Editorials

Cultural interaction

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-29 07:55

Editor's note: While more foreigners master the Chinese language and know about its culture, the more chances there will be to promote cultural interaction.

The number of Confucius Institutes and classes has jumped to 554 in 90 countries in five years and the number of foreign students learning Chinese has similarly increased to 230,000. These numbers show that China is increasingly attracting the world's attention.

However the spread of culture globally can never be a one-way transmission to the rest of world. In this global village made smaller by the Internet and modern transport, it is impossible for the culture of any single country to dominate.

As a country with one-fifth of the world's population, China suffers from a great deficit when it comes to the world's understanding of its culture. When the country was weak and bullied by Western powers in the late 19th and early 20th century, Westerners only knew of the downside or mysterious aspects.

In the three decades before its reform and opening up in 1978, the country was comparatively isolated and Westerners could only see China and its people through the prism of biased ideological concepts. So it is natural for more foreigners to show great interest in learning about China and its culture. The country's rapid economic growth has made it possible and necessary for Westerners to discover a real China behind the veil of political bias and cultural mystique.

The boom in Confucius Institutes and Chinese-language classrooms meet this need. Their mission will allow the rest of the world to know why harmony as the core of Chinese culture underlines the peaceful development of this nation.

While more foreigners master the Chinese language and know about its culture, the more chances there will be to promote cultural interaction. This will positively impact the world.

(China Daily 04/29/2010 page8)