the great harmony

The Great Harmony has Already Begun

A. The Great Harmony as Described in Chinese PhilosophyB. All History has been a Preparation for The Great Harmony C. The Great Harmony needs One Common Faith D. China’s Contribution to The Great Harmony


I have never seen the realization of the Great Tao and the eminent sage rulers of the Three dynasties, but I have always envisioned them. When the Great Tao is realized, the spirit of openness and fairness will prevail all under the sky. The men of talents, virtue, and ability shall be chosen equally, and sincerity and harmony shall be cultivated. Therefore, men did not only love their parents and not treat their children as only children. A sufficient provision shall be secured for the aged till their death and competent employment for the able bodied and adequate means of upbringing for the young. Kindness and compassion shall be shown to widows, orphans, childless people, and those who are disabled by disease, so that they will have the wherewithal for support. Men will have their proper works and women will have their homes. They shall hate to see the wealth of natural resources under-developed, but also dislike to see the hoarding of wealth for their own pleasures. They shall regret of not exerting themselves (of their given talents) but also hate to exert themselves only for their own benefit. Thus, the selfish schemes shall be repressed and found no development. Robbers, filchers, and the rebellious traitors shall not appear, and hence the outer doors shall be left open. This shall be the period of what I called the Great Unity (Da Tong).

Confucius 孔子 551 - 479 BC

Suppose that everyone in the world practiced universal love, so that everyone loved every other person as much as he loved himself. Would anyone then be lacking in filial devotion? If everyone regarded his father, his elder brother, and his ruler just as he does himself, towards whom could he be lacking in devotion? Would there then be anyone who was not affectionate....Would there be any thieves and robbers? If everyone looked upon other men’s houses as if they were his own, who would steal?...Would noble clans contend among themselves? Would states attack each other...then the whole world would enjoy peace and good order.

Mo Zi 墨子 470 - 391 BC

长夜沾湿何由彻！

安得广厦千万间，

大庇天下寒士俱欢颜，

风雨不动安如山！

呜呼！何时眼前突兀见此屋

，

吾庐独破受冻死亦足！

——

杜甫

The Roof Whirled Away by Winds When will this long night of drizzle come to an end?Now I dream of an immense mansion, tens of thousands of rooms,Where all the cold creatures can take shelter, their faces alight;Not moved by the wind or the rain, a mansion as solid as the mountainAlas, when shall I see such a majestic house?If I could see this, even though my poor house were torn down,Even though I were frozen to death I would be content.

Du Fu 杜甫 721-770

"Heaven is my father and earth is my mother..all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions...”

Zhang Zai 张载 1020-1077

All people are equal, and do not consider position or rank as an honour either. Only wisdom and humanity are promoted and encouraged. Wisdom is to initiate things, accomplish undertakings, promote utility and benefits and advance people, while humanity is to confer benefits extensively on all the people and to bring salvation to them, to love people and to benefit things. There is no honour outside of wisdom and humanity...

In the Age of Great Peace, since man’s nature is already good and his ability and intelligence is superior, they only rejoice in matters of wisdom and humanity. New institutions appear every day. Public benefits increase every day. The human mind gets stronger every day. And knowledge becomes clearer every day. People in the whole world together reach the realm of humanity, longevity, perfect happiness, and infinite goodness and wisdom...

Water and fire possess power but no life, grass and trees have life but cannot know, birds and animals know but are without the sense of righteousness. Man has power, life, knowledge and the sense of righteousness. Therefore, he is the most precious of all species. His strength is not equal to that of an ox. He cannot run as fast as a horse. Yet horse and oxen are used by man. Why? Because man has the ability and intelligence for organization and community.

Li Zhi 李贽 1527-1602

Kong You Wei wrote the first draft of Da Tong Shu in 1884-5. He finished it in 1902, changing the name from “Universal Principles of Mankind” to “The Book of Great Unity.

“In the first of these (three stages of social evolution) , the Disorderly Stage, primitive civilization is just rising from chaos, and the social mind is still very rude….In the second, the Advancing Peace Stage (Lesser Peace), there is a distinction only between all the civilized countries and the barbarians….in the third, the Extreme Peace Stage (The Most Great Peace), there is no distinction at all….the whole world is one unit, and the character of mankind is on the highest plane.

Ta T’u ng Shu, The One World Philosophy of Kang You Wei, Translated by Laurence Thompson, George Allen and Unwin, 1958, p. 49.

Kang You Wei 康有爲 (1858-1927)

Sun Zhong Shan (Sun Yat Sen) The World Belongs to the People

1950 – Establishment of the United Nations

“Fraternity is the as yet unrealized ideal of humanity. Liberty has no safe foundation except human brotherhood. Equality can never be anything but a dream until we feel towards each other as brothers. It may be for China, to point the way to this fraternity. Napoleon Bonaparte said, ‘When China moves, she will move the world’. For centuries, the Chinese have been a peace-loving people. China with its multitudinous population and its love of peace cannot but be instrumental in bringing about Universal Peace – when rights need not be backed by armies and dreadnoughts.

Song Qing Ling, Woman in World History: Song Qing Ling, Israel Epstein, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 2003, p.5.

In June 1947, Song Qing Ling wrote to Nehru saying, referring to the civil war in China and pre-independence convulsions in India, “Perhaps this is the tempering process from which our peoples will emerge with awareness and new spirit for their task in the future civilization.”

She suggests the suffering of China has helped it acquire capacity.

Song Qing Ling 1893 –1981), Madame Sun Yat Sen

同一个世界同一个梦想 Beijing 2008 Olympic Theme: One World One Dream

1750-1918

After 1919

Empire/Nation

City/City-State

Tribe

Family

World Community

The Evolution of Social and Political Order

Globalization

Greater and greater release of human capacity

“It would be better if the nations and peoples of the world had a clearer understanding of each other, allowing the mental chasm between East and West to be bridged. After all they are, and have been for several centuries,

intimate partners in the business of building a world civilization. The technological world of today is a product of both East and West to an extent which until recently no one had ever imagined. It is now time for the Chinese contribution to be recognized and acknowledged, by East and West alike. And, above all, let this be recognized by today’s school children, who will be the generation to absorb it into their fundamental conceptions about the world. When that happens, Chinese and Westerners will be able to look each other in the eye, knowing themselves to be true and full partners.Robert Temple, The Genius of China, 1998, p. 12

Modern Science & Technology

European Industrial Revolution

European Agricultural Revolution

Chinese Ideas and Inventions

The Islamic world was a vital link between China and Europe.

The Evolution of Science and Technology

Robert Temple, The Genius of China, 1998.

Agriculture

Astronomy

Engineering

Technology

Medicine

Robert Temple, The Genius of China, 1998.

Mathematics

Magnetism

Physical Sciences

Transportation

Sound & Music

Warfare

The Maturation of Humanity

All created things have their degree or stage of maturity. The period of maturity in the life of a tree is the time of its fruit-bearing...The animal attains a stage of full growth and completeness, and in the human kingdom man reaches his maturity when the light of intelligence attains its greatest powerand development... Similarly there are periods and stages in the collective life of humanity. At one time it was passing through its stage of childhood, at another its period of youth, but now it has entered its long predicted phase of maturity, the evidences of which are everywhere apparent...That which was applicable to human needs during the early history of the race can neither meet nor satisfy the demands of this day, this period of newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former state of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.

Arnold J. Toynbee This British historian referred to civilization as a process, an endeavor...

“….to create a state of society in which the whole of mankind will be able to live together in harmony as members of a single all-inclusive family. This is, I believe, the goal at which all civilizations so far have been aiming unconsciously, if not consciously.“

Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History, abridged one-volume edition, p.44.

• Da Tong, Tian Xia Yi Jia, Tian Xia Wei Gong, Majestic House• He Xie (Harmony)

• The Most Great Peace, The New World Order (Baha’u’llah)• Maturation of Humanity (Abdu’l-Baha)• The reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth (Shoghi Effendi)• All-inclusive Family (Toynbee)• Omega Point of Evolution (de Chardin)• Global Village (McLuhan)• Grand Synthesis (Lazlo)

•The “Return” mentioned in all the great religions.

"The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now, if we would not perish, is to build the Earth.” T. de Chardin

“The Earth is One Country and Mankind its Citizens”Baha’u’llah

The trend of social, political, scientific, and technological evolution is toward a global community.This global community has been referred to as:

MaitreyeIs the name of the Future Buddha

“Another Buddha will arise in the world…., 'How shall we know Him?' The Blessed One replied: 'He will be known as Maitreya, which means He Whose name is "kindness”.Baha'u'llah's given name, Husayn, is Arabic for "kindness.“ Bah’u’llah is the Maitreye, the fifth Buddha, the Future Buddha.

Amitabha Amitabha is the main object of devotion of the Pure Land (Jing Tu/Holy Land) School of Chinese Buddhism. He is considered to preside over a Pure Land to the west. The name "Amitabha" can be translated as “Light of the Infinite”--very similar to the title "Baha'u'llah““Glory or Light of God”. The word "ABHA" ("most glorious") is the superlative form of the word BAHA (Glory).Chinese people often repeat: “Na Mo Amitofu” or “Praise Amitabha” (Praise Baha’u’llah) Statue of Maitreye, the Future Buddha

At Yong He Gong, Beijing.The statue is 18 meters high and is made from one piece of wood

Note: The Hindu language has the same source as Persian, both belong to Arian language.

"...the earth's inhabitants are now challenged to draw on their collective inheritance

• to take up, consciously and systematically, the responsibility for the design of their future…..

• to..."erect.....a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on co-operation and reciprocity. [2]

The challenge of maturity is to: • Accept that we are one people, • Free ourselves from the limited identities and creeds of the past, • Build together the foundations of global civilization.

"Today, humanity has entered on its collective coming-of-age, endowed with the capacity to see the entire panorama of its development as a single process.

"The primary question to be resolved is how the present world, with its entrenched pattern of conflict, can change to a world in which harmony and co-operation will prevail.

[2] To the Peoples of the World: A Baha’i Statement on Peace, Introduction, The Universal House of Justice, October 1985.[3] Ibid, Part 3.

The New World Order: A Turning Point….new goals

If the trend of

Social Political ScientificTechnological

evolution is toward a global community,

Then why are we having such difficulty achieving Peace and Security?

“When heaven is about to bestow a great mission or charge upon someone, it invariably begins by exercising his mind with suffering, toughening his sinews and bones with toil, exposing his body to hunger, subjecting him to extreme poverty, and frustrating all his plans. All these methods are meant to stimulatehis mind, strengthen his nature, and increase his abilities.”

Mencius 孟子 372 - 289 BC

Our One World needs a Common Faith

“….religion is an indispensable source of knowledge and motivation - a wellspring of values, insights, and energy without which social cohesion and collective action are difficult if not impossible to achieve.

Through the teachings and moral guidance of religion, great segments of humanity have learned to discipline their baser propensities and to develop qualities that conduce to social order and cultural advancement.

Such qualities as trustworthiness, compassion, forbearance, fidelity, generosity, humility, courage, and willingness to sacrifice for the common good have constituted the invisible yet essential foundations of progressive community life.

Religion provides the bricks and mortar of society - the ethical precepts and vision that unite people into communities and that give tangible direction and meaning to individual and collective existence.

Overcoming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in Public Institutions: A Bahá’í Perspective

Krishna

Buddha

Zoroaster

Abraham

Moses

Jesus Christ

Muhammad

The Founders of the world’s great religions are the sources of civilization

God’s UniversityA Process of Spiritual EducationProgressive RevelationReligion is OneHumanity is One

The Manifestation of God The Manifestations of God reveal the Word

and Will of God and to listen to Them is to respond to the Call of God.

The Manifestations of God are like perfect Mirrors that reflect the Light of God in all its Splendor. And all these Mirrors reflect the same Light.

While God is beyond our reach, these perfect

Beings come to us from time to time, live among us, give us guidance, and fill us with the energy we need to progress, materially and spiritually.

克利须那 Krishna

亚伯拉罕 Abraham

摩西 Moses

琐罗亚斯得 Zoroaster

佛陀 Buddha

耶稣 Jesus

穆罕默德 Mohammed

巴孛 The Bab

巴哈欧拉 Baha’u’llah

Krishna

Buddha

Zoroaster

Abraham

Moses

Jesus Christ

Muhammad

The Bab

Baha’u’llah

The Founders (the Manifestations) of the world’s great religions are the sources of civilization

History is the record of our response, and lack of response,

to the Manifestations of God.

Truth is Relative to the capacity

of humanity to understand.

Religion must be

renewed, refreshed

The Elements of Civilization were all Present in China’s History

Spiritual Vision provided by the Manifestations

China’s Cycle of Civilization

Dialogue between science and religion


"When words and action are not directed by a moral force, scientific knowledge and technical know-how conduce as readily to misery as they do to prosperity and happiness.1

1. Position Statement on Education, prepared by Baha’i International Task Force on Education, 1989.2. Baha'i International Community, Office of Public Information, The Prosperity of Humankind, Part 4, 1995.

Dialogue needed between Scientific and Spiritual Knowledge

“....the challenge is the empowerment of humankind through a vast increase in access to knowledge, the strategy that can make this possible must be constructed around an ongoing and intensifying dialogue between science and religion......the insights and skills that represent scientific accomplishment must look to the force of spiritual commitment and moral principle to ensure their appropriate application.” 2

Religion must be renewed.The sacred literature of the past may resonate with the present,

but its power to inspire and to govern behaviour has waned.

““Bahá'u'lláh, like the Manifestations before, has: Bahá'u'lláh, like the Manifestations before, has: Imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit, Imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit, Enunciated certain universal principles, and Enunciated certain universal principles, and Propounded a particular philosophy.Propounded a particular philosophy.

In addition, unlike the Manifestations before, He has:In addition, unlike the Manifestations before, He has: Clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws,Clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, Established definite institutions, and Established definite institutions, and Provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy.Provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy.

““ Bahá'u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity, He Bahá'u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity, He has made a design for the uniting of all the has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal under the shelter of the tent of universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our midst, until we have the reality of unity in our midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto and as we work, so will strength be given unto us.”us.”

A Divine Design for Unity

The Bahá’í Faith is a world religion whose purpose is to unite all the races and peoples in one universal Cause and one common Faith.

Bahá’ís are followers of Baha’u’llah, Who they believe is the Promised One of all Ages.

“ That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith.”

All Peoples – One Common Faith

Baha’i Administrative Order

Spiritual and Administrative World Center

The Universal House of Justice

The Baha’is of the world elected the Universal House of Justice, as envisioned by Baha’u’llah and clearly described by ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the Guardian. The Universal House of Justice is the supreme institution of the Faith to which all the Baha’is of the world now turn.

Chinese Ancient Governance: One Center, one Leader, Spiritual and temporal ruler combinedMandate of Heaven (not Mandate of the People), Hierarchical Organization

One country, one script, Poets and philosophers (Learned Individuals) as their conscience.

God

God-King

King

Jesus “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's”

Abuses of the Popes, resistance to knowledge,beginning of split between science and religion

American Revolution. Rejection of Kings, Separation of Church and State,

Division of Powers, Party Systems.

Russian Revolution. Rejection of God and Kings

The Reunion of Moral

& Temporal Authority

The World (except China)

China

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Lu

Xu

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Th

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The Enlightenment, The Rise of Science

A Brief History of Authority

God is Dead

Building a World Civilization

IndividualIndividual

InstitutionsInstitutions

First Participant – Individual

It is the duty of an individual Baha’i to remain firm in the Covenant, to strive daily to bring his or her life in line with Baha’u’llah’s Teachings, and to serve humanity, always conscious of the fact that life does not end with death and that one’s relation with God is eternal.After death, our souls become free and continue to progress towards God for all eternity.

个人

Human beings were not created to exist alone. We live in communities and must work together to build the new civilization.

The community closest to us is the local one which consists of the Baha’is of our village or town.

It is in the local community where we learn to cooperate with one another, to grow together and become united.

Second Participant – Community

Diagram of the Confucian “Great Learning”Add an institutional layer at the community level

to channel safely, productively, and creatively the increasing capacity of humanity.

Baha’u’llah has brought His own Administrative Order, which means that He has told us what institutions we must create, how they should function, and how humanity should be governed.

There are no priests or clergy in the Baha’i Faith, and it is the Local Spiritual Assembly that guides the affairs of the local community.

A Local Spiritual Assembly consists of nine members elected in a prayerful atmosphere by secret ballot by all the adult believers in the community.

Third Participant – Institutions

“China has the most great capability. The Chinese people are most simple-hearted and truth-seeking…Truly, I say, the Chinese are free from any deceit and hypocrisies

and are prompted with ideal motives.

China is the country of the future.

Abdu’l-Baha, Reported in "Star of the West", vol. 8, April 28, 1917, No.3, p.37

Abdu’l-Baha


“China, a land which has its own world and civilization, whose people (in 1923)

constitute one-fourth of the population of the globe, which ranks foremost among all nations

in material, cultural, and spiritual resources and potentialities, and whose future is assuredly bright.

Letter from Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of the East, 23 January 1923.

China Pop: 1.3 billion (2007)World Pop: 6.6 billion (2007)

China = 19.7%

Shoghi Effendi

Chinese Philosophical-Spiritual Resources

• Mahayana Buddhism taught the unity and oneness of all beings. • Confucius: Reciprocity. Moral order is the foundation of social order. • Lao Ze (Daoism): Balance, the unity of opposites• Poets (for example: Li Bai, Du Fu), themes of justice

Love of justice expressed in the words of its poets and philosophers. Daoism: Belief in harmony through dynamic balance, complementary poles: male-female, material-spiritual, inside-outside, light-dark, logic-intuition….capacity to merge opposites and resolve paradoxes, balanced ying and yang, an attitude toward systems, such as in healing and the human body, that allows it to see “wholes” more than dichotomies. The long Confucian tradition that moral order is the foundation of social order and harmony. The well-being of society depends on the spiritual health of the individual. Confucius said if he had to summarize his teachings in one word it would be “reciprocity”. “Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself.” “In hearing litigation, I feel, like anybody else, the necessity to cause the people to have no litigation”. An appetite for consensus-seeking, not litigation, to resolve conflicts. From Buddhism, China has a received high-minded spirituality and a keen sense of the coherence between the material and the spiritual. An emphasis on the importance of the group. Love of perfection that generated so many centuries of civilized beauty. Capacity for obedience. Open-mindedness, tolerance, a lack of prejudice, desire to learn and "seek truth from facts“. Love for the practical application of knowledge; the admiration for deeds not words. Importance given to family relationships, especially respect for parents and elders. A belief in the harmony between man and nature, as seen in China's art, much of its poetry, and, in particular, its garden design. These prefigure the essential concerns of sustainability. Belief in "Tian Xia Yi Jia" (All under heaven is one family). Freedom should not overstep "the boundaries of right". Moderation Modesty

A Selection of Some of China’s Spiritual Concepts & Characteristics

“Social advancement, we know, arises from the ideals and shared beliefs that weld society together. Meaningful social change results as much from the development of qualities and attitudes that foster constructive patterns of human interaction as from the acquisition of technical capacities. True prosperity - a well-being founded on peace, cooperation, altruism, dignity, rectitude of conduct and justice – flows from the light of spiritual awareness and virtue as well as from material discovery and progress.

A related passage from a Baha’i source:

Such qualities as trustworthiness, compassion, forbearance, fidelity, generosity, humility, courage, and willingness to sacrifice for the common good have constituted the invisible yet essential foundations of progressive community life.]

Overcoming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in Public Institutions: A Baha’i Perspective "Global Forum on Fighting Corruption II", May 2001, the Hague, Netherlands.

Confucianism

“From the son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of their person as the root of everything besides.“ From the Confucian text, “The Great Learning”.

“Wo Bu Pa Ben, Wo Pa Huai

I don’t fear stupid (behaviour); I fear bad (behaviour).Miss Zhang, Grade 3 teacher, Black Sesame Lane Elementary School, Beijing, 1997.


“…unless the moral character of a nation is educated, as well as its brain and its talents, civilization has no sure basis."

Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, Baha’i Publishing Trust, London, 1979, p. 31.

Confucianism



“….the communities are day and night occupied in making penal laws, and in preparing and organizing instruments and means of punishment. They build prisons, make chains and fetters, arrange places of exile and banishment, and different kinds of hardships and tortures, and think by these means to discipline criminals, whereas, in reality, they are causing destruction of morals and perversion of characters.

The community, on the contrary, ought day and night to strive and endeavor with the utmost zeal and effort to accomplish the education of men, to cause them day by day to progress and to increase in science and knowledge, to acquire virtues, to gain good morals and to avoid vices, so that crimes may not occur.

Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 270

“In hearing litigation, I feel, like anybody else, the necessity to cause the people to have no litigation.” Confucius

If a relationship descended to the need for litigation, it was a sign of a lack of moral education.

Confucianism


FREEDOM"At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty, I stood firm in the society; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty, I knew the mandate of heaven; at sixty, my ear can tell the good from the bad; at seventy I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing the norm”.

(Another translation of this last part: "At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart, for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.)

This quotation from Confucius is so well known to Chinese people that they often identify the age of a person not by years, but by the maturity of his relationship to freedom.

Someone in their thirties is referred to as being in the "er li" - "stand firm" stage of development; in their forties, the "hu huo" - "not confused" stage; in their fifties, "zhi tian ming" - "understand the meaning of life"; sixties, "er shun", "can distinguish good from bad"; and in their 70s, "er cong xin suo yu" - "follow desire from the heart without transgressing the norm". It is understood that real freedom is attained after a life-long learning process, that it has limits. Freedom should not overstep "the boundaries of right".

A related passage from a Baha’i source:“The quality of freedom and of its expression -- indeed, the very capacity to maintain freedom in a society -- undoubtedly depends on the knowledge and training of individuals and on their ability to cope with the challenges of life with equanimity."[1]“This (individual-society) relationship, so fundamental to the maintenance of civilized life, calls for the utmost degree of understanding and cooperation between society and the individual;

Confucianism


“All within the four seas are brothers”Confucius, Analects 12:5


“The Earth is One Country and Mankind its Citizens”Baha’u’llah

Confucianism


Daoism

"No calamity is greater than not knowing what is enough No fault worse than wanting too much Whoever knows what is enough Has enough. Attachment comes at wasteful cost; Hoarding leads to a certain loss; Knowing what is enough avoids disgrace; Knowing when to stop secures from peril. Only thus can you long last.

Lao Zi, Dao De Jing, ch. 46 and 44

"The sage does not hoard, The more he does for others, The more he has himself. The more he gives, The more he gets.

[1] Lao Zi, Dao De Jing, ch. 8.

Poets Du Fu (AD 713-770)

"Behind the red-painted doors wine and meat are stinking.On the wild roads lie corpses of people frozen to death.A hair breadth divides wealth and poverty.This strange contrast fills me with unappeasable anguish.”

The Roof Whirled Away by Winds "When will this long night of drizzle come to an end?Now I dream of an immense mansion, tens of thousands of rooms,Where all the cold creatures can take shelter, their faces alight;Not moved by the wind or the rain, a mansion as solid as the mountain. Alas, when shall I see such a majestic house?If I could see this, even though my poor house were torn down,Even though I were frozen to death I would be content.

Yan Yang Chu

".....through the last forty centuries China must have matured her thought and learned many lessons in the art of living. Maybe China has something to contribute. Surely there must be a better way, a more humane way of settling international disputes than just by cutting each other's throats.

Surely, with China's four hundred million people (in 1930), four thousand years of culture and vast resources, she must have something to contribute to the peace and progress of mankind.“

Yan Yang Chu (James Yen) was the founder, in China of the Mass Education Movement. In the 1930s, of a rural development education program in Ding Zhou, south of Beijing. In 1943, he was awarded a Copernicus Citation, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Copernicus. The awards were given in Carnegie Hall, New York City, to ten outstanding modern revolutionaries; the others included: Albert Einstein, Orville Wright, Henry Ford, and John Dewey.

What are China’s Material, Cultural, and Spiritual Resources and Potentialities for ?

Social evolution has arrived at the beginning of its maturity, to be expressed in a New World Order, a global civilization.

China has been prepared through its long history to make its own valuable contributions to that Order.

The best of Chinese culture will be preserved, renewed and refreshed to the extent that

China helps build the New World Order. The parts of the world will not grow until the whole is formed.

John Fairbank

This noted Sinologist, in the introduction to his recent book, China: A New History, refers to China as a latecomer to modernity. And, he asks whether China has emerged from isolation just in time

to participate in the demise of the world or,

with millennia of survival experience,

to rescue it?

What will China’s contribution be to the New World Order?

Fanaticism

Sense of superiority

Indifference

Suspicion Open-mindedness

Truth-seeking

Free from deceit and hypocrisies

Promptedwith ideal motives

“In the world there are many different roads but the destination is the same. There are a hundred deliberations but the result is one.

The Book of Changes, cited in Legge, The Four Books, pt. 2, ch. 5

Flexibility

Simple-hearted

Doubt

FearDespair

Hope

Sense of Purpose

TASKBuild together

the foundations of global civilization

(True Modernism)

Examples of qualities and attitudes to the great task before us

Magnanimity

Rigidity

Chauvinism

ToleranceModeration

Cynicism

Qualities in green above are Chinese characteristics identified by Abdu’l-Baha

It may be a confirmation and a joy, lifting the hearts of the Chinese people, to find so much of their vast cultural, philosophical, and spiritual heritage

is in tune with the genuine requirements of this new age, to find they have valuable contributions to make to “true” modernization.

"As China becomes more and more involved with other nations, it can, through its own example and its concerted efforts to foster world peace,

become a most effective participant in the development of a new, world civilization. China does not need to follow the same path already trodden by other nations;

it can open a new path that will lead it directly to an honored position in a New World Order that China, itself, will have helped to build.”

Dr. Farzam Arbab

True Modernization

“O Thou Provider! The dearest wish of this servant of Thy Threshold is to behold the friends of East and West in close embrace;

to see all the members of human society gathered with love in a single great assemblage,

even as individual drops of water collected in one mighty sea; to behold them all as birds in one garden of roses,

as pearls of one ocean, as leaves of one tree, as rays of one sun.”

Abdu’l-Baha

Thank you!