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Chapter 135, page 0132: [Chen Guiliang: I suggest the older gentlemen read more books]

The guest interviews in the second half of "Oriental Night Tales" are always amicable and mainly consist of casual conversation.

I've never met anyone like Chen Guiliang before!
But host Liu Yiwei got excited, finally he didn't have to shower the guests with compliments. Every episode he would flatter the guests, and he had to appease the ones with more status, and the topics were all trivial matters.

Ironically, audiences enjoy watching it and are very interested in the daily lives of celebrities.

The director's voice came through the earpiece: "Talk to him. We'll cut out any overly outrageous remarks in post-production."

How do I cut it?
The parts criticizing "Wolf Totem" can be kept, but anything involving other people or organizations must be cut. For example, Chen Guiliang just mentioned the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; that half-sentence definitely cannot be broadcast.

Liu Yiwei cleverly distanced himself from the issue: "I haven't read the book yet. What do you think is wrong with it?"

Chen Guiliang said, "The author wrote the book based entirely on conjecture. He said that agricultural civilization destroyed grasslands, while the grazing methods of grassland civilization were naturally sustainable. The author probably has not studied historical geography. From the Hetao region and southern Mongolia to the upper reaches of the Liao River grasslands, the desertification rate during the Yuan Dynasty was very fast."

"Why is this happening?" Liu Yiwei was only responsible for guiding the discussion.

Chen Guiliang said, "The official pastures in the Yuan Dynasty were enormous, with the number of horses, cattle, and sheep far exceeding the carrying capacity of the grasslands. Nobles also seized high-quality pastures, forcing ordinary herders to gather in the peripheral grasslands. The peripheral grasslands were already ecologically fragile, how could they withstand the overgrazing by so many herders? There was also the construction of cities, frequent military campaigns, and military reclamation in the grassland areas. This led to a severe decline in animal husbandry in the late Yuan Dynasty, with the number of horses produced by official pastures decreasing by 50%, and the livestock of private herders dwindling to less than one-tenth."

"The author is using a fallacy of semantics. He applies the pastoral production methods of modern China to all nomadic civilizations, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign. Little does he know that the pastoral people of modern China are a special case. When he discusses agrarian civilization, he looks at the issue from a holistic perspective over thousands of years, and only focuses on the shortcomings of agrarian civilization. However, when discussing nomadic civilization, he likes to 'see the big picture from the small,' specifically picking out the advantages to talk about."

"A classic case of double standards!"

Liu Yiwei said, "Double standards?"

“Yes, double standards,” Chen Guiliang said. “Some people especially like double standards, especially when talking about the differences between China and foreign countries. Chinese people and foreigners do the same thing differently.”

Liu Yiwei smiled and said, "I'll give you a brief overview."

Chen Guiliang said, "I was once obsessed with magazines like 'Reader,' but later I found that the articles were contradictory. They said that Chinese people spoil their children, while foreigners emphasize resilience training. They also said that Chinese people suppress their children, while foreigners emphasize encouragement training. I just want to know, how should Chinese people educate their children?"

"Encourage when it's appropriate, and suppress when it's appropriate." Liu Yiwei laughed even harder.

Chen Guiliang added, "What about this argument? Chinese parents are busy with work and don't spend much time with their children. Foreign parents give their children enough time and love, so the children grow up to be cheerful and confident. It's also said that Chinese parents pay too much attention to their children, while foreign parents give their children enough personal space, so foreign children grow up to be cheerful and confident."

Liu Yiwei said, "It's also possible that Chinese parents neither spend enough time with their children nor pay too much attention to them at times."

Chen Guiliang said, “People who write this kind of article only see two countries. One is China, and the other is foreign countries. There are more than 200 countries and regions in the world, with different languages, scripts, customs, beliefs and political systems, but they can find commonalities that make them stronger than China. In fact, it’s the same as ‘Wolf Totem’, it’s the same kind of trick.”

"How so?" Liu Yiwei continued to guide the conversation.

Chen Guiliang said: "Extract some commonalities of all mankind. Say the weaknesses of human nature are the inherent inferiority of the Chinese people. Say the advantages of human nature are the fine virtues of foreigners. 'Wolf Totem' is much the same, only talking about the weaknesses of agrarian civilization and only talking about the advantages of grassland civilization."

Liu Yiwei couldn't hold back any longer and also wanted to express his opinion: "What you said reminds me of 'The Ugly Chinaman'."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "That book is a pile of crap. I remember Bo Yang saying in the book that the Chinese are the most arrogant people in the world because they are narrow-minded and have little experience. They think that even the world can't contain their slightest achievements. He also said that the Chinese will never have self-respect, so they have no concept of equality. Do you have self-respect?"

Liu Yiwei scratched his head: "I think so."

“Bo Yang also said that Chinese democracy is about you serving the people and me serving the people,” Chen Guiliang laughed. “He understands neither Chinese history nor foreign history. Now many people praise Washington, saying that he retired after achieving great success and is a model of democracy. Actually, he is similar to Bo Yang.”

Liu Yiwei said, "Isn't Washington a model of democracy?"

"Let's not even mention the bunch of slaves he kept," Chen Guiliang said. "Do you think Washington didn't want to be emperor? He didn't have the foundation to rule. When the United States first gained independence, none of the founding fathers who participated in the War of Independence wanted to pay taxes to the US government. The reason they fought for independence was that they didn't want to pay taxes to Britain. If they still have to pay taxes now that they're independent, wouldn't all that war have been fought for nothing?"

"Haha, that's true," Liu Yiwei laughed.

Chen Guiliang said, "The newly established United States couldn't even collect taxes and was burdened with a huge war debt. The president had to worry about how to pay his subordinates' salaries every day. In order to collect taxes, he directly triggered the Whiskey Tax Revolt. And because of his compromise with Britain, he was labeled a traitor, and even Franklin cursed him to die quickly. Would you want to be a president like that?"

"I don't want to," Liu Yiwei shook his head.

Chen Guiliang said, "Washington was unwilling too. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't continue, as he was a public enemy at the time. So he went home and continued to be a farmer."

Liu Yiwei said, "I really don't know any of that."

“The founding fathers of the United States have all been romanticized, and intellectuals like Bo Yang actually believed it,” Chen Guiliang said.

Liu Yiwei said, "Everyone says so, it's hard not to believe it."

“Bo Yang also said that China has not produced a true thinker since Confucius because all intellectuals are busy annotating the works of Confucius and his disciples,” Chen Guiliang said. “If Mr. Bo Yang can see this program, I recommend that he read ‘A History of Chinese Thought.’ One should never stop learning, and reading more books will benefit him.”

The director said to Liu Yiwei through the headset, "Take the conversation a little further and talk about something more interesting." Liu Yiwei replied, "It seems you've read a lot of academic books. Do you look down on current popular culture? The recently popular 'Mice Love Rice' has been criticized by some as being particularly vulgar."

"No way? I really like 'Mice Love Rice'," Chen Guiliang said.

Liu Yiwei asked, "Don't you think it's too much talk?"

“I like both the common and the refined,” Chen Guiliang said. “I hate music that is obviously common but tries to act sophisticated and pretentious. ‘Mice Love Rice’ is simple and straightforward enough. This kind of music is actually quite good.”

Liu Yiwei said, "So you think 'Mice Love Rice' became a hit because it's vulgar and simple enough?"

"That's just one aspect; it's also related to the development of the internet," Chen Guiliang said. "In the past, it was the Web 1.0 era, where websites unilaterally output information to netizens. Now it's the Web 2.0 era, which places more emphasis on the interaction between netizens and websites, and between netizens themselves. Netizens are no longer passively receiving internet content; they can generate content themselves. Moreover, with more people, there is greater power, and the amount of content generated by netizens has increased exponentially compared to the past."

Liu Yiwei said, "So 'Mice Love Rice' is content created by netizens. Its popularity is the result of interaction among netizens?"

“Yes, this trend will only intensify,” Chen Guiliang said.

Liu Yiwei said, "Some people are also worried that online songs will impact the traditional record industry."

Chen Guiliang said, "This isn't the first time the record industry has been impacted. Before the 80s, the record industry was monopolized by a few large companies because recording costs were very high at that time. Later, the emergence of various electronic devices broke the monopoly of large companies, and many independent record companies appeared. Now, online songs are impacting the record industry's distribution channels. It's an inevitable result of the development of productivity."

"What do you think of the future of the record industry?" Liu Yiwei asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "We'll be swept away sooner or later."

Liu Yiwei was already used to Chen Guiliang's various outrageous remarks: "Is your campus belle selection on Renren.com also an interaction between netizens?"

“The campus network is different; it’s based on real-name registration, bringing real-world social interaction online. This cross-interaction between online and offline can create a wonderful chemical reaction,” Chen Guiliang said.

Liu Yiwei said, "I heard that the campus network held a beauty pageant for the North Campus, which caused quite a few interesting incidents."

Chen Guiliang said, "That's right. There was no suspense from the beginning. Olympic champion Liu Xuan is also a student at Peking University, and her votes were far ahead of the second place."

Have you had any real-life interactions with Liu Xuan?

"There was no online communication; she kept a very low profile at Peking University."

"I heard that many Peking University students want to vote for Sister Furong?"

"They're playing a prank."

"Spoofing is also a popular term these days. I've seen a series of Photoshop spoofs online that can make you laugh until your stomach hurts."

"What I created was just following the trend."

"you?"

"Yes. In the beginning, I didn't have money to advertise in order to promote the Three Kingdoms Kill game, so I came up with all sorts of ways. Now, the Three Kingdoms Kill forum is the biggest parody base on the Chinese Internet."

"It seems you're a pioneer in the internet world. So you look down on old-school figures? Like the authors of 'The Ugly Chinaman' and 'Wolf Totem'."

"I still have great respect for my seniors. Of course, that is, their scholarship and character are worthy of my respect."

"..."

The interview was originally scheduled for 15 minutes, but Chen Guiliang and Liu Yiwei talked for 40 minutes.

The CCTV program "Dialogue" that was recorded earlier should be airing soon.

This is likely to spark another heated debate, as "quality education" has been a hot topic in recent years, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it has garnered nationwide attention. Whenever there are any related comments, even slightly outrageous ones can ignite public opinion.

Chen Guiliang specializes in riding the coattails of trending topics.

This applies to holistic education, and it also applies to the novel *Wolf Totem*.

Who else would they piggyback on if "Wolf Totem" became such a bestseller?
Chen Guiliang's suggestion that Bo Yang read more books will likely spark a war of words, as Bo Yang has become very popular in recent years.

(End of this chapter)