为什么古代中国的皇帝们从来没有想过征服日本呢

Why did the ancient Chinese emperors never think of conquering Japan?

为什么古代中国的皇帝们从来没有想过征服日本呢？

以下是Quora读者的评论：

Sidharth Praveen

China has never been that kind of empire they have always been much more isolationist This is the same reason during the mink dynasty they pretty much possessed the most powerful navy in the world, but they never bothered to establish a colonial empire because they had all the resources they need. European colonialism exsts in the first place because these countries did not possess the resources in order to build global economies.

中国从来都不是那样的帝国，他们一直以来都更倾向于奉行孤立主义政策。这也是在明朝时期，他们几乎拥有世界上最强大的海军，但却从没想过要建立殖民帝国的原因，因为他们拥有自己所需的一切资源。

Wenhe Lu

It was beyond China’s reach. China had never conquered Korea and occupied Korea in history. Japan was further than Korea.

这超出了中国的能力范围。在历史上，中国从未征服并占领过朝鲜。而日本比朝鲜离得更远。

Joydip Choudhury

China is not imperialist or expansionist.

Japan has no significant natural resources or mineral wealth to speak of.

Japan didn't threaten China until the Japs started modernising in the 1870s.

中国既不是帝国主义国家，也不是扩张主义国家。

日本没有什么值得一提的重要自然资源或矿产财富。

直到19世纪70年代日本人开始进行现代化改革，日本才对中国构成了威胁。

Gareth Wells

China has long been focused on land based warfare due to the length of its land borders.

The threats to Chinese emperors were always from barbarians in the west and the north. Fast moving mounted cavalry. The Chinese trained endlessly to combat these types of warriors and armies. They focused weapons development and infantry tactics to be able to deal with this primary threat.

The next level of threwlat was from rebellions and civil war. The scale of the Chinese empire pretty well reached an optimum level by the Qing dynasty. Further land based expansion would have returned diminishing results — the supply chains and armies would be too stretched.

长期以来，由于中国陆地边境线漫长，中国一直专注于陆上的战争。

中国历代皇帝认为，威胁一直来自西方和北方的蛮夷，也就是快速机动的骑兵部队。中国人不断地训练，以对抗这类军队。他们专注于武器研发和步兵战术，以便能够应对这一主要威胁。

其他威胁来自叛乱和内战。到清朝时，中华帝国的规模已经相当程度地达到了一个最优水平。进一步的陆基扩张所带来的收益将会递减，供应链和军队的补给线会拉得过长。

Meanwhile, you had a small island nation who's people struggled to survive on a terrible arable ratio, which forced them to become major fishermen and sea-farers. These people were highly war-like and constantly at war with each other. Their islands held almost no valuable resources and produced little of value to the Chinese. In fact, most of the culture, writing and manufacturing (silks, porcelain, soya sauce, architecture, etc) that the Japanese used were acquired from China. There didn't seem to be anything China could learn from Japan either, and to top it all off, this land was constantly facing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and violent typhoons.

So why bother with a herculean campaign to cross the sea, attempt to confront a dangerous enemy always willing to die in battle, and seize territory that had little to no value?

The Mongols, on the other hand, were extreme territorial expansionists who in their day practiced their own form of manifest destiny…and it is they who attempted twice to invade Japan, failing miserably twice, and proving the Chinese to be quite right about leaving Japan to itself.

与此同时，有一个小岛国，其国民因可耕地比例极低而艰难求生，这迫使他们成为了主要的渔民和航海者。这些人极具好战性，并且彼此之间战乱不断。他们的岛屿几乎没有什么有价值的资源，对中国也几乎没有什么产出价值。事实上，日本人所使用的大多数文化、文字和制造业成果（丝绸、瓷器、酱油、建筑风格等等）都源自中国。而且，似乎日本也没有什么值得中国学的。最糟糕的是，这片土地还经常面临地震、火山喷发以及猛烈的台风。

那么，为什么要费力去开展一场艰巨的跨海战役，去对抗一个总是甘愿在战斗中赴死的危险敌人，就为了夺取几乎毫无价值的领土呢？

另一方面，蒙古人是极端的领土扩张主义者，在他们那个时代，践行着他们自己的“天定命运论”，正是他们曾两次试图入侵日本，却两次都惨败而归，这也证明了中国人对日本置之不理的做法是非常正确的。

Tim Cole

Your question rests on a false premise. In Fact, China tried twice to invade Japan, but were pushed back and destoryed by Taifuns both times.

Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan and Mongol Emperor of mainland China, wanted to expand his empire and demanded Japan become a vassal state. When Japan refused, he launched two invasions.The first in 1274 consisted of a Mongol fleet of about 900 ships and 30,000-40,000 troops (Mongols, Chinese, and Koreans) which landed on Kyushu. The samurai, unprepared for Mongol tactics, struggled, but a sudden storm forced the Mongols to retreat.

Kublai Khan launched a second Invasion in 1281 which was much larger invasion and included an estimated 140,000 troops. The Japanese fiercely resisted for weeks, and another massive typhoon, later called "kamikaze" (divine wind), destroyed much of the Mongol fleet, ending the invasion.

Why Did the Invasions Fail? Three reasons: Samurai defenses and tactics improved between invasions; supplying large armies across the sea was difficult; and finally, storms devastated the Mongol fleets, saving Japan both times.

你的问题建立在一个错误的前提之上。事实上，中国曾两次试图入侵日本，但两次都遇到台风，并遭受重创。

成吉思汗的孙子、统治中国大陆的蒙古大汗忽必烈，想要扩张他的帝国版图，并要求日本成为其附属国。当日本拒绝后，他发动了两次入侵。第一次是在1274年，蒙古舰队约有900艘船只，以及3万到4万名士兵（包括蒙古人、中国人和朝鲜人），他们在九州登陆。日本人由于对蒙古人的战术毫无准备而陷入苦战，但一场突如其来的风暴迫使蒙古人撤退。

忽必烈在1281年发动了第二次入侵，这次入侵的规模要大得多，估计投入了约14万名士兵。日本人顽强抵抗了数周，随后又一场巨大的台风——后来被称为“神风”——摧毁了大部分蒙古舰队，入侵就此结束。

为什么入侵会失败呢？有三个原因：在两次入侵之间，日本武士的防御能力和战术得到了提升；为大规模军队跨海提供补给非常困难；最后，风暴摧毁了蒙古舰队，两次都拯救了日本。

Khengchat Ng

You are thinking like a westerner - lands are there to be conquered and subjugated. That started with Alexander with his eastward match and invading without provocation. Since then, it has been one a norm. The Chinese see no sense in conquering Japan just for the kick of it. Even when they launched those great sea voyages of Zheng He, it was not for conquests. To be fair, China felt self sufficient enough.

你这是在用西方人的思维方式思考，认为土地就是用来被征服和统治的。这种观念始于亚历山大毫无缘由的东进和侵略。从那以后，这就成了一种常态。而中国人并不觉得仅仅为了一时之快就去征服日本有什么意义。即便在郑和进行伟大的航海活动时，也不是为了征服他国。说句公道话，中国当时觉得自己已经足够自给自足了。

Mansha Sharma

Ancient Chinese emperors generally did not attempt to conquer Japan due to a combination of factors including the geographical barrier of the sea, the lack of a strong military incentive to invade an island nation, the often-unpredictable weather conditions of the East China Sea, and the complex political landscape of Japan which could make occupation difficult, even if a landing was successful; essentially, the potential risks and costs of invasion often outweighed any perceived benefits.

Key points to consider:

Logistics and Geography:

The East China Sea presented a significant obstacle, requiring a large and well-equipped navy to transport troops and supplies to Japan, which was not always readily available for Chinese emperors.

Political Landscape in Japan:

Japan often had a decentralized political structure with various warring factions, making it difficult to establish control even if a successful invasion occurred.

Limited Strategic Gain:

Conquering Japan did not necessarily offer major strategic advantages for Chinese emperors, who were often more focused on maintaining control over the vast territory on the mainland.

Historical Attempts with Mixed Results:

While there were attempts at invasion, most notably by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty under Kublai Khan, these were largely unsuccessful due to typhoons and Japanese resistance.

古代中国的皇帝一般不尝试征服日本，这是由多种因素共同导致的，其中包括海洋这一地理屏障、缺乏强烈的军事动机去入侵一个岛国、东海地区常常难以预测的天气状况，以及日本复杂的政治格局——即便登陆成功，占领也会困难重重；从根本上来说，入侵日本的潜在风险和成本往往超过了任何可预见的收益。

需要考虑的要点如下：

后勤保障与地理因素：

东海构成了一个重大的障碍，要将军队和物资运往日本，需要一支庞大且装备精良的海军，而这并非中国历代皇帝随时都能轻易拥有的。

日本的政治格局：

日本常常呈现出权力分散的政治结构，存在着多个相互争斗的派系，这就使得即使入侵成功，也很难建立起有效的统治。

有限的战略收益：

对于中国的皇帝们而言，征服日本不一定能带来重大的战略优势，他们往往更专注于维持对广袤大陆领土的控制。

历史上有过的尝试及参差不齐的结果：

虽然有过入侵日本的尝试，最著名的当属忽必烈统治下的蒙古元朝时期，但这些尝试大多由于台风以及日本的抵抗而未获成功。

Itaru

I think that's an interesting question. Unfortunately, I'm Japanese. I'm not a Chinese emperor, and I'm not familiar with Chinese political thinking, so I don't know why ancient China didn't advance into Japan. But it's an interesting question, so let's think about it together.

Your comments, questions and objection are very welcome.

The first answer is that they have already advanced and Chinese people live in Japan. This is my favolite view share with my Chinese colleague. As you know, many ancient Japanese originate from China. From ancient times to modern times, there have been many Chinese people who find Japan as destination and they make up the large portion Japanese, genetically and culturally.

我觉得这是个很有趣的问题。很遗憾，我是日本人。我不是中国的皇帝，也不熟悉中国的政治思维，所以我不知道古代中国为什么没有向日本进军。但这确实是个有趣的问题，让我们一起来思考一下。

非常欢迎大家发表评论、提出问题和反驳意见。

第一个答案是他们其实已经“进军”了，而且有中国人生活在日本。这是我最喜欢的观点，是我和我的中国同事分享过的。如你所知，很多古代日本人的祖先都来自中国。从古至今，有许多中国人把日本当作目的地，从基因和文化层面上讲，他们构成了日本人的很大一部分。

The next view is that they weren't interested. In my opinion, countries are lazy. Many countries throughout history have ignored threats from neighboring countries. An army costs money. If you don't spend money on an army, you can eat delicious food. That's why it's better to leave distant islands alone.

Another reason is for safety. You probably know many cases in history where an army that goes on an expedition betrail and came back to takes over a country. The army that goes on an expedition becomes very independent and powerful. Then it is easy to comes back and takes over the country. An army that is organized to rule Japan is quite powerful.

The next reason is that Japan was tough than its surface. China is not a maritime trade country. Naval power is not that important in China. Japan has almost no land, so ships are the main means of transportation and military. The Battle of Dannoura was fought between fleets, and by the end of the Edo period, Japan possessed 128 Western-style battleships. Japan was frightened when it learned that China had been invaded by the British.

还有一个观点是他们对日本不感兴趣。在我看来，各个国家都是“懒惰”的。历史上很多国家都忽视了来自邻国的威胁。养一支军队是要花钱的。如果你不用把钱花在军队上，你就可以享用美食。所以最好对遥远的岛屿置之不理。

另一个原因是出于安全考虑。你可能知道历史上有很多这样的例子，出征的军队发生叛乱，然后返回国内夺取政权。出征的军队会变得非常独立且强大。这样一来，他们很容易返回并接管国家。一支为了统治日本而组建的军队是相当强大的。

还有一个原因是日本比表面上看起来要难对付。中国不是一个海洋贸易国家。海军力量在中国并没有那么重要。日本几乎没有广袤的陆地，所以船只成为主要的交通和军事工具。坛之浦海战就是舰队之间的战斗，到江户时代末期，日本拥有128艘西式战舰。当日本得知中国被英国侵略时也感到很震惊。

The Tokugawa Shogunate created a fairly powerful Shogunate Navy.

The todays Japanese fjag was used by the Shogunate Navy as its national flag.

In this way, Japan is tough when fought across the ocean.

Finally, Japan and China had a largely mutually beneficial relationship. If you travel to Japan, you will see how much Japan respects Chinese culture. Also, Japan's unique crafts are loved around the world. There is a lot of interaction between the people. Japanese periodically sent gift for Chinese Emperor.

It is obvious that interacting with China is far more beneficial for both countries than advancing into Japan.

Times have changed. What will happen in the future? I don't know, but let's keep a close watch together.

德川幕府打造了一支相当强大的幕府海军。

如今日本的国旗在当时就被幕府海军用作国旗。

从这个角度看，要跨海攻打日本是很困难的。

最后，日本和中国在很大程度上有着互利的关系。如果你去日本旅行，你会看到日本对中国文化是多么尊重。而且，日本独特的手工艺品也深受世界各地人们的喜爱。两国人民之间有很多交流。日本人会定期给中国皇帝进贡礼品。

很明显，与中国进行交流对两国来说远比中国向日本进军要有利得多。

时代已经变了。未来会发生什么呢？我不知道，让我们一起密切关注吧。

Thomas Denson

I think that the Chinese just didn’t think there was anything in Japan worth conquering. There was no resource in Japan that couldn’t be also found somewhere in China.

我认为中国人只是觉得日本没有什么值得去征服的。日本拥有的资源在中国的某些地方也都能找到。

Vladimir Wieyanto

The answer to your question is:

Invasion or conquest are VERY EXPENSIVE.

What you, and many people fail to realise, is that an act of invasion is as dangerous and risky to the invaders as much as it is to the invaded.

Hence why, diplomacy exsts.

In order for invasion or conquest to be justifiable, the rewards must be well worth the risk and cost of such endeavour.

If you launched an invasion and you fail, your country/kingdom/empire is at risk of collapsing from the inside.

Launching an invasion is a lot like asking for pay rise from your boss while threatening to quit the job if you don’t get the rise. If you fail at getting the rise, you lose your job.

That is the reality of invasion.

You win, or you collapse.

Now let me ask you, WHAT are the possible rewards for ancient “Chinese” Dynasties (NOT Mongols, and NOT Manchu) in conquering ancient Japan?

And are those rewards worth the risks?

The answer must have been NO. Hence why they did not.

这样回答你的问题：

侵略或征服的代价是非常高昂的。

你和许多人没有意识到的是，侵略行为对于侵略者而言，其危险性和风险性与对被侵略者是一样的。

这就是外交存在的原因。

为了使侵略或征服具有正当性，其回报必须超过所带来的风险和代价。

如果你发动了一场侵略却失败了，你的国家/王国/帝国就面临着从内部瓦解的风险。

发动侵略很像向老板要求加薪，同时威胁说如果不涨薪就辞职。如果你涨薪失败，你就会丢掉工作。