Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1981

Twenty-Third Congregation Chinese world, and it was apparent that the Hua, Hsia, Yi and Ti tribes lived together in the Eastern Chou times. The contribution of archaeology is all the more invaluable in the substantiation of historical periods. Previously, proof of Shang's existence lay only in the few essays and poems, rendering detailed study impossible. The newly found sites and relics, which covered an extensive area, served to prove that the Shang people had kept literary records, spent efforts on academic research, established a perfect political system, a social structure with military set-up, and were capable of fully developing agriculture, industry and commerce. They already had the knowledge of using water and fire as energy and wood, clay and metal, etc. as raw material to make glazed pottery, glass, and to produce alloyed articles of gold, silver, copper, iron and bronze. The elaborate artefacts were unique, winning the admiration of other peoples; and when the masterpieces were recently exhibited in a number of countries, millions of visitors were attracted. The archaeological excavations proved that China is a vast country rich in natural resources, its peoples are varied but intelligent and hardworking. In the countless generations, it has become a t'ien-hsia, a miniature world, by itself. After several thousand years of development, it has achieved good results in all the three aspects mentioned at the beginning of my address. The land is fully utilized, leaving hardly any piece of useful plot unturned. China's economy is basically agricultural, so all local products were fully made use of. Before the 18th century, its material civilization ranked first in the world. The Chinese had also made a number of scientific inventions, such as gun powder, compass, paper, printing, metallurgy, clock, etc. all being the basis of modern technology. As for social organization, China, with tribal integration and cultural assimilation as its aim, has succeeded in having a common spoken and written language for its peoples, and has achieved political and historical unity, bringing all the peoples under heaven (t'ien-hsia) together as a family. In the realm of spiritual pursuit, the Chinese have taken the humane and “golden-mean” approach as the guiding principle for all religions and philosophy, and have been intent on cultivating themselves to be humble, gentle, loyal and faithful. This aspect of the Chinese culture has contributed greatly to the progress of human race, and is thus an achievement which all Chinese should be proud of, justifying the great confidence they have of the future of Chinese culture. With the rapid development of modern science and new means of communication in recent centuries, the world has become so small and peoples have to come to live so closely together. In this new situation the difference in culture has caused many misunderstandings and conflicts. Some serious confrontations may even result in the extermination of the human race by launching a nuclear war. The differences and conflicts between cultures cannot be reconciled by military forces. The tragedy can only be avoided by mutual understanding, by learning from each other and by being friendly towards each other. This was evidently the policy championed in the development of Chinese culture. If a quarter of the human race can live together as a world by itself in the past, there is no reason why the various cultures in modern times cannot be integrated to bring about an ideal world for us to live in. From the Chinese point of view, we should not only have confidence in the future of the Chinese people, but also exert ourselves to play our part earnestly in the struggle for peace on earth. Finally, I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate today's graduates, whose efforts of the last four years have yielded satisfactory results. It is my hope that you all have a promising future and you will stride forward towards good will among men. 8