Text丨Cognitive history
Editor丨Cognitive history
preface
Searlus, also known as "Seydros," is a geographical concept that refers to "all the Pacific islands from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean." Seydros, which means "sea" in Greek, is also the name of a people.
In ancient Greece, Seydros was the name of a nomadic people, while in the eyes of the ancient Romans, Seydros was a people who lived in the sea.
The 3rd century BC Roman writer Cenica made it clear in his treatise On Cedros: "He is a man of the sea, like his people." According to him, Seydros was a nomadic people (Pygmalis) who often moved between the seas.
The Romans associated Cederus with the maritime peoples of Greece mainly because the Roman Empire was at its height at the time. At that time, the Roman Emperor Thuratus was a powerful politician and military strategist.
He carried on Caesar's legacy and continued to strengthen his control over the countries on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Roman armies made several expeditions to the Greek peninsula and Asia Minor. In the late 1st and early 2nd centuries BC, there was a famous naval battle between Rome and Greece, the "Athletic Wars".
The Romans won the war and drove the Greek coalition out of Asia Minor. The Romans defeated the Greek coalition in this naval battle.
Sedros provided help and support to the Romans during their wars of conquest. In some Roman texts of the time, there are records of the geographical location, ethnicity, language and silk of the Seydros tribe.
The name Seydros was first mentioned in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC, when the Romans established a small kingdom called Seydros in northern Syria. After the 2nd century BC, Cederus became the common name for some nomadic peoples in northern Greece and northern Asia Minor.
The ancient Greek scholar Archimedes said in his book On Dynamics (De mechanism): "The man of the sea is the smallest dweller" and "the man of the sea is the largest dweller."
In the eyes of the Romans at the time, "in the sea" was as big as "land", and Cedros was a people who lived in the sea, on land and in the sea.
The Greek historian Herodotus described Sederus in detail in his book Historia: "It was a sea people who lived between sea and land.
It has three main parts: Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly. ”
Herodotus also said: "They do not dwell on land or in the sea; They have many professions: hunters, fishermen, merchants and warriors..."
The book "History" also says:
"The nation of Seydros is the smallest and dwells on the sea. They have no contact with the people of the sea. They came from the sea. They only have one language..."
Heraclitus, one of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece and a scholar of geography and geography, said in De naturalis: "... When I was young, I dreamed of sailing to the remotest and most inhospitable places in the world; But now I know that can't be..."
In De naturalis, he said: "From our study of nature and geography, we can infer how vast and distant the world we live in.
Is "Seris" a country of silk or China?
The orientation and ethnicity of "Seris" is the basis for the study of "Seris", and is an important historical material for discussing the origin of Chinese silk, the beginning of the Silk Road, and the economic exchanges and civilization spread between the East and the West.
However, there are currently a lot of misinterpretations in the academic community about the location, ethnicity and silk of "Seris". In ancient Western texts, "Seris" is located in the East, or the birthplace of Chinese silk, and in Western literature, "Seris" is a fictional place, and they call it "Seisys" or "China".
"A merchant came across an island in the middle of the sea and gave him his name: 'Seisys'. There were merchants on this island, and they saw a big place, there were many people there, and they weaved in a special way, and they regarded it as a miracle.
They asked the merchant for a trip. He gave them many gold and silk, gold and silver jewelry, spices and many other things. Later he returned to the place with these things, but what they didn't know was that there was another man on the island, Selezeus, who was a king.
When the two of them meet, they find that they are very similar to each other. Seristos said to the man, 'We are the same kind of people! 'They're all Greeks. ”
The merchant gave him many items such as gold, silk, gold and silver jewelry, and spices. So the merchant asked Seristos to leave the island with his wife and daughters for a trip to distant lands. ”
The Iliad records: "When the merchant left the island with his wife and daughters, he gave them a special garment—a special silk—and many gold and silver jewelry, spices, and other things. When they got home, he told them, 'We are the same kind of people! ’
The Iliad records:
Later, the businessman took his wife and daughters on a trip to distant lands. He took his wife and daughters to a place: 'These are the most beautiful places I have ever seen from the sea.
There are many people there who weave in a special way. These people used a special way of taking their names as 'Seisys'. ”
Where is "Seris": the Tarim Basin, the Caspian coast or North India
Where is "Cyris"? The author believes that neither the "Book of Han and the Western Regions" nor the "Later Hanshu Western Qiang Biography" explicitly mentioned the name "Seris", then, in ancient times, "Seris" was a place name or a country name?
After Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty was no longer referred to as "Seris". In Zhang Qian's "Legend of the Western Regions", it is only called "Dawan, Kangju, Dayue, Daxia, and Rest", but does not mention "Seris".
However, Zhang Qian's route to the Western Regions was different from the route after Zhang Qian's death. From Chang'an, Zhang Qian first passed through Gansu and Xinjiang to the Tarim Basin in the southern Western Regions, and then traveled west through the Taklamakan Desert to the Caspian Sea coast in northern Central Asia.
Compared to Zhang Qian's journey west from Chang'an through the Tarim Basin, its route was much closer. From Chang'an, it takes more than 300 kilometers to cross the Tianshan Mountain Range; It takes more than 600 kilometers to travel west from the Taklamakan Desert to the Tarim Basin.
Judging from the national strength and consumption of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty was unable and unnecessary to conquer the nomads of northern Central Asia.
After Zhang Qian reached the Tarim Basin, his route changed. It turned out that it was necessary to go west out of Yumen Pass to Congling to reach Dawan, Kangju, Dayue Clan and other places in northern Central Asia; Later, he traveled from Yumen Guanxi through Shanshan, and reached the Great Xia Dynasty and Rest in the southern part of the Western Regions; Finally, he traveled west from Shanshan, to Yanqi, Guizi, Shule and other places.
This route is consistent with Zhang Qian's route from Chang'an to Zhangye through Jiuquan to Dunhuang and then to the countries surrounding the Tarim Basin. Therefore, it can be assumed that Zhang Qian traveled west to east along the Silk Route through the entire Central Asian region to the Tarim Basin.
Of course, this route is not the only one. Starting from Chang'an through Daxia and Anxia to Dayue and Dawan and then to Daxia and Anxia in northern Central Asia, according to Zhang Qian's route to the Western Regions, two different routes also appeared between the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty:
One is from Chang'an, through the Hexi corridor to Dunhuang, and then through the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains to Kangju and Dayue clan; The Book of the Later Han and the Biography of Western Qiang recorded: "(Kangju) lived in the Hexi corridor and made peace with the Yue clan"
Therefore, "Seris" is "Dawan, Kangju, Dayue, Daxia". Zhang Qian's route from Chang'an to the Western Regions Frontier Command was "first west into the Kang (Ju) River"; The route from Loulan to Dawan to Kangju and Daxia is "first east into the Kang (Ju) River".
About 150 kilometers north from the Hotan region of Xinjiang is the famous Peacock River Basin; And one hundred and fifty kilometers northeast from here is the famous Tarim River Valley.
Because Yumen and Anxi are relatively close to the Tarim Basin, from Yumen to Anxi to the Tarim River Basin, it can be said that "the first east enters the Kang (Ju) River".
From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the decline of the Silk Road and the influence of war, "Seris" has never been mentioned again. Therefore, the author believes that "Seris" may refer to an area in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin - Loulan and Guizi countries, which should be between the Tarim Basin and the Caspian Sea coast.
The author's opinion
The above discussion is mainly in ancient Greco-Roman texts, through the analysis of the position, nationality and silk and other elements of Seris, so as to re-evaluate the status and history of Seris.
First, the orientation of Seris. Regarding the orientation of Seris, although the Homeric Epic, the Bible and the Qur'an all mention the position of Seris, the orientation referred to is different from the above documents.
For example, Homer's epic poems and the Bible say that Seris is in the valley of the Two Rivers, while the Qur'an says that Seris is in the Arabian Peninsula; Another example is the question of the ethnicity of Cyris, although the Epic of Homer mentions Cyris as a multi-ethnic state, but its national name is "Halais".
Another example is the silk issue of Serris, although it is covered in ancient Greek and ancient Roman documents, but these documents use the word "belgica" when referring to silk.
Secondly, on the question of the Seris nation. In these documents, there are roughly three descriptions of the Seris people: one is that the Seris are a multi-ethnic state; The second is to say that the Seris are a single people; The third is to say that the Seris are a multi-ethnic state. However, the above account is completely different from the content described in the above literature.
For example, in the Homeric Epic, the Cyris are called "Halais"; In the Bible, Seris is called "Halais"; And in the Qur'an, Seris is called "Halais."
Again, on the issue of silk. In these literatures, the descriptions of silk are basically positive and positive. For example, in Homer's epics, "a belgica" and "a belgica for the bike" are mentioned; mentions "silk" (a silk) in the Qur'an; The Bible mentions "a silk of wood" and so on.
However, there are also some misreadings in these literatures. For example, in the Epic of Homer, it is said that "the women of the Seris decorated their clothes with silk"; And in the Bible it is said that "Cyris is a great nation"; In the Qur'an it is said that "the Seris are a nation"; And in the Qur'an it is said that "the women of the Seris decorated their clothes with silk".
Although these documents mention elements such as the Seris nation, silk and state, they are interpreted differently.
bibliography
Wu Jianmin, Historical Documents of Ancient Greece and Rome, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1986.
Agnes Sexton, The Birth of the West, Commercial Press, 1987.
Chen Zhenghong, Greco-Roman Mythology, Commercial Press, 1988.
Sexton, Myths and Legends of the Origin of the Greek Nation, Commercial Press, 1987,
Herrovr, The Life and Writings of Herodotus, Commercial Press, 1987.