Delicious soup is cooked by combining different ingredients.
This apt expression is from the ancient history book San Guo Zhi (The Records of the Three Kingdoms). It also means that one can work well by unifying all forces. Respecting diversity of things to seek harmonious coexistence represents an insightful summary of the essence of traditional Chinese culture. It is also a Chinese advocacy for coexistence of diverse civilizations in today's world.
At the UN Office at Geneva in January 2017, Xi Jinping said: Delicious soup is cooked by combining different ingredients. Diversity of human civilizations not only defines our world, but also drives human progress. As humanity is in an era of numerous challenges, China's proposition is to build a global community of shared future.
In a world with colorful cultures, countries should abandon "pride and prejudice," respect each other, treat each other with equality, seek harmony without uniformity, and appreciate the diversity of civilizations around the world.
和羹之美，在于合異
“和羹之美，在于合異”，出自《三國志》，意指羹湯之所以美味可口，在于把各種不同的調料合到了一起，比喻只有團結各方面的力量，才能把工作做好。這一理念強調尊重事物的多樣性，致力于多樣性的和諧共生，這既是當今中國主張的不同文明相處之道，也是中華優秀傳統文化的精髓。
2017年1月，習近平在聯合國日內瓦總部的演講中引用“和羹之美，在于合異”，闡明人類文明多樣性是世界的基本特征，也是人類進步的源泉。面對全球性挑戰層出不窮的當今世界，治本之策是構建人類命運共同體。面對豐富多彩與復雜多樣的人類文明，各國理應摒棄“傲慢與偏見”，相互尊重、平等相待，和而不同、美美與共。
