为什么中国、印度、波斯等文明古国在很长一段时间内都比古希腊、罗马更为发达

Why were ancient civilizations such as China, India and Persia more advanced than Ancient Greece and Rome for a long period of time?

为什么中国、印度、波斯等文明古国在很长一段时间内都比古希腊、罗马更为发达？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Demetres Karapanos

Was Ancient Greece more advanced than Ancient India or China?

We couldn’t know, but just by the vastness of the land and people’s sheer population numbers of China and India, I assume that they were way further ahead than us at all subjects.

BUT the difference lies at the fact that the accomplishments of Greeks Scientists, Intellectuals and Engineers were widespread and accessible to all Greeks, Public Monumental Buildings included, and not just for the King, the Emperor, the Higher Casts, the Mandarins. It was the Democracy and it was in Action. With the exception of Pythagoras School, everybody could study any given latest advancement. That’s the superiority of Hellas. Even to Slaves there was given access. Actually Alkman the Second Best Poet of Sparta was a slave(Not Helot), whose Spartan Master freed him because he was composing such good Poems at his free time. The same applies to Aesop(A Robust Thinker and Intellectual) and his Fables. He was a Liberated Slave who after becoming free he kept working as a Personal Advisor and Teacher at his old Master Household. Plus The Greek Way of Conducting Wars(Strategy, Tactics), any non biased has to accept that it was way far superior than Indian and Chinese.

古希腊比古印度或古中国更发达吗?

我们无从得知，但中国和印度幅员辽阔，人口众多，我认为他们在所有领域上都远远领先于我们。

但不同之处在于，希腊科学家、知识分子和工程师的成就得到了广泛传播，包括公共纪念建筑在内，不仅是国王、皇帝、高级种姓和官员，所有希腊人都能享用。这就是民主吧。除了毕达哥拉斯学派，每个人都可以学习一切最新的知识。这就是希腊的优越性。就算奴隶也有机会。实际上，斯巴达第二优秀的诗人阿尔克曼就是一名奴隶，他的斯巴达主人还他自由，因为他在空闲时间创作出了这么出色的诗歌。伊索(一个健壮的思想家和知识分子)和他的寓言也是如此。他也曾是奴隶，获得自由后，他继续在主人家里担任私人顾问和老师。再加上希腊的战争艺术(战略、战术)，公正的人都会承认希腊的战争艺术比印度和中国出色得多。

Matt Riggsby

Was ancient Rome civilized?

Define “civilized.”

In the technical sense used by historians and social scientists of a society with cities, then obviously, even tautologically so. Rome is a city, ergo it must be civilized.

In the colloquial sense of having manners and social norms of which one approves, then that’s a subjective question you’ll need to answer for yourself.

古罗马是个文明社会吗？

先来定义一下何为“文明”。

在技术层面，历史学家和社会学家认为文明是一个拥有城市的社会，显然，罗马是一座城市，所以它肯定是文明的。

在通俗意义上，文明是被人认可的礼仪和社会规范，这是个主观的问题，你自己判断吧。

William Tang

Thanks to the First Emperor, Ch’in Shi Huang Di, who established a unified political, economic, and cultural/language system to govern the realm. His centralized mandarin system lasted 2200+ years, surviving even the Mongol and Manchu (non-Han) conquest of China.

秦始皇打造了统一的政治、经济和文化/语言来统治国家。他创立的中央政治体制持续了2200多年，甚至在蒙古和满族征服中国后也得到了沿用。

Lai in Wei

How advanced was ancient china?

The Ancient Chinese were a highly advanced civilisation for many reasons. Ancient China lasted to 202 AD and the period after it was named Imperial China.

古代中国有多发达？

古代中国是高度发达的文明，原因有很多。古代中国持续到公元202年，之后被命名为帝制中国。

Building the Great Wall of China

建造中国长城

The Great Wall of China was, and still is, the longest fortification in the world. The oldest sections of the Great Wall date back to the Chu Kingdom (1100-223 B.C), and many of it’s sections are in still in good quality, considering it’s age. The Great Wall was originally built to keep out northern invaders and it still attracts a great deal of awe today.

中国的长城历史上是、现在依然是世界上最长的防御工事。长城最古老的部分可以追溯到楚国(公元前1100-223年)，考虑到它的年份，很多地方的质量依然良好。长城最初是为了抵御北方入侵者而建造的，今天它仍然令人敬畏。

Great Inventions

伟大发明

The model above is based on artworks of one of the great ancient Chinese inventions. The Seismoscope, invented by Zheng Heng. Other great Chinese inventions of the ancient times include tea, silk, paper, acupuncture, one of the first earthquake proof buildings, and many more.

上图是基于中国古代伟大发明之一的艺术品：地震仪，由张衡发明。中国古代的其他伟大发明还包括了茶、丝绸、纸张、针灸、首批抗震建筑之一等等。

Profile photo for Akshay Vasisht

Which ancient civilisation was the most technologically advanced?

I would say that the most advanced civilizations were those of India, China, Egypt, And Mesopotamia if we were talking about before 300 Bce. After this, I would say India, China, Persia and Rome were the most advanced civilizations.

All four had massive empires during this era which created long periods of peace and prosperity. India had its Mauryan, Kushan and Gupta Empires, China had its Qin, Han and in Empires, Europe had its Roman Empire and Perisa had its Persian, Selucid and Sassanian Empires.

哪个古代文明的科技最为先进？

如果我们谈论的是公元前300年之前，我认为最先进的文明是印度，中国，埃及和美索不达米亚，而在那之后我认为是印度、中国、波斯和罗马。

在这个时期，这四个国家都拥有庞大的帝国，创造了长期的和平与繁荣。印度有孔雀帝国、贵霜帝国和笈多帝国，中国有秦、汉、金，欧洲有罗马帝国，波斯有波斯帝国、塞琉西帝国和萨珊帝国。

All four civilizations had grand civil engineering projects like the great canal in China, the dams and Grand Trunk Road of India and the aqueducts of Europe. These civilizations had the largest cities in the world such as Pataliputra in India, ian in China, Persopolis in Persia and Rome. These cities had grand temple and palace complexes. India and China had populations of around 50 million whilst Rome had a population of around 40 million.

All four civilizations had progressed very much in science and technology with ancient centers of learning like Nalanda and Taxla in India.

这四大文明都建造了宏大的土木工程项目，比如中国的大运河、印度的大坝和大干道，以及欧洲的渡槽。这些文明拥有世界上规模最大的城市，如印度的帕塔利普特拉，中国的西安，波斯的波斯波利斯和罗马。这些城市拥有宏伟的寺庙和宫殿建筑群。印度和中国的人口约为5000万，而罗马的人口约为4000万。

这四大文明在科学和技术方面都取得了很大的进步，开办了古老的学校，比如印度的那烂陀和塔克西拉等。

Bruce Hyland

There’s no evidence that China, India and Persia were more technologically advanced than Greece and Rome: in fact, Rome was probably the most advanced civilization technologically. From a social perspective, the Greeks were probably the most innovative.

没有证据表明中国、印度和波斯在科技上比希腊和罗马更先进，事实上，罗马可能是科技最发达的文明。从社会角度来看，希腊人可能是最具创新精神的。

P. R. Sivakumar

Was ancient India more technologically & scientifically advanced than the western countries?

I just read this news today. IVC excavations and Dwarka underwater excavations are pushing the timelines farther and farther behind. Submersion of Dwarka and ancient Tamil kingdoms (like Pandya Kingdoms far south of present day Tamilnadu) coincide with the previous global warming and raise of sea levels.

There are excavations going on in Tamilnadu and the following pictures are from a place near present day Madurai. These are tentatively estimated to be from 3BC (carbon dating might reveal more accurate timeframe).

Similarly, local fishermen reported sighting of submerged temples in Mahabalipuram near Chennai.

With this we can safely say that ancient India was far more advanced than other countries at that time.

古印度的技术和科学比西方国家更先进吗？

我今天才刚看到这条新闻。IVC的挖掘和德瓦卡的水下挖掘将考古时间越推越早了。德瓦卡和古代泰米尔王国(类似远在今天泰米尔纳德邦南部的潘迪亚王国)的淹没与之前的全球变暖和海平面上升的时间相吻合。

泰米尔纳德邦也正在进行挖掘工作，下面的照片来自今天马杜赖附近某地。这些化石初步估计来自公元前3年(碳-14年代测定法可能会揭示更准确的时间)。

当地渔民也报告称，在金奈附近发现了被淹没的寺庙。

因此，我们可以肯定地说，古印度比当时的其他国家要先进得多。

Alex Neuenfeld

What ancient civilizations were more advanced than Rome?

Ancient China. It’s civilization was older and lasted much longer. It’s economy wasn’t based on conquest and slave labour. They invented such useful things as porcelain, silk, tea and paper, among others. And they built longer and better walls.

哪些古代文明比罗马更加先进？

古代中国。它的文明更加古老，持续时间更久。它的经济不是建立在征服和奴隶劳动的基础上的。他们发明了瓷器、丝绸、茶和纸等有用的东西。他们还建造了更长更好的城墙。

Hidenori Inagaki

Which were the most advanced ancient Civilizations?

Persian was highly advanced, and probably primary influencer for other civilization.

Other civilization can not claim like Persian whose influence were felt China in East to Greco/Roman world in West. Locations helps too, and they were able to acquire best of Eastern and Western technologies as human made progress.

At least up till mongol conquest of Persia, and subsequent European age of navigation to bypass middle east entirely, Persia was one the most advanced civilization.

哪些古代文明最先进？

波斯是高度发达的文明，可能对其他文明也是重要的影响力之源。

其他文明不敢像波斯文明那样称自己拥有巨大的影响力，无论是东方的中国，还是西方的希腊/罗马。地理位置也发挥了作用，随着人类的进步，他们能够获取东西方最先进的技术。

至少在蒙古征服波斯之前，在随后的欧洲航海时代完全绕过中东之前，波斯一直是最先进的文明之一。

Miguel Corazao

What do you think is the reason why Ancient Greece has had such an enduring cultural legacy compared to other ancient civilizations like China or Rome?

I don't know that Greece can said to be more enduring than Rome. But that aside…

与中国或罗马等其他文明古国相比，你认为古希腊拥有如此悠久的文化遗产的原因是什么？

我不知道希腊文化有没有比罗马文化更为悠久。但先暂且不论……

You have to be very careful about judging things based on the dominant culture. In the modern world, and particularly the English-speaking world, Western European culture is quite significant. The thing to understand is that during the Renaissance and after Western writers developed a version of history emphasizing the importance of the Christian world and deemphasizing all of the other nations. The Greeks and Romans were seen as Christian, so they were given a place of importance in this version of history.

It is incorrect, though, to believe that the Greeks had so much more influence than any other ancient culture. That is just a matter of tradition.

你必须非常谨慎地根据主流文化来作出判断。在现代世界，特别是英语世界，西欧文化具有相当重要的地位。我们需要理解，在文艺复兴时期和之后，西方的作家为了突显基督教世界的重要性编造了一个历史版本，并淡化了其他国家的重要性。希腊人和罗马人被视为基督徒，所以他们在这个版本的历史中占有重要地位。

但就此认为希腊人比其他古代文化拥有更大的影响力是不对的。这只是一种传统认知。