How to say “All roads lead to Rome” in Chinese: 条条大路通罗马。Tiao2 tiao2 da4 lu4 tong1 luo2 ma3. Tiao2 tiao2 (条条 tiao2 originally is measure word for road, here tiao2 tiao2 functions as attribute — each long long (road) — to modify the noun — 大 路 da4 lu4) da4 (大 adjective, big) lu4 (路 noun, road) tong1 (通 verb, to go through / to connect) luo2 ma3 (罗马 noun, Rome).
The origin of the proverb initially means — all roads did lead to Rome.
The Romans were extremely skilled road makers (造路者 zao4 lu4 zhe5, road builder), and they were the first to establish a grand road system (道路系统 dao4 lu4 xi4 tong3). They were also the first to use mile-markers.The ancient Romans designed their roads purposefully so that all the road led to Rome to make it the central hub with the purpose (目的 mu4 di4) to prevent its provinces from forming resistance against the Empire (帝国 di4 guo2).
The proverb — All roads lead to Rome also means that there are many different ways to reach the same outcome or destination (目的地 mu4 di4 di4).
Speaking of the way or the road to Rome, we should also know that there is one kind of road called the Silk Road (丝路 si1 lu4).
What is the silk road?
The Silk Road was not an exact road. It was not paved as University Avenue or Airport Way. The silk road contained many routes or any route as long as they could lead ancient people from China to Rome or vice versa. From ancient China to Rome, the distance (距离 ju4 li2) was around four thousand miles.
Why it is called the silk road?
The merchants (商人 shang1 ren2) in Rome and China had something the other wanted. Rome had gold and silver and precious gems (宝石 bao3 shi2). China had silk and spices and ivory (象牙 xiang4 ya2). The Romans were glad to find out what they had been looking for — “the Silk People.” Silk quickly became popular in Rome.
It was dangerous to travel along the Silk Road. There were wild white-hot sand dunes in the desert (沙漠 sha2 mo4), brutal winds, poisonous snakes (毒蛇 du2 she2), and bandits and robbers too. Merchants were smart people, they used the relay strategy. Some of traders did not make the whole trip; they worked in relays, and each trader went a certain distance to exchange their goods for other goods, and hopefully returned to their home. There were many routes in the so called the silk road, but there were three main (主要 zhu3 yao4) routes （路线 lu4 xian4).
Northern Route – Westward to Black Sea
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Central Route – Westward to Persia, Mediterranean Sea (地中海 di4 zhong1 hai3), Rome
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Southern Route – Westward to Iran (伊朗 yi1 lang3), India (印度 yin4 du4)
Over the centuries, along the Silk Road developed a civilization (文明 wen2 ming2) of its own. Along the road, there were temples, cities and a lot of other attractions. The traveling on the silk road became easier as years went by; but, it was never easy.
Hope you enjoy today’s one proverb and many phrases a day, and now it’s time to find a song. Here you go, a great song once again:) I am always amazed at the result of song search!!!! It is a song that I never heard before ….and it is called silk road, right to the point!!!
Liang Jing ru 梁静茹 si lu (silk road) 丝路 – jasmine leong (fish)