Writing a New Chapter of Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning

By Professor Wang Xuedian, Shandong University

Writing a New Chapter of Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning

By Professor Wang Xuedian, Shandong University

Civilizations communicate because of diversity, learn from each other because of communication, and develop because of mutual learning. President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference focused on strengthening exchanges and mutual learning among different countries, nationalities and cultures in the world, and consolidating the humanistic cultural foundation of building a community with a shared future for Asia and a community with a shared future for mankind. He raised 4 important points as follows: adhering to mutual respect, treating each other equally: and adhering to beautiful and harmonious coexistence; adhering to openness and inclusiveness, as well as mutual learning; adhering to keeping pace with the times, and innovative development. This keynote speech is of great significance for deepening the exchange of civilizations and learning from each other, and jointly building a community with a shared future for Asia and a community with a shared future for mankind. We should study and comprehend it deeply, strive to maintain the diversity of civilizations, and constantly deepen exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Diversity is the basic posture of human civilization

Civilizations are diverse, which is the objective law of the development of human civilizations. President Xi Jinping pointes out that "if human civilizations grow into one tone and one model, the world will be too monotonous and dull." In the long course of history, human beings have created and developed colorful civilizations. Every civilization is rooted in the soil of its own existence, which embodies the extraordinary wisdom and spiritual pursuit of a country and a nationality, and has its own value of existence. In 1998, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution to designate the year 2001 as the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity issued by UNESCO in 2001 points out that "cultural diversity is the source of communication, innovation and creation, as biodiversity is indispensable for human beings to maintain biological balance", "cultural diversity is the common heritage of mankind", and "cultural diversity is one source of development, which is not only a factor to promote economic growth, but also a means to enjoy a satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life. All these show that the diversity of civilizations has become a consensus of the international community.

Asia is one of the earliest settlements of mankind, and also an important birthplace of human civilizations. From thousands of years B.C., people living in the Tigris-Euphrates River, the Indus-Ganges River, the Yellow River-Yangtze River and other valleys began to cultivate and irrigate, make vessels and build their homes. Generations after generations of Asian ancestors have gone through the baptism of years, engraving the practice of production and life into a long history and deep civilization. American historian Stavrianos wrote in the General History of the World, the fertile river basins and plains of the four regions of the Middle East, India, China and Europe have bred the greatest civilizations in history. These civilizations have made the Eurasian continent the center of world history that plays an important role. Asia is not only the cradle of ancient human civilization, but also the locomotive of world economic development before modern times. It plays a leading role in the early process of economic globalization. Since modern times, the development of Asian civilization has experienced a bumpy process from setbacks to rising. At present, Asia accounts for one third of the world's total economy and two-thirds of the world's population, ushering in the best period of development in history and becoming a new engine of global economic growth.

Today's Asia is still a complex of multiple civilizations. The diversity of Asian civilizations is very obvious, different civilizations, different nationalities, different religions and different systems coexist pluralistically with numerous unique languages, literature and arts and religious customs. The development of contemporary Asian civilizations should draw on historical experience and wisdom, strive to maintain the diversity of civilizations and actively carry out dialogue and cooperation among civilizations. Carrying out dialogue among civilizations is an important way to eliminate differences among civilizations and paying attention to exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is a valuable historical experience in the development of Asian civilizations. Whether dialogue among civilizations carried out for the needed goods along the Silk Road, the Tea Road, the Spice Road and other ancient commercial routes, or the exchanges of civilizations promoted by the cooperation of Asian countries in the fields of science, technology, education, culture, health, and people-to-people exchanges, the Asian civilizations have grown and developed through exchanges and mutual learning.

"A single flower does not mean spring, a hundred flowers blossom all over garden in spring." Diversity of civilizations is the basic posture of the development of human civilizations. Diversity is the characteristic and advantage of Asian civilizations, the source of vitality of Asian civilizations, and the powerful motive force for the continuous innovation and development of world civilizations. Only on the basis of a profound understanding of and respect for the diversity of civilizations, can we deepen the exchange of civilizations and learn from each other better, and work together to build a community with a shared future for Asia and a community with a shared future for human kind.

Exchange and mutual learning are essential requirements for development of civilizations

Civilizations are diverse and different. Just as living organisms need metabolism, civilizations also need to realize metabolism and continuous development through mutual learning and communication. If a civilization is self-enclosed for a long time, it will decline. President Xi Jinping emphasizes that "exchanges and mutual learning are essential requirements for the development of civilizations". The history of human civilizations fully shows that only in dialogue with other civilizations can a civilization overcome its weak points, and only in communication with other civilizations can it maintain its vigorous vitality.

Civilizations are only different naturally as colors, and there is no distinction between good civilization and bad civilization. Every civilization has its historical rationality, embodies the wisdom of human beings to solve their own living difficulties and pursue a better life, represents the unique way forward for human beings, and has its own strength and weaknesses. Therefore, different civilizations have a strong complementary nature and inherent requirements of learning from each other, and should neither be isolated nor excluded from each other. Faced with the differences between civilizations, we should carry out dialogue among civilizations and promote their exchanges and mutual learning. Human history is a magnificent picture of the interaction, mutual learning and integration of different civilizations. History has proved that any hard means to solve the differences in civilizations is not successful, but only brings disaster to human civilizations.

Exchange and mutual learning and harmonious coexistence among civilizations are important reasons for the long-term continuation and vitality of Asian civilizations, as well as a basic historical experience in the development of Asian civilizations. People of all ethnic groups in Asian countries have formed many valuable ideas through cultural exchanges and mutual learning in their long-term practice. Although these ideas are expressed in different languages, their basic truth is similar, and they are called the Oriental wisdom shared by the Asian people. These Oriental wisdom, with strong vitality and infinite charm, are the common ideological wealth of the Asian people and shine brightly in the garden of world civilizations.

Cultural exchange and mutual learning is an important way to build a community with a shared future for human kind. In today's world, human beings are facing various challenges. President Xi Jinping stresses that "to meet common challenges and move towards a better future, we need not only economic and technological strength, but also cultural and civilization strength." Building a community with a shared future for human kind is inseparable from the exchange and mutual learning of different civilizations. Civilizations are colorful, human civilizations have the value of exchange and mutual learning because of diversity; civilizations are equal, human civilization has the premise of exchange and mutual learning because of equality; civilizations are inclusive, and human civilizations have the power to promote exchange and mutual learning because of inclusiveness. Only by carrying out dialogue among civilizations and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, can human civilizations be full of vitality and provide deep support, including ideological and cultural factors, for the construction of a community with a shared future for human kind. It is the diversity of civilizations, exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations that promote the common development of various Asian civilizations and form the colorful and prosperous family of Asia. Today, Asian civilizations have become a source of enriching spiritual life for the Asian people, a bridge to enhance friendship among the peoples of various countries and a link to maintain peace. At the Asian Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations, guests from 47 Asian countries and five continents gathered together to deepen the exchange of civilizations and learn from each other, which provides a new model and direction for the exchange, mutual learning and harmonious coexistence of civilizations.

Making greater contributions to deepening cultural exchanges and mutual learning

At present, in-depth development of the world's multi-polarization, economic globalization, cultural diversity, information society, peace, development, cooperation and win-win results are the people's aspirations of various countries and the mega-trend of world development. At the same time, we should also see that the instability and uncertainty of the world are more prominent, and the global challenges facing mankind are more severe. Under the background of more prominent instability and uncertainty, the theory of superiority of a civilization, the theory of clash of civilizations and the theory of the end of history have come into being. Some people believe that their own civilization is superior to others, insisting on transforming or even replacing other civilizations; others pursue unilateralism and protectionism, refuse equal dialogue, deny mutual benefit and win-win operation, and even suppress other civilizations. These ideas and practices are reversing the course of history, and will bring catastrophic consequences if they succeed. The Chinese civilization always maintains that there is no distinction between valuable civilizations and invaluable civilizations, and vigorously promotes exchanges and mutual learning and harmonious coexistence among different civilizations.

Chinese civilization is an open system of pluralism and integration, which combines the excellent elements of other civilizations. Its development and progress are the result of the convergence and integration with other civilizations. The Chinese civilization is not monotonous, but colorful. The Chinese civilization is not isolated, but always maintains vigorous vitality in exchanges with other civilizations, learning from each other to overcome weaknesses. The Chinese civilization is not static, but shows constantly self-renewal and self-transcendence in the process of exchange and mutual learning.

President Xi Jinping points out that "the Chinese civilization is an open system formed through continuous exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations", "Chinese civilization always gets amalgamated and renewed in learning from others for a long time", "China today is not only China’s China, but also Asia’s China and world’s China, and China in the future will embrace the world with a more open attitude and contribute to the world with more vigorous civilization.” These important expositions clarify the nature and role of Chinese civilization as an important part of Asian civilizations, and point out the direction for deepening exchanges and mutual learning between the Chinese civilization and other civilizations. On the one hand, we should be proud and confident, and should not belittle ourselves or engage in historical nihilism, which is the cornerstone of the self-relied Chinese civilization. On the other hand, we should consider and promote the development of Chinese civilization from a long-term and broad perspective, recognizing that the prosperity and development of the Chinese civilization can not be separated from Asia and the world either. The creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture is not self-admired or closed-door action, but should fully absorb and draw lessons from the excellent achievements of foreign cultures. With a more open and inclusive attitude, the Chinese civilization will continue to play an active role in the development of Asian and world civilizations, vigorously promote dialogue among civilizations, exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and make greater contributions to the construction of a community with a shared future for Asia and a Community with a shared future for human kind.

( Edited excerpts of the article in People's Daily June 13, 2019 )