Name: 文明的特徵 (Traits of Civilization)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:09:32.000Z
Duration: 6 min 55 s

大家好，歡迎來到文明的世界。

情態副詞

Actually, you've probably been living in a civilization for your entire life if you're watching this.

事實上，如果你正在看這支影片，你可能這輩子都活在文明的世界中。

So what is it? Why have different peoples formed civilizations?

所以，文明是甚麼呢？為什麼會有不同的族群形塑出不同的文明？

There are  traits that all civilizations have.

接下來要介紹所有文明都會有的特質。

To avoid any confusion, civilization discussed here is different in the modern idea of, "behaving in a civilized manner,"

為了避免混淆，這裡討論的「文明」跟現代「有禮且恰當的行為舉止」的概念不同。

So, it's not about queuing or standing in line, manners or attending cultural performances.

所以不是在討論有關排隊、禮貌或是參與文化表演活動。

The first civilizations formed in Africa and Asia.

最早的文明是從非洲與亞洲形成的。

Before civilization, people were often moving to find sources of food along rivers.

形成文明之前，人們經常沿著河流尋找資源或食物。

等等，那個時候哪來的無線網路！

Fresh water, not Wi-Fi was especially important as it was impossible to live without drinking,

不是無線網路，當我們沒有飲用水就無法生存時，淡水是相當重要的，

but it also provided food, transportation and protection from enemies, because rivers are harder to cross than land.

但水資源也提供了食物、運輸以及避免敵人侵襲的功能，因為比起陸地，河流難跨越得多。

People migrated from Africa through the Middle East and then throughout the world, settling near water in search of the best places to live.

人們從非洲向中東移居，然後擴張到全世界，為尋求最好的地方居住，大多都安頓在水源邊。

And so, water was also important for another discovery that led to civilization: agriculture.

所以，水源對其他引導文明發展的發現也相當重要：農業。

and it was the start of the earliest civilizations in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

而且農業是非洲、亞洲與美洲最早文明的開始。

Successful civilizations provided food for everyone and stayed in the same place.

成功的文明提供所有人食物並且停留在相同地方。

After all, moving farmland is impossible, and even now moving is never fun.

畢竟要移動農田是不可能的，而且搬家從來都不是有趣的事。

To protect the farms and the people, civilization built cities.

為了保護農田與人民，文明便造就了城市。

Walls kept out enemies and city sheltered people.

城牆將敵人阻擋在外，並透過城市庇護人民。

Cities were able to grow larger as farms fed more people.

當農田能餵飽更多人時，城市就能成長茁壯。

Civilization also created specialized jobs.

Before, it was everyone's job to hunt and gather food.

在此之前，狩獵與採集食物是所有人的工作。

But farmers could just grow food for everyone,

但農夫可以為所有人種植食物，

which allowed other people to do different jobs.

這使其他人能夠從事不同的工作。

Specialized jobs are another characteristic of civilization.

專業化的分工是文明的另一個特徵。

When everyone made tools,  hunted and gathered,

當每個人都要製作工具、狩獵與採集時，

With people in specialized jobs, those that

only made tools, art, buildings, writings and so on, became much better at them.

那些只負責製造工具、藝術、建築、書寫等等，能夠做得更好。

Writing!  Writing is another important characteristic of civilization.

書寫！沒錯，書寫是文明的另一個重要特徵。

With writing, civilizations were able to pass

down information to other generations for them to build upon.

將知識傳承給其他世代讓他們繼續積累。

Writing was able to put laws in stone (but often clay)

書寫也能夠將法律記錄在石頭上 (但通常是泥板)

so that these laws can be recorded for everyone to see.

如此一來這些法律才能被記錄下來給所有人看。

Laws and government also were a characteristic of civilization.

法律與政府也是文明的一項特徵。

They tried to make rules for cities that made life more peaceful.

統治者為城市建立規則，讓生活更加和平。

The Code of Hammurabi is the most famous of these laws and is

《漢摩拉比法典》是眾多法典中最有名的一部

one of the oldest pieces of readable language on Earth.

也是地球上最古老的可讀語言之一。

depending on social status: slaves or free people.

端看你的社會地位：奴隸或是自由民。

and they were often captured during wars with other cities.

他們通常是在城市間戰爭時被俘虜的。

Within civilizations there was a social structure that define how people acted with each other:

文明中有個社會結構定義人們如何與他人互動：

slaves, farmers, merchants, artists, religious leaders, and royalty

奴隸、農夫、商人、藝術家、宗教領袖與皇室

all had different rules and how to talk to each other,

全部都有不同規則以及與他人對話的方式

or if they could even talk to each other all.

或者說，如果他們可以跟其他人說話的話。

People in civilizations shared common cultures.

在同一個文明中的人共享相同的文化。

Cultures is many things, people's language,

文化包括許多事物，人們的語言、

dress, arts, food, manners, and beliefs that are all common among the group.

服裝、藝術、飲食、規矩還有信仰在同一群人裡往往也是相同的。

Cultures develop naturally, everything is built on

文化自然而然地便會發展，所有事物都建立在

what others have done before, and climate

其他人先前做過的事，還有氣候

Artists create art by looking and learning from art and artists around them.

透過觀察、學習藝術及周邊的藝術家，讓藝術家得以創造藝術。

Food choices come from what is available in the area,

食物的選擇來自於那個區域可以取得的食材，

clothes are created to be practical in the weather

and social media if there was free Wi-Fi.

還有社群媒體，如果這裡有免費無線網路。

噢對，這裡還是沒有無線網路。

Belief systems were also created within civilizations.

信仰系統也是從文明產生而來的。

Beliefs about ideas like nature, seasons, flood and drought are part of a civilization's culture,

信仰有關自然、季節、洪患、乾旱的概念都是文明的一部份文化，

and these stories often were called myths.

而且這些故事通常被稱為神話。

Myths told stories about how life on Earth began,

神話述說地球生命起源的故事、

why the sun rises and even what happens after death.

太陽升起的原因、甚至述說死後發生的故事。

about what was thought to be good behavior.

理想恰當的行為舉止是甚麼樣的。

Things like listening to your parents, cleaning up after yourself and not stealing your neighbor's Wi-Fi.

像聽父母的話、要自己動手清理還有不要偷鄰居的無線網路。

好吧，應該更像在說不要偷竊啦。

Belief systems created rituals for life events like birth, adulthood, marriage and death

信仰系統創造了生命大事的宗教儀式，像是出生、成年、結婚與死亡

as well as rituals to create good fortune, better health, and even tried to make it rain.

還有祈福、身體健康甚至是祈雨的宗教儀式。

These belief systems are very powerful, they gave people feelings of being in control,

這些信仰系統相當強大，它們給予人們被管理的感受、

a sense of purpose and being part of something larger than themselves.

給予人們意義還有認為自己能成為更偉大存在者的一部分。

These belief systems could also cause disharmony, they sometimes hurt people,

這些信仰系統也會導致混亂、有時候會傷害人們

and they didn't always tolerate new ideas.

還有它們總是不能容忍新想法。

Civilization started when many people were able to grow their own food

當人們能夠生產他們自己的食物時，文明也隨之而起

so they stayed together in one place and then created ways to keep many people together peacefully.

所以他們一起駐足在同一個地方，然後創造一個讓許多人和平共處的方法。

The traits of civilization once again are: cities,

再說複習一次文明特徵是：城市、

specialized jobs, writing, laws and government, social structure,

專業化分工、書寫、法律與政府、社會結構、

arts and culture, and a belief system or religion.

藝術與文化，還有信仰系統或宗教。

Throughout the World, different groups have used these same ideas.

綜觀這個世界，不同的族群都會用到相同的概念。

Even where you live today has these six traits.

即使是你現今居住的地方也有這六個特質。

現在又到時候說拜拜。感謝你加入我們！