Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan publishes an Article Entitled A Single Flower Does Not Make Spring

　　2019年5月28日，驻斯里兰卡大使程学源在斯里兰卡《每日金融时报》等主流媒体发表题为《一枝独放不是春，姹紫嫣红正当时——写在亚洲文明对话大会之后》的署名文章。全文如下：

　　孟夏时节，万木齐发。2019年5月15日，包括斯里兰卡在内的亚洲47个国家及域外各国嘉宾共2000余人齐聚中国北京，共赴亚洲文明对话盛会。此次会议由中国国家主席习近平首先倡议，旨在为亚洲各文明间搭建起平等交流、互学互鉴的对话平台，倡议提出后得到域内外各国的广泛响应和支持。斯里兰卡总统西里塞纳阁下在斯国内政治日程十分繁重的情况下，仍赴华参会并发表演讲。这不仅体现出对中斯关系以及大会本身的高度重视，也充分体现了对中斯文明间平等交流、互学互鉴重的高度重视。我本人陪同西里塞纳总统参加了此次大会，愿借此机会与斯社会各界人士分享自己参会的心得体会。

On 28 May 2019, Sri Lanka main stream newspaper such as Daily FT carried an article by Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan entitled"A Single Flower Does Not Make Spring!" (Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan on the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations). The full text is as follows:

In this lovely early Summer in Beijing, more than 2,000 distinguished guests from 47 countries including Sri Lanka participated the splendid Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC). The Conference was initiated by President Xi Jinping following the Belt and Road Initiative, and has drawn worldwide attention and positive response from many countries in and beyond the region, which provides a platform for different civilizations in Asia to engage in equal dialogue and exchanges for better mutual understanding and learning.

Despite the busiest and hardest domestic schedule, President Maithripala Sirisena kept his previous promise, managed to attend the CDAC Opening Ceremony on 15th May 2019, and delivered a wonderful speech, showing his great support to the Sri Lanka-China bilateral relations, as well as the equal exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations, which is of crucial importance especially under current situation in Sri Lanka. I had the honor to accompany with President Sirisena and would like to share my own experience and opinions with Sri Lankan friends.

　　第一，文明需要平等尊重。每一种文明都有自己生存的土壤和存在的价值，都凝聚着国家、民族的智慧和追求。正如习近平主席所指出的，文明只有姹紫嫣红之别，但绝无高低优劣之分。认为自己的人种和文明高人一等，执意改造甚至取代其他文明，在认识上是愚蠢的，在做法上是灾难性的！中国有记载完整、自成体系的“二十四史”，斯里兰卡有着巴利文写就的《岛史》《大史》《小史》，它们同是世界文明的璀璨成果。长期以来，中斯文明互相尊重，平等相待，在人类文明的发展历程中一同熠熠生辉。

Firstly, all civilizations should respect and treat each other equally. I quoted President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech on the CDAC as follows: "All civilizations are rooted in their unique cultural environment. Each embodies the wisdom and vision of a country or nation, and each is valuable for being uniquely its own. Civilizations only vary from each other, just as human beings are different only in terms of skin color and the language used. No civilization is superior over others. The thought that one's own race and civilization are superior and the inclination to remold or replace other civilizations are just stupid. To act them out will only bring catastrophic consequences." China and Sri Lanka both have splendid and historical civilizations. One example says all: The "Twenty-Four Histories" completely recorded the Chinese ancient history and created the unique Chinese theoretical system of history, while Sri Lankan monks also compiled the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa written in the Pali. Over thousands of years,the Chinese and Sir Lankan civilizations get along with each other with mutual respect and equality, sparkling together in the history of the human civilization.

　　第二，文明需要相互欣赏。文明是美的结晶，所有美好事物都是相通的。世界上从来不缺少美，只缺少发现美的眼睛。中国有故宫这样的古代宫殿建筑瑰宝，斯里兰卡也有着狮子岩这样构思精妙的宫殿遗址。中国莫高窟栩栩如生的壁画引人称赞，斯里兰卡丹布勒的壁画让人流连忘返。中斯两国在上千年的发展历程中都曾创造过辉煌灿烂的文明成果。我们既要让本国文明充满勃勃生机，又要为他国文明发展创造条件，让中斯文明在世界文明的百花园中竞相绽放。

Secondly, all civilizations should appreciate and uphold the beauty of each other. Each civilization is a crystallization of human aesthetic creation, the aspiration for all beauties is a common pursuit of humanity. Our planet is not a lack of beauty, but the lack of the eyes to find the beauty. The Chinese civilization built the Forbidden City, a treasure of the ancient palace construction. The Sri Lankan civilization also built the ancient city of Sigiriya which shows the ingenuity for its design. The vivid murals draw in the Mogao Grottoes of China is amazing, while the beautiful murals in the Golden Temple of Dambulla also makes the visitors linger. During the thousands years history for both countries, our ancestors have created brilliant and splendid civilization achievements. We should keep our own civilization dynamic and also provide conditions for other civilizations to flourish. Together we can make our own civilizations blossom in the garden of world civilizations.