450
C. Wang
civilization are concerned, this concept can be interpreted and summarized with one
word—benevolence. Man should respect, comply with and protect natural ecology,
cherish earth and treat nature well instead of putting itself above nature in conceit
and pride. Only when the current world is beautiful and harmonious can benevolence
be achieved, said Alfred North Whitehead, founder of process philosophy. In past
global economic development, man’s excessive exploitation and greedy plundering
of natural resources in the sole pursuit for wealth has inflicted countless ecological disasters on the world. Human-centrism severs the unity, integrity, process and
organic entirety of man and nature and gives the excuse for man to destroy natural
diversity and richness and the connection between openness and circulation, infinity
and limitation. The human-centered tradition is the culprit of ecological crisis in
modern west. President Xi Jinping has deeply revealed the essence, connotations
and values of ecological civilization—the harmonious co-existence between man
and nature. Ecological civilization is the crystallization of all human efforts and
achievements made in the process of reforming nature to benefit themselves with the
aim of man-nature harmony. Man and nature are a community of life, and only when
common growth and prosperity is achieved can co-existence be possible. Ecological
civilization is an outcome when human civilization has evolved to a certain stage.
From primitive civilization to agricultural civilization and then industrial civilization (post-industrial civilization), human development has been seriously restricted
by resource and environment, and even human survival is threatened by global
ecological and environmental issues. Some people argue that human civilization has
evolved from “yellow” to “black” and then “green.” Developing ecological civilization doesn’t mean abandoning industrial civilization and going back to the primitive
way of life and production, but to build an ecological society of advanced production,
affluent life, sound ecology and healthy life in consideration of the carrying capacity
of resources and environment, following natural laws, and aiming at sustainable
development and harmonious co-existence between man and nature.
2 Ecological Civilization is a Fine Outcome of Human
Ideology and Culture
1. Fine traditional culture of China
Ecological civilization stems from ecological thinking. The ecological thinking of
Chinese nation is contained in its cultural thoughts, ethical systems and historical
traditions. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have all answered a fundamental
question in Chinese philosophy—what’s the relation between man and nature and
what’s man’s position in nature—despite their different attitudes toward nature. All
of the three philosophical schools take man as the “main subject that aims to achieve
harmony and unity between man and nature” and take “unification of nature and
man” as the basic principle on handling the man-nature relation. The Confucian
C. Wang
civilization are concerned, this concept can be interpreted and summarized with one
word—benevolence. Man should respect, comply with and protect natural ecology,
cherish earth and treat nature well instead of putting itself above nature in conceit
and pride. Only when the current world is beautiful and harmonious can benevolence
be achieved, said Alfred North Whitehead, founder of process philosophy. In past
global economic development, man’s excessive exploitation and greedy plundering
of natural resources in the sole pursuit for wealth has inflicted countless ecological disasters on the world. Human-centrism severs the unity, integrity, process and
organic entirety of man and nature and gives the excuse for man to destroy natural
diversity and richness and the connection between openness and circulation, infinity
and limitation. The human-centered tradition is the culprit of ecological crisis in
modern west. President Xi Jinping has deeply revealed the essence, connotations
and values of ecological civilization—the harmonious co-existence between man
and nature. Ecological civilization is the crystallization of all human efforts and
achievements made in the process of reforming nature to benefit themselves with the
aim of man-nature harmony. Man and nature are a community of life, and only when
common growth and prosperity is achieved can co-existence be possible. Ecological
civilization is an outcome when human civilization has evolved to a certain stage.
From primitive civilization to agricultural civilization and then industrial civilization (post-industrial civilization), human development has been seriously restricted
by resource and environment, and even human survival is threatened by global
ecological and environmental issues. Some people argue that human civilization has
evolved from “yellow” to “black” and then “green.” Developing ecological civilization doesn’t mean abandoning industrial civilization and going back to the primitive
way of life and production, but to build an ecological society of advanced production,
affluent life, sound ecology and healthy life in consideration of the carrying capacity
of resources and environment, following natural laws, and aiming at sustainable
development and harmonious co-existence between man and nature.
2 Ecological Civilization is a Fine Outcome of Human
Ideology and Culture
1. Fine traditional culture of China
Ecological civilization stems from ecological thinking. The ecological thinking of
Chinese nation is contained in its cultural thoughts, ethical systems and historical
traditions. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have all answered a fundamental
question in Chinese philosophy—what’s the relation between man and nature and
what’s man’s position in nature—despite their different attitudes toward nature. All
of the three philosophical schools take man as the “main subject that aims to achieve
harmony and unity between man and nature” and take “unification of nature and
man” as the basic principle on handling the man-nature relation. The Confucian