Harmony without Uniformity

This notion of harmony without uniformity originated in The Analects of Confucius. "The gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity," reads the quote. "The mean man aims at uniformity, and not at harmony." A gentleman is affable with others, but he has his own views when it comes to a particular issue and will not follow others blindly. The opposite is true of the mean man. Harmony without uniformity is considered by Confucius to be a basic principle to guide interpersonal relations. It also epitomizes the ancient Chinese view on diversity and uniformity in the world.

Seeking harmony requires reconciling differences and striking a balance between them and promoting uniformity implies making everything identical. Harmony without uniformity connotes respect for differences and stresses that such differences make the world diverse. Everything has its place and value; things coexist harmoniously to make a diverse whole. This concept shines light on the social values of the Chinese people: They resolve differences based on mutual respect, seek common ground while acknowledging differences, and pursue harmonious coexistence through cooperation.

和而不同

和而不同出自《論語·子路》，原文是“君子和而不同，小人同而不和”。孔子認為，君子能夠與他人保持和諧友善的關系，但在具體問題的看法上則有自己的獨立思考，不盲從附和；小人則相反。“和而不同”是孔子對人際交往基本原則的論述，也是中國古人對于世界多樣性和統(tǒng)一性看法的精練概括。

“和”是多樣性的調(diào)和與平衡，“同”則是把不同的事物轉(zhuǎn)變成相同的。“和而不同”，就是尊重事物的差異性，并強調(diào)這些差異性恰好構成豐富多彩的整體世界。每一種事物存在于整體中，各自有其恰當?shù)奈恢煤蛢r值，并與其他事物和諧共處，構成具有多樣性的整體。“和而不同”理念體現(xiàn)了中國人的社會觀，即以相互尊重的方式化解沖突，以求同存異的態(tài)度尋求共識，以彼此合作的精神和諧共存。