Source | Governance of The Nation and the People's Forum Network (rmltwz)
Author: Kim Won-pu
The Beijing Winter Olympics opened as scheduled to overcome the impact of the epidemic, showing the world the determination and confidence of mankind to face difficulties and overcome challenges. The Beijing Winter Olympics will convey the optimistic and enterprising spirit that the world needs at present, the open-mindedness and open-mindedness, and the admiration and development of human civilization. Professor Jin Yuanpu of the School of Liberal Arts of Chinese University wrote an article in the weekly magazine "National Governance" to conduct an in-depth analysis of the significance of the Beijing Winter Olympics to China and the world. Recommended reading.
On the evening of February 4, the opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games was held at the Beijing National Stadium. This is the "Build a Snowflake" session at the opening ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Yuge
Chinese dream about the Olympics began in 1908 when Nankai's students asked the three questions of the Olympic Games in "Tianjin Youth": When will Chinese send athletes to participate in the Olympic Games? When will Chinese athletes win an Olympic medal? When will China host an Olympic Games? After a hundred years of history, Chinese finally realized the dream of Beijing with an "unparalleled" Olympic Games in 2008. In 2022, we once again stand in the spotlight of history, the grand opening of the 24th Winter Olympic Games, and Beijing, the "City of The Two Olympics", will undoubtedly create history again and continue to write glory.
Against the backdrop of major changes in the world that have not been seen in a century, the Beijing Winter Olympics have opened as scheduled to overcome the impact of the epidemic, showing the world the determination and confidence of mankind to face difficulties and overcome challenges. The Beijing Winter Olympics will surely continue to write a new legend for the Olympic Movement, and will also leave a strong mark in the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The Winter Olympics in the Context of the Epidemic: The Practice of the Concept of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind
The theme slogan of this Year's Winter Olympics is "Together for the Future". At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, snowflake-shaped guidance boards engraved with the names of participating countries and regions were gathered together to form a "big snowflake", as the main torch platform of this Winter Olympics, vividly demonstrating the opening ceremony theme of "world unity, one family under the world", and fully demonstrating the concept of "community of human destiny".
President Xi Jinping's concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is a major theoretical innovation to promote world peace and development, as well as a Chinese contribution to the theory and practice of the World Olympics. In September 2015, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York, pointing out: "In today's world, all countries are interdependent and share common interests. We should inherit and carry forward the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core, and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Since then, "building a community with a shared future for mankind" has always been the norm for China's foreign exchanges and participation in global affairs.
In today's world, mankind is facing enormous challenges. The global COVID-19 pandemic is raging, hundreds of millions of lives are in pain and danger, and countries are facing difficulties in economic and social development. According to WHO statistics, as of 8 February 2022, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide reached 396558014, and the number of deaths reached 5745032. Data released by Johns Hopkins University on February 8 showed that the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States 77025027, and the cumulative number of deaths 908262. The United States has more deaths than the United States combined in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The new crown pneumonia epidemic is not the epidemic of any country or region, and it is impossible for all countries or regions in the world to stay out and be alone.
The Olympic Movement can only be carried out in a peaceful environment and under the banner of solidarity. The modern Olympic Games inherit the ancient motto of the ancient Olympic Games of the "Sacred Truce", calling on all countries around the world, regardless of national size, to coexist peacefully. In July 2021, the 138th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee voted to add "more solidarity" after the Olympic motto "faster, higher and stronger". As IOC President Bach put it, "At present, we need to unite even more, not only to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to deal with the great challenges we face." In today's world, we cannot rely on each other, and individuals alone can no longer solve the challenges."
The maxim of "greater unity" and the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind are in line with the traditional Chinese idea of harmony, which at least contains the dual meanings of "harmony and mutual assistance" and "win-win cooperation". The so-called harmony and solidarity means that everyone has one heart and one heart to tide over the difficulties together. It advocates working together, sharing weal and woe, sharing weal and woe, sharing wind and rain, working with one heart and one mind, uniting as one, cooperating with each other for a win-win future; it opposes the appearance of unity, disintegration, and even confrontation, and the breaking of the net.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the world, individual countries have also cobbled together some countries to propose a so-called "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Moving against the tide of history is bound to be abandoned by history. On December 2, 2021, the 76th session of the Ungalacil unanimously passed the Resolution on the Olympic Truce of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, and 173 countries participated in the joint proposal, setting a new record for the number of countries mentioned in the truce resolutions of the Recent Winter Olympic Games. Ambassador Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, introduced the contents of the draft resolution at the meeting and gave a briefing to the media after the meeting, stressing that the adoption of the truce resolution by consensus in the UN General Assembly and its widespread support reflect the enthusiastic support and strong confidence of the international community in the successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Human beings live in the same global village, countries are interconnected, interdependent, cooperative and mutually reinforcing to an unprecedented extent, and the international community is increasingly becoming a community of common destiny in which you have me and I have you. In the face of global challenges, no country can stay out of the way and act alone, and all countries in the world need to work together and coordinate their actions in a responsible spirit.
Health is the foundation of the Olympic Movement. We oppose that some politicians in the world today, at a time when mankind is facing such a major crisis, still politicize the Olympic Games, politicize sports, and politicize the fight against the epidemic. We call for a global "truce", solidarity, and practice the Olympic spirit with human life as the highest humanitarianism, human survival as the highest human rights, and human health and tranquility as the greatest goal.
The so-called win-win cooperation is to take the global common epidemic prevention as the basis for the unity of people of different countries, different systems, different races and different colors to resist the most severe crisis facing mankind in the 21st century. Cooperation, only cooperation, only by upholding the concept of a community of human life, and jointly fighting the new crown epidemic, can we turn the new crown virus into a jade, can we defeat the new crown virus, and turn mankind into a crisis.
At present, China has become the country with the fewest cases in the world and the best epidemic prevention and control results. The global epidemic has made us pay more attention to life and health than ever before, pay more attention to improving hygiene habits, practice an active and healthy lifestyle, and correspondingly bring about a humanistic spirit and a higher pursuit of life, survival and life. The Beijing Winter Olympics convey the optimistic and enterprising spirit that the world needs at present, the open-mindedness and open-mindedness, and the admiration and promotion of human civilization, which is the important significance of the successful holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics as scheduled.
The Open and Shared Beijing Winter Olympics: A New Fusion of Chinese Culture and Olympic Culture
The Beijing Winter Olympics will more fully explore the traditional Chinese cultural resources, pass on the twenty-four solar terms from "rain" to "Lichun", and creatively present the heroic verse of "the water of the Yellow River from heaven" to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, so as to realize the new integration of Olympic culture and Chinese culture.
After more than 5,000 years, Chinese culture is the only uninterrupted treasure of human culture in the world. Combining traditional Chinese culture with Olympic culture and enriching and developing Olympic culture with the essence of Chinese culture highlights the unique historical value of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and is also a new contribution of the Beijing Winter Olympics to the contemporary world Olympic movement.
Following the spirit of the Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games put forward the concepts of "sharing the Olympic Games" and "opening up the Olympic Games". The Olympic Movement is a realistic platform for the integration and reciprocity of the cultures of all ethnic groups in the world, and pluralistic creation, dialogue and exchanges, harmonious coexistence and common participation are the core concepts of the Olympic spirit. The Olympic Games is a grand event for cultural exchanges among various countries, and it has built a huge platform for dialogue, exchange and communication between civilizations, cultures, sports and arts of all ethnic groups in the world.
The admiration, protection and development of human pluralistic civilizations is the deepest idea of the Olympics since Coubertin, who love their own culture and civilization, and are eager to understand the culture and civilization of other peoples and other regions. The Beijing Winter Olympics will bring the world to China again, Beijing opens its heart to the world, the long-inherited Olympic culture and the profound Chinese civilization have conducted another dialogue and exchange, and the different cultures of the world and the ancient and modern Chinese cultures have gained a new opportunity to meet again.
In particular, this year's Beijing Winter Olympics coincide with China's Spring Festival. Members of the Olympic family gather here to feel the double joy of "Spring Festival + Olympic Games". Friends from all over the world come to Beijing to spend the Spring Festival together, watch the Olympic Games, enjoy the ice and snow, and celebrate reunions, which is the perfect fusion of ancient oriental culture and modern Olympic culture, and is a vivid embodiment of the new motto of the Olympic "more unity".
President Xi Jinping pointed out that "there is no distinction between superior and inferior civilizations, only differences in characteristics and regions, only in exchanges can it be integrated, and can it be improved in integration." This is both a new interpretation of world civilization and a new revelation of the Olympic spirit.
Olympic culture originated in the West, but Olympic cultural exchanges have global significance. The life advocated by the Olympics is the concentrated embodiment of the living conditions of human competition, struggle, failure and success, and the Olympic culture is an integral part of the outstanding cultural heritage of mankind, which is not only a sport, but also an international cultural movement that promotes world peace, social progress, human solidarity and fraternity, and advocates fairness and justice. In this sense, the Olympic Movement is the largest platform for athletes around the world to demonstrate their achievements, and the Olympic spirit is the common wealth of the people of the world. The Olympic spirit adheres to the purpose of peace and friendship, unites and encourages the public to participate in sports practice, and inspires the people of the world, especially young people, to build a more peaceful and better world with the enterprising spirit of "higher, faster, stronger - more united" and the rules of openness, justice and fairness. The Pursuit of Human Physical Limits by the Olympic Movement, the development of human potential, the tempering and sublimation of human spiritual qualities, and the sharing of the spiritual wealth of history, culture, nation and country condensed behind it are of great significance.
The Beijing Winter Olympics epitomize the spiritual essence and universal values of the Olympic Movement. It expresses the common desire of friends from all over the world to pursue a better future for mankind under the inspiration of the Olympic spirit, and also shows the broad mind of the sons and daughters of China facing the world.
The Philosophy of Life and the Aesthetics of Life of the Olympic Movement
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the short film "Future Champions" attracted the attention of the audience, and the toddlers became fans of ice and snow sports, although they fell and climbed up again and again, they always smiled and faced setbacks and enjoyed the fun of ice and snow sports. From the Tokyo Olympics to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the increasingly confident Chinese have let go of their obsession with winning and losing and enjoyed the beauty of sports itself more.
Driving the fitness of the whole people and the participation of the whole people in ice and snow sports is an important feature of the Beijing Winter Olympics. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out many times during his inspection of the Olympic venues, "An important purpose of our hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics is to promote the rapid progress of ice and snow sports on the mainland and promote the extensive development of national fitness." "That goal has become a reality. According to the survey data, as of October 2021, the number of participants in ice and snow sports nationwide reached 346 million, and the participation rate of residents reached 24.56%. We have fulfilled our solemn promise to "bring 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports".
The spiritual core of the Olympic Movement is the philosophy of positive and happy life and the aesthetics of life. The Olympic Movement emphasizes that all people, regardless of color, rich or poor, can have a healthy physique, an optimistic spirit, and a love and active pursuit of a better life through self-exercise and self-participation. It pursues the free realization of human spirit and strength, and the comprehensive and harmonious development of human beings.
Elevating people's spiritual realm is an important connotation of the Olympic Movement. When Coubertin proposed the reconstruction of the ancient Olympic Games, it stemmed from dissatisfaction with and treatment of the withering mental state of the French youth at that time. By encouraging 300 million people to go to the ice and snow and tens of thousands of people to volunteer, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games will link the Olympic movement with the education of young people, the improvement of the quality of citizens, and the improvement of the level of social civilization, so as to cultivate a new generation of Olympics that goes to nature, is not afraid of hardships and dangers, is full of vitality and constantly innovates.
For everyone, participating in the Olympic Games is a rare moment to get an aesthetic experience of life. How many times in a person's life can he participate in the Olympic Games, watch the Olympic Games up close, and share the Olympic Games? The Beijing Winter Olympics gave athletes, volunteers and spectators a rare peak experience in their lives. The success of the Beijing Winter Olympics lies in allowing all participants to share this opportunity in their lives with happiness and enthusiasm, and to write the colorful music of the Olympic Games together.
Participating in the Olympic Games is not only to compete for gold medals or championships, it will "focus on participation" and develop into a national Olympics and national fitness. All the people, including youth, women and children, participate in the Olympic Games for their own physical and mental health, and such an Olympic Games is the Olympic Games of the people, the Olympic Games of the masses, and the Olympic Games that are based on the people. This is a major expansion and promotion of the Olympic spirit, as well as the innovation and development of modern Olympic culture.
Healthy Winter Olympics, Youth Winter Olympics, Happy Winter Olympics, we have begun to enjoy the Olympic Games, enjoy the success, enjoy the coming victories, especially enjoy this unique peace, unity, passion and happiness.
This article will be published in the recent weekly Journal of Governance of Nations
Original title | China's contribution and world significance for the Beijing Winter Olympics
Author | Professor Kim Won-pu, School of Liberal Arts, Chinese University