Name: 歷史為何遺忘了這位傳奇皇帝？ (Why History Forgot About This Extraordinary Emperor)
Uploaded: 2026-03-13T21:44:07.000Z
Duration: 14 min 58 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

The ground shakes as thousands of Maori and elephant riders thunder towards the coastal kingdom of Kalinga.

大地開始震動，成千上萬的毛利人和騎象兵朝著海岸王國迦陵伽奔去。

Emperor Ashoka already rules most of India and now moves on to crush Kalinga and seize their ports.

阿育王已經統治了印度大部分地區，現在他要來摧毀迦陵伽並奪取他們的港口。

The Kalingans stand ready to defend their home with swords, javelins and war elephants of their own.

迦陵伽人已經準備好，要用他們的劍、標槍和戰象來保衛家園。

But they're outnumbered and don't realize how badly until it's too late.

但他們寡不敵眾，直到為時已晚才意識到情況有多糟。

A trumpeting avalanche rolls towards them.

一陣轟鳴的雪崩朝他們席捲而來。

Blades on tusks cut through bodies while the rest are crushed underfoot.

象牙上的刀刃劃破身體，其餘的人則被踩在腳下。

Those who survive run for the Dyer River.

But on the far bank, Marian cavalry is already closing in.

但在河的對岸，馬裡安騎兵已經逼近。

Panic spreads and soldiers jump into the water, only to be met by arrows raining down from Marian archers.

恐慌蔓延，阿兵哥們跳進水中，卻只遇到從馬裡安弓箭手那裡傾瀉而下的箭雨。

The water turns red as the slaughter continues, leaving 100,000 dead and and even more forcibly deported.

河水染紅，殺戮持續，造成十萬人死亡，更多人被強行驅逐。

Families are erased and villages destroyed.

Yet this devastation doesn't fuel more war.

然而，這場毀滅並未引發更多的戰爭。

Instead of violence, a different kind of power rises, built on knowledge and reason, spreading outwards in ripples that still reach us today.

取而代之的是，一種建立在知識和理性上的不同力量崛起，並向外擴散，其影響至今仍能觸及我們。

When the Kalinga war ends, the Mauryans control nearly all the land between the Himalayas and the ocean, home to roughly a third of the world's population.

迦陵伽戰爭結束時，孔雀王朝控制了喜馬拉雅山脈到海洋之間幾乎所有的土地，這裡居住著大約三分之一的世界人口。

The time the successful conquest of Emperor Ashoka pushes his rule to the eastern coast.

阿育王成功征服，將他的統治推向東海岸。

Confronted with the scale of the suffering he caused, Ashoka is overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow.

面對他所造成的巨大苦難，阿育王被罪惡感和悲傷淹沒。

For months, he's desperate to repent until he encounters Buddhism.

數月以來，他迫切地想懺悔，直到他遇見了佛教。

At the time, it's still a small movement, carried along roads by begging monks, who speak of non violence and tolerance as a release from suffering.

那時候，佛教還是一個小小的運動，由託缽僧侶們在各地傳播，他們談論著不殺生和寬容，以此來解脫痛苦。

Ashoka converts and becomes a patron, spreading belief without enforcing it.

阿育王皈依了佛教，並成為其贊助者，他傳播信仰但不強迫他人接受。

Pillars are carved with his edicts on kindness, religious tolerance and social welfare.

他下令雕刻石柱，上面刻著他關於仁慈、宗教寬容和社會福利的詔令。

這些文字讀起來就像古老的「人生智慧語錄」。

One who does good first does something hard to do.

一個行善的人，首先做了一件難以做到的事。

阿育王身體力行，實踐他所說的。

He upgrades imperial roads, plants shade trees and builds wells for travelers and cattle.

他升級了帝國的道路，種植了遮蔭樹，並為旅客和牲畜建造了水井。

These roads double as trade routes, linking inland markets to ports bound for Southeast Asia.

這些道路同時也兼作貿易路線，連接內陸市場與通往東南亞的港口。

Caravans carry vast amounts of Indian riches like ebony, sandalwood, cotton and pepper.

商隊運載著大量的印度財富，像是烏木、檀香、棉花和胡椒。

Buddhism also starts taking off and monks crowdsource support to cut caves into cliffs for simple monasteries.

佛教也開始興盛，僧侶們集眾人之力在懸崖上開鑿石窟，作為簡樸的寺院。

They offer shelter to travelers and position themselves as guardians of the trade.

他們為旅人提供庇護，並將自己定位為貿易的守護者。

This resonates with a rising merchant class with which donates generously, gaining both protection and spiritual merit.

這與日益壯大的商人階級產生共鳴，他們慷慨捐贈，同時獲得保護和精神上的功德。

The Buddhist monasteries grow bigger now not just spiritual centers, but engines of wealth.

佛教寺院變得越來越大，不僅是精神中心，也成為財富的引擎。

Monks manage land and run mines and mills.

僧侶們管理土地，經營礦場和磨坊。

They lend money to farmers who invest in trading voyages.

他們借錢給農民，讓農民投資於貿易航程。

Basically, monasteries become the first Banks of South Asia.

基本上，寺院成為南亞的第一批銀行。

Faith funding trade, trade carrying faith.

信仰資助貿易，貿易傳播信仰。

The Mauryan empire collapses a century after Ashoka, but the monasteries endure and merchants keep moving.

馬裡安帝國在阿育王去世一個世紀後崩潰，但寺院卻延續下來，商人也持續地移動。

They turn westwards, where a new superpower is stretching its limbs with a growing demand for Indian goods.

他們往西邊發展，那裡一個新興的超級強國正伸展筋骨，對印度商品的需求日益增加。

We'll take a quick break from ancient trade systems and focus on today's business.

我們要暫時離開古代的貿易系統，來聊聊今天的商業。

Thanks to our partner Adoo for sponsoring this episode.

感謝我們的合作夥伴 Adoo 贊助本集節目。

Adoo is an all in one management software that helps you run your business every day.

Adoo 是一款全方位的管理軟體，能協助你日常營運業務。

What was enabled by personal interactions back then is only possible through professional solutions in today's global economy, and

當年靠人際互動達成的事，在今日的全球經濟中，只能透過專業的解決方案來實現，而且

Adoo offers these through more than 45 apps like accounting, inventory, CRM and many more, all centralized on one single platform.

Adoo 透過超過 45 種應用程式提供這些服務，像是會計、庫存、CRM 等等，全部整合在一個單一平臺上。

You can, for example, create and send your invoices in seconds.

舉例來說，你可以在幾秒鐘內建立並寄送發票。

You just select your customer, pay, add your products and quantities, define the billing terms, and

你只需要選擇你的客戶、付款方式，加入產品和數量，定義付款條款，然後

就可以透過電子郵件全部寄出。

Plus, with the built in chatter, you keep a clear overview of your emails, notes and activities all in one place.

此外，透過內建的哈拉功能，你可以清楚掌握你的電子郵件、筆記和活動，全部都在同一個地方。

And tracking your payments with clear statuses and deadlines is just as simple.

而且追蹤付款也很簡單，狀態和截止日期都會一目瞭然。

You can try out all these features for free because your first ADO app is free forever, with unlimited support and hosting included.

你可以免費試用所有這些功能，因為你的第一個 ADO app 永遠免費，還包含無限的支援和代管服務。

When you're ready to scale up, Adoo adapts to your needs and you can simply add applications.

當你準備好擴大規模時，Adoo 會適應你的需求，你也可以輕鬆新增應用程式。

You get access to all applications from $24.90 a month.

每月 24.90 美元起，你就可以使用所有應用程式。

The golden age of trade 6,000 km west, Roman dominance has been rising through marching legions and territorial takeover.

貿易的黃金時代，往西 6,000 公里，羅馬帝國透過行軍和領土擴張不斷崛起。

In 30 BCE, having conquered Cleopatra's Egypt, the empire grips the Red Sea ports.

西元前 30 年，帝國征服了克麗奧佩脫拉的埃及後，掌握了紅海港口。

This opens a direct corridor to the Indian world and ship traffic increases.

這為通往印度世界開闢了直接的通道，貨運量也隨之增加。

It helps that the Indian peninsula sits inside a massive wind machine.

印度半島正好位於一個巨大的風力發電機裡，這真是太好了。

For half the year, the monsoon blows towards the Arabian Sea, and

有半年時間，季風吹向阿拉伯海，

This predictable rhythm lets Indian sailors ride the wind straight across the ocean and glide safely home.

這種可預測的節奏讓印度水手能乘風直達海洋對岸，並安全返航。

Months later, they build enormous and tough ships that can easily carry 1,000 people or a few hundred tons of cargo.

幾個月後，他們建造了巨大又堅固的船隻，能輕鬆載運 1,000 人或幾百噸的貨物。

In Rome, Indian goods sell for up to 100 times their original price.

在羅馬，印度商品的售價高達原價的 100 倍。

If you're lucky, the profit from a single voyage can buy 2,000 acres of the best Egyptian farmland or pay 10,000 Roman soldiers for a year.

如果你夠幸運，一次航行的利潤就能買下 2,000 英畝最好的埃及農田，或是支付 10,000 名羅馬阿兵哥一年的薪水。

In this trade, a successful merchant doesn't just get rich, they can rival the wealth of senators.

在這場貿易中，成功的商人不僅能致富，財富甚至能與元老匹敵。

最重要的是，印度人帶來了胡椒。

It pours into the markets and rewires Roman taste itself.

胡椒湧入市場，徹底改變了羅馬人的口味。

Nearly 80% of their recipes now demand it.

他們現在有將近 80% 的食譜都少不了它。

Even soldiers freezing at Hadrian's Wall order pepper to make their rations edible.

連在哈德良長城受凍的阿兵哥都會訂購胡椒，讓他們的口糧變得能吃。

Words like pepper, ginger and sugar travel with the spice, moving from Sanskrit into Latin and almost every European language.

像胡椒、薑和糖這樣的詞語，隨著香料傳播，從梵語進入拉丁語和幾乎所有歐洲語言。

But the biggest ships aren't loaded with spice, but their animal transports.

不過，最大的船載運的不是香料，而是他們的動物運輸。

Vast floating stables carrying elephants, tigers, leopards, even occasional rhinoceros.

巨大的浮動馬廄載著大象、老虎、豹子，甚至偶爾還有犀牛。

All kept alive through an almost two month journey for Rome's gladiator games.

這些動物在長達近兩個月的航程中被悉心照料，以供羅馬的角鬥士比賽。

Indian imports into Egypt surge past 1.3 billion a year in today's dollars.

以今天的幣值計算，印度對埃及的進口額每年超過 13 億。

And Roman tax collectors skim off over a quarter of that flow, enough to finance a third of the empire's budget.

羅馬的稅吏從中抽取超過四分之一的稅收，足以支撐帝國預算的近三分之一。

Older accounts emphasized the overland Silk Road from China.

過去的記載強調了來自中國的陸路絲綢之路。

But when historians re examined maritime trade, the volumes of goods traveling along these routes told a different story.

但當歷史學家重新審視海上貿易時，沿著這些路線運送的貨物數量講述了不同的故事。

Goods do travel over land from China, but the Silk Road is slow, costly and hard to control.

中國的貨物確實是透過陸路運輸，但絲綢之路既緩慢又昂貴，而且難以管控。

Most Chinese goods reach Roman markets through Indian sea trade networks.

大部分的中國貨物都是透過印度的海運貿易網絡，運送到羅馬的市場。

All this makes India Rome's largest trading partner for more than 300 years.

這一切讓印度在超過 300 年的時間裡，成為羅馬最大的貿易夥伴。

The system works until the Roman Empire starts to weaken.

這個體系運作良好，直到羅馬帝國開始衰弱。

Commerce slows, fleets shrink and ports fall silent.

商業活動減緩，船隊縮小，港口也變得寂靜無聲。

One by one, Indian merchants redirect their massive ships towards Southeast Asia's rising kingdoms.

印度商人一個接一個地將他們龐大的船隻轉向東南亞新興的王國。

And with them, travel ideas that will reshape how humans understand the universe itself.

同時，也隨著這些船隻傳播了將重塑人類對宇宙理解的觀念。

Ground zero Trade fuels prosperity across the subcontinent.

貿易為整個次大陸帶來了繁榮。

By the 4th century, most of it is ruled by the Gupta Empire.

到了四世紀，大部分地區都由笈多王朝統治。

Wealth flows into art and science, fueling a boom in centers of learning.

財富湧入藝術與科學，為學習中心帶來了蓬勃發展。

Among them rises Nalanda, the elite MIT of ancient India.

其中，那爛陀大學崛起，堪稱古印度裡的頂尖麻省理工學院。

那裡住著一萬名僧侶，在此學習。

Crowned by a vast nine story library known as the Sea of Jewels.

最頂端是一座九層樓高的宏偉圖書館，名為「珠寶之海」。

India begins to build one of the richest mathematical traditions on earth.

印度開始建立起地球上最豐富的數學傳統之一。

Scholars start writing nine numerical symbols in a radically new way.

學者們開始以一種全新的方式書寫九個數字元號。

A digit's position now defines its value.

數字的位置現在決定了它的價值。

Around 628, the mathematician Brahmagupta takes on a revolutionary idea.

大約在公元六二八年，數學家婆羅摩笈多提出了一個革命性的想法。

He defines zero, lays out its rules and gives it real power.

他定義了零，闡述了它的規則，並賦予它真正的力量。

Suddenly, any number, no matter how big, can be expressed with just 10 symbols.

突然間，任何數字，無論多大，都可以只用十個符號來表示。

They call the new number Shunya the void.

他們稱這個新數字為「Shunya」，意為虛空。