文明的共生——姜江副会长在中国-塞浦路斯青年论坛上的致辞

文明的共生

——姜江副会长在中国-塞浦路斯青年论坛上的致辞

（2021年10月26日）

各位青年朋友：

很高兴出席今天的中国-塞浦路斯青年论坛，与各位专家学者和青年朋友们相聚云端，共话文明。

要讨论“文明”这一话题，从西方哲学三大终极问题切入，是一个有趣的视角。

首先，何谓文明？不同文化不同语言对文明的界定不尽相同。中文语境中，“文明”一词最早出自《易经》中的“见龙在田，天下文明”，指的是文化、社会的进步状态。西方“文明”一词来源于拉丁文civis，意指城市的居民。随着人类社会发展进步，“文明”一词语义不断延展，今天我们谈及的“文明”可谓包罗万象，这也为文明的对话提供了更加丰沃的土壤。

其次，文明从何而来？答案各异。有人将这历史瞬间定格于钻木取火，或文字的诞生，亦或是非洲大草原上抛出的第一柄捕猎工具。由此可见，文明自起源那一日起就不是单一的。在波澜壮阔的历史长河中，不同区域、不同种族、不同语言的人们按照各自的生产方式、生活条件及行为习惯，形成了各自独具特色的文明。

最后，文明去往何方？人们同样也有不同看法。有人专注不同历史时期爆发的战争，深信修昔底德陷阱，断言文明冲突不可避免。更有人全面分析历史大势，相信文明可以走出一条和谐共生、相通共进的发展道路。

青年朋友们，

文明如何发展攸关人类前途命运。我们应该秉持什么样的文明观？应该如何处理不同文明间的关系？这是需要认真思考的问题。我认为有三点非常重要：

一是自尊自信，坚持文明的独特性。世界上有200多个国家和地区，2500多个民族，每个文明都是一个国家和民族的集体记忆。每个文明都有其独特的自然地理、传统国情、生产生活方式，承载着各自人民对美好生活的向往与追求。可以说，每一个文明都有其存在的特殊价值，都值得被尊重。我们要热爱并守护好自身文明。同时，我们要与时俱进，用创新增添文明发展动力，使其永葆青春活力。

二是平等相待，尊重文明的多样性。多样性是文明的本性，是人类社会的基本特征。公元前800年到公元前200年，人类文明进入辉煌的“轴心时代”，东方有孔子、孟子、释迦牟尼，西方有苏格拉底、柏拉图、阿基米德，这些伟大的思想家奠定了各自文明谱系的基调走势，形成了一派百家争鸣、并行不悖的人类文明生态图景。文明是多样的，也是平等的，任何地区和国家都不应鼓吹“文明优越论”，将文明打上高低贵贱的标签；不应以唯我独尊的姿态将自己的文明标榜成绝对真理或普世价值，企图成为世界文明的最终出路。

三是互学互鉴，倡导文明的包容性。“五色交辉，相得益彰；八音合奏，终和且平。”15世纪到18世纪，中西方文明进行了一次伟大的相遇。西方自然科学、语言学、文学和艺术大量传入明清时期的中国，欧几里得的《几何原本》完善了中国日历的修订，西洋乐队走进中国宫廷，糅合中西画法的新画派孕育而生。同一时期整个欧洲掀起“中国热”，上层社会以喝中国茶、收藏中国瓷器为时尚，一批欧洲学者开始研究中国文化，法国思想家孟德斯鸠《论法的精神》就受到宋明理学的影响。在全球化的今天，我们更应以包容的眼光寻找不同文明的互补之美，实现各美其美、美美与共。

青年朋友们，

在人类史的宏大坐标系中，你们何其有幸生在一个各国互通、万物互联、智能互动的新时代。掌上知天下、云端遇知己。这个时代赋予青年人的不止是生活方式的智能便捷，更是思维方式的开放包容。希望你们不负时代，不负韶华，树立正确的文明观，学自身文明，学他国文明，融会贯通、交流互鉴，增进了解、消除偏见，迎接一个文明共生而不是文明冲突的明天。

任新 摄

Harmony among Civilizations

Remarks by Amb. Jiang Jiang

Vice President of CPAFFC, at China-Cyprus Youth Forum

Dear young friends,

I truly appreciate this opportunity to connect virtually with all the scholars and young students and exchange views with you on the important topic of civilization at the China-Cyprus Youth Forum.

To explore such a big topic, it might be useful to start by asking ourselves three big questions — a quintessential method in Western philosophy:

First question: What is civilization?

The definition of civilization, as one would expect, varies from culture to culture and from language to language. In the Chinese context, the word for civilization first appeared in I Ching, or the Book of Changes, which says “with dragon appearing in the field, civilization is born under heaven.” It defines civilization as a new era in people’s cultural and social advancement. In the Western context, the word “civilization” relates to the Latin word civis, which means “citizen”, i.e. people who live in cities.

Undoubtedly, over the long course of history, with progress of human society, the meaning of civilization has kept expanding. The concept of civilization that we talk about today has become all-encompassing, providing a fertile ground for dialogue among civilizations.

Second question: When and where did civilization begin?

Again, the answers vary. Some believe that civilization began with humans learning how to make fire by drilling wood. Some argue it was when written language was first invented. Some say civilization began when the first hunting tool was flung over the African savannah.

All these suggestions show that civilizations, since their origin, have never been homogeneous. Over the long course of human history, people of different regions, races and languages have cultivated distinctive civilizations reflective of their unique ways of production, living conditions and social customs.

Third and last question: Where is civilization headed?

Opinions on this question also vary. Some are particularly focused on wars and conflicts that broke out in different periods of history. They believe in the theory of Thucydides Trap and the inevitability of clash of civilizations. But others have chosen to see the bigger trend of history and come to the conclusion that civilizations can embark on a path of harmonious coexistence and shared progress.

Dear young friends,

The future of civilizations has a central bearing on the future of humanity. What should we seek in a world of diverse civilizations? What kind of relationship do we want between different civilizations? These questions require some serious thinking. Personally, I consider three things to be vitally important.

First, it is important to have confidence in one’s own civilization and preserve the uniqueness of each civilization. There are more than 200 countries and regions and over 2,500 ethnic groups in the world. Each civilization contains the collective memory of a country and nation. Each civilization is shaped by unique natural geography, traditions, national conditions and ways of life and work. Each civilization represents its people’s unique aspirations for a better life. And all civilizations have unique values and deserve full respect. We must love and preserve our own civilizations. And we need to keep progressing with the times, and be innovative in letting our civilizations thrive and keeping them forever young.

Second, it is important to uphold equality and respect cultural diversity. Diversity is the inherent nature of civilizations and the defining characteristic of human society. Between 800 and 200 B.C., a period referred to as the Axial Age, great thinkers in both East and West such as Confucius, Mencius, Sakyamuni, Socrates, Plato and Archimedes laid the foundational course for their civilizations. And together, they presented an extraordinary landscape of human civilizations flourishing together. Civilizations are diverse and they are all equal. No region or country should characterize a particular civilization as superior to others or rank civilizations in a hierarchical order. No one should perceive their own civilization as representing absolute truths or universal values, or even the only ultimate future for all civilizations.

Third, it is important to learn from each other and advocate cultural inclusiveness. A well-known Chinese philosopher once said, different colors bring out the best in each other and the ensemble of music notes makes a song of harmony. From the 15th century to the 18th century, there was a great encounter between Chinese and Western civilizations. Western natural science, linguistics, literature and art were introduced to China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Euclid’s Elements helped improve the Chinese calendar. Western orchestra was invited to perform in the Chinese court and a new school of painting was developed by blending Chinese and western painting methods. During the same period, people across Europe were fascinated by Chinese culture. It was considered a fashion among the upper class to drink Chinese tea and collect Chinese porcelain. European scholars began studying the Chinese culture. Montesquieu’s work, The Spirit of Laws, was influenced by Neo-Confucianism in ancient China. Today, in a globalized world, it is all the more important to learn to discover the beauty in each civilization while benefiting from the complementarities between civilizations.

Dear young friends,

As we travel through the enormous span of humanity’s journey, consider yourselves lucky to live in an era in which all countries and things are connected and interact with each other through smart technologies. The world is just one click away, and friends are never far away thanks to technology. For today’s young generation, globalization and technology make life smarter and more convenient, but more importantly, they give you the ability and tool to be open-minded and accommodative in how you perceive the world.

I genuinely hope that you will cherish what this age has to offer and what you can offer to the world. It is crucial that the young people of today develop a sound outlook on civilizations, study your own civilization as well as those of others, embrace both the commonality and diversity of civilizations. I hope you will inherit and advance your own civilizations while at the same time be a contributor and advocate of exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations, so that there will be less prejudice and more mutual respect in our world. All in all, we should work together towards a future of harmonious coexistence, rather than clash, of civilizations.

原标题：《文明的共生——姜江副会长在中国-塞浦路斯青年论坛上的致辞》

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