The literary era since 1979

Chapter 272: Teacher Fang (Two in One)

June 4, afternoon.

Today, the Huaxia group gave a collective speech in the small auditorium of the University of Iowa.

The order of the speeches was Ru Zhijuan, Liu Wuxiong, Pan Yaoming, Wang Anyi, Bo Yang...

The dialect was arranged to be the last one to speak, and Bai Ruoxue did not participate in the speech, but took on the burden of translation.

Except for Bo Yang who strongly requested to give his speech in English, everyone else basically asked Bai Ruoxue to read the manuscripts translated into English.

Pan Yaoming’s English level was good enough for him to read the text himself, but he had to give up because he was afraid that his pronunciation would affect the result.

After all, the audience was full of people at this time.

There were crowds of people with different skin colors.

The International Writing Program’s round after round of group presentations attracted more and more students to attend as observers.

When the news of the Chinese writer's speech spread at the University of Iowa, more than 200 Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese, as well as international students from all over the school, rushed to the school. In less than a moment, the seats were full and there were people standing in the aisles.

Seeing this scene, Nie Hualing couldn't help but regret that she should have asked the school for a larger auditorium.

With a glance, I saw Xiao Qian and Wen Jieruo coming. They were accompanied by Paul Engel's boss, Sean Michael, the dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and professor of the history department, Jeffrey Walter, associate professor of the history department and director of the Asia Center, and others.

The scene was so grand that Wang Anyi and others couldn't help but feel nervous.

Fortunately, it was Bai Ruoxue who recited on behalf of the readers, so everything went very smoothly, except for the occasional minor mistakes during the question-and-answer session.

But the merits outweigh the flaws. Most of the Chinese students were quite supportive and applauded most actively and vigorously.

Until Bai Yang walked onto the stage and gave a speech in English titled "The Chinese and the Culture of the Jar".

I could just about understand the dialect, but because I understood it, I felt even more uncomfortable.

But compared to the "ugly Chinese" before, they have restrained themselves a lot, and it is obvious that they have been forced to restrain themselves because of their own criticism.

However, the remarks and questions and answers still caused an uproar.

It was like a spark thrown into a barrel of explosives, instantly causing the entire auditorium to explode, especially among the Chinese community.

"Ruoxue, it's time for us to go on stage."

Fang Yan glanced at Bai Ruoxue.

Bai Ruoxue held the manuscript, nodded solemnly, and followed him to the podium.

"Regarding the remarks made by this person just now, I strongly disagree with some of the views!"

"My rebuttal arguments are all in the content of my next speech!"

Fangyan cleared his throat and said, "Before that, let me tell you a historical story."

"About 400 years ago, the emperor of the Aztec Empire in America sent the navigator Columbus to cross the Atlantic Ocean and discovered a new continent called Europe. In the next two hundred years, the Aztec Empire sent colonial troops to launch a bloody colonial massacre against Europe..."

These few words confused the students and made them reflect on whether they had learned fake history.

You know, there is a statue of Columbus on campus!
A black man in the crowd interrupted rudely, "You are wrong. Columbus was European. He discovered the New World of America. It was Europe that carried out colonial massacres in America."

"Oh, is it so?"

Fangyan asked in return: "Why did Europeans colonize America instead of Americans colonizing Europe?"

A white man immediately replied, "Because Europe is more advanced than America. When Europe made its great voyages of discovery, it was already about to enter the era of industrial civilization, while America was still a primitive agricultural society."

Fangyan seemed very confused about this and asked, "In ancient times, the ancient humans scattered around the world should have had similar starting points for civilization. But why didn't America enter industrial civilization first?"

"because……"

The black man was stunned. He had never encountered such a problem before.

"Then let me ask again." Fangyan continued, "If human history were to repeat itself, is there any chance that the American Indians or Africans would be the first to develop industrial civilization and colonize Europe and Asia?"

The black man stammered, "It's possible."

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Even if we go back in time, it can only be Europeans or Asians who first entered the industrial age and then carried out colonial massacres in America, Australia and Africa." Fangyan said firmly, "This is one of the main points I want to talk about today!"

"Do you think Europeans and Asians are smarter?"

The black man did not sit down immediately, but asked: "So you mean that Europeans were able to enslave and colonize America and Africa?"

"Of course not, I believe there is no difference between races, everyone is equal!"

Fangyan knocked on the table and spoke in a firm tone.

As soon as he said this, he immediately won the favor of most people and dispelled the suspicion that he was a "racist".

Fangyan looked around and smiled:
"Compared from the moment of birth, the IQs of all races in the world are actually not much different."

“But why did the world become what it is now?”

"And it was bound to develop into what it is now? Writing, institutions, technology... these factors are irrelevant. The most important thing is the development of agriculture."

The students in the audience looked puzzled.

Fangyan continued, "If human society wants to develop and reproduce, the prerequisite is to survive, and the way to survive is nothing more than fishing, farming, hunting and nomadic means."

"In ancient times, humans rarely settled down. After living and multiplying in a certain place for a period of time, they had to migrate to obtain more sufficient food sources. But agriculture changed all this. The development of agriculture brought about settlement, which was a very important foundation and greatly improved the ability of primitive humans to fight against nature. In addition to settlement, plants and animals were domesticated. Plants were domesticated into grains, and animals were domesticated into poultry and livestock. These were the basis for the development of human society."

"Why do I say that even if time could go back again, it would still be Europeans and Asians who developed industrial civilization first?"

"Let's look at animals first. Today, there are 14 large domesticated animals known, 13 of which appear in Eurasia, including cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, etc. As for the Americas, it's very bad. There is only one species, called alpaca."

"By the way, there are no horses in America. The horses in America today are all descendants of those brought over by Europeans and bred there."

"Cows can be used for farming, and horses can be used for war and transportation, which greatly improves production efficiency. For Americans, they don't have horses and cattle, so they are inherently inferior to Europeans and Asians. The second is plants. Domesticating plants is crucial."

"Nowadays, whether in the East or the West, the staple food is plants. America and Africa are also very bad in this regard."

"Under primitive farming conditions, domesticated plants in Eurasia were able to spread very quickly."

"America and Africa are longitudinal continents, with very different climates at different latitudes. Mexico and the United States are adjacent to each other, but it took three thousand years for Mexican corn to spread to North America, and that was with the development of agricultural technology. In the primitive agricultural era, it was impossible to grow corn on a large scale in North America. From this we can conclude that Eurasia has an innate advantage." "The domestication of animals and plants allowed Eurasian humans to settle down and develop a complex social system. A large number of people were freed from primary labor and had the energy and time to develop technology and writing, and to create guns, cannons and steel, leading step by step."

"Also, I have to mention bacteria because that has to do with animals."

"The ancestors of Eurasian humans domesticated various animals and lived with them for a long time, so they got used to the germs on them and their resistance was greatly improved. This immunity to bacteria is also inherited. When European colonists conquered America, they relied not only on advanced weapons, but also on the germs they brought with them. These germs were incurable to the Americans, as they had never encountered them for generations. Once they came into contact with them, they would immediately become ill and often die..."

He spoke in dialect for half an hour.

If you can speak, speak more!
The students in the audience found it more and more interesting the more they listened.

Many people even have a feeling that the clouds have been cleared and the sun has appeared.

Bai Ruoxue gradually felt tired. She had consumed too much energy reciting for Wang Anyi and others, and her throat was hoarse.

As a result, the speed of translation has been greatly slowed down.

Seeing this, Nie Hualing was ready to replace her, but unexpectedly Xiao Qian stepped forward personally and was willing to serve as an interpreter for Fangyan.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

When the students present saw the visiting professor coming on stage, they all applauded.

Fang Yan felt flattered: "Mr. Xiao."

"Well said, keep going."

Xiao Qian said with great relief.

"According to what you said, both Europeans and Asians have advantages, so why did China fall behind Europe later?"

At this moment, a student suddenly asked a question.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "That's a good question. The advancement of the Eurasian continent is a historical necessity, but the backwardness of the Chinese is a coincidence in the inevitable. This involves factors such as China's geographical location, culture, and system, which ultimately affect China's choice between sea power and land power."

Xiao Qian studied at Cambridge University and speaks with an authentic Cambridge accent.

"For thousands of years, the needs of the East and the West have been highly complementary because of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road."

"Silk, tea and porcelain are special products of China. Due to the influence of the geographical environment, the entire West is naturally lacking in these animal and plant raw materials, and has not mastered the relevant production technology. For example, the production of silk requires the mastery of silkworm breeding and silk reeling technology."

"In addition, silkworm breeding requires the planting of a large number of mulberry trees, which, like tea trees, are suitable for planting in low-latitude areas."

"The production of porcelain is even more complicated. First, kaolin raw materials are needed. Second, high-temperature firing technology is required. Third, glazing technology is required. The three major product industries of silk, tea and porcelain are the most significant features that enabled Chinese civilization to surpass Western civilization during the agricultural period."

"That's why Marco Polo in the 13th century said that the East was paved with gold."

Fangyan changed the subject, "But in fact, due to geographical reasons, China is a country that is poor in gold and silver. It produces very little gold and silver. The reason why the Ming and Qing dynasties later adopted the silver standard as their monetary system was mainly due to the large influx of gold and silver from Europe."

"However, Europe is not rich in gold and silver."

"As a result, there was a long-term trade deficit, silver outflow, gold and silver shortages, and even barter in Europe."

"Therefore, Europe was forced to make up its mind to cross the ocean and explore the East in a frantic search for gold and silver."

"So, what followed was that human civilization entered a new era of global maritime trade."

"The advent of the Age of Exploration officially kicked off the prelude to maritime power. When the Spanish sailed across the ocean to Mexico, they discovered silver mines with astonishing reserves. With the day and night labor of tens of thousands of Indian workers, countless silver was mined."

"Every year, tens of thousands of tons of silver travel across the ocean to Spain and then flow throughout Europe."

"However, due to the different degrees of animal and plant domestication and related skills, a large number of daily necessities such as silk, tea, porcelain, etc. still rely on imports from the East."

"In 1573, the first Manila galleon loaded with American silver set sail from the Mexican port of Acapulco and headed straight for the Philippines. At that time, the Philippines was an international trade center where products from various countries in the Far East were distributed."

“It was the massive amounts of silver unearthed in the Americas that enabled the first economic integration of the world to have a global currency.”

"That's silver!"

"The textile, cotton spinning, printing, ceramics, shipbuilding, mining and metallurgy industries of the Ming Dynasty reached unprecedented heights. The huge demand for overseas trade gave rise to a large number of textile craftsmen and also promoted the development of commercial towns."

“As a result, the sprouts of capitalism appeared in various countries in Eurasia.”

"........."

"but!"

"As more and more porcelain appeared in European courts, less and less silver was available in the market. For a time, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Britain and even the Ottoman Empire, all places that had been exposed to American silver, experienced a silver shortage again."

The conversation suddenly changed direction and combined with the content of "General History of China".

"Around 1640, the decline in silver flowing into China suddenly intensified, silver imports from the Americas fell by half, and silver imports from Japan fell by nearly two-thirds. Silver had already triggered a financial crisis that swept across Europe on the other side of the world."

"The financial crisis in Europe caused the Manila Galleon trade to shrink until it was completely terminated. China lost its most important source of silver. The shortage of silver became a problem that troubled Europe and the Ming Dynasty, and brought the East and the West to a historic juncture of life and death."

"The West continued to pursue sea power, which led to the Netherlands, the coachman of the sea, and Britain, the empire on which the sun never sets."

"In the East, the Ming Dynasty, which was the nascent stage of maritime power, collapsed due to a financial crisis and was replaced by the Qing Dynasty, which advocated land power..."

"Wow!"

Hearing this, Sean Michael was amazed: "This young man has knowledge and insights beyond his age!"

"He is the best among Chinese youth now."

Paul Angle introduced the dialect to his colleagues and superiors.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Despite this, China will eventually revive and will inevitably rise again, because China's accumulated cultural heritage is very deep, and it is not something that can be squandered by someone in just one or two hundred years."

"However, since the topic we are discussing today is the superiority and inferiority of nations, I will not go into too much detail to avoid going off topic. I will consider writing all the specific discussions into my new book."

"What!?"

All the people who were hearing the intracranial orgasm immediately let out a loud “Ah!”, not getting enough of it at all.

No!

isn't it?
How can it end here?

Bai Ruoxue looked at Teacher Fang who was keeping them on suspense, and the corners of her mouth twitched. Her old problem came back again! The chapter was broken again!
Every time when I was enjoying the show, it would be interrupted at the most exciting part, and my emotions would be thrown into a state of disarray.

(End of this chapter)