Chinese philosophy scholar calls for goodwill in era of conflict

BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) — A Chinese philosophy professor has stressed the importance of goodwill in an era marked by conflict.
Describing goodwill as a quintessence of Confucianism, Wang Bo, vice president and provost of Peking University, said that the key to practicing goodwill lies in putting oneself in another’s shoes.
Speaking at this year’s Beijing Forum, an international event focused on innovation and human advancement, Wang supported his point with two well-known teachings of Confucius: “A humane person helps others establish what he himself wishes to establish and achieve what he himself wishes to achieve,” and “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to you.”
At the forum, Wang also shared his insights on Taoism, highlighting the value of temperance. The wisdom of Taoism, he said, can be rendered as reserving some room in the world for others — an open, autonomous space. “Such a space is also a form of creation,” he said, “and that is tolerance.”
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the value of traditional culture, with many advocating for inspiration from the rich heritage of their millennia-old civilization. Confidence in indigenous culture has been increasingly a consensus in China, now the world’s second-largest economy.
Wang, previously serving as dean of the university’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, has led the Confucian Canon Project, the most substantial basic cultural construction project that has systematically organized Confucian classics in China and abroad since 1949. A total of 510 Chinese Confucian works have been compiled into 282 volumes after nearly two decades of effort.
Many challenges facing humanity require efforts that transcend national boundaries in pursuit of global dialogue and cooperation. Chinese culture, while establishing its own cultural subjectivity and being true to itself, also needs to clarify its attitude toward the world, said Wang.
China respects the diversity of civilizations, promotes shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and champions exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, he said.
More than 500 scholars and experts from over 30 countries and regions participated in the 2024 Beijing Forum, marking its 21st edition. The overarching theme of the forum is on harmony of civilizations and prosperity for all.
While the main three-day event concluded on Sunday, additional sessions will continue in the coming weeks at venues in Beijing and abroad. These sessions will cover a range of topics, including resilient energy systems, studies of ancient Chinese texts and urban development. ■