Chinese Association for International Understanding

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Promote Interaction and Mutual Learning between Civilizations of China and Rest of Asia


Peng Long As an important branch of the Asian civilization, the extensive and profound Chinese culture was created by the Chinese people over their thousands of years of history of hard work and struggle. Going through various historical and social changes, the Chinese culture has maintained its continuity, and it has been reflecting the essence of the spiritual pursuits of the Chinese people. As the unique symbol of the spiritual world of the Chinese people, the Chinese culture nurtured and contributed to the continuation and development of the Chinese nation. The reason why the Chinese culture is of lasting vitality lies in its nature of openness and inclusiveness, which on the one hand is manifested by the joint efforts in creation and cultural exchange by and between different peoples of the Chinese nation, on the other hand is reflected by the exchange of the Chinese culture with cultures of the rest of the world, especially with that of the rest of Asia. As early as before 100 B.C., China opened the silk road, a network of trade and cultural transmission routes linking China and the Western Regions (a Han Dynasty term for the area west of Yu’men’guan, including what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia). The silk produced by the Chinese people changed the dressing pattern of the western people, while the products and music of the Western Region also changed the daily life and music style of China. The Confucianism originated from China affected the academic and cultural development of Japan and the Korean Peninsula, while the Buddhism born in the South Asia also had an impact on the Chinese culture. The absorption and accumulation of foreign cultures during the ancient time, such as the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, enhanced the emergence of prosperity in terms of culture and economy in China at that time, while the spreading of the Chinese culture to the outside world in dynasties such as the Tang and the Song, also accelerated the development pace of Southeast Asian countries. In the early 15th century, Zheng He, the renowned mariner and explorer during China’s early Ming Dynasty, made seven ocean-going voyages, with his footprint covering most Southeast Asian countries and even Kenya, leaving numerous stories of people-to-people friendly exchange between China and these countries. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although the national government of China adopted the boycott policy, banning on maritime trade or intercourse with foreign countries, the foreign exchange between civil societies didn’t stop—cross border traffic via the maritime silk road prospered. Some merchants and ordinary residents of China lived on the sea and devoted themselves to international trade, and some of them even settled down on Southeast Asia or other regions of the world, becoming the ancestors of overseas Chinese and making great contributions to the spreading of the Chinese culture. The Asian civilization had been leading the world for a long history and made outstanding contribution to the promotion of the development pace of human civilization. Joining together by mountains and rivers and with a long history of friendly exchange, Asian countries fostered distinctive history, culture and social-economic links. The silk road and maritime silk road, which took their roots from China, had become the bridges of friendship bearing the economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges among Asian people. Under the joint efforts of people from different countries of Asia, the colorful and harmonious Asian culture was gradually formed and became glorious chapters of human civilization development. Since the 1950s, with their own efforts, Asian countries scored great achievements in terms of social and economic development, and their influence in regional and international affairs surged. In the past 30 years, with East Asia taking the lead, Asian economy has witnessed rapid development-the economy of East Asia even has created the world-acclaimed “East Asian miracle” and East Asia has become the most dynamic region around the globe in terms of economic development. With the great achievements of social-economic development and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards over more than 30 years since the reform and opening up, China has now become the world’s second largest economy. Catering to the development stage of Asia and accurately positioning the mutually compatible national interests of countries in this region, China appropriately proposed a series of initiatives, such as building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st -Century Maritime Silk Road, China-Pakistan economic corridor, BCIM economic corridor, “2+7 Chinese-ASEAN cooperation framework”, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and so on. Now, with Asian countries interacting with each other along the ancient silk road and maritime silk road, the silk road resumed its nature of peace, mutual benefit, open communication and functions of trade, mutual exchange and mutual learning, and the rest of Asia will once again benefit from the development of China. In a world the mankind is forming a destiny community, peace and development have become the common aspirations of Asian countries. Promoting the exchange, interaction, and mutual learning between the cultures of China and the rest of the world is the only way to resolve the common problems facing human beings, enhance the world’s understanding on today’s China, make the world a better place, and improve the life of people of different countries. Promoting the interaction and mutual learning between the Chinese culture and other Asian civilizations is the necessary requirement for resolving the common problems and difficulties facing the human development. In today’s world, Asia is not only the most dynamic region in terms of economic development, but also a region facing many hot and sensitive issues. It is an important topic for Asian countries to deal with neighboring countries, properly resolve the contradictions and disputes among themselves and build a mutual development and harmonious Asia. Important implications and inspirations can be found from the Chinese culture on the resolving of the difficulties facing mankind. The Chinese culture features kindheartedness, humanism, sincerity, righteousness, concordance and harmony. The ideas and practices of “Tao models itself after nature” and “man is an integral part of nature” pointed the only path leading to ecological harmony; the ideas of “never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself” and “be friendly with each other and try your best to help each other” are the important principles regulating international relations; the “people-based” idea and the idea of “benevolence means to love others” are the important basic philosophies of public governance; “gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity” and “seek common ground while reserving differences” are important ideas ensuring the diversity as well as peace and stability of the world we live in. These ancient wisdoms of the Chinese culture are still of great significance in our times in that they are helpful for promoting the peaceful development of human society, thus deserving to be carried forward. Promoting the interaction and mutual learning between the Chinese culture and other Asian civilizations is one of the effective channels enhancing the world’s understanding on today’s China. China boasts a civilization with a history of 5,000 years and the Chinese culture recorded the activities, ideas and creations of the Chinese people over such a long history. Some treasures of the Chinese culture, such as the Chinese characters, calligraphy, painting, Chinese medicine and wushu (which is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts), are the great pearls of culture of the whole world. The long and continuous cultural tradition not only refined the unique temperament and character of the Chinese nation, but also contributed to the forming of the values and common spiritual world of the Chinese people. Over thousands of years, the Chinese nation has undergone a unique development path of civilization different from that of other countries and nations. Today, our choice of the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics was not a haphazard choice but a choice based on our historic and cultural tradition. The Chinese dream, featuring the prosperity of the country, the revitalization of the nation and the happiness of the people, was deeply rooted in the cultural soil of China. Striding ahead along the road of our own choice, we are supported by our profound historical heritage and are of great confidence and driving force of forging ahead. Promoting the interaction and mutual learning between the Chinese culture and other Asian civilizations is a strategic choice for realizing the long-term development objectives of China. History taught us that the precondition of the rise of a great power usually lies in the support of neighboring countries. The realization of the Chinese dream of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation first calls for the recognition and support of Asian countries. Therefore, China should integrate the dream of the Chinese people with the dream of the Asian people. The better China developed, the closer the relationship between China and the rest of the world, especially the rest of Asia, and the more necessary for China to strengthen its strategic backup in Asia. “Relatives hope each other to be good, the same as neighbors.” China has been sticking to the policies and ideas of “building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries” “helping neighbors to get rich, safe, and building a harmonious relationship with neighbors” and “amicability, honesty, benefit and tolerance”-it was not only the responsibility and undertaking of China to the future and destiny of Asia, but also the strategic choice of China for sustaining its long-term development. China should treat neighboring countries equally, keep close relationship and frequent exchange with neighboring countries, do more things winning the support from and warming the hearts of neighboring countries, thus making neighboring countries be more friendly, recognizable and supportive to China. Civilization is like water, nourishing others in silence and benefiting all. Exchange and mutual learning make civilization more colorful and diversified. Facing new opportunities and challenges, we should make our strategic choice conform to the development trend of Asia, adhere to the diversification of cultures and conversation between civilizations, promote the mutual respect and harmonious coexistence of different cultures and civilizations, thus making the interaction and mutual learning between different civilizations the bridges of friendship connecting people of different countries, the force driving the social development of mankind, and the stabilizer maintaining world peace. We should join our hands in handling various challenges facing mankind by seeking wisdom and nourishment from different civilizations and offering people with mental support and spiritual comfort. We should continuously promote all-round people-to-people exchange, and strengthen the friendly exchange in terms of culture, tourism, science, education as well as local cooperation. With interaction and mutual learning between cultures and civilizations, we could open our mind, broaden our horizon, enlarge our consensus, and improve our humanistic quality in the long run, thus bringing into full play the role of culture in promoting the progress of human society. Catering to the actual demands of other Asian countries, we should continue to offer them with scholarships and training opportunities so as to help them train more professionals. In order to cultivate the soil for dialogue and mutual understanding between different cultures and civilizations, we should break the language barrier and recommend or translate various literal works of different countries. We should further strengthen our cultural awareness and confidence, actively exchange experience of country governance with Asian countries, share the ideas and stories of China with other countries, and write new chapters of people-to-people exchange by striving to connect the Chinese dream with the aspiration of neighboring countries to live a better life and the bright future of regional development. Making the most of the advantages of people-to-people exchange and cultural talents, we should enhance the exchange among different peoples and different cultures, increase and expand platforms of exchange, strengthen the shaping of branded cultural programs, improve the quality of international cultural exchange, thus making new contributions to the implementation of the strategic blueprint of four comprehensives (namely comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepen reform, comprehensively implement the rule of law, and comprehensively strengthen Party discipline), to the improvement of China’s cultural soft power, and to the strengthening of world peace. 　（Peng Long, President of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Council Member of the Standing Committee of CAFIU’S Executive Council）