新華社北京4月11日電  4月11日,《新華每日電訊》“新華走筆”專欄發表記者王雅晨撰寫的文章《文明符號的和鳴》。

The great river is the cradle of civilization. From the Yangtze River, which moistens the fertile soil, to the Nile River, which feeds both banks, the tributaries of civilization have converged into the common civilization of mankind. The creation of human labor has evolved into a profound symbol of civilization. From the rugged bones of these posthumous symbols, we restore the rich flesh and blood of history and feel the spirit of civilization.

People's work

The two ancient civilization sites that I have personally visited, the two ancient human civilization buildings that also lie across 30 degrees north latitude - Liangzhu Mojiao Mountain and the Egyptian pyramids, are both great works of civilization born from the hands of the people.

　　長河余韻逶迤，太湖蒸騰潤澤，天目山支脈一南一北攬臂相擁，東苕溪和良渚港依傍而流，良渚古城盡得天地靈韻、華夏神采。2024年7月，我迎著夏風尋入良渚古蹟，看見莫角山遺址屹立於重重稻田之間。這是一座貴族居住的土造高臺，面積達30萬平方米，分佈有大型宮殿的遺跡。拾級而上，只見天空明淨澄澈，田疇平坦廣袤。

The actual height of Mojiao Mountain is only more than ten meters, and the ancestors of Liangzhu brought giant trees to build a palace, and built a slope with straw as the top. This is far from high compared to today's skyscrapers, which can easily reach hundreds of meters. Since ancient times, fighting gravity has been a huge undertaking. In ancient societies, human beings worshipped the majestic mountains and the jade towers of Qionglou - because height was extremely scarce, only the royal class was qualified to concentrate resources to attack the limits of human height again and again. However, the class gap has divided the fate of the ancients from then on.

　　從莫角山到金字塔，莫不如是。僅憑肩挑手壘，良渚先民以200多萬立方米的黃土等材料構築出了莫角山，又以沙土鋪成7萬平方米的廣場。但宮殿專供貴族居住，高台則為了良渚國王和王後登高作祭祀用。古埃及人建造金字塔的過程更令人歎為觀止，巨大花崗岩從開採、切割、運輸再到壘砌，每一項都堪稱複雜精妙的超級工程。大金字塔的圍石和內室石塊嚴絲合縫，連刀刃都無法插入。千年前的金字塔表面還覆有一層閃閃發光的白色石灰岩外殼，塔尖鍍著貴重金屬，燦爛奪目。但這項閃耀於世的人類工程卻由法老專享，千年後猶自鮮妍的壁畫和銘刻只記錄下法老的名諱。

　　在此後的新王國時期（約西元前1539年到西元前1075年），底比斯（盧克索）附近的偏僻山谷成了分佈著60多座帝王陵墓的帝王谷。法老們耗費數個世紀沿尼羅河西岸的峭壁開鑿墓室，安放遺體。墓穴週邊則建有許多巨大的柱廊和神廟。墓穴入口往往開在半山腰，沿著細長隧道通向深處，最深可達百米。那曾昭彰於世的權力象徵與永恆符號，深入大地，為王權打造另一重隱秘安眠地。但設計者、建築師、工程師和無數工匠們被隱姓埋名，在歷史名冊中查無此人。

In 30 BC, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire as the Roman Empire stepped into the ranks. The last pharaoh, Cleopatra VII, sighed, and the era of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt came to an end, and the strong religious and political connotations that were once attached to the pyramids also disappeared.

More than 4000 years ago, due to war, climate and other reasons, the Liangzhu civilization finally died out in the long river of history. On the high platform of Mojiao Mountain, there are no longer the figures of hanging holy vessels and chanting sacrificial words. But around the high platform, the rice fields where the people have not dropped out of farming for thousands of years are as good as ever.

More and more ordinary people approached the pyramid and entered the Liangzhu Museum, trying to understand the true face of history, and were amazed by the wisdom of the ancestors. At this moment, these miracles of civilization truly shine with the glory of the people and become a symbol of civilization that interprets history to future generations.

Talk to the sky

Take a boat from near Cairo and follow the Nile all the way south for more than 670 kilometers to reach Luxor. This is the "largest open-air museum" on earth, known as "Thebes" in ancient times, and the ancient Greek poet Homer sang the praises of this rich and mighty "City of a Hundred Gates" with impassioned verses. Today, the Tuliu Luxor Temple is the most intact preserved.

I lingered for a long time in the ruins of the temple, and saw the pillars majestic and tall but crumbling, and the statues of the gods solemn but rough-looking. The obelisk in front of the Luxor Temple stands tall like a sharp sword that pierces the sky. According to the design of the ancient Egyptians, this "sharp sword" will be the first to welcome the rising sun at dawn. Thousands of years ago, the top of the obelisk was wrapped in gold, copper or gold-silver alloys, which shone in the morning sun. Like the temple walls, the obelisk is carved on all sides with hieroglyphs and various totems, among which bird-shaped motifs often appear.

In the ancient Egyptian and ancient Liangzhu civilizations, birds with mysterious flight abilities were regarded as important intermediaries between man and heaven. More than 5000 years ago, the ancestors of Liangzhu worshipped birds as messengers who communicated heaven and earth, and connected people and all things. To this day, above the jade bib engraved in the "Treasure of the Town Hall" of the Liangzhu Museum, you can still vaguely identify an engraved bird, standing on the top of the three-step ladder-like high platform with its head and wings - this is the famous "Bird Standing High Platform".

The sacred birds in ancient Egyptian wall carvings are often eagles and falcons. They are sometimes Bennu birds representing the sun, and sometimes they are incarnations of the god Horus, the guardian of the pharaohs. At the same time, the symbol of the sacred bird in the ancient Egyptian civilization is the name of the pharaoh Jet of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt, which is composed of a "bird shape" representing the gods and a "platform shape" representing the palace. The king's name is engraved on the inside of the table. This form later evolved into the "circle of kings' names", which was written in hieroglyphic characters to write pharaohs' names. Scholars speculate that the human-like and bird-like figures inside the Liangzhu "Bird-Standing Heightened Platform" may have represented the name or image of the ruler at the time.

　　與天對話，是古文明逐步摸索自然規律和宇宙秩序的路徑。古埃及金字塔的建造就與天文現象密切相關。高聳的吉薩金字塔與獵戶座的“腰帶”對齊，借此引導法老的靈魂進入來世。每年7月中旬天狼星首次在黎明前升起，與尼羅河洪水的到來時間吻合，古埃及人據此預測洪水，指導農業生產。

The Guliangzhu people also observed celestial phenomena, formulated calendars, predicted climate change, built houses according to the geographical environment, and built water conservancy systems in the city between rivers for irrigation.

Dialogue with the heavens is also another form of dialogue between the ancients and the world and with themselves.

In the eyes of the ancients, "heaven" is not only the vast nature and the vast universe, but also the order and moral norms of all things. Ancient Chinese philosophical thought emphasized the "Mandate of Heaven" and "Heavenly Dao", and regarded the inner need for self-cultivation as conforming to the will of "God". "Man is the law of the earth, the earth is the law of the sky, the heaven is the law of the Tao, and the Tao is the law of nature" covers the deep laws of the heavens, the earth, people and even the universe. "The unity of heaven and man" pursues "heaven and earth are born together with me, and all things are one with me".

Gu Liangzhu worshiped heaven and earth with ceremonial vessels such as jade cong with outer square and inner circle and jade bi that was round as the sky, expressing his awe of the "way of heaven". Both the Mojiaoshan Altar and the Yaoshan Altar are in the form of steps, which may symbolize "ascending to the heavens" and "approaching the gods".

In ancient Egypt, people worshipped the sun, and among the many gods they worshipped was Nut, the "goddess of the sky". Another ancient Egyptian goddess, Ma'at, is adorned with ostrich feathers on her head, symbolizing cosmic order and moral norms. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the "heart weighing" ritual used to judge the virtues of the deceased, her feathers were a weight to measure the deceased's eligibility to enter the afterlife. After comparative research, some modern Egyptian scholars believe that the two ancient civilizations of China and Egypt have a heartfelt pursuit of the order of all things and inner morality, "they both believe that the harmony between man and man, man and nature in this world is the goal that people should pursue."

The ancients had a dialogue with heaven and earth and all things, and now we use the symbols of civilization as a medium to talk about human childhood and listen to the voice of history. Perhaps in the future, human civilization will blend with each other as one that does not distinguish between you and me. At that time, the symbol of civilization will become the most moving note of human harmony.