Building Bridges of Understanding

CHRIS Nash first visitedChina in 2008 as a guest ofthe BBC and it was “l(fā)ove atfirst sight.” Nash， now thenew chair of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding （SACU）， isan old friend of the Chinese and haslong been engaged in internationaleducation in China.

Integrating Chinese and Western Ideas

A postgraduate in education，Nash was a school headmaster inEngland for 10 years， when he introducedmany innovative ideas， especiallye-learning and internationalpartnerships.

In 2013， he was delighted to acceptan invitation from Hao Shaolin，a renowned Chinese educator， toopen a new international school inBeijing based on his education philosophies.That venture has becometoday’s Beijing Xinxuedao EducationGroup， which runs a network of 30schools across China.

“What attracted me to work inBeijing was the experimental educationalthinking of Hao Shaolin，” Nashtold China Today in an exclusiveinterview. “Like me， he believes inthe value of life-long learning.” Nashsupports his graduates all “throughthe university， not just to the university.”

As Nash sees it， international educationmethods do not mean abandoningtraditions. Chinese culturevalues the cultivation of charactertraits such as integrity and perseverance，providing students cultural soilfor life-long development and makingtheir growth more resilient. “TraditionalChinese values on educationenable students to adapt more easilyto the challenging new environmentand thrive on an overseas campus.”

He also doesn’t think harmonizingChinese and British educational ideasis a problem at all. “As an internationalschool leader， you have to abandonall ideas of ‘cultural imperialism，’and be humble， engage deeply withChinese thinking and be constantlylooking for bridges of understanding，”Nash said.

Exploring China’s Vast Culture and Diversity

While working in China， Nashhas visited many cities. Internationalteachers in China should love andlearn about the whole country， hetold China Today ， not just the cosmopolitanareas of Beijing， Shanghai，and Shenzhen， but also cities withtheir own characteristics such asNanjing， Chengdu， Kunming， andDunhuang located in the central，western， and southwestern regionsof China. This will help them to havea more comprehensive and completeunderstanding of the country， as wellas a deeper understanding of China’svast and diverse culture.

He watched the 2020 film MyPeople， My Homeland ， five poignanttales about people living in differentparts of rural China and striving fortheir communities’ economic andsocial welfare， and was moved， especiallyby the story of family reunion.“So I became determined to use mySpring Festival （holiday） to travel toremote areas of this beautiful country，”Nash said. He went to Yunnanin southwest China and said he wasgrateful to the local residents therefor their kindness.

“I am expecting to learn from theethnic minority communities whohave their own special role in the nationallife of China. I particularly admirethe way their lives are organizedin harmony with nature， for examplehouses that are made entirely fromnatural materials. And of course，everywhere you travel in China thereare delicious local cuisines to exploreand enjoy. I have to admit that manytimes in Beijing I find myself cravinga bowl of simple but utterly satisfyingYunnan rice noodles！” he said.

Nash is inspired by young people.Every summer， his Beijing studentsare given the task of organizing oneweekclasses for a remote school’sstudents. The Beijing students mustdiscover the educational needs of thelocal students and design teachingmethods and a meaningful curriculumby themselves. More challengingly，they must adapt to the livingconditions of the local school andteach in a meaningful， relevant andprofessional way.

So far， the responses from the local students have been inspirational，but even more impressive has beenthe Beijing students’ journey intomaturity and responsibility. Theylearned firsthand that the best life isa life of service to others.

A Community of Shared Understanding

Nash considers it an honor tochair SACU， especially after 14 yearsof exceptional leadership by hispredecessor， Zoe Reed. He also feelsit is inspiring to think that he canhelp “in a small way” to keep alivethe legacy of SACU’s founding chairJoseph Needham and his devotion toChina’s history， culture， science andtechnology. SACU is today increasinglyknown to British youth.

Nash calls British historianMichael Wood， who is the presidentof SACU， his mentor. Wood’s documentaryIn the Footsteps of Du Futhat chronicles the life of arguablyChina’s greatest poet Du Fu （712-770） made him marvel at the longand profound history of Chineseculture. “I can only aspire to have afraction of Wood’s knowledge andinsights into China，” he said.

Nash believes in the power of storiesto change minds. Therefore everyweek， in his Chair’s Blog he writesa “people to people” story illustratinghow the people of Britain andthe people of China have far more incommon than differences. “I hopeto pass on the spiritual and culturalheritage of SACU so that more Britishpeople can understand China’s history，culture， science and technology，”he said.

This June， the award ceremony ofthe seventh China-U.K. Friendshipand Understanding Essay Competitionwas held at King’s College London.The competition was jointlysponsored by SACU and the ChinaCenter for Edgar Snow Studies atPeking University. The winners werehigh school students from both theU.K. and China. The topic was “Howdo you see harmony in the culturalcontext of China and/or the U.K.？”

“In fact it’s not just an essay competition.We encourage young peoplein both China and Britain to communicateon the theme they share thesame interest in，” Nash said. Last yearthe theme was “sustainability” andNash said the participants did impressive，eye-opening research on thegreen initiatives in both countries， includingprojects in which teams fromthe U.K. and China are cooperating，sharing expertise and knowledge.

This year， he said it was especiallypleasing to see the efforts of youngBritons to research and understand“harmony，” a foundational idea inChinese culture. Next year will seethe 60th anniversary of SACU itself.Nash said as part of these celebrations，they will invite young peoplefrom China and Britain to work together，telling the stories of the twoold friends of China – U.S. journalistEdgar Snow and British educatorGeorge Hogg.

“I have adopted the Chinesephilosophy ‘Within the four seas，we are all one family’ as a slogan forSACU， because for me it perfectlyexpresses the spirit of internationalism，which a divided world needsnow more than ever，” Nash said.“The environmental problem is avery important factor in the crisishumanity is facing today， whichthreatens the very planet where weall live. Therefore， we should buildbridges of cooperation.”

Nash encourages his students togo as “civil ambassadors” into theirinternational universities to sharetheir thinking and ideas， includingtraditional Chinese values of pursuingharmony and building a communityof shared understanding.

He echoed Chinese PresidentXi Jinping， “We have learned thathumankind is a community with ashared future. China can do well onlywhen the world is doing well. WhenChina does well， the world will geteven better.”