马可波罗去中国,走的是陆上丝绸之路,中间要穿过大面积的沙漠与戈壁。所以,一定要准备好最重要的交通工具——被称为沙漠之舟的骆驼。
As Marco Polo chose Silk Road land routes to travel to China, he passed through widespread deserts, like the Gobi Desert. Therefore, be sure to prepare with the most significant transportation method–the camel, which is lauded as the ship of the desert.
在这里,您就可以看到一个唐三彩骆驼,它背上驮的,就是丝绸之路上的商人们经常使用的驼具和装备。在唐三彩骆驼的左侧,有专门的驼具展示。驼具,主要包括坐人的驼鞍、踩脚的驼镫、缰绳、驼铃等道具。其中,驼铃和跪垫可能是一般人容易忽略的工具,其实这两种工具非常重要。驼铃虽简单,却可以帮助商队快速找到失散的人员或者骆驼,还可以起到预警的作用。跪垫呢,则可以很好地保护骆驼的膝盖,因为骆驼是跪着睡觉的,膝盖容易受伤。
Over here, you can see a tri-color glazed camel from the Tang Dynasty, which is equipped with a camel harness and other accessories on its back, often used by Silk Road merchants. On its left side, a camel harness including saddle, stirrups, reins, bells, and kneelers is proudly displayed. The two harness pieces often overlooked, the camel bells and kneelers, actually play an indispensable role. The camel bells, simple as they are, could help caravans quickly locate missing people or camels and serve as an early warning. The kneelers’ job is to protect the camel’s knees from injuries while the camel sleeps on its knees.
除了骆驼和驼具,商人们还要准备必要的粮食和生活用品。比如水壶、奶酪、肉干、帐篷、毡毯。其中,比较常见的主食,就是我们现在都很熟悉的馕。馕是在汉朝的时候传入中国的。它其实就是一种烤面饼,起源于古代的波斯,也就是今天伊朗地区。”馕“这个字,在波斯语中就是面包的意思。因为馕制作方便,携带也很方便,还特别好吃,所以,在很长一段时间内都是丝绸之路上的首选干粮。
Apart from camels and camel harnesses, merchants also had to prepare necessary food and supplies and other daily necessities, such as kettles, cheese, dried meat, tents, and blankets. Their common staple food was nang, which we are all familiar with now. Nang is a piece of baked bread that originated from ancient Persia (present-day Iran) and was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty. The word nang means bread in Persian. As nang is easy to make, easy to carry, and particularly delicious, it was the first choice for food on the Silk Road for a long time.
在丝绸之路上,除了骆驼,马也是一种很重要的交通工具,接下来我们就到右边去看看马挽具。
Besides camels, horses were also a very important means of transportation on the Silk Road. You can see a horse harness on your right.
