Renaissance of Chinese Culture and Prosperity of the World of Arts

Wu Bo

China Foreign Affairs University

Abstract: Chinese culture is characterized by the trinity of China: the tradition of Tao, the concept of harmony and unity, and the teaching of the code of ethics. It is also argued that artistic creation should be guided by three rationales: Artists should have a proactive spirit; artists should diligently promote global harmony; among different civilizations, artists should have a strong sense of mission, thinking of human value and dignity as the most important component of our lives.

Keywords: Chinese culture, trinity of China, three rationales for artistic creation

My previous experience as a university professor, especially during the past decade, has been closely related to the theme of this era,that is, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, or the revival of Chinese nationhood. The renowned American novelist Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973),who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, once said, “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday,” clearly implying that an understanding of the present requires study and recall of the past.

Chinese history is full of legacy to all the people of the world. There have been two landmark figures who have helped China to become known internationally. One is the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324), who introduced China to the world in the 13th century. The other is Pearl S. Buck, whose prize-winning novelThe Good Earthhelped contemporary people living outside of China to better understand the mentality and national character of the Chinese people. She also helped Lin Yutang (1895-1976), a renowned Chinese author and scholar, to become widely recognized and acclaimed in the West. There were also some famous Chinese and European pioneers who brought the Occident into the vision of the Chinese people. In this category, we can list Xuanzang (602-664), Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), Yan Fu (1854-1921) and Lin Shu (1852-1924), to name but a few. What we have learned from their experiences is that mutual communications in arts and humanities, particularly in fine arts, music, literature, history and philosophy, has helped people in diverse cultures to establish mutual trust and respect, and eventually promote harmony between different civilizations. Clearly, arts and humanities are adhesives that the international community can use to achieve peace and security.

The late celebrated master of Chinese culture Nan Huaijin (1918-2012) once said, “If one observes today, he needs to refer to the past. Without the past, there is no today.” As is generally known, there are four origins of civilization in the history of mankind: ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, ancient India, and ancient China. Unfortunately, only China has maintained a continuous history, which is worthy of study, for there must be something good and special about China"s success as the only ancient and continuous civilization in the world.

Today, the world is faced with an apparent dilemma, which is that science and technology are developing very rapidly, but people"s sense of happiness is still far from adequate. The theme of the current time is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, best expressed by what we call the Chinese Dream.

As described by President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Dream is a global dream. First,Chinese culture is characterized by what I call the trinity of China: the tradition of Tao, the concept of harmony and unity, and the teaching of the code of ethics. The first concerns with the world outlook of the Chinese nation. We believe that Tao is the sacred order of the universe, or in other words, it is the primary root of everything. Tao is the origin and first cause of the universe. Tao is the master of science and technology. Arts are an indispensable supplement to science and technology. Together, science and arts make up the whole world which is governed by Tao. If mankind wish to live in happiness and decency, they should pursue arts and humanities today even more than before.

Next, there are two kinds of diversity in this world. One is biodiversity, and the other is cultural diversity. There is a well-known proverb in English: Variety is the spice of life.Chinese wisdom tells us that same gender work groups are less productive than mixed gender groups. Chinese wisdom also tells us that the concept of harmony and unity brings concord,which is constructive to agreement and consistency, as described in the Chinese classicGuan Tzu on the Art of War. When the East meets the West, arts are the best channel for bilateral communication, mutual understanding and reciprocal appreciation. In Chinese culture, the West is symbolized by the sun, which is consideredyang, while the East is symbolized by the moon, which is consideredyin.Yinandyang, or the two contraries, can foster each other as well as counteract each other.The Book of Changes, orI-Ching, the most seminal classic in Chinese civilization, tells us that alternation betweenyinandyangis called the true Way.

In his provocative book,The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Orderin 1996, Samuel P. Huntington (1927-2008) argued that culture would replace ideology as the principal cause of conflict in the 21st century. The Harvard professor foresaw a collision of“Western arrogance, Islamic intolerance, and Sinic assertiveness” would dominate global politics in the post-Cold War world. Huntington is biased and lopsided in my opinion because he sees the world from only a Westerner"s perspective, but the Western approach is not always justifiable. The Chinese way of looking at things may help the world to avoid the apparent conflicts in the world today.

Then, we come to the educational parts of civilization. People become moral and lofty once they become aware of the beauty and order of the universe, most important of all, the beauty of the general law governing everything in the world-Tao. Arts provide opportunities for people to realize that the world needs passion, imagination and creativity. When people are filled with charity, imagination and wisdom, most importantly, with sympathy, morality and ethics, harmony and prosperity will more likely prevail. As a well-known Chinese saying goes: Love and bliss will come back to the person who renders them in the first place.

One of the founding fathers of Taoism in China is Lao Tzu, who left us with a book with only 5,000 words. The book isTao Te Ching. Lao Tzu focused on the relationships between man and nature, and argued that man should let nature take its own course, recover his original simplicity, and return to his original nature.

Here are a few lines from this masterpiece.

“He does not reveal himself,

And is therefore luminous.

He does not justify himself,

And is therefore far-famed.

He does not boast of himself,

And therefore people give him credit.

He does not pride himself,

And is therefore the chief among men.”

“Therefore the sage:

Manages affairs without action;

Preaches the doctrine without words;

All things take their rise, but he does not turn away from them;

He gives them life, but does not take possession of them;

He acts, but does not appropriate;

Accomplishes, but take no credit.”

“Man models himself after the Earth;

The Earth models itself after the Heaven;

The Heaven models itself after Tao;

Tao models itself after nature.”

Cultural events of arts and fashion should be guided by the following three rationales:The community of artists should have a proactive spirit; the community of artists should diligently promote global harmony, and the community of artists should have a fundamental mission to express positive human values and dignity.

People need philosophy, ethics, arts, fashion and passion. It is my belief that Chinese culture points out the future direction for a balanced artistic life for all the people in the world. The whole world will benefit significantly by drawing on the emphasis on human values best shown by the Chinese way of life. That is called the humanism of China.

The Chinese people are most reverent towards Tao and accordingly we cherish moral ethics. Furthermore, we know that there are limits to man"s ability to comprehend and control all things in the universe. We tend to leave room for divinity to decide. The Chinese nation makes no distinction between Heaven and man, and that is what we call the integration between man and nature. An artistic career is really fascinating because it is full of opportunity for inspiration and invention. I do admire the young artists of today. I know that an artistic life is a life filled with vigor, freedom, passion and good dreams.

Two thousand five hundred years ago Confucius, the mentor of the Chinese nation, said,“Let a man be first incited by theSongs, then given a firm footing by the study of ritual,and finally perfected by music.” The great mentor also said, “Set your heart upon the Way,support yourself by its power, lean upon Goodness, seek distraction in the arts.” The best manifestation of a man"s achievement is his good maneuverability in arts. In the ancient times of China, arts referred to the six specific skills needed to become a learned scholar. They are rites, music, archery, charioteering, literacy and mathematics. Confucius had three thousand disciples, among whom only 72 were qualified as worthies. The criterion for qualified worthies was just that they should be well learned in the six arts.

It is important for us to notice that Tao, methodology, and the arts, form the most general framework of the Chinese way of life. These three have become the most valuable legacy of Chinese culture, or rather the intangible culture of China.

The secret essence of Chinese culture is summarized in one sentence: “Alternation betweenyinandyangis called the true Way.” The world is undergoing a profound change as it moves from a West-dominated mentality to a more East-styled way of life.

For artists to understand Chinese culture, I suggest you start from the genesis of Chinese culture: “Where did we come from?” Philosophically, Tao is a priori, and morality and arts are posteriori. The classicBook of Documents·the Great Planis a good place to start to learn about the Chinese nation in an authentic manner.

For artistic creation, I also suggest that for all things human and non-human, man"s portrait should be evaluated by the following three criteria, that is, whether the artistic creation has: the essence, the energy, and the spirit. If a piece of artistic work is without these three, the work is dead, and it is a failure.

Of course, there are some idiosyncrasies in Chinese culture which are not easy for people outside China to understand. We believe that in practicing the rules of propriety, a natural ease is to be prized, rather than the diversification and pluralism that is common to people in the West. We also believe that unity brings harmony, which is constructive to concordance.Furthermore, it is without any doubt that man is an integral part of nature. Tao is to observe the laws of nature. The philosophy of the Chinese nation is natural philosophy,meaning that man should regard nature as his teacher. He should also follow the steps of nature, and the criteria for making judgments are based on nature. The famous German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831) once said that what is natural is what is imperative. Therefore, luckily, we have been able to enjoy what is often referred to as “sustainable development.”

The latest landmark building in Beijing is a 528-meter high-rise skyscraper shaped like a ChineseZun, which was used for holding wine in ancient China. TheZunused to be a divine vessel for the nobles to perform sacred ceremonies, or at other times, the noble and the respectable would simply drink alcohol with it. The respectable were usually teachers of the emperor, or state preceptors. According to theBook of Documents·Counsels of Great Yu, to become the leader of all men, one needs to fulfill three duties. First, be the leader.Second, be the father. Third, be the teacher.

Figure 1: CITIC Tower

To summarize I would like to refer to Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011). In 2005, Jobs delivered a well-known speech at Stanford University in the United States. The title of his speech is “Stay hungry, Stay foolish.”Avatamsaka Sutra, orFlower Garland Sutra, is the Buddhist classic where Jobs took this pithy allusion.

When a newborn baby is in the first hundred days after birth, he is called literally a “red son,” orchizi, meaning the color of his skin is pinkish. Although the child may seem naive,he is very psychic and full of wit. The great Chinese mentor Confucius argued for learning from below and beyond, that is to say, man should keep his mind open and be willing to learn from the world. But that is not enough. A gentleman of good moral character is expected to learn from the world and remain modest. At the same time, he is expected to establish communications with Tao.

Steve Jobs left his university to pursue Buddhist study in India in his youth. Of course, he must have read the Buddhist classicAvatamsaka Sutra.

The late Chinese philosopher Fang Dongmei (1899-1977) said, “To be human is to be divine.” It is my belief that the secret for successful artistic creation is that the artist must be balanced between rationality and divinity. Jobs never claimed that Apple manufactured products. Instead, he insisted that Apple made artwork. I think his success is due to his ingenious integration of science with art.

Chinese culture is best shown by its balance between rationality and divinity. With the coming renaissance of Chinese culture, the world of arts will have a good chance to become truly prosperous.