Wang Qichang: The Role of Religion is Not Prominent in the Shared Spiritual Home of the Chinese Nation
The common spiritual home of the Chinese nation refers to the shared spiritual pursuits and the sense of spiritual belonging for all ethnic groups. In other words, it refers to the spiritual and cultural system—historically formed and developed within the unified multi-ethnic state of China—that functions as a form of spiritual support. It is a cultural space that serves as the foundation and destination for the spiritual life of all members of society, and a socio-cultural form to which every self-identified Chinese person, consciously or unconsciously, is "bound in heart, bound in emotion, and bound in destiny" [1] deep within. At the 2021 Central Conference on Ethnic Affairs, General Secretary Xi Jinping listed the necessity of constructing a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation as one of the "Twelve Necessities" [2] and emphasized: "We must construct a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation, so that the hearts of all ethnic groups are gathered and their spirits are interdependent, forming a powerful spiritual bond of cohesion, unity, and striving."
The common spiritual home of the Chinese nation can be divided into three levels: the conceptual level, the cultural level, and the lifestyle level.
First is the spiritual home at the conceptual level. This refers to the ideal society in one's heart. The Greek philosopher Plato wrote The Republic, discussing the construction and governance of an orderly, supreme, and beautiful just state—that is, the ideal state. Thomas More, the founder of utopian socialism, invented a "Utopia" in his masterpiece of the same name, investing it with his expectations for an ideal society. Specifically regarding the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation, this points toward the ideal society of "Great Unity" (Datong) [3]. The Book of Rites [4] states: "When the Great Way prevails, the world is shared by all (tianxia wei gong). The virtuous and able are chosen; trust is cultivated and harmony maintained. Thus, people do not only treat their own parents as parents, nor only their own children as children. The elderly are provided for until their end; the able-bodied are employed; the young are nurtured; and the widowed, the orphaned, the elderly without children, and the disabled are all supported. Men have their roles and women have their homes. Resources are used lest they be wasted on the ground, yet they need not be hidden for oneself; labor is exerted lest it not come from oneself, yet it need not be for oneself. In this way, selfish schemes do not arise, and theft and rebellion do not occur. Thus, the outer gates remain unbolted. This is called Great Unity." These concepts have profoundly influenced the Chinese people. Into the modern era, Kang Youwei authored The Book of Great Unity, and Sun Yat-sen regarded "the world is shared by all" as his lifelong ideal. Even in the 21st century, "the elderly are provided for... and the disabled are all supported" remains an important pursuit for the Chinese people.
Second is the spiritual home at the cultural level. This points toward cherished traditional culture. Hegel stated in his Lectures on the History of Philosophy: "At the name of Greece, the educated man of Europe—especially of us Germans—feels as if he were at home. Europeans have received their religion, their afterlife, and their supra-mundane life from beyond Greece, from the East, especially from Syria. However, this life, the present world, science, and art—everything that satisfies our spiritual life and gives it value and splendor—we know to have come to us directly or indirectly from Greece, sometimes indirectly through Rome." Specifically regarding the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation, this points to an unbroken history and a brilliant, profound culture. For the Chinese people, this continuity and profundity constitute a lasting attraction. Beyond Confucian culture, Chinese zither, weiqi, calligraphy, painting, architecture, sculpture, and music all enjoy international prestige. Square characters [5] that have been used for at least three thousand years can still be mastered and appreciated by modern people. Chinese people, who believe that "a belly full of poems and books makes one's temperament naturally elegant," find meaning in life and nature through poetry and lyrics. Lines such as "Guan-guan go the ospreys, on the islet in the river. The modest, retiring, virtuous young lady—for our prince she is a good mate," and "When I set out at first, the willows were fresh and green. Now as I return, the snow falls in clouds" [6] remain vital imagery. The success of programs like the Chinese Poetry Congress and Everlasting Classics fully demonstrates that modern Chinese people cherish poetry as traditional culture and view the world described by poetry as their spiritual home.
Third is the spiritual home at the lifestyle level. This points toward desired ways of living and residential environments. Since the entry into industrial society, faced with the increasing isolation between man and nature and the alienation of human relationships, many Westerners have attempted to return to nature in search of a home where the heart can find peace. Heidegger proposed the famous concept of "dwelling poetically." Specifically regarding the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation, this points to a life of "unity of heaven and humanity" (tianren heyi) and the veneration of nature. China has possessed the thought of "unity of heaven and humanity" and the veneration of nature since ancient times, and pastoral poetry has been a major genre. The imagery in these poems has played an exceptionally important role in shaping the spiritual home of the Chinese. Tao Yuanming, as the founder of pastoral poetry, is well known to the Chinese intelligentsia through works like The Peach Blossom Spring ("no stray trees, the fragrant grass was fresh and beautiful, and falling petals lay in profusion"), Drinking Wine ("Plucking chrysanthemums by the eastern hedge, I leisurely catch sight of the southern mountains"), and Returning to Dwell in the Country ("Elms and willows shade the rear eaves, peach and plum trees line the front hall. Dimly seen is the distant village, wisps of smoke rise from the hamlets. A dog barks in the deep lane, a cock crows at the top of a mulberry tree. Within my courtyard there is no dust or distraction; in my empty rooms there is leisure to spare. Long have I been in a cage, now I have returned to nature"). An important reason Li Ziqi was able to move her compatriots and reach the world is that she displayed, in an aestheticized manner, the spiritual home and ideal state of life in the hearts of many Chinese people.
Looking at the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation from these three aspects, concepts such as the Taoist "unity of heaven and humanity" or the Buddhist "compassion for the world" may have played a certain role in its formation and can be beneficial to its construction. However, compared to the West, religion does not play a prominent role in the process of constructing the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation.
(Author: Wang Qichang, Associate Professor at Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics; Editor: Tong Xin; Source: Science and Atheism, Issue 3, 2024)