中国古代的哪个朝代常被认为是中华文明的“黄金时代”

Which ancient Chinese dynasty is often considered the "golden age" of Chinese civilization?

中国古代的哪个朝代常被认为是中华文明的“黄金时代”？

以下是Quora读者的评论：

Joanne Traveler

If it were up to me, I’d say the Tang and Song Dynasties are the strongest contenders for the “golden age” of Chinese civilization.

For Tang, there’s barely any debate — even today, people still use the phrase “盛唐气象” (the grandeur of High Tang) to describe an era of prosperity, openness, and cultural brilliance. During that time, China attracted merchants, scholars, and immigrants from around the world — many of whom settled due to wars elsewhere and found opportunities under Tang governance.

要是由我来说的话，我会认为唐朝和宋朝最有资格被称作中华文明的“黄金时代”。

唐朝，几乎没有什么争议——即便在今天，人们仍会用“盛唐气象”这个词来形容当时那个繁荣、开放且文化灿烂的时代。在那个时期，中国吸引了来自世界各地的商人、学者和移民——他们中的许多人因为其他地方爆发战争而来到中国定居，并在唐朝的统治下找到了发展的机会。

What’s truly fascinating is how foreigners were not just accepted, but integrated. There were laws and trade policies specifically designed for foreign residents, and many went on to become government officials. Yes — even Black Africans were present in Tang China. Some worked as servants, but others became high-ranking advisors or even spouses of officials. I recall one Black official who, feeling frustrated with the "glass ceiling" he hit due to his background, wrote poetry about his grief — and yet he still held a position roughly equivalent to a modern-day mayor. Imagine that — over a thousand years ago, nobody feels it is strange.

真正令人着迷的是，外国人不仅被接纳，还融入了当地社会。当时有专门为外国居民制定的法律和贸易政策，许多外国人还当上了政府官员。没错——就连非洲黑人也出现在了唐朝。有些人当了仆人，但也有一些成为了高级顾问，甚至还有人成为了官员的配偶。我记得有一位黑人官员，由于自身背景而遭遇了“玻璃天花板”，为此感到沮丧，还写了表达悲伤情绪的诗——然而他当时担任的职务大致相当于现代的市长。想想看——在一千多年前，没有人觉得这有什么奇怪的。

As for Song Dynasty, while some may argue whether it was as “golden,” I personally love that era. It developed a proto-concept of freedom of speech, where citizens were legally allowed to criticize or insult the emperor. It was also a time of advanced commercialization: there were food delivery services, banking systems, and even early versions of stock shares. The Song laid down the foundations of a vibrant urban middle class.

After the Song, things sadly went downhill.

至于宋朝，虽然有些人可能会争论它是否称得上“黄金时代”，但我个人很喜欢那个时代。宋朝发展出了一种言论*由的雏形，从法律上来说，当时的百姓可以批评甚至辱骂皇帝。宋朝还是一个高度商业化的时代：有外卖服务、银行系统，甚至还有早期的股票。宋朝为充满活力的城市中产阶级奠定了基础。

可惜的是，宋朝之后，情况急转直下。

Yáng Guāngzhōng

Zhou Dynasty - source of Chinese culture, impacts Chinese people for thousands of years.

Chun Qiu(Spring and Autumn Annals), Shiing (Book of Songs), Liji (The book of Rites), Yiing(The book of Change), Shangshu

The Art of the War

The Analects of Confucius, The Book of Mencius, The Book of Zhuangzi, …

Guiguzi, School of Diplomacy (Zong Zheng Jia),…

Qin Dynasty - united China. Standardized most of the daily living stuffs: Measures, Chinese Characters, Track Gauge, the new government organization architecture.

周朝——中华文化的源头，对中国人产生了数千年的影响。

《春秋》、《诗经》、《礼记》、《易经》、《尚书》

《孙子兵法》

《论语》、《孟子》、《庄子》……

《鬼谷子》、纵横家（宗正家）……

秦朝统一了中国。统一了度量衡、汉字、车轨（轨距）、新的政府组织结构。

Jim Wong

My vote goes to the Sui Dynasty 隋朝 or the 2 Song Dynasties 宋朝. Before the N&S Dynasty 南北朝, Chinese were divided into the nobles 望族 and garbage 布衣. Government officials had to be selected from the nobles though a small number of excellent poor educated were selected. This problem was particularly bad during the in 晋 Dynasty. Essentially all government officials were nobles 王谢望族 who did nothing but to rob the poor.

Liu 刘裕, the first king of the Song during the N&S Dynasties was a slave. He suppressed the nobles and introduced exams to allow the poor a chance to become a government official. The national exam system ‌科举制度 was officially implemented during the Sui Dynasty by 隋文帝杨坚 but only a few of the poor became government officials. The national exam system was fully implemented during the Song 赵宋 Dynasty and used by the Ming and Qing Dynasties. 赵匡胤 paid attention to these tests, especially the palace exam 殿试. Whether the exam system 高考 used today originates from the Sui system is debatable.

The national exam system is not necessarily a good or fair system. Those that did well in exams might not be good officials. At least it gave the poor Chinese a chance to be more equal.

我把票投给隋朝或两宋时期。在南北朝之前，中国人被分为世家大族（望族）和平民（布衣）。政府官员主要从世家大族中选拔，尽管也会选拔少数优秀的寒门学子。这一问题在晋朝尤为严重。基本上，所有官员都出自像王、谢那样的世家大族，他们除了压榨穷人之外无所事事。

南北朝时期刘宋的开国皇帝刘裕出身奴隶。他打压世家大族，并推行考试制度，让穷人有机会当上官员。科举制度在隋朝由隋文帝杨坚正式实施，但只有少数穷人能够成为官员。科举制度在赵宋时期得以全面推行，并被明清两朝沿用。赵匡胤重视考试，尤其是殿试。如今的高考制度是否源自隋朝的科举制度仍存在争议。

科举制度不一定是完美或公平的制度。在考试中表现出色的人不一定能成为好官员。但至少它让贫苦的中国人有机会实现更加平等。

Michael X

Golden age for who? For the elites, every dynasty. For the common people, the Song dynasty. For the militants, Han, Tang, even the warring states period seems very exciting. For the liberals, Spring and Autumn period seems like a fantasy world. For geopolical strategiest, three Kingdoms, Song-in-Liao period. They were golden age for our minorities too, such as Yuan and Qing. We even have golden age for eunuchs, where they could learn read and write and became the most powerful person beside the emperor, the Ming dynasty. There were golden age for homosexual also, the Sima in dynasty, where they consider a woman looking man as good looking. So, it is really up to everybody's personal preference. There were 83 dynasties

黄金时代是对谁而言呢？对于精英阶层来说，每个朝代都是黄金时代。对于普通百姓而言，宋朝是黄金时代。对于好战之人来说，汉朝、唐朝，甚至战国时期都似乎充满激情，令人振奋。

对于崇尚自由之人来说，春秋时期仿佛是一个梦幻般的世界。对于地缘政治战略家来说，三国时期以及宋、金、辽对峙时期是黄金时代。

对于我们少数族群来说，元朝和清朝也是黄金时代。甚至对于宦官群体而言也有黄金时代，在明朝，宦官能够学习读写，并且成为了皇帝身边最有权势的人。

所以说，这真的取决于个人喜好。中国历史上曾有过83个朝代。

Ruby Lee

Song Dynasty. It is a peak time for technology invention and culture. It is considered that the feudal empire began to go downhill after Song.

宋朝。它是科技发明和文化发展的巅峰时期。人们普遍认为，封建帝国在宋朝之后开始走向衰落。

Zane Liu

We typically denote the ruler in question, as opposed to the entirety of a dynasty. A dynasty rises, apexes, and then falls.

There are four ruler-eras whose reigns are undisputed as golden ages.

Wen + in of the Han Dynasty
Taizong of the Tang Dynasty
Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty
Kangx-Yongzheng-Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty

The reign of Emperor Hongwu, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, is also often considered a golden age, though he “only” ruled for 30 years.

A big point of contention is whether or not any period of the Song Dynasty could be considered a golden age. While China reached a very high point of culture and technology during the Song, the dynasty fails to reach golden age status for most due to its failure to protect its territory.

我们通常所指的是相关的统治者，而不是整个朝代。一个朝代兴起、达到鼎盛，然后走向衰落。

有四个统治时期被公认为是无可争议的黄金时代。

- 汉朝的文景（汉文帝、汉景帝）时期

- 唐朝的唐太宗时期

- 唐朝的唐玄宗时期

- 清朝的康（熙）雍（正）乾（隆）时期

明朝开国皇帝明太祖朱元璋的统治时期也常常被视为黄金时代，尽管他“仅仅”统治了30年。

一个很大的争议点在于宋朝时期是否能被视为黄金时代。虽然中国在宋朝时期在文化和科技方面达到了很高的高度，但由于宋朝在保卫领土方面的失败，对于大多数人来说，这个朝代未能达到黄金时代的地位。