From  CHINESE  perspective  

HARMONY    

Agenda  Ø   Meaning  of  Harmony  Ø   Origin  of  Harmony  in  China  Ø   Lessons  from  Harmony  •  In  Social  context  •  In  Political  context  •  In  Economic  context  Ø  How  China  rediscovered  Harmony  

Meaning  of  Harmony  • The  concept  of  harmony  in  Chinese  culture  comes  from  music.  • Harmony  relates  to  important  concepts  of  Confucianism  such  as          Ren  (Benevolence,  Humanness)        Yi  (Righteousness,  Justice)        Li  (Propriety,  Conduct,  Etiquette)          Zhi  (Knowledge)        Xin  (Integrity)  

Contd…  Resolution  of  Conflicts  between    •  Human  and  Nature  •  Human  &  Human  •  Members  of  a  Group  •  Citizens  to  a  society  at  Large  •  Rulers  &  the  ruled  •  Clashes  amongst  the  religions    •  Ideological  contests  •  Dependence  &  Independence  development  between  national  

blocks  

Origin  of  Harmony  in  China  •  During  the  Eastern  Zhou  Dynasty,  discussion  of  music  flourished  under  Confucius  and  the  school  of  thoughts  he  created,  Confucianism  •  Factors  leading  to  Harmony        -­‐  Predominantly  agricultural  society          -­‐  Teachings  of  Confucius  and  other  scholars          -­‐  Willingness  of  Society  to  accept  new  idea    Famous  saying  from  Warring  State  Period  (479  BC  to  221  BC)  “Bai  Hua  Chi  Fan    Bai  Jia  Chi  ming”    Let  hundred  Flowers  Bloom  Let  hundred  Schools  Flourish  

Lessons  from  Harmony  • Social  Context  –  Harmony  in  Chinese  Culture  关系与面子    Opening  poem  of  Shijing    Crying  the  Ospreys    Merrily  the  ospreys  cry    On  the  islet  in  the  stream    Graceful  gentle  and  bright    is  she    A  fit  mate  for  gentleman    for  him    Long  and  short  is  the  water  plant    Left  and  right  borne  by  the  current    Graceful  gentle  and  bright    Longing  for  her,  Awaken  or  in  his  dream    Waiting  for  her  reply    Long  he  thought,  long  night  awaken    Long  and  short  is  the  water  plant    Left  and  right  to  pluck  them    Graceful  gentle  and  bright    Wed  her  is  his  dream    Merrily  paying  tune  with  her    Long  and  short  is  the  water  plant    Left  and  right  to  gather  them    Graceful  gentle  and  bright    Marry  her  is  his  dream    Drums  and  bells  beating  

5  Confucian  Relationships  • Father  to  Son  • Elder  Brother  to  Younger  Brother  • Husband  to  Wife  • Elder  to  Junior  • Ruler  to  Subject  

One  of  his  famous  sayings  from  Confucius  goes:  “In  carrying  our  rites,  it  is  harmony  that  is  prized.”    (礼之用,  和为贵。Lǐ  zhī  yòng,    hé  wéi  guì.  )  

•  Personal  network  关系(guānxì)  -­‐  In  China,  an  established  network  of  quality  contacts  can  help  accomplish  almost  anything,  and  thus  having  good  guanxi  is  a  very  powerful  asset.  • Human  sentiment    人情  (rénqíng  )  -­‐  The  rule  of  ”renqing”  in  Chinese  society  as  fellows:  “If  you  have  received  a  drop  of  beneficence  from  other  people,  you  should  return  to  them  a  fountain  of  beneficence”.  

A  Chinese  who  has  done  a  favor  for  you  automatically  feels  that  he  or  she  is  owned  a  favor  from  you  in  return.  •  Face  面子  (miànzi)  -­‐  Face  is  the  concept  of  Mianzi  .  In  Chinese  culture,  

losing  face,  saving  face  and  giving  face  is  very  important.  Surface  harmony  is  the  art  of  maintaining  composure  and  remaining  polite  and  courteous.  Surface  harmony  is  seen  to  be  of  higher  value  than  personal  emotion  and  thus  proper  etiquette  will  serve  to  safeguard  harmony  and  face.  

   

• Humility  and  modesty  客气  (kèqi)  -­‐  Ke  means  guest  and  qi  means  behavior.  Keqi  is  the  concept  of  humility  and  modesty  that  is  illustrated  through  being  considerate,  polite  and  well  mannered.  Chinese  people  do  not  consider  it  polite  to  be  arrogant  and  boast  about  one’s  achievement  and  connections.  • Reciprocity  礼尚往来  (lǐ  shàng  wǎnglái)  -­‐  This  concept  can  be  defined  as  individuals  and  groups  exchanging  favors.  People  will  ask  for  favors  from  those  with  whom  they  have  guanxi.  • Collective  vs.  individual  interest  -­‐  Another  deep-­‐seated  social  belief  is  that  of  the  collective  interest  being  of  greater  importance  than  that  of  the  individual.  As  a  result,  individuals  should  sacrifice  their  own  interests  in  order  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  majority.  

 

An  individualist  mentality  and  a  collectivist    mentality.  

• Example  One-­‐If  you  show  a  person  from  West  an  image  of  a  fish  tank,  the  American  will  usually  describe  the  biggest  fish  in  the  tank  and  what  it  is  doing.  If  you  ask  a  Chinese  person  to  describe  a  fish  tank,  the  Chinese  will  usually  describe  the  context  in  which  the  fish  swim.  

Take  Away  -­‐  Americans  usually  see  individuals;  Chinese  and  other  Asians  see  contexts.  • Example  Two  –  Show  Westerners  individual  pictures  of  a  chicken,  a  cow  and  hay  and  asked  the  subjects  to  pick  out  the  two  that  go  together,  the  Americans  would  usually  pick  out  the  chicken  and  the  cow.  They're  both  animals.  Most  Asian  people,  on  the  other  hand,  would  pick  out  the  cow  and  the  hay,  since  cows  depend  on  hay.    

Take  Away  -­‐  Americans  are  more  likely  to  see  categories.  Asians  are  more  likely  to  see  relationships.    

Message  from  China  through  Sports  -­‐    The  ceremony  drew  from  China's  long  history,  but  surely  the  most  striking  features  were  the  images  of  thousands  of  Chinese  moving  as  one  –  drumming  as  one,  dancing  as  one,  sprinting  on  precise  formations  without  ever  stumbling  or  colliding.  We've  seen  displays  of  mass  conformity  before,  but  this  was  collectivism  of  the  present  –  a  high-­‐tech  vision  of  the  harmonious  society  performed  in  the  context  of  China's  miraculous  growth.  

 

An  old  Chinese  Proverb  •  If  there  be  righteousness  in  the  heart,  there  will  be  beauty  in  the  character.  •  If  there  is  beauty  in  the  character,  there  will  be  harmony  in  the  home.  •  If  there  is  harmony  in  the  home,  there  will  be  order  in  each  nation.  • When  there  is  order  in  each  nation,  there  will  be  PEACE  IN  THE  WORLD!  

Political  Context  –    Principles  governing  China’s  practice  of  harmony-­‐oriented  diplomacy  

• Being both outward-looking and inward-looking, seeking mutual adjustment and mutual adaptation with the world •  Seeking a multi-faceted win-win outcome. • Putting aside ideological differences and focusing on substantive

cooperation in foreign relations. • Establishing secure communities without the intention of sphere of

influence, power politics, or dominance

Economic  /  Technological  Context  –    •  Open  Door  Policy    •  The  principle  of  Equality  and  Mutual  Benefit  •  Focus  on  Green  Technological  advancements  

How  China  rediscovered  Harmony  Harmonious  Society  (hexie  Shehui)    Harmonious  World  (hexie  Shiji)  

Thanks  

•  In  this  poem,  the  harmonious  relationship  of  a  couple  has  been  described.  •  In  ancient  China,  harmony  is  the  core  of  philosophy.  Nature  and  human,  society  and  individual,  male  and  female,  all  should  be  in  harmony  according  to  the  natural  law.  Just  like  no  one  is  an  isolated  island,  everyone  is  associated  with  others.  Family  as  the  smallest  unit  of  society  represents  the  harmonious  relationship  between  husband  and  wife.  So  the  poem  is  not  for  entertainment  but  for  moral  lessons.  In  this  poem,  metaphors  are  osprey  and  water  plant.  Ospreys  in  Chinese  culture  is  a  kind  of  bird  loyal  to  love,  when  the  couple  lost  one,  the  other  will  keep  alone  to  the  rest  of  its  life.  • Here,  when  the  boy  wants  to  pay  court  to  his  beloved  girl,  he  compares  his  love  to  the  loyal  osprey,  and  the  water  plant  was  like  his  sentiment,  so  romantic  and  deep.  When  he  got  her  love,  he  will  cherish  it  forever.  It  put  on  the  beginning  of  Shijing  to  lay  stress  on  the  importance  of  harmonious  family  which  is  the  foundation  of  social  stability  and  development.