"Confucianism culture brings a new light to the world"
Andong, North Kyungsang Province, Republic of Korea, proved once
again that the City is a capital of Korea mental culture by hosting The
21st Century Human Values Forum 2017 which is running until Oct. 22(Sunday).
Following the participation of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps. including
former Bolivia Amb. Guadalupe de Taboada last year, over 30 senior
diplomats including some envoys graced the official opening ceremony
of the 21st Century Human Values Forum with their attendance which
was held at the Andong Culture & Arts Center
in the afternoon on Oct. 20th. this year as well.
The intellecutual roots of Andong based on Confucianism deserve
global attention & interest as a remarkable academic achievement.
Such value is to make Andong stand tall as a global city, according
to experts & scholars who attended the 21st Century Human Values Forum.
At the official opening ceremony in which over 1,500 invited guests
from home & abroad including many experts & scholars gathered,
, the host organization pinpointed exactly: “The 21st Century Human Values
Forum will serve as a platform of delivering story that inspires you
to explore what makes life valuable with people from all around the world”
During three days, the Forum will encourage you to take a listen to
how to fulfill human values from specialists both at home & abroad
in the fields of politics, economics, arts & culture, with multiple
paralled events including talk shows, he added. Under the teachings
of Confucianism, chairman Lee encouraged participants to think of
the interests of parents or the nation earlier than own interests.
Touching upon the fact that except Andong, there are no any places
in the world to discuss human values such as Confucianism, mayor
Kwon Young-se from Andong City Government said that your presence is a testament
to how this forum has resonated with audience and how eager all of
global citizens are to achieve human values.
Through respective video-tapped screening, Speaker Chung Se-kyun from the Natioanl Assembly sincerely hoped that Andong would
play as a mecca role of Confucianism human values further and
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said that we must restore the value of human education.
Governor Kim Kwan-yong from North Kyungsang Provice said he is proud of the fact
that Andong emerged totally as the mecca of Korea mental culture
beyond merely North Kyungsang Province for the entire world.
In two keynote speeches held following the official opening ceremony,
former 20th Prime Minister Lee Hyeon-jae, Republic of Korea spoke: “While the traditional culture of Korea
and China were tilted toward idealism devoid of Realism, Japan with
strong Realism lack some of the traits deriving from idealism”. In
that regard, complementing each other and creating harmony and
moderation seems to be the way forward for the benefit of all, said Lee.
Prof. Guo Yi from Seoul National University told that religious culture
consists of ‘religion of humans’ and ‘religion of god, In this vein, East
Asian civilization in fact promotes both religions, giving more spotlight
on human religion, while the other civilization values religion of god
highly, Gul Yi said. He added that each has its own upside an
downside, requiring Eastern and Western value systems to get
inspiration and engage in mutual learning.
As part of their afternoon visit itinerary, visiting diplomatic community
dropped by Dosanseowon (Dosan Confucian Academy) which contains
confucian culture having placed high value on study and courtesy.
Korea’s preeminent Confucian scholar, Lee Hwang(1501-70),
established Dosan Seodang(confucian academy) to devote his life to study and the education
of his disciples, according to a female tourism guide. Shortly after his
death, his disciples and scholars established Dosan Confucian
academy to commemorate his lofty virtue.
In the eighth year of King Seonjo’s reign (1575), a carved tablet
written by Han Seok-bong(1543-1605), a famed calligrapher of the time, was dedicated here. Dosan
Confucian academy is comprised of Dosan Seodang(classroom), Nongunjeongsa dormitory, Gwangmyeongshil (library),
Jeongyodang hall(lecture hall), Sangdeok Shrine and Jangpangak (storage for wooden
block). Dosan Confucian academy, bordered by Lake Andong in front
and dense pine forests at the back, creates a harmonious scenery.
In the evening welcome dinner which wad held at the Grand Ballroom,
Andong Grand Hotel, chairman Lee from the Korea Foundation for
Cultures & Ethics once again emphasized as capacity of host
organization chief to see from the long perspective rather than taking a short-sighted policy.
As stated in the afternoon opening ceremony, he reiterated to place
the interests of the nation or their parents earlier than his own
interests accoring to the teachings of Confucianism, pointing out
that Korea graduted from democracy and market economy successfully,
but reveals many problems from the standpoint of intellecutall mental culture.
Andong City mayor Kwon also echoed same opinion, saying that
he is proud of the fact that the Human Values Forum is an
intellectual venue seeking alternatives to solve such problems we faced currently.
By his toast remarks, Romania Amb. Mihai Ciompec who joined
the Andong tour as dean of the visiting diplomatic community, told
he has solid belief that Confucia culture brings a new light to the world again.
Expressing his sincere gratitude for inviting us to the 21st Century
Human Values Forum in Andong, he said: “We ambassadors and
senior diplomats understand that the objectives of this Forum are
to propose alternative Confucian humanistic values for the 21st
Century, to take a role as the mediator in the formation of the East
Asian cultural community, and last but not least to take a leading
role in advancing humanistic cultural prosperity, to name just a few”.
Sending our full support for the noble efforts of Korea Foundation
for Cultures and Ethics to promote “The 21st Century Human Values
Forum”, a cultural version of Davos Forum, we sincerely hope great
success and fruitful discussion regarding pending issues, he proposed a toast.
Following many sessions regarding human values in big data,
Confucianism and human values for the future etc. in the morning
and afternoon respectively on Sat(Oct. 21)., direction for development of the human values forum,
changes of Confucianism in East Asia, and last but not least experience
& practice of Seonbi’s spirit sessions etc. are continued on Sun. (Oct. 22).
The following are two keynote speeches delivered by
former 20th Prime Minister Lee Hyeon-jae and
Prof. Guo Yi, Philosophy department of
Seoul Nat’l University during the official opening ceremony
respectivley. -Ed.
Keynote Speech I by former 20th Prime Minister Lee Hyeon-jae
At the inception of modernization, Britain and France were driven
by the law of nature and rationalism. However, in the process, the
two countries began to show discrepancy on multiple fronts. In
terms of industrial competitiveness and colonial expansion, Britain
outstripped France. British political and economic power in
promoting capitalism and liberal democracy simultaneously were
way ahead of that of France.
Considering such differences, it is worth pinpointing two that define one’s spirituality and culture, which are ‘Idealism” and ‘Realism’ which apply
both to the Eastern and Western world. In practice, having two elements
altogether is the norm for any nation and individual. However, Max Weber’s ‘Idealtypus’ compels us to value one over the other. In regard to such
views, Realism was more vibrant in Britain, while Idealism was more active in France.
Every nation and ethnicity has its own cultural principles and perils.
Such principles and perils can work well in certain times, while the
opposite can be true. In that regard, making reflection and analysis on one’s culture receives high priority. While the traditional culture of Korea
and China were tilted toward Idealism devoid of Realism, Japan
with strong Realism lack some of the traits deriving from Idealism.
In that regard, complementing each other and creating harmony and
moderation seems to be the way forward for the benefit of all.
Keynote Speech II by Prof. Guo Yi, Philosophy department of
Seoul Nat’l University
Values are emboddied through religious culture, spiritual culture
and social culture, serving as the fundamental ideology with a profound
influence on human being. Such values can be categorized into
religious, spiritual and social values accordingly.
Religiosity is about expressing strong belief and reverence toward
fundamental values. The highest level of freedom, joy, satisfaction
and tranquility can be achieved through such religiosity. Indeed, such
religious values take the form of ‘comfort’. Religious culture consisits
of ‘religion of humans’ and ‘religion of god.’. In fact, East Asian
civilization promotes both religions, giving more spotlight on human
religion, while the other civilization values religion of god highly.
Spiritual culture is made up of Taoist art, ethics and arts. Truth,
Goodness, and Beauty represent Western spiritual values, while East
Asian spiritual values take the form of Modesty, Harmony and Joy.
Democracy, Liberty and Equality have been embraced as the universal
world values. But those values are just one part of Western social values
and cannot represent social values inherent in other civilizations.
The core values of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism pursue being
right, merciful and natural, constituting what makes Eastern Asia social
values. In addition, East Asian social values have the characteristics of
continuity and subjectivity, whereas Western ones are driven by
discontinuity and objectivity.
Each has its own upside and downside, requiring Eastern and Western
value systems to get inspiration an engage in mutual learning.