--On Relations between China and Africa by Peking University Professor Li Anshan (I)

     China and Africa have many similarities at cultural level. This article focuses on 4 parts: collectivism, honoring the aged and the wise, sense of equality and tolerance.

      (I) Collectivism   
     Both China and Africa attach importance to collectivism rather than individualism. Collectivism can be described in different terms, such as local self-government (“Ujama” in Swahili used in East Africa), communalism, nationalism, socialism, etc. In China, collectivism, as a fundamental concept and survival strategy, has existed for thousands of years. Confucius said, “When the great way prevails, the world is equally shared by all”, and “Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety: then all within the whole country will be his brothers.” Lao-zi has extended “small state with few people” to an ideal society, “Let there be a small state with few people, where military devices find no use; let the people look solemnly upon death, and banish the thought of moving elsewhere. They may have carts and boats, but there is no reason to ride them; they may have armor and weapons, but they have no reason to display them. Let the people go back to tying knots to keep records. Let their food be savory, their clothes beautiful, their customs pleasurable, their dwellings secure.” Mencius said, “People have this common saying, ‘the kingdom, the state, the family.’ the root of the kingdom is in the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.” Though we can hardly agree what Mencius claims—state and family are at equal level and such social pattern is an ideal pattern, what Mencius said clearly reflects the idea of emphasizing collectivism other than individualism. So his concept can be positive to some extent. Besides, as such concept fits situation of Chinese society, modern China regards socialism as the dominant ideology.

     Affected by different ideologies, all kinds of thoughts are generated in modern Africa. Just as Zhang Hongming has mentioned, “African thoughts are as long-standing as African history; they do not originate from the Age of Discovery but are formed through a process of sustainable development and evolution.” As for collectivism, there are two old sayings in Africa: “If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” and “follow the path that everyone has stepped on, if you walk alone, you may experience depression.” Such sayings properly express collectivism value of Africans: personal value and safety is linked to the group. There are many others indicating importance of unity and cooperation, such as, “More people, more strength” (Mursi), “unity is the key to success” (Mozambique), “one man cannot pull a boat” (Swahili), “bee birds always appear in pair” (Zulu). Such sayings clearly unveil that Africans pay attention to unity and mutual assistance. African continent has cultivated many thoughts related to collectivism, such as black nationalism and African personality raised by Blyden, African nationalism philosophy of Lembede, Pan Africanism of Nkrumah, negritude of Senghor, Ujama of Nyerere, Pax Africana of Mazrui, African socialism that prevailed previously, etc. These thoughts of African leaders or philosophers are inheritance of traditional African values and the result of interacting with world civilization. Such thoughts have deeply affect Africans from generation to generation and played an important role in formation of today’s ideology of the Africa Union. Based on existing agreed African common values, Africa can be divided into 4 layers, i.e. individual, state, region and continent. Though individual is in the first layer, i.e. “values including general and inalienable human rights”, more contents are about collectivism, such as “tolerance”, “involvement in governance and development”, “mutual assistance and co-sharing when necessary”, “dignity and respect”, “justice”, “sense of fairness”, “equality”, “respect for the aged”, “honesty”, “social coherence and inclusive society”, etc.

    (II) Honoring the aged and the wise

    Both China and Africa have the concept of respecting the aged. Honoring the aged and the wise is one of China’s traditional virtues. Confucius said, “being filial and fraternal”, anciently annotated as “whoever looks after their parents is filial and whoever looks after their elder brothers is fraternal”. So “being fraternal” is an extension of “being filial”, which includes being filial to parents and respecting elder brothers and “being fraternal” is a constituting part of normative system of “being filial”. Confucius remarks, “filial piety and fraternal submission!-- are they not the root of  all benevolent actions?”, i.e. respecting the elders is the root of “benevolence”. Actually, no matter whether you are a good person who serves the people or a bad one doing no good to the society, you shall put into an important position respecting the aged. Another Confucian thinker, Mencius, has a famous saying about respecting the aged and cherishing the young, “Expand the respect of the aged in one's family to that of other families, expand the love of the young ones in one's family to that of other families”, specifying that one shall treat parents of others as his own parents and respect the aged both from his own family and from other families. Spirit of filial piety, i.e. respecting and loving the aged, can be shown in many aspects. Firstly, one shall be obedient, i.e. follow parents’ instructions and do nothing against parents’ will; secondly, one shall support his parents in all aspects of material life; thirdly, one shall show concerns to health of his parents; lastly, one shall be grateful and express the gratitude and mourning for his parents via such rite “when dead, they should be buried according to propriety; and that they should be sacrificed to according to propriety”. This kind of filial piety has become a tradition of Chinese nation.

     “Respecting the aged” also takes an important part in African traditions. Africa has many proverbs relating to paying respect to the elders, such as “an old man is like a library” (Tanzania and other African countries), “one who wants to learn more proverbs shall ask the elders” (Nigeria), “one with baldness and gray hair shall be respected for baldness and gray hair is the sign of excellence” (Libya), “older one is, wiser one is” (Congo), “the aged can tell the best stories” (in Swahili), “there is no way for an old hunter to fall into a trap” (South Africa), “an advice from the elder is as essential as the salt in a dish” (Ghana), etc.

     In fact, respecting the aged is often related to respecting the wise. As experience is necessary for maintaining social communication, wisdom is necessary for handling relations and knowledge needs time to accumulate, an old man always equals to a wise, virtuous man in a society. For space limitation, no further explanation will be given. Such concept is inevitably formed in a society with a long history and it signifies wisdom of human society. Chinese and Africans become aware from their traditions that time creates experience and knowledge of the aged can serve the society and provide lessons for other people. That is an important reason why respecting the aged and the wise becomes one of the shared values of China and Africa. It is different from such society that merely emphasizes rationality.

     (III) Equality

    Equality and co-sharing are essentials in cultural values of both China and Africa. Though for western countries, “equality” is a concept recently put forward and is one of the most important focuses in social movements and historical activities since modern times, this concept has survived a long history in China. It is contained in ancient Chinese philosophy and can be displayed through various ways. Confucianism presents a strong sense of equality. Confucius has made equality one of his teaching principles. He said “there should be education for everyone without distinction” and considered that the nobles or the commons, regardless of the state boundaries or nationalities, can have the opportunity for education provided one is willing to be educated. It is believed that teaching benefits teacher and student alike in China’s educational thought; teacher is considered equal to the student and they shall seek mutual learning and improvement. Mencius’ “people-oriented” thought considers that the commons shall not in the humble position but be equal to the nobles. Mencius thinks that “the people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest.”