Chapter 30 discover asia

The origin of the word "Asia" was debated by Greek geographers as early as 2,000 years ago.It has been suggested that Ereb, or "darkness," was what Asia Minor sailors called the west of sunset; Aeu, or "brilliance," was what sailors called the east of sunrise.This statement does not seem to be much superior to other statements.Today, however, there is no value in continuing the debate. Since when did the people of the Continent begin to realize that they were not the center of the world, that their homeland was but a small peninsula in a vast expanse of land?And in what way? This is a question that deserves more human attention.On a vast continent, the number of people living far exceeds that of Europe, and most of the people are far more civilized than Europe.When the heroes of Troy fought each other with primitive weapons, these prehistoric "weapons" they used had long been regarded as old antiques by wise Chinese and placed in museum showrooms.

The first European to go to Asia is generally believed to be Marco Polo, however, this was not the case.Before Marco Polo, people have been to Asia, but we know very little about the specific conditions of those people.The development of geography is often like this: leading people to understand the geography of Asia is war rather than peace.The Greeks were familiar with Asia Minor because of their business and trade with the other side of the ocean; similarly, the Europeans deepened their understanding of Asia because of the Trojan War; in terms of the expansion of European geographical knowledge, the three large-scale Western Expeditions of the ancient Persian Kingdom were even more important. It is indispensable.Is Greece to Persia more valuable than the West Indies to General Braddock who moved troops into the wilderness and attacked Fort Duquesne , taken by the British in 1758. Edward Braddock, 1695-1755, appointed Commander of the British Army in America in 1754——Translator's Note)? I doubt it. Two hundred years later, Alexander the Great made a "return visit" to Asia. This return visit was no longer a purely military operation. For the first time, Europeans had an objective understanding of the continent stretching between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Because of their arrogance, the Romans could not really be interested in the "outside" world. They only tried to enslave all enslavable countries and extract taxes from the enslaved in order to maintain their luxurious and luxurious life in their hometown in Rome.For these Roman masters, those enslaved people are meaningless at all. As long as they work honestly to build roads and pay taxes, the Roman masters will tacitly allow them to fight and fight as they please, life and death.What happened in those countries?The Romans never even bothered to figure it out.If there is a problem with their rule in those places, they send soldiers to use violence to restore peace and slaughter to restore order. When everything returns to calm, they continue to enjoy their own blessings.

Pontius Pilate (Roman governor of Judea and Samaria in the 1st century AD. According to the "Gospel" in the Bible, Jesus was crucified on the cross during his reign——Translator's Note) Just a typical Roman colonial ruler, neither bully nor weak.The Roman colonies under him were "in order."He cleverly ignored and ignored the people in the colonies, and was highly praised by the people in his hometown in Rome.By chance, strange people like Mark Aurelius sat on the throne of the king, and in order to satisfy their own curiosity, they sent diplomatic missions to visit the mysterious Far East.When the mission returned to Rome, they told what they had seen and heard, and talked about strange things, but it was only a temporary sensation.The Romans soon got tired of hearing such clichés, so they sat in the amphitheater every day to watch those breathtaking performances.

Thanks to the Crusades, Europeans had a little understanding of Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt, but in their hearts, the eastern shore of the Dead Sea was still the end of the human world. Not a serious "scientific" expedition, but a poor writer who finally made Europeans aware of the existence of Asia.Here is a hired wordsmith with dreams of overnight fame, describing in a book a country he has never seen. Marco Polo's father and uncle were Venetian merchants.They were associated with Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, through commerce.It happened that Kublai Khan was a very wise Khan, and he believed that if his people could learn some Western pragmatic spirit, they would definitely benefit a lot.Therefore, when he learned that two Venetian merchants often came to Bukhara in Turkestan between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya at the foot of the Altai Mountains, he invited them to Beijing, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty.The two Venetian merchants came as promised and were highly respected and admired by Kublai Khan.A few years later, deeply feeling the family's prayers, the two asked Kublai Khan to allow them to return to their hometown to visit their relatives.Kublai Khan ordered the two to go home and stay for a while before returning to Beijing. At that time, they would bring the clever boy they often mentioned-the son of one of them and the nephew of the other-together.

After three and a half years of trekking, the Polo family returned to Yuan Dadu in 1275.The young Marco really lived up to his reputation.The imperial court of Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty favored him extremely, and granted him the title of a provincial official, and he was promoted to rank and enjoy a salary. After 24 years, feeling homesick, Marco traveled via India (by boat), Persia, and Syria before eventually returning to his hometown of Venice. His neighbors dismissed Marco Polo's "Arabian Nights".Ma Ke often talked to his neighbors about the wealth of Kublai Khan, the golden statues in the high halls and temples, and the silk clothes of the wives and concubines of the officials in the court. How could people believe such strange stories? Therefore, They gave him the nickname "Marco Million"! Everyone knows that even the queen of the Constantinople Empire only owned two silk socks.

If it hadn't happened at the right time, if there hadn't been a small dispute between Venice and Genoa, if "Marco Million" had not been the commander of a Venetian warship, and had never been a prisoner of the victor Genoa, his legendary story Maybe it will disappear into obscurity with him and disappear silently.Marco Polo spent a year in prison, and his cellmate was a Pisa man named Ruth Tichen.Rustician had been a writer, and Arthurian tales and a medieval Nick Carter story in French pulp fiction had once become popular books in Italian through his rewriting.He immediately realized that what Marco Polo saw and heard had great commercial value.So, in prison, he recorded all the legendary stories of Marco Polo.In this way, a great book was dedicated to the world by him.Interest in the work remains as high as it was when it was first published in the 14th century.

Perhaps the reason for the popularity of this work is due to the repeated references to gold and other kinds of wealth in the book.Romans and Greeks also vaguely mentioned the luxury and wealth of Eastern emperors, but Marco Polo was different.Since then, the Europeans' plan to find a shortcut to India has been put on the agenda of history.However, it is not easy to complete this plan. In 1498, the Portuguese finally reached the Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later, they reached India.Another 40 years later, they landed on the coast of Japan.Meanwhile, Magellan sailed from west to east and discovered the Philippine Islands.At this time, the enthusiasm of Europeans to develop South Asia was unprecedentedly high.

This is the outline of Asia.The discoveries in Siberia have been discussed above.The following will talk about the first people to reach other Asian countries one by one.