Chinese Harmony Renaissance: Can World Ignore It?

Chinese harmony renaissance: Can world ignore it?

www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-02 16:01:01 www.worldharmonyorg.net
by Francis C.W. Fung, Ph.D.
BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet)-- Following is an abridged version of two
papers by Francis C.W. Fung, Ph.D. The papers are titled "Chinese
Harmony and American Democracy in 21st Century" and "Chinese
Harmony Culture Old and New, Promise for a Less Confrontational
World?"
(I) CHINA'S HARMONY RENAISSANCE: CAN AMERICA IGNORE IT?
On Oct. 8, 2006, at its Central Committee meeting, the Communist
Party of China launched the national campaign to build a harmonious
society. The resulting Harmony Communiqu¨¦ is a system engineering
blue print to guide China on its path of rejuvenation. It will be an
arduous and long undertaking to build a harmonious socialist society in
modern China, no less challenging to the CPC as the revolutionary
"Long March" of Chinese history. Oct. 8, 2006 will be remembered as
the most important milestone of China's Harmony Renaissance. By
rediscovering harmony culture, China is rediscovering its own rich
ancient cultural harmony traditions. It is of similar in importance to
Europe's Renaissance after the rediscovery of ancient Greek culture.
China's harmony development will herald a brand new period of vitality
and national spirit as the country enters a new period of sustainable
development. By developing its own harmony society, China becomes
the standard bearer of a harmony world.
Harmony, as taught by Chinese ancients, embraces ideas of democracy
as a way of conflict resolution between the ruler and the ruled. China
has practiced harmony as a way of life since Laotze and Confucius for
at least 2500 years. In contrast, American Democracy is only 230
years old, developing after Independence, and borrowing from the
traditions of European Enlightenment. As China's Harmony Socialism
wins gradual international recognition, it will provide an alternative
model to American-style Democracy as the leading 21st century
governance system. To keep its position as the most influential political
and cultural leading country of the world America cannot afford to
overlook the 21st century Chinese Harmony Society and Harmony
World development herald by China's Harmony Renaissance. The
consequence could be the isolation and unwitting fall of the greatest
military and economic empire of our time through its inability to keep
up with the pace of world harmony consensus. The mightiest American
military power cannot dictate world order any longer, as is exemplified
by the Iraqi War, and the Iran and North Korea nuclear confrontations.
The overwhelming desires of developing countries for common
development are closing the curtains on the world of international
power politics. The world will be caught up in the surging tide of
common development and harmony conversion. The Harmony World of
unity in diversity of world cultures and governance systems will surely
come.
Harmony will give China a place on the world stage to express its
ancient heritage and the moral high ground to challenge the U.S.
leadership in international relations. For over fifty years America
interfered in China's domestic affairs in the name of democracy. Now
harmony contains democracy ideals also as conflict resolution
government and its citizens. The table will be turned between the West
and China during the 21st century. Since the Opium War, over 150
years ago, China finally is able to raise its head and stand up against
the West. By doing so, China will have the unity and vitality to
continue its sustainable reform and opening up to a new era.
(II) CHINA'S HARMONY RENAISSANCE, HOW IT ALL BEGAN?
The Central Committee meeting was a major meeting to discuss major
policy decisions to launch a national campaign to build a harmonious
society. [1] In terms of its impact on the future Chinese society and
the future world, policies announced during this meeting will have a
longer lasting effect than China's recent policies of reform and opening
up. These policies, initiated under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping, led
to profound benefits for China and the world, but the nation is ready
for the next step in its process of transformation. By comparison, the
Oct. 8 meeting provided the needed national spirit of harmony which
continues on the success of the Scientific Concept of Development.
This new spirit is built on the essence of ancient Chinese teachings of
harmony which remains unparalleled for its richness in the world.
Due to the rapid expansion of economic and industrial activities, China,
over the past twenty some years, has developed from an egalitarian
society to a society of unbalanced wealth distribution, and from a self-
sufficient society to one, like other developed nations, that depends
heavily on outside energy and other material resources. The Scientific
Development Concept was thus conceived by the Chinese leaders to
provide a blueprint for a long term sustainable development. In time,
this blueprint is expanded to include also all old and new conflicts in
China's grand modernization. Harmony being China's dominant
philosophy for 2500 years it is no surprise, despite the onslaught of
Western culture for the last two hundred years, China rediscovered its
ancient heritage. This is not unlike the return of harmony philosophy
to the golden Han dynasty after the Spring and Autumn Warring States
period.
In the fertile soil of Chinese harmony garden after Chinese leaders
called for Harmony Society development, ideas of harmony spread like
wild fire. Creative ideas of Harmony Society from government officials,
intellectuals, think tanks, academicians and the general public is
currently sweeping through the country. We may once again witness a
major New Harmony movement excelling the ancient teachings of
ancient harmony that has guided China for the last 2500 years. A true
period of let hundred flowers bloom and hundred schools content may
be in the making surpassing the Spring and Autumn period debates in
scope and magnitude. This time the Chinese culture may take a leap
into the future World of Harmony.
(III) THE COMING OF THE HARMONY WORLD
In today's world of extreme disparity among nations, need for
international economic and political change is driven by: the widening
gap in stages of development, the increase of injustice in world order,
and the growth of clashes between civilizations. As seen in the recent
unilateral Iraq War, the crisis in Sudan, and the nuclear confrontation
with North Korea and Iran, the world is hastening towards
confrontation.
Written in Chinese characters, the term, "crisis" is composed of the
opposing elements, "danger" and "opportunity." In Chinese harmony
belief, the opposition of Ying and the Yang, or the strong and the
gentle, are in constant contest. When Ying and Yang are in balance,
harmony is reached, as is illustrated by the Daoist double fish circle of
life.When viewed as a globe the Ying envelops the Yang as the outside
shell. Laotze's philosophy of renunciation of force is also reflected in
forming Chinese words. The word "martial" in Chinese means "stop the
use of weapons." The word "war" in Chinese means "imbalance of
weaponry."
When country specific harmony societies grow in their own fertile soil
with distinctive cultural characteristics, World Harmony will surely
spread. Each society will have its own appropriate harmony theory and
practices reflecting the wide differences in states of development,
needs and culture. For harmony to take root, basic needs must be
met, and the society must be equitable, social order must work
smoothly, cultural values must have sustaining power, and the mobility
of different stratum in society should be assured. Indices such as
Happiness, Harmony, Environment, Rural and Urban must be
customized according to each country's will and development.
Great debates are happening today in China over whether Socialism
with Chinese characteristics become Socialism with Chinese harmony.
In the last couple of years China has extended the philosophy of
Harmony to the practice of international relations, from Harmony
Society to Harmony Region and Harmony World. In doing so, China, as
one of the world's ancient civilized nations, is expressing to the world
its choice and determination to travel the road of peace and
development. Harmony as the core of Chinese traditional cultural
belief, reflects the concepts of appropriate and properly balanced
relationships between man and man, man and nature, man and
society and harmony among nations. In fact Harmony Society and
Harmony World are manifestations of ancient Chinese cultural values.
Western cultures, in contrast to the East, tend to emphasize conflict
rather than harmony, personal, national, and world affairs in terms of
good and evil, right and wrong. God must triumph over the Devil, good
over the bad, and the individual struggles to conquer sin and redeem
his soul. Armies fight with the conviction that God is on their side, and
leaders, like George Bush, call upon believers to support them in
righteous wars. The powerful U.S. media, adhering to the same
tenants, does not report contrasting views. Thus, Western nations,
most notably the United States today, justify aggression through their
own self righteousness, convincing themselves that they are duty
bound to change or eliminate hostile countries that do not adhere to
Western principles. Rather than accepting differences they attempt to
destroy differences to achieve uniformity in international political
ideology. In such an atmosphere, international relations become power
politics, with the assumption that new democracies that arise will be
fashioned in the mold of American and Western European systems.
In China today foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy and, at
the same time, serves domestic policy. Hu Jintao, President of China,
pointed out, China must "Closely connect our development with the
progress of mankind. Develop our self through maintaining world
peace and at the same time through our own development to promote
world peace." The Chinese government has officially stated the central
ideas of Harmony China and Harmony World as: China wants to build a
harmony society of "democracy and rule of law, justice and
righteousness, trustworthiness and friendliness, full of vitality, stable
and orderly, a society of man and nature in harmony." A Harmony
World envisioned by China is "adherence to multilateralism, realization
of mutual security, adherence to mutually beneficial cooperation,
realization of mutual prosperity, adherence to the spirit of tolerance
and building a Harmony World together."
President Hu Jintao, on April 22, 2005, when attending the Asian
African Summit meeting, suggested that "promoting friendship among
different cultures, equal dialogue, develop common prosperity and
together build a harmony world." This was the first time the concept of
Harmony World appeared on the world stage. Two months later on July
1, 2005, President Hu Jintao visited Moscow. Harmony World was
written into the China-Russia world order joint communiqu¨¦. For the
first time World Harmony was recognized as common policy belief
between two major countries. This marks the new World Harmony
concept's gradual entrance into the vision of a world society. Chinese
leaders thoughts on World Harmony were quickly deepening, for two
months later, on September 15, 2005, President Hu Jintao gave a
speech at the United Nation General Assembly in which he detailed the
deep contents of World Harmony. Participants of the meeting gave the
speech a resounding response, and world media also gave the speech
heightened notice and positive evaluation. It is generally considered
that China as a major responsible country is transmitting to the world
its longing for peaceful world development. The speech also served to
relate China's message to build a peaceful, prosperous and Harmony
World together with the rest of the world. Harmonious and cooperative
China stands ready to work for sustainable and long lasting peace and
mutual prosperity with the rest of the world.
(IV) CHINESE HARMONY AS SYSTEM ENGINEERING BLUE PRINT
China's cultural contribution to the world is the harmony philosophy
just as Europe and America are the breeding grounds for democracy.
China for most of its 5000 years of recorded culture was an
agricultural society, in contrast to Europeans, most of whom were
descendants from pastoral nomads. As a continuing ancient culture
China was firmly rooted to cultivating the land handed down through
the generations. This dependency on agriculture led to an inclination to
harmonize with nature rather than to challenge nature. The order of
nature is harmony with Ying and Yang in dynamic balance as taught by
Laotze. As a result harmony philosophy grew in the fertile land of this
Middle Kingdom until it was challenged by Western democracy as late
as the 1900's. Chinese ancient culture, rich in harmony teaching begun
2500 years ago by Laotze and Confucius, was preserved and handed
down with continuing refinement until modern times.
Laotze's instructions of harmony were rooted in observation of the
origin of the universe and natural science. His philosophy of human
activity harmonizing with nature was all embracing, including the
practice of FENG SHUI (living with nature), physical science,
agriculture and Chinese ancient medical practice. Chinese medical
practice is holistic, based on the belief that biological systems must
maintain internal balance to be healthy. The goal of treatment is to
restore the balance of opposing forces in this total system. This led to
the belief that human biological systems, society, and nations are
constantly in an influx of ever changing contending forces. Harmony is
achieved when the contending forces come to a balance or mutual
acceptance under a certain set of conditions. All systems are
constantly shifting, complex, and seldom just black and white (or in
western terms, good or bad). This concept of harmony is just as fitting
in today's complex world and society as it was during the time of
Laotze.
Confucius' teaching comprises social systems including: man with
himself, man between men, man and society and relations between
groups and countries. This includes harmony between government and
its citizens, which means that democracy is part of harmony system
analysis. In keeping with Chinese harmony philosophy, balance is
achieved through self discipline, high moral value, social order rather
than strict law and penal system. The use of physical force is to be
avoided, and employed only as a last resort. Harmony Society
discussions in today's China under the present leadership are returning
to the old roots of system analysis and ever changing balance of major
forces in a changing world. This is based on the very nature of Chinese
peoples' longing for harmony and the ancient teaching of tolerance,
acceptance and equity. Both Laotze and Confucius teachings were
comprehensive system engineering analyses of Harmony for ancient
China, and the Communique is a system analysis of Socialism with
Chinese characteristics for today's China.
(V) THE ULTIMATE PRINCIPLE OF HARMONY
The ultimate principle of Chinese ancient principles, as expounded by
LAOTZE in DAO DE JING, is the balance of YING and YANG but
ultimately YING envelopes YANG and is beautifully illustrated in the
Daoist circle sign of life. However it is known observation today that
dark energy represents over eighty percent of the universe and visible
matter is the smaller remaining part.
This general theme of YING over YANG runs through DAO DE JING. To
name a few images from DAO DE JING; soft overcomes the hard like
dripping water eventually bores a hole in the hardest rock, water flows
over and immerses that blocks it. Water representing Ying can both
float and sink a boat. Harmony represents soft power to resolve
conflicts as opposed to warfare which represents hard power. In
today's conflicting world one model of democracy cannot be forced on
other nations of different cultures and at different developing stages.
Democracy works best by softly and patiently winning over the hearts
and minds of people. Countering extremism by extremism is bound to
lead to ultimate destruction of both sides. The best way to resolve
conflicts is to bring harmony to the confronting parties. This can start
by understanding the differences in cultural understandings and causes
of conflicts through mutual respect, trust, tolerance and acceptance.
Confucius said "JUN ZI HE ER BU TONG, XIAO REN TONG ER BU HE"
which means that gentlemen place harmony above ideological
differences, and petty people fight for ideology differences. "HAI NAI
BEI CHUAN, YU YONG NAI DA"( The sea takes in hundreds of rivers, it
can be big only if it contains). World harmony will surely come.
Editor: Pan Letian
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