The Ancient Origins of the Colour Green绿色的悠久历史

In February 1970， a ragbag of hippies and activists gathered in Vancouver， Canada to discuss a planned nuclear test on the Alaskan island of Amchitka. They eventually agreed to sail to the test site and protest against the explosion in person. At the end of the meeting， the chairman raised two fingers to the room and shouted “Peace！”. After a brief pause， one young attendee responded with a now immortal line： “Let’s make that a green peace”.

1970年2月，一群乱杂杂的嬉皮士和活动家相聚在加拿大温哥华，讨论如何应对阿拉斯加的阿姆奇特卡岛上的核试验计划。他们最终决定亲身前往，驾船进入核试验地点以阻止核爆。会议结束时，领导者向屋内众人举起两根手指，高喊道：“和平！”静默了片刻，一位年轻的与会者回以那句至今不朽的口号：“让我们实现绿色和平。”

Over the last 50 years， the environmental movement has become so closely associated with the colour green that it’s almost impossible to see a green poster， label or recycling bag without thinking about our planet’s future. But though that connection is the product of a very recent crisis， its origins go back some way. We have identified green with nature and its processes for thousands of years. Indeed， the very word “green” comes from the ancient Proto-Indo-European word ghre， meaning “grow”.

在过去的50年里，环保运动已经与绿色如此紧密地联系在了一起，以至于我们一看到绿色的海报、标签或回收袋时，几乎总会联想到地球的未来。不过，尽管这种联系产生于并不遥远的一场危机，但它的起源可被追溯至更久之前。我们把绿色与自然和自然过程相联系已有数千年之久。事实上，“绿色”这个词便来源于古时的原始印欧语系词ghre，意思是“生长”。

The human species， which emerged in the verdant forests and savannas of Africa about 300，000 years ago， has a special biological bond with green. Our eyes might even have evolved specifically to see the chlorophyll in plants. Unlike most mammals， who are red-green colour blind， we and other primates developed a third cone cell. This additional photoreceptor enabled our ancestors to spot ripe red and yellow fruits against a backdrop of green foliage， and to distinguish different green leaves from each other. In daylight conditions， human eyes are more sensitive to green than any other hue.

大约30万年前，出现在非洲的青翠森林和稀树草原的人类，就与绿色有着某种特殊的生物联系。我们的眼睛甚至可能专门进化出了感知植物叶绿素的能力。与大多数哺乳动物都是红绿色盲不同，我们和其他灵长类进化出了第三种视锥细胞。这一额外的光感受器使我们的祖先能够从绿色枝叶的背景中一眼锁定红色和黄色的成熟水果，并且区分不同绿色的叶子。在日光条件下，相比于其他色调，人眼对绿色更加敏感。

With the advent of agriculture， we started to use green as a symbol for nature and its processes. Archaeologists have recently found an extraordinary hoard of green beads and pendants in the Levant， dating back some 10，000 years. The researchers believe that these objects， many of which had come from hundreds of miles away at great cost， were chosen because they resembled young leaves and might have been used by early farmers to invoke rainfall or fertilise crops.

随着农业的出现，我们开始把绿色作为自然和自然过程的象征。考古学家最近在黎凡特地区发现了一组非同寻常的绿色珠子和吊坠埋藏，年代可追溯至约1万年前。研究者认为，这些物件中有许多是耗费巨资从数百英里外运来的，而它们之所以被人选定，正是因为看起来与嫩叶相似，可能被早期农民用来祈求降雨或是为庄稼施肥。

The ancient Egyptians， who were farming the banks of the Nile from about 8000 BCE， likewise identified their crops with green. Their term for the colour was wadj， which also meant “flourish”， and was represented in hieroglyph by the flowering stalk of a papyrus plant. Egyptian painters often depicted their god of agriculture， Osiris—who was responsible for flooding the Nile’s banks， filling the soil with nutrients and pushing the first green shoots up through the fields—as a bright green being.

无独有偶，自公元前8000年便在尼罗河沿岸耕作的古埃及人也将绿色和庄稼相联系。他们用以指代绿色的词是wadj，该词也有“繁盛”之义，在象形文字里，用纸莎草的带花的茎杆来表示。古埃及的农业之神奥西里斯掌管尼罗河的泛滥，为土壤带来养分，并催生出田地间第一批绿色嫩芽。在埃及画家笔下，奥西里斯常常被描绘成一个明亮的绿色形象。

‘Green thoughts’

“绿色思想”

All over the world， people communed with nature through green materials. Jade， for instance， was used to make objects that would guarantee a successful harvest. The Maya buried their leaders with jade death masks for precisely this reason. One such object， made between 660 and 750 AD in modern-day Mexico， depicts an unknown ruler surrounded by plant symbolism. His intimidating face is flanked by two flowers， his headdress swells into a green mountain， and two sprouts of maize point towards the future. The mask implies that its wearer will， like Osiris， infuse the earth with fertility， ensuring that his living subjects thrive.

在世界各地，人们通过绿色材料与自然相通。比如，用碧玉制作器物，以保佑一场大丰收。正是出于这个缘故，玛雅人埋葬他们的首领时，要为其佩戴碧玉的死亡面具。公元660年至750年之间，在今天的墨西哥境内，便有一个这样的物件，描绘了一位不知名统治者被有象征意义的植物环绕的景象。他那令人生畏的脸庞两侧装饰着两朵花，他的头饰膨起，如同一座绿色的山，还有两根玉米芽指向未来。这个面具喻示着它的佩戴者会像奥西里斯一样，使大地丰饶，保佑他在世的子民们生活兴旺。

More than a millennium before the rise of the environmental movement， the Quran was instructing Muslims to look after their habitats. In extraordinarily prescient words， it describes humans as temporary stewards of the ecosystem， advising them not to disturb the delicate balance of creation by excessive consumption or unnecessary destruction. Between the eighth and 13th Centuries， Islamic philosophers and scientists even wrote treatises on sustainable agriculture， pollution and wildlife conservation， and compiled a bill of rights for animals.

早在环保运动兴起的一千多年之前，《古兰经》就教导穆斯林要爱护自己的生活环境。它极具预见性地将人类比作生态系统的临时管家，告诫人们不要因为过度消费或不必要的破坏而打破天地万物脆弱的平衡。8世纪至13世纪之间，伊斯兰哲学家和科学家甚至撰写了有关可持续农业、污染和野生动物保护的著述，并制定了一部动物权利法案。

Western societies took longer to embrace the beauty of nature， and by extension， green. But by the second half of the Middle Ages， European writers were infusing the colour with their new-found faith in the landscape， connecting it to fertility， growth， spring， hope and joy. In one 15th-Century text， the French herald Jean Courtois1 couldn’t contain his enthusiasm for the colour of chlorophyll： “There is nothing in the world more pleasant than the beautiful verdure of fields in blossom， broad-leafed trees covered in foliage， banks of the rivers where the swallows come and bathe， stones that are green in colour， like precious emeralds，” he wrote.