The history of human society is a history of warfare, and also a history of the continuous pursuit of peace, with war and peace being a constant theme for humanity. Peace is not just a concept in the history of Chinese civilization; it has long been a revered quality of the Chinese nation.

The love for peace is in the DNA of the Chinese nation

There is a great deal of exposition of peace in ancient Chinese classics, dating back even to the origins of the Chinese script.

The I Ching (Book of Changes) describes how Heaven creates all things and allows them to develop smoothly according to their inherent nature and laws, ultimately leading to a harmonious state of continuous growth and peace in the world. This concept of harmony has been a representative characteristic of Chinese philosophical thought.

China has maintained good relations with its neighbors. As recorded in the ancient Chinese classic Zuozhuan (Zuo's Commentary), "Amity and good neighborliness are invaluable to a country."

Confucius, one of the most renowned thinkers in Chinese history, once said, "A man of noble character seeks harmony but not uniformity; a man of vile character seeks uniformity but not harmony." Early in the development of the Chinese nation, much consideration was given to the relationship between harmony and uniformity. The focus of harmony without uniformity is on harmony, that is, recognizing differences and understanding and tolerating differences. In other words, the Chinese nation understood and resolved the issue of the relationship between uniformity and difference among civilizations at an early stage.

The Chinese nation has always celebrated and striven to pursue the vision of peace, amity, and harmony. An important factor was the people's way of viewing the world in ancient China, which was described in the Shang Shu, or The Book of Documents, a compilation of historical documents from before the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). In those days, Chinese people held dear a belief, "All people under heaven are of one family." Later, ancient Chinese thinker Mencius put forward the important political concept of "creating a better world in which 'a just cause is pursued for the common good.'" This way of viewing the world serves as the basic guideline for Chinese people in understanding the world and resolving problems.

Influenced by pro-peace ideologies, the peace-loving cultural tradition has been a code of conduct of the Chinese nation throughout China's various dynasties. Over 2,000 years ago, Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), made his journey to the Central Asia from Chang'an, and opened up the ancient Silk Road. Zhang's feat was described as "path-blazing" by Sima Qian, a renowned historian and a writer of The Historical Records in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 25).

More than 600 years ago, Zheng He, the famous navigator of China's Ming dynasty (1368–1644), made seven expeditions to the Indian Ocean region, creating a miracle in the millennia-long history of navigation in the East. These trips left behind many stories between the people of China and those of countries he visited that were characterized by peaceful interactions, which were in stark contrast to stories told about European explorers and their expeditions.

Many historians are perplexed by the fact that, as one of the world's most powerful countries for long periods in history, China has never colonized or invaded others. The explanation can only be found in the early history of the Chinese nation.

How does Chinese civilization resolve its internal conflicts?

Peace and conflict have always been two sides of the same coin that is human society. Since the state is the vessel of civilization, a strong state is vital to resolving conflicts and perpetuating civilization. In his book Ancient Society, American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan charts the human past into three cultural stages: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. According to Friedrich Engels, "Civilization is the stage of development in society" and "The central link in civilized society is the state." In his essay The Urban Revolution, Australian archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe argues that prehistory could be divided into three ages: paleolithic, neolithic, and civilization, which corresponded largely to Morgan's framework of savagery, barbarism, and civilization. This categorization suggests that a key distinction between civilization, savagery, and barbarism lies in the formation of the state.

Like other ancient civilizations of the world, the Chinese civilization, from its birth, was not only repeatedly confronted with internal conflicts, clashes, and even wars but the surrounding tribes also posed a great threat to the early Chinese civilization in the Yellow River valley. Chinese civilization survived because it was able to resolve the differences between agricultural settlements and nomadic tribes, and form a tradition known as the great unity, which led to the integration of diverse cultural and ethnic groups among its population.

The notion of "all under heaven are of one family" and the cultural identity of the Chinese people, formed during the early stages with conflicts among tribes and ethnic groups, laid the foundation for the long-term development of Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation. The core element of this development is the notion of "great unity" under heaven.

Under this notion, all the different cultures have merged into a single but diverse culture, creating an effective instrument for resolving internal conflicts and maintaining stability and unity. It is a miracle in the world that Chinese civilization has been able to bring various ethnic groups together to form the diverse but unified Chinese nation.

How does Chinese civilization resolve its conflicts with the outside world?

Many civilizations had risen and fallen throughout history, but the Chinese civilization is the only ancient civilization in the world that has been uninterrupted and continues to this day.

Has the Chinese civilization not experienced vicissitudes over its history of 5,000 years? Has it not been in conflict with the outside world? Has it not encountered any existential crisis? Of course it has.

The Chinese nation also suffered major setbacks before the modern era, including regional warlordism, civil wars, and the rise and fall of dynasties, but all of these occurred within the Chinese civilization. During this process, national unity was never fatally threatened.

However, this process was disrupted by the invasion of Western powers in 1840. China was forced to open its door to foreign powers after its defeat in the Opium War. China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, and hundreds of millions of people suffered greater ravages than ever before. In particular, the Chinese nation was thrown almost to the brink of extinction as a result of aggression by Japanese imperialists. Of course, the Chinese nation ultimately triumphed over aggression and weathered the crisis.

Looking back through history, the reason why Chinese civilization has never been interrupted is clear, and it is inextricably linked to the Chinese concept of war. Chinese history is replete with military strategists and military thoughts. The Art of War (Sun Tzu Bing Fa), is an ancient military masterpiece renowned in China and the world at large. It states in the outset that "making your enemy surrender without fighting is supreme excellence in winning victories of all your battles." The classic Taoist treatise Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), written by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu 2,000 years ago, further elaborates that, "Although they have an army, there is nowhere to deploy it." This perspective on war and the pursuit of peace distinguish Chinese civilization from the Western world. Transforming war into peace has always been a good wish and a practical goal of the Chinese nation.

In order to understand the peaceful nature of Chinese civilization, and the way Chinese civilization resolves internal and external conflicts, there are many "whys" waiting for our answers. For example, why did the Chinese civilization, which has never sought dominance over Europe and has always followed the spirit of peace, suffer plight and humiliation in the modern era? At the end of the Qing dynasty (1616–1911), China was backward compared with Western powers, but why was it inevitable that backward countries be invaded and colonized? Why did the Western powers send armies halfway around the world to China and launch brutal invasions, while using "civilization" as the reason for invading a peaceful nation? These questions are worth pondering, only by answering them well can we better understand the peaceful nature of Chinese civilization.

The author is Xing Guangcheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the director of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies at History Research of China.

Liu Xian /Editor    Chen Yutang /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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