The lower limit of time in ancient China can be understood differently. If it is considered that before modern times, it is ancient, then the lower limit should be drawn before the Opium War. If slave society is considered ancient, it is difficult to determine the lower limit because the issue of ancient history staging is still under discussion. There is no dispute about the lower limit of time in the ancient world. However, it will not be postponed until modern times, because there is still a Middle Ages (or Middle Ages) in the middle. This article limits the time to around the fifth century AD. It must be pointed out that the staging of China's ancient history is not involved here, so as to understand China's position in the ancient world through comparison. \x0d\ China is one of the ancient civilizations in the world, which is well known. Many monographs can be written about China's ancient position in the ancient world. This paper only introduces China's unique position and role in ancient civilization from three aspects. \x0d\ 1。 Among the ancient civilizations in the world, China is the only country with an uninterrupted civilization tradition. \x0d\ The dawn of China civilization appeared in the Xia Dynasty, about 2 1 century BC. Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties are also called "Three Generations", which is an ancient saying in China, and so is Confucius. Sima Qian's Historical Records contains three generations of the world, which basically confirms the lineage of Shang Dynasty from the data of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and the lineage of Xia Dynasty seems to be well-founded. In recent years, some archaeologists believe that Erlitou culture is Xia culture. It is more and more well-founded that China's civilization began in the Xia Dynasty. \x0d\ Civilizations that appeared before the 20th century BC include the ancient Egyptian civilization in the Yellow River valley, Sumerian civilization and Akkadian civilization in the Euphrates River valley and Tigris River valley (starting in the late 4th century BC), indus valley civilization civilization (starting around 2350 BC) and Crete civilization in the Aegean Sea (starting at about the same time as the Xia Dynasty). These are the five oldest ancient civilizations in the world. \x0d\ In 2000 BC, China gradually entered the bronze age of prosperity. During this period, it experienced the changes of two dynasties: Shang Ge Xia Ming and Zhou Ge Yin Mingming. Although Xia, Shang and Zhou originally existed from different tribes at the same time, there was a * * * Lord among them, that is, the son of heaven, and the status of this * * * Lord and related etiquette were handed down in turn among the three generations. "History? Nowadays, people repeatedly say that the Shang Dynasty ruled in Xia and the Zhou Dynasty ruled in Yin, but the "destiny" passed down from generation to generation is the same. Confucius said, "Yin Yin knows its gains and losses; "Zhou Yin, its gains and losses are also known." This also shows that although there is mutual transmission between the three generations, there is also mutual transmission. In recent years, Oracle Bone Inscriptions has been discovered in Joo Won?. Although there are not many visible Oracle bones at present, it is enough to prove the continuity of civilization during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. \x0d\ In 2000 BC, the civilizations in Egypt and the two river basins were basically in a prosperous stage (Egypt had a middle kingdom and a new kingdom, and the two river basins had a Babylonian kingdom). At the same time, Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor also produced some countries, while Mycenae civilization in Crete appeared in the Aegean region. But during this period, indus valley civilization perished (about 1750 BC), Crete? Mycenae civilization also perished one after another (about15th century BC and12nd century BC). Besides, their character and history have been forgotten. Except for the linear characters of Mycenae civilization, other characters have not been successfully interpreted so far. \x0d\ In the first half of BC 1000, the Western Zhou Dynasty in China declined after its prosperity, and then there was a situation in which the princes competed for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period. During this period, China entered the Iron Age. The tradition of China's ancient civilization laid a solid foundation in this period. The core contents of the oldest and most authoritative documents handed down from generation to generation, The Book of Songs and Historical Records, were formed in this period, and Confucius also edited the Spring and Autumn Annals. Sima Qian's Chronicle of Twelve Governors began in * * * and the first year (84 BC1), and China has a continuous historical record since then. \x0d\ In the first half of the first millennium BC, ancient civilizations in Egypt and the two river basins turned from prosperity to decline. The Assyrian Empire, which rose in the northern part of the two river basins, and the Persian Empire, which rose in the Iranian plateau, successively conquered the ancient civilizations of Egypt and West Asia (8th-7th century BC and the second half of 6th century BC). Egypt and the two oldest centers of civilization in the world and other ancient civilizations in Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor near them have basically lost their political independence since then. During this period, many "Aryan" countries were formed in the Indus Valley and Ganges Valley, Medes and Persians were successively formed in the Iranian Plateau, countless city-states were formed in Greece, and Rome was formed in Italy. It can be said that except for China, other ancient civilizations produced in the Bronze Age have basically lost their independence, and their historical position has been replaced by the above-mentioned emerging countries. In the second half of \x0d\ BC 1000, after the Warring States annexed China, the Qin Dynasty was unified, and then the Western Han Empire, which had been unified and powerful for 200 years, appeared. This is a period of high prosperity of ancient civilization in China, and most of the pre-Qin books, Confucian classics and ancient history we are reading now were produced or compiled during this period. As the first general history in ancient China, Sima Qian's immortal masterpiece Historical Records started from the Five Emperors and ended at that time (the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty), which highly reflected the continuity of the development of Chinese civilization. The same is true in the second half of \x0d\ BC 1000, which is also a rather unusual era in world history. After a high degree of prosperity in the classical era (5th-4th century BC), Greece fell under the control of Macedonia in the late 4th century BC. In the late 4th century BC, the Persian Empire was also destroyed by Alexander of Macedonia. After the instantaneous division of the Alexander Empire, ancient civilizations in West Asia, such as Egypt and the two river basins, successively fell under the rule of Ptolemy Kingdom and Seleucus Kingdom (with Macedonia and Greece as rulers). In the third century BC, the Peacock Empire almost unified the Indian Peninsula, but it split again after a flash in the pan. During the second century to the first century BC, Rome became more and more powerful and gradually conquered the vast areas around the Mediterranean. Macedonia and Greece lost their independence, and the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor all fell into the hands of Rome. Cuneiform and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which once prevailed in West Asian countries, were gradually lost during this period. The traditions of ancient Egyptian and Western Asian civilizations were basically interrupted. Only after modern scholars have explained their words can their history be clearly known. From the first to the fifth century A.D. and after the Eastern Han Empire in the second century, China experienced three pillars. During the fourth and fifth centuries after the brief reunification of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a situation of "sixteen countries" in which the rulers were mainly ethnic minorities. However, even in the north, the tradition of Chinese civilization has not been interrupted. At the end of the 5th century, the reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Justin, proved that this civilization tradition continued to exist. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, although there was a lot of political chaos, it was a prosperous time in history. Only in the most chaotic "sixteen countries" period, according to "Sui Shu? Gyeonggi? Bashi, Stone? Official history? The History of Sixteen Kingdoms and other records show that there are 26 kinds of history books with 27 1 volume (three of them don't know the number of volumes, but they don't count. See Jin Yufu's History of Chinese Historiography, page 6 1-65). Later, Cui Hong of the Northern Wei Dynasty compiled 100 volume "The Spring and Autumn Period of Sixteen Countries" based on these books. These books are the continuation of the first four histories, and they are also the sources of the Book of Jin (Record Part) compiled by Tang Xiu. These are obvious signs that China's civilization has never been interrupted. \x0d\ AD 1 From the 5th century to the 5th century, after two centuries of prosperity, the Roman Empire fell into crisis in the 3rd century. At the end of the 4th century, it was divided into two parts. West Rome officially perished in 476 AD ... The Germans established their own country on the ruins of the Western Roman Empire. The ancient civilization in the west has actually been interrupted. After that, the "Renaissance" appeared in the west, but it was the rise of modern European national civilization, and it was definitely not the recovery of ancient Greek and Roman civilization. \x0d\ Throughout the ancient history, the only one that has maintained the continuity of civilization is China. \x0d\ II。 China is the only ancient country in the world with a stable and unified trend. \x0d\ From the development of ancient civilizations in the world, generally speaking, small countries formed by tribal alliances appeared in the early stage, and then the small countries were unified into regional countries (the ancient Greek city-states lost their independence even before they developed to this stage). During the third and second centuries BC, Egypt and the two river basins experienced this unification repeatedly (although it was not very consolidated), and sometimes its influence extended beyond the region, such as Syria and Palestine. The truly trans-regional empire appeared in BC 1000 and later, and the ironware prevailed. During this period, the empires that appeared successively in the world included Assyrian Empire (mainly located in the two river basins and Syria, including northern Egypt in the middle of the seventh century BC), Persian Empire (from 558 to 330 BC, at its peak, its territory started from the Indus River basin in the east, from Thrace in the Balkans in the northwest to Egypt in the southwest) and Alexander Empire (its capital was Babylon in 325 BC, and the empire began to split after Alexander died in 323 BC). The territory includes Macedonian Empire and Persian Empire), Peacock Empire (from the late 4th century BC to the late 3rd century BC, King Ashoka unified most of the peninsula in less than 40 years), Rest Empire (from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, the territory was dominated by Iran, with two river basins in the west and southern Central Asia in the east), Guishuang Empire (from 1 century BC to the 3rd century AD, it occupied Central Asia and the Indus Valley at its peak. Including Europe south of Danube River and west of Rhine River, North Africa, Asia, Syria, Palestine and other Mediterranean coastal areas, once extended to the two river basins, north of Danube River and southern Britain), Sassanian Persian Empire (the territory is roughly equivalent to the rest of the third to seventh centuries), Gupta Empire (the territory includes parts of Ganges River basin and Indus River basin in the fourth to fifth centuries). \x0d\ Some of these ancient empires were ruled by one region and extended to some nearby regions, such as Assyrian Empire, Rest Empire, Guishuang Empire, Sassanian Persian Empire and Gupta Empire. The other type spanned many regions, such as Persian Empire, Alexander Empire, Peacock Empire and Roman Empire. Some exist for a short time, others for a long time, but on the whole they are not consolidated. Stalin once said that the Persian Empire, the Alexander Empire and the Roman Empire "never had their own economic foundation, but were only temporary and unstable military and administrative alliances. Not only do these empires not have a unified language applicable to the whole empire, but it is also impossible to have a language that all members of the empire can understand. These empires are the same organism composed of tribes and tribes with different lifestyles and languages. " (Marxism and Linguistics, 1964, pp. 6-7. This is in line with the actual situation. Take the influential and long-lasting Persian and Roman empires for example, no matter how the rulers adjust and strengthen their political and military organizations, they still cannot be integrated internally. The Persian Empire basically maintained the original social and political structure at the grass-roots level in various places. In the heyday of the Roman Empire, there were also many local autonomous cities (the organizational form was very similar to that of the polis). The relationship between the local governments and the imperial government is nothing more than obeying the rule, paying taxes and sending troops. The emergence of these empires itself does not mean reunification, so once they perish, it will be difficult to become the historical basis for future reunification. \x0d\ The situation in ancient China was different from other ancient countries. The trend of unification is an important trend in the historical development of China. At the beginning of China civilization, there were many small countries. According to legend, "when Yu was in power, there were countries in the world, but as for Tang, there were more than 3,000 countries." ("Lu Chunqiu? Away from the world? With the people ") Zhou Wuwang ready to cut weeks, in the governors will have as many as eight hundred (shiji? Zhou Benji), this has not been added to the Yin people or the neutral party. Although there are many small countries, there is a big country above them, and that is the kingdom. Xia, Shang and Zhou are all kingdoms. According to the data of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Zhou is not only a country, but also a "Zhou Fangbo" who obeys the leadership of Yin. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the authority of the kingdom over the princes was superior to that of the Yin Dynasty. The three generations are basically the union of States, but there is a trend of union between them. \x0d\ During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it seems that the Zhou Dynasty lost control and the vassals became more independent, but in fact it was in the process of merging small countries into regional countries and changing feudalism into counties. Therefore, when the Qin Dynasty merged with the six countries in 22 1 BC, a county-based empire that Persia and Rome could not match appeared in China. Although the Qin Dynasty was not long, it consolidated the historical foundation of China's reunification in the past 400 years. The three countries seem to be divided, but the development of Shu in the southwest and south of Wu Zaidong is actually to prepare for greater reunification. After the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, the north was divided into sixteen countries, but later the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the north, and then the Sui Dynasty unified China. The Sui and Tang empires in the Middle Ages represented the unification trend of ancient Qin and Han dynasties to a greater extent. \x0d\ In the process of the unified development of ancient China, besides the county system, there is another more important factor, which other ancient empires did not have. This is the national foundation for the unified development of China. Before the reunification of the Qin Dynasty, the vast area with the Central Plains as the core had formed an "Huaxia" nation with the same language and culture, and developed into a "Han" after the Han Dynasty. This is actually the result of national integration. It turns out that there is a fine tradition in China, that is, summer is divided by culture rather than blood. As Han Yu said: "Confucius' works are also easy for princes to use foreign gifts in the Spring and Autumn Period;" If you enter China, you will be in China. Therefore, "Han people" is only the result of the integration of fraternal peoples centered on advanced Han culture. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, northerners called southerners "islanders" and southerners called northerners "Rousseau". In fact, northerners and southerners are developing the same culture together, so "islanders" and "Rousseau" merged together in the Sui and Tang Dynasties to form the Han nationality. Only by uniting the Han nationality and the frontier brothers as the core can we achieve the stability of China's unified development. \x0d\ III。 China played an important role in promoting the connection between ancient eastern and western civilizations. \x0d\ The oldest civilizations in the world originated in the south of the north temperate zone (from the Tropic of Cancer to about 40 degrees north latitude). There is little difference between the north and the south, but they are scattered in different longitudes and have different distances from each other. Therefore, with the development of civilization, the connection between ancient eastern and western civilizations also has a forming process. \x0d\ At the end of the third millennium BC, the oldest civilizations, such as Nile Valley, Two Rivers Valley, Indus Valley and Crete, were just isolated oases in the vast primitive world. By the middle of 2000 BC, with the formation of Syria and Asian countries, Egypt, the two river basins and Crete? Mycenaean civilization has been connected. By the middle of 1000 BC, with the rise of the Persian Empire from the Iranian plateau, there was a connection between India and the Mediterranean region. Due to the shielding of Pamirs and Himalayas, China is in a relatively independent position in geography. It was not until the middle of BC 1000 that China knew about the country west of Pamirs, and other ancient civilizations did not know that there was a highly developed China in the East. The Persian emperor and Alexander of Macedonia successively made expeditions to Central Asia, and the front of the soldiers only reached the west of Pamirs. Therefore, overcoming this terrain obstacle has become the key to get through the east-west traffic on land. In the second century BC, the communication between Han and the western regions was of great significance for breaking the isolation between eastern and western civilizations. In BC 138, Zhang Qian was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to go west for the first time, which was to unite the Vietnamese against the Huns. Although this task was not completed, he visited Central Asia and northeastern Iran (Dawan, Da Yue, Kangju and Daxia) for the first time, becoming the first person to officially walk through the key sections of the Silk Road. Of course, the opening of the "Silk Road" was not decided by the personal political and military motives of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, nor was it made by Zhang Qian alone. When Zhang Qian was in Xia (Bactria), he saw China products, such as Joan bamboo sticks and Shu cloth, and asked where the Xia people got them. The answer is that they bought it from Toxoplasma gondii (India). It can be seen that the southwest of China has already had business contacts with India. After Zhang Qian's death, "the Western Han Dynasty began to build a residence to the west and set up Jiuquan County, which was connected with the northwest. As a result, the ambassador arrived in Heping, Chae Yeon (northeast of Caspian Sea), Li Xuan (Rome), Tezhi (southwest Iranian Persian Gulf coast) and poisonous countries. The son of heaven is like a horse, and the messenger faces the Tao. There are hundreds of foreign leaders and hundreds of foreign leaders. Korea makes more than ten strangers every year, ranging from five or six generations, as far as 89, and as recently as several years. ? Its officials and soldiers also need to revive foreigners, and those who talk big will exercise restraint, while those who talk small will do the opposite. Therefore, those who talk nonsense and do nothing seek practical results. Make people poor, private county officials bury things, and want to take advantage of the market to benefit foreign countries. " ("Historical Records? The scale of this mission is so large and there are so many people that it has actually become an international caravan. Sima Qian recorded that Han envoys arrived in Li Xuan, Tiaozhi, Shen Du and other places by land, which was a great event in the history of east-west traffic. Unfortunately, the record is unknown. By the Eastern Han Dynasty and the emperor, Ban Chao was protected by the western regions, and Gan Ying was appointed as the Daqin (Roman Empire). When Gan Ying arrived in Tiaozhi, he was near the "West Sea" (probably referring to the Persian Gulf), but he was stopped by the boatman who was resting in the western boundary and failed to reach Daqin directly. However, it once again visited the "Silk Road" that the messengers of the Western Han Dynasty walked two hundred years ago. It is a very difficult and dangerous journey to start from Xi 'an (about 1 10) at the eastern end of the Silk Road, pass through Hexi Corridor and Tarim Basin to the west, and then pass through Pamir (about 70 east longitude). During the Han Dynasty, this road was opened. It once ruled these areas, which made China and the ancient civilization in western China form a direct connection for the first time. The area from the west of Pamirs to the two river basins (about 70-40 east longitude) returned to Shuang's control and rested in peace. China's emissaries also passed through most of them to reach the Persian Gulf (about 50 east longitude). The western end of the "Silk Road" is Antioch (36 east longitude) on the Mediterranean Sea, under the rule of Rome. Therefore, on this ancient civilized traffic avenue, not only did a lot of silk transported westward come from China, but the opening of this road itself also depended on China to a great extent. \x0d\ East-West maritime traffic also started around this period. Generally speaking, Greek merchant ships under Roman rule sailed between the Red Sea and the west coast of India; Indian merchant ships sailed between India and the southern tip of zhina Peninsula in India, and sometimes sailed to the port of China; China ships sailed southwest to the southern tip of the half island of zhina, India, and sometimes to the east coast of India and Sri Lanka. The attempt to communicate between Han and Rome failed because of the rest. "In the ninth year of Huan (166), An Dun, king of the Qin Dynasty, sent messengers from the south of Japan to offer ivory, rhinoceros horn and _ _ _ _ _, which was the beginning. There is no difference in the tribute it expresses, and the skeptics are too embarrassed. " ("once"? However, the maritime links between the East and the West have indeed been formed. \x0d\ From the first century to the second century, the Eastern Han Dynasty (with a span of about 130-70 E), Guishuang, Rest (with a span of about 70-40 E) and Rome (with a span of about 40 E-65438 E+) were juxtaposed from east to west on the Asian, African and European continents. Among them, the Eastern Han Dynasty and Rome were relatively developed in economy and culture, and their territory was relatively vast. Rome is roughly the same as Han in its heyday, one west and one east. However, if we look at the four empires that are juxtaposed in space from the longitudinal time course, then the other three countries are not as good as China. On this point, it has been said before.