Liu Liangjian: How Can Human Society Avoid the ‘Baobab Tree’ in The Little Prince?

Interview with Liu Liangjian, Head of Philosophy Department, East China Normal University

In the French masterpiece The Little Prince, there is a "terrible seed" that resembles a rose seedling when it first sprouts, but when it grows up, it will "spread over the entire planet". In Saint-Exupéry's book, the little prince has to pluck the baobab sapling on time; otherwise, it could "bore clear through the planet with its roots".

In today's world, human beings have grown into giants, and the earth has become a "small globe". Liu Liangjian, head of the philosophy department at East China Normal University and a research fellow at the China Academy of Wisdom Sciences, in an interview with East Meets West of China News Service, said "the practice of seeking the benefit of one country or one region with strife, conflict, and war is exactly the 'inconspicuous baobab tree', and if it is not cleaned up in time, there will be big trouble." And to avoid the clash of civilisations, we must vigorously promote the exchange and mutual appreciation of civilisations and overcome the universalism of civilisations.

CNS: The current international situation is complex and volatile, and conflicts between countries, nations, and civilisations cast a shadow on the future development of humanity. As a philosopher, what do you think about this?

Liu Liangjian: Philosophy is not entirely purely academic. A sincere philosopher must always face the current living world, truly feel the pulse of the times, grasp the main contradictions of the times, and then refine philosophical ideas. As the ancient Chinese say, "A gentleman keeps his way to the Mean at any time", philosophical thinking also requires the character to "keep to the Mean at any time", and through thinking, one can grasp the right "time", and the trend and spirit of the times.

In today's world, we urgently need to understand where we are in the context of the evolution of human civilisation, and to consider where human civilisation is heading and where China fits into this trend. The global order is facing a great change between the old and the new, which is both bewildering and dramatic.

The Global 5G Conference - Working Together to Build a 5G Ecosystem case study was displayed in Wuzhen. Photo by Wang Gang

The evolution of human history is facing an unprecedented change. "The humans bid farewell to the apes and ground a few stones to enter the childhood of human development." Since then, human civilisation has evolved rapidly, and the changes today are greater than ever before. Today, we might dare to ask: is it possible that the moment has come when the new bids farewell to the old within human civilisation? Although there is still doubt about where humanity is heading, at least one thing is clear: the clash of civilisations cannot lead humanity to a bright future.

The first pair of Chinese pandas to Qatar, Jingjing and Sihai, have sparked panda fever in Doha. Photo by Fu Tian

CNS: What do you think of the "clash of civilisations" theory by Samuel Huntington, a professor at Harvard University?

Liu Liangjian: Huntington's "clash of civilisations theory" has a great influence. However, we may have misunderstood his ideas somewhat. In 1993, Huntington published his paper The Clash of Civilisations?, which was widely discussed. In the Foreword to his book The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order, Huntington said that the paper was an attempt to raise questions and hypotheses but that "the problem that its title carries has been generally ignored". In essence, Huntington emphasised the actual and potential threat of a clash of civilisations rather than advocating it. The main thrust of Huntington's clash of civilisations theory is a call for the abandonment of Western universalism, represented by the United States, and thus the avoidance of a clash of civilisations. "In the age that is dawning, the clash of civilisations is the greatest threat to world peace, and an international order based on multiple civilisations is the surest guarantee against world war." The key to avoiding a clash of civilisations lies in overcoming the universalism of civilisations: "The coexistence of cultures requires seeking what most civilisations have in common, rather than promoting the universal characteristics of a hypothetical civilisation. In a multi-civilised world, the constructive path is to abandon universalism, accept diversity, and seek commonality."

11 November is the "Double Eleven" shopping festival in China, which has expanded its worldwide reach. The picture shows an advertisement for the "Double Eleven" campaign on the front page of a German website. Photo by Peng Dawei

CNS: In reality, some countries seem to regard the "clash of civilisations" as a fact, and even as a theoretical premise for formulating foreign policy and running international political affairs. Under such circumstances, how should humanity avoid the clash of civilisations?

Liu Liangjian: I largely agree with this observation. For the conflict and instability in the world today, the United States, as an influential superpower, bears considerable responsibility for its inappropriate policies and behaviour.

It seems obvious that the exchange and mutual appreciation of civilisations are in the long-term and fundamental interests of the United States. "World history" means that countries are linked together through economic, political, and cultural ties, creating a holistic development in which we are each other. Every country is no longer an island, and the development of a country cannot be separated from the development of the world; if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold - and tragedies in foreign countries can be spread near or far to hurt the home country. Today, in particular, human beings have acquired the technological power to destroy ourselves and the planet. The outcome of a large-scale conflict is no longer a matter of victory or defeat, but the destruction of all human civilisations.

On 7 December 2022, the "Yi-Xin-Euro" China-European train departed for five Central Asian countries. As of that day, 1,524 "Yi-Xin-Euro" China-Europe freight trains started from the Yiwu platform this year. Photo by Hu Xiaofei

The Little Prince, written during World War II, is a fairy tale that provides insight into the fundamental situation of mankind, and one chapter says that the planet B612, where the Little Prince lives, is tiny and insignificant, with a kind of inconspicuous baobab tree on it, which will crack the whole planet if not cleaned up in time. In today's world, humans have grown into giants, and the Earth has become a 'small globe'. The practice of seeking the benefit of one country or one region with strife, conflict, and war is exactly the 'inconspicuous baobab tree', which, if not cleaned up in time, will lead to great trouble. The illustration in this chapter of The Little Prince shows three baobab trees larger than planet B612. The author says, "I drew this picture with extra effort to remind my friends that such a danger exists and that they, like me, have been oblivious to the danger that has been lurking around them for so long." Today, this painting should be on everyone's desk so that we can feel this seemingly insignificant danger, which can lead us to the end beyond redemption to open up a new dimension of human civilisation.

The figure of the Little Prince. Photo by Wang Gang

To avoid a clash of civilisations and to promote the exchange and mutual appreciation of civilisations, it is necessary to overcome the universalism of civilisations. "Overcoming" can be said to be the work of "breaking", while "breaking" and "establishing" are complementary to each other. Without breaking the old, there is not enough room for the new; without making the new, it is difficult to truly break the old. For the future development of human civilisation, it is urgent to establish common values that transcend nationality, state, and civilisation and tie the world's future to our hearts.

CNS: What are the main differences and similarities between common values and universal values?

Liu Liangjian: Common values are different from universal values. In philosophical terms, universalism is de dicto, and commonality is de re. My American colleague Sean Clancy has written a book entitled Nine Chapters of Moral Philosophy, in which he also uses the concepts of 'de dicto' and 'de re'. He explains that the meaning of "de dicto" is close to "from the aspect of the word", and that if something is treated from aspect of the word, the focus is on its abstract description (expressed in words) rather than on the concrete thing that fits that description. The meaning of "de re" is close to that of "in terms of things"; if something is treated in terms of things, it is directed to a particular concrete thing. Universal values are de dicto, and in essence, they transform values from one civilisation (especially Western civilisation) into prior abstractions that can be applied to another civilisation. Common values are de re, focusing on how to grow commonly accepted values from the concrete reality of exchange and mutual appreciation and the coexistence of multiple civilisations. This is the case with China's advocacy of a community of common destiny and common values for all humanity.

Designed by renowned Chinese-American designer Ieoh Ming Pei, the Suzhou Museum combines elements of traditional Chinese and modernist architectural design. Photo by Wang Jiankang

CNS: Creating common values requires drawing wisdom from different civilisations. Chinese civilisation has a long history, and what intellectual resources can be utilised?

Liu Liangjian: Chinese civilisation is extremely rich in intellectual resources. For example, Fei Xiaotong, a contemporary Chinese sociologist, advocates the concept of a 'field' to illustrate the relationship between different cultures as they come into contact with each other, clash, graft, and merge to correspond to the theory of cultural conflict with clear boundaries. He says, "I have noticed a tendency in Western Europe and America to link culture to the state system. The notion of the state's territory has been extended to the cultural sphere to draw a line between cultures to emphasise the theory of cultural conflict. I realise that there is a great danger in this view. Perhaps this tendency could be corrected if the concept of boundaries were changed to 'fields'. A 'field' is a wave that expands from the centre in all directions, one layer gradually fading out, with only differences between the layers and no boundaries, and with cultural fields spread by different centres overlapping each other in the same space, which means that there can be different ways of living, different norms, and autonomous choices in terms of human feelings. So we have turned the conflict into grafting, complementary fusion." The imagery of 'cultural fields', the ripples of water formed by the overlapping of different waves, offers us a new vision of the search for commonality.

International students of Class 2020 at Taiyuan University of Technology performed the ritual of "formally acknowledging the teacher". Photo by Wei Liang

Changing our thinking, changing our perspective, and moving from a "boundary view" to a "field view" is an inherent requirement of the current situation of human existence, a matter of our very survival Humanity is already living in a small world where we cannot live without each other, and the way to get along with different civilisations must shift from "keeping to one's own set of values for evaluating beauty" to "the acceptance of the beauty of others", so as to realise "further recognition of others' cultures and the establishment of shared intercultural values" and reach "the ultimate state of great unity".

How can consensus be achieved? As Fei Xiaotong said, at the intellectual level, we need to work towards creating a 'seminar' across cultural boundaries, where different cultures can learn from each other's strengths through dialogue and communication. Ultimately, people also need to enter a common life with various ways of living, from ideological to behavioural, and then work together to create consensus and common values.

Liu Liangjian is a professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, East China Normal University, a research fellow at the Institute of Modern Chinese Thought and Culture and the China Academy of Wisdom Sciences, Secretary General of the Shanghai Association of Comparative Study on Chinese-Western Philosophy and Culture, and a foreign research fellow at UPF Center for Wattimo's Philosophy and Archives. He has published monographs such as Studies on the Philosophy of Wang Yangming and Introduction to Linguistic Philosophy Based on the Experience of Chinese Language and many articles in academic journals at home and abroad.