Humanistic and practical-oriented in nature

Unlike the monotheistic traditions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the Chinese sage Confucius avoided discussing ghosts and gods, arguing that "if one couldn't even do anything for human beings, how could they do anything for ghosts" and "if one didn't even know anything about the living, how could they know anything about the dead?"

The Central Plains dynasties as the core of the Chinese nation has never experienced theocracy or religious wars in its history. The Chinese civilization's pursuit of the ideal world of human society is the Way of Heaven, which some scholars have summarized as "the Heaven, the Earth, the King (State), Kindred, and Teachers," reflecting the traditional belief of the Chinese people.

The concrete manifestation of the Way of Heaven is the great unity of the world. Confucius said, "The way of the world is the whole world as one community. The selection of talent should be based on virtues and capabilities, upholding credibility and cultivating harmony. Therefore, one should care for others as they would care for their own kin and love others' children as they would love their own so that the old will enjoy happiness in their late years, the capable will give full play to their talent, the young will be well-bred, and the widowed, lonely, sick, and disabled will receive due support, and men will shoulder their responsibilities, while women will have a sense of belonging of their own—these comprise the great unity." From generation to generation over the past thousands of years, the Chinese people's ideal "world of great unity" has presented a harmonious and orderly social picture of the secular world in which all individuals give full play to their talent, and comply with public morality, each possessing their right place in the social order.

Contrary to Western civilization, Chinese civilization is another kind of moral and ethical system, emphasizing social morality and the Way of Heaven that all beings should follow, rather than advocating for individualistic freedom or rights. In Chinese civilization, the saying "whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world" means not the majority of the people in a Western-style "democratic election," but rather the "public mind," which is in line with the Way of Heaven and "thinking for the common good." This "public mind" considers the interests of all humanity, not only those of a specific religion, regime, party, faction, or person.

The principle of equality

Chinese civilization advocates the principles of "do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you" and "respect others' elders as you do to your own, and care for others' children as you do to your own." However, the fact that it does not emphasize individualism does not mean that it does not have the concept of equality. The Chinese concept of equality is reflected both in exchanges with other cultures and groups and in respect for the diversity of traditions and local cultures of different ethnic groups within the country.

For example, property inheritance in the Central Plains was based on the equalization of male heirs, rather than on the primogeniture system of European or Japanese societies. In fact, the Chinese did not have the stereotype of family heredity as in the European society but had the belief that "the ruler is a boat, and the people are water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it." Not only could the imperial lineage be changed, but also the people and scholars could accept rulers from different ethnic groups of the country who would respect and inherit the Chinese culture, and the nobility was not entitled to wealth forever. As the sayings go, "The benefits brought by the merits of a gentleman will go no further than five generations of his descendants." "Were the nobles and dignitaries born noble? Many would doubt that."

Taking another example, in Chinese dynastic history, the main channel for selecting the best and brightest talent was the imperial examination system, which was open to all subjects. The French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire was so appreciative of China's imperial examination system that he once commented, "Only those talents selected through many levels of rigorous examinations can enter government offices ... it is impossible to envision a better government than this." Voltaire believed the system of imperial examination reflected the spirit of equality more than the hereditary system of titles that was adopted in European countries.

Harmony without uniformity

In understanding and ordering social groups, Confucianism, the mainstay of Chinese civilization, was a set of values and norms of behavior for the ethical order of Chinese society, and groups on the outskirts that had accepted these civilized norms would be regarded as Huaxia, i.e., part of the cultural community, while those that had not would be considered uncivilized Man Yi. Differences between the civilized Huaxia and the uncivilized in terms of language, customs, economic production methods, etc., were seen only as differences in degree of civilization.

In the interaction and exchange with people of different ethnicities, Chinese civilization promoted indoctrination by benevolent governance, following the principle that "if the uncivilized who come afar do not obey, then cultivate them with culture and virtue," advocating the use of its own higher cultural cultivation and virtue to appeal to the less civilized, rather than coerce other groups into accepting its culture. Western historical documents reveal records of Christianity and Islam's forceful missionary work and religious wars, but in Chinese historical documents, there were no cases in which the Central Plains dynasty forced its neighboring groups to accept Confucianism and believe in Confucius by force.

The prerequisite for the implementation of the policy of indoctrination was actually a high degree of confidence in the superiority of Chinese civilization in the Central Plains. "If an emperor were enthroned with benevolent governance, he would be invincible." The traditional Chinese military thought emphasized that the army of the emperor (the Son of Heaven) should be a "force of benevolence and righteousness" and that "to subdue an army without fighting is the best strategy of all in the world."

Moreover, in such an inclusive cultural atmosphere, we can also find how foreign religions were sinicized to different extents after they entered the Central Plains. The mosques in the Central Plains usually followed the local brick structure, the quadrangle system and the palatial style; the Chinese language popular in the Central Plains also became the common language and script of the Hui people; some scholars of Muslim studies in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) used Confucianism to interpret the Quran; Buddhism was introduced from India to the Central Plains in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220) and became the most widely practiced religion, and both its rituals and the teaching system were gradually Sinicized; during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911), Matteo Ricci, J. A. Schall von Bell and others came to China successively to preach Christianity and they interpreted the Catholic doctrines into a system of values that was in harmony with the Confucian doctrines.

These two principles, "harmony without uniformity" and "education for everyone irrespective of backgrounds," reflect the inclusiveness of the Chinese civilization, which has persisted and evolved throughout history.

Ma Rong, Boya Chair Professor at Peking University

The article excerpts from Ma Rong's speech delivered in the "Decoding Zhonghua" International Conference on Dialogue among Civilizations in Beijing.

Liu Xian /Editor    Wu Yongqiang /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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