扒车喵在中国悠久的历史长河中，其影响力不仅遍及周边国家，也对西方世界的历史走向产生巨大影响，美国网友在海外问答网站Quora上提问道：中国有哪些对世界影响重大却鲜为人知的历史事件？一位来自英国的专家提及了中国和阿拉伯之间的怛罗斯之战，这场战争直接导致了西方文明的崛起。
问题：中国有哪些对世界影响重大却鲜为人知的历史事件？
英国专家乔治•爱德华的回答
In 751 ad, the battle of Talas between Arabs and Chinese troops can be regarded as an event that ultimately had a great impact on the rest of the world. The battle itself has hardly been noticed or written today, but it has profoundly changed the process of history.
公元751年，阿拉伯人和中国军队之间的怛罗斯之战可以说是一场最终对世界其他地区产生巨大影响的事件，这场战斗本身在今天几乎没有被注意到或大书特书，但它却深刻地改变了历史的进程。
In 751 ad, the Arab Empire was in the ascendant. At that time, the Arab Caliph was ruled by the powerful Abbasid Dynasty, while in the East, the Chinese Empire was ruled by the great Tang Dynasty. They meet on a narrow road in today’s Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. An event will trigger conflict and war between the two great empires.
公元751年，阿拉伯帝国风头正盛，当时，阿拉伯哈里发由强大的阿拔斯王朝统治，而在东方，中华帝国则由伟大的唐王朝统治。他们在今天中亚的吉尔吉斯斯坦狭路相逢，一个再小不过的事件引发了这两个伟大帝国之间的冲突和战争。
怛罗斯之战
In his book, European crossroads: a history of Xinjiang, James Millward, a historian and professor at Georgetown University, wrote that the conflict was “the first and last meeting between the Arab Empire and the Chinese army”.
历史学家、乔治城大学教授詹姆斯·米尔沃德（James Millward）在其著作《欧亚十字路口：新疆历史》（Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang）中写道，这场冲突是“阿拉伯帝国和中国军队的第一次也是最后一次会面”。
By the mid-740s, the Tang Dynasty controlled the North-South trade route of modern Kyrgyzstan’s Tianshan Mountains. At that time, General Gao Xianzhi of the Tang Dynasty ordered to drive Tibetans out of the Pamirs.
到了740年代中期，唐朝控制了现代吉尔吉斯斯坦天山南北的贸易路线，唐朝的将军高仙芝当时曾下命令控制帕米尔山脉，将藏人迁移出该地区。
The confrontation between the rulers of the Principality of Chah and the Fergana kingdom in Central Asia eventually led to a conflict between Arabs and Chinese. At that time, the Fergana kingdom ruled by ihsid was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
查赫公国和中亚费尔干纳王国的统治者之间的对峙最终引发了阿拉伯人和中国人之间的冲突，当时，由伊赫希德统治的费尔干纳王国是唐王朝的附庸国。
In 750 ad, King Fergana had a border dispute with the rulers of neighboring Chah. He called on the rulers of the Tang Dynasty to send General Gao Xianzhi to help Fergana’s army fight together. General Gao Xianzhi led his troops to besiege Chah and promised to provide king Chah with a safe passage to leave the capital.
公元750年，费尔干纳国王与邻国查赫的统治者发生边界争端，他请求唐朝统治者派遣高仙芝将军协助费尔干纳的军队一同作战。高仙芝将军带兵围困了查赫，并承诺向查赫国王提供离开首都的安全通道。
But Gao Xianzhi later broke her promise and beheaded the king. King Chah’s son escaped by chance and then sought help from the Arab governor of the Abbasid Dynasty in huloshan. The Arabs decided to teach the Tang Dynasty a lesson, so they gathered their troops and marched eastward. Of course, the Arabs also hoped to take this opportunity to maintain Abbas’s influence in the region.
但高仙芝后来食言，斩首了国王。查赫国王的儿子侥幸逃走，随之向阿拔斯王朝在呼罗珊的阿拉伯总督寻求帮助，阿拉伯人决定给唐王朝一个教训，于是集结军队向东行进，当然，阿拉伯人也希望借此机会维护阿巴斯在该地区的影响力。
战斗经过/Battle process
In 751 ad, the two armies finally met along the Talas River in today’s Kyrgyzstan. The Tang army was reinforced by the Karluk of the Central Asian Turkic tribal alliance. Surprisingly, the Karluk family later played a decisive role in the upcoming battle.
公元751年，两军终于在今天的吉尔吉斯斯坦的怛罗斯河沿岸相遇。唐朝军队得到了中亚突厥部落联盟卡鲁克的增援，出人意料的是，卡鲁克部落后来在即将到来的战斗中发挥了决定性作用。
战争地图
Both sides sent tens of thousands of soldiers. The war lasted four days. The two powerful armies fought for several times. The situation of the war was stalemate, and the victory was lost for the moment. On the fifth day, the kaluk tribe suddenly marched from the Arab side and attacked the Chinese army. The end of the Tang army was doomed.
双方都派出了数万名士兵，战斗持续了四日，两支强大的军队数度拼杀，战况胶着，一时不分胜负。第五天，卡鲁克部落突然从阿拉伯方面进军，袭击了中国军队，猝不及防之下，唐军的落败已经注定。
According to Chinese historical records, the kaluk tribe had long been subordinate to the Tang Dynasty, but changed its mind in the middle of the battle, which directly led to the defeat of the Tang army. Only Gao Xianzhi and a small part of the army escaped successfully.
中国史书记载，卡鲁克部落早已归顺唐朝，但在战斗中中途变卦，直接导致了唐朝军队的溃败，只有高仙芝带着一小部分军队成功逃脱。
This failure marked the complete end of the Tang Dynasty’s westward expansion and led to the control of Central Asia by Muslims for the next 400 years. Since the region is a necessary place for the Silk Road and there are many merchants, the control of the region has greatly promoted the economic development of the Abbasids.
这次失败标志着唐朝向西扩张的彻底终结，并导致穆斯林在接下来的400年里控制了中亚地区，若非如此，今日之中国版图可深入中亚腹地。鉴于该地区是丝绸之路的必经之地，往来客商多如牛毛，因此对该地区的控制大大促进了阿拔斯王朝的经济发展。
灾难性后果/disastrous consequences
At the time of the battle, its impact was unclear. There are few historical records about this battle. The records of China and Arabia are only a few words. Shortly after the battle of Talas, the Tang Dynasty was involved in a bigger storm.
在战斗发生时，其影响如何尚不明朗。关于这场战役的历史记录很少，中国和阿拉伯的记录都只是只言片语，怛罗斯战役后不久，唐王朝卷入到一场更大的风暴之中。
At first, the Tang Dynasty wanted revenge and planned to drive the Arabs out of Central Asia. However, a disastrous civil war, the an Shi rebellion, later engulfed the whole of China from 755 to 763. The rebellion led to a large number of casualties, so that the population of the Tang Dynasty was greatly reduced.
唐朝起初想要报复，并计划将阿拉伯人赶出中亚地区，然而，一场灾难性的内战，即安史之乱，后来从755年到763年间吞噬了整个中国，这次叛乱导致了大量伤亡，以至于唐朝的人口大大减少。
The destruction of the population is not only the direct result of serious combat casualties and incidental civilian deaths, but also the direct impact on farmers, which led to their difficulties in farming and abandoned fields. Especially in northern and central China, mass famine and disease occurred again, resulting in the death of millions of people, Chinese Historians said, The an Shi rebellion experienced the reign of three emperors of the Tang Dynasty, and the death toll was estimated to be as high as 36 million.
人口的毁灭不仅是严重的战斗伤亡和附带的平民死亡的直接结果，而且由于对农民的直接冲击，导致他们难事农桑，田地荒废，特别是在中国的北部和中部地区，又发生了大规模饥荒和疾病，导致数百万人死亡，中国历史学家称，安史之乱历经唐朝三位皇帝统治时期，死亡人数估计高达3600万。
The an Shi rebellion and its disastrous consequences greatly weakened the centralized bureaucratic system of the Tang Empire, especially in the surrounding areas of the Empire, which has been lax. The emergence of autonomous provinces and temporary financial organizations directly led to the rise of warlords and weakened the influence of the central government.
安史之乱及其灾难性后果极大地削弱了唐帝国中央集权的官僚体制，尤其是帝国的周边地区，这一制度已然呈涣散之势。各自治省份和临时金融组织纷纷涌现，直接导致军阀势力崛起，削弱了中央政府的影响力。
In addition, because the army withdrew to central China to help suppress the rebellion and deal with the subsequent riots, the Tang government lost control of most of the western region. The continued decline of military strength and economic weakness led to the further weakening of the Tang Dynasty’s control over the territory of the western region in the next few years, especially.
此外，因为军队撤到了中国中部，以帮助镇压叛乱和应对随后的骚乱，唐朝政府还失去了对大部分西部地区的控制。持续的军事实力的衰落和经济疲软导致唐朝在接下来的几年里，特别是对西部地区领土的控制进一步削弱。
By 790 ad, the Chinese had completely lost control of the Tarim Basin. With the weakening of the influence of the Tang Dynasty in Central Asia, the Arabs took this opportunity to further expand into Central Asia.
到了公元790年，中国人已经完全失去了对塔里木盆地地区的控制，随着唐朝在中亚地区的影响力减弱，阿拉伯人借此机会进一步向中亚扩张。
The weak Chinese empire can no longer interfere in Central Asia, so the influence of Abbas Arabs continues to grow.
衰弱的中华帝国不再能够干涉中亚地区，因此阿巴斯阿拉伯人的影响力继续增长。
Many alliances and tribes in Central Asia have converted to Islam. Over the next 250 years, most of the tribes in Central Asia that used to be Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism became Muslims.
中亚的许多联盟和部落都皈依了伊斯兰教。在接下来的250年里，中亚大部分以前是佛教、印度教、琐罗亚斯德教和景教的部落都变成了穆斯林。
With the decline of Buddhism in Central Asia under the influence of Islam, Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism gradually separated and developed into an independent religion with distinct and unique spiritual elements.
随着中亚佛教受伊斯兰教影响的衰落，中国佛教与印度佛教渐渐割裂开来，发展成为一个独立的宗教，具有鲜明而独特的精神元素。
造纸术走向西方/Papermaking goes to the West
Most importantly, papermaking spread smoothly to Arab countries at that time, and then to the West due to the battle of Talas.
最重要的是，当时造纸术顺利传播到阿拉伯国家，然后由于怛罗斯之战传播到西方。
According to talibi, an 11th century historian, Chinese prisoners captured in the battle helped bring the paper industry to Samarkand. Samarkand is a city in the southeast of Uzbekistan and one of the oldest cities in Central Asia.
根据11世纪历史学家塔利比的说法，在战斗中俘虏的中国囚犯帮助将造纸业引入了撒马尔罕。撒马尔罕是乌兹别克斯坦东南部的一座城市，也是中亚最古老的城市之一。
It is said that some Chinese soldiers worked in Chinese paper mills before. Later, they helped build the first paper mill outside China. One of the prisoners was tou Houan, a craftsman of the Tang Dynasty.
据说一些中国士兵以前在中国的造纸厂工作过，他们后来在中国境外帮助建造了第一座造纸厂，其中一名俘虏是唐代的工匠头后安。
造纸流程图
According to historical records, he and others were taken to Baghdad, where they worked for Islamic prisoners for several years. When he returned to China, he wrote to the emperor, saying that he and his colleagues had taught Abbas craftsmen important techniques in papermaking, weaving and gold processing.
据史料记载，他和其他人被带到了巴格达，在那里他们为伊斯兰俘虏者工作了几年。当他回到中国时，他写信给皇帝，说他和他的同事向阿拔斯工匠传授了造纸、纺织和黄金加工的重要技术。
Soon, paper mills were established in Samarkand, Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo and Delhi. In 1120, the first European paper mill was established in hativa (now Valencia), Spain.
很快，造纸厂在撒马尔罕、巴格达、大马士革、开罗、德里纷纷建立起来。公元1120年，第一家欧洲造纸厂在西班牙的哈提瓦（现称巴伦西亚）成立。
In the heyday of Arab rule, they controlled Spain and Portugal, as well as North Africa, the Middle East and large areas of Central Asia, which promoted the transfer of papermaking technology from the east to the West. The Chinese invention later spread from hathawa to Italy, Germany and the whole of Europe.
在阿拉伯统治的鼎盛时期，他们控制了西班牙和葡萄牙，以及北非、中东和大片中亚地区，这促进了造纸技术由东方向西方的转移。这项中国发明后来从哈蒂瓦传到了意大利、德国和整个欧洲。
Paper is cheaper than parchment, easier to carry and make, and helps spread knowledge. Most of these books written in paper were collected from Asian cultural centers along the Silk Road, which greatly benefited Europe in the middle ages.
纸张比羊皮纸更便宜，更方便携带和制作，有助于传播知识，这些用纸写成的书籍大部分是从丝绸之路沿线的亚洲文化中心收集的，这些文化中心在中世纪大大造福了欧洲。
It completely changed the Islamic world and later Europe. The emergence of paper technology and the popularity of woodcut printing and later movable type printing undoubtedly promoted the progress of Western science, theology and history.
它彻底改变了伊斯兰世界，后来又改变了欧洲。纸张技术的出现，以及木刻印刷和后来的活字印刷的普及，无疑推动了西方科学、神学和历史的进步。
