By Andrei Kryvasheyeu
Chairman of the Belarusian Union of Journalists, Rotating President of the Presidium of Belt and Road Journalists Forum, Belarus
Images of Lushan — images of Civilization
One ancient Buddhist parable contains a line about a drop of water that reflects the entire world and the Creator himself. These lines speak of the interconnection of everything that exists in the world and the value of every drop, every moment for the global Civilization.
It was this aphorism that came to mind on Mount Lushan in Jiangxi Province at the Forum of the Platform of Journalistic Organizations of the One Belt, One Road Initiative. Each new location, each new fact became that very drop of water that reflected the modern world, technologies, the essence of modern conflicts and the path to their resolution. I will try to convey these metaphors in this article.
The first drop. Villa Village — the Time of Sovereignties
On Mount Lushan, we were shown a group of respectable villas that were located on the picturesque slopes of the mountain. Now these are museums, small hotels and residential buildings of local residents. But two centuries ago they were built by British and French colonialists under an absolutely predatory contract for 999 years. It took two Revolutions to return the land, houses and economy to the Chinese people.
Today, Mount Lushan is a national tourist treasure of Jiangxi Province and all of China. More than 10 million tourists, primarily domestic, are received here every year. This place is a vivid image of the value of sovereignty in the modern world. It shows how important the combination of self-esteem, national interests, civilizational codes and justice in its true, deep understanding are for peoples and even for states-civilisation.
I am deeply convinced that today is the time of the flourishing of sovereignties. Only independent people’s states have a chance to develop in the future. Yes, for now many of them are inferior in economic, social, military and political power to the collective West, the colonizers of the past. But this time is ending, it is almost running out.
Sovereign states are already developing their own foundations for growth. These include the Belt and Road Initiative, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS+.
The power and tranquility of Mount Lushan symbolizes the tranquility and strength of the future multipolar world, and the story of the former colonizers’ villas suggests that this world will be more justified.
The second drop. Mao Zedong’s teahouse — personal modesty and a big economic leap
We visited the botanical garden on Mount Lushan. One of the local attractions is the modest house where Mao Zedong and other leaders of the People’s Republic of China stayed to rest and drink high-mountain tea. What is most striking is the absolute asceticism of this residence.
It is difficult to imagine the modern so called “leaders” of the Western world with their islands of debauchery (the Epstein case in the USA), their personal pleasure yachts, which in displacement exceed military cruisers, their billion-dollar corruption deals on coronavirus vaccines (the case against Ursula von der Leyen in the European Union) in this modest residence. The world of these hegemons is degenerating into a new feudalism, a new dark age for global civilization.
The only thing that can be opposed to this is a new civil solidarity, a new awakening of modern society from manipulation, post-truth, and consumer attitudes towards the world around him.
What else does the modest tea house on Mount Lushan tell us? I will give only two meanings, although there are many more. Firstly, it shows that another world is possible. Secondly, it demonstrates what a huge leap in development China has made during the life of only three generations. After all, the house of an ordinary Chinese citizen today looks much richer and more representative than the tea house of the country’s first leader.
The last 20 years have been the most obvious for China in this sense. Social, economic and technological leaps have occurred over the course of only 3-5 years. The moderately prosperous society, the artificial intelligence revolution, “flying” trains, the green transition – all these changes are already shaping the fabric and infrastructure of not only China, but also all the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative, ensuring the transfer of the best management and humanitarian practices for the sake of a better future.
The Third Drop. Ancient Poetry — Originality and Interpenetration of Cultures
On Mount Lushan, on the shore of Lake Poyang, I was lucky enough to see an amazing picture. An actor in the guise of an ancient poet invited the children surrounding him to recite texts from classical ancient Chinese poetry. The children were excited, rushing to read the lines of the poets who described the origins of Chinese civilization more than one and a half thousand years ago as accurately, quickly and loudly as possible.
It was a truly amazing picture. It showed not only the children’s deep knowledge of traditional culture, but also their involvement in this great culture, their sense of themselves as an integral part of this tradition, their desire to convey the meanings of love for the homeland, respect for wisdom, the importance of striving for knowledge.
The trend of modern digital anti-culture is an attempt to deprive millions of people of their connection with traditions, to nullify their national, patriotic and even simply rational feelings and impulses. The owners of media giants and their political servants are already openly talking about a new digital Middle Ages, dark (excessive) enlightenment, manipulations of human consciousness that deprive it of critical consciousness, political, civil, religious, cultural and even gender identity.
Victims of manipulation are no longer perceived as people in the full sense of the word, they become raw material for the growth of capitalization of digital platforms, they become impersonal accounts, the main task of which is to consume new digital services.
What I saw in the eyes of young Chinese schoolchildren gives our Civilisation a chance that we will not be turned into a bio-digital mass. Knowledge of our history, traditions, respectful openness to other cultures – all this is our modern universal vaccine against the digital pandemic of high-hume manipulation. This generation will be open to accepting the revolution of neural networks, new physical properties of matter, innovations in the field of stem cells and additive technologies, but they will remain people, citizens of Great China, authors and creators of a new, more just world.
Their intellect and traditions will be reflected in millions of drops of Lake Poyang, on Mount Lushan, in Jiangxi Province in the South-East of the vast Eurasian space. And this will be the best of all possible reflections, for which all participants of the Platform of Journalistic Organizations of the One Belt – One Road Initiative must work together today if we want to preserve our Civilisation.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.