絲路不是只有一條──滇緬之路早已開通

Not Just Only One Silk Road: The Yunnan-Myanmar Path Has Been Opened for a Long Time

在東西方之間，或縮小範圍只談印度、中國之間，於西方紀元前後，至少就已出現三或四條經濟文化上的交流通道。一是陸上的絲綢之路，二是海上的絲綢之路，三是「蜀身毒道」，而滇緬之路是此道的一部分。然而，有人提出質疑，主張「蜀身毒道」不可能存在於西元前，因爲其地理環境非常險峻，沿路的經濟水準非常低下，旅程上的關卡與阻滯甚多。本文以古文獻爲基礎，參酌近現代出土的考古發掘資料和研究成果，認爲「蜀身毒道」確實存在於西元前，至少滇緬之路是如此。因爲，無論古今，再險惡的環境及條件、再低下的經濟水準、再多的關卡，都無法壓制人類求生的本能，也不克阻擋人類互相聯絡、互通有無、追求利潤的意志。

At least three or four roads of economic and cultural exchange between the East and West (or, narrowly speaking, between India and China) had existed around the beginning of the Common Era. The first one was the Silk Road on land (sometimes being considered the single and vital one), the second one was the Maritime Silk Road, and the third one was the Shu-India Road (Yunnan-Myanmar Path being a part of it). However, the existence of the Shu-India Road before the Common Era has been questioned by some scholars for the reasons that its geographical environments were dangerous, the economic standards along the road were very low, and many barriers and obstacles were along the Road. On the basis of ancient documents and modern archaeological excavations as well as recent research results, this paper argues that the Shu-India Road, at least the Yunnan-Myanmar Path, did exist before the Common Era. No matter how dangerous the environments and conditions were, no matter how low the economic standards were, and no matter how many barriers there were, they could not suppress the human instinct to survive, nor could they stop the human will to communicate with each other, to exchange goods with each other, and to pursue profits.