Quipu （khipu） 是印加人和其他古代安第斯文化用来使用绳子和绳结保存记录和传达信息的方法

时间: 2024-09-10 08:08:53

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Quipu （khipu） 是印加人和其他古代安第斯文化用来使用绳子和绳结保存记录和传达信息的方法。在没有字母书写系统的情况下，这种简单且高度便携的设备实现了令人惊讶的精确度和灵活性。Quipu 可以记录日期、统计数据、账户，甚至抽象的想法。Quipu 今天仍在南美洲各地使用。
Quipu 使用各种各样的颜色、绳子，有时还有几百个结，它们都以不同的方式在不同的高度系在一起。这些组合甚至可以以抽象的形式代表传统民间故事和诗歌中的关键情节。近年来，学者们还挑战了传统观点，即 quipu 只是一种记忆辅助设备，甚至认为 quipu 可能已经朝着叙述记录的方向发展，因此在印加帝国崩溃时成为书面语言的可行替代品。
方法
典型的 quipu 由一根水平绳子甚至木条组成，上面挂着任何数量的由棉或羊毛制成的打结和彩色绳子。一些较大的 quipu 有多达 1500 根绳子，这些绳子也可以以不同的方式编织，这表明这也有意义。使用的各种颜色阴影也可能具有特定的含义。同样，结的类型、它在绳子上的位置、结的总数和结的顺序都可以结合起来，创造出潜在的大量含义。整个方法基于小数位置系统，使用的最大小数为 10,000。印加的数学系统与我们今天使用的系统几乎完全相同。系统中特定 quipu 上的数字或单位由离主字符串最远的字符串表示，充当一种键
A Quipu (khipu) was a method used by the Incas and other ancient Andean cultures to keep records and communicate information using string and knots. In the absence of an alphabetic writing system, this simple and highly portable device achieved a surprising degree of precision and flexibility. Quipu could record dates, statistics, accounts, and even abstract ideas. Quipu are still used today across South America.
Quipu use a wide variety of colours, strings, and sometimes several hundred knots all tied in various ways at various heights. These combinations can even represent, in abstract form, key episodes from traditional folk stories and poetry. In recent years scholars have also challenged the traditional view that quipu were merely a memory aid device and go so far as to suggest that quipu may have been progressing towards narrative records and so becoming a viable alternative to written language just when the Inca Empire collapsed.
Method
A typical quipu consists of a horizontal string or even wooden bar, from which hang any number of knotted and coloured strings made from either cotton or wool. Some of the larger quipu have as many as 1500 strings, and these could also be woven in different ways suggesting this, too, had a meaning. The various colour shades used could also carry a specific meaning. So, too, the type of knot, the position of it on the string, the total number of knots and the sequence of the knots could all combine to create a potentially huge number of meanings. The whole method was based on a decimal positional system, with the largest decimal used being 10,000. The Inca mathematical system was almost exactly the same as our own system in use today. The numbers or units in the system on a particular quipu are indicated by the strings furthest from the primary string, acting as a sort of key.