The green wall
The population in China is waging a desperate fight against the desert. The sand is pushing back the people further and further, forcing them to leave their villages and to displace entire cities. Even Beijing is afflicted more and more often by sandstorms – there are even plans for the construction of a new capital city. However, the fight has not been lost yet. With a gigantic programme of afforestation China is building a new great wall, a 700 km long protective wall of trees. This gigantic project already dates from the 1970ies and is intended to protect the northwestern provinces and the capital Beijing: the green wall.
The texts “Tao-te-King” by Laotse and “The true book of the southern country of blossoms” by Dschuang Dsi are being compared connected with recordings of urban and rural sonic landscapes, in order to clarify the essential philosophical ideas on nature and society of the ancient Taoists. The cosmic knowledge of old China meets the rapid and unstoppable development of modern life in Beijing.
The classical Taoist dialogue between Master Ki and one of his disciples entitled “Heaven playing the organ” by Dschuang Dsi serves as metaphor of the destruction of the city of Beijing. In this dialogue the connection between the process of life and the course of time is symbolised by the cycle of a never-ending flow of sand.
(Photo: Velasco-Schwarzenberger)