Chinese Academy of History: Consolidating the Foundation of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind Through the Inclusivity of Chinese Civilization
On June 2, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development. He provided a highly concise summary of the five prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization, particularly noting that its prominent inclusiveness fundamentally "determines the open-mindedness of Chinese culture in terms of seeking to assimilate from the best of world civilizations," and its prominent peacefulness "fundamentally determines that China will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order." This elucidated to the international community that the Chinese nation possesses an open and inclusive cultural confidence, takes world peace and development as its own responsibility, and is committed to building a modern Chinese civilization and a community with a shared future for humanity.
Inclusiveness is the vibrant underlying hue of the genetic spectrum of Chinese civilization
Archaeological findings confirm that human activity existed on the Chinese land as early as two million years ago, and that the ancient humans and their cultures on this land have evolved continuously. After a long prehistoric era, the peoples of the Chinese land gradually marched toward civilization. Major archaeological discoveries such as the Liangzhu culture, the Shimao site, the Longshan culture, and the Erlitou culture [1] verify that through the continuous collision and exchange of regional cultures, a transformation was achieved from "a sky full of stars" to "a bright moon with few stars" and finally to "pluralistic integration," [2] forming the "original China." The formation of Chinese civilization was a process of mutual exchange, mutual learning, and mutual inclusion among different regions, cultures, and customs. Along with the gradual formation of Chinese civilization, the trait of inclusiveness and the concepts of peace, harmony, and concord became increasingly evident and refined, becoming the deeply rooted spiritual pursuit and historical practice of the Chinese nation.
In the origins and growth of Chinese civilization, ancient Chinese ancestors observed and reflected upon the cosmos, nature, and geography, gaining deepening insights into the selfless dedication and inclusive bounty of Great Nature. The opening of "Removing Selfishness" (Qu si) in The Springs and Autumns of Master Lü (Lüshi Chunqiu) states: "Heaven covers without partiality, Earth bears without partiality, the Sun and Moon shine without partiality, and the Four Seasons rotate without partiality; they exercise their virtue and thus the myriad things achieve growth." This simple character of dialectical thinking highlights the Chinese nation’s profound and heavy view of nature and the world, demonstrating a broad-mindedness distinct from other global civilizations. Classics such as the Book of Documents (Shangshu) and the Book of Changes (Zhouyi), through the elucidation of important concepts like the "Great Ultimate" (huangji), the "Five Elements" (wuxing), and the "Eight Trigrams" (bagua), summarized many landmark ideological concepts such as "harmony produces things, but sameness leads to no succession," [3] "advancing with the times," and "unity under heaven." These demonstrate the rational speculation of the Chinese nation in its quest for natural laws and its revelation of the mutual influence and interaction of all things, integrating heaven, earth, and humanity as one. This ultimately shaped the civilizational genes of the Chinese nation: inclusive and peaceful, adaptable and versatile, and pluralistic yet integrated.
Inclusiveness is a prominent feature and a distinct character of Chinese civilization. In its over 5,000 years of civilizational history, the Chinese nation has always taken "the exemplary person seeks harmony without uniformity" [4] and "the beauty of a balanced soup lies in combining different ingredients" as its creeds. It has pursued "the enlightenment of the people and the coordination of all nations" [5] and aspired toward "Great Unity under Heaven and the far-reaching influence of education." With "harmony as the most precious," "harmony without uniformity," and the "integration of all quarters" as its character, the nation has not only created the miracle of a continuous and unbroken Chinese civilization but has also applied these to the great historical practice of interaction with world civilizations, making the garden of world civilizations more vibrant and colorful.
Inclusiveness is a powerful fulcrum for nurturing the fusion of Chinese and foreign civilizations
Chinese civilization formed independently on Chinese land, but it has never been closed or conservative; it has always maintained contact, interaction, and deep engagement with the outside world. The inclusiveness of Chinese civilization is a major reason why Chinese and foreign civilizations have been able to influence and learn from each other.
The Neolithic clay figures of nude goddesses unearthed in Kezuo, Liaoning, are very similar to those found in Central Europe and Southern Russia, and are hailed by archaeologists as the "Eastern Venuses." About 5,000 years ago, crops such as wheat and livestock such as cattle and sheep, which originated in Western Asia, entered Northwest China via Central Asia and gradually spread to the Central Plains. Simultaneously, copper smelting and manufacturing technologies spread from Western Asia through Central Asia to the Hexi Corridor and into the middle reaches of the Yellow River. About 4,000 years ago, domestic horses entered China's Xinjiang region from the Eurasian Steppe. Roughly 3,300 years ago, horses and chariots reached Yinxu, the capital of the late Shang Dynasty, via the Eurasian Steppe.
The introduction of foreign crops and livestock greatly enriched the material content of Chinese civilization, gradually forming a "five grains" agricultural system consisting of broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, rice, wheat, and beans in the Yellow River basin, and a livestock system centered on pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, and horses. In the middle reaches of the Yellow River, metallurgy from Western Asia combined with the high-temperature ceramic firing techniques already mastered by the Yangshao and Longshan peoples to give birth to bronze vessel casting. The first batch of bronze vessels was produced during the period of Yao and Shun, laying the foundation for the glorious bronze civilization of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The arrival of horses and chariots enriched the means of transport and expanded the scope of human activity in the Yellow River basin.
After the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, not only did flax, walnuts, carrots, cucumbers, grapes, pomegranates, and amber come to China from the Eastern Mediterranean, Western Asia, and Central Asia, but it also provided a channel for foreign religious cultures. Ancient Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism; Persian Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, and Manichaeism; West Asian Islam; Israeli Judaism; and European Christianity and Catholicism all entered China via the Silk Road. By the end of the 1st century BCE, Buddhism had spread throughout the Western Regions. In 2 BCE, the envoy of the Da Yuezhi orally transmitted the Sutra of the Buddha (Futu jing), marking the entry of Buddhism into the Central Plains. The arrival of Buddhism was the first large-scale importation of a world religion into China. Rather than rejecting the foreign religion, Chinese civilization rapidly transformed and absorbed it, integrating it with indigenous culture, endowing Buddhism with Chinese cultural connotations, and ultimately incorporating it into Chinese civilization. It was precisely the inherent inclusiveness of Chinese civilization that facilitated the great development of Buddhist culture from the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang; that led to the creation of the three great Buddhist grottoes—Mogao, Longmen, and Yungang; that created the magnificent spectacle of the parallel development of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism; and that built a Chinese religious landscape of inclusiveness and harmonious coexistence. It is particularly worth mentioning that from 627 CE, Xuanzang spent 17 years traveling 50,000 li to the west, visiting over 110 countries, and bringing back 657 Buddhist scriptures. He translated 75 volumes of sutras and commentaries, becoming a grand synthesizer of orthodox Indian Buddhist doctrine and making an outstanding contribution to the further integration of Buddhism into Chinese civilization. In 651 CE, the Caliphate (Dashi) sent envoys to the Tang for the first time, through which Islam entered the Central Plains. After interpreting scriptures through a Confucian lens and undergoing absorption and transformation, Islamic culture achieved an organic fusion with Han and Tang culture.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Western missionaries brought knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine to China, as well as manufacturing technologies for striking clocks and firearms, injecting new nutrients into the ceaseless flow of Chinese civilization. In modern times, Chinese progressive intellectuals, in order to save the nation from subjugation, sought to "learn the superior techniques of the barbarians to control the barbarians," [6] actively learning new Western technologies and ideas, adding new scientific and ideological elements to a self-surpassing Chinese civilization.
The salvos of the October Revolution brought Marxism-Leninism to China. As faithful inheritors and developers of fine traditional Chinese culture, the Chinese Communists established Marxism, which originated in Europe, as their guiding ideology. In the processes of revolution, construction, and reform, the Communist Party of China has persisted in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture (the "Two Combinations"). Marxism activated fine traditional Chinese culture, causing Chinese civilization to burst forth with even stronger vitality and creativity, displaying flourishing vigor. Fine traditional Chinese culture has, in turn, fulfilled and developed Marxism, not only deepening its theoretical historical thickness and contemporary depth but also endowing it with a distinct Chinese style and Chinese ethos. The "Two Combinations" have enabled the CPC to unite and lead the people to successfully open the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, successfully advance and expand Chinese-path modernization, and drive the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation into an irreversible historical process.
Inclusiveness is a powerful support for practicing the concepts of peace, harmony, and concord
Over its 5,000-year history, the Chinese nation has overcome numerous difficulties and obstacles to actively engage in peaceful exchanges with the outside world. Chinese bronze mirrors and silk fabrics were unearthed in the Pazyryk burials in the Altai Mountains of Russia, indicating that the historical process of exchange between China and the outside world had begun by at least the 5th to 4th centuries BCE.
The Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation and one that is courageous in defending peace. In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han dispatched Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions; this "piercing of the void" (zaokong) opened the passage between the Central Plains and the West. In 97 CE, Gan Ying was sent to Da Qin (Ancient Rome), reaching the states of Tiaozhi and Anxi and the Persian Gulf. Thus, the "natural moat" between the Central Plains and Europe became a "thoroughfare," and Roman merchants traveled this route to Luoyang. For nearly 2,000 years, the Silk Road presented a scene of great prosperity and exchange of ideas, culture, religion, technology, and materials, writing a brilliant chapter of two-way interaction between Chinese civilization and other world civilizations, making an outstanding contribution to the progress of Eastern and Western civilizations and human civilization as a whole.
The "Prosperous Age" of the Great Tang was, in a certain sense, the product of the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, with values and a zeitgeist characterized by "all rivers flowing into the sea," [7] assimilation, and open inclusiveness, the state advocated for equality and tolerance among different countries and ethnic groups. By strengthening personnel exchanges, trade, and cultural interaction with other nations and peoples, the Tang achieved great national strength and cultural prosperity. "The nine-layered gates of the palace opened, and the officials of ten thousand nations bowed to the crown and tassels." [8] Chinese civilization reached another peak.
From 1405 to 1433, the famous Ming Dynasty navigator Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Oceans, sailing 90,000 li and visiting more than 30 countries and regions across the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the East African coast, spreading Chinese culture far and wide. Unlike Western "discoverers of the New World" like Magellan and Columbus, wherever Zheng He went, he did not occupy an inch of foreign land. He spread the thoughts and concepts of Chinese civilization and left behind stories of friendly interaction with various peoples along the way.
The inclusiveness of Chinese civilization drives the Chinese nation to always uphold the lofty concepts of peace, concord, and harmony, and nurtures its adherence to the spiritual high ground of equality, fairness, and justice. The values inherent in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the worldview of "All Under Heaven" inherent in the Belt and Road Initiative and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and the governance and civilizational views inherent in the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative are all inseparable from the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization. They all demonstrate that peace, concord, and harmony are not only the unremitting spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation but also the correct spiritual guidance for promoting world peace and development.
Inclusiveness is the intrinsic motivation for promoting the splendor and diversity of world civilizations
Chinese civilization has grown, developed, and innovated through inclusion. This has not only nourished the Chinese nation to create one civilizational miracle after another but has also caused Chinese civilization to spread globally, continuously contributing Chinese wisdom, spirit, and strength. It has effectively maintained the diversity of world civilizations and vigorously promoted the progress of human civilization amidst plurality and variety.
From the 6th to the 5th century BCE, Chinese rice and millet farming techniques and bronzeware were introduced to the western Japanese archipelago via the Korean Peninsula. After the 1st century CE, some small states in the Kyushu region of western Japan paid tribute to the Eastern Han Dynasty, establishing direct contact. Consequently, Han culture entered Japan, and copper and iron manufacturing technologies were absorbed, greatly promoting the development of ancient Japanese society.
Around the 8th century CE, Chinese characters, Confucian thought, the system of codes and decrees (lüling), and science and technology spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. This profoundly influenced the political systems, social structures, and worldviews of many East Asian countries, forming a "Chinese cultural circle" centered on Chinese civilization. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Korea and Japan sent large numbers of students and envoys (kentoshi) to China to study advanced culture and systems. They brought back Chinese characters, classics, thoughts, and systems to Korea and Japan, deeply influencing major social transformations in both countries. The setting of central institutions in the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea and the implementation of the Ritsuryō system initiated by Emperor Kōtoku of Japan were all true reflections of how envoys and students used China as a model to transform their own societies.
Although Mahayana Buddhism once vanished in its place of origin, it was preserved and developed within Sinicized Buddhism. Xuanzang brought Mahayana Buddhism back to India, giving it new life there. Chinese Mahayana Buddhism spread to Korea and Vietnam by land and to Japan by sea, greatly influencing the development of Buddhism in neighboring Asian countries. In particular, in 753 CE, Jianzhen finally succeeded on his sixth attempt to cross the sea to the east, spreading the Dharma and establishing a sect in Japan. He is hailed by the Japanese people as the "Father of Culture," the "Founder of the Risshū Sect," and the "Roof Tile of the Tenpyō Era." [9]
Throughout its long developmental process, Chinese culture has maintained an open mind and an inclusive spirit. It has consistently stood at the forefront of the world's nations, profoundly influencing and transforming the global cultural landscape and the trajectory of human civilization. In particular, elements of Chinese civilization represented by the compass, papermaking, gunpowder, and movable-type printing spread widely throughout the world, triggering revolutionary changes in the social character and historical progress of the West.
In 1275, the Italian traveler and merchant Marco Polo arrived in the Yuan Dynasty capital of Dadu (present-day Beijing). After traveling through China for seventeen years, he authored The Travels of Marco Polo, which ignited a fervent longing for ancient China among Europeans. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Arabian traveler Ibn Battuta journeyed from Morocco to China and subsequently introduced numerous elements of Chinese civilization to the Arab world. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Western missionaries regarded Chinese culture as a model of civilized wisdom and moral order, bringing traditional Chinese medicine, legal codes, and the imperial examination system [10] back to Europe, which facilitated the flourishing of Sinology and "Chinoiserie." Around the 18th century, European Enlightenment thinkers held Chinese civilization in the highest esteem; Confucian doctrine and the Chinese social system exerted a profound influence on the modern European bourgeois revolutions. The French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire praised Chinese culture, stating: "The European nobility and merchants discovered the East only to pursue wealth, while philosophers discovered there a new world of the spirit and matter." European nations successively emulated China’s imperial examination system, applying it to the reform of their own officialdom and eventually forming the Western civil service system. China's institutional civilization profoundly influenced the governmental structures of modern Western states; the immense charisma of Chinese civilization transmitted its unique "light of wisdom" to Europe.
Since the founding of the New China, the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and other world civilizations has become increasingly deep and extensive. "Civilizations communicate because of diversity, learn from each other because of communication, and develop because of mutual learning." Chinese civilization stands tall among the forest of world civilizations with a brand-new posture. Through Chinese-path modernization, it has created a new form of human civilization [11], continuously manifesting the moral orientation, value pursuits, and forward direction that humanity ought to possess, and promoting a grand spectacle in which human civilization flourishes like "a garden where a hundred flowers bloom in springtime" [12].
"A single silk thread does not make a cord; a single tree does not make a forest." History and culture constitute the unique spiritual hallmark of a country and a nation; they are the "source water" [13] through which a country and a nation carry forward the past and open up the future. In the great family of world history and culture, no single history or culture is redundant, none exists in isolation, and none can grow or develop independently if closed off. The diversity of history and culture determines the necessity for different countries and nations to independently choose their own paths of development—it determines the diversity of human social development. Only by drawing beneficial nutrients from different histories and cultures can a country and its people maintain exuberant vitality, enduring longevity, and powerful creativity. In the process of frequent cultural exchange and integration, different countries and nations transcend differences in race, religion, language, and custom to respect, learn from, and understand one another. In doing so, philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, and moral concepts find full expression and deep exchange, creating a shared value orientation where "each appreciates the other's beauty, and all beauties are shared" [14].
"When the Great Way prevails, the world is shared by all." [15] Only through mutual assistance and harmonious coexistence [16], and by forging a community with a shared future that looks out for one another, can we create a better future for humanity. Being kind to neighbors, coordinating the harmony of all nations [17], and pursuing Great Harmony under Heaven (Tianxia datong) are not only the attitudes of the Chinese nation toward the world, but also the target direction and concrete practice of the Chinese nation in promoting the cause of human civilizational progress. Through thousands of years of practice and accumulation, the cultural concepts of harmony (hehe) and Great Harmony (datong) have integrated into the roots and soul of the Chinese nation. The ideas of coordinating all nations and Great Harmony under Heaven have become the conscious cultural and behavioral identity of the Chinese people.
On the New Journey [18], we must inherit and carry forward the prominent inclusiveness of Chinese civilization. While remaining firm in the fundamental character of Chinese civilization, we must respect the diversity of world civilizations, treat other civilizations with kindness, and promote exchange and mutual learning. With a broad mind and a spirit as vast as "the sea admitting a hundred rivers" [19], we should study, reference, and absorb the essence of other world civilizations. We must continuously aim for civilizational exchange to transcend civilizational estrangement, mutual learning to transcend civilizational conflict, and civilizational coexistence to transcend civilizational superiority. We must strive to build a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanliness, and beauty, allowing the people of all countries to share in peace and prosperity, and jointly committing to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.