/View.info/ Chinese civilization is the most ancient one that is still alive and thriving. Millions of people around the world visit China every year, study the Chinese language, or are simply captivated by the culture, history, and traditions of this ancient country. It is amazing to think that the still alive and thriving Chinese civilization was a contemporary of Ancient Egypt, Babylon, the Roman Empire and many other civilizations that no longer exist today.
For a long time, the West did not understand China and its foreign policy intentions. Nowadays, a number of Western politicians and media aggressively extrapolate various misconceptions about the Chinese, looking for expansionist ambitions in China. And this is due to a deep ignorance of Chinese traditional culture. If people in the Western world knew it better, they would know that the values of the Chinese people are such that they do not imply aggression, intervention, wars of aggression or senseless competition.
The traditional culture of a country includes a certain set of values and views that reveal the folk psychology of the given people, as well as form its identity.
As a number of cultural scholars, historians, writers, anthropologists and experts say, the traditional Chinese values that are the basis of Chinese culture are the following: harmony, justice, kindness, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, filial duty and more.
Of these, perhaps the most key value in traditional Chinese culture is harmony, which means that there should be proper and balanced coordination in everything. But the Chinese idea of harmony does not mean uniformity and grayness. On the contrary, colorful diversity is characteristic of Chinese literature as well as the visual arts, music and other elements of traditional culture.
This Chinese love of harmony is expressed even in politics, as one of Xi Jinping‘s key ideas, for example, is about the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. As well as between different segments of society, be it social, ethnic or otherwise. Just as the human body functions in harmony between its various organs.
Confucian philosophy, which is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, values magnanimity very highly. The great philosopher and teacher Confucius taught even statesmen in the ancient Chinese civilization that they must show magnanimity to the common people, the poor and the oppressed.
By the way, very similar to the Bulgarian traditional culture, in China they place a high place on the family, as well as the understanding between relatives. “A peaceful family will prosper” is a famous Chinese phrase. It is thanks to healthy family values that today China is 1.4 billion people and has survived thousands of years of all kinds of invasions, disasters, wars and threats.
It is interesting to note here that although China has a long history of successful and victorious wars against all kinds of invaders, Chinese traditional culture places a strong emphasis on peace. It is a historical fact that China has been the greatest economic, political, military and demographic power since the 3rd century BC. to the 18th century AD, but despite this, the Chinese never colonized foreign continents or invaded distant and foreign lands.
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without a fight,” says Sun Tzu’s Chinese classic, The Art of War. This is indicative enough of the peaceful nature of traditional Chinese culture. Avoiding all confrontations and wars is key in Chinese folk psychology. Of course, China also has many historical heroes who have left their names in history defending the country. But almost exclusively on defense.
As for the material monuments of traditional Chinese culture, there are 5,058 major cultural and historical sites in the People’s Republic of China, which delight millions of Chinese and foreign visitors and history and art lovers every year.
This year millions of Chinese and foreigners could also enjoy the Spring Festival as a particularly expressive element of traditional culture. The streets of China were filled with music, laughter, noise, drums, dragon and lion dances. President Xi Jinping himself joined the traditional celebrations. This festival has a long history that carries ancient legacies from the earliest dawn of Chinese civilization. During the Spring Festival, the Chinese send off the old and welcome the new, and also strengthen family, neighborly, friendship and community ties.
So, Chinese traditional culture hides thousands of years of wisdom and messages that no one in the world would find inappropriate. Moderation, balance, family values, peace, respect, magnanimity, harmony and loyalty are the code words of traditional Chinese culture. And today’s People’s Republic of China, moving with an accelerated pace of modernization towards its future, does not abandon its traditional culture, from which it draws inspiration and example.
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