China News Agency, Nur-Sultan, June 16th Telegram: Sinologist Hafizova: What kind of Confucian wisdom attracts me?
China News Agency reporter Zhang Shuowen Longjie
Confucianism occupies an important position in the development of Chinese civilization and also makes important contributions to the progress of human civilization.
In the process of overseas dissemination of traditional Chinese philosophy represented by Confucianism, it has had a positive impact on promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations.
The 83-year-old Sinologist Clara Hafizova, who has created many firsts in the Sinology field of Kazakhstan, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Dongxiwen", explaining the significance of Confucianism to the exchanges between Central Asian countries and China , and how countries such as Kazakhstan can learn from Confucian wisdom.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Agency reporter: As the first woman in Kazakhstan to systematically study China, how did you embark on this research path?
Hafizova:
Since the fall of 1958, my life has been linked to China.
After graduating from middle school, I was admitted to the Department of Oriental Studies of the Tashkent State University in Uzbekistan, which has the longest history in Central Asia, and began to learn Chinese.
That year, I was 19 years old.
Tashkent State University was also called Central Asian State University at that time, and it was the only university in the region at that time with the Department of Oriental Studies and the Department of Chinese Linguistics.
It can be said that the Oriental Department grew up together with Tashkent State University.
Most of my teachers have experience working and living in China, and they have profound research on Chinese culture and history.
They not only taught me about China, but also cultivated my interest in Chinese culture.
Although the teaching environment and conditions at that time were not good, they still maintained their love for Chinese culture and deep respect for the Chinese people.
In the fall of 1962, I was sent to study at Peking University.
Although the external environment was not good at that time, I still established friendship with my Chinese classmates, and we still maintain a "warm" connection to this day.
It was an era of scarcity of materials, and many study books were difficult to buy.
Lv Guizhen, a classmate in the language class of the Chinese Department, saw that I was often troubled by this, so he hand-copied a copy of "Chinese Grammar" and gave it to me. This gift is now in the permanent collection of the National Archives of Kazakhstan.
A year later, I was assigned to teach Chinese at a secondary school in Samarkand.
"The students are very smart and like learning Chinese very much. They also followed my advice and subscribed to the Chinese children's magazine "Children". In fact, private subscriptions to Chinese periodicals were rare in the Soviet Union at that time."
Soon, the time came to 1969.
With the advice and support of my husband, I decided to pursue a career in scientific research.
At that time, I was fortunate enough to go to Moscow to study at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
I chose a topic on the history of Kazakhstan-China relations, which I think is necessary in Kazakhstan.
After returning from Moscow, I worked at the Chokan Varikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, the only academic research institute in the country that was leading in the field of historical science at the time.
I am most interested in the history of Kazakhstan's state relations, China and Central Asian political policy.
My interest in China and my mastery of the Chinese language can help me understand and analyze historical facts, and thus conduct a deeper study of Chinese political culture and the characteristics of Chinese civilization.
I am the first Kazakh woman to systematically study Chinese issues, the first person to obtain a doctorate in history in this major and knowledge field, the first person in charge of the Chinese teaching and research section in a university, and the first to systematically organize the history of China-Central Asia relations A Kazakh scholar, my work was published shortly after the country's independence.
With the establishment and development of good-neighborly and friendly relations between Kazakhstan and China, the contact between the two countries in the field of scientific research has become more frequent, which has promoted the cultivation of Kazakh sinologists and the development of sinology in Kazakhstan.
Summer in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Shuo
China News Agency reporter: What is the most attractive idea in Chinese culture?
Hafizova:
I have great respect for Chinese culture, not only because of its development achievements and spiritual civilization, but also because Chinese culture has never neglected the study of history and customs.
The development of China's history and the great multi-ethnic integration have played a key role in the emergence and growth of the Chinese civilization.
As the most influential philosopher in ancient China, Confucius' philosophical thoughts are very inspiring to me.
I clearly remember what Confucius said, "Learn and learn from time to time, but it's not like talking." The beginning of the "Analects" is this seemingly simple, but in fact profound meaning, which is the embodiment of his philosophical thought.
I also pay attention to Confucius' thoughts on "benevolence".
Confucius replied to Fan Chi, "Respectful in residence, respectful in deacons, and loyal to people. Even if they are barbarians, they cannot be abandoned." people.
In addition, I also noticed that the tradition of idealized patriarchal clan in Confucius' philosophical thought is in line with the traditional culture of Kazakhstan.
I personally have benefited a lot from the philosophy of Confucius.
In the overseas dissemination of Confucianism, Confucianism is of great significance to Central Asia and China in terms of diplomatic and cultural exchanges.
In 2016, the School of International Education, China University of Petroleum (East China) held the "Confucius in My Mind" Chinese speech contest for international students.
Yergaliyev Darkhan, an international student from Kazakhstan, participated in the competition.
Photo by Yu Fangping issued by China News Agency
China News Service reporter: In the context of the current major changes, what are the obstacles to civilization exchanges, and how can they be eliminated?
Hafizova:
I have written 4 academic monographs, including "The Qing Dynasty and the Kazakh Khanate", "China's Diplomacy in Central Asia from the 14th to the 19th Century", "Cultural Dialogue in Central Asia and East Asia", etc.; 4 collections of Central Asian historical documents; a total of about 500 articles and works of various sizes have been translated and published, covering excerpts and excerpts from historical archive documents, with an average of 10 articles per year.
This work can be seen as the result of dialogue among civilizations.
In my opinion, the cognitive process between different civilizations has its laws and methods.
In the past, this took a long time, but today, with the expansion of people's communication scope, the closeness of the relationship and the maturity of the means of communication, people can spend less time and quickly get closer to each other.
Therefore, I believe that the rejection of other civilizations is essentially ignorance of this civilization.
To change this phenomenon, it is necessary to recognize the present and future interdependence of different civilizations, to accumulate knowledge to overcome prejudices, and to continuously improve moral and spiritual self-cultivation.
I once quoted a sentence in "The Doctrine of the Mean" in a book, "There are nine scriptures for the state of the world, and those who are far away will return to them from all directions."
For "guests from afar", China "sends and welcomes them to Jiashan and cannot afford them, so they are also from afar."
Because of this, China can gain the respect and closeness of "distant guests".
At the same time, only by managing one's own country correctly and justly can one gain the respect of others.
The background of today's era has brought great challenges to the public management of countries around the world, and countries have also formulated rules for the formation of "ideal and friendly international relations".
Another Confucian classic, "Mencius", once put forward the idea of public management with "benevolent governance" as the core, and it still has a great revelation effect - goodness is the nature of human beings. If goodness can be implemented into life and benefit others, Then it can achieve what Mencius said in society to do good and perfect, avoid the spread of evil, and achieve a virtuous circle.
College students hand-copy Confucian classics to commemorate the birthday of Confucius.
Photo by Dong Xin issued by China News Agency
China News Service: Chinese has become one of the most popular foreign languages in Central Asia. How do you view this phenomenon? What inspiration does the exchange and dialogue of civilizations inspire the young people of the two countries?
Hafizova:
This is an objective fact. Chinese has occupied a position second only to English in Central Asia.
The development of diversified education and information technology has given more young people the opportunity to go out and learn about the cultures and civilizations of other nations.
Against this background, China's education market is competitive and attractive to young people from all over the world.
This is also reflected in Kazakhstan’s participation in the “Belt and Road” construction.
Learning Chinese for young people will help them a lot in their careers.
"Chinese is a very interesting language, and learning Chinese will have a positive impact on intelligence and emotional expression." (End)
Interviewee Profile:
Clara Hafizova is a well-known sinologist in Kazakhstan.
The first Kazakh woman to systematically study Chinese issues, the first doctor of Sinology in Kazakhstan, the first person in charge of the Chinese teaching and research section in a university, and the first scholar to systematically organize the history of relations between China and Central Asia.
Studied at Peking University.
Hafizova has long been committed to the development of cultural exchanges between Kazakhstan and China, and actively participated in the establishment of the Department of Oriental Studies in Kazakh universities, the establishment of the teaching and research section of Chinese language and literature, and the cultivation of Sinology talents.
In addition, Hafizova has also conducted in-depth research on sinology, and has published more than 100 books and articles, introducing the dialogue and integration between different civilizations.