Why were ancient Chinese not good at war?

為什么古代中國人不擅戰(zhàn)？

評論翻譯

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

Liu LiSong, lives in China
It seems that we don't seem to be good at war. But, just seems.
Because we have completed the expansion process 2400 years ago, and extended our boundaries to the limits of geography. The core territory of traditional China is surrounded by mountains, jungles, deserts and snowfields that were insurmountable in ancient times. There are also some grasslands that we are not interested in.

貌似我們看起來確實(shí)好像不擅戰(zhàn)。但，那只是看起來。
因?yàn)槲覀冊?400年前就已經(jīng)完成了擴(kuò)張過程，將我們的邊境延伸到了地理上的極限。古代中國的核心區(qū)域被高山，叢林，沙漠和雪地包圍，這在古代是不可逾越的。還有一些草原是我們不感興趣的。

There is another element that deepens your misunderstanding. We have faced many powerful enemies, mostly from the northern nomads. They almost all disappeared into history.
Believe me, you don't want to know how they disappeared.

還有一個(gè)因素加深了你的誤解。我們面臨過很多強(qiáng)大的敵人，大部分是北方游牧民族。所有這些敵人幾乎都在歷史中消失殆盡了。
相信我，你不會(huì)想知道他們是怎么消失的。

Tamta Marjam
This a well written summary! Thank you. It makes me curious to learn more.

樓上你的總結(jié)很好，謝謝。導(dǎo)致我對中國歷史更好奇了。

Yuri Zga
You gotta be kidding me, in reality, Mongolian tribes still exist and strong, Manchurian tribes still exist, Turk tribes still exist and strong.

你開玩笑吧，蒙古部落不是直到現(xiàn)在還存在嗎，滿族部落也還存在。突厥部落也是如此。

Unlike the Romans, who had peer competitors with strong state structures, like the Persians and the Carthaginians… the ancient Chinese were so successful at warfare that, by the time of the Han dynasty, their peer competitors were all beaten and absorbed into China.
There were still people to fight against, but they resisted the Chinese through the terrain of high mountains in South and West China and through the endless Steppe of North China. China’s borders were not stopped by enemy armies, but by the terrain.

不像羅馬人，其競爭者都擁有強(qiáng)大的國家結(jié)構(gòu)，比如波斯人和迦太基人。而古代中國人是很擅戰(zhàn)的，以至于到漢朝時(shí)，其對手都被打敗并且被中國吸收。
當(dāng)然還是有人在反抗，但是他們憑借的是西南部的高山和北方無盡的草原。中國的邊界不是被敵軍阻止，而是被地形阻止。

John Hopkins
Actually, I think they were. I’ve only read three books of the period Sun Tzu (four different translations), Seven Military Classics of Ancient China and Ancient Chinese Warfare by Ralph Sawyer so I am, by far, not an expert……but I have a number of reasons I believe the Chinese were far better than popularly thought. 1. They were very innovative in the development of weaponry and willing to try new techniques for using them. 2. Given the size of the country internal issues concerned them more than external. 3. There are over 50 different cultures - hell, if you ask any southerner in the US what they feel about our northern brethren - want to know what they would say? With the cultural diffusion in China internal conflict was inevitable and pervasive.

我認(rèn)為他們是擅戰(zhàn)的。原因如下：1、他們武器開發(fā)上很有創(chuàng)意，而且愿意嘗試新技術(shù)。2、由于中國面積巨大，所以內(nèi)部問題比外部問題更緊迫。3、中國有超過50種不同的文化，如果你問美國南方人對北方人作何感受，你知道他們會(huì)怎么說嗎？中國的文化傳播，意味著內(nèi)部沖突是不可避免的。