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Nishan Forum, September 27, 2010, China
On September 27, 2010, one day before the 2561st anniversary of the birth of Confucius, the greatest thinker and teacher of ancient China, and a time for reviewing the wisdom of his age, we, the undersigned, on the occasion of the first Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, jointly issue the following Declaration of Harmony:
Troubled over the present state of world affairs;
Anxious about our common human future;
Distressed by the brutal reality of war, slaughter, and conflict;
And confronted with a deteriorating global environment,
Human beings everywhere are perplexed and confused.
Having solemnly pondered and acknowledged the wisdom of our predecessors,
We advocate harmony;
We advocate loving-kindness;
We advocate tolerance;
We advocate decorum and civility;
We advocate faithfulness and reliability;
We advocate "never doing to others what you would not have done to yourself";
We advocate "loving all creatures as we would love ourselves" and "the unity of Heaven and humanity";
We advocate the principle that "while we enjoy the beauty of our own culture, we also appreciate the beauty of other civilizations";
We advocate the belief that within the four seas, all people are brothers and sisters;
We advocate for a harmonious world and for the principle of "harmony with diversity".
For the purpose of building a harmonious world,
And for the purpose of conserving our common globe,
We appeal for mutual understanding and respect by which to resolve grievances;
We appeal for dialogue and communication as a means to avoiding conflicts;
We appeal for frugality and low-carbon emissions in order to sustain our home earth;
We appeal for solidarity and collaboration to build our future together.
We hope and pray that -
Our advocacies and appeals will be echoed and embraced by the entire world.
We hope and pray that -
Our advocacies and appeals will be transformed into common practices for all human beings.