More than 2,000 years ago, the Silk Road across Asia and Europe was a link connecting commerce and humanities between the East and the West, and the ancient Silk Road had important enlightenment for exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations.
Today, the game of great powers, the crisis in Ukraine, the chaos in the Middle East... Eurasia, a land that bears the memory of important human civilizations, is regarded as the center of global geopolitical and economic competition.
In this regard, China News Service invited Xing Guangcheng, member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the China Frontier Research Institute, and Ji Kaiyun, director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Southwest University, to have a dialogue with Naslin, assistant professor and director of the Oriental Department of the Iranian Academy of Arts.
Experts said that the ancient Silk Road witnessed the exchange of civilizations at different stages of human development. It enlightens today's world: civilizations need to be open and learn from each other, not closed and decoupled; There needs to be equal respect, not solipsism. At present, the United States and other countries frequently "bury mines" and "add blockages" in the geopolitics of Asia and Europe, and the strategic intention of hindering the interconnection between Asia and Europe is obvious, behind which is the narrow "theory of civilization superiority".
Video: China Dialogue: When China becomes the defender of international order, the West reveals a narrow psychological source: China News Network
Excerpts from the conversation are as follows:
The Silk Road witnessed mutual learning between civilizations at different stages
China News Agency: The ancient Silk Road was a civilizational road connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. From the ancient Silk Road to today's "Belt and Road", why is the interconnection between Asia and Europe so important?
Xing Guangcheng: In 138 BC, when Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions, Sima Qian had a very classic summary called "chiseling the hollow" - that is, the Silk Road from Europe to Asia, almost all of it was connected. Now we propose the "Belt and Road", which means that in the 21st century, mankind still needs to further realize interconnection in Eurasia and Africa, which is the need of globalization and the exchange and mutual learning exploration of civilizations carried out by mankind at different stages.
Naslin: We now see the Silk Road as a road of civilizational exchanges, because of the rich people-to-people exchanges based on trade on this road since ancient times. China and Iran on the Silk Road have a long history of civilizational exchanges, for example, it is often said that an Iranian king gave a lion as a gift to the Chinese emperor. The lion, called Sheir in Persian, is called "lion" after coming to China. It can be said that the Chinese lion dance is also a dance of friendship between Chinese and Iranian civilizations.
However, young Iranians now know very little about the ancient Silk Road culture, and when they think of Chinese culture, they may only think of Chinese food, martial arts, commerce, etc. Therefore, we also need to teach these university freshmen who are interested in Eastern culture, the religion and language of China and Iran, and let the young people of the two countries understand each other.
Video: China Dialogue: Iran Scholar: The Lion Dance can be called the Dance of Civilizational Friendship between China and IranSource: China News Network
China News Agency: Nasilin has been engaged in the study of Silk Road culture for a long time, and recently published a new book "Chinese Elements in Iranian Miniature Paintings".
Na Silin: In order to show the history of artistic exchanges between Chinese and Iranian civilizations in the best possible way, I did research in China for four or five years. In this illustrated book, we introduce the influence of Iranian painting from China during the Yuan Dynasty and show the long-standing friendship between the two ancient civilizations. Therefore, I hope that this will help people who are interested in oriental art, especially the art of the two civilizations, deepen their understanding of the friendship between the two civilizations.
China News Agency: As two important civilizations on the ancient Silk Road, China and Iran have a history of more than 2,000 years of civilizational exchanges.
Ji Kaiyun: The two major civilizations of China and Iran have striking similarities. In ancient times, both civilizations influenced neighboring countries; In modern times, they have been deeply insulted and oppressed by the great powers; In modern and contemporary times, both civilizations are seeking national rejuvenation and exploring the process of modernization with national characteristics.
This friendly interaction enlightens us, first, to have a high degree of self-consciousness and self-respect for our own civilization; Second, any civilization has its strengths and should be tolerant and learn from each other; Third, every civilization has a reason for long-term survival. China and Iran are a model of civilizational exchanges in Eurasia over the past 2,500 years, and history has taught us that under the premise of equality, openness, mutual learning and reciprocity, world civilization will bear more brilliant and splendid results, which is the most profound enlightenment of China-Iran civilization exchanges to today's globalization and mutual learning among civilizations.
Data map: Bingling Temple Grottoes in Yongjing County, Gansu Province on the Silk Road. Photo by Yang Yanmin
From "looking up" to "looking up",
It is the confident return of Eastern culture
China News Agency: We used to say "Chongyang", but now many Chinese young people like "national tide" and "Chinese stream".
Xing Guangcheng: When I was young, I could still hear many elderly people call kerosene "foreign oil" and matches "foreign fire". The word "foreign" represents a sense of foreignness that we can't say, which is actually cultural attraction. Before we looked up to the West, now we no longer look up, but look at it equally, our understanding of the West is more objective, and Western culture is regarded as a civilization carrier that communicates with us on an equal footing, and the attraction of Eastern and Western cultures is not one-way, but two-way and multi-directional.
The main support for this change in mentality is the rise of China. We have tasted the sweetness of reform and opening up, the sweetness of globalization, and the sweetness of mutual learning among civilizations, and the door to opening up will open wider and wider. At the same time, the higher the level of cultural self-confidence, the more we can feel that we have a reason and obligation to make more Chinese contributions to human civilization.
Video: From "Chongyang" to "National Tide" reflects the changing cultural attractiveness of the East and WestSource: China News Network
China News Agency: Has the young generation of Iran "returned with confidence" to their own national culture or Eastern culture?
Naslin: I very much agree with Professor Xing's view that we emphasize the protection of our own culture, language and civilization, but this does not mean that we are closed, we should have close interaction with other civilizations under the premise of mutual respect.
In the past decade, more and more young Iranians have become interested in oriental culture, and the university has Chinese faculties, and many new students choose to study Chinese every year. In reality, Chinese is the second largest language in the world, and many students think that they can get a good job and have a good income in the future Chinese study. On a deeper level, they are attracted to Chinese culture, and when they learn Chinese, they also want to be exposed to Chinese culture and art.
"Confident return" is a very good term. In fact, the American culture we often call now has a not very long history, only a few hundred years, and it cannot even be called a culture. The East has a deep civilization accumulation, and Iran and China, as the two major civilizations linked by the Silk Road, should now have better civilization exchange demonstrations.
Why is the United States so entangled with the "Belt and Road"?
China News Agency: In recent years, people-to-people exchanges between China and some Western countries have been restricted.
Ji Kaiyun: Since China's integration into globalization after more than 40 years of reform and opening up, the self-interest mentality of the West has become prominent: you can't be richer than me, you can't be equal to me, and the benefits of globalization should only belong to me. Therefore, when China becomes the builder and defender of the international order, they would rather not have such an international order.
In addition, some people in Europe and the United States have always had arrogance and prejudice against Chinese culture and Eastern culture. They stubbornly believe that Eastern culture is ignorant, backward, and authoritarian, and under ideological prejudice, it produces civilizational arrogance, which further deepens prejudice.
China News Agency: There is a view that the frequent actions of the United States in Eurasian geopolitics have only one purpose, that is, to hinder the economic integration of the Eurasian continent.
Xing Guangcheng: This year, the United States has made great efforts behind the Ukraine crisis, objectively affecting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Eurasian "five links", because the war has already started. At the same time, he also engaged in the Indo-Pacific economic framework at sea and blocked the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The strategic intention of the United States to constantly create new blockages for Asia and Europe on land and at sea is very obvious.
The "Belt and Road" does not exclude the United States, and hopes that the United States will participate, but "if you do not take the lead, you will not participate, if you want to participate, you must be the head, and you must listen to your words", this kind of imperial thinking is no longer suitable for the development of the 21st century.
Data map: On December 12, 2022, the 1900th train of the China-Europe Express (Qilu) started smoothly. The picture shows the "Qilu" train in operation. Photo courtesy of Shandong Expressway
China News Agency: How can the United States and the West understand the exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations that transcend ideology?
In the era of globalization, China cannot do without the world, and the world cannot do without China. Reviewing the mutual learning of civilizations on the ancient Silk Road is conducive to enhancing the communication and understanding between the East and the West in terms of national psychology and cultural beliefs. "Decoupling" is absolutely not in the interests of the people of the world, nor is it in the interests of China and the United States. The clamor for "decoupling" shows that the narrow-mindedness and short-sightedness of US politicians cannot be decoupled in fact, not because Chinese do not want to "decouple", and the interests of the United States also require that it cannot be "decoupled".
Xing Guangcheng: We put forward the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, because mankind today faces a large number of common problems, including climate, disasters, poverty, etc., and the only way to deal with these threats is to unite and cooperate and share a common destiny. To rise to the level of civilization, it is necessary to emphasize dialogue among civilizations, emphasizing that civilizations are equal and there is no distinction between superior and inferior. The West must eliminate the prejudice of "superiority of civilization", and if it is determined that the Anglo-Saxon nation is inherently superior, this is a distortion of the understanding of civilization.