Millennium sigh - (New Version)

Author: Yu Qiujiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Author's Self-Description:
1 This is a diary that records my experience traveling 40,000 kilometers with the Hong Kong Phoenix TV "Millennium Journey" off-road team at the turn of the millennium. We set out to find the foundations of ancient human civilizations, only to discover that so many sections were overgrown with weeds, dotted with trenches, and plagued by bandits. The tires of our jeeps ground along the ground kilometer by kilometer, completely unaware of what the next kilometer would bring, only knowing a series of real horror stories: here, religious extremists shot dozens of foreign travelers within minutes; there, three batches of foreigners had been kidnapped by rebel forces in the past two months; further ahead, dozens of police had just been killed by drug trafficking groups. Before I conducted field research on the remaining primitive cultures in China, wrote Cultural Hardship and Mountain Residences Notes, I had also repeatedly embarked on physical and spiritual adventures, but compared to this time, back then I could always find help and protection in a roundabout way. I remember once getting lost in the mountains to catch an early ferry and, following a few wheezing coughs, found a small cottage belonging to a mountain hermit who gave me directions. Another time, I got lost at night and met someone coming from the other side. Filled with suspicion and fear, I deliberately hummed a tune to boost my courage, and the person opposite me did the same. Only after passing each other did we both feel relieved and smiled back. Such opportunities were hard to come by on this trip. The small convoy was like a few ants moving in the wilderness, and any sudden violence could crush them effortlessly. It wasn’t just the wilderness. Deep in the wilderness lay broken walls, ruined castles, shadowy figures, and flickering lights. To claim I had no fear would be dishonest, but most of my fear was overshadowed by shock—the shocking collapse of the grandeur of human civilization in such a tragic manner. How did it collapse? History books have offered some speculative answers, but most are vague and imprecise. In reality, every act of destruction was specific, and every injustice was indescribable, so those answers are also suspect. What is undeniable is the outcome—decaying grass and rubble, bearing the disasters of ancient and modern times. We willingly faced all this in a perilous situation with no protection, like removing gloves to touch their wounds. This touch often triggered deep reflections: As the foundation of our lives, Chinese civilization is also scarred, yet how did it avoid a total collapse? What price was paid to avoid this? Which costs were positive, and which were negative? Can the past avoidance guarantee the future? More importantly, how long will it take for the vibrant young civilizations in the world today to repeat the rise and fall destiny of most ancient civilizations? The entire diary is filled with such questions.
2 Writing a diary every day during such an adventure was not easy. At first, no one expected me to be able to complete this journey through all these countries. Due to work requirements, many hosts, directors, photographers, and drivers were rotated in batches. After returning to Hong Kong, Chen Luyu felt guilty every time she ate for a whole month, feeling she had betrayed those who continued to suffer overseas... [More content]
This is a diary that records my firsthand experience traveling thousands of kilometers off-road to explore the ruins of major human civilizations. The purpose was to find the foundations of ancient human civilizations, but I discovered that so many sections were overgrown with weeds, dotted with trenches, and plagued by bandits. The tires of our jeeps ground along the ground kilometer by kilometer, completely unaware of what the next kilometer would bring, only knowing a series of real horror stories: here, religious extremists shot dozens of foreign travelers within minutes; there, three batches of foreigners had been kidnapped by rebel forces in the past two months; further ahead, dozens of police had just been killed by drug trafficking groups.