The Global View of Pursuing Peace Among All Countries

"Bringing peace to all states" was one of the basic principles abided by ancient China in dealing with relations among its states, calling for peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation. This idea originated in The Book of History (Shang Shu). The full quote reads: "Carry forward great virtue so as to foster harmony within families; then, coordinate relations among the people so as to bring about harmony within society; and then, coordinate the interests of different states so as to bring peace to all states." It reflects the political wisdom of Yao, a legendary leader of allied tribes in ancient China. From handling relationships within a family to managing relationships among states, this system of thought was based on the principle of addressing issues from the micro to the macro, and from the close to the far, embodying the harmony-based wisdom in governance. The purpose of this idea was to form cooperative and complementary relations among all people and all ethnic groups by bringing their respective advantages into play. In this way, the ideal of "all states staying together in peace" could be realized. In traditional Chinese society, the idea of "bringing peace to all states" was carried forward by statesmen and thinkers for generations and applied in dealing with relations with neighboring countries, and over time, it was crystalized into an important concept of traditional Chinese culture. 

Nowadays, the idea of "bringing peace to all states" has developed into a principle for coordinating relations among different countries with the aim of ensuring mutual respect, mutual cooperation and shared development for all. Founded on the awareness of pursuing coexistence in harmony and win-win cooperation, the global view of pursuing peace among all countries embodies traditional Chinese wisdom in governance and constitutes the basic principle for China to deal with international relations in the new era.

協和萬邦的國際觀

協和萬邦，是中國古代處理邦國之間關系的基本原則，即和睦共處、合作共贏。“協和萬邦”出自《尚書》，所謂“克明俊德，以親九族。九族既睦，平章百姓。百姓昭明，協和萬邦”。這里表達的是中國上古時期部落聯盟首領堯的政治智慧，即弘揚品德，讓家族和睦；繼而協調百姓，協調各個家族之間的關系，以實現社會和睦；再協調萬邦諸侯，讓各個邦國實現和諧合作。從家族到天下關系的處理，這是一個“由小及大”“由近及遠”的思想體系，集中體現以“和”（和諧）為依據的治理智慧。協和萬邦的目標就是讓不同的人和族群都能夠發揮各自優勢，形成合作、互補，從而實現“萬國咸寧”。在中國傳統社會，“協和萬邦”的理念為歷代政治家和思想家所傳承和弘揚，并被運用于處理本國與周邊國家的關系，從而成為中國傳統文化的一個重要理念。

在當代社會，協和萬邦的內涵得到引申和拓展，就是協調不同國家之間的關系，讓世界各國都能夠相互尊重、相互合作、共同發展。協和萬邦的國際觀，以和諧共處、合作共贏為基本理念，是中國傳統治理智慧的集中體現，也是新時代中國處理國際關系的原則基礎。