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comparative value priorities of chinese and new zealand

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culture that shapes us today. Confucius found such a vision represented in the Spring<br />

<strong>and</strong> Autumn Annals (a traditional work in several translations).<br />

Participation in Society (Related to Benevolence <strong>and</strong> Universalism, but not very<br />

well). Human beings should also be thought <strong>of</strong> as participants in society. One is<br />

expected to participate in the polity <strong>of</strong> which one is a part. One is also a political being<br />

who should be a responsive <strong>and</strong> responsible participant in the political community. This<br />

vision <strong>of</strong> political participation is articulated in the Book <strong>of</strong> History, or the Book <strong>of</strong><br />

Documents (traditional works in several translations)<br />

Universalism. An area essential to learning to be human is symbolized by one <strong>of</strong> the<br />

most difficult books in the classical tradition, the Book <strong>of</strong> Changes (I Ching, or Yi Jing,<br />

a traditional work in several translations) providing a cosmic vision. Using modern<br />

terminology, the Book <strong>of</strong> Changes represents an ecological concern, both in an<br />

environmental <strong>and</strong> in a spiritual sense. A human being does not exist only in the<br />

anthropological world <strong>of</strong> other human beings. Beyond this human world is a larger<br />

universe. Therefore, one needs an ecologically sound cosmic vision. Many scholars<br />

have noted that a distinctive feature <strong>of</strong> Confucian thought is its emphasis on the<br />

commonality rather than on the differences between human beings. Commonality can<br />

be understood in terms <strong>of</strong> human sensitivity: the human need for communication, for<br />

self-expression <strong>and</strong> for self-development that does not infringe on the self-development<br />

<strong>of</strong> others.<br />

Reciprocity (renqing, a single item #15 in the SVS Security dimension:<br />

RECIPROCATION OF FAVOURS (avoidance <strong>of</strong> indebtedness). Confucian<br />

tradition is sometimes characterized as a philosophy <strong>of</strong> mutuality. This may come as a<br />

surprise because the Confucian ethical tradition has <strong>of</strong>ten been accused <strong>of</strong> promoting<br />

authoritarianism: the father exercises arbitrary authority, to which the son must render<br />

total obedience. However, mutuality is a basic motif in Confucian ethic. The father<br />

should act with love. This enables the son to become filial. The son should be filial so<br />

that the father will be further encouraged to be loving. In Confucian thought, then,<br />

relationships are not based on the one-dimensional imposition <strong>of</strong> ideas <strong>and</strong> power upon<br />

others but on the concepts <strong>of</strong> mutuality <strong>and</strong> reciprocity.<br />

102

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