扒车喵印度网友一向为自己国家作为四大文明古国之一而自豪甚至有点倨傲，但对印度文明未能传承到今天一直深感遗憾，有印度网友在美版知乎Quora上提问道：中国是唯一延续至今的文明古国吗？还是中国人自夸的？这个问题引起了各国网友的热议，他们撰文解释说：事实就是如此，不用怀疑。
问题：中国是唯一延续至今的文明古国吗？还是中国人自夸的？
网友亚瑟•戴恩的回答
I think you misunderstood. It’s not the Chinese people’s self righteousness, but the international consensus. Among the four major civilizations (Egypt, Babylon, India and China), China is the only ancient civilization that continues to this day. After thousands of years, it has never been interrupted.
我想你误会了，不是中国人自以为是，而是国际共识。在四大文明（埃及、巴比伦、印度和中国）中，中国是唯一一个延续至今的文明古国，历经千年，从未中断。
This is a blessing for the world. Egyptian civilization ended thousands of years ago, the cuneiform characters on cultural relics have long been forgotten, and its civilization has long been assimilated by Arab civilization.
这对世界来说是一件幸事，埃及文明在几千年前就结束了，文物上的楔形文字也早已被人们遗忘，其文明也早已被阿拉伯文明同化了。
Babylon has been invaded and destroyed several times in history, and now it has been lost in the long river of history.
历史上巴比伦曾数次遭到入侵和破坏，现在已湮没在历史的长河里。
Their language has disappeared, and few written books and books have survived. Only magnificent buildings can give us a glimpse of their style.
他们的语言消失了，文字典籍也极少留存下来，只留下宏伟的建筑得以让现在的我们一窥其当年的风采。
Indian civilization is better preserved than the other two civilizations, but it still experienced the colonial rule of Muslims and Britain. The recovery of its history and culture depends on the records of historical books and books handed down from China.
印度文明比其他两个文明保存得好一些，但仍然经历了穆斯林和英国的殖民统治，其历史文化的复原还要借助中国流传下来的史书典籍的记录。
China is very different. Its language and characters have been spread for thousands of years. Although they have been changed several times, square characters, as a variant of hieroglyphics, are easier to inherit and identify.
中国则大大不同，其语言和文字流传千年，虽然几经变更，但方块字作为象形文字的变种，更加易于传承和识别。
The language system has never been interrupted, and the track of language evolution is very clear.
他们的语言系统从未中断过，语言演变的轨迹非常清晰。
Any Chinese with secondary school education or above can read poetry and articles 2500 years ago. If they have learned some calligraphy, there is no problem in identifying inscriptions and even oracle bones 3000 years ago.
任何受过中学以上教育的中国人都可以阅读2500年前的诗歌和文章，如果学过一些书法，鉴别3000年前的铭文甚至甲骨文都没有问题。
More importantly, the theories of Confucianism and Taoism have been handed down from heart to heart, and the education system formed by them has become an important carrier for the continuation of Chinese civilization. These valuable heritages still exist in the daily practice of the Chinese people.
更重要的是，儒道百家的理论心口相传，其形成的教育体系成为中国文明延续的重要载体。这些宝贵的遗产至今仍存在于中国人的日常实践之中。
Although China has experienced countless cultural disasters, such as the invasion of Mongolia, the rule of Manchu and Qing Dynasties, the Opium War and the war of aggression against China, they have been assimilated or expelled. Thanks to the resistance of the Chinese people and the inclusiveness of culture, the Chinese civilization has not completely disappeared like Egypt and Babylon.
尽管中国经历了无数的文化灾难，如蒙古入侵、满清统治、鸦片战争、侵华战争等，他们或被同化，或被驱逐，得益于中国人民的抗争和文化的包容性，中华文明并没有像埃及和巴比伦那样完全消失。
Chinese have reason to be proud of their ancient civilization, which has endured countless hardships and nearly endangered several times, but in the end fortunately, this spirit has been preserved and will never die.
中国人有理由为他们的古代文明感到自豪，它经历了无数的苦难，有好几次几乎濒临灭绝，但最终幸运的是，这种精神被保存下来了，而且永远不会消亡。
网友瑞恩•科莫的回答
In terms of words, Chinese civilization is the only primitive civilization that continues to this day. All primitive civilizations use hieroglyphics. On the contrary, all civilizations written with letters can not be primitive civilizations, but derived civilizations.
从文字上看，中华文明是唯一延续至今的原始文明。所有原始文明都使用象形文字，反之，所有使用字母书写的文明都不可能是原始文明，而是衍生文明。
Under the influence of the powerful primitive civilization, the text system of the derived civilization generally borrows the words of the primitive civilization to pronounce, and gradually evolves from hieroglyphs to letters to express and pronounce, and finally turns into letter writing. Katakana and kana in Japanese Chinese characters are like this.
在强大的原始文明的影响下，衍生文明的文字系统一般借用原始文明的文字来发音，并逐渐由象形文字演变为字母来表达和发音，最后变成了字母书写，日本汉字中的片假名和假名就是这样。
Even with their own characters, the wide use of Chinese characters in Japan still reflects the extent to which the Japanese are influenced by Chinese civilization.
即使有了自己的文字，汉字在日本的广泛使用仍然反映了日本人受中华文明的影响程度。
In Korea, the declaration of independence is also written in Chinese characters. Even if Chinese characters are abolished, the Korean constitution cannot get rid of Chinese characters.
在韩国，《独立宣言》也是用汉字写成的，即使废除汉字，韩国宪法也无法摆脱汉字。
In Korean history, Chinese characters were used by aristocrats, and letter writing was only to promote the popularization of civilian education.
在韩国历史上，汉字是贵族使用的，而字母书写只是为了促进平民教育的普及。
From the perspective of tradition and philosophy, Chinese civilization has both ancient and modern characteristics. In other words, Chinese civilization has been the product of its own development from the ancient stone age to the present.
从传统和哲学的角度来看，中华文明既有古代的特点，也有现代的特色，也就是说，中华文明从远古的石器时代到现在，一直是自身发展的产物，从未中断过。
What is Chinese civilization?
什么是中华文明？
When the Buddha thought about life, contemporary Chinese philosophers thought about human nature.
当佛陀思考人生时，当代中国哲学家思考的是人的本性。
Chinese philosophers use various social relations to define human nature: the relationship between monarch and subjects, the relationship between father and son, the relationship between husband and wife, and the relationship between brothers and friends.
中国哲学家用各种社会关系来定义人性：君主与臣民的关系、父亲与儿子的关系、丈夫与妻子的关系、兄弟与朋友的关系。
The Marxist exposition that man is the sum of all social relations coincides with this.
马克思主义关于人是一切社会关系的总和的论述与此不谋而合。
Confucianism critically absorbed the thought of aristocrats in the declining stage, put forward the slogan of “education without class”, and popularized the education monopolized by aristocrats.
儒学批判地吸收了衰落阶段贵族的思想，提出了“有教无类”的口号，把贵族垄断的教育平民化。
On the other hand, jurists put forward the theory of “everyone is equal before the law”. Shang Yang, the representative of Legalists in power, established a hierarchical system based entirely on military achievements rather than blood or wealth.
另一方面，法学家提出了“法律面前人人平等”的理论。法家当权者代表商鞅通过改革建立了一种完全根据军事功绩而不是根据血缘或财富区分等级的制度。
Later, the first unified dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, was established through war. In other words, more than 2000 years ago, the Chinese people realized the dream of Napoleon and Hitler: to unify the known civilized world.
后来通过战争建立了第一个大一统王朝——秦朝。也就是说，2000多年前，中国人民已经实现了拿破仑和希特勒的梦想：统一已知的文明世界。
Since modern times, Chinese revolutionaries with deep legalist thought have destroyed China’s landlord class and Western agent: warlords.
近代以来，深具法家思想的中国革命者摧毁了中国的地主阶级和西方代理人：军阀。
Then they replaced the Western agent in China with outstanding talents who received western civilization education. Legalists and Confucianists work together to make China stand up again and compete with the West.
然后用接受西方文明教育的杰出人才取代了西方在中国的代理人。法家和儒家共同努力，让中国重新站起来，与西方展开竞争。
Since then, China has taken on a new look, just like a phoenix reborn from fire. In essence, new China is still the return of Chinese civilization, that is, external Confucianism and internal law.
从那时起，中国的面貌焕然一新，就像一只浴火重生的凤凰，从本质上讲，新中国仍然是中华文明的回归，即外儒内法。
Therefore, the Chinese people shaped by Chinese civilization are characterized by the blending of ancient, modern, Chinese and foreign: on the surface, they look like aristocrats, gentlemen and elegant, but in the heart, they are ordinary people who strongly pursue equality.
因此，中华文明所塑造的中国人的特征是古今中外的交融：表面上，他们看起来像贵族，绅士而优雅，但在内心，他们是强烈追求平等的普通人。
Most modern Chinese still abide by the etiquette of aristocrats before 2000, otherwise they will be considered impolite and ill bred.
大多数现代中国人仍然遵守2000年前贵族的礼仪，否则他们会被认为是不礼貌和没有教养的。
That’s why you always see Chinese officials serious and dignified in public, because since 2000 years ago, officials have been required to be responsible for every word they say, no matter how ridiculous it is.
这就是为什么你总是看到中国官员在公众面前严肃而端庄，因自2000多年前，官员被要求对他们的每一句话负责，不管它有多么可笑。
Back to the theme: China is the only modern civilization in the world that has evolved from the classical civilization in the stone age to the scientific and technological age through self evolution.
回到主题：中国是世界上唯一一个通过自我进化从石器时代的古典文明演变为科技时代的现代文明。
This is why China still retains the aesthetics of the stone age. Now, the Chinese still believe that jade is more valuable than gold.
这就是为什么中国仍然保留着石器时代的美学，现在，中国人仍然认为玉比黄金更有价值。
This is why the eight oldest surnames in China contain female characteristics, which means that the strong traces of matriarchal society still exist on the most important symbols of the Chinese people.
这也是为什么中国最古老的八个姓氏都含有女性特征，这意味着母系社会的强烈痕迹在中国人最主要的符号上仍有留存。
网友张睿的回答
My view is that Chinese civilization is better preserved, among the four ancient civilizations, it may be the most continuous in written history, literature and unity.
我的观点是，中华文明保存得更好，在四大文明古国中，在书面历史、文学和统一方面可能是最连续的。
As a member of Chinese civilization, it is more a culture than a nation. Ancient China was a melting pot of different Asian nations, so China’s gene pool was richer than that of Japanese and Koreans.
作为华夏文明的一员，更多的是一种文化，而不是一种民族。古代中国是不同亚洲民族的大熔炉，因此中国的基因库比日本人和韩国人更丰富。
There may be thousands of dialects in China, but there is only one dominant written language. Since Qin Shihuang unified Chinese characters, no ancient Chinese character system has been used in parallel. There is a clear inheritance relationship between them, from official script to running script and then to regular script.
中国大地上可能有数千种方言，但只有一种占据主导地位的书面语言。自秦始皇统一汉字以来，没有一种古代汉字系统是并行使用的，从隶书到行书再到楷书，它们之间有着明确的继承关系。
Although the term “Chinese nation” did not appear until modern times, the concept of Chinese or Chinese culture has long been handed down from generation to generation. Chinese classical poetry, fables and prose in the Warring States period are still taught in primary and secondary schools in the mainland and Taiwan.
虽然中华民族这一词语直到近代才出现，但中华或华夏的文化概念早已代代相传，战国时期的中国古典诗词、寓言和散文至今仍在大陆和台湾的中小学教授学习。
Although well-educated teenagers may not understand classical literature, they can also occasionally create ancient poetry. Children can understand simple ancient Chinese without translation.
受过良好教育的青少年虽然可能不懂古典文学，却也可以偶尔创作古诗，孩子们不用翻译就能听懂浅显的古代汉语。
People who use simplified Chinese characters and traditional Chinese characters can communicate without obstacles. Because Chinese characters are similar, they can easily recognize the strokes in traditional Chinese characters as simplified Chinese characters.
使用简体字和繁体字的人们可以零障碍交流，因为汉字是相似的，他们可以很容易地将繁体汉字中的笔画识别为简体汉字。
But can Latin do that? Can children learn ancient Greek fables? Do ordinary people still understand or write Latin poetry?
但拉丁语可以做到这一点吗？孩子们可以学习古希腊文字的寓言吗？普通人还懂或写拉丁诗吗？
Chinese written history and literature are better preserved because Chinese characters happen to be a powerful written language, not because of the superiority of race. After all, it is not the simplest language in logic.
中国的书面历史和文学之所以保存得更好，是因为汉字恰好是一种强大的书面语言，而不是因为人种的优越性，毕竟它不是逻辑上最简单的语言。
It is the only surviving hieroglyphic language system. Each character has its own meaning. Using the same words can create a new language system.
它是唯一幸存的象形文字语言系统。每个字符都有其含义，用相同的文字可以创造出全新的语言系统。
In Contemporary Chinese, most new words are created according to the meaning of Chinese characters, although some are foreign words directly corresponding to the pronunciation of English or Japanese.
在当代汉语中，大多数新词语都是根据汉字的意思创造的，尽管有些是直接对应于英语或日语发音的外来词语。
At the political level, after the collapse of the Han / Tang Empire, many small kingdoms throughout the continent still use the same written language. In contrast, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, people who spoke different dialects turned Latin into different languages, such as English, Sanskrit, Spanish, Italian, German and so on.
在政治层面上，汉/唐帝国崩溃后，整个大陆的许多小王国仍然使用相同的书面语言。相比之下，罗马帝国崩溃后，讲不同方言的人将拉丁语演变成不同的语言，诸如英语、梵语、西班牙语、意大利语、德语等。
The advantage of this is that you have the opportunity to create a new and dynamic culture. The disadvantage is that past cultural achievements can easily be buried. People who once belonged to the same empire are separated because of language variation.
这样做的好处是你有机会创造一种全新的充满活力的文化，缺点是过去的文化成就很容易被埋葬，曾经属于同一个帝国的人因为语言的变异而分离了。
Our culture once spread widely in East Asia. The most important reason is that China was once the richest and most advanced civilization in East Asia.
我们的文化曾经在东亚广泛传播。最重要的原因是，华夏曾经是东亚最富有、最先进的文明。
Although some ethnic minorities have been forcibly assimilated by the ruling forces, in such an environment, nomads have no choice but to learn to manage or trade.
尽管一些少数民族已经被统治势力强行同化，在这样的环境中，游牧民族别无选择，只有学习才能管理或交易。
We are proud that even a teenager can resonate with ancient Chinese poets who lived thousands of years ago, write ancient poetry and understand the thoughts of ancient philosophers.
我们感到自豪，因为即使是一个青少年也能与生活在数千年前的中国古代诗人产生共鸣，能够书写古体诗，能够理解古代哲学家的思想。
This does not mean that we still adhere to the ancient philosophy, but we have benefited a lot from it. Our written language continues to develop and social norms continue to evolve, which gives us extremely strong confidence in the difficult process of realizing modernization.
这并不意味着我们仍旧坚持古老的哲学理念，但我们从中受益匪浅，我们的书面语言不断发展，社会规范不断进化，这给了我们在实现现代化的艰难历程中以无比强烈的信心。
