Secondly , the Protestantism and Confucianism have been instrumental in shaping the different political ideals. Entering into the 21 century, the communist party has launched a nationwide campaign to build a harmonicons society. to put it more accurately, it means the achieving of “he”. All of a sudden, the word “he” is dancing on the lips of every Chinese citizen. The government also adopts this terminology to the field of international policies. The ideals of foreign policy have become the achieving of harmony and peace in the international community. The idea of “harmony” has originated from the core spirit of Confucianism, “tian ren he yi” which indicates a state that human being and the “tian” are becoming one integral part. . In my opinion, “he” can serve the meaning as a noun, as well as a verb.
When it is a noun, it means harmony. Harmony entails many different layers of meanings. First of all, it stands for the harmony between human beings and the environment around us. We should respect nature ant act upon the rules of nature in order to achieve harmony. In doing so, the nature and mankind can finally become an integral part and coexist in peace. Secondly, it refers to the harmony between different people. As individuals, we must find over appropriate position in a larger group, whether it is your family, your neighborhood, or your office, and try to get along with people in those larger groups. Only when we managed to behave ourselves, respect others and collaborate with others in an appropriate way, can the meaning of “harmony” be displayed.
It also has something to do with another core value in the analects of Confucius, “the ritual propriety”. As we can see from 1.12, “achieving harmony is the most valuable function of observing ritual propriety”; “the achievement of harmony was a guiding standard in all things large and small.” Since the ritual propriety can be considered as the standard and rules of how you can relate to people around you and achieving an ideal relationship. To achieve “和”, to some extant , means being able to carry out the ritual propriety.
When “和” is a verb ,it means “to reconcile and to integrate with other s and the environment around you”. You have to act on the principle of ritual propriety in order to achieve harmony, in Chinese philosophy, the concept of group in very important, you must make yourself a part of a larger group ant treat other in a polite and respect way the process of cultivating this kind of relationship is the meaning of “和” when it is a verb.
As we can see in1.12, “but when things are not going well, to realize harmony just for its own sake without regulating the situation through observing ritual propriety will not work..” the achieving of harmony is closely related to the ritual propriety. Ritual propriety is the rules for us to follow in achieving a harmonious relationship.
to be continued