Hehe Culture forum celebrates harmony in global civilization progress

The 2024 Global Forum on Hehe Culture was held in Tiantai county of Taizhou city, Zhejiang province, on Saturday with a focus on the progress of human civilization.

"We should strengthen cultural confidence, deepen cultural exchanges, and promote the progress of civilizations," said Zhu Yongxin, vice chairperson of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and executive vice chairperson of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, in a speech delivered at the opening ceremony.

He also called for adhering to the philosophy of peace and harmony, upholding the spirit that "our shared future depends on Earth", and promoting the building of a global community with a shared future.

The forum was themed "Hehe Culture and New Model for Human Progress".

Hehe culture, which originated in Zhejiang's Tiantai mountains, embodies the concept of harmony but not uniformity. Hehe is a combination of two Chinese characters with the same pronunciation. The first "He" refers to peace and harmony, while the second denotes cooperation and integration.

Guests from China and abroad agreed that Hehe culture, which seeks common ground while preserving differences and promotes harmonious coexistence, provides Eastern wisdom for countries to resolve differences and collectively address risks and challenges.

What makes Hehe culture remarkable is the blending of the wisdom of Chinese history and civilization with modernity, Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, said in video remarks.

Essam Sharaf, former prime minister of Egypt, said that Hehe culture provides important insights for building a community with a shared future for mankind. "A community of shared future for mankind means that all countries have equal sovereignty, no country can interfere in the internal affairs of others, countries jointly manage global affairs in a democratic manner, and work together in win-win cooperation to build a world of shared prosperity."

Piet Steel, a director of the Board of Special Olympics, said: "No nation has all the answers to challenges like inequality, climate change and geopolitical tensions that impact everyone. However, we can find sustainable solutions through true respect for each other and learning from each other."

Since the 1980s, the world has been focusing on peace and development. However, "clashes of civilizations" and "ecological crises" have become major problems humanity must solve. Samuel P. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" thesis was that future wars would be fought between cultures rather than countries. His claim aroused strong reactions in international academic circles.

Chinese scholars analyzed and discussed Huntington's theory from the perspective of Chinese culture. They proposed a view of handling such clashes with harmonious integration and coexistence of civilizations.

Taizhou began working hard on the in-depth research and promotion of Hehe Culture in the late 1980s. Since then, Hehe Culture has caught greater attention and witnessed the emergence of valuable research results and literary and artistic works. The Global Forum on Hehe Culture was founded in 2021 and has since been held four times.