“He1” Culture

Threat from nature （ecological crisis） is more serious than the threat posed by war. From the experiences of Germany and Japan， we can learn that a country may recover from the wounds of war， whereas no country can rise above the destruction of environment.

--Gaylord Nelson， Father of Earth Day

The world is a collection of conflicts， and the excessive pursuit of economic interests by the mankind already entrapped the world into the mud of ecological deterioration. Especially since 1950s， the global environmental issues subsequently have cropped out including greenhouse gas effect， ozone damage， sour rain， poisonous chemicals dissemination， population explosion， soil erosion， forest reduction， expansion of land desertification， water pollution and shortage， biodiversity reduction and so on. The serious damage to global ecological environment cruelly not only destroys the rose wishes and dream of mankind towards the future， but also poses serious threat to the survival of mankind and the development of countries. This will not only impact the survival and prosperity of one or two generations， but a couple of， even dozens of generations. Despite that， this crisis draws all countries， developed countries or developing countries， socialist countries or capitalism countries， to rethink about it in a hope to solve it. Still there is no solution to rectify the trend from the fundamentals. The root reason is that facing the stimulus of economy， mankind is still entrapped into the wrong mentality. To strengthen the construction of ecological civilization， set up the pattern of ecological safety and reshape harmony between man and man， man and society， and man and nature， "He" the strength of the world from the mind-set and to tackle it together is the only solution to address ecological crisis and environmental damage.

The essence of

What is "He"？ Mankind has broken the state of harmony between man and nature， excessively developed and utilized natural resource， and unbridled robbed natural wealth， which resulted in severe excess of carbon emission and climate warming， i.e.， breaking the "He" between nature and mankind； people run against the mutual respect between husband and wife， mutual love between father and son， and human affections is damaging the fundamentals of the prosperity of all things， i.e.， violating the "He" of family； different ethnic groups waged wars due to different faiths， i.e.， opposing the "He" of ethnic groups. Since the birth of mankind， human are endowed with the defined idea of "He" and the spirit of "He". The human race has always revered "harmony"， pursued "friendliness" and stuck to "peace"， and has long since coined the expression of "peaceful co-existence"， sharing weal and woe， peaceful competition， harmoniously co-existence， "harmoniously collaboration"， "harmony"， "'He' and live"， "peace" and so on. "He" is regarded as the basic law of the universe. "'He' is the successful way under the heaven. And the ultimate ‘He' follows the way of the sky and the earth， from which all things can prosper". "He" is the basic guarantee for the forever lasting of the universe， by which all things harmoniously co-exist and survive". "He" is the ultimate merit which emphasizes the harmoniously unification of the conflicting parties.

In particular， the ancient Chinese culture has very profound understanding on the meaning of "He". In traditional Chinese culture， the idea of "He" is long-standing and well-established， representing the basic value， and the human essence and core of Chinese traditional culture. In ancient China， "harmony" appeared as a dimension of "He". As one of the core ideas in Chinese ancient philosophy， the thinking of "He" goes through every phases and all schools of the history of thinking development in China， develops into the basic spirit of Chinese culture and grows ceaselessly with renewed vigor， not only displaying the wisdom of oriental philosophy and unique theoretical value， but also playing a vital role in maintaining social stability， as well as enhancing social progress and social development. Abundant explanations in Buddhism， Confucianism and Taoism in ancient China are about the culture of "He"， but generally speaking， dialectics normally starts from--"He".

The relationship between man and nature should follow "unity of man and nature". We should acknowledge the unity between man and nature， stress that mankind should learn， respect， and protect nature， instead of damaging or blindly asking for resources from nature. We should oppose utilizing or conquering nature one-sidedly. Harmonious co-existence of man and nature is a basic attitude dealing the relationship of man and nature.

Relationship between man and man should follow the principle of "Doing things for the good of others". In dealing with the relationship between man and man， we should advocate conducting oneself in society clemently and coordinate interpersonal relationship， and create an interpersonal environment featuring "He of people" so as to form a Great Harmony society with the theme of harmonious interpersonal relationship. The relationship between man and self should learn the moral in the saying by Lao-tzu--"the most terrible misfortune lies in greediness， and the most serious crime is avarice". In dealing with heart and body， we should maintain a harmonious state between heart and sole， take a mild and peaceful mentality， and appropriately dispose the relationship between reason and desire. Then who is the ring leader to destroy the harmony between man and self？ From one aspect it is the desire， especially the greed to possess material life.

Dilemma of ecology and harmony between man and heaven

No one can escape from the dilemma of ecology. In the final analysis， the source to create the dilemma is human.

From the view of traditional culture， heaven， earth and human are not separated and contradictory， but interconnected. They are mingled in the life current with full life vigor. They are ceaseless and interrelated. Hence， traditional Chinese philosophy puts cognition into the consideration of dealing with the relationship between man and heaven.

Starting from the idea of unity between man and nature， traditional culture first acknowledges the unity between man and nature. It regards man and all things as a harmonious integrity， advocates that we should learn， respect， and protect nature， instead of overly asking for things from the nature， utilizing， conquering or reforming nature. It puts forward the ecological morals of "being rational in taking， and following the nature of the heaven". Confucians advocates putting self in the place of others， putting people in the place of all things， and spreading the spirit of "benevolence" to every thing in the universe. Confucius asked people to take a friendly attitude to regard all things on earth， including birds， animals， grass， and wood， proposed that people should fish only by the fishing rod， instead of blocking fish by big nets or shooting birds returning to their nests in the nights. Mencius said that， if we do not go against farming season， we will have inexhaustible foods； if we do not arbitrarily fish in rivers and lakes， we will have inexhaustible fish； and if we log woods according to the right time， we will have inexhaustible woods.

Doctrine of the Way said， "All things grow together without harming each other； Different principles run in parallel without going against each other"； Xuncius said， "All things are given birth as a result of the effect of ‘He'， and grow with the nutrition of the nature"， "then all things can receive benefits， animals can grow， all living things can survive"； Huai Nan Zi said， "...hence， we should follow the rule of ancestors…we should not drain the pond to get all the fish nor burn the forest to log all the woods". These all represents the efforts of mankind to seek the harmony between man and nature. Confucianism even connects protecting environment with "filial piety"： The Book of Rites said， "To cut down a tree or slaughter an animal against the right time is an unfilial act ". Zheng Meng by Zhang Zai in Song dynasty said that， "Mankind is my compatriots and all things are my friends"， which means heaven and man， all things and man are in nature unanimous. Taoism saint Lao-tzu said， "Man follows earth， earth follows Heaven， Heaven follows Tao and Tao follows Nature"， which stressed that we should respect natural rules and regard it as the highest principle， revere nature， learn from earth and Heaven and regard it as our ultimate fate. Chuang-Tzu also stressed that we must obey the natural law， conform to nature and accord with the nature， to reach the harmonious state of "Earth and Heaven co-exist with me， and all things and me integrate into oneness". Land Law of Qing dynasty， which belonged to the legalist school， expressly stipulated that， in springtime， people should not fell the trees which are still growing， or pick plants which just sprout ed， or hunt baby birds or animals； in autumn and winter， people should not kill pregnant animals； people and nature should live together harmoniously. Looking back into the history， it's very hard to find the trace of anthropocentrisim of Europe in traditional Chinese culture thinking. Over 100 years ago， Engels warned people that， "We should not lose ourselves in the victories over nature， because after every such victory， nature took revenge upon us."

Hence， to address the ecological problems， we need to find the basic ground， follow the "He" cultural thinking of "unity between man and nature" to restore the harmony between man and nature for hundreds of years.

"He"--the source of ecological construction

Then， aside from returning to "harmony between man and nature"， how to fully adopt "He" culture to construct ecological civilization in all manners？ A Chinese famous scholar and also Chinese American Wang Ge first advanced the application of He culture， i.e.， to resolve global warming and ecological safety， we can not ask developing countries to make unfair sacrifice， who we think have the rights to achieve development and economic progress and shake off poverty with the support of the international society. Hence， we should mobilize the strengths of all political parties， parliaments， governments and social circles to spur the revival of economy， adopt new financing ways and market-based approach， conduct technological transfer， and develop green industries to create more jobs. This is the He of a country.

No country can escape this strict crisis situation. This is a moral issue. Hence， we should be prepared for battle， and be guided by common responsibility and the principle of social well-being. However， it's not enough to just rely on national policy because it relates to a wide range of political and economic interests， which requires responsible attitude of all countries to take positive part in strengthening cooperation among countries. This is "He" among selves.

Family constitutes the basic unit of society and the main force for national stability. Whether a family is harmonious plays an important role in deciding harmony of a society. Family is the cell to form a country， which is composed of millions of families. In particular， we should construct an ecologically harmonious society and conduct education of "He" culture with family as the unit to form harmonious and unified world view in thinking and resolve the issue of ecology from the source. This is the "He" of family and source of prosperity of all things.

Hence， we should use the cultural thinking of "He" to correct people's bias and seek the source， find the future way out in the wisdom of "He" and the recipe to save the earth. A harmonious people succeed in all things and a happy family means wealth， a harmonious country prevails at all things. If the earth is He， sun and moon will be bright； if the sky is He， all things will be alive. We have to let He culture to start from "heart" to go towards society， world and future.

Postscript

I first encountered the cultural notion of "He" in a talk with famous scholar Wang Ge and had more profound understanding of it after I read the book Random Thoughts on Harmony Culture bestowed by him. For a long time， I have been engaged in research of constructing ecological safety. Although I have amassed some achievements， the harmony thinking advocated by Wang Ge gave me some new inspiration， i.e.， to realize the construction of ecological civilization and resolve the ecological dilemma， we should sort out the sequence of though from the source， use "He" culture to reverse the trend from the perspective of thinking. Be it "unity of man and nature" or "Dao follows nature"， both represents a correction in the thinking of only economic theory in the process of constructing ecological environment. Hence， combining the "He" culture idea by Wang Ge to conduct research on ecology will help me have new progress.