The Global View of Pursuing Peace Among All Countries

"Bringing peace to all states" was one of the basic principles abided by ancient China in dealing with relations among its states, calling for peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation. This idea originated in The Book of History (Shang Shu). The full quote reads: "Carry forward great virtue so as to foster harmony within families; then, coordinate relations among the people so as to bring about harmony within society; and then, coordinate the interests of different states so as to bring peace to all states." It reflects the political wisdom of Yao, a legendary leader of allied tribes in ancient China. From handling relationships within a family to managing relationships among states, this system of thought was based on the principle of addressing issues from the micro to the macro, and from the close to the far, embodying the harmony-based wisdom in governance. The purpose of this idea was to form cooperative and complementary relations among all people and all ethnic groups by bringing their respective advantages into play. In this way, the ideal of "all states staying together in peace" could be realized. In traditional Chinese society, the idea of "bringing peace to all states" was carried forward by statesmen and thinkers for generations and applied in dealing with relations with neighboring countries, and over time, it was crystalized into an important concept of traditional Chinese culture. 

Nowadays, the idea of "bringing peace to all states" has developed into a principle for coordinating relations among different countries with the aim of ensuring mutual respect, mutual cooperation and shared development for all. Founded on the awareness of pursuing coexistence in harmony and win-win cooperation, the global view of pursuing peace among all countries embodies traditional Chinese wisdom in governance and constitutes the basic principle for China to deal with international relations in the new era.

協(xié)和萬邦的國際觀

協(xié)和萬邦，是中國古代處理邦國之間關(guān)系的基本原則，即和睦共處、合作共贏?！皡f(xié)和萬邦”出自《尚書》，所謂“克明俊德，以親九族。九族既睦，平章百姓。百姓昭明，協(xié)和萬邦”。這里表達的是中國上古時期部落聯(lián)盟首領(lǐng)堯的政治智慧，即弘揚品德，讓家族和睦；繼而協(xié)調(diào)百姓，協(xié)調(diào)各個家族之間的關(guān)系，以實現(xiàn)社會和睦；再協(xié)調(diào)萬邦諸侯，讓各個邦國實現(xiàn)和諧合作。從家族到天下關(guān)系的處理，這是一個“由小及大”“由近及遠(yuǎn)”的思想體系，集中體現(xiàn)以“和”（和諧）為依據(jù)的治理智慧。協(xié)和萬邦的目標(biāo)就是讓不同的人和族群都能夠發(fā)揮各自優(yōu)勢，形成合作、互補，從而實現(xiàn)“萬國咸寧”。在中國傳統(tǒng)社會，“協(xié)和萬邦”的理念為歷代政治家和思想家所傳承和弘揚，并被運用于處理本國與周邊國家的關(guān)系，從而成為中國傳統(tǒng)文化的一個重要理念。

在當(dāng)代社會，協(xié)和萬邦的內(nèi)涵得到引申和拓展，就是協(xié)調(diào)不同國家之間的關(guān)系，讓世界各國都能夠相互尊重、相互合作、共同發(fā)展。協(xié)和萬邦的國際觀，以和諧共處、合作共贏為基本理念，是中國傳統(tǒng)治理智慧的集中體現(xiàn)，也是新時代中國處理國際關(guān)系的原則基礎(chǔ)。