中西文明交流与发展

文明交流大抵可追溯至伏羲时代，伏羲氏族是一个邻近瀚海沙漠的远古游牧民族，在当时，人类文明仍普遍处于采集狩猎时期，文明相对先进的伏羲氏，相传有教民结网、渔猎、畜牧、文字、八卦等事迹。

如果伏羲的传说是真，《山海经》的原始作者很可能就是他们，而世界各地的象形文字与东方面孔，或许都是他们文明传播后的衍生。

东西文明的交流，自古以来一直存在，例如在商代的遗迹中，发现西方文明遗物与白人黑人遗骸，在周代秦国的遗迹中，也发现大量西方文物与不同人种，他们甚至为秦国制造铁器，而此时的中原各国却仍在使用青铜器。

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf

 A Shepherd Boy tended his master's Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd's pipe.
One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
His Master had told him to call for help should a Wolf attack the flock, and the Villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a Wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"
As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the Boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.
A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!" Again the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows were creeping out over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the underbrush and fall upon the Sheep.
In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting "Wolf! Wolf!" But though the Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. "He cannot fool us again," they said.
The Wolf killed a great many of the Boy's sheep and then slipped away into the forest.

牧童与狼

有个牧童在村庄附近的林边放羊。由于放牧无聊单调，所以他很快就厌倦了。
一日，他望着羊群与森林，想到若狼来了怎么办，想着想着先找点乐子。
他的雇主曾告诉他“狼来了要求救，村民会赶走它。”他此时虽没真的看到狼，却跑向村庄狂喊「狼来了！…」
如他所料，村民听到呼喊，就放下了工作，激奋地杀往牧场。但当他们到达那里时，才发现被牧童耍笑了几天后，牧童又大叫「狼来了！…」村民再次驰援，只得再次被笑。
某天傍晚，夕阳西下树影蔓延，果真有只狼从草丛蹦出扑向绵羊。
惊恐的牧童奔向村庄喊「狼来了！…」虽然村民们听到了哭喊，却没人像之前那样帮他。 「别想再耍我们」他们说。
狼杀掉很多牧童的羊，然后就溜进森林里了。

上述《伊索寓言》故事，很可能是周幽王烽火戏诸侯故事的改编翻译，因为受雇佣的牧童不敢这么做，即便他无知无畏而真敢做，村民也不可能任由他耍笑，一定会找他的雇主算帐甚至直接抽这不懂事的孩子。

此外，将「 All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd's pipe. 」 翻译为「无聊单调」更合文意且更加通顺，因此，伊索的这则寓言故事，其原作者很可能是来自东方的商旅，而周幽王就是这故事的原始主角。

 《史记》襃姒不好笑，幽王欲其笑万方，故不笑。幽王为烽燧大鼓，有寇至则举烽火。诸侯悉至，至而无寇，襃姒乃大笑。幽王说之，为数举烽火。其后不信，诸侯益亦不至... 犬戎攻幽王。幽王举烽火征兵，兵莫至。遂杀幽王骊山下…

秦国虽受到周代中原各国的歧视隔绝，但与西方的经济文化交流却没断过，所以没被礼教束缚儒教腐化的秦国，能够快速崛起而让中原诸侯望尘莫及，秦国变法之所以能成功，秦国武器之所以能精良，就是因为不迂腐陈腐画地自限。

到了秦代，秦始皇统一中国后，反而变得更加封闭保守，修筑万里长城彻底与外界隔绝，画地自限以保障其万世基业；秦国暴政很快就被推翻，但万里长城留了下来，从此成为汉族人民的保守限制，也成为中华文化的隔阂枷锁。

从汉张骞通西域的新鲜度，就足以反应周、秦、汉的陈腐度，汉族为对抗匈奴而寻求盟友，这才又重新打开交流之门，这些透过商队而交流的文化，不但量少而且肤浅，然后东风西渐，中亚乃至于西方，各国也纷纷专制腐化起来，许多东西根本通不过，或是进得去却出不来。

说到西方的专制文化，可能是参考东方文化的结果，由于东方泱泱大国的强盛，使西方的野心家羡慕不已，间接促成亚力山大帝国的兴起，但由于缺乏共同的文化思想支撑，所以它的崩塌亦如它兴起般快速。

亚历山大的暴力搓合，反而使不同文化思想的民族更加对立，此后，罗马帝国与波斯帝国兴起，时至今日，欧洲与中东的矛盾仍未化解，西方文化是在暴力搓合长期分裂对峙中成形，与东方文化的核心绽放长期融合统一大致相反。

• 道家经典
• 经典奇书
• 二十五史
• 伊索寓言