Under the guidance of President Zhou Qifeng and Rector Bernd Engler of Tübingen University,and through the joint effort of Professor Du Weiming and Professor Hans Küng, German entrepreneur Karl Schlecht and the president of SANY Heavy Industry Co. Liang Wengen have donated funding for the establishment of The World Ethics Center (WEC) at Peking University. Under the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies (IAHS), WEC will be founded on October 29th, 2012. This represents another significant form of cooperation between Peking University and Tübingen University since 2006. 

 The objective of WEC atPeking University is to promote the development of diverse,open,and creative world ethics,to add Chinese cultural elements to universal ethical studies, and to contribute to the content and practice of world ethics, especially world economic ethics through the  establishment of a team of Chinese and international scholars, whose research and teaching missions will complement each other, and whose perspectives bring together traditional Chinese culture and the wisdom of world civilizations, whether Axial, non-Axial, or indigenous. 

In the twentieth century,the humankind experienced two World Wars and the Cold War.The Cold War ideology has prevented progress and led to conflict between civilizations. Customs and habits dominate people’s ideas and often cause discrimination and biases, profit-oriented values, and the loss of ethical principles. Under such circumstances, advocating world ethics will provide moral principles for worldwide citizens to meet their spiritual demand.

In the past century, science and technology have made rapid progress, and our moral principles have also changed dramatically.We should be aware that although our lives are shaped by modern ideas, we must not lose sight of the ethical bottom line.  Science does not necessarily equal truth, and we must not lose sight of the ethical bottom line. Likewise, natural resources should not be squandered, and we must not lose sight of the ethical bottom line. We have never understood the earth so clearly, have never recognized the limitation of natural resources so clearly. Communications and corporations between nations have never been so convenient and frequent. The behavioral pattern of an African tribe is no longer applicable to a single tribe only. The ethical wisdom of Confucius no longer belongs to Asia only. Many core ideas in traditional Chinese culture can be valuable components of world ethics. The word “GLOCAL” means that what is local is also global. 

As human beings, regardless of gender,ethnic origin,social status,political opinion,language,age,nationality,or religion,we all share these fundamental moral principles: “non-violence and respect for life,” “justice and solidarity,” “truthfulness and tolerance,” “mutual respect and partnership.” These principles may be summed up with the four Commandments: “Thou shall not kill; thou shall not steal; thou shall not lie; thou shall not commit adultery.” As the author of “Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities” quoted above, Professor Hans Küng has said that it is not an invention but a discovery. The Declaration is an inspiration for Chinese thinkers. He says: “If the idea of ‘human rights’ is the contribution of western cultures, the idea of ‘human obligations’ is rooted in and flourishes out of traditional Chinese culture.” The formation of new world ethics first of all relies on new interpretations of Chinese philosophical and ethical thoughts, and on new perspectives developed by scholars of Chinese philosophy.

People come from different cultural backgrounds in terms of region, ethnicity, language, religion, politic belief, and gender. As they engage in dialogue and communication, tolerance has evolved into reverence, conflict into mutual reference. The progress has challenged the unilateral development of world ethics dominated by particular Western experiences and values. We need to re-establish an open and rational world ethics, a harmonious yet diverse new order of world ethics. A world ethics based on these values will be more profound, more humane, and more practical. This is how Professor Du Weiming described a world ethics of the twenty-first century in his keynote address at a recent UNESCO conference. 

Based on current development in international humanistic study, IAHS houses three programs that are organically interrelated and serve as the structure for development: 1. Cultural China, 2. Dialogue among Civilizations, and 3. World Ethics. With Cultural China as the foundation and Dialogue among Civilizations the approach, the goal is to promote Chinese thought in the development of world ethics. The overall objectives of IAHS are: to play a significant role in the world’s recognition of Chinese culture through international cooperation and cross-cultural dialogue; to explore the subjectivity of Chinese thought within diverse cultural traditions in the age of globalization; and to create universally recognized world ethics based on the Chinese notion of “one commonwealth of the world.” These organically integrated objectives are consistent with the direction of contemporary scholarship and embody a meaningful encounter between Chinese culture on the one hand, and European- and American-dominated cultures on the other.

Since Professor Du Weiming joined Peking University in 2007, especially after the founding of IAHS in fall 2010, IAHS has been making significant progress and meeting the expectations of Peking University. WEC will be a branch of IAHS and will continue to follow the academic principles and guidelines of Peking University. IAHS, as the base for research, international cooperation, and education, will continue to fulfill its social responsibilities by articulating humanistic concern and to study and promote the globalization of Chinese thought at the theoretical and practical levels. 

In terms of scholarly research, WEC will focus on two objectives: 

1. Explore the significance of the Chinese spirit in creating world ethics based on new interpretations of traditional Chinese thought.

2. Explore the influence of Chinese thought and Chinese experience on world economic ethics in addressing various challenges in this day and age. 

In terms of higher education, WEC will:  1. Explore ways of integrating world ethics into the university curriculum by establishing a Culture China Program in fall 2012; 2. Cooperate with top universities around the world, such as Tübingen, to develop student exchange programs and graduate programs to cultivate doctoral and postdoctoral students to become cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary leaders of the future. 

 In terms of international academic activities, WEC will: 1. Sponsor a lecture series on world ethics at Peking University; 2. Offer seminars and workshops on various topics; 3. Host a biannual World Ethics Forum. 

The publication plan of WEC includes: 1. Publication of a Peking University Book Series in World Ethics and support for publications of high-quality treatises of Chinese and international scholars on world ethics and world economic ethics; 2. Translations of selected works in various languages.

We pay tribute to and benefit from the ethics of Confucius from two thousand and six hundred years ago: benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom, sincerity, filial piety, reverence, loyalty, tolerance, courage; Mencius who said: “All things are contained within the self”; Zhang Zai who said: “All humans are my siblings; all things are my fellow creations”, and the ecological thought of Cheng Yi and Wang Yangming: “Oneness with heaven, earth and all creations.”

We pay tribute to and benefit from Aristotle’s ethics of virtue;

We pay tribute to and benefit the shared ethics of Confucian and Jewish civilizations: “Do not do to others what you would not have others do to you.” ;

We pay tribute to and benefit from Buddhism’s mercy and wisdom;

We pay tribute to and benefit from Christianity’s philanthropy, faith, and hope;

We pay tribute to and benefit from Taoist wisdom as articulated in “The little hermit lives in the wild; the great hermit lives in the government.” and “Interfere not and all will be accomplished.”;

We pay tribute to and benefit from notions of piety, loyalty, and fairness of the Islamic civilization;

We pay tribute to and benefit from Hinduism’s union of the True Self (Atman) and the Universal Spirit (Brahman);

We pay tribute to and benefit from the reverence that aborigines around the world have for mountains and rivers, trees and flowers, all animals that fly, walk, and swim—they are all human companions and they never seek to own the earth;

We pay tribute to and benefit from the ethical wisdom of Africa: the valuable resources of the earth are not something left by our ancestors to squander;

they require conscientious stewardship and diligent protection;

All African tribes abide by the principle of UBUNTU: “I am because you are.” ;

We pay tribute to and benefit from the essences and classics of all religious and non-religious civilizations; The sages of the worlds, both ancient and modern, both in and outside China, are our spiritual homeland. 

Thank you very much for your consideration. I am looking forward to hearing from you. 

Yours sincerely,

Tu Weiming

Director, The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies,

Peking University