蔡玉臻

登州古港含有廣義與狹義兩個(gè)概念。廣義來說，包括古登州所轄區(qū)域內(nèi)的所有港口及其沿海諸島的港口；狹義上講，指的則是登州府衙所在地的蓬萊港口。

古登州的建制始于唐代，而登州古港的港航活動(dòng)則可以追溯到遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)期。由于條件限制，先民們最初的海上航行是沿著海岸進(jìn)行的。后來人們又通過海島的連接，逐島航行，從此地到達(dá)彼地。登州所處的膠東半島，與遼東半島之間的渤海海峽，散落著數(shù)十個(gè)島嶼，為兩個(gè)半島之間的航路開通創(chuàng)造了有利條件。人們通過逐島航行從膠東半島到了遼東半島。后來，人們沿著遼東半島的海岸繼續(xù)航行，先是到達(dá)了朝鮮半島，后經(jīng)朝鮮半島南端穿過對(duì)馬海峽到達(dá)了日本，這就是膠東半島最早通向海外的航線，被稱作“登州海道”。

登州海道開通之后，膠東半島、遼東半島、朝鮮半島、日本列島之間就開始了貿(mào)易和文化的傳播與交流。開始時(shí)先是各種陶制器皿和農(nóng)作物的種子，后來是瓷器，人們便把這條海上通道稱作“陶瓷之路”。到了秦漢時(shí)期，膠東半島的絲織業(yè)發(fā)展很快，開展絲綢外交成了這一時(shí)期的一大特色，對(duì)文明的發(fā)展有著重大貢獻(xiàn)。同時(shí)，這一時(shí)期，中國與朝鮮、日本之間也開始了絲綢交易，從登州古港到朝鮮和日本的海上航線，也被稱為“海上絲綢之路”了。

中國的“海上絲綢之路”相對(duì)于陸地“絲綢之路”，是指在海上與其他各國進(jìn)行貿(mào)易和文化交流的通道。冠之“絲綢”二字，是因?yàn)樵谝粋€(gè)較長的歷史階段，通過這條海上通道，絲綢的交易占有重要比重。從海陸兩個(gè)“絲綢之路”比較，海上早于陸地，并且比陸地持續(xù)的時(shí)間更長，范圍更廣，影響更大。海上的“絲綢之路”，除了以上所述以登州海道為代表的中國東方海上“絲綢之路”之外，還有從江、浙、閩、粵一帶起航的中國南方“海上絲綢之路”。這條海上通道從中國南方沿海各港口出發(fā)，南下與東南亞、南亞、西亞以及歐洲等諸多國家開展了貿(mào)易與文化交流。

The establishment of ancient Dengzhou began in the Tang Dynasty， but the port and shipping activities of the ancient port of Dengzhou could be traced back to the remote antiquity. Due to the limited conditions at that time， the ancestors only sailed along the coast initially. Later， they extended their sailing from one island to another through the connection of different islands. There were dozens of islands scattered in the Bohai Strait between the Jiaodong Peninsula， where Dengzhou is located， and the Liaodong Peninsula， providing favorable conditions for the opening of the sea routes between the two peninsulas. By sailing from one island to another， people successfully voyaged from the Jiaodong Peninsula to the Liaodong Peninsula. Later， people continued to extend their sailing along the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula. Soon they arrived in the Korean Peninsula first and then in Japan by passing the southern end of the Korean Peninsula through the Tsushima Strait. This is the earliest route， known as the “Dengzhou Seaway”， that led the Jiaodong Peninsula to overseas countries.