[Explanation] Song Yiming (Michael A. Szonyi) is the director of the Fairbank Research Center of Harvard University, a professor of Chinese history in the East Asian Department of Harvard University, and a famous historian of Ming and Qing Dynasties and modern China.
In the 1980s, teenage Song Yiming came to China to teach English, forged an indissoluble bond with China, and embarked on an academic path to study China.
Recently, Song Yiming shared his thoughts on the theory of the "clash of civilizations" and the relationship between China and the world in an exclusive interview with China News Service.
[Explanation] As a Western China expert, Song Yiming believes that Huntington's so-called "clash of civilizations" does not exist between the East and the West. The commonality between the East and the West societies and people is far greater than the differences.
[Concurrent] Song Yiming, Director of the Fairbank Research Center of Harvard University
I think the theory of clash of civilizations is meaningless.
Of course there are conflicts in human society, but it is obvious that there is insufficient evidence to believe that different civilizations seek different things.
A civilization does not have only one voice or one way of behavior.
In my opinion, there is no fundamental obstacle to mutual understanding between different cultures, but this is just a conclusion of looking at human nature from an optimistic perspective.
The fact is that people are usually afraid of the unknown and respond negatively, but these are all solvable.
[Explanation] Song Yiming said that he is more inclined to study historical issues from a micro perspective.
When looking at history from the perspective of ordinary people, Song Yiming found that there are not many differences between ancient and modern, Eastern and Western people.
[Concurrent] Song Yiming, Director of the Fairbank Research Center of Harvard University
In my opinion, the essence of studying history is to figure out how people think and make decisions under the background of that era, and to realize the difference from modern people.
In fact, when comparing this way, I found that ancient people are not so different from modern people, nor are there so many differences between Eastern and Western people. Everyone has the same human nature in essence.
[Explanation] According to Song Yiming, Fairbank Research Center, as one of the most influential Chinese research centers in the world, can cooperate with experts in various fields to let people from all walks of life better understand the current China.
[Concurrent] Song Yiming, Director of the Fairbank Research Center of Harvard University
At present, our most important duty is to make the government aware that it is beneficial for students to learn knowledge.
No matter how the U.S.-China relationship develops in the future, it will be beneficial for both countries to let the U.S. understand China better and China to understand the U.S. better.
We can act as neutral, scientific, and objective observers between the two societies. This applies to both the United States and China.
Sha Hanting and Liu Yinghan report
Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]