A Critique of the Concept of“Heaven-and-Human Oneness”

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In the history of the world，the first question the ancestors of all nations encountered was invariably the relationship between man and Heaven representing nature，and people of different nations designed different relationships and offered different solutions to the same problem accordingly as they had different humanistic and historical backgrounds，inhabiting different geographical regions with different climates and topography.The Westerners believe in the subject-and-object dichotomy，that is，man is the subject，whereas nature is the object.From the start，nature and myriad things in the universe had been placed in the opposite position，alien to man，and become the object of man’s understanding and conquest.The Chinese，however，believe in the idea of “Heaven-and-Human Oneness”.From the start，the nature and man had been put in theharmonious relationship with“0bject-and-Human Oneness”，and“0bjectand-Human Harmonious Unity”.The Western idea of the subject-and-object dichotomy resulted in man’s conquest of nature to such an extent that it gave rise to a severe ecological crisis，especially after the Industrial Revolution，and they had to work out solutions to it.And they，to their enjoyment，discovered the idea of”Heaven-and-Human Oneness”in the ancient Oriental philosophy，which could be the important resources of modern ecological ethics.Of course，Westerners could choose to return to their traditional Christian culture for wisdom and reaffirmation of their reverence for God and His creatures，alongside theOriental idea of”Heaven-and-Human Oneness”，in joint efforts to provide solutions to the common ecological crisis of mankind.The Chinese，however，should build their new spiritual home，and search for the metaphysical“Ultimate reality” for the eternal comfort of their souls，living poetically and elevating the quality of their life，in the process of，first of all，survival，and then embarking on a life of abundance，while continuing to maintain their harmonious and intimate relationship with nature.

In Western culture，conflicts and struggles have been usually followed with interest.

The themes of conflicts，assassinations and deaths have run through the tragedies of the Western literature from the ancient Greek to modern American tragedies，the audience have been to the theatres to be shocked and cathartic and their moods have been relaxed，feeling completely relieved and satisfied in spirit.In Chinese culture，however，people have cared more for the harmony because their life has been so tranquil like still water reflected in most traditional Chinese paintings，with men ploughing and women weaving，sharing their simple and homely joys.At home，harmony had been created between the emperor and ministers，among neighbours.In the external relationships with either our minority people along the frontier areas or with our neighbouring countries，Chinese emperors hadseldom resorted to military force，except self-defence before foreign invasions，gone out of their way to make many voyages to the Western Seas and presented such gifts as crockery，silk and tea to express good will of Chinese people to the countries and people visited.

Instead，Chinese envoys，on behalf of Chinese emperors，had established harmonious tributary relationships with those remote countries and invited them to visit China for mutual exchanges，of course，within the framework of the suzerain-and-tributary relationship.In Chinese literature，the pastoral life has been the repeated theme where a happy ending is usually expected and provided for the aesthetic satisfaction of the audience，and even in the tragedy like Snow in Mid-summer，the injustice，the heroine，as a wronged person，suffered，could not be redressed in reality，but it must be righted in the imaginative world，catering to the aesthetic tendency of Chinese audience.

Both Westerners and Chinese，with different world outlook and values，have cultivated opposite aesthetic taste or standards，which have been shaped by their different ways of life and behaviours.

In building the harmonious world today，the traditional Chinese idea of“Heaven-and-Human Oneness”needs self-innovating and assuming extended connotations of the time，for its invigoration.Traditional Chinese society，as a self-contained agricultural society，was actually an association of smallscale peasant economy，though it was a colossal empire.In ancient times，civilizations had been separated and prevented from meeting each other by the natural barriers and inconvenience of transportations，and there had seldom existed the threats of invasions from far-off civilizations for Chinese except the occasional harassments of surrounding nomads and small bands of Japanese pirates along the coast，posing no grave threats to the whole nation.Traditional China，therefore，has been developing peacefully until today，with the concept of “harmony”being the guiding principle of the country.In a contemporary world described as”global village”，China is confronting a totally different world，with the mixture of all problems，such as economic globalization，political pluralism，complication of nationality problems，unprecedented advancement in science and technology and in the means of wars，struggles for the natural resources on the earth at fever pitch，and extreme intricacy of international relations.

Whether China can stand firmly on its own feet，withstand all kinds of tests in international crisis without interrupting its modernisation programs，and rise peacefully and composedly wi1l largely determine the well-being and happiness of whole humanity.Under such a complex international context，uncertainties and unexpected things keep multiplying while building a harmonious world.While China，therefore，holds high its banner of traditional pacifism，it should empower itself to increase the overall national strength to such an extent that it can，if it wishes，eliminate inharmonious factors and safeguard the harmonious world.Only on the basis of this national strength，can China lead the world，under its traditional idea of“Heaven-and-Human Oneness”，in building a common harmonious hometown，a well-balanced multi-polar world for all men.