Ecological Civilization Requires Humans to Be Friends of Nature.

I did not quite understand the term "environment-friendly" when it first appeared in the media a few years ago. Friendliness was considered a people-to-people relationship, then how could one be friendly to the environment? How was man supposed to be friendly to the mountains, rivers, animals, grass, flowers and trees?

It was not until in Africa that I truly understood the meaning of friendship between man and animals. In Zimbabwe, we stayed in a hotel located in the Zambezi National Park close to the Victoria Falls. The National Park is virtually a nature reserve or open zoo with no enclosures. There you can see herds of wild elephants, buffalo, and wart hog, and rare animals including lions and leopards, as well as hippos and crocodiles in the Zambezi River.

Our hospitable African friends invited us to take a boat tour at dusk on the Zambezi to see the sunset. Sailing on the wide river, we enjoyed the cool breeze and magnificent sunset and watched seagulls flying over the water, an enchanting experience indeed. The most impressive aspect of the scene for me, though, was the vision of the people on the upper reaches of the Zambezi living in harmony with the hippos and elephants.

The moment our craft left the pier, the boatman pointed forward, telling us that we were very lucky and the hippos were waiting to welcome us. Not far ahead, we saw five or six hippos – two cubs in the middle playing while several grownups watched over them. As our boat drew closer, the hippos lined up, heads raised and mouths open, like guards of honor saluting in the river, as if having received some sort of an order. To be honest, I was initially rather nervous about getting close to the lumbering behemoths. After all, wild animals have wild natures. But what I saw were animals who, despite their huge size, were placid and gentle.

It was already dark when we came back to the pier. Our African friends on the boat suddenly spotted a herd of 20-30 elephants crossing the river from south to north. They were like a big black ship moving in the water. The elephants have a strong sense of team work. Although crowded closely together, they did not cramp each other; on the contrary, they were as orderly as a flock of geese in flight. We heard a continuous trumpeting from the herd, which appeared to be the leading elephant's commands.

The Zambezi lies on the boundary separating Zambia and Zimbabwe. So the elephants living near the river are called cross-border citizens. Our boatman joked that the elephants had double nationalities. As season and weather change, they need to move between the two sides of the river, just like cattle and sheep on the prairies. No matter where they live, the elephants are always watched over by the local people. Our African friends told us that it is a rare and auspicious sign to see elephants crossing the river.

To avoid disturbing the elephants, many boats on the river shut down their engines and floated on the current. Passengers stood and watched the elephants quietly. While the observers were very excited at such a rare sight, nobody shouted or made any loud noise. We could only hear the splashing sound of dozens of elephants swimming. After about half an hour, the herd disappeared out of sight.

Although the Zambezi boat tour was short, we had a chance to appreciate the placidity of the hippos and the orderly behavior of the elephants, thereby gaining a true understanding of the beautiful harmony between man and animals. The harmony between man and animals can bring about as much pleasure, warmth, and happiness as harmonious human relationships can offer.

On our planet Earth, man and animals should share friendship, always recognizing that humans are stronger than animals. However ferocious an animal, it can be a king among animals at best, while man can be the king of all species in the world. Humans must not act recklessly or satisfy their unbridled desires by intruding on animal habitats or taking their lives.

The diverse animal population of the African continent has already suffered relentless capture and slaughter by the self-proclaimed civilized colonizers from Europe. Such mindless acts have led to the sharp decline of many animal species and near-extinction of quite a few rare species. Humans have created culture and civilization. However, if their achievements are not used to serve a civilized purpose but to commit barbarian atrocities, they run counter to the dictates of civilization and culture.

Many African countries have now set up national parks to create a peaceful home for animals. Man has asked for too much from the animals, intruded too far upon their domains, and caused them too much harm. It is time to change. Civilized humans would not attempt to take the entire planet for their own. Should that happen, mankind will lose everything.

A local friend of Chinese origin told me that the year before, a Chinese tourist staying at our hotel had forgotten to close his windows, and as a result he had all his fruit, beverages, desserts and even his luggage "looted" by monkeys from the park. He made a complaint to the hotel management, hoping something could be done to prevent such animals from interfering with the tourists. The hotel manager, however, told him that it was humans who were disturbing the animals by taking up part of their home and that humans should therefore be humble and courteous towards them.

In general, ecological civilization requires humans to respect animals and nature as a whole. Culture is a hot topic today. But not all people are conscious that culture includes not only human relationships but also those between man and nature. Man needs to understand, make use of and adapt nature as well as to protect, respect and live in harmony with it. All of this should be integral to our culture.

As a matter of fact, our Chinese ancestors first put forward the concept of "the unity of man and nature" thousands of years ago. In Chinese classics, when the concept of humanity first appeared, it was defined along with that of "way of heaven," or the natural law: "The mix of yin and yang is the way of heaven; within the boundary of civilization is humanity. Observing the way of heaven helps to gauge the changes of times; observing the progress of humanity helps to improve society." We realize the need to respect animals and nature as a whole and to live in harmony with the environment. I regard it as a kind of cultural consciousness. Nowadays, governments and citizens are advocating and calling for ecological civilization, and this development represents a leap forward for individual nations and all mankind.