Chapter 12 I will be resurrected

I got up in the morning, sat on the balcony, and wanted to read some English materials I got at the entrance of the Parthenon yesterday.I didn't want to sit down and stand up again, and found that the Parthenon was on the top of the mountain in front of me on the left. I sat down again and looked up at it for a long time. Greek civilization came out step by step, but when the golden age of Greek civilization passed, it was still there.Is this the great fortune or misfortune of all ruins?The glory that accompanied me is gone forever, and I can only stand in the dying grass with the sad memory.

It is too majestic and beautiful, and none of the powerful people in later generations will let it go, and will not let it live in peace. In the era of the Roman Empire, it became a Christian church; during the Turkish occupation, it became a mosque; The Venetian army used it as an enemy stronghold for heavy bombardment.In a real ruin, in the early 19th century, the British ambassador to Turkey transported the sculptures of the remaining part of the Parthenon to the UK, and they are still stored in the British Museum. Destruction comes from barbarism, but also from other civilizations trying to impose others.Therefore, the Parthenon is not only a symbol of the continuation of civilization, but also a symbol of the humiliation of civilization.The old grandmother who suffered humiliation is more respected by the younger generation.In the middle of this century, when World War II was coming to an end, when German fascists were still ruling Greece, two young Greeks climbed the vertical cliff at the eastern end of the Parthenon with their bare hands and raised a Greek flag.This incident brought honor to the Parthenon, and the two youths were arrested immediately. Germany surrendered a few days later, and they became heroes.Today, the Greek flag is still flying there, a flag dedicated to the old grandmother by the children and grandchildren.

I remember that we left the Parthenon very late yesterday evening, and it was already closing time. The staff urged us to leave in Greek, English and Japanese in turn. We pretended not to understand, but still hungrily looked around. The personnel were moved.They suddenly remembered that they might be those Chinese people who had been repeatedly reported in the local newspapers?So instead they stopped to look at us. Most of these staff are young girls, standard Greek beauties, they are guarding the Millennium Temple, and their light figures are set off by the old pillars.They acted and walked on the hillside, except for their clothes, everything was like a priestess two thousand years ago.

When I finally had to leave, someone was distributing information at the door.At that time, I took it and didn't read it carefully, but now I turn it out and read it, and my eyes can't leave it.It turned out that an organization and several professors were appealing to tourists from all over the world to bring back the essence of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum in London. The reason is very strong: 1. These cultural relics have their own common name, the Parthenon, and the Parthenon is in Athens, not London; 2. Only when these cultural relics return to Athens can they find their natural orientation and form a complete front, back, left, and right;

3. The Parthenon is the highest symbol of Greek civilization and a cultural heritage of mankind selected by the United Nations. Britain may not be responsible for Greece, but it must also be responsible for the integrity of human cultural heritage. It's really righteous and touching, especially for a Chinese like me. I suddenly remembered that many years ago I wrote an article expressing my dissatisfaction with Stein and others taking Dunhuang cultural relics, saying that I would like to go to the desert to stop their convoy many years earlier and have a debate with them.Unexpectedly, this idea was ridiculed by many young critics. One commentator said: Can you argue with the learned Stein?It's better to be sensible and let it go early.I don't get angry at all kinds of teasing from other people, but this time it's really sad because it's not about me personally.

Seeing the information that Greece requested the Parthenon cultural relics from the UK, I also want to imitate the answer to those young critics in China: 1. Those cultural relics are all named after Dunhuang. Dunhuang is not in Paris or London, but in China. Not to mention Chinese scholars, even Chinese farmers have the right to stop the motorcade for a few words; 2. We may lack standards, but the Dunhuang scriptures are written in Chinese, and Stein does not understand Chinese at all. Could it be that he has better reading ability? 3. At the same time as the Dunhuang Library Cave was discovered, oracle bone inscriptions were also discovered in China.From the oracle bone inscriptions, a clear Shang Dynasty was completed by the joint efforts of Chinese scholars, and Stein was not consulted.So the Chinese also had the level to study Dunhuang at that time.

I say this not to belittle all foreign archaeologists who come to China out of narrow nationalism, but I really cannot understand the generosity of those young critics.They may think they have acquired a purely Western position, but wait a minute, even Greece, the cradle of Western civilization, disagrees. You see this material calling for the return of the Parthenon artifacts also quotes a late Greek Minister of Culture: I hope that the Parthenon relics can return to Greece before I die, and if I come back after my death, I will definitely be resurrected. This sour voice contains the last dignity of an ancient civilization.The Minister of Culture is a lady named Mankoli.The organization that distributed the material wrote this passage into an open letter to British Prime Minister Blair.

October 5, 1999, Athens, Greece, overnight at the Ryal Olympic Hotel