）。我認為，只有在全球化時代，他們才可以被稱為超級大國，而全球化時代離現(xiàn)在很近。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

Sun Scott, studied Interdiscplinary (2004)
From the first Shang Dynasty all the way to the current People’s Republic of China, only three dynasties stood out to the world that were close to qualify as world power, the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty (China’s zenith period), before Mongol annihilation. Only these three Chinese dynasties can closely characterized as regional power. The rest of the various dynasties were either simply too weak, too isolated or too poor to be considered a world power.
This is a historical fact and obxtive reality about China’s history.
The following were historical Superpowers before the United States, in chronological order:
Mesopotamia
Egyptian Empire
Indus Valley empire
Shang Dynasty (limited influence)
Persian Empire
Greek Empire (including Alexander’s empire)
Han Dynasty (there you go China. Yet, still limited in influence)
Roman Empire
Tang Dynasty
Song Dynasty
Mongol Empire
Mughal Empire
Spanish Empire
British Empire
United States of America
These were the major powers throughout World history.
But, if we are to be true to the real definition of a Superpower, only two countries came close to world domination in history, that is the British Empire (UK) and the United States. The other country that qualifies to this definition is the Spanish Empire.
*United States of America (The Current lone Superpower)

從商朝開始，一直到現(xiàn)在，只有三個中國朝代接近世界強國的位置，即漢朝、唐朝和宋朝（中國的鼎盛時期）。只有這三個朝代才能被描述為地區(qū)強國。其他各朝代要么太弱，要么太孤立，要么太窮，不能被視為世界強國。
這是中國歷史的歷史事實和客觀現(xiàn)實。
以下是美國之前歷史上的大國，按時間順序排列：
美索不達米亞
埃及帝國
印度河流域國家
商朝（影響力有限）
波斯帝國
希臘帝國（包括亞歷山大帝國）
漢朝（中國，但是影響仍然有限）
羅馬帝國
唐朝
宋朝
蒙古帝國
莫臥兒帝國
西班牙帝國
大英帝國
美利堅合眾國
這些都是世界歷史上的大國。
但是，如果我們要真正理解超級大國的定義，歷史上只有兩個國家接近世界統(tǒng)治地位，那就是大英帝國和美國，另一個符合這個定義的國家是西班牙帝國。
而美利堅合眾國，是目前唯一的超級大國。

Scott Tyler, B.Ed. Education, University of Western Ontario (2004)
No, China has never been a superpower. A ‘superpower’ is a country that has influence globally, and China’s influence has only ever been regional. In fact, beyond Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam, China has had no colonies or protectorates. Sure, it influenced Japan, but never occupied it.
Also, China has often been invaded and ruled by foreigners: Mongols, Manchus, and Jin ruled China for centuries. Then there were long periods when China was divided into 2, 3, 6, 10 or more separate kingdoms.

不，中國從來都不是超級大國。“超級大國”指的是一個在全球有影響力的國家，而中國的影響力只是區(qū)域性的。事實上，除了朝鮮、蒙古和越南，中國沒有殖民地和保護國。當(dāng)然，它影響了日本，但從未占領(lǐng)過日本。
此外，古代中國朝代更替經(jīng)常被侵略和統(tǒng)治：蒙古人、滿族人和女真人統(tǒng)治了中國幾個世紀(jì)，還有，中國還有很長的時期分裂成2個、3個甚至多個獨立的王國。

Daniel Wong
The term “superpower” that is used in the present context has a very specific meaning and that is a country that can project power and influence across the world. If that country cannot project its power and influence across the world but only in a particular region, then that country is a regional power.
In ancient times, no country even knew that the world was round much less travelled around the world much less project its power and influence across the world. Hence, no. China was not a super power in ancient times and neither was any other country including the older civilizations of Egypt, Persia and India. At best, these were regional powers.

在目前情況下使用的“超級大國”一詞有著非常具體的含義，它是一個能夠在全世界投射力量和影響力的國家。如果該國不能將其力量和影響投射到全世界，而只能投射到某一特定區(qū)域，那么該國就是一個區(qū)域大國。
在古代，甚至沒有一個國家知道地球是圓的，更別說周游世界和向全世界展示自己的力量和影響力了，因此，古代中國不是一個超級大國，其他任何國家也不是，包括埃及、波斯和印度的文明古國。這些國家，充其量，只能算是地區(qū)強國。

Mark Dallas, Professor,Political Science & Asian Studies,unx College NY
In my opinion, terms like “superpower” and “globalization” are inappropriately used with reference to ancient time periods. None of the great ancient civilizations had a global reach, and there was relatively sporadic and infrequent contacts between them, so you can think of the world as divided into regions, and each region may have had its own local “superpower” civilization at different points in time. The truly trans-regional empires (like the Mongols or the Macedonians under Alexander), generally did not last very long, partly because of their inability to create large-scale organizational capacities to rule. They could conquer, but not rule.
Globalization (in both economic and political terms) did not really become a phenomenon until European colonization. This does not deny that other civilizations had global trading routes prior to and during European colonization, but as far as I am aware, there was not nearly as much state-sponsored colonization. This is the beginning of the very first era of globalization.

在我看來，像“超級大國”和“全球化”這樣的術(shù)語在古代是不恰當(dāng)?shù)模瑐ゴ蟮墓糯拿?，沒有一個是全球性的，它們之間的聯(lián)系也相對零星而不頻繁，所以你可以把世界看作是不同地區(qū)，每個地區(qū)在不同的時間點可能都有自己地方的“超級大國”文明。真正的跨地區(qū)帝國（如蒙古帝國和亞歷山大帝國），一般不會持續(xù)很長時間，部分原因是它們沒有大規(guī)模的組織能力來進行統(tǒng)治，他們可以征服，但不能統(tǒng)治。
（在經(jīng)濟和政治方面的）全球化，直到歐洲殖民化后才真正成為一種現(xiàn)象，這并不否認其他文明在歐洲殖民之前有全球貿(mào)易路線，但據(jù)我所知，幾乎沒有國家發(fā)起過殖民，這是全球化開始的標(biāo)志。

Steve Cai, Developer at Morningstar (2013-present)
As you konw, the ancient china is only 5 to 10 provinces than now China.
Some many nationality nearby china invade china and !!!!
Sucessfully Invade china and gover people.
But, they often to be one of chinese now. Because Calture! Chinese ancient calture can make any people conquested!
This is the super power of china from ancient to now I belive.

如你所知，古代中國只有現(xiàn)在中國5到10個省那么大。
古代中國朝代更替。
但是，他們現(xiàn)在是中國人，因為文化！中國古代的文化可以征服任何人！
我相信這是中國從古到今都是超級大國（的原因）。

Peter Yan, studied at Student for Life
The concept of “Super Power” is a relatively recent one in history As others have pointed out, China certainly was a great “regional” power during much of her history. To the extent that modes of transportation in ancient time limited the extend of reach, I do not think global power existed anywhere in the ancient world.
About 300–400 years before Industrial Revolution, General Zheng He of Chinese Ming Dynasty led an expeditionary journey of what was then the largest armada in the world with his largest ship stretching 120 meters (more than 390 feet) in length. He reached S Asia, SE Asia, through (modern names) Strait of Malacca, Sri Lanka, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, back down to sail the east coast of Africa. In his journey, he did not take any land for his Emperor.
China had never been a consistently and outwardly aggressive invader throughout much of her history. It was more a wall-building (to wit - The Great Wall of China) sovereignty-defender, rather than an aggressive territory-taker. Its aggression were mostly for defensive needs to prevent bothersome intrusions from one of its many neighbors, such as Vietnam from the south.

China had, indeed, been invaded, and occupied, by foreigners. However, all of these foreigners were unable to rule over a Chinese people united by their culture for long. It is a culture that emphasis benevolence (仁), doing the right thing (義) and morality (道德). The Mongolians lasted for less than 100 years. The Manchurian did better, but was ultimately driven out also.

Chinese Emperors tended to rule by emphasizing moral authority, even doing so while being corrupt. Their corruptions, together with the closing of its borders to the outside world after the aforementioned He expedition, were the major reasons why China could not sustain its strength continuously throughout history and into modernity. Their rules were by no means perfect. However, Chinese atrocities from these Emperors were mostly directed inwardly, seldom outwardly, including the most recent one called Cultural Revolution. However, Cultural Revolution was not based on Chinese philosophies historically. The theory of Com...ism can ultimately be traced back to the theory of never-ending conflicts proposed by German philosopher, George Hegel.
The idea of a “Super-Power” globally never existed in Chinese history.
America, from early days of its history, was intent on being dominant. Its doctrine of “Manifest Destiny” was the philosophical foundation to justify the killings of North American natives and the robbing of their lands. When its own country was strong enough, it came up with a “Monroe Doctrine”.When Cold War ended, and most Americans were expecting prosperity from “peace dividends”, its military-industrial complex, with collusion of its government, came up with the idea of “Exceptionalism with Missionary Obligation”.
The resistances from those who do not want to be dominated are truly the causes of the chaos we see in the world today.
I, like most residents of this world, would prefer to live in a world of harmonious existence wherein all are EQUAL. American needs to learn that acceptances of differences among cultures and respect of human rights have to be universally applied, not only in America.

“超級大國”的概念，在歷史上來看是一個相對較新的概念，正如其他人所指出的那樣，中國在其歷史的大部分時間里，肯定是一個偉大的“地區(qū)”大國。古代的交通方式，限制了實力的延伸，我認為古時候的任何地方，都不存在全球性勢力。
大約在工業(yè)革命前300到400年前，中國明朝的鄭和將軍，率領(lǐng)著當(dāng)時世界上最大的無敵艦隊遠征，他的艦隊中，最大的戰(zhàn)艦長達120米（390多英尺），他到達了南亞、東南亞，經(jīng)過了馬六甲海峽，到達斯里蘭卡、阿曼灣、阿拉伯海、亞丁灣、紅海。在他的旅途中，他沒有為他的皇帝占領(lǐng)任何土地。
在中國的歷史上，中國從來都不是一個侵略者，它更像是一座長城，而不是一個侵略性的領(lǐng)土占領(lǐng)者，它的進攻主要是為了防御需要，以防止來自其眾多鄰國令人不安的入侵，例如來自南部的越南。
古代中國確實被外國人侵略和占領(lǐng)過，但是，所有這些外國人，都無法長期統(tǒng)治由中華文化團結(jié)起來的中國人民，這是一種強調(diào)仁愛、道德的文化。蒙古人只統(tǒng)治了中國不到100年，滿洲人做得更好，但最終也被趕了出去。
中國歷史上從未出現(xiàn)過“超級大國”的概念。
而美國，從其歷史早期開始，就致力于成為主導(dǎo)（世界的國家），美國的“天定命運論”，是殺戮北美土著人和掠奪他們土地的哲學(xué)基礎(chǔ)，當(dāng)這個國家足夠強大時，它提出了“門羅主義”。當(dāng)冷戰(zhàn)結(jié)束，大多數(shù)美國人期待從“和平紅利”中獲得繁榮時，軍工巨頭與政府勾結(jié)，提出了“（美國）例外論”的構(gòu)想。
那些不想被統(tǒng)治的人的反抗，才是我們今天所看到的世界混亂的真正原因。
我和世界上大多數(shù)居民一樣，寧愿生活在一個人人平等的和諧世界中。美國人需要知道，接受不同文化間的差異并尊重人QUAN，必須得到普遍適用，而不僅僅是在美國。
【譯注：“天命論”是19世紀(jì)美國人的一種信條，認為對外擴張是美國的天命?！?/b>