Rediscovering the Great Wall of China

By Xu Lu

Rediscovering the Great Wall of China

By Xu Lu

Since childhood, people of our generation have been embracing a notion—that is, when astronauts look back to the earth from outer space, the Great Wall of China, like a giant dragon lying across the east of the earth, is the only thing faintly visible. But now, our astronauts have clarified that the notion is not true, and the existence of this notion may be a product of Chinese people’s benevolent imagination.

In the 1920s, William Somerset Maugham, a British writer, had been to China, and wrote a book called On a Chinese Screen, in which there was a short essay titled The Great Wall. In Maugham’s eyes, the Great Wall is not only a giant and strong rampart that safeguards an ancient empire, but a historical witness to the sacrifice of millions of lives. Being one of the world’s architectural marvels, the Great Wall symbolizes the hardship and indomitable ethos of ancient China.

This, I believe, is the real Great Wall of China in foreigners’ eyes, and is also the one winning the general acknowledgement of Chinese people these days. With the transition in Chinese people’s psychological recognition of the Great Wall, it might be easier for you to realize the progress and development of contemporary China. A new China, more open, real and confident, is about to unfold itself to the world.

Speaking of the Great Wall, I have to mention the Belt and Road Initiative that China is actively promoting and carrying out these days. Looking back on the far-off times, the Silk Road, stretching from Changan’ today’s Xi’an City, Capital city of Shanxi Province of China to Rome of Italy (the terminal point), not only witnessed the transport of silk, ceramics, tea, spices and glass, but also paper, a great invention of ancient China, and the culture, civilization, and philosophical thought it carried. In fact, the Silk Road was a pathway for the exchange, mutual reference, and integration between the eastern and western civilizations.

John Donne wrote with mixed feelings in his poem –“No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind……”

In this sense, although it is no doubt that the Great Wall belongs to China, why can’t we regard it as the symbol of the hardship mankind has endured and the unyielding willpower and spirit of all humanity? By the same token, the purpose of the Belt and Road initiative was never to create a “private road” for just the Chinese people, but to construct a “road to happiness” for all friendly nations along the route and build a better future together, and to form a trustworthy, accommodating, integrated and broad community with common goals, destinies, and responsibilities.

(Translated: Zhu Yaguang)

我们这代人从小就接受过一个观念：宇宙飞行员从遥远的太空回望地球时，唯有中国的万里长城依稀可辨，宛若横亘在地球东方的一条巨龙……但是现在，我们的宇航员证实，这并不真实，也许出于中国人自己的善意想象。

英国作家毛姆在20世纪20年代到过中国，写过一本《在中国的屏风上》，其中有篇短文《长城》。在毛姆眼中，长城不仅是一个古老帝国庞大和坚固的护城墙，也是耗费了百万生命代价的历史见证。它是人类建筑的奇迹，也是古老中国的苦难与坚强不屈的民族精神的象征。

我相信，这才是外国人眼中真实的长城，也是今天的中国人普遍认同的真实长城。从中国人对长城的认识心理上的变迁，或许能帮助你感受到当今中国的进步与发展。一个越来越开放、真实、自信的中国，正呈现在世界面前。

说到长城，就不能不说到当下中国正在积极推进和实施的伟大的“一带一路”。遥想那久远的年代里，从中国的长安（起点）到意大利的罗马（终点）之间，不仅传送着丝绸、瓷器、茶叶、香料、玻璃等等物质，也传递着中国人发明的纸张以及由纸张所承载的文化、文明与哲学思想，丝绸之路实际上是一条东西方文明的交流、互鉴和融合之路。

约翰·多恩曾在诗中感叹：“没有谁能像孤岛在大海独居，每个人都是一小块泥土，连接整个大陆。如果海水冲掉一块，大陆就会减少一块。任何的伤害都会使我饱受忧伤，因为我包含在人类之中……”

这个意义上讲，长城固然是中国的长城，又何尝不是人类曾经有过的苦难与坚强不屈的毅力和精神的象征。而“一带一路”所开创和修建的，也决不是中国人自己的“私家小路”，而是沿线各友好国家同愿同行、共创美好未来的幸福大道，是一个互信、包容、融合、广阔的利益共同体、命运共同体和责任共同体。

徐鲁 Xu Lu

Xu Lu, vice president of Hubei Provincial Writer’s Association， is a wellknown writer and poet. More than 30 of his works have been included in Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary schools in different regions of China. His publications include the Dream of Our Age (collected poems), Kids in Lop Nor (a full-length novel) and Remembrance of Things Past when Gathering with Friends at the Riverside Pavilion (collected proses). Some of his works have been translated into English, French, Korean, Japanese, and Arabic.

著名作家、诗人，湖北省作家协会副主席。有30多篇作品入选中国各地区中小学语文教材。已出版诗集《我们这个年纪的梦》，长篇小说《罗布泊的孩子》，散文集《几人相忆在江楼》，评论集《追寻诗歌的黄金时代》等。部分作品被译为英、法、韩、日、阿拉伯语等。

从重新认识长城说起

文|徐鲁