Exploring the Concept of Harmony in Chinese History: A Search for the Peace

The article is divided in three parts; first, the philosophical origin of concept of harmony and its use for maintaining peace in the Chinese past. Second, the emergence of the conception of conflict in modern China with the defeat in Opium War in 1840s. Third, the revival of concept of harmony in the Post-Mao Period in present time. The idea of harmony dates back thousands of years in Chinese philosophy. It is not the same as the notion of equality and sameness but rather addresses the issue of diversity in society. The idea of harmony was used to arrange society since it is more sensible and takes into consideration the requirements of all parts of society. Diversity, not sameness and equality, is at the heart of what we mean by "harmony." In the Modern China, the concept of conflict got popular with the interaction of West in Post-1840. During Mao’s period class conflict was a dominant philosophical school of thought till 1980s. The attempt to revive harmony is in post-Mao’s period. Hu Jintao has made strides towards the realisation of the objective of becoming an ideal model for the settlement of conflicts that occur on both the national and international levels using concept of harmony.