Face up to the History and Construct the Peace
By Zhang Jiyu, Vice-chairman of Chinese Taoist Association and vice-chairman of Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles
Honorable colleagues and friends,
As a Taoist from China as well as a representative from the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles, I am very glad to be present at this seminar and discuss the future of Northeast Asia and the role of religion in it together with you. And we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the International Religious Peace Corps of South Korea, the sponsor of this seminar, for their elaborate organization and considerate arrangement.
All friends present,
China, Japan and South Korea are close neighbors situated across the sea and with cultural communications. There was no lack of much told stories about friendly exchanges among the three countries in history. However, in modern times, the militarism Japan launched an invasive war and caused very grave disasters to China and South Korea, as well as Japan itself, and greatly harmed the feelings of the people in various countries of East Asia including Japan, thus hindering the peace and development of this region for a time. Although those times have elapsed, the history unfolds itself. These disasters and wounds are just like a haze frequently hanging over the road towards peace and friendliness among the three countries of China, Japan and South Korea. Nevertheless, the history already passed. If treated properly, both positive experience and negative lessons will not become shackles hindering our progress, instead, they will enable us to progress in a more sober-minded and wise way. We should face up to the history, accept it as it is and learn from it. There should be no distortion, covering up or glorifying. It needs courage to face up to the history. And only the nations which can face up to the history and take history as a mirror can win respect, trust and forgiveness. Meditating on history, we gain a more profound understanding that peace and friendliness have a bearing on the destiny of a country, the well-being of the people as well as the tranquility of a region.
Peace and development are still the uttermost important theme in the modern world. However, the world is far from peaceful and the Northeast Asian regions are far from tranquil. As three major countries in Northeast Asia, China, Japan and South Korea should maintain their relationship of peaceful development and mutual benefit and cooperation, which is closely bound up to the immediate interests of the people in various Northeast Asian countries. Not only the governments of the three countries should take it seriously, but we religious people should also pay close attention to it and make our due efforts.
It can be seen from history that religion has exerted a positive role in the friendship establishment and culture transmission among the various countries in Northeast Asia. Up to today, the friendly communications among the religious circles of China, South Korea and Japan are still an important force in advancing the development of the friendly relationship among the three countries. In 2009, the delegation from Chinese Taoist Association attended the “First International Taoist Culture Seminar” held by Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. The Chinese Taoist Association also maintains friendly exchanges with the “Japanese Taoist Temple” organization and the Shinto International Society. In 1951, Mr. Zhao Piaochu, the initiator of the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles gave the Japanese Buddhist Community a Guanyin statue as a gift from the Chinese Buddhist Community, which gained a warm reception in the Buddhist Community of Japan. Mr. Zhao had also conceived the idea of “a golden ribbon” linking the friendly communications among the Buddhist communities in China, Japan and South Korea. Accordingly, the Buddhist circles hold exchange conferences every year in the three countries. After the serious earthquake and tsunami disasters hit Japan this year, the Chinese government and the Chinese people have expressed their deep-felt sympathy and offered humanitarian aid and donates. Besides, the Chinese religious circles played an active part in it. The Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles sent a telegram to the Japanese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles to express sympathy and solicitude for the disasters. And some religious groups such as the Chinese Taoist Association and the Chinese Buddhist Association held religious deliverance and praying services for the people in the afflicted areas in Japan and offered their donates. All of these are tangible work by the religious circles beneficial to promoting the friendliness among the peoples.
Friends,
Any great religion has the decree of instructing human beings to live in harmony with other peoples, other nationalities and other countries and treat them on an equal footing. And any words and deeds which incite religious conflicts and revengeful murders among different races, advocate cultural discrimination and civilization opposition, and provoke disputes among nationalities, splits in countries and ideological opposition are an abandoning of the wisdom of religion. As a native religion of China, Taoism has a history of over two thousand years up to today. Taoism pursues harmony. Lao Tse proposed that “to deal with affairs with a peace of mind, one would know the eternal laws of nature. One who knows the eternal laws of nature would be brilliant.” And Zhuang Zhou put forward that “there is a perfectly harmonious relationship among all the things of the universe”. Therefore, the pursuit of “peace and tranquility” is just the ideal of Taoism. Taoism emphasizes bringing about “benefit rather than any harm” to the universe so that “people would become an integral part of the nature”. In other words, there should be mutual respect and mutual understanding between man and man, country and country, and only in this way can they coexist in a harmonious way.
We religious colleagues should instruct the people with religious faith, carry out religious education and make the philosophy of peace take root in people’s hearts, thus constructing peace from the inner heart. Meanwhile, strengthening exchanges and promoting understanding are effective methods of conciliating conflicts and maintaining peace. We religious people should vigorously initiate and practice them. Exchanges can enable the linking up of people’s hearts. Only when people’s hearts are linked together and people are kind to each other, is it possible to lead a peaceful life. Religion is able to advise people to open up their mind, maintain exchanges, conduct dialogues, and avoid going to extremes. If no exchange is made when there is contradiction, bigger problems will ensue. Although making exchanges may not solve problems temporarily, it could at least control the problem. This seminar is just a beneficial practice of communications and exchanges among the people.
China is a country advocating “harmony”, and “harmony” has always been considered as the supreme value in the Chinese history. On such basis, China persists in a road of peaceful development, advocates the independent foreign policy of peace and devotes itself to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity. At present, the Chinese Taoist Association is preparing for the Second International Taoist Seminar which will be held in October this year. And the theme of the seminar is “respecting morality and valuing virtue, seeking coexistence in a harmonious way”. The “World Buddhist Seminar” initiated by the Buddhist circles of China has been convened twice, and they both centered around the theme of a harmonious world. As the only national inter-religious peace organization in China, the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles gathers the leaders and representatives of Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Christianity in China together and actively carries out the exchanges and cooperation with the religious circles in various countries as well as the international and regional religious peace organizations in line with the principles of “friendliness, peace, development and cooperation”. Internally, the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles holds a plenary session every year, at which hundreds of commissioners with different religious faiths from all around China gather together to communicate friendship, exchange experience and promote religious harmony. At the call of the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles, it is a custom of the religious circles in China to hold praying services for world peace every year. Not long ago, the Chinese Taoist Association held religious ceremonies in memory of the 66th anniversary of the success of the Anti-Japanese War and the World Anti-Fascist War. In January this year, the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles organized the representatives from the five major religions to conduct exchanges in Taiwan for the first time. And they held discussions and enhanced common views on how to give positive play to the religion in serving the society and serving the peaceful development of the relations across the Taiwan Straits. Internationally, the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles makes vigorous efforts to contact with inter-religious organizations of other countries, promote mutual understanding and enhance friendly relations. So far, the Chinese Peace Commission of the Religious Circles has established the mechanism of exchanges and carried out exchange visits with the Peace Commissions of the Religious Circles in South Korea and Britain. This year, the Commission visited the headquarters of the World Peace Commission of the Religious Circles and the Peace Commissions of the Religious Circles in America and Canada, and they exchanges views and made negotiations on further promoting their friendly communications.
All the colleagues and friends present,
Today, by holding such an international seminar, the host gathers the religious circles as well as the educational circles of China, South Korea and Japan together, which just reflects the aspiration of the Northeast Asian people for peace. Let us strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation, call on the people with religious faiths to practice our philosophy of peace in our respective religious languages, influence the people of all orders of life through those people with religious faiths and unite the strength of all people, promote communications and build up confidence, in an effort to safeguard the peace, stability and development in Northeast Asia constantly.
Last but not least, let us make wishes together. We hope that human beings maintain good neighborly and friendly relations and treat each other as family members; we hope there will never be wars and we hope human beings can enjoy peace and prosperity together and maintain harmony and tranquility forever.
Thank you.
