Unirule Master Thoughts Class(2014) 3rd Session Held in Beijing
Author:Unirule
Time：2015-01-19 14:14:45 Clicks:
January 10th, Unirule Master thoughts Class(2014) 3rd session was held in Beijing. This session was gracefully joined by Professor HE Guanghu from Renmin University of China, and Professor ZHANG Shuguang from Unirule.
January 10th, Professor HE Guanghu spoke on “Christianity and Modern Civilisation”. Professor HE briefly explained that the modern civilisation was the lifestyle we were encompassed in everyday. Professor HE also spoke on classic civilisation, western civilisation, and modern civilisation, and the implication of Christianity on the evolution of civilisation.
The classic civilisations refers to ancient Hellenic and Roman civilisation which, as Professor HE summarised, were “corruption under prosperity”. The Roman Empire was the pinnacle of classic civilisations with a highly developed state and cultural diversity. But how did it collapse overnight? Professor HE claimed that there were deep internal reasons. The gap between the rich and the poor led to jealousy, extravagance, and hatred; and a wealthy state with poor citizens led to frustration, despair, and indifference. The blockage of reforms resulted in collective selfishness. The reliance on violence led to ruthlessness and ignorance of life; while the deterioration of institution and moralities led to degradation of people. As Christianity spreads, by improving human ethics and buffering conflicts, it helped the classic civilisation to last for another 4 millennia.
The western civilisation bred from the classic civilisation. Professor HE referred to this as a “rebirth”. Western civilisation also evolved with new characteristics, spirits, and civil features, i.e., the “Christian civilisation”. These new changes began with the change of individual behaviours which later were interpreted into change of collective behaviours that influence the social environment, customs, and institutions.
At last, Professor HE Guanghu summarised the contributions of Christianity to modern civilisation in five aspects. Firstly, it contributed to the attitude towards life which upheld the position of human beings. Secondly, on sex and marriages, Christianity believed that marriages were divine, and monogamy also helped to promote the status of women. Thirdly, Christianity helps collect donations to help poor people by setting up charities and hospitals, schools and universities which was a sign of humanism. Fourthly, Christianity states that labor is not for life, but life is for labor which pays off. This is the basis for market economy. At last, in terms of liberty and justice, Christianity emphasises human beings’ free will, it also requires justice, which constitutes the basic principles for democracy and rule of law.
On the morning of January 11th, Professor ZHANG Shuguang spoke on “The Economy and Reform against the Backdrop of the New Normal”. Professor ZHANG firstly introduced the definition of New Normal. Generally speaking, China’s economy has shifted from a high-speed growth mode to a medium and low-speed one. A New Normal, therefore, comes into being which features growth speed adjustment, structural optimisation, and quality up-gradation. However, it is worth noting that the New Normal of China is very different from that of the US. The policy adopted by the US is to speed up growth and increase employment, but China needs to shift away from this mode featuring investment and growth. China still employs a policy of micro stimuli that did not take much effect when the changes of GDP growth of the third and fourth quarter of 2014 were taken into account. The structural imbalance of China’s economy needs to be adjusted under the New Formal. However, if this restructuring is not handled with care, the current New Normal is unsustainable.
