Interview: Continuity is a Major Advantage of Chinese Civilization - Interview with British Writer Qi Li Tian Gu Shi | China | Writer
London, June 26 (Xinhua) - Continuity is a Major Advantage of Chinese Civilization - Interview with British writer Qi Litian
Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Juan and Wu Lu
British writer Tim Clifford, who is obsessed with Chinese Tang and Song poetry, recently stated in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that continuity is a major advantage of Chinese civilization, allowing people to easily understand ancient poetry written thousands of years ago and giving Chinese people the opportunity to learn from the wisdom of ancient people to solve contemporary problems.
Qi Litian has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years. He developed a strong interest in Chinese from his first encounter and began to learn it. He told reporters that a major feature of Chinese civilization is the connection between ancient and modern times.
In Qi Litian's view, language is an important carrier for inheriting Chinese civilization. He explained with a poem by Song Dynasty writer Huang Tingjian, "I see the water of the Yellow River... Seeing this poem, you can immediately understand what Huang Tingjian is trying to convey."
Qi Litian's new book "Cloud Room: A Chinese Ancient Poetry in the Eyes of the British" was published last year, presenting his understanding of Chinese ancient poetry as a Chinese culture enthusiast. In his view, Chinese poetry has a history of thousands of years and is a highly historically continuous literary genre that still holds practical significance and resonates with people today.
When he talked about his original intention of introducing ancient Chinese poetry to the West, he said, "Westerners have always believed that Chinese civilization is difficult to understand... but in reality, the ideas contained are very straightforward, and many Westerners can empathize with them, such as friendship, the relationship between humans and nature, and so on.".
Based on years of observation of China, Qi Litian has found that China has achieved great economic success and many people have lifted themselves out of poverty. At the same time, I am more confident in showcasing excellent traditional culture to the outside world.
Entering the living room of Qi Litian's home, Chinese style decorations can be seen everywhere. In addition to the background wall composed of Chinese paintings and calligraphy works, there are also poems carved by him personally on large wooden boards.
He said that mutual understanding and learning between different civilizations are very necessary. Although I have returned to live in the UK, I am still very interested in China and hope to help the East and the West better understand each other. He told Xinhua News Agency reporters that he plans to explore Chinese cities on the ancient Silk Road by cycling, savoring and studying ancient poems about these cities along the way, and translating them into English.
Qi Litian said that the inspiration for visiting the ancient Silk Road came from his interest in jointly building the "the Belt and Road" initiative. He hoped that through translating these ancient poems, Westerners would understand that the ancient Silk Road has existed for thousands of years, and the "the Belt and Road" is a continuation of history.