One should value not only one's own culture, but also the cultures of others, and this will contribute to the flourishing of all cultures.
This is a well-known saying from Fei Xiaotong (1910-2005), a Chinese sociologist, anthropologist and social activist. In a keynote speech, he proposed an idea about handling the relations between different cultures: "One should value not only one's own culture, but also the cultures of others, and this will contribute to the flourishing of all cultures." Such respect for other nations and cultures would bring prosperity to all cultures in the world.
The Chinese culture holds that nations should appreciate their own brilliant culture as well as those created by others, during which process, harmony will be achieved among different civilizations, and thus the beauty of all is preserved.
Addressing the opening of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in May 2019, Xi Jinping said: We need to appreciate the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations around the world. Each civilization is the crystallization of human creation, and each is beautiful in its own way. Civilizations don't have to clash with each other; what is needed are eyes to see the beauty in all civilizations. We should keep our own civilizations dynamic and create conditions for other civilizations to flourish. Together we can make the garden of world civilizations more colorful and vibrant.
美人之美，美美與共
“美人之美，美美與共” ，語出中國社會學家費孝通先生的主題演講《人的研究在中國——個人的經歷》，他以“各美其美，美人之美，美美與共，天下大同”這十六字箴言闡明如何處理不同文化關系，即要尊重其他民族文化，實現世界文化共同繁榮。中華文化向來認為，在欣賞本民族創造的燦爛文明的同時，也應該去欣賞其他民族的文明，在互相欣賞的過程中促進不同文明達到一種和諧狀態，實現理想中的大同美。
2019年5月，習近平在亞洲文明對話大會開幕式上指出，應堅持美人之美、美美與共。每一種文明都是美的結晶，都彰顯著創造之美。各種文明本沒有沖突，只是要有欣賞所有文明之美的眼睛。我們既要讓本國文明充滿勃勃生機，又要為他國文明發展創造條件，讓世界文明百花園群芳競艷。
