Scholars lecture on Chinese "Li"

The second round of the revival of Chinese Li, the etiquette and rituals tied closely to traditional culture, art, morality and values, closed Aug. 27th in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province.

The week of lectures on the recollection of this traditional heritage, which is much emphasized by Confucianism, signaled a continued collaboration between Tsinghua University, once the country's first preparatory institute funded by the "Boxer Indemnity" for students sent to the U.S., and Jialitang, a Chinese traditional culture institute initiated by Hong Kong-born Johnson Chang Tsong-Zung, since the establishment of the Chinese Li Research Center in April.

According to Chang, scholars from the panels at the symposium held for the set-up of the research center, last time eventually agreed that the transliteration of "Li", rather than its full translation of "ritual" or "etiquette", would better convey the meaning of this diminishing heritage.

This time, the session kicked off on Aug. 19 in Guozijian, downtown Beijing, where an ancient ceremony was once again resumed with a total of 75 students presenting clean vegetables to their teachers, implying the frugality and venerability of the academic pursuit.

The ensuing training started off with a speech regarding "Li and the Chinese spirit" delivered by Peng Lin, the prestigious professor from Tsinghua's Cultural and Humanity College, before moving location to Zhaoqing, where they were received by the local publicity department for ethics.

"We need to cultivate ourselves both internally and externally," Peng once wrote in his blog on sina.com.cn, "Li were adopted by Confucianism to rule our words and deeds, in addition to the prerequisites of intuitive kindness and honesty."

"Confucianism favors self-scrutiny, calling for an attitude to be strict with ourselves while magnanimous towards others. It calls on us to live in harmony with our surroundings, with the commonalties and differences peacefully coexisting."

Yet Peng also stressed the fact that different forms of "Li" change with the times. It is therefore essential to grasp the core values, rather than to stereotype the forms. Only meaning hidden beneath the rituals and forms can be passed on, he indicated.

For centuries, China was in the grip of a semi-colonial culture, with the dominant spiritual influence of Confucianism started to suffer defeat at the massive influx of Occidental philosophies. Nationwide confidence and examination gradually faded away, receiving a final blow during the devastating Cultural Revolution.

Today however, people are beginning to wonder about their seemingly lost cultural identity and that denial of China's traditional heritage during the nation's tumultuous past starts to be reviewed.

"We demand today what we abandoned yesterday," Peng said.

The remaining 11 courses of the summer session include teachings on "The origin of Chinese Li and music", "Categories of classic Li" and "Li in my heart".