Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia and Poland sit on each civilization's continental corridor — the flat, exposed plain that every great army marches across on its way to somewhere else. Both were repeatedly partitioned, repeatedly invaded, and developed an exceptional capacity for cultural survival in spite of regimes. Both are devoutly religious (Tibetan Buddhism + Islam in Gansu; Catholic in Poland) in a way the rest of the civilization sometimes finds awkward.甘青宁与波兰，坐落在各自文明的「大陆走廊」之上——一片平展、暴露的平原，每一支大军都要从这里行军去别处。两地都被反复瓜分、反复入侵，却发展出超强的「无论谁来当政都能文化存续」之能力。两地都虔诚（甘青宁的藏传佛教与伊斯兰；波兰的天主教），其余文明有时对此感到尴尬。

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  A continental highway that everyone has to cross.一条所有人都得穿越的大陆高速路。

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  Repeated partitions and migrations.屡次被瓜分与迁徙。

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  Strong religious identity that survives every secular regime.在任何世俗政权之下都存活的宗教身份。

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  A military self-image: stubborn, unbreakable.顽强、不可被压垮的军事自我形象。

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  Poland is a sovereign state of 38m; the Gansu corridor is sparsely populated.波兰为 3800 万人主权国；甘青宁人口稀疏。

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  Poland's Catholic; the corridor is Buddhist–Muslim mosaic.波兰天主教；走廊为佛—伊斯兰拼贴。

1. Imperial frontier帝国边疆
   CN

   Han onwards — Hexi Corridor military colonies.汉以降——河西走廊军屯。

   EU

   10th c. — Christianisation under Mieszko I.10 世纪——梅什科一世受洗，波兰基督化。

2. Partition era瓜分时代
   CN

   Tang–Song — held, lost, re-conquered.唐宋——得而复失，失而复得。

   EU

   1772–95 — three partitions by Russia, Prussia, Austria.1772—95——遭俄、普、奥三次瓜分。

3. Modern resurgence近代复兴
   CN

   Today — Belt-and-Road logistics corridor.今天——「一带一路」物流走廊。

   EU

   Today — EU's industrial back-office, growing fast.今天——欧盟的工业后台，增长迅猛。

Both are pivotal to logistics on a continental scale and both have learned to convert their geographic vulnerability into strategic indispensability.两地都对大陆尺度的物流至关重要；两地都已学会把「地理脆弱」转化为「战略不可或缺」。

• God's Playground: A History of Poland
  Norman Davies · 1981
• The Hexi Corridor: A Cultural History
  Yang Tongbing · —