扒车喵前段时间，外国Quora网站贴出一个问题：中国经常说自己有5000年的历史，根据呢？难道这是国际公认的吗，还是说其他国家的人也动不动说自己有几千年的历史？（China often notes it has 5000 years of history. On what basis? Is this an internationally agreed claim and could the same be said of other places on Earth?），这个问题引起了国外网友热议，让我们看看他们是怎么说的。
【以下是美版知乎quora网友的讨论翻译】
Andy Lee Chaisiri, a fan of the swords
Answered Apr 18, 2014
Because Chinese identified more by history than by religion
Westerners traditionally identified themselves by their religious beliefs and traced back their lineage to the creation of the world. When medieval Europeans talked about their identity, they talked about ‘Christendom’.
因为中国人更多是通过历史来认同身份的，而不是通过宗教。
传统上，西方人通过宗教信仰来确定自己的身份，并将自己追朔到世界的起源。
中世纪的欧洲人就说自己是基督教徒。
…
If you won’t eat mouse soaked in fish guts, can you really call yourself a Roman?
A Chinese scholar once said: “What is patriotism but the love of a home cooked meal?”
如果你不吃浸泡在鱼内脏的老鼠肉，你真的能自称是罗马人吗？
I mean this half jokingly, but another major part of Chinese identity is the food. If a Chinese reads a 2,000 year old Han dynasty document about all the various animals and chitlins they eat, it will still sound familiar enough to find in their local grocer. But if a westerner reads about Roman high cuisine like roasted field mice (so popular that an Emperor had to pass a consumption law in fear it was corrupting the people) dipped in a sauce made of fermented fish guts (garum), he is likely not going to find it available in his community. Heck he’d probably think it was “weird foreign Chinese food”.
中国人身份认同的另一个主要部分是食物
中国人翻阅2000年历史前的汉朝文献，就是那种关于汉朝人吃什么的文献，当年的美食，在当今中国的食品商仍然能找到。
不过，如果西方人要是去了解古罗马人吃的东西，比如烤田鼠之类的，他会发现在当地是不可能找到这些的。
他会觉得这是“奇怪的中国菜”。
Monica Perry, HSK Level 6 student, Chinese language lover
Answered Jun 1
After studying the language, culture and history for about a decade—Yes, I go with the 5,000-Year number, 100%.
研究中国语言、文化和历史有10年了，我支持中国拥有5000年历史的说法，100%支持！
Here’s why:
以下是原因：
As an American, who yes, can go see Native American monuments a half hour away from my home, our culture is not:
Organized. And I mean REALLY organized. Recorded, written, dated, and organized some more—way more so than your example of Greek→ American ever could be.
Rooted. The Chinese have a very good sense of who they are because they know where they came from. Their history is very rooted in their current culture. It hasn’t been abandoned along the way.
Connected. The Chinese have been able to keep the connection between their many dialects, and inter-civilizations going—from ancient China, to modern-day China in a way that many other major civilization have not. The Middle East, for example, is ancient and yet has been driven to separate. Quite a feat.
So yeah, mad props to them. They deserve the 5,000 number, I think.
作为美国人，我可以去参观离家半小时车程的印第安人纪念碑
不过我们的文化缺乏记录，缺乏组织性。
并非是根深蒂固的，而中国人知道自己是谁，知道自己来自哪里？
他们的历史根植于文化中，一直未被抛弃。
中国人通过很多方言保持着联系，文明交流一直从古中国延续到现代中国，而这是许多文化并不具备的。
比如，中东是古老的，不过四分五裂了。
所以，我觉得，中国人说自己拥有5000年历史是实至名归。
Giulio Talamini, studied Engineering Management
Answered Apr 18, 2014
There are some typically Chinese words which explain the Chinese attitude
有一些典型的中文词语能解释中国人的这一说法
1. the first is Huaxia
第一个是华夏
It came forth out of a self-awareness of the Han Chinese people towards their ancestral tribes, collectively known as the Huaxia
2. The second is Tianxia
第二个是天下
3. The Politics of Wu wei
还有就是无为而治
Matthew A Biltz
Answered Apr 22, 2014
Yes, we all have history. But the claim is actually about “culture” not “history.” If we go back 5,000 years no one was speaking English. In Europe they were speaking a proto-indo european language that originated in Turkey. The timing of this language migration is still debated but we can be sure that no modern european languages and writing system existed then.
我们都拥有历史。
说自己历史有多少年，其实是指“文化”多悠久。
回到5000年前，当时没人说英语的。
当时的欧洲人说的是起源于土耳其的 原始印欧语。
语言的迁移仍然存在争议，不过可以肯定当时不存在现代欧洲语言和书写系统。
New evidence from carbon dated millet show that the Chinese were farming 8,000 years ago. Cliff carvings in China using over 8,000 Chinese characters have been dated to 6,000 to 5,000 BCE, which would make actually their culture 8,000 to 7,000 years old.
In other parts of the world cultures arose, died out, or evolved into something extremely different. Chinese culture has remained very close to its origin. This is the reason for the claim in your question.
碳年代测定显示，中国人8000年前就开始耕种了。
崖画上8000多个中国人物，可以追朔到公元前6000年，也就是他们的历史有8000年之久。
世界其他地区的文化，不是消亡就是变得面目全非 。
只有中国文化仍然接近当初的文化。
这就是中国人自称拥有5000年历史的原因。
David Szutu
David Szutu, works at Easyfar Co Ltd
Answered Sep 14
Most historians, particularly Western historians, argue that Chinese civilization only began around 1,600 C.E. ( B.C. ) ( Shang dynasty ). However, recent archaeology discoveries suggest that Chinese civilisation might have appeared around 6000 BC, or even earlier. The Chinese writing system might have first appeared around 6,000 B.C.
大多数历史学家，特别是西方历史学家，认为中国文化起源于公元前1600年的商朝。
然而，最近的考古发现中国文化也许从公元前6000年就开始了，甚至更早。
中国文字的书写系统也许从公元前6000年首次出现的。
大家怎么看待外国网友这些评论？欢迎下方留言分享你的观点。
