On March 22, the Second Wuyi Forum, themed “Mutual Learning of Civilizations and Modernization Development: The World Significance of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” opened in Wuyishan, Fujian Province. More than a hundred well-known Chinese and foreign scholars gathered in the hometown of Zhu Xi to conduct in-depth discussions on relevant topics.
Jiang Erxiong, Vice Governor of the People’s Government of Fujian Province, Zhang Donggang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Renmin University of China (RUC), Yuan Chaohong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanping City, and others attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Lin Shangli, President of RUC, presided over the ceremony.
Jiang Erxiong stated that she hopes experts and scholars can offer suggestions for the inheritance and development of the culture of Fujian, and help Fujian build a more advanced cultural powerhouse. Zhang Donggang said that he will expound on the ideological essence of Chinese civilization with a broader vision. Yuan Chaohong expressed his expectation that with the wisdom of experts and scholars, the cultural influence can be enhanced.
The opening ceremony achieved fruitful results. The main report of the forum, “A New Cultural Entity: ‘The Two Integrations’ and Revitalization of Chinese Culture,” was released, responding to major issues related to how “the Two Integrations” create a new cultural entity from multiple aspects. The new book “The Way of Endless Life: The Cosmology of Chinese Civilization” (the first volume of the “Wuyi Lectures on Chinese Civilization”) made its debut, which expounds on the cosmology of Chinese civilization.
Cross-Strait High-Level Academic Consortium on Chinese Civilization was unveiled and established. Led by RUC and jointly established with multiple universities, it is committed to continuing the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The Nishan Joint Graduate School for Fine Traditional Chinese Culture Research and Training Base was also unveiled, which will deepen the cooperation between universities and local governments and inherit and carry forward the fine traditional Chinese culture. In addition, the People’s Government of Nanping City also held a ceremony to appoint cultural consultants.
In the keynote speech session, Qin Xuan, Dean of the Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at RUC, Baek Young-seo, Honorary Professor of Yonsei University in South Korea, Robert Chard, Emeritus Professor of St Anne’s College, University of Oxford in the UK, and Yang Huilin, former Vice President of RUC, delivered keynote speeches respectively, expressing their opinions on topics such as the world significance of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the path of civilization transformation, the Western perception of China, and the “Debate between the Ancient and the Modern, the Chinese and the Western” in the mutual learning of civilizations.
In the panel discussion session of the forum, experts discussed the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture empowered by digital and intelligent technologies, centering on the theme of “The Inheritance and Communication of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture in the Digital Intelligent Era”.
On the afternoon of the same day, five parallel sub-forums, namely “Narration and Creation: From Confucius to Zhu Xi,” “Classics and Modernity,” “The Core Values of Chinese Civilization and the Interpretation of Modernization,” “Governance in China and Chinese Path to Modernization,” and “Cross-Strait Youth Continuing the Cultural Heritage of the Chinese Nation,” were held simultaneously. Scholars had in-depth exchanges under different themes.
This forum was jointly sponsored by RUC, the CPC Nanping Municipal Committee, the People’s Government of Nanping City, and Wuyi University. It attracted experts and scholars from multiple countries and serves as an important platform for dialogue between Chinese and foreign civilizations and mutual learning of global civilizations.
