"南海诸岛自古以来就是中国领土。"

2015年4月3日,海南琼海市万泉镇“闹军坡”巡游车队从街头驶过。新华社发(蒙钟德 摄)

Photo shows Junpo Festival celebrated in Qiongzhou, Hainan on April 3, 2015. (Xinhua: Meng Zhongde)

　　公元540-541年,南朝梁大同年间,女首领上书梁朝廷在海南岛建置"崖州"。自西汉罢弃珠崖郡以来,时隔近600年海南与中原重新恢复了直接联系,从此再未脱离中央王权。每年春节后,为纪念这位维护国家统一、领土完整的女首领,海南当地居民至今还保留着"闹军坡"的风俗,军坡节至今世代相传了上千年的历史。

　　Around the year of 540-541 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Xiao Yan of the Liang Dynasty, this female leader pleaded in the imperial court to set up Yazhou in Hainan Island. Since then, Hainan returned to the motherland after being away from the central government for nearly six hundred years. Every year after Spring Festival, the local people in Hainan keep the thousand-year-old custom of the Junpo Festival which is held to commemorate this woman who safeguarded the country's territorial integrity and national unity.

　　这位女首领就是冼太夫人。

　　This woman was named Lady Xian.

　　如果说,南海是一块贝壳,那海南岛就是"贝壳"上的珍珠。

　　If the South China Sea is a sea shell, then Hainan Island is the pearl inside it.

　　自平定海南岛之后,冼夫人在南海的身影还不止步于此。历史记载,从南北朝到隋唐,南海贸易中始终都有岭南大族的身影,冼夫人便是其中的典型代表。

　　After Hainan Island was pacified, Lady Xian visited the island more than once. According to historical records, notable families from Lingnan were involved in maritime trade on the South China Sea from the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589) to the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581-907). Lady Xian and her family were one of the representatives.

　　冼太夫人居住在现今粤西茂名一带。茂名面朝南海,得天独厚的地理优势给当地的海上贸易创造了天然条件,往来的海上贸易也给岭南社会带来了繁荣。

　　Lady Xian lived in what is now Maoming in West Guangdong. Facing the South China Sea, Maoming enjoys geographical advantages for maritime trade which brought it prosperity during the Lingnan era.

　　冼太夫人在南海贸易的身影给自身积累了大量的财富。历史记载,冼太夫人当初进贡给陈后主,在陈亡之时又被陈后主当作信物返还的扶南犀杖,出产自当时的扶南古国。那扶南国是在哪儿呢?

　　Through her participation in maritime trade on South China Sea, Lady Xian amassed great sums of wealth. It is recorded that the Funan cane made of rhinoceros horn was given to Emperor Chen Shubao of the Chen Dynasty (557-589) by Lady Xian and was produced by the ancient state of Funan. So where was Funan located?

　　扶南国,是曾经存在于古代中南半岛上的一个古老王国名。其辖境大致相当于当今柬埔寨全部国土以及老挝南部、越南南部和泰国东南部一带。是历史上第一个出现在中国古代的史籍上的东南亚国家,也是中国古代史籍中经常出现的东南亚国家。

　　Funan (or Phù Nam) was once an ancient kingdom located in the ancient Indo-China Peninsula. Its jurisdictional region covered what is now Cambodia, southern Laos, southern Vietnam, and southeast Thailand. It was the first and frequently visited country from Southeast Asia recorded in the historical records of ancient China.

　　如果说,南海是一块贝壳,那海南岛就是"贝壳"上的珍珠。海南岛是南海上的一颗"珍珠",冼太夫人在1500年前将南海最大的岛屿和平收复,这一历史意义不言而喻。其借助粤西临海的地理条件以及海南岛得天独厚的岛屿优势,从南海去到东南亚等地进行海上贸易,也是中国踏上海上丝绸之路的先行者。那么这样看来,驰骋南海这件事,广东冼太夫人"自古以来"就这么做了。

　　If the South China Sea is a sea shell, then Hainan Island is the pearl inside the shell. Lady Xian peacefully recaptured the pearl of Hainan, the biggest island in the South China Sea more than 1,500 years ago, which is of historical significance. She also took advantage of the geographical conditions of West Guangdong and Hainan Island and carried out maritime trade with Southeast Asian countries and regions. Therefore, she was the pioneer of China's Maritime Silk Road, and she safeguarded the South China Sea in ancient times.