中世纪的阿拉伯游记是如何描述中国的？

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻译：星际圣母 转载请注明出处

Matthew Nghiem
The most notable Islamic writings on China, especially those originating from the 508 year long duration of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 AD), definitely had much to say about their Chinese contemporary: the Tang Dynasty of China (618–907 AD).

伊斯兰世界，尤其是持续时间长达508年的阿巴斯王朝（公元750-1258年），在他们的有关中国的最著名的作品中，对于与他们处在同一时代的中国人——中国唐朝（公元618-907年）——当然有很多话说。

For the most part, their view of China was one of mostly respect and awe, they did however also have some reservations on the matter of certain “disgusting” Tang Chinese cultural practices however.

在很大程度上，他们对中国的看法多半是敬重和敬畏的，不过他们也对唐代中国人的一些“恶心”的文化习俗持保留意见。

Arab Accounts of Chinese Porcelain
One of the first notable comments from the Abbasid Era, was from the Arab Merchant Suleiman who once observed the first introductions of Chinese Porcelain to the world, commenting that:
“They have in China a very fine clay with which they make vases which are as transparent as glass; water is seen through them. The vases are made of clay.” [1]

【阿拉伯人笔下的中国瓷器】



阿拉伯商人苏莱曼的描述是阿巴斯时代最早的关于中国的著名描述之一，是他首次向世界介绍了中国的瓷器，他写道：
“在中国，他们有一种非常细的黏土，他们用这种黏土制作花瓶，制作出来的花瓶就像玻璃一样透明；可以透过花瓶看到里面的水。这些花瓶是用黏土制作的。”

Arab Accounts of China’s Tea Making Process
The Arabs described Tea as:
“a plant that they drink with hot water and that is sold in every city for large sums of money. To prepare it, water is boiled, then the leaves are sprinkled on it, and it serves them as an antidote to all ailments.” [2]

【阿拉伯人笔下的中国茶叶制作工艺】
关于茶叶，阿拉伯人写道：
“一种他们用来泡热水喝的植物，在每一座城市都有卖，而且交易金额巨大。泡之前，要先把水烧开，然后把叶子撒上去，这个是他们对抗所有疾病的解药。”

Abbasid Accounts of “Indomitable” Tang Merchant Ships
The Arab Merchant Shulama also once noted the vast economic supremacy of not just the Tang Empire, but also of its citizens describing in a greatly admiring way the great size of private Tang Chinese trading vessels, which he claimed:
“…were so large that they could not even enter the Euphrates River, they were able to carry approximately 600–700 passengers. Their draft was too deep for them to enter the River, which forced them to ferry passengers and cargo in small boats.” [3]

【阿巴斯人描写的“不屈不挠”的唐朝商船】
阿拉伯商人苏拉玛也曾注意到，不仅唐帝国的财富无人能及，而且唐帝国的人民也非常富有，他怀着极大的仰慕之情描写了中国唐朝的私营商船有多么庞大，他说：
“....庞大到连幼发拉底河都无法容它们开进去（译注：幼发拉底河流经今沙特、土耳其、叙利亚和伊拉克等国，最后与位于其东面的底格里斯河合流成为阿拉伯河，注入波斯湾），这些船能装大约600-700名乘客。它们的吃水太深了，所以进不了幼发拉底河，因此不得不把乘客和货物转移到小船上。”

Caliph Al-Mansur’s Remarks on the Implied Power of Tang China
“Here is the Tigris, and nothing bars the way between it and China!” [4]

【曼苏尔哈里发口中的中国唐朝隐形实力】



“这里是底格里斯河，从这里到中国畅通无阻！”

Arab Observations of “Socialism” in the Middle Kingdom
In the “Accounts of China and India” by Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, the said author translated from Abbasid Official Histories, describing a form of early “Socialism” in Tang China which is as follows:
“The government cares for the wellbeing of its citizens. If a sick person is poor, he is given the cost of his medicine from the public treasury.
The citizens pay a fair poll tax when they reach the age of 18. Old people do not have to pay taxes but receive a pension. Every city has a school and a teacher and the children of the poor are fed from the public treasury. The Chinese, whether poor or rich, young or old, all learn to form letters and to write.” [5]

【阿拉伯人眼中中央王国的“社会主义”】
在阿布扎伊翻译的阿巴斯官方史书《中国和印度见闻录》中，描述了中国唐朝的一种早期的“社会主义”形式，书中写道：
“政府关心其公民的福祉。如果一个穷人生病，他的医药费就由公共财政负担。
他们对年满18岁的公民征收合理的人头税。老人不必交税，而且还能拿养老金。每个城市都有学堂和老师，穷人家的孩子由公共财政负责养育。中国人，不管是穷的还是富的，年少的还是年老的，都会学着写字。”



Abbasid Dissent at Tang Notion of “Hygiene”
The Chinese use “only paper, not water, to clean their backsides after defecating” and do not clean their teeth and hands before eating. [9]

【阿巴斯人不同意唐朝的“卫生”观念】
中国人“排便后，只用纸清理后面，而不是用水”，他们吃饭前不清洁牙齿和手。

The Arabs Express Disdain Regarding Chinese Sexual Practices
Abu also continues on to write regarding Arab disgust at certain Chinese practices:
They couldn’t approve of the Chinese habit to have sexual intercourse with their women even when they were menstruating and of their highly organised prostitution. “The Chinese sodomise boys who are provided for that purpose and are of the same order as temple prostitutes.” [10]

【阿拉伯人对中国人的性行为表达了鄙视】
阿布扎伊继续描写了阿拉伯人对中国人某些行为的厌恶：
他们不认同中国人在他们的女人来月经时还与她们性交的习惯，也不认同他们的高度有组织的卖淫行业。“中国人会鸡奸供人享乐的男孩，他们就像尼姑庵里的妓女一样。”

Conclusion
For the most part, relations between the Tang Chinese and Abbasid Arabs were mostly friendly in nature.
Though sometimes military conflicts did arise between the two, such as the following artist’s impression so depicts down below of the Battle of Talas (751 AD)…

【结论】
很大程度上，中国唐朝和阿巴斯阿拉伯人之间的关系在本质上是以友好为主的
尽管有时候双方有军事冲突，例如画家描绘的以下这幅塔拉斯之战（公元751年）....



…the Arabs did usually think of China very highly for the most part. Conflicts, however, did occur, especially when it came to matters of religion. The Arabs, as mentioned, were not fond of the idea of sexual intercourse when a woman was on her period (an idea which originates even back to the Old Testament of the Bible, or the Jewish Torah, Book of Leviticus).

....在多数情况下，通常阿拉伯人非常钦佩中国。但是双方也确实会发生冲突，尤其是在事情与宗教有关的时候。就像上面提到的，阿拉伯人不喜欢在一个女人来月经的时候与她性交（这种思想源于《圣经旧约》，又称《犹太律法》或《利未记》）

Furthermore, on one occasion, when an Abbasid Emissary was sent to China, he was almost executed for refusing to bow down to the Tang Emperor, arguing that:
“In my country we only bow to Allah never to a Prince.” [11]

此外，有一次当一名阿巴斯使者被派去中国的时候，他差点因为拒绝向唐朝皇帝叩拜而被处死，他争辩道：
“在我的国家，我们只叩拜真主阿拉，从不叩拜国君。”

He was only saved most fortunately when an Imperial “Mandarin” Official intervened and instead insisted that:
“…a difference in the court etiquette of foreign countries ought not to be considered a crime.” [12]

有幸的是，在一位帝国“重要”官员的干预下，他才逃过一劫，他坚持认为：
“外国宫廷礼节的不同不应该被视为有罪。”

And even when the Battle of Talas had taken place, friendly relations between the two countries quickly resumed, and during the infamous An Lushan Rebellion which claimed the lives of 36 million people (45% of Tang China’s population), the Abbasids, keen to resume their great friendship with the Chinese, sent 4,000 Arabs at the insistence of Caliph Abu Giafar to assist the Tang Imperial Army.
An artist’s impression of the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763 AD):

即使发生了塔拉斯之战，这两个国家之间的友好关系也很快就恢复了。在夺去了3600万条生命（唐朝人口的45%）的臭名昭彰的安禄山叛乱期间，阿巴斯人渴望与中国人恢复友好关系，在哈里发阿布吉亚法的坚持下，派了4000名阿拉伯人去协助唐帝国军队。
一位画家印象中的安史之乱（公元755-763年）：



As to what the contemporary Tang Chinese had to say about the Arabs meanwhile, it was also mostly positive, yet also partly negative (as the individual who gave this testament was a captured Tang Imperial Soldier, by the name of Du Huan who had surrendered to the Caliphate at the Battle of Talas):

至于同时代的唐代中国人对阿拉伯人的看法，大部分也是正面的，但是也有一部分是负面的（留下这份遗书的是一位被俘的名叫杜环的唐帝国军人，他在塔拉斯之战中向阿巴斯投了降）：

Arabia [Dashi] was originally part of Persia. The men have high noses, are dark, and bearded. The women are very fair [white] and when they go out they veil the face. Five times daily they worship God [Tianshen]. They wear silver girdles, with silver knives suspended.

阿拉伯（大食）原先是波斯的一部分。这里的男人鼻子高，肤色暗，留着胡子。这里的女人非常白晳，她们出门的时候会用面纱遮住脸。他们每日敬拜天神五次。他们身上系着银腰带，佩戴着银刀。

They do not drink wine, nor use music. Their place of worship will accommodate several hundreds of people. Every seventh day the king (Caliph) sits on high, and speaks to those below saying, '' Those who are killed by the enemy will be born in heaven above; those who slay the enemy will receive happiness.'' Therefore they are usually valiant fighters. Their land is sandy and stony, not fit for cultivation; so they hunt and eat flesh.

他们不喝酒，也不奏音乐。他们敬拜天神的地方会容纳几百个人。每到第七天，国王（即哈里发）就会坐在高处朝下面的人讲话：‘被敌人杀死的人会在天堂降生；杀死敌人的人会获得幸福。’因此，他们通常都是勇敢的战士。他们的土地含有很多沙子和石头，不适合耕种；所以他们打猎吃肉。



Quora User
Very well-researched answer. I may add that the Muslim General Saad Bin Abi-Wakkas who conquered & Islamized Ancient Persia is buried in China where he died possibly during a military campaign at the time of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (second caliph of islam) much before Abbasid Caliphate. In Muslim texts Chinese were referred to as “Khorasani” after the Khorasan province of Iran & everything that lies East of it.

非常严谨仔细的回答。我可以补充一点，征服波斯并使之伊斯兰化的穆斯林将军萨德·本·阿比宛葛斯就葬在中国，他可能是在一次军事战役中死的，当时是奥巴尔·伊本·阿-哈塔卜时期（伊斯兰第二位哈里发），早在阿巴斯哈里发之前

Anand Nyamdavaa
Interesting about paper. Is the toilet paper originally a Chinese invention?

关于纸的描述很有意思。厕纸最初是中国发明的吗？

Jimmy Burhan
They invented paper, so it''s very likely they were one of the first ones to stick paper up their butt.

他们发明了纸，所以很有可能他们就是第一个用纸擦屁股的民族。

Anand Nyamdavaa
This is what i thought. The paper must have been cheap to justify it i guess…

我也是这样想的。我猜当时纸一定很便宜，这样才合理....

Jimmy Burhan
I read that they used silk as well. Paper must be a much cheaper option.
I don''t think they needed that much paper anyway. Chinese traditionally eat tons of vegetables. So, their feces must not be hard to wipe.

我看到有文章说他们也曾用丝绸擦过屁股。纸一定是一个比丝绸便宜得多的选项。
不管怎样，我不认为他们需要很多纸。中国人传统上喜欢吃大量蔬菜。所以，他们的大便一定不难擦掉。

Matthew Nghiem
Ah, yes I believe so. If I remember correctly, it was invented nearly 2,000 years ago during the times of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), thus the paper making process is so depicted here below, in a museum displaying a Han era male creating paper:

呃，是的，我相信是这样。如果我记得没错，纸是近2000年前在汉朝统治期间（公元前206年 - 公元220年）发明的，所以下面这一幕位于一个展览汉代男子造纸的博物馆，描绘了造纸工艺：



Hassan Ahmed
I read Ibn e Battuta’s account of his visit of China. He mostly described it with awe and admiring it’s traditions, culture and especially fruits.

我阅读过伊本巴图塔描述的他走访中国的经历。他大部分时候都怀着敬畏描写中国，赞赏中国的习俗、文化，特别是中国的水果。