In 1987, 20 pieces of beautiful glazed ware were unearthed in the underground palace of Famen Temple in Shaanxi, China, which were introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty by Eastern Rome and Islam. When I appreciate these foreign cultural relics, I have been thinking about a problem, that is, to treat different civilizations, we should not only be satisfied with appreciating the exquisite objects produced by them, but also appreciate the humanistic spirit contained in them; We should not only be satisfied with appreciating their artistic expression of people's lives in the past, but also make the spirit contained in them alive.

- Speech at UNESCO Headquarters (27 March 2014)

Further reading:

Famen Temple is located in Famen Town, 10 kilometers north of Fufeng County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, was built in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, known as "the ancestor of Guanzhong Tower Temple". The Famen Temple Pagoda in the temple is called "True Body Pagoda" because of the burial of Shakyamuni's finger bone relics. During the Tang Zhenguan period, the Famen Temple tower was rebuilt into a 4-level wooden tower, but it collapsed due to an earthquake in the third year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty (1569). Later, it was rebuilt into a 13-storey octagonal brick tower, 47 meters high, extremely spectacular.

Because the weight of the tower body is too large, there is an underground palace under the base of the tower, the upper weight and the lower light, 54 years after the completion of the tower, the tower body began to tilt to the southwest in an earthquake. In 1981, the west half of the Famen Temple tower suddenly collapsed in the wind and rain, and the tower brake also fell immediately. In 1987, when the new tower was rebuilt and the base of the tower was cleaned, the underground palace was accidentally discovered. In addition to 4 relics, 121 pieces of gold and silverware, and 14 pieces of secret color porcelain, more than 20 pieces of glazed ware were also unearthed in the underground palace.

Since the introduction of glazed ware to China in the 3rd century AD, it has long been regarded as a more precious item than gold and silverware. This batch of unearthed glazed ware, both glazed bottles, glazed plates, as well as teacups and saucers, are mostly made in Islamic style, respectively by Eastern Rome, West Asia and China, is an important evidence of Sino-Western transportation and cultural exchanges, and the cultural relics are of extremely high value.

Although glazed ware was introduced from abroad, it had long been integrated into the daily life of the Tang Dynasty people and became an important part of their material culture. The Tang Dynasty poet Wei Yingwu once praised the glaze with the title of "Yongliuli": "Colored and cold, there is nothing to separate the dust." The elephant feast is invisible, and it can be seen to the jade. And Li He, known as the "poet ghost", also wrote: "The glass clock, the amber is thick, and the small groove wine drops real pearl red." ”

The exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations not only allowed Chinese culture to spread to the world, but also promoted the introduction of cultures and products from various countries into China. Xi Jinping's story of appreciating glazed ware in Famen Temple is precisely to explain the truth that "civilization is colorful because of exchanges, and civilization is enriched by mutual learning".

This is the first time that a Chinese leader has comprehensively expounded on the profound understanding of the law governing the spread and development of world civilization at the UN forum. For the first time, it was systematically proposed that "exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations" is a bridge to enhance friendship among peoples of all countries, a driving force for the progress of human society, and a bond for safeguarding world peace. In this speech, Xi Jinping put forward the idea of "exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations", which includes three levels: civilization is colorful, and human civilization has the value of exchange and mutual learning because of diversity; Civilization is equal, and human civilization has the premise of exchange and mutual learning because of equality; Civilization is inclusive, and human civilization has the motivation to exchange and learn from each other because of inclusiveness. Xi Jinping once made a clever analogy: "Just as Chinese love tea and Belgians love beer, the subtlety of tea and the enthusiasm of wine represent two different ways of tasting life and interpreting the world." However, tea and wine are not incompatible, you can not only drink a thousand cups of wine, but also taste tea and taste life. As he stressed in his speech, there is no such thing as a "clash of civilizations" as long as there is a spirit of inclusiveness.