As the 15th century ended, Europeans were still mostly in the dark about the Eastern world. Early travelers like Marco Polo had given the West tidbits of information, but these accounts were too highly colored and fragmentary to provide a true picture of Asia. The first really accurate and detailed reports came out in the 1500s from four remarkable travelers - Tomé Pires, Garcia de Orta, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, and Ralph Fitch.

? ? ? ? ? 15世紀的結(jié)束時，歐洲人對東方世界仍然一無所知。像馬可·波羅這樣的早期旅行者給西方帶來了一些零星的信息，但這些描述色彩太濃，而且很分散，無法提供亞洲的真實情況。16世紀，四位杰出的旅行者——托梅·皮雷斯（Tomé Pires）、加西亞·德·奧爾塔（Garcia de Orta）、揚·哈伊根·范林斯霍滕（Jan Huygen van Linschoten）和拉爾夫·費奇（Ralph Fitch），首次提供了真正準確而詳細的報告。

托梅·皮雷斯（Tomé Pires）

Much is known about early sixteenth-century trade in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia because of the in-depth report written by Tomé Pires for Manuel I of Portugal between 1512 and 1515. Remarkably, it was left unpublished and lost in the Bibliothèque de la Chambre des députés in Paris until 1944, when it was discovered by historian Armando Cortes?o and translated. In this masterpiece, Suma Oriental, Pires describes his journey from Egypt to the Malay Archipelago and provides a detailed historical and ethnographic account of the Indian Ocean emporium trade.

? ? ? ? ? 由于托梅·皮雷斯在1512年至1515年間為葡萄牙的曼努埃爾一世寫了一份深入的報告，人們對十六世紀早期的印度洋和東南亞貿(mào)易有了很多了解。值得注意的是，該報告一直沒有出版，并遺失在巴黎的議會圖書館，直到1944年才被歷史學家阿曼多·科特桑發(fā)現(xiàn)并翻譯。在這部杰作《Suma Oriental》中，皮雷斯描述了他從埃及到馬來群島的旅程，并對印度洋帝國貿(mào)易進行了詳細的歷史和人種學描述。

In his introduction, Pires states:

? ? ? ? ? The Suma Oriental is divided into four parts or Suma. books'; the first will deal with the beginning of Asia, starting from Africa to the First India; the second will be from the First India to the end of Middle India; the third will be the High India on the other side of the Ganges, （ending at Ayuthia Odia) the fourth will be about the kingdom of China and all the provinces subject to it, with the noble island of Liu Kiu (Lequeos), Japan (Janpon), Borneo, the Lufoes and the Macassars Macaceres) the fifth will be about all the islands in detail [Indonesia].

(Cortes?o, 1944, p. 4)

? ? ? ? ? ?皮雷斯在他的導言中說：

? ? ? ? ? 《Suma Oriental》分為四個部分。第一部分涉及亞洲的開端，從非洲到第一印度（這里直譯是“第一印度”，但我暫時沒找到真正所指的區(qū)域，我的猜測是“印度次大陸”）；第二部分從第一印度到印度中部的盡頭；第三部是恒河對岸的印度北部（以Ayuthia Odia為終點）；第四部是關(guān)于中國王朝和所有受其管轄的省份，以及琉球島（Lequeos）、日本（Janpon）、婆羅洲、Lufoes和Macassars Macaceres）第五部將是關(guān)于所有島嶼的細節(jié)[印度尼西亞]。

(Cortes?o, 1944, p. 4)

Pires arrived in Portuguese Cochin (Kochi), India in 1511 after stopovers in Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea and Ormuz at the southern end of the Persian Gulf. Little is known of his early life, although he might have been a second-generation apothecary to the royal family. His first job in India was as ‘factor of drugs’ in Cochin but was soon sent to Malacca. Malaysia as a registrar. From there he visited Java, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and ultimately was sent to China where he died in 1524 in a failed diplomatic mission.

? ? ? ? ? 皮雷斯在紅?？诘膩喍『筒ㄋ篂衬隙说膴W爾穆茲停留后，于1511年抵達葡萄牙的科欽（柯枝）。人們對他的早期生活知之甚少，盡管他可能是王室的第二代藥劑師。他在印度的第一份工作是在科欽擔任藥劑師，但很快被派往馬六甲，在馬來西亞擔任登記員。在那里，他訪問了爪哇、錫蘭（斯里蘭卡）、摩鹿加群島（香料群島），最終被派往中國，并于1524年死于一次失敗的外交任務中。

Pires left us with vivid descriptions of the major points of trade in the Indian Ocean. It is the first description of the Malay Archipelago and the trade network stretching east all the way to Japan. It is a remarkable compilation of the trade activities including historical, geographical, ethnographic, economic and commercial information. Through its pages one can follow the entire complex trading network that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean.

? ? ? ? ? 皮雷斯給我們留下了對印度洋上主要貿(mào)易點的生動描述。這是第一部關(guān)于馬來群島和向東一直延伸到日本的貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡的描述。它是一本出色的貿(mào)易活動匯編，包括歷史、地理、人種學、經(jīng)濟和商業(yè)信息。通過篇幅，人們可以了解縱橫交錯的印度洋的整個復雜貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡。

The central role of trade in the Indian Ocean was abundantly clear to Pires. As he describes in his preface:

? ? ? ? ? And in this Suma I shall speak not only of the division of the parts, provinces, kingdoms and regions and their boundaries, but also of the dealings and trade that they have with one another, which trading in merchandise is so necessary that without it the world would not go on. It is this that ennobles cities that brings war and peace.

(Cortes?o, 1944, p. 4)

? ? ? ? ? 貿(mào)易在印度洋的核心作用對皮雷斯來說是非常清楚的，正如他在序言中所述：

? ? ? ? ? 在這篇總結(jié)中，我不僅要講到各部分、各省、各王國和各地區(qū)的劃分及其邊界，還要講到它們之間的交易和貿(mào)易，這種商品交易是非常必要的，沒有它世界就不會繼續(xù)下去。正是這一點使這些城市變得高貴，從而帶來戰(zhàn)爭與和平。

Tomé Pires describes Cambay in the Gujarat Province in northwestern India as central to the Indian trade network. It was the home to what came to be the world’s most widely travelled sailors. As he observed:

? ? ? ? ? There is no doubt that these people have the cream of the trade. They are men who understand merchandise; they are so properly steeped in the sound and harmony of it, that the Gujaratees say that any offence connected with merchandise is not pardonable. There are Gujaratees settled everywhere. They work some for some and others for others…Cambay chiefly stretches out two arms, with her right arm she reaches out towards Aden and with the other towards Malacca, as the most important places to sail to…

(Ibid, p. 42)

? ? ? ? ? 托梅·皮雷斯將印度西北部古吉拉特邦的康貝（肯帕德 (Khambhat)）描述為印度貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡的中心。它是后來世界上走得最遠的水手們的家，正如他所觀察到的：

? ? ? ? ? 毫無疑問，這些人擁有貿(mào)易頭腦。他們是了解商品的人；他們是如此恰當?shù)爻两谏唐返穆曇艉秃椭C之中，以至于古吉拉特邦的人說，任何與商品有關(guān)的罪行都是不可原諒的。到處都有古吉拉特邦人定居。他們有的為這些人工作，有的為另一些人工作...... 康貝作為最重要的航行地點，主要向外伸出兩只手，她的右臂伸向亞丁，左臂伸向馬六甲。 ?

加西亞·德·奧爾塔（Garcia de Orta）

Records of how spices were grown and processed in ancient Southeast Asia were left to us in Garcia de Orta’s remarkable “Colloquies on the Simples & Drugs of India”, published in 1563. de Orta was a Portuguese, Sephardic Jewish physician, who worked for decades for the elite in the colony of Portuguese Goa, India.

? ? ? ? ? 1563年出版的加西亞·德·奧爾塔（Garcia de Orta）卓越的《印度簡單藥材和藥物討論會》為我們留下了古代東南亞香料種植和加工的記錄。

He left numerous accounts of age-old Eastern farming practices. He records that:

? ? ? ? ? The trees [of cinnamon] are about the size of olives or rather smaller, the branches are numerous and not crooked, but somewhat straight. The flowers are white, the fruit black and round, larger than a myrtle, or between that and a nut. The canela [cinnamon in Portuguese] is the second bark of the tree: for it has two barks like the cork tree, which has bark and shell…First, they take off the outer bark and clean the other. The outer bark, cut in squares, is then thrown on the ground. When on the ground it rolls itself up in a round form, so as to look like the bark of a stick which it is not. For the poles or sticks are the size of a man’s thigh. The thickest of the bark is the thickness of a finger. It takes a vermilion colour, or that which is given when burnt by the sun; or more like ashes mixed with red wine, very little of the cinder and a great deal of the wine…This year’s bark is taken and leaving the tree for three years it renews its bark.

(de Orta, 1563, pp. 129–130)

? ? ? ? ? 他留下了許多關(guān)于東方古老的農(nóng)耕方式的記載：

? ? ? ? ? 肉桂樹大約有橄欖大小，或者更小，樹枝很多，不彎曲，但有點直?；ㄊ前咨?，果實是黑色的、圓形的，比桃金娘大，或者介于桃金娘和堅果之間。canela[葡萄牙語中的肉桂]是這種樹的第二層樹皮：因為它有兩層樹皮，就像軟木樹一樣，它有樹皮和外殼......首先，他們?nèi)∠峦馄?，清洗里面的樹皮。然后將切成方塊的外皮扔在地上。在地上時，它自己卷成圓形，樹皮看起來像棍子，但它并不是。因為這些桿子或棍子有一個人的大腿那么大。最厚的樹皮有一個手指那么粗。它的顏色是朱紅色的，或者說是被太陽灼燒后的顏色；或者更像是與紅酒混合的灰燼，很少的煤渣和大量的酒......今年的樹皮被取走，讓樹在三年內(nèi)重新長出新樹皮。

He tells us about the harvest of ginger in India:

? ? ? ? ? It is gathered in December and January, dried and covered with clay in holes to prevent it from decaying. It is also enclosed in clay to make it weigh more and to keep it fresh, preserving its natural humidity. Besides, if it is not well covered with clay the worms eat it. It is also more humid and has a better taste.

(Ibid, p. 399)

? ? ? ? ? 他向我們講述了印度生姜的收獲情況：

? ? ? ? ? 生姜在12月和1月被人們采集，曬干后用粘土覆蓋在洞里，以防止其腐爛。粘土也被包裹起來，使其重量增加，并保持新鮮，保持其自然濕度。此外，如果它沒有被粘土很好地覆蓋，蟲子就會吃掉它。生姜越潮濕，味道越好。

Garcia de Orta described the nutmeg tree as follows:

? ? ? ? ? It is like a pear tree, or, to be more exact, like a small peach tree. The rind is hard, the outer skin being harder than green pears. Removing the thick rind, there is a very fine rind like that which encircles our chestnuts. This goes round the nut. The nut is like a small gall nut. The delicate skin which encircles it is the mace…You must know that when the nutmeg begins to swell, it breaks the first rind, as our chestnuts burst their prickly covering, and the mace becomes very red, appearing like fine gram. It is the most beautiful sight in the world when the trees are loaded…

(Ibid, pp. 272–273)

? ? ? ? ? 加西亞·德·奧爾塔對肉豆蔻樹的描述如下：

? ? ? ? ? 它像一棵梨樹，或者更確切地說，像一棵小桃樹。果皮很硬，外皮比青梨還硬。去掉厚厚的外皮，有一個非常細的里皮，就像我們的栗子一樣，環(huán)繞著栗子。這是繞著堅果轉(zhuǎn)的。堅果就像一個小果仁。圍繞著它的精致的皮是肉豆蔻......你必須知道，當肉豆蔻開始膨脹時，它就會打破第一層皮，就像我們的栗子破開它們帶刺的外殼一樣，而肉豆蔻變得非常紅，看起來就像細小的chana dal（一種印度鷹嘴豆品種）。當樹木滿載果實時，這是世界上最美麗的景象......?

He also provided the earliest record of black pepper cultivation. He wrote:

? ? ? ? ?The tree of the pepper is planted at the foot of another tree, generally at the foot of a palm or cachou tree. It has a small root, and grows as its supporting tree grows, climbing round and embracing it. The leaves are not numerous, nor large, smaller than an orange leaf, green, and sharp pointed, burning a little almost like betel. It grows in bunches like grapes, and only differs in the pepper being smaller in the grains, and the bunches being smaller, and always green at the time that the pepper dries. The crop is in its perfection in the middle of January. In Malabar, the plant is of two kinds, one being the black pepper and the other white; and besides these there is another in Bengal called the long pepper…

(Ibid, p. 399)

? ? ? ? ? 他還提供了關(guān)于黑胡椒種植的最早記錄，他寫道：

? ? ? ? ? 胡椒樹通常種植在大樹的腳下，一般是棕櫚樹或腰果樹。它的根很小，隨著支撐樹的生長而生長，繞著它爬行并擁抱它。胡椒樹葉子不多，也不大，比橘子葉小，綠色，尖尖的，燒起來有點像檳榔。它像葡萄一樣成串生長，唯一不同的是，胡椒的顆粒較小，成串較小，而且在胡椒干枯前總是綠色的。莊稼在一月中旬達到最佳狀態(tài)。在馬拉巴爾，這種植物有兩種，一種是黑胡椒，另一種是白胡椒；除此之外，在孟加拉還有一種叫做蓽拔（長胡椒）的植物。

揚·哈伊根·范林斯霍滕（Jan Huygen van Linschoten）

To a large extent, the Dutch path to the East Indies was paved by the adventurer Jan Huygen van Linschoten, who in 1595 published his Itinerario, almost an exposé of the Portuguese spice trade. Huygen was born in Haarlem, Holland in 1563, the son of an innkeeper. At the age of 16 he left for Spain to work with his brother in Seville for five years and then headed to Lisbon where he was employed as a merchant. In 1583 he landed a job as an accountant for the Archbishop of Goa, Joa?o Vicente da Fonseca, and sailed off to India. Once there, Huygen devoted himself to learning about Goa and its inhabitants, assimilating a great deal of nautical and mercantile information by visiting the docks and talking to sailors. He obtained much first-hand knowledge of the ‘secret’ Portuguese trade routes and practices, and even befriended the Portuguese viceroy who let him see top-secret charts which he deviously copied. Huygen loved his life in Goa but was forced to leave in 1588 when his sponsor died. On the way home, his ship was wrecked near the Azores and he stayed for two years on the island of Terceira working to salvage and sell the spices that were aboard the ship. He also began writing his future publications.

? ? ? ? ? 在很大程度上，荷蘭通往東印度群島的道路是由冒險家揚·哈伊根·范林斯霍滕鋪就的，他在1595年出版了《行程》，對葡萄牙香料貿(mào)易進行了較為詳細的揭露。范林斯霍滕于1563年出生在荷蘭的哈勒姆，是一個旅館老板的兒子。16歲時，他前往西班牙，與他的兄弟在塞維利亞工作了5年，然后前往里斯本，在那里他被聘為商人。1583年，他通過果阿大主教若昂·比森特·達·豐塞卡找到了一份會計工作，并乘船前往印度。到了那里，范林斯霍滕致力于了解果阿及其居民的情況，通過訪問碼頭和與水手交談，吸收了大量的航海和商業(yè)信息。他獲得了許多關(guān)于葡萄牙“秘密”貿(mào)易路線和做法的第一手資料，甚至還結(jié)識了葡萄牙總督，后者讓他看到了他狡猾地復制的最高機密圖表。范林斯霍滕熱愛他在果阿的生活，但在1588年，他的贊助人去世后，他被迫離開。在回家的路上，他的船在亞速爾群島附近失事，他在特塞拉島呆了兩年，致力于打撈和出售船上的香料，他開始記錄自己這些年的所見所聞。

He finally got home in 1592 but his wanderlust was not extinguished, and he sailed to the Arctic with Willem Barents on the first two of his failed missions to find the Northeast Passage to China. It was not until 1595 that Huygen finally settled down and finished the Itinerario, describing his experiences in the East and offering detailed information on the route to India, the nature of the spice markets and the condition of the Portuguese Estado da índia. The book clearly documented the growing European suspicion that the Estado da índia had become decadent and overstretched. It showed that the Portuguese did not really have control of the markets in Java, which would ultimately become the centre of Dutch Indonesia. Most importantly, the book gave almost complete nautical and economic information about the Indian Ocean that until its publication had been a closely guarded secret of the Portuguese.

? ? ? ? ? 他終于在1592年回到了家，但他的冒險欲望并沒有熄滅，他與威廉·巴倫支（Willem Barents）一起航行到了北極，完成了尋找通往中國的東北航道的前兩次失敗的任務。直到1595年，范林斯霍滕才終于安下心來，完成了《行程》，描述了他在東方的經(jīng)歷，并提供了關(guān)于通往印度的路線、香料市場的性質(zhì)和葡萄牙印度國的狀況的詳細信息。這本書清楚地記錄了歐洲人日益增長的疑慮，即印度國家已經(jīng)變得頹廢和過度擴張。它表明，葡萄牙人并沒有真正控制爪哇的市場，而爪哇最終成為荷蘭印度尼西亞的中心。最重要的是，該書提供了關(guān)于印度洋的幾乎完整的航海和經(jīng)濟信息，而在該書出版之前，這些信息一直是葡萄牙人嚴守的秘密。

拉爾夫·費奇（Ralph Fitch）

In 1591, the first English worldwide traveler Ralph Fitch returned home after an astonishing eight-year journey to Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, India and Southeast Asia. He returned with incredible first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the spice trade and its opportunities. His journey began in February 1583 when he embarked for Aleppo, Syria with two merchants, John Newberry and John Eldred, a jeweler William Leedes, and a painter, James Story. Their trip was to generate trade and political alliances with the Ottoman Empire.

? ? ? ? ? 1591年，英國第一位環(huán)球旅行者拉爾夫·費奇在經(jīng)過八年的驚人旅程后回國，足跡遍及美索不達米亞、波斯灣、印度洋、印度和東南亞。他帶著關(guān)于香料貿(mào)易內(nèi)部運作及其機會的令人難以置信的第一手資料返回。他的旅程始于1583年2月，當時他與兩名商人約翰·紐伯里和約翰·埃爾德雷德、珠寶商威廉·利茲和畫家詹姆斯·史都瑞一起踏上了前往敘利亞阿勒頗的旅程。他們的旅行是為了與奧斯曼帝國建立貿(mào)易和政治聯(lián)盟。

The five travelled down the Euphrates, crossed southern Mesopotamia to Baghdad, and then followed the Tigris to Basra where Eldred stayed behind to trade. Fitch and the others found passage down the Persian Gulf to the Portuguese fortress at Ormuz, where they were arrested as spies and sent across the Indian Ocean to Goa. There they were held captive until two English Jesuits helped them escape. Story chose to join their sect and remain, while the other two continued across India until they reached the court of the great Mogul leader Akbar at Agra.

? ? ? ? ? 五人沿幼發(fā)拉底河而下，穿過美索不達米亞南部到達巴格達，然后沿著底格里斯河到達巴士拉，埃爾德雷德留在那里做貿(mào)易。拉爾夫·費奇和其他人沿著波斯灣到達葡萄牙的奧爾穆茲要塞，在那里他們被當作間諜入獄，并被送往印度洋對面的果阿。他們在那里被囚禁，直到兩名英國耶穌會士幫助他們逃脫。詹姆斯·史都瑞選擇加入他們的教派并留下，而另外兩人則繼續(xù)穿越印度，直到他們到達位于阿格拉的偉大的莫臥兒領(lǐng)袖阿克巴的宮廷。

Leedes got a post from Akbar and stayed put, while Fitch and Newberry continued on to Allahabad, after joining a huge convoy carrying salt, opium, lead and carpets. Newberry decided to head home at this point but was never heard from again. Fitch kept travelling, sailing down the Yamuna and Ganges Rivers from 1585 to 1586, and then across the sea to Pegu and Burma, where he further travelled deep into the interior of the continent on the Irrawaddy River. Early in 1588, he visited Malacca, and tried but failed to get passage into the South China Sea. At this point, he decided it was time to head towards home, travelling first to Bengal, round the Indian peninsula to Cochin and Goa, then on to Ormuz, up the Persian Gulf to Basra and then down the Tigris and Euphrates to Aleppo and Tripoli. Fitch arrived back in London on 29 April 1591, eight years after he had left, having visited the whole extent of the spice route spanning from the Levant to South East Asia. He appeared in London after being long presumed dead and until his real demise 20 years later, his eyewitness accounts served as a firebrand and blueprint for the early English missions to the Indian Ocean.

? ? ? ? ? 阿克巴授予了威廉·利茲以職位，所以他留在當?shù)兀瓲柗颉べM奇和紐伯里則繼續(xù)前往阿拉哈巴德。在加入一個運送鹽、鴉片、鉛和地毯的龐大車隊后，紐伯里決定回家，但再也沒有聽到他的消息。拉爾夫·費奇繼續(xù)旅行，從1585年到1586年沿亞穆納河和恒河航行，然后渡海到勃固和緬甸，通過伊洛瓦底江上進一步深入大陸的內(nèi)部。1588年初，他訪問了馬六甲，并試圖進入中國南海的通道，但沒有成功。這時，他決定回家了，先到孟加拉，繞過印度半島到科欽和果阿，然后到奧爾穆茲，沿著波斯灣到巴士拉，然后沿著底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河到阿勒頗和的黎波里。拉爾夫·費奇于1591年4月29日回到倫敦，在他離開八年后，他訪問了從黎凡特到東南亞的整個香料路線。他在被長期假定死亡后再一次出現(xiàn)在倫敦，直到20年后他才去世，他對印度和東南亞描述成為早期英國派遣印度洋使團的火種和藍圖。

四位偉大旅行者的影響

The reports of these trailblazing four adventurers fired up the Dutch and English to follow the Portuguese to the riches of the Indian Ocean. As the 16th century ended, the Indian Ocean trade network was no longer a mystery to them, and they exuberantly entered into a power struggle with Portugal and each other for its control.

? ? ? ? ? 這四位開拓者的報告激起了荷蘭人和英國人的熱情，他們跟隨葡萄牙人去印度洋尋找財富。隨著16世紀的結(jié)束，印度洋貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡對他們來說已不再神秘，他們興致勃勃地加入了與葡萄牙的權(quán)力爭奪戰(zhàn)，并相互爭奪其控制權(quán)。

參考書目：

Anonymous. Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s ‘Itinerario’: Key to the East. Utrecht University Library Special Collections, Utrecht University, 2020

Cortes?o, A. (tr.). The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires and The Book of Francisco Rodriques. . Hakluyt Society, Second Series No. LXXXIX, Digitized version from McGill University Library , 1944

de Orta, G. Colloquies on the Simples & Drugs of India (New edition). Henry Sotheran and Co., London., 1895

Hakluyt, R. . Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, Volume Two. JM Dent and Sons Limited, London, 1927

Ryley, J.H. . Ralph Fitch: England’s Pioneer to India and Burma. T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1899

Saldanha, A. . "The Itineraries of Geography: Jan Huygen van Linschoten’s Itinerario and Dutch Expeditions to the Indian Ocean, 1594–1602. ." Annals of the Association of American Geographers , 101(1), 2011., pp. 149–177.

Shaffer, M. . Pepper: A History of the World’s Most Influential Spice. Thomas Dunne Books, St Martin’s Press, New York, 2013

原文作者：James Hancock

? ? ? ? ? 密歇根州立大學的自由撰稿人和名譽教授，著有《Spices, Scents and Silk》(CABI)和《Plantation Crops》 (Routledge)。

原文網(wǎng)址: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1803/eyes-on-the-east-chronicles-of-the-indian-ocean-sp/