Chinese Cultural Treasures as Contributions to a Mindset of Interconnectedness for Global Transformations

This chapter elaborates how the cultural perspective of Chinese philosophy supports an interconnected worldview. The author elaborates how three fundamental Chinese traditional beliefs not only manifest in social life in China, but could make a decisive contribution to the emerging narratives around regenerative civilization. In Chinese harmonic philosophy, the assumption is that in their core all people are good and kind and that part of the social obligation is to grow by taking care and trusting each other, while protecting the essential human virtues in a harmonic atmosphere. In this philosophical tradition, personal development is not isolated from others, and it begins in the self and emerges gradually into the family-oriented self, then into the extended family-oriented self, and finally into taking responsibility for one’s organization, the community, and even the state, respectively, the globality of all people. All these layers are inseparably linked. The author suggests that China’s contribution to mastering the global challenges in the Anthropocene goes far beyond technological and political capacities to meet ecological, social, and ecological targets. The treasures of Chinese philosophy offer opportunities to reframe our views of reality in a way that may be much more in service of well-being on a healthy planet.