中國古代的十大發明(3)
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3.風箏Twoancient Chinese men share the credit for coming up with one of China's biggest claims to fame. During the fourth century B.C., Gongshu Ban and Mo Di, a patron of the arts and a philosopher, respectively, constructed bird-shaped kites that dipped and dove in the wind. The pair's novelty caught on quickly.
風箏這一中國最重大的發明要歸功於兩個古人。公元前4世紀，能工巧匠公輸班（Gongshu Ban，即魯班）和哲學家墨翟（Mo Di，即墨子），各自制作出了能隨風自由翱翔的鳥形風箏，這對新奇的事物馬上流行了起來。
Over time, the Chinese adapted and added to the initial kite's design and found new uses for it beyond amusement. Kites became an easy way to fish without a boat, simply by using a line and hook draped from the kite and dangling it into an inaccessible body of water. Kites also became instrumental in military applications, serving as unmanned drones that delivered payloads of gunpowder to enemy fortifications. In 1232, the Chinese employed kites to drop propaganda leaflets over a Mongol prisoner-of-war encampment, urging the captured Chinese there to rebel and eventually overtake their captors .
隨着時間的推移，中國人對風箏的初始設計進行了改進和加工，並發現除娛樂外，風箏還有其他新用途。風箏釣魚成爲一種簡便易行的捕魚方式，且無需使用漁船，漁民們僅需在風箏上綁好魚線和吊鉤，然後再把風箏放飛到自己無法接近的水域即可。風箏也能變身爲軍用器械，充當裝載火藥到敵軍軍事區的無人機。1232年，中國人用風箏向蒙古戰俘營地投放宣傳單，鼓動被俘虜的人抗爭，結果戰俘們成功地戰勝了他們的捕擄者。
Soon, the urge to fly would be married with the technology of the kite to produce another Chinese invention, the hang glider.
不久，古人將想要高飛的夙願寓於風箏製作工藝中，從而推動了風箏製造技術的發展，創造出了另一箇中國發明——懸掛式滑翔機（Hang Gliders）。Gliders
2.懸掛式滑翔機
As we discussed earlier, kites were invented by the fourth century B.C. By the end of the sixth century A.D., the Chinese had managed to build kites large and aerodynamic enough to sustain the weight of an average-sized man. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to simply remove the kite strings and see what happened.
如前所述，風箏是公元前4世紀被髮明出來的。而在公元6世紀末的時候，中國人便已經可以成功設計出體積龐大的風箏，它能夠憑藉足夠的空氣動力承載起一箇中等體型人的重量。那麼有人剪斷風箏線進行新的嘗試不過是早晚的事。The Chinese were using untethered kites that we know today as hang gliders. However, these "kites" weren't used for thrill rides: Emperors found joy in forcing convicted criminals and captured enemies to jump off cliffs while strapped into the gliders. One poor man flew two miles before he landed safely. With these early flights, the Chinese had beaten European ingenuity by 1335 years.
中國古人們所用的“斷線風箏”就是我們現在的懸掛式滑翔機（Hang Gliders）。然而，這些“風箏”並不是用來尋求刺激的：君王們下令將罪犯和戰俘綁在風箏上，迫使他們跳下懸崖，並以此爲樂。而這些可憐人需飛行兩英里才能平安落地。也正是因爲這些早期的“飛機”，中國人在創造力上領先了歐洲列國1335年。1.絲綢
The Mongols, the Byzantines, the Greeks and Romans all found themselves unhappily facing Chinese military innovations like gunpowder. It was silk, however, that helped broker peace between ancient China and other cultures. The demand for silk was so high that the fine fabric helped link China to the outside world through trade. The fabric gave rise to the fabled Silk Road trade routes that eventually stretched from China to the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
蒙古人（Mongols）、拜占庭人（Byzantines）、希臘人（Greeks）和羅馬人（Romans）都極其厭惡中國古代的軍事發明，比如說火藥。然而，正是絲綢幫助古代中國與其他文化體之間和平共處。當時各國對絲綢的需求量非常大，也正是這一精美織物使得中國通過貿易的方式與外面的世界聯繫起來。“絲綢之路”也因此形成，並從中國延伸到了地中海（Mediterranean）、非洲、中東和歐洲等地。The method for manipulating this silkworm-produced material existed 4,700 years ago. A scroll containing an article on silk production was found in the tomb of created during the Liangzhu period, which lasted from 3330 to 2200 B.C.. The Chinese closely guarded the origin of silk; they only lost control of their secret when monks from Europe got their hands on silkworm eggs and took them back West.
絲綢的製作工藝大約出現在4700年前，人們在一處建於良渚時期（公元前3300-公元前2200）的古墓裏發現了一些卷軸，其中記載了絲綢的製作工藝。中國的古人們曾一度嚴密守護着絲綢織造技術和養蠶技術，防止其外傳，直至歐洲的僧侶得到蠶種並將其帶回西方，中國人才逐漸喪失在絲綢織造業中的壟斷地位。審校:落月 編輯:listen
