Today is the third day of the 3rd Collegiate Social Responsibility Summer Camp, hosted by CIBE. Under the leadership of Mr. Yike Tian, senior researcher at CIBE, Campers from all over China discussed “sustainable development and traditional Chinese values”.
Mr. Tian’s lecture focused on traditional Chinese values of “Respect for others”, “Gratitude” and “Tolerance”. Mr. Tian illustrated with his own life experiences in a witty and expressive manner, which made a deep impression on the campers. At the beginning of his lecture, Mr. Tian gave the students a 5-second bow, and the students applauded warmly for him. Mr. Tian explained that he deliberately extended the time of his bow to 5 seconds so that the students can experience the power of respect. Things such as the extended bow are insignificant; however, the positive power from doing these tiny things is tremendous. Only by respecting others can one gain respect from others.
During the lecture, Mr. Tian interacted with the students. He shared with the students the essence of traditional Chinese values by performing Confucius’ classical skit “three-season man” together with Tianwei Yin from New York University. The skit taught students tolerance and acceptance of others. Just as Tian said, “Tolerance does not result from the inferior, and success mustn’t lead to aloofness.” Then Tian recalled his experiences and concluded that difficulty is a challenge——if one can face it with a positive attitude, cherish opportunities as well as himself, he will ultimately influence the community and society and bring about positive effects. Tian attributed social conflicts to a lack of understanding for others——Everyone is self-centered, and should instead focus on understanding others. The students burst into laughter and applause throughout the lecture.
In the question segment after the lecture, students asked about the relationship between success and happiness. Mr. Tian answered, “Happiness is not a goal but a process. Success does not necessarily mean fortune. It is silly to consider fortune and happiness as the same thing.” Mr. Tian continued explaining, ”There is profitless work that I enjoy, while there is other profitable work which I don’t enjoy. Success means maintaining a balance between these two things. It is always a choice made in a split second. Actually these two things are not contradictions.” The students were satisfied with Mr. Tian’s answer. However, he added that what his words were theoretical and can only be understood after practice.
Junying Tan from Liaoning University said, “Mr. Tian’s lecture was based on his own experiences and was very humorous. His lecture combined traditional Chinese doctrines of Confucius, Mencius and Taoism, which was very impressive.” Tianwei Yin said, “Although I am not proficient in Chinese, I can understand the lecture. And it is very interesting and illuminating.” |
