Cultural DiversificationCultural exchanges have kept China’s ancient culture alive
...continuous process of joint development, there are diversifications of different individuals, different nationalities and different countries, as well as different thoughts, different opinions, different developing roads and different orientations derived from these diversifications. Only on the basis of diversification can we jointly develop in the real sense and establish long-term unity. Cultural exchange is valued for its contention and exchange of ideas. While contention gives impetus to cultural development, it is only a way to promote the development of academic culture and to exchange ideas. The final goal of contention is to promote mutual fusion and supply opportunity for it. Fusion means ideological sublimation and cultural progress, not one party swallowing the other. Contention of many schools of thought during China’s Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods (770-221 B.C.) created the peak of China’s ancient culture. The bonding between Indian Buddhism and Chinese traditional culture is a successful example of exchanges in different cultures in history. In modern history, Western culture came to the east, causing a series of contentions that caused the bonding of Western and Chinese cultures. During the process of cultural connection between the West and the East, Shanghai culture blossomed as a melting pot of East and West. Learning from other’s advantages and correcting one’s own disadvantages is an excellent traditional concept in China’s academic exchanges and connections in different schools of thought. Using the other party as a mirror can ensure the efficiency of cultural exchanges. For more than 2,000 years, Chinese culture frequently faced foreign cultures and used this concept. In 8th century Asia, a series of envoys were sent from Japan to China. When they went back, they brought to Japan the cream of Chinese culture. Also at that time, a monk name Xuanzang, Buddhist scholar of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) of China, went on a pilgrimage to India for Buddhist scriptures. The essence of Indian Buddhism was brought to China and merged with Chinese culture. Between the 14th and 15th century, European people used the technology of China’s printing to print cards, the Bible and Latin textbooks. After 500 years, printing machines from Europe promoted the upsurge of written communication in modern China. The concept of learning from other’s advantages and correcting one’s own disadvantages is among the processes of the ebb and flow of culture, benefiting the human race. There are no two leaves in the world that are definitely the same. Diversified cultures are the inevitable results of different human origination, different living places and the unity of national spirits. Each culture has its own inevitability of existence and development with distinctive characteristics. It is only right and proper to let different cultures live simultaneously, just like different nationalities living together. Traditional Chinese culture embodies the cultural diversification with long history and distinctive characteristics. In the natural world, damage to the ecological environment has caused much concern to humanity. In the spiritual world, any damage to cultural diversity will also cause serious disaster to spiritual life. Just like the difference in leaves, the difference between cultures is the embodiment of the universal law of the world’s diverse opinions, independent of anyone’s will. Culture exchanges between different regions and different nationalities are not only to find the sameness, understanding the generality of different cultures, but also to seek differences. Finding similarities can make clear the veins...