The picture above: The dynamics of Chinese society as explained by Jiang Zemin
By Jan Freidun Taravosh
30th November - 1 december 2009
Introduction:
Jiang Zemin the former President of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, is according to me one of those persons of the our world today that always seem to have something interesting to say.
Other than being famous for developing the concepts of Socialism with Chinese Caractheristics in the new era by the formulating of the important thought of the Three Represents, President Jiang is also famous for his academic background and for being well educated. President Jiang is educated not only in Chinese history culture and linguistics - President Jiang is also known for having a broad knowledge of the history and culture of the western hemisphere.
President Jiang provides a deeper understanding
of the dynamics of development in China P.R. and beyond
On the subject of exchange of eastern and Western culture, President Jiang held a lecture on the intriguing subject Enhance Mutual Understanding and Build Stronger Ties of Friendship and Cooperation On the occasion of visiting the united states in 1997, this lecture was held at Harvard university. In this speech President Jiang explained:
“Mutual understanding is the basis for state-to-state relations. Without it, it would be impossible for countries to build trust and promote cooperation with each other. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States, the exchanges and mutual understanding between our two peoples have broadened and deepened steadily. However, this is not enough. To promote the development of China-U.S. relations, China needs to know the United States better, and vice versa.”
Thus with these words President Jiang gave the listeners a dynamic perspective on the neccisty of Mutual understanding As Jaing continued his speech, having already laid a great foundation on the basis of state to state relations he came over to the part of the speech where he in a very humble, open nature, described the correlation between culture and human development. President Jiang spoke with openness and was also willing to share with the audience the essence of the rich experience of the Chinese people. At the same time President Jiang to the opportunity to describe how the perception and dynamics culture is diverse and multi-facetted:
“Sunlight is composed of seven colors; so is our world full of colors and splendor. Every country and every nation has its own historical and cultural traditions, strong points and advantages. We should respect and learn from each other and draw upon others' strong points to offset one's own deficiencies for achieving common progress. In the prolonged course of development, China has formed its fine historical and cultural traditions, which have been either developed or discarded with the changes of the times and social progress. These traditions have exerted a profound impact on the values and way of life of the Chinese people, and on China's road of development today. I would like to make the following observations, which I hope will help you to know China better.”
I choose to quote the above as the The above makes it clear that social development and human relations in general is never a one way road - which is usually the most common misconception concerning the true nature People’s Republic of China in the West.
President Jiang continued to explain the particular characteristics of Chinese culture and society in the following passage:
“First, the tradition of solidarity and unity. The Chinese nation is a big family composed of 56 nationalities. Since time immemorial, people of all nationalities have established closely-knitted political, economic, and cultural links and joined hands in developing the vast land of our country. China became vast unified country more than 2,000 years ago. The deep-rooted Chinese culture has become a strong bond for ethnic harmony and national unity. Solidarity and unity have been inscribed in the hearts of the Chinese people as part of their national identity. Despite occasional division in the Chinese history, ethnic harmony and national unity have remained the main stream in the history of the Chinese nation, and an important guarantee for China's development and progress. The founding of the People's Republic marked an unprecedented great unity of the Chinese nation. A new type of relationship of equality, solidarity, and mutual assistance between different nationalities has been established. People of all nationalities enjoy full rights and freedoms provided for by the law. In places where there is a high concentration of minority-nationality people, regional autonomy is in practice. All these have laid a solid political foundation for consolidated national unity.”
As noted in the above statement, the essence of unity is a caractherised not only by togetherness but also by dynamic diversity. This concept reflects itself in all feilds of chinese society in different ways, and serves as proof that stereotyped view of “Red China” as a one sided, society is most inaccurate.
President Jiang also took time to explain how to cherish independence does not have to mean isolation:
“Second, the tradition of maintaining independence. Our ancestors always regarded the spirit of maintaining independence as the foundation of a nation. China has all along maintained its cultural tradition without letup in the history of several thousand years. In modern times, the frequent bullying and humiliation by imperialist powers once weakened China. However, after 100 years of struggle, China has stood up again as a giant. This fully testifies to the indestructible strength of the spirit of the Chinese people. Today, in finding a road to development suited to us, we will proceed from our own national conditions to address the issue of how to conduct economic construction and political and cultural advancement without blindly copying other countries' models. In handling international affairs, we decide our positions and policies from an independent approach. The Chinese people cherish its friendship and cooperation with other countries, as well as their right to independence they have won through protracted struggles.”
The vast dynamics of China'S social development, diverse culture and society building is hard to sum up in all it’s angles in one article. This was never my aim with this article - however I hope this article spurs the reader to see beyond the stereotyped view of the people’s Republic of China which is all too common in the west.
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