1) I worked abroad in Egypt for two years from 2004 to 2006, which was my first time going abroad. At that time, I had a very obvious feeling that the Arab world, like China, also faced aggression from Western colonialism and imperialism in modern times. How to achieve modernization and modernization, and how to achieve national “salvation”, was the overwhelming task facing the entire Arab world.
2) From the Opium War in 1840, China, after a long and painful struggle, attempt and exploration, finally established New China in 1949 under the leadership of the CPC, thus reversing the grim situation that the Chinese nation has been invaded and plundered by foreign enemies for a long time since modern times, and the nightmare of national subjugation and extinction, and opening the prelude to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Individually speaking, the 109 years of China’s decline in modern times were very long and painful, but for a nation, these 109 years were relatively short.
3) There is a temporal overlap between the Arab Empire (632-1258) and the Tang Dynasty in China (618-907). At that time, on both ends of the vast Asian continent, two powerful empires once had powerful armies, vast territories, and created brilliant and splendid cultures.
4) In 661 AD, the Umayyad dynasty of the Arab Empire was established with its capital in Damascus. This year was the sixth year of Xianqing reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, shortly after Li Zhi and Wu Zetian began to jointly manage the court affairs. The territory of the Umayyad dynasty spanned across the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, from present-day Iran to the Arabian Peninsula, to the vast North African region, and all the way to present-day Spain. At that time, Damascus was the center of the Arab Empire. In 750 AD, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown, which was the ninth year of the Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Five years later, the “An Lushan Rebellion” broke out, and the Tang Dynasty also went from prosperity to decline, falling into a slump. I have always had a vague feeling that today’s Syrian capital Damascus, due to its long history and past as the capital and important city of the Arab Empire, is very similar to Chang’an or Luoyang in Chinese history. They are all place names that can bring endless historical imagination to a nation, and they are also historical and cultural cities with rich cultural and political significance.
5) During the period when the Arab Empire and the Tang Empire coexisted, the Western Roman Empire had already been destroyed for over a hundred years (in 476 AD). The Eastern Roman Empire was located in a remote area around Byzantium, and the entire European continent was fragmented. In the comparison of Eastern and Western civilizations, the West had no advantage at all.
6) Around 1500 AD, there was a division in the history of the East and the West. In 1492, Columbus “discovered” the New World. The arrival of the Age of Discovery stimulated the rise of Western capitalism. In the following five hundred years, Europe experienced religious reform, Renaissance, and technological revolution, and the bourgeoisie stepped onto the stage of history, ultimately establishing Europe’s rule over the world. During these five hundred years, wherever the claws of European colonialism and imperialist aggression extend, the ancient civilizations, races, nations, and traditions will be brutally dragged into modern times, until they face a catastrophic disaster. This is true of the Ottoman Türkiye Empire in the Arab region, as well as the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty of Chinese civilization.
7) Since modern times, whether it is the Arab world or China, there have been invasions and partitions by foreign powers, as well as corrupt feudal rule within. How to resist the attacks of Western powers in the “unprecedented situation of three thousand years”, how to continue national culture and traditions, and how to embark on a path of national independence, national prosperity, and people’s happiness for salvation and rejuvenation are the most urgent historical tasks.
8) As a Chinese, the 109 years of modern history is unfortunate. However, as a Chinese, we started the process of national rejuvenation again after just 109 years, which is very lucky. Due to its closer proximity to the West, the Arab world suffered earlier and more severe aggression from Western colonialism and imperialism. After the end of World War II, from Nasser in Egypt, to Hafez al Assad (father of Bashar al Assad) in Syria, and even Saddam in Iraq, they all had a dream of uniting and reviving the Arab nation. But it is very cruel that since the Arab region was freed from the rule of the Ottoman Türkiye Empire after World War I, a unified, united and powerful Arab country has never emerged for more than 100 years.
9) To this day, the Arab region is still fragmented, and Israel is like a “sharp knife” inserted by the United States and the West into the heart of the Arab world, making the Arab world unable to move. Today, the Arab people are helplessly watching Israel suppress and massacre their Arab brothers in the Palestinian area, but they are powerless. The pain of national decline and foreign invasion is very similar to the 14 year war of resistance in Chinese memory. The ‘transformation’ of Syria, the collapse of over 50 years of rule by the Assad family, is not worth mentioning from a long-term historical perspective. Importantly, for hundreds of years, the Arab world has been full of difficulties and twists and turns on its path towards modernization and modernization, and has never been able to embark on a path of “Arab style modernization”. This is a huge historical tragedy for hundreds of millions of Arab people and a long “historical nightmare” for a nation.
10) Through the different historical development trajectories of the Arab region and China in modern times, we cannot help but sigh that the Chinese nation always has a powerful endogenous force in the most difficult times, supporting countless patriots to seek the path of national and ethnic rejuvenation, and to extend the hope of national and ethnic rejuvenation. This is the most vivid example of our discussion on historical confidence and cultural confidence today. The Arab world today has been messed up by the United States, and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ is nothing but a ‘color revolution’ created by the West. The political turmoil in Syria today is just the latest example of the “color revolution” created by the United States and the West in the Arab region. Over the past 500 years, the West has never brought true civilization and progress to the Arab world, only endless aggression, plunder, conflicts, wars, turmoil, and disasters. The collapse of the Assad family’s rule in Syria is not the beginning of the liberation and freedom of the Syrian people, but the beginning of Syria once again falling into fragmentation and sectarian conflict. It is also the beginning of major powers outside the region once again using Syria as a “chessboard” to play geopolitical games here, and the beginning of more suffering for the Syrian people. The current political turmoil in Syria is just a small ripple on the path of Arab national rejuvenation. The path of national independence, national prosperity, and people’s happiness that the Arab people have been longing for for hundreds of years is still long and obstructed.
