1on April 29th, 925, Lu Xun made such an incisive analysis of foreigners who praised "China's inherent civilization" in his famous work Random Thoughts under the Grave:

"Among foreigners, people who don't know and praise can be forgiven; Those who are in high positions and pampered are so bewitched, but they can forgive their ignorance and admiration for spirituality. However, there are still two kinds. One is that China people are inferior and only match the original appearance, so they deliberately praise China's old things. One is that people all over the world increase their interest in traveling and go to China to see braids.

Going to Japan to see clogs and going to Korea to see hats, if the clothes are the same, it will be boring, so it will oppose Europeanization of Asia. These may be hateful. "

The so-called "inherent civilization" in the past is now called "cultural diversity", which praises "inherent civilization in China" and protects "cultural diversity in China". The name has changed, but I still can't tell the four kinds of mentality summarized by Lu Xun exactly 80 years ago.

For example, there have been many "non-governmental environmental protection organizations" in Beijing in recent years. Their main energy is not to help control Beijing's unbearable environmental pollution, protect Beijing's ecological environment or carry forward Beijing's cultural traditions, but to protect the eco-tourism environment in border areas and the cultural diversity of ethnic minorities.

One of the main reasons why "environmentalists" oppose the development of hydropower in Nujiang, Yunnan Province is that it will change the lifestyle of aborigines and destroy cultural diversity. I recently had the opportunity to visit Nujiang and experience the lifestyle there. What impressed me as much as the hospitality, simplicity and kindness of Nujiang people was the poverty there.

Compared with the families we accidentally broke into, the poor families that the local government arranged for us to visit were actually well-off. The latter is poorer than what I saw in the mountainous area of Fujian 30 years ago. It can be said that there are four walls in the house-no, there are no walls, only wood that is drafty around. The so-called fork houses and wooden houses in the local area all need fire pits for heating.

"Environmentalists" say that the development of the Nujiang River will actually make the aborigines poorer. No wonder my colleague Si Manan asked, "If all my things can be picked up with this pole, I don't know how bad life will be."

A well-known "environmentalist" put a photo of Nujiang indigenous children with a hospitable smile in the lecture and sighed: "Nujiang people are poor, but they are happy and willing to live like this for generations." Through a photo, she seems to be the representative of Nujiang people's public opinion.

And I do know such an embarrassing thing for environmentalists:

Three college students from Nujiang were invited to attend a seminar organized by Beijing Environmental Protection Organization last year. Environmentalists expect that they will oppose the development of the Nujiang River before issuing an invitation. Unexpectedly, they supported the development of Nujiang River at the meeting, which surprised and even disappointed environmentalists.

Ling He, a girl from Nujiang and a journalism student at China Youth University for Politics, said at the meeting: "Most Nujiang people I know think that they can live a good life. And the compensation for immigrants is not a small sum for them. It should be said that the problem of relocation will not encounter much resistance ... Anyway, after the relocation, the life of the mountain people will be better than the original. "

The poor life of Nujiang people has never been favored by Beijing's "environmental protection" experts and ladies before, and it was not until I heard that I wanted to destroy the "original ecology" and get rid of poverty that I gave the Nujiang people directions. Some people say that Nujiang should not develop hydropower, but should develop "eco-tourism". However, if "eco-tourism" is really developed on a large scale, will the ecology remain unchanged?

One of the most interesting alternatives to poverty alleviation is to turn tens of billions of yuan planned for developing Nujiang hydropower into an ecological compensation and relief fund to raise future generations of Nujiang people. Not to mention that investors are not philanthropists and will not treat investment funds as donations. Even if this dream is realized, the people of Nujiang will be imprisoned forever, unable to seek their own development? An environmental protection official in Nujiang said angrily: "Nujiang people are not pigs!"

Being poor and happy is a virtue, and it is immoral to expect others to be poor and happy. Those "environmental protection" masters and ladies who keep saying that Nujiang aborigines are used to living a happy and poor life and are willing to live like this all the time, are they willing to live this "original ecology" life?

According to historical records, the people of all ethnic groups in Nujiang were not born to like this kind of life, but because of various reasons, they experienced many great migrations and were forced to live in the mountains.

In recent years, in order to protect the mountain forest, the local government has been relocating the mountain people. In the words of an official, "even if the Nujiang River does not develop hydropower, ecological migration will not stop."

Poverty is not culture. National culture is not static. Now that we have bid farewell to the lifestyle of the Han Dynasty and experienced the evolution of several dynasties, we have torn off the foot-binding cloth, taken off our gowns and gowns and merged into the torrent of modern civilization. Why should ethnic minorities be required to keep their "original ecology" as museum exhibits for our study and appreciation?

Protecting cultural diversity is derived from protecting biodiversity, which is actually a great fallacy. Corresponding to the protection of biodiversity, it is to respect cultural diversity. The main body of culture is dignified and conscious people, not animals and plants. Outsiders should respect other people's cultures, but they should not consider themselves superior. To be a protector of others, you should only change yourself and not others.