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Nishan Declaration of Harmony

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-27 20:07

Nishan Forum, September 27, 2010, China

On September 27, 2010, one day before the 2561st anniversary of the birth of Confucius, the greatest thinker and teacher of ancient China, and a time for reviewing the wisdom of his age, we, the undersigned, on the occasion of the first Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, jointly issue the following Declaration of Harmony:

Troubled over the present state of world affairs;

Anxious about our common human future;

Distressed by the brutal reality of war, slaughter, and conflict;

And confronted with a deteriorating global environment,

Human beings everywhere are perplexed and confused.

Having solemnly pondered and acknowledged the wisdom of our predecessors,

We advocate harmony;

We advocate loving-kindness;

We advocate tolerance;

We advocate decorum and civility;

We advocate faithfulness and reliability；

We advocate "never doing to others what you would not have done to yourself";

We advocate "loving all creatures as we would love ourselves" and "the unity of Heaven and humanity";

We advocate the principle that "while we enjoy the beauty of our own culture, we also appreciate the beauty of other civilizations";

We advocate the belief that within the four seas, all people are brothers and sisters;

We advocate for a harmonious world and for the principle of "harmony with diversity".

For the purpose of building a harmonious world,

And for the purpose of conserving our common globe,

We appeal for mutual understanding and respect by which to resolve grievances;

We appeal for dialogue and communication as a means to avoiding conflicts;

We appeal for frugality and low-carbon emissions in order to sustain our home earth;

We appeal for solidarity and collaboration to build our future together.

We hope and pray that -

Our advocacies and appeals will be echoed and embraced by the entire world.

We hope and pray that -?

Our advocacies and appeals will be transformed into common practices for all human beings.